will grant, he says, to them what He promised. For they shall be called the fathers of many nations, not only of those who are children by the blood of Israel, but also of those who are marked out by promise. These are those who, from faith, and from that which is called uncircumcision, and from legal circumcision, are mingled, as it were, into a spiritual unity. For it is written: “Not all who are of Israel are Israelites, but the children of the promise are reckoned as seed.” For whoever are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. And the manner of the blessing can be understood as the grace in Christ, through whom, and in whom, to God and the Father be glory, with the Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen. [Rom. ix, 8]
OF OUR HOLY FATHER CYRIL, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA, EXEGETICAL COMMENTARY ON THE PROPHET NAHUM. PROEM.
A I. Each of the holy prophets was taken up for some useful and important, or even necessary matter, in accordance with the times, that he might offer himself as an instrument to the divine will, and carry the voices from above down to men. And some, indeed, by frightening the sinning Israel, announced to him the calamities that were to befall him, and openly threatened that, unless they chose to do what is pleasing to God, they would not escape terrible and unavoidable evils. Others, bringing into view the very things that had already happened, and sympathizing opportunely with those who had suffered, persuaded them to desire to live a more temperate and honest life, and so, finally, to ward off the divine wrath. Others filled the afflicted Israel with good hope, and disposed them to the view that, since they were wretchedly tormented by their own sins, their affairs would—
through the mercy, grace, and power of God, who easily shapes all things into whatever form He wills, return once more to their original state and they would be happy and blessed. A similar scope to this A is seen in the treatise now before us. For after the land of the Jews had been captured, and they, having been taken by the spear, had been carried off to the Persians and Medes, because they had vexed with extraordinary defections God, who was always their leader and protector B and who had shown them to be stronger than their adversaries; those who had already suffered this, bound by the evils of captivity, continued on in an unbearable misery. As for those who had barely managed to escape the noose and elude the savagery of the Babylonians, they were cast into incessant terrors and great suspicion, lest they, too, might perhaps fall into the same or even worse evils, because the Almighty God had not yet laid aside His indignation. C And they had reached such a point of fear that they were scattered throughout the provinces of neighboring nations, and were almost serving for hire, and this to aliens and idolaters. And the matter was not without loss for them. For they were learning to live by their customs, and to make that which they saw worshiped among each of them into their own god. For this reason, the God of all things Himself, at the time when Jerusalem had been burned by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, commanded those who had been saved not to go down into Egypt, D but rather to remain at home and hold to the worship of their fathers, with Him as their helper. Therefore, so that the Israelites might foster the hope of eventually returning to their own lands, and might shake off their great torpor and sloth, and might in their captivity rather pray for the removal of their condemnation, and always be intent on their vows, choosing to worship Him who was able to deliver and rescue them—and that those who dwelt in Judea might no longer have commerce with the regions of the Gentiles—the prophet receives a vision from God against Nineveh. Now this city was the chief city of the Assyrians; and he predicts that it will fall, with the whole region devastated along with it, which is exactly what came to pass when Cyrus, the son of Cambyses and Mandane, incited the Persians, Medes, Elamites, and certain other nations against the Ninevites. For he took it by force and valor, and released Israel from servitude, and ordered them to return home along with the sacred vessels. This, then, is the aim of the treatise before us. We shall provide the rest, as well as we can, item by item.
CHAP. I
VERS. 1. The burden of Nineveh, the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
II. He first sets down the scope of the prophecy, and usefully declares to what and to whom it looks. Then he makes clear who is speaking, and from where. For he says "burden," that is, the prophecy that has been received and lies in our hands, should be understood not of any others more than of Nineveh; whether it be that the prophecy [index: entries preserved]
A is inscribed, "The vision of Nahum," from Elcese. There is no doubt that this was a village of the Judean region. For we understand the name "Elcesaean" to be derived from the place or country rather than from a father. We say this, having the tradition from those who have read it.
Vers. 2-3. *God is jealous, and the Lord avengeth; the Lord avengeth with fury, the Lord avengeth his adversaries, and he taketh away his enemies. The Lord is longsuffering, and his power is great, and he will not leave any one innocent.*
III. The discourse is recondite and profound, and not easy to understand, except only for those who are willing to investigate carefully what is in it. If we take these things as spoken only to the Jews, we shall find a consolation benignly tempered with moderate rebuke. But if any one thinks that these things are said against Nineveh, the thought of the theory will turn to something else, and will suggest and confirm, even for those who have suffered capture, the hope of rising up again. Let us, therefore, set forth as an undoubted goal the meaning of both. For the Jews, having repelled the love of God, and having despised piety toward him, rushed altogether into the worship of many gods and absurd errors, and a life alien to their law; they built altars, they placed shrines for the works of their own hands, they offered ceremonies and sacrifices to Astarte, to Chemosh, B to Baal-peor, to the golden calves, and, what is more irrational than these, they dedicated to them songs by which they gave thanks for benefits. For the wretches said in their madness: "These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt." But in such an unspeakable and impious deed, they did not perceive that they were provoking against themselves the Protector and Savior, God, C whose enemies and foes they became, committing themselves to those who by nature are not gods, although Moses had long been crying out about God, that he is both a jealous God, and a consuming fire, and that he would not suffer them to make molten images. For he foretold: "They have provoked me with that which is no god, they have angered me with their idols, and I will provoke them with those which are no people, I will anger them with a foolish nation." Since, therefore, they had offended in many ways, they deservedly perished. This is what the prophet also says now, almost indignant at what has happened to the peoples of the Jews, while at the same time rebuking and consoling. For he says, you are grieved, having unexpectedly suffered devastation, and being driven from D your homes and region and cities, you who were always conquering your adversaries. You have also been brought under the feet of enemies. And then, how was it not necessary to think before the experience, "That God is a jealous God, and the Lord avengeth with fury, and the Lord avengeth his adversaries, and taketh away his enemies"? Behold, he says, we also have been taken away, and removed from the midst, and delivered into the hands of enemies. But he has placed us among enemies. For we have impiously fought against the Almighty, and have departed into all things that were displeasing to him.
A But you will say, "The Lord is long-suffering." Yes, I myself agree, for he is such by nature. "Yet he will not treat the innocent as innocent," that is, he will not entirely exempt those by whom he is offended from accusations and judgment, and this without end or measure. For he delays his anger out of innate gentleness, and sometimes endures those who transgress, waiting for their repentance. But those who delay and avoid it for a long time, he finally punishes, and chastises those who have hardened themselves. Thus, then, our argument will proceed, and this sentiment will be understood as referring to the Jews. But if it is directed against Nineveh, we shall think of it differently. For the Assyrians captured the land of the Jews, with God permitting the victory to them, because the people of Israel were covered in a multitude of sins. But they were savage and arrogant, and possessed an entirely rustic mind, and they ceased not in the least, but almost trampled upon the very glory of God with harsh and accursed words. B For they thought that they had conquered even against his will, and at the same time had prevailed over the hand that defended the Jews. Consequently, the Rabshakeh used blasphemous words, saying those things to those on the wall of Jerusalem which it befits only the tongues of those who do not know the true and natural God to utter. But he immediately paid the penalty for his arrogance. However, having captured the cities in Samaria, those around Shalmaneser, and having burned others along with them, they acted arrogantly over the captives, and behaved insolently toward the divine glory. The prophet therefore consoles the grieving masses of the Jews not moderately, and teaches that the God of all will entirely and in every way exact judgment upon those who fought against them, saying: "God is a jealous God, and the Lord takes vengeance with wrath; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries, and he cuts off his enemies themselves. The Lord is long-suffering, and his power is great." C For he will prevail, he says, having invincible power, and he will conquer those who have injured him. For even if he is long-suffering, and for the time being is seen to be forbearing, yet in the end "he will not treat them as innocent," for he is a jealous God. And we shall find that the very God of all was not lightly moved to anger over what those from Israel suffered through the cruelty of the Babylonians. For he said through the voice of Jeremiah to the multitude or city of the Babylonians: "I gave them into your hands, but you did not show them mercy." And indeed, he says through the voice of Zechariah: "I have been jealous for Jerusalem and for Sion with great jealousy, and I am very angry with the nations that have joined in the affliction, because I was a little angry, but they have joined in for evil." D As for "God is a jealous God," and what follows, one might fittingly apply it to those who do not wish to walk the upright and good path of divine love, but incline rather to choose to live carnally. For that he will take vengeance, subjecting them to punishments and submitting them to penalties.
