Translated By: Archtelos Intelligence

Chapters

Expositio in Isaiam, Ieremiam, et Threnos

The Exposition on Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Lamentations.

The scholastic commentary traditionally printed under the name of Thomas Aquinas on the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Lamentations — the Isaiah commentary an early work of his own hand, the Jeremiah commentary left unfinished at his death and closing partway through chapter 42, and the Lamentations commentary completing the volume as traditionally printed alongside them. Rendered here from the 1857 Naples reprint.

Attributed to Thomas Aquinas.

Naples. 1857 reprint.

The Exposition on Isaiah

Prologue

"Write the vision, and make it plain upon tablets, that he that reads it may run: for the vision is yet for an appointed time, and it shall appear in the end" (Habakkuk 2:2-3). From these words three things may be gathered concerning the book of the prophet Isaiah which lies before us: namely, its author, its manner, and its subject matter. Concerning the first, three things are set down: the author, the author's minister, and the office or gift of that minister. The author is shown in the imperative of the one speaking, whence it is prefaced, "And the Lord answered me, and said: Write the vision." For the author of Sacred Scripture is the Holy Spirit — below, in Isaiah 48:16, "Now the Lord God has sent me, and his Spirit." For the Spirit is he "who speaks mysteries," as it is said in 1 Corinthians 14. The minister is shown in the act of writing: for he says, "Write." Now the prophet's tongue was the instrument of the Holy Spirit; in Psalm 45:1 it is said, "My tongue is the pen of a scribe writing swiftly." 1 Corinthians 3: "What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Ministers of him in whom you have believed." The office of the minister is shown in the privilege of vision. For he says "vision": for he who today is called a prophet was formerly called a seer, as is said in 1 Kings 9:9. And Numbers 12:6 says: "If there be among you a prophet of the Lord, I will appear to him in a vision, or I will speak to him in a dream." Thus the author is made plain; but the manner is shown in what follows, "and make it plain." For the manner of this prophecy is plain and open. Whence it is said in the prologue, "He does not seem to be foretelling the future, but rather weaving a history of things past." And concerning this three things are set down: the explanation of the vision, the reason for the explanation, and the resulting benefit. The first is shown in what is said, "make it plain." Now the visions are explained by him in three ways: first, by the fitting of a likeness; second, by the clarity of the statement; third, by the beauty of the words. And in these three this prophet excels the other prophets. For he sets forth beautiful and courtly similitudes, which are indeed necessary for us on account of the natural connaturality of sense to reason: for it is natural to our reason to take from things sensible, whence it grasps more keenly those things whose likenesses toward its purpose it sees. Whence Dionysius, in his second epistle to Titus, shows that sensible figures are necessary in the Scriptures, saying: "Whoever hears plain things forms in themselves a certain figure leading them by the hand to the understanding of theology." And Hosea 12:10: "I have been likened by the hands of the prophets." He excels also in the clarity of statement, so that he seems to be weaving not prophecy but gospel, as is said in the "helmeted prologue": Proverbs 9 — actually, "The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge." But the reason for the explanation is next touched upon, when he says, "upon tablets." For there are tablets of the law — hearts of stone; and there are tablets of flesh softened for writing: 2 Corinthians 3:2-3, "You are our epistle... written not on tablets of stone, but on the fleshly tablets of the heart." The first tablets of the law were written by the finger of God, as is said in Exodus 31:18. And therefore that writing was deep and obscure, and full of many mysteries. Whence it was fitting that upon those tablets a plain prophecy be superscribed by the finger of man for explanation: Isaiah 8:1, "Take you a great book, and write in it with a man's pen." But upon the second tablets — namely, hearts of stone — it was fitting to superscribe plainly for confutation: Matthew 15:7-8, "Well has Isaiah prophesied of you, saying: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." But upon the third tablets — that is, fleshly hearts — it was fitting to superscribe plainly for instruction: Ezra (Nehemiah) 8, "Sign it distinctly in the book of God, and plainly for understanding." And it follows, "And they understood it when it was read." Now the benefit of the explanation is shown in what follows, "that he may run": for to run through is to arrive expeditiously at the end by running. Now the end is threefold: the end of the law, the end of the precept, and the end of life. The end of the law is Christ, unto righteousness to everyone who believes, as is said in Romans 10:4. The end of the precept is charity: 1 Timothy 1:5. The end of life is death: "It is appointed unto men once to die" (Hebrews 9:27). He says therefore, "that he who reads may run" — as if to say, that he who reads may run without the hindrance of doubt by believing in Christ, and believing may love, and persevere in love. The subject matter is touched upon in what follows: "for the vision is yet for an appointed time." And the principal subject matter of this book is the appearing of the Son of God, whence it is read in the Church in the season of Advent. Now there is a threefold appearing of the Son of God. The first, in which he appeared made man in the flesh: Titus 3:4, "The kindness and love of God our Savior appeared." The second, in which he appeared believed by the world through faith: Titus 2:11-12, "The grace of God our Savior has appeared to all men, instructing us that, denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live soberly, and justly, and godly in this world," etc. The third, in which he will appear through hope in glorification: 1 John 3:2, "We know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him." And these appearings are the subject matter of this book. Whence it is said in the prologue that "his whole care is about the coming of Christ and the calling of the Gentiles." But that one who was thus seen afterward was, in those former times, still far off. Far off indeed, because exalted in the equality of majesty: Job 36:25, "Every man sees him from afar; behold, God is great, exceeding our knowledge." He was also far off, because hidden in the foreordination of the Father: Ephesians 3:9, "What is the dispensation of the mystery hidden from eternity in God." He was also far off, because deferred in the expectation of the fathers: Hebrews 11:13, "These all died according to faith, not having received the promises, but beholding them afar off"; but what was far off was made near, because the exalted was made lowest. For "the Word was made flesh" (John 1:14). What was hidden was made public, because the Only-begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him. What was future has already begun to be possessed in glory by the saints: Matthew 25:34, "Come, blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Thus, then, one could say, "the vision is yet far off." "It shall appear in the end": for the first appearing was in the fullness of the law, "for when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law" (Galatians 4:4). The second was at the end of idolatry: below, Isaiah 19:1, "Behold the Lord shall ascend upon a swift cloud, and shall enter into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence." But the third will be at the end of all misery, "for God shall wipe away every tear from the eyes of the saints, and there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor shall there be any more pain, for the former things have passed away" (Revelation 21:4). And these are the last things, of which Sirach 48:27 says of Isaiah: "By a great spirit he saw the last things, and comforted the mourners in Zion, even to eternity." He showed things future and hidden before they came to pass.

Jerome's Prologue

Let no one, when he sees the Prophets set out in verses, suppose them bound by meter among the Hebrews or bearing any resemblance to the Psalms or the works of Solomon; rather, as is customary with Demosthenes and Cicero, they are written in cola and commata — divisions which those authors composed in prose, not in verse. We too, having regard for the profit of readers, have marked out our new translation by a new manner of writing. And first it should be known concerning Isaiah that he is eloquent in his speech, as befits a man of noble birth and urbane elegance, having nothing of rusticity mixed into his diction. Whence it happens that, beyond the other prophets, the translation has not been able to preserve the flower of his style. Then this too must be added: that he should be called not so much a prophet as an evangelist. For he has so clearly traced out the whole mysteries of Christ and the Church that you would not think him foretelling the future, but rather weaving a history of things past. Whence I conjecture that the Seventy translators of that time were unwilling plainly to hand over the sacred things of their faith to the heathen, lest they should give what is holy to dogs and cast pearls before swine — things which, when you have read this edition, you will perceive to have been concealed by them. Nor am I ignorant how great a labor it is to understand the prophets, nor how none can easily judge of a translation unless he has first understood what he reads. We too lie open to the bites of many, who, spurred by envy, despise what they cannot attain. Knowing this, then, and with deliberation I put my hand into the flame, and nonetheless I beg this of fastidious readers: that just as the Greeks, after the Seventy translators, read Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion — whether for the sake of their own learning, or that from a comparison of these they might the better understand the Seventy — so these too may deign to have at least one more translator after the earlier ones. Let them read first, and afterward disparage, lest they seem to condemn not from judgment but from a presumption born of hatred, in ignorance of the matter. Now Isaiah prophesied in Jerusalem and in Judea, the ten tribes not yet having been led into captivity, and he weaves his oracle concerning both kingdoms, sometimes jointly, sometimes separately. And although at times he looks to the present history, and after the Babylonian captivity signifies the people's return into Judea, yet the whole of his care is about the calling of the Gentiles and the coming of Christ. The more you love him, O Paula and Eustochium, the more earnestly ask of him that, in return for the detraction I presently suffer — by which rivals unceasingly tear at me — he himself may restore to me a reward in the world to come, who knows that I have sweated over the learning of a foreign tongue for this reason: that the Jews might no longer insult his churches over the falsity of the Scriptures.

Jerome prefaces this work with a prologue, in which he does three things. First he shows his manner of speaking. Second, his manner of prophesying, where he says, "Then this too must be added." Third, his manner of treating the subject, where he says, "Now he prophesied." He shows the manner of speaking, as to the adornment of the one speaking, from two things: first from the order of the words, second from the elegance of the words, where he says, "And first concerning Isaiah," etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First he removes an order supposed by some, namely the metrical. Second he demonstrates the order actually observed by the prophet, where he says, "But as is customary with Demosthenes," etc. Third he shows that he himself has imitated this same manner in his own translation, where he says, "We too," etc. "Set out," that is, distinguished, "in short clauses" — "bound by meter." *Metron* in Greek is called *measure* in Latin. Whence a thing is said to be described metrically where a fixed measure of feet, syllables, and quantities is kept — from which law the prophets are free. "And bearing some resemblance to the Psalms" — that is, similar to them — "and to the works of Solomon," so far as the end of Proverbs and the Song of Songs; and to Demosthenes (Greek) and Cicero (Latin), orators who wrote in prose, "by cola and commata." There are three divisions in writings — comma, colon, and period — after the likeness of the human body, in which there are certain distinctions among the parts of a single member, as there are joints and distinct members, such as hands and feet, and again the whole body. To the first division corresponds the division made by commas, since a comma is the same as a cutting or division; to the second corresponds that made by cola, since *colon* is interpreted as *member*; but to the whole corresponds the period. For *period* is so called from a "circling round," from *peri*, meaning "around," and *hodos*, meaning "way" — for only the complete line of a circle, as the Philosopher proves, returns upon itself. Now these divisions are taken in three ways in the Scriptures. First, according to Isidore, in verses: a comma occurs when, after two feet, there follows one syllable which is part of another foot, because then one foot is cut short, as in "Gloria, laus, et honor." A colon, when two full feet are taken without a trailing syllable, as "carmina dulcia." But a period, when the whole sense is completed, carried through metrically. Second, in the Psalter, according to Isidore and Cicero: a comma is when incomplete clauses are uttered with a pause, as Isaiah 1:4, "Woe to a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a wicked seed" — and this is called a sub-division. A colon, when complete clauses are uttered with a pause, although the sense is not yet complete, and is called a division, as in the same place, "They have forsaken the Lord, they have blasphemed the Holy One of Israel, they are gone away backward." A period, when the complete sense consists of several such clauses. Third, a comma is taken by Rabanus for a single chapter, upon that text of Isaiah 16:6, "We have heard of the pride of Moab," where he says, "In the preceding chapter he provoked to repentance" — that is, in the preceding chapter. But it is taken in the second sense here: "new," that is, first published by us from Hebrew into Latin in a new manner, the manner kept among the Hebrews — by cola and commata — being preserved, which was not kept in other translations. "And first concerning Isaiah": here he shows the manner of speaking as to the elegance of the words, and concerning this he does three things. First he states the manner. Second he assigns the reason from the condition of the speaker, where he says, "as befits a man of noble birth," etc. Third he concludes an excuse for the defect in his own translation arising from such a manner, where he says, "Whence it happens." "Eloquent" — that is, he appears learned in eloquence. "Of noble birth," by lineage, for his grandfather was, on his mother's side, related to King Manasseh of Judah, as is said in the history. "Whence it happens" — things which sound beautiful in one language do not sound beautiful when translated into another. And therefore, the more beautiful the eloquence this prophet used above the other prophets, the more the translation falls short of its beauty — "flower," that is, its sweetness and adornment. Then, "this too must be added" — here he shows the manner of prophesying, open and expressed; and concerning this he does three things. First he shows the manner of prophesying which has been described. Second, from that manner he concludes the reason for the defect in the ancient Septuagint translation, where he says, "Whence I conjecture." Third he excludes the objection of rivals, where he says, "Nor am I ignorant," etc. Not as a prophet veiling the truth under enigma — "mysteries," that is, things secret, from *mystes*, which means "secret," such as the incarnation: Isaiah 9:6, "A child is born to us"; the passion: Isaiah 53:7, "He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer" — and many other things. "Clearly" — that is, plainly. "You would suppose" — that is, you could suppose, on account of the plainness of the statement of the fact, not as to the manner, which can be expressed more of things past than of things future; whence in this the Evangelist surpasses the prophet. "I conjecture" — that is, from what supposition I judge. "To the heathen" — that is, to the Gentiles, from *ethnos*, which is "nation." "Cast" — Matthew 7:6, "Neither cast your pearls before swine." "Concealed," hidden. Whence he does three things. First he sets down the defect. Second the reason for the defect, where he says, "lest what is holy." Third he proves it through his own condition, where he says, "which, when." "Concealed," that is, secret. "Nor am I ignorant": here he refutes the false judgment of those who object. Second he convicts them by an example, where he says, "and nonetheless," etc. Third he shows them the right order, where he says, "let them read," etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First he shows the cause of the false judgment on the part of the understanding — ignorance. Second, on the part of the affections — envy, where he says, "you too," etc. Third he concludes his own constancy amid contradictions, where he says, "knowing therefore how great a labor," etc. "How great a labor": Psalm 18:11, "Dark water in the clouds of the air" — against which he said above, "clearly," that is, expressing plainly the mysteries of Christ. Response: this is true as to certain more principal matters. "Bites," that is, of detractors. "I put my hand into the flame," that is, I expose myself to danger — and he alludes to a common proverb which arose from this: that Scaevola killed with his own hand the scribe he mistook for King Porsena and thrust it into the fire, saying, "Let the hand perish which did this deed." "For the sake of," that is, out of zeal for learning. "Now he prophesied": here he sets down the manner of treating the subject. And concerning this he does three things. First he touches the order of the treatise as to time, matter, and manner together. Second he touches the intention, where he says, "and although at times," etc. Third from the intention he concludes the petition of his prayer, where he says, "the more," etc.

Chapter 1

Text

a. "The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah."

b. "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken. I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib, but Israel has not known me, and my people has not understood. Woe to a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a wicked seed, corrupt children. They have forsaken the Lord, they have blasphemed the Holy One of Israel, they have gone away backward. Why should I strike you any more, seeing you add to your rebellion? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot to the crown of the head there is no soundness in it — wound, and bruise, and swelling sore: it has not been bound up, nor dressed, nor softened with oil. Your land is desolate, your cities burnt with fire; strangers devour your land before your face, and it shall be desolate as when wasted by enemies. And the daughter of Zion shall be left as a shelter in a vineyard, and as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, and as a besieged city. Unless the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like Gomorrah."

c. "Hear the word of the Lord, you princes of Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah. To what purpose do you bring me the multitude of your sacrifices, says the Lord? I am full. I desire not holocausts of rams, and fat of fatlings, and blood of calves, and lambs, and goats. When you came to appear before me, who required these things at your hands, that you should walk in my courts? Offer sacrifice no more in vain; incense is an abomination to me."

d. "The new moons, and the sabbaths, and other festivals I will not endure — your assemblies are wicked. My soul hates your new moons and your solemnities; they have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them. And when you stretch forth your hands, I will turn away my eyes from you; and when you multiply prayer, I will not hear, for your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices from before my eyes. Cease to do perversely, learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge for the fatherless, defend the widow. And come, and accuse me, says the Lord: if your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made white as snow; and if they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool. If you be willing and will hear me, you shall eat the good things of the land. But if you will not, and will provoke me to wrath, the sword shall devour you, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it."

e. "How has the faithful city, full of judgment, become a harlot? Righteousness dwelt in it, but now murderers. Your silver has become dross, your wine is mixed with water. Your princes are faithless, companions of thieves; they all love bribes, they run after rewards. They judge not for the fatherless, and the widow's cause comes not before them. Therefore says the Lord God of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: Ah, I will comfort myself over my adversaries, and I will be avenged of my enemies. And I will turn my hand to you, and I will thoroughly purge away your dross, and take away all your tin. And I will restore your judges as they were before, and your counselors as of old. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city. Zion shall be redeemed in judgment, and they that return to her in righteousness. And it shall destroy the wicked and the sinners together, and they that have forsaken the Lord shall be consumed. For they shall be ashamed of the idols which you have sacrificed to, and you shall blush for the gardens which you have chosen. For you shall be as an oak whose leaf fades away, and as a garden that has no water. And your strength shall be as the ashes of tow, and your work as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and there shall be none to quench them."

Exposition

a. This book is divided into two parts: the prologue, and the treatise. The second begins where it says, "Hear, O heavens," etc. The prologue is set forth as a kind of title, for the manifestation of the work that follows. Now it is made manifest from four things: first from the genre of the work; second from the author, where it says "Isaiah"; third from the subject matter, where it says "which he saw," etc.; fourth from the time, where it says "in the days," etc. The genre of the work is shown in what he says, "vision," in which it differs from historical books, because it is prophecy: Hosea 12:10, "I have multiplied visions." And it follows, "I have been likened by the hands of the prophets." Here we must consider three things: first, how vision relates to prophecy; second, the manner of prophetic visions; third, the difference of prophetic vision from other visions. Concerning the first, it should be known that "prophecy" can have a twofold derivation: it can come from *phanos*, meaning "appearance," or from *for, faris*. According to the first derivation, prophecy is said to have the appearance of things which are far off. And according to this, prophecy differs from vision in mode, because "appearance" implies a relation of the visible thing to the one seeing, but "vision" the reverse; and again they differ by way of addition, because vision is of anything whatsoever, but prophecy is of those things which are far off. Now certain things are said to be far off from our knowledge in two ways: simply, and in a qualified sense. Simply far off are future contingent things which can go either way, of which no one can have determinate knowledge, either in themselves or in their causes; and of these things there is prophecy. Far off in a qualified sense are those things whose knowledge eludes the one who would know them — such as certain things past, and certain things present; and of these there is not prophecy simply, but only in relation to those who do not know them. But according to the second derivation, a prophet is said to be, as it were, one who speaks from afar; and thus prophecy adds, over and above vision, an act of outward declaration, and vision will be material with respect to prophecy. Concerning the second point, it should be known that the modes of prophetic visions are distinguished according to that in which the knowledge of the future contingent is received. This is either a likeness produced in the sense — and this is called "bodily vision," because the sense receives likenesses from bodies present to it; or it is a likeness received in the imagination, and this is called "spiritual vision," because in it there is first manifested, in a spiritual manner, the act and property which is to know a thing abstracted from matter; or it is a likeness existing only in the intellect, and this is called "intellectual vision." And it should be known that prophecy is preserved in these three as a potential whole is in its parts, whose nature is such that its full power is found perfectly in one part, and in the others there is a certain participation and a certain movement of that power — just as it is in the soul, whose whole power is preserved fully in the rational soul, while the sensitive soul does not have the perfect power of the soul, and the vegetative soul still less. On account of which Gregory says that plants do not live through a soul, but through a vital force. Likewise also bodily and spiritual or imaginative vision is something of prophecy, but they cannot be called true prophecy unless intellectual vision is added, in which the complete character of prophecy consists: Daniel 10:1, "The understanding of it is in a vision" — whence it goes before, "Daniel understood the word," namely Daniel. But "vision" is first and properly said of bodily vision, and because all our knowledge is from sense, among which sight is more excellent both in subtlety and in universality, since it shows more differences of things, therefore the name of the visual faculty is transferred to other, more interior modes of cognition. Concerning the third point, it should be known that not every intellectual vision is prophetic vision: for there is a certain vision to which the natural light of the intellect suffices, such as the contemplation of invisible things through the principles of reason — and in this contemplation the philosophers placed the highest happiness of man. There is again a certain contemplation to which man is raised by the light of faith, which suffices for it — such as that of the saints in this life. There is also a certain contemplation of the blessed in their homeland, to which the intellect is raised by the light of glory, seeing God through his essence, insofar as he is the object of beatitude — and this, in its full and perfect measure, exists only in that homeland, though sometimes someone even while still existing in this mortal life is caught up to it in rapture, as was Paul's rapture: 2 Corinthians 12:2, "I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago," etc., where the Gloss says that he saw as those see who belong to the third hierarchy. But none of these is prophetic vision, since for it neither the natural light nor the light of faith suffices; rather, the prophet's intellect is raised to it by the light of grace freely given, which is the gift of prophecy. For it does not attain to seeing God as he is the object of beatitude, but as he is the reason of those things which pertain to the ordering of men in the world. Likewise, not every bodily or imaginative vision is called prophetic, but only that which occurs through a likeness specially ordained by divine power to this end, that it might be a sign of some future thing, whether the recipient perceives it by seeing or receives understanding in some other way. The author is touched upon in what is said, "Isaiah the son of Amoz." And although this Amoz was a prophet — for he is placed in the title of the prophecy, according to the rule of the Hebrews — nevertheless he is not the same as the one who is numbered among the twelve prophets, since among the Hebrews the two are written with different letters. The subject matter is touched upon in what he says, "which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem," since it concerns those things which pertain to Judah and Jerusalem — so that "concerning" (*super*) may be taken as meaning "of" (*de*), according to Symmachus's translation, or as meaning "against" (*contra*), according to the Septuagint — so that "Judah" is taken for the land of the two tribes, and "Jerusalem" for the metropolis of that region. Or "Judah" for the portion of Judah, and "Jerusalem" for the portion of Benjamin, since it lay within that portion as to the body of the city, which was on the plain, although as to the summit of the mountain, on which the city of David and the Temple stood, it pertained to the house of God, as can be gathered from Joshua 18. "In the days": here the work is marked out by its time, and four kings are named, in whose time Isaiah issued this prophecy — whence some divide this book according to the times of the kings under whom he received the several revelations, so that in the first part are placed the things seen in the time of Uzziah; in the second, those seen in the time of Jotham, in chapter 6, "In the year that King Uzziah died," and thence to the end of chapter 14, where the things seen in the time of Ahaz are recorded... and so on, it is not further explained why no mention is made of the kings of Israel, as Hosea, in his title, makes mention of Jeroboam son of Joash — were they not contemporaries? To which it is said that this prophet prophesied chiefly against the two tribes, and therefore has only their kings in his title; but that one prophesied against both kingdoms. Again it is asked why no mention is made of King Manasseh of Judah, under whom he also prophesied, since it is agreed he had not lost the spirit of prophecy. To this it must be said that all the things written in this book he saw in the times of the kings named. But it was not fitting that the prophet, whose office is chiefly one of consolation, should be dated by a time of denunciation; or that, in the time of a wicked king who provoked God's wrath, God's consolation should be preached: Hosea 2, "I will give you a king in my fury."

b. Here begins the treatise of this book, whence its division is taken according to the sequence of the subject matter. Now it has been said that its principal intention concerns the coming of Christ and the calling of the Gentiles. It is agreed that "all the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth," as is said in Psalm 25:10. Whence at Christ's birth it was said by Simeon, Luke 2:34, "Behold, this child is set for the fall and for the resurrection of many in Israel"; and to the Gentiles entering in it was said by the Apostle, Romans 11:25, "Blindness in part has happened in Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles should come in." This book, then, is divided into two parts: in the first is set down the denunciation of divine justice unto the destruction of sinners; in the second, the consolation of divine mercy unto the resurrection of the just, at chapter 40, where it says, "Be comforted." The first is divided into three: since he speaks principally against Judah and Jerusalem, in the first part he denounces the two sinning tribes; in the second, others who persecute them, at chapter 7, "And it came to pass," etc.; in the third he delivers them from threatening enemies, at the chapter beginning "Behold in righteousness," etc. The first is divided into two: in the first he reproaches their guilt and threatens a corrective punishment; in the second he threatens a condemning punishment on the incorrigible, at the chapter "In the year that King Uzziah died," etc. The first is divided into two: in the first he charges them with guilt as to their turning away; in the second, as to their conversion, chapter 2, where it says, "The word that," etc. The first into two: in the first he charges them with the sin of turning away from the worship of God; in the second, from justice toward one's neighbor, where it says, "How has ... become," etc. The first into three: in the first he rebukes the guilt; in the second, for the guilt, he threatens punishment, where it says, "Your land is desolate," etc.; in the third he seeks a remedy for the punishment, where it says, "Hear the word of the Lord," etc. The first into three: in the first he calls for a witness of judgment; in the second he charges the deformity of the sin, where it says, "I have nourished," etc.; in the third he shows the incorrigibility of the sinning people, where it says, "Why should I strike you," etc. Now he calls upon a creature as witness in the judgment of sin, which had also been a witness in the binding obligation of the precept: "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth" — Deuteronomy 32:1, "Hear, O heavens, the things I speak." For the creature had been a witness of the obligation to the precept, Deuteronomy 32; but now it is invoked as an arbiter of the transgression: Psalm 50:4, "He shall call the heaven from above, and the earth, to judge his people." But sometimes it is also taken up as an instrument of divine vengeance: Wisdom 16:24, "The creature, serving you the Creator, is made fiercer for the punishment of the unjust." But it seems unfitting that the earth and heaven, which are insensible creatures, should be called to hear. It must be said that the insensible creature is called upon, with regard to those of rational nature, for five reasons. First, to commend the divine power: Job 38:10, "I set my bounds around it," and Romans 4:17, "He calls the things that are not as though they were." Second, for evidence: 2 Samuel 12:12, "I will do this thing in the sight of all Israel, and in the sight of the sun"; and Luke 19:40, "I say to you, if these should hold their peace, the stones would cry out." Third, to aggravate the malice: Jeremiah 2:12, "Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and you gates thereof, be very desolate." Fourth, to magnify the joy: Psalm 96:11, "Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad." Fifth, to express the sorrow: Hosea 4:3, "Therefore shall the land mourn, and everyone that dwells in it shall languish" — as if to say, your sin is so manifest that it could, were it possible, be proved even by irrational things — and likewise concerning the others. Or there is here a metonymy, so that heaven is put for the angels, and earth for men. "Heavens" is plural for singular; or because, taken literally, there are several heavens and one center, which is the earth. "The Lord has spoken" — let him whom you hear speaking be heard, by whose speaking you were made: Psalm 148:5, "He spoke, and they were made; he commanded, and they were created." "Hear, O heavens" — as being distant; "give ear, O earth" — as being near. "I have nourished children": here he shows the deformity of the sin, and concerning this does three things. First he shows contempt in the affection; second, ignorance in the understanding, where it says, "The ox knows," etc.; third, a turning away in the effect of their deeds, where it says, "Woe to a sinful nation," etc. And this order is kept, so that from contempt the ignorance is aggravated — that is, their ignorance does not excuse those who are already condemned by contempt. He aggravates the contempt through the benefit bestowed; whence concerning the first he does two things. First he recalls the benefit; second, the vice of ingratitude, where it says, "But they have rebelled," etc. Now he sets down a threefold benefit. The first is that of filial adoption, when he says "children": Exodus 4:22, "Israel is my firstborn son." The second, the care of their upbringing, where it says "nourished": Wisdom 16:20 (var.), "You nourished your people with the food of angels." The third, a singular exaltation, where it says "and brought up": Wisdom 5:5 (var.), "considering it, how you exalted them in the end, and slew their adversaries." The first regards the very assumption and exaltation; the second, the freedom of children; the third, the subjection of their enemies. "But they have rebelled against me": Jeremiah 2:11, "As a woman despises her lover, so has the house of Israel despised me." Now he aggravates their ignorance through the example of brute beasts; whence concerning this he does two things. First he adduces the knowledge of brute animals; second, the ignorance of the sinners, where it says, "But Israel," etc. "The ox knows," etc. — by a certain habitual familiarity with kindness; "but Israel" — he charges them with a twofold ignorance: namely of the one commanding, when he says, "has not known me," against what he had said, "his owner," and against the very meaning of the name "Israel" — for "Israel" is interpreted "seeing God": John 1... "They have not known the Father, nor me"; and ignorance of the law: "and my people has not understood," against what he had said, "his master's crib," and against what he had said, "people" — for a people is one subject to the precepts of a lawgiver: Hosea 8:12, "I shall write to them my manifold laws, which are counted as a strange thing." Then he aggravates the effect of the deed through their confirmed practice. Whence first he shows their confirmation; second, their turning away, where it says, "They have forsaken," etc. He shows their confirmation, first, by the custom of sinning, which produces a habit; whence he says, "Woe to a sinful nation" — for one is a sinner by habit, just as a singer is by art or office: Isaiah 48:8, "I knew that transgressing you would transgress." Second, by the readiness for sin, which is a kind of weight in sins: Gregory says, "Sin which is not washed away by penance soon by its own weight drags one to another"; Psalm 14 (var.), "Their feet are swift to shed blood." Third, from the succession of sin, since, imitating the sins of their fathers, they have them as if by propagation; whence he says, "a wicked seed," that is, of the worst, according to another translation: Psalm 106:6, "We have sinned with our fathers, we have dealt unjustly, we have committed iniquity." Fourth, as to the magnitude of the sins, when he says, "corrupt children": Ezekiel 22:6 (var.), "The slanderous men have been in you to shed blood," and "they have wrought deceit in the midst of you"; Isaiah 57:4, "Are you not children of transgression, a lying seed?" "Seeing you add," etc.: here he shows the incorrigibility of the sin, removing a threefold mode of correction. First, that which is through the divine scourge, saying, "why," that is, to what purpose, "should I strike you," namely that whereby I correct, "seeing you add" sins thereby: Jeremiah 2:30, "In vain have I struck your children, they have received no correction." Second, that which is through the counsel or help of a neighbor, when he says, "the whole head is sick" — because no one is fit to succor another on account of his own infirmity; and this he shows as to the person of the king, or prince, saying, "the whole head is sick": 1 Samuel 9:21 (var.), "Is not a child born to you in the eyes of all? The head has become weak in the house of Israel." As to the person of the priest: "and the whole heart faints." For the heart first receives life from the soul, and transmits it to the body, as a kind of medium between the soul and the body; so the priest is a medium between God and the people: Exodus 18:19, "You shall be to them in those things that pertain to God." As to the person of the common man, when he says, "from the sole of the foot to the crown," etc.: Isaiah 56:11, "All have turned aside to their own way, everyone to his own gain, from the highest even to the lowest." And it should be noted that the unfitness of the king is shown in sickness, because he was unable to help by punishing, through his power: Ecclesiastes 7:6, "Seek not to become a judge, unless you have strength to break through iniquity." But the unfitness of the priest is shown in his fainting, through which he becomes unfit for the sacrifices by which he expiated sins: Leviticus 10:19, "How could I eat it, or please the Lord in the ceremony, with a grieving mind?"; Psalm 100:2, "Come before his presence with exultation." The private man could correct by example; but he too is shown to be unfit, through sin, which is designated in the loss of unity, "from the sole of the foot": Psalm 14:3, "They are all gone aside, they are become unprofitable together" — namely, for the work of correcting. Third, where it says, "wound, and bruise," he removes the mode of correction that comes through human effort, as when someone is disposed toward grace, which blots out sins through good works; whence he says, "wound" — manifest guilt; "and bruise" — hidden envy; "and swelling sore" — inflating pride; "it has not been bound up" — with the bond of the restraining law: Jeremiah 2:20, "Of old time you have broken my yoke, you have burst my bands, and you said..." — not "I will not serve" as to the first. "Nor dressed" with the medicine, that is, with charity healing, as to the second: Proverbs 10:12, "Love covers all sins." "Nor softened with oil" — with a softening humility: Judith 9:16 (var.), "The prayer of the humble and meek has always pleased you"; Sirach 3:20 (var.), "The greater you are, the more humble yourself in all things"; Proverbs 15:1, "A soft answer breaks wrath"; Judges 9:9, "Should I leave my fatness, with which both gods and men are honored?" "Your land is desolate," etc.: here he threatens punishment. And first he sets down the sign of the coming punishment; second, whatever consolation there may be, where it says, "Unless the Lord," etc. He sets down a threefold punishment. First, as to the destruction of their possessions; whence he says, "your land is desolate," as to the open countryside, which will be as untilled as a wilderness: Isaiah 7:23-24 (var.), "Briers and thorns shall be in every land." "Your cities burnt with fire," as to the towns: Amos 2:5, "I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem"; Jeremiah 4:26, "I beheld, and lo, Carmel was a wilderness, and all its cities were destroyed at the presence of the Lord, and at the presence of the fierceness of his wrath." The second punishment is as to the destruction of the produce of the land; whence he says, "your land," etc. "Devour" as to the fruits: Deuteronomy 28:33, "A nation which you do not know shall eat the fruit of your ground, and the fruits of your labor." "Shall be desolate" as to the destruction of the trees and vines: Jeremiah 4:13, "Woe unto us, for we are laid waste." Third, as to the captivity of men; whence, "the daughter of Zion shall be left" — that is, Jerusalem, or the temple, whence came the guarding of the whole province — solitary. "As a shelter in a vineyard," after the vintage: below, chapter 5:7, "The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant." "As a lodge in a garden of cucumbers," after the last fruits have been gathered, by which he signifies the fathers: Hosea 9:10 (var.), "I saw your fathers as the firstripe fruit on the fig tree." "As a besieged city," because it was the capital: Ezekiel 26:17 (var.), "The city is laid waste, says he who came from Jerusalem"; Jeremiah 6:6, "This is the city to be visited, all oppression is in the midst of her." "Unless the Lord of hosts": here is set the consolation of the promise to deliver a remnant. Now the Lord has left them a remnant, gathered by grace: Isaiah 43:5, "I will bring your seed from the east, and gather you from the west" — a seed of promised blessing: Galatians 3:16, "To Abraham were the promises made, and to his seed"; a seed of diffused preaching: Isaiah 27:6 (var.), "He that shall go forth with vigor from Jacob shall flourish, and Israel shall bud, and they shall fill the face of the world with seed"; a new seed of the saints: Isaiah 66:22, "As the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make to stand before me, says the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain." "I have nourished children," etc.: here three things must be noted, namely the office of nourishing, the privilege of exaltation, the contempt of ingratitude. He nourished them, indeed, in the time of the king, when the heir was still a little child: Galatians 4 (var.), first trusting them to the promises given to the fathers, Galatians 3, "To Abraham were the promises made"; second, governing them by judgments in their lawgivers: Psalm 147:20, "He has not done so to every nation, and his judgments he has not made manifest to them"; third, defending them by help through their judges and kings: Judith 9:14 (var.), "Their God defends them, and we shall be a reproach to the whole earth"; fourth, he instructed them by admonitions through the prophets: Malachi 2:14 (var.), "The Lord has been witness between you and the wife of your youth"; fifth, he corrected them with scourges through their enemies: 2 Maccabees 6:13 (var.), "For it is not for a long time that he suffers them to go on, but presently punishing them"; from this comes the reproof, "and they have rebelled."

c. Here is set down the remedy against the punishment. And first he calls them to hear; second he removes the useless remedy they were applying, where it says, "to what purpose"; third a wholesome counsel is offered, where it says, "wash yourselves, be clean." Now he calls first the greater ones to hear, saying, "hear the word of the Lord, you princes," etc.; second the lesser, where it says, "you people of Gomorrah." But why does he invite the greater to hear, and the lesser only to give ear? Because things heard by the greater are the more easily perceived by the lesser. Again, since he leaves them a remnant, why does he compare them to the Sodomites and the people of Gomorrah, who were utterly consumed? It must be said that he compares the incorrigible among them for two reasons: first because of the likeness of the sin — Genesis 19, "the men of Sodom clave to unspeakable things" — and because of its open publication: Isaiah 3:9, "They have proclaimed their sin as Sodom, they have not hidden it." And although five cities were overthrown, he nonetheless compares them especially to these two, since they were the worst among the rest. And for this reason he also compares the princes to the men of Sodom, because that city was a metropolis, as is clear from Genesis 14. Now it belongs to princes to hear the word of the Lord first, and to impose the law upon the people. And therefore he calls the one group to a hearing of the word, and the people to a receiving of the law. "To what purpose": here he shows the uselessness of the remedy they were applying — first as to the offering of sacrifices; second as to the observance of feasts, where it says, "your new moons," etc.; third as to their prayers, where it says, "and when you stretch forth your hands," etc. Concerning the first he does two things: first he rejects the offerings of animals; second, of inanimate things, where it says, "incense is an abomination," etc. Now among the sacrifices of animals there was something that was wholly given over to the worship of God — as the holocaust, wholly burnt, from *holos*, which is "whole," and *kauma*, which is "burning." Whence also the fat was set apart, as is held in Leviticus 1, and the blood was wholly poured out, Leviticus 3. There were certain others, part of which went to the worship of God, part to the use of the minister — as the sin-offering, unless it was for the sin of the priesthood or of the whole multitude, Leviticus 4. There were also certain others of which part went to the worship of God, part to the use of the minister, and part fell to the offerer himself — as in peace-offerings, which were offered for thanksgiving, or for well-being, Leviticus 4. And according to these three, he divides his argument into three parts. First he rejects the sacrifices distributed into the three kinds, namely the peace-offerings. And first he sets down the rejection, saying, "to what purpose to me" — that is, to what end do you offer to me — "the multitude of your victims," as though not mine? And they are called "victims" (*victimae*) either because the bound (*vinctum*) animal was led to the priest, or because they were offered for a victory had or to be had. Then he sets down the reason for the rejection, saying, "I am full." Or on account of distaste, because they were not good: Genesis 4:5, "But unto Cain and his offerings he had no respect"; or on account of ownership: Psalm 50:10-11, "All the beasts of the forest are mine, the cattle on a thousand hills." Second he rejects those things which were offered wholly to God. And first he sets down the rejection of those three, naming only three animals, because only from these were made such sacrifices as were of the herd; certain others were made also of birds, turtledoves and young pigeons, but this was on account of deficiency or poverty, as is clear from Leviticus 14 and many other passages; and again their use was not universal in all cases, since peace-offerings were not offered from these. Then he sets down the reason for the rejection, where it says, "when you come," etc. — as if he said, you offend me more by walking in my courts and polluting them than the holocaust pleases me; whence he does not accept this reckoning: Psalm 40:6, "Holocaust and sin-offering you did not require"; Jeremiah 7:22-23, "I spoke not to your fathers, nor commanded them, in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning words of holocausts and sacrifices; but this I commanded them, saying: Hear my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people." Third he rejects what was owed to God and to the priest, saying, "offer sacrifice no more": Jeremiah 11:15, "What has my beloved to do in my house, seeing she has wrought lewdness with many, in which you glory?" And Micah 6:6-7, "What shall I offer to the Lord that is worthy? Shall I offer holocausts and calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousand fat he-goats?" "Incense": here he rejects the offerings of inanimate things, under which he includes all of them by naming incense, since this was the more worthy among the rest, such as frankincense, Exodus 30, and the most common, as to the frankincense which was placed upon and added to every such offering, and wholly burned to God: Isaiah 66:3, "He that remembers frankincense is as one that blesses an idol." But an objection arises from what the Gloss says, that God never loved their sacrifices, since he had commanded that they be made: Genesis 8:21, "And the Lord smelled a sweet savor, and said: I will no more curse the earth for man's sake." It must be said that in any sacrifice something is to be considered on the part of the offerer, and something on the part of the thing offered. On the part of the thing offered, our sacrifices please God in themselves, but not so the sacrifices of the ancients. And this is what is meant by "it was not pleasing." A thing is said to be loved "in itself" (*per se*) when it has in itself that on account of which it is loved, as an honest good; but that which is loved only through its relation to another thing is not said to be loved in itself — as a bitter drink is said to be loved, or sought, insofar as it is related to the end of health. Now our sacrifices contain in themselves the grace of sanctification, according to which they are acceptable to God; but those sacraments of the ancients were only signs of grace, and therefore were not loved in themselves. But on the part of the offerer, both ours and theirs can be acceptable from the intention of the one offering. One should therefore distinguish four periods. The first, before the written law and idolatry, and then the ancient sacrifices, offered by the patriarchs, pleased both on account of the devotion of the offerers and on account of the signification of the thing offered. The second period is under the law, once received; and then, idolatry having intervened, something was added because they were displeasing — because they were not worthy that God should be appeased by the same means by which the devil was worshipped; and on the other hand a certain usefulness was added on the part of the offerers, that it might be a remedy against idolatry for the people to this end. Whence also nothing was commanded concerning sacrifices before the making of the idol; and thus is understood the authority of Jeremiah here adduced. The third period was under the prophets, in which, because of the sins of the people, they were no longer pleasing on the part of the offerers, but only insofar as they were a sign. Whence, according to this, they did not appease God but rather provoked him. The fourth period is under grace, when their use is now wholly abolished, because with the truth come, the figure ceased.

d. Here he removes the observance of the solemnities. And first, as to the future, he sets down the purpose of the prohibition, saying, "the new moon": Psalm 81:3, "Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, on the notable day of your solemnity." "And the sabbath" — Exodus 20. "And other festivals" — Leviticus 23, "These are the feasts of the Lord, which you shall call holy and most solemn." "Your assemblies are wicked": below, Isaiah 58:13, "Behold, in the day of your fast your own will is found, and you exact of all your debtors." "I will not endure." Second, as to the present, he sets down their hatefulness, saying, "your new moons," which he adds above, "and your solemnities has my soul hated": whence Psalm 81:2-3, "Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant psaltery with the harp. Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, on the notable day of your solemnity"; Lamentations 2:6, "The Lord has caused the solemn feast and the sabbath to be forgotten in Zion, and has despised, in the indignation of his wrath, the king and the priest." Third, as to the past, he sets down the weariness, saying, "they have become a burden to me." And he sets down the heaviness of the weight: Psalm 38:4, "As a heavy burden, they are become heavy upon me." Second, the toil of bearing: Isaiah 43:24, "You have made me to serve with your sins." And he speaks in a human manner about God, since it is said to be burdensome for a man to labor at what does not please him. "And when you stretch forth": he rejects their prayers. And first he sets down the rejection; second the reason for the rejection, where it says, "for your hands are full," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he rejects it as to the outward sign of devotion, where it says, "and when you stretch forth": Lamentations 3:41, "Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to God in the heavens"; and below, Isaiah 65:2, "I have spread forth my hands all the day to an unbelieving people, that walk in a way that is not good." Second, the futility of the prayer: Proverbs 28:9, "He that turns away his ear from hearing the law, his prayer shall be an abomination." "For your hands are full of blood," which you have shed: Psalm 14:3 (var.), "Their feet are swift to shed blood"; Proverbs 1:15-16, "Keep your foot from their paths, for their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood." "Wash yourselves": here he sets down a wholesome counsel; and concerning this he does three things. First he sets down the efficacious remedy. Second, the effect of the remedy, where it says, "you shall eat," etc. Third, the punishment against contempt, where it says, "but if you will not," etc. The remedy consists in two things: in the flight from evil, and in the pursuit of good, where it says, "learn," etc. Evil is put to flight in two ways: first through the purgation of what has been done, and as to this he says, "wash yourselves": Jeremiah 4:14, "Wash your heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, that you may be saved: how long shall wicked thoughts lodge within you?"; second through caution regarding what is to come, and this in three ways. First, that one not conceive evil in the heart: "be clean," Proverbs 22:11, "He that loves cleanness of heart, for the grace of his lips shall have the king for his friend." Second, that one not carry out in deed what has been conceived: Micah 2:1, "Woe to you that devise that which is unprofitable, and work evil in your beds: in the morning light they execute it" — namely, the deed. Third, that one not persist in what has been begun: "cease to do perversely": Jeremiah 2:25, "Withhold your foot from being unshod, and your throat from thirst," and in the same chapter, "a swift runner, tracing out her ways." "Learn to do well": here he sets down the remedy as to the pursuit of good, and he sets it down first as the intention; second, that it be carried out in deed, where it says, "relieve the oppressed," etc. One does good, first, by ordering oneself, and as to this he says, "learn to do well": Jeremiah 6:8, "Be instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from you, lest I make you desolate, a land not inhabited." As to ordering oneself toward one's neighbor — and this is what he says, "seek judgment": Job 29:16, "The cause which I knew not, I searched out most diligently"; Jeremiah 6:16, "Stand upon the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths." "Relieve the oppressed": here he sets down the fulfillment of the deed in relieving misery. Now what makes one wretched is either violence — and as to this he says, "relieve the oppressed": Proverbs 24:11, "Deliver them that are led to death, and forbear not to deliver them that are drawn to death"; or ignorance of age, "judge for the fatherless": Sirach 4:10 (var.), "In judging be as a father to the fatherless"; or the weakness of sex, "defend the widow": Job 29:11 (var.), "The ear that heard me blessed me, and the eye that saw me gave witness to me." "And come": here he promises the effect, and concerning this three things are set down. First, the obligation of the one who promises, when he says, "come" — as if he said, if what I say does not come to pass, that which I promise, I bind myself, so that you may accuse me. This was Job's complaint, Job 9:33, "There is none that can... lay his hand upon us both." Second, the ceasing of evils: "if your sins be as scarlet," etc. And he promises a twofold cleansing from sins, because when the cause ceases, the effect ceases. He touches two kinds of sin. The first, which is from a hardened love, which is signified in scarlet on account of its firm dye, against which he sets the whiteness of cold snow: Job 9:30, "If I be washed as it were with snow water"; the second, which is a sin committed from a fear that yet mortifies, which is signified in the color of the worm-dye (crimson), whose color approaches whiteness; "and if they be red as crimson," against which he sets wool. Whence, "they shall be white as wool": Ezekiel 27:18 (var.), "in the multitude of divers riches, in wool of the finest color"; Daniel 7:9, "His garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool." Third is set the restoration of good things: "if you be willing, and will hear me": Psalm 27:13, "I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living." "You shall eat": below, Isaiah 65:13, "Behold, my servants shall eat, and you shall be ashamed." "But if you will not": here he sets down the punishment of contempt. And first he sets down contempt itself, saying, "but if you will not, and will provoke me to wrath": Zechariah 5:? (var.), "You were called, and you were afflicted, when you provoked me to wrath, says the Lord." Second he threatens the sword of vengeance, "the sword shall devour you": Ezekiel 21:9 (var.), "I will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and I will accomplish my fury, and I will cause my indignation to rest upon them." Third he shows the judgment to be unchangeable, since "the mouth of the Lord has spoken it": Numbers 23:19, "God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should be changed."

e. Here he shows their sin as to their turning away from justice toward their neighbor; and concerning this he does three things. First he describes the guilt. Second he threatens punishment, where it says, "therefore says the Lord," etc. Third, the sequel of the punishment, where it says, "and it shall destroy," etc. Concerning the first he first charges the sin of the common people. Second, the sin of the priest, where it says, "your silver," etc. Third, the sin of the princes, where it says, "your princes," etc. In the people he charges two things: aggravating it by comparison to their former state — namely venality, by comparison to their former fidelity; whence he says, "how has the faithful city become a harlot": Jeremiah 2:20 (var.), "Under every green tree you did prostitute yourself, a harlot"; and cruelty, by comparison to justice and judgment, which is the execution of justice, "full of judgment. Righteousness dwelt in it": Psalm 72:3 (var.), "Until justice be turned into judgment" — whence he says, "but now murderers": Hosea 4:2, "Cursing, and lying, and killing, and theft, and adultery have overflowed, and blood has touched blood." He charges the sin of the priests in two things: in the corruption of the truth of doctrine; whence he says, "your silver has become dross": Psalm 12:6, "The words of the Lord are pure words, silver tried by the fire, purged from the earth, refined seven times"; Jeremiah 23:? (var.), "The prophets prophesy a lie." Second, in the relaxation of the severity of discipline, which is signified in wine — for this is the wine which the Samaritan poured in (Luke 10) — whence he says, "your wine is mixed with water": Ezekiel 13:18 (var.), "Woe to them that sew pillows under every elbow, and make cushions for the heads of persons of every age to catch souls." "Your princes," etc.: here he charges the sin of the princes. And first he shows them unfaithful in the execution of their office, which they carry out for their own advantage, and not the people's: Amos 6:6 (var.), "Anointed with the best ointments, drinking wine in bowls"; Ezekiel 34:2, "Woe to the shepherds of Israel, that fed themselves! Should not the flocks be fed by the shepherds?" And on this account he says, "faithless." Second he shows them transgressors in the receiving of evildoers, "companions of thieves," by defending them and affording them patronage: Hosea 6:9 (var.), "As the jaw of robbing men, so are the companies of priests"; Proverbs 1:10, "My son, if sinners shall entice you, do not walk with them." Third he shows them corrupted in the receiving of bribes: below, Isaiah 5:23, "Woe to you that justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away the justice of the just from him"; whence he says, "they all love bribes" — received; "they run after rewards" — namely promised or hoped for. Fourth he shows them unjust in the repelling of the poor, "they judge not for the fatherless, and the widow's cause comes not before them": Jeremiah 5:28, "They have not judged the cause of the widow, they have not managed the cause of the fatherless." "Therefore says the Lord," etc.: here he threatens punishment. And first, that of the rulers; second, of the subjects, where it says, "and I will turn," etc. Concerning the first he sets down three things. First the power of the punisher, in his authority, saying, "the Lord": Malachi 1:6, "If I be Lord, where is my fear, says the Lord?" Second, in the multitude of his ministers, "of hosts": Job 25:3, "Is there any numbering of his soldiers?" Third, in strength, "the Mighty One": Job 9:4, "He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength; who has resisted him, and had peace?" Second he sets down the will of the one punishing, "ah" — namely toward them. "I will comfort myself" — because my comfort will be their punishment: below, Isaiah 63:4, "For the day of vengeance is in my heart, the year of my redemption is come." Third he sets down the cruelty of the punishment, "and I will be avenged of my enemies," because I will punish you as enemies: Deuteronomy 32:41 (var.), "I will render vengeance to my enemies, and repay them that hate me." "And I will turn," etc.: here he threatens the punishment of the subjects. And first is set the preparation of the punisher, where it says, "and I will turn my hand" to punish — which, by sparing, I had, as it were, kept folded: Job 19:21, "The hand of the Lord has touched me." Second, the completion of the punishment, "I will thoroughly purge away," with the fire of tribulation, "your dross," to the point where whatever needs purging is purged: Matthew 5:26, "You shall not go out from there, till you repay the last farthing." Third, the multitude of the punishments, "and take away all your tin," because I will punish for every sin: below, Isaiah 40:2, "She has received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins." "And I will restore," etc.: here he sets down the sequel of the punishment. And first as to the renewal of those chastised; second as to the consuming of the obstinate, where it says, "and it shall destroy," etc. For, as Augustine says, "by the same fire gold is proved, and chaff smokes." Concerning the first he does three things. First he promises renewal as to the amendment of the rulers. Second as to the restoration of their reputation, where it says, "afterward you shall be called." Third as to the observance of justice, where it says, "Zion shall be redeemed in judgment," etc. He says therefore, "I will restore your judges" — as to the secular rulers, whose office it is to judge the people. "And your counselors" — that is, the priests, whose office it is to make manifest to the people the counsels of God: Malachi 2:7, "The lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth, because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts" — "as they were before," as were Moses and Joshua, who pleased God: Jeremiah 3:15, "I will give you shepherds according to my own heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and doctrine." "And afterward you shall be called" — that is, you shall recover your reputation, so that you may be called such as you were before — "the city of righteousness," that is, in which righteousness is kept: below, Isaiah 62:4, "You shall no more be called Forsaken, neither shall your land any more be called Desolate; but you shall be called My delight in her." "Zion shall be redeemed in judgment," by the execution of justice, from those who slander it. "And they that return to her in righteousness," because judgment is to be brought back to equity, in which justice consists: Psalm 72:2 (var.), "To judge your people in justice, and your poor with judgment"; below, Isaiah 32:1, "Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and shall execute judgment in the land." "And it shall destroy," etc.: here is set down the destruction of the obstinate; and concerning this he does three things. First he foretells the destruction. Second, the manner of the destruction, where it says, "they shall be ashamed," etc. Third he removes any hope of escape, where it says, "and your strength shall be," etc. And because punishment is ordered according to guilt, therefore concerning the first he touches the guilt in a twofold way: on the part of what is turned to, as regards the crime of idolatry, whence he says, "the wicked"; and as regards the sin of pleasure and luxury, whence he says, "and the sinners," since men are most prone to such things — against which he ordains the punishment of contrition, in which is noted the punishment for the offense: Jeremiah 17:18 (var.), "Destroy them with double destruction," as it were for a double sin. Second, on the part of turning away, since "they have forsaken the Lord" — against which he ordains the punishment of the consuming of their days, "shall be consumed" — in which is designated the punishment of desertion, because what is consumed passes into nothing; and all things would fall into nothing, unless the hand of the Lord sustained them, as Gregory says: Jeremiah 17:13 (var.), "O Lord, all that forsake you shall be confounded; they that depart from you shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters." "They shall be ashamed," etc.: here he sets down the manner of the destruction. And first as to the confusion of the sin; second as to the withdrawal of the good, where it says, "when you shall be," etc. Concerning the first, against idolatry he ordains confusion, saying, "they shall be ashamed of the idols," that is, on account of the idols: Psalm 97:7, "Let them all be confounded that adore graven things." Against pleasure he sets shame, when he says, "you shall blush for the gardens which you have chosen for your luxury": Romans 6:21, "What fruit had you then in those things, of which you are now ashamed?" — for confusion looks rather to evil, but shame to guilt. Sins of the flesh, as Gregory says, are of lesser guilt and greater infamy; and the reason is that they are according to the less noble and most material powers, and yet they are innate and connatural and subject to passion. "When you shall be": here is set down the withdrawal of good. And first, of that which pertains to protection and adornment, which is signified in the flourishing of leaves; second, of that which pertains to fruit, where it says, "as a garden that has no water," etc. — against which it is said of the just man in Psalm 1.

"It shall be as a tree that is planted... and as the rushing course of waters" — here he takes from them any hope of escape. And he sets down three things. First he takes away from them the very foundation of their strength, whence he says, "your strength shall be as the ashes of tow," which is quickly consumed: Sirach 21:9 (var.), "The congregation of the wicked is like tow heaped together." Second, the vanity of their idols, saying, "and your work," namely of idols, which "your hands have wrought," like a spark which is of no moment: Deuteronomy 32:37, "Where are their gods, in whom they trusted?" And yet it is burned up; whence he says, "shall be kindled": below, Isaiah 30:? (var.), "You shall walk in the light of your fire." Third, the accumulation of men, "and there shall be none to quench it": Ezekiel 20:47-48 (var.), "The flame of the kindling shall not be quenched, and all faces shall be burned in it, from the south even to the north, and all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it, and it shall not be quenched."

Chapter 2

Text

a. "The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. And many peoples shall go, and say: Come, and 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; for the law shall come forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."

b. "And he shall judge the Gentiles, and rebuke many peoples; and they shall turn their swords into plowshares, and their spears into sickles. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they be exercised any more to war. O house of Jacob, come, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. For you have cast off your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled as in times past, and have had soothsayers as the Philistines, and have adhered to strange children. Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end of their treasures. And their land is filled with horses, and their chariots are innumerable. Their land also is full of idols; they have adored the work of their own hands, which their own fingers have made. And man has bowed himself down, and the man has been humbled."

c. "Therefore forgive them not. Enter into the rock, hide yourself in the pit from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty. The lofty eyes of man have been humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon everyone that is proud and high-minded, and upon everyone that is arrogant, and he shall be humbled; and upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and elevated, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, and upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all that is fair to behold. And the loftiness of men shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day, and the idols shall be utterly destroyed. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall rise up to strike the earth. In that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which he had made for himself to adore, moles and bats — to go into the clefts of rocks, and into the caverns of stones, from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall rise up to strike the earth. Cease then from the man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for he is reputed high."

Exposition

a. Here their sin is rebuked as to their turning away. And it is divided into three parts: in the first he charges them with the guilt which they committed in the worship of idols; in the second, with that which they committed in the oppression of men, at chapter 3, where it says, "for behold," etc.; in the third, with the guilt which they committed in the abuse of things, at chapter 3, "I will sing to my beloved," etc. The first is divided into two: the title, and the treatise. The second where it says, "and it shall be," etc. And he places "the word" at the beginning of the chapter, because the prophecy is specially concerned with the incarnate Word: Amos 3:7, "The Lord God will do nothing, unless he has revealed his secret to his servants the prophets." "And it shall be": here he pursues his intention, and it is divided into three parts. In the first he promises the remedy of salvation, lest the severity of the coming charge of guilt lead to despair; in the second he shows the guilt to be rebuked, where it says, "for you have cast off," etc.; in the third he threatens the scourge of punishment, where it says, "therefore forgive them not," etc. Concerning the first, three things are set down. First, the preparation of salvation; second, the conversion of the Gentiles, where it says, "and all nations shall flow," etc.; third, the calling of the Jews at the end, where it says, "O house of Jacob," etc. Concerning the first, three things are set down. First, the time of salvation; whence he says, "and it shall be." And he joins it to the preceding prophecy, or to that which he heard from the Lord, as Gregory says on the beginning of Ezekiel — "in the last days it shall be prepared," etc., namely in the time of grace, which is called "the last," because no other observance of religion will succeed it: Matthew 28:20, "Behold, I am with you always, even unto the consummation of the world"; Genesis 49:1, "Gather yourselves together, sons of Israel, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days." But it might seem that from the beginning of the human race this salvation ought to have been prepared, which is through the incarnation of the Son of God, since when a disease is met earlier by medicine, it is cured more easily. To this it must be said that medicine should be offered according to the condition of the disease. And because man's sin was through pride, whereby he despised God's precepts, it was fitting that he should be prepared, in order to receive the medicine of salvation, through humility, so that he might recognize his own infirmity — since, aided neither by the law of nature nor by the written law, he was unable to provide for himself. And thus he would seek the medicine the more humbly and the more ardently, the less he found help within himself. Second, the power of the one saving, when it is said, "the mountain of the house of the Lord." In whom the house of the Lord is founded: Ezekiel 40:2, "He set me upon a very high mountain." Third, the degree of the one saving: "on the top of mountains," that is, of the greater ones; "and it shall be exalted above the hills," that is, above the lesser princes: below, Isaiah 52:13, "Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted, and extolled, and shall be exceeding high." "And all nations shall flow unto it": here is set the conversion of the Gentiles, and concerning this he sets down three things. First, the conversion itself; second, he declares the order of the conversion, where it says, "and many peoples shall go"; third, he promises the peace of the conversion, where it says, "and he shall judge the Gentiles." He says therefore, as to the first, "shall flow," by which is noted a multitude and a haste. "All nations," that is, some from all nations: Jeremiah 31:9, "I will bring them through torrents of waters, in a right way, and they shall not stumble therein." The order of the conversion was such that, through the calling of those who were of the Jews, the Gentiles were converted. And therefore he sets down three things concerning the second. First, those who call; second, the calling, where it says, "come"; third, the reason for the order, where it says, "for from Zion," etc. He says therefore, "peoples," namely those from the Jews; "many," not all — by which is noted the scarcity of the Jews converted with respect to the multitude of the Gentiles — "shall go," in the footsteps of faith, believing, and shall say: 2 Corinthians 4:13, "We also believe, and therefore also we speak." "Come": here is set down the calling. Now it calls in three ways to the excellence of faith; whence he says, "come," through consent; "let us go up," through faith, "to the mountain of the Lord," that is, to Christ; "and to the house of the God of Jacob," that is, the Church: Jeremiah 31:6, "Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God, for thus says the Lord: Rejoice in the gladness of Jacob." Second, to doctrine, when he says, "he will teach us his ways," that is, the precepts by which one goes to him: Song of Solomon 8:2, "There you will teach me, and I will give you a cup of spiced wine, and the new wine of my pomegranates." Third, to obedience to his counsels, "and we will walk," following him, "in his paths": Jeremiah 6:16, "Ask for the old paths, which is the good way, and walk in it." "For from Zion": here he sets the reason for the order, saying, "for from Zion," not from Mount Sinai, "shall the law come forth," understood spiritually; "and the word of the Lord," that is, the Gospel, "from Jerusalem," on account of the contemplation of peace. For "salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22); and below, Isaiah 27:6, "Those that shall come of Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and bud."

b. Here he promises peace to those converted; and concerning this he does three things. First he sets down the efficient cause of peace; second, the sign of peace, "and they shall turn their swords," etc.; third, the fruit of peace, "nation shall not lift up." The efficient cause of peace is the king's judgment; and therefore he first says, "he shall judge the Gentiles," giving them laws; "and rebuke many peoples," correcting their sins: below, Isaiah 11:4, "He shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity for the meek of the earth." The sign of peace is that the instruments of war shall be turned to the cultivation of the field; whence he says, "and they shall turn their swords into plowshares": Psalm 46:9, "He shall break the bow, and shatter the weapons." The fruit consists in the removal of enemies; whence he says, "nation shall not lift up sword against nation": below, Isaiah 26:3 (var.), "The former error is passed away; you will keep peace, peace, because we have hoped in you." But it might be objected, since afterward there were many wars. The Gloss answers that they were not so great as before. Whence in the time of Antichrist, although there will be a great persecution to come, they will nonetheless have great peace among themselves, as was the case in the time of Diocletian. Or better it should be said that this refers to the peace made through Christ, which will be fulfilled in the world to come. "O house of Jacob": here is set the calling of the Jews after the conversion of the Gentiles has taken place. This may be understood either in the person of the prophet, or in the person of the Gentiles, so that those who were first may be last: Romans 11:25, "Blindness in part has happened in Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles should come in, and so all Israel should be saved." "Let us walk," together and in concord, that there may be one flock: John 10:16, "And there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." "In the light": John 12:35, "Walk while you have the light." "For you have cast off," etc.: here he shows their guilt. And first in general; second in particular, "and have had soothsayers," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he shows their being cast far away from God, when he says, "for you have cast off." And thus the Gloss continues: they deserve to be called, because they had been cast away: Jeremiah 22:28, "Why are he and his seed cast out, and cast into a land which they know not?" Second he gives the cause of their being cast away, namely, because "they are filled" with iniquity, "as in times past," in Egypt: Jeremiah 23:10 (var.), "The land is full of adulterers" — for there is no cause of being cast away from God except sin; whence below, Isaiah 59:2, "Your sins, and your iniquities, have divided between you and your God." "And have had soothsayers": here he sets down their guilt in particular, and especially as to idolatry, which he charges against them in three ways. First as to their heathen manner of life; second as to the occasion of idolatry, where it says, "their land is filled," etc.; third as to the observance of the cult, where it says, "their land also is full." He rebukes their heathen manner of life in two things. First as to the diviners and soothsayers which they had; whence he says, "soothsayers," that is, foretelling the future from the voice or chattering of birds. "They have had," as the Philistines, among whom this superstition greatly flourished — against what is commanded in Deuteronomy 18:9, "Take heed lest you imitate the abominations of those nations." And below in the same book: "There shall not be found among you anyone who consults soothsayers, or observes dreams and omens." But it seems that augury is not a sin. For birds have a better reputation than fish, which are more watery; yet sailors take conjectures about a coming storm from the movement of certain fish. Therefore something can also be prognosticated about the future through birds. It must be said that God has provided for each thing those means by which it can be preserved in being, according to the capacity of its nature; and therefore he gave to man reason, by which, through deliberation, he can devise remedies for himself against harmful things. And because reason is lacking in brute animals, he ordained that what is lacking from reason, nature should supply; and therefore weapons and coverings were given to such creatures naturally, which man acquires for himself through art. Likewise there has been created in them a certain natural power of estimation, impelling them to perform the works proper to their species. Whence they are rather acted upon than act, as Damascene says. And since a lower nature is regulated and moved by a higher nature, there are left in such creatures impressions of the higher motions that set this movement in motion, by which they are moved to provide for themselves in what is necessary. And in such cases, to take a conjecture from birds, or the movements of birds, or of other animals, is not a sin; but this is only true of those things whose cause is not free will, which does not operate by the necessity of the stars. Second, as to the unnatural passions to which they were subject; whence he says, "and have adhered to strange children," that is, to foreigners, or those alien to God, by shameful abuse: Romans 1:27, "Men with men working that which is unseemly"; 2 Maccabees 4:13, it speaks of this vice: "For there was a certain headlong rushing toward a Gentile and foreign manner of life, on account of the abominable and unheard-of wickedness of the impious and un-priestly Jason." "Their land is filled": here he sets down the occasion of idolatry, which is avarice: Ephesians 5:5 (var.), "or covetousness, which is the service of idols." First, then, he shows their avarice as to the multiplication of the things which pertain to the necessities of life, when he says, "their land is filled" — in which is noted the abundance of things. "And there is no end" — in this is noted the insatiability of the miser, who will not be satisfied with money: Ecclesiastes 5:9 (var.), "A covetous man shall not be satisfied with money; and he that loves riches shall reap no fruit from them"; and Hosea 2:8, "I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and I multiplied her silver, and gold, which they used for Baal." Second, as to those things which pertain to conveyance, when he says, "is filled": Psalm 20:7 (var.), "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will call upon the name of the Lord our God." "Their land also is full": here he charges them with the worship of idols. And he charges this from three things. First from their multitude, when he says, "is full": Hosea 8:11, "Ephraim has multiplied altars to sin"; Jeremiah 2:20, "Under every green tree you did prostitute yourself, a harlot." Second, from the worthlessness of the idols, "because it is the work of their own hands," and further still, "which their own fingers have made": Psalm 115:4, "The idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold, the works of the hands of men." Third, from the dignity of man; and therefore he says, "man," who was made to the image of God; "has bowed himself down," subjecting himself to idols. "The man," who seemed virtuous as to his acquired excellence, "has been humbled": Psalm 49:20, "Man, when he was in honor, did not understand; he is compared to senseless beasts, and is become like unto them"; below, Isaiah 44:19, "He falls down before it, and adores it, and says: Deliver me."

c. Here he threatens them with punishment. And it is divided into two parts. In the first he shows the danger to be imminent for them; in the second he concludes with the remedy of escape, where it says, "cease then," etc. Now he shows the danger to be imminent for them by removing three things: first, presumption upon divine mercy; second, confidence in their own power, where it says, "the lofty eyes," etc.; third, the remedy which was left in trust in other things, where it says, "in that day a man shall cast away," etc. And because divine mercy has no measure, but always exceeds judgment, he therefore does not remove it by preaching it as something absent, but by imprecating punishment as just. He therefore does two things. First he sets down an imprecation, saying: since they do such evils, "therefore forgive them not" — as if he said, it would be just that you should have mercy on them in nothing: Jeremiah 5:9, "Shall I not visit for these things, says the Lord, or shall not my soul take revenge on such a nation?" Second, ironically he sets down counsel for escape, saying, "enter" — as if he said, since he himself does not forgive, it remains that you hide yourself from his face. "Enter into the rock" — literally, into the clefts of rocks to dwell there. "Hide yourself in the pit" — that is, in the caverns of the earth, "from the face of the fear of the Lord," that is, from the face of those things by which God proves himself to be feared and glorified: Jeremiah 4:? (var.), "Leave the cities, it shall not avail them"; whence in Psalm 139:7, "Where shall I go from your Spirit, or where shall I flee from your face?" Bernard expounds this of Christ, for "the Rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:4). One must enter into him through the affection of devotion. He says therefore: I take for myself what I lack from the bowels of Jesus Christ. For the bowels of mercy have overflowed, nor are the openings lacking through which they may flow out. For they have pierced his hands, and bored through his feet: Song of Solomon 2:14, "Arise, make haste, my love... and come in the clefts of the rock." "The lofty eyes": here he takes from them their confidence in their own power; and concerning this he does two things. First he excludes the power of resisting. Second he removes the precaution of hiding, where it says, "and they shall go," etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First he sets down his intent. Second he explains the manner, where it says, "for the day," etc. Third he draws the conclusion of his purpose, "and the loftiness of men shall be bowed down," etc. Now he sets down two things to exclude the power of resisting. First their being cast down, both as to the pride of heart, when he says, "the lofty eyes," that is, pride, "of man," that is, of the powerful man, "have been humbled," that is, shall be humbled — the past tense used for the future, on account of the certainty of the prophecy: Proverbs 30:13, "A generation whose eyes are lofty, and their eyelids lifted up on high"; Job 40:12 (var.), "Look on every proud man, and confound him, and crush the wicked in their place." And also as to the nobility of their lineage; whence he says, "the haughtiness of men," that is, the nobility of their lineage: Amos 2:9, "I have destroyed the Amorite before their face, whose height was like the height of the cedars." Second he sets down the exaltation of the one punishing, "the Lord... shall be exalted," that is, he shall appear high in punishment, who seemed lowest in men's expectation: Psalm 9:16, "The Lord shall be known when he executes judgments"; below, Isaiah 5:16, "The Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment." "For the day of the Lord": here is set down the manner in which the foregoing shall be accomplished. And first as to the casting down of men; second as to the taking away of things, where it says, "and upon all," etc. He says therefore first: this shall come to pass because it is "the day of the Lord," that is, the time of vengeance: below, Isaiah 63:4, "For the day of vengeance is in my heart, the year of my redemption is come." "Of hosts," that no doubt be had about his victory, to whom such a multitude of servants is attendant. "Shall be," like a heavy weight to crush, "upon everyone that is proud," that is, "high-minded," that is, upon him who thinks himself great because of the great things he possesses; "and upon everyone that is arrogant," who exalts himself over what he does not possess. Gregory: "He is arrogant who claims for himself what he does not have"; Proverbs 8:13, "I hate arrogance, and pride, and every wicked way, and a mouth given to perverse things." "And he shall be humbled": Luke 14:11, "He that exalts himself shall be humbled." "And upon all the cedars": here he sets down the taking away of things which serve for defense. And first as to those things which are useful for the preparation of siege-engines, either on account of their height — and thus he says, "upon all the cedars"; or their thickness — and thus he says, "upon all the oaks": Zechariah 11:1, "Open your gates, O Lebanon, and let the fire devour your cedars." And below: "Howl, O oaks of Bashan, for the strong forest is cut down." Second, as to those things which pertain to changing one's place, either by nature — "and upon all the high mountains," etc.: Ezekiel 6:3, "Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rocks, and to the valleys" — or by art — "and upon every high tower," etc.: Zephaniah 1:16, "A day of the trumpet and alarm upon the fenced cities, and upon the high towers, and I will distress men." Third, as to those things which pertain to abundance of provisions; and thus he says, "and upon all the ships," in which such things are brought, "of Tarshish," that is, of the sea: below, Isaiah 23:1, "Howl, you ships of the sea, for the house is laid waste, from whence they were wont to come." "And upon all that is fair to behold." This pertains to the emboldening of enemies, or the increase of combatants: Judith 10:19 (var.), "Who would despise a people of the Hebrews, who have such beautiful women?" "And the loftiness of men shall be bowed down": here he concludes, as it were, his purpose, and this is altogether the same as what was said before, except that there is added the destruction of idols, to show that he alone is exalted, when he says, "and the idols": Ezekiel 6:6, "The idols shall be broken, and shall cease, and your works shall be blotted out." "And they shall go into the holes," etc.: here he sets down the precaution of hiding, and it is the same as before, except that here it is foretold as a future thing, since he had set forth the failing of their power by way of preaching, not by way of imprecation: Psalm 63:? (var.), "They shall go into the lower parts of the earth; they shall be delivered into the hands of the sword; they shall be portions for foxes." "In that day": here he removes the third thing, namely their trust in idols. And first he removes the help. "To adore": Ezekiel 8:10 (var.), "And I went in, and saw, and behold every form of creeping things, and the abomination of beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed"; below, Isaiah 31:7, "In that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver, and the idols which his own hands have made unto himself to sin." Second he restates the resource of hiding, where it says, "and they shall go," etc.: Revelation 6:15, "Every bondman and every free man hid themselves in caves, and among the rocks of the mountains." "Cease then": here he sets down wholesome counsel for escaping. And he says, choosing, since all these things will avail them nothing: "cease from the man" — that is, cease from offending him, namely Christ, "whose breath is in his nostrils," that is, who breathes, "in his nostrils," that is, lives, like other men as to his humanity. "For he is reputed high," as to his divinity, by the saints, and by the angels: Psalm 113:4, "The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens." Or otherwise: he speaks of God in the likeness of man, by a figure of anthropopathy. "From the man" — that is, from God — "whose breath is in his nostrils." He speaks in the likeness of one who is angry, who on account of the multiplication of spirits breathes hard through the nostrils; whence Homer says something to this effect — that strong men exhale their fierce vigor through their nostrils: Psalm 18:? (var.), "From the blast of the breath of your wrath"; below, Isaiah 30:27, "His wrath is heavy, and heavy to bear." And again, "his breath as a torrent overflowing, even to the midst of the neck, to destroy the nations unto nothing" — and this refers back to the first point, in which he removed presumption upon God's mercy, because he himself is exalted, alone, as it were, apart.

Chapter 3

Text

a. "For behold, the sovereign Lord of hosts shall take away from Jerusalem, and from Judah, the strong and the mighty, all the strength of bread, and all the strength of water; the strong man, and the man of war, and the judge, and the prophet, and the diviner, and the elder; the captain over fifty, and the honorable in countenance, and the counselor, and the skillful craftsman, and the expert in mystical eloquence. And I will give children to be their princes, and effeminate men shall rule over them. And the people shall fall, man upon man, and every man upon his neighbor: the child shall behave insolently against the elder, and the base against the honorable. A man shall take hold of his brother, one of the house of his father: You have clothing, be our ruler, and let this ruin be under your hand. And he shall answer in that day, saying: I am not a healer, and in my house there is neither bread nor clothing; do not make me ruler of the people."

b. "For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their devices are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his majesty. The show of their countenance has answered them, and they have proclaimed their sin as Sodom, and have not hidden it. Woe to their soul, for evils have been repaid to them. Say to the just man that it is well, for he shall eat the fruit of his own devices. Woe to the wicked one unto evil, for the reward of his hands shall be given him. My people — their oppressors have stripped them, and women have ruled over them. O my people, they that call you blessed, they deceive you, and destroy the way of your steps. The Lord stands up to judge, and stands to judge the peoples. The Lord shall come to judgment with the elders of his people, and its princes; for you have devoured my vineyard, and the spoil of the poor is in your house. Why do you crush my people, and grind the faces of the poor? says the Lord of hosts."

c. "And the Lord said: Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and have walked with outstretched necks, and made signs with their eyes, and walked mincingly, and moved along with their feet in measured step — therefore the Lord will make the crown of the daughters of Zion bald, and the Lord will discover their hair. In that day the Lord will take away the ornaments of shoes, and little moons, and chains, and necklaces, and bracelets, and bonnets, and hairpins, and tablets, and sweet balls, and earrings, and finger-rings, and jewels hanging on the forehead, and changes of clothes, and short cloaks, and fine linen, and pins, and looking-glasses, and lawns, and headbands, and veils. And instead of a sweet smell there shall be stench, and instead of a girdle, a cord, and instead of curled hair, baldness, and instead of a stomacher, haircloth. Your fairest men also shall fall by the sword, and your valiant ones in battle. And her gates shall lament and mourn, and she, desolate, shall sit upon the ground."

Exposition

a. Here begins the second part, in which he charges them with sin as to the oppression of their neighbors. And it is divided into two parts. In the first is set down the confutation of the oppressors; in the second, the consolation of the oppressed, at chapter 4, "and they shall take hold," etc. And because the rule of the wicked is not only man's guilt, but is also God's punishment for judging the sins of the people — as is said in Job 34:30, "who makes a hypocrite to reign, on account of the sins of the people" — therefore the first part is divided into two sections. In the first it is foretold according as it is a punishment inflicted by God; in the second it is charged as a guilt committed by man, where it says, "my people," etc. The first is divided into two parts. In the first he threatens the overthrow of government; in the second he assigns the reason, where it says, "for Jerusalem is ruined." The first is divided into three. In the first the fit are withdrawn from the office of governing. In the second the unworthy are set over it, where it says, "and I will give children," etc. In the third those called refuse, where it says, "and he shall answer in that day," etc. The first into two: in the first he withdraws the fit man from the office of governing; in the second, the man useful for the aid of the ruler, where it says, "and the counselor," etc. The first is divided into three, according to the three things required for the fitness of rulers. First he takes away the fit man as to power; in the second as to sagacity, where it says, "and the judge," etc.; in the third as to authority, where it says, "and the elder," etc. Power is required in a leader for waging the people's wars, and it avails for repressing insolence: Ecclesiastes 7:6 (var.), "Seek not to be made a judge, unless you have the strength to break through iniquity" — which consists in three things, according to which the first part of this third part is divided: namely in bodily strength, which itself consists in three things — namely, in the vigor of one's constitution; and as to this he says, "for behold" — "for," that is, because; "behold," it is at hand. He takes away "the strong" man, that is, one sound in the health of his constitution; in the might of his limbs; and thus he says, "the mighty," because might consists in bones and sinews, as the Philosopher says. Again, in abundance of food; and thus he says, "all the strength of bread," in which all food and drink is signified: Sirach 29:28 (var.), "The chief thing for man's life is water, and bread, and clothing." Second, power consists in constancy of heart; and thus he says, "the mighty," according as it comes from strength, which is a virtue of the soul. Third, it consists in the practice of the martial art; and thus he says, "the man of war." Now wisdom is required for the exercise of judgments, on account of which Solomon asked wisdom of God: 1 Kings 3:9, "Give therefore to your servant an understanding heart, that he may discern between good and evil." And this is had in three ways: either by human instruction, and as to this he says, "the judge," as one skilled in law; or by divine inspiration, and as to this he says, "the prophet"; or by demonic revelation, and as to this he says, "the diviner," because they divined at the altars of demons, and sometimes spoke true things. Authority is necessary for reverence, and this too consists in three things: in the dignity of office, and as to this he says, "the elder"; and by this he understands all the other rulers, as the Gloss says. In honesty of morals, and for this he says, "the elder," namely in morals. In maturity of countenance, "the honorable," and for this he says "in countenance." Now certain persons are useful to rulers for the governing of the people, or for the dispatching of doubtful matters; and as to this he says, "the counselor"; or for the making of buildings, and therefore he says, "the skillful craftsman," from *architekton* — from *archos*, which is "chief," and *tekton*, which is "builder," and especially of mechanical works. Whence the architect is called the chief craftsman, who directs the artisans in introducing the form, and preparing the material, according to consideration of the end, whose knowledge governs the use in the action. Now wisdom, as the Philosopher says, is twofold: universal and particular. Defining the particular, he says that it is a virtue by which a man is able in the highest degree in some particular art, as medicine. And on this account a physician is called "wise" who is most sure in the things which belong to medicine; and likewise a craftsman is called "wise," and so with the rest. And it is taken in this way here. Universal wisdom is that which is the highest in all arts and sciences. And it is this by which man is raised up to the knowledge of the most noble causes, that is, of separate substances, or spiritual ones. And this, according to the Philosopher, is Metaphysics, and according to us is Theology. Third, someone is necessary for instructing in divine things; and as to this he says, "and the expert in mystical eloquence," from *mysterion*, which is "secret," that is, of the divine words which are secret. Concerning all these it is had in 2 Kings 24: that they were carried off to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar — "He also carried off Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his eunuchs, and the judges of the land, he led into captivity." "And I will give children": here is shown the overthrow of government, as to the fact that the unworthy are set over it. And it is divided into two parts. In the first is set down the promotion of the unworthy. In the second, the consequent turmoil of the people, where it says, "and the people shall fall," etc. Now some are unworthy as to defect of wisdom and of age; and therefore he says, "I will give children to be their princes." And as to defect of virtue; and thus he says, "and effeminate men shall rule over them," wanton and feeble: Hosea 13:11, "I will give you a king in my wrath." Now the effect of such rule, in the troubling of the people, is touched upon threefold. First, universal dissension; whence he says, "the people shall fall," namely from the unity of peace, by which there is a people; "man upon man," that is, against man: Proverbs 11:14, "Where there is no governor, the people shall fall"; Zechariah 10:? (var.), "They were led away as a flock, they shall be afflicted, because there is no shepherd." Second, the dissolution of friendships, "every man upon his neighbor," that is, against his neighbor: Jeremiah 9:4, "Every brother will utterly supplant, and every friend will walk deceitfully." Third, the confusion of order, "the child shall behave insolently against the elder," etc.: Lamentations 4:16 (var.), "They have not respected the priests"... "A man shall take hold": here he shows the overthrow of government, as to the fact that those invited to rule refuse, as if refusing something ruinous. And it is divided into two parts. In the first is set down the invitation of those chosen. In the second, the refusal of the one chosen, where it says, "and he shall answer," etc. Concerning the first, three things are set down: namely the choosing itself, the occasion of the choosing, and the withdrawal of office. The choosing is disorderly, because it is by one person only; whence he says, "a man shall take hold" — that is, because they will not choose fittingly, but "a man shall take hold of his brother," that is, one joined by blood — "one of the house of his father," that is, accepted through familiarity, even though a base one: Micah 3:10 (var.), "Who build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity." And this is against the manner observed in Deuteronomy 1 regarding the choosing of rulers, done by the Lord's command, the authority of the one presiding, and the consent of the multitude. But the occasion is fear, since it is on account of riches; whence he says, "you have clothing." For he hopes for temporal aid. And this is against the manner handed down in Exodus 18:21, "Provide out of all the people able men, and such as fear God, in whom there is truth, and that hate covetousness, and appoint of them rulers... that may judge the people at all times"; but the charge is dangerous, whence he says, "be our ruler." Now the ruin is, that is, the danger, "under your hand," that is, under your guardianship and your defense: 1 Samuel 20:? (var.), "Keep this man; if he be lost, your life shall be for his." "He shall answer": here is set the refusal of the one chosen, and a reasonable excuse is given. Second, the refusal of the office is concluded, where it says, "do not," etc. In the excuse he alleges three things: namely his inability to remedy the harm, "for I am not a healer," namely so that I might be able to heal your miseries: Jeremiah 8:22 (var.), "Is there no balm in Gilead, or is there no physician there?" — namely to make up the lack. And for this reason he says, "and in my house there is no bread," by which I might supply your lack of hunger: Lamentations 4:4 (var.), "The little ones asked for bread, and there was none to break it for them" — for the sustaining or preserving of nourishment; and therefore he says, "nor clothing," by which warmth is preserved: Proverbs 31:21, "She shall not fear for her house from the cold of the snow, for all her household are clothed with double garments." "Do not make me ruler of the people": here he concludes the refusal of the office: Judges 9:9, "Should I leave my fatness, which both gods and men make use of?" Here a threefold reason is given: namely, the hindrance to devout contemplation, the sweetness of affection; Isaiah 6:? — should I abandon my sweetness of spiritual exultation, should I abandon my own affair? — which delights God and men. And among other things...

b. Here he sets down the causes of this refusal. And first he sets down the proximate cause, namely the punishment of universal ruin; whence it is said on the part of the prophet, therefore he will refuse. "For," that is, because, "Jerusalem is ruined," that is, the city itself; "and Judah," the province itself, "is fallen," through punishment, from its integrity: Isaiah 23:11 (var.), "They dragged its strong men into captivity, they undermined its houses, they laid it in ruin." Second he sets down the remote cause, namely the guilt. And it is divided into three parts. In the first he aggravates the guilt. In the second he ordains punishment against the guilt, where it says, "woe to their soul," etc. In the third he shows the justice of the one punishing, where it says, "say to the just," etc. He aggravates the sin from three things: from the kind of sin, because they blaspheme against God; whence he says, therefore it "is fallen," "their tongue" being "against the Lord": below, Isaiah 57:4 (var.), "Against whom have you opened your mouth wide, and stretched out your tongue?" Second, from the novelty of the sin; whence he says, "their devices... against the Lord": Hosea 7:2, "Now their own devices have beset them about, they are done before my face." Third, from the publication of the sin; whence he says, "the show of their countenance," and this, because they had made their sin known to others by their look, "has answered them," in punishment as to their bearing. And as to the commendation of the sin, he says, "and they have proclaimed their sin as Sodom": Jeremiah 3:3 (var.), "You have had a harlot's forehead, you would not blush." Otherwise it is expounded in the Gloss: "the show of their countenance," that is, the acknowledgment of their own sins, which they had in their understanding, since sense is in the face — "has answered them," to those asking why they are punished. Or otherwise, "the show of their countenance," that is, the remorse of conscience, "has answered them," as a punishment. And mystically this is referred to the sin whereby, seeing Christ, they refused to acknowledge him — of which their conscience will accuse them, according to what the Gloss says. And because the justice of God does not allow such grave evils to go unpunished, therefore, "woe to their soul," not only to the body, "for evils have been repaid to them," namely in God's presence; or the past tense is put for the future. And lest the punishment should be thought to involve all indiscriminately, the justice of God in distinguishing the good from the wicked is subjoined; and concerning this he does two things. First he sets down the reward of the good, saying, "say to the just" man, whoever he may be, "that it is well" with him, when others shall be condemned. "For he shall eat the fruit," that is, the reward, "of his own devices," as if taking the fruit of the good things he has devised. For just as the wicked are diligent in devising ways to sin, so the good are diligent to devise how they may please God: 1 Corinthians 7:32, "He that is without a wife is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God"; Psalm 128:2, "For you shall eat the labors of your hands: blessed are you." Second he sets down the punishment of the wicked, saying, "woe to the wicked one unto evil," that is, for the evil that is imminent for him, "the reward of his hands shall be given him": Psalm 9:16, "The sinner has been caught in the works of his own hands." "My people": here the oppression of the people is charged, according as it is a sin of the man oppressing. And it is divided into two parts. In the first is set down the vice of oppression. In the second the judgment of punishment is imposed, where it says, "the Lord stands up to judge," etc. Now certain persons oppressed the people in three ways. First, the princes oppressed by violent plundering; and as to this he says, "their oppressors have stripped them" of their goods: Ezekiel 22:29 (var.), "The people of the land have used oppression, and committed robbery; they afflicted the needy and the poor." Second, women, by drawing them to lust, and also to idolatry, as is said of Solomon in 1 Kings 11. As to this he says, "and women have ruled over them": Sirach 9:2 (var.), "Give not the power of your soul to a woman, lest she enter upon your strength." Third, prophets, by deceiving through the cunning of flattery; and as to this he says, "O my people" — as if he said, I have been accustomed to speak to you through the prophets; but because they are liars, I will speak to you through myself, lest it seem that what is a prophet ought not to be believed, against the prophet. "They deceive you," by promising security; "and destroy," by furnishing occasion of guilt: Micah 3:5 (var.), "Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets that seduce my people, that bite with their teeth, and preach peace"; Jeremiah 14:13 (var.), "The prophets say to them: You shall not see the sword, and famine shall not be among you, but he will give you true peace in this place." "The Lord stands up to judge": here judgment is introduced for the punishing of the oppressors; and it is divided into two parts. And first is set down the judgment against the oppressing princes. In the second, against the women, where it says, "and the Lord said." The false prophets deceived in order to despoil the people, and therefore they have the same judgment as the princes: Ezekiel 13:19 (var.), "They have profaned me among my people for a handful of barley, and a piece of bread." Concerning the first he does three things. First the judge is introduced; whence he says, "the Lord stands up to judge": Micah 4:3, "He shall judge many peoples"; Daniel 7:10, "The judgment sat, and the books were opened." Second the defendants are brought in; whence he says, "the Lord shall come to judgment with the elders," namely the priests, "and its princes," the kings and rulers: Ezekiel 34:17, "I will judge between cattle and cattle, between rams and he-goats." Third the cause is set down. And first the accusation of the plaintiff is introduced, when he says, "for you have devoured": Micah 3:3 (var.), "They have eaten the flesh of my people." Second the judge's rebuke is set down, when he says, "why do you crush," afflicting, "grind the faces of the poor," wearing them down: Amos 4:1, "You that oppress the needy, and crush the poor." For God himself will be both the accuser and the judge. It should be noted, concerning that saying, "say to the just, that it is well, for he shall eat," that the fruit of the just man is threefold, which he yields: the fruit of his own action: John 15:16, "Go, and bring forth fruit, and let your fruit remain"; of his own preaching: Hebrews 13:15, "Let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God always, that is, the fruit of lips confessing his name"; of his own confession. Second, the fruit he receives, and this too is threefold: the fruit of the remission of guilt, Isaiah 27:9, "The iniquity of the house of Jacob shall be forgiven, and this is all the fruit, that his sin should be taken away"; the fruit of the participation of grace, Galatians 5:22, "But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience," etc.; Proverbs 3:14, "The purchasing thereof is better than the merchandise of silver, and her fruit than the finest and purest gold." Third, the fruit he seeks in the enjoyment of God: Genesis 2:? (var.), "Its fruit is sweet to my throat" — in the fellowship of the heavenly choir: Ezekiel 36:8, "O mountains of Israel, shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel" — in the receiving of the divine gift: Song of Solomon 4:13, "Your plants are a paradise of pomegranates, with the fruits of the orchard."

c. Here is set forth the divine judgment against the women. And first the guilt is opened. Second the punishment is foretold, where it says, "the Lord will make... bald," etc. The first is divided into two. In the first he charges them with pride. In the second, with wantonness, where it says, "and made signs," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. In the first he charges their pride of heart, when he says, "because the daughters of Zion are haughty," in pride: Psalm 131:1, "Lord, my heart is not exalted." Second he charges the sign of pride in the body, "have walked with outstretched necks," which is a sign of pride: Job 15:26, "He has run against him with his neck raised up, and is armed with a fat neck." "And made signs": here he charges their wantonness in four things, by which they provoked men to lust. First in their very glance; whence he says, "and made signs": Proverbs 6:25, "Let not your heart covet her beauty, be not caught with her winking." Second, in playfulness and the like, "and walked mincingly." The Gloss: by their sporting: Sirach 9:4 (var.), "Use not much the company of a woman that is a dancer, lest you perish by the force of her charms." Third, in excess, "and walked mincingly with outstretched neck": Proverbs 9:13 (var.), "A babbling and wanton woman, and full of allurements, and knowing nothing at all." Fourth, in wanton adornment, "in measured step." The Gloss: adorned from the plunder of the poor: Proverbs 7:10, "Behold, a woman meets him in harlot's attire, prepared to ensnare souls." "The Lord will make... bald," etc.: here he threatens punishment. And first as to the taking away of ornaments; second as to the taking away of the solace of husbands, where it says, "your fairest men also," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he takes from them the ornaments which are signs of foolish gladness and wantonness; in the second he compensates with signs of sadness and misery, where it says, "and instead of a sweet smell," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he takes from them the natural adornment of their hair. Second, the artificial, where it says, "in that day." He says therefore first, "make... bald," as to their own hair: Isaiah 3:? (var.), "On every head shall be baldness." "Will discover," as to false hair, which are like garments: Deuteronomy 21:? (var.), "of the captivity, the hair of enemies' heads made bare." "In that day": here he takes from them their artificial ornaments. And first those which pertain to the adornment of the limbs. Second, those which pertain to the care of ornaments, where it says, "pins and looking-glasses," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he takes away those things which pertain to the adornment of parts. Second, those which pertain to the adornment of the whole, where it says, "and changes of clothes," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he takes away those which pertain to the members of the body. Second, those which pertain especially to the organs of sense, where it says, "sweet balls," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he takes away those which pertain to the lower parts of the body. Second, those which pertain especially to the members of the head, where it says, "headbands," etc. He says therefore first as to the feet, "ornaments of shoes," whatever they were, and especially "little moons," that is, certain pictures made on shoes of gilded leather: Song of Solomon 7:1, "How beautiful are your feet in shoes, O prince's daughter." Second, as to the neck, "chains," that is, certain ornaments of the neck hanging down to the breast, given in honor of a victory: Proverbs 1:9, "That grace may be added to your head, and a chain of gold to your neck." Third, as to the breast, he says, "necklaces," any ornaments whatever, but especially the clasps by which the breast is fastened, lest the garments open: Song of Solomon 7:1, "The joints of your thighs are like jewels, made by the hand of a skillful workman." Fourth, as to the arms, he says, "bracelets," ornaments of the arms, so called from "arm": Exodus 35:22, "Men and women gave bracelets... for the making of the tabernacle of the testimony." "And bonnets": here he sets down ornaments of the head. And first as to the crown of the head, "bonnets," ornaments of the head after the fashion of a crown: Judges 5:? (var.), "He set a crown upon your head, dividing the hair of Sisera's head." Second, as to the hair, he says, "hairpins," certain instruments of silver or gold, made in the fashion of a sharp spindle, by which women part their hair in front of the forehead, as is said in Judith: "She parted the hair of her head." Third, as to the neck he touches two things. First, "tablets," from *peri*, which is "around," and *skelos*, which is "limb," as it were an ornament around a limb. Rabanus says that it was made of gold, in the likeness of bracelets, and worn around the neck. The Gloss says that it was worn upon the feet, similar to bracelets. Others say that these were certain ornaments placed around the edges of garments, like a golden fringe, or fur trim, or something of this kind. And this can stand together with what was said before, because it was near the neck, and around the feet. For their garments had fringes both on the extremities and on the lower hem, and thus they adorned the neck in the middle: Numbers 15:? (var.), "For this reason we offer in the gifts of the Lord's treasury the gold which we found in the spoil, tablets and bracelets," etc. Second, he sets down the more immediate ornaments of the neck, when he says, "sweet balls" — that is, certain chains woven of gold and silver thread in the fashion of the lamprey (*murena*), which were placed around the neck: Song of Solomon 1:11, "We will make you chains of gold, inlaid with silver." And since the neck is the middle between the head and the body, its ornament is set down for both. "And earrings": here are placed the things which pertain to the organs of sense. And first as to smell, "sweet balls," certain little boxes in which they put musk and such things; or also certain vessels, like apples made of silver, pierced in the fashion of a censer, in which fire and something odoriferous were placed: Song of Solomon 1:3 (var.), "We will run after the odor of your ointments." Second, as to hearing, "earrings," that is, certain little rings of gold or silver, which are placed in women's ears pierced for this purpose: Hosea 2:13, "She decked herself out with her earrings, and her jewels, and went after her lovers." Third, as to touch, which presses most especially in the fingers, "finger-rings," as brought forward above: "for this reason we offer... finger-rings," etc. Fourth, as to sight, "jewels... on the forehead," with which Egyptian women adorned themselves: Exodus 25:7, "onyx stones, and jewels to adorn the ephod and the rational." Of taste he makes no mention, because its instrument is interior, and is not adorned. "And changes of clothes": here he sets down ornaments pertaining to the whole body. And first for putting on; and thus he says, "changes of clothes," that is, different pairs of garments: Zechariah 3:? (var.), "I will clothe you with changes of raiment... and he said, Put a clean turban upon his head." Second, for covering; and thus he says, "short cloaks": Genesis 38:14, "And she, quickly taking off her mantle, covered herself." Third, for lying down; and thus he says, "fine linen": John 20:6-7, "Peter came, and went into the tomb, and saw the linen cloths lying there." "And pins": here he sets down the things which pertain to the care of ornaments. And first, for arranging, "pins": Matthew 19:24, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." Second, for discerning the adornment, "and looking-glasses," by which women discern whether they are well adorned: Exodus 38:8, "He also made the laver of brass with its base, of the looking-glasses of the women who watched at the door of the tabernacle." Third, for the covering of ornaments. And first for covering the ornaments of the shoulders, "and lawns," fine garments with which the shoulders are covered, as with a cape by women: Proverbs 31:24, "She made fine linen, and sold it, and delivered a girdle to the Canaanite." Second, for covering the ornaments of the head, "headbands," that is, veils. Or better it should be said that these are called bands, by which women bind their hair in the fashion of a net; and thus it is taken in Exodus, "and she bound the plate," namely, the plate of purest gold, "on which was engraved the name of the Lord." Third, for the covering of the whole body he says, "veils." The Gloss: a very fine woman's garment, transparent to sight, suited for summer, and hence named — for *theros* means "summer"; and especially women were accustomed to wear such things over silken garments: Genesis 38:19, "having put off the garments of her widowhood, she took a veil." Of many of these things it is said in Ezekiel: "I clothed you with embroidered garments, I shod you with violet-colored shoes, I girded you with fine linen, and clothed you with fine garments, and I put bracelets on your hands, and a chain about your neck; and I put earrings upon your mouth, and rings in your ears, and a crown of beauty upon your head." "And instead of a sweet smell": here, the ornaments of wantonness having been taken away, he threatens a service of misery. And first as to that which is outward, he says, "and instead of a sweet smell there shall be stench," etc. For stench is contrary to smell: Joel 2:20, "His stench shall ascend, and his rottenness shall go up, because he has done proudly." Second, as to that which is around, he says, "instead of a girdle, a cord": Job 12:18 (var.), "He looses the belt of kings, and girds their loins with a rope." Third, as to that which is above, he says, "instead of curled hair, baldness." Fourth, as to that which is within, "instead of a stomacher, haircloth," by which the breasts are constricted, that is, compressed, lest by their greatness they bring on shame. "Your fairest men also," etc.: here he takes from them the solace of their men, as to four things. Women delight in the beauty of men; and as to this he says, "your fairest men also shall fall by the sword": Lamentations 4:7 (var.), "Her Nazarites were whiter than snow, more ruddy than milk, more beautiful than sapphires." Second, in strength; and as to this he says, "and your valiant ones": Isaiah 23:11 (var.), "They led its strong men into captivity, they undermined its houses, they laid it in ruin." Third, in dignity; and as to this he says, "and shall lament," namely inwardly, "and mourn," namely outwardly, "her gates," that is, the judges sitting in the gates: Lamentations 1:4 (var.), "Her gates are broken down in the earth, he has destroyed and broken her bars, her king and her princes are among the Gentiles." Fourth, they delight in the cheerfulness of their men; and as to this he says, "and she, desolate, shall sit upon the ground": Lamentations 1:1 (var.), "He has made her desolate, consumed with grief all the day."

It is asked first, concerning this chapter, about what it says, "the diviner" — it seems, according to this, that inquiring of the future from diviners would be lawful. For to take away something unlawful is not a punishment, but rather a benefit. And it seems the same from the Gloss, because they sometimes speak true things. But truth ought to be received from whomever it comes. Therefore also from them. Furthermore, since demons are, according to the understanding, the clearest of mirrors, as Dionysius says, it seems that in matters pertaining to knowledge it is at least no evil to receive from them; and thus it would be lawful to attend to divinations, especially since no knowledge is in itself evil, and divination implies knowledge. To this it must be said that divination, by its very name, implies a usurpation of the divine act, and this especially in the knowledge of future things, which cannot naturally be known. For there are certain future things which have determinate causes in nature, from which they necessarily arise, such as an eclipse of the sun, and of these there is no divination. There are also certain things which have determinate causes from which they arise for the most part, as dryness in summer under the Dog Star; hence of these too there is no divination — such are the predictions of physicians concerning health or death, and of sailors concerning a coming storm — unless perhaps future things are foretold with unwavering certainty, for this belongs to God alone. There are also certain future things which do not have determinate causes in nature, and especially those which arise from free will. And of these no one has foreknowledge except God, to whom all things are present on account of the stability of his eternity — or someone who receives it from God; and if indeed such things are foretold by divine inspiration, it will be prophecy, not divination. But if by one's own invention, and by deception for the sake of gain, as old women do, it is called divination, and is a sin: both on account of the lie, because they assert uncertain things as true; and on account of the deception; and on account of the usurpation of divinity. Likewise it is called divination if it comes about through counsel of demons in whatever way — who indeed are able to foretell certain future things, either those of which they themselves are the cause, or which they themselves know through the revelation of the good angels, or which they know by natural cognition, in those things which have determinate causes in nature, hidden however from us, but known to them, both on account of the keenness of their intelligence and on account of the experience of a long time; and yet it is always a sin to inquire from them, and is an apostasy from the faith, as Augustine says — and this for three reasons. First, because although they sometimes speak the truth, nevertheless their intention is always to deceive. Second, because they cannot have certain knowledge except of those things which they know through revelation. Third, because we cannot be at once partakers of the gifts of God and of the devil; and this reason is chief among them all. And although it is a benefit to simple folk to take away such things, nevertheless it is a punishment to those who follow such things, because it is contrary to their will.

Next it is asked concerning dances, whether they can be practiced without sin, on account of what is said, "and walked mincingly." For he charges this as a sin. To this it must be said that a dance in itself is not evil — otherwise there would be no virtue in games at all, which is called *eutrapelia*; but according as it is ordered to different ends, and clothed with different circumstances, it can be an act of virtue or of vice. For because it is impossible always to be engaged in the active and the contemplative life, it is therefore fitting sometimes to interpose joys amid cares, lest the mind be broken by too much severity, and that man may more readily give himself to works of virtue. And if it is done for such an end, along with other circumstances, dancing will be an act of virtue, and can be meritorious, if it is informed by grace. Now these circumstances seem to be observed in dancing: that the person be not unfitting, such as a cleric, or a religious; that it take place at a time of gladness, such as for the sake of a deliverance, or at weddings and the like; that it take place with honorable persons, and with honorable singing, and that the gestures not be too wanton, and other such things. But if they are done to provoke wantonness, and according to other such circumstances, it is plain that the act will be vicious.

Next it is asked about the adornment of women, whether it is lawful for women to adorn themselves. And it seems not, from what is said here, and from 1 Timothy 2:9, "not with braided hair, or gold, or silver, or pearls, or costly array, but with what becomes women professing godliness." And it must be said that adornment is to be measured according to the manner and measure appropriate to the person, and the intention. For if women wear adornments becoming to their state and dignity, and conduct themselves moderately in their doings, according to the custom of the country, it will be an act of the virtue of modesty, which sets a measure in gait, posture, dress, and all outward movements; and it can be meritorious, if it is with grace. Likewise if a woman does this in order to please her husband fittingly, whom she has, or whom she is to receive, and so that she may be distinguished from other women. But if they have ornaments more costly than befits them, it will be arrogance; or something disfigured by the vice of luxury, if they do it to provoke desire of themselves.

Chapter 4

Text

a. "And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying: We will eat our own bread, and wear our own clothing, only let your name be called upon us: take away our reproach."

b. "In that day the branch of the Lord shall be in magnificence and glory, and the fruit of the earth shall be high, and a joy to them that shall have been saved of Israel. And it shall come to pass, that everyone that shall be left in Zion, and that shall remain in Jerusalem, shall be called holy — everyone that is written among the living in Jerusalem. When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have washed away the blood of Jerusalem out of the midst thereof, by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. And the Lord will create upon every place of Mount Zion, and where he was called upon, a cloud by day, and smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire in the night. For over all the glory there shall be a protection, and a tabernacle to give shade in the daytime from the heat, and a security and shelter from the whirlwind and from rain."

Exposition

a. After charging the calumny of the oppressors, in chapters 2 and 3, in this chapter the prophet sets down the consolation of the oppressed; and it is divided into two parts. In the first he consoles them against the oppression of women; in the second, against the oppression of tyrants, where it says, "in that day," etc. Now women are accustomed to be troublesome to men in three things: namely, in contempt of men; and as to this he says, "and seven women shall take hold." Which the Gloss expounds literally, because it could be that, after the captivity, many men having been killed, more women were left, so that seven would seek one man: Isaiah 13:? (var.), "A man shall be more precious than gold, and a man than the purest gold." Second, they were accustomed to be troublesome in excessive food and clothing; and as to this he says, "we will eat our own bread" — as if to say, he need not provide for their expenses: Proverbs 31:14 (var.), "She is like the merchant's ship, she brings her bread from afar." "She sought wool and flax, and worked by the counsel of her hands." Third, they are troublesome in the display of pride; and as to this he says, "only let your name be called upon us," that we may be said to be your wives; "take away our reproach," of being unmarried: Deuteronomy 7:? (var.), "There shall not be barrenness among you, of either sex, either in men, or in your flocks." But from this it seems that it would be lawful to have several wives, since a household is never consoled by something unlawful. Furthermore, every sin is unnatural. But for one husband to have several wives is natural, since one man can beget children by several women. To this it must be said, as the Philosopher says, that the union of male and female among men is not only for the sake of generation, as among brute beasts, but also for the advantage of life; whence men and women have different functions, in which they assist one another. According, then, as something is variously ordered to these ends, in this way it is variously called natural, or unnatural. For that which in no way can stand together with the said end is altogether unnatural, and can never be good, as the sin of Sodom. And likewise in this case, that one woman should have several husbands: because one woman is not made fruitful by several men, and, as to civil life, because a household is not ruled by several, but the reverse. But something can be indifferent of itself to the said end, so far as it is in itself; and this can be determined in different ways at different times, according to different circumstances, by the lawgiver, and it will be positive justice — as in the degrees of consanguinity. But there is something by which a person can attain the end, yet which is an impediment to the end in most cases; and this is not of itself unnatural, but can be lawful according to the dispensation of a lawgiver taking account of special cases; and of this sort is the case where one man has several wives — for one man can rule several according to civil life, and one man can make several women fruitful. But nevertheless a certain impediment is presented to generation, since it is necessary that the man's seed be well digested, and this cannot happen in those who cohabit too frequently — on account of which such men are often sterile. And it impedes still more the common life, because perfect friendship, such as is between a man and the wife he has taken — on account of which a man even leaves father and mother (Genesis 2:24) — cannot be extended to many.

b. Here he promises exaltation against the oppressions of tyrants. And first as to prosperity in temporal things; second as to holiness in spiritual things, where it says, "and it shall come to pass," etc.; third as to security from enemies, where it says, "and the Lord will create," etc. Now he promises prosperity in three things. First as to the honor of men, when he says, "in that day," that is, after the return from captivity, "shall be the branch of the Lord," that is, the sons of Judah, concerning whom below, Isaiah 11:1, "there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse" — "in magnificence," as to the great things which they shall do, especially in the time of the Maccabees; "and glory," as to the honor which they shall receive: 1 Maccabees 9:? (var.), "He saw the glory of the sanctuary, and the splendor in gold and silver, and the rich furnishings, and was amazed." Second, as to abundance of fruits, "and the fruit of the earth shall be high," like the produce of the earth in abundance: Amos 9:13, "The plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that sows seed, and the mountains shall drop sweetness"; Isaiah 4... "Our land shall yield its fruit." Third, as to the gladness of hearts, "and a joy to them that shall have been saved," returning from captivity: below, Isaiah 51:3 (var.), "Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of praise." "And it shall come to pass," etc.: here he promises holiness in spiritual things; and concerning this he does three things. First he promises that the name of holiness shall be spread abroad, which especially allures those greedy for glory; whence he says, "and it shall come to pass" — this which follows shall be true in that time — "everyone that shall be left in Zion," in life, "and that shall remain in Jerusalem"...

"shall be called holy" — below, Isaiah 61:6, "You shall be called the priests of the Lord, the ministers of our God shall be said of you"; below, chapter 6, "the holy seed shall be the standing stock thereof." "Everyone that is written among the living in Jerusalem" — that is, everyone whose life and lineage is recorded in the annals, as is read in Ezra 2 of certain ones who claimed the office for themselves, yet whose genealogy was not found registered. Third, the manner of the sanctification: "when the Lord shall have washed away" — that is, when he shall indeed have washed away — "the filth," of vices. "And the blood... out of the midst thereof" — not in a corner, in which is noted the public character of the sin — "by the spirit of judgment," as to the equity of the punishment; "and by the spirit of burning," that is, of tribulation, as to its severity. "Spirit," that is, wind, metaphorically, by which the threshing-floor is purged: Jeremiah 4:11, "A dry wind of the high places... shall blow in the wilderness, the way of the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse." "And the Lord will create," etc.: here he shows their security from enemies, keeping the same metaphor; for as he had compared tribulation to burning, so he compares their security to a cloud and a tabernacle, by which one is defended from burning heat. It is divided into two parts: first he sets down divine protection under the likeness of a cloud; second, under the likeness of a tabernacle, where it says, "and a tabernacle shall be," etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First he gives the reason for the protection: "and the Lord will create" — this in his foreknowledge; or, on account of the certainty of the prophecy, he uses the past tense for the future — and he says "create," because from their most abject state he raised them to so great a glory, just as what is created is made from nothing. "Upon every place of Mount Zion," that is, of Jerusalem, which lay beneath Zion and the Temple, "and where he was called upon." Behold the reason for the protection: Jeremiah 14:9, "You, O Lord, are among us, and your name is called upon over us." Second, the protection itself is set down, where it says, "a cloud." And it is set down by comparison to the benefit shown at the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt, of which it is said in Exodus 13:22, "The pillar of the cloud never failed by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, before the people." And therefore he sets down here, "a cloud, by day," as to the first, "and smoke," as to the second, on account of the twofold benefit of fire: namely of warmth against cold — and as to this he says, "smoke," in which the flame is signified, which is kindled smoke; or smoke itself is the effect of heat — and of brightness against darkness — and as to this he says, "and the brightness": below, Isaiah 10:17, "And the light of Israel shall be as fire, and its Holy One as a flame." Third, he sets down the greatness of the protection: "over all the glory" — because the protection wherewith God shall protect you shall be over all the glory formerly granted you, as it were exceeding it: Haggai 2:9, "Great shall be the glory of this last house, more than the first." "And a tabernacle": here he describes the same benefit under the metaphor of a tabernacle. Whence he sets down those things for which a tabernacle is useful. It protects against the sun's heat by shade; and as to this he says, "for a shade in the daytime from the heat," that is, by day. Second it protects against the assault of a storm by providing security; and as to this he says, "and for a security from the whirlwind," for a whirlwind arises from a certain collision of winds. Third, it protects against the dripping of rains by covering; and as to this he says, "and a shelter from rain." And according to this, persecution is designated in a threefold way, according to its various degrees: Isaiah 32:2, "And a man shall be as when one is hid from the wind, and hides himself from a storm."

The Gloss, however, touches on a twofold mystical sense. Some expound the seven women as the seven churches. And according to this the chapter is divided into three parts. First is set the betrothal. Second, the exaltation of the bridegroom, that is, "in that day." Third, the governance of the bride, where it says, "and it shall come to pass, everyone," etc. Now the betrothal is through faith: Hosea 2:20, "I will espouse you to me in faith." Whence he sets down three things. First, the communication of faith, "shall take hold," through faith — "seven women," the seven churches, of which Revelation 1:4, "John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: grace to you, and peace" — in which all are contained, according to the rule of the number seven, being tetragonal and cubic — "one man," that is, Christ: Song of Solomon 8:2, "I will take hold of you, and bring you into my mother's house, into the chamber of her that bore me." Second, the preparation of hope, which concerns the receiving of the sacrament: "we will eat our own bread," the body of Christ given to us: John 6:51, "The bread that I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world" — and what pertains to the gift of virtues to be received: "and wear our own clothing," that is, with virtues: Ezekiel 16:10 (var.), "I clothed you with embroidered garments, and shod you with violet-colored shoes, and I dressed you with fine linen, and adorned you with ornaments." Third, desire, or the petition of charity, which concerns the attainment of the Christian name: "only let your name be called upon us," that we may be called Christians after Christ: Acts 4:12, "There is no other name under heaven... whereby we must be saved." And concerning the removal of reproach, "take away our reproach," which we suffer from the Jews, who call us lawless: Joshua 5:9, "This day have I taken away from you the reproach of Egypt." Note, concerning that saying, "our daily bread," that bread — that is, the body of Christ — grants pardon of guilt: it gives the life of grace: John 6:51, "The bread that I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world." It strengthens for battle: Psalm 104:15, "Bread strengthens man's heart." It sustains for the journey: 1 Kings 19:8, "He walked in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights." It gives a foretaste of glory itself: Wisdom 16:20, "You gave them bread from heaven, prepared without labor, having in it all that is delicious, and the sweetness of every taste." According to other glosses it is divided thus: in the first is noted the fullness of grace; in the second, the exaltation of grace, where it says, "in that day," etc.; in the third is set the benign governance of subjects, where it says, "and it shall come to pass," etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First is set the abundance of the gifts: "seven women," the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are called women because through them one is generated, and nourished, in God. "One man," that is, Christ uniquely, who alone was without sin: John 1:14, "We saw him, as it were the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Second, the sufficiency of the gifts in perfect enjoyment: "we will eat our own bread," namely of the homeland, which the Holy Spirit, whose the gifts are, as also the Son's, enjoys perfectly: John 4:34, "My food is to do the will of him that sent me." Third, in the witness of Scripture: "and wear our own clothing," that is, with the word of God, by which the gifts adorn, because it is his. Third, the perfection of the gifts through Christ, as to the bestowal of salvation: "let your name" — that is, the reality signified by the name "man," namely salvation — "begin upon us," that is, upon those who from among us are filled — "for of his fullness we have all received, grace for grace" (John 1:16). For before Christ, gifts did not lead to the kingdom. Fourth, for the removal of error: "take away our reproach," which we suffer from false virtues, which steal our name: Romans 13:12, "The night is passed, and the day is at hand; let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light"; Song of Solomon 2:15, "Catch us the little foxes that destroy the vines." Or the reproach we suffer in the rejection of men, who by sinning drive us away. "In that day": here is set the exaltation. And first as to the working of wonders, "in magnificence": Exodus 15:11, "Glorious in holiness, terrible and praiseworthy, doing wonders." Second, as to the glorious resurrection, "and glory": Isaiah 52:1 (var.), "Arise, arise, put on your strength, O Zion." Third, as to the ascension, "and the fruit of the earth," that is, of the Virgin's son, "high": Isaiah 52:13, "Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and shall be exceeding high" — as to the veneration of the whole world, of which Philippians 2:10, "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, on earth, and under the earth." "And a joy to them that shall have been saved," etc.: Isaiah 9:3, "They shall rejoice before you, as they that rejoice in the harvest, as conquerors rejoice after taking a prey." "And it shall come to pass": here is set the governance. First as to sanctification; second as to the order of sanctification, where it says, "when the Lord shall have washed away," etc.; third he sets down the protection of the sanctified, where it says, "and the Lord will create," etc. Three things are required for holiness. Distinction together with faith; and as to this he says, "that shall be left," chosen from among many believers, as it were set apart — "in Zion," which is called a watchtower, because faith sees as through a mirror, and in an enigma (1 Corinthians 13:12); and Isaiah 10:20-21 (var.), "In truth the remnant shall be converted, the remnant, I say, of Jacob, to the mighty God." "If your people, O Israel, be as the sand," the remnant shall be converted. Second, tranquility unto peace: "that shall remain," as it were dwelling, "in Jerusalem," which is called the vision of peace: Isaiah 52:1, "Jerusalem, the holy city." Third, predestination unto glory: "everyone that is written": Luke 10:20, "Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven"; Revelation 3:5, "I will not blot out his name from the book of life." "When the Lord shall have washed away," etc.: here is set the order of sanctification. And first, through the washing of baptism: "the filth," of actual sins; "and the blood," of original sin; or, "the filth," of venial sins; "the blood," of mortal sins: Ezekiel 16:9, "I washed you with water, and washed away your blood from you" — through the discernment of penance, "by the spirit of judgment": 1 Corinthians 11:31, "If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged by the Lord" — or by the passion of love, "by the spirit of burning," that is, of his charity, than which none was greater: John 15:13, "Greater love than this no man has, that a man lay down his life for his friends"; Matthew 26:28, "This is my blood of the New Testament, which shall be shed for many for the remission of sins." "And the Lord will create." Here is set down the protection. And he sets down the usefulness of the protection, as to those protected: whence, "over every diversity," as to the things protecting, "a cloud," and authority as to those afflicting; whence, "by day." But in those protected there are three things: namely, eminence of contemplation in the heart, "Mount Zion": Psalm 125:1, "They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion; he shall not be moved forever, that dwells in Jerusalem"; praises of confession in the mouth, "was called upon": Joel 2:32, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved"; honesty of conduct in deed, "glory": 2 Corinthians 1:12, "This is our glory, the testimony of our conscience." Now he protects in four ways: by a shading appearance, "a cloud": Luke 1:35, "The power of the Most High shall overshadow you"; by humbling compunction, "smoke": Joel 2:30, "I will show wonders in heaven, and in earth, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke"; by illuminating truth, "the brightness": Luke 2:32, "A light for the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel"; by the living Church, "a tabernacle": Revelation 21:3, "Behold the tabernacle of God with men, and he will dwell with them." The adversities are three: prosperity that lifts up, "day"; adversity that breaks constancy, "night": Psalm 121:6, "The sun shall not burn you by day, nor the moon by night"; afflicting persecution, "heat," through affliction: Revelation 16:8-9, "And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun... and men were scorched with great heat"; "whirlwind," through violence: below, Isaiah 21:1, "As whirlwinds come from the south, from the desert it comes, from a terrible land"; "rain," on account of its abundance: Matthew 7:25, "The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell."

Chapter 5

Text

a. "I will sing to my beloved the song of my cousin concerning his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a fruitful hill. And he hedged it in, and picked the stones out of it, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress in it; and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. Now therefore, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What is there that I ought to do more to my vineyard, that I have not done to it? Why, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, did it bring forth wild grapes? And now I will show you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be wasted; I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down. And I will make it desolate: it shall not be pruned, and it shall not be digged, but briers and thorns shall come up; and I will command the clouds to 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 plant. And I looked that he should do judgment, and behold iniquity; and do righteousness, and behold a cry. Woe to you that join house to house, and lay field to field, even to the end of the place. Shall you dwell alone in the midst of the earth? These things are in my ears, says the Lord of hosts. Unless many great and fair houses shall be desolate, without an inhabitant. For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one small measure, and thirty bushels of seed shall yield three bushels."

b. "Woe to you that rise up early in the morning to follow drunkenness, and to drink until evening, to be inflamed with wine. The harp, and the lyre, and the timbrel, and the pipe, and wine are in your feasts, and you regard not the work of the Lord, nor consider the works of his hands. Therefore my people is led away captive, because they had not knowledge; and their nobles have perished with hunger, and their multitude has been dried up with thirst. Therefore hell has enlarged its soul, and opened its mouth without any bounds; and their strong ones, and their people, and their high and glorious ones shall go down into it. And man shall be bowed down, and man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be brought low. And the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and the holy God shall be sanctified in righteousness. Then shall the lambs feed according to their order, and strangers shall eat the deserts that were turned into plenty. Woe to you that draw iniquity with the cords of vanity, and sin as with a cart-rope; that say: Let him make haste, and let his work speedily come, that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come near and come, that we may know it."

c. "Woe to you that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. Woe to you that are wise in your own eyes, and prudent in your own sight. Woe to you that are mighty to drink wine, and strong men to mingle drunkenness; that justify the wicked for reward, and take away the justice of the just from him. Therefore as the tongue of fire devours the stubble, and the heat of the flame consumes it, so their root shall be as ashes, and their bud shall go up like dust; for they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and blasphemed the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore is the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, and he has stretched forth his hand upon them, and struck them; and the mountains were troubled, and their carcasses became as dung in the midst of the streets."

d. "For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. And he will lift up a sign to the nations afar off, and will whistle to them from the end of the earth; and behold, they shall come quickly and swiftly. There shall be none weary nor faint among them; none shall slumber nor sleep, neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken. Their arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent; the hoofs of their horses shall be as flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind. Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions; they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall seize it, and none shall rescue it. And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea. We shall look to the land, and behold darkness of tribulation, and the light is darkened in the mist thereof."

Exposition

a. Here he charges the two tribes with the sin which they committed in the abuse of things, under a certain metaphor. And it is divided into two parts. In the first the metaphor is set forth. In the second it is expounded, "for the vineyard," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets down a title, saying, "I will sing," that is, I will proclaim aloud and openly: Isaiah 40:9, "Lift up your voice with strength." "To my beloved," that is, to the people of the Jews, "the song of my cousin," that is, of my uncle's son, "concerning his vineyard," that is, what he made of his vineyard. For sometimes the prophets take likenesses for their prophecies even from these ordinary matters of the nation, as is clear in Jeremiah 32, concerning the purchase of a field: "Behold Hanamel, the son of Shallum, your uncle, shall come to you, saying: Buy my field, which is in Anathoth; for the right of redemption is yours." So too it could have happened, literally, that some cousin of his had composed a similar song concerning his vineyard. Or otherwise: "I will sing" a song — "to my beloved," namely to God, that is, of his works toward his vineyard. Or "to my beloved," namely the cousin's song, that is, concerning my cousin — speaking in the person of the people of the Jews, because we descend from the same parents — "concerning his vineyard," that is, because the cousin is the vine-tender of God's beloved. Or mystically, "cousin," that is, of Christ, who is of the same people as I am — "his vineyard," that is, he who complains concerning his vineyard, that is, the Synagogue, which brought him bitter fruits in his passion. And note that a song is properly a thing of exultation; whence it is here called a song improperly, since it is really one of grief. Such a song David sang over the death of Saul, 2 Samuel 1:19-21, "The illustrious ones, O Israel, are slain upon your high places. How are the mighty fallen! ... You mountains of Gilboa, let neither dew nor rain come upon you"; Ezekiel 2:? "sing a mournful song." Second, where it says, "for the vineyard is become," he sets down the song itself, which contains the metaphor. In it three things are set down. First, a recital of the cause. Second, an interrogation for judgment, where it says, "now therefore, O inhabitants," etc. Third, the pronouncing of the sentence, where it says, "and now I will show," etc. Concerning the first he sets down two things. First, on the part of the complainant, the diligence of cultivation. Second, on the part of the vineyard, the wickedness of the fruit, where it says, "and he looked that it should bring forth," etc. Now the diligence of cultivation is shown from three things: in the preparation of the place; in the setting of the vine-shoots, "and planted"; and in the sumptuous building, where it says, "and he built," etc. The preparation of the place is first described in three ways. First as to the fatness of the soil; whence he says, "a vineyard," of which Psalm 80:8, "You brought a vine out of Egypt, you cast out the nations, and planted it." "Had," as acquired by God, or belonged to God, "on a fruitful hill," that is, in an eminent place, in which is noted the mountainous quality of the land for establishing a good vineyard, on account of its exposure to the sun. "A fruitful hill," that is, so fat that it was sufficient to yield abundant oil. It is a property of Hebrew speech that anything is said to be the "child" of that in which it abounds, as is said in 1 Samuel 26:16 (var.), "As the Lord lives, you are children of death." And in this the goodness of the land is designated, which was given to the Jews: of which Ezekiel 20:6, "I lifted up my hand for them, that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt, into a land which I had provided for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the choicest of all lands." Second is set the diligence of preparation as to the changing of the place; whence he says, "he hedged it in": Hosea 2:6 (var.), "I will hedge up your way with thorns" — in which is signified the guardianship of angels and of good men. Third, as to purgation, "he picked the stones out of it," that is, he diligently gathered them from it: Psalm 80:8, "You cast out the nations, and planted it." As to the choice of shoots it is said, "and planted it with the choicest vine," that is, of chosen shoots. Whence another translation has, "the vineyard of Sorek," which is the noblest kind of vine, in which the humility of the fathers is signified: Jeremiah 2:21, "I planted you a choice vine, wholly a right seed." As to the sumptuous work, which pertains to defense, he says, "he built a tower in the midst of it," in which the royal dignity is denoted: Ezekiel 16:13 (var.), "You were adorned with gold and silver, and you advanced to a kingdom"; Song of Solomon 4:4, "The tower of David is built with bulwarks." Or, according to others, the temple. The use of a tower is for preserving the fruit, and for watching over its safekeeping. As to the gathering of fruit he says, "a winepress," etc. Proverbs 3:10, "Your barns shall be filled with abundance, and your presses shall overflow with wine" — in which is noted the altar of holocausts, through the pouring out of blood. "And he looked that it should bring forth" — here is set the wickedness of the fruit; whence he says, "he looked," in the order of benefits bestowed, "that it should bring forth grapes," the fruit of good works. "And it brought forth wild grapes," that is, sour, uncultivated grapes, so called because they grow at the edges of paths, that is, at hedges — in which the bitterness of vice is noted: Jeremiah 2:21, "How then have you turned degenerate to me, into a strange vine?" Micah 7:4, "He that is best among them is as a brier, and he that is righteous as a thorn hedge." "Now therefore, O inhabitants of Jerusalem," etc.: here is set the interrogation for judgment; and concerning this he does two things. First he calls upon the judges, saying: therefore what have I done that I ought, now that my case has been heard? "Judge between me and my vineyard": Hosea 2:2, "Judge your mother, judge, for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband." A similar judgment was sought from David concerning himself as though concerning another, 2 Samuel 12, concerning the sin committed by him, namely the adultery and murder involving Uriah's wife. Second he asks for a judgment; and he asks two things. First, whether he sinned through negligence; whence he says, "what... more, beyond what has been said, ought I to have done": Micah 6:3, "O my people, what have I done to you, or in what have I troubled you? Answer me." Second, whether he sinned in the cultivation of the vineyard through excessive care; whence he says, "or did I perhaps seem to have done against what was expected," by cultivating too well, "that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes" — as if he said: In this I seem rather to have gone beyond, that I applied so much cultivation to my vineyard: below, Isaiah 26:15 (var.), "You have been favorable to the nation, O Lord... are you glorified?"; Isaiah 49:1, "I have called you a transgressor from the womb, for my name's sake"; Jeremiah 11:16 (var.), "At the noise of a great tumult he has kindled a fire in it, and the branches thereof are burned." Note, concerning that saying, "the vineyard is become the beloved's," that the vineyard is manifold. First, that of carnal concupiscence: Deuteronomy 32:32, "Their vine is of the vineyard of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah." And of this the wine is first the wine of wrath: Deuteronomy 32:33, "Their wine is the venom of dragons, and the incurable poison of asps." Second, of lust: Revelation 18:3, "All nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." Third, of foolish gladness: Nehemiah 9:? (var.), "He turned the whole mind to security and gladness." Second, there is the vineyard of the faithful soul: Song of Solomon 6:11 (var.), "My vineyard flourished." Of this vineyard the wine is, first, of penitence: Luke 10:34, "Going up to him, bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine." Second, of bodily cleanness: Zechariah 9:17, "For what is the good thing of him, and what is his beautiful thing, but the corn of the elect, and wine springing forth virgins?" Third, of spiritual gladness: Psalm 104:15, "Wine that makes glad the heart of man." Third, there is the vineyard of the militant Church: Song of Solomon 8:12 (var.), "My vineyard is before me; you, O Solomon, may have a thousand, and the keepers of the fruit thereof two hundred." Of this the wine is, first, of the sacrament of washing: Numbers 15:? (var.), "wine also is poured out for a libation with each measure." Second, of the fruitful preaching: Psalm 4:7 (var.), "By the fruit of their corn, their wine, and oil they were multiplied." Third, of devout confession: Song of Solomon 7:9, "Your throat is like the best wine." Fourth, there is the vineyard of the heavenly homeland: 1 Kings 21:1 (var.), "Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard." And of this vineyard the wine is, first, of the divine enjoyment: Song of Solomon 5:1, "I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey, I have drunk my wine with my milk." Second, of interior fullness: Esther 1:7 (var.), "The wine also, as befit royal magnificence, was abundant, and of the choicest kind." Third, of the congratulation of the saints: Song of Solomon 8:2 (var.), "I would give you a cup of spiced wine." "And now I will show you," etc.: here the sentence is pronounced. And first he arouses attention, or a hearing, saying, "now" — since you wish to hear the sentence pronounced — "I will show you what I will do to my vineyard": Isaiah 42:? (var.), "I have declared the former things from the beginning... lest you should say: My idols have done these things"; "see, all this has come to pass" — lest perhaps someone should say, "my idols of bronze and my carved images and molten images have ordained these things" — see it is all fulfilled. Second he pronounces the just sentence, so as to take away, from the ungrateful, the benefit that was shown, when he says, "I will take away the hedge thereof." And first he takes away the benefit which pertains to guardianship, which is twofold — of angels; and as to this he says, "I will take away the hedge thereof," that is, the help of angels, by which they were protected against enemies. "And it shall be wasted," by the nations: Ecclesiastes 10:8, "Where there is no hedge, the possession shall be laid waste." There is also the guardianship of prelates; and as to this he says, "I will break down the wall thereof," that is, the garrisons of protection, of which above, chapter 3. "And the loftiness of all men shall be bowed down. And it shall be trodden down," that is, made vile: Psalm 80:12, "You have broken down its hedge." Second, he takes away the benefit which pertains to diligence of cultivation; whence he says, "and I will make it desolate," that is, I will leave it uncultivated as a wasteland. "It shall not be pruned," by the office of admonition or reproof, when it sins. "And it shall not be digged," so that the occasions of evil are not removed from it, as weeds are: "and briers and thorns shall come up," that is, greater and lesser sins. Or, briers signify sins, thorns signify tribulations: Isaiah 7:23-24, "For briers and thorns shall be in every land." Third, he takes away the benefit of fruitfulness, against which he sets a lack of rain; whence he says, "and I will command the clouds to rain no rain upon it." Literally, or the clouds signify the preachers: Isaiah 60:8, "Who are these that fly as clouds, and as doves to their windows?"; Jeremiah 3:3, "Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain." "For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts," etc.: here he expounds the metaphor. And first as to the vineyard. Second as to the cause of the vineyard's condition, where it says, "and I looked that he should do judgment." Concerning the first he expounds the vineyard, saying, "for the vineyard... is the house of Israel," either the whole house, or as much as concerns the ten tribes, which were called "Israel" after the separation of the kingdom, on account of their multitude. Second, as to the offshoot or the shoots, "the men of Judah," that is, the two tribes in which the worship of God was still observed: Hosea 4:15, "If you play the harlot, O Israel, at least let not Judah offend." Or, because from it came the princes: 1 Chronicles 5:2, "For Judah was the mightiest among his brethren, and of his stock came the princes." "And he looked that he should do judgment." Here he expounds the cause of the vineyard's condition, which consists in guilt, and the punishment which follows the guilt. Whence it is divided into three parts. In the first, the guilt is set down in general. In the second, the punishment and the guilt together in particular, where it says, "woe to you that join house to house," etc. In the third, the punishment in general, where it says, "for all this," etc. He charges the guilt in general, as concerns the rulers, whose office it is to do judgment, in what he says, "and he looked," in the order of benefits — "that he should do judgment," by judging well; "and behold iniquity," as it were an inequality of judgment: Ecclesiastes 3:16, "I saw under the sun, in the place of judgment, wickedness, and in the place of justice, iniquity." Second, as concerns the subjects, whose part it is to keep the justice appointed to them by the rulers, "righteousness," which comes about through comparison with the precepts of the law, "and behold a cry" — the tumult of the contentious, or the complaint of the poor: below, Isaiah 22:1-2, "What ails you also, that you are wholly gone up to the housetops? A city full of clamor, a tumultuous city, an exulting city." "Woe to you that join house to house": here he sets down their guilt in the abuse of things, in particular, taking it up part by part. And it is divided into two parts. In the first he charges them as to the very guilt. In the second, as to their obstinacy in sinning, where it says, "woe to you that draw," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he charges them as to the abuse of possessions, which comes through avarice. Second, as to the abuse of food, which comes through gluttony, where it says, "woe to you that rise up," etc. Concerning the first three things are set down. First is charged the excessive multiplication of possessions; whence he says, "woe to you that join house to house, and lay field to field, even to the end of the place" — as far as the public road: Hosea 5:10, "The princes of Judah are become as they that take up the bound" — that is, as those who move boundary-stones over onto others' land; Jeremiah 22:13, "Woe to him that builds his house by injustice, and his upper rooms not in judgment, that will oppress his friend without cause, and will not pay him his wages... that says: I will build me a wide house, and large upper rooms"; Micah 2:2, "And they have coveted fields, and taken them by violence, and houses they have forcibly taken away, and oppressed a man and his house, a man and his heritage." Second is set the interpretation of the judge, "shall you dwell alone in the midst of the earth," which is broad and spacious, and given you in possession: Genesis 1:28, "Increase and multiply, and fill the earth." Third, the threat of punishment is set down; and concerning this two things are set down. First, the authority or power of the one threatening; whence he says, "these things are in my ears," these words, "says the Lord of hosts" — he who is able to punish; what I shall say to you is even now sounding. "In my ears," inward ones, in which is noted the certainty of the words: Isaiah 50:5 (var.), "In the morning he wakens my ear, that I may hear as a master. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I do not resist." Second, the severity of the punishment is set down, where it says: unless there be many great and beautiful houses made desolate, as to their guardianship, "without an inhabitant," as to the desolation of the houses — as if he said, my wrath will not rest. And this is an aposiopesis, that is, a broken-off statement. And he sets down the things in which the riches of houses consist: namely in multitude, and as to this he says, "many"; in beauty, and as to this he says, "fair"; in size, "great": Zephaniah 1:13, "And their strength shall become a spoil, and their houses a desert." Second, as to the barrenness of the vineyards he says, "ten acres of vineyard." An acre has in length one hundred twenty feet. "Shall yield one small measure" — another reading has "bath," which is of the same capacity for liquids as the "ephah" is for dry things. Third, as to the sowing of seeds, "and thirty bushels of seed shall yield three bushels," because they gather less than they sow: Haggai 1:6 (var.), "You have sown much, and brought in little." Others have "cor," and "ephah," which is the tenth part of a cor: Ezekiel 45:11, "The ephah and the bath shall be equal, and of one measure, that the bath may contain the tenth part of a cor, and the ephah the tenth part of a cor."

b. Here he charges them with guilt as to the abuse of food. And first he charges the guilt. Second he threatens punishment, where it says, "therefore my people is led away captive," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he charges gluttony as to its species. Second as to its effect, where it says, "and you regard not the work of the Lord," etc. Now the species of gluttony, which are contained in this verse, are: too hastily, too sumptuously, too much, too eagerly, too studiously. He says therefore first, "woe to you that rise up early," as to too-hasty eating: Ecclesiastes 10:16, "Woe to you, O land, whose king is a child, and whose princes eat in the morning"; Proverbs 23:35, "When shall I awake, and find wine again?" As to too-eagerly he says, "to follow drunkenness." As to too-much he says, "and to drink until evening": Proverbs 23:29-30, "Who has woe? Whose father has woe? Who has quarrels? Who falls into pits? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink off cups" — "to be inflamed with wine," unto lust and to every vice. As to too-studiously he says, "the harp, and the lyre," sought out with study; for with great diligence they prepare delights for themselves in foods. As to too-sumptuously he says, "in your feasts," in which great preparations are made, and choice fare: Amos 6:4-6, "You that eat the lamb out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the herd; you that sing to the sound of the psaltery, as David; that think yourselves to have instruments of music like David; that drink wine in bowls, and are anointed with the best ointments." Now the effect is seen in their want of consideration; and as to this he says, "and you regard not the work of the Lord," which you ought to do; "nor... the works," which he himself has done: Proverbs 20:1 (var.), "Wine is a luxurious thing, and drunkenness riotous." "Therefore my people is led away captive," etc.: here he sets down the corresponding punishment. And first as to the effect on the will; whence he says, "therefore," just as their knowledge is captive through drunkenness, so shall they themselves be led captive: Hosea 4:6 (var. "populus meus conticuit"), "my people has kept silence, because it had no knowledge." But it seems that ignorance does not deserve punishment, since it excuses guilt. And it must be said that ignorance can mean the total absence of knowledge; and thus it deserves neither punishment nor pardon, as ignorance of geometry in a rustic. It can also mean the privation of knowledge, such that a due aptitude is lacking in the subject. And thus it is plain that not to know what one is able and bound to know is culpable. Second he sets down the punishment against the species of gluttony. And thus he sets down hunger and thirst, which correspond to it as its proper cause — for hunger is caused by this, that someone delays too long in taking food, as if he said: You ate too quickly, but now you will delay so long that you will hunger. Again it corresponds to that species which is "too eagerly" as to its kind; for hunger is a desire for food; whence he says, "their nobles," who abound in provisions, "have perished with hunger, and their multitude has been dried up with thirst." And he sets thirst against the multitude of the common people, who are accustomed to quench thirst with water at least. Against the nobles, though, who abound in provisions, he sets hunger, since thirst, when great, sometimes signifies a lesser hunger: Lamentations 4:9, "It was better with them that were slain by the sword, than with them that died with hunger." Second, against another species, which is "too much," he sets the insatiability of those who take captive, hence their own captivity. "Therefore hell has enlarged," that is, death, or the devil, "its soul," as to the effect; "and opened its mouth," as to the desire. And he speaks in a human manner, since hell does not have a soul: Proverbs 27:20, "Hell and destruction are never filled." Or "hell" is said of Nebuchadnezzar: Habakkuk 2:5, "who has enlarged his soul like hell, and is like death, and is never satisfied." Third, as to the studious preparation of foods, which happens to them by a certain proportion, he sets down the punishment of being humbled, where it says, "and shall go down." And he shows them to be humbled in three respects. First as to their being taken captive; whence he says, "shall go down," as it were humbled, "into it," namely into the hell of captivity — "their strong ones," as to the powerful. "And their... high... ones," as to the rich, and those eminent in other goods, of which they were proud. "And glorious ones," as to the noble and famous: Jeremiah 39:6, "And he killed all the nobles of Judah... Moreover he also put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters, to be carried to Babylon." And below in the same: "And the rest of the people that remained in the city, and the fugitives that had fled over to him, and the rest of the common people that remained, Nebuzaradan the captain of the soldiers carried away to Babylon." Second, as to the depression of the captives. "And man shall be bowed down," being in captivity, as to the exalted; "and man shall be humbled," as to the powerful; "and the eyes of the lofty," as to the glorious: Deuteronomy 28:65, "Among these nations also you shall not be quiet, nor shall there be rest for the sole of your foot." Third, as to the exaltation of God who punishes: "and the Lord... shall be exalted." He who before was despised shall appear high, by an unjust judgment. "And the holy God," in himself, "shall be sanctified," that is, shall appear holy: above, chapter 2, "the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day." Fourth, against the species which is "too sumptuously," he sets down the devouring of goods by enemies. "Then shall the lambs feed," that is, be devoured by your enemies, "according to their order," because the better first, as to animals; and as to the produce of the land, "the deserts," that is, your fields, deserted by us, "that were turned into plenty," that is, made more fertile — by "strangers": Deuteronomy 28:36, "The Lord shall bring you, and your king... to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known"; and below in the same: "The stranger that lives with you in the land shall rise up over you, and shall be higher." Mystically, the lambs, that is, the saints, are refreshed with the doctrine of God the Father, "according to their order," that is, their capacity — "strangers," the Gentiles — and the deserts of the Jews, that is, the sacred Scriptures, turned into the plenty of spiritual understanding. "Woe to you that draw," etc.: here he charges them with obstinacy in sinning. And first he touches the guilt in general. Second he explains it in particular, where it says, "woe to you that call," etc. He says therefore first, "woe to you that draw," that is, drag out, "iniquity," "with the cords," that is, with vain occasions, by which man is drawn toward sin, while by argument guilt is dragged out: Proverbs 5:22, "His own iniquities catch the wicked, and he is fast bound with the ropes of his own sins." And this is said as to sin in common. But as to what is heavy he adds, "and sin, as with a cart-rope," that is, by which one is bound and dragged, as it were, in a cart: below, Isaiah 58:6, "loose the bands of wickedness, undo the heavy burdens." "That say": here he shows those vanities in particular, from which sin drags a man upon himself, and this in three respects. First, as to contempt of the judge. Second, as to the excuse of the sin, where it says, "woe to you that call," etc. Third, as to presumption in sinning, where it says, "woe to you that are wise," etc. And there is here a threefold cord, which is difficult to break. Ecclesiastes 8:11, they despised the sentence of the judge to their own condemnation, for two reasons: namely, on account of the deferral of the sentence; whence he says, "let him make haste, and let his work speedily come" — that is, the captivity we are threatened with: Ecclesiastes 8:11, "for because sentence is not speedily pronounced against the evil, the children of men commit evils without any fear." Second, on account of the distance of the judge; whence he says, "let it come near" — as if he said: he is in heaven, and cannot judge, but let it come near: Ezekiel 9:9, "for they have said: The Lord has forsaken the earth, and the Lord does not see." Note, concerning that saying, "and sin, as with a cart-rope," that sin is first called a cord — and this because it first draws to sin by example: Proverbs 7:22, "immediately he follows her, as an ox led to be a victim, and knows not that he is drawn like a fool into bonds." Second, to habitual sinning: Hosea 4:16 (var.), "a stray heifer, in the desert, in the desire of her soul," namely, the wind of love. Third, to the eternal destruction of death: Proverbs 24:11, "Deliver them that are led to death, and forbear not to deliver them that are drawn to destruction." Second, sin is called vanity — and this because it fails, first, from imitation of divine truth: Wisdom 13:1, "All men are vain, in whom there is not the knowledge of God." Second, from the attainment of a hoped-for end: Ecclesiastes 5:16 (var.), "he gave to the sinner affliction and needless care, to heap up and to gather, and to give to him that has pleased God; but this also is vanity, and a fruitless solicitude of the mind." Third, from the length of its duration: Ecclesiastes 6:12 (var.), "the number of the days of man's vain life is not certain, and they have pleased themselves in the vanity of wickedness"; Wisdom 5:9, "all those things are passed away like a shadow, and like a messenger that runs before." Third, sin is called a bond — and this because it binds, first, the understanding lest it see: Wisdom 17:2, "for when the unjust thought to oppress the holy nation, they, being fettered with the bonds of darkness, and a long night, shut up in their houses, lay there exiled from the eternal providence... and while they thought to lie hid in their dark sins, they were scattered under a dark veil of forgetfulness." Second, the hand, lest it do good. Third, the feet, lest they advance. Of these two, Matthew 22:13, "bind his hands and feet, and cast him into outer darkness." Fourth, sin is called a cart-rope — and this because it oppresses, first with the burden of servitude: Jeremiah 16:13 (var.), "and there you shall serve strange gods day and night, who shall not give you rest"; second, with fear of heart: Wisdom 17:11, "for wickedness, being fearful, gives testimony to its own condemnation"; third, with the disquiet of conscience: below, Isaiah 57:20, "but the heart of the wicked is like the raging sea, which cannot rest."

c. Here is set the vanity as to the excuse of sin. And first as to the effect: "call... good evil": Micah 7:3, "They call the evil of their hands good." Second as to the understanding, "light darkness," truth error: John 3:19, "men loved darkness rather than light." Third as to the effect, "bitter for sweet," reckoning the life of sin to be sweet: Wisdom 14:22, "and it was not enough for them to have erred concerning the knowledge of God, but while they lived in a great war of ignorance, they call so many and so great evils peace." "Woe to you that are wise": here is set a third vanity, as to presumption in sinning, which is of three sorts. First, of wisdom of heart, both in speculative matters, "that are wise" — Proverbs 3:7, "be not wise in your own conceit" — and in practical matters, "prudent" — Romans 12:16, "be not wise in your own conceits." Second, as to hardness of heart in sinning, "that are mighty to drink wine" — they boast that they can drink much, and be inebriated, on account of the custom of the land, in which mixed wine was drunk: below, Isaiah 41:1 (var. "insulae"), "let the islands and the nations renew their strength"; Proverbs 2:14, "who are glad when they have done evil, and rejoice in most wicked things." Third, as to authority, "that justify," that is, you say it is of your own authority that you can, at your own pleasure, justify the wicked, so that whatever pleases you has the force of law: below, Isaiah 10:1, "Woe to them that make wicked laws, and, when they write, write injustice"; Proverbs 17:15, "he that justifies the wicked, and he that condemns the just"; Micah 3:5, "and if any man put not into their mouth anything, they sanctify a war against him." "Therefore as the tongue of fire devours," etc.: here he threatens punishment. And first he sets down the punishment of consumption under the metaphor of fire, because you draw iniquity, laying for yourselves a root in sins: "as the flame of fire" burns the stubble it touches; "and the heat of the flame" burns that which is at a distance — for persecution kills those it seizes, and afflicts others: Deuteronomy 32:25, "the sword shall waste them without, and terror within." "So their root," as though easily consumed, as to those in whom they trusted, whether fathers or kindred. "And their bud," that is, their children, "shall go up like dust," in which the strength arising from those causes is denoted: Malachi 4:1, "and all the proud, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble, and it shall set them ablaze." Second, he sets down the sequence and order of the punishment. And first he sets down the cause of the punishment; whence he says, "for they have cast away the law," despising it in their heart; "and blasphemed the word of the Holy One of Israel," mocking it: Deuteronomy 32:? (var.), "they have not obeyed your voice, and have not walked in your law." Second, the anger of the one punishing. "Therefore," "is... kindled," speaking after the manner of the process of anger in men: Psalm 18:8 (var.), "the Lord was angry in his fury." Third, the infliction of the punishment, "and he has stretched forth his hand," his power, to strike, which he had held folded back in sparing them: Zephaniah 2:13, "and he will stretch out his hand against the north, and will destroy Assyria." Fourth, the effect of the punishment in the destruction of the great, "and the mountains were troubled," that is, the great ones, for fear. The Gloss says that this is said hyperbolically. But against this: then the prophet exceeded the truth. And it must be said that in some places Scripture takes an expression beyond the truth simply, but in sacred Scripture it means beyond the truth according to the opinion of men — as if he said, the trouble shall be beyond what could be believed. Or otherwise, hyperbole is a certain figure of speech; and in figurative speech one thing is said and another is understood. Whence there is no falsity as to the sense it is meant to convey, just as also in metaphor — as if he said: so great shall the trouble be, that even the mountains, were it possible, would be troubled: Psalm 46:2 (var.), "the mountains were troubled with his strength" — as to the vileness of their bodies, "and their carcasses became as dung": Jeremiah 8:2, "they shall not be gathered, nor buried, they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth"; Jeremiah 16:4, "they shall die by grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented, and they shall not be buried; they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth."

d. Here he sets down the common and final punishment, namely as to the captivity through the Romans; and concerning this three things are set down. First, the preparation of the army. Second, the disposition of the army, where it says, "and behold, they shall come quickly," etc. Third, the infliction of the punishment, where it says, "and shall lay hold of the prey," etc. Concerning the first three things are set down. First, the indignation of the one gathering: "for all this" — as if he said, just as you add sins to sins, so he too will join punishments to punishments: below, Isaiah 9:19, "a man shall not spare his brother, and he shall turn to the right hand, and shall be hungry; and shall eat on the left hand, and shall not be filled." Second, the erection of the standard, "and he will lift up," that is, the standard: Jeremiah 4:6, "set up the standard in Zion, strengthen yourselves, stay not; for I bring evil from the north, and great destruction." Third, the summoning of the army, "and will whistle," that is, he will inspire: below, Isaiah 7:18, "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 torrents of the valleys." And, to make it the more terrifying, he sets down the strangeness of the nation: as to its worship, "to the nations," that your holy things be not revered by them; as to language, "afar off," so that their words please not; as to customs, "from the end of the earth," so that they are not restrained by regard for you. "And behold, they shall come quickly," etc.: here is set the disposition of the army. And first he shows them expedited to come. Second, armed to fight, where it says, "their arrows are sharp." Third, cruel to punish, where it says, "their roaring," etc. Concerning the first two things are set down. First, their swiftness: "behold," for certain, "quickly": Lamentations 4:19, "our persecutors were swifter than the eagles of the air"; Habakkuk 1:8, "her horsemen shall come from afar, they shall fly like an eagle that makes haste to eat"; Jeremiah 4:13, "behold he shall come up as a cloud, and his chariots as a tempest; his horses are swifter than eagles." Second, the cause of their swiftness, according to the removal of a threefold impediment which could arise: from natural weakness. Against which he says, "there shall be none weary," because it must be removed; "nor faint," because it must be removed that they come slowly: Psalm 40:31 (var.), "but they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings as eagles, they shall run, and not be weary, they shall walk, and not faint." Second, that which could happen by their own will, he says, "none shall slumber," that is, through sloth, so that they delay longer; "nor sleep," so that they take no rest: Proverbs 19:15 (var.), "slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle soul shall suffer hunger." Third, he removes the impediment arising from the necessity of things, "neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed." And he sets down those things by which travelers are usually impeded on their journey — all of which will endure longer than usual: Deuteronomy 29:5, "I have brought you forty years through the desert; your garments are not worn out, neither are the shoes of your feet consumed with age." "Their arrows are sharp": here he shows them armed for fighting. And first as to the goodness of their weapons; and he sets down those things which are most customary in those lands, "sharp arrows," in which the goodness of the arrows is noted; "bows bent," in which is the preparation of weapons, that they not be hindered in the preparing: Psalm 120:4 (var.), "the sharp arrows of the mighty." Second he sets down their vehicles: "the hoofs of their horses... as flint," which is not easily broken, "and their wheels like a whirlwind" on account of their multitude, and their swiftness making a great sound: Jeremiah 4:13, "behold he shall come up as a cloud, and his chariots as a tempest." "Their roaring": here he shows them cruel to punish. And first as to their fierceness, "roaring": Hosea 11:10, "they shall walk after the Lord, he shall roar as a lion, because he shall roar, and the children shall fear." Second as to their rapacity, "they shall roar like young lions": Psalm 104:21, "the young lions roaring after their prey." Third as to their cruelty, "and shall seize," which is characteristic of the wild boar: Psalm 35:16 (var.), "they gnashed upon me with their teeth"; Psalm 80:13, "the boar out of the wood has laid it waste, and a singular wild beast has devoured it." "And shall lay hold": here is set the infliction of punishment, and finally the despair of the punished, where it says, "we shall look," etc. Concerning the first he sets down three things. First he threatens their capture, "shall lay hold of the prey" — as if he said, as was foretold, he shall seize you: Nahum 2:12 (var.), "the lion caught enough for his whelps, and killed for his lionesses, and filled his caves with prey, and his den with rapine." Second, their anxious detainment, "and shall seize it," lest you escape by flight, "and none shall rescue it," through their own powerlessness: Lamentations 1:? (var.), "the Lord has set me in the dark, out of which I shall not be able to rise." Third, their unyielding condemnation, "and shall roar," with threats and terrors: Jeremiah 6:22-23, "behold a people comes from the land of the north... they shall lay hold on arrow and shield; they are cruel, and will have no mercy... their voice roars like the sea." "We shall look to the land": here he sets their despair. And first as to help sought from the earth, "we shall look to the land," and on every side, "behold darkness," because all things pursue us. Second as to help hoped for from heaven. "And the light," of divine hope, "is darkened in the mist thereof": Jeremiah 4:23-25, "I beheld the earth, and lo it was void, and nothing, and the heavens, and there was no light in them"; and the prophet identified himself with them through compassion.

Chapter 6

Text

a. "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and the house was full of his majesty, and the things that were under him filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim: one had six wings, and the other had six wings. With two they covered his face, and with two they covered his feet, and with two they flew. And they cried one to another, and said: Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord God of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory. And the lintels of the doors were moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: Woe is me, for I have held my peace, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people that has unclean lips, and I have seen with my eyes the King, the Lord of hosts. And one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a live coal, which he had taken with the tongs from off 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 shall be cleansed."

b. "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. And he said: Go, and say to this people: Hear, and understand not; and see the vision, and know it not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes: lest perhaps they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I heal them. And I said: How long, O Lord? And he said: Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be left desolate. And the Lord shall remove men far away, and the land shall be multiplied that was left in the midst of the earth. And there shall be yet a tenth left in it, and it shall again be destroyed; as a turpentine tree, and as an oak, that spreads its branches. The holy seed shall be the standing stock thereof."

Exposition

a. Having charged the two tribes with guilt, adding a corrective punishment, here he threatens them, in a final and condemning manner, with the punishment of obduracy — and therefore this punishment is foretold by way of vision, and with the solemnity of a judgment. This chapter, then, is divided into three parts. In the first is described the actor of the solemn proceeding, namely the judge. In the second, the minister who declares the sentence, the judge's servant, where it says, "and I said: Woe is me," etc. In the third is set the sentence itself, where it says, "hear, and understand not," etc. Concerning the first two things are set down. First, the time of the commissioning. Second, the commissioning itself, where it says, "I saw the Lord sitting." As to the first he says, "in the year that Uzziah died," who in 2 Kings 15 is called Azariah, struck with leprosy by the Lord because he wished to usurp the priestly office, as is said in 2 Chronicles 26. And after he was struck, his son Jotham governed the king's household and the kingdom until his death; nor is he said to have reigned then, but rather to have taken his father's place; he first properly reigned when his father died. Whence this vision was shown while Jotham was reigning, and Uzziah reigning before him. "I saw the Lord sitting": here is set the vision. And first he describes the judge's throne. Second, the ministering attendant, where it says, "the seraphim," etc. Now this vision is said by some to have been imaginative, by others intellectual. And a figure is assumed by the prophet himself from a like case, as Dionysius says in his epistle to Titus: because the prophets, even in what they see plainly, without figures, surround it with figures for the guidance of their hearers, who through sensible figures can more easily grasp it. However this may be, two things must be considered here. First, the imagination of the figure, whether seen by the prophet, or composed by him. Second, the signification of the figure itself: for sensible figures of spiritual things are spiritually introduced in sacred Scripture to signify something, as Dionysius says, and that will be the literal sense — just as in metaphorical expressions, it is not what is signified by the words, but what the speaker means to signify by the words. Concerning the first, then, it should be known that the temple built by Solomon had a height of one hundred twenty cubits, as is said in 2 Chronicles 3. And its height was divided into three stories, of which the highest had sixty cubits, and each of the two interior ones thirty. And of these it is said in 1 Kings 6:8, "by winding stairs they went up to the middle chamber, and from the middle to the third." He saw, then, the throne of the Lord in the highest chamber, on account of which it is said, "the house was full of his majesty," that is, of his glory. "And the things that were under him," that is, the ornaments of his throne, or even the splendor of the garments, or the ranks of his subjects, filled the lowest chamber, into which the priests entered, on account of which he says, "the temple." Others say otherwise, that he saw a high throne in the middle chamber, which is called "the house," which was full of the middle members and arms of the Lord; the lower part, which is called "the temple," with feet and legs, but the head and neck rose above into the third story: 1 Kings 22:19, "I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him, on his right hand and on his left"; Proverbs 20:8, "the king that sits on the throne of judgment scatters away all evil with his look." Concerning the second, it should be known that the signification of this vision is assigned in three ways by different authors. For some say that by the sitting upon the throne is signified the future oppression of captivity; by the filling of the house with majesty is signified that the enemies, who were under his disposition, would fill the temple. And this the histories confirm. Jerome, however, expounds it, and better, thus: by the throne is signified the majesty of the Son of God, on account of which it is said, John 12:41, "Isaiah said these things, because he saw his glory, and spoke of him." By the throne are signified the angels in whom God sits: Psalm 80:1, "you that sit upon the cherubim." By the house, the Church triumphant, which is full of his glory. By the temple, the Church militant, which is full of miracles, or of the ranks of angels, as it were its guardians. Dionysius expounds otherwise, in chapter 15 of the Celestial Hierarchy, and better, as it seems. By the throne is signified the eminence of the divine nature. And it is called "high," on account of its nobility; "lifted up," as it were raised above other things, insofar as it exceeds all things infinitely — in which he is said to sit, on account of immutability. Whence he says in chapter 9 of the Divine Names: "What is to be said of the divine station, except that it remains fixed in itself with an unmoving, singular identity?" And "the house" is called the whole creation, which is full of his majesty, insofar as it is filled with a participation of his goodness according to its capacity. And by "the temple" one may understand the higher creatures themselves, which are filled with those things which are beneath it, insofar as the goods received in them fall short of the goodness of God, which nevertheless seems to draw near. But against this an objection is raised from Exodus 33:20, "for man shall not see me, and live" — that is, living in this mortal flesh. And John 1:18, "no man has seen God at any time." Therefore neither did Isaiah. To this it must be said that neither the interior nor the exterior sight can see unless it is moved by something visible; and according as it is more perfectly affected by the visible thing, the better it sees. And then it sees most perfectly, when it receives the action of the visible thing according to the whole of its power. And hence it is that the same thing is seen in different ways by different persons, both inwardly and outwardly — by some better, and by some worse. This visible thing, then, which is God, nothing apprehends perfectly, except what wholly contains him; and therefore he alone sees himself thus. Whence Chrysostom says that the heavenly mystery is not seen by some in its essence, in the medium proper to that perfection which it has from the divine light received, by those who attain it as the blessed do in their homeland, and as those who are raised by rapture to that manner of vision. But by those who have a less perfect sight it is seen according to certain likenesses of its own goodness, whether in sensible things, or in images, or in intelligible species. And of this sort is the vision by which the prophets saw through the light of prophecy, and by which we see through faith, and by which it is seen by the light of reason, even by the philosophers, who also knew God, as is said in Romans 1. But then the question remains, whether the prophets perceived such a vision immediately from God, or through the mediation of angels. And it seems that it was immediate, from the very manner of speaking: for he says, "I saw the Lord," and not, "I saw an angel." Likewise concerning Moses, Exodus 33:11, "the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man is wont to speak to his friend." Likewise they saw as in a mirror of eternity, as is commonly said. Therefore some saw God. To this it must be said, according to Dionysius, chapter 4 of the Celestial Hierarchy: that no mere man, either in our times or in yours, has received any revelation from God except through the mediation of angels. And he says this to be an inviolable law, that the lowest things be led by means of the first. And he proves this by an argument from the greater: because even Moses received the law through the mediation of angels, who yet saw most excellently — which is proved by that which is had in Galatians 3:19, "why then was the law given? It was set because of transgressions, till the seed should come, to whom he had made the promise, being ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator"; Acts 7:53, "who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it." To the first argument, then, it must be said that the intention can be understood both on the part of the object of the vision, and on the part of the source. On the part of the object, because the angel who reveals it intends to lead man to the knowledge of God, and not to the knowledge of himself; and therefore he forms a vision concerning God, so that from these things which are seen figuratively, something of God may be known. On the part of the source, because the whole power of the angelic light for manifesting something is from God as author, who is the fountain of light — just as in us the whole power of light, or of manifestation, is from first principles. Whence Gregory says in the Gloss upon the beginning of Ezekiel: "Sometimes an angel appears speaking as if in his own person, at other times he is called the Lord, at other times an angel: he is called an angel because he speaks outwardly by service; he is called the Lord because he is granted the efficacy of speaking inwardly. Since when the angel speaks outwardly, he is inwardly ruled, and it is by his outward service, and by inward inspiration, that the Lord is being admonished." To the second it must be said that this is said on account of the most excellent manner of clear vision, in which Moses saw beyond the other prophets, as is said in Numbers 12:7-8. To the third it must be said that the mirror of eternity does not mean God himself, but the very species which are in the mind of the prophet; and they are called a mirror insofar as the disposition of eternal wisdom is reflected in them. "The seraphim stood": here he sets down the office and order of the ministers. And first he describes the order of the ministers. Second, their praise, "and they cried, Holy, Holy," etc. Concerning the first he sets down three things. First he sets down the rank of the ministers, saying, "the seraphim stood above it," namely the temple, because this order is the highest among all, as Dionysius says in the Gloss here.

It should be noted that "the seraphim" in this passage is plural, and neuter in form, signifying the whole company of that order, whereas "seraph" is singular and masculine, signifying only one of that order: Isaiah 62:6, "I have set watchmen upon your walls, O Jerusalem, they shall never hold their peace day or night." He says, "stood," upright through contemplation, as it were attendant. Second he sets down the ministers' array in the number six of their wings, "six wings." Third, the use of the wings, "with two he covered" — in Hebrew this is ambiguous, and can be expounded either that they covered the face of God, as Jerome takes it, or that they covered their own face, as Dionysius takes it, according to whom the sense is that the head was veiled, and the feet, and the middle of the body was left. "With two he covered" himself: Ezekiel 1:23, "each one with two wings covered his body." And below in the same: "I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of many waters." The signification of this vision is taken in three ways. The Hebrew commentator says that by the twelve wings are understood twelve kings who ruled the people from Uzziah, under whom the vision began, onward, of whom only four were just — Uzziah, Jotham, Hezekiah, and Josiah — and therefore four flew with unveiled wings. The others were ashamed before the sight of God, and so veiled their faces — of whom four possessed the kingdom freely, namely Ahaz, Manasseh, Amon, and Jehoahaz, who were made kings by the people, and these are signified by the wings that were at the head. The other four possessed the kingdom under the servitude of others; whence they were made kings not by the people but by others — such as Jehoiakim by Pharaoh, Jeconiah and Zedekiah, and Gedaliah, of whom Jeremiah 41 says that Ishmael and ten men with him killed Gedaliah, whom the king of Babylon had set over the land. The three aforementioned were appointed by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. Jerome says they are called "winged," either because they dwell above, or on account of the swiftness of their ministry; and he understands the twelve wings as the ministry of perfection, commended in the number twelve, as the twelve gems in the priestly breastplate, and so with the rest. "With two he covered" — those things which were before the world, or after the world, are hidden from us, and he shows what happens in the six ages of the world, since past and future things are unknown to us, but the present we know; and thus this is referred to the act of ministry. And what he says, "stood," refers to their attending upon God. Dionysius expounds otherwise, in chapters 7 and 15 of the Celestial Hierarchy, and says that they are called "winged" because, like something flying, they have contemplation swift and free. Now a threefold pair of wings is described, because the seraphim see those things which pertain to themselves, who are of the first hierarchy, and those which pertain to the other two hierarchies more eminently than they do, so that by one wing is understood the capacity of nature, and by the other the light which they participate from God, since by these two they are raised up. Now the things which pertain to the hierarchies are from God as from a principle, and are ordered toward God as toward an end; and in neither respect can they be perfectly understood by angels, which the veiling signifies. And they stand as it were in the middle between the principle and the end, and thus have perfect and free knowledge of these; and therefore with the two middle wings they flew unveiled. "And they cried," etc.: here he sets down their praise, and concerning this he does three things. First he sets down the manner of praising as to devotion, because "they cried" out of greatness of affection; as to concord, because together; and as to order, "one to another," for one receives from another, as Dionysius holds: Job 38:7, "When the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful melody?" Second he sets down the song of praise, "Holy, Holy, Holy." And they praise three things: the Trinity of Persons, "Holy, Holy, Holy"; the majesty of the Unity, "the Lord God of hosts," since he rules over all: Revelation 4:8, "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come"; and the liberality of his providence, "the whole earth is full of his glory," since even to the lowest creatures, which are understood by "earth," he extends the diffusion of his goodness: Jeremiah 23:24, "Do I not fill heaven and earth, says the Lord?" — this according to Dionysius, chapter 7 of the Celestial Hierarchy. Jerome: "the whole earth is full," through the knowledge of faith: Sirach 42:16 (var.), "the work of the Lord is full of his glory... the Lord makes his saints declare all his wonders, which the Lord Almighty has established firmly for his own glory." Third, where it says, "and the lintels were moved," he sets down the effect of the praise, namely the punishment of sinners: Isaiah 65:13-14, "behold, my servants shall drink, and you shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice for the joy of heart, and you shall cry for grief of heart, and shall howl for anguish of spirit." And the ruin of the temple is signified: "the lintels of the doors were moved": Amos 9:1, "strike the hinge, and let the lintels be shaken." "And the house was filled with smoke," of burning — by the Romans, after the faith of Christ was made known. Or by the smoke is indicated the unbelief of the Jews; by the shaking of the hinges, the removal of the law, or of the ceremonies, which were as shadows closing the way to the truth. "And I said," etc.: here is set the one who declares the solemn sentence. And first his humility is shown. Second his smallness, where it says, "and... flew," etc. Third his authority, where it says, "and I heard," etc. His humility is in the confession of sin. He confesses a threefold sin in the omission of speech, "Woe is me, for I have held my peace," not rebuking King Uzziah, and thus he laments a fault; "for I am a man of unclean lips," and thus he laments the loss of praise to God: Isaiah 56:10, "his watchmen are all blind, they are all ignorant, dumb dogs not able to bark, seeing vain things, sleeping and loving dreams"; Sirach 15:9 (var.), "praise is not comely in the mouth of a sinner." Second, of prayer, "for I am a man of unclean lips": Sirach 26:23 (var.), "well-ordered speech, that the ear may hear it, for in it is the word to perceive." Second, in the corruption of his manner of life: "and I dwell in the midst of a people," of a people that "has unclean lips": 1 Corinthians 15:33, "evil communications corrupt good manners." Third, a sin of presumption: "and I have seen with my eyes the King, the Lord of hosts" — as if he said, if he who is impure cannot enter his temple, much less see him himself: Judges 13:22, "we shall surely die, because we have seen the Lord" — and this was out of reverence. But Jacob said, Genesis 32:30, "I have seen the Lord face to face, and my soul has been saved" — and this out of confidence. Jerome: "Happy the conscience which fails only in speech, not in deed, though it be a people of unclean lips." "And one of the seraphim flew": here his purity is shown, through the purging away of his sin, and concerning this three things are set down: the minister of purgation, "and one of the seraphim flew to me"; the instrument of purgation, "and in his hand was a live coal... from off the altar." The inner altar was of earth, as is said in Exodus 20:24, "you shall make me an altar of earth." But round about it was of stones, where the fires of sacrifice were gathered; from these he took it "with the tongs," that is, with an instrument having two arms, by which may be signified receptive power, and by the altar the divine light itself, or goodness, and by the coal the gift received for the office of purging. Or by the fire, tribulation; by the seraph, Christ; by the tongs, the two Testaments; by the coal, charity, which is in the hand, that is, in his operation. Third is set the manner of purging: "and he touched my mouth, and said." As in the sacraments there is an action and a form of words, "behold, this has touched" expresses the act; "and your iniquity shall be taken away," as regards man; "your sin," as regards God. And he does not say "I will take away," because it is God's alone to forgive sin: Isaiah 43:25, "I am he that blot out your iniquities for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins." Concerning all this, Daniel 9:21, "the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision, flying swiftly, touched me at the time of the evening sacrifice, and he instructed me, and spoke to me." But against this it is objected, that Dionysius says that those of the higher orders are not sent for ministry; yet it is agreed the seraphim are the highest. It does not seem fitting, then, that one should come to purge the prophet. To this it must be said that Gregory touches this question in a certain homily concerning the hundred sheep, and leaves it in doubt. Dionysius, however, expressly holds that only the lower orders are sent to us, and says this is by the order of the divine law, that lower things be led back to the highest through intermediaries. He resolves what is said here in two ways. In one way, that this purging angel is called "Seraph" equivocally, not from his order, but from the act he then performed, since he purged by fire, and "Seraph" means "burning." In another way he holds that it is properly said of one who is of that order; and he is said to purge, not because he immediately purges, but because by his authority, or by the illumination received from him, a lower angel purged. And he gives the example that a bishop is said to absolve, when another absolves by his authority. And therefore, out of reverence, the lower angel, who formed the vision, refers it back to God first, and to the seraph second, as if to say: I purge you by the light received from God, through the seraph as intermediary. The Septuagint has "coals" — on account of the likeness to fire, for coals have a burning heat.

c. Here the minister's authority is shown from the imitation of office; and concerning this he does three things. First the assent of the one sent is asked; whence he says, "whom shall I send?" — in which is noted authority on the part of the sender: Romans 10:15, "how shall they preach, unless they are sent?" — "and who will go for us?" — in which is noted the will of the one sent, "for us," acquisitively, that he seek not vain honor, nor seek gain. On the contrary, Philippians 2:21, "for all seek the things that are their own, not the things that are Jesus Christ's." "For us" — in which is noted the unity of essence; "us" — in which is the plurality of persons. Second the offered obedience is set down: "and I said: Here am I, send me": Isaiah 50:5, "but I do not resist, I have not gone back." But it seems this might have been presumption, since Moses refused, Exodus 3:11, "who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" Jeremiah also refused; whence Jeremiah 1:6, "Ah, ah, ah, Lord God, behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child." And it must be said, as Gregory says in the Pastoral, and as is placed in the Gloss on the beginning of Jeremiah, that both were from the root of charity: for the one, out of love for God, did not wish to lose the solace of contemplation; the other, out of love for neighbor, wished to be sent, that he might be of profit; yet neither the one persisted too stubbornly in refusing, nor did the other offer himself before he was purged, when he was asked. Third the office is enjoined; and as to this it is added, "and he said: Go": Matthew 10:16, "behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves." "And say to this people": Jeremiah 15:19, "if you separate the precious from the vile, you shall be as my mouth." "Hear, and understand not": here is set the sentence. And first the sentence of obduracy is set down. Now he does not harden by instilling malice, but by not imparting grace — and this because they themselves are unwilling to turn to grace. Second the duration of the sentence is asked, where it says, "and I said," etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First is set the pronouncement of the sentence by the Lord, as to the disciplinable senses, namely hearing, which serves discipline; whence he says, "hear," with the outward ears, "and understand" — Christ, or another preaching — "not"; as if he said, because you are unwilling, you do not understand — this is permissive. And as to sight, which serves discovery, "and see the vision" — Christ bodily, or the mighty works of God; "and know it not" — this too is permissive, not imperative: Isaiah 42:19, "who is blind, but my servant?" Second is set the prophet's acceptance of the sentence; whence he says, O Lord, since the beauty of the Gentiles is about to enter in: Romans 11:25, "blindness in part has happened in Israel." "Make... fat," inwardly; "and make their ears heavy," that they perceive not; "and shut their eyes," that they know not: John 9:39, "for judgment I have come into this world, that they who see not may see, and they who see may become blind." Or it is the word of the Lord, and the sense is: "make fat" — that is, proclaim it made fat. Third is set the reason for the blinding: "lest perhaps" — on account of good things — "and be converted, and I heal them" — since they are unworthy of health: Ezekiel 18:21, "but if the wicked do penance for all his sins which he has committed, and keep all my commandments, and do judgment and justice, living he shall live, and shall not die; I will not remember all his iniquities"; below, chapter 3, "if you be willing, and hear me, you shall eat the good things of the land." "And I said: How long?" Here is set the duration of the sentence, and first the prophet's question, "how long," shall they be blinded — Daniel 8:13, "how long shall the vision... be trodden underfoot?" Second, the Lord's response, "and he said." And a twofold term is set: the first as to the punishment of the wicked; the second as to the holiness of the good, where it says, "the holy seed" — as if to say, how long shall he who is in filth continue to be filthy? Revelation 22:11, "he that is filthy, let him be filthy still." Now he touches a threefold punishment. First as to captivity, designated in the desolation of the cities, "until the cities be wasted": Jeremiah 12:10 (var.), "they have made my delightful portion a desolate wilderness"; Lamentations 1:13, "he has made me desolate, wasted with sorrow all the day." As to the cultivation of the fields, "the land be left desolate": above, chapter 1, "your land is desolate, your cities burnt with fire." As to the exile of men, "and the Lord shall remove men far away": Jeremiah 22:26 (var.), "I will cast you out, and your mother that bore you, into another land, where you were not born, and there you shall die"; Ezekiel 20:38, "I will bring out from among you the rebels and the wicked, and I will bring them out of the land of their sojourning." Second, as to the length of the captivity, "and the land shall be multiplied," that nation, "in the midst of the earth," in which it shall be held captive — so long shall the captivity last: Jeremiah 29:4-5, "thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon: build houses, and dwell in them"; and Isaiah: "and be multiplied there, and be not few in number; and seek the peace of the city, to which I have caused you to be carried away." Third, as to the repeated persecution. And first he sets down the scarcity: "and there shall be yet a tenth left in it," that is, scarcely a tenth part shall be left by Titus in the land of Judea, or in the whole world, on account of the Jews slain: Deuteronomy 28:62, "and you shall be left few in number, who before were as the stars of heaven for multitude." Second, the repeated destruction, "and it shall again be destroyed" — under the Emperor Hadrian: above, chapter 3, "for all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still." Third, their vileness and contempt, or dispersion, "shall be for a display," of derision — "as a turpentine tree," a certain tree which in the region of Damascus is great, in Greece small — "and as an oak that spreads its branches," in which their dispersion is signified: Sirach 24:22 (var.), "I have stretched out my branches as the turpentine tree." "The holy seed," etc.: here he sets the term as to the holiness of the good; whence he says, "the holy seed," that is, of the perfect men who obey the divine vision, as of the other saints among the Jews. "Standing," not falling through unbelief: below, chapter 66, "as the new heavens and the new earth, which I make to stand before me, says the Lord, so shall your seed and your name stand." Others expound it favorably: "shall be multiplied," after the return from captivity; "in the midst of the earth," their own; "and there shall be yet a tenth," which shall remain for the worship of God after the great slaughter; "and it shall be converted," to God; "and shall be for a display," of glory.

Chapter 7

Text

a. "And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Syria, and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to fight against it, but they could not prevail against it. And it was told the house of David, saying: Syria has rested upon Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved by the wind. And the Lord said to Isaiah: Go out to meet Ahaz, you, and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, in the way of the fuller's field. And say to him: Take heed to be quiet, do not fear, and let not your heart be afraid of the two tails of these smoking firebrands, in the fierce anger of Rezin king of Syria, and of the son of Remaliah — because Syria has taken evil counsel against you, and Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, saying: Let us go up to Judah, and rouse it up, and draw it away to us, and make the son of Tabeel king in the midst of it. Thus says the Lord God: It shall not stand, and this shall not be, but the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within sixty-five years Ephraim shall cease to be a people; and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you shall not continue."

b. "And the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying: Ask a sign of the Lord your God, either in the depth of hell, or in the height above. And Ahaz said: I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord. And he said: Hear then, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to be grievous to men, that you are grievous to my God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel. He shall eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land which you abhor shall be forsaken of the face of her two kings. The Lord shall bring upon you, and upon your people, and upon your father's house, days that have not come since the day when Ephraim was separated from Judah, with the king of Assyria. 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 rest all of them in the torrents of the valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and in all thickets, and in all clefts. In that day the Lord shall shave with a razor that is hired by them who are beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet, and the whole beard. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep, and for the abundance of milk he shall eat butter, for everyone that shall be left in the midst of the land shall eat butter and honey. And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place where there were a thousand vines at a thousand pieces of silver, shall become briers and thorns. With arrows and bow shall they enter there, for briers and thorns shall be over the whole land. And as for all the mountains that shall be dressed with a hoe, the fear of briers and thorns shall not come there, but they shall be for the oxen to feed on, and for cattle to tread down."

