Third Book

[As this is the first page of the chain:]

^A ...as, I think, he signifies in these words those who are mature in mind, and who, so to speak, have a mind gray with age, so that they are able to gaze with the eyes of the heart upon the depth of the mysteries concerning Him. To these the wise John also writes, saying: "I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning." But those who have known Him wonder, and ascribe to Him divine glory, acknowledging Him to be the King and Lord of all. But that Christ has reigned, having wholly removed the tyranny of the devil, He Himself will teach, saying, when He offered Himself to God the Father as the price of redemption for the life of all, enduring for our sake the precious cross: "Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself." Therefore, He has subjected to His own scepters those who dwell in all the earth, having cast out the prince of this present age. And the name of "casting out" seems to denote the overthrow of his tyranny over all.

BOOK III. FIVE TOMES

TOMUS I

In the book which we have finished, the prophet has composed a long discourse, full of recondite sentiments, beginning with the malice of the devil, and the judgment and punishment destined for him, and furthermore with the overthrow of the wicked and opposing powers; in addition to which he joined the prediction of the kingdom of Christ. For he said that the Lord would reign in Sion, and in Jerusalem, and would be glorified in the presence of the elders. On account of all these things, therefore, the prophet becomes full of joy, and honors with praises the Author of such admirable things. Therefore he says: *O Lord my God, I will glorify thee, and with hymns I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things, an ancient and true counsel.* But because he says "thou hast done" regarding things which at that time were not yet done, he indicates that they were not yet performed, but were utterly and altogether to be, by adding the words, *So be it, O Lord.* For although they beheld the time of the coming (of the Lord) with the eyes of the mind as if it were present, yet they were not at all ignorant that it was not yet present. Moreover, he calls the mystery of the Incarnation of the Only-begotten an "ancient counsel" and "wonderful things," and (refers to) the things that were accomplished through it throughout all the earth. ^C For we have been saved in Christ, who was foreknown before the foundation of the world, and in the last

^A times of this age manifested; as the most wise Paul says: "For the mystery of Christ is neither new nor recently appeared, but was preordained before the foundation of the world, yet has been manifested in due times."

Vers. 2. *Because thou hast set cities as a heap, strong cities, that their foundations might fall; but the city of the ungodly shall not be built up for the age.*

This too is of that true counsel and blameless decrees of the all-powerful God: that strong cities should be shaken, and be made into a heap, and be overturned as it were from their very foundations, losing all hope of ever being able to be restored. For, he says, it shall not be built up for the age. We say that the cities which have been shaken are not those perceived by the senses, or the men who are in them, but we deem that each of the wicked and opposing powers, and before all others Satan himself, is called a city, and a strong one at that. For it is the custom of the divinely inspired Scripture to compare those who are most powerful to towers and walls or even cities, just as we have said before, that the blessed prophet Jeremiah was also appointed by God as a fenced city and as a wall of bronze. But when Emmanuel appeared and shone forth upon the world, the unholy host of opposing powers was removed, and Satan was cast down from his very foundations; and he has fallen in such a way as to fall into an endless infirmity, and to have no expectation of rising again or recovering at any time.

^B Vers. 3-5. *Therefore shall the poor people bless thee, and the cities of men oppressed by injury shall bless thee. For thou hast been a helper to every humble city, and a shelter to those who have fainted for want; thou shalt deliver them from wicked men: a shelter for the thirsty, and a respite for men oppressed by injury; they shall bless thee as men of little spirit who are thirsty in Sion, from the ungodly men to whom thou didst deliver us.*

Israel was called to the knowledge of God through the instruction of the Law, and was enriched with the things from God. For he was saved, and obtained the land of promise by inheritance. But the countless multitude of the other nations, who, I say, dwell under the whole heaven, were altogether alien to spiritual and heavenly goods, and had not tasted the gifts from God; they were, in a manner, naked and unclothed, possessing no divine shelter, no covering from above, no wealth of soul derived from virtue, nor anything else whatsoever that is full of praise ^C and worthy of all admiration. But when Christ himself appeared, and removed the tyranny of the devil, and brought them to God and the Father, and they were enriched with the light of truth, the participation in his glory, and the greatness of the evangelical life: therefore they send forth songs of thanksgiving to God and the Father.

^A Therefore, since, O Lord, you have both formed an ancient and true counsel, having summed up all things in Christ, and have enlightened those who sat in darkness, having cast down the rulers of this world—even though the poor people will bless you as if they were like certain powerful cities, and entire cities will glorify you. For you have become a helper and a shelter for all those who, because of their poverty in spiritual goods, were afflicted with unbearable sorrow, and you have delivered them from wicked men. ^B For there were indeed also in Zion some who were faint-hearted, just like people who were parched with thirst. And perhaps through these words the prophet indicates that to us. For there were, there were also in Israel those who thirsted for the coming of the Savior, and who longed to see the Savior and Redeemer of all; such a person was Simeon the just, who, when he had taken the newborn Jesus into his arms, said: "Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared before the face of all peoples. A light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel." And, moreover, the blessed Zacharias, the father of John, filled with the Holy Spirit, sang glory, crying aloud: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and wrought redemption for his people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets who have been since the world began, salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; ^C to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; the oath which he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life." Do you see how the ancient and true counsel of God and the Father was also promised to the holy fathers? I mean, the manifestation of Emmanuel to the world as salvation, who has become a respite for men oppressed by injury. For they have taken breath from their enemies, and have been delivered from the wicked men to whom they had been handed over. And if someone were to take these words as applying to the Gentiles, we say that the unholy demons, who once dominated those who dwell upon the earth, are called human beings—the weakness of whom is very well demonstrated by the fact that they are called human. And it is also probable that their false teachers, and so-called hierophants, or even poets and orators, ^D and the inventors of the eloquence which was prized among the Greeks, are called wicked men, inasmuch as through the power of speech in which they excelled, they cast those who were deceived into the pit of destruction. But if this is said concerning those of Israel, we affirm that those who gained the lot of teaching, namely the Scribes and Pharisees, were wicked men; those who, having obtained the glory of the priesthood, having been adorned with the dignity and authority thereof, received the key of knowledge, and neither did they themselves believe, nor did they allow others to do so. They were, however, [handed over] to legal

instructors, that is, the people under their hand, and the ones being led astray [were handed over] to unclean demons, since God permitted them to suffer this surrender; just as, indeed, some who have shown themselves unworthy of His compassion and aid are delivered over to a reprobate mind. ^A

And the Lord Sabaoth will do these things for all the nations: upon this mountain they shall drink gladness, they shall drink wine; they shall be anointed with ointment on this mountain. Deliver all these things to the nations. For this decree is for all the nations.

Having previously stated that the Lord will reign in Sion and in Jerusalem, he weaves a mystical meaning as if from the likeness of things that fall under the senses and sight. For Sion is an elevated place and a watchtower, while Jerusalem is interpreted as a vision of peace. Both, however, are in truth the Church of Christ: for it is high and conspicuous, and placed as it were on a mountain. And it is also understood as high ^B by us in another way, for there is nothing lowly in it, and it dwells far removed from earthly concerns. For it is written: “The strong ones of the earth have been greatly exalted by God.” Similarly, the dogmas within it are high and divine and true. For it is a discourse concerning God, or rather concerning the holy and consubstantial Trinity, refined and polished, and turned solely toward the truth. And again, Christ is seen in it, who is peace. ^C Therefore, he says, the Lord Sabaoth will do [this], and not, I suspect, for the Israelites alone as beloved and approved on account of the fathers, but for all the nations—that is, for those throughout the whole world under heaven. And what will He do? They shall drink, he says, gladness; they shall drink wine; they shall be anointed with ointment on this mountain. Through gladness, he seems to indicate cheerfulness in hope, clearly that which is in Christ; for we shall reign with Him, and gaining things that we can attain neither by thought nor by speech, we shall enjoy every pleasure of the soul. By wine, however, he signifies the mystical eulogia and the manner of the unbloody sacrifice, which we are accustomed to perform in the holy churches. ^D The ointment, however, signifies for us, very beautifully, the anointing of the Holy Spirit. For the wise John writes: “And you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you have no need that anyone should teach you, but as His anointing teaches you concerning all things.” We are anointed with ointment especially at the time of holy baptism, establishing the chrisma as a sign and symbol of our participation in the Holy Spirit. But, he says, deliver all these things to the nations; for this decree is for all the nations. For the ancient law, and the worship according to it, administered through angels, was not simply given to all the nations, but to one alone, to that which was of the blood of Israel. But the grace in Christ, and the calling through faith, and moreover the sanctification through the Spirit, and this mystery itself through the decree of God and the Father has come upon all nations. For Christ is, according to the voice of the Holy One, the expectation of the nations.

^A

VERS. 8. *He has swallowed up death while it was powerful, and again God has taken away every tear from every face. He has taken away the reproach of the people from all the earth. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things.* ^A

Most fittingly and necessarily is the discourse concerning the resurrection of the dead joined with the tradition of the mystery. Therefore, at the time of holy baptism, while we offer the confession of faith, we also expect that the resurrection of the flesh will come to pass, and thus we believe. Death, therefore, prevailed against our first parent Adam on account of the transgression, and like some wild and cruel beast, leaping upon him, it carried him off. Thenceforth, laments and wailings, and tears, and mourning for the dead have taken hold of the inhabitants of the earth. But in Christ these have ceased; for on the third day He rose again, having trodden upon death, and having become a way for human nature to repel destruction. For He has become the firstborn from the dead, and the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep; and the firstfruits will surely be followed by that which is posterior, namely, us. The mourning is therefore turned into joy; the sackcloth is rent asunder, and we are girded with the gladness given by God, so that rejoicing we may say: "O death, where is thy victory? O Hades, where is thy sting?" For the sting of death, he says, is sin. Every tear, therefore, has been taken away; for believing that Christ fully and entirely raises the dead, we do not follow them with tears, nor do we fall into immoderate sadness, as the rest who have no hope. And by the reproach of the people, he seems to mean death itself, inasmuch as through it the transgression first invaded us, and sin, through which destruction entered, and the empire of death held dominion over the inhabitants of the earth. But since the mystery of the resurrection was not acceptable to many, and seemed incredible on account of its magnificence, the blessed prophet necessarily adds: *The mouth of the Lord has spoken.* For who dares to say that God lies, and does not truly and entirely bring to pass what has been announced? "For heaven and earth," he says, "shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." ^C

VERS. 9. *And they will say in that day: Behold our God in whom we hoped and exulted, and He will save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for Him, and we will exult, and we will rejoice in our salvation, because God will give rest upon this mountain.* ^D

You shall recognize, he says, Him who proffers joy, and wine besides, and who anoints with ointment those who are in the intelligible Sion. You shall recognize that He is truly God, and by nature the Son from God, even if He appears in the form of a servant, having become man for the cause of the salvation and life of all, and in all things made like to men on earth, except for sin alone. For indeed,

^A they will say, as it were, stretching out their hand: "Behold, this is our God, in whom we hoped and rejoiced in our salvation." I think that this saying is most fittingly applied to the Israelites, who, being nourished by the Mosaic words and not ignorant of the predictions of the holy prophets, expected that the Savior and Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ, would arrive in his own time. And so, as I have already said, Zacharias, the father of John, prophesying in the Spirit, spoke concerning Christ, saying that "a horn of salvation has been raised up for the people." Simon also, having taken the holy Infant into his arms, said: "My eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples." Having therefore recognized Him who was long ago announced as the hope of all, the Savior and Redeemer, they will say: "Behold our God." And they will confess that God will grant rest upon this mountain. And consider for me, again, that the Church is called a mountain, for in it is rest given. For we have heard Christ saying: "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest." For we have been unburdened through faith in Him of the difficult and heavy sin. We have found rest in another way, too, having been delivered from the terrors of the punishment that was to be endured and from the penalties incurred for our transgressions. And the grace of Christ, the Savior of us all, toward us has not extended only to these things, but there are also added the good things in hope, and the possession of the kingdom of heaven, and long-lasting and incorruptible life, and the removal of everything that is wont to cause sadness. For it is written concerning the holy ones that "everlasting joy shall be upon their head."

And Moab will be trampled down, as they trample a threshing floor in wagons, and in the harvest. And he will stretch out his hands, as he himself also humbled [man] to destroy him. And he will humble his pride, ^B against which he put forth his hands. And the height of the refuge of your wall he will humble, and it will descend even to the ground.

The word of the holy prophets is always, in some way, deep, and it creeps along an inward and hidden path. One must not, therefore, believe that the outward surface of the letter is true in every way and altogether, but rather one must consider the sense that is as it were buried in the letter. The Moabites, therefore, were neighbors to the Jews, but they were most strangely disposed toward deception and, furthermore, toward being devoted to the worship of idols. Since, therefore, it was about to come to pass, upon the dawning of Christ and the calling of the nations unto his august and divine mystery, and their sanctification through faith, that the abominable and unclean idolatry would be entirely and thoroughly exterminated from the midst, with Satan subjected to the feet of the believers—for He gave us power to "trample upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy"—He teaches and says that the Moabite [land] will be trampled down, as they trample a threshing floor in wagons. And by these words [He teaches that] either the whole Moabite ^C [people] ^D

^A or that one might take from one idol-worshipping region a complete example, extending the discourse as I have said to include all idol-worship. It will therefore be trampled down, he says, as if placed under the feet of those threshing. And he shall let down his hands, even as he himself humbled [others] to destroy them. Who shall let down his hands? The inventor of idol-worship, he who tangles [men] in error and leads man astray from God, namely, Satan. For he shall let down his hands, that is, all his power and practical energy shall be dissolved; for hands are taken as a figure for energy and action. For just as he humbled those living on the earth so as to destroy everyone, in this very same way Christ shall humble his pride—that is, the intolerable insolence which he exercised against all, not only laying [his] hands [upon them], but tyrannically subjecting to his own scepter those who were rewarded by God for good works.

Then the prophetic word returns to the Moabite [land] itself, or rather to profane idol-worship, and says: ^B The height of the refuge of your wall he will bring down. We say that the height of the refuge of the wall is the very high priest of idol-worship and of error, who encircles it as if with a wall and restrains it so that it may stand. But, he says, it shall fall. For Christ shall tear it down and shall level it to the ground, that is, completely; and we see through the events themselves that what was foretold has reached its completion. For the shrines have fallen and everything that was in the temples has been taken out of the way; there are no longer altars, nor sacrifices, nor incantations, nor those who practiced the travesties of error. But all things have ceased through Christ, and the light of truth has risen for the inhabitants of the earth, and the sun of righteousness has come forth, illuminating the hearts of those who believe in him. ^C

CAP. XXVI. VERS. 1. *On that day they shall sing this canticle in the land of Judah, saying: Behold a fortified city, and our salvation shall set a wall and a bulwark.*

For when the Moabite [land] has been trampled down, that is, when the worship of idols has been utterly destroyed, according to the sense already set forth, those who have been liberated from error and have reached the light of truth will, with the eyes of their understanding opened, acknowledge, he says, the Creator of all and the Lord Saviour and Redeemer, through whom are all things and in whom are all things, who for our sake was brought down to our condition. ^D To Him, as if playing upon a lyre, they strike up an ode and a song, glorifying Him and saying: Behold a fortified city and our salvation. For it is truly like a certain city, well-defended by towers and completely indestructible, our Lord Jesus Christ, or rather the hope in Him. For He receives those who flee the tyranny of the devil, and receives and preserves them. Therefore He used to say: *My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and no one shall snatch them from my hand.* A fortified and saving city, therefore, is the Saviour of all, and a city having a wall and a bulwark, namely, each [person]

^A of its own hand. A city, therefore, is fortified, and saving—the Saviour of all; and a city having a wall and containing a wall, this is, every safety. For cities [that are] well-fortified do not have a simple enclosure, but are strengthened with a great wall and another bulwark. And it is likely, then, that those who offer up this song concerning the Church of our Saviour would say, "Behold a fortified city and our salvation." For the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it, according to the voice of the Saviour; for it is girded as if with a double wall by the assistance of the holy angels, and indeed by that from above and from God, who is a bulwark. For indeed the strength of the holy spirits is themselves, since He is both their [strength] and the only Lord of all the powers. And it must be known that in the holy Scriptures, Christ is sometimes called Judah, as having been born from the tribe of Judah, according to the voice of ^B Jacob, saying, "Judah, your brothers shall praise you." Therefore, the melody is sung in the land of Judah. For the Church is the city of Christ.

Verses 2-4. Open the gates; let the people enter that keeps righteousness, and keeps truth, grasping truth, and keeping peace; because we have hoped in Thee, O Lord, forever.

As those throughout all the earth have already recognized our Lord Jesus Christ, and have confessed that the city will be fortified and saving, having a wall and a bulwark, the Holy Spirit henceforth quite opportunely commands the holy mystagogues—I speak of the apostles and evangelists—through the voice of the prophet, saying: "Open the gates"; that is, widen the entrance through faith for those who desire it, [widen] the path through the blameless ^C initiation into the mysteries, and let the people enter who keep righteousness and who keep truth. For the divine and evangelical and saving proclamation teaches those who believe [the] righteousness that is above the law, and to be firm regarding the keeping of truth. For it no longer brings in the worship that is in types and shadows, as indeed the old law did, but that which is in spirit and in truth, and this is the truth. "Grasping the truth." For it seeks, as I said, not those things that are situated in shadows, but the things that are through Christ, who is the truth. "Keeping peace." How, or in what manner? For having been entirely accepted by Christ, and that ancient enmity having been destroyed—for he who was wandering was at variance with Him—he will be an immovable ^D worshipper. And the blessed Paul convinces us that this is being fulfilled [in us], writing: "Having been justified, therefore, by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." For we used to war against God, serving the creation and being held by the passions of the flesh. But we are called His friends and peaceful ones, saying to Him alone: "O Lord, besides Thee we know no other. Thy name we name." And in addition to this, having bound upon ourselves like a crown the adornment of an excellent life and evangelical conduct, the boasts concerning such things might reasonably be spoken through this voice of the holy ones to God: "In Thee, O Lord, we have ho"

hoped ^A even unto the age." For they will not cease from the hope that is in God, but rather will they boast in Him continuously.

**VERS 5, 6. O great, eternal God, who humblest and hast brought down those that dwell in high places; Thou shalt overthrow fortified cities, and shalt raze them even unto the ground. And the feet of the meek, and the steps of the humble, shall trample them.**

It is the custom of the holy prophets, regarding things that are most wondrous, to render thanks to God, the Lord of all, and as it were to leap for joy. An evident proof of such sincerity might be this very thing. For they rejoice exceedingly, seeing the glory of God amplified, and those who envy Him—the impure demons, I say—taken from the midst, and together with these, Satan also, whom He compares to fortified cities, and who strives to dwell in high places. ^B For the mindset in them is always somewhat lofty and swollen, so that they set themselves even against the hand of God, and imagine that by resisting savagely, they will suffer no harm, but will reign everywhere over the inhabitants of the earth. But Thou, He says, art alone the great and eternal God, and Thou hast demonstrated this from the very facts; for by humbling them, Thou hast brought down those who were in high places; that is, Thou hast shattered the strength of the proud, and those who were exalted and arrogant Thou hast pressed down to the earth, and as if they were fortified cities, Thou hast razed them to the foundations. For this is what "even unto the ground" means. And Thou hast given them to be trampled under the feet of the meek and humble. Who, moreover, are these, if not the genuine guardians of the Savior's oracles? Who strive to imitate their own Master, ^C crying out and saying: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls." And we remember again His saying: "Behold, I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy." For the apostate dragon has been trampled; and we, who desire to dwell in the aid of the Most High and have come to be under the shadow of the God of heaven—that is to say, of Christ, for He is worshipped in heaven—tread upon the asp and the basilisk. "For when," He says, "He bringeth the firstborn into the world, He saith: And let all the angels of God worship Him."

**VERS 7, 8. The path of the righteous became straight, and the path of the righteous has been prepared. For the way of the Lord is judgment. We have hoped in Thy name, and in the memory which our soul hath desired.**

The blessed prophet Jeremiah makes mention of the evangelical ^D manner of life and of the righteousness in Christ, saying to the lovers of truth: "Stand ye in the ways, and ask for the eternal paths of the Lord, and see what is the good way, and walk in it, and ye shall find purification for your souls." For the ways

of the Lord are indeed the words of the holy prophets, and ^A the proclamation of the mystery concerning Christ through the Mosaic precept, as if in shadow and types. By searching out these paths, therefore, we learn the good way—that is, the conduct of life in Christ; and by walking in it with our own souls, we shall find true and spiritual purification. He says, therefore, that the way of the pious has become straight; for how could it not be straight and smooth, having nothing at all that is steep, when we are justified by speaking the word of faith, and when we are enriched with the cleansing that comes through holy baptism? But the way of the pious is straight in another sense as well. For when the enemies have been destroyed, and when the tyranny of the devil has been cast down, and all difficulty has been removed, what is there that can stand against those who love piety, or what is there that can shake them? Observe, ^B however, how he declares that when the way of the pious has been, as it were, leveled, there will be an overturning of the things that were in types and shadows. For he does not add simply: "The way of the Lord is judgment" (that is, not the presenting of calves, not the slaughtering of sheep, not libations and frankincense), but rather "judgment," that is, righteousness. For it is the custom of the divinely inspired Scripture to signify righteousness by the name of judgment. Just as, indeed, the blessed David also says: "The honor of a king loves judgment,"—that is, righteousness; for every kingdom that loves righteousness is in honor both with God and with men. Therefore, the way of the Lord is judgment. And he again introduces those who walk this straight way as rejoicing greatly; for they say: "We have hoped in thy name, and in the remembrance which our soul desired." For our entire hope is in Christ, of whom we are always mindful, having this desire, because we have been saved by Him as well.

"From the night my spirit watches for thee, O God, because thy commandments are light upon the earth."

He calls the time before the incarnation of the Lord "night"; the prophetic foreknowledge, "morning"; and the true light, the Gospel of the Sun of Righteousness, Christ, which it is commanded to learn everywhere on earth. For he does not say it should be learned by nature, just as seeing or walking, but by zeal and diligence. But he who has not learned shall be taken from the midst of the living, and shall not see the glory of Christ. Those who say: ^D "We have hoped in thy name, and in the remembrance which our soul desired," provide this also by necessity. For having admitted the divine light into their mind as a dwelling, and having driven away the darkness of ancient error, and seeing the mist of sin cleared away, they offer songs of thanksgiving, saying as it were that they watch and rise from night and darkness, now that the day which falls under the conception of the mind is shining in them, and the morning star is springing up in their hearts, as it is written. To such as these the divine Paul also writes, saying: "Ye were once darkness, but now ye are light in the Lord." And again elsewhere: "For we are not of night or of darkness, but of light."

^A For the mind of those who believe is illuminated by the evangelical pronouncements. Wherefore the divinely inspired David also says, as if to our Lord Jesus, "Thy law is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my paths." For the law given through the all-wise Moses was, as it were, obscured by a certain mist and shadows of the letter. But in the evangelical proclamations, the form of truth appears naked and translucent, and it exhilarates the mind, being poured into the senses of the pious like light.

VERS. 10. *Learn justice, ye that inhabit the earth. For the ungodly hath ceased. Everyone who shall not have learned justice upon the earth, shall not do the truth. Let the ungodly be taken away, that he may not see the glory of the Lord.*

God says somewhere through the voice of the prophet: ^B "And they shall all be taught of God." See, therefore, how in these words the discourse introduces Christ to us as having become a kind of mystagogue to those from the Gentiles who have believed in Him. For since they once acknowledged that His commandments are light upon the earth, it was fitting—I say, it was fitting—that the knowledge of what is useful should be implanted in them by Him. "O ye," He says, "who inhabit the earth, learn justice." Similar to this is the voice of David: "Hear this, all ye nations; give ear, all ye that inhabit the world." For the law which is in the letter instructed only the Israel according to the flesh, but our Lord Jesus Christ, having spread out the net of His gentleness, has taken the entire world under heaven. With reason, therefore, He counsels those who inhabit the whole earth, saying that they must learn the justice proclaimed by Him—that is, the evangelical justice. And that failing to obey His words is not without penalty, He adds and says: *For the ungodly hath ceased. Everyone who shall not have learned justice upon the earth, shall not do the truth.* For he will exist, He says, for ruin and destruction, and will be, as it were, extinguished. For this, I think, is what "hath ceased" implies—everyone who does not accept the knowledge of the evangelical justice, and who does not do the truth. By "truth" here, He again speaks of the power of the Christian ^C life, and the worship and service in spirit and truth. For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, was not the truth. But Christ and His pronouncements may with reason be understood as justice and truth. And I think it must also be said: Christ has become for us justice from the Father, and besides this, He is also the truth. "Learn ^D therefore," He says, "justice and truth"—that is, acknowledge the One who is truly the Son and the Creator of all and Lord. For every ungodly person shall be taken away and removed from the midst, that he may not see the glory of the Lord. Of this kind is that which is spoken by Christ Himself to the crowds of the Jews: "Amen, amen, I say unto you, that if you do not believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins." And again: "He that believeth in the Son is not judged; but he that doth not believe, is already judged, because he hath not believ

believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God." ^A But he who is once condemned, and having died in his own sins, how could he see the glory of the Lord? For he shall not be with Christ, and being in no way a participant of His glory, he shall not see the lot of the saints.

VERS. 11. *Domine, excelsum tuum brachium, et non cognoverunt : cum vero sciverint, erubescent. Æmulatio apprehendet populum ineruditum, et nunc ignis adversarios comedet.*

Since God has threatened those who do not learn justice and do not practice the truth, in accordance with the words already set forth by us, the prophet begins to make mention of the ignorance and disobedience of Israel simultaneously. For the Creator of all, the God-Word, the all-powerful arm of the Father, through whom all things were brought into existence and birth, existing in the form and equality of the Father, lowered Himself to a voluntary emptying and humbled Himself, as it is written, by becoming human, in order that He might justify those who are on earth, through faith in Himself, that is to say. And while He was performing works that surpass speech, and was counting it worthy to be known, through the majesty of the things seen, that He is both God and by nature from God, saying: "If I do not the works of My Father, believe Me not. But if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works," ^B yet these men, being eye-witnesses of such miraculous things, and having heard His very words, remained stubborn and unadmonished, or rather, they even let their mouths run wild and unrestrained. For they dared to call Him a Samaritan, and a drunkard, and the son of a carpenter, and, being impious, to address Him with even more hateful names than these. When the Spirit had foreseen these things, the prophet directs these words to the Father and God in heaven, and says: "Lord, Your arm is high, and they did not know." For by the worthiness of His own excellence, and as in divine, god-befitting glory, He is great and high; and indeed, He is the all-powerful arm of the Father, that is to say, the God-Word, through whom all things came to be. But since He appeared in the flesh, they did not know His glory. "But they will be ashamed," he says, "when they learn that He is, clearly, the life-giving Word of God." And how did they learn? For they themselves killed the Prince of life and denied the Holy One of Israel, ^C just as the divine Peter says. But after Christ had broken the bonds of death and rose again on the third day, and even the chief teachers of the Jews knew this, then indeed, then they were ashamed, and fearing lest the mystery of the resurrection might somehow become widely known to all, they gave much money to the soldiers, as it is written, so that they might say: "His disciples came by night and stole Him away." They will be ashamed also in another way. For when they see Him coming at the consummation of the age in the glory of the Father with the holy angels, then also they will be covered with infinite shame. For though they were the children of the bridegroom, because of their fathers—for the promises, and the legislation, and the testament were theirs—yet having been sent...

^A into the outer darkness. Therefore, he rightly calls the people uninstructed, and says that zeal will seize them, and that fire will eat those who stand against them. For since they have become castaways, and have been cast out from the hope in Christ, and have been shown to be strangers to the promises, while the nations have been accepted, for this reason they are consumed by zeal, and as if consumed by a certain fire—manifestly that of envy—the wretches continue to exist. Something of this kind is written also in the songs concerning those who are sprung from the blood of Israel: "They provoked me to jealousy with those that are no gods; they angered me with their idols. And I will provoke them to jealousy with those that are no people; I will anger them with a foolish nation." ^B

VERS. 12, 13. O Lord our God, give us peace, for Thou hast rendered all things to us; O Lord our God, take possession of us. O Lord, beside Thee we know no other; we name Thy name.

It was the custom of the holy prophets to pour out prayers for Israel, for they were friends of God and beautifully crowned with the ornaments of piety. For since they had once been satisfied from the root of Abraham and from the blood of the holy fathers, it was fitting that they should grieve for the Israelite tribes when they saw them perishing because of their impiety toward Christ. Hence, now also the blessed prophet Isaiah proceeds, saying, "O Lord our God, give us peace, for Thou hast rendered all things to us." For if Thou shalt grant, he says, peace to us, we shall be full of every good, and shall have attained to the most perfect participation ^C of the gifts from Thee. And it is necessary to see what peace they ask for; for they are asking for Christ Himself, since He Himself is our peace, according to the Scriptures, and through Him we have been joined to the Father, namely, by a spiritual relationship. Or they say this: those who have not yet believed, and who do not have the stain of sin cast off and removed, are separated from God and are justly counted in the rank of enemies, and have a stiff neck, and fight against the laws of the Lord. But those who are tractable, and yielding to the bit, and prepared for all things that are pleasing to Him, are most beloved and have peace with Him. But in truth it is a gift of God, and comes from the munificence from above. Grant us therefore, O Lord, that we may have peace toward Thee, and having driven from the midst the profane and detestable sin, may we be united to Thee spiritually through the mediator Christ. Of this kind is that which is rightly said by the Pauline voice: ^D "Being justified therefore by faith, we have peace toward God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." When this has been done, we shall become the possession and inheritance of God. Hence, it is wisely inferred: "O Lord, take possession of us. Beside Thee we know no other; we name Thy name." For it is necessary that those who have peace with God be of singular mind and joined to Him alone, so that they may know Him alone, and not even have on their tongue the name of any other so-called god. For it is necessary to name Him alone, because He alone is our God by nature and by truth. Of such a kind is that which the law of the wisest Moses has declared to us:

"You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve, and in His name." Amen. ^A Ver. 14, 15. "The dead shall not see life, nor shall the physicians raise them up. Therefore You have led on, and destroyed, and taken away every male of them. Add evils to them, O Lord; add evils to all the glorious ones of the earth." Those who alone know the One who is God by nature and in truth, and who name His name, and count absolutely no one else alongside Him, and who therefore say, "Lord, besides You we know no other," necessarily connect what follows: "The dead shall not see life, except through You." For since He is the Life by nature, the Creator and Lord of all, He brings all things into life, and in Him we live and move and are. "But neither," He says, "shall the ^B physicians raise them up"—with that "except through You" clearly following here as well. For all things are given to us by God, and He Himself fashioned medicines from the earth, according to that which is written. As far, therefore, as the letter is concerned, I say, and the obvious and manifest meaning of the word, this exposition of the sentiments is correct and not otherwise. But since it is necessary to understand the word according to the mind and to strip bare the aim of the prophetic precision, we necessarily say this: there are some who are not yet dead in the flesh, but are rather dead through worldly pleasure and do not possess the holy life which is in Christ and which is angelic. "But besides You," He says, "such as these could not partake of life," that is, of the life-giving grace. But again, "besides You," those who were able to deliver from the diseases of the soul those who had fallen prey to them—who might deservedly be understood as spiritual physicians—could not raise up any of the sick. We say that the spiritual physicians are the holy prophets, the apostles, and the evangelists, who, endowed with the grace from above and the gift of the Spirit, rich in the word that has power to heal, treat those who have been wounded by both sin and ^C the malignity of the devil. It is also probable that the prophetic word hints at something else to us. For our Lord Jesus Christ, showing Himself equal in power and glory to the Begetter, raised the dead from the tombs and healed those gripped by extreme diseases. Yet, although He was the doer of such wondrous and incredible things, He was not worshipped by those who saw them, but was even persecuted by the leaders and doctors of the Jews in particular. Since, therefore, He says, "Besides You the dead cannot see life," for You alone are able to rouse to life, and no physician could raise from the tombs those whom You Yourself raised, they were unbelievers; and more than that, they were powerless, and were even driven into a rage—those who it was fitting should have been the first to be faithful. "Therefore You have led on, and destroyed, and taken away every male of them." For You have brought anger upon them, which did not totally destroy the whole of Israel (for a remnant was saved), but every male of them, that is, the primary order. For it is indeed the most primary, if the female is the species, and the male [is the principal]. Even the males... ^D

^A he perhaps calls those who are, as it were, more youthful among the Jews, not in bodily strength, but rather in the knowledge of legal precepts—such as that which was spoken by God to one of the prophets: "I will go to the men of rank, and I will speak to them." And behold, with one mind they have broken the yoke, they have torn asunder the bonds. But why he deservedly laments the pre-eminent and holier ones among the Jews, and poured out anger upon them more vehemently, Christ himself will make plain, saying: "Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you traverse sea and dry land to make one proselyte, and when it happens, you make him a son of hell twofold more than you are." And again: "Woe to you lawyers, because you have taken away the key of knowledge; you yourselves have not entered, and those who were entering you have hindered." ^B Deservedly, therefore, is the male punished, that is, that which is in pre-eminence and is honored, and has come to the knowledge of the law as if by spiritual fortitude: to these he also wishes evils to be added. For not only have they fallen from the intimacy which is with God, while they raged against Christ, but they have also been consumed by famine, and hence have fallen into calamities, their region being laid waste and utterly overturned. But those whom he called males, these he also calls glorious, as being distinctly pre-eminent and standing before others, because they were crowned with the insignia of the priesthood. "Every male of them," divinely delivered and helping; but he calls "evils" those things which have the power to afflict, whether they be wrath divinely inflicted, famines, pestilences, wars, and things similar to these. "Glorious" are those who are conspicuous in evils, and renowned in power.

VERS. 16, 17. O Lord, in affliction we have remembered you; in small affliction is your instruction to us. And as she who travails draws near to give birth, and cries out in her labor, so have we become to your beloved. ^C

The blessed prophet, moved by very great piety against the Judaic acts of daring, having said, "Add evils to all the glorious ones of the earth," lest anyone should think him harsh and pitiless—as one who does not pray that those who have sinned might be lamented, but rather that they should be involved in affliction and evils—necessarily introduced what is wont to happen to all, namely, that in afflictions and necessities they have been accustomed to remember God who is all-powerful. For the highest and deep tranquility makes people remiss, sometimes even to the point of contempt, and by reason of too much sloth, it takes away the sense of sins, when they have slipped into such a frame of mind and opinion. ^D But affliction draws people back as if to God, and leads them to the acknowledgment of offenses. For this reason, therefore, he says, "Add evils to the glorious of the earth," since it is common to all then most especially to hold you in memory, and to think and feel your concerns, when they have shared in calamities. For in small affliction we are instructed: God not inflicting a punishment too grievous, nor too dire, but rather tempering his anger with gentleness. It was not, therefore, of one who hates

those who have sinned to pray that affliction be brought upon them, but rather of one who loves them and prays that they be disciplined; so that, since they have not of their own will and purpose reaped the fruit of piety, they might at least, as if by necessity, be turned toward it, having been called to the perception of divine anger. Such, I think, is what was rightly said by the voice of David: "With bridle and bit, you will constrain the jaws of those who do not draw near to you." But they, having committed unbearable transgressions and acted wantonly against Christ, will fall into affliction. We, however, who are your own and think and speak your thoughts, are disposed no otherwise toward your beloved one, that is, the Son; just as, indeed, a woman in labor all but cries out against those who heap dishonor upon him, and we grieve greatly because of this, and utter the ^B loudest clamor against those who do not obey him. And what they say is true; for the blessed Isaiah himself, rebuking the insolence of the Jews which they have held against Christ, says: "Come hither, you lawless children, offspring of adulterers and a harlot; whom did you insult? Against whom did you open your mouth, and against whom did you wag your tongue? Are you not children of destruction, a lawless offspring?" And indeed, the blessed David also says concerning them: "Let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see, and bow down their back continually." And very many are the words of the holy prophets against the Jewish synagogue because of this impiety toward Christ.

"On account of your fear, O Lord, we conceived in the womb, and we were in pain, and we brought forth a spirit of salvation, which we have brought forth upon the earth." ^C Those who say that this happened out of love for the beloved of the Father, it is clear that they mean the Son, wisely dwelling upon the metaphor of the speech, just as a woman in labor, say that they conceived and carried in the womb, and brought forth the spirit of salvation upon the earth. And as I have said, such an expression can be fitting for the prophets, and for the holy apostles and evangelists, who, enriched by the bounty of heavenly mystery, and having received a sort of intelligible seed, have brought forth a spirit of salvation upon the earth—that is, the teaching in the Spirit, which is the conciliator and provider of life eternal. For it is the custom of divine Scripture to call the writings of some people a "spirit." "And so," he says, "test the spirits, whether they are from God." For the saving proclamation is always spoken in the Holy Spirit, or, in the spirit of the world, whatever things are contrary to the truth. Thus the divine Paul writes concerning himself and the other saints: "But we have not received the spirit of this world, ^D but the spirit that is from God, that we may know the things that have been freely given us by God." Therefore, he calls the evangelical preaching a "spirit of salvation," for it leads to unending life and long-lasting existence.

the soul of man, and restrains the motion of carnal desires. For the human mind is like the womb of a woman, which, if it has received from God the seeds of piety, brings forth entirely good fruits. Therefore, those who are in Christ are fruitful; for they bring forth, as if from a womb and spiritual matrix, fruits—as I have said—that are good. ^A *Isaiah* 19. We shall not fall, but those who dwell upon the earth shall fall. The dead shall rise again, and those who are in the monuments shall be awakened, and they who are in the earth shall rejoice. For the dew which is from Thee is health to them; the earth of the impious shall fall.

Truly worthy of admiration is the vigilance of the saints. For they always understand that the words which we make are accustomed to be countered. Therefore, when they had said that they had produced a spirit of salvation for those who are on the earth, yet nevertheless see death continuing to prevail ^B against the inhabitants of the earth, as if someone had said: "What profit is there for us in divine proclamations? Where is the spirit of salvation? For those who are on the earth are falling," they necessarily oppose an apology, and say: The dead shall rise again, by the grace of God, just as the blessed Paul says. Our Lord Jesus Christ tasted death for everyone, but He came to life again on the third day, and became the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep, and the root of those who are transformed through Him into life, and as it were the beginning of human nature putting off corruption; and we have possessed life eternal in unshaken hopes. But it is fixed that the dead will rise again fully and in every way, and the empire of death will be abolished ^C entirely; but since the time for the future resurrection is not yet present, the nature of man meanwhile succumbs, because it must die, and endures death—which was long ago weakened in Christ, and will be made weak in us also—at its own time. "Will this," he says, "contradict our words and salutary proclamations, that those who are on the earth are still falling?" Truly, this is nothing at all. For the dead shall rise again, and the bodies which are in the earth and in monuments shall return to life. And what, then, shall be the manner of this again? The dew which is from Thee is health to them. And by "dew" in these texts they signify the life-giving efficacy and power of the Spirit, by which the blessed David ^D says the dead are to be awakened. For he sings to God and says: "If Thou turnest away Thy face, they shall be troubled, and they shall return into their dust. Thou shalt send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created, and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth." The dew, therefore, is the life-giving Spirit from the Father through the Son, and by it immortality is infused into those very bodies that are of the earth. And again, I think that "dew" signifies the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit and the energy that destroys death, as it is of God and life. And again, by "dew" in these texts he signifies nothing other than the Spirit, or the life-giving efficacy of the Spirit, which, even to those bodies already corrupted, pours forth/infuses [its] destructive...

^A incorruptibility. But while those who have fallen into the earth shall live again, the earth of the impious will itself fall, and this actually came to pass for the land of the Jews; for they acted outrageously against Christ and the holy heralds of the mysteries, though they brought forth the Spirit of salvation to those upon the earth.

*Vade, popule mi, ingredere in conclavia tua, claude ostium tuum, abscondere modicum quantulumcunque, donec pertranseat ira Domini. Ecce enim Dominus a sancto loco inducit iram in eos qui habitant super terram. Et revelabit terra sanguinem suum, et non abscondet interfectos.*

The person of God is introduced to us in these words, exhorting the resolve of the saints to patience and, as it were, emboldening them. For since those who administered the Spirit of salvation—that is, the sacred preaching of the Gospel—both to those of Israelite blood and to those throughout the whole world under heaven, were about to fall into grave and intolerable trials, and even to undergo the peril of life and blood; ^B for this very reason he very fittingly persuades them to bear up with a brave spirit against such things, saying: *Go, my people, enter into your chambers.* He calls the chambers quite aptly and auspiciously, perhaps the monuments in the earth; and he urges them, as if they were exposed, to close the doors and to endure lying hidden for a short while, until the wrath of the Lord passes by. For it was said to the beginning of the race, that is, to Adam: "You are earth, and into earth you shall return" (Gen. III, 19); and the nature of man was cursed on account of the transgression; for this reason it was also made subject to corruption. But what was brought about by divine wrath shall be loosed. And this shall happen in its entirety at the time of the consummation, when death is abolished, ^C the tyranny of the devil is destroyed, and sin is buried and put away. "Hide yourself, therefore," he says, "O my people, and bear up for a little while, as little as may be, until the death brought by the wrath of the Lord passes by, and the time of the resurrection of all is manifested. For even if," he says, "you suffer the state of dying, you will see it banished, and as though being prepared to find life again."

For just as dew descending upon the earth gently and softly causes the seeds stored within it to grow and increase, in the same way, "the dew from you" will provide healing and life and salvation to your dead, whose bodies ^D have been sown in the earth in their own time. And you would not be mistaken if you said that this dew is the Only-begotten Word of God, who, having distilled His own life-giving drops upon His own dead, will provide at once the healing of sins—if any offense was committed by them after the manner of men—and will together bestow upon them resurrection, salvation, and eternal life. But the case of the impious is not such. For they lived impiously and shall fall. This is what came to pass for the region of the Jews, seeing that they raged against Christ and the holy ministers of the mysteries, although they had brought forth the Spirit of salvation to those living on the earth.

^A For if, he says, one should even chance to die, with the perversity of those who hate them thrusting this also upon the holy ministers of the mysteries, yet the Master of all will bring punishment upon those who have killed the saints. For the Lord brings out wrath from the sanctuary upon those who dwell on the earth. This is similar to that saying: "And the Lord rained from the Lord fire and brimstone upon Sodom." Therefore, the Son will bring wrath from the holy Spirit of the Father upon those who dwell on the earth. For as He Himself says somewhere: "The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father." But when the time is at hand, in which wrath shall be brought upon those who have committed unholy deeds against the sanctified, the earth will reveal its blood, and will not conceal those who have been slaughtered—that is, every drop of blood that has fallen to the earth will be manifest, and no one will be hidden, or rather, it will reach the truth for those who have been wronged. For the Creator will remember all things, and there will be no one at all of those unjustly slaughtered who will not be known and in the memory of God.

^B CHAPTER XXVII. VERSE 1. In that day God will bring the holy, and great, and strong sword upon the dragon the fleeing serpent, upon the dragon the crooked serpent, and he will slay the dragon.

Having spoken very beautifully about the bringing of wrath upon those who acted impiously and killed the saints, he says that Satan himself, along with his children, is to be taken away—he whose stratagems they yielded to when they fought against the saints and resisted their preaching. For in that time, he says, when the earth shall reveal its blood, the Father will bring the holy and most piercing, and great sword—the all-powerful and invincible One, that is, the Only-begotten Word—upon the dragon the fleeing serpent, upon the dragon the crooked serpent, and He will slay the dragon. And by dragon and serpent he designates Satan. For he is bitter and a hurler of venom, and in addition to this, cowardly. For it is always habitual for him to flee. He is also terrible and delights in evil deeds. For he runs crookedly like a beast; yet he will be taken away, since he will produce nothing henceforth, but instead will pay the penalty for his words of impiety, having suffered the final punishment, and having been held fast by the gates of Hades, and enduring the material and labor of the eternal fire, a long and endless torment.

VERSES 2, 3. In that day a good vineyard, a desire to begin against it. I am a fortified city, a besieged city; in vain will I give drink to it. For it will be taken at night, and in the day the wall will fall.