A Indeed, it is not at all to be doubted that he will cast down the unbridled and the wicked, since it is a true saying: "For we must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive according to what he has done in the body, whether it be good or bad." Nevertheless, this discourse may also not improperly be applied to the teachers of the Jews, the Scribes, I mean, and the Pharisees, who, having thrust aside faith in Christ, were convicted of destroying both themselves and others. For they were malevolent, and they opposed the economy of the Only-Begotten in the flesh, and they received the "key of knowledge," as He Himself says, and neither did they enter in themselves, nor have they permitted others to enter. Therefore, although He is long-suffering, He will certainly not hold them guiltless who have waged war against the true faith.
"The Lord, in consuming and in shaking is His way, and clouds are the dust of His feet."
B IV. The prophet, being about to foretell the overthrow of Nineveh for the consolation of those who had been afflicted, and to indicate to those who had suffered injustice that its destruction would be brought about by God, appropriately teaches first the most mighty strength of the divine nature, and that whatever it has rightly intended to accomplish is devoid of mutability and inconstancy; but rather that all things will follow most readily, and that God has the power to do what has seemed good to Him, even if in some of our earthly matters it might seem difficult to be accomplished by us and those like us. For the Jews supposed that the Babylonians could not be subdued, and that they possessed such unconquerable strength that, even if God willed it, they could not grow weak and fail before their enemies. For, I think, C the outrages that had been cruelly and savagely perpetrated by them throughout all their territory spurred them on to this despondency. In order, therefore, that they might know that when God directs His wrath against them, it would be subdued without toil and most easily, He found it necessary to say, "The Lord, in consuming and in shaking is His way." Now a shaking and a consuming is an insuperable thing, and one that is greatly difficult to avoid, and furthermore, clouds covering the heaven, and hinting at vengeance. The prophet seems to bring back to their memory the deluge that occurred under Noah upon all the human race. For then, as if in a consuming and a shaking against all, God came, stirring up the clouds, as the divine Scripture says, opening the cataracts of heaven, and with immense rains irrigating the whole earth D. He, therefore, who without difficulty prevailed against the whole world, and by one decree took away all mortals, how would He be weak against one nation, the Babylonian? Most worthily of God, then, he calls the army of clouds the dust of His feet. For just as it is easy for a man to stir up earth and dust with his foot, in the same way, I think, it is easy for God, who has power over all things, to thicken the heaven with storms and clouds. But if it is necessary to examine even the secret meaning of these words, I shall think it proper to say this:
that the entrance, or completion, of the dispensation in the flesh, that is, its fulfillment at the consummation and with a shaking, was brought about by the only-begotten Word of God. For since He became like us, He finished and shook the principalities and powers and the world-rulers of this age, stripping them of their prerogative against us; and that ancient power He repelled, and at the same time destroyed death itself, and in addition to this, sin.
And the clouds were the dust of His feet. For just as dust rises before one who walks, so before the dispensation of the Only-Begotten in the flesh went the spiritual clouds—that is, the blessed prophets—who, while using a somewhat obscure and not very manifest manner of speech, nevertheless watered the minds of those capable of understanding with life-giving proclamations.
B
VERS. 4. Threatening the sea, and drying it up, and making all the rivers a desert.
V. From the things which they knew and of which they had experience—from the very deeds performed, I say—he wove the narrative for them, passing over events much more ancient. For when God, their protector, led Israel out from the impious Egyptians and their intolerable commands, He brought them through the midst of the sea and ordered them to walk as if on dry land. For the waters stood fast as a wall, as it is written. Therefore, He threatened the sea, and it became passable just like dry land. And if anyone should wish to join the first part to these thoughts—that is, "The Lord, in the consummation and in the shaking is His way"—he will think the reasonable thoughts also in this way. For having almost finished and shaken Egypt, the Lord of all, through the signs performed therein and the death of the firstborn—for they perished in one night, and all things were filled with lamentation and wailing—He brought Israel through the midst, as I said, of the sea, with the cloud from heaven neatly joined for his sake. The blessed David also says something of this kind. For he chants thus: "O God, when Thou didst go forth before Thy people, when Thou didst pass through in the wilderness, the earth was shaken; for the heavens also dropped." By the shaken earth, as I suppose, he means the Egyptian; but that a cloud also hung aloft, going before the sons of Israel, lies hidden from no one. And faith will also be had in the blessed Paul, who affirms that the fathers of Israel "were all baptized in the cloud and in the sea." Moreover, the prophet added the drying up of the sea and the making of rivers a desert, bringing to remembrance another miracle. For when they were being brought into the land of promise, with Joshua guiding them after Moses, then the Jordan again stood still in its place, the Almighty God holding back the flow of the waters with ineffable bonds. The blessed David also counts these among the greatest miracles, saying thus: "Who turned the sea into dry land; they shall pass through the river on foot." For they passed through the Jordan again on foot. And since he says all the rivers were by Him
A dried up—a thing which happened in one case—He commands that it be believed that it can happen in all cases, God permitting. Some, however, think that the force and meaning of these words should be treated in another way. For if, he says, the Lord of all should wish to make an incursion against Nineveh, He will certainly do so in consumption and commotion; for He will consume it, and will easily move it, however great it may be; and just as the sea inundates other nations with military forces, so will He without delay dry it up. And if nations rush in upon it like torrents, it will be utterly desolate. But we say that the sea and the rivers, overflowing and flooding, are nonetheless the malignant and adverse powers, and before all others, Satan. But Christ has dried up their entire power, and has laid them, though once insuperable, beneath the feet of those who worship Him.
VERS. 5. *Diminuta est Basanitis, et Carmelus, et efflorentia Libani defecerunt. Montes commoti sunt ab eo, et colles concussi sunt, et contracta est terra a facie ejus universa, et omnes habitantes in ea.*
VI. He soon brings forward other demonstrations, and testifies to the unassailable power of the divine nature's most abundant strength. For the region of Basanitis is very flourishing and has rich soil. Carmel and Libanus are mountains, the former of Judea, the latter of Phoenicia; both are very full of trees and thick with leafy forests. But all these things—I mean Basanitis and the region lying adjacent to the mountains—fierce and most pugnacious nations inhabited, and the sons of giants, as it is written. B Yet, by the sons of Israel, with God fighting for them, they were dried up and conquered, and they received their land by lot. It is just as if He said again: The regions which once abounded with fierce and most robust men, and were, so to speak, thick with forests of many warlike men, have perished and been devastated, having suffered the desolation of their indigenes. For this, I believe, is what it means to say that they have been "diminished." Now, how would that celebrated Nineveh not be occupied, God permitting? Besides Basanitis and Carmel, even the flourishing parts of Libanus have failed. Libanus, therefore, as I mentioned above, is a mountain of Phoenicia, by the name of which he signifies the region lying upon it and the whole C area round about. Therefore, by the "flourishing parts of Libanus," he names the ancient kings of Damascus and Phoenicia, who were also delivered into the hands of the sons of Israel; for they themselves, at one time, though they possessed the greatest power and were inflated by mighty and almost insuperable auxiliaries, were conquered and subdued. And if we run through the books of Kings, we will find that the kingdom of the Damascenes was once devastated by kings from the tribe of Judah. Therefore, the "flourishing parts of Libanus" have failed—that is, they have been taken away and have perished many times—namely, those D things which in the Lebanon of the Phoenicians were pre-eminent, that is, those who were in control of affairs there. And why do I recount these things, he says, when, and indeed most easily, God willing
even the mountains themselves and hills will be shaken, and the whole earth together with those who dwell upon it will be removed, that is, it will depart into nothingness and be again as if it did not exist? For He who created it in the beginning will, presumably, quite easily make it disappear, and things that are great are as nothing to Him. A It seems that the blessed David also thought upon matters akin to those set before us, and said: "What is it to you, O sea, that you fled, and you, O Jordan, that you turned back? The mountains, that you leaped like rams, and the hills like lambs of the flock? At the countenance of the Lord the earth was shaken." For, as the prophet has already said, "In B tempest is His path." And that the whole earth is nothing, and that those things in it are worthy of almost no account at all, if one were to choose to measure the divine and ineffable glory, the prophet Isaiah will bear witness, saying: "If all the nations are numbered as a drop from a bucket, and as the turn of a scale, and shall be counted as spittle? But Lebanon is not sufficient for burning, and all the quadrupeds are not sufficient for a whole burnt-offering, and all the nations are as if they are nothing, and were counted as nothing. To whom have you likened the Lord, and by what likeness have you likened Him?"