Exposition

a. Here is set a denunciation against the enemies of the two tribes, and it is divided into two. In the first is denunciation against the persecutors of the people. In the second against those who despise the prophets or their oracles, chapter 28, "woe to the crown of pride," etc. The first into two: in the first he threatens the downfall of enemies; in the second he sets the exultation of grace, chapter 35, "the Lord God shall come to you," etc. The first into two: in the first, individually and in particular; in the second, all together and in general, chapter 24, "behold, the Lord shall lay waste," etc. The first into three: in the first, against enemies persecuting bodily; in the second, against enemies giving power, chapter 17, "the burden of Damascus," etc.; in the third, against enemies slandering in words, chapter 33... The first into two: in the first against persecutors of the same nation; in the second against foreigners, chapter 10, "woe to them that make wicked laws," etc. The first into two: in the first he threatens their frustration, through the deliverance of the two tribes; in the second, their destruction, chapter 8, "and the Lord said to me," etc. This first part, contained in this chapter, is divided into three. In the first the imminent danger is described. In the second, the benefit of deliverance is promised, where it says, "and the Lord said to Isaiah," etc. Now for the understanding of the first part, it should be known that Ahaz was impious and an idolater, as is read in 2 Kings 16 and 2 Chronicles 28. And therefore the Lord delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria and of Samaria, who first came against him and besieged Jerusalem, and at length, defeating him, took a great part of his army captive, and the commander of his army. Then, emboldened by that victory, they came to strip him entirely of the kingdom, and to set another in his place; and it is at this second coming that Isaiah consoles him. Three things, then, are set down in the first part. First is described the gathering of the enemies; whence he says, "and it came to pass in the days of Ahaz." He traces the genealogy back to Uzziah, because perhaps at the striking of Uzziah — because he was struck with leprosy by the Lord, 2 Chronicles 26 — those who before had been just took courage to attack, as though despising the divine help. "Went up" — this is said on account of the situation of the land, since Judea lies in the mountains. "Pekah," who killed Pekahiah king of Israel, whose army-commander he was, and reigned in his place, 2 Kings 15. "But they could not," on the first occasion, although they defeated the king in the field. Or he speaks by anticipation, as to the second attack. Second is set the report; "and it was told," namely by scouts, "the house of David," that is, the royal household, "saying: Syria has rested upon Ephraim," that is, the king of Syria together with the king of the ten tribes, which are called "Ephraim" because of the first king, who was of Ephraim (1 Kings 12) — or because of the dignity of their alliance, though they had formerly been enemies, as is read in 2 Kings and Chronicles — and it says "Syria upon Ephraim," to note the primacy of the kingdom of Syria, which was the stronger. Third is set the effect of the report, namely the disturbance of the king and his people. "And his heart was moved," namely the king's: Ecclesiastes 10:16, "so also the heart is moved in its place"; Proverbs 28:1, "the wicked flees when no man pursues"; Matthew 2:3, "and King Herod hearing this, was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him." "And the Lord said to Isaiah": here deliverance is promised. And first is set the manner of the promise; second, the promise itself, where it says, "and say to him," etc. Now the manner is set down, first as to the person announcing it. "The Lord said to Isaiah" — inwardly inspiring, or speaking through a subject creature — "go out to meet Ahaz," who perhaps, out of fear of his enemies, had gone out to prepare himself to resist. Second, as to the witness, "and Shear-jashub your son" — his other son, by a more nobly born mother, who had fled to the king of Assyria, since he had not been well received by Ahaz — of whom Isaiah 8... "Shear-jashub," meaning "a remnant shall be converted." Third, as to the place, "at the end." For understanding this it should be known that since Jerusalem lies in the mountains, it does not abound in running waters, and therefore had waters gathered in pools, either from rains, or from distant springs by aqueducts. There were three pools in Jerusalem: one, called Bethesda, used for the priests and for sacrifices, the "sheep pool" of which John 5 speaks; a second was inside the city, kept clean for the common use of the city; a third was outside the city, having unclean water, in which the fullers washed wool, and it was for such uses, and from that pool the whole "fuller's field" takes its name — and thus it is plain what is meant in the text. "And say to him": here is set the promise. And first he sets down encouragement; second, the reason for the encouragement, where it says, "of the two tails," etc.; third, the condemnation of the unbelieving, where it says, "if you will not believe," etc. Now he encourages by forbidding a sign of fear. "Take heed to be quiet" — that is, beware lest you outwardly betray the fear of your heart: below, chapter 30, "in silence and in hope shall your strength be"; Isaiah 32:17, "and the work of justice shall be peace." He also shows the fear to be passing. "Do not fear" future evils; "and let not your heart be afraid," on account of the memory of evils you have suffered: below, chapter 43, "fear not, for I am with you." "Of the two tails": here he sets down the reason for the encouragement. And first he shows the vanity of those who propose great things, though they are able to sustain little or nothing — "of the two tails," because in these the kingdom shall come to an end; for Rezin was killed by Tiglath-Pileser (2 Kings 16), and his people led into captivity; and Pekah was subjugated, and afterward killed by an enemy, who was himself afterward captured by King Shalmaneser, and the ten tribes taken captive (2 Kings 17). "Smoking," for then they were near extinction. "And are quiet," as one resting in sleep; "and rouse it up," that is, let us draw it to our power; "the son of Tabeel," literally a certain man, or an idol of our god, meaning "goodness of God." Second, as to the frustration of their purpose, "thus says the Lord," who is able to do all things — "it shall not stand," because it shall not be brought to effect; "and this shall not be," because they shall not long persist in such a purpose, greater evils coming upon them: Isaiah 8:10, "take counsel, and it shall be defeated; speak a word, and it shall not stand, for God is with us." Third, as to the devastation of the enemies. And first as to the Syrians, "but the head of Syria" — as if to say: but meanwhile, before they are destroyed, "the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin" — as if to say: the Syrians and their king are content with their own borders. "And within sixty-five years Ephraim shall cease to be a people," for they shall be taken captive. These years should not be counted from the time of this prophecy, but from the time when Uzziah was struck with leprosy, since it was then that they took courage — in the twenty-sixth year of his reign. From then Jotham his son reigned, while his father still lived, for twenty-seven years, then sixteen more; then Ahaz sixteen years; then Hezekiah, in whose sixth year the people were taken captive (2 Kings 17) — a total of sixty-five years. "And the head of Ephraim," as above. "If you will not believe": here he sets down the condemnation of unbelievers. "If you will not believe," namely the Lord's promises, you also "shall not continue" in your land, but shall be taken captive: Habakkuk 2:4, "behold, he that is unbelieving, his soul shall not be at rest within himself." And he says this because Ahaz, not believing the prophet, called upon the help of Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria to aid him, who at his request came, and destroyed the Damascene, and killed the king, and although Ahaz gave him gifts, it nonetheless profited him nothing, as is said in 2 Chronicles 28.

b. Here is set the sign of deliverance, for belief's sake. And here three things are set down. First the option of choosing a sign is granted, "and the Lord spoke again to Ahaz," because when the prophets were being disbelieved, he himself spoke directly. This seems harsh, that such powerful kings should be so quickly destroyed. "Ask a sign," that he might believe, "of the Lord your God." From this it appears that this is the prophet's own speech. And it must be said that it is customary in Hebrew speech to use names one for another; whence "of the Lord your God," that is, of me. Or it is the word of the Lord by inspiration, and of the prophet by proclamation: Isaiah 8:19 (var.), "should not a people seek of their God, on behalf of the living, of the dead?" "In the depth of hell," that the earth be opened, and hell lie exposed, as in the overthrow of Dathan and Abiram (Numbers 16); or by "hell" the lower elements, as Moses brought forth locusts and gnats from the earth, Exodus 9-10; "or in the height above," as Joshua by the halting of the sun, Joshua 10 — for the Jews seek signs, 1 Corinthians 1:22. Second, the refusal of what is offered, "and Ahaz said: I will not ask" — either because he trusted in idols, or in the king of Assyria, or envying God's glory, or because, set in distress, he feared to offend God: Isaiah 26:16 (var.), "Lord, in distress they sought you." Whence he says, "I will not tempt" — for he relied on what is said in Deuteronomy 6:16, "you shall not tempt the Lord your God." But he understood it wrongly, since it was lawful for him, by authority, to ask a sign, as Gideon did with the fleece, Judges 6. Third is set the rebuke of the one refusing. "And he said" — namely Isaiah — "therefore, since you are rebellious, hear, O house of David," on account of their consent to wickedness — or because to David Christ was promised as a sign: Psalm 132:11, "of the fruit of your body I will set upon your throne." "Is it a small thing for you," to deserve the divine wrath, "to be grievous to men," whom you despoil, or to the prophets, whom you disbelieve? "That you are grievous... to my God" — not yours, whom you do not obey? Hosea 9:12 (var.), "woe to them when I shall depart from them." "Therefore": here is given the sign, for belief's sake. And first the sign of deliverance is bestowed. Second he threatens the unbelieving with the punishment of destruction, where it says, "the Lord shall bring." Now this sign concerns the incarnation of Christ. But against this the Jews object in many ways. First, that the Lord was giving a sign of that deliverance, to which the incarnation of Christ bears no relation. To this it must be said that the incarnation of Christ signifies it, by an argument from the greater: for if God will give his own Son for the salvation of the whole world, much more can he save you from these enemies: Romans 8:32, "he that spared not even his own Son, but delivered him up for us all." Or as a moving cause: for this, as it were, moved the Lord, that many good things should be granted to that people, though unjust, because he had provided that his Son should be incarnate of them. Again they object, that a sign that follows is given to those present. But the incarnation did not take place in their times. And thus it seems that it would be a strange sign. To this it must be said that although the incarnation was not to occur to those present, it was nonetheless promised to the house of David; whence he says, "hear, O house of David," and not, "hear, Ahaz." Again they object, that a sign ought to precede the thing signified. But the incarnation was to follow that deliverance. Therefore it was not a sign of it. To this it must be said that a sign sometimes follows the thing signified, as, "this shall be a sign to you: in the name of the Lord the prophet has foretold this thing, and it has not come to pass, the Lord has not spoken it." Sometimes it is simultaneous: 2 Samuel 5:24, "when you shall hear the sound of one marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then shall you join battle." Sometimes it precedes, as in Judges 7 concerning Gideon, where a sign was given that he should conquer with those who lapped the water with their hands. And it is necessary that this sign follow, even according to their own exposition. For if it preceded, then the child was born before the death of Pekah, who reigned twenty years, in the seventeenth year of whose reign Ahaz began to reign, who reigned sixteen years. Therefore Ahaz reigned thirteen years after Pekah's death. And Hoshea reigned in the twelfth year of Ahaz, in whose ninth year Samaria was captured, which was the sixth year after the death of Ahaz. Therefore at the captivity of Samaria the child had at least nineteen years. Therefore it is false what is said, that the child did not know how to call upon father and mother. Again they object that in Hebrew it is not "virgin" but "alma," which among them signifies a marriageable young woman, as is read in Genesis 24 of Rebecca, where we have "a girl exceedingly comely," and they have "alma"; and even if it be read "bethulah," which among them signifies a virgin, it need not follow that she, remaining a virgin, conceived, since it could be that she who was then a virgin afterward conceived of a man's seed, having lost her virginity. To this it must be said that it would be no sign at all if a young woman conceived, even one who had lost her virginity. But the Lord wished to signify something strange, when he said, "in the depth of hell, or in the height above." And therefore among us "alma" is more accurately rendered "virgin" than "young woman," since "alma" signifies a virgin according to the origin of the name, and further, one kept safe, of whom no suspicion could arise; but "bethulah" signifies, according to later usage... They expound it, however, in two ways. Some, of Hezekiah; others, of Isaiah's own son, whom they claim was called "Emmanuel." But that the first cannot stand is shown thus: Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign (2 Kings 18); and Ahaz reigned sixteen years (2 Kings 16). Therefore Hezekiah was ten years old when his father began to reign, and so what is promised here cannot be his birth. Moreover, how could he not know to call father and mother, when Samaria was captured in the sixth year of his reign? Again, that the second cannot stand is shown, because this would have been no sign at all. And moreover, Isaiah's son was not "lord of Judea," whereas it is said, Isaiah 8:8, that the land of Judea belongs to Emmanuel as its possessor. And therefore it must be understood of the Son of God. According to this, then, he does three things. First he promises the sign: "therefore," because you would not ask, "he himself shall give you a sign" of your deliverance. This sign too was given, Luke 2:12, "and this shall be a sign to you: you shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes," etc. Second is set the sign itself, "behold, a virgin." And first is set the miraculous conception: "behold, a virgin," remaining a virgin, "shall conceive" — in the birth — "and bear a son." Second, the calling of the one wondrously born. And first as to his divinity: "shall be called" — namely by the Virgin, or you, Judah, shall call him in your perils — "Emmanuel," which is interpreted "God with us": Matthew 1:23, "his name shall be called Emmanuel." And this whole thing has no parallel among other things, because it is a new thing: Jeremiah 31:22, "the Lord has created a new thing upon the earth: a woman shall encompass a man" — that is, a perfect man in the very conception, though not according to perfect quantity, as Augustine says on that text of Isaiah 8:1, "the tablet of six annas was written," and therefore it is above man, since there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). No other confirmation of this prophecy can be had except the history itself: Luke 1:31, "behold, you shall conceive" — and he sets "the door," a sign: Ezekiel 44:2, "this gate shall be shut, and shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it, because the Lord the God of Israel has entered by it." Second, as to his humanity, "he shall eat butter and honey" — literally the food of the living, since from infancy he had himself in the manner of others: Wisdom 7:3, "and being born, I drew in the common air, and fell upon the earth that is common to all, and the first voice I uttered was crying, as all others do." Or, by a part is understood the whole, according to the rules of Tyconius — for by these two he understands all human foods — "that he may know," and this follows consequently, because eating such foods while still a child. "To know to refuse the evil," without experience; "and choose the good," without counsel, having full knowledge from the first. This the devil had promised, but did not fulfill (Genesis 3); but God gave it freely: Wisdom 7:17, "for he has given me the true knowledge of the things that are, to know the disposition of the whole world, and the virtues of the elements." Or "that" is causal, "that he may know," that is, that he may show himself to know, since through foods he was brought to the full stature of age, by which he showed that he knew. Augustine, upon that text of Song of Solomon 4:11, "honey and milk are under your tongue," says that by "butter" is signified his humanity, which lives from the nourishment of the earth; by "honey," his divinity, which is gathered from the dew of heaven. He had, then, a nature without corruption, as butter without curd, and possessed consolation without judgment, as honey without a sting. Bernard: "our child chose to be newly conceived, because he took on the nature of our flesh without corruption." Likewise he brought us the sweet things of honey, not mixing in the sting: "for he came not to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him" (John 3:17). And thus it is also causal. And this is a sign from below, on the part of the Virgin bearing, and from above, on the part of God being born: Psalm 85:12, "the Lord will give goodness, and our earth shall yield her fruit." Third is set the application of the sign: "before he shall know" — that is, before, being born, he assumes created knowledge — "the land," of Samaria and of Syria, 2 Kings 16 and 17. "The Lord shall bring": here he sets a threat against those who do not believe the sign. And first he shows the severity of the punishment. Second, the manner of the punishment, where it says, "and it shall come to pass in that day," etc. Third, the effect of the punishment, where it says, "and it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish," etc. Now he shows the severity from the authority of the one commanding, "the Lord shall bring," who is powerful: Exodus 15:11, "the Lord Almighty is his name." From the universality of the punishment, "upon you," through Tiglath-Pileser; "and upon your people, and upon your father's house," as to posterity, by the sons of the Syrians and the preceding conversation. Why so many evils, and why called evil? On account of guilt: Malachi 2:? "sufficient for the day is its own evil"; Ephesians 6:? "because the days are evil." On account of punishment, they did not cease from their separation, Ephraim from Judah (2 Kings 16). "The consequence of their power," since "with the king of Assyria," Nebuchadnezzar — because the kingdom of the Chaldeans and of the Assyrians was one under him, and had from the beginning been one, for the Assyrians came forth from Chaldea, Genesis 10; Jeremiah 25:9, "behold, I will take Nebuchadnezzar my servant," etc. "And it shall come to pass": here he sets down the manner and order of the punishment. And he sets down three things. First, the summoning of the enemies, "the Lord shall hiss" — that is, he will inspire — "for the fly" — that is, of the king of Egypt, who killed Josiah, 2 Kings — and it is compared to a fly on account of the uncleanness of idols, and the luxury, which prevailed in Egypt — "that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt," for even from the farthest parts of Egypt; "and for the bee," namely of Chaldea and Assyria, because from the front they had the honey of defense, and from behind the sting of persecution: above, chapter 5, "he will whistle to them from the ends of the earth." Second, the multitude of the enemies, "and they shall come, and rest in the torrents of the valleys," because in the valleys the waters were accustomed to run, on account of the advantage of water; "in the holes," for fortification; "in all thickets," for wood; "in all clefts," the places of houses: Isaiah 8:8, "and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of your land." Third, the shaving, "in that day the Lord shall shave with a razor" — that is, through the king; "that is hired by them" — that is, through these, namely the Assyrians — "a sharp razor" — of which Ezekiel 5:1, "take a sharp knife that shaves hair, and cause it to pass over your head, and over your beard." "Head" — the king. "Feet" — the craftsmen. "Beard" — the soldiers, who are for the honor of the kingdom, 2 Samuel; above, chapter 3, "every strong man, judges, and prophet." Or he speaks against the Egyptians, who were their helpers, "by them" — that is, by the Egyptians, I have brought this about; Ezekiel 39, "and shall plunder their spoils, and it shall be the wages of his army, and of the work for which he served against it." "And it shall come to pass in that day, a man shall nourish": here he sets down the effect of the punishment, or the sign of destruction — first in the scarcity of animals: "a young cow, and two sheep," on account of the fewness of the animals; above, chapter 5, "and strangers shall eat the deserts turned into plenty." Second, in the scarcity of food, "butter and honey," on account of the want of bread: Lamentations 4:5, "they that were fed delicately have died in the streets." Third, from the scarcity of men. First in the usefulness of possessions: "every place where there were a thousand vines"; Jeremiah 32:? "buy the field with money, and take witnesses, whereas the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans"; Proverbs 24:30-31, "I passed by the field of the slothful man, and by the vineyard of the foolish man, and behold it was all filled with nettles, and thorns had covered the face thereof." "In the multitude of robbers, with arrows and bow" — namely, those fleeing shall enter. Isaiah 24:17, "fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth." Fourth, in the terror of the mountains, since they shall dwell in the mountains and abandon the plains, "and as for all the mountains": chapter 33, "and all its cities shall be desolate." And Isaiah 7:25, "the fear of briers shall take away the height."

It should be noted, concerning that saying, "his name shall be called Emmanuel," that is, God with us, that Christ is with us in many ways. First as a brother, through kinship of nature: Song of Solomon 8:1, "who shall give you to me for my brother, sucking the breasts of my mother, that I may find you outside, and kiss you?" Second as a bridegroom, through the union of marriage: John 14:23, "if any man love me, he will keep my word." Third as a shepherd, through the consolation of maternal comfort: Revelation 3:20, "behold I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open to me the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him." Fourth as a savior, through the help of protection: Jeremiah 30:10, "therefore fear not, O my servant Jacob, says the Lord, neither be dismayed, O Israel, for behold I will save you from a far country." Fifth as a guide, through the example of his works: Exodus 33:? "the Lord alone was his guide." It should be noted, concerning that saying, "behold, a virgin," that it says "behold" on account of a singular eminence, since above women, on account of virginity — whence he says, "behold, a virgin"; second, above virgins, on account of fruitfulness — whence he says, "shall conceive"; third, above all the angels, on account of the worthiness of the fruit — whence he says, "shall bear a son": Hebrews 2:16, "for nowhere does he take hold of angels, but of the seed of Abraham he takes hold."

Chapter 8

Text

a. "And the Lord said to me: Take a great book, and write in it with a man's pen: Swiftly strip for spoils, quickly plunder. And I took to me faithful witnesses, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. And the Lord said to me: Call his name, Swift-is-the-spoil, Speedy-is-the-plunder."

b. "For before the child shall know to call his father and his mother, the strength of Damascus shall be taken away, and the spoils of Samaria, before the king of Assyria. And the Lord spoke to me again, saying: Because this people has cast away the waters of Shiloah, that go with silence, and has rather taken Rezin, and the son of Remaliah, therefore behold the Lord will bring upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, the king of Assyria, and all his glory, and he shall come up over all his channels, and shall overflow all his banks, and he shall pass through Judah, overflowing, and going over, he shall reach even to the neck. And the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of your land, O Emmanuel."

c. "Gather yourselves together, O people, and be overcome, and give ear, all you lands afar off; strengthen yourselves, and be overcome; gird yourselves, and be overcome; take counsel, and it shall be defeated; speak a word, and it shall not stand, for God is with us. For thus says the Lord to me: As with a strong hand he instructed me, that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying: Say not, A conspiracy, for all that this people speaks is a conspiracy; neither fear their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he shall be a sanctification to you; but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to the two houses of Israel, a snare and a ruin to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many of them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait for the Lord, who has hidden his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. Behold, I and my children, whom the Lord has given me for a sign, and for a wonder in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells in Mount Zion."

d. "And when they shall say to you: Seek of pythons, and of diviners, who mutter in their enchantments — should not a people seek of their God, for the living, of the dead? To the law rather, and to the testimony. And if they speak not according to this word, they shall not have the morning light. And he shall pass through it, and shall fall, and be hungry; and when he shall be hungry, he shall be angry, and curse his king, and his God, and look upward. And he shall look to the earth, and behold trouble and darkness, weakness and distress, and a mist pursuing him, and he shall not be able to fly away from his distress."

Exposition

a. Here he foretells the destruction of the ten tribes, as regards their punishment, which was accomplished by the Assyrians — first by Tiglath-Pileser, in the reign of Pekah, who took captive the two and a half tribes beyond the Jordan, and most of the tribe of Zebulun and Naphtali (2 Kings 15), and afterward by Shalmaneser, who led the remainder into captivity (2 Kings 18). Of this tribulation the two tribes also were partakers, since they were afflicted by Tiglath-Pileser, as is said in 2 Chronicles 28, and by Sennacherib, as is said below, chapter 36 — though not entirely subjugated. And it is divided into two parts. In the first he foretells the tribulation. In the second, its manner and order, chapter 9, "at the first time the land was lightly touched," etc. This chapter is divided into three parts. In the first he threatens the ten tribes with destruction by the Assyrians. In the second he foretells the affliction of the two tribes involved in this, where it says, "and he shall pass through Judah, overflowing," etc. In the third he comforts them by a future deliverance, where it says, "gather yourselves together," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets down a prefiguration of the punishment. Second, the expression of the sign, where it says, "for before the child," etc. This sign the Jews literally expound of the son of Isaiah, by whose name the Lord wished to signify the destruction of the ten tribes. And according to this he confirms the sign in three ways: first by writing; second by testimony, where it says, "and I took," etc.; third by the deed itself, where it says, "and I went," etc. Concerning the first he sets down three things: namely, on what he should write, "a great book" — great, literally, to signify the greatness of the tribulation: Jeremiah 36:2, "take a roll of a book, and write in it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah." Second, how it is to be written, "with a man's pen," that is, plainly, so that it can be understood, and remain in writing: Habakkuk 2:2, "write the vision, and make it plain upon tablets, that he may run that reads it." Third, what is to be written — namely the name, signifying devastation, showing the future destruction to be swift: "swiftly strip for spoils, quickly plunder." These words could be the Lord's to the prophet, taken then materially; or to the enemies, taken then in their signification: Isaiah 10:6, "and against the people of my wrath I will give him a charge, to take away the spoils, and to lay hold on the prey." "And I took," here the sign is confirmed by testimony. "Faithful witnesses": Deuteronomy 19:15, "in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word stand." "And I went to the prophetess": here it is confirmed by the deed, since sometimes the prophets announced a future thing by word, sometimes by the deed itself, as Isaiah 20:2, "go, and loose the sackcloth from your loins, and take off your shoes from your feet"; and he did so, going naked and barefoot. Whence it is understood, literally, that he went to his wife; whence two things are set down. First, the begetting of the child, "and I went." Second, the calling of the one begotten, "call his name" — "Speedy," as it were, make haste to act; "Plunder" — as above. Or according to another reading: first, "make haste," "plunder" — and this is better, because according to this there is no more than what was in the writing. Against this, however, many objections are raised, that it cannot be understood literally. First, because since few things are commanded to be written, the book need not have been great. Second, because it is not probable that the prophet, an honorable man, would bring witnesses when he went to his wife. Third, because Uriah made an altar to idols, in the likeness of the altar of Damascus, in the Temple of the Lord; whence he was not a faithful witness. Fourth, because Zechariah was not then living, since Zechariah son of Jehoiada had been killed long before by Joash king of Judah, 2 Chronicles 24. Another Zechariah is spoken of, one of the twelve prophets, but he lived long after, at the return of the people from captivity, as appears in Zechariah 1 and throughout. Therefore he could not have called him as a witness. And furthermore, the same objection remains as before: for the child himself was born before the death of Pekah; therefore, as proved above, at the capture of Samaria he had at least nineteen years; therefore it is false what is said, "before he shall know to call his father," etc. And therefore they hold that it should be understood only of Christ, as also the first sign. So that by "the great book" is signified sacred Scripture, of which Baruch 4:1, "this is the book of the commandments of God, and the law that is forever." By "a man's pen," a plain manner of prophesying, that it not be open to all in every way, but only to the reasonable, who from figures can grasp the things signified: Hosea 12:10, "I have multiplied visions, and I have been likened by the hands of the prophets." "Swiftly," etc.: the name of Christ, that is, a periphrasis of the name, which is "Jesus, savior." By his stripping of spoils, that is, of sinners from the power of the devil, and his plundering of hell, of which Isaiah 53:12, "therefore will I distribute to him very many, and he shall divide the spoils of the strong." By Uriah, which is interpreted "the light of the Lord," is signified the law: Proverbs 6:23, "for the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light." By Zechariah, which is interpreted "the memory of the Lord," son of Jeberechiah, which is interpreted "the blessing of the Lord," is signified prophecy, since the prophets received divine knowledge through the blessing of a divine gift. And these, that is, the law and the prophets, are witnesses of Christ's incarnation: Luke 24:44, "all things must be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me." Now the prophetess is the Blessed Virgin, who prophesied, saying, "my soul magnifies the Lord" (Luke 1:46), to whom he went through prophetic understanding, and through faith. Or the "prophetess" is called the Holy Spirit, who is the principle of all prophecy: 2 Peter 1:21, "for prophecy came not by the will of man at any time, but the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Spirit." Among the Hebrews it is of the feminine gender, namely "Eve"; and according to this, "conceived," that is, made to conceive. "For that which is born in her, is of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 1:20). "Call his name" — that is, foretell his name, as above. This exposition, however, is not of such authority as the former, which was above, chapter 7, concerning the other sign, since it is more strained, and does not have the support of the Scriptures, as that former one has in Matthew 1. For some say it is not unfitting if this be understood literally, provided this child be a figure of Christ, as was also said above in a certain gloss on chapter 7, upon "Behold, a virgin," etc. And thus one can respond to the objections made earlier. And it must be said to the first, that the book was great not from the necessity of what was written, but to signify the greatness of the tribulation. To the second it must be said that it can be understood that witnesses were brought for the writing, as is done in charters, and not for the going to his wife. And even if they had been brought for this, it would not be more against propriety, as it seems, than what is done concerning the fornication in Hosea 1, which nevertheless many expound literally. To the third it must be said that he is called "faithful" on account of the authority of the priesthood, and not on account of the goodness of his life; or because he was held faithworthy by the king. To the fourth it must be said that this Zechariah was neither of those two. For it was customary among the Hebrews, as also among many others, that children were given names from that kinship, as is said in Luke 1 concerning John: "there is none of your kindred that is called by this name." And thus this one could have been of the lineage of the one who had earlier been killed. Or else it is a custom among the Hebrews, as Jerome says, that they frequently use proper names for common ones, just as "Hostia," which is a fortified city, they frequently use for any fortified city. And thus, because that Zechariah was a faithful prophet, and in great repute among the people, this one is so called, who perhaps was likewise a man faithworthy to the people of that place. To the fifth it must be said that the objection is not similar, since what was said above must be understood only of destruction, on account of what he said, "shall be left."

But this can be understood of the persecution carried out by Tiglath-Pileser, who destroyed Damascus (2 Kings 16) and despoiled the kingdom of Samaria (2 Kings 15); whence he suitably says, "the strength of Damascus shall be taken away, and the spoils of Samaria." And this was near enough at hand. It should be noted, concerning that saying, "a great book," that sacred Scripture is called a book: first, great, as to its great content: Proverbs 8:6-7 (var.), "hear me, for I will speak of great things, and my lips shall be opened, that I may preach right things." Second, sealed, as to its appearance: Isaiah 29:11, "and the vision of all shall be to you as the words of a book that is sealed." Third, folded, on account of its manifold sense: Ezekiel 2:9, "and I looked, and behold a hand was sent to me, in which was a book folded up." Fourth, bitter, on account of the labor of study: Revelation 10:9-10, "and I took the book from the hand of the angel, and I devoured it, and it was in my mouth sweet as honey, and when I had eaten it, my belly was made bitter"; Proverbs 8:17, "they that in the morning early watch for me, shall find me." Fifth, sweet as to its effect: Ezekiel 3:1-3, "eat that volume, and I ate it, and it became in my mouth sweet as honey." Sixth, flying as to understanding: Zechariah 5:1-2, "I saw, and behold a flying scroll"; Job 39:27, "will the eagle mount up at your command, and make her nest in high places?" Seventh, life-giving as to its fruit: Sirach 24:32-33 (var.), "all these things are the book of life, and the covenant of the Most High, and the knowledge of truth"; Proverbs 8:35, "he that shall find me, shall find life."

b. Here is set the exposition of the sign. And according to the literal exposition it is now plain; but according to the other, "before he shall know," that is, before created things know — "his father," they think, Joseph, or God — "the strength of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria shall be taken away." According to this it can also be referred to the captivity of Samaria. "And spoke again": here is described the deed of destruction itself; and concerning this he does three things. First he sets down the guilt of those to be punished. Second, the power of those punishing, where it says, "behold, the Lord will bring," etc. Third he sets down the punishment itself, where it says, "and he shall come up," etc. He says therefore first, "and spoke again." First is set the sign given, "the waters of Shiloah." Shiloah is a certain spring, which rises at the foot of Mount Zion, whose waters well up by the hour, and flow gently; whence they signify the kings of Judah, who were sometimes good and powerful, sometimes wicked and feeble, and yet reigned lawfully and quietly by comparison with the kings of Israel, who all drove the people to idols. But it seems this should not be imputed to them as a fault, since it was done by the Lord's own will, as is said in 1 Kings 12:24, "this thing is from me." And it must be said that the Lord justly willed that the kings of Judah should suffer this loss on account of the fault of Solomon, of whom 1 Kings 11; but those kings, out of pride of heart, did this, since they were unwilling to grant relief from the tribute, as is read in 1 Kings 12. Or otherwise, "this people has cast away," that is, they despised and persecuted, following the wickedness of the two kings. And this seems to be the intention from what follows, "and has rather taken Rezin," etc. "Therefore": here is described the power of the enemies. And first is set the metaphor as to four things: namely as to divine assistance, "behold, the Lord will bring"; as to the onrush, "the waters of the river"; as to strength, "strong"; as to number, "and many." Second he expounds the metaphor, "the king of Assyria, and all his glory," that is, his army: Isaiah 5:26, "behold, a people shall come from the land of the north, and a great nation shall rise up." The Gloss says this is understood of Sennacherib. But against this: for he did not lay waste Samaria, but Shalmaneser did, as is said in 2 Kings 17. To this some say that Shalmaneser and Sennacherib are the same. But this is shown to be false by what is said in Tobit 1, that on the death of Shalmaneser, Sennacherib his son reigned in his place. And therefore it must be said that while Shalmaneser reigned, now old, his son was already in the army; and therefore it is the same army of both. Whence he speaks of that whole devastation, which was carried out by those kings of Assyria, as if by one persecutor on one day, on account of the unity of the kingdom. "And he shall come up": here he sets down the punishment itself, and keeps the metaphor, since abundant waters rise higher; whence he says, "he shall come up over all his channels," that is, princes, "and over his banks," that is, lands: Ezekiel 38:18, "my indignation shall come up in my wrath, and in my zeal." "And he shall pass through Judah": here he sets an overflowing of the punishment into the two tribes. And first he sets the overflow of the tribulation, "and he shall pass through," namely the onrush of waters, "through Judah," that is, through the land of Judea, "overflowing" — he keeps the metaphor: for when waters abound, they send forth streams beyond their own channel into neighboring fields; and he says "through," because they will not have full dominion: Jeremiah 47:2, "behold waters rise up from the north, and they shall be as an overflowing torrent, and they shall cover the land, and the fullness thereof, the city, and the inhabitants thereof." Second, the abundance of the persecution, "and going over, he shall reach even to the neck." He speaks metaphorically, as if he said: they shall overflow in such abundance that if someone wished to cross the waters, and they came to him up to the neck, he would nearly be submerged in them — in which it is signified that they came near to captivity, as Isaiah 30 and Ezekiel 47, "and behold waters flowing out from the right side." Third, the abundance of the army, "and the stretching out of his wings," that is, of his princes; "shall fill" on account of their multitude "the breadth of your land," that is, of yours, O Emmanuel, Christ, who came to be born of it. For Sennacherib sent his princes to besiege Jerusalem, Isaiah 36. Concerning these others, Ezekiel 17:3, "a great eagle with great wings, long-limbed, full of feathers and of variety, came to Lebanon, and took away the marrow of the cedar, and cropped off the top of its branches, and carried it into the land of Canaan, and set it in a city of merchants."

c. Since he had said that the persecution of the Assyrians would in some way overflow into the two tribes, here he comforts them, because by that persecution they are not finally to be taken captive, nor subjected to the ten tribes and the Syrians. And it is divided into two parts. In the first he sets down divine encouragement. In the second he removes a communication with divination, where it says, "and when they shall say to you," etc. Concerning the first he sets two things. First he sets down derision. Second, instruction against the enemy, where it says, "for thus says the Lord." Concerning the first he does two things. First is set derision, or scorn. Second, the reason for the derision, where it says, "for God is with us." Now he derides the strength of the fighting army, the counsel of the wise, and the command of the rulers — for by these three wars prosper. Now an army grows strong, namely, by multitude; and as to this he says, "O people," of Syria and Samaria, "gather yourselves together," that you may be many; "and be overcome," since the Lord fights against you through whatever ministers he uses. And not only you, but "give ear," the same, "all you lands afar off." And this is a sarcasm — that is, a certain species of figure of speech, which is a scorn full of hatred, and a hostile mockery: Joel 3:11 (var.), "break forth, and come, all you nations round about, and gather yourselves together: there will the Lord cause your strong ones to fall." Second, it grows strong through the fortitude of the assailants' body and mind; and as to this he says, "strengthen yourselves": Joel 3:10, "let the weak say: I am strong." Third, it grows strong through the equipping of arms, "gird yourselves" — which pertains properly to swords, but is transferred thence to all weapons: 1 Maccabees 4:? "gird yourselves, and be men of valor, and be ready in the morning, that you may fight against these nations that are assembled against us, to destroy us, and our sanctuary." As to counsel, "take counsel, and it shall be defeated": Job 5:13 (var.), "who catches the wise in their own craftiness, and disappoints the counsel of the wicked"; Proverbs 21:30, "there is no wisdom, there is no prudence, there is no counsel against the Lord." As to...

the precept of the rulers concerning those things which are chosen after taking counsel, "speak a word, and it shall not stand" — above, chapter 7, "let us set up a king in the midst of it." For the king whom they were choosing, they announced to the people, as Jerome says. He gives the reason, expounding the name Emmanuel, "for God is with us": Romans 8:31, "if God is for us, who is against us?"; Jeremiah 1:19, "and they shall fight against you, and shall not prevail, for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you, says the Lord." "For thus says the Lord," etc.: here is set the instruction of the people. And first he teaches what is not to be feared. Second, what is to be feared, where it says, "the Lord of hosts," etc. The first is divided into two parts, namely the proof of the teaching, and its delivery, where it says, "say not," etc. Now he proves that the enemies are not to be feared in two ways. First by the Lord's precept; whence he says, you shall not be overcome, O enemies. "For," that is, because, these things that have been said, "the Lord said to me." And therefore fear not: Numbers 23:19, "God is not as man, that he should lie, nor as the son of man, that he should be changed." Second, by his own example he says, "the Lord said to me," speaking to you, what follows, for your instruction — "as with a strong hand," that is, that I should not imitate them in their warfare; and this, "with a strong hand," that is, in tribulation — or not only teaching what is to be done, but also giving the grace of the virtue to accomplish it: Lamentations 1:13, "from above he has sent fire into my bones, and has chastised me." "Say not," etc.: here is set down the teaching itself. First he forbids the word of fear, "say not, A conspiracy" — of two kingdoms, which is to be feared by us. "For all that this people speaks is a conspiracy" against me. Whence if they ally themselves with you in conspiracy, they shall find me allied with you in defense: Exodus 16:8, "your murmuring is not against us, but against the Lord"; Isaiah 50:8, "let us stand together, who is my adversary? Let him come near to me." Second he forbids the movement of passion, "neither fear their fear." Fear and dread differ as more and less: for fear produces a contraction of the heart, like a systole, but dread as it were immobilizes the heart: Psalm 27:3, "if armies in camp should stand together against me, my heart shall not fear." "The Lord of hosts," etc.: here he instructs them how he is to be feared. And first he sets down the law. Second, the law's hidden character, where it says, "seal the law," etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First he sets down the law's precept. Second, the fruit for those who obey, where it says, "and he shall be to you," etc. Third, the punishment of the rebellious, where it says, "but a stone of stumbling," etc. Now the precept is that God be honored. "Sanctify the Lord of hosts" in yourselves; "and let him be your fear," inasmuch as he is Lord: Psalm 112:1, "blessed is the man that fears the Lord"; "let him be your dread," inasmuch as he strikes fear: Matthew 10:28, "fear not them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him that is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Peter expounds this of Christ, 1 Peter 3:14, "and be not afraid of their fear, and be not troubled." Even the prophet's intention seems this, on account of what follows. Note, concerning that saying, "as with a strong hand he instructed me," that the divine hand is threefold. First is the hand of divine power, and this is threefold: first creating, "your hands have made me, and fashioned me" (Job 10:8); second sustaining, "in your hand, O Lord, are all the ends of the earth" (Psalm 95:4); third protecting, "in the shadow of his hand he protected me" (Isaiah 49:2). The second hand is the hand of justice, and this too is threefold: first touching, to test, "the hand of the Lord has touched me" (Job 19:21); second scourging, to purge, "for even in the present time I bear the sufferings of chastisement... to correct my life" (2 Maccabees 6:? var.); third oppressing, to condemn, "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31). The third hand is the hand of mercy, and this too is threefold: first healing, "for he wounds and cures, he strikes and his hands shall heal" (Job 5:18); second feeding, "the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand" (Psalm 95:7); third crowning, "they shall receive a kingdom of glory and a crown of beauty from the hand of the Lord" (Wisdom 5:16). "And he shall be to you," etc.: here he sets down the fruit of obedience, in sanctification, "he shall make them holy": Leviticus 22:32, "I am the Lord who sanctifies you." He sets down the punishment of the rebellious who impede, under the metaphor of travelers. And first he sets the occasion. Second, the reception of punishment, where it says, "and many of them shall stumble," etc. Now he sets the occasion first as concerns the people; second as concerns the rulers, where it says, "a snare," etc. The first he sets under the metaphor of a stone lying in the road, which impedes the traveler in two ways: by hurting the foot, and by occasioning a fall. And likewise Christ was for the unbelieving Jews an occasion of hurt, and of falling — the fault being theirs, not his. He says therefore, "he shall be to the two houses of Israel," that is, to the unbelievers among the ten tribes and the two, or to the scribes and Pharisees, "a stone of stumbling," as regards hurt: Romans 9:32, "they stumbled at the stumbling stone" — "and a rock of offense," on which the foot strikes for a fall. "Scandal" in Greek means the striking of the whole foot: 1 Corinthians 1:23, "but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews indeed a stumbling block, but to the Gentiles foolishness." And because the rulers most resisted Christ, therefore he aggravates it as concerns them. "And a snare," to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, which was the capital of the rulers — "a snare," as animals are caught by a snare, and this is more grievous than a mere burden: Proverbs 6:5 (var.), "he that entangles himself from a snare, falls into a trap." "And a ruin," which is more than a mere fall: Luke 2:34, "behold, this child is set for the fall." And because someone sometimes avoids these occasions, and does not incur them, he therefore removes this, and shows the reception of the punishment, saying, "and... shall stumble" — corresponding to "stumbling," through unbelief; corresponding to "offense," "shall fall," from the dignity of the kingdom: Matthew 8:12, "but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into the exterior darkness." "And be broken," as to the ruin of punishment, of famine and sword: Matthew 21:44, "whosoever shall fall on this stone, shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will crush him." Corresponding to the snare he says, "and be snared," with the bonds of their entangled sins, which shall not be broken. "And be taken," by the Romans: Proverbs 5:22 (var.), "he is bound with the ropes of his own sins." "Bind up the testimony" — that is, wrap up the prophecy concerning Christ in obscurity, lest the Jews see it, since they are unworthy — "seal the law." To "bind" signifies two things: sometimes to shut up under seal — and as he says, "seal the law," the old law, under figures, "among my disciples," that is, until my disciples open it, preaching it through the world: Daniel 12:4, "shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time appointed." Or, "among my disciples," conceal it. Sometimes it signifies the setting forth of a figure: Psalm 4:6 (var.), "the light of your countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us"; and thus, "seal," in the soul, "of my disciples." Second, he conceals expectation, "I will wait": Micah 7:7, "but I will look toward the Lord, I will wait for God my savior." He sets forth the presentation, "behold I" — namely Christ — "and my children," the apostles, "whom the Lord has given me": John 17:6, "they were yours, and you gave them to me" — "for a sign," that is, that they may work signs; "and for a wonder," a marvel by its greatness. And this shall be "from the Lord who dwells," through worship, or by faith, "in Zion," the Church: Zechariah 3:8, "hear, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends that dwell before you, for they are men of good omen." Some understand this of Isaiah, "and my children," in this way as concerning his own sons: Isaiah 20:3-4, "as my servant Isaiah has walked, naked and barefoot... three years for a sign and a wonder upon Egypt, and upon Ethiopia." Some understand it of Isaiah's own sons: "and my children."

d. Here he removes the communication with divination; and concerning this he does three things. First is set the false communication, "and when they shall say to you," your enemies, "seek of pythons," who foretell evils to you and good to us. "Pythons" in Hebrew means "abysses." And Jerome says they are called from Apollo Pythius, because this kind of magic art is found by which the dead seem to be raised, and something is foretold of the future, as is read in 1 Samuel 28. Rabanus says it is the name of an unclean spirit. Likewise Jerome says it is called "Python" when one has the devil in his belly. "And of diviners," because they claim for themselves God's own act in foretelling the future, and especially as concerns the worship of false gods, "who mutter," as if mad: 1 Kings 18:28, "they cried with a loud voice, and cut themselves with knives and lancets, till they were all covered with blood"; Deuteronomy 18:11, "let there not be found among you... a wizard, an enchanter, or one that consults pythonic spirits, or fortune-tellers, or that seeks the truth from the dead: for the Lord abhors all these things." Second the response is taught, "should not a people," etc. Or, "for the living, of the dead" — that is, in place of your gods, who are likenesses of men both dead and living. Or, we seek a vision for the living and the dead, as do you also, namely from your gods, who are like the dead — "to the law rather," which forbids such things, or which teaches what is to be expected, "the testimony," of Scripture. Third he sets down the condemnation of the disobedient, "and if they speak not," and he does three things. First he threatens punishment. Second, impatience in punishment, where it says, "and when he shall be hungry." Third, the sorrow of despair, "and he shall look." He says therefore first, "and if they speak not according to this word," answering, that is, either we shall have, "they shall not have the morning light," that is, Christ dispelling darkness: John 1:9, "that was the true light, which enlightens every man that comes into this world." "And he shall pass through it," the congregation, unto others; they shall not remain in them: Isaiah 38:? "behold, I am present, for I am the Lord, merciful." "And shall fall," into damnation, and the word of God; "and be hungry": Amos 8:11, "behold, I will send a famine into the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst of water" but of hearing the word of the Lord — or the light of consolation. "And shall fall," into damnation: Wisdom (var.), "Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen." "And be hungry," for bread. "And when he shall be hungry," through impatience, as to the wrath of his heart, "he shall be angry": Psalm 59:15 (var.), "if they be not filled, they will murmur." As to the blasphemy of his mouth, "and curse": Revelation 16:9, 11, "and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their wounds, and did not repent of their deeds." "And shall look upward": here he sets the sorrow of despair. And first the expectation of help, "and shall look upward," from whence they seek help; "and to the earth he shall look," for help from the earth: Isaiah 8:22, "he shall look to the earth, and behold darkness of tribulation." Second, the imminent affliction — "and behold tribulation" pressing down; "and darkness," as to counsel for resisting; "weakness," against contemplation; "and distress," as to perplexity; "and a mist pursuing," as to persecution. Third, the impossibility of deliverance, likened to a fleeing goat, "and he shall not be able to fly away from his distress." The contrary is true of the just: Psalm 124:7, "the snare is broken, and we are delivered."

Chapter 9

Text

a. "At the first time the land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali, was lightly touched; and at the last the way of the sea beyond the Jordan of the Gentiles was heavily loaded. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; to them that dwelt in the region of the shadow of death, light has arisen. You have multiplied the nation, but have not increased the joy. They shall rejoice before you, as they that rejoice in the harvest, as conquerors rejoice after taking a prey, when they divide the spoils. For the yoke of their burden, and the rod of their shoulder, and the scepter of their oppressor you have overcome, as in the day of Midian. For every violent taking of spoils, with tumult, and garments mingled with blood, shall be burnt, and be fuel for the fire. For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God the Mighty, Father of the world to come, 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 perform this."

b. "The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it has fallen upon Israel. And all the people of Ephraim shall know, and the inhabitants of Samaria, that say in the pride and haughtiness of heart: The bricks have fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones; the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them for cedars. And the Lord shall set up the enemies of Rezin over him, and shall turn his enemies into a tumult: Syria from the east, and the Philistines from the west, and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. And the people are not returned to him that struck them, and they have not sought after the Lord of hosts. And the Lord shall destroy out of Israel head and tail, him that bows down, and him that restrains, in one day. The aged and honorable, he is the head; and the prophet that teaches lies, he is the tail. And they that call this people blessed shall cause them to err, and they that are called blessed shall be thrown down headlong. Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall he have mercy on their fatherless and widows, for everyone is a hypocrite and wicked, and every mouth has spoken folly. For all this 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 thicket of the forest, and it shall be wrapped up in smoke ascending on high. By the wrath of the Lord of hosts the land is troubled, and the people shall be as fuel for the fire; no man shall spare his brother. And he shall turn to the right hand, and shall be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and shall not be filled; everyone shall eat the flesh of his own arm: Manasseh Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, and they together against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still."

Exposition

a. Here he sets down the manner and order of the destruction. And first according to the diversity of the punished. Second according to the diversity of the punishments, where it says, "the Lord sent a word," etc. The first is into three, according to three persecutions carried out by the Assyrians against the land of promise. First Tiglath-Pileser, in the reign of Pekah, took captive the two and a half tribes that lay beyond the Jordan relative to Jerusalem, and part of Zebulun and Naphtali, which were on this side of the Jordan, mixed with what might be reckoned as half a tribe; and as to this he says, "at the first time," that is, at the time of the first captivity, "the land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali," was lightly touched, that is, lessened as to its inhabitants — which was not very grievous for those remaining, since many possessions remained for them; and of this, 2 Kings 15. Second, Shalmaneser came, in the ninth year of Hoshea, and took captive the rest of the ten tribes, who were on this side of the Jordan relative to Judea; and as to this he says, "at the last," that is, at the final general captivity of the ten tribes, "the way of the sea," that is, the region by which one goes to the Sea of Gennesaret, "of the Gentiles" — that is, in Galilee, which is beyond the Jordan relative to the Assyrians, though on this side relative to Judea — was "heavily loaded," that is, pressed with the heavy weight of tribulation. Now there are two Galilees: one in the tribe of Zebulun, another in the tribe of Naphtali, near Tyre; and this is called "of the Gentiles," either because of the many nations who dwelt there, or because of the lordship, since Solomon gave it to the king of Tyre (1 Kings 9). Third, Sennacherib came, and took the cities of Judah, and besieged Jerusalem, as is said in 2 Kings 18. And it is of this third persecution that the prophet speaks here, saying, "the people," and promises the Jews salvation. Whence he does two things. First he promises the grace of salvation. Second he assigns the cause, where it says, "the zeal of the Lord of hosts," etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First he promises salvation. Second he continues the order of salvation, where it says, "you have multiplied," etc. Third he describes the savior himself, where it says, "a child," etc. Now he promises them salvation against two things: against perplexity — and as to this he says, "the people," the Jews, "that walked" — that is, proceeded in their affairs — "in darkness," of doubt, "have seen a great light" — the light of consolation; and against the severity of the punishment, "to them that dwelt in the region of the shadow of death," that is, of Judea, which, on account of the grievous persecution, was a likeness of death — "light has arisen," of divine consolation: Isaiah 60:1, "arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem, for your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you." "You have multiplied the nation": here he sets the progress and order of salvation, as to four things. First as to the frustration of the enemies; and as to this he says, "you have multiplied the nation," in the army of Sennacherib, "but have not increased" for them "the joy," that they might accomplish what they had proposed: Job 5:12 (var.), "who disappoints the counsels of the malignant." Second, the departure of the enemies, which happened when, they having been killed by the angel, as is said in Isaiah 37, the people went out to gather their spoils — whence they are compared to reapers and conquerors, "they shall rejoice": Isaiah 35:10 (var.), "they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away." Third, the liberation from servitude. For tyrants burden with commands; and as to this he says, "for the yoke of their burden," namely of Sennacherib, which "you have overcome," that is, laid down. They afflict with punishments; and as to this he says, "and the rod of their shoulder," that is, with which they struck their shoulders. They despoil of goods; and therefore he says, "and the scepter of their oppressor": Isaiah 14:4 (var.), "how has the oppressor ceased, the tribute ceased!" — thus this shall come to pass easily, "as in the day of Midian," that is, as Gideon overthrew the Midianites, Judges 7. Fourth, as to the punishment of the enemies. And these things shall come to pass "for every violent taking of spoils," of the plunderers, "with tumult" — as to the harm which they had inflicted in taking goods; "and garments mingled with... blood" — of those whom they killed. As to the harm inflicted upon persons, "shall be burnt." Literally, indeed, they were burned: Isaiah 10:16-17, "and under his glory shall be kindled a burning, as it were the burning of fire." "For a child is born to us," etc.: here he describes the Savior. And first as to the receiving. Second as to the naming, where it says, "and shall be called." Third as to power, where it says, "his empire shall be multiplied," etc. We received him in our own nature at his nativity, "a child is born to us": Luke 2:10-11, "I bring you good news of great joy, which shall be to all the people, for this day is born to you a savior, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David." We receive him again in our knowledge, at the Father's testimony: Matthew 17:5, "this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear him." Bernard: "a child can easily be appeased, and forgives readily; we are poor, and demand peace, yet for that little child we are eager to be reconciled to the mighty Christ, if we are willing." "And a son is given" — we receive him also in divine reverence, through his passion: "and at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, on earth, and under the earth" (Philippians 2:10). "And the government is upon his shoulder," that is, the cross, through which the government was exalted: John 19:17, "and bearing the cross for himself, went forth to the place called Calvary." "And shall be called": here he sets down his naming. And first, a name expressing divine wisdom, "Wonderful": Psalm 139:6, "your knowledge is become wonderful to me." Whence all his works were wonderful, and especially in the union of two natures in one Person. As to the human, "Counselor," surpassing the counsels of the precepts: Sirach 6:6, "let your counselor be one of a thousand." Expressing divine power, "God"; Isaiah 45:15, "truly you are a hidden God." Human, "the Mighty, in strength": Job 9:4, "he is wise in heart, and mighty in strength." Third, a name expressing the abundance of goodness, as to the divine, "Father of the world to come," that is, begetting sons unto glory: Hebrews 2:10, "for it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, who had brought many children unto glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering"; Isaiah 22:21, "and he shall be as a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem." As to the human, "Prince of Peace," inasmuch as he is mediator: "for he is our peace, who has made both one" (Ephesians 2:14); Genesis 23:6, "you are a prince of God among us," etc. "His empire shall be multiplied": here he describes his power. And first as to the greatness of the kingdom. Second as to the nobility of the kingdom, "upon the throne," etc. Third as to its eternity, where it says, "from henceforth," etc. Concerning the first he sets two things. First, the greatness of the kingdom, "his empire shall be multiplied": Daniel 7:14 (var.), "and all kings shall serve and obey him." As to a certain kind of peace, "and there shall be no end of peace": Isaiah 26:3 (var.), "he will keep peace, peace, because we have hoped in you." "Upon the throne of David": here he describes the nobility of the kingdom. "Upon the throne of David" — that is, the Church, which is signified in the kingdom of David: Luke 1:32, "the Lord God shall give to him the throne of David his father." As to the effect of the kingdom, "to establish it," for resisting, and strengthen it also for assailing, "with judgment," that is, through judgment: Jeremiah 23:5 (var.), "a king shall reign, and shall be wise, and shall execute judgment and justice in the land." As to eternity, "from henceforth," that is, from the time of the incarnation, "and forever": Daniel 7:14, "his power is an everlasting power, that shall not be taken away, and his kingdom that shall not be destroyed." Finally he sets down the motive cause, "the zeal," that is, the love of God the Father: John 3:16, "for God so loved the world, as to give his only-begotten Son." The Jews expound this of Hezekiah. But it is plain that his kingdom was not confirmed forever, nor do the names, which signify divine eminence, fit him. On account of which the Septuagint suppressed them, and put in their place, "the angel of great counsel." It should be noted, concerning that saying, "a child is born," that Christ is called a child, first, at his birth, on account of his age: Matthew 2:11, "and entering into the house, they found the child with Mary his mother." Second, in his possessions, on account of poverty: 2 Corinthians 8:9, "you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, he became poor for your sake." Third, in heart, on account of humility: Matthew 11:29, "learn from me, for I am meek, and humble of heart." Fourth, in death, on account of the vileness of his death: Wisdom 2:20, "let us condemn him to a most shameful death." It should be noted, concerning that saying, "given to us," that Christ was given to us, first, as a brother: Song of Solomon 8:1, "who shall give you to me for my brother, sucking the breasts of my mother?" Second, as a teacher: Joel 2:23, "children of Zion, rejoice, and be joyful in the Lord your God, for he has given you a teacher of justice." Third, as a watchman: Ezekiel 3:17, "son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel." Fourth, as a defender: Isaiah 19:20, "he shall send them a savior and a defender to deliver them." Fifth, as a shepherd: Ezekiel 34:23, "and I will set up one shepherd over them, to feed them." Sixth, as an example of action: John 13:15, "for I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you do also." Seventh, as food for the journey of our pilgrimage: John 6:51, "the bread that I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world." Eighth, as the price of redemption: Matthew 20:28, "the Son of man came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give his life a redemption for many." Ninth, as a reward of recompense: Revelation 2:17, "to him that overcomes I will give the hidden manna to eat." Likewise it should be noted, concerning that saying, "upon his shoulder," that a thing is placed upon the shoulder for four reasons. First, sins, as above upon the scapegoat: Isaiah 53:6, "the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all." Second, the key, as upon the priest: Isaiah 22:22, "and I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder, and he shall open, and none shall shut." Third, dominion, as here, above the ruler: "the government is upon his shoulder." Fourth, glory, as upon the triumphant: Isaiah 22:24, "and I will hang upon him all the glory of his father's house."

b. Here he pursues the order of the punishment, according to the diversity of the punishments. And first he recalls the guilt. Second he pursues the punishment, where it says, "and the Lord shall set up," etc. Now he charges their guilt in two ways. First as to the transgression of the divine precept; whence he says, "the Lord sent a word into Jacob," that is, into Judah, or into the whole people, that from Judah leaders should be appointed: Genesis 49:10, "the scepter shall not be taken away from Judah, nor a ruler from his thigh." "And it has fallen upon Israel," that is, was frustrated in Israel, that is, in the ten tribes, which abandon the house of David, 1 Kings 12. Or, "the word" of the law universally: Hosea 4:15, "if you play the harlot, O Israel, let not Judah at least offend." Second, as to the carrying out of the deed, inasmuch as, blinded by pride, they claimed to have done well — since swelling of mind is an obstacle to truth; and therefore he says, "and all the people of Ephraim," that is, of the ten tribes, "and the inhabitants of Samaria" — as to the leaders of the people — "shall know," that is, recognize themselves and their own guilt through the punishment, because the eye, which guilt closes, punishment opens. "That say, in the pride and haughtiness of heart," inasmuch as in their heart they esteemed themselves above others. "And haughtiness," as to the presumption of great things which they proposed. "The bricks," that is, the kings of Judah, who were solid, "have fallen down," from us. "But we will build with hewn stones," that is, with strong kings of our own — "we will build," namely your kingdom. "Have fallen down," namely by the enemies, such as the Syrians. "The sycamores," that is, the kings of Judah, unfruitful; "the cedars," that is, those lofty above us — "we will change them," that is, we will put them in their place: Isaiah 7:6, "let us set up a king in the midst of it, the son of Tabeel." This on account of their pride: Isaiah 28:1, "woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim." "And the Lord shall set up": here he pursues the diversity of the punishments as to three things in which they trusted. First he threatens against their alliance with neighbors. Second, against the usefulness of persons whom they reckoned themselves to have, where it says, "and the Lord shall destroy," etc. Third, against the multitude of the people, where it says, "for wickedness is kindled," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First is set the punishment. Second, the preparation of a further punishment, where it says, "for all this," etc. Now he threatens two things: first, their future destruction, "and the Lord shall set up the enemies of Rezin," that is, the Assyrians, "into a tumult," of war, of which 2 Kings 16. Second, the assault of persecution, "and the Lord shall bring," Syria "from the east" — according to the location of the land, who had been friends — "and the Philistines from the west," who assailed Judah — "and they shall devour Israel," destroy it, "with open mouth," that is, with their whole desire: Habakkuk 3:14 (var.), "their exultation was like that of one who devours the poor man in secret." "For all this his anger is not turned away." Here is set the preparation of further punishment; and second the reason is given, where it says, "and the people," etc. Now the preparation is set down as to the will, "his anger is not turned away" — 1 Kings 22:? (var.), "yet the Lord's anger was not turned away from the fierceness of his wrath, with which he was angry against Judah." And as to power, "his hand is stretched out" — he speaks in a human manner; above, chapter 1, "and I will turn my hand against you, and thoroughly purge away your dross." The reason for adding punishment to punishment is the incorrigibility of the people; and this is what he says, "and the people are not," etc. Jeremiah 2:30, "in vain have I struck your children, they have received no correction." "And the Lord shall destroy," etc.: here he threatens against their confidence in the usefulness of certain persons. And first is set the punishment. Second, the preparation of further vengeance, where it says, "for all this," etc. Now certain persons seemed useful, either for defense — and against these first; or for provoking divine mercy — and against these, where it says, "therefore," etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First is set their dignity, and their guilt, and their guilt under a metaphor. "Head," as to the ruler; "and tail," as to the people; "him that bows down," against the rectitude of justice; "him that restrains," or curbs, namely the prophet: Ezekiel 13:19 (var.), "and they profaned me among my people." Second he expounds the metaphor, "the aged," teaching lies: Ezekiel 22:28 (var.), "and her prophets have daubed them without tempering, seeing vain things, and divining lies to them." Third he sets down the punishment, "and they that call... blessed," etc. Now those who are deceived, "who are called blessed," are cast down headlong: above, chapter 3, "O my people, they that call you blessed, they deceive you"; Hosea 4:? "you shall fall today, and the prophet also shall fall with you in the night." "Therefore," etc.: here, against the persons useful for provoking mercy — either on account of the integrity of the flesh, "young men," that is, virgins; or on account of age, "fatherless"; or on account of weakness, "widows." And first is set the punishment, "neither shall he have mercy." Second is set the reason, as to dissimulation in deed, "for everyone is a hypocrite"; as to malice in heart, "and wicked"; as to falsity of mouth, "and every mouth has spoken folly": Job 8:13 (var.), "the hope of the hypocrite shall perish." "For all this," etc., as expounded above. "For wickedness," etc.: here he threatens against confidence in the multitude of the people — first sedition, then the preparation of further punishment, where it says, "for all this," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First is set the metaphor of fire. Second, of famine, where it says, "and he shall turn to the right hand," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets the metaphor. Second, its exposition, where it says, "by the wrath of the Lord," etc. Now he threatens the punishment of sedition under the metaphor of burning. Whence first he sets down the efficient cause of the burning, "wickedness is kindled" — as if he said, your wickedness is like a fire kindled to burn you: Isaiah 65:5 (var.), "behold, all you that kindle a fire, girt about with flames, walk in the light of your fire." Second, the material, "the brier," that is, the wicked people: above, chapter 6, "briers and thorns shall come up over it." Second, the burning itself, "shall kindle in the thicket," that is, in a forest, in which there are many trees — signifying the multitude of the people, and the effect, "of pride," that is, the height of smoke; for smoke, ascending with the fire, envelops the tops of the trees, and the tribulation of sedition darkens the sight of men: Joel 1:19, "fire has devoured the beautiful places of the wilderness, and a flame has burned all the trees of the country." "By the wrath," which is like a fire: Nahum 1:6, "his indignation is poured out like fire"; "and the people shall be as fuel for the fire": Isaiah 47:14, "he has walked in the light of his fire." "No man shall spare his brother": this is expounded as to the burning itself. "And he shall turn to the right hand": here the same punishment is threatened under the metaphor of famine. And first he sets the metaphor, "he shall be hungry" — as if in effect they should see themselves — "on the right hand," by which friends are signified; "he shall be hungry," still doing evil; "on the left hand," enemies; "the flesh of his own arm," that is, of his own kinsmen. Second he expounds as to kinsmen, "Manasseh Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh," who were both sons of Joseph. Third as to enemies, "they together against Judah": Jeremiah 9:4, "every brother will utterly supplant, and every friend will walk deceitfully"; above, chapter 5, "and the people shall fall, man upon man, and everyone upon his neighbor." "For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still" — expounded as above throughout.

Chapter 10

Text

a. "Woe to them that make wicked laws, and when they write, write injustice, to oppress the poor in judgment, and do violence to the cause of the humble of my people, that widows might be their prey, and that they might rob the fatherless. What will you do in the day of visitation, and of the calamity which comes from afar? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your glory, that you fall not under bondage, and among the slain? For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. Woe to Assyria, he is the rod and the staff of my anger; in his hand is my indignation. I will send him to a deceitful nation, and I will give him a charge against the people of my wrath, to take away the spoils, and to lay hold of the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. But he shall not think so, and his heart shall not esteem it so, but his heart shall be set to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few. For he shall say: Are not my princes as so many kings? Is not Calno as Carchemish, and Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus? As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, so also their idols of Jerusalem, and of Samaria. Shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and its idols, so do also to Jerusalem and her idols? And it shall come to pass, that when the Lord shall have performed all his works in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, I will visit the fruit of the proud heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of the haughtiness of his eyes. For he has said: By the strength of my own hand I have done it, and by my own wisdom I have understood; and I have removed the bounds of peoples, and have plundered their princes, and as a mighty one I have pulled down them that sat on high. And my hand has found the strength of the peoples as a nest; and as eggs that are left are gathered, so have I gathered all the earth, and there was none that moved a wing, or opened the mouth, or made the least noise. Shall the axe boast itself against him that cuts with it? Or shall the saw exalt itself against him by whom it is drawn? As if the rod should lift itself up against him that lifts it, and the staff exalt itself, which is but wood. Therefore the sovereign Lord of hosts shall send leanness among his fat ones, and under his glory a burning shall be kindled, like the burning of fire. And the light of Israel shall be as a fire, and his Holy One as a flame, and it shall burn, and devour his brier and thorn, in one day. And the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, shall be consumed, from the soul even to the flesh, and he shall be as one that flees from before a terror. And the remnant of the trees of his forest shall be so few that they may be numbered, and a child shall write them down. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and they that shall escape of the house of Jacob, shall lean no more upon him that strikes them, but shall lean upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. The remnant shall be converted, the remnant, I say, of Jacob shall be converted to the mighty God. For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them shall be converted. A consummation abridged shall overflow with justice; for the Lord God of hosts shall make a consummation and an abridgment in the midst of all the land. Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts: O my people, that dwell in Zion, fear not the Assyrian; he shall strike you with a rod, and shall lift up his staff over you in the way of Egypt. For yet a very little while, and my indignation shall cease, and my anger shall be at their wickedness. And the Lord of hosts shall raise up a scourge against him, according to the slaughter of Midian in the rock of Oreb, and his rod over the sea, and he shall lift it up in the way of Egypt. And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke shall rot at the presence of the oil. He is come to Aiath, he has passed into Migron; at Michmash he shall lay up his carriages. They have passed in haste, Geba is our lodging; Ramah was astonished, Gibeah of Saul fled away. Cry aloud with your voice, O daughter of Gallim, attend, O Laish, O poor Anathoth. Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim take courage. It is yet day enough to remain at Nob; he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. Behold the sovereign Lord of hosts shall break the earthen vessel with terror, and they of high stature shall be cut down, and the lofty shall be humbled. And the thick woods of the forest shall be cut down with iron, and Lebanon with its high ones shall fall."

Exposition

a. Here he begins to denounce against the enemies bodily persecuting the foreign nations. And first against those laying waste; then against those rejoicing in that devastation, below at chapter 14, "in the year that King Ahaz died," etc. The first into two: in the first against the Assyrians who took the ten tribes captive, and afflicted the two; in the second against the Babylonians who took the two captive, chapter 13, "the burden of Babylon," etc. The first into three: in the first he threatens the destruction of the enemies. In the second he promises the reintegration of the people, chapter 11, "I will give praise," etc. This chapter is divided into two parts. In the first he threatens against the enemies of the two tribes, who trusted in the help of the Assyrians, namely Ahaz, under whom this vision was written, as is read in 2 Kings 16. In the second, against the Assyrians themselves, where it says, "woe to Assyria," etc. — though some begin this at chapter 10... and then it would be simpler, since this part would be undivided from what precedes. The first is divided into two. In the first is set the threat. In the second is shown the preparation of the punishment of vengeance, where it says, "for all this," etc. The first into two: in the first he charges the guilt; in the second he threatens the punishment, where it says, "what will you do," etc. He first charges the guilt as to two things: as to perverse legislation, "woe to them that make wicked laws," according as law is confirmed by a ruler's edict; "and write," according as it is confirmed by writing: Romans 10:3, "for not knowing the justice of God, and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to the justice of God." "What will you do": here he threatens punishment. And first he removes the remedy of escape. And this is threefold: of confidence, according to their own power, "what will you do in the day that comes from afar," as to the preparation of enemies, or as to the foretelling of the prophets: Hosea 9:5, "what will you do in the solemn day, in the day of the feast of the Lord?"; Nahum 1:6, "who can stand before the face of his indignation?" Second, as to the friendship of the powerful, "to whom will you flee for help?": Job 6:13 (var.), "behold, there is no help for me, and my necessary ones also have departed from me." Third, as to the glory of riches, "and where will you leave your glory" — as if he said, it will not profit you: Wisdom 5:8, "what has pride profited us, or what advantage has the boasting of riches brought us?" Second, he expresses the manner of punishment. And first of captivity, "that you fall not under bondage" — above, chapter 2, "and the loftiness of men shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be humbled." Second, of slaying, "and among the slain" — Ezekiel 32:22 (var.), "all slain, fallen by the sword." "For all this," etc.: here is set the preparation of further punishment, expounded as above. "Woe to Assyria": in this part he threatens against the Assyrians themselves; and it is divided into two parts. In the first is set the threat against the oppressing enemies. In the second, the comforting of the oppressed people, where it says, "therefore," etc. The first into three: in the first he charges guilt; in the second he threatens punishment, where it says, "therefore... shall send," etc.; in the third he shows the effect of the punishment, where it says, "and it shall come to pass," etc. Now the guilt consists in the transgression of a precept, or in the abuse of authority; whence the first part is divided into three. In the first is set the commission of authority. In the second, the abuse of that authority, where it says, "but he shall not think so," etc. In the third, the elation of the one abusing it, where it says, "and it shall come to pass, when," etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First is committed the office of scourging. Second is designated who is worthy of the scourges, where it says, "to a deceitful nation," etc. Third, the manner of scourging is imposed, where it says, "to take away the spoils," etc. Concerning the first he designates three things. First, the one scourging, "woe" — it is imminent for you, whoever you are — "the rod of my anger." The power of scourging, "the staff, by which I scourge," "in his hand," that is, in his power, that is, in his execution. And the scourging, "my indignation," shall be fulfilled through them: Isaiah 14:5-6, "the Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the rod of the rulers, that struck the peoples in wrath." "To a deceitful nation," etc.: here he describes the one worthy of scourges, both as to guilt, "to a deceitful nation," because it does not keep its promise: Exodus 19:8, "all that the Lord has spoken we will do." And as to the sentence, "the people of my wrath," that is, whom I have already judged worthy of punishment; "I will send him," I will inspire that you be punished: 2 Kings 18:25, "the Lord said to me, Go up to this land, and destroy it." "Against," that is, over against. "And to take away," etc.: here is set the manner of scourging as to the taking away of things. "Take away the spoils," as to detention; "lay hold of the prey," as to the oppression of men; "tread them down like mire," on account of their vileness: Psalm 18:42 (var.), "I shall beat them small as the dust before the wind, I shall cast them out as the dirt in the streets." "But he shall not think so," etc.: here is set the abuse of the power granted, inasmuch as he exceeded the bounds of the charge. And first is set his purpose. Second is set the motive of his purpose, where it says, "he shall say," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he casts off the appointed measure: as to the judgment of reason, "he shall not think so," and as to the purpose of heart, "shall not esteem it so" — that is, he shall not measure out the punishment. Second he adds to the punishment: as to manner, "to destroy," that is, to lay waste all things; and as to number, "nations not a few," indeed many, not only those to whom he was sent: Habakkuk 1:? (var.), "he shall triumph over kings, and their tyrants shall be a laughingstock to him"; Habakkuk 2:10, "you have devised shame to your house, you have cut off many peoples, and your soul has sinned." "For he shall say," etc.: here is set the motive. And first he assumes. Second he concludes, where it says, "so shall I do to Jerusalem, and to her idols," etc. Concerning the first, first he assumes the servitude of kingdoms, "are not my princes as so many kings?": Obadiah 1 (var.), "he shall triumph over kings, and their tyrants shall be a laughingstock to him." Second, the subjugation of cities, "is not Calno as Carchemish," etc.: Isaiah 37:18 (var.), "for the kings of the Assyrians have laid waste all the nations and their countries." Third, the destruction of the gods, "as my hand has found the kingdoms of the idol?" — in wonder, as if he said: how did it happen that those gods did not resist me? 2 Kings 18:35, "who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the Lord should be able to deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?" "So shall I do to Jerusalem, and to her idols," etc.: here he concludes, first from the nations to the whole people of Israel, "so also their idols of Jerusalem, and of Samaria." Second, from the ten tribes to the two, "shall I not, as," etc. Of Samaria he spoke truly, since they worshipped idols; but from Jerusalem Hezekiah had taken them away, 2 Kings 18. And perhaps some remained hidden, which he found in the part of the city which Shebna the scribe handed over to him. Or he calls "idols" the ark, and those things which were the adornment of the temple. "And it shall come to pass, when," etc.: here he charges his pride. And first is set his proud boasting. Second, the occasion of the boasting, where it says, "he shall say," etc. Third, the rebuke of the one boasting, where it says, "shall boast itself," etc.

He says therefore, "and it shall come to pass, when the Lord shall have performed all his works," that is, the punishments by which he wishes to correct, "I will visit the fruit of the proud heart," as to presumption in what is to be done; "and the glory," as to boasting in what is done: above, chapter 2, "the eyes of the lofty man shall be humbled." "For he has said," etc.: here he sets the occasion of the boasting, from the great things which he had done. And first as to the condition of the doer. Second as to the greatness of the deed, where it says, "and I have removed," etc. Third as to the ease of the doing, where it says, "and my hand has found," etc. He shows the condition of the doer, as to the power of his forces, "by the strength of my own hand." As to the wisdom of his counsels, "and by my own wisdom": Deuteronomy 32:27, "but for the wrath of the enemies I have deferred it, lest perhaps their enemies should be proud, and should say: Our mighty hand, and not the Lord, has done all these things." Now the greatness of the deed is weighed from three things. From the multitude of kingdoms; whence he says, "and I have removed the bounds." He speaks in likeness to one who acquires many fields, who removes the boundary-markers by which the possessions of different owners were divided. As to the despoiling of princes, "and I have plundered their princes." As to the subjugation of kings, "and as a mighty one I have pulled down them that sat on high," that is, on the throne of the kingdom, "sitting": Daniel 4:14 (var.), "whom he would, he set up, and whom he would, he brought low." Now the ease of the doing is determined as to three things. As to the complete subjection, "and my hand has found... as a nest," etc. — that is, that which is in the power of the finder: Isaiah 16:2 (var.), "and it shall be as a fleeing bird, and as young ones flying out of the nest." As to easy destruction, "and as eggs that are left are gathered," etc. — so easily: Habakkuk 2:5 (var.), "and he shall gather to him all nations, and shall heap together to him all peoples." As to every faculty of resistance being removed, "and there was none that moved a wing," that is, a hand. A bird defends itself with its wing. "Or opened the mouth," in contradiction. "Or made the least noise," which foxes do, or birds, in lamenting: Ezekiel 24:16, "son of man, behold, I take from you the desire of your eyes with a stroke, and you shall not mourn, nor weep, neither shall your tears run down." "Shall the axe boast itself," etc.: here is set the rebuke of the one boasting: for he too is like an instrument which cannot work except by the motion of the craftsman. "The axe," for slaying the wicked; "the saw shall exalt itself," for discerning the good from the wicked; "the rod," for correcting; "the staff," for sustaining those corrected: Job 15:13 (var.), "why does your spirit swell against God, that you should utter such words out of your mouth?" "Therefore... shall send," etc.: here he threatens punishment; and concerning this he does three things. First he threatens the indication of punishment. Second he determines the manner of punishment, where it says, "and under his glory," etc. Third, the effect of the punishment, where it says, "and it shall be as a terror," etc. — impious, powerful, and rich: Isaiah 25:6, "and the Lord of hosts shall make unto all people in this mountain a feast of fat things." "And under his glory," etc.: here is determined the manner of punishment, which was by burning. And three things are set down. First, the species of punishment, "his glory," that is, the multitude of his army; "under," that is, under their garments, because their bodies were burned while the garments remained unharmed: above, chapter 1, "your strength shall be as the ashes of tow, and your work as a spark." Second, the one bringing the punishment, "the Holy One of Israel," God, or the angel Michael, to whom that people had been committed: Daniel 10:13, "behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me." "As a fire," because through fire he will punish them: Zephaniah 1:18 (var.), "in the fire of his jealousy all the earth shall be devoured, because he shall make even a speedy destruction of all them that dwell in the land." Third, he sets down the punishment as regards the lesser ones, "his brier and thorn," which do not grow much; "and the glory of his forest," as regards the great ones, who on account of their size are compared to tall trees, "shall be consumed from the soul even to the flesh," because they died both in soul and in body; above, chapter 9, "wickedness is kindled as a fire, it shall devour the brier and the thorn, and shall kindle in the thicket of the forest, and it shall be wrapped in the pride of smoke." "And he shall be as one that flees": here is set the effect of the punishment. And first among the enemies, as to flight, "he shall be as one that flees from a terror." As to their fewness, "and the remnant of the trees" — for literally Sennacherib returned with a few, ten out of a hundred and eighty-five thousand. Second, the effect upon the people; and there shall be, as to three things in which they offended: namely, in trust in the Gentiles, "upon him that strikes them," namely those from whom they sought help, though these were also afflicting them. "They that shall escape," either to Hezekiah, or to other nations, Isaiah 19, who befriend them. Second, as to the worship of idols, and as to manner — "the remnant, in truth," against what is said in 1 Kings 18:21, "how long do you halt between two sides? If the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him." And as to their turning, "the remnant of Jacob," who are left by the Assyrians. And he confirms the promise. "For though" — Genesis 22:17, "I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is on the seashore." Third, as to the righteousness of their works. And first he sets down the promise, "a consummation abridged," that is, a swift destruction to be worked in the army of Sennacherib; "shall overflow with justice," that is, it shall cause justice to overflow, among the people: Isaiah 25:? (var.), "let us have mercy on the wicked, and he will not learn justice; in the land of the saints he has done wickedly." Second he sets down the confirmation, "for a consummation," Malachi 1:? "and in the day that is coming, the consummation shall do their works" — "in the midst of the earth," that is, in Jerusalem, which is in the marrow of the earth: Ezekiel 5:5, "this is Jerusalem, I have set her in the midst of the nations, and the countries round about her." The Apostle, in Romans 9, expounds this of the remnant of the saved. And "the word abridged," according to the Septuagint, is the word of the gospel: Matthew 22:40, "on these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets." Or the Word incarnate. "Therefore, thus says the Lord": here is set the comforting of the people; and concerning this he does two things. First he sets down the encouragement, "fear not": Isaiah 41:14, "fear not, you worm of Jacob, you that are dead of Israel." Second he expounds the deliverance. And first in general. Second in particular, where it says, "he is come to Aiath," etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First is set the affliction, "with a rod," that is, in the affliction of siege and plundering, "and his staff," breaking, "in the way of Egypt," because, hearing that the king of Ethiopia had gone out from his own land, as is read in 2 Kings 19, he left the land, and on his return destroyed the cities he found, coming by way of Egypt: Jeremiah 48:17 (var.), "how is the strong staff broken, the beautiful rod!" Second, the brevity of the affliction, "for yet a very little while," with respect to eternity, or with respect to the time in which they were afflicted: Ezekiel 7:8, "now very shortly I will pour out my wrath upon you, and I will accomplish my anger in you." Second, the greatness of the punishment. "Shall cease," as to guilt; "my anger," as to vengeance. Third, as to the ease of punishing, "according to the slaughter of Midian," of which Judges 7; "and his rod over the sea," Exodus 14, "and I will harden their hearts to pursue you," first in the way of Egypt, because in Egypt he was afflicted. Third is set the consequent deliverance. And first the deliverance, "his burden shall be taken away": Jeremiah 30:8 (var.), "in that day I will break his yoke from off your neck, and I will burst his bonds." Second, the reason for the deliverance, "at the presence of the oil," of divine mercy: above, chapter 1, "wound, and bruise, and swelling sore, has not been bound up, nor dressed with medicine, nor softened with oil." "He is come to Aiath," etc.: here it is described in particular. And first is set the oppression, numbering the cities through which he passed, coming from Egypt into Jerusalem. "He is come," from Egypt, "to Aiath," among the great ones; "he has passed" — "he shall commit his vessels," he shall send ahead part of his baggage, that he may come unencumbered. "They have passed in haste," unimpeded by the resistance of those cities; "Geba is our lodging," you, O army, that rested there. "Ramah was astonished," that is, feared, because it was nearer; "Gibeah of Saul," a royal city in the time of Saul; "cry aloud," at the death of the men; "attend, O Laish," how you may be able to flee, and likewise you; "O poor Anathoth," because it was a small town; "Madmenah is removed," has fled, and likewise, "the inhabitants of Gebim." You, Sennacherib, to the army: "take courage, it is yet a long while," until it comes to pass as at Nob — a village near Jerusalem — as if he said: there is only so much of the day left that we can pitch our tents there; for it had been divined that if he arrived there on that day, he would conquer. Or: "O inhabitant of Gebim, take courage," because the enemies are near; "he shall shake," after the manner of one who threatens: Isaiah 37:? "by your servants you have reproached the Lord." Second, the destruction of the enemies, "behold the sovereign," etc. And first, the ease on the part of the one punishing, "shall break," in the likeness of the deed of Gideon, Judges 7. Second, the universality as regards those punished, "cut down," as to the strong in body; "the lofty," as to the princes; "the thick woods of the forest," as to the multitude of the people, that is, the fruits which make the forest dense; "and Lebanon," Sennacherib himself, who was killed by his own sons: Isaiah 37... Mystically the Gloss says: "he shall break the small vessel," in the passion of Christ. Note, concerning that saying, "and the light of Israel shall be as a fire," that our God is said to be light, first, because he is subtle, and as to this, first, as to substance, because he is called Spirit: John 4:24, "God is a spirit." Second, as to knowledge, because he is penetrating: Hebrews 4:12, "for the word of God is living and effectual, and more piercing than any two-edged sword." Third, as to appearance, because he is invisible: Job 28:20, "whence then does wisdom come?" And in the same book: "it is hidden from the eyes of all living"; Job 34:29, "who beholds all men." Second, because he is bright. That he is bright is plain, first because he manifests, as to the intellect: Psalm 36:9, "in your light we shall see light." Second, because he delights, as to the affection: Tobit 5:12 (var.), "what joy shall be to me, who sit in darkness, and see not the light of heaven?" Third, because he directs, as to action: Isaiah 60:3, "and the Gentiles shall walk in your light, and kings in the brightness of your rising." Third, because he is warm. And this, first, because he gives life: Job 39:14 (var.), "you shall perhaps warm it in the dust"; Lamentations 1:13, "from above he has sent fire into my bones, and has chastised me." Second, because he purges: Sirach 43:4 (var.), "a vapor of fire, and a burning heat is he; and in the heat of the furnace..." Third, because he lays waste: Deuteronomy 32:22, "a fire is kindled in my wrath, and shall burn even to the lowest hell." Fourth, because he is light [swift]. And this, first, on account of motion, because "the Lord has made all things for himself" (Proverbs 16:4). Second, on account of his dwelling, because he dwells in high places, Psalm 91. Third, on account of the manner of his unmixed nature: Wisdom 7:24, "she reaches everywhere by reason of her purity, for she is a vapor of the power of God."

Chapter 11

Text

a. "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. He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears; but he shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. And justice shall be the girdle of his loins, and faith the girdle of his reins. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion, and the sheep shall abide together, and a little child shall lead them. The calf and the bear shall feed, their young ones shall rest together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall thrust his hand into the den of the basilisk. They shall not hurt, nor kill in all my holy mountain, for the earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the covering waters of the sea. In that day the root of Jesse, who stands for a sign to the peoples, him the Gentiles shall beseech, and his sepulchre shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand the second time to possess the remnant of his people, that shall be left from the Assyrians, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Ethiopia, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up a sign to the nations, and shall gather the fugitives of Israel, and the dispersed of Judah he shall gather from the four quarters of the earth. And the envy of Ephraim shall be taken away, and the enemies of Judah shall perish: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not fight against Ephraim. But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines by the sea, they shall together plunder the children of the east; Edom and Moab shall be under the command of their hand, and the children of Ammon shall be obedient. And the Lord shall lay waste the tongue of the sea of Egypt, and shall lift up his hand over the river in the strength of his spirit, and he shall strike it into seven streams, so that men may pass through it in their shoes. And there shall be a highway for the remnant of my people, that shall be left from the Assyrians, as there was for Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt."

Exposition

a. The destruction of the adversaries having been set forth, the reintegration of the people is now promised, which had been divided into two parts, and the ten tribes; and it is divided into two parts. In the first is described the restorer. In the second the restoration is promised, where it says, "and it shall come to pass in that day," etc. This chapter, however, is expounded in three ways. Jerome, and all our saints, expound it of the restoration effected by Christ, and of Christ, so that it is spoken figuratively. Certain masters expound it of Hezekiah, or Josiah. Likewise the Jews take the letter figuratively of their own messiah, whom they await, wishing to understand everything else literally. But this last is foolish and fabulous; the second is strained; but the first is simply true. And therefore, following that one, we shall touch on the others incidentally. The first part is divided into three. In the first is described the restorer Christ, as to his birth. In the second, as to his holiness, where it says, "and shall rest," etc. In the third, as to his dignity, where it says, "in that day, the root," etc. Concerning the first he touches two things: the descent of the mother from the royal line, or lineage, "there shall come forth a rod" — a rod to which no shrub was joined — "out of the root of Jesse," literally from the lineage of Jesse, who was the father of David: Numbers 24:17, "a star shall rise out of Jacob, and a rod shall spring up from Israel." As to the descent of the Son from a virgin mother, "and a flower shall rise up," Christ: Genesis 49:9, "I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys." "Shall rise up," because he who comes from heaven is above all (John 3:31). Whence Isaiah 19:1, "behold, the Lord shall ascend upon a swift cloud, and shall enter into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence." "Out of the root of Jesse": Jeremiah 23:5, "I will raise up to David a just branch, and a king shall reign, and shall be wise, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth." Although he ought to have said "of the rod," he says "of the root," to exclude two heresies: one of which said that Christ did not have true flesh; the other said that Christ had true flesh, but it was not propagated from Adam, and from parents, and from others, but was created in the Blessed Virgin by God directly; or that it came from the first parents distinct, like a certain light, never infected by the contagion of original sin. All this is excluded in that it is said to arise from the parents of the Virgin, as a flower from a root. The Jews say that both the flower and the rod refer to Christ, and it is called a rod on account of power, and the scourging of the wicked, and a flower on account of honor, and the consolation of the good. Jerome says that from this place is taken what is said in Matthew 2:23, "he shall be called a Nazarene," that is, flourishing. Similarly those who expound it of Josiah and Hezekiah interpret it, and say that they are said to descend from Jesse, and not from their proximate parents, because to David the promise was made of the confirmation of the kingdom in his sons. It should be noted, concerning that saying, "there shall come forth a rod," that the Blessed Virgin is called a rod, first, consoling in tribulations: Exodus 14:16, "but lift up your rod, and stretch forth your hand over the sea, and divide it, that the children of Israel may go through the midst of the sea on dry ground." Second, fructifying: Numbers 17:8, "Moses found that the rod of Aaron... had budded, and that the buds swelling had bloomed into flowers." Third, causing water to flow: Numbers 20:11, "and when Moses had lifted up his hand, and struck the rock twice with the rod, there came forth water in great abundance, so that the people and their cattle drank." Fourth, scourging: Numbers 24:17, "a star shall rise out of Jacob, and a rod shall spring up from Israel, and shall strike the chiefs of Moab." Fifth, watchful: Jeremiah 1:11, "I see a rod watching." It should be noted, concerning that saying, "and a flower shall rise up out of his root," that Christ is called a flower, first on account of Mary's purity: Song of Solomon 4:7, "you are all fair, O my love"; Song of Solomon 5:10, "my beloved is white and ruddy"; and Isaiah, "I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys." Second, on account of the ease of injury by the wind: Job 15:33 (var.), "he shall be blasted as a vine when its flower is first budding." Third, on account of the sweetness of its fragrance: Sirach 24:23 (var.), "I gave a sweet smell like the vine, and my flowers are the fruit of honor and honesty." Fourth, on account of the beauty of its splendor: Sirach 50:8 (var.), "as the rainbow giving light in the bright clouds, and as the flower of roses in the days of spring." Fifth, on account of the certainty of the fruit: Sirach 24:23, "I gave a sweet smell like the vine, and my flowers are the fruit of honor and honesty." "And the Spirit... shall rest," etc.: here he describes him as to holiness, as to three things. First as to the state of grace. Second as to the rectitude of his work, where it says, "he shall not judge," etc. Third as to the effect of that rectitude, where it says, "the wolf shall dwell," etc. Now his perfection is shown as to the state of grace in three things. First as to rest, "shall rest," because grace was not increased in him: Jeremiah 31:22, "a woman shall encompass a man" — nor interrupted through guilt: 1 Peter 2:22, "who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth" — nor disturbed through the struggle of the flesh, since he was without original sin: Job 3:9, "let it expect light, and not see it, nor the rising of the dawning of the day"; John 1:33, "upon whom you shall see the Spirit descending, and remaining upon him, he it is that baptizes." As to the multitude, in the universality of the gifts of the spirit of wisdom: for although all the gifts of sanctifying grace are infused together, not everyone has the perfect use of all of them. On account of which it is said of such a one, "there is not found the like of him." Nor concerning all the graces freely given: 1 Corinthians 12:8, "to one indeed, by the Spirit, is given the word of wisdom; and to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; to another faith in the same Spirit," etc. But Christ had all things perfectly, for "God does not give the Spirit by measure" (John 3:34). As to fullness, because he was perfect in every grace, which is noted in what he says, "he shall be filled": John 1:14, "we saw him full of grace." Concerning all these things, Colossians 2:9, "in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." For the understanding of these things, five things must be seen. First, how these gifts differ from the virtues, the beatitudes, and the fruits. Second, of their number. Third, of their order. Fourth, how they are in Christ. Fifth, how they are attributed to the Holy Spirit. Concerning the first it should be known that, as was said above, gifts are given as a help to the virtues, by which the powers of the soul are perfected unto acts proportioned according to the human manner, as faith, which makes one see as in a mirror, and in an enigma. Now there is a twofold defect of virtue: one is accidental, which comes from an indisposition in the one possessing it, from which indisposition it remains in the subject, and this defect is removed by an increase of the virtue; the other defect is per se, on the part of the habit itself, as faith according to its own disposition is imperfect in what it contains, because it is enigmatic. And this defect is removed by a higher habit, which is called a gift, as it were exceeding the measure of human operation.

Now such an operation, proceeding from a perfect virtue, is not itself called beatitude, which is nothing other than an operation according to a perfect virtue, as the Philosopher says — as in Matthew 5:8, "blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God." Such an operation is necessarily followed by delight, since delight is the unimpeded operation of a proper habit, as the Philosopher says. And according to this it is called a fruit. Whence Ambrose says, on that text of Galatians 5, "but the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy," etc., "they are called fruits, insofar as by the sweetness of love they refresh the mind." Concerning the second point, it should be known that the number of these can be taken in three ways: since they are perfected either through a withdrawal from evil, and thus there is fear; or through an advance toward good, and thus either according to the contemplative life or the active. If according to the contemplative, either according to contemplation of the end, and thus there is wisdom, which concerns the highest causes; or of those things which are toward the end, and thus there is understanding, as concerning created spiritual substances, and those things which pertain to them. If according to the active, either as to those things to which all are bound, and thus the corresponding gift is godliness, which is benevolence toward those who are, by faith or by the image of God, messengers of God, directed by knowledge; or concerning those things to which not all are bound, and the corresponding gift is fortitude, that one may expose oneself to difficult things, directed indeed by counsel. And by this the answer to the third point is already plain: because they are ordered first according as they are perfections, and this order is considered according to the going-forth of the gifts outward, not according as they are received. The third point is plain, that wisdom directs the understanding, since it belongs to the wise man to order; and by the first, one is regulated, as the metaphysician regulates the other sciences; counsel regulates fortitude; knowledge regulates godliness; fear directs all, because the same power directs both in the approach to good and in the withdrawal from evil. Concerning the fourth point it should be known that Christ possessed these gifts according to the most excellent use of them, according to which they are had in the homeland — for he did not have servile fear, that he should fear punishment, nor filial fear, that he should fear to sin, but chaste fear, which is of reverence: Hebrews 5:7, "he was heard for his reverence." And likewise it is plain concerning the others. It is said specially, however, that he "shall be filled with the spirit of fear," lest he be believed proud because of the greatness of the gifts, like the first angel, of whom it is said, Ezekiel 28:5, "by the multitude of your wisdom" — that is, of your trading — "your inward parts are filled with iniquity"; or because he had come to save through humility; or because in this too he wished to be imitated: Matthew 11:29, "learn from me, for I am meek, and humble of heart." Concerning the fifth point it should be known that if these gifts are considered according to their proper natures, as knowledge, insofar as it is knowledge, then certain of them are appropriated to the Son, which pertain to the perfection of the intellect; certain to the Holy Spirit, which pertain to the perfection of the affections, although all the gifts are commonly gifts of the whole Trinity. But if they are considered insofar as they have the character of a gift, thus all are attributed to the Holy Spirit, who is the first gift, in whom all gifts are given. Likewise also, if they are considered as to the principle of the motion of these gifts, which is love: for the goodness of God, as Dionysius says, is diffusive of all things which are received in creatures from God, which is appropriated to the Holy Spirit. Others, however, refer this to the holiness of Josiah, and of Hezekiah; the Jews, to Antichrist. "He shall not judge according to the sight": here he shows his holiness as to the rectitude of his work, and especially in judging, since this is the work of a king. Whence he shows three things. First, discernment in judging. Second, justice in executing, "but he shall judge," etc. Third, constancy in persevering, where it says, "and justice shall be," etc. He says therefore, as to the first, "not according to the sight of the eyes," of external things; "nor... according to the hearing of the ears," of external things — as in Matthew 22, of those saying, "Master, we know that you are true"; John 2:25, "for he needed not that any should give testimony of man, for he knew what was in man." And this cannot be expounded of a mere man, as is said in 2 Samuel 16:7 (var.), "man sees what is apparent, but God looks upon the heart." And therefore the disciples said, John 16:30, "now we know that you know all things." Others, however, expound this in a strained way of good kings: that they did not judge according to flattery, what at first sight appeared, but diligently inquired into the truth of the case. "But he shall judge," etc.: here his justice in executing is shown. And first as to the good, distributing to each their right — "he shall judge," on the day of judgment, and even now: John 5:22, "the Father has given all judgment to the Son" — "the poor," of whom Matthew 5:3, "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Second, as to the wicked. And first as to the members, "he shall strike the earth," that is, earthly men, "with the rod of his mouth" — "depart, you cursed, into everlasting fire" (Matthew 25:41). As to the head, "with the breath of his lips," that is, with his indignation, expressed and pressed forth in words, "he shall slay the wicked," that is, Antichrist: 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, "the man of sin shall be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes, and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped." Or the devil: John 12:31, "now is the judgment of the world, now shall the prince of this world be cast out." And all this can be expounded literally of those kings who were just, and by their precepts killed the wicked. "And justice shall be," etc.: here is set constancy in persevering, "and justice shall be," which he will observe in judgments — "the girdle of his loins," that is, of the swords with which he shall fight — and this both as regards Christ and as regards those kings. Or, "the girdle of his loins," which clings firmly to a man, and girds the whole man about — "and faith," the girdle. Or: "justice," in the equity of the deed; "faithfulness," in the manner of doing it — "let your loins be girt about," etc. (Ephesians 6:14). Or: "justice," the just; "faith," the faithful — and these words refer only to Christ: Jeremiah 13:11, "as the girdle sticks close to the loins of a man, so has the whole house of Israel stuck close to me." From this Jerome argues against the Hebrews, that not all can be understood as the words sound, except of Christ. "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb": here is set the effect of this rectitude, which consists in the multitude of peace, which he shows as to two things. First as to the gentleness of the great. Second as to the security of the small, where it says, "and... shall play," etc. Gentleness is shown as to three things. First as to dwelling, "the wolf," rapacious, "with the lamb," innocent — and conversely, since it shall follow his innocence, "the leopard," crafty, "with the kid," simple; "the calf," of a species of strong animals, and "the lion," of another species of strong animals, "and the sheep," of a species of weak animals, "together," they shall be in unity — where there is neither male nor female, Gentile and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, Barbarian and Scythian, slave and free, but Christ is all in all (Galatians 3:28) — which was signified in Noah's ark, where there were all animals of either kind, Genesis 7. Second, as to governance, "a little child shall lead them" — Peter the fisherman: Isaiah 8:? "behold I, and the children"; 1 Corinthians 1:27, "God has chosen the foolish things of the world, that he may confound the strong." "Shall lead," that is, he shall lead them into the kingdoms, like a leader. Third, as to feeding it is said, first as to the likeness of the food, "the calf," which eats grass, is a clean animal; "the bear," which tears flesh, is not a clean animal — "shall feed together," on the same food of the Word of God. "Their young ones," that is, their households, "together" shall rest as they eat, or upon the food of the sacraments: "they ate the same spiritual food" (1 Corinthians 10:3). Second, as to the humility of the food, "the lion" — as, for instance, "the ox"; "straw" — rude doctrine, or literally the food of abstinence: Job 39:9-10, "will the rhinoceros be willing to serve you, or will he stay at your crib?" But this seems especially to be observed in religious life, where men of diverse age and condition live unanimously and in conformity: Psalm 68:6 (var.), "he makes men of one manner to dwell in a house." Others hold that this was fulfilled in the time of those kings, when the greater lived in peace with the lesser; the Jews, however, expound this of a future peace in the days of Antichrist. "And... shall play": here he shows the security of the small. And he sets three things: namely their confidence, when against horror he sets gladness, "on the hole of the asp," that is, upon the tribulations which the devil, or tyrants, will bring — "shall play from the breasts," that is, as soon as he has begun to be nourished by the milk of the doctrine of faith: Romans 5:3, "and not only so, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation works patience." Or, in converting evil ones: "he that hears, let him say, Come" (Revelation 22:17). Against flight, which is indicative of fear, he sets the boldness of assailing. "The weaned child," now using solid food, shall do more, as he "shall thrust his hand into the den" — "of the basilisk," that is, of the devil, whose net is over the neck of the proud, Job 40:? — because he shall boldly expose himself to the persecutions of tyrants, as many martyrs did: Psalm 19:5 (var.), "he rejoices as a giant to run the way, and goes forth boldly armed." Or this refers to the preachers, who thrust the hand of preaching into the conversion of sinners. Or, "from the breasts" of novelty, and of delight, because the newly converted rejoice in this. Second he sets the powerlessness to harm, "they shall not hurt in my holy mountain," that is, the Church, except those who are willing: Luke 10:19, "behold, I have given you power over all... power"; Mark 16:17-18, "and these signs shall follow them that believe: in my name they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents," etc. Third he sets the cause of both, "for the earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord": Psalm 19:4 (var.), "their sound has gone forth into all the earth"; Sirach 24:40 (var.), "I, wisdom, have poured out rivers." The Jews expound all this literally as it stands. Others say that by this is signified that, in the times of those kings, even the small would boldly commit themselves to those who had earlier been preachers, and had become believers. "In that day": here is set his dignity, "for a sign," of the cross, which those who take it up shall be saved: John 12:32, "if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things to myself"; Isaiah 49:22, "behold, I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles, and will exalt my sign to the peoples." "Him the Gentiles shall beseech": Psalm 72:11, "all the kings of the earth shall worship him, all nations shall serve him." "And his sepulchre shall be glorious," it shall be venerated by all — whence it was designated by the sepulchre that Mattathias made for himself as an everlasting monument, that it might be seen by all who passed by (1 Maccabees 13). Others expound this of Josiah, since he was buried in the sepulchres of the kings. "And it shall come to pass in that day," etc. In this part he promises the restoration of the people as to three things. First as to their deliverance. Second as to the condition of the delivered, where it says, "and... shall be taken away," etc. Third as to the preparation for the deliverance, where it says, "and... shall lay waste," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets forth the deliverance. Second he describes the manner of deliverance, where it says, "and the Lord shall set up," etc. Some expound this of the deliverance from the Babylonian captivity, when he possessed them, delivering them from servitude in the wilderness of Babylon; and it is called "second" with respect to the first deliverance, which led them out of the servitude of Egypt. For Nebuchadnezzar, besieging them, had various nations lead them off into captivity and into servitude, and many were killed; the remainder were gathered, by decree of the king of Persia, as is read in Ezra 1. But it is better expounded of the deliverance to be worked by Christ: for thus it agrees with what precedes — "in that day," namely when he shall have stood as a sign to the peoples, "shall set his hand" — second, through the Apostles, since first he preached in his own person — "the remnant," because the remnant shall be saved. In this is noted the fewness of the converted Jews, and the multitude of the Gentiles, of which Micah 4... "he shall make her as one who gathers the gleanings in autumn." Pathros is a region, taking its name from one of the sons of Abraham; Elam, citizens of Persia; Shinar, of Antioch; Hamath, a place near Damascus, Jeremiah 30. Or "second," that is, at the second coming, when through Elijah's preaching the hearts of the sons shall be turned to the fathers (Malachi 4:6). "And shall set up": here he sets the manner of deliverance, according to the first exposition, "he shall set up a sign," that is, the decree of the king of Persia, "the fugitives of Israel," who literally came to Hezekiah in Jerusalem, and joined themselves to the two tribes, and were taken captive with them, and delivered with them. Or, the sign, according to the second exposition. "And shall gather the fugitives": Acts 13:46, "it was necessary that the word of God should first be spoken to you; but because you reject it... behold, we turn to the Gentiles." Or the sign is another miracle, through which they shall be converted to the preaching of Elijah: Isaiah 49:22, "behold, I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles, and will exalt my sign to the peoples." "And... shall be taken away," etc.: here he shows the condition of the delivered. And first as to concord against the hatred which was between Ephraim and Judah, "shall be taken away," that is, hatred. This was fulfilled at the return from captivity, according to the first exposition. Or as to the unity of faith, according to the second. Or it shall be fulfilled in the future, as to the third. Concerning this concord, Jeremiah 3:18, "the house of Judah shall go to the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land which I gave to your fathers." But as to power, in the subjugation of enemies — either what happened literally in the time of the Maccabees, as to the first; or the preaching of the apostles, as to the second; or the prosperity which the Lord will also give them in the future, as to the third. "They shall fly," as it were swiftly pressing on, "upon the shoulders of the Philistines," to scourge them, "by the sea," because they dwell near the sea — and this as to the first and third. "Together," with them now conquered, "they shall plunder the children of the east," the Assyrians. This is not read to have happened in the time of the Maccabees. Or, "they shall plunder by sea," because the Philistines abound in ships; "Edom, and Moab," who were formerly enemies, "shall fulfill the command of their hand," not waiting for another to do it according to the command. In this is noted great exultation. "And the children of Ammon," etc. All these were great adversaries: Isaiah 49:12, "behold, these shall come from afar, and behold, these from the north, and from the sea, and these from the south country." Or "they shall fly" out of desire to preach — "by sea," because the Apostles by ship crossed the sea to many nations. Or by these nations which he names, he means all: Isaiah 60:8, "who are these that fly as clouds," etc.; "shall be obedient," because they taught by word and example. "And shall lay waste," etc.: here is set the preparation for deliverance; and concerning this two things are set: first the preparation; second, the attaining of its usefulness, where it says, "and there shall be," etc. Now the preparation is promised, according to a likeness to the twofold benefit shown to the fathers coming out of Egypt. First in the dividing of the sea, of which Exodus 14; and as to this he says, "the tongue of the sea," and it is called "the tongue of the sea" because, as the Master says in the Histories, at the going forth of the children of Israel from Egypt, the sea was not divided from one shore only, but as it were by a certain tongue, which surrounded a certain mountain — "the tongue of the sea," that is, the middle of the sea, after the manner of Hebrew speech, which calls everything that is in the middle a "tongue," because the tongue is in the middle of the mouth. This indeed was never literally done, but is signified the removal of every hindering obstacle, as to the first exposition. Or "the tongue of the sea" is called Egypt, whose shore the sea licks. But as to the second, "he shall lay waste the tongue of the sea of Egypt," that is, the tongue by which they praised idols. Second benefit, in the dividing of the Jordan, of which Joshua 3; and as to this he says, "he shall lift up his hand," that is, his power, "over the river. And he shall strike it into seven streams, so that men may pass through it in their shoes." As to the first exposition this is a metaphorical expression, that by the division of the sea and the river is understood the removal of every hindrance. As to the second is literally signified the river, the Nile itself, which was divided by Alexander into seven channels, which was a preparation for the Romans, and so well prepared that the water, passing through the channels and courses, could be crossed by those wearing shoes, that is, the apostles, of whom Ephesians 6:15, "your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace." Or by the river is signified the kingdom of Egypt, which was divided by the Romans into several provinces, "in the strength of his spirit," in the army of Alexander, or of the Romans; or "spirit," that is, wind, in the likeness of that which is said in Exodus 14:21, "a strong and burning wind blowing all the night." "And there shall be a highway": here is set its usefulness, and it is now plain from what has been said, "as there was," Sirach 36:5 (var.), "renew signs, and work new miracles; glorify your hand and your right arm; stir up indignation, and pour out wrath."

Chapter 12

Text

a. "And you shall say in that day: I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for you were angry with me; your wrath is turned away, and you have comforted me. Behold, God is my savior, I will deal confidently, and will not fear: for the Lord is my strength, and my praise, and he is become my salvation. You shall draw waters with joy out of the fountains of the savior. And you shall say in that day: Praise the Lord, and call upon his name; make his doings known among the peoples; remember that his name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for he has done great things; declare this in all the earth. Rejoice and praise, O dwelling of Zion, for great is he that is in the midst of you, the Holy One of Israel."

Exposition

a. Here is set the giving of thanks for the benefit received, which the prophet already saw in the spirit of prophecy, and promised to the people. Whence he does three things. First he sings a canticle. Second he promises the people a benefit, where it says, "you shall draw," etc. Third he foretells that they shall sing it, "and you shall say," etc. Now they were then pressed by three evils: namely, by the divine wrath for past sins, by fear of enemies for future punishments, by the sorrow of heart for present evils. Against the first he recalls the mercy of God; and therefore he says, "I will give thanks to you," O Lord — that is, I will now praise, because the people, not yet seeing a benefit for which to give thanks, do so on the strength of what follows — first, "you were angry," and troubled, for my sins; "your wrath is turned away," into mercy; "and you have comforted me," as to the effect of mercy — the past tense for the future, and this at the return of the people from Babylon, and especially at the consolation wrought by Christ: Zechariah 8:14-15, "as I purposed to afflict you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, says the Lord, and I had no mercy — so, turning again, I have thought in these days to do good to the house of Judah, and to Jerusalem." Against the second he is confident of God's help, "behold, God is my savior," delivering the people from the servitude of Babylon, or more truly, he who saves his people: Luke 1:? "for he shall save his people from their sins"; Jeremiah 30:10, "fear not, O my servant Jacob, says the Lord, neither be dismayed, O Israel, for behold I will save you from a far country." Against the third, the power of divine strength, "my strength," by which I am helped, "and my praise," which I gave to idols: Exodus 15:2, "the Lord is my strength and my praise." "You shall draw": here he promises a benefit, waters of consolation, refreshing against the heat of tribulation. "And you shall say": here he also foretells that the people will sing after having received the benefit, and it contains a mutual exhortation of the people to divine praise. The exhortation is set to two things: to the confession of divine praise, to the giving of thanks, where it says, "rejoice," etc. Concerning the first, four things are set down. For either we confess through faith; whence, "praise the Lord": Romans 10:10, "for with the heart we believe unto justice, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Or we call upon him through prayer. And this is added, below, chapter 55, "seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near." Or it is proclaimed through preaching, "make his doings known among the peoples," because he devised many things for saving: Jeremiah 5:20, "hear the word of the Lord, house of Jacob, and declare it among the Gentiles that are far off." Or it is recalled through continual meditation, "remember": Psalm 111:4 (var.), "he has made a remembrance of his wonderful works, which he did, and the works of his mouth." "Sing," etc.: here he exhorts to the giving of thanks. And first that they give thanks to God, "sing to the Lord, for he has done great things," in liberating us: Psalm 98:1, "sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done wonderful things." Second, that it be announced to the world, "declare": Tobit 12:6 (var.), "bless you the God of heaven, and give glory to him before all that live." "Rejoice": here is set the exhortation to exultation. And first, that there be gladness in the heart, "rejoice." Second, that there be exultation in the mouth, "praise." Third, the reason for both is given, "for great is he": below, chapter 39... "shall exult, be joyful, and give praise." It should be noted, concerning that saying, "you shall draw waters," that water is, first, of doctrine: below, chapter 55, "all you that thirst, come to the waters." Second, of grace: John 7:38, "he that believes in me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." Third, of baptism: John 3:5, "unless a man be born again of water, and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." Likewise it should be noted that the water is drawn from a fountain: first, of divine wisdom: Sirach 1:5 (var.), "the fountain of wisdom is the word of God on high." Second, of eternal life: Jeremiah 2:13, "they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water." Third, of the body of Christ: Zechariah 13:1, "in that day there shall be a fountain open to the house of David." It should be noted, concerning that saying, "his doings," that Christ devised, first, the brief word of salvation: Baruch 3:37, "he found out all the way of knowledge, and gave it to Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved." Second, the manner of saving man: Job 33:24 (var.), "I have found that in which I may be propitious." Third, the people to be saved: Luke 15:6, "rejoice with me, for I have found the sheep which I had lost." Note, concerning that saying, "great is he that is in the midst of you, the Holy One of Israel," that Christ is in the midst, first as a light to illuminate: Sirach 50:6 (var.), "as the morning star in the midst of a cloud." Second as a mediator to reconcile: "Jesus stood in the midst of his disciples, and said to them: Peace be to you" (Luke 24:36). Third as a minister to distribute: "but I am in the midst of you, as he that serves" (Luke 22:27).

Chapter 13

Text

a. "The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw. Upon the dark mountain lift up a banner, exalt the voice, lift up the hand, and let them enter the gates, you princes. I have commanded my sanctified ones, and have called my mighty ones in my anger, them that rejoice in my glory. The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like that of many peoples, the tumultuous voice of kingdoms and nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts has given charge to the troops of war, to them that come from a land far off, from the end of heaven, the Lord and the instruments of his wrath, to destroy the whole land. Howl, for the day of the Lord is near, it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands shall be faint, and every heart of man shall melt, and be broken. Pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them, they shall be in pain as a woman in labor; every one shall be amazed at his neighbor, their countenances shall be as faces burnt. Behold, the day of the Lord shall come, cruel, and full of indignation, and of wrath, and fury, to lay the land desolate, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven, and their brightness, shall not display their light; the sun shall be darkened in his rising, and the moon shall not shine with her light. And I will visit the evils of the world, and against the wicked for their iniquity, and I will make the pride of infidels to cease, and will bring down the arrogance of the mighty. A man shall be more precious than gold, and a man than the most pure gold. For this I will trouble the heaven, and the earth shall be moved out of her place, for the indignation of the Lord of hosts, and for the day of his fierce wrath. And it shall be as a doe fleeing, and as a sheep, and there shall be none to gather them together. Every man shall turn to his own people, and every one shall flee to his own land. Everyone that shall be found shall be slain, and everyone that shall be taken shall fall by the sword. Their infants shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes, their houses shall be pillaged, and their wives shall be ravished. Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not seek silver, nor desire gold, but with their arrows they shall kill the children, and shall have no pity on the sucklings, and their eye shall not spare their sons. And Babylon, that glorious kingdom, the famous pride of the Chaldeans, shall be as when the Lord overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall no more be inhabited forever, neither shall it be founded unto generation and generation; neither shall the Arab pitch his tents there, nor shall shepherds rest there. But wild beasts shall rest there, and their houses shall be filled with dragons; and ostriches shall dwell there, and hairy ones shall dance there. And owls shall answer one another there, in the houses thereof, and sirens in the temples of pleasure."

Exposition

a. Here he threatens against the Babylonians, who took the two tribes captive; and it is divided into two parts. In the first he threatens the destruction of the enemies. In the second he promises from this the consolation of the Jews, chapter 14, "it is near." The first is divided into two. First is set the title of the threat, and the rebuke, "the burden," that is, a misery pressing down: Jeremiah 23:33, "if this people, or the prophet, or the priest, shall ask you, saying: What is the burden of the Lord?" etc. Second is set the threat itself, where it says, "upon the mountain," etc. The first, then, is divided into three parts. In the first he sets the summoning of the army that shall devastate, namely of the Medes and Persians under Cyrus and Darius, who took Babylon, as is read in Daniel 5. In the second he shows the affliction of the punishment, where it says, "howl," etc. In the third, its subsequent desolation, "and it shall be," etc. Concerning the first he sets three things. First he summons the army. Second he describes the arrival of those summoned, where it says, "the noise of a multitude," etc. Third is indicated the precept given to those who come, where it says, "the Lord of hosts has given charge," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets the summoning, and this for taking and besieging. "Upon the dark mountain" — or, "upon the mountain," advancing against the city, on account of the height of the clouds obscuring the way for those coming to engage. Second he assigns fitness, on account of the enjoining of the office, "I have sanctified," as if he said, those whom I have sanctified for the carrying out of this office — and this as to their power, "my mighty ones," and as to insolence, "them that rejoice in my glory," as it were sparing no one. "The noise of a multitude": here he describes the arrival of those summoned. And first as to their multitude, "like that of many peoples." Second as to their diversity, "the tumultuous voice of kingdoms and nations gathered together" — because various nations were gathered under the Medes and Persians, and various arms. "The Lord of hosts has given charge," etc.: here he describes the punishment's destruction; and concerning this he does two things. First he sets down its cause: first the remote cause, "the Lord... has given charge," through the ordering of divine providence; second, the proximate cause, where it says, "the troops of war," etc., "from a land far off," that is, Persia and Media, which was distant from Babylon. Second as to the manner of the punishment, "howl, for the day of the Lord is near," Jeremiah 50:41-42, "behold a people comes from the north... they shall lay hold on the bow and the shield," etc. Second is set the manner of punishment as to the disturbance of the heart, which is shown to be twofold according to interior state, as to interior confidence, and this in three ways. As to the exterior appearance, "faint," on account of pallor of fear. Or, literally, in mourning for those who were killed by the sword. "Every heart shall melt," like burning coal. "And be broken," etc.: here he sets down the punishment of the afflicted; and concerning this three things are set down. First, the greatness of the punishment, from the harshness of the persecution. Philosophers of old say that pregnant women, when terrified by great fear, miscarry even in the manner of pain — and this is also found in death, on account of the sudden approach — literally, as to the effect, because the afflicted see everything darkened; as to the princes, "the sun in his rising," etc. Then he sets down the equity of the order of vengeance: as to the fixed direction of the counsel of God, by which he had determined to overthrow evildoers: Judith 2:2 (var.), "and he opened it, and read it, and said... according to what was determined." As to the injustice of manner, "against the wicked... their iniquity"; as to the certainty of the punishment, Jeremiah 25... "he shall confound Babylon, and its inhabitants," etc.; as to the equity of the punishment, "and I will make... to cease... and will bring down"; by "the pride," meaning the elation of mind, "of infidels," idolaters. "And the arrogance of the mighty," the usurpation which they committed in oppressing the humble. Then he describes the flight, by which they were dispersed, "and it shall be as a doe fleeing," that is, that same Babylon, so populous, shall be as deserted as when the hour of judgment comes — for it is said that no habitation was thereafter found there. And by this it is shown that fear will make them fugitives, from this it is said that the place had no dwellings for men, but only "owls answering one another," and "sirens," according to some, crested and winged serpents; or sea-creatures in the likeness of women; or birds singing sweetly — "in the temples of pleasure," that is, places in which they were wont to indulge in luxury: below, chapter 34, "and it shall be a habitation for dragons, and a pasture for ostriches, and demons shall meet there, satyr and hairy one." Note, concerning that saying, "upon the dark mountain," that darkness is manifold. First, of ignorance: Lamentations 2:1 (var.), "how has the Lord covered with darkness, in his fury, the daughter of Zion!" Second, of guilt: Psalm 18:9 (var.), "darkness was under his feet." Third, of present punishment: Lamentations 4:1 (var.), "how has the gold become dim, the finest color changed!" Fourth, of future misery: Matthew 22:13, "bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the exterior darkness"; and Luke 16:26, "between us and you there is fixed a great chaos, so that they who would pass from here to you, cannot."

Chapter 14

Text

a. "It is near, that its time should come, and its days shall not be prolonged. For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will still choose out of Israel, and will make them rest upon their own ground; the stranger shall be joined to them, and shall adhere to the house of Jacob. And peoples shall take them, and bring them into their place; and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids; and they shall take them captive, that had taken them, and shall subdue their oppressors. And it shall come to pass in that day, when the Lord shall give you rest from your labor, and from your vexation, and from the hard bondage wherewith you served before, that you shall take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say: How has the oppressor ceased, the tribute-collector has ceased! The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the rod of the rulers, that struck the peoples in wrath with an incurable stroke, that ruled the nations in fury, with cruel persecution. The whole earth is quiet, and still, they are joyful and rejoice; the fir trees also rejoiced over you, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying: Since you have slept, no one has come up to cut us down. Hell below was in an uproar to meet you at your coming, it stirred up the giants for you. All the princes of the earth are risen up from their thrones, all the princes of the nations. All shall answer, and say to you: You also are wounded as well as we, you are become like unto us. Your pride is brought down to hell, your carcass is fallen down; under you shall the moth be strewed, and worms shall be your covering. How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who did rise in the morning! How are you fallen to the earth, that did wound the nations! And you said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit in the mount of the covenant, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I will be like the Most High. But yet you shall be brought down to hell, into the depth of the pit. They that shall see you shall turn toward you, and behold you, saying: Is this the man that troubled the earth, that shook kingdoms, that made the world a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof, that opened not the prison to his prisoners? All the kings of the nations have all slept in glory, everyone in his own house. But you are cast out of your grave, as an unprofitable branch, defiled, and wrapped up among them that are slain by the sword, and are gone down to the bottom of the pit, as a rotten carcass. You shall not keep company with them even in burial, for you have destroyed your land, you have slain your people; the seed of the wicked shall not be named forever. Prepare his children for slaughter, for the iniquity of their fathers; they shall not rise up, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. And I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts, and will destroy the name of Babylon, and the remains, and the offspring, and the progeny, says the Lord. And I will make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, says the Lord of hosts. The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying: Surely as I have thought, so shall it be; and as I have purposed, so shall it come to pass: that I will destroy the Assyrian in my land, and I will tread him under foot upon my mountains, and his yoke shall be taken away from them, and his burden shall be taken off their shoulder. This is the counsel that I have purposed upon the whole earth, and this is the hand stretched out over all the nations. For the Lord of hosts has decreed, and who can disannul it? And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it away? In the year that King Ahaz died, this burden came to pass. Do not rejoice, you, all Philistia, that the rod of him that struck you is broken; for out of the root of the serpent shall come forth a basilisk, and his seed shall swallow the flying serpent. And the firstborn of the poor shall be fed, and the poor shall rest with confidence, and I will make your root perish with famine, and I will kill your remnant. Howl, O gate, cry, O city, all Philistia is thrown down; for a smoke shall come from the north, and there shall be none that shall escape his army. And what shall be answered to the messengers of the nation? That the Lord has founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall hope in it."

Exposition

a. In this part he promises the Jews deliverance through the destruction of Babylon, which he threatened above; and it is divided into three parts. In the first he promises deliverance. In the second he foretells the deliverance in the face of the taunting of the oppressors, where it says, "and it shall come to pass in that day," etc. In the third he sets the confirmation of the taunt, where it says, "the seed of the wicked shall not be named," etc. Concerning the first he sets three things. The brevity of the time, "it is near, that its time should come" — to whom all things are present. Or, after our captivity, "its days" — of the captivity: Deuteronomy 32:35, "the day of destruction is at hand, and the time makes haste to come." Second he sets down the manner and order of the deliverance. And first as to the relief of misery, "will have mercy": Micah 7:19, "he will have mercy on us." As to the recovery of divine grace, "and will... choose," namely some: Deuteronomy 7:6, "the Lord has chosen you." As to the restoration of their homeland, "and will make them rest": Ezekiel 34:13, "I will bring them into their own land, and I will feed them in the mountains of Israel." Third he describes the dignity of the delivered, as to the joining of foreigners, "the stranger shall be joined": James 4:8, "draw near to God, and he will draw near to you." As to their honorable reception, "shall take them," namely the Jews, "peoples," among whom they were captive, as it were carrying them: Isaiah 49:22, "and they shall bring your sons in their arms, and carry your daughters upon their shoulders." Or otherwise, as to the bringing of those who adhered to them, "peoples," namely Jews — "shall take" — that is, shall bring back with them — "them," those to be led together with them, who had adhered to them. As to the subjection of enemies, "and... shall possess them," in a reversal of roles: Joel 3:7, "I will return your recompense upon your own head." "And it shall come to pass," etc.: here is set the taunting of the delivered people against the captivity, now destroyed. And first is set the title, or superscription, containing three things: the time, "when the Lord shall give you rest from your labor," by which you labored in warring, "and from your vexation," of captivity, by which you were held in prison, "from... bondage," by which you were oppressed also in the land of your captivity — "you shall take up this parable," that is, a discourse in similitude, which says one thing, and signifies another; for through the things that are said, the condition of Nebuchadnezzar is signified, as to power, guilt, and punishment, on account of which they were able to contain these things, even though they were not literally spoken "concerning the king of Babylon": Micah 2:4, "in that day shall a parable be taken up against you, and a song shall be sung with melody"; Habakkuk 2:6, "shall not all these take up a parable against him?" Second is set the taunting itself, where it says, "how," etc. And first, of the living; second, of the dead, where it says, "hell," etc. The taunting of the living contains three things: his destruction along with the guilt which he committed in the exaction of tributes, "how has the oppressor ceased"; the punishing of men through punishments, "has broken," as it were the loosing of a previously bent bow; the assault against the kingdoms he oppressed, "the rulers": Jeremiah 50:23, "how is the hammer of the whole earth broken and destroyed!" Second, it contains the resulting peace, "is quiet," from that tumult; "is still," from weeping; "is joyful," in its own destruction; "and rejoices," in its own liberation: Psalm 58:11 (var.), "the just shall rejoice when he shall see the revenge." Third, it contains the eagerness of the great ones, "the fir trees also," by which are signified those eminent in dignity — the like is found in Ezekiel 31: "no cedars were higher than it in the paradise of God." "You have slept," the sleep of death. "Cut us down," that is, kill us. "Hell," etc.: here is set the taunt of the dead against Nebuchadnezzar. And first of the princes and powerful; second of others, where it says, "they that shall see you," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets the meeting by those in hell, as to the ministers of these deeds, or officials, "hell," that is, the devils who were put in charge of hell, "below," because hell is below; "was in an uproar," that is, turned into tumult, as if to say, could this have happened? Isaiah 30:12 (var.), "you have trusted in oppression and tumult, and have stayed upon it." Third, as to the other powerful ones running to meet him, "it stirred up... giants," bringing them along to rise up with him. "Giants," as to bodily strength — Isaiah 26:14 (var.), "the dead shall not live, giants shall not rise again." "All the princes of the earth," as to kings, whose thrones they had — "the princes of the nations," as to other powerful ones — but they rise up. "All," namely the infernal giants, "shall answer," as if gathering around him, or as if weeping. Second he sets down their reproach. And they reproach him with three things: namely, the punishment which he encounters — and as to death, "you also are wounded," by death, through divine power; Psalm 89:45 (var.), "you have humbled, as a wounded man, the proud one" — this as to the humbling of the dead; and in soul, "brought down"; and in body, "your carcass is fallen down," of death — also as to the affliction of the dead, in hell, "under you," in which all the punishments of hell are designated; Mark 9:? (var.), "he will give fire, and worms, and their flesh, that they may burn and feel it forever." Second they reproach him with the glory which he had, both as to the dignity of his kingdom, "Lucifer," beautiful among men and other kings, standing before all other monarchs — and as to the power of war, "you are fallen to the earth": Daniel 2:38, "you are the head of gold, O king. And after you shall rise up another kingdom, inferior to you." Third they reproach him with the pride of heart, which he had as to three things: as to prideful thought; second, as to perverse intention, "I will be like"; third, as to the frustration of his purpose, "but yet." Now the thought was pride, because he thought to usurp what is God's, according to the error of the Gentiles, who believed that men were changed into gods, and that from princes there became a star, as is said in 1 Maccabees 11: "our father having been translated among the gods" — he thought also to usurp the divine place, "I will ascend," "above the stars of heaven," as though: as I am above other princes on earth, so I shall be above other stars in heaven. And divine worship, "I will sit" — that is, in the temple of God, which was on Mount Zion, in which was the covenant of the Lord — "in the sides of the north," that is, in Jerusalem, which was on the northern side of the mountain. And a divine act, "above the height of the clouds" — as if he said, that I may thunder, or that the clouds may give forth prophets — "by heaven," the kingdom of the Jews; "by the stars," the Jews shining with the knowledge of God — "I will be like." Behold the perverse intention: Ezekiel 28:9 (var.), "will you yet say... I am God?" "But yet": behold the frustration of the intention. "Into the depth of the pit," that is, into the most diverse punishments: Job 21:13, "they spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to hell." "They that shall see you": here is set the taunting by other common persons. And first he describes their meeting, "all others," "they that shall see you," in punishments, "shall turn toward you" — as if he said, so far below others shall you be, that it will be necessary for them to bend down in order to see you: Wisdom 6:6 (var.), "the mighty shall be mightily tormented." Second he sets down their reproach. And they reproach him with three things. First, the guilt he committed, "troubled," in wars; "shook," by changing rulers; "made the world a wilderness," by exiling men; "the cities," by overthrowing cities; "opened not the prison," that they might see the light — Isaiah 51:? (var.), "they have caused terror in the land of the living." Second, they reproach him with the burial he suffered, since he was cast out of his tomb by his own son, who divided the body into two hundred pieces, and tied it to as many birds gathered from various lands, lest he should rise again — "defiled" with the blood of those you killed: Jeremiah 22:19, "he shall be buried with the burial of an ass." Third, they reproach him with the harm he inflicted on his own kingdom, "you have destroyed," because the Chaldeans would have held the kingdom longer, had it not been for the sins of Nebuchadnezzar — for the people are punished for the sin of the ruler, as is clear in Proverbs, the last chapter, whose reason is, that the people are accustomed to imitate the guilt of the king: Proverbs 29:12, "if a prince hearken willingly to lying words, all his servants shall be wicked." This whole passage is mystically expounded of the devil: he "shakes kingdoms," as a minister of punishment and of guilt, whose power was diminished through Christ, and on the day of judgment shall be dragged down wholly into hell — he who wished to ascend into heaven, and to come to equality with the divine majesty, according to how it is expounded in the Gloss. Note, concerning that saying, "above the stars of God," that the saints are compared to stars, first on account of their number: Psalm 147:4, "he tells the number of the stars"; Daniel 7:10, "thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before him." Second, on account of their place: Sirach 43:9 (var.), "the glory of the stars is the beauty of heaven"; Philippians 3:20, "our conversation is in heaven." Third, on account of their rank: 1 Corinthians 15:41, "star differs from star in glory." Fourth, on account of the brilliance of their splendor: Daniel 12:3, "they that instruct many to justice, as stars for all eternity." Fifth, on account of their ordered motion: Judges 5:20, "the stars remaining in their order... fought against Sisera"; 1 Corinthians 14:40, "let all things be done decently, and according to order." Sixth, on account of their appearance: Sirach 50:6, "as the morning star in the midst of a cloud"; 1 John 3:2, "it has not yet appeared what we shall be." Seventh, on account of the circle of their figure: Revelation 12:1, "a woman appeared in heaven, and on her head a crown of twelve stars," in which is signified the perfection of glory. "Shall not be named," etc.: here he confirms the taunting. And first through the prophet's oracle. Second through the divine purpose, where it says, "and I will rise up," etc. Third through the confirmation of the divine purpose, where it says, "the Lord of hosts," etc. Concerning the first he threatens three things. And first, the loss of the kingdom, "the seed of the wicked," that is, the sons of Nebuchadnezzar, and their sons; "shall not be named forever," that is, shall not increase, "and his name," in the honor of the kingdom. Second, the killing of the sons by Media and Persia, "prepare... for the iniquity," that is, for the iniquity of their fathers. Third, the impossibility of recovery, "nor fill the face" of the world, that is, of Babylon, which was above called "the world": Exodus 20:5, "I am a jealous God, visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children"; Wisdom 4:? (var.), "of the wicked shall be born iniquity." "And I will rise up," etc.: here is set the divine purpose to be accomplished. And first, to destroy Babylon, as to the destruction of men, "against them," namely against the sons of Nebuchadnezzar, "the name of Babylon," that is, the fame of its power. "The remains," the sons; "and the progeny," the grandsons, and so on: Job 18:19, "he shall have no offspring, nor descendants among his people." As to the habitation of wild beasts, "I will make it," etc.: Isaiah 34:15, "there the hedgehog had its hole, and nourished its young, and dug round about, and hatched them in the shadow thereof." As to the destruction of the walls, "I will sweep it," so that only the pavement remains, as in a house, when it is swept with a broom. Second he sets the purpose to destroy the Assyrians, taking an example from this. And first he sets the oath, "has sworn," that is, has immovably decreed, "surely as I have thought," that is, established: Psalm 110:4, "the Lord has sworn, and he will not repent." Second, the place of the destruction, "in my land," because near Jerusalem the army of Sennacherib was destroyed: Isaiah 25... "the Lord shall make on this mountain a feast for all peoples." Third he describes the fruit of the punishment, "shall be taken away": chapter 9, "for the yoke of their burden, and the rod of their shoulder, and the scepter of their oppressor, you have overcome." Third he sets the purpose concerning the destruction of all the peoples, "this counsel, that I have purposed upon the whole earth," to destroy, as to deliberation; "his hand," that is, his power, as to execution: Jeremiah 25:15, "take the cup of wine of this fury at my hand." Or, "the whole earth" to be protected from the Assyrians, "and this is the hand stretched out," which was destroyed. And thus shall be the fruit of the punishment in all the nations. "The Lord of hosts," etc.: here he shows the firmness of the divine purpose: as to the decree of wisdom, "has decreed"; and as to the fulfillment of power, "and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it away?": Job 23:13, "he is alone, and no man can turn away his thought; and whatsoever his soul has willed, that has he done." "In the year": here he threatens against the enemies who rejoiced over the affliction of the Jews. And first, against the Philistines, who rejoiced at their diminishment through the death of Hezekiah. Second, against the Moabites, who rejoiced at their destruction through the Assyrians, or the Chaldeans, chapter 15, "the burden of Moab," etc. The first into two. In the first is set the time of the threat, "in the year," in which time the Philistines had occupied certain cities of the kingdom of the Jews, as is said in 2 Chronicles 28. And nonetheless Ahaz resisted them; and therefore at his death they rejoiced, as though now free to harass the Jews. Second is set the threat, "do not rejoice." And first he threatens the affliction which they suffered under the Assyrians, where it says, "howl," etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First he excludes their foolish gladness, "do not rejoice," about this, because "the rod," that is, the power, "of him that struck you," that is, Ahaz, "is broken," through death; Ecclesiastes 2:2 (var.), "laughter I counted error." Second he threatens an increase of punishment, "for out of the root of the serpent shall come forth a basilisk" — as if he said, as the basilisk, which is also called the regulus, harms more than another serpent, because even by sight and breath it kills not only animals but even flying birds — whence, "shall swallow the flying serpent" — so shall Hezekiah, son of Ahaz, afflict you more grievously: "my father laid upon you a heavy yoke, I will add to it" (2 Chronicles 10, var.). Third he foretells the effect of the punishment. And "in all things," as to the usefulness of the land, "and... shall be fed," that is, the firstborn, that is, the Jews, of whom Exodus 4:22, "Israel is my firstborn." And as to the security of peace, "with confidence": below, chapter 32, "my people shall sit in the beauty of peace, in the tabernacles of confidence." And the effect upon the Philistines by contrast, namely of famine, against the first, "your root," that is, your very foundations, who ought to have provided aid to others. And "everyone that shall be slain," against the second, "and your remnant," by Hezekiah; "I will kill," through the Assyrians and the Chaldeans: below, chapter 65, "behold, my servants shall drink, and you shall be thirsty." "Howl," etc.: here he threatens destruction by the Assyrians. And first he threatens their destruction. Second, the deliverance of the Jews, "and what shall be answered," etc. Concerning the first, three things are set down. First he threatens natural destruction, "gate," that is, the judges sitting in the gates: Jeremiah 8:19, "the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people... is heard because of the multitude of the army, for the dust." "From the north," on account of the location of the Assyrians relative to the Philistines: Jeremiah 1:14, "out of the north shall an evil break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land." Third, the impossibility of escape, "and there shall be none that shall escape": Lamentations 2:? (var.), "he did not remember, in the day of his fury, the footstool of his feet." "And what shall be answered": here he promises deliverance. And first he sets the question, "the messengers," angels, or those set over various provinces, solicitously inquiring about their state; or "messengers" sent to console Judah, as is read of Jeremiah 41. Second is set the response, "that the Lord has founded Zion," that is, he has confirmed his protection over you.

Chapter 15

Text

a. "The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab was laid waste, it is brought to silence; because in the night the wall of Moab was laid waste, it is brought to silence. The house is gone up, and Dibon to the high places, to weeping; upon Nebo, and upon Medaba, Moab shall howl; on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard shall be shaven. In their streets they are girded with sackcloth; on the tops of their houses, and in their streets everyone shall howl, coming down in weeping. Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh, their voice is heard even to Jahaz; for this the armed men of Moab shall howl, his soul shall howl to itself. My heart shall cry to Moab, its bars shall cry even to Zoar, a heifer of three years old. For by the ascent of Luhith, they shall go up weeping; and in the way of Horonaim they shall lift up a cry of destruction. For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate, for the grass is withered, the springing plant has failed, all the greenness has perished. According to the greatness of their affliction, so also is their visitation. They shall lead them to the torrent of the willows, for a cry has gone round about the border of Moab: the howling thereof unto Eglaim, and its cry even to the well of Elim, for the waters of Dibon are filled with blood; for I will bring more upon Dibon: a lion to them that shall escape of Moab, and to the remnant of the land."

Exposition

a. In this part he threatens against the Moabites, who descended from Moab, the firstborn of Lot (Genesis 19), because they rejoiced at the destruction of the children of Israel by the Assyrians and the Chaldeans — by whom, however, they themselves were destroyed, though afterward; and it is divided into two parts. In the first he threatens destruction. In the second, the manner of destruction, where it says, "send," chapter 16. The first into two. In the first he threatens destruction through the Assyrians. In the second, through the Babylonians, where it says, "to the torrent," etc. The first into three. In the first he designates, from their grief, the greatness of the punishment. In the second, the manner and order of the punishment, where it says, "the house is gone up," etc. In the third, the reason for its greatness, where it says, "according to the greatness," etc. Now he shows the greatness of the grief as to three things: namely, through stunned silence; through the weeping of grief, where it says, "the house is gone up," etc.; through the compassion of enemies, where it says, "my heart," etc. Now their stupor comes from the loss of those things in which one trusts. Now they trusted in their royal city, from which they hoped for aid, and in fortifications; and therefore he says, "the burden of Moab," that is, this is the vision concerning the burden of Moab, that is, concerning the province of the Moabites — "it is brought to silence," from stupor, "for Ar," the royal city, "was laid waste in the night." Literally, on account of grievous tribulation. And because the wall and fortification were laid waste in the night, "Moab is brought to silence," as though thieves had broken in. "The house is gone up," etc.: here he shows the greatness of the weeping. And he sets three things. First he foretells the weeping; and as to those weeping, "the house," namely the royal house, that is, its nobles. "Dibon," a certain city. And as to the place, "is gone up to weeping," that is, to weep, "to the high places," in which they sacrificed to idols, that by lamenting they might seek help. And as to the matter, "Moab," the whole province, "shall howl over Nebo, and over Medaba," certain cities which had been destroyed: John 11:? "make yourself a mourning as for an only son." Second he describes the manner of lamenting, according to the custom of the ancients, who, nourishing beard and hair in time of gladness, would remove them in time of sorrow, as is had in Job: "with his head shaved, he fell upon the ground" — "on all their heads shall be baldness": above, chapter 3, "instead of curled hair, baldness." Third the extent of the weeping is set forth. And as to the diversity of places, "for... everyone," that is, in every way, "shall howl, on the tops of their houses," which had flat roofs for sitting, "and in their streets he shall come down in weeping," from the heights to which weeping had gone up, so that the weeping is both on the mountains and in the valleys, "Heshbon shall cry weeping, and Elealeh," which are cities, or rather territories of the kingdom of Moab; "their voice is heard even to Jahaz," which is another of its cities. And as to the diversity of those weeping, "for this," this evil, "the armed men," namely, for fighting — not only, however, the old men, and also together with the others, but even, "his soul shall howl to itself," when it stands alone, because lamenting proceeds from the innermost heart: Jeremiah 48:38, "upon every roof of Moab, and in its streets, there shall be lamentation." Note, concerning that saying, "in the night the wall was laid waste," that night signifies darkness. First, of the original stain: Job 3:3, "let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said: A man is conceived." Second, of actual guilt: 1 Thessalonians 5:7, "they that sleep, sleep in the night." Third, of unbelieving ignorance: Romans 13:12, "the night is past, and the day is at hand." Second, night has horror. First, of the expectation of oppression: Job 27:20 (var.), "a tempest shall oppress him in the night." Second, of present affliction: Proverbs 31:18, "her lamp shall not be put out in the night." Third, of eternal damnation: Wisdom 17:17 (var.), "fettered with the bonds of darkness and a long night... lay there exiled from the eternal providence." Third, night has the quiet of contemplation. In which, first, there is the desire of burning love: Isaiah 26:9, "my soul has desired you in the night." Second, the sacrifice of due confession: Psalm 119:62, "I rose at midnight to give praise to you." Third, the silence of divine consolation: Wisdom 18:14-15, "for while all things were in quiet silence, and the night was in the midst of her course, your almighty word, O Lord, leaped down from heaven, from your royal throne." "My heart": here he shows the greatness of the punishment from the compassion of enemies, because the prophet himself grieved along with them. "To Moab," that is, for the affliction of Moab: Jeremiah 48:32 (var.), "I will weep for you." "Its bars": here he describes the manner and order of the punishment. And he sets three things. First, the devastation of the land, "its bars," that is, its strength, "are deserted," "even to Zoar," one of the cities destroyed: Genesis 19, which was in the land of Moab. "A heifer," on account of luxury, "of three years old," that is, when animals are in their full strength and vigor. Or, "consternantem" [dismaying], because at the third shock of an earthquake it collapsed, upon Lot's departure: Jeremiah 46:20, "Egypt is like a fair and beautiful heifer." Second, the captivity of men, "for by the ascent of Luhith," a certain slope, or a certain quarter, from which the captives were led — "they shall go up weeping, captives led away," "and in the way of Horonaim," a certain city of Moab, through which they were led, "they shall lift up a cry of destruction": Nahum 3:? "he is led away captive." Third, the barrenness of the fields, "for the waters," that is, the land of Moab, "shall be desolate," like a marsh, near the town of Nimrim, which is near the sea on account of its salty and bitter waters. This indeed is not on account of the waters, but by God's judgment; "the grass," already sprung up; likewise "the springing plant," as to those things which were budding; "the greenness" of the trees already grown: Psalm 106:? (var.), "he turned rivers into a wilderness." "According to the greatness," etc.: here is set the reason for the greatness of the punishment, the greatness of the sin's work. Ezekiel... Deuteronomy: "according to the measure of the sin shall be also the measure of the stripes." "To the torrent," etc.: here he threatens destruction through the Babylonians, in which some were taken captive. And as to this he says, "the Chaldeans shall lead them to the torrent," the Euphrates, near Babylonia, "which grow up near the river": Psalm 137:1, "upon the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept." Some were killed; and as to this he says, "for a cry has gone round," of the teeth, or the fighting Chaldeans, "for the waters of Dibon," name of a city, in whose waters, on account of the pleasantness of the places, they indulged their luxuries: 2 Kings 24, "the Moabites made incursion into Dibon." Some remaining were afflicted by various persecutions: "for I will bring upon Dibon," to which the Jews had fled, this, "more," namely, other peoples, "who shall be of Moab," from the Assyrians, "and to the remnant of the land," whom the Assyrians left. "Lion," literally, wild beasts killing them, or a raging enemy, namely the Chaldeans: above, chapter 9, "for all this my fury is not turned away."

Chapter 16

Text

a. "Send forth, O Lord, the lamb, the ruler of the land, from the rock of the desert to the mount of the daughter of Zion. And it shall come to pass, as a bird fleeing away, and as young ones flying out of the nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be in the passage of Arnon. Take counsel, gather a council; make your shadow as the night in the midday; hide them that flee, and betray not them that wander about. My fugitives shall dwell with you, O Moab; be a covert to them from the face of the destroyer, for the dust is at an end, the wretched one is consumed, he that trod down the land has failed. 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 that which is just. We have heard of the pride of Moab, he is exceeding proud; his pride, and his arrogance, and his indignation are more than his strength. Therefore shall Moab howl to Moab, everyone shall howl; to them that rejoice over the brick walls of the city, tell you their stripes, for the suburbs of Heshbon are desolate, and they have destroyed the vineyard of Sibmah, the Lord of the nations has cut down its branches, which have reached even to Jazer; they have wandered in the wilderness, its shoots are left, they have gone over the sea. For this I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer, the vineyard of Sibmah; I will water you with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh, for the voice of the treaders has rushed in upon your vintage, and upon your harvest. And joy and rejoicing shall be taken away from Carmel, and there shall be no rejoicing nor shouting in the vineyards. He shall not tread out wine that was wont to tread it in the winepress; the voice of the treaders I have taken away. For this my heart shall sound like a harp to Moab, and my inward parts to the brick wall. And it shall come to pass, that when it shall appear that Moab has labored upon his high places, he shall go in to his sanctuaries to pray, and shall not prevail. This is the word which the Lord spoke to Moab of old. And now the Lord has spoken, saying: In three years, as the years of a hireling, the glory of Moab shall be taken away, for all the multitude of the people, and it shall be left small and feeble, in no way many."

Exposition

a. Here he describes the condition of the punishment. And he sets down two conditions. First, equity on the part of the judge. Second, deception on the part of the sufferer, where it says, "and it shall come to pass, that when it shall appear," etc. Now the equity of the punishment is arranged from the preceding guilt; and therefore he sets forth the guilt. And he sets a twofold guilt. First, against the precept of a promised benefit. Second, against the precept of wholesome counsel given, where it says, "take counsel," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. In the first he promises the benefit of Christ to be born of their nation, that from this they might receive some consolation — for Ruth, a Moabite, married Boaz, from whom she conceived Obed, father of Jesse, father of David, of whom Christ was born, as is said at the end of Ruth. And therefore he says, "O Lord, send forth" — "the lamb," Christ, John 1:29 — "from the rock of the desert," from Ruth the Gentile, whose people is a people of stone — worshipping stone gods, and on this account deserted by God — "to the mount," Jerusalem, on which he was killed, and rose again. Or the Church. "The ruler": Revelation 4:9, "they gave glory, and honor, and blessing to him that sits upon the throne." Second is set the punishment of those who despise, "it shall come to pass, as a bird, and as young ones flying out of the nest" — whence they fled, or because they were led captive: above, chapter 10, "my hand has found... the strength of the peoples as a nest." Others here wish, though it is strained, to expound it literally of the tribute of lambs which the king of Moab had withheld from the king of Israel, as is said in 2 Kings 3, which is foretold by the prophet to be restored to the king of Jerusalem. "Ruler," as a sign of dominion, "from the rock of the desert," a place where sheep were fed. "Take counsel," etc.: here he orders the punishment against the contempt of the counsel given; and it is divided into three parts. In the first he sets the counsel. In the second, the contempt of the counsel, where it says, "we have heard," etc. In the third, the punishment of those who despise it, where it says, "therefore," etc. Concerning the first he sets three things. First he exhorts to deliverance, "take counsel" — as if he said, deliberate how you may be able to be saved. "Counsel" is the question itself, which is turned over among those deliberating; "council" is the gathering of counsels. "Gather," as it were, having a strict counsel: Proverbs 11:14 (var.), "where there are many counsels, there is safety"; Sirach 32:24 (var.), "do all things with counsel, and after the deed you will not repent." Second he sets forth the tenor of the counsel, "make... as the night," in which he exhorts to two things. To the reception of fleeing Jews, that he provide a place of concealment: "make... as the night," that is, prepare to hide them, as if by day it were as if by night. Or, "at midday," in the midst of persecution, that he hide the fleeing. "Betray not," that is, having hidden them, do not reveal them; "them that wander about." He also exhorts that he friendlily sustain the fleeing, "shall dwell": below, chapter 32, "and a man shall be as when one is hid from the wind, and hides himself from a storm." Third he assigns the reason, where it says, "the dust is at an end," etc. And first he sets it as to the destruction of enemies, that they lay aside their fear, "for the dust," the multitude of Sennacherib's army, "is consumed," that is, is killed by his own sons, "the destroyer," Sennacherib. Below, chapter 33... "he has failed," as to power.

Second, as to the restoration of the Jews, that they may act more willingly. As to the preparation of the kingdom, "shall be prepared." "In mercy" — that is, of a merciful king, "a throne" — the kingdom of Judah. As to the power of the king, "he shall sit," because he shall reign in quiet; as to the equity of judgment, "in truth"; as to the pronouncing of sentence, "judging"; as to the discussion of causes, "seeking"; as to the execution of sentence, "and quickly rendering." And this can be expounded of Hezekiah, or of Christ: above, chapter 9, "he shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom." Note, concerning that saying, "send forth the lamb," that Christ is called a lamb, first, on account of the purity of his life: Exodus 12:5, "it shall be a lamb without blemish, a male, of one year." Second, on account of the meekness of his death: below, chapter 53, "he shall be led as a lamb to the slaughter, and shall not open his mouth." Third, on account of the expiation of sin: John 1:29, "behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world." Note, concerning that saying, "from the rock of the desert," that the Blessed Virgin is called a rock, first on account of the firmness of grace: Sirach 24:14 (var.), "eternal foundations." Second, on account of the coldness of continence: below, chapter 32, "as the shadow of a projecting rock in a desert land." Third, on account of the abundance of fruit: Job 29:6, "the rock poured out for me rivers of oil." And note that this rock was singular in the desert: because chief as to the first — Song of Solomon 4:7, "you are all fair, my love" — second, because first as to fragrance — Song of Solomon 1:3, "we will run after the odor of your ointments" — a virgin as to the third — above, chapter 7, "behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son." Note, concerning that saying, "send forth," namely, you, O Father, the Son — for the Father sent the Son, first, as a ray sends forth: Sirach 43:4 (var.), "the sun three times heats the mountains." Second, as a fountain sends forth a stream. Third, as through the Son: John 3:16, "so God loved the world, as to give his only-begotten Son." "We have heard," etc.: here is set the contempt of the counsel proceeding from pride. Now he describes their pride as to three things. First as to its publication, "we have heard," as it were publicly known. As to its extent, "he is exceeding proud." As to how it exceeds his own worth, "his pride," because he exalts himself over the good things he has. "And his arrogance," which he claims without having them; "his indignation," in which he presumptuously threatens vengeance, "more than his strength." "Therefore," etc.: here he sets the punishment of those who despise. And first, the persons to be punished, "Moab to Moab," namely to the lion, of which enough is said above, chapter 15. Second he describes the manner of punishment, "to them that rejoice" — "tell you their stripes," they boast, and trust in fortifications built of brick walls: Ezekiel 33:6, "if the watchman see the sword coming, and blow not the trumpet, and the people take no heed... and the sword come, and take any person from among them, he indeed is taken away in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at the watchman's hand." Second is set the description of the punishment as to the destruction of the lands, "Heshbon," a city in whose lands wheat abounded; "Sibmah," a city in which wine abounded. As to the strength of the enemies, "the Lord of the nations," that is, the Assyrians, or the Chaldeans, who ruled many nations; "branches," that is, the shoots which are at the top of the vine, by which are figuratively signified princes and the exalted. "Even to Jazer," setting its boundary, which is at its farthest limits — as to the affliction of men, "wandered," "they wandered": Psalm 107:4, "they wandered in a wilderness, in a place without water." As to the misery of those remaining, "shoots," which remain in a vine cut down by the branches, without fruit and beauty: Daniel 4:? "the offshoot of its roots in the earth." As to the removal of the captives, "have gone over," the Moabite sea, led captive into Babylon. Or, "sea," that is, the Euphrates, according to custom; Joel 3:8, "they shall sell them to the Sabaeans, a nation far off." Or it is expounded of the Assyrians crossing the sea, coming to destroy. Third is set the prophet's compassion. And first is set compassion for this, namely the evil of Moab, "I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer," that is, of that city of Moab; and likewise also, "the vineyard of Sibmah, and Elealeh." Second is set the reason for the compassion, as to the assault of the enemies, "the treaders," that is, of the Assyrians laying waste. And as to the joy taken away from them which they had in the abundance of grain, "from Carmel," that is, from its fertility — for there is a Carmel in Moab, since the Jews use proper names as common ones — the joy they had in the abundance of wine, "in the winepress." Third is drawn, as it were, a conclusion by reason of this, upon this misfortune, "my heart" — that is, my feeling — "shall sound like a harp," fitting entirely for lamentation. Or because a harp increases joy for the joyful, and sorrow for the sorrowful. Or on account of concord, by the power of the prophet. "And it shall come to pass," etc.: here he shows the cause of their frustration. "Upon his high places," that is, concerning the idols to which he sacrificed on the high places, and to which he sacrificed in temples — of what use were these when they were in their fears? Deuteronomy 32:37, "where are their gods, in whom they trusted?" "This is the word," etc.: here is the epilogue, "of old," from the death of King Ahaz. "And now": here he shows the brevity of the time. "In three years," which were until your destruction, from the death of Ahaz. In his time was the vision of this second word. Or, the years in which your persecution, or assault, would last, "as the years of a hireling," because after this the Lord will repay you the reward for your deeds. Or, those things which seem great are hirelings, and small to the Lord: Job 7:1, "the life of man upon earth is a warfare, and his days are like the days of a hireling."

Chapter 17

Text

a. "The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus shall cease to be a city, and shall be as a ruinous heap of stones. The cities of Aroer shall be forsaken for flocks, and they shall rest there, and there shall be none to make them afraid. And help shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Syria shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, says the Lord of hosts. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall grow lean. And it shall be as when one gathers in the harvest that which remains, and his arm shall gather the ears of corn; and it shall be as one that gleans ears in the valley of Rephaim. And there shall be left in it as a gleaning grape, and as the shaking of the olive tree: two or three berries in the top of a bough, or four or five upon the topmost branches thereof, says the Lord God of Israel. In that day man shall bow himself down to his Maker, and his eyes shall look toward the Holy One of Israel; and he shall not turn to the altars which his hands have made, nor shall he look to the things which his fingers have wrought, the groves and the temples. In that day the cities of his strength shall be forsaken, as plows and cornfields which were forsaken before the children of Israel, and you shall be desolate. Because you have forgotten God your savior, and have not been mindful of your strong helper: therefore you shall plant a faithless planting, and shall sow a strange seed. In the day of your planting shall be wild grapes, and in the morning your seed shall flourish. The harvest is taken away in the day of inheritance, and it shall grieve grievously. Woe to the multitude of many people, like the multitude of the roaring sea, and the tumult of crowds, like the noise of many waters. Nations shall sound like the noise of overflowing waters, and he shall rebuke it, and it shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the dust of the mountains before the wind, and like a whirlwind before a tempest. In the time of evening, and behold trouble; in the morning, and it shall not be. This is the portion of them that have wasted us, and the lot of them that spoiled us."

Exposition

a. Here he begins to threaten against those who prepared for the people of God an occasion of sin, in that, trusting in their own help, they did not care to trust in God; and it is divided into two. In the first against the Syrians, who furnished help to the people of the ten tribes. In the second against the Egyptians, who furnished it to the two tribes, chapter 19, "woe to the land," etc. The first into three. In the first he threatens the destruction of the Syrians who promised aid. In the second, of the ten tribes trusting in the aid given, where it says, "and it shall come to pass in that day," etc. In the third, of the Assyrians destroying both, where it says, "woe to the multitude," etc. Concerning the first two things: first he threatens destruction; second he describes the effect of the destruction, where it says, "and help shall cease," etc. Now he threatens destruction first as to the royal city, "Damascus shall cease to be a city," through the depopulation of men; "shall be as a ruinous heap," through the destruction of buildings: Micah 1:6 (var.), "Samaria shall become as a heap." Second as to the surrounding region, "Aroer," that is, of that region of Syria in which many cities are found. Or, "Aroer," a shrub, as it were, denoting places in which tamarisks abound, which are barren, and left for the pasture of flocks — thus the cities of Syria. "There shall be none," because on account of solitude even robbers will not be there; or because they will not be useful for any other purpose. "As flocks are turned out to pasture," and places abandoned: below, chapter 32, "nettles shall grow up in their houses." "And help shall cease," etc.: here is set the effect of the destruction. And first among the ten tribes, "from Ephraim." Second as to the royal city, "and the kingdom from Damascus shall cease," and there shall no longer be a head of the kingdom. Third as to the whole region, "and the remnant of Syria shall be as the glory," ironically — that is, they shall be shameful, as were the children of Israel: below, chapter 31, "Egypt shall lean upon its own hand, and it shall fail." "And it shall come to pass in that day," etc.: here he threatens the destruction of the ten tribes who trusted in their aid. And first as to the oppression of men. Second as to the desolation of cities, where it says, "in that day... the cities," etc. Third as to the barrenness of the fields, where it says, "therefore you shall plant," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he threatens punishment. Second he shows the fruit of the punishment, where it says, "in that day man shall bow himself down," etc. Now he threatens punishment upon men. First against the glory of their elation, "shall be made thin," that is, reduced to a small and almost nothing amount, "the glory," those things being destroyed in which they gloried. Second, against the opulence of riches, "and the fatness," that is, the riches by which the flesh was luxuriously nourished: above, chapter 10, "therefore the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall send leanness among his fat ones," and below in the same chapter, "behold, the sovereign Lord of hosts shall break the earthen vessel." Third, against the abundance of the people he threatens a scarcity of men, which he describes under a threefold metaphor, according to the threefold blessing of Jacob's abundance, Genesis 27: abundance of grain, of wine, and of oil. As to the first he sets the scarcity of ears of corn after the reaping, which are either gathered by the reaper himself, or so. "And it shall be" — the scarcity of the remnant of the ten tribes, "as when one gathers in the harvest," what remains, in the first reaping. "And his arm," of those gathered — "shall gather the ears of corn," that is, shall collect. And this gatherer was Hezekiah, who summoned the remnant of the ten tribes, as is read in 2 Chronicles 30. As it were, ears left behind, gathered by some gleaner, as Ruth said, "I will go into the field, and glean the ears of corn"; and as to this he says, "as one gathers ears in the valley of Rephaim," a certain most fertile valley. Against the abundance of wine he sets the scarcity of grapes after the vintage; "and there shall be left in it, as a gleaning grape": Micah 7:1, "woe is me, for I am become as one that gleans grapes in the vintage, when there are no clusters left to eat." Against the abundance of oil he sets the scarcity of olives after the shaking, "and as the shaking of the olive tree." "Olea," as Papias says, is the fruit of the olive; but here, according to the exposition of the Gloss, it seems to be put for the tree itself, "two or three berries in the top of a bough": Psalm 105:12, "men easily numbered." Note, concerning that saying, "and the fatness of his flesh," that riches are called fatness, first on account of instability: Matthew 13:22, "the deceitfulness of riches." Second on account of puffed-up vanity: 1 Timothy 6:17, "charge the rich of this world not to be high-minded, nor to trust in the uncertainty of riches." Third on account of uselessness: Ecclesiastes 5:12 (var.), "riches kept to the hurt of the owner." "In that day," etc.: here he sets down the fruit of the punishment, "he shall bow himself down to his Maker," rendering the due service of worship. "Man," whoever of the ten tribes shall have fled to Hezekiah, "shall look toward the Holy One of Israel," expecting some help. "He shall not look" to groves or temples, in which there were altars set up, as if to worship: below, chapter 31, "in that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold... then your walls shall fall by the sword." "In that day," etc.: here he threatens the desolation of cities. And first he threatens that same desolation, "as plows." History is touched upon: how, at the coming of the children of Israel, the Amorites fled, leaving everything in the fields: above, chapter 1, "your land is desolate, your cities burnt with fire." Second is set the reason for the desolation, "and you shall be desolate, because you have forgotten God your savior": Deuteronomy 32:18, "you have forsaken the God that begot you, and have forgotten the Lord your Creator." "Therefore you shall plant," etc.: here he threatens the barrenness of the fruits; and concerning this he does three things. First he shows the useless labor of cultivation as to the vineyards. "You shall plant a faithless planting," since it will not yield fruit corresponding to the labor. Or, "faithless" is ironic — as if he said, on account of the evils you have done, will your planting be faithful? As to the fields, "a strange seed," which others will gather: above, chapter 5, "ten acres of vineyard shall yield one small measure." Second as to the loss of the fruits, "in the day of your planting shall be wild grapes," that is, when you ought to have taken fruit from the planting — this as to the vineyards. But as to the fields, "in the morning your seed shall flourish," that is, first it shall be beautiful, that you may grieve the more; or because it shall flourish before its time, and will be useless: Proverbs 20:21, "an inheritance gotten hastily in the beginning, in the end shall be without a blessing." "The harvest is taken away," by enemies, "in the day of inheritance," when it ought to have been stored in the barn as the fruit of inheritance: Jeremiah 12:13, "they have sown wheat, and reaped thorns." Third he threatens sorrow for the loss, "it shall grieve," he who sowed; or, you shall grieve. "Woe to the multitude," etc.: here he threatens against the army of the Assyrians; and concerning this he sets three things. First he describes the multitude of the army as to the noise of those marching. "Woe to the multitude of many peoples," coming with Sennacherib. As to the tumult of those speaking together, "tumult," which is confused speech, especially of many. As to the shout of those fighting, in battle: above, chapter 8, "behold, the Lord will bring upon them the waters of the river, strong and many"; Jeremiah 6:23, "their voice roars like the sea"; Revelation 17:15, "the waters... are peoples." Third he threatens destruction. Concerning which first is set the destruction itself, "and he shall rebuke it," killing the army through the angel; "and it shall flee far off," into their own land, with few remaining, as above is had in Psalm 9:5, "you have rebuked the nations, and the wicked one has perished." Second is set a simile corresponding to their condition, since they were proud, "as the dust of the mountains": Psalm 1:4, "like the dust which the wind drives away from the face of the earth" — and corresponding to the time, "and like a whirlwind," because it was by night that his army was struck, which he calls a tempest, whose forerunner in the dust is the whirlwind of winds, which are the cause of rain: 2 Kings 19:35, "in that night the angel of the Lord came, and struck the army of the Assyrians." Third is set the consummation of the destruction, "and it shall not be," because he himself was killed: Ezekiel 24:? "he was made a wonder." Fourth is set the reason for the destruction, "this is the portion of them that have wasted us," that is, our possessions; "and the lot," of those who plundered our movable goods: Psalm 11:? "fire, brimstone, and a burning wind," is the portion of their cup. Note, concerning that saying, "his eyes shall look toward the Holy One of Israel," that eyes must be inclined toward the Lord, first through the adherence of faith: below, chapter 30, "your eyes shall see your teacher." Second, on account of the expectation of hope: Psalm 145:15 (var.), "the eyes of all hope in you, O Lord." Third, on account of the contemplation of love: Job 39:29, "from thence she beholds her prey, and her eyes look far off." Fourth, on account of the enjoyment of glory: Matthew 13:16, "blessed are the eyes that see the things you see." Note, concerning that saying, "a faithless planting," that it is the planting first of the covetous: Ecclesiastes 5:9 (var.), "he that loves riches shall reap no fruit from them." Second, of the wanton: Romans 6:21, "what fruit had you then in those things of which you are now ashamed?" Third, of the proud: Wisdom 5:8, "what has our pride profited us?"

Chapter 18

Text

a. "Woe to the land, the winged cymbal, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, which sends ambassadors by the sea, and in vessels of papyrus upon the waters. Go, you swift angels, to a nation rent and torn to pieces; to a terrible people, after which there is no other; to a nation looked for and trodden underfoot, whose land the rivers have spoiled: to the mount of the name of the Lord of hosts, mount Zion. All you inhabitants of the world, who dwell on the earth, when the sign shall be lifted up on the mountains, you shall see, and you shall hear the sound of the trumpet. For thus says the Lord to me: I will rest, and consider in my place, as the clear heat after rain, and as a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. For before the harvest it was all flourishing, and an unripe fruit shall bud, and the sprigs thereof shall be cut off with pruning hooks, and what is left shall be cut off and shaken out. And they shall be left together for the birds of the mountains, and for the beasts of the earth, and the birds shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them. At that time shall a gift be brought to the Lord of hosts, from a people rent and torn to pieces, from a terrible people, after which there is no other; from a nation looked for and trodden underfoot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, mount Zion."

Exposition

a. Here he threatens against the Egyptians. And first he threatens their punishment by comparison to the merit of the punishment. In the second he pursues the manner of the punishment, chapter 19, "the burden of Egypt," etc. In the third he designates the time of the punishment, chapter 20, "in the year," etc. Concerning the first he sets three things. First he designates the guilt, which is the merit of the punishment. Second he threatens punishment, where it says, "all you inhabitants," etc. Third he shows the fruit of the punishment, where it says, "at that time," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he describes the situation of the land in which they proudly trusted, saying, "woe" — that is, is imminent — "to the land," Egypt, "the winged cymbal," on account of the sound of the Nile, whose swiftness is compared to the motion of wings on account of its swiftness; or on account of the multitude of the people, or on account of the help of protection which they promised to the people of the two tribes. "Which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia," that is, beyond the Nile, which comes from Ethiopia: Ezekiel 29:3, "behold, I come against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, you great dragon that lies in the midst of your rivers." This, however, the Jews expound of the Gog who dwell beyond Ethiopia, against whom the prophet testifies, Ezekiel 38. Second he describes the help which they promised to the two tribes. And first he describes the manner of announcing it, saying, "which," namely the Egyptian people, "sends ambassadors," that is, messengers, to the two tribes, "by the sea," that is, over the sea, "and upon the waters" of the river, or of the sea, "in vessels of papyrus," a kind of reed of which chests were made for carrying letters; or reeds so large that ships were made of them, as is read in the history of Alexander — from "pyr," which is fire. Second he sets the command given to the legation, in which he determines two things. First the manner of announcing, saying, "go," that is, O my messengers, "swift," that is, quickly. Second the motive for the one acting, namely of the two tribes, which he shows to be pitiable from four things. First from the greatness of the affliction, "rent," from its own stability, through subjugation; "and torn to pieces," through the affliction of punishments. Second from its former dignity, "terrible," formerly, "after which there is no other," the firmness of its power; but now, "looked for," foreign help; "trodden underfoot," as it were reduced to vileness. Third from the power, or iniquity, of the enemies, "whose... have spoiled," unjustly, "the rivers," the kingdom of the Assyrians. Fourth from the holiness of the place, "to the mount." Now they are punished because they drew them away from the worship of God: Ezekiel 29:16, "and the house of Israel shall no more have confidence... teaching iniquity." "All you inhabitants of the world," etc.: here he threatens punishment; and concerning this he does two things. First he sets the evidence of the punishment, "you shall see," that is, it will be known to you, "the sign," the standard of Nebuchadnezzar: Jeremiah 46:12, "the nations have heard of your disgrace, and your howling has filled the land." Or the multitude of the enemies, "you shall see," those existing in his army: Ezekiel 7:? "I will bring the worst of the nations, and they shall possess their houses." Second he takes away confidence in divine defense. "For thus says the Lord." And first, because he will withdraw from them the help of his own defense, "I will rest," not helping them, "and consider," that is, I will see what you can do: Deuteronomy 32:20, "I will consider their last end." Second, because he will offer help of assault to their enemies, as to counsel in doubtful matters, "as the clear heat," so clearly shall be shown to them what they must do. As to relief in their labors, "and as a cloud of dew": Psalm 89:42 (var. "exaltasti dexteram"), "you have exalted the right hand of them that afflict him, you have made all his enemies glad." Third, where it says, "before the harvest," he describes the punishment metaphorically, namely through the destruction of the fruit in a field. And he sets three things. First as to the loss of the fruit, which is lost in flower. "For before the harvest it was all" flourishing. Likewise Egypt, before it had power, showed the flower of its glory, of which Isaiah 40:6 (var.), "all its glory is as the flower of the field." It is also lost in the bud, when the moisture from which fruit is to come is not yet mature, "and an unripe fruit shall bud." Likewise Egypt presumed beyond the power it had. It is also lost in the fruit, when the branches in which the fruits are, are cut off, "shall be cut off," before the maturing of the fruit: Job 15:33 (var.), "he shall be blasted as a vine when its flower is first budding"; Proverbs 13:11 (var.), "substance hastily gathered shall be diminished." Second he sets down the taking away of the remaining fruits. "What is left," having been perfected by the Egyptians, "shall be cut off," from its own stability, "and shaken out," from its place, by the Chaldeans: Isaiah 24:13, "as if a few olives that remain should be shaken from the olive tree." Third he sets the desertion of the field itself, "and they shall be left together," like an untilled field, in which is signified the slaughter of men, after many wild beasts have been in the land of Egypt: Ezekiel 39:17, "thus says the Lord God: Speak to every fowl, and to all the beasts of the field: Assemble yourselves, make haste, come together on every side to my victim," etc. "At that time," etc.: here is set the fruit of the punishment, "a gift shall be brought," namely the people of the two tribes, trusting in God, and shall invoke his help with an offering of gifts; above, chapter 10, "in that day the remnant of Israel... shall lean no more upon him that strikes them, but shall lean upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel" — "from a people rent and torn to pieces," etc., to be expounded as above in this same chapter, near the beginning. Note, concerning that saying, "an unripe fruit shall bud," that there is a manifold perfection. First, of nature: Genesis 2:1, "so the heavens... were finished." Second, of knowledge: Job 22:2 (var.), "can man be compared with God, even when he shall have perfect knowledge?" Third, of grace: 1 John 4:18, "perfect charity casts out fear." Fourth, of glory: 1 Corinthians 13:10, "but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away." Note, concerning that saying, "the sprigs thereof," that there is a sprig, first, of wicked prelacy: Ecclesiastes 10:16, "woe to you, O land, whose king is a child, and whose princes eat in the morning." Second, of doctrinal error: Jude 1:10, "but what things soever they know not, these they blaspheme," etc. Third, of presumptuous opinion: Romans 12:3, "according as God has divided to every one the measure of faith," etc. Fourth, of present consolation: Luke 16:25, "remember that you received good things in your lifetime." Note, concerning that saying, "a gift shall be brought," that a gift is manifold: first, of fervent love: Proverbs 21:14, "a secret gift quenches anger, and a bribe in the bosom, the greatest wrath." Second, of the devotion of prayer: Psalm 141:2, "let my prayer be directed as incense in your sight." Third, of perfect work: Malachi 3:8 (var.), "tithes have you withheld from me." Fourth, of due oblation: Psalm 76:11 (var.), "vow, and pay to the Lord your God, all you that are round about him, bring gifts."

Chapter 19

Text

a. "The burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord shall ascend upon a swift cloud, and shall 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. And I will set the Egyptians to fight against the Egyptians, and brother shall fight against brother, and friend against friend, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit of Egypt shall be broken in the midst thereof, and I will cast down their counsel; and they shall consult their idols, and their diviners, and their pythons, and soothsayers. And I will deliver Egypt into the hand of cruel lords, and a strong king shall rule over them, says the Lord of hosts. And the waters of the sea shall be dried up, and the river shall be wasted and dried up. The rivers shall fail, the streams of the banks shall be diminished and dried up; the reed and the bulrush shall wither away. The channel of the river shall be bare from its fountain, and every planted thing watered by it shall wither away, it shall be dried up, and shall be no more. And the fishers shall mourn, and all that cast a hook into the river shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish away. Those that worked in flax, combing and weaving fine linen, shall be confounded. And its watering-places shall languish, all that made pools for taking fish. The princes of Zoan are become fools, the wise counselors of Pharaoh have given foolish counsel. How will you say to Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? Where are now your wise men? Let them tell you, and show what the Lord of hosts has purposed upon Egypt. The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Memphis are gone astray, they have deceived Egypt, the stay of the people thereof. The Lord has mingled in the midst thereof a spirit of giddiness, and they have caused Egypt to err in all its works, as a drunken man staggers and vomits. And there shall be no work for Egypt to do, to make head or tail, him that bows down, or him that restrains. In that day Egypt shall be like women, and they shall be afraid, and astonished at the presence of the moving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which he shall move over it. And the land of Judah shall be a dread to Egypt: everyone that shall remember it shall be afraid, because of the purpose of the Lord of hosts, which he has purposed upon it. In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt, speaking the language of Canaan, and swearing by the Lord of hosts: the city of the sun shall be called one of them. In that day there shall be an altar of the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a monument of the Lord beside its border. And it shall be for a sign, and for a testimony to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they shall cry to the Lord because of them that oppress them, and he shall send them a savior and a defender to deliver them. And the Lord shall be known by Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and they shall worship him with sacrifices and offerings, and they shall vow vows to the Lord, and perform them. And the Lord shall strike Egypt with a stroke, and shall heal it, and they shall return to the Lord, and he shall be entreated by them, and shall heal them. In that day there shall be a way from Egypt to the Assyrians, and the Assyrian shall enter into Egypt, and the Egyptian into the Assyrians, and the Egyptians shall serve the Assyrian. In that day Israel shall be the third with Egypt and the Assyrian, a blessing in the midst of the land, which the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying: Blessed be my people of Egypt, and the work of my hands the Assyrian, but Israel my inheritance."

Exposition

a. In this part he threatens the destruction of the Egyptians, pursuing its manner and order; and it is divided into three parts. And first is described the preparation of the punishment. In the second, the destruction itself, where it says, "and I will deliver Egypt," etc. In the third, the attaining of its usefulness, where it says, "in that day there shall be five cities," etc. Now the preparation of the punishment is described as to four things. First as to the disposition of the enemies, "shall ascend," inspiring, "upon a swift cloud," from which comes a tempest; "swift," on account of agility and readiness: Psalm 18:9 (var.), "clouds and darkness are round about him." Second as to the stupor of the rulers, "and the idols" — for they were shattered by the Assyrians; or because they could not give an answer; or because they did not appear on that day. "The heart of Egypt," that is, the king and the princes, from whom comes the whole vigor of Egypt: above, chapter 1, "the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints." Third as to the dissension of those resisting. As to outward strife, "and I will set... to fight"; as to strangers, "the Egyptians against the Egyptians"; as to kinsmen, "brother shall fight against brother"; as to acquaintances and friends, "and friend against friend"; as to diverse peoples, "city," etc. He sets the diversity of their wills, "shall be broken," that is, divided, "the spirit," that is, the will, "in the midst thereof," that is, among the inhabitants of the land: Matthew 12:25, "every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation." Fourth as to the error of the counselors of men, "and their counsel": Job 5:13, "he catches the wise in their own craftiness, and disappoints the counsel of the wicked," that is, of demons. "And they shall consult," in vain: above, chapter 8, "and when they shall say to you: Seek of pythons, and of diviners, who mutter in their enchantments." Note, concerning that saying, "upon a cloud," that there is a fourfold cloud. First, of assumed flesh: Job 38:9, "when I put a cloud its garment, and swaddled it with darkness, as with the bands of infancy?" Second, of the virginal womb: 1 Kings 18:44, "behold, a little cloud arose out of the sea." Third, of the devout mind: Psalm 68:34 (var.), "his magnificence, and his power is in the clouds." Fourth, of the seat of judgment: Psalm 97:2, "clouds and darkness are round about him, justice and judgment are the establishment of his throne." Likewise note that from the first cloud there proceeds the rain of the sacraments, or of sanctification: John 19:34, "there came out from his side... blood and water." From the second there proceeds the food of consolation: Wisdom 19:20-21 (var.), "the fire had power in water... and again, out of the water, which quenches all things, a fire kindled... your wonderful works are marvelous, for even as the horses had consumed it." From the third there proceeds the lightning of preaching: Psalm 77:17 (var.), "the clouds sent out a sound, yes, the clouds sent forth their light." From the fourth there proceeds the tempest of condemnation: Psalm 97:2, "his ways are in a tempest." Likewise note, concerning that saying, "a swift cloud," that first he is called "swift" on account of the assumption of dignity: Daniel 7:13, "behold, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven." Second he is called "swift" on account of the purity of his origin: Revelation 15:6, "and having their breasts girded with golden girdles" — like the Son of Man. Third he is called "swift" on account of the swiftness of obedience: below, chapter 60, "who are these that fly as clouds?" Fourth he is called "swift" on account of the ease of execution: Sirach 43:16 (var.), "at his great power he stirs up the clouds, and the stones are broken by divine grace." "And I will deliver Egypt," etc.: here he pursues the destruction itself. And first as to the servitude of the people. Second as to the desolation of the land, where it says, "shall be dried up," etc. Third as to the stupor of the wise, where it says, "the princes of Zoan," etc. — "into the hand of cruel lords," that is, of the Assyrians, and the Chaldeans, and the Romans: Deuteronomy 28:48, "you shall serve your enemy, whom the Lord will send upon you, in hunger, and thirst, and nakedness, and in want of all things, and he will put an iron yoke upon your neck, until he consume you." Now he designates the destruction of the land through the drying up of the waters, in which Egypt was adorned and rich; or because the wrath of God shall anticipate this, that the waters be dried up, and the animals die. Or he speaks in a parable — as if he said, so great shall be the tribulation that it will seem even to dry up the waters. He therefore sets three things. First, the manner of the dryness, "shall be wasted," that is, diminished, "the rivers," the Nile, or the other rivers: Ezekiel 30:12, "and I will make the streams of the rivers dry." Second he sets the sign of dryness, "the reed and the bulrush," which are nourished in the waters: Isaiah 35:7, "the verdure of the reed and the bulrush shall spring up." Third he sets the harm of the dryness, "shall be bare," first of agriculture, "from its fountain," that is, from its source; or this at the end: Psalm 107:33, "he has turned rivers into a wilderness, and the sources of waters into dry ground." Second, of the fishermen, "the fishers shall mourn": Ezekiel 29:5, "I will cast you into the desert, and all the fish of your rivers." Third, of various craftsmen, "shall be confounded," those who worked flax, which grows in moist places, "shall languish," that is, drying up, "watering-places," pools. "The princes of Zoan," etc.: here he sets the stupor of men. And first as to error in counsels. Second as to fear in wars, where it says, "in that day," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he mocks the folly of the wise as to deliberation, "the princes... are become fools," that is, philosophers, "of Zoan," where the study of wisdom flourished: Jeremiah 51:? "every man is become a fool by his knowledge." As to the promulgation of counsel, "wise men." As to their self-commendation, "how will you say to Pharaoh," that is, how will you be able to say, when he shall feel that you have counseled badly this thing which each of you was accustomed to say for his own commendation, that his counsel be followed — "I am the son of the wise" — as if he said, I possess this by inheritance from the wise, or, a disciple; "the son of ancient kings," who of old were philosophers: Job 16:? "and if they were more ancient than we, they had much reflection, and their fathers before them." Second he mocks the confidence of the king, "where are now?" And first the question: Isaiah 41:? "there is none that can save you." Second the response, "have given foolish counsel," that is, have failed, as above. Third he mocks the cowardice of the deceived people, "have deceived." Here he does three things. First he sets the counsel of the wise, "have deceived the stay," that is, the corner, in which many are joined together, as walls at an angle: Isaiah 47:10, "your wisdom, and your knowledge have deceived you." Second, God's permission, "the Lord has mingled." It is often said metaphorically, "a spirit of giddiness," that is, errors after the manner of one who suffers vertigo: 1 Kings 22:23, "the Lord has given a spirit of lying in the mouth of all your prophets." Third, the error of the people itself, "and to err" — namely, neither as to the beginning, "tail," nor as to the end, "head" — bowing down as to the elder, restraining as to the young man, who needs correction, or is wanton: 2 Timothy 3:13, "but evil men and seducers shall grow worse and worse." "In that day," etc.: here he threatens the fear of the strong. And first he sets the fear, "like women," weak and feeble: Jeremiah 51:30, "their strength has failed, they are become like women." Second the reason, "the land of Judah shall be," namely the memory of the evils which they did to them, whereby they turn away God's rebukes, on account of which they know they have incurred God's wrath: 1 Maccabees 6:? "now I remember the evils that I did in Jerusalem." "In that day," etc.: here is set the consequence, namely their conversion. And first, a threefold sign of conversion. Of which the first is an oath, "swearing": Isaiah 65:16, "he shall bless himself in God, amen: because the former distresses are forgotten." "The city of the sun," Heliopolis. "The language of Canaan," which borders on the language of the Jews, so that they may agree even in language with the people of God — for among these were some Syrians transported by Nebuchadnezzar, who kept their own language. The second sign is a sacred building, "an altar of the Lord, and a monument," because they worshipped many gods, as is said in Acts 17. This, as some say, was accomplished fulfilled in the time of the Maccabees, when, with many Jews fleeing into Egypt, Onias, wishing to fulfill this prophecy, built an altar against the precept of the law, which is against Deuteronomy 12:? "he shall not build me an altar" — of which he is accused, Daniel 11:? "and the sons of the transgressors of your people shall lift up themselves to fulfill the vision, and they shall fall." Whence it is plain that this is not the meaning, but rather it concerns an altar built for the Christian worship. The third sign is that they call upon the help of God, "they shall cry to the Lord," "savior": Psalm 91:15 (var.), "he shall cry to me, and I will hear him." Second he sets the manner of the conversion. And first as to the reception of faith, "shall know": Jeremiah 31:34, "all shall know me, from the least of them even to the greatest, says the Lord." Second as to the offering of sacrifices and vows, "and shall worship him": Malachi 1:11, "in every place there is sacrificed, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation." Third as to the remission of sins, "and shall strike." First through many punishments, "and shall heal," from sin: Job 5:18, "for he wounds, and cures; he strikes, and his hands shall heal." Third he sets the threefold effect of the conversion, namely peace, "in that day there shall be a way," which before could not be, on account of the various kingdoms, which, at the Lord's birth, were joined under the Romans; "shall serve," in mutual commerce among themselves. Or because Syrian soldiers were in the Roman legions for the guarding of Egypt: above, chapter 2, "nation shall not lift up sword against nation." Second he promises, according to the second effect, the truth of the faith, "in that day... a third," equally and alike serving the Romans, and in the unity of faith: John 10:16, "there shall be one fold, and one shepherd"; Romans 10:12, "there is no distinction of Jew and Greek." Third he sets the third effect, namely the divine blessing, "shall be," namely Israel, "a blessing," because through the apostles the whole world received the blessing of God, "my inheritance," because there he was born, and fulfilled the mysteries of our salvation: Psalm 113:? "he has blessed the house of Israel."

