返回The Commentaries of St. Eusebius Hieronymus of Stridon, Presbyter, on the Book of Isaiah, consisting of eighteen books.
The Commentaries of St. Eusebius Hieronymus of Stridon, Presbyter, on the Book of Isaiah, consisting of eighteen books.
The Commentaries of St. Eusebius Hieronymus of Stridon, Presbyter, on the Book of Isaiah, consisting of eighteen books.
Latin Text from public domain Migne Editors, Patrologiae Cursus Completus.Translated into English using ChatGPT.
Prologue
Having completed, after a long time, twenty books of explanations on the twelve Prophets, and commentaries on Daniel, you compel me, the virgin of Christ, Eustochium, to move on to Isaiah. And what I promised to your holy mother, Paula, while she was alive, I remember promising to you. Indeed, I recall promising this to your learned brother, Pammachius; and since you hold a special place in my affection, your presence overpowers me. Therefore, I fulfill my duty to you and to him through you, in obedience to the commandments of Christ, who says: Search the Scriptures (John 5:39); and Seek and you shall find (Matthew 7:7). I will not listen to this from the Jews: You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God (Matthew 22:29). For if, according to the Apostle Paul, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24), and whoever does not know the Scriptures, does not know the power of God and His wisdom; ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ. Therefore, relying on the aid of your prayers, which you meditate on day and night in the law of God, and being a temple of the Holy Spirit, I will imitate the father of the household, who brings forth both new and old treasures from his storehouse; and I will say, like the bride in the Song of Songs: My brother, I have kept new and old for you (Song of Songs 7:13); and thus I will explain Isaiah, teaching him not only as a Prophet, but also as an evangelist and Apostle. For he himself, speaking of himself and the other evangelists, says: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news, who bring peace (Isaiah 52:7). And God speaks to him, as if to an Apostle: Whom shall I send, and who will go to this people? And he responded: Here I am, send me (Isaiah 6:8).And let no one think that I desire to comprehend the subject matter of this volume in a brief discourse, since the present Scripture contains all the sacraments of the Lord; and that the birth of Emmanuel from the Virgin, as well as the accomplishment of illustrious works and signs; his death and burial, and his resurrection from the dead, and that the Savior of all nations is preached. What shall I say of physics, ethics, and logic? Whatever is of the holy Scriptures, whatever can be conveyed by human language, and received by the senses of mortals, is contained in this volume. He himself who wrote attests to the mysteries of Him: 'And there shall be for you the vision of all, like the words of the sealed book, which, when given to one who knows letters, they shall say: Read this. And he shall answer: I cannot, for it is sealed.' And a book shall be given to one who does not know letters, and it shall be said to him: Read this. And he shall answer, 'I do not know letters' (Isaiah 24:11-12). Therefore, whether you give this book to the people of the nations who do not know letters, they shall answer: I cannot read, for I have not learned the letters of the Scriptures; or whether you give it to the writers and Pharisees, who boast of knowing the letters of the King, they shall answer: We cannot read, for the book is sealed. Why was he marked for them? Because they did not receive the one whom the Father marked (John 6:27): who has the key of David; who opens, and no one will shut; who shuts, and no one will open (Revelation 3:7).
And indeed, just as Montanus dreams with insane women, the Prophets spoke in ecstasy, not knowing what they were saying, and while instructing others, they themselves were ignorant of what they were saying. Concerning them, the Apostle says: 'Not knowing what they speak, nor concerning what they affirm' (1 Timothy 1:7); but according to Solomon who speaks in Proverbs: 'The wise understands what he speaks, and knowledge will be carried on his lips' (Proverbs 16:23), they themselves also knew what they were saying. For if the prophets were wise, which we cannot deny; and Moses spoke to the Lord with all wisdom, and the Lord answered him; and it is said of Daniel to the prince of Tyre: Are you wiser than Daniel? (Ezek. 28:3) ? And David was wise, who boasted in the Psalm: You have revealed to me the uncertainties and hidden things of your wisdom. (Ps. 50:8) , how is it that the wise prophets did not know what to say, like dumb animals? We also read in another place of the Apostle: The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets (1 Cor. XIV, 32): so that they have it in their power, when they are silent, when they speak. But if anyone thinks it is weak, let him hear this from the same Apostle: Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge: but if anything is revealed to someone sitting, let the first be silent (Ibid., 29). By what means can they remain silent, when the spirit who speaks through the prophets is in their control, to either be silent or to speak? Therefore, if they understood what they were saying, all things are full of wisdom and reason. And the air, when struck by the voice, did not reach their ears; but God spoke in the minds of the prophets, according to what another prophet says: 'The angel who spoke in me' (Zech. 1:9), and 'Crying out in our hearts, Abba, Father' (Gal. 4:6), and 'Let me hear what the Lord God says within me' (Ps. 84:9).
After the truth of history, everything should be understood spiritually: thus Judaea and Jerusalem, Babylon and the Philistines, Moab and Damascus, Egypt and the desert sea, Idumaea and Arabia, and the valley of Vision, and finally Tyre, and the Vision of the four living creatures should be understood; so that we may seek all things in their meaning, and in all these things, like a wise architect, the apostle Paul may lay the foundation, which is nothing else but Christ Jesus. And it is a great and arduous task to want to explain the entire book of Isaiah, in which the talents of our ancestors have toiled: I mean the Greeks. However, among the Latins, there is great silence, except for the renowned martyr Victorinus, who could say with the Apostle: 'Though I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not in knowledge' (2 Corinthians 11:6). For Origen wrote thirty volumes on this Prophet, according to the four editions, up to the Vision of the four living creatures in the desert, but the twenty-sixth book is not found. Others are also said to have written under his name the Vision of the Quadrupeds, two books addressed to Grata, which are considered pseudographical; and twenty-five Homilies, and Notes, which we can call Excerpts. Eusebius Pamphili also published fifteen volumes, in accordance with a historical explanation; and Didymus, with whom we recently had friendly relations, published eighteen volumes from the place where it is written: Comfort, comfort my people, says the priest: speak to the heart of Jerusalem (Isaiah XL, 1), until the end of the volume. However, Apollinaris explains everything in his own way, so that he traverses all things and passes over large spaces of the road with certain points and intervals, as if he were flying over the shortcuts: so that we believe we are reading not so much commentaries as indexes of chapters. From this you realize how difficult it is for our Latins, whose ears are fastidious and who feel nauseated at understanding the Holy Scriptures, and who are delighted only by the applause of eloquence, to pardon me if I have spoken too long; since Isaiah, according to the number of verses, is equal to or greater than the twelve Prophets. However, if I have omitted 70 points of discussion regarding Hebrew, it is because most of them are either the same or similar to the others, and I did not want to extend the books of explanation, which already exceed the limits of brevity even in their simple explanations. But now let us carry out the proposed plan.
Book One
Book One1:1
(Chapter 1, Verse 1) The vision of Isaiah, the son of Amos, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. For Judah, in which two tribes are signified, the Seventy and Theodotion have translated 'Judah,' which signifies the entire land of the twelve tribes. And because we translate from Hebrew, 'concerning Judah and Jerusalem,' they have interpreted it as 'against Judah and Jerusalem.' Symmachus, in his own way, more clearly, 'concerning Judah and Jerusalem,' so that he does not want to indicate either prosperity or adversity by the title, but what the prophetic discourse has foretold about Judah and Jerusalem in both respects. Therefore, Isaiah primarily speaks about two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, excluding the ten tribes that were in Samaria and were called Ephraim and Israel; and those that under the reign of King Uzziah of Judah, and Jerusalem, the king of Assyria, Tiglath-Pileser, had already begun to devastate. Finally, in the fifty-second year of his reign, when Pekah, the son of Remaliah, was reigning in Samaria, Tiglath-Pileser, the king of Assyria, came and captured Aijon and Abel, the house of Maacah, and Janoah and Kedesh and Hazor and Gilead and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and he resettled them in Assyria (2 Kings 15:18-19). From this it is shown that all these things are narrated as a warning by the neighboring destruction of Samaria to the two tribes.But Ozias himself is the same person who is also called Azarias with a double name. And indeed, at the same time we know that Isaiah, Hosea, Joel, and Amos prophesied, from the kings who are mentioned in the title. But the beginning of the word of the Lord was with Hosea, son of Beeri. However, Amos is the father of Isaiah, not as most people think, he is the third of the twelve Prophets, but another; they are written in different letters among the Hebrews. This one has the first and last letters Aleph and Sade (); that one has Ainet Samech (): and this one is interpreted by some as strength or robust; that one as a hard or heavy people: about which we have spoken more fully in Amos. Not only this prophet, but also others with the title 'Vision seen by Isaiah or Obadiah' do not reveal what they saw. For example: 'I saw the Lord of hosts sitting on a high and lofty throne, and the two seraphim were around Him.' But what was said, they tell, that is, 'Hear, heaven, and listen, earth' (Isa. 6:1-2). And: 'This is what the Lord God says to Edom. I have heard an announcement from the Lord, and a messenger has been sent to the nations' (Obad. 1:1). For the prophets were previously called seers, who were able to say: Our eyes are always towards the Lord (Psalm 14:15). And: To you, I lift up my eyes, you who are enthroned in heaven (Psalm 123:1). Therefore, the Savior commanded the Apostles: Lift up your eyes and see the fields, for they are already white for harvest (John 4:35). The bride in the Song of Songs also had these eyes of the heart, to whom the bridegroom says: You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride, with one glance of your eyes (Song of Songs 4:9). And in the Gospel we read: The light of your body is your eye (Matt. VI, 22). It is also said in the old Scriptures that the people saw the voice of God (Exod. XX, 18). From this, the delusions of the Montanists are silenced, who in their ecstasy thought that the prophets spoke of future events from a deranged mind, for they could not see what they were ignorant of. I know that some interpret Judah and Jerusalem to mean heavenly things, and Isaiah to represent the Lord Savior: that it foreshadows the captivity of that province in our land, and later the return and ascent to the holy mountain in the last days. We despise everything that is contrary to the Christian faith, judging it, and following the truth of history, we interpret it spiritually so that whatever they dream about the heavenly Jerusalem, we refer it to the Church of Christ, and to those who either leave it because of sin or return to the original seat because of repentance, and also because we consider that this is said in the same Prophet: 'Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes and look around; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses' arms. Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the Lord. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you; they shall be acceptable on my altar, and I will glorify my glorious house.'
And it is stated in the title that he prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. This is not to be understood in a confused manner like in other prophets, so that we do not know what was said under which specific king. Rather, it is referred to the end of the book to indicate what was separately revealed to him by the Lord under Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Let us also know that Hezekiah began to reign in Jerusalem in the 12th year of Romulus, who founded a city in Italy bearing his name, so that it is clear how much older our histories are than those of other nations. Isaiah is interpreted as the Savior of the Lord; Judah, the confession; Jerusalem, the vision of peace; Uzziah, the strength of the Lord; Jotham, the perfection of the Lord; Ahaz, the one who holds or is strong; Hezekiah, the rule of the Lord. Therefore, whoever is saved with the Lord presiding is the son of Amos, that is, strong and mighty; he spiritually perceives the vision of confession while lamenting the ancient sins, and the peace while moving from repentance to light, and he rests in eternal peace. And all his times pass under the strength, perfection, and power of the Lord. And when he has done all things, he will say that evangelical saying: We are useless servants: for what we ought to have done, we have done (Luke 17:10).
1:2
(Version 2.) Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth: for the Lord has spoken. Above, it is shown by the title, who the prophet is, whose son, what is against Judah and Jerusalem, or concerning Judah and Jerusalem, and at what time he saw. Now he calls to hear the heavens and the earth. In heaven, representing the heavenly and angelic powers; on earth, the mortal race, metaphorically signifying both those which contain and those which are contained. Whether it be because, through Moses, the Lord had summoned the witnesses of heaven and earth, giving his law to the people of Israel, and had said: 'Listen, heaven, and I will speak; let the earth hear the words of my mouth' (Deuteronomy 31:1): after the transgression of the people, he summons them again as witnesses, so that all the elements may know that God, justly provoked to anger by the violation of his commandments, punishes. In Hebrew, 'heaven' is called 'Samaim', in the plural form. Especially when it says 'listen', that is, 'Semu', which is pronounced in the plural form, not the singular. But some want to be called heavens in the plural, but understood in the singular, according to that which we call individual cities, Thebes and Athens. And there is the Hebrew language, in which all words ending in Im are masculine and plural, like Cherubim and Seraphim. And words ending in Oth are feminine and plural, like Sabaoth. And it should be noted that heavens is used, hear, earth, perceive with your ears; for those things that are exalted have a greater understanding, while those that are more humble are wrapped in earthly senses. And the Savior in the Gospel says: He who has ears to hear, let him hear (Matt. XI, 15). Therefore, if anyone is heavenly and has citizenship in the heavens, let him hear mystically what is being said. If anyone is earthly, let him follow the simple history. Also, it should be noted that he did not say: Hear, heaven, and perceive with your ears, earth, what the Lord has spoken to you; but what he has spoken to me, so that I may recount to you what I have heard in the spirit, since you do not deserve to hear him speaking. Some (Origenists) think that the heavens and the earth are, as it were, animated beings capable of hearing, according to what is said elsewhere about the earth: Who looks on the earth, and makes it tremble (Ps. CIII, 32): whereas this is the power of God, not of earthly intelligence.I have begotten and exalted sons: but they have despised me. For which Symmachus and Theodotion rendered it thus: I have nourished and exalted sons (Exod. IV, 22). From this place the Prophet relates what the Lord has spoken, that he has turned the people of Israel, whom he had established as servants by a common law, into sons, and has said: My firstborn son is Israel. Finally, the Lord in the Gospel promises the Apostles that if they do his will, he will no longer call them servants, but friends (John XV, 15). But if Israel becomes proud, let him understand that he is called the firstborn, because it signifies that he is followed by second sons from the nations. For he is not called the only begotten who excludes other brothers, but the firstborn, to show that others will follow: and yet according to the mysteries of the Scriptures, it is not the firstborn who receive the inheritance, but the second. Cain was the firstborn, but Abel's offerings pleased God. The firstborn was Ishmael, but Isaac received the inheritance. The firstborn was Esau, but he was cheated out of the father's blessing by Jacob the supplanter. The firstborn was Reuben, but nevertheless the blessing of the seed of Christ was transferred to Judah. Therefore, according to the order of their calling, they were the first, and were called the head: we who were second were called the tail, but now we have been turned into the head, and are called the sons of God. For as many as received him, he gave them power to become the sons of God (John 1:12). We have not received the spirit of bondage in fear, but the spirit of adoption, in which we cry out: Abba, Father (Rom. VIII, 15): because perfect love casts out fear (I John IV, 18). But it is better to read according to the Hebrew, 'I have nourished sons', than 'I have begotten', lest it seem contrary to that saying which we read in the Epistle of John: Whoever is born of God does not sin (I John III, 9). Therefore, if these are born from God, how could they have sinned: since everyone who is born from God cannot sin?
1:3
(Verse 3.) The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib. But Israel does not know; my people do not understand. Woe to the sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds; they are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil. Your country lies desolate; your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence foreigners devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners. And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field, like a besieged city. If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah. Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause. Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. And he did not compare them to dogs, which are the most keen-witted species of animals, and they protect their owners' homes for little food: but rather to dumber animals like oxen and donkeys, one of which pulls carts and turns over the toughest clumps of earth with a plow, and the other carries heavy loads and moderates the labor of men while walking: hence they are called 'beasts of burden' from it, because they aid men. This place can be understood to refer to God the Father: but it is more often related to the Son, because the people of Israel did not know him, nor did they receive him: whose day Abraham saw and rejoiced, and for whose coming the hopes of all the prophets depended. And in the Gospel, he speaks to Jerusalem: How often would I have gathered your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing (Matt. XXIII, 37)! We ask, where shall we read about the ox and the donkey together? In Deuteronomy it is written: You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together (Deut. XXII, 10). And in the same Isaiah: Blessed is he who sows beside all waters, where the ox and the donkey tread (Isai. XXXII, 20). Ebion, who plows with the ox and the donkey together, is worthy of humble understanding, poverty in his name; he receives the Gospel in such a way that he does not abandon the ceremonies of Jewish superstitions, which preceded in shadow and image. Blessed is he who sows in the words of Scripture, both of the Old and New Testament: and he treads upon the waters of the letters of the setting sun, in order to reap the fruit of the life-giving Spirit. The ox is metaphorically related to Israel, who carried the yoke of the Law, and is a clean animal. The donkey burdened with the weight of sinners represents the people of the Gentiles, to whom the Lord spoke: Come to me all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you (Matt. 11:28). Therefore, the Pharisees and Scribes, who did not believe, but had the key and knowledge of the Law, and were truly called Israel, that is, a people seeing God, a part of the Jewish people believed, so that on one day three thousand would believe together, and on another day five thousand. Even the wise of the world, who did not accept the cross of Christ, were received by the unlearned crowd of the nations. Hence the Apostle said: Consider your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many powerful, not many noble, but what is foolish in the world, God has chosen, to confound the wise; and what is weak in the world, God has chosen, to confound the strong (1 Corinthians 1:26-27). But this is forced, the previous interpretation is true.1:4
(Verse 4) Woe to the sinful nation, a people burdened with iniquity, a wicked offspring, wicked children: they have forsaken the Lord, they have blasphemed the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backwards. The phrase I placed last, 'they have turned away backwards,' is not found in the Septuagint and instead of 'they have blasphemed,' it is written in them, 'they have provoked to anger.' And instead of 'wicked offspring,' it is translated in the Hebrew as 'wicked ones,' so that the vice of the offspring is not so much a defect of their nature (lest good and evil be thought to have different natures) as it is a result of their wickedness, those who have forsaken the Lord by their own will.In the beginning of the book, the title mentions the characters, the cause, and the time: in the second part, it captivates the listeners; in the third part, it narrates what the Lord said; in the fourth part, it reproaches the sinful nation, and a people full of or weighed down by injustice. Not that there is another nation and another people, as some think, but it is Israel itself, which is called both nation and people, and is referred to as wicked or unjust sons: those who were first called sons of the Lord through his kindness, but afterwards were called sons of iniquity because of their own fault; or as others have said in agreement, corrupting sons, that is, those who have lost the good of their nature through their own fault. And the text continues: 'They blasphemed the holy Israel, it is said specifically of the Jews, shouting: We have no king but Caesar' (John 19:15); and: 'Is this not the son of the carpenter?' (Matthew 13:55); and, 'He has a demon, and is a Samaritan' (John 8:48). Therefore, because they abandoned Christ and blasphemed the Holy Israel, they were estranged backwards, so that those who were called part and children of God would later be called: 'Alien children have lied to me' (Psalm 18:46). The Savior commanded that, with the plow seized, we do not look back (Luke 9:62), so as not to imitate Lot's wife. Hence the Apostle, stretching out towards the things before, forgets the things that are behind (Philippians 3:13). And what he said according to the Septuagint, to a people full of sins (Zechariah 5:7), shows that there was no kind of sins that the people of Israel did not have. But if we read it as in Hebrew, to a people heavy with iniquity, let us remember the testimony of that, that iniquity sits upon a talent of lead, and it is said from the person of a sinner in the thirty-seventh psalm: My iniquities have been lifted up above my head: As a heavy burden, they have been burdened upon me (Psalm 37:5). We pass through things that are manifest, so that we may linger in those that are more obscure and require explanation.
1:5
(Verse 5). In which way shall I strike you any longer, adding transgression? By this testimony we learn that the Lord strikes sinners in order to correct them, and that the punishment is not so much for retribution as for correction. The meaning is this: I cannot find any medicine that I can apply to your wounds; all your limbs are full of sores; I find no part of your body that has not been struck before. Or certainly in this way: I find no wounds by which I can break your stubbornness. For the greater the tortures are, the more impiety and injustice grows, or as Theodotion translated, the deviation, so that you may depart and deviate from the Lord. Such is that of Jeremiah: I have struck your children without cause: you have not received discipline (Jeremiah II, 30). Hence, he speaks angrily through Hosea: I will not visit your daughters when they commit fornication; and your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery (Hosea IV, 14). And in Ezekiel: My jealousy will depart from you, and I will no longer be angry with you (Ezek. 16:42). Of whom we also read in the Psalms: There is no firmament in their hands, and they are not laboring with men, nor will they be scourged with men (Ps. 73:4, 5).Every head is weary, and every heart mournful. The joy of the soul sometimes alleviates the pain of the body: but if mental distress accompanies physical illness, the weakness is doubled. Among the senses themselves, and all the members of the body, the head occupies the chief place, in which there is sight and smell, hearing and taste. Therefore, when the head aches, all the members are weak. And by metaphor, it teaches that from the leaders to the lowest of the people, from the learned to the ignorant masses, there is no health in anyone: but all unanimously consent in impiety with equal ardor.
From the sole of the foot to the crown of the head, there is no soundness in it: wounds, bruises, and oozing sores. The translation has been maintained: from the feet to the head, that is, from the lowest to the highest, from the outermost to the innermost, they are pierced through the whole body. 'Wounds,' he says, 'and bruises, and oozing sores': for either bodies turn blue from beatings, or swell from blows, or gape with wounds. We ask, to what time should these things be adapted? After the Babylonian captivity, under Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, Israel returned to Judaea and restored its ancient state. Under various rulers and kings, the temple was rebuilt to be more magnificent, to the extent that even foreign nations, such as the Spartans, Athenians, and Romans, formed alliances. Therefore, when it says, 'There is no soundness in it,' it refers to the ultimate captivity, since from Titus and Vespasian to the final destruction of Jerusalem, under Aelius Hadrianus and up to the present time, there is no remedy. And what is written is fulfilled: 'All have turned away; they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one' (Rom. 3:12). And what is also inferred: there is no health in it, either in the people, or in the body, or in the head.
1:6
(Verse 6) It is not wrapped, nor treated with medicine, nor anointed with oil. For which the LXX translated: It is not to apply a plaster, nor oil, nor bandages. Even today, the wound and swelling of the people of Israel are not wrapped with strips, nor treated with medicine. Which Aquila interpreted as μότωσιν, namely, the little linen cloths that are applied to wounds to dry up pus and extract impurities. Nor was oil applied, so that the hardness of their wounds might be softened by tears of repentance. For the boils, with which the wounds of the Israelites were not at all bound up, the 70 doses were transferred. Therefore, Israel lies wounded and slaughtered because they killed the doctor who had come to heal the house of Israel. Hence, in Jeremiah, the Angels speak tropically under the person of Babylon: We have healed Babylon, and she is not healed (Jeremiah 51:9), namely the city of confusion and vices. And in the Gospel (Luke 10) we read that a man, who was descending from Jerusalem to Jericho, was attacked by robbers and was cared for by a Samaritan. And after the severity of the wine, the softness of the oil poured on his wounds. Therefore, from that place where it was said above: In which I will strike you, and: every weak head, until it is brought to the suffering: There is no healing remedy or soothing oil, the likeness of the translation is preserved, and the description of incurable wounds expresses the eternal captivity of the Jews.1:7
(Verse 7) Your land is deserted; your cities are burned with fire. Foreigners devour your land before your eyes, and it is desolate like a hostile wasteland. These things were partially fulfilled under the Babylonians, with the temple being burned and Jerusalem being destroyed, when the Samaritans possessed the region of the ten tribes, and the promised land was so desolate that it was ravaged by lions. But a more complete and perfect description of what would happen under Roman captivity is given: when the Roman army devastated all of Judea, and the cities were burned, and their land is currently being devoured by foreigners, and the desolation of the Jews will continue until the end of the world. However, we can interpret these things tropologically about sinners who have fallen from their former holiness, after they have been handed over to contrary powers: that all their goods come to a desert: and God does not remember the former righteousness: and they are consumed by the fire of the devil; and they become food for beasts, of whom it is also written in another place: Do not give the soul confessing to you to beasts (Ps. 73, 19).1:8
(Verse 8) The daughter of Zion will be abandoned like a shelter in a vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber field. The vineyard, which is called the whole of Israel, is testified to by the Prophet in the following, saying: 'The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel; and the man of Judah, a new plant and beloved' (below chapter 5, verse 7); and in the Psalm: 'You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it' (Psalm 80:9). This vine, as long as it brought forth abundant fruits, had God as its guardian, of whom it is written: 'He does not slumber or sleep, who keeps Israel' (Psalm 121:4). But after they had harvested it, everyone passing by the road trampled it down, and a wild boar from the forest ravaged it. The Lord abandoned his temple and, rising up in anger, said, 'Arise, let us leave this place; and let your house be left desolate to you.' (Matt. XXIII, 38). And through Jeremiah: 'I have forsaken my house; I have abandoned my inheritance. My inheritance has become to me like a lion in the forest; it has roared against me, therefore I hate it.' (Jerem. XII, 7). However, the likeness of the devastation of the Temple and Jerusalem is taken from the farmers, who, as long as the vineyard is full of grapes, place guards in the shade. In the Cucumber House, which they call the guardian of seventy fruits, small huts are built to shield against the heat of the sun and to deflect its rays; and from there, they drive away either the men or the little animals that are accustomed to lurking in the newly grown crops. But when these types of produce have been harvested, only the withered coverings of the bushes and the huts remain, as the guard withdraws because he no longer has anything to protect. So the almighty God abandoned the Temple and made the city deserted: which does not need to be proven by words, especially to us, who see Zion deserted and Jerusalem destroyed, and the Temple completely demolished to the ground. But what he calls the daughter of Zion shows the affection of a most merciful parent. It is not surprising if Zion is called daughter, since even Babylon is often called daughter. For we are all by nature children of God, but by our own fault we become estranged. According to the anagoge, our soul can be called the vineyard of God and the paradise of apples: if our mind, that is, νοῦς, is in charge, it has God as the guardian of the mind; but if our vices have preyed upon us like certain beasts, we are abandoned by the guardian God, and all our things are reduced to solitude.If the Lord of hosts had not left us seed, we would have been as Sodom, and we would have been like Gomorrah. This place Paul the Apostle explains more fully to the Romans, writing: I say therefore, has God rejected his people? By no means: For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew (Romans 11:1-2). And a little later: Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace (Romans 11:5). From this it is shown that the earlier prophetic discourse against Jerusalem and Judah is not referring to the time of the Babylonian captivity, but to the final period of the Romans, when the remnants of the Jewish people were saved in the Apostles; and on one day three thousand believed, and on another five thousand, and the Gospel was spread throughout the whole world. In the Lord of hosts, which we, following Aquila, translate into Latin, it is read in Hebrew as Lord Sabaoth, which the Septuagint interpreters, depending on the context, translate in two ways: either Lord of hosts, or Lord Almighty. And let it be sought whether it is said of the Father or of the Son. There is no doubt that what is read in the twenty-third (or fourth) psalm: Lift up your gates, O princes, and be lifted up, eternal gates, and the king of glory will enter. Who is this king of glory? The Lord of hosts (Psalm 23:7-8), that is, the Lord of powers, he is the king of glory, to be referred to Christ, who after the triumph of his passion ascended to the heavens as the victor. And in another place it is said about the Lord, that he is the king of glory: For if they had known, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory (I Cor. II, 8). Therefore, not only according to the Apocalypse of John and the Apostle Paul, but also in the Old Testament, the Lord of hosts, that is, the Almighty, is called Christ. For if all things are the Father's, and as he himself says in the Gospel: All power is given to me in heaven and on earth (Matth. XXVIII, 18); and: All mine are yours, and I am glorified in them; why should not the name of the Almighty also be referred to Christ: so that as God of God, and Lord of Lords, so may the Almighty Son be?
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(Verse 10) Hear the word of the Lord, rulers of Sodom: listen with your ears to the law of our God, people of Gomorrah. After preserving the remnants of the people of Israel through the Apostles, the Scribes and Pharisees, and the people who cried out: Crucify, crucify him (John 19, 6), the prophetic word turns; and it calls them rulers of Sodom and people of Gomorrah, according to what we read in the following: They have declared and shown their iniquity like Sodom. Woe to their souls: for they have devised an evil counsel against themselves, saying: Let us bind the just, because he is unprofitable to us (Isaiah 3). Therefore, the rulers are called of Sodom, and the people of Gomorrah, because they have devised an evil counsel, and have bound the just, and have said: We have no king but Caesar (John 19:15). And again: We know that God spoke to Moses: but as for this man, we know not from whence he is (John 9:29). At the same time boasting in the Gospel: We are the seed of Abraham and have never served anyone (John 8:53); they hear from the Lord and Savior: If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham; and again: You were born of the devil as your father, and you want to do the works of your father (ibid., 39). Such a thing Ezekiel also speaks to Jerusalem: Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite (Ezekiel 16:45). The Hebrews say that Isaiah was killed for two reasons: because he called the princes of Sodom and the people of Gomorrah, and because while the Lord was saying to Moses, You cannot see my face (Exodus 33:20), he dared to say, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne (Isaiah 6:1); without considering that the seraphim cover the face and feet of God, or their own, because it is ambiguously read in Hebrew, and Isaiah writes that he only saw the middle part of Him. Therefore, a human being cannot see the face of God. However, angels in the Church always see the face of God, even the faces of the least. And now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. When we progress from being human to being angels, we will be able to say with the Apostle: But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. Although no creature can see the face of God according to its own nature, it is seen in the mind when it is believed to be invisible.1:11
(Verse 11) What use to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord. I am full. I do not desire burnt sacrifices of rams, or the fat of fattened cattle, or the blood of bulls, or lambs, or goats. Because they exist, I did not desire them. The Septuagint translates 'I do not desire' as 'I will not desire', using the present tense instead of the past tense. Furthermore, according to the Hebrew, it demonstrates that God never desired the sacrifices of the Jews, as we read in the forty-ninth psalm: I will not accept a bull from your house, or goats from your flocks. For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I have known all the flying creatures of the sky, and the beauty of the field is with me. If I were hungry, I would not say to you: for the world is mine and all its fullness. Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? (Psalm 49, seq.) And when he rejected the ceremonies of the old Law, he passed on to the purity of the Gospel and showed what he desires for these things: Sacrifice to God the sacrifice of praise, and pay your vows to the Most High. Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you, and you will honor me. Therefore, the content of this chapter, up to the point where it says: Judge the orphan, defend the widow, and come, let us reason together: it rejects sacrifices of victims and teaches that obedience to the Gospel is a superior sacrifice. And what he brings is to be understood in this sense: I am full, I need nothing: the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof (Psalm 24:1). Therefore, we have all received from his fullness. This can also be understood about those who, not obeying God's precepts, believe they can redeem themselves with gifts and offerings to God: or those who offer stolen goods and ill-gotten gains on the altar and to the poor.1:12
(Verse 12.) For who indeed sought these things from your hands? Let the Ebionites hear, who after the passion of Christ think that the Law has been abolished and should be observed. Let the associates of the Ebionites hear, who decree that these things should be observed only by Jews and those of Israelite descent. Therefore, the offering and sacrifice of victims were not primarily sought by God, but so that they would not be made to idols; and so that we might pass from carnal victims, as it were by a type and image, to spiritual sacrifices. But by saying that he did not desire sacrifices, he showed that the law is spiritual: and that all the things that the Jews do in a carnal way are fulfilled spiritually by us.1:13
(Ver. 13.) You will not trample on my courtyard. Note that after the devastation of Babylon, the Temple was built again by Zerubbabel: and for many years sacrifices have been offered in the Temple (1 Esdras, 5). Therefore, it indicates the final destruction of the Temple under Vespasian and Titus, which will persist until the end of the world.1:14
(Verse 14.) I will not bear your new moons, and sabbaths, and other feasts: your assemblies are wicked. Every gathering that does not offer spiritual sacrifices, and does not listen to what is sung in the fiftieth psalm: A sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit: a broken and humbled heart God does not despise, is abominable to God. And therefore it connects and says: Your new moons and solemnities. So that it does not call them their own feasts: but those who misuse them. And as the Seventy translated, fasting and idleness: we can say that fasting is accepted by God, because it does not have the idleness of good works. My soul hates it. Anthropomorphically, not that God has a soul; but it speaks with our affection.1:15
(Verse 15) You have become wearisome to me; I will by no means forgive your sins. Regarding this, Aquila interpreted, 'I labored and endured.' Symmachus, feeling sorry, said, 'I have failed in seeking mercy,' in order to show that he will no longer have compassion, because it is one thing for a servant sent to him to be killed, and another for a Son. We read this same meaning in the prophet Hosea: 'Your destruction, Israel; only in me is your help' (Hosea 13:9). This is understood thus: Perish, Israel, not by your merit, but only by my help are you saved.Your hands are full of blood. The reason is clear why God turns His eyes away from you and does not listen to your multiplied prayer: because you have shed the blood of the righteous, and the wicked farmers have killed the heir sent to them. Therefore, the Savior speaks to them: And you, fill up the measure of your fathers (Matth. XXIII, 31). For they have killed the messengers sent to them: you kill the Son of the Master of the house. This testimony should be used against those who, while having their hands full of blood with their daily works, join in prayer day and night.
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(Verse 16.) Wash yourselves, be clean. For the previous sacrifices, and burnt offerings, and the fat of the rich, and the blood of bulls and goats: and for the incense and new moons, sabbaths, feast days and fasts, calends and other solemnities, the religion of the Gospel is pleasing to me: that you may be baptized in my blood through the washing of regeneration, which alone can forgive sins. For unless one is born again of water and the Spirit, they will not enter the kingdom of heaven (John 3:5) . The Lord himself, ascending to the Father, said: Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19).Remove the evil of your thoughts from my sight. As John the Baptist said: 'Brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit worthy of repentance.' (Matt. III, 7; Luke III, 7) So, whoever has received Christ's baptism, let them remove evil from their heart and cease to do evil, and afterwards learn to do good, according to what is commanded elsewhere: 'Turn away from evil and do good.' (Ps. XXXVI, 27)
Learn to do good. Therefore virtue must be learned, and the good of nature alone is not sufficient for justice, unless someone is educated in appropriate disciplines (I Pet. II, 11). Jesus also son of Sirach speaks as follows: You have desired wisdom, keep the commandments, and the Lord will give it to you. And in the following, the same Isaiah mentions: Everyone who has not learned justice on earth will not do truth (Ch. XXVI, 10, sec. LXX). Therefore, justice must be learned, and the thresholds of wise teachers must be worn away.
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(Verse 18) Seek justice, come to the aid of the oppressed, judge the orphan, defend the widow; and come, argue with me," says the Lord. The sacrificial laws of the Jews are replaced by the commands of the Gospel, and therefore provision is made for orphans and widows, so that the spouses and children can proceed to war without concern for their protection. But when you do these things, argue with me if I do not give the rewards that I have promised. However, when he says, "Seek justice," he shows that not everyone judges correctly, but only those who are prudent. Finally, Solomon, in a vision through a dream, asked this of the Lord: that having received wisdom, he would justly judge the people.If your sins are scarlet, they shall be made white as snow; and if they are red like crimson, they shall be white as wool. The primary order is this: for it is not enough to say 'be washed', unless it is joined with 'be made clean': so that after the washing of the heart they may have the purity of life. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8). And when they have the purity of heart, they must remove evil from their minds, not in the sight of men, but in the sight of God, who can conceal nothing. And that joins: Rest from acting perversely, that Evangelical saying sounds: Behold, you have been made whole: now do not sin, lest something worse happen to you (John 5, 14). Therefore, departing from vices, let him learn what is good, seek judgment, assist the oppressed, support the orphan and the widow: and if he does this, then the sins, which were previously as scarlet, will be forgiven: and the works of blood and flesh will be changed by the garment of the Lord, which is made from the fleece of the Lamb, whom they follow in the Apocalypse (Chapter 5), those who shine with the whiteness of virginity.
1:19-26
(Verse 19, 26.) If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Free will is preserved, so that on either side, not by the prejudice of God, but by the merits of each individual, there may be either punishment or reward. By the good of the land, I believe those things are meant that we read of in the psalm: I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13); and: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:3). Certainly, because he spoke to the Jews, who were not yet able to understand spiritual things, he promises them the goods of the present age, so that they may at least be enticed by the present things and do what is commanded. And because they did not want to listen, but on the contrary provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger, therefore the sword devoured them, that is, the Roman army destroyed them. And he says that all these things will happen because the mouth of the Lord has spoken. His judgment, with the sins of men remaining, cannot be changed.1:21
(Verse 21) How has the faithful city become a harlot, full of judgment: justice dwelled in it but now murderers. The Hebrew word Jalin (), which the LXX translated, means slept; and it rested, and it will rest, that is, it signifies the past and future tense. Hence, both Aquila and Theodotio say it as if in the future. But the Prophet marvels in a prophetic spirit that the city which was once faithful, or a refuge for the faithful, has suddenly become a harlot. Which indeed can be understood even in the time of Isaiah: but it is more fully referred to the passion of Christ, when all turned away, together became useless (Ps. XIII, 3). And although in Hebrew there is no Zion: yet the Seventy, in order to make the meaning more evident, added it. But Zion is a mountain on which the city of Jerusalem was founded: which, after being captured by David, was called the city of David. Nor do I doubt that there were holy men in it when it had the tabernacle of God, and afterwards the Temple was built: when Nathan and Gad prophesied: and over the choirs (which are more fully described in the book of Chronicles) Asaph, and Idithun, and Eman, and the sons of Kore were appointed, so that religion might gradually transition from the sacrifices of victims to the praises of the Lord (I Chr. XXV). Therefore, the city of the faithful, which was once full of judgment and justice, now is full of murderers: those who killed the prophets and the Lord Himself, the Savior. But Jerusalem's fornication, how she spread her legs to everyone passing by, is depicted by the name Oolibah in the book of Ezekiel, which means 'my tent is in her,' which is now expressed in different words as 'justice has rested in her.' For 'justice' in Hebrew is written as Sedec (), which sounds more like 'just' than 'justice,' so that we may understand that the Lord dwelled in her first, as it is said elsewhere: 'But what has the just one done?' The Lord is in his holy temple: the Lord's throne is in heaven. (Psalm 11:4) We can interpret all these things allegorically in reference to the soul of a once holy man, in which God's righteousness resided before he sinned, and in which demonic murderers dwelled as guests of God.1:22
(Verse 22.) Your silver has turned into dross. The city of Zion speaks, in which righteousness once rested: that silver, namely the doctrine of the Scriptures, about which we read in the Psalms: The words of the Lord are pure words: silver tried by fire, purified seven times (Psalm 12:6), has turned into dross, which in Hebrew is called Sigim: namely, the rust of metals, or impurities and dirt, which are refined by fire, so that it may keep the metaphor because he mentioned silver. However, it can also be said that the righteous and holy men who previously lived in the city later fell into the filth of sins.Your innkeepers mix wine with water. For Symmachus translated, Your wine is mixed with water. And the meaning is: The law of God, pure and sincere, and (so to speak) supported by pure truth (Matth. XV), was violated by the traditions of the Pharisees: which the Lord more fully teaches in the Gospel, that they have neglected the law of God and followed the commandments of men. And every teacher who, as much as he can, corrects those who listen to the severity of the Scriptures, turns them towards grace: and he speaks in such a way that he does not correct but pleases his listeners; he violates the wine of the holy Scriptures and corrupts it with his own interpretation. Heretics also corrupt the evangelical truth with wicked intelligence, and they are the worst merchants, making water out of wine, when on the contrary our Lord turned water into wine (John 2), and such wine that the master of the feast marveled at; just as the queen of Sheba marveled at the attendants and wine stewards at the banquet of Solomon, praising them with her voice (2 Chronicles 9). But even Ecclesiastes describes the ministries of wine and his own banquet in mystical language (Ecclesiastes 2). Aquila, συμπόσιον, that is, convivium, is interpreted as a drinking party, which among the Greeks is rightly called ἀπὸ τοῦ πότου, but among us it is more accurately referred to as a feast.
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(Verse 23.) Your leaders were disobedient, partners of thieves. Aquila, departing from the disobedient, interpreted for Symmachus, who turned aside. But the leaders called the scribes and the Pharisees, who departed from the Lord, indeed, abandoning the path of truth, they walked in a crooked way, and became accomplices of the traitor and the thieves of Judah. Indeed, we must be careful not to be called thieves ourselves, but rather partners of thieves, by accepting gifts from the people of the world who accumulate riches through the tears of the poor and through robberies. And it is said to us, You saw a thief, and you ran with him, and with adulterers you set your portion (Ps. 49:18).Everyone loves gifts, they pursue rewards. Even those who love gifts are counted among the vices. It is not said about those who receive: for this often happens out of necessity; but about those who do not consider friends unless they have received gifts from them: they do not consider their friends' faces, but their hands; and they judge as holy those whose purse they empty; about whom Ecclesiastes also speaks: Whoever loves money will not be satisfied with money (Eccles. V, 9). Such are the following retaliations, that they praise those from whom they have received something, or certainly they give nothing unless they think they will receive it from whom. As for retaliations, Symmachus interpreted them as vicissitudes or vengeance, so that those who repay evil for evil and tooth for tooth, eye for eye (Exod. XXI) are also at fault; and they do not imitate that of David: If I have repaid those who repay me with evil (Psal. VII, 5); and of Jeremiah saying of the just man: He will give his cheek to the striker, he will be filled with reproaches (Lam. III, 30): to fulfill the Evangelical man, about whom it is said: If someone strikes you on the cheek, offer him the other cheek also (Matth. V, 39).
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(Verse 24) For this reason, says the Lord of hosts, the strong one of Israel: For the strong one of Israel, because they all similarly changed, only the seventy, desiring something unknown, set down: Woe to the strong ones of Israel; which we can explain in this way, saying, even the princes and the robust ones will be rebuked, of whom it is written: The powerful ones will bear torments powerfully (Wisdom 6:7); and: To whom much is given, much will be required from him (Luke 12:48). We will use this testimony, if ever there is a need to oppose the leaders of the Church, who undermine their own dignity with their actions.Alas, I will find comfort in my enemies, and I will avenge my adversaries. Furthermore, in this, which is not found in Hebrew, they place the Seventy, 'For my wrath has not ceased against my enemies.' However, the Scribe and the Pharisees are rebuked, of whom also it speaks in the Gospel: Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees! (Matthew 23:13ff). And in another place: An adulterous and perverse generation seeks a sign, and a sign will not be given to it except the sign of Jonah the prophet (Matthew 12:39). But the most merciful Father laments over the guilty princes and calls them his enemies, and he calls his enemies, because they perish, because they do not want to repent, because they did not receive him when he came. As he approached Jerusalem, he wept and said: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the Prophets and stones those who were sent to you, how often I wanted to gather your children, as a hen gathers her chicks, and you did not want to! Therefore, the consolation of God towards his enemies and adversaries is that those who have not perceived his kindness may be corrected by punishments.
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(Verse 25) And I will turn my hand against you; and I will thoroughly purge away your dross and take away all your alloy. Regarding the dross, which Symmachus interpreted as 'στέμφυλα' (clusters of grapes), Aquila as 'γιγαρτῶδες' (bunch of grapes), and Theodotion as 'acinum uvae' (grape kernel), the Septuagint alone, translating more the sense than the words, understood it as 'unbelievers' or 'disobedient ones'. For after he had said, 'Your silver has become dross,' he now uses a metaphor, that he may stretch out his hand over it, that is, extend his hand for punishment and cleansing, and purge away all the filth and vices of sins, so that, the alloy being separated, pure silver may remain, which cannot be made without fire, through which he signifies that they will suffer torments. We also read in Malachi about the Lord: He will come forth like a flame of a smelting furnace, and like the herb of the fullers, and He will sit refining and purifying like silver and gold; and He will purify the sons of Levi (Malachi 3:2-3), so that after they have been cleansed, it may be said of them: And they shall be the Lord's offering in righteousness. Ezekiel also says that the whole house of Israel is mixed with brass, iron, lead, and tin, and needs to be purified; so that after it has been purified, it may recognize that He is the Lord (Ezekiel 22:18). But also in the Gospel under another metaphor the same meaning is shown: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his floor and gather his wheat into the barn; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. (Matthew 3:12).1:26
(Verse 26.) And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city. Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and her penitents with righteousness. But rebels and sinners shall be broken together, and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed. For they shall be ashamed of the oaks that you desired, and you shall blush for the gardens that you have chosen. For you shall be like an oak whose leaf withers, and like a garden without water. And the strong shall become tinder, and his work a spark, and both of them shall burn together, with none to quench them. Your chosen trees shall become fuel for the fire, and the people shall labor in vain, and the nations shall weary themselves for nothing. The Lord's hand shall be raised against Mount Zion, and he will lay it waste; its fields shall become a desolation, and its cities a ruin. Then will the Lord cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and storm and hailstones. The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the Lord, when he strikes with his rod. And every stroke of the appointed staff that the Lord lays on them will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them. For a burning place has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it. Therefore, it will restore the likeness of the Judges: either after the Babylonian captivity, as the Jews desire, Zerubbabel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and the other leaders who governed the people until Hircanus, whom Herod succeeded in the kingdom; or certainly, more truly and rightly, the Apostles, and those who believed through the Apostles, and were established as leaders of the Church, as we have said at the beginning of this vision, that both the warning and the promise pertain to the time of the Lord's passion, and to the faith which he founded the Church after his passion.After this you shall be called the city of the just, the faithful city. These things clearly pertain to the Church, which will believe in the Lord, both concerning the Jews and the Gentiles, as the prophetic word includes. However, the city of the just, that is, of the Lord Savior, shall also be called just, of which it is said: A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden (Matt. 5:14). Calling it faithful, he also indicates that it should be called a metropolis according to the Septuagint, by those who will believe in the Lord.
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(Verse 27-29.) Zion will be redeemed by justice, and they will bring her back to righteousness. And it will crush the wicked and sinners together; and those who have forsaken the Lord will be consumed. For they will be confounded by the idols to which they sacrificed, and you will be ashamed of the gardens you have chosen. Not all will be redeemed, nor will all be saved, but only the remnant, as mentioned before. However, they will be brought back to righteousness once the wicked and sinners have been crushed, and those who have forsaken the Lord will be consumed. And when they are saved, they will be ashamed of those who previously sacrificed to idols, and they will blush in the gardens they had chosen. However, it signifies places of luxury, groves and forests.1:30
(Verse 30) For they will be like a terebinth tree with falling leaves; and like a garden, or a paradise, without water. Until today, the Jews reading the holy Scriptures are like terebinth trees or oaks, as Symmachus interpreted. And according to the Gospel (Matthew 21), the withered fig tree, from which the Lord sought fruits and did not find any, he cursed with eternal dryness. But even the leaves and fruits of words have now ceased to be among them: the well-watered garden, that is, the knowledge of the Scriptures, or the paradise of various trees, which is without spiritual grace, does not even produce vegetables, about which the Apostle speaks: Let him that is weak eat vegetables (Romans 14:2). And with dried roots, all the freshness has turned into dryness and decay.1:31
(Verse 31.) And your strength will be like the ash of the broom. For ash, ἀποτίναγμα is interpreted by Symmachus: when the broom is beaten, and whatever dirt it has is thrown away. So all the strength and pride of the sinners and evildoers of Israel, who have forsaken the Lord, and therefore have been consumed: and they have sacrificed to idols, and are ashamed in the gardens, which they have chosen; they will be reduced to the refuse of the broom, which is consumed by a light fire. For it follows: And her work, that is, your strength, or idolatry, in which you have erred, will be consumed by a small spark.And both will be kindled together: and there will be no one to extinguish it. And surely the knowledge of the Jews, and all the works they do, whether it be idolatry or Jerusalem, in which idolatry was found: and when the Lord kindles it, no one will be able to extinguish it. All these things we can understand about conflicting teachings: that both teachers and disciples will perish together, and all their works will be fuel for the fire.
2:1
(Chapter 2, Verse 1) The word that Isaiah, the son of Amos, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And in the previous Vision, which we have already explained, where the Septuagint translates it, it is written in Hebrew as 'Al Juda Ujerusalem' (); and in this second one, it is likewise contained in Hebrew. And I wonder why the Septuagint interpreters said 'concerning Judah and Jerusalem' in that one, and 'about Judah and Jerusalem' in this one; unless perhaps because there it is called a sinful nation, a people full of sins, an evil seed, sons of iniquity, and princes of Sodom, and people of Gomorrah, and a harlot city, and other such things, they translated more for the sense rather than the word: and here, because prosperity is immediately promised: In the last days, the mountain of the Lord shall be revealed, and the house of God on the top of the mountains, not against Judah and Jerusalem, but about Judah and Jerusalem they understood the prophecy: since we also read in that one, after the threat of prosperity: I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as in the beginning: after this you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city; and in this one, after prosperity, there shall be a fierce threat. Behold, the Lord, the ruler of hosts, will take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the mighty and strong, all the strength of bread and all the strength of water, and the rest. Therefore, according to the Hebrew and in that vision, and in that discourse which Isaiah, the son of Amos, saw, it is to be understood about Judah and Jerusalem: not against Judah and Jerusalem, or for Judah and Jerusalem, as Symmachus translated: but absolutely, about Judah and Jerusalem, in which both joyful and sad things can be contained. And this should be considered, that there he may see a vision; here the Word, which was in the beginning with God: and in that place threatening the Jews, he may come for the salvation of the Gentiles; in this place, starting from the salvation of the Gentiles, punishing Israel, he may gather those who believe in Christ's Church from both callings.2:2
(Verse 2) And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of the mountains. In the Book of Genesis, we read about the last days, where Jacob called his sons and said to them: Come, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days (Gen. XLIX, 1): later to Judah, from whose lineage Christ was born, he said: The prince shall not fail from Judah, nor the ruler from his thigh, until he comes to whom it is laid up: and he shall be the expectation of the nations. In his last days there will be the final hour, of which the Apostle John speaks: Little children, it is the last hour (2 John 1:18); in which a stone cut without hands grew into a great mountain and filled the whole earth: from which the prince of Tyre is said to be wounded in Ezekiel (Ezekiel 8:16, according to the Septuagint). This mountain is in the house of the Lord, which the Prophet longs for, saying: One thing I have asked of the Lord, this I will seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life (Psalm 27:4); and of which Paul writes to Timothy: But if I delay, I write so that you may know how it is necessary to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth (1 Timothy 3:15). This house has been built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, who themselves are also the mountains, as imitators of Christ (Ephesians 2). Of this house, the Psalmist proclaims: Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which will not be moved forever, those who dwell in Jerusalem. Mountains surround it, and the Lord surrounds his people (Psalm 125:1). Therefore, Christ builds the Church upon one of the mountains and says to him: You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). What does it matter to one who longs for his own soul, and eagerly desires to see the house of God, that the saint speaks: Why are you downcast, my soul, and why are you troubled? (Psalm 41:6) And again: I remembered this and poured out my soul within me, for I shall pass over to the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God: in the voice of rejoicing and confession, the sound of those feasting. (Ibid., 5). They have moved, O Lord, your manifest mountain, and the house of God above the heads of the mountains. (Psalm 67:26). Which testimony Micah the prophet also gave in the same words, which I have explained in its place (Micah 1).And he shall be lifted up upon the hills. He who is shown and prepared on the heads of the mountains, he shall be lifted up upon the hills. Concerning those mountains and hills, in the Song of Songs the bride speaks: The voice of my brother: behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills: my brother is like a roe or a young hart on the mountains of Bethel (Song of Songs 2:8-9).
And all nations shall flow unto him: all peoples shall come. For all nations shall serve him, to whom it was said: Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thy inheritance, and the ends of the earth for thy possession (Psalm 2:8); that they may serve him under one yoke, as the same prophet testifies: From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, the children of my dispersed, shall bring me an offering (Zephaniah 3:10). And in the seventy-first psalm we read: In his sight the Ethiopians shall fall down (Psalm 71:9). In the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.
2:3
(Verse 3.) And they shall say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob: and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths. The nations and peoples, not content with their own salvation, will encourage one another and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob. Concerning these, as we have said before, it is the mountain of the Lord that is prepared and the house of the Lord that is established upon the top of the mountains. But the house of the Lord is called the house of the God of Jacob, so that we may receive the Old Testament and not, like the Manicheans, seek another house outside the house of the God of Jacob. But when we are in the house of the God of Jacob, then he will teach us his ways, by which we will walk towards him, and we will walk in his paths, which others have also walked. Finally, Jesus, ascending the mountain, taught his disciples the eight beatitudes, and other things which are included in the Gospel discourse (Luke VI). First, the ways of the Lord must be descended; and afterwards, we must walk in his paths.For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Many nations and peoples will come together and say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and so on. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, not from Sinai, or from the wilderness, or from Mount Horeb, but from Mount Zion, where Jerusalem is built, and from Jerusalem, where the Temple and the worship of God are. We read that often the Lord taught in the Temple (Matthew 13), and that it was not fitting for a prophet to die outside of Jerusalem, and that both the word and the law are named together. The rulers are commanded to hear the word, and the people to perceive the law with their ears. Whoever makes the law first, later comes to the word of God. But also in Jerusalem, the first Church founded scattered the churches of the whole world. And it is to be said that whoever is in the watchtower and in the vision of peace, in this is the law and the word of the Lord established. And beautifully he said: in Zion and in Jerusalem there will be, and the word and law of the Lord will remain; but it will go forth, so that from that fountain all nations may be signified to be irrigated by the teaching of God.
And he shall judge the people, and shall reprove many nations. Therefore, judging must also take place among the nations: not all unbelievers are to be condemned with the same judgment, but they will suffer different things according to the diversity of their merits. But after the nations have been judged, then he shall reprove many peoples, or as the Septuagint translated it, a multitude of people. And note the order: the nations shall be judged, because they will believe. For he who does not believe has already been judged (John 3:18). But the multitude, which is understood as Israel, will by no means be judged, but will be reproved, because it did not receive the Son of God sent to them.
2:4
(Verse 4.) And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. All the eagerness for war will be turned to peace, and instead of discord there will be harmony throughout the world. Swords will be transformed into plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks, so that, having set aside the frenzy of warfare, they may serve agriculture, and with fruitful sickles they may reap abundant harvests. This can also be understood spiritually, when every hardness of our hearts is broken by the plowshare of Christ, and the thorns of vices are uprooted, so that the seed of God's word may grow into fruits: and afterwards we shall enjoy the fruits of our labors, when those who sow in tears shall come in joy, carrying their sheaves (Psalm 126:6).34 The nations will not lift sword against nation, nor will they learn war anymore. Let us revisit the ancient histories, and we will find that until the twenty-eighth year of the reign of Caesar Augustus (in whose forty-first year Christ was born in Judaea), there was discord throughout the whole world, and each nation rose up against its neighboring peoples with a desire for battle, so that they would strike and be struck. But when the Lord and Savior arose, at the time when a census was first taken of the whole world under the governorship of Syria by Quirinius, and peace was prepared for the Evangelical doctrine by the Roman Empire, all wars ceased, and they were no longer exercised in battles through towns and villages, but were instead devoted to the cultivation of the land, with the duty of fighting against barbarian nations being entrusted solely to Roman soldiers and legions. This was when that song of the angels was fulfilled: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will (Luke 2:14); and in his days justice and a multitude of peace arose.
2:5-6
(Vers. 5, 6.) Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the Lord: for you have cast off your people, the house of Jacob. After the calling of the Gentiles, and the manifestation of the mountain of the Lord upon the top of the mountains, to His people, that is, the people of Judah, who is called the house of Jacob, the Prophet turns and exhorts them, so that those who are in the darkness of error may receive the light of truth and walk in the light of the Lord. And he sings in a certain way the words of David: Come to Him and be enlightened, and your faces shall not be confounded (Ps. 33:6). For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, so that their works may not be exposed. But you, O house of Jacob, the people of my nation, come with me, and let us walk together in the light of the Lord. Let us receive the Gospel of Christ, and let us be enlightened by him who says: 'I am the light of the world' (John 8:12). And when he had spoken this to the people of the Jews, seeing their unrepentant hearts and their souls hardened by disbelief, he makes an address to the Lord and says: Therefore, I urge them to come to you and partake of your light with me, because they have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob, due to the deservedness of their sins.2:7
(Verse 7) Because they were once filled, and they had augurs, like the Philistines. For the Philistines always interpreted seventy foreign guests as their own, a common name for a particular people, which is today the nation of the Palestinians, as if they were Philistines, because the Hebrew language does not have the letter P; but instead uses the Greek letter Phi. Therefore, what is said in the Psalms, with the enumeration of other nations: "Foreigners have submitted to me" (Psalm 59:10), does not mean all foreign nations, but specifically the Palestinians. And the reasons why God expelled his people, the house of Jacob, from Reddit are as follows: because, as he says, they were full, just as they were in the beginning, of soothsayers, and omens, and all the filth of idolatry. We know, from Moses' writing, that we should not pay attention to omens or auguries, which the nations that the Lord expelled from the presence of Israel, the Canaanites, the Amorites, and the Hittites, practiced. The interpreters of the Church have interpreted this passage differently, one from another. What does this want to signify? That, after the population of the Jews was expelled, the Roman army entered the land once promised; and after the Jews were driven out, foreign peoples inhabited Judea, who were immigrants from different nations all over the world, brought by Titus, Vespasian, Hadrian, and other leaders. However, others think that this does not pertain to Roman times, but to earlier times, before they were devastated by the Babylonians, as they are said to have been under impious kings and were abandoned by the Lord.And they befriended foreign boys. For which reason, seventy were transferred: And many children of foreigners were born to them. Symmachus: And they applauded with foreign children. For which reason, it is written in Hebrew, 'they adhaeserunt', which the Hebrews interpret as ἐσφηνώθησαν, and we translate as 'they befriended', in order to display the shamefulness of vices in the Jewish nation. In fact, the Greeks and Romans were once afflicted by this vice, so much so that even the most renowned philosophers of Greece openly had lovers: and Adrian, skilled in the arts of philosophy, consecrated Antinous as a god, and established a temple for him, along with sacrifices and priests, and from him the city and region of Egypt received its name. Also, among the prostitutes in the brothels, boys stood exposed to public lust: until under the emperor Constantine, the shining Gospel of Christ, and the infidelity of all nations, and this wickedness was abolished. Moreover, the fact that their wives were violated by the Jews is indicated by the number seventy, which signifies the production of alien children. Symmachus, in a certain oration, with an honorable discourse, demonstrated the same abomination with boys.
2:8
(Verse 8) And the land was filled with silver and gold, and there was no end to its treasure. Among the other vices of the earth, the house of Jacob is also counted for its abundance of gold and silver. Among all the omens and divinations, the horses and chariots that God prohibited the kings of Israel from multiplying are condemned. Among the idols, which are the works of human hands, greed is condemned. Therefore, the Lord commanded in the Gospel not to store up treasures for ourselves on earth, and not to make treasures that can be stolen by thieves, ultimately stating: You cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24). However, that little phrase is beautiful: The miser always lacks, as the Prophet indicates with these words: 'And there is no end to his treasures.' Not that treasures do not have an end, but that the mind of the possessor is not satisfied. Both the Jewish and Roman nations are stung by these words of greed. Indeed, both Greek and Latin histories recount that there is nothing more greedy than the Jewish and Roman peoples. The law on recovering misappropriated funds was established, and we see every day that Apostolic saying being fulfilled: You who forbid stealing, do you steal? (Rom. II, 21). The judge hears the thief and condemns the more thieving judge, while passing judgment on someone else.And his land is filled with horses and his innumerable chariots. For it is not worthy to be numbered what is possessed against the command of God. Hence it says in the Psalms: A deceitful horse for salvation (Psalm 32:17). And in Exodus: He threw the horse and the charioteer into the sea (Exodus 15:1). And in another psalm: Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will invoke the name of the Lord our God (Psalm 20:8). However, both can be understood, that the people of Judah multiplied horses and chariots against God's command, and that the land of Judah is filled with the horses and chariots of the victors.
2:9
(Verse 9) And his land was filled with idols: they worshipped the work of their own hands, what their fingers have made. And man bowed down, and the man was humbled. Where once stood the Temple and the religion of God, there stood the statue of Hadrian and the idol of Jupiter. Many interpret this as a testimony, which we read in the Gospel: But when you see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place (Mark 13:14). And they inclined the works of their hands: and man, a rational animal, adored copper and stone. However, there are those who interpret these things about the Jews, that before they were taken captive by the Babylonians, they did all these things, and therefore they were abandoned by God. Therefore, at the end of the chapter it is stated: Therefore, do not let them go. In accordance with the anagoge, we can also say this, that every doctrine contrary to truth adores the works of its own hands, and establishes idols in its own land, and man is bowed down, and the man is humbled, and he cannot raise himself up: because he is bound by the devil, unless the Lord raises him up, like that woman whom Satan had bound for eighteen years, so that she could never look up to heaven, but constantly looked at the earth (Luke 13).Therefore, do not let them go. For this is how the Seventy translated it: And I will not let them go. If God is speaking, it is to be understood thus: Because they have done so much, I will not spare them, nor will I forgive such countless sins. If it is the Prophet speaking, it is to be understood thus: Therefore, do not let them go, those who have committed such wickedness. But if we understand it of the Romans, the truer interpretation is: those who have overthrown the temple of God did not worship Him who granted victory, but instead worshipped idols made by their own hands. But if we speak about the Jewish people, the Prophets' words are harsh, as if they seem to pray against their own people, to whom he had said before: House of Jacob, come, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.
2:10
(Verse 10) Enter into the rock: Hide in the pit, covered by the ground, from the face of the fear of the Lord and from the glory of His majesty. Indeed, I have exhorted the people, saying: House of Jacob, come and let us walk in the light of the Lord. But because the Lord has cast away the people of Jacob; for He has cast away, either because He has done it, or He has allowed it, as we have explained above; therefore, I foretell to you the evils that are to come, and I exhort you to enter the rocks and hide in the caves from the face of the Babylonian or Roman army, when all things will be devastated, according to what we read in the Gospel: Then they will say to the mountains, "Fall on us"; and to the rocks, "Hide us" (Luke 23:30). According to the anagoge, it is commanded to us from the face of the Lord's majesty that we assume the strength of the rock, of which it is said: The rock is a refuge for the hares (Ps. 103:18). And, On the rock you have exalted me (Ps. 26:6). Moses is also placed in the hole of the rock, to see the later things of God (Exod. 33). And, The people drank from the spiritual rock that followed them (1 Cor. 10:4). And he who enters his chamber is hidden in the rock, and with the door closed he worships the Father, so that in his earthly body he does not feel the passing storms of the world.2:11
(Verse 11) The lofty eyes of man will be humbled, and the pride of men will be brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. When the enemies come and the Babylonian or Roman sword devastates every province, and the armies of warriors surround Jerusalem, then neither wealth, nor noble birth, nor the power of dignitaries will be able to defend anyone; but there will be one captivity for all, and only God will be exalted, and no one will be able to escape his wrath. Many understand this about the day of judgment, that every creature is humbled and bowed down in comparison to the divine glory, and feels that it is nothing.2:12
(Verse 12) For the day of the Lord of hosts shall come upon all that is proud and lofty, and upon all that is arrogant; and they shall be brought low. These things are connected to the preceding ones. On that day, he says, the Lord alone shall be exalted, that is, on the day of the Lord's vengeance, the lofty and arrogant, and the high and mighty, shall be subjected to captivity and the sword. However, metaphorically speaking, the discourse pertains to the great and the princes: the more they exalt themselves, the more they shall be humbled. For the Lord resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble (1 Pet. 5). Those who understand the day of judgment believe that the proud and lofty and exalted and arrogant are called the devil. Whoever speaks in pride says: I will set my throne above the stars of heaven; I will sit on the high mountain, above all the lofty mountains to the north; I will ascend above the clouds, I will be like the Highest (Isa. 14:13-14): when praise is perfected from the mouths of infants and nursing babies, so that the enemy and avenger may be destroyed (Ps. 8:3).2:13
(Verse 13) And above all the tall and erect cedars of Lebanon, and above all the oaks of Bashan. And in the twenty-eighth psalm it is sung: The voice of the Lord breaking the cedars; the Lord will break the cedars of Lebanon and crush them like the calf of Lebanon (Psalm 28:5). And in the thirty-sixth psalm: I saw the wicked exalted and raised up like the cedars of Lebanon, and I passed by, and he was no more, and I searched for him, and his place was not found (Psalm 6:34). Basan also signifies the oak trees, which Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotio have interpreted as δρύας, as well as the acorns. We know that they bear fruit, but they are food for pigs, not for humans. Basan is a region in Arabia, over which Og ruled, who is called the king of Basan, and it is interpreted as αἰσχύνη, that is, ignominy. If we wanted to translate it into confusion, it would mean σύγχυσιν, that is, Babylon, more than Basan. Therefore, the vengeance of the Lord will rise against all those who rise up in arrogance, engage in ignominious acts, and revel in the filth of lust. But if a discerning reader should ask why cedar wood is placed in the temple of the Lord, and why we read in Psalm 103 according to the Hebrew truth, 'The trees of the Lord shall be satisfied, the cedars of Lebanon, which thou hast planted: there the sparrows shall make their nests' (Psalm 103:18); and among the other trees even the cedars are called to praise the Lord; and in the coming of the Savior, when all the trees and the trees of the field shall clap their hands with their branches, it is written, 'I will set in the dry land a cedar and box tree, and a cypress, and a pine' (Isaiah 41:19, LXX): and now does the prophetic word threaten the day of the Lord upon the cedars of Lebanon? This must be said, that from the same kind of men, some are exalted to the kingdom, others are brought down to punishment, and the cedars of Lebanon, which are crushed because of their pride, are chosen when they have a good fragrance, and when they have said with the Apostle: We are the sweet odor of Christ (I Cor. II, 15).2:14
(Verse 14.) And above all high mountains, and above all elevated hills. Just as for the variety of virtues, mountains and hills are called good things: so among the impious for the diversity of vices, and especially pride, some are mountains, some are hills, over which the day of the Lord will come, of which it is written in Ezekiel: Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and hills: behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and your high places shall be destroyed, and your altars shall be broken down, and the rest (Ezech. VI, 3).2:15
(Verse 15) And over every high tower, and over every fortified wall. Those who refer these times to Vespasian and Adrian, say that the things written have been fulfilled in bodily form, that neither a high tower, nor a strongest wall, nor any multitude of ships and the industry of commerce, were able to prevail against the power of the Roman army; but such fear had come upon the inhabitants of Judea, that they themselves, along with their wives and children, thinking that gold and silver would be of help to them, were submerged in the pits of the earth, and sought the deepest caves. For if the belly of the voracious and luxurious is God, why should gold and silver not be called God? Others refer these things to the times of Babylon. Therefore, according to the laws of tropology, let us go through each individual thing. A tower is built either for the defense of the city or for a lookout, so that the approaching enemy can be seen from afar. Therefore, each one of us must build a tower, after calculating the expenses, lest, according to the Gospel parable (Luke 14), when he cannot complete the work, he be laughed at. This well-constructed tower will persist. But if it is built in pride and does not have a strong foundation, it will fall on the one from whom it was built, just like that tower in Siloam, which killed eighteen men. Therefore, the Lord speaks to those who hear: 'And unless you repent, you will all likewise perish' (Luke 13:3). We will also read in the following that the Lord built a tower in his vineyard and made a winepress, and surrounded it with a wall, but all of these were destroyed and laid waste because they swelled with the empty pride of their arrogance (Isaiah 5). They also build high walls so that the city is not quickly destroyed, so that it is not open to enemies who surround it, fortified by men of great wisdom and by every means, so that no false doctrine prevails over the truth. God speaks about these walls to Jerusalem: 'Behold, I have depicted your walls on my hands, and they are always before me.' (Jeremiah XLV, 16, trans. LXX). But if those who had previously attacked the Church, upon discovering the truth, turn to faith and fight for it, which they had previously attacked, then this will be fulfilled: 'You will quickly be rebuilt by those by whom you were destroyed.' (Ibid., 17). In Leviticus, we also read that a house, which is in walled cities, if it has not been redeemed within a year, shall be confirmed to the buyer as a permanent possession, but if it is in villages and towns that do not have walls, it can always be redeemed, and the price of the buyer may fluctuate (Lev. XXV).2:16
(Verse 16.) And over all the ships of Tarshish, and over everything that is beautiful to see. Regarding Tarshish, which all similarly transferred, only seventy interpreted the sea. The Hebrews believe that the sea of Tarshish is properly called () in their language, but when it is said Iam (), it is not called in the Hebrew language, but in the Syriac language. Josaphat also had ships that he would send to Tarshish (3 Kings 22:49), but they were broken in Asiongaber. Solomon also had ships that went to Tharsis (III Kings X, 22), and they would return after three years, bringing the king silver and gold, ivory and apes. But because both kings had sinned, one being devoted to pleasure and loving foreign women, and the other forming alliances with the king of Samaria, both of these actions are referred to the Gentiles and heretics, in whom there is nothing more than the appearance of eloquence, a sense constructed by the diabolical art, and a dead language that is interpreted in the teeth, and a likeness of human reason that is perceived in the apes. Therefore, in the Psalms, we read, “With a violent spirit, you will shatter the ships of Tharsis” (Psalm XLVII, 8). And concerning these ships, Isaiah also speaks; Woe to the wings of the ships, which are beyond Ethiopia (Below, chapter XVIII, 1, section LXX). But on the other hand, there are also good ships, of which it is said in the same psalms: Those who go down to the sea in ships, and do business in many waters. They have seen the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep (Ps. CVI, 23). For those who are not idle in the waves of this world, but work and carry the Lord's goods, and hasten to come to the harbor of rest, they see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep, when they have reached profound knowledge, and have searched out everything, that is, when they have also beheld the deep things of God and his wonders. Josephus believes that Tharsis is the city of Tarsus in Cilicia, while others think it is a region of India, and they also say that the gemstone called Chrysolithus, which we call Chrysolite, is named after this region because of its similar color to the sea. However, it is better to understand Tharsis as either the sea or the ocean. For Jonah, sailing from Joppa, could not reach India, which cannot be reached by the sea he sailed on; but he simply went out to sea and traveled to any islands. And what follows: And above all that is beautiful to see: or as the LXX translated, And above every aspect of the beauty of ships, to be understood in the same sense, that whatever is beautiful in words and constructed by human reason may be destroyed from the day of the Lord if it rises up against the knowledge of God.2:18
(Verse 18) And the pride of men shall be humbled, and the lofty heights of men shall be brought low, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day, and all idols shall be utterly crushed. Human discourse seems to have reason as long as it is not compared to divine knowledge. But when falsehood approaches truth like straw to fire, it is quickly consumed and perishes, and all the doctrines of falsity, which are now called idols, because they are feigned and fabricated, shall be utterly crushed.2:19
(Verse 19) On that day, a man will cast away his silver idols and his gold images that he made for himself to worship moles and bats. He will enter the clefts of the rocks and the crevices of the cliffs, from the terror of the Lord and the splendor of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth. We have often spoken of silver and gold in a figurative sense, expressing their capacity to speak or feel God, and praise their Creator, since they were given by God to humans for this purpose. However, they misuse this gift by using it to simulate idols, as it is written: I gave them silver and gold, but they used it to make Baal idols (Hosea 2:8). Therefore, when someone, terrified by the fear of the Lord, first places idols in the cave of their heart and hides them in the depths of the earth, not daring to bring forth what they have wrongly conceived, they make progress by throwing away what has been carved and refusing to allow it to exist within themselves. Concerning the moles, which we have interpreted as seventy, the Aquila put stones, Symmachus put unfruitful things, and Theodotion put the Hebrew word Pharpharoth(). Now, the animal is blind, always digging into the earth, excavating the soil, and feeding on roots, harmful to crops: the Greeks call it aspalax. The bat, however, is a nocturnal bird, which received its fitting name νυκτερὶς because it flies at night. It is a small animal, similar to a mouse, not resonating so much with voice and song, as with a shrill sound. Since it appears to be flying, it shuns the light and does not tolerate seeing the sun. Idols have been compared to creatures of this kind, which dwell in blind and dark worship: and all doctrines contrary to truth. When they have been abandoned on the day of the Lord, those who have rejected them will enter into the cracks of rocks and caverns of stones, so that they may not engage in the dust of the earth and cheap mud, but be involved in sound reasoning, and find various openings of virtues through which they may be able to reach the truth. I have briefly described in this anagoge, as best I could, the times and destruction of Jerusalem that the Hebrews refer to in Babylon, when the Lord rose to strike the land of the Jews.2:20
(Verse 20.) Therefore cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for he is considered high. This was omitted by the LXX, and in the Greek copies it was added under asterisks by Origen from the edition of Aquila, which reads in Hebrew: Hedalu LachemMen Aadam Aser Nasama Baaphpho Chi Bama Nesab Hu. Where we said, he is considered high: Aquila interpreted it as, in whom he is considered high. The Hebrew word Bama (), or ὕψωμα in Greek, means 'high place' or 'exalted', which we read in both the Books of Kings and in Ezekiel. It is also written with the same letters as the Hebrew word Beth, Mem, He, and depending on the context, it can be read as Bamma, meaning 'high place', or Bama, meaning 'exalted'. Therefore, the Jews, understanding that it was a prophecy about Christ, interpreted the ambiguous word in a negative way, so that they would not appear to be praising Christ, but rather disregarding Him. For what is the consequence of words, and what is the order of reason and meaning, so that we may say: Since these things are so, and the day of the Lord is coming, when the whole Judaean state will be destroyed, and everything will be demolished: I warn and command you to refrain from a man who breathes and lives like this, for he is considered nothing. Let no one praise any man in such a way as to say: Beware lest he offend him, who is indeed nothing at all. Therefore, on the contrary, understand it in this way: Since all these things are about to happen to you and are being proclaimed by the prophetic spirit, I warn and command you to abstain from him who, according to the flesh, is indeed a man, and has a soul, and breathes in this way, and draws breath through his nostrils, just as we humans breathe and live. But according to the divine majesty, he is both exalted, esteemed, and believed. Considering silently in my mind, I cannot find a reason why they did not want to translate such a clear prophecy about Christ into Greek. For the others, indeed, who translated [the text], brought forth an ambiguous meaning towards impiety, it is not surprising why they were interpreted badly, nor did they want to say something glorious about Christ, in whom they did not believe: namely, the Jews or Semijews, that is, the Ebionites. But that Christ is exalted and highest, who is called in another language among the Hebrews, Elion (), we read in the 86th Psalm: Shall Zion say, 'This man was born in it', and the Highest himself hath founded it (Psalm 86:5)? And in the Gospel: And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High (Luke 1:76). And so that I don't go on a long rope (for in the interpretation of sacred Scriptures we should follow the truth, not contention), in this place 'Bama' among the Hebrews is not said to be lofty, but high, that is, the very height and sublimity: as if we were to say of someone, they are not divine, but divination: they are not a stream, but a fountain: they are not a man, but humanity itself. Origen interpreted this passage as follows: Because it is said singularly of one man, it can also be referred to the Lord Savior: as the Prophet commands, that they may rest from him who is esteemed in something great; although for the time being he appears as a man, and has the breath in his nostrils, just as other human beings breathe.Book Two
Book TwoI have finished the first volume of Isaiah, which I dictated in quick speech, not as I wanted, but as I could: seeking the meaning of the Scriptures rather than the words of eloquent composition. Now I will move on to the second volume, and with all the strength I have and a willing heart for the Lord, I will offer what the Prophet spoke through me: 'I have multiplied visions and have been likened to the hands of the Prophets' (Hosea 12:10). Therefore, I beg you, virgin of Christ Eustochium, that while we strive in the explanation of the Scriptures, you raise your hands to the Lord with Moses, so that we, who have crossed the Red Sea when leaving Egypt, may defeat Amalek, which signifies devouring and destroying. And with you, we may say: 'Blessed be the Lord, my God, who teaches my hands to fight and my fingers to battle' (Psalm 144:1).
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(Chapter 3, Verse 1) For behold, the Lord God of hosts will take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the mighty and strong: all the strength of bread and all the strength of water. Thus far, they think it speaks of judgment. What follows speaks of the coming captivity; some interpret it as referring to the Babylonians, others to the Romans. But it is better, as we have said before, to refer all things to the Lord's passion. For after his death, all grace and gifts were taken away from the Jews, according to what is written in the Gospel: The law and the prophets were until John the Baptist (Matthew 11:13). And there is an order: Because you refused to stop from the man, whose spirit is in his nostrils, who is considered high: but on the contrary, you shed the blood of the righteous, and you devised the worst plan, saying: Let us bind the just, for he is useless to us (Wisdom II, 12); therefore you shall eat the fruit of your inventions. There is nothing strong among the Jews after the Passion of the Lord, nothing powerful: but everything is weak and feeble. And no one can say among them: I can do all things in him who strengthens me (Philippians IV, 13), Christ Jesus our Lord. And because we read 'strong' and 'strong woman' according to the Septuagint; we can apply it to the strong man: Until we all meet the perfect man, in the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). Furthermore, strong women: I want, he says, all of you to present yourself as a chaste virgin to Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2). But strength is also found in bread, and strength in water, as food and drink are received. We read that Moses was on Mount Sinai for forty days, and did not eat bread or drink water (Exodus 34). Also to be heard is what is said to Adam: In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground from which you were taken (Gen. III, 19). Likewise, what is said by the Savior: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matth. IV, 4). Therefore, the strength of bread will be taken away from them: he who says: I am the living bread, which came down from heaven (John VI, 51). And the power of water, of which the same Lord spoke: Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again. But the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life (John 4:13). We read about such bread in Proverbs: Open your eyes and be filled with bread (Proverbs 20:13). The Jews have bread, but without strength; they have water, but without power. For they read the Scriptures, but do not understand. They hold on to the pages, and they have lost Christ, who is written in the pages (1 Corinthians 3). They are nourished with milk, like infants, and not with solid food. And because they have lost strength and are weak, they eat vegetables. But the solid food of athletes sustains human life and provides strength to the living (Romans 14). Concerning this bread and water, which are taken away from the Jews, another Prophet also testifies, saying: 'Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will send a famine on the land: not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord' (Amos 8:11).3:2
(Verse 2.) A strong and warrior man, judge and Prophet, and sorcerer, and elder. For the strong, which is only in Hebrew, both the Seventy translated as giant and strong, wanting the same person to be both giant and strong. About the strong it has been said above. But about the giant in a good sense, that is, about the Lord Savior, we read in the eighteenth psalm: He rejoiced as a giant to run his way: his going out is from the highest heaven, and his circuit reaches to the highest of it (Psalm XVIII, 8). But if we read, (Gen. X), we understand that Nimrod, who was a hunter before the Lord, was a giant and the giants (Gen. VI), for whom the flood came upon the earth, are to be understood in the opposite sense. Likewise, we understand the warrior man in the following story, that they were captured and continue to serve until this day, and have not thrown off the yoke of servitude. But they do not even have their own judges, and are subject to Roman judges, so much so that Roman princes judge their own princes who seem to be among the people. But we must also say this, that there is no warrior among them in the law, having the knowledge of judging: but all things are vain and fleeting, and full of foolishness. But concerning the Prophet, that he has ceased to exist among them, there is no doubt. We seek according to the Hebrew, how we should interpret the soothsayer, whom all have interpreted as divine: except for the seventy, who translated it as conjecture. And it must be said that often even through soothsayers future events are predicted, as we read in Balaam's divine oracle, and in the oracles of the five cities of Palestine, Gaza and Ascalon, Gath, and Ekron, and Ashdod, who give advice on how the ark of the Lord should be returned (1 Sam. 6). And the sense is: Both the true and the false will be taken away by the Jews. The elder, also known as the Seventy, understands that he was taken away by the Jews, who knew that elders are chosen based on merit and wisdom, not age, in the holy scriptures. For among the Jews, the elderly have not ceased to exist, as we often see them reaching advanced old age. And according to Theodotion, we read about two elderly presbyters in the beginning of Daniel (Dan. XIII), who endured the hardships of many days. For even Moses is commanded to choose elders whom he knows to be elders (Exod. XVIII). And the apostle Paul, in writing to Timothy, fully explains what kind of elder should be chosen (I Tim. V). Hence it is said in Proverbs: The glory of elders is their gray hair (Prov. XX, 29). What is this gray hair? Without a doubt, it is wisdom, of which it is written: The gray hair of men is their understanding (Sap. IV, 8). And while we read that men lived for nine hundred years and even more, from Adam to Abraham (Genes. XXIV), no one else is called an elder, that is, an old man, before Abraham, who is shown to have lived for far fewer years. And John also writes to children and young men, and even to the elderly, saying, I have written to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning (1 John 2:13). And Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, lost his kingdom because he did not want to listen to the elders (1 Kings 12).3:3
(Verse 3.) The leader is in charge of fifty. Συνεκδοχικῶς means 'comparatively-speaking' or 'in relation to the whole'. Just as centurions are called who are in charge of a hundred soldiers, and chiliarchs who are in charge of a thousand, whom we call tribunes because they preside over a tribe, so in the Israelite army there were quinquagenarii who were in charge of fifty soldiers. Hence we also call them decanos, who are in charge of ten men. It is not surprising if all the dignity of soldiers is lost among the Jews, since they do not have the power to fight with a sword and carry weapons. But because the number fifty always refers to penance: and the prince of penance, and the head of those who are saved by penance, is Christ: let us briefly explain the mysteries of this number. In Genesis we read, when Abraham spoke to the Lord, that if fifty righteous people are found in a city, the city will be saved. And in Numbers, there are seven weeks, that is, the most famous feast of Pentecost. The Jubilee, which is the year of remission, is woven in cycles of seven weeks, which is forty-nine years, during which trumpets sound and all ancient possessions are restored. This contains the sacrament. Therefore, David writes the fiftieth Psalm about repentance. We also read in the same book of Numbers that when it comes to the spoils and plunder, the fiftieth (or perhaps five hundredth) chapter states that both priests and Levites receive a portion of the spoils, both from the people and from the animals, and the fiftieth chapter states that the Levites, who guard the doors of the tabernacle, also receive a portion. The parable of the two debtors, one who owed five hundred denarii and the other fifty, is also related to this. And so the Apostle, among the Ephesians to whom he had explained all the mysteries, desires to remain until Pentecost, until they are completely converted to the Lord, saying: For there is a great and effective door opened to me, and there are many adversaries. However, the devil also imitates the Israelite army, of which Jethro gave his advice to Moses, to appoint leaders and officers over the people (Exodus 18). Hence, the wicked king (2 Kings 1) sent two officers with very obedient soldiers to capture Elijah, who were consumed by divine fire. But the third officer was saved, who, having turned to prayer, had come to know the sacraments of repentance. And the Jews, unwilling for Him to be the perfect Lord and the fifty-year-old prince, said to Him: You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? (John 8:57) And He, knowing that He is not only the Prince of the repentant, but also of the righteous, answered: Before Abraham was, I am. (Ibid., 58). And that the Lord is the Fifty-Year-Old Prince, we can understand from one feast, about which He says: The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. (Matthew 12:8). But if it is the Sabbath, and the Kalends. If the Kalends, and the Pascha, that is, the unleavened bread. If the Pascha, and the Jubilee. If the Jubilee, and the Tabernacles. If the Tabernacles, and the Pentecost, which is related to the fiftieth number.And with an honorable appearance, both as an advisor. They chose one admirable advisor for two reasons, that is, an honorable appearance and an advisor. Among other things, the Lord will also remove this from Judea, so that they have no advisor: but they do everything without advice. And the Greek poets have that praiseworthy and admirable saying: 'First, it is blessed to be able to reason for oneself; second, it is blessed to listen to the wise.' But whoever lacks both, he is useless, both to himself and to all. Hence we also read this in our books: Let there be many friends for you, but let there be only one counselor among a thousand (Eccl. VI, 6). And again: Do everything with counsel (Prov. XIII, 10): and it will give you admirable prudence, a counselor. Also, the decrees of the Senate are called, and the former Roman leaders were called consuls, either from advising the citizens or from governing everything with counsel. And we have in the Church our senate, the assembly of the elders. So if, among other things, Judaea has also lost its elders, how can it have the council, which belongs specifically to the elders?
And a wise architect. For whom the Eagle transferred the most wise of craftsmen, to show that they had many craftsmen once: such as that one was Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur from the tribe of Judah, whom God filled with the spirit of wisdom, and understanding, and knowledge, so that he would be the most perfect craftsman in every work, not only in gold and silver, but also in bronze and other things that Moses enumerates, who built the Tabernacle of God (Exod. 31). Therefore, with those architects perishing, all desire for building was transferred to the Church. Hence the apostle Paul says: Like a wise architect, I laid the foundation (1 Corinthians 3:10). And Jeremiah was also an architect, who not only uprooted, dug out, and destroyed, but also built (Jeremiah 18). Therefore, the same apostle speaks: We are God's farming, God's building (1 Corinthians 3:9). Our Lord is also called the builder of walls (Ephesians 2). And in the Gospel the son of a carpenter is mentioned, who created all things (Matthew 13). In the book of Kings, we also read that King Solomon sent and brought Hiram of Tyre, the son of a widow, who was from the tribe of Naphtali and had a Tyrian father, a craftsman in bronze. And he went to the king and performed all the works for King Solomon: in which is a type of building the Church, which is not only generated from the tribe of Judah, but also from Naphtali, and has a Tyrian father, who had a widowed mother; because she had lost her previous husband (1 Kings 7). And many more are the sons of the desolate one, more than she who has a husband (Isaiah 54). But also in the book of Chronicles we read about the valley of craftsmen: Saraias begot Joab, the father of the valley of craftsmen; for there were craftsmen there (1 Chronicles 4:14). They are said to dwell in the valley because knowledge did not puff them up, but they followed Jesus in humility and meekness, being able to say with the Apostle: For I am the least of the Apostles, who am not worthy to be called an Apostle (1 Corinthians 15:9). And elsewhere: In part we know, and in part we prophesy, and now we see through a glass darkly (I Cor. XIII, 9).
And the wise speaker of mystical speech. For which the Seventy have interpreted as a wise listener; Theodotion, a wise enchanter; Aquila, a wise whisperer; Symmachus, the wise speaker of mystical speech, whom we also followed in this place. It must be said first according to the Seventy; that among other spiritual gifts, a wise listener is also necessary in the Church. For to others is given prophecy: to others discernment of spirits (I Cor. XII, 10). And so, there were established among the people of the Jews certain priestly ranks to discern between prophets and false prophets: that is, to understand who spoke by the spirit of God and who spoke by the contrary spirit. Let us read Jeremiah. But this man, skilled in mystical language (Jeremiah 14), or as Theodotion preferred, an enchanter, seems to me to be learned and well-versed both in the Law and the Prophets, as well as in the Gospel and the Apostles, who can heal each disturbance of the soul with his teaching and restore it to a state of peace: so that the fornicator may receive chastity, the glutton may receive frugality, and the once greedy may give alms. He condemned all the synagogues of the Jews, and he will not be able to find a teacher who teaches sacredness, and who, having despised wealth, teaches that poverty must be followed. Concerning such sorcerers against serpents and asps, that is, against sinners who have forsaken the justice of God, David spoke in the Psalm: Sinners have been estranged from the womb: they have erred from their birth, they have spoken false things. Their fury is according to the likeness of a serpent: like the adder that stops her ears. Which will not hear the voice of the charmers; nor of the enchanter charming wisely (Psalm 67:4-5). Every word of the Apostle against serpents and asps is an incantation, which sinners and heretics do not hear, because they close their ears, so that they may not hear the truth.
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(Verse 4.) And I will give their children as princes. If this is said in the person of the Prophet: Behold, for the Lord God of hosts will take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the strong and the mighty: all the strength of bread, and all the strength of water, and the rest: how does the same prophet now speak: I will give their children as princes, and the effeminate shall rule over them? Therefore, according to the prophetic custom, while the Prophet is speaking, suddenly God speaks through the Prophet in his own person, and says: I will give their children as princes: for by taking away those things which I had given before, and by taking away as it were good things in my anger, now on the contrary I will give evil things. He was a soldier, both admirable and wise, a skilled architect and a discerning listener, etc. For these reasons, I will give birth to princes. Those who have lost a priest, whom the previous sermon revealed, just like Abraham who was first called a priest, rightly receive young princes (Genesis VII). Concerning these, we also read in Ecclesiastes: Woe to you, city, whose king is young, and whose princes eat in the morning. Blessed is the land whose king is the son of ingenuous ones (Eccles. X, 16). Such was the young king Rehoboam, son of Solomon, who followed the advice of the young men (3 Kings XII). Not because he was young in age, but in wisdom. Otherwise, it is said that he received a kingdom of forty years or more. On the other hand, Solomon was twelve years old when he assumed power, and because he had wisdom, he was called young. For there was in him a breadth of heart, and a vastness of wisdom as great as the sand on the shores of the sea. Hence the Apostle writes to Timothy, Let no one despise your youth (I Tim. IV, 12). For whoever is young in age, is old in maturity. And Daniel, according to Theodotion, before he became a judge, was called a boy (Dan. XIII). But after God stirred his spirit and he judged the elders, he received the dignity of the presbytery. Jeremiah, who had said to the Lord, 'You are my master, O Lord,' the Lord replied, 'Do not say, "I am only a youth"; for to all whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.' (Jeremiah 1:6-8) For this reason, I believe that young widows should marry, bear children, and manage their households, so as to give the opponent no occasion for slander. (1 Timothy 5) And when they have become self-indulgent in Christ, they want to marry, thus incurring condemnation, because they have set aside their first faith. And a widow is not supported by the Church's provisions unless she is sixty years old and has both the maturity of character and age. Someone may think that what the Apostle prohibits (1 Timothy 3), that a bishop should not be a neophyte, pertains to this, because he is a little one in faith, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the judgment of the devil. But the judgment of the devil is nothing else but pride, because of which he fell from heavenly things. Hence the Savior speaks, 'I saw Satan, like lightning falling from heaven' (Luke 10:18).And they will be ruled by effeminate men. Concerning this, it is written in Hebrew, 'Thalulim' (which the Septuagint and Theodotion interpret as mockers), Aquila translates as those who change and practice sexual immorality. Such as we read in the Book of Judges about the Levite's concubine in Gibeah (Judges 19). Let us consider the Patriarchs of the Jews, and we will see that the prophecy is fulfilled with young men or boys who are effeminate and indulge in luxuries. We can call them deceivers and teachers of the people of Israel, who devour the people of God like bread, and interpret the holy Scriptures perversely, and they mock the foolishness of the disciples.
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(Verse 5.) And the people will fall, man against man, each one against his neighbor: the young will rise up against the old, and the lowly against the noble. When the young become leaders and mockers of the Lord, as the prophetic word describes, then no order of dignity, age, or knowledge will be preserved; but the young will rebel against the elderly, and the lowly against the noble, and they will fall together. And that Apostolic saying will be fulfilled: biting each other, you have been consumed by each other (Galatians 5:15). Josephus writes in Book 5 of The Jewish War that these events happened to the people of Judaea under Titus, son of Vespasian: that when they were being besieged by the Romans, there was a division of the city into three parts due to the rebellion. Some held the citadel and the Temple, others held the lower part of the city, and others held the upper part.3:6
(Verse 6) For a man shall seize his brother, the kinsman of his father. The garment is yours, be our prince; but this ruin is under your control. Regarding ruin, Symmachus and Theodotio transferred infirmity, 70 food items. But it signifies a scarcity of people, and the most serious shortage of all, so that whoever has food and clothing is considered powerful, wealthy, and famous. And when he says according to the Hebrew: But this ruin is under your control, it has this meaning: Our misery and calamity will be sustained and protected by your assistance. And it must be considered that individuals should choose their own leaders, and there may be conflict in the election of leaders, as some consider others worthy of leadership. And they do not say to them, your possessions, and wealth, and income will sustain us, but this weakness, or my food, will be healed by your support and will depend on your decision.3:7
(Verse 7) And he shall answer in that day, saying, I am not a physician, and in my house there is no bread nor clothing; do not make me the ruler of the people. For physician, Symmachus and the Septuagint translated principem as Theodotio, ἐπιδεσμεύοντα, who binds wounds and provides for health. He shall answer, in Hebrew it is not found, but it is added from the Septuagint. In Hebrew, for it is joined with the things that are written above: In that day he shall say, I am not a physician, and so on. But he will say, who has been elected as leader. And just as the people who understand him, whom they consider wealthier than themselves, desire to have him as their ruler, so the one who is chosen, considering his poverty and weakness, declares himself unworthy of the bestowed honor, and unable to remedy the flaws, that is, to care for the sick, to provide food for the hungry, to clothe the naked, when he himself can barely sustain himself. Therefore, let us not immediately acquiesce to the judgement of the multitude, but let us know our own measure when elected to leadership, and let us humble ourselves under the powerful hand of God: because God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5). Those who have no bread and clothing, when they themselves are hungry and naked, and have no spiritual food, nor have preserved the complete tunic of Christ, promise others both food and clothing, and boast of being physicians when they are full of wounds; nor do they observe that commandment of Moses: Provide another whom you may send: and that other commandment: Seek not to be a judge, lest perhaps you may not be able to take away iniquities (Eccl. VII, 6). Only Jesus heals all weaknesses and infirmities, of whom it is written: Who heals the broken of heart, and binds up their bruises (Ps. CXLVI. 3).3:8-9
(Verses 8, 9.) For Jerusalem has fallen, and Judah has collapsed: because their tongue and their inventions are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of His majesty. The recognition of their faces testifies against them, and they declare their sin like Sodom, and do not hide it. The Prophet speaks of this, not as many suppose, that he who was the chosen leader spoke. And he says that for this reason no one wants to rule over a sinful people, because both Judah and Jerusalem, and the city, and the province of Judaea, or the tribe of Judah have fallen together. And they gave reasons for their impiety, because they blasphemed against the Lord and said: 'Take him away, take him away, crucify him, for we have no king but Caesar' (John 19:15, 16): and with the fury of their tongue, they provoked the most merciful Lord to bitterness. The recognition of their faces will answer to them: that is, they have received their sins, or as the Septuagint translated: the confusion of their faces opposed them: that is, they always had their own sins before their eyes. And just as the Sodomites, sinning with all freedom and not having any shame in their wickedness, said to Lot: 'Bring out the men so that we may have relations with them' (Gen. XIX, 5); so too these, proclaiming openly, have preached their own sin and have had no shame in blaspheming. For the second plank after shipwreck is consolation in miseries, to hide their own impiety. Hence they are called the rulers of the Sodomites, because they had Sodomite sins.3:10-11
(Verses 10, 11.) Woe to their souls, for evil has been repaid to them. Speak to the righteous, for they are well, for they have eaten the fruit of their inventions. Woe to the wicked for evil, for the retribution of his hands will be upon him. According to the Hebrew and other interpreters, this is the meaning: Woe to them because they have received their own wickedness. Therefore, you who hear or read the book of the Prophet, praise the righteousness of God, for he has done good, for the wicked have consumed the labors of their hands. And woe to the impious people for evil has befallen them: for they have received what they deserve. And he who delivered his ruler to Roman authority, he himself is subject to Roman servitude. According to the Septuagint interpreters who said: Woe to their soul: for they have devised a wicked plan against themselves, saying: Let us bind the just, for he is useless to us: therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own works, clearly refers to the passion of Christ, that they have devised a wicked plan, not so much against the just, as against themselves and their own soul: and now they shall eat the fruit of their own works. For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap (Gal. VI, 5-8), and each one will bear his own burden.3:12
(Verse 12.) My people have been plundered by their own exactors, and women have been dominated by them. Concerning the women, whom Symmachus alone has interpreted, they are called Nasim () in Hebrew: Aquila and the LXX translated it as ἀπαιτοῦντας, which means exactors; Theodotion translated it as δανειστὰς, which means moneylenders. The prophetic discourse is speaking against the Scribes and Pharisees, who, for the sake of shameful gain, denied the Son of God in order to receive tithes and firstfruits. And he does not call them teachers, scribes, and doctors, but tax collectors (Luke 20), who think that making a profit is piety: and they devour, not only the houses of widows, contrary to the Apostle, but the entire population; and accusing their extravagance and shameful conduct, he calls them not only tax collectors, as if they were demanding money from the unwilling; but also women: because they do everything for the sake of pleasure, and are devoted to indulgence. Therefore, let us be careful that we do not become extortioners among the people; that our senate does not resemble the impious Porphyry ruling over matrons and women in the churches, and that favoritism towards women does not judge the priestly order.3:13
(Verse 13) My people, who call you blessed, themselves deceive you, and they scatter or disturb the path of your steps. He had called the scribes and Pharisees tax collectors, not teachers; and above them, the mockers, who, because of gifts that blind even the wise, not only did not correct sinners in the people, but praised them for their wealth and gain: calling them blessed, and pillars of the house of God, and other things that flatterers usually say. He is therefore the Ecclesiastical doctor who provokes tears, not laughter, who rebukes sinners, who says that no one is blessed, no one is happy: nor does he preempt the judgment of his own sentence, as the Holy Scripture says (Eccl. II, 30): Do not call any man blessed before his death. But also in another place we read (Prov. XXVII, 14): He who blesses his friend loudly in the morning is no different from a slanderer. Therefore, despising the judgments of men, let us not boast in their praises, nor be saddened by their criticisms: but let us enter the right way, and the well-trodden paths of the holy prophets: let us hear Jeremiah the prophet saying: Stand in the ways, and see: and ask for the eternal paths of the Lord, which is the good way: and walk in it (Jer. VI, 16). But if at any time we have wandered and, like perverse men, have proceeded along a wrong path, let us await the promises of the Lord through Ezekiel, saying: I will give them another way, and a different heart (Ezek. 36). However, the corruptors and disturbers have perverted the way of the Lord, so that, having the key of knowledge, neither did they enter themselves, nor did they allow the people to enter; but they caused them to lose the way of truth, which speaks in the Gospel: I am the way, and the life, and the truth (John XIV, 6).3:13-14
(Ver. 13, 14.) The Lord stands to judge: and he stands to judge the people. The Lord will come to judgment with the elders of his people, and with his princes. The people, who were deceived because of their simplicity and lack of knowledge, are still called the people of God: and therefore they are judged, that they may be saved. The Lord does not sit in the attire of a judge, as we read in Daniel: Thrones were set up, and books were opened (Dan. VII, 9): but he stands to judge, and he stands to judge the people, desiring them to stand, whose way had been scattered. But against the leaders and elders of his own people he comes to judgment, not to judge, but to be judged equally, granting them a place of defense if they are able to have a response, according to what is said in the fiftieth psalm: That you may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged (Verse 6). In the prophet Micah also, we read something similar (Chapter 6), which we have interpreted in its proper place. Therefore, this passage is understood to be directed against the Pharisees and the Second Law scholars. But I think that this existed among the old people between the elders and the leaders, which now exists between the priests and the bishops.For you have devoured my vineyard; the plunder of the poor is in your houses. Why do you crush my people, and grind the faces of the poor? Thus did the LXX interpret, confuse. He keeps the prophetic custom, to suddenly change faces. For the Lord himself had said: My people, those who bless you deceive you. And later the Prophet added: The Lord stands to judge; the Lord will come to judge. Therefore, after the prophet, the Lord himself, who had come for judgment with the elders of his people and its princes, speaks to them and rebukes the wrongdoers: Why are you grazing my vineyard? about which it is written: You have transplanted a vineyard from Egypt (Ps. LXXIX, 9). And in this same prophet: The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel (Isai. V, 7). The Lord also placed this vineyard in the Gospel in the hands of wicked farmers who killed the son of the householder that was sent to them (Matthew XXVIII). He says: Robbery of the poor in your houses. Receive the poor or the needy simply, who is in need of alms; or certainly the poor in spirit, of whom it is written: Blessed is he who understands the poor and the needy (Ps. 40:1). And the Apostle Paul: Only, he says, that we should be mindful of the poor (Gal. 2:10). And what follows: Why do you trample on my people and crush the faces of the poor, or confuse them, it is clearly said to the leaders of the Jews. But it can also be referred to our leaders, if they crush the subjected plebs, and publicly accuse and embarrass the poor delinquents, but do not dare to even touch the wealthier sinners. And the plunder of the poor is in their own homes, when they fill their treasuries, and they misuse the resources of the Church for their pleasure, and they either keep for themselves or distribute to their relatives the public funds that were given for the support of the poor, thus making the poverty of others their own wealth.
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(Verse 15.) And the Lord said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes, mincing along as they go, tinkling with their feet, the Lord will strike with a scab the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts. In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the headbands, and the crescents; the pendants, the bracelets, and the scarves; the headdresses, the armlets, the sashes, the perfume boxes, and the amulets; the signet rings and nose rings; the festal robes, the mantles, the cloaks, and the handbags; the mirrors, the linen garments, the turbans, and the veils. Instead of perfume there will be rottenness; and instead of a belt, a rope; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a rich robe, a skirt of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty. Some believe that the daughters of Zion are truly Jewish women, while others think they are metaphorically referring to the cities of Judea, namely the smaller cities, towns, and villages. This is why in the book of Joshua, the names of the cities are listed according to each tribe, and later on, the villages and castles are described and called daughters. According to another interpretation, women are believed to represent souls. If these souls walk with outstretched necks and conduct themselves in a proud manner, abandoning the strong and masculine virtues and instead adopting the weaknesses of women, they are criticized and lose all the virtues they possessed, which are described as moon-shaped pendants, necklaces, rings, bracelets, headdresses, and other similar adornments. This testimony must be used against the women of the Church who walk with their neck extended, and speak with the gestures of their eyes, and applaud with both hands and feet, and walk with a composed gait, not following the guidance of nature, but buying their teachers from actors.3:16
(Verse 16) The Lord will make bare the top of the daughters of Zion, and will uncover their hair, and shame will be their adornment. This will also happen to us whose sins are hidden, when that which is written is fulfilled: Nothing hidden that will not be revealed (Luke 8:17). For as long as we are protected by hair and the garment of ignorance, people think of us as whitewashed tombs (Matthew 23), but inside we are full of dead bones, and we appear to have some cleanliness. But when what is hidden is revealed, all the hair will be removed, and ugly baldness will be seen by all.3:17
(Verse 17) On that day the Lord will take away the ornament of the shoes. On which day? The Jews believe it to be the captivity of Babylon. We are more convinced that it is when they were captured by the Romans and lost all their clothing, gems, gold, jewelry, and various furnishings. Or, by the metaphor of women, it is said that all the adornment of cities was destroyed. Understand the ornaments of cities in the streets and porticoes, in the marketplace and gymnasiums, and in public walls. But if we consider this in relation to the state of souls, let us remember that when he is going to eat the flesh of the lamb and celebrate the Passover, his feet are shod, and as we pass through the wilderness, neither clothes nor shoes are consumed. What are these shoes? Those of which the Apostle writes to the Ephesians: Shod your feet in preparation for the Gospel of peace (Eph. 6:15). These are the shoes of souls that are destined to be lost when they walk with their necks extended and drag their clothes with their feet, and instead of the cleanliness of a matron, they sweep the filth of the earth.3:18-21
(Verse 18-21.) And necklaces, and torcs, and pendants, and bracelets, and headbands, and diadems, and girdles, and brooches, and perfume vials, and earrings, and rings and gems hanging from the forehead. It describes the necklaces of women, and through these the insignia of cities: or, according to the anagoge, the various ornaments of virtues. Women have tiny bulla-shaped pendants that resemble the moon, which we transfer to the ornaments of the Church, which is illuminated by the sun of justice. Also, the necklaces that hang down to the chest signify understanding and the principal (ruling) faculty of the mind in the heart. And the necklaces indicate all ornaments in one word: and the good works of the bracelets, which Rebecca received in her marriage (Gen. XXIV): and the miters, the ornaments of the head, to distinguish judgment of each person: and the foot-straps, with which our step is adorned, so that we may hear: Your foot shall not stumble (Ps. XC); and: He shall keep my feet from sliding (Ps. LV); and the little walls, which are woven of gold and silver threads, signify sense and the words of the Scriptures: and the sweet-smelling ointments, so that we may be a good odor of Christ (II Cor. II, 15); and the earrings, so that we may not hear the judgment of blood, but the words of the Lord saying: He who has ears to hear, let him hear (Luke VIII, 18); and the rings, with which we are signed for the Lord's army, which God the Father has signed. Where it is said to the prince of Tyre, 'You are the seal of likeness' (Ezek. 28:12). Also, the prodigal son received a ring, a robe, and jewels hanging on his forehead, which decorate our faces (Luke 15). And concerning the ornament of his head, we also read in the psalm: 'Like precious oil upon the head, which runs down upon the beard, the beard of Aaron' (Ps. 133:1). Although the Septuagint, Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion interpret all of these things in different ways, we have woven together what we could from the Hebrew and their translations, and we do not wish to dwell any longer on each one, lest the explanation be trivial and cause annoyance to the discerning reader.3:22
(Verse 22.) And changes, and cloaks, and coverings. As for 'coverings', the Septuagint translated it as 'clear ethereal garments', signifying the very thin garments with which the bodies of the Spartans, who were very ready for war and had a strict way of life, were covered. Although 'ethereal garments' does not have a Hebrew or any other interpreter. However, 'changes' and 'cloaks', which Symmachus translated more significantly as 'anabolaia', are ornaments of women's clothing that cover the shoulders and chest. The changes according to that anagoge are those of which it is said: They will go from strength to strength (Ps. LXXXIII, 8): and the veils, that we may enjoy the delights of the Lord, as it is written in the Psalms: You will make them drink from the torrent of your pleasure (Ps. XXXV, 9). But all these things have been lost by the daughters of Zion, because they walked with outstretched necks, and with their eyes they flaunted their pride: thinking that what they had was of their own power, and not of the grace of the Lord.3:23
(Verse 23.) And needles, and mirrors, and linen cloths, and ribbons, and shawls. Women have needles, with which the arrangement of their hair is secured so that it does not flow too freely and become scattered. They also have mirrors, with which they contemplate their appearance and add to their adornment if anything is lacking. They have linen cloths, which are called coverings, and ribbons, with which their hair is tied, which are called ταινίας. They also have shawls, which we can call pallia: with which Rebecca herself was covered. And today also the women of Arabia and Mesopotamia cover themselves: they are called Ardishim in Hebrew, and in Greek θέριστρα: because in summer and heat they protect the bodies of women. Therefore the daughters of Zion have lost the needles, with which the rule of all precepts was strung. They have lost the mirrors, which they offered in Exodus while standing at the doors of the tabernacle to make the laver of the Lord (Exod. XXXVIII): about whom the apostle Paul also spoke: But we see now through a mirror in an enigma (I Cor. XIII, 12). They abandoned their cloaks and headbands, with which they covered their shoulders, and they restrained their wandering mind, which flowed here and there: and they sought refuge in a safe shade, with a protective canopy. We mention these things so that we do not seem to completely ignore the allegory of this place. However, it is a great labor to dwell on individual details and seek a broad explanation.3:24
(Verse 24.) And it will be for a sweet smell, a stench; and for a belt, a cord. The one repenting of sins speaks of the stench: My scars have putrefied and become corrupted from the face of my foolishness (Psalm 38:6). The Apostle commanded to gird the loins with a belt, saying: Stand with your loins girded in truth (Ephesians 6:14). And we read about the sinner: Each one is bound by the cords of their own sins (Proverbs 5:22). Therefore, for the good smell of virtues, the daughters of Zion will have the putrefaction of sins; and for the belt of truth, they will be bound by the cords of lies, which they had on their heads when they prayed for life from the king of Syria with rags and filth.And as for the pectoral band, they translated the cilicium. Concerning the pectoral band, which Symmachus interpreted as a tunic of fine purple, that is, adorned with clavi, they translated it as a girdle of exultation, which Aquila expressed. Theodotion himself used the Hebrew word Phthigil (פתיגיל), which is a type of feminine ornament. The pectoral band covers the chest and occupies the same place in women as the Rationale in the Pontiffs. Regarding this pectoral band, Jeremiah said in a mystical discourse: If the bride can forget her attire, or the virgin her pectoral band, then I will forget you, says the Lord (Jer. II, 32). The Virgin, whom the Apostle wants us to present to Christ (2 Cor. 2), as long as she is not corrupted in Egypt, and her breasts, which are bound with a breastband, are not broken, is joined to her spouse; and even though she daily gives birth to sons of virtue, she never ceases to be a virgin. But if she sometimes spreads her legs to all who pass by, and follows her lovers, and according to the prophecy of Hosea, the Lord will hedge her paths and block her ways, she will return to her former husband, and she will hear: 'Put off the garments of mourning and put on the garments of your glory' (Hosea 2).
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(Verse 25.) Your most beautiful men will fall by the sword, and your strong men in battle. For the most beautiful men, they are interpreted as seventy, and your most beautiful son, whom you love, will fall by the sword. But if we understand about the state of the soul, which after virtues has sinned, let us accept the good works, which have fallen by the enemy sword, as the most beautiful son of his. And strong men also perish in battle, because the righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him on any day he wanders (Ezekiel 33:12). But if we follow the story, we will be taught from these words that the discourse is not about the prophetesses, whose husbands fell in battle, but about the cities of Judah, which he called the daughters of Zion, and whose warriors perished in combat. Finally, the following verse speaks about the same Zion.3:26
(Verse 26.) And her gates will mourn and lament, and the city itself, desolate, will sit upon the earth. Which we see with our own eyes until this day. The interpretation according to tropology is easy, that whoever gives a place to the devil and does not keep their heart guarded with all vigilance, let their gates mourn: and in the absence of the bridegroom, let them always be in mourning, and falling from the heights, let them sit in the dust of the earth.4:1
(Chapter IV, Verse 1) And in that day, seven women will take hold of one man, saying: We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothing, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach. When the most beautiful of the city of Jerusalem fall by the sword and the strong ones perish in battle, and its gates mourn and lament; and it becomes desolate due to the scarcity of people, with the warriors being killed, seven women will take hold of one man, desiring to have offspring in Zion and descendants in Jerusalem. They say that they have food and clothing, only so that they will not appear without a husband and be subject to the curse that is written: Cursed is the barren woman, who does not bear children in Israel (Deuteronomy 7). Zacharias also agrees with this interpretation: In those days, ten men from all the languages of the nations will seize the hem of a Jewish man, saying: We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you (Zech. VIII, 23). The number seven and ten are familiar to the Jews due to the Sabbath and the Ten Commandments of the law, and therefore they often use them; although according to the ambiguity of the Hebrew language, which interprets the word Saba () as both seven and several or an oath, it may not mean seven in this passage, but rather several. This according to the letter. However, in the coming of the Lord and Savior, the seven women, that is, the seven graces of the Holy Spirit, of whom the same Prophet will speak in the following words: A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. (Isaiah 11:1-2) They will lay hold of Jesus, whom they have long desired, for they could find no other in whom they could find eternal rest. And John the Baptist confirms in the Gospel: And he who sent me said to me: Upon whom you see the Holy Spirit descending and remaining upon him, he is the one (John 1:33). In Zachariah, we also read about a stone with seven eyes, and in a golden candlestick, seven lamps and seven tubes, and two olive trees on either side of the lampstand, firmly rooted (Zechariah 3). However, the grace of the Holy Spirit, possessing all things, does not need explanation. But because he always suffered reproach among men, while no one living was seeking the gifts of the Holy Spirit, therefore they desire to invoke the name of Jesus, so that what was imperfect in the Law may be fulfilled in the Gospel.4:2-3
(Verse 2, 3) On that day, the Lord's shoot will be in splendor and glory, and the fruit of the earth will be exalted, and those who have been saved from Israel will rejoice. And it will be, everyone who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who is recorded in life in Jerusalem. When the daughters of Zion have lost all their pride and all their adornment, and her gates have mourned and she herself is desolate, and all her warriors have perished in battle, to the point that many women can hardly find one man: then the shoot of the Christian name will arise, and the land will yield its fruit. And there will be rejoicing for those who have been saved from Israel, of whom it has been said before: Unless the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we would have been like Sodom, and similar to Gomorrah (Isa. 1:9). And note that not all Israel will be saved, but the remnant of the people of Zion and the remainder in Jerusalem; all who are enrolled in life in Jerusalem, to whom the Lord also spoke: Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20). It signifies the Apostles and those who believed through the Apostles.4:4
(Verse 4.) When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the blood of Jerusalem from its midst with the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning, then the remnant of Israel shall be saved when their sins are forgiven in the baptism of the Savior and that blood is cleansed, the blood that the wandering people invoked upon themselves saying: His blood be upon us and upon our children (Matthew 27:25). Hence, we read above: When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood (Isaiah 1:15-16). And afterwards, provoking them to repentance, he brings forth this: Be washed, be made clean. And take note that the filth of the daughters of Zion will be washed away by the spirit of judgment, but the blood of Jerusalem will be washed away by the spirit of burning. For what is light is washed away, but what is heavier is burned up. Concerning this spirit of judgment and spirit of burning, John the Baptist spoke in the Gospel: I baptize you with water, but he who comes after me will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11). From this we learn that while man gives only water, God gives the Holy Spirit, by which both filth is washed away and the sins of blood are cleansed.4:5
(Verse 5) And the Lord will create (or created) over every place of Mount Zion, and where he is invoked, a cloud by day, and smoke and the brightness of a flaming fire at night. For in Christ there is a new creation, of which we read elsewhere: The old things have passed away: behold, all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Regarding this, the Septuagint translated: And he will come, and there will be every place of Mount Zion, and all the things that are around it, a cloud will cover during the day, and the light of a flaming fire at night. But who will come except him, of whom it is written: He will come from Zion to free them (Isaiah 59:20, according to the Septuagint). And of whom another prophet mentions: Yet a little while, and he who is to come will come, and will not delay (Habakkuk 2:3). When he comes, the people will be restored to their former happiness, which they once had in the desert; the Lord will lead them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and during the night with a pillar of fire (Exodus 13): so that they may not be disturbed either in prosperity or in adversity. And in the psalm it is said: By day the sun shall not scorch you, nor the moon by night (Ps. CXX, 6). But in this place smoke signifies not error and ignorance, but glory, according to what we shall read in the same prophet, according to the opinion of some: And the house was filled with smoke (Isaiah 6). And in Joel, concerning the grace of the Holy Spirit which descends upon the apostles, it is said: I will pour out my spirit, and they shall prophesy (Joel II). And I will show wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and clouds of smoke (Acts 2:17). I think this signifies that which is said in the Psalms: He touches the mountains, and they smoke (Psalm 104:32).4:6
(Verse 6) But protection is above all glory. And it will be a tabernacle for shade from the heat during the day, and for security and hiding from the whirlwind and rain. The Jews interpret this place as referring to Antichrist, whom they believe will be defended by the Lord from a mighty adversary represented by the whirlwind and storm. However, we refer everything to the first coming of Christ, of whom we also read in the Psalms: He protected me in the hiding place of His tabernacle; on a rock He exalted me (Psalm 27:9-10). On this rock, the Church is founded and is not shaken by any storm or overturned by any wind. The majority of the Jews understand both these things and all the things which are associated with them, concerning the captivity in Babylon and the return to Jerusalem under Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah.5:1
(Chapter 5, Verse 1.) I will sing now to my beloved the song of my cousin, of his vineyard. The prophet sings a lamentable song to the people of Israel, which he composed, about whom it is written in the Gospel: But when he saw it (no doubt Jerusalem), he wept over it, and said: If you also knew what is for your peace, for the days shall come upon you, and your enemies shall cast a trench about you, and compass you round, and straiten you, and cast you down to the ground, and your children with you (Luke 19:41 et seq.). And again: How often I have wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling? Behold, your house will be left to you desolate (Matthew 23:37, 38): to whom this which is now said in this song is similar: I will leave my vineyard. And that Christ is called beloved and most dear, which Aquila has interpreted as πατράδελφον, paternal uncle, or paternal cousin, the inscription of the forty-fourth psalm teaches us: A Song for the Beloved. And the voice of God the Father in the Gospel: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:17). And in the sixty-seventh psalm we read: The Lord will give the word to those who preach with great power. The king of hosts, the beloved (Psalm 67:12, 13). Therefore, this beloved one composed a mournful song for his vineyard, which I will sing to my beloved and pitiable people. Or certainly it should be understood thus: I will sing to the Almighty God the Father a song of Christ, who is my cousin, that is, born from the same people as me. But when the vineyard of God is called the people of Israel, and at the end of this canticle we read: The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the man of Judah is his pleasant plant. And in the seventy-ninth psalm (ver. 9): Thou hast brought a vineyard out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the Gentiles, and planted it. In the Gospel also, almost in the same words in which the Prophet now speaks, the Lord related a parable: There was a certain householder who planted a vineyard, and surrounded it with a hedge, and digged in it a press, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, etc. (Matth. XXXI, 33) . And in Jeremiah we read: I have planted you a fruitful vineyard, all true: how then have you turned into bitterness, a foreign vineyard (Jerem. II, 21)? Therefore Jerusalem, as we have said, laments: and in the prophetic speech, its ruin is sung. Moreover, a different song has been composed for the Church and the once-gentile people, of which we read in the Psalms: Sing to the Lord, all the earth, proclaim day after day his salvation. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. He has shown his salvation, and revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things.A vineyard has been made for my beloved in the horn of the son of oil. This is translated by Theodotion and Aquila according to the Hebrew: but Symmachus, in his own way, more explicitly: A vineyard has been made for my beloved in the horn, in the midst of the olive trees. Moreover, the Seventy interpreted the meaning more than the word: A vineyard has been made for my beloved in the horn, in a fertile or rich place, for πίων signifies both. And truly, there is nothing more fertile than the Promised Land, if you consider all its width, from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates, against the east: and towards the northern region up to Mount Taurus and the Zephyrium of Cilicia, which overlooks the sea. But we often read that horn signifies kingdom and power, as it is written in the Gospel: He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (Luke 1:69). And, In you we will scatter our enemies like chaff with a horn (Psalm 44:6). And in Zechariah, four horns represent four powerful kingdoms (Zechariah 1:18). The Hebrews explain this passage as follows: The vineyard planted in the horn is Christ, that is, in a strong and lofty place, which is called the son of oil, either because it needs God's mercy and is sustained by his help, or because it has shed the light of God's knowledge to all nations.
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(Verse 2.) And he fenced it, and picked stones from it, and planted the vineyard of Sorec, and built a tower in its midst, and constructed a winepress in it. In metaphor, as we said before, the vineyard represents the Jewish people, whom God protected with the help of angels. And he picked stones from it, meaning idols or anything that could hinder the worship of God. And he planted the vineyard of Sorec, which Symmachus alone interpreted as chosen, not expressing the word for word, as it seems to me, but the meaning that is held in the word. For the Hebrews say that the Sorek vine is of the best kind, because it produces abundant and perpetual fruit. Indeed, Sorek is interpreted by some as 'beautifully fruitful', a phrase that we can translate as 'the most beautiful fruits'. He also built a tower in the middle of it, namely a temple in the center of the city, and he constructed a winepress in it, which some people think signifies an altar. Just as all grapes are gathered and trampled in the winepress to extract the wine from them, so the altar receives all the fruits of the people and devours the sacrificed victims, according to what we read about Benjamin, in whose tribe the temple and altar were: Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning he devours the prey, and in the evening he distributes food (Gen. XLIX, 27). All that is said about the vineyard can also be referred to the state of the human soul, which, though planted by God for good, has not produced grapes but wild grapes; and afterwards is handed over to be trampled by beasts, and has not received the divine rain of teachings, because it has despised past gifts.And I expected, that he would make grapes, and he made labruscas. Concerning labruscas, which we translate, in Hebrew it is written Busim (): which Aquila interpreted as σαπρίας, that is, the worst fruit: Symmachus as ἀτελῆ, that is, imperfect: LXX and Theodotion as thorns: with which the Jews crowned the Lord. For while he was waiting for them to bring grapes to the winepress at the time of the vintage, for which the 83rd Psalm has titles, they, sinking into the cares and vices of the world, which in the Gospel (Mark 4) are interpreted as thorns, presented the stings of blasphemies. I think, however, that it is better for the grapes to be understood as Busim labruscas rather than thorns, so that the similarity of translation may be preserved. Therefore, the Savior says in the Gospel: Do they gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles (Matthew VII, 16).
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(Verse 3, 4.) Now therefore, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more could have been done to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes? I have done everything I could for it; I planted it in the best soil, built a protective wall around it, carefully selected stones, and raised its branches with sturdy poles and supports. The vine itself was not just any vine, but a chosen and fruitful one. I built a very strong tower, in which I could store grain, and from which I could observe the wild animals that lurk around the grain. I also constructed a wine press, so that grapes could be pressed and wine could be poured in the same place. Therefore, I ask the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Judah to respond to me: indeed, let them judge between me and my vineyard, what I should have done and have not done? And with them remaining silent, he responds to himself: unless, of course, I made a mistake in waiting for grapes to be produced from my work, and not wild grapes, which the uncultivated and deserted vineyard is accustomed to produce. This is what the Prophet Nathan sent to David, as recorded in II Samuel 12, and he questions him through a parable, so that while he judges about someone else, he reveals his own judgment. Therefore, even here, the people are questioned as if about a vineyard, so that they themselves answer against themselves. This passage is further fulfilled by the Savior in the Gospel of Matthew 21, and what is skipped here, he questions the scribes and Pharisees. For in Isaiah, nothing is said about the farmers, nor is it indicated what they will suffer; but it is only about the vineyard: but there, as if there were another vineyard and other farmers, he speaks about the people and the teachers, so that he may destroy the wicked ones and place the vineyard with other farmers; signifying the apostles and those who will succeed the apostles. And indeed, it is not a tautology, as many believe, in what he says: An quod exspectavi, ut faceret uvas, et fecit labruscas? For above, he speaks silently within himself, but here he asks others what he had thought.5:5-6
(V. 5, 6.) And now I will show you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be for destruction; I will break down its wall, and it will be for trampling. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry! And because, according to the parable of the Gospel, you do not want to answer what I ask, I will answer for myself on your behalf, indicating what I will do: Since I have done everything I should for my vineyard, and it has produced wild grapes instead of good grapes, I will take away everything that I have given. I will remove the assistance of the angels, about whom it is written in the psalms: The Angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he will deliver them (Psalm 34:7); and it will be plundered by adversaries. I will destroy the walls, and it will be subject to enemy nations, and it will be deserted and not considered forever, nor will it be dug, so that it may be turned into thorns: and thorns will rise in it. But these things are said under the metaphor of a vineyard, concerning the solitude of Jerusalem and Judaea, which many Jews believe happened under the Babylonians: and we cannot deny that it happened to some extent. But because it follows: And I will command the clouds, that they rain not upon it, this cannot be understood in that captivity. For indeed both Jeremiah prophesied after the city was captured among the people, and Ezekiel, Daniel as well as the three youths, are reported to have either prophesied or performed marvelous signs even in captivity. And afterwards Haggai and Zechariah spoke of future things for the consolation of the servile people. However, the assistance of God is taken away from those who are unworthy, so that since they did not sense God through blessings, they may sense through punishments. Or, for this reason, certain fierceness and harshness are threatened, so that the converted may avoid impending torments through repentance. The Hebrew word 'Saith' () is translated as 'thorns' in all three versions with a similar voice. Therefore, if they translate 'Saith' as 'thorns' in this context, they should explain why in the previous place they translated 'Busim' not as 'wild grapes' but as 'thorns' according to Aquila, Theodotion, and the Septuagint.And I will command the clouds not to rain rain upon it. These are the clouds which the Lord brings forth from the ends of the earth, of which we also read in the psalm: Your truth reaches to the clouds (Ps. 36:6). These clouds, because under Elijah all idolaters were, did not rain upon the land of Israel for three years and six months (3 Kings 18). This indeed we can understand not only of the prophets, but also of the apostles, that after the Passion of the Lord, the Jews did not have prophets or apostles, lest they bring forth grapes for thorns, but pray for their own barrenness and dryness to Him who can provide the rain of virtues. And in Leviticus, he says to them: I will make the sky above you like iron, and the earth beneath you like bronze (Lev. XXVI, 19). And in Deuteronomy: The sky above your head will be bronze, and the earth beneath you will be iron (Deut. XXVIII, 23, 24). And again, the Lord will give rain to your land. And, Ashes will descend from the sky upon you, until it uproots you and destroys you; for a land that frequently receives rain upon itself and does not produce crops, but only thorns and thistles, is rejected and is closest to curse, and its end is burning.
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(Verse 7.) But the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel: and the men of Judah, his pleasant plant. That is, of God: or as the LXX translated, the beloved new plantation. Israel and Judah differ in this, that the whole people were first called Israel, and afterwards, when David reigned over the tribe of Judah, and Rehoboam the son of Solomon over the two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, those who were in Samaria, that is, the ten tribes, were called Israel; and those who reigned from the lineage of David were called Judah. And since the Israelites worshipped calves in Dan and Bethel, Samaria was first captured by the Assyrians; and much later, Judah was taken into Babylon by the Chaldeans, because they had sinned less. Therefore, in Ezekiel, for the purification of the sins of both peoples, Israel is placed on the left side, according to the Seventy, for one hundred and ninety days, or as is more accurately stated in Hebrew, three hundred and ninety days; but Judah (according to the LXX and the Hebrew text) for forty days (Ezek. IV). I say this so that by comparing it to Israel, that is, the ten tribes, I may show the beloved and chosen Judah, in which there were priests and Levites, and the religion of God was practiced at that time when the prophet Isaiah spoke to the people. And beautifully Israel, that is, the whole people, is the house: but Judah, which afterwards sprouted from the separated tribes, is called a delightful new growth. But it should also be noted that according to the prophetic custom, which was first spoken in metaphor or parable, it is later explained more clearly: that the vineyard and new plantation are Israel and Judah.And I waited for judgment, and behold there was iniquity: and for justice, and behold there was a cry, as the LXX translated, I waited for judgment, and he did iniquity, and not justice, but a cry. We want to reveal to Latin ears what we learned from the Hebrews: Judgment, among them, is called Mesphat (): iniquity, or dissipation, as Aquila interpreted, is called Mesphaa (). Again, justice is called Sadaca (): but a cry is called Saaca (). Therefore, either by adding or changing a single letter, he tempered the similarity of the words, so that instead of Mesphat, he wrote Mesphaa: and instead of Sadaca, he put Saaca, and he rendered the elegant structure and sound of the words according to the Hebrew language. However, God expected the people of Judea to produce judgment, that is, grapes: but they produced iniquity, that is, wild grapes: and he expected righteousness, that they would receive the generous sender of such great gifts from the Father, but instead they shouted, crying out against the Lord, and they shouted, saying: "Take him away, take him away, crucify him" (John 19:15). And so the Apostle Paul writes: Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice (Ephesians 4:31). Or certainly, because they had shed innocent blood, the blood of the Lord's Passion cried out to the Lord: therefore they made a cry for justice, according to what we read in Genesis, The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me (Genesis 4:10).
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(Verse 8) Woe to those who join house to house and connect field to field, until there is no more room and you are left to dwell alone in the land. In our opinion, they have transferred this phrase, 'until there is no more room,' to 'until you take away your neighbor's property.' Symmachus and Theodotion have done this, until the land fails or there is no place left; so that when the land fails, greed will not be satisfied. I believe that this applies generally to all those who are never satisfied, and specifically to the vineyard of the Lord, which produces wild grapes instead of good grapes, meaning injustice instead of justice, and outcry instead of righteousness. For what madness is it, when houses and fields should be had for driving away the rains and for sowing crops, to desire to have those things in which you cannot dwell and which you are not sufficient to cultivate, and to make your own pleasure the necessity of another? Some consider this saying according to the trope, against the heretics: when they move their feet from the East, they come into the plain of Shinar, which is interpreted as the scattering of teeth; and they build a city of confusion and a tower of pride, and they hear under other words: 'Hear this, rulers of the house of Jacob, and you remnant of the house of Israel, who loathe justice and pervert all that is right, who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity' (Micah 3:9-10). They join houses to houses, that is, doctrines to doctrines; about which it is said by Michael, 'Do not build in a scornful house' (Micah 3), nor above the foundation of Christ, which the apostle Paul placed (1 Cor. 3), and in which they should have built gold, silver, precious stones; on the contrary, let them build wood, hay, straw, the end of which is fire. The Savior speaks about these kinds of houses in the Gospel: 'Everyone who hears my words and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand.' Rain descended, rivers came, winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell; and great was its fall. (Matthew 7:26, 27). For so long heretics seek to join new things with old, and to change the same things for more recent ones, until human perception and speech fail.5:9
(Ver. 9.) In my ears are these things of the Lord of hosts: Unless many houses are deserted, great and beautiful without an inhabitant. Because we translate according to the Hebrew, 'In my ears are these things of the Lord of hosts,' that is, the words that the Lord spoke still resonate in my ears: The LXX translated, 'These things have been heard in the ears of the Lord of hosts.' Not that the Prophet heard the words of the Lord, but that the things the Prophet is about to say have been heard in the ears of the Lord: it is more consistent to understand that the Prophet heard, what the Lord spoke. But the Lord spoke, saying that after the captivity, the great and beautiful house will be desolate, having no inhabitant.5:10
(Verse 10.) For they will make one small jar from ten acres of vineyards, and they will make three bushels from thirty bushels of seed. For the small jar, which only the seventy translated, all others have interpreted as a bat, which is said in Hebrew Beth (). And for the thirty bushels, which we have called a cor, which in Hebrew is called Omer (), the seventy translated as six artabas: which is an Egyptian measure and makes twenty bushels. Therefore, in the extreme barrenness that follows the captivity, ten acres of vineyards will make a bat, that is, three amphoras: and thirty bushels of seed, that is, a cor, will make an ephah, which the seventy have interpreted as three measures, that is, three bushels. But batus is said to refer to liquid measures, and ephi, or epha of the same measurement, to dry measures. As we read in Ezekiel according to the Hebrew: A just ephi and a just batus shall be for you. Ephi and batus shall be equal and of the same measurement, so that a batus may hold a tenth part of a cor, and an ephi may hold a tenth part of a cor; their balance shall be according to the measurement of a cor (Ezek. 45:10-11). According to anagoge, we ask how the houses of heretics, which are large and beautiful, will have no inhabitant when the time of judgement comes. For every parade and elaborate arrangement of words, and every dialectical argument, are reduced to nothing. And since according to the Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 3) we are not just the building of God, but also the cultivation, which the heretics imitating are dug up and eradicated by Jeremiah: therefore where ten acres of vineyards, or where ten pairs of oxen work, they will make one bath, and thirty measures of seed they will make an ephah (Jeremiah 18), to signify the mystical and perfect number of ten in the holy scriptures: and the thirty, in which Ezekiel prophesied (Ezekiel 1), and the Lord was baptized (Luke 3), are reduced to the ephah, which is connected by comparison with a multiple number through unity. But when it comes to spiritual understanding, building and agriculture, the Apostle Paul also teaches in another place (Ephesians 4) that believers are rooted and grounded in love. Furthermore, Ecclesiastes (Ecclesiastes 2) not only built houses for himself, but also planted vineyards, made gardens and orchards, and established all kinds of fruit trees. He also constructed pools to irrigate the forest. On the other hand, heretics, having only the image and shadow of virtues and not the truth itself, promise empty words without the fruit of works. Regarding their trees, the Lord says: Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted (Matt. 15:13). For the vineyard of the Sodomites is their vineyard, and their offspring is from Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall, and their clusters are bitter. Their wine is the venom of serpents and the deadly poison of cobras (Deut. 32:32, following).5:11-12
(Verse 11, 12.) Woe to those who rise early in the morning to pursue drunkenness, and continue drinking until evening, so that they are inflamed with wine. They have the lyre, the harp, the tambourine, and the flute at their feasts, but they do not regard the work of the Lord or consider the operation of His hands. Regarding drunkenness, which Aquila and Symmachus have interpreted as the Hebrew word Siceram, the LXX have rendered it as any drink that can intoxicate and overthrow one's mental state. But it accuses, according to the sequence of the begun explanation, the farmers of the vineyard, who, with impending sterility and a nearby fire, in which brambles and thorns are to be burned, have surrendered themselves to luxury and pleasures: not only in eating and drinking, but also in the delight of the ears, and in various types of musical art. When they do these things, they do not consider the work of the Lord, nor do they consider what is to come. We will use this testimony against the princes of the Church, who rise in the morning to drink and drink until evening: concerning whom it is said elsewhere: Woe to you, O city, whose king is young, and whose princes feast in the morning (Eccl. X, 16). Those who are occupied with pleasures do not understand the Creator from His creatures, nor do they consider the works of His hands, of which we read: 'By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their power by the breath of His mouth' (Psalm 32:6). According to a higher understanding, every disturbance of the soul can be called drunkenness, which is conceived from the wine of the madness of dragons, and from the incurable poison of asps, which some drink from youth to old age, that is, from morning until evening (Deuteronomy 32). But others are awakened from the banquet at the third, sixth, or ninth hour, and it is said to them: Wake up, you who are drunk with wine. On account of this wine, and on account of such grapes and vineyards, the Lord rains down sulfur and fire from the Lord; and whoever drinks from them is burned and tormented. He seeks the lyre and the harp, the inventor of which is Jubal, generated from the lineage of Cain (Gen. 4), and does not hear the Lord saying to Aaron: You and your sons shall not drink wine or strong drink, when you enter into the tabernacle of the testimony, or when you approach the altar (Lev. 10:8). The king of Babylon had lyres, and harps, and a drum, and flutes, with which, when they sounded together, the peoples of all nations would fall down and worship the golden statue (Dan. III). But as for the first time of human wisdom, when we leave childhood and come to the age of reason, it is understood in the Scriptures to be the morning, many testimonies can teach us about it, of which a few examples are to be given: In the morning I sent the prophets; and: In the morning you will hear my prayer. In the morning I will stand before you, and I will see (Ps. 5:4-5); and: From night until morning my spirit will rise (Ps. 62:1); and: O God, my God, I watch for you from dawn (Ps. 100:8); and: In the morning I would slay all sinners of the earth, that I might destroy from the city of the Lord all who work wickedness (Ps. 29:7); and in another place: We delay weeping until evening, and joy comes in the morning, and similar things. But we rise in the morning when we leave our vices in childhood, and we can say: Remember not the sins of my youth and ignorance (Ps. 24:7). And with the rising of the sun of justice, darkness is banished, and immediately we destroy all thoughts that provoke us to sin, and we scatter those sinners from the city of our mind, of whom the Savior speaks: Evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies (Matt. XV, 19), and the rest. However, most unfortunate are those who, from morning until evening, occupied with drunkenness, gluttony, and various pleasures, do not understand in themselves the works of the Lord, nor consider why they were created.5:13
(Verse 13.) Therefore, my people have been taken captive because they lack knowledge, and their nobles have perished of hunger, and their multitude has dried up with thirst. This happened literally to the people of Judah under the Roman princes Vespasian and Titus, as both Greek and Latin history relate. And even today, they suffer from this spiritually, enduring not the hunger for bread or the thirst for water, but the hunger to hear the word of God. For they have not regarded the works of the Lord, nor considered the deeds of His hands, nor have they obtained His knowledge who has spoken through the prophets (Amos 8). And in the Psalms it is said of them: They shall convert in the evening, and suffer hunger like dogs, and shall go around the city (Ps. 59:16). But the Gospel teaches that every word of doctrine is called bread and water: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Luke 4:4); And, Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst (John 4:13). And in the Psalm it is said: He has led me by the waters of refreshment (Ps. 23:2). And the Lord does not want to send away the hungry in the wilderness, so that they do not faint and fall and be killed by hunger (Matt. XV). And of the just man it is said: I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread (Ps. XXXVI, 25). Some interpret this that is said: My people have been taken away, because they have no knowledge; and the nobles have perished with hunger, and the multitude thereof is dried up with thirst, generally as referring to Hell and Gehenna, where everyone who does not have the knowledge of God will be punished.5:14-15
(Verse 14, 15.) Therefore, hell enlarged its soul and opened its mouth without any limit, and its strong ones, and its people, and its high and glorious ones descended to it. And man will be humbled, and the man will be brought low, and the eyes of the proud will be cast down. Those who rose early to pursue wine, and remained in drunkenness until evening, and were occupied with pleasure and indulgence, did not want to consider the work of the Lord, nor did they contemplate the works of His hands. Therefore they were brought into captivity because they did not have knowledge of the Son of God, as He himself said to them, 'You neither know me nor the one who sent me' (John 8:19), and in that very captivity they died of famine and wasted away from thirst. Where Hell and death extended their souls, and opened their mouths, and devoured without number and satiety those to be punished forever: so that the princes and people, and the sublimity and glory of the land of Judah would descend to him, and all pride would be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty would be lowered, understanding themselves to be mortals; and all things were fulfilled, which the Lord had foretold through the prophets. However, Hell is said to have a soul, not that it is a living creature, according to the error of some; but that by the words of human custom, we express the impassivity of things that do not sense, that it is insatiable, and is never filled by the multitude of the dead. And in the hand of the tongue, death is spoken (Prov. XVIII), and the almighty God hates the Sabbaths, and speaks of the Jews despising their own soul (Isai. I). Whatever we have said about the Jewish people can be metaphorically applied to those who are occupied with the pleasures of the world, not looking to the works of God, they are led captive into sin, and have no knowledge of God: and therefore, they perish from hunger and thirst for good works and virtues, and are dragged into hell, where they are assigned to eternal torments, and they witness the power and pride of misery being transformed by humility.5:16
(Verse 16) And the Lord of hosts will be exalted in judgment: and the holy God will be sanctified in righteousness. When the people are led captive, because they have no knowledge, and die of hunger, and with thirst shrivel up, and the grave enlarges its appetite: and the mighty and noble and glorious descend into the depths, and man is humbled, and the vir is abased, and all receive according to their merits: then the Lord will be exalted in judgment, whose judgment previously seemed unjust, and the holy God will be sanctified in righteousness by all, so that what is said in the Gospel may be fulfilled: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name (Matthew 6:9); and: Righteous Father, the world has not known thee (John 17:25). Where should we be careful not to anticipate the judgment of God, whose judgments are great and unsearchable, and about whom the Apostle speaks: His judgments are unsearchable and his ways are unfathomable (Rom. XI, 33), until he enlightens the hidden things of darkness and reveals the thoughts of the hearts (I Cor. IV, 5), who says in the Gospel: Do not judge, so that you may not be judged (Matth. VII, 1). To which statement the Apostle Paul concurs, commanding: Who are you to judge someone else's servant? He stands or falls to his own master. And he shall stand, for God is able to make him stand. (Romans 14:4)5:17
(Verse 17) And the lambs will be fed in their order: and the deserted places will be turned into abundance, and strangers will feast upon them. Instead of the lambs being fed in their order, which is understood in a positive sense, I do not know what the LXX, desiring something else, translated as 'they will be fed as plundered bulls'; understanding lambs as bulls, and again interpreting strangers as lambs. But when the Lord is exalted in judgment, and sanctified in His righteousness, so that the evil farmers may be destroyed, and the lofty cedar may be cut down by the axe of the Lord; then those who are among the number of lambs, not of goats, will be fed in the meadows of the Church, and will say: 'The Lord feeds me, and I lack nothing' (Psalm 23:1); and the people of the nations will eat the deserted things of the Jews, turned into abundance. This is according to the tropology. Moreover, to complete the order of the narrative, the same thing is said in other words, which we have read above: Your land is devoured by strangers in your presence, and it is deserted and destroyed by foreign peoples (Isaiah 1:7). For the multitude of nations gathered from the whole world dwell in Judea, and the previous peoples being expelled, therefore blindness has happened to the house of Israel, so that the fullness of the Gentiles may enter (Romans 11). Beautifully, according to the LXX, they were plundered and devastated and led into captivity like bulls, of whom the Lord had said: Fat bulls have surrounded me, so that the lambs may occupy the places of the bulls.5:18-19
(Verse 18, 19.) Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as if with a cart rope. Those who say: let his work speed up and come quickly, so that we may see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel approach and come, so that we may know it. As for the cart rope, the Septuagint translated it as a strap of the yoke of a heifer or a cow. And it is more commonly read that the ropes are called sins. Among them is this: Each one is bound by the cords of their own sins (Proverbs 5:22). And the Lord, rebuking the delinquent people who had joined sins with sins, made a scourge out of cords, showing them how they had made the house of God a den of thieves (John 2), and turned the house of prayer into a house of trade (Matthew 21). Also, the guest of the Lord's supper, not wearing a wedding garment, was bound hand and foot and thrown into the outer darkness (Matthew 22). And the Lord came to say to those who were in chains: Go forth (Isaiah 49:9); and to those who dwelt in darkness: Be revealed (Psalm 146:8). For he loosens the bound, and enlightens the blind, whom Jeremiah calls bound to the earth. He does not lament those who have begun to sin and immediately stop, for there is no one on earth who does good and does not sin at times (Eccl. 7:2); but those who extend their sins with a long cord. And so we read in Numbers (Chapter 19), the red heifer, whose ashes are the purification of the people, must not be sacrificed and offered on the altar of the Lord unless it has not done earthly works, and has not worn the yoke, nor has been bound by the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar. And in this same prophecy, the daughters of Zion are also girded with the cord of truth. Achitophel and Judas (one of whom betrayed David, the other the Lord) were both hung by very long ropes, dragging their own sins, thinking that the evil of conscience would end with their immediate death, and that there would be nothing after death. But what is called cords of vanity according to the Hebrew and all other interpreters signifies that sin is easily covered up for those who commit it, and it is so empty and easy that it is woven like spider webs. But when we want to leave, we are bound by the strongest chains. But those who remember what is written in Zacharia understand more easily a wagon full and burdened with sins, that wickedness sits upon a talent of lead (Zach. V): and the Egyptians who were burdened with a heavy load of sins, as lead were immersed in the Red Sea (Exod. XV). And in another place a sinner speaks: My iniquities have gone over my head: like a heavy burden they have been loaded upon me (Ps. XXXVII). But these things are said to the leaders of the Jews, who are known for their greed and luxury: that, being provoked by the Lord to repentance, and afterwards by His Apostles, they continue until today in blasphemies, and three times each day in all synagogues they curse the name of Christian under the name of Nazarenes. And the meaning is: Woe to you who think that the day of judgment will not come, or that the captivity which the prophetic word predicts will not come: you who say to the Prophet: How long will you threaten us with the wrath of God? We want her to know, let her come now. However, they speak this ironically, because they do not think she will come, but rather pretend to be a Prophet.5:20
(Verse 20) Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil: who put darkness for light, and light for darkness: who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. It is of the same crime to call good, light, and sweet by the opposite names, as to call evil, darkness, and bitter by the names of virtues. This is what the Jews do, who consider good evil, and light darkness, and sweet bitter, welcoming Barabbas, the author of robbery and sedition, and crucifying Jesus, who had come only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel, to save what was lost. Let us understand Barabbas as the devil, who, although he is darkness and night, is transformed into an angel of light (Matthew XXVII). Therefore, the Apostle also speaks: What sharing of righteousness with iniquity? What fellowship does light have with darkness? What agreement is there between Christ and Belial (2 Corinthians VI, 14, 15)? For a lamp is not to be taken away and put under a bushel, or under a bed, but to be placed on a lampstand, so that it may give light to everyone. Nor is a tree that bears evil fruit to be called a good tree (Matthew V). And in the mystical language of Genesis, it is narrated that God separated light from darkness, which were hovering over the abyss in the beginning (Gen. I). And He Himself, being called the Good Shepherd, speaks in the Gospel: The Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep (John X, 11). He also says that He is the light: I am the light of the world (John VIII, 12), and we, who are nourished by the heavenly bread every day, say: Taste and see how sweet the Lord is (Ps. XXIII, 9). On the contrary, when we say: Deliver us from evil (Matthew 6:13); and: The world is set in wickedness (1 John 5:19), we desire to be freed from the snares of the devil. Moreover, we frequently read that he himself is signified by names of darkness and bitterness. But we can also say that all contrary doctrines are bitter to the truth, and only the sweet truth. Therefore, we must be careful not to follow falsehood in place of truth, nor darkness in place of light. For there are many paths that appear straight to men, and their last ends lead into the depths of Hell. Also, the just man perishes in his justice, of whom it is said: Do not be excessively righteous (Eccl. VII, 17). For these reasons, Israel promises to walk in the royal way, not deviating to the left or to the right (Deut. V). And to speak what I feel: it is difficult to escape this curse, since we often flatter the wicked because of their power, and despise the good because of their poverty. Aquila interprets this saying as follows: Woe to those who say that good is evil and evil is good (Prov. XVII, 13). This meaning is also in accordance with what Solomon says in Proverbs: He who judges the just as unjust and the unjust as just, both are abominable before God. The scribes and Pharisees, who do not accept the words of the Savior but instead follow human traditions and old wives' tales, have made good into evil and evil into good.5:21
(Verse 21.) Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight. For it is said, you yourselves appear to be wise, who follow human wisdom, not God's: and since you do not receive the power of God and the wisdom of God, you think you are wise (1 Corinthians 1). The Stoics claim that there is a difference between wisdom and prudence, in that wisdom is the knowledge of divine and human things, while prudence pertains only to mortal affairs. Furthermore, these things are said against the scribes and Pharisees, who, having the key of knowledge, neither enter themselves nor allow others to enter to Christ (Luke 11).5:22
(Verse 22.) Woe to those who are mighty in drinking wine, and men of strength in mixing strong drink, that is, drunkenness. To those mentioned above who rise early in the morning to pursue drunkenness, and drink until evening, so that you burn with wine, he now also speaks of those who are mighty in drinking wine, and men of strength in mixing strong drink (Deuteronomy 32). Those who were intoxicated with the wine of dragons, and with the deadly venom of asps, they slandered with the power of the Lord. And they themselves, drunk, intoxicated the people, so that, like frenzied bacchantes, they shouted against the Lord. According to the tropology, we have already said: priests entering the Tabernacle of God should not drink wine and strong drink (Leviticus 10). We now add, that it is also commanded to the Nazarenes, who dedicate themselves to the Lord, that they should not drink wine or strong drink, or anything made from grapes, nor even eat dried grapes or vinegar made from wine (Numbers 6). But in Proverbs it is also commanded: Powerful men who are prone to anger; do not drink wine, lest when they drink, they forget wisdom. I think that there is an analogy between wine and drunkenness, in that wine is one disturbance out of many, for example, of lust, greed, gluttony, and envy. Drunkenness, on the other hand, contains within itself all the passions of vices, which we can more accurately call disturbances in the Latin language, because they overturn the state of the mind and make the drunkards unaware of what they are doing. Therefore, those who are in charge ought to be free from vices, especially anger, which is closest to madness, so that they may not harm their subjects even more as they gain more power. For someone who is full of drunkenness, he pretends to possess certain virtues by deceiving others and creating illusions.5:23
(Verse 23.) You justify the wicked for bribes, and take away the justice of the righteous from them. And this is a part of the vices of the vineyard, which has produced sour grapes instead of grapes, and while the Lord waits to bring judgment, it commits iniquity by justifying the wicked for bribes and not considering the causes but the gifts, which even blind the eyes of the wise. Therefore, we must be cautious not to be intoxicated with wine, in which there is excess (Deuteronomy 16:19; Ephesians 5), and not expose the shame of our thighs (Genesis 9), and not flatter the wicked for bribes and despise the justice of the righteous because of poverty. And as it is commanded in the Epistle of James: not to honor the wicked rich and despise the holy poor, let us not become judges of iniquity.5:24
(Verse 24) Therefore, as the tongue of fire devours straw, and the heat of flames consumes it, so their root will be like embers, and their blossom will rise like dust. For they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts and have blasphemed the word of the Holy One of Israel. Because of the higher causes of pride, drunkenness, and greed, they have brought forth thorns, hay, wood, straw, and will burn the brambles. Therefore, the root of their wickedness will be reduced to ashes, and all the beauty and splendor of wealth and the body will be compared to dust (I Cor. III). For they not only did these things, but by these steps they arrived at blasphemy, so that they would not receive the law of the Lord, and they blasphemed the word of the Holy One of Israel; concerning which we read above: From Zion the law will go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3). The root can be understood as evil thoughts, but the fruit and the shoot as evil deeds and words, so that what lies hidden in the root may be revealed in the shoot: both of which will be consumed by the fire of the Lord. And so the Apostle (Heb. XII, 15), refers to the root of bitterness springing up, speaking of evil.5:25
(Verse 25.) Therefore the wrath of the Lord's fury is upon His people, and He stretches out His hand against them and strikes them, and the mountains tremble, and their dead bodies become like refuse in the middle of the streets. In all of this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is still outstretched. For they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts, which the Lord had promised to give through Jeremiah, saying: 'Behold, the days are coming,' says the Lord, 'when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt' (Jeremiah 31:31-32). And the people of Holy Israel blasphemed His speech, saying: He has a devil, and He is a Samaritan (John 8:48); and: Is not this the carpenter's son (Matthew 13:55)? Therefore, the fury of the Lord was kindled against His people, who were previously angry with the rulers and the powerful, who were wise in their own eyes, and justified the wicked for bribes, and their tongue devoured them like fire, and the heat of the flame consumed them, so that the mighty would suffer mighty torments. And He stretched out His hand against the people whom He calls His own; because they are His portion and the inheritance of His possession (Deut. XXXII). But He stretched out His hand to strike, and His fury was kindled, as we read in another place: O Lord, rebuke me not in Thy fury, neither chasten me in Thy wrath (Ps. VI, 1). And Jeremiah says: Correct us, O Lord, but with judgment; not in Thine anger (Jerem. X, 24). However, the Lord is said to be angry, not because He is subject to human disturbances, but because we who sin do not fear the Lord unless we hear Him expressing His anger. Therefore, the Apostle writes (Rom. II) that the goodness and patience of God provoke us to repentance: but we, according to the hardness and impenitence of our heart, treasure up wrath to ourselves against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. And concerning the hand that is stretched forth or lifted up against the sinful people, Job speaks more explicitly: For the hand of the Lord has touched me (Job. XIX, 21). And the devil, knowing the mighty hand of the Lord, and the arm that is revealed to all nations, says to the Lord: send forth your hand, and touch all that he has, unless he blesses you to your face (Job 2:5). But what is said as if it were past, which is future, follows a prophetic custom, in which the things that are said to be future are so certain, that they are thought to be past. This is also sung in the Psalms: They gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink (Psalm 69:22). And again: They have divided my garments among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots (Ps. XXI, 19). And what follows: And he struck him, that is, his people, and the mountains were troubled: some mountains are thought to be opposing strengths; or they are the spirits who are in the ministry of God, and to whom sinners are handed over for punishment. But we think that it is said hyperbolically, that the mountains are also moved because of the magnitude of the impending evils, and that all the streets of cities are filled with the corpses of the dead. No one doubts that this happened to the Jews after the passion of the Lord under Vespasian and Adrian. And when these things were done, it is not against their fury: but still his hand stretched out, or elevated, which shows the appearance of one being angry and striking. And it is to be noted in all these things, that it does not reproach them for idolatry, nor for any other sins for which they have offended God, but because they have rejected the law of the Gospel, and blasphemed the word of the Lord.5:26-30
(Verse 26 and following) And he will raise a signal among the nations far away, and he will whistle for them from the ends of the earth, and behold, they will come quickly and swiftly. And he will not be weary or faint. He will not slumber or sleep, nor will his waist belt be loosened or his sandal strap be broken. His arrows are sharp, and all his bows are drawn tight. The hooves of his horses are like flint, and his chariot wheels are like a whirlwind. His roar is like that of a lion, he will roar like a lion's cubs. He will growl, and seize his prey, and embrace it, and no one will rescue it. And it will sound over him in that day like the roaring of the sea: we will look to the land, and behold, darkness of distress, and the light is obscured by its shadow. The Hebrews understand this passage to prophesy about the Babylonians and Nebuchadnezzar, that by the will of God he was led into Judah and Jerusalem, and he destroyed the temple. But we, following the order, and connecting the following things with those that came before, therefore, we say that the sign, elevated far away among the nations, signifies the Lord, or that he has hissed at them like a serpent, or has dragged them with the boundary of the land; because they have cast aside the law of the Gospel, and have blasphemed the holy word. For if there had been discourse regarding the Babylonians, according to the prophetic custom, it would have said: I will call him who is from the North, because the Assyrians and Chaldeans are situated near Judea in the northern region. He certainly described the Babylonians and Assyrians more clearly. But now, saying, 'He will raise a signal among the nations far away, and will whistle for them from the ends of the earth,' he signifies distant nations and those who dwell at the ends of the earth, undoubtedly including the Romans and all the peoples of Italy, Gaul, and Spain, who were subjected to the Roman Empire under Vespasian and Hadrian. Hence why Italy was called Hesperia, because the evening star sets there. And with this, he was struck down, and all the hills of Judea were troubled, as Theodotion and Symmachus interpreted, or disturbed, as Aquila put it, or embittered, as the LXX translated, so that the streets were filled with the bodies of the dead, as if by the assault of enemies. The divine word describes the speed of the approaching army, which came not by its own will, but by the will of the Lord; indeed, it was drawn in and provoked by its hiss, which did not fail or tire from such a journey, and did not allow sleep to its eyes, and whose sandals were not worn out. The multitude of archers, the troops of horsemen, the fervor of chariots and quadrigas, is compared to the roar of a lion, which came not so much to fight as to plunder and devour, and the shouting of the victorious army is likened to the waves of the sea. From which it should be noted whenever the sound of the sea is referred to in the Scriptures, what it signifies. Therefore, when the Roman army arrives, takes plunder, and there is no one to rescue, the Prophet joins the people with sympathetic affection and says: We will look upon the earth and behold the darkness of affliction. For we dare not look upon the sky, whose inhabitant we offend, and our light, which we always had in God, is obscured by the darkness of afflictions. I read in the commentary of someone that this which is said: He will raise a signal among the nations afar off, and will whistle to him from the ends of the earth, is to be understood from the calling of the Gentiles, that when the sign of the Cross is raised and the burdens of sins are laid aside, they will come quickly and believe. But I do not know how the following things can agree with this interpretation.Book Three
Book ThreeThe size of the volumes is enough for me, which is covered in the explanation of the prophet Isaiah, where omitting something is a loss of understanding. Therefore, in each book, which only indicates the number and order, I have included short prefaces. And, virgin Eustochium, I pray that you assist me in the exposition of the most difficult vision: in which Almighty God is seen in His majesty; and two Seraphim standing around Him and crying out: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory; and the threshold of the temple shaken and the house of Judah filled with the darkness of error. And in comparison to the glory of God, the Prophet said that he had unclean lips and dwelt among a blaspheming people who cried out with the impious voice of rebellion: Crucify, crucify such a person; and, We have no king but Caesar (John 19:6 and 15). And one of the Seraphim was sent to Isaiah, who took a pair of tongs from the altar that had a burning coal, and purified the Prophet's lips, while the people remained unclean. Therefore, the third book of Isaiah begins with these words.
6:1
(Chapter 6, Verse 1) In the year when King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne. Isaiah prophesied under the reign of four kings over Judah and Jerusalem, as indicated in the introduction to the first vision: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. After Uzziah died, under whom all the things we have mentioned above were spoken, his son Jotham succeeded him. Jotham reigned for sixteen years and did what was right in the sight of the Lord. He also built a high gate for the temple. When he saw this, Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne, to show the appearance of a ruler.And those things which were under him, filled the Temple, whether as Theodotius and Symmachus carried it over: And those things which were under his feet, filled the Temple. For which reason the Seventy interpreted. And the house was full of his glory. About thirty years ago, when I was in Constantinople, with the most eloquent man Gregory Nazianzen, then bishop of the same city, I recall having dictated a brief and sudden treatise on this vision, in order to test my little talent and to obey my friends' advice. Therefore, I send this little book to the reader, and pray that he may be satisfied with a brief explanation of this time. It tells the sacred story of Aziah, who claimed for himself an illicit priesthood and was struck with leprosy; and when he died, the Lord appeared in the Temple that he had defiled (2 Chronicles 26). From this, we understand that while we have a leprous king ruling within us, we cannot see the Lord reigning in His majesty, nor understand the mysteries of the Holy Trinity. And in Exodus, after Pharaoh, who oppressed Israel with mud and bricks, and later with straw, died, the people cried out to the Lord, who they could not cry out to while he was still alive. And when Phaltia son of Bananiah, a wicked ruler, died, Ezekiel fell on his face and with a loud voice cried out to the Lord. And it is beautifully said in the Hebrew: the Lord does not fill the Temple, whose heaven is his throne and the earth is his footstool; and as we read elsewhere: The Lord is in his holy Temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven (Psalm 11:5); but the things under his feet filled the Temple (Isaiah 66). But who is this Lord that is seen, as we learn more fully in the Gospel of John and in the Acts of the Apostles. Of whom John says: These things said Isaiah when he saw his glory and spoke of him (John 12:41), undoubtedly referring to Christ. Again, Paul in the Acts of the Apostles, where he speaks to the Jews in Rome, says: Well said the Holy Spirit through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers, saying: Go to this people, and say: Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the heart of this people has grown dull, their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their heart and turn, so that I should heal them (Acts 28:26-27). However, the Son appeared in the form of one who reigns, and the Holy Spirit spoke because of the sharing of majesty and the unity of substance. Someone may ask, how can the Prophet say that he saw the Lord now, and not just the Lord, but the Lord of hosts, as he himself testifies in the following text; since the evangelist John said: No one has ever seen God (John 1:20). And God speaks to Moses: You cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live (Exodus 33:20). To this we will respond, not only regarding the divinity of the Father, but also of the Son and the Holy Spirit, because there is one nature in the Trinity, that is able to see with the eyes of the flesh; but with the eyes of the mind, as the Savior himself says: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8). We read that Abraham saw the Lord in the form of a man, and that Jacob wrestled with him as a man, who was God. Therefore, that place itself was called Peniel, which means 'face of God': For I have seen the Lord face to face, and my soul has been saved (Genesis 32). Ezechiel also saw the Lord in the form of a man sitting upon Cherubim, from his loins downwards he was like fire, and the upper parts had the appearance of electricity. Therefore, the nature of God is not seen, but appears to humans as he chooses.