Having finished very aptly the discourse concerning those who have been, as it were, caught by the net through faith, and having most clearly shown that they will be anointed with ointment and given drink of wine on the holy mountain of Christ, the Savior of us all—and by mountain we mean the Church—and having added that there will be vengeance for those who were slaughtered for the sake of piety, and

^A that the apostate dragon will perish utterly and completely by the holy and great sword, he restores the discourse to those things which happened, through ignorance, to those who are of the blood of Israel. For at that time, he says, in which they will show themselves to be unreceptive to faith in Christ: "I am the beautiful vine, the desire for which someone might say to begin: I am the fortified city." For this speech is held as if by Jerusalem: "I will be a city besieged." Then the prophet brings before us the person of God, saying that: "In vain will I give it drink." For even if, he says, Israel had been a leafy vine, according to the voice of Jeremiah [Hosea], yet it brought forth thorns, and made the exhortation of the Law useless for itself. In vain, therefore, he watered it through the ancient Law; and even if he were to water it still through the evangelical preaching, it will remain useless. What then will happen from this? "It will be captured by night, and by day the wall will fall." For since he named it a fortified city, and ^B yet besieged, in accordance with the sequence of the thoughts he says both that it is captured, and affirms that the walls will fall. That, however, it is captured by night, and that the walls will fall in the daytime, seems to indicate something of this sort. For it was occupied and laid waste, as one that had been as if in mist and darkness, because it did not endure Christ saying: "While you have the light, walk in the light, lest darkness overcome you." And because they have spent their time caring little for the words from Him, the wretches were overtaken as if in the dark. For sin prevailed over them. And this was, then, that which was said to them by the voice of Christ: "Amen I say to you, unless you believe that I AM, you will die in your sins." It was captured, therefore, and it has remained in sins; the wall fell as if in the day, that is, conspicuously and manifestly it was deprived of the divine protection. Of such a kind also the blessed prophet ^C Isaiah says in the beginning: "For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts, the man of Judah, is a beloved planting. I waited for it to make grapes, but it made thorns." Then he adds: "And now I will announce to you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be for plunder; and I will pull down its wall, and it will be for trampling. And I will let my vineyard go, and it will not be pruned, nor will it be dug, and thorns will ascend upon it as if upon uncultivated ground; and I will command the clouds not to rain rain upon it." You see how true that which I said is, that is to say: "In vain will I give it drink." For He did not grant the intelligible rain to those from Israel any longer; but He tore down its hedge, and in addition to this, the wall. And perhaps by the hedge he calls the assistance from the angels; by the wall, the insuperable and fixed protection of His own power. For, "Mountains," he says, "are in its circuit, ^D and the Lord is in the circuit of His people." And if he says that "it has fallen," it does not signify entirely that it was cast down, but rather that it has been taken away. For Israel has remained destitute of protection, and entirely devoid of the mercy and love from above.

^A

*Verse 4. And there is not one that does not apprehend it. Who will place me as a keeper of stubble in the field? Because of this hostile region, I have cast it away.*

The region of the Jews was besieged after the Savior was nailed to the cross, and those gathered from every nation—that is, the all-powerful army of the Romans—rose up manfully against the Jewish nation. It was also devastated in another way, namely, intelligibly and secretly; for it was given over to be trampled upon by unclean spirits. For if it were deprived of its hedge, and the wall that guarded it were torn down, who could doubt that it became exposed to the plundering of intellectual beasts? Truly, this was what was said of it through the voice of David to Christ, the Savior of all: "Why have you broken down its hedge, and all who pass by along the way gather its grapes? The boar from the forest has devastated it, and the wild ass has fed upon it." For by these things he signifies the varied passions by which the mind of the Jews is mastered—the ass signifying the utter lack of reason, and the boar signifying pleasure. ^B Therefore, that it became easily accessible to anyone wishing to plunder it, he teaches, saying: "There is not one that does not apprehend it," for there is no hand or power, whether of men or of wicked spirits, that does not apprehend it. "But, O Master," one might say, "did you not save your people? Did you not guard them? Were you not a mighty wall for them?" "Indeed," He says, "I did guard them, and by my grace and power it was fitting for them to be surrounded and guarded when they had the fruit of the Law. But," He says, "when it [the nation] had been led down into such wretchedness, and labored under such a spiritual hatred of work that it produced no fruit of virtue, and seemed like empty and fruitless ^C stubble, who would place me as a keeper of it? For what benefit comes from this protection of mine, if it has become empty of good fruits? Who would persuade me to do this?" For this is what "to place as a keeper of stubble in the field" signifies. But he also renders the reason for how it arrived at such misery, saying: "Because of this hostile region, I have cast it away." By these words he points out, as it were with a finger, Jerusalem. "Since," he says, "it has become most hostile to me, for this reason, and most justly, I have cast it away." He does not mean, therefore, that he is speaking of another hostile region and then casting away yet another, but rather he demonstrates that Jerusalem itself is the hostile one, and says that he has cast it away—having cast it out, ^D clearly, from the spiritual intimacy with himself. For he said to it: "How often have I willed to gather your children, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not? Behold, your house is left to you desolate."

*Verse 5. For this reason, therefore, the Lord God did all things whatsoever He had ordained. I have been burned, all who dwell in it shall cry out.*

For since it became hostile, he says, and resisted the Savior, and waged war as an enemy against the one calling it to life, for this reason all things whatsoever he had ordained—that is...

^A defined, and determined should come to pass—he brought to an end. And what at last are these things? Being altogether repudiated, no longer to have the intelligible rain, to suffer siege, to exist in want of the favor and fortification from above. For it has been set on fire and brought to complete uselessness. "And I am burned up," all who dwell in it will cry out, he says. And if one should wish to apply [these things] more historically to what is at hand, he will find Jerusalem burned. But if [applied] in another way, the burning in these words signifies total uselessness, and the desolation pressing upon the Jews in every way, with the divine wrath all but burning them up and rendering them like dust and ashes. The divine prophet Jeremiah says something similar, as though addressing Jerusalem: "The Lord called your name a fair, shady olive tree, beautiful in aspect; at the sound of the outcry of her pruning, a fire was kindled upon her, great is the affliction upon her. Her branches have become useless." For it makes the soul of a man useless in every way when it departs from God and is utterly deprived of His grace and help. For "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God," ^B and as Moses says, "Our God is a consuming fire."

"Let us make peace with Him, let us make peace who are coming, O children of Jacob. Israel shall sprout and blossom, and the inhabited world shall be filled with his fruit."

Perinde quasi (as though) the Jews had renounced the love and faith in the Savior of all, Christ, and as though the Beloved had rejected them and transferred the calling to the Gentiles, and Christ, through the holy apostles, were netting men from the ends of the earth, the blessed prophet now appears as a faithful counselor to the nations everywhere, and says: "Israel has departed, the firstborn has kicked in defiance, he denies the faith, he has become impious toward the Redeemer; but let us who are coming—that is, who are destined to come in due times, and who will come ^C altogether as from darkness to light, from Greek ignorance to the knowledge of the true God, from sins to righteousness—let us make peace with Him," that is, having dissolved the ancient enmity, let us be at peace with God. For with sin removed and Satan abolished, and with no one left to hinder, who might stand between and separate us from Christ, let us consent to the prophecies of His Gospel; let us follow what He might wish and say; let us bow the neck to the Evangelical proclamations; for thus we shall make peace with Him. The all-wise Paul says something similar to those called from the Gentiles: "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Having, therefore, exhorted those who are coming—of whom the blessed David also said: ^D "A generation to come shall be announced to the Lord"—he turns the word to the holy apostles themselves; and when he had perceived, or learned through the Holy Spirit, that the whole world was to be brought to God, he exults in a certain manner, and out of great joy says: "The children of Jacob shall sprout, and Israel shall blossom, and the world shall be filled"

with his fruit. For they were born from the blood of Jacob, who was also named Israel, the divine disciples. ^A Since "their sound went out into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world," the multitude of the nations was called to knowledge, and, as the word of the prophecy says, the world was filled with his fruit. And with whose, then? Clearly with that of Israel; that is, of those who were born from the blood of Israel. For those who believe are the fruits of apostolic labors; and the divine Paul termed them his joy and crown; for those who are saved through them are truly the boast and glory of the holy mystagogues.

^B VER. 7. *Nunquid ut ipse percussit, sic et ipse cædetur? et sicut ipse occidit, sic occidetur? Rigans et exprobrans emittet eos.*

The meaning of these words hangs clearly upon what has been said, and we shall state in what manner this is possible. For we said that the children of Jacob will germinate, and Israel will bloom, and the world will be filled with his fruit. But it is as if someone were urging [the point] and saying: "Israel has acted impiously beyond measure; he became hard and stubborn, he killed the saints, and he stormed against every just man and prophet, and he has his hand full of blood; how then will he bloom again? And how, as if no wickedness had been committed, will the world be filled with his fruit?" To such [objections] the prophet says: "Nunquid," he says, "as he himself struck, shall he himself be struck? Or as he killed, shall he be killed?" For using ^C impotent anger and unbridled impulse against the saints, he put them to death, as if he knew no way to show mercy. Shall then the fount of clemency use equal and like vengeance against them, and thus take them away, just as they took away the saints? Or shall He rather prevail as God, and not utterly destroy the one once beloved and chosen for the sake of his fathers? A similar thing is said by God through one of the holy prophets: "What shall I do to you, Ephraim? What shall I do to you, Judah? I will make you as Adama, and as Seboim; my heart has been changed in this. My repentance was troubled. I will not act according to the wrath of my fury. I will not abandon Ephraim so that he should be blotted out, because I am God ^D and not man in the midst of you, the Holy One." For it behooved, it behooved, I say, Him who is God and not man like us, both to precede us in clemency, and, as nature surpasses everything that has been originated, so in this, I say, He must excel mortal men in [this] humanity. Therefore Israel will bloom, and the world will be filled with his fruit, in the manner that has already been set forth. For he will not be killed, he says, as he himself killed, nor will he be struck in like manner, even if, agitated by an immense fury, he struck the saints. What, then, will finally be the measure of these commotions against them? Arguing,

^A he says, and reproaching, he will send them forth. "He will send forth," understand "on account of His own separation," which the Savior did; for He relegated and cast off Israel. ^B *Rixans* (contending) and reproaching. For *rixans*, he put *increpans* (rebuking). For the Savior, rebuking the Jews and also reproaching them, was saying: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who killest the prophets and stonest those who are sent unto thee: how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not? Behold, your house is left unto you desolate." This was nothing other than to affirm that the separation from them was not far off. By this same path perished Israel, even if the remnant were saved, just as Isaiah himself says: "And if the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant shall be saved."

VERS. 8. *Were you not the one who was meditating with a hard spirit to kill them with a spirit of fury?*

Contemplate the prophet in these things using a freedom worthy of the saints, and arguing that Israel had warred against the saints, and had exercised a study, as it were, of using a hard and savage spirit to remove them from the midst, and was rushing upon them with a beast-like mind. ^C If, therefore, I should say, he says, that he [Israel] destroyed and struck them, this will in no way be a false doctrine, but what was said will appear true. For, O Israel, were you not the one who was meditating—that is, accustomed—with a hard spirit, as I said, to behave in a beast-like manner against those who had been sent by God? And if you deny it, he says, I will bring forward as witness the Judge of all. For Christ said somewhere to them: "Which of the prophets did your fathers not kill?" And again: "It cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem."

VERS. 9. *For this reason the iniquity of Jacob shall be taken away, and this is his blessing, when I shall take away his sin, when they shall have placed all the stones of the altars broken like very fine lime, and their trees shall not remain, and their idols shall be cut down like a distant forest.*

Having interrupted with a rebuke against those who had acted impiously against the holy prophets, ^D the blessed prophet proceeds anew with the context of his thoughts, and says, as if from the person of God: *For this reason the iniquity of Jacob shall be taken away.* For what reason? Because, indeed, he shall not be killed as he himself killed, nor shall he be struck as he himself struck, since God is endowed with clemency, which always overcomes human frailty, and never takes equal punishment for sins committed upon the earth, but tempers His anger with gentleness; hence he says: *The iniquity of Jacob shall be remitted*—that is, he will experience humanity, and in His own time He will remit to him his faults and absolve him of his crimes. And this is his blessing. For He promised to Abraham, saying: "Surely in blessing I will bless"

thy seed. ^A Yet the divine Abraham was not truly blessed, nor was his seed multiplied, in proportion and ratio to the punishments paid by those who had sprung from his blood for their many sins. But since, even though they had practiced nothing good, but had rather been led down to the uttermost impiety, they have nonetheless been enriched by this remission, the promise of the blessing has been kept and has passed over unto them. When, therefore, He says, I shall take away his sin, this shall be for him the mode of the blessing. And He makes manifest the time in which he shall be free from faults. For He says, when those who have been called through faith to the knowledge of the true God shall take up arms against their ancient error, when altars and shrines and the swarm of idols are removed from the midst, when they shall consume with fire the temples built for inanimate idols, ^B when they shall cut down their trees, and besides these, the things fashioned by hands, even as one would a grove: then, indeed, then God will remit to those who are of Israel also their past sins. And this, I think, is what that divine light Paul said: "When the fullness of the Gentiles shall have entered, then all Israel shall be saved." For to utterly burn down temples, and to prune back the groves fixed to them, and to add to this the destruction of the images themselves, would signify nothing else than that those who formerly wandered and worshipped the works of their own hands shall pass over to the knowledge of the truth, so as to have come with such love for God to this [knowledge] that they let their hands loose upon those things formerly worshipped by them, and cut down their gods made of wood as though they were a grove.

VERS. 10. The dwelling flock shall be released, as a flock abandoned, and shall be for a long time in depasturation, and they shall rest there, and after a time there shall not be in it anything green, because it will be dried up.

He calls Israel the moved flock, because they have had very many and good shepherds, ^C who were all but living with them, and knew how to lead and direct them to everything that is praiseworthy. Thus it was filled with good shepherds. But it shall be, He says, released. But what "released" means, He Himself immediately explained, saying: As a flock abandoned, that is, destitute of every overseer and guardian. And when this happens, for a long time it shall be made a prey. For the beasts that fall under the understanding—that is, Satan, and the evil powers which are with him and under him—will tear them to pieces. For when no one repels the incursions of the evil demons from the human heart, it will be most easily captured, and will be led astray into whatever seems good to them. But if we must also speak of what follows from history, they became a prey, after the Cross of the Savior, even to the Roman army. For [the army] remained among them, and rested therein like a certain vigorous shoot; but for a small, He says, time. ^D

^A There will be nothing green in it, he says, because it will have dried up; that is, they will forage over the land to such an extent that it will appear parched, no longer having any pasture. This is a clear demonstration that those who lay it waste will not depart from their land until they have, as it were, eaten up everything useful within it, even down to the most insignificant trifles, and have made it their own possession. The same argument could also apply if one were to choose to describe the hearts of the Jews as certain shoots that unclean demons have grazed upon; for they have devoured them to such an extent that they are perhaps even in want of pasture, so that nothing good remains in them that is of a nature to be consumed by them.

^B “Women coming from the spectacle, draw near. For it is not a people having understanding. Therefore, the One who made them will not have compassion, and the One who formed them will not have pity.” ^C Having said that the inhabited flock will be abandoned, and that it will become pasture, and will be set out for grazing—according to the words already set forth—as if Israel had already been cast out from the intimacy which is with God on account of their impiety toward Christ, and with the first testament and the rites according to the law having ceased, He commands the holy women to evangelize the resurrection of our Savior, women whom Matthew also mentions, saying thus: “Now on the evening of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher. And behold, there was a great earthquake. But when they were greatly terrified, the blessed angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. For I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified; he is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he was laid, and go quickly, tell his disciples that he has been raised from the dead, and behold, he goes before you into Galilee; there you will see him.’ And after the words of the angel, behold Jesus met them, saying, ‘Hail.’ And they drew near and took hold of his feet and worshipped him. Then Jesus says to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go, announce to my disciples that they should go into Galilee, and there they will see me.’”

Therefore, Israel having been dismissed, “Come,” He says, “you wise women, and evangelize most vigorously the resurrection of Him who killed death, and destroyed corruption, and justifies by faith those who have sinned, and delivers those entangled in defilements, who transforms those coming to Him into newness of life, who revealed to those on earth the new life—that is, the evangelical—and who abolished the weakness of the legal worship, but illuminated the truth, and made plain the path of worship in spirit and truth for those who revere Him. Come, therefore.” ^D For Israel has fallen from hope. For it is not an understanding people. For it has been blinded in heart, and remains in darkness, and is detained in the gloom of sin. For it would not attend to Christ saying: “As long as you have the light, walk in the light, lest darkness…

^A comprehend you.” I say that the dispensation of the Savior is indeed to be admired, even in these most wise women. For one might say, I think: Were there not holy disciples to whom it would perhaps have been better, as being the sacred ministers of divine dogmas, to preach the joyful news of the resurrection before others? Why, then, did they not see Jesus first, dissolving the power of death, but He appeared to women, and bestowed upon them the dignity of the apostolate, and commanded them to go and report to the disciples that Christ had risen from the dead, and they were the first to behold His glory? To these things we say that the only-begotten Word of God became man so that He might heal the infirm, and deliver man from ancient accusations. It was therefore necessary, it was necessary, to grant to women the prerogative of announcing the ^B resurrection. Since the first and more ancient woman had led Adam into transgression, serving the suggestions of the serpent, and had been the procurest and conciliator of death, why should she not have been allowed to dispel the causes of such grave crimes by the apostolate? “For where,” He says, “sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” The Gospel of salvation is given to the woman who ministered to death. For it was said to them with necessity: "Hail," by Him who had imposed the curse in the beginning. For He said to her: “In sorrow you shall bring forth children.” Thus the first things have been undone by the second, and that which was infirm has been healed. And so He commissions them to preach the Gospel, as the love of Christ toward the Jews was growing cold. For, he says, because they have remained senseless and foolish, He who made them will not take pity on them, nor are they worthy of being pitied. ^C

VERS. 12. *And it shall come to pass in that day, the Lord shall hedge in from the channel of the river, unto Rhinocorura. But you gather the children of Israel one by one.*

Christ having risen, and having commanded the holy apostles: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” and having ascended into heaven, the divine wrath—that is, from above—descended upon those who had impiously raged against Him. For they were consumed by sword and fire, the hand of the Romans rising against them, burning all their cities, and even Jerusalem itself, and tearing down that famous temple. The region of Judea is therefore bounded by the streams of the Euphrates, towards the orient and south, and by that which is called Rhinocorura. For ^D this is a city bounding Egypt and Palestine. Since, therefore, He has named for us the boundaries of Judea, He asserts that the Lord will hedge in all things round about, that is, the whole of Judea. He has used "shall hedge in" for "shall besiege" and "shall press," and shall reduce to the greatest difficulties. For a hedging-in, or encompassing, can signify an inevitable affliction or calamity. Nay, even

in another way you may understand the ^A hedging-in. For the mind of the Jews has been hedged in, so that they are able in no way to receive the light of true divine contemplation, nor indeed to understand the mystery of Christ, just as the blessed Paul writes: "A hardening in part has happened to Israel, and until this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies upon their heart." And this, I think, is the hedging-in. That this, however, did not happen against the whole world under heaven, that is, against all the nations, but against Judea alone and those within it, he demonstrated clearly, by saying that the hedging-in did not happen simply, but from the channel of the river even to Rhinocorura. And this, he says, will happen to the crowds of the Jews who killed the prophets, and stoned those sent by God, and added to these even the Son himself, and ^B crucified him.

Then he transfers the discourse to the person of our common Savior Christ, discussing and saying to the holy apostles, that is, to all who in due time serve his Gospel and are accustomed to conduct the sacred mysteries: "But gather together the sons of Israel one by one." That is to say, let not the discourse of those entrusted with the province of teaching be excessive, even if Israel is not seen entering in a crowd; but if there be any among them who is understanding, let him be called through faith, and let him come individually, and as one chosen. For the remnant of Israel has been saved. And indeed the divine disciples addressed them very often, just as the divine Peter indeed says: "And now, brothers, I know that you did it in ignorance, as also your rulers. Repent therefore and let each one of you be baptized in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For to you are the promises, and to your children." And a no small multitude has been caught in the net; ^C yet, so far as the whole Jewish nation is concerned, they were very few indeed, and as it were, one by one, those who were saved were received, through faith, that is to say, in Christ.

Verse 13. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come who were lost in the land of the Assyrians, and they who were lost in Egypt, and they shall worship the Lord on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.

It is the custom of the holy prophets to conceal their own discourse with a certain obscurity, and since the people from Israel were unbridled and headlong in their anger, to tread a middle path of meanings, so that what is signified is often unclear. To sound the trumpet at that time, he says—not others, as I suppose, but the holy ministers of the mysteries—and to sound not simply, but with a "great trumpet," that is, using the evangelical proclamations to call out, as it were, and to cry out something great and wondrous to those dwelling upon ^D the earth. "For indeed truly their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world."

For the great Moses also used a trumpet at times, but not a great one; for he was thin-voiced and slow of tongue, and the power of the legal proclamations was confined to the region of the Jews alone. But the divine and saving proclamation comes through every city and region, and it has thundered, as it were, over the whole world under heaven. Something of this kind is also written in the books of Moses: "For the God of all descended in the appearance of fire upon Mount Sinai ^A." And there were smokes and hail, and the ethereal body was darkened by deep gloom; but the voice of the trumpet, he says, sounded loudly. Then he adds to this, saying: "The voices of the trumpet became proceeding much stronger." For in the beginning the law resounded with a thin voice; but as time went on, the voices of the trumpet became very, very strong. At that time, he says, they will sound the great trumpet, that is, they will cause the evangelical proclamation to resound, gathering together those who have wandered, and those who have come into the rank of prisoners, and dragging them forth from the snares of their ancient error of idolatry. For they shall come, he says, who were lost in the land of the Assyrians, and those who were lost in Egypt, and they shall worship the Lord upon the holy mountain in Jerusalem. He has set forth two regions that were more superstitious than the rest, I mean the Assyrians and the Egyptians. But those who were lost in them, he says, shall come, called through faith to the knowledge of the Lord and God who is in truth, and they shall worship Him, not in defiled temples anymore, but upon the holy mountain, that is, the Church, which he also calls Jerusalem. A mountain, because nothing in the Churches is altogether lowly or creeping upon the ground, but it shines forth with high and exalted doctrines. And Jerusalem, because it is truly a vision of peace.

Chapter XXVIII. Verse 1. Woe to the crown of pride, the hirelings of Ephraim, the flower falling from the glory upon the head of the fat mountain, those who are drunk without wine.

Having previously declared ^C that all those who have perished, being entangled in the snares of idolatry, shall be called through faith to the knowledge of the truth and shall worship the Lord, he transfers his discourse to the leaders of the Jews, who became the source and occasion of impiety against Christ for the people subject to them. For they did not lead them through the law and the prophets to the knowledge of those things which had been promised of old, but rather, plunging them into the pits of destruction, they excommunicated and cast out of the synagogue those who confessed that He is the Christ. For so, in a way, says the divine John. And shaking and, as it were, undermining the faith in Him, and leading the mind of the unlearned away from the right faith, they called Jesus a Samaritan, and a drunkard, and one born of fornication. And what is still more impious than these things, they brought Him to Pilate, and indeed they requested that He be crucified, and as far as in them lay, they killed the Author of life, to the extent

that He was life by nature as God, even though He existed in the flesh. Woe, therefore, he says, to the crown of pride. He calls them a crown. For they were to all of Israel a crown and a kind of glory, excelling in the insignia of the priesthood, and having obtained the dignity of leadership. But they have not remained in the glories and elevations that had been bestowed upon them; rather, they have fallen away, having become a crown of pride. For they have been clothed in dishonor and blemish, and having become guilty of the charges of impiety, they have withered like a flower. For they have also become the hirelings of Ephraim. By Ephraim he designates Judah, because he was of the tribe of Ephraim. The leaders of the Jewish Synagogue, therefore, hired him so that they might be the administrators of their murders and hand over the Teacher. And this, indeed, has been done. Woe therefore, he says, to the crown of pride, that is, to the ^B leaders, who even hired Ephraim, that is, him who was of the tribe of Ephraim. And because of this cause they have become like a flower falling from its glory. For just as the glory of flowers is to be without withering and to be seen in the beauty of their own nature, in the same way, I think, it may be understood also in our own case. For as long as we are in those things in which it is proper for us to be, we carefully keep the beauty of our soul uncorrupted; but when our mind is turned aside to things which are not fitting, we shall be a flower whose comely glory has flowed away. This is what also happened to the Scribes and Pharisees, who sharpened their purpose, and words, and attempts, and every strange thing against Christ. But where was the flower that fell from its glory, and what place did it occupy? Upon the peak of the fat mountain. He calls Israel a fat mountain; fat, indeed, because it was fattened by prosperity; ^C and a mountain, on account of being set on high by God, regarding its fame, I say. For He Himself says somewhere about the Israelites: "I have begotten and raised up children." It is also customary for divine Scripture to compare the mother of the Jews, I mean Jerusalem, to a mountain at times. They were set, therefore, as a flower on the peak of the mountain, that is, above all, and as leaders over all, and chosen by the vote of the law to exercise authority over others. These were they who were drunk without wine. For their vine was from the vine of Sodom, and their branch was from Gomorrah; their grape was a grape of gall, a cluster of bitterness to them, and the wrath of dragons is incurable. For they were becoming drunk, not by drinking this wine subject to the senses, but by admitting into the dwelling place, so to speak, of their minds ^D the drunkenness and the darkening of diabolical perversity, issuing from impotent wrath and fury.

Behold, the wrath of the Lord is strong and harsh as hail being brought down, having no shelter, violently brought down, as a great force of water dragging the region into the earth, it will make repose for hands and feet, and the crown of pride, the hirelings of Ephraim, will be trampled underfoot.

Vers. 2, 3. Behold, the wrath of the Lord is strong and harsh, as hail which is cast down, having no covering, is violently cast down, even as a great force of water dragging the region; it shall bring about rest in the earth for hands and feet, and the crown of pride, the hirelings of Ephraim, shall be trampled underfoot.

^A The prophetic word shows us by these expressions how those dire events shall come to them, and that they shall pay the penalties for their impiety toward Christ, falling into the harsh and implacable wrath of the just Judge. For it says: The wrath of the Lord shall come, it shall come, hard and unassailable against you; and it shall come as when hail is carried down against those who have no shelter, but carried down with violence—that is, unendurably, and rather more keenly, and as if someone were hurling it with a sling, and bringing it fiercely upon some. It shall come, therefore, as hail, it says, or as a great multitude of water dragging [along] the region. And this, too, is insurmountable. For if I may say so, what is able to oppose or withstand a river, or rather a torrent, sweeping down most impetuously, and not yield to the rush of the waters? It shall come, then, as water flooding the whole region, clearly that of the Jews. And the fall shall be so horrible that it will bring about rest in the earth. But what sort of rest, and for whom? For the hands and for the feet. And the meaning of what has been said is as follows. For those who are accustomed to swim, if the state of the waters ^B happens to be calm and, so to speak, manageable, by drawing up and extending their hands and feet, and laboring moderately, they escape the danger of drowning. But if the onrush of the waters breaks in completely, so that there is no escape, the one caught in it ceases and stops swimming altogether, and seems to be freed from labor, but is thenceforth being drowned of necessity and by force, having been completely submerged. Therefore, the word is mocking in a way, and using irony, when it says that the water will bring about rest to the earth, and rest to the hands and feet. For it is as if one were to say, "Let no one labor in vain to oppose the calamity that is coming upon all." For it will rush so impetuously that even if they should wish to labor, they would be unable to provide for it by counsel or anticipate it by thought. For no one will swim out, and willy-nilly, he will be pressed down, wherever the water dragging him carries him—that is, the most violent and invincible hand of the Roman army. ^C Then, even then, the crown of pride, the hirelings of Ephraim, shall be trampled underfoot—that is, it shall lie beneath the feet of those whom I mentioned. Who these are, we have learned from what has already been said above.

VER. 4. And it shall be the flower which falls from the hope of glory, on the top of the high mountain, like the early fig which, as soon as anyone sees it, before putting it into his hand, he will desire to devour. ^D What the flower is that falls from the hope of glory, and what, moreover, it might signify that it is situated and seen on the top of the high mountain, has become clear from what was said a little before. For you will most aptly understand the flower, as being conspicuous on the mountain, to be either Israel or those who have been chosen to preside. But it shall be, he says, like the early fig. For when the fruits in a fig tree are maturing, if someone happens to forestall and precede the rest, and it thus becomes fit for eating, the one who sees it invades it eagerly and desires to devour it, and perhaps, with his impulse inflamed toward this, as far as appetite is concerned, he blames his hand for hesitating, and with his mouth opened wide...

he leaps to the branches. Thus, he says, it shall be for those despoiling Israel. For it has been devoured, as I said, by the Romans, and has become a sweet meal for those who have taken it.

"On that day the Lord of Sabaoth shall be the crown of hope, the weaving of glory to my remnant people. They shall be left in a spirit of judgment for judgment, and (the) strength hindering [preventing] them from destroying."

^B What and how it shall come to pass for the killers of the Lord, the discourse has clarified for us in these words; next, it brings forward the explanation concerning the faithful: for Israel has not perished in its entirety, but, according to the voice of the prophet, a remnant has been saved. For no small multitude has believed in Christ, of which the choir of the holy apostles has become a kind of beginning and as it were first-fruits. At that time then, he says, "the Lord of Sabaoth shall be the crown of hope, the weaving of glory to my remnant people." For the Lord of hosts himself shall crown those who have believed with hope and glory, with hope clearly regarding future good things, and with glory because they shall reign together with him, and having come within the highest honors, they shall be enviable and conspicuous. For what shall be comparable in terms of glory for those who hope to receive the crown of the kingdom in Christ? Regarding these, the prophet Isaiah himself says elsewhere: "And you shall be a crown of beauty, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God." For Christ shall crown those who believe in him with endless glory, and he shall refresh them with most pleasant hope, and as it were feed them up. ^C Of such, he says, shall my remnant people be a partaker, that is, the remnant of the Jews, with the other people also having been brought in, clearly from the nations, who, having conceived great confidence in Christ, pray and cry out to the Father and God in the heavens: "O Lord, as with a weapon of good will you have crowned us." For, the God and Father being favorable, Christ emerged and became for us an unbreakable weapon, placing himself over against the arrows of the evil one on our behalf, and preserved his own people invulnerable and immune and untouched by the wickedness of that one. This, finally, as I think, is signified by what he says concerning the adopted people, that is, those justified by faith: "They shall be left in a spirit of judgment, over judgment and strength, hindering them from destroying." For once, long ago, one might say, Satan destroyed the earth-born, having cast them into the pits of sin. "For there was none who did good, there was not even one; but all have turned aside together, they have become useless," according to the voice of the Psalmist. But since the only-begotten Word of God became man, he judged our judgment, and he has adjudicated, as it were, for us and for the one who practiced greed, Satan; and he condemned that one to destruction, ^D and removed him from those upon the earth as a destroyer and murderer, and saved. And he teaches this, saying: "Now is the judgment of this world; now the prince of this world shall be cast out;" and: "If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself." For he says plainly: "For God did not send"

his Son into the world so that it might judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” How then does He say: “There is judgment of this world”? For we are they who long ago cried out through the voice of the prophets: ^A “Awaken, O Lord, and attend to my judgment, my God and my Lord, to my cause.” For even when a just judgment has been passed upon us, we give thanks and say: “I will confess to You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will recount all Your wondrous works, I will sing to Your name, O Most High.” And for what reason? “For You have performed my judgment and my cause: You sat on the throne, the Judge of righteousness, You rebuked the nations, and the ungodly one has perished.” For the bands of demons were rebuked, ^B and with them perished the ungodly one, that is, Satan. They shall be left, therefore—that is, they shall be preserved in the spirit of judgment. For He judged and justified, as I have said, over judgment and power, that is, by upright judgment and divine power, preventing those who believe in Him from being destroyed.

VERS. 7. For these have wandered through wine; they have wandered through strong drink; priest and prophet have been alienated in mind through wine. They have staggered because of the drunkenness of strong drink, they have wandered. This is the vision.

He describes in a certain way those who have lapsed, and those who have offended God through this long-standing disobedience. For such persons, he says, have wandered, ^C staggering with wine and drunkenness, not indeed with things subject to the senses or corporeal, but rather, they are possessed by a blindness of mind which the dire dragon inflicts upon those who are accustomed to be slothful. For the divine Paul writes that the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that the light of the Gospel of the glory of God might not shine upon them. He most correctly calls “wine” and “strong drink” the darkness injected into the souls of men by the perversity of the devil. He is, as it were, struck with stupor and wonder that not only the most unlearned multitude of the common people appears to suffer from this malady, but that even the priest and the prophet have lost their mind through ^D wine. He again calls the drunkenness resulting from ignorance “wine.” It is indeed a wonder to see the priest and the prophet suffering this together with the rest. For those whom it was proper to instruct others, and to direct them in searching out and pursuing what is advantageous, and to show them the path of salvation, these have received the darkness even more than others; so that they were vacillating and being carried about by every wind, and this because of this drunkenness of the mind. And someone might say, he says, that this matter is like a phasma and a vision—that is, a miracle or a stupor. For when something happens beyond hope and opinion, it then strikes those who see it with a certain vehement stupor. By these words, moreover, he speaks of a prophet—not of one who is true and sent by God, but rather of one who ascribes to himself the glory and reputation of a prophet; of whom he speaks through the voice of Ezechiel: “Woe to those who prophesy from their own heart, and not from the mouth of the Lord.”

^A They are also accused by the voice of Isaias; for he says somewhere concerning Jerusalem: "Her leaders judged for bribes, her prophets divined for silver."

VERS. 8. *Execration shall devour this counsel.* For this counsel is because of greed.

Since he says that priest and prophet alike have wandered, and have been moved from a sound mind because of the wine from the vines of Sodom, and the intoxication of the spirit; and when he adds that this is a vision or a phantom, that is to say, a stupefaction and a kind of miracle, he straightway demonstrates the occasion of this stupor and excess and intoxication—the crimes of the priests. And therefore he says: *Execration shall devour this counsel.* For the consultation of the Jews against Christ, I say, the Savior of us all, was truly execrable. For God and Father sent forth holy prophets, and they killed them. Then, after them, He sent the Beloved to gather ^B the fruits of His vineyard, as it is held in the evangelical parable. But the most foolish farmers who were set over the vineyard, although they understood that He was the Son and the Master of the estate, yet said, as it is written, among themselves: "This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us have his inheritance for ourselves." An execrable counsel, therefore, he says, is such as this. The blessed David also makes mention of it, saying at one time: "Why did the nations rage, and the peoples imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ"; and at another time, again, concerning those who committed such things: "You shall cast them down, and shall not build them up, because they turned evils against You, and devised a counsel which they could not establish." For as far as their strength and attempts went, they killed the Son, thinking that they would possess the Master's inheritance; but He rose again as God, and destroyed the evil ones evilly—the wicked and foolish farmers—and gave the land to others, clearly to the holy apostles and evangelists, and to the teachers of the holy Churches. The counsel of the Jews, therefore, is execrable, for it was made because of greed. For it is truly greed to wish that servants should be superior to the master, and that their own patrimony should become that which they were set to cultivate—especially when they already have a sufficiently ^C ample reward, the prizes of the priesthood and the honors by which they preside over others.

*To whom have we announced, evils? and to whom have we announced a message?*

It is the custom of the holy prophets, and indeed of the whole of divine Scripture, to induce and impel man by two things to choose to live rightly. For either they break the hardened mind by the terrors of punishment and urge it toward what is better, or by the promises of rewards they make them more courageous to endure bravely in matters of piety; such as that which is spoken through the voice of Isaias to the Jews: “And if you be willing and hear me, you shall eat the good things of the land. But if you will not, nor hear me…” ^D

the sword shall devour you. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things.” ^A Thus, he points out that Israel, having become unbridled, has all but treated the words of the holy prophets with contempt, saying: “To whom have we announced a message? For see, see to whom,” he says; meaning, “To a hard, disobedient, and foolish people have we ministered, and though we brought them messages from God above, we announced to them evils,” that is, punishments and threats, which certainly and surely shall fall upon the heads of those who are accustomed to be stubborn. “We have announced a message,” that is, we have brought good news of the good things prepared by God for those who are accustomed to do right. ^B Yet the intractable Israel is improved not one whit, having stiffened into wrongdoing and ailing greatly from the sickness of disobedience. When, therefore, he asks, “To whom?”, he indicates that there is no one worthy; for even after such a clear prediction by the holy prophets, they remained no less refractory and wicked, and their hearts were filled to the brim with every kind of perversity. They even became ready ministers of diabolic cruelty and bitterness; for they handed over to the cross the Savior and Redeemer of all, I mean Christ, through whom and with whom to the Father be glory with the Holy Spirit forever. Amen.

TOMUS II.

^C VERS. 1. “Weaned from the milk, taken away from the breasts, expect affliction upon affliction, hope upon hope, yet a little, yet a little, for the derision of lips, for an alien tongue.”

Our first discourse concluded at this point: “To whom have we announced evils? And to whom have we announced a message?” Interpreting the meaning of the aforementioned words, we say that the person of the holy prophets is introduced, in a way rebuking those who are of the blood of Israel, inasmuch as they heed their words rashly and in vain, but are made no better ^D thereby, even though both evils and a message had been proclaimed to them. And we confirmed that "evils" are the punishments destined for those who transgress, and "a message" signifies promises of honors in good hope. Since, therefore, those who are sprung from the blood of Israel were helped not at all, even though the prophets had announced to them these things from God, I mean threats and promises of future good things, he says: “To whom have we announced evils? And to whom have we announced a message?” Now when the holy prophets have as it were fallen silent and finished their own speech, God himself, the God of all, calls out to the holy ones, saying: “Weaned from the milk, taken away from the breasts, add affliction to affliction, hope to hope.” For those who kick against instruction and have long since cast away the bridle are deservedly rejected, and being destitute of the salvation in Christ, they will go toward destruction. But you, however, who have since been called through faith to the knowledge of the truth, who, having been taken away as if from the breast and milk of the legal pedagogy, are receiving food once accommodated to little ones and endued with a ruder mind, but have advanced indeed

weaned from the breast and from the milk of the discipline of the Law; you who formerly received food befitting children, and possessed a less learned mind, but now have advanced to a perfect man, to the measure of the age of ^A the fulness of Christ, and have passed over to food suitable for the perfect, and have not remained ignorant of the word of righteousness: prepare your own hearts for the reception of the new preaching of the evangelical polity, of the commandments ordained through Christ. Show yourselves men with respect to patience, and if a frequent and successive affliction arises from raised-up temptations, and the cruelty of the persecutors presses upon you, endure for a little while, and for a little while bear the afflictions, that you may also be rich in hope—in the hope, I say, that surpasses the human mind. "For eye," he says, "has not seen, and ear has not heard, and it has not ascended into the heart of man, those things which God has prepared for them that love Him." Next, he demonstrates what that first affliction against them will be. For it is on account of the mocking of lips, and on account of a foreign tongue. Now the meaning of the prophecy is of this sort. In the Acts of the ^B holy apostles it is written that "On the day of Pentecost they were all gathered together in one place, and behold there came from heaven a sound as of a rushing violent wind." Next he says: "And there appeared to them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each one of them, and they began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them to utter." For Christ had commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, until they should be endued with power from on high. Then, going down, they spoke to those from Israel, and also to all those from other regions, in the tongues given to them by God, "and they were struck with amazement hearing them, and indeed they said, 'Are not all who are speaking Jews? And how do we all hear, each in our own tongue in which they speak?' Others, however, said," he says, "'that they are filled with new wine,' that is, they are drunk." This, I think, is the "mocking of lips" through a foreign tongue. For they were speaking ^C in foreign tongues, God who is all-powerful having also foretold this. For "in men of strange tongues," he says, "and with the lips of others I will speak to this people, and not even so will they believe." But although they ought to have received the sign for confirmation, considering the prediction made by God regarding this, they did not do this, but keeping on with taunts of drunkenness, they persisted in disobedience.

"For that they will speak to this people telling it: This is the rest to him that is thirsty, and this is the crushing, and they would not hear." God says somewhere, being indignant at the insolence of the Jews: "Behold, I am bringing a famine upon the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. And from the east even to the west they shall run about seeking the word of the Lord, and shall not find it." Therefore, an intelligible famine has been brought upon those from Israel, and inasmuch as they did not receive through faith the bread of life which descended from heaven ^D and gave life to the world; for this reason, very rightly, they have come to be in need

of the food given by God. "For man," he says, "shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." ^A And they have raged against the Savior and Redeemer of all; yet, since He is good, even though they had practiced impiety in an intolerable manner, He called them to repentance through the holy apostles. The blessed Peter, therefore, addressed them, because they had denied the Holy and Righteous One, and had killed the Prince of life, and had asked for a murderer to be granted to them. Yet he also added this: "And now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. Repent therefore, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promises are to you and to your children." Therefore, he says, those who have been weaned from the breast and from milk, those who have been called to the apostleship, and have become ministers of the new proclamations, will speak to this people, showing clearly what rest is for the one who drinks, and what is the contrition, that is to say, what is useful and what is the contrary. But they would not listen. Whence, I think, one of the saints, moved, said to them: "Stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart, you always resist the Holy Spirit." ^B Observe, indeed, how, although they had acted with such intolerable impiety, they had the holy apostles as pedagogues, bringing them to repentance and instilling in them the knowledge of what is useful; but they were possessed of hard and excessively stubborn characters, and were carried aside uncontrollably toward what is disobedient and refractory in their manner of life.

Vers. 13. *And it will be to them the word of the Lord of God, affliction upon affliction, hope upon hope.*

To whom, then, will it be? To the holy apostles, clearly, and the evangelists, who, ^C administering the divine office of sacred preaching, traveled throughout the world, ensnaring those who were wandering, bringing to Christ through faith those who of old used to say to the wood: "You are my father," and to the stone: "You have begotten me." But they did not complete the course of their own apostleship without sweat, but rather were afflicted, maltreated, and endured the plots of the enemies of God. The word of the Lord became for them, therefore, affliction upon affliction, and not this alone, but also hope upon hope. For, having exhausted their labors for piety toward Christ, they will be in long, or rather infinite, hopes, and, reigning together with Christ, they will be wreathed with the crown of incorruption.

*Yet a little, yet a little, that they may go, and fall backward, and be endangered, and broken, and taken.*

He stirs them up to courage and anoints the holy ^D mystagogues to patience. For they used to preach to the Israelites and announce to them the favorable word of salvation. But they would leap upon them like untamed beasts, drag them into the councils, and—counting as some sort of most extravagant transgression the sincerity of their love toward Christ—they would assail them with bitter taunts, and

^A by inflicting blows and scourges, and by flaying them alive, they would say: “Did we not strictly charge you not to speak in this name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching.” ^B And by pressing them in other ways as well, and by lying in wait for them with savage intent, they became the cause of their brokenness and sweat. God, the Lord of all, therefore weaves for them a lasting consolation, and reveals ahead of time the destruction of their persecutors, which was soon to come, saying: “Yet a little while, yet a little while.” For, He says, the time will not be long before they themselves shall fall backward, and be broken, and be brought into danger, and be caught, and rush headlong into destruction. We say that this happened to the Jewish people both spiritually and corporally, that is, sensibly. For they have been imperiled and have perished in two ways: partly by being consumed by war and sieges, and partly because they turned into a sweet prey for Satan, and by their own impiety drew down destruction upon their own heads.