Chapter 20

Text

a. "In the year that Tartan entered into Ashdod, when Sargon the king of the Assyrians sent him, and he fought against Ashdod, and took it, at that time the Lord spoke by the hand of Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying: Go, and loose the sackcloth from your loins, and take off your shoes from your feet. And he did so, going naked and barefoot. And the Lord said: As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot, three years for a sign and a wonder upon Egypt, and upon Ethiopia, so shall the king of the Assyrians lead away the captivity of Egypt, and the removal of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. And they shall be afraid, and be ashamed of Ethiopia their hope, and of Egypt their glory. And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day: Behold, this was our hope, to whom we fled for help, to deliver us from the face of the king of the Assyrians; and how shall we be able to escape?"

Exposition

a. Here is set the time of the destruction; and it is divided into three parts. And first is set what designates it, namely the prophetic deed. Second, the signification of the deed, where it says, "and the Lord said," etc. Third he shows the effect of what is signified, where it says, "and they shall be afraid," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First is set the time of the prophecy, "in the year," "Ashdod," a city of the Philistines: Amos 1:? "where is Gaza, Gath, Ekron, Ashdod." "Sargon," who is also Sennacherib, according to Jerome, because he had many names, which are Sargon, Senach, Phua, Shalmaneser, Tiglath-Pileser. "By the hand," that is, in the deed corresponding to the words: Hosea 12:10, "I have been likened by the hands of the prophets." Second he sets the divine precept, "go, and loose": Ezekiel 24:24, "Ezekiel shall be to you a wonder." Third, the fulfillment of the precept, "and he did so. And the Lord said," etc.: here is set the signification of the aforesaid deed. And first as to the time during which the persecution lasted, "three years," through the three days in which he went naked, by signification: Ezekiel 4:6, "I have given you a day for a year." Second as to the author of the destruction, "so shall... lead": Ezekiel 30:9, "in that day shall messengers go forth from my presence in ships, to destroy the confidence of Ethiopia." Third as to the condition of the destruction, as to universality, "young and old"; as to vileness, "naked," namely of captivity: Jeremiah 46:? "there is no healing for you." "And they shall be afraid": here he sets the effect among the Jews. First fear, "and they shall be afraid." Second confusion, "and be ashamed." Third the expression of both, "and... shall say... the inhabitant of the isle," that is, of Jerusalem, which was incessantly beaten by the waves of persecution, like an island by the waves of the sea; "behold," in which is confusion. "And how," in which is fear: Isaiah 30:? "the strength of Pharaoh shall be to you for confusion."

Chapter 21

Text

a. "The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds come from the south, it comes from the desert, from a terrible land. A hard vision is declared to me: he that is unfaithful, deals unfaithfully; and he that is a spoiler, spoils. Go up, O Elam, besiege, O Media: I have made all the mourning thereof to cease. Therefore my loins are filled with pain, anguish has taken hold of me, as the anguish of a woman in labor: I fell down at the hearing of it, I was troubled at the seeing of it; my heart failed, darkness amazed me. Babylon, my beloved, is become a wonder to me. Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: rise up, you princes, take up the shield. For thus has the Lord said to me: Go, and set a watchman, and let him declare what he sees. And he saw a chariot with two horsemen, a rider upon an ass, and a rider upon a camel; and he watched diligently with much heed. And he cried, as a lion: I am upon the watchtower of the Lord, standing continually by day, and I am upon my watch, standing whole nights. Behold, this one comes, a chariot with a pair of horsemen. And he answered, and said: Babylon is fallen, is fallen, and all the graven idols thereof are broken to the ground. My thrashing, and the children of my floor, that which I have heard of the Lord of hosts the God of Israel, I have declared to you. The burden of Dumah calls to me out of Seir: Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said: The morning comes, and the night; if you seek, seek, return, come. The burden upon Arabia. In the forest at evening you shall sleep, in the paths of Dedanim. Meeting the thirsty, bring water, you that inhabit the land of the south, meet with bread him that flees. For they have fled from the face of the swords, from the face of the sword that hangs over them, from the face of the bent bow, from the face of a grievous battle. For thus says the Lord to me: Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, all the glory of Kedar shall be taken away. And the residue of the number of strong archers of the children of Kedar shall be diminished, for the Lord the God of Israel has spoken it."

Exposition

a. Here he threatens against the enemies who oppressed them by the seizing of goods, who nevertheless were joined to them by some treaty; and it is divided into three parts. First, against those who were joined by the bond of friendship. Second, against those who were joined to them by the right of prelacy, chapter 21, "the burden of Dumah," etc. In the third, against those who were joined to them in the fellowship of trade, chapter 23, "the burden of Tyre," etc. The first into two. In the first against foreign friends, namely the Babylonians, who were friends, and yet in the end despoiled them of their goods, as is clear in Isaiah 39 — against friends, kinsmen, where it says, "the burden of Dumah," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First is set the title, "the burden of the sea," of Babylon, on account of the noise of the multitude of peoples, which is reduced to a wilderness: Jeremiah 51:36, "I will make her sea a desert, and will dry up her spring." Second is set the prophecy itself. And first is set the vision of the threat. Second, the manner of receiving the vision, where it says, "for thus has the Lord said," etc. Concerning the first he designates four things. First the harshness of the tribulation, setting a comparison, "as whirlwinds," concerning Babylon, "from the south," from the desert, which was to the south; "it comes," against me, devastation; "from a land," namely Persia, "terrible," of the Medes: Habakkuk 1:? "the Lord will come from a tempest, and from his whirlwind." "A hard vision," concerning the person of Babylon: Daniel 6:? "this word is hard." Second he designates the destroyer. And first as to the leader's condition in unfaithfulness, "Cyrus, who is unfaithful," that is, unfaithful to his own lord Belshazzar, rebelling, and besieging Babylon; trusting in his effeminacy, "deals unfaithfully," that is, will act — seeing that the city cannot be taken by force, making peace by deceit and swearing homage to the king of Babylon, by whom, invited to a banquet, of which Daniel 5, he killed him, and took the city with two hundred soldiers through an opening in the wall, through which a river flowed in, its water having been divided into many parts, in cruelty, "he that is a spoiler." Whence in punishment for his cruelty he was suffocated in blood, and it was said to him: "you have thirsted for blood, drink blood"; Habakkuk 2:4, "behold, he that is unbelieving, his soul shall not be at rest within himself." Second as to the direction of the region from which they came, "go up, O Elam," a city and province of Persia; "Media," a city in Media, "besiege, O Babylon, you enemy of the Lord": Jeremiah 51:1, "go up against her, all you nations." Third, the power of the enemy, "all the mourning thereof," that is, of Babylon, so that it dare not even lament: above, chapter 10, "there was none that moved a wing, or opened the mouth, or made the least noise." Or because he made his own people groan. Fourth he designates the prophet's own compassion, which he designates as to the body, to which the affections of the mind overflow, and this as to the sensation of grief, "therefore my loins are filled with pain," that is, thus grieved, as one who suffers pain in the loins: Psalm 69:? "there pains, as of a woman in labor" — and as to loss of strength, "I fell down"; and as to a troubled countenance, "I was troubled": Psalm 77:4 (var.), "I was troubled, and I spoke not"; Psalm 55:2 (var.), "I am troubled in my complaint." Second as to affection, "my heart failed," that is, was affected with sorrow: Jeremiah 4:19, "my bowels, my bowels, I am pained." Third as to the understanding being stunned, "darkness," that is, disturbances anticipated, as if he stood in darkness: Jeremiah 50:? "everyone that shall pass by Babylon shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all her plagues." "Babylon, my beloved," at that time, though afterward an enemy, "is become a wonder to me," that is, an amazement: Revelation 17:6, "I was amazed, when I saw her, with great admiration." Fourth he designates the manner and condition of the destruction, saying, "O Babylon, prepare the table," inviting Cyrus and Darius to a feast; "watch," that is, see, "in the watchtower," that is, in the writing of the hand writing, "Mene, Tekel, Peres," by the clear light of the Lord, namely, O Cyrus, O Darius, "princes, eat and drink" with him — "rise up," strengthened by the vision, "take up the shield," and kill him: Jeremiah 46:? "prepare shield and buckler." Or otherwise, that these are the words of the Lord: O prophet, "prepare the table," that is, foretell that it will be set; "watch," that is, in the spirit of prophecy, etc., as above; or the words of Cyrus, "prepare the table" — you Persians, hasten, give the horses fodder, that you may be ready, that as a watchman you may behold what happens in your dealing. "Princes, my own, eat." And this stands, even if it is not maintained that Cyrus and Darius were themselves at the banquet, as some say, but that they permitted the feast to take place in the city, and gave themselves over to delights. Or they reclined at feast either because of a truce, or because of a victory once won, or because of the aid they had received; by night they attacked the city. Note, concerning that saying, "watch in the watchtower," that a man ought first to contemplate, in the mirror of his mind, the sins he has committed, that he may grieve: Jeremiah 31:21, "set yourself a watchtower, make yourself bitterness, direct your heart into the right way." Second, the punishments he has deserved, that he may fear: Micah 7:4, "the day of your watching, your visitation is come." Third, the benefits God has conferred, that he may give thanks: below, chapter 52, "the voice of your watchmen — they have lifted up their voice, they shall praise together, for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall convert Zion." Fourth, the commandments he has enjoined, that he may fulfill them: Hosea 9:8, "the watchman of Ephraim." Fifth, the rewards he has promised, that he may grasp them: 2 Peter 1:? "eyewitnesses of his greatness... for he received from God the Father honor and glory." "For thus has the Lord said," etc.: here he sets the manner of receiving this vision; and concerning this he does four things. First is set the divine vision, "set a watchman," yourself, or your disciple, whom the Hebrews say was Habakkuk. "Let him see," in the prophetic spirit, or bodily: Ezekiel 3:17, "son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel." Second is set the vision. And first he sets the thing seen. "And he saw a chariot with two horsemen," because it was customary to be drawn by two horses, signifying the army of two kingdoms — "a rider," that is, a chariot, related to the kingdom of the Persians, which was at first ignoble; "of a camel," of the Medes — as if these two animals were joined to the chariot in place of two horses. Second, the diligence of the one seeing, "and he watched diligently": Ezekiel 40:4, "set your heart upon all the things that I show you." Third is set the announcement. "And he cried, as a lion" — the servitude of the mind, which before was a watchman through the excellence of contemplation. And first he announces his own diligence, "I am upon the watchtower of the Lord": Habakkuk 2:1, "I will stand upon my watch." Second he announces the thing seen, "behold, this one comes," as above in chapter 13, the punishment of Babylon, "is fallen": Jeremiah 50:2, "she is taken, and confounded." Fourth is set the prophet's announcement to the people, "my thrashing," the words of the prophet, or literally, by which Jerusalem was thrashed by many tribulations; "the children of my floor," that is, the temple, which was situated on the threshing floor of Ornan, 2 Samuel 24. "The burden of Dumah," etc.: here he threatens against friends and kinsmen. And first against the Idumeans, who are of the lineage of Esau, Jacob's brother, Genesis 25, sometimes friends, as in 1 Kings 3; Ezekiel 35:12, "I have heard all the reproaches which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel." Second against the Arabs, who are of the lineage of Ishmael, who was the son of Abraham, Genesis 16, where it says, "the burden upon Arabia," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First is set the inscription, "the burden of Dumah," that is, of Idumea. Second, the threat. Concerning which three things. First is set their prayer, and these are the words of God to the Idumeans: "out of Seir calls to me." To the delivered Jews, after seventy years of captivity, "watchman," you who guard the people of Israel, as if while they slept: "what of the night," that is, why do you not deliver us from the night of captivity, as you did them? And they show a great desire for deliverance from the intent of the words and their manner of speaking: Psalm 121:4 (var.), "behold, he shall neither slumber nor sleep, that keeps Israel." Second is set the refutation of the petition, "the watchman said," namely God, "the morning comes," the time of deliverance for the Jews; "and the night," of captivity, still remains for the Idumeans; Wisdom 17:20 (var.), "but there was upon them only a heavy night." Third he applies a remedy, "if you seek, seek me. Seek," with the whole heart, forsaking idols, that as in tribulation, so also in prosperity: Isaiah 55:6, "seek the Lord while he may be found." "Return": Joel 2:12, "turn to me with your whole heart." Note, concerning that saying, "watchman, what," that a man ought to guard himself in the day of prosperity from riches, first, that he not choose them, considering their utility: Philippians 3:7, "the things that were gain to me, these I have counted loss." Second, that he not trust in them, considering their vanity: Ecclesiastes 2:11, "I saw in all things vanity." Third, that he not grow proud from them, considering their imminent adversity: Sirach 11:27, "in the day of good things be not unmindful of evils." Likewise he ought to guard himself in the night of adversity: first, by considering the affection of him who strikes: Proverbs 3:11, "my son, reject not the correction of the Lord; and do not faint when you are chastised by him." Second, by considering the example of the persevering father: Hebrews 12:3, "for think diligently upon him that endured such opposition from sinners against himself." Third, by considering the fruit of the affliction: 2 Corinthians 4:17, "for that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation, works for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory." "The burden upon Arabia," etc.: here he threatens against the Arabs. And first he indicates the cause of the destruction: because, when the sons of Israel were fleeing, bringing them bread, they withheld water. Whence he sets down the flight of the Jews, "O you Jews. In the forest," of Arabia, "Dedanim," the name of a place: Psalm 107:4, "they wandered in a wilderness... they found not the way of a city to dwell in." He exhorts to mercy, "meet," you Arabs, "the land of the south," that is, of the noonday; below, chapter 58, "to break your bread to the hungry." And he sets there the reason for mercy, "from the face of," that they might be moved to pity; Jeremiah 4:? "at the voice of equity, and of him that shoots an arrow, every city flees." Second, because they were unwilling to do this, he threatens punishment, "for thus says the Lord." And first through Elam, from whom came the devastation of the Jews, and the devastation itself, "as the years of a hireling," which seems to him short, in hope of reward. Second, the Chaldeans, "the residue," left by the Assyrians; "shall be diminished," by the Chaldeans; "Kedar," the sons of Ishmael. "Archers," following their father's art; of Ishmael it is said, Genesis 21, that he became a man, an archer.

Chapter 22

Text

a. "The burden of the valley of vision. What ails you also, that you are wholly gone up to the housetops? A city full of clamor, a tumultuous city, an exulting city; your slain are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle. All your princes have fled together, and are bound hard; all that were found, are bound together, they have fled far off. Therefore I said: Depart from me, I will weep bitterly, labor not to comfort me, for the devastation of the daughter of my people. For it is a day of slaughter, and of treading down, and of weeping, to the Lord God of hosts, in the valley of vision, searching the wall, and magnificent upon the mountain. And Elam took the quiver, the chariot of the horseman, and the shield made bare the wall. And your choice valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate. And the covering of Judah shall be discovered, and you shall see in that day the armory of the house of the forest. And you saw the breaches of the city of David, that they are many; and you gathered together the waters of the lower pool. And you numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and pulled down houses to fortify the wall. And you made a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool, and you did not look up to him that made it, and you did not regard the maker thereof from afar. And the Lord God of hosts shall call in that day to weeping, and to mourning, to baldness, and to the girding with sackcloth. And behold joy and gladness, killing calves, and slaying rams, eating flesh, and drinking wine: Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die. And the voice of the Lord of hosts was revealed in my ears: Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you until you die, says the Lord God of hosts. Thus says the Lord God of hosts: Go, get yourself in to him that dwells in the tabernacle, to Shebna who is over the temple, and you shall say to him: What do you here, or as if you were someone here? For you have dug out a sepulchre for yourself, you have hewn out a monument carefully in a high place, a dwelling for yourself in a rock. Behold, the Lord will cause you to be carried away, as a cock is carried away, and he will lift you up as a garment. Crowning he will crown you with tribulation, he will toss you like a ball into a large and spacious land; there shall you die, and there shall the chariot of your glory be, the shame of the house of your lord. And I will drive you out from your station, and depose you from your ministry. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him with your robe, and will strengthen him with your girdle, and I will give your power into his hand, and he shall be as a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. And I will lay 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 the house of his father. And I will hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, divers kinds of vessels, every small vessel, from the vessels of cups even to every instrument of music. In that day, says the Lord of hosts, the peg shall be removed that was fastened in the sure place, and it shall be broken, and shall fall, and that which hung upon it shall perish, because the Lord has spoken it."

Exposition

a. Here he threatens against those who were joined to the people of God by the right of prelacy, and yet despoiled them of their goods. And first as to those to whom the prelacy over temporal things belonged. Second against those to whom it belonged over spiritual things, "thus says the Lord." Now the prelacy over temporal things belonged to the kings. And therefore in the first part he threatens against Jerusalem, which was the seat of the kingdom; and concerning this he does two things. First is set the inscription, "the valley," that is, Jerusalem — not on account of the location of the place, since it is on a mountain, but on account of its vileness, because to it, as if to a valley, the filth of all the surrounding nations flowed, as they followed the practices of neighboring peoples: Ezekiel 5:5, "this is Jerusalem, I have set her in the midst of the nations." Or it is called a valley on account of the weak part of the city, which was surrendered by Shebna to Sennacherib. "Of vision," on account of the holiness of the temple; for in it visions were shown to the prophets by the Lord. Or on account of the eminence of the place, because it could be seen from far off. Or on account of the name which Abraham imposed on that place, as is said in Genesis 22:14, "and he called the name of that place, The Lord sees." Second is set the threat itself; and concerning this he does three things. First he charges the guilt. Second he threatens punishment, where it says, "your slain," etc. Third he shows the obstinacy in that punishment, where it says, "and you gathered together," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he charges a twofold sin of idolatry, "what ails you also, that you are gone up to the housetops," to sacrifice to idols; "and you," who enjoyed the special privilege of holiness — Hosea 4:15, "if Israel play the harlot, let not Judah at least offend." And the sin of strife, "full of clamor"; above, chapter 5, "and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes." Second, to aggravate the sin, a twofold benefit of God is set down, namely of the multitude of men, "a city," populous — Lamentations 1:1 (var.), "how does the city sit solitary, that was full of people!" — and of the fullness of joys, "an exulting city," once, in the time of Solomon, on account of exceeding prosperity: Psalm 48:2 (var.), "founded with the joy of the whole earth." "Your slain," etc.: here is set the punishment. And first he threatens the destruction of men, as to the besieged who died of hunger, "are not slain with the sword," but with hunger and thirst: Lamentations 4:9, "it was better with them that were slain by the sword, than with them that died with hunger." As to the fleeing princes, namely those who were seized, and "bound," as is read in Jeremiah, last chapter, "all your princes"; Lamentations 1:6, "her princes are become like rams that find no pastures." As to those seized in captivity who were likewise taken captive, "all that were found," "are fled far off," into a distant land, led into captivity: Deuteronomy 28:49, "the Lord shall bring upon you a nation from afar." Second he sets the prophet's inconsolable compassion, "depart," O prophets who would console — "labor not," in the manner of comforters: Jeremiah 9:1, "who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes, that I may weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people?" Third he sets the manner and order of the punishment; and concerning this he sets three things. First, God's indignation, "it is a day of slaughter," imminent — "searching," causing to be searched out by the enemies; "magnificent," making the enemies magnificent — for they trusted in mountains and walls: Zephaniah 1:12, "at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and visit the men that are settled on their lees." Second he sets the overcoming by enemies, "Elam," a city of Persia, from which the fighters came with Nebuchadnezzar, who also held the monarchy of the east; "the chariot," arrayed against Jerusalem; "the shield made bare the wall," to which it had been hung for the adornment of the house: Jeremiah 46:3, "prepare shield and buckler." Or otherwise, "the shield," the power of the Chaldeans; "made bare the wall," of the temple, gilded with gold with which it was clothed. Third he sets the infliction of the damage, as to four things. First as to the devastation of possessions, "your choice valleys," of Babylon: Jeremiah 49:4, "why do you glory in the valleys? Your valley has flowed away, O delicate daughter." Second as to the taking of the cities, "the horsemen at the gate," lest anyone escape: Jeremiah 39:3, "all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate." Third as to the profanation of holy things, "and the covering shall be discovered," that is, shall be laid bare, "of Judah," that is, the holy things previously covered, which none but the priest was permitted to see: Lamentations 1:8, "the Gentiles have seen her shame." Fourth as to the destruction of the armory, "you shall see the armory," that is, the house of the forest, in which were stored the arms of those overthrown; of whose building, 2 Kings 7: "the house of David, most strong." Or Jerusalem itself, with its strong wall in many places: Song of Solomon 4:4, "your neck is as the tower of David, built with bulwarks." "And you gathered together the waters," etc.: here he sets the obstinacy of their stubbornness. And first he charges the guilt of obstinacy. Second he sets the divine sentence against them, "and the voice... was revealed." Now he rebukes their stubbornness as to two things. First as to the divine help which they did not invoke, glorying in their own strength and skill, "and you gathered together," into one place within the city, through hidden channels, "the waters of the lower pool," which had water flowing from the ground, which could nevertheless be cut off by the enemies. "And you numbered," that the water might be dispensed by number and measure; "you pulled down houses," which were near the wall, that they might not hinder the defenders. "A ditch," of the lower pool, "you made... between the two walls," by which the city was girded; "and the water," you provided, "him," namely God, "you did not look up to," "the maker thereof": Psalm 14:? "they have not called upon God." Second as to the divine counsel which they despised, "and... shall call"; and concerning this he sets three things. First, the counsel itself, "to weeping," of the eyes, "and to mourning," of the hands. "To baldness," according to ancient custom, which in sorrow performed these acts. Or, Joel 2:12, "turn to me with your whole heart, in fasting, and weeping, and mourning." Second he sets the contempt of counsel, "and behold... joy": above, "the harp and lyre are in your feasts." Third, the spirit of contempt, "let us eat and drink": 1 Corinthians 15:32; Wisdom 2:5 (var.), "our time is as the passing of a shadow." "And the voice... was revealed," etc.: here is set the sentence; and it can be read either from the person of the Lord — "this your blasphemy" — "was revealed," that is, I have heard, "shall not be forgiven," as if he said, do not believe it will be — above, chapter 2, "therefore forgive them not" — or from the person of the prophet, this voice of the Lord "was revealed." And all these things that are said pertain to the captivity accomplished under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar. "Thus says the Lord," etc.: here is set the threat against those to whom belonged the prelacy in spiritual things. And first, against the priest who ruled badly. Second, against the priestly order, where it says, "and it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord," etc. Concerning the first two things. First he foretells his deposition, because of the vileness...

from which Nebuchadnezzar's officials delivered the lower part to Sennacherib's men. Second, the substitution of another, where it says, "and it shall come to pass in that day," etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First he describes the person by his office, "who dwells in the tabernacle." It was the priests' duty to keep watch in the tabernacle, as is had in Numbers 1, "the eldest, chief over ten." Second he charges a threefold guilt of unworthy occupation. "What do you here?" — you act in my house unworthily of such a dwelling: Jeremiah 11:? "what does my beloved in my house, who has done many wicked things?" Of his own proud presumption, "or as if you were," as if he said, you think yourself, as it were, of some worth, when you are nothing: Zechariah 11:17, "O shepherd, and idol." Of curious construction of a sepulchre, "you have hewn out" here in Jerusalem, near the temple, "a monument," that is, an epitaph, "in a high place," that is, situated at the highest point of the sepulchre. Or literally, he had placed his sepulchre on high, for his own memory, as is had in 1 Maccabees 13. Third he threatens a threefold punishment, where it says, "behold, the Lord," etc. First, of captivity, "will cause... to be carried away," bound, and without effort — "as a cock," which fathers chicks like a hen, being castrated — such are called capons. "And as a garment," lightly lifted upon the shoulder: Jeremiah 20:6, "you Pashur, and all that dwell in your house, shall go into captivity, and you shall come into Babylon, and there you shall die, and there shall you be buried, you, and all your friends." Second, of confusion, "crowning," that is, in place of the crown which you used in the pontifical office, you shall have tribulation, "like a ball," which finds no fixed place. "The chariot of your glory," by which you were gloriously carried, is turned into your confusion. "And the shame of the house of your lord," that is, the glory you had in the house of the Lord shall be turned to your shame: Hosea 4:7, "I will change their glory into shame." Third, the punishment of deposition, "I will drive you out": 1 Kings 2:27, "Solomon therefore cast out Abiathar, that he should be no more priest to the Lord." "And it shall come to pass," etc.: here is set the substitution of another; and concerning this he sets three things. His election, "I will call," one of the twenty-four, as is read in 1 Chronicles 24; 1 Samuel 2:35, "I will raise me up a faithful priest, who shall do according to my heart." Second, his consecration, "and I will clothe him," because they were consecrated with priestly vestments, as is clear in Leviticus 8 concerning these vestments, and Exodus 28. Third he confers jurisdiction, "and... power." And first as to the power which he had over the people, setting his power, "and power," namely, given: Psalm 109:8, "let his days be few, and his office let another take." "And he shall be as a father": Jeremiah 3:15, "I will give you shepherds according to my own heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and doctrine." Second, as to the power which he had over the temple, "the key," which was golden, "of the house of David," that is, of the temple, for whose building David prepared the materials, as is clear in 1 Chronicles, at the end. "Upon his shoulder," that is, his governance. Or because he used it as a kind of ornament. "He shall open," because it was permitted him to enter once a year into the holy of holies, as is said in Hebrews 9. Third as to the power which he had over the whole order of ministers, "and I will fasten him as a peg," a diminutive of "stake" — for just as various vessels are sometimes hung upon a stake, so to his care belonged various offices, which have the use of various vessels, in the ministries of the house of the Lord — "in a sure place," that is, the temple. Of this power is spoken Isaiah 9 and 54. "In that day," etc.: here he speaks against the whole priesthood, which was destroyed in the time of Zedekiah, when Nebuchadnezzar took them captive — for what was said of Shebna pertains to the time of Sennacherib, "the peg shall be removed." And here the priesthood itself is called "peg," which ceased in the time of captivity: Hosea 3:4, "for many days the children of Israel shall sit without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, and without altar, and without ephod, and without teraphim." Note, concerning that saying, "who dwells in the tabernacle," that there is a manifold tabernacle. The first, of carnal concupiscence, which is of swine: Hebrews 13:10, "we have an altar, whereof they have no power to eat who serve the tabernacle." The second is of temporal and natural life, which is of man: 2 Peter 1:14, "for I know that the laying away of my tabernacle is at hand." The third is of the militant Church, which is of those fighting: above, chapter 3, "a tabernacle shall be for a shade in the daytime from the heat." The fourth is of contemplative wisdom, which is of those at rest: Psalm 132:7, "we will go into his tabernacle." The fifth is of the heavenly homeland's eternal vision, which is of all the blessed: Isaiah 33:20, "your eyes shall see Jerusalem, a rich city, a tabernacle that shall not be taken away."

Chapter 23

Text

a. "The burden of Tyre. Howl, you ships of the sea, for the house is laid waste, from whence they were wont to come; from the land of Kittim it is revealed to them. Be silent, you that dwell in the isle: the merchants of Sidon, passing over the sea, have filled you. In many waters, the seed of the Nile, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is become the mart of nations. Blush, O Sidon, for the sea speaks, the strength of the sea, saying: I have not travailed, nor brought forth, nor nourished up young men, nor brought up virgins. When it shall be heard in Egypt, they shall be sorry when they shall hear of Tyre. Pass over the seas, howl, you that dwell in the isle. Is not this your city, which gloried from ancient days in her antiquity? Her own feet shall carry her far off to sojourn. Who has taken this counsel against Tyre, that was formerly crowned, whose merchants were princes, and her traders the nobles of the earth? The Lord of hosts has purposed it, to pull down the pride of all glory, and to bring to disgrace all the glorious ones of the earth. Pass through your land as a river, O daughter of the sea, you have no girdle any more. He stretched out his hand over the sea, he troubled kingdoms; the Lord has given a charge against Canaan, to destroy the strength thereof. And he said: You shall glory no more, O virgin daughter of Sidon, who suffers oppression. Arise and pass over to Kittim, there also you shall have no rest. Behold the land of the Chaldeans, such a people was not: Assyria founded it. They have led the strong men thereof into captivity, they have undermined its houses, they have brought it to ruin. Howl, you ships of the sea, for your strength is laid waste. And it shall come to pass in that day, that you, Tyre, shall be forgotten seventy years, as the days of one king; but after seventy years, it shall be to Tyre as the song of a harlot. Take a harp, go about the city, you harlot that had been forgotten: sing well, sing many a song, that you may be remembered. And it shall come to pass 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 earth that are upon the face of the earth. And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord: they shall not be laid up, nor stored up, for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the Lord, that they may eat till they are full, and be clothed unto durableness."

Exposition

a. In this part he threatens against the Tyrians, who were joined to the people of God by a partnership of trade; and it is divided into two. First he threatens the destruction which was accomplished by Nebuchadnezzar. In the second he promises deliverance, where it says, "and it shall come to pass after seventy years," etc. Concerning the first he sets three things. First, the grief of those who sympathize. Second, the flight of those who fear, where it says, "pass over," etc. Third, the punishment of destruction, where it says, "the Lord has given a charge," etc. Concerning the first he sets three things. First, the grief of the merchants for their punishment and their lamentation, "howl, you ships of the sea," namely the Carthaginians: Revelation 18:15, "the merchants of these things, who were made rich, shall stand afar off." And the lamentation of sailors, "the house," that is, Tyre, "is laid waste," "whence they were wont to come," to trade; and also the manner of knowing it, "from the land of Kittim," that is, Greece: 1 Maccabees 1:1, "Alexander went out of the land of Kittim." Second he sets the stupor, "be silent," adding three things in which they gloried: namely the stability of their place, "you that dwell"; the abundance of their trade, "the mart," that is, in which they trade; "have filled you," with riches in the abundance of grain, "the seed of the Nile," that is, of the river; "her revenue," namely of Tyre, since it came from Egypt, filling it with wheat; "and she is become the mart of nations": Ezekiel 27:3, "say to Tyre, who dwells at the entry of the sea, being the mart of the people for many islands." Third he sets the confusion of the widowed. And first of the Sidonians, whose colony Tyre was, "the sea," that is, the sea merchants — "blush, O Sidon," for you did not defend Tyre, "the strength of the sea," that is, Tyre, "says": "I have not travailed" — for the defense of Tyre. Or otherwise, Sidon says: "O sea, strength of the sea," that is, of the land, "blush," that is, it did not avail me to have travailed, for I am taken. Or otherwise, "sea," that is, "strength of the sea," that is, the merchants who are strong in the sea, "says: Blush, O Sidon," saying, "I have not travailed" — for the defense of Tyre. Or otherwise, Sidon, "sea, strength of the sea," that is, to Tyre, blush, O Tyre, saying what follows. Or Sidon says: since you were born of me, O Tyre, you are taken as though I had not travailed. Second, of the Egyptians, "when it shall be heard": 1 Samuel 3:? "behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which whosoever shall hear it, both his ears shall tingle." "Pass over": here he foretells the flight of those who fear, as concerns those who, when Nebuchadnezzar was assaulting the city, fled to Egypt with their ships. And first he exhorts to flight. Second, to constancy or haste in fleeing, where it says, "pass through your land," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First, of those fearing, "pass over," you fleeing; "howl," you remaining — above, chapter 16, "its shoots are left, they have gone over the sea." Second, the ignominy of those remaining, "is not," and concerning this he does the following. First he foretells the disgrace, recalling first their former glory, "is not this your city," namely, that glories: Baruch 4:26, "my delicate ones have walked rough ways." Third, setting forth wonder — first, the question of one marveling, "who has taken this counsel against her that was crowned," as it were the queen of other cities, "princes," on account of exceeding luxuries: Ezekiel 26:17, "how are you fallen, that dwell in the sea, O renowned city, that were strong in the sea, with your inhabitants!" And he adds the response, "the Lord of hosts has purposed it, to pull down the pride," etc.: Job 40:6 (var.), "scatter the proud in your fury, and, beholding every arrogant man, bring him low." "Pass through your land," etc.: here he exhorts to swift flight. And first he sets the exhortation, "pass through as a river," which is quickly crossed by boat: Jeremiah 46:19, "furnish yourself to go into captivity, O daughter, inhabitant of Egypt." Second he assigns the reason on the part of themselves, "you have no girdle any more," that is, strength. Otherwise on the part of God, "he stretched out his hand over the sea": above, chapter 19, "the Lord shall lay waste the tongue of the sea of Egypt." "The Lord has given a charge," etc.: here he threatens destruction. And first the scourge of persecution. Second he foretells the lament of compassion, where it says, "howl," etc. Third he determines the time of destruction, where it says, "and it shall come to pass in that day," etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First he announces the divine indignation, setting down the charge, "has given a charge," Nebuchadnezzar, "against Canaan," in which is Tyre; 2 Kings 18:25, "the Lord said to me: Go up to this land, and destroy it." And the intended end, "and he said: You shall glory no more," suffering slander, accused of pride: Jeremiah 9:23, "let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, nor the rich man in his riches." He also excludes remedy, "arise and pass over to Kittim, there also you shall have no rest": Deuteronomy 28:65, "among those nations also you shall not be quiet, nor shall there be rest for the sole of your foot." Second he sets the strength of the enemies, "and behold the land of the Chaldeans, such a people was not," before them, "Assyria," or Nebuchadnezzar, "founded it": Daniel 4:? "is not this the great Babylon, which I have built?" Third he sets the destruction, as to the captivity of men, "they have led the strong men thereof into captivity"; above, chapter 5, "their strong ones... shall go down into it." As to the destruction of houses, "they have undermined its houses": above, chapter 17, "it shall be as a ruinous heap of stones." "Howl": here he sets the lament. "And it shall come to pass": here he determines the time, "as the days of one king," who himself lives so long, or so much only: Isaiah 49:14, "Zion has said: The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me." "After seventy years," etc.: here he promises deliverance. And first he sets the song of the delivered, setting the time of singing, "after seventy years, as the song of a harlot," who, cast off by her husband, by songs in which she recalls her former dignity, both boasts of herself and moves the hearts of others to pity. He also sets the song as to the instrument, "take a harp." As to the place, "go about the city." As to the manner, "sing well." As to the number, "sing many a song." He also sets the fruit, "that you may be remembered": Deuteronomy 24:1, "if a man take a wife, and have her, and she find not favor in his eyes... let him write a bill of divorce, and give it in her hand." Second he promises the benefit of the deliverer, "and it shall come to pass after seventy years," etc. "Shall commit fornication," that is, shall trade: Jeremiah 30:19, "I will glorify them, and they shall not be made small." Against this, Ezekiel 27:36, "I have brought you to nothing, and you shall not be any more forever." The Gloss there: that is, in the memory of one man's life, which is by seventy years: Psalm 90:10, "the days of our years, in them are seventy years." Third he sets the fruit of the deliverance, "and shall be": below, chapter 60, "I will bring gold instead of brass, and instead of iron I will bring silver." Note, concerning that saying, "take a harp," that by the harp is signified a right life. First as to the mortification of the flesh, on account of the material of the strings: Psalm 71:? "I will sing to you with a harp, O Holy One of Israel." Second as to the joining together of the virtues, on account of the concord of the song: above, chapter 16, "my heart shall sound like a harp to Moab." Third as to the sweetness of good work, on account of the gladness of the hearer: Job 21:12, "they take the timbrel and the harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ." Likewise note, concerning that saying, "go about the city," that a man ought to go about the city, first, of his own conscience, recalling his sins: Sirach 21:2 (var.), "they shall go about weeping in the streets, before the silver cord is broken." Second, of the militant Church, imitating the examples of the just: Psalm 48:12 (var.), "go about Zion, and encompass her." Third, of the heavenly homeland, thinking on the rewards of the saints: Song of Solomon 3:2, "I will rise, and will go about the city." Likewise note, concerning that saying, "sing well," that a man ought to sing well, first, joyfully: Psalm 147:1, "praise our God with gladness." Second, attentively: 1 Corinthians 14:15, "I will sing with the spirit, I will sing also with the understanding." Third, devoutly: 2 Chronicles [Paralipomenon], "let the people offer sacrifices, and let them praise with a devoted mind." Likewise note, concerning that saying, "sing many a song," that it ought to be frequent, first, on account of its own greatness: Sirach 43:30, "glorify the Lord as much as ever you can, for he will yet far exceed, and his magnificence is wonderful." Second, on account of the multitude of interior goods: Psalm 105:1, "sing, exult, and sing psalms." Third, on account of the abundance of sins: Psalm 119:164, "seven times a day I have given praise to you."

Chapter 24

Text

a. "Behold, the Lord shall lay waste the earth, and shall strip it, and shall 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 handmaid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with him that calls for his money, so with him that owes. With desolation shall the land be laid waste, and it shall be utterly spoiled, for the Lord has spoken this word. The earth mourned, and faded away, and is weakened; the world faded away, the height of the people of the earth is weakened. And the earth is infected by the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, they have changed the ordinance, they have broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore shall a curse devour the earth, and the inhabitants thereof shall sin; and therefore they that dwell therein shall be consumed with heat, and few men shall be left. The vintage has mourned, the vine has languished away, all the merry-hearted do sigh. The mirth of timbrels has ceased, the noise of them that rejoice has ended, the melody of the harp is silent. They shall not drink wine with a song, the drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. The city of vanity is broken down, every house is shut up, that no man may come in. There shall be a crying for wine in the streets, all mirth is forsaken, the joy of the earth is gone away. Desolation is left in the city, and calamity shall oppress the gates. For it shall be thus in the midst of the earth, in the midst of the peoples: as if a few olives, that remain, should be shaken from the olive tree, and grapes, when the vintage is ended. These shall lift up their voice, and shall give praise; when the Lord shall be glorified, they shall make a joyful noise from the sea. Therefore glorify the Lord in the regions of light, the name of the Lord God of Israel in the islands of the sea. From the ends of the earth we have heard praises, the glory of the just one. And I said: My secret to myself, my secret to myself. Woe is me: the prevaricators have prevaricated, and with the prevarication of the transgressors have they prevaricated. Fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to pass, that he that shall flee from the noise of the fear, shall fall into the pit; and he that shall rise up out of the pit, shall be caught in the snare, for the floodgates from on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth shall be shaken. With breaking shall the earth be broken, with crushing shall the earth be crushed, with commotion shall the earth be moved, with shaking shall the earth be shaken, like a drunken man, and shall be removed as a tent of one night; and its iniquity shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall visit the host of heaven on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together as in the gathering of one bundle into the pit, and they shall be shut up there in prison, and after many days they shall be visited. And the moon shall blush, and the sun shall be ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and shall be glorified in the sight of his ancients."

Exposition

a. In this part he threatens the destruction of the whole earth, whether that which came to pass in individual kingdoms and various parts, or that which is to come on the day of judgment, according to what was said above, "this is the counsel that I have purposed upon the whole earth, and this is the hand stretched out over all the nations." Though certain commentators expound this of the land of Babylon, or of the Idumeans. It is divided into two. First he threatens against the inhabitants of the earth. In the second, against the rulers of the peoples, where it says, "and it shall come to pass in that day," etc. Concerning the first he sets three things. First, the destruction of men. Second, the withdrawal of joys, where it says, "the vintage has mourned," etc. Third, the multitude of dangers, where it says, "the prevaricators," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he threatens destruction, "shall lay waste," emptying it of inhabitants; "shall strip," depriving it of cultivators; "shall afflict," pressing with punishments; "and scatter," that is, dispersing them by captivity among the peoples: Joel 1:10, "the field is wasted, the land mourns." Second, the universality of the destruction as to those punished — differing in dignity, "as with the priest"; in condition, "as with the servant"; in possession, "as with the buyer": John 8:35, "the servant abides not in the house forever." As to the diversity of the punishments, "desolation," setting the loss of goods; as to immovable goods, "shall be laid waste"; as to movable goods, "shall be spoiled": Jeremiah 12:11, "it is made desolate, the whole land is desolate." As to the falling of power, "mourned," past for future, that is, shall fade away, mourning, from weakness — and this is set as regards the common people. Second, as regards the powerful, "faded away," that is, the rulers of the world; above, chapter 15, "I will visit the evils of the world." He also sets the killing of men, "and the earth"; Psalm 105:38, "the earth was polluted with blood." Third he shows the equity of the punishment, because they transgressed — and this by comparison to the guilt. Whence he does two things. First he sets the guilt, "laws," written, or natural, "ordinance," of custom, "covenant," of friendship, "everlasting," because caused from a likeness of species: Hosea 8:1, "they have transgressed my covenant, and prevaricated against my law"; Zephaniah 3:4, "they have polluted the sanctuary, they have done iniquity against the law." Second he threatens a fourfold punishment for this reason. First, of divine curse, "curse": Jeremiah 23:10, "because of the curse, the land mourned." Second, of divine abandonment, "shall sin," as if he said, the Lord forsaking them: Romans 1:26, "for this cause God delivered them up to shameful affections"; Revelation 22:11, "he that is filthy, let him be filthy still." Third, of folly, "and therefore... shall be consumed with heat": Psalm 7:14 (var.), "they were turned into a bow of deceit." Fourth, of diminishment, "shall be left": Deuteronomy 28:62, "you shall be left few in number." "The vintage has mourned," etc.: here he threatens the withdrawal of joys as regards the wicked. And second, the joys of the good, where it says, "as if a few olives," etc. And concerning the first, three things. First he sets the cessation of gladness, which was from three things: either in the fertility of things, "the vintage has mourned, has languished," that is, was the cause of mourning; above, chapter 16, "the vineyards shall not exult, nor shall it shout for joy." Or in the exercise of games, "has ceased... mirth": Revelation 18:22, "the voice of harpers... shall be heard no more at all in you." Or in the delights of feasting, "they shall not drink wine with a song," etc.; above, chapter 5, "the harp, and the lyre, and the timbrel, and the pipe, and wine are in your feasts." Second he sets the recompense of sadness, "bitter," because in feasts they had sadness against the delights of feasting: Amos 8:10, "I will turn your feasts into mourning." "Is broken down," against the vanity of games: Psalm 39:5 (var.), "all is vanity"; Ecclesiastes 1:2, "vanity of vanities, and all is vanity." "The city," of Babylon, whatever soul, "a crying," complaining of the lack of wine, against fertility: Amos 5:17, "in all the vineyards there shall be lamentation." Third he concludes the change, "is gone away," changed into sadness: Luke 6:25, "woe to you that laugh now, for you shall weep"; Proverbs 14:13, "laughter shall be mingled with sorrow." "As if a few olives," etc.: here he sets the joys of the good. And first he foretells the praise of the future, whose salvation he foretells, "as if a few," few shall be saved, with respect to others; above, chapter 17, "there shall be left in it, as the shaking of the olive tree." And he sets their praise, "these shall lift up their voice," neighing, like horses, to signify great gladness; Isaiah 52:8, "the voice of your watchmen — they have lifted up their voice, together shall they praise." Second he enjoins praise on those present, where it says, "therefore," etc. And first he sets the precept, "in the regions of light," that is, teaching others. Another translation has "in praises": Sirach 43:30, "glorify the Lord as much as ever you can, he will yet far exceed." Second he designates the fulfillment of the precept, "from the ends of the earth," of the just one, that is, of Christ: Isaiah 65:? "behold, the Lord shall make a new thing at the ends of the earth." Third, the reward of those fulfilling it, "and I said: My secret," concerning their rewards: 1 Corinthians 2:9, "eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for them that love him." "To myself," alone; "woe is me," because I cannot recount it to others: 2 Corinthians 12:4, "he heard secret words, which it is not granted to man to utter." Of the damned, "woe is me, such great punishments do I see." And this connects with the following part, "the prevaricators," etc.: here he threatens the multitude of dangers; and concerning this he does two things. First he charges the diversity of sins, "the prevaricators," by omission, "transgressors," by commission against: Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 18:? "the prevaricators are counted almost all sinners." Second he threatens the multitude of dangers. And first he sets this multitude, "fear." He speaks in the likeness of those who flee, pursued, out of fear; above, chapter 8, "and many of them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken." Second, the impossibility of escaping, "and he that shall flee" — as if he said, he shall fall into Scylla, wishing to avoid Charybdis: Joel 1:4, "the residue of the palmer-worm has the locust eaten." And he assigns the cause, because from heaven and from earth tribulation shall come to them. And this is, "the floodgates," that is, hidden channels, through which water passes: Genesis 7:11, "the floodgates of heaven were opened." Third he shows the impossibility of repair under a threefold likeness: namely of a thing divided, which is not restored, "with breaking," as to the large parts, "with crushing," as to the small: Amos 9:8, "behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth." And by the likeness of a thing moved, which is not made stable, "shall be moved," from place to place; "shall be shaken," as though trembling in its own place; "like a drunken man," by the likeness of a traveler's tent, which is not firmly fixed in the same place. "And as a tent": Isaiah 38:12, "my generation is at an end, and it is rolled away from me, as a shepherd's tent." And he assigns the cause, "and... shall be heavy," as a grave weight, that it may not rise again; Psalm 38:5 (var.), "my iniquities... are grown heavy upon me, like a heavy burden." "And it shall come to pass," etc.: here he deals with the rulers of the peoples; and concerning this he sets three things. First he sets down their punishment, "in that day," of judgment, "shall visit," that is, the demons, and over the same, "kings": John 12:31, "now shall the prince of this world be cast out." Or even evil bishops, "shall be gathered together," together into hell: Matthew 25:41, "which was prepared for the devil, and his angels." Second, "into bundles, to be burned," that they may be alike in punishment, who were alike in guilt. Or, "in that day," namely of the destruction of individual kingdoms, "the host," idols, namely of the sun, and moon, and of the other stars: 1 Samuel 21:? "he worshipped all the host of heaven." "And they shall be gathered together," through destruction: below, chapter 34, "and all the host of heaven shall pine away." Second he determines their misery as to time, "and after many days they shall be visited," because after however long a time they shall be punished with torments forever: Matthew 25:41, "go, you cursed, into everlasting fire." Or on the day of judgment, that immediately after judgment is rendered they may return to hell. Or, according to another exposition, they shall be comforted, because after the tempest he brings some tranquility to all. Third, the glory of the punisher. And first, of the judge, "the moon shall blush, and the sun shall be ashamed," that is, its splendor shall be reckoned as nothing in comparison with the splendor of Christ: Joel 2:31, "the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord comes." Or the worshipper of the sun and moon. Second, of his assessors, "when... shall reign," the elders: above, chapter 3, "the Lord shall come to judgment with the elders of his people." Note, concerning that saying, "the drink shall be bitter," that the drink of sin is bitter, first on account of the remorse of conscience: Proverbs 5:4 (var.), "her end is bitter." Second on account of the fear of death: Sirach 41:1 (var.), "O death, how bitter is the remembrance of you!" Third on account of the lack of divine sweetness: Jeremiah 2:19, "know, and see that it is an evil and a bitter thing for you to have forsaken the Lord your God." Fourth on account of the lament of penance: below, chapter 38, "I will recount to you all my years in the bitterness of my soul." Note, concerning that saying, "my secret," that the great things of God are secret, first on account of their greatness: Matthew 19:11, "all men take not this word"; John 3:12, "if I have spoken to you earthly things, and you believe not, how will you believe if I shall speak to you heavenly things?" Second on account of their dignity: Matthew 13:11, "to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest in parables." Third on account of the unworthiness of others: Matthew 7:6, "do not give that which is holy to dogs." Note, concerning that saying, "and it shall come to pass in that day," that the visitation of the Lord is manifold. First, of condemnation: Jeremiah 5:? "in the time of your visitation they shall perish." Second, of correction: Psalm 89:32 (var.), "I will visit their iniquities with a rod." Third, of consolation: Luke 1:78, "the Orient from on high has visited us."

Chapter 25

Text

a. "O Lord, you are my God, I will exalt you, and give glory to your name, for you have done wonderful things, your designs of old faithful, amen. For you have reduced the city to a heap, the strong city to ruin, the house of strangers, to be no city, and to be built no more forever. Therefore shall a strong people praise you, the city of mighty nations shall fear you. For you have been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat. For the blast of the mighty is like a storm beating upon a wall. You shall bring down the tumult of strangers, as heat in thirst; and as with heat under a scorching cloud, you shall make the branch of the mighty ones to wither away. And the Lord of hosts shall make to all people in this mountain a feast of fat things, a feast of wine, of fat things full of marrow, of wine purified from the lees. And he shall destroy in this mountain the face of the covering tied over all people, and the web that he began over all nations. He shall cast death down headlong forever, and the Lord God shall wipe away tears from every face, and the reproach of his people he shall take away from off the whole earth, for the Lord has spoken it. And they shall say in that day: Behold, this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us; this is the Lord, we have patiently waited for him, we shall rejoice and be joyful in his salvation. For the hand of the Lord shall rest in this mountain, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, as straw is trodden down for the dung heap. And he shall stretch forth his hands under him, as he that swims stretches forth his hands to swim; and he shall bring down his glory with the striking together of his hands. And the fortifications of your high walls shall fall, and be brought low, and be pulled down to the ground, even to the dust."

Exposition

a. Here is set the giving of thanks. And first concerning the salvation of the people. Second concerning their justification, chapter 26, "in that day." The first into two. In the first is set the giving of thanks, "I will exalt you," that is, I will proclaim you exalted among others; "give glory," giving thanks in myself: Psalm 9:1, "I will give praise to you, O Lord, with my whole heart." Second is set the nature of the thanksgiving, "for you have done." And first in general, as to the greatness of what was done, "wonderful things": Job 5:? "who does great and unsearchable things." As to the fulfillment of promises, "faithful": Sirach 36:18 (var.), "give a reward, O Lord, to them that wait for you, that your prophets may be found faithful." "Amen," that is, truly. Second in particular, where it says, "for you have reduced," etc. And first, the works which pertain to the casting down of the wicked. Second, those which pertain to the exaltation of the good, where it says, "and the Lord of hosts shall make," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he threatens the scourge of punishment. Second, the fruit of punishment, where it says, "therefore," etc. Third, the manner of punishing, where it says, "as," etc. He says therefore first, "the city," Jerusalem, "of strangers," from God, namely of the Jews. "To be built no more forever," because it was never afterward built on the same site: above, chapter 17, "behold, Damascus shall cease to be a city"; Micah 3:12, "Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall be as a heap of stones." Or of Babylon, or of any other city of the Gentiles that opposed them. "Therefore," etc.: here he sets the fruit in the subjection of men to God. And first he sets two signs of subjection. First, praise, "shall praise," a strong people, however much subjected to you. Or a strong Gentile people in sufferings. Second, fear, "shall fear you," whatever, "the city": below, chapter 60, "the strength of the Gentiles shall come to you." Second he assigns the reason, which he first sets down, "for you have been a strength to the poor," who has little, though sufficient for himself; "to the needy," who lacks; Psalm 94:22 (var.), "the Lord is become my refuge, and my God the help of my hope." Second he sets the likeness, "a refuge," of defense, "from the storm," on account of the violence of the persecutor; "a shade," of consolation, "from the heat," on account of the affliction of persecution; below, chapter 32, "and a man shall be as when one is hid from the wind." Third he sets the exposition, "blast," that is, indignation and pride; chapter 21, "as whirlwinds come from the south." "As heat," etc.: here he sets the manner of punishment as to affliction, "as heat in thirst," afflicts, "tumult," proud clamor. As to barrenness, "and as with heat under a scorching cloud," gathered by the south wind, which sometimes also, on account of excessive heat, destroys the fruit of the vines: Isaiah 40:7 (var.), "the sun rose with a burning heat, and parched the grass, and the flower thereof fell away." "And the Lord of hosts shall make," etc.: here he sets what pertains to the exaltation of the good. And this in three ways. First as to the abundance of good things, which he describes under a metaphor, "a feast," which is prepared of fat animals, and refined wine, "in this mountain," because there Christ suffered, whence all good things came to us. Or because he shall judge, as is said in Matthew 22:4, "behold, my dinner is prepared, my beeves and fatlings are killed." Second as to the withdrawal of evils, "and he shall destroy." As to the punishment of death, which he calls a covering, inasmuch as it was ordained by the just sentence of God: 1 Corinthians 15:54, "death is swallowed up in victory"; Hosea 13:14, "O death, I will be your death; O hell, I will be your bite." The sadness of sorrow, "and shall wipe away": Revelation 21:4, "God shall wipe away all tears from the eyes of the saints." The disgrace of confusion, "and the reproach": above, chapter 5, "I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be wasted." Some refer this to the judgment rendered at the death of Holofernes, who came against all the nations; and likewise concerning the feast, and set the giving of thanks. And they shall say, "we have patiently waited," expecting patiently: Sirach 2:9, "you that fear the Lord, wait for his mercy." And he sets the reason, "for... shall rest," with whom no evil can dwell: Psalm 132:14, "this is my rest for ever and ever." Third as to the oppression of enemies, namely of the Moabites, who were most hostile to them on account of the dream. And first he sets their affliction, "shall be trodden down": Amos 1:3 (var.), "they have threshed Gilead with iron threshing wagons." Second, complete subjection, "and he shall stretch forth his hands," as one prostrate, and seeking mercy, or friendship: Isaiah 49:23, "with their face toward the earth, they shall adore you." And the destruction of fortifications, "and the fortifications," of which above, chapter 2. Note, concerning that saying, "I will give glory to your name," that confession is manifold. First, of humility: James 5:16, "confess your sins one to another." Second, of truth: Romans 10:10, "for with the heart we believe unto justice, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Third, of praise: Psalm 33:2, "I will give praise to the Lord upon the harp." Fourth, of thanksgiving: above, chapter 12, "I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for you were angry with me, and you have comforted me." Likewise note, concerning that word "Amen," that "Amen" is Hebrew, and is sometimes a verb, that is, "let it be": Deuteronomy 27:? "and all the people shall say: Amen." Sometimes an adverb, that is, "truly": John 6:47, "amen, amen, I say to you." Sometimes a noun, that is, "truth": Revelation 3:14, "these things says the Amen." Sometimes it is Greek, that is, "without defect," from "a," which is "without," and "men," which is "defect": Romans 9:5, "who is God blessed forever, Amen." Note, concerning that saying, "a feast of fat things," that there is a threefold feast. The first, familiar to the militant Church, in which three things are proposed. First, the bitterness of the passion: Exodus 12:8, "you shall eat it with wild lettuce"; 1 Corinthians 11:26, "as often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the cup, you shall show the death of the Lord, until he come." Second, the sweetness of love: Wisdom 16:20, "you gave them bread from heaven, prepared without labor, having in it all that is delicious, and the sweetness of every taste." Third, the fatness, as to effect: Psalm 23:5, "you have anointed my head with oil." The second is the private feast of the soul, in which three things are proposed. First, the wine of love: Song of Solomon 1:2, "your breasts are better than wine." Second, the honey of contemplation: Psalm 119:103, "how sweet are your words to my palate, more than honey to my mouth." Third, the milk of nurture, for growth unto perfection: 1 Peter 2:2, "as newborn babes, desire the rational milk without guile." The third is the solemn feast of the heavenly court, in which three things are proposed. First, wine, unto inebriation: Song of Solomon 5:1, "eat, O friends, and drink, and be inebriated, dearly beloved." Second, honey, unto satiety: Psalm 17:15, "I shall be satisfied when your glory shall appear." Third, milk, unto perfection of heart and soul: Song of Solomon 5:12, "his eyes are as doves upon brooks of waters, which are washed with milk."

Chapter 26

Text

a. "In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: Zion, the city of our strength, a savior; a wall and a bulwark shall be set therein. Open the gates, and let the just nation, that keeps the truth, enter in. The old error has passed away; you will keep peace, peace, for we have hoped in you. You have trusted in the Lord in eternal ages, in the Lord God, mighty forever. For he shall bring down them that dwell on high, the high city he shall lay low. He shall bring it down even to the ground, he shall pull it down even to the dust. The foot shall tread it down, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy. The way of the just is right, the path of the just is straight to walk in. And in the way of your judgments, O Lord, we have waited for you; your name, and your remembrance, are the desire of the soul. My soul has desired you in the night, and my spirit within me in the morning early I will watch to you. When you shall do your judgments on the earth, the inhabitants of the world shall learn justice. Let us have mercy on the wicked, and he will not learn justice; in the land of the saints he has done wicked things, and he shall not see the glory of the Lord. Lord, let your hand be exalted, and let them not see it; let the envious people see, and be confounded, and let fire devour your enemies. Lord, you will give us peace, for you have wrought all our works for us. O Lord our God, other lords besides you have had dominion over us, only in you let us remember your name. Let the dying not live, let the giants not rise again; therefore you have visited and destroyed them, and have brought to nothing all their memory. You have indulged the nation, O Lord, you have indulged the nation; are you glorified? You have removed all the ends of the earth. Lord, in distress they sought you, in the tribulation of murmuring your doctrine was with them. As a woman with child, when she draws near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and cries out in her pangs, so are we become, O Lord, from your face. We have conceived, and been as it were in labor, and have brought forth wind; we have not wrought salvation on the earth, therefore the inhabitants of the earth have not fallen. Your dead men shall live, my slain shall rise again; awake, and give praise, you that dwell in the dust, for your dew is the dew of light, and you shall bring down the land of the giants into ruin. Go, my people, enter into your chambers, shut your doors upon you; hide yourself a little for a moment, until the indignation pass away. For behold, the Lord will come out of his place, to visit the iniquity of the inhabitant of the earth against him; and the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall cover her slain no more."

Exposition

a. In this part he gives thanks concerning the justification of the people; and it is divided into two. In the first he foretells the state of the just. In the second he shows the fruit of justice, where it says, "the old error," etc. Concerning the first, two things. First he foretells the confidence of the just, "in that day." After the return from captivity, and the affliction of the Moabites by the Maccabees. Or after the coming of Christ, "O Zion, savior," Christ, or Judas Maccabeus, "the city of our strength," namely of protection; "a wall and a bulwark shall be set" — of Christ alone. Literally, in the time of the Maccabees, "wall," that is, defending; or "wall," Christ, "bulwark," namely the prophets. Or otherwise, "Zion," is the city; "savior," God; or Christ, or Judas Maccabeus, "wall," that is, defending as a wall: Proverbs 18:10, "the name of the Lord is a most strong tower"; Zechariah 2:5, "I will be to it, says the Lord, a wall of fire round about." Second the Lord foretells their righteousness, saying to the angels, "open the gates," heavens, or of virtue closed by sins. Or literally: you need not close the gates on account of unbelievers, because all shall be just: Psalm 118:20, "this is the gate of the Lord, the just shall enter into it." "The old error," etc.: here he sets the fruit of righteousness, namely peace, of which first is set the petition of the people, which contains three things. For the fitness of the petitioners is set down, "the old error," namely of idolatry: 2 Corinthians 5:17, "old things are passed away." The benefit of peace is requested, "you will keep peace," of body and soul: Isaiah 52:1... "my people shall sit in the beauty of peace, in the tabernacles of justice, and in wealthy rest." The merit of peace is alleged, "for we have hoped in you": Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 2:? "who has hoped in the Lord, and has been confounded?" Second is set the prophet's response, who is mediator between the people and God, "you have trusted": and it is divided into three. In the first is set the promise of peace. In the second, the obtaining of peace, where it says, "the way," etc. In the third, the announcement of the obtained peace, where it says, "justice," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he grants the merit, "you have trusted in the Lord in eternal ages," that is, always: Psalm 27:7 (var.), "in him my heart has trusted, and I have been helped." Second he applies counsel, "in the Lord God," supply, "trust": Matthew 10:22, "he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved." Third he promises the benefit of peace, for the destruction of enemies. "For he shall bring down them that dwell," the Jews refer this to the Romans. It can, however, be referred to any of their enemies. Or mystically, to the Jews themselves: above, chapter 25, "the fortifications of your high walls shall fall." And he adds the condition of those destroying, "the foot shall tread it down, the feet of the poor," of the Jew who has little, "the needy," who need to have more. Or if mystically, he sets the merit of the destruction of the Jews on account of the poor Christ, of whom in Psalm 69:29 (var.), "but I am needy and poor." And elsewhere, Psalm 40:17, "I am poor and in pain." "The needy," of the disciples. "The way of the just," etc.: here is set, as it were, a debate of the prophet with the Lord, to obtain the petition of the people. And first he induces the punishing of the enemies by arguments. Second by proofs, where it says, "you have indulged," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he induces him to punish. Second, that he should keep them detained in punishment, where it says, "the dying," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he induces to justice. Second he excludes mercy, where it says, "let us have mercy," etc. Third he determines the punishment, where it says, "and he shall not see," etc. Now he provokes to justice, imposing three things. First, the rectitude of justice, "the way of the just," that is, of justice: Wisdom 10:10, "she conducted the just, through right ways." Second, the expectation of the afflicted, proposing three things: namely that expectation itself, "in the way," that is, through the punishment of your judgments, by which you avenge and deliver us: Psalm 119:93, "I will never forget your justifications, for by them you have given me life." The desire of those expecting, "your name": Jeremiah 23:6, "this is the name that they shall call him: The Lord our just one." The constancy of desire, "for by day, and by night," that is, at all times. Or in prosperity and adversity, "my soul": Song of Solomon 3:1, "in my little bed I sought him whom my soul loves"; Psalm 63:1, "O God, my God, to you do I watch at break of day." Third he sets forth the usefulness of justice, "when you shall do your judgments": Psalm 9:16, "the Lord shall be known when he executes judgments." "Let us have mercy," etc.: here he excludes mercy; and concerning this he does two things. First the Lord, in answer to the questioner, proposes mercy, "let us have mercy": Psalm 119:64, "the earth, O Lord, is full of your mercy." Second the prophet excludes it, on account of its uselessness, "and he will not learn": Ecclesiastes 8:11, "for because sentence is not speedily pronounced against the evil, the children of men commit evils without any fear"; Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 30:8, "a horse not broken becomes stubborn, and a child left to himself will become headstrong" — and on account of the gravity of the sin, on account of the profanation of the sacred place, "in the land of the saints": Psalm 79:1 (var.), "O God, the heathens are come into your inheritance, they have defiled your holy temple"; Jeremiah 7:? "what does my beloved in my house that does many wicked things?" "And he shall not see," etc.: here is set the debate over determining the punishment. And first the Lord asks, "and let them not see it" — as if he said, ought I to give him this punishment, that he not see it? Or as a remission, and this suffices for punishment. Second the prophet responds, "Lord, let your hand be exalted." Third the Lord determines the spiritual punishment, "let them see, and be confounded": Revelation 1:7, "every eye shall see him," in the glory of his humanity, not of his divinity. And the bodily, Revelation 19:20, "these... were cast into the pool of fire." Fourth the prophet, rejoicing, assents, proposing two goods resulting from what was said, namely the peace of the people. "Therefore, Lord, having done this, you will give us peace, and this we have hoped from you. For all": Philippians 2:13, "it is God who works in you both to will and to accomplish." "You have wrought, works," that is, the punishments by which you sufficiently purged us: Isaiah 40:2, "she has received of the Lord's hand double." Second, the praise of God, "O Lord our God, other lords have had dominion over us." And therefore we could not give ourselves to your praise. "Yet in you," not having another god to whom alone we might give ourselves: Lamentations 5:8, "servants have ruled over us." Note, concerning that saying, "the city of our strength," that Christ is the city of our strength: because he confirms us, first in faith: 1 Corinthians 3:11, "for other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus." Second in hope: Hebrews 6:18, "that we may have the strongest comfort, who have fled for refuge to hold fast the hope set before us." Third in charity: Ephesians 3:17, "being rooted and founded in charity"; Luke 12:49, "I am come to cast fire on the earth, and what will I but that it be kindled?" Fourth in work: Philippians 2:13, "it is God who works in you both to will, and to accomplish, according to his good will." Fifth in temptation: 1 Corinthians 10:13, "God is faithful, who will not permit you to be tempted above that which you are able." Sixth in accusation: 1 John 2:1, "we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ." Seventh in reward: Revelation 3:12, "I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God." Likewise note, concerning that saying, "open," that we ought to open gates through meditation, first of infernal misery: below, chapter 38, "I shall go to the gates of hell." Second of present life: Proverbs 31:31, "let her works praise her in the gates." Third of heavenly glory: Psalm 147:13, "he has strengthened the bars of your gates." Likewise note, concerning that saying, "peace," that there are three things that make peace in the present. First, contempt of temporal wealth: below, chapter 57, "the heart of the wicked is like the raging sea, which cannot rest." Second, subjugation of carnal desire: Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 44:? "peaceable men in their houses." Third, contemplation of divine wisdom: Psalm 76:2, "in peace is his place made, and his abode in Zion." Likewise note, concerning that saying, "the way of the just," that the straight way of justice is so called, first on account of the shortness of the way to be traversed: Wisdom 5:7, "we wearied ourselves in the way of iniquity." Second on account of the equality of its sides, since that is straight whose middle does not diverge from the extremes: John 15:? "he goes forth from God, and returns to God." Third on account of its beauty: Jeremiah 31:? "let the beauty of justice bless you, O mountain of holiness." Likewise note, concerning that saying, "peace," that there are three things that make peace in the future. First, the plenty of good things: Psalm 147:14, "who has placed peace in your borders." Second, security from evils: below, chapter 32, "my people shall sit in the tabernacles of confidence." Third, immutability: Psalm 4:9, "in peace, in the self-same, I will sleep, and I will rest." "Let the dying," etc.: here he asks that he not deliver the punished any further from punishment; and first he asks the petition, "let the dying," sinners, "not live," O king of the life of glory, where they might repent; "the giants," boasting of their power, "let... not rise again," to glory: Psalm 1:5 (var.), "the wicked shall not rise again in judgment, nor sinners in the council of the just"; Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 16:7, "he was not entreated for the ancient giants." Or he asks that their deceived enemies rise no more to power. Second he sets forth the hearing of the petition, "therefore": Psalm 9:6, "let their memory perish with a noise"; Jeremiah 51:? "in the time of their destruction they shall perish." "You have indulged," etc.: here he induces God to the work of justice, through the proof of the uselessness of mercy — both as to the remission of punishments, "you have indulged," and as to the multiplication of good things, "you have removed": Jeremiah 5:27, "they are grown fat and shining. They have also excessively transgressed in wicked deeds"; Proverbs 1:32, "the prosperity of fools shall destroy them." Second, the usefulness of vindicating justice, "the poor in distress": Hosea 6:1 (var.), "in their affliction they will rise early to me"; Isaiah 26:16 (var.), "in the time of affliction, they said: Arise, and deliver us." "As a woman with child," etc.: here he proves the same thing through experience in the Jews. And first he sets the scourge of tribulation, "as a woman with child": John 16:21, "a woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow"; Psalm 48:6 (var.), "there pains, as of a woman in labor." Second, the fruit of amendment, "from your face": Hebrews 12:11, "now all chastisement for the present indeed seems not to bring with it joy, but sorrow; but afterward it will yield, to them that are exercised by it, the most peaceable fruit of justice." "We have not wrought salvation," etc.: here he announces the obtained peace; and concerning this he does three things. First is shown the reason for the delay, "we have not wrought salvation," so that it echoes what is said in Deuteronomy 28:7, "the Lord shall cause your enemies, that rise up against you, to fall down before your face." Second is set the promise of the restoration of the people through resurrection, whether bodily, on the last day, or from the misery of captivity. Whence resurrection is promised, "your dead shall live": Ezekiel 37:? "prophesy concerning the spirit, prophesy, son of man," etc. Thanksgiving is enjoined on those rising, "awake, and give praise": Daniel 12:2, "many of those that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake." And the cause or reason of the resurrection is assigned, "for your dew is the dew of light," namely of divine kindness. Third is shown the destruction of enemies, "the land of the giants," that is, of the proud, and the powerful: above, chapter 17, "shall be as a ruinous heap of stones." Second, the immunity of God's people, "go, my people." "Chambers," sepulchres. Or literally, fortifications in which meanwhile they cautiously guard themselves: Isaiah 54:8, "in a moment of indignation, I hid my face from you for a little while, and in everlasting kindness I have had mercy on you"; Revelation 7:? "it was said to them that they should rest for a little time still, until the number of their fellow servants... should be completed." Third he sets the order of destruction, because it is through judgment; whence he foretells the judge's coming, "for behold, the Lord": Micah 1:3, "behold, the Lord will come out of his place." And the term of its maturing, "and the earth shall disclose her blood": Job 16:18, "O earth, cover not my blood, and let not my cry find a hiding place in you."

Chapter 27

Text

a. "In that day the Lord shall visit with his hard, and great, and strong sword upon Leviathan the bar serpent, and upon Leviathan the crooked serpent, and shall slay the whale that is in the sea. In that day, sing to the pleasant vineyard. I the Lord that keep it, I will suddenly give it drink; lest any hurt come to it, I keep it night and day. There is no indignation in me: who shall make me a thorn and a brier in battle? Shall I march against it, shall I set it on fire together? Or shall he rather take hold of my strength, shall he make peace with me, shall he make peace with me? They that come of Jacob shall take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and they shall fill the face of the world with seed. Has he struck him according to the stroke of him that struck him? Or is he slain, as he killed those whom he slew? In measure against measure, when it shall be cast off, he shall judge it. He has meditated with his severe spirit in the day of heat. Therefore upon this shall the iniquity of the house of Jacob be forgiven, and this is all the fruit, that the sin thereof should be taken away, when he shall have made all the stones of the altar as burnt ashes, the groves and temples shall not stand. For the fenced city shall be desolate, the beautiful city shall be forsaken, and shall be left as a wilderness; there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and shall consume its branches. In its dry season the women that come to teach it shall be broken. For it is not a wise people, therefore he that made it shall not have mercy on it, and he that formed it shall not spare it. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord will strike from the channel of the river even to the torrent of Egypt, and you shall be gathered together, one by one, you children of Israel. And it shall come to pass in that day, that they shall sound with a great trumpet, and they that were lost shall come from the land of the Assyrians, and they that were outcasts in the land of Egypt, and they shall worship the Lord in the holy mount, in Jerusalem."

Exposition

a. In this part he recalls the divine and fatherly correction. And first by scourges from others. Second by his own scourges, where it says, "in that day," etc. Whence it is said, chapter 3, "he does not act like an earthly father, whom the prophet represents." Concerning the first he sets the scourge of Babylon, "with... sword," namely, of vengeance; "Leviathan," namely Nebuchadnezzar, on account of the addition of kingdoms which he had subjugated to himself; "serpent," on account of his venomous tyranny; "shall slay," on account of the correction of the peoples by God: above... "the Assyrian is the rod of my anger." "In that day," etc.: here is set the correction through his own scourges. Whence first he pursues the chastisement. Second, the consolation, where it says, "and it shall come to pass in that day," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First the chastisement is foretold. Second the manner is inquired into, where it says, "there is no indignation," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he foretells the song of sorrow, "the vineyard," formerly, in the prophets and patriarchs, of wine, "pleasant"; above, chapter 5, "the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel." Second he sets the purpose of the one punishing, "I the Lord, that keep it"; Isaiah 51:17, "you have drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath." Third he sets the benefit, of which they were ungrateful, "lest any hurt come to it": Wisdom 16:12 (var. "sermo tuus"), "your word, O Lord, which heals all things." "There is no indignation," etc.: here is inquired the manner of punishment. And first is set the judge's deliberation. Second, the execution of what was deliberated, where it says, "shall he rather take hold," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he sets forth the judgment of the severe, proposing the wrath of those raging, "there is no indignation in me" — as if he said, rather I am rightly indignant, because they have been ungrateful for benefits: Isaiah 51:20, "full of the indignation of the Lord." And from wrath he determines the severe punishment, "who shall make me a thorn and a brier" — as regards the preceding troubles they commonly stirred up against one another; above, chapter 5, "and briers and thorns shall come up over it." "In battle," as regards the assault of enemies: Ezekiel 20:33, "I will judge you in an outstretched arm, and in fury, and in wrath poured out, and I will strike the inhabitants of this land." "I will set it on fire," as regards the destruction of houses and cities: Jeremiah 51:20 (var.), "my indignation shall go forth as fire." Second he sets a tempering of the sentence, "or shall he rather take hold" — as if he said, I shall restrain my wrath by its opposite: Jeremiah 30:24 (var.), "the fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, until he execute, and till he accomplish the thought of his heart." And he sets the fruit of the tempering, as regards the good, which each one shall do, in comparison to God: "shall he make peace with me" — as if he said, he shall be at peace with me through good works: Isaiah 32:17, "the work of justice shall be peace." In comparison to himself, "shall blossom," through faith, or a good purpose; "bud," through the completion of the work; Isaiah 52:? "Jerusalem shall flourish as a lily." And in comparison to his neighbor, "shall fill the face of the world with seed," they who go forth, namely the apostles; above, chapter 2, "the law shall come forth out of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem"; Psalm 19:4, "their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world." He sets a supplement of punishment as regards the ungrateful, "has he struck him," in which he reproaches the benefit of the punishment: Psalm 103:10 (var.), "he has not dealt with us according to our sins." "In measure," in which he threatens a proportionate judgment. "When it shall be cast off," from the worship of God through unbelief, not believing in Christ: Deuteronomy 25:? "according to the measure of the sin, so shall be also the measure of the stripes." "He has meditated," in which he shows the firmness of the sentence, "severe," because he shall not be appeased: above, chapter 1, "cease then from the man, whose breath is in his nostrils." Third he explains the motive for tempering it, lest he should then wholly destroy them, because from that nation, though scattered, the apostles were yet to descend, through whose preaching they were to abandon the worship of idols. And this is what he says, "when he shall have made": above, chapter 17, "man shall bow himself down to his Maker, and his eyes shall look toward the Holy One of Israel." "Fenced city," namely Jerusalem: Lamentations 1:1, "how does the city sit solitary, that was full of people!" As regards the power of the enemies, "there shall he lie down," as if resting without fear, "the calf," the army of enemies; "branches," metaphorically, that is, shoots, by which are signified rulers; above, chapter 13, "wild beasts shall rest there." Or literally, that it be a sign of desolation: 1 Maccabees 4:? "the shrines torn down." And the destruction of men, "in its dry season," is a metaphor, that is, just as fish are consumed in the dryness of summer. "The women that come to teach it," by whom especially the people were driven into sin; above, chapter 3, "their oppressors have stripped them." Or because certain women taught them, as Deborah, Judges 4, and Athaliah, 2 Kings 11. Second he sets the equity of the punishment by comparison to the guilt, "for it is not a wise people"; above, chapter 5, "therefore my people is led away captive, because they had not knowledge." Third, the greatness of the destruction — as to the universality of places, "and it shall come to pass in that day," that is, from one end to the other; above, chapter 1, "from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head there is no soundness in it." And as to the fewness of the enemies remaining, "and you shall be gathered together": Deuteronomy 28:62, "you shall be left few in number." "And it shall come to pass," etc.: here he notes consolation, by leading them back to himself, "trumpet," the king's command: Isaiah 41:? "will hiss for them, and will gather the fugitives together." Note, concerning that saying, "the Lord shall visit with his sword," that God's vengeance is called a sword, first, "hard," on account of the harshness of the punishment. Second, "great," on account of the universality of the punished: Revelation 6:4, "there was given to him a great sword." Third, "strong," on account of the power of the one punishing: Nahum 3:? "flee from before the sword." Fourth, "sharp," on account of its own penetrating power, because it reaches even to the soul: Hebrews 4:12, "the word of God is living and effectual, and more piercing than any two-edged sword." Fifth, shining on account of its equity: Nahum 3:? "he shall perish by the sword, he shall be devoured as by locusts." Likewise, note, concerning that word "Leviathan," that the devil is called Leviathan, because he adds, first to human wickedness: Psalm 69:27 (var.), "add iniquity upon their iniquity." Second, to his own power: Matthew 4:9, "all these will I give you, if falling down you will adore me." Third, to divine justice: Genesis 4:13, "my iniquity is greater than that I may deserve pardon." Fourth, to divine mercy: Genesis 33:4, "he... embraced him." Likewise note, concerning that word "serpent," that the devil is called a serpent, first on account of his cunning for renewal: 2 Corinthians 11:14, "Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light." Second, on account of his manner of assailing: Job 1:7, "I have gone round about the earth, and walked through it." Third, on account of his venomous bite: Proverbs 23:32, "at the last it will bite like a snake." Fourth, on account of his manner of coiling: Job 40:17 (var.), "he shall bend his tail like a cedar."

Chapter 28

Text

a. "Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower, the glory of his joy, who were on the head of the fat valley, staggering with wine. Behold, the Lord is mighty and strong, like a storm of hail, a destroying whirlwind, like the violence of many waters overflowing, and sent forth upon a spacious land. The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under feet. And the fading flower, the glory of his joy, who is on the head of the fat valley, shall be as one that is timely ripe before the harvest, which when he that looks upon it sees, as soon as he has it in his hand, he devours it. In that day the Lord of hosts shall be a crown of glory, and a wreath of joy to the residue of his people; and a spirit of judgment to him that sits in judgment, and strength to them that return out of battle to the gate. But these also have not known through wine, and have erred through drunkenness. The priest and the prophet have not known, through drunkenness, they are swallowed up by wine, they have erred in drunkenness, they have not known him that sees, they have been ignorant of judgment. For all tables are filled with vomit and filth, so that there is no more place. Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand the hearing? Them that are weaned from the milk, that are drawn away from the breasts? For command, command again; command, command again; expect, expect again; expect, expect again; a little there, a little there. For with a stammering lip, and another tongue, he will speak to this people, to whom he said: This is my rest, refresh the weary, and this is my refreshment; and they would not hear. And the word of the Lord shall be to them: Command, command again; command, command again; expect, expect again; expect, expect again; a little there, a little there, that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men, that rule over my people that is in Jerusalem. For you have said: We have entered into a league with death, and we have made a covenant with hell. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come upon us, for we have made lies our hope, and by falsehood we are protected. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will lay a stone in the foundations of Zion, a tried stone, a corner stone, a precious stone, founded in the foundation; he that believes shall not make haste. And I will set judgment in weight, and justice in measure; and hail shall overturn the hope of a lie, and the waters shall overflow the protection thereof. And your covenant with death shall be abolished, and your league with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass, you shall be trodden down by it. Whenever it shall pass through, it shall take you, for in the morning early it shall pass through, in the day and in the night, and vexation alone shall make you understand what you hear. For the bed has become so narrow that one falls off, and the short covering cannot cover both. For the Lord shall stand up as in the mountain of divisions; he shall be angry as in the valley which is in Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work, that he may perform his work, his work is foreign to him. And now do not mock, lest your bonds be tightened; for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consummation and a shortening upon the whole earth. Give ear, and hear my voice, attend, and hear my speech. Shall the plowman plow all the day to sow, shall he open and harrow his ground? Will he not, when he has made plain the face thereof, sow gith, and scatter cummin, and set wheat in order, and barley, and millet, and vetches in their bounds? For his God shall teach him judgment, he shall instruct him. For gith shall not be threshed with saws, neither shall the cart wheel turn about upon cummin, but gith shall be beaten out with a rod, and cummin with a staff. But bread corn shall be broken small; yet the thrasher shall not thrash it forever, nor hurt it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his teeth. This also is come forth from the Lord of hosts, to make his counsel wonderful, and magnify justice."

Exposition

In this part he threatens against those who despised the prophets' oracles. And first against those despising in the present. Second against those to come in the times of Jeremiah, chapter 30, "woe to the rebellious children," etc. The first into two. In the first against those of the ten tribes. In the second against those of the two, where it says, "but these also," etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First he charges the guilt of pride, "woe to the crown," because they were proud of their multitude, which is the crown, or glory, of a king. Second, the guilt of gluttony, "to the drunkards of Ephraim": Numbers 3... "she shall be made drunk, and shall be despised, and shall seek help from the enemy." "To the fading flower," who were so in the days of glory; "staggering with wine," namely idolatry: Exodus 7:? "the rod flourished, the almond budded." Second he threatens punishment, where it says, "behold, mighty," etc. And concerning this he does two things. First he sets the strength of the enemies, "behold, mighty," as to the strength of the enemies he will send, "like the violence." As to the multitude, above, chapter 17, "nations shall sound like the noise of overflowing waters." Second he sets the infliction of punishment, namely the casting down of pride, "trodden under feet"; and the emptying out of glory, "and... shall be as one that is timely ripe," that is, an early or first-fruit: above, chapter 18, "for before the harvest it was all flourishing"; Habakkuk 3:17, "all the fortresses shall be like a fig tree with its green figs." Third he sets the glory of the just, namely of those of the two tribes. "In that day," namely, in the time of Hezekiah, the ten tribes destroyed, as to three things: as to the gladness of the people, "a crown," of gold or silver, against what he said of the crown of pride; "a wreath," of flowers, against what he said of the fading flower: Isaiah 61:3, "and I would give them a crown for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of grief." As to the king's justice, "and shall be," the Lord himself sitting: Jeremiah 23:5 (var.), "a king shall reign, and shall be wise, and shall execute judgment and justice in the land" — as to the strength of the military, "and strength," because the Lord shall fight for them: above, chapter 26, "for he is become my strength." "But these also," etc.: here he threatens against those of the two tribes. And first against the rulers. Second against the city, or against the people, chapter 29, "woe to Ariel," etc. The first into two. First he sets the change. Second, the consolation, "give ear." Concerning the first, two things. First he charges the sin, and threatens destruction together with it. Second he excludes it, where it says, "therefore hear," etc. Concerning the first, two. First he charges in them the defect of knowledge. Second, contempt of doctrine, where it says, "for command," etc. Concerning the first he charges the guilt, setting first the common error of all, "but these also have erred through wine": Hosea 4:11, "fornication, and wine, and drunkenness take away the understanding" — apostasy from God. Second, of the teachers, "the priest... have not known," as to ignorance of what should be believed; "have erred," as to ignorance of what should be done; "him that sees," that is, God, because he sees all things. Whence this is an exposition of what is had in Ezekiel 22:26, "her priests have despised my law, and have defiled my sanctuaries." Third he sets the manner of ignorance, "for all tables," because devoted to idols in the temples, "and filth," that is, of all disgraceful vices: Proverbs (var.) "as a dog returned to his vomit." Second he threatens the punishment of blinding, "whom shall he teach." Whence first is set the question, "whom shall he teach?" — as if he said, since you have rejected knowledge, "the hearing," namely what I have heard from the Lord. Second is set the response, "them that are weaned," that is, the humble, and simple little ones: Matthew 11:25, "you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to little ones." Or all who are good, separated from the milk of concupiscence. Note, concerning that saying, "drunkards," that the wicked are made drunk with wine, first, materially, with liquor: Ephesians 5:18, "be not drunk with wine, in which is luxury." Second, with carnal delight: Proverbs 9:? "come, be inebriated with wine." Third, with spiritual error: above, chapter 19, "and they have caused Egypt to err in all its works, as a drunken man staggers." Fourth, with divine punishment: Lamentations 3:15, "he has filled me with bitterness, he has inebriated me with wormwood." Likewise the saints are made drunk: first, with the tears of compunction: above, chapter 16, "I will water you with my tears." Second, with the cup of compassion: Psalm 23:5 (var.), "my cup, which inebriates, how excellent it is!" Third, with the ardor of love: Song of Solomon 5:1, "eat, O friends, and be inebriated." Fourth, with the torrent of delight: Psalm 36:8 (var.), "they shall be inebriated with the plenty of your house." Likewise note, concerning that word "crown of pride," that both the wicked and the good are crowned. The wicked are crowned, first, with a crown of vain gladness: Wisdom 2:8, "let us crown ourselves with roses." Second, of the opulence of things: above, chapter 23, "who has taken this counsel against Tyre, that was formerly crowned?" Third, of worldly power: Job 19:9, "he has stripped me of my glory, and has taken the crown from my head." Fourth, of superstitious observance: 2 Maccabees 6:7, "when the feast of Bacchus was kept, they were compelled to go in procession crowned with ivy." The saints, in turn, are crowned: with a nuptial crown: Isaiah 61:10, "he has crowned me as a bridegroom." Second, a triumphal crown: 2 Timothy 2:5, "he is not crowned, except he strive lawfully." Third, a royal crown: Isaiah 62:3, "you shall be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord"; Psalm 21:3 (var.), "you have set on his head a crown of precious stones." Fourth, a priestly crown: Sirach 45:8 (var.), "a crown of gold upon his head, expressing the sign of holiness." Likewise note, concerning that saying, "weaned from the milk," that there is a certain milk which must be forsaken; and this is manifold. First, of carnal concupiscence: above, chapter 11, "the weaned child shall thrust his hand into the den of the basilisk." Second, of imperfect justice: Genesis 21:8, "the child grew, and was weaned." Third, of rude doctrine: 1 Corinthians 3:2, "as to little ones in Christ, I gave you milk to drink." And there is a milk that ought to be embraced. First, of pure conscience: Lamentations 4:7, "whiter than snow, more ruddy than milk," on account of brightness. Second, of sound doctrine, on account of sweetness: Song of Solomon 4:11, "honey and milk are under your tongue." Third, of eternal glory, on account of easy absorption: Joshua 5:6, "possess the land flowing with milk and honey." "For command," etc.: here he sets the contempt of doctrine. And first, through the blasphemy by which they mocked the prophets, saying, "command," because they used this by way of threatening; above, chapter 13, "I have commanded my sanctified ones"; and above, chapter 23, "the Lord has given a charge against Canaan, to destroy the strength thereof"; above, chapter 6, "I will command the clouds to rain no rain upon it." "Expect," here, by promising: Habakkuk 2:3, "if he make any delay, wait for him, for he shall surely come." And he adds punishment, "with a stammering lip," that is, thus you shall lack understanding of the prophets, as if someone spoke to you with a mere movement of the lip, and a foreign tongue. Or he shall immediately inflict plagues upon you. Concerning this speech, Wisdom 2:19, "let us examine him by outrages and tortures." Second as to obedience, "to whom he said." Whence first he sets the precept, "this is my rest": Matthew 25:40, "whatsoever you have done to one of these my least brethren, you have done it to me." Second, the contempt, "and they would not hear": Ezekiel 3:7, "the house of Israel will not hearken to you, because they will not hearken to me." Third he threatens destruction. "And it shall be to them," that is, they shall suffer this punishment for their own words: Matthew 12:37, "by your words I judge you, wicked servant." "That they may go," into destruction. "Therefore," etc.: here he excludes remedy. And first he sets down two remedies, that is, the two things in which they trusted, namely a pact with idols; whence he sets the pact, "we have entered into a league with death," that is, with the devil: Job 40:24 (var. "an ludes cum eo"), "will he make a covenant with you?" And the fruit of the pact, "the overflowing scourge," that is, persecution; "lies," that is, the idol, which you call a lie, O prophets: Psalm 81:6 (var.), "they were not in the labors of men, neither shall they be scourged with men." Second is the remedy which God has prepared for the saints, namely Christ, "behold, I": Psalm 118:22, "the stone which the builders rejected." "He that believes shall not make haste, but shall wait": Habakkuk 2:3, "if he make any delay, wait for him." And this is against the blasphemy of the wicked. "And I will set," etc.: here he excludes each of the two remedies. And first the first. Second the second, where it says, "for the bed has become so narrow," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he sets the sentence of exclusion following, "I will set": Wisdom 11:20 (var.), "you have ordered all things in measure, and number, and weight." Second he confounds the pact, "and hail shall overturn," of tribulation. And he sets four things against all he said above: Job 8:13 (var.), "the hope of the hypocrite shall perish." Third, the fruit of exclusion, "and only": above, chapter 26, "Lord, in distress they sought you." "For the bed has become so narrow," etc.: here he excludes the second remedy. And first he sets in them the impediment, why it does not avail them, "has become so narrow." He speaks after the likeness of an adulteress, who cannot in the same place have both husband and adulterer; so neither can they offer worship to idols and obtain divine help: 1 Corinthians 10:21, "you cannot be partakers of the table of the Lord, and of the table of devils." Second he sets the arrival of the deliverer, "as in the mountain of divisions." He touches the history had in 2 Samuel 5. "So in Gibeon." Third he excludes the help of mercy, "that he may do his work," that is, that he might have mercy on us, as then, interrogatively. And he responds, "strange": Psalm 145:9 (var.), "his tender mercies are over all his works." "And now do not," etc.: here he concludes a sound and wholesome counsel. And first he forbids mockery, "do not mock," "bonds," of captivity: Proverbs 3:? "he shall scorn the scorners, and to the meek he will give grace." And he assigns the reason, "for a consummation," etc. "Give ear," etc.: here he sets the consolation. And first he arouses attention, "give ear": Deuteronomy 32:1, "hear, O you heavens, the things I speak, let the earth give ear to the words of my mouth." Second he sets the consolation under the likeness of a farmer, "shall the plowman plow all the day," etc. By which he shows three things: namely the intention of God who punishes, that we may bear fruit like the plowman, that he may sow, "gith," a kind of legume similar to cumin. Second, the discretion of judgment, because he punishes these and those differently, as the farmer threshes wheat and gith differently. "And shall instruct," "bread," that is, grain. Third, the cessation of punishments as regards those who are corrected, "yet the thrasher shall not thrash it forever": 1 Corinthians 9:10, "he that ploughs, should plough in hope." Third he sets the exposition, and this, "from the Lord": Psalm 118:? "your works are wonderful."

Chapter 29

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a. "Woe to Ariel, to Ariel the city which David took: year is added to year, the solemnities are at an end. And I will make a siege around Ariel, and it shall be in sorrow and mourning, and it shall be to me as Ariel. And I will make a circle round about you like a sphere, and I will cast a mound against you, and raise fortifications to besiege you. You shall be brought down, you shall speak out of the earth, and your speech shall be heard out of the ground; and your voice shall be from the earth like that of a python, and out of the ground your speech shall mutter. And the multitude of them that fan you shall be like small dust, and as ashes passing away, the multitude of them that have prevailed against you. And it shall be at an instant, suddenly. You shall be visited by the Lord of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and with a great noise of whirlwind and tempest, and with the flame of devouring fire. And the multitude of all nations that have fought against Ariel shall be as the dream of a vision by night, and all that have fought, and besieged, and prevailed against it. And as he that is hungry dreams, and eats, but when he is awake, his soul is empty; and as he that is thirsty dreams, and drinks, and after he is awake, is yet faint with thirst, and his soul is empty; so shall be the multitude of all the nations that have fought against Mount Zion. Be astonished, and wonder, waver, and stagger; be drunk, and not with wine, stagger, and not with drunkenness. For the Lord has mingled for you the spirit of a deep sleep, he will shut up your eyes, he will cover your prophets and princes that see visions. And the vision of all shall be to you as the words of a book that is sealed, which when they shall deliver to one that knows letters, they shall say: Read this; and he shall answer: I cannot, for it is sealed. And the book shall be given to one that knows no letters, and it shall be said to him: Read; and he shall answer: I know no letters. And the Lord said: Because this people draws near me with their mouth, and with their lips glorify me, but their heart is far from me, and they have feared me with the commandment and doctrines of men, therefore behold, I will proceed to cause an admiration in this people, by a great and wonderful miracle; for wisdom shall perish from their wise men, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. Woe to you that are deep of heart, to hide your counsel from the Lord; whose works are in the dark, and they say: Who sees us, and who knows us? This your perverse thought is as if the clay should think against the potter, and the work should say to the maker thereof: You made me not; or the thing framed should say to him that framed it: You do not understand. Is it not 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. And the meek shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. For he that did prevail has failed, the scorner is consumed, and they are all cut off that watched for iniquity, that made men sin by word, that laid a snare for him that reproved in the gate, and declined in vain from the just. Therefore thus says the Lord to the house of Jacob, he that redeemed Abraham: Jacob shall not now be confounded, neither shall his face now be ashamed, but when he shall see his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, sanctifying my name, and they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall glorify the God of Israel. And they that erred in spirit shall know understanding, and they that murmured shall learn the law."

Exposition

a. In this part he sets the threat against the people, or against the city; and it is divided into two parts. In the first he threatens the punishment of bodily destruction. In the second, the punishment of spiritual blindness, where it says, "be astonished," etc. Concerning the first, two things. First he threatens destruction. Second he sets some kind of consolation, where it says, "and it shall be at an instant," etc. The first into two. In the first is set the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. In the second, by the Romans, where it says, "and I will make a circle," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he recalls its former dignity, "Ariel," that is, "the lion of God," because by God's power in the times of David and Solomon it feared no worship, as does the lion no other: Proverbs 30:? "the lion, strongest of beasts, shrinks not from the sight of any." Or on account of the altar of holocausts, which was there, which consumed animals as a lion does; and thus it is taken in Ezekiel 43:? "and its hearth shall be of four cubits," etc. Or perhaps on account of its shape, because it was built in the form of a lion. "Took": 2 Samuel 3:? "for I have taken the lion, and taken the bear." Second he sets the destruction, setting the cessation of the threefold festivals, "year is added," as if he said, for many years, "are at an end," that is, have perished: Hosea 3:? "they shall abide many days without sacrifice," etc. "Siege." "And I will make a circle," namely, by the Chaldeans: Ezekiel 3:? "and I will set a siege against it." And he indicates the assault by its sorrow, "and it shall be in sorrow," etc. Third he sets the restoration made under Joshua the high priest, and others, concerning which see Ezra throughout. "And it shall be to me," as if he said, I keep the shadow of its former dignity. But against this, Haggai 2:9, "great shall be the glory of this last house more than of the first." And it must be said that this is said because it was visited by the Son of God himself, bodily. "And I will make a circle": here he threatens destruction by the Romans; and concerning this he sets four things, namely the siege, "and I will make a circle like a sphere," that is, round about; Luke 19:43, "your enemies shall cast a trench about you"; Habakkuk 1:? "he shall look on every fortification, and shall cast up a mound." Second, the humbling of the besieged, "you shall be brought down." And the sign of humbling, "you shall speak out of the earth," that is, as if you were under the earth, though heard humbly, bearing the words of a python, which muttered silently: Zephaniah 3:11, "I will take away out of the midst of you your proud boasters." Or the merit of the humbling, charging in them the sin of avarice, "you shall speak out of the earth," and of idolatry, "and your... like that of a python." Third he sets the multitude of enemies, "and it shall be like dust": Joel 2:? "a nation is come up." Or the destruction of the enemies, as above, chapter 17, "and it shall be chased as the dust of the mountains before the wind." Fourth he sets the destruction itself, "and it shall be... suddenly," metaphorically, on account of the ferocity of the enemies: Jeremiah 4:? "how has the plunderer come, and how sudden is the destruction, that the swift ones of the eagles are." "And the multitude... shall be as the dream," etc.: here he applies a certain consolation from the punishment of enemies, "and as he," empty, "shall go into nothing," not carrying off any advantage from the destruction of Judea, as neither the hungry, nor the thirsty, from food or drink dreamed of: Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 34:1, "the hope of a man that is vain, and false, lies also, and the dreams of evildoers are vanity"; Zechariah 12:3, "I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone to all peoples." Note, concerning that saying, "shall be as the dream," that something is called a dream, first on account of vanity: Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 34:2 (var.), "as he that catches at a shadow, and follows after the wind, so is he that gives heed to lying visions." Second on account of brevity: Job 20:8 (var.), "he shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found." Third on account of obscurity of thought: Job 33:15-16, "in a dream by night, when deep sleep falls upon men, and they are sleeping in their bed, then he opens the ears of men, and teaching, instructs them in what they are to learn." Fourth on account of the perverseness of the soul: below, chapter 56, "sleeping, and loving dreams." "Be astonished," etc.: here he threatens the punishment of blindness. And first he foretells the blindness of the Jews. Second, the conversion of the Gentiles, where it says, "is it not yet," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets the blindness. Second he assigns its reason, where it says, "and the Lord said," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he foretells the blindness, that is, those things which disturb the judgment of reason. "Be astonished," from consideration of the great evils of guilt, or punishment: Jeremiah 2:12, "be astonished, O heavens, at this, and you gates thereof, be very desolate." "And wonder," from consideration of great things: Psalm 118:? "your works are wonderful." "Waver," from uncertainty in choosing: James 1:6, "he that wavers is like a wave of the sea, which is moved and carried about by the wind." "Stagger," from inconstancy of purpose: Job 4:4, "your words have confirmed them that were staggering." "Be drunk," from anxiety of sorrows: Habakkuk 2:16 (var.), "you also shall be drunk, the cup of the right hand of the Lord shall come round about you." Second he sets the manner of blinding, "for... has mingled," that is, as one has given mixed wine to drink; "your eyes," namely, the prophets; above, chapter 19, "the Lord has mingled in the midst thereof a spirit of giddiness." Third he sets the effect of the blinding, because they shall not understand the book of sacred Scripture in the visions of all the prophets, "and... shall be to you": Revelation 5:1, "I saw, in the right hand of him that sat, a book written within and without, sealed," etc. "And the Lord said," etc.: here is set the cause of the blindness, namely their own sin. And first in effect. Second in understanding, where it says, "woe to you that are deep," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First, the guilt of divine contempt, "but their heart," because they cloak it with words, "with their lips," human observance. "And they have feared me": Hosea 12:? "their sacrifices are near their mouth, and far from their heart"; Matthew 15:6, "you have made void the commandment of God for your traditions." Second, the punishment, "therefore behold, I," etc. "By a great," according to their own reckoning; or in some manner, "for wisdom shall perish," Obadiah 1:8, "I will destroy the wise out of Edom, and understanding from the mount of Esau"; 1 Corinthians 1:19, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise." "Woe to you that are deep," etc.: here he sets the sin on the part of the understanding, because they did not believe in divine providence, that it attends to those things which are done concerning us; and concerning this he does two things. First is set the devising of the error. Now they said God was hidden from them, on account of the depth of heart, where they turned over their wicked counsels; whence he says, "woe to you that are deep," etc.; Jeremiah 17:9, "the heart of man is deep, and unsearchable: who can know it?" And on account of the obscurity of the places in which they carried out their wicked deeds; whence he says, "whose... are": John 3:20, "everyone that does evil, hates the light"; Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 16:17, "say not: I shall be hidden from God." Second is set the just rebuke, "this your perverse thought," "you made me not," because God knows, insofar as he is the cause of the thing: Isaiah 45:9 (var.), "woe to him that gainsays his maker"; Isaiah 64:8, "and now, O Lord, you are our father, and we are clay; and you are our maker, and we all are the work of your hands." "Is it not yet," etc.: here he foretells the conversion of the Gentiles; and concerning this he does three things. First he foretells the conversion unto grace, "Lebanon," that is, the Gentiles, who formerly were in the land of the Gentiles, "into a fruitful field," into the grace which the Jews had through circumcision, since among the knowledge of circumcision, "shall be esteemed as a forest," that is, into the barrenness in which the Gentiles formerly were: below, chapter 37, "the forest of Carmel I have dug, and the fruit thereof," for sacred fellowship. "The deaf," namely the Gentiles, who before had not heard the words of the law: Matthew 10:? "the blind see"; John 9:39, "for judgment I have come into this world, that they who see not may see, and they who see may become blind." Unto spiritual joy, "shall increase": Psalm 9:2, "I will be glad, and rejoice in you, I will sing to your name, O Most High." Second he assigns the occasion, or reason, of the conversion by the devil's fall, "for he that did prevail has failed," through power, "the scorner," deceiver of souls: above, chapter 16, "the oppressor has failed, he that trod down the land has failed" — the blindness of the Jewish people, because "blindness in part has happened in Israel" (Romans 11:25). "They are cut off that watched," eagerness for evil, Proverbs 4:? "for they sleep not, except they have done evil." "That made men sin," by wicked examples and doctrines; "that reproved," as to contempt of discipline: Amos 5:10, "they have hated him that rebukes in the gate." "Declined," as to the vanity of sin, because it is in vain, since it does not attain its end: Wisdom 5:8, "or what advantage has the boasting of riches brought us?" Third he sets the return of the Jews at the end of the world, when he says, "therefore thus says the Lord," "he that redeemed Abraham": Genesis 22... "Jacob shall not now" — that is, at this time — "be confounded," with a good confusion; Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 4:25, "there is a confusion that brings glory and grace." "His children," the Apostle, "murmured," that is, those who at first murmured; above, chapter 27, "they that come of Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and bud." Or it can otherwise be expounded of the prosperity promised at the destruction of Sennacherib, or Nebuchadnezzar. "The fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest" — that is, so great shall be the fertility of the land of promise, that the fertility of Carmel shall be reckoned barrenness in comparison to it. The one inflicting punishment being Sennacherib, or Nebuchadnezzar, "his children," the three children in the furnace of fire. Or because their own children shall make praise of my name, which they in their youth did not do.

Chapter 30

Text

a. "Woe to the rebellious children, says the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me, and weave a web, and not by my spirit, that you may add sin upon sin: who walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth, hoping for help in the strength of Pharaoh, and trusting in the shadow of Egypt. And the strength of Pharaoh shall be to you as confusion, and the confidence in the shadow of Egypt as shame. For your princes were in Zoan, and your messengers came even to Hanes. They were all confounded because of a people that could not profit them; they were no help, nor to any profit, but to confusion and to shame. The burden of the beasts of the south: In the land of tribulation and distress, from where come the lioness, and the lion, the viper and the flying basilisk, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of beasts, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not be able to profit them. For Egypt shall help in vain, and to no purpose. Therefore have I cried concerning this: It is pride alone. Now go in, write it on a boxwood tablet, and note it down diligently in a book, and it shall be in the last day for a testimony forever. For it is a people that provokes to wrath, and lying children, children that will not hear the law of God. Who say to the seers: See not; and to them that behold: Behold not for us those things that are right; speak to us pleasant things, see errors for us. Take away from me this way, turn away this path from me, let the Holy One of Israel cease from before us. Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel: Because you have rejected this word, and have trusted in oppression and tumult, and have leaned upon it, therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, and sought for in a high wall, for the breaking thereof shall come suddenly, when it is not looked for. And it shall be broken small, as a potter's vessel is broken all to pieces with mighty breaking, and there shall not a shard be found of the pieces thereof, wherein a little fire may be carried from the hearth, or a little water be drawn out of the pit. For thus says the Lord God the Holy One of Israel: If you return and be quiet, you shall be saved; in silence and in hope shall your strength be. And you would not, but said: No, but we will flee to horses; therefore shall you flee. And, we will ride upon swift ones; therefore shall they be swifter that shall pursue you. A thousand men shall flee for fear of one, and for fear of five, you shall flee, till you be left as a mast on the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on a hill. Therefore the Lord waits, that he may have mercy on you, and therefore shall he be exalted, sparing you, for the Lord is the God of judgment; blessed are all they that wait for him. For the people of Zion shall dwell in Jerusalem; weeping you shall not weep, he will surely have pity on you; at the voice of your cry, as soon as he hears, he will answer you. And the Lord will give you spare bread, and short water; and will not cause your teacher to flee away from you any more, and your eyes shall see your teacher. And your ears shall hear the word of one admonishing you behind your back: This is the way, walk in it, and go not aside neither to the right hand, nor to the left. And you shall defile the plates of your graven images of silver, and the garment of your molten images of gold, and shall cast them away as the uncleanness of a menstruous woman. Out! you shall say to it. And rain shall be given to your seed, wherever you shall sow in the land, and the bread of the corn of the land shall be most plentiful, and fat. In that day the lamb shall feed at large in your possession, and your bulls, and the asses that till the ground, shall eat mingled provender as it was winnowed in the floor. And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every elevated hill, rivers of running waters, in the day of the slaughter of many, when the towers shall fall. And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord shall bind up the wound of his people, and shall heal the stroke of their wound. Behold the name of the Lord comes from afar, his wrath burns, and is heavy to bear; his lips are filled with indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire. His breath as a torrent overflowing even to the midst of the neck, to destroy the nations unto nothing, and the bridle of error that was in the jaws of the peoples. You shall have a song, as in the night of the sanctified solemnity, and joy of heart, as with him that goes with a pipe, to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the Mighty One of Israel. And the Lord shall make the glory of his voice to be heard, and shall show the terror of his arm, in the threatening of wrath, and the flame of devouring fire; he shall crush to pieces with a whirlwind, and with hailstones. For at the voice of the Lord the Assyrian shall fear, being struck with the rod. And the passage of the rod shall be strongly grounded, which the Lord shall make to rest upon him with timbrels and harps, and in great battles he shall overthrow them. For Tophet is prepared from yesterday, prepared by the king, deep, and enlarged. The nourishment thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord as a torrent of brimstone kindling it."

Exposition

a. In this part the prophet threatens against those who despised the prophecy of Jeremiah, going into Egypt against his counsel, as is had in Jeremiah 43. And it is divided into two. In the first he threatens against the Jews alone. In the second against the Jews and Egyptians together, in whom they trusted, chapter 31, "woe to them that go down," etc. Or according to the Gloss: in the first part he forbids the descent. In the second he threatens punishment against those descending. The first into two. In the first he sets the threat. In the second, the consolation, where it says, "therefore... waits." The first into two. In the first he charges the descent. Second he charges the contempt of the precept, where it says, "therefore have I cried," etc. Concerning the first he charges three things in them. First, the disposition of the journey, setting their purpose, "that take counsel"; "weave," a wicked device, and its consequent effect, "that you may add": 2 Chronicles 28:? "why will you add sins to sins?" Second he sets the execution of the counsel as to the traveling of the way, "who walk," whose steps are deformed by contempt of divine counsel. "Hoping for help," "my mouth," the prophet: Jeremiah 15:19, "if you separate the precious from the vile, you shall be as my mouth," because you have refused to do what I said. And through confidence in human help, "trusting": Jeremiah 17:5, "cursed is the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm." And he sets the effect, "and... shall be to you": Hosea 4:7, "I will change their glory into shame." Whence as to the way's end, they were in Zoan, which is only in the further part of Egypt, as though fearing to remain within the first borders: Jeremiah 2:18, "what have you to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the troubled water?" And he shows the failure of hope, "they were all confounded": Psalm 146:3, "put not your trust in princes, in the children of men, in whom there is no salvation." Third he describes the carrying away of goods, "the burden of the beasts," threatening first the destruction of Egypt. Or the burden of the children of Judah, "beasts," on account of stubbornness. Or because, like beasts of burden, they carried their goods. "Of the south," because they fled to the south, or because their dwelling was in the southern part. "In the land of tribulation," in Egypt, which in Hebrew is called "Mizraim," which is interpreted "tribulation," or "distress": Jeremiah 42:16, "the sword, which you fear, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, about which you are solicitous, shall cling to you in Egypt, and there you shall die." Second he sets the condition of those carrying away, "lioness," on account of ferocity, "lion," on account of the presumption of boldness, "viper," on account of cruelty, "flying basilisk," not that it has wings, but because it leaps into a man's face, on account of its swiftness for doing evil: Zephaniah 3:3, "her princes are like lions." Third, their carrying away, "they carry." Fourth, the frustration of their labor, "to a people," Psalm 60:? "vain is the help of man." "Therefore have I cried," etc.: here he charges in them the contempt of the divine precept. And first he shows how they despised the divine precept. In the second, how they despised the wholesome counsel, where it says, "for thus says the Lord," etc. Concerning the first he sets three things. First, the divine precept. Second, the people's contempt, where it says, "for it is a people," etc. Third he threatens death to those who contemn, or the intent of death, where it says, "therefore thus says," etc. First, the precept, namely, that it is useless to go into Egypt. "Be quiet," in your own land: Jeremiah 14:? "thus says the Lord to this people, who loved to move their feet, and have not rested, and have not pleased the Lord." Second he sets the confirmation of the precept, "now go in," etc. You, Isaiah, "go in," through prophetic vision; or you, Jeremiah, "go in," into Egypt with the people, as is read in Jeremiah 43. Third he assigns the fruit of the confirmation, "and it shall be in the last day": Exodus 17:14, "write this for a memorial." "For it is a people," etc.: here he sets the people's contempt. And first according as they despised God, "provokes to wrath," as to the sin of transgression: Ezekiel 2:? "be not exasperating, as is the exasperating house of Israel." "Lying," as to the sin of speech, because they promised Jeremiah obedience, which they were unwilling to keep, as is had in Jeremiah 42; Psalm 18:44 (var.), "the sons of the stranger have lied to me." "Will not hear," as to the sin of omission: Proverbs 28:9, "he that turns away his ear from hearing the law, his prayer shall be an abomination." Second he sets the contempt of the prophets, "who say to the seers," according to which they forbade them their own office: Amos 7:12, "you that see, go, flee away," inasmuch as they induced them to lies. "Speak," 1 Kings 22:13, "behold, the words of the prophets with one mouth declare good things to the king." "Turn away," inasmuch as they forbade the word of divine knowledge: Job 24:13 (var.), "they that have said to God: Depart from us, and as for the knowledge of your ways, we desire it not." "Therefore thus says," etc.: here he threatens them with sudden destruction, resuming the guilt, that the punishment may appear the more just, "because you have rejected." And he adjoins the punishment, "therefore this... shall be to you," signifying a sudden punishment, by the likeness of a wall which finally falls suddenly. "Suddenly," 1 Thessalonians 5:3, "for when they shall say, peace and security, then shall sudden destruction come upon them." And he calls it a severe punishment, "and it shall be broken small," under the likeness of the breaking of a jar, of which no shard remains whole for anything of use — namely for carrying fire, and for drawing water: above, chapter 24, "with breaking shall the earth be broken." Note, concerning that saying, "be quiet," that man ought to be quiet, first from the practice of sin: Isaiah 1:16-17, "cease to do perversely, learn to do well." Second, from a wandering course: Jeremiah 14:10, "thus says the Lord to this people, that has loved to move their feet, and has not rested." Third, from immoderate appetite: below, chapter 57, "the heart of the wicked is like the raging sea, which cannot rest." Fourth, from presumptuous understanding: Ezekiel 33:? "when they shall say, it is finished, then shall the end come." "For thus says the Lord," etc.: here he charges in them the contempt of the divine counsel; and concerning this he sets three things. First, the counsel, "if you return": below, chapter 45, "turn to me, and you shall be saved." Second, the contempt, "and you said," "therefore shall you flee" — this is the word of a man: Deuteronomy 26... "we will go by one way." "And, we will ride upon swift ones" — the voice of a rebellious people; "therefore shall they be swifter" — the voice of the Lord: Lamentations 4:19, "our persecutors were swifter than the eagles of the air." Third he threatens the merit, "a thousand," of the Egyptians; "and for fear of five," you shall flee, O Jews, sometimes — from the Chaldeans: Deuteronomy 32:30, "how should one pursue after a thousand, and two chase ten thousand?" "As a mast," as a sign to avoid shipwreck: above, chapter 6, "and it shall be for a display, as a turpentine tree, and as an oak that spreads its branches." "Therefore... waits," etc.: here he sets the consolation; and concerning this he does two things. First he proposes the intent to have mercy. Second he pursues the benefit of mercy, where it says, "for the people," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First, the intent to have mercy in God, "therefore... waits," not destroying you entirely: Hosea 5:? "he will wait for me many days." Second, the judgment of the ungrateful, "and therefore shall he be exalted," that is, he shall appear high in justice, punishing you as ungrateful for his benefits: above, chapter 5, "the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment." Third, the reward of the good, "blessed are all": Luke 12:37, "blessed are those servants, whom the Lord, when he comes, shall find watching." "For the people," etc.: here he pursues the benefit of mercy. And first in their exaltation. Second, in the oppression of the enemies, where it says, "behold the name," etc. Concerning the first, two. First, the removal of evils against the captivity of exile, "for the people," in the time of Zerubbabel. Or rather mystically the whole: Psalm 125:1, "he shall not be moved forever, that dwells in Jerusalem." Against the anxiety of sorrow, "weeping," before, "you shall not weep," always, but at times you shall be delivered: above, chapter 25, "and he shall take away her tear from every face." Against God's indignation, "he will surely have pity": Psalm 91:15 (var.), "he shall call upon me, and I will hear him." Against poverty, "and... shall give," "the Lord." And the sense is: they shall be content with modest sustenance: Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 29:28, "the chief thing for man's life is bread and water." Or because at the return from Babylon they suffered want. Mystically, according to the Gloss. Second he sets the conferring of good things; whence, "shall make." And first spiritual ones, as to the chosen doctrine, describing the teacher, "flee," that is, depart, "teacher," Ezra, whose teaching they still use. Or Christ, "behind your back," like one fleeing when recalled by his pursuer: Joel 2:23, "he has given you a teacher of justice." And he sets the doctrine, "this is the way": Numbers 20... "we will go by the king's highway." And even as to the due worship of God, "and you shall defile," reducing to common uses: 2 Kings 23:? "he defiled the high places, and demolished them." "The garment," every ornament of the idol. Second, as to temporal goods; whence he says, "go out," namely, from spiritual to temporal things. And he promises the fertility of the land, promising the cause, "rain shall be given": Hosea 6:3 (var. "descendere faciet"), "he shall come down to you as a shower," and the effect, as to the food of men, "and the bread of the corn": Genesis 49:20, "his bread shall be fat"; Psalm 81:16, "he fed them with the fat of wheat." As to the pasture of herds, "the lamb shall feed," as to sheep, "and your bulls," as to oxen: and in both he notes their abundance, setting down "their young." And as to the fodder of beasts of burden, "the asses," "mingled provender," barley cleansed with chaff, which before they ate mixed together. Second he promises abundance of waters, "and there shall be." The Jews say this is to be literally fulfilled at the end of the world, "many," namely, of the Romans, according to them — which is fabulous. Or it can be a metaphorical expression, that by water is signified the consolation which they had after the return from captivity, and the destruction of the burden of Babylon. Or mystically, of the doctrine of Christ: below, chapter 41, "I will open rivers in the high hills, and fountains in the midst of the plains." Third, the brightness of the sky, "and the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun... sevenfold," yet in one, as much as now sevenfold, as it were sevenfold together. Or as it was in the first week of days. The Jews fabulously say this literally, in the time of golden Jerusalem. But it is better that it be referred to the future glory of the saints, after the renewal of the world. Or metaphorically, and hyperbolically, referred to the state of the people; Psalm 147:3, "he heals the broken of heart, and binds up their bruises." Note, concerning that saying, "and the bread of the corn," that the word of God is bread, first, spare, on account of the difficulty of observing it: Matthew 7:14, "narrow is the way that leads to life." Second, most plentiful, on account of the usefulness of its fruit: Isaiah 55:10-11, "as the rain comes down from heaven, and returns no more, but soaks the earth, and makes it to bud, so shall be my word." Third, fat, on account of the sweetness of its delight: Genesis 49:20, "his bread shall be fat." "Behold the name of the Lord," etc.: here he consoles them from the punishment of enemies; and concerning this he sets three things. First, the arrival of the punishing judge. Second, the manner of punishment, "and shall make... to be heard." Third, the place of punishment, where it says, "for Tophet is prepared," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First, the arrival, "comes," for the universal judgment, "from afar," from the height of his power. Or for the destruction of the Babylonians by the Medes coming from afar: Jeremiah 5:15, "behold, I will bring upon you a nation from afar." "The name of the Lord," a son, as to the first exposition. Or because it redounds to his own glory, as to the second and third. Second he shows the zeal of the one coming, setting wrath in the heart, by anthropopathy, "his wrath burns." Wrath is anger kindled. Now it is kindled, either as to the vehemence of desire — and as to this he says, "burns" — or as to the quantity of punishment — and as to this he says, "heavy": Isaiah 65:5 (var. "isti fumus"), "these are a smoke in my anger, a fire burning all the day." He also sets wrath in the mouth, "his lips are filled with indignation." Reproaching sins, "devouring," threatening torments; above, chapter 11, "with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked." He sets anger also in deed, "his breath," that is, his indignation, "even to the midst of the neck," that is, shall bring it to extinction: above, chapter 8, "he shall pass through Judah... to the neck." Third he sets the effect of indignation. Among evils, the destruction of nations, "to destroy the nations": Psalm 21:? "in your city, O Lord, you shall bring their image to nothing." And the cessation of tyrants, "and the bridle of error": Job 30:? "he has loosed my bridle." He also sets the effect among the good, in the praise of the mouth, "you shall have a song, as in the... solemnity," because on the three solemnities they went to Jerusalem with gladness: Leviticus 23... "your eyes shall see the city of our solemnity." "And joy of heart," in gladness of heart: Isaiah 51:? "they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and mourning shall flee from them"; Judith, end, "the people of the Lord was joyful." "And the Lord shall make... to be heard," etc.: here he describes the manner of punishment; and concerning this he does three things. First he describes the manner of punishment as to the act of the one punishing, "he shall make," by which he shall appear glorious. "And the terror of his arm," by the likeness of one angry, who threatens in these ways: Job 40:9 (var.), "have you an arm like God?" And as to the instrument, "and the flame of fire," because literally the Assyrians were burned. "And with hailstones," perhaps some tempest occurred. Or diverse punishments are signified in the day of judgment: Psalm 11:? "fire, brimstone, and a storm of winds shall be the portion of their cup." Second he sets the infliction of punishment, showing its honor, "for at the voice"; and its duration, "and the passage... strongly grounded," that is, confirmed. Third, the exultation of the saints, "with harps... great battles," which are carried on by divine power alone: Psalm 58:10 (var.), "the just shall rejoice when he shall see the revenge." "For Tophet is prepared," etc.: here he describes the place of punishment. And first its disposition, "Tophet," the valley of the son of Hinnom, Gehenna, because fire was kept there for sacrifices upon the stones of Tophet. This is the same as the valley of Gethsemane, in which the army of Sennacherib was destroyed. Or by it is signified hell. Whence the Jews conjecture that hell is there, because from two palm trees which are there, smoke is always emitted. "From yesterday," that is, from the beginning; or from the second day, according to the Jews, which only had "yesterday" — whence "the day before yesterday." Concerning this valley is had Jeremiah 7 and 19. "By the king," God: above, chapter 3, "hell has enlarged its soul." Second, the diversity of punishments, "the nourishment thereof," fitting, for the impious, or for those of Sennacherib's army; "breath," that is, will, metaphorically: Psalm 11:? "fire, brimstone, and a storm of winds shall be the portion of their cup." Note, concerning that saying, "the name of the Lord comes," that the Son of God is the name of the Father, first as that by which he is made manifest: John 17:6, "I have manifested your name to men." Second, as that by which he is honored: Matthew 6:9, "hallowed be your name, O Father." Third, as that by which he is called upon: John 16:23, "whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you." Likewise, concerning that saying, "comes from afar," that he comes from afar, first on account of long expectation: Hebrews 11:13, "all these died according to faith, not having received the promises, but beholding them afar off." Second, on account of the imperfection of our merits: Ephesians 2:17, "and coming, he preached peace to you that were afar off." Third, on account of the delay of time: Numbers 24:17, "I shall see him, but not now; I shall behold him, but not near." Fourth, on account of the height of his majesty: Psalm 8:1, "his magnificence is above the heavens." Note, concerning that saying, "his tongue as a devouring fire," that charity is called fire, first because it enlightens: Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 3:? "you that fear the Lord, love him, and your hearts shall be enlightened." Second because it burns fervently: Song of Solomon 2:5, "stay me up with flowers, compass me about with apples, because I languish with love." Third because it converts all things to itself: Romans 8:28, "we know that to them that love God, all things work together unto good." Fourth because it makes ready: John 14:23, "if any man love me, he will keep my word." Fifth because it draws upward: Song of Solomon 3:1, "in my little bed I sought him whom my soul loves, I sought him, and found him not."

Chapter 31

Text

a. "Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, trusting in horses, and putting their confidence in chariots, because they are many, and in horsemen, because they are very strong, and have not trusted in the Holy One of Israel, and have not sought after the Lord. But he that is wise brings evil, and has not removed his words; and he shall rise up against the house of the wicked, and against the help of them that work iniquity. Egypt is man, and not God, and their horses flesh, and not spirit; and the Lord shall put down his hand, and the helper shall fall, and he shall fall on whom help is given, and they shall all together be consumed. For thus says the Lord to me: As the lion roars, and the lion's whelp upon his prey, and when a multitude of shepherds comes against him, he will not fear at their voice, nor be afraid of their multitude; so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight upon Mount Zion, and upon the hill thereof. As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts protect Jerusalem, protecting and delivering, passing over and saving. Return, as you had deeply gone astray, O children of Israel. For in that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made for you unto sin. And Assyria shall fall by a sword not of a man, and a sword not of a man shall devour him, and he shall flee, not before the sword, and his young men shall become tributary. And he shall pass away for fear of the rock, and his princes shall flee away in terror. The Lord has said it, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem."

Exposition

a. In this part he threatens against both together, namely the Egyptians and the Jews; and concerning this he does two things. First he sets the threat. Second, the consolation, where it says, "for thus says the Lord," etc. Concerning the first he sets two things. First, the guilt from confidence in human aid, "trusting in horses": Psalm 33:17, "a horse is a vain thing for safety, but in the abundance of his strength he shall not be saved." And from contempt of divine help, where it says, "and have not sought." Against this, Psalm 20:8 (var.), "some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will call upon the name of the Lord our God." Second he threatens punishment, "but he," etc. And first against the contempt of divine strength. Second he sets God's wisdom, and the firmness of his sentence, "and has not removed," that is, has not made void that which he threatened through the prophets: Numbers 23:19, "God is not as man, that he should lie." And he adjoins punishment. And against the help of the workers of evil: Job 4:19, "they that dwell in houses of clay, who have an earthly foundation." And he adjoins punishment, "and he shall rise up." Against confidence in human help he sets their weakness, "Egypt is man": Ezekiel 28:9, "seeing you are a man, and not God, in the hand of them that slay you." And he adjoins punishment, "and the helper shall fall": Job 4:19, "they that dwell in houses of clay," as above. "For thus says the Lord," etc.: here he sets the consolation, promising deliverance from enemies through God, by whom they could not be delivered through the Egyptians; and concerning this he does three things. First he sets the defense of the Jews under the likeness of a lion defending, saying: You and the Egyptians in whom you trusted shall perish, I looking on. "For thus says the Lord," who alone saves, "to fight," as a defender against those who impeded the building of the temple, after the return from captivity. Or against the Assyrians: Hosea 13:7-8, "I will be to them as a lioness, as a leopard in the way of the Assyrians." And under the likeness of a bird protecting, "as birds": Matthew 23:37, "how often would I have gathered your children, as the hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not?"; Deuteronomy 32:11, "as the eagle enticing her young to fly, and hovering over them." Second he sets the destruction of the enemies, promising counsel for gaining this, "return, as you had deeply gone astray," etc.: Proverbs 18:3, "the wicked man, when he is come into the depth of sin, contemns"; Romans 6:19, "as you have yielded your members to serve uncleanness unto iniquity, so now yield your members to serve justice unto sanctification." And he sets the fulfillment, "for in that day a man shall cast away his idols." And he sets the fruit, namely the destruction itself, as to the killing of enemies, "by a sword": Deuteronomy 32:42, "my sword shall devour flesh." And as to the destruction of the remnant, in flight, fear, and servitude, because "his young men shall become tributary," namely first to Babylon. Third he sets the confirmation of each, "the Lord has said it," "whose fire," burning the Assyrians: above, chapter 10, "and the light of Israel shall be as a fire, and his Holy One as a flame." Or the fire on the altar of incense, "his furnace," on the altar of holocausts: Leviticus 6:13 (var.), "the fire on my altar shall always burn." Or the fire of charity in the militant Church imperfectly, but "his furnace" in the triumphant Church perfectly. Also note what was said about charity being called fire — it need not be repeated in the preceding discourse, but is sufficient for this chapter.

Chapter 32

Text

a. "Behold, a king shall reign in justice, and princes shall rule with judgment. And a man shall be as when one is hid from the wind, and hides himself from a storm; as rivers of waters in drought, and the shadow of a rock that stands out in a desert land. The eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken diligently. And the heart of fools shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of stammerers shall speak readily and plain. The fool shall no more be called prince, neither shall the deceitful be called great. For the fool will speak foolish things, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice hypocrisy, and speak to the Lord deceitfully, and to make empty the soul of the hungry, and to take away drink from the thirsty. The vessels of the deceitful are most wicked, for he has framed devices to destroy the meek with lying words, when the poor man speaks judgment. But the prince will devise such things as are worthy of a prince, and he shall stand above the rulers. Rise up, you rich women, and hear my voice, you confident daughters, give ear to my speech. For after days and a year, you that are confident shall be troubled, for the vintage is at an end, the gathering shall come no more. Be astonished, you that are rich, be troubled, you confident ones, strip yourselves, and be confounded, gird your loins. Mourn for your breasts, for the delightful country, for the fruitful vineyard. Upon the land of my people shall thorns and briers come up, how much more upon all the houses of joy of the city that rejoiced? For the house is forsaken, the multitude of the city is left, darkness and obscurity are come upon its dens forever. The joy of wild asses shall be the pasture of flocks, until the spirit be poured out upon us from on high. And the desert shall be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be counted for a forest. And judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and justice shall sit in Carmel. And the work of justice shall be peace, and the service of justice quietness, and security forever. And my people shall sit in the beauty of peace, and in the tabernacles of confidence, and in wealthy rest. But hail shall be in the descent of the forest, and the city shall be brought low in humiliation. Blessed are you that sow upon all waters, sending in the foot of the ox and the ass."

Exposition

a. This is the third part of the threat, in which he pursues the deliverance from enemies who then threatened them. And first he foretells it by way of prophecy. Second he narrates it by way of history, chapter 36, "and it came to pass," etc. The first into two. In the first he foretells the prosperity of the Jews. In the second, the destruction of the enemies, chapter 33, "woe to you that spoil," etc. Concerning the first, two. First he foretells the state of the delivered, as to the equity of the king, "shall reign a king," namely Hezekiah: Jeremiah 23:5, "a king shall reign, and shall be wise." As to the prosperity of the people. As to consolation, "and... shall be": above, chapter 4, "a tabernacle shall be for a shade in the daytime from the heat." As to amendment in spiritual things, "shall not be dim," as before, on account of the sins of the king and the people, "them that see," namely, the prophets — but rather shall receive visions from the Lord. "And the ears," namely of the subjects, "shall hearken," fulfilling the precepts of the Lord through the prophets. "The heart of fools," who before erred in idols. "Stammerers," the prophets, who before spoke obscurely, and in an enigma: Wisdom 10:21, "wisdom opened the mouth of the dumb, and made the tongues of infants eloquent." And even as to the consequent liberty, namely from tyranny, "the fool shall no more be called prince," namely Sennacherib, to whom they had before paid tribute, as is clear in 2 Kings 18; Ezekiel 34:27, "I will deliver them out of the hand of the Assyrians." Second is pursued the manner of deliverance. First he pursues the affliction. Second, the deliverance, where it says, "until... be poured out." Concerning this he does two things. First he describes the pursuing enemy. Second, the persecution, where it says, "rise up, you rich women," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First, the wickedness of the king himself as to blasphemy of mouth, "the fool," namely Sennacherib, "foolish things," words of blasphemy; Isaiah 37, Proverbs 15:2, "the mouth of fools shall shed out folly." As to duplicity of heart, "his heart will work," promising the people a good land, "to the Lord deceitfully," saying that he came by his command; Isaiah 38; Proverbs 12:5 (var.), "the thoughts of the just are judgments." As to cruelty of deed, "to make empty," despoiling them of the goods by which they should have been nourished, against what Proverbs 25:21 says: "if your enemy be hungry, give him food." Second, the malice of his princes, "the deceitful," namely Sennacherib's messengers and princes: Proverbs 29:12, "if a prince hearken willingly to lying words, all his servants shall be wicked." And the execution of the malice, "for he has framed devices," namely Rabshakeh, of whom Isaiah 36; "he has framed," that is, compounded; "wine" is a kind of drink composed of diverse species. "The poor man," the Jew: Psalm 50:19 (var. "os tuum abundavit"), "your mouth has abounded with evil, and your tongue framed deceit." Third, the prudence of the reigning Hezekiah, "the prince," because he commanded that no one should answer him; above, chapter 3, "I will restore your judges as they were before." "Rise up, you rich women," etc.: here he describes the affliction inflicted, as to three things. First, as to the loss of fruits, stirring up attention, "you rich women," who can easily weep; "confident," who have matter for weeping from the loss of goods. Or, "you rich women," that is, you weak Jews: Psalm 48:7 (var.), "they that trust in their own strength, and glory in the multitude of their riches." And he sets the determination of the time, "after... days," some, "a year," one; Psalm 91:? "for tribulation is near, and there is none to help." And he sets the loss of fruits, "is at an end," destroyed, "the gathering," of the produce, "shall come no more," into our houses from the fields: Jeremiah 48:33, "joy and gladness are taken away from Carmel, and from the land of Moab, and I have taken away the wine out of the presses." Second, as to the devastation of the fields, enjoining lamentation, "be astonished": Baruch 4:20, "I have put off the robe of peace"; above, chapter 22, "and the Lord... shall call in that day to weeping." And he foretells the harm, "upon the land": above, chapter 8, "briers and thorns shall come up over it." Third, as to the desolation — "how much more," namely, is there to be wept — "the city that rejoiced," namely Jerusalem, whose lower part was delivered to the Assyrians; above, chapter 22, "a city full of clamor." And the greatness of the desolation, as to houses, because they were reduced to perpetual darkness, as happens in ruined buildings. "And obscurity": Job 19:? "they shall grope in darkness, and not in light." And as to the fields, "the pasture of wild asses," which dwell in great wildernesses: Jeremiah 2:24, "a wild ass accustomed to the wilderness." "Until... be poured out": here he pursues the deliverance. And first he sets the consolation of the Jews. Second, the destruction of the enemies, where it says, "but hail," etc. Third, the prophet's congratulation, where it says, "blessed are you that sow," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First, divine consolation. This I say to happen after the land of Sennacherib is laid waste. "The spirit," divine consolation: Ezekiel 37:? "you shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have put my spirit in you, and you shall live." Fourth, the manner and order of the consolation, as to the fertility of the land, "and the desert shall be," that is, your land, formerly deserted, shall be as fertile as Carmel, whose fertility shall be reckoned barrenness compared to your land; above, chapter 29. The same is had as to the observance of justice, "and shall dwell": above, chapter 1, "Zion shall be redeemed in judgment, and they that return to her in righteousness." And as to the tranquility of peace, "and the work shall be," that is, the effect, "quietness," because without the tumult of contentions and wars: above, chapter 26, "Lord, you will give us peace." Third, he sets the pleasant enjoyment of divine consolation, "and... shall sit": Proverbs 1:33, "he that shall hearken to me, shall rest without terror, and shall enjoy abundance." "Hail," namely of tribulation, "in the descent of the forest," that is, it shall descend from the Lord upon your enemies: the city, Nineveh; above, chapter 25, "the high city he shall lay low." "Blessed are you that sow," etc.: here is shown the prophet's congratulation, "upon waters," that is, upon fertile places from the abundance of waters. "The foot of the ox and of the ass," not together, because this is forbidden, Deuteronomy 22:10, "you shall not plow with an ox and an ass together"; Psalm 128:2, "for you shall eat the labors of your hands: blessed are you, and it shall be well with you." Note, concerning that saying, "the work of justice shall be peace," that the peace of the saints in their homeland will be beautiful, first because it will not be false, Wisdom 15... Second because it will not be interrupted; above, chapter 8, "and there shall be no end of peace." Third because it will be full; Psalm 147:14, "who has placed peace in your borders." Likewise note that three things make future peace desirable. First, the firmness of divine power: Psalm 125:1, "they that trust in the Lord... he shall not be moved forever, that dwells in Jerusalem." Second, the purity of one's own conscience: Proverbs 3:23, "then shall you walk confidently in your way, and your foot shall not stumble." Third, the removal of hostile wickedness: John 16:33, "have confidence, I have overcome the world." Likewise note, concerning that saying, "blessed are you that sow upon waters," that the doctrine of the Lord is water. First because it is abundant: Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 24:40, "I, wisdom, have poured out rivers." Second because it refreshes: Proverbs 25:25, "as cold water to a thirsty soul." Third because it makes fruitful: Isaiah 55:10-11, "as the rain comes down from heaven... so shall be my word." Fourth because it carries swiftly: John 4:14, "it shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into life everlasting." Fifth because it conforms itself to each thing: Proverbs 5:16, "let your fountains be conveyed abroad, and in the streets divide your waters."

Chapter 33

Text

a. "Woe to you that spoil, shall not you also be spoiled? And you that despise, shall not you also be despised? When you shall have made an end of spoiling, you shall be spoiled; when, being wearied, you shall cease to despise, you shall be despised. O Lord, have mercy on us, for we have waited for you; be our arm in the morning, and our salvation in the time of trouble. At the voice of the angel the peoples fled, and at your being exalted the nations are scattered. And your spoils shall be gathered together as the locust is gathered, as when the ditches are full of it. The Lord is magnified, for he has dwelt on high; he has filled Zion with judgment and justice. And there shall be faith in your times: riches of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is his treasure. Behold, they that see shall cry without, the angels of peace shall weep bitterly. The ways are made desolate, no one passes by the road, the covenant is made void, he has rejected the cities, he has not regarded the men. The land mourned, and languished, Lebanon is confounded, and become foul, and Sharon is become as a desert; and Bashan and Carmel are shaken. Now will I rise up, says the Lord, now will I be exalted, now will I lift up myself. You shall conceive heat, you shall bring forth stubble; your breath as fire shall devour you. And the peoples shall be as ashes after a burning, as thorns gathered together they shall be burnt with fire. Hear, you that are far off, what I have done, and you that are near, know my strength. The sinners in Zion are afraid, trembling has surprised the hypocrites. Which of you can dwell with devouring fire? Which of you shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walks in justices, and speaks truth, that casts away avarice by oppression, and shakes his hands from all bribes, that stops his ears lest he hear blood, and shuts his eyes that he may see no evil. He shall dwell on high, the fortifications of rocks shall be his highness; bread is given him, his waters are sure. His eyes shall see the king in his beauty, they shall see the land far off. Your heart shall meditate fear; where is the learned? Where is he that ponders the words of the law? Where is the teacher of little ones? You shall not see a fierce people, a people of profound speech, so that you cannot understand the eloquence of its tongue, in whom there is no wisdom. Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnity; your eyes shall see Jerusalem, a rich habitation, a tabernacle that cannot be removed, neither shall its nails be taken away forever, and none of the cords thereof shall be broken. For only there our Lord is magnificent, the place of rivers, very broad and spacious streams; no ship with oars shall pass by it, nor a great galley pass through it. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king, he will save us. Your ropes are loosed, but they shall not prevail; so shall your mast be, that you shall not be able to spread the flag. Then shall the spoils of a great prey be divided, the lame shall take the spoil. Neither shall the inhabitant say: I am sick; the people that dwell therein, their iniquity shall be taken away from them."

Exposition

a. In this part he begins to foretell the destruction of the enemies. And first the destruction itself. Second, the effect of the destruction, chapter 35, "the wilderness shall be glad." The first into two. In the first he foretells the destruction of the principal enemies, namely the Assyrians. In the second, of others aiding them, chapter 34, "come near." Concerning the first, two. First he foretells the destruction of the Assyrians. Second, the ingratitude of the Jews, where it says, "your ropes are loosed," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he foretells the destruction of the Assyrians. Second he invites all to consider so great a deed, where it says, "hear," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he foretells the punishment he received from God. Second, that he himself inflicted on others, where it says, "behold, they that see shall cry," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he threatens the Assyrians with destruction, setting a question, "shall not"; and a response, "when you shall have made an end," being wearied, as if he said, wearied with disgust from many victories; Matthew 7:2, "for with what measure you shall measure, it shall be measured to you again"; Revelation 13:10, "he that shall kill by the sword, must be killed by the sword." Second, in the person of the people, he seeks from God the confirmation of the threat, "O Lord, have mercy": Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 36:6, "glorify your hand, and stretch forth your arm"; Psalm 60:11, "give us help from trouble, O Lord." Third he sets the fulfillment of the petition. First setting the destruction of the Assyrians as to the army, "at the voice of the angel," killing many; "the peoples," the Assyrians who remained; above, chapter 31, "and his princes shall flee away." As to the plundering of spoils, "and... shall be gathered together," by the Jews, "the locust," O Assyrians; above, chapter 10, "they shall rejoice before you, as they that rejoice in the harvest." Second, the fruit of the destruction, namely the glory of God, "is magnified": Psalm 57:10 (var.), "your mercy is magnified even to the heavens, and your truth even to the clouds." And the grace of men in the rectitude of action, "he has filled," namely the Lord, "with judgment," which is the execution of justice, "and justice," which is the foundation of justice: above, chapter 1, "Zion shall be redeemed in judgment, and they that return to her in righteousness"; Hosea 2:19, "I will espouse you to me in justice, and in faith." As to the perfection of the intellect, "riches of salvation": "wisdom," in divine things; "knowledge," in human things: Proverbs 3:15 (var.), "wisdom is more precious." As to the ordering of the affections, "fear": Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 1:? "the fear of the Lord blots out sin." Note, concerning that saying, "riches of salvation," that we have riches, first in God: Colossians 2:3, "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge of God." Second in ourselves: Proverbs 8:? "wisdom is more precious than all riches." Third in the fellowship of the saints: above, chapter 13, "and a man shall be more precious than gold." "Behold, they that see shall cry," etc.: here he sets the punishment which he inflicted on others. And first he describes the punishment inflicted by him, as to the disturbance of men, "they that see," the greatness of the army, "without," those who dwell in the suburbs, "the angels of peace," Hezekiah's envoys to Rabshakeh: Isaiah 36; Jeremiah 8:19, "the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a land that is far off." As to the desolation of roads, "are made desolate": Lamentations 1:4, "the ways of Zion mourn, because there are none that come to the solemn feast." As to the breaking of pacts, "the covenant is made void," namely by which Sennacherib had ratified it. And therefore, "he has rejected," despising their friendship, "he has not regarded," from the presumption of his heart: Job 39:24, "he swallows the ground... nor does he believe that it is the sound of the trumpet." As to the destruction of the regions, "the land mourned, and languished." And he sets especially the fertile regions. Second he sets the divine resistance to his purposes, "now will I rise up." And concerning this he sets three things. On God's part, the purpose of resisting, "now," namely after so many evils he did; "will I rise up," against the wicked: Psalm 12:5, "by reason of the misery of the needy, and the groans of the poor, now will I arise, says the Lord." Second he sets the frustration of the Assyrians' counsel, "you shall conceive," that is, you shall think to burn others; "you shall bring forth stubble," that is, this shall follow, that you yourselves shall be burned; "your breath," that is, indignation, "shall devour," namely the flesh under the skin: Psalm 7:15 (var.), "he has opened a pit, and dug it, and he has fallen into the hole he made." Third he sets the manner of resistance, or of punishment, "and the peoples shall be," because literally their bodies were reduced to ashes. "Thorns," that is, the Assyrians, because they used to tear others: Malachi 4:3, "you shall tread down the wicked, when they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet." "Hear," etc.: here he invites to the consideration of so great a deed. And first to consider the greatness of the delivering divine power. Second to consider the dignity of the delivered city, where it says, "look upon Zion," etc. Concerning the first, two. First he invites to the consideration of his power, "hear": Isaiah 49:1, "hear, O islands, and hearken, you peoples, from afar." Second he shows the sign of that power, "the sinners... are afraid," namely the Assyrians; Jeremiah 19:? "I will break this people, and this city, as a potter's vessel is broken." "Which... can dwell," etc.: here he invites to consider the fitness of him who dwells with God, that he may always be protected by him without harm. And first he mentions who is fit. Second he excludes the unworthy, where it says, "where is the learned," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he sets the question, "with devouring fire," namely God, that one not be devoured by him, as the Assyrians were: Deuteronomy 4:24, "the Lord your God is a consuming fire." Second he shows the fitness, removing three things to which the Jews were prone, namely avarice, as to things unjustly taken, "by oppression"; and illiberality, as to things received, "and shakes." Second, as to cruelty in homicides, "that stops his ears." Third, as to luxury, "and shuts his eyes." "He shall dwell on high," namely with God. Third he shows the usefulness of this dwelling, as to four things. And first as to secure height, which yet is contrary to the custom of height, "the fortifications": Job 39:28, "he abides among the rocks, and dwells among craggy flints, and inaccessible rocks." Second as to full satiety, "bread": Genesis 49:20, "his bread shall be fat." Third as to the vision of God, "the king," that is, God: Song of Solomon 3:11, "go forth, you daughters of Zion, and see king Solomon in the diadem, wherewith his mother crowned him." Fourth as to holy affection, namely contempt of earthly things, "far off," as it were placed far beneath him through disdain. And as to divine subjection, "your heart shall meditate fear," "cause": Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 1:? "the fear of the Lord shall delight the heart." And these can be expounded as to those who dwell with God in the present Church, or the triumphant. Or otherwise, "the land," namely of the living: Psalm 27:13 (var.), "I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living." "Far off," as it were far above the dignity of nature, or the fitness of many, now in hope, in the future in reality, and thus it agrees with the third exposition. Note, concerning that saying, "your breath as fire," that God is called fire, first, purging: Matthew 3:11, "he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and fire." Second, inflaming: Luke 12:49, "I have come to cast fire on the earth." Third, condemning: Deuteronomy 32:22, "a fire is kindled in my wrath, and shall burn even to the lowest hell." Likewise note, concerning that saying, "he shall dwell on high," that the saints dwell with God, first on account of the purity of their action: Psalm 101:6, "my eyes were upon the faithful of the earth, to sit with me." Second, through the attachment of love: John 14:23, "if any man love me, he will keep my word." Third, through the eminence of contemplation: Philippians 3:20, "our conversation is in heaven." Fourth, through the glory of enjoyment: Psalm 84:4, "blessed are they that dwell in your house, O Lord." "Where is the learned," etc.: here he excludes the unworthy, as to those who seemed especially worthy. And first, those eminent in wisdom, "the learned," educated in philosophy; "the words of the law," educated in divine science; "the teacher," instructing others in the elements of both: 1 Corinthians 1:20, "where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer?" Second, those eminent in eloquence, but not wisdom, "a people of profound speech": Jeremiah 5:15, "behold, I will bring upon you a nation... whose tongue you shall not know." "Look upon," etc.: here he leads to consider the dignity of the delivered city. And first as to the abundance of good things, setting four things which are in the heavenly, or militant, Church, namely gladness of hearts, "the city of our solemnity"; above, chapter 30, "as in the night of the sanctified solemnity, and joy of heart." Opulence of goods, "your eyes shall see": above, chapter 32, "my people shall sit in the beauty of peace, in the tabernacles of confidence, and in wealthy rest." The grace of immobility, "a tabernacle... nails." He speaks according to the likeness of a tabernacle, which is fastened by nails and cords, which are loosened when it must be moved: Daniel 7:14, "his power is an everlasting power, that shall not be taken away, and his kingdom that shall not be destroyed." And he assigns the reason for this, because "only there our Lord" is he who is able to move it, others could not: Psalm 48:1, "great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised." Abundance of waters, "the place of rivers," that is, of divine admonitions, "streams," diverse modes of participation: Psalm 46:4, "the stream of the river makes the city of God joyful." This, however, the Jews fabulously refer entirely to a golden Jerusalem. Second, as to immunity from evils, "no ship... shall pass," of whatever enemies, who sometimes assembled to attack the land of promise by sea; "a great galley," a ship having three ranks of oars. And he assigns the cause, "for the Lord is our judge," judging against adversaries: Zechariah 9:9, "behold, your king comes to you, meek." "Your ropes," etc.: here he foretells the destruction of the ungrateful Jews, first accomplished by the Romans. And he sets three things. First, their weakness for resisting, "loosed," that is, prepared, "ropes," that you may defend yourself against the Romans — he speaks according to the likeness of a ship which is prepared to sail; "mast," the ship's mast; "flag," in which precious vessels and sails are known to have been: Lamentations 1:13, "he has spread a net for my feet." Second, the plundering of spoils by enemies, "shall be divided," by the Romans; "the lame," as if he said, none shall be so powerless among them but that he shall obtain your spoil: Joel 3:10, "let the weak say, I am strong." Third, the remission of sins to the enemies, "the people," namely the Romans, made righteous, in comparison to the wickedness of the Jews: Ezekiel 16:51, "you have justified your sisters by all your abominations which you have done." Or he speaks against the Idumeans, who could not prevail against the Jews, but rather were despoiled by them in the time of the Maccabees, and the people of the Jews shall be forgiven their iniquity: Isaiah 40:2, "her wickedness is come to an end."

Chapter 34

Text

a. "Come near, you Gentiles, and hear, and hearken, you people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein, the world, and every offspring thereof. For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their army; he has killed them, and delivered them to slaughter. Their slain shall be cast forth, and out of their carcasses shall rise a stink; the mountains shall be melted with their blood. And all the host of the heavens shall pine away, and the heavens shall be folded together as a book, and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falls from the vine, or from the fig tree. For my sword is inebriated in heaven, behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made thick with the fat of the blood of lambs and of goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for there is a victim of the Lord in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. And the unicorns shall go down with them, and the bulls with the mighty; their land shall be soaked with blood, and their ground with the fat of fat ones. For it is the day of the vengeance of the Lord, the year of recompenses of the judgment of Zion. And its torrents shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day, the smoke thereof shall go up forever, from generation to generation it shall lie waste, none shall pass through it forever and ever. But the bittern and the hedgehog shall possess it, and the ibis and the raven shall dwell in it; and a line shall be stretched out upon it, to bring it to nothing, and a plummet, unto desolation. The nobles thereof shall not be there; they shall rather call the king, and all the princes thereof shall be nothing. And thorns and nettles shall grow up in its houses, and the thistle in the fortresses thereof; and it shall be the habitation of dragons, and the pasture of ostriches. And demons and monsters shall meet, and the hairy one shall cry out one to another, there the lamia has lain down, and found rest for herself. There has the hedgehog had its hole, and nourished its young, and dug round about, and cherished them in the shadow thereof. There the kites are gathered together, one to another. Seek diligently in the book of the Lord, and read: not one of these has failed, none has sought its fellow, for what proceeds from my mouth, he has commanded, and his spirit, it has gathered them. And he has cast the lot for them, and his hand has divided it among them by measure; they shall possess it forever, from generation to generation shall they dwell in it."

Exposition

a. In this part he threatens those who were allies of the Assyrians. And first all of them. Second, specifically the Idumeans, where it says, "behold, upon Idumea," etc. Concerning the first, two. First he arouses attention, and the order of attention, that those approaching draw near, those hearing nearby attend, "hear, O islands, and hearken, you peoples, from afar" (Isaiah 49:1). And he sets the universality of those summoned, "let the earth hear," as to the common people; comprising the content, "all that is therein," as to the greater; "every offspring thereof," as to the lesser. It is prepared for all to be announced, that it may show what all can hear: Psalm 24:1, "the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof." Second he sets the threat against the peoples, setting the judge's, namely God's, indignation, "for the indignation": above, chapter 9, "his hand is stretched out still against all nations." Killing of the rulers, "he has killed them," through authority, "delivered," as if he said, to others, for killing, as to executioners: Zechariah 11:6, "I will deliver the men, every one, into his neighbor's hand." The casting out of the bodies, "their slain shall be cast forth": Jeremiah 22:19, "he shall be buried with the burial of an ass"; Joel 2:20, "and its stink shall come up, and its corruption shall ascend, because it has done proudly." Second, as to the ceasing of tyrants, "the mountains," that is, the tyrants, "shall pine away... with their blood," that is, on account of the guilt of blood shed: Isaiah 64:1 (var.), "the mountains flowed down at your presence." Third, as to the destruction of idols; and concerning this he sets three things. First he sets the ceasing help of idols, "shall pine away... of the heavens," of the air, that is, of the demons; or literally, the spirits presiding over the stars according to the opinion of the Gentiles: above, chapter 19, "the idols of Egypt shall be moved." "And in counsels," insofar as they divined by the stars; "shall be folded together," that is, just as nothing can be read in a folded book, so neither will they be able, from heaven, to foresee the evils to come upon them: Revelation 6:14, "the heaven departed as a book folded up." Second he shows the ceasing worship of idolatry, "and all the host." Or the ease of the fulfillment of what was foretold: Revelation 6:13, "the stars from heaven fell upon the earth." Third he shows the effect of both, "for... my sword," that is, vengeance, "is inebriated in heaven," that is, abundantly I have exercised vengeance on the demons who presided over idols: Deuteronomy 32:42, "I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh." Note, concerning that saying, "come near," that man draws near to God through the reception of grace: Romans 5:2, "by whom we have access through faith into this grace." Second, through the contemplation of divine wisdom: Psalm 34:5, "come near to him, and be enlightened." Third, through the ministry of obedience: Ezekiel 44:15, "the sons of Zadok, who among the sons of Levi draw near to the Lord to minister to him." Fourth, through the spirit of concord: Ephesians 2:18, "for by him we have access, both in one Spirit, to the Father." "Behold, upon Idumea," etc.: here he threatens specifically the Idumeans, who came with the enemies against Jerusalem, as is said in Obadiah, when strangers captured the army; and concerning this he does three things. First he threatens the killing of men. Second, the destruction of the land, where it says, "and its torrents shall be turned," etc. Third he sets the confirmation of both, where it says, "look," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he describes the equity of the punishment, "behold, upon Idumea," to oppress, "of slaughter," that is, worthy that I should kill: Jeremiah 49:8, "I will bring the destruction of Esau upon him." Second he describes the killing as to the middle sort, setting the diversity of the slain, "the sword of lambs," by which are understood the diverse ranks of the slain: Ezekiel 21:20, "this is the sword of the great slaughter, which makes them astonished." And the greatness of vengeance, "victim," that is, as it were in a great king's banquet, in which many animals are killed: Ezekiel 39:19, "I offer you a great victim." And as to the greater, setting their killing, "and... shall go down into death." The unicorn is a single animal in quantity and touch, having one horn. Whence it signifies powerful monarchs: above, "their strong ones... and their high and glorious ones shall go down." And the greatness of the occasion, "shall be soaked": Psalm 106:38 (var.), "the land was polluted with blood." Third he sets the reason for the punishment, "the judgment of Zion," that is, that Zion may be avenged of the Idumeans: Isaiah 63:4, "the day of vengeance is in my heart, the year of my redemption is come." Yet according to the Gloss, "of Zion," that is, against Zion. Whence all that follows is expounded of the destruction of Jerusalem accomplished by the Romans. "And its torrents," etc.: here he sets the threat as to the destruction of the land; and concerning this he does three things. First he foretells the destruction. Second, the likeness of the devastated land, where it says, "it shall lie waste," etc. Third, the horror of the solitude, where it says, "it shall be the habitation," etc. Concerning the first he sets two things. First, the destruction, "shall be turned," that is, the whole land shall be so burned by enemies, as though it were water, "pitch," and "brimstone": Psalm 11:? "fire, brimstone, and a storm of winds." Second he sets the duration of the destruction, "it shall not be quenched," that is, the effect of that burning shall remain forever, "smoke," a sign for the memory of the present burning: Revelation 19:3, "her smoke ascends forever and ever." And this must be understood while the cause of the burning remains, namely sin: for thus all such prophecies must be conditionally expounded, according as the Lord himself explains it, Jeremiah 18:7-8, "I will suddenly speak against a nation, and against a kingdom, to root out, and pull down, and destroy it. If that nation... shall repent of their evil... I also will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them." "It shall lie waste," etc.: here he sets the solitude. And first he foretells the desolation, or the solitude as to inhabitants, "it shall lie waste": Lamentations 1:1, "he has made her desolate, consumed with grief all the day." As to travelers, "none shall pass through it": Jeremiah 49:18, "no man shall abide there, neither shall the son of man dwell in it." As to the dwelling of beasts, "and... shall possess it," as if without fear, "the bittern," which is the same as pelican, "the ibis," hostile to serpents. This name has fourfold declension; the "ibis" is a kind of bird — and the "envious one," the ibis: Psalm 104:17, "the highest of them is the house for the heron"; "the rock is a refuge for the hedgehogs." Second he sets the equity of the solitude. And first the judgment of equity, "a line shall be stretched out," punishment against the measure of guilt; "a plummet," the mason's rule: above, chapter 27, "in measure against measure, when it shall be cast off, he shall judge it." Second he sets the manner of judgment, "the nobles," in whom they gloried: Zephaniah 3:11, "I will take away out of the midst of you your proud boasters." "Shall grow up in its houses," which they built too grandly. "And the thistle," a certain herb of many thorns which clings tightly, having broad leaves: Hosea 9:6 (var.), "their pleasant things for silver, the nettle shall inherit them, the thorn shall be in their tabernacles" — and so, "as much delight as it had, so much torment shall be given it" (Revelation 18:7). "And it shall be," etc.: here he shows the horror of the solitude from the monsters that shall dwell there; "demons," monstrous beasts of the demons, which appear most in deserts; "onocentaur," which is half ass and half horse, or rather it is a demon than a mixed animal; "hairy one," a satyr, or a wild man, or an incubus demon; "lamia," having the rest of her members like a woman, feet like a horse; "shall cry out one to another"; above, chapter 13, "there shall rest wild beasts, and their houses shall be filled with dragons, and ostriches shall dwell there." "Seek," etc.: here he confirms all that has been said by the authority of divine inspiration, "seek," you who shall be in the future, "in the book of the Lord," that is, in this book, which I have learned from the Lord, "not one of these has failed," that is, all the monsters which I have mentioned shall be there. "One to another," male to female. "He has cast," namely the monsters, male and female, "the lot," distributing to each their fitting places to remain: Luke 21:33, "heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." Or if expounded of Judea, by these various monsters are understood the various errors of the Gentiles, which were introduced there by the Romans who dwelt there.

Chapter 35

Text

a. "The wilderness and the parched land shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice, and shall flourish like the lily. It shall bud forth and blossom, and shall rejoice with joy and praise; the glory of Lebanon is given to it, the beauty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, and the beauty of our God. Strengthen the feeble hands, and confirm the weak knees. Say to the fainthearted: Take courage, and fear not. Behold your God will bring the revenge of recompense; God himself will come and will save you. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall be free, for waters are broken out in the desert, and streams in the wilderness. And that which was dry land, shall become a pool, and the thirsty land, springs of water. In the dens where dragons dwelt before, shall rise up the verdure of the reed and the bulrush. And a path and a way shall be there, and it shall be called the holy way; the unclean shall not pass over it, and this shall be to you a straight way, so that fools shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor shall any mischievous beast go up by it, nor be found there; but they shall walk there that shall be delivered. And the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and shall come into Zion with praise, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away."

Exposition

a. In this part he sets the effect of the prosperity consequent for the Jews from the destruction of enemies; and it is divided into two parts. In the first is set the consoling promise. In the second, the strengthening exhortation, where it says, "strengthen," etc. Concerning the first, three. First he sets the gladness of men, which he compares to a northern meadow, which indeed has beauty in flowers; whence he says, "the wilderness," that is, the land of the Jews, which after the destroyed Assyrians shall be such — by metonymy, that is, the men themselves. Like a lily, which is the most beautiful flower, and lasts long: Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 39:19 (var.), "the works of the Lord shall flourish like the lily." It has also beauty in the bud; whence he says, "it shall bud forth": Psalm 92:12, "the just shall flourish like the palm tree" — for just as the bud comes from the flower, so exterior gladness comes from the joy of the heart. Second he promises fertility of the land, "the glory of Lebanon," that is, the fertility of diverse things, which is the glory of these places, shall be in the land of promise: Hosea 14:6-7 (var.), "his glory shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon." Third, the nearness of both, "they shall see," that is, it shall not be deferred to the times of the sons; above, chapter 33, "your eyes shall see the king in his beauty." "Strengthen the... hands," etc.: here is set the strengthening exhortation; and concerning this he does three things. First is set the enjoining of the office of exhorting, "strengthen the feeble hands," in which is weakness for working; "confirm the weak knees," in which is weakness for sustaining: Hebrews 12:12, "lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees." Second is set the strengthening itself, "say to the fainthearted": Luke 12:32, "fear not, little flock." Third the reason for strengthening is assigned. First as to the recompense for evils, delivering from enemies, "behold your God"; and healing from infirmities, "then shall... be opened." And these are metaphorical expressions, if referred to the time after the destruction of the Assyrians, so that spiritual defects are understood, as above. Or literally, if referred to the coming of Christ, as John 5:? "the blind see, the lame walk." Second, as to the bestowal of good things, in four ways. First as to the abundance of waters, "for waters are broken out," a metaphor, which stands for consolations. Or because it rains much, denoting great fertility: Psalm 107:35, "he has turned a wilderness into pools of water." Second, the beauty of the fields, "in the dens," that is, the land, which was formerly deserted, so that these animals dwelt there, shall be cultivated, "the verdure of the reed," which grows in green places; Isaiah 40:6, "he sleeps in the shadow, in the covert of the reed." Third as to the restoration of ways, setting the holiness of the way, "and a path shall be there," "in the land of Judah, a way," leading to the temple; "the unclean," a Gentile as before. Or mystically, of the militant or triumphant Church: Revelation 21:27, "there shall not enter into it anything defiled, or unclean." He also sets its rectitude, "and this shall be... fools," that is, however simple, they shall not err, on account of the multitude of those passing through; Isaiah 51:16 (var. "addiscam eos"), "I will teach them from the land of the north, and gather them from the ends of the earth." He also sets the security of the way, "no lion shall be there"; above, chapter 11, "they shall not hurt, nor kill, in all my holy mountain." And he sets the frequenting of the ways, "and the redeemed," from preceding dangers: Baruch 4:36-37, "for behold, your sons come, whom you sent away scattered." Fourth he promises them gladness of heart, "everlasting joy"; above, chapter 25, "he shall take away her tear." Also is shown the common gladness of the saints in their homeland, because "everlasting," since full; "they shall obtain," because true; "sorrow and mourning shall flee away": Revelation 21:4, "God shall wipe away all tears from the eyes of the saints, and there shall be no more mourning, nor crying, but only joy." Note, concerning that saying, "it shall flourish like the lily," that the saints are compared to lilies, first on account of the height of the stem, from which comes constancy in adversities: Song of Solomon 2:2, "as the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters." Second on account of the sweetness of its scent, from which comes good fame: Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 39:19, "flourish as the lily, give a smell, and bring forth leaves in grace." Third on account of the greenness from its moisture, from which comes virtue of mind: Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 50:8, "as lilies that are by the running waters." Fourth on account of its cluster-like connection, from which comes the charity of the saints: Song of Solomon 7:2, "your belly is like a heap of wheat, set about with lilies." Likewise note that Christ clothes these lilies as to the beginnings of the virtues: Matthew 6:28, "consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they labor not, neither do they spin, and yet... your heavenly Father feeds them." Second, he gathers them unto the reward of eternity: Song of Solomon 6:1, "my beloved is gone down into his garden, to the bed of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies." Third, he rests in them through complacency: Song of Solomon 2:16, "my beloved to me, and I to him, who feeds among the lilies." Fourth, because he himself is the lily: Song of Solomon 2:1, "I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys."

Chapter 36

Text

a. "And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of the Assyrians came up against all the fortified cities of Judah, and took them. And the king of the Assyrians sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem, to king Hezekiah, with a great army; and he stood by the conduit of the upper pool, in the way of the fuller's field. And there went out to him Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder. And Rabshakeh said to them: Say to Hezekiah: Thus says the great king, the king of the Assyrians: What confidence is this in which you trust? Or by what counsel, or strength, do you propose to rebel? On whom do you trust, that you have revolted from me? And you trust on that broken staff of a reed, upon Egypt; upon which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it; so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him. But if you answer me: We trust in the Lord our God; is it not he, whose high places and altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem: You shall worship before this altar? And now deliver yourself up to my lord the king of the Assyrians, and I will give you two thousand horses, and see if you are able to find riders for them. And how will you stand against the face of the judge of one place, of the least of my lord's servants? Or do you trust in Egypt, for chariots and horsemen? And now, have I come up without the Lord against this land, to destroy it? The Lord said to me: Go up against this land, and destroy it. Then Eliakim, and Shebna, and Joah said to Rabshakeh: Speak to your servants in the Syrian language, for we understand it; do not speak to us in the Jews' language, in the hearing of the people that are on the wall. And Rabshakeh said to them: Has my lord sent me to your lord and to you, to speak all these words, and not rather to the men that sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own urine with you? And Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said: Hear the words of the great king, the king of the Assyrians. Thus says the king: Let not Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you. And let not Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying: The Lord will surely deliver us, this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of the Assyrians. Do not listen to Hezekiah. For thus says the king of the Assyrians: Make with me a blessing, and come out to me, and eat every one of his own vine, and every one of his own fig tree, and drink every one the water of his own cistern, until I come, and take you away to a land which is as your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. Let not Hezekiah trouble you, saying: The Lord will deliver us. Have any of the gods of the nations delivered their own land out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians? Where is the god of Hamath, and of Arpad? Where is the god of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who is there among all the gods of these lands, that has delivered his own country out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? And they held their peace, and answered him not a word, for the king had commanded, saying: Answer him not. And Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their garments rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh."

Exposition

a. Here he narrates, in the manner of history, the destruction of the Assyrians. And first he sets the occasion of the history. Second, certain things occasioned from the history, chapter 38, "in those days," etc. The first into two. First is set the guilt which he suffered from God, "and it came to pass," etc. Now he offended in three ways. First by war. Second by messengers, "and the king... sent," etc. Third by letters, chapter 37, "which when he had heard," etc.; Habakkuk 1:6, "behold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, a bitter and swift nation, marching upon the breadth of the earth." "And the king... sent," etc.: here he shows how he offended the Jews by threatening through messengers. And first is set the gathering of the messengers. Second, their conversation, where it says, "and he said," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First is described the messenger of the Assyrians, "Rabshakeh," whom they say was the son of Isaiah, others a Samaritan; "by the conduit," of which above, chapter 7. Second are described the messengers of the Jews, "and there went out to him Eliakim," who succeeded Shebna, who delivered the lower part of the city to the Assyrians, as above, "Shebna" — not the one spoken of above, "the recorder," the king's chancellor, who reduced deeds to writing, to remind the king; whence "recorder" from "record." "And Rabshakeh said," etc.: here is set the conversation of the messengers; and concerning this he does two things. First is set the address of Rabshakeh to the messengers. Second, to others, where it says, "and he stood," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First is set Rabshakeh's own address, in which he intends to establish Hezekiah's weakness for resisting, excluding the defense of the Egyptians, "he trusts on a reed," mocking, because there are many reeds in Egypt. Or he says this because the Egyptians were such: Ezekiel 29:6, "you have been a staff of a reed to the house of Israel." But it was false that Hezekiah trusted in them, excluding also divine help. "But if you answer me: whose... he has taken away" — what he did for religion, he perverts into sacrilege: Deuteronomy 12:? "beware lest you offer your holocausts in every place that you see." Excluding also their own strength, "and now deliver yourself up" — as if he said, you do not even have horses, or horsemen, that you might be able to resist so great an army; above, chapter 33, "he has rejected the cities." He also shows Sennacherib's power for fighting, from the Lord's command, "for... trust." Second is set the others' response, "and Eliakim said," in the hearing of the people, lest they be disturbed, knowing what is said in Proverbs 11:11, "by the blessing of the just, the city shall be exalted; and by the mouth of the wicked it shall be overthrown." Third is set the mockery of the response, "and he said to them: that they may eat," "at the feet": Lamentations 4:5, "they that were fed delicately have embraced dung." "And Rabshakeh stood," etc.: here is set the address of the impious one to the people. And first he sets the wicked one's foolish word, in which he terrifies with threats, "he shall not be able": Judith 5:? "who is this that dares say the children of Israel can resist Nebuchadnezzar?" Second he entices with promises, "thus says the king," "a blessing," that is, a pact, which shall turn to your blessing. Or, bless me as your lord. "Take you away... to Egypt," to the land of the Medes: Genesis 27:28, "God give you of the dew of heaven... abundance of corn and wine." He provokes by example, "let not... trouble you"; Daniel 11:36, "he shall be lifted up, and magnified." Second is set the silence of the despised people, "and they held their peace": Proverbs 26:4, "answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be made like him." He forbids this, lest he multiply words of blasphemy, or deceive the people. "And came," etc.: here is set the departure of the messengers from each other. And first, the return of the Jews to Hezekiah. Second, the return of Rabshakeh to Sennacherib, "Rabshakeh returned." Concerning the first, two. First is set the return of the messengers, and the announcement of the blasphemy. Second is set Hezekiah's prayer, where it says, "and it came to pass when he heard it, he rent his garments," etc., for the blasphemy heard, which was the custom of the Jews, as is clear in Matthew 26, "the high priest rent his garments," etc.

Chapter 37

Text

a. "And it came to pass, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his garments, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. And he sent Eliakim, who was over the house, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the son of Amoz the prophet. And they said to him: Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy, for the children are come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring forth. It may be the Lord your God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of the Assyrians his master has sent to blaspheme the living God, and to reproach with words which the Lord your God has heard; lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left. And the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, and Isaiah said to them: This shall you say to your master: Thus says the Lord: Be not afraid of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of the Assyrians have blasphemed me. Behold, I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor, and shall return to his own land, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. And Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of the Assyrians fighting against Libnah, for he had heard that he had departed from Lachish. And he heard concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, saying: He has come out to fight against you. And when he heard this, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying: This shall you say to Hezekiah king of Judah, speaking: Let not your God deceive you, in whom you trust, saying: Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of the Assyrians. Behold, you have heard all that the kings of the Assyrians have done to all lands, which they have destroyed; and shall you be able to be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them, whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden, who were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah? And Hezekiah took the letters from the hand of the messengers, and read them, and went up to the house of the Lord, and spread them before the Lord. And he prayed to the Lord, saying: O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who sits upon the cherubim, you alone are the God of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see, and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to blaspheme the living God. For truly, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have laid waste the lands, and their countries, and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone, and they broke them in pieces. And now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord. And Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying: Thus says the Lord the God of Israel: Whereas you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of the Assyrians, this is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you, and laughed you to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem has wagged her head behind your back. Whom have you reproached, and whom have you blasphemed, and against whom have you exalted your voice, and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel. By the hand of your servants you have reproached the Lord, and have said: With the multitude of my chariots I have gone up to the height of the mountains, to the top of Lebanon, and I have cut down its tall cedars, and its choice fir trees, and I have entered into the height of its border, into the forest of its Carmel. I have dug, and drunk water, and have dried up with the sole of my foot all the rivers of banked-up waters. Have you not heard what I did of old? From ancient days I formed it; and now I have brought it to pass, and it has come to be the destruction of hills contending together, and of fortified cities. Their inhabitants were weakened by their shortened hand, they trembled and were confounded, they became like the grass of the field, and the green herb, and grass on the housetops, which withered before it came to maturity. I know your dwelling, and your going out, and your coming in, and your fury against me. When you were mad against me, your pride came up into my ears; therefore I will put a ring in your nose, and a bit in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came. And this shall be a sign to you: Eat this year what grows of itself, and in the second year, eat fruits; but in the third year, sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. And whatsoever shall be left of the house of Judah, shall take root downward, and bear fruit upward; for out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and salvation out of Mount Zion; the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this. Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of the Assyrians: He shall not enter into this city, nor shoot an arrow into it, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, he shall return, and he shall not enter into this city, says the Lord. And I will protect this city, to save it, for my own sake, and for the sake of David my servant. And the angel of the Lord went out, and struck in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred eighty-five thousand. And when men arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead bodies. And Sennacherib king of the Assyrians departed, and went away, and returned, and dwelt in Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the temple of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons struck him with the sword, and fled into the land of Ararat; and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place."

Exposition

a. In this part he shows how Hezekiah fought against the blasphemies with humility and prayer; and concerning this he does three things. First he recounts how he sought a place for prayer, assuming the garb of humility, "and covered himself with sackcloth": Jonah 3:6, "and the word came to the king, and he rose up out of his throne, and cast away his robe from him, and was clothed with sackcloth, and sat in ashes." Second, not presuming to pour out his prayer to God on his own, he sought the support of prayer through messengers from the prophet; where he recounts the sending of the messengers, "and he sent Eliakim": above, chapter 8, "should not a people seek of their God?" The messengers set forth the tribulation, and it should be read thus: "and they came, and said, a day of tribulation," that is, which we suffer in outward tribulations; "and rebuke," as to sorrow of heart, "of correction," divine, "and blasphemy," of the enemies. "The children are come," that is, the conceiving of counsels, "to the birth," of bringing forth. Or, we grieve as those in labor: Zephaniah 1:? "that day is a day of tribulation." "And lift up the prayer" — a petition, so that it may be so ordered. "Lift up, therefore, and how": Jeremiah 42:20, "pray for us to the Lord your God, and for all this remnant." Third he shows the prophet's response, "and... said to them," in which he excludes the king's fear, "be not afraid": Jeremiah 1:8, "be not afraid at their presence, for I am with you to deliver you." And he foretells the death of King Sennacherib, "behold, I": Revelation 13:10, "he that shall kill by the sword, must be killed by the sword." "And... returned": here is set Rabshakeh's return to Sennacherib, and this is plain. "Which when he had heard," etc.: here he recounts how he assaulted them, threatening by letters; and concerning this he does three things. First he sets his proud threat, "and he heard concerning Tirhakah," who, having come out to help the Egyptians, watched their departure. Which when he heard, he went to meet him, leaving Judea, and before he withdrew, he wrote; and afterward, going to Babylon, and besieging Pelusium in Egypt, with the king of Ethiopia coming, he was unwilling to fight with him, saying he was a priest of mocking Pluto, on account of his entry; or because mice gnawed the bowstrings of his army, and rendered it unable to fight: above, chapter 10, "as my hand has found the kingdoms of the idol." Second is set Hezekiah's prayer, prefacing the reception of the letter. In which prayer he confesses God's power through the subjection of angels, "the Lord of hosts"; Job 25:3, "is there any numbering of his soldiers?" — through the worship of the Jews, "who sits upon the cherubim," because the mercy-seat, which was as it were the seat of God, and also gave responses, was upon the wings of the cherubim: Psalm 80:1, "you that sit upon the cherubim, shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh." But since the tabernacle was arranged according to the pattern of the heavenly court, as is taken in Exodus 25, it seems ill said that he sits upon the cherubim, but rather upon the thrones. And it must be said that he sits upon the cherubim, and thrones, because upon the seraphim, who are beyond them. Or according to Gregory, and Dionysius, this is possessed singularly there; but what is lower is also attributed eminently to the higher. Whence the cherubim have the property of the thrones more eminently. Or it must be said that he sits upon thrones, as upon the seat of judgment; upon the cherubim, as upon the teacher's chair, since "cherubim" is interpreted "fullness of knowledge." And on this account responses used to be given from there. He also shows God's power through the disposition of kingdoms, "you alone are God": Daniel 6:? "the Lord, who has power over all kingdoms." He also proves it through the production of creatures, "you have made": Psalm 146:6, "who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things that are in them." He also accuses Sennacherib's blasphemy, "incline, O Lord": Judges 6:? "O Lord God of heaven, look upon their pride" — beholding our humility, proving thereby the folly of the blasphemy. "For truly, O Lord": Psalm 115:4, "the idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold, the works of men's hands." He also sought, third, in this prayer, the mercy of salvation, "and now, O Lord": Judges 6:? "let all the nations know that you are God, and there is none other besides you." Third the prophet promises the hearing of the prayer through messengers, "and... sent," etc. And concerning this he does two things. First he promises the destruction of the enemies. Second, the deliverance of the city, where it says, "therefore thus says," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he sets the threat. And first the destruction of ruin. Second he sets the sign, where it says, "and this shall be a sign to you," etc. Third he shows the fruit of the destruction, where it says, "and whatsoever shall be left," etc. Concerning the first, two. First he threatens the punishment of confusion against the contempt of the Jews, "has despised," when he refused to answer you; "wagged," in the future, when, others being slain, you shall flee with a few; above, chapter 33, "and you that despise, shall not you also be despised?"; Job 22:19, "the just shall see, and shall rejoice, and the innocent shall laugh them to scorn." Second he threatens the destruction of ruin against the guilt he had committed against God; and concerning this he does three things. First he sets the guilt. Second he assumes divine power, where it says, "have you not heard," etc. Third he concludes the punishment, where it says, "therefore I will put," etc. Concerning the first he charges him with two sins. First, of blasphemy, "whom have you reproached," the words of Hezekiah to Sennacherib — as if he said, not to me, but to God: below, chapter 57, "against whom have you played, against whom have you opened wide your mouth, and put out your tongue?" Second he charges him with the pride which he conceived from the greatness of things accomplished, "and have said": with the multitude, as if by my own, and not by God's power, "the top of Lebanon," the summits of mountains, that is, of the powerful: Deuteronomy 32:27, "our own hand is exalted, and not the Lord, that has done all these things." From the greatness of those appointed, "and I have cut down its tall cedars," the powerful among the Jews, "its border," the house of the Lord. "Forest," the people: Zechariah 11:1, "open, O Lebanon, your gates, and let the fire devour your cedars." And the multitude of fighters, "I have dug" — as if he said, so great is the army I have that the water I find does not suffice me unless I dig wells. Or metaphorically: I have dried up the consolation of all nations: Isaiah 51:3, "as a garden of the Lord." Note, concerning that saying, "lift up the prayer," that prayer is lifted up, first through the eminence of contemplation: Psalm 121:1, "I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence help shall come to me." Second through the fervor of affection: Lamentations 3:41, "let us lift up our hearts with our hands to God." Third on account of the tears of compunction: Psalm 6:6, "every night I will wash my bed, I will water my couch with my tears." Fourth through zeal for good work: Psalm 141:2, "the lifting up of my hands, as evening sacrifice." "Have you not heard," etc.: here he assumes divine power, speaking in the person of God himself. And first as to eternal foreordination, "of old," from eternity, "I formed," that is, I proposed to do. And concerning the exaltation and destruction, "it," the evil of punishment, which through him I foresaw I would inflict, and predetermined. Second, as to the temporal execution of the eternal purpose, "and now I have brought," "of hills," of princes; "contending," against one another, "shortened," that is, withdrawn, "my hand" from their help; or their own hand diminished, of their help; "and grass on housetops": Psalm 129:6, "let them be as grass upon the housetops, which withers before it is plucked up." Third, as to the thought of all deeds, "your dwelling," that is, the seat of the kingdom; "coming in," into the land of the Jews: Job 34:21, "his eyes are upon the ways of men, and he considers all their steps." "Therefore I will put," etc.: here he concludes the punishment, "a ring," as upon a buffalo, "a bit," as upon a horse, that is, the power of divinity restraining him; Job 41:1-2, "can you draw out the leviathan with a hook... will you put a ring in his nose, or bore through his jaw with a buckle?" Note, concerning that saying, "I will put a bit," that a bit is put, first, of discretion: James 3:2, "if any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man." Second, of divine governance: Isaiah 48:9, "for my praise I will bridle you, lest you should be destroyed." Third, of diabolical deception: above, chapter 30, "and the bridle of error that was in the jaws of the peoples." Fourth, of eternal damnation: Psalm 32:9, "with bit and bridle bind fast their jaws." Fifth, of temporal affliction: Job 30:11 (var.), "he has opened his quiver, and afflicted me, and has put a bridle into my mouth." "And this shall be a sign to you," etc.: here he sets the sign. For the army of the Assyrians had come with the harvest imminent, whence they could not then gather the fruits, and remained in the land until after the time of sowing; whence they also could not sow. Thus, then, it is said to them, that in that remaining part of the year, Sennacherib going into Egypt, they should eat "what grows of itself," as in 2 Kings 19 — namely because the crops had been trodden underfoot by the hooves of horses and chariots. Or whatever they found in the barns, gathered before the siege. Or what they had sown according to the seventy, which remained trodden down in the fields. "In the second year," he being in Egypt, because he remained a year, since they would gather nothing having sown nothing. "Fruits." Or what grows of itself, as in 2 Kings 19. And in that second year Sennacherib was destroyed, and so in one year they would have the faculty of sowing and reaping. Or according to Andrew, this is the counsel, "and this shall be a sign," referring to the preceding. "And whatsoever shall be left," here he sets the fruit of the destruction. First he sets a likeness of a tree, which bears much fruit if its roots go deep into the earth: Jeremiah 17:8, "he shall be as a tree that is planted by the waters, that spreads out its roots by the moisture." Second he sets the exposition. "For out of Jerusalem": below, chapter 46, "I will bring salvation in Zion, and my glory in Israel." Third he assigns the reason, "the zeal." "Therefore," etc.: here he promises the deliverance, "he shall not enter," as he proposed: above, chapter 8, "take counsel, and it shall be defeated; speak a word, and it shall not stand." And he assigns the reason, "and I will protect," for his own sake: below, chapter 48, "for my own sake will I do it, that I be not blasphemed." And for David's sake: Psalm 132:10, "for your servant David's sake, turn not away the face of your anointed." "And the angel of the Lord went out," etc.: here he sets the punishment which he suffered from God. And first as to the killing of the army, "and struck": above, chapter 33, "at the voice of the angel the peoples fled, and at your being exalted the nations are scattered." Second as to the disturbance and flight of the remainder, "and... arose": above, chapter 22, "behold... trouble." Third as to his own killing, "and it came to pass, as he was worshipping." Adrammelech and Sharezer, his firstborn sons, envying their younger brother, whom he wished to substitute, who was born of another mother. And thus Hezekiah was delivered from distress.