6:2
(Ver. 2.) The seraphim stood above him, six wings to one, and six wings to the other: with two they covered his face, and with two they covered his feet, and with two they flew. And they cried to one another, saying: Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory. This that we, following other interpreters and the Hebrew truth, in which it is written Memmallo, that is, ἐπάνω αὑτοῦ, which in Latin is said super illud, translate: the Seventy translated around him, so that the seraphim are not said to stand above the temple, but to be described around the Lord. Again, where we have said that one of the Seraphim covered his face and feet, by which is understood the face and feet of God: in Hebrew it is written Phanau and Reglau, which can be interpreted as both his own and its: so that, according to the ambiguity of the Hebrew language, the face and feet of God and his own face and feet are said to be covered. In the seventy-ninth psalm we read: You who sit enthroned upon the Cherubim, manifest (Psalm 79:3); which in our language is interpreted as a multitude of knowledge. And thus the Lord is openly shown to sit upon the cherubim in the manner of a charioteer. However, I do not know elsewhere in the Canonical Scriptures where the seraphim, who are called to stand above the Temple or in the surrounding of the Lord, are read. Therefore, those who are accustomed to say in prayers 'You who sit upon the cherubim and seraphim' are mistaken, as Scripture has not taught this. The seraphim, however, are interpreted as 'burning ones', which we can say are kindling or setting on fire, according to what we read elsewhere: 'Who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a burning fire' (Psalm 104:4). And so Paul the Apostle in the Epistle to the Hebrews, which the Latin custom does not receive: 'Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?' (Heb. 1:14). Daniel also, when he described the Lord in the guise of a ruler, added: 'Thousands of thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him' (Dan. 7:10). Therefore, the Lord is shown in the Cherubim, in part revealed, and in part concealed in the Seraphim. For they cover their face and feet, because we cannot know what happened before the world and what will happen after the world; but we only contemplate the things that were made in the six days. It is not surprising to believe this about the Seraphim, since the apostles reveal the Savior to those who believe and hide Him from unbelievers; and a veil was also before the Ark of the Covenant (Exod. 40). They are also said to have wings, because of their speed and their ability to travel everywhere: either because they always dwell in higher places. For that which is said about the winds, 'He walks upon the wings of the winds' (Psalm 104:4), does not truly testify that the winds have wings, according to the license of the fables of poets and painters, but rather it signifies their swift movement in all directions. And each has six wings, because we only know about the creation of the world and the present age. And what they cry out, one to another, or according to the Hebrews, this one to that one, that is, one to one, they encourage each other in the praises of the Lord and say: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts, in order to demonstrate the mystery of the Trinity in one Divinity; and they testify that the glory of God fills not just the Temple of the Jews, as before, but the entire earth, which He deigned to assume a human body for our salvation and descend to the earth. Finally, when Moses prayed to the Lord on behalf of the people, asking Him to spare the sinful people, the Lord responded: 'I will be merciful to them.' However, as surely as I live and as surely as my name lives, my glory will fill the whole earth (Num. 14: 20, 21). The seventy-first psalm also declares: 'His glory will fill the whole earth' (Psalm 71:19). That is why the angels proclaimed to the shepherds: 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will' (Luke 2:14). Therefore, some impiously understand the two Seraphim to refer to the Son and the Holy Spirit: as we teach according to the evangelist John and the Apostle Paul, that the Son of God was seen in the majesty of his reign, and the Holy Spirit spoke. Some Latin scholars understand the two Seraphim to refer to the Old and New Testaments, which speak only of the present age. Hence, they are said to have six wings and to veil the face and feet of God, and eagerly bear witness to the truth, and show forth all the sacraments of the Trinity that they proclaim. And they marvel at each other because the Lord of hosts, in the form of the Father, took on the form of a servant and humbled Himself even unto death, death on a cross (Philippians II), so that not only heavenly beings, but also earthly beings may know Him.6:4
(Verse 4) And the doorposts of the cardinal's palace were shaken by the voice of the one who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. The seraphim cried out, and throughout the whole earth they proclaimed the mystery of the Trinity, when the entire earth learned of the passion of the Lord and Savior. Immediately, the threshold of the Temple was either raised or lifted up, and all its hinges fell down, fulfilling the Savior's threat, saying: Your house will be left to you desolate (Matthew 23:38). And what a beautiful arrangement of words. After the earth is filled with the glory of the Lord of hosts, the Temple of the Jews is filled with the darkness of ignorance, and with darkness, and with smoke, which is harmful to the eyes. Or certainly through the smoke of the Temple the fire is revealed. For first the Gospel of the Savior was preached throughout the whole world, and after forty-two years from the Lord's passion, Jerusalem was captured, and the Temple was set on fire. The Jews believe that the Temple was filled with smoke, which signifies incense, and through this the coming of the divine majesty.6:5
(Verse 5.) And I said: Woe to me because I have kept silent, for I am a man with unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people with unclean lips, and I have seen the king, the Lord of hosts, with my own eyes. And after Abraham saw the Lord and heard His voice, he declared himself to be mere dust and ashes (Gen. 18). And Isaiah, according to the Septuagint, testifies that he was stricken, not for any other sins, but because he had unclean lips. Blessed is the conscience that has only sinned in speech, not by its own fault, but because of association with a people with unclean lips, with whom he was often compelled to speak. From this it is shown to be harmful to live with sinners: For he who touches pitch, will be defiled by it (Ecclesiasticus 13:1). But because we read in Hebrew: Woe is me, for I have kept silence, the Prophet laments, because he was not worthy to praise the Lord of Hosts with the Seraphim, whom we understand to be Angelic virtues. But he dared not praise the Lord, because he had unclean lips. And therefore he had unclean lips, because he associated with the sinful people. Certainly, it must be understood in this way: Because I remained silent and did not boldly rebuke the wicked king Ozias, therefore my lips are unclean, and I dare not sing praises to the Lord with the angels, lest it be said of me: Why do you declare my justices and take my covenant in your mouth? (Ps. 49:16) For there is no beautiful praise on the lips of a sinner. (Eccl. 15:9) However, we say this, not that we teach that Isaiah was such; but that he himself, out of humility and with only unclean lips, confesses himself worthy of God's praise.6:6
(Verse 6) And one of the Seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a live coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar, and he touched my mouth, and said: Behold, this has touched your lips, and your iniquity shall be taken away, and your sin be cleansed. He flew, or rather, one of the Seraphim was sent, the name of which means burning, in order to cleanse the impure lips of the Prophet with a fiery coal which he had taken from the altar. However, many believe that there are two Seraphim, because one was calling to the other, even though each individual could call out to the others; and the Septuagint edition suggests that there were actually many, who were interpreted as Seraphim, standing around him. And if it were spoken about two things, they would not have spoken in a circle, but they would have spoken from both sides. And this applies to the multitude of angels, which is prepared for the ministry of God. But the Seraphim are called in the plural number, and in the singular, Seraph; just as the Cherubim are called Cherub. But as for the altar under which the souls of the martyrs are seen in heaven, John speaks of it in the Apocalypse (Rev. 6); and this stone, which is interpreted as 'LXX coals of fire,' that is, a carbuncle, may not signify coal or charcoal, as many think, but a carbuncular stone, which is called fiery because of its flame-like color. From this we understand that the altar of God is filled with carbuncles, that is, fiery stones and embers, which cleanse sins. Hence we read in the Scriptures about God: Coals were kindled by Him (Psalm 18:9). And it is said of the Lord Himself that He is a consuming fire. And the Savior in the Gospel says: I have come to cast fire upon the earth (Luke 12:49), to baptize in the Holy Spirit and fire. For the fire will test the quality of each one’s work (1 Corinthians 3). And he who is to be saved will be saved as if he passed through fire. And it should be noted that to Jeremiah, to whom it was said: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I sanctified you (Jeremiah 1:5), because he did not have unclean lips, but had only said: I do not know how to speak, because I am young, the Lord himself stretched out his hand, and touched his mouth, and said: Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. Moreover, to Isaiah who said, 'I am a man with unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people with unclean lips,' the hand of God is not extended, but a Seraphim is sent by God, or flies of its own accord, because it is entrusted with this task. And in its hand it holds a coal, which according to the Septuagint and Theodotion, is grasped with tongs; according to Aquila and Symmachus, who have followed the Hebrew, with forceps it grasps, that is, 'he cleanses his iniquities,' so that it may touch his mouth and purify his ancient sins. However, it is the hand that is sent from God and the Seraphim, so that the Prophet, seeing a member of his own body, is not frightened by external touch. Some of our people consider the forceps, with which a stone is grasped, to be the two Testaments, which are united by the union of the Holy Spirit. But because the Lord is introduced as sitting, and sitting in the Temple, and the house is filled with smoke, as the Jews think, of incense; consequently, forceps are also mentioned, which we read about in the priestly ministry (Exodus 37).6:8
(Verse 8.) And I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? And I said: Here am I, send me. Because both us and all the other interpreters have translated it, the Hebrew phrase Lanu (), which means 'for us,' is put by the LXX to this people, which is not at all found in the Hebrew. But when it is said in the person of God, 'for us' is to be understood in that sense in which it is read in Genesis: Let us make man in our image, and likeness (Gen. 1:26), to indicate the sacrament of the Trinity. For just as we read in the Gospel, when the Lord says, 'I and the Father are one' (John 10:30), and we refer this to the unity of nature, namely, that we are one in essence, but to the diversity of persons, the Trinity governs as commanded by the Lord. However, the Lord does not specify whom to go forth, but presents the listeners with an option, so that the will may obtain the reward. And the Prophet does not promise to go forth by presumption and the arrogance of his own conscience, but by confidence: because his lips have been cleansed, and iniquity has been removed, and sin has been purified. Therefore Moses also, to whom the Lord said: Come, I will send thee to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt (Exod. III, 10), and he said: I beseech thee, Lord, I am not eloquent, send whom thou wilt (Exod. IV, 13), answered not with contempt, but with humility, because he had not heard anything from his purified lips, who had been educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. And Isaiah, not by his own merit, but by the grace of the Lord, by which he was purified, offered himself to the service. But others think that Isaiah offered himself because he thought that he had good news to announce to the people. But because he heard, 'Go, tell this people: You shall indeed hear but not understand, you shall indeed see but not perceive' (Isaiah 6:9), therefore, in the following passages, when the voice of the Lord said to him, 'Cry out,' he does not immediately cry out, but he asks, 'What shall I cry?' The prophet Jeremiah, to whom it had been said, 'Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand and drink to all the nations to which I send you' (Jeremiah 25:15), willingly receiving the cup of sufferings, so that he might offer it to the opposing nations, for them to drink, and vomit, and fall down; after he heard, 'Go and first offer it to Jerusalem,' he replied, 'You have deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived' (Jeremiah 20:7). This is the observance of the Hebrews. However, we say that it is not a matter of rashness, but of obedience, to offer oneself to be sent by the Lord.6:9-10
(Verse 9 and following) And he said: Go, and say to this people: Hearing, you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing, you shall see, and shall not perceive. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. The Septuagint translates this passage as follows, as the evangelist Luke placed it in the Acts of the Apostles: And when they did not agree with one another, it is certain that the Jews departed, as Paul said one word: Because the Holy Spirit has spoken well through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers, saying: Go to this people, and say: Hearing, you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing, you shall see, and shall not perceive; for the heart of this people has grown fat, and they have heavily heard with their ears, and have shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I heal them (Acts 28:25 and following). But as for the time when this prophecy was fulfilled, the Apostle Paul himself speaks in the following words: Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen. (Acts 28:28) Hence, in the same Acts of the Apostles, we read that Paul and Barnabas, when the Jews refused to believe, said: It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. But since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. (Acts 13:46, 47) For thus the Lord commanded us: I have set you as a light for the Gentiles, that you may be for salvation to the ends of the earth (Isaiah 49:6). Therefore, according to the easy interpretation of the Septuagint, Isaiah the prophet declares what the people will do by the command of the Lord. In Hebrew, there is a difficulty in how God Himself commands the people to hear but not understand, to see but not perceive, and then the prophet comes and prays to the Lord and says: Blind the heart of this people, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and be healed (Isaiah 6:10). First of all, the question that can be posed to us must be answered: why did the apostle Paul, when disputing with the Hebrews, speak not according to the Hebrew that he knew to be correct, but according to the Septuagint? The ancient commentators of the Church claim that the evangelist Luke was extremely knowledgeable in the medical arts and had a greater understanding of Greek letters than Hebrew. Hence, his language in both the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles is more polished and reminiscent of secular eloquence, and he makes greater use of Greek testimonies than Hebrew ones. But Matthew and John, of whom one wrote the Gospel in Hebrew and the other in Greek, cite testimonies from the Hebrew, such as: 'Out of Egypt I have called my Son' (Hosea II, 1). And: 'He shall be called a Nazarene' (Matthew II, 23). And: 'Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water' (John VII, 38). And: 'They shall look upon him whom they have pierced' (Zechariah XII, 10; John XIX, 37), and others similar to these. Moreover, it can be objected that the Epistle to the Hebrews is not Paul's because in writing to the Hebrews, he uses testimonies that are not found in Hebrew volumes. But if someone were to say that the Hebrew books were later falsified by the Jews, let them hear what Origen responds to this question in the eighth volume of his Explanations of Isaiah, namely that the Lord and the Apostles, who accuse the scribes and Pharisees of other crimes, would not have remained silent about this greatest crime. But if they were to say that the Hebrew books were falsified after the coming of the Lord Savior and the preaching of the Apostles, I cannot help but laugh, because the Savior, the Evangelists, and the Apostles presented their testimonies in such a way that the Jews would later falsify them. However, in the present place, it must be said that it is in vain for us to resort to the Septuagint translation, lest it seem blasphemous that what is said in Hebrew, Hear and you shall not understand, and see the vision, and you shall not know, we also find such testimonies in the Seventy Interpreters, as is the case in Exodus where it is said to Pharaoh: For this very reason have I raised you up, that I may show my power in you. But if he Himself raised up and hardened the heart of Pharaoh, that he should not believe: and of others it is said: God hath given them the spirit of insensibility, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear (Rom. XI, 8); and in the Psalms: Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block, and a recompense unto them: let their eyes be darkened that they may not see, and their back bend thou down always (Ps. LXVIII, 23, 24): they are not to be blamed who do not see, but He who gave eyes that they should not see. Therefore, even without this testimony that we are now trying to explain, the same question remains in the churches, and either with these things being resolved along with the others, or with the others being resolved and this one remaining unsolvable. The blessed apostle Paul explains this matter more fully in his letter to the Romans, and what he has almost entirely discussed throughout the letter, we make unnecessary if we wish to summarize it in a short speech. For he says after many things: God has concluded all in unbelief, that he may have mercy upon all (Rom. 11:32). And admiring the sacraments of the Lord, he exclaimed: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! And again, speaking about the incredulity of the Jews, he says: Have they then stumbled that they should fall? God forbid; but by their offense salvation is come to the Gentiles, that they may be provoked to emulation. And after a little while: For if the loss of them be the reconciliation of the world, what shall the receiving of them be? Is not life from the dead? And again: I don't want you to be unaware, brothers, of this mystery, so that you may not be wise in your own sight, for a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in. And then all Israel will be saved. And in a little while (Rom. XI, 25): According to the Gospel, they are enemies for your sake, but according to election, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers: for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you, he says, at one time did not believe in God but now have attained mercy due to their disbelief, so too these individuals now have not believed in your mercy, in order that they may also attain mercy. For God has concluded all under sin, so that he may have mercy on all. Therefore, it is not cruelty on God's part, but mercy, for one nation to perish so that all may be saved: that the part of the Jews may not be seen, so that the whole world may be seen. And the Lord Himself in the Gospel turns the miracle of the blind man from birth, who had received his sight, into a Tropology, and He says: 'For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.' (John 9:39). And in another place, Simeon speaks: 'Behold, this child is set for the fall and the rising of many.' (Luke 2:34). Therefore, while they do not see, we see; while they fall, we rise. The Prophet, understanding in a certain way, says in other words: O Lord, you command me to speak to the people of Judah, so that they may hear and not understand the Savior, and see him, and not recognize him. If you want your command to be fulfilled, and the whole world to be saved, which I also desire, blind the heart of this people and make their ears heavy, and close their eyes, so that they may not understand, hear, or see. For if they see, and are converted, and understand, and are healed, the whole world will not receive healing. From this, we understand that although sin is grave, if someone converts, they can be healed. And at the same time, it must be understood that for the magnitude of the crime, they are deemed unworthy of repentance. As the Lord Himself said to Jerusalem: How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing (Matthew 23:37).6:11-13
(Verse 11-13.) And I said, how long, Lord? And he answered, until the cities are desolate and without inhabitant, and the houses are without people, and the land is left empty. And the Lord will remove men far away, and what was abandoned in the midst of the land will be multiplied. And even in it there will be a tenth, and it will be turned again to destruction, like a terebinth tree, and like an oak tree that sheds its leaves, the holy seed will be the stump that remains in it. The Lord said: Go, and tell this people, Hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive. For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them (Deut. XXXII). The prophet responds, anxiously questioning about his people: How long, Lord, will this message endure, that they hear but do not understand; and see but do not perceive? To whom the Lord responded, for so long will not hear, and will not see, and will have a blind heart, until the cities of Judea are completely destroyed by Vespasian and Titus fighting, to the extent that not even the original name remains, and if there are any houses left; they will be without inhabitants, and the land will be reduced to a wilderness; and either by fleeing or by captivity, the Jewish people will be dispersed throughout the entire world: and the Jewish people will multiply not in Judea, as before, but in all the nations. But when I say that it will multiply, the misery of the remaining people will be so great that compared to the previous multitude, hardly a tenth part will remain. And even in the land itself there will be desolation (for this place can be understood in two ways: that hardly a tenth part will remain in the whole world, and that hardly a small part of the people will be reserved in Judea). Again, the remaining people will be for plundering, when after nearly fifty years Adrian will come and completely plunder the land of Judea, to such an extent that it will be compared to a terebinth and an oak tree that has lost its acorns. Finally, after the ultimate devastation, even the laws of the state were suspended, and the Jews were prohibited from entering the land from which they had been expelled. But if anyone believes in Christ, and the fulfillment of what we have read above: 'Unless the Lord of hosts had left us offspring, we would have become like Sodom and become like Gomorrah' (Isaiah 1:9); as the Apostle also says (Romans 9), the remnant will be saved; this holy offspring will be, and from the seed of the apostles all the churches will sprout forth. What we have said, the holy seed will be that which remains in her, or next to the eagle, the holy seed will be its offspring; it is not found in the Seventy Interpreters, but added by Origen from the Hebrew and Theodotion's edition; in the copies of the Church, it is stated that after the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then all Israel will be saved; and this word of the Lord will also be fulfilled, saying: 'I will kill, and I will make alive; I will wound, and I will heal' (Deuteronomy 32:39).7:1-2
(Chapter VII, Verses 1, 2) And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah: Rezin King of Syria and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but they could not conquer it. And they reported to the house of David, saying: Syria has joined forces with Ephraim, and his heart is troubled, as the trees of the forest are moved by the wind. Uzziah, also known as Azariah, reigned as king of Judah in Jerusalem for fifty-two years (2 Kings 15). At the end of his time, Isaiah saw what he had already prophesied. When he died, and Jotham his son reigned in his place, a just king, the prophet immediately saw the Lord Savior reigning in his majesty, and announcing the blindness of the Jewish people, and the destruction of Jerusalem, and the other cities under Vespasian and Adrian. He also saw how the remnants would be saved through the Apostles. The third king, son of Jotham, succeeded him - Ahaz, the most impious king - who closed the doors of the temple, worshipped Baalim in the valley of Benbannom, and consecrated his son to idols. So he took away the bronze altar that Solomon had made and put it in the temple of the gods of Damascus, which he had taken from Damascus. Thus he was abandoned by the Lord, and Rasin, king of Syria, that is, Aram, and Phacee, son of Romelias, king of Israel in Samaria, rose up against him and came to Jerusalem to attack it (Same source). We read in the Book of Chronicles that after defeating Achaz, Rasin, king of Damascus, brought many people from Judah to Damascus, and Phacee, son of Romelias, king of the ten tribes called Israel, struck down in one day one hundred twenty thousand warriors from Judah and took captive two hundred thousand women, children, and girls along with a great amount of plunder to Samaria. About this battle, the prophet is now silent, but according to the account, a battle took place when they, having the test of their strength and victory, and invited by the magnitude of the spoils, came again to Judea, and desired to wage war against Jerusalem, but they could not, because the Lord helped him, so that under the occasion of mercy, by which he freed the besieged people, he announced that his son would be born of a Virgin. When the house of David, that is, the royal house, heard this, Syria and Ephraim, namely Rasin and Phacee, came together with their army, and they were terrified and feared, and both the king and the people trembled so much that you would think the leaves of the trees were being blown by the blasts of the wind. According to the anagoge, the easy interpretation is this: during the reign of the wicked King Ahaz, the king of Aram, who is interpreted as lofty and sublime, signifies the arrogance of worldly wisdom. And Pekah, son of Remaliah, who also, according to the prophet Hosea, was from the tribe of Ephraim, from which Jeroboam son of Nebat had set up golden calves in Bethel and Dan (3 Kings 32), and had separated the people of God from David, is referred to the heretics who are agreeing with him to attack the Church. And when the house of David hears this, the good shepherd whom we read about in Ezekiel (Ezek. XXXIV) being raised up, and his people believing simply in the Lord, they will tremble. And they will tremble because they are compared not to fruitful trees, but to a barren cliff. However, there is no doubt that heretics and pagans fight against the house of David with the swords of arguments and the art of dialectic, so that those who disagree among themselves may unite in attacking the Church, just as Herod and Pilate, who were at odds with each other, joined together in the passion of the Lord.7:3-9
(Verse 3, 4 and following) And the Lord said to Isaiah: Go out to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-Jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fuller's Field. And say to him: Take heed, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and the son of Remaliah. Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying: Let us go up against Judah and trouble it, and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves, and set a king over it, the son of Tabeel. Thus says the Lord God, this will not stand, and this will not be, but the head of Syria is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin, and yet sixty-five years, and Ephraim will cease to be a people. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Romelia. If you do not believe, you will not endure. Jasub, the son of Isaiah, who is interpreted as the remnant and turning back, in the likeness of the people of Judah, who was to be saved from the hands of the two kings, is commanded to go out with his parent and meet Ahaz, the king of Judah, by the upper pool of the aqueduct, on the road of the fuller's field, where later we will read, in the time of King Hezekiah, Rabshakeh stood to blaspheme the people of God by order of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria. The place they went out to was the one where the leaders of the city, sent by Hezekiah, were mentioned in the book of Kings. And it is commanded to Ahaz (2 Kings 18), even though he is a wicked king, by the mercy of the Lord, to be silent and not be terrified or afraid in his heart, thinking that he will suffer similar things that he had suffered before. However, he calls the two tails of burning wood, that is, the smoke towers, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Samaria, because the kingdom of Syria, that is, Damascus, and the kingdom of Samaria, that is, the ten tribes, which were called Ephraim by another name, end in them. For it is written (2 Kings 16) that Theglathphalassar, king of the Assyrians, ascended to Damascus under King Ahaz and laid it waste, and carried away its inhabitants to Cyrene, and killed Rasin, and that he plotted against Pekah son of Remaliah, and killed him, and reigned in Israel for nine years in his place, and that Salmanasar, king of Assyria, came and besieged Samaria, which is now called Sebaste, for three years, and in the ninth year of the reign of Hoshea he captured it, and he imprisoned Hoshea and carried Israel away to the Assyrians, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the River Gozan and in the cities of Media, or as the Septuagint translated, in the mountains of Media (2 Kings 17). For although the wicked kings have devised a plan today to ascend to Judah, whose region is situated in the mountains, and to rouse him from his rest, and in a way, to subdue him to their authority; and to set over him the son of Tabeel, who is interpreted as 'good God', in order to show either a man with this name, or an idol. Nevertheless, thus says the Lord God: This plan shall not stand, but for the time being the head of Syria's cities shall be Damascus, and in that very metropolis, Rasin shall reign. Furthermore, in Ephraim because of Jeroboam the son of Nabath, who was the first ruler of Ephraim, there will be the head of Samaria, that is, the royal house in the city of Samaria, and the head of Samaria will be the son of Romelia, that is, Phacee: however, the kingdom of the ten tribes, that is, the people of Ephraim, will cease to exist after sixty-five years. If we do not pay closer attention, it will not be able to stand. For in the twelfth year of Achaz the son of Joatham in the tribe of Judah, Hoshia ruled over Samaria, and in the ninth year, he was captured by the Assyrian empire (2 Kings 17). However, Achaz reigned over Judah for sixteen years (2 Kings 16), after whose death in the seventh year of his reign, Hoshea was captured and Samaria was destroyed, and the entire people were transported to Media. Thus, if we were to add sixteen years for Achaz and seven for Hoshea, there would be a total of twenty-three years, or at most, twenty-four. So where are the sixty-five years in which the kingdom of Israel is said to be ended? Therefore, the Hebrews explained this passage as follows: Amos, who began prophesying during the reign of Uzziah, also known as Azariah, and Isaiah, who began his prophecy, was the first to prophesy against Israel, saying: But Israel shall be taken captive out of his own land (Amos 7:11, 17). The title of his prophecy against Samaria is: And he began to prophesy in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, two years before the earthquake, which is said to have occurred at the time when Uzziah entered the temple of God and usurped the priesthood for himself, and the earth shook, and the ashes of the altar were poured out, and the king himself was struck with leprosy (II Chronicles 26). But Ozias wanted there to be twenty-five years when these things happened, of which there remain twenty-seven more years. For Ozias reigned for fifty-two years (2 Kings 15), after him his son Joatham reigned for sixteen years, and his son Achaz for another sixteen years. After him reigned Ezechias, and in the sixth year of his reign, Samaria was captured, making a total of sixty-five years (2 Kings 16). This, the Lord predicting through the prophet, Achaz and the people did not believe the future. Hence it is added: If you do not believe, you will not remain, as Symmachus translated, that is, you will not remain in your kingdom, but you will be led into captivity, enduring the punishment of those whose faithlessness you imitated. Or certainly according to the Septuagint, you will not understand. And the meaning is: because you do not believe what the Lord says will happen, you will not have understanding. These things we have spoken according to history. However, according to the intended symbolism, it should be considered that the prophet Isaiah is commanded to meet the impious king, going out from his place, not at the beginning of the aqueduct, but at the farthest ends of the upper pool, which was in the field of the clothiers, where impurities and stains were cleansed. Although Ahaz reigned over Judah, because he was impious, he dwelled at the farthest ends of the upper pool. Therefore, God does not have such pity on a king whom he regarded as unworthy of salvation as he has for his own people. However, the two tails of smoking torches, as we have previously mentioned, are called secular wisdom and heretical discourse, the end of which is destruction. Those who foolishly devised a plan to rise up against Judah, in order to capture him as if he were careless and asleep, and to associate him with their own errors, and to place the son of Tabeel, that is, a false god, on him. For both adversaries consider the truth to be with themselves, and they estimate that their own doctrine is the best. In the end, the heretic Marcion believes that Christ is the son of the good God, that is, of another, and not of the just one whose prophets he is. He calls him bloody, cruel, and a judge. While they are saying these things, the Lord threatens that their plan will not stand, but for the time being, as long as this world stands, and as long as the things of this world rule in their boundaries and cities. But when the time of the consummation comes, that is, sixty-five years, and both the things of the world that were made in six days, and all that pertains to the five senses, come to an end, then everything will be dissolved, which the gentiles and heretics do not believe will happen, and because of their disbelief, they do not understand what is being said.7:10-11
(Verse 10, 11.) And the Lord added, speaking to Achaz, saying: Ask for yourself a sign from the Lord your God in the depths of hell, or in the highest above. He had previously spoken to Achaz through the prophet, saying: Behold, be silent, do not fear, and so on. Since Achaz did not believe, and therefore did not understand, the Lord himself speaks to Achaz, so that at least, frightened by the authority of the Lord, he may accept what is said. For, he says to him, it seems difficult to you that the most powerful kingdoms are to be ended in a short time, and that you will be delivered from great danger along with your people; ask for yourself a sign, not from idols, by whose error you are held captive, but from the Lord your God who promises you help, and that sign is the basis of your request, whether from the depths or from on high. But while only the Seventy interpreted it as 'from the depth of hell,' the others translated it more significantly according to the Hebrew, 'from the depth of the underworld.' Therefore, just as 'the depths of hell' signifies a profound abyss, so we should understand 'the heights above the heavens' as an exalted state. So when you hear a sign about either the underworld or the exalted, believe in the future things that I have mentioned. Do you want, he says, the earth to be split open and the great chasms of the underworld to be revealed, which are said to exist in the heart of the earth, or for the heavens to be opened? Both pertain to the mystery of the death and ascension of the Lord: For he who descended is the one who also ascended (Ephesians 4:10). And in the Apostle we read: 'Don't say in your heart, "Who will ascend into heaven?" (that is, to bring Christ down)' or 'Who will descend into the abyss?' (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)' (Romans 10:6-7). And in another place, speaking about Christ, it says: 'That you may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge' (Ephesians 3:18). As far as mystical understanding is concerned, Moses also received signs from the earth, which we read about in the Psalms: He sent signs and wonders among you, O Egypt (Ps. CXXXIV, 9), such as frogs, locusts, gnats, and flies; from heaven, he sent hail, fire, and three days of darkness. We also have the example of Hezekiah, when the sun went back ten lines, receiving a sign from heaven (IV Kings XX); and Joshua, the son of Nun, in Gibeon and Aijalon, when the sun and moon stood still (Joshua X). Most people think that Saul received a sign from the earth and the depths of hell when he saw Samuel raised through enchantments and magic arts (1 Samuel 28). But even the prophet Jonah, who was liberated from the abyss, the depths, and the jaws of death, gave and received a sign of the underworld (Jonah 2). I have read in a certain Commentary that this passage is interpreted allegorically, understanding the deep and high as perceptible and intelligible things, which we can call sensible and intelligible, with the former referring to the senses and the latter to the mind and reason. Also, the virgin is interpreted as the soul, which is not corrupted by any consciousness of sin, and can give birth to Emmanuel, God with us, that is, the present word of God. But we do not eat the flesh of the lamb, but roast it, and we must dry up all the humors of pleasures in us, so that we do not neglect the sacrament of our faith, while we understand more than it is necessary to understand.7:12
(Verse 12.) And Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. This is not humility, but pride, that he does not want to ask for a sign from the Lord. Although it is written in Deuteronomy: You shall not test the Lord your God (Deut. 6:16), and the Savior used this against the devil as a testimony (Matt. 4): nevertheless, being commanded to ask, he should have fulfilled the command in obedience, especially since both Gideon and Manoah asked for and received a sign (Judges 6 and 13). However, according to the ambiguity of the Hebrew language, in which it is written 'Ulo Enasse Adonai' (), and all similarly translated it, I will not attempt the Lord, that it may be read, I will not exalt the Lord. For the impious king knew that if he sought a sign, he would receive it, and the Lord would be glorified. Therefore, like a worshipper of idols, who had set up altars in every corner of the streets and on the mountains and in shady groves, and considered fanatics to be Levites, he does not want to seek a sign as commanded.7:13
(Verse 13.) And he said, hear therefore, house of David: Is it not enough for you to be troublesome to men, that you are also troublesome to my God? Who is this that said, hear therefore, house of David? Not God who had said above to Ahaz: Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; but a Prophet, as is proven from what follows: For you are troublesome to my God. And the meaning is: because you not only persecute the prophets and despise their words; but you also contradict the present and commanding judgment of God; so that you bring upon yourself the labor, as he says in another place: I have labored, enduring (Isaiah 1:14), therefore the Lord will do what follows. Regarding the labor and trouble that Aquila and Symmachus have translated, LXX and Theodotius have interpreted it as a struggle and contest, because the contentious ones do not submit their necks to the Lord's service, but with Him willing to heal their wounds, they reject healing. And it should be noted that when the impious King Ahaz did not want to seek a sign, the prophetic message should be directed to the house of David, that is, to the royal tribe mentioned above: And they reported these things to the house of David, saying: Syria and Ephraim have joined forces.7:14
(Verse 14) Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and you shall call His name Emmanuel. In no way does God speak in various ways according to the Apostle Paul (Hebrews 1), nor according to any other prophet (Hosea 12), nor is He likened to the hands of prophets, but He who formerly spoke through others will say Himself, 'I am present' (Isaiah 58). This is the One whom the Bride was asking for in the Song of Solomon: 'Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth' (Song of Solomon 1:2). For the Lord of hosts, he is the king of glory (Ps. 23:10): He himself shall descend into the virgin's womb, and shall enter and depart from the Eastern gate, which is always closed (Ezek. 44); of which Gabriel says to the Virgin: The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you: therefore the holy one who shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God (Luke 1:35). And in Proverbs: Wisdom has built herself a house (Prov. 9:1). But when it is said, 'The Lord himself will give you a sign,' it must be new and marvelous. But if a young woman, as the Jews want, and not a virgin, were to give birth, what sign could it be called, since this name refers to age, not integrity? And indeed, so that we may compare our understanding with that of the Jews and not offer them the mockery of our ignorance, the Hebrew word for 'virgin' is 'Bethula' (), which is not written here in the present passage: instead, the word used is 'Alma' (), which all except the Septuagint translated as 'young woman.' Furthermore, the word 'alma' is ambiguous among them: for it is said both 'adolescentula' (young girl) and 'abscondita' (hidden), that is, 'ἀπόκρυφος' (secret).... Hence, in the title of the ninth psalm, where it is written in Hebrew as 'Alamoth' (), other translators have rendered it as 'adolescence', which the LXX interpreted as 'absconditis' (hidden things). And in Genesis we read: when Rebecca is said to be 'alma' (Gen. XXIV), Aquila did not translate it as 'adolescentula' or 'puella', but as 'abscondita' (hidden). Moreover, the Shunammite woman, having lost her son, fell at the feet of Elisha, and Jezi forbade her, but she heard from the Prophet: Let her go, for she is in pain, and the Lord hides from me (2 Kings 4:27). Because in Latin it is said 'hides from me', in Hebrew it is written 'Eelim Memmenni'. Therefore, a chaste woman, not only a girl or a virgin, but with great care is said to be hidden and secret, which has never been exposed to the gaze of men; but she has been guarded with great diligence by her parents. The Punic language, which is said to originate (or derive) from Hebrew sources, is properly called alma virgo. And to make the Jews laugh, alma is also called sancta in our language. And the Hebrews use the words of almost all languages: as in the Song of Songs (Song 3:9) where the Greek word φορεῖον, meaning litter, is used and it is also found in Hebrew. The Hebrews also use the words nugas (trifles) and mensuram (measure) in the same way and with the same meanings. And as far as my memory serves me, I never think I have read of a married woman having nourished men. but of a woman who is a virgin: not only a virgin, but a virgin of youthful age, and in the years of adolescence. For it is possible that an old woman may be a virgin, but this woman was a virgin in her girlhood. Or certainly a virgin, not a little girl, and one who could not yet know a man: but already marriageable. Finally, in Deuteronomy (Deut. XXII, 25 et seqq.) a virgin is understood under the name of a girl and a young girl. If, he said, a man finds a betrothed girl in the field and forces her, and lies with her, you shall kill only the man who lay with her, and the girl shall not be put to death. For just as when someone rises up against his neighbor in ambush and kills him, so this matter happened. In the field he found her: the betrothed girl cried out, and there was no one to save her. And in the volume of Kings (3 Kings 1), we read that they sought a virgin girl named Abishag, and they brought her to the king, who slept with her, and she cared for him, and the girl was very beautiful, and she served him, and the king did not know her. And what follows: And you shall call his name Emmanuel, and the seventy and three likewise translated it, for which it is written in Matthew, they shall call: which is not found in Hebrew. Therefore, this child who will be born of a Virgin, O house of David, shall now be called Emmanuel, which means, God with us, because you will prove to have God present by the very fact that you are freed from two enemy kings: and he who will be called Jesus afterwards, which means, Savior, because he will save the entire human race, shall now be called by you the name of Emmanuel. The Word of God, which all the interpreters have translated, you can understand and name: which is namely that the Virgin herself who will conceive and give birth, shall be called by this name, Christ. In many testimonies that the Evangelists or Apostles took from the ancient books, it should be carefully observed that they did not follow the order of the words, but the meaning. Hence, in the present passage, Matthew used 'in utero habebit' instead of 'concipiet in utero' (Matthew 1:13) and 'vocabunt' instead of 'vocabis'. The Hebrews believe that this is prophesied about the son of Hezekiah, Ahaz's son, that Samaria will be captured during his reign, which cannot be proven at all. Indeed, Ahaz, the son of Jotham, reigned over Judah and Jerusalem for sixteen years (2 Kings 16): and his son Hezekiah succeeded him as king, being twenty-five years old, and reigned over Judah and Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. So, how is it that in the first year of Ahaz, this prophecy about Hezekiah's conception and birth is said to have been given to him, when at that time when Ahaz began to reign, Hezekiah was already nine years old, unless perhaps they say that his infancy, not his age, is being referred to in the sixth year of Hezekiah's reign, when Samaria was captured? That it is forced and violent is evident even to fools. Some of us argue that the prophet Isaiah had two sons, Jasub and Emmanuel, and that Emmanuel was generated from his prophetess wife, as a symbol of the Lord Savior, so that the first son Jasub, which means abandoned or converted, signifies the Jewish people who were abandoned and will later return. And the second son, that is, Emmanuel, meaning God with us, signifies the calling of the Gentiles after the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.7:15
(Verse 15) He shall eat butter and honey, so that he may know how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before he knows to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by both her kings. The Lord will bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your father's house—days that have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes. I will say something even more amazing, so that you do not think that he is born in a fantasy, he will use foods of infancy, he will eat butter and milk. And although many centuries later the Evangelist testifies about him: But the child grew in wisdom and age and grace before God and men (Luke 2:52): and this is said to confirm the truth of the human body: yet still wrapped in swaddling clothes, and fed with butter and honey, he will have the ability to judge between good and evil, so that he may reject evil and choose good. Not because he did or disapproved or chose this, but because he knew how to disapprove and choose, so that through these words we may know that the infancy of the human body did not hinder divine wisdom. Lastly, the Angels announce to the shepherds the laying in the manger: The Magi adore coming from the East, whom it is to be believed were certainly chosen. And on the other hand, Herod, the scribes, and the Pharisees are disapproved, (Matthew 2), because they killed many thousands of infants for the sake of one child.7:16
(Verse 16) For before the boy knows how to reject evil and choose good, the land that you detest will be abandoned by the face of its two kings. In the sixth year of the reign of Hezekiah, Samaria was captured by the Assyrians (2 Kings 18), that is, in his thirty-first year of age. Therefore, this one who is to be born, either from a Virgin, as we believe, or from a young woman, as the Jews claim, will eat butter and honey, and will be so young that he cannot discern between evil and good, and before he leaves infancy, the land of Syria and Samaria will be laid waste by the Assyrians. Let the Hebrews answer how Hezekiah is proclaimed an infant at the age of thirty-one, and of such a young age that he, eating honey and butter, like the children of Nineveh, does not know left from right, that is, does not know evil from good. But in regard to Emmanuel, which means 'God is with us,' he will have an easy understanding. As for the mystery and invocation of his name, let the land of Syria and Samaria be laid waste, even by the Assyrians who prevail, and let the house of David be freed from the two kings whom he fears, namely, Rezin and Pekah.7:17
(Verse 17.) The Lord will bring upon you, and upon your people, and upon your father's house, days that have not come since the days of the separation of Ephraim from Judah, with the king of Assyria. This place should be read with hyperbaton. Finally, we too, following the Hebrew truth, have interpreted it as follows: O house of David, listen to what I say, that the land of Syria and Samaria may be abandoned by the face of the two kings whom you fear most greatly. The Lord will bring days upon you, and upon the house of your father David, which you have never had since the time when the ten tribes were separated from the two tribes, and they began to have a kingdom in Samaria. These days, that is, times with the king of the Assyrians, will come upon them, so that once they are overcome and defeated, you may be liberated by the presence of Emmanuel. The Septuagint translates this passage as follows: 'The Lord will bring upon you, and upon your people, and upon the house of your father, days that have not yet come, from the day he took away Ephraim from Judah, the king of the Assyrians. We cannot know the exact meaning of this, unless perhaps it should be said that, by the magnitude of their sins, Ephraim, that is, Samaria, first caused the invasion of the Assyrians to turn away from them.' Another way: Meanwhile, now two kings, Rasin and Phacee, who besiege you, hasten to lay waste, will be overthrown in a short time: but the time of your devastation will come when, what you never hoped for, indeed never feared, the Assyrian has come. By which he teaches that the house of David, not Syria and Samaria, but the Assyrians are to be feared. Therefore, he frees from the present fear and threatens about the future time.7:18-19
(Verse 18, 19) And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes. In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard. Therefore, you are in vain afraid of present but half-burnt towers, which have no fire within. For you must know that by its hiss the Lord signifies the flies of Egypt and its rivers, with no doubt seven channels of the Nile, which are about to be called forth. And he signifies the bee, which is in the land of Assyria. But he calls the flies of Egypt on account of the filth of idolatry and the weak people. And he calls the bee Assyrians, whose kingdom was most powerful at that time, and were very ready for war. Either because all the region of the Assyrians and Persians used bows, or because they had access to them all the time. Therefore, all will come and occupy your land in the torrents of the valleys, and in the caves of rocks, and in all the fruits, and in the holes, and in the wooded groves. However, these things are said by metaphor, so that because he had mentioned flies and bees once, he would maintain consistency in the translation of the rest. Let us read the books of Kings and Chronicles, and we will find that the holy king Josiah was killed by the Egyptians, and the people of Israel were subjugated to the power of Egypt (2 Kings 23; 2 Chronicles 35): so that he would appoint a king for them. And after not much time, Nebuchadnezzar came with an innumerable multitude of warriors, captured Jerusalem, and destroyed the other cities of Judaea. He burned down the Temple and placed Assyrian inhabitants in Judaea.7:20
(Verse 20) On that day the Lord will shave with a hired razor, with those beyond the River, with the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet, and it will sweep away the beard, too. Some people think that this is a prophecy about the Assyrians, who, thirteen hundred years before they destroyed Jerusalem, ruled over the kingdom of Asia, Egypt, and Libya, and that they will be defeated by the Medes and Persians, and their empire will be destroyed. Others, however, believe that it refers to the Egyptians who were killed beyond the Euphrates River. But we believe that the hired razor, which is called the Assyrian in Jeremiah (Jer. 25), is indeed the instrument of the Assyrian king, whom in punishment of the sinful people, he also calls his own dove. Moreover, in the vision of Tyre (Ezek. 28), because he had worked very hard in building fortifications and carrying earth for the mound, and had been deprived of his wages when they fled, Egypt was given to him as payment and reward for his labor. Therefore, with this very sharp razor, and concerning those who live beyond the Euphrates River, namely the Assyrian king, the Lord will shave off all the hair and fur of the entire body from head to foot, as well as the beauty of the beard, which is an indication of manliness, from Judea, so that perhaps nothing, nothing beautiful remains in it, but that they may be compared to effeminate men, or rather, to dishonorable women.7:21-25
(Verse 21 onwards) And it shall come to pass on that day, a man shall nurture a cow of oxen, and two sheep, and because of the abundance of milk, he shall eat butter; for everyone who is left in the midst of the land shall eat butter and honey. And it shall come to pass on that day, every place where a thousand vines were worth a thousand silver shekels, there shall be thorns and briers. With arrows and bows they shall come there, for thorns and briers shall cover the whole land. And all the hills that were once cultivated with a hoe shall no longer be afraid of thistles and thorns; and they shall become pastures for cattle and a trampling ground for livestock. After the subversion of Jerusalem, the captivity of the people, and the burning of the Temple, Nabuzardan, the prince of the army whom the Seventy called the chief cook, left a few of the people, and those poor, in the land to till the vineyards and fields. Finally, Godolias, who had been appointed over them from the royal line, encourages them and says: Do not be afraid of the Chaldeans; dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will be well with you (2 Kings 25:24). Therefore, at that time when all the wealth of the Jews had been transferred to Chaldea, there will be such a great desolation in the land of Judaea and such incredible devastation that they will by no means have herds of cattle or flocks of sheep as they used to have before: but scarcely a rare inhabitant will be able to support one cow and two sheep; not for plowing, but for food and clothing of milk and wool. Indeed, because of the scarcity of wheat and everything that the land produces for eating, they will subsist on milk, butter, and wild honey. And what he says: He will eat butter from the abundance of milk, signifies that the land will be more fertile due to the scarcity of farmers and more suitable for grazing. In that time, due to the scarcity of people, there will be such a shortage of wine from deserted vineyards, which will not be considered a concern for hostile fear, that each vine will barely be bought with silver sickles. For all the land will be reduced to brambles and thorns: and there will be such fear, with swords raging everywhere, that no one will dare to visit their own field without a bow and arrows, and abandoning the open fields, they will seek refuge in the mountains, and there, fortified by the difficulty of the location, they will barely dig rough mountains by hand: because they will not have oxen, plows, and plowshares. Therefore, if a rare inhabitant were found in the mountains, they would sustain a miserable life from there. The rest, however, will be open to pasture, and without any guardian, they will be trampled by wild animals. These things are accustomed to happen after captivity, would that we did not know! But now a large part of the Roman world is similar to once Judea: which we do not think was done without the anger of God, who avenges not at all the contempt of himself through the Assyrians and the Chaldeans; but through savage nations, and once unknown to us, whose faces and speech are terrifying, and they have feminine and cut faces (he means the Goths who shaved their beards), they pierce the fleeing backs of men, well-bearded. I have read in these places an extensive and intricate tropology: that everything, which we have discussed according to history, happened spiritually to the Jews, who barely had one cow and two sheep, namely clean animals: so that they might be nourished not with solid food, but with milk, like infants, and consume the honey of words, which drip from the lips of a prostitute; and they do not have wine, which gladdens the heart of man: but all their works are turned into thorns, so that they may be wounded by adversaries, who strike at the upright of heart (Psalm 10). But if at any time they desire to know something more deeply, and, exerting excessive effort, they seek to discover something mystical from the Holy Scriptures, nevertheless, they bring forth no fruits of doctrine, but rather their minds are filled with thorns and thistles, which arise in the hands of the drunk. And their land and doctrine are in no way cultivated by rational beings, but by cattle, of which God has no care, and are trampled upon by brute animals.8:1-4
Chapter 8 — Verses 1-4. And the Lord said to me: Take for yourself a large book, and write in it with the pen of a man, quickly seize the spoils, swiftly plunder. And I appointed faithful witnesses for myself, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Barachiah, and I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said to me: Call his name, hasten, seize the spoils, hurry to plunder; for before the child knows how to call his father and his mother, the strength of Damascus will be taken away, and the spoils of Samaria will be carried off before the king of Assyria. Seventy interpreters were employed for the large book, they translated it into a new and large book. And because it is found in Hebrew, I called upon faithful witnesses who said: 'It is present indeed, and let faithful men be my witnesses.' And concerning Uriah the Priest, only Uriah, the rest likewise. The first prophet was sent to Ahaz (Isaiah 7), to foretell to him what the Scripture mentions: but since he was unwilling to listen, the Lord himself speaks to Ahaz and commands him to ask for a sign either in the depth or in the height. In response to this, I will not ask, and I will not test the Lord. After the wicked king is dismissed, the words of God are turned to the house of David, and a Virgin is promised to give birth to a son, whose name shall be Emmanuel, which means, God is with us. If he is frequently invoked, Samaria shall be overthrown and Syria: and shall be overthrown by the king of Assyria, who shall later capture Judah itself; so that all the land of Judah shall be turned into a wilderness. Again, therefore, under another figure, a virgin birth is described. And the Lord said to the Prophet, that he should not reveal the secret of the new birth to the people, but write it in this great volume that we now read. And to make it more wondrous, let it be written in human words and in the style that men are accustomed to write, so that it may contain the sacraments of God. But what is this that is written in human style? That a child born swiftly may take away spoils and quickly plunder, that is, that he may no longer suffer the devil to reign. And let him not send Angels or Prophets, but he himself descend to save his creatures. Therefore, the Prophet does what he was commanded and summons two faithful witnesses for himself, Uriah the priest, who is a teacher of the law, as Malachi says: The lips of the priest shall guard knowledge, and they shall seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts (Malachi 2:7); and Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom there is no doubt was a prophet. We read that during the reign of Ahaz, Uriah was a priest of the Temple of the Lord (2 Kings 4), to whom Ahaz commanded to make an altar like the altar in Damascus. And the book of Days (2 Chronicles 29) narrates that Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, sought the Lord in the days of Zechariah, who was learned in the fear of God. Isaiah presented himself as worthy of the prophetic spirit and offered the prophetess, that is, the Holy Spirit, who is called Rua in the Hebrew language. According to what is written: Come to the Lord and be illumined (Psalm 33:6). Therefore, the Lord was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And although human speech cannot explain the mysteries of his nativity, nevertheless Gabriel speaks to the Virgin who conceived him: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God (Luke 1:35). Some interpret the holy prophetess Mary, whom there is no doubt was a prophetess, for she herself speaks in the Gospel: For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me (Luke 1:48-49), and the rest. And it is commanded by Isaiah, that the very child who was formerly called Emmanuel, should now be called, hasten, strip away the spoils, hasten to plunder. For ascending on high, he led captivity captive; he received gifts for men (Ps. 67; Eph. 4:8) . And before assuming a human body, and calling God his father in his infancy, and calling Mary his mother, the strength of Damascus will be taken away, and the spoils of Samaria by the king of Assyrians: so that even before he is born, he will save his people, the house of David, by his mere invocation. Uriah means the light of the Lord; Zacharias, the memory of the Lord; and Barachias, the blessing of the Lord: by these witnesses, the birth of Christ is confirmed. For he, in the Gospel of Luke, explained to two men going to Emmaus that Moses and the Prophets had prophesied about him. According to typology, in the virgin soul, untouched by any stain, conceived by the Holy Spirit, he quickly takes spoils from opposing powers and makes all things serve him. And now, as he sees in part and prophesies in part (1 Corinthians 13), before he can be made perfect and rightfully call God his heavenly Father and Mother, he, still in infancy and in progress, will conquer the strength of Damascus, namely the doctrine of secular wisdom. And he will take the spoils of Samaria that the heretics have taken from the Church, saying, 'We have no share in David, nor inheritance in the son of Jesse' (1 Kings 12:16), with the very king of the Assyrians present, the devil, who will not be able to come to their aid. But these holy women do not only bear sons to the prophets, Maria the eternal Virgin, but also to the patriarchs. Sara, which is interpreted as 'ruler' or 'prince', that is, chief: and Rebecca, which in our language means 'patience'.8:5-8
(Verse 5, et seq.) And the Lord added, speaking to me again, saying: Because this people has rejected the waters of Siloam that flow gently, and has preferred Rezin and the son of Remaliah, therefore behold, the Lord will bring upon them the mighty and abundant waters of the river, the king of Assyria and all his glory. And it will rise above all its channels, and overflow over all its banks. And it will pass through Judah, flooding and reaching up to the neck. And the spreading of its wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Emmanuel. He had said before that the strength of Damascus should be taken away, and the spoils of Samaria should be seen by the king of the Assyrians, and that two kings should be captured while the Assyrian was fighting: now God speaks to the Prophet in the usual style of the Scriptures, through the translation of the Siloam spring in Jerusalem, and the very violent river of the Assyrians, that the whole land of Israel will be flooded by its waters, and it will overflow its riverbanks with such force that after it has occupied the land of the ten tribes, it will reach Judah and, passing through, it will reach the neck: by which it signifies the nearby captivity. For Judas was not captured at that time, but after all the cities of the two tribes were conquered, only Jerusalem remained, which was liberated by the incredible mercy of God. Therefore, the power of the Assyrians and their countless army, which he had described as being under the flood of the river, now shows through another translation, namely, that he has covered the land of Emmanuel, that is, the land defended by God, with his other wings, that is, his leaders, and an infinite multitude. However, he did not possess it, although Emmanuel is connected in the following chapter to the seventy, not by his own name as he is called among the Hebrews, but by an interpretation, that is, "God with us. But we cannot doubt that Silo is a fountain at the foot of Mount Zion, which does not flow continuously, but only at certain times and days, and comes through the underground caves and dens of the hardest rock with a great noise. Especially we who dwell in this province. The meaning is that the people of the ten tribes preferred to be subject to Rezin and the son of Romelia, that is, the kings of Damascus and Samaria, rather than to the lineage of David, who began to reign by my judgment. I will make him not serve these kings whom he took, but serve the Assyrian king, whose power is compared to the flooding of the river that covers the land of Samaria. And an apostrophe is made to Emmanuel, that is, to the present God, that the Assyrian has exalted himself to such an extent that he has even tried to possess his own land, Judah. According to the spiritual sense, every heretic who joins his secular wisdom and desires to attack Jerusalem, that is, the Church, abandoning the waters of the Siloam fountain (John 9), which is interpreted as 'sent', and who ascends to eternal life, will be handed over to the prince of Assyria (which sense we will read later), and by the power of the one to whom he is handed over, he will come into the depth of sins. Such is the arrogance, that he dared to show to the Savior all the kingdoms of the earth and say: 'All these have been given to me' (Matthew and Luke IV). He will also try to enter into Judah, that is, the house of confession, and he will often come up to the neck through those who are negligent in the Church, wishing to suffocate those who believe in Christ, and he will spread his wings, filling the whole region of Emmanuel; but he will not be able to prevail, because Judas has the presence of God. We read in the Gospel according to John (John 9) that a blind man from birth, whose eyes the Lord had anointed with clay made from his own saliva, was sent to the pool of Siloam, and when the blind man washed the clay away, his blindness was removed and he received clear vision. This miracle signifies that the blindness of the Jews and all unbelievers can only be healed by the teachings of Christ's waters, which flow gently without noise or clamor, dispelling the darkness of previous error. What is read in the Septuagint: And he shall walk over all your walls, and he shall take away from Judah the man who can lift up his head, or perhaps do anything: in Hebrew it is not found, and in the Greek manuscripts ÷ it is cut off by the true killer.8:9-10
(Verse 9, 10.) Gather together, O people, and be conquered, and listen, all far away lands: be strengthened and be conquered. Gird yourselves, and be conquered: take counsel, and it shall be dissipated: speak a word, and it shall not be, because God is with us. Regarding the phrase 'gather together, or be weakened, and be broken,' as others have interpreted, the Septuagint translated it as 'know.' For the Hebrew word, Rou (), because of the resemblance of the letter Res () and Daleth (), they understood it as Dou (). Therefore, know that the people of Samaria and Syria are weak and feeble, and in the presence of Emmanuel, they are unable to do anything against the city of God, Jerusalem. And not only you, who are neighbors, but the whole distant land should know this. For even if you gather an army and prepare for battle, and the number of those besieging is greater than the number of those being besieged, I say to you again, you will be defeated. And whatever plan you make against Jerusalem will be destroyed. And although you have said above (Isaiah 7:6): Let us go up to Judah and harass it, and make a breach in it, and set a king over it, the son of Tabeel; you speak a word, but it will not stand, for God is with us, that is, Emmanuel. We can use this testimony against the nations in the time of persecution, that although they may seem strong and overcome us in those who have fallen, they will be defeated in those who have shed their blood for Christ, and that after the wars, peace will be restored to the Churches, and all their plans against Emmanuel will be scattered, for God is with us. They also listen beneficially to contradict the truth, so that they may ultimately be overcome by reason, and never desire to prevail in falsehood, because whatever they say, wickedness can never overcome what is right.8:11-15
(Verse 11 onwards) For thus says the Lord to me: As He has taught me with His mighty hand, so that I do not walk in the way of this people, saying: Do not say, 'conspiracy'; everything this people says is a conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear or be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself, let Him be your fear and let Him be your dread. And He will be a sanctuary for you, but for the two houses of Israel, He will be a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. And many among them will stumble, fall, be broken, snared, and taken captive. The Septuagint translates this passage as follows: Thus says the Lord: they have departed from the path of this people speaking with strong hand lest they say, It is difficult. For everything that this people speaks is harsh; but do not fear their fear, nor be troubled. Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself, and he will be your fear; and if you trust in him, he will be your sanctification, and you will not encounter him as a stumbling block, nor as a falling rock. But the house of Jacob will be in a snare and in a valley to those sitting in Jerusalem: therefore many will be weak in them, and they will fall and be broken, and they will come near, and they will be captured. And what follows, men in defense, it must be noted that it differs greatly between the Hebrew and the Vulgate Edition: therefore we have included both. And first, we must discuss the Hebrew. The Lord spoke this to me. Because of good works and the grace which I have obtained through good works, whether he instructed me and taught me with his mighty hand, so that I would not walk in the way of this people, and be held captive by the same error: or certainly he made me depart from the most wicked way of this people, and said to me: do not fear the conspiracy of the two kings; but consider this more, that every word which this people speaks against me is a conspiracy; and according to Symmachus, who interpreted it, it will become a rebellion against me. But you, the Prophet, and those who are with you, do not fear the plots of the people, but fear the Lord, and let Him be your fear. For the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord (Prov. 1:7; Ps. 110:9). He will be a sanctuary to those who believe, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to the unbelieving, namely the houses of Judah and Israel. Especially to those who dwell in Jerusalem, it will be a snare and a trap, where many will stumble, fall and be broken, and those ensnared by their own sins will be led into captivity. There are two houses, which the Nazarenes (who receive Christ in such a way that they do not omit the observances of the Old Law) interpret as two families, Sammai and Hillel, from whom the Scribes and Pharisees are descended, whose school Akibas embraced, whom the proselytes consider a master, and after him Meir, who was succeeded by the son of Zachai, and after him Eliezer, and in order Telphon, and again Joseph of Galilee, and up to the captivity of Jerusalem Josue. Therefore, Sammai and Hillel were born in Judaea, not long before the Lord's birth. Sammai is interpreted as a dissipater, while Hillel is considered profane because he dissipated and defiled the precepts of the Law through his traditions and additions. And it is said that these two houses did not receive the Savior, and he became a cause of their ruin and downfall. According to the Septuagint, the people of God resisted with a strong hand (or will resist) and said that all the commandments of the Lord are harsh, as we read in the Gospel: 'This is a hard saying; who can hear it?' (John 6:61). Where it is commanded to them to listen to the Lord and fear Him alone. For if they have trusted in Him, they will have Him for sanctification, and they will not stumble like a stone of scandal, and like a rock of ruin. Of this passage, the Apostle takes testimony, that Christ has become a stumbling block to the Jews: but to the Gentiles foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:23). And again: Israel, by following the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness (Romans 9:31). Why? Because they stumbled not in faith, but as if stumbling in the works of the law. As it is written: 'Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense: and he that believes on Him shall not be confounded' (Ibid., 33). Therefore, those who did not receive Emmanuel, but became to them a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, shall be crushed and led captive. And what he says: 'But the house of Jacob shall be a snare and a trap' to those who sit in Jerusalem signifies that they shall not dwell in high places nor engage in lofty discussions of the Scriptures; but that they should always understand the humble, joining sins to sins, and being bound by the cords of transgressions.8:16-17
(Verse 16, 17.) Join the testimonies, establish the law among my disciples, and I will wait for the Lord, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. The voice of the Lord speaking to the Prophet: because, he said, the Lord has become a stumbling stone and a rock of offense to the two houses of Israel, and they did not want to receive Emmanuel sent to them. Join the testimonies of the old Testament, and give them to my disciples, who have received the Gospel, namely the Apostles or the apostolic men. Certainly, the law and the prophets are bound up until John among them (Matthew 11), and it is closed and sealed so that they do not understand what they read. For, according to the ambiguity of the Hebrew language, we can interpret doctrines for the disciples. Therefore, the Prophet responded: because with the succession of the Gospel, the Law was closed and sealed among the Jews, and you command that it should be assigned not to the Jews, but to the Gentiles. Therefore, I will wait for Emmanuel, whom you have promised to come, about whom you said above that he himself will be our fear and our terror, and for us he will be for sanctification; and I will wait for the Lord who hides his face from the house of Jacob, that is, from the Jews, because they did not want to receive him. The Seventy translated this passage as follows: Then those who are marked will be revealed, so that they may not learn the law. This has the meaning that when many have fallen and have been crushed, and have stumbled against the stone of offense and the rock of scandal, then those who are marked in the people will be revealed, so that they may by no means learn the law of Moses; but rather obey the precepts of the gospel.8:18
(Verse 18.) Behold, I and my children, whom the Lord has given me, are for signs and wonders in Israel, from the Lord of hosts, who dwells in Mount Zion. The Lord commanded me, saying, 'Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.' For He has hidden His face from the house of Jacob; therefore, I will wait for Him, and I will hope in my Lord, and not only I, but also the children whom the Lord has given me, namely, other prophets and the sons of prophets, who are not born of the will of the flesh and blood, but of God (John 1:13). About whom the Apostle also spoke: My little children, for whom I am again in the pain of childbirth until Christ is formed in you (Gal. IV, 19). But these children, that is, the prophets, were given as signs and wonders to the people of Israel, according to what we read in Ezekiel: And Ezekiel will be a sign to you (Ezek. XXIV, 24). Also, in Zechariah, the holy men and disciples of the prophets are called observers of wonders, that is, of signs and wonders, because the prophets always preceded the signs of future events (Zech. III, 16). Meanwhile, according to the letter. However, the blessed Apostle in the Epistle, which is written to the Hebrews, teaches (although the Latin custom does not include it among the Canonical Scriptures) that this testimony should be understood as coming from the person of the Lord Savior. Therefore, he does not hesitate to call them brothers, saying: 'I will declare your name to my brothers, in the midst of the church I will praise you' (Hebrews 2:12); And again: 'I will put my trust in him' (Ibid., 13); and again: 'Here am I and the children God has given me.' Therefore, because the boys have shared in flesh and blood, and he himself has likewise become a partaker in the same sufferings (Isaiah 8:18). But how these boys have become a sign and wonder of the wisdom of the world and the pride of the Jews, the same Apostle teaches: who says that the Lord Savior has chosen foolish things and weak things of the world to confound the wise and the strong (1 Corinthians 1). Therefore, the Savior said to the Apostles: Unless you are converted and become like one of these boys, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:3). But the boy becomes a preacher of the new Gospel, he puts aside the old man, who is corrupted in the desires of seduction, and he puts on the new man, who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of the Creator. However, the Apostle writes that the Lord of hosts dwells on Mount Zion: 'You have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem' (Hebrews XII, 22). So I wonder that some of our people understand these two boys of Isaiah, whom he generated from the conception of the prophetess woman, namely Jasub and Emmanuel: the former of whom, in the abjection of the former people, the latter, in the assumption of the nations, has preceded. Whoever receives this, will consequently confirm that the prophet Hosea truly had a prostitute as his wife.8:19-22
(Verse 19 and following) And when they say to you, seek from the Pythons and the diviners, who make their enchantments, whether not the people seeks from their God for the living from the dead? To the law more and to the testimony. If they do not speak according to this word, it will not be morning light for them. And they will pass through it: they will fall down and be hungry: and when they are hungry, they will become angry and curse their king and their God. And they will look upwards and gaze downwards, and behold, trouble and darkness, dissolution, distress, and pursuing darkness: and they will not be able to escape from their distress. If the voice of the prophet Isaiah is, as the Jews believe: Behold, me and my children, whom the Lord has given to me as a sign and a portent to Israel; and the things that follow, he himself is to be believed to say to his disciples. When the nations and peoples spoken of above say to you: Weak are the people, and defeated; what do you prophets want to hear, why are you deceived by the words of Isaiah, and do you think that he knows what will come? Seek more from the Pythonians, and from the gods, who hiss in their incantations. Concerning them, it is interpreted in the LXX: Those who speak from the earth, who cry out from the belly. For everyone who is from the earth speaks from the earth (John 3:31). And the one whose god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame (Philippians 3:19), is to be believed as crying out from the belly. You answer them, and say: Does not the people seek from their God for the living from the dead? If you consult those gods whom you believe in for the sake of the variety of your idols (for you have not just one, but many gods), and if you seek advice from the images of the dead or of deceased human beings, how much more should we listen to our God through the prophets? He teaches his disciples and brings them to the law and to the testimony. If you have any doubts about someone, know this: It is written, 'The nations that the Lord your God will drive out before you listen to fortune-tellers and diviners, but the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so. The Lord your God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me; you must listen to him' (Deut. XVIII, 15). If you wish to know doubtful things, you should rather read and deliver them with testimonies of the Scriptures. But if your congregation refuses to seek the word of the Lord, it will not have the light of truth, but will wander in error and darkness. The light will pass over it, that is, your congregation or land, and you will fall, and hunger, and when you hunger, you will be angry, as it is written: 'And when they were not satisfied, they murmured' (Ps. 58:16). And you will blaspheme your God and king, and in times of need you will look up to heaven and down to earth, and behold there will be tribulation and darkness, collapse of knees, anguish of mind, darkness of eyes, and you will not be able to escape the distress. This is according to the Hebrews. Moreover, as we have said above, if the person of Christ is speaking, saying: Behold, I and the children whom God has given me, he himself also speaks to the Apostles and to the believers from the Gentiles, who have received his Gospel. If they say, he says, to your fathers whom you have left behind: seek ventriloquists, whom we understand as pythonesses (such as we read about in the Acts of the Apostles with the slave girl, who was a source of income to her masters) and who speak from the earth, promising to perform magic tricks in the evocation of souls, and other kinds of wicked arts; you must know this, that each nation consults its own gods, and inquires about the living from the dead. But God has given you help in the law, so that you can say: divination is not like that of the Gentiles, who often deceive their worshippers, but ours, which is freely given without any reward, from the law. Hence it is interpreted in the Septuagint: not like this word, for which there is no need to give gifts. For you have received freely, he says, freely give (Matthew X, 8). But a most severe famine will come upon the unbelievers, not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of God (Amos VIII). And when you are hungry, you will be sad, and you will curse your ruler and your ancestral traditions, which is the devil, and the old errors. But this is said to those who have suffered from hunger for the truth, and who look up to heaven and down to earth, and they will be in distress, in darkness, and in tribulation, so that they may not see until the time when they themselves turn to the Lord. These passages require a broad explanation, but we spare the size of the books in order to avoid boredom in reading. We have briefly addressed this passage according to the LXX translation, which in many places differs from the Hebrew. However, the Nazarenes (also called Nazareni) explain this place as follows: When the scribes and Pharisees tell you to listen to those who do everything for the sake of the belly, and in the manner of the magi, charm their way into your hearts in order to deceive you, you should respond to them: It is not surprising that you follow your own traditions, since every nation consults their own idols. Therefore, we should not seek advice from you who are dead to the living: God has given us His law and the testimonies of the Scriptures. If you do not choose to follow them, you will not have light. Instead, darkness will always oppress you, which will pass through your land and doctrine. Then, when they realize they have been deceived by you and cannot satisfy their hunger for truth, they will be saddened, angered, and curse you, whom they considered to be their gods and kings. And they are in vain to look towards heaven and earth, since they are always in darkness and cannot escape your snares.9:1-1
(Chapter 9, verses 1 and following) In the first time, the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali were relieved, and in the last time the way of the sea beyond the Jordan of the Galilee of the Gentiles was made heavy. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shone. LXX: Drink this first, quickly make it for the region of Zebulun, the land of Naphtali, and the rest of you who are near the sea beyond the Jordan of the Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. We have made two editions, because the testimony has been spread and used by the evangelist Matthew, so that either the diversity of interpretation or the similarity may be known. First, it should be noted that the evangelist Matthew placed this testimony not according to the Septuagint, but according to the Hebrews. For the Gospel narration says: When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: 'Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, upon them a light has dawned.' From that time Jesus began to preach and say: 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand' (Matt. 4:13 et seqq.). And John the Evangelist reports that Jesus, with his disciples, was invited to a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and there he performed his first sign by turning water into wine. This Jesus did, the beginning of his signs in Cana of Galilee, and he manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him (John 2:11). And in the Septuagint it is said: Drink this first, do it quickly, for the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali will see the first miracles of Christ, so that they may be the first to drink the potion of faith, which they first saw the Lord performing signs. And, according to the Hebrew, it is said to have been relieved of the burden of sins in the first time: because in the regions of the two tribes, the Savior first preached the Gospel. Therefore, in the sixty-seventh Psalm it is said: Bless the Lord from the fountains of Israel. There Benjamin, the youngest (Psalm 67:27-28; Acts 9); Paul the Apostle, in the excess of his mind, who also elsewhere speaks: or when we are out of our minds, we are out of our minds for God (2 Corinthians 5:13): the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali, their leaders; because in these tribes there were villages, from which our Apostles believed their leaders. And they believed quickly according to Symmachus when they heard: Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men (Matthew 4:19), and immediately they left their father and the boat behind. But in the most recent times their faith was worsened by many Jews who remained in error. This sea is called the Sea of Galilee, which is formed by the flow of the Jordan River; on its shores are located Capernaum, Tiberias, Bethsaida, and Chorazin: in this particular region the Lord stayed the most, so that the people who were sitting or walking in darkness could see a great light, not small like the other prophets, but great like the one who speaks in the Gospel: I am the light of the world (John 8:12). And those who dwelt in the region of the shadow of death, a light has arisen for them. Between death and the shadow of death, I believe this refers to the death of those who have descended to the underworld with dead works: For the soul that sins shall die (Ezek. XVIII, 20); but the shadow of death belongs to those who sin, yet have not yet departed from this life: for they can, if they wish, repent. For Galilee of the Gentiles, Aquila understands the borders of the Gentiles, Symmachus interprets as the borders of the Gentiles; we understand "tumulos arenarum" to mean the hills of sand, which are either on the shores or on the banks. The Hebrews who believed in Christ explained this passage as follows. In the first place, during the time of Elia, two tribes, Zabulon and Nephthali, were captured by the Assyrians and taken to a hostile land; and Galilee became desolate (2 Kings 15), which the prophet now says has been restored, because it bore the sins of the people. But afterwards, not only two tribes, but also the remaining tribes, which lived beyond the Jordan and in Samaria, were taken into captivity (2 Kings 17 and 18). And this, they say, Scripture now declares, that the region whose people were first led into captivity and began to serve the Babylonians, and which previously was in the darkness of error, saw for the first time the light of Christ proclaiming, and from there the Gospel was sown into all nations. The Nazarenes, whose opinion I have presented above, attempt to explain this passage in the following way: When Christ came and his preaching shone forth, the first land to be freed from the errors of the Scribes and Pharisees was the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and it shook off the heaviest yoke of Jewish traditions from its neck. Afterwards, through the Gospel of the Apostle Paul, who was the last of all the Apostles, the preaching became heavier, that is, multiplied: and the Gospel of Christ shone forth unto the ends of the earth and the way of the whole sea. Finally, the whole world, which had previously walked or sat in darkness and was held bound by idolatry and the chains of death, beheld the clear light of the Gospel.9:2-4
(Version 2-4.) You have multiplied the nation, you have not magnified the joy: they shall rejoice before you, as they rejoice in the harvest, as conquerors exulting for the spoils, when they divide the spoils. For the yoke of their burden, and the rod of their shoulder, and the scepter of their exactor you have overcome, as in the day of Midian. For every violent plunder with tumult: and the garment mingled with blood shall be for burning, and food for the fire. LXX: You have brought down a large portion of the people in your joy, and they shall rejoice in your presence, as they are accustomed to rejoice in the harvest, and as those who divide the spoils: for the yoke that was upon them, and the rod from their neck, has been taken away. For the rod of the oppressors shall be broken, as in the day of Midian. For every garment rolled in blood is for burning, fuel for the fire. We put both editions in dark places so that the diligent reader may recognize how much the Vulgate translation differs from the Hebrew truth and others. To the very light that appeared to the people in darkness, that is, to the Lord the Savior, an apostrophe is made. And it is said to him: You have multiplied the nation, that is, you have filled all nations with the knowledge of you; but you have not magnified the joy. According to which the Apostle says that he has perpetual sorrow for his brothers who are Israelites (Rom. X). And Jonah is grieved that the Ninevites have been saved in such a way that the gourd, or Ciceion, withered (Jonah IV). And the Lord himself speaks in the Gospel: I have come only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt. XV, 24). And in his suffering he said, 'Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me (Mat. XXVI, 39).' This passage means: If it is possible for the multitude of the Gentiles to believe without the destruction of the Jews, I reject suffering. But if they are to be blinded, let all the nations see, let your will be done, Father. So when Christ comes and the people of Christians are gathered from all nations, then the Apostles will rejoice, like harvesters rejoice in the harvest, of whom the Lord spoke: The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few (Matth. IX, 37). And as conquerors rejoice, who divide the captured booty. For when a strong one has been captured and bound, his whole house is plundered, and the spoils are divided (Matthew 12). But you, O Lord and Savior, have removed the burden of his yoke, that is the devil, who once rejoiced in the world, who ruled over all nations, who pressed down the necks of all with the heavy yoke of bondage; and you have taken the rod with which he used to strike everyone, and compelled him to pay tribute for his sins, and you have lifted it from their shoulders: and you have made them serve you in freedom without any army and without shedding blood with your hidden hand: just as you once granted victory to the people of Israel over the Midianites under Gideon (Judges 7). For just as a garment, which is stained with human blood, cannot be washed, but when stained with blood, it is burned with fire so that the stains of foul blood may be destroyed along with the garment, in the same way the violent plunder, turmoil, and crowds of the devil, by whom he had subjected the human race to himself, are assigned to the fires of hell. Not all, but only a certain part of the people, are said to have believed, as it is significant; although you have led in joy because of what they said, others have interpreted differently and praised. And when, in the remaining [senses], they hold the same meaning, they gather a stole by deceit, and change garments, adding that he is about to give back, that is, the devil: namely, that he will give back all the souls that he had stripped with the help of God, with their former adornments: not only himself, but also his attendant demons: to whom, if the choice is given, they would rather choose to perish in flames than to lose the spoils.9:6
(Verse 6.) For a child is born to us, a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace: he shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom; to establish it and strengthen it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth and forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. For a child is born to us, a son is given to us, upon whose shoulder dominion is laid: and his name is called, Wonderful, Counselor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace: he shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom; to establish it and strengthen it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth and forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish these things. Therefore the devil, and all his violent plundering, by which he oppressed the human race and mixed blood with blood, will be consumed by fire and the eternal fire will be their food. For a child is born to us, a son is given to us, of whom it has been said: Before the child knows how to reject evil and choose good (Isaiah 7:16); and later in the generation of the Prophetess: Before the child knows how to call his father and mother (Isaiah 8:4). Therefore this boy, who was born of a virgin, is called Emmanuel, which means 'God is with us'; and he is also called 'from the Prophetess', that is, conceived by the Holy Spirit. Hasten, strip off, hurry to plunder: he is now called by many names. And although he has shown that he is God by being called Emmanuel, which means 'God is with us', now he says that his government has been established upon his shoulder, or that he himself has carried his cross, or by showing the strength of his arm through his shoulder, as Isaiah also said: The Lord God has revealed his holy arm to all the nations (Isaiah 52:10). And again: Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? (Isaiah 53:1) Therefore, He will be called by two names, and by six other names: Wonderful, Counselor, God, Mighty, Father of the future age, Prince of peace. For, as many think, the two names should not be joined together, as we read, Wonderful Counselor, and again, Mighty God; but Wonderful should be read separately, which in Hebrew is called Phele (), and Counselor separately, which is called Ides () in their language; and God separately, which is called El () in Hebrew. Finally, in the following passages where we read: You are indeed God, and we did not know: And again: I am God, and there is no other besides me (Isaiah XLV, 5), and many similar to these: because in Latin it is said Deus, in Hebrew it is written El. And what follows, Fortis, in Hebrew is called Gibbor (). Therefore, in the place where the same prophet mentions: They shall trust in the holy God of Israel in truth: and what remains of Jacob shall trust in the mighty God (Isaiah VIII), for mighty God in Hebrew it has El Gibbor. But the Father of the future age and of the resurrection, which is fulfilled in our calling; and the prince of peace, who spoke to the Apostles: My peace I give you, my peace I leave you (John 14:27): he who has read our peace according to Paul the Apostle will not doubt the Savior. With the majesty of the names, I think that the Seventy did not dare to say of the child what is clearly to be called God, etc.: but instead they used six names, which are not found in Hebrew, the Angel of great counsel, and I will bring peace upon the leaders, and his health. What seems to me to have this meaning: The Angel of Great Counsel, announced to us that Israel is to be cast aside for a time, and that the Gentiles are to be saved. And he bestowed peace upon his princes, the Apostles and apostolic men, and left the preservation of his teachings to those who believed. As for what follows: His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end to peace; for this reason the Septuagint translated it as: His great principality. We must know that the Hebrew word Mesra, here and above, was interpreted as principality by the Septuagint. For this reason, we turn above the principate, this authority. However, the eagle, deceived by the ambiguity of the word μέτρον, that is, interpreted as measure, which is called the same name in both Hebrew and Latin. And he will not doubt about the multiple authority of the Savior and his peace, which has no end, whoever reads in the Psalms: Ask of me, and I shall give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the very ends of the earth for thy possession (Ps. II, 8). And again: And the multitude of peace, until the moon be taken away (Ps. LXXI, 7), that is, until the end of the age. But his principality and empire will be over the throne and kingdom of David, which had been dispersed after the Babylonian captivity, in order to confirm and strengthen it, and to show that it will be perpetual (so that the promise of God would not seem in vain) from the time of the Incarnation to eternity. Therefore, the zeal, that is, the jealousy of the Lord of hosts, did this, because they themselves provoked him to jealousy with those who were not gods, and he provoked them to jealousy with a nation that was not a nation (Deut. 32). Let us now move on to the rest.Book Four
Book FourWe consider the books unequal, for due to the diversity of visions and senses, one is contracted and another is extended. Therefore, after finishing the third volume, we move on to the fourth, which has fewer verses than the previous one, especially since the fifth, which we included in this book, serves as a historical explanation and almost doubles the number. For while we do not want to separate what is connected and pass over what has already been interpreted, as if we were directing our little ship between the two whirlpools of the Pontic Sea, we set sail, guided by the Holy Spirit and our Lord and Savior, and it glides into the abyss, as you, the virgin of Christ Eustochium, say: 'Come, spirit, from the four winds of heaven, and bring life to these dead bones.' (Ezekiel 37:9) So that those who were lying in the dust of the earth may be raised up by the breathing of the Lord.
9:8-13
Chapter IX - (Verses 8 onwards) The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart, The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars. Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together; The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. In all these things his anger is not turned away, but his hand is still stretched out, and the people have not turned back to the one who struck them, and they have not sought the Lord of hosts. We read above (2 Kings 16) that in the days of Ahaz son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin king of Syria went up, and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came to Jerusalem to attack it. And (Isaiah 7) it is said that Isaiah the prophet was sent to meet Ahaz with his son Shear-Jashub, to tell him not to fear, and not to let his heart be faint because of the two smoldering stumps of firebrands, for the rule of Syria and Israel would soon come to an end. When he did not believe because of the magnitude of the matter and the immediate danger, he is ordered to ask for a sign for himself. And because he was an idolater, he did not want to do this either: therefore the Lord did not give a sign to the king himself, but to the house of David he gives a sign of his son who will be born of a Virgin, through whose invocation they will be delivered from imminent danger, and other things that we have interpreted up to this point. Therefore, with many mysteries being placed in the midst, now he returns to what he had begun, and prophesies the overthrow of Rezin and Ephraim, that is, of Syria and Samaria: The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it has fallen upon Israel. Among the Hebrews, Dabar (), which is written with three consonant letters Daleth, Beth, and Res, depending on the quality of the places, if read as Dabar, it signifies 'word,' if Deber, 'death' and 'pestilence.' For this reason, many, being deceived by the ambiguity of the language, do not say that the word was sent, but death. Therefore, the Lord sent his word to Jacob, and it fell upon Israel. He wanted Judah to reign, as prophesied by Jacob in Genesis (Ch. XLIX): and Israel, that is, the ten tribes, claimed authority for themselves, of whom it was said: 'They have reigned, but not by me' (Hosea VIII, 4). Therefore, the dignity of the kingdom, which had passed from the rejected Saul to David through the anointing of Samuel, was transferred to Jacob, that is, to the twelve tribes, which were formerly called Jacob, in Israel: not as the LXX translated, 'came,' but fell among the wicked: which had been established for the righteous. Therefore, let the people of Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, who are lifted up in pride because of their multitude, know that the kingdom of Judah is small and most insignificant compared to ours. Therefore, as their walls collapse, let us build ourselves a house with square stones. While their sycamore trees, which are cheap wood, are cut down in enemy attacks, let us construct our empire with cedars, which are indestructible, to signify an everlasting kingdom. Therefore, let all the people of Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria know that the Syrian who is now their ally will become their enemy. Or indeed, let sudden wars rise up against the Syrian himself, and let all things be turned into chaos, so that Syria may be moved against Israel from the east, and the Philistines, that is, the Palestinians, may be moved against them from the west, and together devour Israel. And when they have done these things, my hand is still stretched out, whether it is high above Israel, and it does not cease to strike them. And those who are cut off from God will not return to the one who strikes them, nor will they seek the Lord of hosts, worshipping golden calves instead of God. According to the anagoge, our scholars have explained this passage as follows: God sent his Son to Jacob, that is, to the Jews, and he came to Israel, that is, to the people of the nations, whom the Apostle also refers to as Israel (Rom. 9). But others say this: The Lord sent His word to the Church, which supplanted the former people, and fell in Israel, that is, in the heretics who boast of seeing God. Therefore, let their leaders and all who dwell in Samaria, that is, those who claim to keep God's law and to have an abundance of virtues and bring forth the fruits of righteousness (for this is what Ephraim signifies), know that they despise the Church in the pride of their hearts and consider its simplicity as ignorance. They say, 'Instead of its stones, we will build our own churches with square stones and the strongest ones, and instead of fruitless trees that quickly perish, we will construct the tallest cedars, which the Lord will destroy, and the righteous, speaking in the person of the wicked, will say, 'I have seen them but they have no place' (Psalm 36).' Therefore, the Lord says that Rasin, which is interpreted as secular wisdom, whom Ephraim relied on for help, will turn against him and all his enemies will fight against him, and he will be conquered from the East and the West, and they will devour Israel with their whole mouth. For these things, the LXX interpreted: Let us build a tower for ourselves, and God will crush those who rise against Mount Zion, and He will scatter its enemies. For they desire to build themselves a temple in Samaria, in imitation of the Temple of God; but although they have moved their feet from the East and have said, 'Come, let us build a tower and make a name for ourselves before we are scattered' (Gen. XI, 4): The Lord opposing them, their unity will be dissolved and their agreement will be scattered, and their tongues will be divided against each other, so that they do not become more evil by agreeing with each other, but rather destroy each other. And when they are thus struck and devoured by their enemies, they will not return to the Lord; but his hand is still ready to strike, according to what we read in Jeremiah: 'I struck your children in vain; you did not receive discipline' (Jerem. II, 30).9:14-21
(Vers. 14 seqq.) And the Lord will scatter from Israel the head and the tail, the bend and the corrupt in one day. The venerable and honorable, he is the head; and the Prophet teaching falsehood, he is the tail. And there will be those who call this people blessed, deceiving, and those who are called blessed, being cast down. Therefore, the Lord will not rejoice over his young men, and will not have mercy on his orphans and widows, for every hypocrite is wicked, and every mouth has spoken foolishness. In all these things his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. For wickedness is kindled as a fire: it shall devour the brier and the thorn, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke. Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother. And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm. Manasses Ephraim, and Ephraim Manassen, together they are against Judah. In all these things, his fury is not turned away, but his hand is still stretched out. Not only will the Lord raise up adversaries against him, and turn his enemies into turmoil, Syria from the East and the Philistines from the West, to devour Israel with their whole mouth, but because he has not turned back to the one striking him, nor has he sought the Lord of hosts, he will extend his hand to strike, to destroy the head and the tail, the one perverting what is right (Jeremiah 2). He himself, the long-lived and honorable one, has interpreted who is the head. And he says that the tail is the Prophet who teaches falsehood, that is, the false prophet. He spoke about the rulers and now he joins together the nobles and the common people, so that both the teachers and the disciples, the learned and the ignorant masses, should equally obey. For those who called the people blessed are deceivers; and those who were called blessed, not because of their virtue, but because of their gifts, will be thrown into death. And above, we read: My people, who call you blessed, deceive you and overthrow the paths of your feet (Isa. III, 12). In such a people, God will have no mercy on anyone: not the orphans, not the widows, because every hypocrite is one who pretends one thing and does another: promising chastity and living luxuriously, preferring poverty and filling their pockets. From where he connects and says: And the whole mouth has spoken foolishness. Because of all these things, the Lord does not cease to be angry, but still raises His hand to strike. And because they have done these things, impiety will be kindled like fire, so that it devours not the cultivated field, but thorns and thistles; not fruitful trees, but a barren wilderness, in which beasts dwell, and the consuming flame snatches away. Therefore, it is said that the density of the wilderness, with fire placed underneath, is twisted by the smoke of pride and height. For everything that is exalted and rises high can be called proud. For unknowingly desiring something, the seventy translated: and it will devour all things around the hills. From hence, the earth trembled at the anger of the Lord, and the people became fuel for the fire, because there was such cruelty in them, that they spared not even the dearest name of brotherhood, but forsaking and despising the right hand, they were satiated with the things that were on the left: while enduring hunger for pleasures and evils, and always desiring to join worse things with bad ones. Moreover, Manasseh and Ephraim, who were born of the same mother and from the same parent, erupted into such rage that they clashed with each other in hostile hatred. Let us read the volumes of Kings and Chronicles, and we will find civil wars among the people of Samaria, as they fought for different kings, and how, with their own kings killed, they surrendered to the conquest of Judah. According to the allegory, the Lord will remove both the head and the tail, the greater and the lesser. Calling them tails, not humans, but beasts, reveals that heretics use this member to protect their excrement and to repel small animals. And it joins together and distorts the head and the tail, which subvert the precepts of the law and pervert the straight way. It will also destroy the long-lived one, because it is the head, and the false prophet who is placed in the tail, and both teachers and disciples; some who praise sinners for their gifts: others who do not feel their own evils praised, nor do they repent. Because of this, the Lord will not rejoice in their youths. Woe to the city whose king is a youth! And those who have lost the true God the Father or Lord will not obtain mercy. For every heretic is a hypocrite, doing one thing and pretending another, and whatever he speaks, although it may seem to be wisdom, is foolishness. Because of these things, He stretches out His hand to punish, and like a voracious flame, He will consume all their impieties, like thorns. And words without virtues, which are compared to a fruitless jump, will be enveloped in the smoke of pride. For their punishment, the whole earth will quake, and the deceived peoples will be handed over to eternal fires, because for the sake of shameful gain, they do not spare even their own, but eagerly seize plunder from the deceived peoples, leaving behind their possessions and dwelling in the worst things. And although they always find the left path, they are never satisfied with their own errors, devouring the flesh of their own arm and fighting against the Church with equal zeal. Because of luxury and pleasures and the pursuit of wealth, people among themselves have discord, so that from one heresy two are made, and again they themselves are divided into factions, to lead away their own flocks and devour the homes of widows and sinful women, always learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 3). In all these things, the wrath of the Lord does not turn away, consuming vices and overturning; but as much as they excel in sinning, so much more does He extend His hand for punishment.10:1-4
(Chapter X—1 onwards) — Woe to those who establish unjust laws and write injustice, in order to oppress the poor in judgment and to do violence to the cause of the humble people of my nation, so that widows may be their prey and they may plunder the orphans. What will you do on the day of visitation and the calamity that comes from afar? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your glory? Do not be bent down under a chain and fall among the slain. His rage is not turned away, but his hand is still stretched out. Most people still believe that these things are said against the ten tribes who lived in Samaria, because they too joined in the previous crimes. But to us it seems that the prophetic word is crying out against the judges of the tribe of Judah and Jerusalem, namely the Scribes and the Pharisees, because they have written unjust laws against God's law and have undermined the truth of justice with their traditions. For God says: Honor your father and mother (Exodus XX, 12); but they, on the contrary, advised children to say to their parents: Whatever gift you might have received from me, it will be helpful to you, so that they would not honor (Al. honor) their father and mother (Matthew XV, 5, 6; Mark VII, 11), and similar things. Therefore, they wrote wicked laws in order to oppress the poor and lowly people, to plunder widows, and to prey upon orphans. Those who are asked what they will do, when the day of either captivity or judgment comes, and the calamity from afar, which was foretold long before. To whom, he says, will you flee for help, when you offend God, who is the true helper, and where will you leave your glory? For riches will not profit on the day of wrath, lest the Assyrian lead the bound into a hostile land, lest you fall in battle (Proverbs 11:4). And finally, just as he had often said against Samaria in the previous episodes: In all these things his anger is not turned away, but still his hand is stretched out, even against Judah, because there is no end to their evil (or malice); even in the enemy territory of the Lord, the sword pursues them. According to the allegory, every heretic writes injustice in order to deceive the poor and humble people, and to plunder widows and orphans. For indeed, the wealthy person, of whom we read: 'The redemption of the soul of a man is his own wealth' (Prov. XIII, 8), does not endure threat, nor is he easily captured by them. But the poor person, who is humble and small among the people, is easily scandalized by them. Likewise, the widow who has lost her husband and the orphan who has lost his Creator, of whom it is written: 'You have forsaken God who begot you, and have forgotten the God who brought you up' (Deut. XXXII, 18), are easily overthrown. So what will they do on the day of judgment, when they have deceived so many and the calamity from afar is coming? Just as it is said to the righteous man, 'The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart' (Rom. X, 8); and in another place: 'The kingdom of God is within you' (Luke XVII, 2); so the calamity of the heretics will come from afar, prepared for them in due time. To whom will they flee, when they have a false god? To whom will they give their glory, when everything is feigned? And they will not be able to escape the bond by which they have bound many. Therefore, even in the vision of the valley of Zion, which has been deserted by the height of God and deceived by heretical humility, it is said of the false masters of the name of knowledge: All your leaders have fled, and those who have been captured are tightly bound (Isaiah 22:3). And although they may fall with each one being killed, and perish in the death of others, and suffer greatly, and the day of visitation will come, there will be no end to their destruction, but they will always tremble at the hand of the Lord that is impending upon them. Until now, there has been a threat from God against ten and a half tribes, that is, against Samaria and Jerusalem, which began during the reign of Achaz. Two and a half tribes were captured under his rule, and the remaining tribes were captured under Hezekiah, who succeeded Achaz as king (2 Kings 16:17). The following prophecy is written against the Assyrians.10:5-11
(Verse 5 and following) Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger, and the staff in their hands is my fury. I will send him against a deceitful nation, and I will command him against the people of my wrath, to take the spoil and seize the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. But he does not understand this, and his heart does not take it to heart, but his purpose is to destroy and cut off nations. For my princes are not also kings? Is not Charcamis like Chalanno, and Arphad like Emath? Is not Damascus like Samaria? Just as my hand found the kingdoms of idols, so too their images from Jerusalem and Samaria. Shall I not do to Jerusalem and its idols what I did to Samaria and its idols? Let us put here the translation of the Septuagint, which differs in many ways from the Hebrew. LXX: Woe to the Assyrians: the rod of my anger is in their hands, I will send my wrath against a wicked nation, and I will command my people to plunder and loot, and to trample down cities and reduce them to dust. But he did not think so, and did not intend it that way; rather, his purpose is to destroy, and to annihilate many nations. And if they say to him: You alone are the ruler, he will reply: I did not conquer the region above Babylon, and Chalane, where the tower was built. But I came to Arabia, and Damascus, and Samaria: just as I brought these, so I will take all the kingdoms. Howl, statues in Jerusalem and Samaria; for just as I did to Samaria and its idols, so I will do to Jerusalem and its images. First, it must be known that in Hebrew there is no 'Chalane,' but 'Chalanno' (). For the last letter of this name is not 'Iod,' as they believed, but 'Vau,' which letters differ in size only. However, the tower was built in the plain of Shinar, where there were Erech, Akkad, and Calneh, and Babylon, which received its name from the confusion of languages (Genesis 11). However, in Hebrew, Arabia is not mentioned, but rather Hamath, which the Syrians still call Epiphania. They also added idols in Jerusalem of their own accord. And that which is written above: If they say to him, 'You alone are the prince,' he will answer, 'I did not take that region, and that one, but I took Arabia, and Damascus, and Samaria.' This suggests the meaning: When, he says, the Assyrians who were captured say, 'You are the prince of all,' he, still feeling weak, will answer, 'How do you call me prince, when I have only taken Arabia, and Damascus, and Samaria, and the distant nations beyond Babylon have not yet submitted to my rule?' But just as I captured Arabia, Damascus, and Samaria, I will subdue all kingdoms to me. Let us now turn to Hebrew and write down briefly what we think. Woe to the Assyrians, that is, Sennacherib, for he is the rod and staff of my fury. In his hand is my indignation, and through him I will strike down the deceitful nation that has always cowered between me and idols, that has lied about obeying my commands. I will command him against my furious people, to plunder and loot them, and to reduce them to dust and trample them like mud in the streets. That is, to strike them but not kill them, to wound them but not take their lives. But he extended the scope of my anger and not only raged against Israel, against whom it had been directed, but he also ravaged many nations, so that he wore out all the kingdoms around, and his sword raged even against the destruction of many nations. For he rose up in pride, and dared to say: My commanders are the kings of other nations, and they are subject to me, they will rule over all nations. Just as I took (conquered) Carcamis, so I also took (conquered) Chalanne; just as I obtained Arphad, so I also obtained Emath; just as I took (conquered) Damascus, so I also subjugated Samaria. Just as I have conquered the other kingdoms that worshiped idols, I will also bring Jerusalem and Samaria, where the same idols are worshiped, under my control. Just as I have taken Samaria with its idols, I will also capture Jerusalem, because they worship the same gods. Additionally, we have added 70 cities from the region beyond Babylon, including Chalane where the tower was built, completely abandoning Arphad. According to their translation and tropology, as long as it is pious, we can infer freedom from the fact that he says, 'And I will command my people to take the spoils and the plunder, and to trample on cities and reduce them to dust.' We can also interpret this to mean that every day the Lord commands his people to reduce to dust the cities of the adversaries that rise up against the knowledge of God and have been built by the excessive labor of heretics, and to demonstrate that they are nothing. One who understands the weakness of the human heart, and that being encompassed by mortal flesh, cannot have perfect victory over virtues, nor can all nations accept it, even though others may admire and say: You alone are the leader, will respond to them: There are many things which I must destroy, and yet I have not been able to destroy them: I know that I do not know. And although I have overcome many arguments of adversaries, there are still many that must be overcome. At the same time, with hope for the future, he promises himself victory from the things he has overcome and also from the others. The idols of Jerusalem and Samaria are ordered to howl, not the ones that are fake, but those who made them, metaphorically those who made them, through the things that were made, so that not only those who fabricated idols in heresies, but also those who defend falsehood in the Church out of ignorance, may testify that they have erred with howling and repentance.10:12-14
(Verses 12-14.) And it shall come to pass, when the Lord has completed all his works on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, that I will visit the fruit of the noble heart of the king of Assyria, and upon the glory of the height of his eyes. For he said, 'By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom I have understood it. I have removed the boundaries of the peoples, and have plundered their princes. I have brought down the inhabitants as if they were mighty. My hand has found the wealth of the peoples, as one gathers eggs that are abandoned. I have gathered the whole earth, and there was no one who moved a wing or opened his mouth to chirp.' They have interpreted the LXX for profit, meaning, or great understanding. After the captivity of Samaria and the victory of the Assyrians, and the threat against Jerusalem, because they imitated the idols of Samaria, they should be punished with a similar sentence; now against Assyria itself, which has become proud and thought its own strength was what led to victory, the Prophet speaks. For the Assyrian, boasting with swelling pride, said that with the strength of his hands he has conquered all nations and has possessed the borders with incredible wisdom. And according to the LXX, he was of such great power, that he completely destroyed cities of warlike men, and seized the entire world as if it were a nest, and he turned the abandoned eggs from their mothers into his prey. And since he had once taken the metaphor from birds, nests, and eggs, he kept it in the rest, saying: There was no one who would move a feather, and open their mouth, and squawk. Such was the terror of my strength and victory, that even the conquered could not freely reveal their weeping and groaning. There are those who generally believe that these things are said against the kingdom of the Assyrians because after the Lord completes all his works on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, that is, after Jerusalem has been overthrown, the empire of the Assyrians will be destroyed. However, from what follows, the threat seems to be specifically against King Sennacherib of Assyria. When it says, 'After the Lord completes all his works on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,' it does not signify the destruction of the city, but rather the siege, when the commander Rabsaces came with Sennacherib, and did those things which the same Prophet recounts later on (Isai. XXXVII, 17). According to tropology, when Samaria and Jerusalem endure the anger of the Lord and realize that they have erred in the making of idols, then great understanding will be destroyed, the Assyrian, who is swollen with such pride against the Lord, thinking that all things will yield to his wisdom, and that every lofty doctrine and fortified dialectical art must be shaken and utterly destroyed; to such an extent that they are unable to rise up high like the fledglings of birds, and are not yet animate, but rather inanimate and sluggish, as the example of eggs demonstrates, not even able to chirp or move their tongues against the reason and strength of their speech.10:15
(Verse 15.) Will the axe boast against the one who hews with it, or the saw exalt itself against the one who draws it? As if a rod should raise itself against the one who lifts it, or a staff should exalt itself, which is only wood. In response to Sennacherib, or as many believe, Nebuchadnezzar, boasting and saying: 'By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding,' the holy Prophet replied: 'O most foolish of mortals, do you think God's wrath is your wisdom, and His command is your strength?' How can an axe boast against the one who wields it, or a saw against the one who draws it? And let them say, all the works done by the axe and the saw are perfected by their own skill. And if someone lifts a staff and raises a stick to strike whoever they desire, and that staff and stick boast, saying that they themselves have struck the one who was struck: in the same way, when you are an instrument of God's will, you elevate yourself in pride and glory in everything that is done as your own virtue. But whatever is said to be Assyrian can also be referred to the pride of heretics and to the devil, who is called an axe, a saw, and a rod in the Scriptures, because through him unfruitful trees are cut down and divided, and the hardness of unbelievers is sawn, and those who do not receive discipline are struck with a rod. The heretics, whose mouth is set against heaven and whose tongue stretches to the ground, twist the meaning they have received from God in a good way and use it for the opposite and perverse, so that they speak against the one by whom they were created, and they turn the ministry of tongues, by which the Lord is to be praised, into blasphemy (Psalm 72).10:16-19
(Verse 16 and following) Therefore, the Lord of hosts will send wasting sickness among his fat ones, and under his glory a burning will be kindled like the burning of fire. And the light of Israel will become a fire, and his Holy One a flame, and it will burn and devour his thorns and briers in one day. The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land the Lord will destroy, both soul and body, and it will be as when a sick man wastes away. And the remaining trees of his forest will be so few that a child can write them down. Because you have done these things and have spoken what I have told you above, therefore the Lord will send His Angel, and in one night one hundred eighty-five thousand of your army will die, so that the most powerful ones, whom He calls fat, will be reduced to thinness and nothingness. And as the Hebrews relate, the bodies of the Assyrians, with their untouched clothing, will be consumed by hidden fire. Then the light of Israel and the holy one, that is, the angel, will be in fire and flame, and all the thorns and brambles of the Assyrians, that is, their wickedness, will be consumed, not over a long time, but in one day and moment. And just as the forest-covered mountain of Carmel, which is located in Galilee, quickly burns when fire is placed underneath it, so too will all the glory of the Assyrians be consumed, from humans to animals. Then the plundered army will flee, as the Prophet testifies in what follows, and from such an innumerable multitude that was compared to Carmel and the forest, it will come to such a small number that even a little child will be able to count and describe them. For the Hebrews report that only ten of his army remained; some of ours say that this king is a type of hostile strength. And just as in the book of Daniel (Chapter X) we read about the rulers of the Persian kingdom, and the kingdom of the Medes, and the kingdom of the Greeks, so there is also a ruler of the Assyrians, who is called the great prince because of the pride of his understanding, and on the day of judgment he will be delivered to the fires of Gehenna, which are prepared for the devil and his angels. And the light of Israel, which is the Lord himself, will set fire to the thorns and thistles of Assyria, and will reduce all its power and countless people to nothingness. Then, terrified by this, they will want to avoid the imminent punishment like a twisted and fleeing snake. However, those who can escape from his leap and confusion, and from the burning wood, are considered worthy to be numbered and described by the boy whose authority is on his shoulders. This itself can also be referred to the heretics: that after the Church's teaching has shone forth, and all their disciples have been exposed, then they come to such great solitude, that only a few remain who follow their error, from the jump and unfruitful trees and their countless multitude, which they deceived by heretical fraud. Because what we translate, the Lord will send thinness in her fatness, LXX translated, the Lord will send dishonor in your honor. And because we have said: and his saints in the flame, they have turned: and he will sanctify him in fire: by which some understand that punishments and torments are applied to sinners, in order to be purged by the divine fire. And what we have said: And the glory of his forest, and of his Carmel: they have interpreted: The mountains, and hills, and forests shall be extinguished, by which all the glory, pride, and multitude of the Assyrians shall be humbled and extinguished.10:20-23
(Verse 20 onwards) And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel shall no more stay upon him that smote them, but shall stay upon the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness. For the Lord God of hosts will make a consummation and an abbreviation in the midst of all the land. As it is said in Greek: The remnant of Jacob will return to the mighty God, for the mighty God, in Hebrew it is written El Gibbor (), two names out of the six names by which we read the little child and son, who is given to us, is called. And because it is written: The remnant will return, in Hebrew it is said in the singular number, that which is left will return, that is, τὸ ὑπόλειμμα ἐπιστρέψει, in Hebrew it is written Sar Jasub (). And from this occasion of conversation, they believe that the son of Isaiah, named Jasub, preceded as a sign of salvation for the people of Israel. Therefore, when the light of Israel, and the holy forest of Carmel, and the thorn bush are consumed, and the Assyrian king flees with a few, then the remaining people of Israel, who were besieged in Jerusalem with King Hezekiah as their leader, will by no means rely on the Assyrian king, as they now do under King Ahaz, who sent messengers to the king of Assyria saying, 'I am your servant, go up and free me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who have risen against me' (2 Kings 16:7). When he brought gold and silver, which were found in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and in the royal palace, and sent gifts to the king of Assyria, he listened to him and went to Damascus, captured it, and deported Rasin. But having been freed from the Assyrian oppressor, who had previously been a friend and later an enemy, let them rely and have confidence in the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, not falsely as they did under previous kings, but in truth. What we read about under Hezekiah: that, having abandoned idols, they turned to the worship of God. And because he had said that the remnants must be saved, he moves on to later times and says that full salvation will come under Christ. This is also what the apostle Paul, understanding this, writes to the Romans: But Isaiah cries out for Israel: If the number of the children of Israel is like the sand of the sea, the remnants will be saved. For the word is consuming and shortening in righteousness, because the Lord will make a short word upon the earth (Rom. IX, 27). And as Isaiah said: Unless the Lord of hosts had left us seed, we would have been made like Sodom, and we would have been like Gomorrah (Isaiah 1:9). Therefore, when such great authority precedes, let all other interpretation cease. And truly, if we read Josephus (Book X, Chapter 2), and consider how great was the multitude of people in Jerusalem and in Judea when the Lord suffered, we understand that only a few among the Apostles and Apostolic men were saved from the Jews. But the Gospel is an abbreviated and perfected discourse, which, instead of all the burdensome ceremonies of the Law, gave a very brief precept of love and faith, that we should not do to others what we would not want done to us. Hence, the Lord in the Gospel said: 'On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets' (Matthew 22:40). Some refer this chapter to the time when a certain part of the people returned to Judah under Zerubbabel son of Salatiel, and Joshua son of Josedech, and Ezra, and Nehemiah. We will respond to those by not preserving the order of history, especially since what follows is not against the Babylonians, whose king was Nebuchadnezzar, but against Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians.10:24-27
(v. 24 seqq.) Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: Do not fear, my people who dwell in Zion, from Assyria, who shall strike you with a rod and lift up his staff against you, as the Egyptians did. For yet a little while and my indignation will be fulfilled and my anger will be directed towards their wickedness. And the Lord of hosts will raise a whip against them, as he did against Midian at the rock of Oreb, and his staff against the sea, and he will lift it up in the manner of the Egyptians. And it shall come to pass in that day: his burden shall be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing oil. Regarding the stone, which in Hebrew is interpreted as Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion put the Hebrew word Sur Oreb. Regarding this, the LXX interpreted as the place of tribulation, about which we will say in its proper place. It seems difficult to you, O inhabitant of Zion, that while all the surrounding nations are subjugated by the Assyrians, you alone would be liberated from their hands. Listen to what I say: do not be afraid, my people, because you will be captured by Assyria when it conquers. For in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah's reign (2 Kings 18), Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, will come to attack all the fortified cities of Judah and capture them. He will send his commander-in-chief, Rabshakeh, to terrify the besieged people of Jerusalem. However, you should know that he will not strike you with a sword, but with a rod. He will march against King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, the Egyptians, and the Red Sea by way of Egypt. He will only raise his staff against you, and he will not be able to strike you. For a little while longer, I will return from Egypt with an infinite multitude of army and wishing to besiege you, I will immediately strike with my indignation, and I will raise that whip, which once I used against the Midianites under Gideon (Judges 7), who was also called Jerubbaal. When Oreb and Zebah, the leaders of the Midianites, were killed on a very hard rock, that is, flint, which is called Sur in Hebrew, so that from the rock and from the king who was killed on it, the place received the name Rock of Oreb. So he shall lift up his rod over the Red Sea, going against the Ethiopians, and he shall lift it up again on his return to you by the way of Egypt; but as soon as he comes from Egypt, the burden shall be taken away from your shoulders and the yoke of his rule shall be removed, and you shall cease to serve. This yoke, that is, the power of the Assyrians, will decay in the presence of oil, that is, the mercy of God. We can also understand what he said: 'He shall strike you with a rod and shall lift up his staff over you on the way to Egypt.' And again: 'He shall lift up his rod over the sea and he shall lift it up on the way to Egypt.' This can also be understood as why he struck many from the tribe of Judah and captured cities around the kingdom of Jerusalem, because they had put their trust not in God, but in the Egyptians. Then Rabsaces taunts them, saying: Behold thou trustest upon the reed upon Egypt; upon which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it. (IV Kings 18:21) So is Pharao king of Egypt to all that trust in him. The history also of the Madianites is written in the book of Judges (Judges 7), which we read also in the psalm: Make their princes like Oreb, and Zeb, and Zebbee, and Salmana (Psalm 82:11-12). Therefore those who believe that it signifies the time when in the book of Numbers (Chap. 25) the Midianites killed by Israel are referred to from the desert of Sur to the mountain of God, Horeb, with which time they were not on Mount Horeb, but in the desert of Shittim. According to the anagoge, it is commanded to the people dwelling in the Church not to fear their adversaries, who are always ready for battle, and have overturned many souls with their disputes. For this reason, they can receive only a little power against the people of God, and not strike with a sword, but with a rod, that is, not to kill, but to threaten, because they have walked in the way of Egypt and have not trusted in the Lord. But when they have returned to God and have left the path of Egypt, then the scourge of God is to be raised up by judgment against the adversaries. For Midian is interpreted as meaning 'by judgment,' so that with the breath of his mouth and the oil of mercy the yoke of the enemies may decay.10:28-34
(Verse 28 and following) He will come to Aiath, he will pass through Migron: at Machmas he will deposit his baggage. They went with haste to Geba, our city (or as we find elsewhere written: they stayed at the lodging place); Ramah was astonished, Gibeah of Saul fled. Cry out with your voice, daughter of Gallim; listen, Laishah, poor Anathoth: Medemena has taken flight; the inhabitants of Gebim, gather yourselves together. There is still a day, to stand at Nob: he will shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. LXX: For He will come into the city of Aggai, and will pass through Mageddo: and in Machmas He will set His vessels: and He will pass through the valley, and will come into Aggai. Fear shall seize Rama, the city of Saul: the daughter of Gallim shall flee: listen, O Laisa: there shall be heard in Anathot: Medemena will be astonished, and the inhabitants of Gebim. Comfort yourselves today along the way, that He may remain: comfort the mountain of the daughter of Zion, and the hill of Jerusalem. In this place, the LXX differs greatly from the Hebrew: for this reason, we have included both editions, so that, with the inspiration of Christ, we may express what seems to us in each. He is describing the prophetic speech of the Assyrian about his journey and return from Egypt to Jerusalem, and how he will come with great noise and speed to attack the city. And first, he says, he will come to Aiath, where, due to excessive haste, he will not want to stay and will pass through to Magron, and he will have such confidence in capturing the city that he will leave his luggage at Machmas, as if he will quickly return after the city is destroyed. After leaving his luggage, he will pass through quickly and will have a resting place in Geba, where he will stay for a short time to revive his tired army, and the nearby city of Ramah will be terrified, and the city of Gibeah, once the city of Saul, will flee. Then both Gallim's daughter, who is called Beth Gallim in Hebrew, will wail so loudly that you would think it is the neighing of horses. Therefore, oh Laisa, whether you are poor or obedient, or humble Anathoth (for it can be interpreted in three ways), pay close attention and declare the approaching onslaught, if you can; for the city of Medemena has already migrated from its dwelling places. But you who dwell in the hills, which are interpreted as Gebim, be reassured by the safety of your elevated location, that is, take up arms. So far, only the end of the day remained, as he stood in the small town of Nob, overlooking the city of Jerusalem. He waved his hand and shook it over Mount Zion, either looking down on it with disdain and contempt, or insulting and threatening it, and marveling that such a small city would dare to resist his power, with the entire East under his control. These things, according to the Hebrews, as they have been handed down to us, we have briefly described. Now let us present what the Ecclesiastical men of the Seventy have to say about this passage. When the yoke of Assyria, or as some wrongly believe, the Babylonians, is removed from your shoulders and corrupted, the Assyrian Sennacherib, fleeing with a few remnants, will come to Aggai, which is not found in Hebrew. And there will be such trembling of the fugitive that he will not dare to stay there, but will pass through to Mageddo, which is not mentioned in Scripture itself. And because he will not be able to flee more quickly burdened with his baggage, he will deposit his vessels in Machmas and swiftly pass through the valley, which the Hebrew language does not even mention; and he will come again to Aggai, which is mentioned twice in this place and is not found in Hebrew. At the sound of his flight, Rama, the city of Saul, will tremble, which is clearly false. For the city of Saul is called Gaba, as is stated in Hebrew. Then he will come to Gallim; Laisa will hear, Anathoth will hear, Medemena will tremble. But the inhabitants of Gebim and the hills, which are in Jerusalem, that is, the lofty and mighty men, will be stirred up to console Jerusalem: not long afterwards, but at present, and on the same day while the Assyrian is on the way; so they may remain in their places, and, disturbed by fear, in no way flee. This word for word. However, some in this place, when they cannot find false names according to the etymology of the Septuagint, nor can they find themselves in the book of Hebrew Names, send us to uncertainty, so that they say that in the end of the world and in the consummation of this age, with impending punishments, the great meaning, the prince of the Assyrians, will flee; and desiring to escape from the anger of God, they will travel through different places and various destinations. And when he flees, let the inhabitants of Gebim, that is, the lofty virtues, be urged by prophetic speech to console the one fleeing and to teach them not to flee but to stay on the path and await the mercy of God; and not only to console the one fleeing or to recall the daughter of Zion from mourning and to provoke her to the salvation of repentance, but also to be these hills in Jerusalem of which we read in the later part of this prophet: Comfort, comfort my people, says the priests; speak to the heart of Jerusalem (Isa. XL, 1). He said this because he was bound by the truth of the matter and had nothing else to say.Behold the Lord of hosts will break the jar in terror, and the lofty stature will be cut down, and the exalted will be brought low, and the dense forests will be destroyed by the sword, and Lebanon with its heights will fall. Some people think that this passage is still speaking of the Assyrians, and that when they are crushed, all the nations around them that were subject to their rule will be cut down and humbled, and the dense forests will be destroyed. They understand this metaphorically as referring to the people and rulers. Moreover, even Lebanon with its lofty cedars can fall, so that no power of Assyria remains at all. But others want this place to be about Christ, especially since what follows, and we ourselves, and the Circumcision Scriptures, testify about him. Above, it was mentioned that the name of the child to be born of a Virgin would be called Emmanuel; and later the prophetess in her conception in the womb would proclaim, 'Hurry, plunder, hasten to prey' (Isa. 8:3), and he himself would be a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to the two houses of Israel; his dominion would be on his shoulder, and he would be called by six names: Wonderful, Counselor, God, Strong, Father of the future age, and Prince of peace; and his empire would multiply, and there would be no end to peace. Now in the prologue of his coming, before it is said that he will be born of the descendants of Jesse and David, the passion of him is demonstrated through the symbol of the broken vessel: that, by the will of God, his flesh was handed over to death so that the pride of the Jews may be destroyed and those who were once lofty may fall to the ground; and Lebanon with its cedars may be cut down, of which we read in Zachariah: Open your gates, O Lebanon, and let fire devour your cedars; wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen, because the noble have been devastated (Zach. XI, 1, 2). But that he is said to be contrite and struck by the Father, and that is indicated by this: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered (Zech. XIII, 7). And another testimony: For they have persecuted him whom you have struck (Ps. LXVIII, 2). The Hebrew word פורע (Phura), which Aquila has interpreted as κεραμεῖον, and Theodotion and Symmachus translated as ληνὸν, that is, winepress, which also signifies the Lord's Passion according to the inscription of three psalms, with the Lord himself saying in Isaiah: I have trodden the winepress alone, and no man of the nations was with me (Isa. LXIII, 3). However, they interpreted LXX as meaning 'for the wine press,' introducing a new sense.
11:1-2
Chapter XI - Verses 1, 2. And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness. And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord. Up to the beginning of the Vision or the weight of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amos saw, all this prophecy is about Christ, which we wish to explain in parts so as not to confuse the reader's memory by presenting and discussing it all at once. The rod and the flower from the root of Jesse are interpreted as the Lord Himself of the Jews: so that in the rod, the power of the reigning one may be shown, and in the flower, the beauty. But we understand the rod from the root of Jesse to be the holy Virgin Mary, who had no fruit cohering to herself; of whom we also read above: Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son (Isa. VII, 14). And the flower is the Lord and Savior, who says in the Song of Solomon: I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys (Cant. II, 1). Concerning the root which alone the LXX translators turned into Hebrew script, it has (in Geza) which Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotio interpreted as κορμὸν, that is, trunk. And concerning the flower which is called (in Hebrew) Neser, they translated it as germ to show that much later after the Babylonian captivity, with no one from the line of David possessing the glory of the ancient kingdom, Christ arose as if from the trunk of Mary, and from Mary Christ was born. That which in the Gospel of Matthew everyone seeks the words of the Ecclesiastics, and does not find where it is written, 'He shall be called a Nazarene' (Matt. 2:23), the learned Hebrews think is taken from this place. But it should be known that here 'Nazarene' is written with the letter 'Sade', which the Latin language does not express the sound and property of between 'z' and 's'. It is, in fact, a strident sound and is barely pronounced with the tongue against the teeth: from which the city of Zion is also written. Moreover, the Nazarenes, whom the Seventy sanctified, whom Symmachus separated, transferred, pronounce 'Zain' (the letter element is always written). Therefore, upon this flower, who will suddenly rise from the trunk and root of Jesse through the Virgin Mary, the spirit of the Lord will rest, because in him it pleased all the fullness of divinity to dwell bodily: not by parts, as with the other saints; but according to the Gospel that the Nazarenes read, which was written in the Hebrew language: 'Upon him descends every source of the Holy Spirit.' Now, the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17). In the same volume of Matthew, we read that which is written in the following: Behold, my servant whom I have chosen: my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him: he shall show judgment to the Gentiles (Matt. XII, 18). This is understood to refer to the understanding of the Savior, in whom the Spirit of the Lord rested, that is, he remained in eternal habitation: not so as to fly away and descend to him again; but according to the testimony of John the Baptist, he would continually remain, who said: I saw the Spirit descending as a dove from heaven, and remaining upon him, and I did not know him: but he who sent me to baptize in water, said to me: He upon whom you shall see the Spirit descending, and remaining upon him, he it is who baptizes in the Holy Spirit (John. XXXII, 33). Furthermore, in the Gospel, of which we have mentioned above, we find these writings: And it came to pass, when the Lord was ascended out of the water, the whole fountain of the Holy Spirit descended and rested upon him, and said to him: My son, in all the prophets I have expected thee, that thou shouldst come, and that I might rest in thee. For thou art my rest, thou art my first begotten Son, who reignest in eternity. Who is called the Spirit of the Lord and the Spirit of wisdom; for all things were made by him, and without him was made nothing that was made (John 1:3). And in the Psalms it is sung: How great are your works, O Lord! You have made all things in wisdom (Ps. XCI, 24). And the Apostle writes: Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God (I Cor. I). And in Proverbs it is read: By his wisdom, God founded the earth, and by his prudence, he prepared the heavens (Prov. III, 19). And just as the Word of God is called light, and life, and resurrection, so the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord is named: not because it is different according to the differences of names, but because it is the one and same source and beginning of all virtues. Therefore, without Christ, no one can be wise, intelligent, wise counsel, strong, learned, pious, or full of the fear of God. And it should be noted that the Spirit of the Lord, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and fortitude, knowledge and piety, and the fear of the Lord, that is, the number seven, which is said to be the seven eyes on one stone in Zechariah (Chapter 3), may rest upon the rod and flower, who rose from the root of Jesse, and therefore from the line of David. But the Spirit of the fear of the Lord has filled him because of those who lack the fear of the Lord: for they are little ones, whom perfect love casts out. For whoever fears, has punishment, and is not perfect (1 John 4:18). Therefore, the Apostle speaks to the believers: For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear: but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father (Romans 8:15). And in Malachi we read: If I am a father, where is my glory? And if I am the Lord, where is my fear? (Malachi 1:6). Concerning this fear, it is sung in the Psalm: Come, children, listen to me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord (Psalm 34:11).11:3-5
(Verse 3 and following) He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears. But he will judge the poor with justice, and decide with fairness for the humble of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and kill the wicked with the breath of his lips. Righteousness will be his belt, and faithfulness the sash around his waist. These words refer to the first coming of the Savior; the Jews argue about the future at the end of the world. Moreover, they translated: He will not judge according to glory, nor argue according to speech: but he will judge with humble judgment, and argue the humble of the earth. For he shows no partiality in judgment: but he speaks to the scribes, Pharisees and rulers: Woe to you, hypocrites: And, the kingdom of God will be taken from you, and given to the nation producing its fruits (Matthew 23:13, and 21:43). And he does not rebuke according to words and the hearing of the ears. For when they said to Him, 'Master, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth, and do not care about anyone's opinion, for You do not regard the appearance of men' (Matthew 22:16), knowing their malice, He answered, 'Why do you test me, you hypocrites?' and so on with similar things. He judged in righteousness the poor in spirit, to whom belongs the kingdom of God, and he rebuked in fairness the meek and humble of the earth, saying to the Apostles, 'Are you still foolish?' And again: Do you not yet understand or comprehend? And to Peter specifically: O you of little faith, why did you doubt? (Mark 8:17). Or certainly for the humble and meek he argued for others who sought to oppress them (Matthew 14:31). He also struck down all earthly works with a rod, or as the Septuagint translated, with the word of his mouth, speaking in the Gospel: Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. And with the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked (Mat. X, 34, and Luc. XII, 51): of whom we read in the ninth psalm: Thou hast rebuked the Gentiles, and the wicked one hath perished: thou hast put out their name for ever and ever (Ps. IX, 6). And the Apostle Paul writes: Whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of his mouth (II Thess. II, 8; Ephes. VI). But when the wicked man is struck, the Lord is girded with justice and truth and faith. For he has made Himself to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption (1 Corinthians 1), who also speaks in the Gospel: I am the light, and the life, and the truth (John 8:6 and 14). And it is said in the Psalms: Truth has risen from the earth: and justice has looked down from heaven (Psalm 84:2). Therefore, the Apostle also exhorts the Ephesians: Stand therefore, having your loins girded with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness (Ephesians 6:14). But if faith is read for truth, it must be said that the belt of the Lord, with which Jeremiah was girded (Jeremiah 13), is the faith of believers.11:6-16
(Verse 6 and following) The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat; the calf, the lion, and the sheep will all stay together, and a small child will lead them. The calf and the bear will graze together; their young ones will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like an ox. The infant will play near the cobra's den, and the young child will put his hand into the viper's nest. They will not cause harm or destroy on my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. This also the Jews and our Jewish followers contend will happen literally, that in the glory of Christ, whom they believe will come at the end of the world, all beasts will be tamed, and the former ferocity, the wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the other things with the others, which we now see as contrary to each other. We should ask those who accept everything in the present text as it is written, and do not relate to spiritual understanding, according to the saying of the Apostle, who says: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:3), therefore, the root, and the branch, and the flower should not be understood literally: and when it is said that the earth was struck by the word of God, and the wicked were killed by the breath of his lips, they should be understood as written: and they should be compelled to teach how the Lord's loins are surrounded by incorporeal things with righteousness and truth. But let us also ask them what is worthy of the majesty of the Lord, that the wolf and the lamb may feed together, and the leopard may lie down with the young goat, and the lion may eat straw like the ox, and a small child may put his hand into the hole of the venomous snake? Unless, perhaps, according to the fables of the poets, they will restore to us the golden age of Saturn, in which wolves and lambs will feed together, and rivers will flow with sweet wine, and the sweetest honey will drip from the leaves of trees, and everything will be filled with milk from the fountains. But if they respond that for the happiness of the times these things are to come, so that without anyone's harm, men may enjoy all good things, let them hear from us that nothing is good except virtue, and nothing is evil except vice, as the Psalmist says: Who is the man that desires life, and loves to see good days? Restrain your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil, and do good. (Psalm 34:14; 31:27). But riches, and bodily health, and abundance of all things, and their contraries, poverty, weakness, and lack, even among the philosophers of the world, are neither reckoned among good things nor among bad things, but are called indifferent. And the Stoics also, who agree in most respects with our doctrine, consider nothing to be good except honesty and virtue alone, and nothing to be evil except shamefulness. We have briefly stated these things in order to convincingly refute those who Judaize while in a deep sleep. However, through the life-giving spirit, understanding is easy. For Paul, formerly a persecutor and destroyer of the Church, is like a wolf, of whom it is said: Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; he dwelt with the lamb, or like Ananias, by whom he was baptized (Gen. XLIX, 27; Acts VIII), or like the Apostle Peter, to whom it was said: Feed my lambs (John XXI). And the leopard, who previously did not change its spots, lies down in the fountain of the Lord with the kid, not the one on the left, but the one sacrificed on the Lord's Passover. And this must be noted, that neither the lamb nor the kid dwell and lie down with the wolf and the leopard, but the wolf and the leopard imitate the innocence of the lamb and the kid. The lion also will dwell together with the most ferocious, and the sheep, and the calf. This we see daily in the Church, the rich and the poor, the powerful and the humble, kings and commoners dwelling together, and being ruled in the Church by little children, whom we understand to be the Apostles, and by Apostolic men, unskilled in language, but not in knowledge. When those who are bound together in the discipline of the Lord are united among themselves, so that their families are also joined, then this will be fulfilled: their young ones will rest together. The lion will also not eat meat, but straw, so that it may feed on simple food. And here it must be observed that it is not the ox that eats meat, but the lion that eats straw. I think that in Holy Scriptures, straw is understood as simple words. However, wheat and the inner marrow represent the meaning that is found in the letter: and it often happens that people of the world, who are ignorant of the mysteries, feed on simple reading of the Scriptures. The infant, who is small in wickedness, also puts his hand into the snake's hole and drives away the demons from the bodies of those possessed. But the child who is weaned is no longer nourished by milk but now eats solid food. He puts his hand into the cave of the ruler, that is, into the dwelling place of Satan himself, and from there he pulls him out. Hence, the power was given to the Apostles to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10). However, poisonous animals will never be able to harm or kill those who dwell in the holy mountain of God, which is interpreted as the Church, as it is said in the Gospel: A city set on a hill cannot be hidden (Matt. 5:14). But lest we think that this is said about Mount Zion according to the error of the Hebrews, the following verse of the Gospel preaching shows the sacraments: For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord (Isaiah 11:9). This is what was said above more obscurely: The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid (Isaiah 11:6). And according to their custom, the words of the prophets are revealed at the end: As the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14). Just as the depths of the sea are covered by the waters of the sea, that is, the land covered by the waves, so the knowledge of the Lord will fill the whole earth. The blessed Apostle Peter also testifies to the diverse conjunction of previous manners in the linen cloth (Acts 10), which was sent down from heaven, having four elements, which we understand as representing the four regions of the world, so that we may know the earth filled with the knowledge of God: in this vessel there were quadrupeds, and serpents, and wild beasts, and birds of the sky, so that just as the Ark did in the Flood, the Church may provide in the world.On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious. LXX: On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall seek him out, and his dwelling shall be honored. For his resting place has been chosen in Hebrew, Mnuatho (), which all have likewise translated. And for his honor, in Hebrew it is read as Chabod (), which clearly signifies glory. And the meaning is: his death will be glorious, so that what the Savior prays for in the Gospel may be fulfilled: Father, glorify me with the glory which I had before the world was with you (John 17:5). It has been said about his birth, it has been said about the others in the midst of the Sacraments: he came to death, which is not called by the usual name of mortals, but because eternal life was in Christ, it is called rest. But we, in order to make the meaning clear to the reader, translate it as dormition and rest, with another word but the same meaning, we turn it into a tomb. Therefore, in that time, when the Gospel of Christ will shine forth throughout the whole world, and the knowledge of the Lord will fill all the earth like the waters cover the sea, the root of Jesse will be and the one who will rise from his lineage as a sign for all peoples, so that the nations may see the sign of the Son of Man in heaven (Matt. 24). He will have horns in his hands, in which his strength will be hidden, so that when exalted, he may draw all things to himself (Hab. 3). As the Septuagint translated, he will rise from the dead to be the prince of all nations, and all peoples will hope in him. This is also testified by Jacob in a mystical message about the tribe of Judah: The prince will not fail from Judah, nor the leader from his loins, until he comes to whom it belongs, and he will be the expectation of the nations. And in that day, the Lord will stretch out his hand a second time to possess the remnant of his people, which will be left behind by the Assyrians, and by Egypt, and by Phut, and by Ethiopia, and by Elam, and by Shinar, and by Hamath, and by the islands of the sea. And He will lift up a signal for the nations, and will gather the outcasts of Israel, and assemble the scattered ones of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The jealousy of Ephraim will depart, and the enemies of Judah will be destroyed. Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, and Judah will not fight against Ephraim. They will swoop down on the Philistines' shoulder through the sea, together they will plunder the sons of the East. And Edom and Moab will be under their control, and the sons of Ammon will obey them. In that day, which is the time mentioned before, when the Root of Jesse rises as a signal for the peoples, in order to rule over the nations, the Lord will stretch out His hand a second time, so that not according to our Jewish understanding at the end of the world, when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then all Israel will be saved (Rom. XI); but let us understand all these things in relation to His first coming. For we cannot, when the same day is said both now and above, refer it to the first coming, and the one below to the second: lest by these things which follow, and those which precede, Christ whom the Jews contend has not yet come but is to come, should be referred to him. After the calling of the Gentiles, therefore, which were formerly reckoned in the tail, Israel shall be reckoned in the tail, in order that the Lord may again put forth his hand a second time, and possess the remnant of his people, of whom we have read above, not all Israel, but the remnants are to be saved, which shall be left by the Assyrians and by Egypt, and by the various nations around. For first the Twelve Apostles, and seventy, and one hundred twenty souls, and five hundred, who were gathered together, the Lord appeared to them, then three thousand, and five thousand Jews believed in the Lord. James also speaks to the apostle Paul, who himself was among the others: See, brother, how many thousands there are of believing Jews? all of these are zealous for the law (Acts 21:20). And in the same volume we read: Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven, who were amazed and said: Are not all these Galileans, and how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism; Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues! (Acts 2:9-11) From all these nations, people from Israel, through the apostles, will be saved. The Ecclesiastical Histories report that the apostles preached the Gospel in the whole world, in such a way that some reached Persia and India, and Ethiopia extended its hands to God, and gifts for Christ were brought from across the rivers of Ethiopia. So that it may not seem to signify only the eastern peoples, it also includes the rest: And from the islands of the sea. However, the islands of the sea signify the western region, which is enclosed by the circuit of the ocean. Therefore, the sign of the Cross will be raised among all nations, and first it will gather the people of Israel from the synagogues, in order to fulfill the command of the Savior given to the Apostles, who said: Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 10:6). Finally, Paul also speaks to the unbelievers among the Jews, saying: It was necessary for the word of God to be spoken to you first; but since you have rejected it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles, as the Lord has commanded us (Acts 13:46-47). But the four cardinal directions, east and west, south and north, signify, as by these the calling of the world is demonstrated. In that time, Isaiah says, Ephraim and Judah, who now, as prophesied by me, dissent with hostile hatred between themselves, will not be enemies, but according to the prophecy of Ezekiel, two rods will be joined into one rod, and they will be joined in the Church of Christ, who were previously separated (Ezek. VII), so that they may work together in the nations and willingly bear the burden of the Philistines on their shoulders across the sea, that is, they may first preach to the coastal Palestinians and swiftly proceed by sea to the other nations. Or according to the Seventy Interpreters: they will fly in the ships of foreigners, they will plunder the sea together; from which let us understand the example of the apostle Paul, who was carried by ships of foreigners through Pamphylia, and Asia, and Macedonia, and Achaia, and various islands and provinces, even to Italy (Acts 28), and as he himself writes, to Spain also (Romans 15). Therefore, Ephraim and Judah, that is, those who believed in Christ from the twelve tribes of the Jews, will plunder the East together, and extend their hands in Idumea and Moab, according to what Christ speaks mystically in the person of David: I will stretch out my shoe to Idumea: to me foreigners will serve (Psalm 59:10). For at that time when Isaiah prophesied, these nations were adversaries to the people of Judah, and therefore he now says that after the root of Jesse rises, to reign over the nations, and the banner of the Cross for the salvation of the whole world is raised up, then even Idumea, Moab, and the sons of Ammon, in fact, the entire extent of Arabia, will give their hands to the Apostles, and in the places of idolatry the Church of Christ will be raised up.
And the Lord will dry up the tongue of the sea of Egypt, and he will lift his hand over the river with the strength of his spirit, and he will strike it in the seven streams, so that people can cross it in sandals. And there will be a highway for the remnant of my people who are left from Assyria, just as there was for Israel on the day when they came up from the land of Egypt. Just as Edom and Moab, and the sons of Ammon will submit their hands to the Apostles, so that they may obey the preaching of the Gospel, in the same way the Lord himself, who fulfilled those things in his Apostles, will dry up not the sea according to the Septuagint, but according to the Hebrews, the tongue of the sea of Egypt, which previously blasphemed against the Lord and presided over the Egyptian superstition. And in the Psalms we read: This great and spacious sea, wherein are reptiles without number (Psalm 10:25-26). It is said of them: This dragon, whom you have made to mock at him. Therefore, he shall desolate, that is, put under a curse, as Theodotion, Aquila, and Symmachus translated it, the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and he shall lift up his hand over the rivers of Egypt in the strength of his spirit, or his most violent spirit, which we understand to be the kingdom of the Romans. For when Caesar Augustus was reigning (Luke 2), when the flower of Jesse's root ascended, and the first census was made in the Roman world, the most powerful kingdom of the Egyptians, which lasted for many generations, was destroyed by the death of Cleopatra, and the Egyptian river was struck into seven streams, or into seven valleys. For the Nile, which previously flowed in one channel and was impassable, was divided and cut into seven very humble valleys and streams, so that it could be crossed on foot. However, this symbolically signifies that the nation of the Egyptians, given over to such great idolatry and worthless superstition, consecrated hawks, owls, dogs, goats, and donkeys with divine names, in order to distribute the infinite power of the kingdom through individual judges of the Roman empire, so that Thebes has one judge, Libya has another, Pentapolis has another, Egypt has another, Alexandria has another, and various regions, which the Egyptians call 'laws'. Therefore, under the metaphor, the Nile is divided into parts and cut into streams, so that the Evangelical word can flow freely and reach the farthest people of Egypt without any hindrance. And just as in the time of Moses the Red Sea was dried up so that the people could flee from Egypt, in contrast, the rivers of Egypt will dry up so that the remaining people of God, who will be saved from the Assyrians and various nations, can pass into Egypt, not fleeing from it, but entering and treading on it with their own feet. A wise and Christian reader should have this rule of the promises of the prophets, that we may teach spiritually things which the Jews, and not only our, rather not our Judaizers, contend carnally will happen in the future, lest we be compelled to judaize by the occasion of such fables and inextricable questions, according to the Apostle (II Tim. II).
12:1-2
And you shall say on that day: I will praise you, O Lord, for you were angry with me, but your anger has turned away, and you have comforted me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. You who were the first to speak in the wilderness, when you came out of the land of Egypt, and when the Red Sea was dried up before you: Let us sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea (Exodus 15:1), and the rest of the verse. Now with the tongue of the Egyptian sea struck, and its river dried up and cut off, and humiliated, glorify the Lord, and say: I will praise you, O Lord, for I have obtained mercy after deserving your wrath and fury; for you are my Savior, that is, Jesus, and I have no confidence in idols, nor will I fear what is not to be feared; but you are my strength and my praise, who have become my salvation. Let the most wicked heresy be heard, that the Lord was made by those who are saved, and that he was not previously Lord, so that we may understand in the holy scriptures both creation and making, not always the condition of those things that were not, but sometimes the grace that is bestowed on those who have deserved to become God.12:3
(Verse 3.) You shall draw water with joy from the springs of the Savior. He whom above all others Emmanuel acknowledges as Savior, hastens, despoiling the enemy, to plunder, and is called by other names, lest there appear to be another besides Him whom Gabriel announced to the Virgin, saying, 'And you shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people' (Matthew 1:21): now He is called Savior, and proclaims the waters to be drawn from His springs, not from the waters of the Egyptian river, which were struck, nor from the waters of the river of Rasin, but from the springs of Jesus; for in the Hebrew language, Savior is expressed by this name. And He Himself also cried out in the Gospel, 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'' Now this, the evangelist says, He spoke about the Holy Spirit, whom those who believe in Him were to receive. And in another place in the Gospel He Himself speaks, 'Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give Him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.' (John 7:38; 4:13,14). Let us understand the Evangelical teaching of the Sources of Salvation, which we read about in the sixty-seventh psalm: 'In the churches, bless God the Lord from the fountains of Israel' (Psalm 67:27).12:4-5
(Verses 4, 5.) And you shall say on that day, confess the Lord and invoke His name: make His inventions known among the peoples: remember, for His name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for He has done great things: announce this in all the earth. These things are commanded by the Apostles and the rest of Israel to those who believed from the Gentiles: that they alone confess the Lord, and forsaking idols, invoke His name: and proclaim all His works to the unbelievers; that they may know that He alone is exalted: to whom it is to be sung for His great deeds, and in all the earth His mercy is to be proclaimed.12:6
(Verse 6) Rejoice and praise, O dwelling place of Zion, for the Holy One of Israel is great among you. First, it must be said according to the letter: O dwelling place of Zion, rejoice and praise your God, for He who was once considered your God and was enclosed within the narrow bounds of the land of Judaea, now fills the whole earth with His knowledge. Rising from the dead, He reigns over the nations, and the nations shall beseech Him and worship Him. However, He will add secondly His hand to possess what remains of His people, and to gather together the dispersed of Israel and the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth. For the seedbed of the Gospel spread forth from the fountains of Israel through the Apostles, who were from the Jews. But it is better, as the Church is interpreted as the high tower, that we interpret Zion, from which the fiftieth psalm sings: Deal gently, O Lord, in thy good will with Zion; that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up. That in her may be made acceptable to God the sacrifice of justice, oblations, and holocausts, and the calf, which the most merciful father offered to the repenting son.Book Five
Book FiveIt has been several years since I was asked by the late revered man, Bishop Amabilis, to write down the Visions of Isaiah in ten sections, due to the limited time available to me, I briefly summarized what I saw in each section: providing only the information he requested, explaining the history. Now, dear Eustochium, I am compelled to write Commentaries on the entire prophet, and in the meantime, I have arrived in Babylon through your prayers, which is the first of the ten visions that I mentioned earlier. However, it seemed superfluous to me either to repeat the same things again or to express different opinions in one work. Therefore, the fifth book on Isaiah will be here, which was once published alone, and we will take the introduction of the sixth volume according to the tropology to the end, and with you praying to the Lord for the same, we will pursue the heights of spiritual understanding.
So far, Pope Amabilis, pillar of charity and name, and to me most loving of all those who have been born on earth, you have been urging me through letters to explain to you ten visions which are very obscure in Isaiah, through a historical exposition, and to unfold the Hebrew truth for you, omitting our Commentaries, which have followed various opinions and have produced many volumes. And you have frequently urged me, while I am retracting and condemning the very troublesome kind of explanation at a different time. But in this year you sent our son Heraclius the deacon, who, by joining hands with me, called upon the law and demanded the promised rewards. So what should I do? Should I undertake a task in which the most learned men have labored, I mean Origen and Eusebius of Pamphilus, one of whom wanders freely through the realms of allegory with his children, interpreting the names of each and expressing the genius of the Church's sacraments, while the other, promising a historical exposition in his title, sometimes forgets his purpose and yields to Origen's teachings? Should I keep silent, and openly confess that I do not know the explanation of this kind? And when will I be able to persuade you that I could not do it more than I did not want to: one of which is weakness, the other pride? Forced by these reasons, I preferred that my intelligence should be sought from you rather than my will: and I will briefly note what I have learned, laying the foundation of the Scriptures. But if either you wish, or there is enough time, and Christ approves of our will, a spiritual building must be built up above, so that with the summit placed, we may show the completed ornaments of the Church. You have proposed about the vision of Babylon, and the Philistines, Moab, and Damascus, and Egypt, and the desert of the sea, and Edom, and Arabia, and the Valley of vision, and Tyre. If I were to attempt to explain these in more detail, it would require many books, and my journey as an investigator would be delayed until next year. Therefore, as you wish, I will compose brief sentences for each testimony, so that I will not so much explain what I think, but rather convey to you in a few words what must be understood. We dictate these things, we do not write them: the speech flows from the hand of the scribes as they write. We do not desire to be praised for our own words, but for the words of the prophets to be understood. We do not boast of eloquence, but seek knowledge of the Scriptures. Let us therefore begin with Babylon.
13:1
(Chapter XIII—Verse 1) The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah, son of Amos, saw. The Hebrew word 'Messa' can be understood as burden, load, or weight. And wherever it is mentioned, it signifies a heavy message. Hence, I wonder why the Septuagint translators wanted to use the word 'vision' in this sad context; but that is a topic for another time. Now let us proceed with what we have started: Babylon was the capital of the Chaldeans, whose king Nebuchadnezzar conquered all nations as far as Ethiopia. Among others, he devastated Judah and besieged Jerusalem for a long time until he captured it in the eleventh year of King Zedekiah's reign. He also captured Zedekiah himself and brought him to Antioch, which was then called Riblah. There, with Zedekiah's father and sons killed before him, he had Zedekiah's eyes put out, had him bound in chains, and sent him to Babylon, fulfilling the prophecy of Jeremiah which he had spoken: 'You will go to Babylon, but you will not see it.' (Jeremiah XXXIV, XXXIX, LII). Therefore, for the consolation of the people of Judah, the ruin of Babylon is foretold, just as Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrians, who had captured the ten tribes, Phul, and Theglathphalasar, and Salmanasar, and Sennacherib, was devastated by the Chaldeans, so too may this city, which has rebelled against God, be overthrown by the attack of the Medes and Persians.13:2
(Verse 2.) On the dark mountain, raise a sign, lift up your voice, raise your hand. The dark mountain, also called the mountain of darkness, which in Hebrew is called Nesphe, represents Babylon because of its pride. These are the dark mountains, which bring forth sadness and darkness, about which Jeremiah says: Give glory to the Lord your God before your feet stumble on the dark mountains (Jeremiah 13:16). And it is commanded either to the angels or to any ministers, that by the command of God and with their uplifted hands, the coming captivity to Babylon is preached.13:3-4
(Vers. 3, 4.) And the leaders shall enter the gates: I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness. The princes, and the giants, according to the LXX Translators, Eusebius interprets as angelic powers, and the most wicked demons, who were sent for the overthrow of Babylon. But following the order of the story, we say they were the Medes. Of whom Scripture testifies more explicitly in what follows, saying: Behold, I will raise up against them the Medes, who shall not regard silver, and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. It is not surprising that he calls the Medes sanctified for the destruction of Babylon, since through Jeremiah he himself, Nebuchadnezzar, while destroying Jerusalem, a rebellious city, called them his servant and his dove. Furthermore, when he says, 'My mighty men and those who rejoice in my glory,' he shows that they did not overthrow the power of such a lofty kingdom by their own strength, but rather by the wrath of God.13:4-5
(Verse 4, 5.) The voice of the multitude on the mountains, like the voice of many people: the sound of the gathered kings of nations. The Lord of hosts has commanded the forces of war to come from afar, from the top of the heavens. The Lord and His vessels of fury, to destroy all the earth. The attack of the Medes and Persians is described: with many auxiliary forces gathered, their army led by their Lord, they come to lay waste to Babylon, to destroy all the earth: not that they have devastated the whole world, but all the land of Babylon and the Chaldeans. For language is indeed the Scripture's, so as to signify all the provinces of that land, concerning which the discourse is had: which some not understanding, draw down to the subversion of all lands.13:6
(Verse 6) Howl, for the day of the Lord is near; it will come like destruction from the Lord. An apostrophe is made to the Chaldean people, that they may resound with weeping for the coming calamities; and let them not doubt the downfall of the city when the Lord the devastator comes.13:7-8
(Verse 7, 8.) Therefore, all hands will be loosened, and every man's heart will waste away and be crushed. There will be twisting and pain: they will be in agony like a woman in labor. Each person will be astonished at their neighbor; their faces will be burned with the expression of fear. This explanation is not necessary, but it is briefly indicated that such a great weight of evils will come upon them, that the hands of the fighters of Babylon will be loosened, and their hearts will grow weak with fear, and the agony of childbirth will twist their insides, and each person will seek help from another, their pale faces showing dread. For it is natural that in the face of impending disasters, we consider others to be more wise.13:9
(Verse 9.) Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel and full of indignation, wrath and fury, to make the earth a desolation, and to destroy its sinners. He calls it a cruel day, not because of its own merit, but because of the people. For he is not cruel who kills the cruel, but because he appears cruel to those who suffer. For even the thief hanging on the gallows considers the judge cruel. At the same time, the solitude and desolation of the land of Babylon are announced, and the cause of the desolation is explained, because all these things happen because of its inhabitants.13:10
(Verse 10) For the stars of the heavens and their splendor will not extend their light; the sun will be darkened at its rising, and the moon will not shine with its light. The Hebrew word Chisile () was translated as ὠρίωνα in the Septuagint. The Hebrews, with whom I studied, translated it as Arcturus. However, following Symmachus, we generally referred to it as a constellation. The meaning is that when the day of the Lord's cruelty comes and his fury devastates everything, due to the magnitude of fear, all things will become dark for mortals, and even the sun, moon, and shining stars will seem to deny their brightness. And so the sky is clad in darkness, which covers everything, and under the weight of evil, humans feel nothing but what their mind forces them to see.13:11
(Verse 11.) And I will visit the evils upon the world, and against the wickedness of the ungodly I will execute justice: and I will cause the pride of the infidels to cease, and the arrogance of the mighty I will bring down. From this place and from the one above, where it is written, that the sun will be darkened in its rising, and the moon will be covered with darkness, and the stars will lose their brightness, and the iniquity of the whole world will be visited, some think that it is not about the fall of Babylon, but about the end of the world that is being prophesied; when surely according to the earlier and universal (which is called in Hebrew, Thebel, and in Greek, οἰκουμένη), Babylon must be understood. Indeed, the word 'oikoumenē' in our language signifies the inhabited world; and 'Babylon' is called so because of the huge multitude of people: for where previously there was an innumerable throng of peoples, there is now desolation and the dwelling place of beasts.13:12
(Verse 12) The man will be more precious than gold, and the human being will shine like the world. The obvious reason why God visits the earth, that is, the evils of Babylon: so that the inhabited land will be turned into a desert. However, everything that is rare is called precious; just as above, according to the story, we read about seven women taking hold of one man due to the scarcity of men, saying: We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name and take away our reproach (Isaiah 4:1). And in the book of Samuel it is written: The word of the Lord was precious in those days (1 Samuel 3:1), that is, rare. Note that in Hebrew, instead of general gold, it is written Phaz (), and instead of fine gold, it is written Ophir ().13:13
(Verse 13.) On account of this, I will disturb the heavens, and the earth will be moved from its place: because of the indignation of the Lord of hosts, and because of the day of His furious wrath. Take it in the sense that we explained above concerning the stars, the sun, the moon, and the world: or in an exaggerated sense, that both the sad heaven and the earth are moved by the indignation of God, and all the elements also recognize the anger of the Creator.13:14
(Verse 14) And it will be like a frightened doe, and like a sheep, and there will be no one to gather. It signifies the people of Babylon and the Chaldeans, who flee in fear from the invasion of the Medes and Persians, like a doe and a sheep fleeing from the roar of a lion and the howl of a wolf: they have no defender or ruler whose authority they can follow.Each person will turn to their own people, and each will flee to their own land. After Babylon has been captured and the enemy army has entered through its gates, all the reinforcements and groups of different nations, by which the city was previously defended, will return to their own provinces.
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(Verse 15.) Everyone who is found will be killed, and everyone who comes will fall by the sword. Those who do not flee will be struck with a sword, and anyone who tries to resist or return will not be of any help to the captured city, to the extent that they will shed their own blood as well.13:16
(Verse 16.) Their infants will be shattered before their eyes: their houses will be plundered, and their wives violated. This is what David prophesied in the Spirit: O daughter of Babylon, miserable one, blessed is he who will repay you according to what you have done to us. Blessed is he who will seize and shatter your little ones against the rock (Psalm 139:8). There will be such devastation of the city and savagery of the conquerors that not even innocent age will be spared, that the wealth of all homes will be plundered, and marital chastity violated in the presence of their husbands.13:17
(Verse 17) Behold, I will raise up the Medes against them, who do not seek silver and do not desire gold. What was hidden is now revealed: that the mighty and giant ones are not angels or demons, but rather the people of the Medes, whose leader Darius, the first king of the Babylonians, destroyed the empire after killing Balthasar, the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, who was the son of Evilmerodach. (Daniel 5) However, it is written about the cruelty of the Medes and Persians that they despise gold and silver in their burning desire to shed blood, considering wealth offered to them as worthless dirt.13:18
(Verse 18.) But they will kill the small ones with their arrows, and they will have no pity on the infants of the womb, and their eyes will not spare the children. The small ones will be killed, and their wounds will be no smaller than their bodies, and the bellies of the pregnant women will be cut open, and the infants will be cast aside, and the cruel victor will kill the children pressed to their mothers' breasts.13:19
(Verse 19.) And Babylon will be glorious in kingdoms, renowned in the pride of the Chaldeans: just as the Lord overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah: it will not be inhabited until the end, and it will not be established until generation after generation. We have heard of the Medes, we have heard of Babylon, we have heard of the renowned in the pride of the Chaldeans: we do not want to understand what was, and we seek to hear what was not. And we say these things, not because we condemn a figurative interpretation, but because the spiritual interpretation should follow the order of history: that most ignorant people wander in the error of a deluded interpretation in the Scriptures. So, until the present day, the prophecy of Babylon is fulfilled: and just as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, so too will this be overthrown and not inhabited forever. For it was these cities, Seleucia and Ctesiphon, that made the famous cities of the Persians.13:20-22
(Verses 20-22.) Neither the Arabs will pitch their tents there, nor will shepherds rest there; instead, there will be beasts, their houses will be filled with dragons, and ostriches will dwell there, and hairy creatures will leap about. And owls will answer in her buildings, and sirens in the temples of pleasure. Babylon will be so devastated and deserted that it won't even be useful for pastures of cattle and flocks. For the Arabs and Saracens will not pitch their tents there, nor will shepherds rest after the footsteps of their weary flocks; but among the walls and narrow spaces of the old ruins, the Siim will dwell, which only the seventy translators have rendered as such; others, by the same word, which is written in Hebrew, want to be understood as types of demons or phantoms. And the houses will be filled, as we have said, with dragons: as the Eagle has transferred, with typhons, as Symmachus Ohim (), expressing the Hebrew word itself: but the LXX and Theodotion have interpreted them as shouts or sounds. And that which follows: The shaggy ones will dance there, or incubi, or satyrs, or certain wild men, whom some call Foolish Fruiterers, or understand them as types of demons. And for owls, all the LXX have transferred the Hebrew word itself Iim (), only Theodotion have rendered it as centaurs. The Thennim are called Sirens, which we interpret as either demons, or certain monsters, or certainly great dragons, which have crests and can fly. Through all these things, signs of desolation and wilderness are shown: that the destruction of a once powerful city is so great, that due to the multitude of demons and beasts, no shepherd, that is, a seeker of the deserted, dares to enter it. We learned from a certain Elamite brother, who, leaving those territories, now lives the life of a monk in Jerusalem, that the royal hunts in Babylon are, and all types of beasts are restrained only by the circumference of its walls.14:1
(Chapter XIV - Verse 1) The time is near for it to come, and its days will not be prolonged. It says that the time is pressing and that it must be captured from the enemies. After the captivity of Jerusalem, not much time passed, and it was devastated by the Medes and Persians.For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob and will still choose Israel and cause them to rest on their own land. This is more fully explained by Zephaniah: Rejoice, O daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel; be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem; for the Lord has taken away your judgments; he has turned away your enemies (Zephaniah 3:14-15). This signifies the time when King Cyrus of Persia allowed the captive people of Jerusalem to return. Read the book of Ezra (Ezra 1), Haggai (Haggai 1) and Zechariah (Zechariah 1), when under Zerubbabel, the high priest Joshua, Ezra, and Nehemiah, the altar, the Temple, and the walls of the city were rebuilt.
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(Vers. 2.) A stranger will be joined to them, and will cleave to the house of Jacob, and the peoples will hold them, and will bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them as servants and handmaids; and those who had taken them captive will be taken captive, and their oppressors will be subject to them. We infer that many from various nations have come to Jerusalem with the people of Judah, believing in the God of Israel and forsaking the idols of error. There is no doubt that they have been restored to the letters of the king and have received gifts and expenses for the Temple. In this alone intelligence seems to be confined, how Israel once possessed the land of the Lord as conquerors, and subjected their oppressors, and had them as slaves and maidservants. Unless, perhaps, we understand the whole synecdochically from a part: that they were of such great prosperity afterwards, that they even acquired families of slaves and maidservants from different nations around. This can also be understood in the times of Ahasuerus (Esther 9; Judith 13), when the hostile army was cut off from Israel with the slaying of Holofernes. Because I stick to letters, and in the manner of a serpent, I devour the earth, it is your will, since you wanted to hear only the historical interpretation.14:3
(Verse 3) And it shall be in that day, when the Lord has given you rest from your labor, and from your turmoil, and from your hard service which you had to bear, that you shall recite this proverb against the king of Babylon and say, The speech is addressed to Israel, that after Jerusalem has been restored and the yoke of servitude has been cast off, they should remember the former power of Nebuchadnezzar and the height of Babylon, and lament him with a pitiful voice, because he has come to such great calamity that he seems worthy of even his own enemies' pity.14:4-7
(Verse 4-7) How the oppressor has ceased: the tribute has ceased! The Lord has broken the rod of the wicked, the staff of rulers, that struck the people in anger with a continual stroke, that ruled the nations in wrath with a relentless persecution. The whole earth is at rest and quiet; they break forth into singing. This is the lamentation with which the people of Israel bewail themselves, 'How the Lord has become weak and powerless, the conqueror of the nations who once plundered everything!' That man, I say, who was the staff of the wicked, who fiercely struck down all with his scepter and royal rod, whose blow could not be withstood, who even cruelly pursued those fleeing: how he has rested and been humbled, and all the land has conspired for his downfall, only making the voice of rejoicing heard.14:8
(Verse 8.) The firs and the cedars of Lebanon also rejoiced over you: since you have fallen asleep, no one has come up to cut us down. By firs and cedars of Lebanon, understand the leaders of the nations, who were cut down by Nebuchadnezzar, and who themselves, bursting forth into a voice of joy, say: Since you have been brought down to the underworld, no one else could be found to cut down the great and powerful.14:9
(Verse 9.) The underworld beneath you is stirred up, it raises the giants to meet your arrival: all the rulers of the earth have risen from their thrones: all the rulers of the nations will respond and say to you. These things are to be read emphatically and in a dramatic manner; not that they have actually happened, but that they could have happened: unless, of course, we believe that the souls of the kings whom you have killed have appeared, taunting the Babylonian king. For it is a comfort in misfortune, when enemies see them endure the same things.14:10-11
(Verses 10, 11.) And you have been wounded as we, you have become like us: your pride has been brought down to the grave: your body has fallen, tinea will spread beneath you, and worms will cover you. The speech of the powerful and the princes of the earth, whom he called higher than cedars and fir trees, is directed to the king of Babylon who is established in the depths. Now we do not grieve to have been cut down, since you also fall by the same axe. All your power, and the pride raised to the heavens, has been brought down to earth. Therefore, shall I support your corpse in my hand, and cover it with a multitude of swarming worms? You will feel through the death of a man the worthlessness, who preferred the power of God in you.14:12-14
(Verses 12-14.) How you have fallen from heaven, O Morning Star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit. However, it is signified by other words, Lucifer; and it is said to him that he should weep and mourn, who once was so glorious, that he was compared to the brightness of Lucifer. As, it says, Lucifer dispelling the darkness, burning and ruddy he shines forth; so also your advancement among the people and the public seemed similar to a bright star; but you have fallen to the earth, O wounded conqueror of nations, who spoke through pride: I have achieved such great power, that heaven remains for me and the stars should be subjected beneath my feet. Although the Jews want to understand the sky and the stars of God, from what follows: I will sit on the mount of the testament, that is, in the Temple, where God's laws are established, and on the sides of the North, that is, in Jerusalem. For it is written: The mountains of Zion are the sides of the North (Ps. 47:3). And his pride was not enough to desire heavenly things, unless he had burst forth into such madness as to claim the likeness of God for himself.14:15
(Verse 15.) However, you are dragged down to the depths of hell. He who had said through pride, 'I will ascend to heaven, I will be like the Most High,' is dragged not only to the depths of hell, but to the deepest depths of hell. In the Gospel, we read about these outer darknesses, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Luke 13:28).14:16-17
(Verse 16, 17.) Those who see you will bow down to you and look to you (saying in their hearts): Is this the man who troubled the earth, who shook kingdoms, who made the world a wilderness and destroyed its cities, who did not open the prison for his captives? This voice of those insulting and marveling expresses how the one who laid waste to everything himself has been laid waste. But when it says: He did not open the prison for his captives, the greatness of his cruelty and impiety is expressed, as he even held the prisoners in captivity, and the chains would not be enough for the wretched unless the horror of darkness also enclosed them.14:18-19
(Verse 18, 19.) All the kings of the nations, all slept in glory, each man in his own house. But you have been cast out of your tomb like a useless branch, defiled and wrapped with those who were slain by the sword, and have gone down to the foundations of the abyss; you will not have the company of a decaying corpse, nor be buried with them. The Hebrews tell the following story: Evilmerodach, who during his father Nebuchadnezzar's lifetime spent seven years among the beasts, had reigned before he was restored to the kingdom. After his father's death, he was imprisoned with Joachim, the king of Judah, until he succeeded to the throne again. But when he returned to the kingdom, the princes did not accept him, fearing that the one who was believed to be extinct was still alive. To demonstrate the death of his father, he opened the tomb and dragged out the corpse with hooks and ropes. And the meaning is: With all those who were killed having been buried, you alone will lie unburied. Others, however, interpret this place in the following way: All souls in the underworld will receive some rest, but you alone will be bound in complete darkness. For you will be covered in the blood of all, and the blood of all will press upon you like a shroud of the filth of the dead. Symmachus translated this passage as follows: Even with those who are killed in war, you do not deserve to have a share in burial. But concerning what we have said, as though a useless shoot, it is read in Hebrew: Chaneser Nethab, which Aquila interprets as a polluted sore. Neser, on the other hand, properly means a twig, which grows at the roots of trees and is cut off by farmers as though useless; we can understand this as the same thing as a sore and decay. At the same time, we learn that hell is beneath the earth, as Scripture says: To the foundations of the lake.14:20
(Verse 20) For you have destroyed your land, you have killed your people. According to the Septuagint interpreters who said, 'Because you have destroyed my land and killed my people,' there is no doubt about what they mean. Indeed, Nebuchadnezzar killed and destroyed the land of Judah and its people. According to the Hebrew text, it is difficult to understand how he lost his own land and killed his own people, unless perhaps it should be understood in this sense: you completely destroyed those whom God had given you to correct. Or else: the ancient kingdom of the Assyrians, with you proudly and defiantly raising your neck against God, was completely destroyed. For if you had behaved humbly, and understood your limits, the Assyrians and Babylonians would still be reigning. It was in this manner: you were so cruel to foreigners that you even oppressed subjugated peoples in your frenzy.14:21
(Verse 21.) The seed of evildoers will not be called forever. Prepare his children for slaughter because of the iniquity of their fathers: they will not rise, nor will they inherit the land, nor will they fill the faces of the cities. All histories agree that after the killing of Balthasar, the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, and the succession of Darius to the kingdom of the Chaldeans, no one from the offspring of Nebuchadnezzar ruled thereafter. Therefore, Scripture predicts that such devastation will come upon Babylon that no royal seed will remain, but because of the wickedness of the father, all offspring will be destroyed. But because we have moved to the final part of the sentence, the faces of the cities will not be filled up, it is written in Hebrew for cities, Arim (), which we can translate as adversaries; so the meaning is: no one from your seed will desire to restore the kingdom, an adversary will be raised up. According to the Seventy Interpreters, who said: Wicked seed, prepare your sons for destruction because of the sins of your father, I cannot understand the meaning.14:22-23
(Verse 22, 23.) And I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts: and I will destroy the name of Babylon, and the remnants, and the seed, and the offspring, says the Lord. And I will make it a possession for the hedgehog, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, says the Lord of hosts. Babylon was the most powerful, and situated on a plain, with walls stretching from one corner to another, covering sixteen thousand stadia, which is equivalent to sixty-four times around, according to Herodotus and many others who wrote Greek histories. But the citadel, that is, the Capitol of that city, is a tower which is said to have been built after the flood, and is reported to be four thousand paces high, gradually narrowing from the sides to the top, so that the weight pressing upon it may be more easily supported by the broader base. There they describe marble temples, golden statues, streets gleaming with stones and gold, and many other things which almost seem incredible. We have narrated all this to show that all human power is as dust and ashes compared to the anger of God. If it were permitted to enter barbarian nations and see the remains of such a great city, we would see the possession of heretics, and swamps of water, and truly fulfill what is now sung by the voices of Isaiah: I will sweep it with a broom, wearing it out; for except for the baked brick walls, which are being restored after many years in order to enclose wild animals, the entire middle space is a desolation.14:24-25
(Verse 24, 25.) The Lord of hosts swore, saying: If it shall not be as I thought, so it shall be, and as I devised it in my mind, so shall it come to pass, that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: and his yoke shall be taken away from them, and his burden shall be taken off their shoulder. He returns to the present, that is, to Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians, who devastated Samaria and Judah, and except Jerusalem, destroyed everything all around; and he associates events in the distant future, so that the impending fear may be removed: for those who hear could say: We endure the present siege, but he promises something that will come many centuries later. Therefore, there is a prophecy, although after many years Babylon will be destroyed and the entire seedbed of the Assyrians and Chaldeans will be scattered: nevertheless, so that you do not fear the imminent captivity, the Lord swears (to whom even the one who does not swear must be believed) that his estimation will not deceive and that what he has conceived in his mind will not be in vain. However, he speaks this with human affection, namely, that the one who cannot be deceived will not be deceived: I will crush, he says, the Assyrian in my land, and I will trample him on my mountains. For in one night, 185,000 soldiers of the Assyrian army were destroyed by the Angel. And the yoke that oppressed those who were besieging Jerusalem, and the heavy burden that weighed upon them, will be removed from them and instead pushed back onto themselves. For when the Assyrian king fled to his own land, King Hezekiah went out with the rest of the people, free from oppression.14:26-27
(Verse 26, 27.) This is the plan that I have devised for the whole earth, and this is the hand stretched out over all nations. For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who can annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back? Some interpret this passage as a general prophecy against the entire world, and that the desolation of the cities of Babylon and Assyria are a type of the end of the world. We do not disagree with them, as long as we understand that in this passage the whole earth properly signifies the land of the Assyrians and all the nations allied with the Assyrian king. But whatever is decreed by the Lord, is not prevented by the power of anyone. And no one can restrain his outstretched hand, ready to strike.14:28
(Verse 28.) In the year that King Ahaz died, this burden came. We read in the Book of the Prophets that four kings of Judah held the title of Prophet: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, each succeeding the other in order and lineage. We have read earlier about the death of Uzziah, as recorded by Isaiah: In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne. From this, we understand both the vision of the Lord sitting and the things that are commanded to the Prophets, up to the point where it is written (Chapter VI): "As a terebinth and as an oak that spreads its branches, so shall be the holy seed, it shall be the germ under King Jotham prophesied" (Ibid., VII). Achaz, the son of Joatham, the son of Ozias, succeeded as the third king of Judah. During his reign, Rasin, the king of Syria, and Phacee, the son of Romelia, the king of Israel, came to Jerusalem to fight against it, as the Scripture recounts. Therefore, from Achaz up to the present point, which we now endeavor to explain, we know all the things that are placed in the middle, prophesied: after his death, Ezechias, the fourth and final king, succeeded, under whom the entire book is woven together until the end.14:29
(Verse 29.) Do not rejoice, O Philistia, all of you, because the rod of your striker is broken; for from the root of the serpent a little king will come forth, and his offspring will consume the flying creature. It is natural that we say: when the king of the enemy nations dies, the enemies always rejoice, waiting for civil wars, seditions, and the incompetence of ruling from new things. Therefore, with the sinner Ahaz dead, who had walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and had been joined to them by kinship, we understand that the Philistines were pleased to be nearby and insulted the Israelites because with the mature king lost, they would be subject to the young Hezekiah. But, as we said above, Philisthaeos signifies the Palestinians, whom the Vulgate edition of the Bible refers to as foreigners: even though this is not the name of one particular nation, but of all foreign nations. Do not, he says, rejoice, O Philisthaea, do not insult my people because the rod of your smiter Achaz is broken; because the staff that used to strike you appears to be shattered; because the snake is killed. For this reason, a more harmful ruler will be born, whom the Greeks call the basilisk, who will put you to death with his gaze and the breath of his mouth. For no bird of prey can pass through unharmed: however far away it may be, it is sucked up by its mouth. So too, you will perish from the sight of King Hezekiah. And he preserved the metaphor well: for he had mentioned both a snake and a bird of prey, and he says that birds are devoured by its mouth and breath. As for no king of Judah having struck the Philistines like Hezekiah devastated them, listen to the Book of Kings: He struck the Philistines as far as Gaza, and as far as its borders: from the tower of the keepers to the fortified cities (2 Kings 18:8). But because we have translated it as absorbing the winged creature, and it is written in Hebrew as Saraph Mopheth (), which can be interpreted as a flying serpent: so the sense is: from the root of the serpent a king will be born, and its fruit, that is, the king's flying serpent, so that you may understand a flying dragon.14:30
(Ver. 30.) And the firstborn of the poor will be fed, and the poor will rest confidently. When the ruler strikes you, and the flying dragon devastates your boundaries, you will not plot against Judah, and you will not frighten my humble people with your deceit; but crushed by your own troubles, you will weep for your calamity. But the humble and poor, who did not trust in wealth and power, but in my name, will rest in secure peace and will not fear the attack of any enemy.And I will make your root perish in famine, and I will destroy your remnants. He is speaking entirely in figures. The meaning is that, while the people of God are confidently resting, the root of the Philistines will dry up, and all the remnants will be consumed.
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(Verse 31.) Howl, O gate! Cry out, O city! Philisthaea is laid waste, all of it. For from the north comes smoke, and there is no escaping its horde. He calls the gate for those who are at the gate, and the city for the inhabitants of the city. He also directs his speech to the cities of the Philistines, saying that they should wail and mourn when Senacherib comes, and when the torrent ravages everything. For the Assyrian came under the reign of Hezekiah, and among other nations he devastated the Philistines. To whom Jeremiah speaks: Behold, waters rise up from the north, and they shall be like a overflowing torrent, and they shall cover the land and its fullness, the city and its inhabitants (Jer. 47:2). For from the north comes the Assyrian, and from its heat, they go forth, subjugating Nineveh and other nations. At that time when these things were being sung, smoke rose up on high, that is, a rumor spread among the peoples in the order of all nations, that the Phoenicians and the Philistines were also to be devastated.14:32
(v. 32.) What will the response be to the messages of the nation? Because the Lord has founded Zion, and in it the poor of his people will hope. Because it was said, there is no one who can escape his army, it seemed in the general sentiment that even Judah was included. Yes; he says, if the angels of the Assyrian nation inquire why only Judah escaped, answer them, because the Lord has founded Zion, and he has protected his humble people with his power. For the Angels () the kings () translated in the Septuagint, deceived by the error of a single letter Aleph.15:1
(Chapter 15, Verse 1) Burden of Moab: because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, it is silent; because in the night the wall of Moab is laid waste, it is silent. It is enough to have said once about the burden and weight. I only briefly remind you that burdens always bring about sadness. However, visions are either immediately joyful or joyful after sadness. Moab is a province of the Arabs, where Balak son of Beor was (Numbers 22); he hired the diviner Balaam from Mesopotamia to curse Israel, where the people were initiated into the worship of Baal (ibid., 25). The city of this metropolis is called Ar ( ), which is now composed of Hebrew and Greek language and is called Areopolis; not as most people think, that it is the city of Mars, which is interpreted as Ar and ἀντίδικος, meaning adversary. However, Jeremiah testifies to the extent of its power (Jeremiah 48:2, 7 ff.), saying: There is no longer rejoicing in Moab. And again: You have trusted in your fortresses and in your treasures. And again: Moab was fertile from his youth, and he rested in his own filth, neither was he poured out from vessel to vessel, neither did he go into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent was not changed. And in another place (Ibid., 25): How is the strong staff broken, the beautiful rod? And a little later: We have heard of the pride of Moab, he is very proud: his haughtiness, and his arrogance, and his pride, and the loftiness of his heart, I know it, saith the Lord, and his boastfulness. Just as the Prophet prophesied against Babylon and the Philistines, that they would oppress the people of Judah; so now the devastation of the Moabites, that is, the Arabs, is predicted by the Assyrians and Babylonians. For they were devastated by both nations, at the time when Sennacherib took Israel captive, and when Nebuchadnezzar overthrew Jerusalem (2 Kings 17 and 25). For Ephraim and Judah had insulted both enemies, as Jeremiah said: Moab will be like vomit in their own mouths, and will be ridiculed as well. For he has made a mockery of you, O Israel, as if you had found him among thieves (Jeremiah 68:26, 27). Because of your words, which you spoke against him, you will be led captive. And as for what he says: 'Ar is destroyed, Moab is silent, the beginning of the invader's splendor, in darkness they shall be destroyed; he who was conceived in incest by his father at night.' Unless we take night to mean the magnitude of terror: and it should be believed, that he trusted in his walls, but she was overcome by ambush and tunnels. I heard that a certain Areapolites, but also the whole city is a witness, experienced a great earthquake in my childhood, when the seas crossed the entire shore of the world, and on the same night the walls of this city collapsed.15:2
(Vers. 2.) The house ascends, and Dibon ascends to the heights in lamentation over Nabo, and over Medaba Moab will howl. Do not be troubled that I am proceeding along the path of history, for you yourself desired that I do so. It is understood, however, that the royal house and the city of Dibon ascend to the idols that are placed on the heights: over Nabo and over Medaba, distinguished cities, the entire province will wail. For in Nabo there was consecrated the idol Chamos, which is called by another name Beelphegor.In all its chapters, there is baldness; every beard will be shaved off. Among the ancients, the shaving of the beard and head was a sign of mourning. By these things, therefore, the magnitude of sorrow is shown, with Jeremiah proclaiming against Moab: Every head is bald, and every beard is shaved off, and there is binding of the hands on every side, and sackcloth on every back (Jeremiah 48:37).
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(Version 3.) In the crossroads of it, they are girded with sacks; over its roofs, and in its streets, all wailing will descend into weeping. Private tears will not exist, public mourning will echo with public laments; neither married women, nor young maidens, nor the small age of children, nor the faltering steps of the elderly will be held back in their houses, extreme captivity will not know shame and weakness.15:4
(Verse 4.) Esbon and Eleale will cry out. These are the names of cities in the province of Moab, of which Esbon was once the city of the Amorite king. Concerning this city, Jeremiah also said, 'Fire has come out of Esbon, and a flame from the midst of Seon.' The name Esbon means 'thought' and therefore, Jeremiah, alluding to the name, says against Esbon, 'they have devised evil.' (Jeremiah XLV.)The voice of them was heard even to Jaza. The city of Jaza (also known as Jasa) lies close to the Dead Sea, where the border of the Moabite province is. This indicates that the wailing of the province will resound to the very ends of the land. Hence, Jeremiah also says: From the outcry of Heshbon, even to Eleale and Jaza, they have raised their voice (Jeremiah 48:34).
Therefore the Moabites will wail, every one will wail for himself; for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth you shall mourn, utterly stricken. But if, as Aquila wanted, they are understood to be exerting their shoulders, that suggests to us the feeling that everyone has bared their chests to mourn.
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(Verse 5) My heart will cry out to Moab. The prophet speaks with a lamenting affection, either because even the enemies are creatures of God, on whom so many evils come upon, or because they are to be overwhelmed with such calamities that even their enemies will become pitiable. Jeremiah also says the same: Therefore my heart will resound like a flute to Moab.They extend their borders from Segor to a calf in labor. And Jeremiah: From Segor, he says, to Oronaim, a calf in labor. We have spoken about this in the books of Hebrew Questions, and now we briefly note that it is the fifth city after Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which were preserved for the sake of Lot's prayers. It is called Bala, that is, swallowed up, according to the Hebrews, because it was overthrown by the third earthquake. It is called Zoora (also Zora) in the Syriac language and Segor in Hebrew, both meaning 'little'. We can consider her to be a perfect age calf. Just as the thirtieth year is the strongest in humans, so is the third year in cattle and horses. The boundaries are also indicated by stakes, and by strength we mean that Segor is situated in the borders of the Moabites, separating their land from the Philistines.
For Luith will ascend weeping by way of ascent. And Jeremiah: Luith will ascend weeping by way of ascent, into mourning. However, we understand the ascent to be the path that leads to the Assyrians, and by this, captivity is signified.
And on the way to Oronaim, they will relieve the cry of contrition. Again Jeremiah: The voice of the cry of Oronaim, devastation, and great contrition. It would be long if I wanted to speak about each one, since it is clear that there are either the names of cities in Moab or the names of places that the transmigrants have abandoned.
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(Verse 6) For the waters of Nemrim will be deserted. This town is on the Dead Sea, with salty waters, and even this itself is barren. Whether it alludes to the name, or whether it happened after the devastation, that even the waters turned bitter.Because the grass has withered, the bud has failed, all the greenness has perished. Not as some think, truly because the waters of Nemrim were barren, all the grass has dried up, but Scripture speaks metaphorically. And the meaning is, in all of Moab the waters of Nemrim will be salty and bitter; just as no grass sprouts there, so the whole province will suffer from drought, that is, from Segor to Oronaim, from borders to borders. The same thing is said by Jeremiah: The waters of Nemrim will be very bad (Jerem. XLVIII, 34).
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(Verse 7.) According to the magnitude of the work and the visitation of them: lead them to the river of willows. Concerning the willows, we read in Hebrew Arabim (), which can be understood both as Arabs and as Orvim (), that is, a village situated on their borders, of which it is said by many inhabitants that it provided sustenance to the prophet Elijah on Mount Horeb: this name is transferred due to ambiguity to both crows and the West, and to open places. The meaning, however, is: the visitation will correspond to the magnitude of the illness. Receive this visitation not for healing, but for punishment. I will visit, He says, with a rod their iniquities, and with stripes their sins (Ps. 88:33). Receive the rivers of Babylon, like a torrent of willows, concerning which David said, In the midst thereof we have hung up our organs on the willows (Ps. 136:2); or the valley of Arabia, through which one must pass to the Assyrians.15:8
(Verse 8) Because the cry has gone around the territory of Moab, even to Eglaim its wailing, and even to Beer Elim its outcry. The same things are described by Jeremiah. And there are cities and places of the Moabites, where the cry and lamentation of the captive people are described.15:9
(Verse 9) Because the waters of Dibon are filled with blood. Where there was once luxury due to fertile fields and constantly flowing springs, there the streams of blood will flow due to the multitude of those killed.For I will set upon Dibon additional things for those who have fled from Moab, a lion, and the remnants of the land. Lest anyone think it is a mistake of the scribe, and wishes to correct the error, let it be known that the name is written with both the letter M and the letter B: E of which Dimon is interpreted as silence; Dibon, flowing. With both names given because of the quietly flowing waters, to this day this small town is called both Dimon and Dibon interchangeably. As for the statement: I will set upon Dibon additional things, and seemed to ask a question about what it was, he explained in the following verse, saying: For those who have fled from Moab, a lion, and the remnants of the land: so that even those who have escaped in flight may be consumed by beasts. Although we can also understand the lion, the king of the enemies, through a metaphor, so that no one can escape his power, as if it were a roar.
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(Chapter 16, Verse 1) Send forth the Lamb, the ruler of the earth, from the desert rock to the mountain of the daughter of Zion. This, we interpret, is not history, but prophecy. However, every prophecy is wrapped in riddles and, with interrupted sentences, while speaking of one thing, goes on to another: lest if it preserves the order of Scripture, it be not a prophecy, but a narrative. And the meaning is: O Moab, over whom the lion will rage, and from whom not even remnants will be able to be saved, take solace in this: The Immaculate Lamb will come forth from you, who will take away the sins of the world, who will rule over the whole earth. From the rock of the desert, that is, from Ruth, who, widowed by the death of her husband, bore Obed and from Obed, Jesse, and from Jesse, David, and from David, Christ. But by the mountain of the daughters of Zion, we shall interpret either the city itself, Jerusalem, or according to the sacred understanding, the Church, which is established on the summit of virtues.16:2
(Verse 2) And it shall be, like a flying bird, and like young birds flying from the nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be in the crossing of the Arnon. They will return to the order they had taken: When I have set, it says, those who fled from Moab, and the remnants of the land, against the fiercest lion, who will break their limbs and bones, then the fearful shall fly away, and all the daughters, that is, the towns and cities of the province of Moab, shall migrate in the crossing of the Arnon, which is the boundary of the Amorites and the Moabites. However, transcensum et hic ponens, captivitatem significat.16:3-4
(Verse 3,4) This is a plan, gather a council: place your shadow as if it were night in the middle of the day, hide those who are fleeing, and do not disclose the wanderers. My outcasts will dwell with you: Moab, be their hiding place from the face of the destroyer, for the dust is at an end, the wretched one is consumed, the one who trampled on the earth has ceased. Instead of 'wretched' in Hebrew, 'Sod' is read, which can also be understood as 'destroyer'. It speaks to Moab, so that it may find a plan for salvation, and to the gathered elders, so that it may gather a council of salvation. He said, 'Will I see, and be saved, and earn God's mercy? In the bright light, and the open flight of my people, you should be like night and shadow, accept those fleeing, and do not betray the wanderers.' And immediately he explains why he said this: 'My refugees will dwell with you. For Jerusalem has been devastated, and all of Judaea that borders on Moab, my people will migrate to you. Therefore, be their refuge, and do not fear the attack of the destroyer, for he will pass quickly like dust: and the one who trampled the entire land and subjected it under his feet will be wiped away by a blowing breeze.' Some interpret this place wrongly about the Antichrist, thinking that the Saints at that time will pass to the Arabs because of the proximity of the city of Jerusalem, and now they are being warned not to betray those who are fleeing to them.16:5
(Verse 5) And a throne shall be prepared in mercy, and he shall sit upon it in truth, in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking judgment, and quickly rendering what is just. The Hebrews interpret this place as follows: After the Assyrian is driven away, the just man Ezechias shall reign over Judah, and he shall retain the throne of David, ruling over the people of God in truth. Others understand it as referring to Christ. After the dust and destroyer of the Antichrist are removed, who trampled upon the whole earth, Christ the king shall come, who shall sit in the tabernacle of David, and on the day of judgment he shall render to all according to their works. And there is no doubt that this chapter predicts about Christ. But we can understand the same thing in his first coming, and show in the Church's tabernacle, that in all the land of Moab the trophies of the Churches rising up testify to the kingdom of Christ.16:6-7
(Vers. 6, 7.) We have heard of the pride of Moab, he is exceeding proud: his pride, and his arrogancy, and his indignation, is more than his strength. Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken. For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they are come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness: her branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea. Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen. And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease. Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kirharesh. But through these [events] it shows both the power of former happiness and the blows of sudden overthrow.16:8
(Verse 8.) Since the suburbs of Heshbon are deserted: a vineyard of Sibmah. Between Heshbon and Sibmah, there are barely five hundred steps, and by way of metaphor, the vineyard signifies the desolation of the entire province.The scourges of the Lord against the nations have fallen. He keeps the translation that he had begun, showing the kings of the nations who had devastated Moab, all the villages and castles laid waste.
They came as far as Jazer: they wandered in the desert: its branches were left behind: they crossed the sea. Understand the scourge and branches of its people, the fugitives: and the crossing of the sea, the captivity in Babylon, of which we will read later, the burden of the desert sea.
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(Verse 9) Over this I will weep, in lamentation for Jazer, the vineyard of Sabama: my tears will make you drunk, O Esebon and Eleale. The voice of the weeping Prophet, and the greatness of the desolation, testifying with the greatness of tears, weeping for the vineyard of Jazer, and Sabama, and Esebon, and Eleale, once powerful cities, which the Assyrian believed to be cut down.Since the voice of those treading on your vintage and your harvest has come rushing upon you. Understand, you gatherers of grapes and the joy of the harvest, the army of enemies, and that the time of captivity will come in the very time of joy.
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(Verse 10) And joy and gladness shall be taken away from Carmel. It is the language of the Scriptures that always compares Mount Carmel, which overlooks Ptolemais and contains abundant forests, where Elijah prayed, to fertility and abundance, and thus signifies that all joy and fertility shall be taken away from once prosperous cities.And in the vineyards there will be no rejoicing or jubilation. It is understood that the previous grape harvester, that is, the colonist of the Moabite province, will not be there. Finally, he immediately added:
Wine will not be pressed in the winepress by the one who was accustomed to tread it: I have taken away the voice of the treaders. The joyful grape harvester will by no means sing a song of celebration in the vineyard, but everywhere there will be the devastation of the enemy, and the cry of the victorious will arise.
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(Verse 11) On this account, my belly will sound like a lyre for Moab, and my inward parts like a wall of cooked bricks. It is not to be understood as a chant of joy for the prophet, through which he rejoices that the enemies of the people of Israel have been made captive, but rather, he says, with affection and deep sorrow of heart, that he mourns the formerly mighty city that has been destroyed.16:12
(Verse 12) And it will be, when it appears that Moab has labored in vain for his heights, he will enter his holy places to seek guidance, but he will not prevail. It is the ultimate misery, to not have support from those whom he has always revered. 'Deserted,' he says, 'are your strengths, and with all defenders slain, you will turn to idols, you will worship shrines, but you will not find help in them, as the devastation that is common with you arrives.'16:13
(Verse 13.) This is the word that the Lord spoke to Moab from that time. From when do you think? Obviously from the time that Moab was created. And the Lord says: The Moabites and Ammonites shall not enter into the Church of God (Deut. XXIII, 3). Whether we understand it from that time as referring to ancient times, which long ago this divine sentence was decreed, not that the foreknowledge of God brought about the cause of the devastation; but that the future devastation was foreknown to the majesty of God.16:14
(Verse 14.) And now the Lord has spoken, saying: In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be taken away from all the multitude of people, and only a few will be left, small and insignificant. This prophecy, as we have said before, is directed against the Moabites after the death of Ahaz, during the reign of Hezekiah, when the ten tribes were taken into captivity by Sennacherib, the king of Assyria. Therefore, just as a hired worker eagerly awaits the end of the day and night to receive his predetermined wage, so after three years, when the Assyrians come, Moab will be destroyed and only a few will be left in the land to rebuild the ruined cities and cultivate the deserted fields. It is also possible to predict about the Babylonian captivity, that after the capture of Jerusalem and the passage of three years, Moab will be devastated by the Chaldeans, either because no rest will be given to them within a period of three years.17:1
(Chapter 17, Verse 1) The burden of Damascus: Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city, and it will become a heap of ruins. The cities of Aroer will be deserted for the flocks, and they will have rest with none to make them afraid. The help from Ephraim will cease, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the children of Israel, declares the Lord of hosts. After Babylon and the Philistines and Moab, the attention turns to Damascus, which was once a royal city and held dominion over all of Syria. Antioch, Laodicea, and Apamea had not yet flourished, cities that we know were expanded after the reign of Alexander and the Macedonians. Therefore, since he always provided assistance to the ten tribes against Judah, as the history of the Kings and Chronicles narrates: it also signifies that destruction was approaching from the Assyrians themselves, as the king of the Assyrians said: I have taken Arabia, and Damascus, and Samaria. For just as I have taken those, I will also take you and all the kingdoms. And in the book of Kings we read: The king of the Assyrians went up to Damascus, and captured it, and transferred it to Cyrene (2 Kings 16:9). He also killed Rezin, who was the king of Damascus. All these things were suffered by Jerusalem while Hezekiah was reigning. Look, he said, Damascus will cease to be a city; captivity is now near: the Assyrian has already moved his army. And it shall be like a heap of stones in ruin, only the traces of walls and former power will be shown in the magnitude of the ruins. The deserted cities of Aroer will become pastures. Aroer, which means myrtle, is a tree that grows specifically in solitude and salty soil, and through this the desolation is demonstrated. Let the flocks rest there, and there will be no one to frighten them. Such will be the solitude that even the feared ambushers will not exist. And help will cease from Ephraim; the ten tribes will not have assistance against Judah. And the kingdom from Damascus, from the common or popular edition, is understood to cease. Moreover, when it says that the kingdom ceases and rests, it does not mean perpetual desolation, but it takes away power in the present, through which it used to reign over all of Syria. And the remnant of Syria shall be like the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts: as when they struck the ten tribes of the Assyrians, and all their glory was brought into captivity: so shall a few that shall remain of the house of Jacob, be changed, because the Lord hath spoken it, who hath made his word of no effect. Some people think that this prophecy is the same as the one we read in Jeremiah: Damascus is ruined, it has turned to flight, trembling has seized it, anguish and sorrows have taken hold of it like a woman in labor (Jeremiah 49:24, 27). And again: I will set fire to the wall of Damascus, and it will devour the fortresses of Ben-Hadad. But it should be known that the captivity of Babylon describes the city of Damascus by Jeremiah, that is, the few whom the king of Assyria had left in it. But Isaiah announces the nearby captivity of the Assyrians. Others estimate that the Roman captivity is being predicted, because the people of Judah were also captured; and Damascus, which was ruled by Aretas, endured a similar servitude: so that everything that was written about her may be transferred to the time of Christ and the mysteries of the Apostles.17:4
(Verse 4.) And it shall come to pass in that day, the glory of Jacob shall be diminished, and his fatness shall wither away. When, he says, Damascus is captured, and the city ceases to exist, and such glory crowns it, as crowns Israel, that is, the ten tribes: then all defense, and the fattest flesh, and refuge shall wither away from Jacob: for he will not have anything with which to devastate Jerusalem. We read above that Rezin, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the son of Remaliah, the king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to fight against it: and it was announced to the house of David: Syria has rested upon Ephraim, of whom the Prophet speaks to Ahaz: Do not fear, and let not your heart be afraid of these two smoldering stumps, of these smoky tails, in the furious wrath of Rezin, the king of Syria, and the son of Remaliah, because he has plotted evil against you, both Syria, the worst enemy, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah.17:5-6
(Verse 5, 6.) And it shall be like one gathering in the harvest what remains, and his arm shall gather the ears: and it shall be like one seeking the ears in the Valley of Raphaim. And there shall be left in it like a cluster of grapes, and like the beating of olives of two or three olive trees at the top of the branch, or four or five on its fruitful heights, says the Lord God of Israel. Those who understand the present devastation of Damascus under the Roman kingdom, contend that these things are signified about the Apostles, that just as few ears of wheat and olives usually remain in the field or on the trees, so the remnant of Israel shall be saved; especially because it follows: On that day, man shall turn to his maker, and his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel, that is, to Christ. Two olives, and three, and four, and five, are interpreted as the fourteen Apostles, that is, the twelve who were chosen, and the thirteenth James, who is called the brother of the Lord; Paul also, the Apostle, the vessel of election (Acts 7). However, those who think that what was said is accomplished during the time of the Assyrians, want this to be understood, that under the Assyrian captivity Damascus was not completely destroyed, but some were transferred to Cyrene, and the other part of the worshipers of the land was left behind, which was also destroyed later by the Babylonian ravages: until it was restored again under the Macedonians and the Ptolemies, and in the coming of Christ it was indeed a city, but not of such power as it had been before. And there will be so few senses left in Damascus as there usually remain few ears of grain in the broad and mighty valley of Raphaim that the poor gather, or few olives left in the olive tree that have escaped the scrutiny of the harvester.17:7-8
(Verse 7, 8) On that day, a man will turn towards his Maker, and his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel. He will not turn towards the altars that his hands have made, nor towards the works of his fingers. He will not look to the groves and shrines. Some interpret this as fulfilled during the time of Christ, when the kingdom of Damascus was destroyed and the eternal kingdom of the Savior succeeded, and the error of idolatry was diminished. It is indeed a pious interpretation, but it does not follow the order of history. But we say that after Damascus was subdued and the ten tribes were led into Assyria, the remnant of the tribes of Israel, converted by the letters of Hezekiah, came to the worship of God and to the temple in Jerusalem, as the Chronicles history narrates (2 Chronicles 3). Therefore, with Damascus destroyed, the people will turn to their Maker, that is, to the one who created them, and their eyes will no longer look at the idols they made in Bethel and Dan, but they will look to God, despising the shrines and altars that their own fingers made.17:9
(Verse 9) On that day, her fortified cities will be abandoned like plowed fields and empty after the harvest. They will become a wasteland, just like the cities of the Israelites that were abandoned before them. This prophecy is not against Damascus, but against the ten tribes known as Israel. Just as when the people of God arrived from Egypt, all the nations living in the promised land were suddenly filled with fear and dropped their plows and left their crops and unfinished tasks, fleeing for safety on foot, so too shall the land of Israel remain deserted for a long time. I am amazed that Aquila interpreted 'pro aratris et acervis frugum' as 'testam et Emir'; Symmachus, 'silvam et Amir'; LXX, 'Amorrhaeos et Evaeos'. Only Theodotio put the Hebrew word, 'Ars Et Emir', which is more correctly read as 'Hores () Et Amir ()', that is, plows and heaps of grain.17:10
(Verse 10.) Because you have forgotten your God and have not remembered your powerful helper. These things, he says, you will endure, O Israel, because you have forsaken your God, who has freed you from Egypt, who has subjected enemy nations to you; and you have not remembered your helper.Therefore you will plant a faithful plantation, and you will sow a foreign seed. This should be read more closely and ironically. For, he says, you have forgotten your God and Savior, and you have not remembered your strong helper: should you therefore plant a faithful plantation, and not rather sow a foreign seed, which the enemy will snatch away? Or certainly like this: you have founded my sons, who are born from the stock of my people, in the land, in order to make them foreign and wicked.
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(Verse 11.) In the day of your planting, the vineyard shall flourish, and in the morning your seed shall blossom. The harvest shall be taken away on the day of inheritance, and you shall grieve deeply. These will be the fruits of your labors: your vine Sorec shall degenerate into wild grapes, and your seed shall bring forth hope in the bud; but when maturity comes, it shall be harvested by another. And then you shall grieve deeply, when what you hoped for and almost touched is lost.17:12-14
(Verses 12-14.) Woe to the multitude of many peoples, as the sound of the roaring sea: and the tumult of nations, like the sound of many waters. The peoples will make noise, like the sound of overflowing waters: and they will rebuke him, and he will flee far away: and he will be carried away like the dust of mountains before the wind, and like a whirlwind before a storm. At evening time: and behold, there will be trouble in the morning, and it will not continue. This is their portion, who have plundered us, and their lot, who have taken us away. Those who consider the captivity of Damascus inflicted by the Romans, and this which is written: Man shall bow down to his Maker, and his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel, refer to the times of Christ and the Apostles. They also understand the following: You will plant a faithful plantation, and you will sow a foreign branch: on the day of your plantation the wild vine, etc., they perceive the unfaithfulness of the Jews. And this chapter that we have now presented is interpreted by the Gentiles who persecute the Church. Moreover, what follows is understood to be about the devil, with a tropological interpretation illustrating the devastation caused by persecutors and demons. But we follow the sequential order and protect the historical foundations with historical insight. Woe, he says, to all the nations that have fought against my people, whose force was so great that it could be compared to the waves of the sea. But when they come raging and flood my land, then their leader Sennacherib will flee, reproached by him, and be scattered like dust carried by the wind, and whirled up into the sky like a storm. Indeed, he will approach Jerusalem, besieging it, but he will be struck down by an angel; he will come in the morning, and he will see his army destroyed, the power of his might gone. And this will be the portion of those who devastated us. The Prophet speaks either on behalf of the people or joins himself to his own nation (IV Kings XIX, 35, 36). Afterwards we read: The Angel of the Lord went out and struck down in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and they arose early in the morning, and behold, all the dead bodies. So Sennacherib king of the Assyrians departed and returned and lived in Nineveh.18:1
(Chapter XVIII, Verse 1.) Woe to the land with the sound of wings beyond the rivers of Ethiopia. The Hebrew word Selsel (), which Symmachus interpreted as noise, Theodotion as birds, and we translate as cymbal. Aquila translated bis umbram. But it should be known that umbra Sel () is said, but here the syllable itself is doubled. From which we can understand the saying: Woe to the land that promises help in the shadow of its wings. And as the Scripture says: Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty (Psalm XC, 1), for which it is written in Hebrew, He will dwell in the shadow of the Omnipotent: boasting to have the likeness of God herself, and in danger promises to aid others. But it signifies either No, the city of Egypt, which is now called Alexandria, or Egypt itself, in which Jerusalem has always relied on like a bruised reed, which, when broken, pierces the hand of the one leaning on it. And here is the most beautiful order: just as in the previous Vision the prophetic word threatened Damascus, that the ten tribes would have help in it, begging for the mercy of God; so now also the desolation of Egypt is proclaimed, for which the invocation of God has been neglected. For it is the land itself that is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, that is, beyond the streams of the Nile river, which no one doubts flows from Ethiopia into Egypt. Egypt can be called the granary of the world because of the abundance of crops; indeed, the swift and rapid flight of birds produces the sound of a cymbal. Some interpret this as referring to the Roman Empire, which sends ambassadors to the sea and on papyrus vessels over the waters, and they relate all history to the times of Vespasian and Titus, during which Jerusalem was destroyed. But this does not befit our faith, that the Lord should threaten the Roman Kingdom, wherefore He has overthrown the impious nation, and again say that gifts are to be brought to Mount Zion, unless perhaps we understand these things spiritually in the Church.18:2
(Verse 2.) He who sends envoys to the sea, and in papyrus vessels on the waters. Go, swift angels, to a nation torn and ravaged, to a fearsome people after whom there is no other, to a nation waiting and trampled, whose rivers they have plundered. Among the Hebrews and Egyptians and the Egyptians themselves and the Egyptians, they are called by one name, Mesraim. This saying is have, so that no one may get stuck on the word, when they find a masculine word for a feminine gender, that is, for land a man, because even now it is said: He who sends envoys to the sea, that is, Mesraim itself, the Egyptian himself, because from Alexandria, which was then, as I said, called No, envoys were sent to Jerusalem and in papyrus vessels, that is, in letters, or ships, promising their help to them, saying: Go swiftly to the torn people of the Jews, and torn by the assault of the Assyrians; to the people once fearsome, who wielded the command of God, to whose power no one else can be compared: to a nation that always awaited the help of God, and yet is trampled by men: whose land rivers, that is, different kings, have ravaged. Others, however, think that the apostrophe is directed to the Lord, and the meaning is: O God, who sends prophets into the sea of this world, and like sailors through letters, warns the people, commanding them with your messages: go quickly to my torn and convulsed people, to the strongest people, who once terrified all nations around, who always waited for God's help, and because of the greatness of their sins, which they hope for, they do not deserve to receive it: whose land was ravaged by the kings of various nations, and so on. Eusebius of Caesarea, promising a historical interpretation in the title, wanders off into various meanings, so that when I read his books, I found something entirely different from what the index promised. Wherever he runs out of history, he moves on to allegory, and in this way he combines things that are separate, so that I marvel at his skill in joining together new elements of language into one unity of stone and iron. I mention this briefly, so that no one thinks that we have borrowed what we say from his sources; for even in the present chapter, he says that prophecy is directed against the Jews and Jerusalem, because at the beginning of the Christian faith they sent letters to all the nations, urging them not to accept the passion of Christ; and they sent letters even to Ethiopia and the Western regions, and with the dissemination of this blasphemy they have filled the whole world.18:3
(Verse 3.) All the inhabitants of the world who dwell on the earth, when the signal is raised on the mountains, you will see and hear the sound of the trumpet. All the nations, he says, around, when you hear my command, like a signal raised on the mountains, and my authority, like the sound of a triumphantly resounding trumpet, then you will see what I have ordered.18:4
(Verse 4) Because this is what the Lord said to me: I will rest, and I will consider in my place. What is it that the Lord said to the Prophet? This is what follows: until what I have commanded comes, I will rest in my seat: as the Jews believe, in the Temple; as we believe, in heaven. And I will consider, he says, the coming of the end of things.Just as the midday light is bright, and just as the morning mist is in the day of harvest. Just as in the whole day nothing is brighter than midday, when the sun shines from the middle of the sky, and equally illuminates the whole world, and just as in the heat and hot air, when the naked harvester is scorched, and the magnitude of the labor tests his breath, the temperate dew is most pleasing, if the morning moisture makes the dry stalks cuttable: in the same way, my speech, which I will consider in my place, will come gratefully to all who believe in me.
18:5-6
(Verse 5, 6.) For before the harvest it had flowered entirely, and immature perfection had sprouted, and its small branches will be cut with sickles, and whatever has been left behind will be cut off and shaken off. And they will be left with the birds of the mountains and the animals of the earth, and they will have perpetual summer over them, and all the animals of the earth will winter upon it. Because he had said of the south wind, and had sent a cloud of dew before summer and harvest, and had taken produce from the field, he will preserve it in the remains, describing the pride of Egypt and the devastation of its people, and the corpses throughout the province, which will be devoured by the birds. For just as the crops that spring up before maturity quickly perish, and the sprouts that germinate are useless before the proper time of growth comes; so, he says, the Egyptian people are cut down like useless branches with the sickle, and all their offspring will be stripped bare. And lest you think that he is speaking of the vineyard and not of men, he turns the metaphor into historical truth: And they shall be abandoned together to the birds of the mountains and to the beasts of the earth. For birds and beasts do not eat the severed branches of trees, but rather devour corpses. Let us read more fully Ezekiel, where he prophesies against Pharaoh and against Egypt: and all these things we will find written very clearly (Ezek. XXIX). And he says: In perpetual summer, birds shall be above him, and all beasts shall winter upon him; either this signifies a multitude of those who will be slain, or by the same interpretation it shows that he will be laid waste by all nations.18:7
(Verse 7) In that time the gift of the Lord of hosts will be brought by the scattered and torn people, by the terrifying people, after whom there was no other: by the waiting people, waiting and trampled, whose rivers they have plundered, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the mountain of Zion. After the devastation of Egypt and the destruction of its empire, Israel will no longer trust in the vanity of its shadow, but will return to the Lord and bring its gifts to the mountain of Zion, that is, to His temple, and only pray to Him whose true and eternal protection it is. But this was done under Zerubbabel, and Joshua, and Ezra, and Nehemiah. LXX, because we have said: expecting, expecting, and in Hebrew it is written, hoping, hoping, on the contrary they are interpreted as ἀνέλπιστον, that is, not hoping. And for this reason Eusebius gave occasion for understanding this more about the Gentiles, who have neither hope, nor the Testament of God, nor the Prophets, than about the Jews: because gifts are to be sent afterwards by the Church itself, which is established on the watchtower, and spiritual offerings are to be made.19:1
(Chapter 19, Verse 1) The Burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord will ascend upon a light cloud, and will enter into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst thereof. It is the custom of the Scriptures to connect the clear with the obscure, and to openly declare with a clear voice what was previously expressed in enigmas. Therefore, in the present passage, because He had pronounced woes against Egypt before, saying, 'Woe to the land overshadowed with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,' and other things which the prophetic discourse has woven together, He now makes the understanding more clear, and threatening Egypt itself, He speaks, not that the Angels, but the Lord Himself, shall come upon a light cloud, that is, a swift one, and shall enter into Egypt, and make the idols of Egypt tremble, and cause the heart of the mighty to melt, and fulfill the prophecy of Ezekiel (or Jeremiah): 'I will destroy the idols, and I will cause the idols of Memphis to cease' (Ezekiel 30:13). Some refer this whole prophecy to the time of the Savior, when he entered upon a light cloud, that is, a human body, which he had assumed from the Virgin, not burdened with any mingling of human seed: or because he was carried on a light cloud, that is, a Virginal body, and at his entrance all the demons trembled, and then the first downfall of idols occurred, unable to bear the presence of the Lord.19:2
(Version 2.) And I will make the Egyptians fight against the Egyptians, and one man will fight against his brother, and one man against his friend, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. When the Lord enters Egypt and destroys the most powerful nation with his presence, the first victory will be for the Egyptians to turn against each other and fight in rebellion against themselves: which happened during the times of the Assyrians and King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, with some sitting while others resisted. But what he predicts about the Babylonian captivity, Jeremiah is a witness, saying: The elegant and beautiful heifer Egypt, the stimulator from the North will come to her. And again: The daughter of Egypt is confused and handed over to the hand of the people of the North (Jeremiah 46:20, 24). Ezekiel also, by the authority of the same prophecy, agrees: And I will make the multitude of Egypt cease in the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. And again: I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and I will put my sword in his hand, and I will break the arms of Pharaoh. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt, and I will scatter Egypt among the nations (Ezek. XXX, 10, 24, et seq.). But if we refer to the times of the Savior, let us take that example from the Gospel: Think not that I am come to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword. For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law, and the enemies of a man shall be they of his own household (Matt. X, 34, et seq.). And again in another place: There will be divided two into three, and three into two: father against son, and mother against daughter, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law (Luke XII, 52, 58).19:3
(Verse 3) And the spirit of Egypt shall be destroyed in its bowels, and I will overthrow its counsel: and they shall inquire of their idols and their diviners, and their pythons and soothsayers. When a rebellion arises in Egypt, whether those desiring to serve Babylon, or those unwilling to submit their necks to its yoke, or others believing in Christ while others resist, the spirit of Egypt shall be destroyed and divided, not the same for all who desire it, and all their counsel shall be reduced to nothing. Then they will go to their statues; and they will question the divine beings, the soothsayers, the prophets, and those skilled in magical arts, why these things have happened.19:4
(Version 4) And I will deliver Egypt into the hand of cruel masters, and a strong king shall rule over them, says the Lord God of hosts. We follow a twofold interpretation: either of the Chaldean times, when Egypt was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar; or of the Roman empire, when Antony and Cleopatra were defeated, and Augustus Caesar subdued Egypt. It is testified by the whole Scripture that the Babylonians were cruel, who spared not even the little ones, but wounded them with their arrows, and showed no mercy to the pregnant women. But the Roman kingdom, as the Scripture of Daniel testifies (Chapter VII), describes the fourth beast with iron teeth and claws.19:5-7
(Verses 5-7) And the water of the sea shall dry up, and the river shall be desolate and dry, and the streams shall diminish and dry up the water-courses. The reed and the rush shall wither, the channel of the river shall be laid bare and all the irrigated seed shall dry up, wither, and not exist. It is natural that when captivity comes through the anger of God, his wrath shall be followed by pestilence, and all the elements shall rage against those who offend God. Where it is written in another Prophet (Jer. XII), 'And the birds in the air fail, and the fishes in the waters, so that all things are taken away from human use.' We say this if we want to take the dryness of the Nile river and its streams simply. But if we take it as a metaphor: in the river, we understand the kingdom, and in its streams, the leaders; and in the greenness, and the reed, and the papyrus, all the abundance of Egypt, so that through these things, the wealth of Egypt is described, of which Egypt is most fertile. Let us read Ezekiel, where the king Pharaoh is described as a great dragon dwelling in the rivers, and says: The river is mine, and I have made myself. And it is heard: I will put a bit in your jaws, and I will stick the fish of your rivers to your scales, and I will draw you out from the midst of your rivers, and all your fish will cling to your scales, and I will cast you into the desert (Ezek. XXIX, 3, 4). However, in the coming of Christ, all these things are to be understood figuratively, according to what we read above: The Lord will make the sea of Egypt a desert. And again: the Lord will stretch out His hand over the violent river of Egypt, and He will strike it in seven valleys, so that it can be crossed by foot with shoes on. This means that all the errors of the Egyptian waters and the sorceries with which they deceived the subject peoples will be dried up by the coming of Christ. And when it says that the water from the sea will dry up, we can understand it in a historical sense, not that the great sea is meant, but rather the lake of Mareotis, because Scripture calls all gatherings of water seas. Exaggerated statements can also be understood. And what follows: The channel of the river will be exposed from its source, showing that the river and the spring dry up together.19:8-10
(v. 8-10) And the fishermen shall mourn, and all those who cast the hook into the river shall lament, and those who spread the net over the face of the water shall wither away. And those who work with flax, twisting and weaving fine fabrics, shall be put to shame; and its pools shall be dried up, and all those who make fishing-gear for catching fish shall mourn. And consider this in two ways: that when Egypt is devastated and the entire province is dried up by drought, the fishermen shall mourn, and those who cast the hook into the river and those who work with nets and traps and weave various types of baskets made from reeds, that is, princes and those of royal blood, and rulers. And also, when Christ comes, all the wicked fishermen of different kinds, who against Apostolic discipline capture men for destruction and weave nets and traps with foolish wisdom to ensnare the condemned, shall be confused, and in the land of Egypt there shall be no such fisherman, or if there is, they shall be rare. In this work we see fulfilled what the triumphs of the Churches rise, and idols have fallen in all of Egypt.19:11-13
(Vers. 11-13.) The foolish princes of Tanis, the wise counselors of Pharaoh, gave foolish counsel: How can you say to Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you and make known what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt. The foolish princes of Tanis have become fools; the princes of Memphis are deceived; they have caused Egypt to stagger, the cornerstone of its peoples. Tanis was the capital of Egypt, as the Psalmist declares, where Moses performed many signs that are described in Exodus: He set his signs in Egypt and his wonders in the field of Tanis (Ps. 78:11). Memphis, also dedicated to magical arts, still shows traces of error from ancient times to the present. And this is briefly indicated, that with the coming of the Babylonian devastation, all the plans of the Magi, and of those who promised knowledge of the future, are proven foolishness, and with the advent of Christ everything is reduced to nothingness, not finding the advice of the Egyptian seers on how to suppress the Christian doctrine. However, the language of the Scriptures is that they place the angle for the kingdom, since it contains the peoples, and is the strongest in the whole house. And Christ, containing the walls of two peoples, is called the cornerstone (Ephesians II). And what he brings in: How will you say to Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of the ancient kings, signifies that the Egyptians imitate their heroes and gods, namely Horus, Isis, Osiris, and Typhon.19:14-15
(Verse. 14, 15.) The Lord mixed in its midst the spirit of dizziness: and he caused Egypt to wander in all its work, like a drunkard and a vomiter: and Egypt will have no work that it does, bending and restraining head and tail. First let us speak about the interpretation, and afterwards we will discuss what is written. The spirit of dizziness can also be interpreted as the spirit of error. In addition, in what we have translated as bending and restraining, we can say bending and lascivious, so that we understand old man and child. However, when we swiftly translated the Hebrew word Agmon (), we were deceived by ambiguity, and we said restraining, which Aquila translated more significantly as στρεβλοῦντα, that is, one who does nothing rightly, but everything crooked, in order to signify a child. Therefore, the sense is: The princes of Taneos have become foolish, and the wise counselors have given foolish advice to Pharaoh, and the princes of Mempheos have become bewildered, and they have deceived Egypt, the corner of nations, because the Lord has mixed into them a spirit of error and confusion, causing them to not know what they are speaking and to make Egypt go astray. And just as a drunkard, when he vomits what he has eaten and does not know where it is, but lies in a state of alien mind, so Egypt will have no work or counsel that has a head, or an end, or is suitable for the elders or the children, some of whom are foolish and delirious due to extreme age, while others are ignorant of their own insolence and infancy. But whether you want to receive this in relation to the devastation in Babylon, or in relation to the coming of Christ, and both literally and spiritually, it will have significance.19:16-17
(Verse 16, 17.) On that day Egypt will be like women, and they will be astonished and afraid because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which he will bring against them. And the land of Judah will be a terror to Egypt; everyone who mentions it will fear because of the purpose of the Lord of hosts, which he has planned against it. I think it is better to correct one's own mistakes than to persist in error while being embarrassed to admit one's ignorance. In what I have translated, And the land of Judah shall be for Egypt a joy, for a joy is read in Hebrew Hagga (), which can be interpreted as both a festival (hence Haggai is translated as festival) and fear, which is more significantly translated by Aquila as 'shaking', when someone is fearful and trembling and turns their eyes around, and fears the approaching enemy. Therefore, if we want to take it in a positive sense, that the remembrance of Judah being for Egypt is a joy, it is rightly called a festival. But if, as I think, it turns into fear for the festival, let us understand fear or dread, that when Nebuchadnezzar comes, and all the hands of strong men will be loosened like those of women, even the word Judah is a terror to Egypt, because while they wanted to offer help, they have suffered so many evils. No one doubts in our times that, in comparison to Christians, all the pagans are like women, having weak opinions, and whatever they say is turned into foolishness, while they are astonished at such a great conversion of the people, and they marvel and understand the hand of the Lord, and whoever, of those who bear the name of Christians among the Gentiles, remembers the weakness of idolatry, confesses it out of fear.19:18
(Verse 18.) On that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear by the Lord of hosts. One of these cities shall be called the city of the sun. Concerning the city of the sun, the LXX translated 'asedec,' not knowing exactly what it meant. Some of our people interpret it as the city of justice, and due to a mistake, they think that it is written in Hebrew as 'Ares,' which means 'land' in other letters. Symmachus translated it better as 'the city of the sun shall be called one,' for 'Ares' is an ambiguous word and is used for both 'clay pot' and 'sun,' because both dry and heat. Not understanding this place, Onias built a temple in Egypt in the city of Heliopolis. Read Josephus' Histories (Joseph. lib. XII, cap. 9). Others want Ares, that is, a shell, that is, a testa, to be understood as the city of Ostracinem, and other cities near Rhinocorura and Casium, which until today it is evident that they speak in Egypt in the Canaanite language, that is, Syrian. And they think that the Syrians and Arabs came from neighboring places to that land under Nabuchodonosor's rule. Moreover, those who speak of the coming of Christ and the Roman empire prophecy, understand either the five cities or the law of the Lord, which was first interpreted in Alexandria, or the five orders of the Church, bishops, presbyters, deacons, believers, catechumens: or certainly the spiritual understanding of the law, of which the Apostle also says: I want to speak five words in the Churches in my understanding, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue (1 Cor. XIV): and that the one city of the five cities is called the city of the sun, namely justice, in whose wings there is healing.19:19-21
(Verses 19-21.) In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar near its border to the Lord. And it will be for a sign and for a testimony to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. For they will cry to the Lord because of the oppressor, and He will send them a Savior and a Champion who will deliver them. And the Lord will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day. They will worship with sacrifices and offerings, and they will make vows to the Lord and fulfill them. From this place to the end of Egypt, both the Jews and we understand it as a vision or prophecy of Christ's coming; but they have different expectations for the future, while we consider it as already fulfilled. However, consider the day for the time being: although Josephus claims that these things happened during the time of Onias, who fled to Egypt and built a temple, an altar, and attempted to fulfill the prophecy of Christ in vain. But it is called one altar, just as there is one faith, one baptism, and one Church. And the title, next to its boundary, undoubtedly signifies the Gospel and the writings of the Apostles. For just as the land of Judea is understood above, according to the tropological understanding, as fearsome, or solemn, or the old Testament: so the title in the boundaries of Egypt is shown to be the history of the Gospels. Finally, it joins: And it shall be a sign and a testimony, namely of the Lord's passion. Then those who have believed, while the Egyptians are coming together against the Egyptians, and a man is fighting against his own brother, and city is fighting against city: when the time of persecution comes, they will implore the mercy of the Lord, and immediately the Savior will come, that is, Jesus, for this is what it means in our language. And the Lord will be known by the Egyptians, and they will recognize Him, whether the persecutors who have been overcome, or the believers who have been freed by His present help. And they shall worship him with sacrifices and gifts, and shall vow vows to the Lord and shall pay them. Let the Jews respond: It is prescribed by law that an altar should not be made except in the one place which the Lord God chooses, and only the sacrifices of the Levite priests should be offered. (Deut. XXVI). Behold, Isaiah clearly teaches that the Egyptians should recognize the Lord, and worship him, and offer sacrifices and gifts, and make vows and fulfill them. If the Egyptians have a priesthood, then the testimony of Paul is also fulfilled in them, which says: If the priesthood is transferred, it is necessary for there to be a transfer of the law. (Heb. VII, 12).19:22
(Verse 22.) And the Lord will strike Egypt with a plague, and He will heal it. And they will turn to the Lord, and He will be appeased by them, and He will heal them. For whom the Lord loves, He chastises, and He punishes every son whom He receives. Persecution does not pertain to the denial of believers, but to their testing and reward.19:23
(Verse 23) On that day there will be a road from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will enter Egypt, and Egypt will enter Assyria; and the Egyptians will serve Assyria. Before the coming of Christ, each nation had its own king, and no one could go from one nation to another; but in the Roman empire, all became one. Let the learned reader review the ancient histories, and from the Euphrates to the Tigris, let them know that the whole region in between was inhabited by the Assyrians. Therefore, what the ancient Assyrians, whom we now call Syrians, called the whole from a part. Now, when it is said that the Egyptians serve the Syrians, it should be understood either that the Roman legions, equipped with Syrian soldiers, guard Egypt, or that there is trade between the two nations, and the cities of Syria benefit from the abundance of Egypt, just as, conversely, Egypt is irrigated by the goods of Palestine and Phoenicia. Some of our people mistakenly refer this to a thousand years and pronounce that it will happen in the manner of the Jews at the end of the world, when the Antichrist, coming from Assyria, will possess Egypt and Ethiopia.19:24-25
(Verse 24, 25.) On that day, Israel will be a third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, 'Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.' In no way will Israel be a mediator between Egypt and Assyria, now that Antiochus and Demetrius are drawing the kingdom to themselves, now that the Ptolemies are claiming its possession for themselves. But even under Roman rule, and therefore under the rule of Christ, it will be of the same condition as Egypt and Assyria, and it will be blessed in all the earth. Because the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Then it will be said by the Lord: Blessed is my people of Egypt: when by no means Moses, but Christ the Lord leading the way, the countless thousands of men have filled the wilderness, and with Pharaoh submerged, they have said in the desert: Let us sing to the Lord, for He has been gloriously magnified: He has cast horse and rider into the sea (Exodus 15:1). Then the work of the Lord will also reign in Assyria; for these are the largest nations of monks, Egypt and Mesopotamia, and they contend with each other in equal piety. But the inheritance of Christ is the Israel, that is, the places of his birth, and the cross, and the resurrection, and his ascension, to which people from all over the world gather.20:1
(Chapter 20, Verse 1) In the year that Tharhaka came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him and fought against Ashdod and took it. At that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. Then the Lord said, As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush. Thus the king of Assyria will threaten the captivity of Egypt, and the exile of Ethiopia, the young and old stripped and barefoot, with naked buttocks, the disgrace of Egypt. And they will be afraid and ashamed because of their hope in Ethiopia, and because of their glory in Egypt. And the inhabitants of this island will say on that day: Behold, this was our hope, to whom we fled for help, that he might deliver us from the face of the king of Assyria, and how will we be able to escape? We have set the whole content of this chapter, so that we may discuss each part separately. Azotus, which is called Ashdod in Hebrew, was a very powerful city in Palestine among the five cities. It was captured and held by Sargon, the king of the Assyrians, who is also known by seven names, by sending his general named Tartan. At the time when the neighboring city was captured, Isaiah is commanded to walk naked and barefoot, after taking off his sackcloth garment (for this was the prophetic attire of a people grieving for their sins) and his sandals, which the Greek translation calls caligas, thus symbolizing the captivity of Egypt and Ethiopia, who were allies of the Egyptians. In this way, just as Isaiah walked naked and showed his bare buttocks as a sign of disgrace to those who saw, all of Egypt and Ethiopia would become naked and bare, with nothing remaining on the land, as the Assyrians ravaged the region. Nor let anyone think that this is contrary to the previous happiness promised to the Egyptians, because there they are taught about future bliss after the evils. Here, however, the present captivity is narrated, through which Israel, Damascus, and the Philistines were devastated, and the right way to Egypt was taken, and both the Ethiopians and the Egyptians were conquered. And so that it does not seem ambiguous to anyone, let us consider the testimony of Isaiah himself: But when Sennacherib returned, he found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish; and he heard about Tirhakah, the king of Ethiopia, saying, 'He has come out to fight against you.' (2 Kings 19:8-9). At the same time, we learn obedience from the prophets, because a noble man (for the Hebrews report that Isaiah was the father-in-law of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah) did not hesitate to walk naked; but considering nothing more honorable than God's commands, he removed the sackcloth in which he had been clothed, and being stripped naked, he first had a tunic, and that itself made of haircloth. And when it is said: It shall be a sign and a wonder for three years upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia, it signifies that Egypt and Ethiopia shall be devastated by the Assyrians for three years. Then, he said, the inhabitant of this island, that is Jerusalem, which is battered by the waves of neighboring nations, will say: Is this our hope? And did we flee to them for help, who could not rescue themselves from the evil of captivity? Therefore, this is the order of God's providence, disposing of all human kind with ineffable judgment. In contrast, Israel hoped in Damascus against the wrath of God: let the city be destroyed, which offers assistance to the wicked against His will. Judas hoped in the Egyptians: and let Egypt be destroyed. The Egyptians put their trust in the Ethiopians: let the Ethiopians also be conquered by the Assyrians. The Assyrians became proud, considering victory to be not of God, but of their own strength: and let them be conquered by the Babylonians. Babylon raised its head against God: and let it be overcome by the Medes and Persians. The Persians and Medes persecuted the people of God to some extent, and a fierce ram scattered all peoples to the East and West; let Alexander the goat come and crush him under his feet. And he who is beyond measure upright, let him perish by poison, and let his kingdom be divided into parts; and when over a long period of time they have clashed against each other, with the Roman conquering, let it be plundered. The Roman himself, with teeth and claws of iron, tore the flesh of the saints, and with a bloody mouth, he mutilated: let the stone be cut out from the mountain without hands, and let it crush the first kingdom, most powerful and iron, then fragile and weak, like a potter's vessel (Daniel 2).21:1
(Chapter 21, Verse 1) The burden of the desert of the sea. Unless I were to read the following in the subsequent part of this chapter: Babylon has become a beloved wonder to me. And again: Babylon has fallen, has fallen, and all the carved images of her gods are shattered on the ground. And above: Go up, O Elam, lay siege, O Media: I would doubt that this weight, which is imposed on the deserted sea, is what is meant. Therefore, it is clear that the deserted sea is called Babylon, as Jeremiah says on behalf of God: I will make her sea a desert, and I will dry up her land, and Babylon will become heaps of sand (Jeremiah 51:36, 37). But the sea is called such because of the multitude of creatures living in it. Therefore, above, the multitude of Egypt is compared to the sea. The Lord will make the sea of Egypt a desert. And as for the Medes and Persians warring against Babylon, and overthrowing it, we read in the aforementioned Jeremiah: Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers. The Lord will raise up the spirit of the kings of the Medes against Babylon, and his thoughts will be against her, to destroy her, for it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his Temple. Raise a banner on the walls of Babylon, increase the guard, elevate the watchmen, prepare ambushes; for the Lord has planned and done what he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon. And again: Raise a signal on the earth, blow the trumpet among the nations, consecrate the nations against her, announce to the kings of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz; summon against her the kings of Media, bring up horses like bristling locusts. Sanctify against her the nations, the kings of Media, their leaders and all their officials, and the whole land under their dominion. The earth will quake and tremble, for the Lord has a plan against Babylon to make it a desolation, a place where no one lives (Jeremiah 51:11, following).21:1-2
(Verse 1, Line 2) Just as whirlwinds come from the South, it comes from the desert, from a dreadful land. A harsh vision has been announced to me. The voice of the Babylonian people is introduced, fearing that it, or rather Babylon itself, may hear that the Medes and the Elamites are preparing an army against them and are coming from the wilderness, and it sets forth an example of comparison. Just as, he says, a violent storm usually comes from the South wind: so to me comes desolation from the wilderness, from a dreadful land, of which I cannot even hear the name without fear. A harsh vision has been announced to me: for what is harder than present captivity?Whoever is unbelieving, acts unfaithfully; and whoever is a destroyer, devastates. It can be read in Hebrew as follows: If you kill, kill; and if you devastate, devastate, so that the prophecy of Elamite and Median, encouraging him to fulfill what he has begun, may be directed to him, daring to ascend without fear, to besiege the most powerful city. But if it is read as we have translated, as if it is said from a third person perspective, "Whoever is unbelieving, acts unfaithfully; and whoever is a destroyer, devastates," it must be connected with the previous statements, in which Babylon declares a harsh vision revealed to her.