Some think, however, that these things may again be understood not inappropriately as being said C of Nineveh itself, albeit indirectly. For they wish it to be compared with Bashan as having excellent and celebrated land, and furthermore with Carmel and Lebanon as being distinguished and most famous mountains. Nineveh is an admirable and illustrious city. And he says it is "diminished," as if it were about to be dissipated together with those flourishing within it, that is, the presiding rulers, generals, and others who are more eminent. Since, therefore, having seen how he made mention of a region of goodly trees—I speak of Bashan—he has kept to the metaphor throughout the discourse, and called those flourishing who are perhaps more eminent in wealth, or excelling in bodily strength, or in some other way surpassing others in excellence.
D But if one examines the outrages which the Jews dared against Christ, and the desolation brought upon them, and the complete destruction and ruin after He had been justified and had ascended into heaven, one might aptly apply these things also to them. For by Bashan, Carmel, and indeed even Lebanon, one might rightly understand Judea. And Bashan, indeed, in that it has been called "a land flowing with milk and honey, a land of wheat, and oil, and vineyards." But Carmel and Lebanon, on account of [their] loftiness and the height of glory, [are] as it were exalted: and it had been famous, and known everywhere, and as it were rejoicing in its inhabitants as in countless forests, but He says it is "diminished." For they were consumed by the hand of the Romans, and having fallen in with fierce and most valiant woodcutters, they have fallen like plants. And Zechariah hints at something of the sort, saying as if to Jerusalem: "Open, O Lebanon, your gates, and let fire devour your cedars. Let the pine wail, because the cedar has fallen, because...
the great ones have suffered misery.” A “Wail, O oaks of Bashan, for the forest that was planted has been cut down.” More clearly elsewhere he says: “And the wailing of Jerusalem shall be as the wailing of a pomegranate in the field of the slain.” For since he again compares Jerusalem to Lebanon, he calls the cedars falling, and the pines those who are high in it, and he calls it the oaks of Bashan; but the matter of the discourse is metaphorical, as I said.
VERS. 6. Before the face of his anger who shall stand? And who shall resist in the anger of his fury? His fury melts sovereignties, and the rocks are shattered by him.
VII. He seals his words to confirm the truth of the divine anger with proofs, saying that it is terrible and that it can be resisted by no devices. For as fire, I think, invading, it would easily melt both sovereignties and powers, both earthly ones and those understood by the intellect alone; it would shatter, too, with no effort the rocks—that is, those who have hardened themselves like rocks—and indeed Satan himself, the prince of unclean spirits, of whom the holy Scripture says: “His heart is hardened as a stone; he has stood like an insuperable anvil.” That the Jewish teachers and those appointed among them to high offices—I mean the priests, and the profane crowds of the unholy Scribes and Pharisees—were hard and unyielding and had fallen into the greatest insensibility, B who can doubt? They who even were consumed by the war brought by the Romans, melting away as if wax in the face of incurable calamities. Being excessively hard, they were seated in evils, and the outrage against Christ was sought out [by them].
But our Lord Jesus Christ also shattered for our sake, in another way, the sovereignties and powers and the world-rulers of the darkness of this age, the spiritual forces of wickedness, so that he might deliver and save us. Knowing this, blessed David sings: “You are terrible, and who shall resist you from your anger? From heaven you made your judgment heard; the earth feared and remained quiet when God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth.” And he has given us “to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy.” For he melted sovereignties; he shattered as rocks the arrogance of the unholy spirits. To him who was angry for our sake, and toward those who had injured us, it was necessary [for them] to yield, even if they were unwilling.
VERS. 7, 8. The Lord is good to those who wait for him in the day of tribulation, and he knows those who fear him, and in the passing flood he will make an end. Darkness shall pursue those who rise up and his enemies.
VIII. He C advises fruitfully and very skillfully, neither depriving them of the hope of happiness, when he says that the Lord will be good to those who wait for him, nor [loosening the] reins —
them into a certain dissolute and fading life, but rather moving them toward good order and the choice to live according to the laws. For he says again that if he should cause the way that is understood as a deluge to come against some, he will produce it as a kind of earthquake, and like the rush of many and unbearable waters down the slopes of the land of Judah. It is a terrible thing and completely impossible to escape. Thus, if the things from divine wrath should pass over against some, it will utterly destroy all against whom it might come and be borne. He says that his enemies will be pursued and overtaken by darkness, and not, I think, by the darkness of this night, but of another: the intellectual darkness, which is understood as a way of suffering. For more severe calamity and bitter, unexpected misfortune is accustomed to darken the human mind, just as it occurred to those of old, having been carried away into B captivity and their land having been captured. Therefore, God, comparing such evils as these to wine and drunkenness, quite rightly said to the blessed Jeremiah: "Take the cup of this pure wine from my hand, and you shall give all the nations to whom I send you to them to drink; and they shall drink, and vomit, and go mad from the face of the sword which I send among them." And through the voice of Isaiah to her: "For you have drunk and drained the cup of ruin, the cup of wrath." By drunkenness, then, and darkness, he says that those who think hostilely toward God will be overtaken, inciting them quite well toward choosing to be wise, which it was better for them to know and to do.
God, the Lord of all, went against the Jews in a passing flood, and has brought them to an end, exacting the penalties for Christ. They have also become in darkness and, being completely C bereft of the divine light, the wretches remain foolish and blind. For they did not wish to follow Christ as he shouted: "While you have the light, walk in the light, lest darkness overtake you." And since they were unfeeling and stubborn, for this reason finally, as the prophet says: "When they waited for light, it became darkness to them; and while waiting for brightness, they walked in darkness." For they became enemies of the divine light and impiously rose up against his glory.
"What do you devise against the Lord? He will make a full end; he will not take vengeance twice at the same time in affliction."
IX. I have already said, and in the beginning, that when Salmanasar, king of the Assyrians, had devastated Samaria and had destroyed together with it other cities and villages subject to the scepters of Judah, then the survivors of the war, being in unbearable D fear and fleeing to the lands of the surrounding nations—for they reasoned, as is likely, that they would fall into the same evils and that the Babylonians would return against them a second time—God, through the voice of the prophet, made the consolation necessary, promising these two things: both that he would one day have pity on those captured in war and overwhelmed by immense miseries, [and releasing them] from their bonds.
and that he will deliver Nineveh to desolation and destruction. Therefore, lest they, expecting that they themselves would fall into the same evils, should find an excuse to flee from Judea to the Gentiles, He inquires, in these words, what they imagine and think about the Lord: do you imagine, He says, that the God of all is harsh and difficult to appease when angry, so that He exacts double punishment for the same sins? You are far from the true judgment. For if you had not added to these things those which are outside the law and provoke the lawgiver to anger, He would not have inflicted a second blow. He has afflicted you sufficiently for those things in which your impiety was detected. Refrain from sin, and He will restrain His anger. He has chastised sufficiently; henceforth He will have mercy on those willing to return to health. The address, therefore, is mixed, and contains an admonition. For at the same time, He urges them to perform legitimately the things that please God, and gives confidence to those not refusing to do so, that He will be merciful to them, not irascibly and uncontrollably angry, as they thought within themselves. Consider, furthermore, how the discourse protects Israel—the remnant, I mean. For He clearly predicted that God would not utterly consume them, introducing the question by saying: "What do you meditate against the Lord? He will make a full end," He says, "and He will not deliver Israel, shaken from its very foundations, to utter destruction." He will spare them for the sake of the fathers, and B in time He will gather in those who enter through faith in Christ, making them fit for holiness and the friendship that is with God through the Son in the Spirit.