VERSES 14, 15. Hear the word of the Lord, you afflicted men, and the princes of this people in Jerusalem, for you have said: "We have made a covenant with hell, and with death we have made agreements. If a rushing whirlwind shall pass through, it shall not come to us; for we have placed our hope in a lie, and by a lie we shall be protected." ^C For, He says, because the things that will come upon you are unbearable, and because a bitter and inescapable punishment will seize those who have surrendered themselves to every impiety, therefore hear the word of the Lord. For it was possible for them to turn away from evil if they had applied their minds to the apostolic preaching, and truly yielded to the things which Christ has spoken. Hear, therefore, the word of the Lord, you afflicted men, and the princes of this people in Jerusalem. He calls "afflicted" those from Israel, as being burdened by the law which condemns. For the law works wrath; and anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. Therefore, the most wise Paul also, in the epistle sent to those who, after the faith—I mean that in Christ—wished to return to the shadows of the law, writes and says: “Our mouth is open to you, O Corinthians, our heart has been enlarged; you are not restricted in us, but you are restricted in your own affections. Now in return the same [payment]—I speak as to children—you also be enlarged. Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.” ^D Those, therefore, who are still lying under the commandment of Moses, and are squeezed in a way, and have the burden of the law in their mind and heart, might be the afflicted ones. He has thus addressed both the princes and the people. Then, meanwhile, he interposes a certain speech of the Jews, which was devised by them out of their contumacy and, as it were, out of desperation. And it is necessary for me to say what this is: for God, the God of all, being longsuffering and patient with the wicked, does not immediately inflict punishment upon those who offend, but defers his wrath, striking them with terror, and by declaring future evils sometimes calls them to repentance. Hence, often

^A through the holy prophets we shall find him saying: "Behold, he comes," and, "a little, a little," and, "how much, how much." But the bold and proud, although they ought to have corrected their errors through [his] subsequent [actions], turned the gentleness of the Lord into an occasion for laughter. For as soon as they heard the prophet saying, "A little, a little, how much, how much," they immediately said among themselves: "A long time lies between the words of the prophet and the fulfillment of what is predicted. We shall die, and the divine wrath will leap upon those after us." And indeed, ^B God said to the prophet Ezekiel: "Son of man, the sons of your people say: The vision which he sees is for many days, and he prophesies for long times. Therefore say: Thus says the Lord Adonai: None of my words which I shall speak will be delayed any longer. For I will speak a word and I will perform it, says the Lord Adonai." He reproaches the Israelites, then, as those accustomed to despise, and they as much as say: "We have made a covenant with Hades, and agreements with death." What are these? "If a rushing storm passes by, it will not invade us." For he says that, even if they do not speak the words, yet by their very actions they almost cried out: "We have made covenants with Hades; for they will take us. And if a storm should happen to come, or danger against us, it will not come upon us. For we have placed our hope in a lie, and we shall be covered by a lie." For those who imagined for themselves what they pleased and said, "We shall die before the storm rushes in," that is, before the calamities, how did they not place their hope in a lie? For it was not in their power to escape, and by death to anticipate the onslaught of those things threatened; rather, it lay in the authority of ^C divine and ineffable power and majesty.

VERS. 16. Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I cast into the foundations of Zion a stone, costly, elect, corner, precious, into its foundations; and he who believes in it shall not be put to shame. And I will place judgment for hope, and my mercy in scales.

These things must be connected to what is above, which are inserted in the middle: "Therefore, he says, hear the word of the Lord, you afflicted men, and rulers of this people in Jerusalem." And what is it that he has commanded them to hear? "Behold, I cast into the foundations of Zion a stone, costly, elect, corner, precious, into its foundations; and he who believes in it shall not be put to shame." He calls our Lord Jesus Christ—excellent in the glory and preeminence of his divinity—a stone that is elect, costly, and precious. ^D He himself is the base, and the hope, and the fulcrum, and the immovable foundation of the Zion understood in the intellect, that is, the Church; and he explains this by saying that he was cast into the foundations by the Father. He says that he is "corner" because, through one faith, he unites the two peoples, the Israelite...

I mean, and the Gentile; for always in the corners of buildings two walls happen to meet, and being joined together, they are bound into unity. ^A "But he who believes," he says, "in him shall not be put to shame." And observe how he in a way relaxes those who are oppressed, and opens up the freedom of the evangelical way of life to those who are afflicted. For to those who are afflicted, he says: "Behold, I place the elect stone into the foundations of Sion." And what is the benefit from this? "He who believes in him shall not be put to shame." By this, he urges them to remove the yoke from the burden of the Law, and to depart from the foolish and useless shadow, and instead to choose the grace that comes through faith, and to seize the justification in Christ, which carries no toil at all. ^B "And I will place," he says, "judgment for hope, and my mercy for balances." For indeed, as the Savior himself says: "The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father." Understanding this, the blessed Paul writes in an Epistle and says: "We must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what he has done through the body, whether good or evil." We hope, therefore, that the judgment will follow, and that we shall be shown mercy in a way that is fitting for each one, and obviously in proportion to what has been achieved. For this, I think, signifies that mercy is granted by Him who judges us "for balances," that is, according to the reason of equity and kindness, as it were corresponding to good works.

And those who trust in vain are liars, in that the storm will not pass you by, nor will it take from you the covenant of death, and your hope that is towards Hades will not remain? If a rushing storm comes upon you, you will be a trampling place for it. When it passes, it will take you. Morning, morning it will pass, by day, and in the night there will be an evil hope.

I said that when the holy prophets were proclaiming to those of the blood of Israel the things that were to come, and were pointing out to them the divine wrath as if it were almost present, they, puffed up with an extraordinary madness, reasoned and said that even if these things should happen, by chance, they would at least be delayed in time, and the end of the things foretold would not be immediately at hand, but the time of our life will be consumed, and the terrible things will be after us. By saying and thinking these things, they seemed to be making covenants with death, and to have a hope, as it were, in Hades. ^D Therefore he says to them: "Those who trust in vain are liars, in that the storm will not pass you by." "Fear lest it take from you the covenant of death, and the hope that is towards Hades will not remain." For the Creator of all things knows, he knows hearts and kidneys, and the power of the movements that enter the mind. When, therefore, they have such a hope, he says: "Does he who knows what is in you not perhaps do away with this covenant of yours with death?" And in what way will he do away with it? For if the things of wrath come, that is, the storm, then...

you yourselves shall be made into a trampling ground. And it shall take you early in the morning, that is, not far off, but as if at dawn and on the morrow. There shall be no rest at all from evils, but by day and by night you shall be consumed in the expectation of terrible things. For if God wills to afflict, who shall avert the onset of the calamity? Or who shall struggle against divine wrath? ^B

VERS. 20, 21. "Discite audire, qui estis in tribulatione: Non possumus pugnare. Ipsi autem debilitamur, ut vos congregemini." As the mountain of the impious shall arise, and it shall be in the valley of Gabaon. He shall perform his works with fury, a work of bitterness; but his fury shall be used for others, and his bitterness shall be for others. ^C

The all-good God of the universe wills that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Therefore, admonishing those who were weak and calling back to the straight and undeviating path those who had neglected the salvation of their own souls, He employs every manner and word. For sometimes He strikes terror into them for their improvement with the threats of punishments and the fears born of anger, and at other times He lures them toward what is profitable with the promises of good things. Having therefore threatened and foretold that they would be entirely and utterly ensnared by the storm—that is, by the calamity which would soon be upon them—and that they would be in evil hope at every moment, He offers a word of consolation and does not allow them to despair. Just as one of the most wise and skillful physicians, who treats the diseased members of the body at times with harsh medicine and very strong remedies, checking the progress of the diseases toward the worse, and at other times with moderate and as it were most mild remedies, by charming them as it were, softens them well. Having threatened, therefore, He admonishes, and urges them to apply their mind to the evangelical preaching, saying: "Learn to listen, you who are constrained." Then He says: "We cannot fight." He makes mention also of the things that once happened in the valley of Gabaon. But the exposition of the words, as well as the very thread and context of the composition, render it quite obscure. I think, however, that these things should be referred to history. For thus it will scarcely be clear to the studious what is signified. When Jesus, the son of Nave, was acting as general and leader of the Israelites, and was making an intolerably heavy assault upon the regions of the Gentiles, and very many had been destroyed, the Gabaonites, fearing lest they should suffer similar things, since they were from the cities of the aliens, ran to him, and by lying deceived him at first, and were received. But after they were known, and who they were and whence they came, they became water-carriers and wood-cutters for the assembly. When the kings of the nations (for there were five of them) had learned this, they waged war against Gabaon, charging them with the crime of having fled to the Israelites. But when the Gabaonites were in critical straits, and considered that they were not equal to resisting, they asked to be set free by the hand of Jesus. He, immediately bringing help to his subjects, resisted the leaders of the aliens. Then the Holy Scriptures will teach what was done at that time by the hand of God. For they have it thus: "And when Josue had attacked," etc. ^D

come upon them suddenly, having traveled all night from Galgala, the Lord threw them into confusion before the children of Israel, and He struck them with a great slaughter in Gabaon, and they pursued them along the way of the ascent of Oronim [LXX, Ectheron], and they cut them down as far as Azeca and as far as Madaica. And when they were fleeing from before the children of Israel on the descent of Oronim, the Lord cast upon them hailstones from heaven as far as Azeca; and there were more who died because of the hailstones than those whom the children of Israel killed with the sword in the war." ^B He takes, therefore, from what happened to the ancients, an image and figure of the help that will come to the Israelites from God, who is able to save, if indeed they are willing to obey the words of our Savior. "For you," He says, "who are hemmed in"—that is, those who have passed through much pain, who are in a way crushed by losses and the terrors of things to come—"learn to listen; call also for Jesus to assist you; say just as the Gabaonites surely did: 'We are unable to fight, and we are weak in gathering ourselves to resist the incoming enemies.'" And what, they ask, will this be? "You shall know," He says, "that even if an onslaught of impious men should be borne against you like a mountain, those things which happened in the valley of Gabaon will befall them. ^C For against those who war against you with fury, He shall perform His works, and works of bitterness—that is, of wrath. And who, then, is this? No other, clearly, than God, the avenger. But His fury shall be used in a manner foreign to Him, and His bitterness shall be foreign. For wrath," he says, "strange and unaccustomed, wars against those who persecute you. And the heaven from on high and from above will fight against them, pouring down like a certain hail the things of unmixed wrath." A similar thing He says also through the voice of the Psalmist: "If my people, Israel, had listened to me, if they had walked in my ways, I would have reduced their enemies to nothing, and I would have laid my hand upon those who oppress them." (Ps. LXXX, 14)

^D VER. 22. "And do not you rejoice, neither let your bonds be strengthened, because I have heard things concluded and cut short from the Lord Sabaoth, which He will do upon all the earth."

The person of the blessed prophet is introduced again, attacking the teachers of the Jews and saying: It is by no means fitting that they should rejoice—that is, not to be insolent with their most audacious attempts against Christ—but rather to be sorrowful and to shed tears over their own impieties; and indeed not to tighten the bonds of the law upon the people under their hand, but rather to allow those who believe in Christ to be exempt from the ancient precept, and, abandoning the things that were in shadows and types, to admit the worship in spirit and in truth. "For God is a Spirit, and it is in spirit and truth that he must be worshiped." And because the law was like a certain bond, perfecting no one—for it finished nothing—but as though [it left] the infirm and those [bound] by manifest transgressions

^A in a state of being constrained as if for punishment, no one can doubt this. Hence, I think, the blessed prophet David ^B rightly urges the Israelites to hasten to the grace [offered] through faith, saying: "Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their yoke from us." For the teachers of the Jews did indeed load their subjects impiously, and they placed upon them a heavy yoke, clearly that of the legal commandments, and they bound them as if in certain unbreakable chains. Therefore the prophet says to them: "Let not their bonds be strengthened, for I have heard of finished and concise things from the Lord of Sabaoth, which he will do upon all the earth." And what are these finished and concise things? The evangelical preaching, the grace which is through faith, the justification through Christ, the sanctification through the Spirit. For the law was neither concise nor finished, since, as I said, it perfected nothing. Its theorems and discussions were, as it were, wandering mazes and long circuits of the letter. Yet this saving preaching has a most perfect and concise path, which leads, in fact, through faith to righteousness and sanctification. Now, the law was given to the Israelites alone, with Moses as minister. But grace and truth came through Jesus Christ, and no longer to the Israelites alone, but to all the inhabitants of the earth. For that divine Moses addressed the Israelites, saying in this manner: "Hear, O Israel." But our Lord Jesus Christ, through the lyre of the Psalmist: "Hear ^C these things, all ye nations; give ear, all ye that inhabit the earth."

VERS. 23. Give ear, and hear my voice; attend, and hear my words.

Again, by these words the person of the Savior himself is introduced, well-nigh enchanting the Israelites and persuading them, indeed most eloquently, to admit the message of evangelical preaching and not to prefer its voices to the Mosaic precept. But that one ought not to apply one’s mind to divine and evangelical discourses negligently and listlessly, he shows by saying: "Attend, and hear my words." For attention is needed, and indeed obedience, for those who are strong in prudence and counsel, so that they may strive to fill the breadth of their minds with the instruction and training which is above the law—namely, the Christian [instruction]. But that it is dangerous and harmful to follow the legal worship once that [Christian] way has been exhibited, Paul will confirm, saying to those who, from immense folly, after faith in Him and the cleansing through the holy laver, have returned to Mosaic practices—that is, the legal ones: "You are abolished from Christ, whoever of you are justified by the law; you have fallen from grace. For we through faith wait for the hope of righteousness." It is likely that something else is also hinted at by the fact that Christ says: "Attend, and hear my words." For if you wish, he says, to ponder the shadows of the law in your mind with subtlety, and to value the types with worthy attention, you will entirely...

attend to my words. For I am recorded in types, and the power of my pronouncements has introduced nothing foreign, if the law is understood ^A spiritually. "For if you believed," he says, "Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me."

VERS. 24, 25. *Does the plower plow all day to prepare the seed, before he works the earth? Does he not, when he has leveled its surface, then sow small poppy and cumin? And again, he sows wheat, and barley, and spelt in your borders.*

The meaning of the proposed words is indeed most profound and highly obscure, but I will speak as I am able, and to the extent that it is permitted. ^B The wretched Jews rejected the word of the Savior, and their justification was their desire to cling stubbornly to the commandment given through Moses. For they thought that they were perhaps even practicing piety by occupying themselves with the types, while spitting upon, as it were, the beauty of the truth. Therefore, they also persecuted Jesus, as one who was diverting the power of the legal commandment elsewhere, and leading them to another worship—I mean the evangelical [worship]. He takes, therefore, the example as if from the agriculture that was familiar to them, and says: *Does the plower plow all day?* And he wishes to signify something like this: The hearts of those who worship idols are hard and unyielding, ^C and like some wild, uncultivated land. They need, therefore, as if by a plow, the word that breaks them open—namely, the word of instruction—so that they might receive the seed from above and from heaven; and so, finally, they might bear fruit for God, in desire and zeal for every good thing. Such was the case for those from Israel. For they were in Egypt, worshiping the gods who were there, but they were called through the all-wise Moses; and a law was also given to them, as a plow to cut through their calloused hearts and their uncultivated mind. ^D But it was necessary not only for them to be called to the beginnings of agriculture—understood under the concept [of instruction]—but also, as our Savior Christ had now dawned upon all, to bear fruit for God in the power of spiritual worship. Therefore, since, as I said, they rejected the word through Christ, keeping before them those of Moses, for this very reason he very reasonably removes them from such a frame of mind, saying: *Does the plower plow all day?* Or does he not plow the untilled, wild, and thorn-bearing land, breaking it up, he says, so that it might be ready for the reception of seeds—does he not plow it forever? And the one who wishes to work the land, he says, does he not prepare the seed before he takes this into his mind? When he has leveled its surface, does he not then sow small poppy and cumin? And again, he sows wheat, and barley, and spelt in your borders. It was necessary, he says, it was necessary for the hearts of those who had been trained by the instruction to be smoothed beforehand, and to be pre-tilled with the typical commandments, and for the surface of the land, as it were, to be prepared, so that subsequently, to produce fruits...

it might be found most ready. But the husbandman, he says, even if he smooths the surface of the land, does not immediately, nor from the start, perform the sowing of the more solid seeds, but rather [sows] whatever seeds are for the time being small and weak—that is to say, ^A *melanthion* (nigella) and cumin; and when the land has already been exercised for fruit-bearing, then, he says, he sows both wheat and barley and spelt. For this is the method of skillful husbandry within your borders. The Law, therefore, has become to all almost a preliminary smoother; and like some most skillful farmer, sowing among the pupils as it were a kind of *melanthion* and cumin—things both small and, as it were, in shadow, and whatever seeds, when by themselves and alone, are not at all fit for eating, but always seek to be joined and attached to others in order to appear useful. For if they are joined to wheat and barley—that is, to loaves made from wheat and barley—then they seem in a certain way to be most useful. Such indeed is the power of the worship according to the Law. For if it does not have the capacity to be brought—through spiritual interpretation—to the more solid food, that is to say, to the evangelical [food], it would, being alone and by itself, have nothing that provides benefit. ^B

VERS. 26-29. *And you shall be instructed by the judgment of God, and you shall rejoice. For black poppy is not cleansed with hardness, nor does a wagon wheel revolve around cumin; but the melanthion is shaken out with a rod, and the cumin shall be eaten with bread. For I will not be angry with you forever, nor shall the voice of My bitterness trample you down. And these marvels have proceeded from the Lord Sabaoth.*

When the Law, he says, was ineffective for the cleansing of sins, the shadow was removed, and that which was in types appeared useless, and a life-giving and truly most useful judgment was introduced. And what, then, is this? Since it was not possible for man to be justified by the Law, the only-begotten Word of God appeared to us, setting forth a completed and concise matter, that is to say, justification through faith. You, therefore, he says, O Israel, having subjected your neck with an obedient nape to Christ, the Savior of all, shall be instructed by the judgment ^C that comes from Him, learning, that is to say, from Him the way of salvation. For thus you shall be in rejoicing. But since he has once made mention of the black poppy and the cumin, he derives something useful from them and says: *Black poppy is not cleansed with hardness*, and the things that follow thereafter. For Israel was guilty of transgressions and was convicted of being sluggish toward the very observation of the Law. Therefore, the God of all said: *"This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me."* "In vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." Could He not, then, most justly have exacted penalties for such sluggishness regarding the Law? Yes, he says. But the intention of the Lawgiver is philanthropic. For just as, he says, [when the] black poppy...

is not threshed roughly, nor does the wagon wheel roll over the cummin—clearly, in the process of threshing and thinning it out, as is done, to be sure, with wheat—but rather it is cleaned or shaken out with a rod; so will the Lawgiver act toward those who have sinned against the Law, not demanding harsh penalties, but rather cleansing them with a rod and with measured movements. And by adding that the cummin shall be eaten with bread, he has shown that the external form of legal worship, by itself and in isolation, is of little value for utility. ^B It will be useful and necessary, however, if it be joined to solid food, that is, to the evangelical proclamations. But since I have interpreted the enigma concerning the cummin and the black poppy, and what it would mean to say that the black poppy is shaken out with a rod, he adds and says: *For I will not be angry with you forever, nor shall the voice of my bitterness trample you.* I will not, he says, be prone to anger, nor shall I adjudge you to the ultimate penalty, nor shall I bring forth a bitter judgment against you, such that it results in trampling, which commonly happens when things happen through wrath. That he has arrived at the peak of all patience, God of all again appears to show further, saying: *And these things came forth from the Lord of Sabaoth.* For it is truly a portent, and a wonder not unworthy of admiration, that Israel, being in such transgressions, should obtain mercy, and gain the remission of innumerable crimes through the compassion of God. ^C *Take counsel, lift up a vain comfort.* By promising to them the forgiveness of what they have committed in their drunken rage, and by having explicitly stated that he would not be overly bitter toward them, he bids them to lay hold of good counsel. But he rebukes them, because they, having considered a vain comfort to be something great and high, were running outside the bounds of what is reasonable. What is this comfort that was considered great by them, yet possesses nothing of utility? It is surely this. For they said: *We have made a covenant with Hades and agreements with death; if a torrential storm comes, it shall not come to us; we have placed our hope in a lie, and by a lie we shall be covered.* But those who think these things, and have a vain hope, and supposed that they would be dead before the heavy calamities, heard clearly: *If the torrential storm comes, you shall be for it a trampling; whenever it passes, it shall take you.* ^D *Woe, city of Ariel, which David besieged. Gather fruits, year upon year. For you shall eat with Moab; for I will straiten Ariel, and its strength and wealth shall be mine. And I will circle about you, as David did, and I will place a rampart about you, and I will set up towers about you, and your words shall be humbled to the ground, and your words shall sink into the ground. And your voice shall be as them that speak out of the earth, and your voice shall be weakened toward the pavement.* He takes something that happened historically in the time of the reign of the blessed David, and he makes this almost as if for the Jewish Synagogue.

^A For the things that occurred in the shadows of the ancients are types of the true realities. Therefore, what is now Jerusalem was once called Jebus. The blessed David besieged this, and we shall learn the reason from the Holy Scriptures themselves. It is related thus in the second book of Kings: "And David and all his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusite inhabiting the land, and it was said to David: David shall not enter here, because the blind and the lame resisted, saying: He shall not enter here. But David captured the fortified Sion. This is the city of David. And David said in that day: Let everyone striking a Jebusite touch with a dagger the blind and the lame who fight against the soul of David." ^B Therefore, to the blessed David, those of Jerusalem, that is, the Jebusites, blind and lame as they were, resisted, and having done this, they miserably perished. For he captured it. But at the time of the coming of the Savior Christ, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the lame and the blind, resisted him. For they were not able to walk with a straight foot, nor did they comprehend the divine light with their mind, and they did not receive the faith—the scribes and Pharisees most especially. For he had said of those who were so affected, by the voice of David: "The alien sons lied to me; the alien sons grew old and grew lame from their paths." ^C And Paul also writes to them, saying: "Wherefore lift up the drooping hands and the paralyzed knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the lame member may not be turned out of the way, but rather be healed." That they were also blind, the Savior himself will confirm, saying: "For judgment I came into this world, that those not seeing might see, and those seeing might become blind." For the Gentiles regained their sight, even though they had never seen before. But the crowds of the Jews have been blinded, even though they saw the mystery of Christ, so far as it pertains to the legal instruction. Therefore he cries out against Jerusalem, and says: "Woe to the city Ariel, which David fought against." And he calls it Ariel, using a name common to many. ^D For Ariel is interpreted "Lion of God." And since Jerusalem used to make invincible expeditions against all other regions and nations, prevailing by the help of God, and like a lion seizing and tearing those who resisted, it earned such a surname. "Woe, therefore," he says, "O miserable city, which once was, as it were, a lioness gnashing at the nations, but having fallen since then into such bitter and incurable calamities." For David once fought against it, and he who was born of his seed after him—that is, Christ. Then he says to them: "Gather the produce from year to year. For you shall eat with Moab." For throughout two whole years, our Lord Jesus Christ, traversing the whole of Judea, employed all-wise teachings and imparted to them his divine and evangelical preaching. Since, therefore, the opportunity of time is present, and he offers the occasion to gather spiritual foods, and to heap them up in mind and heart as if in a granary, do not be sluggish in this, but rather, with all hesitation cast aside, gather them eagerly. For you shall eat with

^A Moab; the land of the Moabites was once most superstitious, and there was absolutely no one in it who endured to worship God who is truly God by nature. Therefore, since from one land of idolatry he receives at once the whole person of those who are wandering, he says, "For you shall eat with Moab." For the nations have been called in, and the food has become common both to those from the blood of Israel and to those themselves who were once wandering—the evangelical and saving proclamation. Then he adds, and says, "For I will distress Ariel," and you shall attribute this to the former. For he had said, "Woe, city of Ariel." Then, having inserted the matters regarding the council, he again holds to his purpose, and says: "I said that, 'Woe, city of Ariel'; for I will distress it, and its strength and wealth shall be mine," that is to say, "I will take all its wealth and all its strength." And you shall understand this both sensibly ^B and spiritually. For their earthly wealth has been emptied out, clearly by those who were besieging it snatching it away. The strength that was once great and famous has also been broken, for they were defeated by the hand of the Romans. Moreover, they have been stripped bare of the adornments of virtue, having fallen into a poverty of every good thing, and they have cast aside with the others the wealth of the wisdom in the Law. I say, furthermore, that "I will encircle you with a rampart, and I will place towers around you," indicates the siege against Jerusalem that took place after the cross of the Savior. Since the Pharisees were arrogant, and were uttering ^C savage and haughty voices against Christ—for they kept saying, "We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this fellow, we do not know from where He is"—therefore he says, "Your words shall be humbled to the ground." And it is not necessarily that the words themselves will suffer this in truth, but those who dared to speak them shall be cast down—they who were once accustomed to speak burdensome and overweening things, having been subjected to the evils of war. They shall have a small and very weak voice, and shall utter sound in this way, just as indeed those who speak from the earth do—that is, the necromancers, who, whenever they pretend to bring up a soul, mutter with difficulty something thin and squeaking, as if the soul itself were speaking lightly and from the earth.

"And the wealth of the ungodly shall be as dust from a wheel, and as chaff being carried away, and it shall be as a moment suddenly from the Lord of Sabaoth." ^D

He calls "ungodly" those who acted insolently toward Christ and delivered the Redeemer to the cross, and dared to deliver the Giver of salvation to death, even if He lived again as God in the flesh. He says that this wealth shall go away like dust, and that it shall fly off like dust from a wheel—and not in a long space of time, but in a short one, and as it were in a moment. And

^A that this matter will occur from the Lord of Sabaoth, he has necessarily signified, so that no vain hope may mock those who look forward, thinking that they will also escape. For there will be a visitation with thunder and commotion, and with a great voice, a storm rushing on, and a flame of fire consuming. What it might mean to say, "From the Lord of Sabaoth," he explains by saying that there will be a certain visitation upon them. For God and Father will in no wise disregard the crime of impiety against the Son. But he will stir up, he says, as if some thunder, and a commotion, and a tempest, and a flame of fire consuming, the attack of the war.

Vers. 7, 8. *And the wealth of all the nations, as many as have warred against Jerusalem, and all who have gathered against her and were afflicting her, shall be as one dreaming in sleep: and they shall be as those who in sleep are hungry and eating, and when they rise, their dream is in vain. And as one who is thirsty dreams that he is drinking, and when he is risen, he is still thirsty, and his soul has hoped in vain, so shall be the wealth of all the nations, as many as have warred against Mount Sion.*

In saying that the wealth of the ungodly—that is, of those who have behaved wantonly against Christ—shall be as ash and as dust from the wheel, he confirms that not even the devastators themselves will enjoy a safe and secure possession. For those who have thus become rich, he says, will be just as if some people in a nightly vision believed themselves to have become rich, but have gained absolutely nothing. For when they have become wide awake, they will recognize the deception of their dreams, and that which they thought to be true, they will find to be altogether a shadow and a mere opinion. And something of this sort happens also to those who are gripped by hunger or thirst; for the nature of the body necessarily desires what belongs to it, and although sleep sometimes delights the mind, nevertheless the nature is inflamed by the desire of the things it wishes to have. Hence, I suppose, certain thin imaginations and phantasies of the thing, as if they were vapors, beset the mind and hover about it, but the opinion will be vain and altogether useless when sleep has thereafter departed from the eyes. Such, he says, is the wealth of all the nations, as many as wage war against Mount Sion. But when or how these things have happened, I omit to say. ^D

Vers. 9, 10. *Be dissolved, and be astonished, and be drunken, not with strong drink, nor with wine, because the Lord has made you drink with a spirit of compunction, and He will close their eyes, and the eyes of their prophets, and of their princes who see the graven things.*

He proceeds further to argue anew with those who despise the divine oracles and who consider the divine and heavenly—that is, the evangelical—preaching as nothing. Although they could have gained the grace through Christ, and that most easily, if they had submitted the neck of their mind as a follower: this which—

they did not do, the wretches, but being puffed up with pride and having high thoughts of themselves, they brazenly said: "We are disciples of Moses; we know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he is from." Yet they heard Christ clearly saying: "I am the light of the world." And again: "While you have the light, walk in the light, so that darkness may not overtake you." Since, however, even though they heard such solemn words, they became in no way better or wiser than themselves, but were thereafter found to be hard and unyielding: then indeed, and most deservedly, they were overtaken by the darkness, and were in a way undone and deranged in their good sense, and like those who are intoxicated with wine, they were easily cast down into every kind of turpitude. ^B Such is the meaning of what he says to them: "Fail and be astonished, and be drunk, not with strong drink, nor with wine." For it knows, it knows how to intoxicate the mind—not entirely and altogether the sensible wine, or the intoxicating mixture, that is, the strong drink. Rather, calamities, and a certain kind of blindness resulting from the contemplation of divine wrath, bring this about more quickly and effectively. For this, I think, he teaches by saying: "And he will close their eyes, and the eyes of their prophets and of their rulers who see the carved images." For those who, he says, were once instructed through the tutelage of the Law, and who beheld the beauty of the truth as if in still-obscure shadows, and understood the words of the holy prophets in part, will be deprived even of this. For he will close the eyes of their minds, even if they formerly saw the carved images. ^C But this, he says, will happen to the prince and the prophet, that is, to the governor and the priest. For they called those "prophets" who investigated with the greatest intensity the prophecies of the holy prophets. There were among the Jews certain teachers and masters who had the reputation of being learned in the law, just as surely there was Gamaliel, about whom there was much discourse among them.

VERSE 11, 12. And all these words shall be unto you as the words of this sealed book, which if they give to a man who knows letters, saying: Read this, and he will say: I cannot read, for it is sealed. And this book shall be given into the hands of a man who does not know letters, and he will say to him: Read this, and he will say: I do not know letters.

^D Our Lord Jesus Christ once said to the Jews: "Search the Scriptures, because in them you think you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of me, and you are not willing to come to me that you may have life." Therefore, the Israelites labored in vain, seeking upward and downward, always having the commandments of Moses in their mouths, and pretending indeed that they had stored up in their mind and heart an understanding of the Law that was not common, yet not seeking Christ, although the mystery of the Law speaks of him. For they heard again: "If you believed…"

^A Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote about me." Since, therefore, the word of the Law was not deeply rooted in them—or rather, they had killed the One announced beforehand through it, and having disregarded the honor due to Moses—the God-inspired Scripture was, in a certain way, sealed up by God, just like a single book. For Scripture is one, the whole of it, and it was uttered by one Holy Spirit. But in what way was it sealed? For neither those who are able to read and know their letters are able to understand anything of what is in it, nor, indeed, if someone does not know letters, will he know anything of the things hidden within it; but the Law will be sealed in an equal way for all, as being completely ungraspable, both for those who know the wording and for those who [lack] the power to grasp the meanings. And this, then, was what was celebrated in the song to God by the voice of David: "Let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see, and make their backs bend always." ^B

VER. 13. And the Lord said: "This people draws near to me with their mouth, and with their lips they honor me, but their heart is far from me; and in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."

For the Jews, professing to discern the depth of the commandments of the Law, and having on their tongue and lips the commandment once written for the fathers, measured the power of worship towards God by this alone. They did nothing at all of what had been delivered by the oracle; but, having held the will of the Lawgiver in contempt, they turned towards teachings and the commandments of men. For by inventing certain empty traditions for themselves, they thought themselves to be pious and good, but by their very actions they were exposed as having foolishly retreated from the love of God. Therefore, regarding the Law that was kept only as far as the tongue, they thought themselves to be close to God. But because they did not wish to fulfill it, they were exposed as having withdrawn and become strangers to Him. ^C Furthermore, that they adhered more to the commandments of men could be made clear from this: for the Scribes and Pharisees once approached the Savior, saying: "Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread." And to these things the Lord said: "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God? For God said: 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'Whoever speaks evil of father or mother, let him die the death.' But you say: 'Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever gift is from me will benefit you," he shall not honor his father or his mother'; and you have invalidated the commandment of God because of your tradition." And he added to these the saying that is before you; for he said: "Hypocrites, Isaiah prophesied well about you, saying: 'This people honors me with their lips.'" ^D Therefore, since they had despised the pedagogue and had deemed the Law from God worthy of no account, and had turned towards the doctrines and commandments of men, hence the book of the divinely inspired Scripture was most justly sealed up.

[...to the teachings and commandments of men, it was sealed, and most fittingly so, the book of the divinely-inspired Scripture. For it was not consistent that those who hold it in contempt should be enriched with the understanding that comes through divinely-inspired Scripture.

^A VERSE 14. *Propter hoc ecce rursus transferam populum istum, et transferam illos; et perdam sapientiam sapientum, et intelligentiam intelligentium abscondam.* For the Jewish people were, as it were, transported in many ways, I think. For they were called the lot of God, and his portion and measuring line; yet they were transported in a way. For they were no longer called his lot; but they became a portion for foxes, and were given as food to Satan and to the unclean spirits, and they were transported also from thinking rightly to a reprobate mind, from glory to dishonor, from strength to weakness, from being wise to the extreme of foolishness. ^B "For I will destroy," he says, "the wisdom of the wise, and I will hide the understanding of the prudent." For the Scribes and Pharisees seemed to be wise and very sagacious, having gained a reputation for knowledge of the Law, but it has been hidden by God, and the understanding of the wise, that is to say, the Law or the divinely-inspired Scripture, has been almost entirely withdrawn.

VERSE 15. *Væ his qui profundum consilium capiunt, et non per Dominum; qui in abscondito consilium capiunt, et quorum opera erunt in tenebris, et dicent: Quis nos vidit? aut quis nos cognoscet, aut quæ nos facimus?*

When God, the Lord of all, determines a punishment and penalty for certain ones, he immediately brings forward the causes of the matter, and makes the crimes of those who undergo these things manifest, so that he may also appear just in punishing all things with justice. ^C He was saying, therefore, that the Jewish masses would be altogether without understanding when the Law was sealed, and with all their perception removed, remaining blind—mentally, that is to say. What, then, are their crimes, and for what reasons it befell them to slip into this state, he explains presently. For very many were the counsels they formed against Christ, and at variance with God. This, I think, is what is meant by "not per Dominum." Furthermore, they thought they were deliberating in secret among themselves, and undertaking grievous matters, even to the point of saying: "Who has seen us? or who will know what we do?" But they were ignorant that counsel and the thought of man, ^D and the power of deeds, cannot escape the divine and incorruptible mind, even if one does these things, perhaps, in darkness and secretly. For they had hired the traitor Judas, almost saying: "Let us bind this just man, for he is useless to us." And indeed they delivered him to the cross, and as much as it lay in them, they killed the Prince of life; and when he was raised again from the dead, they fiercely insulted him, and did these things secretly out of impiety and a malevolent spirit. For when they knew he had been raised, they gave a fair amount of silver to the soldiers guarding the sepulcher, so that they would say his disciples came by night and stole him away. Woe, therefore, he says,

to those who are accustomed to forming such counsels, not through the Lord, but as if in Beelzebul. ^A

VERS. 16. *Nonne ut lutum figuli reputabimini? Nunquid dicet figmentum fictori, Non tu me finxisti? aut opus ei qui fecit: Non tu me fecisti?*

Having said, "I will transfer this people," by these words he shows clearly and thoroughly that he will amend this matter, and indeed easily, without labor, when he says that they must be transformed as the creator wills, just as surely as a work is fashioned by the hands of a potter. Of this kind is also what the prophet Jeremiah was taught, saying: "Arise, he says, and go down to the house of the potter, and there you will hear my words. And I went down to the house of the potter, and behold, he was doing work upon the stones, and the vessel which he was making with his hands fell; and again he made another vessel from it, as it pleased him to do. And the Lord said to me: Shall I not be able to do to you as this potter, O house of Israel? ^B Behold, as the clay of the potter, you are in my hands." For the Artificer and Maker of all things easily transforms what is made by Him to whatever He wishes.

VERS. 17. *Nonne adhuc modicum, et transferetur Libanus, quasi mons Chermel, et mons Chermel in silvam reputabitur?*

When he says that they will be like the clay of the potter and transformed into baser states because there are in them very many sins, he demonstrates clearly how the future event will come to pass, and what seemed to be spoken obscurely, he reveals in a certain way clearly and plainly. Lebanon, therefore, is a mountain in Phoenicia, and all those who dwelt in it and around it were most superstitious men. Similarly, Chermel—or Chermelus—was a very great mountain in the region ^C of the Jews, on which Elias the Thesbite is said to have dwelt. And so, by the mountains or the regions in which the mountains are, he wishes to signify those who dwell in them, and says: "It shall be transferred," that is to say, Lebanon shall be transmuted, and it shall be as Mount Chermel; but the mountain of Chermel shall be as Lebanon, that is, those who once served idols shall acknowledge the God who is worshiped in Judea, and shall be reckoned in the number and rank of the firstborn Israel. Those, however, who are of the seed of Israel will one day become similar to those who inhabit Lebanon and who wander. For Israel has been cast out from the union which is with God, on account of their impiety toward Christ. ^D The Gentiles, however, have been gathered in, and sanctified through the Spirit, have become partakers of the divine nature. Lebanon, therefore, he says, shall be transferred as Mount Chermel, and the mountain of Chermel shall be reckoned as a forest, that is, as a forest of wild trees, whose end is for burning. Or even in another way. For they were as the wood of

it were for them. That which, I ^A opine, the prophet Zechariah signifies, saying: "Open, O Lebanon, thy doors, and let the fire devour thy cedars. Howl, O fir tree, for the cedar is fallen; howl, O ye oaks of Bashan, for the forest that was planted is cut down." See, therefore, how he compares Judea also to Lebanon, inasmuch as it differs in no way from those who were once in it, clearly deceived by error. He calls the fir, and the cedar, and also the oak, those in it who were to fall. For being high and lifted up on high, they have been consumed as it were by the fire of divine wrath.

VERS. 18, 19. And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and those who are in darkness, and those who are in the mist. The eyes of the blind shall see, and the poor shall exult because of the Lord in gladness, and the hopeless of the Gentiles shall be filled with gladness.

He most clearly manifests the calling of the Gentiles by the things set before us. It is possible to see the nature of the things which happened as if in reverse. For he had said that the book of the Law, or rather ^B of the entire divinely-inspired Scripture, would be sealed, and the knowledge of the divine oracles would be hidden from the mind of the Jews; so that he who knows letters says, "I cannot read, for it is sealed," and he who does not know, says, "I know no letters." But that the Gentiles will be called to the knowledge of God and will receive into their mind and heart the light of the evangelical preaching, and will understand the very Law given through Moses, even though they were once deaf and unhearing, and were as it were spending their time in mist and darkness, as in ignorance and error, he makes plain and clear. He says that they will rejoice, not in any other matters of this life, but in the Lord, that is, in Christ. For being poor, and having no good thing in their mind, but laboring in a lack of all virtue, and having no hope—for they were atheists in the world, as it is written—they will be filled with gladness. For they will be both free from sin and full of ^C holiness, and superior to death, and filled with hopes from God, and partakers of eternal gladness.

VERS. 20, 21. The lawless one has failed, and the proud has perished, and all who work lawlessness for the sake of malice have been destroyed, and those who make men sin by a word; and all those who reprove in the gates they will set as a stumbling-block, and they have turned aside the just for unjust causes.

As the Israelites were taken from the midst and cast out from the fellowship and union with God, even if not entirely—for a remnant has been saved, according to the voice of the prophet—he says that the lawless and the proud have failed. Lawless indeed, as those who did not keep the law itself, but turned rather to the teachings and commandments of men; and proud, being exceedingly haughty and ^D terribly arrogant, as they treated Christ with contumely. For at one time they said, "Is not this the carpenter’s son, whose

father and mother we know? How then does he say that he has come down from heaven?" And at another time: "Abraham is dead, and the prophets are dead, and you say, 'If anyone hears my word, he shall never see death.' Who do you make yourself out to be?" And yet, one might also see the Scribes and Pharisees elsewhere speaking most impiously: "He has a demon and is mad; why do you listen to him?" Therefore, those who dealt wickedly were destroyed because of their ingrained malice and the magnitude of the perversity that was in them. These were the ones who caused men to sin in word; for, as I have said, by leading the people subject to their power away from reverence for the law, they caused them to sin, persuading them to observe their own private discourse—that is, their own commandments—and causing them to regard these as the law. And, what is even more impious than this, they acted as a stumbling block to those who set them straight ^B in the gates. For the holy prophets, acting as ambassadors delivering divine messages from above, would at times rebuke the inhabitants of Israel, and they did this openly and not secretly, but as it were in the gates. But those who had been chosen to provide instruction for the flocks committed to their hand and care, and who were obligated to train them in everything useful, acted as a stumbling block to those who were departing from the straight and blameless path, by labeling these useful corrections as, perhaps, deceptive and lying words. For their aim and purpose was always to pervert the power of justice in unjust matters. This, I imagine, is what is meant by "perverting the righteous to injustice," for instance, when the Law says: "Honor your father and your mother," and "He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him die the death." They taught those born ^C of them to say to their parents, "Whatever benefit you might receive from me is a gift." If one says this, he will not honor his father or his mother. "It is permitted," they say, "not to honor father or mother." This is what Christ reproached them with, saying, "You have made void the commandment of God because of your tradition."

VERS. 22, 23. Therefore thus says the Lord, concerning the house of Jacob, which He separated from Abraham: Jacob shall not now be ashamed, nor shall Israel now change his countenance: but when their children see my works, they shall for my sake sanctify my name, and they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.

The prophetic word is always vigilant, and it anticipates the malice of those who are intent on the ^D urge to find fault. For it said: "The wicked fails, the proud man is destroyed, the workers of iniquity have been destroyed because of their malice." But since, due to extreme ignorance, it was likely that some might think that God had spoken falsely, since Israel had not perished entirely but, as I have said, a remnant had been saved, for this reason it very opportunely makes mention of the hope reserved for Israel in the last times of the age. For they too shall be called through faith in Christ, and shall run after the nations. For, it says, when the fullness

of the nations has entered, then all Israel shall be saved. What ^A then does it say? "Therefore thus says the Lord, concerning the house of Jacob, whom He set apart from Abraham?" For Israel had been chosen from all the nations, and, as a kind of special portion for God, the race of Abraham and Jacob was reckoned. "But now," He says, "they shall not be ashamed, nor shall they now change their face"—that is to say, they will not be ashamed immediately when they have acted impiously against Christ, having come into a realization of their own sin; and they will not, as it were, turn back, so as no longer to be seen as such. This, I think, is what "changing the face" means. But as time goes on, when those born of them see my works—that is, when they behold the world beneath the heavens called, and those throughout the whole earth believing in me; when they see the power of the devil shattered, since that ancient and profane error has clearly been abolished, and at the same time the shrines of idols burned down—then they shall sanctify my name; that is, they shall consider me holy, and they themselves, also, shall sanctify as being in truth the Holy One of Jacob and the God of Israel. For thus they shall fear me. The way to salvation is always, in some manner, the fear of God. For it is written: "The fear of the Lord produces life."

"And those who err in spirit shall know understanding, and those who murmur shall learn to obey, and stammering tongues shall learn to speak peace." ^B For when they have sanctified the name of Christ, the Savior of us all, and have firmly believed that He Himself is the Holy One of Jacob and the God of Israel, they shall know understanding—even though they were at one time held fast by a spirit of error, and had the law signed and sealed; and those who were always murmuring shall learn to obey. For the crowds of the Jews were murmuring against Christ, sometimes saying: "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" and at other times, in addition to these things, they did not refrain from persecuting Him, and they ascribed for Him the truth as a crime. For the Savior of all called Himself the Son of God the Father, and, showing the shadow of the law to be nothing, He contributed the beauty of spiritual worship. But they persecuted Him: "Not only," it says, "because He broke the Sabbath, but because He also called God His own father, making Himself equal to God." ^C Therefore, those who were murmuring shall learn to obey, it says, "and stammering tongues shall learn to speak peace." For the tongues of those who were accustomed to speak nothing right about Christ were stammering; but they shall learn, it says, to speak of His things, and rather to utter things that pertain to peace—not returning again to their former madness, but rather submitting the neck of their mind to Him. And if anyone says to Jesus, "Lord our God, take possession of us; apart from You we know no other, we call upon Your name," he speaks peace.

"Woe, apostate children, thus says the Lord," ^D

^A you have taken counsel, but not from me; and you have made covenants, but not by my spirit, to add sin to sin. They go down into Egypt, but they have not asked of me, to be helped by Pharaoh and to be protected by the Egyptians. For Pharaoh’s shelter will be to you for shame, and for those who trust in Egypt for reproach, because there are princes in Tanes, evil messengers; they shall labor in vain for a people that will not profit them for help, nor for utility, but for disgrace and reproach."