Rise up, O Elam, besiege the Medes: I have caused all their groaning to cease. Do not be afraid, says the Persian and the Mede, of the multitude of Babylon, nor be in awe of its former power: I have caused all their groaning and the weight with which it used to press you to cease: either because no one now laments and grieves under the power of Babylon, or because Babylon itself is so oppressed by such great evils that it does not even have free groaning.
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(Verse 3, 4.) Therefore my loins are filled with pain: anguish has taken hold of me, like the anguish of a woman in labor: I am bowed down when I hear it, I am troubled when I see it. My heart is faint, darkness has overwhelmed me. Babylon, my beloved, has become a wonder to me. The prophets are therefore obscured, because many individuals are changed in them. Therefore now the voice of Isaiah is introduced mourning for Babylon in a prophetic spirit, because such great evils are about to come upon her, that the one who narrates, overcome by fear, is unable to burst forth into words, seeing the bloodshed of such a multitude: and moved by the affection of mercy (for indeed he speaks of humans), he grieves no less than a woman wailing in childbirth; but he is troubled and fearful, and falling to the ground, with dim eyes he knows not what he is saying. But for the name that we translate as Babylon, in Hebrew it is read Neseph Esci (); and it is the very word that we placed at the beginning of the Babylonian Oneris, on the dark mountain: for it is written Neseph for dark or gloomy. And this city is specifically called thus, because of its height and the erect summit of pride reaching up to heaven.21:5
(Verse 5.) Set the table, observe those who are eating and drinking: arise, leaders, take up the shield. This place is understood in two ways: o Medes and Elamites, of whom I spoke above: ascend, O Elam, besiege the Medes, take food, prepare yourselves for the coming battle, lest weariness hold you back once the time of conflict has arrived. And when you have eaten and drunk, arise, seize your weapons, wage war against Babylon. And what he says, observe those who are eating and drinking, is read in this sense: look carefully at what is to come. It can also be understood like this: O Babylon, prepare a feast for your son Belshazzar, the grandson of your son Evil-Merodach and the descendant of your grandson Nebuchadnezzar. See what happens after the meal, in which you will drink from the vessels of the Lord with prostitutes and concubines. O princes, who sit with the king, but signify the Medes and Persians, rise up and seize weapons to kill the king. We learn more about this in the book of Daniel (Chapter 5).21:6-10
(Verse 6 and following) For the Lord spoke these words to me: Go and set a watchman, and whatever he sees, let him announce. And he saw a chariot with two horsemen, a rider on a donkey, and a rider on a camel. And he looked closely with much attention, and the lion cried out: I am standing continually on the watchtower of the Lord, both day and night. Behold, here comes a rider of a chariot with horsemen, and he answered and said: Babylon is fallen, is fallen, and all the carved images of its gods are shattered on the ground. Crush my people, O threshing floor of mine, which I heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have declared to you. The reasons for the previous fear are given, why distress has taken hold of him like a woman in labor, and he has fallen down, hearing and trembling, and being surrounded by dark horror. This, the Lord said to me: go and set a watchman, so that he may foretell to you the future with a prophetic spirit; when I placed him on the watchtower, he saw a chariot coming with two horses, and a charioteer high above, and an ass and a camel drawing the chariot. But it signifies Cyrus, the king of the Persians and Medes, coming with little and great authority. For the Persians were formerly unknown before Cyrus and held no place among the nations; the Medes, however, were always very powerful. Therefore, this one, supported by the army of two nations, came against Babylon. And that lookout who was positioned to see what was coming cried out like a lion, or rather, he is called a lion himself as a prophet. And because there was doubt about the identity of the lookout who had seen Cyrus ascending, he explains more explicitly and says: \"I am standing on the lookout of the Lord constantly throughout the day, declaring himself to be the lookout of the Lord, who is always stationed in the prophetic office, and who, in the days and nights of the Lord's command, speaks whatever He orders.\ Therefore, what did the lion call out? Behold, that man comes, the ascender of the chariot of the horsemen; no doubt, Cyrus is indicated. And he answered and said, the lion himself who had called out before: Babylon has fallen, fallen, and all the sculptures of its gods are shattered on the ground. For with the devastating ascender of the chariot, Babylon is destroyed forever, and the temple of Bel and all the idols are laid to the ground. And what follows, 'My threshing, and the son of my floor,' it makes an apostrophe to Jerusalem, and to the Temple which is situated in the area of Orna, and it says to it: 'O Jerusalem, and people, sons of my Temple, do not think it unbelievable what I have said; for they are not my words, but the words of the Lord, and through my mouth, his words resounded.' Some people mistakenly think that this is not said about Jerusalem, but about Babylon, from which my beloved above Babylon is placed for me as a miracle; and the meaning is: what you have broken, you will also be broken, not in my words, but in the power of the Lord, which foretells these things to you. However, what the LXX translators meant in this place, to translate 'lion', which is called in Hebrew 'Aria' (), as 'uriah', I do not quite understand, especially since the aforementioned priest Uriah, who is called as a witness, is written in other letters.21:11-12
(Verse 11, 12.) Oracle concerning Dumah. One calls to me from Seir: 'Watchman, what time of the night? Watchman, what time of the night?' The watchman says: 'Morning comes, and also the night. Seek if you will, inquire if you will, come.' For Dumah they set seventy idols, not over the entire Idumean province, but in a certain region that extends towards the south and is twenty miles distant from the city of Palestine, which is now called Eleutheropolis. Near it are the mountains of Seir, taking their name from Seir, the hairy and shaggy one, that is, Esau. In Abdia the prophet, it was disputed more fully about this people by us: in which it was necessary to go over the old history and to bring forth the same Visions of Ezekiel and Jeremiah as a testimony, and especially the prophecy against Mount Seir (Ezek. 25 and 35, Jer. 49). And that from the Psalms: I will stretch out my shoe upon Edom. And elsewhere: The tabernacles of the Edomites and Ishmaelites, Moab, and the Agarenians, Gebal and Ammon, and Amalek (Ps. 59, 10; Ps. 82, 7, 8). Amos also said: On account of three crimes of Edom, and on account of four I will not turn away from him, because he pursued his brother with the sword and violated his compassion (Amos 1:11), or, as Symmachus translated, his bowels, because he dared to fight against his kindred peoples and to dissent with hostile hate. The region ((Al. regia)) of Esau was in the region of Edom, that is, in the mountains of Seir. We believe that this city, as the capital according to the order of the previous Visions, was captured by the Assyrians, or by Nebuchadnezzar, and, remembering their ancient lineage, which was descended from Abraham and Isaac, they implored the help of God and, by necessity compelling them, begged for his mercy. Therefore, the Lord now narrates: he who is besieged in Seir and surrounded by enemies, calls upon my help and says: O guardian of Israel, who protect your people with eternal vigilance, and like a watchman in the night, you keep watch so that the enemy does not break in; why do you not protect us who are of his lineage with a similar mercy? To whom, as a guardian and watchman, I respond, as it is written: He who keeps Israel does not slumber or sleep (Ps. 121:4). He came in the morning to my people, and at night to the people of Edom; I will give them light, and leave you in darkness. Or rather this is the case: light comes after the night has passed; if you invoke my help and you are from the line of my servant Abraham, do not seek only me in times of need, but turn your whole heart to me. Come, and I will receive those who repent. This is said according to history: moreover, because the letters Res and Daleth are similar and differ only slightly, some Hebrews read 'Rome' instead of 'Duma,' wanting to direct the prophecy against the Roman kingdom, with a frivolous persuasion by which they always think that the Romans are indicated by the name 'Idumea': but 'Duma' means 'silence.'21:13-17
(Verse 13 onwards) Burden in Arabia. In the evening you will sleep in the thicket, in the paths of Dodanim. Bring water to the thirsty ones you encounter: you who live in the land of the South, offer bread to the ones fleeing. Because they have fled from the swords, from the menacing sword, from the drawn bow, from the severity of battle. For this is what the Lord says to me: In yet one year, like the years of a hired worker, all the glory of Kedar will come to an end, and the remaining number of archers, the mighty men of the sons of Kedar, will be few. For the Lord, the God of Israel, has spoken. To me, who was searching and pondering for a long time about what Arabia was, to which the prophetic speech is directed, whether it should be understood as the Moabites, or the Ammonites, and the Edomites, and all the other regions which are now called Arabia, an opportunity is given in this Vision that follows: All the glory of Cedar will be taken away, and the remaining number of mighty archers from the sons of Cedar will be diminished (Isaiah 21:16, 17), to be understood as the Ishmaelites. The book of Genesis teaches that Ishmael, Cedar, and the Hagarites, who are called Saracens by a perverse name, were born. They inhabit the whole wilderness, about whom I think even the poet says: 'And the wandering Barcaeans far and wide' (Virg. Aeneid. IV); and the aforementioned volume, 'He shall dwell against the face of all his brothers' (Gen. XVI, 12): because the very wide desert stretches from India to Mauritania, and the Atlantic Ocean, which I believe sounds the title of Jeremiah: 'Against Cedar and against the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck' (Jer. XLIX, 28); and immediately follows: 'Thus says the Lord, Arise, and ascend to Cedar, and devastate the sons of the East: their tents, and their flocks shall they take, their skins and all their vessels, and they shall take camels for themselves' (Ibid., 29); and again: 'For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has thought a thought against you, and has deliberated against you.' Arise and go up to a quiet and confidently dwelling nation, says the Lord: there are no gates, no bars for them: they dwell alone. And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil. And I will scatter them to every wind, them that are clipped on the sides: and I will bring destruction upon them from all their borders, says the Lord: and Achor shall be a habitation of dragons, desolate for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor son of man inhabit it. I have placed the entire prophecy and testimony of Jeremiah so that you may understand clearly what Cedar is. And consider how he specifically describes the people of the Ishmaelites, that they dwell in tents: they occupy the dwellings that night brings, they possess herds and flocks of camels: they do not have doors or bolts: for they do not live in cities, but dwell in the wilderness. And so, they were destroyed by the Babylonians, because they completely destroyed the city of Hazor, which was the metropolis of their people, even down to the ground: and yet, their herds of camels and flocks of sheep were captured, and their skins and tents were divided by lot: not all of their people were annihilated, for dromedary camels, numbering over a hundred thousand, are accustomed to flee through the vast wilderness in a single day. The glory of Cedar will be taken away, it says, and with the number of archers diminished, as they excel greatly in the art of war: the rest who have fled will remain. Because we have understood what Cedar is, and what Arabia is, and what Asor is, let us see what the prophet Isaiah says: 'You will sleep in the forest, at evening, on the paths of Dodanim.' The word Arab (), as we have often said, is used for evening, and Arabia, and raven, and plain, and the West. And because we translated it according to the LXX, 'you will sleep,' it can be interpreted as 'you will stay' or 'you will dwell,' which is called αὐλιθήσεσθε in Greek, and in Hebrew it is said 'Thalinu'. Moreover, he also turns to his close relatives and kinsmen. Thus, it is prophesied that now to the Jews, who were able to escape the siege of Babylon, they will cross over to the neighboring wilderness and settle in the solitude of Arabia on the journey that leads to their brothers. And again the conversation turns to the Ishmaelites, and he exhorts them to mercy: run, and bring water to your tired and endangered brothers, for they are thirsty with great fervor of the sun, and unless you help them, they will perish in the wilderness. And not only water, but also bring bread to the fugitives, so that your kindness may relieve those whom the siege has exhausted. At the same time, he explains the reason why he is giving these orders, saying: the Babylonians have fled, the bows of the Elamites have fled, a fierce battle has fled. Do not despise the unfortunate: your captivity will come quickly. For just as the year of a hired worker is swift and considers all labor to be short until he receives the desired wage, so all the glory of the sons of Cedar will be taken from you, and your arrows will be worn out, and only a small number of warriors will remain. Some people want to be taken from what is said, that even in one year, and every glory of Cedar will be taken away, not Babylonian captivity being proclaimed, about which Jeremiah also speaks, but of the Assyrians, who after one year of the devastation of Judah, have widely persecuted the Saracens. Moreover, that place which we have transferred: You who inhabit the land of the South, meet the fugitive with bread: and as if we read in the imperative mode on behalf of the Lord, they affirm that in Hebrew it can be read like this: You who inhabit the land of the South, met the fugitive with bread; just as when God said to them, when they met the thirsty, bring water, they would take away the bread with a hostile mind without water, in order to increase their thirst with food.22:1
(Chapter 22—Verse 1) The burden of the Valley of Vision. Although it is not found in Hebrew, they translated it more clearly as the word "Valley of Zion". For this city is the seedbed of prophets, in which the Temple is built, and the visions of the Lord are multiplied. Therefore, because it is compared to other nations and considered one among many, it is not called a mountain, according to the prophecy: Its foundations are on the holy mountains. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob (Psalm 87:1); but it is called a valley, because it is humbled. In other words, Jeremiah himself says this: when he received a cup full of wine, he gave it to all the nations, and finally he offered it to Jerusalem to drink, vomit, fall, and go crazy, signifying the destruction of Babylon (Jeremiah 25). The history of the kings and Jeremiah explains this more fully. From this, we understand that the creator of all is equally God, and that he judges and dispenses everything according to his will, as he himself says through Amos: Are you not as the children of the Ethiopians to me, O children of Israel? The Lord says: Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? Behold, the eyes of the Lord are upon the sinful kingdom (Amos 9:7). So the Jews should not think that they have a privilege because they were brought out of Egypt, for God also says that other nations were transferred to other lands by his authority.What is also your concern, since you have ascended and fully entered the roofs, the city full of clamor, a crowded city, an exulting state? The Hebrew explained to me that the present Vision does not pertain to that time when Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem and led Zedekiah bound and blinded to Babylon, but to the times of Sennacherib when the high priest Sobna betrayed a great part of the city, and only Zion, that is, the citadel and the Temple, remained, as an example of the Roman city, which, while the Gauls were attacking, preserved the patricians and the flower of youth in the citadel. But we can also speak about the Babylonian captivity: although Eusebius refers everything to the coming of Christ and thinks that it was completed in the times of Vespasian and Titus. Let us take each point briefly, touching on the threefold explanation. What about you? What do you have, Zion, that you too have ascended all the roofs? When he says 'you too', he shows that others had already ascended. Have you also been counted among the nations that you are besieged by enemies and ascend the roofs filled with the wailing and lamentation of miserable women, once a royal city?
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(V. 3.) Your killed ones were not killed by the sword, nor dead in battle. All your princes fled together: and were severely bound. All those who were found, were bound together: they fled far away. If you refer to the times of Sennacherib, when the city was partly captured, it is rightly said that they were not defeated by the sword, nor killed in battle, but by treachery, while some fled from the city; others, whom the enemy oppressed, were bound in chains. But if we speak of the captivity in Babylon, which is truer: we shall say that they were overcome not by battle, but by siege. But if you wish to interpret it tropologically with respect to the coming of Christ, according to Eusebius: you will say that they were killed not by the sword, but by unfaithfulness, and that all their leaders have turned away from God and have been bound by the cords of sins, and that there was no Pharisee who was not bound by the snares of the devil.22:4
(Verse 4.) Therefore I said, depart from me; I will weep bitterly: do not try to console me concerning the devastation of the daughter of my people. If the prophet weeps in the devastation of Babylon with great sorrow, and says: Anguish has taken hold of me, as the anguish of a woman in labor: I fell down when I heard it, I was troubled when I saw it, my heart became faint, darkness stunned me: Babylon, my beloved, has become a wonder to me, how much more now, in the ruin of her city, can she receive no consolation, surrendering herself entirely to mourning!22:5
(Verse 5.) For it is a day of slaughter, and of trampling, and of weeping to the Lord God of hosts in the Valley of Vision. He reveals the reasons according to triple understanding why he said: Depart from me, I will weep bitterly; because Zion is trodden down, once a mountain of visions, and now a valley of weeping.22:6
(Verse 6.) Searching the wall, and magnificent upon the mountain: and Elam took the quiver, the chariot of a man on horseback, and uncovered the shield the shield stripped the wall. The army of Babylon is described as entering the city, occupying the temple, and proudly advancing through the streets with chariots. And the fact that it uncovered the golden posts and the walls adorned with marble crusts, the shield that is used to cover others, elegantly resonates in Hebrew, and the meaning is most beautiful, that it did not protect anyone, but uncovered. This is because through the strength of the soldiers all resources have been plundered. But if the Elamites are mentioned in battle, which city is of the Assyrians: it cannot be referred to the times of the Roman overthrow, unless perhaps we interpret everything allegorically.22:7-9
(Verses 7-9.) And your chosen valleys will be full of chariots, and the horsemen will set their seats at the gate. And the covering of Judah will be revealed, and on that day you will see the arsenal of the house of the forest, and the breaches of the city of David, for they have multiplied. It clearly describes the captivity that occurred in the eleventh year of King Zedekiah, of which Jeremiah also speaks: Behold, I will summon all the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord, and they will come and each one will set their throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and on all its surrounding walls (Jeremiah 1:15). So that what was predicted in word and not fulfilled in deed, Jeremiah also says the same: In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the city was opened, and all the officials of the king of Babylon entered and sat in the middle gate (Jer. 39:2). Therefore, in the surrounding area of the city of Jerusalem, an innumerable army was spread out, and the Holy of Holies and the armory, which had been planted with groves, were opened due to hostile plundering, and the enemy entered through all parts of the city, divided by walls.22:10-11
(Vers. 10, 11.) And you gathered the waters of the lower pool, and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you destroyed houses to fortify the wall. And you made a reservoir between the two walls, and the water of the Old Pool. And you did not look to the One who made it, and you did not see the One who fashioned it from afar. It tells how they prepared the city for siege, and transferred the waters of the lower pool to the upper fortification, and after destroying the houses, they built walls, and through each family, they counted the amount of water that each house should receive, and they made a cistern between the two walls, and restored the old pool to preserve the water. And they did not call upon the help of God, who is the creator of the city and the Lord of the pool; as if God had said in other words: You trusted in man and not in God, who is the maker of man. Certain people, according to a mystical understanding, understand the old pool to be a shadow of the Law, and between two walls, namely the new and old Testament, they see a lake built by the Pharisees' traditions and commands, which cannot contain water: and they did not look to the Son of God, nor did they believe in His presence, whom they had never seen before, because they have always been incredulous to God's precepts.22:12-14
(Verse 12-14) And the Lord God of hosts shall call in that day to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth. And behold joy and gladness, killing calves, and slaying sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die. And it was revealed in my ears by the Lord of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord God of hosts. In the present captivity and siege of Jerusalem, when the city was being pressed by sword, famine, and thirst, Jeremiah called the people to repentance (Jeremiah 34). On the other hand, kings, princes, and the miserable populace, in their desperate state, devoted themselves to feasting. However, nothing offends God more than a neck raised after sins, and being despised out of desperation. This is also spoken by Amos: I will not turn away from him for three or four transgressions; because he has thought and done them and has not repented, moreover he has taught evil. Wherefore now it is said: If this iniquity remain unpunished to you, until ye die. (Amos I, 4). Allegorical interpreters say it is about the passion of Christ, that God has called even after the crucifixion of the Lord and Saviour an unfaithful people to repentance, and nevertheless that people has delivered itself to despair and pleasure. The beginning of this vision, where it says: Full of outcry, a populous city, a joyful town, refers to that time when the people, instigated by the Pharisees, echoed with the same voice against Jesus: Crucify, crucify such a one: we have no king but Caesar. (John XIX, 6, 7). The Apostle also made use of this testimony, writing to the Corinthians about the resurrection: If the dead do not rise again, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die (I Cor. XV, 32).22:15-25
(Verse 15 onward) Thus says the Lord God of hosts: Go, go into him who dwells in the tabernacle, to Shebna, the overseer of the Temple, and say to him: What are you doing here? Or who are you here, because you have dug for yourself here a tomb? You have dug your memorial on high, diligently in the rock you have made a dwelling for yourself. Behold, the Lord will carry you away: like the lifting of a rooster or like a garment he will lift you up. He will surely overthrow you and throw you into a wide and spacious land: there you shall die, and there shall be the chariots of your glory; the disgrace of your Lord's house. And I will drive you out from your office, and I will remove you from your position. And on that day, I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah. And I will clothe him with your robe, and I will strengthen him with your sash, and I will give your authority into his hand. And he will be like a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will place the key of the house of David on his shoulder, and he will open, and no one shall shut; and he will shut, and no one shall open. And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons. In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the Lord hath spoken it. We have already mentioned that Shebna was a high priest who betrayed the city to the Assyrians. But because this is a Hebrew tradition and Scripture does not speak of it, let us understand him to be proud, arrogant, and indulgent, trampling on nations with his own feet. And because he did everything the Prophet describes, his priesthood was transferred to Eliakim son of Hilkiah, so that he would be expelled and a new high priest would be made. From this we understand that we must avoid pride with all diligence, which offends God, and even the privilege of the high priesthood cannot be considered secure. This is Shebna (as some think) and Eliakim, of whom the same Prophet says: The king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a heavy hand; and he stood near the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Fuller's Field. Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, came out to him, as did the court secretary Shebna and the royal historian Joah son of Asaph (Isaiah 36:2-3). Therefore, the Prophet is ordered to go to the high priest, who lived, according to the Septuagint, in the sanctuary; according to Aquila, in the tabernacle. For this, Theodotion, following the Hebrew truth, says: Go to this Shebna, which can be interpreted as just and right (so that he may be understood in the opposite sense, as unjust and wicked), to the high priest of the temple, and say to him: You who live in the house of God, where wickedness is rampant in the whole city, why are you so secure in your works, as if you do not fear captivity? You have carved for yourself a tomb in a rock, and you have built so proudly that your ambition follows you even in death? Listen to what is the Lord's message to you: just as a rooster carrying a hen on its shoulder is taken away, and each of the men lifts his cloak on his shoulder, so will your easy capture be. You will have a crown not of gold sheets and the sanctification of the Lord, but of tribulation and distress. For just as a ball, if thrown on a slope, cannot stand, but rolls with swift speed, so will you be led to the broadest land, which we understand as either the fields of Egypt or Babylon, and there you will die. And there will be chariots of glory, all power and wealth, with which you now walk supported. There you will experience the shame of the house of your Lord: because of your evil deeds, and the violation of the Temple of your God, you will suffer these things. I will remove you from your position, and I will cast you out from the office of the priesthood, and I will clothe my servant Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, with your garments, and I will adorn him with your sash, just as Eleazar was clothed in the garments of his father Aaron. I will give the authority of the Temple to him, who shall have a people not subject to him as a servant, but who loves him as a son. He himself will receive the key to my house, and he will carry it on his shoulder; he will have the authority over all the ceremonies. And just as a peg is fixed on the wall of the Temple, and placed in a secure place, all the vessels of the priests and Levites, both those necessary for sacrifices and all kinds of musical instruments, are suspended on it: so the entire people will depend on the authority of my servant Eliakim. But what he says: On that day the peg that was fixed in the faithful place will be removed, and it will be broken, and it will fall, and everything that was hanging on it will perish, because the Lord has spoken it, many attribute it to Shebna, that Eliakim, having fixed the peg, caused the previous peg to fall. But because it follows: And what hung on it will perish: we understand this to be said, that with Sobna deposed, it was by no means fulfilled, that Eliacim, who overturned the dignity of the priesthood, received the pontificate, and in the succession of Eliacim, which means God arising, the sacraments of the evangelical cult are shown: so that what follows may be understood: On that day, says the Lord of hosts, the peg that was firmly fastened in a secure place will be removed, broken and fallen, to the ruin of the former people. But there is no doubt, both according to history and according to allegory, that the flag, so to speak, signifies the suspension of vessels of different kinds; and that when the former are broken, others are suspended in their place.23:1
(Chapter 23, Verse 1) The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of the sea; for the house is laid waste, from whence they come: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them. Be silent, ye inhabitants of the island; thou merchants of Sidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished thee. And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, was her revenue; and she became the mart of nations. Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. They shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; I will scrape her dust from her and make her like the top of a rock. (Ezek. 26:2-4) As for the many nations that will overflow Tyre like the overflowing sea, in the following verses it is specifically stated: Behold, I will bring against Tyre Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, from the north, with horses, chariots, horsemen, and a great army and people. He will kill your daughters who are in the field with a sword; and he will surround you with fortifications; and he will gather a rampart around you and raise a shield against you; and he will temper vineyards and battering rams against your walls; and he will destroy your towers with his weapons; and other things that follow to the end of the vision. For in another prophecy, which is seen against the Egyptians, the same Scripture conceals: Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon made his army serve with great servitude against Tyre: every head was shaved, and every shoulder was shaved, and there was no payment given to him, nor to his army from Tyre (Ezek. XXIX). Through which it signifies that a mound was built up over a long time by the army of Babylon, so that what Alexander later did, uniting an island to the mainland, he attempted to do first. (Quint. Curt. lib. IV). Therefore, just as we read above about the Babylonians, Philistines, Moabites, Egyptians, Edomites, and Ishmaelites, that they insulted the captivity of his people, so too now a prophecy is hidden against the enemy Tyre, an insulter and overthrower of Jerusalem, that it also must be destroyed by the same enemy. We read the histories of the Greeks, especially those who describe the wars of the Assyrian people; and there we find that after the captivity of Jerusalem, the Palestinians, Arabs, and Damascenes were subverted. As for the fact that these nations, especially Tyre, have always attacked Israel and rejoiced in its overthrow, the prophet Amos explains this at the beginning of his book (Amos. I), and the Psalmist briefly declares praises to God, saying: O God, who is like you? Do not be silent, nor be restrained, O God. For behold, your enemies have made a noise; and those who hate you have lifted up their heads. They have devised a wicked plan against your people, and have plotted against your saints. They have said, 'Come, let us destroy them from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.' For they have consulted together with one consent; they form a confederacy against you: the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites, Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre (Psalm 83:1-8). From all of these things we learn that the weight of God's anger came upon the harlot Tyre, who here is described under the guise of a prostitute in the translation of Ezekiel (Ezek. XXVI). Howl, says he, ye ships of the sea. For this in the Septuagint we read Carthage: and it is found in the Hebrew Tharsis (): of which I have discussed in Jonah the prophet, and in a certain letter. But we can, because Carthage is a colony of Tyre, understand in the present place Tharsis, not the sea in general, but also Carthage: that by no means from Africa do ships come to Tyre, nor from the land of Chittim, which some interpret as Cyprus: even to this day there is a city called Citium among them, from which Zeno, the founder of the Stoic sect, arose as a heretic: although most of our people, and especially the leaders of the Maccabees, consider Chittim to be the islands of Italy and Macedonia. For this Scripture recalls that Alexander, the king of the Macedonians, set out from the land of Cethim. And by naming the island, it does not lie: for afterward it became part of the mainland at the time of Nabuchodonosor or Alexander, on account of the many embankments constructed in the narrow strait. It also mentions the trading of Sidon, according to the following verse, in which it says: Be ashamed, Sidon. For the histories recount that Tyre was a colony of Sidon.23:3
(Vers. 3.) Those crossing the sea fill you, in many waters, with the seed of the Nile, and the harvest of its river. Tyre rejoices in trade, and is the market of the whole world, and the present times prove it, as described by Ezekiel in his lengthy discourse. That merchants cross the seas in transporting goods is not doubted by anyone; nor does the city itself have such great wealth from the land of its region, which is very narrow, and is pressed by the borders of Galilee and Damascus, as it has from the transportation of ships. The entire Nile and the fertility of Egypt are poured out nearby Tyre. Regarding the Nile, which we read as Sior among the Hebrews, it was interpreted by the Septuagint and Theodotion as meaning turbid, and therefore signifies the waters of the Nile. As Jeremiah testifies, what do you have to do with the waters of Geon, and Egypt, that you drink from turbid waters (Jeremiah II, 18): for which in Hebrew it is called Sior, that is, turbid.23:4
(Verse 4.) Blush, O Sidon: for the sea speaks as the strength of the sea, saying: I have not given birth, and I have not borne, and I have not nourished the youth, nor have I led the maidens to growth. I have said before that the colony of the Sidonians is Tyre. Therefore, listen, mother, all the seas together cry out against your daughter, and in a way, emit a voice that they cannot naturally speak: I have gathered riches in vain: for no reason did I bring wealth from the whole world into Tyre: she, once rich, once luxurious, and once rejoicing in the multitude of peoples in which a crowd of mortals were born, a crowd of children, the trials of youth, whose streets were filled with the games of maidens, infants, youths, and girls: now she has been reduced to desolation. However, the practice of personifying mute objects is a common ritual.23:5
(Verse 5) When it is heard in Egypt, they will grieve when they hear about Tyre. This is clear, that after the Egyptians hear about the most powerful and neighboring nation being destroyed by a long siege, they will also know that their own destruction is approaching.23:6
(Verse 6.) Cross over, O sea! Cry out, you who dwell on the island! Once again, they have carried Carthage across the sea and to Tharsis, seventy ships. We read in the histories of the Assyrians that the besieged Tyrians, seeing no hope of escape, fled to Carthage, either to other islands of the Ionian and Aegean seas. Hence it is said in Ezekiel: No wages were given to him, nor to his army from Tyre (Ezek. 29); because all the wealth of the city has been transferred, and all its nobles have abandoned it empty.23:7
(Verse 7) Is this not yours, which boasted in its ancient days? Tyre, pride, has been rebuked because it boasted in its ancient state and did not look to God. Instead, it remembered the names of its ancestors, thinking itself eternal.He led her two hundred feet away for a pilgrimage. He says this to those who remained in the city, and the captives were led to Babylon.
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(Verse 8.) Who ever thought about this regarding Tyre, once crowned? Again, read Ezekiel (Ezek. XXVII), and you will learn of the great glory of Tyre from the lamentation of its prince. He calls it crowned because just as a king raises his head adorned with a diadem among a great multitude of people, so Tyre, shining and rich in wealth, adorned with gold and gems, silk and purple, was considered a queen among all nations.Whose merchants were the principal ones, and his attendants were distinguished in the land. We marvel at the envoy of Pyrrhus who once said of the city of Rome, I have seen a city of kings. Behold, long before those times, the merchants and attendants of Tyre, the principal and distinguished ones, are described in such a way as to demonstrate the greatness of wealth, since a Tyrian merchant could be called a king in the words of another.
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(Verse 9.) The Lord of hosts has thought of this, to take away the pride of all glory: and to bring into contempt all the glorious ones of the earth. For as he had said above: Who hath thought the former Tyre, crowned by the ancients, that such a thing should be done? Now he himself speaks: Not of the fates, as foolish men imagine, are these threads spun: not by the turning of fortune's wheel, but by the judgment of God and his own will, is all this accomplished, who resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble (James 4): and it warns the arrogant of their condition, that they may learn his power through misery, whose mercy they refused to feel through benefits.23:10
(Verse 10) Go through your land like a river, O daughter of the sea; you have no more restraint. Just as a river, or as the Hebrew more significantly has it, a stream, for this is called Jabbok, is easily crossed on foot, so you, O daughter of the sea, whether because you are an island or because it is written about you: 'The sea has spoken, the strength of the sea, I have not travailed, nor given birth.' And what he adds, 'you have no more restraint', Symmachus clearly teaches us the meaning: you will no longer be able to resist, that is, you will not have strength, nor will you gird your loins for battle, so that you may oppose your adversaries.23:11
(Verse 11.) He stretched out his hand over the sea, he troubled the kingdoms. Who stretched out his hand? Without a doubt, based on the context of the words themselves, it is God, about whom he said above: the Lord of hosts has planned this, to take away the pride of all glory. He therefore stretched out his hand over all the seas, signifying the world and its inhabitants, and troubled all the nations, among which, even you, Tyre, were troubled, whether it be over the sea, on which you are specifically situated.23:12
(Verse 12) The Lord commanded against Canaan, to crush its strong ones. He showed that there is a sea, upon which the Lord stretched out his hand, saying: He commanded against Canaan. For Tyre was founded in the land of Canaan. Read the Scriptures, especially the Gospel (Mark 7), where the Syrophoenician woman, interceding for her daughter, comes out of the land of Canaan, which is called the Canaanite woman. And at the same time, because he had said: He stretched out his hand, lest you believe that the Lord was working with his limbs and physical function, he added that it was commanded, that it was done by God's order.23:13
(Verse 13) And he said: You shall no longer boast, enduring slander, O virgin daughter of Sidon, rising up to Cythim, crossing over: there also you will find no rest. God, who has determined to bring down the pride of all glory, who has commanded against Canaan, to crush its warriors, he himself says, By no means shall you boast any longer, and trust in your own power. O virgin daughter of Sidon, that is, the colony of the Sidonians, you will indeed flee by ships to the islands of the West, or to Cyprus, and the other lands of Macedonia and Greece, but even there, when God opposes you, you will not find rest. Furthermore, he is always wandering and a stranger in the world, and in uncertain places, always in distress and constantly in sorrow.23:13-14
(Verse 13, 14.) Behold the land of the Chaldeans, such a people has never existed: Assyria laid it waste, they led away its strong men, they dug up its houses, they reduced it to ruins. Wail, O ships of the sea, for your strength is destroyed. For as it was said before: His feet will travel a great distance in exile; and again, Cross over your land like a river, and the people of Tyre will be doubly afflicted, those who fled and crossed over to Cyprus, and those who remained in the city. About those who had fled, he says above: Rising up, cross over to Cethim, there also there will be no rest for you. About those who remained and were led into captivity, he says: Behold, the inhabitants of the land of the Chaldeans, whose power no other people had before, and which was founded by the Assyrians, they have led mighty men of Tyre. They not only dug up the walls, but also all the dwellings of the city, and turned it into ruins. Therefore, because some have fled and others have been captured, howl, O ships, whether of the sea or of Carthage; for your trade and colony have been destroyed. At the same time, consider how he praised the Chaldeans. He did not say that such a people will no longer exist: for indeed, the kingdom of the Romans is more powerful and harsher; but, there was not one before. He who denied the previous things, has conceded the following things.23:15
(Verse 15.) And it shall come to pass on that day, Tyre, you shall be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. From this point until the end of this prophecy, favorable tidings are announced for Tyre, that it shall repent, that it shall be rebuilt again, but that its destruction shall remain for only seventy years, the same number of years that the temple of God was desolate. Tyre shall imitate the time of its ruins, just as it had mocked the ruins of others. However, many believe that the seventy years of one king refer to the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, during which the kingdom of the Assyrian people persisted in Jerusalem. Others generally claim that someone who has had a long reign cannot exceed seventy years.23:16
(Verse 16.) After seventy years, Tyre will be like the song of a prostitute. Take up the lyre, go around the city, forgotten prostitute, sing well, sing often, so that there will be a memory of you. Because you have prostituted yourself with many nations, and you have been left desolate, naked, and filthy with the filth of captivity, your former lovers have despised you. Now take up the lyre, sing songs of lamentation, go around the city, weep for your former brothel, and wash away the traces of your ancient error with tears, so that you may provoke the mercy of God in yourself.23:17
(Verse 17) And it will be, after seventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and He will restore it to its merchandise, and again it will commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the earth on the face of the earth. All these things are indicated by the consonant letters of the Greeks and the Phoenicians, that after seventy years, it was restored and returned to its former power, and it became a market for all nations, which I think are called fornications, just as one who commits fornication enters a brothel and gives a fee for immorality: in the same way, the instigator, coming together from the whole world, will fill the beauty of the city like that of a harlot.23:18
(Verse 18) And his business shall be holy to the Lord, and his wages shall be set apart for the Lord; they shall not be stored up or hoarded away. For those who dwell before the Lord, his business shall be to eat in plenty and be clothed until old age. These things, according to history, we have not yet discovered if they have been fulfilled, unless it is to be thought that after the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the restoration of Tyre, the two cities were friendly with each other and frequently sent gifts to the temple of God in Tyre. Just as we read in Ezra (Esdras 13:16) that he drove away the Tyrians who were selling fish on the Sabbath and did not allow them to enter the city, and it should be estimated from this example about other business dealings as well. The Jews delay their empty prayers for the future, stating that these will be fulfilled after the Antichrist in a thousand years. It is not surprising if they fabricate such things, as they have rejected the truth of Christ and are preparing to receive the Antichrist, the instrument of the devil. Even Christians who fall into Judaizing contend that these words refer to a thousand years of blessedness. However, I, in understanding the vision of Babylon as a type of its destruction, interpret it as the time of its fulfillment, and in Egypt, with its idols destroyed and the altar of the Lord erected, I refer it to the time of Christ. Likewise, in the vision of Moab, I recognize the throne of the Savior placed on his land, and in all the other visions of Damascus, I have no doubt that they are sacraments of our times. Thus, in the vision of Tyre, which is the most extreme, I interpret it as the time of Christian felicity: that after it is built and regains its former state, all merchants return to their ancient customs, entering its harbor, and their goods and labor are dedicated to the Lord. Let us consider the churches built in Tyre, let us think about the wealth of all, which is not stored up or hoarded, but given to those who live before the Lord, who, as altar servants, share with the altar (1 Corinthians 9). However, the Tyrians serve not for wealth, nor to accumulate the wealth of priests, but to provide for the necessary sustenance: so that, according to the Apostle, having food and clothing, we may be content with these (1 Timothy 6). And note that it did not say negotiations and goods of Tyre sanctified to be given to the Lord to those who dwell in Jerusalem as the Jews think, but to those who are before the Lord, who serve Him. For the Lord established it so that those who preach the Gospel should live from the Gospel (I Cor. IX). But to serve the Lord and to dwell before Him is not a matter of place, but of merit. Thus far we have discussed the visions of Isaiah, or the burdens that he imposed on certain nations, as you have commanded, and as we have been able to, following the historical interpretation, focusing only on the footsteps of Hebrew truth. The following things pertain to all nations, and generally to the completion of the whole world. About these things, neither did you ask me to write, nor was it a waste of time for me to dictate unasked and barely written about sought-after things.Book Six
Book SixWhat I promised in the previous volume, that if Christ were to grant our desire, I would build a spiritual structure upon the foundations of history and show the adornment of the perfect Church with its roof set, I will attempt to accomplish in the following two books, O virgin of Christ Eustochium, through your prayers and the mercy of the Lord, so that with the same effort that the fifth book encompasses history, the sixth and seventh may touch upon the anagoge: not discussing everything, lest the volumes become too numerous, but briefly indicating what the men of the Church before us have thought.
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(Chapter XIII—Verse 1) The burden or vision against Babylon that Isaiah, son of Amos, saw. He saw not with the eyes of the flesh, but with the eyes of the mind, how great and weighty a burden is to be imposed upon Babylon. And because Babylon, which in Hebrew is called Babel (), signifies confusion; because there the speech of the builders was confounded, it is understood spiritually that this world, which is placed in evil, not only confuses languages, but also the works of individuals and their minds. The king of Babylon is the true Nebuchadnezzar, who rebels against the Lord, saying in his heart: I will ascend to heaven, I will set my throne above the stars of heaven. I will sit on the mountain of the Covenant on the sides of the North. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High. This is the one who shows the Lord all the kingdoms of the world, and said to him: All these things are given to me, and I will give them to you, if you fall down and worship me (Matthew 4:9). Finally, in the following statements, there is a threat not against Babylon, but against the whole world. The Lord of Hosts commanded the most warlike nation to come from a distant land, from the highest heavens, to destroy the world. And again: Behold, the day of incurable fury and wrath is coming, to make the world a deserted place, and to destroy sinners from it. And then: I will bring evils upon the whole world, and upon the wicked their own sins. From these things it is proved that everything that is said against Babylon pertains to the confusion and destruction of this world.13:2
(Version 2.) On the dark or open plain, raise the sign. The Apostles and the Apostolic men and masters of the Churches are instructed to raise the sign of the Lord's cross when they are about to fight against Babylon, not in a lowly place or in sunken valleys, but on a dark or open mountain. The former signifies the hidden sacraments of the Church, which Moses entered into darkness and gloom in order to see and hear the voice of God. For God has set darkness as his hiding place: and clouds and mists surround him. (Psalm 17). The other teaches us that we should ascend to the heights of ecclesiastical teachings in such a way that, according to the Apostle Paul, we humble ourselves and say: 'I am not worthy to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God' (1 Corinthians 15, 9). He himself raised a sign on the mountain plain, when, with inherent humility, he said: 'But I have judged myself to know nothing among you, except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.' But this sign he himself shall raise up in the previous days, who has arisen from the root of Jesse amongst the nations, in order to gather the lost of Israel.Exalt your voice, raise your hand. Regarding which, the Seventy translated: 'Console his hand.' He who speaks of lofty matters raises his voice and despises present things as if they were brief and fleeting. He also hears from Isaiah: 'Ascend to the high mountain, O bearer of good news to Zion. Raise your voice with strength, O bearer of good news to Jerusalem; raise your hand, O bearer of good news.' And he is able, like David, to say: 'The raising of my hands is an evening sacrifice.' And he raises holy hands in every place, not only to raise his hands, but also to console with his hand, so that he does not say to the poor: 'Come back tomorrow and take it,' but rather to console his poverty and need with present mercy.
And let the leaders enter the gates. LXX: Open, O leaders. The leaders of the Church enter the gates of God's mysteries, and they understand the sacraments of the Scriptures, having the key of knowledge, so that they may open them to the people who believe in them. Therefore, it is commanded that the teachers open them, and the disciples enter.
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(Verse 3) I have commanded my sanctified ones. Concerning this, in the Septuagint (LXX): I will command, and I will bring them. For he himself sanctifies his ministers, so that both the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified may all be one. He also speaks in another place to the believers: Be holy, for I am holy, he himself commands, and he will bring his princes to do what has been commanded (Leviticus 19:2).And I called my strong ones in my anger: rejoicing in my glory. LXX: Giants come to fulfill my fury, rejoicing together and causing insult. According to the Hebrew, they adhere to the previous statements, that He Himself called His strong ones, rejoicing in His glory, those whom He had commanded to be sanctified. However, according to the LXX, the coming giants to fulfill the wrath of the Lord, rejoicing in the injury of others and rejoicing, must be understood as the reception of left-handed and contrary virtues, of which we also read in the Psalms: He sent upon them the rage of His anger, wrath and trouble, by the sending of the worst Angels (Psalm LXXVII, 49). Among these is the destroyer in Egypt, who dares not enter the dwelling of the blood-stained doorposts (Exod. XII), and that spirit who went forth and stood in the presence of the Lord, and said: 'I will deceive Ahab.' And the Lord said to him: 'You will deceive and prevail, go forth and do so' (III Kings XXII, 21, 22). From the same book of Kings, Michaiah said: 'I saw the Lord of Israel sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven stood around Him on His right hand and on His left' (Ibid., 9). The virtues of the angels who are sent for good are on the right, but those who are entrusted with punishing are on the left. Hence, the Apostle says: 'Those whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they may learn not to blaspheme' (I Tim. I, 20). However, the name of the giants, for which in Hebrew it is Geborim (), that is, the strong ones, is translated by the Septuagint and Theodotion into a likeness of the fables of the gentiles, just as they name the Sirens, and Titans, and Arcturus, the Hyades, and Orion, which are called by different names among the Hebrews. But if the giants are rebellious against God, and all heresies rebel against the truth contrary to God: all heretics are giants, who rejoice in their error, and especially glory when they have insulted the Church.
13:5
(Verse 5) The voice of the multitude on the mountains is like the voice of populous nations, the sound of gathered kings of nations. This place is understood in three ways. First, that with a raised sign on a rural mountain, a multitude of nations may come, and they themselves, being situated on the mountains, are divided into two, namely, peoples and kings, disciples and teachers, of whom the Savior spoke in the Gospel: Many will come from the east and west and recline at table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 8:11). Therefore, one voice is said to be consonant, so that the apostolic saying may be proved: 'You all say the same thing and there are no divisions among you, but you are perfect in the same mind and in the same judgment' (1 Corinthians 1:10). Secondly, the pride of heretics is described, who, believing themselves to be on mountains, rise up against the knowledge of God and speak iniquity on high, and they raise their mouths to heaven. They themselves also have people, they have kings, who devour the deceived people. The third interpretation is as follows: because, as mentioned before, the giants come to fulfill my wrath, rejoicing together and committing insults; the passage describes the arrogance of the giants themselves and their agreement to carry out punishment against those who have been handed over to them.The Lord of hosts has commanded the army of war, coming from a far country, from the end of heaven: The Lord and his vessels of wrath, to destroy all the earth. LXX: The Lord of hosts has commanded the most warlike nation, to come from a distant land from the highest foundation of heaven. The foundation must be noted. We read in the Book of Kings and Chronicles (2 Kings 24; 1 Chronicles 21). The passage states that the anger of God was kindled against Israel when David numbered the people, which offended the Lord. In the Psalms, it is also written: 'O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath,' and so on with similar statements. It is mentioned in someone's (possibly Basil's) Commentaries that the anger of God can be understood as contrary to strength, which is given to us for punishment. This is also sung in the eighth psalm: 'To destroy the enemy and the avenger' (Psalm 8:3). Those can be called warriors who come from far away lands and from the highest heavens, even the ministering angels who are to be sent in the consummation of the world to gather the bundles of weeds and prepare them for eternal fire (Matthew 13). Likewise, the whole earth is destroyed when earthly works are overthrown. There are also other warriors of the Lord, armed like the apostles, who daily in the Church, which is called the inhabited world, fight against and kill those who rise up against the knowledge of God.
13:6-7
(Verse 6, 7.) Howl, for the day of the Lord is near; it will come as destruction from the Lord. Therefore all hands will be feeble, and every man's heart will melt, and be crushed. For the warriors of the Lord are coming to destroy all the earth, howl and repent, for punishment is coming. For the day of the Lord is near, the end of the world, and judgment, or the end of each person's life. For plunder comes from the Lord, which we call destruction, to keep the metaphor, because the warriors had been sent ahead. When the day of judgment or of death comes, all hands will be dissolved, as it is said elsewhere: Take courage, you who have dissolved hands. The hands will be dissolved because no work worthy of God's justice will be found, and in his sight, no living creature will be justified (Psalm 142:2). Therefore, the Prophet says in the Psalms: If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, who could stand? (Psalm 130:3). Every heart and every soul of man will waste away, and the conscience of their sin will cause fear. This is a day of fear and terror, about which even Zephaniah speaks: 'Fear before the Lord; for the day of the Lord is near' (Soph. I, 14). And again: 'The great day of the Lord is near, it is near and hastens quickly' (Zeph. I, 14). And Amos says: 'Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light' (Amos V, 18). And that which is added in the Septuagint is: 'The messengers will be troubled and pains will seize them'. We can interpret those messengers as the citizens who sent against him who had gone into a far country to obtain a kingdom for himself' (Luke XIX, 27). But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.13:8
(Verse 8.) They will be tormented with twists and pains. They will groan like a woman giving birth. Each one will be astonished at their neighbor. Their faces will be burned. When the warriors of the Lord come from a distant land, and all hands are loosened, and the heart is fearful and crushed, then the stomach turns, which we have interpreted as twists, and pains will torment them, similar to the pains of a woman in labor. Through this, it is shown that they are tormented by their own conscience and have faces burned by the fire they have kindled for themselves. Because they cannot say: 'The light of your face, Lord, has shone upon us' (Psalm 4:7); and: 'We all, with unveiled face, contemplate the glory of the Lord, and we are transformed into the same image' (2 Corinthians 3:18). Each one will be amazed to see their neighbor suffering in the same torments as themselves.13:9
(Verse 9) Behold, the cruel day of the Lord is coming, full of indignation, wrath, and fury, to make the earth a desolation and to crush sinners out of it. For the phrase 'the earth' the Seventy interpreted it as 'the inhabited world', that is, the globe. And for 'cruel' they translated it as 'incurable'. For when the day of judgment or death comes, that will be fulfilled which is read in the sixth psalm: 'For in death, who will give you thanks?' (Ps. VI, 6). For that time is not a time of repentance, but of punishment. And in another place it is said: How great is the multitude of your sweetness, Lord, which you have hidden for those who fear you! Therefore, much of God's mercy is hidden from those who are still in fear and do not have perfect love of God, so that when they hear of the cruel day of the Lord, and of the incurable and full of anger and fury, they may cease from sinning. The world or the earth will also be turned into a desert, and sinners will be crushed by it, which was previously burdened by the weight of sins, so that after wickedness is destroyed and lost, only justice may dwell and reign in the earth.13:10
(Verse 10.) For the stars of heaven and their splendor will not expand their light: the sun will be obscured in its rising, and the moon will not shine in its brightness. LXX: For the stars of heaven and Orion, and all the adornment of the heavens will not give their light (or, will have it): and they will be darkened when the sun rises, and the moon will not give its light. Because we have interpreted the splendor of them, without a doubt the stars Aquila and Theodotion have placed the Hebrew word "Chisileem" (): for which reason the LXX translated it as Orion, adding from their own, and all the adornment of the heavens, which is to be marked with an obelus. The fables of the Gentiles say that Orion has twenty-two stars, of which four are of the third magnitude, nine of the fourth, and again nine of the fifth, and they are called Bootes by others. We also read in Job about the Hyades, the Evening Star, Arcturus, and the treasures or inner parts of the South (Job 9:9), about which will be said in their proper place. Nor should we think that these stars are called by these names among the Hebrews, which the Greek and Latin language sound forth, but they have their own proper names. For just as God called light, day; and firmament, heaven; and dry land, earth; and gatherings of waters, seas (Gen. I); so too he named each star with its own names, the properties of which our language does not express. It is written of God in another place: Who numbers the multitude of stars: and calls each of them by name. Therefore, when the day of the Lord comes to establish the barrenness of the earth and to completely remove sinners from it (Ps. CXLVI, 4); then, in comparison to the divine majesty, the stars of the sky and all their splendor will withdraw their light. And it is no wonder to say this about the lesser stars, since the sun itself becomes obscured at its rising, and the moon does not have its usual radiance. But that which the seventy translators rendered, that the stars and Orion, and all the adornments of the sky are obscured at the rising of the sun, does not have any significance or miracle; for this happens at all times, that when the sun rises, the stars that are in the sky do not appear. It is also not surprising to say this about the sun, since even during a full moon and when the entire night is shining, many stars do not shine. Moreover, it also proves the daily movement of the stars in the sky, as well as the eclipse of the sun, which, as philosophers argue, when the shadow of the earth and the orbit of the moon are obstructed, brighter stars are seen in the sky.13:11
(Verse 11) And I will visit the evils of the world, and against the wickedness of their iniquities. When God visits and strikes; He strikes in order to correct. Indeed, when He is greatly angered against those who do not repent: 'I will not visit,' He says, 'upon your daughters when they have committed fornication, and upon your daughters-in-law when they have committed adultery' (Hosea 4:14). On the contrary, concerning those who will believe in Christ, it is said (Psalm 88:33): 'I will visit with the rod their iniquities, and with stripes their sins: but I will not take away my mercy from them.'And I will make the pride of the infidels rest, and I will humble the arrogance of the strong. LXX: And I will destroy the injustice of the wicked, and I will humble the injustice of the proud. The Hebrew word Gaon (), which clearly conveys arrogance and pride, has always been translated by Theodotion and the Septuagint as injustice, expressing the meaning rather than the word: because every proud person is ready for injustice. Therefore, the Lord visits the world's evils, and against the wickedness of the wicked, to suppress the arrogance of the proud, and to humble the pride of the strong. For God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5). And in Proverbs we read: Before destruction, the heart of a man is haughty, and before honor is humility (Proverbs 16:18). Pride always follows with a fall, and humility with glory: For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 14). We read in another place: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the understanding of the prudent I will reject (1 Corinthians 1:19). Not that true wisdom and true prudence are lost by the Lord, but the knowledge of a false name: those who treasure up the language of falsehood, and fail in their searching, and find nothing, speaking iniquity on high and setting their mouth against heaven. Hence the pride of heretics is properly called an injury to truth.
13:12
(Verse 12) A man will be more precious than gold and a human more adorned than the world. LXX: And those who have been abandoned will be honored more than refined gold, and a man will be more honorable than the sapphire stone. In the consummation of the world, when the globe will be reduced to desolation, and the sun will be darkened at its rising, and the moon will not give its brightness, there will be so many signs and wonders by the Antichrist, that with the increase of iniquity, the love of many will grow cold, even to deceive, if possible, the chosen ones of God (Matthew 24). Then the man will be more precious than gold, which in Hebrew is called Phaz, and Aquila translates as κιῤῥὸν, which is the color of the finest and blood-red; and the man is dressed in the finest purple, which in Hebrew is called Ophir, and Aquila translates as σπήλωμα ὀφεὶρ, which the translators of the LXX rendered as the stone from Sophir. And it is a place in India where the finest gold is born; as we read in Genesis about the river Phison: This is the one that goes around the whole land of Evila, where there is gold; and the gold of that land is the finest: and there is carbuncle and green stone. However, it is considered more precious because it is rarer. For everything that is rare is precious, as we also read in the book of Samuel: And the word of the Lord was precious in Israel (1 Samuel 3:1).13:13
(Verse 13.) On this, I will shake the heavens, and the earth will be moved from its place. LXX: For the heavens will rage, and the earth will be moved from its foundations. When a man shall be more precious than gold, and a human than a pure gold nugget, and it will fulfill what is written: Do you think that when the Son of Man comes, He will find faith on earth? (Luke XVIII, 8). Then both the heavens and the earth will be moved. For the heavens and the earth will pass away, not by their own will and choice, as many think, believing them to be living creatures. But because of the indignation of the Lord of hosts and because of the day of His fury, who looks upon the earth and causes it to tremble. Wherefore that which is said in the LXX, 'For the heavens shall rage,' is to be understood metonymically for those who are in heaven, just as if we were to say, 'The whole city shouted,' and 'The entire city went out to meet the judge.' But in Proverbs we read, 'God by wisdom hath founded the earth' (Prov. 3:19). And the Lord speaks to Job, 'Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?' (Job 38:4). Not that the earth has its foundations deep in a mass of fallen matter; but the will and power of God, by which all things are upheld, are to be called its foundations. For He founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. And He set it above nothingness.13:14-16
(Verse 14-16.) And it shall be like a frightened doe and like a flock of sheep, and there will be no one to gather them. Each one will turn to their own people, and they will each flee to their own land. Everyone who is found will be killed, and everyone who comes upon them will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be plundered, and their wives will be violated. With heaven and earth in turmoil, the devil will flee like a twisted serpent, or any doctrine contrary to the truth, which is divided among teachers and disciples, the former being called Dorcades, which means Fawns in the Greek language, and the latter are like brute animals, wandering here and there with no one to guide them. For they have lost the one about whom it is written: The steps of a man are established by the Lord (Prov. 20:24). Those who are freed from the worst teachers will turn to their own people, and they will each flee to their own land from which they came. But anyone who is found will be killed or slaughtered. However, this not only happened at the end of the world, but it still happens today in the Church: when the masters are overcome, the deceived flock returns to the people and to their own land; and in that which is found, it is killed so that it ceases to be a heretic, and whoever comes after will fall by the spiritual sword. Then their infants and little ones, who have not yet reached the age of perfected error, are blinded in the eyes of the masters, and their homes are plundered, and their wives are violated, with wicked wisdom and perverse teaching. Wherefore, for fathers of this kind, whose infants are to be killed, we ought to pray and say: Give them, O Lord. What shall you give them? A barren womb, and dry breasts (Hosea IX, 4). For they have brought forth iniquity, have conceived sorrow, and have brought forth injustice.13:17-18
(Vers. 17, 18.) Behold, I will raise up against them the Medes, who do not seek silver, nor desire gold; but they will kill the small children with arrows, and have no mercy on the infants in the womb, and their eyes will not spare the children. We find in Genesis (Gen. X) that Madai was the founder of the nation of the Medes, which means measure, or from a mighty or strong one. Therefore, against the Babylonians, who are confused in mind, ministers are raised up by the mighty and strong God to punish their strength: to render to each one according to their works. For in the measure that they measured out, it will be measured back to them. The measure they shook up and jumbled and filled to overflowing will be restored to their own bosom (Matthew 16 and Luke 6). Those who will not receive silver or gold, that is, the beauty of eloquence or the sharpness of wit, in which they used to take pride, but will rather suffer punishments, and will not show pity to little ones and infants in the womb, will receive pity themselves. And may we also be awakened by the Lord, and may we be granted this power, that we do not desire silver or gold, or the eloquence and wisdom of the secular world, but that we may slay the children of heretics, and all who have been deceived, with spiritual arrows, that is, with the testimonies of the Scriptures, and may those who are nourished with the milk of error be mercilessly slaughtered, so that they may perish with merciful cruelty, and may we have no pity for their infancy, and may we be worthy of that blessedness: Blessed is he who will hold and dash his little ones against the rock!13:18-4
(Verse 18 and following) And Babylon will be glorious among the kingdoms, renowned in the pride of the Chaldeans, just as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It will not be inhabited forever, nor will it be founded to generation and generation: nor will the Arabs pitch their tents there, nor will shepherds rest there: but beasts will rest there, and their houses will be filled with dragons: and ostriches will dwell there, and shaggy creatures will dance there; and owls will respond there in its houses: and sirens in the temples of pleasure. (Chapter XIV, Verse 1) The time is near for it to come, and its days will not be prolonged. LXX: And Babylon, which is called the glorious and famous city of the Chaldeans, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall not be inhabited forever, nor shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation; neither shall the Arabian pass by it, nor the shepherds rest there, but wild beasts of the desert shall lie there, and their houses shall be full of howling creatures, and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there, and the wild asses shall dwell there, and hedgehogs shall make their lodgings in their houses. He will come quickly and will not delay. The following should be noted with asterisks, because they are additions from Theodotion. Stirring up the city of confusion against the Medes, who do not consider gold as valuable, nor silver; who kill young children with arrows, and show no mercy to infants, and do not spare the eyes of their children. Once a renowned city that was proud of the Chaldeans, who are interpreted as demons, it will be overturned just as Sodom and Gomorrah were overturned; so that no trace of its former glory remains: but after the new heaven and the new earth, and the passing away of the figure of this world (I Cor. VII), the city of confusion will not be inhabited forever; and it will never regain the same state. For he will not set up there, once he has ceased to be in his former glory, his tents, which are called 'Arabs', meaning 'western' and 'evening'; so that he desires to dwell in the place he sees as deserted. However, 'Arabs' is taken in a positive sense in this context: that he always strives towards the end, and forgetting the past, extends himself towards the earlier times. Nor will shepherds rest there, who usually feed the gentle flock of the Lord in Jerusalem; but on the contrary, beasts will rest there, which the Psalmist detests, saying: 'Do not hand over the life of your confessor to the beasts' (Ps. 73, 19). For which Aquila, and Symmachus, and Theodotion, have placed the Hebrew word Siim (). And their houses, that is, the houses of the Babylonians, will be filled with noise, that is, with sound and cries, according to the Septuagint and Theodotion; according to Aquila, with typhons, which we translate as dragons; according to Symmachus, with Oiim (), which word is contained in Hebrew. And ostriches will dwell there, a creature always desiring desolate places, about which more is written in Job: though it appears to have wings, it is not raised up higher from the earth; wherefore the Septuagint has interpreted it as sirens. However, those who are called Pilosoi in Hebrew (פִּלּוּש) were translated by Theodotion with erect and standing hairs. Symmachus and the Septuagint (LXX) translated it as demons. The Proonocentauri, whom only the LXX translated, imitating the fables of the Gentiles, who say that they were hippocentaurs, the three remaining translators put the Hebrew word יִם (Iim), which we translate as owls. But where the LXX said, 'Hedgehogs will make their dwellings in their houses,' and in Hebrew it is written תַּחֲנִים (Thannim), Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotion translated it as sirens; signifying either some sort of animals or demons, according to the error of the Gentiles, sweetly singing and deceiving people who cannot pass by the shipwreck of this world with closed ears. Furthermore, the name onocentauri, composed of donkeys and centaurs, seems to me to signify those who in part possess something human; and again, they are drawn away from virtues and into the pleasures and filth of vices. Therefore, according to the tropology, it is said that at the end of the world, or the death of each person, all the glory and pride of the Chaldeans, and the confusion of the world, should depart from us; and thus everything should be overturned, just as God overturned Sodom and Gomorrah; and there shall no longer be a future state of this world, but it shall perish eternally. And let not the Arabs pitch their tents there, of which it is said in the sixty-seventh psalm: Scatter them that delight in war. (Psalm 68:30). Nor let the shepherds rest there, namely the angels who preside over the human race, and daily behold the face of the Father: but let the beasts and dragons rest there, and the ostriches, and the shaggy ones, and the screech owls, and the sirens, all of which beasts we understand in the likeness of angels or demons, and those to whom we are delivered for punishment. And in the houses of former pleasure, where there was joy and happiness, there will be the lamentation of howling and the mournful voice of sirens, which leads its listeners to death. But those who daily see Babylon being overthrown through holy men among those who believe in the Lord, will not be amazed that the time of judgment is imminent and the day of Babylon's destruction is not delayed; and comparing it to eternity, they will consider all length to be near. We have briefly spoken about the different species of animals, or rather monsters, in the previous book, according to a partly detailed history. It is also worth considering that after the ecclesiastical discourse and teaching of the Savior overturned the city of confusion, so that it is compared to Sodom and Gomorrah, it is not inhabited by holy men, nor do shepherds rest there, who were accustomed to feed Christ's flock. Instead, it is inhabited by beasts, and dragons, and ostriches, and hairy creatures leap about in it. For whatever the heretics speak in the synagogues of Satan, it is not the doctrine of the Lord, but the howling of demons and the hairy ones, whom Esau imitated. And the sirens rest in the temples of pleasure, who draw souls into the depths with sweet and deadly song, so that, raging in a shipwreck, they may be devoured by wolves and dogs. Therefore, the time of the ruin of the heretics is near and imminent every day, and their overthrow is not delayed.For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and will give them rest in their own land: and the stranger shall be joined with them, and shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall make them captives that had taken them, and shall rule over their oppressors. And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve: That thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and shalt say For a stranger, that is, a proselyte, they are interpreted as georas in the Septuagint, which in Hebrew is called Ger (). Hence I think also Moses' son, who was a stranger in the land, was named by his father, Gersham. (Exod. I). Therefore georas is a Hebrew word, declined according to Greek usage: although some unaware of the Hebrew language try to express a Greek etymology in it, from the fact that it has care for earthly things: for γῆ, he says, means earth, and ὤρα means care, that is, solicitude. Once again, Masal has translated the parable, which Aquila, Simmachus, and Theodotius have also translated. We have followed them and interpreted the lament as 70. However, the order is as follows: after Babylon has been deserted forever, so that it becomes a dwelling place for beasts, the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, namely the one who has overcome vices; and He will choose Israel, the one who sees God with his mind. And note the distinction of words: Jacob, who is still in struggle, will receive mercy; but Israel, who received his name after victory, is not fitted for mercy, but for rejection. He will also cause them to rest upon his land, of which the Savior speaks: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:4), and I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13). Also, the multitude of the Gentiles will be joined to the lords Jacob, who were chosen by the Apostles, and they will possess the remnants of the house of Israel and bring them to their place, so that they may dwell in their tabernacles; and the house of Israel shall possess them as servants and maidservants upon the land of the Lord. Indeed, it is advantageous for evil things to serve the good. Hence, it is said about Esau: 'You shall serve your brother.' And to Jacob: 'Your brother shall serve you.' (Genesis 27). And those who were previously deceived by sophisms will be received, and their exactors, who do all things for the sake of profit, will be reduced to servitude. But when Jacob and Israel rest from their labors, in which they had labored greatly against the world and heretics, and from their oppression and servitude, which they had previously served under malicious interpretations and false doctrines, then they will take up lamentation and parable against the king of Babylon, namely, the discourse of heretical error and confusion, and they will say the following. These Jews interpret that place in a carnal manner, because after they returned from Babylon, they will not be able to prove that it happened. For the Babylonians did not serve those who had previously captured them, nor did they possess the houses of the defeated Babylonians, nor did they have them as slaves or maidservants. Therefore, it remains that according to their fables, they think that this empire will become Roman: after they are conquered in the last times, the nations to which they were once slaves will serve them. But if those who follow the letter are deceived by false hope, who will allow them to be called Rome Babylon, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of the Roman empire?
13:5-6
(Vers. 5, 6.) How has the tax collector ceased, the tribute rested? The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked: the rod of the rulers, smiting the people in wrath, with an incurable plague, subjecting the nations in fury, persecuting cruelly. In the Epistle of Peter we read: The time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God (1 Peter 4:17). And in Ezekiel it is said to the tormentors: Begin with my sanctuary (Ezekiel 9:6). For the diversity of sin, the order of judgment is established: so that those who have sinned less, may be purified first. But the final enemy to be destroyed is death. Therefore, when Israel has been liberated from harsh bondage, he will take up a parable against the king of Babylon, which we must understand as a parable. For if the speech is about Nebuchadnezzar and a simple explanation of history, how can it be called a parable, which is not compared to any other thing? So Israel wonders how the tax collector, who used to collect all the way to the last penny, has ceased. However, he is accustomed to pursue only debtors, who say in the Lord's Prayer: Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors (Matth. VI, 12). These debtors are handed over to the collector by the judge, who sends them to prison and exacts from them up to the smallest sin. Moreover, the Apostle Paul also handed over to the collector the fornicator in Corinth, who had married his father's wife, as well as Phygellus and Hermogenes (I Cor. V; II Tim. I). And concerning these tax collectors, it is also said: My people, your tax collectors plunder you; and those who demand payment, they are your rulers. The eagle has interpreted hunger as tribute. For when our betrothed is taken away from us, we suffer hunger for the word of God, and continually fast from the body of the Lord. And so the rod and staff of the wicked, which are interpreted as a yoke of seventy, strike us or oppress us; because we did not want to bear the light yoke, the yoke of the Savior. However, with this staff and this rod, he would strike the people with incurable madness and cruelly pursue those who fled: not wanting to correct those who were handed over, but to kill them.13:7-11
(Verse 7 and following) The whole earth rested and was silent; it rejoiced and exulted. The fir trees also rejoiced over you, and the cedars of Lebanon. Since you have fallen asleep, no one will rise up to cut us down; the underworld below is troubled, and it has aroused giants in anticipation of your coming. All the rulers of the earth have risen from their thrones; all the rulers of the nations will respond and say to you: Are you also wounded like us? Have you become like us? Your pride has been brought down to the underworld, your body has fallen; below you shall be spread out maggots, decay, and worms shall be your covering. For the destruction of the impious king, who struck the nations with an incurable wound and cruelly pursued them, all the earth has rested and become silent, which previously was full of turmoil and sedition, to the extent that the firs and cedars of Lebanon rejoiced, of which it is written in the psalms: You have transplanted a vineyard from Egypt, you have driven out the nations, and you have planted it. His shade covered the mountains, and his cedars, the cedars of God (Ps. 79:9). These cedars of God, because they sinned at one time, the Lord handed over to be crushed by punishments. Hence it is said in another psalm: The Lord will crush the cedars of Lebanon (Ps. 28:5). However, the tall and lofty trees, which are exalted in the service of the Lord, should be understood as saying with a harmonious voice: Since you have slept. Note that even the death of death is called sleep. He who cuts us down will not ascend. For when the strong one is defeated and his vessels plundered, even the rest of his companions fall. Hence the Lord speaks in the Gospel (Matthew 25:41): 'Depart into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels.' How many of these woodcutters and tree fellers have cut down and made fall with their axes? The underworld also, disturbed and turned towards bitterness, at the approach of the true Nebuchadnezzar, is the place of punishments and tortures, in which the rich one clothed in purple appears: to whom the Lord descended, in order to release the prisoners from the prison. We can speak of the opposing inferno and the angel who is placed in charge of the punishments of the underworld, who raised all the giants: for which some call them Raphaims, others call them Titans. Giants, according to the custom of the Gentiles, are called those whom they consider to be earth-born, whom the earth has produced. However, we can call giants, according to the etymology of the Greek language, those who served earthly works. Finally, it follows: All the rulers of the earth rose from their thrones, in the coming of their former ruler: so that those whom they previously honored for their power, afterwards marveled at their punishments, and said: You have been wounded just like us: you have become like us. What words have this meaning: We thought that because of our weakness we could not resist the power of God, and that you were the only one who would remain in your greatness; but as it is evident, you were wounded and captured, like us; so that whom dignity separates on earth, punishment may unite in the underworld. The pride, or your glory, has been taken down to the underworld, and your corpse has fallen, or as the LXX translated, your great joy, with which you used to rejoice over the nations subject to you. Under you shall be strewn putrefaction, and worms shall be your covering. This is the resting place of the devil, this is the bed of the tempter, who was raised up in such pride that he dared even to tempt the Lord, saying: 'All these things I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.' (Matth. IV, 9). The putrefaction and worms, and the covering of vermin, signify the eternal punishments which the conscience itself gives birth to, or the material of punishments which arises from one's own sins. For just as long as the material of a corpse exists, and there is any moisture in the corpse, worms are born from the putrefaction; so from the same material the punishments of sins are produced. Therefore, the Apostle Paul, speaking of the death that Hosea prophesied about, saying, 'I will be your death, O death; I will be your sting, O grave' (Hosea 13:14), speaks to it, saying, 'Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O grave, is your sting?' (1 Corinthians 15:55). For when she is dead, there will be no one to cut us down: for there will be no sin that needs to be cut down, since the sting of death is sin.13:12
(Verse 12) How you have fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! LXX: How you have fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning! You have been shattered on the earth, who once sent to all the nations. For Lucifer, which is translated in Hebrew as Elil (), Aquila rendered the howling son of dawn. Truly, he should have howled and lamented, for he was cast down to the earth and shattered due to his pride. And the Savior also speaks to the disciples: I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven (Luke 10:18). Not only do I see, but I saw beforehand when he fell. And if he fell because of his pride from such greatness, you also should not boast, because demons are subject to you: but because your names are written in heaven; so that as he fell through pride, you may ascend through humility. This is the prince of the world, who used to rise among the other stars in the morning, and by his fault became the evening star from Lucifer, and not rising, but setting: who wounded nations, or who sent his own satellites to nations, to deceive them all with his deceit. These are false Apostles, deceitful workers, who disguise themselves as Apostles of Christ, who sow tares among the good seed, while the shepherds of the Churches are asleep and unwilling or unable to resist their evil. But Jacob, whom the Lord has shown mercy to and chosen, is still speaking these things to the devil, or as the Seventy wish to say, about the devil, that is, not as referring to the second person, but to the third.13:13-14
(Verses 13, 14.) You said in your heart: I will ascend to heaven, above the stars of God I will exalt my throne; I will sit on the mount of the covenant on the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High. Whether you said these things before you fell from heaven or afterwards, if you are still in heaven, how can you say, 'I will ascend to heaven' (Psalm 113:16)? But because we read, 'The heaven of heavens is the Lord's,' when he was in the sky, that is, in the firmament, in the heaven where the Lord's throne is, he desired to ascend, not out of humility, but out of pride. But if after he fell from heaven, he speaks these words, we should understand arrogance, because he not only does not rest having been cast down, but he still promises himself great things, not that he may be among the stars, but that he may be above the stars of God. And when the Lord speaks to the Apostles: It is enough for the disciple that he be like his teacher, and the servant like his master (Matthew 10:25), and he says to the Father: Holy Father, grant that as I and you are one, so they may be one in us (John 17:11): he boasts to such an extent that he places his throne above the stars of heaven, which have not fallen. And what it implies: I will sit on the mountain of the testament on the sides of the North; for which the Seventy translated, on a high mountain, over lofty mountains, which are towards the North, let us refer to that which is said in Jeremiah: From the North evil will burn upon all the inhabitants of the earth (Jer. 1:14). And that the pot kindled by the face of the North is ignited. This is the most severe wind of the North, from which the Lord wants to free His captive people and bring them back to the holy city, saying: I will say to the North, bring them in; and to the South, do not hinder, bring my children from a far country (Inf. 43:6). But that which can be contrary to this is easily resolved, O mountains of Zion, sides of the North, city of the great king. For those who were once the hardest on the sides of the North, through repentance have begun to be in the city of God. The devil always seeks to ascend over those who have the image of the heavenly, and who shine in the Church like the stars of God: and to sit on the mountain of the covenant or testament, that is, in the Church, which is placed in the high places, and possesses the inhabitants of the former North. He who is so forgetful of himself, that he desires to ascend above the clouds, to which the Lord commanded, so that they would not rain upon Israel, and to which the truth of the Lord reached, of which Obadiah speaks: 'Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, thence I will bring you down, says the Lord' (Obadiah, 4). Unfortunate Judas, who was sent along with the other Apostles like a cloud, so that he would rain upon Israel, and was like a star among the other stars, to whom the Lord spoke: 'Let your light shine before others' (Matthew 5:16), he accepted the devil as his partner in sin, who, in order to fulfill the words of pride, even dared to say: 'I will be like the Most High', so that just as Christ has His Prophets and Apostles, I too may have pseudoapostles. But all these things must be referred to the heretics, who, being beneath, boast themselves to be lofty with their leader.13:15
(Verse 15.) However, you will be dragged down to the depths of the lake. LXX: But now you will descend to the underworld, and to the foundations of the earth. You will not descend to the underworld willingly (or, by your own choice), for this is the work of the Lord and Savior, to free the bound from the depths. But you will be dragged down to the underworld against your will, for while you were able to ascend to the heights through virtues, you will be dragged down to punishment through vices. The saints have the wings of an eagle, and the wings of a dove, and they can say: I will fly and find rest (Psalm 54). But the wicked, like the Egyptians, were submerged as lead in the violent waters, and they were submerged into the depths like a stone (Exod. XV). Therefore, iniquity, or as is better understood in Hebrew, impiety, is seen sitting upon a talent of lead (Zach. V). Therefore, what we read elsewhere, 'Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled' (Luke XVIII, 14), even the king of confusion suffered, so that he would be cast down to the foundations of the earth, or as is more true in Hebrew, into the depths of the abyss. In Deuteronomy, it is written about the foundations of the earth: A fire is kindled in My anger, and it shall burn to the lowest hell. It shall consume the earth and its foundations, namely those who are earthly. Concerning the pit, which signifies the depths of hell, there are these testimonies: I am made like those who go down into the pit. And: You have laid me in the lowest pit. Just as a lake receives descending waters, so does hell receive souls: to this lake did Benaiah descend in the time of snow and cold, and he killed a lion there. And so the heretics forsake the fountain of the living water, the Lord, and dig for themselves broken cisterns that cannot hold water. Concerning these cisterns, which do not have the fervor of the Holy Spirit, they are not like the prophet Jeremiah, who spoke according to the Septuagint translators: 'I found warm water in the desert' (Jeremiah 2). But with charity growing cold, they have lost the heat of the Holy Spirit. That is the cistern of which Jeremiah also speaks: 'As a cistern cools the water, so does malice cool those who have it' (Jeremiah 6:7). Oh, would that they were either hot or cold (Apoc. III), that is, either believers or not believers at all, so that they would not be rejected by the Lord because of lukewarmness and feigned faith!13:16-17
(Verse 16, 17.) Those who see you will bow down to you, and they will look at you. Is this the man who troubled the earth? who shook kingdoms? who made the world a desert, and destroyed its cities, and did not open the prison to those who were bound? Or as the Seventy translated: did he not release those who were led? Those who see King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, not with the eyes, but with the sight of the heart, falling from heaven to hell, will bow down with humility, which is contrary to pride, and they will look at him saying these things: Is this not the man, or the human, who troubled or stirred up the earth? Testimony of the senses: Whoever said, 'I will be like the Most High, and exalted himself as God,' is proven to be a man, as is stated in the ninth psalm, which is specifically against the devil: 'Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail' (Psalm 9:19). And in the Gospel: 'An enemy has sown weeds among the wheat' (Matthew 13:25). Therefore, we read that it was said to him and his companions: 'I said, You are gods, sons of the Most High, but you shall die like men, and fall like any prince' (Psalm 81:6). And to the same person under the figure of the prince of Tyre it is said: Because your heart is exalted, and you have said: I am God, I dwell in the heart of the sea, whereas you are a man, and not God, and have set your heart as if it were the heart of God (Ezek. 28:2). This man, and this man alone, has troubled the whole earth, namely those who heard with Adam: You are dust, and to dust you shall return (Gen. 3:19), and has shaken kingdoms and kings whose hearts are in the hand of the Lord (Proverbs 21). He struck, he says, but did not overthrow. And hence one of those who had been struck, and yet had not fallen, spoke: But my feet have almost stumbled (Psalm 73:2). And the Apostle speaks to the believers, that they should take up the armor of God, and stand against the wiles of the devil (Ephesians 6). But the house which is founded upon a rock is not shaken by any storm (Matthew 7). It follows: He who established the inhabited world, or according to the Hebrew, all others have translated it as 'desolate.' For by vice and sins the world, which is called Thebel in Hebrew, was made a desert, so that it had no virtue, or was subject to the same vices with which the wilderness is full of nations. He also destroyed the cities of the same world, so that he might make the synagogues of the devil out of the Churches of Christ, and pollute the purity of true faith with heretical filth. But he did not open the prison to his captives, that is, to the world. We were all bound and held captive in prison, to whom the Savior said, 'Come out,' and to those who were in darkness, 'Be revealed.' For he sets free those who are bound; those who are freed by him give thanks, saying, 'You have loosed my bonds' (Ps. CXV, 17; Jer. II, Prov. V). For each person is bound by the cords of their own sins, which cords and bonds the Apostles can loose, imitating their Master who had said to them, 'Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven' (Matthew XV). And the Apostles loose them by the word of God, and the testimonies of the Scriptures, and the exhortation of virtues.13:18-19
(Verse 18, 19.) All the kings of the nations slept in glory, each one in his own house. But you have been cast out of your tomb like a fetid liquid: defiled, wrapped up with the slain and those pierced by the sword, who descend to the depths of the pit. LXX: All the kings of the nations slept in honor, each one in his own house. But you will be cast down on the mountains like an untimely birth, abominable and wrapped up with the slain who descend to the foundations of the earth. The kings of the nations, to whom God had entrusted the governance of the nations according to the Song of Deuteronomy (Deut. XXXII), were shaken by Nebuchadnezzar, but not overthrown, because their sin did not reign over them; rather, because their hearts were in the hand of God, they did not fall. Indeed, just as the Savior is called the God of gods, so the Lord is the Lord of lords and the king of kings. Therefore, all these kings rested in their glory, each in his own house. For there are many mansions in my Father's house (John 14): and due to the variety of virtues, there are differences in dwellings. Moreover, Nebuchadnezzar was thrown out of his tomb and did not rest from torments in death. He was thrown out like a discharge, which in Hebrew is called Neser, which Aquila interpreted as ichor, i.e., decay and filth, which Symmachus called abortion, i.e., dead in the Septuagint, Theodotion germ: although this very word above (Chapter 11, verse 1) where we read about Christ: A shoot shall come forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit, in the Septuagint they translated it as flower, Theodotion germ, Aquila as sapling, i.e., twig. But Neser is properly called a sapling, which grows at the roots of trees and is cast aside by farmers as useless, hence we have transferred the useless stock. Therefore, let Nabuchodonosor, like a useless sapling, be prepared for fire, or like polluted blood, wrapped up with those who were killed by his sword and have descended to the depths of the lake, may he be dragged down into the abyss, and not even have the company of those whom he killed in burial. For the punishment of one is the act of the guilty, and of another who is compelled by the one who committed the act. This is the sword by which many were wounded and killed, of which we read in the seventh psalm: Unless you be converted, he will brandish his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. And he hath prepared for him the instruments of death; he hath made ready his arrows for them that burn. Moreover, according to the Septuagint, the corpse of Nebuchadnezzar, along with many others who were killed, will be defiled and cast down on the mountains of pride, and they will be led to the underworld. But the foundations of the lake, interpreted by Symmachus as the stones of the lake, in other words, he meant the deep and abyss of the underworld.13:20
(Verse 20) You will not have the fellowship of a putrid corpse nor be buried with them. For you have destroyed your land and killed your people. LXX: Just as a garment mixed with blood cannot be clean, neither will you be clean, for you have destroyed my land and killed my people. Because there is a significant difference between the Hebrew and LXX translations, let us discuss them separately. Like a putrid corpse, or as Aquila translated, trampled, you will not have the fellowship of burial, nor even with those whom you have killed. For you are the master, they were the disciples: and to whom more is entrusted, more is required from him. For you have destroyed your land, you have killed your people, namely those who were entrusted to you for governance. Therefore, dare to say to the Savior: All these things have been entrusted to me, and I will give them to you, if you prostrate yourself and worship me (Matt. IV, 9). However, the putrid carcass of the devil cannot doubt due to the magnitude of sins, as one who reads that sin is the foulest, with the sinner himself saying: My wounds have become rotten and have festered because of my foolishness (Psalm XXXVII, 6). On the contrary, the virtue of good odor is: from which also the love of spiritual brothers is compared to an ointment, which descended upon the beard, the beard of Aaron, and upon the edge of his garment (Psalm 132). And the bridegroom speaks to the bride: Your fragrance is sweet, and your face is lovely (Song of Songs 2:14). But how the body of the devil is spiritually trampled, the Apostle teaches us: God will quickly crush Satan under your feet (Romans 16:20). And the Lord said: I will wipe them out like the mud of the streets (Ps. XVII, 43). Because he lost the land entrusted to him, and he crushed the people committed to him, not reserving them alive for God, but preparing partners for his own tomb: therefore he will not be, nor will he be called forever the seed of the wicked. Furthermore, according to the Septuagint, this has the following meaning: O Lucifer, you who rose in the morning, when you had the works of virtue and light, you were the garment of God, and it could be said of you: clothed with light as with a garment (Ps. CIII, 2): because you have killed many with the sword, who have descended to the underworld, and you are defiled by their blood, you will not be called the garment of God, but a garment mixed with blood, not stained and polluted, so that you appear to have something clean, but completely drenched in blood. And this should be noted, that concerning the devil it is said: just as a garment mixed with blood will not be clean, so you will not be clean. Where therefore are those who grant repentance to the devil, and say that he can be cleansed? Let us not immediately embrace the heresy that asserts there are diverse natures; and that there is another which will never receive healing. For this garment is not unclean in itself, and thus was ordained by God, by which God Himself was once clothed; but because it is mixed with blood, and has polluted itself entirely with its own vice, and with added evils, it will not be clean. And therefore it will not be clean, because it has lost the earth of the Lord, killing His people, destroying the land of Judah and the land of confession, and also killing and destroying the saints. And therefore it will not remain forever. Hence it is said in the Gospel: Go into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). But just as the holy garment is of God, and the new garment, and is clothed in the robe of salvation and joy, saying: My soul shall rejoice in the Lord, for he has clothed me with the garment of salvation and has wrapped me with the robe of joy (Isaiah 61:10): so, on the other hand, the sinner, who bears the image of the old and earthly man, deserves to hear: Behold, all of you shall become like a worn-out garment, and the moth shall devour you (Isaiah 50:9). But whoever progresses in evil and does not desire to cleanse the old with newness, will be compared not to an old garment, but to the cloth of a menstruating woman, saying: We have erred, and we have all become unclean, like the cloth of a menstruating woman; all our righteousness is as the cloth of a menstruating woman.13:21-22
(Verse 21, 22.) The seed of the wicked, prepare your sons for the slaughter of the sins of their fathers: they will not rise nor inherit the land, nor fill the face of the cities of the world. And I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts: and I will destroy the name and remnants of Babylon, and its seed, and its offspring, says the Lord of hosts. LXX: The wicked seed, prepare your sons for the slaughter of the sin of your father: so that they will not rise and possess the land, and fill the land of cities. And I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts: and I will destroy their name and remnants and seed. For the evil seed, which the Septuagint translated, is written in Hebrew as Zera Mrim (), which others have interpreted as the seed of wicked men. Not that the seed itself is inherently evil: for God made all things good (Gen. I); but from those who are wicked by their own will, the seed has become evil, which is done by will, not by nature: Hence we read in Daniel: The seed of Canaan and not of Judah (Dan. XIII, 56). And of good sons it is said by the Apostle: In Christ Jesus through the Gospel I have begotten you (1 Cor. 4:15). And in the Gospel: To as many as received him, he gave them power to become the sons of God (John 1:12). For whoever commits sin is of the devil. Therefore, it is commanded to this seed, that is to say, his sons, to prepare for destruction all wicked thoughts and evil deeds, which are born from impious fathers, undoubtedly signifying contrary strengths. The worst sons are therefore slain in the wickedness of their fathers, so that they may not rise up anymore and possess the land which is to be possessed and filled by the saints, that the cities of the Lord may be built in it. And because there is no perfect victory for men: For unless the Lord keeps the city, those who guard it will watch in vain (Psalm 126:2): therefore the Lord himself will rise up against the sons of the worst, and he will destroy their name and remnants from their confusion, and every offspring and progeny, so that they may no longer sprout forth in the cities of the Lord. We read in the Gospel of John (VIII) that the devil is a liar from the beginning and that his father, that is, of lies, which many do not understand, they want the father of the devil to be the dragon who reigns in the sea, which the Hebrews call Leviathan. And they think that this agrees with the present passage according to the Septuagint interpreters, who have said: for the sins of your father: when clearly in Hebrew, it means not 'your father' but 'their fathers'.13:23
(Verse 23.) And I will make her a possession of hedgehogs, and of swamps of water: I will sweep her away with a broom of destruction, says the Lord of hosts. LXX: And I will make Babylon a desert, says the Lord, so that hedgehogs will dwell in it, and it will be nothing. And I will make it a pit of mud, for destruction. When the Lord of hosts has destroyed the name of Babylon, and its remnants, and its offspring, he will not be satisfied with its destruction unless he gives it as a possession to hedgehogs, and swamps of water, and sweeps it away not lightly, and accidentally: but thoroughly, so that nothing of ancient filth remains in it. In the Acts of the Apostles, it is written (Acts 10 and 11) that in that linen cloth, which was let down from heaven by four corners, all kinds of quadrupeds, and reptiles, and birds were contained, which afterwards, the Apostle, in his discourse, says, 'God showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.' Therefore, the manners of men were represented in various animals, just as the Pharisees and Sadducees are called offspring of vipers on account of their wickedness, and Herod is called a fox on account of his deceit (Luke 3 and 13); and those who are given to luxury and inclined to pleasure are called horses, raging after women (Jeremiah 5): 'And do not be like horse or mule, which have no understanding' (Psalm 32). On the contrary, the innocent are called doves and sheep. Therefore, according to the teaching of the Lord and Savior, who referred to the cares of this world and the seduction of riches as thorns, the hedgehog seems to me to be someone who rejoices in the uncertainty of riches (1 Timothy 6) and trusts in being armed not with the armor of God, but with the thorns and sins of this world. To whom it is rightly said from the Gospel: Foolish one, tonight your soul will be taken from you, and what you have prepared, whose will it be? (Luke 12:20). The inhabitants of Babylon have deserts of virtues, where there is no irrigated field that brings fruits of different seeds, but unproductive marshes, and muddy and dirty, in which animals that delight in mud crawl. Therefore, the most merciful Lord swept it vigorously, and as it were with a broom, he cleaned it completely, so that the seeds of Babylon may perish, and be inhabited by only hedgehogs. When we see someone submerged in the mud of wealth, and as the Seventy have translated, in the pit, that is, in a deep abyss, and surrounded as if by a muddy swamp, let us not hesitate to call him a hedgehog, an inhabitant of deserted Babylon.13:24-25
(Verse 24, 25) The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, 'Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass, and as I have purposed, so it shall stand: That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. Afterward his habitation will be desolate in Babylon, and marshes shall cover the land: so that no seed of hers and no abundance shall remain in Babylon. The oath of the Lord will be fulfilled, and as I have purposed, so it shall happen, that the Assyrian shall be broken in his land, and upon his mountains he shall be trodden under foot.' For indeed the reckless enemy not only hastens to occupy the land of God and lowly things, but also those who have advanced in the service of God, so that they may be compared to mountains and it may be said of them: Its foundations are on the holy mountains (Ps. 86:1). And note the property. On earth it is crushed: on the mountains of God it is trampled by the Lord himself. For when all the enemies have been placed under the feet of Christ, so that death may be destroyed at the last, then the holy ones will be freed from the heavy yoke of Assyria, with which they had been oppressed before, and the burden, or as the Septuagint translated it, κῦδος, that is, glory, will be removed from their shoulders, so that with the yoke of the Assyrians lifted, they may see rest, because it is good, and the land, because it is fertile, and they may submit their necks to the yoke of Christ for the purpose of laboring, and become men of the field. And Issachar, which means 'reward,' received his name from his virtues. And in the Prophet we read: 'There is a reward for those who serve the Lord' (Jeremiah 31:16); and in another place: 'Behold the Lord, and his reward is with him' (Isaiah 40:10), who will render to each one according to his works. And as for the Assyrians being crushed and trampled, which represents opposing forces, the Gospel teaches us: 'Behold, I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy' (Luke 10:19). And the words of the Apostles testify: God will crush Satan under your feet quickly (Rom. XVI, 20).13:26-27
(Verse 26, 27.) This is the plan that he has devised for the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who can annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back? For the whole earth has been interpreted as the entire world in the Septuagint, in the end of the oracle or vision against Babylon. What was hidden is revealed, that God has planned for the whole earth, that is, the world, and not just against the land of the Chaldeans and the king of Assyria and the Chaldeans: and his hand is stretched out or lifted up over all the nations, and not just over one nation, Babylon. From this it is shown that all the things that have been said pertain not specifically to one province, but generally to the whole world. And what is said, 'Who can weaken it, and who can turn it away?' should not be understood as difficult, as it is read, 'Who is wise and will understand these things?' (Psalm 106:43). And, 'Who do you think is the faithful and prudent steward?' (Luke 12:42), and similar things. But understood as impossible. For no one can thwart the plan of the Lord, nor can they turn away His outstretched or lofty hand from striking.13:28-30
(Verse 28, etc.) In the year in which King Ahaz died, this burden occurred. Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, for the rod of your oppressor is broken. From the root of the snake will come forth a ruler, and his offspring will swallow up the flying creatures. The firstborn of the poor will be fed, and the needy will rest securely. I will cause the root to die by famine, and I will slay your remaining ones. According to the LXX: In the year in which King Ahaz died, this word was fulfilled: Do not rejoice, all you foreigners, for his yoke that oppressed you is broken. Indeed, from the seed of the serpent, offspring of asps will come forth, and from their offspring, winged serpents will come forth. And the poor will be fed by them, and poor men will rest in peace. But your seed will be killed by famine, and your remnants will be destroyed. After the death of Ahaz, which means κατάσχεσις, that is, possession or occupation, whom we read is the most impious king, this burden falls upon the Philistines, or word. For while he was living and reigning among sinners, neither the weight against foreigners nor the word of God could come to the Prophet. Indeed, I remember having said this before, when Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne. And in Exodus we read (Exodus 22) that after the death of the king of Egypt, the sons of Israel groaned because of their labors, and they cried out, and their cry rose up because of their labors, and the Lord heard their groaning. For if what was said was not mystical, they should have shouted all the more when he was reigning, when they were serving with mud and bricks. Therefore, it is commanded to the Philistines, whom they now call Palestinians, and always by the LXX called ἀλλόφυλοι, that is, foreigners; and it is said to them not to rejoice or be glad, because they have broken the rod or yoke of their oppressor (Heb. XII, 6). For whom the Lord loves, he chastises, and he punishes every son he receives. And as God instructs our children, when He visits our iniquities with a rod, and our sins with chastisements, so that He does not take away His mercy from us (Ps. 88). This is the rod about which it is written in another Psalm: Your rod and your staff, they comfort me (Ps. 23:4). This is the rod, and this yoke that the Savior wants to impose on the necks of all, so that having laid aside the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, they may carry the yoke of Christ. But if someone rejects and destroys it, immediately from the seed or root of the serpent, which is the winding serpent, little snakes and asps will come out, and from the asps flying serpents will come out, or those that devour birds. But when the yoke of God is rejected and the discipline of the Lord is destroyed, first the seed of the serpent takes root in our thoughts, secondly a little snake is born from the evil seed, which is the king of serpents, and it is said to kill men with its breath and sight: or the offspring of asps, of which it is said in the Psalms: The venom of asps is under their lips (Psalm 13:3, and 139:4), which are the various sins, and they burst forth from the wicked treasure of thoughts into evil deeds. And when they rule among alien men, who are strangers to God, immediately feathered serpents emerge; so that it is not enough for them to have thought and done evil things, unless they also seek the protection of evil works, and invent various heresies. I believe that these feathered serpents are those who exalt and rise up against the knowledge of God, and put their mouth in the heavens: or who swallow birds, that is, those who with their venomous mouth devour each one desiring to fly and rise to high places. And in the meantime, concerning the evils. Moreover, those who have not broken the rod and yoke of their oppressor, but have submitted their neck to the Lord, and are poor in spirit, will be nourished, and will say: The Lord feeds me, and nothing will be lacking for me (Ps. 122:1). And they will hear from the Lord: I will feed them in fertile pastures (Ezek. 34; John 10); and they will enter and leave, and will find pastures. And the poor will be nourished by Him who strikes them in order to correct them: and they will rest in peace, whether the shepherd is watchful, they will act confidently, and they will rest with Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham (Luke 16). But those who broke the yoke and the staff of their oppressor shall endure everlasting hunger, so that they may not be nourished by the word of God, but all their remnants shall perish, so that nothing may grow from the evil seed.13:31-32
(Verse 31, 32.) O gate, howl; O city, cry out; Philisthea is completely destroyed. For smoke comes from the north, and there is no one who can escape its ranks. And what will be the response of the messengers of the nations, when it is declared that the Lord has founded Zion and the poor of his people will hope in it? Concerning the messengers, that is, the angels, whom Symmachus alone translated, all the kings have been interpreted, deceived by the ambiguity of the word, because except for one letter Aleph, which is added in the word for angels, both kings and angels are called by the same name among the Hebrews, that is, Malache (kings, angels). In the book 'The Hebrew Names', I found that the word 'Philisthiim' is interpreted as 'falling down by a cup'. Therefore, those who are intoxicated by the cup of Babylon and drink wine in which there is debauchery, and among other vices, because of drunkenness, they have not attained the kingdom of God, as it is written by the Apostle (Ephesians 5). To them it is commanded that their gate howls and the city cries out. I consider the gate to be the mouth of heretics, where they blaspheme; and the city to be the soul, which is the treasury of evil thoughts. She should wail and lament, because everything is prostrated, cast to the ground, and there is nothing of sane intelligence and of God's wisdom in her. Why does the gate wail? For what reason does the city cry out? Because all of Philistia is prostrated. And why is it prostrated, the following verse shows: Smoke comes from the North, and there is no one who can escape its army. This smoke is kindled by the burning darts of the devil, which are harmful to the eyes and contrary to the light, and it arises from the North, from which the pot is kindled in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:14), and from which evil is kindled upon all the inhabitants of the earth, who cannot say: I am a resident and a stranger, like all my forefathers (Psalm 119:19), but they dwell in the land. And in Proverbs it is read: Aquilo is a harsh wind (Prov. XXV, 23; Eccli. XLIII). However, by another name, it is called dexter, which, even though it is harsh and sinister in itself and does not want to receive the yoke of God with the hardest neck, is called dexter by those who regard the sweet as bitter and the bitter as sweet; those who regard darkness as light and light as darkness. And there is no one who can escape the smoke of this train; for no one is without sin, not even if his life were only one day long (Job. XXV). And when the Philistines fall and its smoke penetrates everything, so that no one can escape it, what will be said to the Angels, who oversee each nation, marveling and desiring to know why only Zion, placed in a watchtower and in high places, escaped the bitterness of this smoke? What, therefore, will be said to them? Surely what follows: Because the Lord has founded it, and He Himself is its foundation. And He has founded it upon the foundation of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance, under which names Christ is understood, about whom the Apostle also says: For no one can lay another foundation, except the one that is laid, Jesus Christ (I Cor. III, 11). But whoever is foolish, and speaks foolishly, and understands his heart in vain, builds his house upon sand, which has no foundation. In this Zion, which is founded by the Lord, the poor or meek will hope, and his humble people, of whom it is said: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:4); and those who heard the Lord speaking: Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart (Matthew 11:29). Those who were humiliated before glory and heard the Apostle Peter saying: Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in the time of visitation. As for the poor, they are the ones of whom we read above: The firstborn of the poor shall be fed, and the poor shall rest securely.15:1
(Chapter 15, Verse 1) The burden of Moab. LXX: A word against Moab. Symmachus and Theodotion: The assumption of Moab. How circumcision is both physical and spiritual and is spoken of in a spiritual sense by the Apostle: For we are the circumcision, who serve by the Spirit of God, and boast in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh (Philippians 3:3); and again, to distinguish the spiritual Israelites, it is said of the physical: See Israel according to the flesh (1 Corinthians 10:18); and, You Gentiles in the flesh (Ephesians 2:11); thus Moab is to be understood spiritually, which is interpreted as from the father, or paternal water, conceived from incest and drunkenness, in such a way that he seemed to be generated in the absence or even ignorance of his father. In many places in the Scriptures we read about Moab, especially in the book of Numbers, when Balak, the king of the Moabites, invited the magician Balaam to curse them. Among other things, Balaam also prophesied against Moab, saying: 'A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a man shall come forth from Israel, and he shall strike down the princes of Moab' (Num. XXIV, 17).15:1
(Verse 1) Because at night Ar was devastated, Moab was silent; because at night the wall was devastated, Moab was silent. LXX: Moab perished at night, for the wall of Moab. Regarding Ar (), which Theodotion alone has placed in this way, as is read in Hebrew, Aquila and Symmachus have translated as 'city', not considering that between Ain and Res the Hebrew elements do not have the letter Yod, which if it were present, would correctly be called a city. Secular wisdom, of which the Lord speaks through the Prophet: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart (Obadiah 8; 1 Corinthians 1:19). For it has the author of its existence, being generated from the condition of God. It seems to be born from the father, which is interpreted as Moab; but because it is illegitimate and an adversary of the people of God, it is generated from incest and the den and the night. Therefore, it perishes in eternal darkness, namely in error. And the Egyptians in the Red Sea in the morning watch, which indicates the night time, were overwhelmed by the waves (Exodus 14). And Lot, when the people of Sodom perished in the night, came to Zoar, and the sun rose for him (Genesis 19). And understanding this, the blessed Apostle writes about the holy and perfect (I Thessalonians 5:6-7): We are not of the night, nor of darkness, but we are sons of the day. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But we, who are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and charity, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to the purchasing of salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us; that, whether we watch or sleep, we may live together with him. For therefore Christ died and rose again; that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. But thou, why judgest thou thy brother? Or thou, why dost thou despise thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. Therefore every one of us shall render account to God for himself. Let us not therefore judge one another any more. But judge this rather, that you put not a stumblingblock or a scandal in your brother's way. Furthermore, Ar, which is interpreted as ἀντίδικος, that is, adversary, shows this, that this wisdom, which is the adversary of God, has been overcome by the opposing Ecclesiastical discourse.15:2
(Ver. 2.) The house ascends, and Dimon goes up to the high places to mourn. LXX: Be sad for yourselves, for Dimon will perish, where the altar is; there you shall go up to lament. The whole house of adversarial wisdom, and Dibon, which means their downfall, ascends to the high places, where it had pridefully exalted itself: not to offer sacrifices, but to mourn for the sins it had committed before. And truly, falsehood passes like a river, and flows by, and can never stay in a stable dwelling. But the word of God, which is compacted, is stable. And so the manna, which appears like ice upon the face of the earth, does not overflow, but remains. Furthermore, according to the Septuagint, the Moabites are commanded to mourn and lament, not for others, for this is the privilege of the perfected ones over themselves, because even their Dibon, that is, their composed word, which flowed like a torrent, will perish: in which they had as it were an altar of their consecration, and all secular riches. And in the psalm it is said: If riches abound, do not set your heart upon them. But the beginning of salvation is to understand one's own sins and to weep over them.15:3-9
(Verse 3 and following) Over Nebo and over Medeba, Moab will wail; on every head there is baldness, every beard is shaved off. In its streets they are dressed in sackcloth; on its rooftops and in its squares everyone wails and goes down in weeping. Heshbon and Elealeh cry out; their voices are heard as far as Jahaz; therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud; his soul trembles. My heart cries out for Moab; its bars are dragged away, to Luhith and to Heshbon they come, crying; on the way to Horonaim they raise a cry of destruction; the waters of Nimrim are a desolation; the grass is withered, the vegetation fails, the greenery is no more. According to the magnitude of their work and their visitation, they shall be led to the torrent of the willows; because a cry hath gone round the border of Moab unto Eglaim, the howling thereof unto Beer Elim. For the waters of Dimon have been filled with blood: for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon them that shall flee out of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land. Therefore, since every teaching contrary to the truth, which is born without the inspiration of God from human understanding in the darkness of error, has been laid waste by the night, and its arguments, which are understood as walls, have been destroyed by the words of Ecclesiastes; so that they fall into eternal silence, to such an extent that their entire faction turns to repentance and tears, over Nabo, that is, over prophecy and authority, that is, over their leaders, and over Medaba, where there are no fruitful trees, but barren thickets, in which beasts dwell, as it is written in the twenty-eighth psalm: And he will reveal the hidden things of the forest: there will be wailing and lamentation, and all the ornaments of eloquence will be taken away from their heads, so that they remain naked and deformed. And if anything seemed to have masculinity in a beard, when shaved by a Ecclesiastical man, it is considered effeminate and weak. In their crossroads, that is, the byways of errors, while each one fabricates according to his own will, he is equipped with the sack of penance, and over the roofs and tamed places, in which they first believed themselves to be lofty; and in the streets (because they do not enter by the narrow way, which leads to life, but by the broad way, which leads to death) there will be wailing. And they shall by no means ascend into pride, but descend into weeping. Then they shall understand all their vain thoughts, which are interpreted as Esbon, and the futile ascent of pride, which sounds like Eleale, so that the voice of their deeds may be heard, and the commandment they thought was from God, condemning themselves by their own confession. Therefore, the bars, that is, those who were strong in Moab and understood their error, shall howl, and they who had hopes will begin to have regrets when their soul howls to itself. Where the Prophet speaks with compassionate affection to those whose souls cried out to him, and says: My heart will cry out to Moab, that I may provoke them to repentance. But their beams and all the foundations, which seemed to have support in their heresies, will reach as far as Segor, that is, to the little one: and it will be shown that they are not strong, but fragile. And this Segor, that is, the small repentance, if it perseveres, will lead them to perfect salvation: which is signified by the three-year-old heifer, as we read in Genesis, where Abraham is commanded to offer a calf, a ram, and a three-year-old goat, a perfect sacrifice, that he may deservedly be the heir of the Lord (Genesis 15). And when they have repented, through tears of sorrow, that is, the tears of their cheeks, they will ascend to higher things. And through this as if through a hole and entrance of sorrow, they will raise the cry of contrition to the Lord, so that they may say: Sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit: a contrite and humble heart God will not despise (Ps. 50:19). And this will happen because the waters of Nemrim, that is, the teachings of heretics, which are compared to leopards and transgressors, will be deserted and brought to nothing. They are stubborn, whose variations and blemishes are not changed (Jeremiah XIII), and apostates, of whom we read in the Psalms, I have regarded all the sinners of the earth as transgressors (Psalm CXVIII, 119). Also, every plant and sprout, and everything that seemed green in their speech, withered. And they were visited by God according to the magnitude of their sins, so that those whom they had not felt through blessings, they would come to know through afflictions. Finally, they will be led to the valley or torrent of willows, so that no fruit remains in them. For they say that this is the nature of the seeds of these trees, that whoever drinks it in a cup will be barren. Hence the holy ones who, because of their sins, began to be in the confusion of this world, hang their organs in the willows of the Babylonian rivers (Ps. CXXXVI). The cry of the Moabites goes around all the borders, either calling for repentance or mourning for the error, so that they can offer through their wailing the calves of their lips and reach the spring of the Lord's rams, or the mighty ones, because Elim signifies both. But the waters of Dimon, which is interpreted as sufficient pain or sorrow, which had polluted many with its sprinkling, will be accused by deceived peoples of not being for their salvation, but for their bloodshed. Hence the prophetic speech promises that over flowing tears, which is interpreted as Dibon, they will accumulate not just one sorrow, but multiple additions of sorrow: so that after they have fully repented and fled from the Moabite lion, they may have God as their leader, whom the Septuagint called Ariel, which is interpreted as lion of God: I will refrain from discussing their translation in this place, because it disagrees with the Hebrew truth in many places, and from what we have interpreted, the sense of that can also be understood.16:1
(Chapter XVI—Verse 1) Send forth the lamb, the ruler of the earth, from the rock of the desert, to the mountain of the daughter of Zion. And it shall be like a flying bird, and the chicks flying from the nest. So shall the daughters of Moab be in the crossing of the Arnon. Plan a counsel, gather a counsel, place your shadow like the night at midday. Hide the fugitives, and do not betray the wanderers. My outcasts shall dwell with you, Moab shall be their shelter from the face of the devastator. For the dust is ended, the wretched one is consumed, the one who trampled the earth has ceased. And a throne will be established in mercy: and he will sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David: judging and seeking judgment; and quickly rendering what is just. This is what we have interpreted from the Hebrew: send forth the lamb, the ruler of the earth, it can be read as follows: send forth the lamb to the ruler of the earth, in which case the lamb himself is not the ruler of the earth, as we have interpreted according to the history, but the lamb is to be sacrificed to the ruler of the earth. Therefore, this lamb, who either is the ruler of the earth or is sacrificed to the ruler of the earth, is from the nation of the Moabites, and from those who fled from Moab, and deserve to have the Prince be a lion. But Ruth, from whom Christ is born (Matt. 1:5), signifies the rock of the desert, because according to God's command, the Moabites and Ammonites do not enter the Church of God until the tenth generation, and not forever (Deut. 1). But whoever flees from the desert of Moab, so that we may return from prophecy to anagoge, and having disregarded falsehood, stands on the mountain of truth, will be like a flying bird; and like young birds flying from the nest, lest they be devoured by Moabite serpents. Thus, he says, all the daughters, that is, the Moabite souls, will be in the crossing of the Arnon, which is interpreted as their enlightenment: when they have abandoned errors and transcended to the knowledge of truth. Therefore, it is said to Moab itself, or to one who has escaped from Moab: Do nothing without counsel (Prov. XIII): Do not be carried about by every wind of doctrine, but follow him who is the great counselor Angel (Ephes. IV): And gather a council, so that out of the wanderers and strays you may make the Church of God. But your shadow and tent, in which you used to believe you found rest, which was of the night and darkness, put in the midday, that is, in the brightest light, in which you should hide those who flee from error, and not reveal the wanderers anymore. O Moab, my fugitive ones, who abandoned me, who had left the Church, and rejecting the teaching of the Holy Spirit, followed their own understanding; or those who had dwelt among you, when the devouring devil began to persecute them, you offer them refuge turned toward the fear of the Lord with your whole heart: and know that after the coming of the Lamb, who arose from the rock of the desert, the ruler of the whole earth; and He came to the mountain of the daughter of Zion, all the power of the devil, which is compared to dust, will come to an end. And the wretched one who made many wretched has been consumed, and the one who trampled on all the earth has fallen, those who became worldly. But with him consumed and reduced to nothingness, and completely depleted, a throne and eternal kingdom will be prepared. First in mercy (for we are all under sin: and we need the grace of God); and he will sit in the tabernacle of David, which had fallen and was raised up, who will judge after mercy, and seek justice, and render to each according to their works. Let us consider at the beginning either the burden or the discourse of Moab, in which it is said: 'In the night Ar Moab is laid waste' and so on until this place; and we will see how, by gradual steps and in order of repentance, the Moabites become Israelites: and they will flee like birds and fly like fledglings from the nest, to go beyond the Arnon and dwell on the mountain of the daughter of Zion: and with every power of the devil or Antichrist crushed, Christ will reign in them, and may He establish His throne for those who are saved by mercy and justice. For the Father does not judge anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son (John 5).16:6-8
(Verse 6 and following) We have heard the pride of Moab: he is very proud. His pride, and his arrogance, and his indignation, are greater than his strength. Therefore Moab shall wail unto Moab, every one shall wail: to them that rejoice on the walls of the cooked brick, speak concerning his wounds: for the suburbs of Heshbon are desolate, the vine of Sibmah. LXX: We have heard the insolence of Moab: he is very contemptuous: his pride, and his insult, and his fury are not like your divine prophecy: Moab will not wail like this: indeed everyone in Moab will wail: concerning the inhabitants of Dibon you will meditate: and you will not be confounded: the fields of Heshbon will mourn for the vine of Sibmah. It is clear from the obscurities in this passage, as it can hardly be read, how involved it is according to the Septuagint interpreters. Let us therefore speak according to the Hebrew, which is the custom of the Scriptures, that after they have relieved the despair of the human mind with glad news, they may again warn and deter those who are negligent and unwilling to repent with the threat of punishment, lest the goodness of God harden our hearts. Let us present just one example of this matter. In the 144th Psalm we read: The Lord is sweet to all, and his mercy is upon all his works. And after a little while: The Lord sustains all who fall, and raises up all who are cast down. The eyes of all look to you, O Lord, and you give them food in due season. And when he had finished, the Lord kept all who loved him; lest he make the listener negligent, he added: And he will destroy all sinners. Therefore, after the Antichrist and his parent, the devil, who trampled upon the whole earth, have been consumed, it is prophesied that a throne is to be prepared in mercy, and he who will sit in the tabernacle of David, from the person of the saints who have been saved from Moab, and through their experience have learned his pride, the prophet speaks: You have heard the pride of Moab, or rather, the injury, as the Septuagint translated. For who among heretics is not arrogant? They despise the simplicity of the Church and treat its people like brute animals. They are so filled with pride and arrogance that they arm themselves against the Creator, attacking His prophets as if they were challenging the authority of the Gospel. In which the Savior says, 'All who came before me were thieves and robbers' (John 10:8). They even dare to call Moses, the servant of God, a murderer, and they slander Joshua, the son of Nun, as if he were a bloodthirsty man, despite his great holiness that caused the sun and moon to stand still at his command. They also call David, from whose lineage Christ was born (Matthew 1), a murderer and adulterer, without considering his repentance and gentleness which are compared to the mercy of God. But although he may be proud and arrogant, and although he may rejoice in his madness: nevertheless he dares more than his strength allows. Therefore Moab shall howl unto Moab, that is to say, one shall cry out against another: all the diversities, of heretics and of secular wisdom, shall roar against themselves, when they shall be in torments (III Kings VI). For this reason, those who have walls built not with squared stones, from which the Temple was built; and so polished, that the sound of hammer and axe has not been heard in the house of God, O masters of the Church, or you who have been saved from the error of Moab, announce your wounds, with which you have been wounded by the javelins of heretics. For all their thoughts, which Esebon signifies, do not pertain to the habitation of the Lord's city, of which it is written: The streams of the river make the city of God glad (Ps. 45:5); but they are suburban, so that they may be thought to pertain to the city of the Lord: these suburbs are deserted, without divine protection, or burned by divine fire, especially the vineyard of Sabama, which signifies raising up to a height, because it strives to rise up high and build its tower of pride up to heaven. However, what is stated in the Septuagint is not found in the Hebrew text of the inhabitants of Deseth; but instead it is read as Ares (), which means a tile or a fired brick.16:9-10
(Verses 9, 10.) The scourges of the Lord have fallen upon the nations: they have reached even to Jazer. They have wandered in the desert: their branches have been left behind: they have crossed the sea. Therefore, I will weep over the vineyard of Sabama with weeping: I will drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Eleale: for on your harvest and on your crop the voice of the treaders has fallen. Joy and gladness will be taken away from Carmel: there will be no rejoicing or jubilation in the vineyards: the one who used to tread the wine in the winepress will not tread it anymore: I have taken away the sound of the treaders. The suburban areas of Esebon, which we mentioned earlier, are deserted, and the vineyard of Sabama, which can be interpreted not only as a lofty elevation but also as some kind of conversion, because it seems that in the region of Moab, it wants to be partially converted to the service of the Lord. Therefore, the Apostles and apostolic men, servants of the Lord of nations, completely cut off the scourges and offshoots of this vine of Sabama, so that no other heresies would arise from other heresies, and a boundless multitude of the erring would not be made. And not only did the branches of Sabama fall, but they reached as far as Jazer, which is interpreted as their strength: that is, to the most powerful teachings of the heretics, and constructed with dialectic art, in which the strength of their error seemed to reside; and to such an extent was their sword brandished, that in the end they wandered in the wilderness and had no one to kill. And although those lashes were cut off, nevertheless, due to the fault of the rotten root, some branches remained. But the lords of the nations have passed over the sea, that is to say, the temptations of this world, of which we read in the psalm: Come into the depths of the sea, and the tempest shall swallow me up (Ps. 68: 3); and in another place: They that go down to the sea in ships, doing business in the great waters: these have seen the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep (Ps. 106: 23). Therefore, these have passed over the sea, in order to behold the works of the Lord and his wonders in the depths of temptations, while they are delivered from them. Therefore, the prophetic discourse laments the strength of the heretics, that is, Jazer and the vineyard of Sabama, which exalts itself against the knowledge of God. And I will intoxicate you with my tears, Esebon, the thoughts of the wise, and Eleale, who ascend to lofty heights. But why does he lament Jazer and intoxicate Esebon and Eleale with his tears? So that while he himself weeps, he may teach them to weep. For, he says, the voice of those who trample upon your harvest and your crop resounds. The vineyard of the Moabites is such because of the proximity of the place, just like the vineyard of the Sodomites, of which it is said: 'For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah' (Deut. 32:31). And in the seventy-seventh psalm, we read about the Egyptian vineyard that God struck with hail. The Moabite harvests also grow in the valleys called Raphaim: but its vintage is false, of which it is said above: 'The rods of those who lifted it up have been broken' (Num. 24:8). For they crush the most bitter grapes and trample on them with their feet, so that the venom of the dragon may not be squeezed out of them and all who drink may be killed. Also, the joy and exultation of the heretics will be taken away, which they used to enjoy before, so that after they have repented they may deserve to hear this: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted (Matthew 5:5). And what he added about Carmel means this: not that the heretics truly have Carmel, that is, the knowledge of spiritual circumcision; but that they boast falsely of having it. And when the vines have been cut down and the joy and exuberance have been taken away because of false knowledge of their name, then there will be no more of the former grape treaders, who used to tread the grapes before, and their voice will be silenced in eternal silence.16:11-13
(Verse 11 onward) Upon this, my belly will sound like a lyre to Moab: and my bowels will be like a wall of baked bricks. And when it becomes clear that Moab has labored in vain, he will enter his sanctuaries to pray, but he will not prevail. This is the word that the Lord spoke to Moab from that time on. The error of Moab has been destroyed; indeed, false joy has turned into mourning and tears. My belly, the prophet, who is composed like a lyre with musical skill, and who, conceived in the fear of God, has produced many children, so that there is no string that does not produce its sound, will resonate the lament of Moab, who is repenting: and all my bowels will be like a wall of baked bricks, as Theodotius interpreted it as a wall scattered. For all the defenses of opposites, in which they previously trusted, will be destroyed and will fall. These, however, are the bowels and inner parts of the prophet, about which David also said in the Psalm: Bless the Lord, O my soul, and let all my innards proclaim his holy name (Psalm 102, 1). For just as a lyre does not emit a vocal sound and harmonious, if at least one string is broken; similarly, the spiritual belly of the prophet, if one string of virtues is lacking in it, will not be able to resound sweet melody; nor proclaim with all its innards against the brick wall. It is also the opinion of the philosophers to cling to virtues; and the Apostle James says that if one is lacking one virtue, all virtues are lacking in that person. But when he realizes that he has labored in vain in the lofty doctrines which he once believed, he will enter into his own holy things, not those things which are inherently holy, but those things which he erroneously thought were holy, and he will not be able to find help. Perhaps, in the desert of error and falsehood, he will attempt to enter into the holy Church, to make it his own, and to pray and beseech, but he will not prevail. For we cannot immediately, as we wish, attain perfect virtue. And this is what it means: That word which the Lord spoke to Moab from that time, with the introductory statement in which he said, the word against Moab, or the burden, let us understand it as the conclusion, so that what he began there, he may complete here. From that time, however, we should understand from when he began to speak to him, that everything he said is one word of God, that is, one sentence. Moreover, according to the Septuagint version, we can explain the prophet's innermost thoughts being renewed by God, and him being ashamed, that is, Moab, and entering into the altars, and the things that are made by hand, so that we may say that the prophet's innermost thoughts are always renewed, and made stronger by God, so that their adversaries may be confounded, and they may understand that the things made by human hand are useless, and do not contribute to salvation.16:14
(Verse 14) And now the Lord has spoken, saying: In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be taken away from all its people, and only a few will be left, not many. The three years, in which the glory of Moab will be taken away from all its people, whether many in number or rich in wealth, as translated by the LXX, are to be understood mystically. For just as the mercy of the Lord is in weights and measures, so too do the torments and punishments have their measure. After these three years have passed, in which only a few will be left, not many, then the ingloriousness will cease. And this should be noted, that according to the prophecy of Ezekiel, when the days are counted for years for the Israelites (Ezek. IV), that is, the ten tribes which had sinned grievously, they are reckoned as three hundred and ninety years, as it is written in Hebrew, not one hundred and ninety years, as the Vulgate edition has it: and for the Jews, in which there was the Temple of God, forty years. For he who is small deserves mercy, but the powerful endure torment forcefully (Wis. VI). And the servant who knows his master's will and does not do it, will be beaten severely (Luke XII). Therefore Moab, because he was a foreigner, not of the people of God, but having turned away from error, will be left small and humble, and inglorious, not for many years, but only for three. These are the years that we read about elsewhere: Remember the days of old (Isaiah XLVI), and again: I have considered the days of old, and have kept the eternal years in mind (Psalm LXXVI, 6). For if he served the shadows and copies according to the flesh of Israel, and all their solemnity was a type of future things, why do not the present times of this year also foreshadow future times? Concerning which, we read in another place: What will you do in the days of the assembly, and in the days of the feast of the Lord? And what is joined, Like the days of a hireling (Hosea 9:5), shows that false teaching does everything for profit and gain. For every hireling, and he that is not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees: and the wolf snatches them, and scatters the sheep: and the hireling flees, because he is a hireling: and has no care for the sheep (John 10). Therefore, I think that strangers and hirelings should not eat of the saints, nor be partakers of the servants of the saints. For they do all things not out of love for the Lord, but for reward, who devour the houses of widows, and bring their own flocks to be clothed in their wool, and milk them (Matthew 23). Let us apply what we have said about teaching for hire to other things. If I give alms in order to be praised by men, I have received my reward, and I am to be called a hireling. If I pretend to be chaste, but have something else in my conscience, I have not the glory of a hireling, but the punishments of a sinner. And in comparing two evils, it is a lesser evil to openly sin than to feign and pretend sanctity. Indeed, in this respect, Moab has made progress, so that one who previously had many companions in his error is reduced to few; or one who previously had much wealth in the sins, after repentance becomes small and poor in wickedness.Book Seven
Book SevenThe seventh book is the same as the second according to the anagoge, or rather the last. For in this book the explanation of ten visions in the tropologic sense is concluded: when I have completed it with your prayers, Eustochium, and with the help of Christ, I will proceed to the eighth book and I will explain both explanations, according to the previous books, up to the fourth.
17:1
(Chapter 17, Verse 1) The Burden of Damascus. Symmachus and Theodotion, The Assumption of Damascus: LXX, The Word against Damascus, adding their own account of what they did in Moab at the beginning. We first read the name of Damascus in Genesis, who was a native of Abraham before Isaac, and he was considered the heir, unless he was born to Sarah by promise (Genesis 15). However, it is interpreted either as a kiss of blood, or one who drinks blood, or the blood of the Cilician garment, all of which are customs of the Gentile people, who before the faith of Christ, were a friend of bloodshed and cruelty, and performed worthy acts of mourning and sackcloth. In the book of Chronicles (2 Chronicles 24), the story is told that at the end of the year, the army of Syria rose up against Joash, the king of Judah, and came to Jerusalem, and killed all the leaders of the people, and sent all the spoils to the king of Damascus, who had come with a few men. And God had delivered a very great multitude into their hands, because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. This should be considered in light of the spiritual meaning and the future significance, to determine whether we can apply it to the time of the Lord's coming. At the end of the acceptable year, in which the Gospel was preached by the Savior, a multitude of Gentiles rose up from Damascus in a few men against Judah and Jerusalem, who had forsaken the Lord. And they took away all their wealth of the Law and the Prophets, and sent it to the king of Damascus, namely, the ecclesiastical men and the teachers of the Gospel, who were few in comparison to the whole world, which was still unbelieving at that time, and to the scattered Jews throughout the whole world. And yet the Lord delivered Jerusalem into their hands, because they had forsaken the Son of God, who had been predicted by the prophets before. Therefore, (perhaps it was I), for this reason, I believe that Saul, who later received the name Paul by virtue, because he was a persecutor of the Law, went to Damascus and wanted to fight against the believers from the Gentiles there, and after being defeated, he followed those who were already in Damascus, in order to go back to Jerusalem and conquer the Jews there. And it should not seem contradictory to anyone that in the Chronicles book, joyful things are said about Damascus, and now in Isaiah, sad things are prophesied, because both about Israel itself, which is certainly a part of God, both adverse and prosperous things are declared. And just as it is said that Israel according to the flesh, and the Gentiles are called uncircumcised by those who are called circumcised in the flesh, so it is the opposite for Israel according to the spirit, and the Gentiles are according to the spirit, and among the other Gentiles, Damascus is according to the spirit, so that we may not exclusively rely on Jewish fables.17:1-3
(Verse 1 onwards) Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city, and it will be like a heap of stones in ruin. The deserted cities will be for flocks, and they will rest there, and there will be no one to frighten them away. The help from Ephraim will cease, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the children of Israel, declares the Lord of hosts. As indicated in the title, the calling of the nations is signified by Damascus, those who loved or drank blood, who, after believing in Christ, will cease to be cities of their former way of life, and will be like a heap of stones in ruin. For just as heaps of stones, which were scattered in the fields, are gathered into one mound, so a heap of believers from all nations was gathered together in the downfall of the Jewish people, as they fell, and we rose up. The deserted cities, Aroer, that is, Myrhae, will be for the Ecclesiastical flocks, so that we may inhabit those which the Jews deserted: whether the destroyed idolatry will be rebuilt as the Gospel. And we see that this has been fulfilled in our times: the Serapeum in Alexandria and the temple of Marnas in Gaza have arisen as churches of the Lord, and the cities of Aroer have been prepared for the Evangelical flocks. Aroer, that is, myrice, grows in desert places, according to what is written in the curse of the man who trusts in man and departs from the Lord: He shall be like a myrtle in the desert and shall not see when good comes; but he shall dwell in dryness, in the desert, in a land of saltness and uninhabitable. So those who were once in the desert of the Gentiles, and hated the name of Christians, will serve the flocks of Christ, who will find rest in them, and there will be no one to frighten them, for the Lord will dwell among them, and with the Shepherd present, they will not be able to fear the wolf. Then the help of God will cease from Ephraim, who in this place are understood as the Scribes and Pharisees, according to the prophecy of Hosea, who calls them adversaries of the people of God and names them Ephraim (Hosea 5 and 8). And the kingdom shall cease from Damascus, so that sin shall by no means reign, and the prince of sin, the devil, shall reign in Damascus, which once loved bloodshed; but the remnant of Syria, that is, those from the Gentiles who have believed, shall be as the sons of Israel were before, the kingdom of God being taken away from them and given to the Gentiles, who bear its fruit, as the Lord God of hosts has spoken through all His prophets.17:4-6
(Verse 4-6) And in that day, the glory of Jacob shall fade, and the fat of his flesh shall waste away. And it shall be like the gleaning of a harvest, what remains, and his arm shall gather the ears of grain, and it shall be like one seeking grain in the valley of Rephaim. And he shall be left like a cluster of grapes, like the shaking of an olive tree, with two or three berries on the top of the branch, or four or five on its fruitful branches, says the Lord God of Israel. After the remnants of Syria had been, just as once had been the glory of the sons of Israel, and their salvation had been given to the nations by their transgression, then all the glory of the Jews will be diminished, with which they were glorious in the entire world, and their plump flesh will waste away, lacking prophets, signs and wonders, the present help of God, and the dignity of the priesthood: but the whole body of their nation will wither away and be reduced to nothing. And when it is said of the calling of the Gentiles, 'The harvest is great, but the laborers are few' (Matthew 9), those poor people will gather the remnants of the harvest, which have been saved through the Apostles, and will gather the very rare grains, not from mountains and high places, but in the valley of Raphaim, that is, in the lowliness of letters. And consider that Raphaim, which is interpreted as giants, means the Pharisees and Scribes, just as Ephraim means above. Finally, the Seventy translated the valley of Raphaim as the hard valley, in order to express the hardness of the Jewish heart. Those who are chosen because of their humility are like grain on the threshing floor and grapes in the vineyard, that are saved: and like the shaking of the olive tree, whether two, three, four or five olives. For when the stroke of the Jewish people came, that olive tree of the people of Israel, which under Moses had six hundred thousand armed men (Num. 26), and under David, counted by Joab, an innumerable people (2 Sam. 24), could hardly offer a few fruits to the Lord and Savior: Paul and Barnabas two olives, and Peter and James, and John (Acts 13), who also saw the transfigured Lord on the mountain and deserved to go with the Lord to the house of the synagogue official's daughter (Matt. 17). But four and five olives make up the remaining nine Apostles, in whom Matthias took the place of the treacherous Judas, who, for some unknown reason, was separated into four and five olives, in order to demonstrate the number of the Gospels and the volumes of the Law within themselves, as if they were proclaimers of both Instruments (Acts 1).17:7-8
(Verse 7, 8). On that day, man will bow down to his maker and his eyes will look to the Holy One of Israel. And he will not bow down to the altars that his hands have made, nor to the things that his fingers have worked on; he will not look to the groves and shrines. In that time, when the Lord your God called the people of Israel, who were once called a fruitful olive tree (Jeremiah 11:16), and as we read in the Psalms: Your children will be like young olive trees around your table (Psalm 128:3), if the Lord hungry for the dryness of spiritual grace finds barely two olives, or three, or four, or five, the fullness of the Gentiles will enter, and they will not bow down to idols made by hands, but they will bow down to their own God, looking to the Holy One of Israel, and they will despise altars, groves, and shrines, knowing that which is written: Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted (Matthew 15:13).17:9-10
(Verses 9, 10.) On that day your fortified cities will be deserted like plowed fields and cornfields that have been deserted by the children of Israel. And it will be desolate, because you have forgotten your God, your Savior, and have not remembered your strong helper. LXX: On that day your cities will be deserted like the cities abandoned by the Amorites and the Hivites before the children of Israel. And they will be deserted because you have abandoned your God, your Savior, and have not remembered the Lord, your helper. Just as under Moses and Joshua the son of Nun, the Amorites and the Eves and the other nations dwelling in the promised land abandoned their plows and crops and heaps in the fields and fled, lest they be seized by enemies, so too the land of Judea and all its mighty cities, with the Romans ravaging Judea and besieging Jerusalem, were deserted by their inhabitants. And there is an apostrophe to the very land of Judea, that is, to those who dwelt in it. But all these things you have suffered, because you have forgotten your God and Savior, who is called Jesus, whom the Law and the Prophets constantly proclaimed would come to you; and you have not remembered your strong helper, who has always come to your aid. Therefore, the reason for the desolation of the cities of Judea is the forgetfulness of the Savior, who, at the beginning of this prophecy, said: Israel did not know me, and my people did not understand me.17:11
(Verse 11.) Therefore, you will plant a faithful plantation and sow a foreign seed. On the day of your planting, your grapevine will be in bloom, and in the morning your seed will sprout; the harvest has been taken away on the day of inheritance, and there will be great sorrow. LXX: Therefore, you will plant an unfaithful plantation and unfaithful seed, and on the day you plant, you will wander. But if you sow in the morning, it will bloom for the harvest on the day of inheritance, when a father gives inheritance to his sons. For that reason, because we have interpreted it according to Aquila and Symmachus and the LXX, on the day of inheritance, which in Hebrew is called Biom Nehela (), it can be read in Hebrew, on a very bad day. And for that reason, because it has been interpreted by Aquila and Theodotion, and the man will grieve: we learned from the Hebrews, for the man who is called Enos in their language, we have interpreted as Anus (), that is, heavily: concerning the ambiguity of this word, if there is time in this life, we will discuss it more fully in Jeremiah, where according to the LXX it says: And there is a man, and who will know him? Therefore I say what I proposed: Because you have forgotten, O land of Judah, your Savior God, and the one who always provided strength for you, you have not remembered; therefore you will indeed plant a faithful plantation, as the interpretations of Aquila and Theodotion say, beautiful; or as Symmachus says, good, preaching one God: but you will sow a foreign seed, not receiving the Father, because you do not receive the Son. For whoever believes in the Father, also believes in the Son. And because you have sown the seed of blasphemy against Jesus in the synagogues of Satan, therefore you shall not gather grapes, but wild grapes. And when it appears that your seed is flourishing and you have some shade of piety, while you withdraw people from idols: yet when you will grieve deeply in the day of harvest to gather the fruits, seeing that the people of the Gentiles are preferred to you. Hence the Apostle says: I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart. For I myself wished to be anathema from Christ for the sake of my brethren, who are my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption of sons, and the glory, and the testament, and the giving of the law, and the promises: whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ, according to the flesh, who is over all things, God blessed forever. Amen (Romans 9:3-5). And not only Paul, but also every saint speaks this, wishing to save even the root with the branches of the olive tree. But that inheritance is what we obtain from the Lord, about which the Apostle says: There are divisions of grace, but the same Spirit; and there are divisions of ministries, but the same Lord; and there are divisions of operations, but the same God, who works all things in all. Let someone wonder why we have called our faithful congregation a faithful plantation, considering the beautiful and good translations made by Aquila, Theodotio, and Symmachus. The Hebrew word Neemanim, if spelled with the letter Aleph, means faithful; but if spelled with Ain, and pronounced as Neamenim, it means beautiful. Thus, Noemi, which is spelled with this letter, speaks in Ruth (Chapter I, 20): 'Do not call me Noemi, that is, beautiful, but call me bitter.'17:12-14
(Verse 12 and following) Woe to the multitude of many peoples, like the roaring of the sea, and the tumult of the nations, they shall make a sound like the noise of many waters. The peoples shall sound like the noise of abundant waters: and he shall rebuke him, and he shall flee far off: and he shall be carried away as dust of the mountains before the wind, and as a whirlwind before a tempest. In the evening, and behold trouble: in the morning, and he shall not be. This is the portion of them that have wasted us, and the lot of them that spoiled us. Above, we read about the calling of the Gentiles and the rejection of the Jews, and also about the election of a few Jews among the Apostles. And since in comparison to the whole world and all the nations, only a small part of the people believed in Christ, as it was said above: 'And the remnant of Syria shall be as the glory of the children of Israel' (for 'many are called, but few are chosen' - Matthew 22:14) and 'not all have faith' (2 Thessalonians 3:2), now it follows that there is not mourning, but woe to those nations who refused to believe and persecuted the Christian people. And they are compared to the mass of waves and the roaring sea, and as much as is within them, they desire to overwhelm and occupy everything. For the people will sound forth in the spectacles of theatrical luxury, and in the cruelty of the amphitheater, and in the madness of the circus, just as the sound of overflowing waters, when with a united voice of impiety they blaspheme, and they say to the Christians, 'Throw them to the lions and beasts,' and other things of this kind. But to them, like raging seas, the Lord will rebuke the instigator of their sedition, and He will drive him away from His people. And as dust moved on the mountains, the higher it is, the stronger it is carried away; and as a whirlwind, which rises from the earth, is carried away into the sky by a sudden storm: so also he, being carried away, will be separated from the people of God and will flee, lest he be relegated to the abyss. And when the day of consummation comes, which is interpreted as evening, then there will be turmoil, acknowledging his sins. And in the morning, on the day of resurrection, it will not continue, as the LXX translated, it will not be. But if it will not be, what will those who give penance to the devil respond, and they promise as much as they can, an archangelic rank? This is the role of those who have devastated us, and the fate of those who will plunder us. This is either the speech of the Christian people or the prophet speaking from the perspective of the believing people, that the persecutors will have eternal destruction, who have oppressed the holy ones of God with exile, imprisonment, and the seizure of goods, and will possess eternal punishments.18:1-3
(Chapter 18—Verse 1 and following) Woe to the land of buzzing wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, that sends ambassadors by sea, in vessels of papyrus on the waters. Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared near and far, a mighty nation and conquering, whose land the rivers divide. All you inhabitants of the world, you who dwell on the earth, when a signal is raised on the mountains, you will see it, and when a trumpet is blown, you will hear it. LXX: Woe to the land of winged ships beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, who send ambassadors by sea in papyrus vessels over the water. Go, swift messengers, to a tall and smooth-skinned nation, to a people feared far and wide, a powerful and oppressive nation whose land the rivers divide. All you people of the world, you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it, and when a trumpet sounds, you will hear it. I have placed both editions in the most obscure prophecy so that nothing may seem to be lacking to those who want to understand what is written. At the same time, I greatly admire those who think that our faith and Christian hope are satisfied with simplicity, because it is written: The commandment of God is a clear light, enlightening the eyes (Ps. XIX, 9): and that we should not seek more than what is commanded, but that what is commanded should be done: for this reason, both the whole Scripture and the Prophets are specifically involved in the mysteries of the future, so that they may provoke us to understanding and to what is said in the Gospel: Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you. Therefore, since I have explained the history and what is contained in Hebrew in the fifth book, now I will explain what seems to me according to the allegory. Perhaps a discerning reader may inquire what the Vision, or the Burden of Damascus, the sounding cymbal, and the other things that follow mean. After the calling of the Gentiles was mentioned, along with the objection of the Jews and their election, those who believed through the Apostles, and then the multitude of the Gentiles and the persecutors who were compared to the waves of the sea: it followed that the prophetic discourse would also announce the heresies that have troubled and continue to ravage the Church, which, while the master of the household slept, sowed weeds in the field of the Church (Matthew 13). And they are called cymbals, lacking the love of God, according to the saying of the Apostle: 'If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal' (1 Corinthians 13:1). And not only a cymbal with its harsh resounding sound, but because of the lightweight heretical discourse that flows in different directions, they are called cymbals of wings, or according to the Septuagint, wings of ships, who, promising great goods, sail in the waves of this world. But understand the wings of the ships, the sails by which they are suspended and drawn. And beautifully he called them the wings of the ships, for every heretic promises lofty things and boasts of having wings, yet he clings to the salty waves and does not depart far from land, and in the middle of his course he suddenly suffers shipwreck. Hence the Eagle, as a symbol of the ship, interpreted the shadow of the wings, for eagles do not have wings, but a resemblance to wings. And he brings forth the fact that which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, signifies that all heretics are conquered by their impiety. For example: Epicurus says that there is no providence, and that pleasure is the greatest good. By comparison, Marcion is even more wicked, and all heretics who tear apart the Old Testament. For when they reject providence, they accuse the Creator, and assert that He has erred in most of His works, and has not done them as He should have. For what benefit do serpents, scorpions, crocodiles, fleas, bugs, and mosquitoes bring to human beings? Therefore, these people across the rivers of Ethiopia are sending messengers into the sea of this world, that is, their disciples, who are said to carry their volumes, rightly called papyrus vessels, that is, papers carried on the water, which are quickly erased. For just as books are quickly obscured and destroyed by water and moisture, so too their message and teaching, once it appears to possess some strength in the beginning, passes away and slips away. Therefore, through irony, it is said to them: O Angels of heretics, go quickly. These false apostles, deceitful workers, who transform themselves into apostles of Christ, are referred to as such by the blessed apostle Paul (2 Cor. XI). And go to the nation torn and ravaged: torn from God and torn apart by the bites of heretics. To a horrible people; for there is nothing more horrible than blasphemy, which lifts up its own mouth in arrogance. After which there is no other people; for every sin when compared to blasphemy is lighter. A people waiting, waiting, and trampled upon. For all heretics promise themselves celestial things, and they promise great things, and yet they are trampled upon by demons. Whose land the rivers have plundered, which do not have waters from the sky, but from the earth. For what corner is there, what remote wilderness of the earth, to which the polluted speech of heretics does not reach? Therefore, all who dwell and live in the world, lift up their eyes to the sign of the heretics, which is raised as if on mountains, and they hear the sound of the trumpet, that is, their teaching. These things are according to Hebrew. Furthermore, according to the Seventy, the wings of the heretics lament, which fly like ships across the sea of this age, and they surpass the impiety of the Gentiles, whom Scripture now calls Ethiopians: and it is said about their teaching and their language: You who send books of this age into the sea, the hostages of your perversity, and letters to deceive those who will read them. The swift messengers go to the high and foreign people, and the most wicked. For no ecclesiastics have so much zeal for good as heretics have for evil, and they believe they will gain advantage by deceiving others and destroying those who are already doomed. But this people is called exalted because of their pride: and foreign and wicked because they are estranged from God. Truly a people without hope, and oppressed, whose rivers throughout the whole earth imitate the dwelling of the Church, so that they may find for themselves a home and a region, in which they may raise the sign of their teaching, in which they may sound the trumpet of the Scriptures.18:4-7
(Vs. 4 and following) Because this is what the Lord says to me, I will rest and observe in my place: just as the bright midday light is, and like the clouds of dew in the day of harvest. Before the harvest, the whole field has blossomed, and the immature perfection will sprout, and its branches will be cut off by the sickle: and what has been left behind will be cut off, shaken off. And they will be left to the birds of the mountains, and to the animals of the earth, and in perpetual summer, birds will be above it, and all the animals of the earth will winter over it. In that time the gift of the Lord of hosts will be brought by the scattered and torn people, by the dreadful and desecrated people, by the waiting and trampled people, whose rivers they have plundered, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, Mount Zion. God rests and contemplates in His place, or near the Eagle, in the firmament, that is, in the Church, of which the Apostle Paul speaks: Pillar and foundation of truth (I Tim. III, 15). But the things that happen in the Church are contemplated; and just as the clear midday light illuminates everything, so it surveys the whole: according to what is said in the eighteenth Psalm in the mystical sense about the sun of justice: There is none that can hide himself from its heat. And just as the clouds of dew in the day of harvest, and in the scorching heat of summer are most welcome, so the Lord refreshes the inhabitants of His Church, in whose presence all things flourish. And before the time of consummation comes, because now we know in part and we prophesy in part, many perfect ones will be found, of whom the Apostle speaks: As many as are perfect, let us think this way (I Cor. XIII; Phil. III, 15). But the useless branches will be cut off by the sickles, as the Savior says in the Gospel: I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he will take it away; and every branch that bears fruit, he will prune it, that it may bear more fruit (John XV, 2). And those things which have been cut off will be left for the birds of the mountains and the beasts of the earth. For the birds, which are sown along the way, will be preyed upon, and for the beasts, to whom the soul is delivered, not confessing God, so that he who has been cut off and rejected by the Lord, and separated from his body, which is the Church, may find his dwelling among birds and beasts both in summer and winter, that is, in prosperity and adversity. And just as those who are useless and unfruitful in the Church are pruned and cast out, lest a little yeast corrupt the whole mass: so, on the contrary, it can happen that those who were deceived by heretical error, and torn away from the Lord and lacerated, and terrifying for their blasphemy, and waiting in vain for lies, and trampled by demons, and scattered in various parts by rivers, when they have remembered their God, and have abandoned their many teachers, offer a gift to the Lord of hosts, nowhere else but on Mount Zion, and in the watchtower, which is interpreted as the Church. We will be brief, because we have already discussed many things in the book of historical explanation.19:1
(Chapter 19, Verse 1) The Burden of Egypt. Symmachus and Theodotion: The Assumption of Egypt. Septuagint: The Vision of Egypt. Where in Hebrew it is written Massa Mesraim (), which we have interpreted as the Burden or Weight of Egypt: for which Aquila translated ἄρμα Αἰγύπτου, we can say that because the prophet carries and bears the yoke of the Lord, it is fitting for him to carry the burden of Egypt and see or bear the prophecy of Egypt. Hence, I wonder that the Septuagint translated it as Vision in Babylon; and as Word in Philistia, Moab, and Damascus; and now as Version in Egypt; when in Hebrew it is not Word and Vision in all these cases, but Massa (), that is, Burden, weight, that is placed. But what Symmachus and Theodotion have always translated as λῆμμα, that is, assumption, we must understand that the prophet received spiritual grace from the Lord to know the sacraments of Egypt, or to see with the eyes of the mind, as the Septuagint translated. However, this Egypt is not the same as the one the Jews think, as Josephus believed, who relates in the book of Antiquities: that Onias the priest fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah by building a temple in the region of Heliopolis, which the Egyptians call νομὸν, according to the likeness of the Temple of God, and an altar. For let us grant that these things were said about Onias, and about the altar that he built in Egypt, which will be five cities that speak the Canaanite language in Egypt, of which one is called ἀσεδὲκ according to the LXX; according to other interpreters, the city is called Ars or Ares, or city of the sun? And who will be this savior who was sent to the Egyptians to save them, and so that the Egyptians may know the Lord? When they worshiped him with sacrifices and gifts, and fulfilled their vows? When did the Lord strike Egypt and heal it? At what time can we teach that there was a way from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians entered Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria; and the Egyptians served Assyria? When Israel was in Egypt for the third time; and among the Assyrians, it was like a blessing in the midst of the land, so that the Lord said: Blessed is my people in Egypt, and the work of my hands in Assyria? It is clear that these things do not pertain to the Egypt that the Jews estimate. Therefore, we can call this place in which we live, and the world which is situated in evil: Egypt, especially because Mizraim, which is called Egypt, is interpreted as ἐκθλίβουσα, that is, troubling or bringing into distress. However, it should be known that many Egyptian burdens or visions pertain to the province of Egypt, which is inhabited and seen even today. But both in this and in other places of Scripture, many things are stated which cannot stand according to history, so that by necessity we are compelled to seek a deeper understanding.19:1-4
(Verse 1 and following): Behold, the Lord will ascend upon a light cloud, and will enter Egypt, and the idols of Egypt will be moved from before him, and the heart of Egypt will waste away within it. And I will incite the Egyptians against the Egyptians, and they will fight, man against his brother, and man against his friend, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit of Egypt will be broken within it, and I will frustrate their plans; and they will consult their idols and their diviners, and the Pythons and fortune-tellers. And I will deliver Egypt into the hands of cruel masters, and a strong king will rule over them, says the Lord God of hosts. I have diligently examined many of the prophecies of Egypt, which Isaiah raised up or saw, in a historical explanation. Therefore, now according to tropology, the most important things are to be taken. The Lord ascends upon a light cloud, the body of the holy Virgin Mary, which is not burdened by the weight of any human seed: or certainly His own body, which was conceived of the Holy Spirit. And he entered into Egypt of this world; and immediately all the Egyptian idols were moved, so that the divinations and all the fraud of idolatry, which possessed and deceived the whole world, felt that it had been broken: to such an extent that the wise men from the East, who were taught by demons, or according to the prophecy of Balaam (Num. XXIV), understanding that the Son of God had been born, who would destroy all the power of their art, came to Bethlehem and, with the star guiding them, adored the child (Matt. II). Then the heart of Egypt trembled, and the Egyptians rose up against the Egyptians, according to that which the Lord speaks in the Gospel: Think not that I am come to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword. For I am come to divide a man against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law (Matt. X, 34 seqq.). At that time also this was fulfilled: The enemies of a man are they of his own household (Micah VII, 6). And a man will fight against his brother, and a man against his friend. For they were separated in one house, two against three, and three against two, and the father was divided against the Son, and the son against the father, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom, those who did not believe against those who believed, or certainly those who believed, desiring to save their closest ones. And the spirit of Egypt was disrupted in their hearts, so that they would not feel equal; but separated by a spiritual sword against themselves, they would recognize that all their plans had been thrown away: and nevertheless, remaining in their previous error, those who had refused to accept the truth of faith would consult idols and their gods, and Pythonesses, and soothsayers. And when they did this, the Lord delivered them into the hands of cruel masters, according to the apostle's saying: Whom I have delivered to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme (1 Tim. 1:20); being oppressed by the harshest servitude, may they return to the most merciful Lord. And fittingly, he calls the cruel demons their masters, to whom nothing is more cruel. Also, the strong king, who is their Lord, clearly refers to the devil, whom the Lord also calls a fortune in the Gospel, by binding and oppressing whom, the vessels of his house are plundered.19:5-11
(Verset 5 et suiv.) And the sea water will dry up, and the river will be deserted and dried up, and the rivers will fail, and the streams of the embankments will be thin and dry up. The reed and the rush will wither, the bed of the river will be exposed from its source, and all irrigated crops will dry up. It will dry up and cease to exist. And the fishermen will mourn, and all those who cast a hook into the river and spread a net over the surface of the water, and they will dry up. And those who work with linen will be confused, weaving and creating delicate fabrics, and their irrigated fields will become dry, all those who make ponds to catch fish. Foolish princes of Tanis, wise counselors gave Pharaoh foolish advice. When a strong and harsh king shall have dominion over Egypt, all learning and beauty of secular eloquence shall wither, and the very source of all rivers, the devil from whom all lies originate, shall cause devastation: so that other rivers and streams, which were filled by the turbid waters of the Nile, shall fail. Even the reed and the rush shall dry up from excessive drought. They made paper from the papyrus reed, which grows in the Greek language, and added their own green ink, which is not found in Hebrew. When I asked the scholars what this meant, I heard that in the Egyptian language, this word refers to everything that grows in the green marsh. The reed, according to metaphor, is a hollow speech, having nothing solid in itself. And the papyrus, while it appears to have a core and is not hollow, is still fragile and quickly withers. Moreover, all the rivers, when the source of the rivers dries up, will also dry up, and whatever was previously irrigated by the waters of Egypt will be dried up, so that the fishermen of Egypt, who are strongly opposed to the fishermen of the Lord, may mourn, and those who cast a hook into the river and spread a net over the surface of the water may lament. They deceive each individual by casting a hook into the muddy waters. But those who deceive many together, so that they speak openly in the synagogues of Satan and lead away the flocks of the people, they cast a net over the Egyptian waters. Even those who worked with linen to make the priests' garments will be confused; twisting and weaving it, which properly belongs to the art of dialectics. For 'subtilibus', the Septuagint translates it as 'byssus', which is also used for the priests' garments. And what follows: 'And its ponds will be stagnant, all those who made fish traps, this signifies that all the traps of the Egyptian fishermen will be destroyed and perish. For the gaps that were made to catch fish, as we have interpreted according to sense, both in Hebrew and in all the interpreters, in the place of the fish, souls are placed, so that we are drawn from the history to the tropology, namely that these fishermen, who made the gaps and pits, did so in order to deceive souls in them. It should be noted that for the gaps the LXX translated ζύθον, which is a type of drink made from grains and water, and is commonly called sabaium in the provinces of Dalmatia and Pannonia in both the native and barbaric language. The Egyptians use this mainly so that they do not attribute pure water to those who drink, but rather turbid water, and similar to mixed feces, so that through this kind of potion the doctrine of heretical depravity is shown. Then the princes of Taneos will be fools, which is interpreted as a humble command. For all heretics teach humility contrary to exaltation, and they bring down to the depths, and they are the princes of humble and abject command. Also, the counselors of Pharaoh, who is the king of Egypt, and rightly a scatterer, and divided, and separated into various parts, are described as foolish for giving counsel when the Lord has scattered the wisdom of the wise, and has rejected the understanding of the prudent (1 Corinthians 1).19:12-15
(Verse 12 and following) How can you say to Pharaoh: I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you and make known what the Lord of hosts has planned against Egypt. The princes of Tanis have become foolish, the princes of Memphis are deluded; the leaders of Egypt have led it astray. The Lord has poured into them a spirit of confusion; they have made Egypt stagger in all its undertakings, as a drunkard staggers and vomits. And Egypt will have no need for one who makes the head and tail bend and restrain. Heretics often say to their king or Pharaoh: We are the sons of the wise ones who from the beginning delivered to us the Apostolic teaching: We are the sons of the ancient kings who are called the kings of the philosophers, and we have knowledge of the Scriptures joined with secular wisdom. He now asks them, whether it be the king of the heretics himself, where are his wise men who despised Ecclesiastical simplicity: and he compels them to answer what the Lord of Sabaoth has thought concerning Egypt of this world, and what he will do in its consummation. The foolish princes of Taneos are approved, who held the lowly command of the heretics. All the princes of Memphis, who boast of polluting eloquence and speech, are confounded. For 'Memphis' signifies 'mouth' or 'from the mouth' and metaphorically means 'speech'. And what follows: They deceived the corner of Egypt, or according to the Septuagint: they will deceive Egypt through tribes, signifies that the kingdom of secular wisdom is shown to be foolish, and the leaders of individual doctrines, who are interpreted as tribes, are shown to have had foolish teachers. For the Lord has mixed for them the spirit of confusion, or errors, according to what is written: And as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, God gave them over to a depraved mind (Rom. I, 24). And just as the holy one, Isaiah, can say: We will make the spirit of your salvation come upon the earth, so the sinner will make the spirit of error, that is, the spirit of malice. This is in accordance with what we read in Jeremiah: Your own wickedness will punish you, and your turning from me will rebuke you (Jerem. II, 19). But if a heretic is scandalized who does not accept the old Testament, which is said to be mixed with the spirit of error or confusion, let him hear the writing in the Apostle, that is, in the new Testament: God gave them up to the desires of their hearts in uncleanness (Rom. I, 24). And again: Therefore, God gave them up to shameful passions. And again: God gave them up to a reprobate sense, to do what is not fitting. But they are delivered up in the desires of their hearts, because they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of the image of a corruptible man, and of birds, and of four-footed beasts, and of creeping things. Which indeed is not only read in the Epistle to the Romans, but also in the Epistle to the Thessalonians concerning the Antichrist: Because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. Therefore God shall send them the operation of error, to believe lying: That all may be judged who have not believed the truth but have consented to iniquity (2 Thess. 2:10). I think the Apostle Paul took this from the present reading of Isaiah, in which he says: The Lord hath mingled for them the spirit of error, and they have erred in all their works, as an intoxicated man staggereth and vomiteth, so also shall Egypt stagger and vomit because of her excess. Joel speaks of those who are drunk: Woe to those who are drunk without wine. And not only drunk, but also vomiting the madness of dragons, and the incurable madness of asps, so that after they vomit up this kind of wine, they understand their drunkenness and recognize that as long as they are drunk, they have neither beginning nor end, that is, neither head nor tail, but a trunk on both sides of the animal. For beginning and end, which both Symmachus and the Septuagint translated, Theodotion added the Hebrew words Chaphphe () and Agmon (), which Aquila interpreted as bent and perverse. In incurvo, senes intelligi volens; in perverso, lascivientes pueros, qui omniaperversa faciant; ac per hoc esse sensum, quod in Aegypto non solum caput desit et cauda, sed et senes et pueri, id est, et principium et finis.19:16-17
(Verse 16, 17.) On that day, Egypt will be like women, and it will be astonished and afraid because of the shaking hand of the Lord of hosts, which he will bring down on it. And the land of Judah will be a terror to Egypt; everyone who thinks of it will fear because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which he has determined against it. At that time, which is now, as we have frequently mentioned, it signifies the day when the Lord will send the spirit of error and confusion, so that Egypt will vomit out the wine of dragons and the incurable madness of asps, understanding its own error and its former drunkenness. Egypt will be afraid like a woman, not with the usual fear that anyone may experience, whom Egypt does not love but suffocates and kills; but with a feminine fear, for Egypt alone does Pharaoh desire to live. But when the commotion, or raising up, of the hand of the Lord, by which punishments are demonstrated, moves and lifts up, in order to strike Egypt. Then the land of Judah, that is, the knowledge of the Scriptures, the law and the prophets, the Gospels and the Epistles of the Apostles, will be a cause for celebration for Egypt, if they recognize them: or a cause for fear, if by comparing their teachings and truths, they understand that they have held falsehood. All who remember this land will tremble with the fear that leads to life: For the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord (Prov. 9:10). And not only in the consummation of the world, but also in the present time, we can receive this; which, every heretic should fear and be frightened by, as it is a teaching of a man knowledgeable in heavenly doctrines. But he will fear and dread the counsel of the Lord, which he has conceived upon Egypt of this world. We briefly go over each thing, in order to move on to the rest.19:18
(Verse 18.) On that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking the language of Canaan and swearing by the Lord of hosts. One city shall be called the City of the Sun. The raised and shaking hand of the Lord over Egypt greatly benefits, so that the land of Judah may be in fear of Him, and everyone who remembers Him may tremble. At that time, five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan, which our five senses understand: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. When we see a woman to be desired, our sight speaks in the Egyptian language. When we hear a judgment of blood, with the Lord saying: You shall not entertain a vain hearing (4 Kings 12:21, according to the Septuagint), our hearing speaks in the Egyptian language. When we live in luxury according to the prophet, and lie on ivory beds, and anoint ourselves with the best ointments, our sense of smell speaks in the Egyptian language. When our God is present (Philippians III), our taste speaks the Egyptian language. If we do not hear what the Apostle says: It is good for a man not to touch a woman (I Corinthians VII); but on the contrary, let us join with the harlot, our touch speaks the Egyptian language. But if, on the contrary, we lift up our eyes and see that the fields are already white for harvesting, and we have not bowed down to the ground, but according to the Gospel, with a woman who for eighteen years could not look up to heaven (Luke XIII), we lift up our eyes and say, To you I lift up my eyes, who dwell in heaven (Psalm CXXII, 1), our eye and sight speak the Canaanite language. If we cut off our ears and hear the Lord speaking, those who have ears to hear shall listen (Luke 8:8). Our hearing speaks the language of the Canaanite. Whoever can say to the bridegroom: After you we run for the fragrance of your ointments (Song of Songs 1:3), and: We are the sweet odor of Christ in every place (1 Corinthians 2:15), his sense of smell speaks the language of the Canaanite. The taste is also received in a good manner by the one who eats the bread that came down from heaven, the living and not the dead bread, and hears this: Taste and see how sweet the Lord is (Psalm 34:9), immediately his tongue speaks the language of the Canaanite. But there is also a spiritual touch, of which the Apostle John says: Our hands have touched the Word of life (1 John 1:1); and whoever touches Jesus in faith, so that the Savior can say about him: Someone has touched me, for I know power has gone out from me (Luke 8:46). We have learned how great blessings the elevated hand of the Lord bestows; let us seek why the five cities of Egypt speak not in the Hebrew tongue, but in the language of Canaan. To this, we will attempt to respond as follows: the Hebrew word 'περάτην' means 'transitor', one who travels from one place to another. Therefore, even though we are holy as long as we are in Egypt and surrounded by the darkness of this world, we cannot speak in the Hebrew language, but in the language of Canaan, which is intermediate between Egyptian and Hebrew and closely related to Hebrew. Canaan, in translation, means 'commotion' or 'response.' Therefore, when we depart from Egypt and desire to leave the power of Pharaoh, so that our land and our fearful confession belongs to Egypt, then we are moved and as if we respond to the will of the Lord, and yet because we are still in the present age, we cannot yet speak the Hebrew language. And what follows: swearing by the Lord of hosts five cities, this signifies that even here, placed in no way among demons, but among the rememberers of almighty God. Out of the five cities, while the names of four others are not mentioned, one is called the city of the sun, which seems to me to refer to sight. Just as a city needs the sun and moon to be seen, so our eyes need the sun of righteousness to be enlightened.19:19-21
(Verse 19-21) On that day there will be an altar of the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar near its boundary to the Lord. And it will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. For they will cry to the Lord because of the oppressor, and he will send them a Savior and a defender to deliver them, and the Lord will be known by Egypt. Accordingly, to what he said above: On that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking the language of Canaan and swearing by the Lord of hosts, now it is introduced: There will be an altar of the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, which Onias, according to Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 13, Chapter 6), mistakenly tried to fulfill. And the title of the Lord containing the passion, in which it is written in Hebrew letters, Greek, and Latin: Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews (John 19), as a sign of the Cross, and as a testimony to all nations, which are now called Egypt. And when the persecution of those who trouble the name of Christians grows, then they will cry out in their hearts: Abba Father (Romans 8). And the Lord of hosts will send the Savior, that is, Jesus, and the Judge, or defender who will deliver them, so that they may know the Lord, and they themselves may be known by the Lord; and where sin abounded, grace may superabound (Romans 5). But the one altar of Egypt, that is, of this world, as we know, all altars that are raised against the Church altar are not of the Lord. Until the end of the vision of Egypt, in the book of Historical Explanation, because it was a clear prophecy, we said that all things are referred to Christ.19:20
(Verse 20.) And the Egyptians will know the Lord on that day; and they will worship him with sacrifices and offerings, and they will make vows to the Lord and fulfill them. And the Lord will strike Egypt with a plague, and he will heal it; and they will return to the Lord, and he will be appeased by them, and he will heal them. After the Egyptians have come to know the Lord, they will worship him with spiritual sacrifices and offerings; and they will make vows to the Lord and fulfill them; and they will say with David: 'Sacrifice to God a contrite spirit' (Psalm 50:19); and: 'The lifting up of my hands is an evening sacrifice' (Psalm 140:2); when they believe in the Nazarene and themselves become Nazarenes, not drinking wine and strong drink (John 19); and the vinegar that was given to the Lord, and whatever is made from the Sodomite grape. And when they have fulfilled their vows with Abel, and God looks upon them, Cain, the older brother, that is, the people of Circumcision, will envy and shed Christian blood, which will cry out to the Lord (Gen. IV); and therefore he will go forth from the face of God, saying of the Savior: Crucify him, crucify him (Luke XXIII, 11); and: We have no king but Caesar (John XIX, 15). He offers and fulfills his vow to the Lord, who is holy in body and spirit. Zacchaeus also offered a vow and promised to give half of his possessions to the poor (Luke 19). The question arises, if the Savior and defender was sent to Egypt to deliver them from distress, how can it now be said, 'The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague?' But let us consider what follows: 'And he will heal it.' For whom the Lord loves, he chastises (Hebrews 12). And the Savior himself speaks to the Father in Psalm 68: 'For those who you struck, they pursued; and they added to the pain of my wounds.' If, therefore, He has not spared His own Son, but has surrendered Him for us, so that by His bruises and wounds we may be healed (Rom. 8): the Lord also surrendered the martyrs to suffering, but He will restore them in the resurrection, so that the faith of believers may be confirmed by their wounds. Hence, it is also said to Job: Do you think that I have spoken in any other way to you, unless that you might appear just? For He Himself causes pain and restores to former health; He visits His servants with a rod, so that He does not take His mercy away from them. Where are the daughters and daughters-in-law who have greatly sinned and spread their legs to everyone passing by, not visited or rebuked, as the Lord says: 'I will not visit your daughters when they fornicate, or your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery' (Hosea 4:14). Therefore, the Lord strikes the Egyptians, not with fire or sword, but with a rod. For what son is not disciplined by his father? So that once they have been healed, they may return to the Lord, and he may be appeased with them and heal them again. For we always need the mercy of God, and there is no end to His clemency.19:23
(Verse 23) On that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. As we have shown, the preceding events have been for the good of the Egyptians. Five cities in their land will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of Hosts. They will have an altar to the Lord in their midst, as well as a marker, testimony, sign, and savior to deliver them. The Egyptians will recognize the Lord and offer sacrifices, gifts, and vows. They will be healed and return to the Lord, finding favor and healing once again. Therefore, it should be understood that serving the Assyrians is also for the good of the Egyptians. For the Apostle serves the believers in order to make them gain (1 Corinthians 9). And Esau submits to his brother Jacob (Genesis 33), in order to become a partaker of his blessings. Therefore, those who were saved first from the Gentiles and have the altar of the Lord in themselves, will save those who persist in hardness through their servitude, and through their mixture and association with them, they will go to the Assyrians, so that they may bring the Assyrians to Egypt; and afterwards they may be able to reach the Israelite people. For this reason, I believe that a faithful woman should serve an unfaithful man, in order to gradually draw him from Egypt and Assyria to Judaea.19:25-26
(Verse 25, 26.) On that day, Israel will be a third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying: Blessed be My people Egypt, and the work of My hands Assyria, and My inheritance Israel. Israel will be a third with Egypt and Assyria, to mix together the full measure of its blessing, and those who had previously been hostile to it will be joined by this bond of blessing; and Egypt will be the people of God, and Assyria the work of His hands, but Israel will be His inheritance. Blessed is the Egyptian to the Lord, because he is blessed by the company of the Israelites. And the work of his hands is Assyrian, because in him he has shown his mercy. But Israel alone can say: The Lord is my portion (Lam. 3:24); he who sees God with the mind, and is called his inheritance.20:1-6
(Chapter 20, verses 1 and following) In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and took it, at that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, "Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet," and he did so, walking naked and barefoot. And the Lord said, "As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years, as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush. Thus the king of Assyria will threaten the captivity of Egypt, and the migration of Ethiopia, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered, the shame of Egypt. And they will fear and be ashamed because of Ethiopia, and because of Egypt, their glory. And the inhabitants of this island will say on that day, Is this our hope? To whom did we flee for help, to be delivered from the face of the king of Assyria? And how can we escape? Pro Thartan LXX Thanatan transtulerunt: et pro Sargon, Arna: quod quid interpretetur, scire non possumus. Neque enim falsorum nominum falsas possumus etymologias fingere. Sunt autem nomina non Hebraea, sed Assyria, e quibus sonare cognovimus Thartan, turrem dedit, vel superfluus, sive elongans. Sargon autem princeps horti. Hic rex Assyrius quem supra legimus sensum magnum, habet duces plurimos, quorum unus est Thartan, elatus in superbiam, et longe procedens in scelere,et amplior caeteris: et mittitur ad impugnandam Azotum, quae Hebraice dicitur Asdod (), et interpretatur, ignis generationis; expugnatque dux regis Assyrii eos qui generationi et libidini serviunt. And beautifully the king of the Assyrians, Sargon the prince of gardens, is said to be dedicated to pleasure and luxury. Finally, even Ahab, the king of Israel, desired to turn Naboth's vineyard into a garden, understanding the figurative meaning according to the laws of tropology, he preferred to die rather than to do it, so that his paternal inheritance and ancient possession would not be turned into the delights of an impious king. Moreover, the prophet is commanded to walk naked and barefoot, with his sack and shoes removed, as a sign and wonder to the Egyptians and Ethiopians who persecuted the people of God, and to humble them because of their pride. For Egypt means pursuing or afflicting; the Ethiopians, are humble and dejected; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled. (Luke 14:11). And those who are to be led into captivity and suffer torment for three years, as we read in the Psalms: I considered the days of old and years long past. (Psalm 77:5). These are not small punishments, but ones extended for long periods of time. But in the very captivity and transmigration in Egypt, both young and old, who have been strengthened in evil and have reached the vices of perfect age, will go naked so that all their crimes may be exposed (For nothing is hidden that will not be revealed), and barefoot, because they will not be able to eat the Pascha of the Lord: whoever eats it has his loins girded and holds a staff in his hand and stands with feet shod, so that while passing through the desert of this world he may not be bitten by serpents. Then their buttocks will be exposed, from which excrement is produced, and all the shame of Egypt will be revealed, so that those who had hope in Egypt and Ethiopia will be confounded, and they will see that their glory has been changed into confusion; to such an extent that the inhabitant of this island, that is, of this world, who is not a stranger and foreigner, but desired to have perpetual possession of the world, says in confusion: This is Egypt, and this is Ethiopia, from which we hoped for help, in order that they would free us from the prince of this world. How then can we escape, since those in whom we had hope are captured? And it should be noted that before Azotus is captured, he is clothed in a sackcloth and with feet shod, so that he may indeed bewail those who have been wounded by the burning darts of the devil and serve their lust; but nevertheless, he himself walks shod, so that he may tread upon serpents and scorpions, and walk securely through the wilderness of this world, in which there are serpents and scorpions, and a thirst for good things. But after Ashdod was captured, he walks barefoot and naked as a sign of the captivity of Egypt and the exile of Ethiopia. For he could not stand or walk in the holy land, to which he hurried to go, dressed in a sackcloth and with his feet covered with skins, as the Lord said: Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place you are standing on is holy (Exodus 3:5).21:1-3
(Chapter 21—Verse 1 and following) The burden of the desert of the sea. As hurricanes come from the south, it comes from the desert, from a fearful land. A harsh vision has been revealed to me: he who is unbelieving acts unfaithfully, and he who is a plunderer lays waste. Rise up, Elam, besiege Media: I have caused all their groaning to cease. Therefore my loins are filled with pain: distress has gripped me, like the distress of a woman in labor. 70: Vision of the desert of the sea. Just as a storm passes through the desert, coming from the desert. A vision of horror has been announced to me from the land of distress: the transgressor transgresses, and the unjust acts unjustly. The Elamites are against me, and the messengers of Persia come: now I groan and console myself: therefore my loins are filled with anguish, sorrows have seized me, like a woman in labor. What seems to us according to History we have said briefly: now let us grasp the summary of tropologies. A vision, or a burden against this world, is seen as the sea: and it is seen by the Prophet, how great temptations this world is full of. However, as to why the sea is called a world (not to mention many other things), I am content with one testimony from the Psalms: Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters, they have seen the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep (Psalm 107:23). For those who work in this world do the work of God, and with the Prophet they say: Come into the deep sea, they themselves see his wonders in the deep; and having been delivered from temptations and distress, they say they have heard a terrible and harsh vision. But this very storm comes from the desert, in which the Lord was tempted (Matthew IV), and Israel suffered from the bites of serpents and the stings of scorpions (Numbers XXI). And when it comes, it passes through and goes by; and then he who endures understands that only the transgressor transgresses and only the wicked acts wickedly. Therefore, if we are overwhelmed by the waves of the sea and if a fierce storm overtakes us, it is because of our own vice, for we were transgressors and wicked before the storm. And what he says is this: Against me the Elamites and the ambassadors of the Persians come, here the meaning is: the Elamites interpret with contempt, the Persians try. Therefore, let those come who are accustomed to despise, to scorn, and to try; but I will lament, and my groaning will be my consolation. But even my loins are filled with distress, and I have been seized by pains like a woman in labor, so that I may conceive and give birth from the fear of the Lord, and make his spirit of salvation come upon the earth. But according to the Hebrew, the whirlwinds and storms come from the desert and from the dreadful land, where there is no inhabitant, God is not present, and everything is earthly. And whoever is unbelieving acts in accordance with his unbelief, and the devastator lays waste. Therefore, he speaks boldly against his adversaries, saying, 'Ascend, Elam; lay siege to the Medes!' I have caused every groaning of the desert sea and the dreadful land, and the harshest vision that was announced to cease. Because my loins are filled with repentance, not with pleasure as before, but with sorrow, and I will say no more: My loins are filled with illusions. (Ps. XXXVII, 7). For anguish and tribulation have taken hold of me, as it is wont to hold a woman in labor. The Vulgate edition and the Hebrew text differ greatly in this place; therefore, we will briefly examine both, lest we leave ourselves an opportunity for captious fault-finding.21:4-5
(Vers. 4, 5.) I fell down when I heard, I was troubled when I saw: my heart grew faint, darkness overwhelmed me: Babylon, my beloved, has become a wonder to me. Set the table, watch those who eat and drink: rise up, princes, take the shield. LXX: I acted unjustly so that I would not hear, I hastened so that I would not see, my heart went astray: iniquity has flooded over me; my soul is filled with fear. Set the table, watch the watchtower: eat, drink: rise up, princes, prepare the shields. Before hearing and seeing the harshest things that the Prophet foresaw about the desert sea, he says that he fell and was troubled, and with almost blinded eyes and a bewildered mind, he did not know what he was seeing. For that Babylon (about which Aquila and Theodotius interpreted as darkness, to signify this world, which is in the evil (1 John 5), and whose rulers are according to the Apostle Paul (Ephesians 6), the rulers of these darkness), which once was either loved by the Prophets or by God, has become marvelous in its downfall. Where the Prophets are commanded that, partaking of the table of the Lord and being satisfied with His food, they may more diligently contemplate the things that are to come to the world; and through him it is said to all believers that, by partaking of and drinking the body and blood of the Lord, they may become princes of the Church, etc., and listen to the Apostles when they say, “Arise; take up the shield of faith from the armor of the Apostle Paul” (Ephesians 6), in which they can extinguish the fiery darts of the devil. According to the Hebrew, and the interpretation begun on the world. Let us move on to the Septuagint edition, which differs greatly from the previous ones. The Prophet corrects himself, or rather confesses the error of others under his own person, who following the literal letter, despise the life-giving spirit; and he says that he has acted unjustly, so as not to hear the law spiritually: but on the contrary, he hastened not to perceive the sacraments of God, nor did he say with David: Open my eyes, and I will consider the wonders of your law (Ps. 118:18). Therefore, his heart wanders and is filled with Jewish superstition, not remaining in the love of God, but in fear, so that he may have a spirit of slavery in fear, and not the spirit of adoption, in which we cry out, Abba Father (Rom. VIII). Therefore, it is commanded to him to approach the table of spiritual food, and all who follow his example shall eat from it and drink. And with the old error despised, let them rise up in the spirit which lay in the letter, and let them become princes, and let them say with the Prophet: O Lord, you have crowned us with the shield of your goodwill (Ps. V, 15).21:6-7
(Vers. 6, 7.) For the Lord said to me: Go and set a watchman, and whatever he sees, let him announce. And he saw a chariot of two horsemen, a rider on a donkey, and a rider on a camel, and he examined carefully with great attention, and the lion roared. LXX: For thus says the Lord to me: Go and set a watchman for yourself, and whatever you see, announce. And I saw two horsemen riding, a rider on a donkey, and a rider on a camel: I heard a great sound, and I called Uriah to the watchtower. The Prophet is commanded to place in his heart a lookout and to look more closely at what is to come to the world. And he saw two horsemen, one riding on a donkey and the other riding on a camel. Some have interpreted this as the rider on the donkey representing Christ according to the Gospel reading (Matt. XXI) and the prophecy of Zechariah (Zech. IX), and, on the contrary, the rider on the camel representing contrary strength because of the ugliness of the twisted animal. But others refer the two ascending letters and spirit to the two Testaments. And that which is said in Hebrew Arie (), for which Aquila and Symmachus have interpreted lion and lioness, the Seventy, I know not what, have put οὐρίαν, which some think to be interpreted as the light of the Lord, while with other letters it is the light of the Lord, which is not here, and with others it is written lion, which is here read. And he wishes this beholder, whom the Prophet is commanded to place in his heart, to be called Uriah, and through the interpretation of the name, refers it to the understanding of Christ, so that with him dwelling in us, we may perceive what is to come. Indeed, Jacob (Gen. XLIX) and Balaam (Num. XXIII and II) are named under the mystery of Christ, and can be compared to the lion.21:8-10
(Verses 8-10.) I am a watchman of the Lord, standing continuously during the day, and I am a guard of my duty, standing all through the night. Behold, here comes a chariot rider, a man riding in a pair of horses, and he answered and said: Babylon has fallen, has fallen, and all the idols of its gods are shattered on the ground. My threshing floor and my sons of the barn, what I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have declared to you. LXX: The Lord said: I have stood throughout the day, and I have stood over the camp throughout the night. And behold, here comes a chariot rider, and answering he said: Babylon has fallen, has fallen, and all its idols, and its manufactured things, are shattered on the ground. Listen, you who have been forsaken, and mourn: listen to what I heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who has announced to us. The Prophet stands on the lookout of the Lord, and in his light, he sees what is to come. He has this responsibility, and this task assigned to him, to see what is to come in the darkness of this age. Behold, he says, he is coming, indicating that he has seen this, the Lord Savior coming seated on a chariot, and joining together two animals, a donkey and a camel. The Prophet responded and said: Babylon has fallen, the confusion of the whole world has fallen. And in my coming, in which I took on a human body, it will completely collapse at the end of the world. And all its sculptures have been crushed on the ground. For this reason, the seventy idols and artifacts have been interpreted, signifying the Scriptures of the heretics and the various errors of heresies, who are the fabricators of idols and worship what they have imagined in their own hearts. And what follows from the person of the Prophet saying: My thrashing, and the son of my threshing-floor, which I heard from the Lord God of Hosts, I have announced to you; according to the Hebrew, it has this meaning: O people, who are to be stored in my barns, whom I have thus trampled in various hardships, so that I might separate the chaff from him, and pure wheat might be stored in my barns, which I heard from the Lord God of Hosts would come to the whole world, I have announced to you who are in the world, all of you. But others say that the superior person is indeed the Lord Savior, because He Himself spoke to the Apostles: 'What I have heard from the Father, I have made known to you' (John 15:15). And because it is written in the Septuagint, 'Listen, you who have been left behind and feel sorrow' (Isaiah 5:9), the sense of their interpretation seems to me to be: 'O Apostles, of whom Isaiah writes: 'Unless the Lord had left us a remnant, we would have become like Sodom, and would have been like Gomorrah' (Romans 9), whose remnants the Apostle teaches to be saved. You who have been left from the people of the Jews in order to be saved; and you feel sorrow over the ruin of your nation, about which we also read elsewhere: 'I am filled with sorrow and continuous pain for my brethren, who are Israelites according to the flesh' (Romans 9:2-3): I announce to you the things that I have heard from God the Father, which God of Israel predicts will come to you.'21:11-12
(Verse 11, 12.) The burden of Dumah: he calls to me out of Seir: Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning comes, and also the night: if you will inquire, inquire: turn back, and come. Vision of Edom, he calls to me out of Seir: Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said, The morning comes, and also the night: if you will inquire, inquire: and dwell with me. The Hebrew word for Elai (), which all have interpreted for me, if you wish to read Eli, it means my God, or my strong one. And what we have said, he cries out, or calls, that is, καλεῖ, according to the ambiguity of the Hebrew and Greek language, can be called either 'cry out' or 'call'; and the meaning is: God, who is my guardian, calls me day and night to repentance, so that, leaving Seir, which means 'rough and hairy', I may return and dwell with Him. It sounds like thunder or a likeness, or silence. But Edom turns into earth. Therefore, the Lord speaks to the choir of the Apostles and commands him: Call to me those who are from Seir, so that the multitude of the Gentiles may serve me, which, in the likeness of Esau, has nothing soft, light, and shining in itself, but is rough, wild, and untamed. And you, Apostles, after you have called the nations from Seir to me, guard the fortifications of the Church, so that the enemy may not easily break in: let not the roaring and prowling lion, who seeks an entrance by which he may enter, tear apart and scatter the flock enclosed in the Church. And the multitude of the Church responded: not only in prosperity, but also in adversity, that is, both in day and in night, I will keep your commandments, O God. To whom God speaks: If you truly seek me, show by your actions how you seek me; and let it not suffice that you have sought me once; but whoever you find, always search; and in order to hold more perfectly, forget your people and the house of your father, and leaving behind the error of the Gentiles, dwell with me in the Church. According to the Septuagint, we have said that those who represent the vision of Edom, that is, earthly things, are placed in the title to show that they are called those who previously served earthly works. Moreover, according to Aquila, who put 'Duma,' that is, silence, or likeness, we can understand it in this way: that the multitude of the Gentiles is provoked to the likeness of the people of Israel, and where there was previously silence of the law of God, there let there be the cry of confession; and let the wild olive tree be grafted onto the good olive. We also read in the parable of the Gospel about the servants who were sent to call the good and the bad and to fill the banquet of the master of the house, because the first ones did not want to come (Matthew 22). The Church can also narrate that the Lord from Seir, that is, from earthly places, calls out to himself and challenges him to salvation, and says to him: O guardian, why do you wander in darkness when you rise at night? Why are you a sinner without sin in the flesh? For what reason did you want to assume a human body? The guardian, that is, the Samaritan, who carried the wounded on his shoulders to the inn in the Gospel (Luke 9) replied: 'Day and night come. And the meaning is this: the sun of righteousness rose for the multitude of the Gentiles, and darkness came to the Jews. As it is said by the Lord: 'I have come into this world for judgment, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind' (John 9:39). And the guardian himself who had said, 'He comes morning and night,' speaks to the multitude of nations: If you seek me, seek more diligently. Turn to me, O converted children, and I will heal your brokenness, and come to me. The places are difficult, and since they are not widely known according to history, we are forced to follow various opinions according to interpretation.21:13
(Verse 13.) Burden in Arabia. This is not found in the edition of the Seventy Interpreters: but what follows is: In the evening you shall sleep in the paths of Dodanim, which is connected with the previous vision, so that it is read, if you seek, seek: and dwell with me in the woodland. In our language, Arabia means evening, which is the beginning of night and darkness, and everyone who has the beginning of sins is involved in the evening. But whoever comes to the highest point, stands in the middle of the night. And in Egypt the firstborn are killed in the middle of the night (Exod. 12). And the Apostle Peter, before the rooster crowed, denied the Lord three times, which is understood as the middle of the night (Mat. XXVI): But after the night had passed, and the day began to approach, having overcome the darkness of the middle of the night, and with the rooster, the messenger of light, resounding, he wept bitterly, and understood his sin, and at that time he could say: At evening weeping endures, and in the morning there is joy (Ps. XXIX, 6). Meanwhile, let's talk about the present place. However, the name Arabia, that is, the evening and the west, receives different interpretations in other passages of the Scriptures.In the forest you will sleep until evening, on the paths of Dodanim. LXX: In the forest you will sleep until evening on the road to Dedan. Those who have begun in wickedness and enter the path of sin do not sleep, nor do they tarry in cultivated fields and fallow lands, nor in meadows and fields of grain, where the Savior teaches that they should be burning for harvesting, nor among fruit-bearing trees; but in barren forests, where there are brambles and thorns, and beasts dwell. We read in the book of Kings that the forests or woods devoured more people than were killed by the sword when Absalom, the enemy of his father, rebelled against him (1 Kings 18). And it is rightly said that evening is the beginning of evils, to dwell on the road and on the paths, and on the way of Dedan, which is interpreted as judgments. For as many kinds of sins as they have, so many sentences of judgments do they deserve. Moreover, Dedan can be interpreted as a great judgment.
21:14-15
(Verse 14, 15.) Bring water to the thirsty, O inhabitants of the land of the South; meet the one fleeing with bread. For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the severity of battle. LXX: Bring water to the thirsty, O inhabitants of the region of Theman; meet the fleeing ones with bread because of the multitude of the slain, because of the multitude of the wanderers, because of the multitude of the sword, and because of the multitude of the bows drawn, and because of the multitude of those falling in battle. You who are in Theman, which is interpreted as Auster and perfection, and you turn in that place of which it is written: God will come from the south wind (Habakkuk III, 4), and you who are consummated and perfected, and have within you the light of the knowledge of the Scriptures, when those fleeing from Arabia and the thicket come to you, meet them with water and bread, and do not wait until they come to you; but imitate the father in the Gospel parable, who reached out to his returning son. And indeed he gave a robe, and presented a ring (Luke XV): but you offer water and bread to the fleeing, so that those who are weary and exhausted may be sustained by your mercy, and quickly reach your seats. For they have fled the swords of heretics, the doctrine of the pagans, and the blasphemies of the Jews. And because they have seen many of them killed by spears and many fallen in battle, they themselves desire to be freed by your help. This place can properly be understood as being against those who surrender themselves to idleness and laziness, content with their own well-being, and do not reach out a helping hand to those who are repentant and converted.21:16-17
(Verse 16, 17.) For thus saith the Lord to me: Within one year, as the years of a hireling, all the glory of Cedar shall be taken away, and the residue of the number of archers of the mighty men of the children of Cedar shall be diminished: for the Lord God of Israel hath spoken it. Therefore I said to you: Run ye to meet with water, and with bread, them that flee from the face of the battle. For thus saith the Lord: The whole glory of Cedar shall be taken away, and there shall be nothing left of the number of the very strong bowmen of the children of Cedar. For the Lord God of Israel hath spoken it. And it shall come to pass in that day, that every glory of Cedar shall be brought to nothing, and the bow long shall be made weaker. And the number of them that bow themselves down shall be diminished, and they that remain shall be diminished: because the Lord hath spoken it. And the men that shall be left in it, shall be as the biting of a flesh eating moth: and they shall be as a spark among the trees, and as dry stubble: And they that were shall be as a burning in lime: they shall be burnt and devoured together, and there shall be none that shall deliver them. Expect therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth: patiently bearing till he receive the early and latter rain. Be you therefore also patient, and strengthen your hearts: for the coming of the Lord is at hand. For the Lord of all has spoken these things, and specifically the God of Israel, that is, the God who is perceived by those who have understanding.22:1
(Chapter 22, Verse 1) The burden of the valley of vision. LXX: The word of the valley of Zion. In the book of Hebrew Names, we have defined Zion as the watchtower that is situated in the heights and contemplates those who come from afar. Therefore, when Zion is referred to in accordance with the laws of tropology, it signifies the Church. This is written in the second psalm from the perspective of the Lord and Savior: 'But I have been set as king by Him upon His holy mountain Zion' (Psalm 2:6); and, 'They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion' (Psalm 125:1); and, 'The Lord loveth the gates of Zion above all the tabernacles of Jacob' (Psalm 86:2); And the Apostle makes it even clearer: 'But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem' (Hebrews 12:22). Now we inquire why in the present vision, it is called the valley of Zion. And from the very sequence of words, we are led to spiritual understanding so that we may know that all the leaders of perverse doctrines, who have fallen from the sublimity of the sense of the Holy Scriptures and have descended to lowly things, are dwelling in the valley of Zion. I think that Solomon also says something similar in Proverbs, saying: 'The eye that mocks a father, and scorns to obey a mother, will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the young eagles.' (Prov. 30:17). For as soon as the heretics mock the Creator Father and despise the old age of the Church mother, they are dug into by filthy and unclean birds, which are drawn to opposing strengths. And they cannot say: I lift up my eyes to the mountains, from where does my help come? (Ps. CXX, 1): but they are cast down like the beasts of the earth.What is also true for you, because you ascended and you are all in the roofs? LXX: What happened to you now, because you all ascended into empty roofs? This, which is sought next to the interpreters of the LXX in the book of Kings, whether it was said by Elisha (4 Kings 2:14): Where is the God of Elijah Aphpho (), is more clearly stated in the present place, because the Seventy translated it as 'now'; in Hebrew it has Aphpho, which we also interpret as 'now', and Aquila, wishing to preserve the Hebrew idiom, put καίπερτοι, which the Latin language does not explain. But when he says, 'What is it to you also?' he asks why she ascends among others herself, and why she remains with the opinion of the lofty in lowly things. And the meaning is this: when philosophers swell, and all secular wisdom disputes about lofty things, despising the simplicity of the Church, why do you also follow lofty things? which the Seventy have interpreted as more important, 'vain dwellings,' that is, empty roofs, in order to show that there is another roof, from which the Savior prohibits descending (Matthew 24): which yet is not an empty roof. Finally, the apostle Peter at the sixth hour of prayer ascended to the roof (Acts X). Now, however, to demonstrate the great variety of heresies, he mentioned not one roof, but many roofs.
22:2
(Version 2.) Full of cries, a bustling city, a rejoicing community. The city is filled with those crying out, the bustling city is rejoicing. The teaching of the heretics is not in meaning, but in many words and clamor. Therefore, because of the multitude of the deceived, the city is called bustling and rejoicing, because of their pride. For they are inflated and boast that they have found more sacred things.Those who were killed were not killed by the sword, nor did they die in battle. Seventy: Those who were wounded were not wounded by the sword, nor did your dead die in battle. The majority, without any struggle or disagreement, is taken in by the deceptions of the heretics, and this is the very large crowd. Therefore, those who were killed, or as the Septuagint translated, those wounded in the valley of Zion, were not killed, and those wounded by the sword, but of their own free will, they went over to the heretics, and in comparison to those who were defeated after the battle, he who surrendered willingly was more unfortunate, and he was wounded and killed. How much more in martyrdom is he who, after suffering punishment, gave his hand, a lesser punishment than he who, without any necessity and pain of torment, denied Christ.