VERS. 10, 11. Because [they] shall be laid waste even to their foundations, and shall be devoured as smilax entangled, and as stubble full of dryness. There shall come out of thee a thought against the Lord, meditating evil things [contrary].
X. Since He had declared with many examples that the power to accomplish all things well and easily resides in the God of all, and that there is nothing at all that He is unable to perform, He now transfers the speech to Nineveh itself, and says that even if it has attained such splendor C that it seems comparable to the most wooded mountains—I mean Lebanon and Carmel—and filled with many and countless peoples; and even if it yields nothing to Bashan, nevertheless the time will come when it will be utterly deserted. For this, I think, is "to be laid waste even to the foundations," the discourse keeping the alteration and trope as derived from mountains, earth, trees, and wood. And He says it will be devoured, as if consumed in a way by the Persians and Medes. D For these people conquered Nineveh, while Cyrus administered the war. He compares the crowds of the Assyrians to the smilax; for these were the people who inhabited Nineveh. And what account of this could be offered? The smilax is a plant similar to ivy; it always creeps upward, and puts forth slender branches, and seizes the plants standing near, as if...
A to strangle them, and often even the tallest of trees. The Assyrians did this too, always bursting into regions and cities, and, as it were, strangling and weighing them down with the tumults of wars and unbearable tyrannies. He says that it will be burned up, and like stubble full of dryness. Stubble is most ready for catching fire and for burning. The prophet addresses Nineveh as already burning, and punished by divine wrath, and laid waste, and he explains the reason why he says these things, saying: "Out of you will come forth a calculation, thinking evil things against the Lord." You will be exposed, he says, to desolation, and you will be like uncultivated and desert land; nay, you will even be burned by fire; for you think wicked and contemptuous things against God, and what is contrary to Him. For the God of all things, when punishing the sinning Israel, rendered them easy to capture, and brought them under your feet. But you, however, will not think so; rather, you will deem that you have captured Judea, and not that He permitted it. For we shall find the bluster B of Rabshakeh having turned out in this way, when he was assailing the glory of God with insults, saying to those sitting on the wall: "Let not Hezekiah deceive you with words, which will not be able to deliver you. And let not Hezekiah say to you that God will deliver Jerusalem from my hand." To this folly, and to one truly irreverent and speaking wildly, God made answer through the voice of Isaiah, saying: "Shall an axe glory without the one chopping with it, or shall a saw be exalted without the one drawing it?" For just as an axe, even if it be very sharp and well-made of iron, will achieve nothing in the chopping of trees unless someone should strike it with his own strength against something; and in the same way, a saw will utterly fail to act upon its material, with no one drawing it or pushing it; so too, the strength of the kingdom—or rather, the army—of the Ninevites would not have overcome Samaria, had not divine wrath brought it upon cities and villages as a tool, which is moved C indeed by another, and is useful when taken for service, yet of itself will do nothing. Nineveh is punished, therefore, as thinking evil things against God, rather than as the nature of the matter truly stands. For the God of all things handed over Israel after they had sinned, and she would not have subjugated them had God wished to succor and save His children.
"Thus says the Lord, ruling over many waters, and so they shall be divided, and your report shall be heard no more."
XI. The discourse is, therefore, to Nineveh, the arrogant and God-opposing one. By "waters" in these verses, he says, are meant the countless multitudes of nations across regions and cities, and tribes, D flowing easily like rivers or the sea, whenever God wills it. For He Himself is their ruler, as Creator, as Lord and God of all, as He who steers what He has created by His own nods, and who turns the impulse of every heart to what seems good to Him, determining and...
A conforming it. Therefore, he says, O Nineveh, henceforth you shall cease to be terrible, all-powerful, and renowned: “For your report shall be heard no longer”—that is, there shall no longer be much talk of you among all men. For formerly you were illustrious, and no one was ignorant of the great stories about you. But now no more. Indeed, they shall sing a sad song over you, and nothing great or worth hearing shall be found in you henceforth. Verse 13. And now I will break his rod from you, and will tear asunder your bonds, and the Lord shall command concerning you. B XII. The prophetic discourse again shifts to Israel, as if to say: Casting away the memory of those ancient things, I will have mercy on him from now on, as one who has already paid the penalty. Since he has been sufficiently punished, I will deliver him from their dominion, and you shall not be subject in any way to the rod of the Assyrians, that is, the scepter or the kingdom; for the scepter is the symbol or mark of a kingdom. I will also take you away from terrors and the bonds of servitude, and I will restore you to the blessed state of liberty. And as for “the Lord shall command concerning you,” understand it in this way: He shall command certain good spirits and the host of angels, who are appointed by God to protect and care for Israel; or He shall even command Cyrus himself, the son of Cambyses, who in his time set the captives free. He does not command absolutely as if speaking to a saint and a prophet, but by suggesting His own will to his mind, and making him a minister of His own pleasure, however profane and idolatrous he may be. C For just as He commanded the sea-monster to swallow Jonah, and again the gourd to grow and overshadow him, and furthermore the worm to strike the ivy, so we say He gave commands also to Cyrus. And these things, indeed, in a historical sense. God and Father of His own Lord would address Jerusalem, the slayer of the Lord, or the land of the Jews, saying, “It shall be deserted even to its foundations, and it shall be eaten like intertwined smilax, and like stubble full of dryness. Out of you shall come forth a thought against the Lord, devising evil, contradictory things.” For it has been laid waste, and has become a desert, and has been consumed like D dry stubble. For they have dared to conceive evil against the Lord, and moreover to speak with an insolent tongue. For at one time they called Him a Samaritan, a wine-bibber, and born of fornication; at another time they said, “He seduces the crowds,” even though He was sent by God and the Father for this reason: that He might deliver those who were seduced from their seduction, and bring back to God that which had revolted from Him, and lead through faith that which had in many ways slipped into apostasy, and enlighten that which was in darkness, and bind up that which was broken. And because He did not utterly destroy Israel, the remnant,
as I have said many times, He preserved for Him. For not a few even of the Jews have believed, and together with the Gentiles they glorify Christ.
A Let those who are of the circumcision according to the flesh listen: "For I will break his rod from off thee, and will break thy bonds, and the Lord shall command concerning thee." What rod, then, does He speak of, or what bonds at all, how is it not necessary to say? For they were subject, as it were, to a sceptre, weighed down by the madness and savagery of the Scribes and Pharisees, and held, as it were, by the bonds of their commandments, they did not accept the faith. But the rod—that is, the authority—has been removed, and the bonds have been broken, and henceforth they have run to Christ with a free mind, almost calling out to each other and saying that which is in the lyre of the Psalmist: "Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their yoke from us."
B And let those who have been converted from among the Gentiles listen no less than the others: "And now I will break his rod from off thee, and will break thy bonds, and the Lord shall command concerning thee." For of old, being enslaved to the sceptres of the devil, and entangled in the snares of worldly pleasures, they worshipped the creature rather than the Creator; they did not know the God who is by nature and truly, and differing little from irrational beasts, they served the pleasures of the flesh, and lived a pitiable and most irrational life. But they too have been set free, since Christ has broken that ancient rod of his, and has broken the bonds, and has drawn them out of sin, and has transferred them from error to the knowledge of God, and has justified them by faith, and henceforth commands concerning them—it is clear that [He commands] to the holy angels. C For it is written: "He that dwelleth in the help of the Most High, shall abide in the shelter of the God of heaven. For He shall give His angels charge concerning thee, to keep thee in all thy ways, and to take thee up in their hands, lest thou strike thy foot against a stone." And it is true that "The angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear Him, and shall deliver them."