He exclaims again against the Israelites as those who have given themselves over to sins and become apostates and most wicked, taking on loathsome counsels, not from God. For it is not right for those who desire to have a common sentiment in any evil thing to take counsel from God. But every one who is pious and good and a lover of justice will take counsel from God and proceed toward the things that are to be done. For it is written: "The thoughts of the just are judgments" (Prov. xii, 5). He accuses, therefore, the foolish Israel, as one who has brought forward an opinion concerning Christ that disagrees with God. For they consulted while sitting in assembly, and said, ^B "What are we doing? For this man performs many signs? If we let him go this way, the Romans will come and take away both our city and our nation." And another of those who were in authority and dignity said: "You know nothing at all; it is expedient that one man should die, and not the whole nation perish" (John xi, 47 ff.). The Lord teaches this clearly in the evangelical parables, saying: "The landowner who planted a vineyard sent his own servants to receive the fruits, but the husbandmen killed them" (Matt. xxi, 33). And the crimes of their impiety did not end with these; but when they saw the Son sent by the Father after the servants, they said among themselves, he says, ^C "'This is the heir; come, let us kill him and take his inheritance for ourselves'" (Ibid., 38). They are, therefore, apostates, the guides of such bitter and unholy designs, adding sin to sins; for they killed, as I said, the holy prophets, and then, after them, the heir himself, that is, the Son. And that their opinion had long since looked toward apostasy and defection from God, he attempts to convince us fully, saying: "Who are setting out to go down into Egypt (but me they have not asked), to have help from Pharaoh and be protected by the Egyptians." The phrase "but me they have not asked" is inserted in the middle, but the sequence of thought is in this manner: "Woe," he says, "to those who go down into Egypt to seek help from Pharaoh and to find protection from the Egyptians." For when war and battle were proclaimed against them, and the king of the Assyrians moved weapons against the land of the Judeans, they ran ahead to the Egyptians and called for the aid from them, although they ought to have appeased God and to have blotted out and turned away the things by which they had offended Him by a return to better things. For, being sated with the goodness and favor of Him, they ^D

^A would not have submitted to the feet of those warring against them, as the experience of those who have already gone before will bear witness. For whom have they not conquered? Whom have they not overcome through God? But considering it to be nothing to be saved by Him, or rather, determining that His omnipotent right hand was unable to save anyone, they sought for help from men. But this matter, He says, shall turn to their shame and reproach. For "There are in Tani," He says, "evil messengers." For the Israelites went down into Egypt, and, as I just said, they thought that the help of those in Tani, that is, the kings, would suffice for them. But even from there came some people, reporting evil and intolerable things to the rulers of the region; for the Assyrian had made an expedition against the Egyptians, after the war waged against the Tyrians. In vain, therefore, He says, will the Israelites labor, running to a people who will be able to help them in no way. For it will have neither enough to aid them, nor indeed to be able to deliver them from the evils threatening them, but rather to their shame and reproach. For it always follows those who have turned their heart away from hope in God, that they fall totally and completely into every evil. And the blessed David speaks truly when he says: "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man." ^B But He rescues and delivers from every evil those who love Him and are zealous to adhere to Him.

THE VISION OF THE FOUR-FOOTED ANIMALS IN THE DESERT

That he had contemplated certain future events to occur in their own time against the region of the Jews, the prophet now declares to us. But I think it worthwhile for us to recall again the history for the sake of which this discourse was held by him, for thus the sense and force of these words will become clear to those who read. ^C When Jechoniah, the son of Eliakim, was reigning over the region of Judea, and Israel had since declined greatly into defection from God and was attached to the worship of idols—and was excessively provoking the God of all against itself—many were the discourses among them through the voice of Jeremiah, calling them to repentance and counseling them very wisely to wipe away and wash off the stain of error, and indeed to shake off the crimes of extreme impiety, having returned to what is better and having turned back to the truth. But they were hard and uncorrectable, and, rejecting the words of the holy prophets, they caused difficulties for them. ^D Therefore, God Almighty, having become sharpened against them, raised up Nebuchadnezzar, who captured Judea and, having burned the cities and villages in it, set Zedekiah as ruler over them. But when he too rebelled, the Assyrian, being offended, made war against Jerusalem again. And indeed, having taken it, and having burned the divine temple itself, he returned to his own land. Then, therefore, those who were left and spared, and those who were able to escape the sword of the Babylonians, went down with their whole family into Egypt, even though God had forbidden them to do this, and stated most clearly by the voice of Jeremiah: No-

^A-t descend into Egypt. But since they nonetheless remained disobedient, they perished in Egypt. For Nabuchodonosor took it also, and destroyed the Egyptians together with those from Israel. This, therefore, is the cause and the occasion of the vision, and this is, as it were, the whole situation. But we must, I think, discuss each point as far as possible.

VERS. 6, 7. *In affliction and distress, the lion and the lion’s whelp from thence, and asps and the offspring of flying asps, which carried their wealth upon asses and camels to a nation which shall not profit them for help, but for shame and reproach. The Egyptians shall succor you in vain and to no purpose. Announce to them: This consolation of yours is vain.*

The divine Jesus, that is to say, the son of Nave, gave the land of promise by lot to those who were of the blood of Israel. They say, however, that the tribe of Juda especially obtained by lot the regions looking toward the East and the South, in the area of Judea, with the desert lying adjacent ^B and looming over them, from where anyone who wished could cross over into Egypt. Therefore, in the time of affliction and distress, that is, when Nabuchodonosor was besieging, pressing upon, and afflicting the cities of Judea: *the lion and the lion’s whelp from thence.* Perhaps he calls those who obtained the primacy "lions," and the most powerful, and those who were not lacking in strength against others; and he calls those born of them "lion’s whelps": and again, "asps and the offspring of asps" are others, bitter and pestiferous, and nurtured in the extreme of wickedness. But by "flying," you will understand those who with a winged course hasten rapidly toward all wicked deeds. All are indeed, by common consent, wicked and most bitter who have departed from the love toward God, and say to the wood: *You are my father,* and to the stone: *You have begotten me,* and who render worship to the works of their own hands. These, therefore, carried away the wealth that was left to them upon asses and camels to a nation which will not profit them for help, but for shame and reproach. For the thing is utterly useless to them, and the consolation—that is, what they thought would be a comfort to them—has become vain. For, as I said, they perished together with the inhabitants of the land of the Egyptians, because Nabuchodonosor destroyed it also with might. It is, therefore, a most terrible thing to offend God, and even if He brings wrath upon some, every plan is vain, and nothing at all will preserve those against whom these things happen. *“For who shall turn back the high hand?”* as it is written.

VERS. 8-11. *Now therefore sit and write on this boxwood, and in a book: that these things shall be in the days of times, and even unto eternity. Because the people are disobedient, lying children, who would not hear the law of God; who say to the prophets: Do not announce to us, and to those who see visions: Do not speak to us*

^A of these things, but speak to us other errors, and turn us away from this path; take away from us this way, and remove from us the word of the Holy One of Israel.

He commands that these things be written and orders them to be sealed, as if they were to occur in their own time. For he says that they will occur in the days of times, and are worthy of eternal remembrance. And the word is true. For there will always be the testimonies of the prophets, even until the consummation of this present age. It is necessary, he says, to seal them, for they are a disobedient people. But this matter will be for their benefit. For if they should be disobedient to the holy prophets who will be at that time, it is very likely that they will be put to shame because these things were predicted even through you.

He calls them "lying" children, as I judge, again for this reason: because they did not preserve their genuine piety and religion toward God, but falsified the pledge which they had made at the times when Moses was defining laws for them on Mount Sinai, under God who rules over us all. For we shall find them clearly saying: "Everything that the Lord God has said, we will do, and we will listen." Therefore, when the law instructed and said: "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve. And you shall not make an idol for yourself," they held the commandment as nothing; for they served idols. For this reason, he quite naturally calls them lying children. David also sings somewhere and says: "The enemies of the Lord lied to Him [Ps. LXV, 3]," and indeed, as if in the person of Christ: "Strange children," he says, "lied to me [Ps. XVII, 46]." The cause of such a disease for them was that they did not deign to hold the law in any reverence, and they held the very words of the holy prophets in contempt. ^B And he teaches this, saying: They who did not wish to hear the law of God, saying to the prophets: "Do not announce to us," and to those who see visions: "Do not speak to us, but speak to us other things, and announce to us another error, and turn us away from this path, and take away from us the word of the Holy One of Israel." For bitter men, the Israelites, have often attacked many holy prophets, crying out these things and saying so. One might see this quite clearly when, as Jeremiah was exhorting them not to go down to Egypt, they met these things with lies, saying: "The Lord did not send you; but the son of Neriah sent you to us," and the rest.

^C *Verse 12-14.* "Because you have not believed these words, and have hoped in a lie; and because you murmured and trusted in this word; therefore this sin of yours shall be as a falling wall, suddenly, of an invincible city, whose ruin is immediately present; and its ruin shall be as the smashing of an earthen vessel from a potter’s workshop, broken so that there is not found among them a shard with which you might take up fire, or with which you might draw a little water."

He proceeds to teach that a grave outcome is altogether impending for them, because they chose to be disobedient to the monitions of the holy prophets.

^A to make a lie their hope, and to endeavor thoughtlessly to fortify that which has come into their mind. For since you have disparaged the words of the prophets, naming them a deception, and saying impiously, "Take away from us the word of the Lord," on this account, as of a captured city, this sin shall fall upon you, and that immediately—that is, not long hence. I speak of the city so crushed that it is as if an earthen vessel were shattered into small pieces, so that each of the fragments is utterly useless, and no one can carry fire in it, nor even spread a small collection of water. By these words he signifies that such is the penalty that will rush upon the disobedient, and such will be the calamity that will leap upon them, that it will bring them down to ^B extreme misery, and there will be found among them absolutely no one who has remained outside the lot of these evils.

VERS. 15. *Thus says the Lord, the holy One of Israel: When you return and groan, you shall then be saved, and you shall know where you were, because you had trusted in vain things.*

Having hung the ultimate possible penalty over them, and having alarmed them with the terrors of things to come, he fittingly shows at once the reason for the wrath that is upon them, and the way of salvation. For the Creator is kind and humane, and as He Himself says somewhere by the voice of Ezechiel: ^C *"He does not desire the death of the one who is dying, but that he should turn from his evil way and live."* Israel is therefore punished, inasmuch as he has turned away completely from the love of God, and has addicted himself to the cults of idols, yet He permits one who wishes to repent to be delivered from the evil. "For," he says, "when you [will] turn from a wicked and criminal way—from adoring, I say, the creature, and from offering veneration to wood and stone—then you shall be saved; and in addition to this, you will learn at last into what state of mind, or rather into what stupidity, you had fallen, having trusted in vain things." For if they cannot help themselves, how could they bring aid to others? For what is weaker than an idol? They are, to be sure, inanimate matter, and nothing else, these gods of the erring.

^D VERS. 16, 17. *Your strength has become vain, and you would not listen; but you said: We will flee on horses; therefore you shall flee; and on swift ones we will ride; therefore those who pursue you shall be swift. By the voice of one, a thousand shall flee, and by the voice of many, many shall flee, until you are left like the mast of a ship upon a mountain, and like a sign-bearer upon a hill.*

Even though, he says, you have found by experience that the hope in those who were held to be gods is vain, and see their strength to be empty, you have nevertheless remained disobedient. For hearing that you must not descend into Egypt, but must honor with faith Him who promised to save, you would not listen, but said: "We will flee on horses, and we will ride on swift ones." For you thought it sufficient for your salvation, in

^A Judea, to run away. But, He says, those who pursue you will be swift, that is, winged and rapid, and so terrible and fearsome to you, and the mind of the disobedient will lapse into such cowardice that if one of the enemy only shouts, a thousand will turn in flight; and if five should happen upon the phalanx of the Jews, many will flee. So remarkable will they endure the calamity that it will become conspicuous and absolutely unknown to none, appearing as clearly as if one were to set up a pole on the mountains or a standard on a hill. He says that the standard and the pole is the wood raised on the hills or heights, bearing certain signs by which those who have been chosen to lead the troops indicate either that they have conquered and the fortune of war has fallen out well for them, or perhaps that they should gather themselves to them, so that they might hear something of the holy things.

And again, God will wait to have mercy on you and for this reason will be exalted to show you mercy, because the Lord your God ^B is a judge. And where will you leave your glory?

Again, He has kept hope for those from Israel. For the remnant has been saved. For the Beloved, He says, will not depart into destruction root and branch, nor will God forget to have mercy, as the blessed David says; but His name will be glorious and high when He has shown you mercy. But you will say: "Is it not the property of a good one not to have inflicted the punishment at all?" But it is necessary to consider that He is both kind and a judge. It is the duty of one who judges rightly and incorruptly to mete out punishments in proportion to each person's offenses; and, again, it is of a good one to transform those who have been punished into something better by a gentle nod. "And you," He says, "where will you leave your glory?" Instead of "you will leave," He says, "it will be left." For Scripture, breathed into by God, sometimes does not trouble itself much about specific words. He therefore reproaches them because they esteemed as nothing their own glory—that of being and being called God’s, for they were His inheritance. For they have abandoned it, turning themselves to baser things, and serving the works of their own hands, and being disobedient to the holy prophets, and having neglected even the salvation from God itself, and having honored a false ^C and senseless hope in men. For they have descended, as I said, into Egypt.

Blessed are all who persevere in Him, because a holy people will dwell in Zion, and Jerusalem wept with weeping. "Have mercy on me." He will have mercy on you; when He saw, He heard the voice of your cry.

Having called the Savior God of all the "glory of Israel," He demonstrates that those who do not wish to depart from Him, but rather rely on Him through obedience and subjection in every single thing, He declares completely and utterly blessed. That at the time of the coming of our Savior, many from the blood of Abraham will repent, and being justified through faith, and from every sin ^D liberated, through the Spirit, the riches of sanctification...

^A, for He teaches, saying, that “A holy people shall dwell in Sion.” For Jerusalem, he says, wept with weeping, “Have mercy on me.” And since the God of all is inclined to philanthropy, and most ready to have compassion, knowing this, he says, “He shall have mercy on you,” and He shall be attentive to your cry; for as soon as He has looked upon one repenting, He immediately and readily grants the grace of forgiveness. So far as depended upon the will of the Lord of all, all would have been saved through faith in Christ. But since they did not accept the Redeemer, for this reason they are given over to destruction. For they chose this rather for themselves.

VERS. 20, 21. And the Lord shall give you the bread of affliction and the water of distress, and they who deceive you shall no longer approach you; for your eyes shall see those who deceive you, and your ears shall hear the words of those who deceived you behind you, saying: This is the way, let us walk in it, whether to the right or to the left.

The Lord our Jesus Christ has become for us the bread of life ^B. For He said openly, “I am the bread which descended from heaven, and gives life to the world.” But let it also be water, not something sensible and material, but rather divine and intelligible. Indeed, He has been called a river of peace and a torrent of delight, and we say this as the blessed David chants and speaks to God the Father concerning those who have been justified by faith: “With Thee is the fountain of life, and with the torrent of Thy delight Thou shalt give them to drink.” Therefore, Christ is the life-giving bread and water; yet He is found with sweat and labor. For great and excellent goods are not attained by those who lie idle and live luxuriously, but by those who scorn ^C the sweat and labor expended in this matter. Thus the divine David searched the mystery of Christ, chanting and saying: “If I shall ascend to the bed of my couch, if I shall give sleep to my eyes, and slumber to my eyelids, and rest to my temples, until I find a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. Lo, we heard of it in Ephratha, we found it in the fields of the wood.” For Emmanuel was born in Bethlehem, which is Ephratha. The God of all, therefore, promises to those of Israel who turn to Him that He will give bread of affliction and water of distress, that is, that He will grant the life which is in Christ, and the knowledge concerning Him, which one might collect and store up in the treasures of his own mind, not by falling into ^D pleasures, not by leading a slothful life, not by walking the broad and spacious way, but by rather entering through the narrow gate that leads to life. If, he says, you receive this bread, then you shall also become secure, neither prone to error, nor easily snatched away by the words of deceivers. For you shall see them, and hear their words. For formerly, when you were unable to judge their words, you were like those who do not see at all, while hearing the speeches of those who are accustomed to deceive; but having received this bread, you shall see.

^A them perfectly, and you shall understand very well what their character is: how they differ simply [from the truth], and say: "This is the way, let us walk in it," whether to the right or to the left. For there was no distinction between one who was naturally inclined to injustice and one who was not, but the words of all of them led them headlong thoughtlessly toward anything whatsoever.

And you shall remove the silvered and gilded idols; you shall break them into pieces, and you shall scatter them like the water of a menstruating woman, and like dung you shall push them away.

It would be fitting, I think, to achieve this—to choose this—both for those called from the nations through faith to the acknowledgment of the truth, and indeed for those also who are of the blood of Israel. There is no harm, moreover, in saying that it is fitting to apply to those who have come out of the error of the Greeks the [word]: ^B "The Lord will give you the bread of affliction and water in scarcity, and those who deceive you shall no longer draw near to you." The wretched Jews have had wicked teachers, I mean the Scribes and Pharisees, who wished to lead them toward whatever they themselves took a liking to, turning them away from the commandments of Moses and persuading them to pay attention to the teachings and commandments of men. Furthermore, Israel was condemned because it had progressed to such a state of madness as to choose to worship inanimate idols. And the sons of the Greeks have had impious teachers who, possessing an animal and demonic wisdom, proclaimed an unnumbered mob of demons in their life, and taught them to worship the creature alongside the Creator. ^C Having therefore received the bread of life and the life-giving water, both these and those were delivered from their ancient teachers—or rather, their deceivers—and, having condemned their deception, they removed the idols. For they have been justified through faith, having basically said farewell to Satan and the unclean spirits, and having cursed and fled from those who were once thought by them to be high—I mean the falsely named gods—as if from something most odious and extremely filthy. For what could be more detestable than dung and the water of a menstruating woman?

^D VERS. 23, 24. Then there shall be rain for the seed of your land, and the bread of the produce of your land shall be abundant and fat. And your cattle shall be pastured on that day in a rich and spacious place. Your bulls and your oxen and those that work the land shall eat chaff winnowed with barley.

The figure of speech is taken from farmers who, after they have received abundantly a great plenty of rains poured down from above, from heaven, then indeed have much fruitfulness and large harvests that provide enough for their sustenance, and they harvest grass from the field for their pack animals. The meaning of what is proposed is transferred again from sensible things to the spiritual contemplation of those...

to the things of the mind. ^A For when, he says, God gives you bread of affliction and water of constraint, when you see those who deceive you and turn your own mind away from them, when you remove the idols and receive the illumination of true knowledge of God, then you will also abound in spiritual fruits. For there shall be rain for the seed of your land. By "rain" he means the intelligible consolation of the Spirit, which refreshes the hearts of those who worship God, and makes them fruitful. David sings indeed regarding those who have been justified by faith in Christ: "You will set apart a voluntary rain, O God, for your inheritance," meaning clearly the evangelical and saving preaching, and the consolation through the Holy Spirit, as I said. ^B And the prophet Isaiah also said somewhere, as from the person of God, concerning those of Israel, who were the vine: "And I will command the clouds not to rain rain upon it." There shall therefore, he says, be rain for the seed of your land. Moreover, even the bread of the produce of your land shall be abundant and rich—that is, the fruit of your works shall be for assistance and utility. For it shall yield fruit, and it shall be rich and abundant. For the prophet Malachi was addressing those of Israel who had defected, saying: "Because your calf was deceitful, Samaria, because they sowed wind, and their destruction shall await them." A sheaf having no strength to make meal. Again, another of the saints rebukes some and says: "And you did not remember the Lord your God; therefore you shall plant an unfaithful planting." For the fruit of the ungodly is unfruitful, and their labors are useless, and the outcome of their endeavors has nothing that is profitable. ^C But the godly are fruitful, to whom the divine Paul very rightly prays, saying: "But may the God of righteousness increase your seed, and multiply the fruits of your righteousness." The prophet adds to these that the pack animals will also graze in a rich and spacious place. By "pack animals," I suppose him to mean perhaps those of small understanding and the more simple-minded, who are slow in mind, but once called to the knowledge of God through faith, they will find the nourishment of understanding, and will be grazed in a rich place—that is, in the divinely inspired Scripture, which is truly spacious. For it is broad and large, and leading toward piety. And ^D he says that the bulls, or oxen working the land, will eat straw winnowed with barley—that is, they will be in spiritual abundance. And being filled with solid teachings, they will work the land. By "bulls," I think he refers in these words to those who perform the divine ministry of preaching and evangelize with great power. And the all-wise Paul will make us confident of this again, understanding the legal precept spiritually. For he said, "It is written: You shall not muzzle the ox that is treading." Then he adds, "Is it for the oxen that God is concerned? Or does He speak entirely for our sake?" Therefore, as if from the best of the

nourishment, he fashions spiritual things, and signifies that this most beautiful and solid nourishment will be ready for those who have been chosen, and for those who, like fertile ground, manifest those who worship Christ. For it was necessary—it was necessary for the leaders of the peoples to be the first to taste the goods of the Spirit, in order that they might have the means to benefit their subjects. ^A

“And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every lofty hill, water flowing in that day, when many perish, and when towers fall.” And you will understand this spiritually. For by “hills” and “mountains” he means the holy evangelists and apostles, and all the others who have come after them as caretakers of the holy Churches and ministers of the divine mysteries, who think nothing of earthly things but are, as it were, lifted up on high. For it is written that the mighty of the earth have been lifted up greatly by God, and divine and heavenly discourse flows from their minds as if from a spring, as they themselves have been enriched from above with grace. This water is abundant; for there are many mountains, and just as many hills, and the stream from them is sweet and plentiful everywhere. ^B

But, he says, in that day this too shall come to pass. And by “day” he again designates the time of the coming of our Savior, during which those of whom the discourse speaks were manifested, and many perished, and towers were destroyed—that is, the teachers of the Jews, the scribes and the Pharisees. For although they had been exalted above all others through the glory of the priesthood and the authority of their leadership, they acted impiously toward Christ, and they put to death the very One who had caused them to be lofty, and in addition to this, they led the peoples under their hand astray. Other towers have also fallen: the illustrious throngs of the unholy spirits. ^C

“And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold in the day when the Lord shall heal the breach of His people, and heal the pain of your wound.”

Some of the interpreters wish to refer the meaning of the proposed words to the time of the consummation of the age. For then, they say, there will be an increase of light, and the very elements themselves, which are by nature luminous, will be as we have said. But we will find the holy Scripture saying that “At that time the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall, as leaves fall from a fig tree.” Forgoing, therefore, such a way of understanding it, we say this instead. For he does not say that there will be an increase of light for the elements. Rather, he calls those who live in the light of the moon “moon,” and those who are, as it were, adulterately and moderately illuminated. These could be those who were accustomed to live only by the natural prudence implanted in us by man, not yet enriched by the illumination from above; such are those who have not yet recognized the God who exists by nature and in truth, but remain as if in the night, having only a moderate splendor, which God bestowed upon human nature from its very creation. When these have received the light of true knowledge of God, they do not remain as if in the night, nor do they possess a small and lunar

have light, but afterwards they look upon the solar ray as if in the day. Those who exist as if in the day and are as it were illuminated by the sun, because they know God by nature, will receive a ^A sevenfold greater illumination. Such were those who were learned in the Law, having in their minds, as it were, the radiance of a solar ray—in that they knew the Creator and Lord of all. For they had heard: Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God, the Lord is one; yet they did not fully understand the Law. But when Christ shone forth, their knowledge progressing for the better, and the Law being thenceforth viewed spiritually, the light that is in them will be, not just seven times, but brighter. For the Sun of righteousness is the God of all, both in being and in being understood, and He is Himself all wisdom. Now He shone forth to the Israelites through the Law. For He brought them out as if from the ancient gloom of the error in Egypt, and made them understand and confess that He alone is the God and Lord of all. But, He says, these things will be when the Lord shall have healed the contrition of His people, and the pain of thy wound. For us, who were crushed and overcome by the pain of the wound (for the fear of punishment hung over both Greeks and Jews), Christ has healed. We were in a way dejected in spirit, and possessed of a weak and lax mind toward the works of righteousness, but we did not remain in this state. For the God of all freely gave the medicine, and made us free from the old disease, and most strong for all things that are pleasing to Him, and justified by faith in Christ. Through whom and with whom be glory to the Father with the Holy Spirit unto the ages of ages. Amen.

TOMUS III

^B VERS. 27, 28. Behold the name of the Lord cometh from far, burning wrath with glory. The ^C utterance of his lips, an utterance full of wrath; and the wrath of his fury is as a devouring fire. And his breath is as water dragging in a valley, it shall come even to the neck, and ^D shall be divided, to trouble the nations with a vain error, and a vain error shall pursue them, and shall take them before their face.

Having declared very clearly that the light of the sun will be sevenfold brighter for those who believe in Christ at that time when He shall have healed the contrition of His people, he opportunely adds that the divine wrath will also be against Satan, who crushed them, and against the demons that are with him. For they were not to exercise perpetual tyranny over us, nor were they to have firm and unshaken power, especially when Christ, the Savior of all, had shone forth upon the human race. But the prophetic discourse is not as if naked and revealed, but rather overshadowed and deep. For it is formed as if about the Assyrians, who devastated Jerusalem and took the whole of Judaea; and having the beloved Israel captive, they returned to their own land, all but insulting the divine glory, and thinking that even without God's will they had mastered those who worship Him. For indeed Rabsaces had addressed those who were on the wall.

saying, "Let not Ezechias deceive you, saying that the God of Israel will deliver you from my hand. Have the gods of the gentiles, each one, delivered his own country from my hand?" ^A Those, therefore, who behave so insolently and prattle so much against the ineffable glory are convicted, about whom the discourse is. But when Israel had endured seventy years in captivity and servitude under them, the God of all things once again rescued and saved them. For He brought them back into Judea, with Zorobabel, son of Salathiel, who was of the tribe of Judah, and also Jesus the high priest, as their leaders at that time.

The power of the prophecy, therefore, seems in a certain sense to make mention—as far as the surface of the events is concerned—of what happened to the Chaldeans and Babylon. But the true meaning of the words pertains to the intelligible Assyrian, that is to say, to Satan, to whom it is said by God: "In such a way as a garment stained with blood will not be clean, so you also shall not be clean, because you destroyed my land and killed my people; you shall not remain for all time, O evil seed. Prepare your children to be slaughtered for the sins of your father; lest they rise up and inherit the land, and fill the land with war, and I shall rise up against them, says the Lord Sabaoth, and I will destroy their name, and their remnant, and their seed." ^B "The name of the Lord," He says, "will therefore come after a long time." And if one should choose to understand this historically, God had mercy on Israel after seventy years. But if one should travel the inner and hidden path of the meanings, he will perceive in his mind that the inventor of sin, having long persisted in laying the yoke of his perversity upon all those on the earth, so as to make them his own worshippers, and having entangled them in the snares of sin, finally, after a long time, the only-begotten Word of God appeared to us. And a burning fury was made with glory, and the utterance of His lips is an utterance full of wrath.

For Cyrus, son of Cambyses, with God urging and inciting him, made war upon the Chaldeans and captured the land of the Babylonians by force. And he became like wrath and fire to them, for he devoured everyone, as it were, and having an unbearable onset, he was seen like water dragging along in a ravine by those who were there, and he filled all the nations of the Chaldeans with tumult and confusion, justly condemned because of their vain error. For they thought, as I said, that they had conquered Judea even against the will of God. A vain error, therefore, took hold of them. For a punishment was inflicted upon them from out of unbridled and vehement fury, and they perished by their own impieties. ^C And one can see that the prince of wickedness, the dragon, has also suffered this very thing. For the oracle of the Lord became for him an oracle full of wrath. For he and the evil powers with him were commanded to go into the abyss, and were consumed as by fire and much water, driven and tossed in the lowest caverns by the force of the spirit. For they were confounded by their own vain error. For He said: "The whole world..." ^D

I will take in my hand like a nest, and like eggs that have been left I will take them up, and there is no one who will escape me or gainsay me." He thought ^A indeed that He was God in truth, and having transferred to himself the glory that befits the Creator of all alone, he perpetually thought he could hold sway over those upon the earth. They were troubled, therefore, at the vain error in which they were convicted, and were caught by it. For justice, and fury, and punishment were brought upon them, and for this cause.

VERS. 29. *Must you always be rejoicing and entering into my sanctuaries as though celebrating a feast, and like those rejoicing, enter with a flute into the mount of the Lord, toward the God of Israel?*

I said that the Babylonians, having conquered the land of Judea, mocked those who had been captured, and most impiously continued to scoff at the divine temple itself. But they themselves were also captured; and in what manner, it is not obscure. You Assyrians, he says, must you therefore not at all times be rejoicing over my worshippers, and using the occasion for festivals, and preventing no one from entering into my sanctuaries, and that with flute and harp? And these things, indeed, are to be taken historically. But if it should be said against Satan and those who are of his frame of mind, you will understand it in this way: ^B He rejoiced for a long time, exalting himself against the ineffable Majesty, and crushing the saints, and resisting the workers of righteousness with savagery, and, as it were, attempting to defile the holy things of God, counting the matter as a feast and pleasure, and triumphing over those he plundered and possessed. But the wretch has fallen from such things, with Christ thrusting him down into what was past hope, and driving him from the tyranny over us. Every pleasure and gladness of his has therefore ceased, he has stopped his revelry against us, and the nature of things has changed and turned into its exact opposite. For we have found our delight and joy in the salvation through Christ, and justification through faith, ^C and sanctification through the Spirit. But he, frustrated in his rule, is in constant sorrow, and laments the overthrow of his own power.

VERS. 30, 31, 32. *For by the voice of the Lord the Assyrians shall be defeated, by the plague with which He shall strike them. And it shall be for him on every side from whence was their hope of help, in which he himself trusted; they with flutes and harps will war against him by a change.*

"By the voice of the Lord," he says, instead of "by the command of the Lord." For indeed the Assyrians were defeated, and exposed to the plague brought upon them, with Cyrus and the Persians and the Medes, as I said, ^D ravaging them and taking them by force and by the will of God. But before these things, the Medes and the Persians were the defenders of the Chaldeans, and had hope in them that they could luckily succeed and easily subdue what regions and peoples they wished. Those very ones then, he says—those in whom for the Babylonians was the hope of

^A aid, those who, all but experiencing a conversion and an overturning of their affairs into the complete opposite, will fight against him with lyres and flutes—that is, rejoicing and celebrating a festival. This could be seen to have happened in the case of Satan and the herd of unclean spirits. For they had in this world countless, or rather numberless, worshippers; but through the voice of the Lord—that is, through the preaching of Christ—they have been struck and defeated, and those whom they expected to have as their own supporters have, paradoxically, endured a conversion into the complete opposite. For they have been called by faith and have fought against them. For shrines have been torn down, hills have been shaken, and a multitude of unclean demons have been consumed by fire; and having condemned the one who formerly reigned, they have registered as their own the God who is by nature and in truth King and Lord. And they have made it a matter of great importance to live a life truly approved and distinguished by every virtue, throwing away the life spent in baseness as far as possible.

"For will you not be called to account before the days? Was it not also prepared for you to reign? A deep valley, fallen timber, fire, and much wood. The fury of the Lord, as a valley burning because of sulfur."

^B That the Assyrian would be fought by those from whom it was natural to expect aid rather, and that he would suffer things more bitter than all evils, he mentions, and necessarily he brings forward these things also. For since God is seen to have been long-suffering toward them for a long time, and having only with difficulty brought upon those who had committed intolerable wrongs the punishments, He makes a defense, as it were, and says: "For will you not be called to account before the days?" For the God of all is long-suffering, and He lavishes goodness upon those who err, so that perhaps their minds might be turned toward better things, and by choosing to repent, they might escape the punishment owed to them. ^C But since none of these things has happened, he henceforth introduces wrath, not doing this before the days, but as in the proper time and having come, as it were, to a measure, which is most becoming to the serenity and humanity of the God who is Lord of all. Therefore, He says, "O Assyrian, I have been kind to you and long-suffering. For you will not be called to account before the days"—namely, for the punishments, because you have acted with excessive insolence against my people. Such is that which was said to the blessed Abraham: "For the sins of the Amorites are not yet filled up ^D until this time." Moreover, the blessed prophet Zechariah says he saw women having wings like a hoopoe, carrying a measure, and sin sitting in their midst in the form of a woman. For the Lawgiver measures out punishments analogously and appropriately to the transgressions of each one. But you thought, O Assyrian, He says, that it was prepared even for you to reign continuously, or to be able to hold dominion and have an unshaken mastery over all? But you have erred from the truth; for you will rather inherit a deep valley, and fallen timber, and fire. For so will the fury of the Lord be upon you and yours. I would say, however, that this applies most especially to Satan. For he possessed the whole earth by force, before Christ

^A shone upon it. But since God and Lord has shone upon us, he has been driven away like some savage beast from the flock of believers, and he has gone down into the fire of Hades, there to inherit it, along with the flames. For the fury of the Lord shall be to him like a gorge burning with sulfur. Therefore, he was not requited before his time, but rather when the hour finally summoned him to this; for it was not decreed that he should reign forever, as it certainly is for Christ, the Savior of all, to whom it would be fitting for us to say what was spoken through the voice of David: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.” ^B

CHAPTER XXXI. VERSES 1, 2. Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, who trust in horses and chariots; for they are many, and in horses there is a very great multitude. And they have not trusted in the Holy One of Israel, and have not sought God. And he has wisely brought evils upon them, and his word shall not be set at naught, and he shall rise up against the houses of wicked men, and against their vain hope. An Egyptian man and not God, the flesh of horses; and there is no help.

Having learned what was to happen to the Assyrians in the fullness of time, and that they would be utterly destroyed and perish by slaughter as the Persians and Medes laid waste to their land—with God, of course, raising up Cyrus against them—the prophet comes to a recollection of the disobedience of the Israelites. For the Babylonian captured Judea, and the holy city itself, I mean Jerusalem, and he led Israel away captive; then God showed mercy to those who were left behind in Judea. But when they wanted to defect ^C to the Egyptians, fearing lest the war brought upon them by the Assyrians might be brought upon them again, He who is able to save commanded them, through the voice of Jeremiah, not to go down into the land of the Egyptians. But when, even after this, they became rebellious and thought that human aid would rather save them, they fell in Egypt and all perished utterly. The prophet therefore laments over them: “Woe,” he says, “to them that go down to Egypt for help.” For they did not rely on God, who is powerful in all things, but rather on horses and chariots, for there were very many in Egypt. But being wise, the God of all brought evils upon them, and his word shall not be set at naught. For He said to them through the voice of Jeremiah the things that are set forth below. So, he shall rise up against the houses of wicked men—that is, clearly, those who have fled for refuge into Egypt—and against their vain hope. For they chose, he says, an Egyptian man as a helper, and not God, the flesh of horses. The prophet speaks with the greatest emphasis, ^D rebuking the ignorance of those from Israel. For what is a horse, other than mere flesh? And what is the strength of flesh, so weak and subject to corruption? The prophet Jeremiah says something similar: “Cursed is the man who has his hope in man, and will make flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from

^A the Lord.” For it is truly better to hope in the Lord than to hope in man.

Vers. 3. *Dominus autem adducet manum suam in eos, et laborabunt auxiliantes, et simul omnes peribunt.*

After the Egyptians, lifting up their arrogant and haughty brows, had received the Israelites and had fancied that the power of their falsely so-called gods was superior to that of the God of the Hebrews, they themselves were handed over to the Babylonians. For they conquered the region, and those of the Israelites who had been caught there perished together with its inhabitants. The prophet therefore says that the Lord will lay his hand upon them, and that those who promise them impregnable defense will labor—that is, they will be weakened—and that they will all perish together.

Vers. 4, 5. *Quia sic dixit mihi Dominus: Quemadmodum, si clamarit leo vel catulus leonis ob prædam quam cepit, et vociferabitur super ea, donec impleti sint montes voce ejus, et victi sint, et magnitudine furoris perterriti: sic descendet Dominus ut prælietur in monte Sion, in montibus ejus. Ut aves volantes, sic proteget Dominus Jerusalem, et eripiet, et fovebit, et servabit.*

The prophet interjected a warning, I mean, against those who go down into Egypt ^B and who have preferred to have an Egyptian man as a helper rather than God, and at the same time he said that they would perish together with those who promised to aid them. Then he returns again to his initial discourse. For having said that the Assyrians would possess the deep valley as their inheritance, he declares clearly that God will bring help to those who worship him rightly, and that he will fight on behalf of those in Judea, and will thus attack those who desire to harm it—like a lion, indeed, roaring with a great and horrible voice at those who stand against it. For they say that this wild beast, when driven by hunger to attack herds of cattle or other livestock, first terrifies them with a profound ^C and most terrifying roar, and makes its onset intolerable for the shepherds. "In this way," he says, "the Lord will descend to battle on Mount Sion," that is, Jerusalem, "and on its mountains." "As flying birds, so will the Lord shield Jerusalem." For birds raise their young in the mountains and build their nests in dense trees. But if any other bird or snake wishes to snatch away the nestlings, the mother fights for them fiercely, demonstrating the power of the affection she possesses, flying around, chirping, and—one might almost say—making as great a clamor as possible to paralyze the one who wants to destroy them. "In this way," he says, "the ^D Lord of all will shield Jerusalem, and will rescue, and foster, and save it." And these things happened when Babylon was laid waste and Cyrus released Israel from captivity. For they returned, while the kingdom was being administered among them by Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, who was of the tribe of Judah, sa-

^Acerdotal duties being fulfilled by Joshua the son of Josedec, the high priest. And when they wanted to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, certain of the neighboring peoples set upon them, wishing to hinder them; yet no one conquered, for God was strengthening Israel. Such also has been the power of our Savior's aid toward us. For he who was thought to be the god of this age had taken all as captives; but Christ leaped upon him like some lion, or a lion’s whelp, and destroyed him by the word of his power. He is the Lord Sabaoth. And he campaigned upon Mount Sion, that is, he struggled for the intelligible Sion, which is the Church of the living God, and firmly saved it as if it were his own nest. For the father of sin, with great arrogance, boasted: “I will seize the whole inhabited world by hand like a nest; and I will take them as if they were forsaken eggs, and there is no one who will escape me, or contradict me.” But the Savior of all and the Lord brought together the faithful into one, just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and placed them outside of all snares. For He snatched them away and cherished them, and claimed the whole earth for himself, and saved the world under heaven.

VERS. 6. *Convert yourselves, you who have devised a deep and wicked counsel.*

As God declares that he will campaign upon Mount Sion, and that he will leap upon those who treat Israel—that is, those who believe in him—unjustly, after the manner of a most brave lion, and as he adds that he will protect, and rescue, and claim, and save them, the prophet again cries out against those who cannot bear to believe that the right hand of God is all-powerful, and that he easily saves whomsoever he wishes from their enemies. “Therefore,” he says, “you who suffer from such shameful and most detestable infidelity, who have abandoned the God of all, and who foolishly scrape together aid from men, and who have—I know not how—followed an impious and ridiculous plan in this, convert yourselves to God, devise better plans, and say also yourselves: ‘O Lord God of hosts, blessed is the man who hopes in thee.’” ^B

VERS. 7-9. *For in that day men shall cast away their hand-made silver and gold things, which their hands have made, and Asshur shall fall. Not by the sword of a man, nor by the sword of a human shall he be devoured, and he shall flee not from the face of the sword. But the young men shall be for a defeat; for they shall be surrounded by a rock, as with a rampart, and they shall be defeated: but he who flees shall be caught.*

The discourse returns even now to the purpose it had set before itself. For the Lord, he says, will protect Jerusalem, that is, he will struggle for his own Church, which is his city. And he will rescue those who believe in him, and will claim them for himself, and will count them as his own portion, and in addition to this, he will also save them. And in what manner? They will free themselves from profane and detestable idolatry, and will no longer worship

the works of their own hands, whether they be made of gold or silver, or fashioned in any other way at great expense. For before the coming of the Savior, the human race was struck with stupidity regarding these things, and some worshipped the creature, and attributed to the elements of the world the glory that is due to God, as the prophet says: "Their silver and their gold they made into idols for themselves." ^B But after Christ shone forth, the whole earth was made free from such foul and detestable crimes. For the temples were dismantled, and the altars, and the man-made things; and the error of Satan, which of old defiled the whole earth, was removed. Since, therefore, the man-made things have been destroyed, he says, their inventor will also perish along with the error—that is to say, Satan, the intelligible Assur, or the Assyrian. For he will fall, not struck by the sword of a man, and he will be cowardly; for he will depart into Hades together with the other evil powers. For this is what he implies to us when he says: "And the youths shall be for a defeat"—that is to say, those who are powerful and hold dominion over the inhabitants of the earth by greed shall be defeated and shall fall. In what manner or by what means? For they shall be enclosed by the Rock as if by a rampart. ^C In these words he calls the unbreakable and unshakeable power of the Savior a "Rock." Therefore, being surrounded by the divine power as by a Rock, and as if by a rampart—that is, a barricade and an enclosure—they will concede victory, and not one of them shall escape. For if any one of them wishes to do this, he will be caught on every side. This signifies, I think, that which is written: "He that flees shall be caught." Who then of them will henceforth escape being saved, if they are enclosed by the Rock as if by a rampart, and no place of flight at all is given to them? But the power of the Savior has accomplished these things, having both abolished Assur and the evil powers with him, and having, as it were, shut them up with a rampart into the recesses of Hades to be punished, that is, Satan, having brought him down together with this, and having enclosed him, and rendered him ineffectual.

CAP. XXXII. VERS. 1, 2. Thus saith the Lord: Blessed is he that hath seed in Sion, and domestic servants in Jerusalem. For behold, a righteous king shall reign, and princes shall rule with judgment. And the man shall be one concealing his words; and he shall be hidden as water borne along, and he shall appear in Sion as a glorious river flowing in a thirsty land.

^D The blessed prophet openly proclaims in these words the mystery of the dispensation of the Only-begotten in the flesh. For he says those who inhabit Sion at that time will be blessed—it is clear that he means the intelligible Sion, which is the Church of the living God. For they are truly blessed, and the Savior himself will convince us of this, saying to those who believe in him: "Amen, amen, I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see the things which you see, and have not seen them; and to hear the things which you hear, and have not heard them. But your eyes are blessed, because they see, and your ears, because they hear." Those, therefore, he says, who have had an internal and, as it were, domestic relationship through the spirit...

^A to our Lord Jesus Christ, and have borne fruit in the intelligible Sion, and have held those who are their own in Jerusalem, which is nothing other than Sion itself, are thrice-blessed and have become perfect in every good thing. We too have held our own, namely those who are our own according to the spirit, the holy mystagogues and the overseers of sacred rites. "For behold, a righteous king shall reign, and princes shall rule with judgment." For Christ has reigned over us, being both righteous and spotless, the arbiter of all justice, and the instructor of those things which are above the law. And princes also have ruled with judgment. But "with judgment," he says, means "secretly." For the righteous King shall indeed be a man, even a brother in all things to those who are on the earth; yet He is God in truth. For the Word became flesh, according to the Scriptures. "And he shall be concealing his words." For our Lord Jesus Christ has spoken very many things in parables, who also cried out this very thing beforehand by the voice of David, saying: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden from the foundation [of the world]." And he says not only this, but also that he will hide—as if from water that is carried along. For holy Scripture is accustomed to compare the onset of temptations to water carried along, or to the streams of rivers which flow rapidly on the earth. When, therefore, he says, temptations set upon them, and they are like water carried along, He Himself will be hidden—that is, He will be immune to the plots of those tempting Him, so that He may not be ensnared. And David said concerning Him: "The enemy shall not profit against him, and the son of iniquity shall not add to harm him." For very often did the crowds of the Jews lay snares, being incited to this by those who at that time held the lead, I mean the Scribes and Pharisees. But it was not possible for Christ to suffer anything of the things that are accustomed to be troublesome against His will. For they indeed began to stone Him, but He, as the blessed evangelist says, passed through the midst of them, and so passed by, that is, He was unconcerned. "And there shall be to those who are in Sion as a river carried along, glorious, in a thirsty land." For to those who were thirsty, called from the nations to the knowledge of Him, and having no word that knows to save, He has become like a certain river, abounding with a rich stream, and in addition to this, also glorious, that is, distinguished. For very many others have also been called rivers. And indeed the blessed David, comparing to rivers the holy ministers of the mysteries, and those who have drawn the word from on high and from heaven, and who have admitted the faith, said: "The rivers have lifted up, O Lord, the rivers have lifted up their voice." For the voices of the holy apostles were clear and audible; but no one of them was so glorious, as indeed is this torrent of delights, that is, Christ. From Him, we say, it has also been granted to ^D all others that they might have in abundance whence they could deliver the mysteries, and instill the life-giving word of God into the souls of those who believe.