22:3
(v. 3) All your leaders have fled together and have been harshly bound. In this place, we have followed the Septuagint interpretation, as it does not differ much in meaning from the Hebrew. However, in order to transfer the word from word from Hebrew, it is read among them as follows: All your leaders have migrated together, they have been bound by the bow. This edition has been followed by other interpreters as well. For indeed, all the leaders of the heretics have migrated to the synagogue of Satan from the Church of Christ, and they have passed by together in discord, united in perfidy, and have been bound by the bow, as it is written in the Psalm: Behold, the sinners have drawn the bow, they have prepared their arrows in the quiver, to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart (Psalm 10:2), and to hurl the fiery darts of the devil, which would wound equally and bind together. Therefore they are firmly linked, because they have stopped up their ears like deaf adders, and stopping up their ears, they will not hear the voices of enchanters, nor the wise voices of the enchanters. For this reason, even the Apostle Paul commands that a heretic should be abandoned after one warning, because he is perverted and condemned by his own judgment. And indeed they have gone out from us, but they were not of our number. For if they had been of our number, they would surely have remained with us. Of these fugitive princes, he is the chief whom the same Isaiah calls the fleeing dragon, the twisted serpent, who, when he has whispered deadly words into the ears of the deceived, securely binds them and does not allow them to escape from his chains. About whom the saint rejoiced when he was delivered in the Psalm: My soul hath been delivered as a sparrow out of the snare of the hunters (Ps. CXXIII, 7). And in another place, rejoicing that he has escaped, he speaks; Thou art my protector, and my refuge. My God, I will hope in him. For he himself will deliver me from the snare of hunters, and from the harsh or turbulent word (Ps. 90:23), which specifically signifies the doctrine of heretics.All who were found in you, they were bound together, they fled far away. 70: And the strong ones fled far away from you. Yet the word of the Prophet is against the valley of Zion, whose inhabitants ascended to empty roofs and cried out with confused noise, and were wounded without battle. All its princes fled, and they were harshly bound, and those who were strong among them fled even further. For as much as one is wiser in heretical perversity, they recede farther from the Lord. But what it says according to the Hebrew: All have been found in you, we must note that even heretics claim to have found those whom they have deceived: but their finding is their destruction. In the end, let them be gathered together and flee far away. Nor do I approve of that explanation, that according to the diversity of heresies, there are different spaces for those who flee, since the holy Scripture says (Luke 11:23): all who are found with the heretics are gathered together and flee far away, with the Lord saying: Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Where it is said of Moses (Exod. XXIV), Moses alone approached God, but the others did not approach. For God is near to his holy ones, God who draws near, and not from afar, says the Lord.
22:4-6
(Ver. 4-6.) Therefore I said: Depart from me, I will weep bitterly: labour not to comfort me, for the devastation of the daughter of my people. For it is a day of slaughter and treading down, and of weeping from the Lord God of hosts in the valley of vision, searching the wall, and magnifying upon the mountain. LXX: Therefore I said: Let me alone, I will weep bitterly: labour not to comfort me, for the destruction of the daughter of my people. For it is a day of tumult, and of destruction, and of treading down, and of error from the Lord God of hosts in the valley of Zion; they wander about from the least to the greatest: they are wandering upon the mountains. And Samuel wept for Saul (1 Samuel 15), and the Lord and Savior wept for Jerusalem (Luke 19; 2 Corinthians 12:21): and the Apostle wrote to the Corinthians: For if I cause you sorrow, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I would not be distressed by those who should have made me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you, that you would all share my joy. For I wrote to you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you. (2 Corinthians 2:2-4). So with a compassionate affection, he speaks to others: Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant? (2 Corinthians 11:29)? Therefore, seeing the people once climb the empty rooftops of vain visions, and being in turmoil; and all its leaders fleeing, and being bound by the chains of sins, the Prophet bursts into tears and dismisses the comforters, and with bitter weeping testifies that he weeps not for his sons, but for the daughter of his people, who has lost her dignity of manhood. For the Day of Judgment and slaughter and trampling shall never come to Jerusalem, which is interpreted as the vision of peace; but to the ancient name Jebus, which is interpreted as trampling. And also tears or errors, as the Seventy have translated from the Lord of hosts, not that tears and errors are from the Lord; but by the occasion of the holy Scriptures, which the Lord has given to be read, occasions of error are born to those who can say: Why have you made us to err from your ways? (Isa. LXIII, 27). And in another place: The Lord mixed for them the spirit of error (Ibid. XXIX, 10): so that they would not stand on the mountain of Vision, but in the valley of Zion. But this very day, which rises in the valley of Vision from the Lord of hosts, examines the wall of the heretics, which they have constructed against the Church as the strongest defense; and also the magnificent and glorious, that is, their teachers, who boast of standing on the mountain of Christ. We read elsewhere: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob: and he will instruct us in his ways (Isaiah 2:3). Moreover, what the Seventy translated, they err from the minimum to the maximum, they err over the mountains. We should understand that they are in a greater sin, who are greater, and yet all err from the minimum to the maximum, and err over the mountains: Moses, Jeremiah, and the other prophets, the evangelists and apostles. And when they are in the valley, they wander astonishingly in the mountains.22:7-9
(Verses 7-9.) And he took Elam, the quiver, the chariot of a man, and the shield uncovered the wall. And your chosen valleys will be full of chariots, and horsemen will set their seats at the gate. And the covering of Judah will be revealed, and on that day you will see the arsenal of the house of the forest. And you will see the breaches of the city of David, for they are multiplied. LXX: But the Elamites took quivers, climbers, men upon horses, and a gathering of fighters. And your chosen valleys will be filled with chariots, and horsemen will crowd your gates. And they will reveal the gates of Judah, and on that day they will look upon the chosen houses of the city. And they will reveal the hidden things of the houses of the stronghold of David, and they will see that there are many. Aelam, which is interpreted as their ascent, or the Elamites, as the LXX translated it, whom we turn into despisers, have taken up the quiver, to drive the upright in obscurity, who are the horsemen in the chariot of men, to expose the wall of Zion and the foundations of the Church with their shield and attack. 'But', he says, 'your chosen valleys will be,' and humble teachings, oh valley of Zion, full of chariots, which the Lord submerged with Pharaoh, and their horsemen and climbers will place their thrones at your gates, so that they do not allow the besieged and confined to go out from you. Then Almighty God will reveal the coverings of the Jews through the ecclesiastical men; and all their secrets, who are established in the confession of faith, will be revealed. And then, O Valley of Zion, you will see on that day, and in the clear light of truth, all the armor of the Apostle, and the house of the jump, in which the multitude of the nations stands. Just as it is sung in Psalm 131: Behold, we have heard of it in Ephrata: we have found it in the fields of the forest. But when the veil of the Jews and their secret, which was previously concealed due to mystery, has been revealed, and you see the armor of the Church; then you will understand the divisions of the city of David, which you have multiplied, in order to gather deceived peoples to yourself. These Elamites, according to the edition of the Septuagint, do not have a single quiver, but many; and they are mounted on men who ride on souls; and there is a great multitude preparing for battle against the Church, so that all its valleys are filled; and the horsemen hinder their senses, and by their conflict provoke the Ecclesiastical man, who is called Judas, to contend; so that, as he presents testimonies of the Scriptures and refutes all lies, the heretics will see the houses of the city of David, and know all the previously secret things, how in the stronghold of David, which means the strong hand, that is, of Christ, all the dogmas of truth exist. These are obscure places, not only according to history, but also according to reasoning. Therefore, those who are displeased with ours should present their own, so that we may agree with their explanation if it is true.22:10-11
(Vers. 10, 11.) And you gathered the waters of the lower pool, and you numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and you destroyed houses to build a wall. And you made a reservoir between two walls, and the water of the old pool. And you did not look to Him who made it, and the worker of it from afar you did not see. LXX: And they turned the water of the old pool into the city, and they destroyed the houses of Jerusalem to strengthen the city wall. And you made water between two walls within the old pool, and you did not look to Him who made it from the beginning, and you did not see its creator. You who know the divisions of the city of David, that is, the Church, will see or have seen, which have multiplied throughout the world; you who have gathered the waters of your pool and your doctrine, not of the higher, but of the lower, and have counted the houses of Jerusalem, whether you have destroyed them to fortify your wall, you have not dug wells that would have had life-giving and eternal water, but broken cisterns that cannot hold water. And you have made them between the two walls of the old and new covenant, and you have neglected the water of the old pool, and you have not considered the giver of the law, God, and you have completely neglected the operator of the world. This is according to the Hebrew. Moreover, according to the Septuagint, the heretics considered themselves many, and with this confidence, they turned the teaching of the old Testament away from the city of God, which is the Church, and destroyed the houses of Jerusalem, in order to build meeting places of the wicked; and while they reject the old Testament, they have not followed the new, because the new is confirmed by the testimonies of the old Testament. Therefore, between the two walls of the old and the new, they have made for themselves new waters, which they think are interior and contain greater mysteries than those contained in the old Testament; and they have not respected God, who is the creator of the old Testament, and they did not even want to see his maker from afar.22:12-14
(Verse 12 and following) And on that day the Lord God of hosts will call for weeping and mourning, for baldness and the wearing of sackcloth; and behold, joy and gladness, killing calves and slaughtering rams, eating meat and drinking wine: 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.' And it was revealed in my ears by the Lord of hosts: 'Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die,' says the Lord God of hosts. Every day the Lord God of hosts invites heretics to repentance, who, despising the water of the old pool between two walls, dig a pit for themselves and gather the water of the lower pool, which does not have water from heaven but from the earth; and He calls them to weeping; Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted (Matthew 5:5). And to lamentation, lest they hear afterwards: We have mourned to you, and you have not lamented (Matthew 11:17). And for baldness, so that they may shave off all the works of death and rid their bodies of anything that does not live in the body. And for the belt of the robe, so that they may not be bound with a rope around their waist near Jerusalem. But on the contrary, for weeping and lamentation, baldness and sackcloth, they had joy and gladness, and as if everything were ending in death, they slaughtered calves and lambs, so that they could eat meat and drink wine, and they spoke words of blasphemy. While we are in the present age, we abound in delights. For tomorrow, which is the future time, will be without meaning. When they were saying these things, the Lord heard words of blasphemy and threatened that He would not let go of this wickedness until they either die and perish in sin and vices, or drag themselves down to the underworld with their own faults. And this can be understood not only of heretics, but of every sinner who, neglecting his sins, becomes worse through despair; and ensnared by pleasures, combines blasphemy with sin, thinking that all sense of living things ends in death, saying that statement of Epicurus: 'After death, there is nothing, and death itself is nothing.' »22:15-25
(Verse 15, 16, etc.) Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts: Go, enter to him who dwells in the tabernacle, to Shebna, the overseer of the temple, and say to him: What are you doing here? or who are you here? for you have carved out a sepulchre here for yourself. You have carved out a lofty memorial for yourself diligently in the rock for your tent. Behold, the Lord will cast you down as one is cast down, like a cockerel; and he will lift you up like a cloak. The one who crowns will crown you with tribulation: he will throw you like a ball onto a vast and spacious land. There you will die, and there will be the chariot of your glory, the disgrace of the house of your Lord. I will remove you from your position and take away your authority. And on that day, I will call my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, and clothe him with your robe and strengthen him with your belt. I will give him your authority, and he will be like a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the house of Judah. And I will place the key of the house of David upon his shoulder; and he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place, and he shall be for a throne of glory to his father's house. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, diverse kinds of vessels, from the smallest to the largest. In that day, says the Lord of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a sure place shall be removed; and it shall be cut down and fall, and the burden that was upon it shall be removed; for the Lord has spoken. LXX: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Go to the treasurer in Somna's temple and say to him, What are you doing here? Or what have you gained here? For you have dug a grave for yourself and made a memorial for yourself on high; you have carved out a dwelling place for yourself in the ground. Behold, the Lord of hosts will cast you out and bring low the man, and he will take away your glorious robe and crown, and throw you into a vast and measureless place, and there you will die. And he will bring your finest chariot to shame, and the house of your prince to trampling. And you shall be removed from your office, and from your position. And it shall be on that day, I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him with your robe, and I will strengthen him with your belt, and I will give your authority into his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will place the glory of the house of David on him, and he will rule as prince, and there will be no one to oppose him. And I will give him the key of the house of David; he will open, and no one will shut; he will shut, and no one will open. And I will appoint him as a faithful ruler, and on the throne of glory in the house of his father. And every glorious one will have confidence in him, from the least to the greatest, in the house of his father. All vessels, from the smallest to the largest, will hang upon him. In that day, says the Lord of hosts, the man who was firmly established in a faithful place will be shaken and removed, and he will fall, and the glory that was in him will perish, because the Lord has spoken. The prophet Isaiah is commanded to enter into the one who dwells in the tabernacle, which in Hebrew is called Sochen, to Sobna, the overseer of the temple, or as the Septuagint translated, the treasurer, that is, the treasurer and steward of the treasures of the house of God. But Sochen interprets either tabernacle or pastophorion, that is, a chamber, in which the overseer of the temple dwells. But who else dwelt in the tabernacle of the Jews and in the former house of God, if not the word and reason of the Jewish law, which is revealed in the reading of the Old Testament? So it is said to this tradition and teaching: what are you doing here? Why do you want to build a house with the letter O in the west, and to fix your tent, which does not have a foundation, on a solid rock, which should not be called a tent or a house, but rather a tomb and a memory? Therefore, I tell you not to labor in the excavation of a tomb, because the Lord will transfer your priesthood; just as Geber (), which all men have interpreted, is usually transferred. But the Hebrew, who instructed us in the reading of the Old Testament, translated the rooster to be a chicken. Just as, he says, a rooster is transferred from one place to another on the shoulder of a porter, so the Lord will lightly take you from your place. And those who once had the crown of the high priest, and the sanctification in the golden plate, on which the name of God was written (Exodus 28), you will be crowned with tribulation and distress. And just as if a ball is thrown on a sloping and spacious place, it cannot stand, but rolls into the vastness: so all your people will be scattered to the ends of the earth. There you will die with your letter, and all your glory, and the chariots by which you were previously renowned; and the splendor of the house of God will be turned into ignominy. For the Lord will remove you from your position and from your ministry, that is, the ceremonies of the sacrifices, so that that which is written to the Hebrews may be fulfilled: For a change of the priesthood necessitates a change of the law (Hebrews 7:12). But when you are expelled from your ministry, I will call my servant Eliakim, to whom I have said also in another place: It is a great thing for you to be called my servant (Isaiah 49:6, according to the Septuagint). Eliacim is interpreted as God rising, or the resurrection of God. Therefore, this rising God, who is the son of Helcia, that is, a part of the Lord, will assume your place and will be clothed with your robe, and he will be strengthened by your belt, so that what you had in the letter, he may possess in the spirit, and he will be the father of those dwelling in Jerusalem, that is, in the vision of peace, which is interpreted as the Church, and of the house of Judah, where true faith is confessed. Where He Himself speaks to the Apostles: Little children, I am with you for a little while longer (John 13:33). And to another: Son, your sins are forgiven (Matthew 9:2). And to another: Daughter, your faith has saved you (Luke 7:50). I will give, He says, the key of the house of David, which opens and no one shuts; who shuts and no one opens (Revelation 3). And this same key will be upon His shoulder, that is, in His passion, according to what is written in another place: His dominion is upon His shoulder (Isaiah 9:6). For whatever he has loosed in his suffering, it cannot be closed; and whatever he has closed in the ceremonies of the Jews, it will be opened by no other. For I will fix the standard in a faithful place, where the assembly of the faithful is. Hence believers in Christ are called faithful. And he will be on the throne of the glory of his father's house, that is, the Church; and they will hang all the glory of his father's house upon him. Hence it is written in the Gospel: All the people were hanging upon him (Luke 19). And indeed, this was not done only at that time, but is fulfilled even to this day, so that different vessels of God, wisdom and justice, and everything by which Christ is called, hang from him. Different kinds of vessels, for which Aquila interpreted as Sasaim and Sephoth, which Symmachus translates as grandsons and mixed: so that both the Apostles and all believers, that is, the sons of sons, and mixed from all the nations, hang upon him. From the vessels of the craterae, which Theodotius Aganoth set up, both small and great are believed to be in the Lord. And I think that the craterae are the Apostles, full of vital waters. Of which it is said: Bless God from the fountains of Israel (Ps. 67:27), in which fountains He mixed His wisdom with wine. And everything, he says, musical, of those who at all times sing praises to God. What follows seems to be contrary to our understanding, how this peg, which had been fixed in a faithful place, is removed and broken, and falls and perishes what had depended on it, and this happens because the Lord has spoken. This can be solved if we read that Gospel, which in the last days the charity of many shall wax cold (Matt. 24); and the Lord Himself says: 'When the Son of man cometh, think you that he shall find faith on earth?' (Luke 18:8) Therefore, the pillar will not be broken and fall and perish, which is impious to say, but the pillar will be taken away from a faithful place, that is, from the Church, through the impiety that grows daily, and those who had previously hung on it with faith will afterwards be broken by unfaithfulness and fall and perish. But this will happen in the last days, because the Lord has spoken. As for the sparrow, which is called Jathed in Hebrew, and is pronounced the same by everyone, the Seventy above all have interpreted it as referring to a person. And what almost passed us by in the haste of dictation, Sobnas interprets as meaning conversion now, or turning back. Therefore, it is said to the leader of the Jews to convert from the Law to the Gospel: and forsaking the images of victims, to turn to the truth of spiritual sacrifice.23:1
(Chapter 23, Verse 1) The Word of Tyre. As for our view on the burden or word and assumption of Tyre according to the Hebrews, we have already explained it in the book of ten Historical Visions. Now we will briefly go through every prophecy against Tyre according to the interpretation and version of the LXX. Tyre is called 'angustia' in the Hebrew language, and it is translated into our language as 'narrowness'. Therefore, every soul occupied by vices and evil thoughts can be called 'angustia'.Ululate the ships of Carthage, for they have perished, and they will not come again. From the land of the Citians, a captive has been led. To whom the inhabitants of the island, the merchants of Phoenicia, who cross the sea in many waters, are similar, the seed of merchants like the harvest brought in, the merchants of the nations. For Carthage is written in Hebrew as Tharsis, which all have likewise translated. But Tharsis is interpreted as contemplation or exploration of joy. They are also called Chetim in Hebrew, which means the freezing sea, and in their language it is called Sidon instead of Phoenicia. Therefore, those who are surrounded by a crowd of evil thoughts are accused, and those who desire to become rich, as the Apostle said, fall into temptations and snares of the devil, and into many harmful and destructive desires, which lead people into destruction. And they are told to wail, knowing that all the dealings of this world are perishable, and that the contemplation of joy and happiness must be turned into mourning and tears. For this sea will no longer be navigable; but everything will freeze: and the Tyrian colonies will be led away as captives to punishment. For there are no others like them who inhabit this island, except for traders or translators who are carried around on every wind of doctrine, and who pass from one vice to another. But we dwell on an island, as long as we are beaten by the temptations of this world: and from every side our island and our little ship are struck by the waves of the sea. But the merchants of this island are from Sidon, which means huntress, and many hunters live there. Of them it is written: He will deliver you from the snare of the hunters (Ps. 90:3). And in another place the saint rejoices because he was delivered from their snares, saying: Our soul has been rescued like a sparrow from the snare of the hunters (Ps. 123:7). But all the merchants of the nations are compared to crops that wither quickly, or to harvests of a river that do not have rain from the sky but from the earth: therefore they are doomed to perish with the nations. Where we read, seed of business, in Hebrew it is written, seed of sior, which is understood as Nile, because it has turbid waters with which the crops of Egypt are irrigated.
23:4-5
(Verse 4-5) Blush, Sidon, said the sea; but the strength of the sea says, I have not given birth, nor have I brought forth, nor have I nourished young men, nor have I exalted virgins. But when it is heard in Egypt, sorrow will seize them over Tyre. The sea of this age, in which small creatures dwell with large ones, and the dragon which God created to mock it, seeing the hunters of Christ, who hunt from every mountain and hill, captured those who had been previously captured by demons, speaks to the opposing strength of the hunters, which is interpreted as Sidon, and says to it: Blush, Sidon; for I have not given birth, nor have I brought forth, nor have I nourished young men captured by you, nor have I exalted virgins, whose foolishness is condemned in the Gospel (Matthew 25). For by my travail, and travail, and nourishing, and the raising of virgins, is the travail of the Apostles of Christ abolished; of whom one spoke: My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you (Gal. IV, 19). And: I have given you milk to drink, not meat (I Cor. III, 2). And again: But I would have you to be without solicitude. He that is without a wife is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. But he that is with a wife is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife: and he is divided (I Cor. VII, 32-34). Also: Woman is saved by bearing children, if she continue in faith, and love, and sanctification, with sobriety (I Tim. II, 15). When Egypt shall hear this, which is called in Hebrew Mesraim, which is interpreted as pressing out, that is, afflicting, and oppressing, she shall be disturbed, understanding that she herself shall suffer the same things that Tyre endured. And when it is referred to all vices, it can be understood in the diversity of heresies, when one captivates through heresy, another trembles, and in the confusion of one, another feels that it must be captured. However, as it is said about Sodom: For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day; and it is inferred: Nevertheless, it will be more tolerable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you: thus we learn about Tyre and Sidon from the Savior saying: Nevertheless, it will be lighter for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for that city (Matthew 11:21 ff.). Now the Canaanite woman, who understood that her daughter, that is, her soul, was being severely vexed by a most fierce demon, is said to have come out from the borders of Tyre and Sidon. For she could not encounter the Savior otherwise, unless she had left the borders of Tyre and Sidon.23:6-7
(Verse 6, 7.) Go to Carthage: howl, you who dwell in this island. Is this not your insult from the beginning before it was handed over? They will lead it far on foot to wander. That which follows: They will lead it far on foot to wander, is added from Hebrew, and is prenoted by an asterisk, that is, by illuminating stars. O Tyrians who dwell in narrowness and reside on the island, who are exposed on all sides to the waves of trials, depart from it, and go to Carthage, that is, to Tharsis, and hasten to true joy, mourning for ancient sins, and for the old insult, which either you yourselves inflicted on others, or suffered from them. But I give this command for a reason: because you see your city Tyre about to be moved from its original seats and purpose, when they have humbled their necks to the Gospel of the Savior, after having cast away their old error. So that those who previously dwelled in narrowness may withdraw farther and become strangers and inhabitants of the teaching of the Lord, the Savior.23:8-9
(Vers. 8, 9.) Who has conceived these things against Tyre? Is it not the smaller one, or does it not prevail? Its merchants are the princes of Canaan, the famous ones of the land. The Lord of hosts has conceived to dissolve every insult of the proud, and to dishonor everything that is famous on the earth. The word of Canaan is added from the edition of Theodotion, for which Aquila translated merchants. Therefore, the Holy Spirit asks, or rather confirms by asking, that the Lord has conceived these things against the princes of Tyre, whose entire effort is to seek wealth through commerce. And as we read in the Gospel (Matt. XIII), the merchants of pearls, who having sold everything, desire to buy one pearl, and are certainly to be called illustrious merchants not of the earth, but of heaven: so, on the other hand, the merchants of Tyre, that is, of tribulation and distress, are to be called illustrious of the earth, because whatever they do, concerns the earth: and the princes of Canaan, which is interpreted as fluctuating and unsettled. For they do not establish their feet upon a rock, nor can it be said of them: A rock is a refuge for hedgehogs (Ps. XXXIX; CIII, 18), or hares; but rather they endure what the just man almost suffered: But my feet were almost moved; my steps had well nigh slipped (Ps. LXXII, 2). Therefore, the Lord of hosts has conceived this plan, in order to dissolve the wicked bonds of business, or rather to dissipate the compacted injustice through which all those who are subject to Tyre are insolent. And what he has done is not to dishonor everything that is glorious on earth; the Lord is not the author of dishonor, but rather what is ignominious is shown to be ignominious in and of itself. Indeed, we read this also about the priests in Leviticus: 'He has been contaminated by contamination' (Lev. XXI). No doubt, the priest is contaminated not by his own doing, but in order to show that he has been contaminated, who previously seemed to be clean to many.23:10-11
(Vers. 10, 11.) Work your land: for the ships do not come from Carthage at all, and your hand does not prevail, which provokes the kings in the sea. There is much disagreement among other interpreters, and the Septuagint edition diverges from the Hebrew itself in this place, but let us continue with the proposed argument. Above, he had said: Go to Carthage, howl you who dwell on the island. Now he speaks the opposite, because the ships no longer come from Carthage, work your land. For it is beneficial for Tyre that foreign ships perish, so that its people are forced to work their own land. As it is said in Proverbs: 'Whoever works his own land will have plenty of bread' (Prov. 21:11), so that he may live off the produce of his work without the uncertainty of shipwrecks and the danger of drowning, but instead with the fruits of his labor. Concerning this, it is sung in the Psalms to the righteous: 'You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands' (Ps. 128:2). It is written in Hosea that the ways of a prostitute are hedged with thorns by the Lord, so that she cannot pursue her lovers, and thus, compelled by this necessity, she may return to her original husband. And as we frequently observe in the affairs of the world, many who could not perceive the Lord through prosperity and the abundance of all things, came to understand through poverty, and turned to the works of justice, after the happiness of this world failed to prevail over the work of their hands, which formerly provoked kings in the sea, or disturbed them, as Symmachus puts it; whose heart is in the hand of God. And would that we too, despising the commerce of this sea, cultivate our own land, and not wait for the ships of Carthage, or the ships of Tyre, which used to go to Carthage, lest we be subjected to the power of the dragon who rules over the sea! But let us set a firm footing on the earth, rather hastening towards the heavens, let us work our own land, here sowing, there harvesting. Let our hand, which was previously engaged in the affairs of the world, and even capable of altering the state of kings, that is, the saints, according to its power and success, become weak in matters of the sea, so that it may be strong in the work of its own land.23:12
(Verse 12) The Lord of hosts commanded to destroy its strength from Canaan, and they will say: 'You shall not add to do harm and injustice to the virgin daughter of Sidon. Tyre and Sidon are in the land of Canaan, and as we have shown above, presenting the testimony of the Gospel in which it is read that a Canaanite woman or a Syrophoenician went out from the borders of Tyre and Sidon and met the Lord and Savior. But every soul that is placed in the waves of the world and is carried about by every wind of doctrine is to be called Canaan, which is interpreted as fluctuation or commotion.' Therefore, it is beneficial for Tyre and its distress for the Canaanite to perish, so that it may be said to its inhabitants that they are no longer able to do harm, and to oppress the virgin daughter of Sidon through wickedness. Whoever is captured by the devil in the various disturbances of vices and is handed over to the insults of ignominy, in order to pollute the body with pleasures and filth, that person is the son or daughter of Sidon. And it should be known that 'sabaoth' is not found in Hebrew, and, on the contrary, 'virgo' is added from Hebrew.23:13
(Verse 13) If you go to the Citians, there will be no rest for you there; and if you go to the land of the Chaldeans, it has also been devastated by the Assyrians. Siim founded it, they established its fortifications, they raised its tower: its wall has fallen. And what follows in Theodotion's edition is added under asterisks: Siim founded it, they established its fortifications, they raised its tower, and without asterisks it is joined: its wall has fallen. The Cilicians are interpreted as a completed or perfect wound: the Chaldeans in this place, as if breasts: the Assyrians, accusing. We could not find the etymology ourselves, and the other interpreters translated it by the very name used in Hebrew. Therefore, it is said to Tyre that, although it seeks to go to the Cilicians and avoid the distress of its own wound, it cannot find perfect rest even there. And if it desires to go to the Chaldeans and enjoy their abundance and the abundance of all things, it will also find them deserted, with the Assyrians accusing their sterility, just as the Apostle handed over the sinners of Satan (1 Tim. 1), so that they may learn not to blaspheme: those who are handed over to the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved. However, the Chaldeans laid the foundations of which I understand to be the most wicked demons, who raised up strongholds and the most proud towers of the city of Chaldea against the knowledge of the Lord. But all their building collapsed into ruins; for, its wall fell. For unless the Lord builds the house, in vain do those who build it labor. (Ps. CXXVI, 1). Often we see in the world certain individuals pass from one purpose to another. For example, those who have had a bad experience in the military can transition to business. And again, lawyers of warriors take up weapons. They change their profession in order to change their misfortune; and nevertheless, by the will of God, everything happens contrary to those who strive for everything to go well: so that through poverty and miseries they are forced to have confidence not in themselves, but in their Creator.23:14
(Verse 14.) Howl, O ships of Carthage: for your strength is gone. The ships of Carthage, that is to say Tharsis, are commanded to howl: for they have not perished, as mentioned above, or will not come; but their strength has perished. Tharsis, according to another interpretation, is translated into our language as completion of six, or joy. However, we read that this world was made in six days, which according to ecclesiastical traditions will be consummated afterwards. Therefore, all the good things of this world, and the toil of all mortals, are compared to the uncertain course of ships, because they will soon perish and all the strength of sailors will be dissolved. Hence, it is written in Solomon: The wise man ascends to strong cities and destroys their fortifications (Prov. XXI, 22). Whatever is composed of heretics, worldly wisdom, and the art of opposing doctrines, the ecclesiastical man destroys and teaches that they should be subject to his teachings.23:15-18
(Verse 15 and following) And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years, Tyre shall sing as a harlot. Take a harp, go about the city, O harlot that has been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that you may be remembered. After seventy years, the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. And his merchandise shall be holy unto the Lord: it shall not be gathered nor laid up; for his merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing. This that is spoken of: a memorial before the Lord: and upon the face of the earth. And as the time of a man's life, which is not contained in the Hebrew, but is added in the Greek. And Tyre, after the seventy years of her captivity, shall return, and shall play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord: it shall not be treasured nor laid up, for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing. The divine discourse exhorts Sidon and Tyre to repentance, and promises that his labors and rewards are to be sanctified by the Lord. Who does not have hope for salvation from sins, if indeed he has sung well, and all the strings of virtues, which were once slackened, are to be composed into praises of the Lord? We read in the forty-fourth psalm, which specifically pertains to the union of the bridegroom and the bride, that is, to God the Savior and the sacraments of the Church, it is said among other things: The daughters of Tyre will offer you gifts, the rich among the people will seek your favor (Ps. XLIV, 13). And the bridegroom himself speaks again to the Tyrian bride: Listen, daughter, and see, and incline your ear; and forget your people and your father's house, for the king desires your beauty. (Ibid. 11, 12). Hence, in the description of her beauty, it is said: The queen stands at your right hand, in a golden robe, adorned with various ornaments (Ibid., 10). And again: All the glory of the king's daughter is within (Ibid., 14). But if the king desires the beauty of penitent Tyre, and having the ornaments of various virtues, how much more will his reward and business be not in Tyre, where he does not dwell, but among those who live in the sight of the Lord! After they have repented, they will hear from the Lord and Savior: 'Eat, my friends, and drink, and be intoxicated, my beloved' (Song of Solomon 5:1). What it means to eat and drink, and be satisfied with the gathering of all virtues, the faithful reader understands. The temple was desolate for seventy years, as Jeremiah (Chapter 29), Daniel (Chapter 9), and Zechariah (Chapter 7) teach. And in Ezekiel (Chapter 16) we read about Sodom being restored to its former state, and about Egypt receiving its former abundance after the desolation and dryness of the land and the seven rivers. The number seventy signifies complete and perfect repentance, either in the span of seven days or in the completion of seven decades, so that just as Tyre, when the time of repentance is fulfilled, may return to its former state. Concerning this, I believe that the prostitute is referred to in the mystical language of Solomon's Proverbs: Do not look at the worst woman; for honey drips from the lips of the harlot, who fattens your throat for a short time, and afterwards you will find it bitter as gall (Prov. V, 2-4). For she peers through the window of her house onto the streets (Matth. VII): for the way that leads to death is wide and spacious, and she dares not tempt the wise, for she only lures the foolish, and she walks beside the corners, having lost the straight line: she talks to him in darkness and in gloom, and under the guise of pleasures she leads him like a victim to death. If she has been converted and has sung well, and has completed the time of perfect penance of years, she will eat and drink, and will be satisfied. Let Novatian hear, and let him be silent.Book Eight
Book EightThe sixth and seventh books contain the allegory of the fifth volume, which I previously explained with a historical commentary. The present work, that is, the eighth book, returns to the interpretation that was begun, in order to discuss both the history and the tropology in both editions. If this seems lengthy to you, O virgin of Christ Eustochium, do not blame me, but rather the difficulty of the Holy Scriptures, especially the prophet Isaiah, who is enveloped in such great obscurities that I consider a brief explanation, which is itself lengthy, due to the magnitude of the matter. Certainly, we write for those who are eager to learn the holy Scripture, not for those who are arrogant and nauseated by every detail. If they desire a river of eloquence and well-crafted declamations, let them read Cicero, Quintilian, Gallio, Gabinianus. And if they come to our side, let them read Tertullian, Cyprian, Minucius, Arnobius, Lactantius, Hilary. Our aim is to understand Isaiah ourselves, and not to have our words praised under the guise of Isaiah.
24:1-3
(Chapter 24 - Verses 1 and following) Behold, the Lord will lay waste the earth, and make it desolate, and afflict its face, and scatter its inhabitants. And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the debtor. The earth shall be utterly laid waste and utterly plundered, for the Lord has spoken this word. After the special punishment of certain nations, namely Judaea, Babylon, the Philistines, Moab, Damascus, Israel, Egypt, the desert of the sea, Idumaea, and Arabia, the valley of vision, and finally Tyre, of which we have said what we could in their explanation; now the prophetic discourse describes what the whole world will suffer in its consummation, and it prophesies not individually about each nation, but universally about all. And first, it describes the torments that the wicked will suffer, and how, according to the Gospel and the Apostle, heaven and earth will pass away, and the figure of this world (Matthew 24; 1 Corinthians 7), and sinners will be led into hell (Psalm 30), as it is written: They shall go to the ends of the earth, they shall be delivered into the hands of the sword, they shall be the parts for foxes (Psalm 62:10). Then, because of the diversity of merits, there are many mansions with the Father, it is said how the saints are caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and will always be with Him (John 14; 1 Thess. 4). For the wasted world, seventy corrupt orbs were interpreted; and for its afflicted face, that is, the earth, the same ones were moved, and He will reveal His face; so that the dead may come forth from their tombs: whether He exposes it, so that all His works may be brought forth publicly, and its inhabitants may be scattered in different places, designated for rewards or punishments. Then there will be no distinction between noble and commoner, priest and layperson, slave and master, maid and mistress, rich and poor, lender and borrower, buyer and seller. For all will stand equally before the judgment seat of Christ, and there will be no partiality with God. (Romans 14; Colossians 3). About this, Job speaks in almost the same words: There, the small and the great are together, and the slave is not afraid of his master. (Job 3, 19). And the Savior testifies in the Gospel, to whom all judgment is entrusted, in full discourse. Therefore, the earth will be dispersed, and all earthly works will be reduced to nothing, so that the image of the earthly may be abolished, and the image of the heavenly may remain. For the first man is from the earth, earthly, and the second is from heaven, heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthly, let us also bear the image of the heavenly (I Cor. XV, 47-49). The same Apostle says: Flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God. It is not that the nature of bodies perishes according to the heretics, but rather that corruptibility will put on incorruption, and mortality will put on immortality. And all these things will happen, because what is to come, the Lord has spoken through the prophets.24:4-5
(Verse 4, 5.) The earth mourned and declined, and became weak: the world declined, the height of the people of the earth became weak, and the earth was destroyed by its inhabitants. (LXX: The earth mourns, the world is corrupted, the lofty ones of the earth mourn, but the earth acts wickedly due to its inhabitants. God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). From the first sentence, it is against those who are lofty in the earth, so that everything that is now strong may be weakened because of those who mixed blood with blood, and caused the blood of the slain to cry out to God in a manner similar to Abel's blood (Gen. 4).24:6
(Verse 6.) Because they have transgressed the law, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse devours the earth, and those who dwell in it are held guilty. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left. LXX: Because they have transgressed the law, changed the ordinances, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse devours the earth, because its inhabitants have sinned. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth shall be poor, and few men shall be left. Let the Jews listen, who boast that they alone have received the law of the Lord, that the whole world and all nations first received the natural law, and therefore the law was later given through Moses, because the first law was dispersed. Concerning this, the Apostle says: For when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they, not having the law, are a law to themselves; who show the work of the law written on their hearts (Rom. II, 14). Therefore, those who observe these laws will receive rewards: but those who neglect them will suffer the punishments that the prophetic word now pronounces. And just as at the beginning God blessed all the creatures He had made (Genesis 1): so at the end of the world He will curse those who are earthly and have not been pilgrims, but residents of the earth, and have sinned in it; those who have forgotten their condition and have raged against each other in mutual fury. And only a few will remain who have the image of the heavenly: or, according to the Septuagint, the poor will be the inhabitants of the earth, because they have lost the spiritual riches.24:7-12
(Verse 7 and following) The grape harvest has failed, the vine is weakened, all those who rejoiced in their hearts have sighed. The joy of the tambourines has ceased, the sound of the rejoicers has quieted, the sweetness of the lyre has been silenced, as those who do not drink wine with singing, bitter will be the drink for those who drink it. The city of vanity is worn away, every house is closed with no one entering. There will be a cry over wine in the streets, all joy is deserted, the pleasure of the land has been moved elsewhere. And the solitude was left in the city, and calamity will oppress the gates: for these will be in the midst of the earth, in the midst of the people. In the end of the world, the remembrance of past delights will be the material of torments. Wherefore even that rich man, clothed in purple at a banquet, who had received his good things in his life, lifting up his eyes from hell, sees Lazarus in rest (Luke XVI). And the Lord, reproving the rich and luxurious and laughing, speaks in the Gospel: Woe to you who are rich, because you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are now satisfied, for you will hunger. Woe to you who are now laughing, for you will mourn and weep (Luke 6:25). Therefore, when the resurrection of the dead will have occurred, and the day of judgment will have come, then the wine and the harvest will mourn, of which Moses speaks: Their vine is from Sodom, their vineyard is from Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter. The fury of dragons is their wine, and the incurable fury of asps (Deuteronomy 32:33). Then every drink, or as it is said in Hebrew, 'sycerah', that is, drunkenness, which overturns the state of the mind and does not allow people to stay awake, will be changed into bitterness, which deceives those who use it with its sweetness for a time, and in the end is found to be more bitter than gall. Then all the sweetness of those who rejoice and the sounds of tambourines and lyres will be turned into mourning and groaning. Let us present this testimony to those who in banquets not only indulge in gluttony and drunkenness but also in the luxuries of the ears, so that strength of the soul may soften through all the senses. The city of vanity is destroyed, that is, every city, or spiritual Babylon, which sits on seven purple mountains, whose punishments we read about in the Apocalypse of John (Apoc. XVIII). It is well said, the city of vanity. For if it is said of heaven and earth, and of all things that are earthly: Vanity of vanities and all is vanity (Eccl. I, 2); how much more should this be said of one city, which is a small part of the whole world! Then the houses, whose ceilings are now gilded, and the poor without shelter and dying in hovels, will be adorned with marble veneers and shining ivory panels, but they will remain empty. There will be clamor in the streets over wine, not on the narrow and cramped road that leads to life, but on the wide and spacious road that leads to death (Matthew 7). Their error is over wine and drunkenness, those who have fallen asleep in their slumber, and all the wealthy men found nothing in their hands (Psalm 75). For indeed the joy of the earth has been translated to the heavens, and the once famous solitude is left in the abandoned city, and calamity will oppress the inhabitants of the crowded gateways through which the streams of peoples used to flow. And in order that we may know clearly the news of the destruction of the whole world, it added, These things shall happen in the midst of the earth: in the midst of nations or peoples.24:13-15
(Verses 13-15) Just as when a few olives, which remain, are shaken from the olive tree, and the grape harvest is finished, these will lift up their voice and praise when the Lord is glorified, they will neigh from the sea: therefore, glorify the Lord in your teachings, in the islands of the sea proclaim the name of the Lord God of Israel. The following words will show how much the LXX translation differs from the Hebrew truth in this place: LXX: Just as if someone shakes an olive, they will shake them: and if the grape harvest rests, these will shout with a loud voice. But those who are left on the earth will rejoice together with the glory of the Lord, the water of the sea will be troubled, therefore the glory of the Lord will be in the islands of the sea, the name of the glorious Lord will be, the Lord God of Israel. With few men left, when the curse devours the earth, and there is solitude in the city, and all these things happen in the midst of the earth, in the midst of peoples and nations, the number of the saints will be so few, of whom the Lord speaks in the Gospel: Many are called, but few are chosen (Matt. 20:16); and the pressure on the righteous will be so great that, if possible, even the chosen of God will be tempted; and their number will be compared to the rarest berries of olives, which, when shaken and harvested, very few remain on the top of the branches; and just as after the harvest, the poor, forced by poverty, go around empty vines and gather a few grapes. Therefore, those who remain, and after the harvest of the world and the pressure, their hands trembling, will flee from the persecuting Antichrist or the impending flames of punishment, and they will raise their voices on high and praise God. When the Lord comes in the glory of his Father, with the holy Angels, and they see him reigning in majesty, then they will neigh like horses, rejoicing with great joy, and they will neigh from the sea of this age. Therefore, you who are now learned in the holy Scriptures and know that great joy and rewards are reserved for you, glorify the Lord in your teachings, hearing what is written: 'Whoever boasts, let him boast in the Lord' (2 Corinthians 10:17). Not in the land of Judea, but in the islands, that is, in the Churches of this sea and age, where the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, is blessed and praised, or, the name of the man who sees God. According to the Septuagint, everything that we understand about the saints can be referred to as the wicked, because when the vintage is finished, then those who are established in punishment will cry out. But those who have escaped the number of the wicked shall rejoice in the glory of the Lord, and the waters of this people in this age shall be troubled.24:16
(Verse 16) From the ends of the earth we have heard praises, the glory of the Just One. And I said: My secret to me, my secret to me. Alas for me! LXX: From others we have heard wonders of the earth: the hope of the just, and they say + my mystery to me **. This which is said my mystery to me is not found in the LXX, but it has been added from Theodotion's translation in Greek. Again, instead of what they placed as woe, so that it is joined to the following verse, in Hebrew it is said Oi LI (), which properly means woe to me. Furthermore, for the ends that we have set forth more clearly for the sake of explanation, it is found in Hebrew 'Mecchenaph' (which means 'wing', not 'end'). Therefore, concerning those about whom it was said above, 'They shall lift up their voice and praise, when they neigh from the sea, and glorify the Lord in their teachings, and see the name of the Lord God of Israel praised in the islands of the sea', then they shall sing with united voice and say: 'From the ends of the earth, that is, from the prophets and the saints of the Lord, who, with wings assumed like a dove, hasten to the kingdom of the heavens, we have heard His praises proclaimed; and may it be fulfilled that the glory and hope of the Just may not be in vain, but that all things may be fulfilled.' And while they were saying these things, and the saints were neighing from the sea, and lifting up their voice and praising, the Prophet speaks to himself: When, he says, I heard these things, and perceived that the prophecy of the prophets was to be fulfilled in the overthrow of the world, I spoke to myself with an internal affection of the heart: I cannot narrate all that I see. My tongue sticks to my throat, my voice is cut off by pain. Woe is me, how great a order of torments is passing before my eyes! I perceive things that are present and things that are to come. However, those who think that this should be understood as the person of God are mistaken, not following the order of things. And I wonder in what sense the Psalms and praises, which are read in Hebrew as Zemroth, were interpreted as portents by the LXX, unless perhaps it is a sign and portent that, with the Jewish people excluded, the unbelieving multitude of gentiles might be saved first.24:17-18
(Verse 17, 18.) The treacherous have dealt treacherously; indeed, they have dealt treacherously with treachery. Fear, the pit, and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall be that he who flees from the noise of fear shall fall into the pit, and he who comes up from the midst of the pit shall be caught in the snare. LXX: woe to the treacherous who deal treacherously! Fear, the pit, and the snare are upon you, O inhabitants of the earth. And it shall come to pass that he who flees from the noise of fear shall fall into the pit, and he who comes up from the midst of the pit shall be caught in the snare. This is the cause of my grieving and crying out, for which I have said again and again, my secret to myself, my secret to myself: because all have transgressed God's law, and the punishment of the Lord is not delayed, nor is it foretold, but it is imminent and holds captive the inhabitants of the earth. And when they think they have escaped, they will fall from one thing to another, and wherever they turn, they will not escape the impending anger of the Lord.24:19-20
(Verse 19, 20.) For the gates from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth will be shaken. The earth will be crushed to pieces, shattered, and shaken. It will be thrown into agitation like a drunkard, and it will be taken away like a temporary shelter, and its own iniquity will weigh it down, and it will fall and not be able to rise again. Therefore, no one will escape the fear, snare, and pit of the Lord, because the gates from on high, or as the LXX has made clearer, the windows of heaven, are open, so that the Lord may behold all the sins of mankind that he previously seemed to ignore because he did not punish sinners. But when, however, he saw all the works of mortals with the windows open, the foundations of the earth were shaken, according to what is written in another place about the divine sight: He looks at the earth, and it trembles (Ps. 103:32); then it will be shattered and broken, and the earth will be moved and agitated like a drunkard: not that the earth itself will be reduced to dust and to nothingness; but that all earthly things will pass away, and another way of life will succeed. And just as a drunk person doesn't know what they are doing, but with the nerves dulled by drunkenness, neither foot nor mind stay in their proper function, so all the earth, that is, all the people who dwell on the earth, will be drunk with the magnitude of evils and punishments, and they will be astonished at everything they see. And just as the tent and dwelling place of one night is moved from place to place, and the previous location of the tent is abandoned by the traveler, so that no trace of the past dwelling remains: in the same way, the figure of this world will pass away, and the earth will be deserted, burdened by its iniquity, as is written in Zachariah: She who sits upon a talent of lead (Zech. V, 32). And it will fall, he says, and it will not be added so that it may rise again. Not that the resurrection of humans, and all who inhabited the earth, is denied, but there will in no way be an earthly conversation, and the former state of life, when human bodies rise for this purpose, so that souls may be clothed in the same bodies they had previously laid aside, and receive from God either the good or evil deeds they had done on earth.24:21-23
(Verse 21 onwards) And it will happen in that day, the Lord will visit upon the host of heaven on high, and upon the kings of the earth who are on the earth. And they will be gathered together into one assembly, into a pit, and will be shut up there in prison, and after many days they will be visited. And the moon will be ashamed, and the sun will be confounded, when the Lord of hosts shall reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and shall show forth his glory before his ancients. For what we have interpreted, the moon will turn red, and the sun will be confused. The Seventy translated it as 'to melt the brick and to make the wall fall.' The following words will show what the cause of the error is. The sun is called by the Hebrew language in three ways: Semes, meaning heat; Hamma, which means brightness; and Heres, which sounds like 'testam' or dryness. Maor, which in Greek is φωστὴρ, is called 'luminare' in Latin and is common to both the sun and the moon. Again, the moon is called Jaree ( ), which in Greek is called μήνη, because it completes the month in a cycle of thirty days, and Labana ( ), that is, white or bright. In the present place, instead of Labana, that is, the moon, Seventy interpreted laterem, which in Hebrew is called Lebena, deceived by the ambiguity of the word. Again, for Hamma, that is, heat, by which the sun is understood, they placed a wall, which in Hebrew is called Homa ( ). And the meaning of this whole chapter is as follows: The windows of heaven are opened, so that the Lord may look upon the earthly sins, and every form of earthly work may pass away, and fall, and never rise again to its former state. On that day, which is the day of judgment, the Lord will visit upon the heavenly host, or upon the adornment of the high heavens, so that He may judge not only the earthly, but also the celestial things. But let us learn from Moses, who is writing, what is the adornment of the heavens or the heavenly host: Be careful not to look up at the sky, and see the sun and the moon. You are deceived and worship the stars and all the adornment of the heavens (Deut. IV, 19). But the Lord will visit, according to the language of the Scriptures, as if he were visiting a sick army, needing both weapon and cauterization, according to this: I will visit their sins with a rod, and their iniquities with scourges (Ps. LXXXVIII, 3). For also in the following we read: My sword is drunk in heaven (Infra XXXIV, 5); And in Job: The stars are not clean in his sight. And concerning his angels who sinned, God found something perverted (Job 25:5). He will also visit the kings and princes of the earth, the rulers of these dark regions, and the spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. Of these princes, who preside over different provinces, it is written in Daniel: 'A prince of the kingdom of Persia came to meet me, and a prince of the kingdom of Media, and a prince of the kingdom of Greece' (Dan. 10). Therefore, the Lord will gather these princes who did not keep their proper position, on the day of judgment, binding them together as in one bundle, and will cast them into the lake of hell, so that it may also be fulfilled in them what is written about the wicked: 'He made a pit, and excavated it, and fell into the hole he made' (Ps. 7:16). And they shall be cast into prison, according to what the Lord says: Go into the everlasting fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41) . But what follows: And after many days they shall be visited, seems to support the claims of my friends who say that the devil and demons will repent, that they will be visited by the Lord after a long time. But they should consider that the divine Scripture does not clearly say: They shall be visited by the Lord, or they shall be visited by the angels, but simply, they shall be visited. From this ambiguity of word and remedy, it can be understood both correction, in that after the just have received rewards, they are visited with perpetual punishments. However, it must be known that the judgment of God cannot know human frailty, nor can it pass sentence on the magnitude and measure of punishments, which is left to the discretion of the Lord. Then the moon will blush, and the sun will be confused, according to what the Apostle says: For the creature itself groans and gives birth (Rom. VIII, 22), seeing that men who enjoyed its light have done nothing worthy of the goodness of God, who makes his sun rise on the just and the unjust (Matth. V). If the steward and the overseer, when the master comes, see the household subjected to various tortures and have not fulfilled their commands. Concerning this same matter, the Savior teaches more fully in the Gospel: The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, when the sign of the Son of Man appears in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory (Matthew 24:29-30). We have learned the overthrow of the earth, the visitation of the heavenly army, the gathering together of kings and princes into one bundle, and their casting down into the lake, and the keeping of the prison, and the visitation of those shut up after a long time, the reddening of the moon and the darkening of the sun. After all these things, the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in the celestial Jerusalem, of which it is also written in the Epistle to the Hebrews: And in the sight of his elders he will be glorified (Heb. XII). What kind of man was Abraham, who died in old age and was buried with his ancestors (Gen. XXV)? He was commanded to choose elders, whom he knew to be elders (Num. XI): for the wisdom of a man is seen in his grey hair (Sap. IV, 8), they who imitate the old days, whose hair is described as white, to show the length of their age (Dan. VII, 9). This can also be understood in terms of ecclesiastical rank, if they do not destroy the dignity with their actions.25:1-5
(Chapter 25 — Verse 1 and following) O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for you have done marvelous things, faithful and true are your ancient thoughts. Amen. For you have made a city into a heap, a fortified city into ruins, a palace of foreigners, so that it is no longer a city and will never be rebuilt. On this the strong people will praise you, the city of the mighty nations will fear you. For you have been a stronghold for the poor, a stronghold for the needy in their distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat. The breath of the strong is like a whirlwind driving against a wall. Just as the tide quells the thirst, you will humble the uproar of strangers; and like heat under a torrential cloud, you will cause the offspring of the strong to wither. LXX: O Lord my God, I will glorify you; I will praise your name, for you have done wondrous things, an ancient true counsel, let it be done. For you have laid cities in ruin; strong cities, so that their foundations may fall. The cities of the wicked will not be built forever. Therefore, the people of the poor will bless you, and the cities of those who sustain injustice will bless you. For you have been a helper to every humble city and a protection to the sorrowful due to their poverty. You will free them from the worst men: a shade for the thirsty, and the spirit of men who endure injustice as weak and thirsty men in Zion from wicked men, whom you have delivered us to. There are two possible interpretations of this place. The Jews believe the voice of the saints to be that of the believing people: when God has done what was said against the whole world, and the prophecies of all the prophets have been fulfilled; and they interpret the city that has been overthrown as Rome, which should be completely destroyed, and they refer the strong people who praise the Lord and for whom the Lord has become their strength in their tribulation and distress to Israel, who has been freed from the persecution of the nations as if from the most intense heat and thirst. But others understand that it is said more truthfully and rightfully in the person of the prophet, giving thanks to the Father for the suffering of the Lord and Savior, because he did wonders and fulfilled ancient thoughts with truth, when they stand at the right hand and hear: Come, you blessed of my Father, take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Matt. XXV, 34). And Paul also, understanding, was speaking: Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless (Ephes. I, 4). And desiring to become what he prophesied, he adds the word in Hebrew Amen, for which the Septuagint translated it as 'let it be so.' And the Lord often uses this word in the Gospel: Amen, amen, that is, truly, truly I say to you (John VI, 54). But why does he praise and confess the name of the Lord, and what are these wonders, and the ancient thoughts that he has truly demonstrated in his works, follows: For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin, the house of strangers, so that it is no longer a city and will not be built forever. The once strong city of Jerusalem is understood, which has become a house of strangers; concerning them, the Savior says in the psalm: The sons of strangers have lied to me, the sons of strangers have grown old and have stumbled in their paths (Ps. XVII, 46). When this city has been destroyed, it will never be rebuilt, so that the kingdom of a thousand years and the golden Jerusalem and the jewel-adorned dreams may rest. But the people of the strong will praise the Lord, when Jerusalem has been destroyed for its impiety. However, the following verse shows who the strong people are: The city of strong nations will fear you. While they blaspheme, the people of the nations will fear you. For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. IX, 10). The strong people will praise you, and the city of mighty nations will fear you; this is the Church gathered from the nations. For you have become the strength of the poor, your Christ, of whom we also read in the Psalms: Blessed is he who understands the needy and the poor (Ps. 40:1). And in Zechariah according to the Hebrew truth, the poor, that is, the Ebion, is described as sitting on a donkey's colt (Zech. 9). Strength for the needy in the tribulation of his passion, hope from the whirlwind of the gallows, and shade from the heat, when he spoke: Father, into your hands I commend my spirit (Luke 23:46). For just as the wind, if it were to strike against a wall and pass through it, was unable to harm the blasphemous Jews, so too, using another comparison, just as a branch is scorched by intense heat and withers, in the same way you will cause the commotion and shouting of those who have become strangers to you to wither away and perish. According to the Septuagint translators, I was unable to find, not to mention the meaning, but even the arrangement of words and continuity, in this place. And in that place where we have interpreted, like the heat in thirst, for which in Hebrew it is written Basaion (), which among them means impassable, or thirst; therefore, they have translated it as impassable and in thirst, to Sion; the error is clear, because of the similarity of the words Saion and Sion (both), which are signified by the same elements.25:6-8
(Verses 6-8.) And the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples on this mountain a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. LXX: And the Lord of hosts will make all nations drink joy on this mountain, they will drink wine. They will be anointed with an oil on this mountain. Give all these things to the nations, for this counsel is over all nations: the prevailing death has devoured. And again: the Lord God has taken away every tear from all faces, and he has taken away the disgrace of his people from all the earth. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Because we have turned, the face of a bound captive over all people, the Eagle has interpreted, the face of darkness over all people. And when the eagle has twice spoken of darkness, Theodotius once named darkness, and similarly with the rest. For which Symmachus translated, the face of the Lord who rules over all peoples. But what the Seventy wanted to say about this place is clear to the reader, that they did not put the words of Scripture, but their own interpretation, because all the mysteries of the Law and the Temple are to be transferred to the Churches of the nations. After the passion of the Lord, when He will have freed Him from thirst and heat, and whirlwind, the Lord will make a rich feast not for the Jewish people, but for all nations on Mount Zion, with fatty delicacies and wine from the choicest vineyards, so that He may cause the face of death and the bonds by which all people were bound to be precipitated and swallowed up; He will break the net of death and the web that had captured all nations. And according to the Apostle, death will be swallowed up forever (I Cor. XVI). And the Lord shall wipe away every tear from their faces, when death is overcome and the kingdom of Christ arrives. And the reproach of the human race, which was created in the image of the Creator, shall escape the bondage of the devil and death. It is no wonder that, according to Symmachus, death is called the mistress, since the blessed Apostle said, 'Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam' (Rom. 5:14). They understand by the word "Antichrist" the one who is the ruler of all peoples, or the face of darkness over all peoples, and the web that is woven over all nations, and who is to be consumed on the Mount of Olives, as we have said in the last vision of Daniel. According to the Septuagint, a feast of gladness is prepared for all nations on Mount Zion, where they will drink the wine that the Lord promised to drink with his saints in the kingdom of his Father (Matt. 20 and Luke 22); and they will be anointed with oil, so that they may become a new people born again in Christ. Therefore it is said: "Give all these things to the nations, which Israel once celebrated in type and image. For this is the counsel of the Lord, that all things be transferred to the nations, because death has been swallowed up (1 Cor. 15) and every tear wiped away, and the reproach of the whole earth, with the command of Christ succeeding, has been erased.25:9-12
(Verse 9 and following) And they will say on that day: Behold, our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us; this is the Lord, we have endured him, we will rejoice and be glad in his salvation. For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain; and Moab shall be crushed under him, as straw is crushed on a threshing floor. And he will stretch out his hands under him, as a swimmer stretches out to swim, and his glory will be humbled with the buffeting of his hands. And the fortifications of your lofty walls will fall, and they will be humiliated and brought down to the ground, even to dust. Swallowed up by death forever, the people of God, who have been delivered from the hand of death, will say to the Lord: Behold, this is our God, whom the unbelievers thought so little of; and we have waited for him, that is, we have believed in his words, because he will fulfill his promises and save us. Therefore, having been rescued from the jaws of death by his help, we will rejoice and be glad in him; and his hand and power will rest on this mountain. Regarding what we read above: When the Lord of hosts reigns on Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and is glorified in the presence of his elders (Isaiah 24:23). But Moab, which means 'from the father', will be crushed like straw is crushed by a wagon. This is spoken according to the custom of Palestine and many provinces of the East, which, due to a shortage of meadows and hay, prepare straw for the feeding of animals. These are iron wagons, with wheels that rotate in the middle like saws, which crush and break the straw into pieces. Therefore, just as wagon wheels crush straw, so Moab would be crushed under him, either under God's power or in itself, so that nothing remains intact in it. And just as a person who swims tends to stretch out their whole body, so he will collide with the ground from his own power and make a crashing sound. All the fortifications of those mighty men, both the walls as stated in Hebrew, will collapse, be humiliated, and be brought down to the ground, shattered into dust. Therefore, although the prophetic discourse generally refers to the consummation of the world, it does not entirely neglect the present. It mentions Moab, who was an enemy of Israel, to such an extent that they committed fornication with the Midianites and consecrated themselves to the idol Beelphegor, which is interpreted as Priapus. Against this idol Jeremiah speaks: Chamos will go into captivity, along with its priests and princes (Jeremiah 48:7). And again: Moab will be confounded with Chamos, just as the house of Israel was confounded with Bethel (Ibid., 13), and similar things can be found throughout. And from one idol and the demon that presided over this idol, it indicates that all opposing strengths are to be humiliated and led into Tartarus, and crushed like dust. But if this is the case, where is the devil's repentance?26:1
(Chapter 26, Verse 1) On that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah: Our strong city, the Savior will set it as a wall and rampart. In that day, this song will be sung over the land of Judah: Behold, a strong city, our salvation will set up walls and bulwarks. When Moab is humbled and brought to the ground, and all the enemies of Christ are brought low, then this song will be sung in the land of Judah or Judea, which signifies both confession: that just as we have understood Zion and Jerusalem to be the heavenly city, so let us understand the confession of this city's region to be a heavenly confession. Finally, the saints unwilling to sing the song of Judah in a foreign land, say: How can we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? (Ps. 136:4). I think this is the song that is also commanded to the saints in another place: Sing to the Lord a new song (Ps. 95:1). And this song will be the one that follows: The city of our strength is the Savior (Matthew 5). What city is this? It cannot be hidden, for it is situated on a mountain. It is written about this in another place: The rushing of the river makes glad the city of God (Psalm 46:4); and again: Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God (Psalm 87:2). The founder of this city is the one about whom the Father speaks: he built my city. Indeed, the Savior is the city of our strength, that is, Jesus. And in it will be placed a wall and a bulwark. The wall of good works, and the bulwark of right faith, so that it may be protected on both sides by a double defense. For it is not enough to have a wall of faith, unless that faith is confirmed by good works. This wall and this rampart or surrounding wall are built of living stones, which, according to the prophet, are rolled upon the earth. The term we render 'rampart' Symmachus has interpreted 'firmament,' so that the walls themselves may be surrounded by fortifications and ramparts and trenches and other walls, which in the construction of camps they are accustomed to call breastworks.26:2-4
(Vers. 2-4.) Open the gates, and let the just nation enter, guarding the truth. The ancient error has gone away, you shall keep peace: peace, because we have hoped in you. You have hoped in the Lord in eternal ages. LXX: Open the gates, let the nation enter, guarding justice, and guarding truth, holding onto truth, and guarding peace: peace, because they have hoped in you, Lord, forever. This entire chant, which is sung on earth by those who confess and praise the holy ones, suddenly changes personas, and is woven as if through question and answer. The people of God said: 'The city of our strength, the Savior, will be built with a wall and a rampart in it.' The Lord replied, or rather commanded, not those who said this, but the angels who presided over the gates of the Lord's city, to open the gates so that a righteous nation, guarding the truth, may enter through them, or as it is said in Hebrew, Emmunim, which in our language is translated as faith in the plural number, not singular. What are the gates, which are opened by angels, so that the people of Judah, who are rejected, may not enter, but rather the righteous nation, which has received its name from the faith of the faithful? Indeed, those of which the saint speaks: Open to me the gates of righteousness, I will enter through them and give thanks to the Lord (Ps. CXVII, 19). However, no one will be able to enter these gates unless they have been freed from the gates of death; and as the Psalmist says: You who lift me up from the gates of death, that I may declare all your praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion (Ps. IX, 15). For when we have been saved from the gates of death, then at the gates of the daughter of Zion we will be able to sing all the praises of the Lord. And just as I consider the gates of death to be sins, of which it is said to Peter: The gates of hell shall not prevail against you (Matthew 16:18); so the gates of righteousness, all the works of virtue, whoever enters them will find one gate, of which it is said: This is the gate of the Lord, the righteous shall enter it (Psalm 118:19). And how is it that through many pearls one arrives at one pearl: so through many paths and gates we come to Him who says He is the way and the gate, through which we enter to the Father. After the word of God, the people answered in Hebrew 'Jeser Samuch' (which Aquila and Symmachus similarly translated) which means 'our error is removed', or 'our thought is established', which previously wavered between you and idols, so that we are not carried about by every wind of doctrine, but with our whole mind we believe in you, the Lord and Savior. In order for us to have a clearer understanding, we have translated, the old error has gone away. And since our thought has been confirmed, therefore you will keep for us the peace that you promised to the Apostles, saying: My peace I give to you, my peace I leave to you (John 14:27); and not only once, but twice, so that the secure reward that is promised in twofold language may be assured, according to what the Apostle also spoke: Rejoice, I say again, rejoice (Philippians 4:4). But the consequence of this is what is said in Leviticus: 'A man, a man, of the sons of Israel' (Lev. 17). And in the book of Numbers: 'A husband, a husband, whose wife has defiled the marriage bed' (Num. 5:12): so that a double man and a double husband may obtain double peace. And they say, 'We merit peace because we trust in you with our whole mind.' After the words of the people and the response of the Lord, the voice of the Prophet speaks again to the believers: 'You have hoped, or continue to hope, in the Lord, in everlasting ages,' and so on. According to the Septuagint, he enters the gates of the Lord, who guards justice in good works, and preserves or embraces truth in the truth of faith, so that he may attain peace through good works and faith, which surpasses all understanding, and deserve to receive that same peace; for he believed in God who is the dispenser of eternal good works (Philippians 4). Therefore, it is also written in another place: You have desired wisdom, keep the commandments, and the Lord will grant it to you (Ecclesiastes 1:33).26:5-6
(Vers. 5, 6.) In the Lord, the mighty God forever: for He will bring down those who dwell on high; He will humble the lofty city and bring it down to the ground; He will cast it down to the dust. The feet shall trample it, the feet of the poor and the steps of the needy. LXX: O great and eternal God, who have humbled and cast down those who dwell on high, you will destroy strong cities and bring them down to the pavement, and their feet will be trampled by the meek and the humble. And this is what the Prophet speaks, who answered him in the place where he had said above: Hope in the Lord in eternal ages; and he joins to it what we have now proposed: In the Lord God Almighty forever, and so on. For the Lord God Almighty, in Hebrew has three names, Ia () and Adonai () and Sur (), which mean, respectively, invisible, ineffable, and strong, of which the first is placed in the last syllable of Alleluia (). And let the diligent reader observe this, that sometimes we divide the text in the proposition of testimonium: because one edition has one sense from the Septuagint and another has the sense expressed word for word from the Hebrew. Therefore the Prophet says: Hope in the Lord in eternal ages: in the Lord God Almighty forever, whose help is everlasting. For He will bow down those who dwell on high, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled; those who boasted of having Abraham as their father, and spoke against the Lord: We are not born of fornication (John VIII, 41). He will also humble the lofty city, as the Jews believe, Rome (or rather Jerusalem), which killed the Prophets, and stoned those who were sent to it, and finally killed the son of the master of the house, so that the heir, being killed, the inheritance would perish (Luke XIII). And the city is not called the one [which] is called in Hebrew Ir, but Caria which Aquila translated as πολίχνην, which we can call either a small city or village or town, and frequently in the Scriptures it is referred to by this name Jerusalem. And beautifully, he placed a twofold humility: He will humble, he will humble it, first under the Babylonians, when the temple was destroyed, secondly under Titus and Vespasian, whose ruin continues until the end. It tramples it under foot, and treads upon it, and joins the feet of the poor, without doubt of Christ. Of whom we have already spoken above: He became strength to the poor; the strength of the needy in their tribulation. The steps of the needy, namely the Apostles, who imitating the poverty of the Lord, also obtained the privilege of his virtue; who, not being received, shook off the dust of their feet upon it. And because it is said in the words of the Savior, Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled: and he who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 14:11), we can apply this not only to men, but also to contrary virtues. According to the Septuagint, the Prophet sings praises to God, because he humiliates all the proud and tears down the fortifications of all cities to the ground, and he treads upon the heads of the holy, the meek, and the humble.26:7-9
(Verses 7-9.) The path of the just is straight, the righteous path is for walking: and on the path of your judgments, O Lord, we have waited for you, your name and your memorial in the desire of our soul: my soul has desired you in the night. LXX: The path of the just is straight, made straight is the path of the just, and prepared. For the path of the Lord is judgment, we have hoped in your name: and in the memorial which our soul desires. Furthermore, the Prophet speaks about Christ, about whom he said above: His foot will trample it, the feet of the poor. Therefore, the path of this just man is straight, or, to use a new word, it is called righteousness, which the Greeks call εὐθύτητας and we can call equities in Latin, and in Hebrew they are called Messarim (). Therefore, in the one path of Christ, all righteousness is found, and for this reason, he trod upon it and crushed it with his foot, so that whoever desires to walk on it may walk without stumbling. In this path of the Lord's judgments, the saints sustained him and hoped in him, for hope does not disappoint. And they had both the name and the memorial in the desire of the soul, saying: My soul hath coveted to long for thy judgments at all times (Ps. CXVIII, 20); and again: My soul hath desired, and hath been consumed with longing for thy salvation (Ibid. 81). But he who has the name of the Lord in desire, desires nothing else. And this should be noted, that the desire of the Lord is not in the flesh, but in the soul, according to what we read in another psalm: My soul hath thirsted after the living God, the strong (Ps. LI, 2). For the flesh desires against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. For these are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want. And what follows: In the night, according to the Septuagint, it is joined to the following chapter, according to the Hebrew to the previous one. But he can say: My soul longed for you in the night, who speaks confidently with the Psalmist: I will wash my bed every night, with tears I will water my couch. Night and darkness can be seen as symbols of tribulation and distress. Therefore, in another psalm, the Prophet sings about the security of the righteous: The sun shall not harm you by day, nor the moon by night (Ps. 121:6), meaning that in both good times and bad, you will never be shaken from your position.But my spirit within me, from the morning I watch for you. LXX: From the night my spirit rises to you, O God, for your judgments are a light upon the earth. We desire to follow the Hebrew and not completely disregard the Vulgate edition, and out of necessity we are compelled to seek different understandings in different order and language. Therefore, what is said, 'from the night,' according to the LXX, is the beginning of this chapter, as we have said, but according to the Hebrew, it is the end of the previous; although it can also be understood at the end of the previous testimony according to the LXX, so that the meaning is: My soul desires you at night; and then begin, from the morning my spirit rises to you, O God. Therefore, in the morning he rises, because your light is precepts upon the earth. For he keeps your commandments, and is enlightened by their light, of which it is said: The commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes (Ps. XVIII, 9). I cannot sleep, but desiring you at all times, I rise to you in spirit. And it should be observed that even when we are still in the night, we should desire the Lord in our minds. However, once our spirit has fully moved itself towards God in our hearts, let us wake up in the morning for him. To express it more clearly, the night and desire belong to the soul, but the morning and watchfulness belong to the spirit. Moreover, the spirit in their innermost being wakes up to God, who can say: Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord (Ps. 130:1).
26:10
(Verse 10.) When you execute your judgments on the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Show mercy to the wicked, who does not learn righteousness; in the land of the saints he acts unjustly and does not see the glory of the Lord. Learn righteousness, you who dwell on the earth. The wicked will cease to exist and will not learn righteousness on the earth; he will not act with truth, let the wicked be taken away so he will not see the glory of the Lord. Let us first speak according to the Hebrew, and if we want to express the meaning of the prophet, then let us turn to the Septuagint Interpreters. As long as you do not exercise your judgments upon the earth, and neither reward the good with good nor the evil with evil, your justice, O Lord God, is ignored on earth. But when on the day of judgment you will render to each according to the quality of their deeds, then your justice will be known throughout the world, which previously seemed unjust among the unbelievers, so that even one of the saints would say: My steps were nearly weakened, my feet were nearly poured out, for I was zealous for the wicked, seeing the peace of the sinners (Ps. LXXII, 2). To which the Lord responded: Let us have mercy on the wicked; for except for the Seventy, all others have also translated it this way. And the meaning is: may the wicked obtain mercy even more, and may he learn my clemency; so that he himself may also be saved. And in response to the Lord speaking, the Prophet, representing human impatience, replied: And he will not learn justice. And the meaning is: and how will he be able to know your justice if he has only experienced your clemency? And the reasons why he wants to learn the justice of God are as follows: because he acted unjustly on the earth of the saints, and continually fought against your saints, he must feel torment. And again the Lord, tempering the judgment, says, And let him not see, whether he will not see the glory of the Lord. And this is the meaning: it is enough punishment for him that he will not see me reigning in my majesty with my saints. Some want the impious one, that is, Resa, to be understood as the devil, about whom it is written in the 108th psalm: You have rebuked the nations, and the wicked one has perished; you have destroyed their name forever and for eternity. The enemies have ceased their spears to the end, and you have destroyed their cities (Psalm 9:6). However, let us generally consider the wicked either as a sinner or as one who does not have the worship of God. According to the Septuagint, the inhabitants of the earth are commanded to learn righteousness. For every man seems just to himself; but God knows the hearts of all, who will render to each one according to his deeds (Proverbs 21). And in another place of the same volume it is said: There are ways that seem right to a man, but the ends thereof lead to the depths of hell (Proverbs 14:12). Where should we learn justice, and not rely on our own judgment. For he is just who perishes in his own justice (Eccles. VII); not because he is just, but because he appears just to himself. But if Christ has become for us from God wisdom, and justice, sanctification and redemption (I Cor. I), to whom it is commanded that they know justice, it is commanded that they learn and know Christ. Therefore I command you, he says, to learn justice, because the wicked one has been taken away; and his kingdom has been destroyed, who as long as he reigned on earth, could not know justice, nor do the truth. About which it is written elsewhere, that grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John XVII). And because the wicked does not make truth on earth, it will be taken away: for he does not deserve to see the Lord reigning.26:11
(Verse 11) Lord, let your hand be exalted, and let them not see: let them see, and let the jealousy of the people be confused, and let the fire devour your enemies. LXX: Lord, your arm is exalted, and they did not know, but those who know will be confounded: jealousy will seize the unlearned people, and now the fire will consume the adversaries. This which was said above, 'and he shall not see the glory of the Lord,' can be understood thus: You ask, O Prophet, that I have no mercy on the wicked, lest if I have mercy on them, they begin to not know righteousness, being the one who has acted unjustly in the land of the saints; I answer you, therefore, will he not see the glory of the Lord? Therefore, should not he see my triumphs, who owes it to me more to see me reigning, so that he may know how much good he lacks? And this must be read more urgently in the voice of one questioning. To which the Prophet responded: Lord, let your hand be exalted, and let it be stretched out to strike, so that the wicked may not see you, and may not even have the light of your glory to repent. To which the Lord responded: Let them see even more and be confounded, whether out of envy of the people or zeal for the people, and let the fire devour and consume your adversaries, that is, the enemies of your people, the saints. But the fire of repentance, which torments their hearts, because they have lost such a Lord. This can also be understood of the Jews, who did not know Christ, the arm of the Lord, and when they see him and recognize him, whom they had crucified, they will be confounded. Then the unlearned people and those ignorant of the law of God will be stirred up by the goads of zeal, when they see that the nations have taken their place, and they will be consumed by the fire of repentance, or the pain of punishment, when they hear that which is written: Go into eternal fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. XXV, 41).26:12
(Verse 12) Lord, you will give us peace: for you have accomplished all our works for us. LXX: Lord our God, give us peace: for you have restored all things to us. It is notable that after restoring our works to us, he will give peace, and how he will explain the reasons why he seeks peace. For all the works that have been done on earth, they claim to have endured torments, and it is just that after punishment and torture, they obtain mercy. Or else: Because the end of the world has come, and all the things that you spoke through the prophets have been fulfilled, and you have fulfilled all that you promised, grant us peace that surpasses all understanding.26:13
(Verse 13) Lord our God, we have been possessed by other lords without you; only in you do we remember your name. LXX: Lord our God, possess us: Lord; we know no other besides you, we invoke your name. Therefore, we seek mercy and peace, which must be given after all, because we have been possessed by other masters without you, namely idols or demons sitting on idols: and we ask for nothing else except that we may be worthy to remember your name after many errors. According to the Septuagint, they said: Lord God, possess us, they pray that they may become God's possession after peace is restored to them. Indeed, we read the same about Wisdom, which speaks according to the Hebrew in Proverbs: God possessed me at the beginning of His ways (Prov. VIII, 22), although some copies have the word 'possession' in a wrong way. Finally, it follows: Before all the hills, He has begotten me. For how could the generation of a creature be more suitable to possession? It is written in Deuteronomy: Did not this your father possess you, and make you, and create you (Deut. XXXII, 6)? And it must be noted that it does not say, the Lord or God possessed you, and made you, and created you; but rather father, in order to mitigate the severity of the power with the mercy of the name. And what follows: O Lord, we do not know another besides you, does not exclude the Son, but joins him to the Father, for he did not say 'We do not know another,' but 'We do not know another outside of you.' But when the Son says, 'I am in the Father, and the Father in me,' we do not know the Son outside of the Father, for we know him in the Father. Finally, we also name him by saying in the Lord's Prayer: 'Our Father, who art in heaven.'26:14
(Verse 14) Those who are dying shall not live; the giants shall not rise again. Therefore You visited and destroyed them, and wiped out all memory of them. LXX: For the dead shall not see life; nor will physicians bring them back. Therefore You brought in, and destroyed, and took away all their males. Symmachus in a clearer manner: The dead shall not be revived; the giants shall not rise. Therefore You visited and defeated them, and dispersed all memory of them. Let us first say according to the LXX: The question seems to be difficult, how do the dead not see life? The answer is sought: they do not see life as long as they are dead. Just as we say that a blind person does not see light as long as they are blind; but if they regain their health, they will see the light: so too, the one who is dead in iniquity and sins, before being enlivened by righteousness and virtues, through the one who says, I am the life (John 14), cannot live. And so He is called the God of the living, not of the dead (Matt. XXII). For the soul that sins, it shall die (Ezek. XVIII, 4). We read in the Epistle to the Hebrews: Let us not lay again the foundation of repentance from dead works (Heb. VI, 1). But if sins are called dead works, why are virtues not called living works? And what follows, Neither will physicians raise them up, is clear evidence that the fables of the poets, who boast of having raised Virbius from the dead, are condemned. Not only, however, is this to be said about the dead, but about every illness, that without the mercy of God, the art of healing is worth nothing. But how? Unless the Lord builds the house, in vain do they labor who build it: unless the Lord guards the city, in vain does he watch who guards it (Ps. 126, 1, 2). Similarly, unless the Lord heals the sickness, in vain do doctors labor who desire to heal the sick. Unless the Lord guards one's health, they guard in vain, who even eat the precepts of salvation in their own books: and it must always be learned not only in bodily health, but also in the health of the soul: Bless, my soul, the Lord, who heals all your weaknesses (Ps. 102, 1, 3). Moreover, those who persist in the sin of the dead, and cannot receive the health of the soul by any medical skill, they will be dispersed and taken away by the Lord, and whatever is robust in them, which is called masculine, will be completely taken away. And Pharaoh does not want to kill the female sex, which by itself is fragile and can easily die, but every male, if he becomes an adult and reaches manhood, is difficult to kill. According to Symmachus, the dead will not be revived, for the dead in sin cannot revive others, and there is no beautiful praise in the mouth of a sinner. And the giants, that is, the Raphaim, will not raise up others, even though they are called fallen ones according to the book of Genesis. And the Lord visits them, so that the memory of both the dead and the giants is completely wiped out. He alone is the one who raises the dead, of whom it is said: Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whomever he wishes (John 5:21). We can call the dead the images of dead men, and the giants demons, who sit upon their images. Nor should it frighten us why the Seventy translated it as "man," and the other interpreters translated it as "memory," since both are written in Hebrew with the same three letters: Zayin (ז), Khaf (כ), and Resh (ר). But when we say memoriale, it is read as Zachar; when we say masculum, it is read as Zochor. And they think that Saul was deceived by this ambiguity of the word when he fought against Amalech and killed all their males (I Reg. XV). For by the command of God to destroy all memory of Amalech under heaven, he, not so much by error as by the desire for plunder, interpreted males, ignorant of that of the Apostle: Do not be deceived, God is not mocked (Galat. VI, 7).26:15
(Verse 15.) You have shown mercy to the nations, Lord, you have shown mercy to the nations. Have you been glorified? You have extended all the ends of the earth. LXX: Add evils to them, Lord, add evils to the glorious ones of the earth: you have made all the ends of the earth far away. The evils that the LXX placed second are not found in Hebrew; but because it had said above, Therefore you have brought and destroyed, and you have taken away all their males, following the same meaning, they added from their own, evils: so that those who are glorious on earth may be oppressed by double evils. Furthermore, according to the Hebrews, the meaning is very different and agrees with the previous discussion. The Lord had said, 'Let us have mercy on the wicked.' The prophet had responded, 'And where is your justice? Especially when you have done such great evils to your holy ones.' To which the Lord said, 'And they shall not see the glory of the Lord.' Again, the prophet said, 'Raise your hand to strike, and let them not see your glory, which they do not deserve to behold.' To which the Lord said, 'Let them see even more and be confounded.' Again the Prophet says: Lord, give us peace and possess us, who remember your name. But let the wicked and proud not live, nor rise again in glory, but crush their every memory. And it renders reasons why he desires them to perish. You have shown mercy to the nations, Lord, you have shown mercy to the nations, have you been glorified? And the meaning is: You have often shown mercy to the nations, that is, to the human race, and you have exercised incredible kindness towards them, have they recognized you? Have they not glorified your name? Have they not, on the contrary, distanced themselves far (or even further) from you? For security produces negligence, and negligence begets contempt.26:16
(Verse 16.) Lord, in distress they sought you, in tribulation they murmured your teaching. LXX: Lord, in tribulation I remembered you, in small tribulation your teaching was to us. For being indulgent, you have often been despised and not glorified; but on the contrary, all have departed from your knowledge; therefore, Lord, strike them, so that in distress they may seek you, and in tribulation may your teaching be to them: when such a weight of affliction rests upon them that they dare not even cry out confidently, but silently devour their sorrow. According to the Septuagint, in times of tribulation, the Prophet of the Lord remembers what is said in the psalm: In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he answered me and set me free (Psalm 117:5). And in another place: In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me (Psalm 120:1). Therefore, the Apostle speaks: We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair (2 Corinthians 4:8). And in another place: For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). But if a small tribulation teaches, corrects, and reproves, how much more a great one, when we are reminded of our condition and the power of God!26:17-18
(Verse 17,18.) Just as she who conceives, when she approaches childbirth, cries out in her pain: so have we become because of your presence, Lord. We have conceived and, as it were, given birth, and brought forth the spirit. LXX: And as a woman in labor draws near to childbirth, in her pain she cries out: so have we become ÷ your beloved, because of your fear, Lord. In the womb we have received, and as if giving birth, we have brought forth the spirit of your salvation, which we have made upon the earth. Just as a woman approaching childbirth is compelled to cry out in pain: thus do we seek you in distress, and from the face of your dread we conceive, and labor, and bring forth, not fleshly children, but spirits: so that with our whole mind we may believe in you, whom we have not experienced through blessings, but through trials. This which the LXX added, thus have we become your beloved; for this reason others have turned away, thus have we become from your face, O Lord, a mark to be noted. However, we can receive the beloved of the Lord, Christ, because of whose fear we conceive, and bear, and bring forth, and make the spirit of salvation upon the earth. This can also be said by the apostolic man, when he instructs and imitates the peoples like the apostle Paul: My little children, whom I bear again until Christ be formed in you (Galatians IV, 19). Is there any doubt that the apostle Paul made the spirit of salvation upon the earth, who preached the Gospel from Jerusalem to Illyricum (Romans XV), and like a wise architect, laid the foundation, outside of which no one can lay, which is Christ Jesus (I Corinthians III)? Therefore, whether we read it, O Lord, because of your fear, we received it in the womb; or according to the Hebrew, we conceived it from your face, O Lord, and received it in the womb; both pertain to the fact that we conceive the word of God from the fear and remembrance of the Lord, and our heart is illuminated, saying: The light of your face, O Lord, is signed upon us (Psalm 4:7). And show your face, and we shall be saved (Psalm 79:4).We did not make greetings on earth, therefore the inhabitants of the world did not fall. LXX: We will not fall, but the inhabitants of the earth will fall. A different interpretation is necessary in order to have a different meaning. According to the Hebrew, it is said: Because we have not done anything worthy of your mercy, therefore the wicked have not fallen, but they still prevail and possess the land. However, the LXX asserts that by doing the work of the Holy Spirit of salvation on earth, the inhabitants of the earth will fall, though there is much diversity between the world, which is called in Hebrew 'Thebel' and in Greek 'οἰκουμένη', and the land. Therefore, those who have surrendered themselves to the inhabitation of the earth will fall, and those who have been firmly rooted in earthly works will fall. But those who sit in the world and rest in the Church, which is the dwelling place of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, will not fall.
26:19
(Verse 19.) Let your dead live; let corpses arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for your dew is a radiant dew, and the earth will give birth to the shades. LXX: The dead will rise, and they will rise from the graves, and those who are on the earth will rejoice. For your dew is their healing, but the earth of the wicked will fall. To the holy ones who give birth and to those who bear the spirit, and to the inhabitants of the earth who fall down, because they have not done good deeds on earth, those whom the Apostle calls dead in Christ and who were killed for the name of the Lord, will rise in glory (I Thess. IV). And because their death is sleep, they are said not to rise again according to the LXX, but to wake up and awaken. Hence Lazarus, who was to be awakened, is called sleeping by the Lord (John 11). Therefore, all martyrs and holy men who have shed their blood for Christ, and whose whole life was a martyrdom, will rise again and wake up, and they will praise their Creator God, they who now dwell in dust, of whom it is written in Daniel: Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will arise, these to eternal life, and those to reproach and everlasting shame (Dan. 12:1). And in the Gospel of John we read: The hour is coming, and now is, when those who are in the graves will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live, and those who have done good will come forth to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment (John 5:28-29). For the dew of the Lord, surpassing all the herbs of Paeonia according to the fables of the Poets, will give life to the bodies of the dead. And just as the dew, when cast upon the earth, gradually causes the herbs to grow and bear fruit of their kind, so the dew of the Lord, which is placed for mercy, will be the dew of many lights, which in Hebrew is called Oroth. But the land, that is, the bodies of the Raphaim, namely the giants and the wicked, the Lord will condemn to eternal punishment. In fact, for the Raphaim alone, seventy wicked were transferred. And because we read above: The dead will not see life, nor will doctors raise them up, for which reason Aquila and Symmachus, interpreted Raphaim and giants, we inquire what the cause of the error is, that some have translated Raphaim as Hebrew, others as giants, and others as doctors. The Hebrew word Raphaim, if it has the letter Vau after the first letter, is read as Rophaim (alternatively spelled Rosim) and signifies doctors; but if it is written without the letter Vau, it is read as Raphaim and is translated as giants. Likewise, because he had said above that the dead shall not see life, to demonstrate more clearly that this is not said there of the dead according to the law of nature and the separation of soul and body, but of those who are dead in sin, now on the contrary he says to God: Your dead shall live, who have been killed for your sake, who are not absolutely dead, as the Septuagint translated, but according to the Hebrew [text] where it is said 'Jeju Metheca', they are called your dead.Go, my people, enter your rooms, close your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath is past. For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no more cover its slain. For behold, the Lord will bring wrath upon the inhabitants of the earth, and the earth will reveal its blood, and the slain will no longer be hidden. He had said above concerning the holy ones, The dead will rise, and they who are in the graves will rise; for the dew of yours is their healing: and on the contrary, concerning the wicked, the earth of the wicked will fall; now He speaks to the holy ones, because resurrection has been promised to you, until the wrath of God rages against sinners and the wicked: enter into your graves, and hide yourselves, for a short time until the indignation of God passes through. For the Lord indeed goes out from His place, because the Lord is merciful and compassionate, and the most gentle Father is compelled to strike negligent children, and in a way to change His own decision, in order to visit and bring His anger upon the inhabitants of the earth, of whom it is said in Hosea: 'Cursing and lying, and adultery, and theft have spread over the inhabitants of the earth' (Hosea 4:2). And in the Book of Revelation, we read in chapter 8, 'Woe to the inhabitants of the earth' (Rev. 8:13). Moreover, the righteous, though they may appear on earth, their conversation is in heaven, as those who can say: I am a stranger in the land, and a sojourner like all my fathers (Ps. XXXVIII, 13), and they enjoy the dwelling of the Most High, of whom the holy one speaks: He who dwells in the help of the Most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of heaven (Ps. XC, 1). Then the earth shall reveal its blood, of which God speaks to Cain: The voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand (Gen. IV, 10, 11). This can also be understood about the Martyrs, who shed their blood for Christ, and under the altar of God cry out: How long, O Lord, will you not avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? (Rev. 6:10) Of whom Moses also says in the Song: The blood of His children will be avenged and He will take revenge, and will render vengeance to His enemies (Deut. 32:43). The earth, which received this blood, will reveal it, and will by no means cover the slain of the Lord; but it will bring them forth to public condemnation, those who killed the Martyrs. This is about the simple resurrection of the intellect. It is commanded, according to the Anagoge of the people of God, that one enters one's own chambers or cells, for ταμεῖα signifies both: that one closes the door of one's chamber according to the Gospel precept (Matthew VI), and says with the Prophet: Set, O Lord, a guard to my mouth, and a door of protection to my lips (Psalm CXL, 3). And let one hide for a little while, until the wrath of the Lord passes by, so as not to do anything for the sake of glory; but let one enjoy the good of conscience, and await only the judgment of God. But there are cellars that must be closed and hidden from those who have become rich in works and words, with prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice, so that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing, so that we may enjoy the wealth of the Law, the Prophets, and the Gospel. But since all the days of our life are short and small, Jacob, exceeding one hundred years, says: My days are short and evil (Genesis 47:9). But the anger of the Lord that will come is the anger of those who refuse to repent and store up for themselves; after it has passed, the storehouses will no longer be closed, but what is written will be fulfilled: Nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be made known (Luke 8:17). And what follows: Behold, the Lord will bring His anger from the holy place: this signifies that the anger of God begins with the holy ones, or that all His vengeance is just and holy, not stemming from a disturbance of the mind as is usual in humans, but from a desire to correct. But I think that land of inhabitants, of which it is written: Let the earth hear the words of my mouth (Deut. XXXII, 1). And: Hear, O earth, perceive with your ears (Isaiah, I, 2). And again: Earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord (Jeremiah, XXII, 27). For just as those who dwell on the earth cannot please God, so too those who are in the flesh cannot please Him (Rom. VIII). But in this place, the earth signifies the soul that lives in a carnal manner. And it will reveal its blood, if it scandalizes anyone, and it deserves to hear with Cain: The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the earth, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood (Gen. IV, 10, 11). Therefore, all blood will be required on the day of judgment, and the earth will not hide its blood; and it will present in the midst those who have been killed, whether intentionally or negligently.
27:1
(Chapter 27 - Verse 1) On that day the Lord will visit with His hard, great, and strong sword Leviathan, the twisted serpent, and Leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and He will slay the sea monster that is in the sea. LXX: On that day God will bring forth His holy, great, and strong sword against the fleeing dragon, against the twisted dragon, and He will slay the dragon that is in the sea. The Hebrews understand the devil, that is, the accuser, whose Greek name is Satan (), to be called in Hebrew Satan (), which means adversary. And in Zachariah it is said: Satan stood at his right hand, to resist him (Zech. III, 1). And he is also called Belial (), that is, apostate, transgressor, and without yoke. And so the Apostle says: What fellowship hath Christ with Belial? (2 Cor. VI, 15). And wherever the LXX translate the sons of iniquity, in the Hebrew it is written, sons of Belial. And that which is sung in the psalm about the mystery of the Savior: The son of iniquity shall not afflict him (Ps. LXXXVIII, 23), in the Hebrew it is said, son of Belial. And it is called by other names, as it is written in another psalm: You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and you shall trample the lion and the dragon (Psalm 90, 13). This dragon is properly called Leviathan in the Hebrew language. It is the great sea monster, of which, that it must be caught by Christ, is mystically narrated in the book of Job: He who will capture the great sea monster (Job 40, 20); for there, Leviathan is also used instead of sea monster; and again: You will draw out the dragon with a hook, you will encircle his jaws with a bridle; And immediately: This is the beginning of the creation of the Lord, which was made to be played with by his angels. And in the psalm: This great and spacious sea: there are creatures without number: small creatures with the great ones. This dragon that you formed to mock him (Ps. CIII, 25, 26). John also writes about this in the Apocalypse: A battle took place in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels, and they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven (Apoc. XII, 7 et seqq.). And the great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, 'Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.' (Revelation 12:9-10). It should be noted that in the psalm and in Job, the dragon is called Leviathan, to mock him by the angels. And so the Apostles receive power, that they may tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon all the might of the enemy (Luke 10). Therefore, from that place where it is written: Behold the Lord will lay waste the earth and make it desolate (Isaiah 24:1); or according to the Septuagint: Behold the Lord will destroy the world and lay it waste, until the present chapter, the judgment against the world at the consummation of the age has been preached, and the final enemy death will be destroyed (1 Corinthians 15): therefore, against the devil the ultimate sentence is that he be attacked with a holy, great, and strong sword, or according to the Hebrew and other interpreters, a harsh sword. For it is not as the Seventy perceived Cadesa, which, if it were, would sound holy; but Casa, which properly means hard. Hence also Saul, the father of Cis, is called hard. And some of our people understand the holy or hard sword to be the Word of God, because of its sense which it endures, of which the Apostle says: 'For the word of God is living and effectual, and more piercing than any two-edged sword' (Hebrews 4:12). And in another place we read about the double-edged sword of the Savior coming forth from his mouth (Apoc. XIX). But at the end of the world, against Leviathan, who is called the most cunning serpent in the beginning of Genesis, the holy and strong sword will be brought forth, which will flee from the one who has never been accustomed to fleeing, not knowing that written: Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? (Ps. CXXXVIII, 7)? A certain poet beautifully describes in the Gigantomachia about Enceladus:Where are you fleeing, Enceladus? Wherever you may go, you will always be under God. But that fleeing serpent Leviathan is called Bari in Hebrew, which the Eagle interpreted as a bolt, Symmachus as a lock, and Theodotion as strong. I think it is called a bolt or a lock because it has locked many in its prison and subjected them to its power, and it does not possess anything straight within itself, and for this reason it is called tortuous, and it cannot imitate the rod of the Lord, of which it is written: A rod of direction, a rod of your kingdom (Psalm 44). Whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth (2 Thess. 2), the former inhabitant of the sea, the false and bitter waves. Those who say that the devil will repent and obtain forgiveness, let them explain to us how they understand this, which is written: And he will kill the dragon who is in the sea, or the whale. For in the second place, in the present chapter, in Hebrew it is not called Leviathan, but Thannin (), which properly means whale. The Hebrews believe that Leviathan dwells under the earth and in the heavens, while the sea monsters dwell in the sea, which is a Jewish fable. And what is said at the end of this chapter is connected by Eusebius to the previous chapter, so that the following prophecy is not related to this time. However, the Hebrews and other commentators explain the following, which we are now going to set forth.
27:2-3
(Verse 2, 3.) On that day, the vineyard of wine will sing for him. I am the Lord who tends it, and I will suddenly water it, lest anyone harm it. LXX: On that day, her desire will be a good vineyard, that she may be a prince. I am a strong city, a city that is besieged: in vain will I give her drink. For they will be captured at night, but the wall will fall during the day. There is much disagreement between the Hebrew and the LXX edition in this passage, therefore we will discuss each one separately. The vineyard about which Isaiah speaks: The vineyard has become a beloved one in a fertile place, which should be understood, let us learn from the Teacher himself (or, rather, let us say): For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel (Isaiah 5:1), of which it is sung in the psalm: You have brought the vineyard out of Egypt, etc. (Psalm 80:8). To this vineyard also, through Jeremiah, the most bitter cup is given (Jeremiah 25). For when he had sent him to intoxicate all the nations, and the Prophet had willingly offered himself for this task, he is first ordered to make Jerusalem drunk. Where it says: You have deceived me, O Lord, and I was deceived (Jeremiah 20:7). Therefore, Jerusalem will drink and be made to drink a bitter potion, so that she may learn lamentation and weeping. And the Lord says that He has kept her for a long time and given her a place for repentance, but because she refused to return, she will suddenly be made drunk. For the Scripture says that the Lord has acted in this way day and night, always preserving her with His help. And the same beautiful vineyard is called the Seventy by the LXX, in which there was the Law and the Prophets, the priesthood and the pontificate, and the knowledge of God, as the Scripture says: God is known in Judah, His name is great in Israel (Psalm 75:1). What others think, according to their edition, pertains to the Church, which is nothing more beautiful. And of which it is said: Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God (Ps. LXXXVI, 3): which is the mother of her offspring, and says in the Song of Songs: The sons of my mother fought against me (Cant. I, 5). And he speaks: I am a firm city, a city that is besieged. He said that it is beautifully besieged, not conquered. And immediately he connects it with the Synagogue, which has been turned from head to tail: In vain do I impart the drink of my teachings to her, for she will be taken in the darkness of her error. And because it does not receive clear light, its wall collapses during the day, that is, everything that it believed to be help for itself, and there will be no opponent who does not understand that we must grasp power from opposites.27:4-5
(Verse 4, 5.) Indignation is not mine: who will give me a thorn and a thistle in battle? I will march over it: I will set it on fire together. Or rather, shall I hold onto my strength? It will bring me peace, it will bring me peace. LXX: There is nothing that does not seize it. Who will appoint me as a keeper of the straw in the field? Because of this adversary, I have repelled it. Therefore, the Lord has done all that He has planned: I am consumed; its inhabitants will say, we will make peace with it: we will make peace with him. According to the Hebrew, the meaning here is: I who, day and night, have always kept my vineyard, so that the boar from the forest would not destroy it, nor the beasts devour it. Do I not have indignation? And do I not know how to strike the sinner and give to each what he deserves? Where the eagle placed a thorn and a bramble, in Hebrew it is written 'Samir' and 'Saith', which means adamant and places full of thorns. Therefore, he says: Who will teach me to be firm and overcome my mercy, and to proceed fiercely in battle: so that I may walk over the vineyard which I kept, and burn it down which I enclosed with my wall? Or should my courage rather do this, that I postpone anger and save those who are not saved by the authority of the Law, with the mercy of the Gospel? But emphatically, according to the Hebrew reading, it is said: Who will make me hard and cruel, that I may overcome my nature? This is indeed signified in the desert and in thorns: that I may crush and burn it as if in battle, which I have always kept guarded by my diligence. Or should I hold onto my courage, which is undoubtedly Christ, and of which we read: Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24), so that it may itself make peace for me and reconcile the world? According to the Septuagint, here is the meaning: Let us understand it from the perspective of the Church: I am a strong city, a city surrounded by many enemies, to whom I have given in vain the cups of my enemy, the Synagogue. For she will be captured at night, and her wall will fall, and there will be no power of adversaries that will not seize her. Again I will say: What profit is it for me to guard her, which has straw in herself, not grain: which is so uncultivated, that it is full of disgrace and thorns, which I wanted to save? But because she treats me hostilely, I have departed from her. And the Apostles born in me and from me have said: Indeed, it was necessary for you to speak the word of God first, but since you have rejected it and deemed yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46). Therefore, the Lord will do what He has threatened, so that all may burn in it surrounded by Roman fire. Or certainly let them burn with vices and sins, lest they be able to extinguish the burning darts of the devil. For all those who commit adultery are like an oven whose hearts are burning. And those who formerly dwelled in it, after they cry out, the city is captured and burned, and they leave it, and reconciling the world (or unclean) to God, they say: Let us make peace to her, let us make peace to Him, which is Christ, always writing in their Letters: Grace be with you and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord (1 Corinthians 1:3). Of whom we read in this same Prophet: How beautiful are the feet of those who announce peace (Isaiah 52:7)! Some refer this place to the Churches, because they are indeed guarded by God; but many of them do not bear fruit; and therefore the fervor of a good teacher should succeed, so that they may proclaim and confess their error, and afterwards make peace with God, who are truly called the children of Jacob.27:6
(Verse 6) Those who come out from the root of Jacob will flourish and grow Israel: and they will fill the face of the world with their offspring. LXX: The sons of Jacob who come: Israel will flourish and bloom, and its fruits will fill the earth. After the Apostles, preaching the Gospel in the whole world, have said: We will make peace for Christ, peace will be made for you, those who come from the seed of Jacob and have reached the Apostolic dignity will be called sons of Jacob. Then Israel will sprout and flourish, seeing that the teachings of its children have filled the entire world, and have brought forth abundant fruits that it had not brought while remaining in Judaea.27:7
(Verse 7.) Did he strike him according to the blow of the one striking himself: or as he killed his killers, so was he killed? This place is understood in two ways. Either against Jerusalem, so that he may say that she was not struck by God in the same way that she struck Christ and his Apostles: or against the multitude of the Gentiles, so that the Apostles and apostolic men, despite being persecuted and shedding Christian blood, nevertheless had care for their salvation and reconciled them to God.27:8
(Verse 8) When it has measured out against the measure, you shall judge it. LXX: He will send them out, quarreling and reproaching. According to the Hebrew sense here: As Jerusalem has done, so she will receive, and according to the measure with which she has measured, it will be measured to her in return. And then she will receive a full measure, when the time of judgment comes and God has rejected her. According to the LXX, it depends on what was said earlier. For Israel will not be struck as she has struck, nor will she be killed as she has killed. He argued against the Apostles, and reproached his teachers, and commanded them not to speak in the name of Christ. Therefore the Lord will reject them and cast them out from his flock.He meditated in his hard spirit during the heat of the day. LXX: Were you not the one who meditated on destroying them with a hard spirit, with a spirit of fury? According to the Hebrew, it is said, 'In the measure that the table is, Jerusalem will receive.' Therefore, God meditated in his hard and vehement spirit, whether speaking against her during the heat of the day, that is, in the time of persecution, when there is a more intense day of indignation and punishment. According to the Septuagint, it is said of Jerusalem, or of Israel: Were you not the one who in your most stubborn and cruel spirit, and in the fury of your blasphemies, desired to kill the Apostles of the Lord and the teachers?
27:9
(Verse 9) Therefore, because of this, the iniquity of the house of Jacob will be forgiven, and all this fruit will be removed, so that its sin may be taken away. For they have set up all the stones of the altar like scattered ashes; neither the lights nor the shrines will stand. LXX: Therefore, the iniquity of Jacob will be taken away, and this will be his blessing when I remove his sin, when I set up all the stones of the altars shattered like crushed ash, and their trees and idols will not endure. The reason why they suffer no harm even after the Jews laid hands upon the Lord is that they may obtain forgiveness if they choose to repent, so that the prayer of the Savior may be fulfilled: Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34). Therefore, it is said, the iniquity of the house of Jacob will be pardoned, and its sin will be taken away, so that it may deserve the blessing of God, which had been cursed upon it when it said: His blood be upon us, and upon our children (Matthew 27:25). Because through the Apostles, the Gospel will be sown from the stock of Israel throughout the whole world, and idolatry will be destroyed, and altars will be crushed to dust, lights will be cut down, temples will fall, and the knowledge of the one God under the mystery of the Trinity will be proclaimed.27:10
(Verse 10) The fortified city will be deserted; the beautiful city will be abandoned and left like a wilderness. There the calf will graze, and there it will lie down and consume its branches. Their idols will be cut down like groves, and the flock that dwells far away will be left like a deserted flock, and it will be a long time in the pasture, and there the flocks will rest, and after a long time there will be no green in it, for it is dried up. Jerusalem, once a strong and fortified city, because it did not receive its masters but said: Come, let us kill him, for this is the heir and our inheritance (Matthew 21:38), will be deserted. And that which was once beautiful, of which it is said in Ezekiel: You ate fine flour, honey, and oil, and you became exceedingly beautiful (Ezek. 16:13), and in which dwells He of whom it is written: You are fairer than the sons of men (Ps. 45:3), will be left and abandoned like a desert, as the Lord says to the Apostles: Arise, let us go from here (John 14:31). There the calf, the Roman army, will graze, of which it is also said in another place under the name of boar: The boar from the forest will ravage it, and the singular wild beast has grazed on it (Ps. 80:14). And there he will lie down and consume its branches under the metaphor of a vine and its shoots, so that nothing green remains in it, nothing of the branches, but the enemy consumes everything. According to the Septuagint, because they did not receive a good shepherd: therefore they will be like a forsaken flock, and will be open to the bites of beasts; and nothing green will remain in them, because drought will possess everything.27:11
(Verse 11) In the dryness of its harvest, women who come and teach her will be crushed. For the people are not wise; therefore, the one who made them will not show them mercy, and the one who formed them will not spare them. LXX: Women coming from the spectacle, come: for the people do not have understanding; therefore, the one who made them will not show them mercy, and the one who formed them will not spare them. This is what is said, 'In the dryness of its harvest, they will be crushed,' for which it is interpreted by the Seventy, there will be nothing green in it because it has withered, according to the Hebrew, it is joined to the following; according to the LXX, it is joined to the previous meaning. Let us therefore speak first according to the Hebrew. When the time of drought and harvest of Jerusalem comes, and to speak more clearly, the time of desolation will come, a multitude of synagogues from all over the world will come together to lament for Jerusalem and to console its evils. Whether he speaks openly about women, who, with their breasts exposed, strike their bleeding arms, and the prophecy of the Lord will be fulfilled: Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children (Luke 23:28). And a great unhappiness of the people is to learn the songs of lamentation from women; just as the people of Israel were rebuked when, in the book of Judges (Judges 4), the Lord brought salvation through the hand of the woman Deborah, and during the nearby captivity, when the men were silent, the woman Holda prophesied (2 Kings 22). Therefore, the women will be worn out by a long journey, weakened by frailty, hunger, and filth, and they will teach the pitiful people, because they are not a wise people, nor have they understood their Creator, who, neglected and despised by them, will not show mercy to their deeds, and will not spare his creation. According to the LXX, it is said of Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, and the other women, who first saw the Lord rising, and held his feet, and deserved to hear from him: Do not be afraid: Go, tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me (Matt. XXVIII, 10). Concerning these women, long before they were born, the prophetic word foretells and calls them from the sight of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection, to preach the Gospel and, according to the Hebrew, to teach Jerusalem or the land of Israel, that he is the Lord and God. For at that time the people of Israel did not have wisdom, when the Lord suffered, and the prophetic prophecy was fulfilled: Save me, O Lord, for the holy one has failed (Psalm 11:1). And: They have all gone astray, they have become useless together, there is no one who does good, not even one (Psalm 13:4), the women are called from the show, so that they may announce to the Apostles what they themselves saw. But Israel, of whom it was said (above, 1:3): Israel did not know me, and my people did not understand, provoked their most merciful Creator and Maker to bitterness, so that he would not show them any mercy. These things are indeed said piously; but how they agree with the others, and how they are adapted to the times of the consummation of the world, is a difficult interpretation.27:12
(Verse 12) And it shall be on that day, the Lord shall strike from the channel of the river to the torrent of Egypt. LXX: And it shall be on that day, the Lord shall shut off from the channel of the river to Rhinocorura. If it had not joined together, on that day, through which we are taught, the things that are to be connected with the things that were said earlier, we could have explained it as the proper sense of this chapter; but now all things must be referred back to the earlier ones. For the fortified city shall be desolate, and the beautiful city shall be forsaken like a desert, and there the calf shall lie down, and it shall devour the branches of the vine, and all things shall become dry, because there is no people who have understanding, and because of their foolishness, they have not obtained any mercy from their Creator. Therefore, the Lord will strike or close off from the channel or stream of the river to the torrent of Egypt, so that in all of Judaea, which was once the promised land, no teaching may be found, no knowledge of the Scriptures, of which the Apostle speaks: In order that we may not pay attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth (Titus 1:14); and again: For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers, and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision (Ibid., 10). But the riverbed, or the stream of the river, next to the Euphrates, we can call it, as it is written in the seventy-first psalm: He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth (Psalm 71:8). Others think it is the Jordan. And it should be noted that in the borders of Judea, it is called a river; in the borders of Egypt, a torrent, which has turbid waters and is not permanent. Instead of the torrent of Egypt, the seventy translators translated it as Rhinocorura, which is a town on the border of Egypt and Palestine, expressing not so much the words of the Scriptures as the meaning of the words. But what we said, he will strike, for which the LXX translated συμφράξει as concludet: Aquila and Theodotion interpreted as ῥαβδήσει, which can be understood as either he will strike with a rod or he will count the number of his flock with a rod, so that it is not taken in a bad but in a good sense.And you shall be gathered one by one, O sons of Israel. LXX: But you, gather together one by one, O sons of Israel. O sons of Israel, for whom Symmachus has interpreted, the house of Israel: striking your enemies from the river stream, even to the river of Egypt, that is, from the Euphrates to the Nile, you yourselves shall be gathered to the faith of the Lord one by one, because the crowd of Jews did not believe, by which it signifies that only a few of the Jews will believe in the Savior Lord. Certainly, O Apostles and apostolic men, when the multitude of Jews did not believe, you, from the whole world, whom you were able, bring back like sick sheep to the folds of the Lord, and gather them with the people of the nations, so that what the Apostle Paul and Barnabas speak to the Jews may be fulfilled: For it was necessary for the word of God to be announced to you first; but since you judged yourselves unworthy of salvation, behold, we turn to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46).
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(Verse 13) And it shall be in that day: the great trumpet shall sound, and those who were lost from the land of Assyria and those who were cast out into the land of Egypt shall come, and they shall worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem. LXX: And it shall be in that day, a great trumpet shall sound; and those who perished in the region of Assyria and those who perished in Egypt shall come; and they shall worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem. In this place, the Jews make empty vows to themselves, that at the end of the world, when their Antichrist, as it is said, shall come, the dispersed people from Assyria and the land of Egypt shall gather together and come to Jerusalem, and having built the temple, worship the Lord their God. That which cannot stand completely according to the letter. For it does not only refer to the Assyrians and Egyptians, but to the whole world, which will believe in Christ. Therefore, this signifies that in the last trumpet, according to the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. XV), all those who perished in Assyria and Egypt will come to the Lord. He did not say all the children of Israel, but all those who perished, indicating the multitude of the Gentiles, who, bound by idolatry, magic, and the arts of philosophy, will come to the faith of Christ and worship Him in the Church. The great trumpet can be understood as the Gospel message, of which we also read in the same Prophet: Ascend to the high mountain, you who bring good news to Zion; lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good news to Jerusalem (Isaiah 40:9). Therefore, that mountain is holy and that Jerusalem is the one of which we have often spoken: You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven (Hebrews 12:22). Up to this point, we have spoken about the end of the world starting from the place where we began: Behold, the Lord will scatter the earth and make it bare (Above, XXIV, 1), which is contained in the present volume. Now, with the help, or rather inspiration, of Christ, let us move on to the ninth, which will have the beginning of another prophecy.Book Nine
Book NineEngaged with various difficulties, we dictate explanations on the prophet Isaiah at intervals. Therefore, having completed the eighth volume, we now transition to the ninth after a short period of time. Not without the bites and backbiting of the envious, who, ignorant of what they hear and speak, dare to pass judgment on what they do not know, and despise before they approve, considering themselves learned and eloquent if they criticize all the writers. Despising the envy and garrulous murmuring, let us implore the aid of God, and let us say with the imprecation of the Psalmist: Scatter the nations that desire war (Ps. LXVII, 32). For the dwelling place of the Lord is in peace, which surpasses all understanding. This is also desired by the Prophet when he cries out: O Lord our God, give us peace: for you have restored all things to us (Isa. XXVI, 12). But now let us propose the chapter of Isaiah, and let us enter with Moses into the cloud and darkness, so that our face may be glorified, and, according to the Hebrew, our face may be radiant: and may the thunders and lightnings be heard and shine forth, which the common people could not see (Exod. XIX).
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(Chapter 28, Verse 1) Woe to the pride of Ephraim's crown, to the fading flower of its glorious splendor, which is at the head of the fertile valley of those who are overcome with wine. See, the Lord has one who is powerful and strong. Like a hailstorm and a destructive wind, like a driving rain and a flooding downpour, he will throw it forcefully to the ground. The proud crown of Ephraim's drunkards will be trampled underfoot. The fading flower of its glorious splendor, which is at the head of the fertile valley, will be like a fig before the fruit harvest, as soon as someone sees it and takes it in hand, they swallow it. LXX: Alas for the crown of the pride of Ephraim's hired mercenaries, the flower that falls from the glory atop the fat mountain, those who are drunk but not with wine. Behold, the strong and fierce anger of the Lord, like hail that falls forcefully, without shelter, which violently falls like a multitude of waters drawing the ground, and making space for itself: the crown of the pride of Ephraim's hired mercenaries will be trampled by hands and feet. And there will be a flower that falls from the hope of glory on the summit of the high mountain, like an early fig, which anyone who sees it before it is ripe will desire to devour it. Let us first speak according to history, then according to allegory, and finally according to prophetical vision. The divine discourse speaks against the ten tribes that were reigning in Samaria, and because of Jeroboam, who was from the tribe of Ephraim, they were called Ephraim. And he calls them the crown of pride: because compared to the two tribes, which were called Judah, they were higher in number and strength. And he says that Ephraim has made them drunk, who do not understand their Creator, but worship golden calves as their Lord in Dan and Bethel. These were once in their prime, lords and in glory, when they were ruled by David and Solomon, and they were worshiping God in the temple of Jerusalem in the twelve tribes, which were in the summit of the fattest valley, which in Hebrew is called Ge Semanim (). It signifies the place where the Lord was delivered; on top of which valley the temple of the Lord was situated. These were intoxicated by the wine of error and madness, which Jeroboam mixed for them. Therefore, the Lord threatens punishment against them, because just as a hailstorm shatters everything in its path, and the force of overwhelming waters sweeps away anything in its way, so may the Assyrian army be destroyed, and whatever remains may be transported to the mountains or cities of Media. He compares the glory of the ten tribes to a crown of various flowers, which had such beauty that just as someone, before the arrival of summer and autumn, sees a precursor fig on a tree and immediately eats it as soon as they hold it in their hand, so may the Assyrians see the ten tribes, destroy and devour them, leaving nothing of the former people in Samaria. Let this be briefly said according to history. Let's move on to the allegory. According to the exposition of the prophet Hosea, in which Ephraim and Joseph and Samaria and the ten tribes, which were separated from the body of the twelve tribes, and the temple of the Lord, we refer to the heretics, who are truly, according to the Septuagint edition, a crown of injustice, blaspheming the Lord, and doing everything for the sake of profit, and falling from the glory of the Lord: they do not follow the meagerness of manna, and the ecclesiastical humility; but they wallow on a fattened mountain, drunk without wine. Therefore, the strong and fierce wrath of the Lord, who is going to punish them, is compared to a swift hailstorm that falls not on roofs, but on the heads of mortals, and to the flooding of many waters, which drags whatever it finds in its path. This is the crown of injustice, they are called mercenaries Ephraim, who, according to the Apostle, have fallen from the flower and hope and glory of their former faith, and are involved in pride, and they are the sweetest food of the devil, who devours them daily (1 Peter 5). According to the prophecy, we can say that the crown of injustice called the Scribes and Pharisees, who blasphemed the Lord. And they were called the hirelings of Ephraim, because of Judas, who from the tribe of Ephraim and from the village of the same tribe, Iscariot, sold the Lord for a price, who truly fell as the flower of apostolic glory upon the most fertile mountain, of which we believe it is said: Jacob ate and drank, and he was satisfied and fattened, and the beloved rebelled (Deut. XXXII, 15). Or according to the Hebrew: above the valley of fatness, that is, Gethsemane: in which also the name of the place is signified, where Judas betrayed the Lord. But the valley of fatness, or of the fat ones, is said because of its fertility, and the Scribes and Pharisees who apprehended the Lord there: of whom it is written in the psalm: Fat bulls have besieged me (Ps. 21:13). This valley of fatness, that is, Gethsemane, is called in this second chapter; and I wonder how the LXX first called it a fat mountain, and later an exalted mountain. But the traitor was drunk not with wine, but with greed and the incurable madness of asps, and the food of the devil, which entered into him after the morsel (John 13), and he was entirely consumed, for his prayer was turned into sin, and even his repentance did not have the fruit of salvation. The Hebrew word Sacchore is ambiguous, and it can mean either drunkards or mercenaries. Hence, Issachar is also interpreted as being wages: and Sachar, μέθυσμα, that is, drunkenness: and the others are drunkards: only the Septuagint translated it as mercenaries.28:5-9
(Verse 5 and following) On that day, the Lord of hosts will be a crown of glory and a diadem of rejoicing to the remnant of his people, and a spirit of judgment to the one who sits in judgment, and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. But these also reel because of wine and stagger because of strong drink: priest and prophet reel because of strong drink, they are swallowed up by wine, they stagger because of strong drink; they reel while having visions, they totter when rendering judgment. For all the tables were filled with vomit and filth, so that there was no longer any place. LXX: On that day the Lord of hosts will be a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of his people. They shall put away in the spirit of judgment all wickedness and forbid every deed of violence. For they are deceived by wine, they stagger because of strong drink; priest and prophet reel with strong drink, they are confused with wine, they stagger because of strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in giving judgment. All tables are covered with filthy vomit. No place is clean. After the entire land of Samaria, that is, the ten tribes, was destroyed by the flooding Assyrians and trampled underfoot, the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and devoured like a temporary fig tree, then the remaining people of Israel, that is, the two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, will be the crown of victory; and the spirit of judgment will be upon the king who sits in judgment, undoubtedly King Hezekiah of Judah; and their strength, who have avenged all the populated regions and returned from battle, will be their protection within the city. The prophet speaks about what we are going to read in the same passage (below chapter 37), when 185,000 armed soldiers from the Assyrian army were destroyed by an angel striking them. But these people too, that is, Judah and Benjamin, were intoxicated with the wine of idolatry, and having despised the religion of the temple, they worshipped the idols of demons and did not recognize the Lord who sees everything. For all their tables and their whole religion were filled with vomit and filth, so that not only in the temple, but on the top of mountains and in wooded places, they filled everything with the filth of idolatry, and the Lord did not have a place of dwelling in them. Let this be said according to the letter. Furthermore, according to tropology, let us follow the previous understanding and not leave aside the untouched Seventy Interpreters. For the heretics, devoured by the mouth of the devil, who have climbed the mountain of pride, the Lord will be the crown of glory; but for those who dwell in the Church, and compared to the multitude of many wanderers, they are few in number. However, there will be a spirit of judgment over judgment: for the Lord will cleanse the filth of the sons and daughters of Zion with the spirit of judgment. But if anyone has blood, he will be cleansed not by the breath of judgment, but by the fire of purification, and he will be a strength to the people and will prevent them from being killed by those who are intoxicated with the wine of dragons and have gone astray because of their drunkenness. We have often said that wine is made from grapes. But drunkenness refers to any drink that can intoxicate and disturb the mind, which Aquila properly translated as ebriety, whether it is made from wheat, barley, millet, the juice of fruits, the fruit of palm trees, or any other kind. Therefore, the priests and prophets of the heretics lost their minds because of wine, and they were consumed because of alcohol, like Prisca and Maximilla, and their leader Montanus; and they did not know what to say. They are intoxicated by wine when they wrongly understand and distort the holy Scriptures. They are consumed by alcohol when they misuse worldly wisdom and the snares of dialecticians, which should be called not so much chains as phantasms, that is, certain shadows and images that quickly perish and dissolve. Those who believe that profit is piety and do everything out of greed will be cursed. The Apostle spoke about this phantasm, saying: 'Giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy' (I Tim. IV, 1, 2). The third explanation is that after the Lord destroyed the Scribes and the Pharisees and their companion Judas, who was a thief from the beginning, he personally carried the money of the poor in a small wallet (John XII and XIII): then there is hope and a crown of glory for those who believe in the Lord from among the Jews, undoubtedly signifying the apostles, whom he has reserved for the preaching of the Gospel and has not immediately allowed to shed their blood for Christ. For all the scribes and Pharisees, as we have said above, were drunk with wine and cider, both the priests and the false prophets. But their schemes and traps were in vain, for even Judas himself, who betrayed [Jesus], did it for the sake of money, and the priests who corrupted the betrayer with money did it out of fear of their own lowly status. For he himself, making a whip out of cords, cast out of the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep, and overturned the tables of the money changers, saying to them: It is written, 'My Father's house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a den of thieves (Matthew 21:13). According to that Hebrew interpretation, in which we have said: For all their tables are filled with vomit and filth, so that there is no more room for heretics, scribes, and Pharisees, it can be understood that we say all their doctrine and all their mysteries are filled with vomit and filth, since they do not digest the food of the holy Scriptures, nor do they make it vital for the whole body; but they bring forth unripe and fetid things, so that God finds no place in them. But I wonder what Theodotion meant when he rendered the Hebrew word, Cisoa, which Aquila interpreted as 'vomit of filth,' and Symmachus only as 'vomit.' He said, 'vomit of dysalia,' which word I cannot find in Greek literature, unless he has invented a new term for a new thing. For it is also compounded in the Hebrew language, because vomit is called CI and Soa is filthy (also rendered as filth). Therefore, whatever causes nausea and vomiting can be called δυσαλία.28:10-13
(Vers. 10 seqq.) Who will teach knowledge, and who will make understanding? Weaned from milk, pulled from the breasts: command, re-command; command, re-command; wait, re-wait; wait, re-wait; a little here, a little there. For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, to whom He said, 'This is the rest, give rest to the weary,' and 'This is the refreshing,' but they would not hear. And the word of the Lord will be to them, command, re-command; command, re-command; wait, re-wait; wait, re-wait; a little here, a little there, that they may go and fall backward, and be broken, snared, and caught. LXX: To whom shall we announce evil, and to whom shall we announce good news? Those who have been weaned from milk, those who have been taken away from the breast. Expect tribulation upon tribulation; wait for hope upon hope; still little, still little: because of the mockery of lips, because of the other tongue with which they will speak to this people, saying to them: This is the rest for the hungry, and this is the crushing, and they did not want to hear. The word of the Lord will come upon them: Tribulation upon tribulation: wait, wait; hope upon hope: still little, still little; so that they may go and fall backward, and be crushed, and be endangered, and be captured. Who, he says, is worthy of the teaching of the Lord, to whom are the words of the Savior saying: 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear' (Matthew 12:15), so that what he has heard with his ears, he may understand with his heart? The following verse shows who they are: 'Weaned from milk, drawn from the breast, who are not nourished with milk in infancy, but are fed with solid food; who were drawn from the breast with Isaac: for the joy of this, Abraham made a great feast' (Genesis 22); they deserve to hear the mysteries of the Lord, and to understand what the priest and prophet do not know, intoxicated and absorbed by wine, who wandered and did not know the one who sees, because all their tables are filled with vomit and filth, who, when the prophets announce the future and threaten torments unless they did what was commanded, used to say scoffing: 'Command, re-command; command, re-command,' that is, 'order, order, command what we should do.' And when they abused the patience of God, who delays his anger in order to show mercy; who used to say even this in jest through the mouths of the prophets: Wait a little longer, wait a little while, the things that we have prophesied will come. But all of these things they spoke to the people, because they did not believe the words of God; and immediately the prophet brings this in: By no means will God speak to you with these words, in order to give you a commandment of what you should do, and to wait for the things that are to come, but he will speak to you in present fury, who had previously said to the people: This is my rest, revive the weary, I have labored for a long time, I have found no rest in anything. Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head (Matthew 8; Luke 9). And this is my refreshment, that I may find rest in you at times. Those who did not want to listen and despised my warnings; therefore, they say to the prophets what they used to say when they were playing: Command, re-command; command, re-command; wait, re-wait; wait, re-wait; a little here, a little there, and they mock my patience, thinking that I am threatening things that I will never do: let them experience the fulfillment of their desires, so that they may go to destruction and fall back incurably; and may they never make progress and be unable to say with the Apostle: Forgetting the past, we stretch out to what is ahead (Philippians 3:13); but may they be broken and ensnared, and captured by either the Babylonian or the Roman army. For that which we have said: Command, re-command; command, re-command; expect, re-expect; expect, re-expect; a little here, a little there, in Hebrew it is written thus: Sau Lasau, Sau Lasau; Cau Lacau, Cau Lacau: Zer Sam, Zer Sam; and with these words the most impure heresy is accustomed to deceive and terrify the simple ones, in order to make them fear the novelty of the words, so that whoever knows these words and remembers them during their intercourse, without any doubt, will pass on to the kingdom of heaven. We read in the Apostle: 'In other tongues and with other lips I will speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me,' says the Lord (1 Corinthians 14:21). This seems to me to be taken from the present chapter according to the Hebrew, and we observed this in the Old Testament (except for a few testimonies, which only Luke abuses by having more knowledge of the Greek language). Wherever something is said from the Old Testament, we do not follow the Septuagint, but the Hebrew, not following any interpretation, but translating the Hebrew sense into our own language. Symmachus, Theodotion, and the Septuagint had different opinions on this passage, and since it is long to speak about all of them, let us briefly pass over the Septuagint interpreters who are read in the Churches. I reject the Jewish people, the Priests and the Prophets, who have become drunk with wine, and have strayed and their plan, which they entered into because of greed, has been consumed by a curse. Will we announce future tribulations for the sake of Christ to them? To whom will evil be prepared as the crown of virtues? Surely it signifies the apostles, those who have been weaned from milk, those who have been torn away from the breast: Expect tribulation upon tribulation. But it speaks to the choir of the apostles and of all believers, that they should prepare themselves not for one, but for many tribulations, so that when they are troubled and oppressed, they may hope again, and have hope upon hope. And if the things that are promised are delayed a little, let them not be unbelieving: for indeed, it is a small and little delay, and the things that are promised will come. Indeed, tribulation works patience; patience, probation: probation, hope; and hope does not disappoint. (Rom. V, 3, 4, 5). And this same tribulation will be multiplied by the detraction of lips and the blasphemies of persecutors, with which they rage against the people of God with a rabid mouth. Moreover, the apostles and apostolic men will speak to the Jewish people, saying: This is the rest for the hungry for justice, and this is the contrition and anguish that leads to life. When these things were preached, the wicked refused to listen. Therefore, what was said to the people of God: Endure tribulation, endure tribulation; wait for hope, wait for hope: a little longer, a little longer, will be turned into punishment for those who refused to hear the word of the Lord, so that they may fall and go backwards, and fall into the danger of siege and death, and be captured without any end to their misery. But the Hebrew word Dea, which everyone translates as 'knowledge', was only interpreted poorly by the Seventy, a clear error. For the first letter is distinguished either as Daleth or Res with a small apex. Therefore, if it is read as Dea (), it means 'knowledge'; if Rea (), it means 'malice'; not from evil, which is contrary to good, but from constraint.28:14-15
(Verse 14, 15). Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, you mockers who rule over my people in Jerusalem. For you have said: We have made a covenant with death, and with the grave we have made a pact. When the overwhelming whip passes through, it will not come to us, for we have made falsehood our refuge, and we have hidden behind deceit. LXX: Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, you men, and leaders of this people in Jerusalem, who are in distress: For you have said: We have made a pact with the grave, and with death we have made a covenant. If the storm passes through, it will not come to us, because we have made falsehood our refuge, and we will be protected by deceit. As we stated above, the leaders of the Jews are accustomed to mock the prophets by saying: Command, re-command; wait, re-wait, and other similar things, by which it is shown that they did not believe in the words of the prophets, but held their prophecies in contempt. The present chapter proves this, through which they are called mocking men. These are the scribes and Pharisees who rule over the people of God in Jerusalem, whom the Seventy call troubled men, and the leaders of the people of Jerusalem. For they said not in word, but in deed: We are like the other nations, we have a pact and covenant with hell and with death: once we have despaired of salvation. Certainly captivity will come after a long time, they will say to you: Yet a little while, yet a little while: wait and wait again. Therefore, when we are dead, we will not feel this scourge of captivity and this storm. For once we believed in falsehood, that is, we had hope in vain in God and in His Law. And so we were protected by a lie, because we avoided impending captivity. The Hebrew word Sot (), Aquila and Symmachus interpreted as a whip, the LXX as a storm; Chasab () also translated it as a lie, in which the Jews hoped, according to the Gospel of John, the father is the devil.28:16-20
(Verse 16 and following). Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will send in the foundations of Zion a tested, corner, precious stone, founded on a foundation: he who believes shall not hurry. And I will put judgment in the balance, and justice in the measure: and hail will overthrow the hope of lies, and the covering waters will flood. And your covenant with death shall be abolished, and your pact with Hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge passes through, you shall be trampled. When it passes by, it will seize you; for it will pass through in the morning, in the day and at night, and its vexation will only give understanding to the ear: For the bed is too narrow for one to stretch out on, and the covering is too small to wrap oneself in. Therefore, thus says the Lord: Behold, I will lay in Zion a precious stone, a chosen, cornerstone, and whoever believes in it will not be put to shame. And I will set judgment as hope; but my mercy as a burden, and those who believe in vain falsehood, for the storm will not pass through us, and it will not take away from us the testament of death, and your hope will not remain in hell. If the coming storm passes, you will be trampled by it; when it passes, it will lift you up in the morning, it will pass in the morning; day and night there will be the worst of hope. Learn to listen, you who are in tribulation: we cannot fight, for we ourselves are weak to be gathered. I had said, he says, to you: Listen to the word of the Lord, men who mock, or troubled rulers of my people, and do not have a covenant with death, nor an agreement with the underworld, who, despising my commandments, have put your hope in lies, and boasting, or rather despairing, say: with lies we will be protected. Therefore, the merciful and compassionate Lord, patient and greatly merciful (Ps. 145), says that he will send an elected, tested, precious, and corner stone into the foundations of Zion for those who do not want it. About which the Apostle also speaks: Like a wise architect, I have laid the foundation (I Cor. III, 10); and again: For no one can lay any other foundation than the one that's been laid, which is Christ Jesus (Ibid., 11). This stone is truly and again called a stone, just as in Leviticus, a man is called man twice and a corner stone, because it has united the people of the Circumcision and the Gentiles, about which it is also said in the psalm: The stone which the builders rejected, has become the head of the corner (Ps. CXVII, 22). But these are the builders and masons, who are now called deceivers and leaders of the people who are in Jerusalem. Concerning this stone, we read in Daniel that it was cut from a mountain without hands, and it filled the whole earth (Dan. II): because the divine dispensation of the divine seed assumed a human body, and the fullness of Divinity dwelt in it bodily. Upon this stone, which is also called rock, Christ built the Church, and according to the Hebrew, he established the foundation on a firm rock, on which anyone who believes will not be put to shame, or, according to the Hebrew, will not hasten, lest the coming of Christ appear slow to him. For if it delays according to Habakkuk, let no one despair: for it will surely come, and it will fulfill its promises (Hab. II). And God also promises to put judgment in Him: For the Father does not judge anyone, but he has given all judgment to the Son (John V, 22). And justice or mercy in measure, in order to render to each according to his works, and to temper justice and mercy with each other, according to what we also read in the Psalms: Mercy and truth have met each other: justice and peace have kissed (Ps. LXXXIV, 11). He also says that your hope and falsehood, that is, the devil, the father of all falsehood, will overthrow the hailstorm of my punishments. And the protection, under which you thought you would be safe, a powerful storm and a multitude of waters will destroy, so that the friendship and treaty that you had with death and with Hell, that is, with the devil, may perish eternally. And the whip or storm, of which you said: 'When the overwhelming whip passes, it will not come upon us' - it will come, and you will be trodden down by it, that is, you will suffer all the torments that you believed you would never endure in despair. For always the wrath of the Lord will fall upon you, and you will feel it both in times of prosperity and adversity, and cruel death will ravage you. What shall I say about punishments? Fear of punishments alone and the dread of torments will correct you for salvation, and will make you understand your evils. And when you have been tormented, then you will know that my Prophets have spoken the truth. And what follows: For the bed is made narrow, so that one falls out, and the short cloak cannot cover both, it has the sense which we read in the Apostle: You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons (2 Corinthians 10:20, 21); and elsewhere: What fellowship does righteousness have with iniquity? What communion does light have with darkness? What agreement does Christ have with Belial? What part does a believer have with an unbeliever? What agreement does the temple of God have with idols (2 Corinthians 6:14, 15)? However, he speaks under the metaphor of a most chaste husband, who says to his adulterous wife: One bed cannot contain both me and an adulterer, and a short cloak cannot cover both a husband and an adulterer. Therefore, Jerusalem, to whom in Ezekiel under the guise of a wife speaking, her adulteries are spoken of (Ezek. XVI, 21), and whom in Hosea at the beginning is called a harlot and an adulteress (Hos. III), if you wish to be united with my embraces, cast away idols: if you serve idols, you cannot have me. According to the Hebrew. Furthermore, as for what is read in the LXX: Learn to hear, you who are troubled: we cannot fight, but we ourselves are weak so that we may gather together. I completely do not know the meaning of this, and how it is connected to the previous context. Unless perhaps the divine speech speaks to the leaders of the people and encourages them to have hope in God, and not in death and hell, and teaches them to listen to the prophecies of the prophets, and they respond that they cannot fight against opposing powers due to the weakness of their strength, nor gather among the people of God.28:21-22
(Verse 21, 22.) For just as the Lord will stand on the mountain of divisions, and will be angry in the valley of Gibeon, to do his work, his strange work, to carry out his task, his alien task. And now do not mock: lest perhaps your chains be tightened. For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a conclusion and an abbreviation over all the earth. LXX: As the mountain of the wicked rises, the Lord will arise, and it will be in the valley of Gibeon, when he does his work with fury, the work of bitterness and his fury he will use as if it were alien: and his bitterness as if it were foreign. And do not rejoice, neither let your bonds be strengthened, for I have heard from the Lord God of Hosts that the things which he will do upon the whole earth are consummated and abbreviated. The Lord has promised to place a precious stone in the foundations of Zion, in order to overturn falsehood and the hope of the wicked; and to abolish the covenant with death and the agreement with hell by a powerful storm. Because the princes did not want to accept Him, just as in the past against the Allophyli, when David reigned on the mountain of divisions, which in Hebrew is called Pharasim, the Lord brought down his adversaries, from where the place also received its name. And as in the valley of Gibeon, under the leadership of Joshua, when the confidence of the inhabitants in themselves spoke to God: Sun, stand still in Gibeon, and moon, in the valley of Aijalon ((or Elon)) (Joshua 10:12); and the sun stood still for the space of a whole day; and many of the foreign invaders perished: so the Lord will be angry with the wicked and the mockers, in order to accomplish His work. For it is not the work of the Lord to destroy those whom He has created; but to perform a work that belongs more to cruelty than to clemency. And again the same thing is repeated in other words, so that it may accomplish its work. It is not his task to punish sinners, but the stranger, and alien from him, that he may punish who is the Savior. Therefore, since the Lord is about to rise again from his patience, and will not spare: just as he did not spare on Mount Pharasim, and in the valley of Gibeon: I warn you, O mocking men, that you should not at all laugh at my prophets, and that you should not think that the things they proclaim are not going to happen, lest if you persist in mocking, the bonds of your sins may be tightened (For by the cords of his own sins each one is bound (Prov. V, 22), or lest the time of captivity may come upon you. Indeed, what the Lord delayed in time, the bonds, captivity, and punishments, or the final day of judgment, He is now about to fulfill, accomplish, and shorten. Therefore, as a prophet, I announce to you the things that I have known from the Lord God Almighty that will happen over the whole earth, so that you may prevent the impending wrath with repentance. According to the Septuagint, the Lord Himself is said to rise like a mountain of the wicked and to be present in the valley of Gibeon, in order to perform His works, which are all one work of bitterness: which should by no means be seen as blasphemous. For the Lord does not say that the mountain of the wicked will come, but that it is like a mountain, which appears to be very heavy to the wicked and those who endure them. Just as if one careless son and another sick son, the father and the doctor could be cruel if they restore them to health with beatings and cauterization. For the Lord will rise and will be in the valley of Gibeon, on account of those who, because of their sins, remain in a humble place, and because of the swelling of their souls, are raised up in pride. For Gabaon, the hill interprets: that it may do its works, which are works of bitterness; when forced to change mercy, it becomes bitter instead of sweet. Therefore, you who are about to suffer these things, do not now rejoice in that joy in which he rejoiced and was richly clothed in purple at the feast, while neglecting Lazarus the poor (Luke 16): lest your chains become stronger. For what the Lord is going to do and how he will fulfill his judgement, these things I have both heard and announced to you. And what it means: According to history, understand it as referring to the borders of Judea extending over all the land; according to allegory, understand it as referring to the entire world.28:23-29
(Vers. 23 seqq.) Pay attention and listen to my voice: listen and hear my speech. Does the plowman plow all day to sow, break up the soil, and harrow it? When he has leveled its surface, does he not sow dill, scatter cumin, plant wheat in rows, barley, millet, and rye in their proper place? For his God instructs him and teaches him the right way. For dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a cartwheel rolled over cumin; but dill is beaten out with a stick and cumin with a rod, and the wheat for bread is crushed. But he will not crush him forever, nor will the wheel of his cart bruise him, nor will he grind him with his hoofs. This also comes forth from the LORD of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working. Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear my words. Does the plowman keep plowing all day to sow? Does he keep turning the soil and breaking the clods? When he has leveled its surface, does he not sow the black cumin and scatter the cumin seed? He plants wheat in rows, barley in its designated place, and spelt along its borders, for he instructs him with judgment, and teaches him knowledge. For it is not when gith is cleansed by hardness, nor when the wheel of a cart goes over the cumin; but the gith is shaken off, and the cumin is eaten with bread. For I will not be angry with you forever, nor will the voice of my bitterness trample you, and these wonders have come from the Lord. Come, consult, exalt empty consolation. Now he even speaks to the same ones to whom he said before: Hear the word of God, you scoffers, who rule over my people who are in Jerusalem: and he commands them to hear his voice, and to carefully attend to his discourse. He says, 'Does the farmer always plow so that he may scatter the seed? Will he not first break up the soil and turn over the furrows with a plow, and break up the clods with a rake and a hoe, so that when he has leveled the surface of the earth and softened the previously hard fields, then he may spread spelt or cumin and sow wheat, barley, millet, and spelt in his fields, according to the variation of the soil and the seasons; for not all things are sown at the same time.' Some understand by farre what the Greeks call ζέαν. And God, by His natural judgment, teaches the farmer, that is, the sower, and instructs him to know what cultivation he should apply to each seed. Finally, when the time for harvesting comes, barley and cumin, which are weaker seeds, are not crushed by the wheels of carts, which are turned and pulled like sawmills over the harvested crops; but they are beaten out with a stick and a staff, which are commonly called flails. But bread, that is, wheat from which bread is made, is ground with iron wheels, and all its chaff is crushed into straw. However, it is not always ground and crushed by the nails of the wheels; for this reason, it is said in Hebrew with their horses: so that because he had mentioned the nails of the wheels, he would maintain the metaphor in the rest. Some want it to be shown from the fact that he mentioned nails and horses, the herds of mares, which are usually sent into the threshing floors for grinding wheat: but the Scripture could not say that the province of Judea did not have them. However, this, that is, that the branches of gith and cumin are shaken off with a stick: the grain of barley and far, perhaps also millet, is crushed with iron wheels, is not a perpetual judgment of God, who in all things shows his wonderful counsel, and shows the greatness of his justice in all things. We have said these things paraphrastically, so that we may more easily understand the meaning for which these things are said. God dispenses the human race in various ways, now punishing, now having mercy: now rebuking, now defending; that is, now he plows, now he sows, now he harvests the ripe fruits, and threshes them in the barns, and governs his own world as he pleases. He who knew the will of his Lord, and did not do it, will be beaten with many stripes (Luke 12:47); and in another place it is written: The mighty shall suffer mighty tortures (Wisdom 6:7). But they will not be tormented forever. For it is one thing to be impious, another thing to be a sinner. What we have interpreted concerning the nations and the Jews, others explain as referring to the people and the priests, so that the ignorant multitude will be chastised like a reed and cumin with a rod; but the priests who have the key of knowledge will be tormented with great punishments. And may this be done by the judgment of the Lord, who reveals his wonderful counsel and the truth of justice in all things, so that those who have received more will be required to give more. As for what we have translated: 'On a rod the gith will be shaken, and cumin on a staff.' I do not know why the LXX translators chose to translate it this way, but cumin is actually eaten with bread. And indeed, even the ancient Greek translators, discussing the Hebrew text, remained silent about this passage, perhaps because they did not know what to say. But what we have placed according to the Hebrew is: 'He will not continually thresh him, nor will a wagon wheel drive over him, nor will his hooves crush him.' The LXX translators interpreted it not according to the exact words, but according to the meaning: 'For I will not be angry with you forever, nor will the voice of my bitterness trample you.' They were showing future blessings to sinners after torment, and that these things were like wonders and miracles that have come from the Lord. Where it is commanded to sinners who are about to be punished, that they should seek counsel and raise up their consolation, not in any way vain, as it is added by the Seventy, but absolutely consolation. For God would never command them to raise up their vain consolation, which would not be profitable for them.29:1-8
(Chapter 19, verse 1, and following) Woe to Ariel, Ariel the city that David besieged. Year after year is added, the appointed feasts have come to an end. I will besiege Ariel, and she will be sad and mournful; she will be like an Ariel to me. I will encircle you like a sphere, and I will throw up a mound against you, and I will set up siege works against you. You will be brought low, and your speech will come from the ground, and your voice will be like that of a python from the earth, and your speech will mumble from the dust. And it will be like the fine dust of those who blow against you, and like the passing smoke of those who have prevailed against you. And suddenly, immediately, it will be visited by the Lord of hosts, with thunder and earthquake, and with a great voice of whirlwind and tempest, and with the flame of devouring fire. And it will be like the dream of a night vision, the multitude of all the nations that have fought against Ariel, and all who have warred against her and besieged her and prevailed against her. As a hungry person dreams and eats, and when he has awakened, his soul is empty; and as a thirsty person dreams and drinks, and when he has awakened, he is still thirsty, and his soul is empty: so will be the multitude of all the nations that have fought against Mount Zion. Woe to Ariel, Ariel, the city that David besieged! Gather together year after year, eat, for you will eat with Moab; for I will oppress Ariel, and her strength and wealth will be mine, and I will encamp around you like David, and I will send a rampart around you, and set up towers all around you, and your words will be humbled on the ground, and your words will be brought down to the ground. And your voice will be like that of those who speak from the earth, and your voice will weaken to the ground. And the wealth of the wicked will be like dust from a wheel, and like ashes that are carried away, the multitude of those who oppressed you; it will be sudden from the Lord of hosts. For there will be a visitation with thunder, and a great shaking, a powerful storm, and a devouring flame of fire. And they will be like a dreamer at night, the wealth of all the nations that have fought against Ariel, and all who have fought against Jerusalem and gathered against it, and afflicted it. And they shall be like those who hunger and eat in dreams: when they wake up, their dream is in vain, and like one who thirsts and drinks in a dream, when he wakes up, he will still be thirsty, and his soul will have hoped in vain. So shall be the riches of all the nations that have fought against Mount Zion. Because we have interpreted, Woe, in Hebrew it is written Oi (), which is sometimes used in the vocative case, so that Ariel may not mourn, but call out; although in the current context it should be understood as mourning. Ariel is also interpreted as the lion of God; and for the city which Aquila interpreted, πολίχνην, that is, a small town or village, is read in Hebrew as Cariath, which properly means a village, and in Syriac it is called Cartha, hence it is also called a village of forests Cariath Jarim. Finally, in the earlier passage (Isaiah 1:21) where we read: How has the faithful city Zion become a prostitute? for city, Cariath is written, that is, a village: which we can express as a translation of Aquila literally, as a little city. Therefore, Ariel, which means the lion of God, was once called the strongest Jerusalem: or, as others believe, the temple and altar of God that was in Jerusalem. And what follows: Which David conquered, as Symmachus interpreted it, the stronghold of David, and Theodotion, the encampment of David, is read in Hebrew as Hana, which the most learned Hebrews wanted to signify as dwelling place. So if we read: which David conquered, let us refer to that time when David captured the fortress of Zion, while the blind and lame resisted, and Joab, the first, ascended the heights. But according to Symmachus and Theodotion, it should be understood that David restored and fortified it, and a year was added to the year, or subtracted, as Aquila interpreted; and the festivals have passed. For when the temple was destroyed and the Jewish religion abolished, all their festivities perished. And the Lord says that He will encamp around Ariel with the army of Babylon, and it will be sad and mournful when it is destroyed by them. And again under Jesus, the son of Josedech, the high priest, and Zorobabel, the son of Salathiel, were Ezra and Nehemiah, when Haggai and Zechariah prophesied that it would be like Ariel, having the appearance of the ancient temple, but without its magnificence and adornment. Moreover, the Lord threatens that He will surround Ariel with a sphere, and cast a rampart against it, and set up fortifications for its siege, and fulfill what He Himself laments concerning Jerusalem in the Gospel: 'If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground' (Luke 19:42-44). And Jerusalem will be trampled by the nations until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled. In other words, the same prophet now says that she who was humiliated will speak from the earth, and her voice will be heard from the dust. Her voice will be like that of a python from the earth, and it will murmur like sparrows, so that through these words he may signify the necromancy of the magi, by which they are said to summon souls and hear the voices of thin shades, or rather, of demons. Finally, regarding the python, Aquila interpreted the great one, which is called in Hebrew Cheb (), which the 70 interpreters translated as speaking of the earth. With these words, it is indicated that the ruin of the temple will last until the end of the world, collapsed into ashes and never to be raised again. And so, O Ariel, the army of Roman power will surround you, and they will be compared to an innumerable dust that flies through the air. Therefore, it is not the weakness of their opponents that the dust and ashes are compared to, but the multitude that is equal to countless grains of sand. And this will happen suddenly and quickly, so that in the midst of peace, wars will rise up under Nero, and the Lord of hosts will visit Jerusalem with thunder and earthquake, and whirlwind and devouring fire, which signifies the burning of the temple. But the Romans, after the Jews were defeated and Jerusalem was destroyed under Titus and Vespasian, offered the plundered vessels of God to the Capitol; and they thought that their own power and the favor of the gods, rather than the anger of God, was the reason for what they had done, as if in a dream and in a nightly vision, they will possess all riches. And just as someone who is hungry thinks in their dreams that they are eating, and someone who is thirsty drinks from dry throats, and when they wake up their thirst becomes even stronger, deceived by the empty drink: so the multitude of all nations, who fought against the power of Rome and subjugated to it, will have wealth like a shadow, and a cloud, and a dream of the night, which they will leave behind with their untimely destruction. In the place where we have been placed, all who have waged war and besieged and prevailed against it have been translated to seventy, and all who have fought against Jerusalem, which is not found in Hebrew. In this beginning of the chapter, where we said, 'A year is added to a year, or subtracted,' they are interpreted as 'gather the fruits or produce, year upon year;' 'eat, for you will eat with Moab.' And the meaning is, before the acceptable year of the Lord's preaching comes, indeed two years, of which we read in the Song of Habakkuk according to the Hebrew: 'In the midst of two times you will be known' (Habakkuk 3), 'sow for yourselves in tears so that you may reap in joy' (Psalm 126). It is written in the Gospel according to John that the Lord came to Jerusalem three times during the Passover, which makes two years (John 2:13). However, what follows, 'For you shall eat with Moab,' is not found in Hebrew. We can say that unless the fruits of repentance are gathered for themselves, they will begin to eat with those who do not enter the Church of the Lord forever. The other things in which they seem to disagree are obvious, and from what we have explained, their interpretation is easy. I know that I have read Ariel's interpretation, my light is God's, which is far different. Here the first syllable is written with Aleph and Res: lux autem quae Hebraice dicitur Or, inter Aleph et Res mediam habet litteram Vau, quae in praesenti nomine non habetur. And everything that is now said against Ariel refers to heretics, who consider their doctrine to be the light of God, and they must be fought by the true David: all their solemnities must be taken away, and present joy must be turned into future sorrow: to whom God commands to repent, lest they begin to eat with the Moabites, and be similar to the Gentiles. For he will attack Ariel himself, and he will surround all their power and wealth with his army. And with the towers, that is, the leaders of the Church, he will humble their words on the earth, so that they may not raise their mouth to heaven, but be written on the earth, speak of the earth, and be like dust scattered by the wind. And all the wealth of the wicked will appear in an instant, when he visits them in his majesty, descending in a whirlwind, storm, and fire of punishment; and they will understand that all their wealth, the pomp of their words, and the arguments of their verses, are compared in vain to a dream of someone eating and drinking: those who fight against Jerusalem, the vision of peace; or against Ariel, the strongest lion, and ultimately against Mount Zion, where the city of the Church cannot be hidden.29:9-12
(Verse 9 and following) Be astonished and amazed: fluctuate and waver, become drunk, not with wine, be moved, not with intoxication. For the Lord has mixed into you the spirit of deep sleep: he will close your eyes, your prophets and leaders who see visions he will cover. And the vision of all will be like the words of a sealed book, which when they give to one who knows letters, they will say: read this, and he will answer, I cannot, for it is sealed. And a book will be given to one who knows not letters, and it shall be said to him, read; and he shall answer, I know not letters. For the spirit of sleep, LXX, is interpreted as compunction: Theodotius, the passing away of the mind: Aquila, καταφορὰν, that is, a heavy sleep; which in Hebrew is called Thardema (), which Scripture commemorates as sent by God to Adam (Gen. II), when woman was made from the rib of his side. And Jonah snored in the same sleep on the ship (Jon. I). But all prophecy after the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, that is, Ariel, is against the scribes and Pharisees, who, possessing the key of knowledge, do not enter themselves, nor do they allow others to enter. And it is commanded to them, that they should be amazed and astonished, rather according to the septuagint dissolution of the whole body and the excess of the mind, and that they should be moved and fluctuate: staggering not from wine or from strong drink, but from the spirit of sleep or of the Lord's compunction, so that understanding their evil, they may at some point repent, and say with the prophet: I am troubled in my weakness, while the thorn is being fastened to me (Ps. XXXI, 4). Therefore, know this, O scribes and Pharisees, who are the leaders of the Jews, that the Lord will render to you your recompense. For you, who have heard the Lord Savior, did not want to understand, and you closed your eyes so that you would not see him, and you weighed down your ears so that you would not hear. Therefore, he will also close your eyes, you who are the prophets through whom you saw the knowledge of God. Or he will close the eyes of your prophets, who are your leaders. For as the Law and the Prophets testified until John, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind, as it is written: They will hear the words of the book, even the deaf will hear, and the blind will see and rejoice. For judgment I have come into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind, that is to say, the people of the nations who were blind, may see and contemplate the Lord. Therefore, it is significant that he did not say that the vision of all the prophets is sealed to all readers, but to you he says, it will be sealed to those to whom I am now speaking, to whom I am foretelling these things that are to come: or He will forever shut the eyes of your leaders, who boasted of being able to see the hidden and secret things according to the Septuagint. And he said to them, 'All the holy Scripture will be closed and sealed to you, so that you, who consider yourselves knowledgeable in the letters of the Law and the prophecies of the prophets, and who constantly meditate on the volumes of Scripture day and night with tireless mouths, may not understand what you read, as it is written in the Book of Revelation of John: 'Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?' (Rev. 5:2) And when no one was found worthy to open the seals, he says that he wept; and that he deserved to hear the word of God: 'Do not weep; behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered, so that he may open the book and break its seals.' But the lion of the tribe of Judah, the Lord Jesus Christ, is he who unseals the seals of the book, not properly of one, as many suppose, of the Psalms of David, but of all the Scriptures, which are one Scripture of the Holy Spirit; and for that reason they are called one book. Concerning which Ezekiel testifies in mystical discourse (Ezek. II), that it was written within and without; in meaning and in letter. Concerning which also the Savior speaks in the Psalms: In the chapter of the book it is written of me (Ps. XXXIX, 9); not of Jeremiah, not of Isaiah, but in all the holy Scripture, which is called one book. Therefore, the Jewish leaders, up to the present day, being unable to read and open the seals, and to reveal the mysteries of the Scriptures, if you were to give them a book to the unlearned people who are devoured by their own teachers, they would admit to not knowing letters and therefore being unable to read. And out of the two evils, it is much lighter to confess ignorance of the law than to boast of prudence and not be able to understand what is said.29:13-14
(Verse 13, 14) And the Lord said: Because this people draw near with their mouth, and with their lips glorify me, but their heart is far from me, and they fear me by the commandment of men, and teach me the precepts and doctrines of men. Therefore, behold, I will add to do wonders and great marvels among this people: for wisdom shall perish from their wise men, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden. LXX: And the Lord said: This people draw near to me with their mouth, and with their lips honor me; but their heart is far from me: in vain do they worship me, teaching the commandments and doctrines of men. Therefore, behold, I will add to transfer this people: for I will transfer them and destroy the wisdom of the wise, and hide the understanding of the prudent. This testimony was used by the Lord against the Pharisees in the Gospel of Matthew, saying: Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition (Matt. 15:3)? And again: Hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching doctrines and commandments of men (Matthew, 15:9). In this we must note what we have often mentioned before, that the Evangelists and Apostles did not translate word for word; nor did they follow the authority of the Seventy Interpreters, whose edition was read at that time; but they used their own words, as if they were Hebrew and instructed in the Law, without compromising the meaning. However, the people of the Jews draw near to God with their mouth and with their lips, because they boast of having the worship of one God and rejecting idols; but their heart is far from Him, because they do not receive the Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever does not receive the Son, does not receive the Father. And let us learn together how someone approaches God, or how they become distant from Him. For it is written through Jeremiah: 'I am a close God, and not far away,' says the Lord (Jer. XXIII, 23, according to the Septuagint). But we approach God in mind, not in body; just as we read about Moses: 'Moses alone approached God, but the others did not approach' (Exod. XXIV, 2). For he was praying to God in spirit and truth, and he approached him with his mind and spirit. But those about whom it is written that they are taken from the womb and educated from infancy to old age; and in the Law of God they meditate day and night, they do not come near to God, because they accept the traditions of the Pharisees and Scribes, which keep them far from God, and they are whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead bones: those who chose Barabbas and rejected the Lord (Matthew 23:27): Therefore, he threatens to add to it, according to the Septuagint, that he will not transfer them to the Assyrians and Babylonians, but disperse them throughout the whole world. According to the Hebrew, he says that he will perform a great astonishment and a marvelous miracle to the Jewish people; so that he may destroy the wisdom of those who do not receive the power of God and the wisdom of God, and may hide and conceal the understanding of the wise, so that they may not find him who is contained in the scripture. The Apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians, gave testimony of this: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the understanding of the prudent I will reject' (1 Cor. 1:19); in other words, he explained the same meaning: not that God, whose father is he, the enemy of wisdom, and through whom all wisdom is in mankind; but with an addition, as it is in Hebrew, he mentioned the wisdom of the people and the wise of that people, that is, the Jewish people. And truly God performed a great miracle in the people after the coming of the Lord Savior, so that at the same time Jerusalem burned, the temple collapsed, and all the knowledge of the teachers was taken away; this being fulfilled what was said above: (Chapter 3, 1 seqq.): Behold, the Lord God of hosts will take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the strong and the strong: all the strength of bread, and all the power of water; the giant and the warrior, and the judge, and the prophet, and the diviner, and the elder, and the fifty-year-old, and the admirable counselor, and the wise architect, and the prudent hearer, and the rest, which the prophetic speech has woven.29:15-16
(Vers. 15, 16.) Woe to those who are deep in heart, who hide their counsel from the Lord. Their works are in darkness, and they say: Who sees us, and who knows us? Your thoughts are perverse, as if clay should think against the potter, and the work should say to its maker: You did not make me; and the thing formed should say to its former: You do not understand. LXX: Woe to those who make deep counsel, and their works are in darkness, and they say: Who sees us? Who will know us and what we do? Will we not be regarded as clay in the potter's hands? Will the work say to the one who made it, 'You did not make me wisely,' or the creation to its creator, 'You did not make me?' Against those of whom he spoke before, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and reject the intelligence of the intelligent. As the prophet writes, I will hide it away. Now even the word of God is directed towards those who are wise in themselves and prudent in his sight. From these things it can be very well understood: 'They have failed examining with examination' (Psalm 63); since it is written about the wisdom of God: 'For if someone is perfect in the sons of men without your wisdom, he will be considered as nothing' (Wisdom 3). Those who believe that God is unaware of their plans because their works are in darkness, say: 'Who sees us? And who knows us?' But this is also said by the wise of this world, and by the masters of heretics, and by the Pharisees of the Jews, because no one understands them; not remembering what is said to God: 'Darkness will not obscure you, and the night will be illuminated like day' (Psalm 138, 12). And as his darkness, so also his light (Genesis 3). Deceived by this error, Adam and Eve, upon hearing the sound of footsteps walking in the paradise of God, hid themselves under the tree in which was the knowledge of good and evil; and Cain also, saying: If you cast me out today from your presence, I will hide (Genesis 4, 14), thought foolishly that God was ignorant. And through Amos, it is said of the wicked and sinners: If they hide themselves from my eyes in the depths of the sea: there I will command the serpent and it will bite them (Amos 9, 3). Even if someone is wise and of fervent genius, if they do not have God's wisdom and teaching, let us say of them: Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city, the one who guards it stays awake in vain (Psalm 127:1-2). Let us make ourselves similar: Unless the Lord assists knowledge, the one who thinks themselves wise labors in vain. Unless the Lord keeps our hearts in every watch, the one who thinks it can be kept by their diligence stays awake in vain. He says, 'Your thinking is perverse, to think that the Creator does not know what He has made, and that the Creator is ignorant of His creation, as if clay were to say to the potter and to its maker, 'You did not make me,' or 'You did not make me well,' and you do not understand your own creation.' The Apostle also uses this testimony in other words to refute the slander of humans and to discuss the deep knowledge of God with the Romans: 'O man, who are you to answer back to God?' Does the thing formed say to its creator, 'Why have you made me like this?' Does not the potter have power over the clay, to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? (Romans 9:20-21). In all these things, the following rule is always to be observed: that the Evangelists and Apostles may without harm to the sense be translated into Greek from Hebrew, as it seems best to them.29:17-21
(Verse 17 and following) Will not Lebanon soon become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be regarded as a forest? On that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see. The meek will obtain fresh joy in the Lord, and the neediest people will exult in the Holy One of Israel. For the tyrant shall be no more, and the scoffer shall cease to be; all those alert to do evil shall be cut off. Why do people sin in words and overthrow the one who argues at the gate? And they turned away in vain from the just. Let the Jews and friends of simple history answer, those who seek fruit not on the tree, but only leaves and the shadow of words, which quickly wither and perish. How is it that in the coming of the Lord Savior (because from the time of Isaiah until the incarnation of the flesh, for the comparison of eternity, it is a short and small span of time) the mountain of Lebanon turned towards Phoenicia and moved to Mount Carmel? It is called in Hebrew Chermel, and it is near the border of Palestine and Phoenicia, overlooking Ptolemais: although another mountain in the holy scriptures is called Mount Carmel, where there was Nabal the Carmelite (1 Samuel 25), a foolish and wicked man, who had a wife named Abigail, who married David after her husband died; while her husband was alive, she could not marry David, so as not to be called an adulteress if she were associated with another man; and how is Carmel considered a desirable place and unfruitful trees? But since they are unable to express it, let them listen to Libanus, which means "whiteness", referring to the people of the Gentiles who, having been washed in the Lord and cleansed of their former filth, ascend as a whole world. They rely on the person of the Church as the bride of the Savior, and it is said about them in the Song of Songs: Who is this who comes up, shining white, leaning on her beloved? (Cant. VIII. 5) And let this people be transferred to Carmel, which means the knowledge of circumcision, so that they may recognize the mysteries of spiritual and true circumcision, and be in the place of the former people of the Jews. As for those who refuse to accept Christ, let them be considered as thorns and barren trees, which cannot praise the Lord with fruitful trees. But when Lebanon is changed into Carmel, and Carmel into a forest, then those who were deaf and could not hear the words of the prophetic book (of which we have spoken before, that all Holy Scripture is called one book, as Ecclesiastes says: 'The sayings of the wise are like goads, and like nails fixed deep in, given by one Shepherd') will hear and speak, to whom the Savior will say: Ephphatha (which means, 'Be opened') (Mark 7). And that which we translate, the eyes of the blind shall see darkness and mist, the interpretation of which is easy; Aquila and Theodotion and Symmachus translated: The eyes of the blind shall see darkness and mist: to show the sacraments of Christ to the people of the nations, who were previously blind, according to what is said: Dark water in the clouds of the sky (Ps. 17, 12). And in the same psalm it is written about God: He set darkness as his hiding place (Ibid. 12). And in Proverbs we read: This wise person will be wiser by hearing these things and will have possession of prudent governance and will understand parables and dark sayings spoken by the wise and enigmas (Prov. I, 5, 6). Moreover, Moses, in order to understand and see God (Exod. XX), entered into a cloud and darkness, of which it is said in the Psalm: Darkness is under his feet (Ps. XVII, 10). But when the blind or those who are initiated into mystical matters have first beheld these things or have lifted up their eyes from blindness and darkness to see, so that true light may arise for those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death, then the meek, of whom it is written: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Matt. V, 4), whether they be the poor, of whom the leader says in the Psalms: This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him (Ps. XXXIII, 7); and he who judges the poor people and will save the children of the poor (Ps. XIII, 9), of whom it is said to the Jews: You have despised the counsel of the poor, they shall add joy in the Lord, so that he who glories, may glory in the Lord (II Cor. X); and poor men or those in despair and contempt by men, who did not have knowledge of the law before, will exult in the Holy One of Israel, who says: Be holy, for I am holy (Lev. XI, 44). And there is rejoicing for every downfall: for he who prevailed has fallen. The deceiver, or the arrogant and proud one, is brought to an end, who said: With my strength I will do it, and with my wisdom I will remove the boundaries of nations and destroy their strength; who deceived everyone to such an extent that even the holy one said: My loins are filled with deceits (Psalm 38:8). And all those who kept watch over wickedness have been cut off or destroyed, for their wicked vigilance does not cease: they caused the whole human race to sin by blaspheming the Word of God and placing their mouths in heaven. But the demons, themselves wicked, made all men sin in speech, blaspheming with various teachings, and they would overthrow the one reproaching in the gate and in judgment as much as they could, and they made him turn away from righteousness, who was in the gates of the daughter of Zion, exalted from the gates of death; and he rebuked those who hated him in the gates. These things we understand concerning the devil and his angels, the Nazarenes consider them to be spoken against the scribes and Pharisees, because they failed in their second attempt, who before mocked the people with their wicked traditions; and they watched day and night to deceive the simple, who made men sin against the Word of God, to deny Christ the Son of God.29:22-24
(Verses 22 onwards) Therefore, the Lord says to the house of Jacob, who redeemed Abraham: Jacob will not only be ashamed, but his face will also turn red. But when he sees his children, the works of my hands, in their midst sanctifying my name, they will sanctify the Holy Jacob, and they will proclaim the God of Israel. And those who wander in spirit will gain understanding, and murmurers will learn the Law. (LXX: Therefore, the Lord says about the house of Jacob, whom he overcame from Abraham: Jacob will not only be ashamed, but his face will not change now; but when he sees his children, my works, they will sanctify my name because of me, and they will sanctify the Holy Jacob, and they will fear the God of Israel, and those who wander in spirit will gain understanding, and murmurers will learn obedience, and what follows ÷ and those with stammering tongues will learn to speak peace. ** Note: marked with an obelus.) When the deaf hear, says he, the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind see: the Lebanus has been turned into Charmel, and Charmel is regarded as a forest, so that the meek and the poor rejoice in the Lord, and the proud and the scoffers are overcome: then Jacob, who now is not yet ashamed, will be put to shame. But this refers to the times of Isaiah. And his face will blush, so that blushing and confusion may be the occasion of salvation, especially when he sees his sons, that is, the Apostles and apostolic men, who were from the race of the Jews, performing miracles in the midst of the nations of the Lord, and preaching the name of Christ to the Gentiles, and saying: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name (Matt. 6:9). For they shall sanctify the Holy One who was born of Jacob, and they shall teach the God of Israel among the nations, so that, the idols being abandoned, they may say: how false were the idols that our fathers possessed, and there is no power in them; and then those who now wander in spirit will understand the knowledge of God, and those who once murmured against the Lord in the wilderness will learn the Law, of which they previously had no knowledge. For if they had received Moses, they would have also received the Lord Jesus Christ, because Moses spoke of him. What we have translated in the beginning of the chapter according to the Hebrew: This is what the Lord says to the house of Jacob, who once redeemed Abraham, and brought him out from the Chaldeans, and led him into the promised land (Gen. XI), is clearly evident. However, what the Seventy translated: This is what the Lord says about the house of Jacob, which he separated from Abraham, can be understood as meaning that he has separated the Scribes and Pharisees, who blasphemed the Lord, from Abraham, who saw the day of the Lord and rejoiced (John VIII). For if they were the children of Abraham, they would do the works of Abraham. And the Apostle argues that those who have the likeness of the faith of Abraham, that is, the people of the Gentiles, who are called children of Abraham not by works but by faith (Hebrews XI).30:1-5
(Chapter 30, Verse 1 and following) Woe to the rebellious children, says the Lord, who make plans that are not from me, who weave a web without my Spirit, adding sin upon sin. You who walk to go down to Egypt, without consulting me, hoping for help from Pharaoh's strength and relying on the protection of Egypt's shadow. But Pharaoh's strength will be your shame, and the trust in Egypt's shadow will bring you disgrace. For there will be princes in Tanis, and your messengers have reached Hanes. All are confounded over a people that cannot profit them: they were not a help, but for confusion and for a reproach. Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, who have taken counsel, and not of me; and have made a league, but not by my spirit, that they might add sin to sin: Who walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. There will be protection from Pharaoh for you, but it will lead to confusion; and those who trust in Egypt will be put to shame. For there are princes in Zoan, and their messengers are evil. They will labor in vain to help the people, for it will not benefit them. Instead, it will bring confusion and shame. After the prophecy against Ariel and everything that has been discussed up to this point, now begins another prophecy, which is proven to have been fulfilled after one hundred and fifty years between Isaiah and Jeremiah. For he predicts that story which we read in the volume of Jeremiah (Jer. XLI), when Jerusalem was overthrown and all its wealth and princes were transferred to Babylon, a leader of royal descent was appointed over those who remained in Judah, Godolias son of Ahicam. But after he was killed by trickery with the help of the Chaldean allies, all the leaders of the warriors, and Johanan son of Carai, and Jechoniah son of Hosea, and the rest of the people from small to great, approached the Prophet Jeremiah and said to him: Let our plea fall before you, and pray to the Lord your God for all these remaining ones. Because we are few out of many, as your eyes look upon us; and let the Lord your God announce to us the way by which we must go, and the word that we must do (Jeremiah 42:2, 3). And after ten days Jeremiah responded to the word of the Lord, saying: Thus says the Lord God of Israel: If you remain quiet in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down, I will plant you and not uproot you, for I am appeased by the evil that I have done to you. Do not be afraid of the face of the king of Babylon, whom you fear in your cowardice (Ibid., X, 11). And after a little while: But if you say, 'We will not dwell in this land,' and you set your face to go to Egypt and go to live there, the sword that you fear will overtake you there, and the famine about which you are anxious will cling to you in Egypt, and there you shall die (Ibid., XLII, 13, 15, 16). The proud men answered, saying to Jeremiah: You speak lies: the Lord our God did not send you, saying: Do not go to Egypt, to live there; but Baruch the son of Neriah incites you against us, to deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans, to kill us and make us be carried away to Babylon (Jeremiah 43:2, 3). In the end, all the leaders of the people, gathering together with the women and the little ones and the daughters of the king, not heeding the voice of the Lord, entered Egypt, taking Jeremiah and Baruch with them, and they came to Tahpanhes, so that Jeremiah prophesied as a sign of the future captivity against the disobedient people, the things contained in his book. Therefore, what was going to happen afterwards, many years before, was predicted, and they are called deserters and betrayers, the sons who, abandoning God's counsel that they had received through Jeremiah, followed their own will, and they wove a web, not by the spirit of God, which resounded through Jeremiah's mouth. But he metaphorically placed the woven web, in order to demonstrate the wicked counsel, and they did this in order to increase their past sins with the sin of contention and pride. He said, 'You who go down to Egypt, and have not asked my advice. Not that they have not asked, but that they have not wanted to listen to the counsel of the Prophet, hoping for assistance in the strength of Pharaoh, and having confidence in the protection, or shadow, of Egypt. Regarding the strength of Pharaoh, which is mentioned twice in this passage, it is written as 'Maoz' in Hebrew. We make this note so that when we read in the book of Daniel (Dan. II) about the vision of God as 'Maozim', we understand it to mean not as Porphyry imagines, the God of the village of Modim, but rather a mighty and powerful God. But Pharaoh among the Egyptians is the name of royal power; and each one is called by a special name, like Pharaoh Nechao, and Pharaoh Vafres (or Vafre): just as we use the proper names of kings for Caesar and Augustus. And it shall be, he says, that the strength of Pharaoh will be to you for confusion, and the confidence in the shadow of Egypt for shame. The same Jeremiah writes that in the city of Taphnis in Egypt he buried stones in the gateway of Pharaoh's house, and said to the men of Judah: Thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will set his throne upon these stones which I have hidden, and he shall set his throne upon them. And it shall happen, as he strikes the land of Egypt, those destined for death, to death; those destined for captivity, to captivity; and those destined for the sword, to the sword. And he shall kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them, and he shall lead captives away. And the land of Egypt shall be made desolate, as a shepherd wraps himself in his cloak and departs from there in peace. And what follows: Your princes will be in Tanis, and your messengers have reached Hanes, to be read with mockery and emphasis, because they have rejected God's counsel and sent their princes to the city of Tanis in Egypt, where the royal house of Pharaoh was, and under Moses many signs and wonders were performed, as the Psalmist says: He did miracles in the land of Egypt, in the field of Tanis (Ps. LXXVII, 43). And the same Isaiah speaks against Egypt: Where are your wise men now? They will announce to you and say what the Lord of hosts has planned against Egypt. The princes of Tanis have failed, as Isaiah mentions that they failed at that time when the Lord entered Egypt on a light cloud. However, we do not read about the city of Hanes in any other place in Egypt, but from what is said: Your messengers have reached Hanes, we understand that it is the farthest city in Egypt near the Ethiopians and Blemmyas (also known as Blembas), for which the Septuagint translates as: The worst messengers will labor in vain, those who trusted in the Egyptian people, who could not help them, and became an eternal disgrace. Some people think that this place, contrary to the ten tribes in Samaria, was written because when they asked for help from the Egyptians, they were captured by the Assyrians. According to tropology: All those who, despising the religion of God, return to their own vomit, and with the name of children lost, are called shameless dogs, they make a plan, not through the Lord, and they make a pact, not through the spirit of the Lord, and they add sins to sins: so that, being overcome by enticing vices, they also receive the corruption of dogmas, and they descend into the darkness of Egypt, seeking help from Pharaoh, who reigns in Egypt, whose protection leads to everlasting disgrace and reproach. For indeed there are in Tanis, to be sure in a humble and dejected command, its worst messengers, who labor in vain over a people who cannot benefit them. For just as the salvation of the disciples helps the holy teachers, so the perdition of the seduced ones destroys their patriarchs who have turned to the aid of Egypt.The burden of the beasts of the south. In Hebrew it is called Massa Beemoth (Al. Behemoth) of the Negeb, which the Septuagint translated as 'The Vision of the Quadrupeds in the Desert'. The superior explanation, which we have extensively explained through the replication of the historical text, is the interpretation of this place, according to the prophetic custom, that the burden, that is, the weight and burden of torment and punishment, not only came upon Babylon and the Philistines, and Moab, and Damascus, and Egypt, and the desert sea, but also upon Edom and Arabia, and the valley of Zion, and finally Tyre; but it also came upon the beasts of the south, which the Septuagint translated as quadrupeds in the desert. But the tribe of Judah, which is situated in the southern part, is bordering the wilderness; and those who rejected Jeremiah's prophecy, upon the capture of Jerusalem, refused to dwell in Judah; but they fled to the Egyptians through the desert. And rightly are they called the beasts of the South, or the quadrupeds in the wilderness, because they rejected the knowledge of God, and despising His command, fled to the idols of Egypt, having hope in Pharaoh, to whom whoever leans on, is like one leaning on a reed, which, if broken, will wound the hand of the one leaning on it. Concerning these kinds of animals, the sons of Korah spoke in the psalm: When a man is in honor, he does not understand; he is compared to the foolish animals and becomes like them (Ps. 49:13). And what follows: This is their way; their folly leads them astray, which can rightly be understood in relation to the present chapter, that their way through the desert led to their ruin. I have read, I know, that the animals of the south and the quadrupeds in the desert, who left the borders of Judah and fled into the darkness of Egypt, are referring to the spiritual wickedness in heavenly places; and the rulers of these darknesses, who lost all the wealth and former riches of Egypt in their desire. He said this. We say, according to tropology, that all those who, having abandoned the Creator, have given themselves to the errors of the world, are like quadrupeds in the desert of this age, from which they hope in vain for help, since they have abandoned the true help of God.
30:6-7
(Vers. 6, 7.) In the land of trouble and distress there will be a lioness and a lion: there will also be venomous snakes and flying serpents. They will carry their riches on the backs of donkeys and their treasures on the humps of camels to a people who cannot help them. Egypt will be useless and in vain for assistance. LXX: In trouble and distress there will be a lion and a lion's cub: then there will be asps and flying snake offspring. They will carry their riches on donkeys and camels to a nation that will not help them. The Egyptians will be empty and useless for your benefit. For the lion, in Hebrew it is written Leis () (also Lehis), and for the flying ruler, which the Seventy translated as flying asps, in Hebrew it is called ἐμπρηστὴς and flying, which we can call the burner, and in Hebrew it is called Saraph (). Again, in that place where we have translated, carrying on the shoulders of the beasts, they have uniformly translated all the animals as foals, that is, the young of donkeys. But the land of tribulation and anguish signifies the very wide desert, through which the remnants of Jerusalem, along with John the son of Careah and the daughters of King Zedekiah, having taken away all they could have, fled to Egypt. Likewise, understand metaphorically the lioness and the lion cub as Jerusalem and its people, as Balaam says in Numbers: Behold the people shall rise up as a lioness, and shall lift itself up as a lion; it shall not rest until it devour the prey, and drink the blood of the slain (Num. XXIII, 24). In Ezekiel it is also written: Take up a lamentation for the prince of Israel, and say: Why has your mother the lioness lain down among lions, and reared her whelps in the midst of young lions? (Ezek. 19:1-2). And lest we think that Holy Scripture truly speaks of the lioness and the lion contrary to the nature of things, that a viper and a flying basilisk should be born of a lioness and a lion, that is, that worse offspring should be generated from evil parents, of whom the Gospel also spoke: Brood of vipers, who has shown you to flee from the wrath to come? (Matt. 3:7). And to the land of Israel it is said: You are a land where it does not rain, nor does the rain come upon you in the day of anger, whose rulers are in its midst, like roaring lions, seizing prey, devouring souls by their power (Above, V). These offspring of vipers, or flying asps, that is, the rulers of the people and the whole crowd of the wicked, went to the people who could not help them, as Jeremiah says (Jer. LVI), that the Lord delivered Pharaoh, the crafty king of Egypt, into the hands of his enemies, and into the hands of those seeking his life, and all the men of Judah, who were in the land of Egypt, were consumed by sword and famine, to the point that the Hebrews delivered Jeremiah and Baruch, before Nebuchadnezzar captured Egypt, from the imminent captivity, avoiding death. A certain lioness and her lion cub, a celestial lion, were deceived by Jerusalem and exposed the people. And a flying king, and vipers, and offspring of asps, of whom we read above (Above. XIV and XXVII), a twisted serpent, and of whom the Savior spoke in the Gospel: I saw Satan, like lightning falling from heaven (Luke X, 19): who is called the dragon in the Apocalypse (Rev. XII), he drew with him a third part of the stars to the earth, who, by the perversity of their judgement, lost their former riches, abandoning them to the Egypt of this age.Therefore I cried out concerning this: it is only pride: be silent. For this reason, I do not know what the Seventy Interpreters intended: Proclaim these things, because your consolation is in vain. Furthermore, Symmachus interpreted it as 'turbulence is to dwell', that is, they are tumultuous in their habitation. The Hebrew word Reeb, or Reheb according to some, is translated by Aquila as 'impetus and pride', by Symmachus as 'disturbance', by the LXX as 'vanity', and by Theodotion as 'latitudinarianism'; which is written with three letters, Res (ר), He (ה), and Beth (ב), and it is the same as what is read in the Psalms: 'I will be mindful of Rahab and Babylon, those who know me' (Ps. XXVI, 3). And the meaning is: Since the Egyptians offer empty help, I commanded him, that is, Jerusalem, or I exclaimed, that the Egyptians only have the name of a kingdom, and without power they boast; and Israel should sit or dwell in their own land, and not seek help in vain from the weak.
30:8
(Verse 8.) Now, write for them on a tablet. Carefully inscribe it in the book: and it shall be a testimony until the last day. The Hebrews say that in the Prophets there is one spirit, and all times are connected before the Lord. Jeremiah commands, and it is God's command, that he writes on a tablet when entering Egypt, which is made of imperishable wood. Or, as Symmachus translates, on a wide board. But to the Jews, without a doubt: and he had explained it carefully in the book, so that there is no difficulty in reading it, so that when the prophecy is fulfilled, they will then understand that the speech of the prophets was true. We will quickly run through the obvious points, so that we can dwell on the more obscure ones.30:9-11
(v. 9 et seq.) For the people provoke to anger, and the sons are liars, sons unwilling to listen to the law of God. They say to the seers, “Do not see”; and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us pleasant words; see us errors. Depart from me the way; turn aside from me the path; let the Holy One of Israel cease from before us.” It is clear that they have provoked the Lord to anger, not wanting to hear the words of Jeremiah (Jer. 43). And they said to Him, 'Do not show us what we do not want to see; do not forbid us from the way of Egypt, nor tell us what is right; but speak what pleases us, so that we may go to Egypt and accumulate sins upon sins. Why do you impose on us what we do not willingly hear? Why do you show us the way which we do not want to enter? Why do you repeatedly proclaim to our ears, 'Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel'? Let this preaching cease from us.' According to allegory, all heretics are called lying sons. For they went out from us, but they were not of us (1 John 2); they do not listen with the ears of the inner man to the Law of God, and they speak to the teachers of the Churches: Do not show us what is right, nor threaten us with the flames of hell; but promise us the kingdom of heaven, so that after indulgence and pleasures, paradise may be opened to us. Why do you show me the way of the Lord, which I do not willingly enter? What does the title Holy Israel or the word 'Israelis' mean, which does not penetrate the secrets of my heart? Indeed, it is also said to the negligent people of the Church if they turn away from the severity of the teachers and favor flatterers.30:12-14
(vv. 12-14) Therefore thus says the Holy Lord of Israel: Because you have rejected this word and have put your trust in oppression and in deceit, and have relied on it, therefore this iniquity shall be for you like a breach in a high wall that is sought after and cannot be found, like a jar of clay that is broken beyond repair, so that no fragment of it is found for taking fire from the hearth or for drawing water from the cistern. For, as you have said above, 'Let the Holy One of Israel cease from our presence,' or as the Seventy translated it, 'Take away from us the word Israel'; therefore, thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and to those who are unwilling to listen, He approaches, so that you may feel the punishment of the one whom you have neglected, warning you. You have put your trust in the deceit and lies of the Egyptians, and you have relied on their tumult, their contradiction and pride, as Symmachus and Theodotion have interpreted, therefore this injustice or sin will turn against you, so that you may be like a suddenly falling wall of a strong and captured city, whose ruin will come suddenly, for thus the Seventy translated it. And the sense is similar to the Hebrew: Just as the interruption of a very high wall that has brought about a long ruin is difficult to restore and regain its former beauty, so sudden destruction will come upon you. And let me use another comparison: Just as the vessel of a potter, if it is broken by a very strong crushing, is shattered into fragments, such that only a tiny piece remains to carry a spark or a little water is drawn from a small hollow, so you, when you go to Egypt, pursued by Nebuchadnezzar, will perish completely. Heretics also rely on deceit and falsehood, and they mutter against their Creator according to the Septuagint. Therefore, their impious city will be destroyed, which Cain built, and it will face sudden destruction when it is captured by the men of the Church. It will be so completely destroyed and crushed that nothing will remain in it to reignite the extinguished fire and provide even muddy and meager water to the thirsty people.30:15-16
(Verse 15 and following) For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: If you return and rest, you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. But you were unwilling, and you said, 'No! We will flee upon horses'; therefore you shall flee away, and, 'We will ride upon swift steeds'; therefore your pursuers shall be swift. One thousand at the threat of one; at the threat of five you shall flee. LXX: Thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: When you turn to me and groan, then you shall be saved, and you shall know where you have been: for you trusted in idols, your strength became vain; and you were unwilling to hear, but you said, 'We will flee upon horses'; therefore you shall flee; and, 'We will ride upon swift steeds'; therefore those who pursue you shall be swift. A thousand will flee at the threat of one, and at the threat of five, many will flee. The Holy One, whom I had kept silent about his name, is the Lord God, who speaks to you and through me and through Jeremiah (Jeremiah XII): If you repent and either abandon vices or the error of evil counsel, and remain in Judah, fearing not the attack of the Babylonians, but my commandments, you will be saved. Rest and hope in the Lord, and take hold of the strength of faith in my promises. You, who have despised the commandments of life and have said in despair, it will not be as you speak; instead, we will flee to the Egyptian horses and go swiftly to them in haste. Since you have said these things, you will indeed flee and enter Egypt with destructive haste; but the Babylonians will be faster, as they will pursue you all the way to Egypt, and such great terror and fear will hold Egypt that a thousand Egyptians will not be able to resist a single Chaldean, and the multitude of fleeing enemies, five against one, as we read in Deuteronomy: The Lord will cause you to fall before your enemies' eyes. By this passage, you will depart from them and flee through seven ways from their presence, and you will be scattered among all the kingdoms of the earth (Deut. XXVIII, 25, 32). According to the allegorical and Septuagint edition, the divine word encourages all sinners, especially heretics, to repent, so that when they have turned away from vices and have repented, they may be saved; and then they will understand where they were before, and that they had hoped in vain things. And when they are encouraged to repent, on the contrary, they trust in false teachers and in the uncertainties of the world: not wanting to hear the words of God, they long for Egyptian horses and rejoice in their swiftness, which the Lord has forbidden to be multiplied (Deuteronomy 17). Therefore, the men of the church will pursue them swiftly, and one warrior's voice, or five fighters (which we should understand to refer to the mind and the five senses), will not be able to withstand a thousand men and an undisciplined crowd fleeing.30:17
(Verse 17.) Until you are left like a bad ship on the top of a mountain, and like a signal on a hill. Jeremiah also writes that after those who had taken refuge in Egypt had been killed by the sword and famine, few remained who returned to Judah (Jeremiah 46). And just as if a ship is broken and its structure is dissolved, only a tree, which is called a mast, remains, and is set as a signal on the top of the mountain or on a high hill, so as a sign and a trace, hardly one or two remain, to demonstrate the power of God. And then, he says, all the remnants of Judah, who are now entering the land of Egypt to dwell there, when they return to the land of Judah, will know whether my word or theirs shall be fulfilled.30:18
(Verse 18) Therefore the Lord waits, to have mercy on you, and therefore he will be exalted in showing mercy to you, because the Lord is a God of justice: blessed are all they that wait for him. Great is the mercy of God, that he waits for our repentance, and until we turn away from our vices, he restrains his mighty hand, so as not to be forced to strike. But he shows mercy and spares, so that his mercy may be exalted, and the goodness of the Creator may be known to all. Certainly, as it is said in the Gospel (John 12:32): 'And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.' Therefore, he is lifted up on the cross, so as to spare all. He himself is the God of judgment; and blessed are all who wait for the Lord, waiting for his conversion. But whose conversion it is, and what that conversion is, the following words will show.30:19
(Verse 19) For the people of Zion will dwell in Jerusalem. The Jews refer these things to the time of Cyrus, when the people returned from Babylon to Judaea under Zerubbabel and the high priest Joshua. But we, as we have often said already, refer all the promises that surpass the mediocrity of that time to the coming of Christ, in which the once captive people, freed by the passion of the Lord, dwelled in Zion and Jerusalem, namely, in the watchtower and vision of peace, that is, in the Church. Furthermore, that which is added in the Septuagint as a word of sanctity, they said: 'For a holy people dwells in Zion' (alternative: will dwell), we can interpret it to mean that no one dwells in Zion unless they are holy and hear the Lord saying, 'Be holy, for I am holy' (Leviticus 11:44).30:20
(Verse 20.) Crying, you will not weep in vain, showing compassion, he will have compassion on you: at the sound of your cry, as soon as he hears, he will answer you. When you return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem, you will not weep as you wept before, but your mourning will turn into joy: For blessed are those who weep, for they themselves will laugh (Luke VI, 21). And after you have called out and said to the Lord. I cried out with all my heart, hear me, O Lord (Psalm CXVIII, 145). And again: I cried out, have mercy on me, and I will keep your commandments (Psalm 85). And elsewhere: I waited for the morning and cried out (Psalm 118, 147), and your voice was so clear that it penetrated the heavens: immediately the Lord will answer you, and you will be like Moses, of whom it is written: Moses spoke, and the Lord answered him (Exodus 19, 20).30:21
(Verse 21.) And the Lord will give you tight bread and brief water. If we refer these times to Zerubbabel, the interpretation is easy; that under him there was not perfect joy, as David says: When the Lord turned the captivity of Zion, we were made like those who are comforted: so that they would receive not full and perfect consolation, but a likeness of consolation. But if we refer it to the coming of the Savior, tight bread and brief water, according to the Apostle Paul and the same prophet Isaiah, are predicted in the Gospel message, which, summarizing in one word all the tattered observances and commandments of the Law, is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. For the Lord has made his word complete and concise upon the earth (Galatians 5).30:22
And your teacher will not fly away from you anymore, and your eyes will see your instructor, and your ears will hear the word behind you, saying: This is the way, walk in it, neither to the right nor to the left. LXX: And those who deceive you will never come near you again, for your eyes will see those who have deceived you, and your ears will hear the words behind you of those who deceive, saying: This is the way, let us walk in it, whether to the right or to the left. In this place there are many disagreements between the 70th edition and the Hebrew. Therefore, we will first discuss the edition of the Vulgate, and then we will follow the order of truth. When they understand and perceive with the eyes of their hearts the truth, and when they fully understand those who have deceived them before and discern the words of those who deceive from behind with educated ears, for they always hurry to deceive the blind part of the body, according to the psalm that we read: 'They shoot in the dark the upright in heart' (Ps. X, 2), they assume such authority for themselves that they do not want to examine the disciples with reason, whether they teach with their right hand or their left, that is, whether they teach good or evil, but they want to follow their predecessors. Then those who previously deceived will never again be able to approach them once they realize they have been understood. Moreover, the explanation according to Hebrew is both easy and true. For when the Lord gives those who believe a narrow path and a short distance, he will never allow that person who teaches knowledge to fly away from them; but they will always see their teacher with their eyes, and they will hear the word of the one who admonishes them from behind, saying: This is the right way, walk in it, neither to the right nor to the left, according to what is read elsewhere: We will not turn to the right or the left, we will walk on the royal road (Numbers 20:17). For whatever is excessive in either direction is a fault. And concerning the right side it is said: Be not too just (Eccl. 7:17). But there is no doubt that on the left side they should be placed among the goats and the perishable.30:23
(Verse 23.) And you shall defile the plates of your carved silver, and the garment of your molded gold, and scatter them like the impurity of a menstruating woman: go forth, you shall say to it. LXX: And you shall defile the silver and the gold idols: you shall break them and scatter them like the water of a menstruating woman, and you shall cast them away like feces. When you understand the truth, and those who deceive do not approach you, but your eyes have seen your teacher, and your ears have always heard him: This is the way, walk in it, neither to the right nor to the left; then you shall break and scatter all errors and idols, and the likenesses of truth, which the skilled tongue has composed in the splendor of eloquence, which is translated as silver, and in the reasoning of wisdom, which sounds like gold, and you shall judge them as unclean, like the most filthy blood of a menstruating woman, which the Seventy translated into other words for the water of a menstruating woman.30:24
(Verse 24) And rain will be given to your seed wherever you sow it in the land, and the bread of the earth will be most abundant and rich. LXX: Then rain will be given to the seed of your land, and the bread of the earth will be plentiful and rich. It is written in the Book of Kings (3 Kings 18) that after the false prophets were killed by Elijah, rain was given to the land of Israel. And the bread of Elisha and later the Savior was most abundant and richest, and it had such abundance that many thousands of people were satisfied from it (4 Kings 4; John 6). And in the present place, rain will not be given to the spiritual seed, and the earth's most abundant and richest bread, unless the silver and gold idols have been broken and considered as dung. For unless vices have departed, virtues do not enter.30:25
(Verse 25.) On that day, the lamb will graze abundantly in your possession. And your oxen and donkeys, who work the land, will eat a mixture of barley and chaff, like it has been winnowed in the threshing floor. And on that day, your horses will graze in a fertile and spacious place. Your bulls and cows, who work the land, will eat the mixture of chaff and barley in the winnowed grain. In the abundance of all things, with heavenly rain descending, and with that bread which comes down from heaven, whoever eats it will never hunger again. The lambs will graze in the most spacious place, following the lamb wherever it goes, and those who are always on the right side will also graze. But the leaders of the herd, of whom we read: The congregation of bulls in the midst of cows of the people (Ps. LXVII, 31): and the foals of donkeys, on which the Lord sitting entered Jerusalem (Matth. XXI), who work the land, they will eat from the threshing floor in such a way that it has been winnowed, so that nothing mixed of course in their food there will be chaff, of which it is written in Jeremiah: What has chaff to do with wheat, says the Lord (Jerem. XXIII)? And those who are burned with unquenchable fire in the Gospel (Luke III). Moreover, according to the Septuagint, the animals, which are not yet full of reason and wisdom, and of which one speaks to God: I have become like a beast before you (Ps. LXXII, 23), will be fed in a rich and spacious place, which does not bring forth thorns and thistles, but flows like the land of Israel with milk and honey, and grants full freedom to those who feed on it. But the bulls and oxen that work the land, that is, the Apostles and apostolic men, of whom the apostle Paul also interprets the writing: You shall not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treads out the grain. And, is God concerned with oxen? But certainly He speaks about those who work their own land and of whom He speaks the same, we are God's agriculture, God's building. For the Father is the farmer, and Christ is the vine: they will eat chaff mixed with winnowed barley. We read that Isaac sowed barley, and because he was among foreigners, he received a hundredfold harvest of barley. And Hosea, having hired a coro and a half of barley, took to himself an adulterous woman (Hosea III). The Savior also, with five thousand men who still served the desires of the flesh and followed the Law of Moses, satisfied them with barley loaves (John VI). In another place, by breaking seven loaves of the Law and dividing them into pieces, he filled four thousand men with wheat bread, who followed the evangelical number (Matthew XV). People of this kind eat both the chaff and the grain. While in some respects they adhere to the letter, gradually they make progress through the chaff and barley, in order to pass on to the wheat.30:25
(Verse 25.) And they shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every elevated hill, flowing streams of water on the day of the slaughter of many, when the towers fall. In this place, the Jews attribute to the power of the Roman Empire the many who were killed and the towers that collapsed, about which the Apostle also speaks (2 Thess. 7): Only he who now holds it, let him hold it until it is taken away. That is, in that time there will be such great prosperity for the people of Israel that not only valleys and plains, but all mountains and hills will be irrigated by flowing waters. But we, let us understand the mountains and hills, those who are elevated in high virtues, who hunger and thirst for justice (Matt. 5), whom the Lord challenges to drink. For whoever drinks from His waters, will not thirst forever (John 4). Hence, in the psalm we read: Bless the Lord from the fountains of Israel (Ps. 67:27). And in the Gospel it is said that anyone who drinks from the waters of Jesus, rivers of living water will flow from his womb (John 7). And he speaks to God the Holy One, saying: For with you is the fountain of life (Ps. 36:10), from which the purest river flows, of which Scripture again mentions: The rushing of a river makes glad the city of God (Ps. 45:4). And in another place: The river of God is filled with water (Ps. 65:9); namely, the one who speaks through Jeremiah: They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water (Jer. 2:13). But this will happen when they are killed or perish, many indeed are called, but few are chosen (Matt. 20:16). And when the towers fall, whether they be the powers of demons, or the proud and arrogant and great of this world; of whom it is said in the Psalms: I have seen the wicked exalted, and lifted up like the cedars of Lebanon, and I passed by, and behold, he was not, I sought him, and his place was not found (Ps. XXXVI, 35, 36). These towers desired to build (Gen. XII), those who moved their feet from the East, whose tongues were confounded in Babylon, and those on whom the tower of Siloam fell (Luke XIII).30:26
(Verse 26) And there will be the light of the moon, like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day when the Lord binds up the wounds of his people and heals the bruises inflicted by his blow. LXX: And the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, on the day when the Lord heals the brokenness of his people and cures the pain of your wound. I wonder how in this present place the Hebrew words Labana () and Hamma (), which Aquila translates as whiteness and heat, by which it signifies the moon and the sun above the same LXX, have been rendered as brick and wall, in that place where it is written: And the moon shall blush, and the sun shall be confounded. For as they have been interpreted, the bricks will melt and the wall will fall, and now those who follow the Hebrew have translated the moon and the sun. Hence I am suspicious that they did not err from the beginning, but gradually corrupted by the fault of the scribes. For it cannot happen that those who have interpreted the same words correctly in this place have erred in the previous ones. Therefore, on the day of the killing of many, when the arrogant and proud have fallen, and those who have put their mouth in the sky have learned that they are of the earth, there will be light of the moon, just as the light of the sun: when the Lord gives a new heaven and a new earth, and the current state of this world passes away, so that the moon and the sun may obtain the rewards of their toil and their course. For the expectation of the creature waiteth for the revelation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him that made it subject, in hope: Because the creature also itself shall be delivered from the servitude of corruption, into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that every creature groaneth and travaileth in pain, even till now. And not only it, but ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption of the sons of God, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope. But hope that is seen, is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth he hope for? But if we hope for that which we see not, we wait for it with patience. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit himself asketh for us with unspeakable groanings. And he that searcheth the hearts, knoweth what the Spirit desireth; because he asketh for the saints according to God. And we know that to them that love God, all things work together unto good, to such as, according to his purpose, are called to be saints. And the sun will receive sevenfold light: just as there was light for seven days when the world was created from the beginning (although the Septuagint did not transfer seven days), when the Lord bound up the wound of his people, or healed the bruise of his people: when that which is written will be fulfilled: Sorrow and mourning and groaning will flee away (Isa. 35:10): when with the influx of the fullness of the Gentiles, all Israel will be saved; or certainly when vengeance comes upon those whose souls cry out under the altar: How long will you not avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth (Rev. 6:9)? And consider this, that it does not say, 'when he heals the brokenness of his people Israel, or Jacob;' but absolutely, 'his people,' in order to signify all who serve God. Some interpret this place and all that is contained in this chapter of promises as referring to heavenly Jerusalem, and to the return of its people, when what is written will be fulfilled: 'Heaven and earth will pass away' (Matthew 24:35). Others interpret it as referring to the time of Elijah, and they say it is he of whom it is written above: 'Your eyes will see your teacher' and 'your ears will hear a word behind you, saying: This is the way, walk in it' (Isaiah 30:20-21). Then, according to the fables of the poets, rivers of golden milk will flow from the mountains and hills, and the purest honey will drip from the leaves of the trees. Those who receive these things will also receive a tale of a thousand years and will embrace the earthly kingdom of the Savior, misunderstanding the Apocalypse of John on the surface of the letter, weaving the sacraments of the Church into their marrow.Book Ten
Book TenThe tenth book, which we now have in our hands, will be smaller in the number of verses, but not in the magnitude of its meaning. For it follows the history of Sennacherib and Rabsacis and King Hezekiah, which cannot be joined with the preceding ones due to its enormous volume, nor can it be divided because of the continuity of the events. Therefore, as you desired, virgin of Christ Eustochium, and as it was agreed upon in general, as I have dictated before, I will dictate this and the remaining books, if Christ approves, in order to connect the prophecies to each other and not tear them apart or separate them at the end of one and the beginning of another. Furthermore, there is also the scorpion, a silent and venomous animal, which, upon hearing the response of my former commentary on the prophet Daniel, I know not what it mutters, or rather attempts to strike, in its own pure death. The dirges and mournful songs of which have not yet been revealed to me, and therefore a delayed response: rather, it is more necessary to obey you, and your holy and highly learned brother Pammachius, who compels me through his insatiable studiousness in letters, having completed Isaiah, to move on to Ezekiel, while I, worn out by both age and frailty of body, and lacking scribes who could assist me in their services, remain stuck in the same mire, and scarcely believe that I will finish even the middle part of Isaiah in this volume. But if, with you praying, I accomplish it, the remaining things, which will have their beginning from the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, must be seized.