Chapter 38

Text

a. "In those days Hezekiah was sick unto death, and Isaiah the son of Amoz the prophet came to him, and said to him: Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live. And Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, and said: I beseech you, O Lord, remember how I have walked before you in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight. And Hezekiah wept with a great weeping. And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying: Go, and say to Hezekiah: Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer, and I have seen your tears; behold, I will add to your days fifteen years, and I will deliver you, and this city, out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians, 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 bring back the shadow of the lines, by which it is gone down in the dial of Ahaz by the sun, ten lines backward. And the sun returned ten lines, by the degrees by which it was gone down. The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and had recovered from his sickness. I said: In the midst of my days I shall go to the gates of hell. I sought for the residue 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 is at an end, and it is rolled away from me, as a shepherd's tent. My life is cut off, as by a weaver, whilst I was yet but beginning, he cut me off; from morning even to night, you will make an end of me. I hoped till morning, as a lion, so has he broken all my bones; from morning even to night, you will make an end of me. I will cry like a young swallow, I will meditate like a dove; my eyes are weakened looking upward. O Lord, I suffer violence, answer for me. What shall I say, or what shall he answer for me, whereas he himself has done it? I will recount to you all my years, in the bitterness of my soul. O Lord, if man's life be such, and the life of my spirit be in such things as these, you shall correct me, and make me to live. Behold, in peace is my bitterness most bitter; but you have delivered my soul, that it should not perish, you have cast all my sins behind your back. For hell shall not confess to you, neither shall death praise you, nor shall they that go down into the pit, look for your truth. The living, the living, he shall give praise to you, as I do this day; the father shall make your truth known to the children. O Lord, save me, and we will sing our psalms all the days of our life in the house of the Lord. And Isaiah commanded that they should take a lump of figs, and lay it as a plaster upon the wound, and he should be healed. And Hezekiah said: What shall be the sign, that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?"

Exposition

a. In this part he sets certain things occasioned from the preceding history, namely the sickness of Hezekiah, which he incurred on account of ingratitude, because after so great a victory he did not compose a song of thanksgiving, as was the custom; and it is divided into two. In the first he sets his sickness. Second, his healing, "at that time," etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First he sets the sickness. Second, the deliverance, where it says, "and... turned," etc. Third, the order of deliverance, where it says, "and... sent Isaiah," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets the disease, "was sick": Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 31:2, "a grievous sickness makes the soul sober." Second he sets the message of death, "and... came," "set in order," ordaining who ought to succeed you: Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 33:24 (var.), "in the day of the end of your life, and in the time of your death, distribute your inheritance." But against this it is objected, since afterward he lived, and did not die. Therefore this prophecy, "you shall die," was subject to falsehood, nor did it foretell the outcome of events with unmovable truth. And it must be said that, since the plans of all things that come to pass in the whole course of time were from eternity in God, certain ones were implanted in things, which are unfolded through the work of nature and will; certain he retained with himself alone, that he might bring into act what he willed. The prophets, then, seeing in the mirror of eternity, see of both as much as God wills to reveal. There were revealed to Isaiah, then, those reasons which were implanted in things, which the lower secondary causes produce, namely natural and meritorious, according to which the king's illness unto death was ordained. And even as to the sense which the prophet had in the words, it was true, because it was so according to the lower causes. Likewise also as to another sense, which the Holy Spirit understood, he spoke truly, because he died to that ingratitude, while afterward he gave due thanks to God, just as also the overthrow of Nineveh, as to the state of iniquity, as Augustine says. "And... turned," etc.: here he sets the deliverance; and concerning this he sets three things. First, the preparation of prayer, "to the wall," of the temple. And concerning this, two. First is set Hezekiah's prayer. Second, the promise of health, where it says, "and it came to pass," etc. Third, the giving of thanks, where it says, "the writing of the king," etc. Concerning the first he sets three things. First, the preparation of prayer, "to the wall," of the temple, or of his own house, that he might pray more devoutly and secretly: Psalm 86:7 (var.), "in the day of my trouble I have cried to you, and you have heard me." Second he sets the prayer itself, "and... prayed, remember," that for the good things I have done you may grant me life — for God is said to forget, when he does not repay — "in truth," of your worship, "with a perfect heart," as to love. But against this, Proverbs 20:9, "who can say: My heart is clean?" And it must be said that he did not say his heart was perfect simply, but as to this, that he cast away idols, as is said in 2 Kings 18; Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 11:27, "in the day of good things be not unmindful of evils." Third he sets the compunction of the one praying, "and wept": Matthew 5:5 (var.), "blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted"; Judith 9:16 (var. "humilium"), "the prayer of the humble and meek has always pleased you." "And it came to pass," etc.: here is set the promise of health. And first he sets the hearing of the prayer, "and it came to pass," before he had gone out to the middle of the court (2 Kings 20); "I have heard your prayer," above, chapter 30. Second he sets the promise, "behold, I will add": Psalm 61:6 (var.), "you have added days to the days of the king." Third he sets the confirmation by a sign, "and this shall be a sign," that is, through the motion of the sun, "the lines," by which, according to natural motion, ten hours were reckoned; "and the sun returned," namely suddenly; and thus that day had, artificially, thirty hours, but reduplicated according to the Gloss; but if successively, thus it returned by four, then returned by four, and again by four it came. And thus that day had almost twenty-two hours, or thirty, according to Dionysius. This happened, however, with all the other celestial bodies going backward, or it must be said that the sun had a shorter path, or swifter motion, so that it might arrive at its position together with the rest: Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 48:26 (var.), "did not the sun go back, and was not the day made as two?" And this sign befits the thing signified: Job 11:17, "when you shall think yourself consumed, you shall rise as the day star." "The writing of Hezekiah": here is set the giving of thanks for the promised salvation. And first he sets the title, "the writing," namely this. Second he sets the canticle, "I said," in which he does three things. First he laments the peril he escaped. Second he recalls the benefit he received, where it says, "O Lord, if... be such," etc. Third he asks for the fulfillment which he was promised, where it says, "O Lord, save me." Now he laments three things. First, the horror of death, "in the midst," that is, in my youth. "To the gates of hell," that is, limbo. Or death, or the sepulchre: Ecclesiastes [Sirach] end, "my life was drawing near to hell beneath." Second he laments the loss of good things, as to God's provision, "I sought," that he might supply, "the residue," taken from me. Or, I inquired within myself, how much of life remained to me. "I said," within myself. "I shall not see," by sight, only in this present time. "In the land of the living," in heavenly blessedness: Psalm 27:13, "I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living." Or, "I shall not see" further, seeing the temple and its worship. "In the land of the living," namely of the Jews: Malachi 3:6, "I am the Lord, and I change not." Likewise, as to the fellowship of men, "I shall behold man no more," living in this life; Jeremiah 49:18, "no man shall abide there, and no son of man shall dwell in it." Or the man Christ promised to us. Likewise as to the posterity of children, "my generation," namely of children, since he did not yet have children, "is rolled away," folded up, not to be extended to posterity: above, chapter 22, "and I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place, and he shall be for a throne of glory to the house of his father." Likewise as to the brevity of life: "is cut off, as by a weaver," while yet weaving an unfinished web. "I was yet but beginning," in my youth: Job 7:6, "my days have passed more swiftly than the web is cut by the weaver." Third he laments the anxiety of his illness. And first as to the continual expectation of death, "from morning," that is, I feared; "even to night you will make an end of me," by death. And then also not fearing, "I hoped," again, "as in the morning," together with death the pain of illness is ended. Or as it is read the other way, "languor," or God himself through the pain of illness. Job 7:4, "if I sleep, I shall say, when shall I arise? And again I shall look for the evening, and shall be filled with sorrows even till darkness." Second, as to the delay itself, where he sets a threefold condition of the one hoping, "like a young swallow," expecting healing, which he does not see, "as a dove"; maidservants were threatening him, groaning, "and moaning." He also excludes hope of exaltation...

who are weary, "through hope": Proverbs 13:12, "hope that is deferred, afflicts the soul"; Psalm 121:1, "I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence help shall come to me." He also sets a certain debate with God, "O Lord, I suffer violence" — as if he said, violence is done to me, "beyond my merits I am afflicted," "answer for me. What shall I say," as if turned back, what should I propose against God, or what should I answer, when it is fitting to answer what is asked, "whereas he himself has done it," alone, or has called the punishment. Isaiah 7:? "if you agree to dispute with him, you shall not be able to answer him one for a thousand." Third as to the recollection of things past, "I will recount to you all my years," in which I suffered good things; or in which I sinned against you: Job 7:11, "I will speak in the affliction of my spirit." Note, concerning that saying, "my eyes are weakened," that eyes are weakened, first by depression: above, chapter 5, "the lofty eyes of man have been humbled." Second by the oppression of light: Proverbs 25:27 (var.), "he that is a searcher of majesty, shall be overwhelmed by glory." Third on account of the perversity of thought: Job 36:25 (var.), "all men see him, everyone beholds afar off." Likewise, concerning "looking upward," that eyes are lifted up, first through elation of heart: Psalm 131:1, "Lord, my heart is not exalted, nor are my eyes lofty." Second through curiosity of inquiry: Job 15:? (var.), "as one thinking great things, you have lifted up your eyes." Third through the elevation of contemplation: below, chapter 30, "he shall lift up his eyes on high, and shall see the joy that shall come to him." "O Lord, if... be such": here he recalls the benefit he received. And first, the correction, "if... be such," as if he said, if life is so wretched; or if life is acquired through tribulation: Proverbs 6:? "my son, reject not the correction of discipline," he explains, "behold, in peace," as it were in a people who has it from the Assyrians, "bitterness," is imminent to me: Proverbs 14:10 (var.), "his own bitterness has mercy on him." Second he recalls the deliverance from punishment, "but you have delivered my soul" from guilt; "you have cast behind your back," mine, as if forgetting, "all my sins": Wisdom 11:24 (var.), "you have mercy upon all, and hate nothing of the things you have made." Third he assigns the reason for the deliverance. First as to the uselessness of death, "for... not hell," that is, the damned, or the buried, "death," the departed, or the dead, "your truth," of your promises, or of your Son: Psalm 6:5, "for there is no one in death that is mindful of you; and who shall confess to you in hell?" Second as to the praise of the living, "the living, the living," for greater affirmation; or on account of a twofold life: Psalm 115:18 (var.), "we that live bless the Lord." Third as to the setting forth of divine praise, "the father shall make... to the children": Psalm 78:5-6, "how much he has commanded our fathers, that they should make it known to their children, that another generation might know it." "O Lord, save me," etc.: here he asks that the promise be fulfilled, "save me," from the Assyrians, and from the illness: Psalm 34:1, "I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall be always in my mouth." "And Isaiah commanded," etc.: here he sets the order of the healing, and here it is transposed, and it ought to be before the giving of the sign, as is clear in 2 Kings 20. But because he intends not history but prophecy, he set down first those things which pertain to prophecy; and first he sets the manner of the cure, "a plaster," that is, a poultice, "the wound," inflicted by God, or an ulcer open from corrupted humor — for they say he suffered from the disease called the king's evil, which is called "lupus" (a wolf), which figs and sweet grapes injure, so that the cure might be wholly attributed to divine power. Others say it was an abscess, which comes from humors collected within, the flesh not yet broken, for whose maturing figs are useful, so that it may be shown that necessary medicine is not always superfluous: Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 38:8, "the apothecary shall make confections, and shall make up ointments of health." Second is set the sign for Hezekiah, "and Hezekiah said: What shall be the sign?": 1 Corinthians 1:22, "the Jews require signs, the Greeks seek after wisdom."

Chapter 39

Text

a. "At that time Merodach-baladan, the 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 rejoiced at their coming, and he showed them the storehouse of his spices, and of silver, and of gold, and of sweet odors, and of precious ointment, and all the storehouses of his household stuff, and all that was found in his treasures; there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah did not show them. Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him: What did these men say, and from where did they come to you? And Hezekiah said: They came to me from a far country, from Babylon. And he said: What did they see in your house? And Hezekiah said: They saw all that is in my house; there is no thing in my treasures which I have not showed them. And Isaiah said to Hezekiah: Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: Behold, the days shall come, that all that is in your house, and that your fathers have laid up in store to this day, shall be carried into Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the Lord. And of your sons that shall issue from you, whom you shall beget, they shall take away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. And Hezekiah said to Isaiah: The word of the Lord which he has spoken is good. And he said: Let there be peace and truth in my days."

Exposition

a. Here he sets the friendly congratulation shown in the sending of messengers, and of gifts; and concerning this he does three things. First he sets the sending of the messengers, "the king of Babylon," who was then subject to the Assyrians; "letters," that is, epistles; "he had heard," but especially on account of the sign, which they see at its return: Psalm 72:15, "he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Arabia." Second he sets Hezekiah's own elation conceived from this, setting the gladness of elation, "rejoiced," against which is had, Job 31:25, "if I have rejoiced over my great riches, and because my hand had found much." And elation in deed, in the showing of his riches. And he shows also the spices, which are called fragrant kinds. Even the pleasant place where the kings used to walk, or the lower part of the house of the forest, which was of alabaster, where the best of such things were kept; "storehouses," cellars, "utensils," or things worthy of the word, "of his dominion," as to those things which were in the temple, which were indeed in his power, though borrowed: Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 11:29, "bring not every man into your house, for many are the snares of the deceitful." Third he sets the rebuke of the elation. "And Isaiah said." And first he sets the inquiry into the guilt, as an accusation, "there is no thing": Proverbs 25:3 (var.), "as the heavens are high, and the earth deep, so the heart of kings is unsearchable." Second he threatens punishment, "and Isaiah said," as to the loss of goods, "all that is in your house": Jeremiah 27:6, "behold, I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon." As to the servitude of the sons, "and of your sons," which they say was fulfilled in Daniel and his companions, not that they were such in body, but in mind and office: Deuteronomy 28:32, "your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people." Third he sets the acceptance of the punishment, "and Hezekiah said"; above, chapter 26, "Lord, you will give us peace, for we have hoped in you."

Chapter 40

Text

a. "Be comforted, be comforted, my people, says your God. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her, for her evil is come to an end, her iniquity is forgiven; she has received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. The voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare you the way of the Lord, make straight in the wilderness the paths of our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough ways plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall see that the mouth of the Lord has spoken. The voice of one saying: Cry. And I said: What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of the field. The grass is withered, and the flower is fallen, because the spirit of the Lord has blown upon it. Indeed the people is grass. The grass is withered, and the flower is fallen, but the word of our Lord endures forever. Get you up upon a high mountain, you that bring good tidings to Zion; lift up your voice with strength, you that bring good tidings to Jerusalem; lift it up, fear not. Say to the cities of Judah: Behold your God. Behold the Lord God shall come with strength, and his arm shall rule; behold his reward is with him, and his work is before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, he shall gather together the lambs with his arm, and shall take them up in his bosom, and he himself shall carry them that are with young. Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and weighed the heavens with his palm? Who has poised with three fingers the mass of the earth, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who has helped the spirit of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor, and shown him? With whom did he consult, and who instructed him, and taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Behold, the Gentiles are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the smallest grain of a balance; behold, the islands are as a very little thing. And Lebanon shall not be enough to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a holocaust. All nations are before him as if they had no being at all, and are counted to him as nothing, and vanity. To whom then have you likened God? Or what image will you make for him? Has the workman cast a graven statue? Or has the goldsmith formed it with gold, or the silversmith with plates of silver? He has chosen strong wood, and that will not rot; the skillful workman seeks how he may set up an idol that shall not be moved. Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood the foundations of the earth? It is he that sits upon the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are as locusts. He that stretches out the heavens as nothing, and spreads them out as a tent to dwell in. He that brings the searchers of secrets to nothing, that has made the judges of the earth as vanity. And indeed their stock has neither been planted, nor sown, nor is their trunk rooted in the earth; suddenly he has blown upon them, and they are withered, and a whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. And to whom have you likened me, and made me equal, says the Holy One? Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things; who brings out their host by number, and calls them all by their names; by the greatness of his might, and strength, and power, not one of them was missing. Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel: My way is hidden from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Do you not know, or have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, who has created the ends of the earth; he shall not faint, nor labor, neither is there any searching out of his wisdom. He gives strength to the weary, and increases force and might to them that are not. Youths shall faint, and labor, and young men shall fall by infirmity. But they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings as eagles, they shall run, and not be weary, they shall walk, and not faint."

Exposition

a. This is the second part of the principal division of this book, in which he principally intends the consolation of the people through many promised benefits. Now it is divided into two. In the first he leads them to the expectation of what is promised. In the second he carries out the promise of divine benefits, below, chapter 65, "thus says the Lord," etc. In the first he comforts them through the power of the one promising. In the second, through his own love, chapter 41, "you, Israel," etc. In the third, through the weakness of the idols which might be believed able to resist, chapter 44, "and now hear, Jacob," etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First he leads to consolation. Second he promises a comforter, where it says, "the voice of one crying," etc. In the third he shows God's power to console, where it says, "who has measured," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he charges the people to consolation, "be comforted," in spiritual things; "be comforted," in temporal goods granted: Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 48:24 (var.), "he comforted them that mourned in Zion." Second he charges the prophets and priests with the announcement of consolation, "speak to the heart," namely, by consoling; "call to her," from the sadness of idolatry: Hosea 2:14, "I will lead her into the wilderness, and I will speak to her heart." Third he assigns the reason as to the remission of guilt, "for... come to an end," as to the completion of punishments. "She has received." He speaks according to the time after the captivity: Jeremiah 17:18 (var.), "destroy them with double destruction." But against this, Nahum 1:9, "there shall not rise a double affliction." And it must be said that "double" is said as to the punishment of body and soul, just as also the guilt is in both. "The voice of one crying in the desert": here he promises consolation; and concerning this he does three things. First he sets forth the preparation. Second he shows the firmness of the prophecy, where it says, "the voice of one saying," etc. Third he foretells the coming comforter, where it says, "get you up upon a high mountain," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he indicates the preparation, "the voice of one crying in the desert," namely of John the Baptist, this shall be; "prepare," through conversion from evils in the wilderness of vices: Amos 4:12, "prepare to meet your God, O Israel." Second he foretells the leveling. "Every valley," following the metaphor in a valley, which, if it is mountainous, causes labor. Whence it is said, "shall be exalted," that it may be made equal to the mountains, and the whole made level. If it is crooked, it causes error; and as to this he says, "shall become straight." If it is stony, it causes pain of the feet; and as to this he says, "the rough ways." By which is signified that faintheartedness shall be turned into security, pride into humility, wickedness into rectitude, cruelty into gentleness: Jeremiah 31:21, "direct your heart into the right way, in which you have walked." Third he shows the usefulness of the preparation, "and the glory... shall be revealed," that is, the Son: Jeremiah 33:6, "I will cure them, and reveal to them the prayer of peace." "Shall see," that is, shall show himself visible to all. Or he speaks of the day of judgment, "every eye shall see him." Some expound it thus: "the voice," of God, "crying," is this; "prepare, in the desert," that is, in the land of Judah once deserted, "the way of the Lord," namely for coming to the temple. Or in the desert which is between Babylon and Judea. "Every valley." By this all obstacles are shown to be removed, that the people may freely return, "glory," in the destruction of the Chaldeans, through which he shall appear glorious. "The voice of one saying," etc.: in this part he shows the firmness of the prophecy by comparison to human frailty. Whence the Lord first enjoins a cry, which signifies an express and plain announcement, "cry": Isaiah 48:20 (var.), "declare, tell this, publish it, lift up your voice like a trumpet." Second he indicates human frailty to be censured, the prophet asking, "and I said: What shall I cry?" fearing lest he be commanded to cry out something against his own people; and the Lord answering, "all flesh": James 1:11, "the sun rose with a burning heat, and dried up the grass." Third he shows the firmness of the divine word, "but... endures": Luke 21:33, "heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." "Get you up upon a high mountain," etc.: here he foretells the coming comforter; and concerning this he does three things. First the Lord enjoins on the prophet an announcement. Second he determines the promise of the coming, where it says, "behold the Lord," etc. Concerning the first he determines who, to whom, how he shall announce. Who, because he has the office, "you that bring good tidings": Romans 10:15, "how shall they preach, unless they be sent?" He indicates the manner through three things. First through the height of place, that the one announcing good things may be heard from afar, "upon a high mountain" — mystically, Christ, or heavenly conversation and contemplation; above, chapter 2, "come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord"; Isaiah 42:11 (var.), "let them shout from the top of the mountains." Second through the loudness of the voice, "lift up your voice with strength," that many may hear, preaching plainly and constantly: Isaiah 58:1, "cry, cease not, lift up your voice like a trumpet." Third through the security of heart, "lift it up, fear not": Jeremiah 1:8, "be not afraid at their presence, for I am with you." He determines to whom it must be announced, as to three things. As to the ordinary province, "say to the cities." As to the metropolis of the province, "you that bring good tidings to Jerusalem." As to the rulers of the city, "Zion," where the temple and the royal house were: Isaiah 41:27, "the first shall say to Zion: Behold, they are here, and I will give to Jerusalem one that brings good tidings"; Acts 13:46, "it was necessary that the word of God should first be spoken to you; but because you reject it, behold, we turn to the Gentiles." "Behold your God," etc.: here he sets the promise of God's coming, "behold," at hand, "your God shall come"; above, chapter 33, "our God himself will come, and will save us." "Behold the Lord God," etc.: here he shows the condition of the one coming. And first he shows that he shall come strong for warfare, "with strength," "his arm," strength on the day of judgment. Or at the first coming, in the power of miracles, or for the destruction of Babylon: Job 40:9 (var.), "have you an arm like God?" Second, that he shall come just, to reward, "behold his reward," his work is before him, because in the power of the will: Wisdom 5:15, "but the just live for evermore, and their reward is with the Lord." Third he shows that he shall come merciful, to console, "like a shepherd," to feed the hungry, "he shall feed his flock": Ezekiel 34:14, "I will feed them in the most fruitful pastures"; Jeremiah 3:15, "I will give you shepherds that shall feed you." To gather the dissenting, "with his arm": John 10:16, "other sheep I have, that are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." To carry the faint, "in his bosom": Luke 15:5, "and when he has found it, he lays it upon his shoulders, rejoicing." "Who has measured," etc.: here he shows the divine power. And first he establishes it against the errors of idolaters, who detracted from divine power by preferring the creature to the Creator: Romans 1:25, "who worshipped and served the creature rather than the creator." Second against the despair of the Jews, who detracted from the divine power by limiting it, where it says, "lift up your eyes on high," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he shows God's power. Second he excludes the error, where it says, "to whom then," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he shows the divine power together with his wisdom in the easy measuring, and creation, of all things: for he makes all things in number, as to the multitude of things produced; in measure, as to their determination under their proper being; in weight, as to their inclination toward their end. Wisdom 11:21 (var.), "in the hollow of the hand," that is, easily, as things are measured by the hollow of the hand, which is a closed hand: "with his palm," that is, easily, which is the open hand. "Who has poised," etc.: Job 26:7, "he stretches out the north over the empty space, and hangs the earth upon nothing" — because it is supported by no exterior thing; otherwise there would be a violent rest of the earth. "Upon the waters," as to situation, because it is surrounded by waters: Psalm 104:5, "upon its own stability." As to its own proper cause of rest, which is its own nature. "With three fingers," that is, easily. Or by three properties: heaviness, dryness, and immobility, "weighed," made to be poised by its own weight. Second he shows the sufficiency of his power, since he does not need one to help. "Who has helped," against the philosophers who held, through the mediation of first causes, that the last things were created; "who does not need counsel"; "or who has been his counselor," that he should give himself counsel. "With whom," that he might receive from him; he instructed him in the form of the work. "Taught him," of natural things, which he foresaw for all things, that no thing should exceed the bounds of its own nature; "knowledge," of the knowledge of created things, both universal and particular, against the philosophers; "the way of understanding," as to the governance of the world: Job 26:? "his understanding is unsearchable... and stretches out his arm," etc. Third he shows his own excellence, since it exceeds every multitude of the Gentiles, "behold, the Gentiles are as a drop," a small drop, "of a bucket," falling from a water-vessel which among us is fit for the thirsty, and which is reckoned as nothing. "The smallest grain," that which is between the arms of a balance, which easily inclines between the two: Job 26:14, "if we scarcely hear a little drop of his word, who shall be able to withstand the thunder of his greatness?" He also shows that he exceeds all worthy honor, and especially as to offering, "and Lebanon," that is, the wood of Lebanon, in which it abounds, because it is wooded. "And the beasts," with which it abounds, because it is pastoral: Micah 6:? "what is worthy to offer to the Lord?" He also shows that he exceeds every perfection and nature of creature, because their being, with respect to God, is non-being. For Dionysius says, in his book On the Divine Names, that as much as things participating exceed those not participating, so much as the participation exceeds the things participating, so much does he who is the principle of the participants exceed both the participated and the participants. "All nations": and as to the additional perfection, which in some manner are fulfilling, and as it were "nothing": Jeremiah 4:23, "I beheld the earth, and behold it was void." "To whom then," etc.: here he excludes the error. And first he mocks the error as to the intention of those working, because they wished to make God. Therefore, since God is powerful, "to whom then have you likened" — he speaks according to the error of those who thought these likenesses to be gods. "Or what image," as to those who thought them gods whose likenesses they are, such as the sun, or the moon: Exodus 15:11, "who is like you among the strong, O Lord? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, terrible and praiseworthy, doing wonders?" And as to their foolish work, since they wished to induce the most noble form into base matter, "has the workman cast": Wisdom 14:21 (var.), "the incommunicable name they have imposed upon stones and wood." Second he confutes the error. And first from natural law dictating, "do you not know," that by natural reason idols are not gods; and from written law forbidding, "has it not been told": Romans 10:18, "have they not heard? Yes, verily, their sound has gone forth into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the whole world." He confutes it also from the consideration of earthly creatures as to their creation, "have you not understood the foundations of the earth," founded by him, that is, that part of the earth which is near the center: Proverbs 8:29 (var.), "when he balanced the foundations of the earth." As to the creator, "it is he that sits upon the circle of the earth," because it is spherical, as one governing; "and its inhabitants as locusts," with respect to the greatness of the earth, or of himself. From the creation also of the heavenly creatures, "he that stretches out," as to the greatness of heaven, "as nothing," the subtlety of substance. "As a tent to dwell in," in which first his power shines forth among bodily things, as to power. Or as it were in the dwelling of angels and saints, as to dignity. Or even of the whole lower creature, as to their own brightness: Job 4:? "he prepares wisdom." He confutes them, third, as to the subjugation of the great, setting the destruction of those who are great, either according to knowledge, "he that brings the searchers of secrets," namely philosophers; or according to power, "judges," that is, princes: Psalm 65:? "they that sought out have failed in searching." And he shows the ease of the destruction, through the likeness of grass, or a tree, which does not have firm roots, "and indeed": Job 13:25, "will you show your power against a leaf, which is carried away by the wind, and will you pursue dry stubble?" Third he sets the conclusion, "and to whom have you likened": Psalm 89:6 (var.), "who among the clouds can be compared to the Lord? Who among the sons of God shall be like to God?" "Lift up your eyes on high," etc.: here he establishes the same against those who despair. And first he establishes divine majesty from the creation of things, "who has created these things," namely the heavenly ones; Psalm 148:5, "he spoke, and they were made; he commanded, and they were created." From the perfection of knowledge, "who brings out," to fulfill his will, "by number," determined by his knowledge, "their host," that is, of the heavens, the stars, or angels, "by their names," that is, determining for each its own nature by which it may be named: Psalm 147:4, "he tells the number of the stars, and calls them all by their names." From the fullness of dominion, "might," for assailing, "strength," for resisting, "power," for working, "not one... missing," from his dominion: Job 25:3, "is there any numbering of his soldiers?" Second he excludes the error. And he sets the error, "why do you say," he does not see the evils I suffer, otherwise he would defend me; "my judgment," that is, the power of judging, which I once had: Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 16:17, "say not: I shall be hidden from God." Second he sets the reprobation of the error. And first the confirmation of the reprobation from the law, "do you not know," by natural law; "or have you not heard," from written law, those things which follow. Second he sets the proof. First showing God's greatness from those things which he has in himself, namely the eternity of dominion, "the everlasting God": Exodus 15:18, "the Lord shall reign forever, and ever." Unfailing power, "he shall not faint," that he cannot do all things; "nor labor," with difficulty; Daniel 7:14, "his power is an everlasting power, that shall not be taken away." The incomprehensibility of his wisdom, "neither is there any searching out": Romans 11:33, "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom, and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways!" Second through the great things which he does in others. And first in those whom he strengthens, their former weakness, "he gives strength to the weary," as to those who were formerly strong, and failed; "and to them that are not," as to those who were never strong: Romans 4:17, "who calls those things that are not, as those that are"; 1 Corinthians 1:27, "the weak things of the world has God chosen, that he may confound the strong." Second he shows the greatness of strength by comparison to natural strength, which he shows to be lacking in others, "youths shall faint," who are in a state of advancing, "young men," who seem robust: 1 Samuel 2:9 (var.), "for it is not by strength that man shall prevail." Second, of the unfailing agility of strength given by God, "but they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength," namely natural into divine, that their ascent may not be delayed; "shall take wings," that they may run swiftly too: Proverbs 23:5 (var.), "they shall make themselves wings like an eagle's." "They shall run," that they may also continue their pace. "They shall walk"; above, chapter 40, "he shall not be faint, nor labor." Note, concerning that saying, "they shall take wings as eagles," that the saints are compared to eagles, first on account of the height of their flight: Job 39:27, "will the eagle mount up at your command, and make her nest in high places?" — in which is the eminence of contemplation; above, chapter 33, "your eyes shall see the king in his beauty." Second on account of the subtlety of scent: Luke 17:37, "wherever the body is, there also will the eagles be gathered together" — in which is the fervor of love: Song of Solomon 1:3, "we will run after the odor of your ointments." Third on account of the sublimity of place: Proverbs 30:18-19, "three things are hard for me... the way of an eagle in the air" — in which is the pursuit of heavenly conversation: Philippians 3:20, "our conversation is in heaven." Fourth on account of the swiftness of motion: Lamentations 4:19, "our persecutors were swifter than the eagles of the air" — in which is the readiness of good work: Proverbs 22:29, "have you seen a man swift in his work?" Fifth on account of renewal: Psalm 103:5, "your youth shall be renewed like the eagle's" — in which is zeal for amendment and progress: 2 Corinthians 4:16, "though the outward man is corrupted, yet the inward man is renewed day by day." Sixth on account of the beauty of members: Ezekiel 17:3, "a great eagle, with great wings, long-limbed, full of feathers... came to Lebanon" — in which is the beauty of the virtues: Song of Solomon 4:7, "you are all fair, my love, and there is not a spot in you." Seventh on account of solicitude for their young: Deuteronomy 32:11, "as the eagle enticing her young to fly, and hovering over them" — in which is the solicitude of the saints: 1 Corinthians 11:29 (var.), "who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is scandalized, and I do not burn?"

Chapter 41

Text

a. "Let the islands keep silence before me, and the peoples renew their strength; let them come near, and then speak, let us come near together to judgment. Who has raised up the just one from the east, has called him to follow him? He shall give the nations in his sight, and shall subdue kings; he shall give them as dust to his sword, as stubble driven by the wind, to his bow. He shall pursue them, he shall pass in peace, no path shall appear before his feet. Who has done and wrought this, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, I am the first and the last. The islands saw it, and feared, the ends of the earth were astonished, they drew near, and came. Every one shall help his neighbor, and shall say to his brother: Be of good courage. The coppersmith strengthened, striking with the hammer, him that hammered then, saying: It is good for soldering; and he strengthened it with nails, that it should not be moved. And you, Israel, are my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend, in whom I have taken you from the ends of the earth, and called you from the remote parts thereof, and said to you: You are my servant, I have chosen you, and have not cast you away. Fear not, for I am with you; turn not aside, for I am your God. I have strengthened you, and have helped you, and the right hand of my just one has upheld you. Behold, all that fight against you shall be confounded and ashamed, they shall be as nothing, and the men shall perish that strive against you. You shall seek them, and shall not find the men that resist you; they shall be as nothing, and as a thing consumed, the men that war against you. For I am the Lord your God, who takes you by the hand, and says to you: Fear not, I have helped you. Fear not, you worm of Jacob, you that are dead of Israel; I have helped you, says the Lord, and your redeemer the Holy One of Israel. I have made you as a new thrashing wain, with teeth like a saw; you shall thrash the mountains, and break them small, and shall make the hills as chaff. You shall fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; and you shall rejoice in the Lord, in the Holy One of Israel you shall be joyful. The needy and the poor seek waters, and there are none; their tongue has been dry with thirst. I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in the high hills, and fountains in the midst of the plains; I will turn the desert into pools of waters, and the impassable land into streams of waters. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, and the thorn, and the myrtle, and the olive tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, the elm, and the box tree together. 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. Bring your cause near, says the Lord; bring here, if you have anything to allege, says the King of Jacob. Let them come near, and let them foretell whatever shall come to pass. Tell us the former things, what they were, and we will set our heart upon them, and shall know the latter end of them, and tell us the things that are to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, and we shall know that you are gods. Do also good or evil, if you can, and let us speak, and see together. Behold, you are of nothing, and your work of that which has no being; he that has chosen you is an abomination. I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come from the rising of the sun, he shall call upon my name; and he shall bring the rulers as mud, and as the potter treading clay. Who has declared this from the beginning, that we may know? And from before, that we may say: You are just? There is none that shows it, no one that foretells, no man that hears your words. I have first said to Zion: Behold, they are here; and I will give to Jerusalem one that brings good tidings. And I saw, and there was no one, even among them, that could give counsel, and who, when I asked, could answer a word. Behold, they are all unjust, and their works are vain; their idols are but wind and vanity."

Exposition

a. Here he begins to comfort them, for the firm expectation of God's promised deliverance; and it is divided into three parts. In the first he shows divine love from the benefits he showed to the fathers. In the second, from the son whom he promised them, chapter 42, "behold my servant," etc. In the third, the consolations which he foretells amid diverse distresses, chapter 43, "and now thus says the Lord," etc. Now he intends, through benefits first shown, the confirmation of the Jews, and the confutation of the idols, which did not show such things to their worshippers. And therefore the first part is divided into two. In the first he disputes against the worshippers of idols. In the second against the idols themselves, where it says, "let them come near." The first into two. First he convicts the adversaries by benefits shown to the Jews. In the second he comforts the Jews by the same, where it says, "and you, Israel," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he summons the nations to judgment, pursuing the order of judgment so that, being silent, they may hear, and thus respond, "let them renew their strength," that is, let them strengthen themselves, as it were renewed in strength, to dispute with me: Micah 6:2, "let the mountains hear the judgment of the Lord, and the strong foundations of the earth." Second he narrates the benefit shown, "who has raised up." Here he narrates the multitude of benefits as to the divine election, "the just one," Abraham, Genesis 12; Job 23:12 (var.), "the words of his mouth I have hidden in my bosom"; Jeremiah 13:11, "as the girdle sticks to the loins of a man, so has the whole house of Israel stuck close to me." And as to the power granted, "he shall give... in his sight," namely when he delivered Lot, fighting against four kings, Genesis 14. Psalm 1... "not so the wicked, not so, but like the dust which the wind drives from the face of the earth." As to the ease of execution, "he shall pass in peace," namely without labor. "No path," like one who walks lightly, as if no footprint is left. Or because there is a mark of the way in the feet, when it has been left behind: above, chapter 40, "they shall run, and not be weary." He seeks the author, "who has done and wrought this, and who, calling" with eternal presence: Isaiah 48:16 (var.), "from the beginning I have received you." And he sets the response, "I the Lord": Revelation 1:8, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end." Otherwise it is expounded literally of Cyrus; mystically of Christ. Third he sets, as it were, the Gentiles' response, in which they believed they could defend themselves through idols. And first he touches their astonishment at the wonders alleged as seen, "the islands saw it, and feared": Psalm 77:16 (var.), "the waters saw you, O God, the waters saw you, and were afraid." "They drew near," to resist. Second he sets their mutual encouragement, "everyone": Job 41:17 (var.), "one shall be joined to another." Third he sets the fabrication of idols, "the coppersmith strengthened," striking, iron with a hammer, "him that hammered," he shall shape the figure of the idol. "Saying: It is good for soldering," to consolidate the idol: Wisdom 13:15, "they set it in a wall, and fastened it with iron, that it might not be moved." Note, concerning that saying, "he shall pass in peace," that Christ passed in peace, first in the peace of the flesh to the spirit, which he had: Job 5:24 (var.), "you shall know that your tabernacle has peace." Second, in the peace of man to his neighbor, which he taught: below, chapter 32, "how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that brings good tidings, and that preaches peace." Third, in the peace of the world to the Lord, who made it: Ephesians 2:14-16, "who has made both one... that he might reconcile both in one body to God." "And you, Israel," etc.: in this part he comforts the Jews with the same benefits. And first is set the repetition of the past benefit in the election of the fathers Jacob and Abraham, by which they are universally distinguished from others, "Jacob." Psalm 105:6 (var.), "the seed of Abraham his servant, the children of Jacob his chosen"; Romans 9:11-13, "that the purpose of God, according to election, might stand, not of works, but of him that calls it was said: The elder shall serve the younger, as it is written: Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated." Second is set the promise of things to come. And first as to immunity from evils, excluding fear, both on account of God's presence, "fear not": Jeremiah 1:8, "be not afraid at their presence, for I am with you"; and on account of the fathers' righteousness, "I have upheld you," as the promised seed, of my just one, Abraham. Or, "I have upheld you," to defend, of the just one, Cyrus: Psalm 91:12, "in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone." And setting also the removal of enemies, as to their confusion, "behold, they shall be confounded": Jeremiah 17:18, "let them be confounded that persecute me, and let not me be confounded." As to their destruction, "they shall be as nothing"; above, chapter 30, "to destroy the nations unto nothing." And the impossibility of their restoration, "you shall seek them," Psalm 37:35-36, "I have seen the wicked highly exalted... and I passed by, and lo, he was not." Showing also the reason for the destruction, "for I am the Lord": Psalm 144:7 (var.), "send forth your hand from on high, deliver me out of many waters, and from the hand of strangers." Second as to the abundance of good things. And first against servitude, setting the very yoke of servitude, "fear not, you worm" — as if he said, who are either held, or trodden down like a worm, and reckoned as dead: Psalm 22:6, "but I am a worm, and no man; the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people." Setting also the divine help: below, chapter 50, "I have helped you." Setting also the benefit of exaltation, as to the subjugation of enemies, "I have made you"; above, chapter 25, "and Moab shall be trodden down under him, as straw is trodden down." Which was accomplished in the time of the Maccabees. And as to their exaltation, "and you shall rejoice": Song of Solomon 1:3, "we will rejoice, and be glad in you." Second against poverty, setting first the inconvenience of poverty, "the needy and the poor"; above, chapter 30, "there shall be upon every high mountain... rivers of running waters," and in desert places. "I will turn the desert," that is, your land, first deserted: Psalm 107:35, "he has turned a desert into pools of water." And as to the beauty of trees, "I will plant in the wilderness." Fourth he sets the fruit of the benefit, "that they may see": Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 39:19 (var.), "that they may know that there is no God besides him, and that they may declare his great works." Note, concerning that saying, "I have upheld you," that Christ has upheld us, first because he stood as a victor to deliver a captive: Genesis 49:9, "to the prey, my son, you have gone up; resting, you have couched as a lion, and as a lioness." Second, as a physician to heal the sick: Psalm 103:3, "who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases." Third, as an advocate to excuse the accused: 1 John 2:1, "we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ." Fourth, as a strong one to defend the weak: below, chapter 63, "I that speak justice, and am a defender to save." Fifth, as a bridegroom to rejoice with the bride: Hosea 2:19, "I will espouse you to me in justice, and in judgment." "Bring your cause near," etc.: here he sets the disputation against the idols themselves. And first he sets the disputation. Second, the determination of the sentence, where it says, "and I saw," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he disputes against the idols with natural arguments. Second by an argument taken from a certain particular fact, where it says, "I have raised up," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he summons them to judgment, "bring... near," that is, draw near to me, that we may be judged together, you idols. Or idolaters, "bring here," that is, allege, "if you have anything," that you may prove yourselves to be God: Psalm 82:1, "God has stood in the congregation of gods, and judges gods in the midst." Second he sets a twofold argument: one taken from divine knowledge, which fully knows all things, past and future, which the idols do not have. "The former things": Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 23:29 (var.), "for to the Lord God, before they were created, all things are known." The other is taken from divine power, which can punish, and do good. "Do also good": Baruch 6:65 (var.), "neither if they suffer any evil from another, nor if any good, will they be able to repay." Third he concludes their defect, as to material cause, "behold, you are of nothing," from created matter; as to form, "your work," that is, the artificial form, which figures in you a divinity that is not; as to efficient cause, "abomination," that is, abominable. "And you," craftsmen, "your work," namely the idols. "He that has chosen you," the worshippers: 1 Corinthians 8:4, "we know that an idol is nothing"; Jeremiah 10:14, "every craftsman is confounded." "I have raised up," etc.: here he takes a certain special fact. "From the north," the Chaldean; "from the rising of the sun," the Persian, who first subjugated diverse lands, and princes. "Potter," a clay-worker; "potter's clay," the work. Mystically, by him who is from the north, the Gentile people; by him who is from the east, Christ: Psalm 18:42 (var.), "I shall beat them small as the dust before the wind, I shall cast them out as the dirt in the streets." Second from this he sets forth, under a question, an argument: that whoever can say this is rightly to be called God, and who indeed can. "Who has declared this": Isaiah 49:18, "gather yourselves together." Third he excludes from idols the sign of divinity, "there is none that shows," any among us, gods; "nor," any among the worshippers, "that hears": Psalm 115:5, "they have eyes, and see not; they have ears, and hear not." Fourth he shows in the true God the signs of divinity. "First," that is, our singular God, "behold, they are here," in help; "one that brings good tidings," announcing things to come: Daniel 2:47, "truly your God is the God of gods." Or, "first," the firstborn Son of God: Ephesians 4:11, "and he gave some prophets, and some apostles, and other some evangelists." "And I saw," etc.: here from the disputation set forth above he concludes the determination of the sentence; and it is evident of itself. Note, concerning that saying, "who has declared," that he is moved to announce and preach, first by the instinct of faith: Psalm 116:10, "I have believed, therefore have I spoken." Second by the stimulus of zeal: Jeremiah 20:9, "and there came in my heart, as it were a burning fire, shut up in my bones." Third by the greatness of the reward: Matthew 5:19, "he that shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."

Chapter 42

Text

a. "Behold my servant, I will uphold him; my elect, my soul delights in him. I have given my spirit upon him, he shall bring forth judgment to the nations. He shall not cry, nor accept any person, neither shall his voice be heard abroad. The bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not quench; he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not be sad, nor troublesome, till he sets judgment in the earth, and the islands shall wait for his law. Thus says the Lord God, that created the heavens, and stretched them out, that established the earth, and the things that spring out of it; that gives breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them that tread thereon. I the Lord have called you in justice, and taken you by the hand, and preserved you; and I have given you for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring forth the prisoner out of prison, them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. I the Lord, this is my name; I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to graven things. The things that were first, behold they are come; and new things do I declare, before they spring forth, I will make you hear them. Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise is from the ends of the earth; you that go down to the sea, and all that is therein, the islands, and the inhabitants thereof. Let the desert and its cities be exalted, in the villages that Kedar dwells in; let the inhabitants of the rock give praise, let them shout from the top of the mountains. They shall give glory to the Lord, and shall publish his praise in the islands. The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, as a man of war shall he stir up zeal; he shall shout, and cry, he shall prevail against his enemies. I have always held my peace, I have kept silence, I have been patient, I will speak as a woman in labor; I will destroy, and swallow up at once. I will lay waste the mountains and hills, and dry up all their grass; and I will turn rivers into islands, and dry up the pools. And I will lead the blind into the way which they know not, and in the paths which they were ignorant of I will make them walk; I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things have I done to them, and I have not forsaken them. They are turned backward. Let them be greatly confounded, that trust in a graven thing, that say to a molten thing: You are our gods. Hear, you deaf, and you blind, behold that you may see. Who is blind, but my servant? Or deaf, but he to whom I have sent my messengers? Who is blind, but he that is sold? Or who is blind, but the servant of the Lord? You who see many things, will you not observe them? You that have ears open, will you not hear? And the Lord was willing to sanctify him, and to magnify the law, and exalt it. But this is a people that is robbed and spoiled; they are all snared in holes, and hidden in prison-houses; they are made a prey, and there is none to deliver; a spoil, and none that says: Restore. Who is there among you that will give ear to this, that will attend and hearken for the time to come? Who has given Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to them that rob him? Has not the Lord himself, against whom we have sinned? And they would not walk in his ways, and they have not hearkened to his law. And he has poured out upon him the indignation of his fury, and a strong battle, and has burnt him round about, and he knew not; and set him on fire, and he understood not."

Exposition

a. Here he shows divine love from the Son whom he promised: John 3:16, "so God loved the world, as to give his only-begotten Son." And first from so great a benefit he shows God's love. Second, the perversity of the Jews, where it says, "these... things," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he foretells the coming of the Son of God. Second, the fall of the wicked, where it says, "the Lord shall go forth as a mighty man," etc. Third, the resurrection of the good, where it says, "and I will lead," etc.; Luke 2:34, "behold, this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel." Concerning the first, three things. First he describes the condition of the one sent. Second he foretells the mission, where it says, "thus says the Lord," etc. Third he invites to thanksgiving, where it says, "sing to the Lord," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he shows the fullness of grace, as to the grace of union, where it says, "behold... I will uphold," of him according to human nature; Luke 1:54, "he has received Israel his servant, being mindful of his mercy." As to the grace of headship, "elect," that he might be head of the Church: "my beloved is white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands" (Song of Solomon 5:10); Psalm 65:4, "blessed is he whom you have chosen, and taken." "Delights": Matthew 3:17, "this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." As to habitual grace, which was singular in him, "I have given my spirit"; above, chapter 11, "the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him." Second he shows the judge's equity as to three things, namely the authority of judging, "judgment to the nations": Psalm 71:2, "give to the king your judgment, O God"; John 5:22, "the Father has given all judgment to the Son." To which he joins gentleness, "he shall not cry." Second he shows the judge's equity, "nor accept any person": Acts 10:34, "God is not a respecter of persons." To which he joins mercy in helping, "neither shall his voice be heard abroad," in Judea, of the Word, of his preaching, that he might help those to whom he was sent: Matthew 15:24, "I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel"; Psalm 95:7-8, "today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts." And in overlooking, "the bruised reed," namely, the kingdom of the Jews; "smoking flax," the priesthood: Ezekiel 34:4, "that which was broken you have not bound up." Third he shows the truth of the judgment, "unto truth"; Psalm 96:13 (var.), "he shall judge the world with justice, and the peoples with his truth." To which he joins gladness, "he shall not be sad," in heart, "troublesome," in countenance — for he was ever cheerful and joyful, preserving equanimity of mind, though as to the sensible part there was a propassion of sadness, not indeed of necessity, but of will; whence Matthew 26:38, "my soul is sorrowful even unto death"; Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 30:25 (var.), "gladness of heart is the life of man." Fourth he shows the power of dominion, "till he sets," the last judgment, or his precept, through the preaching apostles, "his law," the gospel: Genesis 49:10 (var.), "he shall be the expectation of nations"; below, chapter 60, "for the islands shall wait for me." Others expound this of Darius king of the Persians, who was gentle, just, and quiet, whom the Lord chose to deliver the Jews. Note, concerning that saying, "he shall not cry," that there is a first cry of devout prayer: Hebrews 5:7, "with a strong cry and tears, he was heard for his reverence." Second, of attentive preaching: John 7:37, "on the last, and great day of the festivity, he cried." Third, of strained intention; above, chapter 3, "he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes." "Thus says the Lord," etc.: here he foretells the mission. And first he sets the sender's power as to the creation of the heavenly, "creating the heaven"; as to the disposition of the earthly, "establishing the earth"; as to the animation of living things, "gives breath," of natural life, "spirit," of grace: Zechariah 12:1, "the Lord... stretches forth the heavens, and founds the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him." Second he foretells the mission, setting the exaltation of the one sent, "I the Lord have called you, my son," from eternity predestining you to the unity of the divine person, "in justice," that is, that I may be just, fulfilling the promises: Romans 1:4, "who was predestined the Son of God." "Taken... by the hand," as to operation: John 14:10, "the Father who abides in me, he does the works." "And preserved you," lest you be detained by death: Psalm 16:10, "you will not give your holy one to see corruption." "I have given you," as it were a mediator: Genesis 9:13, "I will set my bow in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant, which I have made with you." "For a light," as it were an illuminator; above, chapter 11, "to them that dwelt in the region of the shadow of death, light has arisen"; John 1:9, "that was the true light, which enlightens every man that comes into this world." He also shows the usefulness of the office against unbelief, "to open," John 9:39, "for judgment I have come into this world, that they who see not may see, and they who see may become blind." Against the servitude of sin, "to bring forth": Zechariah 9:11, "you also, by the blood of your testament, have sent forth your prisoners out of the pit." Third from the mission, against the singularity of the divine majesty, as to power, "I the Lord": Psalm 68:4 (var.), "the Lord is his name"; Exodus 6:3, "my name Adonai." "My glory," by which I am called Lord: Luke 2:14, "glory to God in the highest." And as to knowledge, "the things that were first": Isaiah 45:21 (var.), "who has declared this from ancient times?" These too are referred to Darius. "Sing to the Lord," etc.: here he invites to thanksgiving. And first he enjoins praise; above, chapter 26, "we have heard... the glory of the just." Or on account of the sea's confinement, "you that go down," namely sailors, "and all that is therein," namely of the sea, that is, everything that is filled, let it praise God: Psalm 107:23-24, "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." Or on account of dwelling in deserts. "Let... be exalted," their voice, in praise of God, "the desert," that is, its inhabitants, especially as to the Israelites, "in villages," after the manner of other nations, who at first were wandering through the desert. Or, "Kedar," a son of Ishmael; above, chapter 35, "the wilderness and the parched land shall be glad." Or on account of dwelling in the mountains, "let the inhabitants of the rock give praise," a certain city in Palestine, which is situated on rocks. Or of any mountain: Isaiah 55:12 (var.), "the mountains and all the hills shall sing praise to God." He invites those from whom it seems less likely that they should be turned to praising God. Second he foretells the spreading of divine praise, "they shall give glory to the Lord," to others, not only in themselves; below, "when you shall be trodden underfoot by the nations, and by Africa, by nations that have not known me." Mystically this is understood only of the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith. "The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man," etc.: here he foretells the future fall through Christ's coming; and concerning this he sets four things. First the intent, "the Lord shall go forth as a mighty man," to assail the Jews through the Romans: Exodus 15:3, "the Lord is as a man of war, Almighty is his name." "Zeal," of vengeance: Proverbs 6:34 (var.), "the zeal and fury of the husband will not spare in the day of revenge." Second he sets the wrath, "he shall shout," through the tribulations he will inflict on them, contrary to what was said above in the same, "he shall not cry." First, coming with gentleness. And he shows indignation to those who despise: Job 36:? "he shall thunder with the voice of his greatness, and it shall not be searched out when his voice shall be heard." Third he sets the justice, because it is just that, when he has long waited for the impenitent, he should consume them all together. "I have held my peace, I have always kept silence": Job 3:? "have I not dissembled? Have I not kept silence? Have I not been quiet? And indignation is come upon me"; above, chapter 30, "therefore the Lord waits, that he may have mercy on you." "As a woman in labor," expressing dissimulated pain, as a woman conceiving a child. Or, as one in labor, I will grieve over so grave a punishment. Fourth he sets the punishment as to men, "I will lay waste the mountains," the great ones. "Hills," the middling ones, "their grass," the common people: Ezekiel 35:3, "behold, I come against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand upon you, and I will make you desolate and waste." And as to the withdrawal of all doctrine or consolation, "I will turn rivers": Psalm 107:33, "he has turned rivers into a wilderness, and the sources of waters into dry ground." This can also be referred to the destruction of the enemies of the Jews through Darius and Cyrus. "And I will lead," etc.: here he sets the restoration of good things, as to three things. First as to the restoration of sight, "I will lead the blind," namely the Gentiles, "into the way," Christ, or the precept of the law; or even the Jews, according to another exposition: Proverbs 4:11, "I will lead you by the paths of equity." Second as to the illumination of the intellect, "I will make... light": Luke 1:79, "to enlighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death." Third as to the direction of the affections, "crooked things"; above, chapter 40, "the crooked shall become straight, and the rough ways plain." Note, concerning that saying, "I will turn rivers," that there is a manifold water. First, of tears poured out: Jeremiah 9:1, "who will give water to my head, and to my eyes a fountain of tears?" Second, of the cleanness of baptism: John 3:5, "unless a man be born again of water, and the Holy Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Third, of spiritual grace: John 7:38, "he that believes in me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." Fourth, of divine wisdom: Ecclesiastes [Sirach] 24:40, "I, wisdom, have poured out rivers." Fifth, of eternal gladness: Proverbs 5:15, "drink water out of your own cistern, and the streams of your own well." Note, concerning that saying, "I have given you for a covenant," that Christ is said to be given as a covenant, first for the preservation of salvation: Genesis 9:13, "I will set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be the sign of a covenant." Second for the fulfilling of promises: 2 Corinthians 1:20, "for all the promises of God are in him." Third for divine love: John 3:16, "so God loved the world, as to give his only-begotten Son." Fourth of the law that is to cease: Psalm 40:6 (var.), "holocaust and sin-offering you did not desire." "Sold," into the servitude of sin for the love of temporal good: 2 Kings 17:17, "sold himself to do evil against the Lord." "These... things," etc.: here he shows the perversity of the Jews. And first he sets them ungrateful for benefits. Second, hard against the precepts, where it says, "hear, you deaf," etc. Third, obstinate amid scourges, where it says, "who has given," etc. Concerning the first, two. First he shows the greatness, "these things," namely the aforesaid benefits. "They are turned backward," from me; Jeremiah 3:? "you have forsaken me, says the Lord, you have gone backward." Second he imprecates confusion upon them, "let them... be confounded": Psalm 119:78, "let the proud be confounded, because they have done unjustly against me." "Hear, you deaf," etc.: here he shows them hard to obey the precepts. And first he shows their hardness, calling them deaf and blind in this text, "their malice has blinded them" (Wisdom 2:21), although they have the eyes and ears of the body open, "who see many things": Jeremiah 5:21, "hear, O foolish people, and without a heart; who have eyes, and see not, and ears, and hear not"; above, chapter 6, "make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest perhaps they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I heal them." Second he shows the folly of the hardened, because in their precepts the Lord intended their advantage. Whence he sets the Lord's intention, "and the Lord was willing," the people; and the people themselves, "to magnify the law," of God, in their heart, keeping it, "that the Lord might be magnified," the people: 1 Thessalonians 4:3, "this is the will of God, your sanctification." Second he shows the condition of their souls, because they sinned in themselves, and were themselves "robbed," by demons through various sins, and therefore, "spoiled," by other enemies also seeking occasion for sin. "Snared," that is, an occasion for sinning, "holes," of the foolish: Hosea 5:1 (var.), "you have been a snare to the watchtower, and as a net spread upon Tabor" — and because they hid their sins, "in prison-houses," that is, in the secret of the heart: "in heart and in heart they have spoken" (Psalm 12:2). Third he sets the punishment, "they are made a prey, and there is none to deliver," the works of enemies; "and there is none that says," insisting on liberation: Ecclesiastes [Sirach] end, "they compassed me on every side, and there was none to help." Or the punishment begins there, "in prison-houses," that it be expounded literally. "Who is there among you," etc.: here he shows them incorrigible through scourges, since they do not even recognize the cause of the scourges; and concerning this he does three things. First he inquires who rightly perceives, implying their fewness, "for the time to come," which foretells future punishments: Hosea end, "who is wise, and will understand these things? Prudent, and will know this?" Second he determines the truth as to the author of the punishment, "has not," 1 Samuel 2:6, "the Lord kills, and makes alive; he brings down to hell, and brings back again." Second as to the guilt, "himself, against whom we have sinned": Baruch 4:13, "they have not known his justices, nor walked by the ways of the commandments of God." And as to the punishment, "and he has poured out": Psalm 69:24 (var.), "pour out your indignation upon them, and let the fury of your wrath take hold of them." The pouring out signifies abundance. Third he excludes the delay of truth, "and... burnt him," namely with material fire through the devastation of enemies; "he knew not," that he was punished by God for his sins: Psalm 82:5 (var.), "they have not known, nor understood; they walk on in darkness."

Chapter 43

Text

a. "And now thus says the Lord that created you, O Jacob, and formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you, and called you by your name; you are mine. When you shall pass through the waters, I will be with you, and the rivers shall not cover you; when you shall walk in the fire, you shall not be burnt, and the flames shall not burn in you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your savior; I have given Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for you. Since you became precious in my eyes, you are honorable, and I have loved you; and I will give men for you, and peoples for your life. Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your seed from the east, and gather you from the west. I will say to the north: Give up; and to the south: Keep not back; bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth. And everyone that calls upon my name, I have created him for my glory, I have formed him, and made him. Bring forth the people that are blind, and have eyes; that are deaf, and have ears. All the nations are assembled together, and the tribes are gathered; who among you can declare this, and shall make us hear the former things? Let them bring forth their witnesses, let them be justified, 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 myself am. Before me there was no God formed, and after me there shall be none. I am, I am the Lord, and there is no savior besides me. I have declared, and I have saved, I have made it heard, 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 the same, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand; I will work, and who shall turn it away? Thus says the Lord your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all the bars, and the Chaldeans glorying in their ships. I am the Lord your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your king. Thus says the Lord, who made a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters. Who brought forth the chariot and the horse, the army and the strong one; they lay down to sleep together, they shall not rise again; they are consumed as flax, and are extinct. Remember not former things, and look not on things of old. Behold, I do new things, and now they shall spring forth, verily you shall know them; I will make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. The beast of the field shall glorify me, the dragons and the ostriches, because I have given waters in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. This people have I formed for myself, they shall show forth my praise. And you have not called upon me, O Jacob, neither have you labored about me, O Israel. You have not offered me the ram of your holocaust, nor have you glorified me with your victims; I have not caused you to serve with oblations, nor wearied you with incense. You have not bought me sweet cane with money, nor have you filled me with the fat of your victims; but you have made me to serve with your sins, you have wearied me with your iniquities. I am, I am he that blot out your iniquities for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Put me in remembrance, and let us plead together; tell if you have anything to justify yourself. Your first father sinned, and your interpreters have transgressed against me. And I have profaned the holy princes, I have given Jacob to slaughter, and Israel to reproach."

Exposition

a. Here he shows them divine love through the remedies which he granted them amid distresses; and it is divided into three parts. In the first he promises future remedies to show his love. In the second he recalls past benefits to confirm the promise, where it says, "thus says the Lord." In the third he excludes merits, to remove presumption, where it says, "you have not called upon me, O Jacob," etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First he shows in them the privilege of divine love. Second, from the promised remedies he excludes any sharing of divine power, where it says, "all the nations," etc. In the third he sets the signification of that love, where it says, "thus says the Lord your redeemer," etc. Concerning the first he promises them three remedies. First, in the assuaging of punishments, excluding fear from divine presence, "that created you," as to the principle of substance: Deuteronomy 32:6 (var.), "is not he your father, that possessed you, and made you, and created you?" "Formed you," as to the form he gave: Genesis 2:7, "the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth." "I have redeemed you," from evils: Hosea 13:14, "I will deliver them out of the hand of death, I will redeem them from death." "And called you," to grace: Hosea 2:23, "I will call that which was not my people, my people." He sets the promise, "when you shall pass through the waters," of the Egyptians, "rivers," of the Chaldeans, "in fire," of the Greeks, "flames," of the Romans — for they were not entirely consumed: Psalm 66:12 (var.), "we passed through fire and water, and you have brought us out into a refreshment." And he assigns the reason for this, "for I am the Lord"; above, chapter 33, "our God himself will come, and will save you." Second he promises a change of punishments, so that he might punish others in his place. And he sets the exchange, "I have given... for your ransom," that is, that they may be a propitiation, as it were punishing those in his stead who had provoked him by their own sin to seek his help, "Seba," a city of Ethiopia: Proverbs 11:8 (var.), "the just is delivered out of distress, and the wicked shall be given up instead of him." And he assigns the reason, namely love itself, "since you became precious," that is, mine, and I have reckoned you precious. "For you," for your deliverance: Jeremiah 31:20 (var.), "is Ephraim my honorable son, or a darling child?" Third he promises them a complete deliverance from tribulations; and concerning this he does three things. First he promises the benefit of deliverance, "fear not," "from the east," since they were scattered everywhere; above, chapter 11, "he shall gather the fugitives of Israel." Second he introduces the merit of deliverance, "and everyone that calls upon my name," I will bring, into my glory, that he may glorify me, and that I may appear glorious; Joel 2:32, "everyone that shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved." Third he promulgates the precept of deliverance: "bring forth the people that are blind, and have eyes; that are deaf, and have ears."

which is understood as "the people," namely of the Jews: Jeremiah 5:21, "hear, O foolish people, that have no heart; who have eyes, and see not; and ears, and hear not."

b. "All the nations," etc.: here he excludes any sharing in divinity. And first he shows the falsity of the other gods by way of judgment, setting forth the nations' agreement in idols, "let them be assembled," into one error: Psalm 14:3, "they are all gone aside, they are become unprofitable together," seeking a token of divinity — "who among them," that is, which of them is a true god? Or he speaks to the idols, and sets down a testimony: "let them give witnesses, and be justified," to show in what way they may be called gods and witnesses; "let them hear," from them, things to come, "and let them say," on your behalf, "it is true": above, chapter 41, "there is none that announces, nor foretells, nor hears my words." Second he preaches the truth of his own divinity. First as to knowledge. Second as to power, where it says, "you are my witnesses," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he gives testimony, "you are my witnesses," namely my people Jacob, or the Christian people: Acts 1:8, "you shall be witnesses to me in all Judea, and Jerusalem." Setting also the manner of knowing, "that you may know," as to those things which can be known of God by natural reason. "And believe," as to those things which are above reason. And he adds understanding, "for unless you believe, you shall not understand" — above, according to another reading. He sets also a further testimony, that he himself alone is God, "for I," alone, "am God, the framer": Deuteronomy 32:39, "see that I alone am, and there is no other God besides me." And that he alone is Lord, "I am," singularly, "I am," and pre-eminently: Acts 4:12, "there is no salvation in any other." Second he gives the token of his divinity, "I have declared," and there was none from whom Israel could learn otherwise: Psalm 81:9, "if Israel had heard me, there should be no new god in you, neither shall you adore a strange god." Note, concerning that saying, "when you shall walk through the fire, and shall not be burnt," that God delivers his own from a manifold fire. First, from the fire of temptation: Job 31:12, "it is a fire that devours even to destruction." Second, from the fire of temporal tribulation: Psalm 66:10, "you have tried us with fire, and no iniquity has been found in us." Third, from eternal damnation: Matthew 25:41, "depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire." Fourth, from divine indignation: Deuteronomy 32:22, "a fire is kindled in my wrath." First, the wanton are burned by fire: 1 Corinthians 7:9, "it is better to marry than to be burnt." Second, the impatient: above, chapter 9, "through wrath the faces of the people were scorched." Third, the impenitent: Psalm 106:18, "a fire burnt up their congregation." Fourth, the proud: Psalm 18:8, "he shall burn the foundations of the mountains." Likewise, concerning that saying, "when you shall pass through the waters," that the Lord delivers from waters. First, from the waters of pleasure: Proverbs 9:17, "stolen waters are sweeter," in which men are drowned through luxury. Second, from the waters of covetousness: Exodus 15:10, "they were sunk as lead in the mighty waters," in which men are drowned through avarice. Third, from the waters of adversity: Psalm 68:2, "the waters are come in even unto my soul," in which men are drowned through impatience. Fourth, from the waters of worldly power: Revelation 17:15, "the waters upon which the harlot sits," in which men are drowned through pride.

c. "You are my witnesses," etc.: here he shows the truth of his divinity as to power. And first he gives testimony, "you are my witnesses": John 8:25, "I am the beginning, who also speak to you." Second he gives a token of power, in punishing, "and there is none that can deliver out of my hand": Deuteronomy 32:39, "there is none that can deliver out of my hand." And in working, "I will work": above, chapter 14, "the Lord of hosts has decreed, and who shall disannul it?" "Thus says the Lord," etc.: here he sets down a token of his love, because for their sake he destroyed Babylon, glorying in her strength on account of the multitude of her waters, "I have sent," namely wrath. "Thus says the Lord, who made," etc.: here he recalls past benefits, when they went out from Egypt, as to their guidance, "in the sea," the Red Sea: Exodus 14; "in the mighty waters," evil ones: Numbers 21; "in the Jordan," Joshua 3; and as to the destruction of enemies, "who brought forth the chariot," the ruin of Pharaoh: Exodus 15, "his chosen captains are drowned in the Red Sea." "They are quenched," in a moment they were consumed. Second he promises far greater things; and concerning this he does three things. First he shows the greatness of the future benefits by comparison with the former, "remember not," as if he said, they are not worthy to be held in memory, in comparison with the things to come; and the things of old shall be forgotten because of the newness of these. "Behold, I do," things unheard of: Revelation 21:5, "behold, I make all things new." And their improvement: "I will make in the desert," that is, in the land of the Jews, which had before been a desert, "a way" for those going to the feasts. "Rivers," of consolation: Psalm 107:35, "he has turned a desert into pools of water, and a dry ground into water-springs." And if these things be expounded literally, of the deliverance from the Babylonian captivity, they are said to be greater than the deliverance from Egypt — not on account of greater miracles, but because the kings from whose power he delivered them were more powerful than Pharaoh, or because they came from a more distant place. But if it be referred to the deliverance wrought through Christ, it is plain that nothing so admirable had preceded it in ages past. Second he shows the usefulness of the benefits among the Gentiles, "and the beast of the field shall glorify me," that is, the Gentile, once living beastlike, now converted to Christ; or seeing how he delivers the Jews: Psalm 148:10, "beasts and all cattle, serpents and feathered fowls." And in what follows, "that I might give drink," to my chosen, of doctrine and consolation. Third he assigns the reason, "this people," namely for myself, unto my own praise: Proverbs 16:4, "the Lord has made all things for himself."

d. "You have not called upon me," etc.: here he excludes the merits of the Jews from the attainment of such great benefits; and concerning this he does three things. First he excludes merit. Second he gives place for a response, where it says, "put me in remembrance," etc. Third he removes a certain manner of responding, where it says, "your first father," etc. Concerning the first he does three things. First he excludes merit, "you have not called upon me," that I should give all these things — or because they did not offer to God with a whole heart, but partly to God, partly to idols; or because they made no offering to him; or because they made offerings only in hope of temporal recompense; or because after Christ's coming such offerings were no longer accepted: Malachi 1:10, "who is there among you that will shut the doors, and will kindle the fire on my altar gratis?"; Psalm 50:13, "shall I eat the flesh of bullocks? Or shall I drink the blood of goats?" Second he shows their own guilt, "nevertheless you have made me to serve," as if he said, you have shown me a servile treatment, since when you offended me I did not punish you; above, chapter 1, "these things are become troublesome to me, I am weary of bearing them" — he speaks after the manner of men. Third he shows the benefit given by grace, "I am he": Psalm 24:11, "for your name's sake, O Lord, you will pardon my sin." "Put me in remembrance," etc.: here he gives place for a response, "put me in remembrance," as if he said, recall what I have done for you. "Tell," what you have, to excuse yourself, or to accuse me, "that you may be justified," that is, that you may appear innocent. "Your first father," etc.: here he removes a certain way of responding — for they might have alleged the innocence of the fathers; but against this he says, "your first father," Abraham, who sought a sign of God's promise, as though doubting: Genesis 15. "Your interpreters," Moses and Aaron, at the waters of contradiction, Numbers 20. "I have profaned," that is, I permitted to be profaned. "And I have given Jacob to slaughter," because all died in the desert except Caleb and Joshua: Psalm 95:10, "forty years long was I offended with that generation... they have not known my ways." Note, concerning that saying, "put me in remembrance," that we ought to call God to remembrance: first as to the wonders he has done, unto veneration: Psalm 105:5, "remember his marvelous works which he has done." Second as to the benefits he has given, unto thanksgiving: Ecclesiasticus 51:8, "I remembered your mercy and your work, which are from the beginning of the world, that you deliver them that wait for you, and save them out of the hand of the enemies, O Lord our God." Third as to the torments he has endured, unto compassion: Lamentations 3:19, "remember my poverty, and transgression, the wormwood and the gall." Fourth as to the precepts he has given, unto observance: Psalm 103:18, "his commandments are to be remembered, to do them."

Chapter 44

Text

a. "And now hear, Jacob my servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. Thus says the Lord who made you, and formed you, your helper from the womb: fear not, O my servant Jacob, and you most upright whom I have chosen. For I will pour out waters upon the thirsty ground, and streams upon the dry land; I will pour out my spirit upon your seed, and my blessing upon your offspring, and they shall spring up among the grass, as willows beside the running waters. One shall say: I am the Lord's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall write with his hand: To the Lord; and shall be surnamed by the name of Israel. Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last, and besides me there is no God. Who is like me? Let him call, and declare, and set the order before me, since I appointed the ancient people; and the things to come, and that shall come to pass, let them show unto them. Fear not, and be not troubled; I have made you hear it from the beginning, and have declared it. You are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me, and a maker whom I have not known? All the makers of idols are nothing, and their best-beloved things shall not profit them. They are their own witnesses, that they see not, nor understand, that they may be confounded. Who has formed a god, and molten a graven thing profitable for nothing? Behold, all its fellows shall be confounded, for the workmen are men; they shall all assemble, they shall stand, they shall fear, and be confounded together. The smith has wrought with his file, he has formed it with hammers, and worked it with the strength of his arm; he shall be hungry, and shall faint, he shall drink no water, and shall be weary. The carpenter has stretched out his rule, he has formed it with a plane; he has made it in angles, and has fashioned it round with the compass, and made the image of a man, as it were a beautiful man dwelling in a house. He has cut down cedars, taken holm, and the oak that stood among the trees of the forest; he has planted the pine, which the rain has nourished, and it has become fuel for men. He has taken part of it and warmed himself, and he has kindled it, and baked bread; but of the residue he has made a god, and worships it, he has made a graven thing, and bows down before it. Half of it he has burnt with fire, and with the coals thereof he has dressed flesh, he has eaten meat, and being filled he was warmed, and said: Ah, I am warm, I have seen the fire. But the residue thereof he has made a god, even his graven thing; he bows down before it, and worships it, and prays to it, saying: Deliver me, for you are my god. They have not known, nor understood, for their eyes are shut, that they may not see, and their hearts, that they may not understand. They do not consider in their mind, nor know, nor have the sense to say: I have burnt part of it in the fire, and I have baked bread upon the coals thereof, I have broiled flesh and eaten it, and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? Shall I bow down before the stock of a tree? Part thereof is ashes; a foolish heart shall adore it, and he shall not deliver his soul, nor say: Perhaps there is a lie in my right hand. Remember these things, O 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 iniquities as a cloud, and your sins as a mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you. Give praise, O you heavens, for the Lord has done it; shout with joy, you ends of the earth; you mountains, resound with praise, you forest, and every tree therein, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and Israel shall be glorified. Thus says the Lord your redeemer, and your maker, from the womb: I am the Lord, that make all things, that alone stretch out the heavens, that establish the earth, and there is none with me; that make void the tokens of diviners, and make the soothsayers mad; that turn the wise backward, and make their knowledge foolish; that raise up the word of my servant, and perform the counsel of my messengers; who say to Jerusalem: You shall be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah: You shall be built, and I will raise up the wastes thereof; who say to the deep: Be desolate, and I will dry up your rivers; who say to Cyrus: You are my shepherd, and you shall perform all my pleasure; who say to Jerusalem: You shall be built; and to the temple: You shall be founded."

Exposition

a. Here, third, he strengthens them against the falsity of idols, lest perhaps they should believe that through these the divine promises might be hindered; and it is divided into two. In the first he excludes fear. In the second he shows the vileness of idols, where it says, "thus says the Lord," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he stirs attention, "hear, Jacob," whom I have chosen, Esau being rejected: Romans 9:13, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated." Second he excludes fear, "thus says the Lord who made you": below, chapter 49, "thus says the Lord, forming me from the womb to be his servant" — which sounds the name Israel, as to the signification of the name, but as it were by etymology it is said, a man seeing: "Is," man; "Ra," seeing; or, God. Third he sets down the promise, "I will pour out." And first he promises the divine office as to temporal things, "I will pour out waters," that is, consolations: Ezekiel 36:25, "I will pour out clean water upon you." As to spiritual things, "I will pour out my spirit," a blessing, as to the multiplication of good things: Joel 2:28, "I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh." Second he sets down the fruit of the benefit as to temporal goods. "And they shall spring up," that is, they shall multiply from abundance of prosperity, like a tree by the abundance of water: above, chapter 35, "budding it shall bud, and shall rejoice with joy and praise." He sets down also the effect of spiritual gifts. "One shall say: I am the Lord's," because everyone shall confess himself subject to God, singing songs to the Lord, that is, unto the honor of the Lord. Or, "God, I am," bearing the Scripture that pertains to the worship of God. "Shall be surnamed," assigned in the worship of God; or shall be zealous, like Jacob: Jeremiah 3:19, "he shall call me father, and shall not cease to walk after me."

b. "Thus says the Lord," etc.: here he shows the vileness of idols; and concerning this he does three things. First he shows the defect of idols. Second from this he calls them back to his own worship, where it says, "remember these things," etc. Third he promises to those returning the benefit of deliverance, where it says, "thus says the Lord," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he argues against idols from the divine working. Second from the fashioning of idols, where it says, "who has formed," etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he proposes the singularity of his own deity, "I am": Revelation 1:8, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end." Second he applies a proof, "who is like." And concerning this, three things. First he sets down the divine act in announcing the future, and the ordering of past things, "whom I have not known," predestining: Ecclesiasticus 23:29, "to the Lord our God all things are known before they come to be." Second he assigns the token of his deity confirmed by witnesses, "fear not," as if he said, do not be anxious for me, as though I should fail in the proof of my divinity. Third he concludes the defect of idols, "is there a God." And first he sets the question, "besides me": Deuteronomy 32:39, "see that I alone am, and there is no other God besides me." Second he shows the unfitness of the witnesses, "the makers of idols," that is, those who fashion them, "are nothing," of any power — either because they do not attain their own intention, wishing to fashion God with their own hands, or because the idol itself is nothing. "Their best-beloved things," the idols which are, whether great and venerable, or of costlier material. Third he shows the falsity of the testimony, "they are their own witnesses," of the idols, because they see not, and yet say that they are gods.

c. "Who has formed," etc.: here he shows that they are not gods, from their own fashioning; and concerning this he does two things. First he sets forth their fashioning, to exclude divinity. Second the manner of their fashioning, to show their vileness, "the smith." Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets forth their fashioning, intending this argument: that which is made by man is not God, etc. "Who," as if he said, no one; "profitable," for nothing: Baruch 6:65, "they who make them shall not last long." Second he foretells the confusion of the workers, "behold, all its fellows," the worshippers of idols, when they shall come to judgment, "shall stand," as it were to be judged. "Of men," that is, of the number of men: Psalm 96:7, "confounded be all they that adore graven things." "The smith has wrought with his file," etc.: here he shows their vileness, that they are not only not gods, but even something base. And first he sets forth the manner, as to the idols which were made of metals. "With the strength of his arm," that is, he shall strike vigorous blows. "He shall be hungry, and shall faint," as if he said, the god whom he makes cannot come to his own aid, though he is most bound to his own maker: above, chapter 41, "the smith strengthens it, striking with the hammer." Second, as to those which were made otherwise, "the carpenter." And first he sets down the vileness of the idol, setting the efficient cause through its instruments — "rule," an instrument to straighten wood; "with a plane," a curved instrument for the shaping of wood; "in angles," that is, into a squared figure, or an instrument for making such figures; "with the compass," that is, with the lathe. As to the formal cause, "and made the image"; as to the material, "he has cut down cedars," which men also put to base uses: Jeremiah 10:3, "a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the craftsman." Second he shows the blindness of the craftsman, "the residue," the part of that wood from which the idol was made; "ashes," because burnt; "perhaps," "in my right hand," that is, in my working: above, chapter 13, "a companion shall not be ashamed of one that is soulless." Note, concerning that saying, "I will pour out my spirit," that the spirit is given to beginners, first for the principle of vivification: Ezekiel 37:10, "the spirit entered into them, and they lived." Second, in the washing of renewal: Titus 3:5, "by the laver of regeneration, and renovation, which he has poured out on us abundantly." Third, into the privilege of adoption: Romans 8:15, "you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons of God." Second it is given to those advancing: first to instruct the intellect: John 14:26, "but the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things." Second to refresh the affection: Ecclesiasticus 24:27, "my spirit is sweeter than honey." Third to help the act: Romans 8:26, "the Spirit helps our infirmity." Third it is given to the perfect: first as the benefit of liberty: 1 Corinthians 3:17, "where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." Second as the bond of unity: Ephesians 4:3, "careful to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace." Third as the pledge of the inheritance: Ephesians 1:13-14, "you were signed with the holy spirit of promise, who is the pledge of our inheritance."

d. "Remember these things," etc.: here he calls them back to his own worship. And first he assigns the reason, setting forth the debt of servitude, "remember," that is, call to mind the vileness of idols, "you are my servant": Jeremiah 51 (var.), "not like these is the portion of Jacob, for he that made all things is himself, and Israel is the scepter of his inheritance, the Lord of hosts is his name." And as to the benefit already known, or promised, "I have blotted out your iniquities as a cloud," as a mist, that is, easily: Wisdom 2:4, "our life shall pass away as the trace of a cloud, and shall be dispersed as a mist" — and thus he sets down the recalling, "return": Jeremiah 3:12, "return, O rebellious Israel, says the Lord, and I will not turn away my face from you." Second, for their return, he invites the whole of creation to an act of thanksgiving with the utmost rejoicing: above, chapter 6 (var.), "let the heavens praise him, and the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them." "Thus says the Lord," etc.: here to those returning to himself he promises the benefit of deliverance; and concerning this he does two things. First he shows the benefit of deliverance which he bestowed on them, "redeemer," from evils; "and your maker," in good things: below, chapter 49, "thus says the Lord, forming me from the womb to be his servant." As to the creatures he made, "I am the Lord": Jeremiah 10:12, "he made the earth by his power." As to the wise men whom he made foolish, some of whom professed to know divine things, making them void: Jeremiah 50 (var.), "a sword upon her diviners, and they shall dote." Some, concerning worldly things, "turning the wise back": 1 Corinthians 1:20, "has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?" Also as to the fulfillment of promises, "raising up," fulfilling the word of his servant the prophet, or of Moses, or of Christ. Second he promises the deliverance of the people as to the rebuilding of the cities, "who say to Jerusalem": Psalm 69:35 (var.), "the cities of Judah shall be built up." Second as to the destruction of the enemies, "who say to the deep," that is, the sea of Babylon — hence above, chapter 21, "the burden of the desert of the sea." Third as to the exaltation of the deliverance, "who say to Cyrus: My shepherd," feeding my sheep: Ezekiel 34:15, "I will feed my sheep again." Fourth as to the restoration of the temple, "who say to Jerusalem: You shall be founded," because for a time only the foundation was laid: Jeremiah 30:18 (var.), "the city of Jerusalem shall be built."

Chapter 45

Text

a. "Thus says the Lord to my anointed Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, that I might subdue the nations before his face, and turn the backs of kings; and I will open before him the gates, and the doors shall not be shut. I will go before you, and will humble the glorious ones of the earth; I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and burst the bars of iron. And I will give you hidden treasures, and the concealed riches of secret places, that you may know that I am the Lord, who call your name, the God of Israel. For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my elect, I have even called you by your name; I have made a likeness of you, though you have not known me. I am the Lord, and there is none else; there is no God besides me. I girded you, though you have not known me, that they may know, who are from the rising of the sun, and who are from the west, that there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is none else, forming the light, and creating darkness, making peace, and creating evil; I am the Lord that do all these things. Drop down dew, you heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just; let the earth be opened, and bud forth a savior, and let justice spring up together; I the Lord have created him. Woe to him that gainsays his maker, a potsherd of the earthen pots! Shall the clay say to him that fashions it: What are you making, and your work is without hands? Woe to him that says to his father: Why do you beget? And to the woman: Why do you bring forth? Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, its maker: Ask me of things to come, concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands give me charge. I have made the earth, and I created man upon it; my hands stretched out the heavens, and I have commanded all their host. I have raised him up to justice, and I will direct all his ways; he shall build my city, and let go my captives, not for price, nor for reward, says the Lord of hosts. Thus says the Lord: The labor of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you, and shall be yours; they shall walk after you, they shall go bound with manacles, and they shall worship you, and shall make supplication to you: Only in you is God, and there is no God besides you. Truly you are a hidden God, the God of Israel the savior. They are all confounded, and ashamed together, the makers of errors are gone away together into confusion. Israel is saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation; you shall not be confounded, nor ashamed, forever and ever. For thus says the Lord that created the heavens, God himself that formed the earth, and made it, the very maker thereof; he did not create it in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord, and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth; I have not said to the seed of Jacob: Seek me in vain. I am the Lord that speaks justice, that declares right things. Assemble yourselves, and come, and draw near together, you 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, and come, and consult together; who has declared this from the beginning, has foretold it from that time? Have not I the Lord, and there is no God else besides me? A just God and a savior, there is none besides me. Be converted to me, and you shall be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word of justice shall go out of my mouth, and shall not return; for every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall swear. Therefore shall he say: In the Lord are my justices and empire. They shall come to him, and all that resist him shall be confounded. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall be praised."

Exposition

a. After he had strengthened them unto a firm expectation of the divine promises, in this part he begins to pursue the divine promises for their consolation; and it is divided into two. In the first he promises deliverance from evils. In the second he promises salvation amid good things, chapter 46, "thus says the Lord," etc. The first into two. In the first he promises them the benefit of deliverance. In the second he removes every impediment to deliverance, chapter 50, "thus says the Lord: who is," etc. The first into three. In the first he foreshows to them the deliverer. In the second he foretells the destruction of those who held them captive, chapter 46, "Bel is broken," etc. In the third he promises also the deliverance of the Jews, chapter 48, "hear you these things," etc. The first into two. In the first he foretells the deliverer. In the second he shows the resulting benefit, where it says, "thus says the Lord," etc. The first into three. In the first he foretells the deliverer's power. In the second he describes his nativity, where it says, "drop down dew, you heavens," etc. In the third he refutes the contradiction of unbelievers, "woe to him that gainsays," etc. Concerning the first, two things. First he sets down the height to which he was exalted, against three things which are wont to escape the hand of a king. Either on account of multitude — and as to this he says, "anointed," that is, king, not by unction, but by royal dignity, since among them kings were anointed, "whose right hand I have held," as one who assists his works, subduing "diverse" nations: Deuteronomy 28:7, "the Lord shall give up your enemies into your hands." Or on account of strength — and as to this he says, "I proclaim," preparing the place of your victory, sending terror upon your adversaries, "the glorious ones," those mighty above others, such as the Babylonians; "gates of brass," their most powerful cities: Psalm 106:16, "he has broken the gates of brass, and burst the bars of iron." Or on account of concealment — and as to this he says, "and I will give you treasures," of diverse kingdoms, whose cities he took: Job 12:22, "he discovers deep things out of darkness, and brings up to light the shadow of death." Second he sets down the fruit of the benefit. First in himself. Second in others, where it says, "that they may know, who are from the rising," etc. Concerning the first, two things. First he sets down the fruit of the power required from God in Cyrus, namely of his own knowledge, "that you may know that I": Romans 4:17, "who calls the things that are not, as those that are"; and of the deliverance of the people, "for the sake of my servant," that is, that he might deliver him from captivity. Second he shows this benefit on the part of Cyrus himself, on the side of the fruit. "I have called," foretelling your name; "I have made a likeness of you," in this like my other saints, whose names were foretold beforehand by the Lord: "you have not known me," that I alone am the true God abiding, while others remain in idols. "I girded you," with strength: Proverbs 1:24, "I called, and you refused to receive discipline."

b. "That they may know," etc.: here he shows the fruit in others. And first he shows that in others he seeks the fruit of the knowledge of himself, "from the rising of the sun," that is, those dwelling throughout the whole world — which was fulfilled in this, that Cyrus in his letters wrote the praise of God everywhere; or because all men praised God together, seeing the deliverance of the Jews: Psalm 83:19 (var.), "let them know that the Lord is your name, that you alone are the Most High over all the earth." Second he sets forth the argument of his own divinity, which can be known in this, that he can afflict, and deliver, "I the Lord," "light," the day, in consolation; "evil," of punishment: Amos 3:6, "shall there be evil in a city, which the Lord has not done?"; Ecclesiasticus 42:24, "the Lord has made all things double, one against another." "Drop down dew, you heavens," etc.: here he describes the birth of Cyrus under the metaphor of a tree's fruit, for whose generation moisture of earth, and rain, and dew from heaven are required — so in the nativity of Cyrus divine mercy concurs, intending to deliver his people through him, and the lower nature, which is signified in the earth. Whence he does three things: he describes the rising, "drop down"; the fruit of the nativity, "and let justice spring up"; and first the principle of the nativity, "I the Lord... let them rain the just" — neuter, or masculine. Or through the heaven and the clouds are meant the prophets and other just men, who, foretelling him, and by their tears entreating him from God, in a certain manner rained him down: Psalm 71:6, "he shall come down like rain upon the fleece." Note, concerning that saying, "Israel my elect," that the saints are chosen: first by predestination: Ephesians 1:4, "he chose us in him before the foundation of the world." Second they are formed by the infusion of grace: Genesis 2:7, "the Lord God formed man... and breathed into him the breath of life." Third, upright through love: Song of Solomon 1:3, "the upright love you." Fourth, servants through the duty of their work: Luke 17:10, "we are unprofitable servants." "Woe to him that gainsays," etc.: here he excludes the contradiction of unbelievers. And first under the metaphor of a craftsman shaping clay, because as clay does not contradict the potter, so neither ought the Jews to contradict God, not believing it possible that one should arise who might overcome the Babylonians — "of the earthen pots," because this art was invented in the city of Samos. "Without hands," as it were without the right working of the hand, or as vessels have handles: Romans 9:20, "shall the thing formed say to him that formed it?" Under the metaphor of a father begetting, "woe to him that says to his father, why do I beget Cyrus, and, as a mother conceiving him" — in the matter at hand. And therefore you ought not to contradict me in this, no more than a mother that gives birth: Isaiah 66:9, "shall not I that make others to bring forth, myself bring forth, says the Lord? Shall I that give generation to others, be barren myself?" Or he speaks against those diviners, who from the rise of Cyrus foretold many future evils, saying it would be better if he had not been born; or against those of the Jews, who said: To what end do we beget sons, that they may be born in captivity?

c. "Thus says the Lord," etc.: here he sets down the usefulness of the deliverer. And first as to the deliverance of the Jews. Second as to the conversion of the Gentiles, where it says, "for thus says," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he shows his authority to foretell the future, "I," namely to Cyrus, "maker," "my sons," the Jews delivered, or whomever else I will to be born, and not idols. Second he foretells the deliverance, showing his own power, who promises, "I made their host," namely of the heavens, "I commanded," foreshowing his office, and nature: above, chapter 40, "he brings out their host by number." And the direction of him who carries it out, "I raised up," to dignity, "him," Cyrus, past for future. "To justice," to be worked against the Chaldeans: Proverbs 3:6, "in all your ways think on him, and he will direct your steps." And he promises deliverance, "he," namely Cyrus, "shall build," promising, and I will give the expenses for the building: Isaiah 52:3, "you were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money." "Thus says the Lord," etc.: here he promises the exaltation of those delivered as to three things. First as to the adherence of strangers, "the labor of Egypt," their riches, and they themselves as to the many who followed them. Or he speaks of those who adhered — "labor," in idols, shall cease; "merchandise," of earthly things. And the subjection of those who adhere, "they shall walk after you," subject to you, "bound with manacles," that is, with bonds of the hands, as it were so humbled before you as those who are thus... or with the bonds of Christ's precepts. Setting also the confession of the truth, "only in you," namely saying this: "hidden," not visible as your gods, "savior," not feeble: Psalm 17:12, "he made darkness his covert." Second he shows their exaltation as to the confusion of enemies, "they are confounded": Micah 7:16, "the nations shall see, and shall be confounded at all their strength." Third as to the perpetual salvation of the Jews, "Israel is saved even unto the age" — where it is thus sung. Or of the spiritual Israel: Zephaniah 3:15, "the king of Israel the Lord is in the midst of you, you shall fear evil no more."

d. "For thus says the Lord," etc.: here he sets down another usefulness, as to the conversion of the Gentiles; and concerning this he does three things. First he induces five reasons leading to conversion, of which the first is taken from the creation of things, "he himself is God": Psalm 146:6, "who made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all things that are in them." Second, from love toward men, because he gave them the earth for a dwelling, "the heaven of heaven is the Lord's, but the earth he has given to the children of men," not in vain. Third, from the manifestation of the preached truth, "not in secret," as it were those things which natural reason dictates must be done; or of the preaching of the Christian faith: Isaiah 48:16, "I have not spoken in secret from the beginning." Fourth, from the usefulness of the precepts, "I have not said": Psalm 118:165, "in keeping them there is a great reward." Fifth, from the equity of the precepts, "I the Lord": "I who speak justice, and am a defender to save." "Assemble yourselves," etc.: here, second, he enjoins upon the Jews the calling of the Gentiles, calling to mind their salvation. "Assemble," as it were to hear my precept. "You that are saved," delivered from the captivity of the Gentiles: Isaiah 66:19, "I will send of them that shall be saved to the Gentiles into the sea, into Africa, and Lydia." Setting also the error of those to be called, namely the Gentiles, "they have no knowledge": Baruch 6:70, "you shall see in Babylon gods of gold, and of silver," etc. Enjoining also the proclamation of his praise, "tell," in which he enjoins the office. "Consult together," how you ought to convert others: Psalm 96:3, "declare his glory among the Gentiles." "Who has declared," etc.: here he shows in what he teaches them the argument of his divinity, for converting others, namely from foreknowledge of the future. And he sets down the reason, and the conclusion, "have not I": Ecclesiasticus 42:19, "he declares the things that are past." Third he invites the Gentiles to conversion. And first the invitation is set down, "be converted": Zechariah 1:3, "turn to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will turn to you." Second he foretells their conversion, setting down the token of adoration, "by myself," because I have no greater by whom I may swear. "Shall not return," without effect: Isaiah 55:11, "so shall my word be which shall go out of my mouth, it shall not return to me void." "Shall bow," by Christians, which is the manner of adoring the redeemer, according to the saying, Philippians 2:10, "in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth." Setting also the token of swearing, "shall swear," because everyone swears by his own god: Psalm 62:12, "all shall be praised that swear by him." Setting also the token of true confession, "therefore in the Lord," that is, in the person of the Lord, "my," namely of God's Church; or, "mine," namely God's own: Revelation 1:6, "to him be glory forever." "Justices," not of the figure of the law of the Jews. Third he foretells the confusion of unbelievers, "they shall come to him," as it were to be judged. Fourth, the salvation of believers, "in the Lord shall all the seed be justified," not only according to the flesh, but according to faith: Psalm 108:29 (var.), "let them that rise up against me be confounded." Mystically, "drop down dew, you heavens," speaks of the nativity of Christ. In which he sets down three things: the principle of the nativity, the rising of the one being born, the fruit of the nativity. The principle is threefold. The first is the heaven raining, as it were the effective principle — namely because of the three persons, for which it is said in the plural, "heavens": the Father, by sending the Son: Galatians 4:4, "but when the fullness of time was come, God sent his Son." The Son, by taking on flesh: Philippians 2:8, "he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death." The Holy Spirit, by effecting the conception: Matthew 1:20, "that which is born in her, is of the Holy Spirit." The second principle is the raining cloud, which is the preparatory principle, in which is understood the office of the announcing angel: Job 37:11, "the clouds spread their light, which goes round about through all things." The prophecy of the prophets: Psalm 18:11 (var.), "dark water in the clouds of the air"; Romans 1:2, "which he had promised before, by his prophets, in the holy scriptures, concerning his Son." The desire of the just: Psalm 104:3 (var.), "who make the clouds your ascent"; Malachi 3:1, "presently the Lord, whom you seek, shall come to his holy temple: and the angel of the testament, whom you desire." The third principle is the germinating earth, which is the conceptive principle, the Blessed Virgin, concerning whom in Psalm 85:12, "our earth shall yield her fruit" — whose affection is opened, unto the finding of the privilege of grace: Luke 1:30, "fear not, Mary"; Proverbs 31:29, "many daughters have gathered together riches: you have surpassed them all." The understanding, to believe the angel's word: Luke 1:45, "blessed are you that believed, because those things shall be accomplished which were spoken to you." The womb, to conceive the Son of God: Luke 1:31, "behold you shall conceive in your womb, and shall bring forth a son." But the rising is compared to dew, to rain, and to a shoot. For Christ is dew, unto refreshment: above, chapter 18, "like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest." Rain, unto fruitfulness: Psalm 71:6, "he shall come down like rain upon the fleece." A shoot, unto fructifying: Jeremiah 23:5, "I will raise up to David a just branch." The fruit is justice, which arises with him in three ways: which he fulfilled in work: Matthew 3:15, "so it becomes us to fulfill all justice"; which he taught in speech: below, chapter 62 (var.), "I who speak justice, and am a defender to save"; which he gave as a gift: 1 Corinthians 1:30, "who is made unto us wisdom, and justice, and sanctification."

Chapter 46

Text

a. "Bel is broken, Nabo is destroyed; their idols are put upon beasts and cattle, the things that you carried are laid upon them, a burden to the weary. They are consumed, and broken together; they could not save him that carried them, and they themselves shall go into captivity. Hear me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, you whom I have carried from the womb, whom I have borne from your infancy. Even to your old age I am the same, and to your gray hairs will I carry you; I have made you, and I will bear you; I will carry, and will save you. To whom have you likened me, and made me equal, and compared me, and made me like? You that lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh out silver in the scales; that hire a goldsmith to make a god, and they fall down and worship. They bear him on their shoulders, carrying him, and set him in his place, and he shall stand, and shall not stir out of his place; yes, when they shall cry also to him, he shall not hear, he shall not save them from tribulation. Remember this, and be ashamed; return, you transgressors, to the heart. Remember the former age, for I am God, and there is no God besides, neither is there the like of me: who show from the beginning the things that shall be at last, and from ancient times the things that as yet are not done, saying: My counsel shall stand, and all my will shall be done; who call a bird from the east, and from a far country the man of my own will, and I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have created it, and I will do it. Hear me, you hard of heart, who are far from justice; I have made my justice to approach, it shall not be afar off, and my salvation shall not tarry. I will give salvation in Zion, and my glory in Israel."

Exposition

a. Here he foretells the destruction of the enemies who held them captive, namely the Babylonians, as to two things in which they gloried. First as to the destruction of idols. Second as to the ceasing of the kingdom, below, chapter 47, "come down, sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon," etc. The first into two. In the first he foretells the destruction of the idols of Babylon, as to the breaking of the statues, "is broken": Ezekiel 6:4 (var.), "I will destroy your altars, and your groves shall be cut down." And as to the carrying away of the metals, because the Persians carried off with them pieces of gold and of silver — setting on the part of those who carried them the inconvenience of weariness, "beasts and cattle," namely horses, and camels, on which they bore the heavy metals; or your own worshippers, who are beasts, adoring images of beasts: Jeremiah 18:15, "they have offered sacrifice to strange gods, to wood, and to stone." Setting the defect of aid on the part of the idols, "are consumed," that is, they failed, namely the idols; "him that carried them," namely the beast, or the man that worshipped it. Setting also the reproach of captivity, "and their souls," that is, of the idols, metaphorically, that is, their divine power, or their nobles, because they loved their idols as their own soul: Hosea 10:6 (var.), "for itself also is carried into Assyria, a present to the avenging king." Second he calls back the Jews to their own veneration, the idols being abandoned, "hear me." And first he calls them back to his own worship. Second, to those who return, he promises the benefit of deliverance, where it says, "announcing from the beginning," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he shows them his own love from his affectionate bearing, "from the womb," that is, so have I borne you in my affectionate mercy, in the desert, and in other places in which you sinned against me, as a mother bears her son: Proverbs 30:16 (var.), "O love of my womb!"; Hebrews 1:3, "bearing all things by the word of his power, making purgation of sins." And the continuity of that bearing, "even to your old age," that is, even to the end of the world: Psalm 71:9 (var.), "even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me." And the reason of that bearing, "I have made you," it is fitting that he who made should preserve: Deuteronomy 32:11, "he spread his wings, and has taken him, and carried him on his shoulders." Second he shows the vileness of idols, showing the foolishness of those who work idols, both as to their intent, because they wish to equal their handiwork to God, "to whom have you likened me?" — and as to their working, because they hired a craftsman to make a god of gold, since, like misers, they had stored up gold in bags, "you that lavish": Jeremiah 10:9 (var.), "all these are the works of the hands of the craftsman." He shows also the feebleness of their works, namely of the idols themselves, because of themselves they can neither move nor stand, "they bear him": Baruch 6:70 (var.), "you shall see in Babylon gods of gold, and of silver, and of stone." He shows also their vileness, "but when they shall cry": Wisdom 13:18, "for life indeed he petitions that which is dead, and for help he cries out to that which is useless." Third he concludes the summons back, "remember" — this foretold concerning my love, and the vileness of idols; "the former age," in which I bestowed upon you many benefits: Psalm 76:6 (var.), "I thought upon the days of old, and I had in my mind the eternal years." "Announcing from the beginning," etc.: here he promises to those converted to himself deliverance from captivity; and concerning this he does two things. First he promises deliverance, setting down the power of the one announcing, "announcing the last," whatsoever shall come to pass in the last times: Ecclesiasticus 42:19, "he declares the things that are past, and the things that are to come, revealing the traces of hidden things." He sets down also the firmness of the foretelling, saying, "it shall stand," it shall be fulfilled; "my will," of this decree: "his counsel is like a fountain of life"; Psalm 115:3, "whatsoever the Lord pleased, he has done." And he sets down the order of deliverance, "calling from the east," a man, Cyrus, on account of the swiftness of his victory; or Christ: above, chapter 41, "who has raised up the just one from the east?" Second, where it says, "hear me," he promises the nearness of deliverance, setting down first their unworthiness, lest it be ascribed to their own merits, "hard of heart," for working well; "far off," on account of the multitude of sins: Ecclesiasticus 3:27 (var.), "a hard heart shall fare evil at the last." Second he foretells the nearness, "I have made my justice to approach," that is, I will make, past for future — "justice," from Babylon on your behalf through Cyrus; or, "justice," of Christ: Isaiah 51:5 (var.), "my justice is near at hand, my salvation shall go forth." Third he sets down the determination of the place, "I will give in Zion," "glory," by benefit, whence I shall appear glorious. Or Christ, who is the glory of the Father: Haggai 2:9, "great is the glory of this latter house, more than of the former." Note, concerning that saying, "a burden to the weary," that sin, just as a burden, wearies: first on account of anxiety in devising it: Proverbs 4:16, "for they sleep not, except they have done evil." Second on account of the labor in carrying it out: Wisdom 5:7, "we wearied ourselves in the way of iniquity." Third on account of the confusion in recalling it: Romans 6:21, "what fruit therefore had you then in those things, of which you are now ashamed?" Fourth on account of the frustration of expectation: Proverbs 10:28, "the expectation of the wicked shall perish." Note also, concerning that saying, "return, you transgressors, to the heart," that a man ought to return to his heart: first as to the tribunal of judgment, that he may examine himself: Psalm 76:7 (var.), "I meditated in the night with my own heart, and I was exercised, and I swept my spirit." Second, as to the principle of life, that he may guard himself: Proverbs 4:23, "with all watchfulness keep your heart, because life issues out from it." Third, as to the audience-chamber of divine speech, that he may attend diligently: Hosea 2:14, "I will lead her into the wilderness, and I will speak to her heart." Fourth, as to the treasury of the divine words, that he may keep it: Psalm 118:11, "your words have I hidden in my heart, that I may not sin against you." Fifth, unto the supper-room of divine peace and refreshment — the opposite of which is said of certain men, Psalm 27:3 (var.), "who speak peace with their neighbor, but evils are in their hearts."

Chapter 47

Text

a. "Come down, sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground, there is no throne for the daughter of the Chaldeans, for you shall no more be called delicate and tender. Take a millstone, and grind meal, uncover your shame, strip your shoulder, make bare your legs, pass over the rivers. Your nakedness shall be uncovered, and your shame shall be seen; I will take vengeance, and there shall no man resist me. Our redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel. Sit silent, and get into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans, for you shall no more be called the mistress of kingdoms. I was angry with my people, I have polluted my inheritance, and have given them into your hand; you have shown no mercy to them, upon the ancient you have laid your yoke exceedingly heavy. And you have said: I shall be a lady forever. You have not laid these things to your heart, neither have you remembered your latter end. And now hear these things, you that are delicate, and dwell confidently, who say in your heart: I am, and there is none else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, and I shall not know barrenness. These two things shall come upon you suddenly in one day, barrenness and widowhood. All things are come upon you, because of the multitude of your sorceries, and for the great hardness of your enchantments. And you have trusted in your wickedness, and have said: There is none that sees me. Your wisdom, and your knowledge, this has deceived you. And you have said in your heart: I am, and besides me there is no other. Evil shall come upon you, and you shall not know the rising thereof; and calamity shall fall violently upon you, which you shall not be able to expiate; misery shall suddenly come upon you, which you shall not know. Stand now with your enchanters, and with the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have labored from your youth, if so be it may profit you any thing, or if you may become stronger. You have failed in the multitude of your counsels; let now the astrologers stand and save you, they that gazed at the stars, and counted the months, that from them they might tell the things that shall come to you. Behold they are as stubble, fire has burnt them, they shall not deliver their souls out of the hand of the flame; there are no coals wherewith they may be warmed, nor fire, that they may sit thereat. Such are all the things become to you, in which you have labored; your merchants from your youth, every one has erred in his own way, there is none that can save you."

Exposition

a. Here he foretells the destruction of the kingdom of Babylon; and concerning this he does three things. First he threatens the punishment of their casting down. Second he shows the guilt, where it says, "I was angry," etc. Third he takes away the confidence of escape, where it says, "stand," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he foretells their casting down as to the glory they lose, "come down," from the height of your power; "sit," as one base and abject; "virgin," because not before laid waste; or on account of the tenderness of her delights, "throne," the soft royal dignity, as queens are wont to have: Deuteronomy 28:56, "for the tenderness of her flesh she would not dare" — as if he said, you shall no more be a queen: Luke 1:52, "he has put down the mighty from their seat, and has exalted the humble." Second as to the ignominy she incurs, "take a millstone," which was the work of maidservants, as it were her yoke through the act signified. "Uncover your shame," that is, your base members, or those given over to lust, or passing the rivers on your own feet: Hosea 4:7 (var.), "I will change their glory into shame." And he shows the author of this ignominy, "I will take vengeance," however powerful, "our redeemer" — you peoples, delivered from her servitude: above, chapter 35, "the Lord will bring the vengeance of recompense." Third as to the shame of confusion, "sit," "be silent," like one who blushes, dares not speak, nor appear before men: "the wicked are made silent in darkness." "I was angry": here he sets down their guilt, which is the cause of such punishment. And he sets down three kinds. First the Lord's severity permitted against the Jews, setting down the power granted, "I was angry," on account of their sins, wishing to punish them; "I have polluted," I permitted them to be polluted by you; "my inheritance," the people of Israel: above, chapter 19, "my inheritance, Israel"; Jeremiah 12:7, "I have forsaken my house, I have left my inheritance." And he sets down the abuse of that power, "you have not shown mercy upon the ancient," who ought to be pitied even by enemies: Lamentations 4:16, "they did not respect the faces of the ancients." Second, the elation of heart, "and you have said," setting down a proud thought, "forever": Revelation 18:7, "in her heart she says: I sit a queen." Setting also the folly of the proud, who did not consider what was to come, "you have not laid these things," which shall come upon you: Ecclesiasticus 11:27, "in the day of good things be not unmindful of evils." And Ecclesiastes 7:2 (var.), "in all your works remember your last end, and you shall never sin." And he sets down the frustration of her hope, "hear now, you widow," through the deprivation of the kingdom; "barren," in the loss of the people, who was fortified; "suddenly," and unexpectedly: above, chapter 30, "suddenly, when it is not looked for"; Hosea 9:14 (var.), "give them, O Lord — give them a miscarrying womb, and dry breasts." Third the multitude of her sorceries, "all things." And he sets down three things. First the sorceries by which she was addicted, "of your sorceries," because they abounded in this art: Psalm 55:? (var.), "there is none among them that consults demons." Second the error into which she fell from these, namely immunity from punishment, on the part of those who denied divine providence, "and confidence," that they might sin securely, "there is no God that sees me," to punish me as a sinner: Job 24:15, "the eye of the adulterer waits for darkness." And he sets down the abiding trust in her diviners who promised her this, "your wisdom," as to those who meddled with divine things, "knowledge," as to those who meddled with human things: Jeremiah 10:14, "every man is become a fool by his own knowledge." Third he sets down the punishment which she thereby merited, "evil shall come upon you... its rising" — he speaks after the manner of astrologers, who teach that the risings of kingdoms are to be considered according to the rising of the planets: 1 Thessalonians 5:3, "when they shall say: peace and security, then shall sudden destruction come upon them." "Stand with your enchanters," etc.: here he takes away the confidence of escape; and concerning this he does two things. First he excludes hope in the wise, denying their help, as to the sorcerers, "stand with your enchanters." "From your youth," that is, from the time she was founded, she was full of magic arts. And as to the astrologers, "let them stand," against the enemies, if they can — for they abounded also in these arts: Jeremiah 10:2, "be not afraid of the signs of heaven, which the heathens fear." And he threatens the wise with burning, "behold, they are made" like, namely, the wise together with you; "there are no coals wherewith they may be warmed," but by which the whole city shall be consumed — either because in a time of cold the city was burnt, that they might be punished at once by cold and by fire, or because there is in you none of the divine wisdom: Ecclesiasticus 21:10 (var.), "the congregation of sinners is like tow heaped together, and the end of them is a flame of fire." Second he excludes hope in her traffickers, "your merchants," in whom also she abounded; or the magicians, who sold her lies for truth: above, chapter 13, "every man shall be amazed at his neighbor, their faces shall be as faces burnt."

Chapter 48

Text

a. "Hear you these things, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in justice. For they are called of the holy city, and are established upon the God of Israel: the Lord of hosts is his name. The former things of old I have declared, and they went forth out of my mouth, and I have made them heard; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. For I knew that you are hard, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your forehead brass. I foretold you of old, before they came to pass I told you, lest you should say: My idols have done these things, and my graven and molten things have commanded them. The things that you have heard, see them all; but you have not declared them. I have made you hear new things from that time, and things are kept which you know not, and they are now created, and not of old, and before the day, when you heard them not, lest you should say: Behold I knew them. You have neither heard, nor known, neither has your ear been opened of old, for I knew that transgressing you would transgress, and I called you a transgressor from the womb. For my own name's sake I will remove my wrath far off; and for my praise I will bridle you, lest you should perish. Behold I have refined you, but not as silver, I have chosen you 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. Hear me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I call: I am the same, I am the first, and I am the last. My hand also has founded the earth, and my right hand has measured the heavens; I shall call them, and they shall stand together. All you, assemble yourselves, and hear: who among them has declared these things? The Lord has loved him, he will do his pleasure in Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. I, even I have spoken, and called him; I have brought him, and his way is made prosperous. Come near to me, and hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning. From the time before it was done, I was there; and now the Lord God has sent me, and his spirit. Thus says the Lord your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God that teach you profitable things, that govern you in the way that you walk. O that you had hearkened to my commandments, your peace had been as a river, and your justice as the waves of the sea; your seed had been as the sand, and the offspring of your bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have perished, nor have been destroyed from before my face. Go forth from Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans; with a voice of joy declare, and make this heard, publish it even to the ends of the earth: say: The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob. They thirsted not in the desert, when he led them out; he brought forth water out of the rock for them, and he clove the rock, and the waters gushed out. There is no peace to the wicked, says the Lord."

Exposition

a. Here he promises the liberation of the people; and it is divided into two. In the first he promises deliverance. In the second he carries out the order of deliverance, Isaiah 49, "hear, you islands," etc. The first into two. In the first he stirs attention, calling to mind three things in which they gloried: namely the dignity of their lineage, since they were of holy fathers, "of the waters," that is, of the seed — against which, Matthew 3:9, "do not think to say: we have Abraham for our father." The privilege of divine knowledge, "who swear," invoking his name, "make mention," as to knowledge — yet not in truth "of heart," equally not in justice of work: above, chapter 29, "this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." The worship of sacred religion, "of the holy city," namely Jerusalem, in which was the worship of sacrifices, "called," of the walls of Jerusalem: 2 Maccabees 5:19, "the Lord did not choose the people for the place's sake, but the place for the people's sake." Second he promises deliverance, "the former things of old." And concerning this he does three things. First he shows his own majesty in foretelling, from the foreannouncement of things to come. Second, from the creation of things, where it says, "hear me, Jacob," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he assigns the reason for the foretelling of certain future things, setting down that foretelling itself, "the former things," namely those which have already come to pass, "of old," when they were still future, "suddenly," as to others, to whom they were not foretold: Ecclesiasticus 42:19, "he declares the things that are past, and the things that are to come, revealing the traces of hidden things." Setting forth moreover the reason for this, which is taken from their own condition, which he first sets down, "for I knew," from eternity, "hard," to come to their senses from evil, "neck," that is, the stubbornness of one's own sense, "an iron sinew," which cannot be bent, "brass," on account of shamelessness: Acts 7:51, "stiffnecked, and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit"; Deuteronomy 31:27, "I know your obstinacy, and your most stiff neck"; Jeremiah 3:3, "you have had a harlot's forehead, you would not blush." And from this he then draws the conclusion, "I foretold," as if he said, because you were prone to idolatry, "I told you beforehand," lest you should ascribe my benefits to idols: Hosea 2:5, "I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread." Setting down the manifestation of the things foretold, "the things you have heard," foretold to you by me. "See," fulfilled: Psalm 47:9, "as we have heard, so have we seen, in the city of the Lord of hosts." Second he assigns the reason for the concealment of certain future things, setting down first that concealment itself: as has been said, certain future things I foretold. But certain future things, "are kept," that is, in my foreknowledge, "which you know not," because I have not revealed them to you; "now," that is, in time, "are created," that is, brought into effect, "and not of old," when I foreknew them; "and before the day" of their fulfillment. "And you have not heard," neither from me, nor from idols: 4 Kings 4:27, "the Lord has hid it from me, and has not told me." He assigns also the reason for this, "lest perhaps"; as if he said, therefore I did not reveal it, lest you should perceive your own defect, and that of your gods, in this, that concerning things to come you cannot perceive, or foreknow, except what I shall reveal to you. "I knew," by my own industry; "nor have you heard," from idols, opened... to me: Psalm 63:7 (var.), "man shall come to a deep heart, and God shall be exalted." He sets also their condition, from which the aforesaid reason is drawn, "for I knew from the womb," that is, from the time when I bore you through the desert, as in a womb: Exodus 32:9, "I see that this people is a stiff-necked people"; above, chapter 43, "I have called you a transgressor from the womb." Third he excludes a certain objection, where it says, "for my own name's sake" — for someone might ask, since they are so hard, why then do you promise them good things, and have done so? And to this objection he first sets down the answer, recalling three benefits shown to them, "for my own name's sake," not for your merit, "I will remove far off," or I have delivered them from punishments: Ezekiel 36:22, "I do not this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the nations to which you went." "And for my praise," that is, I bound you to ceremonies, and to my praises, lest offering sacrifices to idols you should perish: Psalm 32:9 (var.), "with bit and bridle bind fast their jaws, who come not near to you." "I have refined," wishing to purge you through tribulations, "but not as silver," which is purged — but you were not corrected: Jeremiah 6:29, "the founder has melted in vain." "I have chosen," purging you, namely, through poverty, punishing you with the loss of your goods: Gregory: "those whom the infirmity of things wounds, the medicine of poverty heals" — and this by paternal correction. First he sets down the exposition of the answer, "for my own sake," that I may not be blasphemed, lest it be said I am powerless to save the people I have chosen. "And my glory," lest the idols be judged stronger than I: above, chapter 42, "my glory I will not give to another, nor my praise to graven things." "Hear me," etc.: here he shows the divine majesty from the creation of things, his own proper work, "I shall call," imposing his own name; "they shall stand," ready to obey: above, chapter 40, "who weighed the mass of the earth in three fingers." "Assemble yourselves," etc.: here he foretells his own prosperity. And first he shows the concealment of this deed to others, "who among them," namely the idols, as if he said, none: above, chapter 41, "who has declared it from the beginning, that we may know?" Second he himself foretells his own prosperity, "the Lord has loved him," namely Cyrus, advancing him to the kingdom; "in Babylon," seizing it; "his arm," that is, through my might slaying them. Third he shows the reason of the prosperity from divine aid, "I... have brought," not simply, but yet, that he might destroy Babylon — otherwise it could not be expounded of Cyrus, but only of Christ, nor of Jerusalem, because she was then given to idolatry: Psalm 106:7 (var.), "he led them into the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation." "Come near to me," etc.: here he promises deliverance; and concerning this he does three things. First he stirs attention, setting down the divine authority, "not in secret," but then when the people heard the voices: Exodus 20, "from the beginning," of the law given, "from the time," past, "before it was done," as had been foretold; "I was there," present, in these future things, by the same "now" of eternity, abiding in the whole succession of time. Or in the person of the Son, "I was there," namely in time, according to the divinity. It confirms the truth of the prophet, because he was indeed sent by God; "and now me," Isaiah, or "me," Christ made man; "God," the Father — whence three persons are designated: he calls to mind: Isaiah 61:1, "the spirit of the Lord is upon me... and his spirit has sent me to preach good tidings to the poor." Second, where it says, "thus says the Lord," he sets down the reason for the captivity, showing on God's part the help prepared, "teaching," against ignorance; "and governing you in the way," of works, against the weakness of working: Psalm 31:8, "I will give you understanding, and I will instruct you in this way, in which you shall go." Showing also the harm from the guilt of the Jews, "O that you had hearkened to my commandments," keeping them, "as a river," abounding, "as the waves": Psalm 81:13-14 (var.), "if my people had heard me, if Israel had walked in my ways, I should soon have humbled their enemies, and laid my hand on them that troubled them." Third, where it says, "go forth," etc., he foretells the deliverance; and concerning this he does three things. First he proclaims to them their exit from captivity, so certain of the deliverance as if it were already present, "go forth": Revelation 18:4, "go out from her, all you that dwell in her." And he brings in that they should announce God's benefit, "declare": Jeremiah 50:28, "the voice of them that flee, and of them that have escaped out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God." Second he designates the bestowed benefit of liberty, and consolation, "they thirsted not," that is, so in all things did the Lord provide for them, or will provide, as when they went out of Egypt: Psalm 104:41 (var.), "he struck the rock, and the waters flowed." Third he takes from the wicked the solace of peace, "there is no peace": 4 Kings 9:19 (var.), "what have you to do with peace? Jehu answered." Note, concerning that saying, "I have chosen you in the furnace of poverty," that poverty is known to profit much. First, in the recognition of sins. Second, in the preservation of virtues: Ecclesiasticus 10:31 (var.), "a poor man is glorified for his discipline, and his fear." Third, in quiet of heart: Tobit 2:? (var.), "our poverty was sufficient for us, that we might account it as riches, that we saw our son." Fourth, in the fulfillment of desire: Psalm 9:38 (var.), "the Lord has heard the desire of the poor." Fifth, in the sharing of divine sweetness: Psalm 67:11 (var.), "you have prepared for the poor in your sweetness, O God." Sixth, exaltation: 1 Kings 2:8, "raising up the poor out of the dust." Seventh, the heavenly inheritance: Matthew 5:3, "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Chapter 49

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a. "Hear, O islands, and hearken, you people from afar. The Lord has called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother he has been mindful of my name. And he has made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he has protected me, and he has made me as a chosen arrow, in his quiver has he hidden me. And he has said to me: You are my servant Israel, for in you will I glory. And I said: I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength without cause and in vain; therefore my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God. And now, thus says the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, that I might bring back Jacob to him, and Israel shall 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 a small thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to convert the dregs of Israel. Behold, I have given you to be the light of the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation even to the farthest part of the earth. 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 princes shall rise up, and worship, for the Lord's sake, because he is faithful, and for the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you. Thus says the Lord: In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you; and I have preserved you, and given you to be a covenant of the people, that you might raise up the earth, and possess the inheritances that were destroyed; that you might say to them that are bound: Come forth; and to them that are in darkness: Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in every plain. They shall not hunger, nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun strike them, for he that has mercy on them shall be their shepherd, and shall lead them to fountains of waters. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my paths shall be exalted. Behold these shall come from afar, and behold these from the north and from the west, and these from the south country. Give praise, O you heavens, and rejoice, O earth, you mountains, give praise with jubilation, because the Lord has comforted his people, and will have mercy on his poor ones. And Zion said: The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me. Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? And if she should forget, yet will not I forget you. Behold, I have graven you in my hands, your walls are always before my eyes. Your builders are come, they that destroy you and make you waste shall go out of you. Lift up your eyes round about, and see, all these are gathered together, they are come to you. I live, says the Lord, you shall be clothed with all these as with an ornament, and as a bride you shall put them about you. For your deserts, and your desolate places, and the land of your destruction, shall now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed you up shall be far away. The children of your barrenness shall yet say in your ears: The place is too strait for me, make me room to dwell in. And you shall say in your heart: Who has begotten these? I was barren and did not bear, led away and captive; and who has brought up these? I was destitute and alone, and these, where were they? Thus says the Lord God: Behold I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles, and will set up my standard to the people. And they shall bring your sons in their arms, and carry your daughters upon their shoulders. And kings shall be your nursing fathers, and queens your nurses; they shall worship you with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet. And you shall know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be confounded that wait for him. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty? Or can that which was taken by the strong be delivered? For thus says the Lord: Yes, the captivity shall be taken away from the mighty, and that which was taken by the strong shall be delivered. But I will judge those that have judged you, and your sons I will save. And I will feed your enemies with their own flesh, and they shall be made drunk with their own blood, as with new wine; and all flesh shall know that I am the Lord that save you, and your redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."

Exposition

a. In this part he pursues, more specifically, the order of deliverance; and concerning this he does two things. First the people confesses the benefits received. Second he receives the promise concerning things to come, where it says, "and I said," etc. Concerning the first he confesses four benefits. First, the privilege of divine election — and this is continued to what the prophet had said above to the people, that he might announce it; whence at once the voice of the people announcing is subjoined, saying, "hear... from the womb," choosing me in the very fathers: Psalm 22:10 (var.), "from my mother's womb you are my God, do not depart from me." Second, the efficacy of prayer, "and he has made my mouth," prayer, "as it were a sword," penetrating even to the ears of God, and the bowels of mercy: Ephesians 6:17, "and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God." Third, the help of divine protection, "in the shadow," that is, under the protection of his power, "as a chosen arrow," of the archer, to preserve: Psalm 17:8 (var.), "protect me under the shadow of your wings"; Psalm 27:5, "he has hidden me in his own tabernacle, he has protected me in the secret place of his tabernacle." Fourth, the glory of divine power, "and he said to me: in you will I be glorified," that is, through the great things shown in you I shall appear glorious: above, chapter 43, "everyone that calls upon my name, I have created him for my own glory." According to the letter this is the voice of Cyrus, whose name was foretold by Isaiah before he was born, above, chapter 45, whose threatening words were as it were a sword, and he was protected lest anyone should be able to slay him, and was preserved as it were a chosen arrow for the appointed time, to whom also it was announced that the people of Israel would be God's servant. Otherwise it is expounded of Christ, whose name was foretold by an angel, the word of preaching a sword piercing hearts, protected as to the weakness of the flesh by the power of his divinity, and chosen above all for accomplishing the salvation of the human race — and he is called Israel, because he was born of the people of Israel according to the flesh.

b. "And I said," etc.: here the Lord promises future benefits. And first he promises the exaltation of the prophet Isaiah. Second, the deliverance of the people, where it says, "thus says the Lord," etc. Concerning the first, two things. First is set down the prophet's own plea, proposing his labor in preaching, although the fault of the hearers is not the fruit — and he concludes, "therefore my judgment," on my behalf, "with the Lord," before him; "and my work," as it were a grateful reward: Jeremiah 6:29, "the founder melts in vain." Second he sets down God's response, "and now, thus says the Lord." And first is signified the confirmation of his plea, "that I might bring back," as if he said, for this reason I formed you from the womb, choosing you, that I might call back his people to himself, "and shall be gathered," to himself through my preaching — "and yet I have not gathered him": Habakkuk 3:19, "the Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like the feet of harts." Thus the response itself is set down: "and he said" — as if he said, your ministry alone shall not suffice, that not only among the Jews, but among all the Gentiles through you my salvation should be announced: Romans 3:29, "is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles?" This too is expounded of Christ, who by his preaching, and by the accomplishing of his death, not only bore fruit among the Jews, but also enlightened and saved the Gentiles. Likewise also of Cyrus, as more openly appears, because through his benefits, according to the Lord's intention, he called back the people to God's worship, to whom dominion over many nations was given by God. Note, concerning that saying, "hear," that the words of God are to be heard, because they are useful: first, for the illumination of the intellect: Proverbs 6:23, "for the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light." Second, for the sweetness of the affections: Psalm 118:103, "how sweet are your words to my palate, more than honey to my mouth!" Third, for the kindling of love: Jeremiah 20:9, "the word of the Lord was made in my heart as a fire"; Psalm 18:9 (var.), "the eloquence of the Lord is chaste, enlightening the eyes." Fourth, for the rectitude of work: Psalm 24:5, "direct me in your truth." Fifth, for the attainment of glory: Proverbs 3:21, "keep the law and counsel." Sixth, for the instruction of others: 2 Timothy 3:16, "all scripture, inspired of God, is useful for teaching."

c. "Thus says the Lord, the redeemer," etc.: here he promises deliverance; and concerning this he does two things. First he promises deliverance. Second he excludes their doubt, where it says, "and Zion said," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he sets down the things preceding the deliverance, namely the veneration of the Jews, which was the cause of deliverance, and he calls to mind their former abjection, "despised," on account of the people's weakness; "abhorred," on account of the singularity of their worship; "servant," on account of subjection to diverse nations: above, chapter 42, "to a scattered nation will I send him" — and he sets down the veneration itself, "kings shall see," my great things which through you have become manifest, "and they shall worship," as literally Nebuchadnezzar honored Daniel, and Cyrus and other of his princes honored Ezra. Another preamble is the exaltation of the deliverer king, namely Cyrus, "in an acceptable time," when it pleased me to save my people, "I have heard," exalting you into the kingdom according to your desire — the fruit of exaltation, "and I have given you in a covenant," to fulfill the covenant of my people. "Show yourselves," that is, be enlightened. Or it is spoken of Christ, who was despised in his passion, and judged as it were a servant: below, chapter 53, "we saw him, and there was no beauty in him, that we should desire him, despised, and the most abject of men" — but afterward worshipped by kings: Psalm 72:11, "all kings of the earth shall worship him, all nations shall serve him" — "in an acceptable time," namely the time of grace: 2 Corinthians 6:2, "behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation." Second he sets down the consequences of the deliverance, promising an abundance of good gifts freely given, "they shall feed in the ways," that is, they shall so abundantly enjoy consolations, as sheep in pastures, when scattered on the way beyond their custom they might be found: Ezekiel 34:14, "they shall rest on the green grass" — as to the abundance of pastures, and the lack, "they shall not hunger," and the hurt of the heat, "the sun," the face of the tyrant: Psalm 121:6, "the sun shall not burn you by day, nor the moon by night." And he assigns the cause of each, "for he that has mercy... waters," consolations: Psalm 23:1-2, "the Lord rules me, and I shall want nothing; he has set me in a place of pasture." Third he promises the deliverance itself, setting down three things, namely the preparation of aids, "and I will make all my mountains," that is, princes shall help you to return: above, chapter 40, "every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low." Setting also the return of the captives, "behold these from afar," that is, from the east, from the sea, from the west: Jeremiah 31:8, "I will bring them from the north country." Setting also the act of thanksgiving, "give praise, O you heavens": Psalm 96:11, "let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, let the sea be moved, and the fullness thereof."

d. "And Zion said," etc.: here he excludes their doubt. And first that which arose from divine indignation. Second that which arose from their own casting down, where it says, "can," etc. Third that which arose from the power of enemies, where it says, "shall be taken away," etc. Concerning the first, two things. First he sets down the doubt, "he has forsaken me," without help, and therefore I cannot hope for deliverance: Baruch 4:12, "I am left desolate." Second he excludes it by the likeness of a mother, "can." Third he applies the promise concerning the restoration of the city. And first as to the rebuilding of the walls, setting down the divine purpose, "behold, in my hands," as if he said, so do I hold you in memory, as one who writes, or makes some other sign, on his hand, or as one has the memory of a thing; "your walls," as though I already see the rebuilding of your walls: Psalm 90:4 (var.), "a thousand years before your eyes are as yesterday, which is past." And the manner of the fulfillment, "your builders are come," that is, the rebuilders, namely Zerubbabel, and Joshua, and others, already before my eyes; "they that destroy you," the Chaldeans: Zechariah 4:9, "the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands shall finish it." "And you shall know," etc. Second as to the habitation of men; and concerning this he does three things. First he foretells the multitude of citizens, "lift up your eyes round about": Baruch 5:5, "look about you toward the east, and see the joy that comes to you." Second, the rehabitation of the city, showing that it shall be inhabited, "I live," the manner of swearing, "as an ornament," as a bride is adorned with jewels, so shall the city be adorned with citizens: Isaiah 61:10, "he has clothed me with the garments of salvation" — showing that it shall be filled with inhabitants, "your deserts," as to the inhabitants; "solitudes," as to the tillers; "ruin," as to the destroyed walls: Ezekiel 36:10 (var.), "the city shall be inhabited." Third he shows also that it shall be emptied of enemies, "far away." Third he foretells the multitude of inhabitants, "the children of your barrenness shall say," that is, those born when you were thought barren, emptied of inhabitants: Isaiah 54:2, "enlarge the place of your tent." "And it shall be said," etc.: here he excludes a certain doubt. And first he sets down the astonishment, "and you shall say," out of wonder, "barren," because there were not in me men, who might beget sons, "destitute," of divine aid: Isaiah 66:8 (var.), "who has heard such a thing?" Second he excludes the doubt, setting down the manner of the multitude of inhabitants, "thus says the Lord," as to four things. First as to divine inspiration, "I will lift up my hand," as it were for a sign, "and to the peoples I will lift up my standard": above, chapter 11, "he shall set up a standard unto the nations." Second as to the honorable bringing back, "and they shall bring your sons in their arms," in which is signified the help which they had from the Gentiles, "nursing kings," providing for you in necessities. Fourth he assigns the reason for this, "and you shall know that I": Psalm 30:2 (var.), "in you, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded."

e. "Shall the prey be taken away," etc.: here he excludes the third doubt. And first he sets it down, "from the mighty." Second he excludes it, "for thus says the Lord." First setting down the benefit of deliverance, "and the captivity," namely of the Jews. Second the manner of the deliverance, setting down the destruction of enemies, "those," namely the Chaldeans, "that have judged you," afflicted: Zephaniah 3:19 (var.), "I will destroy all that afflict you." And he sets down the determination of the punishment, "and I will feed" — either on account of devouring one another, as above, chapter 9, "every one shall eat the flesh of his own arm"; or on account of the multitude of the dead, because one fell upon the blood of another as if he would drink it; or on account of famine. Third he sets down the fruit of the deliverance, "and all flesh shall know": above, chapter 40, "all flesh shall see the salvation of our God."

Chapter 50

Text

a. "Thus says the Lord: What is this bill of divorce of your mother, with which I have put her away? Or who is my creditor, to whom I have sold you? Behold, you are sold for your iniquities, and for your wickedness have I put your mother away. Because I came, and there was no man; I called, and there was none that would hear. Is my hand shortened and become small, that I cannot redeem? Or is there no strength in me to deliver? Behold, at my rebuke I will make the sea a desert, I will turn the rivers into dry land; the fish shall rot for want of water, and shall die for thirst. I will clothe the heavens with darkness, and I will make sackcloth their covering. The Lord has given me a learned tongue, that I should know how to uphold by word him that is weary. He wakens in the morning, in the morning he wakens my ear, that I may hear him as a master. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I do not resist, I have not gone back. I have given my body to the strikers, and my cheeks to them that plucked them; I have not turned away my face from them that rebuked me, and spit upon me. The Lord God is my helper, therefore am I not confounded; therefore have I set my face as a most hard rock, and I know that I shall not be confounded. He is near that justifies me, who shall contend with 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 shall condemn me? Behold, they shall all be destroyed as a garment, the moth shall eat them up. Who is there among you that fears the Lord, that hears the voice of his servant, that has walked in darkness, and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and lean upon his God. Behold, all you that kindle a fire, encompassed with flames, walk in the light of your fire, and in the flames which you have kindled. This is done to you by my hand, you shall sleep in sorrows."

Exposition

a. Here he begins to remove the impediments to deliverance. And first he removes the impediments. Second he applies remedies, chapter 53, "who has believed," etc. Concerning the first he removes three impediments. First, of divine benefits. Second, the abjection of persons, chapter 51, "hear me." Third, the abundance of things, chapter 51, "gather yourselves," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he excludes the impediment. Second he sets himself forth as an example, "the Lord has given," etc. Third he draws the wholesome conclusion, where it says, "who among you," etc. Concerning the first, two things. First he excludes the defect of divine benefits on the part of the divine will. Second on the part of divine power, "is my hand shortened," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he excludes the defect of divine will, as though God himself did not will to benefit them, excluding a twofold manner of alienation: namely the manner of putting away a wife, which was done by a bill of divorce, as is said Deuteronomy 24 — which indeed was permitted on account of the hardness of their heart, Matthew 19, where it says, "who is this," etc. But against this, Jeremiah 3, "because backsliding Israel committed adultery, I put her away, and gave her a bill of divorce." And it must be said that the Lord, as far as is in himself, did not put them away, but they themselves through their sins put God away. He excludes also the manner of alienating a possession, "or who is my creditor"; as if he said, you who are my inheritance: above, chapter 19, "Israel my inheritance." "Sold," since rather I have saved you. Whence it is plain that since I have not alienated you from my dominion, I am ready to do you good as much as is in me. Second he shows the sin of the human will: Psalm 51:5 (var.), "behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sin did my mother conceive me"; Romans 7:14, "but I am carnal, sold under sin." Third he sets down an argument, "because I came," by inspiration, "I called," through the prophets: Proverbs 1:24, "I have called, and you refused to hearken to discipline."

b. "Is my hand shortened," etc.: here he excludes the defect on the part of the divine power, excluding first the defect of power, "is it shortened," as though even the near could not be subjected to me? A small thing against powers: Isaiah 59:1, "behold, the hand of the Lord is not shortened." Second he sets down the sign of the divine power, "behold." First in the waters, "at my rebuke," that is, at my command, "I will do," if I will, as I did at Israel's exodus from Egypt: Exodus 14; Psalm 106:9 (var.), "he rebuked the Red Sea, and it was dried up." "I will make rivers," as the Arnon, Numbers 21, and the Jordan, Joshua 4; "shall rot," as in Exodus 7, when the waters were turned into blood: Psalm 106:? "he turned their waters into blood, and destroyed their fish." Second he shows the signs of his power in the heavens, "I will clothe the heavens," with darkness, as was done in Egypt, as is had Exodus 10; Psalm 147:8 (var.), "who covers the heaven with clouds."

c. "The Lord has given," etc.: here he sets himself forth as an example. And first as to the grace he received: both as to eloquence, "a learned tongue," with comforts: Job 4:4, "your words have confirmed them that were staggering, and you have strengthened the trembling knees" — and also as to wisdom, "he wakens," to attend, "in the morning," from the beginning of my preaching, or from the beginning of the age — or because he was then accustomed to pray: Psalm 63:1 (var.), "in the morning I will meditate on you." "He has opened," to understand: Psalm 85:8 (var.), "I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me"; Matthew 17:5, "your teacher is one, Christ." Second he sets himself forth as an example as to obedience, "but I do not resist," but receive and accept his inspiration; "I have not gone back," from my good purpose: above, chapter 45, "woe to him that gainsays his maker." He sets down also the conscience of obedience, because he abandoned obedience for no danger. "I have given my body," that is, I exposed myself to suffer such things. Or perhaps this was fulfilled literally, but in Christ it was perfectly fulfilled, Matthew 26 and 27; Jeremiah 12:7, "I have given my beloved into the hands of her enemies." Third he sets himself forth as an example as to the confidence which he had in God. First setting down the ready defense, "the Lord God is my helper": Jeremiah 20:11, "the Lord is with me as a strong warrior." Second the security of that confidence, "and I have set," that I might not be hurt by fear or shame: Ezekiel 3:9 (var.), "as an adamant, and as flint, have I made your face." Third he assigns the reason of that security from the power of the one aiding, "near is he that justifies me," namely God. "Who shall contend," by words, steadfast I fear not: Job 17:3 (var.), "set me, O Lord, beside yourself, and let any man's hand fight against me." "Let him come near," as an adversary. "Condemn me," with false judgments: Romans 8:34, "who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died" — again, from the weakness of the one attacking, "behold, they shall all be as a garment," in vetustness, in which is natural decay; "the moth," in which is violence: Job 13:28, "who am to be consumed as rottenness, and as a garment that is eaten by the moth" — as if he said, from all these things, as after benefits received I obey God, and trust in him, so ought you.

d. "Who among you," etc.: here he concludes from his own example a wholesome counsel. And first he sets down the counsel. Second he sets down the contempt of the counsel, where it says, "behold, you all," etc. The counsel then is given, that they should trust in God. Whence he does three things. First he requires the fitness of those who trust, which comes of fear and obedience, "of his servant," Isaiah, or whoever else: Psalm 25:12 (var.), "who is the man that fears the Lord?" Second he shows the necessity of trust, "who has walked in darkness," of error, or of adversity: Job 24:? "he that walks in the night stumbles." Third he sets down the counsel itself, "let him trust in the name." "Behold, you all," etc.: here he sets down the contempt of the counsel, setting down three things. First the guilt, "kindling," by your sins, "fire," meriting it for yourselves, "encompassed," as it were bound in your sins; or ready for sinning: above, chapter 9, "your strength shall be as the ashes of tow." Second he sets down the punishment, "walk"; as if he said, receive the punishment: Psalm 9:16 (var.), "in the labors of his hands the sinner is caught." Third he sets down the power of the punisher, "from my hand," namely the power of God, "you shall sleep," the sleep of death. Note, concerning that saying, "you are sold for your iniquities," that man sells many things for sin. First the virtue of the soul: Lamentations 1:11, "they have given all their precious things for food." Second the heavenly inheritance: 1 Kings 24:16 (var.), "may the Lord be merciful to me, that I sell not the inheritance of my fathers." Third the freedom of the soul: Ecclesiasticus 10:9 (var.), "nothing is more wicked than to love money." Fourth the honor of divine love: Hosea 3:1, "the Lord loves the children of Israel, and they look to strange gods, and love the husks of the grapes." Again, concerning that saying, "but I do not resist," note that men contradict God: first, unbelievers, the divine truth: Ecclesiasticus 4:30 (var.), "in no wise contradict the word of truth." Second, the impatient, divine correction: Job 40:2, "shall he that contends with God be so easily silenced?" Third, the impenitent, divine goodness: Hosea 11:7 (var.), "my people is bent to backslide from me." Note also, concerning that saying, "you shall sleep in sorrows," that sinners grieve in death. First on account of the loss of bodily goods: Job 27:19, "the rich man, when he shall sleep, shall take away nothing with him." Second, on account of the contradiction of conscience: "repenting, and groaning for anguish of spirit." Third, on account of the deprivation of future glory: Lamentations 5:16, "the crown has fallen from our head, woe to us, for we have sinned." Fourth, on account of the fear of punishment: Psalm 48:6 (var.), "there shall pains as of a woman in labor," etc.

Chapter 51

Text

a. "Hear me, you that follow that which is just, and seek the Lord: look to the rock from whence you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from whence you were dug. Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah that bore you, for I called him alone, and blessed him, and multiplied him. The Lord therefore will comfort Zion, and will comfort all its ruins, and he will make its desert as a place of pleasure, and its wilderness as the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of praise. Attend to me, my people, and hear me, O my tribes, for a law shall go forth from me, and my judgment shall rest to be a light of the peoples. My just one is near at hand, my savior is gone forth, and my arms shall judge the peoples; the islands shall look for me, and shall patiently wait for my arm. Lift up your eyes to heaven, and look down to the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish like smoke, and the earth shall be worn away like a garment, and the inhabitants thereof shall perish in like manner; but my salvation shall be forever, and my justice shall not fail. Hearken to me, you that know what is just, my people who have my law in their heart: fear not the reproach of men, and be not afraid of their blasphemies, for the worm shall eat them up as a garment, and the moth shall consume them as wool; but my salvation shall be forever, and my justice from generation to generation. Arise, arise, put on strength, O arm of the Lord, arise as in the days of old, in the generations of ages past. Have you not struck the proud one, wounded the dragon? Have you not dried up the sea, the waters of the mighty deep, who made the depth of the sea a way, that the delivered might pass over? And now they that are redeemed by the Lord shall return, and shall come into Zion singing praises, and joy everlasting shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning shall flee away. I, I myself will comfort you: who are you, that you should be afraid of a mortal man, and of the son of man, who shall wither away like grass? And you have forgotten the Lord your maker, who stretched out the heavens, and founded the earth, and you have been afraid continually all the day at the presence of his fury who afflicted you, and had prepared himself to destroy you. Where is now the fury of the oppressor? He shall quickly come that shall set you at liberty, and he shall not kill unto utter destruction, nor shall his bread fail. But I am the Lord your God, who trouble the sea, and the waves thereof swell; the Lord of hosts is my name; and I have protected you in the shadow of my hand, that you might plant the heavens, and found the earth, and say to Zion: You are my people. Arise, arise, stand up, O Jerusalem, who have drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath; you have drunk even to the bottom of the cup of dead sleep, and have drunk it out even to the dregs. There is none that can support her among all the sons that she has brought forth; and there is none that can take her by the hand among all the sons that she has brought up. There are two things that have happened to you: who shall be sorry for you? Desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: who shall comfort you? Your sons are cast out, they have slept at the head of all the ways, like the wild ox taken in a net, full of the indignation of the Lord, of the rebuke of your God. Therefore hear this, you poor little one, and drunk, but not with wine. Thus says your Sovereign, the Lord, and your God, who will fight for his people: Behold I have taken out of your hand the cup of dead sleep, the bottom of the cup of my indignation, you shall not drink it again anymore. And I will put it in the hand of them that have oppressed you, and have said to your soul: Bow down, that we may go over, and you have laid your body as the ground, and as a way to them that went over."

Exposition

a. Here he excludes the second impediment, which could be believed from the very oppression and humiliation of the Jews: and it is divided into three parts. In the first the impediment of casting down is excluded, from their fewness. In the second, from the power of their oppressors, where it says, "hear me," etc. In the third, from the weight of the punishments, where it says, "stand," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he stirs attention, setting down their fitness, "you that follow," good works, "and seek," with right intention: Psalm 34:? "seek him, and you shall find, but you seek the Lord no less than you seek him." Second he excludes the fear of scarcity, where it says, "for I called him," etc. Third he sets down the firmness of the promise, where it says, "lift up your eyes to heaven," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he sets down an example, "attend to the father," namely Abraham, on account of his old age. "Hewn," as it were violently, not according to the course of nature; "the pit," namely Sarah, to whom the manner of women had ceased, Genesis 18 — "you shall not consider your own body, since it was as good as dead" — in which it is shown that God is powerful to make fruitful. "For I called him alone," Genesis 12. And he concludes the benefit of divine consolation, "he will comfort," as to the rebuilding of the city, "all its ruins": Ezekiel 36 (var.), "be comforted, you mountains, that clothe Jerusalem." "In all things," as to the tillage of the fields, "and he shall make her desert," that is, your land, which was formerly desert. And as to the gladness of men, "I will make it": above, chapter 30, "a canticle shall be to you." Third the manner of the fulfillment, "attend to me." And first he sets down the divine intent, "law," the precept of Cyrus concerning the deliverance of the people; "judgment," the justice of the Lord promulgated; "light," consolation: above, chapter 9, "to them that sat in the region of the shadow of death, light has arisen to them." Second he sets down the nearness of the judgment, "near is my justice," namely Cyrus, or Christ, "my salvation," already in my foreknowledge: above, chapter 43, "my justice is near, it shall not tarry, and my salvation, and it shall not delay." Third he sets down the usefulness of the judgment, "arise," the powerful, "my arm," by strength, Cyrus and Darius; "the islands," diverse nations, shall hope in me, seeing the deliverance of the people: above, chapter 42, "he shall set judgment in the earth."

b. "Lift up your eyes," etc.: here he shows the firmness of the divine promise, by comparison to the mutability of creatures. Whence first he sets down the mutability of the creature, "shall vanish," as to figure, and as to substance — and likewise it must be said of others: Psalm 102:26 (var.), "of old you have founded the earth, and the works of your hands are the heavens." Second, the firmness of the divine promise, "my salvation," which I promise; or because this from me shall never fail, that I should not be ready to save, and to work justice: Matthew 24:35, "heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." "Hearken to me," etc.: here he excludes the impediment, which could be feared from oppression, as far as pertains to the power of the oppressors; and concerning this he does two things. First is set down the Lord's encouragement. Second the prophet's own dispute, where it says, "arise," etc. Concerning the first, first he stirs attention, "you that know," that is, justice, whence in my judgments I have revealed it to you: Psalm 147:20 (var.), "he has not done in like manner to every nation, and his judgments he has not made manifest to them." "In their heart," in knowledge: Proverbs 4:21, "let them not depart from your eyes, keep them in the midst of your heart." Second he excludes fear, "fear not," from fear, "of men," who hold you in contempt, glorying in their power: Psalm 22:6, "I am a worm and no man, the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people." Third he shows their fragility, "as a garment": Job 13:28, "who am to be consumed as rottenness, as a garment that is eaten by the moth." Fourth, the firmness of divine aid, "but my salvation": above, chapter 45, "Israel is saved in the Lord with eternal salvation." Note, concerning that saying, "he shall make its desert as a place of pleasure," that saints have twofold delights: first of glory, which consist first in the full vision of God: Job 22:? "then you shall abound in delights in the Almighty." Second in perfect love. Third in copious refreshment. Fourth in eminent authority. Second, of grace, which consist first in the reception of the divine light: Psalm 139:11 (var.), "then my darkness shall be turned into your delights." Second in the purpose, or solicitude, for good work: Ecclesiasticus 5:5 (var.), "I will not be mindful of the days." Third in the adornment of virtues: Song of Solomon 7:6, "how beautiful are you, and how comely, my dearest, in delights!" Fourth in quiet of heart: Isaiah 58:13 (var.), "you shall be called delicate, and holy."

c. "Arise," etc.: here the prophet's dispute with God is set forth, in which he complains that the enemies of the people are not consumed by divine power in another way. Whence first is set down the prophet's plea. Second the Lord's response, where it says, "I, I myself," etc. Concerning the first, two things. First he sets down his own plea, in which he invokes the arm of divine power, "and the arm of the Lord," that is, the power of God, "arise," as it were from sleep: Psalm 44:23 (var.), "arise, why do you sleep, O Lord." "Put on," as a soldier the arms of war, to overcome our enemies: Psalm 93:1 (var.), "the Lord is clothed with strength, and has girded himself"; Job 40:4 (var.), "have you an arm like God?" He alleges also the token of divine power in the slaying of Pharaoh, "have you not struck the proud one," Pharaoh, in the drying up of the sea, "have you not." Second he announces to the people the hearing of his plea, "now," as it was in the exodus from Egypt, "they that are redeemed," from the captivity of Babylon. "I, I myself," etc.: here is set down the Lord's response to the people who spoke with him. And first he promises consolation, "I will comfort": 2 Corinthians 1:3, "blessed be God, and the Father of our Lord" — and further, "and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation." Second he excludes the fear of enemies, setting down their fragility, "who are you that you should be afraid," as it were of what is grass: above, chapter 40, "all flesh is grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of the field." Third, the power of God protecting, "and you have forgotten": Deuteronomy 32:18 (var.), "you have forsaken the God that begot you, and have forgotten the Lord your maker?" Fourth, the mocking of the enemy, "where is now the fury of the oppressor," Nebuchadnezzar, or Sennacherib: Job 20:6 (var.), "if his pride mount up even to the heavens, in the end he shall be destroyed like his own dung." Third he shows the order of the consolation, "he shall come quickly," namely Cyrus, "to open," the prison to the captives; "he shall not kill," you, as other kings of the Chaldeans did; "nor shall fail," to you, the bread of his sustenance: above, chapter 33, "bread is given to him"; above, chapter 42, "I have given you for a covenant of the people."

d. "But I am," etc.: here he excludes the impediment which might be thought from their casting down, as far as pertains to the greatness of the punishments. And first he sets down the power of the God who comforts, "I am he that troubles the sea," sending against sinners diverse tribulations: Psalm 11:7 (var.), "for the Lord is just, and has loved justice." Second, the authority granted to the prophet, "you have set my words," O Isaiah, "the heavens," that is, that you may plant them by preaching, the greater ones of the people; "the earth," the lesser ones. Or, "that you may plant," by your teachings. Third he promises deliverance from the punishments, "arise." And concerning this he does two things. First he sets down the past affliction. Second he promises deliverance, where it says, "behold, I have taken," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he shows the fullness of the punishment, "even to the bottom," as it were to the utmost of the punishments suffered; "of dead sleep," that is, of death: Psalm 75:8 (var.), "in the hand of the Lord there is a cup of strong wine full of mixture." Second he excludes every human remedy, namely of defense, "there is none to support"; of deliverance, "there is none to take by the hand"; of compassion, "two things," in affairs — "desolation," whose effect is famine, in persons; "destruction," whose ultimate is the sword slaying: Jeremiah 15:2, "he that is for the sword, to the sword" — and of consolation, "who shall comfort you": Lamentations 1:2 (var.), "there is none to comfort her among all her dear ones." Third he shows the reason for this, "your sons are cast out," from their own land, "at the head of all the ways," as it were being on the way, when they were being led into captivity; "wild ox," an unclean animal, that is, a water-mouse, or a much-sleeping animal, namely the dormouse, or a certain bird that is in Africa; or an unclean animal similar to a goat, concerning which Deuteronomy 14; or a certain herb quickly withering in the heat of the sun. "Therefore," etc.: here he promises deliverance; and concerning this he does two things. First their deliverance, "be made drunk, but not with wine," but with the bitterness of punishments: Lamentations 3:15 (var.), "he has filled me with bitterness, he has inebriated me with wormwood." "Who fought," at the exodus from Egypt: Exodus 14:14, "the Lord will fight for you." Second, the punishment of the enemies, "and I will put it," "they have said to your soul: Bow down," under our power, treating you as vile as clay that is trodden underfoot: Psalm 94:5 (var.), "they have brought low your people, O Lord, and afflicted your inheritance."

Chapter 52

Text

a. "Arise, arise, put on your strength, O Zion, put on the garments of your glory, O Jerusalem, the city of the Holy One; for henceforth the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no more pass through you. Shake yourself from the dust, arise, sit up, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from off your neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus says the Lord: You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money. For thus says the Lord God: My people went down into Egypt at the beginning, to sojourn there; and the Assyrian has oppressed them without any cause. And now what have I here, says the Lord, seeing that my people is taken away gratis? They that rule over them treat them unjustly, says the Lord, and my name is continually blasphemed all the day long. Therefore my people shall know my name in that day; for I myself that spoke, behold I am here. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that brings good tidings, and that preaches peace; of him that shows forth good, that preaches salvation, that says to Zion: Your God shall reign! The voice of your watchmen: they have lifted up their voice, they shall praise together; for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall convert Zion. Rejoice, and give praise together, O you deserts of 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 Gentiles, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Depart, depart, go out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go out of the midst of her, be clean, you that carry the vessels of the Lord. For you shall not go out in a tumult, neither shall you make haste by flight; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will gather you together. Behold, my servant shall understand, he shall be exalted, and extolled, and shall be exceedingly high. As many have been astonished at him, so shall his visage be inglorious among men, and his form among the sons of men; he shall sprinkle many nations, kings shall shut their mouths at him; for they to whom it was not told of him have seen, and they that have not heard have beheld."

Exposition

a. Here he excludes the third impediment to deliverance, which could be doubted, from the poverty of things, promising them deliverance freely given: and it is divided into two parts. First he foretells the deliverance of the Jews from the Babylonians. Second, the deliverance of the Gentiles from sins, where it says, "behold, my servant shall understand," etc. Concerning the first, two things. First he foretells the deliverance. Second the order of the deliverance, where it says, "the Lord has prepared," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he promises the deliverance freely given. Second he assigns the cause of deliverance, where it says, "for thus says the Lord God," etc. Third he foretells the joy of those set free, where it says, "how beautiful," etc. Deliverance is promised to them, however, in three ways. First from the oppression of enemies, as to the goods which they recovered, "arise," from the weakness by which you were unable to resist enemies. And therefore he says, "put on strength," as with weapons of war, "Zion," in which was the citadel for the defense of the city, "arise," from the misery which you incurred, enemies despoiling you. And therefore he says, "put on the garments of your glory." The glory of a city is the frequenting of citizens, the beauty of streets, the abundance of goods: Baruch 5:1, "put off, O Jerusalem, the garment of your mourning, and of your affliction, and put on the beauty, and the honor of that everlasting glory which is from God." And as to the enemies which they escaped, "for it shall no more come to pass, that you shall be trodden down," as it were ravaging and lording it over you; "uncircumcised," as to the Gentile enemies, "unclean," as to traitors from among the same people: Revelation 21:27, "there shall not enter into it any thing defiled." Second he promises deliverance from the vileness of the inhabitants, because they were left of the poorest of the land, as is said in the Book of Kings, and Jeremiah. "Shake yourself from the dust," of vileness, "arise," resisting your adversaries; and then, "sit," at rest: 1 Kings 2:8, "he raises up the needy from the dust." Third he promises deliverance from the detention of the captives, the benefit of deliverance preceding, "loose the bonds," that is, go out from captivity: Psalm 107:14 (var.), "he has broken their bonds in sunder." And he shows the manner of deliverance, "for thus says the Lord: you were sold for nothing," as if he said, they who took you captive bestowed no benefits upon you, "you shall be redeemed," from the captivity of Babylon through Cyrus.

b. "For thus says," etc.: here he assigns two causes of the deliverance, namely the calumny suffered by the people, and the blasphemy against God. And first he alleges the calumny, "into Egypt... at the beginning," in the fathers: Genesis 46 and 47, "as a sojourner," and thus they had some right of oppressing them, on account of benefits bestowed; "and the Assyrian," under which the Chaldeans also are included, "without any cause," bestowing no benefit on him. If therefore he drove them into deliverance, "what have I here," that is, what hinders that I should not now deliver Jerusalem? Second he pronounces the sentence, "for it is taken away," from its own land, "rulers," who usurped dominion over it, namely the Chaldeans. And, "because," he is unjustly blasphemed, as though I could not deliver my people: Ezekiel 36:23 (var.), "I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the nations" — on account of this, in that day of deliverance, "he that spoke," promising, "am here," to fulfill: Baruch 3:38 (var.), "afterward he was seen upon earth, and conversed with men"; Hebrews 1:1-2, "God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all in these days has spoken to us by his Son" — if it be expounded mystically of the coming of Christ.

c. "How beautiful," etc.: here he foretells the joy of those set free. And first he describes the joy as to the reception of the messengers who came from Chaldea and announced it, "how beautiful," because it was beautiful and delightful for the people to hear such things announced, "upon the mountains," that many might hear, "that preaches," publicly, "peace," restored by Cyrus; "good," of the promised aid; "salvation," from captivity; "shall reign," because henceforth God alone shall reign in you, since you shall worship him alone in the restored temple. Second he describes the joy as to the watching of the watchmen, who returning from there saw it, setting down the voice of exultation, "the voice," of gladness shall resound: Acts 4:24, "with one accord they lifted up their voice to God" — and the reason of the gladness, "for eye," as it were with their own eyes they shall see the captives coming: above, chapter 33, "your eyes shall see Jerusalem, your protector." Third, as to the arrival of the captives, "rejoice": above, chapter 35, "the wilderness shall be glad, and the solitude shall rejoice." Note, concerning that saying, "put on the garments," that the saints have the garments of virtues, in which they glory. And these serve first for protection: Isaiah 61:10, "the Lord has clothed me with the garments of salvation, and has covered me with the robe of justice." Second, for warmth: Proverbs 31:21 (var.), "she shall not fear for her house the cold of snow, for all her domestics are clothed with double garments." Third, for adornment: Revelation 3:18, "be clothed in white garments, that the shame of your nakedness may not appear." These garments ought first to be kept clean in the honesty of work: Ecclesiastes 9:8, "at all times let your garments be white." Second, clean in the rectitude of intention: above, chapter 9, "the garment mingled with blood shall be for burning, and fuel for the fire." Third, fragrant through the spreading of good repute: Song of Solomon 4:11, "the smell of your garments is like the smell of frankincense." Likewise, concerning that saying, "loose the bonds," note that there are bonds from which God looses. First, of worldly care: Job 39:5 (var.), "who has sent out the wild ass free, and who has loosed his bonds?" Second, of the bond of sin. Third, of perverse action: Psalm 106:14 (var.), "he brought them out of darkness, and the shadow of death, and broke their bonds in sunder." Fourth, of evil habit: above, chapter 5, "woe to you that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope." Likewise there are bonds from which God does not loose. First, of charity: Hosea 11:4, "I will draw them with the cords of Adam, with the bands of love." Second, of the divine yoke: Jeremiah 2:20 (var.), "of old you have broken my yoke." Third, of divine instruction: Ecclesiasticus 6:25 (var.), "put your foot into her fetters, and your neck into her chains."

d. "The Lord has prepared," etc.: here he pursues the order of deliverance. And first he sets down the manifest help of God, "arm," namely his power, which all could in this deed take notice of: Psalm 98:3 (var.), "all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God." Second he enjoins upon the captives their going forth, "depart," namely from Babylon, "unclean, do not touch," do not associate with the unclean among them; Revelation 18:4, "go out from her, my people." Third he teaches the manner of going forth. As to purity, "be clean," you priests. As to security, "you shall not go out in tumult," namely of war, as from Egypt. As to the leader, "the Lord shall go before," as a leader, "and shall gather you," as a shepherd: Ezekiel 36:24 (var.), "I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land."

e. "Behold, my servant shall understand," etc.: here he foretells the deliverance of the Gentiles from the servitude of sin, to be brought about by the Son of God. And first he describes the deliverer, as to the eminence of grace, "shall understand," as to the fullness of wisdom; "servant," according to the nature he assumed, Christ: Philippians 2:7, "taking the form of a servant"; Proverbs 14:35 (var.), "a wise servant is acceptable to the king." "Shall be exalted," as to the working of virtues: Psalm 21:14 (var.), "be exalted, O Lord, in your own strength." "Shall be extolled," as to the ascension: Psalm 8:2 (var.), "for your magnificence is elevated above the heavens"; Ephesians 4:10, "he that descended, is the same also that ascended." "And shall be exceedingly high," sitting at the right hand of the Father: above, chapter 4, "the branch of the Lord shall be in magnificence and glory, and the fruit of the earth shall be high." And as to the ignominy of the passion, "as many have been astonished," at his examples, miracles, and teaching: Matthew 12:23 (var.), "all the multitudes were astonished at his teaching, and at the miracles which he did." "Shall be inglorious," in the passion, "and his form," the beauty of his spirit: Psalm 22:6, "I am a worm and no man, the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people." Second he foretells the deliverance as to the remission of sins, "he shall sprinkle," with the sprinkling of blood, and the water of baptism; as to reverence for him, "kings shall shut their mouths at him," to listen, not presuming to search into his secrets: Job 29:? "the princes ceased to speak." And as to the knowledge of the truth, "for they," namely the Gentiles, "to whom it was not told," through the prophets, "shall see," with the heart. "Have heard," him personally preaching: below, chapter 65, "I am sought by them that asked not for me, I am found by them that sought me not."

Chapter 53

Text

a. "Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? And he shall grow up as a tender plant before him, and as a root out of a thirsty ground; there is no beauty in him, nor comeliness; and we have seen him, and there was no sightliness, that we should be desirous of him: despised, and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with infirmity. And his look was as it were hidden and despised, whereupon we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows; and we have thought him as it were a leper, and as one struck by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, every one has turned aside into his own way, and the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all. He was offered because it was his own will, and he opened not his mouth; he shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer, and he shall not open his mouth. He was taken away from distress, and from judgment; who shall declare his generation? Because he is cut off out of the land of the living; for the wickedness of my people have I struck him. And he shall give the ungodly for his burial, and the rich for his death, because he has done no iniquity, neither was there deceit in his mouth. And the Lord was pleased to bruise him in infirmity; if he shall lay down his life for sin, he shall see a long-lived seed, and the will of the Lord shall be prosperous in his hand. Because his soul has labored, he shall see and be filled; by his knowledge shall this my just servant justify many, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I distribute to him very many, and he shall divide the spoils of the strong, because he has delivered his soul unto death, and was reputed with the wicked; and he has borne the sins of many, and has prayed for the transgressors."

Exposition

a. Here he begins to set down the remedies against the aforesaid impediments. And first, against sin, he promises the passion of Christ. Second, against oppression, he promises exaltation, chapter 54, "sing, O barren," etc. Third, against poverty, the free enjoyment of things, where it says, "all you that thirst," etc. Concerning the first, two things. First he shows the loftiness of the mystery, because it is not easily believed even upon hearing, "our report," concerning those things which we have heard from you concerning Christ: Habakkuk 3:2, "O Lord, I have heard your hearing, and was afraid" — nor is it easily seen, "and the arm," that is, the Son of God, the power of God; Job 40:4, "have you an arm like God?" Second he pursues the order of the deed. And first proposing a comparison as to his own exaltation. "And he shall ascend," from the womb of his mother by being born, from death by rising again, from the world into heaven by ascending, and into the faith of the Gentiles, "as a tender plant," which grows tall, and multiplies into another: above, chapter 11, "there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root." And as to his humanity, "and as a root out of thirsty ground," that is, out of ground without moisture, which on account of its dryness seems unlovely, so also he arose from a mother without the moisture of man: Revelation 22:16 (var.), "I am the root and the offspring of David."

b. Second he sets down the exposition of the comparison, where it says, "there is no," etc. First as to his humiliation. Second as to his exaltation, where it says, "from distress," etc. Concerning the first, two things. First he describes Christ's humility. Second the meekness of the humbled one, where it says, "he was offered," etc. Concerning the first, three things. First he describes the office of humility. Second the contempt of the humbled one, where it says, "and as it were hidden," etc. Third the fruit of the humiliation, where it says, "but he himself was wounded," etc. Concerning the first, two things. First his humility is shown as to the hiding of his majesty, "there is no beauty," as to the abundance of interior goods; "nor comeliness," as to the abundance of exterior goods — for "beauty" properly regards loveliness as to the commensuration of members, but "comeliness" as to the fitness of color and other surrounding things. He indeed had beauty, being "beautiful in form above the sons of men," but it lay hidden on account of the weakness he assumed. He had comeliness, because "strength and beauty are his clothing," but it lay hidden on account of the poverty assumed: whence Song of Solomon 2:14, "let your voice sound in my ears, for your voice is sweet, and it makes you comely." And therefore we who were then unbelieving, and afterward converted, in whose person he speaks, "we have seen him," bodily, "and there was no sightliness," magnificent, as it is said, that the beauty of Priam was worthy of empire. Second his humility is shown as to the display of his weakness, "and we have desired him," with the desire of those awaiting as it were a great redeemer: Haggai 2:8 (var.), "behold, he shall come, the desired of all nations" — and in dignity, contrary to which, "we have seen him despised," inglorious, "the most abject of men," on account of the most shameful kind of death: Wisdom 2:20, "let us condemn him to a most shameful death." Great also in prosperity, contrary to which we found him, "a man of sorrows," as it were wretched and full of griefs: Lamentations 1:12, "O all you that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow." Great also in power, contrary to which we found him, "acquainted with infirmity," by experience: 2 Corinthians 13:4, "for although he was crucified through weakness, yet he lives by the power of God."

c. "And as it were hidden," etc.: here he shows the contempt of the humbled one. And first as to the majesty hidden in the withdrawal of honor, "as it were hidden," his lying majesty under the weakness of the flesh. "Whereupon we esteemed him not," not paying him due honor: above, "truly you are a hidden God." Second as to the infirmity displayed, setting down the sign of infirmity, "surely," as a true man, "infirmities," as hunger, thirst, "he has borne," sustained; "sorrows," sensible in the passion, and sadness. Or, "infirmities" — he took away our sins, or in our place he sustained the punishments: 1 Peter 2:24, "who his own self bore our sins in his body upon the tree." Setting also the contempt, "and we have esteemed him" to have been a leper, unclean, and a sinner; and therefore, "struck by God," for sin. So much for the punishments; and "afflicted," as to the disgraces: Job 22:? "because of your abounding wickedness, and your infinite iniquities." Again note, concerning that saying, "the arm of the Lord is revealed," that Christ is the arm — first, for scourging demons: Psalm 88:11 (var.), "you have scattered your enemies with the arm of your strength." Second, for supporting the weak: above, chapter 40, "he shall carry the lambs in his arm." Third, for defending the faithful: Wisdom 5:17 (var.), "his right hand shall protect them." Again, concerning that saying, "tender plant," that Christ is a rod, first for striking: Numbers 24:17, "a star shall rise out of Jacob, and a rod shall spring up from Israel," etc. Second for sustaining: Psalm 23:4, "your rod and your staff, they have comforted me." Third for directing: Psalm 45:6 (var.), "the rod of your kingdom is a rod of uprightness." Again, concerning that saying, "a root out of the ground," that Christ is a root — first on account of hiddenness: Ecclesiasticus 1:6 (var.), "the root of wisdom, to whom has it been revealed?" Second, on account of the ministering of nourishment: Jeremiah 17:8, "he shall be as a tree that sends out its roots by the moisture." Third, on account of the sustaining of the whole tree: Romans 11:18, "you do not bear the root, but the root bears you."

d. "But he himself was wounded," etc.: here he sets down the fruit of his humiliation, or of the passion. And first he assigns the moving cause, "but he himself," not as we thought, "but wounded," with nails, spear; "for our iniquities," to be taken away; "bruised," with scourgings, blows. Or, "wounded," as to that which is said, "struck"; "bruised," as to that which is said, "afflicted": Lamentations 4:20 (var.), "the breath of our mouth, Christ the Lord, is taken in our sins." Second he shows the resulting usefulness in the reconciliation of peace, "the chastisement of our peace," that is, he himself endured for us the chastisement of correction, through which peace we have access to God: Romans 5:10, "for if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life," etc. And in the restoration of lost health, "stripes," which his body received from the rods: 1 Peter 2:24, "by whose stripes you were healed"; Psalm 102:3 (var.), "who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your infirmities." Third he shows the necessity impending on our part, because all are infirm. Whence all need a physician, and none other could offer a sufficient remedy: Romans 3:22-23, "for there is no distinction, for all have sinned, and need the glory of God." "All we," straying sheep; 1 Peter 2:25, "for you were as sheep going astray."

e. "He was offered," etc.: here he shows the meekness of the sufferer. And first he sets forth that meekness itself. And first as to the voluntary offering of himself, "he was offered," to God, namely the Father, for us as a victim, "because he himself willed it": Psalm 54:8 (var.), "I will freely sacrifice to you"; John 10:18, "I lay down my life, and take it up again; no man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself." Second as to his patient suffering, "and he opened not his mouth," as one contradicting, and contending — whence even before Herod he refused nothing, Luke 23. Second he sets down a comparison, "as a sheep to the slaughter," because he was slain without resisting; "and as a lamb," suffering injury without contradiction: Jeremiah 11:19, "I was as a meek lamb, that is carried to be a victim." Also to be noted, concerning that saying, "the most abject," that Christ was most abject: first, on account of the bitterness of his sorrow: Lamentations 1:12, "O all you that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow." Second, on account of the shamefulness of his death: Wisdom 2:20, "let us condemn him to a most shameful death." Third, on account of the greatness of the crime laid upon him: Proverbs 30:2 (var.), "I am the most foolish of men, and the wisdom of men is not with me." Also, concerning that saying, "a man of sorrows," that Christ was full of sorrows, first on account of the bitterness of the ill: above, chapter 1, "from the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein." Second on account of the outpouring of graces: John 1:16, "of his fullness we have all received, and grace for grace," etc. Third on account of our obligation: 1 Corinthians 1:?, "in this Christ died, that being justified by his grace," etc.

f. "From distress," etc.: the humility of the passion having been set down, here he begins to set down the glory of the exaltation, which is the reward of the passion, as it is said Philippians 2, "for which cause God has also exalted him." And first as to escape from perils. Second as to the vengeance on enemies, where it says, "and he shall give the ungodly," etc. Third as to the justification of men, where it says, "if he shall lay down," etc. Fourth as to the victory over the rebellious, where it says, "therefore will I distribute," etc. Concerning the first he sets down two things. First he sets down the reward, "from distress," of the passion; "from judgment," unjust, by which he was judged by others; "taken away," in the resurrection: Proverbs 12:13 (var.), "the just shall be delivered out of distress." Second he sets down the merit, setting down the dignity of the sufferer, that by the very condition of the punishment the merit of the passion might be weighed, "his generation," eternal, whereby he is of the Father without a mother, or temporal, whereby he is of a mother without a father, "who," as if he said, by no natural reason, though in some manner by divine inspiration: Ecclesiasticus 43:? "who has seen him, and shall declare it?" Setting also the passion inflicted, "for he was cut off," by death, from the Jews; "from the land of the living," from this life: Jeremiah 11:19, "come, let us put wood on his bread, and cut him off from the land of the living." Setting also, on the part of God the Father, the acceptance of the passion, "for the wickedness... I struck him," that is, I permitted him to be struck.

g. "And he shall give the ungodly," etc.: here he sets down the second, namely the vengeance upon his persecutors. And first he sets down the reward, "and he shall give the ungodly," the Jews, into the hands of the Romans; "for his burial," because they caused him to be guarded in the sepulcher. Second he sets down the merit, as to the innocence of his life, "because he has done no iniquity," as to the sin of deed; "neither was there deceit in his mouth," as to the sin of speech: 1 Peter 2:22, "who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." And as to his obedience unto death, "and the Lord," the Father, "was willing." And he indeed was obedient to the Father unto death: Philippians 2:8, "becoming obedient unto death"; 1 Corinthians 1:25, "the foolishness of God is wiser than men."

h. "If he shall lay down," etc.: here he sets down the third, namely that through him the justification of men was accomplished. And first he sets down the reward against the pain of death, "if he shall lay down," by his own will: John 10:15, "I lay down my life." "He shall see a long-lived seed," even to the end of the world, sons regenerated to himself by the power of his death: John 12:24, "unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remains alone; but if it die, it brings forth much fruit." "And the will shall be directed," shall be fulfilled, "in his hand," in his work: 1 Thessalonians 4:3, "this is the will of God, your sanctification." And against the labor of teaching, "because his soul has labored," in preaching, and in traveling about, "he shall see," the Gentiles converted to himself, "and shall be filled," as one having what he intended: John 4:32, "I have food to eat which you know not." Second he sets down the merit, as to the exercise of preaching, "by his knowledge," that is, his teaching: Romans 3:24, "justified freely by his grace"; John 6:68, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." And as to the torment of death, "their iniquities," that is, the punishments for their iniquities: above, chapter 46, "I have made, I will bear."

i. "Therefore will I distribute," etc.: here he sets down the fourth, namely the victory over enemies. And first he sets down the subjection of enemies, "therefore will I distribute," as it were giving him his own portion, "very many," who shall believe in him; "and the spoils of the strong," that is, those captured by the demons, "he shall divide," to his disciples, setting diverse ones over diverse nations: Hosea 13:15 (var.), "he shall snatch away the treasure of every desirable vessel"; Psalm 45:9 (var.), "the king's daughter is all glorious within, the beloved of the beloved, and the beauty of the house he shall divide as spoil." Second he sets down the reason of the subjection as to death, "because he delivered"; and as to the kind of death, "and he was reputed with the wicked": Luke 23:33, "and two thieves were crucified with him"; Psalm 88:5 (var.), "I am counted among them that go down into the pit." Third the salvation of those subjected — for it is not as a tyrant that he subjects them to himself to destroy them, but to save them. "And he himself bore the sins of many," effectively, though sufficiently for all, "he has taken away," and, "for the transgressors he has prayed": Luke 23:34, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Chapter 54

Text

a. "Give praise, O you barren, that bear not; sing forth praise, and make a joyful noise, you that did not travail with child; for many are the children of the desolate, more than of her that has a husband, says the Lord. Enlarge the place of your tent, and stretch out the skins of your tabernacles, spare not; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes; for you shall pass on to the right hand, and to the left, and your seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and shall inhabit the desolate cities. Fear not, for you shall not be confounded, neither blush, for you shall not be put to shame; for you shall forget the shame of your youth, and shall remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. For he that made you shall rule over you, the Lord of hosts is his name; and your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, shall be called the God of all the earth. For the Lord has called you as a woman forsaken and mourning in spirit, and as a wife cast off from her youth, said your God. For a small moment have I forsaken you, but with great mercies will I gather you. In a moment of indignation have I hid my face a little while from you, but with everlasting kindness have I had mercy on you, says the Lord your redeemer. This is to me as in the days of Noah, to whom I swore that I would no more bring in the waters of Noah upon 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 that has mercy on you. O poor little one, tossed with tempest, without all comfort, behold I will lay your stones in order, and will lay your foundations with sapphires, and I will make your bulwarks of jasper, and your gates of graven stones, and all your borders of desirable stones. All your children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children; and you shall be founded in justice. Depart far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you. Behold, a stranger shall come, who was not with me, he that was formerly a sojourner shall be joined to you. Behold, I have created the smith that blows the coals in the fire, and brings forth an instrument for his work, and I have created the killer to destroy. No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that resists you in judgment you shall condemn."