Vers. 3-8. And they shall no longer be trusting in men,

but ears they shall give to hear; and the heart of the infirm will attend so as to hear, and the stammering tongues will quickly learn to speak peace, and thy ministers shall no longer say, Be silent. For the fool shall speak foolish things, and his heart shall conceive vain things, to perform iniquities, and to speak error against the Lord, to corrupt hungry souls, and to make the thirsty souls empty. For the counsel of the wicked shall devise iniquities, and to corrupt the humble with unjust words, and to scatter the words of the humble in judgment. But the pious have devised prudent things, and their counsel remains. ^A

The meaning of the words proposed is very fitting, both for those called from the nations through faith, and for those born of Israelite blood.

^A to adulterate them, certain of those who are accustomed to serve them leap forth and cry out for silence, wanting their words to be beyond contradiction. For they relate that it was the custom, when the disciples of Pythagoras uttered things at times cold, ridiculous, and to many incredible, to say this, "He himself said it": that is, "Be silent, and give credence to the inventor of the dogma, even without examination." Your ministers, therefore, he says, shall no longer say, "Be silent." For the fool will altogether speak foolish things, and his heart will conceive vanities, having one goal, to perform iniquities, and to speak error against the Lord. For the trifles of the Greeks are nothing else than error, devised against the glory of God, to corrupt hungering souls and to empty out the souls that thirst. For some at times burn with a desire for learning, then, approaching these men imprudently, they perceive no utility at all: and although they seem to hunger and thirst to learn something at all times which is necessary and useful to them for the salvation of their soul, yet, he says, the counsel of the ungodly shall think iniquities, and it looks to this, that it may corrupt by unjust words, and in judgment scatter the words of the humble. ^B For the lovers of worldly wisdom, and the maintainers of perverse dogmas, exert all zeal and diligence so that they may scatter and dissipate the words of the doctrine of the holy mystagogues, whom he also calls humble, however much they may have been formed in judgment—that is, not drowsily, but thoughtfully and accurately, and in wisdom from above, and from God. For this, I think, he teaches by adding: "But the pious have devised things of understanding, and this counsel remains." For the ornate loquacity of the wise of this world has vanished. But the counsel of the pious—that is, the doctrine or preaching—has prevailed. And we call them pious who minister the divine and evangelical word to those who are throughout the whole earth.

VERS. 9, 10. *Mulieres divites, surgite, et audite vocem meam. Filiæ, in spe audite sermones meos. Diei anni mentionem facite in dolore cum spe.*

It is the custom of divinely inspired Scripture often to set the person of women ^C either for cities or even for villages, and when there is one metropolis, to call the others its daughters, just as also the divine David says concerning Sion, that is Jerusalem, and its neighbors: "Sion heard, and was glad, and the daughters of Judæa rejoiced." For around the mother, who is the lady of all, there are almost always small and subject cities. Here, therefore, the person of the Savior himself is introduced to us, giving counsel to the cities of Judæa, and saying: "Rich women, arise, and hear my voice." He exhorts them, therefore, that they may wish to cultivate obedience, and to admit his own words, namely, the evangelical and saving preaching. And he calls them "rich" now ^D very appropriately, as being already very populous, and having an innumerable multitude of inhabitants.

However, they will not long be desolate and most destitute, at least so far as it pertains to having none of their inhabitants, unless they were to choose to submit the neck of their own mind to His oracles. ^A *Therefore, O women*, he says, *O daughters, hear my words in hope*, that is, not without reward, but rather with an ample and splendid hope. What then is it that is commanded? Make mention, he says, of the days of the year in which Christ appeared and clearly preached in the cities and villages throughout all Judea. For He Himself said through the voice of Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me; he hath sent me to preach the gospel to the poor, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to send away the crushed in forgiveness, to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." ^B Arise therefore, he says, that is, wake up, and having taken up good hope in your mind, commemorate the days of the year in which, as I was saying, the preaching by Christ, the Savior of us all, took place. He commands that they do this not remissly or negligently, but with zeal and care; for thus are good things rightly accomplished.

*The vintage is consumed, the sowing has ceased, it shall not come again. Be amazed, be grieved, you who trust; strip yourselves, become naked, gird your loins, and beat upon your breasts. For the field of desire, and for the fruit of the vine, the land of my people shall bring forth thorns and grass, and joy shall be taken away from every house. The rich city, the deserted houses, shall lose the wealth of the city and the desirable houses. And the villages shall be caves forever, the joy of wild asses, and the pastures of shepherds.*

That it would not be without punishment for those of Israel—nay rather, that the refusal to accept the word from Christ would be the cause of all ^C affliction and calamity—he demonstrates in these words. For the cities throughout all Judea were to be devastated, with the hand of the Romans setting them on fire, so that they would be seen to be void of men, and their choice places destroyed, and those who barely managed to escape would be turned to flight, and they would be deprived of home and wealth, and a city or village once filled with many people would become a habitation for wild beasts. But if someone should wish to receive also a spiritual contemplation regarding what is set before us, he will understand this: he calls the power of intelligible fruitfulness a vintage and a sowing, according to which we are pleasing to God, not producing, like a thorn, the manifold fruit of sin, but being honored by God as a fat and fruitful land. The wretched ^D Jews, therefore, have fallen away from this intelligible fruitfulness; and the intelligible vineyard has become land producing and bearing thorns. "For I expected," he says, "that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth thorns." And it has been said through the voice of the prophet concerning Israel, that they "have sown the wind, and their ruin shall overtake them. The sheaf has no power to produce meal." The vintage is consumed, therefore, he says, that is, you shall no longer be called a vineyard, for there is nothing ripe in you. The sowing has ceased.

^A You shall not be a land bearing good fruit, nor a nurse of growth. Hence, and most deservedly, "be amazed," that is, be struck and wonder. "Be sorrowful, be confident." For you, he says, who once boasted in God, when you see your heart stripped of every good thing, then, then be sorrowful. "Strip yourselves, become naked, gird your loins, and beat upon your breasts" for the field of desire and the fruit of the vine. The cause of the mourning, he says, is that the desirable field and the admirable vineyard is perishing and being utterly wasted. By these things he signifies Israel. He makes it clear also in another way, and says, "The land of my people shall bring forth thorns and grass." For Israel has been laid waste, as I said. For he let go his vineyard, and commanded the clouds that they should not rain rain upon it. And it has become the joy of wild asses ^B and the pasture of evil shepherds, that is to say, of the unclean spirits. Thus also the blessed David, as if composing a prayer concerning the vineyard of Israel to the Savior of all, God, says: "A vine, he says, you brought out of Egypt, you cast out the nations, and planted it." Then he adds, saying: "Why have you broken down her fence, and all who pass by the way harvest her? The wild boar has wasted her, and the wild ass has devoured her." For just as owners neglect and discard places that lie uncultivated, and have no care for them, whatever harm may be brought upon them, so also our God, who loves virtue, abandons a soul and renders it naked and destitute of all mercy if it be empty of the fruits of good works.

VERS. 15-18. "Until the Spirit from on high comes upon you. And the wilderness of Carmel shall be, and Carmel shall be reckoned as a forest. And judgment shall rest in the wilderness, ^C and righteousness shall dwell in Carmel. And the works of righteousness shall be peace, and righteousness shall hold rest, and they shall be confident until the age; and his people shall dwell in a city of peace, and shall dwell confident, and shall rest with riches."

He declares the time when the rebellious race of Israel shall be empty of intelligible fruitfulness. For he transfers his discourse to those who have honored our Lord Jesus Christ with submission and obedience, and to those who have been purified through faith in Him, and have also become participants in the Holy Spirit. For, he says, the aforesaid things shall be, and Israel shall be desolated on account of his unbridled contumacy, "until the Spirit from on high comes upon you." For just as we have read in the Acts of the holy apostles: "All were gathered in one place, ^D about the days of the holy Pentecost. And lo, there came suddenly from heaven a sound as of a rushing, violent wind, and it filled the house where they were gathered,"

^A and there appeared to them cloven tongues as of fire, and they sat upon each one of them, and they began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. When, therefore, he says, the Spirit of God from above and from on high shall come upon you who believe, then also Chermel shall be a wilderness. But Chermel, that is to say, Carmel, is a mountain in Judea, of great size and covered with a thick forest. He compares, therefore, Jerusalem itself, and all the region round about it, to Chermel, as also having an innumerable multitude of inhabitants. But it shall be, he says, ^B a wilderness, and it shall be reckoned as a forest. By a forest he means wild undergrowth, the use of which is for burning. For the wild trees are cut down, and they are fuel for the flame. Once Chermel is cut down, and reckoned as wild undergrowth, judgment shall rest in the wilderness. By "wilderness" he enigmatically denotes the region of the Gentiles, which the prophet Isaiah himself mentions elsewhere, saying: "Rejoice, wilderness that thirsts; let the wilderness exult and blossom as the lily." But it is compared to a wilderness because it was fruitless and as if stripped bare, in which no tree had ever grown. Yet this has been enriched and has become spiritually most densely wooded, because Christ has dwelt in it. And indeed, he said again by the voice of the prophet Isaiah: "And I will make water in the wilderness, ^C and set rivers in the thirsty land; I will set the cedar, and the box tree, and the myrtle, and the cypress, and the poplar." For by these are signified the souls that are approved through faith in Him, and raised to a height by their diverse and manifold virtue. Judgment, therefore, he says, shall rest in the wilderness, and justice shall dwell in Carmel—that is to say, goodness shall hold civil governance in both the wilderness and in Carmel. But Chermel and Carmel are not two different things, but represent one and the same mountain by both names. How then shall it be both a wilderness and reckoned as a forest, and yet justice shall dwell in it? We say that Israel has not altogether fallen away from intimacy with God, but a remnant is saved, and those who have believed from among them are gathered together with those from the Gentiles. And Christ has dwelt in these and in those, He who is justice and judgment. For we have been justified in Him, by a just and righteous judgment, sin having been abolished and Satan destroyed. ^D What, then, will Christ, who has dwelt there—who is justice—bring about in the wilderness? He clarifies it, saying: "And the works of justice shall be peace." For our Lord Jesus Christ coming, as Paul says, "preached peace to you who were far off, and peace to those who were near," that is, both to Greeks and Jews; and justice established peace among us. For having made peace with God, and having dissolved the enmity, we are in cities of rest and of eternal delight. And we have become confident in Him, even unto eternity, and we have lived in the city of peace, that is, the Church of the living God. For in her dwells Christ, who is peace. And we have found rest with riches. For we who were in need of all goods and all virtue, being alienated from God in the world, and having no hope,

^A are already rich through Christ, and shall be even more so, having obtained an abundant increase of the gifts from above and from God.

Vers. 19. *And if the hail descends, it shall not come upon you; and they who dwell in the woods shall be as confident as those in the plain.*

When the Jews had acted impiously against our Lord Jesus Christ, and had killed Him—as far as the power of their wicked designs and attempts could reach—a most violent hail, that is to say, the divine wrath, fell upon the whole land. ^B It was delivered unto desolation, was captured and laid waste, and they were dispersed into every wind, according to the voice of the prophet. When therefore the hail, he says, shall have descended, that is, the things coming from divine wrath, it shall not come upon you who believe and dwell in the city of peace, nor shall it corrupt the fruits of our righteousness, nor shall it destroy our good labors; but they who dwell in the woods shall be as confident as those in the plain. What is this? For land filled with thick trees is rugged and ill-suited for plowing; but that which is level and flat is, for those accustomed to farm-work, ^C suitable for the production of edible seeds. Through God’s consent, therefore, all things shall be fruitful, and the land that was once rugged will be shown to be a nurturer of cultivated seeds. For all things bear fruit through Christ, intellectually, of course, and spiritually. And no one sows among thorns. But having broken up our fallow ground, according to the voice of the prophet, let us sow in righteousness, living no longer according to the flesh and voluptuously, but conversing rather in an evangelical manner.

Vers. 20. *Blessed are they that sow upon every water, where the ox and the ass tread.*

Having directed the discourse to the works of agriculture and the fertility of fields, He lingers on the metaphor, and calls blessed those who sow upon water, where the ox and the ass tread. For Scripture, ^D brought forth by the Holy Spirit, calls the divine and heavenly Word "water," as well as the preaching of the holy mystagogues. For they too speak in the Spirit. And the Savior Himself will confirm this, saying: *"It is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you."* Since the Word of God is life-giving, for that reason He is quite rightly likened to water. For water is life-giving, and the cause of all fertility. Having been supplied, therefore, with such intelligible waters, we are accustomed to cultivate the tasks of virtue and strive to labor in the works of piety. In these waters the ox and the ass tread; that is, the people from the Jews, and indeed also those from the nations (Gentiles). For God has justified circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. And as Paul says: *The middle*

^A wall of the fence having broken down, and having abolished the law of commandments in ordinances, he created the two into one new man, making peace. And He reconciled them to God, laying a single yoke upon both, and joined them into one mind, through faith and love and sanctification. And indeed he compares the nation from the Jews to an ox; for according to the law, the ox is a clean animal, and it was brought as an odor of sweet fragrance to God. But the ass is unclean. And indeed, when He had commanded the firstborn of the animals to be brought to God: *You shall sanctify for me*, He says, *every firstborn that opens the womb*. . . *of an ass you shall exchange for a sheep*. Yet, even if the people from the nations were peradventure unclean because they had wandered, nevertheless they were sanctified through faith. For in Christ they have been justified; they have washed away the stains of their ancient charges through the holy ^B baptism, and, as I said, they have been subjected to the yoke of our Savior alongside those from Israel.

*Woe to those who make you miserable; but no one makes you miserable, and he who rejects you does not reject you. Those who reject will be captured, and will be handed over, and as a moth on a garment, so shall they be defeated.*

He calls those blessed who sow upon every water, where the ox and the ass tread. We have said that through these are signified both those from the Jews, and indeed also those from the nations who have been called through faith to the acknowledgment of Christ. But it was likely that some might reason, and indeed also say: How then are such as these blessed, when those who think on worldly things persecute them, and surround them with intolerable ^C difficulties always, and oftentimes even bring them to the very point of death? The Word therefore recovers itself for the consolation of the believers and says: *Woe to those who make you miserable, but no one makes you miserable.* For to suffer for Christ is glorious for the saints, but for those who inflict the persecutions, it is the cause of destruction. They therefore prove themselves to be the miserable ones, and not rather those who have suffered, if indeed those who suffer together shall also reign together with Christ. But, he says, if anyone rejects you, he also rejects himself. For those who are accustomed to doing this will be captured, that is, they will not escape the things from the divine wrath; and they shall be, to the punishments brought upon them, as if for consumption, just as, for instance, a garment is by a moth. Thus, the labor is, as I said, to the saints the procurer of eternal goods. But to choose to do evil is not without penalty. Or rather, it is the cause of the supreme punishment for them ^D who treat those dedicated to God in this way.

*Lord, have mercy on us, for in Thee we have trusted. The seed of the disobedient has been brought to ruin. But our salvation is in the time of affliction.*

God having addressed the saints: *Woe to those who make you miserable; but no one makes you miserable*, they themselves, out of exceeding great joy, all but leap for, and exulting say: that all labor of those who have chosen to be disobedient shall be fruitless, and that, suffering from much fruitlessness, they shall walk toward destruction, but [of salvation...]

suffering from sterility and unfruitful, are about to rush to their destruction, when salvation shall be granted to them; it will always be demonstrated in its own time. For all their strength is in Christ, even if they should seem at times to be utterly weak, in so far, I mean, as they are oppressed by the persecution of enemies. But then most especially does He who knows how to save manifest the greatness of His gentleness toward them and of His help from above. And so, in the time of affliction, there is salvation for the holy teachers of the mysteries. This the most wise Paul will show, writing: "When I am weak, then I am strong." And to him the Savior of all also says: "My grace is sufficient for you. For My power is made perfect in weakness."

VERS. 3, 4. *Because of the voice of thy fear the peoples have been stunned: from thy fear and from thy sublimity the nations have been scattered. But now your spoils shall be gathered, small and great: just as if one should gather locusts, so shall they mock you.*

That the unbelieving Israelites, who have not admitted the Christian faith, would suffer the most shameful and unworthy things of all, the Mosaic law proclaimed beforehand, and the words of the holy prophets show no less. And the Christ Himself even said: "When you see Jerusalem surrounded on all sides by soldiers, then you shall say to the mountains: Cover us; and to the hills: Fall upon us." Because of the voice, therefore, of Thy fear, He says—that is, which strikes them with fear—the peoples have been stunned; and this, "have been stunned," He says for "have been struck." ^B And in what manner have they been struck with stupor? By the magnitude, I suppose, of the calamity. For intolerable evils drive men to madness and make the sufferer appear as if foolish. But if one should prefer to understand "have been stunned" in another way, the word might indicate that they have been cast out of their fatherland and have thus been scattered among all the nations. And thus far the voice of the holy prophets. Now the person of God is introduced, saying to them, clearly to those who are struck with terror and scattered, that "now your spoils shall be gathered, small and great." For not for long, He says, will you be handed over to [your] enemies, nor will the threatened things be delayed, but at the very first opportunity you shall be booty, small and great. And thus shall they who ravage you collect you, just as if one were to gather a multitude of locusts in the fields, not accomplishing this with labor, but easily and as if in sport. One might say that Israel has suffered this very thing, having been delivered up, in a spiritual sense, to Satan and to unclean spirits as if to enemies, for plunder, and to be mocked just like locusts. ^C

VERS. 5, 6. *Holy is God who dwells on high. Sion has been filled with judgment and justice: in the law they shall be delivered, in the treasures is our salvation. There is wisdom, and knowledge, and piety toward the Lord: these are the treasures of justice.* ^D

^A The saints speak among themselves again, and they hasten to adorn with fitting praises God, the Savior of all, who dwells on high—obviously either in the heavens or within rational creatures, whose height may be understood as the intelligible magnitude of manifold virtue. They sing glory to God, looking upon Sion, that is, the Church of Christ, and seeing it filled with judgment and justice. For the earthly Jerusalem is devoid of such brilliant glory. It did not admit in any way the justice of God and the Father, that is, Christ. But the Church from the nations, which is the intelligible and truer Sion, has become full of judgment and justice; and “judgment” here denotes a just decision in every matter. For it is the custom of the saints to live rationally and lawfully, and to delight themselves in the evangelical decrees. Then they admire the Israelites, who had the law given by God for their aid, yet were perishing through it. For, as the blessed Paul writes, "Rejecting the justice of God and seeking to establish their own, they were not subject to the justice of God; for Christ is the end of the law unto justice to everyone that believeth" (Rom. x, 3, 4). For the law was placed in shadows until the time of correction. But when the new proclamation shone forth and the truth had been introduced, it was necessary for the types to cease altogether and for the shadow to fade away. ^B But the contentious and obstinate Israel, even though wishing to agree with the law and to persist in the precepts of Moses, thinking that he was practicing piety through this, is delivered to the enemies. For it was not fitting to dishonor the truth with such long-continued disobedience. Therefore, they shall be delivered in the law. But to us who have believed from the nations, the law once spoken through angels, with Moses as mediator, was found to be a treasure of salvation. For there—that is, in it—is wisdom and knowledge and piety toward the Lord. For the law of Moses clearly proclaimed the mystery of Christ, and we shall find the power of the evangelical commonwealth as if in shadows, applying our mind subtly and exquisitely to the things that are written. For the Savior said to the crowds of the Jews: "If you did believe Moses, you would perhaps believe me also; for he wrote of me" (John v, 46). The law, therefore, is a treasure of justice not to those who attend to the shadow, but to those who look deeply into it and strive to investigate the beauty of the truth. ^C VERS. 7, 8. *Behold, with your fear they themselves shall fear; whom you feared, they shall fear you.* Angels shall be sent, requesting peace, weeping bitterly, exhorting to peace. For their paths shall be stripped. The fear of the nations has ceased, and the covenant which concerned them is taken away, and you shall not reckon them as men. Again, by these words, the Lord of hosts is seen encouraging the holy mystagogues and delivering them from every fear, and revealing beforehand the greatness of the good things to come for them. For the miserable Jews were persecuting the holy apostles, partly summoning them to the council, partly

^A beating them with rods, and counting their devotion to Christ and their zeal and readiness in divine preaching as a crime worthy of accusation. For they were saying: "We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, and behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching." We will also find the holy apostles themselves fearing the assault of the Jews, yet falling down before the all-holy God and saying: "Look upon their threats, and grant to your servants that they may speak your word with all boldness." ^B And so, he says, they shall be the ones to fear you, not you them; those whom you feared shall fear you. They will even send messengers in their own time, seeking peace and weeping bitterly. For their ways shall be deserted, that is, they shall not prosper, having chosen to fight against God and to oppose the beckoning of the Lord. For while Israel, in the beginning—I mean at the start of the divine preaching—was once hard for the holy mystagogues to bear, when the multitude of those who believed became greater in number, their pride was finally conquered throughout the entire city and region; they were subjected to the feet of the believers, weeping and considering it sufficient consolation if they were deemed worthy of peace with them. Such, I suppose, is the meaning of the prophecy. For the fear of the nations—that is, clearly, of the Jews—has ceased, and the covenant with them is taken away. ^C For they have become strangers to the intimacy with God and foreigners to the promises; because "not all who are from Israel, [are] Israel; nor because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children; but the children of the promise are reckoned for a seed," that is, those who are of faith in Christ. For the forefather Abraham was justified through faith. Having therefore taken away the covenant that pertains to them, you shall not account them as men, that is, you shall deem them worthy of no regard.

VERS. 9. *Luxit terra, erubuit Libanus, saltus factus est Saron. Manifesta erit Galilaea et Carmelus.* (The land has mourned, Lebanon has blushed, Saron has become a forest. Galilee shall be manifest, and Carmel.)

Lebanon is a mountain in Phoenicia, most celebrated and very thickly covered with cedars and other trees. ^D To this mountain, the divinely inspired Scripture is accustomed to compare the synagogue of the Jews, inasmuch as it possesses a numerous multitude of inhabitants, just as it says to it through the voice of another prophet: "Open, O Lebanon, your gates." Therefore the earth has mourned—not, indeed, the whole earth absolutely, but this land of the Jews, which, having been abandoned by God and excluded from His mercy, has been devastated by the Romans. Lebanon, that is, Jerusalem, has blushed. For this city, once clear and celebrated, inflamed by the fire of grace from above, and possessing an invincible power against all, has fallen under the feet of enemies, has been burned, and has been deserted, and has been deprived of the mercy of the Lord. *Saltus factus est Saron* (Saron has become a forest). There is a place in Judaea called Saron, having arable fields and very well-suited for agriculture. But, he says,

the land that was so fruitful and fertile has become a marsh, that is, overgrown and thick, with an abundance of thorns having sprung up in it. He takes again, as if from the similarity of visible things, a spiritual understanding. For Israel has been laid waste; and the food of cultivated fruits of old, as if it were a good and fat-yielding land, that is, the synagogue of the Jews, has become a producer of thorns. *For I waited*, he says, *that it might bring forth grapes, and it brought forth thorns* (Isa. 5, 2). But these things will happen to the Jews, because they have acted impiously against Christ. But Galilee and Carmel will be manifest, that is, visible and conspicuous to those living everywhere. He calls Galilee the region of the nations, or the nations themselves, and perhaps the Church from the nations, which he deems worthy to be compared to Carmel. Carmel is a dense and high mountain. Such in a way is the Church of Christ. For very many have flourished in it, possessing a God-loving mind, full of every good, raised on high, and removed from earthly things. For it is written that the mighty ones of the earth of God have been greatly exalted (Ps. 46, 10). It is the custom of divinely inspired Scripture to liken the Church to mountains.

^A VERS. 10-12. *Nunc exsurgam, dicit Dominus, nunc gloriose prædicabor, nunc evehar* (Now I will arise, says the Lord, now I will be glorified, now I will be exalted). Now you will see, now you will perceive; vain will be the strength of your spirit, fire will devour you, and nations will be burnt up, as a thorn thrown into a field and burned.

The Only-begotten Word of God, existing in the form and equality of God and the Father, as being begotten of Him primarily and in an ineffable manner, emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant and being made in the likeness of men, humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. But when, having undergone the cross for the life of all, He revived again as God, then, yes then, He inflicted the punishment worthy of them upon those who had driven themselves to such impiety, so as not only to disobey Him even as He was calling them to life, but even to dare to insult Him ^B and scourge Him, and to inflict death itself upon Him. For the wicked perished wickedly, their cities being burned and their land utterly devastated. Then they learned the glory of Him who had suffered, and having fallen into such heavy and inevitable calamities, they barely came to know at last that it was not against one of the prophets that this impiety was wickedly perpetrated by them, but against the Savior and Redeemer of all Himself. As if the divine wrath were about to fall upon them immediately, *Now I will arise*, He says, says the Lord. For having been patient as God before the precious cross, having already suffered the things against Him, He almost rises up against His enemies. He was glorified and exalted, having delivered to destruction those who had fought against Him to the very end, and having called the nations through faith, and enlightened them with the intelligible and divine light, who were once in darkness and had their mind and breast enveloped by the mist of ignorance. Now, therefore, glorifica-

- ^B tion shall be mine, now you shall see, now you shall perceive; for the strength of your spirit shall be vain, that is, it shall end in nothing. For I shall overcome, and even against your will you shall become food for fire, like thorns in a field that are burned and cast away. They have been consumed, as I said, by the impulses of divine wrath. For as the blessed Moses says: “Our God is a consuming fire” (Deut. IV, 24).

VERS. 13. *Audient qui longe sunt quæ feci, scient qui prope sunt fortitudinem meam. Recesserunt qui in Sion erant iniqui, apprehendet enim tremor iniquos.* ^C

Our Lord Jesus Christ was indeed sent by God and the Father to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. For theirs were the promises, the laws, the covenant, and the fathers; and He remained throughout all Judea manifesting Himself, partly by using a doctrine above the law, and partly by striking them with divine wonders beyond reason. But this was altogether useless to the Jews, because of their great perversity of mind. For the Lord taught: but the Scribes and Pharisees, rebuking the hearers, said: “He has a demon, and is mad; why do you listen to Him?” (John X, 20). He rebuked evil and unclean spirits, and this with authority, as God: but they, truly slandering such a supernatural and ineffable power, dared to say: “This man does not cast out demons except by Beelzebul the prince of demons” (Matt. XII, 24). Hence they have been cast out, and most justly, as having no share in the hope in Him. And to these mysteries the Gentiles were brought in, and they received the saving and evangelical preaching. This, I think, He teaches, saying: *Audient qui longe sunt quæ feci.* For as far as the institution of the law was concerned, Israel was near: but the Gentiles had been removed from the knowledge and conjunction with God—namely, the spiritual [conjunction]—worshiping the creature above the Creator. But these, He says, shall hear what I have done, when Israel was unwilling to hear. *Scient qui propinqui sunt fortitudinem meam.* For not all Israel perished: but very many of them believed, and became as if near to God. Because they had already been instructed in the law, they recognized the power of God. For they believed that He had performed miracles, as God. But these, He says, shall know. ^D But those who are iniquitous in Sion have retreated and have become altogether devoid of the hope of the saints. Trembling shall also seize them, however remarkably impious they may be. For the experience of the calamities which have been inflicted upon them will suffice to repress their insolence henceforth.

VERS. 14. *Quis annuntiabit vobis, quod ignis ardeat? Quis annuntiabit vobis locum æternum?*

That they shall fall into bitter and unavoidable punishment, becoming food for the fire at the time of the future judgment, those who have acted impiously toward Christ, it demonstrates here. He said

indeed somewhere even He: "Amen, I say to you, he who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who ^A does not believe in the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him." Therefore, for those who are of a hard heart, and who have chosen to disobey, He announces the eternal place, and that fire is prepared and is being kindled, and this perpetually. For as the prophet himself says again concerning those who are dead in their own offenses: "Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be a spectacle to all flesh."

VERS. 15-17. *Ambulans in justitia, loquens reclam viam, odio habens iniquitatem et injustitiam, et manus retrahens a muneribus, obturans aures, ne audiat judicium sanguinis, claudens oculos, ne videat injustitiam: hic habitabit in excelsa spelunca petrae fortis; panis ei dabitur, et aqua ejus fidelis. Regem cum gloria videbitis, et oculi vestri videbunt terram procul, anima vestra meditabitur timorem.*

He shows most beautifully that those who are involved in impiety against Christ are to go to the underworld to be punished and shall fall into the unquenchable flame. He fittingly adds, however, what makes it clear who they are that are to possess eternal life and who are to abound in His gifts, namely the divine and spiritual ones, in their own time. For he says, "Walking in justice," that is, he who cultivates the works of justice and has practiced an excellent life; and "he who speaks a straight way," that is, he who has on his tongue everything that leads to what is right; and he who hates injustice, and whoever is superior to greed and is an enemy of the corruption of gifts, and he who turns his ears away from the judgment of blood, and averts his eyes so that he might not look upon any unjust thing, ^B this man shall dwell in a high cave of a strong rock. For he shall be in safety, he says, and as if having his dwelling on a rock, unmoved, he shall find a state of permanence in all desirable things. And it is likely, I suppose, that the Lord our Jesus Christ is called "rock" for us through these words, in whom, as in a cave or a sheepfold, the Church is understood, having a safe and unshakable place to dwell. "For you are Peter," says the Savior, "and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." To him, therefore, he says, who dwells in such a rock, bread shall be given, and faithful water shall be supplied. For to those who dwell in the Church, the Bread of Life, Christ, is given by God and the Father, and indeed also the faithful water, namely that of holy baptism, which renders those who are deemed worthy of it faithful and steadfast. For the grace of holy baptism is given to those who have been purified through holy baptism. "But you, receiving the king," he says, "shall see Him with glory," that is, Christ. "You shall also see the land from afar," for they have not yet caught sight of the land of which the Savior says: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit..."

the land." Let us contemplate it, as it were, from afar with the eyes of the mind while it is still before us. For this reason we are accustomed to meditate on the fear of God, that we may be in it; and together with the other saints, being filled with the gifts through Christ, we glorify Him. ^A

VERS. 18, 19. "Where are the scribes? Where are the counselors? Where is he who numbers those who gather the small and great people?" To whom they gave no counsel, nor did he know the one having a deep voice, so that the despised people might not hear, and there is no understanding for the one who hears.

Having set forth the rewards of those who have embraced piety, he passes again to reproaching and justly bringing disgrace upon the teachers of the Jews, because they had unwisely fallen from that state in which they could have lived happily through the grace from above and abounded in all good things. For whereas they could have appeared better, had a pious zeal for virtue, and accepted the faith, the miserable ones did not do this, but rather, tumbling into worse things, they were entangled and seized in many ways. For although they had been accustomed always to speak of the law and to search curiously into the words of the holy prophets, so as to know God the Word who appeared to them in human form and shone upon the inhabitants of the earth, ^B they did not recognize Him, or perhaps even having recognized the mystery, they set upon Him bitterly. For having known the Son, who was sent by God and the Father after the servants, they said: "This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us have his inheritance." And indeed they did kill Him, so far as the power of their attempts reached, although He could not be held by the gates of Hades, inciting the subject people to this, and they cried out against Him, saying to Pilate: "Take him away, take him away, crucify him." For this reason, as guilty of the highest impiety and implicated in the crime of the Lord’s murder, they became strangers to the hope in Christ, were thrust out from the communion which is with God, and were precipitated into incurable calamities. He says therefore to them: "Where are the learned?"—that is, in what evils are they? He calls the scribes "grammarians" or "the learned." "Where are the counselors?" And who, pray, are these? They are the ones who were established in the priesthood, ^C concerning whom the law of Moses says: "For the lips of a priest will guard judgment, and they will seek the law from his mouth." For by the admonitions of the priests, the people who are under their hand are instructed. "Where, then, are the counselors? Where is he who numbers those who gather the small and great people?" Here, again, contemplate for me the pride-swollen scribes and priests, or Pharisees, who gathered the people under their hand against Christ, and collected crowds and assemblies of small and great people; who, surrounding the house of Pilate, demanded that the murderer Barabbas be granted to them, but that He who was guilty of no crime at all, Christ— ^D

^A for He committed no sin. Matthew and Mark, those blessed evangelists, make mention of this. For when Pilate said that Jesus, who had done nothing wrong, ought rather to be released to them at the feast, Matthew narrates that the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to destroy Jesus. And Mark, as I have said, also states this most clearly. Where, then, is he who counts those who are gathered together, both small and great? To whom they gave no counsel, neither did the despised people know the one who has a deep voice, so that they might not hear, for there is no understanding in the hearer. The structure of these words is extremely difficult, and the meaning within them is hard to discern. I will, however, explain it as best I can. For where, he says, is he who counts those who are gathered together, both small and great? To which people they gave no counsel. For as it seemed, the large multitude did not know Christ to be the Son of God, against whom they were shouting; they did this because those who did know—that is, the leaders—did not counsel them ^B rather to accept faith in Him. For the people did not know, he says, the one with the deep voice—that is, Christ. He calls Him "the one with the deep voice" because His words are hidden and given, as it were, in riddles and parables. And indeed, this is introduced through the lyre of the Psalmist as saying: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world." He also addressed the Jews through parables. Therefore, he says, they gave no counsel to the people, nor did they even know the one with the deep voice. And they gave no counsel, so that the despised people might not hear. For if they had counseled them, the despised people would not have heard. But blessed are they rather who have recognized the Redeemer. But, he says, there was no understanding ^C in the hearer. For the Jews, being senseless, did not judge the voices of their leaders, nor did they discern whether they were counseling things that were good or were doing the opposite.

"Behold Sion our city, our Salvation; your eyes shall see Jerusalem, a rich city, tabernacles that shall not be shaken, the pins of its tent shall not be moved for ever, nor shall its ropes be broken, for the name of the Lord is great to you. A place for you shall be, rivers and broad and spacious canals."

Having set forth in the midst the words of God which He spoke to the senseless scribes of the Jews and their impious counselors, the person of the lovers of truth is again introduced, those who have recognized the appearing of Christ and say: "Behold Sion the city, our Salvation." By these words, they signify either the Church on earth or, in the heavens, the supreme and beautiful city that nourishes the saints. Wherefore ^D whether one names this Church on earth or conceives of that one in the mind, the same thing will be signified by both. For they who have been in this lower one will, in the progress of time, exist also in that supreme and heavenly one. Therefore, since from great rejoicing they almost leap for joy, having recognized Sion, [our Savior’s…]

salvation, that is to say Christ, while they point it out to one another, the divine word immediately catches the voices from them and says: *Thy eyes shall see Jerusalem, a rich city.* He speaks as if from a similarity to the ancient tent that was in the desert. He calls Sion rich, and the tabernacle unshakable. For he confirms that it possesses unbroken cords and stakes fixed firmly forever. For the Church is supported, and is solid and immovable, and its dwelling is secure. *For the gates of hell,* he says, *shall not prevail against it.* And he delivers the cause for why it shall be of such a nature, and he says to those who have believed in Christ, *For the name of the Lord is great among you.* For to those who did not accept the faith, the name of Christ is neither great nor glorified; but among us who have believed, it is great and sublime. For we worship Him as God, as the Son truly of the Father, as the Word having become man for the salvation of all. This, therefore, he says, is the tent that remains forever, a place for you. For we have made the Church of Christ like a city, a figure ^B of that one above. *There shall be in it rivers and broad and spacious trenches.* By these words he signifies the holy evangelists, the apostles, and those who at various times preside over the Churches, who, like a river of water, irrigate the minds of believers, flooding them with the divine words, and instilling in them a bounteous consolation—it is clear that this is through the Holy Spirit. But all these rivers and trenches receive one from above, clearly Christ, of whom it is written: *The impetuous streams make glad the city of God.* And He Himself says somewhere through the voice of the prophet regarding His own worshippers: *Behold, I decline towards them like a river of peace, and like a torrent overflowing with the glory of the nations.*

VERS. 22. *Thou shalt not walk this way, nor shall a navigable ship pass. For my God is great. The Lord shall not pass by me. The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our prince, the Lord is our king; He Himself shall save us.* ^C

The discourse returns again to the person of the believers. For since he had made mention of rivers and trenches, therefore, and indeed very deservedly, he speaks as if of a ship. What, then, he means by this, I shall endeavor to make clear. For before the advent of our Savior, Satan was plundering the habitable world, with no one to restrain him. But after we were redeemed through Christ, and we inhabit the holy tabernacle—I mean the Church—we luxuriously enjoy the evangelical and apostolic words as if they were a feast, and we have become more courageous against him who was formerly able to plunder us; and because we believe that Christ will guard our hearts and will not permit the inventor of iniquity to enter into them, we address him: *Thou shalt not walk this way, nor shall a navigable ship* pass—that is to say, we shall not ^D

be exposed to your ravages anymore, nor will you be found in these rivers, like some inaudible ^A ship. But perhaps someone might say: "Whence do you dare to say this?" Certainly, he says, we have reason to be confident. For "My God is great, and He shall not pass by me"—that is, He shall not move past me, as Satan once did. I shall not be subject to his feet; for the Lord is our judge. The Lord is our ruler, the Lord is our king, the Lord Himself will save us. For that one—that most ill-tempered and cruel ruler—was once ours. But since we have submitted to the evangelical and saving yoke, we have found a judge, a ruler, a king, the Lord, this very Son, and He will save us. ^B The prophet Isaiah himself teaches this in another way, speaking concerning the Church of God and those justified by faith in Christ: "There shall be a pure way there, and it shall be called a holy way; and there shall not be there an unclean way, nor shall there be a lion there, nor shall any evil beast go up thereon. But the redeemed shall walk in it through the Lord."

Vers. 22, 23. *Thy ropes are broken, because they did not prevail. Thy mast has leaned, it shall not slacken the sails, it shall not lift a standard, until it is delivered to plunder.*

Having made mention of a ship and named a tabernacle, [the Word] resumes the interjected discourse of God, and says to the Jewish Synagogue—or rather, the tabernacle—"Thy ropes are broken, because they did not prevail." For He says that the ropes of the city of Sion, that wealthy city, shall not be broken for all time. For, as I said, our Lord Jesus Christ has founded His ^C Church upon a rock. But the ropes of the Jewish tabernacle were broken, inasmuch as they did not prevail. And just as when a violent wind is pouring down, the sails of a ship are stretched out and are by no means loosened—for the blast does not permit it—and yet it suffers shipwreck, so, he says, "thy mast has leaned, and thou shalt not slacken the sails." Therefore, as if taking an image from those who sail, he shows what happened to the Jewish Synagogue. "But neither shall it lift a standard," he says. "But it shall remain so until it is delivered to plunder." See, he uses this example as well, signifying to us in many ways the things that have happened to them. For it is customary for those who have conquered in war to lift a standard, ^D or to raise a trophy. But those who are defeated do not lift a standard. Therefore, he says, "It shall not lift a standard"—that is, it shall not be superior to its enemies, but shall rather be weaker, until it is delivered to plunder. Through all these things he signifies that it shall also lie under the feet of Satan and suffer shipwreck, and it shall never prevail against his wickedness—just as, indeed, those who dwell in the unshaken tabernacle do—but it shall rather be for plunder to him.

Vers. 24. *Therefore many lame shall take prey, and the people that dwell in them shall not say: I labor; for sin has been remitted to them.*

For the Jews, although they had been able to walk with a straight foot through the pedagogy of the Law, are delivered as plunder to Sa-

^A Satan. But the Gentiles, although they had a limping mind—for they had wandered and did not know how to walk in straight paths—will take plunder. For they will gain the things of God, conquering Satan. And that they will also have spiritual rest, having cast off the burdensome load of sin, he declares, saying: “Let not the people who dwell in them say, I am in labor; for the sin has been remitted to them.” For those who are of the blood of Israel, since sin weighed upon them—for they did not in any way accept the justifying grace—were deservedly given over to plunder, and found themselves as captives to the inventor of sin. But those who have come from the Gentiles, having become better than to be accused on account of sin—for it has been removed, as Christ wipes it away—will be within the reach of all delight, and will be free and exempt from every labor, with every trouble banished. The blessed David also makes mention of these, saying: “Blessed are they whose iniquities have been remitted, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” Although he who is accustomed to sin says: “My iniquities have passed over my head, like a heavy burden they have weighed upon me.” For the Law was ^B intolerable and merciless. And indeed Christ said: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you.”

CAP. XXIV. VERS. 1-4. Approach, you Gentiles, and listen, you princes. Let the earth hear, and those who are in it; the habitable world, and the people who are in it. For the fury of the Lord is upon all nations, and his wrath upon all their number, to destroy them, and to deliver them to slaughter. And their wounded shall be cast out, and their dead; and their stench shall rise, and the mountains shall be drenched with their blood. And the heaven shall be rolled up like a scroll, and all the stars shall fall as leaves from a vine, and as figs fall from the fig tree. My sword is made drunk in heaven.

Having spoken very beautifully of the fact that the Synagogue of the Jews would suffer shipwreck, and that it would be handed over to those who are to ravage it for plunder and conquest; and having ^C added to this the calling of the Gentiles—for “many who are lame,” he says, “will take plunder”—he proceeds to a necessary catechesis and instruction for those who once had a mind that limped, but now have learned to walk with a straight foot through faith in Christ. He therefore commemorates the judgment that is to come upon all, both small and great. Hence he speaks to the Gentiles as to those who are still standing far off: “Approach, you Gentiles, and listen, you princes.” He has used the word “approach” in place of “draw near.” For as long as they are in error and serve the creature above the Creator, they are set far from God. But when the cause for which they are said to be far off is removed, they are joined with God and are perceived as being near; they become partakers of Him, in that they are companions of the Holy Spirit. “Draw near therefore,” he says, “you Gentiles ^D and princes. And let the earth hear, and those who are in it,

^A and the whole world, and the people that are in it. And what is meant by this? For he says that wrath is impending over all those who are in it, and not simply or indiscriminately; rather, it shall come more especially upon those who have retained an unremovable sin, and have deep-seated in their own souls the filth resulting from their transgression. And that they shall perish, and be surrendered as it were to destruction and slaughter, and shall pollute the entire space as if with the bodies of the dead, the scheme of the discourse depicts. For he says, “The mountains shall be drenched with their blood.” Then, establishing the time of this, he brings into the midst the consummation of the world, and says: “The heaven shall be rolled up like a scroll, and the stars shall fall like leaves.” For as the disciple of the Savior has said concerning the last day: “In which the heavens shall pass away with a great rush, and the elements shall be dissolved with heat, and the earth and the works that are in it shall be burned up. But we expect new heavens and a new earth according to His promises.” Therefore, that the heaven is to be rolled up, and the stars are to fall, could signify the renovation of this universe. And the divine Paul also said that creation is to be delivered from the slavery of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. ^B When he adds, “My sword is made drunk in heaven,” he allows us to understand that the onrush of divine wrath will not come only against those upon the earth, but will run its course even against the impure spirits themselves, whom the Sacred Scriptures are accustomed to call “world-rulers of darkness” and “spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” For they shall be punished and, as it were, shall saturate the sword of God with the penalty that they endure, since they have exercised tyranny for long ages, and, as far as it depended on them, have destroyed the whole round world, paying the penalties for such notable impiety, and having lost all that they had ^C in the reckoning of the judgments.

VERS. 5, 6. Behold, it shall descend upon Idumea, and upon the people of destruction with judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is fattened with the fat of lambs, and from the fat of bulls and rams.

From the general judgment he lowers the discourse to the punishment brought upon the Idumeans because of their impiety toward Christ. He calls Judea "Idumea," changing it only slightly so that he might appear also to be mocking it. For Esau, who was born of Isaac and who sold his birthright for a single meal, was justly called Edom, which is to say "earthly," for such were the affections that were in him; and from him those who came after him have been called Idumeans. For they also were earthly, and one might imagine that they had an earthly disposition, from the interpretation of the name, as I said. ^D Therefore, he calls Judea "Idumea," as one that did not know how to set its mind on things above, but rather settled upon earthly things and possessed a carnal disposition. Behold, therefore, he says, the sword that has become drunk in heaven shall descend now upon Judea, or Idumea, and upon the people of destruction; yet with judgment. And what people of destruction could there be other than Israel? For it did not desire to honor by faith the Redeemer. But the sword is drunk with judgment, or with just judgment, for it is not simply or without discrimination, and

as it were utterly, that Israel has perished, but the remnant has been saved through faith, namely that in Christ. For there were called from among the Jews no small number, and they have believed in Christ. But against the disobedient the sword of the Lord was filled with blood, that is to say, ^A His wrath, which all but slaughtered them, and as it were laid low certain rams and sturdy and fat bulls, of whom it might rightly be said by us: "Come now, you rich, weep, howling over your miseries that are coming upon you (Jas. v, 1)." And we shall add to these that which follows: "You have lived in luxury and debauchery upon the earth; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter." For such were the leaders of the Jews, grazing in a way on a fat and spacious place, from the revenues of the people, grown obese as it were with every honor. But as rams and bulls they have fallen, having, ^B poor wretches, rushed into the sword of the Lord.