30:27-29
(Vers. 27 seqq.) Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar: His burning anger and heaviness to bear. His lips are filled with indignation, and his tongue is like a devouring fire. His breath is like a torrent overflowing to the middle of the neck, to destroy nations for nothing, and the bridle of error that was in the jaws of the people. It shall be a song to you, like the night of a holy solemnity, and the joy of the heart, like one who goes with a flute, to enter the mount of the Lord, to the mighty one of Israel. LXX: Behold, the name of the Lord comes after a long time: burning wrath with glory, the speech of his lips, full of anger, and the anger of fury like fire will devour, and his spirit like water in a valley, drawing will come up to the neck, and it will be divided to disturb the nations with vain error, and error will be cast aside, and it will take them in their sight. Should you always rejoice and enter into my holy things constantly, as if celebrating and rejoicing at feasts, to enter with a pipe to the mountain of the Lord to the God of Israel? Let us first speak according to the Hebrew. They depend on the preceding things which are said. The prophetic word had caught those who, despising the help of God, were fleeing to the Egyptians because of fear of the Babylonians, and it threatened that those who went down there would die. And again, after the punishments, he promises that those who wanted (or rather, didn't want) to hear him would not only dwell in Jerusalem under Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, but also that he would promise greater blessedness to all who believe in the word of God, in the consummation of the world, when the rivers of waters will run through all the mountains and hills, and many will be killed, and towers will fall. The moon and the sun will also receive a brighter light when the Lord binds up and heals the wounds of his people. Some may argue that these things were accomplished to an excessive degree in the times of Cyrus, who released the captivity of the people and filled the land of Judah. Therefore, because rewards have been promised to the good and obedient, now on the contrary, punishments are declared for the wicked and contemptuous, so that the Lord may fulfill his plan and come to punish sinners after a long time, and pronounce judgment upon all, and destroy the impious with the breath of his mouth, whom he calls the bridle of the peoples: not to rule over them, but to draw those subject to him to ruin. He also uses the analogy of a river overflowing and reaching up to the neck to testify that the end of all things has come. Just as the river suffocates the one it reaches up to the neck, so too the judgment of God will not allow anyone to escape unpunished. But when He loses the bridle that was on the jaws of all nations, and has brought them to nothing, then, He says, there will be a song for you, O saints, who obey my commands, like the night of a holy solemnity, when you came out of Egypt and threw off the yoke of Egyptian slavery in the solemnity of the Passover, saying at the Red Sea when Pharaoh was drowned: 'Let us sing to the Lord, for He is gloriously magnified' (Exodus 15:1). And with such great joy in your hearts that you imitate those who, carrying the first fruits to the temple and offering gifts in the presses of God, go with their pipes, demonstrating the joys of their heart through song. I have briefly explained these things according to the Hebrew language. However, it should be noted in both editions that it is not the Lord, but the name of the Lord that comes after a long time, as it is said in the Psalms: 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the Lord God, and he has shined upon us' (Ps. CXVII, 26). And he himself speaks in the Gospel: 'I have come in my Father's name, and you have not received me' (John V, 43). It is said to come after a long time, with human impatience speaking: 'How long, O Lord, will you forget me? Forever?' How long will you turn your face away from me? (Ps. XII, 1). His burning fury also comes with glory, so that the one we despise in humility, we may fear in majesty. This very thing is also written in the psalms: God will come manifestly, our God will not keep silent. Fire will burn before him, and there will be a mighty tempest around him (Ps. L, 3, 4). He himself speaks in the Gospel (Luke XII, 49): I have come to cast fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! Again in another psalm it is read: The voice of the Lord cutting through the flame of fire (Ps. XXVIII, 7), so that whatever is in the manner of hay, wood, and straw, the flame would consume. Hence, God is also said to be a consuming fire (Deut. IV). And it is inferred: The fury of his wrath will devour like fire, and many of our people interpret the fury of the Lord's wrath as the devil, to whom we are handed over for punishment, who, according to the book of Samuel, incited David to number the people of God (II Reg. XXIV). And the Apostle says: to deliver such a Satan to the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved (I Cor. V, 5). But this same fury, and so the fury of the Lord will do nothing by his own will, but what has been commanded to him. Hence it follows: The speech of his lips is full of wrath. His spirit also like water in a valley, drawing near even to the neck, to make punishments overflow upon sinners. He will be divided according to the quality of his merits, to destroy and trouble the nations which false error had deceived, so that they may understand themselves to be overthrown. When it is said of such people, who prevailed in the power of this world and delighted in their own error, that they will not always do this. And certain of our people think that this place and the whole content of the chapter is against heretics and all dogmas that are contrary to the truth, because when the time of judgment comes, they will not enter his holy mountain, that is, the Church of the Lord, so that they may not gather riches under the name of religion and indulge in luxury, as if celebrating the feasts of the Lord. The Jews understand concerning the nations of Gog and Magog, which they believe will come from the North, that is, from the regions of Scythia, about which Ezekiel speaks more fully (Ezek. 19).30:30-33
(Verse 30 and following) And the Lord will cause the glory of His voice to be heard, and He will show the terror of His arm in the threat of His fury and the devouring flame of fire. He will strike with whirlwind and hailstones. At the voice of the Lord, Assyria will tremble, struck down like a virgin, and there will be a passage firmly established by the rod: which the Lord will cause to rest upon him with timbrels and harps, and in battles He will conquer them in principal places. For Topheth has been prepared since yesterday, prepared by the king, deep and wide. Its fire is nourished, and there are many trees: the breath of the Lord, like a stream of burning sulfur, will set it ablaze. LXX: And the Lord will cause the glory of his voice to be heard, and he will show the fury of his arm with wrath and anger, and with a devouring flame of fire, he will strike vehemently, and like water and hail descending with force. For at the voice of the Lord the Assyrians will be overcome, with the blow with which he will strike them, and it will be all around him, that is, the place where he had hope of help, in which he trusted. They themselves will fight against him with tambourines and harps, in exchange. For you will be deceived before many days: is a kingdom also prepared for you? A deep valley, with wood placed, fire and the wood of many; the fury of the Lord, like a valley set on fire with sulfur. I could, in accordance with the Hebrew text, indicate to those who are reading what seems to me to be happening; but what shall I do, when some declare that I will have an incomplete work unless I also discuss the edition of the 70 interpreters? Therefore, I will follow the intended order of discussion. The voice of the Lord and his precept will become known to all, and the strength of his arm will be revealed to all when the time of retribution comes, when the flame and whirlwind, the size of hailstones, and the weight of stones will be abandoned. Indeed, in the prophecy of Ezekiel, as we have said, he writes at length about Gog and Magog (Ezek. XXXVIII, and Xxvix). At the command of his voice, Assur will tremble, struck with a rod. Every impious person, every imitator of the enemy nation: not that only the Assyrian will be struck on the day of judgment, but by the Assyrian we understand the devil. Finally, it follows: And the passage of the rod will be established, which the Lord will make to rest upon him. And this is the meaning: He will not strike him with a rod, and then lift him up again, as those who punish do; but rather, as if firmly rooted and firmly fixed, will cause him to remain in his punishments. And if it is understood in this way, where will be the repentance of the devil, especially when it is said to sinners: Go into eternal fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). With timbrels and harps, and with principal weapons, the Lord will conquer them, namely the demons and all the wicked ones, with the joy of all. For from yesterday and from past time, Thopheth, that is, a broad and spacious hell, has been prepared by the Lord the King, which burns them with eternal fires. Its nourishment and fuel is fire, and many woods, that is, perpetual flame and the torments of sinners. And since, just as from a burning furnace and fire, the prophetic speech had foretold, it keeps the metaphor, so that by the breath and spirit and will of the Lord, we may know that it is set on fire, with mixed sulfur, which kindles the flames, to make the torments more fierce. Moreover, what is said in the Septuagint: 'At the voice of the Lord the Assyrians shall be overcome, when he shall strike them with the plague, and he shall be in a circle where he was before, and the hope of help, in which he trusted: they themselves with timbrels and harps shall fight against him out of sudden change,' signifies that they rise up against the devil, who had once been subject to him, and fight against him with joy and gladness out of sudden change, while understanding their own error, they destroy him by whom they had been deceived. And it is said to him, because he deceived himself from the beginning, thinking his kingdom to be eternal, for which hell and eternal punishments are prepared.31:1-3
(Chapter 31, verses 1 onwards) Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord. Yet he too is wise and can bring disaster; he does not take back his words. He will rise up against the wicked nation, against those who help evildoers. Egypt is a man and not a God: and their horses are flesh, not spirit: and the Lord shall lay his hand upon them that help, and the helper shall fall down, and he that is helped shall fall, and they shall all be consumed together. After the burden of the beasts of the south, and the treasures of their riches for the people of Egypt shall exhaust their aid, which shall be of no profit to them, but for a shame and a reproach. Look now towards the land of the north wherein is the king of Babylon: where is now the old king of Assyria? Where are their gods in whom they trusted? Who is the king of Hamath, and of Arphad, and of the city of Sepharvaim, of Ana, and of Ava? And as for Hamath it had the beginning from Samaria: but Samaria and Jerusalem shall receive the reward of their trusting in him. For their God is with them and they glory in their king. With their horses and chariots they shall go up, and with their horsemen and their troops they shall come down, and they shall cover the land as a sea. And they shall pass through it unharmed: and they shall fall into captivity. And they that shall be gathered together against them, shall be confounded: and all the beasts of the field, and all the fowls of the air, and the birds of the sea shall be gathered together upon them: and the Lord will for them carry on a war, and will afflict them. Their strength shall be consumed with famine: and their birds shall be devoured with a burning heat, and with most grievous destruction: because they have despised the words of the Lord, and have depised the counsel of the holy one of Israel. And this is both the present and the past, where it is prescribed that the Jews should not go down to Egypt; here, because they have despised the Lord's command, it is prophesied that they will go down, and that both Israel and the Egyptians, both the fugitives and the helpers, will be slain by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Jeremiah speaks at length about this (Jeremiah 42). Woe therefore to those who go down to Egypt and despise the Lord's command in fear of the Chaldeans, hoping in idolaters who boast of having the worship of God, and relying on the help of horses, not knowing the scripture: A deceitful horse brings salvation (Psalm 32:17); and they have confidence in chariots, horses, and riders, not remembering that song: He has cast chariots and their riders into the sea (Exodus 15:1). And they did not trust in the Holy One of Israel, who promised them help through Jeremiah for those who remained in the land of Judah. And they did not seek the Lord; not that they did not seek, but that they disregarded the words of the one they sought. And this is also said of the wicked priests: They devour my people and do not call upon the Lord (Psalm 52:5,6). But the wise one, that is, the Lord, brought evil upon them, and the worst, namely Nebuchadnezzar, or rather, he brought about evil as a consequence, not as a personal intention; and he did not take away his words that he had spoken through the prophets. How will it rise up against the tribe of Judah, the house of the wicked, and against the help of the Egyptians, who work iniquity? For Egypt, or the Egyptians as the Septuagint translated, is a man and not God; and their horses are flesh and not spirit. Therefore, it is written in Jeremiah: Cursed is the man who puts his trust in man and has made flesh his strength, and his heart has turned away from the Lord. And he will be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes (Jeremiah 17:5-6). And in another place it is written: The salvation of man is in vain (Ps. 59:13), or, as is better understood in the Hebrew, in man. And when the Lord stretches out His hand to punish, or turns away, under the metaphor of a charioteer, and loosens the reins of the horses that are running, the Egyptian helper will fall, and the help that was given to Israel. Indeed, we can understand this about those who, in times of persecution, tribulation, and distress, do not trust in the Lord, but in the help of the Egyptians, that is, of worldly men; not knowing that Abraham was in danger in Egypt, and that the people of God served in that region of mud and bricks, which is spiritually called the iron furnace. Wherefore also in the Apocalypse of John it is read: The place in which the Lord was crucified is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt (Al. Egyptian) (Apoc. XI, 8).31:4-5
(Verses 4, 5.) For thus says the Lord to me: Just as when a lion roars, and a lion cub over its prey, when a multitude of shepherds come against it, it will not be afraid of their voices, nor terrified by their numbers; so the Lord of hosts will come down to fight upon Mount Zion and its hill. Like birds hovering, so the Lord of hosts will protect Jerusalem, protecting and delivering, passing over and saving. In manifestis unam ponimus editionem, maxime ubi nulla diversitas sensuum est. Caesis in Aegypto Israelitis et Aegyptiis, in quorum auxilio confidebant, revertentur (( Al. revertuntur)) in Jerusalem, Cyro regnante, captivi. Et per duas similitudines, Domini, qui se fore adjutorem promiserat, fortitudo monstratur. Sicut leo et catulus leonis esuriens, si cernat ovium gregem, nulla pastorum voce terretur, et multitudinem eorum conscius virium suarum despicit: sic Dominus exercituum praeliabitur, non contra montem Sion et collem ejus, super montem Sion contra adversarios illius. Let us give another comparison: Just as birds defend their offspring by flying over their nests, and whether they see a snake or a human, the birds and others approach their chicks, forgetting their weakness, they fight with their beaks and claws, and with a chattering voice they express their anguish: so the Lord will protect Jerusalem and deliver it by passing over, and He will save it. For 'passing over' in Hebrew is 'Phase', and it is translated as 'ὑπερβαίνων' by the interpreters, apart from the Septuagint. From which it is clear that Pascha, that is, the Lord's Passover, does not signify His passion, but His passage. Moreover, that the Lord acted as the protector in the likeness of birds over Jerusalem, He Himself testifies in the Gospel: 'Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you' (Matt. XXIII, 37): how often have I desired to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing? And in Deuteronomy it is said of the Lord: He spread his wings and took them, and carried them on his shoulders (Deut. XXXII, 11).31:6-9
(Verse 6 onwards) Return, as you have deeply strayed, O children of Israel. For on that day a man will cast away the idols of his silver and the idols of his gold, which your own hands have made for yourselves to sin. And Assur will fall by the sword, not of a man; and a sword, not of a human, will devour him. He will flee not from the face of the sword, and his young men will become forced labor. His strength will pass away in terror, and his fleeing princes will be filled with fear, says the Lord, whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem. LXX: Return, O children of Israel, as you have gone deep into sin. For on that day every man will throw away the idols of his silver and the idols of his gold that your own hands have made for your own sins. And Assyria will fall by the sword, not of a man, and a sword, not of a human, will devour him; he will flee, but not from the face of the sword; his young men will be defeated; they will be surrounded like a wall, and they will be conquered; but whoever flees will be captured. Thus says the Lord: Blessed is he who has offspring in Zion and who has a household in Jerusalem. While the Lord fights against his adversaries on Mount Zion and protects it like a rampart, O children of Israel, turn back! As Symmachus translated it: Repent, you who have strayed from the Lord due to deep counsel and sin. For if you do this, casting aside the golden and silver idols that have been a cause of sin for you, because of which your city was captured, Assyria will fall, from whose fear you now flee, not by the sword of men or the strength of an army, but by the power of God. But it signifies that an angel, by whom 185,000 Assyrians were destroyed in one night. Also, the Assyrian king himself will not flee from the sword of men, but from the wrath of God, so that his young and strong men will become tributaries to the Medes, of whom it is said above, in opposition to Babylon: Behold, I will raise up the Medes against you. And the might of Assyria will pass by with the terror of the Lord, and all its princes will tremble. For the Lord has spoken and promised, and what He has said, He has done: and He who has fire in Zion and a furnace in Jerusalem, so that He may consume His adversaries like straw and wood coming out of Jerusalem. Another thing that is said: On that day, a man will throw away his idols of silver and the rest, it is interpreted in such a way that it testifies that after the return from the Babylonian captivity until the coming of Christ, the children of Israel never worshiped idols. Assyria is also signified in the present place, not by an angel, but by the Medes, because it was the most ancient and once powerful kingdom, which was destroyed after offending the Lord, and served the conquerors. The Nazarenes understand this place thus: O children of Israel, who denied the Son of God with wicked counsel, return to Him and His Apostles. For if you do this, you will cast away all the idols that were previously a sin for you, and the devil will fall to you, not by your strength, but by the mercy of God; and its young men who once fought for it will be subjects of the Church, and all its strength and rock will be passed to it; even the philosophers and every perverse doctrine will turn their backs to the sign of the cross. For the opinion of the Lord is that this should be done: whose fire or light is in Zion and his furnace in Jerusalem. Fire and light are written in Hebrew with the same letters Aleph, Vau, Res; if it is read as Ur, it means fire: if Or, it means light. This is said because for the fire, which Symmachus alone interprets, Aquila and Theodotion translate it as light. But I do not know what is meant by what is read in the Septuagint: They will be surrounded like a wall by rock, and they will be conquered: but whoever flees will be captured. Unless perhaps we can say this, that the young men of the Assyrian king who are to be conquered and captured, are surrounded like a rock, that is, by the strength of the Lord, just as a city is surrounded by a wall. Furthermore, what follows: Blessed is the one who has offspring in Zion, and domestic servants in Jerusalem, we can interpret it in such a way as to say that it agrees with the meaning of this place, that the divine word exhorts those who are fleeing to Egypt to return to Jerusalem and to bear children. To whom such great blessedness is promised, that it may be defended and protected by the help of the Lord. And in another place it is written about it: The glory of this last house shall be greater than the glory of the former (Haggai 2:10). Which can also be referred to the Church, the vision of peace and the watchtower, of which it is written: Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God (Psalm 87:2). And elsewhere: The streams of the river make glad the city of God (Psalm 46:3). For in it there is fire and a furnace that shall devour the sinners, and shall consume the wood, hay, and stubble; or it is a light and an oven, that the brightness of the righteous, and the punishment of the wicked, may be shown.32:1-8
(Chapter 32, Verses 1 onwards) Behold, the king shall reign with justice, and princes shall rule with judgment. And a man shall be like one who hides from the wind, and conceals himself from the storm: like streams of water in a dry place, and the shadow of a towering rock in a barren land. The eyes of those who see shall not be dim, and the ears of those who hear shall listen carefully. And the heart of fools shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of stammerers shall speak quickly and clearly. He who is foolish shall no longer be called a ruler, nor shall the deceitful be called great. For the foolish shall speak foolishness, and his heart shall work iniquity, to accomplish deceit and speak deceitfully to the Lord, to empty the soul of the hungry and take away the drink of the thirsty. The vessels of the deceitful are the worst, for he has devised plans to destroy the meek with lies when he speaks in judgment of the poor. The prince will consider those things that are worthy of a prince, and he himself will stand above the leaders. LXX: Behold, a righteous king will reign, and princes will rule with justice. And there will be a man who conceals his words, and he will be hidden like water that is carried away: and he will appear in Zion, like a flowing river, illustrious in a thirsty land, and they will not place their confidence in men: but they will open their ears to hear, and the heart of the weak will attend to their hearing: and the tongues of the stammerers will quickly learn to speak peace: and they will no longer say to the fool, 'Be a prince,' nor will your ministers say, 'Be silent.' For a fool will speak foolishly, and his heart will understand in vain to accomplish wickedness, and to speak error towards the Lord, so as to scatter the souls of the hungry and to make the souls of the thirsty empty. For the counsel of the wicked will think iniquity: to kill the humble with wicked words, and to dissipate the words of the lowly in judgment. But the pious have thought wisdom, and this counsel remains. According to the Septuagint interpreters who said: Behold, for a just king will reign, and princes will preside with judgment, what follows must be joined with the previous, namely, the chapter that has ended: Blessed is the one who has offspring in Zion, and domestics in Jerusalem. According to the completion of the prior prophecy in Hebrew, concerning those who descended into Egypt, now begins the beginning of another prophecy, namely, concerning the coming of Christ and His Apostles. For this king shall reign justly, showing no partiality in judgment, and his princes shall govern with truth, considering causes, not individuals. And whoever is under his protection shall be safe in tribulations and hardships, and in the storms of this world, just as one who, fleeing the wind and whirlwind, safely hides in a place; and one who finds the purest springs in the desert; and one who, in the scorching heat of the sun, finds rest under a projecting rock while everything flows around him. Whereas we have said: as streams of water in a dry place, they have translated: and there shall be seen in Zion as a flowing river. For the Hebrew word, about which we have previously debated, Basaion, which means in thirst, or in dryness, and in barrenness, the Septuagint and Theodotion have translated into Zion: instead of Saion, meaning thirst, they read Zion, which is written with the same letters. Therefore, when Christ reigns, and his princes preside in judgement, the eyes of the believers will not be dimmed, and the ears of the attentive will listen carefully to what was previously deaf, and the heart of the fools will understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers and the mute, which could not pronounce the name of Christ, will confess the Lord in full and clear speech. He who is foolish will no longer be called a prince. For God has made the wisdom of this world foolish. Nor will a deceitful and perverse teacher be called great among the people, namely the scribes and Pharisees, to whom the Lord spoke: Fools and blind ones, what is greater, gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? For a fool will speak foolishly, as it is written in Hebrew: Nabal Nabala Idabber. This we say, in order to explain the words of Abigail speaking about Nabal in Carmel: 'According to his name, he is foolish.' (1 Samuel 25:25) For truly a fool will speak foolishly, and his heart will devise wickedness; he feared where there was no fear, and he used foolishness as wisdom, saying: 'If this man were from God, he would not break the Sabbath.' (John 9:16) This is what the rulers of the synagogue still do today, in order to perfect their hypocrisy, about which it is written in Hebrew: Oneph, which means 'hypocrisy.' Where it is often said to the Pharisees: Woe to you, scribes and hypocritical Pharisees (Matthew 23:14). And let him speak deceitfully to the Lord: Teacher, we know that you are from God, and it is not your concern about people, although it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, isn't it (Ibid., 22:16-17). They empty the souls of the hungry people and take away the drink of the thirsty crowds, neither allowing themselves to enter nor allowing others to enter. For the vessels and weapons of a deceitful teacher and prince are all the worst; who contrives deceit to deceive the simple in the speech of falsehood, saying to the deceived people: Search and see, because the Prophet from Galilee will not rise again (John 7:52). When he spoke to them about the poor judgment, who, though rich, became poor for us (2 Corinthians 8). Truly, Christ is their judgment, and he spoke of righteousness, saying: If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me; but if I do, and if you do not want to believe me, believe in the works (John 10:37). This poor man who speaks judgment, the prince and Lord, will think about things that are worthy of a prince, saying: I have come only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matth. XV, 14). And he will be anxious to save the unbelievers, wanting to save those who do not believe; and he will stand above his leaders, the Apostles, to whom he speaks to one: But you, my unanimous man, my leader and my friend (Psal. LIV, 14). These things are according to the Hebrew, from which the Septuagint not only differ in words, but also in meanings in many things. For when a just king reigns and his leaders govern with judgment, the man who is God by nature will conceal his teachings, speaking to them in parables (Matthew 20:21, 23, 24, and 25). He will conceal them like a flowing river hides beneath the surface, away from the people of Judah who are carried back and forth by the will of their leaders. But this man who hides his teachings among the unbelievers will appear in Zion, which is the Church, like a renowned river flowing through a thirsty land. For the people of the Gentiles, who previously suffered from a thirst for truth, will appear; and the river of God will water the thirsty fields as it is written: The rushing waters of a river make the city of God glad (Psalm 46:4). And in another place: The river of God is full of water (Psalm 65:10). For He Himself speaks in the Gospel: Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me, and let them drink. Whoever believes in Me, as Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from within them (John 7:38). Then they will have no trust in teachers; but they will offer their ears to hear the Lord; and with both heart and tongue they will confess the peace of the Lord, forsaking foolish princes and their ministers, who commanded silence to those who believed in Jesus. The following words contain the same meaning, both in Hebrew and Latin, and can be adapted to heretics. For they speak lies against the Lord, and they pervert the souls of those who hunger and thirst, and they make them empty; so that even if they have anything good by nature, they lose it because of the fault of the teachers, whose every plan is to destroy the humble with unjust words, and to scatter the words of the humble in judgment. Similarly, it should be noted that those who can be deceived by them should be humble and grounded.32:9-20
(Verse 9 and following) Women of wealth, rise up and listen to my voice: confident daughters, hear my words. After days and years, you will be troubled, O confident ones: for the harvest is complete, and there will be no more gathering. O women of wealth, be astounded, be troubled: strip yourselves and be ashamed. As Symmachus interpreted, expose yourselves: it continues. Gird your loins, beat your breasts, over the desirable region, over the fertile vineyard: over the ground of my people, thorns and thistles will grow: how much more over all the houses of the joyful city? For the house was abandoned: the multitude of the city was left behind: darkness and groping became over caves forever: the joy of wild donkeys the pasture of flocks. Until the spirit is poured out upon us from on high: and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness will remain in the fruitful field. The work of righteousness will be peace, and the service of righteousness quietness and confidence forever. And my people shall dwell in the beauty of peace, and in tabernacles of trust, and in abundant rest. But there shall be hail in the descent of the forest, and with humility the city shall be humbled. Blessed are those who sow over all waters, sending forth the foot of the ox and the donkey. Seventy, for darkness and groping, which were made over the caves forever, they were transferred, and your cities shall be caves forever: which in Hebrew is called Ophel and Been, which the Hebrews think to be two towers in Jerusalem, lofty and very sturdy, which are called by these names. The first of these is interpreted as darkness or clouds, because it raised its head up to the clouds. The second is the proof and strength, or as Symmachus translates it, the inquiry: because the eyes were deceived in contemplating its summit. In the end, the chapters are interpreted as follows: Blessed are they who sow over all waters, where the ox and the donkey tread. After the calling of the Gentiles, when Christ the king shall rule with justice, and his princes, the apostles and apostolic men shall govern believers in judgment, the prophetic discourse will be directed to rich women, whom we should understand to be either the cities of Judea, or the synagogues of that time, or as most people think, the wealthy matrons of the former Jewish people, who are spoken of as if they were lying down after the ruin: Arise; and yet they are also called confident daughters, or hopeful: and it is commanded to them that they listen to the words of the Lord, and remember the days and years, about which we shall speak in what follows, the Savior himself saying: The spirit of the Lord is upon me, for which reason he has anointed me: he has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to captives, and recovery of sight to the blind: to call the year of the Lord acceptable (Luke IV, 18, 19), and let this remembrance be for them according to the Septuagint, in sorrow with hope, that they may lament that the Lord denied them, and have hope of salvation, if they repent. For he says that the vintage is finished, and after the final devastation, which happened under Vespasian and Titus and Hadrian, there will by no means be another captivity, nor will there remain grapes on the vines that need to be gathered afterward. Hence they are prompted to lamentation, and are commanded to bare their chests and gird their loins, because once a desirable region and a fruitful vineyard, of which it is written: I have planted you a fruitful vineyard, the whole of it true: how have you turned into the bitterness of a strange vine (Jer. II, 21)? Being destroyed, he said, the land of my people shall be overgrown with thorns and briars, or it shall be covered with hay. And the meaning is this: If the land of Judea, which is the promised land, is overgrown with thorns and briars, how much more so other cities that are filled with joy, and those that will achieve that evangelical promise; Woe to you who are rejoicing now, for you shall mourn (Luke 6:25)! For the Lord (or, the House) has been forsaken, as I said to the Apostles: Arise, let us go hence (John 14:31); and to the unbelievers: Your house shall be left desolate (Luke 13:35). The secret chambers of the Temple and the hidden mysteries have been taken over by palpable darkness, and the cellars of the Lord's vessels have become caves forever. For they had heard from the Lord and Savior (Matthew 21:13): My Father's house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves. He says: The joy of wild donkeys, the grazing grounds of the flocks. This can be understood either literally, because all things are deserted, or spiritually, because after Israel was driven out, wild men, lacking knowledge of God, inhabit Judea. And let this be done until the Spirit from on high is poured out upon us, whom the Savior, ascending to the Father, promised to believers, saying: Behold, I go, and I will send you the Advocate, the Spirit of truth (John 16). And again: Until you receive power from on high (Luke 24:49). And what he said above: Yet a little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest. And in that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and out of darkness and obscurity the eyes of the blind shall see (Isaiah 29); he now repeats in other words the same thing, that the wilderness of the nations shall be turned into the riches of Israel, and Israel shall be esteemed as the nations. At that time the Lord and Savior, to whom the Father has given all judgment, will dwell in the desert. And justice will rest in Carmel, of which it was said above: And it will be in Carmel, a desert in which judgment and justice reside, and it will rest in Carmel, which was previously called a desert. The work of justice is also peace, which, according to the Apostle, surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4). And the worship of justice is silence, so that they may not worship the Lord with excessive words like the Jews, but with the brevity of faith; and may they rest in eternal peace, and may wealth be in their dwellings, about which the Apostle spoke (1 Corinthians 1:5): I give thanks to my God through Jesus Christ, because in everything you have been enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge. But when the Christian people have settled or dwelled in beauty, as the LXX translated, in the city of peace, undoubtedly in the Church; then hail and storm, and the anger of the Lord raging, will descend in a leap, of which it was said above: And Charmel will be considered a leap; and the city of Jerusalem will be humbled, and according to another Scripture, it will speak from the earth. When these things are so, and we have learned from the prophetic prophecy how much good the Church will possess, and how many evils Jerusalem will suffer: blessed are you, Apostles, and other Teachers, who sow above all waters of holy Scripture, in which the ox and the donkey tread. The world is a dirty place because of the choices of the fathers, the donkey is unclean because of the idolatry of the former pagans, so that both the Church of the Lord may be assembled concerning Circumcision and concerning the Uncircumcision. That which is said above, according to the Septuagint, is: On the earth of my people thorns and hay shall come up. It can be understood as referring both to heretics and to simple believers who do not understand Holy Scripture as it befits its majesty. Therefore, we have connected each thing to its corresponding thing, so that the land of the people of God may bring thorns to the heretics and hay to the ignorant ones.33:1
(Chapter XXXIII - Verse 1) Woe to those who plunder: will they not be plundered themselves? And to those who despise: will they not be despised themselves? When you have finished plundering, you will be plundered; when you have grown weary of contempt, you will be scorned. LXX: Woe to those who make you miserable: for no one makes you miserable. And those who condemn you, do not condemn you: they will be condemned, and handed over, and be consumed like moths in clothing. He had spoken about the Apostles, and about the leaders of the churches: Blessed are those who sow over all water, where ox and donkey tread: now he directs his curse against their persecutors; in fact, against their ruler, who possesses the hearts of the wicked, that whatever they do, they may receive; and by his present power, let it be the material of future torments. Wherefore, according to the Septuagint it is said: 'Woe to those who make you miserable; for no one makes you miserable. And the meaning is this: as much as is in them, when they persecute you and afflict you with various tortures, they consider you miserable, killed and tortured. But no one can make you miserable, for they do not have power over your soul, but over your body. And he who reproaches you, does not reproach you, but him who sent you, according to that which the Savior speaks to the disciples: 'He who reproaches you, reproaches me; and he who reproaches me, reproaches him who sent me' (Luke 10:16). Therefore, the persecutors will be captured and handed over to eternal fires. And just as a moth consumes clothing, so will the flame devour them. This is also written in the end of this prophecy. Their worm will not die, and their fire will not be extinguished.33:2-6
(Verse 2 and following) Lord, have mercy on us: for we have waited for you: be our strength in the morning, and our salvation in time of trouble. At the voice of the Angel, the people fled; at your exaltation the nations were scattered. And your spoil will be gathered, as the locust is gathered, as when the ditches are full of it. The Lord is magnified, for he dwells on high: he has filled Zion with judgment and justice. And there will be faith in your times: wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge: the fear of the Lord is its treasure. LXX: Lord, have mercy on us, for we trust in You: the seed of the unbelievers has been brought to destruction, but our salvation is in the time of tribulation: because of the voice of fear, the peoples are astonished by your fear, and the nations are scattered. But now your spoils, both small and great, will be gathered together: when someone gathers locusts, they will mock you: O holy God who dwells on high. Zion is filled with justice and righteousness, salvation is stored in the law: wisdom, discipline, and piety come from the Lord, these are the treasures of justice. This is a chapter from the Hebrews, in which it is read: Woe to those who plunder, will they not be plundered themselves? and so on until the end. They believe that this is a statement against King Sennacherib of the Assyrians, who, after overthrowing the ten tribes known as Israel and capturing the cities of Judah, will himself be defeated and his army destroyed by the Angel. Now, from the perspective of the people, giving thanks to God and saying, 'Lord, have mercy on us, we have waited for you,' these words contend, which are contained in the present (or following) chapter, that His arm and strength were the protection for the people besieged in the morning, and salvation in their time of need and distress. For by the voice of the Angel, whom Symmachus translated as it is written in Hebrew, Amun (whom the Hebrews consider to be Gabriel) and has the etymology of the people; the Assyrian fled, and the nations that came with him were scattered here and there from the exaltation of God. As they fled, the spoils were gathered by the Jews, just as a multitude of caterpillars and locusts are collected when they have been heaped into pits. In their victory, the Lord was magnified, and Zion was filled with justice and righteousness, and the faith of the besieged people was proven. And they possessed all riches in wisdom and knowledge of God and fear of the Lord, who alone was their treasure. They said these things according to the history, striving in every way to undermine the sacraments of Christ and his Apostles. But after the happiness of the Apostles, about whom it has been said above (Ad. cap. XXXI, 20): Blessed are those who sow upon all waters, where the ox and the donkey tread, and the lamentation and mourning of those who persecute them, about whom it is said in what follows: Woe to those who make you miserable; but no one makes you miserable; and like moths on clothing, they will wear away, from the person of the same Apostles, we confirm these words for all believers. And this is the sense: Lord, we have hoped in your help, and have trusted in you. The seed of the unbelievers has perished forever, and our salvation has appeared in the time of tribulation. For with your assistance, the multitude of nations has been scattered, and those who sought to conquer and deceive have been defeated. And this has happened because the holy Lord dwells on high, and Zion is filled with judgment and justice, as it is written: Justice and judgment will rest in the wilderness. Therefore, she is Zion, which was previously called a desert, and whoever dwells in her will receive the law of the Gospel, in whose treasure our salvation is, and the wisdom of the believers, and discipline and piety, or faith, which is specifically of the Christians, and the fear of the Lord, in which the treasures of wisdom are contained.33:7-12
(Verse 7 and following) Behold, those who see will cry out: The angels of peace will weep bitterly. The roads are abandoned, the passer-by has ceased on the path, the pact has become void, cities have been thrown down, men have not been regarded. The land has mourned and languished, Lebanon is confused and darkened, Sharon has become like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel have been shaken. Now I will arise, says the Lord: now I will be exalted, now I will be lifted up. You will conceive chaff, you will give birth to stubble; your spirit will devour you like fire. And the peoples shall be like ashes from a fire: thorns gathered together shall be burned with fire. The Hebrew word Arellam (), which Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion interpreted, I will reveal to them, dividing the final syllable and reading it as Are Lahem (), the Hebrews believe it signifies Angels, and is a prophecy concerning the calling of the Gentiles, and the wealth of the Church, and the destruction of the Temple, which the Angels shall lament, not dwelling within but departing from it: and those who were previously messengers of peace shall bitterly weep. Whether the apostles themselves who were sent to announce peace to Jerusalem, to which the Lord spoke, 'If you also knew the things that are for your peace' (Luke 19:42): at which the Lord appeared to them, in order to comfort them with His presence, Jerusalem will weep, because it did not receive His preaching, because the ways have been scattered, and the one passing by the righteous path has ceased, according to what is said in the Lamentations of Jeremiah: The ways of Zion mourn, because there are none who come to the solemnity (Lamentations 1:4). The covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was also made void: He cast out the cities of Judah: He did not consider the people, who by their own fault wanted to be beasts. The land mourned and grew weak for those who lived in it (Genesis XV and 22). Lebanon is confused and darkened, undoubtedly signifying the Temple, as we read in Zechariah. Open, Lebanon, your gates, so that fire may devour your cedars (Zechariah XI, 1). Or Jerusalem, which is called Libanus in Ezekiel, the Prophet saying: A great eagle, with great wings, which has the ability to enter into Lebanon (Ezekiel II, 3); which afterwards, the divine word interpreting, says: when Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem, he clearly referred to the eagle as the king of Babylon, and to Lebanon as Jerusalem. Sharon became like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel were shaken. As for Bashan, the Seventy translated it as Galilee, a province, for one place of the province. But the region around Joppa and Lydda, also called Saron (or Saronas), is a place where wide and fertile fields extend. There is also the region of Basan beyond the Jordan, which was possessed by two and a half tribes and is interpreted as the most fertile and abundant (Deut. III): and Carmel, of which we have spoken above. Therefore, the once fertile lands of Judea will be turned into desolation, through which metaphorically the entire wealth of the Jews will be exchanged for poverty and scarcity. Therefore, since they refused to accept the words of the Apostles, Lebanon was confounded, and Sharon became a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel were shaken. Therefore, the Lord says that either because of his excessive patience or because he will rise from the dead, he will be exalted among the nations and lifted up on the cross. And he addresses the Jews themselves, saying, 'You will conceive burning anger and bring forth stubble, and your breath will ignite a fire that will devour you as the flames consume what is conceived and born.' And there shall be, he said, the people of the Jews showing the magnitude of their misfortune through the ashes remaining from the fire. For the thorns of their sins, which have been gathered in great numbers, shall be consumed by the fire, which many interpret as referring to the ultimate captivity and destruction of Jerusalem. Others affirm that it shall happen more fully and completely in the time of judgment.33:13-19
(Ver. 13 et seq.) Hear, you who are far away, what I have done, and know the strength of my neighbors. Sinners are terrified in Zion, hypocrites are trembling. Who among you can dwell with devouring fire? Who among you can endure everlasting burnings? The one who walks in righteousness and speaks truth, who rejects greed by slander, and keeps his hands away from every gift, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil. He will dwell on high, the height of his fortress of rocks; bread is given to him, and his waters are faithful. His eyes will see the king in his beauty; they will behold the land from afar. Your heart will meditate on fear. Where is the scribe? Where are those who weigh the words of the law? Where is the teacher of the little ones? You will not see an ignorant people, a people of deep speech beyond your comprehension, in whom there is no wisdom. LXX: Let those who are far away hear what I have done; let those who are near acknowledge my power. The wicked in Zion are afraid; trembling grips the godless: 'Who can live with the consuming fire? Who can dwell with everlasting burning?' The one who walks in righteousness and speaks with integrity, who rejects gain from extortion and keeps his hand from accepting bribes, who stops his ears from listening to murderous plots and shuts his eyes against contemplating evil— this is the man who will dwell on the heights, whose refuge will be the mountain fortress. Bread will be given to him, and his water will be faithful: your eyes will see the king with glory, they will see the land from afar; your soul will meditate fear. Where are the grammarians? Where are the counselors? Where is he who counts those who nourish both the small and the large population? To whom he did not give counsel: nor did he know the deep voice of him, so that the despised people would not hear, and the one who is listening would not have understanding. For the paths are scattered, the one passing through the pathways has ceased, the covenant with the people of Judah has been voided, God has cast away their cities, he has not considered them among men; therefore, you who are far away, hear what I have done, and approach to recognize my strength. They were terrified, or those who were sinners or wicked withdrew from Zion, and trembling possessed the hypocrites, to whom the Lord spoke in the Gospel: Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites (Matthew 23:14)! Who among you can dwell with the devouring fire? Who among you can dwell with everlasting burnings? Or according to the LXX: Who will declare to you that eternal fire burns, which God has prepared for the devil and his angels? So who then can dwell with God, or declare the coming punishments? Everyone who is of this kind, as the prophetic discourse describes, who walks in many justices, and not once, but always loves justices, and not just once, but constantly speaks the truth: who rejects greed, which is the mother of slander. For money is not heaped up for one's own gain at the expense and harm of another. And he withdraws his hands from every gift. Indeed, gifts blind the eyes, even of the wise. He who stops up his ears does not hear the judgment of blood. Every wickedness and oppression and injustice is a judgment of blood: and although it does not kill with a sword, it kills by will. And he closes his eyes so as not to see evil. Blessed is the conscience that does not hear, nor see evil. Therefore, whoever is such, he himself shall dwell in the highest, that is, in the kingdom of heaven, or in the lofty cave of the strongest rock, in Christ Jesus: which rock followed the people of Israel, so that they might drink of it and be protected by its strength. Bread will be given to him, and its waters are faithful: which the fables of the Gentiles understand as ambrosia and nectar. But we, the most faithful breads and waters, will interpret the law of God. Therefore, whoever is such, will see the king Christ in his glory, of whom it is said above (Ad cap. XXXII, 1): Behold, a just king will reign, and princes will preside in judgment. And his eyes will see the earth from afar, which they have desired for a long time, the land of the gentle and meek, of which it is written in the Gospel: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Matth. V, 4): whether they are placed in heaven, they despise earthly things. Your heart will meditate on fear: so that when you have accomplished all things, you may say with the Apostle: I am not worthy to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God (1 Corinthians 15:9). For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Where is the scribe? Where is he who weighs the words of the law? Where is the teacher of children? Where, it is said, are the scribes and Pharisees, who weighed the words of the Law, deceiving the unhappy people? whom Scripture now calls little children, little in understanding, little in intelligence. But when the eyes of the believer behold the king in his majesty, and his heart is filled with awe, then he will not see the foolish people, the people of the Jews, or the philosophers and orators of the world, who applaud themselves in secular knowledge and eloquence, about whom he now says: They are a people of high speech, so that you cannot understand the eloquence of their language; their allurement is in words, which have only the foliage and shadow of discourse, and do not possess the fruit of truth. Finally it follows: In this there is no wisdom, about which it is said in another place: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the understanding of the prudent I will reject (1 Corinthians 1:19). Why? because God has made the wisdom of this world foolish.33:20-24
(Verse 20 and following) Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnity: your eyes shall see Jerusalem, a wealthy habitation: a tabernacle that cannot be moved, and its nails shall not be taken away forever, and all its cords shall not be broken. For our Lord is only magnificent there: a place of wide and open rivers, no ship of rowers shall pass through it: nor shall any great trireme pass over it. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king, he will save us. Your ropes are loosened, and they will not prevail; so will be your evil, that you cannot extend your sign. Then the spoils of many spoils will be divided: the lame will plunder the prey. And the neighbor will not say: I am faint: the people who dwell in it will be taken away by iniquity. LXX: Behold, Zion is a city of our salvation: your eyes will see Jerusalem. A wealthy city, immovable dwellings: its tent pegs will not be taken away forever, and its cords will not be torn apart. For the name of the Lord is great for you: your place will be wide and spacious rivers and streams: no ship propelled by oars will enter through it. For my God, the Lord, is great: the Lord our judge will not pass over me, the Lord our leader, the Lord our king, the Lord Himself will save us. Your cables have been disrupted (or plundered), because they did not prevail: your evil is bent, to let out the sails: it will not raise the sign, until it is delivered into desolation. Therefore, many will make booty of the closed goods: and the people who inhabit them will not say, I will labor, their offense will be forgiven. O just one, to whom it has been said above: your heart will meditate fear; and you will not see the unwise (or impudent) people; and those whom you have heard before, your eyes will see the king in his beauty, contemplate the city of our solemnity, see the Church of Christ, in which the true solemnity is; your eyes will behold the vision of peace, and the unexpected riches, which the eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, nor have they ascended into the heart of man, and the tabernacle that cannot be transferred. For first the tabernacle which had the people of the Jews was translated and lifted up. Neither shall the nails thereof be moved forever, and all the cords thereof shall be strong; so that the Lord may dwell in it, who is the place of all flowing rivers and running streams, through which no one of the adverse party shall be able to sail: neither shall the great trireme, which is interpreted the devil, be able to pass over it: for the Lord himself is the judge, and prince, and king, and our Savior, and under his protection we shall fear no ambushes of any kind. These things are said about the city of our solemnity, about Jerusalem, the richest dwelling place, which the Lord himself will surround and fortify with his rivers. But now he speaks to earthly Jerusalem, because the cords of her tent have been loosened and they are unable to support the tent, and her mast, on which once hung the most beautiful sails, has fallen with the cords broken, so that she is not only unfit for sailing, but also marked by a mutilation. But after their ship has been destroyed and their tent scattered, so that the ropes are torn on both sides, the spoils will be divided to the victors: those who are so weak in their own strength that they are called cripples; and yet, with God's wrath giving them strength, they will not feel any weakness, nor will they say 'I have labored.' For whoever is among them, injustice and sin will be taken away from him, for he has carried out God's will.34:1-7
(Chapter 34, Verse 1, etc.) Come near, you nations, and listen; pay attention, you peoples! Let the earth and all that fills it hear, the world and all that springs from it. For the Lord's indignation is against all the nations, and His fury is against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them and given them over to slaughter. Their slain will be thrown out, and the stench of their corpses will rise; the mountains will be drenched with their blood. And all the host of heaven will rot away; the skies will roll up like a scroll, and all their host will wither away like a withered leaf from the vine, like foliage from the fig tree. For my sword is drenched in the heavens; indeed, it is drunk with blood. Behold, he will come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my slaughter, to judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made thick with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fatness of the kidneys of rams: for there is a victim of the Lord in Bosra, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls: and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their soil made fat with fatness. After the overthrow of Jerusalem, and the shipwreck of the once very firm ship, and the plunder of all its furnishings, it is said concerning the destruction of all nations, and concerning the consummation of the world, which is in the future day of judgment. Whereby all peoples and nations of the earth and its fullness, the world and all its offspring, both those inhabited places and those uninhabitable due to excessive cold and heat, are commanded to hear, and to know with every trembling of the mind what is to come. For the wrath of the Lord is not only against one nation, the Jews, but also against the Assyrians and Chaldeans, the Egyptians, Moabites, and Ammonites, and the Philistines; but also against all nations, and against the entire host, or as the Septuagint translated, their number. She is described as a venture, which kills them and causes the stench of decaying bodies to rise up high, signifying the sins of all nations, so that their filth and impurities fill the mountains with blood. The lofty virtues and angels that presided over each nation and all the celestial hosts wither away, or fold up like a book, and all their armies and forces, as the LXX have translated, and the stars flow down like leaves, which, with the approaching cold, fall off dried and contracted from the vine and fig tree. Which also the Savior speaks in the Gospel: Stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken, and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven (Matthew 24:29-30). And it is to be considered that it does not say that the heavens will perish, but that they will be folded up or rolled up, like a book, so that after all sins have been exposed and read, those that were previously open may be folded up, so that the sins of many may no longer be written in them. Regarding these type of books, Daniel speaks in his volume: Judgment sat, and the books were opened (Dan. 7:10), in which the deeds of each individual were described. Many people think that the stars are falling, according to the Book of Revelation of John (Rev. 6 and 8). And that which is written elsewhere: All the stars will burn out and the sky and earth will pass away (Luke 21:2). For the figure of this world is passing away. Some believe that these stars are being referred to. which glow in the sky, so as to show in part and as a whole, namely that through the fall of the stars even the destruction of the heavens is revealed. But others think that these stars are going to fall, of which even the Apostle Paul writes: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. It is not surprising, therefore, if the demons who dwell in the air are said to be heavenly, since even the birds of the sky, which certainly do not fly in the heavens but in the air, are called celestial in Scripture. For Satan himself transforms into an angel of light (2 Cor. 11), simulating a star. And the Savior saw him falling from heaven like lightning (Luke 10). And in a metaphorical sense, he is called fallen from the great star: How you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! (Isaiah 14:12). All these things will happen, because his sword is drunk in the sky, the punishment and the sentence, and the vengeance against sinners, which is brought forth by the Lord. This sword and dagger in Ezekiel (Ezek. XXI) is sharpened against the wicked; and after many are killed, he is ordered to enter his sheath. And when he is drunk and filled in the sky; that is, in the air, which is called heaven according to the custom of the Scriptures, then he will also descend to Edom, that is, to the earthly: so that after the punishment of the demons, even the souls of men may be judged. Idumaea indeed in our language means earthly. And it is filled with blood; and thickened with the fat of lambs and goats, and of the marrow of rams and bulls: that it may signify both princes and people to be punished. For the Lord's victim is in Bosra, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. Of which Bosra and Idumaea the same prophet also witnesses in the following, saying: Who is this that comes from Edom, with red garments from Bosra? And some think that Bosra, which means 'flesh', is called so because through the sacrifice of the Lord in Bosra, the torments of all are shown in the flesh: they are caught in a pious error. In the present place, it is not by the letter Sin, which is put in Bosor (), that is, in the flesh: but it is written with Sade, and it is called Bosra (), which according to Jesus and Jeremiah is not in Edom, that is, Edom; but it is found in the land of Moab (Jeremiah 48). But Bosra in our language sounds fortified and surrounded, or firm: it teaches that the city of the lands of the Lord is solidified by His will, according to what is sung in the psalm; He founded it above the seas, and He placed it above the rivers (Psalm 24, 2); and about the firmness of the earth, it is said in the person of God: I have strengthened its pillars (Psalm 75, 3). And when the sacrifice of the Lord shall be in Bosra, and his slaughter in Edom, unicorns shall come down with them, and the powerful bulls, namely kings and princes of the earth; and all the slaughter and blood shall be filled with the fat of the once rich and powerful. Through these words, according to human custom, instilling terror in those who hear them, torments are shown to all the rulers and powerful ones, as well as the people and the humble. Bosra, that is, fortified and strengthened, and Edom, or Duma, and Idumea, are understood by the Jewish teachers to refer to Rome, and everything concerning it is said in the following chapter.34:8-17
(Verses 8 and following) For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, the year of retribution in the judgment of Zion. Its streams will be turned into pitch, and its soil into sulfur; its land will become burning pitch. Night and day it will not be extinguished; its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will pass through it forever. The pelican and the hedgehog will possess it, the owl and the raven will dwell in it. It will be stretched out with a measuring line, and it will be reduced to nothing, and its plumb line to desolation. Her nobles will not be there; rather, they will call upon the king, and all his princes will be nothing. Thorns, thistles, and briers will grow in his palaces; it will become a haunt for jackals, a feeding place for ostriches. And wild creatures will meet with hyenas; the wild goat will cry to his fellow; indeed, there the night bird settles and finds for herself a resting place. There the owl nests and lays and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow; indeed, there the hawks are gathered, each one with her mate. Search diligently in the book of the Lord and read. One of them did not fail, and one did not seek the other. For what proceeds from my mouth, he commanded, and his spirit gathered them. And he sent them a lot, and his hand divided it for them in measure; they will possess it forever, and they will dwell in it from generation to generation. The Hebrews, as we have said above, contend that these things are prophesied about the Roman Empire and are preached as a vengeance on Zion, the former devastation of the most powerful kingdom, which many of ours also think is written in the Apocalypse of John according to the letter. But we consider this to be the year of the vengeance of the Lord, the year of retributions and judgments in Zion, of which the Savior himself spoke: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.' (Luke 4:18-19, Isaiah 61:1-3). Also, as it is written: 'Rise up, you women who are at ease.' (Isaiah 32:9). And remember the days of the year in sorrow with hope, so that, after the general consummation of the whole world, the prophecy may return to Jerusalem, to which it was spoken at that time, and its devastation be described in full detail: namely, that after the time of the Roman siege has come, everything will be consumed by pitch, sulfur, and burning flames, and its smoke will remain forever, and it will be inhabited by the pelican and the hedgehog, and the ibis and the raven, which are creatures accustomed to inhabiting desolate places. And let this be done, because the cord and the plumb line of the Lord, that is, his judgment, cannot be changed. His nobles, that is, the Apostles and believers, will not be there, nor will they be joined with the number of the damned: but rather they will invoke King Christ. But all the leaders of the city, namely the Scribes and the Pharisees, will be reduced to nothingness, and thorns and nettles and brambles will grow in their once ornate houses. And there will be a haunt for dragons, and pastures for ostriches, which themselves are signs of extreme desolation. And there they will encounter, according to the LXX, various apparitions of demons, or as all others have translated according to the Hebrew, Siim and Iim, onocentaurs, and shaggy figures, and lamia, which the fables of the Gentiles and the creations of poets describe. Also, there the hedgehog nurtures its puppies, and it has a very faithful watchpost: there the kites gather, a very carnivorous bird, which in Hebrew is called Dajoth (or, as the LXX translated, deer, which we will discuss later). Among these things, the Prophet speaks to those who hear: O men (or, all) who hear me speaking, what I announce about the future, all things will be fulfilled. For in the book the words of the Lord are written, and His intention is determined, and not even one thing will be in vain. For whatever proceeds from my mouth, he has commanded, that is, I speak on his behalf; but the words are the Lord's, and by his spirit whatever is said will be accomplished. Each thing will be fulfilled according to his decree and measure: and they will not leave their order even unto eternal generations. Let these things be said according to the Hebrew and historical explanation. Moreover, those who follow the allegory, expelling the people of the Jews under the names of beasts and monsters, affirm that they will dwell in Jerusalem, serving idols and various superstitions: and these are the onocrotali and hedgehogs, the raven and dragons, and ostriches, and onocentaurs, and demons, and shaggy creatures, and the lamia, which is called Lilith in Hebrew (); and the lamia has been translated from the ground by Symmachus, which some Hebrews suspect to be the Fury. And indeed, if we consider the various colonies brought to Jerusalem from different nations, and according to the customs of their provinces, each family worshipped their own demons as wonders, we will affirm that all of this existed in Jerusalem. And what the LXX translated: 'There the deer met them and saw their own faces: they passed by in number, and not one of them perished or sought another. For the Lord commanded them, and his spirit gathered them; and he himself gave them lots, and his hand divided them: that they may feed forever, and possess it in generation after generation, and rest in it.' We will interpret this allegorically, teaching that the deer, that is, the Apostles and all holy teachers, about whom it is written: 'As the deer longs for the fountains of water, so my soul longs for you, O God' (Ps. 41:1); and elsewhere: 'The voice of the Lord perfects the deer' (Ps. 28:9); and again: 'Let the deer of friendship and the colt of your graces speak to you' (Prov. 5); and in Job: 'You keep the minds of the deer, and you send forth their offspring' (Job. 39:2); and in the Song of Songs it is said: 'My beloved is like a roe or a young deer on the mountains of spices' (Song. 2:9); that they met each other in Jerusalem and saw each other's appearances, and passed by and left it, and went to different provinces, because the Lord had commanded them: 'Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit' (Matthew 28:19); and his spirit gathered them, giving them lots and dividing them, so that some would go to the Indians, others to Spain, others to Illyricum, others to Greece; and each would rest in their own province of the Gospel and teaching. What we have said above about Jerusalem being prophesied, and the Jews suspecting that it refers to the Roman rule, some people attribute to the whole world, so as not to seem to differ from the earlier interpretations.35:1-2
(Chapter 35, verses 1, 2) The desolate and impassable will rejoice, and solitude will exult and flourish like a lily. It will sprout and blossom; with joy and praise it will exult. The glory of Lebanon has been given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the Lord and the splendor of our God. LXX: Rejoice, O desert, thirsting, and let the solitude exult and flourish like a lily. The deserts of the Jordan will blossom and exult; the glory of Lebanon has been given to it, and the honor of Carmel. And my people will see the glory of the Lord and the majesty of our God. Since Jerusalem has been turned into pitch and its smoke rises forever, and it is inhabited by the pelican and the hedgehog, the ibis and the raven, the dragons and the ostriches, demons and half-man half-horse creatures, lamia and hairy beings: and the Lord's fulfilled sentence is upon it: 'Your house will be left to you desolate' (Luke 13:35): therefore, what was once deserted, of which it is said in the Psalm: 'The voice of the Lord shaking the wilderness', and the Lord will shake the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord prepares the stags; and it reveals the thickets of the forests (Psalm 28:8,9), it will be transformed into the abundance of all things, and the beasts of the nations will be driven out from the fighting stags, from all the forests, which previously possessed them, so that what is said in the same Prophet may be fulfilled: Rejoice, O barren one, you who do not bear; burst forth and cry out, you who are not in labor; for the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who has a husband (Isaiah 54:1). This was previously thirsty, or impassable, not having life-giving waters, and the Lord did not walk (or enter) through it, which now will blossom into a lily, or as the Eagle expressed more significantly, an opening, which we can call a swelling rose with not yet expanded leaves. However, it will blossom, as the Apostle declares: We are the good odor of Christ in every place (II Cor. II, 15). And that from the Song of Songs: Flowers have been seen in the land; mandrakes have given forth their fragrance (Cant. VII, 12, 13). And what is placed in the LXX, 'and the deserts of the Jordan shall rejoice,' is not found in Hebrew, but we can say: in the Jordan river, the baptism of repentance was shown, which the Lord signed and confirmed with his washing. And because it is figuratively said about the wilderness, which refers to the nations, in which John was, it can be subsequently joined to the Jordan, so that through the desert of the nations we come to the baptism of the Savior. And what follows, the glory of Lebanon was given to him, and the beauty of Carmel and Sharon, according to the previous explanation we must understand, in which we said that Lebanon or the Temple of Jerusalem is meant, as Zachariah says: Open, Lebanon, your gates (Zach. XI, 1); and Ezekiel: A great eagle with great wings and full of feathers, which has a direction to enter Lebanon and Carmel (Ezek. XVII. 3): the former meaning the people, of whom it has been said above: And it will be a desert in Carmel, and Carmel will be counted as a wilderness (Isa. XXIII, 9); and Sharon has the same meaning, Scripture saying: Sharon has become like a desert. Therefore, all brightness, worship of God, and knowledge of circumcision, and the most fertile and open places, which are called Sharon, for which Symmachus interpreted as fields, will be given to the once deserted Church, and its inhabitants will see the glory of the Lord, and the beauty or greatness of our God.35:3-4
(Verse 3, 4.) Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will bring vengeance and retribution. God Himself will come and save you (or as the Septuagint translates, us). Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will hear. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing, for water will burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert, and the dry ground will become a pool (or marsh), and the thirsty land springs of water. In the dens where the dragons once lived, green rushes and reeds shall grow (in the version of the Seventy: There will be the joy of birds and the folds of flocks). And there shall be a path and a road (or a clean road) and it shall be called the holy road, no unclean person shall pass through it. And this shall be for us a direct road, so that fools shall not go astray (or as the Seventy translated, There will be no unclean road there, those who are scattered shall pass through it and shall not wander. There will be, it says, no lion there, and no wicked beast shall ascend it, nor shall it be found there; but they who are set free shall walk on it. And those who are redeemed by the Lord shall return and come to Zion with praise, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. We have mixed together both editions, so that the size of the books may not be stretched in presenting each one, which has already exceeded the limit of brevity.) To the apostles, about whom it was said above: They themselves will see the glory of the Lord and the beauty of our God, it is commanded that they strengthen the hands that are weak among the nations, and make firm the feeble knees, so that those who were unable to do the work of God with weak hands and had a dry right hand, may extend it to good works. And those who once stumbled among idols in various errors, may walk firmly on the path of truth, and may the faith of the Lord strengthen the weak and fearful, so that they may not be afraid, and may the fear of the one God drive away all fears of error. The reason, however, is security and constancy, because Christ is coming, to whom the Father has given all judgment: and he will render to each one according to their works (John 5). He himself will come and save you, to whom it is said, do not be afraid: whether us, as the Apostles say that salvation is common with those who believe. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be opened. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will be opened. Although this was fulfilled by the magnitude of the signs, when the Lord spoke to the disciples of John, who were sent to him: Go and report to John what you have heard and seen: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise, the poor have the good news preached to them (Luke 7:22); yet it is fulfilled daily among the Gentiles, when those who were previously blind and used to stumble into wood and stones, now see the light of truth. And those who could not hear the words of the Scriptures with deaf ears, now rejoice in the precepts of God; for those who were previously closed off and did not follow the right path, leap like deer, imitating their teachers, and the tongue of the mute will be opened, whom Satan had closed off in order that they could not confess the Lord. Therefore, the eyes will be opened, the ears will hear, the lame will leap, and the tongue of the mute will be opened, for they have been torn apart, or have burst forth, in the desert of the Church of baptismal waters, and there are streams and rivers in the wilderness, namely different spiritual graces; and what was dry has been turned into marshes and a pond, so that it not only lacks the heat of thirst but also becomes navigable and irrigated, and has many springs that the deer desires, and those who drink from them can bless the Lord, according to what is written: Bless the Lord from the fountains of Israel (Ps. 67:27). In the prisons of the souls of the Gentiles, in which dragons dwelled before, there will be reed and rush, on which the faith of the Lord will be written, and on which the weary limbs will rest; whether it will be the joy of birds, and the cages of flocks: so that the doves may take wings, and leaving behind the lowly, may hasten to the heights, and be able to say with the Psalmist, The Lord feeds me, and I shall not want: He has placed me in a place of pasture: He has nourished me by refreshing waters. There will be a path, and a very clean road, which will be called holy, and which says of itself: I am the way (John 14:6), through which someone who is defiled cannot pass. Hence it is also said in the psalm, Blessed are the undefiled in the way (Psalm 119:1). And this way will be for us, that is, our God, so straight and level and plain, that it has no error: and the foolish and senseless may perish trying to enter, to whom Wisdom speaks in Proverbs: If anyone is little, let him come to me. And she has spoken to the foolish, come and eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mixed for you. Leave behind foolishness, and live, and walk in the ways of prudence (Prov. 5:4-6). For God has chosen the foolish things of the world (1 Cor. 1): of which the prince of fools speaks in the psalm, God, you know my foolishness. And the foolishness of God is wiser than men (Ps. 68:6). Therefore the Septuagint translated: And those who were scattered (1 Cor. 2), and separated from the fellowship of the Lord, will by no means wander. It follows, There will not be a lion there: our adversary the devil, who prowls around roaring, how could he enter the sheepfold of the Lord (I Peter V). And the evil beasts, his satellites, will not climb through it. For the track of a snake cannot be found on a rock. But those who have been freed from the chains of sin, redeemed by the blood of the Savior, and have repented; and have come to Zion, of which we have often said: You have come to Mount Zion, and to the heavenly city of the living God Jerusalem (Hebrews XII, 22); let us not seek a golden Zion in the manner of the Jews, and a gemmed Jerusalem, which, according to the prophecy of Daniel, has been dissolved into eternal ashes (Daniel IX). And there will be everlasting joy for those praising the Lord over their heads, so that after they have conquered the world, they may say with the Apostle and Prophet: I have completed the race, I have kept the faith, the crown of righteousness has been reserved for me (2 Timothy 4:7-8); and, Lord, as with the shield of your good will, you have crowned us (Psalm 5:12). Then, with joy and gladness succeeding, sorrow and groaning will flee when He comes from Zion to deliver. All these things we interpret, according to the Apostle Paul, as referring to the first coming of the Savior: but the Jews and our Judaizers refer them to the second, on account of a single verse, 'They shall be converted, and shall come to Zion with praise; desiring the blood of sacrifices, the bondage of all nations, and the beauty of wives.'Book Eleven
Book ElevenIt is difficult, or rather impossible, to please everyone: there is not as much variety in faces as there is in opinions. In my explanation of the twelve prophets, I seemed longer to some than necessary; and for this reason, in my commentary on Daniel, I strived for brevity, except for the last and penultimate vision, in which I had to stretch my speech due to the enormity of the obscurity. Especially in the exposition of the seventy-two weeks, in which I discussed what the African writer of time, Origen, and Eusebius of Caesarea, as well as Clement, a presbyter of the Church of Alexandria, and Apollinaris of Laodicea, said. And Hippolytus, and the Hebrews, and Tertullian, have all agreed to this in a nutshell, leaving it up to the reader's judgment to choose among the many. Therefore, what we have done out of respect for judgment, and for the honor of those who would read, may not please some, who desire to know not the opinions of the Ancients, but our own view. To them, an easy response is that I did not wish to accept one in such a way as to appear to condemn others. And certainly, if such esteemed and erudite men displease fastidious readers, what would they have done to me, who, by the weakness of my little talent, am exposed to the bites of envious people? But if those aforementioned men, whom I have called masters of the Church, understand this, let them know that I do not approve the faith of everyone, who certainly contradict each other; but I have said this in the manner of Joseph and Porphyry, who have debated extensively on this question. And if in the interpretation of the statue and its feet, and the inconsistency of its fingers, I have interpreted the iron and the clay as representing the Roman Empire, which at first may be strong but later weak, let them not blame me but the Prophets. For it is not proper to flatter princes in such a way that the truth of the Holy Scriptures is neglected, nor is it a general offense to criticize one person. When this was avoided by the kind attention of those close to me, it was suddenly taken away by the judgment of God, so that the support of my friends and the schemes of my rivals were revealed. But let's leave that for another time: now let's continue with what we have started. The eleventh book on Isaiah, O virgin of Christ Eustochium, because it will deal with a large part of the history, will be easier in the beginning and up to the first two parts; the rest should be told in a similar way, and so we must strive for brevity without causing any harm to the understanding.
36:1-10
(Chapter 36—Verse 1 and following) And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the washer's field. And Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to him. And Rabshakeh said to them, "Say to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours?' By what plan and courage do you prepare to rebel? On whom do you have confidence, because you have turned away from me? Look, you trust in this broken reed staff, in Egypt: if a man leans on it, it will enter into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to all who trust in him. But if you say to me, 'We trust in the LORD our God,' is it not he whose heights and altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, 'You shall worship before this altar'? And now make a deal with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, and you will not be able to provide riders for them. And how will you withstand the face of one judge from my lord's servants? And if you rely on Egypt: and on chariots, and on horsemen: and now, did I ascend to this land without the Lord, to destroy it? The Lord said to me: Go up on this land and destroy it. The history is clear and does not require interpretation: and this same thing is reported more fully in the volumes of Kings and Chronicles. In the third year of Hosea the son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. And afterwards: In the Lord God of Israel he trusted, and there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who came before him. He clung to the Lord and did not turn away from his commandments. He did the commandments that the Lord had given to Moses. Therefore, the Lord was with him, and he acted wisely in all that he did (2 Kings 18:2,7). But he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. In the sixth year of his reign, Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria, captured Samaria and took away the ten tribes of Israel that were called Israel. He deported them to Assyria and settled them in Halah and Habor, along the rivers of the Gozan, in the cities of the Medes (2 Kings 17 and 18). After seven years, that is, in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, the king of Assyria, Sennacherib, entered Judah and besieged its fortified cities, intending to capture them. And when he besieged Lachish, Hezekiah sent messengers to him, saying: 'I have sinned, withdraw from me and whatever you impose on me, I will bear.' And when he had paid three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold to the king's command, the king of Assyria broke down the doors of the temple of the Lord and took away its panels, which he himself had put up, and he sent the Tartan and the Rab-saris and the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And when they had come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the washer's field, and they called for the king. But Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, went out to them, along with the court secretary, Shebna, and the court historian, Joah, the son of Asaph. Rabshekah addressed them as follows: “Tell Hezekiah: This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says... and so on, as recorded in the history. In this, we can see the arrogance of Rabshekah, who, in a manner contrary to true strength, imitates the custom of the prophets. While they usually begin their pronouncements with 'This is what the Lord says,' he now says, 'This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says.' But Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, went out to him, along with the royal secretary Shebna and the court official Joah son of Asaph. Eliakim is the same person mentioned in the Vision of the Valley of Zion (see Isaiah 22:20-21): I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him in your robe and fasten your sash around him. I will hand your authority over to him, and he will be like a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the people of Judah, and so on. But these things are said to Shebna, who was the governor of the Temple before him, of whom it is written in the same vision: Go and enter to him who dwells in the tabernacle, to Shebna the governor of the Temple, whom the Hebrews say handed over his hands to the Assyrians, terrified by Rabsaris' threats, and betrayed the lower part of Jerusalem to the enemy, and except for the fortress of Zion and the Temple, nothing else remained that the Assyrian did not hold. Where are those who think that Sobna, who is now going out with Eliacim and Joahe to meet Rabsacen, is the same person as before. There, Sobna, the head of the Temple, is said to be captured by the Assyrians; but here Sobna is a scribe, that is, a γραμματεὶς, who is called Sopher in Hebrew, and is the same as the previous one. Rabsacen, on the other hand, is believed to be the son of Isaiah the Jewish prophet, who also was a traitor; and the other son of Isaiah, who is called Jasub, is said to be left behind, which means 'left' in our language. Others, on the other hand, think that he was a Samaritan, and therefore knew the Hebrew language, and boldly and impiously blasphemed the Lord. Let us consider the words of Rabshakeh; and first what he says: You trust in this broken reed, in Egypt, is false: for no history tells that Hezekiah sent to the Egyptians and asked for the help of Pharaoh. And what he infers: If you answer me, we trust in the Lord our God, is true. But again, he joins a lie to the truth, that Ezechias took away its high places and altars. For he did this not against God, but for God, so that idolatry and ancient error being destroyed, he commanded God to be worshipped in Jerusalem, where his Temple was: although we read that by a very bad custom, the people offered sacrifices to God on altars already built on mountains and hills. And he, wanting to show the scarcity of the besieged, promises two thousand horses, of which Ezechias cannot provide the riders, not because of the weakness of the people of Judah, who lacked knowledge of riding: but by observing the commandments of God, who had commanded Israel through Moses concerning the king: He shall not multiply horses for himself, nor have many wives. And he said to me, 'By yourself, you cannot withstand the servant of Sennacherib, who am the least of his servants, how then will you withstand the great power of the king? And to what he had said, if you answer me, we trust in the Lord our God, he cunningly and wisely responded that he had come not by his own will, but by the command of the Lord. The Lord said to me, Go upon this land and destroy it. And this is the proof: certainly, without the will of the Lord, I could not have come here.' But when I come and capture many cities, and part of Jerusalem remains untouched, it is evident that I have come by its will. I read in a certain Commentary that the same person is Sennacherib who also captured Samaria, which is completely false. For the Sacred History recounts that first Phul, the king of the Assyrians, devastated the ten tribes under Manahen, the king of Israel. Secondly, Theglathphalasar came against Samaria under Phacee, the son of Romelia of Israel. Salmanasar III, under the reign of King Hoshea of Israel, supposedly captured the entire city of Samaria (2 Kings 15:17). Sargon II is said to be the fourth king who captured Ashdod (Isaiah 20). Asarhaddon, the fifth king, supposedly relocated Israel and sent the Samaritans as guardians to the land of Judah (2 Kings 17). Sennacherib, the sixth king, besieged Jerusalem after capturing Lachish and other cities of Judah during the reign of King Hezekiah (2 Kings 18). However, some believe that these names could refer to one and the same king with multiple names.36:11-15
(Verse 11 and following) And Eliakim, Sobna, and Joah said to Rabshakeh, 'Speak to your servants in the Aramaic language, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in Judahite in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.' But Rabshakeh said to them, 'Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words? Has he not sent me to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?' And Rabsaces stood and cried with a loud voice in the language of Judah and said, Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. Thus says the king: Let not Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of his hand. Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Do not listen to Hezekiah. For the king of Assyria says: The testimony of Rabshakeh is that he relies on the Lord, who has captured all the cities of Judah and said to the people: Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the multitude that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; with us is the Lord our God, our helper, who fights for us. And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah. But Sennacherib wants to destroy what Hezekiah has built; and he speaks to the people, 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, and do not put your trust in the Lord our God.' And as Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah humbly implore, 'Speak to your servants in the Syrian language, for we understand; and do not speak to us in the language of Judah in the hearing of the people who are on the wall,' it means: 'Why is it necessary to stir up the people with false terrors and boast of empty power?' Speak the language that the people do not understand. For if we have knowledge of your language: and we know the Syrian language, which is common to both. To which Rabshakeh replied arrogantly: Did my master send me to your lord and to you, and not rather to the men who sit on the wall? And he increased the threat, saying that they should eat their own feces and drink the urine of their own feet with them? By these means he showed that they were to be taken by hunger, scarcity, and thirst. At the same time he joins enticement with fear, so that he may deceive those whom he did not conquer with terror, with promises and persuasion, saying from the speech of the king Assyrians.36:16-18
(Vers. 16 seqq.) Join me in blessing, and come out to me, and each one eat his own vineyard, and each one eat his own fig tree, and each one drink the water of his own cistern, until I come and take you to a land, which is like your own land: a land of wheat and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. Do not let Hezekiah disturb you, saying: The Lord will deliver us. Have the gods of the nations ever delivered each one his own land from the hand of the king of Assyria? This is what is read in the Book of Kings: 'Do with me what is beneficial, and come out to me' (2 Kings 18:31). Therefore, the meaning is the same. 'Do what is profitable for you,' he says, 'and may it contribute to your blessing.' Whether he is saying this: 'Bless the Assyrian king and praise him, and confess the Lord, so that you may obtain rewards, and until I return from Egypt, or when Lobna is captured, I will return. Dwell in your city and enjoy your possessions.' Later, however, I will come and lead you to a land that is similar to your land, with wheat, wine, and oil. It does not mention the name of the region, because it could not find an equivalent land promise: but it promises similarity. For each person desires what they were born into. Some think that the land of Media is promised to them, which had a similarity to the land of Judaea, both in location and in crops. And this is what he brings up.36:19-22
(Verse 19 and following) Where is the God of Hamath and Arpad? Where is the God of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand? Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered their land from my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand? But they were silent and did not answer him a word. For the king had commanded, 'Do not answer him.' This shows that all these gods have served Samaria, and that is why it has been captured. But, he said, if we easily overcame ten tribes with such great gods presiding over them, how much more easily will we conquer you, or rather Jerusalem alone, with one God as our ruler? And all the people remained silent and did not answer him anything. For they had received a command from the king not to answer him. Truly, Ezechias is just, doing everything faithfully and with wisdom. Therefore, he had ordered them not to answer the Assyrian blasphemer, so as not to provoke him to greater blasphemies. Where it is written: Do not kindle the coals of a sinner (Ecclesiastes 8:13); and in the psalm we read: When the sinner rose up against me, I was silent and humbled myself, and I kept silent about the good things (Psalm 38:23); and again: Set, O Lord, a guard at my mouth, and a fortified gate at my lips: do not incline my heart to the words of evil (Psalm 140:3).37:1-7
(Chapter 37, Verse 1 and following) Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, and Shebna the secretary and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him what the field commander had said. When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They told him, 'This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them.' If you want to know how the Lord your God heard the words of Rabsaces, whom the king of the Assyrians, his lord, sent to blaspheme the living God and to reproach the words that the Lord your God heard, lift up a prayer for the remainder that have been found. Then the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, and Isaiah said to them: 'Thus you shall say to your master: Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria blasphemed me.' Behold, I will give to him the spirit, and he will hear the message, and he will return to his land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his land. Leaving aside the clear things, let us discuss only those in which the hidden meaning is present. They tear their clothes because they hear Rabshekah blaspheming. The king himself tears his own clothes because he believed it to be his and the people's sins that Rabshekah has come all the way to the gate of Jerusalem and has spoken such things against the Lord. Whereupon, the high priest, because he believed that he had blasphemed the Savior, tore his garments (Matt. XXVI); and Paul and Barnabas, when the people of Lystra wanted to worship them as gods, tore their garments (Acts XIV). Therefore, he wrapped himself in sackcloth for the royal worship, and as he walked from the palace to the temple, he sent Eliakim the high priest, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests to Isaiah the son of Amos the prophet. In this, the humility and prudence of the king are worth considering. He himself proceeded to the Temple; the leaders of the people and the elders of the priests, not dressed in priestly garments but covered in sackcloth, sent to Isaiah son of Amos, the prophet. Concerning him, it is read in the Book of Kings: He himself was covered with a mantle, and entered the house of the Lord, Eliakim the steward of the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests sent covered in sacks to Isaiah the prophet, son of Amos (2 Kings 19:1-2). Here, because Isaiah himself was writing the history about himself, he did not call himself a Prophet, but the son of a Prophet; there, because another person was writing the history, he writes about him as a Prophet. Indeed, we read this also concerning the Evangelist Matthew, that Matthew himself said that he was a tax collector (Matt. IX); but the other Evangelists remained silent about the name tax collector, and only mentioned his apostolic dignity; and that in the ranks of the Apostles, he is second in his own account and first in the others'. And they said to him: Thus says Hezekiah, not a king, not swollen with the name of empire: The day of tribulation, and the day of corruption, and the day of blasphemy: the day of our tribulation, the day of God's correction, the day of the enemies' blasphemy. And the likeness of a woman in labor and in distress, that she has come to labor and cannot give birth, nor can she say: We have conceived, O Lord, from fear of you, and we have grieved and given birth to the spirit of salvation. It follows: As how should the Lord your God hear the words of Rabsaces (Isaiah XXVI, 18, according to the LXX). For we do not dare to say O Lord, Lord of all, when such great wrath is upon us; but we say, your Lord. And we have this confidence of vengeance: because the living God is blasphemed by the worshipper of dead idols. And they reproached with the words, which the Lord your God heard: Therefore, lift up our lying prayer: not for all the people who have already perished, but for the remnants that are besieged. And when the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, the name of the Prophet was silent again, so that he would preserve the humility that had been started. And Isaiah anticipated them: for with the same spirit with which he knew the future, he had also heard the absent king: and he said what they should respond to their Lord, humbled in this trust of conscience. He said, 'Say to your master, who is your Lord; for my Lord says these things: Do not fear the words by which not you, but I am blasphemed. Nor do I say that I am going to do all the things that the king of the Assyrians wishes, lest it seem that I am boasting of my power; but that a spirit, not of God, but an adversary, is to be given to him. And upon hearing the message, let him return to his own land, and let him fall by the sword in it, so that both things which Hezekiah desired equally, he would hear: that he would be freed from the siege and danger, and that the angry and hostile king would die in his own land.' If someone asks why the book of Prophecies, which is written in the volumes of Kings and Chronicles, seems mixed, let them consider that the prophecy of history is linked, both concerning the liberation of the city and the destruction of Assyria, and concerning the return of the sun with ten and fifteen years elapsed, which is both prophecy and history.37:8-13
(Verse 8 and following) But when Rabshakeh returned, he found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that the king had left Lachish. And he heard that Tirhakah, the king of Ethiopia, had come out to fight against him. When he heard this, he sent messengers to Hezekiah saying: 'Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah, king of Judah, saying: Do not let your God deceive you, in whom you trust, saying: Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.' Behold, you have heard about all that the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands they have devastated, and can you be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed: Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena, or of Ivvah? These words were written in the Book of Kings and Chronicles, that the commander Rabshekah had left the siege of Jerusalem according to the will of the Lord, and went to his master, who he had learned was besieging Lachish, having either abandoned or captured it, to attack Libnah. He also, upon hearing that Tarachamregem, the king of the Ethiopians, was preparing to make war against him, went out to meet him, and yet sent messengers to Hezekiah and letters, in order to frighten those whom he had not yet conquered by force. And just as he had said to the people, 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you' (2 Kings 18:29), he speaks the same blasphemy to the king, saying, 'Do not let your God deceive you' (2 Kings 19:10). And he gives examples from the past, how their gods were unable to deliver other lands from their hands, and therefore Jerusalem will not be able to be delivered either. In his enumeration of the other nations, Ana () and Ava () are mentioned, which the Seventy mixed, saying, anavegava, and they called it a conjunction, that is, vau, between the two nations Ana and Ava, in the Hebrew language, so that to those unaware it seems one nation or city. We pass over what is clear, so that we may dwell on uncertainties. Herodotus relates that Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians, fought against the Egyptians and besieged Pelusium. And when the mounds for capturing the city had been built, Taracham, the king of the Ethiopians, came to their aid, and in one night, near Jerusalem, 185,000 of the Assyrian army perished from plague. This is reported by Herodotus and most fully by Berosus, a writer of Chaldean history, whose credibility must be sought from his own books.37:14-20
(Verses 14ff.) And Hezekiah took the letters from the hand of the messengers, and he read them, and he went up to the house of the Lord, and he spread them out before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, saying: Lord, God of hosts, God of Israel, who resides above the cherubim, you are the only God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see. And hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he sent to blaspheme the living God. Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have made the lands and regions of the desert; and they have given their gods to the fire: for they were not gods, but the work of the hands of men, wood and stones; and they have destroyed them. And now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand: and let all the kingdoms of the earth know that You alone are God. Against the blasphemies of King Sennacherib, Ezechias took up his arms. And he goes again to the Temple, and spreads his letters before the Lord. Before, he had remained silent, for he did not dare to open his mouth in the Temple, terrified by the fear of the Lord, nor to offer free prayers to God. But now, because he had already heard Isaiah saying, 'Do not be afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the boys of the king of Assyria blasphemed me,' and so on, he boldly prays to the Lord and asserts that God alone is the living one, whom we understand to be idols, the images of the dead. And he brings forth this point: Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have deserted the lands and regions of their gods and have given their gods to the fire. For they were not gods, but the works of human hands, wood and stone. And they shattered them, as proven in many histories, which write that the kings of Persia came to Greece and destroyed and plundered the temples of the Greeks. And he demands revenge, so that by this occasion, all kingdoms might know that God alone is able to free his own from danger.37:21-25
(v. 21 seqq.) However, Isaiah (also known as Josiah), the son of Amos, sent to Hezekiah saying: Thus says the Lord God of Israel: concerning what you asked me about Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, this is the word that the Lord spoke about him: He has despised you and mocked you, O virgin daughter of Zion. After you, the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head. Whom did you reproach and blaspheme? Against whom did you raise your voice and lift your eyes in pride, to the Holy One of Israel? You reproached the Lord in the hand of your servants and said: In the multitude of my chariots I have ascended (Al. I will ascend) the height of the mountains, the peaks of Lebanon, and I will cut down its lofty cedars, and its chosen fir trees, and I will enter the height of its summit, the Carmel of its cliff. I dug and drank water, and I dried up with the sole of my foot all the rivers of the banks. Because Hezekiah prayed to the Lord so boldly, and did not send to Isaiah, as he had sent before, the Prophet himself does not go to him, but sends messengers to him, who would say to him in the words of God: concerning Sennacherib, against whom you pray, this is the Lord's sentence: The virgin of Zion and the daughter of Jerusalem (who is called virgin and daughter because, while all the nations worship the idols of dead men, she alone preserves the purity of the religion of God and the worship of the one divinity) has derided you and despised you; and in order not to incite greater blasphemy against you, she did not respond immediately, but after you departed, she moved her head, certain of vengeance and secure in punishment. And she spoke these words: You have not sinned against me, but against the Lord; and it is not for your own sake, but for the sake of your servants, that the pride of the blasphemer becomes greater. For you have said that you would ascend to the heights of the mountains and the peaks of Mount Lebanon in your chariots, and cut down its tall cedars and its firs. This we can take either metaphorically of all nations and their rulers, or of Jerusalem, which is interpreted as Lebanon, so that its cedars and firs refer to the powerful and the nobles; but the height of its summit and the leap of Carmel refer to the Temple. For he had said above: Have you not heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands that they have destroyed? Therefore, you will not be able to be saved. And what he infers: I dug and drank water, and I dried up with the sole of my foot all the streams of the ramparts, according to the story, this can be understood that, due to the multitude of the army, he has dried up all the rivers so that he is compelled to dig wells for himself. According to the translation: he has devastated all the peoples who are sometimes described by the names of waters with his own army. For whom alone they translated the Seventy, and I made the bridge (i.e. the powerful one, or the power), and I made the waters deserted, and all the congregation of waters: so that no nation might have any unpassable way for itself, but that it might trample the waters underfoot above all the peoples.37:26-29
(Verse 26 and following) Have you not heard what I did to him in the past? From ancient times I formed it, and now I have brought it forth, and it has become a ruin of the hills that fight against me, and of fortified cities. The inhabitants of those cities were brought low, they trembled and were confused. They became like the grass of the field, and the green herb, and the roof grass that withered before it could mature. I have seen your dwelling place, your going out and your coming in, and your rage against me, when you raged against me. Your pride reaches my ears, so I will put a hoop in your nostrils and a bit in your lips, and I will bring you back on the path from which you came. These words are to be understood from the perspective of God in response to the blasphemy of the Assyrians: Do you not know that what you have done, you have done by my will, and that I have foretold these things, and commanded you to do them through you? Therefore, what I decreed long ago has been fulfilled in its time, that the hills, that is, the rulers who were previously fighting among themselves, and the heavily fortified cities, by my strengthening of my hand and without providing assistance as usual, would be uprooted and tremble and perish, and instead of olives and vineyards, and fruitful trees, there would be grass and weeds, and plants that are beaten down by hay and wither before reaching maturity. Therefore, I have known both your sitting down and your going out and your coming in beforehand, and the madness with which you were about to rage against me, as prophesied by the prophets. I spoke through them, knowing that you alone would declare, 'I will ascend into heaven, I will set my throne above the stars of heaven, and I will be like the Most High.' Therefore, your fury and your pride have reached my ears, and I will no longer bear you so that you may understand that you were able to act not by your own power, but by my will. For impious nations and unfruitful trees were deserving that they be cut down and fall by you, like my axe and saw. Therefore, I will place a circle or a bridle in your nostrils, so that I may restrain blasphemy from your mouth, and you may not dare to speak such things again; and I will apply a bridle to your lips, which will tame your ferocity and bring you back to the Assyrians. With this translation, the Scripture also uses it in the Psalms against the wicked: Put a bridle and a halter on their jaws, who do not come near you (Ps. 31:12).37:30-32
(Vers. 30 seqq.) But this will be a sign for you: Eat in this year what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs from that; then in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. The remaining survivors of the house of Judah shall take root downward and bear fruit upward; for out of Jerusalem shall come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. All these things the Prophet speaks through messengers to Hezekiah, what Sennacherib said, what the Lord answered him: now he speaks to him directly, so that he may not doubt the things that were said to come. And for this reason, especially, the words of the prophets had credibility among the people: because they not only remembered things that would happen many centuries in the future, but also things that would happen immediately, and would be fulfilled after a short period of time: and that within two years, the Assyrian king would perish and security would be restored to the city of Jerusalem. This will be, he says, a sign of what I predict will happen, that in this year you will eat what grows naturally. Or according to the Seventy, those things which you harvest first. But in the second year, according to Symmachus, eat from the fruits: or according to the same people, those things which have sprouted from the past crops and fallen to the ground as seed. But in the third year, after the Assyrians have been driven away and the siege has been lifted, sow, reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruits of them. Indeed, the remaining fragments of this small city, which are now being surrounded by hostile armies, do not believe that they will escape. They will receive such an abundance and happiness of all things that they will be filled, like a tree firmly rooted in a high mountain, with the thickest of fruits. For the remnants will come forth from Jerusalem and from Mount Zion, and they will fill the land of Judaea, not by their own merit, but by the mercy of God, indeed by the zeal that He has shown towards His wicked people.37:33-34
(Verse 33, 34.) Therefore, thus says the Lord about the king of Assyria: He shall not enter this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with a shield, nor build siege works against it. By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not enter this city, says the Lord. I will defend this city and save it for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David. It turns back to its purpose and dispels present fear after the hope of future things. For there was not so much joy upon the things which she had promised would come after a long time, as there was care for the impending. But what she says about Assyria returning and not lifting up a shield against Jerusalem, not shooting arrows, nor that the city should be fortified with walls and a rampart, and that the enemy would return by the way he had come, and that the city should be freed from the present siege, and finally she brings forth: for my sake and for the sake of my servant David, this signifies that they are preserved not by their own merit, but by the clemency of God, indeed by the memory of their father David. In which both his own negligence and that person's trustworthiness and justice are admonished, because God loves justice to such an extent that he protects even the descendants of holy men, not by their own merit, but by the virtue of their ancestors.37:36-38
(Vrs. 36 seqq.) However, the Angel of God went out and struck down in the Assyrian camp 185,000 men; and when they arose in the morning, behold, all the dead bodies. Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned to Nineveh, and he lived there. And it came about as he was worshiping in the temple of Nesrach his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place. One hundred and eighty-five thousand brave men are killed by one Angel in one night, and the cruel death of the slain runs rampant without wounds, by the will of God, separating the souls from their bodies. On this, it is written in the Chronicles: And the Lord sent an Angel, who struck down every strong man, warrior, and prince of the army of the king of Assyria: and he returned with disgrace to his own land (2 Chronicles 32:24). He was saved for this reason, so that he would know the power of God and silence the blasphemous mouths: and he became a witness of that majesty, which he had recently condemned. And what he experienced: And they rose in the morning, whether Israelites or the rest of his armies, let us accept: although it is written in the Book of Kings, that when the king himself rose in the morning, he saw all the bodies of the dead (3 Kings 19). Pharaoh also suffered ten plagues in Egypt, so that he might perish in the end: which this person is also going to suffer. For when he returned to the city of Nineveh, the capital of his kingdom, and worshipped in the temple of his god Nesrach, as if he had achieved victory over his enemies, and walked triumphantly and joyfully in the shrine of his false deity, the despiser of the true God is killed in the temple of the false god. It was not the sword that was the weapon of the Angels, which was common to many, but the parricide of his sons. When they fled to the land of Ararat, which is known as Armenia, Asaraddon succeeded his father, whom the Scripture testifies sent inhabitants to Samaria so that the land would not remain uncultivated. But the region of Ararat in Armenia is a plain through which the Araxes River flows, of incredible fertility, near the foothills of the Taurus mountain, which extends all the way there. Therefore, the Ark in which Noah was saved with his children, when the Flood ceased, was not taken to the mountains of Armenia in general, which are called Ararat, but to the highest peaks of the Taurus mountain, which tower over the plains of Ararat.38:1-3
(Chapter 38, Verses 1 onwards) In those days, Hezekiah fell sick even unto death. And Isaiah, the son of Amos the prophet, came to him, and said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Set thy house in order, for thou shalt die, and not live. And Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying: I beseech thee, O Lord, remember how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight: and Hezekiah wept with great weeping. Whom the Lord loves, He corrects and disciplines every son whom He receives (Prov. III). In order that Ezechias' heart would not be lifted up after incredible triumphs, and victory over the midst of captivity, he is visited with infirmity of his body, and hears that he will die, so that, being converted, he may turn to the Lord's judgment. Indeed, we read about this in the prophet Jonah, and in the threats that are said to be future against David, which did not happen, not because God changed His judgment, but because He incited the human race to the knowledge of Himself. For the Lord is remorseful over evils. And Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, because he could not go to the Temple. To the wall of the Temple, next to which Solomon had built a palace. Or rather, next to Jeremiah, to his heart; who calls the heart a wall, so that with his whole mind he might pray to the Lord. And he said: I beseech you, Lord, remember, please, how I have walked before you in truth, and with a perfect heart, and that I have done what is good in your eyes. And knowing that he is about to die, he does not pray for a long life and many years, but instead asks what he should offer in God's judgement. For he knew that Solomon pleased God because he did not ask for a longer life; but going to the Lord, he recounts his works, how he walked before Him in truth and with a perfect heart. Happy is the conscience that remembers good deeds during times of affliction: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8). And when elsewhere it is written: Who shall glory in having a pure heart (Prov. XX, 9)? This is solved as follows: the perfection of the heart is now said to consist in the fact that it has destroyed idols, perverted the vessels of the temple of Baal, broken the brazen serpent, and done other things that Scripture mentions. However, he wept with great weeping because of the Lord's promise to David, which he saw would perish in his death. For at that time Hezekiah had no sons; for after his death, Manasseh, when he was twelve years old, began to reign in Judah. From which it is clear that three years after his life was granted, Manasseh was born. Therefore, all this weeping is because he despaired of Christ being born from his own seed. Others assert that even holy men are afraid of death due to uncertainty of judgement and ignorance of God's sentence, of which seat they will inhabit. And at the same time, the question of fate is resolved, and the bonds of necessity and causes, in that the day of death is by no means appointed to each individual, but rather someone may live or die by the will of God and unknown mortal causes, especially since the appointed necessity of death is now delayed, and we have read of many who were resurrected after death.38:4-8
(Vers. 4 seqq.) And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying: Go and tell Hezekiah: Thus says the Lord God of David, your father: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your days, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will protect it. And this shall be a sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this word that he has spoken: Behold, I will turn back the shadow of the steps by which it has gone down on the sun dial of Ahaz ten steps backwards: and the sun returned ten steps by the same steps that it had gone down. The history, which is read consecutively in the volume of Kings, is referred to in a seemingly backwards order, as if it were a prophetic account. While Hezekiah was weeping with great sorrow, before Isaiah had left the middle part of the courtyard, the word of the Lord came to him, saying: Return and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. And Hezekiah said to Isaiah: What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me? To whom did the prophet respond: This will be the sign from the Lord that the Lord will do the word he has spoken: Do you want the shadow to approach by so many lines, or do you want it to go back the same number of steps? To whom Hezekiah said: It is easy for the shadow to advance ten lines, but I do not want it to happen; rather, I want it to go back ten steps. And when Isaiah invoked the power of the Lord, the sign was fulfilled. Isaiah was commanded to have a lump of fresh figs brought, which they did, and they placed it on the wound, and he was healed. But the Prophet of the Lord returns to the king by the command, in order to heal the one who had struck him; and he is called Hezekiah, the leader of his people, and the son of David, whose works he followed, for he did what was right in all things as David his father had done; and his prayer is heard, and tears are seen, for he walked before the Lord in truth and with a perfect heart, and he wept with great weeping; and he did what was pleasing in his eyes. Fifteen years are added to his life, which he did not ask for, and moreover, while he is still alive, the security of the kingdom is promised to him. But if, as some think, to live in the body is a condemnation, and according to what is said: Return, my soul, into your rest (Ps. 114:7). And in another place: Bring my soul out of prison (Ps. 141:8), death is to be desired so that we may be freed from prison: how then does the Lord now grant as a favor that he who was to be set free should still live for fifteen years in prison? However, a sign is given that the sun turns back by ten degrees, which we turn according to Symmachus into lines and a sundial, which understood the degrees in the lines in order to make a clearer sense to those reading. Whether the steps were constructed with mechanical skill, so that as the shadow descended, it would mark the hours. This sign was a type of both the present time and the future, so that just as the sun would return to the beginning of its course, so would Hezekiah's life return to the disclosed years; and for us who live in the week and the octave, through the resurrection of Christ, the spaces of life are extended. The holy places in this province are accustomed to show within the enclosed Temple the steps of the house of Hezekiah, or of Ahaz, which the sun descended through them. But I will never believe, not to mention Ahaz, who was a wicked king; but of any righteous king, that their house was in the Temple of God: since it is said that Solomon, among other things, offended God because he built on a high place, from where he used to look down on the courtyard of the Temple while walking in the tower of the palace (3 Kings 9).38:9
(Verse 9) The Scripture of King Hezekiah of Judah when he became ill and recovered from his illness. LXX. The Prayer of King Hezekiah of Judah when he was sick and rose from his sickness. I wonder why only the Seventy have included this prayer in the scripture, since the prayer is called Thephellath (), not Machthar (). which is written in the current place; otherwise the prayer would be said subsequently, if it were about the present time and not the past. For it is evident that, after he had regained his health, he wrote this, as a testimony not of speech, but of thanksgiving for the favor he had received.38:10-14
(Verse 10 onwards) I said in the middle of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I have sought the remainder of my years. I said, I shall not see the Lord God in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more, nor the inhabitant of rest. My generation has ceased: it has been taken away and rolled up from me like a shepherd's tent. My life has been cut off as by a weaver: while I was still beginning, it cut me off: from morning until evening you will make an end of me. I hoped until morning; like a lion, it has crushed all my bones. From morning until evening you will finish me. LXX I said in the height of my days, I will go to the gates of hell: I will leave the remaining years: I said, I will no longer see the salvation of God in the land of the living, nor will I see any more with those who dwell: I am cut off from my kin. He has gone out and departed from me, like a tent that is loosened from its moorings; like the thread, my spirit has departed, when it is cut from the weaver. On that day I was delivered until morning: like a lion, so has it broken all my bones. From day to night I was delivered. He narrates what he silently thought during the time of pressing distress and imminent weakness; I said, he says, in my heart, in the midst of my days, or as Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotion have interpreted, in the weakness and silence of my days, for which the LXX have interpreted it as 'exalted' due to the similarity of the letters, reading 'Rame' instead of 'Dame': although some have turned it into 'Dame', so that the sense is 'In the blood of my days', when my blood, my destruction, was eagerly awaited. Therefore, in despair, I said: I will go to the gates of hell, either by the common law of nature, or those gates about which the Psalmist sings that he has been freed: 'You raised me up from the gates of death, that I may proclaim all your praises at the gates of the daughter of Zion' (Psalm 9:15). I believe these are the gates of hell, which do not prevail against Peter (Matthew 16), for he slept in the fullness of his days. The saints fulfill their days, as was the case with Abraham, who died full of days in old age (Genesis 25). But the sinners and the wicked die in the midst of their days, of whom the Psalmist also speaks: Men of blood and deceit will not live out half their days (Ps. 54:25). For they do not fulfill the works of virtue, nor do they strive to repent and amend their sins. Therefore, in the middle of the course of life, and in the darkness of errors, they will be led to Tartarus. I sought, he says, the remaining years of my life, not thinking that I would live any longer. I said, I shall not see the Lord God in the land of the living. For in Hebrew, the name 'Jah' is placed twice, which in the final syllable sounds 'Alleluia', for which the Seventy translated: 'I will not see the salvation of God in the land of the living' (Ps. CXIV, 9). It is also written in another place: 'I will please the Lord in the land of the living' (Ps. CXIV, 9). And again: 'I will please the Lord in the light of the living' (Ps. LV, 9). Therefore, the very region of the Saints is called the light of the living. For God is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Matt. XXII). But this is everything that he fears: not to deserve to behold the salvation of God led to the underworld. It follows: I will not look upon man anymore, and the inhabitant of quietness. This we once connected with the following verse due to the ambiguity of the word; for the Hebrew word Holed, if read or written as Eled, means rest; if read or written as Edel, it means the West. Therefore, he fears that he does not dwell in quietness with the saints and men of God, that he does not see the Lord in the land of the living, that his generation will not dwell in an unshaken tabernacle, that it will not be cut off from the likeness of the web at the beginning of light, and that Christ will not arise from his seed. But as for our body being called a tabernacle, the Apostle instructs, saying: We who are in this tabernacle groan, burdened (2 Cor. V, 4). In the morning, he says, you will finish me until evening: I hoped until morning: which Job also says he endured in his distress and bodily torments (Job IV), when in daylight he awaited night, and in darkness awaited light, thinking that the punishments could be changed by the shifting of seasons. He knows this to be true who is burning with great fevers, whose internal fire, like that of a lion, consumes all his bones, and who does not think he will survive beyond the magnitude of his pain.38:15
(Verse 15.) Like the chick of a swallow, so will I cry out: I will meditate as a dove: My eyes are weakened looking towards the height. Lord, I suffer violence; answer for me: what shall I say or what shall he answer me when he himself has done? LXX: Like a swallow, thus will I cry out; like a dove, thus will I meditate. For my eyes have failed from looking towards the height of heaven to the Lord: who delivers me, took away the pain of my soul, and he himself did it. Death was imminent, and the pain of illness weighing upon me, like a lion, was breaking all the bones of my body; but I, like a swallow and a dove, joined together day and night with weeping and moaning; and from God alone, who was able to help, I waited for assistance, with my eyes lifted up to the heights. And I said to him: I suffer more than my merits require; but even if I have gone astray, I will turn to the better; you answer for me: For it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy (Rom. 9:16). And it turns back again into itself: What can I say, or with what can I argue against my Creator? Or what will he answer to me, he who did himself what he wanted? Therefore, whatever he decides must be endured. The word for swallow, or swallow, as translated by the LXX, is written in Hebrew, Sus Agor (), which Aquila interpreted as horse Agor: Theodotius, Sis Agur (); for the middle vocal letter vau, if placed between two Samechs, is read as pig, and is called horse; if yod, it is read as swallow. However, Symmachus translated it as follows: As a swallow enclosed, so will I sing. This word is also found in Jeremiah, where it is written: The kite in the sky knew its time: the turtle-dove, and the swallow, and the stork kept their times (Jeremiah VIII, 7).38:16-20
(Verse 16 onwards) I will consider all my years in the bitterness of my soul. Lord, if this is how one lives, and in such a life of my spirit, you will correct me and give me life. Behold, in peace is my bitterest bitterness. But you have saved my soul from perishing: you have cast all my sins behind your back. For neither the underworld will confess to you, nor death praise you: those who descend into the pit will not await your truth. Living, the living himself will confess to you, as I do today. The father will make your truth known to the children. Lord, save me, and we will sing our songs all the days of our life in the house of the Lord. LXX. Lord, it was announced to you about her: and you have revived my spirit and comforted me. Behold, in peace is my bitterness: for you have saved my soul from perishing, and you have cast behind me all my sins. For neither will they praise you in hell, nor will the dead bless you. Nor will those who are in the underworld hope for your mercy: the living will bless you, just as I do. For from today I will make children who will proclaim your righteousness, O Lord of my salvation, and I will not rest, blessing you with the Psalter, all the days of my life in the presence of the house of God. Nothing of the long things of mortals lasts, and all the happiness of the world, while it is held, is lost. For when the time of tribulation comes, everything that is past does not help the one who endures. Hence, the foolish sentiment of Epicurus is, who claims that the remembrance of past good things mitigates present misfortunes. Therefore, Hezekiah says that he considers all the years of his reign, and of his past, as happiness believed to be bitter in the present. And because he is now secure, and does not suffer what is recounted, he philosophizes about the human condition, and says: Lord, if this is how we live, and this is the condition in which we are born, You have chastised me, but You have also given me life, and You have bestowed peace by driving away the Assyrian; but my peace has been more bitter to me than all bitterness, because with tranquility restored to the people, and the city secure, I alone have entered the threshold of death. But you have delivered my soul, so that it would not perish, either in this present life or in the future. You have cast all my sins behind me, so that I may not behold them in sadness, but rather contemplate your mercy. For hell and death will not confess or praise you, according to what is written: For in death there is no remembrance of you (Psalm 6:5). And here confession is understood not for repentance, but for glory and praise, as we also read in the Gospel, I confess to you, O Lord, Father of heaven and earth (Matthew 11:25). Those who descend into the pit will not expect your truth, he says, but rather your mercy, better than in the Septuagint. For he who is in hell does not expect the truth of judgment, but the mercy of God, especially when the Savior descended into hell to free the captives from the depths. They transferred the dead to the same place more clearly. The living, the living themselves will confess to you, just as I do today. And this confession is set forth for praise. For he does not confess his own crimes, but gives thanks to God; and there is no beautiful praise on the mouth of a sinner (Sirach 15). And when Hell and death do not confess or praise God, on the contrary, life and the living glorify the Lord. And what follows: The Father will make your truth known to your children, this signifies what is said in Deuteronomy: Ask your father, and he will tell you; your elders, and they will inform you (Deuteronomy 32, 7), so that God's mercy may be proclaimed to posterity through successions and individual generations. For this reason the LXX translate it: 'From today I will beget sons who will announce your righteousness.' And the causal conjunction connects the following with what came before: that indeed, living beings and he himself, who will beget sons from this day, might bless God, because it was certainly not within their power. For those children were not promised through the prophet, but rather through the present life. Especially since Manasseh, the most impious son, was born, who filled Jerusalem with blood from gate to gate, and did not bless but cursed God, persecuting his saints. Therefore we can say according to the Septuagint that he said, 'I will make children' instead of 'sons': but by 'children' we understand either little ones, or young boys, or infants and later generations, so that all future posterity, knowing this, may praise his incredible mercy which he has obtained. Therefore save me, O Lord; and all who believe in you and are delivered by your help, may we sing to you in the Temple all the days of our life.38:21-22
(Verses 21, 22.) And Isaiah commanded them to take a lump of figs and apply it to the boil, and he would be healed. And Hezekiah said that the sign would be that he would go up to the house of the Lord. This should be read before Hezekiah's prayer, or Scripture, which we have just interpreted: for the poultice was applied to the wound first, and the sign of future healing was requested from him before he thanked the Lord for healing him. The Hebrews say that the word Siin (), which the LXX omitted, means ulcer and not wound. For both Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotion have interpreted it as sore, by which they want to understand a royal disease, which they think is contrary to, whether it is taken in food, or whatever sweet things are applied to the body. Therefore, in order to demonstrate the power of God, health is restored through harmful and adverse things. Others suspect Siin to be not an ulcer, but an abscess: when the body swells and becomes putrid, it is filled with pus. According to the art of doctors, all pus is drawn to the surface of the skin by applying dried and crushed figs: and therefore medicine should not be despised, which is based on use and experience: because God made this also. Therefore, the speech and expression of thanks have been written up to this point. But as for the sign that was given, the previous order of the story has narrated it.39:1-2
(Chapter 39, verses 1 onwards) At that time Merodach Baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and gifts to Hezekiah, for he had heard that he had been sick and had recovered. And Hezekiah was pleased with them; and he showed them his treasury, the house of his precious things, the silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, his whole armory, and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah did not show them. Above we read that in the fourteenth year of the reign of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians, ascended over all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. Then he besieged Lachish, passed through Libnah, sent part of his army to Jerusalem, and slaughtered one hundred and eighty-five thousand of his soldiers. He himself fled to Nineveh and was killed by his sons in the temple of his god. After that, his son Esarhaddon reigned in his place. Hezekiah became sick but was saved by a message from the prophet. A remarkable sign occurred when the sun turned back ten hours and nearly became a two-day event. Now we read that in that time, that is, in the same year in which all these things happened, Merodach Baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent books and gifts to Hezekiah; not Assaraddon, who had succeeded his father Sennacherib as king of the Assyrians, of whose death or life Scripture is silent. From this it is clear that there was another kingdom of the Assyrians and another of the Babylonians at that time. Finally, the Assyrians captured Samaria, that is, the ten tribes. But we read that Jerusalem was later conquered by the Chaldeans, whose king was Nebuchadnezzar. And because they practice the observation of the stars and have acquired knowledge of the courses of the stars through long use and exercise, which is also demonstrated in the birth of the Lord: they understood that the sun had reversed its course, the length of the day doubled, and they believed that it served the only true God. And when they investigated the causes and reason for this miracle, with the rumor spreading to all nations, they learned that due to the illness of the king of Judah, even the course of the most brilliant constellation had changed. That it is not my opinion, but the faith of the Holy Scriptures, which testify with the words of Isaiah, who said among other things: Hezekiah himself, who closed the upper springs of the waters of Gihon and diverted them below to the west of the city of David. In all his works he prospered in whatever he desired; however, when the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who had been sent to him to inquire about the sign that had happened on the earth, God left him to be tested and to make known all that was in his heart (2 Chronicles 32:30, 31). Therefore, he was left to temptation because after such a great victory, and the return of the sun, and the congratulations of the most powerful kingdom, his heart was lifted up. Finally, in the same volume it is written: Many brought offerings and sacrifices to the Lord in Jerusalem, and gifts to King Hezekiah of Judah, and he was exalted in the sight of all the nations. In those days he became sick unto death, and he prayed to the Lord, and He heard him, and gave him a sign; but He did not repay him according to the benefits he had received, for his heart was lifted up and wrath came upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 32:23-24). And the holy Scripture again says that the exaltation of his heart was tempered by repentance, stating: 'And he was humbled thereafter, because his heart was lifted up, both he, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and therefore the Lord's wrath came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.' So he rejoiced at the arrival of the ambassadors of Merodach, whom the Hebrews consider to have been the father of Nebuchadnezzar; and in the bringing of gifts, and in the celebration of his health. And he showed them the house next to the Septuagint, which was translated by Symmachus for his spices; and the treasures of silver, and gold, and fragrances, and the best ointment: which is written in Hebrew, good oil; and all the treasures of the vessels of the treasure, or, as it is read there, of his vessels. But in the Persian language, riches are called Gaza: it is not a Hebrew word, but a Barbarian one. He said, there was no word (which according to Hebrew custom is often taken for a thing), that he did not show them in his house and in all his power. Wherefore God's most just wrath, since he manifested not only his treasures and palaces, but also the Temple: which surely was in his power, from whose gates he had already taken sheets of gold.39:3-8
(Verse 3 onwards) Then Isaiah the Prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him: What did these men say, and where did they come from to you? And Hezekiah said: They have come to me from a distant land, from Babylon. And he said: What did they see in your house? And Hezekiah said: They saw everything that is in my house; there was nothing, neither word nor thing, that I did not show them in my treasures. And Isaiah said to Hezekiah: Listen to the word of the Lord of hosts. Behold, the day will come, and everything that is in your house, and what your fathers have laid up until this day, will be carried away to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. And of your sons who shall come forth out of you, whom you shall beget, they will take away, and they will be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. And Hezekiah said to Isaiah: Good is the word of the Lord which he has spoken. And he said: Let there be only peace and truth in my days. The Hebrews report that Hezekiah fell ill for this reason: because after the unheard of victory of the Jews and the death of the Assyrian king, he did not sing praises to the Lord, which Moses sang after the drowning of Pharaoh (Exod. XV), and Deborah after the killing of Sisera (Judges IV), and Anna after the birth of Samuel (1 Samuel II). Hence, he was reminded of his weakness. And again, after regaining his health and the greatness of the sign, he offered another opportunity for pride, which as a wise man and worshiper of God, he should have avoided; not showing his wealth to foreigners, which he possessed by the grace of God. From which, according to the Laws of tropology, we learn that we should not throw pearls before swine, nor give what is holy to dogs (Matth. VII). For whoever has a faithful spirit conceals his affairs; and whoever does not do this, all his power is weakened; and his posterity perishes, and with the loss of manly strength, he is reduced to feminine softness (Prov. XI, 13-15). Therefore, Isaiah enters the king's presence and inquires as if unaware. What did these men say, and where did they come from? Two questions, what they said and where they came from, were asked. He responded to one, ignoring the other: this must be read with emphasis and a raised eyebrow: They came from a distant land, from Babylon: the longer the distance from where they came, the more glorious they are because of whom they came to see. And he said, they came to me; he should have said, they came to glorify God for the greatness of the sign, from Babylon, which is the most powerful city in the whole world. And Isaiah said again, 'What did they see in your house?' And he answered truthfully that they had seen everything in his house, and that he had not withheld anything from them in his treasuries. But he kept silent about the other, which he feared would offend them, because he had shown them everything he had in his power, undoubtedly including the furnishings of the Temple. Therefore, Isaiah delivers the judgment of God's word: 'Listen to the word of the Lord of Hosts: A time will come when all these things that are in your house, acquired not by your own labor but by the labor of your fathers, will be transferred to Babylon, and from your descendants they will become eunuchs in the royal palace.' From where the Hebrews want Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who were of royal descent, to become eunuchs, it is beyond doubt that they served in the ministry of King Nebuchadnezzar. So Hezekiah said: It is a good word of the Lord that he has spoken. In this, he is criticized by the Hebrews for not imitating the goodness of Moses, who said to the Lord: Either forgive them this crime, or if you do not, then erase me from your book which you have written (Exodus 32:32). And so the Apostle Paul wishes to be accursed from Christ for his brethren who are Israelites (Rom. IX); and therefore, Hezekiah was not approved by God in His words who spoke in the following: 'Console, console my people,' says your God, so that by whom He had not prayed, they may be consoled by the mercy of the Lord.40:1-2
(Chapter 40, Verses 1 onwards) Console, console my people, says your God: Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call out to her; for her wickedness is complete, her iniquity is forgiven. She has received from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins. LXX: Console, console my people, says God. O priests, speak to the heart of Jerusalem; console her, for her humility is fulfilled. His sin has been forgiven, for he has received from the hand of the Lord double for all his sins. According to other interpreters, others are commanded to console the people of God and Jerusalem together. According to the Hebrew text, the people themselves are commanded to console, speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and advocate for her. Speaking to the heart of Jerusalem is the language of the Scriptures. For one who speaks to the mournful and soothes is called a consoler who speaks to the heart. Let us be taught by Sichem, the son of Hemor, who spoke corruptly to his heart about the defiled Dinah, and comforted her (Genesis XXXIV). And wherever you find something similar, it has this meaning. The reason for consolation is the forgiveness of sins, and the cause of forgiveness is that he received double from the hand of the Lord for all his sins. For whoever knows the will of his Lord and sins, will be beaten with many stripes (Luke XII). And everyone who has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, whom the Savior promised to the Apostles, saying: I will ask my Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you forever, the Spirit of truth (John XIV, 16); and again: But when the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes forth from the Father, he will bear witness about me (John XV, 26); and: It is profitable for you that I go away: for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you (John XVI, 7); the Comforter is the one now commanded to console the people of God. Wherefore also the Apostle Paul was speaking to believers: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God: for as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ (2 Corinthians 1:1-6); and again: And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation (2 Corinthians 1:7). But who is this people, who through the Apostles and Ecclesiastical men is consoled, not Israel, and Jacob and Juda, as the Scripture mentions in other places, but the people of God, as the Prophet Zacharias testifies saying: Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Zion, for I will come and dwell in your midst, says the Lord. And many nations will flee to the Lord in that day, and they will be His people, and they will dwell in your midst, and they will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you (Zach. II, 10, 11). By this testimony, it is clearly demonstrated that many nations are to be turned into the people of God. And this is what the Lord, sent by the Lord, whose name is Almighty, says. And it should be noted that our sins are not forgiven unless we receive them from the hand of the Lord. And it is not the same thing to have sins forgiven as to have them pardoned. For those to whom they are pardoned, there is no need for forgiveness, as it is written in the Gospel: Believe, my child, your sins are forgiven you (Matthew 9:2). But those who are released are released because they have been cleansed and freed through punishments. According to history, Jerusalem received its sins twice from the hands of the Babylonians and secondly from the Romans. And what is added by the Seventy, the Priests, must be noted.40:3-5
(Verse 3 onwards) The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. LXX: The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God, for the Lord has spoken. When the scribes and Pharisees and Jewish leaders heard John preaching in the wilderness and baptizing with a baptism of repentance, they sent messengers to ask him if he was the Christ, or Elijah, or a prophet. And when he answered that he was none of these, they asked him again, 'Then who are you?' So that we may give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself? And he answered: I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, as Isaiah the Prophet said (John 1:22-23)'. In which it should be noted that the straight paths of the Lord and the ways of our God: the filling of valleys and mountains, the humbling of hills and the correction of the wicked, and the rough places made level: and the glory of the Lord and the salvation of our God, will not be proclaimed in Jerusalem, but in the solitude of the Church, and in the deserted multitude of the nations, of which we read above (Isaiah 35:1): 'Rejoice, O desert, and let the wilderness exult, and let it blossom like the lily.' For this knowledge of God was unknown and humbled by idols, lowly in confession, exalted in pride, rough and unyielding in wrath. But after the glory of the Lord appeared, and all flesh saw the salvation of God, everything suddenly changed, and the way of the Lord was prepared, so that the glory of God would appear in the wilderness. When the Lord was baptized in the Jordan and the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove and remained in him, and the voice of the Father from above was heard, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; listen to him. (Matthew 3:17). And all flesh saw the salvation of God. Which is why it was called flesh, because it did not have the Holy Spirit before. Concerning this, the Lord says: My spirit will not remain in these people, because they are flesh (Gen. VI, 3). But that flesh will see the salvation of God, of which the same Joel spoke: I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and they shall prophesy (Joel. II, 28). This is not only what John proclaimed at that time, who was the precursor and forerunner of the word of God, rightly called the voice (Matth. III); but even to this day in the wilderness of the Gentiles, the teachers of the Churches cry out: that we may make straight paths and ways for God in our hearts, that we may be filled with virtues, and may be inclined with humility; that we may change what is evil into what is right, and what is rough into what is gentle: and thus we may deserve to see the glory of the Lord and the salvation of God.40:6-8
(Verse 6 and following) The voice of one saying, Cry out. And I said, What shall I cry out? All flesh is grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower falls; because the breath of the LORD blows upon it. Truly the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower falls; but the word of our God will stand forever. (LXX: The voice of one saying, Cry out. And I said, What shall I cry out? All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man is like the flower of grass.) The grass withers, and the flower falls; because the breath of the Lord blows upon it. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower falls. But the word of our God remains forever. This portion marked with asterisks is added from the Hebrew and Theodotion's edition. From this it is clear that it was either omitted by the LXX or gradually lost through the error of scribes, since both the preceding and following verses end with 'flower'. Above we have read, the Prophet saying: And I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Whom shall I send, and who will go to this people? And I said: Here I am, send me; and he said: Go and tell this people: Hearing you will hear, and will not understand: and seeing you will see, and will not perceive, and so on. After enduring a harsh preaching, now the voice of the Lord saying, he asks what he should shout, fearing similar things; and starting from the general, All flesh is grass, and all its glory like the flower of the grass, he comes to the particular, so that he may still say about the people: Truly the people are grass. And in truth, if anyone were to consider the frailty of the flesh, and how we grow and decline in a matter of hours, and do not remain in the same state: and that which we speak, dictate, and write, passes quickly from our lives: he will not hesitate to call the flesh hay, and its glory as the flower of hay, or the meadows of the fields. For the one who was recently an infant suddenly becomes a child; the child suddenly becomes a young person; and throughout the uncertain passage of time, he is transformed into old age; and he realizes himself to be old before he marvels at no longer being young. A beautiful woman who drew after her flocks of young men, is contracted in her countenance: and she who was once for love, afterwards is for disdain. Which an excellent orator among the Greeks writes: The beauty of the body either fails with time, or is consumed by sickness. Therefore the flesh is withered, and the beauty is fallen off; because the spirit of the madness of God and of his sentence has blown upon her (that I may return from a general discourse to the order of the Scripture), of him who bears the image of the earthly, and serves vices and luxury; and he is like hay and a passing flower. But whoever has and keeps the image of the heavenly, that person is the flesh which sees the salvation of the Lord, which is daily renewed in knowledge according to the image of the Creator, and receiving an incorruptible and immortal body, changes glory, not nature. But the word of our Lord, and those who are associated with the word, endure forever.40:9-11
(V. 9 and following) Ascend to the high mountain, you who bring good news to Zion; lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good news to Jerusalem. Lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, 'Here is your God!' See, the Lord God comes with might, and His arm rules for Him. See, His reward is with Him, and His recompense accompanies Him. He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads the nursing ewes. LXX: Go up on a high mountain, you who bring good tidings to Zion; lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good tidings to Jerusalem. Lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the cities of Judah, 'Behold your God! Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.' The choir of the Apostles is commanded to ascend to the preaching of all flesh, which is going to see the salvation of God, and to dwell in high places, about to speak about great things. Moreover, the Hebrew and other interpreters put it in the feminine gender, so that they say, 'you who preach the gospel to Zion and you who preach the gospel to Jerusalem.' This word is ambiguous according to the Greeks, so that we can understand it as either the one who announces or the one to whom the announcement is made. Therefore, whether the word of God and the saving word of the Lord are announced to Zion and Jerusalem: for the law went forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Isaiah II, 3); or whether it is announced to them through the Apostles, they ought to ascend to the heights and pass over the mountains. And in a wondrous way, even though Zion itself is a mountain, as Scripture says: Mount Zion, in which you have dwelt (Psalm LXXIII, 3): it is commanded to ascend another, higher mountain, from which the prince of Tyre was wounded. And because the teachings of the Apostles were going to be greatly opposed, and they were going to be led before governors and tribunals, it is joined, exalt, do not be afraid: say to the cities of Judea, namely the synagogues and the people of the Jews, of whom the Lord spoke: I have come only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24). And the Apostle Paul says: It was necessary for the word of God to be proclaimed to you first (Acts 13:46). But what is it that they are commanded to say? Behold your God, whom you have always awaited: Behold the Lord God shall come in strength, whom you have despised coming in humility. And his strength shall rule, who first took the form of a servant, being obedient to the Father even unto death (Philippines III). Behold his reward is with him, and his work before him (Isaiah XL, and LXII). According to what he himself says in the Gospel: For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father and he shall render to every man according to his works (Matthew XVI, 17). As a shepherd, he will feed his flock. This one who will come later in majesty, first takes on the form of a shepherd, and he says about himself: I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and they know me, and I lay down my life for my sheep (John 10:14, 15). About this, the Father speaks in Zechariah: I will strike the shepherd; and the sheep will be scattered (Zechariah 13:7). In his arm, he says, he will gather the lambs; not bulls, and rams, and goats, and large sheep, of whom through Ezekiel (Chapter 34) he threatens that they should feed on milk and be covered with wool, and crush the weak flock, but rather the still tender lambs, and those new to Christ's infancy, who have recently been reborn in baptism, of whom the Lord himself spoke to Peter: Feed my lambs (John 21:15). And in the same Ezekiel it is written: I will raise up for them a single shepherd, and he will feed them, my servant David; he will be their shepherd, and I the Lord will be their God, and David will be their prince in their midst. I the Lord have spoken, and I will establish a covenant of peace with David (Ezekiel 34:23-25). It should be considered that after many generations, David, in contrast to the greedy and unworthy shepherds, says that our Lord, who is of the lineage of David, will rise up, gather the lambs, and nurture them in his bosom, and he himself will carry the lambs or sheep on his shoulder. As we read in the Gospel, that he carried the wandering sheep and the one remaining from the usual flock on his shoulders to the sheepfold (Luke 15). We can say that the pregnant ewes are the Apostles and the Apostolic men and all the doctors of the Church, who give birth to the salvation of many, and they say with the Apostle: My little children, whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you (Galatians 4:19). The Hebrews assert, and there is no doubt among them about this matter, that the Holy Spirit is called in their language by the feminine gender, that is, the Shekinah. And that which is said in the sixty-seventh psalm: The Lord will give the word to the preachers with great power: they understand it thus: The Lord will give the word to the preachers with great power (Ps. 122:3): namely, to those souls who have received the Holy Spirit. Also this: As the eyes of a handmaid are in the hands of her mistress, so the soul is in the hands of the Holy Spirit, both a handmaid and a mistress. But also in the Gospel written according to the Hebrews, which the Nazarenes read, the Lord speaks: Now my mother took me up, the Holy Spirit. But no one should be scandalized by the fact that in the Hebrew language the Spirit is referred to as feminine, while in our language it is referred to as masculine, and in Greek it is referred to as neutral. For in divinity there is no gender. And therefore, in the three principal languages in which the title of the Lord's Passion is written, it is referred to in three genders, so that we may understand that there is no gender that is different.40:12-17
(Verse 12 and following) Who measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills on a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or instructed him as his counselor? Whom did he consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge, or showed him the path of understanding? Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust. And Lebanon is not enough to burn, and its animals are not enough for a burnt offering. All nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Who has shown him the way of justice, and who has taught him knowledge? Behold, all the nations are as a drop in a bucket and are accounted as the dust on the scales. Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor all the animals enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing in his sight, and they are counted as worthless. Let no one think that the calling of the nations is difficult, and that all flesh will see the salvation of God. They are commanded to climb the high mountain, those who proclaim the good news to Zion; and the Lord himself will come in strength, and will reward each one according to his work; he will gather the lambs in his arms and carry the nursing ewes. His greatness is described, for nothing is impossible for him; and he who has created everything, and is the Creator of all, can accomplish even these things which are small in comparison. But he uses the words and measurements of human custom, that we may learn the power of God through our words. In the place where the Seventy translated: Who has measured the water with his hand? or as we translate: Who has measured the waters with a handful? Aquila translated: Who has measured the waters with the smallest finger? For this word λιχὰς signifies that the vastness of all the waters is weighed not with the whole hand but with the small finger, which is commonly called the taster: but σπιθαμὴ, that is, the palm, signifies the hand stretched out from the thumb to the extreme finger. But if we contract our hand, it becomes a fist, so that through the palm and the fist we might know the outspread heavens and the globe of the earth. For the fist, which they brought over to the comprehension of the earth as seventy, is written in Hebrew Salt (), which Symmachus interprets as threefold and Aquila as three-handed: and to make it more evident, we turn it into three fingers; so that, indeed, the mass of the earth and the lofty mountains and hills seem to hang by means of three little fingers and in a small moment from the balance; whereby the majesty of God and the power of the Creator is demonstrated. Who, he says, aided the spirit of the Lord, or who was his counselor and showed him? etc. For which Symmachus interpreted: Who prepared the spirit of the Lord, and who showed him the man of his counsel? with whom he entered into counsel, and gave him understanding, and taught him the way of judgment, and instructed him in knowledge, and showed him the path of prudence? By which it is shown more clearly that the spirit is prepared or established, of which it is read in the Apostle: But the Lord is the Spirit. And on whom the Spirit of God rested, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, etc. He says in the following: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me: because He has anointed me (Isaiah 61:1). He is truly the Spirit of the Lord and the man of His counsel, in whom the fullness of divinity dwelt bodily (Colossians 2). With Him entered into the counsel, of which we spoke above (Ad 11:6): Wonderful, counselor. And in Proverbs it is written: God by wisdom hath founded the earth, by prudence hath prepared the heavens (Prov. III, 19). Moreover, the LXX said: Who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counseller? They wish to understand that the mind, reason and understanding of God, by whom all things were made and without whom nothing was made, is the one of whom it is sung in the Psalms: By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all the power of them by the breath of his mouth (Ps. XXXII, 6). All peoples who did not know their Creator or the whole human race in comparison to God are like a drop from a bucket and like a speck of dust on a scale that tilts lightly to one side. And just as if a small drop falls from a bucket, it is ignored by the one carrying it; so too the entire multitude of nations, compared to the divine ministries and the multitude of angels, is considered as nothing. Even islands are considered like spit, or as Symmachus and Theodotion place it in their Hebrew translation, as 'leptos (a little thing)' which falls off, for which Aquila translated as 'leptos ballōmenon (a tiny thing thrown).' But the Hebrews say that this word signifies the finest dust, which, being carried by the wind, is often thrown into the eyes and is felt rather than seen. Therefore, the tiniest particles of dust, almost invisible, are called by this word: which perhaps Democritus, with his atom, calls them with Epicurus. There are many names which are read (or understood) in Greek in the same way as they are in Hebrew, because of the difficulty of interpretation, and for the comparison of the poverty of the Hebrew language, both in Greek and in Latin speech. At the same time, as he gradually withdraws people from idolatry, he abolishes the ceremonies of sacrifices; and he teaches that all the trees of Lebanon and the cattle that feed on them are not sufficient for his burnt offerings. But if all nations are in his sight as if they were not, and are considered as nothing and empty (though in all nations and in Israel also), therefore he himself is also as if he were not, and is considered as nothing and empty. We say this, so that his pride may be broken, and so that he may know that he is like the other nations.40:18-20
(Verse 18 and following) To whom then will you liken God, or what image will you set before Him? Can the craftsman make a graven image, or the goldsmith overlay it with gold, and the silversmith spread silver plates upon it? Or perhaps the skilled craftsman chooses a piece of wood that will not rot and seeks out a proficient artisan to fashion an image that will not move. Having described the greatness of God and shown His power in part, and having compared the nations and islands to a drop from a bucket and a speck of dust on the scales, and having refuted the use of ashes and sacrificial ceremonies, he teaches those who follow that all the nations before Him are as nothing and are counted by Him as less than nothing. To whom then will you liken God, or what image will you set before Him, who is a Spirit, who is in all things and is everywhere present, and who holds the earth in His hand as if it were a small container? At the same time, he derides the foolishness of nations, because the artisan, whether a blacksmith or a goldsmith or a silversmith, makes their own god and fastens it with nails and firmly establishes it so that it is not blown away by the gusts of wind. And this is what he introduces: a wise artisan has chosen a strong and incorruptible wood, which is called Amsuchan in Hebrew; this type of wood is incorruptible and is used especially for making idols. However, he says this so that, rejecting idols, the way of the Gospel may be followed, and all wrongs may be made right; the valleys may be lifted up, and the hills may be brought low; and the glory of the Lord may be revealed, so that all flesh may see the salvation of God. According to the tropology, we can say that the leaders of the heretics are rebuked for inventing diverse idols from their own hearts; either by the charm of eloquence, which is interpreted as silver; or by the brilliance of gold, which appeals to the senses; or by the incorruptibility of wood, which represents the baser doctrines: and they are considered permanent by the inventors, and are supported by dialectical skill, so that they may not be moved or fall, but may stand firm on a solid root.40:21-26
(Vers. 21 seqq.) Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been announced to you from the beginning? Have you not understood the foundations of the earth? He sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like locusts. He spreads out the heavens like nothing, and expands them as a tent to dwell in. He makes secret things known as if they were not. He has made the rulers of the earth as nothing. They are not planted, nor are they sown, nor do their roots take hold in the earth. He blows on them and they wither, and the whirlwind carries them away like stubble. And to whom have you compared me and made me equal? says the Lord. Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these things: he who brings out their host by number, and calls them all by name. Because of his great power and strength, and because his power has no end. LXX: Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told to you from the beginning? Have you not understood the foundation of the earth? He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. He who sets the heavens like a tent and stretches them like a dwelling place. He who makes princes rule for nothing, and reduces the earth to nothing. For they shall not be planted, nor shall they be sown, nor shall their root be established in the earth. He blows upon them, and they wither, and the storm carries them away like straw. So now to whom will you compare me? Or how am I equal? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who leads according to his ordered number, he will call all by name, from much glory and in the strength of fortitude: nothing escapes you. From the beginning, he said, I have taught you by the natural law, and afterwards I have testified through the written law of Moses, what idols are nothing, and that the Creator of the world himself is God, who has founded such a great mass of land upon the seas, and has placed it upon the rivers: so that the heaviest element hangs by the will of God upon the thin waters, who sits as a king upon the circumference of the earth: from which some contend that it is like a dot and a globe, and its inhabitants like locusts. For if we consider the various nations in the whole world, from the Ocean to the Ocean, that is, from the Indian sea to the British, and from the Atlantic to the harshness of the North, where the waters freeze and beautiful amber grows, we see that the entire human race dwells in the middle like locusts. So why does the earth and ash boast? Because the heavens, indeed, as I will use the authority of the Scriptures, are stretched out like a chamber; or, as it is contained in Hebrew, like a tent, of which we have spoken above: for which the LXX interpreted it as saliva there: and one word now translated as spit, now as chamber, that is, a vault; and its width extends above them like a tent and a canopy, so as to cover people like a roof and make them dwell as if in a very large house. Why should we be surprised if the small bodies of humans are considered like locusts and tiny creatures? Again, in this place, they argue that the semicircle is close to the earth (or rather, the heavens), and they claim that the sky is similar to a sphere. They use the term 'arch' because the middle part of the sphere covers the earth: when in Hebrew, we read not 'arch' but 'dust', that is, very fine powder. For the saliva that is thrown onto the ground and mixes with the dust and disappears, shows that the magnitude of all bodies should be regarded as nothing. But he who stretched out the heavens and spread them out, so that either above could dwell the multitude of angels, or below could dwell human beings, and as if he created a great house for reasonable creatures, he himself established princes according to the quality of the times, whether as secret scrutineers, so that they may be as if they are not; and he made judges of the earth as if they were nothing. For this reason, the Seventy translated it, but they translated the earth as if it were nothing; indeed, in the beginning of Genesis where it is written, 'But the earth was invisible and unfinished' (Gen. 1:1), others translated it as, 'But the earth was empty and nothing.' How many kings, both Greek and Barbarian, does Roman history narrate! Where is that countless army of Xerxes? Where is the multitude of Israel in the desert? Where is the incredible power of kings? What about the ancient ones? Let present examples teach us, that princes are considered as nothing, and rulers of the earth as empty. Those princes and rulers of the earth (or, as others suspect, of heaven) are neither satisfied, nor established, nor firmly rooted, and by the sudden command of God they are taken away and perish, as straw is carried away by the whirlwind and storm; according to what is written: 'I passed by, and he was not there; I sought him, and his place was not found' (Ps. XXXVI, 36). So with such great power and majesty of the Creator, how can you compare God to the likeness of a creature? And do you not rather understand the Creator from the magnitude of the creatures? If you do not believe in words, believe at least in your own eyes; and consider the power of the Lord from the service of the heavens and all the elements. He summons their army, that is, the heavens, in number; and he calls them all by name, and it is understood, the stars. Of which it is also sung in the Psalms: He counts the multitude of the stars: and he calls them all by name (Ps. 46:4). Whether we interpret the hosts of heaven as the army of angels and all the heavenly hosts of which Daniel speaks: Thousands of thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him (Dan. VII, 10). Hence the Lord of hosts is called, which in our language is called the Lord of armies and forces, or powers. He brings forth his host according to the number of the heavens: so that the sun, and the moon, and the other stars, which Abraham could not number, are numbered by Him, and serve the assigned function (Gen. XV): while the same course of the heavens is completed by the sun in one year, by the morning star and the evening star in two years, by the moon in each month, and all the stars follow their appointed times, and some of them are called wandering, and we see their movements with our eyes, not with our minds, nor do we understand them as much as we marvel at them. For the magnitude of God's strength makes all things serve in its own order. Whether according to the Seventy, by the multitude of his glory and the power of his virtue, nothing can escape him; but he knows all the ways, plans, and courses of the Creator by his majesty.Book Twelve
Book TwelveNo writer is so unskilled that he does not find a reader similar to himself: and there are far more people who revolve the fables of Miletus than the books of Plato. In one there is play and amusement, in the other difficulty and sweat mixed with labor. Finally, Tullius himself, who interpreted Timaeus discussing the harmony of the world and the course of the stars and numbers, confesses that he does not understand. But in the schools, children sing the will of Grunnius Corocotta Porcellus among laughing crowds. Therefore let our friend Luscius Lanuinus enjoy his witnesses, or rather his supporters; and let him conquer by the number, because perhaps he conquers by his talent. For me, the testimony of a few is enough, and I am content with the praise of my friends, who, in seeking my little works, slip with love for us and with enthusiasm for the Scriptures; and I believe there will be some who will contend that this very conversation I am having with you, Eustochium, is open to criticism, not considering that Holda, Anna, and Deborah prophesied while men were silent; and in the service of Christ, there is no difference in the value of genders, but of minds. Therefore, the twelfth book of explanations on Isaiah will have this beginning.
40:27-31
(Verse 27 and following) Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel: My way is hidden from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over by my God? Do you not know, or have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint, neither is He weary, and there is no searching of His understanding. He gives power to the faint, and to them that have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But those who hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. LXX: Do not say, Jacob, and what you spoke, Israel: My way is hidden from the Lord, and my judgment is disregarded by my God, and now you do not know, and have not heard? The eternal God, the God who created the ends of the earth: he shall not hunger, nor shall he labor, nor is there any finding of his understanding. He gives strength to the hungry: and does not grieve the sorrowful. For the young will hunger, and the adolescents will labor, and the chosen ones will be weak. But those who wait for God will change their strength. They will take wings like eagles: they will run, and will not labor: they will walk, and will not hunger. The greatness of the Almighty God is so vast that nothing escapes him, and everything is governed by his will. So why do you say Jacob, that is, the two tribes that were called Judah; and you speak of Israel, the other ten tribes in Samaria, who have already been led captive into Assyria: My way is hidden from the Lord: and my just judgment will pass by my God? And this is the meaning: You say that earthly things do not pertain to God, nor does He consider what each of us does. Hence we are unjustly oppressed by our enemies, and, like the beasts and the fish, we are scattered without any governor, according to Habakkuk. To this God responds: Do you not know? Have the words of the preceding Scriptures not taught you, or do you not know according to the Septuagint, because you have not heard that the eternal God and Creator of all things knows all things, contains all things, and governs all things with His majesty? Does it not fail at any time, nor does it labor; so that it does not understand your judgement, and your ways are hidden from it? There is no investigation of his wisdom, about which place I think that saying of the Apostle is taken: His judgments are incomprehensible, and his ways are investigable (perhaps 'unsearchable') (Rom. XI, 33); or, as the LXX translated, he does not hunger, and he does not labor. For where there is food, there is often hunger if you remove the food: and where there is hunger, there is also labor. But since these things are not in God, why do you attribute human passions to him? Rather, he gives strength to the hungry and weary, and he multiplies virtue and strength to those who seem to be nothing in the world. According to the Septuagint, it is he who gives sorrow to those who do not grieve, for it is sadness that leads to death, and it is sadness that leads to life. Therefore, to those who have a hardened heart, he gives sadness so that they may understand their sins. And because many take pleasure in bodily health, and consider youth and childhood to be perpetual, he joins this and says that the flourishing age quickly falls, and strong bodies wither. But those who have confidence not in their own strength, but in God, and always await His mercy, let them change their strength and go from virtue to virtue: and let them take wings like eagles, and hear: Your youth will be renewed like the eagle's (Psalm 103:5); let them run to the Lord, and not grow weary of desiring Him; let them walk, and never grow faint. We have frequently said that the eagles' old age is rejuvenated by a change of feathers, and only those eagles can look upon the sun's rays and behold the splendor of its shining with sparkling eyes: and they should prove their noble offspring, by means of this experiment. And so even the saints are made young again, and with an immortal body, they do not feel the toil of mortals, but are caught up in the clouds to meet Christ, and never go hungry according to the LXX, because they have the Lord himself as food.41:1-7
(Chapter 41, verses 1 and following.) Let the islands be silent before me, and let the nations change their strength: let them come near, and then let them speak: let us come together to judgment. Who raised up the Just One from the East, and called him to follow him? He will give nations before him, and he will rule over kings: he will make them like the dust with his sword, and like stubble driven by the wind to his bow. He will pursue them, and he will pass in peace, a path will not appear under his feet. Who has accomplished and done this, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, am the first and the last; I am He. The islands have seen and feared; the ends of the earth tremble; they have drawn near and come. Each one helps his neighbor and says to his brother, 'Be strong!' The blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in the coals; he fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He also gets hungry and his strength fails; he drinks no water and grows faint. LXX: Come near to me, you islands; let the leaders approach together and declare judgment. Who has stirred up one from the east, calling him in righteousness to his service? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him. He makes them like dust with his sword, like windblown chaff with his bow. He pursues them and moves on unscathed, by a path his feet have not traveled before. Who has done this and carried it through, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord—with the first of them and with the last—I am he.\ He will call her who has been called from the beginning of generations. I am the first God, and I am present in the things that are to come. The nations have seen and feared: the ends of the earth have stood in awe and approached: they have come together, each judging their neighbor to help and support their brother: and they will say: the skilled craftsman and blacksmith have prevailed, striking the hammer together, producing: sometimes indeed they say, ‘it is good to strengthen’. They have strengthened it, they have set it in nails: and it will not be moved. People, that is, the islands, which are buffeted by the false and bitter waves of this age, are commanded to listen and to close their mouths, and to know that which was said to Israel: Listen, Israel, and be silent; and to change their strength, lest they cannot hear the word of God because of their former weakness, so that they may approach the Lord first, and that they may not be satisfied with their own salvation; but that which they have learned, they may teach to others, and may argue with the Lord whether God has kept justice for all. But he interrogates them and challenges them to respond, in order to teach them through the questioning what they are ignorant of: Who raised up the just one from the East, or justice? For it is not only the God of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles, who called Christ the Lord and Savior, who became for us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. 1). In which, according to the same Apostle, God's righteousness is revealed (ibid). But he called him, so that he might follow him in all things and do the works of the Father; and he fulfilled that saying: O God, I desired to do your will (Ps. 39:9). In his presence, kings and nations will submit their necks, and the opposing powers, like stubble and dust, will be subjected to his sword and arrows. He will pursue them, namely the kings and princes of each nation, and he will pass by in peace, calling all to peace so that they may be reconciled to God. His path will not be visible, that is, he will not feel the labor of the journey or any weakness or fatigue of human nature; but he will drink from the stream on the way, and therefore he will lift up his head. Who, he says, has worked and made these? Who raised up the righteous, or righteousness? Who delivered nations and kings to him? Who subjected all things to his sword and bow? Certainly he, who from the beginning of the world predicted these things, who is the creator of all. And because he had said, in response to the questioner's emotion: Who raised up the righteous from the East, etc., while all were silent, he answered himself: I am the Lord, I am the first and the last. He Himself is the one who speaks in the Apocalypse of John: I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end (Rev. I, 8; and XXII, 13). The islands, that is, the nations or the Churches gathered from the nations, have seen and feared the Lord, for the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. IX, 10). All the ends of the earth trembled at the words of the Apostles, approaching and likewise coming to the Gospel of Christ. And when they saw themselves to be saved, they completed the work that they had heard before: let them approach, and then let them speak; that they may assist their neighbors, and that they may wish to strengthen their brothers in the Lord, and may say to them: Depart from idols, despise ancient images of demons, which were created by human hands, which were produced by a hammer striking, which were bound with glue, which were fastened with nails, so that they would not be moved; and when they stood, they could not walk. Some report that we, interpreted as the ones above all others, through the calling of the Gentiles and the preaching of the Gospel and the condemnation of idols, led Cyrus, the king of the Persians, to rise up against the Babylonians from the East, and made him submit to his command, prostrating many nations before him and subjecting everything to his sword and bow. And they relate other things that follow concerning his person, namely that their idols, which were made with human skill and skillfully crafted by the bronze smith, were of no avail to the Babylonians. Some Hebrews believe that Abraham was called righteous from the East, that is, from the Chaldeans, because he alone was found to be righteous. He followed God, leaving his homeland to a land that he did not know, and he delivered kings into his hand who had come against Sodom and Gomorrah. He made them like stubble and dust before his sword and bow. He pursued them, returned in peace, and did not feel the effects of the long journey, and all this was not by his own strength but by the mercy of the Lord, who knew these things from the beginning. They saw, he said, the islands, that is, the nations in the surrounding area, and they were terrified by his power: and the ends of the earth. Indeed, he was the son of Noah, who had escaped the Flood with his father and brothers in the final time of the earth; and he had been preserved until that time: they want him to be understood as Melchizedek, and to have come to meet Abraham returning from battle, and to have received him, and blessed him, and strengthened him with the blessings of God: and to be the skillful craftsman who had fashioned for Abraham, and with the hammer of his art had brought forth better things: and to have said to him, It is good that you are united and joined to him in the fear of the Lord. And he strengthened him, or established him on the key of the commandments of the Lord, so that he would not be moved, but would remain in fear of Him.41:8-16
(Verse 8 and following) And you, O Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend. I have taken hold of you from the ends of the earth, and summoned you from its farthest corners. I said to you, 'You are my servant; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.' So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. You will seek them, and you will not find them: your rebel men will be as if they were not: and like the destruction of warring men against you. For I, the Lord your God, took hold of your hand, saying to you: Do not fear, I have helped you. Do not fear, words of Jacob, you who are dead from Israel. I have helped you, says the Lord, and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. I have made you like a new threshing sledge, with sharp teeth. You will crush the mountains and reduce them to dust; you will make them like fine dust. You will scatter them to the wind, and a whirlwind will blow them away. Then you will rejoice in the Lord; you will glory in the Holy One of Israel. LXX: But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Behold, they shall be confounded and ashamed, all your adversaries. They shall be as if they were not, and all your enemies shall perish. You shall seek them and not find them, those who rage against you. They shall be as if they were not, and they shall not fight against you. For I am the Lord your God, who holds your right hand, who says to you, 'Do not fear, O Jacob, O little Israel.' I have helped you, says God, who redeems you, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I have made you like new grinding wheels of a wagon, in the manner of saws: and you will grind the mountains and crush the hills: and you will scatter them like dust and the wind will carry them away, and the storm will disperse them. But you will rejoice in the Lord and in the holy ones of Israel. Paul the Apostle teaches that Jacob and Israel are both carnal and spiritual: See Israel according to the flesh (1 Cor. 10). From which we understand that there is also another according to the spirit; and the carnal are called Israel: If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham. And above all, it is said (In Chapter 40, verse 27): Why do you say, Jacob, and speak, Israel: My way is hidden from the Lord: and my judgment has passed over from my God? On the contrary, now God speaks to the spiritual Israel, who has received the coming of his Lord, whom he first calls servant, then chosen, and finally the seed of Abraham. For before we received the spirit of slavery in fear (Romans 8); and afterwards, as the chosen ones, we are joined in friendship with God. Therefore, after the calling of the Gentiles, when they saw the islands and were afraid, they were astonished at the ends of the earth; they came near and approached, they are called the remnants, according to the choice of grace, of whom both the Gospel and the Evangelist write: Jesus chose these twelve, whom he also named Apostles (Luke 6), who were chosen after the servitude of the Law, in the Gospel; and they deserved to be the seed of Abraham, friends of God. For in that he apprehended them from the ends of the earth, and called Israel from its farthest borders, gathering first the people of the Jews, of whom also the Apostle Paul says: 'It was necessary that the word be preached to you first, but since you reject it, we will go to the Gentiles' (Acts 13:46). Therefore, to you, who are both my servant and my chosen one, who will preach among the Gentiles and endure many persecutions, I say, do not be afraid, for I am with you, to whom I speak in the Gospel: Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). Do not wander, nor deviate from the truth, nor deceive yourself with false persuasion, thinking that with your inexperienced and unarmed strength, you can enter the wilderness of the nations and call the fiercest nations to gentleness. I am the one who has strengthened you and helped you; and my right hand, that is, the right hand of the righteous, that is, the Lord Savior, has supported you or protected you, as the Septuagint translates. Behold, for your adversaries, the people of the Jews and all who fight against you, and your persecutors will be turned into nothing, and you will seek your adversaries, and you will not find them. And the reason why you will not find your adversaries is explained: because they will be as if they do not exist. But you should not be afraid, because I have taken hold of your hand. I say to you, Do not be afraid: I have helped you; do not fear, worm of Jacob, who are dead from Israel, or as the LXX says, very few from Israel. This that we have set forth, I have helped you: do not fear, worm of Jacob, which is not found in the LXX. But the worm which is said in Hebrew, Tholath (), is called the chorus of the Apostles because of their humility and contempt, imitating the Savior, who speaks in the psalm: I am a worm, and not a man: the reproach of men, and the despising of the people (Psalm 22:7). For just as the worm penetrates the earth, so the apostolic word penetrated the cities of the nations and first entered the hardest hearts. And rightly few are called from Israel, because in comparison to the whole world, very few from the Jewish nation believed, to whom the Lord speaks in the Gospel: 'Do not be afraid, little flock' (Luke 12:32). Or, according to the Hebrew, the dead from Israel, who also say with the Apostle: 'I die daily' (2 Corinthians 15:31). And elsewhere: I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. (Galatians 2:20). And what follows: I have set thee as a new threshing cart, having tearing beaks, signifies that the preaching of the Gospel crushes the opposing powers and lifts up the spiritual wickedness that exalts itself against the knowledge of God; which, according to the variety of pride, are called mountains and hills. And when these are taken away and scattered like a whirlwind, let Israel exult and rejoice in the Holy Lord of Israel. We can also say that an ecclesiastical man, having the serpents of evangelical preaching on a new wagon, which does not work at all in the oldness of the letter, but in the freshness of the spirit, crushes the hardest hearts of unbelievers: separating the wheat from the chaff, and breaking mountains and hills, that is, all the leaders of heretics, who, being crushed and broken, are reduced to dust and taught that they are nothing, so that those who were gathered wickedly may be divided into their own good.41:17-20
(Verse 17 and following) The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs. I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set junipers in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together, so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it. LXX: And the poor and needy will rejoice, for they will seek water and there will be none; their tongue will be parched with thirst. I, the Lord God of Israel, will hear them; I will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the barren heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the cypress, together with the fir tree and the pine, that they may see and know, and consider and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it. The common people, poor and humble, who did not have knowledge of the truth, sought through various teachers and the various doctrines of philosophers for healing waters, and they did not find them, because they do not exist; their language was parched with thirst, without Law and Prophets. For they had consumed all their substance on doctors according to the faith of the Gospel (Luke 8); and they could not be freed from the blood of idolatry and the blood of sacrifices. Therefore, the Lord God of Israel did not completely abandon them, nor did he allow them to perish forever; but he opened rivers on the tops of the hills, or springs in the midst of the fields. Which rivers drew their beginning from that river which is read in the Psalms: The impetuousness of the river makes the city of God glad (Ps. 46:4). And in another place: The river of God is filled with water. Which waters and springs sprang from that fountain which speaks through Jeremiah: They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water (Jer. 2:13). And above, in this same Prophet, it is said: They shall drink waters from the springs of the Savior. Of which it is also sung in the Psalms: Bless the Lord, O God, from the springs of Israel (Ps. 68:27). And he made, he said, a desert into a pool of water, and a dry land into flowing water. Concerning these waters, the Savior spoke in the mystical discourse of the Gospel (John 4:13-14): 'Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.' And again: 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" (John 7:37-39). But, says the Evangelist, he was speaking about the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive. Therefore, since the multitude that had once been deserted by the Church had been irrigated with life-giving water, according to the Septuagint, cedars, boxwoods, myrtles, cypresses, and poplars sprout from it, and according to the Hebrew and other interpreters, cedars, junipers, myrtles, olive wood, firs, elms, and boxwoods together. These varieties of trees signify the diversity of spiritual grace. And because the nature of them is well known to all, we will now explain the Setta, which Theodotio translated as a thorn. It is a type of tree that grows in the desert and resembles a white thorn. From this tree, all the wood for the ark and the tabernacle was made, which is called Settim (Exodus 37). This wood is incorruptible and very light, surpassing all other types of wood in both strength and beauty. But cedar and cypress, and myrtle, of excellent fragrance and incorruptible, are joined with elm and poplar, or with boxwood, or they are most suitable for grafting vines or for various works. All these things are placed together in solitude, so that at least one string of the Lord's lyre and some virtue of the Church's graces may not seem to be lacking. That all may understand and know together in their minds that the hand of the Lord has brought forth all these things, so that in the dryness of the nations the streams of virtues may be found, and in a once deserted and full of saltiness land, cedars and cypresses, and other trees may be born, whose height and top reaching toward the heavens would be illuminated by the wood of the olive, which is the nourishment of light and rest for those who labor.41:21-24
(Verse 21 and following) Make your case, says the Lord: bring forth if you have anything to say, says the king Jacob. Let them come near and declare to us what has happened: declare the past events, and we will set our hearts and know their outcome; and reveal to us what is yet to come. Announce what will happen in the future, and we will know that you are gods. Do good or do evil, if you can, and let us talk and see together. Behold, you are nothing (from nothing): and your work is from something that does not exist: an abomination is he who chooses you. LXX: Your judgment is near, says the Lord God: they have come and drawn near your counsels, says the king of Jacob. Let them draw near and announce to us what is to come: or tell us the former things that have happened, and we will set our minds on them: and we will know the last things. Also, tell us what is to come, and announce to us what will happen in the end: and we will know that you are gods. Do good and evil, and we will admire: and we will see at the same time where you are, and where your work is: they have chosen you from the land of abominations. As we said above, Jacob and Israel are two, those who do not believe and those who believe in the Lord Savior: thus the nations are called, and they flow in rivers and springs in the once desert Church, and with a wonderful abundance of a variety of trees, all most abundantly fruitful, those who refused to believe in Christ from the nations are provoked to judgment, that they may answer why they did not want to see, and know and understand, because the hand of the Lord has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created all things. He says, 'Let your idols approach, which you think are the strongest. Or bring forward, if you have anything by chance within you; and reveal your plans, in what way, with what understanding, you have not wanted to accept the revealed truth. At the same time, there is a direct challenge to the idols themselves, which are insensible, and have neither the ability to hear nor to respond. Tell us,' he says, 'either about the past or the future, and demonstrate your power from the events of things.' However, this signifies that after the coming of Christ, all the idols fell silent: where is Apollo of Delphi, and Loxias, and Delius, and Clarus, and the other idols, promising knowledge of the future, which deceived the most powerful kings? Why could they not predict anything about Christ; nothing about his Apostles; nothing about the ruin and destruction of the temples? If they could not predict their own demise, how could they announce the fate of others, whether good or evil? But if someone were to say that many things have been predicted by idols, it must be understood that they have always joined falsehood with truth, and thus moderated their statements, so that whatever happened, whether good or bad, could be interpreted in either way. Like the saying of King Pyrrhus of the Epirotes:I assure you, descendant of Aeacus, that you are able to conquer the Romans. And as for Croesus: Craesus, having crossed the river Halys, will lose his vast kingdom. Another indication is that idols are not gods, because they can neither do good nor do evil. Not that idols, or demons sitting on idols, have often not done evil; but rather, unless power has been granted to them by the Lord, they cannot do this. Finally, they implore in the Gospel to have power over a herd of pigs (Matthew VIII). And in Job we read, without the Lord's command (Diabolus) that a holy man was not even able to destroy animals and possessions. And it is not surprising that this is true about God, for the Apostle Paul also teaches that certain people belong to Satan, so that they may learn not to blaspheme. Or this may be said, that mute images of humans and insensible things are neither able to do good nor evil, nor to know the past nor the future, because they are made out of nothing and out of that which does not exist, and not they themselves, but rather the one who worships them, is deserving of abomination. For the idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see (Psalm 115: 4-6). So how can they know and proclaim the future or recount the past, and do good or evil, when they have no understanding like humans and animals? It does not matter what material they appear to be made of, since they are all earthly.
41:25-29
(Verse 25 onwards) He stirred up from the north, and he will come from the rising sun: he will call my name, and he will bring magistrates like clay: and like a potter treading the earth. Who announced it from the beginning, so that we may say: You are just. There is neither announcer, nor predictor, nor listener to your words. The first to Zion will say: Behold, they are here, and I will give Jerusalem a messenger. And I saw, and there was none among them that could counsel, and when I asked, no one could answer a word. Behold, all are unjust, and their works are vain; their idols are wind and emptiness. LXX: But I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come from the rising of the sun; they shall call upon my name. Let the princes come and be like the potter's vessel, and let the potter tread down the clay. For who can declare to you the things that are from the beginning, that we may know them that shall be in the future? And we shall say that they are true: there is none that announces, nor that hears your words. I will give the beginning to Zion: and I will console Jerusalem in the way: for there is no one from the nations, and from their idols there was no one who announced. And if I ask them where they are, they will not respond to me: for they are your makers, and they deceive you in vain. Yet he speaks against the idols, and those who did not want to abandon them after the coming of Christ. He says that he himself, having arisen from the North, has raised up the people of the nations. For from the North shall evil be kindled against all inhabitants of the earth. And to Jeremiah it is said: What do you see, Jeremiah? And he answered: I see a burning pot, and its face is towards the North. They are stirred up from the North, that they may believe in him who came from the East. As we read above: Who has stirred up the just one from the East, or justice? Also in another place: Behold a man, the East is his name. Those who call them (Others have called them) by my name, so that, forsaking idols, they may worship one God. For he himself speaks in the Gospel: I came in my Father's name, and you did not receive me; another will come in his own name, and you will receive him (John 5:43). He will trample down the princes and rulers and all the pride of the world, and they will be subjected to him like clay in the hand of the potter, so that he may make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor (Romans 9). These things, which I say I have done according to the prophetic tradition, as if they were already past, or, according to Symmachus, I promise they will be in the future, no demon or idol can predict. Therefore, all oracles have remained silent, because there is no one to announce, no one to hear, while the dull hearts of the Gentiles were first understood in their own terror, and they left behind false prophecies. And the Lord will speak first to Zion, that is, to His Church, and He will say to her: See, your children are here, whom I have given to you through my faith. But it signifies the Apostles, who preached the Gospel throughout the whole world. Zion and Jerusalem differ in name; but as one city, so is one Church. Therefore, let all the nations that follow the error of idols be questioned by us, so that they may respond where they come from. And this will be the answer of all, that they all follow vanity and winds, and adore the works of their own hands. Whatever we have said about idols and nations, let us attribute it to the doctrines of wickedness; and to their leaders, heresiarchs, who, when the Church announces peace in Christ and shows them the way of truth, themselves follow error and are compared to wind and whirlwind. The Hebrews, rising from the North, and coming from the rising of the sun, interpret it as Assyria and Persia, who will come to Jerusalem, and trample all its princes; and let him know that none of the idols they worship will come to pass, except the Lord alone, who has avenged them for their sins.42:1-4
(Chapter 42, Verses 1 onward) Behold my servant, I will uphold him: my chosen one, my soul is pleased with him. I have put my spirit upon him: he will bring justice to the nations. He will not cry out or raise his voice: his voice will not be heard in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break: a smoldering wick he will not put out: he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not be sad or discouraged, until he establishes justice on earth: and the coastlands will wait for his law. LXX: Jacob my servant, I will take him: Israel my chosen, my soul has received him. I have put my spirit upon him: he will bring forth justice to the nations: he will not cry out, nor raise his voice, nor will his voice be heard in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and smoking flax he will not extinguish: he will bring forth justice in truth: he will shine and not be broken, until he establishes justice upon the earth: and the nations will hope in his name. Jacob and Israel are not mentioned in the current chapter, nor did Matthew the Evangelist include them, following Hebrew truth. We say this as a rebuke to those who despise us. This matter was discussed in more detail in the little Commentary on Matthew, and in the book we recently wrote to Algasia. And in the meantime, it should be noted that when the chorus of the Apostles is mentioned, both Jacob and Israel are called the seed of Abraham: to whom, as if to men and servants, it is subsequently said: Fear not, you worm Jacob, and you little one of Israel. But when it comes to Christ's prophecy, it is read without Jacob and Israel: Behold my servant, I will uphold him; my chosen, my soul is pleased with him. And in the following: I have given you as a testament to the race, as a light to the nations: to open the eyes of the blind, and to bring out prisoners from confinement, and those who dwell in darkness from the house of the prison. It is not surprising if he is called a servant, being made from a woman, and being made under the law (Galatians 4); who, although being in the form of God, he humbled himself, taking the form of a servant, and being found in human form (Philippians 2). In whom the soul of God was pleased, seeing in him all the virtues: indeed, seeing him as the power and wisdom of God. He said: 'I will send my Spirit upon him, who will come down in the form of a dove. He will bring judgment to the nations, which they did not know before. He will not cry out, for he will be gentle and meek. He will not show favoritism in judgment, nor will he raise his voice in the streets. According to Symmachus, he will not be deceived, understanding all the schemes of the devil. Or according to the Septuagint, he will not leave the people of the Jews, but will call them to repentance.' Nor will his voice be heard outside of Galilee and Judea, for he did not preach the Gospel among the other nations. And if we read that he was in the region of Tyre and Sidon (Matt. XV), or in the vicinity of Caesarea Philippi, which is now called Paneas, it should be understood that it is not written that he actually entered those cities. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. For he will be merciful to all and will grant forgiveness to sinners, saying to the woman: Have confidence, daughter, your sins are forgiven (Luke VII, 48). And the smoking flax, or as the others have translated it, dim and gloomy, will not be extinguished: those who were near to being extinguished were saved by the mercy of the Lord (which we have discussed about the Jews and the nations in the aforementioned writings); but with truth He will judge all things; not fearing the Scribes and Pharisees, whom He boldly called hypocrites (Mat. VII, XV, XXII, XXIII throughout, and Luc. VI, XII): But what follows: It will shine, and will not be crushed, until He establishes judgment upon the Earth, the Evangelist Matthew did not include (Mat. XII): or perhaps between judgment and judgment, they were omitted due to an error by the writer. But it signifies that, rising from the dead, he enlightened all, and was not crushed by death, until he placed judgment upon the earth: of whom it is spoken in the Gospel: I have come into this world for judgment, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind (John 9:39). Concerning which we have interpreted: He will not be sad, nor troubled; but will always maintain an equal countenance: which they falsely boast about Socrates the Philosopher, that he was never, more than usual, either sad or joyful. For which reason Aquila and Theodotius are interpreted: It will not hide, and it will not run, until it establishes judgment on earth. And the meaning is: no sadness will deter the face, nor will it hurry to punishment, who has reserved the truth of judgment for the last time. What follows: and the law of that island they will expect, the nations, clearly, put hope in its name: which in the Scriptures are called islands, because they are open to incursions of persecutors from every side. But let us understand his law, not the one given through Moses, but the Gospel: For from Zion a law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (see above, II). Concerning this law, Jeremiah also prophesies: Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will establish a new covenant, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt (Jeremiah 31:31, 32).42:5-9
(Verse 5, 6 and following) Thus says the Lord God: He who creates the heavens and stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. I am the Lord, this is my name; I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to idols. The things that were first, behold they have come, and new things I declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them: It was uncertain who has said before: Behold my servant, I will take him: my chosen, my soul has pleased him. I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. After the condemnation of idols, a sudden speech had burst forth. Behold my servant, and the rest, which we have interpreted from the Father's perspective on Christ. Therefore, to not leave it ambiguous who said the previous things, he adds and says: Thus says the Lord God, creating the heavens and stretching them out. Or as the Septuagint translated: He made the heaven and fixed it. Therefore, the Creator and Lord of the universe himself promised the coming of his Christ, who not only stretched out and fixed the heavens, but also established the earth with its lofty mass, and everything that springs forth from it, so that the invisible things of him may be understood and seen from the things that are made (Rom. I); as well as his everlasting power and divinity. He who gave breath to all who dwell on earth, the first law of mortals. For God breathed into the face of Adam the breath of life, and he became a living soul (Gen. II). But the Spirit properly belongs to those who tread upon the earth; and the wisdom of the flesh subjects itself to its own power. Therefore, he to whom such great praises are sung has spoken these words to him, whose law the islands await and the nations: I am the Lord who called you in righteousness; of whom he himself speaks in the Gospel, Father, the world does not know you (John XVII, 25); so that he may be not only the God of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles. And I took hold of your hand, for whatever the Son does, the Father does also. And I saved you, who preserves all things yourself. And I gave you into a covenant with the people of Israel, to whom I had promised that you would come. And into the light of the Gentiles, who were sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, so that you would open the eyes of the blind who had not seen God before. And you would bring out those who were bound in confinement (Prov. 2:16); for each one is bound by the cords of their own sins. And in the Gospel, which Satan had bound, the Lord set free (Matt. VIII). Those sitting in the darkness of the prison house, who were dwelling in the night of error and darkness. And He declares: I am the Lord, this is my name; I will not give my glory to another, nor does He exclude the Son, to whom He said in the Gospel: Father, glorify me with the glory which I had with You before the world was (John XVII, 5), He Himself answered; And I have glorified, and will glorify. For He did not say, 'I will not give My glory to anyone,' for if He had said this, He would have excluded the Son as well, but He said, 'I will not give My glory to another, except to You, to whom I have given it, and to whom I am going to give it.' Therefore, I greatly admire the uniqueness of the holy Scripture, that the phrase 'another' all interpreters have translated consistently, unlike the many other instances where they differ. And so that we may know that the Son is not excluded by this statement, but rather idols are, the following words testify: 'And My praise to carved images.' Pro quo LXX: nec virtutes meas simulacris. Cum enim Christus Dei virtus sit, Deique sapientia, omnes in se virtutes continet Patris. Sequitur, Quae prima fuerunt, ecce venerunt. Et est sensus: Quae locutus sum, quae per Moysen, Prophetasque pollicitus sum, universa completa sunt. Nunc autem annuntio vobis Evangelium, vocationem gentium, passionem Christi, novitatem fidei: ut quomodo priora cernitis rebus expleta, sic et ea quae nunc polliceor, credatis esse ventura.42:10-17
(Verse 10, 11 and following) Sing to God a new song: his praise from the ends of the earth: you who descend into the sea, and its fullness; islands and their inhabitants. Let the desert and its cities lift up: in the houses shall Cedar dwell, praise you inhabitants of Petra, they shall shout from the top of the mountains. They shall give glory to the Lord, and his praise in the islands they shall declare. The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, as a warrior he shall stir up zeal: he shall shout and cry out: he shall strengthen himself against his enemies. I have always kept silent, I have been quiet, I have been patient: like a woman in labor, I will speak. I will scatter and devour together. I will make mountains and hills desolate, and I will dry up all their vegetation, and I will turn rivers into islands, and I will dry up ponds. And I will lead the blind on a path they do not know, and I will make them walk on paths they have not known. I will turn darkness into light in front of them, and I will make crooked paths straight. These are the things I will do for them, and I will not abandon them. They have turned back: let them be confounded with confusion, that trust in idols, that say to molten things: You are our gods. Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: his praise is in the church of the saints. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: and let the children of Sion be joyful in their king. Let them praise his name in choir: let them sing to him with the timbrel and the psaltery. For the Lord is well pleased with his people: and he will exalt the meek unto salvation. The saints shall rejoice in glory: they shall be joyful in their beds. The high praises of God shall be in their mouth: and two-edged swords in their hands. To execute vengeance upon the nations, chastisements among the people. To bind their kings with fetters, and their nobles with manacles of iron. To execute upon them the judgment that is written: this glory is to all his saints. Alleluia. They will give glory to God, his virtues will be proclaimed in the islands. The Lord God of hosts will go forth and crush the battle, he will stir up zeal, and he will cry out against his enemies with strength. Have I been silent from the beginning, will I always be silent and endure? As one in labor, I have acted with patience; I will burst forth and dry up together, I will lay waste the mountains and hills, and I will dry up all their grass. And I will turn rivers into islands, and I will dry up marshes. And I will lead the blind along a way they do not know, and I will make their paths uneven; I will turn darkness into light for them, and crooked things into straight paths. I will speak these words to them, and I will not abandon them, but they have turned backward; you will be confused with confusion, you who trust in idols, who say that they are gods. He who had said: what was first, behold, it has come; I also announce new things: before they arise, I will make them heard to you; and he had promised that he would say what they did not know: what are those new things, he states in the following discourse, commanding the Apostles and the Apostolic men to sing a new song, not in the antiquity of the letter; but in the novelty of the spirit. Not only in the old Instrument, but also in the new; and His praise reaches to the ends of the earth. For He has come forth from the highest heaven and His circuit is to the highest point of it (Psalm XIX). The sound of the Apostles has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. Or according to the Septuagint: Glorify His name in the ends of the earth, that the name of Christ may be announced to the nations in the whole world. But who are those who should sing a new song, the following words declare: You who go down to the sea and sail upon it, or the fullness of the sea. For seeing the apostles, Jesus by the sea of Galilee, mending their nets, called and sent them into the great sea (Luke 5); to make fishermen of fish, who preached the Gospel from Jerusalem to Illyria and Spain: taking the power of the Roman city itself in a short time. Or certainly they descended into the sea and sailed it; enduring the storms and persecutions of this age. Also the islands and their inhabitants, whether understanding the diversity of nations or the multitude of churches. Let the desert and its cities raise their voices, as we mentioned earlier. Whether the desert and its villages rejoice, and Cedar, which was once an uninhabitable region beyond Arabia of the Saracens. And the inhabitants of Petra, which is also a city of Palestine. But this signifies that the deserted people of the nations, previously bound by the ignorance of God and the errors of idolatry, should be converted to the praises of the Lord. Whether because Cedar is interpreted as darkness, and according to the Apostle (I Cor. X) Christ is the rock, it is commanded to all believers, that those who were previously in darkness, and now believe in the Lord Savior, shout from the top of the mountains, and openly proclaim Christ, to whom it is also said above (Ad cap. XL, 9): Ascend to the high mountain, you who proclaim the good news to Zion. Lift up your voice with strength, you who proclaim good news to Jerusalem. And I will set his glory among the islands, of which we have spoken before. And the prophetic discourse describes the glorious advent of the Savior, about which even the Apostle Paul speaks: According to the illumination of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4; 2 Timothy 1:10); and he compares him to a mighty man who will fight against his adversaries, arousing zeal. Of whom it is also prophesied in the Song of Deuteronomy: They have made me jealous with what is not a god; they have provoked me with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a nation; I will provoke them with a foolish nation (Deuteronomy 32:21). He will also shout and cry out against his enemies, openly condemning their faithlessness, and with loud voice proclaiming: I have been silent, I have always kept silent, I have been patient, or as the Septuagint translated: I have been silent, will I always be silent? (Ecclesiastes 3:7) That which is said through Solomon may be fulfilled: A time to keep silent, and a time to speak. And the meaning is: I have often borne with you as you have transgressed for a long time; but because I remained silent before, I will by no means keep silent any longer. And just as a woman giving birth brings forth a child into the light and makes what was previously hidden in the depths of her womb open and visible, so too I will reveal my pain and the deceit that I have always harbored regarding your crimes, and I will expose your plans. And at once I will devour the entire nation and all the pride of your mountains and the swelling of your hills. And the grass, of which it was said: Truly the grass is the people, that is, both the leaders and the common people, I will reduce to a desert. What is added in the edition of Theodotion of the Septuagint, who had omitted these words (See above, Chapter IV, 7). And when I have dried you up from head to toe and wiped you out, then I will make the rivers of my teaching flow in the islands of the nations, and I will turn your lakes or marshes into dry land, so that there may be knowledge of the Scriptures among the nations and dryness of teaching among you. And I will lead the blind along a path they did not know, of whom we have also read above: I have made you a covenant of the people, a light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind. They will be led along the way by which Christ speaks. I am the way, that is, the way of the knowledge of God, and I will make them walk on the prophetical paths. Then their darkness will be changed into light, and their faults will be turned into righteousness, so that they may understand what they read and with the eyes of their hearts may gaze upon the clear light of Christ in the Old Testament. At the same time, he adds: These words that I have spoken or will speak to them do not promise anything further in the future, but fulfill what I promised before. But when this was said, the Jewish people turned backward so as not to believe the promise, and in their errors they were confused and neglected the pledge of God, whom they had believed in before idols. Or when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then also the people of Israel will be converted (Rom. II), and they will repent of their error, by which they had served idols before. Or certainly after the calling of the Gentiles, they will return to the beginning: so that it may be said, all the Gentiles who did not want to believe in the Gospel will be confounded in their idols.42:18-25
(Verse 18, 19 onwards) The deaf, hear! And the blind, look to see. Who is blind, if not my servant? And who is deaf, if not the one to whom I send my messengers? Who is blind, if not the one who has been sold? And who is blind, if not the servant of the Lord? You who see many things, will you not observe? You who have open ears, will you not hear? And the Lord desired to sanctify him, and to magnify the law, and to exalt it. But the people are plundered and devastated: all the youth are trapped in snares, and hidden in prison houses. They have become a prey, and there is no one to deliver them; a spoil, and no one says, 'Restore them.' Who among you hears this, pays attention, and listens to the future? Who has given Jacob over to plunder, and Israel to the plunderers? Is it not the Lord himself, whom we have sinned against? And they have refused to walk in his ways and have not listened to his law. So he poured out his wrath on them, and the fierceness of battle: and he set them on fire all around, but they did not understand; and he burned them, but they did not comprehend. LXX: Hear, you deaf! Look, you blind, that you may see. Who is blind, but my children? And deaf, but those who rule over them? Who is blind (According to the Complutensian edition of the Septuagint) but he who receives: and the servants of God were made blind. You have seen many things, but you have not observed them: your ears are open, but you do not hear. The Lord God was pleased for the sake of his justice, that he might magnify his law. And I saw, and behold a people is destroyed and taken captive. For there was a snare in the hidden places, and a net over their houses. They have become a prey: and there was no one to deliver the spoil: and there was no one to say, Restore. Who is among you that will hear this, and will consider the future? Who hath given Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to robbers? hath not the LORD, he against whom we have sinned? and they would not walk in his ways, neither would they hearken to his law. And he hath poured out upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not, and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart. Lest anyone think that what is said, 'Hear, you deaf; look, you blind,' applies to the Gentile people, who were previously deaf and blind (as the Jews foolishly claim to approve by interpretation), the prophetic speech itself shows that the deaf and blind should be understood. 'Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one in covenant with me, blind like Israel?' Who is blind, but the one who was previously a servant of the Lord? To whom it is said: O Israel, who sees many things, and has many prophets through whom you may know the commandments of God, will you not keep the precepts that have been given to you? You who have open ears, will you not hear what is being said, of which we also read above: You will hear with your ears, and will not understand; and seeing you will see, and will not perceive: for the heart of this people has grown dull (Isa. VI, 9). The Lord, he said, wanted to sanctify him, and magnify his Law, and lift up and comfort his suffering people. But he did not want to do God's will: and therefore he was plundered and devastated by his adversaries, whom we should understand as either demons or enemies. The snares of young men, and those hidden in the houses of prisons. Or as the LXX translated, snares in every hiding place, and in the houses where they concealed them: signifying the scribes and the Pharisees, who deceived the miserable people, and everywhere set traps against the Lord Savior and his Apostles (Luke 11): having the key of knowledge, neither entering in themselves, nor allowing others who wanted to enter. Their beautiful hearts in which they lived were called prisons of evil thoughts. Therefore, they became a prey and a plunder: and there was no one to deliver them, and to speak for them. At the same time, the Prophet encourages them, so that if everyone cannot hear, at least a few would know and understand what they have endured. And they would recognize the reasons for their desolation, who neither wanted to hear nor to do what was commanded by the Law. Therefore the Lord poured out upon them all his wrath and the fury of his anger; uttering also against them exceeding hard words, behold how he incenses them with the Roman Empire he newly built. He burns them completely and leaves nothing healthy in them, yet they do not understand the reason for their punishment, that they have not received the Son of God.43:1-13
(Chapter 43, Verse 1 and following) And now, thus says the Lord, the one who created you, Jacob, and the one who formed you, Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the water, I will be with you, and the rivers will not overwhelm you. When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. From the moment you became honorable and glorious in my eyes: I loved you, and I will give men for you, and peoples for your soul. Do not fear, for I am with you: I will bring your descendants from the East, and gather you from the West. I will say to the North, give up: and to the South, do not withhold: bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth. And everyone who calls upon my name, I have created him for my glory, and I have formed him and made him. Bring out the blind people who have eyes, and the deaf who have ears. Let all the nations gather together, and let the peoples be assembled. Who among you will declare this, and show us former things? Let them bring their witnesses to justify them, and let them hear and say, 'It is true.' You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I am, I am the Lord, and there is no savior without me. I have declared and saved; I have made known, and there was no strange one among you. You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and I am God, and from the beginning I am myself, and there is no one who can rescue from my hand. I will work, and who can turn it aside? LXX; And now thus says the Lord who made you, Jacob, and formed you, Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name, you are mine. If you pass through water, I am with you, and rivers will not cover you. And if you pass through fire, you will not be burned: the flame will not burn you: for I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have made your exchange for Egypt, and Ethiopia, and Seba for you. Since you have been honorable and glorified in my sight: and I have loved you, I will give men for you, and princes for your life. Do not be afraid, for I am with you: I will bring your offspring from the East, and gather you from the West. I will say to the north, give up; and to the south, do not withhold: bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears. All the nations gather together, and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and show us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right, and let them hear and say, 'It is true.' Let them bring their witnesses, and let them be justified, and let them hear and speak the truth. Be my witnesses, and I am a witness, says the Lord God, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe and understand that I am: Before me there was no other God and after me there will be none. I am God, and there is no Savior besides me. I have declared and saved: I have rebuked and there was no stranger among you. You are my witnesses, and I am the Lord God from the beginning, and there is no one who can deliver from my hand. I will do it, and who will turn it away? The Hebrews interpret this as the second coming of the Savior, when after the fullness of the Gentiles, all of Israel will be saved. But we do not think that the promise will be fulfilled for them, as it has been said: Who is blind, but my children? And who are deaf, but those who rule over them? And the servants of God have become blind. And again: The people have been devastated and plundered, and similar things. Finally he brought upon him the outpouring of his furious indignation, and perhaps war, and consumed him all around, and did not recognize, and set him ablaze, and did not understand. Therefore, what we have said above, there are two Jacobs and two Israels, one carnal and the other spiritual, those who did not want to believe in the Savior and those who received the Son of God. This should also be understood now, that the chorus of the Apostles and the first Church of Christ, gathered from the Jewish people, may understand their Creator and Maker, who is both the creator of their soul and body. And let him not fear persecutors, because he has been redeemed by the blood of Christ, who has called him by his name, and let him specifically call his people because of their special relationship; but let him preach fearlessly, and let him not fear any dangers. And what he implies: he describes the attack and fury of persecutors as waters and rivers, and fire and flames, who envy the salvation of the Gentiles and do not want the gospel message to be preached. Although the Jews want the Egyptians to be understood as waters, the Babylonians as rivers, the Macedonians as fire, and the Romans as flames. Therefore, He commands them not to fear, because the Lord their God, the Savior, and the holy one of Israel will be with them, who made them known in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Syene, and even to the ends of the earth to proclaim. Regarding Syene, the remaining interpreters have placed it in Saba (), where the queen of the South came to hear the wisdom of Solomon (III Kings 10). Therefore, the chorus of the Apostles became honorable in the sight of God, and beloved by Him; and they are the salvation of all people and nations who are called to the Gospel through them, and they will be considered for the salvation of their souls. And he joins and says: Do not be afraid, I am with you, who speak to you in the Gospel: Behold, I am with you all days even to the consummation of the world (Matt. 28:20). For I will bring your sons from the East and from the West, who will rest in the bosom of Abraham, and from all parts of the world the people of my sons and daughters will be gathered, who will either invoke my name or be called by my name, so that they may be called Christians to the glory of their creator. And what follows: Educate the blind people, who have eyes; the deaf, who have ears; many people think that it is said about the Gentile people, who began to hear and see through the teaching of the Apostles. But we should also understand this about the dispersed Israel, who was called by the Apostles and believed first; to whom Paul also speaks: It was necessary for the word of God to be preached to you first (Acts 13:46). And the Lord Himself in the Gospel: Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 10:6). Finally, it follows: all the nations are gathered together, and the tribes are assembled, that is, with the people who believed from the Jews, so that there may be a dual calling, of circumcision and of uncircumcision. But what is said, 'Bring forth, O Lord, the word is spoken to the Son.' Or, according to the Septuagint, the Father speaks to the Son, that He may bring forth His blind and deaf people, and join them to the nations, and make many leaders of the Church from them. And the prophet marvels that no one among the nations could have known these things in advance, nor could they have known the plans of God; but only His people who have received the Law and had prophets: For God is known in Judea, His name is great in Israel (Ps. LXX, 1). Whether he himself is the witness of his own words, both the doer and the boy and servant whom he has chosen. There is no doubt that it signifies Christ, to whom he also says above: It is great for you to be called my servant. And all these things will happen, so that the truth may be preached to the world, and they may know, and believe, and understand, whose minds were previously brutish and insensible, that besides one God, there is no other God, neither before nor after. For the creator of times never has a beginning, since time itself sometimes exists. And how did He speak: I am a witness, says the Lord God; and the boy whom I have chosen, saying this very thing to the Lord in the Gospel: The testimony of two men is true. I am the one who testifies about myself, and the one who sent me is the Father (John 8:17-18). Thus, we must understand the divinity of Him, that there is no God except Himself who speaks, and His chosen boy. Besides God the Father, there is no other God: because Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1), who speaks in the Gospel: I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me (John 14:11). For just as the one Lord Christ does not take away from the Father so that he may not be Lord, so the one God the Father does not take away from the Son so that he may not be God: who in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God: this was in the beginning with God (John 1:1-2). And what follows: And there is no Savior without me, shows that the Son saves all things in the Father. Concerning whom the same prophet testifies: And the Lord will send them a Savior, who will make them safe (Isaiah 9). For indeed, God is wise and strong, and His wisdom and virtue cannot exist without Him. So when I foretell these things from the beginning, there will be no one who rejects my will: indeed, what I have done, they could make void. These things are indeed said to Jacob and Israel, but they refer to the apostolic choir and all who want to believe in Christ and be saved from the Jewish people.43:14
(Verse 14.) Thus saith the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their bars, and the Chaldeans glorying in their ships. I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your king. LXX: Thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, your redeemer: For your sakes I will send to Babylon, and will bring down all their fugitives, and the Chaldeans, in the ships of their rejoicing. I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, who have shown your king, Israel. According to the Hebrew, the prophetic speech is still directed to Israel, to whom their redeemer, the Lord and Holy One of Israel, spoke these words: 'Because of you who preach the Gospel with me, to whom I said above: Do not be afraid, for I am with you, you who are the witnesses of my will, and you announce my other Son to the unbelieving world, I have sent my Son into Babylon and the confusion of this age. And I have removed all its bars, which are called Barihim in Hebrew (or Barichim, as interpreted by Theodotion).' And, he said, the Chaldeans are implied, I have removed those who boasted in their ships: in these, namely, who floated like ships among idols. No one doubts about the Chaldeans that they sound like demons. I, the Lord, have foretold these things, who am your Creator and the king of Israel. Moreover, according to the Septuagint, the meaning is quite different: I, the Lord, who have delivered you from dangers, and the holy one of Israel: because of you, I will send the king of the Medes and Persians to Babylon, and I will make its inhabitants flee, and the Chaldeans who captured you will be bound and transferred across the Caspian Sea to other nations. I, the Lord, have determined these future events, which will reveal that the King of Israel will be the one who believes.43:16-21
(Verse 16, 17 and following) Thus says the Lord, who made a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters. Who brought out the chariot and horse, the army and the strong: they lay down to sleep together, they will not rise again; they are broken like flax, they are extinguished. Do not remember the former things, and do not consider the ancient things. Behold, I am doing something new, now it will spring forth; will you not know it? I will make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. The animals of the field will glorify me, the dragons and ostriches; for I have given waters in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people. I have formed this people for myself; they will proclaim my praise. LXX: For thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters. Who brings out chariots and horses, and a multitude of warriors. But they lie down, they shall not rise; they are extinguished, extinguished like flax. Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it shall spring forth, shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. The beasts of the field, the sirens, and the daughters of ostriches will bless me, for I have given water in the wilderness and rivers in the dry land, to make my chosen people, my acquired people, drink. They will declare my virtues. The Lord, who destroyed and cast down Babylon and took away its mightiest ones from power, and made all the Chaldeans who sailed prosperously on the waves of this age captives, He Himself found a way in the rushing waters of the Red Sea, so that his liberated people could cross from Egypt. Whether it was he who made a path in the Red Sea, or who found a way in the raging waters of the river Jordan, so that the departure from Egypt and the entrance into the promised land would have a miracle. He submerged Pharaoh's chariots, horses, and entire army in the depths, who slept an eternal sleep. They were crushed and annihilated, like flax in a short span of time, and in an instant. For flax, even before being consumed by fire, is immediately extinguished due to its light substance, and dissolves into ashes. Therefore, I command you that among my signs and miracles, by which the most powerful city of Babylon was destroyed, and by which the way was opened for my people in the Red Sea and the Jordan river, you must not remember the past, for in the Gospel I am going to do much greater things; in comparison to which, the past should be forgotten. For I will no longer find a way in the Red Sea, but in the desert of the whole world. And not just one river or spring will burst forth from a rock, but many rivers that will refresh not bodies as before, but thirsty souls. And that which we read above will be fulfilled: You will drink the waters from the fountains of the Savior (On Chapter 12, Verse 3). Then, what has never been done will be done, so that all beasts and dragons, and ostriches who dwelt in the wilderness of the nations, and those who were like idolatry in their blood and the savagery of beasts, will glorify and praise me. As for the dragons, whom only Theodotius, as it is written in Hebrew, called Thannim (or Al. Thennim), the rest were interpreted as Sirens, monstrous creatures who would throw sailors to be torn apart by the barking Scyllaean dogs with their sweet song and deadly charm. And this means that those who were formerly devoted to pleasure and luxury are converted to the service of the Lord; although it is better to understand it as dragons, because they are joined with ostriches, since he spoke about beasts of the wilderness once, he put these animals, which are familiar in the desert. They will praise me, he says, and the animals of the field will glorify me, and the dragons, and the ostriches, because I gave waters in the desert of the nations, and rivers in the dry land of the peoples, so that my people, whom I have chosen for myself, or my chosen race, and the people whom I have acquired with my blood, may drink, and they may tell my praises and virtues.43:22-24
(Verse 22, 23 and following) You did not call upon me, Jacob: you did not labor for me, Israel. You did not offer me the ram of your burnt offering, and you did not glorify me with your sacrifices. I did not make you serve in the offering, nor did I require labor from you in the burning of incense. You did not buy for me fragrant reeds with silver, and you did not satisfy me with the fat of your sacrifices. However, you served me in your sins: you provided labor for me in your iniquities. LXX: You have not now called, Jacob, nor have I made you labor, Israel. You have not brought me the sheep of your holocaust; nor have you magnified me with your sacrifices; nor have you made me serve with your offerings; nor have you bestowed upon me labor with frankincense; nor have you purchased for me with silver the sweet odor of your sacrifices; nor have you desired the fat of your victims; but you have defended yourself in your sins, and in your iniquities. The beasts of the field, dragons and ostriches praising me, you, Jacob, did not want to invoke me, nor afterwards did you labor to amend sin through repentance. But what you think you offered me as victims and sacrificed rams, know that they were not accepted by me, because they were common to me and idols. And he repeats the sense that he stated above: Why do I need the multitude of your victims, says the Lord? I am full of burnt offerings of rams, and fat of lambs, and blood of bulls and goats I do not desire. For I have not required anything precious from you, that I would make you labor in acquiring them. I have not required offerings from you, nor have I sought incense: not reed, nor incense, nor diverse kinds of pigments, with which you would intoxicate and satisfy me with their smoke. But I desired obedience, which is above sacrifice: and sacrifice, of which David says in the Psalms: Sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit: a broken and humbled heart God does not despise (Ps. 50:19), that is what I wanted, that is what I sought. But you have made me serve and labor in your sins, so that I am compelled to say: I have labored and endured; and I can no longer bear you. And through Hosea, God says the same: What shall I do to you, Ephraim? I will protect you, Israel. What shall I do? I will make you like Adam, and like Sodom. But what the Septuagint has is, I have defended you in your sins, and in your iniquities, so it can be connected to the previous statements, that it is God's labor and weariness to defend sinners.43:25-28
(Verse 25, 26 and following) I am, I am myself, who blots out your iniquities for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Bring me to remembrance, let us argue together; set forth your case, that you may be proved right. Your first ancestor sinned, and your interpreters transgressed against me. And I profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and delivered Jacob to destruction and Israel to reviling. LXX: I am, I am he who blots out your iniquities, and I will not remember. But remember, and let us argue together. Declare your iniquities first, that you may be justified. Your fathers have sinned, and your princes have dealt unjustly with me, and they have defiled my holy ones. And I gave up Jacob to destruction and Israel to reviling. You, Jacob and Israel, you have caused me to labor in your sins, and I could barely bear the burden of your iniquities. I do not call you my servants or slaves, but I address you simply by the names Jacob and Israel, so that I may show and prove your sins. But I, because I am kind and patient, and have many mercies, will wipe away all your iniquities in the sprinkling of the blood of the new Testament: I will wipe away the old handwriting, which was written against you; and I will no longer remember your sins, which I am willing to forgive you, if you believe, in baptism. Therefore, bring me to remembrance: if you have any just thing to answer to me, I will gladly accept it, so that we may be judged together, and you may accuse me of not doing what I should have done for you. Whom we find fuller in understanding than in Micha, saying: My people, what have I done to you, and how have I harmed you? Answer me: for I brought you out of the land of Egypt and freed you from the house of slavery, and I sent Moses and Aaron and Miriam before your face. And in the fiftieth Psalm David speaks to God: That you may be justified in your words, and may overcome when you are judged (Ps. 50:5). Therefore, tell me if you have anything, so that you may be justified. And the meaning is: I will not speak against you first, lest you claim to be overwhelmed by the multiplication of words; but if you have anything just to say, speak for yourself; so that you may seem to endure the things you suffer unworthily. And so that you may know that I have mercy on you, not because of your merit, but because of my compassion, I will repeat it from your fathers and ancestors, so that you may understand that you were born from sinners: Your father first sinned in solitude: namely, the entire people of Israel. Whether Abraham, the founder of your race, is shown to have sinned when, in response to the Lord's promise to give the land of promise to his descendants, he asked, 'How shall I know that I am to possess it?' And of your interpreters, he says, 'they have acted unfaithfully toward me' (Gen. XV, 8). Aaron and Moses at the waters of contradiction, when they were speaking between me and the Israelites (Exod. XVII). And so that we may understand this is not a forced interpretation, it is followed by the statement, 'And I have defiled the holy princes,' concerning whom it is said in the psalm, 'Their rulers were swallowed up by the rock' (Ps. CXL, 6). He says that they contaminated themselves on purpose because they did not enter the promised land. He devoted Jacob and Israel to destruction and blasphemy, so that no one except two of those who had come out of Egypt would enter into Judah, but their bodies would lie in the wilderness. According to the Septuagint, who added from their own: You speak first of your own iniquities, so that you may be justified. God calls them to repentance, so that they may understand their crimes and sins, and obtain forgiveness. For it is written in another place: 'He who pleads his own cause in the beginning of his speech is just' (Prov. XVIII, 17). And their leaders and fathers are said to have violated the holy things of the Lord, not obeying the Law of God, but seeking the traditions and commandments of men. Because of them Jacob perished, and Israel was given into reproach, expelled from his own province, and became an exile and wanderer throughout the whole world.44:1-5
(Chapter 44, verse 1 and following) Now listen, my servant Jacob, and Israel, whom I have chosen. Thus says the Lord, your maker and shaper from the womb, your helper. Do not fear, my servant Jacob, and you, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They will sprout among the grass, like willows by flowing streams. He will say, 'I am the Lord's,' and another will name himself by the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand, 'The Lord's,' and adopt the name of Israel. LXX: But now hear, Jacob my servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. I am the Lord your God, who created you and formed you from the womb; you will still have my help. Do not fear, my servant Jacob, and beloved Israel whom I have chosen. I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessings on your descendants.' And they shall spring up as among the grass, and as willows by the water courses. One shall say, I am the Lord's: and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob: and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel. When the people of Judah are accused of unbelief and blasphemy, they are called by simple names without any dignity: You have not called upon me, O Jacob, neither have you labored about me, O Israel; and again: I have given Jacob to utter destruction, and Israel to reproaches. But when he speaks to the choir of the Apostles, who are from the Jews, the privileges of their names are also joined. Listen, Jacob my servant, and Israel whom I have chosen: that servitude be first, election second. Thus says the Lord, your maker and your creator, who aided you in the womb (Gen. XXV): that even in the womb of your mother you would grasp the heel of your brother. Or who, at the beginning of the nascent Church, preserved you from persecutors. Do not fear their cruelty, my servant Jacob, whom I have chosen. He is also called Israel; Isurun in Hebrew, and the others, the most upright or the straightest. Only the LXX called him the most beloved, combining it with their own, Israel. Specifically, according to the Hebrews and the faith of the scriptures, Israel is called the upright one of God. But a man who sees God is not in the elements, but in the sound of his voice. And the book of Genesis is called εὐθεῖς, that is, the book of the righteous: Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. Therefore, do not be afraid, Jacob and Israel, for I will pour out water on the thirsty and the dry land, of which it has often been said: 'I will pour out, or I will put my spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing upon your descendants, who will be born again in water and the Holy Spirit in baptism. This promise was also made by the Savior in the Gospel, when he said: 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.' And immediately he brings in: Now he said this about the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive (John 7). He also compares those who are reborn in baptism to evergreen herbs and willows that grow by flowing waters, and he brings forth fruits against nature, which was previously barren, or whose seed, when consumed as food, renders them barren. This is indeed read in the first psalm: And he shall be like a tree planted beside the running waters, which shall yield its fruit in due season, and its leaf shall not fall. Others among the herbs and the growing willows understand a twofold calling: that the people of the nations be in the herbs; in the willows, those who believed from Israel. And at the same time it describes the variety of believers: One will say, 'I am of the Lord', who trusts in the works of righteousness within himself; another will call, it is understood, 'sinners to repentance in the name of Jacob', so that they themselves may uproot vices and sins. Another will write with his own hand, 'I belong to God'. Or as they translated it in the Septuagint, he will write in his hand: I am of God, so that he may boast in the new apprenticeship of the service of Christ. And he will be assimilated in the name of Israel. For not all from Israel, but a great part from the multitude of the Gentiles, will be assimilated in the name of Israel, so that he may receive the Law and the Prophets, and all the graces of the Holy Spirit that were promised to the Israelite people.44:6-20
(Verse 6 and following) This is what the Lord, the king of Israel and his redeemer, the Lord of hosts, says: I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides me. Who is like me? Let him call and declare, and lay out the order for me, since I established the ancient people: what is coming and what will happen, let them declare to them. Do not be afraid, nor be troubled: from that time I have made you hear and announced it; you are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me, and a creator whom I do not know? All the idols of the nations are worthless, and the things they love do not profit them. They themselves are witnesses to their own worthlessness, for they do not see or understand, so that they may be put to shame. Who formed a god or cast an idol that is profitable for nothing? Look, all his companions shall be put to shame; the craftsmen are mere men. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together. The blacksmith takes a tool and works it with the coals; he fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He will be hungry and will become weak, he will not drink water, and he will grow weary. The carpenter extends the rule (or the form), he shapes it on the plane, he forms it with angles, and rounds it off with a compass. And he makes an image of a man, like a handsome man dwelling in a house. He cuts down cedars, he takes an oak, and a tree that stood among the woods. He plants a pine, which the rain nourishes, and it becomes fuel for men. He takes from them, and warms himself; he kindles it, and bakes bread. But the rest of it he made into a god and worshipped; he made an idol and bowed down to it. He burned half of it in the fire and cooked meat on it; he roasted a stew and ate it, and then he was satisfied. He warmed himself and said, 'Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.' The rest of the wood he made into a god, his idol. He bows down to it and worships; he prays to it and says, 'Save me, for you are my god.' They do not know, nor do they understand; for their eyes are too dim to see, and their hearts too dull to perceive. They do not recognize in their mind, nor do they know, nor do they feel to say: I burnt its middle with fire, and I baked bread on its coals. I cooked meat, and I ate, and from the rest of it I will make an idol, I will prostrate before the trunk of a tree, a part of it is ashes: the foolish heart worshipped it: and it did not save its soul, nor will it say: perhaps there is a lie in my right hand. After the preaching of the Apostles, the calling of the Gentiles, the coming of the Savior, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which he promised to give to all who believe, when another will say, I belong to the Lord: another will call himself in the name of Jacob: another will write with his own hand that he belongs to the Lord, and when he has arisen from the unbelieving crowd of the Gentiles, he will be likened to Israel, so that having abandoned idols, he may be a worshipper of one God: it begins another section, which we have presented in its entirety, so as not to divide the unity of its meaning. And because the Septuagint in this chapter, with the exception of a few words, does not differ from the Hebrew, we are satisfied with our edition, by understanding which, the others will be understood as well. And this is a discourse against the idolaters of that time, to whom the prophet Isaiah proclaimed the coming things for the people, and he reproves those who, despising the religion of Almighty God, incline to wooden idols and worship the works of their own hands. Let us therefore run through each point. Thus says the Lord, the king of Israel, who is to be believed in me, and his redeemer, who will receive the coming of my Son: The Lord of hosts and virtues, and Almighty. For in Hebrew, it means Sabaoth (). I am the first and the last, I am Α and Ω; and there is no God without me, for the child whom I have chosen is God in me. Of whom I said above: Behold my child, whom I have chosen: my chosen one, whom my soul has received: he will bring judgment to the nations: and in his name the nations will hope. He does not say that he alone exists, but that apart from his own virtue and wisdom there is no external God, and condemns the belief in many gods and images: Who, he says, is like me? Let him call those things which are not as though they were, and explain the order of my creation, which I have balanced with reason, since I made man upon the earth. And not only do I desire this, but I also seek knowledge of the future. Therefore, you, Israel, of whom I am both king and redeemer, do not fear the images that you have learned are nothing on Mount Sinai. Is there perhaps another Creator, whom I do not know? Or is there another world beyond this one, which reveals the power of an unknown God? And not only the things that are made, but also those who make them, will be considered worthless. And when the time of vengeance comes, they will not be able to free themselves from the works of their own hands, which blind and senseless artisans confuse. For who can believe that God is formed by an axe, file, drill, or hammer? And are there statues made of thorns; or do the plumb-line, plow, and corner-squares, and the compass suddenly rise up into gods? Especially since the poverty of the artist is shown by hunger and thirst. For a wooden statue is made, representing human form, and the more beautiful it is, the narrower is the God thought to be. It is placed in a shrine, and is enclosed in eternal prison, which grew for a long time in the woods, and depending on the variety of trees, was either a cedar or an oak or a pine. And in a wondrous manner, its segments and scratches are thrown into the hearth, so that they may warm the artisan of God and cook different dishes. But the other part is fashioned into a god, so that, with the work complete, the creator may adore it and seek assistance from his own creation. Yet he does not understand or consider, indeed, he does not even look upon it with the eyes of the flesh or the mind, that it cannot be God, whose part has been consumed by fire, nor can the divine majesty be made by the hand of man. Moreover, the prophetic language is more fully covered with ridicule, which is easily understood and does not require a verbose, rather superfluous commentary. This is what Horace also writes about in his Satire, mocking the idols of the nations (Satire VIII, Book I).Once I was a fig tree trunk, useless wood: When a craftsman was unsure whether to make a bench or Priapus. He preferred it to be a god: I became a god, the greatest fear of thieves and birds. . . . . . . . . . . . . Whatever is said about idols can also be applied to the leaders of heresies, who create images of their doctrines and lies with cunning hearts and worship things that they know are made by themselves. And their own error is not enough for them, unless they deceive even the simplest of their followers with their worship. Those who think that gain is godliness and devour the homes of widows (I Tim. VI), taking advantage of the ignorance of the common people, in this way, with dialectic art, as if with an axe and drill, they shape their own god, and they forge with a hammer, and they gild with the elegance of rhetorical language: of whom their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame (Philipp. III).