"There shall be no more sowing out of thy name." D XIII. It is like saying again: Thou shalt not be dispersed into all nations, a captive and a wanderer, and stationed far from thy motherland, and undergoing most bitter servitude, and miserably, and pitifully, and wretchedly scattered in the cities of enemies. Note, however, that even after these utterances of the prophet, Judah was captured and went into captivity, and served the Assyrians. For while Hezekiah was reigning over Jerusalem, Sennacherib campaigned against Samaria, and having ravaged its cities, and burned others in addition, he sent the Rabshakeh from Lachish, who even let slip a boorish tongue against God. Then, by the hand of an angel, one hundred and eighty-five thousand of the army of the Assyrians fell. But after the reign of Hezekiah, a not inconsiderable space of time having elapsed, while Zedekiah was reigning, [original-script column: see facsimile]
A he laid siege to Jerusalem, and having devastated the whole of Judaea, Nebuchadnezzar then took the holy city by force, and having burned down that famous temple, he led away the Jews into exile and added them to those who had previously been carried off to Samaria by Sennacherib. Does the God of all, therefore, render his promise false by saying through the prophet to those who are of the blood of Israel: "There shall no longer be sown from thy name"? Then how is it not ignorant, or rather, even reaching the point of total wickedness, to think that God could lie? For the Divine is very far indeed from ever speaking falsely. But let us understand how he has spoken truly. For having earlier made mention of the release which took place in the times of Cyrus, who overthrew the empire of the Babylonians, he then says that there would be no other captivity after this from the house of Israel. For they were recalled to their own land, and having returned to Judaea, they dwelt there in safety. It is true they were harassed by the arms of Antiochus, surnamed Illustris, B and by certain others after him; nevertheless, they did not go into captivity, but, as I said, they safely inhabited their own fatherland. In this way, therefore, the words, "There shall no longer be sown from thy name," might be understood concerning Israel according to the flesh.
But the intellectual Israel—which is to say, those who see God with the eyes of the mind and are astonished at the glory of the Only-Begotten—will also very rightly hear: "There shall no longer be sown from thy name." For before the faith, they were under the hands of enemies; they had bowed the neck of their heart to Satan and his wicked powers, and they lived bound by the most shameful love of the flesh. But C henceforth the prerogative and authority of the former masters has been removed, and sin has fallen with them, and the power of turbulent movements has been taken away. For Christ has set us free, and although we were scattered into many and vain kinds of depraved affections and into the cults of innumerable gods, he has brought us back through faith unto holiness. But we shall no longer be scattered; we shall remain entirely in Christ, having one faith, one baptism, and one Lord, Savior, and Redeemer, and through him joined to God and the Father in spiritual unity.
*Out of the house of thy God I will destroy the graven images, and I will place thy molten images for thy tomb.*
XIV. Since Israel had not merely offended God, but had fallen into apostasy, and having impiously deserted God their Savior, had given themselves over to the worship of idols, for this reason D they went away captive to the enemies, and were thus carried off to Nineveh. But those who were left in Jerusalem were none the less sluggish towards the love of God, and wavering in religion, and not caring for the things that please God, and shaking off the yoke of his servitude; moreover, they were sacrificing to Baal, and to Astarte, and to the host of heaven. But after God had uttered threats through the holy prophets, and had spoken clearly that Jerusalem would perish, and its inhabitants would be entirely captive along with the others in...
a foreign land. Some of those who reigned in it at certain times opened their eyes, and disturbed the shrines, overturned altars, and consumed the sculpted images with fire. A Among these, Josias especially shone forth, of whom the man of God also spoke to Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who was sacrificing perhaps, and who made Israel to sin; for he instituted the offering of wicked sacrifices to the golden calves. He addressed the altar with these words by the word of the Lord: "Altar, thus says the Lord: Behold, a son is born to the house of David, Josias is his name, and he shall sacrifice upon you the priests of the high places who are offering sacrifices upon you, and he shall burn the bones of men upon you." That what was foretold came to pass, the holy Scripture testifies in this way. For it is written thus in the fourth book of Kings concerning Josias: "And the king commanded Helchias the high priest, and the priests of the second rank, and those who keep the threshold, to bring out from the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven, and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Cedron, and took their dust into Bethel, and he burned the priests whom the kings of Juda had placed, that they might offer incense in the high places, and in the cities of Juda, and in the surroundings of Jerusalem, and those who were offering incense to Baal, and to the grove, and to the sun, and to the moon, and to the signs of the Zodiac, and to all the host of heaven. And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the brook of Cedron, and burned it in the brook of Cedron, and ground it into dust, and cast its dust into the sepulcher of the sons of the people." B You understand, therefore, how some of the molten images were placed as if in a sepulcher, and the sculpted images were destroyed from the house of the Lord. Another scripture also will confirm the account concerning him; for it says thus in the second book of Paralipomenon: "In the eighth year of his reign," meaning of Josias, "and he being still a young boy, he began to seek the Lord the God of his father David. And in the twelfth year of his reign he began to cleanse Juda and Jerusalem from the high places, and from the groves, and from the sculpted images, and from the molten images, and he tore down before his face the altars of Baal, and the high places that were upon them. C And he cut down the groves, and crushed the sculpted images, and the molten images, and ground them into dust, and cast it upon the face of the monuments of those who sacrificed to them. And he burned the bones of the priests upon the altar. And he cleansed Juda and Jerusalem." Therefore, they have perished upon these very shrines, as I have said, and with the altars, and were in a way buried together with the molten images, according to the word of the prophecy. It should be known, however, that Nahum prophesied during the times of Ezekias. D Then from Ezekias came Manasses, who reigned for fifty-five years. And of Manasses was born Amon, who barely held the kingdom for two years. And after him came Josias, under whom the words of the prophecy were fulfilled, just as the discourse has now shown us.
Vans. 13. *Quia veloces ecce super montes pedes evangelizantis et annuntiantis pacem.* A
XV. The children of Israel remained captive in Babylon, yet they were sustained by the hope that they would one day return and, before long, would go back to their ancient and ancestral nobility, since the holy prophets—as if God were speaking through them—had promised it. Moreover, the hoped-for time was the same as that of the reign of Cyrus, who was to subdue Nineveh with his power and arms. This, too, Isaiah had predicted in these words: "Thus says the Lord to my anointed, Cyrus, whose right hand I have taken hold of, to subdue nations before him, and I will break the strength of kings. I will open doors before him, and the cities shall not be shut. I will go before you, and level the mountains. I will shatter bronze doors and break asunder iron bars." B And further down again: "He shall build the city of Jerusalem, and he shall turn back the captivity of my people, not for price nor for rewards, says the Lord of Hosts." Therefore, he says, a messenger of peace shall come to the Israelites, signifying the expedition of Cyrus, when they shook off the yoke of captivity, broke the rod of those who held them, snapped the bonds of their unaccustomed slavery, and, having received their fatherland back, recovered their salvation.
But if it should please anyone to apply the meaning of the proposed words to the preaching of the holy Baptist, he would not be doing so incorrectly. For he stayed in the wilderness, and as if crying out on the mountains, he preached peace—that is, Christ. Therefore, beautiful and swift are the feet of him who says: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths." C
*Celebrate, O Judah, your festivals, perform your vows, for they shall no longer pass through you to decay.*
XVI. Since the Law had commanded that divine worship should not be performed outside the sacred and divine atrium, but in the place, as it says, "which the Lord your God shall choose, that his name may be called upon there," the Israelites living on foreign soil, inhabiting the lands of the Persians and the Medes, did not exercise their solemnities according to their own laws, but spent their time in idleness, not carrying out the customary feast days, nor offering sacrifices, nor first-fruits, nor gifts—those signs of a grateful mind according to the prescription of the Law—nor sacrificing the lamb in the new moon; D and perhaps they were even reluctant to offer praises alone to God. And this, we say, is what the divine David sings in the person of the people situated in Babylon: "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered you, O Sion. In the midst of the willows we hung up our instruments." And in addition: "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" For since they were far from their native soil, from the temple, and from the tabernacle, as I have said, and since they had no sacred space...
A of the law. Since, therefore, the time for being released has at last been revealed, someone might justly exclaim to them—or the messenger of peace, whose feet are swift, or the prophet himself—that it is granted to them to celebrate feasts, to kindle songs of thanksgiving, and to fulfill most effectively those things which were in prayer, or rather, in promise. He further proclaims the destruction of the enemies that will soon take place. "For they shall not," he says, "add B to pass into old age," that is to say, they shall not remain for long times, nor shall they possess a happiness that is growing old, that is, endless. For it will cease and terminate, shrinking away.