Exposition

a. Here, against the low estate to which things had been brought, he promises the remedy of exaltation. First, he promises a multitude of offspring against their former scantiness. Second, the restoration of honor against the confusion they had suffered, at the words "Fear not" (Isaiah 54:4). Third, prosperity against their former adversity, at the words "O thou poor little one" (Isaiah 54:11). As to the first he does three things. First, he foretells the multitude of her children, calling for a song of thanksgiving — namely from Jerusalem, who had borne no children because she was forsaken and desolate: "sing praise" to God for the benefits granted her. The gladness of those who praise is meant by "break forth into praise," for a song is the soul's exultation breaking forth into voice; and by reason of the very greatness of her joy she is bidden to "neigh" like a horse whose voice, for the greatness of it, cannot be shaped to express itself: "Rejoice with praise, O Jacob" (Jeremiah 31:7 (var.)); "It is good to sing praise to our God; may our praise be joyful and comely" (Psalms 146:1 (var.)). And in promising the multitude of her children he adds "more," as though her children would be multiplied the more, desolate though she now is, than the children of those cities which have husbands to bear them children: "The barren hath borne many, and she that had many children is weakened" (1 Samuel 2:5).

b. Second, he exhorts her to the enlargement of her place, under the metaphor of a tent: "enlarge" the place, as to the ground over which it is stretched; "the skins," with which it is covered; "the cords," by which the stakes are bound; "the pegs," by which the boards are joined, or the stakes themselves — all of which are read to have belonged to the tabernacle of the covenant (Exodus 26 and 36). And because of the multitude of her people she must seek a habitation greater than the land of promise. Third, he foretells the fulfillment of this exhortation: "for thou shalt spread abroad" on every side — which was fulfilled in the time of the Machabees, when certain cities of the region of Samaria, and of other regions, were added to the kingdom of the Jews: "Let thy seed possess the gates of their enemies" (Genesis 24:60).

c. Here he promises the restoration of her former honor against the confusion she had before endured; second, the firmness of this promise, at the words "as in the days" etc. (Isaiah 54:9). As to the first he does two things. First he promises the forgetting of her former confusion: "thou shalt not be confounded," inwardly; "thou shalt not blush," outwardly — shame arising from the consideration of one's own baseness — "of thy youth," because of the abundance of delights in which she once sinned in the wilderness; "of the reproach of thy widowhood," when she was separated from God in the Babylonian captivity: "You shall not be confounded, nor blush: for in that day she shall not be confounded for all her devices wherein she transgressed against me" (Zephaniah 3:11 (var.)).

d. Second, he promises the restoration of her former honor: first as to dominion, "for he shall rule over thee"; and as to her marriage, "a woman forsaken": "If a man put away his wife, and she go from him and marry another man, shall he return to her any more?" (Jeremiah 3:1). Second, he promises the enlargement of her honor, as to the multitude of good things: "the Lord hath called thee, for a small moment" — that is, thy sufferings are small compared with what I shall mercifully bestow on thee: "For that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation worketh for us an eternal weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:17). And as to the fear of the Lord, "in a moment of indignation" — as if to say, for a short time thou hast felt my wrath, compared with the mercy I shall show thee. All these things are mystically expounded of the calling of the Gentiles, because the Gentile people, sterile at first, afterward gathered many children, according to the Gloss.

e. "As in the days [of Noah]" etc. Here he shows the certainty of his promise: "I have sworn," that is, I have firmly resolved, provided thou abide in my commandments: "I will establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you" (Genesis 9:9). Second, from the stability of the creatures: "for the mountains [shall be moved]" — as if to say, it is easier for the mountains and hills to be changed than for my word to fail; or by "mountains and hills" understand the mighty of the world: "We will not fear, when the earth shall be troubled" (Psalms 45:3 (var.)). Note, on the word "sing, O barren one," that there is a barrenness first of a perverse act: "The congregation of the hypocrite is barren" (Job 15:34); second, of sacred contemplation: "Rachel was barren" (Genesis 29:31); third, of temporal tribulation: "Yet again shall the children of thy barrenness say in thy ears" (Isaiah 49:20 (var.)). Note also, on the words "enlarge the place of thy tent," that the heart must be enlarged: first, because of the greatness of the guest received: "Do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord?" (Jeremiah 23:24); second, because of the multitude of gifts: "Thou shalt see, and abound, and thy heart shall wonder and be enlarged" (Isaiah 60:5 (var.)); third, because of the completion of the way: "I have run the way of thy commandments" (Psalms 118:32). Note also, on the words "in great mercies," that the mercies to come are great: first, because they are intrinsic: "I reckon that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18); second, because they are eternal: "For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18); third, because they are altogether luminous: "For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed" (Luke 1:48); fourth, because extended to many: "A certain man made a great supper, and invited many" (Luke 14:16); fifth, because unfailing: "God shall wipe away every tear from the eyes of the saints" (Revelation 21:4 (var.)).

f. "O thou poor little one" etc. Here he promises prosperity against her former adversity. First he recalls that adversity: "poor little one," Jerusalem stripped of her goods; "tossed with tempest," in adversity: "I will send thee to a nation torn and rent asunder" (Isaiah 18:2 (var.)). Second, he promises the prosperity to come: as to abundance of good things, he sets forth a metaphor, "behold, I will lay" thy stones as it were in a pavement of precious stones, signifying men eminent in virtue; "in order," each in his own rank. And explaining this, as to the teaching of divine knowledge, "taught" of the Lord: "I will give my law in their bowels, and I will write it in their heart" (Jeremiah 31:33). As to abundance of peace, "multitude": "Much peace have they that love thy law" (Psalms 118:165). And as to the justice of her works, "and in justice" shalt thou be established: "Sion shall be redeemed in judgment, and they that return of her, in justice" (Isaiah 1:27). Second, as to freedom from evils, he promises first the escape from dangers: "depart far off" — that is, thou shalt withdraw, for thou shalt suffer no calumny: "He shall bring low the oppressor" (Psalms 71:4 (var.)). Second, the removal of the occasion of scandal: "behold, a stranger shall come," for many of the Gentiles who go forth from captivity will cleave to her: "Let not the son of the stranger, that adhereth to the Lord, say: The Lord will divide and separate me from his people" (Isaiah 56:3). Third, promising the destruction of her enemies, "behold, I" — and first he shows the power of him who promises, by a comparison: "the smith," the persecutor who blows up, in the fire of tribulation, vessels hostile to her according to his own will: "His breath kindleth coals, and a flame cometh forth out of his mouth" (Job 41:12 (var.)). And explaining this, "I have created [him]," "the Lord killeth, and maketh alive" (1 Samuel 2:6). Second, he states the promise, "every vessel" — that is, he shall bring to nought every adversary who fights against her with words: "and they shall be as though they had not been" (Isaiah 41:12 (var.)).

Chapter 55

Text

a. "This is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and their justice with me, saith the Lord. All you that thirst, come to the waters: and you that have no money, make haste, buy, and eat: come ye, buy wine and milk without money and without any price. Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy you?"

b. "Hearken diligently to me, and eat that which is good, and your soul shall be delighted in fatness. Incline your ear, and come to me: hear, and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the faithful mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, for a leader and a master to the nations. Behold, thou shalt call a nation which thou knewest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run to thee, because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, for he hath glorified thee."

c. "Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found: call upon him, while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unjust man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he is bountiful to forgive. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are my ways exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts."

d. "And as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return no more thither, but soak the earth, and water it, and make it to spring, and give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so shall my word be, which shall go forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but it shall do whatsoever I please, and shall prosper in the things for which I sent it. For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall sing praise before you, and all the trees of the country shall clap their hands. Instead of the shrub shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the nettle shall come up the myrtle tree: and the Lord shall be named for an everlasting sign, that shall not be taken away."

Exposition

a. Here he applies a third remedy, promising abundance to them against their former want; and this is divided into two parts. In the first he sets down the promise; in the second he shows the firmness of the promise, at "and as the rain descendeth" etc. As to the first he does three things. First he shows the condition of those to whom the promise is made: "this is the inheritance," that is, the things which follow are owed to the servants of the Lord, who are his sons, as it were by hereditary right; and "their justice," as a just wage. Second, he sets forth the promise, promising an abundance of fruits in necessities: "all you that thirst," that is, you of the Jews, who before were thirsting for want; "buy," without price; "eat," bread, and be filled with what is needful: "If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink; and out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:37–38). And as to delights, "come, buy," as though you were to take without paying; "without money," that is, for less than the just price; "wine and milk": "I have drunk my wine with my milk" (Song of Solomon 5:1). And recalling their former want, "why do you weigh out" — as if to say, why until now did you give money, and yet could not buy bread? "You have sown much, and brought in little" (Haggai 1:6). These things are mystically expounded of the water of divine wisdom, which is given freely to those who thirst, according to the Gloss. Third, he enjoins the preparation needed to obtain this promise: "hearken diligently." First he rouses their attention; second he sets down the exhortation, "seek ye the Lord." He rouses their attention by a threefold promise. First, promising those who attend a copious enjoyment of good things: "eat," that is, I will refresh you with divers good things, if you have heard me; "in fatness," as to abundance: "If you be willing, and will hearken to me, you shall eat the good things of the land" (Isaiah 1:19). Second, promising escape from death, "incline" your ear: "I will never forget thy justifications, for by them thou hast given me life" (Psalms 118:93). Third, promising power. And first he sets forth a comparison, "and I will make an everlasting covenant," as I made true promises to David, that his seed should endure forever, so will I do also with you. Second, he explains this, showing what David did: "behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, for a leader and master to the nations": "A people which I knew not hath served me: at the hearing of the ear they have obeyed me" (Psalms 17:44–45). And what he will do for them he adds: "behold, thou shalt call a nation" — to fulfill your command, not by your own strength, but "because of the Lord": "They shall worship for the Lord's sake, for he is faithful, and for the Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen thee."

b. "Seek ye the Lord" etc. Here he enjoins upon them the preparation needed to obtain the aforesaid promise. First he gives the fitting time for seeking divine counsel: "seek ye the Lord, while he may be found," before adversity or death comes. Second, he teaches the manner of seeking: "let the wicked forsake," sinning against God; "the unjust man," sinning against his neighbor: "Take away the evil of your devices from before my eyes" (Isaiah 1:16). Third, he sets down the fruit of return, namely mercy: "and let him return, for he will have mercy" — that is, of manifold mercy in forgiving: "Turn ye to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, patient and rich in mercy, and ready to repent of the evil. Who knoweth but he will return, and forgive, and leave a blessing behind him?" (Joel 2:13–14). Fourth, he removes an obstacle to mercy: "for my thoughts [are not your thoughts]" — as if to say, you are wicked, I am good; you think of vengeance, I of mercy: "Are not his hands known to Israel itself? And doth not his mind know that their thoughts are wicked?" (Baruch 3 (var.)).

c. "And as [the rain] descendeth" etc. Here he shows the firmness of the promise. First he sets down the efficacy of the divine word: it shall not return to him void and without fruit: "He shall come unto us as the early and the latter rain to the earth" (Hosea 6:3 (var.)). Second, he sets down its bearing on the joyful release from Babylon: "for in joy": "He brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness" (Psalms 104:43). As to the congratulation of others, "the mountains and the hills," the powerful and the common people, praising the Lord in you; or it is a hyperbole, "your land" congratulating you on your return. As to the manifold restoration of good things, "instead of the shrub" — that is, the former things were few in comparison to the things to come: "Great shall be the glory of this last house, more than of the first" (Haggai 2:10 (var.)). The "shrub" [saliuncula], so called from its leaping growth, is what is called the wild thistle. Third, he sets down the glory of God that follows: "and the Lord shall be named," everywhere and forever glorious for your deliverance; "for an everlasting sign," to which they shall flee as to a refuge of salvation: "Behold, I have given him for a witness to the nations, a leader and master, and my sign" (Isaiah 55:4, cf. Isaiah 11:10 (var.)). Note also, on the words "all you that thirst, come to the waters," that divine teaching is called water for three reasons: first, because it heals the weak: "The water of wisdom shall give him to drink" (Sirach 15:3 (var.)); second, because it cleanses the defiled: "I will pour upon you clean water, and you shall be cleansed from all your filthiness" (Ezekiel 36:25); third, because it satisfies those who thirst: "If any man drink of the water that I shall give him, he shall not thirst for ever" (John 4:14 (var.)). Second, it is called wine: first, because it stings by reproof: "Thy wine is mingled with water" (Isaiah 1:22); second, because it kindles by exhortation: "The word of the Lord hath inflamed him" (Psalms 104:19 (var.)); third, because it inebriates by consolation: "You shall suck, and be filled with the breasts of her consolations" (Isaiah 66:11 (var.)). Third, it is called milk: first, for its beauty: "Nephtali, a hart let loose, giving words of beauty" (Genesis 49:21); second, for its sweetness: "Let thy voice sound in my ears, for thy voice is sweet" (Song of Solomon 2:14); third, for the ease with which it is taken: "As newborn babes, desire the milk [of the word]" (1 Peter 2:2).

Chapter 56

Text

a. "Thus saith the Lord: Keep ye judgment, and do justice, for my salvation is near to come, and my justice to be revealed."

b. "Blessed is the man that doth this, and the son of man that shall lay hold on this: that keepeth the sabbath, not polluting it, and keepeth his hands from doing any evil. And let not the son of the stranger, that adhereth to the Lord, speak, saying: The Lord will divide and separate me from his people. And let not the eunuch say: Behold I am a dry tree."

c. "For thus saith the Lord to the eunuchs: They that shall keep my sabbaths, and shall choose the things that please me, and shall hold fast my covenant: I will give to them in my house, and within my walls, a place, and a name better than sons and daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, which shall never perish. And the children of the stranger, that adhere to the Lord, to worship him and to love his name, to be his servants: every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and that holdeth fast my covenant: I will bring them into my holy mountain, and will make them joyful in my house of prayer; their holocausts and their victims shall please me upon my altar, for my house shall be called the house of prayer for all peoples, saith the Lord God, who gathereth together the dispersed of Israel. I will yet gather unto him his other people, that are gathered unto him."

d. "All you beasts of the field, come to devour, all ye beasts of the forest. His watchmen are all blind, they are all ignorant: dumb dogs, not able to bark, seeing vain things, sleeping and loving dreams. And most impudent dogs, they never had enough: the shepherds themselves knew no understanding: all have turned aside into their own way, every one after his own gain, from the first even to the last. Come, let us take wine, and be filled with drunkenness, and it shall be as today, so also tomorrow, and much more."

Exposition

a. Here, having promised deliverance from evils, he begins to promise salvation in the bestowal of good things; and this is divided into three parts. In the first is set down the preparation for salvation; in the second, the promise of salvation, at chapter 60, "Arise, be enlightened" etc.; in the third, the manifold distinguishing of the salvation bestowed, at chapter 63, "Who is this" etc. The first is divided into two. In the first is set down the preparation on the part of him who receives salvation; in the second, on the part of him who saves, at chapter 59, "Behold, the hand of the Lord is not shortened" etc. The first is divided into two: in the first he gives the wholesome counsel of preparation; in the second he excludes an unavailing remedy, at "Cry, cease not." The first is divided into two: in the first he sets down the diversity of those who receive the counsel, as to their present condition; in the second, as to their escape from dangers, at chapter 57, "The just perisheth" etc. The first is divided into three: in the first he sets down the counsel; in the second, the fruit of the counsel in those who receive it, at "Blessed is the man that doth this" etc.; in the third, the lack of salvation in those who despise it, at "All you beasts" etc.

b. As to the first he does two things. First he counsels the preparation that is owed: "keep ye judgment," you who are prelates, whose office it is to judge; "do justice," you who are subjects — that is, practice every virtue, insofar as it is conformed to the precepts of the law regarding one's neighbor: "I will show thee, O man, what is good, and what the Lord doth require of thee: verily, to do judgment, and to love mercy, and to walk solicitous with thy God" (Micah 6:8). Second, he promises that salvation is near: "for [it is] near," that is, close at hand, "my salvation," for you shall be saved by me after the captivity; "and my justice," as to the enemies of whom I shall avenge you: "I have made my justice to be near, it shall not go far off" (Isaiah 46:13).

c. "Blessed is the man" etc. Here he sets down the fruit of the counsel in those who receive it. First he sets down its usefulness, giving the fruit of its fulfillment: "blessed is the man that doth this," accomplishing it in deed; "that shall lay hold on it," earnestly setting about it: "Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord: he shall delight exceedingly in his commandments" (Psalms 111:1). And the manner of its fulfillment, as to ceremonial observances: "that keepeth the sabbath" — for the observance of the sabbath was moral insofar as it required that rest be placed in God, and that one at times be free for divine things by abstaining from others; but it was ceremonial as to the determination of the time. For them the seventh day was appointed, on account of the work of creation, than which nothing more worthy had yet preceded it; for us, the first day, or the eighth, on account of the mystery of the resurrection, by which created nature is restored to something better: "Remember that thou keep holy the sabbath day" (Exodus 20:8). And as to moral observances, "that keepeth his hands": "I will wash my hands among the innocent" (Psalms 25:6).

d. Second, he sets down the universality of this benefit, "and let not [the son of the stranger] say." First he excludes the despair of certain ones who seemed unworthy — whether by defect of race, because they were not of the race of Israel, "that adhereth" to the Lord, keeping his precepts; "[the Lord will] separate," not making me a partaker of the salvation promised to them: "For there is no distinction of the Jew and the Greek: for the same is Lord over all" (Romans 10:12); or by defect of the power of generation, "and let not the eunuch say [I am] a dry tree," powerless to generate as a dry tree is to sprout: "The just shall spring up like a green leaf" (Proverbs 11:28). Second, he sets down the promise, "for thus saith the Lord." First, to them specially, as to the eunuchs: "that shall keep," as to the practice of religion; "shall choose," as to obedience to the law; "shall hold fast," as to the keeping of the promise to abstain from evils; "within my walls," a dwelling within the walls of my city; "a name better," for they shall be called my servants and holy ones, "than sons," that is, as though they had begotten many children. And as to those who are strangers, "and the children," that is, I will give them the privileges in which the Jews glory; "to worship," as to spiritual worship; "and to love," as sons do; "to be his servants," and to glory in his dominion. These things indeed were fulfilled in the return of the people from captivity, and more fully in the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith of Christ, as the Gloss explains.

e. Second, as to all men in general, "every one that keepeth" etc. And here he does two things. First he sets down the promise by which he promises the restoration of the holy place, "holy [mountain]": "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord" (Isaiah 2:3). And as to the acceptance of sacrifices, "holocausts": "The sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem shall please the Lord" (Malachi 3:4). Second, he sets down the order of the fulfillment. First, as to the veneration of the temple, "for my house" [shall be called a house of prayer]: "My house shall be called the house of prayer" (John 2:16 and Matthew 21:13). Second, as to the gathering together of the people: "saith the Lord, the God of Israel, who gathereth" the nations that cleave to him: "The Lord buildeth up Jerusalem: he will gather together the dispersed of Israel" (Psalms 146:2).

f. Note, on the words "and I will give them an everlasting name," that the saints have this name: first, from predestination: "The Lord hath called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother he hath been mindful of my name" (Isaiah 49:1). Second, from the divine adoption: "Behold what manner of charity the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called, and should be, the sons of God" (1 John 3:1). Third, from the infusion of grace: "Thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith" (Revelation 2:13). Fourth, from the renewal of the mind: "To him that overcometh, I will give the hidden manna, and will give him a white counter, and in the counter a new name written, which no man knoweth, but he that receiveth it" (Revelation 2:17). Note further that the name of God is to be loved: first, because it is great, to be feared: "My name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord" (Malachi 1:11); second, because it is holy, to be venerated: "He that is mighty hath done great things to me, and holy is his name" (Luke 1:49); third, because it is sweet, to be meditated upon: "Thy name, and thy remembrance, are the desire of the soul" (Isaiah 26:8); fourth, because it is abundant, to have mercy: "Thy name is as oil poured out" (Song of Solomon 1:2); fifth, because it is efficacious, to obtain what is asked: "Whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you" (John 16:23 (var.)); sixth, because it is powerful, to save: "There is no other name under heaven, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12); seventh, because it is hidden, beyond our knowing: "What is his name, and what is the name of his son, if thou knowest?" (Proverbs 30:4).

g. "All you beasts of the field" etc. Here he threatens those who despise salvation with its loss. First he designates the punishment of slaughter, "all you beasts," come to devour their carcasses. Second he sets down the fault — first, that of the prelates, as to their failure in governance and their failure to foresee dangers: "his watchmen" — for prelates are set up to guard the people from dangers, as a watchman guards against enemies; "they are ignorant," failing to foresee dangers: "Let them alone: they are blind, and leaders of the blind" (Matthew 15:14). As to the correction of vices, "they are all dumb dogs... [not able] to bark" against vice: "But I, as a deaf man, heard not: and as a dumb man not opening his mouth" (Psalms 37:14). As to the admonishing of what ought to be done, "seeing vain things," promising them prosperity when adversity threatened, and thus nourishing them in their sins: "Her prophets have daubed them without tempering the mortar" (Ezekiel 22:28 (var.)). As to the despoiling of goods, "and most impudent dogs," as though with no curb of shame, stripping their subjects of their goods, and never satisfied: "They shall suffer hunger like dogs" (Psalms 58:15). And as to a failure in the perfection of knowledge, "the shepherds themselves knew no understanding" of the law and the prophets: "He that understandeth shall possess governments" (Proverbs 1:5); "They knew not, neither did they understand: they walk on in darkness" (Psalms 81:5).

h. Second, the fault of the subjects, or of all in common. First, as to their own will, which pertains to pride: "all have turned aside into their own way": "Every one walketh in the perversity of his own wicked heart, so as not to hearken to me" (Jeremiah 16:12). Second, as to their covetousness, which pertains to avarice: "every one after his own gain" — that is, if today we rejoice in such things, tomorrow much more so: "From the least even to the greatest, all are given to covetousness" (Jeremiah 6:13). Third, as to sensual pleasure, which pertains to the concupiscence of the flesh: "come, [let us take wine], and it shall be" — that is, if today we rejoice in such things, tomorrow shall be much more so: "And behold joy and gladness, killing calves, and slaying rams, eating flesh, and drinking wine" (Isaiah 22:13).

Chapter 57

Text

a. "The just perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart, and men of mercy are taken away, because there is none that understandeth; for the just man is taken away from before the face of evil. Let peace come, let him rest in his bed, that hath walked in his uprightness."

b. "But draw near hither, you sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer, and of the harlot. Whom have you mocked? against whom have you opened wide your mouth, and put out your tongue? are not you wicked children, a false seed, who comfort yourselves in idols under every green tree, sacrificing little children in the torrents, under the high rocks?"

c. "In the parts of the torrent is thy portion, this is thy lot: and thou hast poured out a drink-offering to them, thou hast offered sacrifice. Shall I not be angry at these things? Upon a high and lofty mountain thou hast placed thy bed, and hast gone up thither to offer sacrifice. And behind the door, and behind the post, thou hast set up thy memorial: for thou hast discovered thyself near me, and hast received an adulterer, thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made a covenant with them: thou hast loved their bed with open hand. And thou hast adorned thyself with the king's ointment, and hast multiplied thy perfumes. Thou hast sent thy messengers far off, and wast debased even to hell. Thou hast wearied thyself in the multitude of thy ways: thou hast not said: I will rest: thou hast found life of thy hand, therefore thou hast not asked."

d. "For whom hast thou been solicitous and afraid, that thou hast lied, and hast not been mindful of me, nor thought on me in thy heart? for I am silent, and as one that seeth not, and thou hast forgotten me. I will declare thy justice, and thy works shall not profit thee. When thou shalt cry, let thy companies deliver thee, but the wind shall carry them all off, a breeze shall take them away: but he that putteth his trust in me, shall inherit the land, and shall possess my holy mountain."

e. "And I will say: Make a way, give free passage, turn out of the path, take away the stumbling-blocks out of the way of my people. For thus saith the High and the Eminent, that inhabiteth eternity, and his name is Holy, who dwelleth in the high and holy place, and with a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite. For I will not contend forever, neither will I be angry unto the end, because the spirit shall go forth from my face, and breathings I will make. For the iniquity of his covetousness I was angry, and I struck him: I hid my face from thee, and was angry: and he went away wandering in the way of his own heart. I saw his ways, and I healed him, and brought him back, and restored comforts to him, and to them that mourn for him. I created the fruit of the lips, peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord, and I healed him. But the wicked are like the raging sea, which cannot rest, and the waves thereof cast up dirt and mire. There is no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord God."

Exposition

a. Here he shows the difference, as to the escape from dangers, between those who obey the divine counsels and those who do not obey them. First he assigns the difference; second he sets down the confirmation of each part, at "but he that putteth his trust" etc. As to the first he does two things: first he promises the just quiet amid dangers; second he takes away from the wicked all hope of escape, at "but draw near hither" etc.

b. As to the first he does two things. First he sets down the tribulation of the just, in that they are put to death without any regard being had to them: "are taken away," from this present life, and from their own land, captives, as though they were not just; "from the face of evil," that is, of present evils: "Why lookest thou upon them that do unjust things, and holdest thy peace when the wicked devoureth the man that is more just than himself?" (Habakkuk 1:13); or, "from the face of evil," that is, lest they be changed into wickedness: "He was taken away, lest wickedness should alter his understanding" (Wisdom 4:11). Second he promises them quiet: "let peace come, [let him rest] in his bed," that is, in thy house thou shalt be secure, or in the quiet of thy own heart: "Thou shalt know that thy dwelling shall be in peace" (Job 5:24 (var.)).

c. "But draw near hither" etc. Here he takes from the unjust all hope of escape. First he charges them with their guilt; second he removes their confidence of escape, at "I will declare" etc. As to the first he does two things: first he charges them with the perversity of their sin; second, with their obstinacy in sin, at "in the multitude" etc. As to the first he does two things. First he charges them with blasphemy, setting down the custom of their sin — namely, that in this they imitated their fathers: "sons of the sorceress," who against my precept gave herself to divination; "of the adulterer," inasmuch as, forsaking me, she cleaved to another: "Judge your mother, judge her" (Hosea 2:2). He also sets down the kind of their sin: "whom have you mocked" — as if to say, in blaspheming him, you mock God himself.

d. Second he charges them with idolatry. First he sets down their shame: "are not you [wicked children]": "You are a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a wicked seed, ungracious children" (Isaiah 1:4). Second he sets down the kind of their sin, "who comfort yourselves [in idols]." Now he aggravates their sin of idolatry on three counts: first, from the diversity of the places; second, from the violation of the divine covenant, at "for thou hast discovered thyself near me"; third, from their eagerness for sin, "thou hast loved their bed." The diversity of places in which they sacrificed is shown in three ways: first, as to pleasant places; second, as to lofty places, "upon a mountain"; third, as to familiar places, "and behind the door."

e. As to the first, he does four things. First he describes the pleasantness of the places — whether from the shade of trees, "who comfort yourselves": "Under every green tree thou didst prostitute thyself, O harlot" (Jeremiah 2:20 (var.)); or from the abundance of the waters, "sacrificing little children," that is, your own sons: "Thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne to me, and hast sacrificed them to be devoured" (Ezekiel 16:20). Second, their love of sin, "in the parts of the torrent is thy portion" — as if to say, this you have accounted your lot: "We have everywhere strewn the boughs of gladness, for this is our portion, and this our lot" (Wisdom 2:9 (var.)). Third, the offering of sacrifice, "thou hast poured out a drink-offering," as to liquid things, "sacrifice," as to dry ones: "You shall be confounded because of the idols" (Isaiah 1:29). Fourth, the indignation of God, "shall I not be angry at these things?" saith the Lord (Jeremiah 2:9 (var.)).

f. "Upon a mountain" etc. Here he sets down the lofty places on which they sacrificed, "thy bed" — he speaks after the likeness of a harlot who prostitutes herself to her lovers: "They made them high places, and committed fornication in them" (2 Kings 17:9 (var.)). "And behind the door" etc. Here he points out the familiar places, since they set up idols near the entrances of their houses, so as to have them near at hand in any great need: "He brought me into the inner court, near the inner gate, which looked toward the north, where the idol of jealousy was set up" (Ezekiel 8:3 (var.)). "For thou hast discovered thyself near me" — here he aggravates their sin by the violation of the divine covenant, whereby she had been joined to him as a spouse; and he speaks to her under the likeness of an adulteress, who enlarges her bed so as to receive an adulterer close beside her husband, and makes a pact with him to marry, once her husband has been put away — by which is signified that she worshipped idols within the very temple: "Thou art become as an adulterous wife, who bringeth in strangers instead of her husband" (Ezekiel 16:32).

g. "Thou hast loved [their bed]" etc. Here he aggravates their sin by their eagerness in sinning. First, as to their readiness to sin, "with open hand," that is, without any hindrance: "Thou hast had a harlot's forehead, thou wouldst not blush" (Jeremiah 3:3). Second, as to their zeal to please, in that she adorned herself: "and thou hast adorned thyself," that is, offering my incense in their worship: "I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon" (Proverbs 7:17). Third, as to their eagerness to invite, "thou hast sent thy messengers," since she gathered together diverse idols even from distant lands, and thus "wast debased even to hell," that is, to the very depth of sins: "She doted madly upon her lovers" (Ezekiel 23:5 (var.)).

h. "In the multitude" etc. Here he shows their obstinacy in sin. First, because they were not turned back by the labor of sinning, "in the multitude," that is, in the manifold worship of idols: "We are wearied in the way of iniquity and destruction" (Wisdom 5:7). Second, because they were not turned back by temporal prosperity: "thou hast found life of thy hand," that is, thou hadst at hand whence thou mightest live, and therefore didst not ask of me, but wast solicitous for thy false gods instead — "thou hast been afraid," having forgotten me: "They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment they go down to hell" (Job 21:13). Third, because she was not recalled by the divine forbearance, "and thou hast not [been mindful] of me," though I kept silence, dissembling, waiting for thee to return to mercy: "Dissembling the sins of men for the sake of repentance" (Wisdom 11:24 (var.)); "I have held my peace, I have always kept silence, I have been patient" (Isaiah 42:14). "I will declare thy justice" — that is, the justice which thou dost, or which thou oughtest rather to have received; "thy works," the idols; "[thy] companies," gathered from diverse nations: "Let them arise and help you, and be your protection in your time of need" (Deuteronomy 32:38).

i. "But he that [putteth his trust]" etc. Here he confirms the difference stated above — first as to the just, then as to the unjust, "but the wicked." He confirms the escape of the good from dangers on three counts. First, from the divine gentleness, promising their deliverance as to the restoration of their homeland — for those who trust in idols, their works shall not profit them, but he "that [putteth his trust in me] shall [inherit] the land" of promise: "But the meek shall inherit the land" (Psalms 36:11). And as to the clearing of the way, "and I will say," namely to the princes of the Medes, "make a way," by setting them free; "give free passage," granting leave to return to their homeland; "turn out," so that they hinder us not; "take away," lest others do so either: "Take away the stones out of the way" (Isaiah 62:10). "And [dwelling] in the holy place": "But thou dwellest in the holy place, the praise of Israel" (Psalms 21:4). And as to the divine mercy, "and with a contrite [spirit]": "A contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" (Psalms 50:19). And he assigns the reason from the purging of guilt, promising forgiveness: "for I will not [contend] forever": "He will not always be angry, nor will he threaten forever" (Psalms 102:9). And he adds the reason, setting down the justice already accomplished in punishing: "for the iniquity [of his covetousness]," "I hid [my face]," that I might not help him; "he went away wandering," like a sheep without a shepherd: "Wilt thou contend against him who leaveth nothing unspoken, and will he enter into judgment with thee, and not rather because of thy exceeding great wickedness, and thy infinite iniquities?" (Job 22:5 (var.)).

j. He promises mercy in saving: "I saw his ways," with the eye of mercy; "[I restored comforts] to him," as to the princes; "to them that mourn for him," as to the Jews — or, as to the strangers, their helpers; or, as to the land and its inhabitants: "Who forgiveth all thy iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases" (Psalms 102:3 (var.)). Third, he confirms this from the foretelling of the prophets: "I created," restoring them as it were from nothing; "the fruit of the lips," of the prophets, who foretold these things; "to him that is far off," that is, scattered in captivity: "And coming, he preached peace to you that were afar off, and to them that were near" (Ephesians 2:17).

k. "But the wicked" etc. Here he confirms what he had said of the wicked, by a certain comparison. First he sets it down: "raging," that is, ever surging; "cast up," upon the shore, where mud is made, and things are trodden underfoot. And he concludes his statement: "there is no peace," that is, no salvation for them. Note, on the words "the just perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart," that in the Passion of Christ a man ought to reflect: first, on his love, that he may love him in return: "Set me as a seal upon thy heart" (Song of Solomon 8:6); second, on its bitterness, that he may have compassion: "Remember my poverty, and my transgression, the wormwood and the gall" (Lamentations 3:19); third, on its fortitude, that he may suffer bravely: "Think diligently upon him that endured such opposition from sinners against himself, that you be not wearied, fainting in your minds" (Hebrews 12:3); fourth, on its benefit, that he may give thanks: "I will go up into the palm tree, and will take hold of the fruit thereof" (Song of Solomon 7:8).

Chapter 58

Text

a. "Cry, cease not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their wicked doings, and the house of Jacob their sins. For they seek me from day to day, and desire to know my ways, as a nation that hath done justice, and hath not forsaken the judgment of their God: they ask of me the judgments of justice: they are willing to approach to God."

b. "Why have we fasted, and thou hast not regarded: have we humbled our souls, and thou hast not taken notice? Behold, in the day of your fast your own will is found, and you exact of all your debtors. Behold you fast for debates and strife, and strike with the fist wickedly. Do not fast as you have done until this day, to make your cry to be heard on high."

c. "Is this such a fast as I have chosen, for a man to afflict his soul for a day? is this it, to wind his head about like a circle, and to spread sackcloth and ashes? wilt thou call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this rather the fast that I have chosen? Loose the bands of wickedness, undo the bundles that oppress, let them that are broken go free, and break asunder every burden."

d. "Deal thy bread to the hungry, and bring the needy and the harborless into thy house: when thou shalt see one naked, cover him, and despise not thy own flesh. Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall speedily arise, and thy justice shall go before thy face, and the glory of the Lord shall gather thee up. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall hear: thou shalt cry, and he shall say: Here I am."

e. "If thou wilt take away the chain out of the midst of thee, and cease to stretch out the finger, and to speak that which profiteth not: when thou shalt pour out thy soul to the hungry, and shalt satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise up in darkness, and thy darkness shall be as the noonday. And the Lord will give thee rest continually, and will fill thy soul with brightness, and deliver thy bones, and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a fountain of water whose waters shall not fail. And the places that have been desolate for ages shall be built in thee: thou shalt raise up the foundations of generation and generation, and thou shalt be called the repairer of the fences, turning the paths into rest."

f. "If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy own will in my holy day, and call the sabbath delightful, and the holy of the Lord glorious, and glorify him, while thou dost not thy own ways, and thy own will is not found, to speak a word: then shalt thou be delighted in the Lord, and I will lift thee up above the high places of the earth, and will feed thee with the inheritance of Jacob thy father, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."

Exposition

a. Here he excludes the useless remedy by which they wished to prepare themselves for salvation. First he lays the office of denunciation upon the prophet, setting down the manner in which he must denounce: loudly and without cringing fear, "cry": "Lift up thy voice with strength, thou that bringest good tidings to Sion" (Isaiah 40:9). That it be unceasing, "cease not": "Upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all the day and all the night they shall never hold their peace" (Isaiah 62:6). That it be clear and open, "like a trumpet": "Let there be a trumpet in thy throat" (Hosea 8:1). And the word of the denunciation, "show... their wicked doings," as to their greater sins; "their sins," as to the common ones: "To them that rejoice upon a wall of burnt brick, I will declare their plagues" (Isaiah 30:13 (var.)).

b. Second, the prophet excludes, in the person of the people, the useless remedy: "for they seek me." Here he does two things: first he excludes the remedy in which they trusted; second he exhorts them to what they lacked, at "is not this rather" etc. As to the first he does two things. First he shows the presumption of their confidence, as to three things in which they trusted: namely, in the inquiry into sacred knowledge, "for they seek me," in the Scriptures, "my ways," my precepts and my will, "as a nation," that is, as though they were ready to do them; again, in prayer, "they ask of me [the] judgments," that is, that I should judge for them against their adversaries; "to approach [to God]," with their mouth: "This people draweth near me with their mouth, and glorify me with their lips" (Isaiah 29:13). Again, they trusted in the observance of their fasts: "why have we fasted, and thou hast not [regarded]" as pleasing; "have we humbled," as to the outward circumstance of the fast, in exterior humbling; "[and thou hast] not [taken notice]," with the knowledge of approval: "It is vain to serve God, and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinances?" (Malachi 3:14).

c. Second, he shows the rejection of the good things they claimed. First the cause of that rejection, which is the fault of sensual pleasure: "behold, in the day [of your fast], your own will [is found]," in the things that please the flesh: "Go not after thy lusts" (Ecclesiasticus 18:30). Likewise the fault of cruelty: "and [you exact] all your debtors," to the shore — that they might long press their suits for exacting payment, or for obtaining it. And with the fault of vanity, "do not fast... to make your cry be heard," for the praise of men: "But thou, when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father" (Matthew 6:6); or, "to be heard," that is, if you wish your prayer to be heard by God: "O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to thee" (Psalms 101:2). Second, he shows the insufficiency of the good things they did, "is this such [a fast]," for God has not chosen your punishment for its own sake, nor for the affliction of the flesh — which he touches when he says "for a day," the whole of it, "to afflict"; nor as to the outward show of a debased humility, which he touches when he said "like a circle," that is, bowing the head to the feet, or turning it round about, as monks do, insofar as this is not ordered to virtue of mind: "When you fast, be not as the hypocrites, sad" (Matthew 6:16); "Rend your hearts, and not your garments" (Joel 2:13).

d. "Is not this rather [the fast]" etc. Here he offers the useful counsel. First, as to zeal for piety toward one's neighbor; second, as to the worship of religion toward God, at "if thou turn away" etc. As to the first he does two things. First he sets down the counsel of piety, that they should cease from calumny: "the bands," the false causes by which they cunningly bound the poor as usurers do; "the bundles," the same thing; "that oppress," as to the penalties to which they bound them; "that are broken," by long servitude; "burden," of servitude: "They bind heavy and insupportable burdens, and lay them on men's shoulders, but with a finger of their own they will not move them" (Matthew 23:4). And that they attend to mercy, he exhorts them to mercy as to the hungry, "deal," that is, even if thou hast but little; as to the wanderers and the needy, as to the naked, "when thou shalt see [one naked, cover him]." And he sets down the reason for this exhortation, "and [despise not] thy own flesh," for the poor man is of the same nature as thyself: "If thou lookest upon his likeness thou shalt not sin" (Job 6:28 (var.)).

e. Second he shows the fruit of this counsel, "then shall [thy light] break forth." First, as to the efficacy of its merits — both as to works of virtue, "as the morning [thy light]," that is, thy merits shall then clearly appear, which now thou complainest go unregarded by the Lord; "shall gather thee up," from captivity, or in the protection of his mercy: "He will bring forth thy justice as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday" (Psalms 36:6 (var.)) — and as to intercession, "then shalt thou call [upon him]": "As soon as he shall hear, at the voice of thy cry, he will answer thee" (Isaiah 30:19 (var.)).

f. Second, as to the attainment of good things. First he takes up again the merit required, "if thou wilt take away the chain," by which thou oppressest the poor; "to stretch out the finger," in detraction and threats; "when thou shalt pour out [thy soul]," through compassion; "shalt satisfy," through relief of what is necessary. Second he promises the reward: "[thy light] shall rise in darkness," that is, adversity shall be changed into the light of prosperity, and ignorance into the light of knowledge, as to spiritual things; "and rest," as to natural or temporal things. As to the multiplying of interior spiritual goods, "[he] will fill [thee] with brightness," namely with virtues, or with consolations; "and thy bones," as to bodily goods. And as to the remembrance of good things, "and thou shalt be like a garden," because of prosperity, or the unfailingness of every good: "How beautiful are thy tabernacles, O Jacob" (Numbers 24:5).

g. Second, as to the rebuilding of their homeland, "and [the places] shall be built," after the return from captivity; "for ages," that is, the cities that had been desolate in ages past; "thou shalt raise up," building anew upon the ancient foundations: "I say to Jerusalem: thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah: you shall be built" (Isaiah 44:26). Third, as to the restoration of their good name, "and thou shalt be called the repairer of the fences," that is, of the hindrances of sin, "into rest," or among the nations; "the paths," namely of sin, turning them into rest: "I will hedge up thy way with thorns" (Hosea 2:6).

h. "If thou turn away" etc. Here he sets down the counsel as to the worship of religion in the observance of the sabbath. First he sets down the counsel, "thy foot," lest thou do the works that are forbidden; "call the sabbath [delightful]," that is, celebrating this sabbath as to the exercise of good works: "Remember that thou keep holy the sabbath day" (Exodus 20:8) — another reading has "call," and the sense is the same. Second he sets down the fruit: "then shalt thou be delighted," as to spiritual goods; "I will lift thee up," bringing thee back to thy own land, which is mountainous; "[and] feed thee," as to the enjoyment of the goods of the land: "Then also shalt thou abound in delights with the Almighty" (Job 22:26 (var.)).

i. Note, on the words "lift up [thy voice] like a trumpet," that preaching is a trumpet: first, because it rouses men to the state of life: "The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall rise again incorruptible" (1 Corinthians 15:52); second, because it calls to battle: "If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to battle?" (1 Corinthians 14:8); third, because it announces a man's advance: "It shall be sounded with trumpets" (Isaiah 27:13 (var.)); fourth, because it calls to counsel: "Let there be a trumpet in thy throat" (Hosea 8:1); fifth, because it invites to the feast: "Blow up the trumpet on the new moon, on the noted day of your solemnity" (Psalms 80:4). Note also, on the words "if thou wilt take away the chain out of the midst of thee," that the chain is manifold: first, of punishment: "For which I am an ambassador in a chain" (Ephesians 6:20); second, of iniquity: "The cords of darkness with which they were all bound" (Wisdom 17:17 (var.)); third, of poverty: "As soon as the chains have cast off the wrath of God, they shall not excuse themselves when they are bound; their soul shall die in the storm, and their life among the effeminate" (Job 36:13–14 (var.)); fourth, of servitude: "He shall break them in pieces like a vessel of wood, and shall make for them chains of iron" (Jeremiah 28:13 (var.)); fifth, of imprisonment: "For out of prison and chains sometimes a man cometh forth to a kingdom" (Ecclesiastes 4:14).

Chapter 59

Text

a. "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 divided between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he should not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity: your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue uttereth iniquity."

b. "There is none that calleth for justice, neither is there any that judgeth truly: but they trust in a mere nothing, and speak vanities: they have conceived labor, and brought forth iniquity. They have broken the eggs of asps, and have woven the webs of spiders: he that shall eat of their eggs, shall die: and that which is brought out, shall be hatched into a basilisk."

c. "Their webs shall not be for clothing, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are unprofitable works, and the work of iniquity is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are unprofitable thoughts: wasting and destruction are in their ways. They have not known the way of peace, and there is no judgment in their steps: their paths are become crooked to them: every one that treadeth in them knoweth no peace."

d. "For this cause is judgment far from us, and justice shall not overtake us. We looked for light, and behold darkness: brightness, and we have walked in the dark. We have groped for the wall, and like the blind we have groped as if we had no eyes: we have stumbled at noonday as in darkness, we are in dark places as dead men. We shall roar all like bears, and shall lament as doves, mourning: we have looked for judgment, and there is none: for salvation, and it is far from us."

e. "For our iniquities are multiplied before thee, and our sins have testified against us: for our wicked doings are with us, and we have known our iniquities: in sinning and lying against the Lord, and we have turned away from going after our God, to speak oppression and transgression: we have conceived, and uttered from the heart words of falsehood. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice hath stood far off: because truth hath fallen down in the street, and equity could not come in."

f. "And truth hath been forgotten: and he that departed from evil, lay open to be a prey. And the Lord saw, and it appeared evil in his eyes, because there is no judgment. And he saw that there is not a man, and he stood astonished, because there is none to oppose himself. And his own arm brought salvation to him, and his own justice supported him. He put on justice as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head: he put on the garments of vengeance, and was clad with zeal as with a cloak."

g. "As unto revenge, as it were to repay wrath to his enemies, and a reward to his adversaries: he will repay the like to the islands. And they from the west shall fear the name of the Lord, and they from the rising of the sun his glory: when he shall come as a violent stream, which the spirit of the Lord driveth on. And there shall come a redeemer to Sion, and to them that return from iniquity in Jacob, saith the Lord. This is my covenant with them, saith the Lord: my spirit that is in thee, and my words that I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and forever."

Exposition

a. Here he sets down the preparation for the receiving of salvation on the part of him who saves. First he sets down the necessity of salvation; second, the preparation, at "and the Lord saw" etc. As to the first he does two things. First, in the person of the Lord, he shows the necessity of salvation, exhibiting the misery of the people; second, the people answer, acknowledging their own misery, at "for this cause is [judgment] far" etc. As to the first he does two things: first he shows the cause of the misery; second, the misery itself, at "wasting and destruction" etc. As to the first he does two things. First he excludes a false cause — whether a defect of God's power, or a defect of his knowledge, as though he could not hear their prayers, "neither is [his ear] heavy": "Is my hand shortened and become little, that I cannot redeem? or is there no strength in me to deliver?" (Isaiah 50:2). Second he sets forth the true cause, namely their own guilt. First, touching it in general: "but [your] iniquities," as to the greater ones; "[have] divided," as though a wall or a cloud were set between; "and your sins," as to the common ones: "He said: I will hide my face from them" (Deuteronomy 32:20).

b. Second he pursues this in particular, "for your hands." And he touches specially their sins against their neighbor, for their sins against God he had touched above in chapter 57, and their sins against themselves above in chapter 56. He touches first their injustice, by which they oppressed others, as to the deed: "your hands" are defiled "with blood," of the innocent, whom you have slain; "your fingers," as to lesser injustices, or as to the diligence with which they were done: "For your hands are full of blood" (Isaiah 1:15). As to their speech, "your lips have spoken" iniquity, so as to give justice a deformed shape: "You shall not find iniquity in my tongue" (Job 6:30 (var.)). And as to the omission of justice, "there is none that calleth [for justice]," as to the prelates, whose office it is to judge: "Seek ye in the streets, and see if you can find a man that doeth judgment" (Jeremiah 5:1).

c. Second he touches the cunning by which they deceived others. First he touches this insofar as by their cunning they sought their own advancement: "but they trust in a mere nothing," in vain counsels, or in idols; "and speak," the vanity of their heart, expressed in words: "You that rejoice in a thing of nought" (Amos 6:13 (var.)). And insofar as by it they sought the oppression of others: "they have conceived labor," that is, with labor they devised ways of doing harm, or brought labor upon others; "and brought forth," by the completion of the deed: "He hath conceived sorrow, and brought forth iniquity" (Psalms 7:15). Second he applies a certain metaphor. First he sets it forth as to their cunning itself, and as to the crushing of others: "the eggs of asps," that is, poisonous counsels; "have broken," in public, bringing forth their deeds: "Their wine is the gall of dragons, and the venom of asps, which is incurable" (Deuteronomy 32:33). And as to their own advancement, "and [woven] the webs [of spiders]," that is, thoughts useless for their own advancement: "For the calf of Samaria shall be like a spider's web" (Hosea 8:6 (var.)).

d. He sets down the metaphor again as to the effect of their cunning: as to the first, "he that shall eat," consenting to their deeds; "of their eggs," their counsels; "that which is brought out," long and carefully prepared; "into a basilisk," which as it were kills even from a distance, though seeming to fly harmlessly by. And as to the second, "their webs," that is, just as spiders' webs are of no use for clothing, so their counsels avail them nothing, unless they first are set in motion: "They shall be confounded that wrought in flax, combing and weaving fine linen" (Isaiah 19:9). Second he explains this: first, as to the deed, "their works [are] unprofitable," as to one part, "the work of iniquity," as to the other: "Their works shall not profit them" (Isaiah 57:12). Second, as to their thoughts, "their feet," that is, their affections, as to one part: "Their feet run to evil" (Proverbs 1:16); "their thoughts," as to the other: "Woe to you that devise that which is unprofitable" (Micah 2:1).

e. "Wasting [and destruction]" etc. Here he shows them their misery. First he sets down the greatness of the misery: "wasting," as to loss of goods; "and destruction," as to loss of persons; "in their ways," that is, because of their own evil ways this hangs over them from their enemies. Second, the justice of the misery, namely that they suffer the very things they do to others: "the way of peace," by which they might have set others at peace; "[there is no] judgment," that is right; and therefore "their paths," that is, the things they devised, "are become crooked," that is, made crooked for them, because what they prepared for others they themselves shall suffer; "every one that treadeth," in pursuit, "knoweth," by the knowledge of experience: "Destruction and unhappiness in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known" (Psalms 13:3 (var.)).

f. "For this cause is [judgment] far [off]." Here the people confess. First they confess their misery as to the injustice of the enemies who oppress them: "judgment is far off," because God does not judge our case against our adversaries — the opposite of what was said above, in chapter 46: "I have made my justice near." As to the anguish of their tribulations, under the metaphor of darkness, setting forth the obscurity of that tribulation: "we looked for light," divine consolation; "darkness," of tribulation. And the difficulty of taking counsel, "we have groped," as men not knowing what to do: "Who is blind, but my servant?" (Isaiah 42:19). And the hurt of dangers, "we have stumbled at noonday," even amid the things in which there was a clear way to escape, "in dark places," in doubtful ones: "In the daytime they shall meet with darkness" (Job 5:14). They confess also their misery as to the sorrow of their hearts: "we shall roar," like bears, on account of their cruelty; "as doves," on account of their tender mourning: "Mourning like doves" (Nahum 2:7). And as to the absence of salvation, "we have looked for judgment," on your behalf.

g. Second they confess their guilt. First, the manifestation of their guilt as to God: "[our sins] are multiplied... before thee," in thy sight: "All things are naked and open to his eyes" (Hebrews 4:13). And as to themselves, "our sins have testified against us," in punishments; "[are] with us," for we have not made satisfaction, nor amended ourselves. Second, the diversity of their sins: against God, by deed, "[in] sinning"; by speech, "lying"; by omission, "we have turned away." And against neighbor, by speech, "to speak oppression," against one's neighbor; and against the law, "transgression": "From the heart come forth evil thoughts" (Matthew 15:19). And as to the deed, "[judgment] is turned away," of God, from saving us; "in the street," they committed their injustices in public; "[truth] hath fallen," for they did not only do evil, but while unwilling to do it themselves, they preyed upon others: "Let us circumvent the just, because he is contrary to our doings" (Wisdom 2:12).

h. "And the Lord saw" etc. Here he sets down the preparation for salvation on the part of him who saves. First he sets down the day of this preparation, speaking of God after the manner of men, and setting forth his compassion: "and the Lord saw," with the eye of mercy; "judgment," of one who would save; "[that there is not] a man," to save the Jews; "he stood astonished," grieved, or in anguish. He sets down also the taking up of vengeance: "and his own arm brought salvation to him," that is, strength, that he might suffer nothing contrary to himself, or [strength for] the people, for his own worship; "[his own justice] supported him," that he might carry out vengeance with constancy: "he put on justice" — for just as a soldier is made firm by his arms, so his work is made firm by justice and the resolve to save: "She shall put on justice as a breastplate" (Wisdom 5:19). He sets down also the execution of vengeance: "to the islands," the diverse nations; "a reward," for the evils they did to the Jews: "Let all fear and dread the God of heaven" (Daniel 6:26 (var.)).

i. Second he sets down the mystery of salvation, or of vengeance: "as a violent stream," because of the greatness of his power and strength; or, Christ the minister: "The rushing of the river maketh the city of God joyful" (Psalms 45:5 (var.)). Third, the covenant of firmness: "this is my covenant," the spirit of prophecy; "of thy seed," as to the other prophets and apostles, in whom his spirit, as an inheritance, passes on through the succession of the seed: "I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy" (Joel 2:28).

j. Note, on the words "your iniquities have divided between you and [your God]," that sin divides: first, from one's neighbor, through dissension: "Every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation" (Luke 11:17). Second, from oneself, through contrary affections: "Their heart is divided; now they shall perish" (Hosea 10:2). Third, from God, through turning away: "They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have digged to themselves broken cisterns" (Jeremiah 2:13). Fourth, from the company of the saints, through unlikeness: "The Lord will divide and separate me from his people" (Isaiah 56:3 (var.)). Note also, on the words "their paths are become crooked," that there is a crookedness: first, of guilt: "Bow down, that we may go over" (Isaiah 51:23); second, of misery: "I am become miserable, and am bowed down" (Psalms 37:7); third, of sorrow: "The soul that is sorrowful for the greatness of evil, and goeth bowed down" (Baruch 2:18 (var.)); fourth, of deceit: "A man that is humbled and bowed down deceitfully, take heed of him and beware" (Ecclesiasticus 12:11 (var.)); fifth, of justice: "God, whom none can resist, under whom they stoop that bear up the world" (Job 9:13 (var.)). Note also, on the words "as a violent stream," that Christ is a violent stream: first, because of the abundance of the waters: "The stream of the river maketh the city of God joyful" (Psalms 64:10 (var.)); second, because of the fervor of love: "A swift stream of fire issued forth from before him" (Daniel 7:10); third, because of the swiftness of its course: "The rushing of the river maketh the city of God joyful" (Psalms 45:5 (var.)); fourth, because of the loftiness of its source: "He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb" (Revelation 22:1).

Chapter 60

Text

a. "Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem: for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist the peoples: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall walk in thy light, and kings in the brightness of thy rising."

b. "Lift up thy eyes round about, and see: all these are gathered together, they are come to thee: thy sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters shall rise up at thy side. Then shalt thou see, and abound, and thy heart shall wonder and be enlarged, when the multitude of the sea shall be converted to thee, the strength of the Gentiles shall come to thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Madian and Epha: all they from Saba shall come, bringing gold and frankincense, and showing forth praise to the Lord. All the flocks of Cedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nabaioth shall minister to thee: they shall be offered upon my acceptable altar, and I will glorify the house of my majesty."

c. "Who are these that fly as clouds, and as doves to their windows? For the islands wait for me, and the ships of the sea in the beginning: that I may bring thy sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them, to 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 to thee: for in my wrath I struck thee, and in my reconciliation I have had mercy on thee. And thy gates shall be open continually: they shall not be shut day nor night, that the strength of the Gentiles may be brought to thee, and their kings may be brought."

d. "For the nation and the kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish, and the Gentiles shall be wasted with desolation. The glory of Libanus shall come to thee, the fir tree, and the box tree, and the pine tree together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary: and I will glorify the place of my feet. And the children of them that afflict thee shall come bending to thee, and all that slandered thee shall worship the steps of thy feet, and shall call thee the city of the Lord, the Sion of the Holy One of Israel."

e. "Because thou wast forsaken, and hated, and there was none that passed through thee, I will make thee to be an everlasting glory, a joy unto generation and generation. And thou shalt suck the milk of the Gentiles, and thou shalt be nursed with the breasts of kings: and thou shalt know that I am the Lord thy Savior, and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: and I will make thy visitation peace, and thy overseers justice. Iniquity shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction in thy borders, and salvation shall possess thy walls, and praise thy gates."

f. "Thou shalt no more have the sun for thy light by day, neither shall the brightness of the moon enlighten thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee for an everlasting light, and thy God for thy glory. Thy sun shall go down no more, and thy moon shall not decrease: for the Lord shall be unto thee for an everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. And thy people shall be all just, they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hand to glorify me. The little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a most strong nation: I the Lord will suddenly do this thing in its time."

Exposition

a. Here he sets down the last promise. First, as to prosperity; second, as to gladness, at chapter 61, "the Spirit of the Lord" etc.; third, as to the honor of glory, at chapter 62, "for Sion's sake" etc. As to the first he does two things. First he sets down consolation in general, under the metaphor of light, setting forth the rising of that light, and her deliverance from her former misery...

"...the glory of the Lord," that is, the splendor of its consolation—"the glory of the Lord" meaning his benefits, in which his glorious splendor appears; compare Baruch 5:9 (var.), "walk on by the way, to the brightness of the light of thy glory." Or by "light" is meant the discretion which the Son of God grants for perceiving the light of judgment. What need is there of darkness, of tribulations, of the peoples of Babylon and her other enemies? "But upon thee the Lord shall arise" (Isaiah 60:2), as a sun to give thee light: for "behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist the peoples" (Isaiah 60:2)—the darkness, that is, of unbelief and of sinners; by "peoples" are meant unbelievers. "Upon thee the Lord shall arise" as the sun of justice; or, taken literally, "his glory shall be seen upon thee" (60:2), that is, his miracles. He also sets down the effect of that light: "and the Gentiles shall walk in thy light" (60:3), unto the knowledge and devotion of God, seeing the benefits given to them by him. "In the brightness of thy rising," as of a rising sun, gleaming like a star. Or, "in the light" means in the faith of Christ.

Second, he pursues the consolation part by part. First he sets forth manifold prosperity; second, the observance of justice, at "And I will make thy visitation peace" (60:17). Concerning the first, two things: first he sets forth the increase of prosperity; second, the manner of restoration by which they will be restored to that prosperity, at "Who are these" (60:8). Concerning the first, three things. First he promises prosperity as to the gathering together of the sons, who had formerly been scattered into diverse regions by the captivity: "lift up thine eyes round about" (60:4); "from the side," that is, from the regions near at hand: compare Baruch 5:5 (var.), "arise, O Jerusalem, and stand on high, and look about toward the east, and behold thy children gathered together from the rising of the sun even to its going down." Or it may be referred to the gathering together of the diverse nations under the unity of the Church: "thy sons," the stronger; "thy daughters," the weaker. "From the side," of Christ opened on the cross, whence the sacraments of salvation flowed forth. Or, "they shall be nursed," of a more elementary doctrine. Second, as to the service of the peoples: "then shalt thou see, and abound" (60:5), when the sea is converted, serving thee in merchandise; "the multitude of the sea," namely the merchants of the sea; "the strength of the Gentiles," kings and princes ministering peace and gifts to thee. Or, of the conversion of the Gentiles to the Church: compare Job 22:25 (var.), "then shalt thou abound in delights with the Almighty." Third, as to the abundance of riches. And first, as to merchandise, he sets down the camels—"the multitude of camels" (60:6), that is, an abundance after the likeness of overflowing water—and "the dromedaries," by which merchandise was carried; by these are mystically signified the rich who are converted to the faith, who cast off, as the burden of their riches, the hump of sin. "Dromedary," an animal smaller than the camel but swifter—by which are meant nations swiftly converted to the faith. "Midian and Ephah," regions beyond the sea abounding in such wealth. He sets forth also precious merchandise: "all they from Sheba shall come" (60:6), a city in the farthest part of Ethiopia. This too was fulfilled in the time of Christ: Matthew 2; compare Psalm 71:10–11 (var.), "the kings of Tharsis and the islands shall offer gifts, the kings of Arabia and Sheba shall bring gifts." Second, as to clean animals, insofar as they served for food: "all the flocks of Kedar" (60:7)—Kedar being a son of Ishmael, whence the land takes its name, abounding in flocks—"Nebaioth," another son, "shall minister to thy service," sold to the people who dwell there. And as to their use in sacrifices: "they shall be offered upon my acceptable altar, and I will glorify the house of my majesty" (60:7). By the altar is signified faith; by the rams, the leaders of the flock—the Apostles and the prelates of the churches; by the sheep, the simple faithful: compare Haggai 2:9 (var.), "I will fill this house with glory."

A note on that phrase, "arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem": for the Church is illumined, first, with the light of sacred doctrine: Proverbs 6:23, "the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light." Second, with spiritual understanding: 2 Corinthians 4:6, "God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath himself shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Third, with grace: 1 John 1:7, "if we walk in the light, as he also is in the light, we have fellowship one with another." Fourth, with glory: Psalm 35:10 (var.), "in thy light we shall see light." Fifth, with joy: Tobit 5:12, "what manner of joy shall be to me, who sit in darkness, and see not the light of heaven?" Sixth, with the divine substance: 1 Timothy 6:16, "who only hath immortality, and inhabiteth light inaccessible."

"Who are these" etc. (60:8). Here he shows the manner of arriving at the said prosperity. First, as to the restoration of the city; second, as to the subjection of foreign peoples, at "and they shall come to thee" (60:10); third, as to the multiplication of riches, "for brass I will bring gold" (60:17). Concerning the first he sets down two things: first, the restoration of the city as to the gathering together of its inhabitants, setting forth the manner of their coming with a note of wonder—"who fly as clouds" (60:8), because swiftly and without hindrance; "and as doves to their windows," that is, to their openings, for the same reason. Or it may be referred to the Gentiles, who were swiftly converted to the faith: compare Psalm 55:6 (var.), "who will give me wings like a dove, that I may fly away, and be at rest?" He sets forth also the finding of help which they had from the Gentiles: "for the islands wait for me" (60:9)—the diverse nations across the sea, even the remote ones—"shall wait," as subject to the arbitration of my will. "In the beginning," the place in which the captives had been detained, since perhaps some returned by sea, or since the Lord was able thus to lead them back. Or mystically: "islands," the diverse nations; "ships," the churches; "in the beginning," of the faith. He sets forth also the treasure of those who come, which they brought with them: "silver...to my name" (60:9), that is, to my glory and the service of my name: compare Psalm 105:37 (var.), "he brought them out with silver and gold." Mystically, silver signifies eloquence, and gold the wisdom of those converted to the faith.

Second, he sets forth the restoration of the city as to the building of its walls: "and the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls" (60:10). First, as to the buildings of the city; second, as to the building of the temple, "the glory of Lebanon" (60:13). Concerning the first, two things: first he sets forth the rebuilding of the city, "and they shall build," affording help; "their kings," Cyrus and Darius, affording the expenses and the license to build. Mystically, the Gentiles build the churches of God, and kings serve the things of heaven. And he assigns the reason, and the divine compassion: "for in my indignation I struck thee...I will have mercy on thee" (60:10), freeing thee. Mystically, struck by the blindness of the Jews, or by tribulations; "I will have mercy," through the conversion of the Gentiles. Or, he restored the churches in peace: compare Isaiah 54:7–8, "in a little moment of indignation have I hid my face for a little while from thee." Second, he shows the security of the rebuilt city: "and thy gates shall be opened continually"—

they shall be opened, the fear of enemies being removed, the readier for those who come to worship in Jerusalem; and this is meant by "that they may not be shut." Mystically, "gates" are the ministers who bring others into the faith and into the Church, ready in prosperity and in adversity to receive those gathered to worship: compare Revelation 21:25, "the gates thereof shall not be shut." And he assigns the reason: "for" (60:12)—this does not seem to be fulfilled according to the letter, unless it be understood of those Jews who acknowledged the Lord's dominion, and were for that reason venerated by the people of God. But the mystical sense is plain: "the nation and the kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish" (60:12).

Here he sets forth the rebuilding of the buildings of the temple: "the glory of Lebanon" (60:13), that is, of the wood of Lebanon, shall come to thee, namely for the temple, "to beautify the place of my sanctuary," that is, the temple. "And I will glorify the place of my feet" (60:13), in which they adore, as kings, at the feet. Mystically, by "the place" is meant the Church; by the diverse trees, the diverse faithful converted to the faith. "And the sons of them that afflicted thee shall come" etc. Here he shows the manner of attaining the said prosperity as to the subjection of peoples. First he sets forth the subjection itself: "and the sons of them that afflicted thee shall come bowing down to thee" (60:14), which was fulfilled in the days of the Maccabees, who subdued many of the neighboring hostile nations. Mystically, by these are figured the tyrants who once persecuted the Church, now made subject to the Church: compare Psalm 109:1, "until I make thy enemies thy footstool." Second, he sets forth the reason for the subjection: "because thou wast forsaken and hated" (60:15), it is fitting that after distress thou be consoled, "an everlasting excellency"—a height enduring through many ages, which also mystically befits the Church: compare Tobit 3:22 (var.), "who maketh tranquility after the storm." Third, he sets forth the usefulness of the subjection: "thou shalt suck" (60:16), that is, the fatness of the earth shall be brought to thee in commerce and in offerings; "the milk," by defense and by aid, "of kings"—by "milk" is mystically signified the doctrine given to the simple, by "kings" the Apostles: compare Isaiah 49:23, "kings shall be thy nursing fathers." "And for brass" etc. Here he sets forth the manner of the restoration as to the restoration of riches, since far greater things will be offered to the temple by kings than were taken away by Nebuchadnezzar. Mystically, those who were formerly base in the Church become precious: compare Isaiah 55:13 (var.), "instead of the shrub shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the nettle shall come up the myrtle."

"And I will appoint thy visitation peace" etc. Here he promises the observance of justice: first among the prelates; second among the subjects, "and thy mourning shall be ended" (60:20). Concerning the first, two things: first he consoles them from the rectitude of the prelates, touching the justice of the prelates, "thy overseers"—those who visit and correct—mystically of Christ and the Apostles: Jeremiah 3:15, "I will give you pastors according to my own heart, to feed you with knowledge and doctrine." He sets forth also the effect of justice as to the absence of malice: "iniquity shall no more be heard" (60:18), because for a time the best laws were kept: compare 1 Maccabees 3 (var.). Or, "iniquity," of sorrows. Mystically this pertains to the state of future blessedness: compare Psalm 102:12, "as far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our iniquities from us." And as to the absence of misery: "wasting," as to the fields; "destruction," as to men thus crushed by their enemies; "gates," to which the people came together for judgment. This too mystically pertains to the state of future blessedness, when the sun shall be far brighter than it is now, and the moon likewise—though not for the sake of the saints, since they will have no need of its splendor: compare Revelation 21:23, "and the city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it, for the glory of God hath enlightened it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof." He sets forth also the eternity of the one who governs: "thy sun shall go down no more" (60:20), namely God: compare Psalm 101:28, "but thou art always the selfsame, and thy years shall not fail." "And the days of thy mourning shall be ended"—here as to the state of the subjects: first he sets forth the cessation of sorrow, "the days of thy mourning shall be ended" (60:20), that is, of the captivity. Mystically, of the future beatitude: compare Revelation 21:4, "God shall wipe away all tears from the eyes of the saints." Second he sets forth the observance of justice: "thy people shall be all just" (60:21), unto the glorifying of me: compare Isaiah 43:7, "everyone that calleth upon my name I have created for my glory"; "for ever," so long as he remains in justice—which is plainly true, mystically, of the blessed saints. Third, the multiplication of the seed: "a little one" (60:22), that is, from them shall many be born by succession, just as one nation was born of Abraham. Mystically, one of the Church, the only-begotten, shall be set forward as prelate: Wisdom 3:8, "the saints shall judge nations." "In his time," that is, of Christ, or at a predetermined time; "suddenly," as though unforeseen—all that has been said.

A note on that phrase, "who are these that fly as clouds, and as doves to their windows" (60:8): for the Apostles are called clouds, first, on account of the fertility they bring to the earth, namely by rain: compare Job 36:27–28 (var.), "the clouds pour out rain"; second, on account of the diffusion of light: the same passage, "which enlighten all things round about"; third, on account of the fulfillment of the divine will: the same passage, "whithersoever the will of him that governeth them shall lead them." Likewise they are called doves: first, on account of compunction of heart: compare Isaiah 38:14, "I will mourn as a dove"; second, on account of simplicity of life: Matthew 10:16, "be ye wise as serpents, and simple as doves"; third, on account of the height, or the swiftness, of contemplation: Psalm 54:7, "who will give me wings like a dove, that I may fly away, and be at rest?"; fourth, on account of purity of conscience: compare Song of Solomon 1:14 (var.), "thy eyes are doves' eyes"; Song of Solomon 4:1, "thy eyes are doves' eyes."

Chapter 61

Text

a. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me; he hath sent me to preach good tidings to the meek, to heal the contrite of heart, and to preach deliverance to the captives, and an opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn."

b. "To appoint to the mourners of Sion, and to give them a crown for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, a garment of praise for the spirit of grief: and they shall be called therein the gates of justice, the planting of the Lord to glorify him. And they shall build the places that have been desolate from of old, and shall raise up ancient ruins, and shall repair the desolate cities, that were destroyed for generation and generation."

c. "And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks; and the sons of strangers shall be your husbandmen and dressers of your vines."

d. "But you shall be called the priests of the Lord; to you it shall be said, Ye ministers of our God. You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and you shall boast in their glory. For your double confusion and shame, they shall praise their portion; therefore shall they possess double in their land, everlasting joy shall be unto them. For I am the Lord that love judgment, and hate robbery in a holocaust; and I will make their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring in the midst of peoples; all that shall see them shall acknowledge them, that these are the seed which the Lord hath blessed."

e. "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, and my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, and he hath covered me with the robe of justice, as a bridegroom decked with a crown, and as a bride adorned with her jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth her seed to spring up, so shall the Lord God make justice to spring forth, and praise before all the nations."

Exposition

a. Here he promises the people gladness; and this is divided into two parts. In the first he promises joy. In the second the people receive the promise, and give thanks, at "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord" (v. 10). Concerning the first, two things: first he receives the office of announcing the joy; second he foretells the reason, or matter, of the joy, at "and they shall be called" (v. 3). Concerning the first, two things: first the gift of prophecy is touched upon—"the Spirit of the Lord is upon me," anointing me, filling me with the gift of prophecy: compare 2 Peter 1:21, "for prophecy came not by the will of man at any time, but the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Spirit." Or, of Christ, of whom it was said above, Isaiah 11:2, "the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him"; and Psalm 44:8, "God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Second, the act of prophecy, or of Christ, is touched upon, which is twofold: to foretell rewards to the good—"to preach good tidings": compare James 1:21, "receive with meekness the ingrafted word, which is able to save your souls"—and to bring remedies to the wretched, as to those cast down by faintness of spirit, "to heal the contrite of heart," by consoling, or by remitting sins: so of Christ, Psalm 146:3, "who healeth the broken of heart, and bindeth up their wounds." And as to those held in captivity, to whom he announces the benefit of liberation, "and to preach deliverance to the captives"—literally, or under the devil and their own errors: compare Isaiah 49:9, "that thou mayest say to them that are bound, Go forth"—and the time of that liberation, "and to proclaim the acceptable year," as to the liberation of the Jews; "of vengeance," as to the Chaldeans. Or, the time of grace, in which he took vengeance upon the devil, suppressing his power: John 12:31, "now is the judgment of this world, now shall the prince of this world be cast out." And as to those swallowed up in sorrow, to whom he announces joy, "to comfort all that mourn," in general; "to appoint for them that mourn in Sion," in particular: compare Ecclesiasticus 48:27 (var.), "in a great spirit he saw the things that are to come." And the sign of joy, when the signs of sorrow are turned into signs of gladness—and this is meant by "and to give them a crown for ashes": compare Isaiah 28:5, "in that day the Lord of hosts shall be a crown of glory."

b. Here he foretells the matter of the joy. First, as to the repair of the buildings, setting forth the condition of those who rebuild: "they shall be called therein"—namely Jerusalem, by the decree and permission of Cyrus—"the gates of justice," steadfast in doing justice, unmoved by the threats of adversaries; or, the Apostles. And he sets forth the repair of the buildings, "and they shall build," these men aforesaid; or the Apostles: compare Isaiah 58:12, "and the ancient waste places shall be built up in thee." A note on the word "hath anointed me": for Christ is anointed by God the Father, first, with the oil of priestly dignity, as a priest for offering sacrifice: compare Ecclesiasticus 45:15, "he anointed him with holy oil." Second, with the power of a king, as a king to govern: compare 2 Samuel 12:7 (var.), "I anointed thee king over Israel, and prince over my people." Third, with immense fortitude, as a champion for the fight: 2 Samuel 1:21, "how is the shield of the valiant cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil?" Fourth, with an abundance of gladness, as one liberal in showing mercy: compare Psalm 111:5 (var.), "acceptable is the man that showeth mercy and lendeth"; Psalm 44:8, "God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Likewise Christ is anointed by the devoted servant: first, with the tears of compunction: Matthew 6:17, "anoint thy head, and wash thy face"; second, with the ointment of devotion: Luke 7:38, "and with an alabaster box of ointment she anointed his feet"; third, with the oil of pure intention: Ecclesiastes 9:8, "at all times let thy garments be white, and let not oil be wanting on thy head"; fourth, with the oil of praise and thanksgiving: Genesis 28:18, "and Jacob, rising in the morning, took the stone which he had laid under his head, and set it up for a memorial, pouring oil upon the top of it."

c. Second, as to the preservation of the possession, "and strangers shall stand"—this could be fulfilled literally, or some strangers were occupied with these base services, as with the Gibeonites. Or mystically, the Gentiles, or the holy preachers of the Church, who keep and cultivate the Church herself by their merits and their teaching. "But you shall be called the priests" etc. Here he foretells the matter of joy as to the glory of men; and concerning this he does three things. First he shows the perfection of the glory, because they are glorious in spiritual things—"ye ministers," as teaching a holy life worthy of the priesthood: compare Wisdom 5:5, "how are they numbered among the children of God, and their lot is among the saints!" They are glorious also in temporal things—"the riches of the Gentiles," you shall be refreshed and sustained by the wealth of the Persians and the Medes; "you shall boast," you shall exult: compare Isaiah 60:5, "when the multitude of the sea shall be converted to thee, the strength of the Gentiles shall come to thee." Mystically, the Apostles are priests, as teachers of the nations, delighting in the fortitude of the martyrs. And he assigns the reason for this perfection: "for your double confusion"—from the lack of spiritual and temporal things you had confusion; "they shall praise," your neighbors seeing you; "their portion," the recompense of a double good given them by God: compare Zechariah 9:12, "even today also, declaring, I will render thee double." Mystically the Church receives rewards in the goods of soul and body for a twofold confusion, that of the Gentiles and that of the unbelief of the Jews. Second, he touches on the duration of the glory: "everlasting joy"—this is true so long as she remains in justice, as is expounded above, Isaiah 35 (var.): "everlasting joy shall be upon their heads, they shall obtain joy and gladness." And he assigns the reason: "for I am the Lord"—and the sense is, because the Lord loves justice, he will grant you to be just, that you may be pleasing to him, and he will make with you a covenant of everlasting joy—as it is said, Ecclesiasticus 34:24 (var.), "he that offereth sacrifice of the goods of the poor is as one that sacrificeth the son in the presence of his father." "An everlasting covenant": compare Jeremiah 31:31, "and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah." Third, the spreading abroad of the glory: "and it shall be known"—which may be referred either to the Jews, who were famous for the observance of religion, or to the spiritual offspring of the Apostles.

d. "I will greatly rejoice" etc. Here the people receive the promise, and give thanks; and concerning this he does two things. First he expresses, in the person of the people, the joy of a cleansed heart, "I will greatly rejoice": compare Isaiah 25:9 (var.), "in that day I will rejoice in the Lord, and I will exult in my God, my savior." Second he confesses the divine benefit. And first under the likeness of garments, insofar as divine benefits protect—"for he hath clothed me...with salvation," from miseries: compare Isaiah 52:1 (var.), "put on the garments of thy joy." Second, under the likeness of ornaments, insofar as they adorn—"and as a bride adorned with her jewels." Mystically, the first befits those perfect in the Church, who put on the person of Christ; the second, those imperfect. Third, under the likeness of sprouting seed, as to fruit—"for as the earth bringeth forth": compare Isaiah 45:8, "let the earth be opened, and bud forth a savior; and let justice spring up together; I the Lord have created him."

Chapter 62

Text

a. "For Sion's sake I will not hold my peace, and for the sake of Jerusalem I will not rest, till her just one come forth as brightness, and her savior be lighted as a lamp."

b. "And the Gentiles shall see thy just one, and all kings thy renowned one; and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name."

c. "And thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be called Forsaken, and thy land shall no more be called Desolate; but thou shalt be called My pleasure in her, and thy land Inhabited; because the Lord hath been well pleased with thee, and thy land shall be inhabited. For the young man shall dwell with the virgin, and thy children shall dwell in thee; and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace, day or night."

d. "You that are mindful of the Lord, hold not your peace, and give him no silence, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth."

e. "The Lord hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength: Surely I will no more give thy corn to be food for thy enemies, and the sons of strangers shall not drink thy wine, for which thou hast labored. For they that gather it shall eat it, and shall praise the Lord; and they that bring it together shall drink it in the courts of my sanctuary."

f. "Go through, go through the gates, prepare the way for the people; make straight the path, gather out the stones, and lift up a standard to the peoples. Behold the Lord hath made it to be heard in the farthest parts of the earth: tell the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy savior cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work is before him. And they shall call them the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord; and thou shalt be called a city sought after, and not forsaken."

Exposition

a. Here he promises the people the honor of glory. And first the prophet's petition is set forth. Second, the Lord's promise, at "the Lord hath sworn" (v. 8). Concerning the first, two things: first he himself petitions; second he induces others to petition, at "you that are mindful" (v. 6). Concerning the first, two things: first he petitions for this, the rising of the Savior. "For Sion," that is, for her benefit, or out of love, "I will not hold my peace," from petitions made before the Lord. "Her savior," Cyrus. "As brightness," in the glory of the kingdom. Mystically, "I will not hold my peace," of the preaching of Christ, on account of the contradiction it meets. "Sion," of the king; "Jerusalem," of the priesthood; "her savior," Christ.

b. Second he shows the fruit of that rising. First as to the glory of the city, promising that glory under three heads: in royal dignity, "and the Gentiles shall see," admiring and venerating, "thy just one," Christ, or Cyrus: compare Psalm 98:3 (var.), "all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God." In the newness of the name, "and thou shalt be called by a new name," after the custom of the ancients, who imposed new names upon new events—a name which he afterward expresses. Mystically, of the Church, which was formerly the Synagogue.

c. In the stronghold of divine protection: "thou shalt be a crown of glory," because thy God shall glory in thee, as a king glories in his crown; "in the hand," that is, in his protection: compare Wisdom 5:16, "they shall receive a glorious kingdom, and a beautiful crown from the hand of the Lord." Mystically the Church, as the crown of the Son of God, is crowned by the Father. And he excludes disgrace, in which likewise the new name is expressed: "thou shalt no more be called." Second, as to the gladness of the inhabitants: as to the children, "the young man shall dwell"; as to perfect men, "and thy children shall dwell"; as to the married, "and thy God shall rejoice over thee." Mystically, "a young man with a virgin," chastely, as Mary with Joseph; "the bridegroom," Christ; "the bride," the Church. Third, as to the diligent guarding of the buildings, which is expressed in 3 Esdras 4 (var.): "with one hand they builded, and with the other held a weapon." "They shall never hold their peace": this is spoken after the likeness of watchmen who guard a city. Or, by metaphor, it signifies the diligence of the princes who governed the people, or of the preachers in the Church: compare Revelation 4:8, "they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy."

d. "You that are mindful" etc. Here he induces others to a like petition, "hold not your peace," for another reason, namely for him, that is, for God: compare 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18, "always rejoice, pray without ceasing, in all things give thanks."

e. "The Lord hath sworn" etc. Here the Lord promises to fulfill the petition. First as to the driving away of enemies, "if I give"—above this, they did not requite me: compare Proverbs 28:19, "he that tilleth his ground shall be filled with bread." Second, as to the liberation of the captives: as to the preparation of the way, "go through, go through," you messengers of Cyrus and Darius; "stones," hindrances: compare Isaiah 57:14, "take away the stumbling-blocks out of the way"; or, you keepers of the walls, the preachers.

f. As to the granting of gladness, "lift up a standard," the cross: compare Isaiah 11:12, "he shall set up a standard unto the nations." And as to the requital of justice, "tell the daughter," the people of the Jews; "the savior," God, or Cyrus; "the reward," that good things may be rendered to you, and evil to your enemies. Mystically, of the coming of Christ to judgment. Third, at "and they shall call them," he sets forth the honor of the liberated, who were held in great renown for holiness on account of the benefits bestowed upon them. Mystically, of the Church and the Christian people.

A note on the phrase, "for Sion's sake I will not hold my peace": for the saints do not keep silence, first, on account of the kindling of devotion: compare Jeremiah 20:9, "and the word of the Lord was made unto me as a burning fire shut up in my heart." Second, on account of the evidence of the truth: Acts 4:20, "for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen." Third, on account of the office enjoined: 1 Corinthians 9:16, "a necessity lieth upon me, for woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel." Fourth, on account of the reward hoped for: Galatians 6:9, "and in doing good, let us not fail, for in due time we shall reap, not fainting." Likewise a note on the phrase, "till her just one go forth as brightness": for Christ shines forth, first, as the image of the Father: Hebrews 1:3, "who, being the brightness of his glory, and the figure of his substance." Second, with the light of the saints: compare Psalm 110:3 (var.), "in the brightness of the saints, from the womb, before the day-star, I begot thee." Third, with the fullness of glory: Matthew 17:2, "his face did shine as the sun." Fourth, with the rightness of doctrine: compare Isaiah 60:3, "and the Gentiles shall walk in thy light, and kings in the brightness of thy rising."

Chapter 63

Text

a. "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bosra? This beautiful one in his robe, walking in the greatness of his strength. I, that speak justice, and am a defender to save."

b. "Why then is thy apparel red, and thy garments like theirs that tread in the winepress?"

c. "I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the Gentiles there is not a man with me; I have trodden them in my fury, and have trampled on them in my wrath; and their blood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my apparel."

d. "For the day of vengeance is in my heart, the year of my recompense is come. I looked about, and there was none to help; I sought, and there was none to give aid; and my own arm hath saved for me, and my indignation itself hath helped me. And I have trodden down the peoples in my fury, and have made them drunk in my indignation, and have brought down their strength to the earth."

e. "I will remember the tender mercies of the Lord, the praise of the Lord for all the things that the Lord hath bestowed upon us, and for the multitude of the good things to the house of Israel, which he hath given them according to his kindness, and according to the multitude of his mercies."

f. "And he said: Surely they are my people, children that will not deny; and he became their savior. In all their affliction he was not troubled, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his mercy he redeemed them, and he carried them, and lifted them up, all the days of old."

g. "But they provoked to wrath, and afflicted the spirit of his Holy One; and he was turned to be their enemy, and he himself fought against them. And he remembered the days of old, of Moses, and of his people: Where is he that brought them out of the sea, with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he that put in the midst of them the spirit of his Holy One?"

h. "He that brought out Moses by the right hand, by the arm of his majesty; who divided the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name; who led them through the depths, as a horse not stumbling in the desert; as a beast that goeth down into the field, the spirit of the Lord was his guide. So didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name."

i. "Look down from heaven, and behold from thy holy habitation and thy glory; where is thy zeal, and thy strength, the multitude of thy bowels, and of thy mercies? They have restrained themselves toward me. For thou art our father, and Abraham hath not known us, and Israel hath been ignorant of us; thou, O Lord, art our father, our redeemer, from everlasting is thy name."

j. "Why hast thou made us to err, O Lord, from thy ways; why hast thou hardened our heart, that we should not fear thee? Return, for the sake of thy servants, the tribes of thy inheritance. They have possessed thy holy people as nothing; our enemies have trodden down thy sanctuary. We have become as in the beginning, when thou didst not rule over us, and when thy name was not called upon over us."

Exposition

a. Here he begins to touch upon the distinguishing of the evil from the good in the attainment of the promised salvation; and it is divided into three parts. In the first he introduces the Judge, as it were, to make the distinction. In the second he sets forth a petition, at "I will remember" etc. In the third the Judge pronounces sentence, distinguishing the two, chapter 65, "they sought me" etc. Concerning the first, two things: first a question is raised about the person of the Judge; second about the character of his habit, at "why then is thy apparel red" etc. Concerning the first, two things: first he sets down the question; second the response, at "I, that speak justice" etc. It should be known that all the saints commonly expound this of Christ. And the question here is that of the angels, who did not fully understand the mystery of Christ's incarnation, and therefore asked, as it were, in ignorance—so Jerome shows. Augustine, on Genesis, seems to say the contrary, holding that the angels knew from the beginning of their creation all that he was to do—whether he implanted the seminal reasons of things in the things themselves, or kept them with himself, to be brought forth, though the capacity for their coming to be was placed within the things. And so it would seem that they knew mysteries of this kind. To this the Gloss on Ephesians responds, on that verse, "to me, the least of all the saints," saying that the greater angels knew it, but the lesser ones—whose voice this is—did not know it. Dionysius, however, seems to say otherwise, in the seventh chapter of the Celestial Hierarchy: for he holds that this question belongs to the highest angels, who receive illumination immediately from God. Whence they are answered immediately by God, "I, that speak justice"—although they inquired of one another out of reverence for Christ, like disciples awaiting the master's response. And though the highest angels knew mysteries of this kind as to the substance of the fact, yet as to the particular circumstances they did not know perfectly; whence, since such things appear better to a higher and more perfect intellect, namely the divine, than to the angelic, they therefore sought to be more illumined on this point, that they might understand more perfectly. And they wonder at three things. First, at the victorious advent: "who is this that cometh from Edom"—Edom being interpreted "earthly" or "bloody"; "from Bosra," a stronghold, formerly the refuge of demons. "Bosra" is sometimes the proper name of a certain city in the land of Moab, and sometimes an appellative name, meaning the same as a fortified stronghold or city; whence it is frequently put for Idumea, fortified with mountains. Here, however, it stands for hell. "With dyed garments," that is, with his own bodily members, "stained" with the blood of the passion: compare Isaiah 34:6 (var.), "for my sword is filled with blood in heaven; behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my slaughter, unto judgment." Second, they wonder at the beautiful aspect in him: "this beautiful one," from "form," and so called on account of his figure, that is, the fitting proportion of his members; "in his robe," in the habit of humanity: 1 Peter 1:12, "into which things the angels desire to look." Third, they wonder at the advance of his power: "walking," into heaven, not by angelic help, but by his own power—which until then was unheard of: Hebrews 1:3, "upholding all things by the word of his power."

b. "I" etc. Here he sets forth the response, and shows himself to be the Judge: "I, that speak justice," that is, I who have authority to pronounce judgment upon all: compare Isaiah 45:19, "I the Lord that speak justice"; and the savior, "and a defender," against the demons, "to save," the human race: Exodus 15:2, "my strength and my praise is the Lord, and he is become my salvation"; the same, "the Lord is as a man of war, Almighty is his name." A note on the phrase, "this beautiful one," for Christ is beautiful: first, because he shines with the splendor of divinity: Hebrews 1:3, "who, being the brightness of his glory, and the figure of his substance." Second, because he is formed by the conformity of the union: Psalm 44:3, "thou art beautiful above the sons of men." Third, because he is distinguished by the manifold color of virtue: Song of Solomon 5:10, "my beloved is white and ruddy," his dwelling among the myrtles. Fourth, because he is clothed with the honesty of his manner of life: Job 40:5, "deck thyself with beauty, and array thyself in glory."

c. "Why then is thy apparel red" etc. Here he sets forth the second question, concerning the habit. And first he sets forth the question—"why then," as if to say: those who commonly wear this crimson are not the just, but rather the wicked—not saviors, but oppressors, "like them that tread." For there is in those regions a red wine which stains after the manner of blood. Second he sets forth the response, "the winepress." And first he assigns the reason for the redness; second he pursues the whole order of the matter, at "the day of vengeance" etc.

d. Concerning the first, three things. First he relates his singular victory: "the winepress," namely the cross, by the weight of which, pressed beneath the burden of the passion, he trod down his enemies, "suffering, and conquering"; "and of the Gentiles there is not a man with me," to help, because when he was forsaken, all fled. And he says pointedly, "a man," on account of the Blessed Virgin, in whom faith never failed: Song of Solomon 1:13, "a cluster of cypress my beloved is to me, in the vineyards of Engaddi." Second he touches upon the just recompense of the enemies: "I have trodden them," the demons, or the Jews, "in my fury," wrath being kindled: compare Psalm 90:13, "thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon." Third he as it were concludes the cause of the redness: "and their blood is sprinkled upon my garments," because it was poured out from my own body; "their blood," because it was given over to their own power, to be poured out. He speaks after the likeness of a conqueror, whose garments are stained with blood: compare Isaiah 63:1 (var.), "with dyed garments." Their defilement is reckoned as my own. "The day of vengeance" etc. Here he pursues the whole order of the matter.

e. And first he sets forth the fitness of the time, "of vengeance," both as to the demons and as to the just, whose reward had until then been delayed: compare Isaiah 34:8, "for it is the day of the vengeance of the Lord." Second he proposes the necessity of the salvation to come: "I looked about, and there was none to help," for me upon the cross: compare Job 19:13, "my brethren have departed far from me"; and "my kinsfolk have forsaken me"; Psalm 68:21, "I looked for one that would grieve together with me, but there was none, and for one that would comfort me, and I found none." Third, the fulfillment of the salvation: "and my own arm hath saved for me," that is, brought me, or the human race, the salvation of the resurrection, "arm," of power: compare Psalm 97:1, "his right hand hath wrought for him salvation, and his holy arm." Fourth, the setting forth of the vengeance: "and I have trodden down the peoples," the Jews by means of the Romans, "I have made them drunk," filled them with affliction, "in my indignation," the same: compare Isaiah 13:11, "the Lord of hosts hath purposed this, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring to disgrace all the glorious of the earth." The whole could also be expounded literally, so that the Lord be introduced metaphorically, as one coming to destroy the various peoples who were the enemies of the Jews, and especially the Idumeans, after the metaphorical manner in which he is described as clothed: compare Isaiah 59:17, "he put on justice as a breastplate."

f. "I will remember the tender mercies of the Lord" etc. Here the prophet extends a petition to the Judge who has come to speak and to fulfill justice. And first he inclines him to pity, calling to mind the former benefits, which had ceased; second, the perils they had incurred, at "why hast thou made us to err" etc. Concerning the first, two things: first he sets forth his intent, "which the Lord hath rendered to us," according to our merits, both in good things and in the punishment of evils; "of the good things," which he gave freely: compare Ecclesiasticus 51:8, "I remembered thy mercies, O Lord, and thy works which are from the beginning of the world."

g. Second he pursues his intent. And first he recalls the benefits as to the escaping of dangers, recalling their singular election: "and he said," namely God, "surely," although they were against me, "my people," namely of Abraham; or, "children that will not deny," at least those who kept my faith: compare Exodus 15:2, "my strength and my praise is the Lord, and he is become my salvation." And as to his diligent protection: "in all their affliction," and he himself was afflicted with them, through compassion. Or, "he was not afflicted," at once, but he delayed even now, as though to see whether they would be corrected. And "the angel of his presence," that is, he who beholds my face, "saved them," as their leader through the desert: compare Psalm 90:11, "he hath given his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." And as to fatherly love: "in his love he redeemed them," from Egypt; "he carried them," in the desert; "he lifted them up," that is, exalted them above the others, in the land of promise.

h. Second he touches upon the benefits as to the remission of faults. And first he sets forth the fault: "but they provoked to wrath, and afflicted the spirit of his Holy One"—namely, of God; or, of the Holy One, Moses, by their various contentions: compare Psalm 105:32–33, "and Moses was afflicted for their sakes, because they had provoked his spirit." Second he sets forth the punishment: "and he was turned to be their enemy," namely God: compare Lamentations 2:5, "the Lord is become as an enemy." Third he sets forth the mercy: "and he remembered," namely, Moses, who prayed for them: compare Exodus 32:32, "either forgive them this trespass, or if thou do not, strike me out of the book that thou hast written"; and Psalm 104:8, "he hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations." A note on the phrase "I have trodden the winepress": for from the winepress of the cross there first flowed blood, for our redemption: 1 Peter 1:18–19, "you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as gold or silver...but with the precious blood of Christ." Second, water, for our cleansing: compare Psalm 77:16, "he brought forth water out of the rock"; Ezekiel 36:25, "I will pour upon you clean water." Third, oil, for our anointing: compare Job 29:6, "the rock poured me out rivers of oil." Fourth, milk, for our nourishment: compare Deuteronomy 32:13, "that he might suck honey out of the rock." Fifth, wine, for our comfort: compare Proverbs 3:10, "thy presses shall run over with wine."

i. "Where is he that brought them out" etc. Here he laments those same benefits now withdrawn from them. And first he touches upon the loss of the benefits: "where is he that brought them out," namely Moses, or God, "with the shepherds of his flock," Miriam and Aaron; or, "where is he" who put in the midst of them "the spirit of his Holy One," Moses, as we read in Numbers 11. "By the right hand," prosperously, he led them, where the Spirit was: compare Psalm 105:9, "he divided the Red Sea, and led them through." And, "where is he that brought them out," as a horse, that is, without hindrance; "descending," with an unimpeded course; "his," of the people: compare Wisdom 19:7, "and in the Red Sea a way without impediment." Second he moves the affection of the Judge. And first he asks for a hearing: "look down from heaven": compare 2 Chronicles 6:30, "hear thou from heaven, thy dwelling place." Second he calls upon his mercy: "where is thy zeal," with which thou hast loved us: compare Psalm 88:50, "where are thy ancient mercies, O Lord?" Third he sets forth the cause that ought to move him to mercy: "for thou art our father, and Abraham hath not known us"—even while he was alive, since we did not yet exist then; or, even now, unwilling to pray for us, since we do not call upon him. Or, according to Augustine, because the dead, even the saints, do not know what happens among the living. But this must be understood as to the power of human knowledge, not as to the irradiation of the divine light: compare Deuteronomy 32:6, "is not he thy father, that hath possessed thee, and made thee, and created thee?"

j. "Why hast thou made us to err" etc. Here he sets forth the evils of fault: "made us to err from thy ways," "hast thou wrought," by permitting it, not sending in grace, and not correcting; "hast thou hardened," hast thou allowed it: compare Romans 9:18, "whom he will, he hardeneth." Second he sets forth the evils of punishment. And first he asks for mercy: "return," from wrath to mercy, "for the sake of thy servants," our fathers: compare Psalm 89:13, "turn to us, O Lord, and be entreated in favor of thy servants"; Lamentations 5:21, "convert us, O Lord, to thee, and we shall be converted; renew our days as of old." Second he sets forth the misery: as to servitude, "as if it were nothing," that is, without resistance: compare Isaiah 26:13, "O Lord our God, other lords besides thee have had dominion over us." As to the profaning of holy things, "our enemies"; as to the loss of former honor, "we have become," without king, without temple. "As in the beginning," in Egypt, or even before the calling of Abraham: compare Jeremiah 14:9, "but thou, O Lord, art among us, and thy name is called upon by us; forsake us not."

Chapter 64

Text

a. "O that thou wouldst rend the heavens, and wouldst come down: the mountains would melt away at thy presence. They would melt as at the burning of fire, the waters would burn with fire, that thy name might be made known to thy enemies; that the nations might tremble at thy presence."

b. "When thou shalt do wonderful things, we shall not be able to bear it."

c. "Thou didst come down, and at thy presence the mountains melted away. From the beginning of the world they have not heard, nor perceived with the ears; the eye hath not seen, O God, besides thee, what things thou hast prepared for them that wait for thee."

d. "Thou didst meet him that rejoiceth, and doth justice; in thy ways they shall remember thee:"

e. "behold, thou art angry, and we have sinned; in them we have been always, and we shall be saved. And we are all become as one unclean, and all our justices as the rag of a menstruous woman; and we have all fallen as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have carried us away."

f. "There is none that calleth upon thy name, that riseth up, and taketh hold of thee; thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast crushed us in the hand of our iniquity."

g. "And now, O Lord, thou art our father, and we are clay; and thou art our maker, and we all are the works of thy hands. Be not very angry, O Lord, and remember no longer our iniquity;"

h. "behold, see, we are all thy people. The city of thy sanctuary is become a desert, Sion is made a desert, Jerusalem is desolate. The house of our sanctification and of our glory, where our fathers praised thee, is burnt with fire; and all our pleasant things are turned into ruins. Wilt thou refrain thyself, O Lord, upon these things, wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us vehemently?"

Exposition

a. Here he extends a petition. First he petitions for the presence of the Judge. Second he petitions for mercy, at "behold, thou art angry" etc. Concerning the first, two things: first he sets forth the petition; second the fulfillment of the petition, at "thou didst come down" etc. Concerning the first, two things: first he asks for the coming of the Judge, "that thou wouldst rend"—he speaks figuratively, as of one dwelling above the heavens, or as emptying thyself, laying aside thy majesty, and assuming flesh: compare Psalm 143:5, "bow down thy heavens, and descend." Second he sets forth the effect of that coming upon sensible creatures, namely upon the mountains: "at thy presence the mountains"—as if to say, unable to bear thy presence, should it please thee. Or, the proud and unwilling mountains: compare Isaiah 34 (var.), "the mountains shall melt in their strength." In the waters: "the waters would burn," because thou art wholly of fire, if thou willed it: compare Wisdom 16:17 (var.), "the fire had even in water more than its own power." Or, by "waters," peoples: Revelation 17:15, "the waters...are peoples."

b. Second, the effect in men. First among the Gentiles, "at thy presence": compare Psalm 64:9 (var.), "the nations shall be troubled, and shall fear." Taken literally, "shall be moved." Or it may be referred to the conversion of the Gentiles after the coming of Christ. Second among the Jews: "when thou shalt do wonderful things, we shall not be able to bear it," that is, we who are secure shall not bear to see and hear it, from stupor, just as they were terrified: compare Exodus 20:18 (var.). Or, "we shall not be able to bear" the coming, believing even in the miracles seen.

c. "Thou didst come down" etc. Here he sets forth the fulfillment of the petition. And first as to the coming, "thou didst come down," to judge us—the past put for the future. Or, into the womb of the Virgin. Or, better, according to the literal sense, he sets forth an effect that proves the point, as if to say: if thou wouldst now come down, these things would come to pass which indeed did come to pass when thou didst come down to free thy people from Egypt, Exodus 19 (var.); compare Psalm 17:10, "he bowed the heavens, and came down, and darkness was under his feet." Second, as to the effect: first in miracles, "at thy presence the mountains melted away," that is, at Sinai, as in Exodus (var.). Mystically, the Jews, or the demons. Second, in benefits: and first he sets forth the greatness of the benefits, "from the beginning of the world they have not heard," for never have the like been seen or heard, such as God did for the Jews, and will do for the saints in glory: 1 Corinthians 2:9, "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him."

d. Second, as to the readiness to do good: "thou didst meet him that rejoiced," to his aid, while he was still asking, or coming to thee. "Rejoicing," in thee. Mystically, of Simeon: Luke 2:29, "now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord" etc.

e. Here he sets forth the plea for mercy. And first he shows the necessity of asking. Second he extends the petition, at "and now, O Lord" etc. Concerning the first, two things: first he shows the necessity from the imminence of evils, as to fault, both from the commission of evils—"behold, thou art angry, and we have sinned," a preposterous order, for we are angry because we have sinned; "and we all"—"we shall be saved," by thy mercy—and as to the imperfection of our good deeds, "and we are all become...as our justices," because we are entangled in other sins: Job 9:30–31, "if I shall wash myself with snow-water, and my hands shall shine ever so clean, yet thou shalt plunge me in filth, and my own garments shall abhor me." And as to punishment: "and we have fallen"—slain, or from our state of dignity; "have been carried away," from our land: compare Job 13:25, "against a leaf, that is carried away with the wind, thou showest thy power."

f. Second he shows the necessity as to the effect of aid. And first, human aid: "there is none that calleth upon thy name," that riseth up, and taketh hold of thee, by prayers: compare Song of Solomon 3:4, "I held him, and I will not let him go." Second, divine aid: "thou hast hid thy face," namely, of thy mercy. "In the hand," that is, in his work, according to that saying, "these things are revealed in the hand of the Lord," compare Proverbs 26 (var.); Deuteronomy 32:20, "I will hide my face from them, and will consider what their last end shall be."

g. "And now, O Lord" etc. Here he sets forth the plea for mercy; and concerning this he does two things. First he asks for mercy, assigning the reason: "thou art our father"—compare Jeremiah 18:6, "as clay is in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand"; Job 10:9, "remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay." And he extends the petition: "be not very angry," that is, exceedingly, or beyond what our merits require: compare Psalm 78:8, "remember not our former iniquities; let thy mercies speedily prevent us."

h. Second he sets forth the misery: "behold, see, we are all thy people"; "of our sanctuary," that is, of the sanctuary of the temple, namely Jerusalem: compare Lamentations 1:10, "the enemy hath put out his hand to all her desirable things." And he wonders at the divine patience: "wilt thou refrain thyself": compare Habakkuk 1:13, "why lookest thou upon them that do unjust things?" A note on the phrase, "which thou hast prepared for them that wait for thee": for God prepares for the saints, first, a place of eternal rest: John 14:2, "if not, I would have told you, because I go to prepare a place for you." Second, a kingdom of eternal dignity: Matthew 25:34, "come, ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Third, the table of the divine refreshment: compare Psalm 22:5, "thou hast prepared a table before me." Fourth, the lamp of eternal light: compare Psalm 131:17 (var.), "I have prepared a lamp for my anointed." Likewise a note on the phrase, "as the rag of a menstruous woman," for the work of justice is defiled with a stain: first, of mortal sin: compare Ecclesiasticus 47:22 (var.), "thou hast given a stain to thy glory." Second, of committed negligence: Jeremiah 48:10, "cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord negligently." Third, of perverse intention: compare Matthew 5:29, "if thy eye scandalize thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee." Fourth, of rising pride: compare Isaiah 61:9 (var.), "the wind shall carry them all away."

Chapter 65

Text

a. "They have sought me that before asked not for me; they have found me that sought me not. I said: Behold me, behold me, to a nation that did not call upon my name. I have spread forth my hands all the day to an unbelieving people, that walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts."

b. "A people that continually provoke me to anger before my face, that sacrifice in gardens, and burn incense upon bricks; that dwell in sepulchers, and sleep in the shrines of idols; that eat swine's flesh, and broth of unclean things is in their vessels."

c. "Who say: Depart from me, come not near me, because thou art unclean. These shall be as smoke in my anger, a fire burning all the day."

d. "Behold it is written before me: I will not be silent, but I will render and repay into their bosom,"

e. "your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the Lord, who have sacrificed upon the mountains, and reproached me upon the hills; and I will measure back their former work into their bosom. Thus saith the Lord: As if a grain be found in a cluster, and one say, Destroy it not, because it is a blessing: so will I do for the sake of my servants, that I may not destroy the whole. And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah one that shall possess my mountains; and my elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there."

f. "And the plains shall be turned into folds of flocks, and the valley of Achor into a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me."

g. "And you that have forsaken the Lord, that have forgotten my holy mountain, that set a table for Fortune, and offer libations upon it, I will number you in the sword, and you shall all fall by slaughter; because I called, and you did not answer; I spoke, and you did not hear; and you did evil in my eyes, and you have chosen the things that displease me."

h. "Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold my servants shall eat, and you shall be hungry; behold my servants shall drink, and you shall be thirsty; behold my servants shall rejoice, and you shall be confounded; behold my servants shall praise for joyfulness of heart, and you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for grief of spirit."

i. "And you shall leave your name for an execration to my elect; and the Lord God shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name; in which he that is blessed upon the earth, shall be blessed in God, amen; and he that sweareth in the earth, shall swear by God, amen; because the former distresses are forgotten, and because they are hid from my eyes."

j. "For behold I create new heavens, and a new earth; and the former things shall not be in remembrance, and they shall not come upon the heart. But you shall be glad and rejoice forever in these things which I create; for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy."

k. "And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people; and the voice of weeping shall no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more an infant of days there, nor an old man that shall not fill up his days; for the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed."

l. "And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat; for according to the days of a tree, shall be the days of my people, and the works of their hands shall be of long continuance. My elect shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth in trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them."

m. "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will hear; as they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion and the ox shall eat straw; and dust shall be the serpent's food; they shall not hurt nor kill in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord."

Exposition

a. Here the Judge, namely God, gives sentence concerning the distinguishing of the evil from the good in the reception of the promised salvation; and it is divided into two parts. In the first he pronounces the sentence of distinction. In the second he determines the manner of its execution, chapter 66, "thus saith the Lord" etc. Concerning the first, two things: first he promises a response, showing the fitness of responding, "they have sought me"—as if to say: until now you Jews did not seek me, but sought idols; but since you now seek, I will answer. Mystically, of the conversion of the Gentiles: Romans 10:20, "I was found by them that sought me not." And he sets forth the promise, "I said...to a nation"—I will answer, namely, the Jews; or, I will be turned back to the converted Gentiles: compare Song of Solomon 6:2 (var.), "I to my beloved, and my beloved to me." Second he gives sentence of distinction, "I have spread forth my hands." And first he gives sentence distinguishing the evil from the good on account of the sins of transgression; second, on account of the sins of omission, "and you that have forsaken" (v. 11). The first divides into two: in the first he threatens the wicked with punishment; in the second he promises the good their reward, at "thus saith the Lord" etc. Concerning the first, two things: first he argues the guilt of their transgression; second he threatens the punishment, "these shall be as smoke" (v. 5). He argues their guilt from three things. First, from the greatness of his benefits, "I have spread forth," giving many benefits, "all the day," through the whole time since I took them to myself. Mystically, upon the cross: compare Jeremiah 18:15 (var.), "every man walketh in his own way, which is not good."

b. Second, from the continuity of their sinning, "a people"—an evil deed, since all things are naked and open to his eyes: Hebrews 4:13. Or, because they set up an idol in the temple: compare Ezekiel 8:5 (var.), "they set the idol of jealousy in the place where I am." Third, from the diversity, or variety, of their sins, under four heads. First, as to the worship of idols, "they that sacrifice," to idols, "in gardens," because they worshipped idols in places of pleasure; "upon bricks," upon altars built of bricks, that they might sustain the fire of sacrifice: compare Isaiah 1:29, "they shall be confounded for the idols." Second, as to the pursuit of divinations, "that dwell in sepulchers," that they might have responses from the dead; and "in the shrines of idols"—so named, some say, from washing, since the people were accustomed to be wholly washed there, or on account of the springs that were there for washing the victims; and, sacrificing, "they sleep," upon the skins of the victims, to divine: compare Ezekiel 8:6 (var.), "your shrines shall be overturned." Third, as to the uncleanness of their food, "that eat...broth of unclean things," of swine: compare Isaiah 66:17, "that ate swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together." Fourth, as to their contempt for the just, "that say"—whether to those who breathed of idols, or to God, "depart": compare Job 21:14, "who say to God: Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways."

c. "These shall be as smoke" etc. Here he threatens the punishment. And first, its enduring length: "smoke," that is, as smoke is consumed by fire, so shall they be consumed and burned by my wrath: compare Deuteronomy 32:22, "a fire is kindled in my wrath, and shall burn even to the lowest hell."

d. Second, the certainty of the punishment: "behold it is written before me"—as though firmly laid up in memory, and in the fixed determination of the punishment; "I will not be silent," I will not dissemble: compare Jeremiah 17:1, "the sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, with the point of a diamond"; compare Isaiah 42:14, "I have held my peace, I have always been silent."

e. Third, the multitude of the punishments, since they must pay for all their sins together: "but I will render": compare Exodus 20:5, "I am the Lord thy God, jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children"; "have reproached," by worshipping on the hills. And for the sins of idolatry committed also in their youth, "and I will measure back," as if he should measure out the punishment in return for the guilt: compare Isaiah 40:2, "she hath received of the hand of the Lord double for all her sins." "Thus saith the Lord" etc. Here he promises the good their reward. And first as to their preservation from evils, "as a grain...is found in a cluster," a blessing, that is, it is pleasing to God, so that for the blessing's sake it may be spared; "for my servants' sake," our fathers; "the whole," the race of the Jews: compare Isaiah 17:5(var.), "as when one gathereth the ears of corn in harvest." Second, as to their advancement in good things: and first as to the multiplication of the seed, "and I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob": compare Isaiah 1:9, "except the Lord of hosts had left us seed, we should have been as Sodom."

f. Second, as to the restoration of their paternal inheritance, "and my elect shall inherit it": compare Ezekiel 36:12, "they shall possess thee by inheritance, and thou shalt be their inheritance." Third, as to the abundance of pastures, "and the plains shall become folds of flocks, and the valley of Achor"—named from him who was stoned there, Joshua 7; compare Hosea 2:15, "I will give her the valley of Achor for an opening of hope."

g. "And you that have forsaken the Lord" etc. Here he distinguishes the wicked from the consolation of the good, on account of the sins of omission. And first he threatens the wicked with punishment; second, the good with reward, "because these distresses are forgotten" (v. 16). Concerning the first, two things: first he threatens them because they forsook God, setting forth their guilt, "you," the Jews, "who set a table for Fortune," the god of the Egyptians—for he touches upon the rite by which she was honored, since at the end of the year a table was prepared for her, laden with every kind of food: compare Deuteronomy 32:15, "he forsook God who made him, and departed from God his savior." He sets forth also the punishment: "I will number you"—as if to say, that no one may remain who is not overwhelmed: compare Jeremiah 44:12, "these shall fall by the sword and by famine." Second, because when called back they did not obey, setting forth their guilt: "because when I called": compare Proverbs 1:24, "I called, and you refused; I stretched out my hand, and there was none that regarded."

h. And he threatens the punishment of that distinguishing. First, in the satiety of the body: "therefore thus saith the Lord": compare Psalm 33:11, "the rich have wanted, and have suffered hunger; but they that seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any good." Second, in the joy of the heart, "behold my servants shall rejoice." Third, in the diversity of their name.

i. First he sets forth what the future name of the wicked would be: "and you shall leave your name for an execration," that men may confirm their words by it, saying, if it is not so, may it happen to me as it did to them: compare Jeremiah 44:12, "they shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, and they shall be a curse, and an astonishment, and a malediction, and a reproach." And then he sets forth what the future name of the good would be: "and he will call his servants by another name," namely, the name of Jesus—it is the name Amen, faithfully: compare Isaiah 62:2, "thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name."

j. "Because these distresses are forgotten" etc. Here he promises the good their reward. And first, in general, as to the removal of evils, "they are forgotten," not from a failure of memory, but by the succession of good things: compare Isaiah 54:4 (var.), "thou shalt not remember the reproach of thy youth." And as to the restoration of good things, "for behold, I create new heavens"—new helps from heaven—"and a new earth"—new benefits from the earth. Or, of the day of judgment, when the world shall be renewed for the glory of the saints: compare Revelation 21:4, "the former things are passed away."

k. Second, in particular, "for I create Jerusalem." And first as to the gladness of hearts, "Jerusalem"—the earthly, but still more the heavenly—"a rejoicing," emphatically, that she may be wholly absorbed in joy: compare Isaiah 51:11 (var.), "they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away." Second as to the length of life: "there shall be no more" one whose days are not fulfilled—for in that city none shall die a mere infant, but "the child shall die a hundred years old," that is, when he has come to such an age; and if he be a sinner, though he has lived so long, he shall lie under a curse: compare Genesis 25:8 (var.), "Abraham died in a good old age." Mystically, in the heavenly Jerusalem all shall fulfill their days, because none shall die. "The child of a hundred years," that is, one who lived childishly even to the age of old age. "Shall die," with an eternal death: compare Wisdom 4:8–9, "for venerable old age is not that of long time, nor counted by the number of years."

l. Third, as to the prosperity of good things: both as to the security of possessions, "and they shall build"—compare Amos 9:14, "they shall plant vineyards, and build houses." And he assigns the reason, "for according to the days," that is, because they shall live long, as long as the wood of a tree endures; "of long continuance," that is, they shall remain in use even to old age: compare Psalm 1:3, "he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters." And as to the peace of their children, "nor bring forth in trouble," as those who beget children into the servitude of enemies: compare Ecclesiasticus 44:11, "their seed continueth in good things."

m. Fourth, as to the hearing of their prayers, "and it shall come to pass, that before they call," by mouth: compare Isaiah 30:19 (var.), "at the voice of thy cry, as soon as he shall hear, he will answer thee." Fifth, as to the tranquility of peace, "the wolf and the lamb," because they who were formerly tyrants and evildoers shall dwell peacefully among the rest.

Chapter 66

Text

a. "Thus saith the Lord: Heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool: what is this house that you will build me? and what is this place of my rest? All these things my hand hath made, and all these things were made, saith the Lord; but to whom shall I have respect, but to him that is poor and little, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my words?"

b. "He that sacrificeth an ox, is as if he slew a man; he that killeth a sheep, as if he beat out the brains of a dog; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that remembereth incense, as if he blessed an idol. All these things they have chosen in their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations."

c. "Wherefore I also will choose their mockeries, and will bring upon them the things they feared; because I called, and there was none that would answer; I spoke, and they did not hear; and they did evil in my eyes, and chose the things that displease me."

d. "Hear the word of the Lord, you that tremble at his word: Your brethren that hate you, and cast you out for my name's sake, have said, Let the Lord be glorified, and we shall see in your joy; but they shall be confounded. A voice of the people from the city, a voice from the temple, the voice of the Lord that rendereth recompense to his enemies."

e. "Before she was in labor, she brought forth; before her time came to be delivered, she brought forth a man-child. Who hath heard such a thing? and who hath seen the like to this? Shall the earth bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once, since Sion hath been in labor, and hath brought forth her children? Shall not I, that make others to bring forth children, myself bring forth, saith the Lord? Shall I, that give generation to others, be barren, saith the Lord thy God?"

f. "Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you that love her; rejoice for joy with her, all you that mourn for her; that you may suck, and be filled with the breasts of her consolations; that you may milk out, and flow with delights, from the abundance of her glory."

g. "For thus saith the Lord: Behold I will bring upon her as it were a river of peace, and as an overflowing torrent the glory of the Gentiles, which you shall suck; you shall be carried at the breasts, and upon the knees they shall caress you. As one whom the mother caresseth, so will I comfort you, and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem."

h. "You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb; and the hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants, and he shall be angry with his enemies."

i. "For behold the Lord will come with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind, to render his wrath in indignation, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For the Lord shall judge by fire, and by his sword, unto all flesh; and the slain of the Lord shall be many. They that sanctified themselves, and thought themselves clean in the gardens behind the door within, that ate swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse: they shall be consumed together, saith the Lord."

j. "But I know their works and their thoughts: I come that I may gather them together with all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and shall see my glory. And I will set a sign among them, and I will send of them that shall be saved to the nations into the sea, into Africa, and Lydia, them that draw the bow; into Italy and Greece, to the islands afar off, to them that have not heard of me, and have not seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory to the nations."

k. "And they shall bring all your brethren out of all nations for a gift to the Lord, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and in carriages, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as if the children of Israel should bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord. And I will take of them to be priests and Levites, saith the Lord."

l. "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 worship before my face, saith the Lord."

m. "And they shall go out, and see the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me; their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched; and they shall be a loathsome sight to all flesh."

Exposition

a. Here he determines the manner of executing the aforesaid sentence. First, specifically as to the Jews. Second, universally as to all, at "but I know their works, and their thoughts" (v. 18). The first is divided into two. In the first he excludes a false confidence. In the second he sets forth and determines the sentence already given, as to the manner of its execution, at "hear the word of the Lord" (v. 5). Concerning the first, two things: first he excludes a false trust in the holiness of the temple, showing that the temple is not the place of God—both from the greatness of God, who fills all things: "heaven is called his throne," because it participates greatly in his goodness, just as a throne holds the greater part of the one who sits upon it; "the earth, his footstool," because the earth participates least in his goodness, just as the outermost part reaches only to the footstool. Or, by "heaven" are meant the saints, by "earth" the earthly-minded: compare 1 Kings 8:27, "if heaven, and the heavens of heavens cannot contain thee"; Jeremiah 23:24, "do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord?" And from his rest: for each thing rests in the place proper to it, but God rests in nothing—rather all things rest in him, as made by him. "And what is this place." And he supplies a useful remedy: "but to whom shall I have respect...but to him that is poor," that is, humble, who accounts himself as little, as to the present; "contrite," on account of past sins; "trembling," as to his resolve concerning what is to be done: compare Ecclesiasticus (var.), "his eyes are upon them that fear him."

b. Second he excludes the confidence which they had conceived from the rite of sacrifices. And first he sets forth their reprobation: "he that sacrificeth an ox"—as if to say, their sacrifices are abominable, as though they did something against the law, because they offered the same things also to idols; "he blesseth," he praises and venerates: compare Isaiah 1:13, "offer sacrifice no more in vain."

c. Second he shows the reason for their reprobation. First, setting forth the guilt: "all these things they have chosen," namely, sacrifices; "walking," in their ways, evil ones: compare Proverbs 2:14, "who are glad when they have done evil, and rejoice in most wicked things." Second, he threatens the punishment: "wherefore I also": compare Proverbs 3:34, "he shall scorn the scorners"; Job 3:25, "the thing which I feared hath come upon me, and that which I was afraid of hath befallen me." Third, he argues the difficulty of those who pray: "because I called": compare Proverbs 1:24, "I called, and you refused."

d. "Hear the word of the Lord" etc. Here he carries out the manner of executing the aforesaid sentence. First, as to the rewards of the good; second, as to the punishments of the wicked, at "and the hand of the Lord shall be known" (v. 14). The first divides into two. First he arouses their attention: "hear, you that tremble," and revere my words: compare Ecclesiastes 8:5 (var.), "he that feareth the Lord shall believe him." Second he pursues the promise. And first as to vengeance upon the scoffers, setting forth their scorn: "your brethren have said." "Let the Lord be glorified," as if to say, he will never appear: compare Isaiah 5:19, "let him make speed, and let his work come quickly, that we may see it; let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come, that we may know it." And foretelling their confusion: "but they shall be confounded"—in this manner: "a voice of the people," of those who fear; "a voice of the Lord," as to the uproar of their enemies: compare Zephaniah 1:14, "the voice of the day of the Lord is bitter."

e. Second he carries out the promise as to the abundance of good things. And first, as to the reassembling of the people, setting forth the promise: "before she was in labor, she brought forth," that is, suddenly and all at once shall the children of Jerusalem be gathered to her, as if a woman brought forth a son suddenly, with no labor going before: compare Isaiah 37:3, "the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth." Mystically this is expounded of the childbearing of the Blessed Virgin, and of the childbearing of the Church in the conversion of the faithful, and of the bringing forth of the eternal generation. And he introduces a question of wonder: "who hath heard such a thing" etc. And first he sets forth the response in the person of the Lord: "shall not I...bring forth"—gathering the Jews, or converting the faithful, or begetting the Son from eternity? Likewise Psalm 93:9, "he that planted the ear, shall he not hear? or he that formed the eye, doth he not consider?" And these arguments hold good, provided that whatever is of perfection in creatures be attributed to God, with everything that belongs to imperfection removed.

f. Second, he promises to those gathered an immense consolation. And first he invites others to rejoice with her: "rejoice with Jerusalem," as in the object of joy, setting forth the condition of those who rejoice—as to their affection, "you that love her": compare Song of Solomon 5:1, "eat, O friends, and drink, and be inebriated, my dearly beloved." As to the sign of that effect, "you that mourn": compare Matthew 5:4, "blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." And the fruit of that rejoicing, as to the sharing of gladness, or of peace, "that you may suck": compare Song of Solomon 1:1, "thy breasts are better than wine." As to the sharing of glory, "that you may milk out," as though milking milk: compare Job 22:26 (var.), "then shalt thou abound in delights with the Almighty."

g. Second he promises an abundant bestowal of peace: "for thus saith the Lord, I will incline"—he calls it overflowing, as a river coming down with great force yet does not overflow—and of glory, "and as a torrent." Third he promises the full reception of that consolation. First, as to the administration of the Gentiles, which you shall suck, "the glory of the Gentiles," because the kings of the Gentiles themselves shall be confounded, and shall sustain you; whence it follows, "at the breasts." Mystically this speaks of the Apostles, who delighted in the glory of the Gentiles swiftly converted, and who, as it were to the breasts, carried them with gentle admonitions.

h. Second, as to the divine protection, "as one whom the mother caresseth": compare Hebrews 12:5, "you have forgotten the consolation, which speaketh to you as unto children, saying: My son, neglect not the discipline of the Lord, neither be thou wearied whilst thou art rebuked by him." Third, as to the enjoyment of good things, "you shall see," the good things given to you by God; "your bones," you who in adversity were like dry bones: compare Ezekiel 37:4, "dry bones, hear the word of the Lord." Or, you shall see the divine essence: compare Ecclesiastes 11:7 (var.), "the light is sweet, and it is delightful for the eyes to see the sun." "Your bones shall flourish like an herb," unto the resurrection.

i. "And the hand of the Lord shall be known" etc. Here he promises the wicked their punishments. And first he threatens the punishment, setting forth the Judge's indignation: "his hand," afflicting the wicked among his servants; or, "his hand," of consolation, toward his servants—here, the effect: compare Isaiah 28 (var.), "there is no indignation in me." He sets forth also the greatness of the punishment: "for behold the Lord will come with fire," by which the city was to be burned, or by which the world is to be purged: compare Psalm 96:3, "a fire shall go before him, and shall burn his enemies round about." "His chariots," the army of the Chaldeans; as it were God comes; or, the angels shall come with him, in fire, to judgment. He sets forth also the multitude of those punished: "and the slain of the Lord shall be many": compare Isaiah 34:6, "for the Lord hath a victim in Bosra, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom."

j. Second he reproaches their guilt: "they that sanctified themselves"—thinking to cleanse themselves with unclean waters, or even with the sacrifices of idols; "in the gardens," in which they worshipped idols, or gave themselves to lust, coupling with women after the manner of beasts. Or, the unclean thing—taken literally, the mouse, or the dormouse, against the law: Leviticus 11; compare Isaiah 65:4, "they shall eat swine's flesh, and broth of unclean things." "But I" etc. Here he carries out the manner of the description as to all in common. And first he introduces the universal judgment, "I know their works and their thoughts," judging both; "I will come," on the day of judgment. Or, of the various kingdoms of your enemies, and destroying the evils among you, "I will come," to Jerusalem, after your return, whether to judgment, or to the faith: compare Joel 3:7, "behold, I will raise them up out of the place wherein you have sold them." Second he sets forth the summons: "and I will set a sign among them," that is, among the Jews who were with Zerubbabel and the other leaders; "a sign," the edict of Cyrus; "to the nations," to which the Jews had been scattered; "Lydia...them that draw the bow," because they were good archers; "my glory," which shall appear in your deliverance: compare Isaiah 11:12, "he shall set up a sign unto the nations." Or, "a sign," of the cross, he sets among the apostles, that they may convert all to God, as it were preparing them for judgment.

k. Third he sets forth the preparation of those to be judged. First as to the good; second as to the wicked, at "and they shall go out, and see" (v. 24). The first divides into two. First, as to the Jews, setting forth their honorable return: "they shall bring them upon horses," by which are signified the aids which they had from the Gentiles on their return: compare Baruch 5:6 (var.), "the Lord will bring them to thee." Or are signified the diverse conditions of those who are converted to the faith, as the Gloss expounds. Second, the exaltation of that return. First, as to dignity: "and I will take," which was fulfilled literally among the Jews, and also among the Apostles: compare Isaiah 61:6, "you shall be called the priests of the Lord, ye ministers of our God, it shall be said to you."

l. Second, as to the preservation of the seed: "for as the new heavens...so shall it stand," forever: compare Jeremiah 31:36, "if those laws shall fail before me, saith the Lord, then also the seed of Israel shall fail." Or, the saints shall stand forever, renewed like the heaven and the earth. Third, as to the duration of the glory: "and there shall be month after month," as it were month succeeding month, and feast succeeding feast, in your prosperity: compare Isaiah 29 (var.), "year was added to year, and the solemnities were fulfilled." Mystically, of the Church after the end, and of the one who is spiritual, after the carnal. Secondly, as to the Gentiles: "and all flesh shall come," because out of the various nations they came to Jerusalem to worship the Lord: compare Psalm 85:9, "all the nations...shall come, and shall adore before thee, O Lord." Or, of the day of judgment.

m. "And they shall go out" etc. Here he sets forth the second judgment, as to the wicked. And first, the issuing forth of the punishment: "and they shall go out," coming to Jerusalem; "and shall see," in the ancient monuments, and in the fields, the bones of their dead fathers: compare Isaiah 34:3, "their slain shall be cast forth, and out of their carcasses shall rise a stench." Or, the saints shall see the damned falling into damnation. Second, he sets forth the duration of the punishment: "their worm," of conscience, by which even the dead shall be tormented; "and their fire," of hell: compare Mark 9:43, "he shall cast them into fire, and worm, upon their flesh." Third, he sets forth the delight taken in these punishments by those who behold them: "and they shall be a loathsome sight...to all flesh," that is, to the saints: compare Psalm 57:11 (var.), "the just shall rejoice when he shall see the revenge."

From which punishments may he deliver us, who granted both to begin and to bring to completion, Jesus Christ our Lord. To whom is honor and glory, world without end. Amen.

The Exposition on Jeremiah

Chapter 1

Text

a. The words of Jeremiah the prophet, the son of Helcias, one of the priests who dwelt in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin.

b. To whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josias the son of Amon, king of Juda, in the thirteenth year of his reign. And it came also in the days of Joakim the son of Josias, king of Juda, even unto the end of the eleventh year of Sedecias the son of Josias, king of Juda, even unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive, in the fifth month.

c. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Before I formed thee in the womb, I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and made thee a prophet unto the nations. And I said: Ah, ah, ah, Lord God, behold I cannot speak, for I am a child. And the Lord said to me: Say not, I am a child; for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I shall command thee, thou shalt speak. Be not afraid at their presence, for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. And the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me: Behold I have given my words in thy mouth. Lo, I have set thee this day over the nations and over kingdoms, to root up and to pull down, and to waste and to destroy, and to build and to plant.

d. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said: I see a watching rod. And the Lord said to me: Thou hast seen well, for I will watch over my word to perform it.

e. And the word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying: What seest thou? And I said: I see a boiling pot, and the face thereof is toward the north. And the Lord said to me: Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the earth. For behold I will call together all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the Lord, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and upon all its walls round about, and upon all the cities of Juda. And I will pronounce my judgments against them, touching all their wickedness, in that they have forsaken me, and have sacrificed to strange gods, and have adored the work of their own hands. Gird up thy loins therefore, and arise, and speak to them all that I command thee. Be not afraid at their presence, for I will not let thee fear their countenance. For behold I have made thee this day a fortified city, and a pillar of iron, and a wall of brass, over all the land, to the kings of Juda, to its princes, to its priests, and to all the people of the land. And they shall fight against thee, and shall not prevail, for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.

Exposition

a. After the manner customary to the other prophets, this book is divided into two parts: the title, and the treatise itself, which begins at the words "And it came to pass." In the title he does two things: first he describes the author; second, the time of the prophecy, at the words "It came to pass." Now the author is described in a threefold way. First from his name, "The words of Jeremiah" — understand, "are these"; and the name is interpreted "exalted of the Lord," which befits the eminence of his contemplation. Second, from his priestly stock, "the son of Helcias" — for according to Jerome's rule, wherever a prophet's father is named in the title, the father too was himself a prophet — and from his priestly office, in the words "one of the priests," whose office it was to know the law: Malachi 2 ("Ask the priest, and the law"). Third, he is described from his own dwelling, "who dwelt in Anathoth." For the Levites received in each of the tribes certain towns in which to dwell, as is said in Numbers (var.); of these towns it is said, Isaiah 49:2 (var.) ("He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword"). It should be known that some prophets take their title from an interior act; hence one reads "The vision of Isaiah," or "The word of Abdias." Others take their title from an exterior act, and these are entitled by "the word," as here. Others still take their title from the matter of a threat, and so are entitled by "burden," as Habacuc and Nahum.

b. Here he describes the time of the prophecy, for Jeremiah prophesied under three kings, concerning whom one reads in 2 Kings 23 (var.) and following. But since above he said "the words," why does he here say, in the singular, "the word"? To this it must be said that the words of prophecy, though many, are one in their origin, since they take their origin from the uncreated Word. But since that Word is eternal, as is said in John 1, how can it be said to "come to pass"? It must be answered that it is not said to "come to pass" absolutely, but with reference to someone — not by any change wrought in the Word, but in him to whom, through the Word, revelation is made; in which sense it is said, "God is made our refuge." Again it is asked why no mention is made of the other two kings, Joachaz the son of Josias, and Joachin the son of Joakim, who is also called by another name, Jechonias. It must be said that each of these reigned only three months, as is said in 2 Kings 24 (var.); and because sacred Scripture does not trouble itself over such small matters, their reigns are reckoned together with the times of the other kings — namely in the fifth year, in which Jerusalem was destroyed, though it was taken in the fourth month, as is said below, chapter 39.

c. Here begins the treatise of the book itself. First Jeremiah's office of preaching is enjoined upon him; second, the prophecy of one already established in that office is set forth, at the words "In the days of Josiah" and following. The first part falls into two: in the first, the office is conferred upon him; in the second, the manner of exercising it is shown. The first of these falls into two: in the first he is confirmed in the prophetic office; in the second, the matter of his prophecy is assigned to him, at the words "And the word of the Lord came" etc. This in turn falls into two: in the first, the preparation for the prophecy is narrated; in the second, the bestowal of the prophetic gift, at the words "And the Lord put forth his hand" etc. The first falls into three: first is set down the preparation on the Lord's part; second, the prophet's objection, at the words "And I said: Ah, ah, ah"; third, the setting aside of that objection, at the words "And the Lord said."

Concerning the first there are three points. First is set down the prophet's preparation, "the word came" — whether outwardly, through some creature made subject to him, or inwardly, through inspiration: Psalm 84 (var.) ("I will hear what the Lord God will speak within me"). "Before I formed thee" — for in the very forming of his nature, God, as first cause, works the form; as is said, Job 10:11 ("Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh"). "I knew thee" — a knowledge of approval: Isaiah 49:1 ("The Lord hath called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother he hath been mindful of my name"). Second, a privileged sanctification is set down, "and before thou camest forth [from the womb, I sanctified thee]": Luke 1 (var.) ("I send that forerunner, who was consecrated a prophet from his mother's womb"). Third, a foreordaining is added, "and I gave thee for a prophet," that is, in my own ordaining: Isaiah 49:6 ("I have given thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation even to the utmost part of the earth").

Concerning this sanctification in the womb, four questions arise. First, as to its time. It seems that such a sanctification could have existed even before the infusion of the soul, on the strength of what the Gloss of Ambrose says on Luke 1: "The spirit of life was not yet breathed into him, and already the effect of grace was present." Moreover it is said here, "Before I formed thee in the womb I knew thee," and this is understood of a spiritual knowledge which is a knowledge of approval; therefore he had grace even before he was formed. On the other hand it seems he could not have had it before he was born from the womb, since Augustine says, "No one can be reborn who is not already born"; but no one has grace except one who is reborn, since it is by grace that one becomes a son of God; therefore he did not have the grace of sanctification before his birth.

To this it must be said that the sanctification of which we speak comes about through grace, whose subject is the soul; and therefore it cannot exist before the infusion of the soul, but after the soul's infusion, before birth from the womb, it comes to him by a spiritual privilege. To the first objection it must be said that "the spirit of life" there means the air freely breathed from without; or else the spirit of life is said to be present, if understood of the soul, only at the time when its presence becomes perceptible. To the other it must be said that this is understood of the knowledge of approval, which follows upon predestination to grace, and is not said with reference to knowledge actually present at that time. To the other it must be said that no one can be reborn, by the common law of that regeneration which comes through the sacraments, before he is born, since he cannot yet be made subject to the ministrations of the Church's ministers, by whom such grace is dispensed; but God has not bound his own power to the sacraments, and therefore he himself can, by a spiritual privilege, sanctify someone in the womb.

Second, it is asked to whom such a sanctification may belong. It seems it belongs to Christ, of whom the Gloss says here that before he came forth from the womb he was sanctified in the womb. But against this: to sanctify is to make holy one who was not holy; yet he was never not holy; therefore this cannot apply to him. Again it seems it could belong even to inanimate things, on the strength of what is said, Psalms (var.) ("The Most High hath sanctified his own tabernacle"). Against this stands the fact that such things are not capable of receiving grace.

To the first it must be said that "not-holy" is said in two ways: either privatively, which requires the actual existence of the subject, and in this sense it does not apply to Christ; or negatively, and in this sense it does apply to Christ, that he was made holy from not-holy, because before he was man he was not holy with a created holiness. To the other it must be said that "holy" is said in two ways: in one way, of what is dedicated to divine worship, and in this sense even inanimate things can be sanctified; in another way, "holy" means what is firm, or clean from sin or from carnal act, and such sanctification comes through grace, and is possible only in human beings. Since, then, every sanctification is ordained to that most holy conception of the Son of God, it was fitting that the mother, in whose womb that conception was accomplished, should herself be sanctified, and likewise John the Baptist, who, while still enclosed in the womb, made known him who lay enclosed within the womb, and Jeremiah, who among the others spoke most expressly of the manner of that most holy conception: below, Jeremiah 31:22 ("The Lord hath created a new thing upon the earth: a woman shall compass a man").

Third, it is asked concerning the effect of this sanctification. It must be known that sanctification is ordained against the uncleanness of original sin, in which is to be considered, as it were, a privation of the divine vision arising from a lack of due righteousness; and this sanctification removes entirely, so far as concerns the impediment of the person, although the price had not yet been paid by which the impediment of nature would be removed. For there is also to be considered the tinder of sin, which inclines toward every evil, and this indeed remains, as a hindered disposition not wholly extinguished, inclining a man toward other things, though not toward mortal sin; in the Blessed Virgin alone was even this removed. Fourth, it is asked how the grace of sanctification compares with sacramental grace. It must be said that, absolutely speaking, the grace of sanctification is the greater, since after sacramental grace there still remains an inclination toward mortal sin; but in a certain respect sacramental grace has the greater excellence, namely as regards the imprinting of a character, and the like.

c (continued). "And I said." Here is set down the prophet's objection. First he sets down his own dismay — "Ah," on account of a defect of life; "ah," on account of a defect of knowledge; "ah," on account of a defect of eloquence: Exodus 4:10 ("And I said: Ah, ah, ah"). Second, he gives the reason for this dismay. He alleges a defect of eloquence, "behold, I cannot speak": Exodus 4:10 ("I am not eloquent from yesterday and the day before"); and the age of childhood, "for I am a child," so that his age does not suit the office of preaching: Job 32:7 ("I hoped that greater age would speak, and that a multitude of years would teach wisdom"); Sirach 32:4 ("Speak, thou that art elder, for it becometh thee"). As to why Jeremiah here refused the office of preaching to which Isaiah offered himself, Isaiah 6, Gregory explains in the Gloss: "The office of preaching," he says, "some flee in a manner worthy of praise, and to it some are held in a manner worthy of praise. For the one, out of the love by which he was drawn toward God, feared the loss of contemplation; the other, out of love of neighbor, desired the salvation of his neighbors; yet the one did not offer himself before his purgation, nor did the other obstinately refuse."

"And the Lord said." Here he sets aside this objection; and because Jeremiah had pleaded his youth, the Lord promises three things against the three defects of children. Children are inconstant, and against this he promises constancy, "say not" — excusing thyself — "concerning all that thou must carry out": below, Jeremiah 10:23 ("The way of man is not his own, neither is it in a man to walk, and to direct his steps"); Proverbs 3:6 ("In all thy ways think on him, and he will direct thy steps"). Again he promises eloquence, against the fact that children lack speech, "and whatsoever": Wisdom 10:21 ("Wisdom opened the mouth of the dumb, and made the tongues of infants eloquent"). He promises boldness against the timidity of children, "be not afraid... that I may deliver thee" — not that thou shalt be free of hardship, but that thou shalt bear all things patiently: Psalm 22:4 (var.) ("I will fear no evils, for thou art with me").

"And the Lord put forth his hand." Here he confers the gift of prophecy after the manner of a sacrament. First is set down the action, "the Lord put forth," in an imaginative vision, so that the boy, seeing what seemed to be human limbs, might not be terrified, and by which is signified the generosity of the divine goodness: Psalm 103:28 ("When thou openest thy hand, they shall all be filled with good"). He is not purged beforehand by a burning coal, as was Isaiah, because on account of his childhood, and the grace of his sanctification, he had no sins. Second, the words are set down, "and he said" etc., which contain three things. First he expresses the gift, "I have given my words": Psalm 67:12 ("The Lord shall give the word to them that preach the gospel, with great power"). Second he shows the degree conferred, "behold I have set thee over the nations," the various nations to which he preached, as a mediator between them and God: Exodus 7:1 ("Behold I have appointed thee the god of Pharaoh"); Psalm 17:44 (var.) ("Thou wilt make me head of the Gentiles"). Third he sets down the office itself: "to root up," evils, as to their root; "to pull down," as to the machination of their evil ordering; "to waste," the union of the wicked; "to destroy," the defense of evil; "to build," good things, as to their order; "to plant," as to their root — for such things do not need an outward defense, as a hedge does: Sirach 49:9 (var.) ("The prophet was consecrated to root up, and pluck down, and to destroy, and again to build up, and to renew").

d. Here he determines the specific matter concerning which Jeremiah is appointed to prophesy, namely the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of the people. First he shows the certainty of the prophecy; second he shows the captivity itself, at the words "And it came to pass," chapter 2. Concerning the first there are three points. First is set down the prophet's being roused to see, "What seest thou?" — as if to say, since thou art a prophet, it is thine to see: 1 Kings 9:9 ("He that is now called a prophet, in time past was called a seer"). Second is set down the vision, "and I said: a rod" — as it were a rod in the hand of the Lord, made ready to strike; "I see," in an imaginative vision: Lamentations 1:14 ("The yoke of my iniquities hath watched; they are folded together in his hand, and put upon my neck"). Some understand "a watching rod" as the rod of thieves, used to draw plunder out of houses through the windows while they keep watch and the household sleeps; but the first interpretation is better. Third is set down the interpretation, "and he said... well" — as if to say, these things agree with the truth. "I will watch," I will be solicitous: Isaiah 55:11 (var.) ("the word that shall go forth from my mouth").

e. Here he sets down the destruction of the city itself. First is set down the roused vision, "what seest thou," as above. Second, the vision itself: "and I said, a boiling pot," which signifies the burning of the city; "and the face," that is, the bottom, "toward the north," whence the fire was kindled: Ezekiel 24:11 (var.) ("Set the empty pot upon the coals, that it may be hot, and the brass thereof may be melted, and the filth thereof may be melted in the midst of it, and the rust thereof may be consumed"). Third is set down the interpretation, "and the Lord said." First it is explained in general: "out of the north," that is, from the king of Babylon, who lay to the north with respect to the Holy Land; "the inhabitants of the earth," of Jerusalem, or of the other places lying near it, which were laid waste through him: below, Jeremiah 10:22 (var.) ("Behold a great commotion cometh from the land of the north, to make the cities of Juda a desolation, and a den of dragons").

Second, he pursues the whole order of the matter. First is set down the gathering of the army: "for behold I will call together," by inspiring them, "the families," the subjects of Nabuchodonosor: Isaiah 5:26 (var.) ("He will lift up a sign to the nations afar off"). Second is set down the siege of the city: "and they shall come... set their throne," their pavilion, "at the entrance of the gates," as if they should besiege it even up to its walls: Isaiah 22:7 (var.) ("The horsemen shall set their seats in the gate, and the covering of Juda shall be discovered"). Or else this describes the very captivity of the city, and it touches upon what is said below: "all the princes of the king of Babylon went in, and sat in the middle gate." Third is set down the punishment of its inhabitants: "and I will pronounce my judgments," not merely in words, but in punishments: Ezekiel 16:38 (var.) ("They shall judge thee as adulteresses, and as women that shed blood, are judged").

"Gird up therefore." Here he teaches the manner in which Jeremiah is to exercise his office. First, that he carry it out promptly: "gird up thy loins," as one who makes himself ready to go swiftly: Job 40:2 (var.) ("Gird up thy loins like a man"). Second, that he do it securely; and here he first excludes fear: "be not afraid": Ezekiel 3:9 ("Fear them not, neither be thou dismayed at their looks, for they are a provoking house"); Isaiah 51:12-13 (var.) ("Who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a mortal man, and of the son of man, who shall wither away like grass; and thou hast forgotten the Lord thy maker, who stretched out the heavens, and founded the earth; and thou hast been afraid continually all the day at the presence of his fury that afflicted thee, and had prepared himself to destroy thee: where is now the fury of the oppressor?"). Second he promises fortitude for resistance: "for behold I," "a fortified city," for the building up of others, "a pillar": Isaiah 50:4 ("The Lord hath given me a learned tongue, that I should know how to uphold by word him that is weary"); and "a wall of brass": Ezekiel 3:9 ("As an adamant and as a flint have I made thy face"). Third he promises the frustration of Jeremiah's enemies: "and they shall fight, and shall not prevail" — they shall not be able to turn thee from the truth: below, Jeremiah 15:20 ("I will make thee to this people as a strong wall of brass; and they shall fight against thee, and shall not prevail, for I am with thee, to save thee, and to deliver thee, saith the Lord").

Concerning the foregoing, it must first be known that God may have a knowledge of approval toward someone, as has been said. He may also have a knowledge of foreknowledge: Sirach 23:29 (var.) ("To the Lord God, before they were created, all things are known: so also after they are perfected, he beholdeth all things"). Of predestination: 2 Timothy 2:19 ("The Lord knoweth who are his"). Of the infusion of grace: John 10:14 ("I know mine, and mine know me"). Of special intimacy: Exodus 33:17 ("And thee I have known by name"). Of glorification: Sirach 44:25 (var.) ("He acknowledged him in his blessings, and gave him an inheritance").

It should also be noted that the Lord touches some by way of correction: Job 19:21 ("Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends, because the hand of the Lord hath touched me"); by cleansing from sins: Matthew 8:3 ("And Jesus touching him, said: I will, be thou made clean"); by infusing grace: Song of Solomon 5:4 ("My beloved put his hand through the key hole, and my bowels were moved at his touch"); by strengthening in grace: Daniel 10:10 ("And behold a hand touched me, and set me up upon my knees, and upon the joints of my hands"); by kindling fervor: Psalm 143:5 ("Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke").

It should also be noted that the sinful soul is called a "pot" on account of the boiling heat of concupiscence: Job 41:22 (var.) ("He shall make the deep sea to boil like a pot, and shall set it as when ointments boil"). On account of the carnality of its works: Micah 3:3 ("They have broken their bones, and chopped them as for the pot, and as flesh in the midst of a caldron"). On account of the blackness of its stain: Nahum 3:5 (var.) ("All faces shall be blackened as with the soot of a pot"). It should also be noted that this pot is set aflame by the fire of disordered love: Psalm 79:17 ("Things set on fire and dug down shall perish at the rebuke of thy countenance"); of anger and contention: Isaiah 9:19 (var.) ("Behold you that kindle a fire, girded round about with flames"); of eternal damnation: Deuteronomy 32:22 ("A fire is kindled in my wrath, and shall burn even to the lowest hell").

It should also be noted that the devil is called "the north" on account of the violence of temptation: Sirach 43:22 (var.) ("His breath maketh coals to burn... the storm of the north, and the gathering together of the wind"); because he hinders the fruit of good work: Song of Solomon 4:16 ("Arise, north wind, and come, south wind, blow through my garden, and let the aromatical spices thereof flow"); because he dries up the stream of tears: Proverbs 25:23 ("The north wind driveth away rain, as doth a sad countenance a backbiting tongue").

It should also be noted that the Church, or the soul, is fortified by divine help: Zechariah 2:5 ("I will be to it, saith the Lord, a wall of fire round about, and I will be in glory in the midst thereof"); by the protection of the angels: Isaiah 33:16 (var.) ("Bulwarks and fortresses shall be his high place"); by the example of the holy fathers: Song of Solomon 4:4 ("Thy neck is as the tower of David, which is built with bulwarks"); by the support of brethren: Proverbs 18:19 ("A brother that is helped by his brother is like a strong city"); by the remedy of the sacraments: Song of Solomon 8:10 ("I am a wall, and my breasts are as a tower, since I am become in his presence as one finding peace").

Chapter 2

Text

a. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying: Thus saith the Lord: I have remembered thee, pitying thy youth, and the love of thy espousals, when thou followedst me in the desert, in a land that is not sown. Israel is holy to the Lord, the firstfruits of his increase: all they that devour him offend; evils shall come upon them, saith the Lord.

b. Hear ye the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord: What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? And they have not said: Where is the Lord, that made us come up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the desert, through a land uninhabited and unpassable, through a land of drought and the image of death, through a land wherein no man walked, nor any man dwelt? And I brought you into a plentiful land, to eat the fruit thereof and the best things thereof; and when ye entered in, ye defiled my land, and made my inheritance an abomination. The priests did not say: Where is the Lord? and they that held the law knew me not, and the pastors transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied in Baal, and followed idols.

c. Wherefore I will yet contend in judgment with you, saith the Lord, and I will plead with your children. Pass over to the isles of Cethim, and see; and send into Cedar, and consider diligently, and see if there hath been done any such thing. If a nation hath changed their gods, and indeed they are not gods; but my people have changed their glory into an idol. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and ye gates thereof, be desolate exceedingly, saith the Lord. For my people have done two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have digged to themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

d. Is Israel a bondman, or a homeborn slave? why then is he become a prey? The lions have roared upon him, and have made a noise, they have made his land desolate; his cities are burnt down, and there is none to dwell in them. The children also of Memphis and of Taphnes have deflowered thee, even to the crown of the head. Hath not this been done to thee, because thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God at that time when he led thee by the way? And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the troubled water? and what hast thou to do with the way of the Assyrians, to drink the water of the river? Thy own malice shall reprove thee, and thy own turning away shall rebuke thee. Know thou, and see that it is an evil and a bitter thing for thee to have left the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not with thee, saith the Lord God of hosts.

e. Of old time thou hast broken my yoke, thou hast burst my bands, and thou saidst: I will not serve. For on every high hill, and under every green tree, thou didst prostitute thyself, O harlot.

f. Yet I planted thee a chosen vineyard, all true seed; how then art thou turned unto me into that which is corrupt, a strange vineyard? If thou wash thyself with nitre, and multiply to thyself the herb borith, thou art stained in thy iniquity before me, saith the Lord God. How canst thou say: I am not polluted, I have not walked after Baalim? See thy ways in the valley, know what thou hast done: a swift runner pursuing his course. A wild ass accustomed to the wilderness, in the desire of her heart, snuffed up the wind of her love; none shall turn her away. All they that seek her shall not weary themselves; in her season they shall find her. Keep thy foot from being bare, and thy throat from thirst. But thou saidst: I have lost all hope, I will not do it; for I have loved strangers, and I will walk after them. As the thief is confounded when he is taken, so is the house of Israel confounded, they and their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, saying to a stock: Thou art my father; and to a stone: Thou hast begotten me. They have turned their back to me, and not their face; and in the time of their affliction they will say: Arise, and deliver us. Where are thy gods whom thou hast made thee? Let them arise and deliver thee in the time of thy affliction; for according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Juda.

g. Why will you contend with me in judgment? You have all forsaken me, saith the Lord. In vain have I struck your children; they have not received correction. Your own sword hath devoured your prophets; your generation is like a ravaging lion.

h. See ye the word of the Lord: Am I become a wilderness to Israel, or a land bearing fruit late in the season? Why then have my people said: We are revolted, we will come to thee no more? Will a virgin forget her ornament, or a bride her stomacher? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number.

i. Why wilt thou contend with me in judgment, to show that thou art good? Nay, thou hast also taught thy ways, which are wicked, and in thy wings is found the blood of the souls of the poor and the innocent. I have not found them in pits, but in all the places I have mentioned above. And thou hast said: I am without sin, and I am innocent, and therefore let thy wrath be turned away from me. Behold, I will contend with thee in judgment, because thou hast said: I have not sinned. How exceedingly base art thou become, going over thy ways again!

k. And thou shalt be confounded by Egypt, as thou wast confounded by Assur. For from thence also thou shalt go forth, and thy hands shall be upon thy head, for the Lord hath crushed thy confidence, and thou shalt have nothing prosperous therein.

Exposition

a. Here begins the prophecy of Jeremiah himself, now established in the prophetic office; and it is divided into three parts. In the first he foretells the captivity to come. In the second he laments it now accomplished, in the Lamentations. In the third he addresses those now taken captive, exhorting them under their punishment, in the book of Baruch. The first falls into two: in the first he foretells the captivity by way of prophecy; in the second he narrates it by way of history, in chapter 52, "It came to pass in the... year" etc. The first falls into two: in the first he prophesies to the people of the Jews; in the second, to the various nations of the Gentiles, since he was appointed a prophet to them also, as is plain from the preceding part; and this at chapter 46, "The word that came" etc. The first falls into two: in the first is set down the prophecy addressed to the people who are to be led captive, before the captivity; in the second, to the remnant of the captivity, after the captivity, at chapter 30 (var.), "In the thirty-ninth year" etc.

The first falls into two: first he sets down Jeremiah's preaching; second, the contradiction of his hearers, at chapter 34 (var.), "The word that came" etc. The first falls into two: first he sets down the threat; second, the consolation, at chapter 30, "This word that came" etc. The first falls into two: in the first he sets down the true threat; in the second he excludes a false consolation. The threat is addressed to the people universally; in the second, to their leaders in particular, at chapter 30 (var.), "And Jonathan heard" etc.

The first falls into two: in the first he sets down the threat; in the second the prophet, as though sharing their suffering, inserts his own prayer, at chapter 14, "The word that came" etc. The first falls into two: in the first he convicts them of guilt by way of judgment; in the second he calls them back to repentance, at chapter 3, "It is commonly said" etc. The first falls into two: in the first he assigns the reason for so great a condescension, namely that he does not straightway, after the guilt, inflict vengeance, but contends with them in judgment, that he may call them back; in the second he pursues the order of that judgment, at "Hear ye the word" etc.

Concerning the first there are two points. First he draws his argument from the pity of God. "Cry," proclaim it openly, "Jerusalem," to its inhabitants. And he sets down three things that move him to pity. The first is the purity of their youth, "thy youth," in which a bride is more ardently loved; he sought them out when they were coming forth out of Egypt: Hosea 2:15 ("And she shall sing there according to the days of her youth, and according to the days of her coming up out of the land of Egypt"). The second is the remembrance of his former love and charity, by which, that is, he espoused them to himself in the giving of the law: Jeremiah 31:3 ("With an everlasting love have I loved thee, therefore have I drawn thee, taking pity on thee"). The third is the obedience of their deed, "when thou followedst," etc., which could not happen without hardship of the journey — whence they were not drawn back even by the hardship of the journey, although in murmuring they said, as in Numbers (var.), "Thou hast brought us into this most evil place, where seed cannot be sown" etc.

Second he draws his argument from the dignity of the people. First he sets down the dignity of the people, "holy," as dedicated to the worship of the Lord, and consecrated to the Lord; "the firstfruits," because the Lord chose them out of all peoples, as the firstfruits are chosen out of the crops: Deuteronomy 7 and 33 (var.) ("The Lord's portion is his people Jacob, the lot of his inheritance"); Hosea 9:10 (var.) ("As the firstfruits of the fig tree in the top thereof, I saw their fathers"). Second he excludes the threat of their enemy, "all that devour them," according to the law found in Leviticus 22, by which it was lawful for the priests alone to eat of the firstfruits: Psalm 14:4 (var.) ("Who devour my people as they eat bread").

b. Here he pursues the order of judgment. First he sets down the accusation; second he refutes an excuse, at "I planted thee" etc. The first falls into three: first he aggravates their guilt from the ingratitude shown for benefits received; second from the enormity of the deed, at "Wherefore I will yet" etc.; third from the obstinacy of their minds, at "Is Israel a servant" etc.

Concerning the first there are three points. First he clears himself of any blame, lest he himself should seem to be the cause of their ingratitude: "what iniquity have your fathers found in me" — namely of evil — "that they are gone far," after a long time withdrawn; "vanity," idols, which do not profit their worshippers: Micah 6:3 ("O my people, what have I done to thee, or in what have I molested thee? answer thou me"). Second he sets down the abundance of his benefits, touching especially their being brought up out of Egypt, and he touches this benefit in a threefold way: as to the place from which he led them, "and they have not said: Where is he," seeking me with the whole of their desire, "that made us go up," on account of the situation of the land: below, Jeremiah 16:14 (var.) ("The Lord brought [the children of Israel] out of the land of Egypt"). As to the way by which he led them, "that led us through the desert," "the image of death," because by its very aspect it threatens death: Deuteronomy 8:15 (var.) ("Thy leader in that great and terrible wilderness"). And as to the land into which he led them, "and I brought you into a plentiful land," on account of its resemblance in fruitfulness, not that this land itself lay within the land of promise: Numbers 14:7 (var.) ("The land which we went round is exceeding good"). Third he sets down the guilt of their ingratitude: first as it touches all in common, "and you entered in and defiled it," with idols: Psalm 106:38 (var.) ("The land was polluted with blood, and was defiled with their works"); second as it touches their leaders especially, "the priests," whose office it was to lead men to God, "they that held [the law]," the teachers, "the pastors," the princes, whose office it was to call men back from idolatry: Isaiah 56:11 (var.) ("These shepherds knew no understanding").

c. Here he aggravates their guilt from the enormity of the deed. First he sets forth what he intends, namely judgment: "I will yet contend," upon the enormity, as also upon the ingratitude, "with your children," who imitate the malice of their fathers: Micah 6:2 ("The Lord hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead against Israel"). Second he carries out this purpose, showing in the judgment the enormity of the sin: first from a comparison with the pagan worshippers, "pass over," by way of consideration, "to the isles of Cethim," the western nations beyond Cyprus, or a city of that name; "Cedar," where the Ishmaelites dwell; "if a nation hath changed" — as if to say, it has not changed — whence it is plain that, by comparison with others, they stand the more condemned: Ezekiel 5:6-7 (var.) ("She hath despised my judgments, so as to be more wicked than the Gentiles, and my commandments, more than the countries round about her"). Second, from a comparison with the very heavens, brought to astonishment: "be astonished" — as if to say, if it were possible, the heavens themselves would be astonished; or else, the angels who dwell in the heavens, as it were a city, "and its gates," the more eminent among the angels, who are as it were the princes and judges of the rest. Likewise Isaiah 1:2 ("Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken"). Second he adds the reason for this astonishment: "two evils," against the two parts of the commandment: Exodus 20:2-4 ("I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt: thou shalt not have strange gods before me," and again, "Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing"). "Fountain of water," which can give them true consolation: Psalm 35:10 (var.) ("With thee is the fountain of life"). "Cisterns," idols, which cannot save: "they digged them," because they themselves made them: Psalm 113 (var.) ("The idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold, the work of the hands of men").

d. Here he aggravates their guilt from the obstinacy of their minds. First, because they would not acknowledge their sin; second, because they multiplied it, at "of old" etc. Concerning the first there are three points. First he draws an argument from the very punishments of their guilt, excluding any servile condition, lest for this reason it should seem they had been justly brought into servitude: "is he a homeborn slave," one born in the house of his master? — as if to say, no: John 8:33 ("We are the seed of Abraham, and have never been slaves to any man"). He sets forth the diversity of their punishments: as to the captivity of the people, "why then is he become... lions," the princes of the Chaldeans; "their voice," their commands, or the din of war; as to the devastation of the land, "they have made desolate": Isaiah 1:7 (var.) ("Your land is desolate, your cities are burnt with fire"); as to the violation of their women, "the children also," the cities of Egypt, "even to the crown of the head," abusing them against nature, sparing no member — or, understood spiritually, defiling even the strong through idolatry, even to the crown: Lamentations 5:11 ("They have humbled the women in Sion, and the virgins in the cities of Juda"). And he concludes with the true reason: "did he lead thee" prosperously? — for it was not he who forsook thee, but thou who forsook him: Daniel 9:10-11 ("Because we have departed from thee, and have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his commandments, which he set before us by the hand of his servants the prophets") etc.

Second he sets down the useless remedy which they applied against these punishments, from which it is plain that they did not acknowledge their sin, but hoped instead in the aid of the nations; hence he mentions their seeking of that aid: "and now what" — as if to say, thou oughtest not thus to avoid punishment, by appeasing God rather, "in the way of Egypt," sending for help; "the water," of the Nile; "of the river," the Euphrates, which belongs to the Assyrians: Isaiah 30:2 (var.) ("You have walked to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth"). Against their failure to acknowledge their aforesaid guilt: "thy own malice shall reprove thee," when for it thou shalt bear thy punishments: Isaiah 3:9 (var.) ("The show of their countenance hath borne witness against them, and they have proclaimed abroad their sin as Sodom"). Third he offers useful counsel, that they might acknowledge their sin: "know... that it is evil," dishonorable, "and bitter," full of pain: Zephaniah 1:14 (var.) ("The voice of the day of the Lord is bitter, the mighty man shall there meet with tribulation").

e. Here he shows that their obstinate minds multiplied their sin. First as to the length of time, "of old" — as if to say, from the very beginning of the giving of the law: Isaiah 48:8 (var.) ("A transgressor from the womb I called thee"); Job 21:15 ("What profit is there that we should serve him? and what doth it avail us to pray unto him?"). Second as to the multitude of their deeds: "on every hill," in high and pleasant places, they offered sacrifice to idols: Isaiah 65:7 (var.) ("They have sacrificed upon the mountains, and reproached me upon the hills") — for pleasant and lofty places are ever given over to idols.

f. Here he removes their excuse. First, the excuse they might claim by pleading the negligence of him who tended them; against this, "I planted thee," chosen out of chosen fathers: Isaiah 5:1 (var.) ("My beloved had a vineyard on a hill in a fruitful place"). Second, the excuse they might claim by denying their guilt, at "if thou wash thyself." First he convicts them of guilt against God; second, of guilt against their neighbor, at "why wilt thou contend" etc.

Concerning the first there are two points. First he convicts them of guilt, excluding their pretended possibility of innocence: "nitre," which by its heat cleanses filth, as does salt; "borith," a certain herb used for washing away filth — and this is a manner of speaking, as if to say, the whole water of the river would not make thee clean, that is, there is no excuse or purgation for thee: Proverbs 30:12 (var.) ("A generation that seemeth to itself to be clean, and yet is not washed from its filthiness"). "How canst thou say": Proverbs 20:9 ("Who can say: My heart is clean, I am pure from sin?"). And he sets down the purging of their guilt, proposing two circumstances: first the place, "see thy ways," thy deeds, "in the valley," of the children of Hinnom, where they worshipped idols — this place, according to the Gloss, was watered by springs, and there stood the shrine of Baal: below, Jeremiah 31:21 (var.) ("direct thy heart into the straight way wherein thou hast walked"). And he sets forth the manner of their sin as to their eagerness in sinning: "a swift runner," as it were ready for sin: Proverbs 1:16 ("Their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood"). As to the ardor of their concupiscence: "a wild ass in her desire," namely of union, "snuffed up the wind," by which she perceives the scent of her mate, "of her love," the thing beloved: below, Jeremiah 14:6 (var.) ("The wild asses stood upon the rocks, they snuffed up the wind like dragons"). As to their steadfast clinging to it: "none shall turn her away," by drawing her off from it. And as to their readiness to sin: "all that seek her" — he speaks as it were of a harlot who offers herself to her lovers even in the time of her monthly uncleanness: Ezekiel 16:25 (var.) ("Thou hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and hast multiplied thy fornications").

Second he convicts them of hardness of heart. First, because they are not called back by warnings; second, because they are not corrected by scourges, at "why wilt thou"; third, because they are not moved by benefits, at "see the word." Concerning the first there are three points. First he sets down his admonition, "keep" — as if to say, cease from your sins, for which, barefoot and thirsting, you shall be led into captivity, as Isaiah 20:3-4 (var.) ("As my servant Isaias hath walked, barefoot and naked... so shall the king of the Assyrians lead away the captivity of Egypt, and the captivity of Ethiopia, naked and barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt"). Second he shows the rebellion of the people, "and thou saidst... strangers," idols: below, Jeremiah 18:12 ("We have no hopes: for we will go after our own thoughts, and we will do every one according to the perverseness of his evil heart"). Third he threatens confusion; and first he sets down a likeness of that confusion, "as the thief is confounded... they are confounded," taken in their punishments; "the stock," a wooden idol; "father," fashioned from wood: Psalm 96:7 (var.) ("Confounded be all they that adore graven things, and that glory in their idols"); Isaiah 1:29 (var.) ("They shall be confounded for the idols"). Second he explains the order of this confusion: first, the punishment of being deprived of divine help, "they have turned their back," as it were the disobedient: Zechariah 7:11 (var.) ("They made their heart as the adamant stone, lest they should hear the law"); in the time of affliction: Hosea 6:1 ("In their affliction they will rise early to me: Come, and let us return to the Lord") etc. Second he sets forth the uselessness of the idols, "where are thy gods": Deuteronomy 32:37 ("Where are their gods, in whom they trusted?"). Third, the multitude of the idols, according to their number: Jeremiah 11:13 (var.) ("The land is filled with sin, and its altars are without number").

g. Here he shows their hardness, because they are not corrected by scourges. First he wonders at their excuse, "why will you [contend]": Job 9:3 (var.) ("If he will contend with him"). Second he shows their incorrigibility: as to the scourges laid on the lesser, "in vain have I struck"; and on the greater, "your sword hath devoured... your prophets," the sons of Baal and the diviners, given over to destruction by their own enemies for their own deserts; and as to all in common, "as a lion, it lays waste, your generation," or, is itself laid waste as a lion — for against a lion all men rise up, and so too against a wolf: below, Jeremiah 6:29 (var.) ("The founder hath melted in vain, for their wickednesses are not consumed. Call ye them reprobate silver, for the Lord hath rejected them").

h. Here he shows their hardness, because they are not moved by benefits. First he sets forth the benefits pertaining to the use of life: "see, understand, am I become a wilderness" — nay rather, I am to you as a city, and a most fruitful land, for I defend you, and give you the fruits of the earth: Hosea 6:3 (var.) ("He shall come to us as the early and the latter rain to the earth"). Second, those pertaining to adornment: "will [a virgin] forget": Isaiah 61:10 ("He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, and hath covered me with the robe of justice").

i. Here he convicts them of guilt against their neighbor. First he proves their guilt; second he threatens the punishment of confusion, at "and thou shalt be confounded by Egypt" etc. Concerning the first there are three points. First he sets down the occasion of their killing of their neighbors, wondering at their pretended excuse, "to seek," as if by these means they could appease him, setting down their spiritual slaying, "which moreover thou hast taught," by evil examples: below, Jeremiah 13:21 (var.) ("Thou hast taught them against thee, and instructed them against thy own head"). And he sets down their bodily slaying, "in thy wings," that is, as birds of prey — he speaks by likeness to a bird of prey; "the poor," whom they sacrificed to idols: Zechariah 5:9 (var.) ("And behold there came out two women, and wind was in their wings, and they had wings like the wings of a kite"). Second, the manifestation of their guilt, "not in pits," as though secretly slain by robbers, "but in all places," namely on the hills and in pleasant spots: Isaiah 59:14 (var.) ("Judgment is turned away backward... and equity is not entered, and truth hath been forgotten in the street"). And he wonders at their pretended excuse, "and thou hast said": Job 11:4 (var.) ("Thou hast said, My doctrine is pure, and I am clean in thy sight"). Third he shows the repetition of their guilt, prefacing his wonder at their excuse, "behold I will contend... how exceedingly base." "Ways," their sins: Lamentations 1:20 ("See, O Lord, and consider, for I am become vile").

k. Here he threatens them with the punishment of confusion, "by Egypt," whose help thou hopest for; "by Assur," whose help thou didst also seek against the ten tribes, and against the Assyrians: 2 Kings 16 (var.) ("Thy hands," as a sign of grief): Isaiah 30:3 ("And the strength of Pharaoh shall be unto you for confusion, and the trust of the shadow of Egypt for a shame"). "Confidence," for sin is called emptiness, because it is illusory in the choosing: Psalm 39:5 (var.) ("Blessed is the man whose trust is in the name of the Lord, and who hath not had regard to vanities and lying follies"). Because it is transitory in its continuance: Psalm 77:33 (var.) ("Their days were consumed in vanity, and their years in haste"). Because it is deceptive in what it promises: Ecclesiastes 34:2 (var.) ("Vain and false hope is to a man of no understanding, and dreams lift up fools"). Because it is fruitless in its outcome: Isaiah 49:4 ("I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength without cause and in vain"). It should also be noted that God is the fountain of sacramental cleansing: Ezekiel 47:9 ("When these waters shall come thither, they shall be healed, and all things shall live, whithersoever the torrent shall come"); of refreshing doctrine: Isaiah 55:1 ("All you that thirst, come to the waters, and you that have no money, make haste, buy, and eat"); of refreshing grace: Isaiah 44:3 (var.) ("I will pour out waters upon the thirsty ground, and streams upon the dry land"); of the waters of glory: Revelation 22:1 ("He shewed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb").

Chapter 3

Text

a. It is commonly said: If a man put away his wife, and she depart from him, and marry another man, shall he return to her any more? Shall not that woman be polluted and defiled? But thou hast prostituted thyself to many lovers; nevertheless return to me, saith the Lord, and I will receive thee. Lift up thy eyes on high, and see where thou hast not prostituted thyself: thou didst sit in the ways, waiting for them as a robber in the wilderness, and thou hast polluted the land with thy fornications and with thy wickedness. Wherefore the showers were withheld, and there was no latter rain; thou hadst a harlot's forehead, thou wouldst not blush. Wilt thou not therefore from this time call to me: Thou art my father, the guide of my virginity? Wilt thou be angry for ever, or wilt thou continue unto the end?

b. Behold, thou hast spoken, and hast done evil things, and hast been able. And the Lord said to me in the days of king Josias: Hast thou seen what rebellious Israel hath done? She hath gone up upon every high mountain, and under every green tree, and hath played the harlot there.

c. And I said, when she had done all these things: Return to me; and she did not return. And her treacherous sister Juda saw it, that because rebellious Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Juda was not afraid, but went and played the harlot also herself, and by the ease of her fornication polluted the land, and committed adultery with stone and with wood. And after all this her treacherous sister Juda hath not returned to me with her whole heart, but with falsehood, saith the Lord. And the Lord said to me: Rebellious Israel hath justified her soul, in comparison with treacherous Juda.

d. Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say: Return, rebellious Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not turn away my face from you, for I am holy, saith the Lord, and I will not be angry for ever. But yet know thy iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to strangers under every green tree, and hast not heard my voice, saith the Lord. Return, O revolting children, saith the Lord, for I am your husband.

e. And I will take you, one of a city, and two of a kindred, and will bring you into Sion. And I will give you pastors according to my own heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and doctrine. And when you shall be multiplied and increase in the land in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more: The ark of the covenant of the Lord; neither shall it come into mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall it be visited, nor shall that be done any more. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall be gathered to it in the name of the Lord, in Jerusalem, and they shall not walk any more after the perversity of their most wicked heart. In those days the house of Juda shall go to the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land which I gave to your fathers.

f. But I said: How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a lovely land, the goodly heritage of the armies of the nations? And I said: Thou shalt call me father, and shalt not cease to walk after me.

g. But as a woman that despiseth her lover, so hath the house of Israel despised me, saith the Lord. A voice was heard in the ways, weeping and the howling of the children of Israel, for they have made their way wicked, and have forgotten the Lord their God. Return, O revolting children, and I will heal your rebellions. Behold, we come to thee, for thou art the Lord our God. Truly the hills were a lie, and the multitude of the mountains; truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. Confusion hath devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. We shall sleep in our confusion, and our shame shall cover us, for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and we have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord our God.

Exposition

a. Here he calls them back to repentance. First he sets down that recalling; second, the obstinacy of those recalled, at "And the Lord said to me" etc. The first falls into two: in the first are set down the warnings that call them back; in the second, the manner of their recall, at "If thou wilt return" etc. The first falls into two: in the first he calls the people back; in the second he sets down the fruit of their response, at "But as a woman that despiseth" etc.

The first falls into two: in the first he calls them back from their guilt; in the second, from their punishment, at "Go, and proclaim" etc. In the first he calls them back by warnings; in the second by examples, at "And the Lord said" etc. Concerning the first he does two things. First he calls them back on the ground of the mercy of God, and to prove this he proposes a common proverb, "if a man put away," which has its origin in Deuteronomy 24:1-4 ("If a man take a wife, and have her, and she find not favor in his eyes... and write her a bill of divorce... and if the latter husband hate her likewise... she may not return to her former husband"). And he speaks according to the permission granted concerning the bill of divorce on account of the hardness of their hearts: Matthew 19:8; and her return was forbidden, either that men might not be too ready to put a wife away, or lest, receiving her back afterward, they should profane what they had once cast off. And from this proverb he draws his argument for the divine clemency: "but thou," "with many lovers," idols: Isaiah 63:16 (var.) ("Turn to us again, and have mercy, and turn to our God, for he is bountiful to forgive").

Second he calls them back from their own guilt. First he sets forth their guilt, fixing the place: "lift up thine eyes," in straight consideration, or on every side; "see where thou hast not" — as if to say, nowhere — "prostituted thyself," like a harlot, through idolatry: Ezekiel 16:24-25 (var.) ("Thou hast made thee brothel houses in every street"). And the desire for sin: "thou didst sit in the ways," like a harlot awaiting her lovers; and "a robber," awaiting those he might despoil: Proverbs 7:10 (var.) ("And behold a woman meeteth him in harlot's attire, prepared to deceive souls"); Hosea 6:9 (var.) ("As robbers wait for a man, so the company of priests murder in the way by consent"). And, determining the effect of their sin: "and thou hast polluted the land," as above, chapter 2: "thou hast defiled my land, and made my inheritance an abomination." And then, in place of their guilt, he sets down their punishment: "wherefore the showers," by whose power the fruits of the earth are brought forth, were withheld: Isaiah 5:6 ("I will command the clouds to rain no rain upon it"). And he shows their shamelessness in sin, "a harlot's forehead": below, Jeremiah 6:15 (var.) ("Yea, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush").

Second he exhorts them to repentance. First he urges them to acknowledge his benefits: "wilt thou not therefore" — as if to say, let the time past suffice; "father," by creation; "the guide of my virginity" — as if to say, when thou wast led through the desert, thou wast still a virgin: Proverbs 2:17 (var.) ("Who hath forsaken the guide of her youth"); Isaiah 63:11 (var.) ("The Spirit of the Lord was their leader"). Second he urges them to ask for mercy, and to say these things: "wilt thou be angry for ever": Psalm 84:6 (var.) ("Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? or wilt thou extend thy wrath from generation to generation?").

b. Here he shows their contempt: as it touches the sin of the mouth, "behold, thou hast spoken," which is explained of words of pride and the like; as it touches the sin of deed, to which corresponds "and hast done evil things"; as it touches the sin of the heart, to which corresponds "and hast been able" and "he shows," as though thou hadst boasted of thy own power in sin — though this last is not found in the Hebrew, nor in the ancient copies, but appears rather to be Jerome's own gloss: Job 24:23 (var.) ("God hath given him a place for penance, and he abuseth it unto pride"); Isaiah 5:11 (var.) ("Woe to you that rise up early in the morning to follow drunkenness, and to drink till the evening, to be inflamed with wine").

c. Here he calls them back by the example of the ten tribes, and concerning this he does three things. First he sets down that example: as to the guilt of idolatry, "she hath gone up," following her own impulses, not my commandments; and of disobedience, "and hath done," as in 2 Kings 17:10-11 (var.) ("They made them molten statues... and set them up on every high hill, and under every green tree, and there burnt incense upon the altars, after the manner of the nations"). And as to their punishment, which became known to Juda: "and her treacherous sister saw it," being sprung from the very same land; "I had given her a bill" — he keeps up the likeness of a harlot, one and the same wickedness being found throughout. But against this stands Isaiah 50:1 (var.) ("Where is the bill of your mother's divorce?"). It must be said that God does not put anyone away so far as it is up to himself, but the man who sins puts himself away: hence in the same place, "For your iniquities you are sold, and for your wicked deeds have I put your mother away." Second he sets down their contempt: "and she was not afraid," "with stone," that is, with a deceit of stone: 2 Kings 17:19 (var.) ("But Juda also itself kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the errors of Israel, which he had wrought"). Third he aggravates their guilt: "and thou hast said... hath justified herself," comparatively, because the ten tribes had not seen their own punishment, and were not corrected by it: Ezekiel 16:51 (var.) ("Thou hast justified thy sisters by all thy abominations which thou hast done").

d. Here he calls them back from the punishment of captivity. First he recalls them; second he shows the cause of that recall, at "but I" etc. Concerning the first there are two points. First he sets down the recall; second, the response of those recalled, at "and I will take you" etc. Concerning the first there are two points. First he calls back those of the ten tribes, summoning them to return from the north, where the captives were held in the land of the Assyrians: Psalm 102:9 (var.) ("He will not always be angry, nor will he threaten for ever"). And he calls them to acknowledge their sins: "but yet know... thou hast scattered," as it were among many idols; above, chapter 2: "see thy ways in the valley, know what thou hast done." Second he calls back those of the two tribes: "return," by repenting, returning to me; or returning from captivity: Hosea 2:16 (var.) ("And it shall be in that day, saith the Lord, that she shall call me: My husband; and she shall call me no more Baali").

e. Here he sets down the response of those thus recalled. First that of the two tribes, promising them the restoration of their homeland: "one of a city," since they had been scattered, or since not all had returned: Ezekiel 36:24 (var.) ("For I will take you from among the nations, and will gather you together out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land"). And the restoration of justice, in the amendment of their rulers: "and I will give you knowledge," as regards faith; "doctrine," as regards conduct: Isaiah 1:26 ("And I will restore thy judges as they were before, and thy counsellors as of old"). Third, as regards the increase of their glory, which he signifies by their forgetting of things past: "and when you shall be multiplied... they shall say no more" — as if that in which you now glory should be reckoned for nothing, since the ark had been hidden away and not found, as is said in 2 Maccabees 2 (var.). And as regards the promise of things to come: "at that time [they shall call] Jerusalem," the whole city, which was fulfilled in the renown for holiness in which it was afterward held, as is said in 1 Maccabees 5 (var.); Ezekiel 43:7 ("The place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever"). And as to the enlargement of worship: "and all the nations shall be gathered," from every side, for from every quarter men came to worship in Jerusalem — or it is understood of the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith of Christ: Psalm 65:4 (var.) ("All the earth shall adore thee, and sing to thee"). Second he sets down the conversion of the ten tribes: "in those days," for even those who had returned were joined to the two tribes, which is noted in the words "they shall come together": below, Jeremiah 50:4 (var.) ("In those days, and at that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Juda together, going and weeping, and they shall seek the Lord their God"). Some, however, explain all this of the very last times.

f. Here he assigns the cause of this recall. First he sets down the question: "how," that is, what could move me to confer so many good things upon thee, when thou art so deep in sin? "Among the children," that is, among the multitude of the sons; "the armies of the nations," that is, the land where of old armies were wont to be gathered, even to this day, on account of its pleasantness: Psalm 105:24 (var.) ("And they set at nought the desirable land"); also Psalm 15:6 (var.) ("The lines are fallen unto me in goodly places; for my inheritance is goodly to me"). Second he sets down the response: "and I said," that is, foreseeing the good things I would do, I promise thee these things: Psalm 88:27 (var.) ("He shall cry out to me: Thou art my father, my God, and the support of my salvation").

g. Here he sets down the fruit of their return. First he states the necessity of calling them back, as regards their own guilt: "a lover," not a husband: Hosea 3:1 (var.) ("Go yet again, and love a woman beloved of her friend, and an adulteress"). As regards their punishment: "a voice in the ways"; below, Jeremiah 31:15 (var.) ("A voice was heard on high of lamentation"); of mourning, "weeping," "Rachel weeping for her children." Second he sets down the profit of their conversion: "return," as above, from the sins by which they had turned away from God: Psalm 102:3 (var.) ("Who healeth all thy diseases"); Isaiah 45:22 (var.) ("Be converted to me, and you shall be saved"). Third he sets down their actual return. First they profess obedience: "behold, we come," just as thou hast commanded us: Hosea 6:1 ("In their affliction they will rise early to me: Come, and let us return to the Lord, for he hath taken us, and he will heal us; he will strike, and he will cure us"). Second they confess the majesty of God: confessing his divinity, "for thou art [the Lord]": Exodus 15:2 (var.) ("He is my God, and I will glorify him"); and the falsity of idols, "truly they were liars," because the idols they had worshipped there gave no help, nor did the divinity they laid claim to truly exist, in which they had placed their hope: Isaiah 28:15 (var.) ("We have placed our hope in lies, and by falsehood we are protected"). And the profit of the true worship of God: "truly in the Lord": Psalm 61:2 (var.) ("In God is my salvation and my glory"). Third they confess their own guilt and punishment, and that of their fathers: "confusion": below, Jeremiah 17:13 (var.) ("O Lord, all they that forsake thee shall be confounded: they that depart from thee shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water"). Note that God is called Father by creation: Matthew 11:25 ("I confess to thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth"); by adoption: Romans 8:15 ("You have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry: Abba, Father"); by instruction: Isaiah 38:19 (var.) ("The father shall make known thy truth to the children"); by correction: Proverbs 3:12 ("For whom the Lord loveth, he chastiseth, and as a father in the son he pleaseth himself"). Note also that the inheritance of the heavenly Fatherland is glorious with the splendor of the divine vision: Wisdom 6:13 (var.) ("She is bright, and never fadeth away, and is easily seen by them that love her"); with the sweetness of divine love: Psalm 22:5 ("My chalice which inebriateth me, how goodly is it"); with the intimacy of divine converse: Wisdom 8:18 (var.) ("In the fellowship of her words is a good delight"); with the magnificence of its working: Sirach 43:2 (var.) ("A wonderful and glorious work"); with the greatness of its exultation: Micah 2:12 (var.) ("The house of Juda and the house of Israel shall be blessed"); with the comfort of its company: Ezekiel 31:16 (var.) ("All the trees of pleasure that were in the paradise of God") etc.