VERS. 7. *For there is a sacrifice in Bosor to the Lord, and a great slaughter in Idumea; and the sturdy shall fall with them, and the rams and the bulls, and the earth shall be drunken with their blood, and shall be filled with their fat.*

Bosor is interpreted as "distress," and "fortification," and "good tidings," and, indeed, "flesh." He calls Idumea "Bosor," therefore, that you may understand it as "fleshy," or "distressed"—that is, "besieged"—or as "good tidings," for Christ proclaimed good tidings in it. I might also add that it signifies "fortification," for the Lord was in its circuit and in the circuit of His people, as it is written. But, he says, in this very place there is a sacrifice to the Lord. For they have been sacrificed by the swords of those who besieged them, and not as ascending to God in an odor of sweetness, but for the satiation of the sword that smites them. ^C That not only the multitude in Idumea is to be destroyed, but that there shall be a very great and miserable slaughter of the notable men among them, he enigmatically implies by saying that the "sturdy," and the "rams," and the "bulls" shall fall with them, and that "the earth shall be drunken with their blood, and shall be filled with their fat." He says these things as though speaking of bulls and rams cast upon the ground, and pouring out much blood, in that they flow out and all but irrigate the earth.

VERS. 8-11. *For it is the day of the Lord's judgment, and the year of retribution for the judgment of Sion. And her valleys shall be turned into pitch, and her earth into sulphur. And her earth shall be burning like pitch by night and by day, ^D and it shall not be quenched for all time, and her smoke shall ascend upwards. It shall be deserted for generations, and birds, and hedgehogs, and ibises, and ravens shall dwell in it; and the measuring line of desolation shall be cast upon it, and onocentaurs shall dwell therein.*

^A He sets forth more clearly in these words what he had spoken through riddles. For He names Sion, to which He says the day of judgment and the year of requital are impending, when, as if pitch and sulphur had been poured out upon their whole region, they shall be consumed by unsoftened fire and shall have restless flames. And perhaps it is reasonable to understand the smoke that rises as the rumor, as it were, of the afflictions, which signifies to those who are far away the magnitude of the calamity that has been inflicted upon them. He says it will be deserted for generations, and he tells of the things that happen to deserted cities. For He says that birds, and hedgehogs, and ibises, and ravens shall dwell in it; and that it will be measured out into a wilderness, with onocentaurs dwelling therein. He calls the wild asses "onocentaurs," to whom it is indeed a favorite dwelling-place to make their home in the entirely desolate regions. And by hedgehogs, he refers to the mice that are covered with spines. But if anyone should choose to take a deeper contemplation upon these things, we say that minds that are deserted and, as it were, isolated from men—because God, the Lord of all, does not dwell in them through the Spirit—shall be fed upon by wicked beasts, and impure spirits shall dwell there, as in the form of the aforementioned hedgehogs, and ravens, and wild asses.

^B His princes shall not be, for her kings and her princes, and her magnates shall be for destruction.

Having spoken of pillars and rams and bulls in the preceding passages—by which he meant the leaders of the Jews, that is, those who had attained to conspicuous glory, either by way of the priesthood or because they had become great in wealth and splendor—he calls them princes in these words, designating them by a clearer term. Therefore, he says, those who were once their kings, and the princes, and the magnates shall not be. For they shall no longer revel in powers over everyone, nor indeed shall they lift up their eyebrows in vain, luxuriating in such highly exalted honors; but they shall be thrust from their thrones and their principate, and, having fallen as it were from royalty and been cast down from authority, they shall go away into destruction together with the others who perished through them. For they became the cause of ruin to the people committed to their hand. And God, the Lord of all, will teach this, saying: "Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they have defiled my portion." They have given my desirable portion into an untrodden wilderness. It has been brought to a most miserable ruin.

^C And thorn-wood shall spring up in their cities, and in its strongholds; and it shall be a habitation of sirens, and a court for ostriches. And demons shall meet with onocentaurs, and one shall call to another; there shall onocentaurs rest. For they have found for themselves a resting place; there the hedgehog has made its nest.

Again, in another way, he attempts to clarify for us the things that happen in wildernesses. For as long as cities are filled with a multitude of men, no wild wood—

^A grows therein; but those beasts that delight in deserts also depart. When, however, they become void of men and stripped of inhabitants, then the land will be found to be like a certain uncultivated tract, full of thorns, and a dwelling-place for ostriches and especially for sirens. By "sirens" he means those birds that emit a mournful voice by night and all but wail; creatures that by day are solitary and abide in desert places, but rather fly in the darkness, such as the owl and the like. Now, that demons and onocentaurs meet one another and clamor, the one to the other, hints at the extreme desolation of the cities. For evil spirits are said to dwell willingly in lonely places; and even the wild beasts, which desire with great intensity to be away from men and are by the law of nature inclined to savagery, most gladly resort thither.

VERS. 15-17. *And the land saved its children with security: there the harts met, and saw the faces of one another. They passed over by number, and not one of them perished; one did not seek another, because the Lord commanded them, and His spirit gathered them. And He Himself will cast lots for them, and His hand divided to them to feed. For an eternal time you shall inherit it, in all ages they shall rest upon it.*

When he has said that the region of the Jews is to be delivered into extreme desolation, and is to be utterly destitute of help from above and of divine mercy and love, he again makes mention of those who have been saved ^C therein. These may be the remnant, namely the faithful. And concerning them he says here: *The land saved its children with security.* For the believing Israelites were the children of the Jewish region, finding security and, as it were, an immovable tower of assistance in our Lord Jesus Christ. From these children who have been saved, the divine disciples have in a certain way been produced as harts; and they are compared to harts, and most deservedly so. For the animal is a serpent-killer, and is accustomed to frequent springs of water often and gladly. Such are all those who have been taken into the lot of divine religion, equipped and fit to overthrow the intelligible dragon, subverting his glory and rendering the poison of his wickedness infirm and ineffectual. But they also revel in the springs of water—that is, in the conceptual waters, the ministries of spiritual goods—as it were watering the mind and rendering it fruitful to God. There, then, ^D he says—that is, among those who have been saved—*the harts met one another, and admired themselves.* For this, I imagine, is the meaning of *they saw the faces of one another.* No one was endangered, for this is what is meant by *they passed over by number, and not one of them perished; one did not seek another.* Who, then, is the one who saved them? *The Lord commanded them, and His spirit*

^A gathered them, and commanded [him] to disciple all the nations, and to baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. His hand also cast lots for them, and He divided [them] to be pastured for an eternal time. For they were distributed to the holy apostles as certain lots, according to which each one ought to preach. Thus the inspired Peter indeed was stationed for the circumcision; yet the Spirit also uttered a word, saying: *Separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them*, and they became apostles of the nations. His hand, therefore, divided for them lots, so that they might be pastured for an eternal time. For since He had made mention of harts, He has necessarily added the [phrase] *to be pastured*; for they did not merely browse the regions, but rather delighted themselves in those who through faith were called to the knowledge of the truth—and this, for them, was their lot. Thus, the inspired Paul also spoke to those saved through him, saying: *My joy and crown.* And that this boasting in them shall be kept for them by God without end, he clarifies by saying: *They shall rest upon it.* Upon which, indeed? Obviously, upon the inheritance distributed to them by God. It is also necessary to keep in mind what the blessed psalmist David said concerning them: *The voice of the Lord [prepares the harts], and He shall reveal the forests.* For the forests were demonstrated by God to be ^B for the intelligible harts—the multitude of the nations, greater than count, which were distributed to them, they conceptually grazing upon the gentleness of those who believe.

CHAPTER XXXV. VERSES 1, 2. Let the thirsty desert rejoice; let the wilderness exult, and bloom as the lily. The desert places of the Jordan shall bloom and exult; and the glory of Libanus has been given to it, and the honor of Carmel. And my people shall see the glory of the Lord, and the height of our God.

The divinely inspired Scripture is accustomed to call the Church of the nations "desert" and "barren," which once had been among them: not having the intelligible bridegroom from heaven—I mean Christ—but laboring in the lack of all good things, and being as it were a nurse of thorns, thirsty and without water. But since Christ came to be in her (for He was accepted through faith, and she was enriched by His divine stream: for He is the fountain of life and the torrent of luxury, and He Himself was the one saying through one of the holy prophets: *Behold, I incline toward them as a river of peace, and as a torrent overflowing with the glory of the nations*), she was no longer barren and a desert; but rather ^C very fruitful, and under a bridegroom, and conceptually blooming. Therefore, let her who was formerly thirsty now rejoice, he says; let her bloom also as a lily, having both the flowery state and the fragrance together. For she has become the fragrance of Christ, and Paul will confirm this, writing that *we are the sweet fragrance of Christ to God.* But by the "desert places of the Jordan," he means the desert round about it. For the river of the Jordan was not given to the rebellious Israelites, but to us, the nations, and to those among them who believe; it is with us, for we are baptized in it, and, as I said, it is our holy spring. Therefore, in this desert, he says, which was formerly thirsty, but now has acquired the famous Jordan, the glory of Libanus has been given to it, and the honor of Carmel.

Libanus and Carmel are often called Jerusalem, and the very temple of God. But glory worthy of the holy city and the divine temple has been given ^A to the Church of the Gentiles: and in it we have seen the glory of the Lord, and the height of God. For the Jews were brought to the Lord as if to a naked man, having nothing more remarkable than others; but we have seen the height of His glory. For we know Him to be God, who for our sake, by dispensation and providence, became man, and thus is God.

VERS. 3-6. *Be strengthened, ye slackened hands, and ye weakened knees. Be comforted, ye pusillanimous; be strengthened, fear not. Behold, our God shall render judgment and will render: He Himself shall come and save us. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be plain.*

Digna is the mystagogy, and spiritual consolation to those who from the Gentiles have been called to the knowledge of Christ: *Be strengthened, ye slackened hands, and ye weakened knees.* For to those who still wander, hands are sluggish, and knees are enfeebled. Nor does He always say these things of the parts of the body, but we shall find the infirm in mind and intelligence who are deceived, and who dwell in errors. For it is not possible to find any work of piety among them, nor firmness of knees, that is, of the mind, walking in a pure way in justice. But "be robust," He says, so that you may be able to run to God. But you who are, as it were, ordained to the ministry of divine preaching, comfort the infirm, say wisely to those who are endowed with a small spirit: *Be strengthened, fear not.* For the mind is not robust in those who know not God; for they fear as if they were [subject to] the impressions of afflictions, and Satan, who once occupied tyranny against them, and furthermore, death. But behold, He says, God, that is, not long after, the Savior, who shall render judgment. For He shall condemn the prince of this world, and shall deliver from the servitude under him those who were oppressed. For He shall come, He shall come and save us. What then? He shall come then to those who are upon the earth. *The eyes of the blind shall be opened:* for those who formerly served the creature beyond the Creator, shall make that very creature, which once seduced them, a kind of guide, beautifully leading them to the knowledge of the Maker. For from the beauty of the workmanship, the architect of them is analogically perceived: and, as Paul says, *His invisible things, from the creation of the world, by the things that are made, are understood and seen, even His eternal power and divinity.* ^D Therefore, He says, the eyes of those who were once blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf shall hear. For those who formerly, having rejected the divine discourses, did not study to receive the mystical instruction of the saints, will willingly admit it. *The lame man also shall leap as a hart, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be plain.* For indeed, as He says, those who formerly knew not how to stand with a right foot, but were as it were of a slack mind, shall leap in the manner of harts, that is,

they shall be agile of course and firm of limb—intellectually, of course—and furthermore, they shall be killers of serpents and skilled in speaking well. For they shall speak of divine things, no longer saying to the wood, "You are my father," and to the stone, "You begat me." It must be known also that Christ fulfilled these things corporeally as well, astounding Judæa with ineffable miracles. ^B

VERS. 7. *Because water has broken forth in the desert, and a valley in the thirsty land.*

He has commanded the thirsty wilderness to rejoice; then he immediately subjoins the cause of the joy. For water, he says, has broken forth in it. And it is well said that it "broken forth," so that the abundance of the provision might be signified thereby. He speaks of a valley in place of a river; which having occurred, the land that was once without water shall henceforth be turned into marshes. It shall have also a fountain of water, either the holy Jordan, or even the Saviour of all, Christ Himself; for He is the fountain of life and the well of living water. Among them there has occurred the gathering and joy of the birds. By "birds," he means those who fly above earthly things, and who are elevated through virtue, and choose to mind the things that are above; these rejoice in Christ as in a fountain, who has made the desert a fold of reed and marshes. ^C For water-laden places are always wont to be adorned, as it were, with marshes. And the Church of the Gentiles, enriched with the heavenly stream, and watered with divine gifts, and abounding in the, teaching of the saints and, as it were, lush, is a nurse of marshes and reeds, that is, of those who in Christ are flourishing unto life eternal through sanctification.

VERS. 8-10. *There shall be a pure way, and it shall be called a holy way, and the unclean shall not pass through it: nor shall there be an unclean way; but the dispersed shall walk in it, and shall not err. And there shall be no lion there, nor shall any evil beast ascend to it, nor be found there: but the redeemed by the Lord shall walk in it, and the gathered shall return, and shall come to Sion with joy, and everlasting joy shall be upon their head. For upon their head shall be praise and exultation, and joy shall overtake them; pain, and sorrow, and sighing have fled away.*

He calls the power of the evangelical life a pure way, or otherwise, the purification through the Spirit. ^D For it wipes away the stain impressed upon the souls of men, and absolves them from transgressions, and renders them superior to every defilement. The way, therefore, is holy and pure, and rightfully so named, but it is inaccessible to those who are not yet cleansed. For no one lives according to the Gospel who has not first been enriched with the cleansing through holy baptism; hence no unbeliever does so. For these, he says, are the unclean who shall walk therein; but rather the "dispersed" shall walk in it, that is, those whom Satan has scattered—he implies, indeed, the Gentiles; and they shall not err. For of old they were indeed erring,

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serving wood and stone, and persisting in crooked paths. But now they shall learn the path that is straight and pure, leading to a holy life. That they will be free from the diabolical way, and carry out this glorious life, he indicates clearly and plainly, saying: "Neither shall there be a lion, nor any other evil beast there," that is, on the pure way. For formerly, the inventor of sin, like some wild beast, leaped upon the inhabitants of the earth along with the unholy spirits; but he has been broken by Christ, and has been driven away from the flock of believers, and has been expelled by Christ from his tyranny against them. In this pure way, therefore, those redeemed through Christ, and gathered together through faith, shall unite in a single harmony of souls; and leaving behind their old path, they shall be converted and shall come to Sion, that is, to the Church, possessing everlasting joy both on earth and in heaven. ^A For they shall praise God who saved them. Exultation and gladness, and every kind of delight in Christ, shall seize them, and they shall taste absolutely no pain or groaning. For those who have been called to such a great hope, who are to be heirs of eternal life, and are to be enriched with the ornaments of the glory from above, and who await ruling together with Christ himself, what pain could they perceive? Or what groaning could they receive? Since the God of all is about to destroy and lay waste the evil beasts. ^B Rather, they shall rejoice, as those who are destined to be partakers of all good things in every way and by all means.

TOMUS IV

[c]CAP. XXXVI. VERS. 1, 2. And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, that Sennacherib the king of Assyria came up against the fenced cities of Judea, and took them. And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto King Hezekiah with a great army, and he stood in the conduit of the upper pool, in the way of the fuller's field.[c]

The history is known to all students; nevertheless, I will explain it with a few words, as well as I can. While Ahaz was reigning in Jerusalem, and when Pekah, the son of Remaliah, and Rezin, the king of Syria, were pressing Judea with a siege, and were thinking of laying hands on Jerusalem itself, he whom I ^D have mentioned, being not strong enough to resist, sent messengers and called the king of the Assyrians, Tiglath-Pileser, to his aid; and with many gifts he persuaded him to bring him help, and to restrain the violence of the kings who had conspired against him—the one of Samaria, I mean, and the one of Syria. This having been done, those who were warring against him perished. For the Assyrian took Damascus and Syria, and they were reduced into his power and authority, and Ahaz was forced to pay tribute and taxes from then on. Now he was most impious, being a worshipper of idols and a hater of God,

^A and perhaps he had surpassed all others in his perversities against God. When Ahaz had departed from human life, Hezekiah succeeded to his kingdom, being his son, yet a man who loved God, and having attained the glory of the highest justice and piety. He revolted, it is said, against the king of the Assyrians. For he did not endure that his own kingdom should be held under tribute, as in truth Ahaz had. For this reason, Sennacherib, the king of the Assyrians—as one who thought he ought to hold all of Judea under tribute, and their kingdom itself—was inflamed with rage. Having devastated Samaria, he led his army also against the cities of Judea; and having captured many, he finally sent the Rabshakeh to Jerusalem itself: not that he might then move arms according to the law of war, but that he might ensnare the common people with both threats and alluring promises. ^B

VERS. 3–6. *And there went out to him Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, the steward, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder. And the Rabshakeh said to them: Say to Hezekiah: Thus saith the king, the great king of the Assyrians: Is it in counsel or words of lips that the battle is waged? And now in whom dost thou trust, that thou disobeyest me? Behold, thou trustest upon this staff of a reed, this broken one, upon Egypt, upon which if a man lean, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and all that trust in him.*

The gates being closed, evidently, and the people standing on the walls—and it was always the most valiant who performed the office of embassy—the chosen ones of the king went out to the Rabshakeh, and those who were superior in priestly standing. But he, ^C being endowed with Persian cruelty, and having a mouth speaking great things, according to what is written, set himself boldly against the glory of God. And he names Hezekiah by his bare name, without adding "king," not observing any other of the things that are most appropriate for men of such dignity. But the king of the Assyrians he does not call just this simply, but even calls him "great." And he says: "Is it in counsel or words of lips that the battle is waged?" For because the Jews, having the law given through Moses, were deemed wiser than the other nations—and they used to say, "Blessed are we, O Israel, because the things that are pleasing to God are known to us"—the Rabshakeh reduces to nothing the boast in this, when war and battle are at hand, saying that it would be entirely useless for their aid, ^D and that knowledge of the laws, and understanding, and whatever depends solely on counsel or words, is as it were practiced. And since some of the kings of Judea had called the arm of the Egyptians to their aid (and that was indeed a base thing to do), the Assyrian thought that now too Hezekiah had not placed his trust in God, but in certain others, especially those who hold the land of the Egyptians. For this reason he also names it a "staff of a reed." For, he says, the hope in them is always weak and fragile, and

^A causes harm rather than being able to help those who use it; just as, indeed, a reed staff, if one were to lean upon it, would certainly shatter, and it would injure the one who trusted in it.

VERS. 7-9. *But if you say: We trust in the Lord our God: now intermingle with my lord the king of the Assyrians, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able to provide riders for them. And how can you compare yourselves even before one toparch?*

He prattles on again with an unbridled mouth, and lifts his horn on high, and speaks unjustly against God. For if, he says, you trust in Him, intermingle with my lord; that is, take up arms and stand ready for battle. "I myself will add two thousand horses for you, and this," he says, "will be sufficient proof that you will prevail over the hand of the Assyrians, if you can find those who will mount them or are at all skilled in cavalry warfare." Then, since you cannot even fulfill this, how will you prevail over one toparch? For the empire of the Assyrians is divided, and the one who is greatest of all has kings subject to him, who are also called toparchs.

VERS. 10. *They are servants who trust in the Egyptians, in horse and rider. And now, has not my lord come up without the Lord against this land to attack it? The Lord said to me: Go up against this land, and destroy it.*

He cuts off and removes all hope in the Egyptians, saying that those who trust in them are already to be numbered among servants. For, he says, those who trust in horse and rider will be easily captured. Then he utters something bitter—and as if from his own malice—asserting that he does not take up the war against Judea without the Lord. For if, he says, as you yourselves say, the God among you is great and most mighty, and champions the land, how did we come up against it? For if we have surpassed the strength of the one defending it, he is not great, but rather small and unwarlike. But if he is great and powerful, we are not hindered, if we wish, from ravaging Judea: we have not come up against it without the Lord.

VERS. 11, 12. *And Eliakim said to him, and Somnas the scribe, and Joach: Speak to your servants in Syrian, for we understand it; and do not speak to us in Judaic. And why do you speak into the ears of the men upon the wall? But Rabsaces said to them: Did my lord send me to your lord, or to you, to speak these words? Is it not to the men sitting upon the wall, that they may eat their dung and drink their urine with you?*

The common people are always easily alarmed, and very prone to contempt, especially when war is building, when slaughter is expected, or the burning of the city. Hence, those who have the discussion with Rabsaces most prudently say that he ought not to speak in Judaic, but rather ought to use the language of the Syrians. They were unwilling...

^A that he should instill into the ears of the common people words full of barbaric arrogance, although King Ezechias was exhorting them to courage, and saying clearly ^B that the Lord was with them, and that for those who trust in God there is unshakable hope, while things human are easily shaken, and are nothing at all in comparison to His power. But Rabsaces understands this, and he is not ignorant of the reason why he is forbidden to speak in Judaic. Hence he says that the purpose of this coming was not to them, nor to the king, but that he might argue with those on the wall. He is insulting again, and belches forth words from an impure heart, saying that for this reason they sit on the wall and guard the city, that because of the lack of bread and water they might be led to such necessity that they would make that which is loathsome even to dogs their own food and drink.

^B VERS. 13-17. And Rabsaces stood and cried with a loud voice in Judaic, and said: Hear the words of the great king, the king of the Assyrians. Thus says the king: Let not Ezechias deceive you with words that will not be able to deliver you, nor let Ezechias say to you: God will deliver you, and this city shall not be given into the hands of the king of the Assyrians. Do not listen to Ezechias. Thus says the king of the Assyrians: If you wish to be blessed, come out to me, and eat each man of his own vine, and of his own fig tree, and drink the water of your cistern until I come and take you to a land that is as your land, a land of grain and wine, and of bread and vineyards.

He now directs his words toward those who were sitting upon the ramparts, prepared to resist those who wished to besiege them; ^C he calls the Assyrian the great king over and over, and belittles the hope placed in God, and calls Ezechias a liar and a deceiver, for saying that it is better to rest in God, and that the assaults of men are by no means to be feared, since He is there to assist. Finally, he promises those who defect to him that they will be in their own possessions for a time—for this is what "until I come and take you" means—and will enjoy their own fields. He mitigates the horror of captivity, as it were, and covers the harshness of the matter with deceitful words, ^D adding: "Until I come and take you to a land that is as your land." For he compares the land of the Assyrians to the land of the Jews, saying as it were: Even if you abandon Judea and come to us, you will nevertheless find your own land. For it is a land of grain and wine, and of bread and vineyards, this region of the Persians and Assyrians.

VERS. 18-21. Let not Ezechias deceive you, saying: God will deliver you. Have the gods of the nations delivered each his own region from the hand of the king of the Assyrians? Where is the god of Emath and Arphath? And where is the god of the city of Seppharim? Were they able to deliver Samaria from my hand? Who among all the gods of these nations has delivered his land out of my hand?

^A And they were silent, and no one answered him a word, because the king had commanded that nothing should be answered.

Rabsaces once again behaves like a barbarian in his mind, and becomes burdensome with words against God, and he thinks highly of himself because the king of the Assyrians has captured many cities of the nations, and not one of them was saved by those falsely-named gods who were in it. But he did not know that those were wood and stone, and the clever craft of human hands, and nothing more. But the God of Judea, or rather the God of the whole world, is a living and true God, not recently fashioned, but rather the maker of the ages themselves, and the creator of all things, and the Lord of hosts. Rabsaces therefore thinks ^B that it will be a most evident proof to the Jews that they will be captured completely and utterly, even if the great God brings them help, because none of the gods of the Greeks has been able to save the city or the region in which he was honored. For this reason he says, "Where is the god of Emath and Arphath?" And he adds, "Were they able to deliver Samaria from my hand?" But, O most wretched one, I would say, they themselves also worshiped golden calves, and the region was captured because God withdrew his aid. And, as I have said before, if none of the gods of the Greeks has saved his own, this pertains nothing at all to the God who is truly and by nature great. For those things obtained their being through human art, so that they might only appear to be; but this one rules over all, and has an unconquerable hand, as being the Lord of hosts. No one answers Rabsaces, because the king had ordered silence, and most wisely. For to ignorant words, and to barbarian arrogance, and to insolence against God, it was more appropriate to weep than to make a retort. And this, I think, teaches the blessed David, saying: "I set a guard for my mouth, when the sinner stood against me; I became deaf and humbled and was silent from good things."

CHAPTER XXXVII. VERSE 1.

On account of the boasting of Rabsaces, and his unbridled prattling ^C of tongue against God, they who were sent to him rend their garments, and announce to the king the foul utterances spoken with such extreme Persian madness. But he rent his robe, and clothed himself in sackcloth, that is, a garment of mourning, and, he says, went up into the house of the Lord. And what was the reason for rending their garments? It was the custom among the Jews to do this upon blasphemies and insults spoken against God. For tradition tells that the Savior

^A was delivered to the Jewish rulers, and the Judge of the world was judged by them. But He kept silence, not answering the voices of those who bore false witness. Then the high priest says to Him: "I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God?" Jesus says to him: "You have said it. Nevertheless I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven." Then the high priest tore his garments, saying: "He has blasphemed." ^B And God of the universe also said through one of the prophets to the blood of Israel: "Rend your hearts, and not your garments." For perhaps they supposed they were acting piously and delighting God with the highest honors by tearing their tunics upon blasphemies against Him, even if they disregarded the prophecies of Moses. But Hezekiah put on sackcloth—that is, a mourning garment—and he goes up to the house of God, and very rightly so. For it is consistent to mourn, and to weep, and to be afflicted for those who are in the greatest danger and at the very peak of evils, and to make God the hope of salvation, and to sit ^C and adhere to Him, where one might most fittingly pour out prayers to Him.

And he sent Eliakim the steward, and Shebna the scribe, and the seniors of the priests clothed in sackcloth to Isaiah the son of Amoz the prophet, and they said to him: "Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of affliction, and reproach, and rebuke, and wrath; for the pang has come to the woman in labor, but she has no strength to deliver. If perhaps the Lord your God might hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria sent to reproach the living God, and to reproach the words that the Lord ^D your God heard, and you will pray to the Lord your God for these who are left."

He commands those preeminent in the priesthood and adorned by the law with the highest honors to go, along with the others, to the blessed prophet Isaiah—not dressed in sacred vestments, and those more suitable to the ministry, but rather in sackcloths, that is, mourning garments—in order to report that a day of affliction has fallen upon them. For he says as much as that God reproaches the inhabitants of the holy city, as if those who had neglected the righteousness and moderation prescribed in the law; and He rebukes the transgressors, and thus brings in the signs of wrath. And they openly affirm that their affairs have come to such a state that Israel is like a woman in labor, who is tortured with extreme pains because she is unable to deliver. And he wishes that the God of the universe, through the intercession of the prophet, might hear the words of Rabshakeh, which He heard by Himself. For it escapes Him—that is, the emptiness of those things—as if, with many buildings already destroyed in other cities...

^A their houses having been burned, “Pray,” he says, “for these that are left.” Hezekiah is very pious, invoking as an assistant him who is held in honor by God, namely, the prophet. It is profitable, therefore, to fall to one’s knees before God while holy men are assisting. For He yields on their account, and often has pity even on the tears of the slothful.

VERS. 5-7. *And Isaiah said to them: Thus shall you say to your lord: Thus says the Lord: Be not afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the ambassadors of the king of the Assyrians have blasphemed Me. Behold, I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a report and return to his own land, and he shall fall by the sword in his own land.*

God confirms and refreshes him who trusts in Him, and not long after, but immediately and at once, reveals to him an expectant hope. And it did not lack its reward that he ran to the house of God and at the same time, with his prayers, also shed tears of sorrow. Thus the most humane Lord of all is appeased. For since Rabshakeh had cut off from the Israelites all hope of salvation—even if God, who has power over all things, were willing to save them—he was impiously saying: “Let not Hezekiah deceive you, that God will deliver Jerusalem from my hand. Did the gods of those nations deliver each his own land from my hand?” Hence, not without cause does He set them free from these terrors, and does not permit them to be cast down by cold and old wives’ tales and barbaric flippancy, but rather He raises them to the most desired hope, when He says that he will cause the proud tyrant, willy-nilly, to be brought back into his own lands by ^B an evil spirit terrifying him, casting into him an intolerable fear concerning his own kingdom, and that he will fall by the sword, not while in danger in a foreign land, nor exulting in the slaughter of enemies, or enriched with splendid honors for his bravery against his foes, but in his own land, and that, contrary to hope and expectation, he is called into peril by those by whom it was fitting he should be saved. Who these are, we shall see from what follows.

VERS. 8-13.

^A Once Lachish was captured and brought under the barbarous power, Libnah was besieged thereafter; it is said that the Assyrian found Rabsaces there, and he was greatly distressed: for Tharatha, king of the Ethiopians, had campaigned against him. Then, fearing that while he was seizing some other region, he might be stripped of his own most beautiful territories, he abandoned Judea and made haste to his own country; yet he did not relax the cruelty that was in him. Being inflamed with uncontrolled rage—perhaps for the reason that the children of Israel, that is, those living in the holy city, had not wished to defect to him, even after being persuaded by the words of Rabsaces—the wretch once again spoke recklessly against the glory of God; and he ordered some of his servants to go at a run to Hezekiah and report those things on his behalf. These were blasphemies against God, clearly saying that since the gods of other lands—or nations—had perished together with those who worshipped them, the God of the Hebrews would not be able to rescue them either, or deliver them from the hand of the Assyrians. Then he enumerates the cities that had been laid waste, which it is likely had possessed much power, from which others had suffered; through these very things he was striking terror into those who had trusted in the God who rules over all, as if they were already about to die.

Vers. 14-17. *And Hezekiah took the book from the messengers, and opened it before the Lord; and Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying: O Lord Sabaoth, God of Israel, who sittest upon the Cherubim, thou alone art the God of every kingdom of the inhabited world. Thou hast made the heaven and the earth. Hearken, O Lord, look upon us, O Lord, and see, and hear the words which Sennacherim has sent to blaspheme the living God.*

^B Out of an exceeding great piety toward God, he unfolds the book before God, not as if to one who was ignorant of the magnitude of Sennacherim's arrogance, but rather to cry out against that barbarous madness, and to make the Lord who rules over all a witness to the audacity and hard-mouthed impudence of that man. And see how he opposes the words of Sennacherim, presenting this supplication. For that man, as much as lay in his power, was assailing the majesty of God, saying: "Let not your God, in whom you trust, deceive you, saying: Jerusalem shall not be handed over into the hands of the king of the Assyrians." But he confesses the magnitude of His authority, naming Him Lord Sabaoth, and God of Israel, and superior to all creation, both the heavenly and the rational. "For you are," he says, "he who sits upon the Cherubim." He further confesses that even if some are called kings on earth, this one is by nature and in truth the King, and has all things under his feet; that he is the one and only Creator of earth and heaven, and by a nod sustains things that once were not. He entreats Him to hearken and to look upon this—that is, not to overlook or pass by such bitter blasphemies, but to punish the wicked man justly. ^C For he has blasphemed the living God, he says—that is, one who is in no way like the gods of the nations, to whom that man, in his audacity, was impiously comparing Him.

^A For in truth the kings of the Assyrians have laid waste the whole world and their land, and have cast their idols into the fire. For they were not gods, but works of men’s hands, wood and stone, and they destroyed them. But do Thou, O Lord our God, save us from their hands, that every kingdom of the earth may know that Thou art God alone.

"I have heard," he says, "the barbarian saying: 'Have the gods of the nations delivered, each one his own land, from my hand?'" And if anyone should say this, I praise it and I believe it. For they have conquered all the earth and burned the cities, the falsely-named gods having been able to provide no help whatever, for they saved no one. For how, or whence, could they—made of wood and stone and being the work of the stonemason's art and the handiwork of carpenters? Hence, they perished together with their own worshippers. But do Thou save us, O Master. For this, too, will be a proof, and will persuade all under heaven how it behooves them to be disposed, and firmly that Thou alone art God. For just as the subduing of the nations' lands bore witness against the falsely-named gods that they were nothing at all, so too the fleeing and escaping of Jerusalem from his hand—which is subject to Thee and is Thine—will manifest, as it were, and make clear to all men everywhere the declaration of Thy power and most pure glory, and that Thou alone art God in heaven and on earth.

VERS. 21. *And Isaiah the son of Amos was sent to Hezekiah, and said to him: Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: I have heard what thou hast prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of the Assyrians.*

He does not keep the help far off, but it is near, and as it were at the feet of the prayer and petition of those who have made their request. For the prophet is sent, who before these things had been silent regarding the barbarian, and had not reported this calculation and judgment of God against him: "Thus saith," he says, "the Lord God of Israel." He encourages the believer, and he does not say that one of the falsely-named gods has sent him, but, calling him to a good hope, he names Him Lord and God of Israel. He praises and in a certain way approves, saying: "I have heard what thou hast prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of the Assyrians." For I truly prove, he says, this zeal and affection; I know the piety: thou couldst not endure this blasphemy and malediction against Me, and thou didst approach weeping, and as it were grieving in My name, and didst make thy sorrow the insults ^{B C} that were cast upon Me. Most worthy of praise, therefore, is the zeal of the saints; and when they grieve because the glory of God is assailed with contumelies and maledictions, God is gladdened.

VERS. 22, 23. *This is the word which God has spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Sion despises thee and mocks thee; the daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head at thee. Whom hast thou reproached and provoked? Or against whom hast thou lifted up thy voice? And thou hast not lifted up thy eyes on high to the Holy One of Israel, because by messengers thou hast reproached the Lord.*

He sets forth next the calculation and judgment against the barbarian.

and says that the virgin daughter of Sion, that is to say Jerusalem, will mock him and shake her head at him. We say that he calls Sion, or Jerusalem, both a virgin and a daughter: a virgin, inasmuch as she is undefiled and uninfected by the stain of loathsome idolatry; and a daughter, in that she has received from him the affection which a father owes to his own children. She treated the Assyrian with scorn, or in a manner shook her head at him; for she laughed at the defeated man, and turned his calamities into a ditty and a harmonious song. Then she says to him: Whom hast thou reproached and provoked? Or against whom hast thou raised thy voice? For didst thou offend one of the falsely-named gods with such burning and inflamed words? Was it not proper, he says, to lift the eyes of the mind on high, and to consider who and how great the God of ^B Israel is? It was proper, also, looking at the very creation itself, to perceive by a certain ratio and analogy the magnitude of the Creator's power; it was proper to gaze upon the height of His majesty, and to think nothing low or earthly against Him. But, he says, nothing of this kind came into thy mind; thou hast cast reproaches upon the Lord.

VERS. 24, 25. *Tu enim dixisti: Multitudine curruum ego conscendi altitudinem montium, et extrema Libani, et succidi altitudinem cedri ejus, et pulchritudinem ejus, et intravi in altitudinem partis silvae, et posui pontem, et vastavi aquas, et omnem collectionem aquae.*

He exposes the pride of Persian arrogance, their foolish puffing up, and the magnitude of their boasting. For he compares, as we said before, the region of the Jews to Lebanon, and perhaps also Samaria, which the ten tribes inhabited. For Lebanon is a mountain in Phoenicia, flourishing and dense with cedar trees of very great height. But such is understood to be the land of the Jews: high indeed, because God was He who succoured it; and dense, because those in it appear to be beyond number. But the Assyrian tyrants captured Samaria, and along with it they devastated countless cities of Judea. Thou therefore, he says, O Assyrian, having a haughty spirit, and attributing the outcome of events to thine own forces, hast said: "By the multitude of my chariots I have ascended to the height of the mountains, and to the extremities of Lebanon," that is to say, to the very Israelite kingdom. "I have cut down the height of his cedar." Whose, indeed? Of Lebanon, clearly, of Judea. By the height of the cedar, he refers to their kingdom. "And I entered into the height of the part of the forest." For as I said, along with the land of the Samaritans, many cities of Judea were also destroyed. Thou saidst also: "I have placed a bridge, and have laid waste waters, and all the collection of water." For the Persians and Assyrians, attributing it to their own forces that they governed all things splendidly, when they infested regions with incursions, were wont to build bridges over certain rivers, and often they would carry them away, being so great in number that they were able to consume springs and the very gathering of waters, nor at times did the rivers themselves suffice for men and horses who were thirsty. Now, the Greek writers,

as many as have made mention of Persian affairs in their own histories, say that they even bridged the Hellespont; and if, they say, a river were to be found in the midst of the lands or cities through which they were passing, the tyrant would command them, saying: "Let it be consumed by being drunk." The God of all things, therefore, makes mention of this arrogance of the Persians, and refutes those who are accustomed to boast. Then, after this, He shows that they themselves ^A were not able to accomplish these things about which they were so proud; but rather that this decree of His, brought forth against the offenders, created in them the opinion that they had been able to do it.

VERS. 26, 27. *Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it? from ancient times I have formed it; now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldst be made to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps. And their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the house-tops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.*

All these things, therefore, He says, which you think you have accomplished, attributing them to your own powers, are you not ashamed to ascribe them to yourself? But, O you who lift up a vain eyebrow over nothing, have you not heard long ago what I have done? For, He says, if you wish to examine the words of My prophets, I have already said in advance that these things would come to pass. For "from ancient days I have formed it," that is, I have ordained and consented; and I have now displayed, when the time called for it, the things that were announced for fulfillment: that you should lay waste to nations in defenced cities, that is, those not weak or easily captured. "I have let go the hands, and they were dried up." For those whom I once held together and preserved by long-suffering and patience, so that they might be and endure, I withdrew My helping hand, and they were dried up like herbs, and I delivered them as dry grass for the fire. This is also what He says to him elsewhere; for when the impious man had performed the things ordained by God, and was very pleased with himself, he heard God again saying: "Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it?" ^C Since, just as such instruments do not move themselves toward any work, but rather await the hand of the one brandishing them: so also, He says, you have been an instrument of divine wrath; you did not perform the work yourself by your own powers, but you stood as an axe and a saw, which is destined to serve ^D the will of the mover.

VERS. 28. *But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.*

You are insolent, therefore, He says, having become a minister of divine judgments, and perhaps you think to yourself that you alone have grandly subdued so many nations and lands, so as to burn and capture them. But I know your rest, and your going out, and your coming in. By "rest," I suppose, He calls death; and by "going out and coming in," the path for doing all things. For nothing at all

^A escapes the mind that knows all things. And adding, "Your rage, with which you have raged, and your bitterness has ascended to me," He says, in effect: You shall not be unpunished for having blasphemed; for I shall not fail to see the malice and bitterness of your impious thoughts, but, moved as it were to sorrow, I shall inflict upon your rage the punishment proper to it.

"And I will put a hook into your nose, and a bridle into your lips, and I will turn you back by the way in which you came." ^B Since the Assyrian, possessing an irrationality very similar to that of a beast, mocked God, and, leaping forward as if in unbridled ferocity, uttered impious voices against the glory of God, for this very reason, and most fittingly, He speaks as if to a beast, that "I will put a hook into your nose, and a bridle into your lips," almost, by the infliction of blows, drawing him back, and with the magnitude of the calamities, as with a certain bridle, checking such extraordinary undertakings. He says that the Assyrian will also return to his own land. For he returned when he heard that Tirhakah, king of the Ethiopians, had come out against him. And yet, one might say, why, when his entire army had fallen, was not only he himself saved, but why did he even return to his own land? For it was necessary, it was necessary for him, having been stripped naked of the multitude under his command, to escape by some providence and counsel the hand of the consuming angel, so that he might lament his own calamity, and might know against whom he had cast his reproaches, and might announce this admirable and incredible fact to all others. ^C

"And this shall be a sign for you: Eat this year what you have sown, and in the second year the leftovers; and in the third, sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. And the survivors in Judea shall strike root downward, and shall bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall be the survivors, and those who are saved from Mount Sion. The zeal of the Lord of Sabaoth shall do this."

Saying that the Assyrian would return to his own land and would depart from the land of the Jews, He sets the time at which this would happen, and says: "Eat this year what you have sown," and so forth. It is not yet clear to everyone whether the sign was given to Sennacherib or to Hezekiah and those with him. However, we shall state the meaning of the written words. Then it must be adapted either to those or to these. If we say the sign was given to Hezekiah, we understand it thus: Jerusalem was under siege. And since a great army of the Assyrians was attempting to burn and take it, there was a very great import of foodstuffs, and fruits were stored up, and things by which those who were saved in Jerusalem could live. "You, therefore, O Hezekiah," He says, "and all the people with you, eat this year what you have sown; and in the second year, the leftovers. In the third, when you have sown, reap, and plant vineyards." For for two whole years the Assyrian had besieged ^D and devastated the land of the Samaritans.

^A but at the approach of the third, he went away in flight, especially since those with Rabshakeh had perished around Jerusalem, and were besieging it. Therefore, he says, in the third year let there now be remission, and let there be enough for the farmers and for the keepers of the vineyards, if they should choose to plant them; peace, clearly, granting them also security. That those saved and left over from the war will be in safety and tranquility, he indicates when he says, as if of trees: "They will extend a root downward, and a seed upward." That they will dwell securely and safely, and outside of all fear, is suited to those who have a deep root. That this tranquility will also endure to the end can be understood from the fact that it yields seed upward. He adds then: "The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do these things." For because the Assyrian was committing blasphemy, and had dared to compare Him to gods falsely so named, and to say: "Will not the God of Jerusalem deliver her from my hand?" All these things shall come to pass, he says, when the Almighty is stirred to zeal. ^B But if the saying, "Eat this year what you have sown, and in the second the leftovers," is brought against Sennacherib, we say that those accustomed to making war, either against regions or against cities, when the siege and war are sometimes prolonged for them for many days, touch upon and engage in farming, so that they might have food. And in this same way, the statement made can be understood regarding him also.

VERS. 33. Therefore thus says the Lord against the king of the Assyrians: He shall not come into this city, nor shall he shoot an arrow at it, nor shall he set a shield against it, nor shall he surround it with a rampart, but by the way that he came, by the same he shall return.

He gathers up in a way the meaning of the things said, and, as if weaving an epitome in a few words, he sets forth the course and outcome of the matter clearly. For he says, he will not take up war; nay, before the battle, before he brandishes weapons, before he threatens and shoots an arrow, before he raises a shield, before he surrounds it with a rampart, by the very same way he shall return, and, he says, he will run back home. It must be known that he calls the ^C rampart in these words the pile of wood fixed and heaped in the embankments or mounds, which are sharp, so that no one who falls [on them] is saved.

VERS. 34, 35. This says the Lord: I will protect this city to save it for my own sake, and for the sake of David my servant.

He cuts down and suppresses the haughtiness of those who have been saved by the divine mercy, nor does he allow those inhabiting the holy city to think high thoughts and grow puffed up. For it was indeed very likely that they would think and say that they were honored by God because of the gentleness of their character and the spiritual fragrance of the justice that was in them. Therefore, while He saves as God, He benefits those saved by not allowing them to be overwhelmed by the currents of arrogance. For He said He would protect the city, clearly the holy one, not on account of those dwelling in it, nor for the sake of anyone living at that time, but on account of Himself; ^D

^A and David, whom he also calls his own son. He does this for His own sake, because He is kind and merciful, and because it was necessary for the divine majesty to inflict a punishment worthy of those who spoke insultingly against Him. And again for David’s sake, because He often grants the favor of not remembering their faults to those who honor the memory of holy men, even when their descendants sometimes commit transgressions.

And the angel of the Lord went out, and struck from the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and rising in the morning, they found all the bodies dead. And Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, turned back and departed, and dwelt in Nineveh. And as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his patron, Adrammelech and Sarasar his sons struck him with swords; and they were saved in Armenia, and his son Achordan reigned in his stead.