Let the spiritual Jew also hear, more fittingly, such words as these: "For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God." Such a man will celebrate festivals brilliantly, having fixed his faith—namely that which is in Christ—being sanctified by the Spirit, and excelling in the grace of adoption as sons. He will offer to God spiritual sacrifices, consecrating himself into an odor of sweetness and cultivating every kind C of virtue: temperance, self-control, courage, patience, charity, hope, love for the poor, kindness, and long-suffering. "For with such sacrifices God is well pleased." Let the spiritual Jew know indeed concerning every enemy and those who formerly had power over him, that "they shall not add anymore to pass into old age," that is, they shall be removed from the midst, being sent, as is clear, to eternal punishment. This is what Christ has also fulfilled, commanding the unclean spirits to depart into the abyss, and granting to those who love Him to rise up against their enemies, to act courageously against the passions, and to destroy sins, "and to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy."
CHAPTER II
It is finished; it is taken away; he has gone up, breathing upon thy face, delivering from tribulation.XVII. Since Nineveh was destined to perish D consistently and in every way, he says that she has been finished, indicating by this word that she has arrived at finality and perdition. Moreover, "taken away," that is, cut off completely and destroyed utterly. But he says "he has gone up" specifically regarding Cyrus, with an emphasis, I think, signaling something like that which the prophet Jeremiah also said about him, prophesying the things that would come to pass for Nineveh at due times: "A lion has gone up from his lair, destroying nations, and he has departed and gone out from his place, to make the land a desolation, and the cities shall be laid waste, so that they will not be inhabited." For like a wild beast springing upon Nineveh, he devoured its inhabitants. But to those indeed
of Israel, he was as one who blows A into the face, delivering them from tribulation—that is to say, releasing them from their unaccustomed slavery, loosening the bonds of those who were captives, and acquiring them by sending them home, and commanding them to rebuild the divine temple for themselves.
Now this expression, "blowing into the face," is spoken according to Jewish tradition and custom. We shall find that the mention of such things is sometimes even embedded in the divinely inspired Scriptures, such as the idea that the Jews thought it necessary to tear their garments in the face of blasphemies against God. Thus, even Caiaphas, when Christ affirmed that He was the Son of God, tore his garments, and crying out said, "He has blasphemed." B The same thing was also done by the divine disciples Paul and Barnabas. For they were in Lycaonia; and because they were healing certain of those who were afflicted with physical suffering, and because the act was astonishing in the eyes of those who saw it, the priests intended to offer sacrifice to them on account of the divine signs. For they said: "The gods, having become like men, have descended to us," and they called Barnabas, Jupiter, and Paul, Mercury, "because he," it is said, "was the leader of the word." But because what was being done was a kind of blasphemy, they tore their garments, still following Jewish traditions and unwritten customs. But this custom has been censured, as being not from the Law, and altogether useless. For the God of all said to the Jews, who were making a display of these things, yet were meanwhile most alien from true piety: "Turn to me with all your heart, and tear your hearts, and not your garments." C Just as, therefore, it was customary for some to tear their garments when someone had blasphemed, so too was it with blowing into the faces of the sick in some manner. And they did this especially and most insolently, those who were accustomed to adjuring and who pretended to deliver those who were ill from spirits and pains by means of curious incantations. Therefore, having taken the exemplar from their custom, He says: "He has gone up, blowing into your face," Cyrus, of course, "and delivering you from tribulation." For, as I said, some used to pretend that they could successfully accomplish this by blowing upon others.
Wise and true it is to say that the dominion of the devil D and of sin, which is our tyrant, has been diminished and has perished, and that death has in a way been captured, and corruption has been altogether removed. For Christ has ascended from Hades and has returned to life, He who blew into the face of the holy apostles and said: "Receive the Holy Spirit." For in this way we have been delivered from every evil, and having become partakers of the Holy Spirit, we are reconstituted into the ancient beauty of our nature, and we are spiritually impressed anew into the first image. For our Lord Jesus Christ is formed in us through the Spirit.
A
COMMENTARY ON THE PROPHET NAHUM
VERS. 2. *Contemplate the way, hold fast your loins, act manfully and vehemently, because the Lord has turned back the reproach of Jacob, as the reproach of Israel.*
XVIII. As though they were on the point of walking into Judea and returning home, the matter required that he should exhort them, that it was necessary henceforth to consider the way and to "hold fast the loins," that is, to be ready and prepared to endure the labors of the journey, to manfully spurn all sluggishness, and, having taken up an unconquerable alacrity, to wish to be seen to have overcome the long delays. The most obvious sign of this, as it were becoming and seemly, is to have the loins girded. Accordingly, our Lord Jesus Christ also said to his holy apostles, or rather to all who believe in him, "Let your loins be girded." For this business is a journey, and most convenient for those who preach the divine Gospel, and who have for this purpose feet B that are most ready. He says, therefore: "Hold fast your loins," instead of: "Be prepared, and as it were equipped for a swift departure." "For the Lord," he says, "has turned back the reproach of Jacob, as the reproach of Israel." It is necessary to observe again the distinction introduced in these words. For he names "Jacob" those who dwelt in Samaria, that is, the ten tribes whose kings were from the tribe of Ephraim and Manasseh, who were descendants of Joseph, who had Jacob as his father. He names "Israel" the Jerusalemites, for whom God fought at that time, and destroyed the Assyrian by the hand of an angel. Now Cyrus released not only the captives from Samaria who were carried off to Nineveh, but also those from Jerusalem. Therefore, the prophet C necessarily says, "The Lord has turned back the reproach of Jacob, as the reproach of Israel." And he calls "reproach" the slavery, or the menial service. And that God is about to liberate them all, and that He does not protect some while allowing others to be consumed by hardships, he teaches by saying that the reproach of Jacob has been turned back just as the reproach of Israel has been turned back. For all of them, having cast off the inconveniences of captivity, returned to Judea.
I think, indeed, and quite appropriately, that those who have been redeemed in Christ ought no longer to live inconsiderately, but rather to look closely at the way of a life pleasing to God, and to walk the good path, and to "hold fast their loins," that is, to be seen to command the belly and to despise pleasures: D "And make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof"; but with a certain youthful spirit to resist the passions and every sloth and languor: for thus they will come to the holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem. There they will offer spiritual sacrifices to God, and having shaken off the yoke of ancient slavery, they will live a glorious and free life, and one exempt from every wickedness.
*For having shaken them out, they have shaken them, and their offshoots. They have destroyed the weapons of their power.*
VERS. 3, 4. Because*
A to the holy apostles, or rather the prophets, God, to whom all things are known, suggested those things that were to come to pass at appointed times, they necessarily prophesied them according to His good pleasure. And very often they even saw the events themselves in visions. Therefore, they were struck with amazement, and as if beholding them actually taking place before their eyes, they spoke of them; which is what now seems to have happened to the prophet concerning the inhabitants of Nineveh and the soldiers of Cyrus, since they have shaken them out, and their offshoots. The discourse is constructed B as though from what is wont to happen to vines. For the cluster is shaken, and it spits out the grapes, either by a most violent wind rushing upon it, or by a scorching heat, or by any other hardship forcing it, so that together with the fruit, the vine-branch itself appears stripped of its greenness. Just so, therefore, have they shaken them out like vines. And their weapons, that is to say, their power, have been destroyed; for weapons sometimes signify power. He says that the horsemen, though skilled and knowing how to fight from chariots, will be in such incredible terror that they will turn to flight, become entangled with one another, and push and clash among themselves, and that the phalanxes of the enemy will so break through that they will yield in nothing to torches, or rather, will scorch them with a swift and unchecked course, like lightning.
VERS. 5. *And their nobles shall remember, and shall flee by day, and shall be weak in their journey, and shall hasten to the walls, and shall prepare their defenses.*
XX. As the war grows heavier, they themselves too, the princes of the city, along with the others, will call to mind, he says, what they did when Judæa was captured—that is, what insolent and blasphemous words they uttered, and with the petulance of their mouths, the miserable ones, aimed at the glory of God as if with a sling. Then, having returned to the memory of this, they will know that they have God as their enemy, C who subjects to the feet of those attacking them those who were formerly very powerful, those who by trifling effort had repelled the arms of any whom they had dared to attack. But if they even turn to flight, having found [the task of] escaping difficult, and having become weak in their journeys, they will begin something else. For they will take care of the walls, and will place guards upon them. Through these things, the prophet shows that they are anxious on every side, and that, because of the darkness spread over their minds, they do not at all discern what needs to be done; and as if drunk with wine from sheer calamities, they lament the loss of their salvation, wandering and fluttering from one thing to another at every slight moment—from these to those, and from those to others—and in all these things they labor in vain. What he says, *They shall flee by day*, I think means this: although they are, as I said, difficult to capture and fierce, they will at last be reduced to such timidity that they openly wish to [escape]
A even though they once would not have endured being called upon merely to suspect such a thing.