Chapter 4

Text

a. If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return to me: if thou wilt take away thy stumbling-blocks out of my sight, thou shalt not be moved. And thou shalt swear: As the Lord liveth, in truth, and in judgment, and in justice; and the Gentiles shall bless him, and shall praise him.

b. For thus saith the Lord to the men of Juda and to the inhabitant of Jerusalem: Break up anew your fallow ground, and sow not upon thorns. Be circumcised to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, ye men of Juda and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest my indignation come forth like fire and burn, and there be none to quench it, because of the wickedness of your thoughts. Declare it in Juda, and make it heard in Jerusalem; speak, and sound the trumpet in the land; cry aloud, and say: Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities. Set up a standard in Sion. Take courage, stay not, for I bring evil from the north, and a great destruction.

c. The lion is come up from his den, and the robber of nations hath roused himself; he is gone forth out of his place, to make thy land desolate; thy cities shall be laid waste, and left without inhabitant. For this gird yourselves with sackcloth, lament and howl, for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned away from us. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes, and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall be amazed. And I said: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God, hast thou then indeed deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying: You shall have peace? and behold the sword reacheth even to the soul.

d. At that time it shall be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A burning wind is in the ways that are in the desert; the way of the daughter of my people is not to fan, nor to cleanse. A full wind from these places shall come for me; and now I also will pronounce my judgments against them.

e. Behold, he shall come up as a cloud, and his chariots as a tempest; his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us, for we are laid waste. Wash thy heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, that thou mayest be saved; how long shall hurtful thoughts lodge within thee?

f. For a voice of one declaring from Dan, and giving notice of the idol from mount Ephraim. Say to the nations: Behold it is heard in Jerusalem, that watchers are coming from a far country, and shall raise their voice against the cities of Juda. They are set as keepers of a field against her, round about, because she hath provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord. Thy ways, and thy devices, have brought these things upon thee; this is thy wickedness, for it is bitter, for it hath touched thy heart.

g. My bowels, my bowels, I am pained; the very heart within me is troubled; I will not hold my peace, for my soul hath heard the sound of the trumpet, the cry of battle. Destruction upon destruction is proclaimed, and all the land is laid waste; suddenly are my tents destroyed, my curtains in a moment. How long shall I see men fleeing, and hear the sound of the trumpet? For my foolish people have not known me; they are senseless children, without understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they know not.

h. I beheld the earth, and lo, it was void and empty; and the heavens, and there was no light in them. I beheld the mountains, and lo, they trembled, and all the hills were troubled. I looked, and there was no man, and all the birds of the air were gone. I looked, and behold Carmel was a wilderness, and all its cities were destroyed at the presence of the Lord, and at the presence of the wrath of his fury. For thus saith the Lord: All the land shall be desolate, yet I will not make a full end. The earth shall mourn, and the heavens above shall lament, because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and I have not repented, neither will I turn back from it.

i. At the voice of the horseman, and of him that shooteth the arrow, every city fled away; they went into the thickets, and climbed up the rocks; all the cities were forsaken, and no man dwelt in them. But thou, laid waste, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothe thyself with scarlet, though thou deck thyself with ornaments of gold, and paint thy eyes with stibic stone, thou shalt adorn thyself in vain; thy lovers have despised thee, they will seek thy life. For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, anguish as of one bringing forth her firstborn; the voice of the daughter of Sion, dying away, and spreading forth her hands: Woe is me, for my soul fainteth because of the slain.

Exposition

a. Here he sets down the arguments for their return; first, those drawn from the benefits promised to those who return; second, from the punishments threatened against those who despise this call, at "For thus saith the Lord" etc. Concerning the first there are two points. First he teaches the manner of returning: "if thou wilt return," from idols, "return to me" — or, if thou art resolved to return, be converted with thy whole heart; or, if thou wilt return from captivity, be converted by repenting: Isaiah 55:6-7 (var.) ("Seek ye the Lord... let the wicked forsake his way... and let him return to the Lord"). Second he shows the threefold fruit of conversion. First, the fruit of security: "if thou wilt take away thy stumbling-blocks," that is, the idols by which thou wast made to stumble, and by which thou provokest me to anger, "thou shalt not be moved," neither from thy homeland: Psalm 124:1 (var.) ("They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Sion: he shall not be moved for ever that dwelleth in Jerusalem"). Second, the fruit of holiness in themselves: "thou shalt swear: as the Lord liveth," by the living God, that is, and not by dead idols; "in truth," on the part of the one swearing, that he swear truly and not in pretense, or to deceive; "in judgment," as regards the cause for which the oath is sworn, that it be sworn not rashly, but only after due deliberation; "in justice," as regards the matter of the oath, that it be just and lawful: Isaiah 65:16 (var.) ("He that sweareth in the earth, shall swear by the God of amen"). Third, the increase of true religion among the Gentiles: "and the Gentiles shall bless" the Lord, seeing his benefits toward thee: Psalm 71:17 (var.) ("All nations shall bless him").

b. Here he takes up the argument for turning back from punishment. First he threatens punishment if they refuse to turn back; second, he excludes false remedies, at letter c below, "Go about the ways of Jerusalem." As to the first he does two things. First he teaches the manner of the turning-back, as regards the fruit of good work: "break up your fallow ground," that is, land newly tilled — "break it up," that is, remove the thorns of your vices, so that clean seed may be received by a clean field: Matthew 13 ("Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it"). And as regards the worship of divine religion: "be circumcised," namely that you may remove from your heart the rite of the Gentiles: Deuteronomy 10 ("Circumcise the foreskin of your heart"). Second he shows that danger is imminent — first in general: "lest," as it is said, "my indignation break forth like fire, and burn, and there be none to quench it." Second in particular: "declare ye." And concerning this he does three things: first he foretells the coming of the enemy; second, the hardship of the siege, at "the voice of one declaring"; third, the harm of the destruction, at "my tents are afflicted." As to the first he does two things: first he describes the preparation of the citizens; second, the coming of the enemy, at "the lion is come up." As to the first he does three things. First he sets down the command to announce the preparation, naming the place — "in Judah," that is, in the tribe in which Jerusalem lies, which is the metropolis of the kingdom; the manner — "proclaim it," that all may hear, and cry out constantly: Isaiah 58 ("Cry, cease not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet"). Second, the preparation itself is set forth: "Assemble yourselves," below at Jeremiah 6 ("Take courage, ye children of Benjamin, in the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Thecua"). Third, he assigns the reason: "for I will bring evil"; above at Jeremiah 1 ("Out of the north an evil shall break forth").

c. Here he sets down the coming of the enemy. First as to their setting out from their own land; second, as to the progress of their march, at "at that time"; third, as to the goal of their march, at "as a cloud." As to the first he does two things. First he describes the condition of the coming enemy as to their strength: "a lion," namely Nebuchadnezzar, "is come up from his den," that is, from Babylon: Proverbs 30 ("A lion, strongest of beasts, who feareth the approach of none"); below at Jeremiah 30 (var.) ("as a lion he cometh up in the swelling of Jordan"). As to greatness: "a destroyer of nations." As to cruelty and pride: Nahum 2 (var.) ("the lion took enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses"). As to their intent, "that thy land may be made desolate": Isaiah 10 (var.) ("to turn away his heart to no small destruction of nations"). And as regards the execution of that intent: "thy cities shall be laid waste"; Isaiah 1 (var.) ("your land is desolate, your cities burnt with fire"). Second, he describes the endeavor of the Jews — first in general, addressing all: "for this gird yourselves with sackcloth and strew ashes upon you"; below at Jeremiah 6. Second, in particular, addressing the princes: "the heart of the king shall perish," that they may not be able to find fitting counsel of resistance: Isaiah 19 (var.) ("the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst thereof"). Third, he foretells their astonishment: "and they shall say, alas, peace," for above at Jeremiah 3 (var.) ("at that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall be gathered to it in the name of the Lord, in Jerusalem"), not understanding that this is said of a time far off, whereas here it is said, "we looked for peace, and there was no good; for a time of healing, and behold fear."

d. Here he describes the coming of the enemy as to the progress of the march. "It shall come," the coming — namely "a dry wind," that is, the army of the Chaldeans, which will burn up the whole land — "is now" in the highways that lie between Chaldea and Judea, as if to say: already the army has reached that place, "not to fan," that is, not merely that some may be taken captive, as when grain is purged of chaff, but that all shall be led captive: "a full spirit," that is, perfect indignation, shall come "from these," namely the enemies, "to me," that is, to my honor: Isaiah 30 (var.) ("his spirit as a torrent overflowing even to the neck, to destroy the nations unto nothing"). And he threatens that he will execute judgment through them: "and now I also," as though he could hold himself back no longer, "will speak judgments"; or, "now I also will speak words of comfort": above at Jeremiah 1 ("I will utter my judgments against them, touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me").

e. Here he describes the coming of the enemy as to the goal of the march, and concerning this he does three things. First he describes the condition of the enemy as to multitude: "as a cloud," which covers the whole land, "he shall come up," because of the lay of the land. As to violence: "and as a tempest," with great commotion: Isaiah 5 ("his wheels are like a whirlwind"). As to swiftness: "his horses are swifter than eagles." Second he sets down the effect of the coming: "woe to us," in the person of the people: Isaiah 1 ("O city, thy fair robes are torn from thee"). Third he concludes with an exhortation to penance: "wash thy heart from malice"; Isaiah 1 ("wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your thoughts from before my eyes").

f. Here he foretells the siege, and first the hardship of the siege: "a voice from Dan," for it was from the district of Dan that the Chaldeans first came upon Jerusalem, "from mount Ephraim," which they afterward found, "an idol" — that is, enemies, whom they suffered on account of idolatry, in which the order of the messengers who succeed one another is marked out. And he determines what is announced: "tell ye the nations," namely those round about the midst of Jerusalem, preparing themselves to resist — or, "the nations round about," that, terrified by your punishments, they may be corrected. "Behold they are heard," frequently, through many messengers, and first through the prophets. "Keep watch," namely the enemies keeping the siege, "raise the voice," the howl of the army: above at Jeremiah 4 (var.) ("upon her they roared like lions, they uttered their voice"). Second, he determines the manner of the siege: "keep watch as those that besiege a city," without any resistance, beleaguering it on every side: Luke 19 ("they shall compass thee round, and straiten thee on every side"). Third he sets down the merit of the siege: "thy ways," that is, thy deeds, "are these things done to thee," reaching even to the inward bones: below at Jeremiah 32 (var.) ("because of thy great wickedness, and because thy iniquities are without shame").

g. Here he foretells the destruction of the land, and first the destruction itself, second its effect, at "I beheld." As to the first he does three things. First the prophet shows his own compassion: "my bowels," as to the affliction of his affection; "my heart," as to the disturbance of his understanding — "I am pained at my very heart," even outwardly, plainly: Lamentations 2 (var.) ("my eyes have failed with weeping, my bowels are troubled"). Second, he pursues the order of the destruction, setting down the confusion of the battle: "the voice of the trumpet," Zephaniah 1 ("a day of the trumpet, and shouting"); the wasting of the region: "destruction upon destruction," because devastation is heaped upon siege, or one devastation upon another: Job 16 ("he hath torn me with wound upon wound, he hath rushed in upon me like a giant"); the destruction of the city itself as to its houses: "suddenly my tabernacles are laid waste," by which the houses are signified — "my curtains," with which the tents were covered: below at Jeremiah 10 ("my tabernacle is laid waste, all my cords are broken"). And as regards the flight of the citizens: "how long shall I see the fugitive," that is, the fleeing army of the Chaldeans: Lamentations 1 ("they are gone away without strength before the face of the pursuer"). Third he assigns the reason for the devastation, namely the deprivation of due knowledge, because "foolish," as to the knowledge of divine things; "senseless," as to the experience of their sweetness; "without a heart," as to the choice of things to be done: Isaiah 5 (var.) ("therefore is my people led away captive, because they had not knowledge"). And as regards their cleverness in deceit: "wise to do evil," against which Romans 16 ("I would have you wise unto good, and simple concerning evil").

h. Here he shows the effect of the destruction — first in the region, second in the people, at "the horsemen" etc. As to the first he does two things. First he foretells the future desolation generally, as regards the open country: "I looked upon the earth," and "there was no inhabitant," "nothing," bereft of fruits and buildings; "there was no light," as it appeared to the afflicted, to whom all things seemed darkness: Isaiah 6 (var.) ("and the land shall be left desolate, and the Lord shall remove men far away"). And as regards the mountainous regions: "I beheld the mountains, and they trembled," hyperbolically — that, were it possible, even the mountains would be moved in so great a tribulation; or by mountains understand those who dwell in the mountains: Psalm 46 (var.) ("the mountains were troubled in his strength"). And as regards living things: "I looked, and there was no man," which is to say, along with the inhabitant, it departs: Isaiah 50 (var.) ("I came, and there was no man, I called, and there was none that would hear"). And especially as regards the fruitful regions, which ought least to have been laid waste: "I looked, and behold Carmel was a wilderness": Isaiah 1 ("your country is desolate, your cities are burnt with fire"). Second, he confirms this by the Lord's own sentence: first he sets down the admission of mercy — "for thus saith the Lord, the whole land shall be desolate," yet a full consummation shall not be made, so that all should perish, as he had said of the ten tribes: Isaiah 10 (var.) ("a consumption and a shortening shall the Lord God of hosts make in the midst of all the earth"). Second, he sets down the condemnation of that sentence: "the earth shall mourn," as if to say, it shall be barren — just as a flowering land is said to laugh, so here by compassion, hyperbolically: Isaiah 24 ("the earth mourned, and faded away, the world is fallen down, the height of the people of the earth is weakened"). Third, he sets down the firmness of the divine sentence: "I have purposed it": Isaiah 14 (var.) ("this is the counsel that is purposed upon all the earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all nations. For the Lord of hosts hath decreed it, and who shall disannul it?").

i. Here he shows the effect of the destruction upon the people of the Jews. First he sets down the fear that is signified by the desertion of the cities: "the horsemen," namely of the Chaldeans: Isaiah 21 (var.) ("they fled from before the swords, from before the drawn sword, from before the bent bow, from before the grievousness of war"). And as regards their dwelling in the mountains: "they entered into thickets": Jeremiah 48 (var.) ("leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, O ye that dwell in Moab, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the mouth of the hole"). Second, he sets down the disappointment of their hope in idols: "but thou, when thou art spoiled... though thou clothest thyself" — after the likeness of a harlot, who adorns herself that she may please her lovers, so they adorned the altars of idols, that these might be pleasing to them; "with stibium," that is, with the ointment of saffron color with which women painted their eyebrows, as it is said, 2 Kings 9 (var.) ("Jezebel painted her eyes with stibium, and adorned her head"): Proverbs 7 (var.) ("a woman meeteth him in harlot's attire"). And their disappointment in friends, especially the Egyptians, in whom they trusted: "thy lovers have despised thee": Lamentations 1 ("all her friends have despised her"). Third, he sets down the grief of the people as in childbirth: "as of a woman in travail," who at her first labor grieves the more sharply — and as at the death of a son: "among them that die": Psalm 48 (var.) ("there pains, as of a woman in labor"). It should be noted that circumcision is manifold: of the mind, from wicked thoughts — Leviticus 26 ("until their uncircumcised mind be ashamed"); of the heart, from wicked affections — Romans 2 ("circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter"); of the mouth, from wicked speech — Exodus 6 (var.) ("I am of uncircumcised lips"); of the ear, from detraction and wicked words — below at Jeremiah 6 ("their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hear"); of the flesh, signifying circumcision from carnal concupiscence — Genesis 17 ("ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, that it may be a sign of the covenant between me and you"). It is likewise to be noted that the heart is washed with the water of baptism — Ezekiel 16 ("I washed thee with water, and washed away thy blood from thee"); with the tears of compunction — Psalm 6 ("every night I will wash my bed, I will water my couch with my tears"); with wine, that is, punishment — Genesis 49 ("he shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape"); with the milk of divine discourse — Song of Solomon 5 ("his eyes are as doves upon brooks of water, which are washed with milk"); with the fire of correction — Isaiah 4 ("when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Sion, and shall have washed away the blood of Jerusalem out of the midst thereof, by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning"); with the blood of the Lord's passion — Revelation 7 ("they have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb").

Chapter 5

Text

a. "Go about the ways of Jerusalem, and look, and consider, and seek in the broad places thereof, if you can find a man that executeth judgment, and seeketh faith, and I will be merciful unto it. And though they say, As the Lord liveth: even that shall they swear falsely. O Lord, thy eyes look upon truth: thou hast struck them, and they have not grieved; thou hast bruised them, and they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than the rock, and they have refused to return."

b. "But I said: Perhaps these are poor and foolish, that know not the way of the Lord, the judgment of their God. I will go therefore to the great men, and will speak to them: for they have known the way of the Lord, the judgment of their God: and behold these have altogether broken the yoke more, they have burst the bonds."

c. "Wherefore a lion out of the forest hath slain them, a wolf in the evening hath spoiled them, a leopard watcheth for their cities: every one that shall go out from thence shall be taken, because their transgressions are multiplied, their rebellions are strengthened."

d. "How can I be merciful to thee? Thy children have forsaken me, and swear by them that are not gods: I fed them to the full, and they committed adultery, and rioted in the harlot's house. They are become as amorous horses and stallions: every one neighed after his neighbor's wife. Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? And shall not my soul take revenge on such a nation? Scale the walls thereof, and throw them down, but do not utterly destroy: take away the branches thereof, because they are not the Lord's. For the house of Israel, and the house of Judah, have greatly transgressed against me, saith the Lord. They have denied the Lord, and said, It is not he: and evil shall not come upon us: we shall not see the sword and famine. The prophets have spoken as wind, and there was no word of God in them: these things therefore shall befall them. Thus saith the Lord the God of hosts: Because you have spoken this word, behold I will make my words in thy mouth as fire, and this people as wood, and it shall devour them. Behold I will bring upon you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, saith the Lord: a strong nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou shalt not know, nor understand what they say. Their quiver is as an open sepulcher, they are all valiant. And they shall eat up thy corn, and thy bread: they shall devour thy sons and thy daughters: they shall eat up thy flocks and thy herds: they shall eat thy vineyards and thy figs, and with the sword they shall destroy thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustest."

e. "Nevertheless in those days, saith the Lord, I will not bring you to utter destruction. And if you shall say, Why hath the Lord our God done all these things to us? thou shalt say to them: As you have forsaken me, and served a strange god in your own land, so shall you serve strangers in a land that is not your own."

f. "Declare ye this to the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying: Hear, O foolish people, and without understanding: who have eyes, and see not: and ears, and hear not. Will you not then fear me, saith the Lord: and will you not repent at my presence? I have set the sand a bound for the sea, an everlasting ordinance, which it shall not pass over: and the waves thereof shall toss themselves, and shall not prevail: they shall swell, and shall not pass over it. But the heart of this people is become incredulous and provoking, they are revolted and gone away. And they have not said in their heart: Let us fear the Lord our God, who giveth us the early and the latter rain in due season: who preserveth for us the fullness of the yearly harvest. Your iniquities have turned these things away, and your sins have withholden good things from you."

g. "For among my people are found wicked men, that lie in wait as fowlers, setting snares and traps to catch men. As a net is full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit: therefore are they become great and enriched. They are grown fat and sleek: and have most wickedly transgressed my words. They have not judged the cause of the widow, they have not managed the cause of the fatherless, and they have not judged the judgment of the poor."

h. "Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? or shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation?"

i. "Astonishing and wonderful things have been done in the land. The prophets prophesied lies, and the priests clapped their hands: and my people loved such things: what then shall be done in the end thereof?"

Exposition

a. Here he excludes the remedies in which they could have trusted. First, the holiness of men; second, the strength of the royal city, at letter e below, "take courage"; third, the observance of divine worship, at letter g, "the word" etc. As to the first he does two things. First he shows their wickedness in general; second he pursues their vices in particular, at "for among my people" etc. As to the first he does two things: first he shows their guilt, second he threatens punishment, at "wherefore hath slain them" etc. As to the first he does two things. First he shows the wickedness of the rulers, second of the subjects, at "but I said" etc. As to the first he does two things. First the Lord sets forth the universal wickedness of the people as to the depravity of their actions: "look," even one, "that executeth judgment," like one who deals fairly with his neighbor, according to the rule of just judgment; "that seeketh faith," that is, that acts faithfully; "and I will be merciful," not only on account of ten, as Abraham said of Sodom (Genesis 18), but it might have been said: there is none that doth good, no not one (Psalm 14). And as to the perverseness of their conduct even in those things which outwardly seemed good: "and though they say, As the Lord liveth" — even this falsely, because in their heart they did not reverence the Lord as they showed by their mouth, or rather because they swore falsely even to the letter: Wisdom 1 (var.) ("thou shalt swear, saith the Lord, in truth, and in judgment, and in justice"); Isaiah 29 ("this people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me"). But the prophet confirms the Lord's sentence. First he sets down the truth of the sentence: "O Lord, thy eyes look upon" what is right — as if to say, thou hast judged rightly: Proverbs 15 (var.) ("the eyes of the Lord in every place behold the good and the evil, the Lord is a weigher of spirits"); Habakkuk 1 ("thy eyes are too pure to behold evil, and thou canst not look on iniquity"). Second he adds the incorrigibility of the people, because they are amended by no chastisement: "thou hast struck them," with many scourges, "and they have not grieved" for their sins; "thou hast bruised them," with death and captivity: above at Jeremiah 2 ("in vain have I struck thy children, they have received no correction"); Amos 4 (var.) ("I struck you with blasting wind, and mildew, and hail, all the labors of your hands, yet there was none among you that returned to me, saith the Lord"). Nor by shame: "they have hardened their faces" — as if to say, they are not changed by any shame: Ezekiel 3 (var.) ("all the house of Israel are of a hardened forehead, and an obstinate heart").

b. Here he shows the wickedness of the rulers, against the prophet's own estimation. First he sets down the ignorance of the common people, as if in excuse of them: "perhaps," those whom he found evil in the streets, "these are poor," through which they wander; "and foolish," so that they fear: 1 Corinthians 8 ("not in all men is there this knowledge"). Second he sets down the knowledge of the rulers, which took away any excuse for their guilt: "I will go therefore," by which they walk, "and will speak to them, for they have known the judgment," by which they themselves also judge others: Wisdom 6 (var.) ("you that are judges of the earth, hear diligently... you that keep the laws"). Third he sets down their guilt: "and behold these have broken the yoke," even more than the common people, because more boldly, being less fearful; "together with the people": Psalm 2 ("the kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together against the Lord"); "the bonds," that is, the bonds of the commandments: Psalm 2 (var.) ("let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their yoke from us").

c. Here he threatens punishment. First he determines the punishment as to the slaying of the men: "a lion out of the forest," as it were a fierce one — Nebuchadnezzar, on account of ferocity, in whom was the kingdom of the Chaldeans, as regards the wasting of the regions; "a wolf in the evening," because of swiftness — for at the evening hour wolves are swifter, being emptied of food, and eager for their nocturnal prey. Or by the wolf understand the kingdom of the Persians, as regards the siege of the city; "a leopard watching," that is, Nebuchadnezzar, on account of craftiness. Or the kingdom of the Greeks, on account of the variety of kingdoms which it subdued to itself. Of the kingdom of the Romans he is silent, because it was still far off; or he even signifies it by that which he says, "every one that shall go out," that is, shall escape the hands of those who went before, "shall be taken": Lamentations 3 (var.) ("he hath become to me as a lion in secret places... their hunting was like the flight of the birds of evening"). Second he resumes the cause: "their transgressions are multiplied," as to number; "their rebellions are strengthened," as to habitual practice, "against him," that is, against God: Isaiah 59 (var.) ("our iniquities are multiplied before thee, and our sins have testified against us").

d. Here he pursues their sins in particular — first the sins of the subjects, second the sins of the rulers, at "for among my people" etc. As to the first he does two things. First he shows the guilt of the people; second, the folly of the sinners, at "declare ye." As to the first he does three things. First he charges the people with the guilt of idolatry: "how can I," that is, what reasonable cause can I find for sparing you; "they have sworn," rendering divine reverence to them: Deuteronomy 32 (var.) ("they have provoked me with that which was not God, and have angered me with their vanities, and I will provoke them with that which is not a people"). Second he charges them with the guilt of lust, setting down the perpetration of the sin, or the occasion of sinning: "I fed them to the full," conferring an abundance of temporal goods — whence the gloss: with a full belly and good cheer, one grows cold to charity, for the friends of such are the belly and the flesh. "They committed adultery," "in the harlot's house" — and in that very place the shamefulness of the sin is increased: Ezekiel 16 (var.) ("this was the iniquity of Sodom thy sister, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance, and idleness were in her and in her daughters, and they did not put forth their hand to the needy and to the poor. And they were lifted up, and committed abominations before me"). He also sets down the ardor of their concupiscence: "as amorous horses," when they are especially in the time of their lust; "and stallions," for they were specially sent for this work — "he neighed," as though maddened with lust: Psalm 32 (var.) ("do not become like the horse and the mule, which have no understanding"). He also sets down the recompense of punishment, by which he threatens vengeance, "shall I not," in return for their sins, "visit," afflicted; Isaiah 1 ("I will lay my hand upon thy adversaries"). And he determines the punishment as to the destruction of the walls: "scale her walls," O Chaldeans. And as to the destruction of men: "take away her branches," that is, the sons who are propagated from these, as from a vine's shoot: Deuteronomy 28 (var.) ("thy sons and thy daughters shall be given to another people, in whom thou hadst trust, throughout thy whole land"). And he resumes the cause of the punishment: "because they are not the Lord's," alienated in themselves through sin: Isaiah 24 (var.) ("the transgressors have transgressed, and with the transgression of transgressors have they transgressed"). Third he charges them with the sin of blasphemy. First he sets down their guilt as to blasphemy against God: "they have denied the Lord," denying his providence over lower things — "it is not he," by whose will all things come to pass; "evil shall not come," although we have sinned against him: Lamentations 3 ("who is he that hath commanded a thing to be done, when the Lord commandeth it not?"); and Ezekiel 9 (var.) ("they have said, The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not"). And as to blasphemy against the prophets: "as wind," that is, in vain, "have spoken," a divine word: Job 6 (var.) ("you that only intend to rebuke words, and speak words to the wind"). Second he threatens punishment for blasphemy against the prophets: "these things," which follow, "shall be as fire," that is, I will give efficacy to thy words, so that thy very words shall burn like fire: below at Jeremiah 23 ("are not my words as fire, saith the Lord?"). And against blasphemy against God, determining the condition of the enemy — that it is powerful: "behold I will bring from afar," namely the Chaldeans; "a nation," in numbers; "ancient," for over them ruled Nimrod the giant — hence long exercised in arms. He also shows the nation to be inexorable: "a nation whose language thou shalt not know." Likewise armed: "their quiver," for from a ready quiver they let fly their arrows. And because there they appear bloodstained, like corpses in their graves: below at Jeremiah 50 (var.) ("behold a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall rise up from the ends of the earth"). And he sets down the infliction of punishment: "and shall eat up": Deuteronomy 28 ("the Lord shall bring upon thee a nation from afar, from the uttermost ends of the earth, in likeness of an eagle that flieth swiftly, whose tongue thou shalt not understand"); yet with an admixture of mercy: "nevertheless"; above at Jeremiah 4 ("yet I will not make a full end"). Second he resumes the cause of the punishment: "and if you shall say"; below at Jeremiah 16 (var.) ("I will cast you out of this land into a land which you know not, you nor your fathers").

e. Here he shows the folly of the sinning people. First he sets it forth: "hear, O foolish people," blind as to their outward eyes; "and see not," in the heart: Isaiah 6 ("blind the heart of this people"). Second he proves it — first from the comparison of insensible creatures, setting forth their obedience: "therefore" — "the sand," the shore, "shall be moved," namely the waves, that is, though they be moved: Job 38 (var.) ("I set my bounds around it"); and the disobedience of the people: "but this people": Ezekiel 2 (var.) ("be not thou provoking, as that house is provoking"). Second he proves their ingratitude for benefits, setting down that ingratitude: "who have not said... the early rain," at the beginning after sowing; "and the latter rain," at the time of the ripening of fruits; namely the Lord, "preserving." And the cessation of the benefits: "your iniquities": Isaiah 59 (var.) ("your sins have hid his face from you, that he should not hear").

f. Here he pursues the guilt of the rulers, which is frequently the cause of the guilt of the subjects; and therefore he says, "for among my people are found" etc. And concerning this he does two things. First he charges them with guilt as to the violation of justice; second, as to the perverseness of their doctrine, at "astonishing" etc. As to the first he does two things. First he shows their injustice as to the unjust and fraudulent oppression of the poor, setting down their deceit: "that lie in wait": Psalm 10 ("he lieth in wait to catch the poor man"); "full of deceit," of riches which they have amassed by deceit. And the effect of that deceit in the multiplication of riches: "therefore are they become great," in honors; "enriched," in wealth: below at Jeremiah 17 ("as the partridge hath hatched eggs which she did not lay, so is he that hath gathered riches, but not by right"). And in the multiplication of sins: "and have transgressed": Deuteronomy 32 ("the beloved grew fat, and kicked; he grew fat, and thick, and gross, he forsook God who made him"). Second he shows their injustice as to the omission of just judgment: "the cause of the widow"; Isaiah 1 (var.) ("they judge not for the fatherless, and the widow's cause cometh not in unto them").

g. Here he threatens punishment: Deuteronomy 32 ("I will render vengeance to my enemies, and repay them that hate me").

h. Here he charges them with the perversity of doctrine. First he touches on their astonishing guilt: "astonishing," that is, an astonishing thing — "the prophets prophesied lies," whose office it was to teach the truth: Ezekiel 22 ("her prophets have daubed them without tempering, seeing vain things, and divining lies unto them"). "The priests clapped their hands," consenting to the lies, whose office it was to correct the prophets: below at Jeremiah 29 ("the Lord hath made thee priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, that thou shouldest be ruler in the house of the Lord... and now why hast thou not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who prophesieth unto you"); "and my people loved" this: Ecclesiastes 10 (var.) ("as is the ruler of the city, so also are they that dwell therein"). Second he suggests the astonishing punishment: "what then shall be done in the end thereof," namely of captivity or of death: Isaiah 27 (var.) ("in measure against measure, when it shall be cast off, he will judge it"). It is to be noted that poverty is manifold: of earthly possessions — James 2 ("hath not God chosen the poor in this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which God hath promised to them that love him?"); of humility — Matthew 5 ("blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"); of affliction — Psalm 40 (var.) ("I am poor and sorrowful, thy salvation, O Lord, hath set me up"); of knowledge — Revelation 3 ("thou knowest not that thou art... poor"); of imperfection — Lamentations 3 ("I am a man that seeth my poverty by the rod of his indignation"). Likewise it is to be noted that visitation is manifold: of consolation — Luke 1 ("the dayspring from on high hath visited us"); of correction — Psalm 89 (var.) ("I will visit their iniquities with a rod"); of condemnation — below at Jeremiah 8 ("in the time of their visitation they shall perish, saith the Lord"). Likewise it is to be noted that the word of God is called fire, because it enlightens — Psalm 119 (var.) ("thy word is a lamp to my feet"); because it inflames — Psalm 105 (var.) ("the word of the Lord inflamed him"); because it penetrates to the depths — below at Jeremiah 20 (var.) ("and the word of the Lord was made in my heart as a burning fire, shut up in my bones"): Hebrews 4 ("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 a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart"); because it melts — Psalm 147 ("he shall send out his word, and shall melt them, his wind shall blow, and the waters shall run"); because it consumes the disobedient — Isaiah 30 (var.) ("his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire"): John 15 ("if I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin").

Chapter 6

Text

a. "Take courage, ye sons of Benjamin, in the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Thecua, and set up a standard over Bethacarem: for evil is seen out of the north, and great destruction. I have likened the daughter of Sion to a beautiful and delicate woman. The shepherds and their flocks shall come to her, they have pitched their tents against her round about: everyone shall feed those that are under his hand."

b. "Prepare ye war against her: arise, and let us go up at midday. Woe unto us, for the day is declined, for the shadows of the evening are grown longer. Arise, and let us go up in the night, and destroy her houses: for thus saith the Lord of hosts: Hew down her trees, and cast up a mount against Jerusalem."

c. "This is the city that must be visited, there is all oppression in the midst of her. As a cistern maketh its water cold, so hath she made her wickedness cold: violence and spoiling shall be heard in her, infirmity and stripes are continually before me."

d. "Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee, lest I make thee desolate, a land uninhabited. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: They shall gather the remains of Israel as in a vineyard, even to one cluster. Turn back thy hand, as a grapegatherer to the basket."

e. "To whom shall I speak? and to whom shall I testify, that he may hear? Behold their ears are uncircumcised, and they cannot hear: behold the word of the Lord is become unto them a reproach, and they will not receive it."

f. "Therefore am I full of the fury of the Lord, I am weary with holding in. Pour it out upon the child abroad, and upon the council of the young men together: for man and woman shall be taken, the ancient and he that is full of days. And their houses shall be turned over to others, their fields and their wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord."

g. "For from the least of them even to the greatest, all are given to covetousness: and from the prophet even to the priest, all are guilty of deceit. And they healed the breach of the daughter of my people disgracefully, saying: Peace, peace, and there was no peace. They were confounded, because they committed abomination: yea, rather they were not confounded with confusion, and they knew not how to blush. Wherefore they shall fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall perish, saith the Lord."

h. "Thus saith the Lord: Stand ye on the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, which is the good way, and walk ye in it: and you shall find rest for your souls. And they said: We will not walk. And I appointed watchmen over you, saying: Hearken ye to the sound of the trumpet. And they said: We will not hearken. Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, how great things I will do to them. Hear, O earth: Behold I will bring evils upon this people, the fruit of their own thoughts: because they have not heard my words, and they have cast away my law."

i. "To what purpose do you bring me frankincense from Saba, and the sweet-smelling cane from a far country? your holocausts are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to me. Therefore thus saith the Lord: Behold I will bring destruction upon this people, wherein the fathers and the sons together shall fall, the neighbor and his kinsman shall perish."

k. "Thus saith the Lord: Behold a people cometh from the land of the north, and a great nation shall rise up from the ends of the earth. They shall lay hold on arrow and shield, they are cruel and unmerciful. Their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, prepared as a man for battle against thee, O daughter of Sion. We have heard the fame thereof, our hands are grown feeble, anguish hath taken hold of us, as a woman in labor. Go not out into the fields, and walk not in the highway: for the sword of the enemy, and terror is round about. O daughter of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and sprinkle thee with ashes: make thee mourning as for an only son, a bitter lamentation, because the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us."

l. "I have set thee for a trier of the strength of my people: and thou shalt know and prove their way. All these princes go out of the way, walking deceitfully, they are brass and iron, they are all corrupted. The bellows have failed, the lead is consumed in the fire, the founder hath melted in vain: for their wickedness is not consumed. Call ye them reprobate silver, for the Lord hath rejected them."

Exposition

a. Here he excludes the second remedy in which they could have trusted, namely the strength of the royal city, whose destruction he prophesies in this chapter; and concerning this he does two things. First is set down the preparation of the citizens, namely for resistance: "take courage," to indicate how they exhorted one another as the enemy approached. Or he speaks ironically, "sons of Benjamin," because Jerusalem lay within the lot of that tribe as to its upper part, but as to its lower part within the tribe of Judah: Joshua 18 (var.) ("the border went up by the mountain of Jebus, on the south side — the same is Jerusalem"). And "in Thecua blow the trumpet," and "over Bethacarem," fortified places near Jerusalem; above at Jeremiah 4 ("proclaim it"). Second is set down the destruction of the city itself, at "I have likened" etc. First is set down the condition of the enemy that lays it waste, under certain metaphors; second, they are described openly and expressly, at "thus saith the Lord." As to the first he does two things. First he describes the siege of the city; second, the assault, at "prepare ye." As to the first he does three things. First is described the beauty of the city: "beautiful," as to comely buildings and the softness of its inhabitants; "delicate," as to the fruitfulness of the land: Ezekiel 16 (var.) ("fine flour, and honey, and oil thou didst eat, and wast made exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom"). Second is described the siege: "to her the shepherds shall come," metaphorically — the princes of the Chaldeans, as if enticed by the richness of the pastures: below at Jeremiah 12 (var.) ("many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot"); "they have pitched," for the siege of the city. Third is described the due ordering of the army: "shall feed," that is, shall govern; "under the hand," the power — for over the various companies there were various princes.

b. Here is set down the assault for the taking of the city; and concerning this he sets down three things. First, the summons to attack: "prepare," that is, show forth a formal or holy and just war, as though undertaken by God's own will; and this is the word of the princes to the soldiers: Micah 3 (var.) ("who if a man give not something into their mouth, they prepare war against him"). Second is set down the desire of those who make the assault, which he shows in three ways. In mutual exhortation: "arise," the voice of soldiers one to another; "let us go up," to assault, although the city was set upon a mountain; and because they will not be held back by the inconvenience of the time, neither by the heat of the day, "at midday," nor by the horror of night, "in the night." And because they complain of the shortness of the time: "woe to us," of the day on which there was time fit for warfare, "declined" — for the more the sun approaches the summer solstice, the longer becomes the shadow in the desired direction: Isaiah 5 (var.) ("take courage still, that we may go up even in the night"); but according to the gloss, "woe to us" is spoken in the person of the people, fearing the ambushes of the night, who could scarcely resist even at midday. Third he shows the manner of their going forth, because "thus saith the Lord" — as though it were now lawful for them to make war, since it is the Lord's own command. "Hew down her trees," to make siege-engines; "cast up... a mount," which they had made for the defense of their own walls, destroying it; or, "cast up," raising the earth into a heap to set siege-works against the city: Habakkuk 1 (var.) ("he shall scoff at every stronghold, and shall cast up a mound, and shall take it").

c. Here he sets down the cause of the siege arising from their guilt; and concerning this, three things. First he sets down the universality of the wickedness: "that must be visited," as worthy of correction; "all oppression," every manner of oppression: Psalm 54 (var.) ("usury and deceit have not departed from her streets"). Second, the hardening of their heart: "as a cistern maketh cold," and thus it keeps itself as it were untouched by warmth: above at Jeremiah 2 ("they have dug for themselves broken cisterns, that can hold no water"). Third, the continuance of the sin: "violence"; Isaiah 60 (var.) ("desolation and destruction shall no more be heard in thy land"); "infirmity," as it were a punishment answering the two aforesaid guilts.

d. Here he shows the destruction; and concerning this, three things. First he sets down the counsel for avoiding destruction; second, the contempt of that counsel, at "to whom shall I speak"; third he threatens the judgment of destruction, at "therefore" etc. As to the first he does two things. First he sets down the counsel: "be instructed," namely chastened by the scourges that have gone before: Isaiah 28 (var.) ("vexation alone shall make you understand what you hear"). Second he sets down the imminent peril, in the loss of divine love: "lest," Ezekiel 16 (var.) ("thy shame shall be taken away out of the midst of thee, in the devastation of the region"); Psalm 106 (var.) ("he turned rivers into a wilderness, and the sources of water into dry ground"). And in the captivity of the nation: "thus saith the Lord... even to a cluster," inclusively, for not even a cluster shall be left. Metaphorically, by the vine he means the Jews: Isaiah 5 ("the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel"); by the clusters, the men; by the vintage he signifies the captivity. "O Chaldean, turn back," he keeps the metaphor, as a grapegatherer, having collected the clusters, puts them into the vessel called a basket, that they may be carried to the winepress — so are you to shut up the Jews in prison, and lead them into Babylon: Obadiah 1 (var.) ("if the grapegatherers had come to thee, would they not have left thee at least a cluster?"). Or, "even to a cluster," exclusively, since they leave behind the remains of the people, namely the rustics and the base. "Turn back thy hand" signifies also their return to their own land, which is shown, according to this reading, by the sign of the basket.

e. Here he shows the contempt of the counsel given. First the prophet seeks a fit hearer of the counsel: "to whom shall I speak," the fruitful words of the Lord; "and testify," entreat, in which he signifies charity: Isaiah 29 (var.) ("whom shall he teach knowledge, and whom shall he make to understand the hearing?"). Second he shows their unfitness, because they would not hear: "behold their ears are uncircumcised," as it were full of the fables of the Gentiles: Acts 7 ("stiffnecked, and uncircumcised in heart and ears"). And because even what they hear they hold in contempt: "behold the word"; below at Jeremiah 20 (var.) ("the word of the Lord is made unto me a reproach, and a derision all the day").

f. Here he threatens them with the scourge of destruction. First he shows the zeal of justice: "the fury of the Lord," namely fire, on account of the Lord's justice: Numbers 5 (var.) ("my zeal hath stirred me up against them, and I have not consumed them in my zeal"). Second he gives the enemy the command of destruction: "pour out," O Chaldean, "the wrath," thine own, abundantly, "abroad," in the streets and fields: Jeremiah 15 (var.) ("stir up thy indignation, and pour out thy wrath"); "the young men," let no age be spared. Third he sets down the fulfillment of the command, both as to persons and as to possessions: "for man" together "with woman": Lamentations 5 (var.) ("our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens").

g. Here he sets down the cause of the destruction: first covetousness, second disobedience, at "thus saith the Lord: stand" etc.; third the abuse of sacred things, at "to what purpose do you bring" etc. As to the first he does three things. First he sets down their fault, namely their eagerness for covetousness in desiring: "from the least even to the greatest"; Isaiah 56 ("all have turned aside into their own way, every one to his own gain, from the first even to the last"). Their deceit in obtaining: "and from the prophet": Psalm 38 (var.) ("they were framing deceits all the day long"). And the manner of their deceit, that it was by flattery, and by extenuating, that is, by excusing guilt with words and by removing the fear of punishment: Ezekiel 13 (var.) ("the prophets of Israel that prophesied concerning Jerusalem, and saw visions of peace for her, and there was no peace, saith the Lord"). Second he sets down their shamelessness even amid punishments: "they were confounded," by punishments — "with confusion," a wholesome confusion, which calls forth repentance: Ecclesiasticus 4 (var.) ("there is a confusion that bringeth sin, and there is a confusion that bringeth glory and grace"). Third he threatens punishment: "wherefore they shall fall," those very prophets, "among them that fall," the common people; "they shall perish," by death or captivity, joined with those from whom they were not divided in their sins.

h. Here is set down their disobedience. First he sets down their guilt, namely disobedience to the command to imitate the saints, setting down the command: "stand upon the ways," consider the diverse works of the good and the evil, that you may see the progress and outcome of each; "the old paths," which are the well-worn footsteps of the saints: Lamentations 3 (var.) ("let us search our ways, and seek, and return to the Lord"). Or, "upon the ways," of the prophets. The fruit of the command: "and you shall find rest"; Matthew 11 ("learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart, and you shall find rest for your souls"). And their contempt of the command: "and they said" etc. And likewise as to their disobedience to the command of obedience to their rulers — for he had appointed watchmen, the prophets and princes: "hearken to the sound of the trumpet," their prediction: Ezekiel 3 ("son of man, I have made thee a watchman to the house of Israel, and thou shalt hear the word from my mouth, and shalt tell it them from me"). Second he threatens punishment. First he arouses attention: "therefore hear, O congregation," of all nations: Isaiah 1 ("hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth"). Second he threatens the punishment: "behold I will bring": Hosea 3 (var.) ("he shall eat the fruit of his own devices").

i. Here he sets down the abuse of sacred things, inasmuch as, polluted with sins, they presumed to offer sacrifices to God, which for this reason were not accepted; and concerning this, two things. First, as to what was offered upon the altar of incense: "to what purpose do you bring me frankincense from Saba," the region where frankincense grows; "the sweet cane," the cinnamon which was put into the incense, whose composition is given in Exodus 30 (var.); "from a far country," namely India: Isaiah 60 (var.) ("all they from Saba shall come, bringing gold and frankincense"), as it were one who honors an idol. And as to what was offered upon the altar of holocausts: "your holocausts": Isaiah 1 ("holocausts of rams, and the fat of fatlings, and the blood of calves, and lambs, and buck-goats, I would not"). Second he sets down the punishment: "therefore thus saith the Lord"; Isaiah 3 (var.) ("the people shall be oppressed, man by man, and every one by his neighbor").

k. Here he describes openly the enemy that is coming. First he describes the condition of the enemy; second, the incorrigibility of the people, at "I have set thee" etc. As to the first he does three things. First he describes the enemy as a nation strong in multitude: "a great nation," and in arms, "arrow," cruel; "cruel it is... and unmerciful," both in intent — "riding upon horses"; below at Jeremiah 50 (var.) ("behold a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall rise up from the ends of the earth. They shall hold the bow and the shield, they are cruel and unmerciful"). Second he sets down the fear of the Jews arising from the report: "we have heard the fame... grown feeble," for through fear we can do nothing: Psalm 48 (var.) ("there pains, as of a woman in labor"). And the effect of that fear: "go not out"; Deuteronomy 32 (var.) ("without shall the sword lay them waste, and terror within"). Third he exhorts them to the grief of penance: "O daughter of my people, gird thee"; above at Jeremiah 4 ("for this gird yourselves with sackcloth, lament and howl, for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned away from us").

l. Here he shows the incorrigibility of the people. First he adduces the prophet's own testimony, so that as though by experiment he might learn their hardness, since he could not incline them toward good: Proverbs 27 (var.) ("be diligent to know the countenance of thy cattle, and consider thy own flocks"). Second he sets down their universal sin: "all these princes... brass and iron" — as if to say, not only are they unclean, but are covered over with uncleanness, as brass and iron are the impurity of silver. Or "iron" on account of hardness, "brass" on account of clanging noise, because it is tremulous: Job 40 (var.) ("his bones are like pipes of brass"); Psalm 14 (var.) ("they are corrupt, and become abominable in their ways"). Third he sets down an example of their incorrigibility: "the bellows have failed." For silver mixed with lead is put into the melting-furnace, and while the smith blows the bellows the lead is consumed, and the silver is refined; but these, set in the furnace of tribulation, are consumed by their evils as though by lead, yet are not corrected. "In vain," the word of God, "hath the founder melted" — God, the preacher of the matter: Ecclesiasticus 2 (var.) ("gold and silver are tried in the fire, but acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation"). Fourth he concludes the argument of their reprobation: "call them reprobate silver"; Lamentations 3 (var.) ("but thou hast cast us off, thou hast rejected us, thou hast been exceedingly angry against us"). It is to be noted that cold is fittingly named, because it extinguishes the warmth of affection: Matthew 24 ("because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold"); because it freezes the moisture of devotion: Ecclesiasticus 43 (var.) ("the cold north wind bloweth, and the water is congealed into crystal"); because it slows the motion of good work: Proverbs 20 ("because of the cold the sluggard would not plow; he shall beg therefore in the summer, and it shall not be given him"). Likewise note that the ways are manifold: of the commandments — Psalm 119 ("I have run the way of thy commandments, when thou didst enlarge my heart"); of actions — Lamentations 3 ("let us search our ways, and seek, and return to the Lord"); of the virtues — Proverbs 4 (var.) ("I will show thee the way of wisdom, and will lead thee by the paths of righteousness"); of the doctors — "her ways are beautiful ways, and all her paths are peaceable"; and Christ himself is the way: John 14 ("I am the way, the truth, and the life").

Chapter 7

Text

a. "The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: Stand in the gate of the house of the Lord, and proclaim there this word, and say: Hear ye the word of the Lord, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates, to adore the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Make your ways and your doings good, and I will dwell with you in this place. Trust not in lying words, saying: The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, it is. For if you will order well your ways, and your doings: if you will execute judgment between a man and his neighbor: if you oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, and walk not after strange gods to your own hurt, I will dwell with you in this place, in the land which I gave to your fathers from the beginning and for evermore. Behold you put your trust in lying words, which shall not profit you: to steal, to murder, to commit adultery, to swear falsely, to offer to Baal, and to go after strange gods, whom you know not. And you have come, and stood before me in this house, in which my name is called upon, and have said: We are delivered, because we have done all these abominations. Is this house, then, in which my name hath been called upon, become a den of robbers in your eyes? I, I am he: I have seen it, saith the Lord. Go ye to my place in Silo, where my name dwelt from the beginning, and see what I did to it, for the wickedness of my people Israel. And now, because you have done all these works, saith the Lord, and I have spoken to you, rising up early, and speaking, and you have not heard, and I have called you, and you have not answered: I will do to this house, in which my name is called upon, and in which you trust, and to the place which I gave you and your fathers, as I did to Silo: and I will cast you away from my face, as I have cast away all your brethren, the whole seed of Ephraim."

b. "Therefore do not thou pray for this people, nor take to thee praise and prayer for them, and do not withstand me: for I will not hear thee. Seest thou not what these do in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle a fire, and the women knead paste, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to offer libations to strange gods, and to provoke me to anger. Do they provoke me to anger, saith the Lord? Is it not themselves, to the confusion of their own countenance? Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold my wrath and my indignation is kindled against this place, upon men and upon beasts, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruits of the land, and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched."

c. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Add your holocausts to your sacrifices, and eat ye the flesh. For I spoke not to your fathers, nor commanded them, in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning holocausts and sacrifices. But this word I commanded them, saying: Hearken to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people: and walk ye in all the way that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear: but walked on in their own counsels, and in the perversity of their wicked heart: and they went backward, and not forward, from the day that their fathers came out of the land of Egypt, even to this day. And I sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early, and sending daily: and they hearkened not to me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck, and did worse than their fathers. And thou shalt speak all these words to them, and they will not hearken to thee: and thou shalt call them, and they will not answer thee. And thou shalt say to them: This is a nation which hath not hearkened to the voice of the Lord their God, nor received instruction: faith is lost, and is cut off from their mouth."

d. "Cut off thy hair, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high: for the Lord hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath, for the children of Judah have done evil in my eyes, saith the Lord. They have set their abominations in the house in which my name is called upon, to defile it. And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Ennom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I commanded not, neither came it into my heart. Therefore behold the days shall come, saith the Lord, and it shall no more be called Topheth, nor the valley of the son of Ennom, but the valley of slaughter: and they shall bury in Topheth, because there is no other place. And the carcasses of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and there shall be none to drive them away. And I will cause to cease out of the cities of Judah, and out of the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate."

Exposition

a. Here he excludes the third remedy in which they could trust, namely the worship of divine religion. First as regards the holiness of the temple; second as regards the devotion of prayer, at "therefore do thou not" etc.; third as regards the offering of sacrifices, at "thus saith the Lord" etc. As to the first he does two things. First he sets down what seems to be wholesome counsel, showing their false trust: "stand in the gate," that at least by reverence for the place they may be compelled to hear — as if to say, otherwise they would scorn to hear; "make your ways," your deeds, "good," your "doings," your deliberations, by which you deliberate on what is to be done: Isaiah 40 (var.) ("make straight the way, make the paths of our God straight in the wilderness"). And first he sets down the fruit: "and I will dwell with you": Revelation 21 ("behold the tabernacle of God with men, and he will dwell with them"). And he excludes their false hope: "trust not in lying words," inasmuch as certain ones said that on account of the holiness of the temple they would escape all punishments, without amendment of life. "The temple of the Lord," holy; "the temple of the Lord," precious; "the temple of the Lord," venerated by all: 1 Maccabees 5 (var.) ("God did not choose the people for the place's sake, but the place for the people's sake"). Second he expounds this. First as to the first part, showing what it is to make one's ways good, resuming the counsel — as to their ordering, both toward themselves in action, "if you will order well," as though determined in mind, or directed; and in thought, "your doings"; and toward one's neighbor, as to the working of good, "if you execute judgment"; and in comparison with God, "and walk not after strange gods" — he resumes the fruit of the counsel: "I will dwell with you," if you shall will and hear: Psalm 15 ("Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle... he that walketh without blemish, and worketh justice"). Second he expounds as to the second part. First he shows their false trust, setting down the fault on the side of their guilt: "behold you put your trust in lying words," while you say that you can commit with impunity the things that follow: "to steal," against the property of one's neighbor; "to murder," against his person; "to commit adultery," against that which is as it were both property and person; "to swear falsely" — here he sets down sin against God: Isaiah 28 (var.) ("we have made a covenant with death, and with hell we have made an agreement... we have made lies our refuge, and by falsehood we are protected"). And he sets down the appearance of insufficient amendment: "and you have come, and have stood," as though by the mere entering of the temple, believing themselves satisfied — deceived perhaps by the prayer of Solomon which is found in 2 Chronicles 6 and 1 Kings 8. But Solomon himself understood, along with the perfect amendment of morals, that the house of the Lord was to be entered: "because we have done," that is, freed from it. Second he excludes that false trust. First by argument, showing the amendment insufficient for such sins: "is this house then," as if to say, if you enter not my house purified, you make it a den of robbers: Matthew 21 ("my house shall be called the house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves"). And he shows their guilt manifest: "I, I," in the singular, "have seen," your sins: Proverbs 15 ("the ways of men are open to his eyes, the Lord is a weigher of spirits"). Second he excludes it by example. First he sets down the example of Silo, where the tabernacle had first been placed: "go ye to my place": Psalm 78 (var.) ("and he cast off the tabernacle of Silo, his tabernacle where he dwelt among men"). Second he applies it to the case in hand, assuming a like guilt: "and now" etc. — "rising up early," after the manner of a solicitous man who rises very early to accomplish his own works. Or because that time is fitting for contemplation, and for receiving the words of wisdom, the body now being rested: Proverbs 1 ("because I called, and you refused... and none regarded"). And he concludes with a like punishment as to the destruction of the place: "I will do to this house"; below at Jeremiah 26 (var.) ("I will make this house like Silo, and this city I will give up to be a curse to all the nations of the earth"). And as to the captivity of the people: "and I will cast you away"; below at Jeremiah 23 ("you have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them").

b. Here he excludes the remedy of prayer. First the sentence is set forth: "do thou not withstand me," even being entreated by them — because the prayer of the saints somewhat holds back and shuts out the knowledge of God: Wisdom 18 (var.) ("a blameless man made haste to be their defender, and bringing the shield of his own ministry, prayer and the incense of propitiation, resisted the wrath, and put an end to the calamity, showing that he was thy servant"): Isaiah 64 (var.) ("there is none that calleth upon thy name, that riseth up, and taketh hold of thee"). But against this is Job 9 ("who can resist his wrath?"). The answer is that this is said with reference to the strength of virtue, but by prayer and humility it may indeed avail. "For I will not hear thee," after the manner of a courtier, of a lord who does not wish to confound the face of a servant who entreats him: 2 Kings 14 (var.) ("mourn as one that mourneth for the dead, and put on mourning garments, and be not anointed with oil"). Second he sets down the cause on the side of their guilt. First he sets forth the guilt, showing it manifest, because publicly committed: "seest thou not?": Ezekiel 16 (var.) ("son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations"), common to every sex and age — "the children gather... the queen of heaven," that is, of the moon, or of the host of all the stars: below at Jeremiah 44 ("and we will sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and pour out libations to her, as we have done"). Second he shows the folly of the sinners, because they offended not God but themselves: "do they provoke me?": Job 35 (var.) ("if thou sin, what shalt thou hurt him?"): Psalm 7 (var.) ("his sorrow shall be turned upon his own head, and his iniquity shall come down upon his crown"). Third he threatens punishment: "therefore thus saith the Lord"; above at Jeremiah 4 ("lest my indignation come forth like fire, and burn, and there be none to quench it, because of the wickedness of your thoughts").

c. Here he excludes trust in sacrifices. First he excludes their regard for sacrifices, setting down knowledge: "your holocausts" — as if to say, just as the greater part of the victims fell to your own use, so eat wholly the holocausts too for yourselves, for I take no delight in the consuming of flesh: Psalm 50 (var.) ("shall I eat the flesh of bullocks, or shall I drink the blood of goats?"). And he sets down the reason: "for I spoke not," for the Lord did not look for this for its own sake, but that by it he might call them back from idolatry. Whence before the adoration of the calf, of which Exodus 32, no precepts concerning sacrifices were given: Psalm 40 (var.) ("sacrifice and oblation thou didst not desire, but thou hast pierced ears for me; burnt offering and sin-offering thou didst not require. Then said I, behold I come"). Second he argues their moral disobedience. First he shows the guilt; second he threatens punishment, at "cut off thy hair" etc. As to the first he does two things. First he proves their disobedience as though by induction, showing them disobedient to the law, setting down the precepts of the law: "but this word I commanded," from the beginning, as though principally intended — "hearken to my voice," concerning the moral precepts: Ezekiel 36 (var.) ("they shall be my people, and I will be their God"). And their contempt of the precept: "they hearkened not... backward," always adding sins upon sins: Isaiah 56 ("all have turned aside into their own way, every one to his own gain, from the first even to the last"). He shows them also disobedient to the prophets who went before: "and I sent"; 2 Kings 17 (var.) ("the Lord testified to Israel and to Judah, by the hand of all the prophets and seers, saying: Return from your evil ways, and keep my precepts and ceremonies, according to the whole law which I commanded your fathers, and as I sent to you by the hand of my servants the prophets. But they hearkened not, but hardened their neck, according to the neck of their fathers, who would not obey the Lord their God"). He foretells also that they will not obey him: "and thou shalt speak"; Ezekiel 3 (var.) ("the house of Israel will not hearken to thee, because they will not hearken to me: for all the house of Israel are of a hardened forehead, and an obstinate heart"): Isaiah 65 (var.) ("I called, and there was none that answered, I spoke, and they heard not, and they did evil in my eyes, and chose the things that displease me"). Second he infers their confusion: "and thou shalt say to them"; above at Jeremiah 2 ("in vain have I struck your children, they have received no correction"); "faith," of the Lord: Romans 10 ("with the heart we believe unto justice, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation"). Or fidelity toward one's neighbor: Proverbs 20 ("many men are called merciful, but who shall find a faithful man?").

d. Here he threatens them with punishment. First he foreshows it by a deed: "cut off thy hair," like Ezekiel 5 (var.) ("thou shalt burn a third part with fire in the midst of the city, according to the fulfilling of the days of the siege; and thou shalt take a third part, and cut it with the sword round about it; and a third part thou shalt scatter to the wind"): "the generation of his wrath": Isaiah 10 (var.) ("I will send him to a deceitful nation, and I will give him a charge against the people of my wrath"). Second he determines the words. First he sets down the guilt of idolatry, aggravating it by the sacred place, for "they have set" — "abominations," idols, "in the house," namely in the temple and in an open and public place. And "they have built" what "I commanded not," as if to say, I did not command things so grievous. Whence it is added, that they have even departed from me: Psalm 106 (var.) ("they immolated their sons and their daughters to devils, the flesh of their own sons and their own daughters, which they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan"). Second he threatens punishment — first as to the slaying of the men; second as to the pouring out of their corpses, at "at that time" and following, in chapter 8; third as to the choosing of those who remain, at "and they shall choose" etc. As to the first he does three things. First he shows the place of the slaughter: "behold the days shall come," that where they had sinned, there they should be punished: below at Jeremiah 19 ("behold the days come, saith the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor the valley of the son of Ennom"). Second he excludes the office of burial: "and the carcasses shall be," yet some shall be buried, either by the remnant, or by the enemies, unwilling to endure the stench: Psalm 79 (var.) ("they have given the dead bodies of thy servants to be meat for the fowls of the air, the flesh of thy saints for the beasts of the earth"). Third he excludes universal joy: "and I will cause to cease"; Lamentations 5 (var.) ("the joy of our heart is ceased, our dance is turned into mourning") — all of which attest the greatness of the slaughter. Note that God dwells with us by the constancy of faith: Ephesians 3 ("that Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts"); by the concord of brotherly love: Matthew 18 ("where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them"); by obedience to the commandments: John 14 ("if any man love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him"); by the eminence of devout contemplation: Revelation 3 ("behold I stand at the gate and knock: if any man shall hear my voice, and open to me the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me"). Likewise note that there is a threefold temple: the historical, of which Psalm 138 (var.) ("I will worship toward thy holy temple, and give glory to thy name"); the allegorical, namely the Church itself: 1 Corinthians 3 ("the temple of God is holy, which you are"); the typical, the just man himself: 1 Corinthians 6 ("know you not that your members are the temple of the Holy Spirit?"); and the anagogical, God himself: Revelation 21 (var.) ("the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple thereof"). It is likewise to be noted that we ought to hear the voice of the Lord — by loving him with the love of charity, because he is our chief good: Deuteronomy 6 ("thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength"); and by serving him with the observance of religion, because he is Lord: Deuteronomy 10 (var.) ("thou shalt adore the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve"): Psalm 2 (var.) ("serve ye the Lord with fear"); by going after him, in the keeping of the commandments, because he is our Father: above at Jeremiah 3 (var.) ("thou shalt call me Father, and shalt not cease to walk after me"); by seeking him with right intention, because he is our end: Zephaniah 2 ("seek the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, that have wrought his judgment"); and by adoring him with due honor, because he is our Maker and our God: Matthew 4 (var.) ("the Lord thy God shalt thou adore").

Chapter 8

Text

a. "At that time, saith the Lord, they shall cast out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of the princes thereof, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of them that dwelt in Jerusalem, out of their graves: and they shall spread them abroad before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked, and which they have sought, and adored: they shall not be gathered, nor buried, they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth."

b. "And death shall be chosen rather than life, by all that shall remain of this wicked kindred, in all the places that remain, to which I have cast them out, saith the Lord of hosts."

c. "And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord: Shall not he that falleth rise up again, and he that turneth away, return? Why then is this people of Jerusalem turned away with a stubborn turning away? They have laid hold on falsehood, and they have refused to return. I gave heed and listened: no one speaks what is good; there is none who does penance for his sin, saying, What have I done? They have all turned back to their own course, like a horse rushing headlong into battle. The kite in the sky knows her appointed time; the turtledove, the swallow, and the stork keep the time of their coming; but my people have not known the judgment of the Lord."

d. "How do you say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? Surely the lying pen of the scribes has wrought falsehood. The wise are confounded, they are dismayed and taken; for they have cast away the word of the Lord, and there is no wisdom in them."

e. "Therefore will I give their wives to strangers, and their fields to new heirs; for from the least even to the greatest, all pursue covetousness; from the prophet even to the priest, all of them practice falsehood. And they healed the wound of the daughter of my people with disgrace, saying, Peace, peace, when there was no peace."

f. "They were confounded, because they committed abomination; nay, they were not put to shame with confusion, and they did not know how to blush; therefore they shall fall among those who fall, in the time of their visitation they shall fall, says the Lord."

g. "Gathering, I will gather them in, says the Lord: there is no grape on the vines, and there are no figs on the fig tree, the leaf has fallen, and I have given them over to those who shall pass beyond them. Why do we sit still? Assemble, and let us enter into the fortified city, and let us be silent there, for the Lord our God has made us fall silent, and has given us the water of gall to drink; for we have sinned against the Lord. We looked for peace, and no good came; we looked for a time of healing, and behold, terror. From Dan is heard the snorting of his horses; at the sound of the neighing of his warriors the whole land trembles. And they have come and devoured the land and its fullness, the city and its inhabitants. For behold, I will send among you serpents, basilisks, against which there is no charm, and they shall bite you, says the Lord. My grief is beyond grief, my heart is faint within me. Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people from a far country: Is not the Lord in Zion? Or is her king not in her? Why then have they provoked me to anger with their carved images, and with foreign vanities? The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. For the ruin of the daughter of my people I am broken; I am made mournful, dismay has taken hold of me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the wound of the daughter of my people not been healed?"

Exposition

a. Here he threatens the exhumation of the dead. And first he sets down the exhumation itself, they shall be cast out, because men believed they might find gold or some such thing there; Isaiah 14:19 (var.) ("But thou art cast out of thy grave, as an unprofitable branch, polluted and wrapped up among those slain by the sword..."). Second, the scattering of what is dug up, and they shall spread them out; 2 Kings 21:3 ("and worshipped all the host of heaven"); Wisdom 11:16 (var.) ("by what things a man sinneth, by the same also he is tormented"). Third, their uselessness once scattered, they shall not be gathered; Isaiah 5:25 ("their dead bodies became as dung in the midst of the streets").

b. Here he shows the oppression of those who remain, signified by their very choice of death, which in itself is not a thing to be chosen, except insofar as it is the term of their evils: Revelation 9:6 ("In those days men shall seek death, and shall not find it, and they shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them").

c. Here he shows their obstinacy and hardness in sin, and so this part is divided off against the whole preceding section. And first he shows their obstinacy in sins committed against God, or against themselves, and against their neighbor. Then, concerning those sins committed directly against the neighbor, at chapter 9, Who shall give, etc. Concerning the first there are two parts. First he argues their hardness. Second he threatens the punishment, at Gathering, I will gather them, etc. Concerning the first there are four points. First he shows their hardness with regard to idolatry. Second with regard to pride, at How do you say, etc. Third with regard to covetousness, at Therefore will I give, etc. Fourth with regard to shamelessness, at They were confounded, etc.

Concerning the first, he shows their astonishing hardness by three arguments. First, from common custom, setting forth the custom itself: shall not he that falleth — spiritually, or even bodily — with regard to the reversal of sin, rise again, and with regard to the turning-away, he that turneth away; as if to say, this is the custom: Psalm 40:9 (var.) ("Shall not he that sleepeth rise again?"); Amos 6:14 (var.) ("For behold I will raise up a nation against you, O house of Israel...and there is none to raise it up"). And he concludes with wonder: why then is this people turned away — with regard to the sin, with a stubborn turning away, as though contending against the Lord, or holding him in contempt: Deuteronomy 31:27 (var.) ("I know thy obstinacy, and thy most stiff neck"). They have laid hold on — with regard to the reversal — falsehood, that is, deceit: Isaiah 28:15 (var.) ("We have made a lie our hope, and by falsehood we are protected").

Second, he shows the universality of the sin, showing their universal negligence with regard to doing good, I gave heed...he speaks, and does far less than that: Psalm 13:1 (var.) ("There is none that doth good, no not one"). And the universal impenitence for sins committed, there is none: Romans 2:5 (var.) ("But according to thy hardness and impenitent heart, thou treasurest up to thyself wrath against the day of wrath"). And their unbridled concupiscence, they have all turned back: Sirach 30:8 (var.) ("A horse not broken becometh stubborn, and a child left to himself will become headstrong"); Job 15:26-27 (var.) ("He hath run against him with his neck raised up, and is armed with a fat neck"); and Job 40:23 (var.) ("He will drink up a river, and not wonder").

Third, by comparison with irrational creatures, he sets forth their knowledge, the kite in the sky, that is, in the air. Her time, which is suited to their works; her coming, because they pass over in winter to warm places and return in spring, and this by the instinct of a natural judgment: Job 12:7 (var.) ("Ask the beasts, and they shall teach thee: and the birds of the air, and they shall tell thee"). And he sets forth the ignorance of the people, my people have not known — the judgment, that is, of the mercy that was to come upon them; Isaiah 1:3 ("but Israel hath not known me").

d. Here he shows their pride, arising from a boasting of wisdom, and concerning this there are three points. First he sets down the boast, we are wise: Isaiah 5:21 ("Woe to you that are wise in your own eyes, and prudent in your own conceits"). Second he shows the injustice, surely falsehood — whether by wickedly expounding the Scriptures, or by establishing unjust laws; Isaiah 10:1 ("Woe to them that make wicked laws, and when they write, write injustice"). Third he sets down the punishment, they are confounded — a past tense used for a future: Job 12:17 (var.) ("He bringeth counsellors to a foolish end, and judges to senselessness"); and he resumes the cause, the word of the Lord: Sirach 1:26 (var.) ("the fear of the Lord is the root of wisdom"); Isaiah 5:13 ("Therefore is my people led away captive, because they had not knowledge"); Hosea 4:6 ("Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt not do the office of priesthood to me").

e. Here he shows their covetousness. And first he sets down the punishment, to new heirs, that is, to those who take and hold it firmly and securely as their own inheritance: Deuteronomy 28:30 ("Thou shalt take a wife, and another shall sleep with her"). Second he sets down the fault. And first the desire of covetousness, because from the least...they pursue, as though it were their hope: Isaiah 1:5-6 (var.) ("The whole head is sick, and the whole heart sad, from the sole of the foot unto the top of the head there is no soundness in it"). Second he sets down their deceit in achieving it, from the prophet. Third the depth of their deceit: and they healed: Ezekiel 13:18-19 (var.) ("They violated my soul toward my people for handfuls of barley, and for a piece of bread, to kill souls which should not die, and to save souls alive which should not live, telling lies to my people that believeth lies").

f. Here he shows their shamelessness. And first the cause of shame, they were confounded, as though to say, they suffer the punishments by which they ought to have been put to shame: Sirach 4:25 (var.) ("Confusion followeth sin"). Second he shows their shamelessness, from the least: above, Jeremiah 3:3 ("thou hadst a harlot's forehead, thou wouldst not blush"). Third the punishment, therefore, as above; Lamentations 1:7 (var.) ("When her people fell into the hand of the enemy...").

g. Here he sets down a punishment in addition to the punishment already spoken of. And first he sets down the sentence of the Lord, with regard to the affliction of the men, gathering, by besieging Jerusalem: below, Jeremiah 12:3 (var.) ("gather them together as for the day of slaughter, and prepare them to be slain"); and with regard to the plundering of the fruits, there is no grape on the vines, but the enemies shall consume what is yours, while you look on. Passed beyond, that is, taken from them into the hands of the enemies: Habakkuk 3:17 (var.) ("For the fig tree shall not blossom, and there shall be no fruit in the vines").

Second he sets down the misery of the people, why do we sit still. Or, he sets down their preparation, giving a mutual exhortation, why do we sit, in the cities as though at rest, let us be silent, as though stunned, or fleeing from the tumult of war: above, Jeremiah 4:5 ("assemble yourselves, and let us go into the strong cities"); and the reason of the exhorters, since they foresee the punishment, for the Lord our God has made us be silent, out of stupor: Lamentations 3:15 (var.) ("He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath inebriated me with wormwood"). And they confess their guilt, we have sinned: Psalm 105:6 (var.) ("We have sinned with our fathers, we have acted unjustly, we have wrought iniquity"). And they recognize the folly of their expectation, we looked for, according to the sayings of the false prophets, a good, namely the reward of peace: Proverbs 10:28 ("The expectation of the just is joy: but the hope of the wicked shall perish").

He also sets down the pursuit and the report of the enemies, from Dan: above, Jeremiah 4:15 (var.) ("the voice of one declaring"). He also sets down the effect of the report, the whole land, hyperbolically, or metonymically: Psalm 76:19 (var.) ("the earth was moved, and trembled"). And also the punishment inflicted through them, and they came, etc., namely the fullness of the fruit: Psalm 78:7 (var.) ("They have devoured Jacob, and have laid waste his place"). And he excludes any remedy, for behold I...serpents, that is, the Chaldeans, against which there is no charm, because they can by no means be appeased: Psalm 58:5-6 (var.) ("their fury is like the likeness of a serpent, like the deaf asp that stoppeth her ears"); Revelation 9:5 ("their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when he striketh a man").

Third he sets down the mercy of one who has compassion. And first, upon the affliction of the people, setting down his compassion, my grief, spoken in the person of the Lord, by a figure of speech attributing human feeling to God; or in the person of the prophet: Lamentations 1:12 ("O all ye that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow"). And the affliction of the people, behold the voice, of the enemies. From a far country, either of the people against their enemies, or of the land of captivity: above, Jeremiah 4:31 (var.) ("I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail"). And the reason of the affliction, is not the Lord — as if to say, he himself, God, could have given both counsel and help and answer; whence you have no cause to seek other gods: 2 Kings 1:3 (var.) ("Is it because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to consult Beelzebub the god of Accaron?").

Second, compassion over the length of the affliction, setting down the length of the affliction, the harvest is past, we are not saved, from the danger of famine, because we have not gathered in the fruit — spoken in the person of the people: as 2 Kings 6:11 (var.) ("Whence hast thou digged this pit?"). Third, compassion, for the ruin — spoken in the person of the Lord, as above, Isaiah 63:3 (var.) ("he trod them in his anger, and he trampled on them in his fury"); or in the person of the prophet: Lamentations 2:11 ("My bowels are troubled").

Fourth he assigns the reason for the length of the affliction, namely, because they were unwilling to be cured of their sin, is there no balm, through which the medicine of penance against guilt is signified; or of divine wisdom, physician, the prophet, or the priest, in Gilead, where the study of medicine flourished: Jeremiah 46:11 (var.) ("Go up into Galaad, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt"). Why then...not been healed, the wound, of sin: Isaiah 1:6 ("wound, and bruise, and swelling sore: it is not bound up, nor dressed, nor fomented with oil").

Note that silence is of many kinds: namely, the silence of stupor: Amos 8:3 (var.) ("in every place silence shall be cast"); of security: Isaiah 32:17-18 (var.) ("and the work of justice shall be peace...and the effect of justice, quietness and security for ever"); of longsuffering: Lamentations 3:26 ("It is good to wait with silence for the salvation of God"); and of quiet of heart: Ecclesiastes 12:11 (var.) ("The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails driven in deep"). Likewise note that the company of the wicked is to be fled, because they entice by words: 1 Corinthians 15:33 ("Evil communications corrupt good manners"); they draw by examples: Psalm 17 (var.) ("With the holy, thou wilt be holy...and with the perverse thou wilt be perverted"); they affect one's reputation: Sirach 13:1 ("He that toucheth pitch shall be defiled with it"); and they involve one in punishment: Numbers 16:26 (var.) ("Depart from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be involved in their sins").

Chapter 9

Text

a. "Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes, that I may weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people? Who will give me a lodging place for wayfarers in the wilderness, that I might forsake my people, and depart from them? For they are all adulterers, an assembly of transgressors. And they have bent their tongue like a bow of falsehood, and not of truth; they have grown strong in the land, for they have gone on from evil to evil, and they have not known me, says the Lord. Let every man be on guard against his neighbor, and let him put no trust in any brother of his; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every friend will walk about deceitfully. And a man will mock his own brother, and they will not speak the truth; for they have taught their tongue to speak falsehood, they have labored to do iniquity. Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they have refused to know me, says the Lord."

b. "Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will melt them down, and test them; for what else shall I do because of the daughter of my people? Their tongue is a wounding arrow, it has spoken deceit; with his mouth a man speaks peace to his friend, and secretly he lays a snare for him. Shall I not punish them for these things, says the Lord? Or shall not my soul take vengeance on such a nation?"

c. "Upon the mountains I will take up weeping and lamentation, and upon the pastures of the wilderness a mourning, because they are burned up, so that no man passes through, and they have not heard the voice of him who once possessed them; from the bird of the air even to the cattle, all have fled away and departed. And I will make Jerusalem into heaps of sand, a lair of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant. Who is the wise man who can understand this, and to whom has the word of the mouth of the Lord come, that he may declare it — why the land has perished, and been burned up like a wilderness, so that none passes through? And the Lord said: Because they have forsaken my law, which I gave them, and have not listened to my voice, nor walked according to it, but have gone after the perverseness of their own heart, and after the Baals, which they learned from their fathers."

d. "Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed this people with wormwood, and give them the water of gall to drink; and I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send the sword after them until they are consumed. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for those who are skilled, and let them hasten and take up a lament over us. Let our eyes run down with tears, and our eyelids gush with water; for a voice of lamentation is heard from Zion: How are we laid waste, and greatly confounded? For we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have been cast down. Hear therefore, O women, the word of the Lord, and let your ears receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters a dirge, and each woman her neighbor a lament; for death has climbed up through our windows, it has entered our houses, to destroy the little ones from outside, the young men from the streets."

e. "Speak: Thus says the Lord: The corpses of men shall fall like dung upon the face of the land, and like grass fallen behind the reaper, which no one gathers."

f. "...says the Lord: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, nor the strong man glory in his strength, nor the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories, glory in this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises mercy, and judgment, and justice on the earth; for these things please me, says the Lord. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh — Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the sons of Ammon, and Moab, and all who dwell in the desert with the corners of their hair cut off; for all the nations are uncircumcised in the flesh, but the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart."

Exposition

a. Here he shows their obstinacy in the sins committed directly against their neighbor. And first is set down his own compassion, with regard to the punishment, who will give; as if to say, for sorrow and compassion so great, mere moisture — which is the matter of tears — does not suffice. Water, with regard to abundance; a fountain, with regard to its never failing: Lamentations 3:48 (var.) ("Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people"). And with regard to the sin, who will give; as if to say, I would rather dwell in the wilderness than see their sins. A lodging place of wayfarers, that is, a place where, although no one dwells, yet different travelers pass through; or, in a wilderness of different wayfarers, through which either no one, or only a rare traveler, passes: below, Jeremiah 12:7 ("I have forsaken my house, I have left my inheritance").

Second, the condition of the people is described, for they are all. And first with regard to the sin, second with regard to the punishment, at therefore, etc. Concerning the first there are two points. First he sets down the sin arising from the violation of another's marriage-bed, they are adulterers: above, Jeremiah 5:8 ("every one neighed after his neighbor's wife"). And the sin from the transgression of a human or divine covenant, an assembly of transgressors; as if to say, they have conspired to this: Isaiah 24:16 (var.) ("The transgressors have dealt treacherously, yea, they have dealt very treacherously"). And the sin from speaking falsehood, they have bent their tongue like a bow, from which comes the arrow of a deceitful word: Hosea 7:16 (var.) ("They are turned to be like a deceitful bow").

Second he heightens this description. First from the increase of their sins, they have grown strong in the land, that is, in earthly sins, or in earthly goods, being deprived of heavenly ones: Psalm 72:3 (var.) ("I was envious at the wicked, seeing the peace of sinners"). Adding sin upon sin: Hosea 4:2 (var.) ("Cursing, and lying, and killing, and theft, and adultery have overflowed, and blood has touched blood"). Second, from the condition of the sinners, since it is even among those bound to them by kinship, toward whom the office of charity ought all the more to be extended. And first he counsels caution, let every man be on guard against his neighbor, who is joined to him by some civil or spiritual bond; his brother, who is joined by natural bond: Micah 7:5 (var.) ("Trust not in a friend, put no confidence in a guide"). Concerning the second he assigns the reason on the side of their deceit. First he sets down the sin of deceit, for every brother will utterly supplant, unjustly snatching another's goods: Genesis 27:36 (var.) ("He hath supplanted me a second time"). In the manner of doing it, for every friend: Isaiah 33:1 (var.) ("Thou shalt be a prey, and thou too shalt be plundered"). And in the word, and a man will mock his own brother: Job 12:4 (var.) ("He that is mocked by his friend as I am shall call upon God, and he will hear him"): the future tense here denotes their persistence. Second he assigns the reason, since they are habituated to falsehoods, they have taught, through habit; and zealous for evil works, they have labored: Proverbs 4:16 (var.) ("For they sleep not except they have done evil, and their sleep is taken away unless they have caused someone to fall"); Wisdom 5:7 (var.) ("We wearied ourselves in the way of iniquity and destruction, and have walked through hard ways, but the way of the Lord we have not known"). Third he draws the conclusion, your dwelling is in the midst of deceit, that is, among a deceitful people: Ezekiel 2:6 (var.) ("Unbelievers and subverters are with thee, and thou dwellest among scorpions").

b. Here is set down the pitiable condition of the people, with regard to the punishment. And first he sets down the sentence; second he determines the punishment, at upon the mountains, etc. Concerning the first there are two points. First he sets down the sentence, I will melt them down, as gold is melted in the fire; or thus, that at least they may be purified: Sirach 27:5 (var.) ("The furnace trieth the potter's vessels, and the trial of affliction just men"). Second he shows the justice of the sentence. First, excluding mercy, for what else; as if to say, nothing else remains but that I should punish, every other way having been tried: Isaiah 5:4 (var.) ("What is there that I ought to do more to my vineyard, that I have not done to it?"). Second he sets down the fault, an arrow, which strikes from afar and penetrates to the innermost parts: Proverbs 26:22 (var.) ("The words of a talebearer are as it were simple, and they reach to the innermost parts of the belly"); and Proverbs 25:18 (var.) ("A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour, is like a dart, and a sword, and a sharp arrow"); Psalm 63:8 (var.) ("Their arrows have become the wounds of children, and their tongues have been made weak against them"); Psalm 27:3 (var.) ("Who speak peace with their neighbour, but evils are in their hearts"). Third he concludes the punishment, shall I not punish, as above at chapter 5.

c. Here he determines the punishment in particular. And first he determines the punishment; second he excludes the false confidence of those who would escape it, at Thus says the Lord, let not the wise man glory, etc. Concerning the first there are three points. First he sets down the devastation of the lands. Second, the affliction of men, at therefore thus says the Lord, etc. Third, the casting-off of the corpses, at speak, thus says the Lord, etc.

Concerning the first there are two points. First he determines the destruction of the land, with regard to their possessions, signifying it by burning, because they are burned up: Isaiah 64:11 (var.) ("I cried to thee, O Lord, because fire hath consumed the beautiful places of the wilderness, and a flame hath burned up all the trees of the country"). So that: above, Jeremiah 4:25 (var.) ("I beheld, and lo there was no man, and every bird of the air was gone"). Him who possessed them, since he no longer went there. And with regard to the cities, and I will make Jerusalem: Isaiah 17:1 (var.) ("Behold, Damascus shall cease to be a city, and shall be as a ruinous heap of stones").

Second he assigns the reason. And first a question is posed, who is the wise man who can understand — of himself? To whom has the word come, that he may know it by revelation: Isaiah 42:23 (var.) ("Who is there among you that will give ear to this, that will attend and hearken for the time to come?"). Second the answer is given, and the Lord said, with regard to their turning away: because they have forsaken, as though not diligent in meditating on it; they have not heard, as though ready to obey; nor walked in it, as though effectively carrying it out: 1 Maccabees 1:63 (var.) ("Many of the people of Israel determined with themselves that they would not eat unclean things, and they chose to die rather than to be defiled with unclean meats, and they would not break the holy law of God, and so they were killed"). And with regard to their turning aside, they have gone after, that is, they followed their own wicked desires; the Baals, plural, and of the masculine gender: Ezekiel 20:8 (var.) ("They did not cease from the desires of their eyes, nor did they turn away from their own will").

d. Here he threatens the punishment with regard to the men themselves. And first he determines the punishment with regard to their affliction, I will feed them with wormwood, the distresses which they suffered from the Chaldeans. To drink, because the help of the Egyptians, on which they trusted to escape their tribulations, would turn to bitterness for them — just as drink easily carries food along with it: Lamentations 3:15 (var.) ("He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath inebriated me with wormwood"). And with regard to captivity, I will scatter them, etc. And with regard to slaughter, and I will send the sword after them: Ezekiel 5:2 (var.) ("A third part thou shalt scatter to the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them").

Second he calls all to common mourning, thus says the Lord. And first he summons mourning women according to the custom of the Jews, that they might provoke weeping. Call for the mourning women, because there is no one else to mourn: below, Jeremiah 16:6 (var.) ("neither shall any lament for them"); Luke 23:28 ("Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over me, but weep for yourselves and for your children"). Second he sets down the command to weep. First to the people, enjoining the present mourning, let them run down: Lamentations 2:18 (var.) ("Let tears run down like a torrent day and night; give thyself no rest, and let not the apple of thine eye cease"). And foretelling as future what is, as it were, present in the matter itself, for a voice, a thing heard by the spirit of prophecy; or he uses the past tense for the future: below, Jeremiah 31:15 (var.) ("A voice was heard on high"). And he assigns the cause, how, the voice of those lamenting in Zion, laid waste, with regard to the devastation of the land; confounded, with regard to servitude; we have forsaken, with regard to captivity: above, Jeremiah 4:13 (var.) ("Woe unto us, for we are laid waste").

Second he enjoins mourning upon the mourning women themselves, hear: Isaiah 32:9 (var.) ("Rise up, ye wealthy women, and hear my voice"), etc. And he determines the cause, since death has climbed up, that is, the Chaldean who inflicts death — in which is signified their swiftness and strength, who, not content to enter by the gates, climbed in through the walls and the windows: Joel 2:9 (var.) ("They shall enter in at the windows like a thief").

e. Here he sets down the punishment with regard to the corpses themselves, which remained unburied, like grass, which is neglected by the mind as a vile thing: Isaiah 5:25 ("their dead bodies became as dung in the midst of the streets").

f. Here he excludes the false confidence of those who would escape, let not the wise man glory, as though by this he might believe himself delivered — in wisdom, which is the chief among the human goods of the soul; in strength, which is the chief among the human goods of the body; in riches, which are chief among external goods: 1 Kings 2:3 (var.) ("Do not multiply to speak lofty things, boasting"). And he shows true confidence, but in this: to understand, through knowledge in the intellect; and to know, through the experience of its sweetness in the affections: Psalm 61:8 (var.) ("In God is my salvation and my glory; my hope is in God"); 2 Corinthians 10:17 ("He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord"). And he assigns the reason, for I — mercy, that I might free you; judgment, that I might crush your enemies; justice, that there might be equity; these things please — in you: Micah 6:8 ("I will show thee, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requireth of thee: verily, to do judgment, and to love mercy, and to walk solicitous with thy God").

Second he excludes confidence in the legal ceremonies, and especially in circumcision, which is the chief of them, and which even comes from the patriarchs — because it is imperfect, being of the flesh only, and not of the heart. Whence it is reckoned together with the uncircumcised, behold, the days are coming: Acts 7:51 ("Ye stiffnecked, and uncircumcised in heart and ears"), etc.

Note that man ought not to glory in wisdom, because it is transitory: Isaiah 29:14 ("the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid"). Because it is imperfect: Ecclesiastes 8:17 (var.) ("I understood that man can find no reason of all the works of God that are done under the sun"). Because it puffs up: 1 Corinthians 8:1 ("Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth"). And because it is laborious: Ecclesiastes 1:18 ("In much wisdom there is much indignation; and he that addeth knowledge addeth also labour"). Likewise he ought not to glory in strength, because it is frail: Job 6:12 ("My strength is not the strength of stones, nor is my flesh of brass"). Because it is often useless: Ecclesiastes 9:11 (var.) ("I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favour to men of skill"). Because it is not acceptable to the Lord: Psalm 146:10 (var.) ("He shall not delight in the strength of the horse, neither shall he take pleasure in the legs of a man"). Because it is an occasion of sin: Wisdom 2:11 (var.) ("Let our strength be the law of injustice, for that which is feeble is found to be nothing worth"). Likewise he ought not to glory in riches, because they are transitory: James 5:2 ("Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten"). Because they are not sufficient: Proverbs 17:16 (var.) ("What doth it avail a fool to have riches, seeing he cannot buy wisdom?"). Because they choke the word of God: Matthew 13:22 ("The deceitfulness of riches choketh up the word, and he becometh fruitless"). Because they are harmful: Ecclesiastes 5:12 (var.) ("Riches kept to the hurt of the owner").

Chapter 10

Text

a. "Hear the word which the Lord has spoken concerning you, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: Learn not the way of the nations, and be not afraid of the signs of the heavens, which the nations fear; for the laws of the peoples are vain. For one cuts a tree from the forest, the work of the hands of the craftsman with the axe. He adorns it with silver and gold, he fastens it with nails and hammers, that it may not fall apart. They are made like a palm tree, and cannot speak; they must be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not fear them, therefore, for they can do neither harm nor good."

b. "There is none like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is great in might. Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this glory belongs to you. Among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like you. They shall all alike be proved foolish and senseless."

c. "Their teaching is vanity; it is nothing but wood. Silver beaten thin is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Ophir, the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; their clothing is violet and purple, all of it the work of skilled men. But the Lord God is the true God; he is the living God, and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not endure his indignation."

d. "Thus therefore shall you say to them: Let the gods who did not make the heavens and the earth perish from the earth, and from under the heavens. For he made the earth by his power, he established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. When he utters his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he raises up clouds from the ends of the earth; he makes lightnings for the rain, and brings the wind out of his storehouses."

e. "Every man has become foolish through his own knowledge; every craftsman is put to shame by his carved idol, for what he has cast is a lie, and there is no breath in them. They are vain things, a work fit for mockery; in the time of their visitation they shall perish. Not like these is the portion of Jacob; for he who formed all things is he, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance: the Lord of hosts is his name."

f. "Gather up your shame from the land, you who dwell under siege; for thus says the Lord: Behold, I will fling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and I will afflict them, so that they shall not be found. Woe to you for your ruin; grievous is my wound. But I said: Truly this is my sickness, and I will bear it. My tent is laid waste, all my cords are broken; my children have gone out from me, and are no more. There is no one left to stretch out my tent again, and to set up my curtains."

g. "For the shepherds have acted foolishly, and have not sought the Lord; therefore they have not understood, and their whole flock is scattered."

h. "Behold, the voice of a report is coming, and a great commotion out of the land of the north, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a dwelling place of jackals."

i. "I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not his own, nor is it given to man to walk and to direct his own steps. Correct me, O Lord, yet with judgment, and not in your wrath, lest perhaps you bring me to nothing. Pour out your indignation upon the nations that have not known you, and upon the peoples that have not called upon your name; for they have devoured Jacob, they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his dwelling."

Exposition

Here he shows the dignity of the people, so that from this their guilt may appear the graver, and their punishment the more just; and this is divided into three parts. In the first he shows their dignity from the divine majesty. In the second, from the divine word, at chapter 11, The word that came, etc. In the third, from an adherence they had abandoned, at chapter 16. Concerning the first there are two points. In the first he shows their dignity in comparison with other peoples, from this very fact, that they alone worshipped the word of God. In the second he threatens punishment, because they rejected the worship of God through idolatry, at gather up, etc. Concerning the first there are two points: first he shows the difference between the gods; second, from this he concludes the destruction owed to their cults, at every man has become foolish, etc. Concerning the first there are three points: first he distinguishes the true God from the false gods with regard to the majesty of lordship; second, with regard to the eternity of his duration, at their teaching, etc.; third, with regard to the truth of his divinity, at thus therefore shall you say, etc. Concerning the first there are two points: first he shows the vanity and weakness of idols; second, the divine majesty, at there is none like you, etc.

a. Concerning the first there are two points. First he sets down the precept that they should not bend toward idolatry — neither by imitation of the nations, according to the way of the nations, nor by the greatness of the heavenly bodies, from the signs of the heavens — namely, lest you should believe divinity is owed to them, or that they hold a necessitating power over things which depend on free choice: Deuteronomy 4:19 ("lest perhaps, lifting up thine eyes to heaven, thou see the sun and the moon and all the stars of heaven, and being deceived by error thou adore and serve them, which the Lord thy God created for the service of all the nations that are under heaven").

Second he proves his point, setting forth the vanity of idols, and how men bind themselves to idolatry by them: for the laws of the peoples are vain, because they are useless and without any share in the true divine wisdom: Wisdom 13:1 (var.) ("vain are all men, in whom there is not the knowledge of God"). And he proves this vanity from the baseness of their material. As to their matter, since it is wood: Isaiah 44:14 ("He hath cut down cedars, taken the holm, and the oak, that stood among the trees of the forest"). As to the principal efficient cause, the work of the hands, and the instrumental cause, with the axe: Wisdom 13:11 (var.) ("miserable is he...and the gain of their work is for those who use it for their own purposes"); Isaiah 44:15-17 (var.) ("He made it over the coals, and so he shaped it, and made it into the image of a man, a thing of beauty, as it were a man dwelling in a house"). As to its comeliness of form, with silver: Baruch 6:8 (var.) ("as one dresses a maiden who loves ornament, so they deck it out with gold"). And as to its fashioning, with nails and hammers: Isaiah 41:7 (var.) ("The coppersmith striking with the hammer encouraged him that forged at that time, saying, It is good for soldering; and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved").

He also proves it from the powerlessness of the work itself, since idols have neither sensitive nor intellective operation. Made like a palm tree, which neither understands, though it be a thing of beauty; and they do not speak, with regard to the act of reason; carried, namely by others, they cannot walk, with regard to the sensitive operation of the soul: Psalm 113:5-7 (var.) ("They have mouths, and speak not; eyes have they, and see not; they have ears, and hear not; noses have they, and smell not; they have hands, and feel not; feet have they, and walk not; neither shall they cry out through their throat"). Third he draws his intended conclusion, do not fear them therefore; for some were worshipped that they might do good, others lest they should do evil: Isaiah 41:23 (var.) ("If you can do good, or evil, let us know it, and let us see it together").

b. Here he shows the majesty of the divine lordship. And first he shows his singular power, you are great, in majesty, and your name is great, in the opinion of men. And from this he concludes to fear, who would not fear you: above, Jeremiah 5:22 (var.) ("Will you not then fear me, saith the Lord, and will you not be grieved at my presence?"). Second he shows his singular knowledge. First excluding any equal to his wisdom, for this belongs to you: Revelation 7:12 ("Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, honour, and power, and strength, to our God for ever and ever. Amen"). Second, showing the vanity of theirs in comparison to the divine wisdom, and in all their kingdoms...they shall all alike be proved foolish — in divine things; senseless, in human things: 1 Corinthians 3:19 ("For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God").

c. Here he shows the difference with regard to eternity. And first he shows the vanity of idols as to their very substance, which is made of wood — the wisdom, so to speak, of the wise men among the nations being wood, that is, made only of wood; for from this their own vanity of wisdom is seen. And as to the silver, silver; and as to the gold, gold...work — that is, these things are merely the work of hands, and also, as it were, cheap possessions: Psalm 113:12 (var.) ("The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the works of men's hands"). And as to their ornament, since it is plain that what is a made thing had a beginning: Baruch 6:11 (var.) ("They cover them with a purple garment, and wipe their faces because of the dust of the house, which is very great among them"). Second he sets forth eternity, joining it to truth and majesty, since the Lord God is the true God: Isaiah 40:28 ("God hath created the ends of the earth"), etc. And from this he concludes to fear, at his wrath; as if to say, even insensible things feel his anger: they shall not endure, from the greatness of their fear: Psalm 17:8 (var.) ("The earth shook and trembled, the foundations of the mountains were troubled").

d. Here he shows the difference with regard to the truth of divinity, which he first excludes from idols, showing that in them there is no divine operation, to them, the worshippers of idols. Whence, in the Hebrew and Chaldean tongue, it is written, let them perish, that is, let their worship cease: Psalm 18:2 (var.) ("The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands"). Second he shows that in God there is a true divine operation. First, with regard to the creation of the essential parts of the world, he who makes the earth, as to the lower parts, establishes the world, as to the higher: Proverbs 3:19 ("The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth, hath established the heavens by prudence"); Psalm 103:2-3 (var.) ("Who stretchest out the heaven like a pavilion, who coverest the higher rooms thereof with water"). Second, with regard to the changing conditions of the air, so that not only are later effects believed to arise from prior natural causes, as some philosophers say, but also that he is the author of all things, working in all: first, as to those things which arise from moist matter, such as clouds and rain, at his voice, that is, at his command, from the ends, on account of the abundance of the waters surrounding the earth. Second, as to those things which arise from matter both moist and dry, lightnings, which alters the natural order, since after lightning rain frequently follows. Third, as to those things which arise from dry matter, and he brings out of his storehouses, from hidden causes and places in which they are generated: Psalm 134:7 (var.) ("He bringeth up clouds from the end of the earth, he hath made lightnings for the rain").

e. Here he concludes to the destruction of these cults. And first he sets down the disgrace of the idolaters, with regard to their folly, every man has become foolish — he showed himself so — through his own knowledge, because he fashioned an idol: 1 Corinthians 1:20 ("God hath made foolish the wisdom of this world"). And with regard to the punishment of confusion, is put to shame: Psalm 96:7 (var.) ("Let them be all confounded that adore graven things, and that glory in their idols"). And he assigns the reason from the falsity of the idols, for what he has cast is a lie, from their vanity, vain things, and a fiction in time: Jeremiah 10:15 (var.) ("What is made shall perish together with him that made it, in the time of its visitation"). Second he excludes the Jews from this reproach, and shows their true glory, not like these: Psalm 15:5 (var.) ("The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup: it is thou that wilt restore my inheritance to me"), because the happiness of each one lies in his own portion: Lamentations 3:24 ("The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I wait for him"). The tribe of his inheritance, as it were his scepter, because his is a hereditary kingdom. Or, tribe, as it were his lot: Deuteronomy 32:9 ("But the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob the lot of his inheritance").

f. Here he threatens them with punishment, because they did not preserve this dignity. And first he threatens the punishment; second the prophet begs for mercy, at I know, etc. Concerning the first there are three points. First he threatens the punishment. Second, the cause of the punishment, at because they have acted foolishly, etc. Third, the order of the punishment, at the voice, etc.

Concerning the first there are two points. First the Lord foretells the punishment of the siege, gather up, in the city, from the land, from the fields; your shame, that is, your fruits, which are worthy of confusion: above, Jeremiah 8:16 (var.) ("I will break you and consume you, says the Lord"). And the punishment of captivity, for thus says the Lord, at this turn; as if to say, henceforth I will not spare. So that they shall not be found, in the city; or because the greater part have died: Lamentations 2:2 (var.) ("He hath cast down headlong, he hath not spared").

Second, the people, terrified by this, mourn their coming punishment, woe to me: below, Jeremiah 15:18 (var.) ("Thy wound is incurable"), because it is for their sins. And he promises patience, but I — my sickness, as though owed for my sins — and I will bear it, patiently: Lamentations 3:39 (var.) ("I will bear the wrath of the Lord, because I have sinned against him"). Second, in a spiritual sense, with regard to the destruction of their dwellings, my tent, because their houses were destroyed as easily as tents; my cords, by which tents are stretched out: above, Jeremiah 4:20 ("suddenly are my tents laid waste, my curtains in a moment"). And with regard to the affliction of the inhabitants, my children: Isaiah 3:1 (var.) ("they have gone out from me, led away captive before the enemy"). Who might stretch it out again, that is, who might rebuild it.

g. Here he assigns the general cause of the punishment in due order, because the sins of the leaders are the cause of their own blindness: Wisdom 3:12 (var.) ("Their own malice hath blinded them"). And this is the cause of the destruction of the people: Matthew 15:14 ("If the blind lead the blind, both fall into the pit"); Ezekiel 34:5-6 (var.) ("My sheep were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became the prey of all the beasts of the field, and were scattered").

h. Here he determines the order of the punishment, foretelling the enemy who comes from the north: Jeremiah 1:14 (var.) ("Out of the north shall an evil be spread abroad upon all the inhabitants of the land").

i. Here he begs for mercy. And first he shows the necessity of asking, the way of man is not his own, with regard to choice; nor to walk, with regard to its execution; nor to direct, with regard to its ordering toward its end. And thus it is neither in our power to resist, nor to fight off the Chaldeans, but everything depends upon your disposition: Psalm 36:23 (var.) ("The steps of a man shall be directed by the Lord, and he shall like well his way"); Proverbs 16:9 ("The heart of man disposeth his way: but the Lord must direct his steps"). Second he sets down the petition by which the people beg for mercy, correct me — with the judgment proper to accustomed mercy, not to condemnation, as in Psalm 142:2 ("Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord, for in thy sight no man living shall be justified"). And not in your wrath, and according to the measure of a deserved vengeance, lest perhaps; for it would be just that one who sins against God should be abandoned by him, and so tend toward nothingness. And thus this does not run contrary to the Lord's own precept: above, Jeremiah 7:16 ("therefore do not pray for this people"), etc., since he does not ask that they not be punished, but that they not be utterly destroyed: Psalm 6:2 ("O Lord, rebuke me not in thy indignation, nor chastise me in thy wrath"). And he asks that wrath fall upon the enemies, pour out your indignation. And he assigns the cause, because they have devoured: Psalm 78:6-7 (var.) ("Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name; because they have devoured Jacob, and have laid waste his place").

Note that a man is made foolish concerning the knowledge of God through the pride of heart: Daniel 4 (var.) ("saying themselves to be wise, they became fools"). Through carelessness of inquiry: Acts 26:24 (var.) ("much learning doth make thee mad"). Through the uncertainty of presumed foreknowledge: Isaiah 47:10 (var.) ("this knowledge of thine, and thy wisdom, hath deceived thee"). Through the perversity of one's work: Wisdom 11:16 (var.) ("their own malice hath blinded them"). Likewise note that a divine chastisement ought to be borne patiently: on account of the affection of the one who strikes: Proverbs 3:11 ("My son, reject not the correction of the Lord, and do not faint when thou art chastised by him"); on account of the conscience of one's own guilt: Micah 7:9 (var.) ("I will bear the wrath of the Lord, because I have sinned against him"); on account of the expectation of the reward: James 1:12 ("Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he hath been proved, he shall receive the crown of life which God hath promised to them that love him"); on account of the uselessness of murmuring: Lamentations 3:39 ("Why doth a living man murmur, suffering for his sins?").

Chapter 11

Text

a. "The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and say to them: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Cursed is the man who does not heed the words of this covenant, which I commanded your fathers on the day when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace, saying: Hear my voice, and do all that I command you, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God, that I may fulfill the oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. And I answered, and said: Amen, O Lord. And the Lord said to me: Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and outside Jerusalem, saying: Hear the words of this covenant, and do them."

b. "For, solemnly protesting, I protested to your fathers, from the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt even to this day, rising up early and protesting, and saying: Hear my voice. But they did not hear, nor did they incline their ear, but each one walked in the wickedness of his own evil heart. So I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, and they did not do it. And the Lord said to me: A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have turned back to the former iniquities of their fathers, who refused to hear my words; and so they too have gone after strange gods, to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant, which I made with their fathers."

c. "Wherefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will bring upon them evils from which they will not be able to escape; and they will cry out to me, and I will not hear them. And the cities of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, will go and cry out to the gods to whom they burn offerings, but these will not save them in the time of their affliction. For according to the number of your cities were your gods, O Judah, and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you have set up altars of shame, altars for burning offerings to Baal. Therefore do not pray for this people, and do not take up for them praise or petition, for I will not hear them in the time when they cry out to me, in the time of their affliction. What right has my beloved to do many wicked deeds in my house? Can holy flesh take away from you the evils in which you have gloried? The Lord once called your name a green olive tree, fair, fruitful, and beautiful; but at the sound of a great uproar he has kindled a fire upon it, and its branches are burned. For the Lord of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you, because of the evils of the house of Israel and the house of Judah, which they have brought upon themselves, to provoke me, by burning offerings to Baal."

d. "But you, O Lord, showed me, and I knew it; then you showed me their doings. And I was like a gentle lamb that is led to be a sacrifice, and I did not know that they had devised plots against me, saying: Let us put wood into his bread, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name be remembered no more. But you, O Lord of hosts, who judge justly, and try the heart and the innermost being, let me see your vengeance upon them; for to you I have revealed my cause. Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, and say: You shall not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hands. Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will punish them. Their young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine, and no remnant shall be left of them; for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, in the year of their punishment."

Exposition

a. Here he shows the dignity of the people, from the fact that they had, from the very beginning, been bound to God by covenant. And first he sets down the covenant, and threatens punishment to those who transgress it. Second he discusses the justice of the one who punishes, at chapter 12, You are indeed just, etc. Concerning the first there are two points: first he sets forth the compact itself; second, the transgression of the compact, at for solemnly protesting, etc.

Concerning the first there are two points. First the prophet is called to make proclamation, hear — you, and those who are with you, who are good, and so as it were a privilege — you shall say, etc. Concerning this covenant, Ezekiel 16:8 ("I covered thy disgrace, and I swore to thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest mine"). Second the people are called to keep it. And first he sets forth two reasons, the first of which he takes from the punishment of transgressors, cursed is the man: Deuteronomy 27:26 ("Cursed be he that abideth not in the words of this law, and fulfilleth them not in work"). And he assigns the justice of it, in the day when; as if to say, it is just that those be punished who, after so many benefits, remain ungrateful. Furnace, on account of affliction; iron, on account of harsh dominion: Deuteronomy 4:20 ("But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you out of the iron furnace of Egypt, to make you his people of inheritance, as it is this present day"). And he sets down the form of the covenant, saying, in which he asks something, namely obedience, hear; and promises something, namely the glory of divine intimacy, you shall be, etc.: above, Jeremiah 7:23 ("This thing I commanded them, saying: Hearken to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people"), etc. The second reason he takes from the reward of those who keep it, that I may fulfill, since it had almost, as it were, perished, with the captivity now imminent. Milk, on account of the abundance of livestock; honey, on account of the abundance of the land's produce. Or by hyperbole, in these two is signified the abundance of all good things: Deuteronomy 6:3 ("Thou shalt be multiplied more, as the Lord the God of thy fathers hath promised thee, a land flowing with milk and honey"). Second, the prophet's assent is recorded, and I answered: Deuteronomy 27:15 ("And all the people shall say, Amen"). Third, a conclusion is drawn, namely that they should keep it, and the Lord said: Isaiah 40:9 (var.) ("lift up thy voice with strength").

b. Here he shows how they transgressed the covenant. And first, by sinning against God; second, by sinning against the prophet, at but you, O Lord, etc. Concerning the first there are two points: first he sets forth the sin; second he threatens the punishment, at wherefore, etc. Concerning the first there are three points. First a diligent warning is shown, both from the solemnity of the oath, solemnly protesting, that is, adjuring them; and from the continuity of time, from the day that I brought them up; and from the fitness of the moment, rising up early, when a man is more disposed to understand: above, Jeremiah 7:13 (var.) ("I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking"). Second, the transgression of the disobedient people is set down, but they did not hear: Isaiah 53:6 ("all we like sheep have gone astray, every one hath turned aside into his own way"). Third, the aggravation of the fault through their obstinacy is set down, so I brought upon them; since they were corrected neither by punishments nor by the benefits contained in the covenant of the law: Proverbs 1:24-27 (var.) ("Because I called, and you refused; I stretched out my hand, and there was none that regarded. You have despised all my counsel, and neglected my reprehensions. I also will laugh in your destruction, and will mock when that which you feared shall come upon you"), etc. From the conspiracy, a conspiracy has been found; as if to say, all sin together as one, as though they had conspired to this — for a conspiracy is a consent confirmed by oath to do something: Isaiah 8:12 (var.) ("all that this people speaks is a conspiracy"). And from their habit, they have turned back: Hosea 7:16 ("They are turned to be like a deceitful bow"). Fourth the conclusion is drawn, they have broken: Hosea 6:7 ("But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant, there have they dealt treacherously against me"); Proverbs 2:17 ("who hath forsaken the guide of her youth, and hath forgotten the covenant of her God").

c. Here, against their incorrigible guilt, he threatens an inescapable punishment. And first the punishment itself is set down, behold, I: Isaiah 24:18 (var.) ("He that shall flee from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit, and he that shall rise up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare"). Second he excludes any means of escape. First, that they will not be helped by their own prayers offered to God, they will cry out, etc.: Proverbs 1:28 ("They shall call upon me, and I will not hear"). And prayers offered to idols, and the cities will go: Isaiah 45:20 (var.) ("They have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven work, and pray to a god that cannot save"). And they multiply their idols, according to the number: Isaiah 57:7-8 (var.) ("Thou hast made thyself a common stew at every corner of the way"); compare above, Jeremiah 2:28. Even by the prayers of others, therefore you, etc. — praise, so that by praising me as merciful he might move me to mercy: 1 Kings 16:1 (var.) ("How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, whom I have rejected, that he should not reign over Israel?"); the same, above, Jeremiah 7:16.

Second, that they will not be helped by the offering of sacrifices, and he assigns the reason for their rejection, what right has my beloved, namely the people of Judah, in my house, worshipping idols there: Ezekiel 8:6 (var.) ("Son of man, dost thou see what these are doing, the great abominations which the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary?"). And he sets down the rejection of their sacrifices, can holy flesh, namely, of the animals immolated: Hebrews 10:4 ("It is impossible that with the blood of oxen and goats sins should be taken away").

Third he shows that they will not be helped by their own strength, and concerning this there are two points. First he recalls their former glory, a green olive tree, with regard to the abundance of its branches, in which is signified the multitude of the people; fair, with regard to the vigor of its color, in which is signified their flourishing prosperity and the greenness of their spirit; fruitful, with regard to the abundance of fruit, in which is signified the abundance of their good and great works; beautiful, with regard to the due arrangement of its parts, in which is signified the fitting order of the people; the Lord called, so that such fame of them might go out on every side: Hosea 14:6 (var.) ("his glory shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon"). Second he foretells the coming punishment. First he sets forth the punishment itself, at the sound of a great uproar, that is, at the command of Nebuchadnezzar; its branches, that is, the house of Israel; a fire has been kindled upon it, to the letter, its branches, namely the men, and what belonged to them. Or, of a great uproar, because from your very calling you thought great things of yourself, and therefore deserved punishment: Isaiah 27:4 (var.) ("I will go to battle against it, I will burn it together"). Second, the power of the one who punishes, the Lord of hosts: 1 Kings 2:6 ("The Lord killeth and maketh alive, he bringeth down to hell, and bringeth back again"), etc. Third he sets down the cause, because of the evils: Deuteronomy 32:21 ("They have provoked me with that which was no god, and have angered me with their vanities: and I will provoke them with that which is no people, and will vex them with a foolish nation").

d. Here he shows how they transgressed by sinning against the prophet himself. And indeed, what is said here, to the letter, applies to Jeremiah, who came into hatred with the people on account of the evils he foretold. But the persecution of Jeremiah figured the passion of Christ, as the Gloss says here. But this might seem to contradict what was said above, where these same words are applied to the person of Christ, not to Jeremiah. However, all the prophets, in many things, acted as figures of the Savior; and what was fulfilled in Jeremiah's own time, he thereby prophesied of the Lord in the time to come.

Concerning this, then, there are three points. First the prophet sets forth the guilt of his adversaries. And first, the general disclosure of their guilt, you showed me, by interior revelation; you showed me, by outward signs, their doings, their machinations against me: Isaiah 8:11 (var.) ("with a strong hand he instructed me, that I should not walk in the way of this people"), etc. And he sets forth the necessity of this revelation, because he could not have known it by his own thought, nor even suspected it, on account of his own innocence, which did not deserve such treatment, and I was like a lamb, and I did not know. Christ too, according to his humanity, received in his earthly life that knowledge from God by which he knew all things through the grace of union, just as others receive what they know through the grace of revelation: Isaiah 53:7 (var.) ("he shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer, and he shall not open his mouth"); 1 Corinthians 2:11 ("For what man knoweth the things of a man, but the spirit of a man that is in him?"); Psalm 93:11 ("The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men, that they are vain"). Let us put wood into his bread, that we may harm him the more grievously; let us cut him off, so that no memory of him remain, as on a blank tablet that had previously held writing. Mystically, let us put wood, that is, the body of Christ upon the wood of the cross; or wood into bread, that is, through the wood of the cross let us raise a scandal against his teaching, which is bread: Isaiah 53:8 (var.) ("because he was cut off out of the land of the living").

Second the prophet asks for vengeance, appealing to the authority and power by which he is able, but you, O Lord of hosts, that is, of armies; to the justice by which he wills it, who judge justly; to the knowledge by which he knows it, and try the heart, that is, the affections, and the innermost being, that is, the thoughts. From this, in the person of Christ, since it is they who are obstinate — for on behalf of others he prays: Luke 23:34 ("Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do"); Lamentations 3:59-60 (var.) ("Thou hast seen, O Lord, their iniquity against me: judge thou my judgment"). And he assigns the reason, for to you I have revealed, not as to one who does not know, but because he has placed his whole cause in God: Psalm 36:5 (var.) ("Commit thy way to the Lord, and he shall nourish thee"). Third the Lord threatens the punishment. And first he resumes their malice, therefore thus says the Lord, who seek your life, to kill it: Psalm 39:15 (var.) ("they used violence that sought after my soul"). And he adds the cause of this malice, and they say, you shall not prophesy; as if to say, only thus will you escape death, if you cease to prophesy: Isaiah 30:10 (var.) ("who say to the seers: See not"). Second he threatens the punishment. First foretelling the visitation, therefore thus says the Lord: Psalm 88:33 (var.) ("I will visit their iniquities with a rod, and their sins with stripes"). Second, the determination of the punishment, their young men: below, Jeremiah 15:2 (var.) ("such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for famine, to famine"), etc. Third, the power of the one who punishes, for I will bring, I myself, who am able: below, Jeremiah 17:18 ("bring upon them the day of affliction, and crush them with a double destruction").

Mystically, by the men of Anathoth — which is interpreted "obedience" — are signified the men of Jerusalem, who, once obedient to the Lord, afterward persecuted Christ. Note that a saint is called an olive tree on account of his being grafted in, in which devotion is signified: Romans 11:17 ("thou...art made partaker of the root, and of the fatness of the olive tree"). On account of the brightness of its oil, in which contemplation is signified: Zechariah 4:14 ("These are the two sons of oil, who stand before the Lord of the whole earth"); 1 Kings 6:23 (var.) ("he made in the oracle two cherubims of olive tree, of ten cubits' height"). On account of the greenness of its leaves, in which is signified the vigor of the mind: Genesis 8:11 ("she returned to him in the evening, carrying a bough of an olive tree with green leaves in her mouth"). On account of its fruitfulness, in which is signified the abundance of good works: Psalm 51:10 ("But I, as a fruitful olive tree in the house of God, have hoped in the mercy of God for ever, yea for ever and ever"). On account of its beauty, in which is signified the glory of the saints: Ezekiel 24 (var.) ("as a fair olive tree in the fields, and as a plane tree exalted beside the waters"); Hosea 14:6 ("his glory shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon").

Chapter 12

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a. "You are indeed just, O Lord, if I dispute with you; yet I will speak what is just to you: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why is it well with all who deal treacherously and act wickedly? You have planted them, and they have taken root; they grow, and bear fruit. You are near to their mouth, but far from their inmost heart. But you, O Lord, know me; you have seen me, and tried my heart toward you. Gather them like a flock for the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of killing. How long shall the land mourn, and the grass of every field wither? Because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it, beast and bird are consumed, because they said: He will not see our latter end. If you have run with footmen, and they have wearied you, how then will you contend with horses? And if you have not felt secure in a land of peace, what will you do amid the thickets of the Jordan? For even your brothers, and the house of your father, even they have fought against you, and have cried after you with a full voice. Do not trust them, even when they speak fair words to you."

b. "I have forsaken my house, I have abandoned my inheritance; I have given my beloved soul into the hand of her enemies. My inheritance has become to me like a lion in the forest; she has raised her voice against me, therefore I have come to hate her. Has my inheritance become to me like a bird of many colors? Is it not a bird stained through and through?"

c. "Come, assemble, all you beasts of the field, hasten to devour. Many shepherds have laid waste my vineyard, they have trampled down my portion; they have turned my pleasant portion into a desolate wilderness, they have made it a waste, and it mourns before me, laid waste. All the land has been made utterly desolate, because there is no one who lays it to heart. Upon all the bare heights of the wilderness the destroyers have come, for the sword of the Lord shall devour from one end of the land even to the other; there is no peace for any flesh."

d. "They have sown wheat, and reaped thorns; they have taken an inheritance, and it will not profit them. Be ashamed of your harvests, because of the fierce anger of the Lord."

e. "Thus says the Lord against all my wicked neighbors, who touch the inheritance which I have given to my people Israel: Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and I will pluck the house of Judah out from the midst of them. And after I have plucked them out, I will turn again, and have mercy on them, and I will bring them back, each man to his own inheritance, and each man to his own land. And it shall be: if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, As the Lord lives — just as they taught my people to swear by Baal — then they shall be built up in the midst of my people. But if they will not listen, I will pluck up that nation, plucking it up and destroying it, says the Lord."

Exposition

a. Here the prophet disputes concerning the justice of punishment. First is set down the prophet's disputation; second, the Lord's response, at the words "I have forsaken my house" etc. As to the first, there are three points. First he wins goodwill by appeal to the person of the judge: "Thou indeed art just" — Psalms 118 ("Just art thou, O Lord, and thy judgment is right"). And by the honesty of his cause: "but yet I will speak" etc. — Job 13 ("I will speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God"). And thus each of these two holds the place of the party bringing complaint; but Habakkuk holds the place of the one who answers, Habakkuk 2 ("I will stand upon my watch, and fix my step upon the fortification"). Second, he sets forth his case with respect to his adversaries, setting out their prosperity — first as to the abundance of temporal goods: "Why doth the way" — that is, the course — of the wicked prosper, through unbelief; "of them that transgress", by acting against the law, "and do wickedly", against their neighbor: Job 12 ("The tabernacles of robbers abound, and they provoke God boldly, whereas it is he that hath given all into their hands"); Psalms 73 ("I was zealous over the wicked, seeing the peace of sinners"). And as to the increase of their prosperity: "Thou hast planted them", in temporal goods, and by the likeness of a tree, "and they have taken root", their prosperity being confirmed; "they prosper", as a tree grows through the increase of prosperity; "and they bring forth fruit", fulfilling in deed what they purpose in mind: Job 21 ("Why then do the wicked live, are they advanced, and strengthened with riches?"). And he sets forth their iniquity: "Thou art near" to their mouth, "and far" from their reins — that is, from their affections, which two things seem together to stand opposed to the divine [knowledge]: Isaiah 29 ("This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me"), by which it is given to understand that for imperfect goods they receive an imperfect reward. On his own part, however, he gives them to understand his justice: "And thou, O Lord, hast known me" from eternity, "thou hast seen" how rightly I walk before thee; for even if I speak thus, yet I suffer no scandal in these things: above, chapter 1 ("Before I formed thee in the womb, I knew thee"). And he gives them to understand his correction: "thou hast proved me", tried by punishments, "I have been found walking with thee": Psalms 16 ("Thou hast proved my heart, and visited it by night, thou hast tried me by fire, and iniquity hath not been found in me"). Third, he shows the punishment by way of imprecation. And first he imprecates the infliction of the punishment: "Gather them together" — as if to say, because thou art just, it cannot be that thou wilt not punish the wicked; therefore thou dost so exalt them in prosperity as one who fattens a flock for the slaughter. Therefore, by the very thing by which they have been fattened and have been unjust, "gather them together" — by which is signified that at the paschal time, when they had gathered into the city for the feast, they were besieged. "Sanctify them": he speaks by the likeness of animals which were slain for sacrifice: Isaiah 34 ("The victim of the Lord is in Bosra, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom"). And he excludes delay of the punishment, because it is now time that they be punished in their own persons, not in their possessions nor in the produce of the land: "How long shall the land mourn": Psalms 106 (var.) ("He turned rivers into a wilderness, and the sources of waters into dry ground; a fruitful land into saltness, for the wickedness of them that dwell in it"); and as to the animals, "the beast is consumed": Ezekiel 9 ("They have said: the Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not"). Second, as one who has now been heard, he sets down a taunt against those to be punished. And first on the part of the enemy, as to their power: "If thou hast wearied running with footmen" — as if to say, if the neighboring nations, who fight on foot, have caused thee such great labor, how wilt thou be able to withstand the Chaldeans and the Egyptians, who are mighty with horses: Job 6 (var.) ("he that feareth the hoar-frost, snow shall fall upon him"). And as to the land of captivity: "and if in the land of peace" — that is, even if thou hadst always had peace in thine own land, what wilt thou do "in the swelling of the Jordan", whose currents are swollen, because they are proud? Ecclesiastes 10 (var.) ("he that glorieth in his wealth, let him fear poverty"). Second, as to those joined to him by blood, calling to mind an old injury: "for even thy brethren" — namely the Edomites — "and the house" — namely the Moabites and Ammonites: Song of Solomon 1 ("My mother's children have fought against me"). And he inserts a caution: "believe them not" when they speak — as though unwilling to make a league with thee to withstand the Chaldeans: below, chapter 27 ("Make thee bonds and chains, and put them upon thy neck, and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab" etc.); above, chapter 9 ("Let every man take heed of his neighbor, and let him not trust in any brother of his: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every friend will walk deceitfully, and a man will mock his own brother, and will not speak the truth").

b. Here is set down the Lord's response. And first he sets down the threatening of punishment; second, the consolation of punishment, at the words "Thus saith the Lord" etc. As to the first, there are two points. First he threatens punishment as to the withdrawal of divine aid: "my house", that is, the temple, "I will not defend", "my heritage", the people of Israel: Isaiah 19 (var.) ("Israel is my heritage"); above, chapter 9 ("I will forsake my people, and depart from them, because they are all adulterers, an assembly of transgressors" etc.). And as to the oppression by the enemy: "I have given my beloved", that is, the Jews whom I loved as my own soul. Second he sets down their fault. First signifying the magnitude of their fault: "my heritage is become to me" — namely, the people — "as a lion", fierce to attack me. "She hath uttered her voice", of blasphemy: Psalms 9 (var.) ("He lieth in wait in secret like a lion in his den"). Second he wonders at the instability of their spirit: "Is my inheritance to me as a speckled bird" — as if to say, now clinging to me, now to idols. "Full" of the filth of sins, "on every side", because all are wicked: 1 Kings 18 ("How long do you halt between two sides? If the Lord be God, follow him" etc.). Or the sense can be: do I hold her so dear as men hold such beautiful birds, that I should not at last cast her off, so that "speckled" refers to her beauty: Ezekiel 16 (var.) ("I clothed thee with embroidery, and shod thee with violet-colored shoes"). Or what is said, "I have forsaken my house" etc., can be the words of the prophet himself, who, in order to announce the word of God, exposed himself to the danger of death, and forsook house and country, and suffered ambushes from his fellow-countrymen as though from lions, full of various deceits and malice. Mystically, these are the words of Christ, who is said to have left house and country when coming into the world, because he bore himself after the manner of one forsaking himself, when in his infirmity he hid his majesty. "My inheritance", the heavenly fatherland. The wicked prosper by the loss of the inheritance: Genesis 25 ("Abraham gave all that he possessed to Isaac his son; but to the children of the concubines he gave gifts"). By an imperfect recompense: Matthew 6 ("Amen I say to you, they have received their reward"). Because they are not worthy of divine correction: Ezekiel 16 (var.) ("my indignation shall rest in them, if I take away my zeal from thee any more: as thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth"); Hosea 4 (var.) ("I will not visit upon your daughters when they shall commit fornication, and upon your spouses when they shall commit adultery, because yourselves separated yourselves with harlots"): Hebrews 12 ("if you be without chastisement, whereof all are made partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons"). And they are not satisfied — because of the desperate condition of the disease: Lamentations 2 ("Great as the sea is thy destruction"). Who shall heal thee? Below, chapter 30 ("Thy bruise is incurable, thy wound is very grievous"). Because of their casting down: Psalms 73 (var.) ("Jerusalem thou hast set as a place for craft, that they may be gathered together") when they were alienated: Romans 1 ("wherefore God gave them up to a reprobate sense, to do those things which are not convenient" etc.).

c. Here punishment is committed in particular. First, the punishment of captivity; second, the punishment of the sterility of the land, at the words "They have sown wheat" etc. As to the first, there are three points. First he determines the punishment, marking out the magnitude of the slaughter: "to devour", the multitude of corpses: Ezekiel 39 ("Thus saith the Lord God: Speak to every fowl, and to all the beasts of the field: Assemble yourselves, make haste, come together from every side to my victim, which I slay for you, a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, to eat flesh, and drink blood. You shall eat the flesh of the strong, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth" etc.). The affliction of the enemy as to those slain: "many pastors", that is, the princes of the Chaldeans: above, chapter 6 ("Shepherds and their flocks shall come to her"); "my vineyard", the house of Israel: Isaiah 5 ("For the vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel"). Or, "the pastors", the princes of the people, "have trodden down", by slaughter. And as to those oppressed by servitude and captivity: "they have trodden underfoot": Isaiah 5 (var.) ("I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be wasted"). And as to the desolation of the land: "they have made" — my delightful portion — "a wilderness", though late? Hosea 2 (var.) ("And she shall say: I will go, and return to my first husband, for it was better with me then than now"). Second, he sets down the cause of the punishment: "a desolate wilderness... let him consider it", my gifts and my benefits: Isaiah 5 (var.) ("Therefore is my people led away captive, because they had not knowledge"). Third, he sets down the measure of the punishment. First showing the multitude of the enemy: "upon every way" — as if to say, they fill every road — "of the wilderness", which is between Jerusalem and Babylon: above, chapter 4 ("The wind came out of the ways that are in the desert, of the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse" etc.). Second, the multitude of the slain, by sword, or pestilence, or even by the Chaldeans: Deuteronomy 32 ("My sword shall devour flesh"). Third, the absence of consolation: "there is no peace" — as if to say, no one shall be exempt: Isaiah 48 (var.) ("There is no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord God").

d. Here he threatens the punishment of sterility. And first, the frustration of the sowing: "they have sown wheat" — as if to say, their seeds shall be corrupted: Matthew 13 ("Did not I sow good seed in thy field?"). Whence then hath it cockle? Isaiah 5 ("I looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes"). Second, the loss of the inheritance: "their heritage shall profit them nothing", because it shall be snatched away by the enemy: Lamentations, last chapter ("Our inheritance is turned to strangers"). Third, he concludes with confusion: "be confounded" — namely, on account of the lack of fruits: Isaiah 24 ("The vintage hath mourned, the vine hath languished away, all that were merry at heart have sighed").

e. Here he sets down consolation and the punishment of the enemies; and concerning this there are three points. First he sets down their migration, and how they touched the inheritance, injuring it: Zechariah 2 ("he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of my eye"); above, chapter 1 ("Behold I have set thee this day over the nations, and over kingdoms, to root up, and to pull down, and to waste, and to destroy, and to build, and to plant" etc.). Second, their expulsion: "and when I shall have plucked them out, I will bring you back with them": Ezekiel 16 (var.). Third, he sets down their instruction and the promise of good things if they do well: "and it shall be, if being taught... they shall be built up" — as if to say, they shall be numbered among my people, which is proper to conversion and to a lessening of punishments. But if they will not hearken, perpetual perdition: Isaiah 1 ("If you be willing, and will hearken to me, you shall eat the good things of the land"). Note that prelates destroy the people on account of the perversity of their deeds: above, chapter 10 ("Because the pastors have done foolishly, and have not sought the Lord: therefore have they not understood, and all their flock is scattered"). On account of the falsity of their teaching: below, chapter 30 ("My people hath been a lost flock, their shepherds have caused them to go astray, and have made them wander in the mountains" etc.). On account of the pusillanimity of their fear: Zechariah 11 ("O shepherd, and idol, that forsaketh the flock" etc.). On account of the severity of their rule: Ezekiel 34 (var.) ("with rigor you have ruled over them, and with a high hand, and have scattered my sheep" etc.). On account of the remissness of their care: Zechariah 11 ("I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who shall not visit what is forsaken, nor seek what is scattered, nor heal what is broken, nor nourish that which standeth, and he shall eat the flesh of the fat ones, and break their hoofs").

Chapter 13

Text

a. "Thus saith the Lord to me: Go, and get thee a linen girdle, and put it about thy loins, and carry it not into the water. And I got a girdle according to the word of the Lord, and put it about my loins. And the word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying: Take the girdle which thou hast gotten, which is about thy loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock. And I went, and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord had commanded me. And it came to pass after many days, that the Lord said to me: Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from thence the girdle which I commanded thee to hide there. And I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and took the girdle from the place where I had hidden it; and behold, the girdle was rotted, so that it was fit for no use."

b. "And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Thus saith the Lord: So will I make the pride of Judah to rot, and the great pride of Jerusalem, this most wicked people, who will not hear my words, and who walk in the perversity of their own heart, and have gone after strange gods to serve and adore them; and they shall be as this girdle, which is fit for no use. For as the girdle cleaves to the loins of a man, so have I fastened to myself the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the Lord, that they might be to me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory; but they would not hear."

c. "Thou shalt therefore say to them this word: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Every bottle shall be filled with wine. And they will say to thee: Do we not know that every bottle shall be filled with wine? And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, and the kings of the house of David that sit upon his throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness. And I will scatter them, every man from his brother, and the fathers and the sons together, saith the Lord. I will not spare, nor pardon, nor have mercy, but I will destroy them. Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud, for the Lord hath spoken. Give glory to the Lord your God, before it be dark, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains; you shall look for light, and he will turn it into the shadow of death, and into darkness. But if you will not hear this, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride; weeping it shall weep, and mine eye shall run down with tears, because the flock of the Lord is carried away captive. Say to the king and to the queen: Humble yourselves, sit down, for the crown of your glory is come down from your head. The cities of the south are shut up, and there is none to open them; all Judah is carried away into captivity, with an utter captivity. Lift up your eyes, and see, you that come from the north: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful cattle? What wilt thou say when he shall visit thee? for thou hast taught them against thee, and instructed them against thine own head. Shall not sorrows take hold of thee, as a woman in labor? And if thou shalt say in thy heart: Why are these things come upon me? For the greatness of thy iniquity thy shame is discovered, and thy heels are made bare. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? So may you also do well, when you have learned evil. And I will scatter them as stubble, which is carried away by the wind in the desert. This is thy lot, and the part of thy measure from me, saith the Lord, because thou hast forgotten me, and hast trusted in falsehood. Wherefore I have also bared thy thighs against thy face, and thy shame hath appeared, thy adulteries, and thy neighing, the wickedness of thy fornication: upon the hills in the field I have seen thy abominations. Woe to thee, Jerusalem, wilt thou not be made clean after me? How long yet?"

Exposition

a. Here he shows the dignity of the people from its adherence to God, and this is divided into two parts. In the first he sets down the likeness; in the second, the application of the likeness, at the words "And the word of the Lord came" etc. As to the first, there are three points. First is signified the assumption of the people into familiarity with God, where the Lord's command is given: "Go" — literally, to the place where such things are sold, although God himself came first to the people: 1 John 4 ("Not as though we had loved God, but because he hath first loved us"). "Get thee", from me, that is, that thou mayest possess it by thine own right, as the Lord possesses an inheritance: Isaiah 19 (var.) ("Israel is my inheritance"). "For thyself", for thine own use, as the people exist for the glory of God: Isaiah 43 ("This people have I formed for myself, they shall show forth my praise"). "A girdle", which cleaves to the loins, in which is the desire of love — so is the people taken up into divine love: Hosea 11 ("I will draw them with the cords of Adam, with the bands of love"). "Linen", which is taken up rough from the earth, but is adorned by human cultivation — so is that people adorned by the cultivation of God: Ezekiel 16 ("And passing by thee, I saw that thou wast trodden under foot in thy blood" etc.). And "into the water": Job 38 ("Gird up thy loins like a man; I will ask thee, and answer thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?"). And because the deeds of the prophets, and not only their words, mystically express the things of God, hence it is said in Hosea 12 ("I have used similitudes by the ministry of the prophets"). There is also set down the fulfillment of the command, "I got", in which is noted the prophet's obedience: Genesis 6 ("Noah was a just and perfect man in his generations; he walked with God" etc.). Second is signified the rejection of the people: "and it came to pass... take" it from thee — so will I cast the people from me. "Go to the Euphrates", by which is signified the power of the Assyrians and Chaldeans, by whom the people was taken captive: Isaiah 8 ("the Lord shall bring upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, the king of the Assyrians, and all his glory; and it shall come up over all his channels, and overflow all his banks, and shall pass through Judah, overflowing, and going over shall reach even to the neck"). "Hide it" — so the people, as though swallowed up in the waters, shall be engulfed: below, chapter 51 ("he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicate meats, and hath cast me out"). "In a hole", lest it flow away with the water, by which it is signified that a remnant of the people would remain, and that it would not perish entirely: above, chapter 5 ("yet a full end I will not make"). Third is signified the restoration of the people. First the restoration itself is signified: "and it came to pass after many days", to signify that they would be many years in captivity: below, chapter 29 ("when seventy years shall begin to be accomplished in Babylon, I will visit you, and I will raise up unto you my good word, to bring you back into this place"). "Take it from thence" — thus, therefore, will I bring back the people: Ezekiel 16 (var.) ("I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and bring you into your own land"). Second is signified the condition of the people: "and behold it was rotted" — thus the people's power and beauty had been consumed: Ezekiel 15 ("shall it be useful for any work? even when it was whole, it was not fit for work; how much less when the fire hath devoured and consumed it, shall anything be made of it").

b. Here is set down the application of the likeness, and concerning this he does two things. First he applies the likeness as to the punishment: "so will I make to rot", that all vigor and beauty may pass away: Isaiah 1 ("you shall be confounded for the gardens which you have chosen"). And as to the cause of the punishment, namely disobedience: "this people": Exodus 33 (var.) ("the Lord said to Moses: speak to the children of Israel: thou art a stiff-necked people"). And "they shall be as the girdle": Isaiah 30 ("it shall be broken small, as the potter's vessel is broken all to pieces with a violent breaking"). And as to the grace of divine familiarity: "for as the girdle cleaves": Deuteronomy 10 ("behold, heaven is the Lord's, and the heaven of heaven, the earth and all things that are therein; yet the Lord hath been joined in love to thy fathers, and hath loved them, and chose their seed after them, that is you, out of all nations, as it is this day proved"). Second he pursues in particular the order of the punishment. He says therefore, "thou shalt say" etc., and concerning this he does two things. First he shows the imminent danger of the punishment by an example: "every bottle", that is, every one of the people; "with wine", of tribulation: Isaiah 41 (var.) ("thou shalt thresh the mountains, and break them small, and shalt make them as dust"). The contempt of the example: "and they will say": Job 12 (var.) ("for what these things which you know, doth he not know?"). And the explanation of the same: "and thou shalt say to them" — as to the blindness of their heart, "drunkenness", so that they know not what they do: Isaiah 29 (var.) ("be astonished, and wonder, waver and stagger, be drunk but not with wine" etc.). And as to captivity: "and I will scatter them", so that they cannot console one another: Hosea 13 (var.) ("consolation is hidden from my eyes, because he shall make a separation between the brothers"). As to the severity of the sentence: "I will not spare, nor pardon" — as though to move them, since they are obstinate, or to convict them, since they are manifestly wicked: Proverbs 6 ("the jealousy and rage of the husband will not spare in the day of revenge, nor will he yield to any man's prayers, nor will he accept for satisfaction ever so many gifts"). Second he gives them useful counsel for escaping, namely that they humble themselves: "hear ye". And first to the whole people, proposing counsel against the vice of pride: "be not lifted up", by pride; "the Lord hath spoken", this counsel, or the punishments which I have foretold: Psalms 74 (var.) ("lift not up your horn on high, speak not iniquity against God"). And against the commandment of God, which the beginning of every sin transgresses: "give glory to the Lord": Deuteronomy 32 ("give ye magnificence to our God; the works of God are perfect, and all his ways are judgments"). "Before it be dark": the imminent danger of blindness of heart, "darkness", before tribulations come upon you in which you know not what to do: John 12 ("walk whilst you have the light, that darkness overtake you not"). Of captivity: "before your feet stumble", being led into captivity, "upon the dark mountains", namely of Babylon, on account of their height, or from a defect of sight, or from the multitude of vapors: Isaiah 13 ("upon the dark mountain lift up a banner, exalt the voice" etc.). And of the severity of the sentence: "you shall look for light", that is, for divine consolation, and shall not have it: above, chapter 8 ("we looked for peace, and there was no good, and for a time of healing, and behold fear"). And marking the punishment, against the contempt of the counsel, setting forth the prophet's compassion: "but if you will not hear this", "in secret", lest the victors be offended: Isaiah 22 (var.) ("depart from me, I will weep bitterly; labor not to comfort me"): Ezekiel 24 ("you shall not mourn nor weep, but you shall pine away in your iniquities"). And the reason of his compassion: "weeping it shall weep": below, chapter 30 ("my people is become a lost flock, their shepherds have caused them to go astray, and have made them wander in the mountains"). Second he gives the same counsel to the king, inviting him to humility: "say to the king", namely Jeconiah, "and to the queen", namely his mother, because Nebuchadnezzar carried him away together with his mother: 2 Kings, last chapter (var.). "Sit down", in a sign of humility: Isaiah 47 ("come down, sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground"). And he assigns the reason, from the loss of the kingdom: "for it is come down from your head": Lamentations, last chapter ("the crown is fallen from our head"). From the siege of the cities: "the cities of the south are shut up", because the portion of Judah lay to the south. "There is none to open them", that is, to raise the siege, namely the Egyptian. And from the captivity of the people: "all Judah is carried away": Lamentations 1 ("Judah hath removed her dwelling place because of her affliction, and the greatness of her bondage; she hath dwelt among the nations, and hath found no rest"). Third he gives the same counsel to the royal city. And first he leads it to humility; second he marvels at its obstinacy, at the words "Woe to thee, Jerusalem". Now he leads it to humility on four grounds. First, from the power of the enemy, setting forth the enemy's strength: "lift up", by consideration, "your eyes", against the strong: above, chapter 6 ("behold a people cometh from the land of the north, and a great nation shall rise from the ends of the earth"), "from the north". And excluding the confidence of subjects: "where is the flock" — as though to say, the multitude of the people who were subject to thee — as if to say, the royal and priestly city shall not be able to profit thee: Ezekiel 34 ("behold, I myself will require my flock at their hand, and will cause them to cease from feeding the flock any more, neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; and I will deliver my flock from their mouth, and it shall no more be meat for them"). And assigning the cause why it is delivered into the hand of the enemy, taking away every excuse: "what wilt thou say", in thine own excuse: Job 9 ("if he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one for a thousand"). And assigning the reason: "for thou hast taught them", while calling them to thine aid, thou hast made them know thy ways: above, chapter 2 ("moreover, thou hast taught thy malices to be their ways"). Or he touches on the showing of the treasure made by Hezekiah to the envoys of the king of Babylon: Isaiah 39. Second, from the affliction of sorrow, threatening grief: "shall not sorrows": above, chapter 4 ("I have heard, as it were, the voice of a woman in travail, the anguish as of one bringing forth her first child"). And he assigns the reason from the multitude of sins: "and if thou shalt say in thy heart" — "why are these things come upon me" — as a punishment; "thy shame", thy most disgraceful sins; "thy heels", thy affections: Job 22 (var.) ("because of thy exceeding great malice, and thy infinite iniquities"). Or he touches here on the fact that they were led captive on foot, and even in crossing the rivers had to bare their shameful members and go barefoot, and therefore their heels were defiled with mud and dust: Isaiah 47 ("discover thy shame, uncover thy shoulder, make bare thy legs, pass over the rivers; thy shame shall be discovered, and thy disgrace shall be seen"). And their expectation, from obstinacy: "can the Ethiopian change" — as if to say, you can be converted only with difficulty; "the Ethiopian", on account of the natural infection of sin; "the leopard", on account of the deceitfulness, or the variety, of sins; "when you have learned", on account of habit: Proverbs 22 ("it is a proverb: a young man according to his way, even when he is old, will not depart from it"). Third he leads them to humility from the future captivity, threatening the dispersion of the captivity: "and I will scatter": Psalms 82 (var.) ("O my God, make them like a wheel, and as stubble before the wind"), "I will scatter them by thy power". And he assigns the reason: "this is thy lot", given thee for thy sins, thy due, "in a lie": Isaiah 27 (var.) ("in measure against measure"). Fourth, from the revealing of their sins. And first he sets down the threat: "and thy shame", the shamefulness of thy sins, "is discovered", that thou mightest know thyself. "And it hath appeared", even to others: Ezekiel 16 ("I will strip thee of thy shame before them, and they shall see all thy filthiness"). And he assigns the reason: "upon the hills" — as if to say, because thou hast sinned publicly, thou shalt be punished publicly: above, chapter 2 ("upon every high hill, and under every green tree, thou didst prostitute thyself, wandering like a harlot"). Last he marvels at their obstinacy: "woe to thee... wilt thou not be made clean"? Dost thou still trust to walk after me? Psalms 4 ("O ye sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart? Why do you love vanity, and seek after lying?"). Note that wine is mystically taken in one sense for good, in another for evil: for there is a good wine of the contemplation of wisdom: Proverbs 9 ("drink the wine which I have mingled for you"); of divine love: Song of Solomon 8 (var.) ("I will give thee a cup of spiced wine, and new wine of my pomegranates"); of compunction: Psalms 60 ("thou hast given us to drink the wine of compunction"). But there is also an evil wine, of fraudulent deceit: Deuteronomy 32 ("their wine is the gall of dragons, and the poison of asps, which is incurable"); of carnal delight: Revelation 18 ("all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her"); of divine indignation: Revelation 14 ("if any man shall adore the beast and his image, and receive his character in his forehead or in his hand, he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mingled with pure wine in the cup of his wrath"). Likewise it should be noted that the Holy Spirit is called the south wind, on account of its warmth: Job 37 ("are not thy garments hot, when the south wind blows upon the earth?"); on account of its splendor: Habakkuk 3 ("God will come from the south, and the Holy One from mount Pharan; his glory covered the heavens" etc.); on account of the exaltation of its flight: Job 39 ("doth the hawk wax feathered by thy wisdom, spreading her wings toward the south?"); on account of the multiplying of rain: Psalms 125 ("bring back our captivity, O Lord, as a stream in the south"); on account of the fruitfulness of trees: Song of Solomon 4 ("arise, O north wind, and come, O south wind, blow through my garden, and let the aromatical spices thereof flow").

Chapter 14

Text

a. "The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah, concerning the words of the drought. Judah hath mourned, and the gates thereof are fallen, and are become black upon the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up. The great ones sent their inferiors to the water: they came to draw, and they found no water, they carried back their vessels empty. They were confounded, and afflicted, and covered their heads, because of the devastation of the land, for there came no rain upon the earth; the husbandmen were confounded, they covered their heads. Yea, the hind also brought forth in the field, and left it, because there was no grass. And the wild asses stood upon the rocks, they snuffed up the wind like dragons, their eyes failed, because there was no grass."

b. "If our iniquities have answered against us, O Lord, do thou for thy name's sake, for our rebellions are many, we have sinned against thee. O expectation of Israel, the savior thereof in time of trouble: why wilt thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man turning in to lodge? Why wilt thou be as a man that is a wanderer, as a mighty man that cannot save? But thou, O Lord, art among us, and thy name is called upon by us, forsake us not. Thus saith the Lord to this people, that have loved to move their feet, and have not rested, and have not pleased the Lord: now will he remember their iniquities, and visit their sins. And the Lord said to me: Pray not for this people for their good. When they shall fast, I will not hear their prayers; and if they shall offer burnt-offerings and victims, I will not receive them, for I will consume them by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence."

c. "And I said: Ah, ah, ah, O Lord God! The prophets say to them: You shall not see the sword, and famine shall not be among you, but he will give you true peace in this place. And the Lord said to me: The prophets prophesy falsely in my name; I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, nor have I spoken to them. They prophesy unto you a lying vision, and divination, and deceit, and the seduction of their own heart. Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, whom I sent not, saying: Sword and famine shall not be in this land: By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed. And the people to whom they prophesy, shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword, and there shall be none to bury them; they and their wives, their sons and their daughters, and I will pour out their own wickedness upon them. And thou shalt say this word to them: Let my eyes shed down tears night and day, and let them not cease, because the virgin daughter of my people is afflicted with a great affliction, with an exceeding grievous wound. If I go forth into the fields, behold the slain with the sword; and if I enter into the city, behold them that are consumed with famine. The prophet also and the priest are gone into a land which they knew not."

d. "Hast thou utterly cast away Judah, or hath thy soul abhorred Zion? Why then hast thou stricken us, so that there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble. We have known, O Lord, our wickedness, the iniquities of our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. Give us not to be a reproach, for thy name's sake, and do not disgrace in us the throne of thy glory; remember, break not thy covenant with us. Are there any among the graven things of the Gentiles that can send rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Art not thou the Lord our God, whom we have looked for? For thou hast made all these things."

Exposition

a. Here the prophet begins to interpose his own prayer for them to God, that they might in some way obtain mercy, at least after some scourges; and this is divided into two parts. In the first is set down a certain contention of the prophet with the Lord, to obtain mercy afterward. In the second is set down the final determination, chapter 15, at the words "And the Lord said to me" etc. As to the first, there are two points. In the first is set down the affliction of the people, which is the occasion of the prayer. In the second is set down the prophet's contention with God, at the words "If our iniquities" etc. As to the first, there are two points. First he sets down the prophet's title: "the word", of interior revelation; "that came... concerning the words", of external proclamation; "of the drought", which, then imminent, later came upon them in captivity — or, "concerning the words of the drought," that is, concerning a drought worthy of such lament. Second he pursues the calamity of the drought. And first as to the affliction of men, as to the scarcity of drink, setting forth their sadness: "Judah hath mourned", afflicted with thirst: Isaiah 24 ("the vintage hath mourned, the vine hath languished away, all that were merry at heart have sighed"). "The gates", the judges who sat in the gates, have fallen from their former gladness; "are become black", that is, wrapped in the darkness of tribulation: Lamentations 2 ("her gates are sunk into the ground, he hath destroyed and broken her bars"). Or, because through excessive dryness the walls were crumbling, and so, the gates having fallen, they could not be repaired for want of water. "The cry", of complaint and lamentation: Isaiah 24 ("there shall be crying for wine in the streets, all mirth is forsaken, the joy of the earth is gone into captivity"). And he assigns the cause of the sadness: "the great ones": Isaiah 41 (var.) ("the needy and the poor seek water, and there is none; their tongue hath failed for thirst"). And as to the sterility of the land, a plague upon their possessions: "they were confounded... and covered" their heads, in a sign of confusion: above, chapter 12 (var.) ("you shall be confounded at your fruits, because of the wrath of the fury of the Lord"). And upon the tillers of the soil, because it came not: Isaiah 1 (var.) ("the husbandmen were confounded, the vine-dressers howled for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field is perished; the vine is confounded, and the fig tree hath languished"). Second he sets down the affliction of the wild animals, as to the hinds: "for the hind also", which is greatly solicitous for the keeping of her young: Job 39 ("knowest thou the time when the wild goats bring forth among the rocks, or hast thou observed the hinds when they calve?"). And as to the wild asses: "and the wild asses", who nevertheless endure thirst: Psalms 103 (var.) ("the wild asses shall wait in their thirst"). "Upon the rocks", where the wind blows most, "they stood", seeking the refreshment of thirst; "like dragons", which on account of thirst draw in the wind: above, chapter 2 (var.) ("a wild ass accustomed to the wilderness, in the desire of her heart she snuffed up the wind of her love").

b. Here he begins to pray to God for the people. And first he draws an argument of mercy from the divine condition; second, from the foretelling of the prophets, at the words "And I said: Ah, ah, ah"; third, from the former love borne to the people, at the words "as a stranger" etc. As to the first, there are two points. First is set down the prophet's prayer, in which he sets forth three things. Confessing his fault: "if our iniquities have answered against us", as a punishment: Isaiah 59 (var.) ("our iniquities are multiplied before thee, and our sins have testified against us"). And declaring God's clemency: "we have sinned against thee": Psalms 45 (var.) ("a helper in troubles, which have found us exceedingly"). Then he sets forth God's constancy: "why wilt thou be as a stranger" — as if to say, it is unworthy of thy constancy that thou shouldst forsake thy vineyard, as a stranger forsakes a field not his own; "as a wayfaring man", thine own house, as a wayfarer his night's lodging. "Why wilt thou be", as it were a man wandering from thine own inheritance, of no fixed dwelling, from thine own habitation: above, chapter 12 ("I have forsaken my house, I have left my inheritance"). He proposes also God's power: "and as a mighty man" — as if to say, it is unworthy of thy power that thou shouldst not save those whom thou hast once taken under thy protection: Numbers 14 ("the Egyptians will say: he was not able to bring the people into the land for which he had sworn, therefore did he kill them in the wilderness" etc.). And he proposes that the care of them is owed to him: "but thou, O Lord, art among us", as in an inheritance; and "thy name", as under the name of a king subjects are defended: 2 Corinthians 6 ("I will dwell in them, and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people"). And he concludes: "forsake us not", lest thy constancy and power be blasphemed: Psalms 26 (var.) ("the Lord will not forsake me, neither shall God my savior despise me"). Second is set down the Lord's response: "thus saith the Lord". And first he sets forth their fault: "that have loved to move their feet", carried about by inconstancy in good, and from evil to evil: Proverbs 7 ("a wandering and unsteady woman, whose feet cannot abide in her house"). Or sending to Egypt for help: Isaiah 30 ("Egypt shall help in vain and to no purpose, therefore have I cried concerning this: it is but pride, be still"). Second he threatens punishment: "now will he remember", inflicting the punishment: Psalms 88 ("I will visit their iniquities with a rod, and their sins with stripes"). Third he excludes remedies. And first, of prayers: "and the Lord said": above, chapter 7 ("therefore do not thou pray for this people, nor take up praise and prayer for them, and do not withstand me, for I will not hear thee"). Second, of fasting: "when they shall fast": Isaiah 58 ("why have we fasted, and thou hast not regarded it: have we humbled our souls, and thou hast not taken notice?"). Third, of sacrifice: "and if they shall offer": Malachi 1 ("I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will not receive a gift from your hand").

c. Here he takes an argument from the foretelling of the prophets. And first is set down the prophet's plea: "Ah, ah, ah", for the threefold punishment which had just now touched him. "The prophets", the false ones; "true peace", lasting, and not merely feigned by the enemies: above, chapter 4 ("hast thou not deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying: peace shall be unto you, and behold the sword reacheth even to the soul?"). Second is set down the Lord's response: "and the Lord said to me". And first he shows the falsity of the prophets, as to the mission which they claim: "I sent them not", to carry it out; "I commanded them not", enjoining the office upon them; "nor have I spoken to them", inspiring in them the gift of prophecy: below, chapter 23 ("I did not send prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied"). And as to the peace which they preached: "a lying vision... the seduction of their own heart", that is, words devised to deceive: Ezekiel 13 ("they see vain things, and they divine lies, saying: the Lord saith, whereas the Lord hath not sent them"). Second he threatens punishment, both upon the prophets who preach and upon the people who believe: "therefore thus saith the Lord": Isaiah 9 (var.) ("they that call this people blessed, the same lead them into error, and they that are called blessed are thrown headlong"). Third, the prophet's compassion is announced to the people: "and thou shalt say this word to them... my eyes". And thereby is signified the mourning of penance: Lamentations 2 ("let tears run down like a torrent day and night"). Whose reason is assigned: "with a great destruction", on account of the multitude of the slain; "exceeding grievous", on account of its incurability; "suddenly", on account of its unexpectedness: Isaiah 30 ("it shall be broken small, as the potter's vessel is broken all to pieces with a violent breaking"). And he marks the measure of the destruction — first as to the manner of the slaughter: "if I go forth into the fields"; and "if I enter into the city", by way of alternation: Lamentations 1 (var.) ("without, the sword destroyeth, and at home there is death alike, the young man and the virgin, the sucking child with the man of gray hairs"). As to captivity: "the prophet also": above, chapter 9 ("I will scatter them among the nations whom neither they nor their fathers have known").

d. Here he takes an argument from the people's former love: and concerning this there are three points. First he marvels at the rejection of a beloved people, wondering at the apparent hatred: "hast thou utterly cast away" — as if to say, it seems a strange thing: Lamentations, last chapter (var.) ("but thou hast utterly rejected us, thou art exceedingly angry against us"), "so that there is no healing"; Isaiah 14 (var.) ("with an incurable wound hast thou struck the peoples in thy fury"). Second he sets down the acknowledgment of the punishment: "we looked for": above, chapter 8 ("we looked for peace, and there was no good; and for a time of healing, and behold trouble"). And of the fault: "we have known, O Lord": Psalms 31 (var.) ("my sin I have acknowledged, and my injustice I have not concealed"). Third is set down the petition: "give us not up": Psalms 43 ("thou hast made us a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us"). Fourth, the reason for the petition, from the holiness of the temple: "for the sake of the throne of thy glory" — namely of the mercy-seat and the ark, in which thou hast shown thyself glorious by miracles and revelations: below, chapter 17 ("a glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctification, the expectation of Israel"). From the weakness of idols: "are there any... that can send rain?", of themselves, as it were primary causes: Job 38 (var.) ("who is the father of the rain, or who begot the drops of dew?"). And from the power of God: "art not thou the Lord our God... who hast made" these things, and all such things: above, chapter 10 ("when he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he lifteth up the clouds from the ends of the earth"). Note that there is a false peace: Zephaniah 1 (var.) ("in the great sacrifice of the day of a mighty war, they call peace, peace, and there is no peace"). And a fraudulent peace: Psalms 35 (var.) ("who speak peace with their neighbor, but evils are in their hearts"). And a transitory peace: 1 Thessalonians 5 ("when they shall say, peace and security, then shall sudden destruction come upon them"). Likewise it should be noted that mystically there is a threefold throne. One is a throne of glory, and this in four ways: by the sublimity of nature: Isaiah 6 ("I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and elevated, and the whole earth was full of his majesty"); by the tranquility of peace: above, chapter 3 ("at that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered to it in the name of the Lord in Jerusalem"); by the depth of knowledge: Ezekiel 10 ("and I saw, and behold in the firmament that was over the heads of the cherubim, there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne"); by the eternity of its duration: Lamentations, last chapter ("but thou, O Lord, shalt remain for ever, thy throne from generation to generation"). Another is the throne of the clemency preparing men for obedience to God: Isaiah 22 ("I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place, and he shall be for a throne of glory to the house of his father, and I will hang upon him all the glory of his father's house"); for the sentence of justice: Proverbs 16 ("the throne is made firm by justice"); for mercy toward one's neighbor: Isaiah 16 ("and a throne shall be prepared in mercy, and one shall sit upon it in truth, in the tabernacle of David"); for the grace of humility: Ezekiel 43 ("this is the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever"). But there is also a throne of justice preparing for judgment: Job 23 ("who will grant me that I might know and find him, and come even to his throne"); for the correction of evil: Proverbs 20 ("the king that sitteth on the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his look"); for the condemnation of the incorrigible: 2 Kings, last chapter (var.) ("I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him, on his right hand and on his left"); for the defense of the good: Isaiah 9 ("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 for ever").

Chapter 15

Text

a. "And the Lord said to me: If Moses and Samuel shall stand before me, my soul is not toward this people: cast them out from my sight, and let them go forth. And if they shall say to thee: Whither shall we go forth? thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord: Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for famine, to famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity. And I will visit them with four kinds, saith the Lord: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy. And I will give them up to affliction, to all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for all that he did in Jerusalem."

b. "For who shall have pity on thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go to pray for thy peace? Thou hast forsaken me, saith the Lord, thou art gone backward; and I will stretch out my hand against thee, and I will destroy thee; I am weary of entreating thee. And I will scatter them with a fan in the gates of the land; I have slain and destroyed my people, and yet they are not returned from their ways. Their widows are multiplied to me above the sand of the sea; I have brought upon them, against the mother of the young man, a spoiler at noonday; I have suddenly cast terror upon the cities. She that hath borne seven is become weak, her soul hath fainted away; her sun is gone down while it was yet day, she is confounded and ashamed; and the residue of them I will give up to the sword in the sight of their enemies, saith the Lord."

c. "Woe is me, my mother, why hast thou borne me a man of strife, a man of contention to all the earth? I have not lent on usury, nor hath any man lent to me on usury; yet all curse me. The Lord saith: Surely it shall be well with thy remnant, surely I have met thee in the time of affliction, and in the time of tribulation, against the enemy. Shall iron be allied with the iron from the north, and the brass? Thy riches and thy treasures I will give up to be plundered, for nothing, because of all thy sins, and in all thy borders. And I will bring thy enemies from a land which thou knowest not; for a fire is kindled in my wrath, it shall burn upon you."

d. "Thou knowest, O Lord, remember me, and visit me, and defend me from them that persecute me; take me not away in thy long-suffering; know that for thy sake I have suffered reproach. Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and thy word was to me a joy and the gladness of my heart; for thy name is called upon me, O Lord God of hosts. I sat not in the assembly of the players, nor did I glory because of thy hand; I sat alone, for thou hast filled me with threats. Why is my sorrow become perpetual, and my wound desperate, refusing to be healed? It is become to me as the deceitfulness of untrustworthy waters."

e. "Therefore thus saith the Lord: If thou wilt be converted, I will convert thee, and thou shalt stand before my face; and if thou wilt separate the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth. They shall be converted to thee, and thou shalt not be converted to them. And I will make thee to this people as a strong wall of brass; and they shall fight against thee, and shall not prevail, for I am with thee to save thee, and to deliver thee, saith the Lord. And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the mighty."

Exposition

a. Here is set down the final and definitive rejection of the prophet's prayer for the people. And first is set down the rejection of the prayer; second is shown the obstinacy of the people, which is the cause of it, chapter 17, at the words "the sin of Judah" etc. As to the first, there are two points. First he forbids the prophet to pray for the people; second he commands him to shun their company, as though they were excommunicated, chapter 16, at the words "and it came to pass" etc. As to the first, there are two points. First is set down the rejection of the prayer of the prophet praying for the people; second, as one who despairs of the salvation of the people, he pours out a prayer for himself, at the words "woe is me, my mother" etc. As to the first, there are two points. First the prayer is rejected; second is set down the reason for its rejection, at the words "for who shall have pity". As to the first, there are two points. First is set down the rejection of the prayer: "if Moses and Samuel shall stand", who were effectual in prayer, because they were solicitous for the people and interceded even for their enemies — of Moses it is read in Exodus 32 (var.), of Samuel in 1 Kings 7 (var.). "My soul", my affection — as if to say, it is not from any defect in the one who prays that the prayer is not heard, but from a defect in the people for whom he prays: Ezekiel 14 ("if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in the midst of it, they shall deliver their own souls by their justice"), and further, "if these three men were in the midst of it, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they alone shall be delivered." Second is the rejection of the people for whom he prayed. And first as to the point from which they are cast: "cast them out", show them to be cast out; "from my sight", that they may not see me, nor be defended by my presence: Genesis 4 ("behold thou dost cast me out this day from the face of the earth, and from thy face shall I be hid" etc.). Second, as to the point toward which they are cast, he sets forth a fourfold danger: "and if they shall say... to death, to pestilence" — as if to say, they will lie under diverse punishments in diverse ways: Ezekiel 5 ("a third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and shall be consumed with famine in the midst of thee; and a third part of thee shall fall by the sword round about thee; and a third part of thee I will scatter into every wind, and I will draw out a sword after them"). And he excludes even the remedy of consolation, namely burial for the dead: "and I will visit them with four kinds", the kinds named, namely the sword etc. And he adds: "the dogs": above, chapter 7 ("the carcasses of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, and there shall be none to drive them away"). And of mercy, as to the captives: "and I will give them up to affliction", that is, to a bitter hatred, on account of Manasseh, who did many evils: 2 Kings 21 (var.), whence in the same book, chapter 23 (var.): "yet the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of the provocations wherewith Manasseh had provoked him." The people, however, are punished for the sins of the king, both because a wicked man is permitted to reign on account of the sins of the people — Job 34 ("who maketh a man that is a hypocrite to reign, for the sins of the people") — and because the people follow the sins of their king: Ecclesiasticus 10 ("as the ruler of the city is, such also are they that dwell therein"); Proverbs 29 ("the prince that gladly heareth lying words, hath all his servants wicked").

b. Here the reason for the rejection is assigned. And first he sets forth a question of astonishment: first he excludes the judgment of mercy, "who shall have pity"; second, the sympathy of any fellow-sufferer, "or who shall bemoan thee"; third, the prayer of any mediator, "or who shall go", since God has now rejected them, and they persist in sin: Hosea 1 ("call her name without mercy, for I will not add any more to have mercy on the house of Israel, but I will utterly forget them"). Second he assigns the reason for the rejection. And first from ingratitude, setting forth the fault: "thou hast forsaken me": Isaiah 1 ("they have forsaken the Lord, they have blasphemed the Holy One of Israel, they are gone away backward"). And the punishment: "and I will stretch out": Isaiah 9 ("for all this his indignation is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still"). Second, from obstinacy. And first, because they are not moved by entreaty, setting forth the fault: "I am weary of entreating" — as if to say, so often have I entreated that you might be converted, as if to say, I have wearied myself, had it been possible: Isaiah 43 (var.) ("thou hast made me serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities"). And the punishment: "and I will scatter them with a fan", by the army of the Chaldeans, as by a winnowing-fan, "in the gates of the land", that is, even to the ends of the land — for a gate is the outermost part of a house or city: Luke 3 ("whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his floor, and will gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire"). Second, because they are not corrected by scourges: "I have slain". First he sets forth their hardness of heart, setting down scourges in general: "I have destroyed and slain them", by captivity: above, chapter 5 ("in vain have I struck your children, they have not received correction"). And in particular, as to women, who are more pitiable and more feeble in the loss of their husbands: "their widows are multiplied", hyperbolically, above the sand of the sea — as if to say, innumerable: Isaiah 9 (var.) ("he will not have pity on their fatherless and their widows"). And as to the loss of an only son: "I have brought upon them a spoiler", a destroyer of the son, "at noonday", in which is signified the power of the enemy, who fight not by ambush but openly; "suddenly", in which is signified their powerlessness to resist, because they had taken no precaution: Isaiah 30 ("suddenly, when it is not looked for, shall the ruin thereof come"). And likewise, as to the death of many children at once, setting forth the death of offspring: "she that hath borne", bereaved of children, who are the strength of a mother: 1 Kings 2 ("until the barren hath borne many, and she that had many children is weakened"). And the sadness of the mother: "her soul hath fainted away", on account of the stupor of her mind; "her sun is gone down", that is, her gladness, on account of the grief of her sorrow, which darkens the heart; "she is confounded" within, "and ashamed" without, this now lacking in which they used to glory: Amos 8 ("the sun shall go down at midday, and I will make the earth dark in the day of light"). Second he threatens punishment: "and the residue", namely of those left after the aforesaid scourges: Deuteronomy 28 ("the Lord shall cause thee to fall down before thy enemies; one way shalt thou go out against them, and flee seven ways, and shalt be scattered throughout all the kingdoms of the earth").

c. Here the prophet, as one despairing of the people, prays for himself. And first is set down his own complaint, setting forth the discord raised by his adversaries: "woe is me" — that is, this hangs over me for having been born — "a man of strife", that is, one on whose account strife arises, because I foretell vices and evils; "a man of contention", with some assailing me and others defending me. This too was fulfilled in Christ: Job 10 ("why didst thou bring me forth out of the womb? oh, that I had been consumed, that no eye had seen me"). He excludes the cause of the discord, which is wont to arise chiefly from money-dealing: "I have not lent on usury... all curse me": Psalms 108 (var.) ("let them curse, but bless thou; let them that rise up against me be confounded, but thy servant shall rejoice"). Second is set down the Lord's consolation: "the Lord saith". And first as to his own welfare, in the advancement of himself and his own for good: "surely it shall be well with thy remnant", that is, with those who cling to thee — for he had no children, as below in chapter 16 — "for good"; this is left unfinished, to be completed: let it not be believed otherwise of me. And as to deliverance from evils: "surely I have met thee", ready to help: 1 Corinthians 1 (var.) ("blessed be God, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation"). Second, as to the affliction of the adversaries, he threatens an implacable enemy. And first he excludes concord with the enemy, since they had wished to make peace with the prophet: "shall it be allied", the people of the Jews, who are "iron" on account of their hardness, and "brass" on account of their impatience — "shall it be allied with the iron from the north", that is, with the Chaldeans — as if to say, no: above, chapter 6 ("the brass and the iron are all corrupted; the bellows have failed in the fire, the founder melteth in vain"). Or: thou art iron, harshly preaching to those who are iron and brass — thou canst not be allied to them: John 15 ("marvel not if the world hate you: know ye that it hath hated me before you"). Second he excludes confidence in any alliance, both from gifts — "thy riches... for a prey" — as if to say, they shall profit thee nothing, "in all things", that is, for all things: Nahum 2 ("take ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold, for there is no end of the riches of all the precious furniture") — and also from entreaties: "and I will bring" — as if to say, you will not be able to entreat them, for they will not understand: Isaiah 5 ("he will lift up a sign to the nations afar off, and will whistle to them from the ends of the earth"). Third he assigns the cause: "for a fire": Deuteronomy 32 ("a fire is kindled in my wrath, and shall burn even to the depths of hell, and shall devour the earth with her increase, and shall burn the foundations of the mountains").

d. Here is set down the prophet's petition, namely his own prayer. As to this, there are three points. First he pleads for consolation, proposing God's own knowledge of him: "thou knowest" what I suffer and what I have done — he asks, by the working of mercy: Lamentations 3 (var.) ("thou hast seen, O Lord, my wrong; judge thou my judgment"). And he excludes delay: "take me not away in thy long-suffering": Ecclesiasticus 3 (var.) ("the Most High, when he showeth mercy, will also render reward"). Second he pleads his merit, setting forth the reproach which he patiently bore for God's sake: "know", that is, by the effect of thy mandate, I obediently announced hard things to the people: Psalms 68 (var.) ("because for thy sake I have borne reproach, shame hath covered my face"). And the spiritual joy of his patience: "thy words were found", as works now fulfilled; "and I did eat them", taking delight in them: Psalms 118 ("how sweet are thy words to my palate"), namely in that I am called a prophet of the Lord: above, chapter 13. He sets forth also the company which he prudently avoided, setting down his solitude: "I sat not... of the players", much less of the wicked, lest I should lay down the gravity of my heart, and that I might have leisure for thy commandments: Tobit 3 ("never did I join myself with them that play, neither did I make myself a partaker with them that walk in lightness"). He sets down also his refusal of any idle relief for the inward weight upon him. Third he sets down the reason for his solitude: "I sat alone", because I was oppressed with bitterness, so that I had no leisure to make merry: Lamentations 1 ("how doth the city sit solitary"). And, drawing out the sharpness of his grief — as if to say, whence is it that after such great labors, after so many merits, tribulation does not depart? — below, chapter 30 ("thy bruise is incurable"). He speaks after the manner of the Jews. And he adds a consolation, that such straits as these will quickly pass away, all this sorrow touching upon his soul; or he says this because of the treachery of his adversaries.

e. Here is set down the response of him who hears man's prayer. And first he promises advancement in good things, as to rectitude of life: "if thou wilt be converted" — if thou shalt recall others to me from sin — "thou shalt stand", through rectitude of life, or the eminence of contemplation: 1 Kings 19 (var.) ("thou shalt be as the mouth of the Lord"); James 5 ("he which converteth a sinner from the error of his way, shall save his soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins"). Second, as to the authority of his preaching: "and if thou wilt separate", that is, distinguishing the precious from the vile: Matthew 10 ("for it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you"). Second, as to deliverance from evils. And first, from the evils of men — as if to say, they shall imitate thee, and not thou them: 1 Corinthians 4 ("I beseech you, be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ"). Second he sets forth strength: "and I will make thee": above, chapter 1 ("I have made thee this day a fortified city, and a pillar of iron, and a wall of brass, over all the land, to the kings of Judah, to the princes thereof, to the priests, and to the people of the land; and they shall fight against thee, and shall not prevail, for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee"). Second he promises defense: "and they shall fight": Psalms 22 ("for though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, for thou art with me"). Third he promises deliverance: "and I will deliver thee": Isaiah 43 ("fear not, for I have redeemed thee, and called thee by thy name"). It should be noted that the saints glory in the good of virtue: in the suffering of tribulations: Romans 5 ("and not only so, but we glory also in tribulations"); in intercourse with their neighbors: 2 Corinthians 7 ("great is my confidence for you, great is my glorying for you"); in purity of conscience: 2 Corinthians 1 ("our glory is this, the testimony of our conscience"). Likewise the saints glory in God: in the divine love shown through the passion: Galatians, last chapter ("God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ"); in the knowledge of God: above, chapter 9 ("in this let him glory that glorieth, to know and understand me"); in the imitation of God: Ecclesiasticus 25 (var.) ("it is a great glory to follow the Lord, for length of days shall be given him by him").

Chapter 16

Text

a. "And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons and daughters in this place. For thus saith the Lord concerning the sons and the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bore them, and concerning their fathers, of whom they were born in this land: They shall die of grievous deaths, they shall not be lamented, and they shall not be buried; they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth. And they shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, and their carcasses shall be meat for the fowls of the air, and for the beasts of the earth. For thus saith the Lord: Enter not into the house of feasting, neither go to mourn, nor to comfort them; for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the Lord, my mercy and compassion. Both the great and the small shall die in this land; they shall not be buried nor lamented, and men shall not cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them. And they shall not break bread among them to him that mourneth, to comfort him for the dead; neither shall they give them the cup to drink, to comfort them for their father and their mother. And thou shalt not go into the house of feasting, to sit with them, and to eat and drink. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will take away out of this place, in your sight and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride."

b. "And when thou shalt tell this people all these words, and they shall say to thee: Why hath the Lord pronounced against us all this great evil? what is our iniquity, or what is our sin, that we have sinned against the Lord our God? Thou shalt say to them: Because your fathers forsook me, saith the Lord, and went after strange gods, and served them, and adored them, and forsook me, and kept not my law. And you also have done worse than your fathers; for behold, every one walketh after the perversity of his own wicked heart, so as not to hearken to me. And I will cast you out of this land, into a land which you know not, neither you nor your fathers; and there you shall serve strange gods day and night, who shall not give you any rest. Therefore behold the days come, saith the Lord, when it shall be said no more: The Lord liveth, who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, The Lord liveth, who brought the children of Israel out of the land of the north, and out of all the lands where I cast them out; and I will bring them again into their land, which I gave to their fathers. Behold I will send many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after this I will send them many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. For my eyes are upon all their ways; they are not hid from my face, and their iniquity hath not been hidden from my eyes. And first I will repay their iniquities and their sins twofold, because they have defiled my land with the carcasses of their idols, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations. O Lord, my strength, and my fortitude, and my refuge in the day of tribulation, to thee the Gentiles shall come from the ends of the earth, and shall say: Surely our fathers have possessed lies, a vanity which hath not profited them. Shall a man make gods unto himself, and yet they are no gods? Therefore behold I will make them know at this once, I will show them my hand and my power, and they shall know that my name is the Lord."

Exposition

a. Here the Lord forbids the prophet the fellowship of a doomed people. And first he sets down the sentence; second he assigns the reason, at the words "and when thou shalt tell" etc. As to the first, there are two points. First he forbids him the fellowship of marriage, giving the command: "thou shalt not take thee a wife": 1 Corinthians 7 ("art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife"). And assigning the reason: "for thus saith" — from the universality of those to be punished, because no age, no sex shall be spared: "the sons and the daughters": below, chapter 51 ("I will break in pieces with thee man and woman, I will break in pieces with thee the old man and the child, I will break in pieces with thee the young man and the maid"). From the diversity of their punishments, he threatens death. From an inward cause: "grievous deaths", that is, pestilence and lingering sicknesses. And he adds their fitting burial: "they shall not be lamented": 1 Corinthians 11 ("therefore are there many infirm and weak among you, and many sleep"); below, chapter 25 (var.) ("they shall not be lamented, nor gathered, nor buried; they shall lie as dung upon the face of the earth"). From an outward cause: "and by the sword", from the assault of enemies; "famine", from the lack of necessities. And he adds their fitting burial: "and their carcass shall be": above, chapter 14 ("they shall be cast forth in the streets for famine and the sword, and there shall be none to bury them, they, their wives"

...that is, their sons and their daughters. Second, he forbids fellowship in the shared feast, at the words For thus saith the Lord. And first he forbids the feast of mourning, which is customarily held in consolation for the dead, where the prohibition is set down, Thou shalt not enter in, neither to lament, nor to comfort them (Jeremiah 16:5). Second, the reason is assigned from the withdrawal of peace: For I have taken away my peace — namely the peace he had had toward them, being now indignant with them; or the peace which, through him as its author, they had had toward one another and toward others: Isaiah 57 (var.) ("There is no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord"). And by the threat of death, They shall die (Jeremiah 16:6); Job 3:19 ("The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master"). From the cessation of the office of love, since they shall lack the service of burial, They shall not be lamented: Jeremiah 8:2 (var.) ("There shall be none to lament, and they shall not be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth"). He forbids it also to their household, Neither shall any man cut himself, nor make himself bald for them, wounding themselves — a thing forbidden to the Jews: Deuteronomy 14:1 ("You shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness for the dead"). But Job, with his head shaven, fell upon the ground (Job 1:20) — this precept did not bind him, since he was a Gentile. They shall likewise lack the feast of kinship, which is customarily held by mourning relatives, And they shall not break bread for them: Proverbs 31:6 ("Give strong drink to them that are sad, and wine to them that are grieved in mind, that they may drink, and forget their poverty, and remember their sorrow no more"). Second, he forbids the feast of gladness. First the prohibition is given, Nor into the house of feasting, neither for the sake of fellowship nor for the sake of eating: 1 Corinthians 5:11 ("If any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or a server of idols, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such a one not so much as to eat"). Second, the reason is given, For thus saith the Lord: Lamentations 5:15 ("The joy of our heart is ceased, our dance is turned into mourning"); the same again below, chapter 25.

b. Here the cause of the aforesaid punishment is assigned. And first a question is posed, Why hath the Lord... Proverbs 30:20 (var.) ("Such is the way of an adulterous woman: she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith: I have done no evil"). Second, the Lord's answer is given, Thou shalt say to them. And first he sets down the fault in the transgression of the fathers, Because they have forsaken: Jeremiah 2:13 ("They have forsaken the fountain of living water, and have digged to themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water") — in imitation of their fathers, lest they should excuse themselves by what is said in Ezekiel 18:2 ("The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the teeth of the children are set on edge"). But you also, says Matthew 23:32, "fill ye up then the measure of your fathers." Second, he threatens the punishment. First he sets down the punishment simply, as to captivity, And I will cast you out; and as to servitude, And you shall serve other gods, serving their worshippers: Lamentations 1:3 ("Juda hath removed her dwelling place because of her affliction, and the greatness of her bondage: she hath dwelt among the nations, and she hath found no rest"); Deuteronomy 28:65 ("Among these nations also thou shalt not be quiet, neither shall there be rest for the sole of thy foot"). Second, he promises consolation, setting down an oath as a kind of sign, Therefore behold the days come (Jeremiah 16:14); as if to say, you shall reckon this a greater benefit than that of your deliverance out of Egypt. And as though that former deliverance were forgotten, this one you shall keep ever in memory: Isaiah 43:18 (var.) ("Remember not former things"); the same again below, chapter 23. And explaining the benefit, And I will bring them back: Ezekiel 34:13 (var.) ("For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land"). Third, he sets down the condition of the captivity, Behold I. First he describes the captivity worked by the Babylonians, Fishers — namely the Chaldeans, who caught them as men living, as it were, in a sea of prosperity and pleasure: Habakkuk 1:14 ("He maketh men as the fishes of the sea, and as the creeping things that have no ruler"). And that worked by the Romans, And after this I will send many hunters — namely the Romans, who hunted them like beasts for the cruelty of their slaughter: Lamentations 3:52 (var.) ("My enemies have chased me and caught me like a bird"). Setting down the recognition of their guilt, Because my eyes: Proverbs 5:21 ("All the ways of man are open to his eyes; the Lord is a weigher of spirits"). And the threat of punishment, And I will repay first — that is, before the aforesaid consolation — double, namely as to the worship of idols, on account of which follows, because they have defiled; and as to the perversity of their morals, and the abomination: Psalm 105:38 (var.) ("The land was polluted with blood, and was defiled with their works"). Third, he sets down the benefit of the captivity, namely the conversion of the Gentiles — or of those who returned with the Jews under Zorobabel to Jerusalem, or of those who were converted to the faith of Christ, since blindness in part has happened in Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles should come in, and so all Israel should be saved: Romans 11:25. Concerning which he does three things. First is set down the prophet's exultation, expressed in the confession of divine praise, O Lord, my strength, for overcoming others; my fortitude, for perseverance; my refuge, lest I fail: Psalm 17:2-3 ("I will love thee, O Lord, my strength: the Lord is my firmament, and my refuge, and my deliverer"). Second is set down the conversion of the Gentiles, To thee shall the Gentiles come: Psalm 97:1 (var.) ("Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: his praise is from the ends of the earth"). The confusion of their sin, Nothing but lies — namely the idol, which falsely lays claim to divinity and to the power to help: Jeremiah 3:23 (var.) ("Truly the hills were a lie, and the multitude of the mountains"). And the refutation of the ancient error, Shall a man make gods... and they themselves — namely the men who make them: Jeremiah 10:5 ("How shall a man be able to make himself gods, which yet are no gods?"). Third, he assigns the good that comes of this conversion, Therefore — that is, so that the Gentiles may be converted — behold I — speaking to the Jews — through this once, as if to say, I will no longer spare — my hand, that is, my correction. Or: to them, the Gentiles, my hand, that is, Christ: Psalm 9:17 (var.) ("The Lord shall be known when he executeth judgments: the sinner hath been caught in the works of his own hands"); likewise Psalm 143:7 ("Put forth thy hand from on high"). Note that there is a certain hand of the divine disposition: Wisdom 7:16 ("In his hand are both we and our words, and all wisdom, and the knowledge and skill of works"); of divine liberality: Psalm 103:28 ("When thou openest thy hand, they shall all be filled with good"); of divine protection: Isaiah 49:2 (var.) ("In the shadow of his hand he hath protected me"); of divine correction: Psalm 38:11 ("By the strength of thy hand I have fainted in thy rebukes"); of divine deliverance: Job 5:18 ("For he woundeth, and cureth: he striketh, and his hands shall heal"); of divine operation: Ecclesiasticus 36:6 (var.) ("Glorify thy hand, and thy right arm"); and of divine condemnation: Hebrews 10:31 ("It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God").