44:21-23
(Vers. 21 seqq.) Remember these things, Jacob, and Israel, for you are my servant: I have formed you, you are my servant, O Israel, do not forget me. I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you. Praise, O heavens, for the Lord has shown mercy: rejoice, O ends of the earth, let the mountains resound with praise, the forests and every tree in it: for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and Israel will be glorified. LXX: Remember these things, Jacob and Israel; for you are my servant: I have formed you, my servant: and you, Israel, do not forget me. Behold, I have blotted out your iniquities as a cloud, and your sins as a mist. Return to me, and I will redeem you. Rejoice, heavens, for the God of Israel has shown mercy. Sound the trumpet, foundations of the earth, cry out, mountains, with joy: hills and all the trees in them, for God has redeemed Jacob: and Israel will be glorious. When these things are thus, and know that idols of men are figments, O Jacob and my Israel, do not forget your Creator, and do not do injury to yourself, so that you bow down to the work of your hands. Because these things are completely destroyed in the coming of my chosen child, therefore with all the eagerness of your mind, understand that just as a cloud and darkness, and mist, either dissolve in the heat of the sun, or are weakened by the wind that carries them away: so I will dissolve your iniquities and all the sins by which you have previously offended me. Just return to me and repent, for you are to be redeemed by precious blood. If you do this, know that in your salvation, the heavens and the earth will rejoice, and all the elements will harmonize. Whether it be the angels who reside in the heavens, and other powers that support the foundations of the earth. Or certainly the Apostles and Prophets, of whom the Apostle spoke: 'Built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets' (Ephes. II, 20). The mountains and forests, or hills, which, for the variety of their virtues, possessed the first and middle and last places, are commanded to rejoice and sound the trumpet, knowing that the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and in Israel there is joy in the conversion, or that Israel himself, having turned from error, may become illustrious.44:24-28
(Verse 24 and following) Thus says the Lord, your redeemer, and your creator from the womb: I am the Lord, the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens alone, establishing the earth, with no one beside me. Making the signs of the diviners void, and driving the soothsayers mad; turning the wise men backward, and making their knowledge foolish. Fulfilling the word of my servant, and performing the counsel of my messengers. I say to Jerusalem: you shall be inhabited, and to the cities of Judah: you shall be rebuilt, and its desolate places I will restore. I say to the depths: be desolate, and I will dry up your rivers. I say to Cyrus: you are my shepherd, and you will fulfill all my desires. I say to Jerusalem: you will be rebuilt; and to the temple: you will be founded. LXX: Thus says the Lord who redeemed you, and formed you from the womb. I am the Lord, who fills all things: I alone stretched out the heavens, and established the earth. Who else has dispersed the signs of the pythons, and the divinations from the heart? Who turns wise men backward, and makes their counsel foolish. And I establish the word of my son, and I approve the true counsel of the Angels. I say to Jerusalem, you will be inhabited: and to the cities of Judah: you will be built, and its desolate places will be restored. I say to the abyss, you will be desolated, and I will dry up your rivers. I say to Cyrus, so that he may understand, and do all my will; I say to Jerusalem, you will be built: and I will establish my holy house. With the idols and injustices of Israel destroyed, and sins cleansed, when every creature will rejoice together; and according to the faith of the Gospel (Luke 15), the Angels will rejoice in heaven for the repentance of sinners, the power of God is described, that it is not great for him to redeem Jacob, and to restore Israel, whom he formed from the womb. And if this seems significant to someone, let it not be difficult for them who alone stretches out the heavens. As it is written elsewhere: He who stretches out the heavens like a skin (Ps. CIII, 2). Not that the Son is excluded from the stretching out of the heavens: For all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made (John I, 3), but so that, as we have often said, idols may be excluded by this understanding. For even in the Proverbs of Solomon, from the person of Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God is said: When he established the heavens, I was with him (Prov. VIII, 27). For he himself spoke, and they were made; he himself commanded, and they were created (Psalm 148:5; Psalm 33:9). And: By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all the power of them by the breath of his mouth (Psalm 33:6). We frequently proclaim these things so that no occasion is given to the heretics to blaspheme Christ. In the stability of the earth, when he was establishing its foundations, there was no one with God except him who was in it. Therefore, when the appointed time of the predetermined mystery arrives, so that all idols are destroyed and the knowledge of the one true God is preached in the world, he will destroy and overthrow all the prophecies of the divine, the pythonesses, and the soothsayers, along with the signs and wonders by which they have deceived the human race. And he will show that the wisdom of the philosophers, which is itself the greatest part of error, is foolish, since by no means can human thoughts comprehend the wisdom of God. And furthermore, the word of the boy, or his servant, about whom we spoke earlier, and the advice of his messengers, will accomplish these things: namely, the Apostles and all the teachers, who will proclaim the will of their master to the nations. Therefore, he himself, who will accomplish such great things, whose power I have described in a few words, also says to Jerusalem, which will be destroyed by the Babylonians, before it is destroyed, that it will be inhabited again by the people, and to the cities of Judea, that they will be restored, and he will raise up its desolations, so that all may be filled with cultivators. Therefore, whoever says that Jerusalem, and Judah, and its deserts should be inhabited, and built, and restored, he is saying that Babylon, which is the deep or abyss, should be made desolate and your rivers should be dried up, along with all the power of kings. And because he had said the deep and abyss, he appropriately added the translation of rivers, about which even the Psalmist sings: By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept (Psalm 137:1). And he who restores Jerusalem, destroys Babylon. He also says to Cyrus, the king of the Persians, who first destroyed Babylon and the Chaldeans: you are my shepherd, or as the Septuagint translated, so that you may understand. The reason for this difference is clear. For the Hebrew word Roi, if we read it with the letter Res (ר), it is understood as my shepherd; if we read it with the letter Daleth (ד), it means my knowing or understanding, which are distinguished by a small apex, and therefore are often confused. It is written at the beginning of Ezra, that by the edict of Cyrus, the king of the Persians and Medes, the captivity of the people of Israel was released, and those who wanted to return were sent back to Jerusalem under Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua, the son of Josedech the high priest. For to him the Lord inspired to do his will, and to fulfill his commandments. Significantly, he added, I say to you Jerusalem, you shall be built, and to the Temple, you shall be founded. For under Cyrus, it was commanded to build Jerusalem and the Temple, of which only the foundations were laid while he was alive. However, under Darius, in his second year, with the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the building of the Temple was begun.45:1-7
(Chapter 45, Verses 1 onwards) Thus says the Lord to Cyrus, his anointed one, whom he has taken by the right hand to subdue nations before him and strip the loins of kings, to force gateways before him that their gates be closed no more:I will go before you, and level the mountains; I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches hidden in secret places, so that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. Because of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen one, I have called you by your name: I have likened you to myself, and you have not known me. I am the Lord, and there is no other: besides me there is no God: I have girded you, and you have not known me. So that they may know, from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is no one besides me ((Previously it was added: God)). I am the Lord, and there is no other. Forming light and creating darkness: making peace and creating evil. I am the Lord who does all these things. I know that in this chapter not only many Latin but also Greek people greatly err, thinking that it is written: Thus says the Lord to my Christ, the Lord; so that it is understood, according to what we read elsewhere: The Lord rains from the Lord (Gen. II). And: The Lord said to my Lord (Ps. CIX, 1). For it is not κυρίῳ, which means Lord, but it is said to Cyrus, who is called Chores in Hebrew, the king of the Persians, who overcame Babylon and the Chaldeans. And with the Medes joined together, the charioteer of the chariot, that is, of the camel and the donkey, is read above. This one is called Christ, that is, the anointed of the Lord, which was a sign among the Hebrews of royal power, just as with us the emperor is given a diadem and purple robe: so among the Hebrews those who were to reign were anointed with oil. Hence Saul is also called the anointed of the Lord (1 Samuel 24). And in the Psalms we read: 'Do not touch my anointed ones, and do no harm to my prophets' (Psalm 105:15). He grasped and held the right hand of this man, so that no one could resist his strength. Let us read the history of Cyrus the Great, consisting of eight books by Xenophon, and we will see the prophecy of Isaiah fulfilled. What city did not yield to him? What king did not submit to him? What walls, before impregnable, were not brought down by his siege? Therefore, God addresses Cyrus himself: I have given you treasures and hidden riches of all cities, so that you, who previously worshipped idols, would acknowledge one God through my blessings, especially since you know that your name was foretold long before you were born. Which indeed Josephus also relates in the eleventh book of Jewish Antiquities, that Cyrus read of himself prophesied by name by Isaiah, and therefore the Jews loved him greatly as if he were one of God's own familiar ones. These things, he says, I attribute to you because of my servant Jacob, and my chosen Israel, and I called you by your name, just as I called Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and long before, I foretold you, Isaac and Josiah, so that you would not think that he is the Christ, to whom you are compared, and in whose type and image you have preceded. But you did not know me, that is, you worshiped idols, not God. I have equipped you with strength; I have made you conquer many nations, and you did not know your helper. In this respect, I cannot help but be amazed at the foolishness of the readers; that they would refer these things to Christ, through whom the world is reconciled to God. I, says the Lord, and there is no one besides me. Besides my word, reason, power, and wisdom, which are in me, there is no other God. And I have done these things so that from the East and the West the whole world may recognize that there is no other God besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other. For the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father. He who speaks in the Gospel: I and the Father are one (John 10:30). And it is written in the book of Ezra that Cyrus wrote to all nations that there is no God except the God of Israel. Or it is to be understood in this way, that the release of captives and the mercy of God towards his people has made God known to all nations. Therefore, I, the only God, give you strength. I myself create opposing things, light and darkness, that is, day and night; peace and evil, that is, calm and war, through which I indicate that I was angry with my people when they endured the darkness of captivity and the evils of slavery. And again, I showed mercy when I released them to their homeland and they received peace and joy. Just as light is opposed to darkness, so war is opposed to peace. In order to combat heresy, which considers God, the creator of all things, as evil, it must be noted that this evil is not opposed to good, but rather serves as a means of affliction and struggle, as it is written in the Gospel: 'Sufficient for the day is its own evil' (Matthew 6:34). We can apply this understanding to a wise man of the Church, to whom God has granted speech and wisdom, so that through his arguments he may undermine all sects that are contrary to the truth. Just as the Holy Scripture also mentions about Stephen (Acts 6), that no one was able to resist his wisdom, and so that he may subject kings, that is, the leaders of each heresy, to his authority, and open and break down what previously seemed to be concluded by the art of dialectic, and bring forth the secrets of the heretics, surpassing and convincing them, so that they may know the secrets of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2). God calls this man by His own name because he is the defender of His servant Jacob and His chosen one Israel. God accepts him and conforms him to His word, which he must be careful not to think that what he speaks is his own, but rather he should attribute all glory to the giver; lest he himself deserves to hear: 'I have called you, and you have not known me.' For when, equipped with the armor of an Apostle, he teaches everyone that there is no other God but one, who is the God of Jacob and Israel, Marcion will be confounded, for he understands two gods, one good and the other just; one the creator of the invisible, the other of the visible. From these, the first makes light, the second darkness; the former brings peace, the latter brings evil: and yet the same God created both, according to their different merits.Book Thirteen
Book Thirteen.Multiple dangers overwhelm the sailors. If the wind blows stronger, the storm is a source of fear. If a milder breeze ruffles the surface of the highest waves, they fear the attacks of pirates. And so it happens that, entrusted to a fragile plank of wood, they either fear danger or endure it: both are equally severe, either to fear death perpetually or to endure what you have feared. I see this happen to me while sailing on the sea of Isaiah; for while the sails are being set in an undisturbed course, and the keel, cut by the hands of nature, glides over the plains of the sea, a sudden whirlwind of languor arises, with so many waves heaving and crashing against each other with a resounding noise, frightening the timid hearts of their friends, so that they were forced to say: Master, save us, we are perishing (Matth. VIII, 25). Therefore, Eustochium, the unique example of nobility and virginity in the whole world, do not remain silent, the apple of your eye; and cry out in your heart: Abba Father (Rom. VIII, 15). And with the Psalmist, say: Arise, why do you sleep, O Lord (Ps. XLIII, 23)? So that I may complete the work assigned to me by Isaiah, with your prayers and the mercy of Christ. For now, the thirteenth book of Explanations is being compiled, which has not yet reached its completion. And in the meantime, until the merciful and compassionate Lord, patient and full of mercy (Ps. 185 and 144), restores the former health, I have dictated this Preface in a hasty manner; so that what is contained herein may be written down on papers; and the complete correction may be reserved for the judgment of the reader.
45:8
(Chapter 45, Verse 8) Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just: let the earth be opened, and bud forth the saviour, and let justice spring up together: I the Lord have created him. Septuagint: Let the heavens above rejoice, and let the clouds rain down righteousness: let the earth bring forth salvation, and let mercy spring up, and let justice bud together: I the Lord have created thee. There is a double interpretation of this passage. For some believe that it refers to the previous statements, and that when Cyrus the king releases the captives, heaven and earth rejoice: metaphorically, this signifies those who dwell in heaven and on earth. Others separate it from what has gone before, and consider this chapter to be the beginning of its own section, and to prophesy concerning the coming of the Lord, which is commanded to come with clouds, about which it was written above (in ch. V, 6): 'I will command the clouds that they rain not upon it,' that is, upon the vineyard of Israel; and concerning those to whom the truth of God has come, so that they may rain righteousness upon the world or righteousness; and let the earth open, and let it bring forth a Savior. Concerning whom it is sung in the Psalms: 'Truth has sprung from the earth, and righteousness has looked down from heaven' (Ps. LXXXIV, 12); or, according to the Septuagint: 'The earth has brought forth mercy and righteousness together,' so that both sinners may obtain mercy and the righteous may receive rewards. And furthermore, I, the Lord, who created him, or, I, the Lord who created you, shall not be scandalized by the name of the creature, who has read him to be a worm, a servant, and a plant sprung from the earth.45:9-13
(Verse 9 and following) Woe to those who contradict their maker, a pot made of clay, and say to the one who formed them, 'What are you making?' or 'Your work has no hands.' Woe to those who say to their father, 'What are you begetting?' or to their mother, 'What are you in labor with?' This is what the Lord says, the Holy One of Israel, and its maker: Ask me about the things to come, concerning my children, and about the work of my hands, give me orders. I made the earth and created humans on it, I stretched out the heavens with my hands, and I command all their host. I have raised him up to righteousness, and I will direct all his ways. He will build my city, and he will release my captivity, not for a price or with gifts, says the Lord of hosts. LXX: What better have I done than clay to a potter? Will the plowman plow the earth? Will the clay say to the potter, what are you doing, since you do not work and do not have hands? Woe to him who says to his father, what do you beget, and to his mother, what do you give birth? For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, who created what is to come. Ask me about my sons and command me concerning the work of my hands. I made the earth and created man upon it. I, with my own hand, stretched out the heavens; I commanded all the stars. I raised him up with righteousness as a king; all his ways are straight. He himself will build my city and will turn the captivity of my people, not with price nor with gifts, says the Lord God of hosts. Those who want to apply what was said to the character of Cyrus interpret this place as follows: With me promising great things, because of the return of my people to Judea, I will subjugate all the kingdoms to Cyrus: Woe to him who is incredulous and does not believe what I say will come to pass, as if clay and broken pottery were to criticize its potter why it was made or why it was made in that way; and a work should speak against its artist's hands; and a son should criticize his father and mother, why he was poured out onto the earth by the law of nature. Since I am the Holy Lord of Israel who formed Cyrus and caused him to be born by my command, it is pointless for you to doubt the future. Rather, you should know that my sons, the people of Israel, and the work of my hands are not subject to your control, but to my will. I, who created darkness and evil for them in the past, will now give them light and peace. For I am the God who did not create the earth in vain, but for the purpose of habitation by humans. I have extended and established the heavens as the dwelling place of the angels. I have adorned them with the diversity of the stars, and I have commanded each one to run its course in order, and to fill the different spaces of days, months, and years. Therefore, if I have made the heavens and the earth, what is it of great significance if I create one king who will obey my commands and direct all his ways? For he will be commanded to build my city, Jerusalem, and to bring the captives back to Judah. Not for reward or gifts, but for my own willingness, says the Lord God of hosts. But whoever brings understanding to Christ refers to his explanation in the following words: Woe to those who contradict God and do not believe that Christ will come; as if clay and a vessel were to contradict its potter. Woe to him who says to the Almighty Father, why do you beget a son, and to the holy woman Mary, what are you giving birth to? Of whom the Apostle also writes (Galatians 4): That Christ was made from a woman, made under the law. Therefore, the Holy Lord of Israel, who formed the Savior in a virgin womb, says, speaking through Gabriel: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you (Luke 1:35). And what will be born in you, holy, will be called the Son of God. Let the earthen vessel ask me, and let it seek the secrets of the future. And let it command me how I should regenerate the adopted children who will believe in my Son. And the evangelist John says: Whoever received him, he gave them the power to become children of God (John 1:12). But if I made the earth to be inhabited by men, and stretched out the heavens above, and adorned them with the variety of stars, so that the worshipers of God might dwell on earth: why is it surprising that I sent my Son, the righteous king, into the world, or raised him from the dead, whose ways are all straight? For he did not commit sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth (1 Peter 2:22). Whoever builds my city upon a rock, against which the gates of Hell shall not prevail (Matth. XVI); and which, when placed on a mountain, cannot be hidden (Ibid., V): and who first binds the possessed with chains, and sets all the children free, not for a price or reward: for we have been saved freely, both those who listen and those who act: You have received freely, freely give (Matth. X, 8). Some attribute these words to Zorobabel, who led the captives out of Babylon, and built the city, and constructed the temple, as prophesied by Haggai and Zechariah, who said: The hands of Zorobabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands shall complete it (Zach. IV, 9). But we say more correctly and truly, neither did Cyrus build the city that was later built under Nehemiah, nor were all its roads straight. To whom it was said above: I have taken you, and girded you: and you have not known me; and Zerubbabel, who was under the authority and power of the Medes and Persians, exceeds all that is said. For Zerubbabel did not build the city, nor did he release the captivity, nor can he be called a king, who, living under other kings, lacked this title. But what do the Seventy mean, who translated at the beginning of this chapter: What have I done better than the clay of the potter? Will the one who tills, till the earth? I do not know: unless perhaps I follow the edition of Theodotion, who put instead: Woe to him who contends against his maker, the one who tills tilling the earth: because he would wound the hearts of mortals in repentance, and in the manner of plows, he would undermine and overthrow it. But even this interpretation is frivolous. Furthermore, because a potter, that is, our Creator and Maker, is called God, and the apostle Paul speaks in his Epistle to the Romans: Does the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why have you made me like this? Does not the potter have power over the clay, to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? (Romans 9:20) And in Jeremiah it is written in more detail, where he narrates among other things: I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he was making a work on the wheel, and the vessel that he made was marred in his hands. And again he made another vessel from the same clay, as it pleased him in his sight. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Cannot I do with you, as this potter, O house of Israel, saith the Lord? Behold as clay is in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel (Jeremiah 18:3-4). And that which is written: I have commanded the stars to all, and I have given opportunity to some, so that the stars may have reason and soul and sense. For they say that He would not have commanded [these things] unless they were intelligible: not remembering [what is] written in Jonah: 'The Lord commanded a burning wind' (Jonah 4:8). And again: 'The Lord commanded the morning worm' (Ibid., 7). And that in the Gospel the Savior rebuked the winds and the sea (Luke 8), in which it is clear that there is no sense or reason.45:14-17
(Verse 14 onwards) Thus says the Lord: The labor of Egypt and the trade of Ethiopia and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you and be yours; they shall follow you; they shall come over in chains and bow down to you. They will plead with you, saying: Surely God is in you, and there is no other, no god besides you. Truly you are a hidden God, the God of Israel, the Savior. All of them are put to shame and are confounded; the makers of idols go in confusion together. Israel has been saved by the Lord with eternal salvation: you will not be confounded, and you will not be ashamed forever. LXX: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Egypt has labored, and the merchandise of Ethiopia and the Sabaeans: men of stature shall come over to you, and they shall be yours, they shall follow you in chains, and they shall come over to you, and they shall adore you, and they shall pray to you: for in you is God, and there is no other God beside you. You are indeed God, and we did not know it: the God of Israel, the Savior: let all his adversaries be confounded and ashamed, and let them walk in confusion. In this place, those who follow the story say that Egypt and the nations of Ethiopia and the Sabaeans, who are beyond Ethiopia, served Cyrus and were subject to him. And they understood by a marvelous victory that the Lord was in him, and there was no other God besides him who dwelt in him. But this that follows, 'Truly you are a hidden God, the God of Israel, the Savior,' how can it apply to the person of Cyrus, I do not understand. Unless, perhaps, they use the edition of Theodotion, who translated, 'In you is strength, and there is no other God besides you: therefore you are a hidden God, the God of Israel, the Savior.' Whatever way they twist it, they will not be able to escape the snares of truth. For if they make God to be in Cyrus, and there is no other besides him who is God in Cyrus, how can it be said of the person of Cyrus, 'Truly you are a hidden God, the God of Israel, the Savior?' Therefore, God in whom God is, our Lord Jesus Christ is understood more rightly and truly, who speaks in the Gospel: I and the Father are one (John 10:30). He who is called God, hidden because of the sacrament of assumed body, and the God of Israel the Savior, which is interpreted as Jesus. For it is he who, according to the Angel Gabriel, will save his people (Luke 1). Indeed, all were confused and ashamed together. Specifically, the scribes and the Pharisees. And the fabricators of error went away in confusion, who spread lies throughout the whole world, saying that it was stolen from the Apostles. But Israel, saved in the Lord with eternal salvation, refers to the chorus of the Apostles and those who believed through the Apostles. Therefore it is said to them: You will not be confused or ashamed, not only in this present age, but also in the future. It is not doubted that Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Sabaeans, great and lofty men, served him, when they see the world subjected to him, and from the names of a few nations dwelling at the ends of the earth, they see that all the corners of the heavens and all the shores of the earth will believe in him. From where 'Cessarelabor of Egypt' is called, elegantly as if to those who are laboring in the error of idolatry. For no other nation was so dedicated to idolatry and worshipped so many countless wonders as Egypt, of which we read above (19:1): 'Behold, the Lord will ascend on a light cloud, and will enter Egypt, and the idols of Egypt will be moved from his presence, and the heart of Egypt will waste away within it.' Moreover, what is added in the Septuagint: 'Be renewed to me, O islands,' we can explain in this way, that the churches gathered from the Gentiles are renewed in Christ, and are called islands because they endure the madness of persecutors and the storms, and, being founded upon the rock, are not shaken by the mass of whirlwinds. The Hebrews foolishly strive to assert, up to the point where it is read: There is only in you, God, and there is no God outside of you, God, neither to Jerusalem, nor to Cyrus to be called. However, what follows: Truly you are a hidden God, the God of Israel the Savior, suddenly turns into an apostrophe to the omnipotent God, even though it is clear to the foolish that there is one connected context of the discourse, and that the meaning cannot be divided, which is linked in the very order and reason of the narration.45:18-25
(Vers. 18 seqq.) Because this is what the Lord says, the one who created the heavens, the one who formed the earth and made it, the one who established it; he did not create it in vain, but formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord, and there is no other. I did not speak in secret, in a dark place on the earth. I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, 'Seek me in vain.' I am the Lord, speaking truth, declaring what is right. Gather together and come, draw near, you who have been saved from the nations. They have no knowledge, those who carry about their wooden idols and pray to a god who cannot save. Announce, and come, and counsel together: Who has declared this from the beginning, and from then on predicted it? Is it not I, the Lord? There is no other God besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness a word that shall not return: 'To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.' Therefore, in the Lord, it is said: My justice and power belong to me; they will come to him, and all who oppose him will be put to shame. In the Lord, all the descendants of Israel will be justified and praised. LXX: Thus says the Lord who made the heavens: this is the God who revealed the earth and made it, he prepared it: he did not make it empty, but formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord, and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, nor in a dark place on the earth. I have not spoken in secret, in a place of a land of darkness: I have not said to the seed of Jacob: Seek me in vain. I am the Lord that speak justice, that declare right things. Assemble yourselves, and come, and draw near together, ye that are saved of the Gentiles: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven work, and pray to a god that cannot save. Tell ye, and come, and consult together: who hath declared this from the beginning, who hath foretold this from that time? Have not I the Lord, and there is no God else besides me? A just God and a saviour, there is none besides me. Turn to me and you will be saved from the ends of the earth. I am God, and there is no other. By myself I swear: righteousness will go out of my mouth, my words will not be turned away, for every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will swear and confess to God, saying: Righteousness and glory will come to him, and all who separate themselves from the Lord will be put to shame. Every descendant of Israel will be justified and glorified in God. He calls Egypt, and Ethiopia, and the Sabaeans with their exalted men, through whom the salvation of all barbarian nations and the conversion of the whole world to God is shown, God shows His justice; so that the Lord is not only of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles. For He is the maker of heaven and earth equally the God of all, and He created the earth for no other reason than that it should be the habitation of mankind who would worship and understand their Creator, and despise all idols. For on Mount Sinai, from its lofty summit, he spoke these words to the listening people: You shall have no other gods before me, nor shall you make for yourself an idol (Exod. XX, 3, 4). But it is better to believe this saying about the preaching of the Gospel: For Moses spoke to the people in the hidden solitude alone. But the sound of the Apostles went forth into the whole world, and their words reached to the ends of the earth (Psal. XVIII). I did not say, he said, that I am seeking the seed of Jacob in vain. For I have promised them the kingdom of heaven, and I spoke first to them: I have come only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matth. XXV, 24). And for this reason I spoke of justice and proclaimed what is right, or the truth, so that, with the images of the Law and the ceremonies set aside, they would follow the truth of the Gospel. But because they did not want to believe and judged themselves unworthy of salvation, therefore I say to the Gentiles: Gather from all over the world; and come and join me, all of you who have been saved from the Gentiles. By which he shows that not all nations will believe immediately, but gradually and in part. Finally, he rebukes those who remained in their former error, saying: They did not know those who lift up the wood of their carved image, and they pray to a God who does not save. And the meaning is: They did not understand my words, burdened by the weight of their idols, and hoping in them, in which there is no salvation. Therefore, the Apostles are commanded to proclaim the truth opportune and importune (2 Timothy 4), and to devise a plan for the salvation of the nations. But, that is, in order that many might be saved, God spoke from the beginning that they should be gathered and come from the nations, and the mouths of all the prophets proclaimed those who spoke the word of the Lord, except for whom there is no other. For the Son is not without Him, but in Him is God. And elegantly He joins together: God is just, not of one nation alone, but of the whole world, to whom He speaks: Turn to me and you shall be saved, all the ends of the earth; this having been fulfilled which the Father promised to the Son: Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession (Psalm 2:8). And He swore by Himself, since His word and judgment are unchangeable, that the declaration which He uttered once concerning the salvation of the nations might not in any way be voided, but that His promise might be fulfilled by His work, saying above: Turn to Me, and you will be saved, all the ends of the earth. He also swore by the Apostle (Heb. 6) that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have strong consolation; and He also swore that every knee should bow to Him, heavenly, earthly, and infernal, and every tongue should swear by Him among mortal men (Phil. 2). In which it is clearly stated that the Christian people are signified. It is the custom of the Church to bow the knee to Christ: which the Jews, demonstrating the pride of their minds, absolutely do not do. But also every tongue of all barbarian nations, not in synagogues but in the Churches of Christ, confesses God. Moreover, every tongue confessing Christ will speak in the Lord, and will say: 'Mine are righteousness and mine is dominion, not the people of the Jews.' To him all nations will come, and those who previously resisted his Gospel will be put to shame; and all the descendants of Israel will be justified and praised, whose preaching and most fruitful sowing has brought abundant fruit throughout the whole world. Whether according to the Seventy or in every language, swearing and confessing God, it will be said that the righteousness and glory of the whole world come to him, and the Jews who separate themselves from him will be confounded. But those who are descended from the children of Israel and have sprung from the seed of the Apostles, and have believed in Christ, may they have eternal righteousness and glory.46:1-2
(Chapter 46, Verses 1, 2.) Bel is broken, Nabo is crushed. Their idols have become beasts and livestock, burdening you with heavy loads until exhaustion. They have melted together and crumbled. They could not save those who carried them, and their souls will go into captivity. Seventy: Bel has fallen, Dagon is crushed. Their statues have become beasts and livestock, bound together as a burden for the laboring, the weak, and the hungry, unable to prevail together. They could not save from war. However, they themselves were led away as captives. After the calling of the Gentiles and the election of the believers from Israel, it is testified that the idols have fallen. Bel has fallen, indeed, he has fallen, or Saturn has been broken: whom the Greeks call Belus and the Latins call Saturn. So great was the reverence for him among the ancients that they not only offered him the human sacrifices of captive and lowly mortals, but also sacrificed their own children to him. But now even that idol itself, which is interpreted as prophecy and divination, signifies that it has fallen silent throughout the whole world after the truth of the Gospel. Or, according to the Septuagint, Dagon, which, however, is not found in Hebrew. And it is the idol of Ashkelon, Gaza, and the other cities of the Philistines. And from a specific case it passes to a general one: their images were made in the form of beasts and animals. Not that the images of the Gentiles were exposed as prey to beasts and animals, but that the religion of the nations is such that the images are of beasts and brute animals, which are especially consecrated to divine worship in Egypt. About which Virgil says (Aeneid VIII, 698):All the various gods and the barking dog Anubis.
For most of their towns have names derived from animals and beasts, κυνῶν from the dog, λέων from the lion, θμοῦἳς from the Egyptian verb 'to have a bad smell', λύκων from the wolf, not to mention the fearful and horrible onion smell, and the sound of their bloated bellies, which is part of the religious customs of Pelusium. These idols, he says, which cannot save those who carry them, are nothing more than burdens for the priests, weighing them down to exhaustion. And when captivity comes, as payment for the metals from which they are made, the first captive is taken, and they cannot free their own soul or those who carry them. Not that the lifeless images have a soul and some sense of pain, which are devoid of sensation; but that the soul is erroneously called soul, and the limbs of those things which are without sensation and limbs. Otherwise, it is also written in the Proverbs: In the hand of the tongue is death and life. Or it must be said that the heaviest burden among the nations was the error of idolatry, which brought down its worshippers to the ground, and could not save them, but made their souls captive to the devil and demons.
46:1-7
(Verse 1, 3 and following) Hear me, house of Jacob, and all the rest of the house of Israel, who are carried from my womb, who are born from my womb. Even to your old age, I am the one, and even to your gray hairs, I will carry you. I have done it, and I will bear it; I will carry, and I will save. To whom have you likened me, and equalized, and compared me, and made me similar? You who pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver on the scales, hiring a goldsmith to make a god, and they fall down and worship. They carry him on their shoulders, carrying and placing him in his place, and he will stand, and he will not be moved from his place. But when they cry out to him, he will not hear: he will not save them from distress. Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of Israel who are carried from the womb, and be instructed from infancy to old age. I am, and until you grow old, I am: I will sustain you: I have made you, and I will carry you: I will support you, and I will make you safe. To whom do you liken me? See, consider those who go astray and compare gold from a bag, and silver in a scale, and hire a goldsmith. They make it into an idol, and they bow down and worship it. They lift it to their shoulders and carry it. If they place it in its rightful place, it stays and will not move. It cannot hear those who cry out to it, and it will not save them from their troubles. It is not called Jacob or Israel, as we have explained above, because it is inferior, the house of Jacob, and the remnant of Israel, due to their close relationship of flesh and blood, and they are like the waste and remnants of Israel. And it teaches that they were carried from Egypt as infants and sucklings, just as from God, as if from a mother's womb and the pregnant womb, they were carried. Not because the ineffable and incomprehensible majesty of God has a womb or a womb, feet, hands, and other members of the body; but that we may learn the affection of God through our words. Otherwise, the same is sung in the hundred and ninth psalm from the person of God. For in that place where the Seventy translated, 'From the womb before the morning star I begot you,' in the Hebrew script it has 'Merehem,' which is interpreted as 'from the womb.' But at present, not only is it written about the womb and the vulva, that is, Mebeten and Merehem but also Menni, which signifies 'from my womb' or 'from my vulva'. And the meaning is: I who have begotten you from infancy and carried you in my womb and vulva, I myself will protect you even until old age, not my own, but yours, so that divine mercy may teach them to be saved. For the Creator spares his creature, and the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep (John 10). But the hired hand, whose sheep are not his own, sees the wolf coming and flees. Therefore, because I have made and begotten children, I will bear and carry them myself. According to the Septuagint, which says: 'You who are carried from the womb, and are taught from infancy until old age,' this signifies that it is in vain for them to meditate on the law of God day and night, not having knowledge of God, but venerating the idols of humans and animals. To the extent that they require prophetic correction, by which God speaks to them: 'To whom have you made me similar and equal?' And the rest: what gold and silver they have brought, and what idols they have made by hiring a sculptor, and what works of their hands they have worshiped, which are carried on their shoulders, and which, when nailed and fixed, are unable to move, nor are they able to benefit those who worship them. We pass over the obvious things to uncover the closed mercy of Christ.46:8-11
(Verse 8 onwards) Remember this, and be established, and return, you transgressors, to the heart. Recall the former age, for I am God, and there is no other God, nor is there anyone like me. I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago the things that have not yet been done, saying: My purpose will stand, and I will accomplish all my desire. I call a bird of prey from the east, and from a far country a man of my counsel; I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have planned it, and I will do it. LXX: Remember these things, and groan: repent, you who go astray. Return with your heart, and remember the former things from of old: for I am God, and there is no other besides me. I announce the first things before they come to pass, and I tell you, my will shall stand, and all that I have planned, I will accomplish. I call forth a bird from the East, and from the distant land, what I have planned: I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have created and I will do it. Because I myself begot you, I myself carried you, and from infancy to old age, not by your merit, but by my mercy, you are saved: abandon the idols you have made, and return to the worship of the one God. Repent, groan for the error that has held you; rather, establish yourselves, lest a sudden whirlwind of idolatry overthrow you again: and return to your heart, that is, to your mind, which, worshipping images as if insane, you were striking against wood and stones. From the beginning, consider that there is no god apart from me, and no one else can know the future except me, who through the prophets announce what I am going to do. So when I fulfill what was predicted, I will prove my divinity through divination. For I declare that I will establish the mystery that was previously unknown to all generations and reveal my plan. And when you see it come to pass, you will know that there is no god except the one who knew and commanded these future events. I am the one who calls the bird from the East, as the Hebrews believe, the king Cyrus of the Persians, or the prince Darius of the Medes; and from a distant land, a man of my will, who fulfills all my will against Babylon and the Chaldeans. Or as we are convinced to be true, the Lord Savior, about whom even Balaam prophesies: A star shall come out of Jacob, and a man shall rise out of Israel (Numbers 24:17), whose name is the East (Zechariah 6), whom the Magi from the East worshipped. For he speaks here in the Psalms: 'God, I desired to do your will' (Psalm 39:9), about whom the Father spoke and confirmed his promise by his works. In the Septuagint, since we translated from the Hebrew, they have put 'a man of my will' instead, which I have considered. Therefore, according to them, the birds called from the East, we can understand the ministries of the angels, which run throughout the world in obedience to the Lord's command. They are the ministering spirits who are sent for the salvation of the believers. Of whom it is also sung in the Psalms: 'You make your angels spirits, and your ministers a burning fire' (Psalm 103:4).46:12-13
(Verses 12, 13.) Hear me, you with hard hearts, who are far from justice. I have brought forth my justice: it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not delay. I will give salvation in Zion and my glory in Israel. LXX: Hear me, you who have lost heart, who are far from justice. I have brought forth my justice, and the salvation that is from me, I will not delay. I have given salvation in Zion and glory in Israel. To those whom He had spoken before: Hear me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel. And again: Return, O transgressors, to the heart, even now He calls them by the Hebrew term for unbelief, hardhearted, and according to the Septuagint, those who have lost heart and mind. This was followed by the most learned man and worthy of his name, Stephen the martyr, in his speech to the Jews: With stiff neck and uncircumcised hearts and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did (Acts 7:51). So, they are far from the justice of God because they did not believe in it, which God, in his mercy, made to be near and to come to the lands, not wanting to delay or be far away. For he gave his salvation to Zion and his glory to Israel. Let this be said about the prophecy of the future, and the coming of the Lord and Savior. Moreover, according to history, salvation is given to Zion and glory to Israel; because God has made his justice near, to call from the East a bird and from a far land a man of his will, who would avenge the injustices of Israel and the destroyed Jerusalem, and would destroy the Medes and Persians, and the Babylonians and the Chaldeans, as the following words of the Prophet testify.47:1-3
(Chapter 47, verses 1 and following) Descend, sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon: sit on the ground, there is no throne for the daughter of the Chaldeans, for you shall no longer be called tender and delicate. Take a millstone and grind flour: uncover your nakedness, uncover your shoulder, reveal your legs, cross the rivers. Your shame will be exposed, and your disgrace will be seen; I will take vengeance, and no one will be able to resist me. 70: Descend, sit on the ground, virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground. There is no throne of the daughter of the Chaldeans, for you shall no longer be called delicate and tender. Take the millstone, grind the flour. Uncover your head, strip off your hair, uncover your legs, cross the rivers; your shame will be uncovered, your disgrace will be seen. What is right about you, I will take away; I will not deliver you to men anymore. Just as in Ezekiel under the figure of a ship and all its instruments, the adornments of Tyre are set forth, which were devoted to trading (Ezek. 26), and because of the abundance of water, the king of Egypt is called a dragon, and its scales, reeds, and papyrus, and its fish are described, and Jerusalem, together with idols, testifies to the fornication of harlots and the likeness of a brothel: so in this present place, under the person of a captive woman, who once was a queen, the servitude of Babylon is indicated; and she is told to descend from the pride of her kingdom and to sit on the dust. But she is also called a virgin and a daughter, either because all human beings are creatures of God and therefore not damnable by nature like the heretics of Babylon, or because of the luxury and splendor of the once most powerful city, which, as it grew old and approached its decline, boasted of being a maiden and a girl. Although some interpret the daughter of Babylon, as written in the Septuagint, as not referring to Babylon itself but to the city of Rome, which is specifically called Babylon in the Book of Revelation (Rev. 14) and in the Epistle of Peter (2 Pet. 5), and all that is now said about Babylon testifies to its ruins, it must be understood as the bird and the justice of God. After Zion, that is, the Church, is saved, Babylon should perish forever. Therefore, it is said that the queen and daughter of the Chaldeans (for she was founded by the Chaldeans) is no longer called soft and tender, and abundant in luxuries, which was carried in the hands of all nations; so much so that she could barely leave footprints on the ground: and it is ordered that she removes the mill, and grinds grain, which is a sign of hard captivity and extreme servitude; so that she, who was once a queen, may now serve the work of grinding flour. But because it follows: Strip off your shamefulness, even the mill is understood figuratively by the Hebrews, namely that it should be open to the lust of the conquerors, like a prostitute. And what is written in the Book of Judges about Samson (Judg. 16), that he was condemned by the Philistines to the mill, they want to signify that he was compelled to do this to foreign women as the most powerful of men for offspring. In the place where we have interpreted 'strip off your shamefulness', for which the LXX translated 'reveal your covering', Theodotion put the Hebrew word Samthech; Aquila Semmathech; Symmachus τὸ σιωπηλόν σου: which we can express as 'your silence', which should be kept silent out of shame. Indeed, we also read this in the Song of Songs, where the beauty of the bride is described: at the end it says, 'Without your silence' (Song 4). Those who were unwilling to translate the name, which in Holy Scripture signifies shamefulness, made a valid point. And rightly so, it uses indecent names against Babylon (even though there is no shame in calling a part of the human body by its proper name), to whom it is commanded to bare the breasts, and to open the thighs and expose the woman, and to go into captivity, so that her shame may be seen and her disgrace may be forever exposed. And the Lord says that He has done this in order to take vengeance on her who oppressed His people, and that no one should hear her prayers, who tries to appease the anger of the Lord with their presence. But the angel of the nation of Babylon, who speaks with the other angels, signifies: We took care of Babylon, but she was not healed. And what the Seventy translated as 'I will take away what is just from you' is understood to mean Babylon: or at least this, that what is just has been taken away from Babylon. The Stoic disputants argue that many things that are considered shameful and wrong by human convention are actually morally good, such as parricide, adultery, murder, incest, and other similar acts. Conversely, things that are considered morally good appear shameful in name only, such as procreating children, relieving a swollen stomach with flatulence, emptying the bowels with feces, and urinating to relieve the bladder: in short, we cannot, as we say, turn up our nose at a fart. Therefore, that which Aquila set up, as we have said, is called the venerable woman. Its etymology among them signifies, 'thirsty yours,' indicating the unquenchable pleasure of Babylon.47:4-7
(Verse 4 onwards) Our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name. Holy One of Israel. Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for you shall no longer be called the mistress of kingdoms. I was angry with my people; I profaned my heritage, and gave them into your hand: you showed them no mercy. You have made your yoke very heavy on the aged, and you have said, 'I shall be a mistress forever': you did not lay these things to heart, you did not remember their outcome. LXX: The Lord of hosts, his name, the Holy One of Israel, says: Sit down in darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans; you shall no longer be called the strength of the kingdom. I am angry with my people, I have profaned my heritage. I have given them into your hand, but you have shown them no mercy. You have made your yoke exceedingly heavy on the elderly and have said, 'I shall be queen forever'. You did not take these things to heart, nor did you remember the consequences. The first verse is connected to the previous ones according to the Septuagint, with the meaning: And this is what the Lord of hosts, whose name is the Holy One of Israel, will do for you who have been delivered. On the other hand, according to the Hebrew, the Prophet speaks in the person of the people, saying that the Lord of hosts will do these things against Babylon, whose name is the Holy One of Israel. And once again, the discourse is directed towards Babylon itself. Sit in silence, or in remorse, and remember your sins. Enter into darkness, because you cannot bear the light due to confusion and ignominy. You shall no longer be called the mistress of just one kingdom, nor of all kingdoms. And at the same time, because a hidden question was arising: why God was angry against the Chaldeans, whom he himself sent to capture Israel: he answered that he had been angry against his own people, wanting to rebuke them, not to destroy them, to chastise them, not to kill them. But they had abused his cruelty, and had imposed more punishments than the vengeance of God demanded: and it is a great sign of Babylonian cruelty that they had not spared even the old men, whose age is also respected among enemies. But this is also a sign of pride, that, deceived by present happiness, it did not consider the uncertainties of the future. Therefore, in times of prosperity, we must always beware of what is to come: not to oppress those who are entrusted to us, who are taught to become better.47:8-11
(Verse 8, onwards) And now listen to this, you delicate and confident one, who says in your heart: I am, and there is no one besides me; I will not sit as a widow, nor will I know the loss of children. But suddenly these two things will come upon you in one day: widowhood and loss of children. They have come upon you in their entirety because of the multitude of your sorceries and the great abundance of your enchantments. And you have trusted in your wickedness, and you have said: There is no one who sees me. Your wisdom and your knowledge have deceived you, and you have said in your heart: I am, and there is no one else besides me. Evil will come upon you, and you will not know its origin, and calamity will rush upon you, which you will not be able to atone for; suddenly, misery will come upon you, which you will not know. Babylon will come with two things together, sterility and widowhood, so that she will have no children, that is, peoples subject to her; nor a man, whom we can understand as king: while she did not hope for these things, she suddenly endured them. For she could not anticipate that the Persians, of no previous strength, would overcome her, with Cyrus reigning, and subject her to their power. He said, 'The sufferings that you endured were not only because of your pride and abundance of wealth and luxuries, but also because of the multitude of your evils and your enchantments, in which you placed your trust. And a calamity will come upon you that you did not know before, and whose origin you were ignorant of. As the Seventy translated: Destruction will come upon you, and you will not know: a pit, and you will fall into it: so that the evil of captivity that you prepared for all nations, you yourself will fall into the pit that you prepared.' We quickly skim over things that are clear in conversation.47:12-15
(Verse 12 and following) Stand with your sorcerers, and with the multitude of your evil deeds, in which you have labored since your youth, if perhaps it will benefit you, or if you can become stronger. You have failed in the multitude of your plans: let the astrologers of the heavens stand and save you, who observe the stars and calculate the months, to announce to you what is to come. Behold, they have become like stubble, fire has burned them up: they will not deliver their souls from the hand of the flame: there are no coals to warm themselves, nor a fire to sit beside: thus have they become to you in all your labors: each of your merchants has wandered in his own way since your youth: there is no one to save you. LXX: Stand now in your incantations and in your many sorceries, which you have learned from your youth, if they can be of any help to you; and you have labored in your counsels: let the astrologers of the sky stand and save you, those who look at the stars and tell you what is coming upon you. See, they will all be consumed like stubble in the fire; they will not deliver themselves from the flame; for you have coals of fire, and you will sit upon them. They will be for your help. You have labored in your change from youth: man has wandered in himself: but there will be no salvation for you. The reading of the Prophet Daniel proves to have had all of Babylon and all of Chaldea, the study of sorcerers and soothsayers and diviners and exorcists, whom we call haruspices, whom for their advice he recounts as having done all things for the Babylonian kings. Also, because we have interpreted it according to Symmachus and Theodotion: Let the astrologers of the heavens stand and save you, the Seventy have translated more explicitly, Let the astronomers of the heavens stand and make you safe; who are commonly called mathematicians, and by the course and movement of the stars, they judge human affairs to be governed. And so the Magi from the East came, saying that they had seen the Lord's star, either through the knowledge of their art or through the prophecy of their own prophet Balaam, who had said in Numbers: A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a man shall come forth from Israel (Num. XXIV, 17). Therefore, these people who calculate months and count years, and weigh the moments of hours, promise knowledge of the future. Let them tell you what the Lord has thought concerning you. And when they are silent about what is to come, the Prophet responds: Behold, they have become like straw; fire has devoured them. Those who promised salvation to others were ignorant of their own punishment. And there is no doubt that, with the city on fire, its inhabitants were consumed by the voracious flame. And what follows: They are not like prunes that can be heated, nor a hearth for them to sit by, as the Hebrews have taught. They have no knowledge of heat, nor a sense of light that can dispel their darkness and drive out the cold of error. For this reason, I do not know what the Seventy translators intended when they rendered it: You have coals of fire, you shall sit upon them; they shall be a help to you; unless, perhaps, we can say that the fire and burning of Babylon were much more useful than the magi and the Gazarenes, the astrologers and the enchanters. For indeed he provokes them through punishments and penalties to repentance; they, on the other hand, are led into pride by error. All his labor and the merchants of his, whom we understand to be magicians, accomplished this, that each one would wander in his own way; and he himself, being lost, would not offer salvation to another. Let us ask those who assert different natures, whether Babylon is of evil nature or of good? If they say evil, which it is not doubtful that they will answer, how is it provoked to repentance, and it is said to it: Sit in remorse, enter into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans. After the enumeration of sins and crimes, you have charcoal fires, you will sit upon them: will they be of help to you? And what does it mean that it is mentioned next to them in the Septuagint: You have labored in exchange from youth? What is this exchange? Surely it is for the worse. From which it is clear, that by nature one becomes good, by will one becomes bad. Finally it is said: Man has wandered in himself, not by nature, but by the choice of the mind.48:1-2
(Chapter 48, Verses 1 and following) Listen to this, house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and come from the waters of Judah: who swear in the name of the Lord, and remember the God of Israel, not in truth or justice. For they are called from the holy city: and they are established upon the Lord, the name of the God of Israel. These things I foretold to the Chaldeans and the Babylonians, and it is necessary for what I have spoken through my prophets to be fulfilled. But you, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and who come forth from the waters of Judah, and the rest that follows, listen attentively to what I am about to say. And it should be noted that he does not call them Jacob, but the house of Jacob; nor Israel, who are falsely called by this name, as they have no need for a name. And concerning the waters, he says, you come forth from the waters of Judah, calling them more reverently waters instead of seed, so as not to show that they are sons of the patriarchs in terms of virtue, but of the flesh. And rightly he called the waters of Judah, because at that time it was the only tribe that remained in the land of Judah; and the seed of David was preserved as king. You swore, he said, in the name of the Lord, not to honor the Lord; but taking his name, you commit injustice, while you want him to be a witness to your lie, and you rest in the holy city, and rely on the Lord of Israel; so that you boast to be the inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem, and to have the privilege of the Lord of hosts, when you assume the names of the empty Jacob, Israel, and the holy city, and the omnipotent God.48:3-11
(Verse 3, 4 and following) I announced the former things long ago, they went out from my mouth, and I made them heard. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. For I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your forehead is bronze. I foretold them to you long ago, before they came to pass I announced them to you, lest you should say, 'My idols did these things, and my carved images and molded idols commanded them.' You have heard; see all this. And will you not declare it? I have made known to you new things from this time, even hidden things which you have not known. They are created now, and not from before; even until this day you have not heard of them, lest you should say, 'Behold, I knew them!' Neither have you heard, nor have you known, nor from that time your ear has been opened. For I knew that you would deal treacherously, and called you a transgressor from the womb. For my name's sake I will defer my anger, and for my praise I will hold it back from you, so that you do not cut off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of poverty. Because of me, because of me I will act, so that I may not blaspheme; and I will not give my glory to another. I have announced beforehand: and from my mouth they have gone forth, and it has been heard: suddenly I have done it, and they have come. I know that you are stubborn, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your forehead is bronze. I have announced it to you long ago, before it came to pass, so that you would not say, 'My idols have made these things for me, and my images and molded idols have commanded them to me.' You have heard all, and you have not understood: but I have told you new things that will happen now. And you did not say, now they are happening, and not in the past days. Do not even say that you knew them: neither do you know, nor do you understand, nor have you opened your ears from the beginning. For I know that you will act deceitfully: and you will be called unjust even from the womb. Because of my name, I will show you my anger: and I will bring my glory upon you, so that I do not kill you. Behold, I have sold you not for silver: I have redeemed you out of the furnace of poverty: for my own sake will I do this, lest my name should be polluted: and I will not give my glory to another. I have declared to you the things that are to come, before they come to pass I have foretold them to you: lest thou shouldst say: My idols have done these things, and my graven and molten things have commanded them. Thou hast heard, see all this, and will you not declare it? I have shown thee new things from that time, and things before they came to pass I foretold thee: and thou hast not heard them, lest thou shouldst say: Behold I knew them. Thou hast neither heard, nor known, neither was thy ear opened of old. For I know that transgressing thou wilt transgress, and I have called thee a transgressor from the womb. For my name's sake I will remove my wrath far off: and for my praise I will bridle thee, lest thou shouldst perish. Behold I have refined thee, but not as silver, I have chosen thee in the furnace of poverty. For my own sake, for my own sake will I do it, that I may not be blasphemed: and I will not give my glory to another. Behold, you have heard all things that are to come, and yet you conceal the truth in silence. I do not speak of past events, in which my power has often been proven, such as when I led the people out of Egypt, drowned the Egyptians in the Red Sea, gave them the promised land, and subjected various nations to you. But I announce the new things that I am going to do against Babylon, so that the impudence of your mouth may be refuted, you who claim to know what you do not know. From the beginning you have been a transgressor of my commands; and from the womb you were called a transgressor by God, when you were delivered from Egypt, as if you were conceived in my womb, and brought up, and taught. You desired the head of the Egyptian bull, saying: These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. Therefore, not by your merit, but by my mercy, I have delayed my anger, so that you would not be completely destroyed, and for the sake of the praise of my name, I will restrain you, so that you will follow me like a beast and an unwilling horse with reins. Behold, I have tested you, that is, I have proved how silver is refined. Whether in wealth or in the furnace of poverty, I desired to test you. From which it is shown that both wealth and poverty tempt many, if they either misuse them or cannot endure poverty with virtue. Therefore, I will act for my own sake, so that my name is not blasphemed among the nations, and so that they do not think that you have overcome by my anger, but by the assistance of their own idols. And what it brings forth, I will not give my glory to another, this signifies that it should not be thought that idols have oppressed the people of God. Certainly, when he says, 'I will not give to another,' he indicates that he has already given to another, for he is said to have given to another in order to distinguish the first. Many of our people, as I will briefly mention in accordance with the Seventy Interpreters, think that the coming of Christ is prophesied, that he will come suddenly, unexpectedly, and demonstrate his presence to a very stubborn people; to whom the Lord has never revealed, because their heart has become fat and their ears have become heavy. And immediately, as the Lord came forth from the virgin womb, he was called a transgressor and unjust, seeking to kill him. And he connects: For My name's sake I will show thee My fury, and My glory I will bring upon thee. He abuses the sense of the Apostle Paul, or the Apostle Paul takes testimony from this passage (Rom. I), so that the wrath of God may be revealed to terrify those who sin, and afterwards glory may be given to those who are converted: Behold, he says, I have sold you not for money, but I have sold you in your sins, and I have delivered you from the furnace of poverty. For this reason, Solomon (Prov. III) does not want to have wealth and poverty, but only the necessities, so that his heart is not lifted up in pride because of them, or compelled to do things he does not want, and to blaspheme God while pressed by poverty. Hence the Apostle says: Having, he says, food and clothing, let us be content with these (I Tim. VI, 8).48:12-16
(Verse 12, 13 and following) Hear me, Jacob and Israel, whom I call. I am the first and the last. My hand also laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand measures the heavens: I have called them, and they will stand together. Gather yourselves and listen: who among them has declared these things? The Lord loved him: he will fulfill his will in Babylon and his arm in the Chaldeans. I, I have spoken and called him: I have brought him, and his way is made straight. Come to me and listen to these (Vulg. this): I did not speak in secret from the beginning; from the time before it happened, I was there. And now the Lord God has sent me, and his Spirit. LXX: Listen to me, Jacob and Israel, whom I call. I am the first, and I am forever: and my hand has founded the earth, and my right hand has established the heavens. I will call them, and they will stand together: and all will be gathered, and they will listen: Who has announced these to them? I, who am diligent, have carried out your will over Babylon, to remove the seed of the Chaldeans. I have spoken and I have called. I have brought him and made his way prosperous. Bring near to me, and hear these things: I did not speak in secret from the beginning, when it happened, I was there. And now the Lord God has sent me, and his spirit. To those to whom he had already spoken: Hear these things, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and who have come forth from the waters of Judah, now he speaks to them again, Listen to me, Jacob and Israel, whom I call. For many are called, but few are chosen. (Matthew 22). Therefore, He calls them the non-elect, because they had not yet received the Savior; but He refers to them as the called. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, who is alive and was dead. (Revelation 22); so that you may bring life back to the beginning, and the last to Him who died. He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, and became obedient to the Father; He humbled Himself to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2). My hand founded the earth. And it is also said in Proverbs: God, by His wisdom, founded the earth, and His right hand is the measure (Prov. III, 19), or He established the heavens or the sky, as the Septuagint translated. He calls the heavens to obey His command, and to declare His glory. But if the heavens obey the will of the Lord and run in their own order, why does the earth and ashes boast (Eccli. X) and not know its own fragility? Gather yourselves, all of you, and listen, whether heaven or all of creation or the entire multitude of Israel. What are the things that are commanded to be heard? Surely it signifies that which the Lord loves, no doubt Cyrus and Darius, who carried out the will of the Lord against Babylon, and exerted their power over the Chaldeans. And He himself spoke and called him by his name, and led him, and his path was made straight, so that no one dared to resist his strength. And he is provoking them to come and listen, and to know, through the Lord's prediction, that the king of the Persians and Medes is coming, who will overthrow Babylon and destroy the Chaldeans. And to announce this, the Prophet says that he is sent by the Lord and his spirit. This is according to the Hebrews and their opinion. However, according to Symmachus, who interpreted it, 'Who has declared these things to him?' refers to the one whom the Lord loves, who does his will in Babylon. And according to the Septuagint, 'to carry away the seed of the Chaldeans' is referred to the person of the Lord: the one who is truly loved by the Father, and who does all the will of the Father, and who overturns in Babylon, that is, in the confusion of this world, all the seed of the Chaldeans, which are interpreted as demons. He himself spoke and heard the Son, and brought him, who speaks to the believers: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened (Matthew 11:28). And hear these things that from the beginning were spoken in secret, that is, through the enigmas and mysteries of the Prophets, which were unknown to all previous generations. When all things were made by the Father, he was with him, who rejoiced, who even now says: I who have always been with the Father, and in the Father, and have never been without the Father, even now I speak (John 14); and according to the frailty of the assumed flesh, I say that the Lord God sent me and his spirit: and in a brief verse, the sacrament of the Trinity is revealed to us.48:17-19
(Verse 17, 18 and following) Thus says the Lord, your holy Redeemer, the God of Israel: I am the Lord your God, teaching you what is profitable, leading you in the way you should go. Oh, that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. Your descendants would have been like sand, and the offspring of your womb like its grains; their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before me. Because God has promised future blessings to Israel, he explains why he afflicted them before. If they avoid the same mistakes, they will not suffer similar consequences. Yes, he said, if you had followed my commands: as the Seventy translated; or at least, with a desire for it, if you had followed my commands: if you had done so, your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea, signifying abundance of all things. And what follows: and your offspring would have been like the sand, and the descendants of your womb like its grains: indeed, it seems to remain in the Jewish people, who to this day, like worms, produce children and grandchildren; but how is this to be understood in terms of the promise, when they do not have peace and righteousness? For either he is angry with them, or appeased. If he is angry, how is his seed multiplied every day? If he is appeased, how do they serve and not possess peace and justice? From this it is clear that it is said now of the apostolic seed, of which we also read above (In Chapter I): Unless the Lord of hosts had left us seed, we would have become like Sodom. And because it seems at that time not to have been fulfilled, it is fulfilled in the coming of Christ: and before his face the seed of Israel remains.48:20-22
(Verse 20, 21, 22.) Go out of Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans; proclaim it with a shout of joy, make it heard, proclaim it to the ends of the earth, and say: The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob. They did not thirst when he led them through the desert; he made water flow for them from the rock; he split the rock and water gushed out. There is no peace for the wicked, says the Lord. Those above in that place, where it is written: I have spoken and called it; I have brought him and his way is straight; they understand it concerning Cyrus and Darius; even this refers to those times when the people went out of Babylon and fled from the Chaldeans, and they were redeemed by their Lord God. This also, which is said: They did not thirst in the desert when he led them out, he brought water from the rock for them; and he split the rock, and water flowed. Although they cannot teach that it was fulfilled according to history; for they did not come through the desert under Zerubbabel and Ezra, and the split rock provided them water, as is narrated to have happened to those coming out of Egypt: however, they testify hyperbolically that it was fulfilled in likeness to the previous happiness, when they came through the desert of nations into Judaea, and were liberated from captivity. And so, they say, it is not about Christ, but about Cyrus that it is prophesied: There is no peace for the wicked, says the Lord. And it is understood to mean that perfect happiness will not exist except under Christ, which is reserved for the last time. Moreover, those who interpret this more truly and rightly refer it to the coming of the Savior, of whom it is said: He has sent me to announce good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for prisoners. They understand it as an exhortation for those who proclaim the Gospel of the Lord Savior himself, so that we may come out of Babylon, that is, the confusion of this world, and flee from the Chaldeans, of whom it is often said: For the Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob with his precious blood and led him through the desert of the world and split the rock to give water. The Apostle speaks excellently: But the rock was Christ (I Cor. X, 4). However, the divine word is divided and divided into many parts, so that we may receive it in parts, since we cannot receive it all at once. And so that it may not be thought that this preaching is directed to all the descendants of Jacob and not only to those who will believe through the Apostles, it is added and connected: There is no peace for the wicked, says the Lord, namely those who have remained in their original error; those who do not deserve to drink from the rock. Whose side pierced with a spear, flowed with water and blood (John 19), giving us baptism and martyrdom.49:1-6
(Chapter 49—Verse 1 onwards) Listen, O islands, and pay attention, O peoples from afar: The Lord called me from the womb; from the body of my mother he remembered my name. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword; in the shadow of his hand he protected me. He made me like a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me: You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified. And I said: I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my reward is with my God. LXX: Hear me, O islands, and pay attention, O nations. After a long time, I will stand, says the Lord. From the womb, He called me, and from my mother's womb, He pronounced my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword, and He hid me in the shadow of His hand. He made me like a chosen arrow and concealed me in His quiver. And He said to me: You are my servant, Israel, and in you I will be glorified. And I said, I have labored in vain and have spent my strength for nothing. Therefore, my judgment is before the Lord, and my work is before my God. I know that both these things and the things beneath, which we are about to discuss, pertain to the knowledge or understanding of one chapter, and all should be understood from the person of Christ. But I did not want to burden the reader's mind by presenting everything at once, nor did I want to confuse the magnitude of what can be said in parts. Therefore, I have provided both editions: so that what seems obscure in one may be revealed by the reading of the other. Therefore, after calling the remnant of Israel and rejecting the unbelieving people, of whom it was said: 'There is no peace for the wicked,' says the Lord (Isaiah 48:22), he turns to the Churches gathered from the nations and speaks to them under the name of islands. These, being exposed to the attacks of the persecutors, are like the waves of the sea, and are battered on all sides by a raging storm, rather than being moved. And lest anyone think that our interpretation is forced and does not apply to the Gentiles, but to the synagogues of the Jewish people, it follows: 'And listen, O peoples from far away, that is, from the ends of the earth.' Just as the Seventy translated, it will stand for a long time, that is, not in this time in which they are being said; but after many times have passed. The Lord, He says, called me from the womb, and He remembered my name from my mother's womb. Which now, in the meantime, seems obscure to those who hear it, but afterwards it will become known to all nations, when Gabriel said to Joseph about the birth from the Virgin: 'And you shall call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people' (Matt. 1:21). He has also made His mouth like a sharp sword, in order to kill the wicked with the breath of His mouth. Regarding this sword, he himself speaks in the Gospel: I have not come to bring peace upon the earth, but a sword, separating the wicked from the good: For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law (Matthew 10:34-35). And in shadow, he says, his hand protected me, so that the lowliness of flesh would be covered by the power of divinity, as the Angel announced to the Virgin: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you (Luke 1:35). He has set me like an arrow chosen, in his quiver he has hidden me. When he says 'an arrow chosen', he shows that God has many arrows, but not chosen ones: which arrows are the Prophets and Apostles, who run throughout the whole world. Of whom it is also sung in another place: Your arrows are sharp, O mighty one; the peoples fall beneath you (Psalm 45:6); and again: Your arrows are sharp, with coals of desolation (Psalm 119:41). But Christ, out of many arrows and many sons, is the chosen arrow, and He is the Only Begotten Son: whom He has hidden in His quiver, that is, in a human body, so that the fullness of divinity might dwell bodily in Him. And rare indeed is the faith of believers, to whom it is also said above (Chap. XLV, 15): You are a hidden God, and we did not know. With this arrow, and as a wounded bride, the Song of Songs speaks and says: I am wounded with love. And he said to me: You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified (Cant. IV, 9). A servant, because although he was in the form of God, he chose to take on the form of a servant (Philippians II), and Israel, because he was born from the seed of the Jews. And what can be understood about no other servant is joined together: In you I will be glorified (or I will be glorified). For he himself says in the Gospel, Father, glorify your name (John XII, 28). He who speaks in the psalm to the Son: Arise, my glory, and arise, psaltery and harp (Ps. LVI, 9), that is, the chorus of all virtues. But when I said these things to my Father, I responded to him: How have you been glorified in me, Father, because I have labored in vain, and I have not been able to bring back a great part of the Jewish people to you? But all these things are said in order to show the free will of man. For it is God's job to call and our job to believe; and if we do not believe immediately, it does not mean that God is impossible; but he leaves his power to our free will so that the righteous will receive the reward of their will. Because, therefore, they did not want to believe in you through me, my judgment is before you, that I have done all that I should have done for them, saying in the Gospel: I have glorified you on earth, having completed the work which you gave me to do (John 17:4); and again: I have made your name known to men. And my work or labor and my suffering (for this is what πόνος signifies) are before your eyes. For he wept over Jerusalem in the Gospel (Luke 19), and in a certain manner, in Psalm, he says that he suffered in vain on account of the multitude of unbelievers: What profit is there in my blood, when I descend into corruption? (Psalm 29:10). And hanging on the cross, he speaks according to the Hebrew: Far from my salvation are the words of my lamentations (Ps. 21:1). (Verse 5, 6 and following) And now says the Lord, who formed me as his servant from the womb, to bring Jacob back to him, and Israel will not be gathered: and I am glorified in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength. And he said: It is not enough for you to be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the remnants of Israel. Behold, I have given you (Vulg. Behold I have given you) as a light to the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth. LXX: And now thus says the Lord who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to gather Jacob to him and Israel: I will gather and be glorified before the Lord, and my God will be my strength. And he said to me: It is a great thing for you to be called my servant, and to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to convert the dispersion of Israel. Behold, I have set you as a testament to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, that you may be salvation to the end of the earth. While I was speaking, I labored in vain, without cause, and in vain I consumed my strength: because the Jews refused to believe, and my judgment is with the Lord; and my work, which I accomplished with His help, is with the Lord. The Lord answered me, who formed me from the womb to be His servant. From the moment he was formed in the womb, it was shown that he would be called His servant. He also says in the psalm: You are my God from my mother's womb (Psalm 22:10). What then did the Lord say to him? That he should bring Jacob back to him who had strayed, who, having forsaken the Creator, served idols. Hence he himself speaks to his disciples: Do not go on the road of the Gentiles, and do not enter the cities of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 10:5); and in another place: I came only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24). Therefore, it was the will of the Father that the wicked vine-dressers should receive the Son who was sent, and render the fruits of the vineyard, but they killed him, saying. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours (Matth. XXI, 38); and this is what it now says: And Israel will not be gathered together, that is, will not return to the Lord. And I am greatly amazed how the common edition, by another interpretation, overturns this strongest testimony against the perfidy of the Jews, saying: I will be gathered together and glorified before the Lord: when it agrees with our interpretation of Theodotion and Symmachus. But I am not amazed concerning Aquila, who was most learned in the Hebrew language and expressed word for word, that in this place he either pretended ignorance or was deceived by the perverse exposition of the Pharisees, who wanted to interpret it as, and Israel will be gathered together to him, that is, to God. Since the Hebrew word Lo, in this place, is not written with Lamed and Vav (), which, if it were, would signify 'to him' or 'to them', but with Lamed and Aleph () which properly does not have a sound. Therefore, because Jacob has not been converted to God, nor Israel gathered together, the Son speaks to those who do not believe: I have been glorified in the eyes of the Lord. For in me, the whole world has believed, and my God has become my strength, who has comforted me in my sadness over the rejection of my people; and he said to me: It is not enough for you to serve me in raising up the tribes of Jacob, which have fallen by their own fault; and in converting the dregs or remnants of Israel. For this Hebrew word Nesure () signifies. For I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And that which is read in the Septuagint, 'I will gather and glorify before the Lord,' can be understood as meaning that the Lord is gathered with the believers. And what follows: He said to me: It is a great thing that thou shouldest be called my servant; a great thing let us ascribe to man and to a child who, in comparison with God, is small.49:7
(Version 7.) Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, to the despised soul, to the abhorred nation, to the servant of rulers. Kings shall see and arise, princes, and they shall worship because of the Lord, for he is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you. LXX: Thus says the Lord, who delivers you, the God of Israel. Sanctify him who despises his own soul, who is an abomination to the nations, who is the servant of rulers. Kings shall see him and rise up, and princes shall adore him because of the Lord, for the Holy One of Israel is faithful and has chosen you. For what we have said, 'He has transferred us to the contemptible soul, to the abominable nation, to the slave of lords, Theodotius', applies clearly to him who despises the soul, who is an abomination to the nation, who is a servant of princes, which clearly applies to the person of Christ. For he himself, the good shepherd, has laid down his life for his sheep (John 10), and he has despised him who is an abomination to the Jewish nation, whom they curse three times a day with the name 'Nazarene' in their synagogues. He was a servant of the princes, and so humble that he stood before Annas and Caiaphas; and he was to be crucified by Pilate and sent to Herod. This interpretation was agreed upon by Aquila, and partly by the Septuagint, although they changed the meaning and made it weaker, interpreting 'pro gentes' as 'pro gente' and 'pro servos' as 'pro servo'. Others are of the opinion that this is said in reference to the Jewish people, who despised their own soul and are an abomination to the whole world; and they serve the princes, of whom it is written: 'They devour my people as bread.' (Psalm 13:4). But a better interpretation is above Christ. Therefore, which Father, once the redeemer and Holy One of Israel, speaks to the son? Kings will see and princes will rise, and they will worship, when he comes in the glory of the Father with his Angels, and he will sit on the throne of his glory, judging the living and the dead: then everyone will worship him because of the Lord his Father, who chose him. Or it is to be understood in this way: Kings whose heart is in the hand of God, and the princes of the Church of God, will worship you: for the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, who chose you, is faithful. But all these things apply to him who despises his own soul, who is despised by the nation, who is a servant of princes.49:8-13
(Versed 8 and following) Thus says the Lord: In a time of favor I have answered you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you; I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages; saying to the prisoners, 'Come out,' to those who are in darkness, 'Show yourselves.' They shall feed along the ways, on all bare heights shall be their pasture; they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them down, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them. And I will make all my mountains a road, and my paths will be exalted. Behold, these will come from afar, and behold, those from the north and the sea, and these from the land of the south. Praise, heavens, and rejoice, earth; sing praises, mountains, for the Lord has comforted his people and will have mercy on his poor ones. LXX: Thus says the Lord: In the time of opportunity, I have heard you, and on the day of salvation, I have helped you. And I have formed you and given you as a covenant to the nations, to establish the land and possess the deserted inheritances. And you will say to those who are in chains, 'Come out,' and to those who are in darkness, 'Be revealed.' They will have pasture on all the ways, and their grazing grounds will be in all the paths. They will not hunger or thirst, nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them; for He who has compassion on them will comfort them, and He will guide them to springs of water. I will make every mountain into a road, and every path into their grazing ground. Look, these will come from far away; these from the north and the sea; and others from the land of Persia. Rejoice, O heavens, and let the earth exult, let the mountains burst into joy, for God has had mercy on his people and consoled the lowly. The Apostle Paul used this testimony in his second Letter to the Corinthians, saying, 'In an acceptable time I have heeded you, and on the day of salvation I have helped you.' Behold, now is the acceptable time, etc. (1 Cor. 6:2). Therefore, if the vessel of election pertains to the understanding of what is said about the first advent, and we follow the footsteps of its exposition, and like little children, imprint the letters on the shadowed lines of the Teacher. Time is favorable and opportune, and the day of salvation, it is the passion of the Savior and his resurrection, when he prayed on the cross: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46). And he saved him, or rather formed him, by overcoming death, and he gave him to the covenant of the Jewish people, namely to those who wanted to believe: so that he would revive the earth, which lay in the errors of idolatry, and possess the scattered or deserted inheritances, which had no God as its inhabitant, and he would say to those who were in chains, 'Come out, you who are bound by the chains of sin, for each one is bound by the ropes of his own sins' (Proverbs 5); and to those who were in darkness, 'Be revealed.' Those who sat in darkness and the shadow of death, and could not see the light, after they have been converted and have seen the bright light of Christ, will be nourished in the ways and paths of the holy Scriptures, and will say: The Lord feeds me and nothing shall be lacking to me, He has placed me in a place of pasture: He has brought me up on the waters of refreshment (Ps. 22:2). And whoever has been nourished and nurtured in these ways and paths, will not hunger, nor thirst, nor feel the heat of the sun: and what is written about him will be fulfilled: The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night (Ps. 120:6). So that he may not feel the adversities or the prosperity of this world. For indeed the Lord, who is merciful and compassionate, will console and guide them, and lead them to the fountains of water. He will give them to drink from the fountains, as it is written: Bless the Lord, you fountains of Israel (Psalm 68:27) . And in another place: Draw water with joy from the fountains of salvation (Isaiah 12:3) . These fountains are both in the Old Testament and the New. And the Lord will turn all the stumbling blocks that could hinder the steps of the believers into level ground, and he will humble the high places and exalt the lowly, so that they may have a smooth and open path. He makes it more apparent who these people are for whom the way is being prepared: Behold, these will come from afar: and behold, those from the north and the sea, and these from the land of the south. Showing the four corners of the world, the East and the North, the West and the South, he placed the East far away: for the southern region, it is read in Hebrew as Sinim (which the LXX interpreted as Persians). The rest expressed sinim as it is read in Hebrew, which we have interpreted as from the south (or also from the south wind): suspecting that Mount Sinai is located in the southern part, according to the Prophet Habakkuk: God will come from the south: and the Holy One from Mount Paran shaded and hiding (Habakkuk 3). But if we follow the Septuagint, we understand the Persians, who are situated towards the East, to be referred to in the above passage: Behold, they shall come from afar, from the South. And it is commanded to the heavens and the earth, or to those powers which dwell in heaven and earth, or to the angels and men, to sing praises to God. And those who are set in high places of power should testify to the joy of their minds with rejoicing and exultation. For the Lord has comforted His people, those among the Jews who wished to believe. And he had compassion on his poor and humble people: whether they were called to him from the East and the West, the North and the South, not having the Law or the Prophets or spiritual riches: but abandoned, poor and humble, they were subject to all demons.49:14-21
(Verse 14 and following) And Zion said: The Lord has abandoned me, and the Lord has forgotten me. Can a woman forget her nursing child, so as not to have compassion on the son of her womb? Even if she forgets, I will not forget you. Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are always before my eyes. Your builders have come, and those who destroyed and devastated you will depart from you. Lift up your eyes all around and see; all these have gathered together, they have come to you. I live, says the Lord: that you may be adorned with all these, and that you may surround yourself with them as a bride, for your desolate and deserted places, and the land of your ruins, will now be too narrow for your inhabitants, and those who devoured you will be far away. They will still say in your ears, the sons of your barrenness: It is too small for me, make room for me to live. And you will say in your heart: Who has borne these for me? I am barren and not bearing children, a wanderer and captive: and who raised them? I am abandoned and alone: and where were they? LXX: But Zion said: The Lord has forsaken me, and God has forgotten me. Will a woman forget her infant, that she would not have compassion on the child of her womb? But even if a woman were to forget these, I will not forget you, says the Lord. Behold, I have engraved your walls on my hands: and you are always before me. You will be rebuilt quickly by those from whom you were destroyed; and those who scattered you will come out from you. Lift up your eyes all around and see: all these have gathered together, they have come to you. As I live, says the Lord, you shall put them all on like an ornament, and wrap them around you like a bride's necklace: for your desolate and ruined places and your destroyed land will now be too small for your inhabitants, and those who humbled you will be far away from you. For they will say in your ears, your sons whom you have lost: There is narrow space for me: make room for me to live. And you will say in your heart: Who has borne these for me? And I, without children and a widow, who has brought up these for me? I have been forsaken alone, and where were they? Jerusalem and Zion are understood in four ways in the holy Scriptures, as we have often mentioned. One, according to the Jews, which the Lord laments in the Gospel, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the Prophets, and stones those who are sent to you (Matthew 23:37). And in another place: When you see Jerusalem surrounded by an army, then know that its desolation is near (Luke, XXI, 20). Secondly, the congregation of the Saints, who are established in the peace of the Lord and in the towers of virtues, are rightly called Zion, of whom it is said: Its foundations are on the holy mountains: the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob (Psalm LXXXVI, 1). For the foundations of the Jewish Zion, which we see to be destroyed, were not loved by the Lord, nor could that which was loved by the Lord be destroyed. Thirdly, Jerusalem is called the multitude of Angels, Dominions, and Powers, and everything that is established in the ministry of God. Concerning this Jerusalem, the Apostle speaks: But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all (Galatians 4:26). And in another place: But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22). Fourthly, Jerusalem is called the one which the Jews and our Judaizers, according to the Apocalypse of John, think should be placed in the celestial realm as a golden and bejeweled one, which they do not understand (Apocalypse 21), whose boundaries and infinite breadth are also described in the final part of Ezekiel. Therefore, since these things are so, let us now examine more closely what Zion has said: The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me. There is no doubt that the congregation of the saints, which was once among the Jews and was abandoned by the Lord, laments this and bitterly mourns that it has been deserted and deprived of the Lord's help. To this, God responded, using a natural analogy: Can a mother forget her infant, be without mercy towards the child of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you. I will say something more: even if she has forgotten, overcome by the hardness of her mind, the laws of nature; I, however, will not forget my creature, and I will always keep the souls of the saints in my heart. For you should know that what you think is completely abandoned, is written and depicted in my hands; and your walls always remain before my eyes. From this we learn that Jerusalem is not to be sought in the region of Palestine, which is the worst of the whole province, and is rough with rocky mountains, and suffers from scarcity of water, so much so that it needs heavenly rains and makes up for the scarcity of springs with the construction of cisterns; but it is in the hands of God, to which it is said: Your builders have hastened. Or according to the Septuagint: 'You will quickly be rebuilt by those by whom you were destroyed. For it was destroyed by the Jews, it was built by the Jews. It was deserted because of the fault of the Scribes and Pharisees, but it was gathered together for the preaching of the Apostles of Christ, both from the Jews and from the nations. It follows: And those who destroyed and scattered you will come out of you: the worst teachers; so that you do not follow at all the commandments and traditions of men (Matt. XV), but the law of God.' And it is said to her, to raise her eyes around, and to see the children who had gathered to her. Of whom also the Lord spoke: Lift up your eyes, and see that the harvest is already white for reaping (John 4:35). And to make us secure: As I live, says the Lord (which is said according to the custom of swearing in the Old Testament), you will be clothed with all these as with ornaments, and you will surround yourself with them, as a bride adorns herself with a necklace. Blessed is he who has such great merit and virtue that he is called an adornment of the Church. I think, however, that these various spiritual graces are signified, by which the bride is adorned. And this is sung about in the forty-fourth psalm: The queen stood at your right hand, in a garment adorned with gold, surrounded by variety (Ps. 44:10). For those places which were previously deserted and fallen into ruins, with the coming of Christ's Gospel, will be restored and will have such a multitude of inhabitants that they cannot be contained. So, while the persecutors are kept far away, or those about whom we have spoken above: Those who destroyed you and scattered you, will go out from you. And the sons of your barrenness, whom you thought you had completely lost, and that you were widowed by them, will say in your ears: 'The place is too narrow for me in the synagogues, make room for me in the Churches, so that I may dwell more expansively, so that I may not be constrained by the blasphemies of the Jews, so that the whole world may contain your wideness with you.' But unable to express the magnitude of my joy with my mouth, you will think silently in your heart, and say: Who has given birth to these for me? I was barren and a widow, forsaken and captive among the people of Judah, I had ceased to have children, for a long time I had not given birth. After Haggai and Zechariah and Malachi, I had seen no other prophets until John the Baptist; and how is it that being alone and deprived of the help of a husband, I have now begun to have so many children? But so that we may know that Christ is built upon a rock and foundation from both peoples, Paul speaks to the believers: Built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, with Jesus Christ himself as the chief cornerstone. (Ephesians 2:20.) From this it is clear that the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets is one, our Lord Jesus Christ.49:22-23
(Verse 22, 23.) Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will raise my hand to the nations, and I will exalt my sign to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders. And kings shall be your foster fathers, and queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am the Lord, those who wait for me shall not be put to shame. LXX: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will raise my hand against the nations, and raise my signal against the islands; they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders. Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame. And the Church said: Who has borne me these? I was bereaved and barren, exiled and put away. I, abandoned and alone, where were they? The Lord answered: Are you surprised why these things have happened? You will not be surprised when you hear, for I have raised my hand against the nations. It is of this that the Holy One speaks: You formed me and laid your hand upon me (Ps. 138:4). And the Savior himself: No one can snatch from the hand of my Father (John 10:29). And the Apostle Peter: Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time (1 Peter 5:6). This hand lifted up towards the nations is the same of which the Prophet spoke: Jesse's root will arise to be the ruler of nations; in him the nations will place their hope (Isa. XI, 10). Not only will he lift up his hand towards the nations, but he will also exalt his sign among the peoples. Undoubtedly, the banner of the cross, so that what is written may be fulfilled: the earth is filled with his praises. And again: his wonderful name is praised in all the earth (Ps. VIII, 1). Then they shall bring in their arms, or on their shoulders, the sons of Zion, and her daughters shall be carried on their shoulders. Such was Lazarus, and all the saints who rest in the bosom of Abraham (Luke XVI), and the souls of the believers, to whom the Apostle Paul spoke: I have fed you with milk (I Cor. III, 2). And elsewhere: My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you (Galat. IV, 19). And in another place: As a nurse cherishes her children: so, being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls (I Thess. II, 8). Moreover, it is ridiculous according to Jewish custom to carry grown-up sons and daughters on one's shoulders and arms. But kings are nursing fathers, and queens and princes are nursing mothers, clearly showing the Apostles and Apostolic men: such was also Abraham, to whom it is said, 'You are a king from God among us' (Gen. 23:6), and those whose heart is in the hand of God (Prov. 21): who say to believers: 'Desire the pure milk like newborn infants, rationally and without deceit' (1 Pet. 2:2). Also the prince, that is, the ruler, which signifies Sarah's name; and the queen, or queen, of whom it is sung in the forty-fourth psalm: The queen stood at your right hand in a gold embroidered garment, she nourishes Christ's little ones daily, and leads them to perfect age: and every age, sex, and dignity, will adore Zion because of Him who dwells in it. For if Christ is the head of the Church, the head is worshiped in the body. And if it is said to some: Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at the footstool of His feet (not that the footstool is to be worshiped; but that the majesty of His feet is revealed), why should not the Church, which embraces the whole body of Christ, be worshiped, so that what is written in Zephaniah may be fulfilled: They shall worship Him every one from his place: all the islands of the nations (Zep. 2:11), so that not according to the Jewish custom, tribes come to Jerusalem three times a year: but worshiping the Lord in their own place, they possess Jerusalem. And what follows: and they shall lick the dust of thy feet, signifies that kings and princes should wipe and wash away with their words whatever earthly work adheres to the feet of the Church. Hence, it is commanded to the Apostles that they shake off the dust from their feet. And it is said to Peter that he who is once washed needs only to wash his feet. (Matthew 10; John 13). Through all these things the Church learns that there is no other Lord besides Him, and those who have awaited Him will possess eternal glory.49:24-26
(Verse 24 and following) Will the prey be taken from the mighty, or what is captured by the strong be saved? For thus says the Lord: Indeed, the captivity will be taken from the mighty, and what has been taken by the strong will be saved. But I will judge those who have judged you, and I will save your children. And I will feed your enemies with their own flesh, and they will be drunk with their own blood as with wine. And all flesh will know that I am the Lord, your Savior, and your strong Redeemer, Jacob. LXX: Will anyone take spoils from a giant? And if anyone unjustly leads captive, will they be saved? Thus says the Lord: If anyone captures a giant, they will receive spoils, and the one who receives from the strong will be saved. But I will execute my judgment. And I will deliver my sons, and those who have afflicted you will eat their own flesh, and they will drink their own blood like new wine, and they will become drunk. And all flesh will know that I am the Lord, who delivered you, and the helper of the strength of Jacob. Our Lord and Savior, who had previously spoken through Isaiah, repeats the same meaning in the Gospel: how can anyone enter the strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house (Mark 3). The strong man and giant is the devil, who had subjugated all peoples under his empire, daring to say to the Savior: All these things have been delivered to me, and I will give them to you if you will fall down and worship me (Matthew 4, 9). The world is indeed placed in the power of the evil one (1 John 5), whom no righteous person could overcome; nor, according to Amos, could one take prey from the mouth of a lion (Amos 3). Therefore, given the question that no one can overcome a strong and mighty one, nor save what was taken from him, the Lord responded that by His coming, all things would be accomplished: namely, that the nations previously captured by the giant would be taken away, and all his possessions and entire household would be divided among the Apostles. Fulfilling that which is written: 'The beloved king of virtues, and of beauty, divided the spoils of the house.' For it is he who ascending on high, led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men (Psalm 67:13, 19; Ephesians 4): namely, those who were previously captured unto death, he received into life. Wherefore Symmachus interpreted it more explicitly: 'But even the strong captivity shall be taken away, and the terrible spoils shall be preserved.' Desiring the strong and terrible devil to be understood, who was overcome by the power of the Lord. Therefore, the Lord who judges those who oppressed Zion, whether he judges their judgement or liberates the children of those who were captured by the giant, he will save and feed his adversaries with their own flesh, and he will make them drunk with wine, so that they will be satisfied not with the death of others, but with their own death. And those who are flesh, because they have lost God's spirit, let them feed on their own flesh. Indeed, the Holy One speaks of this in the Psalms: When those who afflict me come near, to devour my flesh (Ps. 26:2). For it is not the incorporeal spirit, but the flesh that is devoured by the bites of fierce beasts. And then Zion will say: truly all flesh that sees the salvation of God, that the Redeemer and Savior is the one who struggled with Jacob, or the one who helped the strength of Jacob: so that in his suffering, he would bless those who crucify him: Father, forgive them: for they do not know what they are doing (Luke XXIII, 34).50:1
(Chapter 50, Verse 1) Thus says the Lord: Who is this bill of divorce of your mother, whom I have sent away? Or to whom have I sold you? Behold, because of your iniquities you were sold, and because of your sins your mother was sent away. For I came and there was no man; I called, and there was none to answer. LXX: Thus says the Lord: What is this bill of divorce of your mother, whom I have sent away? Or to whom have I sold you, to the creditor and exactor of me? Behold, you have been sold for your sins, and for your iniquities I have dismissed your mother. For I came, and there was no man: I called, and there was none that obeyed. After the calling of the nations, and the kings and princes, the nourishers and the nurses, and the captivity of the strong and the mighty, whose prey was distributed to the Apostles, and after the fury of the demons, who were satiated with their own flesh and intoxicated with their own blood: when all flesh knew that the Redeemer and the strong God of Jacob himself, speaks to the people of Judah concerning Zion, which he had previously said: The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me. Do you think that I, through my stubbornness, have cast down your earthly Jerusalem and that because of my rigid mind, I gave her a bill of divorce, and rather, as is true, you understand that she has departed from me because of her own fault? For when I said to her, 'Stop acting unjustly, learn to do good, listen to me,' she did not want to listen but turned her back on me as she departed. Therefore, I spoke to her children: Woe to them, for they have departed from me. Those who acted wickedly against me have been made evident. And against her, You, your departure and your wickedness will reprove you; and you will know that it is evil for you to leave me. But perhaps you cannot show a certificate of divorce, and one of my creditors demanding money, with me having nothing to give back, do you accept a repayment of debt? It is not so: but I will show you why I have abandoned the mother with her children. Your crimes and sins have sold you to demons, so that, entangled in the pleasures of this present age, you would abandon both your parent and that wife. I could not continue to hold your adulterous mother any longer, but I allowed her to leave willingly. And it is true that each person is sold by their own sins, as we are abandoned by our own free will, either led to goodness or led to evil, and the Apostle Paul teaches: 'But I am carnal, sold under sin' (Rom. VII, 14). For whoever commits sin is a slave to sin (John VIII). And just as misers and plunderers are slaves to money, so every sin dominates sinners. To whom it is said: Let not sin reign in your mortal body (Rom. VI, 12). But so that you may know, I did not reject your mother’s soul; rather, she withdrew of her own accord. After many benefits, I assumed a human body, and I spoke not through the prophets, but in person. I came, and I was not a man, nor a human being. For all men, leaving the image of a man and of a human being, took on the images of beasts and serpents. Therefore, due to her wickedness, it is said to Herod: Go, and tell this fox (Luc. XIII, 32). And to the Pharisees: 'Brood of vipers' (Matthew 23:33). And to the lustful: 'They have become insane horses longing for females' (Jeremiah 5:8). And about the indulgent: 'Do not cast your pearls before swine' (Matthew 7:6). And to the shameless: 'Do not give what is holy to the dogs' (Matthew 7:6). And in general, about everyone: 'The vision of the beasts that were in the wilderness' (Isaiah 30). So the Lord came, but did not find a man. For when man was in honor, he did not understand; he was compared to dumb animals and became like them' (Psalm 49:13). I called, he said, them as if they were rational animals, and I said: Incline your ear to the words of my mouth (Psalm 77), and my people did not hear my voice. I cried out, and said: Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let them drink (John 7:37). And in another place: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden (Matthew 11:28). And there was no one to hear; therefore I spoke to them in the Gospel: You have not seen the form of God, nor have you heard his voice, because you do not have his word abiding in you (John 5:37, 38).50:2
(Verse 2.) Has my hand been shortened and become small, that I cannot redeem? Or is there no power in me to deliver? Indeed, I will make the sea a desert, I will dry up the rivers. The fish will rot without water and die of thirst. I will clothe the heavens in darkness and make sackcloth their covering. LXX: Can my hand not save, or is it not strong enough to deliver? Behold, by my threat I will make the sea a desert, and I will dry up the rivers, and their fish will wither away because there is no water, and they will die of thirst. And I will clothe the sky in darkness, and I will make its covering like sackcloth. Against those who believed that the Lord could not deliver his people from captivity, he sets forth overwhelming proof and most abundant examples. He made the Red Sea passable for his people (Exod. XIV), he dried up the flowing waters of the Jordan, and as the rivers in Egypt dried up, he turned their fish into rot. (Exod. VII). And He who made the darkness in Egypt palpable for three days, so that the sky appeared covered as if with a sack and with darkness, certainly could also deliver His people from danger. Whether because He had said before, 'I came, and there was no man; I called, and there was none to hear,' we can say this: He who is the performer of such great signs, who makes the sky, the earth, and the seas serve His will, could also escape the cross himself, saying in the Gospel, 'Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?' (Matthew 26:53) According to the anagoge, the sea becomes a desert through the rebuke of the Lord, when all the bitterness of this world is dried up, and the rivers are desolated, about which the spiritual dragon said in Egypt: 'The rivers are mine, and I have made them' (Ezek. XXIX, 9). And about which we read in another place: 'What have you to do with the ways of the Assyrians, to drink the waters of the rivers?' (Jer. II, 18). Also, the fish that are thrown into the sea with nets rot, having been separated from the good fish. And what follows: I will clothe the heavens in darkness, and its covering will be like sackcloth; or everything that is above us, let us understand as heaven, just as those flying creatures that are in the air are called celestial; and the opposing powers are said to be celestial, which move between heaven and earth. Or certainly, the heavens are clothed in darkness when they are covered with clouds. According to what is written: Who covers the heavens with clouds, and gives rain to the earth (Psalm 147:8). And in the threat of drought, God says: I will make the sky bronze and the earth iron (Deut. XXVIII, 23). Not that the nature of the elements is changed, but that the magnitude of the punishment is shown through bronze and iron. Philosophers say that clouds are lifted no more than ten stadia above the earth and hide the brightness of the sun. Therefore, the sky is not wrapped in a sack, but the air beneath, with the light of the sky blocked, is darkened by the darkness of the clouds. We can interpret that the heavens are covered with darkness, and being covered with a sack, in such a way that we say all are under sin, and even the holy ones need the mercy of God.Book Fourteen
Book Fourteenth.The Lord who looks upon the earth and makes it tremble; who touches the mountains and they smoke (Psalm 103), who speaks in the song of Deuteronomy: I will kill, and I will make alive: I will strike, and I will heal (Deuteronomy 32, 39), in frequent illnesses He also made my earth tremble, to whom it is said: You are dust, and to dust you shall return (Genesis 3, 19). And forgetting the condition of humanity, He often reminds me that I am a man, old, and soon to die. About what is written: What does the earth and ashes boast of? (Eccli. X, 9) From whom, having struck me suddenly with a powerful blow, he healed me with incredible speed, so that he might terrify rather than afflict, and correct rather than beat. Therefore, knowing to whom everything that I live is owed, and perhaps my sleep is delayed for this reason, in order to complete the work begun on the Prophets, I devote myself entirely to this study, and, like being placed in a certain watchtower, I contemplate the storms and shipwrecks of this world with sighs and sadness; not thinking about the present, but the future; not trembling at the opinions and rumors of men, but fearing the judgment of God. And you too, Eustochium, Virgin of Christ, who supported the sick with your prayers, also pray for the grace of Christ, so that with the same spirit with which the Prophets foretold the future, I may enter into their cloud and darkness, and know the word of God, which is not heard by the ears of the flesh, but by the heart; and to say with the Prophet: The Lord gives me the tongue of instruction, so that I know when I should speak. The testimony of the fourteenth chapter of the book of Isaiah, which I now desire to discuss, is the beginning.
50:4-7
(Chapter 50—Verse 4 and following) The Lord has given me a learned tongue, so that I may sustain with words the weary. He awakens me morning by morning, awakens my ear as a master. The Lord God has opened my ear; I do not resist, I do not turn back. I offered my body to the ones striking me, and my cheeks to those plucking my beard. I did not turn my face away from those reproaching and spitting. The Lord God is ((added by the Vulgate)) my helper, therefore I am not ashamed; therefore I set my face like flint, and I know that I will not be put to shame. LXX: The Lord gives me the tongue of instruction, so that I may know when it is necessary for me to speak a word. He has set me in the morning, and added an ear to listen; and the instruction of the Lord opens my ears. But I do not refuse or contradict. I have given my back to the lashes, and my cheeks to the slaps. But I have not turned my face away from the shame of spitting. And the Lord is my helper, therefore I am not ashamed: but I have set my face like a mighty rock, and I know that I will not be put to shame. The Jews, separating this chapter from the previous ones, want to refer it to Isaiah, who says he received a word from the Lord about how to sustain and call back the weary and wandering people to salvation. And, in the manner of little children who are instructed in the morning hours, let him hear what the Holy Spirit says. And [let it be known] that he did not contradict His command, but when the Lord asked, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go to this people?' he answered, 'Here I am, send me' (Isaiah 6:8). And because it has been said: 'Listen to the word of the Lord, princes of Sodom: listen attentively to the law of our God, people of Gomorrah' (Isaiah 1:18), he endured so much hardship, not only the insults of words, but also the pains of wounds. However, he was not terrified by the conscience of the commanding God; but according to what is said in Ezekiel: 'Behold, I have made your face stronger than their faces, and your forehead harder than their foreheads, like adamant and flint I have made your face' (Ezekiel 3:8, 9), he crushed all their attacks. This they say, who by every means try to overturn the prophecies about Christ and distort them with a perverse interpretation, as if also these things were written about Isaiah, they could take away other testimonies about Christ that are so clear that they shed light on themselves for the eyes of everyone. Therefore, concerning the person of the Lord, in whom also the previous book ends, these things must also be mentioned: that, according to the arrangement of the assumed body, he was trained and acquired the language of learning, so that he would know when he should speak and when to be silent. Finally, he who was silent in his suffering now speaks through the Apostles and the men of the Apostolic age throughout the whole world. And it is a mark of great knowledge to give timely food to those under your care and to consider the individuality of your audience. Thus, the Apostle Paul, speaking by the testimony of his authorities, addresses those who do not accept the faith of the Prophets, saying: 'For we are indeed his offspring,' as some of your own poets have said, 'For we are indeed his offspring' (Acts 17:28), signifying Aratus. Again about the Comedian: Evil conversations corrupt good morals (1 Cor. XV, 33); and Epimenides' hexameter verse: Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons (Titus I, 12). If they do not maintain the order and measure of the meters in translation, it should be known that in Greek they run with feet. However, he did this because he had learned the language of discipline, so that he would know when to speak a word. To this was added an ear through grace, which he did not have by nature: so that we understand that ears should not be received from the body, but from the mind, about which the Lord also spoke in the Gospel: He who has ears to hear, let him hear (Luke VIII, 8). The discipline and education that opened his ears, so that he might transmit the knowledge of the Father to us; who did not contradict him, but became obedient even unto death, and death on a cross (Philippians 2). So that he would offer his body or back to the blows; and his chest, capable of receiving the scourges of God, would not turn away from the blows. It is clear that he endured this from the minister of the chief priests: so that both the Jewish people and the priests would mock him. He who was struck and spat upon did not blush, but was led to the victim like a lamb; and like a sheep before the shearer, he did not open his mouth. But what the Son heard from the Father regarding the mystery of his assumed body, we learn more fully in the Gospel, where he himself says: And he who sent me, the Father, has given me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak. And again: As I hear, I judge.50:8-9
(Verse 8, 9.) He is near who justifies me: who will contradict me? Let us stand together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God is my helper: who is he that will condemn me? Behold, all of them shall wear out like a garment, the moth shall eat them up. LXX: He is near who justifies me: who is he that will judge me, stand up against me together? And who is he that will enter into judgment with me? Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord is my helper, who shall afflict me? Behold, all of you shall grow old like a garment, and like a moth shall eat you. If anyone, says He, thinks that I am justly addicted to the cross and have committed some sin, let him resist me. Who is there to be judged with me, so as not to be overcome by the power of my majesty, but by reason? However, he is judged with the Lord, not by the authority of the reigning, but by the comparison of virtues: just as the apostles judged the twelve tribes of Israel, and the Ninevites, and the queen of Sheba judged the people of the Jews. According to which sense, it is said to Jerusalem: Sodom is justified by you (Ezech. XVI, 52). Therefore, since no one can be justified in the presence of the Lord, all will grow old like a garment (Ps. CI). And what grows old is close to ruin. And it will consume them like a moth, it says. Clearly the conscience of sinners; and the zeal of the saved gentiles. About which it is said at the end of this volume: Their worm will not die. And in Micah against perverse princes: I will take away their goods like a moth devouring, and walking on the standard on the day of speculation (Micah VII, 4, sec. LXX). And in Proverbs: The moth of bones has understanding of the heart (Prov. XIV, 30, sec. LXX). For tinea, in this place Symmachus interpreted it as rust: while Aquila as worm.50:10-11
(Verse 10, 11.) Who among you fears the Lord, and listens to the voice of his servant? Who walks in darkness, and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and rely on his God. LXX: Who among you fears the Lord, and listens to the voice of his servant? Who walks in darkness, and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and rely on his God. You have struck me, you have spat on my face: yet I call my persecutors to repentance. For I do not desire the death of a sinner, but only that he should turn back and live (Ezek. 33). And I say: who among you fears the Lord, and listens to the voice of his servant or his child, that is, his Son? of whom one is assumed flesh, the other is of nature. And indeed, let us not think it is enough to fear the Lord, according to what is said in Proverbs: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10). For perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment. But whoever fears is not perfect in charity. But this fear is placed for timidity and caution; about which we read elsewhere: Blessed is the one who fears everything (Prov. 20), because of caution, that is, because of timidity: those who are commonly called timid in the religion of God. For the Lord protects their path; and guards the way of the timid. Regarding this fear it is written: The fear of the Lord conquers all things. And elsewhere: There is no lack for those who fear Him (Sirach 25:14; Psalm 34:10). Finally, after many steps of virtue, one arrives at this kind of fear of the Lord. For the divine word speaks in the person of a master and father, instructing the disciple and son: If you call upon wisdom and give your voice to understanding, and if you seek it like money and search for it like treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and you will find the knowledge of God (Prov. 2:3). This is the fear that preserves the souls of the holy ones intact, chaste, and pure, of which it is said, The fear of the Lord remains forever (Ps. 19:9). To whom the divine scriptures exhort us: Fear the Lord, and give him glory (Apoc. XIV, 7). Therefore, whoever fears the Lord in this way, let him listen to the voice of his servant or his child, who walked in darkness and had no light; who had no appearance or glory, but in the likeness of sinful flesh took on the form of a servant, that he might overcome sin in the flesh. Concerning this, it is said, let him hope in the name of the Lord, and rely on his God: so that whatever belongs to human frailty, may be strengthened and sustained by divine majesty. This is in accordance with the Hebrew. However, according to the Septuagint, it is said about sinners, who refused to obey the voice of His Son, and they walk in the darkness of error, and therefore they do not have light. For it was not possible for wisdom to enter into a perverse soul. They did not know or understand, and therefore they walk in darkness. For they did not do the works of the Lord and His commandments, nor did they sow righteousness for themselves, nor did they harvest the vine in order to kindle the light of knowledge for themselves. For whoever desires wisdom, let them keep the commandments, and the Lord will give it to them. Thus it is said to God: Your commandments are a light. And elsewhere: The commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes (Ps. 19:9). And it is commanded to the wicked to trust in the Lord, and those who fall into sin rely on his help and support.50:11
(Verse 11) Behold, all of you who kindle fire, girded with flames, walk in the light of your fire, and in the flames that you have kindled: it is made by my hand, you will sleep in sorrows. LXX: Behold, all of you who kindle fire, and strengthen the flame; walk in the light of your fire, and in the flame that you have kindled; these things have been made for you because of me. You will sleep in mourning. Exhortation is useless, and there is no hope of salvation after wicked deeds. All have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one (Psalm 14:3); all light their own fire and prepare their own torches. For they are like a bundle of dry grass, wood, straw, thorns, and thistles, which will be consumed by eternal fire. Hence it is also written in Proverbs: Fire thrives where there are many logs (Proverbs 26:20). But if a small spark can ignite a large material, how much destruction can a great flame cause? It is also said in the Letter to the Hebrews, concerning the land which produces thorns and thistles, that it is worthless, cursed, and its end is to be burned (Hebrews 6:8). Therefore, those who are girded with flames and surrounded, and have made the fire strong in themselves, are provoked to salvation, and it is said to them: Walk in the light of your fire; and in the flames that you have ignited, so that they may learn the power of God in punishment and suffering, and return to salvation. However, it signifies the devastation of the Jewish people, who were handed over to the Romans, and who continue to bear the yoke of captivity. For all these things have been done by the hand of Christ, and they will sleep in sadness and sorrow; because they did not want to receive the Son of God with either kindness or torment. He speaks to them, saying: Go into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41). This is also what the Apostle says: Wrath has come upon you to the end (1 Thess. 2:16). In this chapter, we learn that according to the quality of sin, each person kindles a fire for themselves. And just as in the same location, and if it can be said, in the same bed, some are healthy while others are burning with the heat of fever, feeling different torments due to the diversity of bodily fluids and phlegm: so the fire that is kindled by sinners has its material in sins and iniquity, of which it is written: Evil will burn like a fire, and like dry grass it will be consumed by fire (Isaiah 9:18).51:1-3
(Chapter 51, verses 1 and following) Listen to me, you who pursue what is just and seek the Lord. Consider the rock from which you were hewn, and the quarry from which you were dug. Consider Abraham your father, and Sarah who bore you; for when I called him, he was but one, then I blessed him and made him many. Therefore, the Lord will comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places, and make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of praise. LXX: Listen, you who pursue what is just, and seek the Lord. Pay attention to the sturdy rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for he was alone when I called him, but I blessed him and multiplied him. And now I will comfort you, Zion. I have made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of praise. While the sleeping ones are in sorrow and perpetual grief, who kindled a fire for themselves and made the flames very strong, you who pursue justice and seek the Lord (which signifies the choir of the Apostles and of those who believe through the Apostles), look back at the rock, that is, your father Abraham, from whom you were cut off, and at the cave of the lake, from which you were cut off, that is, Sarah who bore you. And consider this, that when he was of one hundred years and his wife was barren, I multiplied his children like the stars of the sky, so that the multitude would surpass the number. If, therefore, from one man so many thousands of people have been born, what great thing is it for me to restore the ruins of Zion and to change its deserts into a paradise of pleasure and into the garden of the Lord which God planted in Eden opposite the East? And let there be found in it joy and gladness instead of diverse trees, confession and the voice of praise. The Jews refer this to Zerubbabel's time, because after the devastation of Babylon, Zion was restored, the Temple was built, and the ancient religion was restored. But how does it say above (in chapter XLIX, 22, 23) to Zion: They will bring your sons in their arms, and they will carry your daughters on their shoulders. And your kings will be your foster fathers, and your queens will be your foster mothers. And: Behold, these will come from afar, and those from the north and the sea, and those from the southern land; when Zion says: The place is too narrow for me, make room for me to dwell, which excludes the mediocrity of those times, and are not known to be fulfilled above earthly Jerusalem: thus the Lord also speaks here to those who persecute what is just, according to what is said elsewhere: Seek peace, and pursue it (Psalm XXXIII, 5); and again: Pursuing hospitality (Romans XI, 13). And they seek the Lord, so that from past events he may infer his presence: since much more difficult things have already happened, they should not doubt the future things that are promised. Furthermore, it is said by the persecutors of justice according to the Septuagint, that they may look upon the most sturdy rock, which they have cut down, and the pit of the trap they have dug, that is, the Lord as Savior, about whom the Apostle speaks: And that rock was Christ (I Cor. X, 4). And elsewhere it is written: He set my feet upon a rock (Ps. XXXIX, 3). And again: They have pierced my hands and feet. For they have pierced my side with a spear, from which blood and water have flowed, and they have pierced my hands and feet, as the Lord and Savior himself said: They have pierced my hands and feet, they have numbered all my bones (Ps. 22:16). We can call the rock that was hewn out the sepulcher of the Savior, in which he was buried, and rising from the dead, he begot innumerable children. And he was called Abraham, that is, the father of many nations. Just as Sarah, once barren, is interpreted as the Church, which is also called Zion, whom the Lord has comforted, and has made her desolate places like a paradise. For she has more children of the desolate than of her who has a husband. And what is said: And I will place in the paradise of the Lord those things that are towards the West, or in the garden of God, signifies that which, while sitting in darkness and the shadow of death, a sudden light has risen. The paradise, in which we turn our delights, is translated in Hebrew as Eden (), about which it is written in the beginning of Genesis. And this should be noted, that in Zion, which is compared to the paradise of God, there should be nothing other than joy and gladness, confession and the voice of praise, so that what the saints with the Angels of God will do in heaven, they should also meditate on this constantly on earth in the praise of the Lord.51:4-5
(Vers. 4, 5.) Listen to me, my people, and my tribe, listen to me: for the law will come forth from me, and my judgment will rest on the light of the nations. My righteous one is near, my savior has come forth, and my arms will judge the peoples. The islands will wait for me, and my arm will sustain them. LXX: Listen to me, listen to me, my people, and kings, give heed to me: for the law will come forth from me, and my judgment will be a light to the Gentiles. My justice approaches quickly, and it will come forth like the light of my salvation. And nations will place their hope in my arm. The islands will wait for me, and they will place their hope in my arm. Once it is said in Hebrew: 'Listen,' and secondly according to the Septuagint: 'Hear me, hear me,' so that it may teach us that we should hear with the ears of the body and the understanding of the soul. And a multitude of nations, which is the people of God, is called upon to diligently listen to what is said about it, as Zacharias says: 'Many nations will take refuge in the Lord, and they will become his people' (Zech. II, 11). They are called a people, as some will have it, the remnant of believers of Israel; and for tribe, or race, those who have believed from the multitude of nations, as Moses in Deuteronomy says to the nations in his song: 'Rejoice, O nations, with His people' (Deut. 32:43). For tribe, which we have interpreted as Theodotion, means 'race'; Symmachus translates it as 'nation'; the Seventy, as 'kings'. For we are both tribe and race, and people, and a royal and priestly lineage of the Lord, just as Abraham, who was called a king, and the other saints, of whom it is written: 'Touch not my anointed ones' (Ps. 105:15). What is it that is commanded to be heard? Because the law, he says, will go forth from me, and my judgment into the light of the people, or nations. This law of the Gospel is shown to be spiritual, which will go forth from Zion; not of Moses, which was given of old on Sinai; and my judgment will proceed into the light of the nations, through which it has been established and decreed that all nations will be saved. And lest we should think that what he promised would come after a long time, he adds, my righteousness, or justice, is near. For Christ has been made for us wisdom and redemption from the Father (1 Cor. 1), holiness and righteousness, and all things by which virtue is called by name. And it is beautifully said, justice will proceed, so that not just one nation, but the whole world may be saved. And the Savior, or salvation, which in Hebrew is called Jesus, is called the Son of God, who was sent by the Father. Simeon, holding the child in his arms, says: Now you dismiss your servant, Lord, because my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all peoples, a light for the revelation of the gentiles (Luke 11, 29 et seq.). And what follows: And my arms will judge the peoples. Whether according to the LXX, and in my arm the nations will hope, or this signifies that all will be judged by his power, or that all nations will believe in Christ, who is the arm and strength of God. It is also said in another place: Your arm with power. Let your hand be strengthened, and let your right hand be exalted (Ps. 88:14). And again: Sing to the Lord a new song: his right hand and holy arm will save him (Ps. 27:1, 2). For the right hand and arm of the Lord, is He who first saved the lost for Himself, so that none of those whom the Father had given Him would perish (John 17). And as for the islands, or the souls of the Saints, who in the persecutions of this world are firmly rooted in God by faith, or the multitude of Churches from the nations, we have often explained. And just as the arm of the Lord is the Savior, so we can understand all the saints as His arms that will judge the peoples, in whom God will judge the world.51:6
(Verse 6) Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look down to the earth beneath: for the heavens will vanish like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a garment, and its inhabitants will die like flies. But my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be abolished. LXX: Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and behold the earth beneath, for the heavens are established like smoke. But the earth will grow old like a garment, and its inhabitants will die like these things. But my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never fail. This is what the Lord speaks in the Gospel: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away (Matt. XXIV, 35). And David sings in the psalm: In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth, and the works of your hands are the heavens. They will perish, but you will endure, and all of them will wear out like a garment; you will wrap them up like a cloak, and they will be changed (Ps. CI, 26). From this it is shown that the destruction of heaven does not mean annihilation, but a change for the better. Of this it is said: 'There will be a new heaven and a new earth, which I will make to remain in my sight' (Apoc. XXI, 2). For if it is written of the saints: 'We shall all indeed rise again, but we shall not all be changed' (I Cor. XV, 51); and in the titles of four psalms it is said: 'For those who shall be changed'; how much more must this be believed of the heaven, the sun, and the stars, when the moon will receive the light of the sun and the sun will shine seven times brighter? And every creature groans and labors, awaiting the revelation of the sons of God, to be changed for the better (Rom. VIII). And not only the souls of humans, which are immortal, but also their bodies will be transformed into a glorified substance. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality (I Cor. XV, 53). And when the heavens and the earth grow old, along with all that is contained within the circle of the heavens, and humans, who are the inhabitants of the earth, will die like this: not for their destruction, but for the abolition of their former lowliness, and for the renewal of future glory; when the righteous will shine like the sun (Matth. XIII, 43); and as the past and old things pass away, all things will become new. Some people understand perishing and growing old as abolition and death. According to what we read in the Catholic Epistle: The heavens and the earth which now exist are reserved by the same word for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. And again: The elements will be dissolved with burning heat (2 Peter 3:7). This is indeed the opinion of the philosophers of the world, that all things which we see will perish by fire. Hence the Apostle says: The fashion of this world is passing away, for those who contemplate not the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. (I Cor. VII, 32). This is also what the apostle John writes: The world passes away, and the desire thereof (I John II, 17). And in Hebrew it is said: The heavens shall fade away like smoke. Or, according to Aquila and Symmachus, they shall be broken into nothingness, and crushed like salt and vanish away, of which the former said, they shall be dissolved; the latter, they shall perish; which clearly indicates a meaning derived from the breaking and dissolving of salt. Therefore, I wonder what the Seventy wanted to say when they said that the sky is firm like smoke. For if firmness is understood as strength, how can smoke, which is only firm, be compared to it? Unless, perhaps, we can say this: that the firmness, strength, and power of the sky are equal to the most empty wind and smoke, which dissolves in the air, as stated in Ecclesiastes: 'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity' (Eccl. I, 2). And it must be said that if the sky and the earth will perish and grow old, by what reasoning can we believe that its inhabitants will die and disappear, while we know that souls are eternal and bodies will be resurrected? From which it is clear that the sky and the earth do not perish and are not reduced to nothingness, but are changed for the better.51:7-8
(Verse 7, 8.) Listen to me, you who know righteousness, (people add "my" in Vulg.): my law is in their hearts. Do not fear the reproach of men, nor be afraid of their blasphemies. For like a moth, it will consume them; and like a worm, it will devour them. But my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness for generations upon generations. LXX: Listen to me, you who know judgment, my people: whose law is in their hearts. Do not be afraid of the disgrace of men, and do not be overcome by their contempt. For just as clothing will be consumed with time, and as wool will be eaten by moths. But my righteousness will be eternal, and my salvation for generations upon generations. He who said above: The law will come forth from me, and my judgment to the light of the nations: now speaks to the same ones who know his judgment, and have his law in their hearts, so that they may do all things with judgment, and have the law which the Lord promises through Jeremiah, saying (Jer. XXXI, 31 et seqq.): I will establish a new testament, not according to the testament which I made with their fathers: but I will establish a testament, giving my laws in their minds: and I will write them upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they will be my people: so that they may not live according to the letter, but according to the spirit, restoring the natural law in their hearts, about which the Apostle writes: For when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, naturally do the things that are of the law: they, not having the law, are a law unto themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts (Rom. II, 14). Regarding which it is signified in the psalm: The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom: and his tongue shall speak judgment. The law of his God is in his heart, and his steps shall not be supplanted (Psalm 36:30-31). And because the prophetic spirit knew that there would be many persecutions for those who believe, he exhorts them to fortitude, even to the contempt of those who will persecute them. This is what the Lord also spoke of in the Gospel: Fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body into hell (Matthew 10:28). And in another place: Rejoice, when all evil things are said against you falsely (Ibid., V, 11). For just as a garment is consumed by worms or by time, and just as wool is devoured by moths, so all the reproach of persecutors will pass with the persecutors. Therefore the Apostles boasted that they were considered worthy to suffer insults for the Lord (Act. V). But they boasted because the salvation and righteousness of the Lord, which had promised them victory and rewards, that is, the Lord and Savior may remain forever, both in the previous and later generations, who have received his coming, about whom it is also said above: My righteous one is near, my savior has gone forth.51:9-11
(Vers. 9 seqq.) Arise, arise; put on the strength of the arm of the Lord. Arise as in the days of old, in the generations of ages. Have you not struck down the proud, wounded the dragon? Have you not dried up the sea, the water of the great abyss, who made the depths of the sea a path, so that the redeemed might pass over? And now those who have been redeemed by the Lord will return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy will be upon their heads: they will have gladness and joy, sorrow and sighing will flee away. LXX: Arise, arise, O Jerusalem, and put on the strength of your arm. Arise as in the beginning of the day, as the everlasting generation. Are you not the one who formed the width, who crushed the dragon? Are you not the one who made the desert into a sea, the waters of the abyss many: who made a deep passage through the sea, for those who were freed and redeemed? For they shall be returned by the Lord, and they shall come to Zion with eternal joy and rejoicing. For in their head shall they apprehend praise and joy. Grief and mourning and sighing shall flee away. The name Jerusalem, which is added here by the LXX, is not found in Hebrew, nor is it found in any of the three Interpreters, from which it should be noted with an obelus and thus connected with the previous sense of the following chapter. The Lord had encouraged those who believed in him, saying: Do not fear the reproach of men, and do not be afraid of their blasphemies. And he had promised them his eternal salvation and justice as an aid, which is none other than Christ, the arm of the Lord, of whom he had said above: And the Gentiles shall hope in my arm. Where the people speak to the arm of the Lord, and implore His coming, and beg for the promised help, saying: Arise, arise: put on strength, arm of the Lord. Arise as in the ancient days, and exercise all your strength, so that you who have saved your Saints from dangers through many centuries may also protect us with your strength. For it is you who struck down the proud, wounded the dragon, the king indeed of Egypt Pharaoh, who is also called the great dragon in Ezekiel (Ezek. XXIX). You dried up the Red Sea, so that through the raging waters and deep sea, your people could find a way and escape the pursuing Egyptians. Therefore, you who did these things: now also bring back those redeemed and liberated by your blood to Zion and the heavenly Jerusalem, or to the Church which you prepared for yourself with your blood. In this place, when they are present, they will rejoice with eternal joy and say: Lord, you have crowned us with the shield of your good will. For they shall have joy and gladness, with sorrow and sighing fleeing away. This is according to the Hebrew. However, according to the Septuagint, Jerusalem, that is, the sinful soul is provoked to put on the strength of its arm and to take up its former works, just as it was before it fell: when it turned about in the day and in the light. For you are the one, it says, who have overcome the broad and spacious way that leads to death: and you have crushed the dragon, the twisting serpent: of which it is also read in the Psalms: You have crushed the heads of the dragons in the waters (Ps. 73:13). Remember your former strength, that you trampled the sea of this world and made it a desert, and you found a way in the midst of the waves. Therefore, the Apostle Peter also crossed the sea of this world to the Lord, and as he walked by faith, he began to sink in unbelief, except that he was supported by the right hand of the Lord. Just as the previous victory was granted with the help of the Lord, so also to those who return after repentance and listen: Will the one who falls not rise again? The Lord says: (Jer. VIII, 4). And, 'Turn to me, sons who are turning away; and I will heal your contritions' (Ibid., III). He himself will extend his hand and lead them back to Zion, the pinnacle and stronghold of virtues, with eternal joy and gladness, and put praise and rejoicing on their heads. For the eyes of the wise are in his head; and they will have this crown, and will be protected by this diadem, so that they may always rejoice and praise the Lord, because joy has succeeded sorrow, mourning, and groaning.51:12-13
(Verse 12, 13.) I, I myself will comfort you. Who are you that you fear from a mortal man, and from the son of man, who will dry up like grass? And you have forgotten the God your maker, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth; and you were constantly afraid all day long because of the fury of the one who was afflicting you, who had prepared to destroy. Where is the fury of the one afflicting you now? It will come quickly, walking to open and will not kill to the point of destruction: and his bread will not fail. But I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea and its waves roar; the Lord of hosts is His name. I have put My words in your mouth, and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, that I may plant the heavens, lay the foundations of the earth, and say to Zion, 'You are My people.' LXX: I am, I am He who comforts you. Who are you that you should be afraid of a man who will die, and of the son of a man who will be made like grass? And you forget the Lord your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth; you have feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he has prepared to destroy. But where is the fury of the oppressor now? For when you are saved, it will not stand, nor will it remain; it will not bring destruction, and its bread will not fail. For I am your God, who stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar. The Lord of hosts is my name. I will put my words in your mouth, and cover you with the shadow of my hand; in which I have set the heavens and established the earth; and Zion will say, 'You are my people.' The people of the faithful is the arm of the Lord, who is the strength of God and the wisdom of God, and they had prayed that he would rise up and provide them with aid, and with him fighting for the saints, they would have joy and gladness, with sorrow and groaning banished. Therefore, either the arm of the Lord, or the Lord Himself responded: I am, I am; and not through the Prophets, but I myself will console you: God of mercies, and Father of all consolation. And I wonder how, with me saying above: Do not fear the reproach of men and their blasphemies, you may fear the rage of persecutors, and not know that they are mortals, who dry up suddenly like hay, and perish. And certainly at that time when you feared them, you forgot the Lord your Maker. For if you had always kept me in your heart, you would never have feared men who are destined to turn to ashes. And whom have you forgotten? God, who suspends the heavens with incredible power and establishes the earth with solid mass. And you feared your adversaries, not for a short time, which could have been granted to you in some way; but constantly and throughout the day, so that even when you had the light of faith, darkness of fear would possess you, and the one who believed you would perish. Where now is the pride of the persecutors? Where is the secular power by which they raged with furious mouth against you? My son will come quickly, treading on and trampling your adversaries, to open for you the way of victory: whether to open the abyss, which he will not destroy until complete annihilation; but he desires to save the converted. Finally, the bread of him, who is interpreted by the Gospel, the teaching proving, will never fail, but will always be open to those willing to partake. At the same time, He makes reference to the Son, whom He promises will come quickly and whose bread He says is eternal: because He is the Lord God Himself, who, in the dispensation of assumed flesh, causes the sea to be troubled and its waves to swell, so that the pride of persecutors may be inflated against His servants, who will then find rest again with the help of the Lord. And He says that He has placed His words in his mouth. For whatever the Son speaks, the words are of the Father, and He will protect him in the shadow of His hand. And for this reason he will be protected so that he may plant new heavens and pour out a new earth, and say to Zion, that is, to the Church: You are my people. Therefore, Zion is none other than the people of God. Symmachus, in that place where we said, 'He will come quickly, walking to open,' and he will not kill until extermination, he interpreted it thus: Hell will open quickly, and he will not die into corruption. Christ is understood, who speaks in the fifteenth psalm: You will not abandon my soul to hell, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. In that place also we translate the words in the Hebrew and Aquila: I have set my words in your mouth, and I have covered you with the shadow of my hand, that you may plant the heavens and lay the foundations of the earth and say to Zion: You are my people. He translated it in this way: I will put my words in your mouth, and I will protect you with the shadow of my hand, in which I have planted the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and that I may say to Zion: You are my people. According to the LXX, it is said to the soul of every believer, because it, having been created in the image and likeness of God, has ignored its own dignity; but it fears man and the son of man, who can only kill the body, and has not known that it is immortal, nor has it said with the Prophet: The Lord is my light and my savior, whom should I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life; from whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1, 2) And again: The Lord is my helper; I will not fear what man can do to me. The Lord is my helper, and I will look down upon my enemies. (Psalm 118:6, 7) The nature of man is shown in another verse: In the Lord I will put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do to me. (Psalm 56:5) Therefore it is now said: You have feared mortal man, and the son of man, who are as dry grass. For all flesh is grass, and all its glory is like the flower of grass (Isaiah XL), and you have been terrified by the power of the judge, forgetting that he was your protector, who made the heaven and the earth, and all the elements that we see; or those heavens that bear the image of the celestial above, and that earth which multiplies the seed of the Lord. However, what is said above: And his flesh shall not decay, and his bread shall not fail, is added from the edition of Theodotion from the Hebrew. He stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar, as is sung in the Psalms: You rule the might of the sea and calm the tumult of its waves (Psalm 89:9). In Jeremiah it is also written: You shall not fear me, says the Lord, and from my presence you shall not tremble, who have set a boundary for the sea, an everlasting decree that will not be surpassed (Jeremiah 5:22). The seas were stirred up when the net of the Lord drew in a multitude of fish (Matthew 13). And the Lord put His words in the mouth of the believer, and He covered him with the shadow of His hand. He also speaks in the Gospel: When they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you should say; for it will be given to you in that hour what you should say. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you (Matthew 10:19-20). And in another place, He says to the righteous: Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it (Psalm 81:10). And again: Open your mouth to the word of God: for the Lord will give the word to those who proclaim it with great power. Therefore, God speaks to the inner man of Jeremiah, after touching his mouth: Behold, I have put my words in your mouth (Jeremiah 1:9). Who could sing with the Psalmist: He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn to our God (Psalm 40:4). But who has worked all these things if not the Lord and Savior, who made heaven and earth, and says to Zion: You are my people? What belongs to the gathered people of the Church. And in Hosea, He promises to those who believe, saying: I will call them 'my people,' who were not my people; and they will say to me, 'You are my God' (Hosea 2:24).51:17-19
(Vers. 17 seqq.) Lift up, lift up, arise, O Jerusalem, who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath: you have drunk to the dregs the cup of sleep, and have drained it to the bottom. There is no one to support her among all the sons she has borne, and there is no one to take her by the hand among all the sons she has brought up. There are two things that have befallen you; who will grieve over you? devastation and destruction, famine and sword: who will comfort you? Arise, arise, O Jerusalem, which have drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury. For thou hast drunken the cup of ruin and the dregs of the cup of fury: thou hast utterly drained it. And there is none to comfort thee among all the sons whom thou hast brought forth; neither is there any that taketh hold of thy hand, of all the sons that thou hast raised up. These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: who shall comfort thee? I often taught that Jerusalem and Zion are synonymous: of which Zion, which is interpreted as a watchtower, is called a fortress because it is located on a mountain: but the rest of the city, Jerusalem, which was previously called Jebus and Salem: which now the Prophet exhorts to rise, which previously fell into denial, saying in the Passion of the Lord: Crucify, crucify such [a man]: we have no king but Caesar (John 19:15): and let her repent, and feel the evils of captivity, why she offended her Creator. Doctors usually provide the most bitter antidote, which is named from its taste, to a nauseous stomach, so that it may expel harmful substances and be able to pass through the cooked and digested foods into the intestine, which the quantity of phlegm did not allow to be digested. Therefore, both Jerusalem, which drinks from the cup of the Lord's wrath, and from his κόνδυ, which Symmachus interpreted as a wine bowl, and which according to the book of Genesis, Joseph ordered to be hidden in his brother Benjamin's sack (Gen. XLIV), is ordered to rise up from drunkenness because she has drunk and emptied it, and has drunk it until the dregs: which three have indicated in one word, Ἐξεστράγγισας. Here is the chalice about which we read in Psalms: The chalice in the hand of the Lord is full of mixed wine. And he poured from this into that, but its dregs were not emptied: all the sinners of the earth will drink. (Psalm 74:9, 10). God also speaks about this to Jeremiah: Take the chalice of mixed wine from my hand, and you will offer it to all the nations to which I send you. And they will drink and vomit, and become insane because of the sword that I will send among them. (Jeremiah 25:15, 16). And when he says that he came near to other nations, and to Jerusalem, and to the cities of Judah, he declares: Thus says the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel: Drink and get drunk, and vomit, and fall down before the sword that I will send among you (Jer. 25:27). And it should be noted that this cup of the fury of the Lord is his sword, which is sent in the midst of sins. From this a question arises: how can it be said in Jeremiah that Jerusalem cannot rise up after drinking, drunkenness, vomiting, and ruin, and now through Isaiah it says to her: Lift up, lift up, rise up Jerusalem. This is how it is resolved: As long as someone drinks from the cup and becomes intoxicated and insane, and vomits and falls, they cannot rise, for they have not yet drunk the cup of the Lord, nor have they reached the dregs, so as to drink it to the bottom. But now concerning Jerusalem from the past, it says: you have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury, and not the one you are drinking. At the same time, it must be considered that neither a prophet nor an Apostle has been in Judea who could have comforted him and taken hold of his hand and raised him up while he was lying down. From which it is evident that these things are said after the last captivity; otherwise the history relates that Ezekiel and the other prophets had it while in Babylon and after Babylon. But what he says: There are two things that have happened to you, or rather these two things that have opposed you: who will be sorrowful for you? And instead of two, he presents four: devastation and destruction, famine and sword: this is similar to what is sung in the Psalter: God has spoken once, these two things I have heard: that power belongs to God, and to you, O Lord, mercy: for you will render to each one according to his works (Psalm 62:11-12). And there, indeed, God speaks once, that he is omnipotent, and the two prophets hear that his omnipotence prevails on both sides, so that he may grant mercy to the penitent and render the punishments they deserve to those who persist in sin. Similarly, in another place, two occurrences of Jerusalem are found, each of which has two things. For ruin or devastation is followed by contrition, and death by famine and sword. We can understand these things in an analogical and spiritual sense, referring to the sinful soul that, unwilling to drink the cup of the Lord's fury, says in the psalm: Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath (Ps. 6:1). But if he drinks, it is good for him to feel his own punishments, and to hear the Lord saying: When the anger of my fury has passed, I will heal again. And elsewhere: Shall the one who falls not rise again, says the Lord (Jeremiah 8:4)?51:20
(Verse 20.) Your sons are cast out, they have slept at the head of all the streets, like a trapped wild goat: full of the indignation of the Lord, the rebuke of your God. LXX: Your sons are destitute and sleeping at the head of all the streets: like a half-cooked beet, full of the fury of the Lord, and lacking from the Lord your God. As for the half-cooked beet, the remaining interpreters translated it as a captured and trapped wild goat, which is called 'Tho' in Hebrew, a type of wild animal found in the wilderness, listed among the clean animals in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. The Syriac language they have translated as thoreth, which means beta. Let us pass over the name and consider the meaning of it. Your sons, like wild oxen caught in snares, have slept in the streets and public squares, placing their naked bodies on the bare ground, thereby revealing the wrath of the Lord and the rebuke of their God, indicating their own misery. Furthermore, according to the Seventy: those who do not desire spiritual riches in every word, knowledge, and good work, but choose to be poor and not endure the threat, will by no means dwell in the houses that are built with virtues, but will remain at the beginning of the roads and at the exit, touching everything and leaving everything behind. Those who are said to sleep well in that sleep, of which it is written: They have slept their sleep and found nothing (Ps. 75:6). In that sleep, the Assyrian king has put them to sleep. And they are compared to half-cooked beets, which are a type of vegetable that is very cheap and fragile. About these vegetables, I believe that it is said in the Psalms: Do not be jealous of evildoers, nor envy those who do iniquity. For like grass, they will quickly wither, and like the green vegetables, they will quickly fall (Ps. 36:1, 2). For it is the food of the sick. He who is once unbelieving is called raw beetroot. But he who is content with simple faith, without reason and the truth of doctrines, performs the works of justice, can be called cooked beetroot. Furthermore, he who fluctuates between vices and virtues, and approaches the service of God with a double heart, is most rightly called half-cooked beetroot, of whom God speaks in the Apocalypse of John: Would that you were either hot or cold: but because you are lukewarm, I will vomit you out (Rev. III, 15, 16). Those who are lukewarm and sleeping are full of the fury of the Lord, and they are loose, or failing, through the Lord God. Not that the Lord is the cause of their loosening, who did not make death, nor does he take pleasure in the destruction of the living. But rather, those who have sinned in the Law, let them be judged by the Law, which works the wrath of God against those who are transgressors of it.51:21-23
(Verse 21 and following) Therefore, listen to these things, poor and drunken one, not from wine. This is what your Lord and your God says, who fought for his people: Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of slumber, the bottom of the cup of my indignation; you shall not add to drink it any further. And I will place it in the hand of those who humbled you, and they said to your soul: Bow down, that we may pass over, and you have made your body like the ground, and like a road to those passing by. LXX: Therefore listen, humiliated and drunk, not from wine. Thus says the Lord God who judges his people: Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of ruin, the chalice of my fury; and you shall no longer drink from it. And I will deliver it into the hands of those who unjustly oppressed and humiliated you, who said to your soul, 'Bow down, that we may pass over,' and you have made your back like the ground and like a street for those who pass by. O Jerusalem, to whom I said, 'Lift up, lift up, arise, and repent,' for you have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury; and you have drunk it to the dregs. And your sons, who were scattered throughout the whole world and led away captive, have lain prostrate in the streets and on the corners of the roads. Know that you are poor and humiliated, and drunk, not from wine, but from the fury of the Lord. Therefore, if you repent and rise lifted up, you will know the chalice of sleep and ruin: whether according to Symmachus and Theodotion, of tearing and shaking, to be taken from your hand: and that, which in this place Symmachus interpreted as a cup, you will no longer drink: but deliver it to your adversaries, who said to your soul, bow down, so that we may pass: and to those who said, you have bowed down by your own will. And you made your body like the earth, or back: or according to the Septuagint, your middle and your necks passing outside. Let this be said according to history, that if Jerusalem wants to lift itself and rise, it should not drink the cup of the Lord's fury, nor endure what it previously endured. But in order to understand it spiritually according to the Septuagint, it is said to mean a soul humbled by vices and intoxicated by disturbances, so that it may know that it has the Lord as its judge, and that it will render an account of everything. But if it were turned to better things, the cup of ruin would be taken away from his hands, and the bowl of the fury of the Lord, which contained punishments, about which Ezekiel also says to Jerusalem: You will drink the deep and wide cup of your sister Samaria, so that you may be drunk (Ezec. 23:32), should be given into the hands of those who humbled her. There is no doubt that it signifies opposing powers, which said to her souls: Bow down, so that we may pass by. In which it must also be noted that they did not bend it, nor did they force it, so that it would be inclined to the ground as before; but they left it to their own choice. However, it placed its neck or back, or its whole body, not inwardly, but outwardly, for those who trampled upon it. We also read something similar in the Gospel (Luke 13), because Satan had bent a woman for eighteen years, whom the Lord restored to her former state, so that she could say: I lift up my eyes to the mountains, from where will my help come? (Psalm 120:1); and: To you I lift up my eyes, you who are enthroned in the heavens (Psalm 123:1).52:1
(Chapter 52, Verse 1) Arise, arise, put on your strength, O Zion; put on your garments of glory, O Jerusalem, holy city; for the uncircumcised and the unclean will no longer pass through you. (Verse 1 according to the Septuagint) Rise up, rise up, O Zion; put on your strength, O Zion, and put on your glory, O Jerusalem, holy city. Never again will the uncircumcised and the unclean pass through you. Again, in this place the name Zion is added, as in the Septuagint above, and for this reason it has been slain with the spear. To whom, therefore, he had said above (Chapter 51, verse 9): Lift up, lift up, arise, O Jerusalem; now he speaks to the same: Arise, arise, put on your strength, O Zion. But the following verse shows what Zion is: Put on your garments of glory, O Jerusalem. We have said this in order to prove that Jerusalem and Zion are one city. And it is commanded to her that she shall put off her mourning garments, and put on those which she had before she drank from the hand of the Lord the cup of fury. And the city is called the sanctuary, for it signifies 'codes' due to the temple that was established in it. Whether it is called 'holy' due to the knowledge of God, or 'sacred' because it alone in the world received the law. Therefore, even after the resurrection of the Savior, the bodies of the dead appeared in the holy city. However, because of blasphemy and the shedding of blood against the Lord, it could not be called holy (Matthew 27). And what is promised, if it rises after its ruin and is clothed with strength and glory, signifies that it will no longer be crossed by the uncircumcised and impure, as the Apostle Paul also says: 'What fellowship can righteousness have with iniquity?' Which society for light to darkness? Which agreement for Christ to Belial? Which part has the faithful with the unbeliever? What consensus has the temple of God with idols (I Cor. VI, 14, 15)? All of these, as we have begun to explain, refer to the state of the soul. And if it regains its original strength through repentance, let it be called the dwelling place of the Holy One, and let it become the temple of God, and by no means let the uncircumcised and unclean reasoning pass through it. Of these it was said: Cleanse me from my hidden sins, O Lord, and spare your servant from alien sins. If I am not dominated by them, then I will be blameless and cleansed from great offense (Ps. XVIII, 13, 14). But all the things that are promised to Zion and Jerusalem, are not as the Jews dream, referring to its stones and ashes and embers, so that it may be restored to its former state, but to the people of Jerusalem, who killed the Prophets and stoned those who were sent to them (Matt. XXIII), and finally even laid their hands on the Son of God. He who falls in the passion of Christ is raised in his resurrection: when many thousands believed of the Jews, and the remnants were saved. The same can be said of the Church, which is the vision of peace and a mirror; if it falls into heresy, it is commanded to depart and to receive the ornaments of the ancient faith. And if it is raised up, the rewards of holiness and continence are promised to it, so that no uncircumcised and unclean person may pass through it. This can be referred not to the circumcision of the flesh and the foreskin, but to the impurity or purity of works, so that we may call the uncircumcised and impure those who serve the pleasure of the body and lust. In fact, Jeremiah speaks not of circumcision of the flesh, but of the spirit: All the nations are uncircumcised in the flesh, but the children of Israel are uncircumcised in their hearts (Jeremiah 9:26). And the blessed Apostle, in discussing virginity, continence, and marriage, made this statement: Someone who is called circumcised should not let his foreskin be brought forward. He who is called in uncircumcision, let him not be circumcised (I Cor. VII, 18). Which seems to me to say in other words: He who is called without a wife, and believes, let him not take a wife. Or conversely: having a wife, he has believed in Christ, let him by no means divorce her. This meaning, not only in circumcision and in uncircumcision, but also in freedom and slavery, he keeps, calling the unmarried and the continent free, and the slaves who render the debt to their wives. For it is not in our power to bring forth a foreskin after circumcision, as those who are said to have made foreskins for themselves in the book of Maccabees, which is said to apply to newborn sons and not to fathers. Or, as the book called, is more of a servant of Christ (Ibid., VII, 22), since in the baptism of Christ there is no difference between Jew, Gentile, Greek, and Barbarian, male and female, free and slave.52:2-3
(Verse 2, 3.) Shake off the dust; arise, Jerusalem! Loose the bonds of your neck, captive daughter Zion. For thus says the Lord: You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money. LXX: Shake off the dust; arise, Jerusalem! Loose the bonds of your neck, captive daughter Zion. For thus says the Lord: You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money. By no means does the word of the Prophet refer to Jerusalem, that is, to the ruins of its stones, and to the ashes and cinders, but it refers to the people who dwell within it. And it is called the daughter, because of the weakness of its spirit, as the following verse shows, in which it says: Loose the bonds of your neck, captive daughter Zion. Truly, the people of Judah are captives, who still bear the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar to this day, and are bound by the ropes of their sins and blasphemies. They were sold for nothing, and have done nothing deserving of redemption. As it is said above: 'Behold, you were sold for your sins, and I have dismissed your mother because of your iniquities.' And it gives the reasons why they were sold, why they were rejected. For, he says, I came and there was no man; I called and there was no one who would listen. From which it is clear that they were handed over to error and demons because they had not heard the one shouting: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened (Matthew 11:28). But those who want to believe will be redeemed, not with silver and money, but with the precious blood of Christ, so that they may hear through the apostles: Grace to you and peace (Romans 1:7). For we are reconciled to God, not by merits, but by grace and faith in Christ. It is also said of the soul, which, defiled by the filth of vices, had lost the brightness of its former conduct, that it shakes off the dust with the Apostles, who clung to His feet (Matthew 10). For it could not be that the soul, which had submitted its neck to those passing by and had mingled with the earth, saying, 'My soul is humbled even to the dust, my belly has adhered to the earth' (Psalm 43:25), should receive the likeness of the earth. From which the Apostle calls us back, saying: As we have borne the image of the earthly, let us also bear the image of the heavenly (I Cor. XV, 49). Therefore those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Rom. VIII). Not that the nature of the flesh is condemned, of which God is the creator, and in which many have pleased God and reign with Christ: but that the works of the flesh are rejected, of which the same Apostle speaks: But I am carnal, sold under sin (Rom. VII, 14). Finally, he says to people like this: When there is envy and rivalry among you, are you not carnal and walking according to human standards (1 Corinthians 3:3)? And on the contrary to the saints: But you are not in the flesh; indeed, the Spirit of God dwells in you. Therefore, dust is expelled, as it is written: Will dust confess to you, or declare your truth (Psalm 30:9), so that the chains of our neck may be loosened; and may we not hear: Your neck is an iron sinew; but may we deserve to hear as a bride: How beautiful are your cheeks, like doves; your neck, like jewels (Song of Solomon 1:9). And again: I surrounded your wrists with bracelets, and a necklace around your neck; so that, liberated from heavy burdens and receiving your former adornments, we may cease to be captives, redeemed by him who came to proclaim remission to the captives. And of whom it is written (Isaiah 45:13): 'He shall build my city and bring back the captivity of my people, not with price nor with gifts.' To this meaning also agrees the Apostle Peter: Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation, received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of the spotless Lamb (1 Peter 1:18).52:4-6
(Verse 4 and following) Because thus says the Lord God: My people went down into Egypt at the beginning, to dwell there as strangers: and Assur without any cause has oppressed them. And now what have I here, says the Lord? For my people have been taken away for nothing: their rulers have acted unjustly, says the Lord, and my name is constantly blasphemed all day long. Therefore, on that day my people shall know my name, because I myself am the one who spoke, behold, I am here. LXX: For thus says the Lord: My people went down into Egypt to sojourn there, and they became slaves in Assyria. And now, what will happen here, says the Lord? For my people have been taken away for no reason; you marvel and wail. Thus says the Lord: Because of you, my name is constantly blasphemed among the nations. Therefore, on that day, my people will know my name, for I myself am present. He reproaches the people of Judah and predicts what is to come. Those who descended to Egypt by their own will and travelled in the land of Goshen during a time of necessity and famine (Genesis XLVII): later suffered slander by the Assyrians, whom they had not harmed, and were taken into captivity in Babylon (2 Kings XVII, 25). From this, it is inferred: 'And now, what do I have here, says the Lord?' And the meaning is: I have nothing left that would cause me to remain in this region, from which my people was taken away for nothing, and sold into captivity because of their sins, and like a wild bull caught in a net, either by the strength of the Romans or by the snares of the devil, by which it is held captive until now. But in order to allow these things, their rulers and masters acted unfairly; those who, according to Symmachus and Theodotion, will howl; those who, according to Aquila, will weep, when they have been handed over to torments. For they are the ones who incited the people against the Savior, so that they might shout with one voice: Crucify, crucify such a one (John 19:15). Concerning whom he had already said: The Lord himself will come with the elders of the people and with its princes. But why have you set my vineyard on fire and plundered the poor in your houses? (Is. III, 14) Therefore, according to the Septuagint, it speaks to them: Because of you, my name is always blasphemed among the nations. And it should be known that, among the nations, my name is not blasphemed in Hebrew, but absolutely, so that it may be understood, my name is constantly blasphemed in your synagogues: on the days and nights they blaspheme the Savior, and under the name, as I have often said, of Nazarenes, they heap curses upon Christians three times a day. Therefore, while they blaspheme and curse the Lord, his people, of whom it has been frequently said, that is, the Christian people, will know the name of him who is to come in the name of the Father. And for this reason, they will know, because he who spoke previously through the prophets will personally teach the people. According to the Septuagint, God speaks to Israel that he descended into Egypt by his own will. As Moses said in Deuteronomy: 'Your fathers went down to Egypt with seventy souls' (Deut. 10:22), and they were violently taken captive by the Assyrians. Where is it said to them: And now what are you doing here? what are you doing in the land of Judah, who after the death of the Prophets, laid hands on the Son of God? Or surely to the angelic powers, and the guardians of the Temple, God speaks to the Angels: What are you doing here, why do you not leave the blaspheming people? which Josephus also relates (Book VI, Jewish Antiquities, c. 12): suddenly the doors of the Temple opened, and were spontaneously unlocked, which many men could hardly close, and a voice came out from the inner sanctuary of the Temple, saying: Let us leave these seats. Considering the appropriateness of their words, let us depart from what they did not say, but let us go on to the people of the nations. Therefore, the veil of the Temple from the top to the bottom was torn in two parts, to expose all the Jewish ceremonies, and at that time be fulfilled what is said in this same Prophet: The law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge between many nations even unto the farthest (Isaiah 2:3-4). For their sound went out into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world (Psalm 19). And in every place incense is offered to God, and a pure offering (Malachi 1), when the prophetic word is fulfilled: They shall remember and return to the Lord all the ends of the earth: and all the families of the nations shall worship in his presence; for the kingdom is the Lord's, and he shall rule over the nations (Psalm 22, 28-29). Therefore it is said to the princes of Judah: Be amazed, and howl, for you are the cause of the ruin of the people. Furthermore, according to the anagogical sense, we can say that the people of God of this age willingly descend into Egypt when they are more lovers of pleasures than of God, and do not heed that prophetic message: Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help (Isaiah 31:1). When someone is stained with vices and dwells in a place of waters and rivers, not having the dryness of chastity, then they will be violently handed over to the Assyrians to be ruled by them, who will later accuse and convict them of sin. For they are both enemies and avengers, of whom he speaks to Israel: And now what is to you and the way of Egypt, that you drink the water of Geon: and what is to you and the way of the Assyrians, that you drink the water of the rivers (Jer. II, 18). Therefore, whoever descends into Egypt, and from the heights of Jerusalem falls to lower things: going to Jericho, the other Egypt, he receives many wounds from the robbers, it is said to him: And now what is this to you? What on earth and in the Church of God do you pretend to be, you who have descended to Egypt with zeal and desire, and are possessed by Assyrians, and have been captivated? And you should wail and lament even more; because because of your vices and sins, the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles. As it is said in Ezekiel: You have defiled my name among the Gentiles (Ezek. XXXVI, 20). And just as the Lord speaks to his disciples in the Gospel: Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matth. V, 16): so, on the contrary, when we do evil works, the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of us. Therefore, whoever has knowledge of the name of God and that he was created in his image and likeness, will not be ignorant, but will dwell in the light. And it will be in the day, of which Abraham rejoiced that he saw it (John 8); of which also the holy David speaks: This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24). For those who have enlightened themselves with the light of knowledge, and have eternal light, which is promised to those who believe: The Lord will be your eternal light (Isaiah 60:20), they walk honorably in the day, and are the children of light and day; and they will know him who says to Moses: Go, say to the children of Israel, 'I AM who I AM' (Exodus 3:14): and they will recognize that he whom they had known before in the saints, is also present with them.52:7-8
(Verses 7, 8.) How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger of good news, who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns.' The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion. LXX: As the hour over the mountains, so the feet of the messenger who hears the message of peace, who hears the message of good news, for I will make my salvation heard, saying, 'Zion, your God reigns.' The voice of those who keep watch over you is exalted, and they shall rejoice together, for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord has mercy on Zion. Consequently, concerning the one who said above, 'I myself who spoke, behold I am present,' now the Prophet testifies that he himself has preached the Gospel over the mountains, that is, over the Apostles, about whom it is written: 'Approach the everlasting mountains' (Micah 2:9, LXX), and their doctrine is the illumination of God. Where in the Psalms it says of Him: Thou enlightenest wonderously from the everlasting hills (Ps. LXXV, 5). He has announced and preached peace to those who were far off, that is, to the Gentiles; and near, that is, to the Jews: reconciling the world to God, of whom it is sung in the psalm under the name of Solomon: Justice shall rise up in his days, and abundance of peace, till the moon be taken away (Ps. LXXI, 7). And in the same Prophet, about the Child who is born, and the Son who is given to us, whose principate is upon his shoulder, and he shall be called the Angel of great counsel, it is said afterwards (above, IX, 7): And there shall be no end of his peace. For he is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of two one new man, so making peace; And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together grows unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. These are the good things that the Lord promises to those who believe: Hear me and you will eat good things; and your soul will delight in good things; and not only good things, but also salvation he announced to all, which he himself gave who says to Zion, that is, to the Church: Your God reigns. Hence the Apostle speaks to the Holy Ones: Let sin not reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires (Rom. VI, 12). And writing about sinners, he says: Death reigned from Adam to Moses (Rom. V, 14). And what follows: The voice of your watchmen, or your custodians, signifies the Apostles, about whom God speaks to the Church in another place (Below, LXII, 6): I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence. Wherefore it is said unto them (Above, XL, 9): Get thee up into the high mountain, O Zion, that bringest good tidings; lift up thy voice with strength, O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings. These same ones will praise God with equal voice, and with eyes they will see face to face. Which the Apostle says in other words: Face to face (1 Corinthians 13); when the Holy One sings: My eyes are always toward the Lord (Psalm 25:15). And: To you I lift up my eyes, you who are enthroned in the heavens (Psalm 121:1). And the Lord will answer them: For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer (Psalm 34:16). The translation of the Septuagint is like this: as the hour, that is, time above the mountains: just as the feet of one who brings good news of peace, and so on, Paul, following the sense of the Hebrew Truth, puts in his Epistle to the Romans: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news, who bring the message of peace (Romans 10:15): intending the Apostles, whose feet the Lord washed (John 13), so that they might be clean and beautiful for preaching, and go throughout the whole world, and quickly fill the world with the teaching of Christ. Now, ὥρα, that is, hour, according to the Septuagint, and the ambiguity of the Greek word can mean either time or beauty. If it refers to time, it will be appropriate to say: I heard you at the right time, and I was your helper on the day of salvation (Isaiah 49:8). Hence, the Apostle concludes: Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). For at the right time, he shed his blood for all, when everyone had turned away and had become useless at the same time. There was none who did good, not even one (Ps. 14:3): so that he might taste death for all, because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). But if we refer beauty to that which is said in the psalm: You are fairer than the sons of men (Ps. 45:2); (for what is more beautiful than for the form of a servant to become the form of God, and to sit and reign with Christ in the heavens?) it can be called watchfulness according to the breadth of the Greek language, and solicitude, according to what the Saint says: You will multiply me in my soul, in your power (Ps. 137:4). For you will make me abound [multiply] in Greek, it is said πολυωρήσεις με [poluōrēseis me], which means you will consider me worthy with much care and concern. And elsewhere: According to your greatness you have multiplied [πολυώρησας | poluōrēsas] the sons of men (Ps. XI, 9); which in other Greek words means you have valued [ἠξίωσας | ēxiōsas] them with much time [πολλῆς ὤρας | pollēs hōras] and thought [φροντίδος | phrontidos]. But these [translations] are superfluous; and it is more fitting to receive the beautiful feet of Christ or the Apostles, since, besides the Seventy [Septuaginta], all others have translated [it] similarly, with Paul approving their interpretation.52:9-10
(Verse 9, 10.) Rejoice and praise together, O deserted Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has prepared his holy arm in the sight of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. LXX: Let the deserted Jerusalem burst into joy together, for the Lord has had mercy on her, and has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord will reveal his holy arm in the sight of all the nations. And all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. After the people of Judah were led into captivity and the city was burned, there were few or no inhabitants in Jerusalem. But when the one who spoke through the prophets and was with God in the beginning, the Word of God, dwelt amongst us and became flesh, the deserts of Jerusalem were restored. And he came, of whom it is written: 'He will build my city and bring back the captivity of my people, so that it shall never again be lamented by Jeremiah: How lonely sits the city that was full of people: she has become like a widow who was multiplied among the nations' (Lamentations 1:1). But let David hear the one singing, 'When the Lord restored the captivity of Zion, we became like those who are comforted' (Psalm 126:1, 4). And after a little while: We became joyful. And so that we know that these things are said not about the Jewish people, but about all who will believe in the Lord through the apostles, he sets forth and says: He who comforted her, or had mercy on her, and he who rescued or redeemed her, he himself has prepared or revealed his holy arm, in the sight of all nations: and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. From which it is clear that, after the spiritual Jerusalem, that is, the Church, which was abandoned by the Jews, has been built by the Apostles, the arm of the Lord is revealed to all nations, and all the ends of the earth see his salvation. Which is understood in two ways. Either the Father reveals his arm to all nations, or the Son reveals his strength. Concerning which it is written: For power went out from him and healed all (Luke 6:19). And again: I perceived that power had gone out from me, which healed the woman with an issue of blood (Mark 5:30). But that the Son of God is called the right hand and arm of the Father, there are many testimonies, of which we will mention a few: His right hand and holy arm have worked salvation for him (Psalm 98:2). And elsewhere: In my arm the nations will hope (Isaiah 51:5). Concerning this, Jacob says: To him shall be the expectation of the nations (Genesis 49:10). And the eighty-eighth psalm: Your arm with power. With this arm the Lord brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt. Concerning this, he spoke to the prince of the Apostles: Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven (Matthew 16:17). And the Apostle Paul about himself (Galatians 1:15): When it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, to reveal His Son in me. And what was foretold that He joined together all the ends of the earth, those who are to see the salvation of God, is shown from what is said in another place: Turn to Me from the ends of the earth, and you will be saved (Isaiah 45:22); and through Jeremiah: The nations shall come to you from the ends of the earth (Jeremiah 16:19); and again: All the families of the nations will remember and turn to the Lord, because the kingdom belongs to the Lord, and He shall rule over the nations (Psalm 22:28 and following); so that not only the diversity of individual nations, but also all the corners of the world, who will believe, may be foretold in Christ. According to what he himself says: But when this Gospel has been preached in the whole world, then the end will come (Matthew 24:14). Others understand the highest and farthest parts of the earth to mean those who do not dwell in the middle of the earth, but on its extreme borders like the ends of wheels, leaving low things behind and hastening towards lofty ones.52:11-13
(Vers. 11-13.) Step back, step back, go out from there, do not touch the impure: go out from its midst, you who carry the vessels of the Lord. For you will not go out in tumult, nor will you hurry in flight. For the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will gather you together. LXX: Step back, step back, come out from there, and do not touch the unclean thing: go out from its midst: separate yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the Lord, for you will not go out in tumult, nor will you go in flight, but the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will gather you together. And the Jews try to argue this: Go out of Babylon, and abandon their idols. Go out from its midst, and bring back the vessels that Nebuchadnezzar, having captured Jerusalem, took (2 Kings 15), with Cyrus releasing the captives under Zerubbabel and Ezra (Ezra 1), to the temple; not as before when you fled from Egypt with tumult and fear, so you shall go out of Babylon; but with peace and the will of the Persian and Median king, in whom the will of the Lord appeared, who protected and gathered you. Others interpret what we have said about Babylon as referring to the Roman kingdom, that in the coming of Christ, who will set them free, all these things will be fulfilled. But we, hearing above: How beautiful are the feet of the one announcing and preaching peace on the mountains. And: The Lord will reveal his arm in the sight of all nations. And, all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God, by no means do we understand this about the Jews, but about the choir of the Apostles and all the Saints. To them it is commanded, that they depart from Jerusalem, and preach the Gospel in the whole world, the Lord and Savior saying: Go forth and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19): so that they may in no way remain with the blasphemous Jews, upon whose destruction the Roman army is prepared; but rather they should leave the polluted ones and be separated and cleansed from them, who bear the vessels of the Lord. For indeed they are temples of the Holy Spirit (I Cor. III), and great houses are vessels of gold and silver. Such was the Apostle Paul, who is called a chosen vessel (Act. IX), for he had prepared himself as a precious and suitable vessel for the ministry of God. Or certainly this must be said, that the vessels of the Lord are the spiritual armor of God. Of which even the Apostle Paul spoke: Put on the armor of God (Ephes. VI, 11), and he enumerates each one: the breastplate of righteousness, and the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. To these things, add the belt of truth and shoes for the preparation of the Gospel of peace. And elsewhere: Therefore, putting aside the works of darkness, let us put on the weapons of light (Rom. XIII, 13). It follows: You will not go out in tumult, nor will you go in flight. For as victors they departed from Jerusalem, not as those defeated, in order to subjugate the world to the Gospel of God, who daily preached in the Temple, and had subjected many thousands of Jews to the faith of Christ, also to subjugate his world to the Gospel. For they held the Lord as the leader, who would gather them, the God of Israel, that is, to make one flock out of the entire world, so that what the Lord speaks in the Gospel to the Father would be fulfilled (John 17:21): Give that as you and I are one, so may they be one in us: so that with the same mind and the same opinion, leaving behind conflicting vices and opposing things, they may embrace one and only virtue. For vices and disturbances do not follow one another: that which is said about virtues, in which there are no excesses or deficiencies, that is, neither more nor less, but all things are moderate. Furthermore, in vices, everything is contrary, such as fear to boldness, impiety to superstition, and extravagance to restraint.Behold, my servant shall understand, he shall be exalted and extolled, and shall be very high. As many were astonished at him; so his appearance was marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. He shall sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. LXX: Behold, my servant shall understand, and he shall be exalted, and shall be very glorious. Just as many were astonished at you, so your appearance will be marvelous among people, and your glory among the children of men. So many nations will be amazed at him, and kings will shut their mouths because of him. For they will see what was not proclaimed to them, and they will understand what they had not heard. So that there may be no ambiguity for readers, it is clear who will say: I, who spoke, am here; and the holy arm of the Lord, which has been revealed to all nations, God the Almighty Father clearly teaches: Behold my servant or my son whom I have sent, about whom we have spoken of his difference before. But he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2). Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name. As it is written in the psalm: I will bless the Lord who gives me understanding (Psalm 16:7); and concerning him, David sings: Who made the heavens with understanding (Psalm 135:5). He Himself is indeed wisdom and understanding, who progressed in wisdom and understanding as if a child in age and wisdom: of whom Peter also speaks: God of our fathers has glorified His Son Jesus, whom you indeed handed over and denied in the presence of Pilate who was willing to release Him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One (Acts 3:13-14), of whom we have also shown above: I am a witness, says the Lord, and the chosen child upon whom many will marvel when they perceive His signs (Isaiah 43:10). And from this will be a greater miracle, that his appearance will be inglorious among men: not because it signifies ugliness of form, but because he came in humility and poverty. Though he was rich, he became poor for us; and to those who believe, he said: Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart (Matt. XI, 29); of whom Clement, an apostolic man who governed the Church of Rome after Peter, writes to the Corinthians: The Lord Jesus Christ, the scepter of God, did not come in the boasting of pride, though he could do all things, but in humility. As soon as he was struck by the officer of the priest, he answered, If I have spoken wrongly, give evidence of the wrong; but if well, why do you strike me? having twelve legions of angels who would obey his command. He shall sprinkle many nations, purifying them with his own blood and consecrating them in the baptism of God's service. Kings themselves will hold their mouths in check, and rulers of the world whose wisdom has been overthrown by the preaching of the cross; and those who had no Law and Prophets, and to whom he had not been proclaimed, will see and understand. Of whom the Savior also speaks: Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed (John 20:29). In comparison to them, the hardness of the Jews is reproved, who, seeing and hearing, have fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy in themselves, saying: 'You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear' (Isaiah 6:9-10).
53:1-4
(Chapter 53, verses 1 and following) Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground: he has no form or comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and we hid, as it were, our faces from him; he was despised, and we did not esteem him. Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. LXX: But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. A man in distress, and knowing how to bear infirmity, because his face is turned away, despised and not esteemed. He carries our sins, and grieves for us, and we have reckoned him to be in pain, and in affliction. After the words of the Father, by which he had announced to the world that his son would come; and before the scandal of the cross, about which he was going to say: His appearance will be inglorious, and his form unlike that of other men, he had foretold the glory of the resurrection: He will be exalted and lifted up, and will be greatly exalted: so that, by the humility of the cross, he might anticipate the glory of the resurrection. The choir of prophets responded that they had fulfilled their duty, and had proclaimed to all the power and strength of his arm, as much as they could. But concerning what he says: Who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? he signifies the rarity of those who believe among the Jews. And what follows: It shall spring up as a root before him; for which the LXX translated, We have announced it as a little one before him: for root, Symmachus interpreted as a branch, in order to show that the man who proceeded from the virgin womb was assumed. Of whom he infers: As a root from a thirsty land. For the thirsty one, the Eagle was interpreted as a sign, in order to demonstrate the privilege of virginity, that he was created from the earth without any human seed. This is the one about whom we read above: A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots (Isaiah 11:1), in order to signify his birth and ascent into the world. But he did not have appearance or glory; his form was ignoble and lacking compared to the sons of men, or as it is said in Hebrew, despised and the last of men, as it is said in the Psalms: Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, in your glory and majesty (Psalm 45:4). What is easily solved. He was despised and ignoble when he hung on the cross, and became a curse for us, bearing our sins. And he said to the Father: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46). But he was famous and beautiful in appearance, when the earth trembled at his passion, rocks were split, and with the sun fleeing, the elements feared eternal night. Of whom the bride also says in the Song of Songs: My beloved is white and ruddy, chosen from thousands (Song of Solomon 5:10). Candidus, in the fullness and purity of virtues, ruddy in passion, about which we will read later: Who is this that comes from Edom, his garments yellowish; chosen from thousands for resurrection; so that the one who was the firstborn of all creation might be the firstborn from the dead. And he brings forth this: a man in sorrow and knowing how to bear weakness, a man of sorrows, and knowing weakness, a true human body, and a true soul, who, knowing how to bear weaknesses, overcame them all by divinity. And his hidden and despised appearance, so that the divine power might be concealed in a human body. Regarding which it has been said above: You are a hidden God, and we did not know. He truly carried our weaknesses and sins, and he grieves for us, not just in appearance, that is, to seem so, as the ancient and new heresies suspect; but he truly was crucified. He truly suffered, saying in the Gospel: My soul is sorrowful even unto death (Matthew 26:38). And: Now is my soul troubled (John XII, 27). And we thought him to be unclean, or in pain, as the Seventy translated, for which Aquila and Symmachus translated as a leper, Theodotion, as scourged. Which in other words is understood as leprosy in Hebrew idiom, according to what is written in the Psalms: And the scourge shall not come near your tent (Ps. XC, 10). And the sense is: We thought him to be struck by God for his sins, who was humiliated for us and crucified with thieves. Regarding what Symmachus translated as Ἐν ἁφῇ ὄντα, which means 'in lepra'; Aquila rendered it as ἁφημένον, meaning 'leprosum': many, not understanding, think it was left out, and others read καθήμενον, meaning 'sitting'. At the beginning of the chapter, where it is said according to the Septuagint: 'Lord, who has believed our report?': and the arm of the Lord, to whom it is revealed (Rom. X), which testimony the apostle Paul also uses in Romans, explaining about the passion of the Lord: 'Lord' is not in the Hebrew, but for the understanding of the person to whom it is said, it was added.53:5-7
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. LXX: But he was wounded for our sins, and he was weakened for our iniquities. He was wounded for our iniquities, saying in the psalm: They have dug my hands and my feet (Ps. XXI, 18), so that with his wound he might heal our wounds, and he was crushed, or afflicted because of our sins, so that he became a curse for us, to deliver us from the curse. For every man who hangs on a tree is cursed (Deut. XXI, Galat. III). Therefore, our discipline of peace is upon him. For what we should have endured for our own sins, He suffered for us, making peace through the blood of His cross, whether those on earth or those in heaven. For He Himself is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of partition, abolishing in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that He might create in Himself one new man, making peace. From which it is clear, that just as the bruised and lacerated body bears signs of injury in bruises and discoloration: so too the soul truly suffered for us, lest it be believed in Christ partly as truth and partly as falsehood (Rom. III). All, as it is said, have gone astray like sheep, and we are in need of God's mercy, saying in the psalm: I have strayed like a lost sheep (Ps. CXVIII, 176); which in the parable of the Good Shepherd in the Gospel was carried on his concerned shoulders (Matth. XV). But the following verse shows who these sheep are. Man has wandered in his way; or rather, each one has turned aside in his own way, in order to follow his own error, abandoning the right path, and thinking differently about the Crucified. However, the Lord placed on him the iniquity of all of us, or he handed him over for our sins; so that what we could not bear on account of our weakness, he would bear for us, who was offered, because he himself willed it. For He endured the cross not out of necessity, but out of His own will, saying in the Gospel: 'The cup which My Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?' (John XVIII, 11). And to Peter, who was scandalized by the name of the cross because he did not know the mystery and was trembling with human fear, He said: 'Get behind me, Satan, you are a stumbling block to me; for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men' (Matthew XVI, 23). Otherwise, if He had not been willingly offered, He who could indicate and foretell the traitor and was speaking to the Apostles, 'You will all fall away because of Me this night,' could have caused those who were sent to him to turn away, but he boldly came to meet them and offered Himself saying, 'Whom do you seek?' (John XVIII, 4, 6). Those who immediately fell backward; for they could not bear the voice of the present God. And beautifully he added: And he did not open his mouth. When Pilate said to him: Don't you speak to me? he refused to answer. Or according to the Septuagint: He did not open his mouth in affliction. Or according to Symmachus and Theodotion, he did not open his mouth when he heard.53:7-9
(Verse 7 onwards) Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. He was taken away by distress and judgment. Who can describe his generation? For he was cut off from the land of the living; because of the transgression of my people he was struck down. He will be given the wicked as a burial place, and the wealthy as his tomb, because he did no violence, nor was deceit found in his mouth. And the Lord was pleased to crush him in infirmity. LXX: He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humility his judgment was taken away. Who will declare his generation, for his life is taken from the earth? He was led away to death because of the iniquities of my people; I will give the wicked for his burial, and the rich for his death. He did not commit iniquity, nor was deceit found in his mouth; and the Lord desires to cleanse him from his wound. This testimony is about the Ethiopian eunuch, who was riding in a chariot of Queen Candace while reading the book of Acts (Chapter 8 and following). He did not understand what he was reading, but with the help of Philip, he came to understand the passion and the name of the Savior. He was immediately baptized in the blood of the Lamb that he had been reading about and deserved to be called a man. The apostle was then sent to preach to the Ethiopian people. Just as Jesus was offered to Pontius Pilate, because he himself wanted it, and did not respond when asked to climb the Cross for our sake, he was led like a sheep to slaughter and remained silent like a lamb before the shearer. Indeed, our Passover lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed (I Cor. 5), whom John the Baptist pointed out, saying: Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). He is also often mentioned as the slain lamb in the Apocalypse of the Evangelist John (Apocalypse 5). He speaks of Himself in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 11). But I, like an innocent lamb, being led to the victim, did not know. For when He did not know sin, He became sin for us (II Cor. 5). And just as a lamb, when led to the slaughter, does not resist, so He suffered willingly to destroy him who had the power of death (Heb. 2), humbling Himself unto death, even the death of the cross (Phil. 2). This is the lamb, in whose type the lamb was sacrificed, whose blood, when smeared on the doorposts, drove away the destroyer from the Egyptians (Exod. 22); who not only redeemed us with His own blood, but also covered us with His wool, so that, shivering in disbelief, He might warm us with His garment, and we might hear the Apostle speaking to us: As many as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ (Gal. 3:27). And in another place: Put on the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. XIII, 14). And what follows: He was taken away from distress and judgment; or as the Septuagint translated, in his humility his judgment was taken away, it signifies that he, having conquered, ascended from tribulation and judgment to the Father; or that the judge of all will not find truth in judgment; but that he was condemned without any fault, through the sedition of the Jews and the voice of Pilate. Therefore, the Prophet marvels that God has delivered himself to the passion of all. About what Paul is speaking: For if they had believed, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Cor. 2:8). It follows: Who will declare His generation? This is understood in two ways: either it is to be understood about His divinity, that the mysteries of His divine birth are impossible to know; about which He Himself speaks in the Proverbs: Before all the hills He brought me forth (Prov. 8:25); according to what we read elsewhere: For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor? (Rom. 11:34)? That is, no man; or about the birth of the Virgin, which can hardly be explained. Finally, when it was said to Mary by the Angel: You shall conceive and bear a son, she responded: How shall this be, since I do not know man? To which the Angel again said: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you (Luke 1:31, 34, 35), so that the mysteries of this birth may be attributed either to the Angel or to the Evangelist alone. Whose narrator is very rare, according to that: Who is wise, and will understand these things: prudent, and will know them? (Hosea XIV, 10) But if a wise reader responds in silent thought: And how is it written: No one knows the Son except the Father: and no one knows the Father except the Son, and to whom the Son wills to reveal? And he who knows the Father and the Son, surely he can explain the mystery of their generation. Let him hear that knowing something and speaking it are different, because often we cannot explain with words what we conceive in the mind. Therefore, the mystery of the divine nativity in the body can be known by the saints through faith more than it can be expressed in words. Otherwise, even the Apostle, who was caught up to the third heaven and into paradise, heard words that human language cannot utter (2 Corinthians 12). But the Spirit intercedes for us with ineffable groanings. Therefore, the life of the one whose generation can be narrated by no one or by few has been taken away from the earth, so that he would live not on earth, but in heaven. Whether he was cut off from the land of the living, in order to fulfill what was written in the Apocalypse of John: I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore (Rev. 1:17-18); so that after the life he lived on earth, dead to the world, he would live in eternity. And the statement is connected, He struck them for the wickedness of my people; or, according to the Septuagint, he was led to death because of the iniquities of my people, has a twofold meaning. For either he struck down persecutors and wicked people of his own people with his death, or on account of the greatness of the sins of the people, whom he always held as his own, he was led to death in order to call them back to life by his death. He gave the impious for his burial; and the rich for his death. Whether the worst for his burial; and the rich for his death: signifying both peoples, that the multitude of the Gentiles may be shown in the wicked and the worst, who did not have knowledge of God before (Rom. IX); the Jewish people may be shown in the rich, whose people had the Testament and the Legislation and the Prophets. Therefore for this reason the Lord suffered and was buried, so that he might gather for himself a Church from both peoples. Or should this be said, that God delivered the Scribes and Pharisees, as well as the Sadducees, priests and pontiffs, who ruled over the people before the Lord's passion and were filled with excessive wealth, to the Romans after the Lord's passion, and subjected them to eternal servitude. He, for the sake of whose burial and death, the wicked and the rich were handed over, did not commit iniquity, nor was deceit found in his mouth. That which can be understood about no man at all, that he has not sinned in deed or in speech, the Scripture says: There is no one who is clean from filth, not even if his life is only for one day. And, we have all strayed like sheep, each one has turned aside in his own way (Job 25): except for him, who carried our sins and grieves for us, and was wounded for our iniquities, and was afflicted for our crimes, by whose bruise we are healed. In this, indeed, you were called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His footsteps. He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten (I Peter 2:21-23). However, the Lord wanted to cleanse him from the wound that he had received from the soldier's spear. Whether to crush him in weakness and wound: of whom he himself said: Because whom you struck, they persecuted (Ps. 68:27). And through Zacharias God speaks: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered (Zech. 13:7). Therefore, it was not of necessity that he suffered, but of the will of the Father and his own, to whom he himself said: Father, I have wanted to do your will (Ps. 39:9). Of whom also we read above: He was offered, because he himself wanted.53:10-11
(Verse 10, 11) If he shall offer his soul for sin, he shall see a long-lived seed, and the will of the Lord shall be prosperous in his hand. Because his soul hath laboured, he shall see and be filled: by his knowledge shall this My just servant justify many, and he shall bear their iniquities. LXX: If you shall give for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed: and the Lord will take away the evil of his anguish, to shew him light, and give him understanding. Justify the righteous servant for many: and he shall bear their iniquities. According to the Hebrew sense here: If he shall offer his soul for sin, he shall see a long-lived seed, which he hath sowed in good ground. Of whom it is written in the Gospel: He that soweth, went forth to sow; and again: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his field (Matthew XIII, 3). And the will of the Lord will be directed in his hand, so that whatever the Father desired will be fulfilled by his virtues, saying to the Father: I have kept those whom you gave me in your name. I have guarded them, and none of them perished except the son of perdition. (John 17:12). But the seed will see eternity, and the will of the Father will be directed in his hand: because his soul has labored for a long time, finding no rest among the Jews, and saying in the Gospel: Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests: but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. (Matthew 8:10). And in this same place the Prophet says: I have labored and endured (Isaiah 1:14). Therefore, since he has labored, he will see the Churches rise in the whole world, and he will be filled with their faith. Finally, when he sat down hungry and thirsty at the well of Jacob (John 4), in the middle of the day with the sun shining, he did not want to use the food that had been bought, because he was already satisfied with the faith of the Samaritans and those who were coming out of the city of Shechem to see him. According to this meaning, he said among the eight beatitudes: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6). In his knowledge, that is, in doctrine, he himself, the righteous one who did not sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth: and the servant of the Father, who took on the form of a servant and served the will of the Lord, will justify many believers from the whole world. And he himself will bear their iniquities, which they themselves could not bear, and by the weight of which they were oppressed. According to the Septuagint, it is said: O you, for whose sins the Son of God was led to death, who are most wicked and rich in evil, you were given for burial and for his death, if you are willing to repent and offer a pleasing sacrifice to God for your sins, your contrite spirit will see the seed of long time, the Lord Savior himself. It is said in the eighty-eighth psalm: His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me. And again: I will establish his seed forever, and his throne as the days of heaven. This, in other words, refers to the Virgin in Gabriel's message: Behold, you shall conceive in your womb and bear a son, who shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end (Luke 1:31-32). For the Lord indeed desires to take away the soul from grief, who said: 'My soul is sorrowful even unto death' (Matt. XXVI, 38), so that the insult of the cross may be tempered by the glory of the resurrection. And to show him light, so that he may see all illumined through himself. And to shape the understanding, it is understood that the spirit of wisdom and understanding will descend upon him. And to justify the just, who has served others well; for he did not come to be served, but to serve (Matt. XX), at the feet of Peter (John XIII), washing away the sins of all the Apostles. He who appeared in flesh, was justified in spirit. About whom even Judas the betrayer confesses: I have sinned, betraying innocent blood (Matthew 27:4). And Pilate's wife: Have nothing to do with that righteous man; for I have suffered much in a dream today because of him. And it should be noted that he was not justified in order to become just, as if he were wicked. But the just one is justified, not to begin to be what he was not; but that what he was might be evident to all. This righteous man suffered for the unjust, so that he might offer us all to God. Of whom it is said to the Jews: And you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you (Acts III, 14). And he carried their sins, he himself, as a physician, carries the illnesses of the sick, but the healthy do not need him (Luke V).53:12
(Verse 12.) Therefore I will divide him among the many, and he will share the spoils of the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors. LXX: Therefore he shall receive many as his portion, and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty, because his soul was poured out to death and he was numbered with the wicked. He himself bore the sins of many and was delivered up for their iniquities. Christ endured many sufferings so that he might attain great rewards. For, he said, he suffered and accomplished all that the previous word described, and he himself bore the iniquities of many: therefore I will divide to him many, so that for the part of the Lord Jacob, and his inheritance rope of Israel, they may believe in him coming from the East and West, and may recline in the kingdom of God with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Matth. VIII): when that which is written is fulfilled: Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession (Ps. II, 8). Concerning which and in this same Prophet it is read: There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise up to reign over the Gentiles, in him the Gentiles shall hope (Isaiah 11:10). But these many previously were held captive by the strong; and under the appearance of an ass and a colt, they had many masters, to whom the Apostles said: The Lord has need of them (Matthew 21:3). Those who were strong before Christ assumed a human body, and strong overcame him, would plunder his house. Therefore, he delivered and distributed the spoils of the strong Apostles to his own, so that Peter, James, and John became the leaders of the circumcised people, and Paul and Barnabas were sent to the Gentiles, not separated in spirit but in different places, and stood on different fronts under one Lord, so that they might raise a triumph to the victorious army on both sides, for the Savior. From this, those who truly say that there was a disagreement and contention between Peter and Paul regarding the dispensation (Acts 15), in order to satisfy the blasphemous Porphyry: and they assert that the ceremonies of the old Law must be observed in the Church of Christ, by the believing offspring of Israel, and that they should expect Jerusalem to be golden for a thousand years, in order to sacrifice victims and to be circumcised, to sit on the Sabbath, to sleep, to be satiated, to be intoxicated, and to rise to play, a play that offends God. We said this because of what is now being prophesied: And he shall divide the spoils of the strong (Is. LIII, 12). According to what is written in another place: When he divided the heavenly kings in it. And again: The beloved king of hosts, and of beauty, shall divide the spoils (Ps. LXVII, 13). Finally, regarding the Apostle Paul, who was from the tribe of Benjamin, according to the Hebrew it is said: Benjamin, a ravenous wolf: in the morning he shall devour, and in the evening he shall divide the spoils (Gen. XLIX, 27). Of which we have already spoken: They shall rejoice in your presence, as those who rejoice in the harvest, and as those who divide the spoils (Isaiah IX, 3), dividing the churches of Christ for themselves in the whole world. Therefore, he will receive many nations, who came to preach remission to the captives and led captive captivity before, from the devil and demons, and gave it as a gift to men and believers, because he delivered his soul to death, and was reckoned with the wicked or unjust (I Cor. IX). For if the Apostle became as one without law to those who were without law (although he was not without law toward God, but was within the law of Christ), why then was Christ considered to be with the unjust, so that he might redeem the unjust from sin, and become all things to all people, so as to save everyone? For he carried our sins in his body (1 Peter 2), affixing them to the wood of the cross, in order to erase the handwriting that we had made for the devil and his angels, written by the deeds of our soul, that is, by our actions. About which Paul the apostle speaks: And you, when you were dead in sins, and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he has quickened together with him, forgiving you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it (Eph. I, 2; Coloss. II, 14, 15). But the lawless men with whom he is counted, Mark the Evangelist understands to be the robbers, writing: And they crucified with him two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled which says: 'And he was reckoned among the transgressors' (Mark 15:27). This can also be understood at a deeper level, as the Lord himself says: 'I am reckoned among those who go down to the pit; I have become like a man who has no strength, forsaken among the dead' (Psalm 88:4). Indeed, he was reckoned among sinners and transgressors, in order to descend to hell; and in many places in the scriptures, hell is referred to as a pit, and he would free the prisoners from the prison. He was handed over for our sins and was raised for our justification (Rom. IV). Such was His great mercy that He prayed for His transgressors, and even for His persecutors, on the cross, saying: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke XXIII, 34).Book Fifteen
Book Fifteen.Recently, Eustochium told me that whenever the Apostles and Evangelists cite testimonies from the Old Testament, if there is no difference between the Hebrew and the Septuagint, they usually use their own words or the words of the Septuagint translators. But if there is a difference between the Hebrew and the old edition, they prefer to follow the Hebrew rather than the Septuagint translators. Finally, as we have shown in many cases, they have inserted things from the Hebrew that are not found in the Septuagint; so let our rivals demonstrate that they have taken certain testimonies from the Septuagint that are not in the Hebrew books, and the dispute is settled. We have said this because although this chapter is united in meaning, it differs in words. Its explanation begins with the fifteenth chapter in the Book of Isaiah.