The wicked powers have also been vanquished by the majesty of Christ, and they cannot resist His divine nods, for our sake, clearly. They have been broken by fears and have truly fled, no longer saved by any protection. For when God inflicts punishments, who could escape? Or what place would shelter those who have offended Him?
Verses 6, 7. The gates of the cities were opened, and the palaces fell, and the substance was revealed, and she went up, and her maids were being led, like doves vocal in their hearts.
XXI. The nobles, therefore, he says, finding flight impossible, will hasten to the walls and prepare their defenses. But their deliberation will come to nothing, God opening the gates of the cities to their adversaries and handing over the palaces—that is, the houses of kings—and uncovering what is hidden within them and setting their substance before them for plunder. He calls the wealth "substance," clearly referring to that collected from plunder and from injuries and frauds against others. Then, again, as if beholding what was bound to happen, he sees them dragged off into captivity; he sees the queen city, I mean Nineveh, and those subject to her and neighboring her, which he calls "maids"—perhaps because they were subjugated by her and were subject to her and ministered to her. He says they speak like doves in their hearts, that is, not openly, but tacitly. For that bird is accustomed to groan within itself with a low and less pleasant sound. That such a thing happens to those who have fallen into the hands of enemies and are then dragged into captivity is not beyond belief. For they lament their own calamity, B all but suffocating their tears within themselves, since sometimes they are not even granted at least to weep.
Verses 8, 9. And Nineveh is like a pool of waters, her waters, and they who were fleeing did not stand, and there was no one to look back. They were plundering the silver, they were plundering the gold, and there was no end to the ornament of her. She has been weighed down beyond all her precious vessels.
XXII. He compares Nineveh to a pool, full and overflowing, because of the incredible multitude of citizens she contained and the innumerable throng of allied peoples that had poured themselves in. Therefore, he is astonished—or rather, to put it better, he mocks the fugitives—because, although they were so many and infinite, they were nonetheless driven by fear, even though they had once not hesitated to go to meet any army, however numerous, and had lifted C their eyebrows, being pleased with themselves. But the God of the universe was there, who both burdened their minds with fears and drove them into sloth and weakened their warlike spirits.
Truly, it is said: "A king is not saved by a great host, and a giant shall not be saved by the multitude of his strength." But the Lord of all saves whom He will, and that with no labor. A What then does the prophet say? "They plundered the silver, they plundered the gold." And this was the substance: "And there was no end of their ornament." He seems here to signify Indian jewels, on account of which he says she was especially burdened, although she was also distressed because of other vessels. For it was a custom for the Assyrians, or Ninevites, to seek out many precious stones with great zeal and to adorn themselves like girls, so that they might strive, even in conflicts themselves, to appear distinguished by the splendor of their ornaments. The prophet speaks explicitly and distinctly in these matters, and that with a very prudent reasoning. He depicts in his discourse now those falling, now those entangled with one another, now those cut off from flight, now those holding their defensive walls in vain, and now those being conquered; easing the sorrow of the captives, and by the prediction of such things, as if charming them with most pleasant narratives, he brings them to cheerfulness.
B Also, Satan has suffered plundering, first indeed through Christ the Savior; then after Him through the holy apostles, concerning whom also the prophet Habakkuk says somewhere: "For suddenly they shall rise that bite thee, and thy disturbers shall awake, and thou shalt be for a prey unto them." Christ introduced the same thought in the form of a parable in His evangelical discourses when He said: "Or how can anyone enter into the house of the strong one and plunder his vessels, unless he first bind the strong one, and then he will plunder his vessels?" For those who were worshipping Satan, chosen and precious vessels in his sight, have run to the faith, our common Savior Christ transferring them to the worship of God, and the holy apostles persuading them to betake themselves to Him. C
VERS. 10. *Excussio, et concussio, et ebullitio, et cordis confractio, et dissolutio genuum, et dolores super omnem lumbum, et facies omnium sicut adustio ollæ.*
XXIII. He says they are to be crushed with every kind of contrition. For what else would "to be shaken out," and "to be shaken together," and "to be made to boil" signify to us? For that which is shaken out and shaken together is agitated and cast about in every direction. He says that the breaking of the heart will follow, God, of course, constraining them toward cowardice. And the dissolution of the knees, that is, weakness and languor of bodies, and pains D upon these, namely, in the joints. For how were they not destined to be in such evils, who had plunged into all things whatsoever that were accustomed to displease God? In addition to this, he affirms that the faces of all shall be as the scorching of a pot. For the countenances of those in sorrow are always accustomed to be darkened in some way, and the onset of terrors vehemently dulls the brightness of their eyes.
A
We truly assert that these things happened also to Satan, who had exercised tyranny over us, and to the wicked powers with him. For since they were cast out from that ancient honor and glory, how was it not fitting that they should suffer such things in every way and altogether? “Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feeding place, which is for the lion’s whelps? Where went the lion, for the lion’s whelp to enter into it, and there was none to terrify? The lion seized the [prey] sufficient for his whelps, and strangled it for his lionesses, and filled his den with prey, and his dwelling with rapine.” B
XXIV. He calls Nineveh the dwelling of the lions. For they dwelt in it, and made it an illustrious and admirable and safe royal residence—they who in their times reigned there: Phua, and Salmanasar, and Sennacherib, and moreover also Nebuchadnezzar. For these have warred against Judea. But the [question] “Where is it?” I do not think is that of one asking [for information]. For I think one must avoid such foolishness. Rather, he is mocking, and at the same time showing that it has perished utterly, so that not even a trace of it remains to be seen henceforth. “For it is brought to an end, and taken away,” as he himself says. “Where then, therefore,” he says, “is the dwelling of the lions?”—that is, Nineveh. “And where is the feeding place of the whelps?” And by whelps, as I think, he means those who were active and stationed under the greatest king, and held honor from him in glory, namely, the satraps and generals. And by their [feeding place] he calls those who were under their hand and enslaved, and who brought in tributes, and who made collections of money. “For the feeding places of the rich are the poor,” according to what is written. Since, therefore, Nineveh and all the surrounding country have been utterly destroyed, “Where then, therefore,” he says, “is the lodging of the lions? And where is the feeding place of the whelps?” And that Nineveh had become in some way a secure stronghold for those who at various times reigned, he has shown by saying: “Whither the lion went, for the lion’s whelp to enter into it, and there was none to terrify.” For the wall by which the city is surrounded was constructed with magnificence and convenience beyond what can be described, and was impregnable. Since, however, Nebuchadnezzar devastated the whole of Samaria, and Judea itself, and the holy city—I mean Jerusalem—he carried away those of the blood of Israel into his own kingdom. And he treated those who were once captured in such a position of authority that he both placed some under himself and kept them bound, while others he granted to others, and sold, and had his own country and city filled with captives. C Hence he says: “The lion seized the [prey] sufficient for his whelps, and strangled it for his lionesses, and filled his den with prey, and his dwelling with rapine.” The account is fashioned again according to what is wont to happen. For when wild beasts have seized what they encounter, and have then eaten what is enough, they take the rest to their whelps, bestowing upon them their own labors. These things might again be said also concerning Satan, D
A when Christ has utterly destroyed both him and his works, and has taken his prey from the earth. "For He has broken the teeth of the lions," according to the voice of the Psalmist.
"Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord Almighty, and I will set thy multitude on fire in smoke, and the sword shall devour thy lions: and I will destroy thy prey from the earth, and thy works shall be heard of no more."