Chapter 17

Text

a. The sin of Juda is written with a pen of iron, with the point of a diamond, engraved upon the tablet of their heart, and upon the horns of their altars, when their children shall remember their altars, and their groves, and their green trees upon the high mountains, sacrificing in the field: I will give thy strength, and all thy treasures to spoil, and thy high places, for the sin committed in all thy borders. And thou shalt be left alone from the inheritance which I gave thee, and I will make thee serve thy enemies in a land which thou knowest not; for thou hast kindled a fire in my wrath, and it shall burn for ever. Thus saith the Lord: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like tamaric in the desert, and he shall not see when good shall come, but he shall dwell in dryness in the desert, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed be the man that trusteth in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his confidence. And he shall be as a tree that is planted by the waters, that spreadeth out its roots toward moisture, and it shall not fear when the heat cometh; and its leaf shall be green, and in the time of drought it shall not be solicitous, neither shall it cease at any time to bring forth fruit. The heart of man is perverse and unsearchable: who shall know it? I am the Lord who search the heart and prove the reins, who give to every one according to his way, and according to the fruit of his devices.

b. The partridge hath hatched eggs which she did not lay: he hath made riches, and not by right; in the midst of his days he shall leave them, and in his latter end he shall be a fool. A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctification, the expectation of Israel. O Lord, all that forsake thee shall be confounded; they that depart from thee shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the vein of living waters. Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for thou art my praise.

c. Behold, they say to me: Where is the word of the Lord? Let it come. And I am not troubled, following thee as my shepherd, and I have not desired the day of man, thou knowest. That which went out of my lips hath been right in thy sight. Be not thou a terror to me, thou art my hope in the day of affliction. Let them be confounded that persecute me, and let not me be confounded; let them be afraid, and let not me be afraid. Bring upon them the day of affliction, and destroy them with double destruction. Thus saith the Lord to me: Go, and stand in the gate of the children of the people, by which the kings of Juda come in and go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, and say to them: Hear the word of the Lord, ye kings of Juda, and all Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem that enter in by these gates.

d. Thus saith the Lord: Take heed to your souls, and carry no burdens on the sabbath day, neither bring them in by the gates of Jerusalem; and do not carry burdens out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither shall you do any work. Sanctify the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. But they did not hearken, nor incline their ear, but hardened their neck, that they might not hear me, and might not receive instruction. And it shall come to pass, if you hearken to me, saith the Lord, to carry no burdens in at the gates of this city on the sabbath day, and if you sanctify the sabbath day, to do no work therein, then shall there enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, and riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Juda and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city shall be inhabited for ever. And they shall come from the cities of Juda, and from round about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plains, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing holocausts, and victims, and sacrifices, and frankincense, and they shall bring offerings into the house of the Lord. But if you will not hearken to me to sanctify the sabbath day, and not to carry burdens, and not to bring them in by the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, I will kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the houses of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.

Exposition

a. Here is shown the people's explicit obstinacy, which is the cause of their reprobation. Hence he first shows their obstinate malice; second, their consummated punishment, in chapter 19, at the words Thus saith the Lord. In the first there are two parts: in the first is set down the cause of their obstinacy; second, that obstinacy itself is proved by experience, in chapter 18, at the words The word that came. The first falls into two: in the first he sets down the causes of their obstinacy; in the second he recalls them to the worship of their former religion, at the words Thus saith the Lord, so. Concerning the first he does two things. First he touches one cause, namely the disposition of iniquity, setting down the fault of which there was an example, The sin of Juda, of the two tribes, is engraved — that is, so deeply impressed upon their disposition, especially toward idolatry, as writing done with a pen of iron, with the point — that is, with a diamond, a stone polished to the shape of a fingernail: Zechariah 7:12 (var.) ("They made their heart as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts sent in his spirit by the hand of the former prophets"). Or "sin" here stands for the sentence pronounced upon sin. And he explains the disposition itself: engraved, that is, deeply set; upon the tablet — that is, upon the heart, broadened in its inclination toward sin. So their heart is broadened in place of the diamond, and the horns of their altars — that is, of their idols — stand in place of the iron pen. For God had commanded that four horns should project from the altar, upon which the blood of the victim was to be poured out: Exodus 27:2 (var.). And they had made the like upon the altars of their idols: Hosea 8:11 ("Ephraim hath multiplied altars to sin: altars are become to him unto sin"). He also shows this disposition handed on to their offspring, When their children shall remember — retaining it, that is, in their affection — in the diversity of place, their altars, which were built throughout the cities: Jeremiah 2:20 (var.) ("Under every green tree thou didst prostitute thyself"). And joining the punishment, namely the plundering of goods pertaining to the necessities of life, thy strength — that is, the goods in which thou thoughtest thyself strong, as arms and fortresses: Jeremiah 15:13 (var.) ("Thy riches and thy treasures I will give to spoil, freely, for all thy sins, even in all thy borders") — that is, when thy malice has come to such completion that the children imitate the fathers, worshipping idols in every place. Then thy strength and the goods pertaining to the worship of idolatry, thy high places, in which they worshipped idols: Ezekiel 6:3 (var.) ("Behold I will bring upon you a sword, and I will destroy your high places, and I will throw down your altars, and your idols shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain before your idols"). He also threatens captivity, Thou shalt be left, O Jerusalem, deprived from thy inheritance, that is, from the people once subject to thee. Or: O nation, cast out from thy land, while thou goest into captivity: Lamentations 1:1 ("How doth the city sit solitary that was full of people! How is the mistress of the Gentiles become as a widow! The princess of provinces made tributary!"). He threatens servitude also, and I will make thee serve: Deuteronomy 28:48 ("Thou shalt serve thy enemy, whom the Lord will send upon thee, in hunger, and thirst, and nakedness, and in want of all things, and he shall put an iron yoke upon thy neck, till he consume thee"). And touching the proximate cause of the punishment, namely the divine wrath, which is the will to punish, because thou hast kindled a fire: Deuteronomy 32:22 ("A fire is kindled in my wrath, and shall burn even to the lowest hell"). Second, he touches another cause, namely their false confidence of impunity, Cursed. Now they promised themselves impunity on three grounds. First, from the power of their allies, namely the Egyptians — and this he removes first. Second, from the abundance of their riches — and this he touches at The partridge hath hatched, which did not lay. Third, from their disbelief in the divine threats — and this at Behold, they say. Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets down the distinction between those who trust in the Lord and those who trust in men; second he adduces the author of that distinction, at the words The heart of man is perverse. Concerning the first he does two things. First is set down the curse of those who trust in human help, where he pronounces the curse, Cursed, as one given over to evil. And he says, that maketh flesh his arm — that is, his strength — in which the unreasonableness of such hope is disclosed, since by flesh is signified human frailty. And whose heart departeth from the Lord — in which the ground of the curse is shown. For though it is lawful to trust in man under God, it is not lawful to trust in him in such a way that God is forsaken. And this is said on account of the Jews, who, having spurned God, set their hope in the Egyptians: Isaiah 31:1 ("Woe to them that go down into Egypt for help, trusting in horses, and putting their confidence in chariots, because they are many, and in horsemen, because they are very strong, and have not trusted in the Holy One of Israel, and have not sought after the Lord"); Psalm 145:2-3 (var.) ("Put not your trust in princes, in the children of men, in whom there is no salvation"). And he sets down a comparison for the curse, for he shall be like tamaric, a plant held in low esteem — Symmachus renders it, "like a fruitless tree in the wilderness." He shall not see, because before the deliverance from captivity almost all had died. But he shall dwell — in which is shown the dreadfulness of the place of captivity, not that it was evil in itself, but to those who were oppressed there in servitude — in dryness, in the desert, which no one tills, but is dry air, which makes trees barren; of saltness, as to the dryness of the land from the scorching of its moisture by the sun: Psalm 106:33 (var.) ("He hath turned rivers into a wilderness, and the sources of waters into dry ground"). Second is set down the blessing of those who trust in divine help. First he sets down the blessing, Blessed is the man... his confidence, namely, so that in whatever he trusts, God is the ground of that trust: Psalm 2:12 (var.) ("When his wrath shall be kindled in a short time, blessed are all they that trust in him"); Isaiah 30:18 ("Blessed are all they that wait for him"). Second he sets down a comparison drawn from a tree. First as to the firmness of its roots, and he shall be as a tree, in which is figured the firmness of divine protection: Psalm 1:3 ("And he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters, which shall bring forth its fruit in due season"). Second as to the greenness of its leaves, and his leaf shall be green, in which is signified temporal prosperity and spiritual vigor: Proverbs 11:28 (var.) ("But the just shall flourish like a green leaf"). Third as to the abundance of its fruit, in which is signified the plenty of good works, nor shall it ever cease: Revelation 22:2 (var.) ("Yielding its fruit every month"). And because the Jews might say that no distinction of rewards could be made according to the diversity of merits, he therefore next adduces the author of this distinction. First he sets down the question, The heart is perverse — that is, entangled in many kinds of malice: Proverbs 20:5 ("Counsel in the heart of a man is like deep water, but a wise man will draw it out"). Second he gives the answer, setting down two things which suffice to account for the distinction in judgment: namely, knowledge, I the Lord... the heart, as to their thoughts, the reins, as to their affections: Romans 8:27 ("He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what the Spirit desireth, because he asketh for the saints according to God"). And justice, who give to every man... his way, as to the disposition of his heart; the fruit, as to his outward work: Isaiah 3:10 (var.) ("Say to the just man that it is well with him, for he shall eat the fruit of his doings").

b. Here he touches on the second ground from which their hope of impunity proceeded, namely the abundance of riches. First he touches on the confidence of the wicked which lies in riches, under the figure of the partridge, which steals eggs not her own, broods upon them, and in the end is abandoned by the chicks. Touching their unjust gathering, The partridge hath hatched. And he explains, hath made riches: Habakkuk 2:6 ("Woe to him that heapeth together what is not his own: how long doth he load himself with thick clay?"). And the loss of these riches, in the midst of his days, for he shall die in his youth; or because, even while he lives, he shall lose them, plundered by the Chaldeans. In his latter end — that is, in the divine judgment, or at death, when it will be found that his riches profited him nothing. He shall be — that is, it shall appear that he is a fool: Psalm 48:11 (var.) ("And they shall leave their riches to strangers, and their sepulchres shall be their houses for ever"); Job 12:16 (var.) ("With him is strength and wisdom: he knoweth both the deceiver, and him that is deceived"). Second he sets down the hope of the just, which lies in the worship of God. A glorious high throne — that is, the expectation and trust of the people of Israel — is the temple, and the ark, and the mercy-seat, by which is understood divine worship, on account of which it is called a glorious high throne: for there the glory of the Lord appeared in revelations, from the beginning until the law was given. The place of our sanctification, that is, in which we are sanctified, or which thou hast sanctified before us and for us: Jeremiah 17:12 (var.) ("Remember the throne of thy glory, make not void thy covenant with us"). And he adds the punishment of those who fall away from this trust, setting down the penalty, O Lord, in the earth of captivity. They shall be written, as citizens remaining there for ever, or reckoned among those who savor earthly things, or who have sunk into earthly corruption, of whom it is said, Psalm 48:12 (var.), "they have called their lands after their own names." And he assigns the cause, because they have forsaken — as above, "they have forsaken" the fountain (Jeremiah 2:13). Third, he directs his own petition to him who is his expectation: heal me, from my present languors and from the distress in which I am wrapped; save me, by preserving me in good things; my praise, whom I praise, or in whom I am praised: Psalm 40:5 (var.) ("I said: O Lord, be thou merciful to me, heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee").

c. This is the third ground from which their confidence of impunity proceeded, that they did not believe the divine threats; and concerning this he does three things. First is set down the insolent mockery of the unbelievers, Where is the word — as if to say, it will never come: Isaiah 5:19 (var.) ("That say: Let him make speed, and let his work come quickly, that we may see it, and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come, that we may know it"); Amos 5:18 ("Woe to them that desire the day of the Lord: to what end is it for you?"). Second is set down the prophet's own defense, as to constancy of mind, and I am not troubled, notwithstanding their contradiction; following, that is, fulfilling what thou hast commanded me — the day, the present life, being ready even to die for it; or present prosperity and glory: 1 Corinthians 4:3 ("But to me it is a very small thing to be judged by you, or by man's day"). And as to the truthfulness of his preaching, thou knowest... in thy sight, though not in theirs: Job 16:19 (var.) ("My witness is in heaven"). Third, his own petition is set down. First he asks for deliverance, be not thou a terror to me — as if to say, I fear thy indignation alone: Job 9:34 (var.) ("Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me"); Matthew 10:28 ("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 in hell"). Second he asks that the unbelievers be afflicted at heart through confusion at their guilt, let them be confounded: Psalm 69:3 (var.) ("Let them be confounded and ashamed that seek my soul to take it away"). And that they be seized with fear of punishment, let them be afraid: Proverbs 4 (var.) ("Fear falls upon them that work evil"); Wisdom 17 (var.) ("For wickedness, being fearful, beareth witness to its own condemnation"). And embodying this, bring upon them the day of affliction, in this life, and crush them with double destruction, by death — with the sword and with famine; or, in soul and in body.

d. Here he recalls them to the worship of their former religion, as regards the precept concerning the observance of the sabbath, which is set forth as a testimony, that their obstinacy might the more clearly be shown; and concerning this he does two things. First he fixes the place of the preaching, at the gate, so that, as it were unwilling, they might be compelled to hear: 2 Timothy 4:2 ("Be instant in season, out of season; reprove, entreat, rebuke"). Of the children — for they are my people, they are children of the peoples. By which they enter in — for this particular gate lay next to the royal house, through which the kings entered the city: Jeremiah 7:2 ("Stand in the gate of the house of the Lord, and proclaim there this word"). Second, setting forth the word of his preaching, and thou shalt say to them. And here he does three things. First he sets down the precept, asking for a hearing, Hear ye: Psalm 2:10 ("And now, O ye kings, understand: receive instruction, you that judge the earth"). Promulgating the precept, Thus saith the Lord, take heed — from sin. To carry, outside the city; burdens, of merchandise; and work, servile work, pertaining either to the servitude of sin or to the servitude of punishment — indeed they were bound to abstain even from things that were not in themselves sinful, from all of which we are not bound to abstain, save according to the precept of the Church ordaining in this matter. Sanctify — that you may be free for good works: Exodus 20:8 ("Remember that thou keep holy the sabbath day"); Nehemiah 13:15 ("I saw in Juda some treading winepresses on the sabbath, and carrying sheaves, and lading asses with wine, and grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, and bringing them into Jerusalem on the sabbath day"), and I testified against them. And he sets down their contempt of the precept, but they hearkened not: as above, "they hearkened not, neither inclined their ear, but walked in their own devices, and in the wicked perverseness of their heart" (Jeremiah 7:24). Second, he promises a reward to the obedient, and it shall come to pass if you hearken, as to three things in which the city was glorious: namely as to the dignity of the kingdom — and as to this, they shall enter in: Isaiah 1:26 ("I will restore thy judges as they were before, and thy counsellors as of old"); as to the multitude of the people — and as to this, and it shall be inhabited: Isaiah 62:4 (var.) ("Thou shalt no more be called Forsaken, and thy land shall no more be called Desolate"); and as to the worship of the temple, and they shall come from the cities... from the south, even from Egypt: Isaiah 60:7 (var.) ("They shall be offered upon my acceptable altar, and I will glorify the house of my majesty"). Third, he threatens the contemptuous with fire, but if you will not hearken... in the gates — since it was through the gates that the entering Chaldeans set fire to the city: Isaiah 1:31 (var.) ("They shall both burn together, and there shall be none to quench them"). Note that the saints bear fruit through the contemplation of wisdom: Ecclesiasticus 6:19 (var.) ("Come to her as one that plougheth and soweth, and wait for her good fruits"); through the fervor of charity: Song of Solomon 5:1 (var.) ("Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat the fruit of his apple trees"); through good confession: Hebrews 13:15 ("By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise always to God, that is to say, the fruit of lips confessing to his name"); through meritorious work: Psalm 84:13 (var.) ("For the Lord will give goodness, and our land shall yield her fruit"); through the conversion of one's neighbors: John 15:16 (var.) ("That you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain"). Note likewise that one follows Christ through integrity of the flesh: Revelation 14:4 (var.) ("For they are virgins, and follow the Lamb withersoever he goeth"); through intention of heart: Philippians 3:12 ("I follow after, if by any means I may apprehend"); through the endurance of tribulation: 1 Peter 2:21 ("Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow his steps"); through the keeping of the commandments: Job 23:11 ("My foot hath followed his steps, I have kept his way, and have not declined from it"); through the receiving of glory: Ecclesiasticus 23:38 (var.) ("It is a great glory to follow the Lord, for length of days shall be received from him").

Chapter 18

Text

a. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: Arise, and go down into the potter's house, and there thou shalt hear my words. And I went down into the potter's house, and behold he was doing a work on the wheel, and the vessel was broken which he was making of clay with his hands, and turning he made another vessel, as it seemed good in his eyes to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Cannot I do with you, O house of Israel, as this potter, saith the Lord? Behold, as clay is in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

b. I will suddenly speak against a nation, and against a kingdom, to root it up, and to pull it down, and to destroy it. If that nation against which I have spoken shall repent of their evil, I also will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them. And I will suddenly speak of a nation and of a kingdom, to build up and to plant it. If it shall do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, I will repent of the good that I said I would do unto it. Now therefore tell the men of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Behold I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: let every man of you return from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.

c. Who have said: We have no hope, for we will go after our own thoughts, and we will do every one according to the perverseness of his own evil heart. Therefore thus saith the Lord: Ask among the nations, who hath heard such horrible things as the virgin of Israel hath done to excess? Shall the snow of Libanus fail from the rock of the field? Or can the cold waters that gush out and run down be taken away? Because my people hath forgotten me, sacrificing in vain, and stumbling in their ways, in the ancient paths, to walk by them in a way not trodden, that their land might become a desolation: every one that shall pass by it shall be astonished, and shall wag his head. As a burning wind will I scatter them before the enemy: I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their destruction.

d. And they said: Come, and let us invent devices against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet: come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us give no heed to all his words. Attend to me, O Lord, and hear the voice of my adversaries. Shall evil be rendered for good, because they have digged a pit for my soul? Remember that I have stood in thy sight, to speak good for them, and to turn away thy indignation from them. Therefore deliver up their children to famine, and bring them into the hands of the sword; let their wives become widows without children, and let their husbands be slain by death; let their young men be stabbed with the sword in battle; let a cry be heard out of their houses, for thou shalt bring a robber upon them suddenly, because they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet. But thou, O Lord, knowest all their counsel against me unto death: forgive not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from thy sight; let them be overthrown before thy eyes, deal thou with them in the time of thy wrath.

Exposition

a. Here he shows the obstinacy of this people, as it were, by experience. First, because they despise the preaching; second, because they persecute the preacher, at the words and they said. Concerning the first he does two things. First is set down the preaching that calls them back to repentance; second is set down the despair of those who despise it, at the words who said: we have no hope. Concerning the first he does two things. First the Lord designates the place of the prophet's revelation, into the potter's house, so that the prophecy might be drawn from the likeness of that very work; by which it is signified that to one who descends to consider his own weakness the words of the Lord are revealed: Wisdom 1:6 (var.) ("His conversing is with the simple"). I went down — he went into the lower part of the city, where craftsmen of this sort dwelt. Second is set down the word revealed to him. First he sets down the comparison; second he draws an argument from the comparison, at the words I will suddenly speak. Concerning the first he does two things. First is set down the potter's action from which the comparison is drawn, setting down the breaking of the vessel, and he was making: Ecclesiasticus 38:32 (var.) ("So doth the potter sitting at his work, turning the wheel about with his feet, who is always carefully set to his work, and maketh all his work by number"). And the mending of the broken vessel, and turning: Wisdom 15:7 ("For the potter also, tempering soft earth, with labor fashioneth every vessel for our service, and of the same clay he maketh both vessels that are for clean uses, and likewise such as serve to the contrary"). Second he sets down the application of the comparison, and the word of the Lord came. First the question is set down, cannot I: Isaiah 64:8 (var.) ("And now, O Lord, thou art our father, and we are clay, and thou art our maker, and we all are the works of thy hands"). Second, the answer, behold as clay: Wisdom 7:16 ("For in his hand are both we and our words, and all wisdom, and the knowledge and skill of works").

b. Here he draws an argument from this practical comparison. But an objection is raised against what is said here, from what is found in Numbers 23:19 ("God is not as a man, that he should lie, nor as the son of man, that he should be changed"). But it cannot be without falsehood for someone to say that a thing will happen which does not happen, nor without change, if he then repents of it. To this it must be said that, according to Jerome in his gloss on Matthew chapter 1, there is a twofold prophecy: one of predestination, concerning things that do not depend on free will but only on the disposition of God, which is unchangeable, and this must therefore come to pass in every way; the other of foreknowledge, concerning things that are indeed subject to free will, but proceed from God according as God foreknows the final outcome of each thing. And in this latter case too the divine sentence is not itself changed — the change occurs in man, not in God. And so "repentance" is understood not as a change in the divine disposition, but in the divine sentence as pronounced according to secondary causes. And so he says suddenly, speaking of God after the manner of men, for someone is said to speak suddenly when he speaks without premeditation; and this befits one who, the consideration of the future being set aside, looks only to the present. Concerning this, then, he does two things. First he sets down the revocability of the divine sentence: in the case of evils, setting down the pronouncement of the sentence, to root up, taking away all firmness: as above, I have set thee this day over the nations, and over kingdoms, to root up, and to pull down, and to waste, and to destroy, and to build, and to plant (Jeremiah 1:10); and the revocation of the sentence, if that nation shall repent: Hosea 11:8 (var.) ("My heart is turned within me, my repentance is stirred up together"). And in the case of good things, setting down the promulgation of the sentence, and suddenly: Job 22:23 ("If thou wilt return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, and shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacle"); and its revocation, if the nation does evil: Ezekiel 18:24 ("If the just man turn himself away from his justice, and do iniquity according to all the abominations which the wicked man useth to work, shall he live? All his justices which he hath done shall not be remembered: in the prevarication by which he hath prevaricated, and in his sin which he hath committed, in them he shall die"). Second he leads them to understanding. First he sets forth the punishment he has framed, now therefore I frame, as does the potter, evil — that is, punishment: Isaiah 45:7 ("I am the Lord, forming the light, and creating darkness, making peace, and creating evil"). Second he concludes with the call to repentance, let him return... his ways, his works; your doings, your thoughts; make... good, do what is right: Ezekiel 33:11 (var.) ("Turn ye from your evil ways").

c. Here is set down the despair of those who despise the preaching. First the despair itself is set down, we have no hope: as above, thou hast said: I have lost all hope, I will not do it, for I have loved strangers, and I will walk after them (Jeremiah 2:25). Second is set down the condemnation of those who despair, therefore thus saith the Lord. First he charges them with a horrible fault by comparison with the Gentiles, ask among the nations: as above, pass over to the isles of Cethim, and see, and send into Cedar, and consider diligently, and see if there hath been done any such thing, if a nation hath changed their gods, and indeed they are no gods (Jeremiah 2:10-11); Ezekiel 5:6-7 (var.) ("She hath despised my judgments, so as to be more wicked than the Gentiles, and my ordinances, more than the countries that are round about her"). From the likeness of insensible things, which keep the order fixed for them by God, shall the snow fail from the rock. And it must be noted that Lebanon is a great mountain, and at its summit has a broad expanse, in which there are fields and rocky caves, into which, since the sun's ray does not reach, the snows are preserved perpetually, gushing out, so as not to flow away from Lebanon and the other high mountains — as if to say, they do not fail: Ecclesiastes 3:14 ("I have learned that all the works which God hath made, continue for ever: we cannot add any thing, nor take away from those things which God hath made, that he may be feared"). And from the condition of their works, being useless, sacrificing in vain — namely, to idols: Romans 6:21 ("What fruit therefore had you then in those things, of which you are now ashamed?"). Being harmful, and stumbling, that is, giving offense: Isaiah 59:10 (var.) ("We have stumbled at noonday as in darkness, we are in dark places as dead men"). Being shameful, in the ancient paths, that is, of idolatry, after which the whole world goes: Job 22:15-16 (var.) ("Dost thou desire to keep the path of ages, which wicked men have trodden? Who were taken away before their time, and a flood hath overthrown their foundation, who said to God: Depart from us"), and so forth. And being difficult, to walk in a way not trodden by the holy fathers; or because they contrived vain sins for themselves: Wisdom 5:7 (var.) ("We have gone through hard ways, but the way of the Lord we have not known"); Numbers 20:19 ("We will go by the beaten way"). Second, he threatens a punishment to cause astonishment. First as to the desolation of the land, to make — that is, as a consequence: Lamentations 1:12 ("O all ye that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow"). Second as to the destruction of the nation, as a burning wind, which dries up all the crops, before the enemy, that is, the Babylonian: as above, a burning wind in the ways that are in the desert, shall blow toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse (Jeremiah 4:11). Third, the withdrawal of divine help, the back, after the manner of an angry man: Deuteronomy 32:20 ("I will hide my face from them, and will consider what their last end shall be"); Psalm 73:1 (var.) ("O God, why hast thou cast us off unto the end: why is thy wrath enkindled against the sheep of thy pasture?").

d. Here their obstinacy is shown from the fact that they persecuted their preachers, in a figure of the persecution of Christ. First is set down the persecution of the adversaries, setting down their plan to persecute, come: Wisdom 2:1 ("The wicked have said, reasoning with themselves, but not right"), and further, "Let us circumvent the just, because he is not for our turn, and he is contrary to our doings," and so forth. The pretext for the persecution, for the law shall not perish — the ordinance of the law; the word, of divine revelation — as though this had been falsely foretold; but on the contrary, Ezekiel 7:26 ("The law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients"). And the manner of the persecution, with the tongue, by detraction and accusation, let us give no heed, as though fearing his threats: Psalm 63:4 (var.) ("They have whet their tongues like a sword, they have bent their bow, a bitter thing"); Ecclesiasticus 28:21 ("The stroke of a whip maketh a blue mark, but the stroke of the tongue will break the bones"). Second is set down the prophet's prayer. First he asks a hearing, attend... to me, that is, to my merits: Lamentations 3:61-62 ("Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord, all their imaginations against me"). Second he lays out the fault of their ingratitude, setting down that ingratitude, shall evil be rendered — as if to say, this is neither customary nor just; a pit, a deception, that they might take away my life: Psalm 108:5 ("They have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love"). And the proof of that ingratitude, remember: 2 Maccabees 15:14 ("This is a lover of his brethren, and of the people of Israel: this is he that prayeth much for the people, and for all the holy city, Jeremiah the prophet of God"). Third, he calls down punishment. First, the infliction of punishment as to their children, therefore deliver up their children: as above, he that is for the sword, to the sword, and he that is for famine, to famine, and he that is for captivity, to captivity (Jeremiah 15:2). As to those given in marriage, let their wives become: Hosea 9:14 ("Give them, O Lord. What wilt thou give them? Give them a womb without children, and dry breasts"). And as to their fighting men, let their young men... a cry, a lament: Isaiah 15:5 (var.) ("They shall utter a cry of destruction"). Second, the concealment of the punishment, so that they cannot forestall it, thou shalt bring a robber, Nebuchadnezzar, who shall come upon them suddenly: Obadiah 1:5 ("If thieves had gone in to thee, if robbers by night, how wouldst thou have held thy peace?"). And he assigns the reason, because they have digged — as if to say, it is just that they who sought to deceive me should themselves be deceived: Psalm 56:7 (var.) ("They have prepared a snare for my feet, and they have bowed down my soul"). And he brings forward the proof, but thou: Lamentations 3:60 ("Thou hast seen, O Lord, their iniquity against me: all their imaginations are against me"). Second he excludes any revocation of the sentence, excluding mercy, forgive not, cleansing them from guilt; let it not be blotted out, freeing them from punishment: Psalm 108:14-15 (var.) ("May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered in the sight of the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out"). And he calls down the punishment, let them be overthrown... deal thou with them, that is, use them harshly, or contrary to thy accustomed clemency: Isaiah 3:8 (var.) ("Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their devices are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his majesty").

Chapter 19

Text

a. Thus saith the Lord: Go, and take a potter's earthen bottle from the ancients of the people, and from the ancients of the priests, and go forth to the valley of the son of Ennom, which is by the entry of the earthen gate: and there thou shalt proclaim the words that I shall speak to thee. And thou shalt say: Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye kings of Juda, and inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold I will bring an affliction upon this place, so that whosoever shall hear it, his ears shall tingle: because they have forsaken me, and have made this place strange, and have offered in it to strange gods, whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Juda have known, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents. And they have built the high places of Baalim, to burn their children with fire for a holocaust to Baalim, which I did not command, nor speak of, neither did it come into my mind. Therefore behold the days come, saith the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor the valley of the son of Ennom, but the valley of slaughter. And I will defeat the counsel of Juda and of Jerusalem in this place, and I will destroy them with the sword in the sight of their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and I will give their carcasses to be meat for the fowls of the air, and for the beasts of the earth. And I will make this city an astonishment, and a hissing: every one that shall pass by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss because of all its plagues. And I will feed them with the flesh of their sons, and with the flesh of their daughters: and they shall every one eat the flesh of his friend in the siege, and in the distress wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.

b. And thou shalt break the bottle in the sight of the men that shall go with thee, and thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Even so will I break this people, and this city, as the potter's vessel is broken, which cannot be made whole again; and they shall be buried in Topheth, because there is no other place to bury in. Thus will I do to this place, saith the Lord, and to the inhabitants thereof, and I will make this city as Topheth. And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Juda, shall be unclean as the place of Topheth: all the houses upon whose roofs they have sacrificed to all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings to strange gods.

c. And Jeremiah came from Topheth, whither the Lord had sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the court of the house of the Lord, and said to all the people: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold I will bring upon this city, and upon all the cities thereof, all the evils that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their neck, that they might not hear my words.

Exposition

a. Here he threatens their final, consummated punishment. First he designates the place of the preaching, at the valley by the earthen gate, where the potters dwelt, and thou shalt proclaim there the words: Ezekiel 3:17 ("Hear the word out of my mouth, and thou shalt tell it them from me"). Second he sets down the word of the preaching: first in the place appointed by God, second in the temple, at the words and Jeremiah came. Concerning the first he does two things. First he foretells the punishment by word; second he prefigures it by deed, at the words and thou shalt break. Concerning the first, he first threatens the punishment in general, asking a hearing, hear ye: Psalm 2:10 ("And now, O ye kings, understand: receive instruction, you that judge the earth"). Foretelling the punishment, thus saith the Lord... his ears shall tingle, as it were from the shock of the heart in astonishment, as from the commotion of a great sound: 1 Kings 3:11 ("Behold I do a thing in Israel, and whosoever shall hear it, both his ears shall tingle"); 2 Kings 21:12 (var.) ("Behold I bring evils upon Jerusalem and Juda, that whosoever shall hear of them, both his ears shall tingle"). And assigning the cause, the fault of the people, because they have forsaken me: Isaiah 1:4 ("They have forsaken the Lord, they have blasphemed the Holy One of Israel, they are gone away backward"). And the fault of the king, as to plain murder, and its kings: 2 Kings 21:16 ("Manasses also shed very much innocent blood, till he filled Jerusalem up to the mouth"). And as to sacrilegious murder, and they have filled: as above, "they have shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons, and of their daughters, which they have sacrificed to the idols of Canaan" (Jeremiah 7:31, var.). Second he sets down the punishment in particular. First as to the evils they suffered in the taking of the city, setting down the slaughter of men, therefore behold the days come, where he indicates the great number of the slain, and it shall no more be called: as above, the same (Jeremiah 7:32). The ruin of their counsel, and I will defeat — the plan Nebuchadnezzar had devised to overthrow them — in this place, because there they were slain: Job 5:12-13 (var.) ("He catcheth the wise in their craftiness, and dissipateth the counsel of the wicked"). And the manner of that slaughter, and I will destroy them: Ezekiel 21:14 (var.) ("This is the sword of great slaughter, which hath made them astonished, and pierced their heart, and multiplied their ruins"). And setting down the casting away of the corpses, and I will give their carcasses: Psalm 78:2 (var.) ("They have given the dead bodies of thy servants to be meat for the fowls of the air: the flesh of thy saints for the beasts of the earth"). And setting down the destruction of their cities, and I will make: as above, the same. Second, the punishment they suffered in the siege, and I will feed them: Deuteronomy 28:53 ("Thou shalt eat the fruit of thy own body, and the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, whom the Lord thy God shall give thee, in the distress and extremity wherewith thy enemy shall oppress thee"); Lamentations 4:10 ("The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people").

b. Here he prefigures the aforesaid punishment by a deed. First he sets down the deed, thou shalt break the bottle: Isaiah 30:14 (var.) ("Behold the Lord, the ruler of hosts, shall break the bottle in fury, and the lofty of stature shall be cut down, and the high shall be humbled"). Second, the meaning of the deed, and thou shalt say to them. First as to the slaughter of the people, even so will I break: Isaiah 30:14 (var.) ("It shall be broken small, as the potter's vessel is broken all to pieces, with mighty breaking"). Second as to the place of burial, and in Topheth — or the great number of the slain: as above, the same (Jeremiah 7). Third as to the destruction of the city, thus will I do, making it unclean like Topheth, and without houses — upon whose roofs, that is, the flat tops of the houses, on which they worshipped idols: Isaiah 22:1 (var.) ("What aileth thee also, that thou too art wholly gone up to the housetops, O thou that art full of clamor, a tumultuous city, a joyous city?").

c. Having spoken the foregoing to the people in the valley of Topheth, he returns to the temple, to announce it there also to the people, who would not hear him. And the matter is clear: Acts 7:51 ("You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do you also").

Chapter 20

Text

a. Now Phassur the son of Emmer, the priest, who was appointed chief in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these words. And Phassur struck Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, in the house of the Lord. And when it was light the next day, Phassur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks, and Jeremiah said to him: The Lord hath not called thy name Phassur, but Terror-on-every-side. For thus saith the Lord: Behold I will deliver thee up to terror, thee and all thy friends, and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thy eyes shall see it; and I will give all Juda into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them away into Babylon, and shall smite them with the sword. And I will give all the substance of this city, and all its labor, and all its precious things, and all the treasures of the kings of Juda will I give into the hand of their enemies, and they shall pillage them, and take them, and carry them away to Babylon. But thou, Phassur, and all that dwell in thy house, shall go into captivity, and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and there shalt thou be buried, thou and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied a lie.

b. Thou hast deceived me, O Lord, and I am deceived: thou hast been stronger than I, and thou hast prevailed. I am become a laughingstock all the day, all scoff at me. For I am speaking now this long time, crying out against iniquity, and I proclaim devastation, and the word of the Lord is made a reproach to me, and a derision, all the day. Then I said: I will not remember him, nor speak any more in his name; and there came in my heart as a burning fire, shut up in my bones, and I was wearied, not being able to bear it. For I heard the reproaches of many, and terror on every side: Persecute him, and let us persecute him, from all the men that were my familiar friends, and continued at my side, if by any means he may be deceived, and we may prevail against him, and be avenged of him. But the Lord is with me as a strong warrior; therefore they that persecute me shall fall, and shall be weak; they shall be greatly confounded, because they have not understood the everlasting reproach, which shall never be effaced. And thou, O Lord of hosts, prover of the just, who seest the reins and the heart, let me see, I beseech thee, thy vengeance on them, for to thee have I laid open my cause. Sing ye to the Lord, praise ye the Lord, because he hath delivered the soul of the poor out of the hand of the wicked.

c. Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day in which my mother bore me be blessed. Cursed be the man that brought the tidings to my father, saying: A man child is born to thee, and made him greatly rejoice. Let that man be as the cities which the Lord hath overthrown, and hath not repented; let him hear a cry in the morning, and howling at noontide, because he slew me not from the womb, that my mother might have been my grave, and her womb an everlasting conception. Why came I out of the womb, to see labor and sorrow, and that my days should be consumed in confusion?

Exposition

a. Having finished the threat against the people, he now begins the threat against the princes. First is set down the prophet's threat against the princes; second, the conspiracy of the princes against the prophet, below at chapter 26, at the words in the beginning of the reign. Concerning the first he does two things. First he threatens the princes of the Jewish people; second, both these and others, below at chapter 26, at the words the word that came. The first falls into two: in the first he threatens those established in the highest degree of dignity; in the second he threatens all, below at chapter 23, at the words woe to the shepherds. Concerning the first he does two things. First he threatens the highest in spiritual dignity, namely the high priest; second the highest in temporal dignity, namely the king, below at chapter 21, at the words the word that came. Concerning the first he does two things. First is set down the threat against the high priest; second, on account of the dangers this brought upon the prophet, is set down his own complaint, at the words thou hast deceived me, O Lord. Concerning the first he does two things. First is set down the occasion of the warning, arising from the persecution of the prophet, where the ground of the persecution is given, prophesying these words, against the city — for it was the office of the high priest to correct false prophets: below, the Lord hath made thee priest in the room of Joiada the priest, that thou shouldest be ruler in the house of the Lord, over every man that is mad, and prophesieth, to put him in the stocks, and in prison (Jeremiah 29:26). The prophet's persecution, and he struck... in the stocks, in prison, a kind of torment for holding captives, at Benjamin, which led into the tribe of Benjamin, for the city lay on the border of two tribes; the upper gate, since there were perhaps several gates leading into that region; in the house of the Lord, since it was at that gate that judgment was exercised concerning prophecy, and concerning the ministers of the temple, and there they were shut up in prison: Lamentations 3:7 (var.) ("He hath built round about me, that I may not get out: he hath made my fetters heavy"). And the prophet's deliverance, and when it was light: Acts 4 (var.) ("Now it came to pass on the next day"); Psalm 67:7 (var.) ("Who bringeth forth them that were bound, in fortitude"). Second is set down the threat itself. First is set down the designation of the punishment, drawn from the meaning of the name, and he said to him — he speaks after the manner of a fearful man, who looks about him on every side: Proverbs 28 (var.) ("Fear is upon them that work evil"). Second is set down the threat of punishment, because thus saith the Lord. First as to his own friends, thee, and all thy friends: Psalm 77:64 (var.) ("Their priests fell by the sword"). Second as to his subjects, setting down the captivity of men, and all Juda: Lamentations 1:3 ("Juda hath removed her dwelling place because of her affliction, and the greatness of her bondage: she hath dwelt among the nations, and she hath found no rest"). And the plundering of their goods, and I will give all: Isaiah 39:6 (var.) ("Behold, the days shall come, that all that is in thy house, and that thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord"). Third as to his own household, but thou, Phassur... a lie, promising them prosperity: Isaiah 22:18 (var.) ("He will roll thee up as a ball into a large and spacious country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be"); Amos 7:17 ("Thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be measured by a line: and thou shalt die in a polluted land, and Israel shall go into captivity out of their land").

b. Here is set down the prophet's complaint. First he laments the office laid upon him; second, the beginning of his own birth, at the words cursed be the day. Concerning the first he does two things. First he laments the office enjoined upon him, on account of the mockery that followed from it; second, on account of the persecution he suffered, at the words for I heard. Concerning the first he does three things. First, complaining, he makes known the manner in which the office was laid upon him, thou hast deceived me, that is, I took occasion of deception from thy words, for I believed I would prophesy against the Gentiles, and not against the Jews, at whose hands I now suffer persecution. He does not, however, mean to impute the crime of deception to God, for that would be blasphemy, but he means that the office was laid upon him though he was unwilling, as above in chapter 1. And this especially because he did not see the fruit of his preaching: Isaiah 49:4 (var.) ("I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength without cause and in vain"). Second he sets forth the outcome of his preaching, setting down the mockery, I am become a derision — they scoffed at me, wrinkling their nose, openly displaying their derision: Lamentations 3:14 ("I am made a derision to all my people, their song all the day long"). And he assigns the reason, setting down the word of his preaching, by which he openly charged them with their faults and threatened them with punishments, for I have now long... devastation, which nevertheless had not yet come: Isaiah 16:7 (var.) ("You that rejoice over the brick walls, tell of your wounds"). And the reproach that followed, and it is made, a reproach, that is, a cause of reproach: Acts 26:24 ("Festus said to Paul: Much learning doth make thee mad"). Third he resigns the office laid upon him, and I said. First he casts off the office, I will not remember him, that is, I will no longer think to speak to the people; for he did not wish to cast pearls before swine: Matthew 7:6 ("Give not that which is holy to dogs"). Second he takes up again the office he had cast off, and it is made, as it were a fire: for the more one outwardly refrains from words, the more he feels within the fervor of love: Psalm 38:4 (var.) ("My heart grew hot within me, and in my meditation a fire shall flame out"). In my bones, in the inmost parts of the mind, I was wearied, of my resolve, not being able to bear it, the fire burning within. Here he complains of the office thus taken up again, and of the persecutions he was to endure because of it. First is set down the persecution of his adversaries. First, the multitude of his persecutors, of many, whom he could not resist; persecute him, in which their conspiracy is noted. He notes also their familiarity with him, from all my familiar friends, in which the imminent danger is noted: Obadiah 1:7 ("All the men in confederacy with thee have deceived thee: the men that were at peace with thee have prevailed against thee"). Second is set down the prophet's own consolation, setting down the divine help, but the Lord is with me, to defend him: Isaiah 50:7 (var.) ("The Lord God is my helper, therefore am I not confounded"). And its effect, and therefore they shall fall, since they are the persecutors: Isaiah 40:30 (var.) ("Youths shall faint and labor, and young men shall fall by infirmity"). They shall be confounded, because they uttered reproaches, because they have not understood, that is, they refused to understand, the reproach of eternal damnation, or of the coming captivity: Psalm 34:26 (var.) ("Let them be confounded and ashamed together, that rejoice at my evils"). Third is set down his petition, where he seeks favor by commending God's justice — the prover, that is, the approver, or examiner and discerner; his knowledge, who seest the reins, as to the affections, and the heart, as to the thoughts: as above, I the Lord search the heart, and prove the reins, who give to every man according to his way (Jeremiah 17:10). He asks for vengeance, let me see, I beseech thee, and assigns the reason, for to thee have I revealed my cause — not that thou art ignorant of it, but placing my whole cause before thee: as above, for to thee have I revealed my cause (Jeremiah 11:20). Fourth is set down the giving of thanks, sing ye: Psalm 71:12 (var.) ("Because he shall deliver the poor from the mighty: and the needy that had no helper").

c. Here he laments the beginning of his own birth. But an objection is raised against what is here said. For it belongs to the saints to glory in tribulations, as is said in Romans 5:3. It seems, therefore, that Jeremiah ought not to have broken out into cursing on account of his tribulations. Further, a day is a creature of God; but to curse a creature of God is a sin; therefore, and so on. Further, a day is a transitory thing, and it is foolish to fit the punishment of a curse to it; therefore, and so on. Further, no one ought to curse an innocent man; but that man, in not having killed Jeremiah, was innocent; therefore he sinned in cursing him. To the first it must be said that tribulations, considered in themselves, are evils, insofar as they are contrary to good nature, as Augustine says, and so to shrink from them with a natural aversion is no sin. If, however, someone were by them turned aside from his rectitude, that would be a sin. But considered as they advance one toward the good, the saints glory in them, just as a sick man glories in the surgery by which he is healed. To the second and to the third it must be said that he does not curse the day considered in its own nature, for that would be foolish and impious; but insofar as it is evil, that is, insofar as something evil befell in it — just as, on the other hand, a feast day is kept on account of some good that happened on that day — and this is what that curse signifies. Gregory, however, looking to the nature of the day itself, says that it cannot be understood literally. And the same must be said as to the last objection, that he does not curse those men except insofar as they are related to his own act. Whence by this he gives us to understand his own horror, speaking hyperbolically, and the weariness of his life on account of the distresses he was suffering. Concerning this, then, he does two things. First he sets down a curse against the time of his birth, cursed be the day: Job 3:3 (var.) ("Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said: A man child is conceived"). Against the messenger of his birth, cursed be the man... rejoice: Genesis 21 (var.) ("God hath made a joy for me: and whosoever shall hear of it shall rejoice with me"). And he explains the manner of the curse, let that man be... as the cities: Isaiah 23:13 (var.) ("You have made a city into a heap, a strong city into a ruin"). And against the minister of life, who preserved his life, let him hear a cry, namely of death; that it might have been... a grave, as though he had never been numbered among men; an everlasting conception, which should never have come to a due birth: Job 3:11 (var.) ("Why did I not die in the womb, why did I not perish when I came out of the belly?"). Second is set down the reason for the curse, why came I forth from the womb: as above, woe is me, my mother, why hast thou borne me a man of strife, a man of discord in all the earth (Jeremiah 15:10); Ezekiel 2 (var.) ("Woe is me, that I was born to see the destruction of my people, and the destruction of the holy city, and to sit there when it is given into the hands of the wicked"). Note, upon the words thou hast deceived me, O Lord... and hast prevailed, that the Lord deceives by drawing men on through persuasions: 2 Corinthians 12 (var.) ("Being crafty, I caught you by guile"); by alluring with consolations: Revelation 10:9 (var.) ("When I had devoured it, my belly was made bitter"); by strengthening with promises: as above, hast thou then deceived this people, and Jerusalem, saying: peace shall be to you? And behold the sword reacheth even to the soul (Jeremiah 4:10). And the Lord prevails by correcting: Isaiah 8:11 (var.) ("With a strong hand he instructed me, that I should not walk in the way of this people"); by drawing us back: Hosea 2:6 ("I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and I will stop it up with a wall"); by binding us with love: Hosea 11:4 ("I will draw them with the cords of Adam, with the bands of love").

Chapter 21

Text

a. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when king Sedecias sent unto him Phassur the son of Melchias, and Sophonias the son of Maasias the priest, saying: Inquire of the Lord for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us: if so be the Lord will deal with us according to all his wonderful works, that he may depart from us. And Jeremiah said to them: Thus shall you say to Sedecias: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Behold I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, and with which you fight against the king of Babylon, and the Chaldeans that besiege you round about the walls, and I will gather them together in the midst of this city. And I will fight against you with an outstretched hand, and with a strong arm, and in fury, and in indignation, and in great wrath, and I will strike the inhabitants of this city.

b. Men and beasts shall die of a great pestilence. And after this, saith the Lord, I will give Sedecias the king of Juda, and his servants, and his people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, and the sword, and the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life; and he shall strike them with the edge of the sword, and he shall not be moved to pity, nor spare, nor shew mercy. And to this people thou shalt say: Thus saith the Lord: Behold I set before you the way of life, and the way of death. He that shall abide in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he that shall go out, and flee over to the Chaldeans that besiege you, shall live, and his life shall be to him as a spoil. For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the Lord: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. And as to the house of the king of Juda: Hear ye the word of the Lord, O house of David: thus saith the Lord: Judge ye judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is oppressed out of the hand of him that slandereth him, lest my indignation go forth like a fire, and be kindled, and there be none to quench it, because of the wickedness of your devices. Behold I come against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, strong and plain, saith the Lord, you that say: Who shall strike us? And who shall enter into our houses? And I will visit upon you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the Lord: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.

Exposition

This passage sets forth the threat leveled against kings, who hold the highest degree of worldly power. First, insofar as kings are punished through the punishment of the people; second, insofar as they are punished in their own persons, at 22:c, "Thus saith the Lord," etc. As to the first there are two parts. First is set down the king's inquiry, or petition, "Inquire," as if to say, seek a response from God, "and pray for us." Here Pashhur is not the same man mentioned earlier, since he was born of a different father: cf. Isaiah 37:3-4 ("This day is a day of tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth," and further, "Lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left"). Second is set down the prophet's response, "And Jeremiah said." First he threatens punishment as to its time, before the city's capture, against the three things in which they trusted: namely, in the fortification of their weapons, "Behold, I will turn back," as if to say, the weapons you took up against the enemy will be turned back upon yourselves, for you will fight one another: cf. Psalms 7:16 (var.) ("His sorrow shall be turned upon his own head, and his iniquity shall come down upon his crown"); or else the weapons shall be turned back as fruitless. They also trusted in the strength of their walls, against which he says, "and the Chaldeans," as if to say, the walls will not hinder them: cf. Lamentations 4:12 ("The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should enter in by the gates of Jerusalem"). They also trusted in the divine protection, against which he says, "and I will fight against you... with an outstretched hand," that is, with my power made ready for vengeance. "With a strong hand," against which none can resist, denotes fury directed against the worst offenders; "in indignation" is against those who sin less; and "in great wrath" is against those of middling guilt.

b. Here he touches on the manner of the visitation: cf. Ezekiel 20:33-35 ("With a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out will I reign over you... and I will bring you into the wilderness of peoples, and there will I plead with you face to face"). And as to the time, this is after the city's capture. And after this, threatening punishment, "I will give Zedekiah": cf. Lamentations 1:14 ("The Lord hath delivered me into a hand," etc.). And he shuts out mercy: he "shall not be moved" by prayers or gifts; "neither shall he spare," on account of their former friendship; "nor shall he have mercy," out of compassion for their misery: cf. Proverbs 6:34-35 ("The jealousy and rage of the husband will not spare in the day of revenge, nor will he yield to any man's entreaties, nor will he accept for satisfaction ever so many gifts"). And this because Zedekiah had not kept his covenant with God: cf. Ezekiel 17:15 ("Shall he that hath broken the covenant escape?"). Second, he sets before the people the way of salvation, "and to the people." And first he grants them the freedom of choice, "Behold, I set before you," cf. Ecclesiasticus 15:17 ("Before man is life and death, good and evil: that which he shall choose shall be given him"). He then lays down the disjunction: "he who remains..." cf. Jeremiah 51:45 ("Go ye out of the midst of her, my people, that every man may save his soul from the fierce wrath of the Lord"). And he assigns the reason: "For I have set," cf. above, Jeremiah 1:13 ("I see a boiling cauldron"). "And to the king's house," that is, to its judges, prescribing counsel: "judge ye in the morning," cf. Psalms 82:4 (var.) ("Deliver the poor and needy out of the hand of the sinner"). And he sets forth the imminent danger, "lest perhaps," cf. Deuteronomy 32:22 ("A fire is kindled in my wrath, and shall burn even to the lowest hell"). Third, he excludes false confidence, setting down the ground of their confidence: "Behold, I come against thee," that is, against the citadel of Jerusalem, the inhabitant of the solid and level valley — for Jerusalem lay on the flank of the mountain toward the valley, so that part of it lay in the valley; or it is spoken contemptuously, as in Isaiah 22:1 ("The burden of the valley of vision," etc.). And also by its mountains it signified solidity, strength, and firmness, and by its fruitful valleys it had fertility. And he speaks of their proud boldness: "you who say," cf. Obadiah 1:3 ("he who says in his heart, who shall bring me down to the ground?"). And he threatens punishment, "and I will visit," namely, the forest, the fruitless people: cf. Joel 1:19 ("Fire hath devoured the beautiful places of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the country").

Chapter 22

Text

a. Thus saith the Lord: Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there thou shalt speak this word, and say: Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sittest upon the throne of David — thou, and thy servants, and thy people, who enter in by these gates. Thus saith the Lord: Execute judgment and justice, and deliver him that is oppressed out of the hand of the oppressor; and afflict not the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, neither oppress them unjustly, and shed not innocent blood in this place. For if indeed you do this thing, there shall enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. But if you will not hear these words, I have sworn by myself, saith the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation. For thus saith the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah: Thou art to me as Gilead, the head of Libanus; yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities not inhabited. And I will prepare against thee a destroyer, and every man with his weapons, and they shall cut down thy choice cedars and cast them into the fire. And many nations shall pass by this city, and every man shall say to his neighbor: Why hath the Lord done so to this great city? And they shall answer: Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord their God, and adored strange gods, and served them. Weep not for him that is dead, nor bemoan him with weeping; lament for him that goeth away, for he shall return no more, nor see his native land again. For thus saith the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and who went forth out of this place: He shall not return hither any more, but in the place to which I have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall not see this land any more.

b. Woe to him that buildeth his house by injustice, and his upper chambers not in judgment; who oppresseth his friend without cause, and will not give him his wages. Who saith: I will build me a wide house, and spacious upper chambers; who cutteth out windows for himself, and maketh roofs of cedar, and paints them with vermilion. Shalt thou reign, because thou comparest thyself to the cedar? Did not thy father eat and drink, and yet do judgment and justice, and was it not well with him then? He judged the cause of the poor and the needy, to his own good. Was not this because he knew me, saith the Lord? But thy eyes and thy heart are set upon covetousness, and upon shedding innocent blood, and upon oppression, and upon running after evil deeds. Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: They shall not mourn for him, saying, Alas, my brother, and Alas, my sister; they shall not lament for him, saying, Alas, lord, and Alas, his glory. He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, rotting and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem. Go up to Libanus and cry out, and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry to them that pass by, for all thy lovers are destroyed. I spoke to thee in the time of thy abundance; thou saidst, I will not hearken. This hath been thy way from thy youth, for thou hast not heard my voice. The wind shall feed all thy shepherds, and thy lovers shall go into captivity; and then shalt thou be confounded and ashamed of all thy wickedness, thou that dwellest in Libanus and makest thy nest in the cedars. How thou didst groan when sorrows came upon thee, as the pains of a woman in labor!

c. As I live, saith the Lord, though Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, yet would I pluck him thence. And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. And I will send thee, and thy mother that bore thee, into a strange land, in which you were not born, and there shall you die. And as for the land to which they long to return, thither they shall not return. Is this man Jeconiah a vessel of clay, broken and despised? Is he a vessel in which there is no pleasure? Why are they cast out, he and his seed, and cast into a land which they knew not?

d. O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord: Write this man childless, a man who shall not prosper in his days; for there shall not be of his seed a man that shall sit upon the throne of David, and have power any more in Judah.

Exposition

a. Here is set forth the threat against kings inasmuch as they are punished in their own persons; and concerning this he does three things. First he sets down the command to make the announcement, and marks out the place of preaching, "Go down" — for the temple, where the prophet stood to pray, was on higher ground: cf. Acts 10:20 ("arise, get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing, for I have sent them"). Second, he gives the people counsel, asking for a hearing, "Hear ye": cf. Psalms 2:10 ("And now, O ye kings, understand: receive instruction, you that judge the earth"). He sets forth the counsel that they do good, keeping justice: "Thus saith the Lord... judgment" — the execution of justice, which belongs properly to king and judge: cf. Wisdom 1:1 ("Love justice, you that are the judges of the earth"). And by forestalling oppression, "and deliver": cf. Psalms 82:4 (var.) ("Deliver the poor and needy out of the hand of the sinner"). And that they avoid evil as to injustice, the taking away of goods, "and the stranger": cf. Exodus 22:21 ("Thou shalt not molest a stranger, nor afflict him"). And as to the slaying of the innocent, "and shed not innocent blood": cf. Exodus 23:7 ("The innocent and just person thou shalt not put to death, for I abhor the wicked"). And he sets down the fruit of this counsel, proposing a reward for those who keep it, "for if you do this thing": cf. above, Jeremiah 17:25 ("there shall enter in..."). And a punishment for those who despise it: "but if you will not hear... I have sworn by myself," since he has none greater by whom to swear: cf. Hebrews 6:13 ("For God, making promise to Abraham, because he had no one greater by whom he might swear, swore by himself"), saying, as in Isaiah 6:11 (var.), that house, palace, and temple would be laid waste as in a hostile devastation. Third, he foretells the danger at hand. First against the royal city, touching on her former glory: "for thus saith the Lord: upon the throne," namely of Jerusalem, "thou wast to me," that is, thou wast to me the head of the whole kingdom, as Gilead was the head of a province at the summit of Libanus, where Laban overtook Jacob (Genesis 31): cf. Psalms 87:2 (var.) ("The Lord loveth the gates of Sion above all the dwellings of Jacob"). He foretells the punishment to come, setting down its infliction as to the desolation of cities: "if I make thee not," as if to say, let it not be thought that I will not, "a desert," subject to thee: cf. Jeremiah 2:21 (var.) ("the land became before her like a garden lately watered, and afterward a desolation"). And as to the slaughter of men, setting down him who shall slay them, "and I will sanctify," as if to say, I will appoint him to carry out my command — the like in Isaiah 13:3 ("I have commanded my sanctified ones, and have called my strong ones in my wrath," etc.). And the felling, "and they shall cut down thy cedars," that is, the great men of the people, the metaphor being kept up: cf. Zechariah 11:1-2 ("Open thy gates, O Libanus, and let fire devour thy cedars; howl, thou fir tree, for the cedar is fallen, because the mighty are laid waste"). He also sets down the astonishment this infliction of punishment will cause, "and many nations shall pass by," where he sets down the question of those who wonder, "Why hath he done so?" and the answer of those who hear it, "and they shall answer": cf. Deuteronomy 29:24-25 ("And all the nations shall say: Why hath the Lord done thus to this land? what meaneth this exceeding great fury of indignation? And they shall answer: Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord which he made with their fathers," etc.). Second is set down the threat against the royal line: first against Shallum (that is, Jehoahaz) the son of Josiah, at "for thus saith the Lord," etc.; second against Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, at "woe to him that buildeth," etc.; third against Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, at "as I live," etc. — of these one reads in 2 Kings 24. As to the first there are two parts. First is set down the threat itself, where he forbids mourning for Josiah, who had been slain, "the dead man," namely Josiah: cf. Sirach 22:11 (var.) ("weep but a little for the dead, for he is at rest"). And he enjoins lamentation for Jehoahaz, carried captive by Pharaoh, "lament ye for him": cf. Job 20:9 (var.) ("the eye that had seen him shall see him no more, neither shall his place behold him any more"). Now "weeping" is said of the shedding of tears; "mourning" adds a certain solemnity; but "lamentation" further adds an outcry expressed in words. Second is set down the confirmation of the threat by the divine sentence, "for thus saith the Lord concerning Shallum" (that is, Jehoiakim, since all the sons of Josiah were called "Shallum," meaning "consummation," because in them the kingdom came to its end): cf. Isaiah 22:18 ("he will toss thee like a ball into a wide and spacious land"). And accordingly the whole prophecy of this chapter was uttered in the days of Jehoiakim; he speaks of the captivity of Jehoahaz as already past, and foretells the captivity of the others as still to come. But Jerome would have it that this be understood of Zedekiah, and that up to this point the prophecy was given in the time of Zedekiah, from the beginning of chapter 21 onward, and thereafter concerns Jehoiakim.

b. Here is set down the threat against Jehoiakim. First he touches on the fault of unjust building, setting down the unjust structure, "Woe" to him. "Who buildeth," namely Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, "chambers" — vaulted rooms, properly those reached by stairs or steps, so called from their height: cf. Sirach 21:8 (var.) ("he that buildeth his house at other men's charges is like one that gathereth himself stones for the winter"). "Seeking a friend's" help, that is, for building: cf. Leviticus 19:13 ("the wages of him that hath been hired by thee shall not abide with thee until the morning"). He also sets down the ornamentation of the building, "who saith, I will build... roofs," which they raise up in tiers to an upper terrace, "with vermilion," a red color so called from Sinope, a city of the Persians. Second he excludes the false confidence by which Jehoiakim promised himself the prosperity his father Josiah had enjoyed, setting down a foolish comparison, "shalt thou reign... because thou comparest thyself to the cedar," thy father: cf. Psalms 37:35 (var.) ("I have seen the wicked highly exalted, and lifted up like the cedars of Libanus"). And showing their difference, he sets forth his father's justice, "thy father did eat" — and yet, for all his abundance, he did not forsake justice, and so things prospered for him: cf. Job 29:25 (var.) ("when I sat as a king with his army standing about him, yet I was a comforter of them that mourned"). And setting forth the son's injustice, "but thy eyes" refer to his thought, and "heart" to the affection of his heart, "set on covetousness" as to the unjust taking of goods, and "on oppression," the false laying of a charge, that under such a pretext he might oppress, "and on the running after evil," as if to say, what thou didst conceive in thy heart, thou didst carry out in deed: cf. Genesis 6:5 ("every thought of man's heart is bent upon evil at all times"). Third he threatens punishment, "therefore thus saith the Lord." First as to the king himself, in the denial of mourning, "they shall not lament him," his kinsmen; "they shall not bewail him," together in mournful accord: cf. above, Jeremiah 16:4 ("he shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried, but shall be as dung upon the face of the earth"). And in the denial of burial, "the burial of an ass," since he was cast out to be devoured by beasts: cf. Isaiah 14:18-19 ("all the kings of the nations have slept in glory, every one in his own house; but thou art cast out of thy grave, like an unprofitable branch, defiled and wrapped up among them that were slain by the sword, and are gone down to the bottom of the pit"). Concerning this Jehoiakim, different accounts are found in different places: for in 2 Kings 24:2 it is said that the Lord sent against him bands of the neighboring nations who slew him, and he slept with his fathers; but in 2 Chronicles 36:6 it is said that the king of Babylon came up against him and led him captive to Babylon; while Josephus says that when Nebuchadnezzar, or Nebuzaradan, entered the city, Jehoiakim broke the covenant, and Nebuchadnezzar slew many of the young men, and Jehoiakim among them, and that he was left unburied. To reconcile all these accounts, one must know that this Jehoiakim was set up by Pharaoh in place of his brother Jehoahaz, and reigned afterward as a vassal of the king of Egypt. At length, in the eighth year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar came against him, and he surrendered to him, and became his tributary for two years; but in the tenth year he rebelled. Whereupon Nebuchadnezzar came against him and was leading him captive to Babylon, with whom he made a covenant on the way, and Jehoiakim returned to Jerusalem. But Nebuzaradan, having gathered bands of the neighboring nations, entered Jerusalem, and, breaking the covenant, slew him. And though he was buried in the sepulchers of the kings by the people of the land, Nebuzaradan in his indignation had him dug up and cast out to be devoured by beasts. Second, against his princes he sets down their crushing, "go up to Libanus," the mountain of the temple, "in Bashan," which lies beneath the mountain of Jerusalem: cf. Isaiah 40:9 ("get thee up upon a high mountain, thou that bringest good tidings to Sion"). "Thy lovers" are thy princes and defenders; and he sets down the reason for this, their disobedience, "I spoke to thee in thy abundance," that is, when thou wast abounding in the good things I had bestowed: cf. above, Jeremiah 6:17 ("hear ye the sound of the trumpet. And they said: We will not hear"). And from their long-standing habit, "this is thy way," namely, disobedience, "from thy youth," that is, from the time thou camest forth out of Egypt: cf. Isaiah 48:8 ("I called thee a transgressor from the womb"); and above, Jeremiah 2:20 ("of old time thou hast broken my yoke, thou hast burst my bands, and thou saidst: I will not serve"). And he sets down the manner and order of their crushing, "all thy shepherds," that is, thy princes, "shall be fed" to dispersal into captivity; "thy lovers" are the Egyptians: cf. Hosea 12:1 ("Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the burning heat"). Third, he threatens confusion upon the royal city itself, "and thou that dwellest," in which pride is signified: cf. Romans 6:21 ("what fruit therefore had you then in those things of which you are now ashamed?"); and grief, "how thou didst groan," the past put for the future, "as a woman in travail": cf. Psalms 48:6 (var.) ("there were pangs as of a woman in labor").

c. Here is set down the threat against Jeconiah. First he threatens captivity; second, barrenness, at "O earth," etc. As to the first there are two parts. First is set down the threat of captivity, for he threatens the loss of dignity and the withdrawal of divine help: "though he were," however elevated his station, though he were a king in possession of my favor, "I will pluck him thence," depriving him of his dignity and of my help: cf. Revelation 2:5 ("I will remove thy candlestick out of its place, except thou do penance"). He also threatens subjection to enemies, "and I will give thee": cf. Lamentations 1:14 ("The Lord hath delivered me into a hand out of which I am not able to rise"). He also threatens exile, "and I will send": cf. Baruch 3:10-11 ("How happeneth it, O Israel, that thou art in thy enemies' land? Thou art grown old in a strange country"). Second is set down an expression of wonder at the threat, "is this...," as though he had no soundness of strength or power, "wherein is no pleasure," because the Lord takes no delight in him: cf. Sirach 21:17 (var.) ("the heart of a fool is like a broken vessel, and shall hold no wisdom at all").

d. Here he threatens barrenness: he shall not even keep the fruit of his present prosperity. "O earth," as if to say, since men do not hearken, let at least insensible things obey. Or this is a metonymy, the container put for the thing contained, said for greater emphasis; or it is repeated for the three regions of the earth: cf. Deuteronomy 32:1 ("let the earth give ear to the words of my mouth"). "Write" — as with a graving tool, so that it may be handed down in writing to be kept in memory: cf. above, Jeremiah 17:1 ("the sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, with the point of a diamond"). "Childless," because he shall not conceive in his mind the things that would profit him; "he shall not prosper" in his works. He shall also be barren as to the fruit of succession in the royal dignity, "for there shall not be a man" that is a mere man — for Christ, though of his line, was God and man (Matthew 1) — nor did Christ reign as an earthly king in that manner, but reigns eternally at the right hand of God the Father; "he shall have power" as a king, since Zerubbabel, his descendant, was not king of the people: cf. below, Jeremiah 36:30 ("he shall not have anyone of his seed to sit upon the throne of David," etc.). Note, regarding the words, "weep not for the dead," that one ought not to weep overmuch for the dead, because of the uselessness of lament: cf. Ecclesiasticus 38:20 ("give not up thy heart to sadness, but drive it away from thee"). This because of the threat that death holds for all: cf. 2 Kings 14:14 ("we all die, and like waters that return not again, we fall down into the earth"). Because of freedom from sin: cf. Wisdom 4:11 ("he was taken away, lest wickedness should alter his understanding, or deceit beguile his soul"). Because of rest from labor: cf. Revelation 14:13 ("From henceforth now, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors"). Because of the attaining of glory: cf. 2 Corinthians 5:1 ("for we know that, if our earthly house of this habitation be dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens"). Likewise, concerning the words, "all thy shepherds the wind shall feed," note that the shepherds of the Church are sometimes fed by the wind of vainglory: cf. Isaiah 57:13 (var.) ("the wind shall carry them all away, a breath shall take them"). The wind of excessive expectation: cf. Ecclesiastes 5:16 (var.) ("as one that catcheth at a shadow and pursueth the wind, so is he that gives heed to lying words"). The wind of scattering: cf. Ezekiel 5:2 ("a third part thou shalt scatter to every wind, and I will draw out a sword after them"). And of their condemnation: cf. above, Jeremiah 18:17 (var.) ("as a burning wind will I scatter them before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their destruction").

Chapter 23

Text

a. Woe to the shepherds that scatter and tear apart the flock of my pasture, saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, to the shepherds who feed my people: You have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them.

b. Behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. And I will gather together the remnant of my flock out of all the lands into which I have driven them, and I will bring them again to their own fields, and they shall grow and be multiplied. And I will set up shepherds over them, and they shall feed them: they shall fear no more, and they shall not be dismayed, and none shall be wanting of their number, saith the Lord. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will raise up to David a just branch, and he shall reign as king, and shall be wise, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In those days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell confidently, and this is the name that they shall call him: The Lord our just one.

c. Therefore behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when they shall say no more: The Lord liveth, who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but rather: The Lord liveth, who hath brought up and led hither the seed of the house of Israel out of the land of the north, and out of all the lands into which I had cast them; and they shall dwell in their own land.

d. Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me, all my bones tremble; I am become as a drunken man, and as a man overcome with wine, before the face of the Lord, and before the face of his holy words. For the land is full of adulterers, for because of the curse the land mourns, the fields of the wilderness are dried up; their course is become evil, and their strength is not what it was.

e. For the prophet and the priest are defiled, and I have found their wickedness even in my own house, saith the Lord. Therefore their way shall be to them as a slippery path in the darkness; for they shall be driven on, and shall fall in it, for I will bring evils upon them, the year of their visitation, saith the Lord. And I have seen folly among the prophets of Samaria: they prophesied in Baal, and deceived my people Israel. And in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a likeness of adulterers, and the way of lying; and they strengthened the hands of the wicked, that not one of them should turn back from his evil way; they are all become to me as Sodom, and its inhabitants as Gomorrah. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets: Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and give them gall to drink; for from the prophets of Jerusalem corruption has gone forth over the whole land.

f. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Hearken not to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you and deceive you; they speak a vision of their own heart, and not from the mouth of the Lord. They say to those who blaspheme me: The Lord hath said, You shall have peace; and to all who walk in the perverseness of their own heart they have said, No evil shall come upon you. For who has stood in the counsel of the Lord, and has seen and heard his word? who has given heed to his word, and heard it? Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord's indignation shall go forth, and a storm bursting forth shall come upon the head of the wicked. The wrath of the Lord shall not turn back until he has done it, and until he has accomplished the thought of his heart; in the latter days you shall understand his counsel. I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. Had they stood in my counsel, and made my words known to my people, I would surely have turned them back from their evil way, and from their most wicked devisings.

g. Am I a God at hand only, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off also? If a man be hidden in secret places, shall I not see him, saith the Lord? do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord? I have heard what the prophets have said, prophesying lies in my name, and saying: I have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart? who seek to make my people forget my name through their dreams, which each tells to his neighbor, just as their fathers forgot my name for Baal. Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, and let him who has my word speak my word in truth. What has the chaff to do with the wheat, saith the Lord? Are not my words like a fire, saith the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

h. Therefore behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, who steal my words, each from his neighbor. Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord, who take their own tongue and say: The Lord saith it. Behold, I am against the prophets who dream lies, saith the Lord, who have told them, and have led my people astray by their lie and by their wonders, when I did not send them, nor commanded them, and who have brought no profit at all to this people, saith the Lord.

i. If therefore this people, or the prophet, or the priest shall ask thee, saying: What is the burden of the Lord? thou shalt say to them: You are the burden, and I will cast you off, saith the Lord. And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people who say, The burden of the Lord, I will visit it upon that man and upon his house. Thus shall you say, each to his neighbor and to his brother: What has the Lord answered, and what has the Lord spoken? And the burden of the Lord shall be mentioned no more, for every man's own word shall be his burden, since you have perverted the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. Thus shalt thou say to the prophet: What has the Lord answered thee, and what has the Lord spoken? But if you still say, The burden of the Lord — therefore thus saith the Lord: Because you have said this word, The burden of the Lord, though I sent to you saying, Say not, The burden of the Lord — therefore behold, I will take you up and carry you off, and I will cast you away, you and the city which I gave you and your fathers, out of my sight. And I will bring upon you an everlasting reproach, and a perpetual shame, which shall never be forgotten.

Exposition

a. Here is set down the threat against all princes in general. First is set down the threat against wicked princes; second, the distinguishing of the good from the wicked, at chapter 24, "The Lord shewed me," etc. (a forward reference). The first is divided into two. First is set down the threat against those pre-eminent among the people by the authority of governance, namely the rulers; second, against those pre-eminent among the people by the privilege of divine revelation, namely the prophets, at "concerning the prophets," etc. As to the first there are two parts. First he charges them with guilt; second he threatens punishment, at "behold I," etc. As to the first there are two parts. First is set down the scattering of the people, "they scatter," by driving them from their land; "they tear apart," by killing or despoiling them — or because of the tyranny they exercised over them, or because they were the occasion by which the sheep suffered at the hands of enemies, since, living themselves in sin, they did not draw the people back from sin: cf. Jeremiah 50:6 ("my people is become a lost flock, their shepherds have caused them to go astray, and made them wander in the mountains"). Second is set down the rebuke of the shepherds, "therefore thus saith the Lord... you have driven them out," whether incidentally, or through tyranny: cf. Ezekiel 34:21 (var.) ("with your horns you pushed all the weak cattle, till they were scattered abroad").

b. Here he threatens punishment. First is set down the threat against the shepherds, "I will visit upon you the evil of your doings." Second is set down the consolation of the scattered flock, "I will gather." Where first he sets down the gathering: cf. Ezekiel 34:13 (var.) ("I will bring them out from the peoples, and I will gather them out of the countries," etc.). And the prosperity of their state, "and they shall grow": cf. Genesis 1:28 ("increase and multiply, and fill the earth"). Second he promises them the amendment of their rulers. First he promises them diligent shepherds, setting down the shepherds' diligence, "and I will raise up," when they have already fallen to nothing, "shepherds" — Ezra and others, according to some, but better, the apostles: cf. above, Jeremiah 3:15 ("I will give you pastors according to my own heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and doctrine"). And the benefit of that diligence, namely security: "they shall not fear," as to the outward signs of fear; "and they shall not tremble," inwardly. "And none shall be missing of their number," as if to say, none of the number of the Church shall be afraid, or perish through the negligence of the apostles — or this refers to the number of the predestined: cf. John 17:12 ("none of them is lost, but the son of perdition"). Yet this security is not perfected in this present life, but shall be perfected, since perfect charity casts out fear (cf. 1 John 4:18), and shall be brought to completion in the life to come. Second he promises them the best of kings, showing the fitness of the time — "behold," on account of its certainty; "the days," of grace: cf. 2 Corinthians 6:2 ("behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation"). The condition of the king who is to come, as to the nobility of his lineage, "and I will raise up": cf. below, Jeremiah 33:15 ("I will make the branch of justice to spring forth unto David, and he shall execute judgment and justice in the earth"). As to the authority of his dignity, "and a king shall reign," not over the Jews only, but over all kings as well: cf. Luke 1:33 ("and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever"); Daniel 7:14 ("his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all kings shall serve him"). And obedient, as to the wisdom of his heart, "and he shall be wise" — or rather, he shall be Wisdom itself: cf. 1 Corinthians 1:24 ("Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God"). And as to the execution of justice, "and he shall execute judgment" — at his first coming, against the devil, who was called the prince of the world: cf. John 12:31 ("now is the judgment of the world, now shall the prince of this world be cast out," namely into outer darkness); and at his second coming, against all, punishing by a general sentence: cf. John 5:22 ("the Father judgeth no man, but hath given all judgment to the Son"). And "justice," which he taught men to keep: cf. Matthew 5:20 ("unless your justice abound more than that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven"). And this, to bring to fulfillment the help of grace. Hence he sets down the benefit of his coming, as to salvation from the state of sin: "in those days shall be saved," at his first coming, in part; at his second coming, universally, when all Israel shall be saved (cf. Romans 11:26): cf. Isaiah 10:22 ("though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them shall be converted"). And as to security, "and Israel" — and this must be understood as above: cf. Isaiah 32:18 ("my people shall sit in the beauty of peace, in the tabernacles of confidence, and in wealthy rest"). He says "Judah" as to the two tribes, and "Israel" as to the ten, to signify that they shall be united in the faith of Christ: cf. Hosea 1:11 ("and they shall appoint themselves one head," etc.).

c. Here he shows the greatness of this benefit by the fact that, because of it, the former benefit will be given over to oblivion. This may be referred to the deliverance wrought through Cyrus, or better, to the deliverance wrought through Christ: cf. Isaiah 43:18 ("remember not former things, and look not on things of old").

d. Here is set down the threat against the prophets, as the title itself makes clear. First is set down the threat against the prophets; second, against the prophets' mockery, at "if therefore," etc. As to the first there are two parts. First he sets down the prophets' deception; second, the different kinds of deception, at "thus saith the Lord," etc. As to the first there are two parts. First he sets down the effect of this deception on the people; second, the sin of the prophets who deceive them, at "the prophet," etc. As to the first there are two parts. First is set down the prophet's own compassion at the coming ruin, which he expresses through the breaking of his heart, "my heart is broken"; through the trembling of his body, "all my bones tremble," as commonly happens to those who are troubled; through the impeding of his understanding, "I am become as a drunken man," who has not the use of reason — and this from the greatness of his dismay, "overcome with wine," one who indeed retains the use of reason, but hindered by much drinking; "before the face of the Lord," that is, before the presence of his revelation, who declared himself angered against the Jews; "and of his holy words," by which he made known to me their guilt, and foretold their punishment: cf. Psalms 22:14 (var.) ("all my bones are scattered, my heart is become like wax melting in the midst of my bowels"); Isaiah 29:9 ("be astonished, and wonder, waver, and stagger; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not with drunkenness"). Second is set down the ruin of the people. First, as to the greatness of their sin, "adulteries," namely idolatry and other sins; "the land," of the Jews: cf. Isaiah 2:8 (var.) ("their land is filled with idols," etc.). Second, as to the infliction of punishment, since before the face of the curse, that is, the divine curse, "it mourned," being made barren: cf. Isaiah 24:4 ("the earth mourned, and faded away, and is weakened," etc.). Third, as to their obstinacy, "their course is become," because they are made ready for evil on account of their sins: cf. Jeremiah 4:18 (var.) — their strength unlike that of their forefathers of old, who had exercised themselves in the service of God: cf. Proverbs 20:29 (var.).

e. Here is set down the wickedness of the prophets as, in a sense, the cause of the wickedness of the people. First, in general, setting down their fault, "defiled," with various crimes, "in my house," namely the temple or the people — for above it was said, "what has my beloved to do in my house, seeing she has wrought much wickedness?" And he adds their punishment, "therefore their way... a slippery path," that is, they shall stumble in their sins as upon such a road: cf. Psalms 35:6 (var.) ("let their way become darkness and a slippery path"). And expounding this, "for I will bring evils," of punishment: cf. above, Jeremiah 11:23 ("I will bring upon the men of Anathoth the year of their visitation"). Second, in particular. First he sets down the fault as to the prophets of the ten tribes, "and in the prophets of Samaria I saw folly," since they worshiped the high places and idols, like those whom Elijah slew (cf. 1 Kings 18): cf. Isaiah 9:15 ("the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail"). And the fault of the prophets of the two tribes, "and in the prophets of Jerusalem... a likeness," since they provoked the people to idolatry indirectly, falsely promising them prosperity through idolatry: cf. Ezekiel 13:19 ("they profaned me among my people for a handful of barley, and a piece of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live"). Second he sets down the divine wrath, "they are become like Sodom," namely the prophets — in such great abominations do I hold them; "its," namely Jerusalem's: cf. Isaiah 1:10 ("hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom, give ear to the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah"). Third he threatens punishment, "therefore thus saith the Lord: behold I": cf. above, Jeremiah 9:15 ("behold, I will feed this people with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink"). And he assigns the reason why he threatens the prophets especially, "for from the prophets of Jerusalem": cf. Daniel 13:5 (var.) ("wickedness came out from Babylon, from the ancient judges, who seemed to govern the people").

f. Here he sets down the different kinds of deception. First he sets them forth; second he gathers them together summarily, at "therefore behold, I am against the prophets." As to the first there are two parts. First he sets down the manner of deceiving by feigned words, namely when they saw nothing, but pretended to have received a vision from the Lord. Second he sets down the manner of deceiving by vain dreams, when they clung to fantastic dreams as though to divine revelations, at "am I a God at hand," etc. As to the first there are three parts. First is set down a prohibition to the people against hearkening to such false prophets, by obeying and believing them, "hearken not": cf. Deuteronomy 13:1-3 ("if there rise in the midst of thee a prophet, or one who says he has dreamed a dream, and he foretell a sign and a wonder, and that come to pass which he spoke, and he say to thee: Let us go and follow strange gods, which thou knowest not, and let us serve them — thou shalt not hear the words of that prophet or dreamer," etc.). Second, the deception of the prophets is brought forward as the cause: first as to their presumed authority, in that they falsely claimed to be God's messengers, "a vision of their own heart": cf. Ezekiel 13:3 ("woe to the foolish prophets that follow their own spirit, and see nothing"). As to their false promises, "they say to those who blaspheme me": cf. above, Jeremiah 8:11 ("they healed the breach of the daughter of my people disgracefully, saying: Peace, peace; and there was no peace"). And as to their mistaken proof, "for who..." — as it is said in Isaiah 40:13, "who has been his counsellor?" — they sought to weaken the prophet's threats, that they might not be believed, as though he were ignorant of the divine counsels, a perverse understanding; for by that saying the knowledge of the divine counsel through revelation is not excluded, but only its comprehension by mere human reasoning. "And has seen," as one present; "has given heed," as one absent: cf. Matthew 22:29 ("you err, not knowing the Scriptures"). Second he shows their falsity. First as to their false promise, setting down their punishment, "behold a whirlwind" — the captives shall be scattered in that grievous time, "of the wicked," to whom they promised peace. Whence it is plain that they were not true prophets: cf. Deuteronomy 18:22 ("what that prophet foretold in the name of the Lord, and it comes not to pass, the Lord has not spoken it"); Psalms 97:3 (var.) ("a fire shall go before him, and shall burn his enemies round about"). And he shuts out mercy, "they shall not turn back": cf. Isaiah 55:11 ("so shall my word be, that shall go forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me void, but it shall do whatsoever I please, and shall prosper in the things for which I sent it"). And he introduces the outcome of the punishment, "in the latter days," when they shall have borne their punishments, "you shall understand," through experience: cf. Psalms 9:17 (var.) ("the Lord shall be known when he executes judgments"). Second, as to their presumed authority, "I did not send them": cf. above, Jeremiah 14:14 ("I sent them not, nor did I command them, nor did I speak to them"). Third, as to their false proof, "had they stood," as true prophets do, "I would have turned back the people," or the prophets themselves: cf. above, Jeremiah 15:19 ("if thou convert, I will convert thee").

g. Here he sets down another manner of deception, by dreams; and concerning this there are three parts. First he brings forward proof by divine testimony, showing himself a fitting witness, since he has knowledge of things remote, "am I a God at hand" — that I should know only the things that are in the heavens, where my seat is said to be — but also the good, and not merely the evil, things that are far off from me: cf. Wisdom 8:1 ("she reaches from end to end mightily, and orders all things sweetly"). And because he has knowledge of hidden things, "and if a man be hidden in secret places," of thoughts or of locations: cf. Sirach 23:26 (var.) ("let him not say, I am hidden from God, and from on high who shall remember me?"). And he proves both: "do not I fill heaven and earth" — and so nothing is remote from my knowledge; "I fill," as one who penetrates within, and so nothing is hidden from me: cf. Isaiah 66:1 ("heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool"). "I have heard": cf. Sirach 34:1-2 (var.) ("the hopes of a foolish man are vain and deceitful, and dreams lift up the imprudent"). Second he rebukes the vice of this deception, as to the continuance of their guilt, "how long is this": cf. Psalms 4:3 ("O ye sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart? why do you love vanity, and seek after lying?"). And as to the intention of the deed or of its doers, "who seek to do": cf. Ezekiel 13:19 ("they profaned me among my people for a handful of barley and a piece of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, lying to my people," etc.). Third he sets forth the precepts of true doctrine, "let the prophet who has a dream tell it," as if to say, whatever be the degree of prophetic vision: cf. Romans 12:3 (var.) ("according as God has divided to every man the measure of faith," etc.). And he gives the reason, "what has the chaff to do with the wheat?" as if to say, my words are wheat for nourishment: cf. above, Jeremiah 15:16 ("thy words were found, and I ate them, and thy word was to me a joy and gladness of my heart"); Psalms 119:103 (var.) ("how sweet are thy words to my palate, more than honey to my mouth!"). And, "as a fire," to kindle: cf. Psalms 119:140 (var.) ("thy word is exceedingly refined"); and again, Psalms 105:19 (var.) ("the word of the Lord inflamed him"). "A hammer," to soften hard hearts: cf. Hosea 6:5 ("for this I have hewed them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth"). And therefore they are not to be mingled with thorns: cf. 2 Corinthians 6:14-15 ("what fellowship hath light with darkness? or what concord hath Christ with Belial?").

h. Here he gathers together the three kinds of deception. The first arises from the twisting of Scripture, "who steal," as if to another sense than the true prophets intended: cf. John 10:1 ("he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up another way, the same is a thief and a robber"). The second arises from the invention of false words, "against the prophets," that is, against them, "they take," feigning words: cf. above, Jeremiah 9:5 (var.) ("they have taught their tongue to speak lies, they have labored to commit iniquity"). The third arises from clinging to dreams, "behold I," with their wonders and specious words: cf. Isaiah 56:10-11 (var.).

i. Here he threatens punishment against the mockeries of the prophets. For just as in Isaiah's day men mocked, saying, "command, command again, expect, expect again," etc. (Isaiah 28:10), so now they mocked the word which Isaiah had coined to signify the weight of the punishment, namely, "the burden of the Lord." Whence concerning this he does three things. First he rebukes the mocking people, threatening punishment upon those who ask this question in mockery, "shall ask thee," mockingly, "you are the burden" — that by the very things by which a man sins, by these he shall also be tormented: cf. Wisdom 11:16; Isaiah 1:14 ("they are become troublesome to me, I am weary of bearing them"). And as to those who converse thus, "and the prophet": cf. Psalms 89:32 (var.) ("I will visit their iniquities with a rod, and their sins with stripes"). Second he forbids the mockery of these words. First is set down the precept showing the manner of speaking, "thus shall you say." And the mockery is forbidden, "for the burden of the Lord shall be a burden," that is, one shall be bound to a grievous punishment for one's own words: cf. Matthew 12:37 ("by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned"). And the reason for forbidding the mockery is given, "and you have perverted," as if to say, I forbid it for this reason, that you have turned it into derision; and he concludes, "thus shalt thou say": cf. Ezekiel 33:32 ("they hear thy words, and do them not, for they turn them into a song of their mouth"). Third he threatens punishment. First, the punishment of captivity, "behold I" — he speaks after the likeness of one who lifts a heavy weight upon another, that he may make him fall the more violently: cf. Revelation 18:21 ("a mighty angel took up a stone, as it were a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying: With this violence shall Babylon, that great city, be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all"). Second, the punishment of confusion, "and I will bring upon you." This may be referred to the punishment of one generation succeeding another, or to the shame with which they were led into captivity; and "shame" is said of sin, or of a reproach not fit to be named: cf. above, Jeremiah 20:11 (var.) ("we are exceedingly confounded"), for they did not understand the everlasting reproach which shall never be blotted out. Note, concerning the words, "behold, the days come," etc., that the time of grace is called "day" because of the appearing of light: cf. Romans 13:12 ("the night is past, and the day is at hand; let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light"). Because of the warmth of the sun: cf. 2 Kings 23:4 (var.) ("the morning shall be to you like the sun"). Because of the safety of the road: cf. John 11:9-10 ("if a man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world; but if he walk in the night, he stumbleth, because the light is not in him"). Because of watchfulness and sobriety: cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:7 ("for they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that are drunk, are drunk in the night").

Chapter 24

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a. The Lord shewed me, and behold, two baskets full of figs, set before the temple of the Lord, after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and his princes, and the craftsmen and the engravers, out of Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. One basket had very good figs, such as are the figs of the first season; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, because they were so bad. And the Lord said to me: What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said: Figs — the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: As these good figs, so will I regard the captivity of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for their good. And I will set my eyes upon them to be reconciled to them, and I will bring them back into this land; and I will build them up, and not throw them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. And as the very bad figs, which cannot be eaten, because they are so bad — thus saith the Lord — so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, and his princes, and the rest of Jerusalem who remain in this city, and who dwell in the land of Egypt. And I will deliver them up to be afflicted and troubled in all the kingdoms of the earth; to be a reproach, and a byword, and a proverb, and a curse, in all the places to which I have driven them; and I will send among them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, till they be consumed out of the land which I gave to them and to their fathers.

Exposition

a. Here is set down the distinction between wicked princes and good ones, under a certain figure. First is set down the showing forth of the figure, setting down the vision, "shewed me," in an imaginary vision, or a vision serving as an argument, so that the prophecy might be taken up from the figs which were sold before the temple — there is a like case above, at chapter 18, concerning the figure of the potter: cf. Numbers 12:6 ("if there be among you a prophet of the Lord, I will appear to him in a vision, or I will speak to him in a dream"). "After Nebuchadnezzar had carried away... the engravers" — the silversmiths, who set stones in silver or gold. And this is recorded historically in 2 Kings 24: cf. Isaiah 3:1 ("behold the sovereign Lord of hosts shall take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the strong and the mighty, the whole strength of bread, and the whole strength of water," etc.). And the distinguishing of what is shown, setting down the good figs, "and one basket," by which the good are signified: cf. Hosea 9:10 ("I saw their fathers like the first-ripe figs on the fig tree in the beginning"); Micah 7:1 ("my soul desired the first-ripe figs"). And setting down the bad figs, "and the other basket," by which the wicked of the people are signified: cf. above, Jeremiah 2:21 ("how art thou turned into that which is against nature, into a strange vine, unto me?"). Second is set down the exposition of the vision, where first is set down the Lord's question, which is a rousing to attention, "and he said," as above, chapter 1, the like; and the prophet's answer, "and I said," just as in Genesis 41, concerning the ears of corn and the cattle in Pharaoh's dream. Third is set down the exposition of the vision, "and the word came." First as to the good, applying the figure to the promise of prosperity in general, "as these figs... I will regard," a knowledge of approval: cf. 2 Timothy 2:19 ("the Lord knoweth who are his"). And he continues in particular, as to the goods of the body, that he will bring them back to their own place, "and I will set my eyes": cf. Ezekiel 36:24 ("for I will take you from among the nations, and will gather you together out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land"). And that he will restore them to a prosperous state, "and I will bring them back, and I will build them up," raising them on high, as is done to buildings; "and I will not throw them down," where they had sinned, as below, Jeremiah 42:10 (var.) ("I will build you up, and not throw you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up"). And "I will plant them," confirming them in good: cf. Jeremiah 31:28 ("I will watch over you to build up and to plant," saith the Lord). And as to the goods of the soul, promising them the knowledge of God, "and I will give them": cf. Ezekiel 36:26 ("I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you"). And the obedience of subjection, "and they shall be mine": cf. Revelation 21:3 ("his people shall be with him, and God himself shall be their God"). Second, as to the wicked, "and as the figs." First he threatens them with affliction in their own land, "so will I deal with Zedekiah": cf. above, Jeremiah 15:4 ("I will deliver them up to be a trouble to all the kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for all that he did in Jerusalem"). Second, confusion in the land of their captivity, "to be a reproach," as to the sin of their guilt; "a byword," a proverbial expression, so that your punishment shall be told as an example; "a proverb," because from the things that befall you a proverb shall be taken for the instruction of others; "a curse," as an imprecation of punishment uttered penitently, or because each man cursing another shall say: So may God do to thee, as he did to them: cf. Psalms 79:4 (var.) ("we are become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us"). Third, the punishment of death, "and I will send": cf. above, Jeremiah 15:2 ("such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for famine, to famine," etc.).

Chapter 25

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a. The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah — that is, the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon — which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying: From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even unto this day, which is the three and twentieth year, the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking, and you have not hearkened. And the Lord has sent to you all his servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, and you have not hearkened, nor inclined your ears to hear, when he said: Return, every one of you, from his evil way, and from your most wicked thoughts, and you shall dwell in the land which the Lord has given to you and to your fathers, from of old and for evermore. And go not after strange gods, to serve them and to worship them, and provoke me not to wrath by the works of your hands, and I will not afflict you. But you have not hearkened to me, saith the Lord, so that you have provoked me to wrath by the works of your hands, to your own hurt.

b. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts: Because you have not heard my words, behold I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and I will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all the nations that are round about it, and I will destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations. And I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstone, and the light of the lamp. And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment, and all these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And when the seventy years shall be expired, I will visit upon the king of Babylon and upon that nation, saith the Lord, their iniquity, and upon the land of the Chaldeans, and I will make it a perpetual desolation. And I will bring upon that land all my words that I have spoken against it, all that is written in this book, all that Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations, because they served them, though they were many nations and great kings. And I will render to them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.

c. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take the cup of the wine of this fury at my hand, and thou shalt make all the nations to drink of it, to whom I shall send thee. And they shall drink, and be troubled, and be mad, because of the sword which I will send among them. And I took the cup from the hand of the Lord, and I made all the nations to drink of it, to whom the Lord sent me: Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and its kings, and its princes, to make them a desolation, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a curse, as it is this day; Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people; and, generally, all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod; and Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon; and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the land of the islands that are beyond the sea; Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all that have the corners of their hair polled; and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the west who dwell in the desert; and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes; and all the kings of the north, near and far, one against another; and all the kingdoms of the earth that are upon the face thereof: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.

d. And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink ye, and be drunk, and vomit, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword which I will send among you. And when they refuse to take the cup at thy hand to drink, thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: You shall certainly drink. For behold, in the city in which my name is called upon, I begin to bring evil; and shall you go unpunished as though innocent? You shall not be innocent, for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of hosts.

e. And thou shalt prophesy to them all these words, and shalt say to them: The Lord shall roar from on high, and shall utter his voice from his holy habitation; roaring he shall roar upon his own dwelling place. A shout, as of them that tread grapes, shall be raised against all the inhabitants of the earth. The noise has come even to the ends of the earth, for the Lord has a controversy with the nations; he is judged with all flesh; the wicked I have given up to the sword, saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold, affliction shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall go forth from the ends of the earth. And the slain of the Lord shall be in that day from one end of the earth even to the other end; they shall not be lamented, nor gathered up, nor buried; they shall lie as dung upon the face of the earth.

f. Howl, ye shepherds, and cry, and sprinkle yourselves with ashes, ye leaders of the flock, for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersion are accomplished, and you shall fall like precious vessels. And flight shall fail the shepherds, and escape shall fail the leaders of the flock. A voice of the crying of the shepherds, and a howling of the leaders of the flock, for the Lord has wasted their pastures, and the peaceful folds are made silent because of the fierce anger of the Lord. He has forsaken his covert like a lion, for their land has become a desolation because of the wrath of the dove, and because of the fierce anger of the Lord.

Exposition

a. Here is set down the universal threat against the princes of all nations, divided into two parts: in the first is set down the threat; in the second, its reiteration, at "for thus saith," etc. As to the first there are two parts. First he sets down the title of the prophecy, "the word that came." From this it may be gathered that this prophecy in time precedes the vision that follows it. Second is set down the prophecy of the threat, at "from the thirteenth," etc. First he assigns the cause of the threat; second he threatens punishment, at "therefore thus saith," etc. As to the first, he sets down their disobedience, on account of which they are numbered among the other nations in punishment, and this he aggravates in three ways. First on the part of the prophet himself who preached it, because he was unceasing in his preaching, "from the thirteenth year of Josiah" even to the end of his life and of his reign — since Josiah reigned thirty-one years, this comes to seventeen years, to which, adding the four years of Jehoiakim and the three months in which Jehoahaz reigned, one finds that the year of Jeremiah's preaching in which these things took place was the twenty-third. "Rising up early," after the manner of one diligent to undertake any work: cf. Proverbs 6:3-4 ("run about, make haste, stir up thy friend," etc.). Second, on the part of him who sent the prophets, who is found unwearied by the great number of messengers sent, "and the Lord sent": cf. above, Jeremiah 7:25 ("I sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily rising early and sending, and you have not hearkened to me," etc.). And to signify the divine solicitude he names both the "early dawn" and "the night," since Judea was in darkness — these are those same darknesses of which it is said in John 3:2, that Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. On the part of the admonition itself, which was useful in itself, as to the pardon it promised. Whence he first brings forward the punishment for past evils, setting down the precept, "return," etc.: cf. Isaiah 55:7 ("let the wicked forsake his way, and the unjust man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he is bountiful to forgive"). And the promise, "that you may dwell": cf. Isaiah 1:19 ("if you be willing, and will hearken to me, you shall eat the good things of the land"). Second he brings forward a warning against the evil to come, setting down the precept, "go not," as to idolatry, "nor provoke me to wrath," as to moral sins: cf. Exodus 20:3 ("thou shalt not have strange gods before me," etc.). And their contempt of this precept, "and you have not hearkened": cf. Deuteronomy 32:21 ("they have provoked me with that which was no god, and have angered me with their vanities," etc.).

b. Here he threatens punishment. First, the punishment the Jews would bring upon others, describing the enemy, "behold I will send and take," insofar as they carried out the mystery of the divine will: cf. above, Jeremiah 6:22 ("behold, a people cometh from the land of the north, and a great nation shall rise from the ends of the earth"). And describing the punishment at hand, as to the slaying of men, "and I will destroy," in a perpetual desolation; and that they should never be restored, but reduced, as it were, to the likeness of everlasting wastes: cf. above, Jeremiah 19:8 ("I will make this city an astonishment, and a hissing: every one that shall pass by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss because of all its plagues"). And as to the ceasing of human joys and the comforts of life, "the voice of the bride": cf. above, Jeremiah 16:9 ("I will take away from this place, in your sight and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride"). And describing also a harsher punishment, "and they shall serve seventy years," for so long did the kingdom of the Chaldeans endure: cf. Isaiah 57:16 (var.) ("I will not contend for ever, for the spirit shall go forth from before my face," etc.). Second he sets down the punishment the Chaldeans themselves would suffer, "and when they shall be fulfilled." First is set down the threat, "I will visit": cf. Revelation 13:10 ("he that shall lead into captivity, shall go into captivity; he that shall kill by the sword, must be killed by the sword"). Second, the certainty of the threat, "and I will bring," all the things I have spoken against her: cf. Isaiah, chapters 13, 14, 21, 45, and 47, and Jeremiah's own prophecies below, chapters 50 and 51; "because they served," for they abused the benefit of God unto pride. Third he shows the justice of the punishment, "and I will render to them": cf. Psalms 28:4-5 (var.) ("render to them according to their works, and according to the wickedness of their inventions; render to them according to the works of their hands, give them their reward — because they have not understood the works of the Lord, and the works of his hands thou shalt destroy them, and not build them up").

c. Here is set down the revelation of the aforesaid threat under an imaginary vision. First he sets down the vision; second he expounds it, at "and thou shalt prophesy," etc. As to the first there are two parts. First he sends the prophet to give the cup to drink; second, those to whom it is given are invited to drink, at "and thou shalt say to them," etc. As to the first there are two parts. First the Lord holds out the cup, according to what appeared to him in the imaginary vision, "take the cup of wine." It seemed to him that the Lord, holding a vast cup, held it out to him. By the wine is signified the divine indignation; by the cup, the power of the tyrants through whom this indignation was to be poured out upon the nations. "Thou shalt make them drink," not as one inflicting the punishment, but as one announcing it: cf. Psalms 75:9 (var.) ("for in the hand of the Lord there is a cup of strong wine, full of mixture"); below, Jeremiah 51:7 ("Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, that made all the earth drunk; the nations have drunk of her wine, and therefore they have been moved"). Second he sets down the effect of the drinking, "and they shall drink," enduring affliction; "they shall be troubled," inwardly, with fear and grief; "they shall be mad," outwardly, fighting one another like drunken men: cf. Isaiah 28:7 (var.) ("bitter shall the drink be to them that drink it"). Third the prophet carries out the office enjoined on him, "and I took." First he gives the cup to the Jews, "Jerusalem": cf. Ezekiel 9:6 ("begin at my sanctuary"); 1 Peter 4:17 ("the time is, that judgment should begin at the house of God"). Second, to the surrounding peoples, beginning with the Egyptians, in whom they trusted, "Pharaoh," "of the land of Uz" — which by another name is called the land of Hus, on the borders of Idumea and Arabia. And "the remnant" — this he says concerning Gath, a certain city of the Philistines; "and all the kingdoms": cf. Isaiah 14:26 ("this is the counsel that I have purposed upon all the earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations"). Third, to the Babylonians themselves, "and the king of Sheshach," that is, of Babylon, which in Hebrew is called Babel. Whence, to conceal the name, the vowels were transposed, and the consonants joined to them were changed, according to the custom of the Hebrews, who teach children to say the first letter together with the last, counting backward, and the second together with the second-to-last, and so on. Hence, in place of the double Beth, which is the second letter among the Hebrews, he put Shin, which is the second-to-last; and in place of Lamed he put Kaph, which corresponds to it by the same reckoning.

d. Here they are invited to drink; and concerning this there are three parts. First is set down the invitation, "drink ye," enduring the punishment; "be drunk," as though losing the use of reason through the abundance of it, so that you know not what you do; "vomit," lose your riches; "fall," into death and captivity — and he speaks after the likeness of a drunken man: cf. Job 20:15 (var.) ("the riches which he hath swallowed he shall vomit up, and God shall draw them out of his belly"); Isaiah 29:9 (var.) ("be astonished, and wonder; waver, and stagger; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not with drunkenness"), etc. Second is set down their compulsion, "and when they shall refuse," "drinking, you shall drink," that is, whether you will or not: cf. Revelation 14:9-10 ("if any man adore the beast and his image, and receive his character in his forehead, or in his hand, he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mingled with pure wine in the cup of his wrath"). Third, the reason for this compulsion is given. First by way of example, "for behold, in the city," namely Jerusalem: cf. 1 Peter 4:17 ("and if judgment begin first at us, what shall be the end of them that believe not the gospel of God?"); below, Jeremiah 49:12 ("behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup, shall certainly drink; and shalt thou come off as innocent? thou shalt not come off as innocent, but thou shalt surely drink"). Second, from the Lord's own word, "the sword," which is the same as the cup: cf. Ezekiel 21:4 (var.) ("I will draw my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off in thee both the just and the wicked").

e. Here is set out the exposition of the vision. First against the nations; second, against the princes of the nations, at the words "Howl," etc. As to the first, he does two things. First he sets down the threat, positing the divine indignation: "The Lord will roar" — that is, from on high, from the height of his judgment — terribly, like an angry lion: "The lion will roar, who will not fear?" ("Amos 3:8"). He shows the universality of the punishment: "over his beautiful dwelling" — that is, the temple; as if to say, it will begin from the temple, and his wrath will go forth over all the earth. "The shout of them that tread the winepress" signifies the joy of victors amid the devastation of the lands, who are signified by those who tread grapes, because they shed human blood as those shed the blood of grapes; hence "I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the Gentiles there is not a man with me; I have trodden them in my fury, and have trampled on them in my wrath, and their blood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my apparel" ("Isaiah 63:3"). And below: "the treader of the grapes shall no more sing the accustomed cheerful tune" ("Jeremiah 48:33"). He sets down the equity of the punishment, positing the judgment: "for the Lord" — "the Lord's judgment is with his people, and he will plead with Israel" ("Micah 6:2 (var.)"). And the manner of the judgment: "he has delivered up the wicked" — "if you provoke me to wrath, the sword will devour you, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken" ("Isaiah 1:20"). Second, he sets down the precept and order of the punishment: "Thus says the Lord." First he sets down the process of the punishment: "behold affliction shall go forth," because one nation will assail another, and it in turn will be assailed by another, and so on in succession; "from the ends of the earth" — from the mightiest, such as the Chaldeans, the Greeks, and so on: "a kingdom is transferred from one people to another" on account of injustices, and wrongs, and insults, and divers frauds ("Ecclesiasticus 10:8"); below: "behold a whirlwind of the Lord, a fury going forth, a violent storm, it shall rest upon the head of the wicked" ("Jeremiah 30:23"). Second, he sets down the effect of the tribulation, namely that they will be deprived of life: "and the slain of the Lord shall be" — that is, slain by the Lord: above, "the sword of the Lord shall devour from one end of the earth even to the other end thereof" ("Jeremiah 12:12"). And they will lack burial: "they shall not be lamented" — above, chapter 16, the same.

f. Here he threatens the princes of the nations. First as to their persons, foretelling the punishment: "Howl" — as those unable to express their grief in words, but only by the raising of the voice: "the sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made thick with the fat of the blood of lambs and of goats, and with the fat of the kidneys of rams," etc. ("Isaiah 34:6"). "The principal of the flock" are those who are rich, and are princes among the people. And he excludes the way of safety: "and flight shall perish" from them — "they are gone away without strength before the face of the pursuer" ("Lamentations 1:6"). Second, as to the lands subject to them: "a voice of crying." First he sets down, by way of a likeness, the devastation of the cities, because the Lord will lay waste their pastures — that is, their cities and villages, keeping to the metaphor of the flock: "the peaceable habitations are cut down" — as if to say, they are cast down into nothingness, so that no word is any more spoken of them. "The pastures" were splendid in time of peace: "fire has devoured the beautiful places of the wilderness, and a flame has burned all the trees of the country" ("Joel 1:19"). And as to the destruction of the temple: "he has forsaken" his tabernacle, that is, the temple — namely, God — "like a lion," by whose guarding they would more boldly have dared to approach: above, "I have forsaken my house" ("Jeremiah 12:7"). Second, he sets down the explanation: "the land is made a desolation... from before the wrath of the dove" — that is, of God, who punishes without disturbance of mind; or of Jerusalem, which is angered at the loss of God; or of Nebuchadnezzar, on account of the folly of his pride: "Ephraim is become like a decoyed dove, having no heart" ("Hosea 7:11"); or because he kept doves in his fields; or because, like a tame creature, he carried out the Lord's command; or by antiphrasis, because he was in fact cruel.

Chapter 26

Text

a. In the beginning of the reign of Joachim the son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came from the Lord, saying:

b. Thus says the Lord: Stand in the court of the house of the Lord, and speak to all the cities of Judah, out of which they come to adore in the house of the Lord, all the words which I have commanded you to speak to them; do not diminish a word. If perhaps they will hearken and turn again, every one from his evil way, that I may repent of the evil that I purpose to do them for the wickedness of their doings. And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: If you will not hearken to me, to walk in my law which I have set before you, to hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent to you, rising up before day and sending them, and you have not hearkened: I will make this house like Shiloh, and this city I will make a curse to all the nations of the earth.

c. And the priests, and the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. And when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests, and the prophets, and all the people took hold of him, saying: He shall surely die. Why has he prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying: This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, so as to have no inhabitant? And all the people were gathered together against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.

d. And the princes of Judah heard these words, and they went up from the king's house into the house of the Lord, and sat in the entry of the new gate of the house of the Lord. And the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and to all the people, saying: This man is worthy of death, for he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears. Then Jeremiah said to all the princes and to all the people: The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. Now therefore make your ways and your doings good, and hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will repent of the evil that he has spoken against you. But as for me, behold I am in your hands; do with me as is good and right in your eyes. Yet know and understand, that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and its inhabitants; for indeed the Lord sent me to you, to speak all these words in your hearing. And the princes and all the people said to the priests and the prophets: This man is not worthy of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.

e. Then some of the elders of the land rose up, and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying: Micah of Moresheth was a prophet in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Sion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become a heap of stones, and the mountain of the house of the Lord as the high places of a forest. Did Hezekiah king of Judah, and all Judah, put him to death? Did they not fear the Lord, and entreat the face of the Lord, so that the Lord repented of the evil which he had spoken against them? So then let us not do this great evil against our own souls. There was also a man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Urijah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjathjearim, and he prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah. And king Joachim, and all his mighty men, and his princes, heard these words, and the king sought to slay him. And Urijah heard it, and was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt. And king Joachim sent men into Egypt, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and the men with him, into Egypt. And they brought Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him to king Joachim, and he slew him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people. But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that he should not be delivered into the hands of the people, to put him to death.

Exposition

a. Here is set out the conspiracy of the princes against the prophet, and it is divided into three parts. First he sets down the title. Second, the prophecy, at the words "Thus says the Lord," etc. Third, he draws it to its conclusion, at the words "In the beginning of the reign," etc. The title is self-evident.

b. Here the prophecy is set down, and it is divided into three parts. In the first is set down the occasion of the persecution. In the second is set down the persecution itself, at "And the priests... heard," etc. In the third is set down the deliverance, at "And the princes heard," etc. Now the occasion arose from the preaching. Hence he first designates the place of the preaching: "stand in the court" — above: "stand in the gate of the house of the Lord, and preach there," "to all," etc. ("Jeremiah 7:2"). Second, as to the fruit of the preaching: "diminish not a word" — as to the amendment of guilt, "that they may turn again," and as to the remission of the punishment, "that I may repent" — above: "if that nation... shall repent of the evil for which I have spoken against it, I also will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them" ("Jeremiah 18:8"). Third, he sets down the very word of the preaching, "and you shall say" — above: "I will do to this house, in which my name is called upon, and in which you put your trust, and to the place that I gave you and your fathers, as I did to Shiloh, and I will cast you out from my presence, as I have cast out all your brethren, the whole seed of Ephraim" ("Jeremiah 7:14-15").

c. Here is set down the persecution; and concerning this he sets down four things. First, the hearing of the preaching: "and they heard" — "they hear your words, and do them not, for they turn them into a song of their mouth" ("Ezekiel 33:32"). Second, the wicked counsel: "and when" — "let us condemn him to a most shameful death" ("Wisdom 2:20"); "they have hated him that rebukes in the gate, and abhorred him that speaks with integrity" ("Amos 5:10"). Third, the argument they alleged for his wickedness, namely, that he prophesied; as if to say, he seems to speak falsely, since the Lord had chosen this very place for himself: "I hate him, for he does not prophesy good to me, but evil" ("1 Kings 22:8"). Fourth, the connivance of the people: "and all the people were gathered together" — "as the ruler of the city is, such also are they that dwell therein" ("Ecclesiasticus 10:2"); "be not led headlong into the multitude, nor bind together a double sin" ("Ecclesiasticus 7:8 (var.)").

d. Here is set out the deliverance. Concerning this there are two things. First is set down the judgment of the princes for Jeremiah's deliverance; second, the quieting of the people's fury through the words of the elders, at "then rose up," etc. As to the first, there are three points. First he sets down the princes' foresight: "and they went up" into the house of the Lord, to suppress the sedition. "New," because it had newly been built for holding the judgments of the priests, and of the things that pertained to the worship of religion: "you shall appoint judges and magistrates in all your gates, which the Lord your God shall give you, in all your tribes, that they may judge the people with just judgment, and not decline to either side," etc. ("Deuteronomy 16:18"). Second he sets down the dispute of the two parties: as to the accusation, "and the priests... spoke," striving to impute to him, as it were, the crime of blasphemy, that he might be put to death — likewise, "this man ceases not to speak words against the holy place and the law" ("Acts 6:13"). And as to his defense: "and Jeremiah said" — he answers prudently, for he excuses the guilt: "the Lord sent me" — hence I am not to be blamed for what I have said: "the office of judge is a most dangerous one to receive" ("Ecclesiasticus 5:9 (var.)"). Second he confirms his reply constantly, for he forbids the wrong: "you will bring [innocent blood]" — "the voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the earth" ("Genesis 4:10"). And because he confirms the sentence: "for indeed" — "if it be just in the sight of God to hearken to you rather than to God, judge you" ("Acts 4:19 (var.)"). Third is set down the promulgation of the sentence, "and they said." First the sentence is promulgated through the princes: "he is not worthy of death" — "behold, nothing worthy of death has been done by him" ("Luke 23:15"). Second the sentence is confirmed through the elders, whose office it is to know ancient deeds: "with the ancient is wisdom, and in length of days prudence" ("Job 12:12").

e. Here is set out the repression of the fury of the people against Jeremiah through the words of the elders. First they set forth a just example to be imitated, concerning the deed of Micah, setting down his prophecy — "Micah," one of the twelve minor prophets, "of Moresheth," to distinguish him from Micaiah the son of Imlah, of whom see "1 Kings 22"; "Sion" — "hear, you princes of Jacob, and you leaders of the house of Israel" ("Micah 3:1 (var.)"); above: "and I will make Jerusalem a heap of sand, and a den of dragons, and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, so that there shall be no inhabitant" ("Jeremiah 9:11"). And the conversion of the people: "did they" — as if to say, no; above: "ask for the old paths, which is the good way, and walk in it, and you shall find refreshment for your souls" ("Jeremiah 6:16"). And they draw the conclusion: "therefore let us not do" — "his sorrow shall be turned upon his own head, and his iniquity shall come down upon his own crown" ("Psalm 7:17 (var.)"). Second they set forth an example of injustice to be avoided, lest they add evil to evil: "there was also," etc. First is set down his own preaching: "and he prophesied" — "for God is not the God of dissension, but of peace" ("1 Corinthians 14:33"), and therefore all said the same thing. Second is set down his persecution and flight: "and he heard it, and fled" — "when they persecute you in one city, flee into another" ("Matthew 10:23"). Third, his slaying: "and the king said" — for he had been in league with the Egyptians, and it was therefore for this reason that he was put to death, while Jeremiah was set free; for God allows some of his saints to be slain, both for the condemnation of the wicked and for an example of patience to the good: "take, my brethren, for an example of suffering evil, and of patience, and of labor, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord" ("James 5:10"). Likewise: "James is killed, Peter is delivered" ("Acts 12:2-3 (var.)"). Third is set down the carrying out of the sentence for Jeremiah's deliverance, "therefore the hand [of Ahikam]." And this is plain.

Chapter 27

Text

a. In the beginning of the reign of Joachim the son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: Thus says the Lord to me: Make bonds and chains for yourself, and put them upon your neck, and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the children of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah; and command them to speak to their masters: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Thus shall you say to your masters: I have made the earth, and man, and the beasts that are upon the face of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and I have given it to whomever it pleased me. And now therefore I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant; moreover I have also given him the beasts of the field, that they may serve him. And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his own land comes; and then many nations and great kings shall enslave him. But the nation and kingdom that will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and whoever will not bend his neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, and with famine, and with pestilence, says the Lord, until I have consumed them by his hand. Therefore do not hearken to your prophets, and your diviners, and your dreamers, and your soothsayers, and your sorcerers, who say to you: You shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they prophesy a lie to you, that they may remove you far from your land, and drive you out, and you may perish. But the nation that shall bend its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and shall serve him, I will let it remain in its own land, says the Lord, and it shall till it, and dwell in it.

b. And to Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke according to all these words, saying: Bend your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and you shall live. Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence, as the Lord has spoken against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? Do not hearken to the words of the prophets that say to you: You shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they speak a lie to you. For I have not sent them, says the Lord, and they prophesy falsely in my name, that they may drive you out, and that you may perish, both you and the prophets that prophesy to you.

c. And to the priests, and to this people, I spoke, saying: Thus says the Lord: Do not hearken to the words of your prophets, who prophesy to you, saying: Behold, the vessels of the Lord shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie to you. Do not hearken to them therefore, but serve the king of Babylon, that you may live. Why should this city be given up to desolation? But if they are prophets, and the word of the Lord is with them, let them intercede with the Lord of hosts, that the vessels which were left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, may not go to Babylon. For thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, and the sea, and the bases, and the rest of the vessels that remain in this city, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he carried away Jeconiah the son of Joachim king of Judah from Jerusalem to Babylon, together with all the nobles of Judah and of Jerusalem — for thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that remain in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and of Jerusalem: They shall be carried to Babylon, and there they shall remain until the day when I shall visit them, says the Lord; and then I will cause them to be brought up, and restored to this place.

Exposition

a. Here, the title having first been clearly set forth, he excludes the false consolations of the prophets. First in general; second, descending to certain particular prophets, at chapter 28, "and it came to pass," etc. As to the first, he does two things. First he excludes the consolations of the prophets of the nations; second, those of the prophets of the Jews, at "and to Zedekiah," etc. As to the first, he does two things. First he prefigures the prophecy by a deed: "make yourself bonds and chains," as a sign of the servitude of the nations — "into the hand of the messengers" who had been sent to make a league with the king of Jerusalem, or to resist Nebuchadnezzar: "I have multiplied visions, and by the ministry of the prophets I have used similitudes" ("Hosea 12:10"); "and you, son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon you, and shall bind you with them, and you shall not go forth among them," etc. ("Ezekiel 3:25"). Second, he expresses this by word: "and you shall command them." Now he leads them on to submit themselves to the king of Babylon, against the counsel of the prophets, in a threefold manner. First, from the power of Nebuchadnezzar, which he shows in two ways. First, from the divine grant, setting forth the creation of things: "I have made" the earth, as regards the work of creation and disposition; "man," as regards the work of his adornment; "by my arm," which expresses the application of power to the work: "establishing the earth, and the things that spring from it" ("Isaiah 42:5"). And he concludes to God's authority to grant it: "and I have given it to him" — to a man, or to whomever I will: "the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever he wills" ("Daniel 4:14 (var.)"). And he shows that this grant was made by God to Nebuchadnezzar, as regards men: "and now therefore" — "the Most High God gave to Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and honor; and because of the greatness he gave him, all peoples, tribes, and languages trembled and were afraid before him," etc. ("Daniel 5:18-19"). And as regards the beasts: "moreover also the beasts" — and this is a hyperbolic manner of speaking; or by "beasts" are signified the fierce men who were under him; or, because men were made subject to him, the beasts too, being subject to men, are thereby subjected to him as well: hence "the beasts rested under its shadow" — by which tree Nebuchadnezzar was signified ("Daniel 4:12 (var.)"). In another way he shows his power from the subjection of the nations: "and they shall serve him" — "all things have their season" ("Ecclesiastes 3:1 (var.)"). Third, he leads them on by the punishment of the rebellious, setting down the punishment of those who rebel: "the nation [that will not serve him]." And therefore: "be subject of necessity, not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake" ("Romans 13:5"). And he excludes the counsel of the prophets: "do not hearken to your prophets" — whom he calls "diviners," who by a certain brightness of understanding at work in their souls claim to be able to foreknow even future things; "your dreamers," who divine by dreams; "your soothsayers," who divine from the chattering of birds; "your sorcerers," who by league with demons foretell future things: above: "hearken not to the words of the prophets that prophesy to you, and deceive you; they speak the vision of their own heart, not out of the mouth of the Lord," etc. ("Jeremiah 23:16"). And he assigns as the cause of the prophets' words that it is a lie, and the imminent danger, "that they may make you far off"; and this follows as a consequence: "I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets" ("1 Kings 22:22 (var.)"). Third, he leads them on by the grace of obedience which they will obtain from the Lord: "but the nation" — below: "fear not to serve the Chaldeans, dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you" ("Jeremiah 40:9 (var.)").

b. Since they might have said that he had not likewise told this secretly to his own people, so as to draw them too into rebellion, here he answers that he had told them the very same things. And first is set down his admonition to the king; second, to the priests and to the people, at "and to the priests," etc. As to the first, he does two things. First he sets down the good counsel, positing it: "bend your necks" — "servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward" ("1 Peter 2:18"). And he proposes the imminent danger: "why will you die" — above: "he who dwells in this city shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out and flees over to the Chaldeans who besiege you shall live, and his life shall be to him as a spoil" ("Jeremiah 21:9"). Second he excludes the false counsel of the prophets, "do not hearken," for three reasons. First, on account of the deceptive promise: "for it is a lie" — "her prophets daubed them without temper, seeing vain things, and divining lies to them, saying: Thus says the Lord, when the Lord has not spoken" ("Ezekiel 22:28 (var.)"). Second, on account of the authority they falsely presumed: "for I have not sent [them]" — above: "I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied" ("Jeremiah 23:21"). Third, on account of the imminent punishment, "that they may drive you out," incidentally: "you have fallen today, and the prophet also shall fall with you" ("Hosea 5 (var.)").

c. Here is set down the admonition to the priests and to the people. First he excludes their false counsel: "do not hearken" — namely, concerning the vessels that had been carried off to Babylon with Jeconiah ("2 Kings 24 (var.)"). And he assigns the reason, setting forth the prophets' falsehood: "for it is a lie"; the fruit of servitude, "that you may live"; the danger of rebellion, "why should [this city] be given up [to desolation]" — above: "he who goes out and flees over to the Chaldeans who besiege you shall live," etc. ("Jeremiah 21:9"). Second he asks for the judgment of the truth: "and if they are prophets"; as if to say, let them do the lesser thing, namely, that what remains not be carried off, by meeting God with their prayers, so that they may be believed as to the greater thing, namely, that what was already carried off be brought back: "you have not gone up to face the enemy, nor have you set yourselves as a wall for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord" ("Ezekiel 13:5 (var.)"). Third he sets forth a manifest argument of their falsehood, arguing from the greater to the lesser: for what seems the more likely — namely, that the things left behind should remain there — does not happen; much less, then, the lesser thing, namely, that the things already carried off should be brought back. "For thus says the Lord concerning the pillars" — the two which Solomon made for the porch — "and concerning the bases" of the same, "and concerning the sea," the vessel in which water was kept for the washing of the priests, which was set upon twelve bases, concerning all of which see "1 Kings 7". "And the rest of the vessels": "for thus says the Lord" — on account of the vessels of the temple, which Nebuchadnezzar had not removed, except those that were in the porch: "he took the precious vessels, and added the captured vessels to his spoil" ("1 Maccabees 1:23 (var.)"). And it is promised that after a long time to come they shall be brought back: "and I will cause them to be brought," in the days of Cyrus: "king Cyrus brought forth the vessels of the sacred house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem, and had consecrated to his own idol; and Cyrus king of the Persians brought them forth, and delivered them to Mithredath, who was over his treasures; and by his hand they were delivered to the prince of Judah" ("Ezra 1:7-8 (var.)").

Chapter 28

Text

a. And it came to pass in that year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azzur, a prophet of Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Yet two full years, and I will cause to be brought back to this place all the vessels of the Lord which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place and carried into Babylon; and I will bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Joachim king of Judah, and all the captivity of Judah that went into Babylon, says the Lord; for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.

b. And Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet, in the presence of the priests and in the presence of all the people that stood in the house of the Lord: And Jeremiah the prophet said: Amen, so may the Lord do. May the Lord confirm your words which you have prophesied, that the vessels may be brought again into the house of the Lord, and all the captivity, from Babylon to this place. Nevertheless hear this word, which I speak in your hearing, and in the hearing of all the people. The prophets that were before me and before you, from the beginning, prophesied against many lands, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of affliction, and of famine. The prophet who prophesies peace, when his word comes to pass, then shall the prophet be known whom the Lord has truly sent.

c. And Hananiah the prophet took the chain from off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, and broke it. And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying: Thus says the Lord: Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, after two full years, from off the neck of all the nations. And Jeremiah the prophet went his way.

d. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, after Hananiah the prophet had broken the chain from off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet, saying: Go, and say to Hananiah: Thus says the Lord: You have broken chains of wood, but you shall make for them chains of iron instead. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they shall serve him; moreover I have given him also the beasts of the earth. And Jeremiah the prophet said to Hananiah the prophet: Hear now, Hananiah: The Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will remove you from off the face of the earth; this year you shall die, for you have spoken rebellion against the Lord. And Hananiah the prophet died in that same year, in the seventh month.

Exposition

a. Here he comes down to certain particular false prophets. First to one who preached concerning those left behind in Jerusalem; second, to some who prophesied concerning the captivity in Babylon, chapter 29, "and these are the words," etc. As to the first, he does two things. First is set down the false consolation of the false prophet; second, the refutation of his falsehood through Jeremiah, at "and the word of the Lord came," etc. As to the first, he does two things. First is set down the false consolation which the false prophet made by word; second, that which he made by deed, at "and he took," etc. As to the first, he does two things: first the false consolation is set down; second, Jeremiah's response, at "and Jeremiah said," etc. As to the first, he does two things. First he sets down the title of the false prophecy, in which he designates three things: the time, "in the fourth year"; the prophet, "Hananiah the prophet," in his own estimation; and the place, "in the house of the Lord" — above: "in my house I have found their wickedness, says the Lord" ("Jeremiah 23:11"). Second, he sets down the false word of consolation, "thus says the Lord." First he promises liberty: "I have broken, I have destroyed" — he speaks in the past tense on account of the certainty he pretends to, "the dominion," which indeed was to be broken, but not yet: "you have broken the yoke of his burden" ("Isaiah 9:4 (var.)"). Second, he foretells the nearness of its fulfillment: "yet two full years" — lest it be taken to mean years of years, as in that saying: "I have given you a day for a year" ("Ezekiel 4:6"). And first as to the bringing back of the vessels: "I will cause [them] to be brought back" — of whose capture it is written: "the enemy has laid his hand on all her desirable things," etc. ("Lamentations 1:7 (var.)"). Second, as to the deliverance of her princes: "and Jeconiah" — contrary to what had been said above, in the preceding chapter: above: "O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord" ("Jeremiah 22:29").

b. Here is set down Jeremiah's response. First he shows his own affection, wishing that what Hananiah said might come to pass: "amen," that is, so be it: "would that I were not a man possessed of the spirit, and rather spoke falsehood" ("Micah 2:11 (var.)"). Nor is it any objection that he knew the Lord willed the contrary, because this wish is to be understood conditionally — namely, "if God should so will"; and because in this he conforms his own will to the divine will, in that he wills what God wills to be. Second, lest he seem to consent to the falsehood, he sets forth a sign of the truth, "nevertheless, hear." And this sign is taken from Deuteronomy: "if that which the prophet has foretold in the name of the Lord does not come to pass, the Lord has not spoken it" ("Deuteronomy 18:22"). But he himself seems to argue from the contrary sense, and it might seem that this argument does not hold, since it would amount to destroying the antecedent. And besides, the contrary is found elsewhere: "if there arise in the midst of you a prophet, or one who says he has dreamed a dream, and he foretells a sign and a wonder, and that which he spoke comes to pass, and he says to you: Let us go and follow strange gods whom you know not, and let us serve them — you shall not hear the words of that prophet or that dreamer," etc. ("Deuteronomy 13:1-3"). And it must be said that the argument is effective to show his falsehood, and this is what he himself intends to show.

c. Here he confirms his own prophecy by a deed, and concerning this there are three points. First he sets down the likeness expressed by the deed: "he took and broke" the chain, as a sign of the breaking of the empire of Babylon. Second he explains the likeness: "and so [says] Hananiah" — but this was in fact to come about only long afterward: below: "I will break his yoke from off your neck, and will burst your bonds" ("Jeremiah 30:8"). Third is shown Jeremiah's humility, in that he patiently and willingly endured it and went his way: "I am become as a man that hears not, and that has no reproofs in his mouth" ("Psalm 37:14 (var.)").

d. Here is set down the refutation of his falsehood. First he excludes the false consolation, by a likeness drawn from the deed: "you have strengthened," you, Hananiah, and you, Jeremiah; "you shall make," as a sign of the increase of the punishment — for those who fear the ruin, it shall fall upon them all the more. And he explains the likeness: "for thus says [the Lord]," as if to say, the yoke of servitude will be harder than it was foreshown to be: "its yoke is a yoke of iron, and its bond a bond of bronze" ("Ecclesiasticus 28 (var.)"). Second is set down the threat against the one who had prophesied falsely. First is set down the repression of his guilt: "and Jeremiah said: the Lord has not sent you" — "we have made a lie our hope, and by falsehood we are protected" ("Isaiah 28:15"). Second is set down the threat of punishment: "therefore I will send you away," that is, I will take you away by death: "not so the wicked, not so; but as the dust which the wind drives from the face of the earth" ("Psalm 1:4"). Third is set down the fulfillment of the prophecy: "and he died in the seventh month" — hence he survived only two months: "when they shall say: Peace and safety, then sudden destruction shall come upon them, as the pains upon her that is with child, and they shall not escape" ("1 Thessalonians 5:3").

Chapter 29

Text

a. And these are the words of the letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the remnant of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon, after Jeconiah the king, and the queen mother, and the eunuchs, and the princes of Judah and of Jerusalem, and the craftsmen, and the engravers, had departed from Jerusalem, by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to Babylon, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the captivity whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them. Take wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there, and be not few in number. And seek the peace of the city to which I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it, for in its peace shall be your peace. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Let not your prophets that are among you, and your diviners, deceive you; and do not give heed to your dreams which you dream, for they prophesy falsely to you in my name, and I have not sent them, says the Lord. For thus says the Lord: When the seventy years shall begin to be accomplished in Babylon, I will visit you, and will perform my good word toward you, to bring you back to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of affliction, to give you an end and patience. And you shall call upon me, and you shall go, and you shall pray to me, and I will hear you. You shall seek me, and shall find me, when you shall seek me with all your heart. And I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring back your captivity, and I will gather you together out of all the nations, and out of all the places to which I have driven you, says the Lord; and I will bring you back to the place from which I caused you to be carried away captive. Because you have said: The Lord will raise us up prophets in Babylon — for thus says the Lord to the king that sits upon the throne of David, and to all the people that dwell in this city, your brethren who have not gone forth with you into captivity:

b. Thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will send upon them the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence, and I will make them like bad figs, which cannot be eaten because they are so bad; and I will persecute them with the sword, and with famine, and with pestilence; and I will give them up to be a vexation to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and a hissing, and a reproach to all the nations to which I have driven them, because they have not hearkened to my words, says the Lord, which I sent to them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, and you have not hearkened, says the Lord. Hear therefore the word of the Lord, all you of the captivity, whom I have sent out from Jerusalem to Babylon.

c. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy to you falsely in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall slay them before your eyes. And a curse shall be taken up from them by all the captivity of Judah that is in Babylon, saying: The Lord make you like Zedekiah, and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;

d. because they have done wickedness in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and have spoken a word in my name falsely, which I did not command them.

e. I am the judge and the witness, says the Lord.

f. And to Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall say: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying: The Lord has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, that you should be ruler in the house of the Lord over every man that is mad and prophesies, that you should put him in the stocks and in prison — and now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who prophesies to you? For he has even sent to us in Babylon, saying: The captivity is long; build houses, and dwell in them, and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them. So Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet.

g. Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: Send to all the captivity, saying: Thus says the Lord concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I did not send him, and he has made you trust in a lie, therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his descendants; there shall not be a man of his seed dwelling among this people, and he shall not see the good that I will do to my people, says the Lord, because he has spoken rebellion against the Lord.

Exposition

a. Here he excludes the false consolations of the prophets who consoled the captives in Babylon. First he excludes the false consolations; second, he inveighs against the false consolers themselves, at "thus says the Lord," etc. As to the first, he does two things. First he sets down the title of the prophecy, in which he indicates three things: the manner of the prophesying, namely that it was by way of a letter — "the words of the book," that is, of the letter: "go in, write it upon a tablet, and note it down carefully in a book, that it may be for the last day, for a testimony forever" ("Isaiah 30:8 (var.)"). The time of the prophecy: "after [Jeconiah] had gone forth" (cf. "1 Kings 24 (var.)"); "behold the sovereign Lord of hosts shall take away from Jerusalem the strong and the valiant, all the strength of bread, and all the strength of water, the valiant man, the man of war, the judge, and the prophet," etc. ("Isaiah 3:1-2"). And the messenger of the prophecy: "by the hand of" those whom he sent to make peace with the Chaldeans, terrified unto death by the false consolation of Hananiah, and by Jeremiah's threat: "a fool, when he is beaten by the pestilent man, will become wiser" ("Proverbs 19:25 (var.)"). Second, he sets down the word of the prophecy, "thus says the Lord." Concerning this he does two things. First he gives them good and wholesome counsel, that they should attend to what pertains to the necessities of life: "build houses" — which they had been neglecting to do, believing that they would soon return, according to the promises of the false prophets: "they sowed fields, and planted vineyards, and made fruit of the increase" ("Psalm 106:37 (var.)"). Likewise, that they attend to what pertains to the succession of offspring: "take wives" — "increase and multiply, and fill the earth" ("Genesis 1:28"). And that they attend to what pertains to tranquility: "seek peace" — "pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and for the life of Belshazzar his son," etc. ("Baruch 1:11"); "I desire, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings, and for all that are in high station, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and chastity," etc. ("1 Timothy 2:1-2"). Second he excludes their false and useless counsel, "for thus says the Lord." First he excludes the vain confidence which they had conceived from the prophets' promise. Second he excludes their foolish repentance, at "for thus says the Lord," etc. As to the first, there are three points. First he excludes the saying of the false prophets, who promised a swift deliverance: "let not your prophets... deceive you," who speak to you in the Lord's name; "and your diviners," who work by the responses of demons: "the prophets have spoken foolishness, and their dreams are a lie, and they comfort in vain" ("Zechariah 10:2 (var.)"). Second he tells the time of the deliverance as regards its consolation: "for thus says the Lord, I will visit," consoling you. And this is the time for the one who afflicted them: above: "when seventy years are accomplished, I will visit upon the king of Babylon, and upon that nation, says the Lord, their iniquity," etc. ("Jeremiah 25:12"). And as regards the restoration of their homeland: "and I will raise up, I will fulfill" — "raise up the preaching which the former prophets spoke in your name" ("Ezekiel 36 (var.)"). Third he sets down the manner of the deliverance. First, promising the state of their former prosperity, as regards the tranquility of peace: "for I know" — as though no other knew: "the things of God no man knows but the Spirit of God" ("1 Corinthians 2:11"); "eye has not seen, besides you, O God, what things you have prepared for them that wait for you" ("Isaiah 64:4"). "Thoughts of peace," which I am preparing for you. "An end," of the captivity. "Patience," in their labors, that they might bear them more easily: "they speak peace with their neighbor, but evils are in their hearts" ("Psalm 27:3 (var.)"). And as regards the hearing of their prayer: "you shall call upon me," with the mouth; "and you shall go," with the mind; "you shall adore," with the body — or, you shall go to the temple: "at the voice of your cry, as soon as he hears it, he will answer you" ("Isaiah 30:19 (var.)"). Another reading has: "you shall call upon me, and you shall live, and you shall pray to me, and I will hear you" — and the sense is plain. And as regards the help of the divine protection: "you shall seek," with desire and with prayers; "and you shall find" him ready to help, as if he meant himself: "he who loves me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him" ("John 14:21"); "seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near" ("Isaiah 55:6"). Second he promises them the place of their own birth: "and I will bring you back" — "I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and bring you into your own land" ("Ezekiel 36:24 (var.)"). "Because you have said"; as if to say, it was not necessary for you to write, for you trust in false prophets.

b. Here he excludes their false repentance; for on account of the long captivity they might repent of having surrendered themselves, seeing that others had still remained behind in Jerusalem; and therefore against those who remained he threatens a grievous punishment of death: "behold I will send" — above: "he who dwells in this city shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out and flees over to the Chaldeans who besiege them shall live," etc. ("Jeremiah 21:9"). And of affliction: "and I will make them" — that is, they shall find no favor either with me, or with those by whom they are held captive, just as bad figs do not please those who gather them: above: "as these bad figs which cannot be eaten because they are so bad, says the Lord, so will I give up Zedekiah king of Judah, and his princes, and the remnant of Jerusalem that remain in this city, and that dwell in the land of Egypt," etc. ("Jeremiah 24:8"). And he assigns the cause: "because I have not heard" — namely, that they should surrender themselves to Nebuchadnezzar, and cease from their sins: above: "now I have solemnly protested, and said: Hear my voice; and they did not hear, but turned away their ear, and every one went after the perverseness of his own wicked heart," etc. ("Jeremiah 11:7-8 (var.)"). Second he draws the intended conclusion: "that you may have [an end]" — namely, lest you suffer punishment, provided you obey me in this: "hear, my children, the instruction of a father" ("Proverbs 4:1 (var.)").

c. Here he inveighs against the false prophets themselves. First against certain assertors of falsehood; second, against a certain assailant of the truth, at "and to Shemaiah," etc. As to the first: first he threatens; second, he charges their guilt, at "because he has [prophesied]," etc.; third, he argues to the justice of the judgment, at "I am [the judge]," etc. As to the first, there are three points. First is set down their being cast down into guilt: "I have delivered them up" — namely, so that he might have occasion to punish those whom he had earlier held in his power: "the Lord has delivered me into hands from which I am not able to escape" ("Lamentations 1:14 (var.)"). Second is set down the infliction of the punishment: "and he shall strike them" — "your fracture is incurable, your wound is very grievous" (below, "Jeremiah 30:12"). Third is set down the resulting curse: "and a curse shall be taken up from them." Now the Hebrews say these are the two elders of whom mention is made in the book of Daniel, and from this passage they wish to show that story to be a fable, since there they are said to have been slain by the people, but here by Nebuchadnezzar, and moreover there they are said to have been stoned, but here burned with fire ("Daniel 13"). To the first it must be said that both can be true, since Nebuchadnezzar put to death those convicted by Daniel's testimony, while the people carried out the execution of the sentence. To the second it must be said that any punishment can be called "fire" on account of the affliction it brings, and this especially because of its likeness to the guilt of adultery: "they are all adulterers, like an oven heated by the baker" ("Hosea 7:4 (var.)"); "it is a fire that devours even to destruction, and roots out all my increase" ("Job 31:12").

d. Here he sets down their guilt. First, adultery: "they have committed folly" — that is, a foolish thing — "these have committed adultery": "so they did to the daughters of Israel, and they, being afraid, spoke with them" ("Daniel 13:9 (var.)"); above: "every one neighed after his neighbor's wife" ("Jeremiah 5:8"). Second, falsehood: "and they have spoken" — for they said that deliverance was near, and that the Christ was about to be born from among them, so as thereby to seduce the women into adultery: above: "I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied" ("Jeremiah 23:21").

e. Here he sets down the justice of the judgment: "judge," to inflict the punishment; "witness," to convict them of their guilt, because they were caught by a divine prompting, and miraculously: "the Lord raised up the spirit of a young boy, whose name was Daniel," etc. ("Daniel 13:45 (var.)").

f. Here he inveighs against the assailant of the truth, because, being a false prophet, and having promised the people a deliverance near at hand, angered against Jeremiah on account of the letter which he had sent to Babylon, he wrote from Jerusalem, in a letter to the chief priest, against Jeremiah. Concerning this there are two things. First is set down his assault upon the truth; second, the threat against him, at "and the word of the Lord came," etc. As to the first, he does two things. First he sets down the tenor of the letter, "because you have sent" — the construction is incomplete, as though he meant "you will allow," which he states afterward, after certain things intervening. In this letter he does three things. First he recalls the example of his predecessor: "the Lord made you priest in the place of Jehoiada," who put to death the false prophets — do you likewise deal with Jeremiah, a false prophet (cf. "2 Kings 11 (var.)"). Second he recalls his office: "that you should be ruler over every man that is mad" — that is, seized by an unclean spirit and thereby usurping the office of a prophet; for it pertained to the priest's office to discern between spirits: "believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, if they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world," etc. ("1 John 4:1"). Third he even accuses Jeremiah's own letter: "for on this account, because he is not content to foretell us evils" — "they have hated him that rebukes in the gate, and abhorred him that speaks with integrity": "I hate him, for he does not prophesy good to me, but evil... Micaiah the son of Imlah" ("1 Kings 22:8 (var.)"). Second, he shows how this came to the prophet's knowledge: "so he read it," that it might be cast up to him as a reproach: above: "the word of the Lord is made a reproach to me, and a derision, all the day" ("Jeremiah 20:8 (var.)").

g. Here is set down the threat against him. First he charges his guilt: "because he has prophesied" — "we have made a lie our hope, and by falsehood we are protected" ("Isaiah 28:15"). And the word is directed to the captives by way of a certain other letter. Second he threatens the punishment, "therefore." First as regards his sons: "there shall not be" — as if to say, he shall not leave any survivor among the people: "I am the Lord your God, mighty, jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me," etc. ("Exodus 20:5 (var.)"). Second as regards himself: "and he shall not see" — above: "he shall be like the tamarisk in the desert, and shall not see when good comes" ("Jeremiah 17:6"). Third he resumes the cause: "because [he has spoken] rebellion" — because by his own words he transgressed against the Lord, speaking and promising prosperity while the Lord foretold adversity: "shall he that contends with God be so easily satisfied?" ("Job 40:2 (var.)").

Chapter 30

Text

a. This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, saying: Write for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you, in a book. For behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will bring back the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, says the Lord, and I will cause them to return to the land which I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.

b. And these are the words that the Lord has spoken concerning Israel and concerning Judah: For thus says the Lord: We have heard a voice of terror; there is fear, and no peace. Ask, and see whether a male brings forth young; why then have I seen every man with his hands on his loins, like a woman in labor, and all faces turned the color of verdigris? Alas, for that day is great, and there is none like it; it is the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and will burst your bonds, and strangers shall no more rule over him; but they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. Therefore fear not, my servant Jacob, says the Lord, neither be afraid, Israel; for behold, I will save you from a country far off, and your offspring from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be at rest, and shall abound with all good things, and there shall be none to make him afraid, for I am with you, says the Lord, to save you. For I will make a full end of all the nations among which I have scattered you, but I will not make a full end of you; but I will chastise you in judgment, that you may not seem to yourself innocent.

c. For thus says the Lord: Your bruise is incurable, your wound is very grievous. There is none to judge your cause, to bind it up for healing; you have no healing medicine. All your lovers have forgotten you, they seek you not; for I have struck you with the wound of an enemy, with a cruel chastisement, because of the multitude of your iniquity; your sins have grown hard. Why do you cry out over your affliction? Your sorrow is incurable; because of the multitude of your iniquity I have done these things to you. Therefore all that devour you shall be devoured, and all your adversaries shall go into captivity, and they that lay you waste shall be laid waste, and all that prey upon you I will give as a prey. For I will close up your wound, and will heal you of your bruises, says the Lord. Because they have called you an outcast, O Zion, saying: This is she that had none to seek after her. Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will bring back the captivity of the tents of Jacob, and will have pity on his dwelling places; and the city shall be built upon its own hill, and the temple shall be founded according to its own order. And out of them shall come forth praise, and the voice of them that make merry; and I will multiply them, and they shall not be diminished; and I will glorify them, and they shall not be made small. And their children shall be as before, and their assembly shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them; and their ruler shall be of themselves, and their prince shall come forth from the midst of them; and I will bring him near, and he shall approach to me — for who is he that will set his heart to approach to me, says the Lord? And you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

d. Behold the whirlwind of the Lord, a fury going forth, a violent storm shall rest upon the head of the wicked. The fierce anger of the Lord shall not turn back, until he has executed, and until he has accomplished the thought of his heart; in the latter days you shall understand these things.

Exposition

a. After the threat, he here begins to set down consolation. First he sets down consolation for all in common; second, in particular for the royal city, namely Jerusalem, chapter 33, "and the word came," etc. The first is divided into two. First he consoles them by word; second, he indicates the consolation by a deed, chapter 32, "the word that came," etc. The first is divided into two. In the first he consoles them from their escape from adversity; in the second, from the promise of prosperity, "in that time," etc. The first is divided into two. In the first he promises deliverance in general; in the second he pursues the promise in particular, at "and these are the words," etc. As to the first, he does two things. First the Lord gives the prophet the command to preserve the prophecy: "write for yourself all things" that have been foretold, and that will follow, whose revelation he had already received within, so that they might be preserved a long time — by which he signifies that they were not to be fulfilled soon: "take a great book, and write in it with a man's pen: make speed to take away the spoils, hasten to take the prey" ("Isaiah 8:1 (var.)"); "write the vision, and make it plain upon tablets, that he who reads it may run" ("Habakkuk 2:2"). Second he promises the benefit of the deliverance: "for behold I will bring back" — that is, I will recall them from the land of their captivity — as to the term from which: "the conversion," because not all, but only those who will be worthy of such a conversion; "Israel," the ten tribes, as regards those who came to king Hezekiah in Jerusalem: "for they were taken captive with the others, and returned when the others returned" ("2 Chronicles 30 (var.)"); or this may be referred to the conversion made to the faith of Christ. "And I will bring back," as to the term to which: "when the Lord brought back the captivity of Sion, we became like men comforted" ("Psalm 125:1 (var.)").

b. Here he pursues the several parts of the deliverance. First he promises them deliverance from servitude to their enemies; second, from the manifold destruction which they had endured, at "for thus says the Lord," etc. As to the first, he does two things. First he sets forth their former oppression, which he indicates by setting forth the enemies' terror: "a voice of terror," foretold long before by the prophets. "Fear, and there is no peace," none bringing any help: "the sound of dread is ever in his ears, and when there is peace, he always suspects ambushes" ("Job 15:21 (var.)"). He expresses the terror from a bodily gesture, because, like women in labor, they turned their hands to their loins out of amazement: "ask you" — "there, pains as of a woman in labor" ("Psalm 47:7 (var.)"). And from the change of their color: "and all faces are turned the color of verdigris," which is a blackness mixed with redness, befalling the angry, and also coming from a burning wind: "their faces shall be as faces burnt" ("Isaiah 13:8 (var.)"); "all faces shall be gathered as into a pot" ("Joel 2:6"). He also sets forth the greatness of the fear and anxiety: "alas, for it is great" — great in the magnitude of the tribulation, "that day" — the day of the taking of Jerusalem: "the voice of the day of the Lord is bitter, the mighty man shall be in distress there. That day is a day of wrath, a day of tribulation and distress, a day of calamity and misery, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and whirlwind, a day of the trumpet and alarm," etc. ("Zephaniah 1:14-16 (var.)"). Second he promises future salvation. First he promises deliverance: "and out of it," that is, out of that time, evil though it be: "I will save them by the Lord their God" ("Hosea 1:7 (var.)"). Second, the manner and order of the salvation, promising deliverance from servitude and excluding the dominion of their enemies: "and it shall come to pass in that day... his yoke," namely, Nebuchadnezzar's; and taken as a threat, this was fulfilled in the time of Zerubbabel ("1 Maccabees 1 (var.)"); or it may be referred to the deliverance wrought by Christ from the power of the demons: "for the yoke of his burden, and the rod of his shoulder, and the staff of his oppressor, you have broken as in the day of Midian" ("Isaiah 9:4 (var.)"). And promising the desired dominion: "but they shall serve" — that is, one who will be to them as David, as Zerubbabel, and as Jonathan; or Zerubbabel, who was of the stock of David; or Christ. Now David's rule was most desired by them, on account of the prosperity and peace which they had in his time, and because no servitude had oppressed them, as it did under Solomon: "I will set up one shepherd over them... my servant David... he shall feed them" ("Ezekiel 34:23 (var.)"). He also provides for their deliverance from captivity, excluding fear: "therefore fear not" — "fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and gather you from the west" ("Isaiah 43:5 (var.)"). And he sets down the deliverance as to the term from which: "for behold I will save my people from the land of the east, and from the land of the going down of the sun, and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in justice" ("Zechariah 8:7-8 (var.)"). And as to the term to which: "and he shall return, and shall be at rest," as regards the tranquility of peace; "and shall abound with all things," as regards the abundance of goods: "my people shall sit in the multitude of peace, and in the tabernacles of confidence, and in wealthy rest" ("Isaiah 32:18"). Third he shows the author of this salvation. First he sets down the presence of the Savior: "for I" — above: "the Lord is with me as a mighty warrior; therefore they that persecute me shall fall, and shall be weak, and shall be greatly confounded, because they have not understood the everlasting reproach, which shall never be blotted out" ("Jeremiah 20:11 (var.)"). Second, the vengeance he will take upon their enemies: "for I will make a full end," bringing them to the end of their consuming: "the Lord shall make a consummation and a shortening in the midst of all the land" ("Isaiah 10:23 (var.)"). Third, his mercy in preserving them: "but you," that is, that you shall not be left without remnant — above: "in those days, says the Lord, I will not make a full end of you" ("Jeremiah 5:18 (var.)"). Fourth he adds a moderate punishment, for their chastisement: "I will chastise you" — above: "correct me, O Lord, but yet with judgment, and not in your fury, lest you bring me to nothing" ("Jeremiah 10:24 (var.)"). "In judgment" — with equity.

c. Here he promises deliverance from the great destruction and affliction which they had endured; and concerning this there are two things. First he sets forth the destruction that preceded, showing its magnitude, in that this will be, as it were, the measure of the chastisement, such that it could not be repaired by human strength: "grievous," which speaks of an interruption of continuity, and signifies the destruction of men or of cities; "incurable," so far as lies in you, though God is able to save because of his own greatness; "very evil," because of its depth: "for your destruction is great like the sea, who shall heal you?" ("Lamentations 2:13 (var.)"). He also excludes any human help coming to their aid, whether by a judgment of justice, judging concerning the wrong done — "there is none to judge" — against your enemies; or by binding it up, as those who tend wounds bind bandages over them: "wound, and bruise, and swelling sore, not bound up, nor dressed, nor fomented with oil" ("Isaiah 1:6 (var.)"); or by the affection of friendship coming to help: "you have no profit," namely, from your friends, because you have offended the very remedy: "all her friends have despised her, and are become her enemies" ("Lamentations 1:2 (var.)"). He also shows the equity of the punishment, assigning its cause: "for it is the wound of an enemy" that strikes to death, "because it is incurable"; "cruel," because deep; "because of the multitude" of your iniquity — whence it had to be a great wound, that might comprehend the whole extent of it; "hard," as to their obstinacy — and therefore it had to be violent and deep, so as to penetrate even to what was most inward: "the Lord is become as an enemy, he has cast down Israel headlong, he has thrown down all its walls, he has destroyed its strongholds, and has filled the daughter of Judah with humiliation, both man and woman" ("Lamentations 2:5 (var.)"). And he excludes the complaint of those who murmur: "why do you cry out, murmuring?" They cannot be healed except by the sharpest remedy, by which I might cut away the putrid and incurable flesh: "why does a living man complain, a man for his sins?" ("Lamentations 3:39 (var.)"). Second he promises deliverance. First he promises the benefit of his help as regards the judgment of vengeance, against the wrong done to their persons, because there is none other to deliver them: "they that devour you," by killing; "your enemies," who hold you captive: above: "all that devour you shall be consumed, evils shall come upon them, says the Lord" ("Jeremiah 2:3 (var.)"). And against the wrong done to their goods: "and they that lay you waste," as regards what is immovable; "your plunderers," as regards what is movable: "woe to you that plunder, shall you not also be plundered?" ("Isaiah 33:1"). And as regards a friendly, outward affection, he sets down their healing: "I will close up," that is, I will heal so perfectly that not even the trace of the former wound will appear: "who heals the broken of heart, and binds up their bruises" ("Psalm 146:3 (var.)"). This came to pass under Zerubbabel, when the Babylonians, and the Chaldeans, and then the Medes and Persians, laid waste the Assyrians, that is, Nineveh; and then the scar was closed up, and healed. And he assigns the reason: "because they have called her an outcast," namely, her enemies: "when your enemy falls, do not rejoice, and let not your heart be glad at his ruin, lest the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him" ("Proverbs 24:17-18 (var.)"); for the exultation of enemies is a cause that moves the divine mercy. Second he shows the manner of his help: "thus says the Lord to me" (var.). First as to the manner of the vengeance: "behold a whirlwind." As to this, he first promises the general restoration of all their buildings: "I will bring back," that is, I will restore to their former state, "of the tents," of the houses: "they shall build the old ruins, and shall raise up ancient waste places, and repair the desolate cities, destroyed for many generations" ("Isaiah 61:4 (var.)"). And in particular, as to the chief buildings: "and the city shall be built," that is, Jerusalem: "I say to Jerusalem: you shall be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah: you shall be built up, and I will raise up her waste places" ("Isaiah 44:26 (var.)"). Second he promises men's prosperity, as regards the gladness of their hearts: "and there shall come forth from them" — "joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of praise" ("Isaiah 51:3 (var.)"); as regards the multitude of the people: "I will multiply them, and they shall not be diminished," so far as lies with me, unless it come about through their own fault: "I will number them, and they shall be multiplied above the sand" ("Psalm 138:18 (var.)"); or this may be understood of those who are converted to Christ. And as regards the exaltation of man: "and I will glorify them," whether in body or in soul, as regards the holiness of virtue; "and their children shall be as at the beginning," that is, like the holy patriarchs; "before me," through a likeness of life; "and I will visit," because I will defend them, and take vengeance for them: "who will grant that I might be as in months past, according to the days in which God preserved me?" ("Job 29:2 (var.)"). Third, as regards the goodness of their rulers, he first sets down their nearness of kin, in that they will be of the same stock: "and their ruler shall be" — this refers to Zerubbabel, or to Christ: "I will give them one head" ("Hosea 2:2 (var.)"). Second, their holiness: "and I will bring him near, and he shall approach," through justice — for who is he in whom is shown the author of that drawing-near, since none draws near unless he be drawn by God: "no man can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draw him" ("John 6:44"). Third he touches on the usefulness of justice: "and you shall be to me [a people]" — "as the ruler of the city is, such also are they that dwell therein" ("Ecclesiasticus 10:2").

d. Here he sets down the manner of the vengeance. First he threatens the punishment: "behold a whirlwind," that it may scatter, as a stirring of the air scatters dust, through captivity; "a violent storm," that it may swallow up through death, like the surge of the sea; "of the wicked," who oppressed the Jews, and who were not corrected by their evils; "shall rest," as a punishment that endures: "the passing of the appointed rod, which the Lord shall cause to rest upon him" ("Isaiah 30:32 (var.)"). Second he excludes mercy: "he shall not turn back" — "for all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still" ("Isaiah 9:12 (var.)"). Third he promises that this shall be known: "in the last days," namely, when all these things shall have come to pass: "the Lord shall be known executing judgments; the sinner is caught in the works of his own hands" ("Psalm 9:16 (var.)").

Chapter 31

Text

a. At that time, says the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus says the Lord: The people that were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; Israel shall go to his rest. The Lord has appeared to me from afar. Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore have I drawn you, taking pity on you. I will build you up again, and you shall be built, O virgin of Israel; you shall again be adorned with your timbrels, and shall go forth in the dance of them that make merry. You shall yet plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and until the time comes they shall not gather the fruit. For there shall be a day, in which the watchmen on Mount Ephraim shall cry: Arise, and let us go up to Sion, to the Lord our God.

b. For thus says the Lord: Rejoice with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations; sound aloud, and sing, and say: Save, O Lord, your people, the remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north, and will gather them from the ends of the earth; among them shall be the blind and the lame, the woman with child and she that brings forth together, a great company of them returning here. They shall come with weeping, and I will bring them back with mercy; and I will lead them through streams of waters, in a straight way, and they shall not stumble therein, for I have become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.

c. Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the islands that are afar off, and say: He that scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd does his flock. For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and delivered him out of the hand of one stronger than he. And they shall come, and shall give praise on Mount Sion, and shall flow together to the good things of the Lord, for the wheat, and for the wine, and for the oil, and for the young of the sheep and of the herds; and their soul shall be as a watered garden, and they shall be hungry no more. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, the young men and the old together; and I will turn their mourning into joy, and I will comfort them, and make them joyful after their sorrow. And I will fill the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my good things, says the Lord.

d. Thus says the Lord: A voice was heard on high, of lamentation, of mourning, and of weeping, of Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted for them, because they are not. Thus says the Lord: Let your voice cease from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work, says the Lord, and they shall return out of the land of the enemy. And there is hope for your latter end, says the Lord, and your children shall return to their own borders.

e. Hearing, I have heard Ephraim bewailing his captivity: You have chastised me, O Lord, and I was instructed, like a young bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Convert me, and I shall be converted, for you are the Lord my God. For after you converted me, I did penance, and after you showed me my ways, I struck my thigh. I am confounded and ashamed, because I have borne the reproach of my youth.

f. Is Ephraim my honorable son, is he a darling child? For since I spoke of him, I will still remember him. Therefore my heart is troubled for him; pitying, I will surely pity him, says the Lord.

g. Set yourself up a watchtower, make yourself bitterness. Direct your heart into the straight way in which you walked.

h. Return, O virgin of Israel, return to these your cities. How long will you waver in your wantonness, O wandering daughter? For the Lord has created a new thing upon the earth: a woman shall encompass a man.

i. Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: They shall yet speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I shall have brought back their captivity: The Lord bless you, O beauty of justice, O holy mountain. And Judah and all its cities together shall dwell in it, husbandmen and they that drive their flocks, for I have inebriated the weary soul, and have filled every hungry soul. Therefore I have wakened as it were out of sleep, and I have seen, and my sleep was sweet to me.

k. Behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of men and with the seed of beasts. And as I have watched over them to pluck up, and to break down, and to scatter, and to destroy, and to afflict, so will I watch over them to build up and to plant, says the Lord. In those days they shall say no more: The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge; but every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eats the sour grape, his own teeth shall be set on edge. Behold, the days come, says the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, in the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, the covenant which they made void, though I had dominion over them, says the Lord. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will give my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more, every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying: Know the Lord; for they shall all know me, from the least of them even to the greatest, says the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

l. Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the order of the moon and the stars for a light by night; who stirs up the sea, and its waves roar, the Lord of hosts is his name. If these ordinances should fail before me, says the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall fail, so as to be no nation before me forever. Thus says the Lord: If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth beneath be searched out, then I also will cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says the Lord.

m. Behold, the days come, says the Lord, when the city shall be built to the Lord, from the tower of Hananeel to the gate of the corner. And the measuring line shall go out farther, in his sight, over the hill Gareb, and shall compass Goatha, and all the valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and the whole region of death, as far as the brook Kedron, and as far as the corner of the gate of the horses toward the east. It shall be holy to the Lord; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more forever.

Exposition

a. Here he consoles them with the promise of prosperity, and concerning this he does two things. First he promises prosperity to the nation. Second, the enlargement of the city, at Behold, the days come. The first is divided into three: in the first he consoles the ten tribes; in the second, both tribes together, at Thus says the Lord, and so on; in the third, both together again, at Behold, the days come. The first of these is again threefold: first the restoration of the destroyed people is set forth; second, the order of that restoration, at For thus says the Lord, Rejoice, and so on. Concerning the first he does three things. First he promises them restoration to the worship of religion — In that time — either after the return from Babylon, or, as regards all, meaning those of the ten tribes who clung to the two remaining ones; or as regards all Israel, since all Israel shall be saved after the fullness of the Gentiles shall have come in, Romans 11 (var.); Revelation 20, "They shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, their God." Second he promises restoration to the place of their birth, promising the benefit of their recall — The people who escaped the sword, namely of Babylon, found grace in the wilderness, that is, in the land of captivity, in which they seemed forsaken by God, and through which, once purified, they returned to their own land, just as of old through the wilderness to the land of promise. Found grace, that is, this mercy with God, so that Israel shall go to his rest, that is, to his own land, where he shall rest in peace — which can also be expounded mystically of the peace they had in the time of Simon Machabaeus, 1 Maccabees 14; Isaiah 32, "My people shall sit in the beauty of peace, and in the tabernacles of confidence, and in wealthy rest." He fixes the time of the recall: from afar, that is, before it comes to pass, the Lord has appeared to me, revealing the future deliverance: above, chapter 28, "I will break the yoke of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, from off the neck of all the nations, within two full years"; Habakkuk 2, "It is yet a vision, and it shall appear in the end, and it shall not lie." And showing the affection of the one who recalls them: with an everlasting love, as if to say, not for a time, but forever, has he bestowed these things upon you; I have drawn you, to your own place, taking pity on you, filling out that mercy with an outward benefit: Hosea 11, "I will draw them with the cords of Adam, with the bands of love"; above, chapter 2, "I have remembered you, pitying your youth, and the love of your espousals." Third, he promises the recollection of a state of prosperity. And first he promises prosperity as regards the reparation of the nation — and I will build you up again — according to the metaphor, since Israel is called a house: above, chapter 24, "I will build them up, and not throw them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up." As regards the gladness of heart: O virgin of Israel, you shall again be adorned with your timbrels, that is, you shall go forth adorned, playing to the beat of the timbrel: Isaiah 30, "You shall have joy of heart, as he who goes with a pipe, to enter into the mountain of the Lord, to the mighty One of Israel." And as regards the tranquillity of peace: You shall yet plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria, on account of the three cities that were added to Judea: 1 Maccabees 10; "They shall plant, until the time comes," as if to say, on account of fear of enemies they shall not anticipate the time of the vintage: Isaiah 65, "They shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruits of them." Second, he assigns the reason for this prosperity: For, behold, the day — by which is signified the return to the worship of God, to which they mutually exhort one another — in Zion, and not in Bethel, to the calves of Jeroboam, 1 Kings 12; and Isaiah 2, "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."

b. Here he pursues the order of the operation itself, and concerning this he does two things. First he leads them on to exultation: Give praise, O Jacob, with joy; Psalm 80(81), "Rejoice to God our helper; sing aloud to the God of Jacob." To this exultation he first introduces the taunting of the enemies, so as to remove it: and shout to the head of the nations, that is, the king of Babylon, or of the Assyrians, who had taken them captive: Habakkuk 2 (var.), "Shall they not rise up suddenly who shall bite you, and shall they not awake who shall tear you, and you shall be a spoil to them?" And also the divine praise: make it heard, on psalteries and instruments of that kind. Second he sets forth the order of the deliverance. Behold, I — describing the terminus from which the return begins — from the land of the north, and the assembly of those returning — among whom: as if to say, no one, whether man or woman, shall be hindered from the return by any weakness of body, and this because they shall come in safety: Isaiah 35, "The lame shall leap as a hart." He also describes the manner of the return: with weeping, some on account of the joy of the return, and some on seeing the desolation of the land: 1 Esdras 3 (var.), "The people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people." And with mercies, out of the abundance of mercy: Isaiah 54, "With great mercies will I gather you." By the streams of waters, along which they travel as sailors go, and the ways are straight and good, so that the toil and tedium of the journey are excluded: Proverbs 3, "You shall walk confidently in your way, and your foot shall not stumble." Third he assigns the reason for this: the fatherly affection by which he is moved toward them, for I am a father to Israel. Whence, as a father, he cannot but pity them; for Ephraim is his firstborn among all peoples: Exodus 4, "The son of Joseph was given the birthright," as is said 1 Chronicles 5, in which Ephraim is preferred to Manasseh, Genesis 48, whence it is left that Ephraim is the firstborn.

c. Here is set forth the publishing abroad of the deliverance. And first he summons the nations to attention, Hear, that all may put their trust in him who is able so to deliver: Isaiah 49, "Give ear, you islands, and hearken, you people, from afar." Second he foretells the deliverance of the people, with no divine indignation hindering it, because, he who has scattered: Isaiah 40, "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; he shall gather together the lambs with his arm, and shall carry them in his bosom, and shall himself carry them that are with young." Nor with any hindrance from the power of those detaining them: redeemed, once from the Egyptians, and from the hand of one mightier than he, namely the Chaldeans; Psalm 71(72), "He shall deliver the poor from the mighty, and the needy that had no helper." Third he promises prosperity to those delivered. And first, as regards all, he promises a fitting observance of religion: on the height of Zion, not in Bethel, to the calves: Isaiah 51 (var.), "They that are redeemed by the Lord shall return, and shall come into Zion with praise, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads." And an abundance of temporal goods, setting forth the fertility of good things as regards the produce of the earth which are brought forth for our food, and are seasoned, as regards the animals: and they shall flow together to the good things of the Lord, for corn, and wine; Genesis 27, "I have established him with corn and wine." And, as regards the perpetuity of those who possess them: their soul shall be as a watered garden, and they shall be hungry no more. This can also be understood of spiritual goods conferred through Christ, which now exists in part, but in the future shall be fulfilled entirely: Revelation 20 (var.), "They shall no more hunger nor thirst, neither shall the sun fall on them, nor any heat." And gladness of heart, as regards the outward signs of gladness: then shall the virgin rejoice; above, chapter 30, "Out of them shall come forth praise, and the voice of them that make merry, and I will multiply them," and so on. And as regards the cessation of sorrow: I will turn their mourning into joy; Tobit 3, "After a storm you make a calm, and after tears and weeping you pour in exultation." Second, specifically as regards the priests: I will fill, that is, I will satisfy abundantly, with fatness, with an abundance of offerings and sacrifices; and my people shall be filled, so that they may be able to offer to God. This, however, is to be understood spiritually of the fatness of devotion: Psalm 62(63), "Let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise you with joyful lips."

d. Here is set forth the consolation of those who weep. And first he introduces the mourning of the mother, Rachel, who was the mother of Joseph, weeping for the destruction of her children. He speaks figuratively, but this is said hyperbolically, in that sorrow over the adversity of the children overflows onto the dead parents. Or it may be because in the Roman captivity the Jewish captives were led and sold near the sepulcher of Rachel. Or because it is said figuratively that she weeps for the children slain near her, since she herself was buried near Bethlehem, as is recorded in Genesis 35. Of lamentation, which consists in words expressing grief. Of weeping, as regards the shedding of tears. Of mourning, as regards a certain observance in the expression of grief, as is done in the changing of garments and the like: above, chapter 3, "A voice was heard in the highways, weeping and howling of the children of Israel, because they have made their way wicked, they have forgotten the Lord their God." He excludes the remedy of consolation: and refusing to be comforted, because they are not — that is, not returned with the others, because they have been reduced to nothing: Hosea (var.), "Consolation is hidden from my eyes, for he shall divide the inheritance among his brothers." Second he applies the remedy of consolation: Thus says the Lord: let your voice cease, as regards the lamentation, and your eyes, as regards the weeping: Revelation 20 (var.), "God shall wipe away every tear from the eyes of the saints, and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more." Third he promises the benefit of deliverance. First, as regards the terminus from which: for there is a reward, by which is shown that they are delivered through the merit of the holy fathers. The enemy, the Chaldeans: Isaiah 40 (var.), "Behold, his reward is with him, and his work is before him." Second, as regards the terminus to which: and there is hope for your latter end, signifying that in the last times they shall return to the true faith, and perhaps also to their own land, after Antichrist is slain: Proverbs 10 (var.), "The expectation of the just is joy, but the hope of the wicked shall perish."

e. Here is set forth the reception of the penitent. And first is prefixed the acknowledgment of the confession: Hearing, I have heard, that is, I have mercifully heard: Exodus 3, "I have seen the affliction of my people that is in Egypt, and I have heard their cry." And the confession is added: You have chastised me, like a young bullock, which is corrected with difficulty and by many blows: Isaiah 28 (var.), "Vexation alone shall make one understand what is heard." Second, the petition is set forth: Convert me, and I shall be converted, for you are the Lord my God. Third is assigned the reason for the petition — the penance which he had begun. Whence he first states the sin: after you converted me, by pouring in grace, after you showed me, my sins, I struck my thigh, designating the interior sorrow by the exterior striking, after the manner of a grieving man; or rather I restrained the pleasures of the flesh: Job (var.), "By the hearing of the ear I have heard you, but now my eye sees you." Second he sets down the penitent's shame, since from the recognition of the evil which he had endured through sin, confusion of face followed, which was the sign of penance: I am confounded, inwardly; and ashamed, outwardly; because I have borne the reproach, that is, the punishment and confusion for sins, of my youth. And he names youth as the time before conversion, as if to say, that he sinned then out of ignorance: Job 13 (var.), "You write bitter things against me, and will consume me for the sins of my youth."

f. Here he receives back the penitent. And first is set forth the divine compassion. Second, the instruction of the penitent, at Set yourself up a watchtower. Third, his recall, at Return, O virgin. Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets forth the reason of mercy on the part of the people: Is Ephraim my honorable son? — as if to say, is he not indeed an honorable son, by reason of his birthright? Is he a darling child? — on account of the tenderness of his age, since Joseph was as it were the youngest of the sons of Jacob, and Ephraim the younger of the sons of Joseph. And these two things move a father the more to pity: Hosea 11, "Israel was a child, and I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son." He also gives the reason on the part of God: for since I spoke of him, as if to say, it is not fitting that the words of God be made void. I will still remember my words: Numbers 23, "God is not as a man, that he should lie: has he said, and will he not do it? has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?" Second he shows the compassion itself: therefore my heart is troubled, an anthropopathy signifying his inward compassion. Pitying, I will surely pity him, in which is signified the outward relief: Hosea 11 (var.), "My heart is turned within me, my repentance is stirred up together."

g. Here is set forth the instruction of the penitent: Set yourself up a watchtower, that you may consider the prosperous things that are announced, or the way by which you may return; make yourself bitterness, that is, anxious concern over your return; you consider the way by which you came, that by it you may return. Or better: a watchtower, of contemplation; bitterness, for past sins; into the straight way, that is, into the way of justice, by which your fathers walked: Revelation 2, "Remember from where you have fallen, and do penance, and do the first works."

h. Here is set forth their recall to their own land. And first is set forth the recall: Return; how long will you waver in your wantonness, O wandering daughter? This is said with regard to those who, absorbed in the delights of the Chaldeans, were unwilling to return to the land of promise, who are rightly called by the name of women on account of their softness: above, chapter 3, "But you have played the harlot with many lovers; nevertheless return to me, says the Lord, and I will receive you." Second is set forth the reason for the recall, from the incarnation of Christ, which ought to move all to withdraw from delights: for the Lord has created a new thing, since that conception came to pass by the power of Christ alone acting. A woman, on account of the fragile condition of the sex, shall encompass, in her womb, a man, Christ, perfect from the moment of his conception in knowledge and in grace. Whence to the land in which this new thing must come to pass, you ought to hasten: Ephesians 4 (var.), "Put on the new man, who according to God is created"; Zechariah 6, "Behold the man, the Orient is his name." And under him it shall rise, and it shall build a temple to the Lord.

i. Here is set forth the consolation given specially to the two tribes. And first is set forth a joyful announcement, since it announces the holiness of religion: They shall yet speak this word, praising the Lord and his temple, not idols. O beauty of justice, holy mountain, that is, Mount Zion; for from it the doctrine of the law and judgment was diffused throughout the whole kingdom, on account of the priests and kings who dwelt there: Psalm 47(48), "Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised, and of his greatness there is no end." Or by mountain is meant Christ: Daniel 2, "A stone cut out of the mountain." He also promises the security of peace: and they shall dwell: Isaiah 62, "You shall no more be called Forsaken, and your land shall no more be called Desolate, but you shall be called My pleasure in her, and your land shall be inhabited." He also promises the fullness of good things: for I have inebriated, that is, I have abundantly replenished, the weary soul, once weary with tribulations; Psalm 106(107), "For he has satisfied the empty soul, and has filled the hungry soul with good things." Second is set forth the exultation of the one announcing it: therefore, as it were out of sleep, namely by divine revelation, I have wakened, on account of the prosperity seen. These can also be the words of the people, and the sleep signifies the preceding misery. Sweet, insofar as he has obtained mercy: Psalm 3, "I have slept, and taken my rest, and have risen up, because the Lord has protected me"; Ecclesiastes 5, "Sweet is the sleep of a laboring man, whether he eat little or much," and so on.

k. Here he consoles both tribes together. And first is set forth the promise; second, the confirmation of the promise, at Thus says the Lord. Concerning the first he does two things. First he promises temporal goods, as regards the multiplication of men and of beasts: I will sow, as it were multiplying by sowing: Zechariah 2, "Jerusalem shall be inhabited without walls, by reason of the multitude of men and beasts in the midst thereof." As regards the reparation of what had been destroyed: as I have watched, diligently carrying out what I had threatened, to pluck up, taking away every support in which, as in a root, they were established; to break down, that is, to destroy, as regards the slaughter of men and the desolation of cities; to scatter, removing the hedge of human and angelic protection; to destroy, delivering them captive into distant places; to afflict, with the heavy burden of servitude, holding them captive: Zechariah 8, "As I purposed to afflict you, when your fathers had provoked me to wrath, says the Lord, and I had not mercy, so, turning again, I have thought in these days to do good to the house of Judah and Jerusalem." And as regards the mitigation of punishment for the sins of the fathers: in those days: Ezekiel 18, "What do you mean, that you use among you this proverb as a parable in the land of Israel, saying: The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge?" Second he promises spiritual goods: Behold, the days. And first he promises the renewal of the covenant: the days, namely of grace; a new covenant, the new testament, that is, the Gospel; I had dominion, harshly and with a display of power in exacting vengeance: Isaiah 55 (var.), "I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies of David." Second he sets down the tenor of the covenant: but this shall be the covenant, the law, the Gospel; in their inward parts, not on tables of stone: Hosea 2, "I will lead her into the wilderness, and I will speak to her heart." Third he sets forth the utility of the covenant. First as regards obedience: and I will be their God; Ezekiel 36, the same. Second as regards wisdom: and they shall teach no more, by which he excludes the necessity of being taught. And this indeed is fulfilled in the present time, as regards the fact that we do not come to the divine truth through the reasonings of prophecy, and through human inventions, nor even through the traditions of the Jews, but in the future it shall be fulfilled entirely: Matthew 23, "Be not called Rabbi; for one is your master." And he assigns the reason: for they shall all know me: Isaiah 54, "I will make all your children to be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children"; John 15, "All things whatsoever I have heard of my Father, I have made known to you." Third, as regards the cleansing of sins: for I will forgive: Psalm 102(103), "Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your infirmities."

l. Here is set forth the confirmation of the promise. And first he confirms it from the unchangeableness of created things, setting forth the power of the one who promises: who gives the sun: Psalm 135(136), "Who made great lights, the sun to rule the day, the moon and stars to rule the night," as if to say: he who made these things unmoving can also make his promise firm. And a comparison: if these ordinances should fail, as if to say, just as they shall not fail until the end of the world, so neither shall the seed of Israel fail, as regards those who are saved: Isaiah 66 (var.), "As the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make to stand before me, says the Lord, so shall your seed stand, and your name." Second, from the immensity of creation: Thus says the Lord. And first he sets forth the impossibility of measuring it: if the heavens can be measured, by human understanding: Isaiah 40, "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and weighed the heavens with his palm?" Second he sets forth the promise: then I also will cast off, as if to say, just as that is impossible, so is this. All the seed of Israel, since he does cast off some of them: Lamentations 3, "For he has not, from his heart, afflicted and cast off the children of men."

m. Here is promised the reparation of the city. And first is promised the rebuilding: the city shall be built: Isaiah 44, "Who says to Jerusalem: You shall be inhabited, and to the cities of Judah: You shall be built, and I will raise up her deserts." Second is set forth its enlargement: from the tower of Hananeel, which some said was at Anathoth, which Jerome in the gloss rejects, even to the gate of the corner, where the two walls were joined, farther than the ancient measure, over the hill Gareb, which is interpreted "scab" or "itch," where perhaps the lepers dwelt outside the city; Goatha, interpreted "sinful nation," where dwelt those who, on account of some sin, were unclean; the valley of the dead bodies, where the burial-places of the people were; the ashes, where the ashes of things offered were thrown, as from the sacrifices, or unclean things, as from the houses of lepers and the like; of death, where evildoers were put to death; as far as the corner of the gate of the horses toward the east, for horses could not go up on every side, on account of the roughness of the mountain: Isaiah 54, "Enlarge the place of your tent, and stretch out the skins of your tabernacles." Third is set forth its duration: holy to the Lord, that is, the sanctuary, namely the temple; or the whole city, which had been sanctified to the Lord: above, chapter 3, "They shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, in the name of the Lord, in Jerusalem"; Isaiah 33, "A tabernacle that shall not be removed, neither shall the nails thereof be taken away forever, and all its cords shall not be broken." The Jews interpret this of an earthly Jerusalem, which Jerome disapproves of in the gloss, and expounds it of the Church, which gathers together within itself both the perfect and the imperfect, and sinners, who are signified by the unclean places outside the city. It can also be said otherwise, that this was fulfilled under Ezra, whence it is found in Nehemiah 3 that they began to build Hananeel. And, to the letter, they perhaps added some space to the city. That it is said to remain forever is understood on condition that they do not sin: above, chapter 18, "If that nation do evil in my sight, that it hear not my voice, I will repent of the good that I said I would do to it."