54:1
(Chapter 54, Verse 1) Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married, says the Lord. LXX: Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who has a husband. For the Lord has spoken. Symmachus interpreted this passage as follows: Rejoice, O barren one who did not give birth. Rejoice in exultation, and neigh, you who have not given birth: For more are the children of the desolate than of her who has a husband. Theodotius and Aquila agree with him in most points. After the birth of the Savior, and the order of life and virtues, the passion of the cross, and the glory of the resurrection, when he laid down his life, he saw an everlasting seed, and in his knowledge he himself justified the just, and divided spoils of the mighty, and prayed for transgressors, giving them a place for repentance, he passed on to the calling of the Gentiles, and describes with full words those who will believe in him. The Apostle Paul refers to this place under the names of Sarah and Isaac, in reference to the Church (Galatians IV, 27 et seq.), stating that the former people from Mount Sinai and Hagar serve with their children; but the following book says: Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband. And immediately after: But we, brothers, are children of the promise, like Isaac. But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. But what does the Scripture say? Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman. Now we, brothers, are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman. It is by this freedom that Christ has set us free (Galatians 4:27-31). Therefore, if the vessel of election, citing the testimony of Isaiah which we now have in our hands, refers to the sons of the promise and the Church gathered from the Gentiles or from both peoples, which had been deserted and left behind by the Jews, and which had not had God as its husband, nor received the Law or the Prophets, we are compelled by reason itself to follow the footsteps of our predecessor and declare it deserted, as we read above (Chapter XXXVI): Rejoice, deserted one, and similar things. It is written in Jeremiah, from the perspective of God: The one who gave birth to seven has become empty, her soul has failed. The sun has set for her even in the middle of the day (Jeremiah 15:9). And in the book of Samuel: The barren woman has given birth to seven, but she who had many sons has become weak (1 Samuel 2:5). And in the Psalms: He makes the barren woman dwell in a house, a joyful mother of children (Psalm 113:9). The synagogue is said to have given birth to seven sons, representing the mystery of the week and the Sabbath, to which the previous people were bound. Whether for seven, more should be understood according to the ambiguity of the Hebrew language, by which both the Sabbath and many [days] are signified. About this, more has been said in the book of Hebrew Questions, which we wrote on Genesis. Therefore, as long as she had God as her husband, she produced many sons by God's divine Word and was joined to the Law. But when she received a bill of divorce and refused to answer her calling husband, and heard: You are the daughter of your mother who abandoned your husband (Ezek. 16:15). And again: You have not called me as your Lord, nor as the father and prince of your virginity (Jeremiah 3:4); therefore in this same Prophet it is lamented: How has the faithful city become a harlot, Zion full of judgment; in which righteousness used to dwell, but now there are robbers (Isaiah 1:21). But it should also be noted that when it says: More are the children of the desolate than of her who has a husband, the synagogue is not completely excluded from giving birth; but the multitude of Gentiles is preferred to her. And she herself, in the Apostles and through the Apostles, first gave birth to the people from the Jews. Therefore, the two leaders of the Apostles divided the two groups of believers in Christ, the Circumcision and the Gentiles, in order to first build up Jerusalem, which had been deserted and impoverished by both peoples. And the Hebrew word for joy, 'hinnitum,' signifies the greatness of joy, in the likeness of a neighing horse to victory. More is written about this in the Book of Job (Job 39). The Jews and our Judaizers refer this place and the rest that follows to Jerusalem, which they say will be restored in the kingdom of a thousand years, and that it will be the same as it had before, and afterwards it will cease to have a husband, and will have many more children after being divorced than she had with her husband. Clearly, a comparison is made between two women: one who had a husband and was abandoned, and one who was always without a husband. And it is not surprising about the Jews, whose eyes and ears are closed, if they do not see the open truth. As for the Christians, I do not know what to say, who, as the Apostle says, interpret things allegorically and refer to the two Testaments, the old and the new, with Sarah and Hagar as examples. They give themselves over to the desires of the earth for a thousand years.54:2-3
(Vers. 2, 3.) Dilata locum tentorii tui, et pelles tabernaculorum tuorum extende: ne parcas: longos fac funiculos tuos, et clavos tuos consolida. Ad dexteram enim et ad laevam penetrabis, et semen tuum gentes haereditabit, et civitates desertas inhabitabit. LXX: Dilata locum tabernaculi tui, et pelles aulaeorum tuorum fige, ne parcas. Protende funiculos, et clavos tuos conforta adhuc in dextris, et in sinistris dilata, et semen tuum possidebit gentes, et civitates desertas habitare facies. To whom he had said: Praise, O barren one, who does not bear; break the bonds by which you were previously bound, and shout in confession of the Lord, whom you did not have children with, now you are commanded the same as the likeness of the tent of Moses, which he once had (Exodus 36) in the desert, to expand his tent and stretch out his skins; and make longer cords and fix nails, with which the entire tent is formed, so that it may be firmly set and strengthened, lest it be dispersed by the blasts of the wind. And it should extend to both the right and the left, and by no means should it imitate the narrowness of the Jewish tabernacle, which measured one hundred cubits in length and fifty in width, nor should it be constrained by the brevity of the Temple, which had sixty cubits in length and twenty in width. But it should continue to have space on the right and on the left. (Exodus 27). And so that we may not think this can be said in vain concerning the frivolous contention of the Hebrews about Zion, which is to be restored to its ancient state by the Lord, he explains more clearly what was hidden: And your offspring shall inherit the nations. About which we also read in the Gospel: 'He went out who sows to sow' (Matthew XIII, 3); and again: 'Did you not sow good seed in your field?' (Ibid., 27)? This seed will also make deserted cities be inhabited, so that Churches of the nations may rise in the whole world. Or surely the seed must be said to be the Apostles, and the remnants of the Jewish people. About which in this same Prophet it is said: 'Unless the Lord of hosts had left us seed, we would have been like Sodom, and similar to Gomorrah' (Isaiah I, 9). And the Apostle says: 'The remnants were saved' (Rom. II, 5). This refers to the greatness of the Churches, which, starting from one place in Judea and that too very narrow, will extend their boundaries to the whole world. Let us come to spiritual understanding. He who is in a tabernacle does not possess a firm and permanent dwelling; but he always changes places and hastens to go further, saying in the psalm: 'I will pass to the place of the wonderful tabernacle' (Ps. XLI, 5), forgetting the things that are past and extending himself into the future, until he reaches the reward of the heavenly calling. We read about this tabernacle and in another place: How lovely are your dwelling places, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD (Psalm 84:1). And it continues: Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they will praise you forever and ever (Ibid., 6). For the end of the tabernacles is the possession of the eternal house, which does not change its foundations, nor is it moved from one place to another. For those who are planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God, that they may go from flowers to fruit, and may say: But I am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God (Psalm 52:10). Finally, the holy man, hastening to pass by the tabernacles and desiring to see the house of God, says that he has one wish, that he never leaves the house of God: One thing I have asked of the Lord, this I will seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life (Ps. 26:1). Therefore, the tabernacle must be enlarged, and curtains and skins must be stretched, and ropes of various and diverse discourses must be extended further, and nails must be firmly fixed on the right and left, so that the seed of the word, that is, the teaching of God, may be able to possess the nations; and to make habitable cities, which he received who doubled the mina. However, the right hand and the left hand in the Holy Scriptures are then interpreted in a good sense, when we understand them both according to the spirit and according to the letter through the weapons of righteousness on the right and on the left (2 Corinthians VI), so that we may embrace the more humble understanding of life's instruction and the examples of our elders, and be transferred from the present to the future in a spiritual and sublime manner. This is what the Lord was speaking to the Pharisees when they asked Him: 'Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's' (Matthew XXII, 21), so that we may be subject to the powers of this world, which rightly hold the sword for the punishment of those who do evil, which is understood as the left hand; and let us render to God the things that are God's, so that we may fear no other, except Him who has power over both soul and body, which is understood as the right hand (Matthew X). Finally, it is said about the wisdom of God, to which nothing precious can be compared, that it has length of life and many years in its right hand; and in its left hand, riches and glory, so that those riches are understood which exist in present knowledge and good works, and the glory which the one who receives it, through whose works God is glorified among the nations, but the length of life and many years signify eternal life, which, neglecting the present, hastens to the future.54:4-5
(Verse 4, 5.) Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; do not be ashamed, for you will not be disgraced. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. For your Maker is your husband— the LORD Almighty is his name— the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. LXX: Do not be afraid, for you have been put to shame; do not be disgraced, for you have been reproached. You will forget the shame of your eternal confusion and will no longer remember the reproach of your widowhood. For the LORD who made you is your husband— his name is the LORD Almighty— the God of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. A question arises, how is it said to the Church gathered from the Gentiles: Rejoice, you barren one who does not bear; and: More are the children of the desolate one than of her who has a husband, that is, she who had no husband, who later had more children, and she who had a husband turned into sterility: how is it now said to her who had no husband: You will no longer remember your widowhood, and the disgrace of your youth you will forget. From which the Jews want to understand that everything that is said is to be said to Jerusalem, which is deserted by God, and to be restored by Him again. Those who are easily repelled, when they are warned, are said to be spoken to in the person of the Lord in Zachariah: 'And I took for myself two staffs: one I called Beauty, and the other I called Cord: and I fed the flock' (Zech. 11:7). We have spoken more fully about this in its proper place, and now it will be partly spoken. The two staffs, each of them is the people, of the Gentiles and of the Jews, of which the former is called the multitude of the Gentiles, who have received the natural law fixed in their hearts, of which Paul, writing to the Romans, argues most forcefully (Rom. 1); by which staff, nothing is more beautiful than that all creatures are equally called to the worship of their Creator. But the second, that is, the people of the Jews, was called a cord: which after the offense of the nations is called the portion of the Lord, and his inheritance is Israel (Deut. XXXII). Finally, after Israel was called in Abraham, the Lord says: I took my rod, which was called beauty: and I cut it off, to make void my covenant which I struck with all the nations (Zach. XI, 10). Therefore, at the coming of Christ, it is said to the rod that had been cut off: Do not be afraid, nor be ashamed, nor blush with shame. For you will never again be confused as you were before, nor will you remember the confusion of your youth, and you will not recall your widowhood, by which you were forsaken by God: for your maker himself will rule over you, whose name is Almighty, who reigns not in one nation of Judah, but in the whole world. Finally, it follows: He who created you, himself redeemed you with his own blood: and God will be called the God of all the earth: for he is the God of all who dwell on earth. From this it is clearly evident that it should not be said of Jerusalem, which has never ruled over the entire world, but of the Church of Christ, whose inheritance is the possession of the world.54:6-7
(Verse 6, 7) Because the Lord has called you, a forsaken and grieving woman, with the Spirit: and said your God to the wife rejected from her youth. For a moment, in a small thing, I have forsaken you: and in great mercies, I will gather you. In a moment of anger, I have hidden my face from you for a little while: and in everlasting mercy, I have shown compassion to you, says your Redeemer, the Lord. LXX: The Lord did not call you a forsaken and timid woman, nor did your God say of you, a woman who is hated from her youth. I have left you for a short time, but with great mercy I will have compassion on you. In a little burst of anger I turned my face away from you, but with everlasting mercy I will have compassion on you, says the Lord who delivered you. These friends of the Jews insult the abandoned woman and the wife despised from her youth, whom the Lord left for a moment and for a little while, saying that Jerusalem is. He who hides his face for a little while will receive her in everlasting mercies and will change her past sorrow into joy. According to the Hebrew, it does not say that she was called a forsaken and despised woman by the Lord, nor like a wife who has been hated since her youth, but rather that He left her for a little while and turned His face away from her in order to have mercy on her forever. So if the Jews and those among us who are Judaizers say that Israel has been forsaken for a little while so that God may have mercy on them in the coming of Christ, and they interpret 'a little while' in comparison to all of eternity, why do they not allow us to say that there is a little while of time in which the Gentiles have been forsaken, so that those who were once of God in their youth may receive eternal mercy in their old age? Especially when, in the calling of Israel, the crowd of Gentiles was never excluded; but the door of return was always open to them through proselytes, so that just as we seem to be temporarily excluded by their calling, so may their perpetual exclusion grant us a return to God. But we said perpetual exclusion, if they do not repent. Otherwise, the Apostle Paul says: God has confined all under sin, so that he may have mercy on all (Galatians 3:22). We, who are gathered from both the Church of the people, are interpreted; and the Jews of Jerusalem receive: who follow only allegory, and in the most difficult places of free debate, they avoid nascent questions, referring them to the sinful soul, which, rejected by God, not out of hatred, but out of dispensation, so that, burdened by the weight of evils, she may return to her original man; and having lost her substance, she may not despair of the mercy of the Father (Luke 15). It is a great mercy to meet a returning son, to extend a ring and a robe, and a kiss, and to say to a blind brother, according to the likeness of another parable, 'Friend, if I am good, why is your eye wicked?' (Matthew 20:15).54:9-10
(Vers. 9, 10.) As in the days of Noah, this is for me, to whom I swore, that I would not bring the waters of Noah any more over the earth: so have I sworn, not to be angry with you, and not to rebuke you. For the mountains shall be moved, and the hills shall tremble: but my mercy shall not depart from you, and the covenant of my peace shall not be moved, says the Lord, your merciful one. LXX: This is for me from the water that was under Noah: as I swore to him at that time, that the earth will never again be angry with you, nor shall the mountains be moved by your threats, nor shall your hills be moved. So neither will my mercy fail, nor will the testament of my peace be taken away, says the Lord your merciful God. In order that the congregation of saints may believe in the eternal mercy of the Lord, and therefore at this point, and briefly, that they may be deserted, in order to be joined in friendship with God, in an eternal covenant, he presents examples of the ancestors, saying: Just as with the whole world sinning, after all the earth corrupted the way of the Lord, the flood came: and when all sins were deleted with all their authors, and in one man Noah the human race was saved: to whom I swore that the flood would never be brought upon the earth: and my promise has been kept until now, and will never be made void (Gen. 8 and 9); in the same way, I swear to my Church, which I redeemed with my blood, that I will never be angry with those whom I have shown mercy, nor will my clemency be changed by any hardness of reproach. For it is easier for mountains and hills to be moved than for my opinion to be changed. Just as it is said in the Gospel: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away (Matthew 24:35). This, however, is my mercy, like the covenant of peace by which the world was reconciled to me, preserved not by the merit of those to whom it was given, but by my own clemency. According to the Septuagint, the meaning is confused, and everything is so disturbed that it is difficult to understand what is being said. Not because I am ignorant of what the most prudent man said in this chapter, but because it does not satisfy my mind. For it puts forward the flood, which is interpreted in the baptism of the Savior, gathering together many examples, as it is written: The Lord makes the flood inhabit (Ps. 28:10). And again: The Lord is sweet to those who wait for him in the day of tribulation, and he knows those who fear him, and he makes the consummation of the journey in the flood (Nahum 1:7, according to the Septuagint): namely, that he has washed away all sins in baptism, saying in another place: I am, I am, the one who blots out your iniquities (Isaiah 43:25). For all have turned away; together they have become useless (Psalm 13:3). There was no one who would do mercy, nor truth; nor was there knowledge of God upon the earth. Curse, and falsehood, and murder, and adultery, and theft had taken possession of all things, and they had mixed blood with blood. Therefore, He speaks through the Prophet: Woe to me! for the returning one has perished from the earth. There is no one who does what is right among humans; all are judged in my blood. Each person troubles their neighbor with tribulation, and they prepare their hands for evil (Mich. VII, 2, sec. LXX): and similar things to these. Among which is this: No one is clean from filth, not even if his life is only for one day upon the earth (Job XV, 14). Therefore, the Lord made a flood, who according to the apostle Peter was killed in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit (I Pet. III); and He preached to the spirits in prison, when the patience of God was expected in the days of Noah, bringing a flood upon the wicked. In whose example water cleanses us: not washing away the dirt of the flesh, but the inquiry of a good conscience towards God. But the mountains and hills which were not moved, and those that wavered in such a flood, are to be understood as holy ones, having received the everlasting covenant: those who were moved in the previous flood, and had lost their steadfastness. The mountains, and the demons, and the opposing powers, who saw the daughters of men, that they were good, and wounded by the arrow of love, took for themselves wives from all whom they chose, and lost their former strength: and they will by no means exist in this flood (Gen. VI). He said this, the explanation of which I leave to the reader's discretion.54:11-12
(Verse 11, 12.) The poor thing, torn apart by the storm without consolation. Behold, I will lay your stones in order: and I will lay your foundations in sapphires. And I will make your battlements of jasper, and your gates of carved stones, and all your boundaries of desirable stones. I will make all your children taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. And you shall be founded in righteousness. LXX: Humble and unstable without consolation. Behold, I will prepare for you your carbuncle gem and your foundations sapphire. And I will set your battlements with jasper, and your gates with crystal stones, and your walls with chosen stones. And all your children shall be disciples of God, and there shall be much peace for your sons, and you shall be built in righteousness. When we said: I will lay your stones in order, it is written in Hebrew, 'Baphphuch,' which all others translated similarly to 'I will lay your stones in stibium,' in the likeness of a adorned woman, who paints her eyes with stibium, to symbolize the beauty of the city. And when we said above that the jasper, following the LXX, has the Hebrew word Chodchod (), which only Symmachus translated as χαλκηδόνιον (chalcedony). For the crystal too, in the place where it is read among the Hebrews as Ecda (), Symmachus and Theodotion put sculpting, that is, γλυφῆς (glyphēs), and Aquila put τρυπανισμοῦ (trupanismou) which means the sense of bore and engraving of gemstones. We have spoken about the diversity of translations, let us come to the meaning. Still speaking to the Church, previously humble and poor, which did not have the Law, nor the Prophets, nor the word of God, and was convulsed or unstable by the storm, which had endured many whirlwinds of ages and fluctuated among various errors of idols, which had no comforter, and in vain lost all its substance in physicians; He Himself should come, should descend, and should build in the earth the heavenly Jerusalem, which is called bride and wife of the Lamb in the Apocalypse of John, having a light similar to a precious stone, such as jasper and crystal, and a great wall, and twelve gates inscribed with the names of the tribes of Israel, of which three were from the East, and three from the North, and three from the South, and three from the West of the sun (Apoc. XXI): and the wall supported by twelve foundations, and its entire construction of jasper stone, and each foundation of the walls had individual stones, the first jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius ((Al. sardius)), the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst; which as we read, we exclaim and say: O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? (Romans 11:33-34) And again: Who is wise and will understand these things, prudent and will know them? (Hosea 14:10) Let the lovers of western letters answer, those who prepare exquisite foods for their gluttony and luxury in a thousand years, whose god is their belly and whose glory is in their shame. (Philippians 3) They hope for marriage after the second coming of the Savior, and for children of one hundred years, and for the injury of circumcision, and for the blood of sacrifices, and for the perpetual Sabbath. They say with Israel in a perverse way: Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall reign. What is this heavenly Jerusalem, to which it is now said: Behold, I will lay your stones in order, or according to the Septuagint Version: Behold, I will prepare a carbuncle for you, your stone, so that the whole city will be filled with carbuncles, and will have sapphire foundations and jasper ramparts, or chalcedony, and crystal gates, or engravings, and a wall encircling it with precious stones. And all its children will not have human teachers, but God, and they will be called disciples of God. And let there be in it everlasting peace, and the building up of justice. From this it is clear that under the occasion of justice, which is the name of virtue, we ought to seek the other virtues for the building up of the Church and not to follow Jewish delusions. For let them explain what is meant by that which is said in Proverbs about wisdom: 'She is more precious than all precious things' (Prov. 3:15). For if Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24), it is foolish to compare Christ to insensible stones. And again we read about the judgments of God: The judgments of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: more to be desired than gold and much precious stone (Psalms 19:10-11). From which it is clear that this stone is compared to other stones, about which it is said earlier in the same Psalm, speaking in the person of God: Behold, I will lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste (Isaiah 28:16). The builders rejected this stone (Psalm 118), namely, the scribes, Pharisees, and Jewish leaders, which has become the cornerstone (Matthew 21). Concerning this, the Apostle Peter says: Therefore, to us who believe, it is an honor, a precious and chosen stone. But to those who do not believe, it is a stumbling stone and a rock of offense (1 Peter 2:7-8). He also speaks to the chief priests in the Acts of the Apostles, saying: This is the chosen, precious stone which you rejected (Acts 4:18), which has become the cornerstone and embraces two peoples, the Gentiles and Israel. He built a city, of which God is the architect and creator. Concerning this, the Apostle writes to the Corinthians: You are God's building. And: Like a wise architect, I have laid the foundation, and another builds upon it. But let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 3:9-10). Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done (I Corinthians 3:12-13). Concerning this foundation, he also speaks in another letter: built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20); and again: You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (I Peter 2:5). Concerning these stones, it is said mystically: Holy stones roll upon the earth (Zech. IX, 16), by which Christ builds the Church upon the rock, saying in the Gospel: Upon this rock I will build my Church (Matt. XVI, 18). The one who is worthy to enter this city speaks joyfully to the Lord: As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God: God has established it forever (Ps. XLVII, 9). The great builder of this city, and in another place it is said: 'He shall build my city and bring back the captivity of my people' (Isaiah 45:13). But it is not for this time to speak of the nature of twelve stones and gems, since many Greeks and Latins have written about it. Of these, I will mention only two: the man of holy and venerable memory, the bishop Epiphanius, who left us a remarkable volume of his genius and erudition, which he titled 'On Stones'; and also Pliny the Elder, the same esteemed as an orator and philosopher among the Latins, who completed in his most beautiful work of natural history the thirty-seventh book, which is also the last, with a discussion on stones and gems. Hello, twelve stones are written in order in Exodus and in Ezekiel, that is in the treasury of the high priest, and in the crown and diadem of the prince of Tyre. Let's first talk about Exodus: Four woven orders of stones were there (Exod. XXVIII). The first order had the stone sardius, topaz, emerald. The second order, carbuncle, sapphire, jasper. The third order, ligure, agate, amethyst. The fourth order, chrysolite, beryl, onyx, surrounded by gold; and they were inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. In which it should be noted that the second order of stones is also mentioned in the present Scripture, carbuncle, sapphire, and jasper. For we have not yet attained perfection, nor have we reached the beginning, because now we see through a glass, darkly. Moreover, in Ezekiel it is written as follows: You are the seal of semblance and the crown of beauty, in the delights of God's paradise you were. You were adorned with every first stone, sardius, topaz, and emerald, carbuncle and sapphire and jasper, also with silver, gold and onyx, and agate, and amethyst, and chrysolite, and beryl, and chrysoprase, and onyx; and you filled your treasures and your vaults with gold as well. From the day you were created, when I placed you with the cherubim on my holy mountain, you were in the midst of fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, until iniquity was found in you. (Ezekiel 28:12 et seqq.). For who is so foolish and of such a dull mind to think that in the paradise of God, the prince of Tyre, whoever he may be, was placed, and conversed among the cherubim and the fiery stones (which undoubtedly we understand to be the celestial angels and virtues), and that he was made with earthly stones and had resemblance and sign? Therefore, it is not the time to speak about the nature of all stones and each part of them; for not everything must always be said. Now let us discuss only about the carbuncle, sapphire, and jasper. The carbuncle, which is obtained or placed in order, appears to me as the fiery speech of doctrine, which, by dispelling the darkness of error, illuminates the hearts of believers. This is the one that was taken by one of the Seraphim with a pair of tongs, to purify Isaiah's lips (Isa. VI): who is born, according to the faith of Genesis, in the land of Havilah, where the finest gold (Gen. II) and the carbuncle and the emerald are. Moreover, the sapphire, which is placed in the foundations, has a resemblance to the sky, and is above the air: such that it can say that Aristophanic phrase with Socrates: Ἀεροβατῶ καὶ περιφρονῶ τὸν ἥλιον; which we can translate into Latin as: Scando aerem, solemque despicio (See Suidas in περιφρονεῖν). Or as Paul the Apostle said: Nostra autem conversatio in coelis est (Philipp. III, 20). The Scripture of Ezekiel also mentions that the place where the throne of God is located has a resemblance to sapphires, and the glory of the Lord is in this color, which carries the image of the heavenly above us. But even the fortresses of the city of God, that is, the walls, are strengthened with jasper, which can destroy and prove false every height that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and subject falsehood to truth (Ezekiel 1; 1 Corinthians 15). Therefore, the strongest in disputing and bolstered by the testimonies of the Holy Scriptures, is the fortress of the Church. There are many kinds of jasper: for there is another kind called emerald, which is found in the springs of the river Thermodon, and is called 'Grammarian,' by which they believe that all phantasms are driven away. Another greener man, and tinted as if with flowers; it is said to be born on Mount Ida in Phrygia, and in its deepest caves. Another, however, is found near the Iberians, the Hyrcanians, and the Caspian Sea, and especially near the lake Neusin. There is also another jasper that is similar to snow and the foam of sea waves, and it sparkles like mixed blood. We have said this so that we may recognize all spiritual graces in the defenses of the Church; whoever has them drives away vain fears and can say with the bride: 'My brother is white and ruddy' (Song of Songs 5:10). But the gates of this city are made of crystal stone, which is carved in various ways, and with this stone nothing is purer. Finally, they say that water freezes into crystal in the strongest cold of the Alps and in inaccessible caves: and the touch is stone, but the sight is water. By this it is shown that those who are at the gates of the Church should not be stained by any impurity, but should have the purest faith and say with the prophet: From your commandments I have gained understanding (Ps. 119:104). And this to hear: Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God (Matt. V, 8). But the walls of the city, or the boundaries and enclosure, are built with chosen stones, which we can understand as the remaining stones, and all his children are taught, or disciples of God: which testimony the Lord uses in the Gospel of John, saying: No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him, and everyone who hears and learns from the Father, comes to me (John VI, 44, 45). And after a little while, it is written in the prophets: They will all be taught by God. He also speaks through Jeremiah, saying: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. And they will no longer teach each other, saying: Know the Lord. For they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more (Jeremiah 31:33-34). But the doctrine of the disciples of God has a multitude of peace, which has been abandoned by the Lord: and the building up of the most beautiful city is completed through justice; so that God may not be of one nation, but of the entire world, calling His servants and children, Greeks and Barbarians, the rich and the poor, the noble and the lowly, men and women, children and the elderly, and all things that appear to be contrary in the world (John XIV). We have exceeded the limit of brevity, which is useful in everything that needs to be said: by no means are we seeking the city of God on earth, as the Hebrews and our Semijudaeos (( Al. by seeking)), but rather in heaven, which cannot be hidden on the mountain of Christ.54:14
(Verse 14.) Stay away from slander, for you will not be afraid; and from fear, for it will not come near you. LXX: Depart from evil, and you will not be afraid, and trembling will not come near you. Most beautiful order. He had comforted the poor and humble, promising them spiritual favors. Now he teaches what he should do if he does not want to fear the attacks of his adversaries. And the meaning is: If you do not want to fear your enemies, do what I say: Stay away from slander, or from wickedness: because all wickedness and plunder springs from slander; and you will not be afraid, trembling and fear will not come near you, so that you may fear not men, but God, saying with Moses: I am trembling and fearful (Deut. 9:19); and with one of Job's friends: Horror and trembling have come upon me; and my bones have greatly shaken (Job 4:14); and with the prophet: At the voice of my prayer, trembling entered into my bones (Psalm 66:2); and: On whom will the Lord rest, if not on the humble and quiet, and on him who trembles at his words (Prov. 10)? Moreover, there is another trembling of the wicked, which is born out of fear of punishment. Of this it is written: Trembling seizes the wicked (Psalm 47:7).54:15
(Verse 15.) Behold, a resident will come, who was not with me; your former stranger will be joined to you. LXX: Behold, proselytes will come to you through me, and they will be your settlers, and they will flee to you. And the Jews believe that this is said about Jerusalem, that many from the Gentiles will become proselytes and accept the law of Moses and its ceremonies. This, according to our interpretation made in reference to the Church, which is gathered by the apostles from both peoples, which has no blemish or wrinkle, which is free, and the mother of all believers (Ephesians 5; Galatians 4). The Lord sent his disciples to gather the lost, converts, and strangers, saying: Teach all nations (Matthew 28:19), so that they may seek refuge in the Gospel and receive the new Law, that former inhabitants of idolatry may become members of the Church. Concerning them, it is said in the Psalms: The Lord makes the wise blind. Or as it is read in Latin manuscripts: The Lord enlightens the blind, The Lord loves strangers (Psalm 146:8-9): so that after the blind receive the light of truth and fools learn wisdom, then those who come to the Church are loved by the Lord, and they hear through the prophet: I will call not my people, my people (Hosea 2:24); with the entrance of these individuals into the Temple of God, zeal seizes the unlearned people.54:16-17
(Verse 16, 17.) Behold, I have created the blacksmith who blows the coals in the fire, and brings forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the destroyer to destroy. Every weapon formed against you shall not prosper, and every tongue that rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from me, says the Lord. LXX: Behold, I have created you not as a blacksmith blowing the coals in the fire and bringing forth an instrument for work. But I have created you not to destroy: every vessel that is made against you will not prosper: and every voice that rises against you in judgment, you will overcome and they will be subject to you. This is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and you will be righteous to me, says the Lord. Let us first say in Hebrew: If you want to not be afraid, and to be far from fear, do what the previous word has narrated; for I am the one through whom you will have proselytes. I am the one who created the blacksmith blowing on the embers in the fire, that is, the devil, the artisan of all evil, not by necessity of nature, but by the decision of the mind. I who kindled fires, and will bring forth vessels against you: such as Simon and Elymas were, resisting Peter and Paul (Acts 13). I created the destroyer of those who will become unbelievers. Not that I am the cause of their perdition, but that the created adversary may engage in battle, and for the defeated, there may be destruction, and for the victors, the cause may be rewards. And all those who have been fashioned against you by the blowing of a blacksmith's bellows will not be directed, but they will feel both present and future punishments. And what was previously hidden will be said more clearly in the consequences: And you will judge every language resisting you in judgment, destroying the wisdom of the wise, and rejecting the prudence of the prudent. And you will condemn all the leaders of heretics and the teachers of the Jews and the philosophers of the world, whom that blacksmith had fashioned, by your judgment. How Queen Sheba and the Ninevites condemned the unbelievers, and on the other hand, Sodom will be justified by the comparison with Jerusalem's worse state (Matthew 12). After this, it is explained what the rewards of the future are, so that they do not think that their struggle is in vain and that it ends with death. This is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, that is, the kingdom of heaven, eternal life, and the retribution of their labor, which eye has not seen, ear has not heard, and it has not entered into the heart of man, that which God has prepared for those who love him (2 Corinthians 2). But if you love, therefore also serve those who have no other Lord except God. And this is the justice of those who are before God, says the Lord, that present tribulation may be compensated with future joy. Moreover, according to the Septuagint, this seems to me to be the meaning: I, your Creator, did not make you like the devil, the worst craftsman who molds vessels of iniquity with an unclean spirit and brings them to destruction, and who should know that such vessels do not have a successful journey, but are broken in the middle of the course. He explains what the vessels are in the following discourse; And every voice that rises against you in judgment, you shall overcome them all. The vessels of iniquity have a voice, which voice rises against the Church, when heretics put their mouth high, and their tongue passes through the earth. And what follows: And they shall be subject to you, we have marked with a note that it seems to have been added not so much by the LXX as by evil writers. But when the Church has overcome every voice rising against it, then to those who serve the Lord and obey, there will be an inheritance, an eternal possession. And in Jeremiah it is said in other words: There is a reward for your works (Jeremiah 31:36). And the inhabitants of the Church will be righteous before the Lord. For everyone who practices righteousness is born of God. To whom the Lord speaks: Be holy, for I am holy (Leviticus 20:26).55:1
(Chapter 55, Verse 1) All you who are thirsty, come to the waters, and you who have no money, hurry and buy and eat; come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? LXX: You who are thirsty, go to the water, and you who have no money, go, buy and eat, and walk, and buy wine and fat without money and without price. Why do you spend money, and your labor not for satisfaction? The Hebrew word Oi (), which I mentioned earlier in the prophecy against Ariel (Isaiah chapter 29), was ambiguous, and it could either mean an interjection of calling or woe. Here at the beginning of the chapter, it is not read as a lament, but with the emotion of calling. Therefore, since he had said that every earthen vessel against the Church should be crushed, and every voice and tongue that had rebelled against the knowledge of God should be overcome, he calls believers to the river of God, which is filled with water, and whose flowing brings joy to the city of God, so that they may drink from the fountains of the Savior, who spoke to the Samaritan woman: If you knew the grace of God, and who it is that says to you, give me something to drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water. The water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up into eternal life (John 4:10, 14). Of these waters He cried out in the Temple: If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink. He who drinks of the water that I shall give him, rivers of living water shall flow out of his belly (Ibid., 37, 38), signifying the Holy Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive, as also the Prophets did declare in mystic language: My soul thirsts for the living God (Psalm 42:2); and again: With you is the fountain of life (Psalm 36:10). He himself spoke of himself, saying: They have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug for themselves broken cisterns that cannot hold water (Jeremiah 2:13). These waters are scattered by the clouds, to which the truth of God reaches. As it is written: Let the clouds scatter righteousness (Isaiah 45:8, Septuagint). And it is commanded to those who are thirsty, that they must not drink the turbid waters of Sion and the swollen torrents of the Assyrians, but rather go to the waters of Siloam, which flow silently, and not fear the poverty of speech, if perhaps they do not have silver (Isaiah 45; Jeremiah 2), but listen to the Apostle saying: By grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:8); and the Lord said to the disciples: Freely you have received, freely give (Matthew 10:8). They amazingly buy water without money; and they do not drink it, but eat it. For he himself is both the water and the bread, which descends from heaven (John VI). Therefore, what is read in some copies, 'Buy and drink,' has been changed by ignorant writers, who thought it would be more consistent if water were drunk rather than eaten. And money is also very bad, or silver, which the Scripture condemns, saying: Money that is given with deceit will be considered as a broken piece of a pot (Proverbs XXVI, 23, sec. LXX); and in another place: Your silver is worthless (Jeremiah VI, 30). And silver is compared to the words of God: The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver that is tested in a furnace of earth, refined seven times (Psalm 12:6). Therefore, despising that silver and wealth, with which we cannot buy the waters of the Lord, let us go to Him, who, holding the chalice of the Sacrament, spoke to the disciples: Take and drink, this is my blood, which will be shed for you for the forgiveness of sins (Matthew 26:27, 28). He mixed wine and wisdom in his cup, challenging all the fools of the world who have no wisdom, to drink. And not only wine, but also milk, which symbolizes the innocence of children, as is still practiced today in Western Churches. It is given as wine and milk to those reborn in Christ. Concerning this milk, Paul also said: 'I gave you milk to drink, not solid food' (1 Corinthians 3:2). And Peter: Desire the rational milk, as newborn babes (I Pet. II, 2) . Therefore, even Moses, understanding wine and milk in the passion of Christ, testifies in mystical language: His eyes are gracious from wine, and his teeth white from milk (Genes. XLIX, 12) . For they translated milk into fat in the present passage. Concerning this, the holy David says in the psalm: Let my soul be filled as with fatness and abundance (Psal. LXII, 6) ; and in another place: He fed them with the fat of wheat, and filled them with honey from the rock (Psal. LXXX, 17) . Those who desire nothing other than mystical flesh. To which the Lord urged his disciples, saying: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you (John 6:54). Therefore, he was handed over in Gethsemane, which signifies a valley of fatness, or the fattest. At the same time, he rebukes those who follow secular wisdom and the perverse doctrines of heretics, as well as the traditions of the Pharisees, and all false knowledge that exalts itself against God, and who pay great prices and work constantly for money in that discipline in which there is no bread, and they sweat for food in which there is no satisfaction. From which it is shown that wisdom must be sought, which is not in the leaves and flowers of words, but in the marrow and fruits of senses; which does not fly past the ear, but refreshes the mind. And in order to learn this, we do not cross seas, nor do we need great expenses, but the word is near in our mouth and in our heart.55:2-3
(Verse 2, 3.) Hear me, you who listen, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in abundance. Incline your ear and come to me; listen, and your soul will live. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies of David. And I will establish for you an everlasting covenant, holy and faithful to David. Lest anyone think these are hearsay of the flesh, not of the mind, to whom the divine word encourages them to listen, promising them not the goods of the flesh but of the soul. For, he says, if you listen to me, you will eat the good things of the earth (Isaiah 1:19). Or of the one who says: I am the good shepherd (John 10:11). And your soul will delight in good things and in richness. Therefore, the goods that are promised to the soul are not riches, and bodily health, and worldly honors, which even the philosophers call indifferent, that is, neither good nor bad, and vary according to the quality of the users; but they must believe in those things to which God encourages us: Turn away from evil and do good (Psalm 37:27). But if the soul is said to be good, then honesty and virtues are also said to be good. Therefore, not poverty, bodily infirmity, and low social status should be considered as evils, but rather all vices that are truly bad. In conclusion, Abraham was not considered good because he was wealthy, but because he made good use of his wealth (Genesis XIII). And Lazarus, who later rested in his bosom, did not endure evils because he suffered the torment of diseases in poverty, but he attained true good through the evils that were considered in the world. And so that rich man, clothed in purple, received his good things in his life, which were good to him, who thought them good (Luc. XVI), and of Lazarus it is not said on the contrary: He received his evil things in his life; but he received his evil things in his life, which were not evil to him, who suffered, but seemed evil to others. The blessed Job gives us an example of both things, who was not conquered in the good things or the evils of the world, but endured everything with equal strength of mind (Job. II). Therefore, Solomon prays to God: Do not give me riches and poverty. But establish for me what is necessary and sufficient for my sustenance, so that I may not become satiated and speak falsely, saying, 'Who sees me?' or 'I am needy and therefore become a thief and swear falsely by the name of the Lord' (Prov. X, 8, 9). But if he prays for this, that he may neither possess riches nor poverty, but only the necessary sustenance, of which the Apostle also says, 'Having food and clothing, with these we shall be content' (I Tim. VI): it is evident that riches and poverty, health and sickness, pleasure and torment, are not inherently good or evil, but become good or evil depending on the diversity of those who endure them. Therefore the Lord promises not a thousand riches, abundance of wealth, and luxurious food, and corpulence of the body, and bean dishes and stuffed turtles, mead, wine, and the beauty of wives, the offspring of bees, but those delights to which he mystically provokes us, saying: Delight yourself, or enjoy delights in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 36:4); and elsewhere: I believe I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living (Psalm 26:13); and in another psalm: Bless the Lord, O my soul, and let all that is within me bless his holy name. Who fills your desire with good things (Ps. 102:1, 5). Finally, he adds: Hear me, and your soul will live (Isaiah 55:3). The promise of all good things is eternal life. But if you wish to hear and your soul will live forever, I will make with you an everlasting covenant, the faithful mercies of David. Concerning which the same Psalmist sings: I will sing the mercies of the Lord forever. In generation and generation I will announce your truth (Ps. 88:1, 2). And so that we may know what these mercies are, he explains in the following discourse: Once I swore in my holiness: if I lie to David, his seed will endure forever, and his throne will be like the sun before me, and like the moon, perfect forever, and a faithful witness in heaven. He is called faithful for this reason, because he has fulfilled the promises. For this reason, the Seventy translated it as 'the holy and faithful things of David' (Acts 13:34), which can be understood as strong and firm. That is, faithful is he in all his commandments: confirmed for ever and ever (Ps. CX, 8). And in another place: God is faithful, and there is no iniquity in him (Deut. XXXII, 4). And the apostle Paul says: If we deny him, he remains faithful: he cannot deny himself (II Tim. II, 13). And in another place, writing to Timothy: Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptance (I Tim. XV). But this pact, which the Lord promises, will not be brief and of one time, as it was for the people of the Jews, but it will remain forever, so that the true David may come, and what has been promised from the person of God may be fulfilled in the Gospel: I have found David my servant, with my holy oil I have anointed him (Ps. LXXXVIII, 21). Whose hand he placed in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. Whom, according to Ezekiel, David, who has been sleeping for many centuries, calls his servant and shepherd, saying: I will raise up for you one shepherd, my servant David (Ezekiel 34:23).55:4-5
(Verse 4, 5.) Behold, I have given him as a witness to the peoples, a leader and instructor to the nations. Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. See, I have given him as a witness to the nations, a prince and ruler of the nations; nations that did not know you will call upon you, and peoples who do not know you will seek refuge with you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, who has glorified you. He had provoked the Jewish people to believe, so that they would incline their ear and accept the eternal covenant that the Lord had promised to David, and to Abraham, and to his descendants, saying: 'In your seed all the nations will be blessed' (Genesis 22:18). The apostle Paul, explaining this, says, 'He did not say "seeds," but "seed," which is Christ' (Galatians 3:16). And because he knew that the unbelieving Jews would believe, he turned to the Gentiles, and says that he sent his Son as a witness to all the nations, who would announce his commandments and teachings to the people. He speaks of himself, saying, 'This Gospel must be preached in the whole world, as a testimony to all the nations' (Matthew 24:14). Finally, he refutes Pilate, who was acting arrogantly, with this statement: 'For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth' (John 18:37). Concerning whom the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy: 'For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony to which was given at the proper time' (1 Timothy 2:5). Therefore, everything that is said must be referred to him, who, like a sheep led to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, did not open his mouth. Concerning which it is said above: We saw him, and he had no form nor comeliness (Isaiah 53:2); and: He himself bore our sins and suffers for us. Those who previously did not know him have taken refuge in him, saying: Our God is our refuge and strength (Psalm 46:1); and again: Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations (Psalm 90:1). About their faith and what was said above, we read: Those to whom it has not been proclaimed will see, and those who have not heard will understand. This is the witness of all that the Father promised and provided for the world, the mystery of which Paul comprehends in his letter to the Ephesians: God, he says, is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glory (Eph. I, 3). And it is written: For the sake of the Lord your God and the Holy One of Israel, who has glorified you, and the glory that he had before the world was made. About whom the Prophet also testifies: The glory of God will appear (Heb. I), who is the splendor of glory and the form of his substance, when every tongue confesses that the Lord Jesus is in the glory of the Father (Phil. II). Who answered the Son, demanding the glory that he had before: And I have glorified, and will glorify. About whom also the Apostle John says: We have seen, he says, his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 12:28; 1:14). Therefore, when he speaks of himself: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, he is called the Father of glory; but when he speaks of himself who says in the Gospel: Why do you persecute me, a man who speaks the truth to you (John 8:4)? He is called the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. Not that there is one and another (which is the worst of many errors), but that the same Son of God, now in the glory of his divinity, now in our nature, which he deigned to assume, speaks with emotions.55:6-7
(Vers. 6, 7.) Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and he will have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. LXX: Seek the Lord: and when you have found him, call upon him. And after he has drawn near to you, let the wicked forsake his ways and the unrighteous man his thoughts and return to the Lord; and he will obtain mercy, for he will abundantly forgive your sins. Therefore, since, as we have said before, you refused to accept the eternal covenant and the faithful mercies of David, which the multitude of Gentiles, unwilling as you were, received, I warn you, my fellow countrymen, I am a Prophet and I call upon you, while there is still time, to repent. Turn to him who now speaks to you through the prophets, who will speak to you in person later. Seek him while he can be found, while you are in the body, while there is a place for repentance, and seek him not only in place, but in faith. However, how God is to be sought is more fully explained in another place: 'Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who seeks refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing' (Psalm 34:8-9). Therefore, knowing this saying about sinners, 'Those who are far from you will perish,' let us speak to the Lord: 'Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there' (Psalm 139:7-8). And let us call upon Him while He is near, so that He does not withdraw far from our faults and sins. For He draws near to those who draw near to Him, and He joyfully meets His son returning after a long time. Therefore, the saint sings in the psalm: But for me it is good to cling to God (Ps. LXXII, 28). And Moses alone approached the Lord (Exod. XX). And God speaks through Jeremiah: I am the God who draws near, and not from afar (Jer. XXIII, 33). Approaching those who approach me with faith, and distancing myself from those who depart from me in disbelief. For this reason it is said to believers: Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. And lest we think this is enough, immediately he adds: Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:8). Regarding this, he said previously: Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith (1 Peter 5:8-9). It is not enough to seek the Lord, and while it is the time of penance, to find and invoke Him when He is near, unless the wicked person has abandoned their former ways and the old thoughts by which they had turned away from the Lord. For then we will return to the Lord, who will have mercy on us, and to the most merciful Father, who is abundant in mercies and ready to forgive, when we have abandoned our former thoughts and ways, so that we may deserve to hear afterwards: Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered (Psalm 32:1).55:8-9
(Vers. 8, 9.) For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. LXX: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. But as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and your thoughts than my thoughts. Do not think, he says, that what I promise is difficult, and that it seems unbelievable to you, that the impious and unjust can be saved, either the Jewish people or all those among the Gentiles who did not know God. Consider this: there is much difference between my thoughts and yours, and as great as the difference in nature, so too is the difference in will. (Proverbs 19). For many thoughts are in the heart of a man, but the counsel of the Lord remains forever. You, like humans, often, repenting of a promised will, overturn an old desire with a new one. For the Lord frustrates the plans of the nations, and rejects the thoughts of the people, and renders the will of the rulers void (Psalm 33). But the thoughts of his heart endure from generation to generation, and whatever he has decreed cannot be changed. Do you want to know the difference between my plan and yours? Just as the sky's location is far from the earth, and the dwelling place of angels is different from that of humans, so my thoughts are separated from your plans. For it is said of my thoughts: His judgments are inscrutable, and his ways are unsearchable (Rom. XI, 33). Moreover, of yours: They devised a plan, but they could not establish it (Psal. XX, 12). And in another place: Whatever counsel you take, it will be scattered, and whatever you say, it will not remain within you (Isa. VIII, 10). They do not need a clear interpretation, therefore they are tightened rather than discussed.55:10-11
(Verse 10, 11) And how does rain and snow descend from the sky, and it will not return there until it has soaked the earth and makes it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread for eating. So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish what I desire, and it will succeed in the purpose for which I sent it. LXX: Just as the rain and snow descend from the sky and do not return until they have soaked the earth, causing it to bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread for eating. So shall my word be that comes out of my mouth; it will not return until it accomplishes what I desire, and I will make its ways prosperous and fulfill my commands. Based on what has been said earlier, the meaning here is briefly: may the people of the nations not be incredulous, that after so many wicked deeds the impious may suddenly be saved. For my thoughts are not the same as human thoughts, and as far as the heavens are from the earth, so are my thoughts separated from human thoughts. For I am most merciful and abundant in forgiving. Would you like to hear another similarity? Just as rain and snow descend from the sky and do not return there but drench the earth, and make it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish what I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. According to the twofold interpretation of anagoge, the word of the Lord can refer to that one of whom it is written: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1). He who does not turn to him empty, unless he has done the will of the Father; and has completed all things for which he was incarnate, and has reconciled the world to God. He who is said to come forth from the mouth, and from the womb and birth canal: not that God has these members, but that we learn the nature of the Lord through our words. Or certainly this must be said, that the sermon of the Gospel doctrine is called a shower, and the rains that are poured out upon good earth, spiritual clouds, to which the truth of God reaches. In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses promises rain and showers, saying: Let the earth hear the words of my mouth; let my speech come down as the rain and the dew, so that those who sow in tears may reap in joy. And those who sow in righteousness and in the spirit will reap the fruit of eternal life, receiving the bread of the Gospel teaching, as it is written in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes: Open your eyes and be filled with bread. And again: Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. For it is not to be believed that it is commanded to those who eat, that they should open their eyes to eat this bread, by which bodies are nourished, and thus be satisfied with bread, which the poor secretly eat in Abacuc (Abac. III). But God's teaching encourages us to the bread of doctrine, which we cannot eat unless we open the eyes of our heart. Of whom Paul often writes to these, who are nourished by the words of faith and truth (II Cor. IX). And it is commanded to the teacher, that he may send the bread of his doctrine over all the water, and pour out spiritual grace upon all, and know that if he does what is commanded, he will receive rewards in the last time. And it will seem unjust that the one who gives alms should make friends for himself from unjust mammon, who will receive him into eternal tabernacles (Luke XVI): and the one who gives spiritual food and gives food to his servants in their time, will not find them after many ages, which Ecclesiastes calls the multitude of days (Ecclesiastes XI).55:12-13
(Vers. 12, 13.) Because you will go out in joy, and be led forth in peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush, the cypress will grow; and instead of briers, the myrtle will grow. And the Lord will be called an everlasting sign, that will not be taken away. LXX: You will go out in joy, and be led forth in gladness. The mountains and hills will leap with joy, eagerly awaiting your coming, and all the trees of the field will applaud with their branches. And in place of a heap of rubbish (that is, the lowest branches (Al. stems)) cypress will rise up; and in place of conyza myrtle will rise up. And the Lord will be a name and a perpetual sign, and he will not fail. My word, he says, will not return empty, but after it has accomplished all that I desired, and has made my will on earth, then it will come back to me; and that which is written will be fulfilled: The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand: until I make your enemies a footstool under your feet (Ps. 110:1-2). For in joy you will go forth from the blood of idolatry, and you will be led in peace, so that you may hear from the Apostle: Grace be to you and peace (Rom. I, 7). Whether you are led in joy, that you may learn the truth of the Gospel after the shadow of the Law. For the mountains and hills, which we can understand to be Angels, and the souls of the Saints, which are called mountains and hills by reason of the variety of virtues, will rejoice over the repentant and will indicate the joy of the mind by leaps. What the Lord says in the Gospel: There will be rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner (Luke 15:7). Also, all the trees of the field will clap their hands, or branches, that are planted along the watercourses, which will bear fruit in their season, and their leaves will not wither (Psalm 1). Concerning these trees, one tree was spoken of in the psalm: But I am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of the Lord (Psalm 52:10). Let us ask those who follow only simple history and eat cooked lamb. Whether the woods applaud with branches and crackle in the hand, and what is said about rivers: The rivers will clap their hands (Psalm 98:8), in what sense it should be understood. Not only will the mountains and hills leap and sing; and all the trees of the field, blessed by the Lord, will applaud with branches and clap their hands: but even the bush and the fern, as well as the reed and the nettle, will turn into fir trees, and myrtle and cypress. The word κονύζη, which is written as Nesus in Greek and סרפד (Sarphod) in Hebrew, is translated by Aquila and Theodotion as κονύζη. κονύζη is a very cheap and bitter herb with a very bad odor. But when the Septuagint translated κονύζη, which is called Sarphod in Hebrew, Symmachus translated it as urticam (nettle). And as for the nature of proper names, it must be said that evil things are turned into good things, and virtues are born from vices, that is, justice from injustice, fortitude from temerity, temperance from luxury, and prudence from foolishness. Let us give examples of our ancestors: Matthew and Zacchaeus and the tax collectors were like salt and piles of ashes, and useless stumps, and bitter flavors, and extremely foul odors, saying: My wounds have festered and become corrupt, because of my foolishness (Ps. XXXVII, 6). Suddenly, these people were transformed into apostles, becoming cypress trees, and firs, and myrtles, with the best fragrance, and necessary for various works. Even Paul, the persecutor of the Church, when he heard from the Lord: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard to kick against the goad (Acts 9:4-5), it was a nettle with the stings of persecution. But when he preached the Gospel throughout the whole world, he could say: We are the sweet aroma of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:15), rightly called cypress and myrtle. Prostitutes and tax collectors enter the kingdom of God before the Pharisees, and the thief from the cross passes into paradise (Matthew 21). Therefore, what is said in the Gospel: A good tree cannot bear bad fruit (Luke 6:43; Matthew 7:18), does not refer at all to the nature of things, as the heretics want it to, but to the choice of the mind. Finally, it is inferred: Either make a good tree and its fruits good. From this it is clear, each one by their own will makes their soul a good or bad tree, whose fruits are varied. It follows: And the Lord will be an everlasting name and sign, which will not fail. For those who have been changed from evil to good, the Lord will be an eternal name and sign, so that they may be called Christians by his name, and branded by his crucifix. About which sign Simeon, holding the little one in his arms, spoke: This one will be for the ruin and the resurrection of many, and for a sign which will be contradicted (Luke 2:34): about which it is also said above: The Lord Himself will give you a sign (Isaiah 7:14): And the holy one sings in the psalm: Make with me the sign of the Lord for good (Psalm 85:17). And He Himself who is the sign says: When you see, He says, the sign of the Son of Man, which will not fail, and will not be changed by any end, but will pass from the present conversation into the future.56:1
(Chapter 56, Verse 1) Thus says the Lord: Keep justice, and do righteousness, for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. The Seventy, instead of righteousness, have translated mercy, the rest likewise. With the prophecy of the nations being fulfilled, which speaks of the coming of the word of God, changing the thorn and the nettle into cypress and myrtle, Isaiah speaks to the listeners of that time, urging them to do all that is right and prepare for the coming of the Savior, for He is the justice and mercy of God. For if the thoughts of the Saints are judgments: and we should have trained senses to discern between good and evil, why do we not always hold judgment, so that we do not despise the person of the poor in judgment, nor be intimidated by the power of the rich: but rather judge great as small, knowing according to Moses that the judgment of the Lord is, who judges the judges (Deut. I); according to which it is also read in the psalm: God stands in the congregation of the gods: but judges among the gods (Ps. LXXXI, 1). This that is now said: Keep judgment, and do justice, is similar to: Blessed are they that keep judgment, and do justice at all times (Psalm 105:3); so that they may justly pursue what is just. Although in the name of justice, every place seems to signify to me that whoever has done one justice is said to have fulfilled all the virtues that follow one another and adhere to one another: so that whoever has one, has them all, and whoever lacks one, lacks them all. This is what the fourteenth psalm signifies: He who walks blamelessly, and works righteousness (Ps. XIV, 2). And elsewhere it is written: Learn righteousness, you who dwell on the earth (Isai. XXVI, 9). And the words of the saints testify that the Savior, who became our righteousness, holiness, and redemption, is the mercy of God (I Cor. I): And God has sent forth his mercy and his truth (Ps. LVI, 4).56:2
(Verse 2.) Blessed is the man who does this, and the son of man who understands it: who keeps the Sabbath, so as not to pollute it: who keeps his hands from doing evil. LXX: Blessed is the man who does these things, and the person who retains them, and keeps the Sabbaths, so as not to profane them, and keeps his hands from doing iniquity. He who can say with the apostle Paul, 'When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things' (1 Corinthians 13:11): he attains the present blessedness, forgetting the past and reaching forward to the future until he reaches the unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; so that the psalm may be fittingly applied to him: Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked (Psalm 1:1). Therefore, this is the man, and the son of the inner man, of whom it is frequently said in Leviticus: Man, man (Lev. XVII, 8): in him is blessedness, because he accomplishes the first and grasps these things: judgment, namely, and justice, and the salvation of the Lord, which is near, and is to be revealed to all nations: so that he not only does what is commanded, but holds fast with a strict hand; and keeps the Sabbath, lest he defile it: Now what the Sabbath is, which he commanded to be observed, the following verse shows: Observing his hands, lest he do any evil. It profits nothing to sit idly on the Sabbath, or to sleep, and to long for feasts. But if one does good, let them rest from evil, and let them have a constant Sabbath of injustice, that is, leisure, and let them only do those things which pertain to the salvation of the soul, and not engage in any servile work. For whoever commits sin, is a servant of sin (John 8). But we have been called to liberty, by which liberty Christ has given us, so that we may not labor for food that perishes; but by cleaving to the Lord, let us say with the Prophet: It is good for me to cleave to God (Psalm 73:28). Let us be of one spirit with Him, and let us observe the dedicated Sabbaths, so that we may not be of the six days in which the world was made, of which the Apostles were not, and of which the Lord spoke: If you were of this world, the world would certainly love what is its own. But now you are not of this world, because I have chosen you, and therefore the world hates you (John 15:19).56:3
(Verse 3.) And let not the son of the stranger, who adheres to the Lord, say, 'The Lord will surely separate me from His people.' And let not the eunuch say, 'Behold, I am a dry tree.' LXX: Neither let the foreigner, who is joined to the Lord, say, 'The Lord will surely separate me from His people.' And let not the eunuch say, 'I am a dry tree.' Those who understand this passage humbly refer it to proselytes from the nations and truly to eunuchs, as it is said that even strangers, if they receive the law of the Lord and are circumcised, and eunuchs, like the eunuch of Queen Candace (Acts 8), who could not even be idle on a journey, and while he was seeking an interpreter of the reading, found Christ whom he was seeking, may not be excluded from the salvation of God. But this, they say, is said against the Jews, who boast of the nobility of their lineage, and claim to be descendants of Abraham, and believe those to be blessed who have offspring in Zion and dwellers in Jerusalem (John VIII). But we, who were previously interpreted as thorns and thistles and κονύζη and στοιβὴν (Above, to chapter LV), we now understand to be turned into fir trees, cypresses, and myrtle trees, and the same people are being challenged in regard to the faith of the Gospel: which they should not despair of, as long as they adhere to the Lord; and they should not consider themselves separated from God's people. For all who have been baptized in Christ have clothed themselves with Christ (Galatians 3:27). There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, nor free, but Christ is all and in all (Colossians 3:11). And it is written in Deuteronomy: Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people, that is, the God who had the prior people of the Jews (Deuteronomy 33:43). Those who come from the East and West will rest in the bosom of Abraham. This is what John the Baptist also said: And do not say, we have Abraham as our father. For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham (Matthew 3:9). And just as there is no distinction among proselytes, both men and women are equally called to salvation; so also in eunuchs who have castrated themselves for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, both sexes are accepted; those who have mortified their members upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, until they all attain to the perfect man, and can say with the Apostle: We know no one according to the flesh. And if we have known Christ according to the flesh, but now we no longer know him (I Cor. V, 16). Therefore, in the case of eunuchs, they should in no way be understood, whom a passionate poet describes (Lucan. lib. X):And also the unfortunate youth, cut off by the sword, and the men who were cut off . . . . . . . But those of whom the Lord speaks in the Gospel: 'Those who have castrated themselves for the kingdom of heaven' (Matthew 19:12), such were also the Apostles, to whom, marveling and saying because of the difficulty: 'Who then can be saved?' the Savior answered: 'He who can accept it, let him accept it.' Therefore, the Apostle also testifies that he does not have the commandment of the Lord regarding such eunuchs, that is, regarding virgins, but he gives advice as if having obtained mercy from the Lord, desiring that all be like himself: 'For the time is short,' he says, 'it remains, that both they who have wives be as though they had none' (1 Corinthians 7:29). For whoever is called to freedom and released from the duty of marriage, that person is truly a servant of Christ.
56:4-5
(Vers. 4, 5.) Because the Lord says these things to the eunuchs: If they keep my Sabbaths, and choose what I desire, and hold fast to my covenant, I will give them a place in my house and within my walls, and a better name than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off. LXX: Thus says the Lord to the eunuchs: Those who keep my Sabbaths, and choose what I desire, and hold fast to my covenant, I will give them a place in my house and a named place within my walls, better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not fail. He had proposed two things, proselytes and eunuchs. First, he speaks about eunuchs and gives them instructions for living, and promises them future rewards. And after them, he comes to the proselytes, promising them similar things. Therefore, he speaks to the eunuchs who have said in despair, 'Behold, I am a withered tree' (Exod. 23), so that they may not consider themselves subject to the curse spoken of the barren: 'Cursed is the barren one who does not bear seed in Israel' (Deut. 7). Yes, he said, if they have kept my Sabbaths and chosen the things I wanted and not the things I allowed for the weakness of the listeners, and have faithfully kept my covenant or testament, I will give them a place in my house, and in my Temple, and in the strong walls of my city, and a better name to my sons and daughters, which will never be erased from memory. Those who are eunuchs, as we mentioned before, who are devoted to the things of God; to them speaks Wisdom, which is called by the name of Solomon: Blessed is the sterile and stainless woman, who has not known a bed in sin, she will have fruit in the visitation of souls. And the eunuch, who has not worked with his hand iniquity, nor thought evil against the Lord. For the chosen grace of his faith will be given, and a pleasing part in the temple of the Lord (Wisdom 3:13, 14). This one is fruitful in virginity; this eunuch exercises power in the kingdom of heaven, and violently seizes it. This one is the keeper of the sabbaths, so that he never engages in the works of marriages (I Corinthians 7). This one has chosen what the Lord willed, to offer more than what was commanded: to consider not his indulgence, but his will. This one holds the everlasting covenant of the Lord, so that he does not cease from prayer for a time, and again returns to it, but knows that he will be accepted in the house of the Lord, which is his Church, the best place. For there are many mansions with the Father (John XIV). And whoever is a eunuch, and does all the things that are written, will have the best place within its walls, so that he may become a tower of the Lord, and may stand in a priestly rank, and may have many spiritual children for the children of the flesh. It is said that such was the eunuch whom Jesus loved most, the Evangelist John, according to the accounts of Ecclesiastical history, who reclined on Jesus' breast (John 13); who, with Peter walking more slowly, ran to the Lord on the wings of his virginity (John 20); who, immersing himself in the mysteries of the divine birth, dared to say what all ages did not know: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; this was in the beginning with God (John 1, 2). Therefore, let all the mockery of the Jews cease, and let him no longer offer himself for ridicule, opening the kingdom of heaven to those of half-heartedness, when chastity does not lie in the weakness of the body, but in the willingness of the soul.56:6-7
(v. 6, 7.) And the sons of the stranger, who adhere to the Lord, to serve Him and love His name, to be His servants: everyone who keeps the Sabbath from defiling it, and holds fast (or holding) to my covenant, I will bring them to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer. LXX: And to the foreigners who have joined themselves to the Lord to serve Him and love His name, to be His servants ÷ both men and women ÷ and all who keep my Sabbaths without profaning them, and hold fast (or holding) to my covenant, I will bring them to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer. After eunuchs pass over to foreigners, whom he had previously mentioned, he also promises rewards to them: that if they serve him, and pass from servitude to the love of that name, they will be his servants: such was also the Apostle Paul, writing at the beginning of his Epistles: Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ (Rom, I, 1). And Moses, a servant of God (Heb. III). But what was added in the Septuagint: and female servants, we have marked with an asterisk. For it cannot happen that there be any diversity of sex in spiritual gifts: since in Christ Jesus there is no male or female; but all are one in him (John 17). We have already spoken about the Sabbath and the eternal covenant. Therefore, whoever does these things, God will bring him to his holy mountain, and he will be filled with joy in his house of prayer. The holy mountain, or the teachings of truth, and the confession of the Trinity: or the Lord himself, to whom in the last times (according to this same Isaiah and the prophet Micah) many nations will come together (Isaiah 2, Micah 4). The Church is the house of prayer, which is divided throughout the whole world, and not the Temple of the Jews, which was confined to the narrow confines of the land of Judea.56:8-9
(Vers. 8, 9.) Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will please me on my altar: for my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples, says the Lord God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel: I will still gather together those who have been gathered to him: All the beasts of the field, come to devour, all the beasts of the forest. LXX: Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar. For my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations, says the Lord, who gathers the dispersed of Israel: for I will gather a congregation to him. All wild animals, come, eat, all wild animals of the forest. We learn more fully about the difference between sacrifices and burnt offerings in Leviticus. Burnt offerings are those that are completely burned on the altar. The victims and offerings, of which part is offered on the altar, part is handed over to the priests. Therefore, it should not be believed that the offerings of foreigners and eunuchs are required in the Jewish rite. But we must know that eunuchs offer burnt offerings, those who consecrate themselves fully to God; while foreigners offer victims, who are temporarily dedicated to prayer, of whom God speaks: The sacrifice of praise has glorified (alternatively, will glorify) me; and in another place: Offer to God the sacrifice of praise (Psalm 49:14). Concerning these victims and burnt offerings, the Lord speaks through Hosea: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice; the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings, which are offered on the altar of the Lord' (Hosea 6:6). This is testified by John in the Apocalypse, when he saw souls of martyrs under the altar (Apocalypse 6). From this, one of the Seraphim took a coal with tongs and brought it to Isaiah to cleanse his lips (Isaiah 6:6). This is the altar and the tabernacle, to which all things made in Exodus refer, on which spiritual offerings were presented to God (Exodus 38). Furthermore, concerning bodily sacrifices and burnt offerings, God also testifies the same thing: 'Why do I need the multitude of your victims?' says the Lord. I am full of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of lambs, and I do not desire the blood of bulls and goats. For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. Not for one nation of Judah, nor for one place of Jerusalem and the city, but for the whole world: not of bulls and goats and rams, but of prayer. By the testimony, the Lord denounced those who were selling the gifts of the Holy Spirit under the name of doves in the Temple, and sitting in the seats of pestilence, and having the tables of money-changers (Matthew 21 and John 2), doing all things for the sake of shameful profit, not knowing what is written: 'You have received freely, give freely' (Matthew 10:8). But the Lord promised that these things would come to pass, he who gathers the scattered Israel. To whom also Peter the Apostle writes an Epistle, concerning whom the Evangelist speaks: 'But this he said not of himself: but being the high priest of that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation. And not only for the nation, but to gather together in one the children of God, that were dispersed' (John 11:51-52), and that what was said might be fulfilled: 'A congregation of people shall surround thee: and for this cause return thou on high' (Psalm 7:8). But when the remains of Israel were gathered together by the Apostles, and the flock, who had been previously scattered, were united into one, all the beasts are provoked to come and devour Israel, that is, those who refused to believe, of whom the Apostle says: For their end will come upon them (Philippians 3). And the Lord in the Gospel: But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by an army, then know that its desolation has come (Luke 21:20). Or it must be said, that they are given over to beasts to devour, whom the Prophet detests, saying: Do not hand over to beasts the souls professing to You (Ps. 73,19): concerning these tropological beasts, which have devoured a certain part of the Lord, and we read above (In Ch. IX), Syria from the rising sun, and the Greeks from the West, who devour Israel with all their mouth. And in Jeremiah: Israel, the wandering sheep, the lions have driven her away: the first king of Assyria devoured her, and the last king of Babylon will crush her bones (Jeremiah. 50, 17). This can also be said, that when the people of Israel, full of rage, first provoked the nations to faith, so that they would come to the Church and eat the heavenly bread, and be satisfied with the flesh of the Lamb, which killed many from the army of Abessalon, in the deserted forests.56:10-12
(Verses 10-12.) His spies, blind all, knew nothing: mute dogs unable to bark, seeing vain things, sleeping, and loving dreams. And the most shameless dogs knew not satisfaction: the shepherds themselves ignored understanding: all turned aside unto their own way, each to his own greed, from the highest even unto the lowest. Come, let us take wine, and be filled with drunkenness, and it shall be as today, so tomorrow, and much more. LXX: See that all are blind: they all do not know, mute dogs cannot bark: dreaming of a bed, loving sleep. And impudent dogs have ignored satisfaction. And they are evil, not understanding intelligence: they have followed all their own ways. Each together from its summit. Come, let us take wine, and let us become drunk, and let tomorrow be such a great day, even more so. That all, he says, beasts should come forth from the forest, and devour those gathered together, whether they succeed into the place of the Jews, the crowd of the Gentiles, their spies are in fact the Scribes and Pharisees: because all the blind have not known the Lord Savior, nor did they want to see the present light. To whom the Lord spoke: Foolish and blind, what is more, gold or the altar that sanctifies the gold (Matthew 23:17)? And again: Blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel (ibid., 24); and: Blind leading the blind, both fall into a pit (Matthew 15:14). But as for why they are called watchmen and we have read above. In that place where according to the LXX it says: The voice of your watchmen has been lifted up (Isaiah 52:8), it is written in Hebrew: The voice of your watchmen. Of whom was Ezekiel, to whom God speaks: Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel (Ezekiel 3:17). But those watchmen were not blind. In fact, they were called seers. But these of whom the Prophet is now speaking, are not only blind watchmen, but they are also called dumb dogs, unable to bark. For those who were supposed to protect the flock of the Lord, and drive away the wolves, and bark for the Lord, they love dreams and take pleasure in demonic visions. And it is understood: They cannot speak the truth, but only lies. And they are not satisfied with this, those who slept in the care of the flock of the Lord, and could not bark, and loved the bed, which indicates the pleasure of the body; but among themselves, they did not know the shamelessness of their souls, who are never satisfied with their own error. Those who devour the people of the Lord like the bread, and the houses of widows: and serve their gluttony and lust. For they cannot say: The commandment of the Lord enlightens the eyes (Ps. 18:9), nor know what is written: The wisdom of a man enlightens his face (Prov. 17:24). And they are mute dogs against enemies, of whom it is written: Do not give what is holy to dogs (Matt. 7:6). And they are sleeping dogs, who do not know the commandment: Do not give sleep to your eyes, and slumber to your eyelids (Ps. 131); and again: Watch, because you do not know at what hour your Lord will come (Matt. 24:42). And for this reason, giving a place to the devil, they are shameless dogs, who are never satisfied. For they vomit what they have eaten, and they return to their vomit (Prov. XXVI). Of whom Peter the Apostle also speaks: That true proverb has happened to them: The dog has returned to its own vomit, and the sow that was washed to the wallowing in the mire (II Pet. II, 22). The following discourse shows that these spies and dogs are the same as the shepherds: The shepherds themselves have neglected understanding. For the Hebrew word 'Roim' (also spelled 'Rom') which is written with four letters, 'resh' and 'ayin' and 'yod' and 'mem', if it is read as 'roim', it means shepherds; if it is read as 'raim', it sounds like the worst. We have said this to show the reasons for the various interpretations. For everyone has sought their own things, and not the things that are of God, nor have they walked in the way of the Lord (Philippians 2), of which it is written: Seek what the good way is, and walk in it (Jeremiah 6:16). But according to what is read in the Book of Judges: There was no king in Israel; everyone did what he thought was right, and followed his own errors (Judges 17:6), and what follows: Everyone to his own greed, from the greatest to the least: come, let us take wine, and let us fill ourselves with drunkenness, and it will be as today, so also tomorrow, and much more, is not found in the Seventy Interpreters, but is added from the Hebrew, indicated by the shining stars. Finally, no interpreter of the Church has discussed these verses, but they leap and pass over it as if it were an open pit. However, what he says is this, that is, because they have turned away from the way of the Lord, they have followed their own paths. Therefore, greed burns from top to bottom, from leaders to the common people, so that after they have started to strike their fellow servants and eat and drink with the drunkards, they say: Come, let us take wine and be filled with drunkenness. Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. And it will be as today, so also tomorrow: and much more (I Corinthians XV, 2). This is what has been said above: They did not know satiety; nor are they satisfied with past pleasure, but they prepare for future delights, much greater than those they had previously enjoyed. If this is said of the leaders of the Jews, because of whom the people were devoured by beasts, let us avoid the examples of the wicked, let us not be drunk with wine, in which there is luxury, nor overwhelmed by pleasures; let us not be silent in speaking, but let us be fierce dogs against our adversaries; rather, let us follow the ways of God rather than our own, and let us heed the Scripture that warns us: Taste and see that the Lord is good (Wisdom I, 1). And again: The best intelligence is for those who do it. And if we were dogs, let us not despair of salvation, hearing the words of the Canaanite woman saying to the Lord: Yes, Lord, for even the little dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table (Matthew XV, 27). For this reason, having obtained mercy, she hears from the Lord: O woman, great is your faith: let it be done to you as you wish. For she could have said with the Prophet: I have run in the way of your commandments (Psalm CXVIII, 32). Again: Lead me on the straight path.57:1-2
(Chapter 57, Verses 1-2) The righteous perish, and there is no one who takes it to heart; the men of mercy are gathered, but there is no one who understands; for the righteous is taken away from the face of evil. Let peace come; let him rest in his bed who walks in his integrity. Look, how the righteous perishes, and no one takes it to heart; the upright are taken away, and no one considers. For the righteous is taken away from the presence of iniquity; his burial will be in peace; he is taken away from among us. Because of blind spies and mute dogs, who themselves are shepherds, lacking understanding, nor are they satisfied with present pleasures, but always prepare themselves for future ones, the righteous one perishes, concerning whom the wife of Pilate says: 'Have nothing to do with that righteous man' (Matthew 27:19). With washed hands, innocent am I, says she, from the blood of this righteous one. In which it should be considered that the word "perdition," concerning which heretics often make false accusations, signifies destruction and abolition forever, and is applied to Christ, whose perdition demonstrates the magnitude of persecution and not an end of substance. And no one, he says, is there who reflects in his heart, or ponders. For it could not be that the blind and mute, seeing vain and loving dreams, and ignorant of understanding and wisdom, would think those things which belong to God. And what follows: And the men of mercy, or the just, are gathered and taken away, signifies the Apostles, who are killed by the wicked, and are gathered by the Lord. And he gives the reasons why the just one is killed and taken away, saying: For the just one was collected from the face of evil, so that he would not see the evils of the world. Whether due to the wickedness of humans, whose sins he himself bore, he ascended to the Father as the victor. Now, concerning what is said in Hebrew: Let peace come, let it rest in its own dwelling; let it walk in its own direction, the meaning is indeed clear, but the coherence of the words, which stands in its own idiomatic language, seems to be disturbed among us. Now, concerning what he says, this is it: Let the peace of the Just One come, which he left to the Apostles when ascending to the Father, saying: My peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you (John 14:27). And when the peace of Christ, which surpasses all understanding, comes, his apostles will rest in their beds, and their death will rest. From this it is shown that the martyrs do not perish, but conquer, and rest in an eternal dwelling. And he, whose peace it is and whose apostles rest in their beds, walks in his own direction, ascending to the Father as a victorious one on a straight path. Furthermore, what is read in the Septuagint: The righteous one was taken away from the presence of evil, his burial will be in peace, he was taken away from among us, everything is referred to Christ without the mingling of the apostles' person, whose burial is in peace and taken away from among us. For His flesh did not see corruption, nor did it remain in the tomb, which is the place of the dead, as the angel said to the women: 'Whom do you seek, Jesus? He is not here; come and see the place where the Lord was laid.' (Matthew 28:5-6). The Jews understand these and the following things, either in a general sense concerning all the righteous, whose blood Manasseh shed and filled Jerusalem from one end to another, or certainly concerning Isaiah's prophecy of his own death, that he would be sawn in two by a wooden saw, which is a most certain tradition among the Jews. Hence many of our people refer that which is written in the Epistle to the Hebrews about the sufferings of the Saints to the suffering of Isaiah: They were sawn asunder (Heb. XI, 37).Book Sixteen
Book Sixteen.The eminent saying of a most eloquent orator is that the arts would be happy if only artists judged them. And so as not to appear to take an example only from secular sources, this is indeed that which the Prophet demonstrates in other words: Blessed is he who speaks into the ears of the listeners (Eccles. XXVI, 12): With what happiness, daughter Eustochium, you have made me familiar; for when you read the preface of the previous book, in which I asserted that the Apostles and Evangelists only put forth testimonies from the Seventy Interpreters, either in their own words or in those words which agreed with the Hebrew: but if anything was added by others, to completely disregard it: immediately you presented to me not an insignificant question, namely why the Apostle, writing to the Romans, used the eight verses that are read in the Churches but are not found in the Hebrew, of the thirteenth Psalm: Their throat is an open sepulcher: with their tongues they have used deceit: the poison of asps is under their lips. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways. And the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes (Romans 3:13 seqq.). When I heard this, I was struck as if by a mighty boxer, and I began to seethe in silence and to show the astonishment of my mind in the paleness of my face. He, I say, who was a Hebrew among the Hebrews, according to the law a Pharisee, and educated at the feet of Gamaliel, either ignored these things or abused them through ignorance of those who were to read them (Philippians 6, Acts 22:3). The first of them is unlearned, the second is cunning in malice, and not he who said, “And even though I am unskilled in speech, yet not in knowledge” (2 Corinthians 11:6); and again, “For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that with simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world” (2 Corinthians 1:12). Finally, turning to myself, I asked for a single day’s time, so that my response would in no way be an argument based on human intelligence, but rather the fruit of diligent study. Thus, thoroughly examining every Scripture in my mind, I noticed that just as almost the entire letter to the Romans is constructed from the Old Testament, so this testimony is taken from the Psalms and Isaiah. There are two first verses: Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have practiced deceit. They are verses 11 of the fifth psalm. And that which follows: The poison of asps is under their lips, is verse 4 of the 139th psalm. And it is again said: Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness, is taken from the ninth psalm, verse 29. But the three verses that follow: Their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known, I found them in the prophet Isaiah, which I will explain in the sixteenth book of my commentary, which I now desire to dictate. But the last verse, that is, the eighth: 'There is no fear of God before their eyes,' is at the beginning of the thirty-fifth psalm. And in this it does not seem to anyone to be different, if what is said in singular number in its place may be said in plural by an Apostle, who was writing to many, and was bringing together many examples into one meaning. I think your question is resolved, and our rule on the translation of the Old Testament is more shaken than moved. And not so much that the Apostle took from the thirteenth Psalm, which is not found in Hebrew, as those who did not know the art of connecting the Scriptures with each other, sought a suitable place where they could put the testimony taken from him, which they did not think was placed in the Scripture without authority. Finally, all the commentators of Greece, who have left us their comments on the Psalms, clearly note and pass over these verses, confessing that they are not found in Hebrew, nor in the Seventy Interpreters, but in the Vulgate edition, which is called 'common' in Greek, and is different throughout the whole world. But now it is time to devote ourselves to the task and pursue the rest.
57:3-4
(Vers. 3, 4.) But you come here, sons of a fortune teller: whose seed have you played with? Whose mouth have you opened wide, and whose tongue have you cast out? LXX: But you come here, wicked sons, seed of adulterers and prostitutes, with whom have you played? Whose mouth have you opened: and whose tongue have you cast out? By removing the just one, whose burial is in peace, indeed by removing from the midst, you who are sons of wickedness, come to me, and hear what I say (John 8). For just as he who does wickedness is called a servant of wickedness, so anyone who betrays like Judas, is called a son of perdition, and can be called a son of wickedness. Finally, it is written about the Lord and Savior: And a son of wickedness shall not be able to afflict him (Ps. LXXXVIII, 23). For wickedness, or the wicked, which the LXX translated, Theodotion put the Hebrew word 'Onena' (Ps. LXXXVIII, 23), which according to Symmachus, we translate as an augur, meaning that Jerusalem, which is always the mother of those who listen, has been devoted to idolatry. Therefore, He calls them offspring of adulterers, or adulterers themselves (of whom it is said: They committed adultery with wood and stone (Jeremiah III, 9))) and prostitutes: there is no doubt that it signifies the same, of whom we read above: How the faithful city Sion has become a prostitute (Isaiah I, 21) ? Whom, he says, have you mocked, spitting in His face and pulling His beard; and whom have you enlarged your mouth at and opened your lips against, saying to Him: You are a Samaritan, and have a demon (John VIII, 48) ? And again: He does not cast out demons, except by Beelzebub the prince of demons (Matt. XII, 24). And then during the Passion: Crucify, crucify him (Luke XXIII, 21). And again: His blood be upon us and our children (Matt. XXVII, 25). And elsewhere: Woe to you who destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. He saved others, but he cannot save himself. Come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him (Ibid. 40).57:4-5
(Verse 4, 5.) Are you not wicked children, a deceitful seed, who console yourselves in gods beneath every leafy tree, sacrificing little ones in the torrents under threatening ((Vulg. lofty)) rocks? LXX: Are you not sons of perdition: an unjust seed, who call upon idols beneath leafy trees, sacrificing your sons in the valleys amidst the rocks? You, he says, have done these things that the preceding discourse narrated. Who are you, wicked sons of perdition, like Judas the betrayer, who is called the son of perdition (Jn. 17): and offspring of wickedness or deceit and falsehood, who delight in gods under every leafy tree, and sacrifice your children in the rivers (Acts 8). This is also recounted in the history of the Kings and Chronicles, that they sacrificed their sons to the gods, and consecrated them in fire (2 Kings 16 and 17). Indeed, it is without a doubt that both Achab, the king of Israel, and Manasseh, the king of Judah, committed, who went from the murder of their own children to the blood of the Prophets, as also mentioned in Hosea: 'Sacrifice,' he says, 'men, for the calves have failed' (Hosea 13:2).' Or, as it is written in Hebrew: 'Sacrificing men, you worship calves.' And in the Psalms it is written more fully: 'They were mingled with the nations, and they learned their works, and they served their idols, and it became a stumbling block to them.' And they sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons, and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, and sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. And the land was contaminated with blood, and was defiled in its works (Psalm 105, 35 et seqq.). Therefore, since it is evident from history that the sons are the murderers of Christ, the question arises as to how the sons are called sons of perdition, against those who wish to be different natures: one that is lost and evil, and cannot be saved; and another that is good, and cannot perish. For if, as they believe, the sons of perdition are of the most wicked nature: how is it that what was lost has been found? In the parables of the repentant, the lost sheep out of a hundred sheep and the lost coin out of ten are found, and the lost son is found, of whom the father had said to the older son: Your brother was lost, and is found: he was dead, and he has come to life again (Luke 15:32). For nothing perishes unless it was first safe, and nothing dies unless it had lived before. Therefore, those who are now called sons of perdition, or of wickedness and crime, have abandoned the Lord through their own fault, and have begun to be sons of perdition from among the sons of the Lord, as the same Prophet says to them: You have forsaken the Lord, and have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger (Isaiah 1:4). We can understand these words according to the allegorical sense, and apply them to heretics, who are sons of perdition and of the most wicked seed, or of falsehood. For from the beginning they are liars, like the devil, who is their father, who is the father of all lies. They call those whom they have deceived to idols, or to the images of their doctrines, under leafy and wooded trees, promising pleasures and delights to them, or hiding their impurities. Therefore, after Adam sinned, he hid himself in paradise under a tree, so that he would not be revealed to the sight of God (Genesis 3). There is no doubt that the children of such destruction, and the wicked seed, have many offspring wherever they deceive and kill in deep valleys, and under the looming rocks of impiety, which always threaten ruin, which, due to the diversity of lies and the variety of perverse teachings, are called many rocks. But we have one rock, which always follows the people of God, from which the people of Israel once drank, when they enjoyed the intimacy of the Lord.57:6
(Verse 6.) In the parts of the torrent is your portion: this is your fate, and you have poured out libations for them, you have offered sacrifices. Shall I not be angry with these things? LXX: This is your portion, this is your fate: and for them you have poured out libations and prepared sacrifices. Shall I not be angry with these things? They fit with the times of Isaiah, who says: For all the mountains, valleys, and torrents were full of the worship of demons, of which Jeremiah speaks: They make idols of wood, and kindle fire to worship them, to make the heavenly powers angry, with women kneading dough and mixing fat, to provoke the Lord to anger (Jeremiah 7). There is no doubt that pancakes, or small crusts prepared by the hand of the artisan, are delightful. For in our language, they are called chavonas. Concerning these, Moses, as the mouthpiece of the Lord, foretold in the Song of Deuteronomy with prophetic spirit: They stirred me to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations they provoked me to anger; they sacrificed to demons, not to God (Deut. XXXII, 16, 17). And they did this of their own accord, for it lies within our power to choose between good and evil. Finally, those who offer themselves to God with virtues are said: He has chosen his inheritance for us: the beauty of Jacob, which he has loved (Psalms 46:5). And in another place: The people of Jacob have become the portion of the Lord, his inheritance is Israel (Deuteronomy 32:9). And it is reported in the Acts of the Apostles that many have given themselves as part and portion of Paul and Silas. Therefore, those who are the portion and inheritance of the Lord, like the Levites, will have a share of the Lord and can say with David: The Lord is my portion (Psalms 73:26). Which things we are able to receive and, regarding the person of the heretics themselves, they indeed, having set aside the worship of God, worship the images of their errors, and offer sacrifices and pour out libations to them, doing secretly those things which are shameful to even speak of, and leading away captive weak-willed women loaded with sins, who are led on by various lusts, always learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 3). Therefore, since the wicked do these things in both impieties, is it not just for God's wrath to be provoked against them?57:7
(Verse 7.) You have placed your dwelling on a high and lofty mountain, and there you ascended to offer sacrifices. And behind the door and beyond the threshold, you have set up your memorial. The Septuagint says the same. The sacred history tells that on high mountains and hills, the gods of the nations offered sacrifices to Israel, and like a shameless prostitute, spread her legs for all the demons. There was no place that was not polluted by the filth of idolatry, to the extent that they would place idols after the doors of their houses, called domestic Lares, and even shed the blood of their own souls, both publicly and privately. Many cities of various provinces struggle with this error and the worst habit of antiquity: even Rome itself, the mistress of the world, venerates Tutela's image with wax and lamps in each island and house, which they call by that name for the protection of their homes, so that both those entering and exiting their houses are always reminded of their unfamiliarity. The heretics as well, whose hearts are lifted up in pride, and who, despising Ecclesiastical humility, promise themselves lofty things, ascend the highest mountains of their own doctrines, and there they prostitute their couch to demons. And because, according to the Prophet, they turned back, imitating Lot's wife (Gen. XIX), they are transformed into a pillar of salt, having the image of Ecclesiastical condiment, and not having any taste at all: who are thrown out and are useful for nothing, except to be trampled under the feet of all. Therefore, the Lord warns in the Gospel, that whoever holds the plow's handle, should not look back (Luke VIII).57:9
(Verse 9.) Because you uncovered yourself beside me and took in an adulterer, you spread your bed and made a covenant with them. You loved their bed openly and adorned yourself with royal ointment and multiplied your perfumes. You sent your messengers afar and lowered yourself even to the depths. You thought that if you would depart from me, you would have more. You loved those who slept with you and multiplied your adultery with them, and you made many far from you and sent messengers beyond your borders, and you humbled yourself even to the depths. First, let us discuss the Hebrew text, which differs greatly from the LXX in this passage. As mentioned above, to the place where it says: 'You have set your bed on a high and lofty mountain,' and it accuses and rebukes her as a prostitute, in the entrance of houses and in dark places, a harlot behind the doors, so that anyone who wished to enter the house would have the pleasure exposed before their eyes. Now it accuses and refutes her as an adulterous wife, because while she was sleeping with her husband, she secretly received an adulterous man and uncovered his cloak, or even widened her bed and made an agreement, composing instruments of deception with adulterers. But he says this to show that not only in the fields and houses did they worship idols, but also in the Temple they placed the image of Baal, which Ezekiel also says he saw when the wall was pierced. 'You loved their bed,' he says, 'with an open hand' (Ezek. VIII), so that you would not be ashamed of your sin and desire to hide the shame of your fornication, but rather sin freely. And you adorned yourself with royal ointment and multiplied your idols. And the meaning is this: You sought various ornaments, so that you could attract adulterers both by sight and by smell. But what is said, 'You have adorned yourself with ointment for a king,' is understood in two ways: either for the king God, when you adorn yourself with those things which he has given you and prostitute yourself to idols; or certainly for the idol king of the Ammonites, who is called Moloch, and in our language, 'king sounds': which we read as Melchom in other places according to the LXX (Zephaniah 1). And you sent your ambassadors far away, so that you would have an inclination for fornicating not only with the idols of nearby nations but also with those of distant nations. But the Babylonians and Egyptians have their own meaning. And you have been humbled, it says, even to the underworld. Not the humility that is praiseworthy, but the one in which Ammon humbled his own sister Thamar (2 Kings 13). And truly great is this humility, or rather a descent even to the underworld, from the light and pinnacle of chastity into the darkness of a brothel, or rather a plunge into the abyss of lust. To whom it is said in another place: You will be led even to the underworld. According to the Septuagint, in those things which differ, this seems to me to be the meaning: You thought, O harlot, that if you had left me and joined yourself to your lovers, you would have found something more. To whom also God speaks through Ezekiel: Every harlot receives wages; but you, on the other hand, have given wages, and that act has become perverse for you (Ezek. 16:33). For not only did you receive nothing from your lovers, but you also lost what you had received from your husband. And what follows: You have enlarged your bed, and made a covenant with them; you love their bed where you see their blind spies and mute dogs dreaming vain dreams while they sleep. And you have multiplied your prostitution, so that you have not only slept with one, but frequently and with many. Because of this, you have caused many to withdraw from you: angels who were in your protection, or holy men who have departed from the company of such a harlot. Indeed, we can say the same about heretics who, having abandoned God, follow their own errors and believe they have something more when they embrace falsehood. They have lost the truth and multiplied their fornication, not in one doctrine, but in many. They have even caused the leaders of the Churches, who were like angels, to depart from themselves. Not satisfied with the fornication in their own vicinity, they send messengers beyond their own borders to spread the doctrines and errors of barbarian nations, in order to deceive those who listen with the novelty of their words.57:10
(Verse 10) In the multitude of your ways you have labored, and you have not said: I will rest. You have found life in your hands, therefore you did not ask me to be silent (Vulgate: you remain silent). LXX: In many journeys you have labored, and you have not said, I will cease: you have made these strengthen. Therefore, you did not ask me. He who walks in one royal path does not labor, as God commanded through Moses: You shall walk in the royal path and you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left (Deuteronomy 5:32). There is one way of truth, which is said in the Gospel: I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). And there are many paths of lies, through which Jerusalem is now accused of having walked, of which paths God, knowing the difference, speaks above to those who stray: Not like my paths, your paths (Isaiah 55:8), which those confessing say to the Lord: You have made our paths turn aside from your paths (Psalm 44:19). Therefore, having known the one royal way, let us see which paths are on the right and on the left, through which we are prohibited from walking. The middle way is temperance, having neither too much nor too little. For example, prudence is the straight and royal way. We deviate to the right if we know more than we should know, and we value cunning for prudence: because the serpent was wiser than all the beasts in paradise (Genesis 3): And the children of darkness are wiser than the children of light (Luke 16). We turn to the left when we are foolish and know less than is necessary. Of which it is said: The fool has said in his heart, there is no God (Ps. XIII, 1). Piety and true religion are also the royal way. He who is superstitious turns to the right and deserves to hear, Do not be overly righteous (Eccles. VII, 17). To the left, is he who neglects the worship of God and is counted among the goats and the rams. Generosity and giving are also the greatest virtues, from which he turns to the right, who is frugal and does not give to others, nor even to himself, what is necessary. On the left, he who consumes his substance with prostitutes and says with Israel: Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die (Isaiah 22:13). Strength and steadfastness are also the royal road, from which the reckless and stubborn turn aside to the right, the fearful and timid to the left. Therefore, the holy man, desiring to walk on the straight path, prays: Lead me, O Lord, in the straight path (Psalm 139:24). And in another place: Make known to me, O Lord, the way in which I should walk; for I have lifted up my eyes to you (Psalm 142:8). Scripture also speaks about this kind of way in other places: Seek the good way, and walk in it, and you will find the purification of your souls (Jeremiah 6:16). Therefore, Jerusalem was humbled to the depths because it labored in many ways, and did not say, 'I will amend my error through repentance,' but on the contrary, 'I will be strengthened in my beginnings, and I will not heed the judgment of the person who warns me: Turn your foot from the rough way, and your throat from thirst' (Jeremiah 2:25). Finally, it follows: But she replied, 'I will act like a man,' that is, 'I will act bravely,' which is now expressed by another word: 'I will be strengthened.' And because she did these things that the previous discourse narrated, that is why she did not implore the Lord, having more confidence in her own strength rather than in God. Furthermore, the phrase that is placed next to the Hebrew: 'You have found life in your hands,' therefore implies this meaning and understanding: 'Because you have abundance in all things and have become rich, you have neglected the Lord.' These are the riches that even Solomon detests, lest he forget God (Proverbs 30 and 31). And it is said concerning Sodom in Ezekiel: 'Because she was satisfied with bread, she became proud' (Ezekiel 16). Not only wealth, but also poverty tests a person. Hence it is written: I have tested you in the furnace of poverty (Isaiah 48), in which Lazarus, the poor man, was also tested, who endured both poverty and weakness (Luke 15).57:11
(Verse 11.) For what reason did you fear anxiously? Because you lied and did not remember me, nor did you think in your heart? For I was silent and as if not seeing, and you forgot about me. LXX: Whom you feared, you were greatly terrified, and you lied to me, and you did not remember me. Nor did you place me in your mind and in your heart. And I, seeing you, despise you, and you did not fear me. Because you have confidence in riches with full granaries, you did not want to ask me, therefore you feared many. For you could not say: The Lord is my helper, and I will despise my enemies (Ps. CXVII, 7); And again: The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear (Ps. XXVI, 1)? And even if you ever wanted to say this against the conscience of your mind, you have lied. For how could you invoke me, when you did not have any memory of me, nor did you ever consider the precepts of the one who says: Honor the Lord, and you will be strengthened, and without him you will have no fear (Eccles. XXXVIII)? For I am the one who, like Symmachus and Aquila, always remained silent about your sins, and whatever crimes you committed, as if I did not see them, I disregarded with dissimulation, so that if not out of fear of me, at least out of patience, you would return to me. I do not question with my eyes, but with my eyelids I interrogate the sons of men. But on the contrary, you have forgotten about me, and you deserved to hear: You have forgotten the law of your God, and I will forget your children (Hosea 4:6). And again: They have walked against me in perversity, and I will walk against them in furious perversity. What is associated with the mind in the Septuagint, not written in Hebrew, but as if an interpretation has been added, what the heart should be understood as in the Scriptures.57:12
(Verse 12.) I will proclaim your righteousness, and your deeds will not benefit you. When you cry out, let your congregations deliver you. LXX: I will proclaim your righteousness and your evils, which will not benefit you. When you cry out, let them snatch you out of your tribulation. I have always remained silent and as if I did not see your sins, I have ignored them, but I will no longer remain silent, but rather speak what I have already said: Have I always been silent? And I will proclaim your righteousness, and your deeds. It is to be read as irony, as if someone caught in wrongdoing were to say: 'Look at your good deeds.' Therefore, if a time of trouble comes upon you and you begin to reach out not to the idols you worshiped, but to heaven and implore the help of God, may they hear you and deliver you from the danger you embraced without concern. This is also spoken by God through Jeremiah: 'Where are your gods, the ones you made? Let them rise up and save you in your time of trouble' (Jeremiah 2:28). On account of the fact that the seventy translated it as 'May they deliver you in your tribulation,' and we have said, 'May your congregations deliver you,' Symmachus translated it as 'May your synagogues deliver you.' Therefore, it speaks specifically to the Jews, that the multitude of their synagogues is not able to deliver them in the time of siege.57:13-14
(Verse 13, 14.) And the wind will carry them away: the breeze will lift them. But those who have confidence in me will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain. And I will say, Make a way, offer a path, turn aside from the path, remove stumbling blocks from my people's way. LXX: For the wind will carry away all of them, and the tempest will take them away. But those who hope in me will possess the land and inherit my holy mountain, and they will say: Make his ways clean and remove stumbling blocks from my people's way. The Jews of Babylon assert that these things are prophesied: that, by the power of God, after overcoming their enemies, the people will return to Judah and possess Mount Zion, and all obstacles of the journey will be removed, and they will not suffer any ambush from any nation, because the Lord will make a straight path for His people. And they claim that these things were fulfilled under Zerubbabel and Ezra. But we, joining what has been said before, assert that the wind and storm will remove all the idols that could not save them, and they will be like dust that the wind blows away from the face of the earth. But those who have trust in the Lord will possess the land which we will read about in this same Prophet: He will exalt you to the good things of the land. From which it is clear that this land is not below, but above. To which the holy one, lifted up by the Lord, will ascend, of which we have often said: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the land (Matthew 5:4); and I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13). But the holy mountain of God, that is to be understood, is the one about which he speaks to the Hebrews, who wrote the Letter: You have come to Mount Zion and to the heavenly city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the countless angels and the assembly of the firstborn who are written in heaven (Hebrews 12:22). We can understand the land and mountain of the Lord, which the saints will possess, and the holy Scriptures, which were to be carried from the Jews, the Lord threatens, saying: The kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation producing its fruits (Matt. XXI, 43); so that they may find in them that same mountain, of which we read in this same Prophet (Isaiah II), and in Micah: In the last days, the mountain of the Lord will be made manifest (Micah IV, 5). And the Lord himself commanded the Apostles and all the teachers of the Church to dissolve with their interpretation whatever seemed harsh and difficult, and to provide the way of understanding, and to remove all scandals from among them so that the people of the Lord may understand what they read without any impediment, and may progress in the fear of God. Concerning these ways, John the Baptist said: Prepare the way of the Lord, etc. (Matthew 3:3). Where we have taken the place of God, and I will say, the 70 translators have put and will say: namely those who will possess the land, and inherit the holy mountain of God. They will not be content with their own salvation, but they will also challenge others to teach the people. Symmachus interpreted this passage as follows: But whoever trusts in me will possess the land and will inherit my holy mountain, and will say: Make the way straight and the rest. Because he, who possesses the land and the mountain himself, should instruct others, so that they may obey the way of the Lord.57:15
(Verse 15) For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite. LXX: Thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite. The prophetic speech began against the people of the Jews, whose leaders he accused of being blind spies, mute dogs, ignorant shepherds, wicked sons, and the offspring of adulterers and prostitutes. After this, he came to Jerusalem, to which he reproached for its immorality, because it had spread its bed to its lovers, and had openly welcomed and adorned itself with all idols, and had sent envoys far away, in order to enjoy foreign lovers as well. With the rebuke finished, he came to those who trust in the Lord, and to whom he had promised to possess the land and the mountain, and for whom he had commanded the journey to be prepared for their return; undoubtedly the Apostles, in whose preaching they believed from both peoples. Hence he begins with the praises of God and testifies in the following discourse what he promised concerning the return of his people. For thus says the exalted and sublime Lord, who dwells in the highest places and is Holy in the Holy, not by place, but by the merit of those in whom he dwells, of whom one says in the psalm: I will exalt you, Lord, for you have upheld me (Ps. 29:1). And again: Exalt Yourself, O Lord, You who judge the earth (Ps. XCIII, 2); not so that God is lifted up by human words, but according to what is said elsewhere: The Lord has become my salvation (Ps. CXVII, 21), let Him also be exalted by the humble. He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (James IV): so that He may lift them up and make them dwell in the heights. For the Lord is exalted, and He looks upon the lowly (Ps. CXXXVII, 6). And in the Gospel the angels cry out: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace (Luke II, 14). And again in the Psalms: Praise the Lord from the heavens: praise him in the highest. And not only does the Most High dwell in the highest, but the Holy One also dwells in the holy. As it is said elsewhere: Be holy; for I am holy. And just as wisdom does not enter into a perverse soul, nor does it dwell in a body subject to sin: so the holy one dwells in the holy; and wherever there are impurities, purity cannot dwell, as the holy one says to the Lord: But you inhabit the holy place, the praise of Israel. And we also dare to say in prayer: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. And in the second psalm we read: He who dwells in heaven shall laugh at them, and the Lord shall mock them (Ps. II, 4). For Christ does not dwell in those who are earthly, but in those who are supercelestial, who proclaim the glory of the Lord, of whom it is said: He shall hear him from his holy heaven (Ps. XIX, 7). And again: The heavens are the Lord's heavens (Ps. XIII, 16): in which sense even Moses, the servant of God, agrees with the same voice: Behold the heavens of the Lord thy God, and the heaven of heavens (Deut. X); which we must certainly not understand in the Jewish manner, that God is confined to any place and dwells only in heaven, for he is everywhere present and all things are contained by him: but by heavens, let us rightly understand the highest ones, the Saints and the Virtues. For this is the one who dwells in heaven, of whom it is written in the Gospel: No one ascends to heaven unless he descends from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven (John 3:13). This one finds rest in the holy and dwells with the humble and those who are contrite in spirit. Of them, it is said: A crushed spirit is a sacrifice to God; a contrite and humbled heart, O God, you will not despise (Psalm 51:19). He himself gives patience to the weak, so that they may endure tribulation while being placed in narrow circumstances, with hope for the future. He himself gives life, especially to those who were dead by sin. Of whom it is said: With you is the fountain of life (Ps. XXXV, 10) . He who speaks in the Gospel: I am the way, the truth, and the life (John XIV, 6) .57:16
(Verse 16.) I will not contend forever, nor will I be angry to the end: for the spirit will go forth from my presence, and I will make breath. LXX: I will not take vengeance on you forever, nor will I be angry with you always. For the spirit will go forth from me, and I have made every breath. The Lord, who dwells on high and looks upon the lowly, whose name is holy and who finds rest in the holy ones: who sustains the afflicted and gives life to the oppressed (Ps. CXII), has spoken these words: I will not always be angry, nor will I be indignant forever. I strike in order to correct, I kill in order to give life. I have pity on my creature; and those whom I have created, I will not allow them to perish forever. My spirit, which emanates from me or, according to the Hebrew, Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, encompasses all things (for this is the meaning of περιειληθήσεται and περιβαλλεῖ), is the life-giver of all. And the breath, or in the plural breaths (for this is what Nasamoth signifies), I have made, about which it is written elsewhere: Let every breath, let everything that breathes, praise the Lord (Ps. 150:6). Regarding the spirit and breath that is written in the beginning of Genesis: God breathed the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Job also speaks of such a thing: The spirit of the Lord is in my nostrils, and the breath of the Almighty teaches me (Job 27:3). Therefore, when my spirit goes out and by my breath and inspiration all things are invigorated and live, it is not right for those who are sustained by my breath and spirit to perish forever. Some of us say that this is the spirit by which the whole world is inspired and governed; and all things have knowledge of God, whom the renowned poet, according to the Stoics, writing in the Aeneid (Book 6), says:In the beginning, the spirit nourishes the sky and the earth and the flowing fields, the shining globe of the moon, and the stars of Titania. It infuses the whole through all its limbs, the mind moves the mass, and mingles itself with the great body. And so on. But others understand the Holy Spirit, who in the beginning was carried upon the waters and gave life to all things: who proceeds from the Father, and, because of the fellowship of nature, is sent by the Son, who says, 'It is expedient for you that I go.' For if I do not go, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. (John 16:7) And again he says of him: When the Paraclete comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father. (John 15:26) Let no one be scandalized if it is said that the Spirit proceeds from the Father, when the Son himself has also said: I came forth from the Father, and I have come; I did not come of myself, but he sent me. (John 16:28) About this Spirit, he spoke: I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete, that he may be with you always, the Spirit of truth (John 14:16). This is the Spirit of whom Moses also wrote: Would that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them (Numbers 11:29). And Joel, speaking on behalf of God, said: I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and daughters will prophesy (Joel 2:28). And Zacharias: Nevertheless, receive my words and my laws, which I command in my Spirit, to my servant the Prophets (Zach. I, 6). And again: I will pour out upon Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of mercy (Zach. XII, 10). And many other things from both the Old and New Testaments that it is now too long to repeat. We only say this, that the same Prophet has spoken about this Spirit and breath in the same way: Thus says the Lord God who made the heavens. And afterwards a little: He who gives breath to his people, who is above her, and spirit to those who trample on her (Isaiah 42:5).
57:17-21
(Verse 17 onwards) Because of the wickedness of his greed, I became angry and struck him; I hid myself and was indignant, and he went on his way grieving (Vulgate: he went astray). I saw his ways and healed him; I led him and gave him comfort to him and to those who mourned for him. I produced the fruit of lips, peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near, says the Lord, and I healed him. But the wicked are like a boiling sea that cannot rest, and its waves churn up mire and filth. There is no peace, says God, for the wicked. LXX: Because of sin I have afflicted him for a little while, and struck him: and I turned my face away from him, and he was saddened and walked sadly in his ways. I saw his ways, and healed him: and I comforted him and gave him true consolation, peace to those who are far away and those who are near, says the Lord, and I will heal them. But the wicked will waver and cannot rest. There is no joy for the wicked, says the Lord God. After the rejection of the people of Judah and those who refused to believe in the Savior, God had promised those who had confidence in Him a gentle land and a holy mountain, and He commanded the Apostles: Make a way for the people who are returning and remove all stumbling blocks from their path. And lest it seem unbelievable, He reveals His power, that the lofty and great God can easily grant forgiveness to the repentant, and it is just that the Creator should have mercy on His creatures. Therefore, because of those things, He joined together, because He was angry and saddened His people: therefore, He made Himself, because He sinned, and He had greed for iniquity, and He was not satisfied with one iniquity, but He always added sins to sins. And I struck Him for a little while, He says, in order to heal, and I hid, it is understood, My face, so that He would desire Me more, and would say: Show Your face and we shall be saved (Psalm 79:4). And I was indignant; which He sensing, He approached sadly, saying: I walked sad all day long (Psalm 38:7). And he walked in sorrow, whether turned towards the way of his heart, so that he did not act for the appearance of men, but in his heart he performed repentance. Therefore, seeing the ways of his conversion, I healed the wounds with which I had previously struck him. And I brought him back to me, whom I had previously expelled, and I gave him true consolation. For many consolations are false, by which the human race is deceived. Whether I have comforted his mourners, saying in the Gospel: Blessed are the mourners, for they will be comforted (Matthew 5:5). And what follows: I have created the fruit of the lips, this has meaning, I have fulfilled what I promised, saying: As I live, says the Lord, I prefer the repentance of the sinner to death (Ezek. 33:11). Or, I have granted all that I previously promised. What, then, is the promise of the Lord? My peace I give to you: My peace I leave to you (John 14:27). And this is what he now says: Peace upon peace; not only to one nation, but to the whole world: specifically to those who were far away and to those who were near, that is, first to the Gentiles, and then to those who wanted to believe from Israel. About whom the Apostle says: 'It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; but because you have judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we now turn to the Gentiles' (Acts 13:46). Writing to the Ephesians and discussing at length the people of the Circumcision and the Gentiles, he declares: 'But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition, abolishing in his flesh the enmity' (Ephesians 2:13-14); and again: 'He came and preached peace to you who were far off, and to those who were near' (ibid., 17). Since through Him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father: giving peace upon peace to those who were far away, and to those who were near and to those who did not have the Law and the Prophets; and to those who had received it before, He received them and healed them. But the wicked and the unjust will be tossed like a boiling sea and will never be able to rest. Although this can be understood of every wicked person, it is especially applicable to the Jewish people, who with one voice cried out and persisted in their impiety, saying: Crucify him, crucify such a person. We have no king except Caesar (John 19:15). Therefore, just as a boiling sea cannot become calm, but its waves overflow and roll back to the shore, and when broken, they become mud that is trampled by the feet: so the wicked will be subjected to eternal trampling, having no joy and finding no peace in their persistence in wickedness. Some understand this passage specifically about the Savior, that he was deeply grieved for the sins of the world, saying: My soul is sorrowful even to death (Matthew 26:38). And the Father who speaks through Zacharias says: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered (Zech. XIII, 7); and he himself says of himself in the sixty-eighth psalm: Because it is you who have struck, they have persecuted (Psalm LXVIII, 27). And God turned his face away from him, so that he might assume the appearance of a servant for a short time, walk in sadness, lamenting the sins of the people, mourning and weeping over Jerusalem. And whoever saw the Father's ways, therefore healed him, who was free among the dead: and his flesh did not see corruption, so that he, who was struck on the cross, might be healed in the resurrection. And I consoled him, he said, giving him for the one nation of the Jews, the whole world. And those who mourned him, it is understood, he consoled. There is no doubt that he refers to the Apostles. And he fulfilled the fruit of his lips, who said to him: Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession (Ps. 2:8): peace upon peace, reconciling the world to God, so that both peoples may be called to him, and be healed by the Father. But the impious, about whom we have spoken above, he compares to the sea, which can never be at rest, but even in the greatest calm, is tossed with broken waves onto the shores, and its end is mud and trampling.58:1
(Chapter 58—Verse 1.) Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and declare unto my people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sins. (LXX: Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and declare unto the people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sins.) After finishing the previous chapter, in which peace is proclaimed to the righteous and no rest is given to the wicked, God commands the prophet Isaiah to cry aloud in strength, and to exalt his voice like a trumpet, and not to fear to declare the sins and transgressions of the people of Israel, neither fearing death nor the insults and threats of the wicked, but rather considering the Lord who rules over all. And because they have deaf ears and can barely hear, according to Symmachus and Aquila, they should turn their throat into a trumpet, which is called a shofar in Hebrew, and which they have interpreted as 'horn made of horn'. And indeed, when it was said to the Apostles, 'Ascend to the high mountain, you who evangelize Zion: lift up your voice with strength, you who evangelize Jerusalem: lift it up, do not be afraid' (Isaiah 40:9), neither a trumpet nor a horn is mentioned, but they are commanded to ascend the mountain. But because they were sinners whom he had to announce, and they dwelt below, the prophet is not commanded to ascend the mountain, but only to raise his voice like a trumpet and announce to them the coming wars. Otherwise, on the day of judgment, when it is said that the dead will rise in the resurrection and at the last trumpet, it is written, for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible, so that just as they will be judged at the sound of the trumpet, so may Israel, dead in sin, hear its own crimes; at the same time, it is referred to as the people of God, so that they may learn what kind of father they have lost, who even calls his people sinners.58:2
(Verse 2) They search for me day after day and desire to know my ways, like a nation that has done righteousness and has not forsaken the judgment of their God. LXX likewise. This specifically applies to the Jews, who run to the synagogues every day and meditate on the law of God, desiring to know what Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the other saints have done, and diligently studying the books of the Prophets and Moses, reciting the divine commands. To them, the following is most fittingly applied: The wicked seek me out but will not find me. For thus it is written: Everyone who seeks, finds (Matt. VII): whoever does not find, is convicted of seeking badly; for the Lord is found by those who seek Him in goodness, and is revealed to those who are not incredulous towards Him. Therefore, for those who have forsaken the justice and judgment of God, by what names is Christ revealed, as the Psalmist says: O God, give your judgment to the king, and your justice to the king's son (Ps. LXXI, 1): for Christ has become for us redemption, holiness, and righteousness (I Cor. I): in vain do they boast of knowledge of the law, when the holy one boasts not in knowledge of the Scriptures, but in works, saying: I have run the way of your commandments, when you have enlarged my heart (Ps. CXVIII, 31).58:3
(Verse 3) They ask me for judgments of justice, and for the nearness of God. Why did we fast, and you did not look upon us? We humbled our souls, and you did not know? Behold, in the day of your fast your will is found, and you exact all your debtors. Behold, you fast for strife and contention, and you strike with the fist wickedly. LXX: They now seek a just judgment from me, and they desire to draw near to God, saying: Why did we fast, and you did not see? We have humiliated our souls, and you have not acknowledged? For on the days of your fasts, your desires are found, and you afflict all those subject to you, fasting for judgments and arguments, and you strike the humble with your fists. There is another rashness of the Jews, as if with the confidence of a good conscience, they demand a just judgment, and they imitate the words of the saints saying: Judge me, O Lord, for I have entered in my innocence (Ps. XXV, 1, 2). And again: Test me, O Lord, and try me: burn my reins and my heart. And in another place: Judge my cause, and redeem me (Psalm 118:154). And they desire to draw near to God: but this does not occur in a physical place, but in affection, nor in idle thoughts, but in laborious deeds. Finally, Scripture instructs us on what it means to draw near to God, saying: Seek the Lord. And when the wicked draws near to you, let him forsake his ways, and the unjust his thoughts. For the Lord is near to those who approach Him, and to those who pursue what is just. And they can say: But for me it is good to cling to God (Ps. LXXII, 28). For if Almighty God is the Father of truth and justice, whoever is deceitful and unjust cannot draw near to God, of whom it is written: The wicked shall not dwell with you, nor shall the unjust remain before your eyes (Ps. V, 6). Why did we fast, they say, and you did not look? We humbled our souls, and you did not know? They accuse the Lord of injustice, because he does not regard good works, and they offer to God only the hunger of the belly, without the work of virtues: not eating the foods that God created for the faithful and those who know the truth, so that they may take them with thanksgiving. But those of whom it is written in Proverbs: For they are nourished with the foods of impiety and are intoxicated with the wine of iniquity (Prov. 4:17). The Pharisee, satisfied with these kinds of banquets, among other words of pride, boasted on the Sabbath that he was fasting. (Luke XVIII): he did not drink wine from the vineyard of Sorec, but from the vineyard of the Sodomites, whose wine is the madness of dragons, and the madness of asps is incurable, and their grapes are grapes of gall: whom God reproves through the Prophet: They eat the sins of my people (Hos. IV, 8). And again: Why have you remained silent about their wickedness, and gathered and eaten the harvest of falsehood? (Hos. X, 13). Therefore, because they had posed the question to God, desiring to know why they had fasted and humbled their souls, and God did not respond, forgetting the old story of why He did not regard Cain's offering, who offered correctly but did not divide rightly with his brother (Gen. IV), not seeing the love of God, as the Scripture says: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself (Matt. XXII, 39): therefore, God answered that He does not reject fasting, but the works that are done in fasting, saying: In the days of your fasting, your own wills are found, that you do not do God's will, but your own wills, which Paul, writing to the Ephesians, rejects: According to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of unbelief, among whom we all once conversed in the desires of our flesh, doing the will of the flesh and thoughts. And we were by nature children of wrath, like the others (Eph. 2:2-3). And what follows according to the Septuagint: 'And you oppress, or afflict, all your subjects,' which Theodotion and Symmachus translated better, whom we have followed in this place, 'and you demand payment from all your debtors.' From this it is evident that it is not without danger to demand repayment from a poor person who is unable to pay, and to not return a cloak taken as a pledge to a debtor who is shivering, lest his cry come before God. For he who has pity on the poor lends to God (Proverbs XIX). And on the contrary, he who withholds from the poor, harms God. And so that we may know that this is the meaning in the present passage, we will also read in the following verses in this same chapter: Break the bonds of wickedness, untie the bundles of oppression. It is undoubtedly clear that the bonds refer to: For what profit is it if you make your face pale with fasting, and fast for quarrels and arguments, as the Scripture says, He who loves sin rejoices in arguments (Proverbs XVII, 11)? But a servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle (2 Tim. 2), and imitate Him who says: Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart (Matt. 11, 29): so that humility is not affected, but of the heart, not seeking the glory of men, but the conscience of the soul. You fast and strike with fists the humble, and with slaps you beat (1 Tim. 3). Therefore, a bishop must not be a striker. For how can he restrain lust, who is unable to restrain his own hand or tongue? The Lord reproves such fasting and in the beginning of this prophet he says: My soul hates your fasting and rest, your new moons and Sabbaths, and your other solemnities (Isaiah 1:13). Therefore, Joel commands: Sanctify a fast, proclaim a healing (Joel 2:15); so that we may fast from vices and become holy through good works and the healing of sins. Finally, it follows: Let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber, and the bride from her bridal chamber; so that during the time of fasting we may give ourselves to prayer: lest our inner self be nourished by the dragon's flesh, which has been given as food to the peoples of Ethiopia. And we say this, not because we disapprove of fasting, through which both Daniel, a man of desires, knew the future (Daniel IX), and the Ninevites appeased the anger of God (Jonah III), and Elijah (III Kings XIX) and Moses (Exodus XXXIV), satisfied with the familiarity of God through a forty-day fast, and the Lord Himself (Matthew IV) fasted for the same number of days in the wilderness, in order to leave us the solemn days of fasting. But fasting alone should not be empty, and one should not do other things that displease God. And, leaving aside other things, you will make their faces disfigured so that they appear to be fasting ((or fasting)), those who, by obtaining glory in the present, will be excluded from the kingdom of God, because they have received their reward (Matt. VI). Therefore, even if the Apostle were to offer his body to martyrdom, as it were, to be burned or to boast (both are mentioned in the copies), without the love of God (which is in the conscience of the heart), he says in vain that he pours out his blood (I Cor. XIII).58:4-5
(Vers. 4, 5.) Do not fast as you do to this day, to make your voice heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? LXX: Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?' And when you have bowed your neck like a circle, and have put sackcloth and ashes under you: do not call this an acceptable fast. He teaches not to reprove fasting itself which he had commanded, but how one should fast: moreover, before he teaches what they should follow, he instructs what they should avoid: That it may be heard, he says, in high places. Do not bring your clamor to prayer, praying in synagogues and corners of the streets, so that you may be seen by men (Matthew 6), and raise your voice on high, and with the Pharisee, who is condemned by the judgment of the Lord, proclaim your fasts and works (Luke 18). Because of these things, the Lord, reproving the prayer of the Pharisees, teaches the disciples how they should pray (Matthew 6). They should enter into the hidden chamber of their hearts, to speak to God alone, who can hear the silence of the heart; so that they may cry out in their hearts, 'Abba, Father' (Romans 8:15); and not make their faces disfigured, but wash with water and anoint their heads with oil. John the Evangelist also writes about this: 'And you have an anointing from the Holy One' (1 John 2:20): that by being anointed, they themselves may become holy. For God does not seek only affliction and humiliation of the soul through injury to the body, as if to twist the body in the manner of a circle and bow the neck, and to walk in sadness. According to what is said in the Psalms: I am afflicted and bowed down to the end; I was mournful all day long (Psalm 37:9). Nor does He seek for one to be clothed in sackcloth and sleep in ashes, as we read of David and Ahab (2 Samuel 3; 1 Kings 21); but that one should do these things along with those that follow. Moreover, the Apostle frequently says that he fasts (2 Corinthians 6 and 11), and the Lord, when he is taken away as a bridegroom from his disciples, teaches them to fast (Matthew 6). And in the Psalms, speaking of repentance, he says: I ate ashes like bread and mixed my drink with tears (Psalm 102:10). And when they were troublesome to me, I put on sackcloth (Psalm 34:13). From this, we learn that these are the things that the Lord wants to be done first, and not to overlook them for anything else.58:6-7
(Verses 6, 7.) Isn't this the fast that I have chosen? To loosen the chains of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Isn't it to share your bread with the hungry, and to bring the poor who are cast out into your house? When you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Isn't it to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him, and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh? Isn't this the fast that I have chosen?' says the Lord: 'to release the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?' Dissolve the bonds of violent obligations. Release the broken ones in remission, and cut off all unjust writings. Break your bread to the hungry, and bring the homeless into your house. If you see someone naked, cover them, and do not despise the members of your own household. After he taught what kind of fasting he disapproves of, he showed what kind he gladly accepts. Dissolve, he says, the bindings of impiety: untie the bundles that weigh down: or as the Septuagint translated more clearly, the bonds of violent obligations, which our people, deceived by the ambiguity of the word, that is, exchanges in certificates, interpreted as transfers. However, it signifies the bundles of documents in which the deceit of lenders is contained, and the poor are oppressed by debt, which is the main cause of revolt in all cities. Therefore, the Roman people occupy neighboring mountains, and there are new records, which the Greeks call 'χρέων ἀποκοπάς'. Therefore, the Prophet does not command that each person should not demand what is owed, especially when it was justly given and justly sought after; otherwise, he would be a supporter of sedition. But where there is unfair surety, where the poor are oppressed by slander: there the bundles of sureties and all the chains of injustice must be broken. Or indeed, this must be said, because it is about fasting, and fasting has affliction and humiliation of the soul: but the affliction of sinners' bodies begs for indulgence. Divine Scripture teaches us to forgive our debtors, so that the Heavenly Father may also forgive us our debts (Mark 11). The ancient history tells that in the year of the Jubilee, which is the true Jubilee, all possessions return to their owners and slaves regain their freedom, and all obligations, commonly known as cautions, become void (Leviticus 25 and 27). If this is commanded in the old Law (Exodus 21), how much more in the Gospel, where everything that is good is multiplied: and not an eye for an eye, or a tooth for a tooth is commanded, but to offer the other cheek to the one who strikes! And so that we know what we have said above: Collect all your debtors, have the creditors written down, and join them with the debtors more clearly: Forgive those who are broken, that is, those who are broken by poverty, whom affliction has afflicted, so that you do not allow them to beg. And break all burdens by which they are oppressed. For which the Seventy translated it more clearly, and cut off all unjust writing: which Symmachus translated: And break all false caution. But it could happen that someone would say, 'I have no debtors, what should I do to observe my fast?' It follows: Break your bread to the hungry. Not many loaves, nor cause poverty, but one loaf. Not the whole loaf itself, but a portion of bread: which if you did not fast, you would eat; so that your fast is not a profit for your purse, but a satisfaction for your soul. And beautifully he added 'your', so that you do not make your alms from robbery: For the redemption of a man's soul is his own treasure (Proverbs 13, 6). And in another place: Honor the Lord with your just labor (Proverbs 3, 9). Certainly if you do not have bread, and there is a great multitude of hungry people, give from what you suffer no harm. In which there are no expenses, bring the homeless, the poor without shelter, into your home. Or as it is said in Hebrew, into the house, so that if you do not have your own, you bring them into a small guesthouse, which you either rent or possess as a favor. If you see someone naked, cover him. And what the Lord said in the Gospel: Whoever has two tunics, let him give one to him who has none (Luke 3, 11). For he did not command that one be torn and divided, as many do for the sake of popular applause, but that the other not be preserved, increasing the precepts of justice, so that he also may say that having handed a cup of cold water has its rewards. And he says 'your' flesh, do not despise it. For every man is our flesh. And according to the Gospel parable, he is called the neighbor who does good to the one who came down from Jerusalem to Jericho and was wounded by robbers (Luke 10). Or certainly according to the Seventy who said: And do not despise the servants of your own seed, let us understand those servants of your own seed, about whom the Apostle also teaches, saying that alms should be done to all, but especially to the servants of faith (Galatians 6). For they are our flesh and our seed, being generated with us by the same parent. To whom the Savior also extended his hand, saying: These are my mother and my brothers, who do the will of my Father (Mark 3, 34, 35). And so that we know that there is one Lord, both of the new and the old Testament, the Lord speaks the same in the Gospel about those who will stand on the right on the day of judgment, saying: Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was sick and in prison, and you visited me. I was a stranger and you brought me into your home. And I was naked and you clothed me (Matthew 25, 34-36). And to those who humbly say that they have done nothing for the Lord and Savior, he responds: As long as you have done it to one of the least of my brothers, you have done it to me. According to tropology, we can say: Whoever fasts from all evil and wishes his fast to be respected, not only must turn away from evil, but also do good, so as to break every bond of iniquity by which simple believers are bound by the deceit of heretics. And the Prophet also speaks about the bonds of violent contracts, which he demonstrates in the psalm, saying: But those who go astray in their obligations, the Lord will bring with those who work iniquity (Psalm 125, 5). For all those who are bound by the bonds of heretics, turn away from the Lord; they are like a bull led to the slaughter; and they choose and exchange falsehood for truth. Therefore, let the Ecclesiastical man dismiss and dissolve these kinds of men, who are broken in judgment; and break and tear apart all the writings of heretics, about whom the same Prophet says: Woe to those who write iniquity: for they write malice, stealing the judgment of the poor people of mine (Isaiah 10, 1, 2), so that they do not hold every simple person ensnared by their traps. And when he does this, let him break his bread to the hungry of the Ecclesiastical doctrine, which the Lord also did, giving broken bread to the Apostles, which he left for them in seven baskets and twelve small baskets, not whole as they were in the Law, but crushed and broken in the Gospel, so that they would have something to give to the poor (Matthew 15). When you see those who do not have the warmth of faith, but who freeze outside the Church in the coldness of unbelief, bring them into the house of the Church, and cover them with the robe of incorruption; so that, clothed in Christ's tunic, they do not remain in the graves, as we read of the one who was possessed by a legion of demons, who lived naked among the memorials of the dead. And when you have done this, let your generosity be shown to all, especially to the faithful servants.58:8-9
(Vers. 8, 9.) Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am. LXX: Then your light shall break forth like the morning; your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of God shall surround you. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say: Here I am. While you are still speaking, he will say: Here I am. When you have not done those things that the previous conversation narrated, and you have done those things that we are now speaking about, then your fasting will be acceptable, and your morning light will break forth; the sun of righteousness, about which Malachi the prophet speaks in the person of God the Father, saying: For you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise, with healing in its wings (Malachi 4:2). That sun is called the light here. For just as the morning light dispels darkness, so the light of knowledge and truth dispels all errors. And your healings, it is said, will quickly arise. For this reason, Aquila, expressing word for word, put: And the scar of your wound will quickly be covered; so that, namely, the wounds of our sins may be closed with a quickly covered scar at the rising of the sun of righteousness. Because of this, the Seventy translated τὰ ἰάματά σου, that is, your healings, with the similarity of the word ἱμάτια, that is, garments. Therefore, deceived by the falseness of many translations, they use this testimony to prove the resurrection of the body, namely that the garment of the soul will receive a body, which will arise on the day of resurrection. And it says, 'Your righteousness will go before you.' (Genesis 30:33, according to the Septuagint). According to what Jacob says: 'Tomorrow my righteousness will answer me,' and what is written will be fulfilled: 'Behold, the man and his works.' And the glory of the Lord will surround you, like a beautiful garment, so that you may be glorified before God and before men. Then you will call upon Him, and the Lord will answer; you will cry out, and He will say: 'Here I am,' not in words, but in works; not in response, but in acts of kindness. This is confirmed in the letter and in the Gospel, when the leper said to the Lord, 'If you will, you can make me clean,' and the Lord answered, saying: 'I will, be clean.'58:10
(Verse 10.) If you remove the chain from your midst, and you cease to extend your finger, and to speak what is not helpful. When you pour out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. LXX: If you remove from yourself the yoke, and the pointing of the finger, and the speaking of murmuring, and you give your bread to the hungry from your soul, and satisfy the humble soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. The Hebrew word Mota (), which is interpreted as an iron torque in Jeremiah (Jer. XVIII), is read twice in the present chapter. In that place where we have said above according to the Septuagint: Dissolve the obligations of violent exchanges, by one word Mota we may know that they have put violent bonds, for which Aquila translated error, Symmachus translated declination, and Theodotion κλοιὸν, that is, torque. Again, in the present place where we translate: If you remove the chain from your midst, and for chain Septuagint translated συνδεσμὸν, that is, binding or bond; Aquila, as above, interpreted error; Symmachus, agreeing with Theodotion's ideas ((Al. conceding)), put torque. This is said about the variety of interpretation. Otherwise, the meaning is connected as follows: The morning light will arise for you, and your health will quickly arise; and your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will crown you. And when you pray, he will immediately hear you, and he will show himself to be present. This is true, only if you add these things to the previous works, in order to remove from yourself the obligation and the chain with which your soul is bound. About which Peter spoke to Simon: 'For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity' (Acts 8:23). And Paul was grieved, as he observed the city of the Athenians bound by the obligation of idolatry. For each person is bound by the ropes of their own sins (Proverbs 5). And concerning these bonds of the soul, David prayed in the psalm: 'Cleanse me from my hidden faults, O Lord, and spare your servant from the deeds of others' (Psalm 19:13). It is difficult to find someone who is not bound by these chains. It is rarely found a soul that does not have this heavy burden encircling its neck, weighing it down with earthly pursuits, so that it does not look to the heavens but only to the earth. This is also reflected in the Gospel story of the woman whom Satan had bound for eighteen years, so that she was bent over and could not see the heavenly things (Luke 13). Therefore, it is said, if you remove this chain from the midst of your heart and break these kinds of bonds, and if you also extend your hand, as three other interpreters render this phrase, and refrain not only from thinking or doing evil, but also from speaking ill of your neighbor and pointing out each person's faults as if with a finger, and if you avoid speaking what does not benefit your soul, considering not your own faults but the errors of others, then you will receive what the following passage adds. Most of our people understand the ordination of clergy, which is fulfilled not only by the invocation of the voice, but also by the laying on of hands (so that, as we have laughed at in some cases, the clandestine invocation of the voice may ordain unknowing clerics), in this way: they take as evidence the writing of Paul to Timothy: Do not lay hands on anyone too hastily and thereby share in the sins of others (1 Tim. 5:22). For it is not a light matter to cast pearls before swine and to give what is holy to dogs (Matt. 7); and to attribute the ordination of the clergy, not to the holy and most learned in the law of God, but to their followers and ministers of lowly duties; and what is more shameful for them, to the prayers of little women. In considering the wisdom of Christ's Apostles, who, to demonstrate the danger of ordination, connected the torments of sinners: You shall not partake in others' sins. Therefore, just as in the ordinations of evil men, the one who appoints them is a participant in their sins, so in the ordination of the saints, the one who chooses them is a participant in their righteousness. It follows: And the word of murmuring is understood to mean, 'from the common,' if you remove it from yourself. But the word of murmuring is when God speaks against us: Let the murmuring of this people cease from me, and they shall not die; and we refer our sins to God, in order to excuse ourselves for our sins, and we say: The heat of the body overcame me, the incentives of youth overcame me, God created me this way: poverty forced me to steal. Therefore, if we do not do those things which are said, and if we do those things which are to be said, let us not give our bread to the hungry as before, but our soul, so that we may help him however we can, and let us not do it with sadness and necessity, but willingly, receiving more than giving charity. For God loves a cheerful giver, so that we may not refresh the hungry or the afflicted partially, but fully satisfy them; and let us grieve with those who grieve and mourn with those who mourn, then our light shall rise in the darkness, he who says: I am the light that came into the world, so that everyone who believes in me does not remain in darkness, but has the light of life. For the eye is the light of our body: if it is simple, our whole body will be full of light. But if it is evil, our whole body will be full of darkness. And it will be said to us: If the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! Let us consider with what virtues we may come to the light of God, so that darkness may be turned into noonday, and let us say with the bride: Where do you pasture, where do you rest at noon?58:11
(Verse 11) And the Lord will always give you rest, and will fill your soul with splendor, and will free your bones. And you will be like a well-watered garden, and like a fountain of water, whose waters will not fail. LXX: And your God will be with you always: and you will be filled as your soul desires, and your bones will become fat. And they will be like a drunken garden, and like a fountain, whose water will not fail. What is added at the beginning of this chapter in the Alexandrian manuscripts: And still praise will be in you always; and in the end your bones will rise like grass, and become fat, and they will possess the inheritance for generations upon generations. This is not found in Hebrew, nor even in the corrected and true copies of the Seventy: hence, it should be marked with an obelus. When the darkness, says he, of thine heart shall be dissolved in the rising light, and midday shall have arisen from palpable night, then wilt thou always have God as thy inhabitant, who shall fill thy soul with brightness. Of whom it is said in the Psalms: With thee is the principality of thy power, in brightnesses of the saints, from the womb before the morning star I begot thee (Ps. 109:4) . Whether thou shalt be satisfied with all things which thy soul desireth, because thou also hast satisfied the hungry soul, and shalt be able to say: Bless the Lord, O my soul, who filleth thy desire with good things (Ps. 102:5) ; and thy bones shall be delivered from death and perpetual fire. Or, they will cause them to become thick again, which had been made thin by the hunger of speech of the Lord. And indeed, we can understand this both in a literal sense concerning the resurrection of bodies that are going to fall, and concerning the virtues of the soul, which the holy one speaks of in the psalm, 'All my bones will say, Lord, who is like you?' (Ps. 34:10). Regarding these matters, it is also written in Proverbs, 'Good fame fattens the bones' (Prov. 15:30). And to those who are promised rewards, Health will be to your body, and healing to your bones (Prov. XVI, 24). Concerning them it is written again, The Lord keeps all their bones, not one of them shall be broken (Ps. XXXIII, 21). On the contrary, the sinner, who has lost strength and virtue of the soul, laments and speaks: Our bones are scattered nearby the underworld (Ps. CXL, 7). For we cannot believe that the bones of sinners are not in hell, but near hell. And good fame fattens the bones (Prov. XV, 30), which does not pertain to the nourishment of the body. It follows: And you will be, or it will be, that is, either you or your soul, like a well-watered garden: of which it is written: A spring went out and watered the whole face of the garden (Genes. II, 6), which is read as 'garden' in Hebrew. We can say that this spring is none other than the one to whom it is said, With you is the fountain of life (Ps. XXXV, 10): which continually waters His Church and the hearts of all believers.58:12
(Verse 12.) And the deserts of the ages will be built in you: you will raise the foundations of generation after generation: and you will be called the builder of walls, turning paths into peace. LXX: And the deserts will be built for you from the age and your foundations will be everlasting for generations and generations: and you will be called the builder of walls, and you will make paths rest in the middle. Not only, he says, will your light arise in the darkness, and your darkness will be like midday, and the Lord will give you rest always, and you will be like a well-watered garden, and so on; but what has long been deserted will be rebuilt in you, and the foundations of your buildings will remain for many generations: so that either you yourself will be called the builder of walls and ramparts, or someone will arise in you who will be the builder of walls, and he will turn the paths into peace, or according to the Septuagint, he will make the roads in the middle to rest. These Jews and their friends in the western provinces are referring to the restoration of the cities of Palestine. They argue that either these things were done under Zorobabel and Ezra, and Nehemiah, or they will happen in the future: the highest foundations must be laid for the restoration of Jerusalem and the surrounding cities, and such high walls must be built that no enemy can enter, and the entrance of all enemies into them must be prohibited. But we, following the order of the explanation that has been begun, say that what was deserted among the Jews is being built in the Church, not for a short time, but forever, and its foundations must be raised from both peoples, that is, in two generations. Where the Apostle says: Like a wise architect, I laid the foundation; another builds upon it. But let each one see how he builds upon it (1 Corinthians 3:10). And in another place: We are God's field, God's building (Ephesians 2:20). And it is to be called, or when someone is born in it, the builder of fences. About this we read in the psalm: Man is born in it, and the Most High has founded it (Psalm 87:5). The Scripture mentions that fields and vineyards are surrounded by hedgerows and walls, which is signified by the Greek term φραγμοῦς. You have transferred a vineyard from Egypt: you have uprooted the nations and planted it. And a little later: Why have you destroyed its walls? And let all who pass by pluck its grapes (Ps. LXXXIX, 9 and 13). And in the same Prophet: A vineyard has been made for the beloved; describing it in beautiful language, he says: I have built a tower and surrounded it with a wall (Eccles. II, 4). According to Ecclesiastes, whoever destroys her will be bitten by a snake. She is surrounded so that the access of all animals to the vineyard of God is prohibited. This snake is the crafty one who deceived Eve in paradise. Because she had destroyed God's commandments, she was exposed to his bites, and she heard from the Lord: You will watch his head, and he will watch your heel (Genesis 3:15). In that place where we have translated according to the Septuagint, so as not to seem to be innovating anything, because the testimony is well-known, and you will be called the builder of fences, in Hebrew it is written, and you will be called Goder Pheres, which Aquila interpreted as περιφράκτης διακοπῆς, which, according to the meaning, we can say opposes God's fierce anger. Finally, Symmachus translated, opposing a wall to the one who was killing (1 Kings 7), like Moses and Aaron, and Samuel, who resisted the anger of the Lord, and as if by building a wall, they set a limit to his indignation. This is also said to Jeremiah: Do not meet the Lord, do not want to resist His anger, and block the indignation with prayers as if with a wall (Jeremiah 7): and to Moses, as if the Lord was holding him: Let me go, he said, and I will strike down this people (Exodus 32, 10). Therefore, this builder of walls, fences, and hedges will transform paths into tranquility, so that the anger of God may not rage, but the Lord may be appeased and all the pathways of indignation may find rest.58:13
(Verse 13.) If you turn your foot away from the Sabbath, and do your own will on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, and holy to the glorious Lord, and honor him by not doing your own ways, nor finding your own will, nor speaking idle words. LXX: If you turn your foot away on the Sabbaths, so as not to do your own desires on the holy day. And you shall call the Sabbaths delightful and holy to the Lord: you shall not lift up your foot for work, nor shall you speak a word ÷ in anger from your mouth. To whom he had said above: Is not this the fast that I have chosen? loose the bands of wickedness, undo the bundles that oppress, and the like: even now he promises rewards if he will do what follows (Exod. 20); that is, that he restrain his foot on the sabbaths, and not do his own will, and that he profane not the holy day of the Lord with his own will (or lusts). It is written in the law, that we should not do servile work on the sabbaths, nor kindle fire, nor sit in one place only, but that we should do those works only which pertain to the salvation of the soul. But if we take it literally, it cannot be completely fulfilled. For who can do this, that sitting all day and night on the Sabbath, does not move from one place, indeed, does not even move slightly? And if he does, would he not be a transgressor of the law? Therefore, from one commandment, which is impossible to be taken literally, we are compelled to understand the rest in a spiritual sense, so that we do not perform servile work and lose the freedom of the soul. For whoever commits sin is the servant of sin (John 8): let us not bear the burden on the Sabbath, such as the burden borne by him who says, My iniquities are raised above my head: they are like a heavy burden pressed down upon me (Psalm 38, 5). Let not the wickedness that sits upon the talent of lead have power over us; nor let bodily pleasure and lust prevail. (Zech. 5); For they all commit adultery, and their hearts are like an oven. (Hosea 7); And the fiery darts of the devil are cast, to shoot straight at those with a righteous heart in darkness. (Ps. 10); It is also commanded to us that, having taken hold of the plow, we do not look back; that, ascending the height of the roofs, we do not wish to come down to remove the garments of the world. (Luke 9); but rather that we hear with Moses, 'But you stand here with me' (Exod. 34, 2); and that we sit with the Lord, weary on the way of this world, by the well of the Samaritan woman, desiring the conversion and salvation of the erring. (John 4); that we hear the Apostle admonishing, 'Stand firm and immovable' (1 Cor. 15, 58); that we not suffer what Judas, the traitor, suffered, who lost his place of ministry, and became a transgressor, and that we always remember his words: 'If the spirit of the one who has power ascends over you, do not abandon your place' (Eccles. 10, 4). Here lies one who rests on the Sabbath, washing his hands among the innocent, not moving his feet to carry out his own desires: this person celebrates the delicate Sabbath of the Lord. Sabbath-keeping, as written in the Letter to the Hebrews, is promised to us in heaven, and glory is prepared (Hebrews 4): so that while we do not follow our own ways on the Sabbath, and our own will is not found, we may speak words by which we do not sin in deed or in speech. Otherwise, if these things are only prohibited on the Sabbath, then on the other six days freedom is given to us to commit wrong. But if it is foolish to believe this, it remains that the Sabbath, which is interpreted as rest, should be sanctified at all times by the faithful, while they do the will of not the flesh, but the soul. And what is added, according to the Septuagint, 'in wrath from your mouth', is not found in the Hebrew. For this Sabbath, to be celebrated with all festivity, the Savior calls us in the Gospel, saying: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28); for this signifies 'I will refresh you', so that laying aside the burdens of sins, we may rest in Christ, and say: He has set my feet upon a rock (Psalm 40:3), and avoid that which the holy one says he almost endured: My feet were almost moved (Psalm 73:2).58:14
(Verse 14.) Then you will delight in the Lord [Vulg. the Lord); and I will lift you up above the heights of the earth, and I will feed you with the inheritance of Jacob your father. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. LXX: And you will trust in the Lord: and he will exalt you above the good things of the earth, and he will feed you with the inheritance of Jacob your father. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. After you have called the delicate Sabbaths and have not moved your foot on the Sabbath to do servile work, nor have you spoken a word, that is, you have always been silent, and have fulfilled what is commanded: Restrain your tongue from evil, and let your lips not speak deceit (Psalm 34:14): then you will delight in the Lord and see that you are fulfilled: Delight in the Lord, and he will grant the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4). Whether you have confidence in the Lord, according to what is written: Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord. And in Jeremiah: Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and the Lord will be his hope (Jeremiah 17:7). And elsewhere: It is good to trust in the Lord rather than to trust in man (Psalm 118:8). And the Lord will lift you up and exalt you above the heights and the good things of the earth. For the earth is soft, and the earth of the living is not downwards, but upwards. Finally, to Lot fleeing from the valley of Sodom and Gomorrah, it is said: Make yourself safe on the mountain (Genesis 19). And when he reached there, the sun rose for him in Segor. Concerning this land, the Lord said: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:4): and many other things that we have frequently mentioned, among which is this: Honor your father and your mother, and you will live long on the earth that the Lord your God has given you (Exodus 20:12). Which cannot be completely true according to the letter. For many honor their parents and die quickly, while others who are parricides live for a long time. But that the land is situated in the heights, let us briefly recall the 36th Psalm, in which it is written: The meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. After this, it is added: Wait for the Lord, and keep his ways: and he will exalt you, that you may possess the earth (Psalm 37:11): concerning which it is sung in another place, The righteous shall inherit the earth, and shall dwell on it forever and ever (ibid., 34). Which in itself is also impossible. For if the earth shall pass away, how can the righteous dwell on it forever and ever? From this we learn that there is a land that is situated in the heights. After this, it is added: And I will feed, or rather, the Lord will feed you with the inheritance of Jacob your father. For just as he who has faith is called the son of Abraham, so he who suppresses vices and sins is called the son of Jacob. And the one who imitates someone's virtue is called their son. But the good things of the land, which is situated in the heights, with which the son of Jacob is satisfied, must be understood as those things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have they entered into the heart of man (1 Corinthians 2). Concerning these, it is written in the Letter to the Hebrews: For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland: and if, indeed, they sought one, from which they had departed, they would have had an opportunity to return to it. But now they desire a better homeland, that is, a heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 11:14 et seqq.). From this we learn that the fable of a thousand years, in which again marriages and food and the conversation of earthly life are promised, must be rejected. For if in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels; for they are sons of the resurrection (Matthew 22); and concerning the belly and food, the Apostle says: Food for the belly, and the belly for foods: but God will destroy both it and them (1 Corinthians 6:13), how can we seek the vices of the former mortal and corrupt flesh again, with an incorrupt and spiritual and immortal body? And we say these things, not because we deny the substance of the glorified body, but in order to completely remove the former works in those who are like the angels. Otherwise, even in this still existing body, through fasting and continence, and perpetual chastity and charity, we imitate the angelic virtues, and yet we do not lose the substance of our bodies. In order to believe that all these things will come to pass, let us know that they have been promised by God, whose mouth has spoken: so that just as in the hands there is activity, and in the feet there is movement, and in the belly there is generation, and in the ears and eyes there is hearing and seeing: so in the mouth let us understand the word of God.59:1-2
(Chapter 59, Verses 1, 2) Behold, the hand of the Lord is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither is His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear. (Chapter 70) Is the Lord's hand shortened, that He cannot save, or His ear heavy, that He cannot hear? But your sins have separated you from your God, and because of your sins, He has turned His face away from you, so that He will not show mercy. I could do what I said I would do: You will be confident in the Lord, and He will lift you up to the good things of the land, and He will feed you with the inheritance of Jacob your father, before the completion. For my hand is not shortened, nor is it contracted, that I cannot stretch it out to deliver my people: nor do I have deaf ears, that I cannot hear. From this it is shown that the ears of the Lord, which listen to the righteous and do not listen to sinners, are in no way similar to our ears, which equally hear the spoken word of either justice or injustice; but your sins, like a certain wall in the middle, separate you and God. And so, the Savior in His passion made both one (Ephesians 2), and by breaking down the middle wall of partition, He destroyed enmity in His flesh, so that the blood of Christ might unite those whom the wall of sin had divided. He opened the door of paradise, which had been closed for a long time (Genesis 3), and He extinguished the fiery sword with His own blood, so that the thief might hear: Today you will be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43). And what follows: And because of your sins, He turned His face away from you; to not hear, or to not show mercy, he demonstrates this, that he was not able to bear the stench of sins and their iniquities, but he turned his face away, so as to not see their shamefulness, and he would immediately be forced to strike. In the psalm, when the sinner desiring to see the face of the Lord says: How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? (Ps. XII, 1). And elsewhere: Show your face, and we shall be saved. (Ps. LXXIX, 4).59:3-4
(V. 3, 4.) For your hands are polluted with blood, and your fingers with iniquity: your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wickedness. There is no one who calls for justice, nor is there anyone who truly judges: but they trust in nothingness, and speak vanities. LXX: For your hands are polluted with blood, and your fingers with sins. Your lips are polluted with iniquity, and your tongue meditates injustice. No one speaks the truth: there is no fair judgment. They trust in empty things, and speak worthless words, injustices and sins. What he has mentioned generally above, he now explains in detail. And it should be considered that he does not accuse them of idolatry, which they were practicing in the time of Isaiah, but rather of shedding blood, about which he had already spoken: The righteous is perishing, and there is no one who takes it to heart. The upright are taken away, and no one understands in his heart. For the righteous man is taken away from the face of wickedness: his grave shall be in peace, and his tomb shall be with honour. Though their hands have not injured in any wise the Lord, yet they take upon them to cry out with blasphemous voices, saying: His blood be upon us and upon our children. His death shall therefore bear witness against them, and their hands shall be defiled. Of whom the same Prophet testifies, saying: If ye stretch forth your hands against me, I will not hear you. Your hands are full of blood. Your lips and tongue speak iniquity and lies, claiming to be Christ's chosen ones but behaving as Antichrists. There is no one among your people who cries out for justice and judges according to truth, or in the Hebrew language, faith in Christ. Instead, they trust in nothingness and speak empty words. Therefore, the Apostle commands us not to pay attention to Jewish fables and the commandments of those who turn away from the truth. For truly they trust in nothing, and they follow vanities, in which is fulfilled the prophecy of the Lord: I am come in my Father's name, and you receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him you will receive. (John 5:43).59:5-6
(Verse 5, 6.) They conceived labor and gave birth to iniquity: they broke the eggs of vipers and wove spider webs. Whoever eats their eggs will die, and what is hatched will break out into a viper. Their webs will not be turned into clothing, nor will they be covered with their works. LXX: For they bring forth pain and generate iniquity. They broke the eggs of vipers and wove spider webs. And whoever wants to eat their eggs, breaking them open, will find something rotten, and in the end a viper; their webs will not be used for clothing, nor will they be covered with their works. Those who await the coming of the Antichrist cannot say: 'We have conceived and brought forth from fear of you, O Lord, and we have made the spirit of your salvation come upon the earth' (Isaiah 26:18), they conceive pain correctly, and give birth to wickedness, so that they receive iniquity instead of what they seek with much effort; of whom it is written in the Psalms: 'They conceived pain, and brought forth wickedness' (Psalm 7:15). They break and shatter the eggs of asps, so that they may receive their venom in their own minds, of whom it is said in the Gospel: 'You offspring of vipers' (Matthew 3:7). And beautifully they have laid the eggs of asps and serpents, which eggs are said to generate first. And because they not only retain the poisons of malice in their hearts, but also meditate on old wives' fables day and night, they are therefore said: And they weave webs of spiders: by which they catch flies and mosquitoes and small creatures; to which when something happens by chance, it flies through the empty air. Whoever eats, he says, of their eggs, will die, that is, whoever agrees with their counsels, as Abel agreed to Cain when he said, Let us go into the field (Genesis IV, 8), will instantly be killed: or as the Seventy have translated it: Whoever wants to eat of their eggs, he will find decay when crushed, and in it a ruler. For whoever, being deceived by mere appearance, thinks that the eggs of hens and other birds, the consumption of which is harmless, if he breaks them before eating, will immediately recognize the most foul odor and stench, and will find what is cooked, the rule. Or according to Symmachus and Theodotion, the asp. But the eagle put the viper; for which in Hebrew it is read Ephee (). Therefore, whoever, hearing the Jewish traditions, wishes to prepare himself for the pleasures of a thousand years, and being ensnared by the promises, reaches out his hand to the egg: if before he eats, that is, he agrees with deadly words, he wishes first to consider what is said, and to examine each word, and to handle their meaning, he will immediately discover that the Antichrist is being prepared in them. Therefore, according to the Hebrew text, whoever eats from their eggs will die. But according to the Septuagint, whoever breaks them beforehand and carefully looks and sees what lies hidden will discover a most foul stench and the prince of all serpents, the devil, lurking in their traditions. And because he had said above, 'They weave spider webs,' he explains that the weaving of these webs is not profitable. Their labor, he says, and all their teaching does not make the garment of Christ, nor the cloak by which the nakedness of the soul is protected, but they sweat in vain labor, as the same Prophet says: 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.' But they worship me in vain, teaching doctrines and precepts of men (Isaiah 29:13): which following, they neglect the law of God. And that we may know that their works are like a spider's web, he added: Neither shall their works cover them. Some have explained this passage thus: They have crushed, or broken, the eggs of asps, that is, they have disregarded all the words of the prophets and have woven for themselves the flattering words of false prophets: of whom whoever partakes, shall be bitten by the serpent; and he will understand that the words of lies have profited him nothing.59:7-8
(V. 7, 8.) Their deeds are useless deeds: and the work of iniquity is in their hands. Their feet run towards evil: and they hasten to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are worthless thoughts: destruction and ruin are in their ways. They have not known the way of peace: and there is no justice in their steps. Their paths are crooked for them: whoever walks on them does not know peace. LXX: For their deeds are the deeds of iniquity: and their feet run towards malice. They are swift to shed innocent blood, and their thoughts are the thoughts of fools. Destruction and misery are in their ways, and they do not know the way of peace. There is no justice in their ways. Their paths are twisted and they do not know peace. Therefore, their deeds are not hidden, for their actions are the works of wickedness, which the Apostle calls unfruitful, that is, having no fruit (Ephesians 5). And their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed innocent blood (Prov. 1). For they also had the custom of killing the prophets. To whom Stephen was speaking: Which of the prophets have your fathers not persecuted (Acts 7:52)? And the Lord in the Gospel: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you (Matt. 23:37); and again: On you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you killed between the temple and the altar (Ibid., 35). And it is said above to them: Your hands are polluted with blood: and your tongue speaks wickedness (Isaiah 1:15). And through this meditation of cruelty and blasphemy, they came to the death of the Lord. Likewise, Judas came to murder through the path of greed, rather sacrilege coupled with greed. And what follows: Their thoughts are the thoughts of foolish ones: destruction and unhappiness are in their ways, and they have not known the way of peace. And above: Their feet are swift to shed blood, the Apostle placed in Romans (Ch. III): which many ignorant people think is taken from the thirteenth psalm, which verses are added in the Vulgate edition and are not found in Hebrew. We have spoken more fully about this at the beginning of this volume. But those who have refused to accept its author have rightly ignored the way of peace. For he himself is our peace, who speaks to the Apostles: Peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you (John XIV, 27). And to Jerusalem: If you knew the things that are for your peace, for the days shall come upon you when your enemies shall cast a trench about you, and encompass you round, and straiten you on every side, And beat you flat to the ground, and your children who are in you. It follows: Their paths are perverse, not by nature, but by their own will. For whatever is distorted and curved, is twisted from straight to crooked. Every teaching of the Pharisees is a subversion of truth, through which one who follows it not only does not find peace, but also does not even know it, so as to know what they should seek.59:9-11
(Verse 9 and following) Because of this, judgment has been far from us: and justice does not overtake us. We waited for light, and behold darkness: for brightness, and we have walked in gloom. We have groped like the blind against a wall: and we have touched as if without eyes: we have stumbled at noonday, as if in darkness: we are in dusky places as dead. We roar like bears, all of us: and we moan like doves, meditating. We waited for judgment, and it does not come: for salvation, and it is far from us. LXX: Therefore judgment has withdrawn from them, and justice does not apprehend them. While they wait for light, darkness shall come upon them. They shall grope in the dark and feel their way like blind men; they shall stumble at noonday as in the twilight; they shall be like those who die in the midst of their groaning. They shall be like a bear and a dove walking together. We hoped for judgment, but there is none; salvation has far from us. After the accusation of the Jewish people, their Prophet responded, advising what repentant individuals should say if they wish to receive healing after their wounds. And I am amazed why the Seventy, as if speaking on behalf of the Prophet, do not respond to the words of the Prophets themselves, but instead weave together a prayer, when later, overcome by the truth, they themselves do the same, saying: We have waited for judgment, and it has not come; salvation has moved far from us. For our iniquities are many in your sight; and our sins testify against us, and we know them. In this present time, everything is being fulfilled. Judgment has been delayed for the Jews, which has been announced to the Gentiles. And justice, which has been embraced by the nations, will not seize them. They have waited for the light, saying: Send forth your light and your truth (Ps. 42:3), which had been promised to them through the prophets, and they are occupied with the darkness of error. They sustained splendor; and they walked in darkness. Thus they handle the holy Scriptures, like blind people feeling the wall, seeking only words and leaves, not understanding the meaning and fruit that is held within the letters. Finally, the author joins and says: We stumble, or we fall at midday, as if in darkness: in the shadows, as if dead. For in the whole world, with the sun of righteousness shining brightly, they dwell in darkness, namely because they are dead in sin. He says, let us roar like bears, and let us moan like doves; that they may be equally cruel and miserable: fierce and savage towards the humble and submissive: fearful and trembling before those who are stronger, whom they dread like hawks. We also read in another place: Like a bear robbed of her cubs. And in Daniel, a bloody kingdom compared to the fiercest bears (2 Kings 17:8; Dan. 7). And, like doves, we groan, without sense and understanding of the Scriptures, only meditating on words that we recite from memory. But just as the doves, of which it is written: Ephraim is like a dove without sense (Hosea VII, 11); and just as in the Gospel, simplicity is set against the malice of serpents (Matthew X): so in the present place, simplicity without prudence, which is close to foolishness, is shown in the meditation on words alone. They will await judgment, and it will not come. Salvation is implied: they will wait and it will not come, because she has migrated far away to the nations. In this, it should be noted that everything is said in the future tense, so that what the Jews are now enduring is indicated.59:12-15
(Ver. 12 seqq.) Our iniquities have multiplied before you, and our sins have answered us: for our crimes are with us, and we know our iniquities. To sin and lie against the Lord: and we turned away, so as not to go after the back of our Lord, to speak calumny, and we conceived transgression, and we spoke deceitful words from the heart. And judgment has been turned away backwards, and justice has stood far off, for truth has fallen down in the street, and equity could not enter. And truth has been turned into forgetfulness, and those who have turned away from evil have become a prey. LXX: For our iniquity is great in your sight, and our sins have held us back. For our iniquities are within us, and we have acknowledged our injustices. We have acted impiously, and we have lied, and we have turned away from our God. We have spoken wickedly and we have been disobedient. We have conceived and contemplated wicked words in our hearts. And we have gone away from judgement, and justice stands far away, because truth has been consumed in their ways, and they were not able to pass through the straight path. And truth has been taken away, and they have turned their mind so that they do not understand. They roar like bears; they meditate like doves; they wait for judgment that is not there, and salvation has passed on to the nations. For our iniquities have multiplied, saying, our iniquities are before you, from whom you have turned away your face for a long time, so that you would not see them, nor strike us. And our sins have answered against us, so that we receive what we deserve. And our crimes are with us: we have recognized our injustices, which we used to think were righteousness for a long time. But what are these injustices? To sin and to lie against God: or as Aquila translated according to the Hebrew, to deny God: which refers to the Savior. And they say: We have abandoned our God, saying: We know that God spoke to Moses: but we do not know where this one comes from (John 9:29), so that we may speak false accusations, If this man were from God, he would not break the Sabbath (Ibid., 16). And he cast out devils from the prince of devils (Luke 11:15). And transgression, which is more significantly called apostasy in Greek, is when someone denies God and is accused of rebellion. We have conceived and spoken words of falsehood from the heart, despising the law of God and following the traditions of men, which they call second commandments, and which we have pretended in our heart. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice stands afar off. For what part does justice have with iniquity? What fellowship does Christ have with Belial? Righteousness has stood among the nations and has departed from us, for truth has fallen in the squares. For the way that leads to death is wide and spacious (Matthew 7), for they refused to enter the narrow path where truth resides. And truth has been forgotten, as it is written: Truth has sprung up from the earth, and righteousness has looked down from heaven (Psalm 85:12). It should be noted that the truth is frequently mentioned in order to show the person of Christ, whom they abandoned and followed falsehood. And he who departed from evil was exposed to plunder. Although this may seem obscure, it can be explained as follows: when we fabricate lies from our own hearts and abandon God's law, righteousness remains far away, and truth falls in the streets, and fairness cannot enter us, and the Son of God, who is the truth, is forgotten: to such an extent that whoever desires to depart from the traditions of the Jews immediately becomes exposed to snares and persecutions, so that they expelled the man blind from birth who received sight from the synagogues (John 9). And after the resurrection of the Lord Savior, all those who believed in him were persecuted and stripped: to whom the ministries of the Church were directed, which were distributed through the hands of the Apostles to the whole world of the nations.59:16-17
(Verse 16, 17.) And the Lord saw, and evil appeared in his eyes: because there is no justice, and he saw that there is no man, and he was astonished, because there is no one to oppose. And his own arm will save him: and his righteousness itself will strengthen him. He is clothed with righteousness as with a breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head. He is clothed with garments of vengeance, and covered with a cloak of zeal. As for revenge, it is like retaliation for his enemies, and retribution for his foes; he will repay the islands. LXX: The Lord saw, and it displeased him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him. He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in fury as in a mantle, repaying his enemies with their just deserts. Up to this point, the prophetic discourse has been from the perspective of the people: now the prophet speaks from his own perspective. While they were saying these things, the Lord saw that they were professing repentance with their mouths, but not acting with their hearts, and this did not please Him. For He sought truth in judgment among them, which had been transferred to the nations, but He did not find it. He desired a righteous man who could meet Him in anger, but He did not find one; as He had previously said: 'I came, and there was no man; I called, and there was none to hear.' (Isaiah 50:2) And because those who persist in wickedness, not even one righteous person is found: but all have turned away, and together they have become useless; there is no one who does good, not even one (Psalm 14). But God has strengthened him with his arm and righteousness, and confirmed him with mercy, so that those who desire to turn from error may be saved not by their own merit, but by God's mercy. Finally, he has put on the armor of righteousness, and the helmet of salvation, and the garments of vengeance, and has wrapped himself in the cloak of zeal. Thus, armed, he has gone forth to battle, to exact vengeance upon his enemies. Without a doubt, this signifies the Jews, who persist in blasphemies, and the Roman army surrounding their enemies. When they are conquered, the Lord is shown to have fought. Paul used this testimony when writing to the Ephesians, and wanting us to put on the armor of Christ, by which we may be able to resist the fiery darts of the devil (Ephesians 6). And this is not found in the Septuagint: He will repay the islands, that is, he means the cities of Judea, which the Roman army devastated. For also above (Chapter 20), the Lord speaks to the inhabitants of the island, that is, to Jerusalem, through the Prophet.59:19-20
(Verse 19, 20) And those from the West shall fear the name of the Lord, and those from the East, His glory, when He comes like a rushing river, driven by the breath of the Lord. And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and to those who turn from wickedness in Jacob, says the Lord. This is my covenant with them, says the Lord: My spirit, which is in you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, says the Lord, from now on and forever. LXX: And those from the west shall fear the name of the Lord, and those from the east, the glorious name. For he shall come like a violent river, the wrath of the Lord. He shall come with fury and he shall come from Zion to deliver. And he shall turn away wickedness from Jacob, and this shall be a covenant to them from me, says the Lord. My spirit, which is in you, and my words, which I have given in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, and from the mouth of your seed, says the Lord, from now and forever. After the Lord is clothed with the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, and the garments of vengeance, and is clad with the cloak of zeal for battle, and comes to the contest and vindication, in order to repay the enemies and render to his adversaries, and to subvert their islands, that is, their cities and villages, then the foreigners who come from the West and the East, in order to rest in the bosom of Abraham (Matthew 8), of whom it is also said above (Isaiah 49:12), 'Behold, these will come from far away, some from the West, and some from the North, and some from the land of the Persians, they will fear the Lord with that fear which is the beginning of wisdom (Sirach 1).' Of which we read in many places, from which let us put a few: Blessed is the man who fears the Lord (Psalm 111:1). And: There is no want for those who fear Him (Psalm 34:10). And: The fear of the Lord is discipline and wisdom (Proverbs 15:33). And: Come, my children, listen to me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord (Psalm 34:12). And: Blessed is the man who fears the Lord (Psalm 127:4). And: The fear of the Lord prolongs days (Proverbs 10:27). But that after Israel is rejected, a multitude of Gentiles succeeds, the prophet Malachi teaches more fully, in which it is said to the Jews: My will is not in you, says the Lord Almighty. And I will not accept a sacrifice from your hands (Malachi 1:10,11). And again from the multitude of nations: From the rising of the sun to its setting, my name is glorified among the nations. The author of this blessing is the one who will come like a violent river, whom the spirit of the Lord forces. Whether as the eagle carries, like a narrow river, the spirit of the Lord is his seal. Or as Theodotio, like a river attacking, the spirit of the Lord is sealed. In this passage, which the Seventy have translated, the anger of the Lord will come with fury, like a violent river. The last part is not found in the Hebrew. For in the promises of God, anger and fury should not be placed, since in the other things that follow, there is the blessedness of the future and the threat and punishment of sinners. However, according to Aquila and Theodotion, the Spirit of the Lord, who is sealed in Christ, confirms that example which is read in the Gospel of John: 'For him, God the Father has sealed' (John 6:27); about whom it was previously said: 'A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord' (Isaiah 11:1-2). Therefore, we also say: 'The light of your face, O Lord, has shone upon us' (Psalm 4:7). And in Ezekiel, the foreheads of weeping men are marked with the letter Thav, the last Hebrew letter among them, by an imprint (Ezek. 9). But if we want to know how the Holy Spirit is a violent river, let us turn to the Acts of the Apostles, in which it is written: When they were all together in one place, suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which settled upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:2-3). It follows: 'A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from wickedness in Jacob,' says the Lord. For this reason, the Seventy translated it: 'A Deliverer will come from Zion, and will turn away wickedness from Jacob.' Therefore, if He will come from Zion to turn away wickedness from Jacob, we understand that a man will be born in Zion, and the Most High will establish it, He who turns away the crimes of Jacob. But if the Redeemer of Zion shall come and those who return from iniquity in Jacob, says the Lord, this is the meaning: Christ will come who will redeem Zion with his blood. Or according to Hebrew custom, who is near to Zion and born of the lineage of Israel, for this is what Goel (i.e., άγκιστεὺς) means. And lest we think that all of Zion is redeemed and delivered from the bloody sins of the Lord, he significantly adds: those who return from iniquity, if they are willing to repent, in whom the Lord's prayer is fulfilled: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34). Therefore their redemption is in Zion: and the one who receives him from Jacob, and he promises to them, saying: This is my covenant with them, whether the agreement, as all others transferred, or the testament, as the Seventy have set forth. But what the covenant, agreement, and testament are, the following verse shows: My spirit, he says, who is in you, and my words that I have placed in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your seed, from now on and forever. What is said either to Isaiah, as it seems to me, or to the Lord, as most people think. Therefore, the order is connected to Isaiah in this way: This is the everlasting covenant of the Gospel, that my spirit which is in you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, by which you will foretell the future, may not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouths of your sons and grandsons, and your descendants, so that every generation may be shown: that is, that the grace of the Prophets may come in the Apostles, and through them, to those who will believe in Israel through the Apostles. But what He adds is in perfect harmony with this testimony: Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. (Matthew 24:35). Expounding this passage carefully, Paul writes to the Romans that there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, but the Lord is the Lord of all, rich unto all that call upon him. (Romans 10). And that the Gentiles have not so believed, as that Israel should be entirely rejected. For I also, says He, am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people, whom He foreknew (Romans. XXII). And after a little while, when he had set an example with Elijah, who complained to the Lord that he alone was left, and heard from Him that the Lord had reserved for Himself seven thousand men who had not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kings. XIX), he brought it to this: Even so now, at this time, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. What therefore is it? What Israel was seeking, this it has attained: but the elect have obtained it, and the rest have been blinded. And if they shall remain not in unbelief, they shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the wild olive tree, which is natural to thee; and contrary to nature, were grafted into the good olive tree; how much more shall they that are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree? For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, of this mystery (lest you should be wise in your own conceits)... Because blindness has happened in part to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles enters, and so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins (Rom. 11:25-27). We have explained this in more detail so that whatever promises we read and will say, we understand them to be said specifically to Zion and Jerusalem, not generally to all Jews, but specifically to those who were chosen in the Apostles and through the Apostles from Israel.Book Seventeen
Book Seventeen.I would like to briefly go through with the virgin of Christ, Eustochium, how many mysteries the seventeenth number contains, to which now the book of Explanations has come in Isaiah in the holy Scriptures. But because I cannot say everything in every place, I strictly admonish this: that the psalm, which is noted with the title of this number, is of the Son of David, and he sang the words of the Canticle on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul, and he said, 'I will love you, Lord, my strength,' and so on. But this is the servant of the Lord, of whom the Father speaks in Isaiah: 'It is a great thing for you to be called my servant' (Isaiah 44). And in another place: 'Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased' (Isaiah 42, 2). This servant, who is interpreted as 'mighty in hand,' on the day when the Lord freed him from the hand of Saul; who in our language, sounds like 'desirable' or 'inferno,' and from all his enemies, who cried out against him: 'Crucify, crucify such a man' (Luke 23), when he ascended as the victorious one to the Father in glorious apparel from Bosra, among other things he spoke the words of a triumphant one: 'Deliver me from the contradictions of the people: you shall make me the head of the nations.' The people that I have not known, has served me: at the hearing of the ear, they have obeyed me (Ps. XVII, 44, 45). And again of the people of Juda: The strange children have lied to me: strange children have grown old, and have halted from their paths (Ibid., 46); to whom Elias also said: How long do you halt on both sides (II Reg. XVIII, 21)? Finally, what is difficult to find in others, this psalm is contained both in Samuel and in the Chronicles (II Reg. XXII). He who, progressing from one number to seven, comes to the twenty-eighth psalm, which is also titled David, in the completion of the tabernacle, when the Angels are commanded: Bring to the Lord sons of God: bring to the Lord sons of rams. And all the saving waters of baptism and mysteries of the Church are sung: The voice of the Lord is over the waters: The God of majesty has thundered: The Lord is over many waters, the voice of the Lord is with power (Ps. 28:1): And after a little while: The voice of the Lord preparing his servants, and has revealed the depths, and in his Temple, all shall declare his glory (Ibid., 3, 10). And in order to demonstrate the multitude of believers, he introduced: The Lord made the flood to inhabit, and the Lord will sit as king forever. And again, by adding the eighth sacrament, he creates the written thirty-sixth psalm, the beginning of which is: Do not be envious of evildoers, nor be jealous of those who do iniquity. The explanation of this, not of the preface, but of the proper volume. And lest we now repeat many things, until the fifteenth number by increasing additions, in which there are degrees of psalms, and the vessel of election resides with Peter in Jerusalem, it makes the one hundred and twentieth number, who were the first believers in Christ and ascended with the Apostles to the upper room of faith (Acts 5): and the Holy Spirit descended upon them (Galatians 1). And going up to the seventeenth number in order, and possessing the dignity of the Gospel, at the Lord's command from the right side, he catches one hundred and fifty-three large fish and places them in the Church (John 21). To whom now the prophet Isaiah speaks.