The end of the expected events is now appropriately added to the promises, so that the God of all might not appear a liar. For the multitude of the Assyrians was consumed, not taken by the hands of the Jews, nor by anyone stretching a bow against them, nor by anyone lifting a spear for battle or drawing a sword, nor by horses ^B or by any strenuous battle begun, but the angel prostrated them with an ineffable power, making the multitude of carcasses countless. This warlike man, Sennacherib—although he was extremely bold—was therefore struck with astonishment by the miracle, and he was barely brought back home. He returned wretchedly, stripped entirely of the army he had led, and, as it says, he dwelt in Nineveh. Thus, at last, the promises made by God were brought to their end. For he fell in his own house while worshipping a certain patriarch or patron, evidently one of his ancestors or forefathers according to the flesh. For it is the custom for those who have once gone astray not only to give this honor to unclean spirits, but also to whatever dead persons they may choose to serve. For having once fallen from the straight path, they run without discernment toward whatever they please. He says they were his sons who killed him; for when the divine judgment is delivered against certain men, they fall into danger from all sides and in all ways, so that those who suffer this may encounter what they deserve, even from their own. Not having the kinship of blood as a pledge of safety, nor the affection and devotion owed by children to parents, they are thrust into pits of destruction precisely by those from whom it was natural for them to be saved.

And these things, as far as they pertain to the outer historical aspect, I think have been stated ^C not inelegantly. But I think I must also say something about the more profound insights for the consolation of those who are spiritual. For the holy city, that is, Sion or Jerusalem, may be a type of the Church of Christ, the truer Sion; this, sometimes, or rather almost always, the enemies of the truth besiege, that is, the inventors of impious heresies; and they do not besiege it alone, but having, as it were, hired the powers and dynasties of the world, with that intelligible Sennacherib,—that is, Satan—breathing into them and, as it were, sending forth his own subordinates and those who are accustomed to serve his wickedness. Who ^D

when they come and fight against the defenders of the truth and mock the divine majesty, do not accomplish anything worthwhile. ^A For those who are besieged will be silent. And for what reason, blessed Paul will teach, saying: "Not to strive about words to no profit," and again: "A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject; knowing that he that is such is subverted." For to those who have once fallen wholly into errors and deceits, and are bound by falsehood, the speech of those who are accustomed to be profitable is perhaps superfluous. For it is written: "Speak in the ears of them that will hear." When, therefore, the enemies of the truth promise honors or rest, just like the wicked Rabshakeh, or threaten dangers and battles, we must approach God and depend upon his help from above alone. ^B For his superior and all-powerful right hand will suffice, both for the preservation of those who are accustomed to walk with a straight foot, and for the destruction of those who resist. For he will drive them away, using a certain ineffable strength, and will deliver from war Zion, truly holy and undefiled—that is, the Church—against which the gates of hell shall not prevail.

CAP. XXXVIII. VERS. 1-3. Factum est autem eo tempore, aegrotavit Ezechias usque ad mortem, accessitque ad eum Isaias filius Amos propheta, et dixit ei: Haec dicit Dominus: Dispone de domo tua, morieris enim tu, et non vives. Et convertit Ezechias faciem suam ad parietem, et oravit ad Dominum dicens: Memento, Domine, quemadmodum ambulavi in conspectu tuo, cum veritate, in corde vero, et quae placita sunt in conspectu tuo, feci. Et flevit Ezechias fletu magno.

Ezechias was endowed with most remarkable piety towards God, and therefore obtained a famous glory. For he tore down the altars, destroyed the shrines, burned the inner sanctuaries, cut down the groves, and never ceased worshipping God with sacrifices in accordance with the Law. ^C He also conquered the barbarian neighbors of Judea, so as to make many of them tributaries and subject to taxes. He also restored cities, and to say it in a word, abounding in the highest praise and glory, he was deservedly an object of admiration. But he was soon led away, as the sons of the Hebrews say, from what is fitting, and was of a great and lifted-up mind, and fell into the snares of pride. For this reason, out of love, God wielded the rod against him: "For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." For he strikes as a father who loves his children, moving them to better things and leading away from the more shameful those who are entangled in them. ^D For just as the most acute and skilled physicians either melt away and consume with fire what has rotted in the body, or cut it with iron, not doing this out of hatred towards the sick person, but rather out of mercy, so, I believe, in the same manner, the Creator of all...

^A cuts away the damage from the diseases within us with measured indignation, that we may not be condemned along with the world, according to what is written. King Hezekiah, therefore, fell into sickness, and indeed had arrived at the end of all the evil; for he was in extreme danger through the words of the prophet, who says that he would die and that it was fitting for him to set his house in order. But this was not because Hephaestus—or rather, God—did not know that he would live and would escape the grievousness of the illness through His mercy; rather, He was calling and urging him toward prayer, that by asking, he might obtain mercy from Him. For He has compassion on those who are beloved, and to those who are genuine, He grants the finding of the things they desire and accepts the words of their supplications. And this is indeed what has been done. For Hezekiah prayed, saying: "Remember, O Lord, how I walked before You in truth, with a sincere heart, and have done what is pleasing in Your sight." Beautiful is the boldness and confidence of the just; for they nearly demand the reward for their labors and the fruits of their sincerity. The God of all also rejoices in those who have lived legally, and He readily yields to those who have led an excellent life when He sees them weeping and joining their labor with prayer. ^B And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah saying: "Go and say to Hezekiah: Thus says the God of David your father: I have heard the voice of your prayer and have seen your tears; behold, I add to your time fifteen years, and out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians I will save you, and I will defend this city. And this shall be a sign to you from the Lord, that God will do this word which He has spoken. Behold, I will turn back the shadow of the steps upon which the sun has gone down, the ten steps." And the sun went up the ten steps upon which the shadow had gone down. ^C Not much time elapsed, but God immediately assented and received the supplications of the righteous man. For as it is written in the Books of Kings, before the blessed prophet had gone out of the king's courtyard, the word of God came to him. Having therefore returned immediately, he sets forth the words that had come to him from God. For He said that He had heard his voice—that is, that He had accepted the prayer and had looked upon the tears—and He gives to him immediately the ability to escape the terror of death; and He signifies the measure of the added life, so that by looking toward the end, and knowing that he will strictly and altogether die, he might not allow the disease of pride to enter his mind. And He promises that, just as He had previously promised, He will prove him superior to the hand of the Assyrians, and that He will also fight for Jerusalem. He performed these things, removing all manner of despondency from the midst, and restoring the one who had been extremely afflicted with pain, through the kindness of His gentleness and mercy. For "He who has struck us will heal us." For the God of all is kind and merciful. ^D And He also confirms by faith that these things are brought toward their completion as promised by the sign of the sun,

^A by the retreat of the shadow that occurred at that time on the ten steps. They say that Ahaz, the father of Hezekiah, had caused some steps to be made in his own house, as if by some machine and art, which might count the hours like a clock, and were accustomed to measure the course of the sun by the movement of the shadow that fell upon them. Therefore, God made it clear that Hezekiah was about to recover his life, by the shadow of the sun moving backward and the day being extended to an unusual measure of hours. There is nothing at all difficult for the Lord of all; but whatever He chooses, He accomplishes it by merely nodding His assent.

THE PRAYER OF HEZEKIAH, KING OF JUDAH,

VERS. 10-13. I said: In the height of my days I shall go to the gates of the grave; I shall leave the remaining years. I said: I shall no longer see the salvation of God on the earth; I shall no longer see man among my kinsfolk. I have left the remainder of my life; it has gone out and departed from me, as if one who sets up a tent should take it down. My spirit became within me like the web of a worker in wool, which draws near to the cutting. In that day I was delivered, until morning, as to a lion, so He crushed my bones; for from the day until the night I was delivered to Him. ^B

It is necessary to say this before other things: for the Seventy have set down here "in the height of my days," although other interpreters have rendered it "in the midst of my days." I, for my part, believe that the words of the Seventy were set down very wisely. For the holy city had been besieged, with Rabshakeh and the innumerable multitude of the Assyrians surrounding it on every side. But God promised, through the voice of Isaiah, that He would perform wonders beyond expectation, that He would save those in danger, and would drive the tyrant from Judea, and that he himself would die once he had settled his domestic affairs. ^C When all these things had been brought to their conclusion, at the time the God of all had spoken, the insignias of Hezekiah’s kingdom were already being raised on high. "I therefore," he says, "was saying to myself, 'In the time of glory, or in the height of my days, I shall be at the gates of the grave, and I shall leave the remaining years.'"

Then he further adds those things which befall those who are seized by illness and see death not long after, being dismayed by extreme terrors. ^D These are: "I shall no longer see salvation from God, nor shall I see man among my kinsfolk; I have forsaken the remainder of my life; it has departed from me: I have become like a dissolving tent, and like the web of a woman working in wool," that is, laboring or weaving, and finally drawing near to the cutting. Then he says, "In the whole night and day I was delivered as to a certain lion, crushing my bones." And who is this lion? It is the burden of the illness, and—

^A in a manner almost devouring like a beast, is death, threatening its approach—that is to say, the fear that easily arises from the expectation of dying. For fear and despondency together crush the soul and break all its strength.

"Like a swallow, so shall I cry, and like a dove, so shall I meditate. For my eyes have failed from looking to the height of heaven toward the Lord, who took me away, and took from me the pain of the soul. O Lord, it has been told to Thee concerning it, and Thou hast awakened my breath, and being comforted I lived. For Thou didst choose my soul, that it might not perish, and Thou hast cast behind me all my sins."

^B He declares that by raising up songs of thanksgiving, he imitates the birds that are accustomed to sing very sweetly, and makes his hymns perpetual. He says, moreover, that having raised the eyes of his mind toward God, he has been saved, and has escaped both the pain of the soul and death itself. "For Thou didst awaken," he says, "the life, and I lived, and Thou hast preserved my soul, that it might not perish, and Thou hast cast behind me all my sins." This does not come from a man suffering from the disease of arrogance, but from one who already recognizes his own nature and knows precisely that we are all guilty of many sins, and that if God did not wish to save us through mercy, no one would boast of having a pure heart, nor would anyone freely claim to be clean from sin. Therefore, in the benefits which we receive from God, let Him be glorified by us, as one who has forgotten those things for which it was just that we should be punished. "For wise," he says, "are those who know themselves."

"For those who are in Hell will not praise Thee; nor will the dead bless Thee; nor will those who are in Hell hope for Thy mercy. The living will bless Thee, as I do. For from this day I shall make children, who shall declare Thy justice, O Lord of my salvation, and I shall not cease to bless Thee with the psaltery all the days of my life."

^C The words spoken by the voice of the Psalmist contain the same thought as the matters at hand: "What profit is there in my blood, when I descend into corruption? Shall the dust confess to Thee, or shall it declare Thy wonders?" For those who have once died, and have become held by the gates of Hell, will perhaps also cease from glorifying [God]. ^D They will add absolutely nothing to what they have done, but will rather remain in the state in which they were left, and will await the time of the general judgment. Therefore, he says, the living—and those who have the power to do good, since they have received benefits—will bless Thee, just as I do. He then promises to raise up children, who will declare the justice of God. And some say that he promises a choral procession, and the singers of psalms within the holy temple.

^A stabiliens, qui bene canant. Others, turning their minds to deeper matters, say that Hezekiah, thinking highly of himself, perhaps imagined that his kingdom was endless and his life immortal, persuaded that the things written concerning Christ, as Son of David, were spoken of him and looked toward him. Whence they say that, although he had reigned for fourteen years, he was never seen to have been concerned with begetting children; now, therefore, being taught the limit of his life, he takes thought for his successors, and that he says "children," and adds "they shall announce the righteousness of the Lord." Yet his statement missed the truth, for Manasseh was born wicked and impious; but as far as the intent of the father goes, he was indeed pious, and a proclaimer of the glory of God.

Vers. 21, 22. And Isaiah said to Hezekiah: Take a lump of figs, and crush it, and apply it as a plaster, and you shall be sound. And Hezekiah said: This is the sign that I shall go up into the house of the Lord.

In the fourth book of Kings it is written that the cause of Hezekiah's illness was a sore, malignant and intractable, such that it defied even the skills of physicians. But once God granted life to the righteous man, and commanded also that the disease be taken away and worn down—and from these things it is probable, or rather, certainly assured, that the pain of the wound was increasing—He by these means provided that he should be delivered. For the hand of the Almighty is always the worker of paradoxical and incredible things, and this helping hand traverses ways that depart from common opinion. "Crush, therefore," He says, "a lump of figs, so that you may apply it as a plaster, and you shall be sound." And it was to be expected, as I have said, that the wound would be harmed, or at least feel no benefit. But since God had commanded it, the most prudent Hezekiah uses this for the power of a sign and says: "If I am healed by the lump of figs, the disease ceasing and all pain in me being lulled to sleep, this shall be to me a firm and true sign that I shall go up into the house of the Lord," evidently for the purpose of offering sacrifices to Him and praying, now that the illness, and every pain, has in a manner of speaking been calmed within me. ^C

Cap. XXXIX. Vers. 1, 2. At that time Merodach, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and delegates and gifts to Hezekiah; for he heard that he had been ill unto death, and had recovered. And Hezekiah rejoiced over them with great joy, and showed them the house of Nechotha, and of stacte, and of spices, and of unguent, and of silver, and of gold, and all the houses of the vessels of the treasury, and all things that were in his treasuries, and there was nothing that Hezekiah did not show in his house.

The Holy Scripture relates that when Sennacherib died at the hands of his own sons, his son Nergilasser reigned in his stead.

^A But, as it appears, he also having been removed from the midst, Merodach, son of Baladan, received the throne by inheritance. This man is said to have sent to Hezekiah both gifts and letters, and envoys; and it is necessary to state what the reason for this was. For he heard, he says, that he had been sick unto death and had recovered: yet it was not this alone—that Hezekiah had been sick, I say, and had surged back again to good health—that struck the Babylonian with amazement, but rather that great and truly extraordinary sign: that by an ineffable and divine nod, the sun was commanded to return and go backward, so that the shadow also went back ten steps. Now the wise men of the Babylonians and Chaldeans, by surname *Sophi*, that is to say sages, though they boast themselves to be subtly learned in the course of the sun, and the rising and setting of the stars, did not, as is likely, remain ignorant of this backward turning, and of the unusual length of that day. And it was very likely that the power of the sign was noised abroad throughout all the earth, and that it had been given for the confirmation of the promise of God, which, I say, had been made to Hezekiah. ^B And in another way, too, we may say that Merodach admired that which had happened beyond expectation to those who had besieged Jerusalem with Rabshakeh, whom the hand of an angel, striking them in one night, consumed, so that in the morning all the bodies were found dead. Therefore the envoys came, Merodach admiring Hezekiah's righteousness because of these very signs that were beyond all reason. Now he, when those who had arrived from Babylon were present, ought to have made a brilliant account of the aids of the all-powerful God, which had occurred at various times, and of the splendor and greatness of these incredible things, so that they, too, admiring even more the divine excellence and the invincible power of the Lord of all, might return to their own country—guided by the words taught them by him—enriched with the knowledge of God (for thus it was permitted to benefit others also, when they reported what they had learned): but this he did not do at all. ^C Instead, he fell into human vainglory, and he did not order his own glory from these matters by which he was honored by God, but from the wealth involved in his kingdom, and he defines the power of the honor inherent in him by these things. For he showed them, he says, the house of *Nechotha*; now *Nechotha*, if you translate it, signifies aromatics, and stacte, and ointment, and silver, and gold, and all the houses of the vessels of the *gaza*, that is to say, of riches. For the word *gaza* is said to be Persian, and denotes wealth or riches. ^D

VERS. 3-7. *And Isaiah the prophet came to king Hezekiah, and said to him: What do these men say, and from where do they come to thee? And Hezekiah said: From a far land they have come to me, from Babylon. And Isaiah said: What have they seen in thy house? And Hezekiah said: All things that are in my house they have seen, and there is nothing in my house that they have not seen, and moreover they saw those things which are in my treasuries. And Isaiah said to him:*

^A “Hear the word of the Lord of Sabaoth: that also from thy children whom thou hast begotten they shall take, and they shall make eunuchs in the house of the king of the Babylonians.”

The prophet is sent indeed by God, but upon first arriving and meeting Hezekiah, he feigns to speak as if of his own opinion. Hence he says: “What do these men say?” Now this manner of speech is very habitual to him. For the Babylonians had arrived, perhaps, as I said, being eager to learn the reason of the retrogradation of the sun, and why such a celebrated sign had occurred. But he, although he ought, as I was saying, rather to have recounted to them the divine excellence, and that it is by His nods that creation gives way, showed them the house of perfumes and treasures. Therefore, the prophet inquires why they had come, and what their discourse with him had been: but he answered him nothing at all to this; he says only this, that they had come from Babylon and from a land far away: perhaps having taken no small pleasure in this, that such men, separated by so long an interval, had sought his friendship with no ordinary zeal. When the prophet then asked what they had beheld, and the king replied that there was nothing left which had not been seen by them: he says that days will come when all things that were in his treasuries, gathered together by the zeal and care of those before him, would move over to the Babylonians: and he added to these that of the children who would be born to him in the course of time, as if in a more remote succession of his line, they would make spadones, that is, eunuchs, in the house of the king of the Babylonians, being, so to speak, the artificers of these things. Now, they narrate—or rather, the Book of Kingdoms ^B testifies—that these things happened in the days of Jechoniah, when Nebuchadnezzar, having taken all of Judea by force, burned Jerusalem and, moreover, the divine temple, and led Israel away captive; among whom were the divine Daniel and his companions in the house of the king of the Babylonians, whom they also say became spadones, that is, eunuchs. Of what sort is this, and to what use is this prediction? God here implies either that it would have been better and more wise to have instituted a necessary account of those things which were wondrously done by the divine excellence and magnificence for those who came from Babylon, or also that he had not a little enticed the eyes of the Babylonians by the fact that he showed them what was hidden in his treasuries. ^C

VERS. 8. And Hezekiah said to Isaiah: A good word is the word of the Lord which He has spoken: but let there be peace and justice in my days.

He is destitute of apology and defense, and since he has no speech wherewith to bring aid to his own faults, he says that the word of the Lord is good, although it has foretold these things, over which it was fitting that abundant ^D tears should fall from his eyes.

^A Then he seeks peace for his own days, saying in effect farewell to those who would come after him, and abandoning his own country, city, and race entirely. But it would have been better for him to have lamented over what was foretold, to have sought mercy from God, and to have asked for a happiness for his descendants that was not merely temporary and restricted. But the human mind is extremely weak, and we all stumble in many things, according to that which is written; nor can any of us be prudent and wise in every respect; but even a heart that loves God, and an admirable mind, often impinges upon that which is less right.

Chapter 40. Verses 1-2. Comfort, comfort my people, says God: Priests, speak to the heart of Jerusalem, comfort her, because her humiliation is complete; her sin is forgiven, because she has received from the Lord's hand double for her sins.

^B The discourse shifts to the things of Christ, and henceforth makes clear the declaration of the grace that comes through Him; yet it is not seen to have progressed outside of what is reasonable, nor to have been introduced at an unfitting time. For some who are not very well versed in the holy Scriptures might perhaps say: "In what way does the prophet make the prediction concerning Christ a neighbor to the words of Hezekiah?" To this we shall offer our defense by saying this: that since the discourse had commemorated the last conquest of the land of the Jews, and of Jerusalem itself, it has now, as if in season and of necessity, introduced the consolation that occurred thereafter from God. I shall speak briefly and explain accurately what we have just said. For very many incursions have been made against Jerusalem, and the land of the Jews has been ravaged many times—at one time by the hand of the Assyrians, at another by neighboring barbarians, and indeed by others who were laying it waste. Finally, the last capture occurred through ^C Nebuchadnezzar, in the times of the reign of Jeconiah, when Israel was led away captive into the region of those who had conquered them. And in the times of the reign of Cyrus, it was released from captivity and returned to Judea, and rebuilt the temple, and dwelt there, not dispersed, until the advent of our Savior. Since, therefore, it has made mention of the last captivity—when the Babylonians, having taken all the treasures in the treasuries of the kings of Judea, returned to their own land—it necessarily makes the prediction of the consolation that happened after these things, namely through Christ, commanding those who minister the divine Gospel and saying, "Comfort, comfort my people, says God." For the consolation unto salvation ^D was, especially for those from Israel, first of all the advent of Christ, and the oracles through Him, when He says openly: "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." O, therefore, he says, you priests, you ministers of the new and Christ-centered prophecies, speak to the heart of Jerusalem, that is, to those who are acceptable listeners.

For the Law was burdensome to all, both teaching by shadows and types; it did not instill the instruction concerning necessary things into the mind and heart of the hearers, but transmitted, as it were, an external appearance of knowledge only, and that with difficulty, as if it were in letters alone. But the saving and evangelical preaching speaks, for the Holy Spirit reveals the depth of each person’s mind, introducing spiritual meditations and contemplations, and fixing the words of the saints, and, as it were, burning them into the innermost recesses of the intellect. Such was blessed David when he sang and said: "In my heart I have hidden your words, that I might not sin against you" (Ps. CXVIII, 11). Moreover, the Savior addressed the holy apostles, saying: "Place in your hearts the word," clearly the one provided by Him, and which is saving. And that the evangelical preaching is spoken to the mind and heart by the holy ministers of mysteries, with the Holy Spirit cooperating toward this, or rather, perfecting the whole, faith may be sought from the sacred Scriptures. For God said through one of the holy prophets: "Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will conclude with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant, not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, in the day I took hold of their hand, to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not remain in my covenant. And I disregarded them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant which I will covenant with them in those days, says the Lord: giving my laws into their mind, and upon their hearts I will write them" (Jer. XXXI, 31-33). Also blessed Paul writes to some: "You are our epistle, known and read by all men, being manifested that you are an epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh, the heart" (2 Cor. III, 2-3). It seems to some that by these words, "priests" and "ministers of the divine preaching," the holy angels are meant, to whom that power—to be able to speak into hearts—might most especially apply. Comfort her, therefore. But by saying what? Truly, that the Lord of all has ceased from the wrath that was stirred up against them. "Her humiliation is complete" (Isa. XL, 2): for she has been humiliated, he says, abundantly, and her sin is dissolved. "Because she has received from the Lord’s hand double for her sins." Did God, therefore, punish beyond what was fitting, and did He not impose penalties equal to the crimes, but far, and as it were, doubly more severe? But who would think this plausible? For what is true is what He says: "Will the Lord not punish twice for the same thing in affliction?" (cf. Job XXXIV, 14). How, then, is what is said to be understood? Just as a father, loving his children and merciful in his deepest bowels, when he is slightly offended by some delinquent child, is perhaps thought to have become more agitated than is proper (the cause of this, however, is his indulgence and the fatherly affection owed to his children); so, he says, Jerusalem, whom He is comforting, is spoken of as receiving from the hand of the Lord double for her sins: which is most often [the judgment of] heavy and intolerable matters.

and yet at the same time moderated ^A by the hand of Him who punished her, not according to the dignity of her deeds. For the Lord is truly merciful and compassionate, long-suffering and of great mercy, and true; and He has not dealt with us according to our iniquities, nor has He repaid us according to our sins.

Verses 3-5. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: and all things that are crooked shall be straight, and the rough ways into plain ways: and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God, for the Lord hath spoken.

Having said that Israel had been redeemed, ^B and that Jerusalem had been released from its own offenses, and having commanded that comfort be brought to her, he indicates the time of comfort, being near and just at the feet of the words spoken, so to speak—namely, the advent of our Savior, whose forerunner and precursor that divine Baptist came in the desert of Judea, crying out and saying: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God."

Foreknowing this in the Spirit, the blessed Zacharias, the father of this John, also prophesied, ^C saying: "And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Most High: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways." And the Savior said to them regarding him: "He was a burning and shining light, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light." For Christ is the Sun of Justice and the true light. Yet the holy Scripture compares the blessed Baptist to a lamp. For if you look toward the divine and ineffable light, toward the inexplicable and immense splendor, the measure of the human mind, even if it be full of light and wisdom, might ^D rightly be compared to a small lamp.

What, then, is “Prepare the way of the Lord, and make straight his paths”? He explains, adding: "Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: and all things that are crooked shall be straight, and the rough ways into plain ways." For there are certain public roads—or rather, paths—that are not at all passable; they are rough and difficult to travel, so that at one point you must rise up toward mountains and hills, and at another point descend through them, now hanging over precipices, now being carried down into deep hollows. But if it should happen that these elevated and rugged places settle down, and those things that are in a hollow and depth are filled: then, then shall those things which were crooked be in every way straight, and the fields level, and the path clear that was once rough and abrupt. This has happened intellectually through the power of our Savior. For formerly, the sublime life was inaccessable—if I may say so—to all men, and

the path of the evangelical conversation was untrodden, because the mind of all men was held fast by worldly and earthly desires, and subjected to the strange movements of the flesh. But since, having become man—that is, flesh, according to the Scriptures—He abolished sin in the flesh, and despoiled the principalities and powers and the world-rulers of this world, He made the path to piety smooth and easy for us, having nothing steep or raised on high, nor anything hollow or deep, but all of it leveled into plains. All the crooked things have been made straight. And not only this, but also "the glory of the Lord shall be revealed," he says, "and all flesh shall see the salvation of God, for the Lord has spoken." ^B But in what way, or in what manner, does he say the glory is to be revealed? For the Only-begotten Word of God was and is—insofar as He exists as God and was begotten of God the Father in an ineffable manner—in the excellence of the Godhead above every principality and power, and throne, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come; and He Himself is the Lord of glory, and we too have known His glory, even if we did not know it formerly; for when, by the dispensation, He became man like us, He manifested Himself as equal in power and operation and glory to God and the Father, bearing all things by the word of His power, easily performing divine wonders, rebuking creation, raising the dead, and perfectng other miraculous works without labor. The glory of the Lord therefore appeared, and all flesh beheld the salvation of God, obviously that of the Father. For He sent the Son to us from heaven as Savior and Redeemer. For since the Law perfected nothing, and the typical sacrifices did not have the power to wash away sins, we are perfected in Christ, and being delivered from every stain, we have been honored with the Spirit of adoption. ^C This grace, insofar as it relates to the intention and purpose of the One who wills to save, has passed through all flesh, that is, through all men. For by "flesh" one must understand man. But if some appear to be lacking in this salvation, the word of the prophet is nonetheless true. For it is the intent of the One who honors [us] and desires to save that is examined, not the slothfulness of those who are called. He adds, moreover, of necessity: "For the Lord has spoken," lest anyone think He is uttering falsehoods, or perchance belching forth something from his own heart or what seems right to him. Rather, it is because He has foreannounced what is the glory of God, and what is to be in every way and altogether.

VERS. 6-8. A voice of one saying: Cry out. And I said: What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass has withered, and the flower has fallen; but the word of the Lord remains forever. ^D He demonstrates clearly that it is not possible for those who truly love God, and desire to attain Him, to see the salvation of God in any other way, except by this alone: that to choose to think and

^A to do the things that are pleasing and dear to Him, He makes evident. For it is fit, I think, for those who desire to live acting in a holy manner, and to choose the pure and excellent life, and to bind upon themselves, as it were, a crown of the dignities of living in Christ, to treat as nothing the distractions that occur in this life, and to cast away human and temporary glory as far as possible, and to consider in truth that human things are like hay and herbs, and to have in mind and heart the Word of God, that is, the Word from God and the Father. For He dwells in our hearts through faith, and being enriched by His divine Spirit, we have Him in ourselves. For the treasure is worthy of possession, and is the procurer of eternal life. For the Word of God, remaining for ever, preserves and gives life. But if anyone wishes to understand the "word of God" as His commandment, we say that this also brings no small utility. For that too preserves those who rightly obey it unto a blessed life, according to that spoken by the Savior Himself: ^B "Amen, amen, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he shall not see death for ever" (John VIII, 51).

"Go 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 comes with strength, and His arm with dominion. Behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. As a shepherd He shall feed His flock, and with His arm He shall gather the lambs, and will comfort those that are with young."

^C By these words He shows to those who minister the divine and saving preaching—I mean the holy apostles and evangelists, or even, to speak simply, those who in any given time are set over the rational flocks and have the care of the sacred mysteries—in what manner they might be God-lovers, and renowned, and full of the highest glory. For it is not fitting, He says, for those who evangelize to all the glory and salvation of God to do so timidly and submissively, and striving to remain unnoticed; but having become, as it were, on high and visible to all, and in great boldness, as if having leaped onto a mountain, to use a piercing voice in a certain manner, and one free from fear. ^D That this might be granted to them, the divine disciples prayed, saying to God, the ruler of all: "And now, Lord, look upon their threats"—meaning, clearly, those of the Jews—"and grant to Thy servants with boldness to speak Thy word." "Lift it up, therefore, fear not," He says. "Announce to the cities of Judah: Behold your God! Behold, the Lord comes with strength, and His arm with dominion." By adding "Behold," He does not allow the hope of His coming to be stretched out into the long future, but shows that the Redeemer is soon and briefly to arrive, or rather, that He is already in a way at the very threshold. For He bids them...

^A to extend it, and to point out with a finger Him who was foretold. That He will not be as one of the holy prophets, nor indeed as a suppliant, but furnished with the authority, power, and dominion befitting God, he clearly shows by saying, “He comes with strength, and His arm with dominion.” For the divine prophets used to pray that certain things might come from God and exist for the peoples under their hand. But the Savior and Lord of all, not pouring forth prayers, nor receiving or bestowing anything precariously, but as truly the Son, distributed the goods of the Father with a dignity befitting the Free One to those who believe in Him, and He performed all things by using His own power and, indeed, His own authority.

That this mystery of the dispensation will not be fruitless for Him who became our own for our sake, and endured the cross and the death upon it, He shows by saying, “Behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him,” calling by the name of reward the fruit resulting from His having died according to the flesh. For He said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.” And again, “If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things to myself.” For as ^B Paul says, “He endured the cross, despising the shame. Therefore God also highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth; and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Knowing this beforehand in the Spirit, the divine David also chanted and said to Him, “All the nations which You have made shall come and shall worship before You, O Lord.”

Therefore, this dispensation is not without reward, nor is it fruitless. They followed and were, as it were, before the eyes of Him who was shepherding His own flocks, and with His arm—that is, with His strength—He gathers the lambs. For those who believe in Him, as though they were newly born and recently produced sheep, have been built up into newness of life, having obtained, clearly, the regeneration from above and through the Spirit. Therefore, they desire that rational milk, being nurtured in the manner of infants, but they grow up into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

The lambs, therefore, were pastured, and certain females ^C or pregnant ones also received consolation. For the lambs, as though newly appeared and newly born, can rightly be understood to be the Gentiles. But one might say that the pregnant ones, or those bearing in the womb, are those who are already bringing forth His word, as if from the teachings of the Law and the prophetic proclamations. For Christ saved not only the Gentiles, but also those born of the blood of Israel, to whom He even says He was sent most especially. These also received consolation, while they confirmed with faith the exact knowledge of this mystery, which was ^D coming to them and, as it were, offered to them.

VERS. 12-14. Who has measured the water with his hand, and the heaven

^A with the span, and all the earth with his fist? Who has set the mountains in a balance, and the ravines with a scale? Who has known the mind of the Lord, and who has become his counselor, who shall instruct him? Or with whom did he take counsel, and he instructed him? Or who showed him judgment? Or who showed him the way of understanding?

By things impossible and unattainable to all men—or rather, perhaps, even to the powers above and in heaven—He attempts to demonstrate the surpassing and incomprehensible nature of the wisdom in God. For the mystery of Christ is to be marveled at, and the Word concerning the economy is viewed among the ineffable mysteries. And it seems to me that it is timely to use the words of Paul and say: "O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord?" Could one not very reasonably say that these things are akin to what is proposed? For a deep depth and an incomprehensible one is revealed in divine meditations. And just as it is completely unachievable and impossible for a human hand to measure all the water, and the heaven with a span, and all the earth with a fist, and to make manifest with a balance and a scale what the total weight of the mountains is, in the same way, no one can grasp the mind of the Lord. And He Himself will certify this by saying through one of the holy prophets: "For my ways are not as your ways, but as the heaven is ^B distant from the earth, so do my ways stand apart from your ways, and your thoughts from my thought." For, He says, what need had I ever of one counseling or instructing, or showing Him judgment—that is, justice, or a just judgment, or a way of understanding? For if He is wisdom itself, and He Himself gives wisdom to every mind, and is the provider of light according to understanding to the rational creation, how would He have need of another, or in what manner could anyone find fault with that which He might counsel?

But the prophet effects great profit for those who listen from this. For already some of the unbelievers still dare to say: "For what need was there for the Word of God to come to be among us, and to endure flesh, and the filth from it, wishing to save those on earth," even though He says that nothing is difficult for God to accomplish as He deems fit. And then, how is it not in vain that He became man? And having surrounded the economy with strange notions, they impiously defile it with ugliness, and fight against the glory of the mystery. The prophet therefore cuts off ^C their senseless empty-headedness with these words; and he says that the wisdom in God is incomprehensible, and the mind in Him, even if He is wisdom itself and the most supreme and purest mind, so that henceforth the speech of the unbelievers would not be acceptable, or rather, would be justly mocked, since they have dared, I know not how, to slander the economy of the Only-Begotten in the flesh as not having been done rightly. And it pleases some: "Who has measured with the hand the water, and the heaven with a span, ^D and all the earth with the fist? Who has set the mountains in a balance, and the ravines with a scale? Who has known the mind of the Lord, and who has been his counselor, who shall instruct him? Or whom did he consult, and he instructed him? Or who showed him judgment? Or who showed him the way of understanding?"

palmo, and what follows, to the Lord and Master of all, as one who is able to measure the water, and the heaven and the earth, and the mountains and the crags, and who has knowledge of all things whatsoever, even those that are inaccessible, and comprehends all that has been made, and considers as nothing everything that is in the creation, however great, swollen, immense, and numerous it may be. If anyone wishes to understand this in such a way, he will take no offense. ^B

TOMUS V.

VERS. 15-21. *If all the nations are reckoned as a drop from a bucket, and as the turning of a scale, and shall be reckoned as saliva. And Libanus is not sufficient for burning, and all the four-footed beasts are not sufficient for a whole burnt offering, and all the nations are nothing, and have been reckoned as nothing. To whom have you likened the Lord, and with what likeness have you likened him? Has the craftsman made an image, or has the goldsmith, having smelted gold, gilded it? For the craftsman chooses wood that does not rot, and wisely seeks how he might set up that image, so that it may not be moved. Will you not know? Will you not hear? Has it not been announced to you from the beginning? Have you not known the foundations of the earth?*

The prophetic discourse has commemorated for us the dispensation and ministry of the Only-Begotten in the flesh, and has abundantly admired the hidden wisdom, by which we have also been saved, and having acknowledged the Creator by nature and in truth, we have been deemed worthy of his grace, gathered like lambs by his arm, and having been brought under him as under a most good shepherd; for he laid down his life for his own sheep. And since he has shown it to be impossible that we should be able to perceive his mind and to measure it, and has confessed him to be the highest wisdom, and above all things: he enters of necessity into discourses with the nations, or rather with those who worship the creature above the Creator, and leads them away from the ancient, ancestral, and traditionary error, and translates them to better things, and leads them back to a knowledge worthy of human beings. He demonstrates, therefore, the immense excellence ^D of God, the Master of all, and the surpassing dignity of his magnificence, and that all things are small before him, and are accounted as nothing, insofar, I say, as concerns the height of his power and glory. Hence he says: *If all the nations are reckoned as a drop from a bucket, and as the turning of a scale, and shall be reckoned as saliva.* For these are meager and of no value at all. For what is one drop falling from a bucket? What would the turning of a scale be, bringing to equality that which seems to be less? Or what is saliva, that is, human spittle? But not even that, he says, would Libanus suffice for burning, or all the four-footed beasts for a whole burnt offering. For such things are indeed contemptible; and if all were to be brought to him for a whole burnt offering, even those would be, in comparison with divine majesty,

^A cast behind his back. ^A For if all the nations, he says, are as nothing, and are accounted as nothing, to what likeness have you likened him? For what will there be that is like him, and equal in weight, either in nature, or in substance, or in the consideration of glory? For is it by the arts of a craftsman and the skills of a woodworker? Or is it by the skill of goldsmiths, or has he been fashioned, as in an image, into any of the things that are created? Or rather, he says, has a human-like statue been made? By no means. For there could be nothing equal to him. For since he is God by nature, and because there is no other existing from himself, he will be absolutely superior to all things. Having therefore shown that he is beyond all that has been made and called into existence, he mocks thereafter the fashioning of idols, and says that a carpenter chooses wood that does not rot, and wisely seeks how he might set up his image so that it might not be shaken; ^B so that it would be a matter of the carpenter's skill, for those who are led astray according to the measure of the understanding in them, to fashion a god according to their own opinion, and for it to be supported by the greatest security, so that it might not be shaken and shattered by falling. Were there then a scarcity of gods for the idolaters, while there was no carpentry skill upon the earth? Yet even the things that were made by hands would not have been preserved, if the craftsman had not wisely sought those things by means of which they could stand and have an immovable base. One might, I think, and very reasonably, say that which is spoken by the voice of David: ^C “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the works of men’s hands.” And he adds to these: “May all those who make them and all who trust in them become like them.” Having therefore mocked the construction of idols, he shifts his speech toward the shaming and correction of those who have been led astray, and declares their sin in this matter to be inexcusable, saying: Will you not know? Will you not hear? Instead of, have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been announced to you from the beginning? Have you not known the foundations of the earth? By the foundations of the earth he means its ultimate and furthest parts. You have known, therefore, he says, from end to end. You have heard, and it has been announced to you from the beginning. And what has been announced? That God, by nature and truly, is one and alone; but wood and stones, and nothing else, are what are crafted by men to be gods for us. For the divinely-inspired Scripture has not been silent; rather, the knowledge of the truth has been proclaimed from above, through the patriarchs, through the law, and through the prophets. For it is not the case that when the Only-begotten Word of God became man as we are, and shone upon those on the earth, that then for the first time he censured the error of being led astray. But, as I said, this accusation of idolatry was ancient. For the chorus of the saints has not ceased to denounce it, and to show it to be detestable, and to make manifest the Creator and Lord of all.

^D “He who holds the circle of the earth, and those who dwell in it are as locusts. He who set the heaven as a vault, and stretched it out as a tent in which to dwell.”

^A For as the prophet himself says somewhere: “He did not make it in vain, but to be inhabited.” Is, then, he asks, this multitude of those dwelling on the earth great before God, however immense it may be? By no means. For in comparison with the magnificence and excellence of God, they would be as locusts. Or indeed, in another way. For He holds the circle of the earth, that is, its entire compass, and those who inhabit it are nothing before Him, even though they feed upon it in swarms like locusts, and exceed all number. This is wonderful, and a great thing for the celebration and commendation of the almighty God.

Vers. 23, 24. “Who makes princes to be as nothing, and has made the earth as a void. For they shall not be planted, they shall not sow, nor shall their root take root in the ground. He has breathed upon them a wind, and they have withered, and a storm shall take them away as stubble.”

Those who were deceived by error, and were ignorant of the one who is by nature and truly God, were wont ^C not only to worship the herds of demons and to say to the wood, “You are my God,” and to the stone, “You have begotten me,” but also thoughtlessly to make men who had become renowned on the earth into gods. Thus, Sennacherib, having returned from Judea to his own land, is said to have worshipped his patriarch. For they even offered sacrifices to the dead, and calling them heroes, they enrolled them as gods. It was appropriate, therefore, since he had openly exposed the multitude of idols, to proceed to this discourse as well, and to produce faith in those who were wandering, that they should count human things as nothing. For even if some who have been famous and admirable on the earth in times past, or who have been eminent in the highest and royal thrones, or who have been deemed worthy of some other privilege of honor in those times, exist, let them in no way imagine them to be gods; but rather let them consider that this very power to command some is not given from elsewhere than from God. And that the thing is by no means difficult with the almighty God, he shows clearly when he says that princes are made by Him to be as nothing, and that they do not reign. He further amplifies, and says: To the earth

^A he reduces it as to nothing. But that it is placed in the power of God to preserve or not the memory of those who have been famous and distinguished on earth, He signifies by saying: For they shall not sow, neither shall they plant. For if God does not will it, He says, they shall have no fruit on the earth, nor even a root or memory; but, as if a wind rushed upon them, they shall vanish into nothingness, like twigs. For all human things are small, easily scattered, and utterly unstable, and wither away like grass. Therefore, God alone ^B is to be worshipped, God, I say, by nature and in truth; and let there be no account of those invented by the craft of workmen, nor indeed of men upon whom the name of gods has been attached by some. For this is necrolatry and the cult of the dead, and nothing else.

Now therefore, to whom have you likened me? And the Holy One said, I shall be exalted. Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has shown all these things: He who brings forth his host by number, he will call them all by name for his great glory, and in the might of his strength nothing has escaped Thee.

The all-wise Paul cried out not without reason ^C against the ignorance of those who wander, and he makes a most just denunciation against the multitude of those who worship idols. For when it was possible for them to know the Creator and Architect of all things from the very creation itself, they were led away into pseudo-worship, and have worshipped those who are not gods. And he said thus concerning the God who rules over all: "For his invisible things from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things." ^D Since, therefore, He says, I hold the circuit of the earth, and have stretched out the heaven as a kind of tent, and I give to princes to rule over nothing, and I liken those upon the earth to locusts, to whom have you likened me? That is to say: To whom, by likening me, would you not depart from what is reasonable, nor miss the truth? Do you think that by calling me the heaven, or by wishing to liken me to one of the elements, you are exalting me? But no creature is like to me, nor corresponds to me in everything without exception. For no one will be able to equal in terms of substance Him who calls to existence things that never were. That I am not like the gods among you, who have received their origin from human art, perceive from the creatures themselves. Lift up your eyes on high, see the firmament, the choir of the stars; consider who has shown all these things, who is the one bringing forth the world by number, it is clear that he means the heaven. And he calls the stars the world of the heaven, which he says he knows

^A in himself, not only as seen in a multitude, but also one by one, and as it were by name. This is a divine and excellent thing; indeed, the prophet marvels much at this, and addresses him saying: From great glory and in the strength of power, nothing has escaped thee. For as the holy Scripture says, The drops of rain are numbered by him. For absolutely nothing escapes this ineffable wisdom and the mind that knows all things.

VERS. 27. *For do not say, O Jacob, and why hast thou spoken, O Israel? My way is hidden from God, and my God hath taken away my judgment, and hath departed.*

He has discussed excellently how those who are wandering will be called in their own time, and, enriched by the light of truth, will recognize in mind and heart the Creator and Artificer of the universe; and how they will be wise and understanding, and from the beauty of creatures will contemplate by a certain reason and proportion him who brought all this, whatever it is, into existence by ineffable power. Having now woven together from these things a sufficiently just initiation and instruction, he transfers his speech to those who have sprung from the blood of Jacob, that is, Israel. For after they had stumbled on the stone of stumbling, and not having received the author and leader of salvation, they were far removed from the union which is with him, they murmured not now against the shadow received in the Law, but against the adoration and worship in spirit and in truth, that is, the evangelic, and they say: My way is hidden from God, that is, he does not regard the legal way of life and instruction. ^B For he deems those who live thus—namely, as the commandment of the most wise Moses enjoined—no longer worthy of his own regard. And he hath taken away my judgment, and departed, that is, he has made the Law to cease. They call the Law "judgment," which the blessed David will teach when he addresses the God of all: *Judgment and justice thou hast made in Jacob*, that is, thou hast established the Law through angels or through the intercession of Moses. And Moses also said concerning Israel: *There he gave him justifications and judgments.* He has taken away my judgment, therefore, that is, he has, so to speak, cast away the observance of the Law, and has taken it away from us, and has departed. For he no longer cares for the chosen ones, and the firstborn Israel has vanished into nothing.