Chapter 32

Text

a. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which is the eighteenth year of Nabuchodonosor. At that time the army of the king of Babylon besieged Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the house of the king of Judah; for Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying: Why do you prophesy, saying: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it; and Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak to him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall see his eyes, and he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall be until I visit him, says the Lord; but if you fight against the Chaldeans, you shall have no success. And Jeremiah said: The word of the Lord came to me, saying: Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum, your uncle, shall come to you, saying: Buy my field that is in Anathoth, for it is your right to buy it, being next of kin. And Hanameel my uncle's son came to me, according to the word of the Lord, to the entry of the prison, and said to me: Buy my field, which is in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of inheritance is yours, and you are next of kin to possess it. And I understood that this was the word of the Lord. And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's son, that is in Anathoth, and I weighed him out the money, seven staters and ten pieces of silver. And I wrote it in a book, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and I weighed the money in the balance. And I took the deed of the purchase that was sealed, and the stipulations, and the ratifications, and the seals that were on the outside.

b. And I gave the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel my uncle's son, and in the sight of the witnesses that had subscribed the deed of the purchase, and in the sight of all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison. And I charged Baruch before them, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these writings, this deed of the purchase that is sealed, and this deed that is open, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses, and fields, and vineyards shall yet be possessed in this land.

c. And I prayed to the Lord after I had delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, saying: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God! Behold, you have made heaven and earth by your great strength and your stretched-out arm; no word shall be hard for you, who show mercy unto thousands, and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them. O most mighty, great, and powerful, the Lord of hosts is your name; great in counsel, and incomprehensible in thought, whose eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of Adam, to render to every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his devices.

d. You who have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt even to this day, and in Israel, and among all men, and have made you a name, as at this day. And you brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and a stretched-out arm, and with great terror. And you gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. And they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not your voice, and they walked not in your law; they did nothing of all that you commanded them to do, and all these evils have come upon them. Behold, the ramparts are built up against the city to take it, and the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans, and of the king of Babylon, who fight against it by the sword, and famine, and pestilence; and what you have spoken has come to pass, as you yourself see.

e. And do you say to me, O Lord God: Buy a field with money, and take witnesses, whereas the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans?

f. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: Behold, I am the Lord God of all flesh; shall any word be hard for me? Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I will deliver this city into the hands of the Chaldeans, and into the hands of the king of Babylon, and they shall take it; and the Chaldeans shall come and fight against this city, and shall burn it with fire, and shall burn it, together with the houses upon whose roofs they offered sacrifice to Baal, and poured out drink-offerings to strange gods, to provoke me. For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have continually done evil in my sight from their youth: the children of Israel, who even until now provoke me with the work of their hands, says the Lord. For this city has been to me a provocation of my anger and of my indignation, from the day that they built it, even to this day, on which it shall be taken away out of my sight; because of all the wickedness of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, and their kings, and their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And they turned their backs to me, and not their faces; when I taught them, and instructed them early in the morning, and they would not hearken to receive instruction; and they set their idols in the house in which my name is called upon, to defile it. And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to consecrate their sons and their daughters to Moloch, which I did not command them, neither did it come into my mind, that they should do this abomination, and lead Judah into sin. And now, therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to this city, of which you say that it shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence: Behold, I will gather them together out of all the lands to which I have cast them out in my anger, and in my wrath, and in great indignation, and I will bring them again into this place, and will cause them to dwell securely. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me all their days, and that it may be well with them, and with their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, and will not cease to do them good; and I will give my fear in their heart, that they may not depart from me. And I will rejoice over them when I shall do them good.

g. And I will plant them in this land, in truth, with my whole heart and with my whole soul; for thus says the Lord: As I have brought upon this people all this great evil, so will I bring upon them all the good that I now speak to them. And fields shall be possessed in this land, of which you say that it is desolate, because there remains neither man nor beast, and it is given into the hands of the Chaldeans. Fields shall be bought with money, and deeds shall be written, and sealed, and witnesses shall be taken, in the land of Benjamin, and round about Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the plains, and in the cities that are toward the south; for I will bring back their captivity, says the Lord.

Exposition

a. Here he consoles them by a symbolic deed. And first he designates the time of the prophecy, from the time of the king: In the... year, which is gathered from what was said above, chapter 25, since the fourth year of Jehoiakim was the first year of Nabuchodonosor. From the siege of the city: Then the army: Isaiah 29 (var.), "I will encompass you round about like a sphere, and I will cast a mound about you, and raise up bulwarks to besiege you." And the prophet's imprisonment, setting forth the misery of the prison: and Jeremiah was shut up: Lamentations 3, "He has built round about me, that I may not go forth; he has made my chain heavy." And he assigns the cause: because he prophesied, that is, he foretold the taking of the city, yet with hope given of the king's being spared captivity, and the king dwelt there. And the adversity of the wars: but if you fight: above, chapter 34, "I will fight against you with a strong hand, and a stretched-out arm, and in fury, and in indignation, and in great wrath, and I will strike the inhabitants of this city." Whence this chapter, according to the history, is to be continued with that one. Second is set forth the prophetic deed: And Jeremiah said. And first is set forth the purchase, setting forth the seller's invitation to buy, giving the word of invitation revealed to him: Behold, Hanameel... for it is your right. Lest the tribes be mixed together, the Lord had commanded that possessions be sold to those who were of the same kindred, Numbers 27 (var.), which was especially observed in the possessions of the Levites. He also sets forth the coming of the one who invites him: and Hanameel came to me... according to the word, which cannot go for nothing: Numbers 23, "He has said, and will he not do it? he has spoken, and will he not fulfill it?" Second is set forth the purchase itself: I understood, by a prophetic spirit; otherwise it would have seemed foolish to buy a field at such a time, in which also the obedience of the prophet is noted: above, chapter 17, "I have not been troubled, following you as my shepherd, and I have not desired the day of man; you know." And the payment of the price is set forth: and I weighed out, in the balance of weight; seven staters, that is, shekels, each of which contains twenty obols: Ezekiel 45; pieces of silver, the same as staters. Third is set forth the confirmation of the purchase: I wrote... with the seals of the seller and of the witnesses; stipulations, when a contract is made binding by one asking and another answering; ratifications, that is, the ratification of the sale: Isaiah 8, "I took unto me faithful witnesses," and so on.

b. Here is set forth the exposition of the purchase. And first he delivers the deed: in the sight of those who sat there, who had come to console and to be consulted, since the matter concerned all: Ezekiel 12, "You shall go forth in the evening in their sight, as one who goes forth into exile." Second, the diligent care of the deed: and I charged... the one which is open, that is, unsealed, so that when they sent for it, it could be inspected: Hosea 12 (var.), "I have used similitudes by the ministry of the prophets." Third it is committed to safekeeping: and you shall put them: thus says the Lord. This is what Jeremiah said above, that he understood this to be the word of God: Zechariah 8, "The vine shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew," and so on.

c. Here is set forth the confirmation of the exposition; for because they did not believe the words of the prophet, he obtains a divine revelation concerning this, that it might satisfy their doubt. Whence first is set forth the prophet's prayer; second, the Lord's answer, at And the word of the Lord came. Concerning the first he does three things. First he commends the divine justice. Second he sets forth the punishment justly inflicted, at You who have set. Third he wonders at the reason for the former command, at And do you say. Now justice, if it is present, makes a man will just things. Whence for the execution of it two other things are required, namely, to know and to be able. Whence, for the perfect execution of justice, he shows the perfection of both knowledge and power. And first, of power, setting forth the creation of things: Behold, you have made: above, chapter 27, "I have made the earth, and men, and the beasts that are upon the face of the earth, by my great strength, and by my stretched-out arm, and I have given it to him who was pleasing in my eyes." And he commends the perfection of that power: nothing shall be hard for you, since you have made things so great: Luke 1, "No word shall be impossible with God." And he adds the execution of justice mingled with mercy: who show mercy, rendering rewards to the good unto thousands, that is, even to a thousand generations; into the bosom of their children, for at least one generation, so that mercy may outweigh punishment: Exodus 20, "I am the Lord your God, mighty, jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me." And he breaks forth into a commendation of that power, since power is turned into the justice of mercy. Most mighty, insofar as he sustains all things: Hebrews 1, "Upholding all things by the word of his power"; Job 9, "If strength be sought, he is most strong." Great, insofar as the multitude of creatures does not exhaust his power, so that he could still produce infinite things more; powerful, to do all things: Wisdom 12, "For it is in your power when you will, O Lord of hosts," as regards government, and especially of rational creatures, heavenly, earthly, and infernal: Job 25 (var.), "Is there any numbering of his soldiers?" Second he shows the perfection of his knowledge. First, imparting the perfection of knowledge: great in counsel, that is, perfect in the disposition of wisdom; and incomprehensible in thought, to human thought: Job 36 (var.), "Behold, God is great, surpassing our knowledge"; Romans 11, "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways!" Second he sets forth the execution of justice: his eyes: Job 34, "His eyes are upon the ways of men, and he considers all their steps."

d. Here he sets forth the punishment inflicted upon the Jews by divine justice, which, in order that it might be shown just, does three things. First he sets forth the display of benefits in their miraculous deliverance: even to this day, your signs are fulfilled; or your strength appears for the salvation of Israel and of others: Psalm 77(78), "He wrought his marvels in the land of Egypt, in the field of Tanis." And in their rich habitation: and you gave them: Leviticus 20, "Possess their land, which I will give to you for a possession, a land flowing with milk and honey." Second he sets forth their ingratitude: and they went in: Deuteronomy 32, "The beloved grew fat, and kicked; grown fat, thick, and enlarged, he forsook God who made him, and departed from God his savior"; Isaiah 1, "I have nourished and brought up children, but they have despised me." Third, the infliction of the punishment: and they came: Habakkuk 1, "He shall scoff at every fortress, and shall cast up a mound, and shall take it."

e. Here he wonders at the divine command: and do you say to me, which is indeed a wonder, since this is not a time for buying: Ezekiel 7, "Let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn, for wrath is upon all its people."

f. Here is set forth the Lord's answer. And first he sets forth his own power: shall it be hard for me: Genesis 18, "Why did Sarah your wife laugh, saying: Shall I who am an old woman bear a child indeed? Is there anything hard for God?" Second he shows that the punishment justly inflicted flows from such power, foretelling the punishment: therefore thus says the Lord: above, chapter 19, "The houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be unclean, like the place of Topheth." And he adds the fault, showing the continuity of that fault; for they had been doing evil from their youth, when they came out of Egypt: above, chapter 3, "We have sinned, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day." He also shows the universality of the fault: for in wrath... they built; 1 Chronicles 21 (var.), on account of malice: Psalm 13 (var.), "From the sole of the foot to the crown of the head there is no soundness in it"; above, chapter 21, "I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, says the Lord." He also shows the gravity of the fault, as regards the contempt of God: and they turned away through disobedience, after the manner of those who show contempt: Zechariah 7, "They turned away their shoulders to depart, and they stopped their ears that they might not hear," and so on. As regards sacrilege in the pollution of the temple: and they set up idols: above, chapter 11 (var.), "What is it that my beloved has done many crimes in my house?" And as regards sacrilege joined to homicide: and they built high places: Psalm 105(106), "They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to devils." Third he promises mercy. And first he touches on their despair: and now, on account of these things — since as regards all things I am powerful, as I have powerfully punished, so I will powerfully deliver — you say, despairing, that it shall be delivered: above, chapter 15, "He that is for the sword, to the sword; and he that is for famine, to famine; and he that is for captivity, to captivity." Second he sets forth the promise: Behold, I. And first he promises the recall: I will gather: Ezekiel 36, "I will take you from among the nations, and will gather you together out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land." And he promises security to those recalled: and I will cause them to dwell: above, chapter 23 (var.), "In those days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell securely." Second he promises prosperity to those who return. And first as regards spiritual goods; second, as regards temporal goods, at And I will plant them. Concerning the first he does three things. First he promises holiness, namely obedience toward God: and they shall be my people: Revelation 20 (var.), "They shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, their God." And concord toward one's neighbor: and I will give them: Acts 4, "The multitude of them that believed had but one heart and one soul." Second, the firmness of that holiness: and I will make with them, and I will not cease, as regards the fruit of holiness which he had touched upon; fear, as regards the gift of holiness: Isaiah 55, "I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies of David." Third, the acceptance of that holiness: and I will rejoice, that is, I will accept their good deeds: Psalm 103(104) (var.), "The Lord shall rejoice in his works."

g. Here he promises temporal goods. And first, a firm dwelling in their homeland: and I will plant them, so that they may not easily be plucked up. In truth, without pretense; with my heart, as regards knowledge; with my soul, as regards the will: above, chapter 24, "I will build them up, and not throw them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up." And he confirms this by a comparison: for thus says the Lord, as I have brought: Baruch 4, "He that brought these evils upon you shall bring you everlasting joy again with your salvation." Second he promises the free possession of their goods, setting forth the fullness of that possession: and fields shall be possessed: Isaiah 34 (var.), "They shall possess it forever, from generation to generation they shall dwell therein." Second, the freedom of contracts: fields shall be bought with money: Psalm 125(126), "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we became like men comforted."

Chapter 33

Text

a. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying: Thus says the Lord, who will do it, and will form it, and prepare it — the Lord is his name: Cry to me, and I will hear you, and I will show you great things, and sure things, which you know not. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the king of Judah, which are destroyed, and concerning the ramparts, and the sword of those who come to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the dead bodies of the men whom I have slain in my anger and in my wrath, having hidden my face from this city on account of all their wickedness: Behold, I will close up their wounds, and give them health, and I will cure them, and will reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. And I will bring back the captivity of Judah, and the captivity of Jerusalem; and I will build them up as at the beginning; and I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, by which they have sinned against me; and I will be merciful to all their iniquities, by which they have sinned against me, and despised me. And this city shall be to me a name, and a joy, and a praise, and a rejoicing before all the nations of the earth, who shall hear of all the good that I will do to them, and they shall fear and tremble at all the good things and at all the peace that I will make for them.

b. Thus says the Lord: There shall be heard again in this place, which you say is desolate, because there is neither man nor beast, in the cities of Judah, and abroad in Jerusalem, which are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast, the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say: Give praise to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his mercy endures forever; and of them that bring their vows into the house of the Lord. For I will bring back the captivity of the land, as at first, says the Lord.

c. Thus says the Lord of hosts: There shall be again in this place, which is desolate, without man, and without beast, and in all its cities, a habitation of shepherds, causing their flocks to lie down; in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the plains, and in the cities that are toward the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and round about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks shall yet pass under the hand of him that numbers them, says the Lord.

d. Behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will perform the good word that I have spoken to the house of Israel, and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, I will make the branch of justice to spring forth unto David, and he shall do judgment and justice in the earth. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Israel shall dwell securely; and this is the name that they shall call him: The Lord our Just One. For thus says the Lord: There shall not fail to David a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel.

e. Neither shall there fail from the priests and the Levites a man before my face, to offer holocausts, and to burn sacrifices, and to kill victims continually.

f. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: Thus says the Lord: If my covenant with the day can be made void, and my covenant with the night, that there should not be day and night in their season, then also may my covenant be made void with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne, and with the Levites and priests my ministers. As the stars of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea be measured, so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites my ministers.

g. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: Have you not seen what this people has spoken, saying: The two families which the Lord had chosen are cast off, and they have despised my people, so that it is no longer a nation before them? Thus says the Lord: If I have not set my covenant between day and night, and laws to heaven and earth, then I will also cast off the seed of Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his seed to be rulers of the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for I will bring back their captivity, and will have mercy on them.

Exposition

a. Here is set forth the consolation given specially to the two tribes, and especially as regards Jerusalem, where the seat of the kingdom and of the priesthood was; and concerning this he does two things. First he sets forth the title of the prophecy, in which he mentions the prophet's imprisonment: while he was yet shut up, by Zedekiah. Second, with respect to the preceding vision, made a second time, promising its authority: Thus says the Lord... who will do it, as a craftsman preparing his material; who will form it, bringing it to the completion of its form, ordaining it to its end; the Lord is his name, since he alone is singularly the Lord of all: Psalm 82(83), "How great is your name, O Lord! you alone are the Most High over all the earth." The firmness and greatness of the promise: cry to me, praying for the people; and I will hear you, not that I will not bring evils, but that after the evils are brought I will deliver. And thus it is not contrary to what was said above, chapter 7: "Therefore do not pray for this people, and do not take up praise and prayer on their behalf, and do not withstand me, for I will not hear you." Which you know not, that is, which you could not suspect by human conjecture: Isaiah 48, "I have made you hear from that time, and these things have been laid up together for you." Second he sets forth the word of the prophecy. And first is set forth the promise as regards the people; second, as regards the king and the priesthood, at Behold, the days. Concerning the first he does three things. First he promises the healing of the wound inflicted; second, the gladness of heart, at Thus says the Lord, there shall be heard again. Concerning the first he does three things. First he touches on the wound inflicted: for thus says the Lord, as regards the destruction of the buildings: and the Lord has cast down, and has not spared all the beautiful things of Jacob; he has destroyed in his wrath the fortresses of the daughter of Judah, and brought them down to the ground. And as regards the slaying of men: and the sword of them that came to the aid of Jerusalem — or of the Gentiles; or of the kingdom of the two tribes. If they should fill them, incidentally, since they too had taken up confidence, resisted the enemies, and were slain; hiding my face, that is, withdrawing my protection: Ezekiel 39, "The nations shall know that the house of Israel was made captive for their iniquity, because they forsook me, and I hid my face from them." Second he promises the benefit of healing in general: behold, I will close up: above, chapter 30, "I will close up your scar, and I will heal you of your wounds." And in particular, as regards the hearing of prayer: and I will reveal, fulfilling their intention, the abundance, since they sought from me peace toward one another, and the truth of religion: Isaiah 59 (var.), "Let there be only peace and truth in my days." As regards the restoration of their homeland: and I will bring back: above, chapter 30, "I will bring back the captivity of the tents of Jacob, and will have pity on his dwellings." As regards the remission of sin, in respect of purgation from guilt: and I will cleanse: Ezekiel 36, "I will cleanse you from all your filthiness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you." And in respect of the absolution from punishment: and I will be merciful: Psalm 102(103), "Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases." Third he sets forth the fruit of the deliverance, as regards the divine glory: and it shall be to me: above, chapter 32, "I will rejoice over them when I shall do them good"; Isaiah 43, "This people have I formed for myself, they shall show forth my praise." As regards the joy of friends: and a rejoicing: Psalm 47(48) (var.), "Mount Zion is founded with the joy of the whole earth, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King." As regards the anguish of the envious: and they shall fear: Isaiah 26 (var.), "Let the envious see, and be confounded, and let fire devour your enemies."

b. Here he promises them gladness. And first, temporal gladness: the voice of joy: above, chapter 25 (var.), "I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of the mill, and the light of the lamp." Second, spiritual gladness, expressed by divine praises: the voice of them that say: Isaiah 51 (var.), "Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of praise"; Tobit 13, "In all its streets alleluia shall be sung." And in their offerings: and of them that bring: Isaiah 60, "They shall worship you with victims and gifts, and shall pay their vows to the Lord." Third he assigns the reason: I will bring back: Lamentations 5, "Renew our days as from the beginning."

c. Here he promises them the tranquility of peace, which he signifies by the secure dwelling of their homeland: they shall pass, as if to say, they shall feed in such security that they will be able easily to number their sheep: Ezekiel 34, "I will feed them in the most fruitful pastures, and their pastures shall be in the high mountains of Israel."

d. Here is set forth the consolation as regards the kingdom and the priesthood. And first is promised the restoration of both; second is set forth the confirmation of the promise, at And the word of the Lord came. Concerning the first he does two things. First he promises the restoration of the kingdom; second, of the priesthood, at Neither shall there fail from the priests. Concerning the first he does three things. First he designates the fitness of the time: behold, the days come, namely of grace, and I will perform, I will fulfill, the good word which I promised concerning the restoration of the kingdom: Hosea 1, "The children of Judah, and the children of Israel, shall be gathered together, and shall appoint themselves one head, and shall come up out of the land" — which was fulfilled in Christ. Second, the condition of the kingdom, as regards the nobility of its government: in those days... the branch of justice, Christ, who is justice itself: Isaiah 11, "There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root." And he shall do judgment, in his first coming, for the world; in his second coming, upon the world; justice, teaching it in word, fulfilling it in himself in deed, and in others by the gift of grace: Psalm 118(119) (var.), "I have done judgment and justice." And as regards the usefulness of that government, unto the salvation of the people: in those days Judah shall be saved, as regards those who believed at his first coming, and shall believe at his second: Hosea 1, "I will save them by the Lord their God." In the security of peace: and Israel: Isaiah 32, "My people shall sit in the beauty of peace, and in the tabernacles of confidence, and in wealthy rest." And in the confession of the true faith: and this is the name, the Just One: Psalm 118(119), "The Lord is just, and his judgment is right." Third he sets forth the duration of the kingdom: for thus says the Lord... a man, Christ and his members: Daniel 7, "His power is an everlasting power, that shall not be taken away, and his kingdom, that shall not be destroyed."

e. Here he sets forth the restoration of the priesthood. And just as the kingdom is restored in Christ himself and in his members, so too is the priesthood; for he himself is both king and priest: Psalm 109(110), "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." And he has made his members kings and priests: Revelation 5, "You have made us to our God a kingdom and priests"; Ephesians 5, "He offered himself an oblation to God in an odor of sweetness." And he causes his members likewise to offer spiritual sacrifices to God: Ezekiel 44, "The priests and Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept the ceremonies of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister to me, and they shall stand before me to offer me the fat, and the blood, says the Lord God."

f. Here is set forth the confirmation of the promise. And first, from the duration of created things: if it can be made void, as if to say: it cannot be made void until the end of the world: Psalm 88(89) (var.), "I will set his seed forever, and his throne as the days of heaven." Second, from their multitude: as the stars of heaven cannot be numbered except by God alone, so too the number of the elect is known to God alone: Genesis 22, "I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the seashore."

g. Here he repels the taunting of the enemies. And first is set forth their insult: the two families, namely the royal and the priestly; or the ten tribes and the two: Psalm 82(83) (var.), "They that watched for my soul took counsel together, saying: God has forsaken him, pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him." Second is set forth the rejection of that insult: thus says the Lord: Romans 11, "Has God cast away his people? God forbid," and so on.

Chapter 34

Text

a. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth that were under the dominion of his hand, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all its cities, saying: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Go, and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and say to him: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will deliver this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. And you shall not escape out of his hand, but you shall surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and your eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with you mouth to mouth, and you shall go to Babylon. Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah: Thus says the Lord to you: You shall not die by the sword, but you shall die in peace; and according to the burnings of your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so shall they burn spices for you, and they shall lament you, saying: Alas, O Lord! for I have spoken the word, says the Lord. And Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem; and the army of the king of Babylon fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that remained, against Lachish, and against Azekah, for these remained of the fortified cities of Judah.

b. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty: that every man should let go his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being a Hebrew man or Hebrew woman, free, and that none should any more hold his brother, a Jew, in bondage. So all the princes, and all the people who had entered into the covenant, heard that every man should let go his manservant, and every man his maidservant, free, and should no more hold them in bondage. So they heard, and let them go. But afterward they turned back, and took again their menservants and their maidservants, whom they had let go free, and brought them into subjection, for servants and handmaids.

c. And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying: At the end of seven years, let every man release his brother, a Hebrew, who has been sold to him; he shall serve you six years, and you shall let him go free from you. But your fathers did not hearken to me, nor incline their ear. And you this day were turned, and did that which was right in my eyes, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor, and you made a covenant in my presence, in the house upon which my name is called. And then you turned back, and profaned my name, and every man brought back his manservant, and every man his maidservant, whom he had let go free, to be at their own liberty, and you brought them into subjection, to be your servants and handmaids. Therefore thus says the Lord: You have not hearkened to me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor; behold, I proclaim to you a liberty, says the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine, and I will make you a disturbance among all the kingdoms of the earth. And I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, and have not kept the words of the covenant which they agreed to before me, when they cut the calf in two, and passed between the parts thereof — the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf — I will give them into the hands of their enemies, and into the hands of those who seek their lives; and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth. And Zedekiah king of Judah, and his princes, I will give into the hands of their enemies, and into the hands of those who seek their lives, and into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, which has departed from you. Behold, I command, says the Lord, and I will bring them back to this city, and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without an inhabitant.

Exposition

a. Because the Jews had been hardened by God, so that they were neither terrified by sorrowful things nor bent by joyful ones, he fittingly shows, first, his threat, and then his consolation, and third, the contradiction of those who heard it. And first, in the transgression of the sentence; second, in the destruction of the scroll, chapter 36, at And it came to pass; third, in the persecution of the prophet, chapter 37, at And there reigned. Concerning the first he does two things. First they are convicted of transgression, briefly; second, by an example, at The word, and so on. He shows them to be transgressors from this, that even the covenant which they had made with God concerning the liberation of servants according to the law, they did not keep. This is divided into two parts. First is set forth a certain alleviation of evils following the making of the covenant. Second is set forth a threat after the transgression of the covenant entered into, at The word that came, and so on. Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets forth the title of the prophecy, in which he describes the time: when Nabuchodonosor: above, chapter 1, "Behold, I will call together all the families of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem," and so on. Second he sets forth the word of the prophecy: Thus says the Lord. And he does three things. First he sets forth the threat for past sins, unto the destruction of the city: behold, I, and he shall burn it; Psalm 73(74), "They have set fire to your sanctuary; they have defiled the dwelling place of your name on the earth." And as regards the captivity of the king: and you shall not escape: Lamentations 4, "We did not think that the enemy and the foe would enter in by the gates of Jerusalem." Second he sets forth the recompense granted for the covenant entered into: yet... you shall not die by the sword. This indeed was not fulfilled in the fullest sense, since he did not abide by the covenant, and he died in confusion, when at a banquet he had, as it were, received a purgative dose: Habakkuk 2, "Woe to him who gives his friend drink, mingling in his venom, and making him drunk, that he may look upon his nakedness." And yet as regards this much it can be said to have been fulfilled, that he was not slain by a hostile sword: above, chapter 22, "They shall not lament for him, saying: Alas, my brother! and, Alas, sister! they shall not lament for him, saying: Alas, my lord! and, Alas, the noble one!" Third he touches on the tribulation that was imminent, that the promise might be the more acceptable: because I have spoken this word: Habakkuk 1, "He shall scoff at every fortress, and shall cast up a mound, and shall take it."

b. Here is set forth the threat following the transgression of the covenant. And first is set forth the transgression of the covenant; second, the threat against the transgressors, at And the word came. Concerning the first he does three things. First is set forth the covenant: after king Zedekiah had made a covenant — and this is told after his breaking of it — that every man should let go, according to the law: Exodus 21, "If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve you six years; in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing"; and in Leviticus 25 it is forbidden that they hold their brothers as servants, or oppress them by power in the servitude of slaves, but that they be treated as hired servants and sojourners. Second is set forth the temporary observance of the covenant: they heard: Psalm 105(106) (var.), "They quickly did his works, and did not wait for his counsel." Third is set forth the transgression of the covenant: and they turned back: Hosea 7 (var.), "They returned that they might be without a yoke; they became like a deceitful bow."

c. Here he threatens the transgressors. And first he sets forth the fault of the fathers, setting forth the covenant: I made a covenant: above, chapter 31, "Not according to the covenant which I made with your fathers, in the day when I took them by the hand, to bring them out of the land of Egypt, the covenant which they made void," and so on. And their transgression: and they did not hearken: above, chapter 17 (var.), "They did not hearken, nor incline their ear, but walked in the perversity of their wicked heart." And the fault of the children, joined after the transgression of the fathers: and you turned, in the house, in the temple: Isaiah 51 (var.), "The house of our sanctification, and of our glory, where our fathers praised you," and so on. And you turned back, and profaned my name, by transgressing: Exodus 20, "You shall not take the name of your God in vain"; Ezekiel 36 (var.), "Not for my holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the nations to which you went." Second he threatens the punishment: therefore thus says the Lord. And concerning this he does two things. First he sets forth the threat, foretelling slaughter as regards all in common: behold, I... liberty, that you may be freely slain: above, chapter 15, "He that is for the sword, to the sword; he that is for famine, to famine; and he that is for captivity, to captivity." And the servitude of those who remain: and I will give the men... the calf, that is, that the covenant which they ratified by dividing the calf, in sacrificing to God — whence there arose this manner of speaking, to strike, or to smite, a covenant: Lamentations 1, "The Lord has delivered me into a hand out of which I am not able to rise up." He also foretells the devouring of their dead bodies: and their dead bodies shall be: Psalm 78(79) (var.), "They have given the dead bodies of your servants to be meat for the fowls of the air, the flesh of your saints for the beasts of the earth." And, specifically, as regards the princes: and Zedekiah; Deuteronomy 28, "The Lord shall bring you..."

...for the Lord did not spare them, though he had appointed light for them; but their own nation did not know them, nor did their fathers. As for those who had gone back from among you, could anything else have been looked for? See below, chapter 35. Second, he sets down the manner of his self-disclosure, at the words Behold, I: above, Jeremiah 12:10-11 (var.) ("They have made my delightful portion like a desolate wilderness; they have laid it waste, and being laid waste it has mourned unto me").

Chapter 35

Text

a. "The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying: Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers of the treasury, and thou shalt give them wine to drink. So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites; and I brought them into the house of the Lord, to the treasury of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was near the treasury of the princes, above the treasury of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, who was keeper of the entry. And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups; and I said to them: Drink wine. And they answered: We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying: You shall drink no wine, neither you nor your children, for ever. And you shall not build houses, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyards, nor have any; but you shall dwell in tents all your days, that you may live many days upon the face of the land in which you are sojourners. So we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father, in all that he commanded us, so that we drink no wine all our days, we and our wives, our sons and our daughters; nor do we build houses to dwell in, nor have we vineyard, or field, or seed; but we have dwelt in tents, and have been obedient, doing according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against our land, we said: Come, and let us go into Jerusalem, from before the army of the Chaldeans, and from before the army of the Syrians; and so we have dwelt in Jerusalem."

b. "And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go, and say to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Will you not receive correction, to obey my words? saith the Lord. The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his sons, that they should drink no wine, have prevailed; and they have not drunk to this day, because they have obeyed the commandment of their father. But I have spoken to you, rising up early and speaking, and you have not obeyed me. I have also sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending, saying: Turn ye, every man from his most wicked way, and make your ways good, and follow not strange gods, nor worship them, and you shall dwell in the land which I gave to you and to your fathers; but you have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened to me. So the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have steadfastly kept the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people has not obeyed me. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, all the evil that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them, and they have not heard; I have called them, and they have not answered me. But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and have kept all his precepts, and have done all that he commanded you, therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: There shall not fail a man of the race of Jonadab the son of Rechab, standing before me for ever."

Exposition

a. Here he convicts them of transgression by the example of certain obedient men. First he sets down the trial of obedience; second, the condemnation of the disobedient, at And the word, etc. Concerning the first there are three points. First, the Lord's command to the prophet to make trial, Go to the house of the Rechabites, who were devoted to the study of the Scriptures, and therefore abstained from wine; of whom it is said, 1 Chronicles 2:55 (var.) ("And the families of the scribes that dwell in Jabes, singing and making melody, and abiding in tents. These are the Cinites, who came of Calor, the father of the house of Rechab"). Chamber: as it were, a room outside the main building. I have given thee, proving their obedience: above, Jeremiah 6:27 ("I have set thee for a trier of a strong people among my people, and thou shalt know and prove their way"). And he took them...to the treasury, in which the riches of the temple were kept — for gaza means "riches," and phylaxis "keeping" in Greek — the treasury of Nathan, who had received this office in the time of David (1 Chronicles 26 (var.)). Of the entry, that is, of the court; for because in a house the chamber of the princes where garments are kept is called the vestibule, usage extended the term so that every court came to be called a vestibule. Cups, for water. Drink wine, that trial might be made of the mystery: Proverbs 9:5 ("Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mingled for you"). Third, their protestation of obedience is set down, Who answered. And first their father's command not to drink wine is brought forward, You shall drink no wine: Ecclesiastes 2:3 (var.) ("I thought in my heart to withdraw my flesh from wine, that I might turn my mind to wisdom"). And concerning poverty, that anxiety for temporal things might not interrupt the pursuit of wisdom, and a house: 2 Corinthians 6:10 (var.) ("As having nothing, and yet possessing all things"). Second, their fulfillment of the command is set down, We have obeyed therefore: Proverbs 3:1 ("My son, forget not my law, and let thy heart keep my commandments"). In tents: Wisdom 11:2 (var.) ("In desert places they pitched their tents"). Third, their necessary transgression is excused, at But when he had come up, etc.

b. Here the condemnation of the disobedient is set down. First the different merits are drawn out: first, the astonishment at their disobedience, Will you not receive correction, even by scourges and examples: above, Jeremiah 5:3 ("In vain have I struck thy children, they have received no correction"). The reason for this astonishment is also given, They have prevailed, as though he were to say, the words of a carnal father had greater force than those of a spiritual father: Hebrews 12:9 ("we have had fathers of our flesh for instructors, and we reverenced them: shall we not much more obey the Father of spirits, and live?"). And the proof by comparison follows, since while those men obeyed, these did not: above, Jeremiah 7:13 (var.) ("I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, and you did not hear; and I called you, and you did not answer me"). Second, the different rewards are promised. First he promises punishment to the disobedient, Therefore: Proverbs 1:24-26 ("Because I called, and you refused...I stretched out my hand, and there was none that regarded: you have despised all my counsel, and have neglected my reprehensions: I also will laugh in your destruction, and will mock when that shall come to you which you feared"), and so forth. Second, mercy is promised to the obedient, but to the house of the Rechabites: 1 Kings 15:22 ("obedience is better than sacrifices, and to hearken rather than to offer the fat of rams").

Chapter 36

Text

a. "And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: Take a scroll of a book, and write in it all the words that I have spoken to thee against Israel, and Judah, and against all the nations, from the day that I spoke to thee, from the days of Josiah even to this day; if perhaps, when the house of Judah shall hear all the evils that I purpose to do to them, every man may return from his most wicked way, and I will forgive their iniquity and their sin. Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote, from the mouth of Jeremiah, all the words of the Lord which he had spoken to him, upon a scroll of a book."

b. "And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying: I am shut up, and cannot go into the house of the Lord. Go thou in, therefore, and read out of the scroll in which thou hast written from my mouth the words of the Lord, in the hearing of the people, in the house of the Lord, on the day of the fast; and moreover in the hearing of all Judah who come out of their cities. It may be their supplication will fall before the Lord, and every man will turn from his most wicked way; for great is the wrath and the indignation which the Lord has pronounced against this people. And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading out of the scroll the words of the Lord in the house of the Lord. Now it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the Lord to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the multitude that had come together from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem. And Baruch read out of the scroll the words of Jeremiah, in the house of the Lord, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court, at the entry of the new gate of the house of the Lord, in the hearing of all the people."

c. "Now when Micaiah the son of Gemariah the son of Shaphan had heard, out of the book, all the words of the Lord, he went down to the king's house, to the scribe's chamber; and behold, all the princes sat there: Elishama the scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes. And Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read the scroll in the hearing of the people. So all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying: Take in thy hand the scroll out of which thou hast read in the hearing of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand, and came to them. And they said to him: Sit down, and read these things in our hearing. And Baruch read in their hearing."

d. "Now when they had heard all the words, they looked in astonishment, one upon another, and said to Baruch: We must tell the king all these words. And they asked him, saying: Tell us how thou didst write all these words from his mouth. And Baruch said to them: He pronounced all these words to me, as though reading them, from his own mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book. And the princes said to Baruch: Go, and hide thyself, thou and Jeremiah, and let no man know where you are. Then they went in to the king, into the court, but they laid up the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and they told all the words in the hearing of the king. So the king sent to fetch the scroll; and Jehudi took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and read it in the hearing of the king, and of all the princes who stood about the king."

e. "Now the king sat in the winter house, in the ninth month, and there was a hearth full of burning coals before him. And when Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe's penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until the whole scroll was consumed by the fire that was on the hearth. Yet neither the king, nor any of his servants who heard all these words, were afraid, nor did they rend their garments. But Elnathan, and Delaiah, and Gemariah entreated the king not to burn the scroll; and he would not hear them."

f. "And the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe, and Jeremiah the prophet; but the Lord hid them."

g. "And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, after the king had burnt the scroll and the words that Baruch had written from the mouth of Jeremiah, saying: Take thee again another scroll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim king of Judah has burnt. And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah: Thus saith the Lord: Thou hast burnt that scroll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, and said, The king of Babylon shall come speedily, and shall lay waste this land, and shall cause to cease from it man and beast? Therefore thus saith the Lord against Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day, and to the frost by night. And I will visit against him, and against his seed, and against his servants, their iniquities; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them, and they have not hearkened. Then Jeremiah took another scroll, and gave it to Baruch the son of Neriah the scribe, who wrote in it, from the mouth of Jeremiah, all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burnt with fire; and there were added besides many more words than had been there before."

Exposition

a. Here first he sets down the writing of the Scripture; second, its destruction, at But the king, etc.; third, its restoration, at And it came to pass, etc. Concerning the first there are three points. First, the command to write, Take a scroll: Habakkuk 2:2 ("Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he that readeth it may run over it"). Second, the fruit of the Scripture, if perhaps: Ezekiel 18:21 (var.) ("If the wicked do penance for all his sins which he hath committed, and keep all my commandments, and do judgment and justice, he shall surely live, and shall not die"). Third, the minister of the Scripture, Then he called: Revelation 1:11 ("What thou seest, write in a book, and send to the seven churches which are in Asia").

b. Here the proclamation is made to the people; second, to the princes, at And when...had heard, etc.; third, to the king, at And I said (var.), etc. Concerning the first, he first sets down the command to proclaim it, I am shut up: 2 Timothy 2:3 ("Labour as a good soldier of Christ Jesus"); Philippians 1:14 ("many of the brethren in the Lord, growing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word of God without fear"). Second, he sets down the manner of the proclamation: as to place, In the house of the Lord, which is the place of devotion: Isaiah 56:7 ("My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples, saith the Lord God"). As to time, on the day of the fast, a time of contrition: Isaiah 58:5-7 (var.) ("Is not this rather the fast that I have chosen? Loose the bands of wickedness...let them that are broken go free, and break asunder every burden. Deal thy bread to the hungry, and bring the needy and the harborless into thy house"). As to those who hear, in the hearing of the people. As to the strangers present, and moreover. He sets down the usefulness of the proclamation, if perhaps it should fall, that is, be accepted; and the holiness that would follow, and every man shall return...for great: 2 Kings 22:13 (var.) ("great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers did not hearken to the words of this book"). Second, the fulfillment of the command: as to the act, And Baruch did: Hebrews 13:17 ("Obey your prelates, and be subject to them"). As to the time, it came to pass: Joel 2:16 (var.) ("Sanctify the assembly, gather together the ancients, gather together the little ones, and them that suck the breasts"). As to the place, And Baruch read...of the new gate, which Joash had built: 2 Chronicles 24:8 (var.). In the upper court, that is, in the upper part of the atrium, where the priests offered sacrifice: 2 Esdras 9:3 (var.) ("they read in the book of the law of the Lord their God, part of the day, and confessed, and adored the Lord their God").

c. Here the proclamation is made to the princes. First, the report of the prophetic Scripture is made known to them, And Micaiah told them: Revelation 22:17 ("And he that heareth, let him say, Come"). Second, their request for the Scripture, So they sent...in his hand, mystically signifying that it be put into action: Ecclesiastes 9:10 (var.) ("Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly: for neither work, nor reason, nor knowledge, nor wisdom shall be in the grave, whither thou art hastening"); its being brought, So Baruch took it. Third, the recitation of the Scripture, And they said: Acts 20:27 ("I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God"); and the effect of the reading, Now when they had heard: above, Jeremiah 23:29 (var.) ("Are not my words as a fire, saith the Lord, and as a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?").

d. Here the proclamation is made to the king. First, the preparation for it is set down; the purpose of the proclamation is explained, We must tell, since the king himself can correct the sins of the people: Proverbs 20:8 ("The king that sitteth on the throne of judgment, scattereth away all evil with his look"). They also inquire into the manner of its composition. First, the question, And they asked...how, so that from the manner they might learn whether the Scripture had been composed by the divine Spirit: 1 John 4:1 ("Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits if they be of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world"). And the answer, And Baruch said...as it were reading, without hindrance or premeditation: Matthew 10:19-20 ("Take no thought how or what to speak: for it shall be given you in that hour what to speak. For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you"); above, Jeremiah 1:9 (var.) ("Behold I have given my words in thy mouth"). And counsel is given to hide themselves, Hide yourselves, fearing the obstinacy and cruelty of the king: 3 Kings 18:13-14 (var.) ("Hath it not been told thee, my lord, what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred men of the prophets of the Lord, by fifty and fifty, in caves, and fed them with bread and water? And now thou sayest, Go and tell thy lord, Elijah is here"). Second, the proclamation itself, And they went in: Wisdom 6:2 (var.) ("Hear, therefore, ye kings, and understand"). Third, the recitation of the Scripture, So they sent: Job 29:25 ("When I sat as a king, with his army standing about him, yet was I a comforter of them that mourned").

e. Here the destruction of the Scripture is set down; and concerning this there are two points. First, the destruction of the Scripture; second, the persecution of those who wrote it, at And he commanded, etc. Concerning the first there are three points. First, the disposition toward destruction, There was set, in the winter house, for out of luxury he kept separate houses for winter and for summer: Amos 3:15 ("I will strike the winter house with the summer house: and the houses of ivory shall perish, and many houses shall be destroyed"). Second, the destruction itself, And when he had read a leaf, that is, a part of the page, with a knife, the penknife with which he trimmed his pen: Isaiah 30:11 (var.) ("Take away from us this way, turn away from us this path, let the Holy One of Israel cease from before us"). And thus they did what they ought not to have done, and also omitted what they ought to have done; and they were not afraid, unlike the example of Josiah: 4 Kings 22:11 ("when the king had heard the words of the book of the law...he rent his garments"). Third, the opposition of the princes, Nevertheless: compare 2 Samuel 24:4 (var.) ("the king's word prevailed against Joab, and against the captains of the army").

f. Here the persecution of those who wrote it is set down. First, the wicked command, that they should seize. Second, the divine help, the Lord hid them, and brought it about that they could not be found: Psalm 33:21 (var.) ("The Lord keepeth all their bones, not one of them shall be broken").

g. Here the restoration of the Scripture is set down. First, the command to restore it, Take again: above, Jeremiah 1:19 ("They shall fight against thee, and shall not prevail: for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee"). Second, destruction is threatened against the one who destroyed it, at And to Jehoiakim, etc.; whence he charges the guilt, Thou hast burnt: Proverbs 29:1 ("The man that with a stiff neck despiseth him that reproveth him, shall suddenly be destroyed, and health shall not follow him"). And he threatens the punishment: the ending of the royal succession, he shall have none: above, Jeremiah 22:30 (var.) ("there shall not be a man of his seed that shall sit upon the throne of David, and have power any more in Judah"); the casting away of his dead body, his dead body; and the burial of an ass: Isaiah 14:19 (var.) ("But thou art cast out of thy grave, as an unprofitable branch, polluted and wrapped up among them that are slain by the sword, and are gone down to the bottom of the pit"). The destruction of what was hidden away, as regards his household, I will visit against him, and against his seed, and with stripes their sins; and as regards others, and I will bring: Isaiah 45:6-7 ("I am the Lord, and there is none else, forming the light, and creating darkness, making peace, and creating evil: I am the Lord that do all these things"). Third, the fulfillment of the command, But Jeremiah: Wisdom 7:30 (var.) ("wisdom overcometh malice").

Chapter 37

Text

a. "And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land obeyed the words of the Lord, which he spoke by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet. And king Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying: Pray for us to the Lord our God. Now Jeremiah walked freely in the midst of the people, for they had not yet put him into prison. And the army of Pharaoh came out of Egypt; and the Chaldeans, who were besieging Jerusalem, hearing this news, withdrew from Jerusalem."

b. "And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of me: Behold, the army of Pharaoh, which has come forth to help you, shall return into its own land, into Egypt; and the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire. Thus saith the Lord: Deceive not your own souls, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us; for they shall not depart. Yea, though you should defeat the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there should remain of them but wounded men, every one of them would rise up in his tent, and burn this city with fire."

c. "So when the army of the Chaldeans had withdrawn from Jerusalem, because of the army of Pharaoh, Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem, to go into the land of Benjamin, to divide a possession there in the presence of the citizens."

d. "And when he had come to the gate of Benjamin, there was one in charge of the gate by turns, named Irijah, son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah."

e. "And he seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying: Thou art going over to the Chaldeans. And Jeremiah answered: It is false, I am not going over to the Chaldeans. But he would not listen to him; and Irijah seized Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes. Wherefore the princes were angry with Jeremiah, and having beaten him, they cast him into prison, in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for he was appointed over the prison. So Jeremiah went into the dungeon-house, and into the cells, and remained there many days. Then king Zedekiah sent, and took him, and asked him secretly in his house, and said: Is there a word from the Lord? And Jeremiah said: There is. And he said: Thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. And Jeremiah said to king Zedekiah: What have I sinned against thee, and against thy servants, and thy people, that thou hast cast me into prison? Where are your prophets, who prophesied to you, and said, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, and against this land? Now therefore hear, I beseech thee, my lord the king: let my supplication be accepted before thee, and send me not back into the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there. Then king Zedekiah commanded that Jeremiah should be committed to the court of the prison, and that a loaf of bread should be given him daily, besides pottage, until all the bread in the city was spent. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison."

Exposition

a. Here is shown the contradiction that lay in the persecution of the prophet. First, his persecution on account of a false suspicion; second, on account of his true preaching, at chapter 38, Now...had heard, etc. Concerning the first there are three points. First, the occasion of the suspicion; second, the suspicion itself, at And when, etc.; third, the persecution, at And he seized, etc. Concerning the first there are two points. First, the occasion taken from the prophet's word; second, from his deed, at And when, etc. Concerning the first there are two points. First the consultation; second, the prophet's answer, displeasing to them, at And it came to pass, etc. Concerning the first there are three points. First he describes the condition of those consulting him, whom...made king: 4 Kings 24:20 (var.) ("and he did not obey, so as to pay tribute to the king of Babylon"); and concerning their sins: Matthew 22:21 ("Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God, the things that are God's"). His servants, that is, his household. The people: Sirach 10:2 ("As the judge of the people is himself, so also are his ministers: and what manner of man the ruler of a city is, such also are they that dwell therein"). Second, the consultation itself, And the king sent...pray for us, that he might show them what they ought to do, and that they might be delivered from their enemies: Isaiah 37:4 (var.) ("lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left"). Third, the reason for their consulting him: they had taken confidence from the freedom the prophet still enjoyed, which had not yet been taken from him, Jeremiah walked freely in the midst of the people; and from the raising of the siege, therefore the army, for the king of Egypt had come out to deliver the Jews — yet when he had departed, the army returned nonetheless: Isaiah 36:6 ("Behold thou trustest upon this broken staff of a reed, upon Egypt").

b. Here the prophet's answer is set down. First he excludes the help of the Egyptians, Behold the army: Isaiah 30:7 (var.) ("For Egypt shall help in vain and to no purpose"). Second, he foretells the return of the Chaldeans, and the Chaldeans shall return; deceive not yourselves, with a false hope: Lamentations 1:19 ("I called for my friends, but they deceived me"). Third, he excludes any obstacle, but though you should defeat them: Deuteronomy 32:30 ("How should one pursue after a thousand, and two chase ten thousand? Was it not, because their God had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up?").

c. Here he sets down the occasion taken from the deed. And to divide a possession there, which he had bought — that is, to mark it off from other fields; or to distribute it to others, that he himself might remain free of care: 2 Corinthians 6:10 (var.) ("as having nothing, and yet possessing all things").

d. Here the false suspicion is set down: Psalm 27:12 (var.) ("False witnesses have risen up against me, and iniquity hath lied to itself").

e. Here the persecution is set down under three heads. In his seizure: Lamentations 3:52 (var.) ("My enemies have caught me like a bird, without cause"). In his beating, having beaten him, in like manner: Hebrews 11:36 ("others had trial of mockeries and stripes"). And in his imprisonment, so he went in: Psalm 87:5 (var.) ("I am counted among them that go down to the pit"). The cells, properly a prison in which someone is condemned to some labor. Second, his deliverance is set down, the king sent. And concerning this there are three points. First, the occasion of his deliverance, presenting the king's question, Is there perhaps a word — that is, foretelling what is to come — revealed to thee? Isaiah 8:19 (var.) ("should not a people seek of their God, for the living, of the dead?"). And the answer, And Jeremiah said: 1 Kings 22:8 (var.) ("I hate him, because he does not prophesy good to me, but evil"). Second, the petition for deliverance, And he said, beseeching the king, where he shows the punishment unjustly laid on him. What have I sinned: Micah 6:12 (var.) ("neither was iniquity found in my mouth, nor did folly resound in my lips"). He excuses himself of the imputed guilt, Where are your prophets, as though to say, their falsehood is plain, and my truth as well; for already the army of the Chaldeans had returned, which they had denied would return: compare Jeremiah 28:9 (var.) ("The prophet that prophesieth peace, when his word shall come to pass, shall be known for a prophet whom the Lord hath truly sent"). And he asks for mercy, Now therefore: Proverbs 15:1 ("A mild answer breaketh wrath: but a harsh word stirreth up fury"); Sirach 6:5 (var.) ("A sweet word multiplieth friends, and appeaseth enemies, and a gracious tongue aboundeth in a good man"). Third, the granting of the petition, Then the king commanded...besides pottage, which he did not wish added. The court, that is, the atrium.

Chapter 38

Text

a. "Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Melchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people, saying: Thus saith the Lord: He that shall remain in this city, shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence; but he that shall go forth to the Chaldeans, shall live, and his life shall be safe, and he shall live. Thus saith the Lord: This city shall surely be delivered into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it. And the princes said to the king: We beseech thee that this man may be put to death, for on purpose he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, speaking to them all these words; for this man seeks not peace for this people, but evil. And king Zedekiah said: Behold, he is in your hands, for it is not lawful for the king to deny you anything. So they took Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, which was in the court of the prison, and they let him down by ropes into the dungeon, in which there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank into the mire. Now Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, an eunuch who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the dungeon; and the king was then sitting in the gate of Benjamin. And Ebedmelech went out of the king's house, and spoke to the king, saying: My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done against Jeremiah the prophet, casting him into the dungeon, to die there of hunger, for there is no more bread in the city. Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying: Take from hence thirty men with thee, and draw up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he dies. So Ebedmelech, taking the men with him, went into the king's house, into the place under the storehouse, and took from thence old rags, and worn-out garments, and let them down by cords to Jeremiah in the dungeon. And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah: Put these old rags, torn and rotten, under thy armpits, and upon the ropes. And Jeremiah did so. And they drew up Jeremiah with the ropes, and brought him out of the dungeon; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison."

b. "Then king Zedekiah sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet to himself, to the third gate that was in the house of the Lord; and the king said to Jeremiah: I will ask thee a thing, hide nothing from me. And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah: If I declare it to thee, wilt thou not put me to death? And if I give thee counsel, thou wilt not hearken to me. Then king Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying: As the Lord liveth, who made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, nor deliver thee into the hands of these men who seek thy life. And Jeremiah said to Zedekiah: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If thou wilt go forth to the princes of the king of Babylon, thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burnt with fire, and thou shalt be safe, thou and thy house. But if thou wilt not go forth to the princes of the king of Babylon, this city shall be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape their hand. And king Zedekiah said to Jeremiah: I am afraid because of the Jews who have gone over to the Chaldeans, lest I be delivered into their hands, and they mock me. But Jeremiah answered: They shall not deliver thee up. Hear, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, which I speak to thee, and it shall be well with thee, and thy soul shall live. But if thou wilt not go forth, this is the word that the Lord has shown me: Behold, all the women who are left in the house of the king of Judah shall be brought out to the princes of the king of Babylon, and they shall say: Thy friends have deceived thee, and have prevailed against thee; they have plunged thy feet in the mire and in a slippery place, and have departed from thee. And all thy wives, and thy children, shall be brought out to the Chaldeans, and thou shalt not escape their hand, but thou shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city shall be burnt with fire. Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah: Let no man know these words, and thou shalt not die. But if the princes shall hear that I have spoken with thee, and come to thee, and say, Tell us what thou hast said to the king, hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death — and what the king said to thee — thou shalt say to them: I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not command me to be brought back into the house of Jonathan, to die there. Then all the princes came to Jeremiah, and asked him; and he spoke to them according to all the words the king had commanded him, and they said no more to him, for the matter had not been overheard."

c. "So Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken; and so it came to pass that Jerusalem was taken."

Exposition

a. In this part is shown the persecution of the prophet on account of his true preaching; and it is divided into three parts. First he sets down the preaching, he spoke; for although he was in prison, many nevertheless came to him — in which he threatens death to those who remain, whosoever; promises safety to those who flee, but he that shall flee; and foretells the taking of the city, it shall surely be delivered. And these three things he had already set down above, at chapter 21 (var.); whence it appears that the narrative here returns to that point according to the order of history. Second, he sets down the persecution, where he sets down the wicked petition of the princes, for they seek his death, And the princes said: Wisdom 2:12 ("Let us circumvent the just, because he is not for our turn, and he is contrary to our doings"). They accuse his preaching, on purpose, as though it were contrary to the prophetic office: Isaiah 35:3 ("Strengthen ye the feeble hands, and confirm the weak knees"). And they pervert his intention, for this man: Galatians 4:16 ("Am I then become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?"). Now Jeremiah did not desire to take away their heart to resist for its own sake, but spoke as he did, by the Lord's command, for the good and salvation of the people. He also sets down the foolish excuse of the king, And king Zedekiah said: behold, he is not excused, though he sinned the less: John 19:11 ("he that hath delivered me to thee, hath the greater sin"). He also sets down the eager execution of the sentence, So they took him...into the dungeon, a cistern without water: Psalm 87:7 (var.) ("They have laid me in the lower pit, in dark places, and in the shadow of death"). And he shows the prophet sinking into the mire, and he sank: Psalm 68:3 (var.) ("I stick fast in the mire of the deep, and there is no sure standing"). Third, his deliverance is set down; here he sets down two things: first, that he is delivered from the prison; second, that he is delivered from the fear of death, at And the king sent, etc. Concerning the first there are four points. First he describes the one who makes the petition, Ebedmelech, that is, "servant of the king," signifying — as the name itself declares — humility: Romans 1:1 ("Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ"). An Ethiopian, for the mortification of the flesh: Psalm 67:32 (var.) ("Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands to God"); Song of Songs 1:4 (var.) ("I am black but beautiful"). A man, for strength of soul; an eunuch, for chastity: Matthew 19:12 ("there be eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven"). Who was: Philippians 3:20 ("our conversation is in heaven"); Wisdom 3:14 (var.) ("the eunuch, who has wrought no iniquity with his hands, nor thought wicked things against God: for the precious gift of faith shall be given to him, and a most acceptable lot in the temple of God"). Second, he sets down his petition, indicating its place, now the king...of Benjamin, which led into the tribe of Benjamin; and the petition itself, and he went out; for there was no more, as if to say, since Jeremiah had been shut up bread had run short; or, it was not necessary that he be shut up, since all of us were besieged and in want: Wisdom 11:16 (var.) ("by what things a man sinneth, by the same also he is tormented"). Third, the granting of the petition, then the king commanded. Fourth, its execution, so, taking with him..., worn down by the afflictions they had endured: Hebrews 13:7 ("Remember your prelates who have spoken the word of God to you; whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation"); or, taken literally, because the old rags were softer. By ropes, that gird about the servants of God: Sirach 4:12 (var.) ("A threefold cord is not easily broken"). In the court of the prison, that is, in the atrium; for the vestibule of a house is properly that which stands before the king's chamber, where garments are kept, whence every atrium came to be called a vestibule.

b. Here he is delivered from the fear of death, security having been granted him by the king. First, the pact of security; second, its observance, at So he remained, etc. Concerning the first there are two points. First, a mutual asking: the king asks a divine answer, or counsel, I will ask thee: 1 Kings 22:16 (var.) ("How many times shall I adjure thee, that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the Lord?"). And the prophet asks a promise of security, And he said: Luke 22:67 ("If I shall tell you, you will not believe me"), etc.; for it can be read either as a question, or as an evasive answer. Second, the mutual granting: first the king gives his promise of security, he swore, saying, may evil befall me if I kill thee: Isaiah 41:9-10 (var.) ("I have called thee, and taken hold of thy hand, and have kept thee"). Second, the prophet gives counsel toward safety; and concerning this he does four things. First, his wholesome exhortation, And Jeremiah said, giving the king the choice of good or evil: Sirach 15:18 (var.) ("Before man is life and death, good and evil, that which he shall choose shall be given him"). Second, the king's excuse, And the king said, on account of the Jews whose goods he had destroyed, because they had fled to the Chaldeans: above, Jeremiah 9:4 ("Let every man take heed of his neighbour, and let him not trust in any brother of his: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every friend will walk deceitfully"). Third, the conclusion of the answer, Jeremiah answered, in which he excludes fear, if the king will hear his counsel, they shall not deliver thee up: Isaiah 1:19 ("If you be willing, and will hearken to me, you shall eat the good things of the land"). He also sets down a threat, should the king refuse to hear, but if thou wilt not. He threatens the mockery of the women, behold all the women...shall say — and in mocking him they reproach him for the foolish counsel of his friends, they have deceived thee, as far as lay in their power, and prevailed, because thou didst trust them. Thy friends, who promised thee peace: Jeremiah 6:14 (var.) ("Peace, peace, when there was no peace"). The resulting harm, they have plunged thee in the mire, of sin, and in a slippery place, of punishment: Psalm 35:6 ("Let their way become dark and slippery"). And their withdrawal, and have departed from thee: Sirach 6:8 (var.) ("there is a friend for his own occasion, and he will not abide in the day of thy trouble"). He also threatens the seizure of his household, and all thy wives: Isaiah 39:7 ("and of thy sons that shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget, they shall take away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon"). And of his own person, and thou shalt not escape: Jeremiah 11:11 (var.) ("there was none that escaped in the day of the Lord's wrath"). He also threatens the taking of the city, and this city: Amos 1:14 ("I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the houses thereof"). Fourth, the king asks that the counsel given be kept secret, Then the king said, etc. And concerning this he does three things. First he asks that the conversation be hidden, let no man know: Tobit 12:7 ("It is good to hide the secret of a king, but honourable to reveal and confess the works of God"). Second, he teaches the manner of concealment, but if they should hear...let him keep silence as to the truth, and not speak what is false: Proverbs 10:19 (var.) ("he that refraineth his lips is most wise"). Third, the fulfillment of the request, then all the princes came: Proverbs 11:13 ("He that walketh deceitfully, revealeth secrets: but he that is faithful, concealeth the thing committed to him by his friend").

c. Here the observance of the request is set down, in the court of the prison, and not sent back into the dungeon, according to his petition.

Chapter 39

Text

a. "In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, and all his army, against Jerusalem, and they besieged it. And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the fifth day of the month, the city was broken open, and all the princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the middle gate: Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim, Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer, Rabmag, and all the rest of the princes of the king of Babylon. And when Zedekiah king of Judah, and all the men of war, saw them, they fled, and went out of the city by night, by the way of the king's garden, and by the gate that was between the two walls, and went out toward the way of the desert. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them, and took Zedekiah in the plain of the wilderness of Jericho; and having taken him, they brought him to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to Riblah, which is in the land of Hamath, and he gave judgment upon him. And the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes, and the king of Babylon killed all the nobles of Judah. He also put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters, to be carried to Babylon. And the Chaldeans burnt the king's house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem. And the rest of the people who remained in the city, and the deserters who had fled over to him, and the rest of the people who remained, Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away into Babylon."

b. "And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who had nothing at all, and gave them vineyards and cisterns in that day. Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had given command to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, concerning Jeremiah, saying: Take him, and set thy eyes upon him, and do him no harm; but as he shall desire, so do thou to him. So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard sent, and Nebushasban, and Rabsaris, and Nergal-sharezer, and Rabmag, and all the chief men of the king of Babylon — they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and delivered him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, that he might go home, and dwell among the people. Now the word of the Lord had come to Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying: Go, and tell Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good, and they shall be accomplished in thy sight in that day. And I will deliver thee in that day, saith the Lord, and thou shalt not be delivered into the hands of the men whom thou fearest; but I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be saved for thee, because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the Lord."

Exposition

a. Here is set down the instruction of the remnant of the people after its captivity; and it is divided into three parts. In the first is set down the captivity; in the second, the preservation of the remnant, at chapter 40, The word, etc.; third, the instruction of the remnant, at chapter 42, And there came near, etc. Concerning the first there are two points. First, the captivity of the people; second, the deliverance of certain persons, at And of the people, etc. Concerning the first there are three points. First he sets down the siege, and they besieged it: Isaiah 29:3 (var.) ("I will make a circle round about thee, and will cast up a rampart against thee, and raise up bulwarks to besiege thee"). Second, the taking of the city, in the eleventh year, in the fourth month; yet it was burned in the fifth month, on the seventh day, as is recorded in 4 Kings 25 (var.) — "the fifth of the month," though elsewhere the same book also says "the ninth of the month." It may have been that on the fifth day men began to flee for hunger, and on the ninth the city was thrown open, its guards having been withdrawn; and because they first took the outer wall, and so had the city as good as taken, and only afterward took the city itself, it follows, they sat in the middle gate, that is, in the middle of the two walls, or the gate that was between two gates of the same quarter of the city: above, Jeremiah 1:15 ("every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and upon all the walls thereof round about, and upon all the cities of Judah"). He also sets down the capture of the king, describing his flight, and when Zedekiah...had seen them, between the two walls that joined the wall of the city near the king's house and enclosed the king's garden, between which there was both a way and a gate, set at an equal distance from each: Lamentations 1:6 (var.) ("her princes are become like rams that find no pastures, and are gone away without strength before the face of the pursuer"). And he adds the capture itself, and pursued: Lamentations 4:19 (var.) ("Our persecutors were swifter than the eagles of the air"). Third, he sets down the condemnation of the captives. First, of the king and princes, as to the occasion, and having taken...the king, that is, for the pronouncing of sentence, and he gave judgment: Ezekiel 23:45 (var.) ("thus shall they judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and of shedders of blood"). And the execution of the sentence upon the princes, and he slew: Wisdom 6:7 (var.) ("the mighty shall be mightily tormented"). And the blinding of his eyes, he also put out his eyes, that he might be led to Babylon: cf. 4 Kings 25:7 (var.). Second, the condemnation of the city to destruction, the king's house too: Lamentations 2:2 (var.) ("he hath thrown down all the walls thereof, he hath destroyed the fortifications"). Third, the condemnation of the people to exile, and the rest of the people: Baruch 4:26 (var.) ("My delicate ones have walked rough ways, for they were taken away as a flock carried off by the enemies").

b. Here he sets down the deliverance of certain persons. First, of the poor, who had nothing; and cisterns, because the land suffered a want of water: above, Jeremiah 5:18 (var.) ("Nevertheless in those days, saith the Lord, I will not bring you to utter destruction"). Second, the deliverance of the just. First, of the prophet, setting down the command, he had commanded, and its execution, so they sent...to his own house: Proverbs 11:8 (var.) ("The just is delivered out of distress, and the wicked shall be given up for him"); Proverbs 10:24 ("That which the wicked feareth, shall come upon him: to the just their desire shall be given"); and Proverbs 16:7 (var.) ("When the ways of man shall please the Lord, he will convert even his enemies to peace"). Second, the deliverance of the eunuch, but as for Jeremiah. And first he promises deliverance from the dominion of his enemies, and thou shalt not be delivered: Wisdom 10:12 (var.) ("she preserved him from his enemies, and kept him safe from seducers"). Then, from death by the sword, and the sword: Psalm 90:7 ("A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee"); above, Jeremiah 17:7 ("Blessed be the man that trusteth in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his confidence"); Sirach 2:8 (var.) ("Believe God, and he will recover thee: and direct thy way, and trust in him").

Chapter 40

Text

a. "The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after he was set free by Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard from Ramah, when he had taken him bound in chains among all those who were being carried away from Jerusalem and Judah, and led into Babylon. So the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, and said to him: The Lord thy God foretold this evil upon this place, and the Lord has brought it, and has done as he said, because you have sinned against the Lord, and have not hearkened to his voice, therefore this thing has come upon you. Now behold, I have loosed thee this day from the chains that were upon thy hands. If it seem good to thee to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will set my eyes upon thee; but if it seem not good to thee to come with me to Babylon, stay here; behold, all the land is before thee: whither it shall seem good and convenient for thee to go, thither go. And return to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah; dwell with him in the midst of the people, or go wherever it shall please thee. And the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a present, and let him go. So Jeremiah came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam at Mizpah, and dwelt with him among the people that were left in the land."

b. "Now when all the captains of the army that were scattered in the country heard, they and their companions, that the king of Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor of the land, and had committed to him men, and women, and children, and the poor of the land who had not been carried away to Babylon, they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah: Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jonathan and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jezaniah the son of the Maachathite, they and their men. And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, swore to them and to their companions, saying: Fear not to serve the Chaldeans; dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. Behold, I dwell at Mizpah, to answer the command of the Chaldeans who are sent to us; but as for you, gather ye the vintage, and the harvest, and the oil, and store them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you hold. And likewise all the Jews who were in Moab, and among the children of Ammon, and in Edom, and in all the countries, when they heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah, and had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, all the Jews returned, I say, out of all the places to which they had fled, and came into the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered wine and a very great harvest."

c. "But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the army that were scattered in the country, came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and said to him: Know that Baalis king of the children of Ammon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to take thy life. But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them. And Johanan the son of Kareah spoke to Gedaliah secretly at Mizpah, saying: I will go, and I will kill Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it; lest he take thy life, and all the Jews that are gathered to thee be scattered, and the remnant of Judah perish. And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah: Do not this thing, for what thou sayest of Ishmael is false."

Exposition

a. Having set down the destruction of the city and the captivity of the people, he now sets down the safety of the remnant. First, the gathering of the people is set down; second, the disturbance of the gathered people, at chapter 41, And it came to pass, etc. Concerning the first there are two points. First, the gathering itself; second, the disclosure of certain snares that disturbed the peace of the people, at Johanan, etc. Concerning the first there are three points. First, the gathering of the people with regard to the prophet; second, with regard to the princes, at Now when...had heard, etc.; third, with regard to the common people, at But all, etc. Concerning the first there are four points. First, the pronouncement of his deliverance, The word which came. Since no further discourse follows, it is understood that what was first revealed by word is afterward related as accomplished in deed: Psalm 68:34 (var.) ("the Lord hath heard the poor, and hath not despised his prisoners"). Second, the deliverance of the prophet, so...took him; and the reason is given, namely the truth of the prophet, he hath spoken, by thee: Amos 3:6 ("shall there be evil in a city, which the Lord hath not done?"). And he removes any obstacle to his deliverance, now therefore: Psalm 106:14 (var.) ("he brought them out of darkness...and broke their bonds asunder"). Third, he is given the choice, whether to go to Babylon, or remain with Gedaliah, or go wherever he pleases, if it please thee: Genesis 13:9 ("Behold the whole land is before thee"); Proverbs 4:11-12 ("I will lead thee by the paths of equity: which when thou shalt have gone into, thy steps shall not be straitened, and when thou runnest, thou shalt not meet a stumblingblock"). And provision made for him, so he gave him: Judges 14:14 ("Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness"). Fourth, the prophet's own choice, and Jeremiah came. He did not go into Chaldea, because the exiles there already had Daniel and Ezekiel for their consolation: Isaiah 61:1-3 (var.) ("he hath sent me to preach to the meek, to heal the contrite of heart, and to preach a release to the captives...to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn...and to appoint to the mourners of Sion").

b. Here the gathering of the princes is set down. First, their gathering itself, and when...had heard: Ecclesiastes 10:16 (var.) ("an unwise king shall bring ruin upon his people, and cities shall be desolated by the folly of the prudent"). Second, the assurance given to those gathered, and he swore: 1 Peter 2:18 ("Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward"). Third, he shows the manner of this security, behold I, as though to say, I myself will bear the whole burden, that you may be at peace: 1 Corinthians 4:10 ("We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ"); Isaiah 53:4 ("surely he hath borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows"); John 10:11 ("the good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep"). But, all the Jews, etc. — here the gathering of the common people is set down: Psalm 146:2 (var.) ("he will gather together the dispersed of Israel").

c. Here the plotting of the snares is set down. First, the plot made in common by the princes, know that Baalis, who still held out against the Chaldeans; but he did not believe them, trusting instead the deceitful words of Ishmael: Proverbs 14:15 (var.) ("The innocent believeth every word: the discreet man considereth his steps"). Second, the plot made by one man in particular, Johanan. First, his private deliberation, I will go: Proverbs 11:10 ("When it goeth well with the just, the city shall rejoice: and when the wicked perish, there shall be praise"). Second, its rejection, and Gedaliah said: above, Jeremiah 11:19 (var.) ("I knew not that they had devised counsels against me, saying: Let us put wood on his bread, and cut him off from the land of the living").

Chapter 41

Text

a. "And it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed, and the nobles of the king, and ten men with him, came to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam at Mizpah, and they ate bread together there in Mizpah. Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, rose up, and struck Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, and slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land. Ishmael also slew all the Jews that were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans that were found there, and the men of war."

b. "And the second day after he had killed Gedaliah, no man yet knowing it, there came eighty men from Shechem, and from Shiloh, and from Samaria, with their beards shaven, and their garments rent, and with gashes on their bodies; and they had in their hands offerings and frankincense, to offer in the house of the Lord. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went; and when he met them, he said to them: Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. And when they had come into the midst of the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah slew them, and cast them into the midst of the pit, he and the men that were with him. But ten men were found among them, who said to Ishmael: Kill us not, for we have stores hidden in the field, of wheat, and barley, and oil, and honey. And he forbore, and did not kill them with their brethren."

c. "Now the pit into which Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he slew because of Gedaliah, is the same that king Asa had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel; the same did Ishmael the son of Nethaniah fill with the slain."

d. "And Ishmael carried away captive all the remnant of the people that were in Mizpah, the king's daughters, and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive, and set off to go over to the children of Ammon. But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, they took all the men, and went out to fight against Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are in Gibeon. And when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, they rejoiced; and all the people whom Ishmael had taken from Mizpah turned back, and went over to Johanan the son of Kareah. But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah fled with eight men from before Johanan, and went to the children of Ammon. Then Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, took all the remnant of the people whom they had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after he had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam — mighty men of war, and women, and children, and eunuchs, whom they had brought back from Gibeon. And they departed, and dwelt as sojourners in Geruth-chimham, which is by Bethlehem, meaning to go on into Egypt, from before the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had set as governor over the land of Judah."

Exposition

a. Here is set down the disturbance of the gathered people through the wickedness of Ishmael. First, the treacherous slaying of certain men; second, the burial of the dead bodies, at Now the pit, etc.; third, the violent taking captive of others, at And the captives, etc. Concerning the first there are two points. First, the slaying of the governor and his household; second, the slaying of certain travelers, at And the second day, etc. Concerning the first there are three points. First he sets down the deceit of a feigned peace, of the royal seed, on account of which envy was stirred against Gedaliah, whom Ishmael saw set over the Jews while he himself was shut out from the kingship: Sirach 6:10 (var.) ("there is a friend for every table, and he will not abide in the day of trouble"). Second, the murder of the governor as it was carried out, they rose up, from the table — ten men, and they prevailed, the others suspecting nothing of the sort: 2 Kings 3:33 (var.) ("Died Abner as cowards are wont to die?"). Third, the slaying of the household, all the Jews too: Sirach 11:32 (var.) ("Of one spark cometh a great fire...and a deceitful man layeth snares for blood").

b. Here he sets down the slaying of the travelers. First he describes their condition, as to their mourning, with their beards shaven: Lamentations 2:10 (var.) ("her priests groan"); Baruch 4:9-11 (var.) ("God hath brought upon me great mourning"). And as to their vow-offering, gifts — they had, and frankincense, which was offered in every sacrifice: Leviticus 2:1-2; in the house of the Lord, that is, in the place of the temple: Isaiah 19:21 ("they shall worship him with victims and offerings; and they shall make vows to the Lord, and perform them"). Second, he sets down their slaying, prefacing it with the deceit hidden in a feigned sorrow, he went out weeping: Sirach 12:11 (var.) ("and though he go crouching and humble, yet take good heed, and beware of him"). And in his fraudulent counsel, and when he had met them: Proverbs 6:12 (var.) ("a deceitful mouth worketh ruin"); and he adds the killing itself, and when they had come: Lamentations 3:53 (var.) ("my life is fallen into the pit, and they have laid a stone over me"); Hosea 4:2 (var.) ("blood hath touched blood"). Third, the sparing of certain men, on account of the wealth which they claimed to have, but ten men: Proverbs 13:8 ("The ransom of a man's life is his riches: but he that is poor, beareth not reprehension").

c. Here he sets down the burial of the dead bodies, king Asa: it is recorded in 3 Kings 15:22 (var.) that Asa built up Geba and Mizpah of Benjamin out of the materials that Baasha had prepared for building Ramah against him, and perhaps in fortifying the place he made there a certain cistern: Psalm 87:5-6 (var.) ("I am counted among them that go down to the pit: I am become as a man without help, free among the dead").

d. Here he sets down the taking captive. First, the captivity of those who remained, the remnant, because he had slain certain of those who belonged to Gedaliah's household: Isaiah 5:14 (var.) ("hell hath enlarged her soul, and opened her mouth without any bounds"). Second, the deliverance, prefacing it with the preparation of those who delivered them, and Johanan...heard: Proverbs 24:11 ("Deliver them that are led to death: and those that are drawn to death forbear not to deliver"). And he subjoins the deliverance of the captives, and when...had seen: Proverbs 11:10 ("When it goeth well with the just, the city shall rejoice: and when the wicked perish, there shall be praise"). And he adds the escape of their captor, but Ishmael...with eight, two having been slain: Isaiah 33:1 (var.) ("Woe to thee that spoilest, shalt not thou thyself also be spoiled?"). Third, he sets down their fear; and concerning this there are two points. First, the sign of their fear, namely their resolve to flee, therefore he took: Proverbs 28:1 (var.) ("The wicked man fleeth, when no man pursueth"). Second, the reason of their fear, for they were afraid: Wisdom 17:11 ("a troubled conscience always forecasteth grievous things"); Job 15:21 (var.) ("when there is peace, he always suspecteth ambushes").

Chapter 42

Text

a. "Then all the captains of the forces came near, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and the rest of the people from the least to the greatest, and they said to Jeremiah the prophet: Let our supplication fall before thee, and pray for us to the Lord thy God, for all this remnant, since we are left but a few of many, as thy eyes do behold us; and may the Lord thy God show us the way by which we may walk, and the thing that we may do. And Jeremiah the prophet said to them: I have heard you: behold, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words; whatsoever thing he shall answer me, I will declare it to you, and I will hide nothing from you. And they said to Jeremiah: The Lord be a witness of truth and faith between us, if we do not according to every word for which the Lord thy God shall send thee to us, whether it be good or evil: we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send thee, that it may be well with us, when we shall hearken to the voice of the Lord our God."

b. "And it came to pass, after ten days were ended, that the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. And he called Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest, and said to them: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel, to whom you sent me, to present your supplications before him: If you will remain quiet in this land, I will build you up, and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for now I am appeased for the evil that I have done to you. Fear not because of the king of Babylon, of whom you are greatly afraid; fear him not, saith the Lord, for I am with you, to save you, and to deliver you out of his hand. And I will show mercies to you, and will have pity on you, and will cause you to dwell in your own land. But if you shall say: We will not dwell in this land, neither will we hearken to the voice of the Lord our God, saying: No, but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, and shall not hear the sound of the trumpet, and shall not suffer hunger, and there we will dwell — for this cause hear now the word of the Lord, ye remnant of Judah: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces to go into Egypt, and go in to dwell there, the sword which you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, about which you are anxious, shall cleave to you in Egypt, and there you shall die. And all the men who have set their faces to go into Egypt, to dwell there, shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence; none of them shall remain, nor escape from the evil that I will bring upon them. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: As my wrath and my indignation have been kindled against the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my indignation be kindled against you, when you shall have entered into Egypt; and you shall become an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach, and you shall see this place no more. The word of the Lord concerning you, O remnant of Judah: Go ye not into Egypt. Know certainly that I have adjured you this day, that you have deceived your own souls; for you sent me to the Lord our God, saying: Pray for us to the Lord our God, and according to all that the Lord our God shall say to thee, so declare unto us, and we will do it. And I have declared it to you this day, and you have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord your God, in anything for which he sent me to you. Now therefore know certainly that you shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence, in the place to which you desired to go, that you might dwell there."

Exposition

a. Here begins the instruction of the gathered people; and it is divided into two parts. First, the general instruction of the people; second, a special instruction. Concerning the first there are two points. First, the instruction given to the prophet; second, the people's contradiction of it, at And it came to pass, etc. Concerning the first there are two points. First, the request for instruction; second, the instruction itself, at Now when, etc. Concerning the first there are two points. First they ask for the aid of his prayer, where the petition is set down, let it fall, as though to say, let it find a place before thee: Sirach 35:21 (var.) ("The prayer of him that humbleth himself shall pierce the clouds...and it will not depart till the Most High behold"), by which they seek to gain his favor. And pray for us, where they ask for a benefit: Isaiah 37:4 (var.) ("lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left"). For we are left, by which they appeal to his mercy: Deuteronomy 28:62 (var.) ("you shall remain few in number, who before were as the stars of heaven for multitude"). And let him declare, in which the fruit of the prayer is sought, namely the word of the Lord: Isaiah 8:19 (var.) ("should not the people seek of their God a vision, for the living and the dead?"). The way, since they had not yet resolved to go into Egypt: above, Jeremiah 10:23 ("the way of man is not his own: neither is it in a man to walk, and to direct his steps"); 2 Chronicles 20:12 (var.) ("as we know not what to do, we can only turn our eyes to thee"). The prophet's promise is also set down, and he said. He promises to pray for them, behold I: 1 Kings 12:23 (var.) ("far from me be this sin against the Lord, that I should cease to pray for you"). And he promises to make the answer known, every word: Acts 20:27 ("for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God"). Second, they promise obedience, which nevertheless they were not to keep, and they said: compare Exodus 19:8 ("All that the Lord hath spoken, we will do").

b. Here the instruction itself is set down; and concerning this there are three points. First he brings forward the authority of the one who reveals it, Thus saith the Lord, as though the prophet were a mediator between them and God, carrying their prayers to God, and his answer back to them: Deuteronomy 5:5 ("I was the mediator and stood between the Lord and you at that time, to shew you his words"). Second, he exhorts them to be at peace, in two ways: by excluding the evils of divine punishment, setting down the promise, I will build you up, by conferring good things, I will plant you, by confirming them; and by excluding any impediment, for now I am appeased: Exodus 32:14 ("the Lord was appeased from doing the evil which he had spoken against his people"); Psalm 102:9 (var.) ("he will not always be angry, nor will he threaten for ever"). And he excludes the fear of persecution by their enemies, giving them assurance, fear not: Isaiah 51:12 ("who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a mortal man, and of the son of man, who shall wither away like grass?"). And he promises the help of his aid, for I am with you: above, Jeremiah 20:11 (var.) ("the Lord is with me as a strong warrior: therefore they that persecute me shall fall, and shall be weak: they shall be greatly confounded, because they have not understood the everlasting reproach, which shall never be effaced"); Isaiah 50:7 ("the Lord God is my helper, therefore am I not confounded").

Here ends the Exposition of Brother Thomas Aquinas, of the Order of Preachers, upon Jeremiah, which death prevented him from completing.

The Exposition on Lamentations

Prologue

This work is prefaced by a prologue in which are described: the time — after Israel had been led into captivity; the author — "Jeremiah sat," in the manner of one lamenting, as it were upon the ground (cf. Isaiah 47:1, "Come down, sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon"); the matter — "he lamented with this lamentation" (cf. Jeremiah 9:10, "Upon the mountains I will take up weeping and lamentation, and upon the beautiful places of the wilderness a mourning, because they are burnt up..."); and the author's own affection — "with a bitter mind" (cf. below, Lamentations 3, "He has filled me with bitterness, he has inebriated me with wormwood").

And it came to pass, after Israel was led into captivity, and Jerusalem was made desolate, that Jeremiah the prophet sat weeping, and lamented with this lamentation over Jerusalem, and, sighing and wailing with a bitter mind, said:

Chapter 1

Text

Aleph. How does the city sit solitary, that was full of people! She who was mistress of the nations has become like a widow; she who was princess of the provinces has been put under tribute.

Beth. Weeping, she has wept in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is none to comfort her. All her friends have despised her, and have become her enemies.

Ghimel. Judah has gone into exile because of affliction, and the greatness of her bondage; she has dwelt among the nations, and has found no rest. All her persecutors have overtaken her in the midst of her distress.

Daleth. The ways of Sion mourn, because there are none that come to the solemn feast. All her gates are destroyed, her priests groan, her virgins are afflicted, and she herself is oppressed with bitterness.

He. Her adversaries have become the head, her enemies are grown rich; because the Lord has spoken against her for the multitude of her iniquities. Her little ones are led away captive before the face of the oppressor.

Vau. And from the daughter of Sion all her beauty has departed. Her princes have become like rams that find no pasture, and they have gone away without strength before the face of the pursuer.

Zain. Jerusalem has remembered the days of her affliction, and the transgression of all her precious things which she had from the days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and there was none to help her. Her enemies have seen her, and have mocked at her sabbaths.

Heth. Jerusalem has grievously sinned, therefore she has become unstable; all who honored her have despised her, because they have seen her shame; but she herself, groaning, has turned backward.

Teth. Her filthiness is on her feet, and she has not remembered her end; she is brought down wonderfully, having no comforter. Behold, O Lord, my affliction, for the enemy is lifted up.

Iod. The enemy has put forth his hand to all her precious things; for she has seen the Gentiles enter into her sanctuary, of whom you had commanded that they should not enter into your assembly.

Caph. All her people sigh, seeking bread; they have given all their precious things for food, to relieve their soul. Behold, O Lord, and consider, for I have become vile.

Lamed. O all you who pass by the way, attend and see if there be any sorrow like my sorrow; for the Lord has made a vintage of me, as he spoke in the day of his fierce anger.

Mem. From on high he has sent fire into my bones, and has instructed me; he has spread a net for my feet, he has turned me back; he has made me desolate, wasted with sorrow all the day long.

Nun. The yoke of my iniquities has watched; they are folded together in his hand, and laid upon my neck; my strength has failed; the Lord has delivered me into a hand out of which I am not able to rise.

Samech. The Lord has taken away all my mighty men from the midst of me; he has called against me a time, to destroy my chosen men; the Lord has trodden the winepress for the virgin daughter of Judah.

Ain. For this I weep, and my eye runs down with water, because the comforter, the relief of my soul, is far from me; my children are desolate, because the enemy has prevailed.

Phe. Sion has spread forth her hands, there is none to comfort her; the Lord has commanded against Jacob his enemies round about him; Jerusalem has become among them as a woman polluted in her uncleanness.

Sade. The Lord is just, for I have provoked his mouth to wrath. Hear, I beg you, all you peoples, and behold my sorrow; my virgins and my young men have gone into captivity.

Coph. I called for my friends, and they deceived me; my priests and my elders wasted away in the city, while they sought food for themselves, to relieve their souls.

Res. Behold, O Lord, for I am in distress, my bowels are troubled; my heart is turned within me, for I am full of bitterness. Abroad the sword deals death, and at home there is the like of death.

Sin. They have heard that I sigh, and there is none to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my evil, they have rejoiced that you have done it; you have brought the day of consolation, and they shall become like me.

Thau. Let all their evil come before you, and deal with them as you have dealt with me for all my iniquities; for my sighs are many, and my heart is faint.

Exposition

a. This book is divided into two parts. In the first the prophet laments the misery of the people; in the second, by way of prayer, he turns to the divine mercy (chapter 4, "Remember, O Lord..."). The first part is divided into three: in the first he laments the misery of bondage; in the second, the misery of destruction (chapter 2, "How has [the Lord] covered..."); in the third, the misery of the siege (chapter 4, "How is the gold become dim..."). The first is divided into two: in the first the prophet laments the casting-down of his own people; in the second he introduces the complaint of the people, or of the city, at "O all you who pass by the way." That, in turn, falls into two: in the first he laments their bondage; in the second he pursues, part by part, the greatness of that bondage, at "Judah has gone into exile." Concerning the first he does two things. First he shows the people's bondage, or abjection, with respect to the loss of glory; second, with respect to the violation of friendship, at "Weeping, she has wept." Now he shows her former glory under three heads. First, because she was populous with citizens: "how does she sit," vile and cast down; "solitary," desolate of inhabitants (cf. Baruch 4:20, "But I am left desolate: I have put off the robe of peace"); "full," as she once was — for, as 2 Chronicles shows, Judah and Israel were once innumerable (cf. Isaiah 22:2, "a populous city, a joyous city"). Second, because she was honored with princes, for she was both a royal and a priestly city: "she has become as it were a widow," bereft of kings or of priests (cf. Isaiah 47:9, "these two things shall come to you suddenly in one day, barrenness and widowhood"); "mistress of the nations," who had once been subject to her (cf. Ezekiel 5:5, "this is Jerusalem, I have set her in the midst of the nations"). Third, because tribute was paid to her: "princess of the provinces," which she herself had made tributary (cf. 2 Samuel 8:6, "Moab and Syria became servants to David, under tribute"), or into which Solomon had divided his kingdom, setting a governor over each (cf. 1 Kings 4); "she has become tributary" to the Chaldeans (cf. Proverbs 12:24, "the hand of the valiant shall bear rule, but that which is slothful shall be under tribute"). Now to this verse is prefixed the letter Aleph, which is interpreted "doctrine," to show that because the people lacked the doctrine of God, both in the observance they had let slip and in the knowledge they had lost, they were therefore led captive (cf. Isaiah 5:13, "therefore is my people led away captive, because they had not knowledge"). It should also be known that, since this lamentation makes frequent use of rhetorical devices and commonplaces, this verse is the fourth commonplace of complaint. Allegorically: the city is the present Church; "full of people," gathered from diverse nations; "mistress of the nations," of those obedient in faith; "princess of the provinces," of the various particular Churches, to which she gives the life by which they live; "she has become solitary," stripped of the guardianship, or the aid, of the angels; "a widow," deprived of the presence of the Bridegroom; "tributary," exposed to tyrants. Morally: the city is the soul; "full of people," of good affections; "mistress of the nations," of the vices; "princess of the provinces," of the senses; "desolate," of the support of good works; "a widow," of the embraces of the Bridegroom; "under tribute," to the vices.

b. Here he laments the violation of friendship. First he shows the need for friends: "weeping," as Jerusalem, continually oppressed by various adversities; "in the night," privately, for fear of the enemy, or in adversity; "on her cheeks," because there was none to wipe them away (cf. Psalm 6:7, "every night I will wash my bed"). Second, the withdrawal of aid: "there is none to comfort her," offering help against the enemy, "among all her lovers," the Egyptians and her other allies (cf. Ecclesiastes 4:1, "I saw the calamities that are done under the sun, and the tears of the innocent, and they had no comforter"). Third, the change of affection: "all her friends" (cf. Job 19:13, "he has put my brethren far from me, and my acquaintance have retired away from me like strangers"). Now to this verse is prefixed the letter Beth, which is interpreted "house," because the house of Jacob is weeping — the thirteenth commonplace of complaint. Allegorically: the Church weeps over her adversities; "on her cheeks," her prelates; "among all her lovers," the holy angels; "have despised her," conforming themselves to the divine justice. Morally: the soul weeps "in the night," her sins; "on her cheeks," of conscience, in which man's own action speaks; "among all her lovers," her private affections; "have despised her," the affections of depraved delight.

c. Here he pursues, part by part, the misery of bondage, so as to show its magnitude; and this is divided into two parts. In the first he laments it with respect to the oppression of the people; in the second, with respect to the plundering of their goods, at "The enemy has put forth his hand." The first is divided into two: in the first he laments the misery of oppression; in the second he shows its reason, at "Jerusalem has grievously sinned." Concerning the first he does two things: first he laments their misery with respect to what they presently endured; second, with respect to what they called to mind of the past, at "And Jerusalem has remembered." Concerning the first he sets down three things: first, the misery of bondage with respect to those who fled; second, with respect to those who remained, at "The ways of Sion mourn"; third, with respect to the captives, at "Her adversaries have become the head." Concerning the first he sets down three things. First, the flight: "she has gone into exile," fleeing to neighboring lands, "because of affliction" in their persons, "and the greatness of her bondage" in tribute — for even in their own land they were oppressed by the Chaldeans (cf. Isaiah 16:4, "my fugitives shall dwell with you, O Moab, be a covert to them"; Isaiah 21:14, "you who dwell in the land of the south, meet with bread him that flees, for they have fled from before the swords"). Second, he laments the distress of those who fled among strangers: "she has dwelt among the nations," the Moabites and the Ishmaelites, "and has found no rest," because there too she suffered distress from them (cf. Deuteronomy 28:65, "among these nations also you shall not be quiet, neither shall there be rest for the sole of your foot"). Third, he foretells the distress that overtook them by the power of the enemy: "all her persecutors," the Chaldeans, "in the midst of her distress," which they suffered from those very people to whom they had fled, as had happened in Egypt (cf. Jeremiah 42:16, "the sword which you fear shall overtake you in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof you are afraid, shall cleave to you there"; Ezekiel 6:12, "he that is near shall fall by the sword... and he that remains shall die by the famine"). Now to this verse is prefixed the letter Ghimel, which is interpreted "fullness," because from the multitude of their sins they suffered the fullness of misery (cf. Matthew 23:32, "fill up then the measure of your fathers"; Luke 6:38, "with what measure you shall measure, it shall be measured to you again") — the tenth commonplace of complaint. Allegorically: Judah is the Church joined to Christ; "she has gone into exile," from enemies to enemies, among whom she seeks rest "and finds none," but is everywhere oppressed at will. Morally: Judah is the soul that ought to confess God; "she has gone into exile," to the vices, or the demons; "rest," mocking her, whether vices or demons; "her persecutors," the demons; "have overtaken her," in death.

d. Here he laments the misery of those who remained. First, with respect to the pilgrims by whom she was frequented: "the ways [of Sion] mourn," stirring up lamentation; "to the solemn feast," the threefold feast of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles (cf. Isaiah 33:8, "the ways are made desolate, the traveler ceases, the way is broken"). Second, with respect to the persons by whom the city was adorned, namely her princes: "all her gates," because judgments were given in the gates (cf. Isaiah 3:26, "her gates shall lament and mourn, and she, desolate, shall sit upon the ground"); her priests, "her priests" (cf. Joel 2:17, "between the porch and the altar the priests shall weep"); her virgins, "her virgins are afflicted" and disfigured (cf. Job 30:31, "my harp is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of those that weep"; 1 Maccabees 1:27, "and the princes groaned"). Third, with respect to the people by whom she was filled: "and she herself," the people, or the city (cf. Ruth 1:20, "call me not Naomi... for the Almighty has made me exceeding bitter"). Now to this verse is prefixed the letter Daleth, which means "of tablets," because he laments the destruction of the Temple, which had paneling of cedar and gold, as is said in 1 Kings 6 — the eighth commonplace of complaint. Allegorically: "the ways" are those that lead to heaven; "Sion," the prophets and preachers; "the solemn feast," the heavenly homeland; "the gates," the prelates of the Church who lead men in; "the priests," who administer the sacred rites; "the virgins," who hold the first rank in the Church — all of these are, for sin, brought low, and when they are shaken the people too, being subject to them, are filled with bitterness; hence in Exodus 32 Moses broke the tables. Morally: "the ways" are the virtues of the soul that lead to the feast of contemplation; "the gates," the senses; "the priests," souls in the holiness of divine religion; "the virgins," souls in purity of conscience — and when these are shaken, the soul itself is oppressed with the bitterness of the vices.

e. Here he laments the oppression with respect to the captives. First he laments the captivity of the lesser folk; second, of the greater, at "And from the daughter of Sion." Concerning the first he sets down three things. First, the exaltation of the enemies in power: "her adversaries," namely the Chaldeans, "have become the head," ruling over them; and as to riches, "are grown rich" (cf. Deuteronomy 28:44, "he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail"). Second, he assigns the reason for this exaltation: "because the Lord has spoken," as it were pronouncing sentence against her, inspiring the nations to come, or having foretold it through Moses — and this "for the multitude of her iniquities" (cf. Jeremiah 18:7, "I will speak against a nation and against a kingdom, to root it out, and to pull it down, and to destroy it"). Third, he sets forth the captivity itself: "her little ones," that is, the children of the people (cf. Isaiah 5:13, "therefore is my people led away captive, because they had not knowledge"). Allegorically: "her adversaries" are the heretics, since knowledge is lacking in the Church; "have become the head," prevailing in disputes; "are grown rich," in eloquence; "the Lord has spoken," permissively; "her little ones," beginners, "led into captivity," drawn away from the Church. Morally: "her adversaries" are the demons; "the head," corrupting the intention; "grown rich," through the multiplying of sins; "the Lord has spoken," permitting it; "her little ones," the motions and affections stirred by the tempting demon (cf. Psalm 13:4 (var.), "lest at any time my enemy say, I have prevailed against him"). Now to this verse is prefixed the letter He, that is, "these are the judgments," which the Lord had spoken through Moses — the eighth commonplace of complaint. What is said, "for the multitude," is the first part of the general condition here assumed, which is called concession.

f. Here he laments the captivity of the greater folk, and concerning this he does three things. First he sets forth the loss of their ornaments: "from the daughter of Sion," that is, Jerusalem, "all her beauty," with respect to the vessels that were carried off, and the treasures, and the princes and priests, along with Jehoiachin the grandson of Josiah (cf. 2 Kings 24; Ezekiel 19, "her beautiful vessels have been carried away"). Second, the want of provisions: "her princes have become like rams that find no pasture," neither for themselves nor for the people, because even bread failed in the city while it was besieged in the time of Zedekiah, as is said in Jeremiah 34 and Isaiah 5, "her nobles have perished for hunger, and her multitude has been parched with thirst." Third, he sets down the captivity of the princes: "and they have gone away without strength," unable to resist; "before the face of the pursuer," fleeing, as is read in Jeremiah, the last chapter, "the princes were pursued in the plains" (cf. Psalm 38:11 (var.), "my strength has forsaken me"). Now to this verse is prefixed the letter Vau, which is interpreted "and," as though these things too were joined to the foregoing, in vengeance taken upon us from the Lord — the fifth commonplace of complaint. Allegorically, of the Church: "Sion," the heavenly city, from whose pattern she is copied, from which the beauty of faith has departed; "and her princes," the prelates, go astray into various errors; "before the face of the pursuer," the devil, or the heretic who perverts the faith; "not finding," in the Scriptures, "pasture," of the word of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

g. Here he laments the misery that arises from the remembrance of things past. First he touches upon the memory of the past: "of her affliction," past, the recollection of which stirs weariness; "and of her transgression," that is, of her sins, which stir the remorse of conscience; "of all her precious things," that is, of her former prosperity, which stirs and inflames the desire of concupiscence (cf. Isaiah 38:15 (var.), "I will recount to you all my years in the bitterness of my soul"). Second he sets forth the suffering of present evils: "when her people fell" (cf. Psalm 21:12 (var.), "tribulation is very near, for there is none to help"). Third, the contempt of her enemies: "they have seen... her sabbaths," and all that pertained to the worship of religion (cf. 1 Maccabees 1:41 (var.), "her feasts were turned into mourning, her sabbaths into reproach, her honors into nothing"). The literal and rhetorical exposition, and the mystical sense, are sufficiently touched upon in the glosses.

h. Here he shows the cause of so great a misery. First he sets forth the sin itself; second, the progress of the sin, at "Her filthiness." Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets forth the sin: "she has sinned," by antonomasia, of infidelity and idolatry (cf. Proverbs 14:34, "sin makes nations miserable"). Second he sets down the effect of the sin: first, the misery of instability, "therefore she has become unstable," that is, she did not remain in her own land, but was taken captive and fled into other regions (cf. Isaiah 57:20, "the wicked are like the raging sea, which cannot rest"); second, the shame of confusion, "all who honored her," blessed her in the time of prosperity, "her shame," of adversity (cf. Job 29:11, "the ear that heard me blessed me, and the eye that saw me gave witness to me"); third, the sorrow of the heart, "but she herself, groaning, has turned backward," from the prosperity in which she had advanced in God (cf. Psalm 69:3 (var.), "let them be turned backward and blush for shame that desire evils to me").

i. Here he sets forth the progress of the sin. First he sets down the fault: "her filthiness," namely of her sins, "is on her feet," that is, in her affections, as if for advancing in sin; "her end," that is, of death, or of the divine judgment (cf. Sirach 7:40, "remember your last end, and you shall never sin"). Second he sets down the punishment: "she is brought down," from her state of dignity, "wonderfully," into utter misery (cf. Psalm 55:24 (var.), "you, O God, shall bring them down into the pit of destruction"). Third he begs for mercy: "behold, O Lord," namely with the affection of mercy (cf. Psalm 118:153, "see my humiliation, and deliver me, for I have not forgotten your law").

k. Here he laments the bondage with respect to the plundering of goods, which they suffered from the conquering enemy. First he sets down the plundering of goods with respect to what the enemy carried off; second, with respect to what they themselves destroyed, at "All her people." Concerning the first he sets down two things. First, the plundering of goods: "the enemy," the conquering Chaldean, "her precious things," namely the treasures of the house of God, and of the royal house, and of all the rest (cf. Isaiah 64:11 (var.), "all our pleasant things are laid waste"). Second he sets down their profanation: "for she has seen," namely the people of the Jews; as if to say, by this course of events it could come to pass that all things were carried off, even what was in the Temple (cf. 1 Maccabees 1:23 (var.), "the holy things fell into the hands of strangers"). Or otherwise: "she has seen," namely the Lord, "the Gentiles," the priests in word but generally living as heathens, when they set up an idol in the Temple; "of whom you had commanded," Leviticus 22, that no man of the seed of Aaron who has a blemish shall eat of the things sanctified to the Lord — and here, because they had acted against this, they were led into captivity, according as guilt is the cause of punishment.

l. Here he sets down the plundering of goods with respect to what they themselves gave away. First he sets down the necessity that drove them to give things away, namely from the lack of necessities: "seeking bread" (cf. Psalm 101:5 (var.), "I am smitten as grass, and my heart is withered, because I forgot to eat my bread"). Second he sets down the giving itself: "they have given their precious things... to relieve," not to satisfy, "their soul," that is, their base life (so it is read of the Egyptians, Genesis 47). Third he calls upon God for pity: "behold, O Lord" (cf. Jeremiah 2:36, "how exceeding base you have become, going your ways"). This last is set down as coming from the person of the city or the people herself, who, the prophet having set forth her misery, as if no longer able to bear it, breaks forth, sobbing, into words of lamentation.

m. Here is set down the complaint on the part of the city and the people herself. First she complains to bystanders of the severity of the Judge; second, to the Judge himself, of the cruelty of the enemy, at "Behold, O Lord." Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets forth the severity of the Judge in general; second he pursues it in particular, at "He has taken away all." Concerning the first he does three things. First he sets forth the indignation of God, inasmuch as by punishing he took vengeance. Second he sets forth the severity of divine discipline, inasmuch as by punishing he instructed, at "From on high." Third he sets forth the rigor of justice, inasmuch as by punishing he exercised the office of judge, at "He has watched." Concerning the first he does three things. First is set down the invocation, "O all you who pass by the way," of this desolate region (cf. Jeremiah 22:8, "many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor: why has the Lord done thus to this great city?"). Second is set forth the greatness of the sorrow, "attend," for while she considers her own she thinks none other like it; and it was indeed the greatest, because the greatest things were lost, both spiritual and temporal (cf. Jeremiah 8:21, "for the contrition of the daughter of my people I am contrite"). Third is set down the indignation of God, which is the reason of the sorrow, because "he has made a vintage of me," her inhabitants taken captive and slain as a vine of its clusters (cf. Isaiah 5:7, "the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel"; Psalm 79:13 (var.), "all they who pass by the way have plucked it"); "he has spoken," threatening through the prophets.

n. Here he sets down the severity of the discipline, inasmuch as, like a master, he instructed by harsh chastisements. First he sets forth the severity in correcting what had been committed: "from on high," that is, by his lofty counsel; "fire," of affliction, or by which the city and its stronghold were literally burnt; "into my bones," that is, into the mighty and the fortifications — and so, by grievous scourges, "he has instructed me" (cf. Isaiah 28:19, "vexation alone shall make you understand what you hear"). Second he shows the severity in guarding against what is to come: "he has spread a net," that is, an impediment by which he drew her back from sin (cf. Hosea 2:6, "I will hedge up your way with thorns"). Third he shows the severity in withdrawing the benefits of consolation: "he has made me," as if to say, he applied no consolation after the scourges, as a master is wont to do for children (cf. Baruch 4:9 (var.), "God has brought upon me great mourning").

o. Here he shows the rigor of the justice of God himself, inasmuch as he is judge; and concerning this he does three things. First he sets down the diligent consideration of sins: "he has watched," as though he had vigilantly considered, "the yoke," of affliction, to be laid by his own hands upon me for my sins (cf. Jeremiah 1:13, "what do you see, Jeremiah? I see a rod watching"). Second he sets down the harsh affliction of the punishment, namely the iniquities laid upon him after the manner of a chain, bound in an indissoluble bond, while for these he suffers punishment (cf. Psalm 37:5 (var.), "my iniquities are gone over my head, and as a heavy burden are become heavy upon me"). Third he excludes escape, both on account of his own weakness — "my strength has failed" — and on account of the power of the enemy — "the Lord has delivered me into a hand," of the Chaldeans (cf. Psalm 30:11 (var.), "my strength has failed through poverty").

p. Here he pursues, part by part, the misery of bondage. First with respect to the first captivity, under Jehoiachin the grandson of Josiah, of which 2 Kings treats fully; second, the last, which was under Zedekiah, of which 2 Kings 25 and Jeremiah 39 treat, at "Sion has spread forth her hands." Concerning the first he does two things: first he laments the taking captive of the men; second, the withdrawal of consolation, at "For this I weep." Concerning the first he does three things. First he sets down the captivity of those who were eminent in dignity: "her mighty men," whose part it is to do great things — for while the rest remained, these were carried captive (cf. Isaiah 3:1, "the Lord will take away from Judah and from Jerusalem the strong and the mighty"), who were eminent in power; "he has called against me a time," fit for destruction, "to destroy the chosen," preeminent in virtue (cf. Psalm 31:6 (var.), "in the day of visitation I will visit this their sin"; Ecclesiastes 3:1, "all things have their season"). Third, the affliction of those who were preeminent in purity, or even in piety: "the winepress," that is, the affliction, "of the virgin," literally, or of the people itself, which until then had been as it were a virgin, and which was likewise taken captive (cf. Jeremiah 25:30, "a shout, as of them that tread the grapes, shall be given out against all the inhabitants of the earth"). Here, according to the gloss, the letter ought properly to be placed; but it is better placed at the following verse, since it runs through three verses.

q. Here he laments the withdrawal of consolation. First he sets down the lament of sorrow: "weeping" (cf. Jeremiah 9:1, "who will give water to my head?"). Second he sets down the matter of the sorrow: "because the comforter," Egypt, "is far from me," who might have turned my present misery into my former prosperity (cf. Isaiah 63:15, "you have removed my helpers far from me"). Third he sets down its effect: "my children are desolate," for by the failure of help the power of the adversary and the captivity of the people prevailed (cf. Jeremiah 50:17, "Israel is a scattered flock").

r. Here he laments, secondly, the captivity which took place under Zedekiah, when the whole people was universally taken captive; and concerning this he does three things. First he laments the siege; second, the captivity, at "The Lord is just"; third, the consuming by famine, at "I called for my friends." Concerning the first he does three things. First he sets down the failure of the friends who should have helped and hindered the siege: "she has spread forth [her hands]," as it were seeking help from the Egyptians (cf. below, Lamentations 5:6, "we have given our hand to Egypt and to the Assyrians"; or from God, cf. Isaiah 1:15, "when you stretch forth your hands, I will turn away my eyes from you"). Second he sets down the coming of the enemy: "he has commanded," justly dispensing it, "round about," by way of siege, "his enemies," the Chaldeans (cf. Isaiah 10:6, "I will send him to a deceitful nation, and against the people of my wrath I will give him a charge, to take away the spoils"). Third, the vileness of the besieged: "Jerusalem has become as a polluted thing," to which none draws near to defend her (cf. Jeremiah 2:3, "all that devour her shall offend").

s. Here he laments the captivity; and concerning this he does three things. First he confesses the justice of the Judge: "the Lord is just" (cf. Psalm 118:137, "you are just, O Lord, and your judgment is right"). Second he wins the goodwill of his hearers, provoking them to compassion: "hear, I beg" (cf. Jeremiah 4:5 (var.), "declare in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem"). Third he laments the misery of the captivity: "my virgins and my young men," who, by the strength of their age, might have escaped death by famine (cf. Jeremiah 51:34, "he has filled his belly with my delicacies, and has cast me out").

t. Here he laments the wasting away of those who died of famine in the siege. First he sets forth the deceptions of their friends: "my friends," the Egyptians, because they did not deliver them as they had hoped (cf. Isaiah 30:7, "Egypt shall help in vain, and to no purpose"; hence he cries out over this). Second he sets down the wasting away occasioned by this: "my priests," of whom it seems the more unworthy, "consumed" by famine (cf. Isaiah 5:13, "her nobles have perished with hunger"). Third he assigns the reason for the wasting away: "because they sought," to relieve themselves, not to satisfy, and found nothing. Or he assigns as the reason their own fault, because they sought for themselves and not for the people (cf. Ezekiel 34:2, "woe to the shepherds of Israel that fed themselves").

u. Here he begins to complain to the Judge himself; and concerning this he does three things. First he sets forth his own misery; second he accuses the fault of his adversaries, at "They have heard"; third he asks for vengeance, at "Let all their evil come." Concerning the first he does three things. First he rouses attention: "behold, O Lord" (cf. Psalm 30:10 (var.), "have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble"). Second he sets forth his sorrow under the figure of interior pain and anguish of heart: "troubled," which he explains, "for I am full of bitterness" (cf. Jeremiah 4:19, "my bowels, my bowels, I am pained"; Ruth 1:20, "the Almighty has filled me with exceeding bitterness"). Third he assigns the reason for the sorrow: "abroad the sword deals death" (cf. Deuteronomy 32:25, "the sword shall destroy without, and fear within").

x. Here he accuses the fault of others; and concerning this he does three things. First he accuses the failure of her helpers: "they have heard," namely the Egyptians and the others in whom they trusted (cf. Jeremiah 51:54, "a sound of a cry from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans"). Second he accuses the joy of her enemies: "all my enemies" (cf. Psalm 34:25 (var.), "let them not say in their hearts, aha, aha, our soul, let them not say, we have swallowed him up"). Third, as one secure in the divine justice, he foretells their ruin: "you have brought," that is, you will bring, on account of the certainty of it, "the day of consolation," to me, "like me," in sorrows and afflictions (cf. Isaiah 65:13, "behold, my servants shall eat, and you shall be hungry").

y. Here he asks for vengeance. First he recalls the fault to memory: "let all their evil come [before you]," their sin (cf. Psalm 108:14 (var.), "may the iniquity of his fathers be remembered in the sight of the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out"). Second he asks for the punishment: "of the vintage" — cf. above (letter m), "the Lord has made a vintage of me, as he spoke in the day of his fierce anger." Third he assigns the reason: "for my sighs are many," on account of the evils that I suffer from them (cf. Lamentations 1:21, "you have brought the day of consolation, and they shall become like me").

Chapter 2

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Aleph. How has the Lord covered with darkness in his fury the daughter of Sion! He has cast down from heaven to earth the renowned of Israel, and has not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger.

Beth. The Lord has cast down headlong, and has not spared, all that was beautiful in Jacob; he has destroyed in his fury the strongholds of the virgin daughter of Judah, and brought her down to the ground; he has profaned the kingdom, and its princes.

Ghimel. He has broken in the wrath of his fury all the horn of Israel; he has drawn back his right hand from before the enemy; and he has kindled in Jacob, as it were, a flaming fire devouring round about.

Daleth. He has bent his bow as an enemy, he has fixed his right hand as an adversary, and has slain all that was fair to behold in the tabernacle of the daughter of Sion; he has poured out his indignation like fire.

He. The Lord has become as an enemy; he has cast down headlong Israel, he has cast down headlong all her walls; he has destroyed her strongholds, and has filled the daughter of Judah with humiliation, man and woman alike.

Vau. And he has laid waste his tent as a garden, he has destroyed his tabernacle; the Lord has caused to be forgotten in Sion the feast and the sabbath; and in the reproach and indignation of his fury, king and priest.

Zain. The Lord has cast off his altar, he has cursed his sanctuary; he has delivered into the hand of the enemy the walls of her towers; they have made a noise in the house of the Lord, as in the day of a solemn feast.

Heth. The Lord has purposed to destroy the wall of the daughter of Sion; he has stretched out his line, and has not withdrawn his hand from destroying; and the bulwark has mourned, and the wall has been destroyed alike.

Teth. Her gates are sunk into the ground; he has destroyed and broken her bars; her king and her princes are among the nations; the law is no more, and her prophets have found no vision from the Lord.

Iod. The elders of the daughter of Sion sit upon the ground, they hold their peace; they have sprinkled their heads with ashes, they have girded themselves with haircloth; the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.

Caph. My eyes have failed with weeping, my bowels are troubled; my liver is poured out upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people, when the child and the infant fainted in the streets of the city.

Lamed. They said to their mothers: Where is corn and wine? when they fainted, as though wounded, in the streets of the city; when they breathed out their souls in the bosoms of their mothers.

Mem. To what shall I compare you, or to what shall I liken you, O daughter of Jerusalem? To what shall I equal you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Sion? For great as the sea is your ruin; who shall heal you?

Nun. Your prophets have seen false and foolish things for you, and they have not laid open your iniquity, to provoke you to penance; but they have seen for you false burdens, and banishments.

Samech. All who passed by the way have clapped their hands over you; they have hissed, and wagged their heads over the daughter of Jerusalem, saying: Is this the city of perfect beauty, the joy of all the earth?

Phe. All your enemies have opened their mouth over you; they have hissed, and gnashed with their teeth, and have said: We will swallow her up. Behold, this is the day we looked for; we have found it, we have seen it.

Ain. The Lord has done that which he purposed, he has fulfilled his word, which he commanded from the days of old; he has destroyed, and has not spared, and he has made the enemy rejoice over you, and has exalted the horn of your adversaries.

Sade. Their heart cried to the Lord upon the walls of the daughter of Sion. Let tears run down like a torrent, day and night; give yourself no rest, and let not the pupil of your eye cease.

Coph. Arise, give praise in the night, in the beginning of the watches; pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord; lift up your hands to him for the life of your little ones, who have fainted for hunger at the head of every street.

Res. Behold, O Lord, and consider whom you have thus dealt with. Shall women then eat their own fruit, their children a span long? Shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?

Sin. The child and the old man lie outside upon the ground; my virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword; you have slain in the day of your fury, you have struck, and have not pitied.

Thau. You have called, as to a solemn feast, those who should terrify me from all sides; and there was none in the day of the Lord's fury that escaped or remained; those whom I brought up and nourished, my enemy has consumed.

Exposition

a. Here he laments the destruction of the city, the people, and the whole region; and this is divided into two parts. In the first he laments the destruction; in the second he excludes the despair of the people, chapter 3, "I am the man who has seen." The first is divided into two: in the first he laments the misery of the destruction; in the second he turns to obtain the divine mercy, at "Their heart cried." Concerning the first he does two things. First he laments the destruction in general; second, in particular, at "He has cast down headlong." Concerning the first, he marvels at the destruction because of the manifold glory that had preceded it. First, with respect to the prerogative of divine knowledge, of which Psalm 147:20 (var.) says, "he has not done in like manner to every nation" — against which he says, "how has he covered with," darkness, of ignorance, or of sorrow (cf. Isaiah 59:10, "we have stumbled at noonday as in the dark, we are in dark places as dead men"). Second, with respect to the power of royal dignity — against which, 1 Esdras 4 (var.), "mighty kings have been in Jerusalem, who ruled over all the region beyond the river" — against which he says, "he has cast down," that is, from the height of dignity and power, or from her heavenly manner of life (cf. Revelation 6:13, "the stars of heaven fell to the earth"). Third, with respect to the worship of divine religion — Psalm 147:15 (var.), "blessed is the people whose God is the Lord" — against which he says, "he has not remembered," for good, "his footstool," the Temple, in which he was adored as a king at the footstool of his feet (cf. Ezekiel 43:7, "the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever").

b. Here he pursues in particular the things that attended the destruction. First he laments what was joined to the destruction; second, what followed upon it, at "To what shall I compare you." Concerning the first he does two things: first he laments the destruction of the common buildings; second, of the more eminent, at "And he has laid waste as a garden his tent." Concerning the first he does two things: first he laments the destruction of the buildings pertaining to the strength of the king; second, of those pertaining to the use of the people, at "He has bent his bow." Concerning the first he does two things: first he laments the destruction; second, the powerlessness of those who resisted, at "He has broken." Concerning the first he does three things. First he laments the destruction of what belonged to adornment: "all that was beautiful" (cf. Joel 1:19, "fire has devoured the beautiful places of the wilderness"). Second, of what pertained to strength: "he has destroyed the strongholds" (cf. Isaiah 25:12, "the fortifications of your high walls shall come down, and be humbled, and be brought to the ground, even to the dust"; Jeremiah 33:4, "thus says the Lord concerning the houses of this city, and the houses of the king of Judah, which are destroyed"). Third he concludes the disfigurement of the kingdom: "he has profaned the kingdom" (cf. Ezekiel 28:7 (var.), "they have defiled your beauty; they shall slay you, and bring you down, and you shall die the death of those that are slain in the heart of the sea").

c. Here he shows the powerlessness of resistance. First he excludes human strength: "horn," that is, power (cf. Psalm 74:11 (var.), "all the horns of the sinners I will break"). Second, divine help: "he has drawn back," as it were the defense with which he formerly defended them (cf. Psalm 73:11 (var.), "why do you turn away your hand, and your right hand?"). Third he concludes with the burning of the land: "and he has kindled fire in it round about," and it did not understand.

d. Here he laments the destruction of what pertained to the use of the people. First, of what pertained to adornment; second, to defense, at "The Lord has become." Concerning the first he does three things. First he shows the divine indignation: "his bow," that is, judgment, or the army of the Chaldeans, that they might strike as it were from afar; "he has fixed," to strike, "his right hand," that he might strike from near (cf. Psalm 7:13 (var.), "except you be converted, he will brandish his sword; he has bent his bow, and made it ready"). Second he sets down the infliction of punishment: "he has slain," has destroyed, "all that was fair," men, buildings, and the like (cf. Numbers 24:5, "how beautiful are your tabernacles, O Jacob"). Third he shows the greatness of the punishment, both as to abundance or number — "he has poured out" — and as to bitterness — "like fire" — or as to its manner, because the city was burnt (cf. Deuteronomy 32:22, "a fire is kindled in my wrath, and shall burn even to the lowest hell"; Psalm 68:25 (var.), "pour out your indignation upon them").

e. Here he laments the destruction of the buildings pertaining to defense; and concerning this he does three things. First he touches upon the indignation of God: "as an enemy," as it were in battle helping the enemy against them (cf. Isaiah 63:10, "he was turned to be their enemy, and he himself fought against them"). Second, the destruction of the buildings: "he has cast down headlong all her walls" (cf. Psalm 79:13 (var.), "you have broken down all her hedges"). Third he concludes the humiliation of the people: "and he has filled," that is, multiplied (cf. Psalm 43:26 (var.), "our soul is humbled down to the dust, our belly cleaves to the earth").

f. Here he laments the destruction of the principal buildings. First, of the Temple; second, of the royal house, at "The Lord has purposed." This is divided into two: first he touches upon the destruction of the Temple itself; second, of what was in the Temple, at "The Lord has cast off his altar." Concerning the first he does three things. First he touches upon the destruction of the Temple: "his tent," which had been made in the wilderness, and set up at Shiloh; "his tabernacle," which Solomon had built; "as a garden," which is easily destroyed (cf. Psalm 77:60 (var.), "he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tabernacle where he dwelt among men"; Jeremiah 7:14 (var.), "I will give this house as I gave Shiloh, and this city I will give up to be a curse"). Second, the cessation of the feasts of the Temple: "to oblivion," as if they no longer pleased him as before (cf. Isaiah 1:14, "my soul hates your new moons and your solemnities"). Third, the rejection of her ministers: "and to reproach," namely he gave up the king, to whom belonged the defense of the Temple, "and the priest," to whom belonged its administration (cf. Job 12:19 (var.), "he leads away priests without glory, and overthrows the mighty").

g. Here he touches upon the destruction of the buildings that were in the Temple. First, of the altar pertaining to religion: "his altar," of holocausts, "he has cast off," delivering it to the enemy to be profaned; "his sanctuary," the sacrifices of atonement that were offered upon it (cf. 1 Maccabees 4:38, "they saw the sanctuary desolate, and the altar profaned"; 1 Maccabees 1:39 (var.), "the holy things were given into the hands of strangers"). Third, the profanation of the Temple by men: "they have made a noise," of blasphemy, or of the tumult of war; "as in the day of a solemn feast," when the priests were wont to praise God (cf. Isaiah 66:6, "a voice of the people from the city, a voice from the temple, the voice of the Lord that renders recompense to his enemies").

h. Here he touches upon the destruction of the citadel of Sion. First he sets down the divine deliberation: "he has purposed," as though he had deliberated but had not at once carried it out; "the wall of the daughter of Sion," fortifying Jerusalem herself (cf. Isaiah 14:26, "this is the counsel that I have purposed upon all the earth"). Second, the just judgment: "he has stretched out his line," as it were to measure out his justice, that the punishment might equal the fault; "he has not withdrawn," for he left out nothing of the just punishment (cf. Isaiah 34:11, "the line shall be stretched out over it, to bring it to nothing"). Third he shows the effect of the justice: "the bulwark has mourned," that is, being destroyed, it provokes to mourning, as above, "the ways of Sion mourn" (cf. Isaiah 24:4, "the earth mourned, and fell down, and is weakened; the world fell down, is weakened").

i. Here he laments the destruction of the people. First, of those whose misery is exceedingly pitiable according to the degree of their dignity; second, of those whose misery is pitiable by reason of the reverence due their condition, at "The elders sit"; third, of those whose misery is pitiable because of their tender age, at "My eyes have failed with weeping." Concerning the first, two things. First, as to the secular princes, he sets forth a parable, or metaphor: "sunk into," that is, entangled in tribulations, so that they cannot easily be plucked out (cf. Psalm 68:3 (var.), "I stick fast in the mire of the deep, and there is no sure standing"). "The gates," the kings, whose was the power of judgment exercised in the gates; "he has destroyed," by taking captive; "and has broken," by reducing to captivity, "her bars," the princes by whom the kingdom is made firm, as a gate by its bars — and he explains, "her king... among the nations" (cf. Psalm 106:16 (var.), "he has broken the gates of brass, and burst the bars of iron"; Isaiah 3:26, "her gates shall lament and mourn, and she shall sit desolate on the ground"). Second, as to the spiritual princes, namely the priests: "the law is no more," to be taught by the priests (cf. Malachi 2:7, "the lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth"); and the prophets: "and her prophets" (cf. Psalm 73:9 (var.), "there is now no prophet, and he will know us no more").

k. Here he laments the destruction of those who are pitiable by reason of the reverence due their condition. First, the elders: "they sit upon the ground... they hold their peace," which are signs of great sorrow (cf. Job 2:13, "they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no man spoke a word to him"), for they saw that his grief was exceedingly great. Second, as to the virgins of the daughter of Sion, who were in the citadel, or near the Temple, of the daughters of the priests: "they have sprinkled," in a sign of sadness; "the virgins of Jerusalem," as to those who dwelt in the city, "hang down," from confusion and fear, "to the ground"; "the virgins of Judah," as to those who dwelt throughout the kingdom on every side (cf. Isaiah 3:24, "instead of a sweet smell there shall be a stench, and instead of a girdle a cord, and instead of curled hair baldness").

l. Here he laments those who are pitiable because of their tender age. First he touches upon their death; second, the manner of their dying, at "They said to their mothers." Concerning the first he does two things. First he shows his own compassion by the shedding of tears: "my eyes have failed," as if unable any longer to weep (cf. Jeremiah 9:1, "who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes?"); and by the disturbance of his inward parts: "my bowels are troubled," as if to say, I grieve as much as the disturbance of the bowels can express sorrow, or because it reaches even to the depths of the heart (cf. Jeremiah 31:20, "my bowels are troubled for him"); and as to the pouring out of the liver: "my liver is poured out," that is, thus do I grieve, as if it were poured out, or because my love, whose seat is there, has been, as it were, poured out upon the ground toward those whom I loved, now lying prostrate (cf. Hosea 13:8, "I will rend the caul of their heart, and will devour them there"). Second, the mercy of his compassion: "for the destruction of the city," that is, of Jerusalem, because she has become vile, or of any other (cf. Jeremiah 51:22, "with you I will break in pieces the old man and the child, the young man and the virgin").

m. Here he sets forth the manner of their dying, that it might the more excite compassion. First, the request of the children to their mothers: "where is...," as if failing; "give us to eat" (cf. below, Lamentations 4:4, "the little ones have asked for bread, and there was none to break it unto them"). Second, the necessity of their asking: "when they fainted," as they were dying of hunger, "in the streets," as it were before the eyes of all, and none able to bring remedy (cf. Jeremiah 21:9, "he that dwells in this city shall die by the sword, and by the pestilence, and by the famine"). Third, the bitterness of their death: "they breathed out their souls" (cf. 2 Kings 4:20, "she set him on her knees until noon, and he died").

n. Here are set down the things that follow upon destruction, namely what commonly comes about after the business is done. First he excludes the healing of the wound; second he sets down the wonder of those who beheld it, at "They have clapped their hands over you"; third, the commendation of the Judge who inflicted so great a vengeance, at "The Lord has done." Concerning the first he does two things. First he shows the wound to be incurable; second he assigns the cause, at "Your prophets." Concerning the first he does two things. First he shows that it cannot be relieved by consolations drawn from comparison with others, which is wont to be some consolation to the afflicted: "to what shall I compare you?" Likeness is more than comparison, for any things of the same kind whatsoever are comparable, provided they do not differ infinitely; yet they are not therefore alike, unless they share the same quality, nor are all things equal, but only those in which the one does not exceed the other in the sharing of that quality. But her wound exceeds the wounds of others, because she has lost both temporal and spiritual glory, which other nations did not lose in this way. In this — "that I may comfort you" — it is as if to say, none other has suffered worse, or the like, to you (cf. above, Lamentations 1:21, "you have brought the day of consolation, and they shall become like me"). Second he shows that it cannot be healed by medicines, because of its very greatness: "great," that is, most wide and most deep (cf. Jeremiah 30:12, "your bruise is incurable").

o. Here he assigns the cause of its incurability, namely because the physicians neglected to heal it in due season, that is, the prophets. First he shows the falsehood of the prophets, as to the false things they preached: "they have seen," they said they saw, "false and foolish things," because it was foolish to believe that God would not punish sinners (cf. Ezekiel 22:28 (var.), "her prophets have daubed them without temper"; 2 Peter 2:1, "there were also false prophets, even as there shall be among you lying teachers"). And as to what they kept silent: "they have not laid open" (cf. Isaiah 58:1, "cry, cease not, lift up your voice like a trumpet, and show my people their wicked doings"). Second he explains what sort of false things they saw: "they have seen for you," burdens that weigh down, as a burden taken up presses the more heavily on the one who carries it (cf. Micah 3:5, "thus says the Lord concerning the prophets that lead my people astray"); "and banishments," deliverances (cf. Jeremiah 28:11 (var.), "thus says the Lord: even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within two years"); or, "burdens," that God would gather them to himself, "banishments," that their adversaries would be cast out.

p. Here he sets down the wonder of those who beheld. First, of friends; second, of enemies, at "All your enemies have opened." Concerning the first he sets down the compassionate wonder of friends, expressed by four signs. By the clapping of hands: "all who passed by the way have clapped their hands," seeing the desolation of the land. By hissing: "they have hissed." By the shaking of the head: "and wagged their heads." By word: "saying, is this the city," "of perfect" beauty, because in things both spiritual and temporal — for she was both a royal and a priestly city — "the joy of all the earth," because men gathered from everywhere at her solemnities (cf. Psalm 47:3 (var.), "with the joy of the whole earth is Mount Sion founded, on the sides of the north, the city of the great king"; Isaiah 22:2, "a populous city, a joyous city"; Jeremiah 22:8, "many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbor: why has the Lord done thus to this great city?").

q. Here he sets down the mockery of the enemies: "have opened," accusing; "your enemies," the Edomites, the Moabites, and others; "they have hissed," detracting; "they have gnashed," threatening; "we will swallow her up," insulting (cf. Psalm 21:14 (var.), "they have opened their mouths against me, as a lion ravening and roaring"; Jeremiah 51:34, "Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me, has crushed me"; Psalm 34:21 (var.), "they said, aha, aha, our eye has seen it").

r. Here he sets down the commendation of the judgment. First is set down his constancy of purpose: "the Lord has done what he purposed" (cf. Isaiah 14:24 (var.), "this is the counsel that I have purposed"). Second is shown his truthfulness in word: "he has fulfilled," for he had foretold the destruction of the people from days of old, or also through the earlier prophets (cf. Numbers 23:19, "has he said, then, and will he not do it? has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?"). Third is shown his justice in deed: "he has destroyed," the Jews, "and has not spared," as one abandoning the rigor of justice; "the horn," the power (cf. Psalm 88:43 (var.), "you have set up the right hand of them that afflict him").

s. Here he turns to ask the mercy of the Judge through prayer. First he invites to prayer; second he sets down the prayer itself, at "Behold, O Lord." Concerning the first, two things. First he teaches that a place must be prepared for prayer through tears; second he teaches the manner of praying, at "Arise, give praise." Concerning the first he does three things. First he sets down the reason for the lament: "their heart," namely of the enemies, "blasphemed," against the Lord, that is, against him, "over the walls," as though the destruction of the city were an occasion of blasphemy, as though God had not been able to defend her (cf. Exodus 16:8 (var.), "your murmuring is not against us, but against the Lord"). Or, "their heart," namely of the Jews, that he might teach the sorrow of the heart to break forth into a tearful prayer (cf. Psalm 118:145, "I cried with my whole heart, hear me, O Lord"). Second he invites to a multitude of tears: "let tears run down like a torrent" (cf. Jeremiah 9:1 (var.), "let our eyes run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters"). Third he invites to a continuity of mourning: "day and night," that is, in prosperity and in adversity; or literally, at all times, in act or in habit (cf. Jeremiah 14:17 (var.), "let your eyes run down with tears, day and night").

t. Here he teaches the manner of praying; and concerning this he does two things. First he teaches the manner of praying as to time: "arise," from sleep; "praise" God, through prayer; "in the night," when there is more leisure, and because of the quiet of that time; "in the beginning of the watches." The watches of the night were distinguished according to the guards who kept the city, as is said in Song of Solomon 5 (var.), "the watchmen who kept the city found me... there were four." The first is called "conticinium," when the fire-watch is set; the second is called "intempestum," about midnight, because that time is not opportune for doing anything, for "tempestivum" among the ancients meant "opportune." The third, cockcrow. The fourth is called the time before dawn. He says, then, that she should arise "in the beginning of the watches," that is, in the first watch, or at the beginning of any watch whatever (cf. Isaiah 26:9, "my soul has desired you in the night, yea, and with my spirit within me in the morning early I will watch for you"). And as to devotion of heart: "pour out... like water," as though melting with love and devotion, like water thawed from ice (cf. Psalm 41:5 (var.), "these things I remembered, and poured out my soul in me"). And as to the sign of devotion: "lift up" (cf. 1 Timothy 2:8, "I will that men pray in every place, lifting up pure hands, without anger and contention"). Second he sets down the matter of the prayer: "for the life," that is, for the separation of souls from bodies; or "soul" is put for life itself; "of every street," that is, of the four ways that meet in one (cf. above, Lamentations 1:11, "when the children and the sucklings fainted in the streets of the city").

u. Here he sets down the prayer. First he calls forth mercy from the cruelty of the punishment; second, from its very universality, at "They have lain"; third, from the impossibility of escape, at "You have called, as it were." Concerning the first he sets down two things. First, attention: "whom have you thus dealt with," as if to say, none other besides me; or, because, as I, chosen from among the fathers (cf. above, Lamentations 1:12, "the Lord has made a vintage of me in the day of his fierce anger"). Second he sets down the cruelty of the punishment against natural piety: "shall women then eat...," as if to say, could this be endured? This is read to have been fulfilled in the siege by the Romans, in Josephus and Hegesippus, and in 2 Kings 6 and 7, in the siege of Samaria (cf. below, Lamentations 4:10, "the hands of the pitiful women have boiled their own children"). And also against the honor due to religion: "if... be slain," as if to say, will you suffer this, or that it be done? (cf. Ezekiel 9:6, "begin at my sanctuary").

x. Here he sets down the universality of the punishment; and concerning this he does three things. First he sets down the punishment common to all: "they have lain," dead, or cast down, "without," that is, in the streets, or outside the city (cf. Jeremiah 51:22, "with you I will break in pieces the old man and the child, the young man and the virgin"). Second, the indignation of him who punishes: "you have slain," by your own authority, though the Chaldeans served as ministers (cf. Isaiah 63:3, "I have trodden them in my fury, and have trampled on them in my wrath"). Third he concludes the lack of pity: "you have killed, and have not pitied" (cf. Deuteronomy 32:39, "I will kill, and I will make to live; I will strike, and I will heal"; Job 5:18, "he wounds, and cures; he strikes, and his hands shall heal; in six troubles he shall deliver you, and in the seventh evil shall not touch you").

y. Here he sets forth the impossibility of escape; and concerning this he does three things. First he sets down the siege: "as to a solemn feast," that is, as men were wont to come to feasts, so now, by your inspiration, they came to besiege you (cf. Isaiah 29:3, "I will make a circle round about you like a sphere, and will cast up a rampart against you, and raise up fortifications to besiege you"). Second, the impossibility of escaping: "there was none that escaped" (cf. Isaiah 41:25, "I have raised up one from the north... and he shall come from the rising of the sun"). Third, the destruction of those who were gathered in: "whom I brought up" (cf. Baruch 4:26 (var.), "I nourished them with joy").

Chapter 3

Text

Aleph. I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath. He has led me and brought me into darkness, and not into light. Surely against me he has turned his hand, and turned it again, all the day long.

Beth. He has made my skin and my flesh grow old, he has broken my bones. He has built round about me, and encompassed me with gall and travail. He has set me in dark places, like those long dead.

Ghimel. He has built a wall around me, that I cannot get out; he has made my chain heavy. Yea, and when I cry and entreat, he has shut out my prayer. He has enclosed my ways with square stones, he has turned my paths upside down.

Daleth. He has become to me as a bear lying in wait, as a lion in secret places. He has turned my paths aside, and torn me in pieces, he has made me desolate. He has bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.

He. He has shot into my reins the daughters of his quiver. I have become a derision to all my people, their song all the day long. He has filled me with bitterness, he has inebriated me with wormwood.

Vau. He has broken my teeth one by one, he has fed me with ashes. My soul is cast out from peace, I have forgotten good things. And I said: My strength has perished, and my hope from the Lord.

Zain. Remember my poverty and my transgression, the wormwood and the gall. I will be mindful and remember, and my soul shall languish within me. These things I turn over in my heart, therefore will I hope.

Heth. It is of the mercies of the Lord that we are not consumed, because his compassions have not failed. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore will I wait for him.

Teth. The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good to wait with silence for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man to have borne the yoke from his youth.

Iod. He shall sit solitary, and hold his peace, because he has taken it upon himself. He shall put his mouth in the dust, if perhaps there may be hope. He shall give his cheek to him that strikes him, he shall be filled with reproaches.

Caph. For the Lord will not cast off forever. For if he has cast off, he will also have mercy, according to the multitude of his mercies. For he has not willingly humbled, nor cast off, the children of men.

Lamed. That men should crush under their feet all the prisoners of the earth; that they should turn aside the judgment of a man in the presence of the Most High; that they should subvert a man in his cause — the Lord has not approved it.

Mem. Who is he that has said a thing should be done, when the Lord did not command it? Do not both evil and good proceed out of the mouth of the Most High? Why does a living man murmur, a man for his sins?

Nun. Let us search our ways, and examine them, and return to the Lord. Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to the Lord in the heavens. We have sinned, and provoked to wrath; therefore you are inexorable.

Samech. You have covered us in wrath, and struck us; you have slain, and have not spared. You have set a cloud before you, that our prayer may not pass through. You have made me an outcast, and cast me away, in the midst of the peoples.

Phe. All our enemies have opened their mouth against us. Fear and a snare have come upon us, prophecy and destruction. My eye has run down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people.

Ain. My eye is afflicted, and has not rested, because there was no relief, until the Lord should look down and see from the heavens. My eye has grieved my soul, because of all the daughters of my city.

Sade. My enemies have chased me as a bird, without cause. My life has fallen into a pit, and they have laid a stone over me. Waters have flowed over my head: I said, I am cut off.

Coph. I have called upon your name, O Lord, from the lowest pit. You have heard my voice: do not turn away your ear from my sighing and my cries. You drew near in the day when I called upon you: you said, Fear not.

Res. You have judged, O Lord, the cause of my soul, O Redeemer of my life. You have seen, O Lord, their iniquity against me: judge my judgment. You have seen all their fury, and all their thoughts against me.

Sin. You have heard their reproach, O Lord, all their devices against me. The lips of those who rise up against me, and their plotting against me, all the day. Behold their sitting down and their rising up: I am their song.

Thau. Render to them a recompense, O Lord, according to the works of their hands. You will give them a hardened heart, your curse. You will pursue them in your fury, and destroy them from under the heavens, O Lord.

Exposition

a. Here, after the enumeration of many punishments, he excludes the despair of the people; and this is divided into three parts. In the first he sets down the things that provoke despair; in the second, the arguments for regaining confidence, at "Remember my poverty"; in the third, having assumed confidence, he turns to ask for mercy, at "Let us search our ways." Concerning the first, three things. First he sets forth the affliction; second he takes up the seeming rejection, at "For the Lord will not cast off"; third he concludes with the despair, at "And I said... it has perished." Concerning the first, two things. First he sets down the affliction which they endured by the stroke of his hand; second, the manner of the affliction, at "He has become to me." Concerning the first, three things. First is set down the scourge of the divine chastisement; second, the effect of the stroke, at "He has broken"; third he excludes any remedy of escape, at "He has built a wall around me." Concerning the first, three things. First he sets down the indignation of him who strikes: "I am the man who has seen affliction." Jeremiah speaks here in his own person, since he too had been afflicted along with the rest; or in the person of the people, whose misery he reckons as his own (cf. Revelation 3:17, "you know not that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked"). Allegorically, this is understood of Christ and the Church; morally, of the soul. Second he sets down the withdrawal of consolation: "he has led me into darkness," of tribulations, "and not into light," of consolation, because after the scourges he did not, as is his wont, apply consolation (cf. Job 3:23, "God has surrounded him with darkness"). Third, the character of the scourges: "against me," after the manner of the afflicted, who consider only their own wounds, "he has turned, and turned again," striking, and striking yet again (cf. Isaiah 8:11, "the Lord spoke to me with a strong hand"). And in this chapter, through three clauses, the same letter is prefixed in due order to each, and to the following three the next letter in turn.

b. Here he sets down the effect of the divine stroke, as a bruise is the effect of a blow; and concerning this he does three things. First, the wasting of strength throughout the whole people, because "my skin," in which the common people are, as it were, on the outside, standing round about; "my flesh," in which are the delicate and the tender; "my bones," in which are the strong warriors of the people — that is, the whole multitude wastes away (cf. Baruch 3:10 (var.), "how is it, Israel, that you are in your enemies' land... grown old in a strange country?"). Second, the siege of those already weakened: "he has built," that is, the besieging army; "gall," that is, the army that brought me labor and gall (cf. Job 7:12, "am I a sea, or a whale, that you have enclosed me in a prison?"). Third, the imprisonment of those already taken: "in dark places," a prison; "like those long dead," those adjudged to death (cf. Psalm 142:3 (var.), "he has set me in dark places, like those long dead"). This may also be understood from the person of Jeremiah himself, who, worn down by many distresses and wasted in body, was also shut up in prison.

c. Here he excludes any remedy of escape. First, on account of the besieging of the enemy: "he has built a wall around me," that is, the besieging army; "my chain," meaning the same as the siege, as for those who are put in prison, that they may not be able to escape (cf. Psalm 87:9 (var.), "I am shut up, and cannot come forth"; Job 13:27, "you have put my feet in the stocks, and have watched all my paths"). Second, on account of the exclusion of prayer: "but even when I cry out" (cf. Psalm 21:3 (var.), "I shall cry by day, and you will not hear"). Third, on account of the hindrance of counsel: "he has enclosed my ways," of escape, "with stones," with heavy obstacles (cf. Hosea 2:6, "I will hedge up your way with thorns").

d. Here he shows the manner of the affliction. First, that it was by ambush; second, that it was open, at "He hath bent"; third, that it was abundant, at "He hath filled me." As to the first he does two things. First he sets down the enemies' ambush: "He is become to me," Nebuchadnezzar warring against me by ambushes, "as a bear," in which is designated cruelty, and "a lion," in which is designated power, as it is put in Hosea 13: "I will be to them as a lioness, as a leopard in the way of the Assyrians." Second, he excludes the ambushes, or counsels, by which they might have repelled the enemies' snares: "my paths"; above, chapter 2: "he hath made me desolate, wasted with grief all the day." Third he shows here that he afflicted her publicly and openly; and as to this he does three things. First he sets down the proposal: "his bow," that is, the enemy's judgment or army, as a mark at which all shoot publicly: Psalm 7 ("He hath bent his bow"); Job 16 ("He hath broken me, and set me up as his mark to shoot at").

e. Here, second, he sets down the affliction of punishment: "in my reins," in which is signified the wantonness of the people, "arrows," or the various punishments proceeding from his providence: Job 30 ("He hath opened his quiver, and afflicted me"). Third he sets down the mockery of the one punished: "I am made," that is, it is fulfilled — Jeremiah 20 ("I am made a derision all the day, all men mock me") — just as the people too was held in derision by others. "He hath filled me": here he shows that it was abundant. First, as to the multitude of the punishments: "he hath filled me with bitterness," with various straits; "he hath made me drunk," brought them abundantly upon me — Jeremiah (var.). Second, at "he hath broken," as to the number of those punished.

f. Here he continues the afflictions: "my teeth" — the warriors by whom they were defended, as a beast by its teeth — "one by one," so that none should remain; "with ashes," with uselessness: Job 4 ("the whelps of the lions are scattered abroad for want of prey"); Psalm 101 (var.) ("I did eat ashes like bread"). "And my soul is removed": here he takes up the reproach of being cast off from the mercy of the day: Psalm 87 (var.) ("But thou hast cast me off and despised me"). "I have forgotten," through the experience of evils: Ecclesiasticus 11 ("the affliction of one hour maketh one forget great delights"). "And I said": here he concludes in despair, as though he were saying: because I am in straits, and the Lord has cast me off, so that he does not help me. "I said" — in my heart, in the person of those who despair — "my end is perished," as though he should not obtain what he was expecting: Jeremiah 2 ("I have despaired, I will do it no more"); Malachi 3 ("he said: he that serveth God is in vain").

g. Here he sets down arguments to exclude despair. First from the divine mercy; second from the divine justice, at "and to crush under his feet"; third from the divine power, at "who is he that hath said." As to the first he does two things: first he shows the divine mercy as to the conferring of benefits; second as to the relaxing of punishments, at "for he doth not cast off," etc. As to the first he sets down three things: first, the remembrance of past benefits; second, the experience of present ones, at "the mercies of the Lord," etc.; third, the expectation of future ones, at "the Lord is good," etc. As to the first, three points. First the prophet brings God to consider the evils they had endured, saying: "O Lord," who seemest to dissemble and to have forgotten us — "remember" it, and deliver us; "my poverty," as to the despoiling of goods; "my transgression," the fault which is the cause of so great a misery; "the wormwood," as to the bitterness and affliction of men: below (var.), "remember, O Lord, what hath befallen us." Second he calls to his own remembrance the benefits they had received: "I will be mindful, and remember" — namely, the benefits — "and my soul shall languish," fail from wonder or desire: Psalm 41 (var.) ("these things I remembered, and poured out my soul in me"). Third he concludes to confidence: "these," namely, the benefits: Ecclesiasticus (var.) ("I have remembered thy mercy, O Lord").

h. Here he sets down the experience of the divine mercy in the present. First the recognition of it is set down: "the mercies of the Lord" — as though he were not punishing as though unmerciful, because he punished less than was deserved, not reducing us to nothing: Jeremiah 10 ("Correct me, O Lord, but yet with judgment, and not in thy fury, lest thou bring me to nothing"). Second is set down the Lord's own approval of this: "they are new every morning," that is, openly, "I the Lord" — "great is thy faith," that is, Jeremiah's, who amid his sufferings recognized the benefits: Matthew 15 ("Great is thy faith; be it done to thee as thou wilt"). Third he sets down the conclusion he intends: "the Lord is my portion," because, all else spurned, I have chosen him for my portion: Psalm 15 (var.) ("The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup").

i. Here he shows the divine mercy from the expectation of things to come. First he sets down the expectation; second the condition of that expectation, at "he shall sit," etc. As to the first he does three things. First he sets down the fruit of that expectation: "good," as it were diffusing its own goods: Psalm 72 ("How good is God to Israel, to them that are of a right heart!"). Second he sets down the manner of expecting: "it is good to wait with silence," patiently, without murmuring: Isaiah 30 ("in silence and in hope shall your strength be"). Third, the time of the expectation: "it is good for a man" to bear the yoke, of the fear and love of the Lord, "from his youth," so that the fervor of that age may be tempered and more easily accustomed to good things: Proverbs 22 ("a young man according to his way, even when he is old he will not depart from it").

k. Here he sets down the condition of the one who waits. First as to the height of contemplation: "he shall sit solitary," so as not to be impeded; "and hold his peace," from the tumult of thoughts and desires, because through this "he hath taken it up upon himself," and lifted himself to the consideration of things divine: Hosea 2 ("I will lead her into solitude, and will speak to her heart"). Or in this is shown the dejection of the one who waits, because he remains in expectation: "he shall sit solitary... and hold his peace," because cast down, "and hath taken it up upon himself," in humbling himself rather than in pride. Second as to the humility of his speech: "he shall put his mouth in the dust," speaking humbly: Isaiah 29 ("out of the ground shalt thou speak, and thy speech shall be humble"). Third as to the patience of tribulation: "he shall give his cheek to him that striketh him," shall be ready to give it: Matthew 5 ("if any man strike thee on one cheek, offer him the other also"); "he shall be filled," shall take delight, hoping for pardon through it: Romans 5 ("and not only so, but we also glory in tribulations"); Isaiah 50 ("I have given my body to the strikers, and my cheeks to them that plucked them").

l. Here he shows the divine mercy as to the relaxation of punishments. First he sets down the release from punishments: "he will not cast off," because he will not punish forever: Psalm 94 ("the Lord will not cast off his people"); Isaiah 28 (var.) ("he will not always be threshing it, nor vex it forever"). Second he draws for this an argument from the divine loving-kindness: "for if he hath cast off, he will also have mercy," for it belongs to a loving father, once he has struck to correct, to console afterward: John 6 (var.) ("if in correction thou shalt come, thou shalt be able to attain to mercy"); and this out of love for man, "for he hath not willingly cast off," from his own love: Psalm (var.) ("but the sons of men shall hope in the shadow of thy wings").

m. Here he takes up an argument from the divine justice. First he excludes from God the tyrant's oppression: "the Lord hath crushed under his feet," as though a tyrant, who oppresses the bound without judgment: Psalm 68 (var.) ("the Lord heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners"). Second he excludes perversity in judgment: "to turn aside," namely from rectitude, "the Lord hath not approved": Job (var.) ("God will not condemn without cause, nor will the Almighty subvert judgment"). Third he excludes a perverse intention in judgment, such as belongs to those who under the pretext of justice intend to oppress others: "to pervert a man in his judgment," that is, through his judgment, "the Lord hath not approved": Proverbs (var.) ("the things that are done wrongfully turn away the Lord").

n. Here he takes up arguments from the divine power, by which he governs and provides for all things. First against those who detract faithlessly from divine providence by blaspheming it: "who is he that hath said" anything should be done, without God's providence — in which is excluded the heresy of those who say that God's providence extends only to universals and to incorporeal things, such as the heavenly bodies, and even to men because of the human soul's kinship with the divine nature, as Rabbi Moses says, while denying that God knows other particulars: "and it come not," that is, be decreed, "good," prosperous things, "evil," adverse things — in which is excluded the error of those who say all things happen by chance, and also of those who say that punishment does not come from God, as Cicero says: John 1 ("all things were made by him, and without him was made nothing"); Isaiah 45 ("I am the Lord that make peace, and create evil"). Second he speaks against those who detract from providence by murmuring out of impatience: "why doth a man murmur," that is, why, "for his sins," that is, for those things which he suffers for his sins? Wisdom (var.) ("keep yourselves from murmuring, which profiteth nothing, and refrain your tongue from detraction").

o. Here now, confidence having been assumed, he turns himself to seeking the divine mercy; and as to this he does two things. First he sets down the preparation for prayer; second the prayer itself, at "we have done wickedly." As to the first, two points. First a place is prepared for prayer through the amendment of life: "let us search," by examining past sins; "and let us seek" the Lord, with desire of heart and asking for help; which received, "let us return," by acting well: Jeremiah 2 (var.) ("see thy ways in the valleys, know what thou hast done"). Second a place is prepared through devotion: "let us lift up our hearts": 1 Timothy 2 ("I will that men pray in every place, lifting up pure hands"). "We have done wickedly": here begins the prayer. First he wins good will; second he accuses the fault, at "thou hast seen, O Lord, the iniquity"; third he asks for vengeance, at "thou shalt render them a recompense," etc. As to the first, three points. First he wins good will as to his own person and that of the complaining people. Second as to the person of the adversary, at "all our enemies have opened," etc. Third as to the person of the judge, at "let not thy name," etc. Now he wins good will on his own behalf and that of the people by setting forth their own hardships; whence as to the first he does two things: first he sets down the affliction of the people; second his own compassion, at "my eye is afflicted," etc. As to the first, two points. First he confesses the fault, lest the punishment that follows should charge the judgment with cruelty: sinning unjustly against one's neighbor, "unto wrath"; sinning against God, "thou art inexorable," because not to be bent by our prayers: Jeremiah 7 ("therefore do not thou pray for this people, nor take up praise and prayer for them, for I will not hear thee"); John 9 (var.) ("God doth not hear sinners, but if a man be a server of God, him he heareth"). Second he sets forth his petitions.

p. First, various tribulations, and last: "thou hast slain," Proverbs (var.) ("for the zeal and fury of the man will not spare in the day of revenge"). Second, as to the repulsing of sinners' prayer: "thou hast set a cloud," that is, our sins, setting them against our prayer: Isaiah 59 ("your sins have divided between you and your God"). Third as to their dispersion: "an outcast," as it were uprooted from the firmness of thy protection, and full of thy indignation: Wisdom (var.) ("by the excess of the winds they shall be rooted up, and the unripe branches shall be broken").

q. Here he wins good will on the side of the adversary, stirring up indignation against him for the evils he inflicted. First is set down the preparation for the capture; second the capture itself, at "with hunting," etc. As to the first, three points. First the enemies' preparation: "have opened," as it were prepared to devour: Psalm (var.) ("they have opened their mouths against us, as a lion ravening and roaring"). Second is set down the deception of the prophets, through whom they ought to have been fortified against the enemies: "fear," the cause of fear before the captivity, "and a snare," in the captivity, "destruction," after the captivity, "prophecy," of the false prophets: Isaiah (var.) ("fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth"). Third is set down his own compassion: "my eye hath run down," as it were weeping for each single misery: Psalm 118 (var.) ("streams of waters ran down mine eyes"). It should be noted, however, that according to some these three verses ought to be placed before the preceding ones, so that the letter Phe should come before Ain, contrary to the usual order.

r. Here is set down the prophet's compassion. First as to outward lamentation: "afflicted," weeping, "and hath not been quiet," from tears; "rest," from the people's tribulations: Jeremiah 9 ("mine eyes have run down with tears, because the voice of lamentation is heard out of Sion"); and continual lamentation, "till it should look," with the eyes of mercy: Psalm 101 (var.) ("for he hath looked forth from his high sanctuary"). Second, as to the keenness of inward sorrow: "my eye," seeing the plundering of the land, "hath wasted my soul," despoiling it of gladness; or in weeping, he has drawn the whole sorrow of his heart outward.

s. Here is set down the affliction into which they fell. First is set down the capture itself: "with hunting," as it were by ambushes, stratagems, and force at work, "my enemies," namely the Chaldeans, "without cause," because I had done them no harm, they had gained nothing from me: Isaiah 52 (var.) ("the Assyrian oppressed him without any cause"); Jeremiah 16 (var.) ("after this I will send many fishers, and they shall fish them"). Second is set down the imprisonment of those taken: "my life is fallen into the pit," of the prison and of the captivity: Psalm 87 ("thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in dark places, and in the shadow of death"). Third, the affliction of those imprisoned: "waters have flowed" — increased and multiplied — "over my head," of tribulations, "I said," despairing and in dread.

t. Here he wins good will on the side of the judge's person. First he shows his mercy toward the wretched; second he shows his justice, at "thou hast judged," etc. As to the first he sets down three things. First the prayer of the wretched: "I called upon," in my distress, "from the lowest pit," out of the greatest tribulations, as in Egypt, and often in the book of Judges: Ecclesiasticus (var.) ("I called upon the Lord, the father of my Lord, that he would not leave me"). Second is set down the merciful hearing of that prayer: "thou hast heard my voice," as before, so now, "turn not away": Psalm 6 ("he hath heard my supplication, the Lord hath received my prayer"). Third is recalled the comfort given after the prayer was heard: "thou drewest near in the day," strengthening me with thy aid, and so now: Job (var.) ("set me beside thee"); Isaiah 41 ("fear not, my servant, for I am with thee; be not dismayed").

u. Here he commends the judge for his justice: "thou hast judged," in times past — so now do likewise: Psalm 42 ("judge me, O God, and discern my cause"). "Thou hast seen": here, good will having been won from the judge, he lays out his accusation against the adversary. First he accuses the iniquity of the deed: "thou hast seen, O Lord," as though he were to say, I cannot deny it to thee, who art aware of it: above (var.) ("let all their wickedness come before thee; and do unto them as thou hast done unto me"). Second he accuses the fury of their heart: "thou hast seen all their fury": Jeremiah 18 ("come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah"). Third he accuses the sin of their mouth: "thou hast heard their reproach."

x. Here he accuses their sin. First as to the heaping up of reproaches: "thou hast heard their reproach," as though he were to say, it needs no proof: Daniel 9 ("Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are round about us"). Second as to their threats: "the lips of them that rose up against me": Psalm 30 (var.) ("they that sought my hurt spoke vain things"). Third as to their derision and mockery: "their sitting down," in which they sit in council to destroy me; "their rising up," their exultation; "their canticle," because they compose mocking songs about me. And all these things can be understood in the person of the prophet, or in the person of the people, as was said before: Job 30 ("but now I am their song, and am become their byword"); Psalm 68 ("they that sat in the gate spoke against me, and they that drank wine made me their song").

y. Here he asks for vengeance upon the adversaries. And because of his confidence that the prayer was heard, he speaks more by way of prophecy than of prayer; whence he does two things. First he foretells the just requital of sinners: "thou shalt render them a recompense," that is, punishments: Psalm 27 (var.) ("reward them according to their works, and render to them their recompense"). Second he sets down the determination of the punishment. First as to its duration: "thou shalt give them," thy labor, that is, the sin in which they made thee labor: Isaiah 43 (var.) ("thou hast made me to serve with thy sins"); "a buckler of heart," that is, in return for their sin thou shalt render a hardness of heart, so that they may not be pierced by the arrow of thy grace, the sword of thy word: Job 41 ("his body is like molten shields"). Second, as to the punishment of the body: "thou shalt persecute," with various afflictions, and at last "thou shalt destroy," by death and eternal damnation, "from under the heavens," those who wished to be as gods in heaven: Jeremiah 17 (var.) ("bring upon them the day of affliction, and destroy them with double destruction, O Lord our God"); Psalm (var.) ("so shalt thou persecute them in thy tempest, and shalt trouble them in thy wrath").

Chapter 4

Text

Aleph. How is the gold become dim, the finest color is changed! The stones of the sanctuary are scattered in the top of every street.

Beth. The noble sons of Sion, and they that were clothed with the best gold: how are they esteemed as earthen vessels, the work of the potter's hands!

Ghimel. Even the sea monsters have drawn out the breast, they have given suck to their young: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostrich in the desert.

Daleth. The tongue of the sucking child hath stuck fast to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the little ones have asked for bread, and there was none to break it unto them.

He. They that were fed delicately have died in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet have embraced the dung.

Vau. And the iniquity of the daughter of my people is become greater than the sin of Sodom, which was overthrown in a moment, and no hands took hold on her.

Zain. Her Nazarites were whiter than snow, purer than milk, more ruddy than ancient ivory, more beautiful than the sapphire.

Heth. Their face is now made blacker than coals, and they are not known in the streets: their skin hath stuck to their bones, it is withered, and is become like wood.

Teth. It was better for them that were slain by the sword than for them that died of hunger: for these pined away, consumed by the barrenness of the land.

Iod. The hands of the compassionate women have boiled their own children: they became their food in the destruction of the daughter of my people.

Caph. The Lord hath accomplished his fury, he hath poured out the anger of his indignation: and he hath kindled a fire in Sion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof.

Lamed. The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the enemy and the foe should enter in by the gates of Jerusalem.

Mem. For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, who shed the blood of the just in the midst of her.

Nun. They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they were defiled with blood; and since they could not walk, they held up their skirts.

Samech. Depart, ye defiled, they cried out to them: depart, get gone, touch not; for they were angered, and being driven off they said among the nations: He shall no more dwell among them.

Phe. The face of the Lord hath divided them, he will no more regard them: they respected not the faces of the priests, nor had they pity on the aged.

Ain. While we were yet standing, our eyes failed, looking in vain for our help, when we looked attentively to a nation that could not save us.

Sade. Our steps have slipped in the way of our streets, our end draweth near, our days are fulfilled, for our end is come.

Coph. Our persecutors were swifter than the eagles of the sky: they pursued us upon the mountains, they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.

Res. The breath of our mouth, Christ the Lord, was taken in our sins: to whom we said, Under thy shadow we shall live among the nations.

Sin. Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Hus: to thee also shall the cup come, thou shalt be made drunk, and shalt be made naked.

Thau. Thy iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Sion, he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he hath visited thy iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he hath uncovered thy sins.

Exposition

a. Here he principally laments the misery of the siege; and it is divided into two parts. In the first he laments the misery of the people; in the second he inveighs against the gladness of those who mock, at "rejoice and be glad," etc. As to the first, two things: first he laments the affliction of the people; second their powerlessness to resist, at "while we were yet standing," etc. The first is divided into two: first he laments the people's misery in general; second he pursues it part by part, at "even the sea monsters," etc. As to the first, two things: in the first he sets down a metaphor; in the second he explains it, at "the sons of Sion," etc. The Jews had been preeminent in three things. In the subtlety of divine knowledge: Psalm 147 ("he hath not done in like manner to every nation, and his judgments he hath not made manifest to them"); therefore he says "gold": Proverbs 20 (var.) ("there is gold, and a multitude of jewels"); and this "is become dim," through the disgrace of unbelief: Isaiah 5 (var.) ("my people is led away captive, because they had no knowledge"). Second they were preeminent in the beauty of uprightness: Ecclesiasticus 44 ("men that had a care for beauty, living at peace in their houses"); and therefore it says, "the finest color," as it were changed into the blackness of sin and of sorrow: 1 Maccabees 3 ("their countenance and color was changed"). Third they were preeminent in the worship of religion; therefore it says, "the stones of the sanctuary are scattered" at the top of the streets, among the various nations: 1 Maccabees 4 ("they carried away the stones of defilement into an unclean place").

b. Here he explains what he had said above: "noble," because sprung from the race of the saints; "with the best gold," namely wisdom: Wisdom 7 ("all gold, in comparison of her, is as a little sand"). "As earthen vessels," that is, a people become fragile and worthless: Isaiah 64 ("and now, O Lord, thou art our father, and we are the clay").

c. Here he pursues the misery part by part. First he sets down the affliction of the siege as to famine; second the capture and destruction of the city, at "the Lord hath accomplished," etc.; third the mockery of the captured citizens, at "depart, ye," etc. As to the first, four things: first he touches the famine of the infants; second the famine of the delicately raised, at "they that were fed delicately," etc.; third the famine of those consecrated to God, at "her Nazarites," etc.; fourth the immense famine of the mothers themselves, at "the hands of the women," etc. As to the first, two things: first the famine of nurslings; second of the little ones and the young, at "the little ones have asked." As to the first, two things: first the failing of milk; second the effect of that failing, at "hath stuck fast," etc. The "sea monsters" are certain monstrous creatures having the bodies of women and the feet of horses, so named because they tear their own young to pieces. The "ostrich" is spoken of in Job 39 ("she is hardened against her young, as though they were not hers; she hath labored in vain, no fear compelling her"). And to these the women of Jerusalem are compared, not on account of cruelty of feeling, but on account of the likeness of the act, because they did not give their children milk, which was the office of nourishment.

d. Here he sets down the effect, namely the thirst of the children: "hath stuck fast," through dryness; "the little ones," who, already growing, were able to use solid food and no longer needed milk: Amos 8 ("the fair virgins and the young men shall faint for thirst"); above (var.) ("they said to their mothers: Where is bread and wine?").

e. Here he sets down the famine of those delicately nourished. First he sets down the affliction of the famine; second he sets down a comparison, at "and the iniquity is become greater," etc. Now the famine is shown by two signs: by death, "have died"; and by the eating of vile things, "they that were nourished," their food withdrawn from their very mouths — "have embraced the dung," that is, they greedily seized upon vile food; or, taken literally, 2 Kings 7 (var.), and likewise Job 6 ("to the hungry soul even bitter things seem sweet").

f. Here he aggravates the punishment by comparing it to the punishment of the Sodomites: "is become greater," greater as shown in the punishment, and the fault was greater because of their ingratitude and because of the profanation of holy things; and the punishment was greater because more lasting: Ezekiel 16 ("Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters"); Matthew 10 (var.) ("it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee"); Job 9 ("if he scourge, let him kill at once, and not laugh at the pains of the innocent"). The Gloss reads this morally, of the sin of dissimulation, which is a greater sin than the sin of Sodom. Against this stands what is said in Isaiah 3, on the words "they have declared their sin as Sodom," where the Gloss says that the second plank after shipwreck is to hide one's sin. To this it is answered that to hide one's sin is a circumstance that lightens it, whereas the sin of dissimulation is the greater vice, when through it deception and glory before others are sought; and it is called "greater" not simply, but as to the effect of the deception, or as to its matter, because it sins in spiritual things, in which he who practices falsehood is more to be blamed than he who counterfeits a coin, as the Philosopher says.

g. Here he describes the famine of those consecrated to God, namely the Nazarites, of whose consecration we read in Numbers 6. First their beauty; second the disgrace that followed upon the famine, at "their face is now made black," etc.; third he sets down a comparison of the punishment, at "it was better," etc. Now for the bodily beauty of a man there is required a becoming aspect as to the cheerfulness of countenance, and as to this he says, "more beautiful than the sapphire," which, being of a heavenly color, gladdens the mind. There is also required a due twofold coloring, namely ruddiness — as to which he says, "more ruddy" — and whiteness — as to which he says, "whiter." And because, as the Philosopher says, white is the color most receptive of other colors, it is fitting that this whiteness be without stain, and as to this he says, "purer." These are hyperbolic expressions, yet not false ones, because they are figurative, whereby one thing is said and another signified. And taken literally they were comely because of purity of life and abstinence, as we read of Daniel and his companions.

h. Here he sets down the disgrace that followed upon the famine, as to the change of their color: "made black," and "not known," through disfigurement; and as to the drying up of their fatness, "hath stuck to," the skin: Nahum 2 ("all their faces are as the blackness of a pot, in the den of lions and the feeding-place of the lions' whelps"); Job 7 ("my skin is withered").

i. Here he sets down the comparison: "pined away," failed, long afflicted: Ecclesiasticus (var.) ("better is death than a bitter life").

k. Here he sets down the immense famine of the mothers, who, from the excess of their hunger, ate their own children: above (var.) ("shall women then eat their own fruit, their own little children?").

l. Here he laments the captivity and destruction of the city. First he sets down the destruction; second the wonder it caused, at "the kings of the earth did not believe," etc.; third he assigns the reason for the destruction, at "for the sins of the prophets." "He hath accomplished," bringing in the punishment; "he hath poured out," because of its abundance; "he hath kindled a fire," as to the determination of the punishment, because the city was burned; "the foundations," whatever was strongest — or because the houses were destroyed down to their foundations: Deuteronomy 32 (var.) ("a fire is kindled in my wrath, and shall burn even to the depths of the world below").

m. Here he shows the deed to be a matter of wonder, because beforehand it had seemed incredible: "did not believe," when there were in her powerful kings, and she was fortified by divine protection; "the enemy," openly, by violence; "the foe," secretly, by fraud: Isaiah 23 ("who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, that was formerly crowned?"); 1 Thessalonians 5 (var.) ("sudden destruction cometh upon them, when they least expect it").

n. Here he assigns the reason for the destruction, so that the wonder may cease. First, the fault of the prelates: "of her prophets," and "of her priests," who ought to have governed the people: Daniel 13 (var.) ("iniquity came forth from the elders, who seemed to govern the people").

o. Second he sets down their insufficient amends, because, merely abstaining from entering the temple, they believed themselves to have made satisfaction. "They have wandered," roaming through the streets; "blind": for their own malice had blinded them, Wisdom 2. "To enter the temple"; "their skirts," garments torn in the manner of jesters' garb, so called from being torn to tatters — in which it is shown that they did not cease from their wanton pleasures; or, according to another reading, "their lascivious deeds," which is the plainer sense: Isaiah 59 ("your hands are defiled with blood, your fingers with iniquity"). Or it can be expounded of those made bodily blind, having been captured by their enemies, so that they could not enter their own houses unless they held the hem of a guide's garment, each one holding on to the one following.

p. Here he sets down the mockery of the captured citizens by their enemies. First he reproaches them with the profanation of holy things: "they cried out," namely the enemies, "to them," namely the Jews, "depart," in captivity, from the holy place; "touch not," you who are holy have become unclean: Leviticus 21 (var.) ("whosoever of the seed of Aaron hath a blemish shall not approach to offer sacrifice"). Second he reproaches them with God's own indignation, as to the withdrawal of divine help: "they quarrelled," the enemies against the Jews, "and being driven off," the one reproaching, the other grieving; "that he will dwell," God will no more despise them: Psalm 51 (var.) ("God shall destroy thee, he hath forsaken thee").

q. And as to the infliction of the punishment, when he says: "the face of the Lord," his foreknowledge, "hath divided," distinguished them among the nations: Psalm 43 (var.) ("he hath scattered them in his wrath"). Third he reproaches them with irreverence toward their elders, and these are words concerning the Jews: "the faces of the priests"; Isaiah 3 (var.) ("the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honorable"). Or these may instead be the prophet's own words about the enemies.

r. Here he shows the impossibility of escape, setting down four things by which they might have escaped. First, the help of allies: "while we were yet standing," we were looking for "our help," in vain, namely from the Egyptians: Isaiah 31 ("Egypt shall help in vain, and to no purpose"). Second he excludes the help of their own strength.

s. "Our steps have slipped," as though from weakness we were no longer able to stand firm, as if the very darkness were slippery: Psalm 34 (var.) ("let their way become darkness and slipperiness, the angel of the Lord pursuing them"); Jeremiah 23 (var.) ("their way shall be to them as slippery paths in the darkness"). And therefore, "our end draweth near," of the city, or of death; and at last, "our days are fulfilled": Ezekiel 7 ("an end is come, the end is come"). Third he excludes the remedy of flight.

t. Here he touches on the history related in the final chapter of Jeremiah, that the Chaldeans overtook Zedekiah fleeing by way of the wilderness — a hyperbolic expression: Habakkuk 1 (var.) ("they shall fly like an eagle that hasteth to eat"). Fourth he excludes the protection of kings.

u. "The breath of our mouth," by which we breathe amid our straits, "Christ the Lord" — Josiah — "was taken," slain by the Egyptians, "for our sins," because he had been anointed. Or it can be expounded of Zedekiah, following the sequence of the history; or better, of Christ: Isaiah 53 ("he was wounded for our iniquities"). "Under thy shadow," under thy protection — under the shadow of him whom I had desired have I sat.

x. Here he threatens those who mock, and especially the Idumaeans, whom he first threatens; and second, at "thy iniquity is accomplished," he consoles the Jews. As to the first, two things. First he denounces their gladness: "rejoice," ironically: 1 Kings 4 (var.) ("tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ascalon"). "Daughter of Edom," the people of the Idumaeans, "in the land of Hus." Against this stands Deuteronomy 2 (var.) ("I have given mount Seir in possession to Esau"); besides, Hus was the firstborn of Nachor, Genesis 22. It must be said that this is not a mention of a man named Hus, but of the land of Hus, otherwise called Ausitis, as Jerome's gloss says, on the borders of the Idumaeans and the Arabians. Second he threatens punishment: "the cup shall pass through to thee also," the wrath of God; "thou shalt be made drunk," filled with misery; "and made naked," stripped of all thy goods: Jeremiah 49 (var.) ("behold, they to whom it was not the judgment to drink of the cup shall assuredly drink").

y. Here he consoles the Jews. First from their own deliverance: "accomplished," purged by punishments; "he will no more," punish for past sins unless Edom's own sins are reckoned: Isaiah 40 ("her wickedness is accomplished, her iniquity is forgiven"). Second from the punishment of the enemies: "he hath visited," as a judge, or himself seeking out vengeance; "he hath uncovered," he hath made manifest their punishments: Jeremiah 49 ("I have uncovered Esau, I have revealed his hidden things").

Chapter 5

Text

The Prayer of Jeremiah.

Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us; look, and behold our reproach. Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners. We have become orphans, without a father; our mothers are like widows. We have drunk our water for money, we have bought our wood at a price. We were driven by the neck; being weary, we were given no rest. We gave our hand to Egypt and to the Assyrians, that we might be filled with bread. Our fathers have sinned, and are no more, and we have borne their iniquities. Servants have ruled over us; there was none to deliver us out of their hand. We fetched our bread at the peril of our lives, because of the sword in the wilderness. Our skin was burned as an oven, because of the violence of the famine. They humbled the women in Sion, and the virgins in the cities of Judah. The princes were hanged up by their own hand; they did not respect the faces of the elders. They abused the young men shamefully, and the children fell under the wood. The elders have ceased from the gates, the young men from the choir of singers. The joy of our heart has failed, our dance is turned into mourning. The crown has fallen from our head: woe to us, for we have sinned. For this our heart has become sorrowful, for this our eyes have grown dim, for Mount Sion, because it is destroyed: the foxes walk upon it. But thou, O Lord, shalt remain forever, thy throne from generation to generation. Why wilt thou forget us forever, why wilt thou forsake us for so long a time? Convert us, O Lord, to thee, and we shall be converted; renew our days as of old. But thou hast utterly cast us off, thou art exceedingly angry against us.

Exposition

a. Here the prophet, after his many lamentations, turns himself to the remedy of prayer. First he sets forth the misery of the people; second he asks for mercy, at "but thou, O Lord," etc. The first is divided into two: first he sets forth the misery of the people as to the evils they had incurred; second as to the goods they had lost, at "the elders have ceased from the gates," etc. As to the first, two things. First he rouses attention: "remember," give heed to my miseries: above (var.) ("remember my poverty and my transgression"). "Remember," as though he were to say, keep it in thy knowledge; "look," that is, apply thy hidden knowledge to consideration; "behold," by thinking it over and weighing it. Second, at "our inheritance," etc., he sets down the affliction — first in general, second descending to particular persons, at "they humbled the women in Sion," etc. As to the first, two things. First he excludes those things by which they were sustained against their miseries, namely their own possessions, which had passed into the power of their enemies: "our inheritance": above (var.) ("the enemy hath laid his hand on all her desirable things"); Jeremiah 6 (var.) ("their houses shall be turned over to others, their fields, and their wives"); and the divine protection: "we have become orphans," because deprived of the divine, as it were paternal, consolation. "Our mothers," the synagogues, "are like widows," whose spouse he was called: Isaiah 9 ("he will not have mercy on their orphans and widows, for every one is a hypocrite and wicked"). Second, at "we have drunk our water," etc., he pursues the spiritual miseries they were suffering. First their servitude; second their affliction, at "we fetched our bread," etc. As to the first, two things. First he sets down the servitude of the people; second he aggravates it, at "our fathers," etc. As to the first, two things. First he sets down the servitude they suffered as to their goods: "our water," their enemies tyrannically oppressing us: Deuteronomy 2 ("you shall draw water for money, and drink it"). Second he sets down the servitude as to their own persons. First, servitude that was forced: "we were driven by the neck," as if we, unwilling to persist in the way, were struck upon the neck — or bound by the neck: Deuteronomy 28 ("among those nations also thou shalt not be quiet, neither shall there be rest for thee"). Second he sets down a servitude of persons that was voluntary, because, compelled by want, they sold themselves to others as slaves, either outright or for a time; and this is: "we gave our hand to Egypt," as it were subjecting ourselves to them: 1 Peter 2 (var.) ("being exhausted, they hired themselves out for bread"). Or, "we gave our hand," asking for help: Jeremiah 2 (var.) ("what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the muddy water?"). "Our fathers": here he aggravates the servitude. First from the condition of those who serve, because they are punished for the sins of others: "and are no more," because they are dead; "we have borne," sustaining their punishment. But against this stands Ezekiel 18 ("what do you mean by using among you this proverb: the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?"). The solution is given in Exodus 20 ("I am a jealous God... visiting upon them that hate me"). Second he aggravates it from the condition of those who rule, "servants have ruled over us," namely the Moabites and the Idumaeans and other neighboring peoples, over whom they themselves had formerly ruled: Proverbs 30 ("by three things is the earth disturbed... by a slave when he reigneth, by a fool when he is filled with food," etc.). "We fetched our bread": here he sets down the affliction of famine, and shows first the extremity of want: "at the peril of our lives," that is, of our very souls, that is, our lives, fleeing in the wilderness from the sword of Babylon; or, that in burdening themselves with provisions they exposed themselves to danger, so that they might escape the enemies pursuing them in the wilderness; or because through excessive labor in seeking food they wore away their own bodies: Isaiah 21 ("you that dwell in the land of the south, meet the fugitive with bread"). Second he sets down the effect of the famine: "our skin was burned," dried up by hunger, "because of the violence" of the storms, because, besieged and fleeing, they suffered hunger for a long time: Hosea 5 (var.) ("all adulterers are like an oven heated by the baker"); Job 9 (var.) ("my bone hath cleaved to my skin, my flesh being consumed"). "They humbled the women": here he descends to particular persons. First to the women: "they humbled," by corrupting them: Deuteronomy 28 ("he shall take a wife, and another shall sleep with her; thy daughters shall be given to another people, thy eyes looking on"). Second as to the princes: "the princes were hanged up by their own hand," as it were in chains, to make manifest their wealth: Deuteronomy 28 ("the Lord will bring upon thee a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle that flieth swiftly, whose tongue thou shalt not understand, a most insolent nation, which shall not spare the aged nor have pity on the infant"). Third as to the young: "the young men," Joel 4 (var.) ("they have put a boy for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink"). "The elders have ceased from the gates": here he sets down the misery as to the goods that were lost. First as to the offices of persons: "from the gates," as though from the exercise of judgment in the gates; "from the choir," as no longer dancing, which was the office of the leading men: 1 Maccabees 2 ("her elders were slain in the streets, and her young men fell by the sword"). Second as to the exercise of their joys: "the joy of our heart has failed": Amos 8 (var.) ("I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation"). Third as to the glory that was widely spread. First as to the glory of the kingdom: Job 19 ("he hath stripped me of my glory, and hath taken the crown from my head"). Second as to the glory of the temple, setting sorrow upon this: "for this... our eyes have grown dim," from the abundance of tears: Jeremiah 8 (var.) ("my sorrow is above sorrow"); and the cause of the sorrow: "for Mount Sion," where the temple stood, "the foxes have walked," as it were in desert places: Micah 3 ("Sion shall be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become a heap of stones, and the mountain of the temple as the high places of the forest"). "But thou, O Lord": here he now turns himself to petition. First he confesses that very majesty as to the eternity of his substance: "thou shalt remain forever"; and as to the enduring of his royal glory: "thy throne": Psalm 101 (var.) ("but thou, O Lord, shalt endure forever, and thy memorial unto generation and generation"). Second he wonders at the indignation: "why wilt thou forget us forever": Isaiah 49 ("can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb?"). Third he presents his petition: "convert us, O Lord": Jeremiah 31 ("convert me, O Lord, and I shall be converted, for thou art the Lord my God"). But against this stands Zechariah 1 ("turn ye unto me," etc.). And it must be said that both are true, because for the work of merit there is required both the preparation of free will and the infusion of grace: "renew our days," Job 29 (var.) ("who will grant that I might be as in the months past, according to the days in which God kept me?"). Fourth he sets down the necessity of this petition: "but thou hast utterly cast us off": Jeremiah 14 ("hast thou utterly cast away Judah, or hath thy soul abhorred Sion? Why then hast thou struck us, so that there is no healing for us?").