60:1-3
(Chapter 60—Verse 1 and following) Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. 70: Arise, arise, O Jerusalem, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples. But the Lord will appear great upon you, and His glory will be seen in you. And nations will walk in your light, and kings in the splendor of your light. Regarding what we think about the restoration of Zion and Jerusalem, and all that is promised to it by prophetic prediction, we have spoken more fully at the end of the previous book, where we have interpreted what that verse meant: Zion's Redeemer will come, and to those who turn away from wickedness in Jacob. Now we must briefly examine what most people think about this place, so that after understanding the mistake, we can more easily accept the truth. The Jews and our half-Jews, who expect a golden and gem-studded Jerusalem to descend from heaven, argue that these things will happen in the thousand-year reign, when all nations will be subject to Israel, and the camels of Midian and Ephah, coming from Sheba, will bring gold and frankincense, and all the flocks of Kedar will be gathered, and the rams of Nebaioth will come to be sacrificed on the altar of the Temple, which will have been built. Also, the daughters of that land, especially the ships of Tarshish, will fly like doves, bringing treasures of gold and silver. And the walls of Jerusalem will be built by foreigners, who will be ruled by kings from foreign nations. The gates of the city will always be open, day and night, to allow the wealth of Jerusalem and the offerings to be brought in. And everything that was once desolate will be rebuilt with cypress, pine, and cedar from Lebanon. The Temple of the Lord, in particular, will be constructed, where there will be eternal joy. It will draw in the milk of nations and consume the treasures of kings. There will be such abundance of all things that bronze will be valued like gold, iron like silver, and wood like bronze, and even stones like iron. Moreover, the princes will enjoy eternal peace, and the bishops will lead the people in righteousness, and the gates will be future symbols. And what is greater than this, the Lord Himself will shine with eternal light, replacing the sun and the moon. And for one man, it will be equal to a thousand mighty warriors, and for the little ones, it will be possessed by the strongest nations. These are the words of those who desire earthly pleasures and seek the beauty of wives and the number of children, for whom God is their belly, and their glory is in their shame (Philippians 3). Those who follow their error confess themselves to be similar to the Jews under the name of Christians. Others, however, assert that all these things were promised to the Jews in a carnal manner, if they had received him who says in the Gospel: I am the light of the world (John 8:12), which enlightens every person coming into the world, so that just as the sacrifices were granted to the people of Israel, not because they were good in themselves, but so that they would not be offered to demons, in the same way the Lord promises these things to the gluttonous Jews, who seek nothing else but bodily pleasures, so that at least for their carnal desires and their abundance of wealth, they would receive the Son of God. Because they did not receive him, the promises also became void. Finally, to the Canaanite woman begging for her daughter: 'I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel' (Matthew 15:24). And to his disciples: 'Do not go into the road of the Gentiles, and do not enter the cities of the Samaritans; instead, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel' (Matthew 10:5, 6). For this reason, the Apostles first preached the Lord in the synagogues, but when the people did not receive the Gospel, they said to them: 'It was necessary to preach the word to you, but since you did not accept salvation, behold, we turn to the Gentiles' (Acts 13:46). For the light indeed came into the world, but the Jews loved darkness more. Therefore, when the Lord wept over Jerusalem, He added: If you had known, even you, the things that are for your peace (Luke 19:42). Because they did not receive this, He brought upon them: But now the days will come upon you, and your enemies will surround you with a rampart, and hem you in on every side, and will level you to the ground, and your children within you (Ibid., 43). However, according to the previous meaning, let us believe that all these things are said about the Church, which was first gathered from the Jewish people, and the light that had risen upon her was transmitted to the Gentiles through the Apostles. To whom it is said: Rise, shine; so that what has fallen among the unbelievers may rise among the Faithful: what has fallen in the synagogues may rise in the Churches: and once it has risen, may it be illuminated, so that they may have no darkness of error. For behold, your light comes, which all the Prophets promised, which you have awaited continually. And the glory of the Lord, which once was upon his tabernacle and his Temple, has risen upon you: of which it is said: Glorious things are spoken of you, City of God (Ps. 86:2). For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD. And the nations will walk in your light. We all will walk in the light of the Apostles, which shines in the world, and the darkness did not comprehend it. And the kings, he says, in the splendor of your birth: when you were first born in Christ. This is fulfilled both spiritually and carnally, as kings whose heart is in the hand of the Lord, and in whom sin does not reign in the mortal body (Prov. 21:1), walk in the splendor of the nascent Church, or in him who has risen in the Church, and submit to the yoke of the true king, the faith of Christ (Rom. 6:14). What we see fulfilled every day when the error of idolatry is removed, and the rage of persecution, Roman leaders pass to the faith and tranquility of Christ. There are those who await these things that we remember from the first coming of the Savior until the consummation of the world, both in part completed and fully to be fulfilled in the future, when the fullness of the Gentiles enters and all Israel will be saved (Rom. 11). The opinion of no one should be condemned, as long as it is spiritually fulfilled and not known carnally. Furthermore, the name Jerusalem and the nations, which are placed here by the Septuagint, are not found in Hebrew, and it should be noted with an obelus, against those who claim that everything that is said is said about Jerusalem.60:4
(Verse 4.) Lift up your eyes all around and see: all these gathered together have come to you. Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried at your side. LXX: Lift up your eyes all around and see: all your sons have gathered together. Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on shoulders. It is said to the Church, which was first gathered in Zion by the Apostles, of whom we read in the Acts of the Apostles, that religious men from the whole world were in Jerusalem, who received the word of God in their own and foreign tongues, either hearing others speaking or speaking to others themselves (Acts II). And it is commanded that they lift up their eyes around: which the Lord also commanded the Apostles, saying: Lift up your eyes, and see, for the fields are already white for harvest (John 4:35). For out of Zion, and not out of Mount Sinai, shall the law come forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And it is commanded that with lifted eyes he see his gathered children, who come from afar. To whom it is also said in another place: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, proclaim, O daughter of Jerusalem: Behold, I come, and I will dwell in your midst, says the Lord (Zephaniah 3:17); and, Many nations shall come to the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God (Zechariah 2:11). But we are the sons who have come from afar to the Lord, once pilgrims from the Testament of God and His promises, having no hope and without God in the world. But what does the Apostle say? You who were once far away, have now been made near (Ephesians 2:13). And what follows: 'And your daughters shall be nursed at your side,' signifies that souls nurturing in Christ, and in the baptism of infants, of whom also the Apostle Peter speaks, 'As newborn babes, desire the genuine milk of the word, that you may grow thereby' (1 Peter 2:2), shall suckle the milk of the Apostles. He spoke to them as little children and infants, saying: My little children, for whom I am in labor again until Christ is formed in you (Galatians 4:19). And in another place: Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of Christ but also our own lives (1 Thessalonians 2:7-8). It should be noted that the statement in the Septuagint, 'your daughters will be carried on their shoulders,' is especially important. For the sons, who are strong, they themselves come from afar and gather to the faith of the Lord. But the daughters, who are weaker, and because of the fragility of their sex, have not yet come to maturity as women, are carried on the shoulders of the Apostles, in order to be brought into the bosom of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.60:5
(Verse 5) Then you will see, and you will be wealthy, and your heart will be amazed and expanded: when the multitude of the sea turns to you, the strength of the nations will come to you. LXX: Then you will see, and you will be afraid, and you will be astonished in your heart: for the riches of the sea and the nations and the peoples will be transferred to you. When you lift up your eyes and see your sons and daughters coming quickly or being carried on the shoulders of the holy ones, then you will rejoice, and you will be flooded with sudden waters like rivers, and your heart will be amazed and expanded, hearing the Apostle say: My mouth is open to you, O Corinthians. And again: Expand yourselves, and us (2 Corinthians 6:11); lest you not be able to have Christ as a guest in your narrow heart, who says in the Gospel: My Father and I will come and make our dwelling with him (John 14:23). But that which is added in the Septuagint, 'and you shall fear,' is not found in the Hebrew. Unless perhaps after the greatness of joy, fear has entered lest such a great good be lacking. Is it not joy, to see riches and the multitude of the seas transferred and converted to oneself, and the strength of nations coming to oneself, so that whatever is in the world and the earth's orbit is one's own; and with faith strengthened, the nations say: I can do all things in him who strengthens me, Jesus Christ (Philippians 4:13)?60:6-7
(Verse 6, 7) The flood of camels shall cover you, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah. All those from Sheba shall come, bringing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praise of the Lord. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you; they shall be offered on my acceptable altar, and I will glorify the house of my majesty. LXX: And the herds of camels shall come to you, the camels of Midian and Ephah shall cover you; all those from Sheba shall come, bringing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the salvation of the Lord. All the flocks of Cedar shall be gathered unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory. Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows? Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee. Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. The regions of Midian and Ephah are across Arabia, fertile for camels, and the whole province is called Sheba, where the Queen of Sheba was, who came to hear the wisdom of Solomon: and she brought gold and frankincense, bringing many things to the peaceful king, and receiving even greater things from him (3 Kings 10). But the region of the Saracens is called Kedar, who are called Ishmaelites in Scripture. And Nebajoth is one of the sons of Ishmael, from whose names the desert is named, which is lacking in crops but full of cattle. Therefore, through the names of the barbarian peoples who are near Israel, the conversion of the whole world is preached. For Midian, indeed, is interpreted as wickedness in this place. Ephah, loosened, or pouring out. Sheba, conversion, or captivity. Kedar, darkness. Nebaioth, prophecies. Therefore, the flocks of camels, being freed from the bonds of wickedness and pouring out their souls to God, will cover Jerusalem with gifts, and all will come out of captivity, bringing the gold of faith with their conversion, and the incense of sacrifice. And not content with these gifts, they will progress, so that they may preach the salvation of God to others as well. That rich man, who carried the weight of riches like a camel in the Gospel, and a camel he was, did not want to hear the Lord's advice, nor be freed, so that, having thrown off the burden, he could fly to heaven on the wings of a dove; therefore, he went away sad. And about this kind of camel, the Savior speaks: It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:24). She proposed the difficulty of the thing, not the impossibility. Finally, your mother of sacred memory, Paula, and your brother Pammachius, through the eye of a needle, that is, through a narrow and tight path that leads to life, passed through the stars of heaven, leaving behind the wide road with burdens, which leads to Tartarus. Indeed, they carried whatever they had as gifts of the Lord, fulfilling what is written: The redemption of a man's soul is his own riches (Prov. XIII, 8). For what is impossible among humans is possible for God (Matthew 19). Having as principal gifts gold, in the sense of the best odor, and incense, and saying: Let my prayer be directed like incense in your sight. And: We are the good odor of Christ in every place (2 Corinthians 2, 15); by the example of his virtue, announcing the salvation of the Lord every day, so that all the sheep of Kedar may be gathered in the Church, and may pass from the darkness of error to the light. The rams of the Prophets, about whom it is sung in Psalm 28: Bring to the Lord, O sons of God, bring to the Lord the sons of rams, let them come and be offered, or according to Theodotion, let them offer themselves as a sacrifice to the Lord, and let them become propitiatory victims, so that the Church of Christ may be glorified. The Savior spoke to his disciples about these kinds of sheep: Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 10:3). And again: My sheep hear my voice (John 10:3). And in Ezekiel more fully: Behold, I will seek my sheep, and I will visit them: as the shepherd visiteth his flock. Thus saith the Lord God: I will require that which is lost, and bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was weak, and that which was strong I will preserve: and I will feed them in judgment (Ezech. XXXIV, 11, 12). And that we may know what those sheep are, He explains more clearly: And they shall know that I am the Lord their God: and you, O my flocks, the flocks of my pasture, are men: and I am the Lord your God (Ibid., 27, 28). If therefore anyone among the Gentiles is wealthy, let him be saved like a camel, not without gifts and offerings, so that he may preach the word of the Lord. If anyone is like the simplicity of sheep and the authority of rams, let him ascend or be offered on the altar of the Lord by those who are in power, so that his house may be glorified. But what we have noted in Hebrew script: The rams of Nabajoth shall minister to you, and they shall offer on my acceptable altar, is properly understood of those who, chosen from among the Gentiles, are ministers of the Savior. But if someone is contentious and disputes these things in a carnal way, let us respond to him: We do not have such a custom, nor does the Church of God (1 Corinthians 11:16). And let us say that even if these things were promised carnally to the Jews, they were still promised conditionally, so that if they had received their own light, which had been sent to them, then they would also have followed these things. Namely, that through desire for gold and the abundance of wealth and carnal things, by which this nation was always captivated, they would receive the sent Son of God to themselves. But because they did not receive him, everything was taken away and the inheritance was spiritually restored to those who receive it.60:8-9
(Verse 8, 9.) Who are these who fly like clouds, and like doves to their windows? For the coastlands wait for me, and the ships of the sea are in the lead, to bring your sons from afar, with their silver and gold, to the name of the Lord your God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you. LXX: Who are these who fly like clouds, and like doves with their young to me? The coastlands have waited for me, and the ships of Tarshish in the first place, to bring your sons from afar, and their silver and gold with them, for the sake of the holy name of the Lord, and because the Holy One of Israel has been glorified. Because the Lord entered Egypt on a light cloud, and through the clouds he commanded the prophets not to rain upon Israel, the Church, to whom the truth of God had come, marvels at the first people gathered for circumcision, that a crowd of Gentiles from the whole world flies to her. And with the wings of the Holy Spirit taken up, they hasten, according to Symmachus and Theodotion, to her windows; according to Aquila, to her waterfalls, that they may enter the Church. Or the teachers with their disciples, that is, doves with their chicks, will fly to the church from the islands of the gentiles, which, according to the prophecies of the prophets, will await the Lord. The ships of Tarshish, that is, of the sea, about which we have spoken more fully in the vision of Tyre, will also bring the children of the Church at the beginning of faith, carrying gold and silver. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Rom. X, 10). In the sixty-seventh psalm, it is written: 'The wings of the dove are silver, and its back is gold in brightness' (Psalm 70:14). And in the seventy-first psalm: 'The kings of Tarshish and the islands shall bring gifts, and the kings of Arabia and Sheba shall offer gifts' (Psalm 71:10). All these things are brought to the name of the Lord God and the Holy One of Israel, who has glorified him.60:10-12
(Verse 10 and following) And the sons of strangers will build your walls, and their kings will serve you. In my indignation I struck you, but in my mercy I have shown you compassion; and your gates will always be open, never closed day or night, so that the strength of the nations may come to you and their kings may be brought. Indeed, any nation or kingdom that does not serve you will perish, and the nations will be devastated. For because of my anger I struck you, and because of my mercy I have loved you. And your gates shall always be open; they shall not be shut day or night, so that the strength of the nations may come to you, and their kings who are to be brought. For the nations and kings who do not serve you shall perish; the nations shall be devastated in their desolation. Among the many things with which the Church is enriched, and the city of the Savior is built, foreigners and sons of foreigners also build its walls, so that the enemy cannot enter and find a place for treachery. But aliens and foreigners properly signify the people of nations who have truly built the Church of Christ, to such an extent that their kings and princes serve and assist her. This is either understood in a literal sense or in a spiritual sense. If understood literally, we see that the Roman Caesars submit their necks to the yoke of Christ and build churches at public expense, and rely on the laws against the persecutions of the nations and the snares of the heretics. If, spiritually, those who possess self-control, eloquence, holiness, are leaders, and through the power of their souls subjugate the servitude of the flesh, they themselves govern and assist, they come to the aid of him whom he often abandons due to negligence or strikes with the rod of persecutors, so that again, out of his own mercy, he may love him. Or certainly this must be said, that he may reconcile to himself the once afflicted and handed over to captivity among the people of the Jews, in the calling of the Gentiles, so that its gates may always be open, and neither day nor night be closed, and may continually be open to those who desire salvation, that is, that the entrance may not be denied to those who wish to believe in joy and in tribulation. And let strength be brought to her, whether it be the wealth of nations; and let her kings serve her or be led to her as captives. Then you will understand, when you see the most eloquent being brought to the faith of Christ; and the folly of the wisdom of the wise becoming foolish, and the prudence of the prudent being rejected (1 Corinthians 1): so that the wisdom of God may be wiser than men. But the nations and their kings who refuse to serve the Church in good and useful service, in order to be transferred into the Apostolic dignity, will perish in the destruction that is prepared for the wicked, and whatever is in them will be reduced to solitude, for they have refused to receive God as their guest.60:13-14
(Verses 13, 14.) The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the cypress, the fir tree, and the pine tree together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will glorify the place of my feet. The descendants of those who oppressed you will come to you bent low, and all who spoke against you will bow down at your feet and call you the city of the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. LXX: The glory of Lebanon will come to you with the cypress, the pine tree, and the cedar tree together to glorify my holy place, and I will glorify the place of my feet. And those who have humiliated you, and have provoked you, will come to you trembling, and they will bow down at your feet, all those who have provoked you; and you will be called the city of the Lord, Zion. Sancti Israel. Many things are missing in the Septuagint, which I have placed under asterisks from the Hebrew, and what they have added, I have marked with an obelus. Mount Lebanon is a mountain in Phoenicia, planted with tall trees, which the Psalmist describes saying: I have seen the wicked exalted and lifted up like the cedars of Lebanon (Ps. 36:35). And in another place: The Lord will shatter the cedars of Lebanon (Ps. 29:5). And many other things that I pass over for the sake of brevity. About this, once King Hiram of Tyre used to send cedars to Solomon in Joppa for the building of the Temple of God (3 Kings 5). Concerning this, Scripture also now promises the fir tree, the box tree, and the pine tree, or according to the Septuagint, the cypress tree and the pine tree, and the cedar tree, or according to Aquila, the fir tree, the thaadaor tree, and the thaassur tree; or according to Theodotion, the Brais tree, the Thadaar tree, and the Theassur tree, should be cut down together, so that the temple of Zion may be built (2 Chronicles 2). But if this is the case, where will the golden and jeweled Jerusalem be? Where will the Lamb's wife be? Where will the twelve gates, distinguished by a variety of precious stones, be? Unless perhaps it will be built with walls adorned with gems, and its foundation, and the Temple, which ought to be more beautiful, will be built with wood. By what means are we compelled to understand all things spiritually, that the fir, cypress, pine, and cedar, once lofty trees of Lebanon, have glorified the Temple of God, and made His holy place illustrious? So that I do not drag out the sense in a lengthy discourse, does not the holy and most eloquent martyr Cyprian, and the confessor Hilary of our time, seem to you to have built the Church of God like once towering trees in the world? And what follows: And they shall come to you bowed down, or returning, the sons of those who humbled you, and they shall adore the steps of your feet, all who detracted from you, we should understand this about those who are Christians not by choice but by necessity, and who, fearing the offense of the rulers, bend with fearful minds. Certainly, what persecutors believed later. Such was also the apostle Paul, who persecuted the Church of God, and later was called a vessel of election (Acts 9). When this has been fulfilled, so that the fullness of the Gentiles may enter, then all Israel will be saved. And it will be truly called the city of the Lord Zion, Holy Israel, which stands on a hill and is gathered from both peoples.60:15-16
(Verse 15, 16.) Because you were abandoned and hated, with no one to pass by, I will make you a pride for all generations, a joy from generation to generation. You will suck the milk of the nations and nurse at the breast of kings. And you will know that I am the Lord, your Savior and strong Redeemer, Jacob. LXX: Because you were abandoned and hated, with no one to help, I will make you an eternal exultation, a joy for generations to come. And you shall suck the milk of nations, and you shall eat the riches of kings. And you shall know that I am the Lord who saves you, and who redeems you, the God of Jacob. What was previously abandoned and despised, with broken branches because they did not bear fruit, they were broken because there was no one to pass by and provide help there. Concerning them it is said in the psalms: And those who passed by did not say: The Lord's blessing upon you (Ps. 128:8); therefore I will make you an everlasting pride, or a source of joy and gladness for two generations: for the former branches, others inserted from the wild olive tree of nations, which will bring forth fruit contrary to their natural example, not of bitterness, but of sweetness, which they have taken from the root. You will suck the milk of the nations, and the breast of kings you will nurse. We have explained in greater detail the meaning of this place, discussing that verse, 'Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall nurse at your side.' Or according to the Septuagint, you will eat the riches of kings. These riches, according to the Hebrew truth, are the breasts of kings and doctors, by which the infancy of those born in Christ is educated and nourished. When you have sucked and have come to solid food, so that you also eat the riches of kings of this kind, then you will know that I am your Savior, who redeemed you with my blood, or the mighty God of Jacob.60:17-18
(Vers. 17 seqq.) I will bring gold instead of bronze, and silver instead of iron, and bronze instead of wood, and iron instead of stones; and I will appoint peace as your overseer, and justice as your ruler. No more shall iniquity be heard in your land, devastation and destruction within your borders; but your walls shall be called Salvation, and your gates Praise. LXX: I will bring gold instead of bronze for you, and silver instead of iron, and bronze instead of wood, and iron instead of stones. And I will give your princes peace, and your bishops justice, and in your land no more iniquity will be heard, nor affliction and misery in your borders; but your walls shall be called Salvation, and your gates Praise. The same thing applies to places, some being foreign, others native. And lest I should seem to say anything about the arts of rhetoric and dialectic, I will give common examples that can instruct the average reader. My son, who resembles me and has my nature, has a son of his own. Let me also say something else: one is greater, the other is lesser. The centurion is greater than the common soldier, but lesser than the tribune. There are few compared to ten: more compared to one. Therefore, in the spiritual restoration of Jerusalem, wood will turn into bronze, and stones will be transformed into iron. That is, once brutish and insensitive men will be transformed into those materials that provide some utility to the city. And brass and iron will be changed into gold and silver through the growth of virtues, so that they may not only have the appearance of usefulness, but also value and beauty. We have often spoken about what gold and silver signify in the Holy Scriptures. 'I will set your rulers in peace, and your bishops in justice,' says the Lord. Concerning this, it is written in Hebrew: 'I will appoint your visitation as peace, and your overseers as justice.' In the Holy Scriptures, the marvelous majesty is evident, as it named the future rulers of the Church as bishops, whose entire visitation is in peace, and the title of their dignity is in justice. So that no partiality is shown in judgment, nor anything wicked is heard in the land of the Church, nor affliction and misfortune in its territories. Wherever there is iniquity and justice is not observed, and peace is lost, all these things will follow. But for these reasons, he says, salvation will occupy all your walls, whether the savior, who is called Jesus in Hebrew, which properly means the name of the Lord. For he is the strength of the walls of the Church, which has gates in praise of the Lord: so that those who enter it may first learn to praise the Lord, and confess his name. And what the Seventy have interpreted for praise as γλύμμα, that is, sculpture, we can say that the gates of the Church should be engraved with virtues, through which we enter it.60:19-20
(Verse 19, 20.) The sun will no longer be your light by day, nor will the splendor of the moon shine on you; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will not decrease; for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will be fulfilled. LXX: And there will be no more sun for you to shine by day, nor will the moon's light shine on you at night; but the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. For the sun will not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. And the Lord will be an everlasting light, and your days of mourning will be ended. From this chapter, we are compelled to refer all that has been said and will be said, to the final time: when the sun and moon cease their function as they pass through heaven and earth. And the Lord Himself will be a perpetual light, so that what the carnal-minded assert to be fulfilled in a thousand years, we may believe will be fulfilled spiritually, in the quality of the promises, not differing in time. To these things it must be briefly answered that if the sun sets at noon for false prophets and sinners, and conversely, the sun of justice rises for those who fear the Lord: why then does the one who says, 'I am the light of the world' (John 8:12), who shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not comprehended him (John 1)? For indeed, the sun does not scorch us during the day, nor does the moon during the night (Psalm 121:6). Because we have the Lord as our perpetual light, and the days of our mourning will be fulfilled, not in the lamentation of the destruction of Jerusalem, but in the rejoicing of the instruction of the Church. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are those who weep, for they will laugh. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied (Matthew 5). After being satisfied with the flesh of the Lord, they will proclaim the word of the Lord and declare their works to the king (Psalm 44).60:21-22
(Vers. 21, 22.) But your people, all the righteous, will inherit the land forever, the offspring of my planting: the work of my hands for glorification. The least will become a thousand, and the smallest will become a mighty nation. I, the Lord, will do this suddenly in its time. LXX: Your people, all the righteous, will always possess the land: preserving the plantation, the works of their hands for glory. The one who is small will become a thousand, and the least will become a great nation. I, the Lord, will gather them in due time. After the days of mourning and completion, when sadness turns into joy, the people of Zion will be completely righteous, not for a short time, but forever. And because they are righteous, they will possess the gentle land. It is not surprising if the land of the meek and the living holds the good things of the promise, which the Prophet yearns for, saying: I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living (Ps. 26:13), since it is the offspring of the Lord's planting and the work of His hands to glorify God. For every plant, my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. (Matt. 15). According to the Septuagint, the people who keep God's plantation and the works of the Lord will be saved in the glory of the Creator. God speaks about a good plantation through Jeremiah: I planted you a good and true vine, which is called the vine of Sorec in Isaiah. (Isa. 5). And because Paul, with the consciousness of Christ speaking in him, could say: Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. (1 Cor. 11:1), therefore he spoke to the Corinthians: I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. (1 Cor. 3:6). For they who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God (Psalm 92). Then the one who was small shall become a thousand, and the least shall become a mighty nation, hearing from the Lord: You shall have authority over five or ten cities (Luke 19:17, 19); so that he shall be called a chiliarch. And he who, along with the Apostle, said: To me, the least of all the saints, this grace was given (Ephesians 3:8), shall be a prince of a great nation in the heavens, when the Lord sends his angels at the appointed time, and they gather together to him all the saints, from the highest heaven to the highest of it (Matthew 24): not only from Israel, but also from the people of the Gentiles, whom he was signifying when he said: And I have other sheep that are not of this fold, and it is necessary for me to gather them, so that there shall be one flock and one shepherd (John 10:16). But this will happen suddenly, so that when all things are desperate, then they will gather into the strongest nation. Although we see this being fulfilled in part in the Church every day, it will be more fully completed in the consummation of the world and in the second coming of the Savior.61:1-2
(Chapter 61—Verse 1 and following) The Spirit of the Lord God (in the Vulgate it is "God") is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me: to bring good news to the meek, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted (in the Vulgate it is "broken-hearted"), to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to grant to those who mourn in Zion: to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit. LXX: The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to provide for those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, to display his glory. To whom the Psalmist had already said: You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions (Ps. 45:7). When "companions" are mentioned, understand the nature of the flesh, because God does not have companions of his own substance. And because it was a spiritual anointing, and by no means of the human body, as it was in the priests of the Jews, therefore it is mentioned that he was anointed above his companions, that is, above the other saints. Whose anointing was completed at that time, when he was baptized in the Jordan, and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove, and remained in him (John 1). Of whom this same Prophet also said: A branch shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up from his root, and the spirit of God, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety, shall rest upon him (Isaiah 11:1, 2). And when the Savior came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, after being baptized in the Jordan, he entered, according to his custom, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. And when he had risen to read, the book of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. And opening the book, he found the place where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. When He had rolled up the scroll, He gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. Then He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” And all were speaking well of Him and marveling at the gracious words that were falling from His lips. They were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! Do here in Your hometown what we have heard that You did in Capernaum.’” And He continued, “Truly I tell you that no prophet is accepted in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and great famine swept over all the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue was enraged. They got up, drove Him out of the town, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, in order to throw Him off the cliff. But Jesus passed through the crowd and went on His way. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. He has been anointed with the Holy Spirit to proclaim good news to the poor or meek, saying to them in the Gospel: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. And he was sent to heal those who are brokenhearted and say: A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Or according to Symmachus and Theodotion, to preach the remission of sins to captives, the ability for the blind to see, or the opening for the closed, which Symmachus interpreted more clearly as the release of the bound. As it is said above, or rather to whom it is said: Behold, I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out those who are bound, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison house (Isaiah 42:6-7). But understand that the acceptable year and day of retribution, the entirety of his preaching in which he was present in the flesh, refers to a specific time. This is also interpreted by the Apostle Paul in reference to the first coming of the Savior, saying: Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation (1 Corinthians 6:2). We have spoken more fully about this above (Chapter 60). However, if retribution is understood not in the rewards of the good, but in the punishments of sins, then it should be understood in relation to the day of vengeance, which pertains to the Jewish people, upon whom immediately after his passion, the wrath of God came. He consoled all those mourning, saying: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted (Matt. 5); so that he would console those who mourn for Zion and give them a glorious crown instead of ashes. Among them was also the Apostle Paul who mourned for Zion and said: I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish (Rom. 9): And again: I wished myself to be cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kin according to the flesh, who are Israelites (Ibid., 3). And therefore, mourning and lamenting, they received the oil of joy, seeing that many of the Jews had believed, and received the most pure garment, instead of mourning clothing.61:3-5
(Verse 3-5) And they shall be called in her strong justices, the plantation of the Lord, to glorify. And they shall build the ancient places that were waste, and shall raise up the desolate cities, that were destroyed for generations and generations. And strangers shall stand and shall feed your flocks: and the sons of strangers shall be your husbandmen and your vinedressers. LXX: And they shall be called the generations of justice: the planting of the Lord to glory. And they shall build everlasting desolate places, which were previously deserted, they shall be raised up and renew deserted cities, desolate in generations, and foreigners shall come, and they shall feed your sheep, and the plowmen and vintners of other nations. After the Apostles, and the apostolic men have taken on the spirit of ashes and mourning, the oil of joy, and the garment, or according to the Septuagint, the robe of glory and praise: then they shall be called the generations of righteousness, the glorious planting of the Lord. Or according to the Hebrew, the strong ones, strong with the justice of God, or (according to Al. ut) the planting of the Lord for glorification: so that when they have been glorified, or they themselves have glorified the Lord, they shall build deserted cities from ancient times, and raise up ancient ruins, both the people of Judah and all the nations, who will have not only the knowledge of building and restoring cities, but they shall also be excellent shepherds, so that the old shepherds, to whom God had spoken through Ezekiel saying: O shepherds of Israel, do the shepherds feed themselves and not the sheep? (Ezek. 34:2) Let them hear with the apostle Peter: 'Feed my sheep' (John 21:17). And in a wondrous way, they shall move from being stone workers and shepherds to being farmers, that is, ploughmen and vintners, so that they may say with the Apostle: 'We are God's building, we are God's farm' (1 Corinthians 3:9). Finally, the Savior asks the scribes and Pharisees, the vintners and farmers of the Jews, what he should do to the evil vintners and farmers. And they answered: 'He will destroy the evil ones and give the vineyard to other farmers' (Matthew 21:41). He said to them: 'The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce its fruit' (ibid., 43). These matters do not require interpretation. For how many of the leaders of the Churches are from the Jews, not from foreigners and people of foreign nations? They, who formerly served idols and were strangers to the covenant of God and outsiders to his promises, now lead the Churches and tame the stubborn hearts of the gentiles, previously untamed, to bear the fruits of faith; so that they may multiply the sowing of the Lord's teaching through the abundance of good works.61:6-7
(Vers. 6, 7.) But you will be called priests of the Lord, ministers of our God. It will be said to you: You will devour the strength of the nations, and in their glory you will boast. Instead of your shame, you will have a double portion, and instead of disgrace, they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs. For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. LXX: But you will be called priests of the Lord, ministers of our God. You shall devour the strength of nations, and in their riches you shall be admired. Thus they shall possess the land a second time, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. For I am the Lord, who loves justice, and I hate robbery and injustice. The builders of desolate cities and the shepherds of flocks, who themselves are the plowmen and vintners, that is, the sons of strangers, they too are the priests of God, to whom the Prophet now says: But you shall be called the priests of the Lord, and ministers of our God, it shall be said to you: doubtless it signifies the leaders of the churches. Certainly, it is to be understood about the Apostles that there is an order: When builders, shepherds, plowmen, and vine-dressers were appointed over the Churches from the Gentiles, you, about whom it is said: The remnants will be saved (Rom. IX, 27). And: Unless the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we would have been like Sodom, and similar to Gomorrah (Isai. IV, 9), you will be called priests and ministers of God, just as the sons of David were. Of whom the Scripture says: But the sons of David were the priests of God (2 Kings 8:18). They shall devour the strength of the nations, and on their riches they shall be admired. For the glory of children are their fathers, and the profit of the people, the feasts of the priests (Proverbs 17). Concerning such riches, Paul wrote to the Corinthians: I give thanks to my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because in everything you have been enriched in Him, in all speech and in all knowledge, as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you lack no gift in any grace (2 Corinthians 1:4-5). But the courage of the nations is the triumph of the Martyrs: and we are proud in their glory, not with the pride that is a vice, to which God resists, in order to give grace to the humble; but with the pride that is received for power and glory. Therefore, Moses had a horned face, who could say: With you we will scatter our enemies with a horn. And for the pride of glory, the Eagle interprets it as 'and you will be clothed in purple with glory', that is, you will be dressed in purple to show the insignia of royal beauty. And what follows: For their double confusion and shame, they shall praise their own part, which is not found in the Septuagint, seems to me to be explained as follows. Because you had a double confusion, both over the people of Judah, who had turned away from God, and over the nations, who served idols, you will see them converted to the fear of God, praising their own part. Without a doubt, the Lord, of whom he was speaking, is holy: The Lord is my portion (Ps. 73:26). However, no one can say this except those who do not have the other side. Therefore, since you have had double the confusion and shame of their sin, on which they themselves were not ashamed, for this reason, in their own land, that is, in the land of the meek and living, they will possess double: both for the present, and for the future. And they will have eternal joy. For which it is read in the Septuagint, they will possess the land a second time. And there will be eternal joy upon their heads, so that those who possessed the land in the narrowest boundaries of Judaea, afterwards may possess the entire world. Concerning this land, the Father speaks to the Savior: Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession (Ps. 2:8). But the Lord, who loves the truth of justice, has granted this, and he hates robbery in the burnt offering. For this reason, the Seventy translated it as 'robbery from injustice,' as if there is any robbery that does not consist of injustice. Therefore, what he says is this: God loves the poverty of the righteous more than the gifts of the wealthy, which are obtained through plunder and injustice.61:8-9
(Vers. 8, 9.) And I will give their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. And their seed will be known among the nations, and their offspring in the midst of the peoples. All who see them will recognize them, that they are the offspring whom the Lord has blessed. LXX: And I will give their labor to the righteous, and I will establish an eternal covenant with them. And their seed will be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples. Everyone who sees them will recognize them, that they are the blessed offspring of God. O God, who loves justice and judgment, and detests violent holocausts (for whatever is stolen is considered as the wages of a prostitute, and the price of a dog), you will give labor to those who possess the land secondly and whom you will crown with double joy, to the righteous, or as it is better understood in Hebrew, in truth: so that it may not be like the shadow of truth in the Law, but that it may be the truth itself. And you will make an everlasting covenant, not like the one Moses gave, which has passed away, but the covenant of the Gospel, about which Christ speaks: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away (Matthew 24:35). And then the Apostolic seed will be known among the nations, and all future generations will receive the seed of the doctrine of God, not saying at all in which the people of circumcision previously erred, saying: For what else, except for the seed, does God seek? Anyone who sees them will recognize from the first appearance that they are the seed to whom the Lord has blessed. For who, from the order of life, gentleness, self-control, hospitality, and all virtues, does not understand the people of God? And who does not detest the bloody hands of the Israelis, against whom the Prophet curses, saying: Fill their faces with shame, O Lord (Ps. LXXXII, 17).61:10-11
(Vers. 10, 11.) I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, and my soul shall exult in my God: for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, and with the robe of justice he hath covered me, as a bride adorned with her jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth her seed to shoot forth: so shall the Lord God make justice to spring forth, and praise before all nations. LXX: They shall be glad in the Lord, and shall rejoice in God. For he has clothed me with the garment of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of joy. Like a bridegroom adorned with a crown, like a bride adorned with her jewels, like the earth bringing forth its flower, like a garden with its seeds germinating: so the Lord God brings forth righteousness and praise in the sight of all nations. The beginning of the chapter according to the Septuagint, which says: They shall rejoice with joy in the Lord, is connected to the end of the previous chapter. But according to the Hebrews, the beginning of another chapter is introduced, in which the Church, responding to the words of Christ, says: I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God. Not at all among the fathers, as the Jews used to boast, saying: We are the seed of Abraham and have never been in bondage to anyone (John 8:33); but in God, as Scripture says: The multitude of believers had one heart and one soul (Acts 4:32). And he gives the reasons for joy: Because he has clothed me with the garment of salvation, and with the robe of righteousness and joy, which is called Mail in Hebrew, he has adorned and surrounded me. For as many as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ, and have the garment of righteousness: who has become sanctification, righteousness, and redemption unto us (Gal. I). And he sets forth the likeness of two groups in the Church, the perfect and the beginners (I Cor. I). He compares the perfect to the beauty of the bridegroom; he likens the beginners to the adornment of the bride. Paul was perfect, who, as a decorated bridegroom or, as Aquila translated, crowned priest, bearing the crown, spoke by the authority of Christ in himself, saying: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: from now on there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness (II Tim. IV, 7). And in another place: Therefore, let us be wise in how many soever are perfect (Philippians 3:15). But he begins by drawing a comparison of maturity, when speaking in the person of beginners: When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child (1 Corinthians 13:11). And again: For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away (ibid., 9). And for this reason, the bride is likened to adornment, which adorns the female world, whether, as others have translated, with vessels or with her jewels. And he sets forth examples of the comparison of each, the former of which refers to the bridegroom, the latter to the bride. Just as the earth brings forth its fruit, and is watered by the heavenly rains; and as a garden germinates its seed, which longs for the waters of fountains and rivers: so, he says, the Lord will bring forth righteousness and joy before all nations: not before Israel, so as to shake off the brow of the Jews; but before all nations, who are gathered in the Church.62:1-3
(Chapter 62, verses 1 and following) For the sake of Zion I will not keep silent, and for the sake of Jerusalem I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. And the nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will name. You shall be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. (Chapter 70) For the sake of Zion I will not keep silent, and for the sake of Jerusalem I will not rest; until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. And the nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory, and you will be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD will name. You will be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. This is what the Lord and Savior said, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me' (Luke 4:18), until the place where it is written: 'All who see them shall acknowledge, that they are the seed which the Lord has blessed' (Isaiah 61:1). After the promise, the Church responded: Rejoicing, I will rejoice in the Lord, who in the third psalm of the degrees, sung with joy from the perspective of the repentant people, said: I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We will go into the house of the Lord (Ps. 121:1); now the prophet is introduced as saying: For the sake of Zion, I will not keep silent, and for the sake of Jerusalem, I will not rest. Day and night, he says, I will not close my mouth, and my prayer will never be silent; I will cry out for as long as it takes, and I will join prayers with prayers, until the promised one comes and illuminates the whole world with his splendor. He makes it more clear who this person is that he seeks, whom he desires to come: Until his righteous splendor goes forth, and his savior is kindled like a lamp. Or according to the Septuagint: Until his righteousness goes forth like light, and his salvation is kindled like a lamp. This is what was said in the Gospel: I am the light of the world (John 8:12): when it is kindled in Zion and in Jerusalem, it will not shine only in Judea, but it will be said to her: The light that is in you, is kindled; the one that has come forth from the Father, it begins to burn in your borders, and it will illuminate all nations (Matthew 6). And all kings shall see your famous city, O Jerusalem and Zion: he who was born of your lineage, who was exalted on the cross, drew all people to himself, so that the nations may see his justice, by which he, the Creator of all, showed mercy to the nations; and kings shall see his glory, by which he was glorified on the cross, and he subjected all kingdoms to his authority. Ultimately, Jerusalem and Zion shall no longer be called by their name, but they shall receive a new name which the Lord shall give them, as He said to the Apostle Peter: You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). The word 'Dominicus' is derived from the name 'Dominus', so that it may be called 'Dominicum'. And the people of that land should not be called by the old name 'Israel', but by a new name, that is, 'Christian'. And it will be like a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and like a diadem of the kingdom in the hand of their God, when the crowd of believers crowns it, and the diadem of the empire, which the Martyrs have distinguished by the variety of their gems, will be in the hand of God to crown their son with victories. Wherefore also the apostle Paul was speaking to the Saints: My joy and crown.62:4
(Verse 4.) You will no longer be called forsaken, and your land will no longer be called desolate; but you will be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land will be inhabited, for the Lord takes pleasure in you; and your land will be married. LXX: And you will never again be called forsaken, and your land will not be called deserted anymore. Indeed, you will be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land will be inhabited. For Zion and Jerusalem, you will be called the Church, and the Lord's: for the Jews, they will be called Christians. Nor will you be content with this end of the words; but what was previously called Azuba in Hebrew, you will be called Epesi-Ba, which means my will in it; and your land, which was previously called Semema, desolate or deserted, will later be called Bula, which Aquila interpreted as formed; Symmachus and Theodotion interpreted it as inhabited; Septuagint as established, which all signify inhabited and possessed. This is indeed a Hebrew custom, that names are always given to things based on their outcomes: like Abram, who was previously called 'father of heights', when he heard the promise: 'And in your seed all the nations shall be blessed' (Gen. XII, 3), was called 'father of many nations', that is, Abraham. And to the Lord the Savior a name is given above: 'Quickly take plunder, swiftly seize spoil' (Isa. VIII, 1). Also, the sons of Zebedee, one of whom could emit the voice of thunder (Mark III): 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God' (John I, 1), were called 'Sons of Thunder', which means 'sons of thunder'. But what follows is omitted by the Septuagint, and it provides reasons why it is called Ephsi and why it is called Bula, because the Lord has been pleased with it in Zion, and has made its land habitable, which was previously deserted due to Jewish error. Whether we apply this to the Church, which was previously possessed by idols and deserted by God.62:5
(Verse 5.) For a young man shall dwell with a virgin, and your sons shall dwell in you. And your God will rejoice over you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride. LXX: And as a young man dwells with a virgin, so shall your sons dwell in you. And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall the Lord rejoice over you. And the Apostle says: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church (Ephesians 5:25). And when he had given an example in another place: For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be two in one flesh, he added, This is a great mystery: but I speak in Christ and in the Church (Ephesians 5:31, 32). If, therefore, due to the brevity of time, which is limited, men ought to have their wives as if they did not have them, how much more holy will be the union between the bridegroom and the bride? This is the bridegroom of whom it is sung in the twelfth psalm: 'And he, like a bridegroom, comes forth from his chamber' (Psalm 18:6). And this is the bride who is frequently mentioned in the Song of Songs, who has no wrinkle or blemish (Song of Songs 4). How Paul desires to offer a chaste virgin to one man, so that she may be holy in body and spirit (I Cor. 7). Concerning her, and under the name of the beloved, the 44th Psalm sings: The queen stood at your right hand, clothed in golden garments, surrounded by variety. (Verse 10). Therefore, just as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, and a young man with a virgin, in whom there is a holy union: so the Lord will rejoice in her, whose names have been changed.62:6-7
(Verse 6, 7.) I have set watchmen upon your walls, O Jerusalem, who shall never hold their peace day or night: you who make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give him no rest, until he establishes, and until he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. LXX: And upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen, who shall never hold their peace day or night, remembering the Lord: there is no one like you, if he corrects you, and he will make Jerusalem rejoice upon the earth. The Prophet said: 'For Zion I will not be silent, and for Jerusalem I will not rest, and so on until that place where the chapter is now completed: The bridegroom will rejoice over the bride; your God will rejoice over you.' And he had promised that he would pray day and night, so that the Savior and the Just One who had been promised would come, and like a lamp illuminate the whole world. After this, the person of God speaking to Jerusalem is introduced, that is, the Church of the early Christians, and the one that was built up in the Apostles and through the Apostles: 'I have set watchmen on your walls, who we can understand to be either angels or apostles, and all its rulers and teachers.' Those who guard the walls of the Church, lest our adversary the devil, who prowls around like a roaring lion, may seize an opportunity to devastate the flock of the Lord. The guardians should not be silent, neither during the day nor at night, neither in times of joy nor in times of sorrow; but should always pray for the mercy of the Lord, so that His flock and the walls of Jerusalem may be guarded and strengthened by His help. Therefore, a speech is directed to the same guardians and teachers: O you who remember the Lord and tirelessly pray for His mercy day and night, be careful never to let prayer be silent in your mouth. Do not give silence to him, I imply, O Lord; but always be annoying, opportune, importune, and imitate the interruption of a harsh judge. For if he has put aside the fierceness of his mind by constant supplication, how much more will the Heavenly Father give good things to those who ask? However, you should pray for a long time, until Jerusalem, which has fallen among the Jews and is both an example and a curse, is praised throughout the whole world. And why did the Seventy wish, because of what is contained in Hebrew, that you do not remain silent about it until she establishes and places praise in Jerusalem on the earth, saying, the meaning of which does not agree with what was said before: For there is no one like you, if she corrects and makes Jerusalem rejoice over the earth. Unless perhaps by this skillful eloquence we may add, that it may be said to the guardians of the Church, that none of them will be like those who have made it through their preaching, so that she may be corrected, and all the earth may rejoice in Jerusalem.62:8-9
(Vers. 8, 9.) The Lord has sworn by his right hand and by the strength of his arm: If I give your wheat beyond food to your enemies, and if the sons of aliens drink your wine, in which you have labored: for those who gather it will eat it and praise the Lord, and those who carry it will drink it in my holy courts. LXX: The Lord has sworn by his right hand and by the strength of his arm: If I give my wheat beyond food to your enemies, and if the sons of aliens drink your wine, in which you have labored: but those who gather it will eat it and praise the Lord, and those who gather it will drink it in my holy courts. Almighty God, who said to the Church, 'I have set watchmen on your walls who shall never hold their peace day nor night. You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent, and give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.' Now He swears by His right hand and by the arm of His strength. Concerning whom we frequently say that He is our Lord and Savior, who, according to the Apostle, is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1). He swears that the grain and wine of Jerusalem shall never be given as food to the enemies, nor shall aliens devour the labor of it; but those who sow in tears shall reap in joy, and those who reap, with joyful shouting, and with the chaff removed, they shall gather the pure grain into the barns. They themselves shall eat the labor of their hands, and shall lift up the Lord with eternal praise, and shall drink wine in His holy courts. Because either we understand many dwellings with the Father, if we accept them as the future blessedness in the kingdom of heaven, or certainly the Churches divided throughout the whole world, in which we are planted, and afterwards we will flourish in the house of the Lord. But when He says: I will no longer give your wheat to your enemies, and foreigners will not drink your wine, in which you have labored, He shows the previous labor of the Jews, and that all their works were possessed by demons when they were wavering between God and idols, when Elijah said to them: How long will you limp with both feet? if the Lord is God, follow him (III Kings XVIII, 21). And according to the typical history narrated in the book of Judges, the Midianites came and devastated their crops as far as Gaza, so that the food of men was turned into fodder for animals (Judges VI). This is the wheat and this is the wine that they will not eat unless they praise the Lord, and they will not drink unless in his holy courts, of which the Lord said during his passion: Amen, amen I say to you, I will not drink from the fruit of this vine until I drink it new in the kingdom of my Father (Mark XIV, 25). Which part of the Church is fulfilled when the Lord says to His disciples: Drink, my friends, and be intoxicated, my brothers, for wine gladdens the human heart (Psalm 104). And it is drunk in broad daylight by Joseph and his brothers (Genesis 44). And it will be fulfilled more fully when the earth is intoxicated with the blessings of the Lord. The wheat from which the heavenly bread is made, that is what the Lord speaks of: My flesh is truly food. And again regarding wine: And my blood truly is drink (John VI).62:10-12
(Vers. 10-12.) Go through, go through the gates, prepare the way for the people, make the road smooth, and choose stones, raise a signal for the people. Behold, the Lord has made his message heard to the ends of the earth: say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your Savior comes: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. And they shall call them the holy people, redeemed by the Lord. But you shall be called a sought-after city, and not forsaken. LXX: Go through my gates and make a way for my people. Cast stones out of the way. Lift up a sign among the nations. For behold, the Lord has made his hearing reach to the ends of the earth. Say to the daughters of Zion: Behold, your Savior comes, having his reward with him, and his work before his face. And he will call them a holy people, redeemed by the Lord. But you will be called a sought-after city, and not forsaken. He commanded the keepers of the walls of Jerusalem, to whom he had previously commanded not to keep silent, not to cease praying, so that they may pass through the gates of Jerusalem and make a way for the people. The statement argues that in the last days, when Israel is to be saved after the fullness of the Gentiles, the semi-Jews believe that they will return to the Lord. However, others think that it will be fulfilled in the kingdom of heaven, when there will be true joy and each person will receive according to their merit. They will not see the Lord in humility, but will feel His judgment when He comes on the clouds with a multitude of angels to render to each person according to their works. But according to the explanation given, we can understand these things at the first coming, so that we may say that the Apostles and the men who succeeded them, should enter and pass through the gates which hell cannot prevail against, and remove all obstacles from the path, so that the people may enter the Church of the Savior without any stumbling block. Therefore, John cried out in the wilderness: I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, as Isaiah said: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths: every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be brought low (John 1:23, Isaiah 40:3-4). And in other words, the man of the Church has chosen stones that soften the hardness of the hearts of the believers. Of these stones, John the Baptist said: God is able to raise up children of Abraham from these stones (Matthew 3:9). Or according to the Septuagint, he throws stones from the path that separate the unbelievers from the believers. So that the Jews would not think that this is about them, it is added: Raise a sign to the nations, and to the peoples of the nations, so that the narrowness of salvation is not provoked only in the land of Judea, but let it be heard in the ends of the earth, so that the whole world may hear the passion of the Creator. Say, he says, to the daughter of Zion. She is called the daughter of Zion because she was first born from the Jews, as it says in the Song of Songs: The sons of my mother fought against me (Song of Songs 1:5); or certainly because she received the name of daughter from God through adoption. For as many as received him, he gave them power to become children of God (John 1). But what is it that the teachers and doctors of the daughter of Zion are commanded to announce? Behold, your Savior comes, who is called Jesus in Hebrew. Thus Gabriel said to Joseph: And you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins (Matt. 1:21). This Savior is the judge of all believers, to render to each according to their works: rewards to the righteous, and eternal punishments to the sinners (Matt. 16). And he shall call them Lord and Savior himself. Or, according to the Hebrew, the Apostles and Apostolic men shall call them, the holy and redeemed people of the Lord, who are redeemed by the blood of Christ. Moreover, the city itself will not be called abandoned, as it had been previously, either among the Jews due to commerce, or among the Gentiles due to idolatry, but rather sought after, as it is said in Hebrew, Drusa (); so that for the increase and variety of virtues, they always receive new names.63:1
(Chapter 63, Verse 1) Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? This one is glorious in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength. (Chapter 70) Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? This one is beautiful in his attire, strong and mighty. From the place where it is said in the Septuagint: "Arise, shine, Jerusalem, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you" (Chapter 60, Verse 1), to the present chapter where it says: Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bosrah? Many of our own refer to the end of the world, in which, whether in a physical or spiritual sense (for there are various opinions of many), they strive to fulfill. But we, because we have also read earlier in this same chapter: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor: he has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free (Luke 4:18). And now it is said of the same, that after his passion he ascended to the Father in a bloody manner, we are compelled by necessity to understand all that is said in reference to the first coming of the Savior. For it cannot happen, as many of our people strive to do, that things which are connected in the works should be varied in time; nor do we deny that it requires great effort to unite all these things to be fulfilled in a spiritual way in the consummation, so that we may teach that they have already been accomplished in Christ, both according to the flesh and according to the spirit. Therefore, since the Savior of the daughter of Zion has come, whose reward is with Him, and His work before Him; and the righteous One has gone forth as brightness, and the Savior has been kindled as a lamp, and the bridegroom has rejoiced over his bride the Church, indeed his God has exulted over her, who is Himself both bridegroom and Lord: therefore, according to the assumption of the flesh and the passion of the cross, it is said to Him: Let Your foot be dipped in blood (Ps. 68:24). And under the name Judah in Genesis it is prophesied: Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies. Your father's sons shall bow down to you. Judah, you have ascended as a lion's cub; you lie down and rest like a lion, and like a lioness; who shall rouse you? And again: He binds his foal to the vine, and his donkey's colt to the choice vine; he washes his garments in wine, and his robe in the blood of grapes. This is the one whom the angelic powers, seeing him ascend to the Father, command the other angels, and they hear from them: Lift up your gates, O princes, and be lifted up, eternal gates, that the King of glory may enter. Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle (Psalm 24:7-8). And again: The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory (ibid., 10). We have said this as a prelude, so that we may show that this chapter agrees with other testimonies as well. And in the Song of Songs it is said: My beloved is ruddy and white (Song of Songs 5:10); ruddy in passion; white in resurrection. Therefore, the angels ask, terrified by the novelty of the matter (for the mystery of the passion and resurrection of Christ, according to the apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 2), had been unknown to all previous generations). Who is this coming from the land of Edom, with garments stained crimson? Indeed, Edom is expressed in our language as both earthly and bloody. With dyed garments from Bozrah? Many, in their pious error, think that it refers to the flesh of the Lord: that is, Basar (בשר), which word, if it signified flesh, would be written with the middle letter Sin, but is now written with the letter Sade, and is interpreted as firm and fortified: which we either understand as referring to Jerusalem (Psalm 59:11), which was surrounded by very strong walls, in which the Lord suffered; or to hell, of which it is written in Psalm 59:11 and Psalm 107:10: 'Who will bring me into the fortified city?' In which the souls of the dead are closed, and they are surrounded by the strongest custodies. It should also be known that according to the history of Bosra, it is not in Edom but in Moab. It follows: So beautiful in his robe, walking in the multitude of his strength. Of which the forty-fourth psalm also sings: Beautiful in beauty above the sons of men. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty. With thy comeliness and thy beauty, proceed prosperously and reign (Psalm 44, 3-5). Why they translated the Septuagint, violence with strength. A wise reader will inquire into the meaning.I am the one who speaks of justice, and I am a champion for salvation. LXX: I am the one who speaks of justice, and the judgment of salvation. The Lord replied to the questioning Angels: Do you ask who I am, who will ascend to the bloody heavens, and the blood with which I am covered will not give me ugliness, but beauty? I am the one to whom the Father has entrusted all judgment (John 5). Of whom the Psalmist also said: Grant your judgment to the king, O God, and your justice to the king's son (Psalm 72:1). I speak justice: to give evil to the wicked, and to repay good to the righteous; to come and fight against opposing powers, and to preach freedom to the captives, and to release those in prison, so that both adversaries may feel punishment and captives may experience freedom.
63:2
(Version 2.) Why then is your garment red, and your clothing like one who treads in the winepress? LXX: Why are your garments red, and your clothes like those who tread the winepress, full of trampled grapes? Where it is now spoken of as red, in Hebrew it is read as Edom (). Therefore, even above where Edom is written, it is not a place name, but the name of blood. Again, the Angels inquire and say: We have learned that you are the one who speaks of justice, and salvation for all is established in your judgment. Now we want to know why your clothes are stained as if with wine, or what could have caused the tunic, which is woven from above and cannot be torn, to have such whiteness from the virgin womb, as no fuller could achieve on earth, reddened with bloody blood? For mercy is more fitting for you than cruelty: whiteness is more fitting than blood. To these the Lord responded, not with one verse as before, but with many words, in order to teach all those who are ignorant, so that they may not be compelled to seek again.63:3-6
(Verse 3 and following) I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the peoples there was no man with me. I have trodden them in my anger, and trampled them in my fury: and their blood has stained my garments, and all my clothing is polluted. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come. I looked around, and there was no helper: I sought, and there was no one to assist. So my own arm brought salvation to me, and my own wrath supported me. And I have trampled upon the peoples in my anger, and I have made them drunk in my indignation, and I have brought down their strength to the earth. Seventy times because of what we said, I alone have trampled the winepress, they have interpreted, a full trampling, which is more to be read with the previous chapter than as the beginning of the following one. The rest they have translated thus. And there is no one among the nations with me, and I have trampled upon them in my anger, and I have crushed them like the ground, and I have poured out their blood upon the earth, and I have defiled all my garments. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come. I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; so my own arm brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me. I trampled down the peoples in my anger; I made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth. For the press is called Geth in Hebrew, as Theodotion has translated the Hebrew word in Greek. But Symmachus, whom we also follow, renders it better in this place. For the word Phura is ambiguous, and usually signifies both a winepress and a jug. It must be said, therefore, about the winepress, that according to the custom of Holy Scripture, sometimes it is used for vengeance and punishments of sins, sometimes for the gathering of new fruits. It is used for punishments and torments, when Jeremiah, lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem, speaks: The Lord has trodden the virgin daughter of Judah with the winepress, therefore I mourn (Lam. 1:15-16). The psalms for those who are assigned to the winepresses are written in a favorable light in the eighth and eighty-third. Concerning them, if life accompanies them, with the Lord's help, they will be said. This winepress, in which both punishments for the wicked and rewards for the good are trampled on by the Savior himself, he alone trampled on, and he had no helper. For neither an Angel, nor an Archangel, Thrones, Dominions, or any celestial powers assumed a human body and suffered for us, and he trampled on opposing forces and shattered them, except for the one who speaks in the psalm: Save me, O Lord, for the holy one has failed (Psalm 11:1); to such an extent that even the most confident and firmly established in the truth of faith, the apostle Peter, afraid, fled, rather denied the Lord (Matthew 27). And what follows: And their blood was sprinkled upon my garments, and all my raiments are defiled, should not be understood in such a way that we believe that demons and adversarial powers have blood. But everything should be understood tropologically, when the most merciful God is compelled to strike enemies in order to instruct His people and liberate them from the bonds of captivity. For He says: "The day of vengeance is in my heart, the year of my redemption has come. About which we also read above (In chapter LXI), to preach in a favorable way the accepted year of the Lord, and the day of retribution to our God; both now in the bad and in the good. In the bad: For the day of vengeance is in my heart. In the good: The year of my redemption has come; so that at the time when the adversaries are punished, the people of God may be liberated, or rather redeemed by the precious blood of the lamb who is said to be slain in the Apocalypse of John. Moses prophesied about this day of retribution by the Holy Spirit: And he will repay vengeance to his enemies, and will restore to those who hate him. I looked around, and there was no helper; I sought, and there was no one to assist. (Deuteronomy XXXII, 41). He also said in the psalm: And I waited for one who would grieve, but there was none; and for one who would comfort, but I found none. (Psalm LXVIII, 21). For even though he was in the form of God, he did not consider equality with God as something to be seized, but emptied himself (Philippians II), taking the form of a servant, and being obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. And because of this, God exalted him and gave him the name above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Whether he extirpated believers in his arm, and did not delay his fury beyond: and he led their blood unto the ground, whether in a figurative sense of demons, or certainly the blood of the Jews: for this reason, other interpreters have transferred the dispute; who were exerting every effort to release the captive people.63:7
(Verse 7) I will remember the mercies of the Lord; I will praise the Lord for all the good things the Lord has done for us, and for the abundance of blessings to the house of Israel that he has bestowed upon them according to his mercy, and according to the multitude of his mercies. LXX: I have remembered the mercies of the Lord, I will remember the virtues of the Lord in all the things he has done for us: The Lord, a good judge to the house of Israel, will repay us according to his mercy, and according to the abundance of his justice. Finished, as we believe at first, as many think at second, with the coming of the Savior, in which is implied the voice of the judge, or rather of the combatant, slaughtering his own people and the adversaries of his people, described as bloody and victorious: another section begins, in which the Prophet speaks from the perspective of the people, recounting the benefits of God upon himself and the hardness of his own heart, because of which Jerusalem was set on fire and Israel was handed over to captivity. What the Jews report about the Babylonian times. However, we have shown in order and reason the present time, in which they serve the Romans, and with Israel excluded, a throng of nations has succeeded. Let us therefore run through each part of the speech, and in order to avoid a long-winded explanation, let us briefly expound on them. Crushed by the weight of evils, I have hope in nothing else but in the mercy of God, who shows mercy to thousands of those who love him, and extends his mercy to those who know him. From this it is shown that the mercy of the Lord comes to those who love and know God. It is not of the one who wants or the one who runs, but of the one who has mercy from God (Rom. IX). Unless the Lord builds the house and watches over the city, the one who builds and watches over it does so in vain (Ps. CXXVI). For He will give strength, so that we may have courage and be able to say: My strength and support, and my refuge in the day of my troubles (Jerem. XVI). In the present context, we should understand virtues not as vices and sins, but as difficulties. As it follows in the Septuagint: I will remember the Lord's virtues in all the things He has rewarded me, which in Hebrew are contained as praises to the Lord, let us understand signs and miracles, for which virtues are often mentioned, as in the following passage: I will not give my glory to another, nor my virtues to idols (Isaiah 42:8). And elsewhere: His virtues will be announced in the islands, or among the nations of the whole world, or among the churches which are firmly founded and are more struck than overthrown. Sometimes virtue is not accepted for fortitude and miracles, but for good conduct, as it is said by the Apostles, Peter: Serve with virtue in your knowledge (1 Peter 1:5); and Paul: Whatever is true, whatever is honorable (Philippians 4:8). According to this, it is also said in another place: Better is sterility with virtue. The first understanding of virtue belongs to God, the second is fitting for humans. However, what we have interpreted is this: Above all that the Lord has given us, which can be taken in both a good and bad way, Symmachus more clearly placed it in the retribution of good, saying: For all the things in which He has done us good, and for the multitude of goodness which He has shown upon the house of Israel. Why did they translate the Seventy: The Lord is a good judge to the house of Israel, he has repaid us according to his mercy, and according to the multitude of his justice. But this can only be said by one who understands justly how to endure what he suffers. Finally, in the seventy-second psalm, whose beginning is: How good is God to Israel, the prophet speaks in the person of those whose hearts are upright, who are disturbed by the judgments of God: But my feet were almost shaken: my steps were almost scattered, seeing the peace of sinners, and so on, until the end of the psalm. Therefore, the holy law is good, and the holy commandment is good, just and good, so that goodness is understood in general, and justice is understood in particular. Therefore he writes to the Romans: For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die (Rom. III. 7).63:8-10
(Vrs. 8 seqq.) And He said: Yet My people are; sons not denying: and He became a Savior unto them. In all their affliction He was not afflicted, and the Angel of His presence saved them: in His love and in His pity He redeemed them, and He bore them, and carried them all the days of the age. But they provoked Him to anger, and vexed the spirit of His Holy One; and He turned Himself against them as an enemy, and He fought against them. 70: And he said: Not my people, the children will never reject. And he became for them salvation from all their tribulation: not a messenger, nor an angel, but he himself saved them because he loved them, and spared them, he himself redeemed them, and received them, and exalted them all the days of the world. But they did not believe, and they provoked his Holy Spirit: he turned against them as an enemy, he himself fought against them. Where we have interpreted: In all their tribulation he was not troubled, which in Hebrew is said Lo, and is a denying adverb, for not, it can also be read itself, so that the meaning is: In all their tribulation he himself is troubled, that is, God: so that he himself might bear not only our sins, but also our tribulations. For he himself carries our weaknesses, and he suffers for us. Moreover, the Seventy put another thing that is not found in Hebrew, not an envoy, nor an angel, but he himself saved them: of which we will speak in its proper place. Therefore God, who is a just judge to the house of Israel, and mitigates the severity of justice with mercy in judging: Indeed, I have begotten sons and exalted them, and they have despised me. However, because they are my people, and once named sons, they will not perish forever; if they stop rejecting and denying me, they will recognize the Savior: because he himself was troubled in all their tribulations. Whether he was not troubled, so that he could temporarily abandon them and force them, stripped of his help, to plead. Indeed, He did not afflict them, but on the contrary, while others pursued them, He was their helper and sent His Angel to deliver them from danger. Or according to the Septuagint, He did not want to save His people through angels and prophets and other holy men; rather, He himself descended to the lost sheep of the house of Israel to carry the sick sheep on His shoulders and to find the lost coin, and joyfully welcome the prodigal son upon his return. For this reason, the Bride says in the Song of Songs: Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. Not through the patriarchs, Moses, and the prophets, but let him take my body, let him dwell in my flesh, let the Word become flesh, and thus let him kiss me dwelling in me, so that he may be Emmanuel. Therefore, not as a messenger, nor as an angel, but he himself will save those who have received salvation: not by the merit of works, but by the love of God. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. But if the perceptive reader answers with silent thought, why are many not saved, if he himself saved them, and loved them, and spared his sons, and redeemed them with his own blood, and received and exalted those who were assumed? The clear reason is inferred. But they did not believe, and they provoked his Holy Spirit, or his holy ones, which in Hebrew is called Cadeso. Therefore, God wanted to save those who desired it, and he provoked them to salvation, so that the will might have its reward; but they did not want to believe. Otherwise, it is written about John: There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came to bear witness to the light, so that all might believe through him (John 1:6). And it is not immediately to be blamed if many did not believe, but the intention of the one coming was that all would believe and be saved. But if anyone shall have provoked and afflicted the Holy Spirit, or His Holy Ones, that is, Christ, he provokes God: the same Holy Spirit is of the same nature as the Father and the Son. Therefore, the Apostle commands: Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, in whom you have been sealed (Ephesians 4:30). The Holy Spirit withdraws from a body subject to sin, and does not enter a perverse soul (Wisdom 1). Therefore, David, in order not to lose the Holy Spirit, prayed saying: And do not take away your Holy Spirit from me (Psalm 51:11). And so, that we may know that anyone who vexes the Holy Spirit offends God, and becomes an enemy and foe of a friend, the Apostle Peter speaks more significantly in the Acts of the Apostles: Why have you agreed to lie to the Holy Spirit? You have not lied to men, but to God (Acts V, 9). This is the Holy Spirit, of whom the Lord said in the Gospel: If you love me, keep my commandments: and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you forever, the Spirit of truth (John XIV, 15, 16). We also find this in the Book of Wisdom, which is written under the name of Solomon: For the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee deceit and will withdraw from foolish thoughts (Wisdom I, 5).63:11-14
(Vers. 11 seqq.) And he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people. Where is he who brought them up from the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put his holy Spirit in the midst of them? He who caused his glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for himself an everlasting name. He led them through the depths like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble. Like a beast going down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord was their guide. So you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name. LXX: And he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying: Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put in the midst of them the spirit of his Holy One? He led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name. He led them through the deep, as a horse in the wilderness, they stumbled not. As a beast goeth down into the valley, the spirit of the Lord caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name. The Lord, who became the protector of the adversaries of the people of Judah, who provoked his Holy Spirit to anger, and he defeated them: he remembered the ancient days, when Moses interceded for them in the wilderness, saying: Either forgive them this sin, or if you do not, blot me out from the book which you have written (Exodus 32:31-32). So Isaiah, recalling the story of old, says: Where is the Moses who led them out of the Red Sea? Where is the shepherd of the sheep? Where is he who labored with the other shepherds of the flock of the Lord? Who obtained and bestowed the Spirit of God through his prayers and supplications on the flock of the Lord? Or surely should it be understood this way: Where is that mercy of the Lord, by which he once had pity on his people, so that he would also grant them the grace of the Holy Spirit? He who led Moses, his servant, with the arm of his majesty to the right side, not to the left; he who split the waters before them, to make for himself an everlasting name, so that his power would be spoken of even to this day? For He led His people through the immense depths of water, like a horse through a wilderness, and beasts through a plain, and the Spirit of the Lord was their guide, that is, the flock of the Lord. (Exodus 14). Now by this Spirit we must understand the Angel, who was the guide of the people of Israel, according to what is written: He makes His angels spirits, and His ministers a flaming fire (Psalm 104:4). And in the Letter to the Hebrews: Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? (Hebrews 1:14). Let us consider that which is written in the Acts of the Apostles: The Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, and the eunuch saw him no more (Acts 8:39). Should we understand this as referring to an angel? There are those who testify that it was an angel working through the Holy Spirit. We are exploring the obvious in order to dwell on the obscure.63:15-17
(Verse 15 and following) Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and glorious habitation. Where is your zeal and your might? The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion are held back from me. For you are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name. LXX: Return from heaven and see, from your holy dwelling and your glory. Where is your zeal and your might? Where is the multitude of your mercies and the compassions you have shown us? For you are our Father, because Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. But you, Lord our Father, free us: from the beginning your name is upon us. You have granted such great things to the people, as the higher discourse has related, that you might lead us worthy of your spirit's companionship. Now also, pay attention from heaven and see our works, if indeed they are worthy of you. Why do you turn your face away from us? But heaven is called the holy dwelling place, and the house of his glory (Psalm 43), according to this: Heaven is my throne: and the earth is my footstool (Isaiah 66:1); and in another place: He who dwells in the heavens shall laugh at them; and: Unto you I lift up my eyes, O you who dwell in heaven (Psalm 113:1). Not that the omnipotent God, who holds heaven in the palm of his hand and the earth in his fist, is confined to any place; but rather that those things which are holier may be said to be his place and dwelling. Finally, Solomon, who built the house of God, speaks to him in prayer, 'The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you' (Sirach 16:18). And in the Lord's Prayer it is said, 'Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven' (Matthew 6:10). Therefore, wherever God's will is done, that is His dwelling place and the house of God. As for what follows, 'Where is your zeal and your might?' We can explain this with the testimony of God through Ezekiel to Jerusalem, which had followed her lovers: 'I will no longer be angry with you, for my jealousy has turned away from you' (Ezekiel 16:42). And the meaning is this: Because we have sinned and you have begun to hate us, your zeal has departed from us, which does not depart when speaking through Zachariah: I am zealous for Zion and Jerusalem with great zeal (Zech. I, 14). Therefore, in the following, he says: And I will be angry with the nations that have gathered against it all around. But as zeal departs, so does the strength of God, and the affection of the father's womb is overcome, while the incredible mercy of God is defeated by the greatness of sins, so that it may hold itself above my help, who could not see me overwhelmed. For you are our father, the creator of all, says he. Neither Abraham knows us, nor does Israel recognize us, because we have offended you, nor do they know the children who they understand are not loved by their God. A sudden question arises, why did Abraham and Israel, that is, Jacob, receive their names, while Isaac's name remained silent (Gen. XXXII)? To which we will respond, with the beginning and end stated, even the middle shall be named. Or thus: Abraham, called from the Gentiles to faith, underwent a change in his name according to the quality of the preceding and succeeding condition. Jacob, too, worked hard to be called Israel. Hence Abraham had three wives and Jacob had four. But Isaac, from the beginning to the end, possessed an ancient name, indicating the chastity of the Church, content with one wife. Therefore, those who pray for sinners, assume their semblance, to whom joy followed after sorrow. However, this is everything they request, that because He is their father, and He has dignified them with this name, He does not forget His children; lest through them the name of God be blasphemed among the nations.63:18-19
(Verse 18, 19.) Why have you made us err, O Lord, from your ways: you have hardened our heart, so that we would not fear you? Turn again for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance. Your holy people have possessed nothing: our enemies have trampled upon your sanctuary. We have become like in the beginning: when you did not rule over us, neither was your name invoked upon us. LXX: Why have you led us astray, O Lord, from your holy way: you have hardened our hearts, so that we would not fear you? Convert for the sake of your servants, for the sake of your inheritance, so that we may possess a little of your holy mountain: our adversaries have trampled your sanctuary: we have become as those who were not ruled by you from the beginning: nor has your name been invoked upon us. The letter that Paul writes to the Corinthians, when it is written to the people of a certain city, by reason of the diversity of its inhabitants, that is, of saints and sinners, now praises them, now corrects them, now teaches them, now rebukes them, provokes them to continence; he does not refuse marriage; he refrains from idolatry; he instructs them about the resurrection; he extends his hand to the divorced, so that he does not give a place to fornication. We have said this, so that we may understand that the present chapter, which is entirely covered by the prayer of the people, may be understood either as of the just or of sinners: and now to praise the Lord, now to bring a question to the Lord, and to attribute one's own guilt to God. Hence, even afterwards they speak of this: Why have you made us err, O Lord, from your ways, or have led us astray from your path: you have hardened our heart that we should not fear you? Not that God is the cause of error and hardness, but so that his patience, waiting for our salvation, may seem to be the cause of error and hardness by not punishing the wrongdoers. Being extremely angry with certain people, he refrained from striking them and said: 'I will not visit your daughters when they have committed fornication, and your wives when they have committed adultery' (Hosea IV, 14). He chastises every son whom he receives, and he strikes in order to correct (Hebrews XII). Finally, regarding those who have not lost the title of children but are drawn back to repentance through punishment, he says about them: 'I will visit their iniquities with a rod, and their sins with stripes; but I will not take away my mercy from them' (Psalm LXXXIX, 33). For there is a sorrow that leads to life, and there is a sorrow that leads to death. Hence the sinner speaks in the psalm: You have made our paths turn away from your way, and you have humbled us in a place of affliction (Psalm 44:19). And for forty years the people wander in the desert, so that they may not find the former way, nor return to the Egyptians (Numbers 32). Also in Hosea, the paths of Jerusalem are separated and closed with thorns, so that she may not follow her lovers, and being compelled by need, she may return to her former husband (Hosea 2). And it is said that the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, so that he would not let his people go, and that he would be afflicted with ten plagues (Exodus IV). This question was discussed in great detail by Paul to the Romans (Romans IX). And we have briefly addressed it in a certain work. Turn, O Lord, or turn us on account of your servants, Abraham and Israel, who do not know us, or whom we believe to be among the people. For our adversaries have possessed your holy people as if it were nothing and without any effort. Whether convert us, so that according to the Septuagint, we may possess a little of your holy mountain, because we cannot possess your whole mountain, so that when we have a part, we may come to its fullness and contemplate the glory of the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1). Concerning this, it is said in the same prophet: In the last days, the mountain of the Lord shall be revealed (Isaiah 2:2). But concerning what is stated above: Why have you made us stray (Isaiah 63:17)? Jeremiah teaches in the fullest sense in what meaning it is to be understood: You have seduced me, Lord, and I have been seduced: you have taken hold of me, and you have been able to ((Al. you have placed)) (Jeremiah 20:7). For while you promise me mercy, and as a merciful father you hide your severity, and as a skilled doctor you hide the sharpest iron, lest you frighten the sick before you cure them, you have made me negligent; therefore, God says about Jerusalem: Behold, I will seduce her, and I will make her like a desert, and I will lay her waste like a land without water, and I will speak to her heart: and I will give her belongings from there, and the valley of Achor for opening understanding (Hosea 1:14, 15). Let us consider the order of these things: he seduces her and makes her a deserted and without water, so that she suffers from thirst for virtues. After she has said: My soul thirsts for you, how greatly my flesh longs for you (Psalm 41:2), then he will speak to her heart and console her in mourning. And he will give her possession, that is, of repentance and sorrow that works salvation. And the humility of her troubled heart (for this is what the valley of Achor signifies) opens understanding, so that she may not ignore her Creator. The enemy, he says, have trampled upon your sanctuary. There is no doubt that it signifies the Temple, which the victorious Romans trod upon. And we have become as in the beginning before we were called in Abraham, and while we were in Egypt, having neither God, nor kings, nor princes, nor prophets, nor the Law of God's commandments (Ose. III), all of which were completed after the passion of the Lord, and are fulfilled even to this day. For when they said: His blood be upon us and upon our children (Matth. XXVII, 25), there remains an everlasting curse, and their God does not reign, nor is his name invoked above, since he is not at all called the people of God.64:1-3
(Chapter 64, Verses 1 and following.) Oh, that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake before you! As when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil, to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence! When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. Chapter 70: If you open the heavens, trembling will seize the mountains from you, and they will melt like wax before fire, and the fire will consume your adversaries, and your name will be made known among your adversaries, and the nations will tremble at your presence. When you have done glorious things, the mountains will tremble because of you. For our enemies have trampled your sanctuary, and we have become like those in the beginning, when your name was not invoked upon us. Therefore, we implore and say: Oh, that you would tear open the heavens and come down; that you, who are always promised, would finally fulfill your promises. But this was said at that time when the Saviour had not yet come, nor had he taken upon himself a human nature and substance from a virgin's womb in order to save humanity: so that as we have borne the image of the earthy, we may bear the image of the heavenly (1 Corinthians 15). But if you were to do it, they say, and the heavens were to open up, or even the heavens, at the coming of your majesty, would flow down, or if trembling were to seize the mountains, and they were to be consumed, as wax is consumed by fire. And the heavens were opened before Ezekiel, and he saw a great vision (Ezek. I). But even Moses, in the blessings of Deuteronomy, implores: May the Lord open his good treasury, the heavens, to give you blessing (Deut. XXVIII). And in the Gospel (Matt. III), it is said (or it is testified) that John the Baptist saw the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit descending upon the Lord in the form of a dove. But the mountains, which at the coming of the Lord, of whom it is written: God is a consuming fire (Deut. IV, 24), will be consumed like wax and melt, are the opposing powers, and all those who rise up against the knowledge of God. Concerning them, it is also sung in the ninety-sixth psalm: The earth saw and trembled. The mountains melted like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth (Psalm 96:4, 5). For if you were to come down and fulfill your promises, the waters of the sea would dry up and their saltiness would be consumed by fire (according to Symmachus). This is also written in another psalm: Like smoke disappears, let them disappear; like wax melts before fire, let the sinners perish before God (Psalm 68:2). And it should be noted that when the waters of the sea are consumed by divine fire, then the name of the Lord Savior becomes known to his enemies. Concerning this, it is said in the sixty-seventh psalm: The tongue of your dogs is from enemies themselves, so that those who had not sensed his kindness may know by the destruction and their own captivity of their city. And the nations will be troubled by his presence, or rather, as it is more significantly said in Hebrew, they will be moved: so that those who were previously immobile may come to salvation. And when he has done wonderful things and shown signs in the Gospel, which he once showed in Egypt and in the wilderness, they will confess that they cannot bear the glory of his coming, either because trembling has seized the mountains. And beautifully, as if those who had prayed above were heard: Oh, that you would tear open the heavens and come down, that the mountains would melt away at your presence, afterwards they say: You have descended, the Word has become flesh and dwelt among us, truly Emmanuel, which is interpreted as God with us. And therefore all the mountains have flowed down from your face, of which we have spoken above. The Hebrews have interpreted this passage as follows: Thus the fire will burn the wicked, just as water boils with the heat of fire; for they do not understand the word Amasim () as destruction and decay, as others have interpreted, but they understand it as referring to the wicked.64:4-5
(Verse 4, 5.) From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him. You meet those who rejoice in doing righteousness, who remember you in your ways. (LXX: From ages past no one has heard, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him, and the works that you will do for those who hope for mercy. For you meet those who rejoice in doing righteousness, and they will remember your ways.) The Apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthians, takes a paraphrase, as it were, of this testimony from a Hebrew of the Hebrews, from the authentic books, not rendering word for word, which he altogether despises, but expressing the truth of the sense, which he uses to strengthen what he wants to say. Hence, let the delirium of the apocryphal writings be silenced, which are foisted upon the Churches of Christ on the occasion of this testimony. Of which it can truly be said that the devil sits in ambush with the rich in the apocrypha, in order to kill the innocent. And again: He lies in wait in the apocrypha like a lion in his den; he lies in wait to seize the poor (Psalm IX, 8). For the Ascension of Isaiah and the Apocalypse of Elijah bear witness to this. And on this occasion, many such women, burdened with sins, who are led by various desires, always learning but never able to come to knowledge of the truth (3 Timothy III), were deceived in Spain, and especially in Lusitania, so that they would embrace the marvels of Basilides, Balsamis, and Thesaurus, as well as Barbelo and Leusibora, and other such names. About which the apostolic man Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons and martyr, writes very diligently, explaining the origins of many heresies, especially the Gnostics, who deceived noble women of Egypt first around the Rhone, and then of Spain, mixing pleasure with their fables and claiming the name of knowledge for their ignorance (Irenaeus, Book 1 on Heresies). But what the people say at present is that they have never known, neither with their ears nor with their eyes, what God has prepared for his saints in the future: that it happens to those who practice righteousness and remember His ways. Moreover, according to the Septuagint, they say that they never knew any other God except for the one who truly is God, nor have they seen any other works so great that He will do for those who wait for His mercy, and they will do justice and remember His ways. And as it is written: No one has ever seen God (John 1:18). And again: No one can see My face and live (Exodus 33:20). Therefore, God is not explained by words, nor is He visible to the eyes, but He is seen by those about whom it is written: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8).64:6
(Verse 6.) Behold, you are angry, and we have sinned; we have always been in them, and we shall be saved. And we have become like the unclean, all of us, like the soiled cloths of our entire righteousness. And we have fallen like leaves, and our iniquities have swept us away like the wind. LXX: Behold, you are angry, and we have all sinned; therefore, we have erred and have become like all the unclean, like a cloth that sits, all our righteousnesses: and we have flowed away like leaves because of our iniquities: as the wind will take us away. A disorder of priorities. Not because you are angry, we have sinned; but because we have sinned, you are angry. And because we have sinned, you are angry with us, O Lord: therefore we have gone astray and have left the right path. Whether according to the Hebrew, who we have always been in sins, we shall be saved only by your mercy, who we are defiled through ourselves; and whatever righteousness we appear to have is compared to the rag of a sitting or menstruating woman. For which Theodotion put the Hebrew word Eddim (), which Symmachus interpreted as κυουσῶν, that is, of those giving birth; Aquila as μαρτυριῶν, that is, of testimonies: when blood is approved in the first marital union of a virgin. And we have fallen away, he says, like leaves from trees, which are scattered by the blasts of the winds because of our iniquities. In this, it should be considered that the righteousness which is in the Law is called impurity in comparison to the purity of the Gospel. For what was once glorified is not glorified anymore because of the surpassing glory. Therefore, the apostle Paul, who had fulfilled everything according to the righteousness which is in the Law, says that he has considered all things as loss in order to gain Christ (Philippians III), and because of the surpassing knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, for whom he considers everything as worthless, so that he may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having his own righteousness which is from the Law, but the righteousness which comes from God through faith in Christ. For he is just who dies in his own righteousness (Eccles. 7), if after the truth of the Gospel he wishes to exercise legal shadows, and not to pursue what is justly just. Hence, according to the wisest Solomon, every man seems just to himself, when he is engaged in the law: to whom the Lord speaks in the Gospel: 'You are they who justify yourselves before men' (Luke 16:15). Which Paul, in fleeing, says: 'I am conscious of nothing, yet I am not justified in this' (2 Cor. 4:4). But the righteousness of God, of which Solomon speaks: Understand true righteousness. Therefore there is another righteousness which does not have truth, and this is true righteousness, about which it is said again in the Gospel: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6). Many prophets and righteous people desired to see it, and did not see it. But Abraham saw this righteousness and rejoiced, not following the dead letter, but the life-giving spirit. No wonder these things are said about men, since even the stars, compared to the justice of God, are not clean, and what perverse thing He has devised against His angels. If anyone, therefore, after the Gospel of Christ and the coming of the Son of God, observes the ceremonies of the pedagogue Law, let him hear the people confessing that all that righteousness is compared to the filthiest rag, to which even Esther compares her diadem, which was the emblem of royal power, which she wore not by choice, but by necessity: You know my necessity: for I detest the sign of my pride which is over my head in the days of my appearance: I abhor it like a menstrual cloth: nor do I wear it on my days of rest.64:7
(Verse 7) There is no one who calls upon your name, who rises and holds on to you. You have hidden your face from us and have afflicted us in the hand of our iniquity. LXX: And there is no one who calls upon your name and remembers to grasp you. For you have turned your face away from us and have delivered us because of our iniquities. Like leaves from the trees, we have flowed and the dry wind has scattered us, therefore no one was found who would call upon your name and rising from the ruin of their iniquities, would grasp or hold on to you, and would say with the bride: I have found him whom my soul sought: I will hold on to him, and I will not let him go (Song of Solomon 3:4). The wind is mentioned in the Scriptures in three ways; either in the magnitude of temptations, or in the perversity of doctrine, or simply as the wind, by which clouds gather and the air is forced into clouds. Concerning temptations, there is this Gospel passage: The rivers came, the winds blew, and they beat against that house, but it did not collapse, because it was founded on a solid rock (Matthew 7:27). Concerning the perversity of doctrine: So that we may no longer be tossed around by every wind of doctrine in the wickedness of men (Ephesians 4:14). On wind in general: And they could not sail, for the wind was contrary (Mark 6:48): not that this cannot be understood metaphorically, but only that it bears a resemblance to our present experience. For when the Lord turns his face away from us, we are thrown into the hand of our own wickedness, or we are delivered to temptations because of our sins. From this we learn that wickedness also has a hand, and all the sins that strongly desire to keep us tightly bound. And in the hand of the tongue is both death and life (Prov. XVIII); and the holy one prays: Let not the foot of pride come to me (Psal. XXXV, 12). But we, because the Lord has turned his face away from us, knowing that which is written: Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved (Joel. II, 32), let us call upon his name and say: I have confessed my sin to you, and I have not covered up my iniquity. I said I will confess my iniquity to the Lord, and you forgave the impiety of my heart (Psal. XXXI, 56). And immediately we will have the Lord responding: I have blotted out your iniquities as a cloud, and your sins as a mist (Isaiah XLIV, 22), and we will say, Show us your face, and we shall be saved (Psalm LXXIX, 4): so that we may not be servants of sin, but servants of yours. For whoever commits sin is the servant of sin (John VIII).64:8-12
(Verse 8 and following) And now, Lord, you are our father, and we are clay; you are our potter, and all our works are the work of your hands. Do not be exceedingly angry, Lord, and do not remember our iniquity any longer. Look, your people are all of us. The city of your holy ones has become a desert; Zion has become a desert, Jerusalem is desolate. Our house of sanctification and glory, where our fathers praised you, has become a burning ruin, and all our desirable things have turned to ruins. Will you restrain yourself from punishing us, Lord, and be silent? Will you afflict us severely? - LXX: And now, Lord, you are our father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. Do not be exceedingly angry with us, Lord, and do not remember our sins forever. Look now, for we are all your people. Your holy city has become a wilderness, Zion has become a desolation, Jerusalem a curse. Our holy and glorious temple, where our ancestors praised you, has been burned with fire, and all that we treasured lies in ruins. And above all these things you have endured, O Lord. And you have remained silent and humbled us greatly. If we consider our own merits, we must despair. But if we consider your mercy, you who chastise every son whom you receive, we dare to pour forth prayers (Hebrews 12). For you are our father, who deemed to say: My firstborn son is Israel (Ezekiel 4:22). And although we are but clay and the work of your hands, and you are our creator; and not even a potter's vessel can answer why it was made thus or so: yet knowing that we are your children, we dare to say: Do not be angry, Lord, that is sufficient. We do not forbid anger, nor do we seek your patience beyond measure, through which we have stored up anger for ourselves on the day of wrath. But we beseech you, do not be excessively angry with us, do not remember the iniquity of our retaliation and vengeance at the time of our vengeance: but rather look upon your people, who were once called your people. And have mercy on the city of your sanctuary, in which your name has been invoked. This city is called Zion and Jerusalem, which the rushing of the river gladdens; and in which there was once a gazebo of virtues and contemplation of peace (Ps. 43). Moreover, your house, that is, the sanctuary of our sanctification and glory, in which our fathers praised you, has fallen into ruins and ashes, and has been destroyed by a raging fire, so that no victims are offered in it, no Passover is celebrated, nothing is done of the ceremonies that you commanded to be done, but all our desires have been turned into ruins. Therefore, since these things are so, O Lord, will you not restrain your mercy over them, and be silent to the blaspheming adversaries, and afflict and humble us, not in the usual manner, but excessively? All these things the Jews believe to have been accomplished in the times of the Assyrians and Babylonians. But according to what follows from the perspective of the Savior's person, I appeared to those who did not inquire. I was found by those who did not seek me (Isaiah 65:1); we refer everything to the time of Roman victory, which Josephus, the Jewish historian, explains in seven volumes, under the title of the Jewish Captivity, that is, περὶ ἁλώσεως. And it is superfluous to discuss these things in words, which are evident to the eyes, as all their desirable things have been turned into ruins, and the Temple, celebrated throughout the whole world, has become a dung heap in the new city, which was called Elia by its founder; and it has become a dwelling place for owls: and in vain they say every day in their synagogues: Over all these things, O Lord, you will sustain and afflict us, and you will greatly humble us. We can refer these things to the Church, or to the soul of a holy man, which can rightly be called a mirror and vision of peace, when the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit dwell in it. But if, by our fault or the fault of the people, such a Zion is abandoned by the Lord, immediately the fire of ignited devilish arrows will become evident: for all who commit adultery are like a burning oven in their hearts. And with the coldness of chastity expelled, the flame of lust will rage in the temple of God, so that whatever was glorious and renowned in us before will fall, be destroyed, and perish. And let that which is said in the Psalms be fulfilled: They have burned your sanctuary with fire, they have profaned the tabernacle of your name on earth. Which only He can extinguish, from whose belly flow the rivers of living water.Book Eighteen
Book Eighteen.We have now come to the Book of Isaiah, indeed the final book of the Old Testament, which is dedicated to you, O daughter Eustochium, and to the name of your holy mother Paula, so that I may now recall with equal celebration those whom I have looked upon with equal honor. Especially since she, while alive, urged me more frequently to undertake this work with you, and your very learned brother Pammachius, both then and afterwards, did not cease to encourage me with his numerous writings. And may it be the same for me and for the present and absent friends, both men and women, who sleep in Christ, that is, may there be the same bond of souls, that is, love of hearts and not of bodies. I am not ignorant of how great a diversity of opinions exists among humans. I am not speaking of the mystery of the Trinity, the correct confession of which is ignorance of knowledge, but of other ecclesiastical doctrines, namely, the Resurrection and the state of souls and human flesh, the promises of the future, how they should be understood, and how the Revelation of John should be understood, which, if taken literally, requires us to be Judaizers; if interpreted spiritually, as it is written, we will appear to be opposing the opinions of many ancient authorities: of the Latins, Tertullian, Victorinus, Lactantius; of the Greeks, to pass over the others, I will mention only Irenaeus, the bishop of Lyon, against whom the most eloquent man, Dionysius, the bishop of the Church of Alexandria, wrote an elegant book, mocking the fables of a thousand years, the golden and gem-studded Jerusalem on earth, the restoration of the Temple, the blood of sacrifices, the Sabbath rest, the injury of circumcision, marriages, childbirth, the education of children, the delights of banquets, and the slavery of all nations; and again, wars, armies, triumphs, and the deaths of conquerors and the hundred-year-old sinner. To whom did Apollinarius respond with two volumes, whom not only the people of his own sect, but also a very large number of our own followers in this matter, follow eagerly, so that I can already foresee with a prescient mind how great the rage against me will be incited by them. I do not envy them, if they love the earth so much that they desire earthly things in the kingdom of Christ; and after an abundance of food and the gluttony of the throat, they seek those things that are under the belly. Concerning these, the apostle Paul says: 'Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food' (I Cor. VI, 13). And 'The kingdom of God does not consist in food and drink' (Rom. XIV, 17). And the Lord and Savior said, 'You are wrong, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection, people neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven (Matthew 22:29-30).' And in saying this, I do not take away the truth of the body, which will rise again incorruptible and immortal: it will change in glory, not in substance. And so we must walk the straight path, neither leaning to the left nor to the right, that is, we must not follow Jewish or heretical error. Some of those who are of the flesh, love only the things of the flesh: others, ungrateful for God's blessings, refuse to have what Christ had both in his birth and in his resurrection. For when the apostles thought he was a spirit, or according to the Gospel which the Nazaraeans, who are Hebrews, read, a disembodied demon, he said to them: Why are you troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, for I myself am he: touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet (Luke 24:38, 39). And again he spoke to Thomas, who was doubting: Put your finger here and see my hands; and put out your hand and place it in my side; do not be unbelieving, but believing (John 20:27). Finally, to prove the reality of his body, it is written that he ate food, which is also ordered to be given to the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, whom he raised from the dead. And Lazarus, so that his resurrection would not be considered a phantom, is reported to have had a meal with the Savior (Mark 5; Luke 13; John 12). Not that after the resurrection we eat and drink, as our adversaries the Millenarians would have it, and that immortal and incorruptible bodies need earthly nourishment to sustain them; otherwise, where there is food, diseases follow; where there are diseases, doctors are necessary; where there are doctors, there is often death; and then, there is resurrection again, and a new way of life; but rather, the consumption of food proves the faith in the resurrection. We take great care to avoid, and we speak more forcefully, knowing that we must walk among serpents and scorpions who bite and sting in secret (Ezekiel 2). And about these things the Preacher says: If the serpent bites in silence, he who secretly detracts from another has no advantage. (Ecclesiastes 10:11); and David, their father, says: While you were sitting against your brother you spoke, and against the son of your mother you placed a stumbling block. These things you have done, and I kept silent. You thought that I would be like you. I will reprove you and set them before your face, (Psalm 50: 20-21) so that you, who accuse others, may learn to have them yourself. However, if anyone is displeased with the length of the explanations on the Prophets, let him listen freely. I have said much fewer things than the obscurity of the matter demands, and each person is capable of making brief commentaries for themselves, which, however, are not sufficient for a complete understanding. For the history and order of events are not simply narrated by the Prophets, but everything is full of riddles; one thing is sounded in the words, another is held in the meanings, so that what you may have considered clear and unoffending in reading may again be enveloped in the obscurities of what follows. But it is time for me to put an end to the prophetic volume, in the exposition of which, if I have been more prolix than usual, the final parts must be granted, which I did not want to divide so as not to increase the number of books.
65:1
(Chapter 65, Verse 1) They asked me who did not ask before me: they found me, who did not seek me. I said, behold me, behold me to a nation that did not call upon my name. 70: I appeared to those who did not seek me: I was found by those who did not ask me. I said, behold me in a nation that did not invoke my name. In the mixed prayer of the people, in which he had said: Why have you made us stray, O Lord, from your way: you have hardened our hearts, so that we do not fear you (Isaiah 63:17)? He replied, as the Jews would have it, God the Father; as we maintain, the Lord and Savior: to such an extent am I not harsh and cruel, that I prefer the repentance of a sinner to their death: nor do I reject penitent children, who, however, have preserved the dignity of their own name, so that I even desire to save strangers (Ezek. XXXIII). For those who did not seek me, nor were able to say: Whom Moses wrote about in the Law and the prophets, we have found Jesus (John I, 45); I appeared to them, of whom the Prophet testifies elsewhere: Those to whom it has not been announced about him will hear; and those who have not heard, will understand (Isa. LII, 15). But you who meditate on the law of God day and night, you boast in vain of repentance, the works of which you do not perform. Hence the evangelists and apostles, desiring to confirm the coming of the Lord with testimonies from the Old Testament, said: 'That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet' (Matt. 1:22). The centurion did not seek the Lord, and he heard from the Lord: 'I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel' (Luke 7:9; Matt. 8:10). The Syrophoenician woman did not understand the words of the Prophets, but she is praised by the voice of the Lord: O woman, great is your faith. Regulus (John 4), who is called βασιλικὸς in Greek, which we can more correctly interpret as palatinum from the royal court, found not only healing for his son, but for the whole of his household. And what is said in Hebrew: Those who did not ask of me have sought me, is referred to the same meaning: that those who did not previously have knowledge of God, later seek the Lord, and come to know him through revelation: as happened to Paul when he persecuted the Church of the believers, he was revealed (Acts 9). And to the Apostle Peter, he said: Blessed are you, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven (Matt. XVI, 17). This was what Moses sought when he spoke to God: If I have found grace in your sight, show yourself to me manifestly, so that I may see you (Exod. XXXIII, 13). Desiring the greater riches of the treasures of Egypt, he endured the reproach of Christ, looking forward to the recompense of the future, and he contemplated the invisible God as if he could see Him with his mind. Of whom it is read in the Psalms: 'The hope of all the ends of the earth, and of those who are far away on the sea' (Psalm 64:6). And in Genesis: 'He shall be the expectation of the nations' (Genesis 49:10). And what follows: 'I said: Behold me: to a nation that did not invoke my name' (Exodus 3:14), fits that sense: 'He who is, sent me to you.' Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, etc. (Philippians 2); but calling all the nations of the world, he made one nation of his own name, the Christians.65:2
(Verse 2) I have stretched out my hands all day long to an unbelieving people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own thoughts. LXX: I have stretched out my hands all day long to an unbelieving and contradicting people, who have not walked in the good way but after their own sins. This, which is said above, 'I appeared to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me,' the Apostle Paul, writing to the Romans, after he had explained concerning the role of the Gentiles, added: But to Israel he says, 'I have stretched out my hands to an unbelieving and contradicting people' (Rom. 10:21), who, though overcome by the Lord's blessings and witnessing signs beyond human capability, said, 'This man does not cast out demons, except by Beelzebub, the prince of demons' (Luke 11:15). And again: You are a Samaritan and have a demon (John 8:48). And again: Though you are only a man, you make yourself out to be God (John 10:33). And elsewhere: This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath (John 9:10). And many other things that would take too long to tell. Finally, when he stretched out his hands to the unbelieving people from the cross and said, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing' (Luke 23:34), those nearby said, 'Bah!' He who destroys the Temple, and in three days builds it up again: let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe him. He saved others, himself he cannot save. (Matt. XXVII, 40) . And Simeon, taking the child in his arms, prophesied about him: Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against. (Luke II, 34) . In Rome, the Jews speak to Paul: We have heard of this sect, that everywhere it is spoken against. (Acts XXVIII, 41) . We can extend our hands and receive in the generosity of the giver, because he denies nothing to those who ask: but immediately restores health to the leper when he asks (Matth. VIII): and receives eyes to the blind man from birth (John. IX): and the hungry, apart from children and women, were satisfied with thousands of people in the desert (Matth. XIV). They signify extended hands and the mercy of a parent who eagerly receives their children into their embrace. Those who walked in the wrong way and followed their own thoughts. To them the Lord speaks through the Prophet: Turn your foot away from the rough path (Prov. IV, 27). For they loved strangers and, like a prostitute, said: I will go after my lovers (Hos. II, 5). And leaving the good way, which is said in the Gospel: I am the way (John XIV, 6), they walked along the wide and spacious road that leads to death, and followed their own thoughts, which the Prophet, avoiding, implores the Lord: Cleanse me from my hidden sins, O Lord, and spare your servant from strangers. If the dominion had not dominated me, then I will be blameless (Ps. XVIII, 13, 14). And the Apostle teaches that those who did not have knowledge of God should be handed over to a reprobate mind and evil works, so that they do things that do not befit them (Rom. I). But let us, the Psalmist, say with our voice: Lead me in the right way (Ps. CXXXVIII, 24).65:3
(Verse 3.) The people who provoke me to anger are always before my face: they sacrifice in the gardens, and offer incense upon bricks (Exodus XX, 4). LXX: This people who provoke me are always before my eyes, they always sacrifice in the gardens, and offer incense upon bricks to non-gods. ** The Lord says: You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath. And they provoked me with strange gods, and with abominations they provoked me to anger. They sacrificed to devils and not to God (Deut. 32:16, 17). They, by their eagerness to sin, as if they were provoking and challenging God, not only did what was not allowed, but continuously and always sinned in the sight of the Lord, whose eyes see everything, even in his temple, sacrificing victims to idols. So that nothing would indeed be lacking in sacrilege, they would sacrifice in gardens and burn incense on bricks, joining the luxury of idolatry with the pleasure of sacrifices, and instead of one altar built according to God's law from unpolished stones, they would smear cooked bricks and strips of land with the blood of the victims. Let it be said in a literal sense: otherwise, according to spiritual understanding, every heretic provokes the Lord to anger and offers impure sacrifices in the falsehood of their teachings, which are by no means firm and lasting forever, but rather like gardens that quickly wither, providing for the delights of the flesh. To whom it is said: All flesh is grass, and all its glory is like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls: but the word of the Lord, which is preached in the churches, remains forever (Isaiah 40:6-7). Not wanting his vineyard to become gardens, Naboth refuses to them to the impious king Ahab and he sheds blood (1 Kings 21). For it was not fitting for the paternal inheritance to perish: and so that the vineyards, which bring forth the fruit that gladdens the heart of man, would not be replaced with vegetables of virtue, delights, and vices. It is said that the most wise sentiment among the Greeks, rightly celebrated and praised, calls all the pleasures of the world, the pomp of the world and the quickly passing luxury, the gardens of Adonis. The heretics also sacrifice over stones, when they try to strengthen their errors and exquisite lies by the art of dialectic, and to construct them into a square, and to strengthen them with linear necessities, as they say, that is, they cover them with scattered dust and reinforce them with drawn lines. But what is read in the Septuagint, which is not found in Hebrew, is to be understood in the sense that, according to the letter and the spirit, demons do not exist, because they have already fallen from God, who truly is. Nor do heretical sects, which hold no truth, but pass away and perish like shadows. Hence Esther also speaks to the Lord: Do not give your inheritance to those who do not exist. And the saint prays in the psalm: Forgive me, so that I may be refreshed before I depart and no longer exist (Ps. XXXVIII, 14). For whoever, while living in this body, has not obtained the forgiveness of sins, and thus departs from life, perishes to God and ceases to exist, although they may continue to exist in punishment.65:4-5
(Verses 4, 5.) Those who dwell in tombs and sleep in the temples of idols, who eat pork meat and unclean broth from their vessels, who say, 'Go away from me, do not come near me, for you are unclean.' LXX: They sleep in tombs and caves because of the nightmares, those who eat pork meat and the broth of sacrifices, all their vessels are profane. They say, 'Go far away from me, do not come near me, for I am clean.' There was nothing of sacrilege that the people of Israel would omit, not only sacrificing in gardens and burning incense on bricks, but also sitting or dwelling in tombs, and sleeping in the temples of idols, where they used to lie down on the skins of sacrificial animals to learn the future in dreams. This error is celebrated today in the temple of Aesculapius and in many other ethnic cults, which are nothing more than the tombs of the dead. They were not satisfied with this limit of impiety, but they also feasted on the flesh of pigs, which was prohibited by law, and they devoured yesterday's food, which the Greeks call 'ἕωλον', with greedy mouths (Leviticus 12). As a result, they and their vessels were unclean, and their audacity and arrogance grew daily to such an extent that anyone who did not share their error was considered unclean, and they would avoid coming into contact with them, just as the Samaritans and Jews do to us, and all heretics, like those that recently sprouted under the brainy master in Gaul, who veer away from the basilicas of the martyrs and flee from us, who perform prayers there in the customary manner, as if we were unclean. However, it is not they themselves who do this so much as the demons dwelling within them, not enduring the strength and punishments of the holy ashes. But who among the heretics does not rest in memories, does not sleep in the dens of the masters? What kind of people were Marcion and Valentinus, and more recently Eunomius, who, contesting the impurity of their mind with leprous flesh, abandon the light of the Holy Spirit and dwell in the darkness of the devil, and love the caves which Jeremiah condemns in mystical language: 'My inheritance has become to me like a cave of hyenas' (Jeremiah 12:8), which our people call a wild beast, as this animal always pursues carcasses and lives on the juice and pus of dead bodies. Against these, who dwell in caves, and Abacuc spoke with a lamentable voice, saying: Woe to him who gives his neighbor a drink of turbid potion and intoxicates him, so that he looks towards his caves. (Abac. II, 15). Concerning these caves, the Lord spoke: It is written, My Father's house shall be called a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of robbers. (Matth. XXI, 13), in which you slay the souls of the deceived, so that you do not see visions in them, of which the same Savior said: I have multiplied visions, and I have assimilated myself to the hands of the Prophets. (Ose. XII, 10). And another said to him: You have spoken, he said, in a vision to your children (Psalm 88:20), but you believe in dreams and illusions, which the Lord has commanded not to be believed. They feed on the flesh of pigs, of which it is said: Do not cast your pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6). And they consume profane law, which is hidden in their books by heretical art. All their vessels are unclean, both in body and in doctrine, and they have come to such madness that anyone who is not like them is detested as if lost.65:6-7
(Verse 6, 7.) These people will be in my fury, a burning fire all day long. Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but I will repay and recompense into their bosom your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, says the Lord, who sacrificed upon the mountains and upon the hills, reproached me, and I will measure their work first into their bosom. LXX: This is the smoke of my fury: a fire burns in it all the days. Behold, it is written before me: I will not be silent until I repay and recompense their sins, and the sins of their fathers, says the Lord, those who burned incense on the mountains and on the hills have reproached me; I will repay their deeds into their bosom. Because of your deeds and your incredible arrogance of mind, thinking that the unclean are clean, you shall be smoke, a burning fire that is kindled by my fury. But we must understand fury, forgetfulness, anger, repentance in God in the same way as we understand feet, hands, eyes, ears, and other bodily members which are said to belong to an incorporeal and invisible God. Not in the sense that these perturbations are open to Him, Who, by His gift of grace, extinguishes them in us, but in the sense that we understand by our words the affection of God toward us. For anger is not defined in God as it is in men, who find its material in our vices rather than in the will of the Lord, Who will heap His anger on us on the day of wrath and of the revelation of His just judgment, to burn up our thistles, thorns, and tares, which we have brought forth instead of the seed of God, and also the wood, hay, and stubble which we have built on the foundation of Paul (I Cor. 3). We read of this perpetual fire in the song of Moses: A fire is kindled in my anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell. It shall consume the earth and its produce, and shall burn the foundations of the mountains, and my arrows shall pierce them (Deut. XXXII, 22). The meaning of this testimony is that the fire of God's wrath always burns against sinners and pursues them even to the depths of hell. Such was also the rich man in the Gospel (Luke XVI), clothed in purple, who, while Lazarus rested in the bosom of Abraham, was tormented by eternal fires. It will also burn the earth, that is, our flesh, and its offspring, that is, the desires of the flesh, with the same flame. And it will destroy the foundations that rise up against the knowledge of God. It will also scatter the arrows of God's mountains, so that humiliated in punishment, they cease to be mountains. Behold, it is written before me. For all our sins are open to the eyes of God, and they are written in these books, as we read in Daniel: Thrones were set up and books were opened (Dan. 7:10). Of these, it is said in another place: Let them be written above the earth (Jerem. XVII, 13). And he who had said previously will by no means remain silent any longer, I was silent: shall I always be silent? says the Lord (Isai. XLII, 14). But he will give to each one according to what he has done in his bosom, that is, in the secret of his heart, so that his own conscience may torment them. About which the prophet Hosea also prophesies: Their leaders will fall by the sword because of the insubordination of their tongue (Hosea VII, 16). This is their deviation within themselves, which proceeds from the heart of each individual. Something similar is written in Proverbs; All things are returned to the wicked in their own deviation. The term 'sinus' is also called 'caput' in another sense, relating to the ruling part of the soul (Greek: ἡγεμονικὸν). Their ways are directed towards their heads. And elsewhere: His pain will turn upon his own head, and his wickedness will descend upon the crown of his head. But there is also a good bosom, which enjoys the sanctity of conscience, of which the Psalmist said: And my prayer will be turned into my bosom (Psalm 34:13). Bosom here refers to any affection and love, such as when speaking to a husband, 'The wife that is in your bosom'; or to a parent, 'Bring your children into your bosom' (Luke 16). Therefore, all who have Abraham as their father and have deserved to be like him in virtues, find rest in his bosom. For we should not accept those fathers, whose injustices and sins are now being repaid to us, from whose seed our bodies are born. Otherwise, Moses himself, who said that the sins of the fathers are to be repaid to the third and fourth generation, interprets his own statement, saying: The children shall not die because of the sins of the fathers, but each one shall die in his own sin. With the approval of the same Ezekiel, it is said that the parable 'The fathers ate sour grapes, and the children's teeth were set on edge' (Ezek. XVIII, 2) should not be spoken in that way, but only the teeth of the one who eats are set on edge, and the sinful soul perishes without expiating external sins. From this we understand, either in a positive or negative sense, that each father to whom one is assigned is to be taken when he has departed from this life. But they sacrificed upon the mountains and hills of Israel, when they set up golden calves in Bethel and Dan. And they reproached God with their commandments, while neglecting His ceremonies, and they gave worship to demons instead of God: the works of which should be restored in their bosom (Hosea 4). And every heretic who despises the simplicity of the Church sacrifices on the mountains and reproaches God, while despising His commandments.65:8
(V. 8) Thus says the Lord: Just as when a grain is found in the cluster, and it is said: do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it; so I will do for the sake of my servants, that I will not destroy them all. LXX: Thus says the Lord: Just as when a grape is found in the cluster, and it is said: do not touch it, for there is a blessing in it; so I will do for the sake of my servant, that I will not destroy them all. The Lord declared that Israel would perish and all their sins would be revealed before their eyes, and He would repay them according to the works of each individual in their bosom. After this, he presents a similitude and example of comparison, in order to teach that everyone perishes in their own sin, and even if there is a great multitude of sinners, one righteous person does not perish due to the fault of all. If someone, he says, takes a cluster of grapes that could not ripen, and brings fruits that have turned sour, or is corrupted by some fault of the air or earth, they find one intact seed which has the hope of becoming even greater and reaching its usual ripeness. Let them say to another person, do not touch it, but let it grow, because it is the blessing of the Lord that in such a multitude of grapes, only one would escape dryness. Likewise, he says, with the countless multitude of Jews who have offended God, if I find a few righteous ones, I will deliver them from the destruction of the many. And I will do this for the sake of my servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to whom the promise was made, or for the sake of those who serve me among many sinners. We read something similar in Genesis, when from fifty down to ten the righteous are gradually sought after, who could free the city from sin (Gen. XVIII), and only the righteous Lot is saved from Sodom with his daughters (Gen. XIX). This is written about in the Catholic Epistle (II Pet. II), that his soul was tormented by witnessing abominable acts, and that the judgment of his soul demonstrated the character of his body. Enoch also, among the very numerous multitude of sinners, was alone taken up to God (Genesis 5). And Noah, with his children, because he turned away from the servitude of the Lord, could not destroy the Flood (Genesis 7). But Abraham, preserved from the fire of the Chaldeans by the integrity of his faith (Genesis 11). In this sense, the words of Jeremiah, spoken from the perspective of the Lord, agree: 'I have found Israel like a warm desert, with those slain by the sword' (Jeremiah 38:2 in the Septuagint; in the Vulgate, Jeremiah 31:2). For when, he says, the whole world lay wounded by idolatry as if slain by the sword, Israel was found to have the warmth of faith in Abraham, like a physician who, after a battle among the dead bodies, where he perceives some vital signs in the pulsing veins, applies care to the wounds in order to restore health. For it is written, ὡς θερμὸν, that is, like something warm, deceived by the ambiguity of the word, the Latin interpreter translated it as "lupinum," in which even many of the Greeks err. And yet it should be known that in Hebrew it is written as 'Thoda' (), which means grace; namely, that Israel is saved by the grace of God and not by the merit of their own works.65:9
(Verse 9) And I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, and from Judah those who possess my mountains; my chosen ones will inherit it, and my servants will dwell there. They will pasture their flocks in the open fields and find rest in the valley of Achor, for my people who have sought me. He who above called the grape of the goblet, or the berry, or (as many wills) the cluster, now calls it the seed of Jacob and Judah, who possess the mountains or its mountain. Many understand the seed of Jacob and Judah to mean Christ, of whom it is said in Genesis: Judah, your brothers shall praise you (Gen. XLIX, 8), and so on. For no one doubts that the Savior was born from the lineage of Judah. Others, however, understand it to mean the Apostles, of whom we have often said: A remnant will be saved (Isai. I, 9). And: Unless the Lord of hosts had left us seed, we would have been as Sodom, and we would have been like Gomorrah (Rom. IX, 29). They have possessed the mountain of the Lord conscious of dwelling in Christ, saying: We have come to Mount Zion and the heavenly city of the living God, Jerusalem (Heb. XII, 22). Or its mountains, of which it is sung in the Psalms: Mountains surround it, and the Lord surrounds his people (Psalm CXXIV, 2). And: His foundations are in the holy mountains (Psalm 86:1). But the elect of the Lord shall possess Zion, and they shall dwell in it, his servants. Of whom it is written in the same volume: The seed of Abraham, his servants, the sons of Jacob, his elect (Psalm 105:6). Therefore, whoever is still seed, not yet formed into a son, is a servant of the Lord, to whom he says in the Gospel: I know that you are the seed of Abraham, but you are not yet sons (John 8). For if they were Abraham's seed, they would do the works of Abraham. But the one who is a son, he is also chosen by the Lord. Therefore the chosen one possesses Jerusalem, and the servants dwell in it, and it is said that there is a distinction between the sons and servants: You have not received again the spirit of bondage in fear, but the spirit of adoption (Rom. VIII, 15). And it shall be, he says, fields or forests for sheepfolds. In Hebrew, it is called Sharon for fields. Every region around Lydda, Joppa, and Jamnia is suitable for grazing flocks. Concerning this, it is written in the Acts of the Apostles: 'The wilderness will turn into pastures' (Acts 9), as it is also sung in the psalm: 'The voice of the Lord perfects the stags, and it reveals the pastures' (Psalm 28:9), or the dense forests, so that thieves may cease to lurk there, and venomous beasts and poisonous animals, and the once places of ambush and bloodshed, may be transformed into churches of the Lord, and the flocks may be grazed there by Him who laid down His life for His sheep. Concerning which it is written: He himself shall feed us forever (Psalm 45:15). This voice, fulfilling the deer, and revealing the depths of the forest, cries out through John in the wilderness: Now the axe is laid unto the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bring forth good fruit shall be cut down, and cast into the fire (Matthew 3:10). And again: Every valley shall be filled (Luke 3:5); concerning which it is also said now: and the valley of Achor for a fold of cattle, and for a resting place for my people who sought me. From which, in the book of Joshua son of Nun, we read that Acham, who stole from the ban and the spoils of Jericho, was killed there, along with all his household, because he had troubled the people. The place itself, where it happened, was called Achor, which means the name of trouble and tumult (Jos. VII). Therefore, the Valley of Achor, where there was once a curse and punishment, will be a resting place for cattle. Paul, explaining this, says: Is God concerned about oxen (I Cor. IX, 9)? That truly he speaks concerning us, for it is necessary that he who plows, plow in hope, and he who threshes the threshing floor, thresh in hope, so that he may partake. Concerning this valley, it is mystically written in Hosea: 'I will speak to her heart, undoubtedly Jerusalem; and I will give her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor, so that her understanding may be opened.' (Hosea 2:14) For this reason, the Valley of Achor is given as a possession of the cattle of the people of God, and the pastures are turned into sheepfolds, so that understanding may be opened, and the truth of the Lord may be known.65:11-12
(Verse 11, 12.) And you who have forsaken the Lord, and have forgotten my holy mountain. You who set a table for fortune, and pour out libations upon it. I will number you for the sword, and you shall all fall in the slaughter. LXX: But you who have forsaken me, and have forgotten my holy mountain, and prepare a table for fortune, and fill a cup for the demon: I will deliver you to the sword; you shall all be killed. In the former wilderness and chaos. In the lands of the Gentiles there will be sheepfolds, that is, the Churches of all believers from the whole world. But you, O people of Israel, who have forsaken the Lord and have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger, who have forgotten His holy mountain, of which we have frequently spoken, or the Lord Savior, who is the mountain of mountains, and all holy ones, or Mount Zion, and the heavenly city of the living God, Jerusalem, who do these things and these things, I will deliver you to the sword, so that you all may be killed together. If you ask what the sword is, we shall say later: You set out a table for Fortune, he says, and pour libations on it; or, according to the Seventy: You prepare a table for Fortune, and fill a cup for a demon, or κέρασμα, as all the translators similarly rendered it, that is, a mixed potion. Now, in all cities, especially in Egypt and Alexandria, there is an ancient custom of idolatry, that on the last day of the year and month, which is the last, they set out a table filled with various kinds of food, and a cup mixed with honeyed wine, either wishing for the fertility of the past year or that of the coming year. But the Israelites were doing this, venerating the monstrous images of all the idols at once, and not offering sacrifices on the altar, but pouring out this kind of offering on the table. And what the Seventy translated as 'Menni', in Hebrew it has 'absque me', which Symmachus interpreted to mean 'without me', so the sense is: 'The one who prepares a table for fortune, and fills the cup without me'; to teach that it is not done for oneself, but for the demon. And the sword with which they are killed is taken as a punishment. For not all the people of Israel were handed over by the sword, as we see how many thousands are scattered throughout the whole world; but by punishments and tortures, captivity and ultimate servitude, according to what is said elsewhere: 'All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,' and in the Song of Deuteronomy: 'I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh— the flesh of the slain.' (Deut. XXXII, 42). It is not credible that the arrows of the Lord could be drunk with blood, and that his sword could be satiated with the flesh of the wounded. About these arrows that Job speaks of, which pierce him every moment of the hour. The arrows of the Lord are in my body: their fury drinks up my spirit; for when I begin to speak, they prick me. (Job 6:4). According to the allegory, it must be said that all those who abandon the Church and forget the holy mountain of God, and give themselves over to the spirits of error and the teachings of demons, prepare a table for their fortune, believing that nothing pertains to God but that everything is governed by the course of the stars or the variety of fortune: these are the ones whom Paul reproaches, saying: You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons (1 Corinthians 10:20-21): because they will be handed over to eternal punishments, so that none of them can escape death and destruction.65:12
(Verse 12.) Because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not hear. But you did evil in my sight and chose what I did not want. LXX: I called you and you did not hear, I spoke and you despised, and you did evil in my presence and chose what I did not want. You have been handed over to the sword, for not only have you forsaken me and forgotten me, but you have also mixed the cup of fortune. But when I was Emmanuel, that is, God with us, about whom John also writes: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14), I called you in the present: Return to me, O returning children (Jeremiah 3:14). And: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened (Matth. XI, 28), and you did not want to respond. I have spoken in parables, and I have done everything that I should do, and you did not hear me, rather you despised me. For I am the one who said before: I came and there was no man: I called, and there was no one who obeyed (Isai. L, 2). And it was not enough for you to show impiety by despising me while I am present, and to send the heir, sent to you, to be killed; but you did evil in my sight, and you chose what I did not want, and you blasphemed the Son of God, so that you would choose Barabbas the thief, the author of murder and sedition; and yet you dare to say: Why did you make us stray from your way (Isai. LXIII, 17)? If those who did not know me found me, and those who did not call upon me received me, to whom you are worthy of tortures, who rejected me when I was sent to you and saying: I have come only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24), but instead you crucified me? Let us consider what it means when he says: And you chose what I did not want; or what is the will of the Son of God, who speaks in the Gospel: Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21). About which God Himself says: 'I wanted to do Your will' (Ps. 39:9). This is the will about which the Lord Himself spoke: 'I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will' (Acts 13:22). Therefore the saint prays and says: 'Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God' (Ps. 143:10). For all things are lawful, but not all things are expedient. And the Apostle says about virgins that he does not have a command from the Lord, but he still wishes them to be as he is himself (1 Cor. 7). From this he shows that the indulgence of the master should by no means be followed, but rather his will (I Cor. VII); and that we should choose what is profitable, not what is permissible, as is the case with second marriage. I want young women to marry, to bear children, to be mothers of families (I Tim. V, 14). And he sets forth the reasons why he grants these things: For certain things have gone astray in the past after Satan. Therefore, the pure will of the second marriage is not to be belittled by a comparison to fornication.65:13-14
(Verse 13, 14.) Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Behold, my servants will eat, and you will be hungry. Behold, my servants will drink, and you will be thirsty. Behold, my servants will rejoice, and you will be put to shame. Behold, my servants will praise with the exultation of the heart, and you will cry out because of the pain of the heart, and because of the brokenness of the spirit you will howl. LXX: Therefore, thus says the Lord: Behold, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry. Behold, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. Behold, my servants will rejoice, but you will be confounded. Behold, my servants will exult in joy, but you will cry out because of the pain in your hearts, and because of the brokenness of your spirits you will wail. Not only will you fall by the sword, you who have forsaken the Lord and done evil in his sight, and refused to listen to his words, but you will also see a great difference between yourselves and the multitude of the nations. For those who serve me will eat and drink, rejoice and praise with exultation of the heart. But on the contrary, you will hunger and thirst, you will be confused and cry out in pain of heart and contrition of spirit. They think that all these things will be accomplished in a thousand years, believing that food and drink are the kingdom of God, without understanding that which is written: Labor not for the food which perishes, but for the bread of life and truth (John VI, 27), desiring to eat the flesh of Christ and the fruit of the tree of life. About which the Savior speaks: I am the bread that came down from heaven (John 6:33). And the Ecclesiastes says: Open your eyes and be satisfied with bread (Proverbs 20:13). And the Psalmist says: I was young, and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be a blessing (Psalm 37:25). He was instructing his disciples about this bread and spiritual banquet: But you are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom (Luke 22:28). But if we consider simple bread, how can we explain it: The Lord will not let the soul of the just perish by famine (Prov. 10:3). And again: The Lord knows the ways of the blameless, and their inheritance will be forever. They will not be put to shame in the time of distress, and in the days of famine they will be satisfied (Psalm 37:18, 19). For how many holy ones die in persecution, consumed by hunger and poverty; how many righteous ones go hungry, while the wicked are filled with their excesses! But that drink is to be received, which is drawn from the fountains of Israel; whoever drinks it, will have within themselves a fountain of water springing up to eternal life (John 4; Luke 22). This is the same drink that the Savior promises to drink with the Apostles in the kingdom of the Father: who gives joy to the heart of man (Psalm 103:14), so that those who drink it may say: You have given joy in my heart (Psalm 4:7). Of this food and drink, among the eight beatitudes it is said: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6). And the mother of the Lord, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied: He has filled the hungry with good things (Luke 1:53), those who previously did not have the food of the Lord; and he has sent the rich away empty, who were given for his burial; and they rejected the one whom the Prophets had promised. Of whom the Psalmist also sings in another place: The rich have become poor and hungry (Psalm 34:11), that is, the people of the Jews. But those who seek the Lord, that is, the crowd of Gentiles, will not lack any good thing. And when the servants of Christ, believing in Him, will have been joyful and praised God with exultation of heart and joy, then they will be confounded, seeing that others have taken their place; and they will cry out in sorrow of heart, fulfilling that which is written: There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:50): when the lambs of the gentiles and the righteous stand on the right, and the goats of the Jews and the wicked on the left; some receiving eternal rewards, others eternal punishments. The contrition of the spirit, on account of the pain of the heart, is to be understood in the conscience of sins, according to what is written: 'They will know those who go astray in spirit, and there will be understanding' (Isaiah 29:24). And: 'A contrite and humbled heart, O God, you will not despise' (Psalm 50:19). The spirit is crushed when it is raised up; this is written about the enemy king of Israel: 'The Lord hardened his spirit' (2 Kings 17:14). And about the prince of Babylon, when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened, so that he would proudly say: 'This is Babylon, and I made it' (Daniel 4:27).65:15-16
(Vers. 15, 16.) And you shall dismiss your name in the oath to my chosen ones, and the Lord God will kill you, and He will call His servants by another name, in which whoever is blessed on earth will be blessed in God, amen: and whoever swears on earth will swear in God, amen. LXX: For you shall abandon your name to my chosen ones. But the Lord will kill you, and to those who serve me, a new name will be called, to whom blessings will be given on earth: for they bless the true God, and those who swear on earth will swear by the true God. In reference to satiety, which is called Sabaa in Hebrew, others have interpreted it as an oath; a word that has many meanings and is varied according to the different accents. It is understood as both an oath and satiety, and fullness, and many, and seven. We have spoken about it in the book of Genesis, and in this volume (Chapter IV), where seven women took hold of one man. Again, because it is translated by the Septuagint, it is true, and in Hebrew it is called Amen; Aquila translates it as πεπιστωμένως, that is, faithfully. But what he says is this: as others succeed you, your name will be the oath of my chosen ones, so that they may have you as an example of evils and detest such endurance, and they may swear thus: I will not suffer what the people of the Jews have suffered. Whether your name will be in satiety, which is usually said of those whose remembrance and memory is odious, and who have come to the point of satiety and disgust. Or certainly this should be said, that they should abandon their own name for the chosen ones of the Lord, so that a crowd of nations may succeed them; and they themselves may be called sons of Abraham and Israel. About whom Paul speaks: Peace be upon them, and upon the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16). For neither are those who are of Israel, Israel; nor are those who are the descendants of Abraham all his children (Romans 9:7), to whom it is said: If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham (John 8:39). And because they are the descendants of Abraham, and not his children, as we explained above, John the Baptist reproaches them, saying: And do not presume to say, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham (Matthew 3:9). For how can they be his children, who said to wood and stone, you have begotten me: when, on the contrary, those who are from faith, are called the children of Abraham? But you, he says, will be killed by the Lord, so that you will not be called circumcision, but incision (Galatians III): so that you may lack eternal life, so that you may not have the one who says: I am the life (John XIV, 6). But he says that he will call his servants by another name, or a new one, which will be celebrated throughout the whole world. And it shall be blessed: to such an extent that whoever is called by that name shall be blessed in the Lord, and shall receive the sign of true Circumcision, amen: which the Lord often uses in the Gospel to affirm what has been said: Amen, amen I say to you (John 5:19). However, there is no new or different name, except one that is derived from the name of Christ, so that the people of God should no longer be called Jacob, and Judah, and Israel, and Ephraim, and Joseph, but Christian. For whoever swears on the earth, does not swear in idols and false gods, but in God; this statement is confirmed again by the seal of Amen. Moreover, according to the Septuagint, those who translated the true God as Amen, so that the true God may be blessed, and those who swear on the earth, may swear by the true God, we refer not only to the person of God the Father, about whom it is written: That they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3), but also to the Son, who is himself the true God, as the evangelist John says: The Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know the true one, and we are in his true Son, Jesus Christ (John 5:20). This is the true God and eternal life. For if the Savior speaks of himself: I am the truth (John XIV, 6), consequently he received the name true God from the truth, so that he would not be called God according to false gods, but according to the true God the Father, and he himself is the true God. Otherwise, if he is not true, he will be similar to an idol, which leads to the damnation of those who deny Christ as the true God. This is, however, a new name, which is written for him in the Apocalypse upon a stone (Chapter II), to which blessing is given in the whole world.65:17-18
(Verse 17, 18.) Because the former troubles have been forgotten and hidden from my eyes. For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. LXX: For they shall forget the affliction of the past, and it shall not come to mind. But there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, and they shall not remember the former things, nor shall they come to mind. But they shall find joy and exultation in it. The cause of joy and confession of the true God is that the eternal oblivion will follow the previous sorrows, so that they will not remember the idols and the former errors, but will pass from darkness to light, so that they may enjoy eternal blessedness. For they will forget the past evils, not by the forgetfulness of memory, but by the succession of good things, according to what is written: 'In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one side by side with the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.' (Eccles. 7:14). And elsewhere it is said: 'Affliction makes joy forgotten in an hour' (Eccles. 11:29): because while they are in distress, they will not enjoy the former pleasures, according to the mistaken mind of Epicurus. Although it can also be said, that in the new heaven and the new earth, all memory of previous conversations is erased, so that this very thing does not become a part of the evils, to recall the narrowness of the past. But those who believe that everything we see will perish interpret it according to the testimony of the Gospel: Heaven and earth will pass away (Matthew 24:35). And according to the testimony of the Apostle Paul: For the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18). Moreover, those who embrace change, improvement, and do not consider the destruction of elements to be a demise, use this example: In the beginning, you established the earth, O Lord, and the works of your hands are the heavens. They will perish, but you remain, and all of them will wear out like a garment, and you will change them like clothing, and they will be changed (Psalm 102:26-27). This clearly demonstrates a transformation for the better, not an annihilation into nothingness, but a change. For the scripture that is written in another place, 'The moon shall shine as the sun, and the sun shall receive sevenfold light' (Isaiah 30:26), does not indicate the destruction of the former things, but their transformation for the better. In order to understand this, let us consider examples from our own condition: when an infant grows into a child, and a child into a youth, and a youth into a man, and a man into an old man, each age does not perish completely. It is still the same person as before, but gradually changes and is said to have perished from its former state. What the intelligent and Apostle Paul said: For the figure of this world passeth away (1 Cor. VII, 31). Let us consider what he said: The figure passeth away, not the substance. Peter also signifies the same: For this they are willfully ignorant of: that the heavens were before, and the earth out of water, and through water, consisting by the word of God: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire (2 Pet. III, 5 seqq.): in what sense this is to be understood, he teaches afterwards: But we look for new heavens and a new earth, according to his promise (Ibid., 13): he did not say, we shall see other heavens and another earth, but the old and ancient ones changed for the better. We can say this also, that those who have turned away from idolatry and forsaken their former error, see new heavens and a new earth, not considering the elements as gods or as those things that are born from the earth. Now we confess that the heavens and the earth are the work of God's hands. But during that time, we worshipped as servants and creatures with reverence for God, which David also acknowledges in the psalm: 'I will see the heavens, the work of your fingers' (Psalm 8:4). Not that David did not see the heavens at that time when he said these things; but by each increase of virtues and knowledge of future things, he sees new heavens that he did not see before. But what is said at the end of this testimony: 'Which I create,' is omitted by the Septuagint.65:19
(Verse 19.) For behold, I am creating Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people as a joy; and I will rejoice in Jerusalem and delight in my people. Septuagint: For behold, I am making Jerusalem a rejoicing, and my people a gladness; and I will rejoice over Jerusalem and be glad over my people. You should rejoice and exult with everlasting joy in the creation of new heavens and a new earth, and not remember the former things. Let no remembrance of past sorrows arise in you; for I will not only create new heavens and a new earth, but also Jerusalem in rejoicing, and her people in joy. There is no doubt that the joy which was once exclusive to one nation is now a source of happiness for all nations. The rejoicing and joy over the city and the people of God will be so great that even I, their creator, will rejoice and be glad over Jerusalem and over my people who will eat, drink, and be joyful, and will rejoice in it, and those who are called by a new name.65:20
(Verse 20) And there shall no longer be heard in her (in him) the voice of weeping, and the voice of crying. There shall no longer be an infant of days, nor an old man who has not filled his days. For the child shall die at a hundred years old, and the sinner at a hundred years old shall be accursed. LXX: And there shall no longer be heard in her the voice of weeping, and the voice of crying. Neither shall there be any more premature and old person who does not fulfill their time. For there shall be a child of a hundred years, and a sinner who dies at a hundred years old shall be cursed. For it will not be fitting that in the city of Jerusalem, the people of God, who will receive the eternal creature of exultation and joy, should any longer hear the voice of weeping and shouting; when pain, sorrow, and groaning have departed. For indeed, opposites cannot be present at the same time. And where there is exultation and joy, which are the fruits of the Holy Spirit, there can be no weeping and lamentation, which are suitable for those who lament and mourn, especially the shouting, which Paul expels from the Church of believers, so that we do not make a clamor resembling that of the Jews (Ephesians 4). In such a city, there will be no diverse ages: infant and old, small and great, who do not fulfill their days; but like children of the resurrection, all will reach perfect adulthood, to the measure of the fullness of Christ's age, so that no one lacks the span of years, nor exceeds it, and one who does not yet have solid strength may cease to be what he was, and with advanced age may wither away; and all will reach the number of one hundred years, such as Abraham was, who received the promise of his son Isaac at this age (Gen. XXI). Of the praises of which number, it is not necessary to mention many, lest the discussion be superfluous. We only say this, that the tens have equal sides and possess the firmness of square shapes. Also, in the promises for the things which we have consumed (rather despised), the Lord promises us a hundredfold, and falling into good soil for sowing, it first has the number of abundant crops, a hundredfold. Finally, Isaac also sowed one seed of faith, and his works were multiplied by this number of his labor. Therefore, at that time, when the age of all will be one, both the holy and the sinner will be perfected by a similar resurrection, and they will not be subject to change in time; but one will be drawn to rewards, another to punishment: and in that the sinner will be cursed, because he will suffer eternal punishment in an incorruptible body. Moreover, what we read in the Book of Revelation by John (Chapter 20), that after the resurrection the presence of the judge will show differences not of age, but of merits, for the small and the great. For whoever is small according to the opinion of Solomon is worthy of mercy: but the powerful endure torments powerfully (Wisdom of Solomon 6:7). The words of the Lord also agree with this sentiment: The servant who knows the will of his master and does not do it will be beaten with many blows (Luke 12:47). But the one who does not know and still does worthy things of punishment will be beaten with few blows. Blessed Apostle Paul, speaking of the Old Testament as Christ spoke to him, asserts that Abraham, the patriarch, is not only the father of circumcision but also of those without circumcision (Romans 4). That is, two peoples were generated from him, and the one who was born according to the flesh, at the age of a hundred because of Christ, who was born from the descendants of Abraham, to whom he extended his hand, will be subject to perpetual curse. The gospels teach this story (Mark 5), in which it is reported that a woman suffering from hemorrhage started when the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue was born, and when the woman was immediately healed, the daughter died. And within the same period of years, a new people persists in their youth, and the old people dies in disbelief, and is cursed. We have said this according to the Septuagint interpreters, whose edition is widely known throughout the world, so that we may not seem to resort to the fortress of the Hebrew language. Whether after the resurrection you understand in the second coming of the Savior, or after baptism in the first resurrection, it does not contradict the faith of the Church. The Hebrews argue that these things will happen before the resurrection in a kingdom of a thousand years on earth, and such long spaces of future life are promised that a hundred years are considered infancy; but a sinner will die in his hundredth year of age, so that he may not enjoy his accumulated wealth, but may know himself to be cursed because of his sin. But if this is so, where will perfect happiness be, which is violated and corrupted by sin, and sin is punished with premature death?65:21-22
(Ver. 21. 22.) And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat. LXX likewise. Concerning these houses, the prophetic psalm in the sixty-eighth chapter promises, saying: Because God will save Zion: and the cities of Judah shall be built, and they shall dwell there, and inherit it, and the seed of his servants shall possess it: and those who love his name shall dwell in it. All these things the Jews understand in a carnal manner, so that Jerusalem and the cities of Judaea may be restored to their former state. And if we were to give them this, they would not only hear that Jerusalem is promised, but also Sodom, as Ezekiel says: 'Sodom shall be restored to its former state.' Therefore, the houses in which those who build them will dwell must either be understood as virtues, or as various dwelling places with the Father, which whoever builds them will possess forever. In Exodus, those who are said to have built for themselves and were midwives were called obstetricians, who feared God: although it is written in Hebrew that God built houses for them because they feared Him (Exod. I). And Jacob, because he was simple, or as it is said in Greek ἄπλαστος, that is, not at all artificial; not like those condemned in Peter's Epistle, of whom he says: 'In covetousness they will make merchandise of you with fictitious words' (II Pet. II, 3); therefore they lived in a house that Esau, who delighted in wild beasts and forests, could not possess. Such words describe the house of the Savior in the Gospel: Everyone who comes to me, and hears my words, and does them, will be like a wise man who built his house upon a rock, (Matthew 7:24), and so on. Otherwise, according to the letter, many saints build houses and do not inhabit them, either due to pilgrimage, or the theft of another, or death. Such was Job, who, though rich in flesh and spirit, was brought to such poverty that he sat in the dung heap outside the city gate (Job 2). On the contrary, that rich man in the Gospel was clothed in purple and built a house, and he dwelt in it, of whom it could rightly be said: Fool, this night they will take your soul from you; and the things which you have prepared, whose shall they be (Luke XII, 20)? However, not only does He say that they will build houses and dwell in them, but they will also plant vineyards and they themselves will eat their fruit. According to what is said in Micah: Each one will rest under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and there will be no one to make him afraid (Micah IV, 4). This is the vine that spoke in the Gospel: I am the vine, and you are the branches, and My Father is the vinedresser (John 15:5). Every branch that does not bear fruit will be cut off and thrown into the fire (Matthew 3:10). Its fruits are eaten and drank, and they gladden the heart of man and intoxicates the friends of the bridegroom, and they are drank daily in the kingdom of God. But it rests under a fig tree and fears no one's treachery, who enjoys the sweetness of the Holy Spirit and is satisfied with its fruits: love, joy, peace, faith, continence, and patience. It is said about the planter: Whoever plants a fig tree, will eat its fruits (Amos 9:14). Whoever builds such houses and plants vineyards, about whom the Apostle also speaks: I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6), will eat the labor of his hands (Psalm 127); and sowing in the Spirit, will reap eternal life from the Spirit (John 4), and will not be thwarted by the tricks of the devil and his minions.65:23-25
(Verse 23 onwards) For according to the days of a tree, the days of my people will be, and the work of their hands will grow old with my chosen. They will not labor in vain, nor bring forth children in trouble, for they are the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants will be with them. And before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent's food. They shall do no harm, neither shall they kill in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord. LXX: For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of my people: and the works of their hands shall be multiplied. My chosen ones shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth children for a curse: for they are the seed blessed by the Lord, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer them: while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together: the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and the serpent shall eat dust like bread. They will not harm or destroy on my holy mountain, says the Lord. The dwelling and plantation of the righteous will be eternal, so that the days of the life of my people may be compared to the days of the life of the tree, about which it is said in the Psalms: The righteous will flourish like a palm tree (Psalm 92:13), triumphing over their adversaries daily and displaying the emblem of victory. However, if we read it according to the Septuagint, we understand 'the days of the life of the tree,' which conveys more the meaning from the Hebrew rather than the words, and we understand it as the tree of life that was situated in paradise. So that Adam would not extend his hand to live, he was driven out of paradise (Genesis, III). In the custody of which, Cherubim, that is, a multitude of knowledge, and a fiery sword was placed to guard the way of the tree of life, so that Adam, who was in sin and not yet aware of his sins, would not eat from it and die from the death of impenitence, desperation, and pride. Solomon explains more clearly what this tree of life is, who, discussing the wisdom of God, says: The tree of life is for all who approach it, and who rely on it, as a firm foundation on the Lord (Proverbs III, 18); there is no doubt that it signifies the Word of God, who himself is the way and wisdom, and speaks of himself: I am the life (John XI, 25). And as the Prophet sings: You have made everything in wisdom: the earth is full of your creatures (Psalm 104:24); and the Apostle Paul: Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). The works of the people of God will also not grow old, but will be renewed daily, so that they do not walk in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the spirit (Romans 7). Just as through the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one man, many will be made righteous. Certainly, this must be said, that the works of those whose house is founded upon rock endure forever, and those who build upon the foundation of Christ with gold, silver, and precious stones (1 Corinthians 3): and on the contrary, the works of those whose house is founded upon sand perish in a sudden tempest; and those who build upon the foundation of Christ with wood, hay, and straw. Does it not seem to you that their works grow old every day, who, forgetting the past, extend into the future? Both the old and the new are called the Testament: not that the old one perishes, but that the new one does not succeed it. This can also be said in accordance with the Hebrew, that the works of the people and of those who believe in Christ are the fruits of the Apostles, that is, of the elect of God, and are stored in their treasuries. For many are called, but few are chosen (Matthew 20). These people will not labor in vain, as the Jews once labored; but they will eat the labors of their hands. They will not generate in confusion or in curse, and, as is more expressly put in Hebrew, into non-existence, which in their language is called Labala ( Al. Labaala), that is, that they should cease to be and have an end to their substance: for which reason Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion interpreted it as hastening: so that they should not believe without reason, but imitate Nathanael, who was praised by the voice of the Lord, Behold a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit (John 1:47), who sought Christ by the authority of the Scriptures and desired to know about the prophets, saying, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? And the meaning is: How do you bring the Messiah to me from Galilee and Nazareth, when I know that he was promised to come from Bethlehem in Judah? Therefore, the apostles and apostolic men will generate children in such a way that they instruct them from the Holy Scriptures, so that they do not imitate the curse of the Jews, but rather say with the Prophet: From your fear, Lord, we have conceived in the womb, and have given birth and brought forth (Isaiah 26:18). For it was said of them: Blessed shall be the offspring of your womb (Deuteronomy 28:4). These are the sons of Abraham, who do his works: and in the old history they are called the sons of the Prophets (John VIII): such as in the new Testament the apostles begot (Acts XVI), Paul begot Timothy, Luke, and Titus, and many others; Peter begot Mark the evangelist, and the others, whose blessed seed is, and thus far blessed, and the sons remain of their sons. Concerning whom the Prophet says: Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, he will greatly desire his commandments. His descendants will be mighty on the earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed. (Psalm 112:1-2) And elsewhere: Your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. (Psalm 128:4-5) On the contrary, it is said of Judas, the traitor, and all who are like him, Let his children be orphans, and his wife a widow. Let his children wander and beg; let them be driven out of their ruined homes. (Psalm 109:9-10) For the end of a wicked generation is the worst. They conceive sorrow and give birth to iniquity. Concerning them it is written: Behold, he travailed with injustice, he has conceived sorrow, and has brought forth iniquity (Psalm 7:15). But if this is said of the wicked, how then did Samuel, a blessed and righteous man, beget wicked sons who did not walk in their father's ways (1 Samuel 8)? And David, from whose seed Christ was born, begot two sons, Amnon and Absalom, one of whom became the murderer of his brother and the other the murderer of his father (2 Samuel 13, 15, and 16)? From all these things we learn that sons and grandsons should be understood according to what we have said. Therefore, Paul also begets sons until Christ is formed in them, and Onesimus is begotten in chains (Gal. IV). When they cry out, they are immediately heard, and when they speak, the Lord will say, 'Here I am.' All these things we also see fulfilled according to the letter in the Acts of the Apostles. For all the nations could not have believed in such a short time unless their faith had been somehow forced out by the miracles of signs. For while the Apostles and apostolic men were speaking and shouting out, the Lord would respond with the greatness of signs, such as when Dorcas rose up at the prayers of Peter (Acts 9), when the father of Publius on the island of Melita, who was suffering from fevers and dysentery, which are diseases that are contrary to each other, was healed by the prayers of Paul (Acts 28), and when the whole world declared that gods were walking among men (Acts 28). At that time, the wolf and the lamb were grazing together, the persecutor Paul and the disciple Ananias (Acts 9). That wolf, of which it is written: Benjamin, a ravenous wolf, in the morning he will eat prey, and in the evening he will divide the spoils (Gen. XLIX, 27); or as it is said in Hebrew, he will divide the spoils. Whose teaching was the food of believers, and who triumphed over vanquished adversaries in the whole world. But all who believe are lambs, who follow the Lamb wherever he goes (Apoc. XIV), whom the Lord handed over to Peter to feed, saying: Feed my lambs (John XXI, 16). The lion also, like an ox, will eat straw, when the most eloquent men, once powerful in the world, submit themselves to rusticity, so that they may not feed on worldly eloquence, which trickles like honey from the lips of a harlot, but rather follow lowliness and straw in history until they earn the wheat of understanding with much labor and industry. Concerning these straw and wheat, Jeremiah speaks: 'What has straw to do with wheat?' says the Lord (Jeremiah 13:28). And it must be considered that it is not the ox that turns into madness, but the lion that is transformed into gentleness. The serpent that observed the heel of the man, and whose head was observed by the man, will by no means be nourished by the destruction of others, but will eat the earth, or rather dust, as bread (Genesis 3). Or certainly it must be understood that the devil, who previously fed on the deaths of men, will only devour those who are dust and earth: through which everything demonstrates the transformation of evils into good, those who are innocent will be, with the ancient ferocity abandoned: not outside, but on the holy mountain of the Lord, that is, in the Church, and in the confession of that mountain, from which the prince of Tyre was wounded, and having been cut from the mountain without hands, grew into a great mountain, and filled the world (Daniel 2). Let us ask in this place the Jews, and all those who still eat the chaff of the Scriptures under the name of Christian, which will be separated from the wheat in the Lord's winnowing fan and will be delivered to the wind and the flames, how the beatitude is to be estimated, namely in the thousand-year kingdom, on Mount Zion, the city of present Christ's Jerusalem; and in the most august Temple, will wolves and lambs, lions and oxen, serpents and humans eat together and live together in harmony? And will these (i.e. the holy ones) alone be harmless, who have dwelt on the holy mountain of the Lord? From which we understand that all who are outside the mountain are to be killed. Therefore, the entire world will be laid bare for wolves, lions, bears, leopards, and serpents, and all other beasts; and the vast forests, and the Egyptian wilderness, which is fertile with venomous animals, and the city of the holy ones will be a dwelling not only for humans, but also for beasts and serpents, as according to the earlier prophecy, the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard with the goat, the calf and the lion, and the sheep shall all die together. And a little child shall lead them, and an infant shall put his hand into the hole of the asp, and shall destroy the brood of the reptile in its lair. (Isaiah 11) And the cause of such great happiness is because the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord.66:1
(Chapter 66, Verse 1) Thus says the Lord: Heaven is My throne, and the earth is the footstool for My feet. What is this house that you are building for Me, and what is this place of My rest? All these things My hand has made, and so all these things have come into being, says the Lord. Similarly, let us understand that Mount Zion is the holy mountain, and let us not be deceived by the Jewish error that believes that Jerusalem must be rebuilt and that all the promises of the Lord must be fulfilled there carnally. He takes away this suspicion from us and presents the testimony that Stephen, the first martyr in Christ, used against the Jewish contention (Acts 7). Solomon built him a house, doubtless for God; but he does not dwell in man-made structures, as the Prophet says: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. And Paul in the same volume: God, who made the world and all things in it, does not dwell in temples made by hands (Acts 17:24). For if heaven is his throne, and the earth is his footstool, how can he be confined to a small space, who fills all things and in whom all things exist? And Moses also said: 'Lest thou shouldst say in thy heart: 'It is afar off,' God is in heaven above, and in the earth beneath: and there is no other God besides him (Deut. IV, 39).' And the Psalmist: 'Whither shall I go from thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy face? If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: if I descend into hell, thou art present (Psal. CXXXVIII, 7).' To whom Jeremiah also agrees, speaking in the person of God, saying: 'I am a God nigh at hand, and not a God afar off.' Can anyone hide in secret places where I cannot see them? Do I not fill heaven and earth? (Jeremiah 23:23-24) For in Him we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17) He says this to expose the error of the Jewish belief that God, who is invisible, incorporeal, and incomprehensible, can be confined to the temple in Jerusalem. Even Solomon, the builder of the temple, acknowledges this in his prayer to the Lord. (1 Kings 8) Lest we think that the magnitude of God should be measured in both heaven and earth, in another place we read about Him: He holds the heavens in the palm of His hand, and the earth in a fist. (Isaiah 40:12) Through this it is shown that God is both external and internal, infused and surrounding, as He is not contained by the surrounding throne, yet He is contained by a fist and a palm. He is not only the creator of heaven and earth, but also of the invisible beings, the angels and archangels, dominions and powers, and all mankind, as the Apostle speaks about them (Colossians 1). All of these things were made by the hand of God. Job and the Psalmist both mention this: Your hand made me and fashioned me (Job 10:18; Psalm 119:73). For everything was made through him, and without him nothing was made (John 1). He Himself spoke, and they were made; He commanded, and they were created (Psalm 33). And as the Scripture of Genesis demonstrates in mystical speech, God said, and God made (Genesis 1). For by the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. There is no place of rest of the Lord, except the one that the Prophet mentions.66:2-3
(Vers. 2, 3.) But to whom shall I look, except to the poor and contrite in spirit, and trembling at my words? He who slaughters an ox is like one who slays a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck; he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers pig's blood; he who remembers frankincense, like one who blesses an idol. LXX: And to whom shall I look, except to the humble and peaceful, and trembling at my words? But unjust is the one who sacrifices a calf as if striking a man. Sacrificing from the flock as if killing a dog. Offering fine flour as if it were swine's blood. Giving frankincense as a memorial as if blaspheming. With the altar and earthly temple removed, which human hands had built, the Jewish victims are rightly taken away, lest they should say: We are not so foolish as to think that God can be confined to a place; but in a separate place for sacrificing, we offer to God the victims that are commanded by the law. Therefore, the Inhabitant of heaven, indeed the Creator of all, who refuses to have a temple on earth, willingly assumes a humble, peaceful, and trembling human being into the temple, according to the words of the Apostle: But you are the temple of God, and the Holy Spirit dwells in you. If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which you are (I Cor. III, 16, 17). Therefore, whoever is humble and peaceful, and trembles at the words of God, the Lord looks upon him; and it can be understood from this saying that he is prophesied under the name of "earth": The earth trembled and was still when God arose to judge (Psal. LXXV, 9, 10). For its inhabitants, for whom the land is metaphorically called 'earth,' considering the judgment of God, they rest from evil works; and sitting in their house, they rest on the eternal Sabbath, so as not to engage in the servile work of sin, just as the builders of the tower once moved their feet from the East and abandoned the rising of true light. They did not hear what was said to Cain: 'You have sinned, rest.' But according to the Proverbs of Solomon: 'Whoever listens to God will dwell confidently and rest without fear from all evil.' This is a humble and poor person, with a contrite spirit, and trembling at the words of the Lord, about whom it is written in the Gospel: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3). And elsewhere: Blessed is he who understands the needy and the poor (Psalm 41:1). And again: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor (Isaiah 61:1). And what follows in the Vulgate edition: But the wicked, in Hebrew, is not found, but simply it says: He who sacrifices a bull is like one who kills a man. And in another place it is written: 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings' (Hosea 6:6). And through Malachi: 'You have done what I hate; you have covered the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and groaning, because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand' (Malachi 2:13). Let the Jews hear that God does not desire sacrifices, but the disposition of the offerer's heart. And he who sacrifices, he says, an animal, as if he were cutting a dog's throat. Hence it is also written through Moses: You shall not offer the hire of a prostitute, nor the price of a dog, in the house of your God. (Deut. XXIII, 18). And dogs and prostitutes couple beautifully, because both animals are inclined to lust. Let us also consider that he did not say: He who sacrifices a ram, as if he were sacrificing a dog; but he says, kill the dog. This word is not used in sacrifices, but in those things that are unlawfully killed. Who offers an oblation and a sacrifice, as if offering his own blood. This is also prohibited by the Law, such are the ceremonies of the Jews (Lev. XI and Deut. XIV). Whoever offers incense as if blasphemous, indeed as if blessing an idol. However, there can also be this meaning: After my Son who comes meek and poor, sitting on a donkey's colt, I do not desire meats, I detest the victims, I reject the sacrifices of the Jews, I disapprove the shadows of the Law, because the truth of the Gospel is pleasing to me (Zech. IX, Matt. XXI, Luke XIX, John XII). But if it is said that, after the lightning of the Gospel, the old religion ceases in a cloud, what will they respond, who believe that those from the Jews can offer sacrifices carnally without guilt?66:4
(Verse 4.) They have chosen all these things in their ways, and their soul delighted in their abominations. Therefore I will also choose their delusions, and I will bring upon them what they feared. Because when I called, there was none that answered; when I spoke, they did not hear. They did evil in my sight and chose what I did not desire. (Septuagint: And they chose their own ways, and their soul desired their abominations; and I will choose their delusions, and I will repay them for their sins.) Because I called them, and they did not obey: I spoke, and they did not hear. And they did evil in my sight, and chose what I did not want. They sacrificed a bull, slaughtered a ram, offered a sacrifice, burned incense, which God considers as murder, and the offering of a dog. They chose the blood of pigs and blasphemy. And it was their choice to worship such things, as it is stated by Ezekiel: I gave them bad rules and bad commands. (Ezek. XX, 11). And they walked in their own ways, not in the way of the Lord. And their souls desired their abominations, that they would rather be lovers of themselves than lovers of God. For this reason, those who choose their own ways and not Him who says: I am the way (John 14:6), and the Lord chooses illusions, or their deceivers, who are called Thalule in Hebrew, that is, mockers, to establish the most wicked leaders and bring about all their evils, including those they feared. And you write that the reasons why they were handed over to the deceiving scribes and Pharisees, about whom the first psalm according to the Hebrews sings: And He did not sit in the seat of the deceivers, whom they call the pestilential Seventy: such were the sons of Eli, sons of pestilence, for which it is written in Hebrew Belial (or Blial) , that is, of the devil. For, he says, I called, and there was no one to answer; I spoke, and they did not hear; they did evil in My sight; and what I did not want, they chose. He places these verses second in the present location, and above, where it is said: I will number you with the sword, and you will all fall in the slaughter: because I called, and you did not answer (Isaiah 65:12), and so on. The meaning and interpretation of this testimony is explained there.66:5
(Verse 5) Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at his word. Your brothers who hate you and cast you out because of my name have said: Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy; but they will be put to shame. LXX: Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at his word. Say to your brothers who hate you and despise you, that the name of the Lord may be glorified, and appear in their joy; and let them be put to shame. About which he had already said before: On whom shall I look, unless on him who is humble and quiet, and who trembles at my words? He commands them to pass over to his worship, despising the sacrifices of the Jews and disregarding the arrogance of the Scribes and Pharisees, whom they did not want to hear when he called them, and whom they despised and did evil in his sight. Not content with the end of these precepts, he also commands them to love their enemies, to do good to those who hate them, and to pray for their persecutors, and to imitate the clemency of the Father, who makes his sun rise on the just and the unjust, so that, seeing your works, they may glorify your Father who is in heaven. What is specifically commanded to the general understanding of the apostles and apostolic men, that they should love their Jewish persecutors and those who abhor them, and have them in the place of brothers, saying with Peter: Men, brothers and fathers, listen; and with the Apostle Paul: I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart for my brothers, who are Israelites (Romans 9:2). But the name of the Lord is glorified when men see the fierceness of the persecutors broken by our patience and the hand of the one who strikes, confounded by the downfall of another evil. In the Gospel, it is commanded: Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matt. 5:16); and in the Apocalypse of John: Fear God, and give glory to Him (Rev. 14:7). Paul also writes to the Corinthians, urging them to chastity: That you may glorify God in your body (1 Cor. 6:20). And again: Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). And the Lord did not curse those who cursed him (1 Peter 2); and he prayed for his persecutors. But what he commands: 'Say to your brothers' (Matthew 28:10), should not be taken simply, otherwise many call themselves brothers, yet do not preserve love in their hearts, of whom the Apostle writes: They confess to know God, but deny him by their works (Titus 1:16). Concerning them, the Lord also spoke: Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21). And this statement can stand: No one says, 'Jesus is Lord,' except in the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). For when the heretics say, 'Lord Jesus,' and many will say at the resurrection, 'Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' The Lord will answer them: 'Depart from me, you evildoers. I never knew you.' Therefore, it is not merely saying with words, which is easy, but it is proven by one's attitude and actions. From these we learn that the Lord of both Testaments commands us, that if we see the beast of our enemy fall under its burden, we should not pass by, but should lift it up with him, and if we find a wandering ox or donkey, we should return it to him (Luke 15, Matthew 18). According to the Septuagint, it seems to me that the meaning is: Listen, Apostles, listen, my disciples, who tremble at the word of the Lord, I will tell you what your brothers who hate you say, and separate you, and consider you strangers, not because of your evils; but because of my name, they think all the unclean ones of their own nation who believe are unclean, and say: Get away from me, for you are unclean. What, therefore, is it that he reminds them of having said: Let the Lord be glorified, and we shall see in your joy? The meaning of this little verse is: Why do you introduce to us a humble God? why a crucified man and a man acquainted with sorrows, and knowing how to bear infirmities? we desire to see him reigning in his (as you say) majesty: we are unable to see him humble and abject. And immediately he adds: But they shall be confounded, implying those who speak such things, who do not understand the mysteries of the Scriptures, and who interpret his power by their own evil, having despised him on account of his humility.66:6
(Verse 6) The voice (of the common people) cries out from the city, the voice from the Temple, the voice of the Lord giving retribution to his enemies. They put "LXX" in place of "cries out" and "clamor", and so on. We want to know what the confusion of the Jews is, who said: Let the Lord be glorified, so that we may see your joy and the triumphs of your king, not in vain through promises, but with our own eyes. The voice, he says, of the cry from the city: undoubtedly it signifies Jerusalem surrounded by the Roman army and divided internally into three factions, when one occupied the Temple and possessed all things previously sacred, fighting against external enemies and internally against fellow citizens. At that time, both in the city and in the Temple, the cries of priests and Levites, as well as the cries of the common people, women, and children, were heard when the Lord fulfilled His promise of vengeance against His enemies, fulfilling the prophecy: 'Your house shall be left to you desolate' (Luke 13:35), and that prophecy: 'I have left My house.' When the leaders of the temple, with voices harmonizing like angels, said: 'Let us depart from these seats.' About which not only Josephus, a writer of Jewish history, testifies but also many centuries before the Psalmist, saying: I have seen iniquity and contradiction in the city (Ps. 54:10), which surrounds its walls all day and all night, so that the city would be overturned (Mic. 3), and another prophecy would be fulfilled: Zion will be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem will be left like a hut in a cucumber field (Isa. 1:8).66:7
(V. 7) Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before her pain came, she delivered a male child. Who has heard of such a thing? Who has seen such things? Can a land be born in one day? Can a nation be brought forth all at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her sons. Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery? says the Lord. Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb? says your God. LXX: Before she who is in labor gives birth, before the pains of childbirth come upon her, she escapes and gives birth to a male. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor, she gave birth to her children. But I have given this expectation, and you have not remembered me, says the Lord. Have I not made the barren woman give birth, says your God? With a noise as of a woman in labor, with a cry of distress from Jerusalem and her Temple, when she was besieged and destroyed, and with the enemies of Christ, who refused to receive God as their king, receiving eternal punishment for their impiety and blasphemies, the Church, gathered in the name of the Lord, of which it is said in the psalm: "A man is born in her"; and the Most High himself has founded her before she gives birth, she has given birth, before her labor pains come, she has given birth to a male. For it was not long, as the people of the Jews through Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the twelve Patriarchs, and again through their children and grandchildren, grew in size, but at the preaching of the Gospel the whole world immediately conceived, and brought forth, and gave birth to a male, whom Pharaoh and Herod were trying to kill, who was also saved in Egypt both in Moses and in Christ. Finally, Abraham and Isaac had male children, and Jacob was the father of many sons, and he begot one daughter, for whom he endured hardship. But if the daughters of Zelophehad, according to the will of God, inherit their father's property (Num. 27), it should be considered that their father died in his sin, having no sons, and Moses did not dare to judge them, but referred the matter to the Lord, who commanded them to marry their kinsmen so that they would not be left destitute. The book of Genesis (Ch. 6) also tells us that after people began to multiply, a great number of them engaged in wickedness, and the daughters born to them were taken by the sons of God, not angels, from whom the giants were born; or as it is written in Hebrew, ἐπιπίπτοντες, that is, 'falling upon' or 'descending upon.' In contrast to the holy, it is said: 'Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table' (Psalm 128:3). And again: 'May you see your children's children' (ibid., 128:6). Therefore, Zion gave birth, that is, the remnant of Israel and the faith of believing Apostles, to the male Lord and Savior, who was generated in the whole world at the same time, which no one heard, which no history or teaching narrates, so that all nations would believe in a short time. And of all nations, one nation became Christian, of which Paul also speaks: If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (II Cor. V, 17): in accordance with what is written elsewhere: And they shall worship before him, all the families of the nations: for the kingdom is the Lord's, and he shall have dominion over the nations. For, says he, all nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, and shall glorify thy name (Psal. XXI, 28 et seqq.). About whom Jacob says: He is the expectation of the nations (Gen. XLIX, 10). And the Psalmist: The hope of all the ends of the earth (Ps. LXIV, 6). And the same Isaiah whom we will now explain: There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise up to rule the nations, in him the Gentiles shall hope (Isai. XI, 10); the Apostles fulfilling what was commanded: Teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matth. XXVIII, 19), so that a new people may be born, of whom the twenty-first psalm also sings: The heavens shall declare his justice, to a people that shall be born, which the Lord hath made (Psal. XXI, 32). And again: The people that shall be created shall praise the Lord (Ps. 101:19). But this people was created in one day, which the sun of justice illuminates, as the Scripture says: The Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light (Isa. 60:19). We can understand this that is said: A nation shall be born together, because Zion has brought forth and borne her children, and refer it to that time when, in one day, three thousand and five thousand of the Jewish people believed (Acts 2). It is also said in the same book of the Acts of the Apostles that people from all the nations under heaven were in Jerusalem, hearing them speak in various languages about the great deeds of God (Ibid.). And what follows according to the Septuagint, 'But I have given this expectation, and you have not remembered me,' says the Lord. 'Did I not make the barren woman give birth?' your God says, and it is more clearly stated in Hebrew, which all other interpreters agree with: 'Did I not, who make others give birth, not give birth myself?' says the Lord. If I, who give birth to others, am sterile, says the Lord your God, according to what is said elsewhere: 'He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see?' (Psalm 39:9). That is to say, the one who created all men out of nothing, can make one part of all nations into the Church of believers. Finally, in the twenty-eighth psalm, where we read: 'The voice of the Lord shakes the desert' (Psalm 29:8), in Hebrew it is written: 'The voice of the Lord makes the desert give birth' (According to the Hebrew), so that the desert may first give birth to the Church, and the stags may be completed in open and broken places. Furthermore, according to the Septuagint, here the meaning is that at one time the preaching of the Gospels will arise from one nation of the whole world. This has been promised many times by the prophets, and you have not remembered my promise, O city that is full of cries: O Temple that has been abandoned by the Lord: O people, to whom I have restored their fortunes. Did I not, it is said, make the barren woman give birth; she who was once barren, later gave birth and brought forth? About which it is written in the psalm: He maketh the barren woman to keep house and to be a joyful mother of children (Psalm 113:9). Or certainly, the order of things has been reversed: the one who was bearing children has become barren, and the one who was once barren has borne many, for this is the sentence of the Lord.66:10
(Verse 10.) Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her. Delight in her with joy, all you who mourn over her, so that you may nurse and be satisfied from her comforting breast, and drink deeply and enjoy the abundance of her glory. LXX: Rejoice, O Jerusalem, and gather together all you who love her. Delight in her with joy, all you who mourn over her, so that you may nurse and be filled from her comforting breast, and after you have nursed, be delighted by the entrance of her glory. The apostles are commanded, and the apostolic men, who love both Jerusalems, and the one that has fallen they mourn and lament, and the one that will rise again they eagerly await with all desire, so that they may rejoice with her and in her, the one that is built with living stones, which roll upon the earth, and in the likeness of the wheels of the Cherubim, they follow the preceding spirit: not in those who have been dissolved into eternal ashes. About which the Lord spoke: Amen, amen I say to you, not one stone will remain upon another, until all these things are accomplished (Matthew 24:2). Rejoice, He says, with joy, all you who mourn for her. As we have taught about Peter and Paul, the apostles, and all who were awaiting the redemption of Israel, in order to suckle and be filled with the breasts of her consolation. For it could not be that she who gave birth to a male and was a mother, lacked an abundance of milk for the raising of her people and infants, who were born together, so that she would offer them two breasts, not at all like before in Egypt, broken and lying down, but whole and standing in virgin beauty, of the old and new Instrument, to offer rational milk. About whom the bridegroom speaks to her: Your breasts are better than wine (Song of Solomon 1:1). These were the ones about whom it was specifically said: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted (Matthew 5:5). And it should be noted that those who are little children are in need of milk for consolation, and they are still in a mortal place. But those who have progressed from the milk of consolation to solid food will have abundant delights of truth and knowledge of all glory, which is called Ziz in Hebrew. For this reason, where in our and the Greek codices it is read μόνιος ἄγριος, that is, singular wild, in Hebrew it is written Ziz Sadai, which Aquila translated as παντόδαπον χώρας, that is, various kinds of regions, to signify that Israel was devastated not only by the Romans, but by all nations. However, the glorious entrance of the Church is to be understood, about which the apostle John writes: 'And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, and the streets of the city were pure gold, as transparent glass' (Rev. 21:21). These pearls are forbidden by the Lord to be thrown before swine (Matt. 7), which the good merchant, when he found them in the Prophets and the Apostles, goes to one most precious pearl, not rejecting the others, but seeking through them something more precious (Matt. 13).66:12
(Verse 12) For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will incline upon her like a river of peace, and like a torrent overflowing with the glory of the nations, whom you will nurse at your breast; they shall be carried on your side, and cuddled on your knees. LXX: For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will incline towards them like a river of peace, and like a overflowing torrent of the glory of the nations. Their little ones shall be carried on shoulders, and cuddled on knees. After Jerusalem has been rebuilt by the Apostles and restored to its former state, once its children and inhabitants have been comforted by the abundance of milk and have reached the delights of truth, through which we come to the glory of God, then the Lord will incline upon it a river of peace, of which we have often spoken: The river of God is filled with water (Psalm 64:10). And the rush of the river makes the city of God glad (Ps. 45:5); so that when peace possesses all things, and the wars of the nations cease, of which Scripture says, Scatter the nations that desire wars (Ps. 68:32), the torrent of God's teachings may irrigate the fields of the believers. Then his children, or the little ones (as the LXX translated), will be carried on shoulders and receive consolation on the knees. On shoulders, about which it was said in the earlier prophecy and which Jacob curses his son Issachar with: For he has placed his shoulder to work (Gen. 49:15), and he is called a farmer. For it is through excessive sweat and toil that we reach the abundance of fruits. Hence, it is said to Zion through Jeremiah: Put your heart upon your shoulders (Jerem. XXIV, 7), so that he may understand the Lord's commandments, imitating Him of whom it is written: Jesus began to do and to teach (Act. I, 1), so that faith may not be idle, but may run towards the reward through works. However, I have briefly explained the meaning of knees and bosoms above, and now Abraham can teach us by his example, in whose bosom Lazarus finds rest, and all who come from the East and the West will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.66:13-14
(Verse 13, 14) Just as a mother caresses her child, so will I comfort you, and in Jerusalem you will find comfort. Your heart will rejoice and your bones will flourish like grass. The hand of the Lord will be known to his servants, and he will be angry with his enemies. The Septuagint translates 'servants' as 'those who fear' and 'enemies' as 'unbelievers'; the rest is the same. We learn from the example of mothers, who surpass all charity by nourishing their children with love in their arms, the mercy of the Creator towards his creatures. Finally, wanting to show how much He loves and cares for those whom He has created, God asks, 'Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you' (Isaiah 49:15). This sentiment is also expressed in the Gospel when the Lord speaks to Jerusalem, saying, 'How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not' (Matthew 23:37). And in Deuteronomy, it is written: As an eagle protects its nest and desires its young, spreading its wings, it receives them and carries them on its shoulders (Deut. XXXII, 11). Those who have written about the nature of animals say that all beasts, and even beasts of burden, and cattle, and birds have an innate affection for their offspring, but the greatest love is that of eagles, which build their nests in high and inaccessible places to protect their young from the serpent. They also say that among its feathers is found a stone called amethyst, which surpasses all poisons. If this is true, the affection of God towards his creatures is rightly compared to that of the eagles, who protect their offspring with constant vigilance, so that the ancient dragon and serpent, the devil and Satan, may not approach the newly hatched chicks, and so that all the snares of their adversaries may be broken by the name of the stone that is laid in the foundations of Zion. This Jerusalem, in which the sons will find consolation in their mother's embrace and will kneel, is the same Jerusalem of which the Apostle writes: 'But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is our mother' (Galatians 4:26). Satisfied with the milk of this consolation, he comforted others who needed his words, saying: Blessed be God, the Father of mercies, and the God of all consolation, who comforts us in all our tribulation, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any tribulation, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted by God (1 Corinthians 1:3). And when they have been comforted, it will be said to them: And you will see, and your heart will rejoice, and your bones will flourish like an herb; or according to Symmachus: they will bloom (John 16:22). But they shall indeed see God, which is true joy. Of whom the Lord spoke: Blessed are the clean of heart; for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8). The vision of God is perfect joy, which dwells in a heart full of faith: and the resurrection of the bones follows, of which we have already spoken. If the reader has forgotten these things, let them return to the original explanation. For it is better for them to reread what has been written, than for us to repeat what has been said. And he says, 'Behold, the hand of the Lord will be upon his servants, or upon those who fear him, and he will threaten his enemies, or his unbelievers. But the hand is also understood as power, because God is able to do all things that he promises, according to what Moses, speaking as the voice of God, says to Pharaoh: 'Now I will stretch out my hand and strike you and your people with pestilence, and you shall be cut off from the land' (Exodus 9:15). And again, concerning the same tyrant, Moses says: 'Behold, the hand of the Lord will be upon your livestock' (Exodus 9:3); about which the Psalmist says to God: 'Your hand has destroyed nations and planted them' (Psalm 44:2). Certainly, the hand of the Lord Christ must be understood, about whom we have also read above: My hand has made all these things. The Lord will make this known to his servants and those who fear him, and he will threaten the unbelievers and his enemies, so that he may promise rewards to some and threaten punishment to others. In this, the proper use of words must be considered, that he did not say: He will inflict upon his enemies; but he will threaten, so that, being deterred by the threat, they themselves may pass into the service of the Lord.66:15-16
(Verse 15, 16.) For behold, the Lord will come in fire: and like a whirlwind, his chariots, to render his anger with indignation, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire will the Lord judge, and by his sword, all flesh: and the slain by the Lord shall be multiplied. Septuagint: Behold, the Lord will come like fire, and his chariots like a storm, to render his vengeance in fury: and his rebuke in flames of fire. For in the fire of the Lord all the earth shall be judged: and all flesh shall fall by the sword thereof: many shall be wounded by the Lord. The hand of the Lord, which shall be made known to his servants, and which shall threaten the unbelievers and his enemies, so that if they do not repent, they shall suffer what follows: For behold, says the Lord, he shall come in fire, and like a whirlwind or storm shall be his chariot. Which we should understand as the angelic powers, when the Lord is coming in the glory of the Father with his angels, to judge the living and the dead: not that the Lord is fire, but that to those who endure punishment, he appears to be fire. And although Moses said (Deut. IV, 24), the same thing is confirmed by the Apostle (Hebr. XII, 29): God is a consuming fire. However, the Savior, expressing the substance of divinity, says: God is Spirit (John IV, 24). But between spirit and fire, according to corporeal understanding, there is much difference. For if fire or spirit, how is it said that they have eyes, ears, hands, feet, a stomach, and other members of the body, when these do not belong to spirit or fire? Therefore, the consuming fire is called God, so that it may consume whatever vices are in us, like hay, wood, and straw, and thorns, that is, the anxieties of this world, which the unfruitful earth brought forth instead of good seed, of which it is said to the Hebrews: But that which brings forth thorns and thistles is rejected, and is near to being cursed: whose end is to be burned (Hebrews 6:8). The Lord also spoke of this fire in the Gospel: I came to cast fire upon the earth (Luke 12:49). And above we read: Iniquity will burn like fire, and dry grass will be consumed by the fire (Isaiah 9:18), and all the weeds that the enemy sowed will grow while the father of the family sleeps (Matthew 13). Concerning this, it is also written in the Letter of James: A small fire kindles a large fuel (James 3:5)! And in Proverbs: Fire thrives on many logs (Proverbs 26:20). Although in that which is a Proverb, another meaning can be understood (Sirach 28). I believe this fire sat upon the tongues of all the apostles and believers when they spoke in various tongues, and it dispelled the darkness of error and illuminated the hearts of those who received the word of the Lord (Acts 2). And what follows: Like a storm, we proclaim the examples of the Psalms, in which it is written: God will come openly, our God, and he will not keep silent. A fire will burn before him, and around him there will be a powerful storm (Psalm 49:3-4). And elsewhere: The chariot of God is ten thousandfold, thousands of joyful ones (Ps. 67:18). With these chariots and horses, Elisha was surrounded, which his servant could not see. Therefore he said: Lord, open the eyes of this boy so that he may see. And when his eyes were opened, he saw the chariots and the charioteers and the horses all around (2 Kings 6:17). With this fiery chariot, Elijah was taken up to heaven, when Elisha cried out: My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its charioteer (2 Kings 2:12). But all these things are narrated, not because God has chariots or horses or is carried by their speed; about whom it is written elsewhere: 'Who walks upon the wings of the wind' (Psalm 103:3); but rather, it is said that He sits on a throne when He assumes the appearance of a judge; and when He comes for vengeance, to destroy His adversaries, He is displayed in the appearance of a victor and triumphalist. We have frequently spoken of the anger of the Lord, which should be understood as His forgetfulness, and repentance, and sadness, and other affections that do not befit His majesty. And in this fire and fury, in these chariots and in the flame of fire, all flesh shall be judged, whether the Lord himself with his creatures, so that he may appear to give judgment not by his power, but by the truth of judgment, according to what is said more fully in Micah, and more briefly in the fiftieth psalm: That you may be justified in your words, and may overcome when you are judged (Psalm 50:5). But the sword by which all flesh is to be judged, that must be understood, of which we have spoken before, and now we will speak in part: Unless you be converted, he will brandish his sword (Psalm 7:13). The Israelites complain about this avenging sword, given into the hands of Pharaoh, against the flesh of sinners and all vices; and they say to Moses and Aaron: May God see and judge you, for you have made our odor abominable before Pharaoh, so that the sword would be given into his hand and he would kill us. (Exod. IV, 21). Concerning this sword, it is also written in Amos: By the sword, all the sinners of the people will perish (Amos IX, 10): while certainly there are other kinds of punishments. Therefore, whatever pricks, strikes, twists, and torments is called a sword in the Holy Scriptures, by which sword those who do not do God's will shall be wounded or killed; and having forsaken the light of truth, they shall be enveloped in the darkness of error. Concerning whom it is written in Jeremiah: 'Can the Ethiopian change his skin?' (Jeremiah 13:23). And in Zephaniah: 'You Ethiopians who have been wounded or killed by my sword.' (Zephaniah 2:12). The Apostle explained in more detail the meaning of the entirety of this passage when he wrote to the Romans: 'But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart, you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each one according to his deeds.' To those indeed who, according to patience in good work, seek glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life. But to those who are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man who works evil, Jew first and Greek' (Rom. 2:5-10).66:17
(Verse 17.) Those who were sanctified and considered themselves clean in gardens afterwards: those who ate pork, abomination, and mouse, will be consumed together, says the Lord. LXX: Those who are sanctified and purified in gardens and thresholds: eating pork, abominations, and mouse: they will be consumed together, says the Lord. Symmachus and Theodotion interpreted this passage as follows: Those who are sanctified and purified in gardens one after another, among them are those who eat pork, abomination, and mouse, they will perish together, says the Lord, in order to show that it is not themselves who eat pork, abomination, and mouse, but those who are sanctified in gardens one after another; rather, it is those who are purified who associate with them, who eat what is forbidden. But the divine word accuses the people of the Jews, rather the Scribes and Pharisees, whom the Lord also accused, saying: You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts, for what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God (Luke XVI, 15). Therefore, he reproached them and said: Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, who clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside are full of greed and wickedness (Matthew XXIII, 25). And again: You are whitewashed sepulchers, full of dead bones and all uncleanness (Matthew 23:27): those who blessed with their mouth and cursed with their heart (Psalm 62): those who spoke peace to the Lord and softened their words over oil, but they were spears, of whom it was rightly said: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me (Isaiah 29:13). But God commanded through Moses (Numbers 19) that if anyone had been contaminated by sin beforehand, they should be sprinkled with the ashes of a red cow and other means of expiation, through sacrifices and victims, and return to the Temple. However, those negligent ones built baptisteries or pools for irrigating gardens in places of delights and pleasures: thinking that adulteries and all forms of lustful behavior could be washed away with simple water, to whom that saying truly applies: And they cleanse the night with a river (Horace). And let it not seem incongruous to anyone that things that are done shamefully should be explained more clearly in order to correct those who are not ashamed to commit such things, which are shameful both to speak of, while they cling to prostitutes like dogs, and to engage in homosexuality with other males, receiving the punishment of their sin upon themselves. Those who do these deeds are of the same will and wickedness as those who eat pork and all the things that are prohibited by the Law, and the mouse, which we call a dormouse, or in the Eastern provinces, μυωξοὺς. And therefore those who eat these things, and those who practice all kinds of immorality, do the same things that even the pagans do. According to the allegory, we can say: All lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God, are sanctified in gardens and thresholds, because the mysteries of truth are not able to enter, and to eat the food of impiety, while they are not holy in body and spirit: nor do they eat the flesh of Jesus, nor drink his blood. Regarding which He Himself speaks: 'Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life.' (John 6:55). For indeed Christ, our paschal lamb, has been sacrificed. (1 Corinthians 5). It is not consumed outside, but in one house and inwardly.66:18-19
(Verse 18, 19.) But I come to gather together with all nations and tongues their works and thoughts: and they shall come and see my glory. And I will set a sign among them, and will send some of them, who have been saved, to the nations in the sea ((or sea)), to Africa, to Lydia spreading the bow, to Italy and Greece, to distant islands: to those who have not heard of me, and have not seen my glory. LXX: And I know their works and thoughts, and I come to gather all nations and all tongues: and they shall come and see my glory, and I will send a sign upon them: and I will send some of them, who have been saved, to the nations, to Tarshish and Put, and Lud and Mosoch and Tubal, and to Greece, and to distant islands, who have not heard my name, nor seen my glory. Before I explain what the enumeration of many nations signifies, it must be briefly said about the variety of interpretation. Tharsis, in the Hebrew language, is called sea; and (as they say) the region of India: although Josephus, changing the letter, thinks that Tarshish is now called Tarsum, a city of Cilicia, to which Jonah, fleeing from Joppa, wanted to go (Jonah 1). Phud, or Phul, however, refers to the Libyans, and the whole of Africa up to the sea of Mauritania, in which the river that is now called Phud, and the whole region around it, is named Phutensis. But the Lydians are called Lud, whose colonists, the Etruscans, who are now called the Tuscans, were once the most skilled in shooting arrows, and they are now said to be arrow shooters. For this reason, it is written in Hebrew as Mosche Ceseth, which all translated similarly without the Septuagint, interpreting it as 'those who shoot arrows.' And the Septuagint put μοσὸχ, interpreting the word as a name. If this is accepted, it means 'Cappadocians,' whose capital is Mazaca, which later received the name Caesarea from Caesar Augustus. Those who do not know what they want, even in Genesis (Chapter X) the last son of Aram, that is, the Syrians of Damascus, who are called Mes, are interpreted as μοσὸχ: for which we more correctly transfer to Moeonas. Thubal, however, is interpreted as either Italy or Iberia, that is, Spain, from the river Iberus, from which today the region of Spain is called Celtiberia. Concerning these, Lucanus (Lucan, Book IV) beautifully says:The Celts of Gaul mixing with the Iberian people: whom we can call Gallo-Hispanics. The Greeks, however, who are called Javan in the Hebrew language, are signified by Jonas: hence Greeks are also called Jones, and the Ionian Sea. And it should be considered that the Eastern nations are mostly descended from Japheth, one of Noah's sons: although Tharsis and Phut, as well as Shem and Ham, that is, the names of India and Africa, were also mentioned, in order to show the whole world. Therefore, the Lord comes to gather the works and thoughts of each individual. From this, we learn that not only actions but also thoughts will be judged on the day of judgment. For whoever looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5). Regarding this, it is said: 'Now their own thoughts have surrounded them: when the Lord will judge the hidden things of men according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ' (Romans 2:15). So that what the Apostle writes may be proven true by the judgment, with thoughts accusing and satisfying one another, on the day when God will judge the hidden things of men. That all our thoughts, gathered together at once, may be proven by the just judge, whether our conscience accuses us or satisfies us for our wrongdoing, whether there are more sins or good deeds, whether they are old or new, whether they have been erased by repentance or rebuilt with new crimes, as the Lord says: 'I will give them their ways upon their heads, and I will repay their thoughts to them' (Hosea 9:7). He who formed every heart and understands all their works. (Psalm XXXII, 15) About whom we also read in another place: You alone know the hearts of men. (2 Chronicles VI, 30) For no one knows what is in a man, except the spirit of man that is in him. (1 Corinthians II) Therefore, God speaks through Jeremiah: Am I a God at hand, says the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can a man hide himself in secret places, and I will not see him? (Jeremiah XXIII, 23) Finally, it is said to the scribes and Pharisees: You are the ones who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts (Luke XVI, 15). In this, it should be considered that he did not say 'Father,' according to the blasphemies of heretics, so as not to appear to exclude the Son, but 'God,' which is common to both the Father and the Son. For in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; this was in the beginning with God (John I, 1, 2). About which John also writes: But Jesus himself did not believe in them, because he knew all men, and he did not need anyone to bear witness of man: for he himself knew what was in man (John 2:24-25). This is also consistent with this: But Jesus knowing their thoughts (Luke 6:8). And in another place: But Jesus knowing their wickedness (Matthew 22:18). And to prevent any doubt, when heretics maliciously slander the Word of God, that it knows all things, it is stated more fully in the Epistle to the Hebrews: For the word of God is living and effectual, and more piercing than any two-edged sword; and reaching unto the division of the soul and the spirit, of the joints also and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature invisible in his sight. But all things are naked and open to his eyes, to whom our speech is. (Hebrews IV, 12). But after all thoughts have been gathered into one, accusing or defending us: then all peoples and languages will be brought together with their thoughts. And according to the Apostle Paul, we not only read the languages of men but also of Angels (I Corinthians XIII). From this it is understood that all creatures are to be judged by the Lord, not only on earth, but in the air and in the heavens, as he himself said in the passages above: My sword is intoxicated in heaven, and it will come down to the earth (Isaiah 34:5). But everyone will come to see the glory of God, and he will put a sign on them, as shown in the beginning of the book of Ezekiel under the interpretation of the Hebrew letter Thau (Ezekiel 9). By this sign, the hand of the one who struck will flee. This was also marked on the doorposts of houses in Egypt when Egypt was perishing, and only Israel remained untouched (Exodus 12). Concerning this sign that King Ahaz of Judah did not want to receive, the prophet Isaiah testifies: Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son (Isaiah 7:14). And so the Prophet prays for what was promised: Show me a sign for good (Psalm 86:17). And in another place: You have given a sign to those who fear you, that they may flee from the face of the bow (Psalm 59:4). The Lord left this to us as he ascended to the Father, or placed it on our foreheads, so that we may freely say: The light of your face, Lord, has shone upon us (Psalm 4:7). But what follows: And I will send those who have been saved to the nations: and he enumerates them individually, seems to be contrary to our interpretation. For if it is said of the Day of Judgment: how does the coming of the Savior recur to the first, when the Apostles are sent to the Gentiles, and hear from the Lord: Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matt. XXVIII, 19.) This is how it is resolved: The Day of Judgment is preached, or rather threatened, so that out of fear of future punishment, they may receive the coming of the Savior and the Gospel of the Apostles, who are to be sent before. But beautifully he said, 'And I will send out of them that shall be saved' (Isai. LXVI, 18). For unless the Lord had left us seed, we had been made as Sodom and we should have been like unto Gomorrha. And the Apostle says: 'The remnants, he saith, have been saved' (Rom. IX, 27). These are sent to the Gentiles in Tharsis, and Phud, and Lud, and Mosoch, and Thobel, and Greece, and to many islands which are far off, and have not heard my name, nor seen my glory. Of which we have already spoken in the account above (Ch. XII). Now the anagoge must be sought. Tharsis signifies the exploration of joy: so that we may consider not those things which are in the present, but those which are in the future; and may deserve to hear: 'Well done, good and faithful servants, enter into the joy of your Lord' (Matt. XXV, 21). Concerning which the Apostle Peter also writes: 'Rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory' (I Pet. I, 8); so that we may praise God, saying: 'Our mouth is filled with joy, and our tongue with exultation' (Ps. CXXV, 2). And what follows, Phud is interpreted as the exclusion of the mouth: that we may exclude all blasphemy, and speak those things which are good, and say: My mouth shall declare thy righteousness, O Lord: all the day long thy salvation (Psalm 70:15). And again: I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy salvation (Psalm 39:11). Lud also in our language signifies usefulness, and Mosoch signifies extension, and Thubal, or Thobel, signifies mourning, or turned, or universal: all of which are in accord with the calling of the nations, that they may follow usefulness through the confession of their soul, forgetting the past and extending to the future. And let the ancient sins be mourned, and let them be dragged to lamentation and sadness, which leads to life. Blessed are those who mourn, for they themselves will laugh (Matthew 5). And let everyone turn to the Lord, so that they may later pass to grace, and know the saying by the Apostle: Glory and honor, from peace to everyone who works good, to the Jew first and to the Greek (Romans 2:10): for God is not only the God of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles. Furthermore, that which is said: And to the distant islands, who have not heard my name, nor seen my glory, applies to them, of whom we read above: Those to whom it has not been announced about him, they will see; and those who have not heard, they will understand (Isaiah 55:5). And again: I manifested myself to those who did not question me: I was found by those who did not seek me (Isaiah LXV, 1). I said: Behold, I am here, to those who do not call upon my name. However, we often said that the islands signify either all the nations of the world, or the Churches dispersed throughout the whole world.
66:20
(Verse 20.) And they shall proclaim my glory among the nations, and they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and on carts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord. LXX: And they shall proclaim my glory among the nations, and they shall bring your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, with horses and chariots, and with litters on the backs of mules, with sunshades to the holy city Jerusalem, says the Lord. Those who have been saved and sent to various nations, and to those who have not heard or seen the glory of the Lord, will proclaim it to all nations, and will bring the brothers of the Jewish people, whose remains have been saved, as a gift to the Lord from all nations: either those who have followed the knowledge of the true God, rejecting the error of idolatry, or those who have believed from the entire world among the Israelite people. To them, the apostle Peter writes (1 Peter 1). They brought in horses, chariots, litters, mules, and wagons. As for the wagons, which Symmachus alone interpreted and which we have followed in this place, Aquila, Septuagint, and Theodotion translated them as 'mulos'. And where Septuagint placed 'cum umbraculis', which we can interpret as dormitories or sleeping chambers, others translated with the similar-sounding word 'basternas'. And when they said 'φορεῖα', which we interpret as various types of vehicles, Septuagint and Theodotion used the term 'lampenas', for which Symmachus interpreted as 'lecticas'. Aquila used 'σκεπαστὰ', which itself means 'covered with skins', as a translation for 'lecticas'. This is said about the variety of translations. However, by horses, and chariots, and litters, and mules and wagons, and vehicles of various kinds, we can understand Angelic ministries, of which elsewhere it is said to God: Ascend upon your horses, and your riding is salvation (Hab. 3:8). With these horses, chariots, and chariots, Elijah was taken up to heaven, and Elisha showed himself to be surrounded and protected by them, demonstrating to the unaware boy (2 Kings 2). And Zacharias saw in the night: Behold a man ascending upon a red horse, and he stood in the midst of two shady mountains: and after him there were red, black, and white horses. And I said: What are these, my Lord? And he said to me: I will show thee what these are. And the man that stood in the midst of the mountains answered, and said to me: These are they, whom the Lord hath sent to walk through the earth (Zach. I, 8-10). John also testifies in the Apocalypse that he saw these things: I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse: and he who sat upon it was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed which no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, followed him on white horses. From his mouth issues a sharp sword with which to smite the nations (Rev. 19:11-15). The Lord and Savior was sitting on a red horse, assuming a human body, to whom it is said: Why are your garments red? And: Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah (Isaiah 63:2). And there followed him horses of various colors, either red in martyrdom, or starlings in flight, or varied in virtues, or white in virginity. But he was sitting on a white horse when he took on an immortal and incorruptible body after the resurrection. And whoever followed him used white horses, clearly with incorruptible and immortal bodies. It would take a long time, if we wanted to explain both testimonies: I will only say this, that the different vehicles by which people are led to faith are angels, or holy men who have progressed from being human to being angels. That each of us has angels is taught by many Scriptures, among which is this: Do not despise one of these little ones, for their angels behold the face of the Father who is in heaven (Matthew 18:10). And when Rhoda, a girl, announced that Peter was at the door, others believed that he was his angel (Acts 12). But if this is said about the least, and about one man, how much more should it be thought about all the saints, and especially about the Apostles? Whose angels see the face of the Father daily, according to what is written: The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him (Psalm 34:7). And Jacob speaks of himself: The angel who redeemed me. These are those who ascend and descend upon the Son of Man. Those who are swift in faith ride on horses; those who are abundant in grace ride on chariots; those who are in need of consolation are carried in covered litters and shaded tents, so that they may deserve to hear: The sun shall not scorch you by day, nor the moon by night (Psalm 121:6). However, we understand mules in Holy Scripture in two ways: either in terms of barrenness and continence, which is how David and Solomon sat, one interpreted as strong-handed and the other as peaceful, or in a negative sense, of which it is said: Do not be like the horse and the mule, without understanding (Psalm 32:9), to which Doeg was appointed (1 Samuel 21). But the carriages, for which (as we said above) the Seventy, the covered vehicles, the others simply carried them, they are to be understood as the ones the Apostle is speaking of: Bear one another's burdens (Galatians VI, 2). Moreover, the lamps are to be understood as the shining bodies of the saints, and the souls illuminated by the faith of the Lord, of which it can be said: You are the light of the world (Matthew V, 14). However, all this apparatus serves to enter the holy city of God, or the holy mountain of the Lord Jerusalem: not the one that kills the Prophets, and that stones those sent to her; but the heavenly Jerusalem, of which we have frequently said: But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is our mother (Galatians IV, 26). And again: But you have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. XII, 22). This can be understood either of the present Church, which is gathered throughout the whole world by the Apostles, or of the future: so that what the Apostle prophesied by the Holy Spirit may be fulfilled: We shall be caught up together with the Lord in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord (I Thess. IV, 16). The Jews and the followers of the Judaic error, the Ebionites, who, for the sake of affected humility, have taken the name of the poor; all those who are looking forward to a thousand years of delight, understand horses and chariots, and chariots, and litters, or palanquins, and beds, and mules and donkeys, and carts, and various types of vehicles, as they are written. Indeed, at the consummation of the world, when Christ will come to reign in Jerusalem, and the Temple will be restored, and the Judaic victims will be offered, the sons of Israel will be gathered from the whole world, not on horses, but on the mules of Numidia. And those who will be of senatorial rank and hold positions of authority, they will come in carts from the Britons, the Spaniards, and the Morini, who are called Morinos by Virgil (Aeneid VIII), and from where the Rhine is divided by the two-horned [river], with all the nations prepared for their service meeting them.66:21
(Verse 21) Just as the sons of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord. And I will take from among them priests and Levites, says the Lord. LXX: Just as the sons of Israel offer their sacrifices to me with Psalms in the house of the Lord; and I will take from among them priests and Levites, says the Lord. As they have been directed to the nations, and have proclaimed my glory to them, so they shall bring your brothers from all nations as an offering to the Lord, with horses, and chariots, and litters, and mules, and carts, and various vehicles, to the holy mountain Jerusalem, just as the sons of Israel used to do when their religion was established and the ceremonies of the Temple were observed, offering sacrifices with Psalms in the house of the Lord. Or, as it is written in Hebrew, they rendered it all with consonant voice in pure vessel: which they also offer until this day in the House of God, which is the Church, the sons of Israel who behold God with their mind, spiritual sacrifices with the fruits and virtues of their soul in pure vessels, that is, in holy bodies. Concerning which the Apostle writes: Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Holy Spirit dwells in you (1 Corinthians 3:16)? And I will select, says the Lord, priests and Levites from among them, so that those who are saved may proclaim the message to the nations. Of whom one spoke: Thus let a man consider us as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God (I Cor. IV, 1). And Luke the evangelist says: Just as they handed down to us, who from the beginning saw and were ministers of the word. Of whom we also read above: You shall be priests to me, says the Lord (Isaiah LXI, 6). For just as a Jew is hidden, who is circumcised in spirit (Rom. II), of whom it is written: We are the circumcision, who serve God in spirit (Philipp. III, 3), and offer spiritual sacrifices pleasing to God, and sing with spirit and understanding: thus also the priests and Levites are hidden, who do not follow the order of their lineage, but the order of faith. Or certainly he does not speak of the Apostles and apostolic men, who were the leaders of the Church from the Jewish people, but of those mentioned above the nations, from the sea, from Africa, from Libya, from Cappadocia, from Italy, from Greece, from all the islands, the inhabitants of which had not first heard the Lord, nor seen His glory, and afterwards they turn into priests, so that those who were tail become the head, and those who were the head, turn into the tail.66:22-23
(Vers. 22, 23.) For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make to stand before me, saith the Lord: so shall your seed stand, and your name. And there shall be month after month, and sabbath after sabbath: all flesh shall come to adore in my sight, saith the Lord. LXX: For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make to remain before me, saith the Lord: so shall your seed and your name remain. And there shall be month after month, and sabbath after sabbath: all flesh shall come to adore in my sight in Jerusalem the Lord. When he says: 'Assume from among them priests and Levites,' he indicates that the old priesthood was passed over, which was owed to the Levitical tribe, where there is not an election, but a natural order, and it is a succession of a family descending through offspring. For with the translation of the priesthood, it is necessary that both the translation of the Law be made, and the election pertain to those to whom priesthood is conferred, not according to blood, but according to merits and virtues, who will come from the islands of the Gentiles and announce the glory of the Lord. And they shall be brought in on horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and in wagons. But as for the new heaven and the new earth, and the new Jerusalem, that it may not be said: The heaven and the earth shall pass away (Matt. XXIV, 35). And again: The heaven shall be folded up like a book: and the earth shall be dissolved by its corruption (Apoc. VI, 14): so in all things new, the people of God shall be made new, as scripture says: The old things have passed away: behold all things are made new (Isa. XLIII, 19). And in another place: If any man be in Christ a new creature (II Cor. V, 17) . And there shall be a new people; for Christ is the firstfruits, then they that are Christ's, at his coming: and there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, whereof it is said among the eight beatitudes: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land (Matth. V, 3, 4) . For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him that made it subject, in hope (Rom. VIII). But they will be set free from the slavery of corruption into the glory of the children of God, who will be made sons of him through men, and they will stand before him forever, and their name will always remain so that no other nation may succeed them, as happened among the Jews; but they shall remain forever. And, he says, month by month there will be a month, and Sabbath after Sabbath: so that from carnal Sabbaths and months, delicate spiritual Sabbaths may be made, which is the Sabbath of God reserved for the people. The spiritual month, when it is completed from one point to another by the moon, and follows its own order, in order to make a month, that is, the kalends, which in Greek are called 'neomeniai', that is, the beginning of the new month. Among them, the beginning of the kalends does not start and end according to the course of the sun and the different spans of the months, but according to the circuit of the moon. This is the moon about which in praise of the true Solomon it is said: 'It shall endure as long as the sun and before the moon throughout all generations' (Psalm 72:5). She who is called the chosen one in the Song of Songs: Who is this that comes forth like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awe-inspiring? (Song of Songs 6:9) Physicists, who are concerned with discussing celestial matters, say that the moon does not have its own light, but is illuminated by the rays of the sun. It is always filled and shines by a part of it, from which it is closer to the sun, and it is not hidden by the shadow of the earth, as the poet also demonstrated in a single verse (Virgil, Georgics Book I).Nor does the moon rise under the rays of her brother.
If this is true, and we can also say in a metaphorical sense, that the Church which grows and diminishes in times of peace and persecution, and once again takes on its original light, shining with the radiance of the sun of justice, and this is what is meant by: 'The moon will shine like the sun' (Isai. XXX, 26); and its inhabitants will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. And during these months, the seed of the Lord, which is renewed forever, comes to its solemnities, which the holy one proclaimed with mystical words, saying: 'I have considered the eternal years, and I have meditated' (Psal. LXXVI, 6). But on the Sabbath, which signifies rest, we have treated extensively in the sermon (On Chapter LVI), about the prophecy of the eunuch strangers. And now it must be said briefly that they come on the new moons and on the Sabbaths, those who, having passed and left behind the six days in which the world was made, hasten to the seventh day, that is, the Sabbath, in which true rest is found. Concerning these solemnities, the believing Apostle Paul instructs, saying: For the law having a shadow of the good things to come (Hebrews X, 1). And again: Therefore let no one judge you in food, or in drink, or regarding a festival, or a new moon, or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come (Colossians II, 16). But if these have preceded in the shadow of future goods, and in an image, then the whole law must be understood spiritually, of which the same Apostle said: We know that the law is spiritual (Romans VII, 14), the mysteries of which David desired to know: Open my eyes, and I will contemplate the wonders of your law (Psalm CXVIII, 18). For the things that are seen are temporal; but the things that are not seen are eternal. (II Corinthians IV). To quickly run through a discussion about these things is not of this time. For if the eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those who love him (I Corinthians II), how can we attempt to show the summary of the entire Law and the world in a short tablet? And what follows: All flesh shall come to adore in my sight in Jerusalem, it should be known that it is not written in Hebrew, Jerusalem, so that we may deride the pride of the Jews, but only 'in my sight', so that the word of the Lord may be fulfilled, saying in the Gospel: Amen, amen, I say to you, that the hour comes when you shall neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem adore the Father (John IV, 21). And again: The Spirit is God. And those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (John, 4:24). And the Apostle also said: Lifting up holy hands in every place (I Tim. II, 8). But all flesh does not signify the Jewish people, but every kind of people, according to what was said above: All flesh shall see your salvation (Isaiah, 40:5). And in Joel: I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and daughters will prophesy (Joel, 2:28). And in Zechariah: Let all flesh fear before the Lord (Zech. II, 13). And in the Psalms: To you all flesh will come (Ps. LXIV, 2). Which in other words is said in another psalm: All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name (Ps. LXXXV, 9). They interpret from month to month, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, when all flesh will come to worship God, the "chiliasts," who we can call the Milestones: so that those who are nearby come to Jerusalem every Sabbath; those who are far away come through months, that is, completing the cycle of the calendar; those who are very far away come through individual years, that is, on the days of Passover or Tabernacles, according to what is said in Zechariah: And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles (Zech. XIV, 16). And to provide greater laughter to the hearers, which is written in the last volume of the same prophet: 'And there will no longer be a merchant in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day,' thus they interpret, that merchants will cease to exist for a thousand years, because everything will be produced in all places, so that neither will we need the leaf of amomum and pepper, nor will the Indians desire pennyroyal from us.
66:24
(Verse 24.) And they shall go forth, and see the bodies of the men who have transgressed against me. Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be extinguished. And they shall be a vision to all flesh, even to the point of satiety. LXX likewise. All flesh that is to worship before the Lord, whether in heavenly Jerusalem or in any place where clean hands are raised, shall go forth to see the bodies of the dead men who have transgressed against God. What can be understood about the Jews, of whom it is said: I have begotten sons and exalted them, but they have rejected me; or about all those who, having knowledge of God in their hearts, have turned to vanity, worshiping the creature rather than the Creator. However, they will depart not from their place, but from their understanding. For the bodies of the dead cannot be in the presence of the Lord. But if all flesh is to worship the Lord, then, on the contrary, the bodies of men who have transgressed against the Lord will be delivered to eternal burnings. In this way, the resurrection of true flesh will occur on both sides. But the worm that does not die, and the fire that is not extinguished, is understood by many as the conscience of sins, which torments those set in punishments: why they have been deprived of the good of the elect by their own fault and sin, according to what is said: I am tormented in misery, while the thorn is fastened to me (Psalm XXXI, 4). And in Proverbs: The moth of the bones is the intelligent heart (Prov. XXV, 20). And again, under a disguise: Just as a moth to clothing, and a worm to wood, so grief tortures the heart of a man (Ibid.). Thus, while they do not deny the eternal punishments of the evildoers and those denying the Lord, as the Lord says in the Gospel: Go into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). And in another place: Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into outer darkness: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 22:13). If we understand by hands and feet the outer darkness, which is the punishment of the eyes that do not see the light of God; and weeping, which certainly also pertains to the eyes; and gnashing of teeth: I wonder why some introduce an airy body, gradually dissolving into thin air after the resurrection; for the Lord, by the power of His majesty, entered through closed doors to the Apostles (John 20). Certainly, he walked on the sea before the resurrection with a suspended step; and he even demonstrated this to the apostle Peter: that he who walked with faith, afterwards was submerged by disbelief; to whom it was said: Why did you doubt, you of little faith (Matt. XIV, 31)? The fire also must be understood in the same way as the worm, which is burnt for as long as it has matter with which the voracious flame can be nourished. Therefore, if anyone has in their conscience the weeds that the enemy sowed while the master of the house was sleeping, these will be burned by fire, these will be devoured by the flame (Matt. XIII). And in the eyes of all the Saints, the punishments of those who built upon the foundation of the Lord with gold, and silver, and precious stones will be revealed as hay, wood, straw, and the eternal fuel of fire. Moreover, those who desire that the punishments will eventually end, and although after many ages, they will have an end to their torments, use these testimonies: 'When the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then all Israel will be saved' (Rom. 11:25). And again: God concluded all under sin, that he might have mercy on all (Galatians 3:22). And in another place the holy one speaks: I will bear the wrath of the Lord, because I have sinned against him; until he pleads my case and takes away my judgement, and brings me into the light (Micah 7:9). And again: I will bless you, O Lord, for you were angry with me. You turned your face away from me, and had mercy on me (Isaiah 12:1). The Lord also speaks to the sinner: When the fury of my anger has passed, I will heal again (Psalm 30:20). And this is what is said elsewhere: How great is the multitude of your goodness, Lord, which you have hidden for those who fear you. All these things they repeat, seeking to affirm, after pains and torments, the future refreshments which must now be hidden from those for whom fear is useful, so that while they dread the punishments, they may cease from sinning. This we God alone must leave to knowledge, whose torments are not less in weight than his mercies; and he knows whom, how, and how long he ought to judge. And let us only say what is suitable to human frailty: O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath (Psalm 6:1, 38:1) . And just as we believe in eternal torments for the devil and all deniers and impious ones, who have said in their heart: There is no God (Psalm 14:1) , so we consider that the punishment of sinners and impious ones, even of Christians, whose works are to be tested and purified by fire, is a moderated and mixed sentence of the judge's mercy (1 Corinthians 3:13) .1 / 1返回