VERS. 28. *And now hast thou not known, nor hast thou heard? The eternal God, the God who fashioned the ends of the earth, will neither hunger, nor will he labor, nor is there any searching of his understanding.*

For long ago, O Israel, thou wert instructed by the Law, and thou hast known through the prophets the mode of the dispensation that was to be after the Law. For the Law was brought forth, having shadows and types of future good things, and possessing the power of the mystery of Christ in the letter as if in travail; ^C for in many ways Christ was prefigured through the commandment of the Law, and the mystery concerning him was enigmatically recorded. This he himself will confirm, when he says to the disobedient Israelites: If ^D

you believed Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote of me. Since, he says, he complains, saying: "My way is not considered in the Law"—for this is what "My way is hidden from God" means—and that He has taken away our judgment, that is, the Law, and departed; as though one who had perhaps not at all known Him who is hidden in God, he says such things as these: Suppose, he says, that even now you have not known, if you have not heard? That is, if you have not listened? It is similar to if he were to say: I accept the pretense which you have constructed economically. You have not known, if you have not learned, or if you have not heard. Hear, therefore: God is eternal, God who has fashioned the ends of the earth will not hunger, nor will He weary. You were bringing forward, he says, blood sacrifices—you were sacrificing sheep and oxen, you were fulfilling vows; you were honoring Him with incense and smoke, with turtledoves and pigeons; but know, and do not be ignorant, that God who is eternal fashioned the ends of the earth. By the "ends of the earth," he means its boundaries, so that by this the whole may be understood. He will not hunger, nor will He weary. I say that this is similar to what was said to them through the voice of the Psalmist: "Shall I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?" For how, he says, do you bring sacrifices to me? As if I were hungry and accustomed to wearying from famine? Away with such foolishness. For the eternal God, who knows no corruption, will neither hunger nor weary; nor will any human things touch Him. But there is also no finding out of His understanding. For you complain, he says, saying: If you now have made the commandment through Moses, or the shadow in the Law, unacceptable, why did you establish the Law at all in the beginning? If the new things, that is, the evangelical decrees, are better than the ancient ones, why are these added to the Law itself? But do not say this, he says. For you cannot find the incomprehensible understanding, or wisdom, of God. For the commandment through Moses was indeed given; but for what, and for what cause, Paul will teach, saying that "the Law entered, that the offence might abound." And again: "For Scripture has concluded all under disobedience, that He might have mercy upon all." It is determined, therefore, to be a pointer of sin, and as it were a conviction of the weakness of all, so that, since it does not know how to justify those who have sinned, but rather condemns them, thereupon the grace of the generosity through Christ is necessarily introduced, justifying the ungodly and delivering those who are entangled in offenses from them. Therefore, there is no finding out of the understanding of God, who governs all things wisely, and who fore-showed the Law for the conviction of sin, and sent the Son from heaven, that He might justify those in sins through faith.

Giving to those who hunger strength, and to those not sorrowing, grief. For the young shall hunger, and the adolescents shall weary, and the elect shall be infirm. But those who wait for God shall exchange strength, they shall grow wings like eagles, they shall run and not weary, they shall walk and not hunger.

^A Understand this for me at once and collectively: God is eternal; God who fashioned the ends of the earth is Himself He who gives strength to the hungry. For God, being eternal, is never in need of food. Rather, He Himself gives to the hungry spiritual strength—that is to say, righteousness—and in like manner He gives sorrow to those who do not sorrow. And this you shall understand in two ways. For either because of great and extreme senselessness, and because of not having known what is pleasing to God, nor even knowing that by offending Him they would fall into grievous and unavoidable calamities, He gives them sorrow for the sake of help, so that they may henceforth grieve over those things in which they have stumbled. For the sorrow that is according to God works repentance unto salvation that is not to be repented of. ^B Or, to those who crucified Jesus—and perhaps even rejoiced in it (for the leaders of the Jews, and whoever dared to say, "His blood be upon us and upon our children," were so disposed)—He gives sorrow, having prepared them to encounter calamities and the evils of war; and because they have slipped away from intimacy with Him, they have become destitute of all strength and spiritual food. Therefore, almost as if interpreting the saying, He adds, saying: "For the young shall hunger, and the adolescents shall labor, and the elect shall be infirm." For as far as the Gentiles were concerned, who had fallen away and were weak, and were thus cast under demonic feet, and were doing without hesitation whatever seemed good to the unclean spirits, they were indeed strong and young in a sense; but clearly, in an intelligible and spiritual way, they were oppressed by hunger and labor. But as for those who, through the instruction of the Law, knew how to do good, and were once and for all fulfilling the commandment given to them, these, He says, shall hunger and shall labor—that is to say, they shall be infirm for every good work whatsoever. For a hunger for the divine words, if it happens ^C to someone, proves quite certainly that they are infirm, and listless, and unable to perform any good thing excellently and bravely. But that the Jewish nation has perished from hunger—while those who have believed in our Lord Jesus Christ have been delivered from evil—God foretells, speaking long ago through one of the prophets: "Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will bring a hunger upon the land, not a hunger of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a hunger for hearing the word of the Lord; and they shall run to and fro from east to west seeking the word of the Lord, and they shall not find it." For how were they not to be infirm, and how were they not to labor and perish with an intelligible hunger, when they did not receive Christ, even when He said clearly: "I am the living bread which descended from heaven, and gives life to the world; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever"? ^D Yet since, because of great folly, even though it was possible for them to partake, they did not eat the bread of life, they are wasted away by hunger while the Gentiles live in luxury. For it is true that, as Solomon says: "The Lord will not let the righteous soul die of hunger, but He will frustrate the life of the ungodly." But these things happened to the Jews, because they have been impious toward the Author of life. For those who wait for the Lord, that is to say, those who serve Christ and...

^A mind his will and strive to act rightly, shall renew their strength. For they have not remained in those infirmities in which they were once wandering and subjected to the yoke of Satan and to worldly pleasures, but they shall have a different strength, with Christ clearly supplying to them the ability to be superior to every loathsome pleasure and to be carried outside the snares of sin. For it is written, "My strength and my praise is the Lord." They shall be renewed then, he says, as if like eagles. And the blessed David will teach this by saying, "Thy youth shall be renewed as the eagle's." They shall run and shall not grow weary. For being eager and youthful, they shall traverse the paths of piety toward God, with Christ giving them what supports life and not allowing them to grow weary. For He fills the hearts of those who love Him with strength from above, so that even if it should happen that they fall into temptations and labors, those who live consistently with virtue overcome the labor, knowing well that patience is greatly to be desired. If this is present in some, it always makes them most approved in all things. "For patience works probation, and probation hope, and hope does not put to shame those who are accustomed to live in this way." He urges toward manliness—and it is evident that this is in all good things—when the blessed David says, "Be manly, and let your heart be strengthened, all you who hope in the Lord."

^B "Be renewed toward me, islands. For the rulers shall change their strength; let them draw near, and let them speak together, then let them announce the judgment."

Islands are understood in various ways. For there are many in the seas, and cities are also sometimes called so, even villages that have around them a wide extent of land untilled and uncultivated; they say that such are those of the Idumeans and Moabites, as being situated in a desert. But these were impious and idolaters, and not far from the region of the Jews. We say, therefore, that wanting to mark the accession of the Gentiles, and as if bringing the power of the matter from the middle to the whole, he addresses the cities of those who wander, saying: "Be renewed toward me, islands," that is, putting away the agedness and rottenness of your own hearts resulting from wandering and sinning, be renewed through repentance. Consider better things, receive the grace, which is clearly that of Christ, which renews into newness of life. It is also likely that the Churches are termed islands here in another sense, which are, as it were, set amidst worldly difficulties and are flooded by the waves of those rising up against them, but have a secure station and remain unshaken. For they have been founded upon the rock, and in it is Christ. These, therefore, were called as islands, that is, the Churches. And by them is signified the multitude called through faith, which, having been formerly given over to sins, detestable and impure, corrupt and wrinkled, has passed through Christ to newness of life and has become a virgin, pure, not ^C

^B having spot or wrinkle, but rather holy and blameless. "Therefore be renewed toward me," He says. But He also very strongly asserts the strength of the princes. Here He calls the heralds of the truth "princes," those who were substituted, one after another, after their calling, as Peter and Paul and the rest of the catalog of the apostles declare, to whom that which follows fits more aptly: "They shall mount wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not hunger." For such are the miracles which their Acts demonstrate. For the disciples of our Savior were not like those first ones—namely, the leaders of the Jews—but were endowed with another power, as if spiritual; and truly they were far better and incomparably superior in the marks of virtue. "These princes, therefore, let them draw near, and let them speak together." By "draw near," you shall understand the time. For if the right time reveals them, they shall speak together. It is just as if He were saying: All those whom they teach the mysteries will recount the same thing; as if speaking from one Spirit, they will not fight among themselves with words, but will preach with the highest harmony and consent concerning divine dogmas, and will announce the hidden mystery of Christ. For this, I think, is what it means: "Then let them announce a judgment." For since the Israelites named the law given through Moses a "judgment," for this reason, and very rightly so, by setting the evangelical and saving preaching against it, He calls it a "judgment" through these words. For truly a just judgment, and the efficacy of the lawgiving that pleases God, is shown not in the shadow of the law, but in the preaching of the holy mystagogues, the new princes. Who, having learned the judgment from Christ—that is, the will of God and the Father—have also announced it to us with one mouth and consent. ^C

VERS. 2. *Who raised up righteousness from the east, called it to his feet, and it shall go?*

Not on account of the naked and solitary magnificence of created things is it fitting to admire God, the Lord of all, but rather through the benefits by which He entices us, He gives a display of the serenity and placability that reside in Him. For He has saved mortals, and has delivered from death, and corruption, and the greed of the devil, the human race, which had been wholly lost. For He has rendered him powerless, together with the powers that are with him, and has justified us through faith, having driven away the sin that was tyrannizing against us. But all these things were excellently accomplished through Christ: "For He has become for us, from God and the Father, righteousness and redemption, and sanctification" (1 Cor. 1:30). And we have been enlightened by Him, and we have become partakers of mercy and love, and of everything at all that contributes to salvation. This also, one of the holy prophets foretold to us, when he said: "And there shall arise to you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness, and healing is in his wings" (Mal. 4:2). Who then, He says, caused righteousness to rise as if a sun from the east? That is to say, Christ. Who called it? That is, who caused it to arrive and to appear to the inhabitants of the earth, and to appear in such a way that it goes to the feet of the one who calls, and

^A that is, just about following in the footsteps of God and the Father? For in this way the Lord walked upon the earth, both by fulfilling the works of the Father and by exhibiting Him to us in His own nature. For He was and is equal to Him in power, and by the very deeds themselves He fully persuaded those on earth that He has equality of measure in every respect with the One who begat Him. And so He said clearly: "If I do not the works of my Father, do not believe me. But if I do them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works." And following in every way the will of the Father—or rather, being Himself the will of the Father—He addressed the crowds of the Jews, saying: "You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. And even if I do judge, my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of Him who sent me." You see, then, how He walks, as it were, at the feet of the Father. Therefore He also said: "I am in the Father, and the Father is in me," and, "He who has seen me has seen my Father."

Ver. 2-4. He shall give before the nations, and shall strike kings with amazement. And He shall give their swords to the earth, and their bows as cast-away stubble. And He shall pursue them, and the way of His feet shall pass in peace. Who has wrought and done these things? He called it, He who calls it from ancient generations.

For before the coming of our Savior, the inhabitants of the earth, in no way differing from brute beasts, appeared to lead their lives in great ignorance; they were held fast by ignorance and darkness, and were enslaved to the rulers of this world and to the will of the devil, having bowed the neck of their own mind, and were carried down into destruction by the tracks of wickedness. ^C But Christ shone upon them. For He Himself is the expectation of the nations. And having rescued those who were formerly occupied by them, He made them free and children of God, and wiped away every stain that was in them; for He justified them through faith, and rendered them bright and illuminated by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This righteousness, then, occupying the place of the sun, as it were, and having arisen from the east, He gave to the nations, Israel having evidently been thrust aside on account of their impiety toward Him. ^D When this had happened, and so great a multitude had been saved, the kings rose up. For an ecstasy, as it were, and a stupor has fallen upon the rulers of this world, and they have feared the divine and unbearable judgment which (I say) has come to pass among the nations. Those who were formerly terrible and strong, and who fought against the divine glory, and who were accustomed to wield weapons against it, as it were, and to draw forth swords, and to bend the bow of their madness, have fallen to the earth; and having cast aside their instruments of war, they have become like stubble. The discourse here is taken again from the likeness of things among us. For the evil powers have been defeated, and their every mode of malice has been weakened, as Christ plunders their vessels. "For it shall not profit,"

it says, "the enemy in him, and the son of iniquity shall not add to harm him." ^A For it was necessary, truly necessary, that the wicked and evil powers having been removed, and the enemy of all mankind having been cast down to the earth, then and there, and at the most opportune time, the redemption of the Gentiles should be accomplished. For Christ pursued them, that is, he put them to flight. For it was not possible for them to resist God, who also put an end to their ancient tyranny, lest those who had destroyed the earth should not suffer, in every way and altogether, the things which it was fitting should be brought upon them by Him. With the enemies, therefore, put to flight—for "the way of his feet," he says, "shall pass on in peace"—no obstacle was cast before Christ, the Savior of us all, as he managed our affairs. But as one walking on a flat and level road, he accomplished the salvation of us all, with no enemy hindering or resisting him. For they have fallen. Who, then, has wrought all these things, or who called righteousness? "Was it not I," he says, "who even now and in the last times have shown it, having called it from ancient generations?" For the mystery of Christ is not recent, but rather it was foreordained before the foundation of the world, God foreknowing what would be. For as soon as Adam fell—or rather, before he slipped into this—the Creator ^B foreknew, and he foreordained the time for the remedy that would come to him in its own proper season, that is to say, the remedy through Christ. And do not marvel that He is found to have foreknown us as justified through faith in Him. For, he says, "whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son, these he also called." Since, therefore, we were foreordained by foreknowledge, how much more was He through whom we have been saved and called?

But since we have been foreordained according to foreknowledge, how— ^C

VERS. 4-6. "I God am first, and to things future I am. The nations saw, and they feared; the ends of the earth approached, and drew near together, judging each one to his neighbor, and to his brother to help."

He declares himself to be God first, not as if there were a second after him. For how, or whence? For there is one God of all, not having a beginning to his existence, but rather he who calls all things into existence. He, therefore, is first and alone, and God without beginning, the Creator of all, and into the infinite ages which follow he will not be in any other way; for he is, and he is alone. Now, since the nations have seen Christ, and the righteousness brought to us by him, and all have seen his glory with the eyes of the mind, they have feared, he says, from the ends of the earth even to the ends, ^D that is, throughout the whole world. And they were gathered and drew near, no longer remaining far off, and as if alienated through sin, but as having become near through spiritual relationship, and brought together into one faith and consensus of soul. For this, I think, is what is signified by: "They approached, and drew near together." And having tasted of the Lord, and having understood that he is good, and having admired the beauty of the truth, they have not kept the gift to themselves alone, but—

^A they have acted well, and with fairness they have judged, each one, he says, to help his brother and his friend.

And he will say: "The craftsman and the smith who strikes the hammer, and at the same time is forging, has prevailed." Sometimes he will say: "The fusion is good. They have strengthened them with nails, they will place them, and they shall not be moved."

The manner of the help he sets before the eyes. For everyone of those who have judged to bring help to their neighbor and their brother, having been initiated into the mysteries, he says, and having known the truth, will also admonish others, saying: "The craftsman and the smith who strikes the hammer and at the same time is forging has prevailed." And in what manner has he prevailed? For having composed idols and carved them into a god, the man who possesses the experience of the craft, and furthermore the smith, having made a hammered image, brought those who are deceived into a reprobate mind, and those who were made in the image of God he has rendered worshippers of his own labors, or rather, his inventions. Then he derides the manufacture of the idols, and as it were mimics the words of those who fashion them, as they applaud one another, saying that "The fusion is beautiful." For the makers of the idols, having finished perhaps a hand, or a foot, or some other of the parts of the body, bring them to completion through the joining of parts, and by fitting limb to limb, and by making them strong with nails; then having set them up and secured them so that they might stand and not be shaken. But these things are nothing but laughter, and are proof of the vanity of those who worship them and of their sheer folly. For to know that the idol was brought to completion ^C from small fragments and parts joined together, and that it has its stability in its being brought into existence, and furthermore its persistence, and has its security in nails—and then to worship them and call them gods, how is this not truly full of all folly?

"But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, whom I have loved, whom I have taken hold of from the ends of the earth, and I have called you from its furthest bounds, and said to you: 'You are my servant, I have chosen you and have not abandoned you. Do not fear. For I am with you. Do not wander. For I am your God who has strengthened you, and I have helped you, and I have secured you with my righteous right hand.'"

Having instructed the Gentiles most beautifully in the mysteries, and having prepared them to know that there is a God and Creator of all things, and that all things yield to him and to his divine nods, and that they have come into existence in the beginning, and have been brought forth and fixed in beauty, and have a firm and unshakable persistence, he then necessarily encourages the ministers of the evangelical prophecies, through whom they were about to speak the word of instruction to those from the Gentiles. ^D He renders them wise and most courageous, and recalls to their memory the virtue of the holy fathers, and wishes them to know the love that came to be toward them. For this reason he says: "But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, whom I have loved." Jacob and Israel, and the seed of the beloved Abraham, would be none other than the Israelites who believe in Christ, of whom the divine disciples were as it were the first-fruits. Furthermore, he says that the fathers are chosen and beloved, that which as

^A it were he says: "You who are from a noble root, and so honored and loved by me, you who are from the blood of Abraham, emulate the renown of ancestral virtue, and become imitators of their piety." He says that he indeed took hold of Abraham, and called him from the ends of the earth, or rather from its watchtowers, because he was summoned from afar and from the land of the Chaldeans to Judea. For he heard God saying: "Go forth from your land, and from your kindred, and from the house of your father, and come into the land which I will show you." And then he speaks as if about the whole of Israel, that "I said to you: You are my servant." For he has been named first-born. ^B He has indeed become chosen, as I said, and was not abandoned by God. He heard: "Do not fear," and furthermore: "Do not wander. For I am your God who strengthened you." For he was instructed through the law that God is one, and Lord is one, and that one must worship him alone, and that he is assisted by him also through his right hand, which is his creating and fashioning power, that is to say, the Son. And he was in safety, and immune from all plots. For he conquered the nations, and inherited their land.

VERS. 11-14. Behold, all who oppose you will be ashamed and confounded. For they will be as though they are not, and all your adversaries will perish. You will seek them, and will not find the men who will rage against you. For they will be as though they are not, and there will be no one fighting against you, because I am your God, who holds your right hand, who says to you: "Do not fear, worm Jacob, little Israel. I have assisted you," says God, who redeems you, the Holy One of Israel. ^C

This also is a rendering of the things above. "For you, Israel, are my servant," he says, "and Jacob, whom I chose, the seed of Abraham whom I loved. Behold, all who oppose you will be ashamed and confounded." For very many have existed at various times who have wickedly plotted against the holy teachers of the mysteries, and have attempted to oppose the saving proclamations out of their own perversity. But they have become as nothing, and the adversaries of piety have perished. For in that they have clamored against the ministers of divine preaching, they were contending for nothing other than to resist the dogmas and opinions of piety. "They will not exist, therefore," he says, "but you will seek them, and you will by no means find those who have acted outrageously toward you. For they will ^D be as though they are not." And this is that which is sung by the voice of the blessed David: "I saw the impious one lifted up and exalted like the cedars of Lebanon, and I passed by, and behold he was not, and I sought him, and his place was not found." For many who are accustomed to think haughty things do indeed exalt themselves against the age of holy bishops, but they will be destroyed root and branch from the earth, as the holy Scripture says. And those who think haughty things will suffer a grievous and unexpected ruin. For it is written: "Whoever makes his house high, seeks ruin." Therefore, he says,

^A you will not have those who war against you. Nor, indeed, does he say that no one will ever stand against the holy apostles, nor that they will always live in splendor and tranquility. For this is not true; countless numbers have fought against them, but they shall not even be found to exist—cast down, clearly, and falling under the surges of divine wrath.

For this reason, he encourages them toward courage, saying: "I am your God, who holds your right hand," that is, who sustains you and renders you superior to all temptations. "I," he says, "who say to you: Fear not, Jacob, little Israel." For as far as the multitude of those warring, or the powers of the world are concerned, Israel was entirely small; and I do not speak of the whole nation, but of those taken by him for the apostleship. Yet he who saves them is great, strong, and mighty to bring aid, having an unconquerable hand. For when God redeems, who is able to do harm ^B?

"Behold, I have made you as the wheels of a threshing wagon, new, like a whirlwind. And you shall thresh the mountains, and beat the hills small, and make them as dust, and the wind shall take them, and the storm shall scatter them." The children of the Egyptians, having brought sheaves from the fields to the threshing floor, then yanking oxen onto them and driving them in a circle, crush the ears of corn with their hooves. And they winnow and separate the wheat from the chaff, but they also use wagons and wheels like whirlwinds in other cities and regions. They have made it their practice to accomplish this very thing. Behold, therefore, he says, O Israel, I have made you like the wheels of a threshing wagon, new, like a whirlwind. And what is to be threshed? Is it grains and wheat, and the things gathered from the fields to the threshing floor? By no means, but mountains and hills. And who, then, might these be? First, ^C the evil and opposing powers. For the Savior of all has given us [the authority] to tread upon snakes and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy. Then, he seems to compare to mountains and hills those who are accustomed to think haughty thoughts, who have a puffed-up and elevated mind, who are set firmly in worldly powers and who set themselves against the holy mystagogues, and, like mountains or hills, are accustomed to stand in the way, making it as difficult as possible for them—making it difficult, I say, to fulfill the course of the apostleship in due time. But those who are such, he says, you will crush, and you will make them fly away like chaff, scattered by the breezes ^D of the winds, and you will give them over like a storm, so that it scatters them. For thus will they depart into nothingness.

"But you shall rejoice in the holy ones, Israel. And the poor and the needy shall exult. For they shall seek water, and there shall be none, and their tongue has dried up from thirst."

^A I am the Lord God, I the God of Israel will hearken, and I will not forsake them.

The enemies of the divine preaching, he says, and those who impede your path, O Israel, shall depart into destruction. But you shall rejoice in the holy ones, Israel; that is, you shall take delight when you see many having become holy and counted among the sons of Israel. "For not all who are from Israel, these are Israel; nor because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children; but the children of the promise are reckoned for seed." That it was the custom for the holy apostles to rejoice and exult over those who were approved and rendered notable—clearly through faith in Christ—Paul also clarifies, writing to them and saying: "My joy and crown." And I would say that each of the holy disciples was also disposed in the same manner, and indeed with very good reason. For the cause of their supreme pleasure was the conversion of those who were wandering, and the restoration to a better state of those who did not know the truth. You shall rejoice, therefore, in the holy ones, Israel. And he reveals who these are, saying: "The poor and the needy shall exult," that is, the nations. For they were in need of every good thing, and entirely devoid of divine gifts. For those who are wholly ignorant of Him must necessarily lack the ornaments of virtue. The poor, therefore, and the needy shall exult. How, or in what manner? "For they shall seek water," he says, "and it shall not be, and their tongue has dried up from thirst." By "shall seek," in these words, he means "they have sought." For since they did not find it, their tongue dried up from thirst. For there existed among the Greeks many philologists, and disputants, and searchers after truth; but there was no one among them who knew how to teach these things. There was no life-giving water. There was no one who could satiate those who love the truth with the dogmas of truth. Therefore their tongue dried up from thirst. "But I will hearken to them," says the God of Israel, "and I will not forsake them." For He had mercy on the multitude of those who were wandering, and did not leave them in this want of heavenly gifts; rather, He filled them, and how He did so, He clarifies quite beautifully in what follows. ^C

Verse 18-20. But I will open rivers on the mountains, and fountains in the midst of the plains; I will turn the desert into marshes, and the thirsty land into watercourses. I will set in the land lacking water the cedar, and the box tree, and the myrtle, and the cypress, and the poplar, that they may see and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord has done all these things, and the Holy One of Israel has shown them.

He calls the region of the nations a desert and a land lacking water. A desert, because it was, in a certain way, stripped bare and deserted, and destitute of the most flourishing trees—meaning, of course, those understood in an intellectual sense—but seen only as a nurse of thorns, and a mother of wild woods, and things suitable for consumption by fire. These nations once

^A bore fruit, but to those who formerly thirsted, He says: "I will open rivers on the mountains," meaning clearly the holy men who have been enriched from above with the divine word, and who pour it forth like river streams to the thirsty, and as it were make it gush out. So that the desert, having one day changed its appearance, seems to be marshes and woods, and the land that thirsts becomes channels. And these channels, again, might be the mystagogues and teachers of the churches who have arisen at various times in every land and city; they, who as if from the springs and rivers of the divinely inspired Scripture have received the word into their minds and hearts as into a dwelling, transfer it to others, just like certain channels watering the most flourishing gardens. But in what way the desert will be changed into marshes, and of what trees it will be the nurse, He teaches, saying: "I will set in the waterless land the cedar, and the box, and the myrtle, and the cypress, and the poplar." And all these are sweet-smelling and incorruptible trees. There is added also to the saints a fragrance, understood intellectually through a holy manner of life; and the fact that they do not decay, having been ^B set apart, not relaxed into worldly desires, but standing firm and rooted in God, and supported by His assistance. For "The Lord upholds the righteous," as it is written. "There shall be," He says, "rivers, and springs, and channels, even on mountains and plains, and as it were everywhere." And the desert shall become marshes, so that those who are called through faith may see even with their own eyes, and recognize through good thoughts, and indeed learn from the magnificence of the deeds done and the unexpected change, that such great and celebrated things do not tend to be accomplished simply or automatically. For the hand of the Lord has rather shown them—that is, the power and authority of God, to wit, the Son, through whom all things have been and are—and by whom all things have already been done and have been wondrously wrought by the Father. For it is not falsely named gods, nor cosmic elements, nor even the one who is thought to be the God of this age, who has proved to be the worker of these things, but the Holy One of Israel has shown them.

"Your judgment draws near," says God; "your counsels have drawn near," says the King of Jacob.

Having spoken very well concerning how the calling of the nations will be in its own time, and having promised to turn the desert into marshes, and to render the thirsty land thick with channels, ^C cedars, box, and the other trees, and saying that His own hand would be an object of wonder, as the creator of such great things, He again enters into a dialogue with the makers of idols and the artisans of such things, and says that their judgment is near. And by judgment he means either the punishment due to them, or [the equivalent] shame and embarrassment. For they might be punished by the holy vote of God and by a just judgment, as they have deceived that which is under heaven and have brought in counsels that are not true. For they taught those upon the ^D earth...

For the inhabitants of the earth have taught ^A them to say to the wood: You are my father; and to the stone: You have begotten me. Hence he says that their counsels have drawn near, that is, have come to an end, for God shakes off the error and dissipates the darkness of ignorance—not a god from among those falsely so-called by them, we mean, but the Lord and God in truth, and the King of Jacob, that is, of those who are of the blood of Israel. Through these words, he recalls to memory the signs that were wrought for the deliverance of the Israelites, out of which the divine authority belonging to Him and the power of His incomparable excellence is very well recognized.

Vers. 22-24. Let them approach, and announce to you what shall occur; or what the former things were; tell us, and we will apply our mind, and we shall know what are the last things, and what are the things to come. Tell us, announce the things that come in the last time, and we shall know that you are gods. Do good, and do evil, and we shall marvel, and see at the same time, whence you are, and whence your work is: out of the earth the abomination has chosen you. ^B

It is proper and peculiar to the divine and ineffable glory to know all things, and to be ignorant of absolutely nothing, whether of things past, or of things present, or of things to come. And indeed, through the most wise Moses, He makes clear to the inhabitants of the earth those things that were before the founding of this world, and those that were in the beginning, saying: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was invisible and unarranged, and darkness was upon the abyss." And he goes through the creation of the entire world with the greatest precision. But also our Lord Jesus Christ, who long ago spoke those things ^C through Moses, has announced to us what is to happen in the last times; for as His disciple says: "We look for new heavens and a new earth, and His promises." It is also possible to hear Him saying clearly: "Shall anything be hidden from me?" For "the Word of God is truly living, and effective, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and reaching even unto the division of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and there is no created thing invisible before Him, but all things are naked and laid open to His eyes." Since, therefore, He is God, He saves and benefits, and fills with all spiritual joy, those who worship Him; but He harms and brings punishment upon those who are accustomed to despise Him, ^D and who refuse to do good. But nothing of these things can one see in those made of stone. For what does inanimate matter know? Or how could they do good to anyone, or even do evil, which are not able to help even themselves, but receive from others the fact that they stand and that they are merely seen? Let them come, therefore, he says, those who are thought by you to be gods; let them announce what shall occur, let them say the former things, and the last, and the things to come. For we shall know then, he says, that you are gods. But you cannot, he says, announce;

^A nor is it difficult to see whence you are, and whence your work: for you are an abomination made from the earth. For either the idol might be made from wood, for instance, or from some famous and select stone, or from some other material; but all these things are from the earth. And it is necessary, I think, to be utterly amazed at the worshippers of idols, if they have not even known this from them, namely, where their affairs will ever end. For they have not known, nor have they previously announced, that they themselves will be burned up along with their temples, and will lie as a laughingstock for the times that follow, even to those who formerly wandered.

VERS. 25. Ego vero excitavi eum qui ab aquilone, et eum qui ab ortu solis: vocabuntur nomine meo. ^B

For the swarm of unclean idols, since they were nothing else but only wood and stones, have led those who were deceived into error; and they have announced to them absolutely nothing of the former or the last things, nor have they been able to benefit anyone with good things, or even to harm them. But I, he says, since I am a good God, have willed that all men should be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth. I have saved [all] under heaven, and I have raised many who were lying as if dead. And who, pray, might these be? He teaches, saying: Him who is from the north, and him from the rising of the sun, that is, the people from the Gentiles. ^C For if you look toward the region of the Jews, which faces most toward the south, the land of the Gentiles is more northerly, and occupies a place that looks toward the sun’s ray. Therefore, he who is from the north and from the rising of the sun could be the people from the Gentiles, who have been called by the name of Christ. For we are named Christians, and we are such. ^D For he acquired us with his own blood, and we have been bought with a price, and we are not our own. For one died for all, in order that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised. Therefore we say as to our own Savior and Redeemer: O Lord, besides you we know no other, we invoke your name. We have been called, then, by his name, and this was, after all, what was spoken through the voice of the prophet: But for those who serve me a new name shall be called, which shall be blessed upon the earth. It seems, he says, that he means Christ by the "rising of the sun," for the reason that it has been written about him: "Behold the man, whose name is the East [Oriens]." And again, as God and Father saying concerning him: "Who raised up righteousness from the East?" For Christ has become for us righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption besides.

VERS. 26. Veniant principes, et ut lutum figuli, et ut figulus conculcans lutum, sic conculcabimini. Quis enim annuntiabit ea quæ a principio, ut cognoscamus ea quæ ad faciem sunt? Et dicemus quod verum sit. Nullus est qui prædicat, neque qui audiat sermones vestros. For by the will of God, the multitude of idols was to be burned, and by the feet of the believers, like mud con-

^A trodden under foot. For they have been trampled, either as dust, or as the potter’s clay, and being nothing else beside this. For their birth was from the earth. That all these things were to be brought to an end at the proper time, by the saints who wage war and who serve the divine will with youthful alacrity, He declares by saying: *Come, ye princes*, that is, let the leaders of the peoples be designated, who recall those believing in Me from error, and who arm them against the inanimate gods. For who among them, He says, will announce things from the beginning, that we may know, or things from before, that upon the fulfillment of what was spoken, we may assent and prove that they have spoken the truth? But, He says, there is not among the falsely named gods, that is, among the unclean spirits, one who foretells; nor is there among men ^B one who hears your words. For formerly, throughout the districts and cities, in the shrines of idols, there were false divinations and false predictions of demons, tripods and cauldrons, and an innumerable multitude of those accustomed to deceive, and many went to seek oracles from them. But when the Word of God shone upon us, the idols in the shrines fell, and the deceiving demons were silenced; or rather, they were even sent into Hades and are kept in Tartarus. But they who formerly held their words in esteem have been called to the recognition of the truth. Which He teaches by saying: *Neither is there any who hears your words.*

VERS. 27, 28. *I will give a principality to Sion, and I will console Jerusalem on the way. For behold, there is no one from the nations, and from their idols there was none who would announce. And if I ask them, Whence are you? They will not answer me. For your makers are but vanity, and those who deceive you in vain.*

He promises again the manifestation of the Savior, through whom the whole world has been saved, and the multitude of those who wander has been called to the recognition of the truth. For that we might have an instructor who knows how and is able to lead to the path of salvation, the only-begotten Word of God became man. ^C And although He is King by nature (insofar as He is also understood as God and from God the Father, ruling over all things and subjecting creation beneath His feet), yet He is said to be constituted and chosen King over us. For it is written concerning Him: *Behold, a just king shall reign, and princes shall rule with judgment.* For Christ has reigned and ruled over the world. And He renders this manifest to us when He says: *All power is given to Me in heaven and on earth.* For although He possessed power over the universe as God, because of the economy of the flesh He says that those things were given to Him which He had as God. Having obtained the kingdom, therefore, He set over us the holy apostles as princes, who also ruled over us with judgment, that is, with justice. I will give therefore, He says, to Sion, that is, to the Church, or to the multitude of the believers, the saving ^D principality, that is, Christ. And I will console Jerusalem, which is again the entrance of the Church. I will console

^A you, for we are strengthened through Christ, and we have been taught the path that leads to eternal life. For among the gentiles, he says, behold there is no one, and among their idols there was none who could announce it. For there have been very many among the Greeks [who were] wise and eloquent, but there was no one among them who was able to teach the way to piety. Their shrines were full of idols, but there was no one among the idols, that is, among the falsely named gods, who could announce the path of usefulness, or guide [one] into the way of righteousness. Indeed, I say this: not even if they were asked, he says, "Whence are you?" could they answer. But those who do not know themselves—for they are mute matter and devoid of senses—how could they become guides for others? Or how could they show to any at all that which leads to benefit? For there are, indeed there are [those] who make you, fashioning falsely named gods, ^B and they in turn deceive you who worship them.

Jacob my servant, I will take hold of him; Israel my elect, my soul has accepted him. I have given my spirit upon him. He will bring forth judgment to the gentiles. He will not cry out, nor will he relax, nor will his voice be heard outside. A bruised reed he will not break, and smoking flax he will not quench, but he will bring forth judgment unto truth. He will shine, and he will not be broken, until he places judgment on the earth, and in his name the gentiles and nations shall hope.

It has been promised beforehand, saying, "I will give a principality to Zion," and he shows clearly what this is. For there has been ordained over the intelligible Zion, that is, over the Church, a prince and guide, not ascending to the principality ^C at that time when he is said to be brought to this. For the Word from the Virgin was and is always King and Lord of all. But since he became man, he makes the measure of humanity his own. For thus we can believe truly and without doubt that he has become as we are. Therefore, even if it is said that he received power over all, the "receiving" will be of the economy in the flesh, not of his divine superiority, according to which he is understood to be the Lord of all. And he calls him Jacob and Israel, as born according to the flesh from the blood of Jacob, who was also surnamed Israel. He says, furthermore, "I will take hold," and he names [him] the elect. For the Father was working with the Son, and was performing the wonders as by His own power. He is also truly ^D elect, because he is fair in beauty above the sons of men, and acceptable as one who is beloved, in whom God and Father was well pleased. He said therefore: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." That he is anointed according to the human [nature], and is said to have shared in the Holy Spirit—even though he himself gives the Spirit and sanctifies the creation—he will make clear by saying: "I have given my spirit upon him." For [he says that] to him, when he was baptized, the Spirit descended from heaven in the form of a dove and remained upon him. But if at the time in which he is baptized he receives the Spirit, according to the measure of humanity,

this would belong to the other things as well. For he is not sanctified as God when he receives the Spirit—since he himself, as I have said, is the one who sanctifies—but rather as he appeared ^A as man, in the way of the dispensation. He has been anointed, therefore, so that he might bring forth judgment to the nations. By judgment, he means righteous judgment among them; for he has justified them by condemning Satan who had seized them. And he himself taught us this, saying, "Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." For he has passed sentence upon the ruin of the usurper, as I said, of the world below, and by a holy judgment he has saved those who had been deceived. "But he shall not cry out," he says, "nor shall he raise his voice, nor will his voice be heard outside." For the Savior and Lord of all sojourned among us in great subjection and humility, and as it were without noise, and injuring no one, but in silence and quiet, so that he did not crush the bruised reed, nor extinguish the smoking flax; that is, he did not trample with his foot upon those who were most abject and most accustomed to endure harm with great cowardice. What, then, will he do, and what will he accomplish for the nations? "He will bring forth judgment in truth." By judgment here, he seems to mean the Law. For it is written concerning Israel and the God who rules over all, that "he gave him commandments and judgment there"; and again, "Thou hast executed judgment and righteousness in Jacob." He will therefore bring forth this judgment, or Law, which was in shadows and types, into the truth of the evangelical ^B decrees, through which he has revealed the way of the life pleasing to him, and has transferred the worship of the Law from the letter into the truth. But the wretched Jews have raged against him, and have dared to afflict him with the death of the flesh. Yet he shone forth as light, and he was not crushed; that is, he was not conquered by corruption, nor did the madness of those who laid snares for him prevail. For death is undone, and he has revived in a divine manner, and has trampled upon his enemies, and his passion has become an occasion of salvation for the whole world. "He shall not be bruised, therefore, until he set judgment in the earth." And do not suppose that he is defining some time after which he will be bruised, after he has set judgment on the earth; but he says rather that he will prevail over his adversaries, and will conquer to such a degree that he will set his judgment in the whole earth. For the Gospel has been heralded through all the earth, and his decrees have been as it were firmly fixed. For it is written, "Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is truth." "The nations," he says, "shall hope in his name." For having recognized that he is truly God, even if he has appeared in the flesh, they shall make him their hope, as the Psalmist says: "In his name shall they rejoice all the day." For we have been called Christians, and in him we have all our hope. ^C

VERS. 5-7. Thus says the Lord God, who made the heaven and fixed it, who established the earth and what is in it, and who gave breath to the people who are upon it, and spirit to those who trample it: I, the Lord God, have called thee... ^D

in righteousness, and will hold thy hand, and will strengthen thee. And I have given thee for a covenant of the race, for a light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to lead the bound out of their chains, and those sitting in deep darkness out of the prison house.

^B Pseudoprophets and false vates were numerous in Israel at different times. Because of this, it happened that those who were sent by God, and who truly were prophets and accustomed to speaking in the Holy Spirit, were not believed. And the paradoxical thing is that Christ himself was mocked, as if he were not sent by God, as if he were not truly holy, and as if he did not perform those miraculous deeds by the prerogative of divinity. For the leaders of the Jews, although they saw his wonders, would sometimes claim he cast out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons; and other times they would say to one another: "If this man were from God, he would not have broken the Sabbath." Yet against these things, Christ often tried to defend himself and to prove that he was not like those who were merely thought to have been sent by God according to opinion. Therefore he said: "The thief does not come except to steal, and to slay, and to destroy. I came that they might have life." And again: "I came in the name of my Father." ^C Therefore, so that he might have the heavenly Father himself as his witness, he said also through the holy prophets, usefully and necessarily: "I the Lord God, who fixed the heaven, who made the earth most stable and unshaken, who live and give life, and give breath to all. I, the Lord and God of all, have called thee in righteousness." For he says he did not come of his own accord, like those pseudoprophets who speak from their own heart and not from the mouth of the Lord: "But I have called thee," that is, I have brought thee forth in righteousness according to my own good pleasure. "I will hold thy hand, and will strengthen thee," that is, I will be a helper to thee, and I will show thee to be all-powerful. And we do not mean by this that the Father knew the Son to be infirm and weak and in need of assistance. For he is the Lord of hosts, and the unconquered right hand of the Father, through whom all things were brought into existence. But he speaks these words again as if to one of our own condition, insofar as he appeared as man, and seems in a way, because of his humanity, to be strengthened by the Father. For thus he is said to have raised him up, and to have granted him glory, and to have rendered him stronger than the snares of those who sought to kill him. For if he humbled himself, and voluntarily allowed himself ^D to descend into [the state of] emptying, it is necessary that both the manner and measure of the emptying should appear, and that his humility be understood from the deeds themselves. See, however, how he speaks of him as if of a man: "I will hold thy hand and I will strengthen thee," and yet he immediately shows him to be God by nature, and truly the Son, and light from light. "For I have given thee," he says, "for a covenant of the race, for a light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind." For the only-begotten Word of God came into this world with flesh, and to the men of his own race, that is, of Israelitish blood (for it is from them that he appeared according to

the flesh, having been born of a woman), he gave the new covenant, which had long been foretold by the voice of the prophets. He became also a light to the Gentiles. And this, too, is worthy of God; for to be the lawgiver, and to render void the shadow of the all-wise Moses, and to add new things to the ancient ones with a most divine authority, and, furthermore, to be able to illuminate those who walk in darkness and to open the eyes of the blind—for the divine and heavenly light shone forth upon the nations—how could this not be a clear proof and argument that he is both God and by nature from God? ^A And that Christ went and preached to the spirits in Hades, and appeared to those held in the house of custody, and liberated them all from chains, and necessity, and punishment, and justice, he further proceeds to show, when he says, bringing out prisoners from chains and those sitting in darkness from the house of custody. ^B

Verses 8, 9. *I am the Lord thy God; this is my name. My glory I will not give to another, nor my virtues to graven images. Things from the beginning, behold, they have come; and new things, which I will announce, and before they are announced, they have been indicated to you.*

For he is properly and truly and alone the Maker of all things, as he is also called by us. And as the all-wise Paul says: *For though there be many that are called gods and lords, whether in heaven or on earth, yet to us there is but one God and Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.* ^C Since, however, he has presented himself to us as the author of great and wonderful things, he says that he will not give his glory or his divine virtues to inanimate idols, nor indeed to any other creature, but has reserved them for himself alone. For it is not consistent that the glory of the divinity should belong to any other substance, except to that nature alone which is ineffable and above all things. But when he says that he will give his glory to no one, he has given it to the Son; for he is glorified, just as indeed the Father is who is worshipped in heaven and on earth. How, then, did he give it to one who is not another from himself, by reason of equality of substance, although each is distinguished into his own subsistence? For the nature of the supreme divinity is one, understood and worshipped in three distinct subsistences by those who are accustomed to think aright. ^D When he says, *Things from the beginning, behold, they have come; and new things, which I will announce, and before they are announced, they have been indicated to us*, he does not permit the word of the Savior to be disbelieved by us in any point at all. For just as, he says, the things spoken from the beginning concerning his advent were brought to their end, so will those things also come to pass in truth which he calls "new," and they are indicated before they become manifest. And what are these? For our Lord Jesus Christ has promised us the life of the world to come, which is, obviously, in incorruption, and sanctification, and righteousness, the kingdom of heaven: a glorious participation in spiritual goods, the fruits of probity, the rewards of piety, and charity toward

the crown itself. May we attain this, by his grace and kindness! And through him and with him, may there be glory to God and the Father, with the Holy Spirit, unto eternity. Amen.

BOOK FOURTH. ORATION I.

^B God the Lord has appeared among us, as it is in the Scriptures, and by him the flock of the wandering has been netted for the grace that is through faith. For he was the expectation of the nations, and through him God and the Father has called those who were living in the mist and darkness of mind and understanding to the light of truth. And he made this clear to us by the preceding words, saying briefly: "I the Lord God have called you in righteousness, and I will hold your hand, and will strengthen you, and I have given you as a covenant of the race, as a light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to lead the bound out of their chains, and those sitting in deep darkness out of the house of custody." ^C For our Lord Jesus Christ has been set by God and the Father as a covenant of the race according to the flesh, I mean of those from Israel, to whom also God of old promised through a certain prophet, saying: "Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will consummate upon the house of Israel and upon the house of Judah a new covenant, not according to the covenant which I covenanted with their fathers." For Moses, the inspired, was a minister of shadow and type, bearing the measure and person of a suppliant; but Christ, as Son and Lord, has become the mediator of a new covenant. Of the new, I say, which reforms man unto the newness of a holy life, and, through the evangelical manner of living, demonstrates him to be a proven and true worshipper. "For God," he says, "is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." ^D Therefore he is set as a covenant of the race, and as a light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, and to lead the bound out of their chains. For Satan, the first author of evil, darkened the hearts of the nations; "for they became vain in their reasonings, and professing to be wise they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and of quadrupeds, and of reptiles." But the true light, that is to say, Christ, has risen for us as an intelligible morning star, and as the sun of righteousness, having spread the ray of true knowledge of God, bringing him who was held in the devil's deception...