XXV. God sets Himself against them, and acts as their adversary, driving them to despair of their salvation. For when God wills to afflict, who is it that shall save? Or who shall restrain the Lord of hosts, when He determines to lay waste? "For His high hand, who shall turn it back?" as it is written. He says, moreover, that He will set her multitude on fire in smoke, so that we may think of such a thing again. Bee-keepers, when at their proper season they wish to extract honeycombs from the hives, light a fire and drive away the bees with smoke, so that they may not fight in a swarm and wound them with their stings. Something of this kind happened to those whom Nineveh had summoned to her aid in her time of danger. For they departed and fled as if from smoke, when the war attacked them, struck with terror into cowardice, and experiencing intolerable fears. By lions, however, he designates the most robust and overconfident men, who perhaps had dared to offer resistance. Nevertheless, they fell by the sword of Cyrus. And because he introduced the mention of lions, he necessarily says that their prey also will be destroyed, so that nothing more may remain among them in which one might place trust. For they were accustomed to attack, and to rush upon cities and regions as wild beasts might choose, and to inflict countless evils, so that, overwhelmed by calamity, they became a subject for song and lamentation to the masses. B He says, moreover, that their prey will be destroyed. For how, henceforth, should they capture anyone, when the populace was terrified and had fled like smoke, and the most warlike had fallen, those who were wont to incite themselves against their adversaries like lions?
God is also aroused against the Jews, the murderers of their own Lord, so that He might disperse the Jewish rabble to every wind, D and that they, being more notorious than others, like cruel beasts might perish together. For they acted impiously, in an intolerable manner, against Christ, the Savior of all.
CHAPTER III
VERS. 1. "O city of blood, all lying, full of iniquity!"
XXVI. He calls it a city of blood; for the kings of Nineveh were most prompt to murders, and exceedingly bloodthirsty. Others of their number were desirous of war, and always striving to vex with implacable ferocity those against whom they might lead their forces. But he says "lying," because it was full of idols, in which falsehood especially consists, and which were not...
A actually anything. For they falsely assume the name and steal away the glory of the Godhead, these gods made by hand, "Silver and gold, as it is written, the works of men's hands." The wise Jeremiah also once called it the land of graven images. But "lying" can also be understood in another sense, if falsehood is taken as craftiness, guile, and fraud hateful to God, with iniquity clearly concurring. For where there is fraud and guile, there iniquity and the doing of injury will certainly follow. A city of blood, and truly a liar, is Jerusalem, the slayer of the Lord. For we remember Christ saying: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her." In another place, speaking through the voice of the prophets, He also says: "Woe to them, for they have departed from me; they are wretched, for they have dealt impiously against me. I redeemed them, but they have spoken lies against me." For they have slandered Christ, sometimes saying that He casts out demons by Beelzebul, at other times calling Him a drunkard, to which they added "Samaritan," and much more shameful things. B For such empty babble as they dared to utter would befit only tongues like theirs.
"There shall no more be hunted a prey." The voice of whips, and the voice of the commotion of wheels, and the horse galloping, and the chariot bounding, and the horseman mounting, and the gleaming sword, and the glittering arms, and a multitude of wounded, and a heavy fall, and there was no end to its nations, and they shall be weak in their bodies from the multitude of fornication.
XXVII. The Word speaks again according to what is wont to happen. For fowlers, covering with nets the thick-growing bushes, often catch the birds that lie hidden beneath them, grasping them with their hands. And this is their craft. So it is said, "There shall no more be hunted a prey," which means that they shall no more hunt as they once did, nor shall they plunder the property of others for themselves. There shall be no nets or traps for the weaker ones, since another care occupies them, and the struggle concerning their own survival is hanging over them. For there shall be in it the voice of whips. And to me the prophet again seems to describe clearly the turmoil of war as if it were set before his eyes. For he sees, as it were, the city being beaten by horses, and C crushed by the wheels of chariots, and the devastators of it gleaming in bright panoplies, and the dead surpassing all count, and the houses in it shaken. For he mentions a heavy fall. And he marvels that, although the multitude of the nations gathered therein is vast, all are unmanly, and ailing in weakness to an extraordinary degree, and far too prone to cowardice; and he immediately gives the cause, saying, "For they shall be weak in their bodies from the multitude of fornication." For because they were wicked, and depraved in their morals, and moreover idolaters, and foolishly inclined toward error, on that account...
they will justly be weak and panic-stricken, and will not endure to acknowledge their defection even for a moment. A
Vers. 4. *Meretrix speciosa et grata, dux veneficiorum, quæ vendit gentes in fornicatione sua: et tribus in veneficiis suis.*
XXVIII. Praise bestowed upon base actions increases the burden of crimes, just as if one were to choose to speak of someone among men as a "skilled thief," or a "brave bandit," or a "clever sorcerer." Therefore, even if the text says of Nineveh, "A harlot, beautiful and graceful," this matter will be far from being praise for her; in fact, it will render the condemnation much more severe. For women who play the harlot then seem most of all to commend themselves and to render themselves pleasing when they show themselves to be talkative and charming. Such, too, was Nineveh: not unlearned in doing evil, nor weak and insufficient at capturing cities and regions and persuading them to think according to its own opinion and pleasure. These things, however, were sorceries, and false divinations, and profane rites, and the toys of idols. For she had reached such a point of nonsense as to consider things that are so shameful and most gravely reprehensible to be glorious. B It was also the custom of certain of the Ninevites to "sell" nations and regions through their sorceries. We will explain by what path and for what reason [they did this], as best we can. It was the custom among the Assyrians, desiring to wage war and to move arms against others, to hasten to learn the outcome beforehand through the arts of magicians. These men, creeping in through the honors they received from the king, would lie and claim that they were superior to any war, and that by their own exertion and industry they would first weaken the enemies. The king of the Moabites, Balac, wished to do something of this kind. For he hired the wicked Balaam and took him up into a mountain, saying: "Come, curse Israel for me." For they believed that events would follow the curses of the magicians. In this place, he calls the magic art "fornication," through which those who were skilled in these things used to "sell" nations and tribes, always promising to those who offered them rewards that they would gain their desires. C
VERS. 5, 6. *Ecce ego ad te, dicit Dominus omnipotens. Et discooperiam posteriora tua super faciem tuam, et ostendam gentibus turpitudinem tuam, et regnis ignominiam tuam. Et projiciam super te abominationem secundum immunditias tuas, et ponam te in exemplum.*
XXIX. He indicates again that it is not with a man that she has to do, nor with human war; but rather, it is the Lord of hosts who is angry and who is inciting the Persians and the Medes against her. For who is there who dares to meet as if in an opposing battle line against God, who has power over all things and holds the sovereignty of the universe, if He should decide to attack someone? He adds, "And I will uncover thy posterior parts unto thy face." It happened to her, furthermore, just as it happens to a woman playing the harlot, who, as far as her face and her outward painted beauty are concerned, seems lovable to those who see her; but if she happens to suffer a disrobing, she will surely appear shameful with a naked body, exposing openly the deformation of her hidden members. D
A “I will uncover, therefore,” he says, “your backside,” which means: Every shameful thing in you, I will show you before others. For what else could “to your face” signify to us but this? He declared, none the less, that he would openly reveal her disgrace to the nations and kings. For Nineveh seemed to be beautiful and lovely, carrying her head high through the arts of the magi, and snatching up rule and dominion over all, and having—powerfully and even without a fight—achieved victory over all. But when she was captured and fallen, she appeared shameful and unpleasing to those who had known her; they even came to detest her as one who had boasted magnificently over nothing, relying rather on the aids of magi, or rather, on tricks and deceits. He confirmed, too, that she would be set as an example, as some indeed would say when a city or country was destroyed, plundered, and fallen: “Just like the wretched Nineveh.”
He has also waged war, as I said, B at various times upon the Synagogue of the Jews, God of all, and exacted the penalties for their impiety toward Christ, showing her to be naked and shameful, and entirely lacking the garment from above; and this he was foretelling through the voice of Hosea, saying: “Therefore I will return and take my grain in its season, and my wine in its season, and I will take away my garments and my linen cloths, so as not to cover her shame; and now I will uncover her uncleanness before the eyes of her lovers, and no one shall deliver her out of my hand.” C For the Church gathered from the nations will offer praise, saying: “Let my soul rejoice in the Lord; for He has clothed me with the garment of salvation and with the tunic of gladness.” But she, as I said, is seen as naked, shameless, and unadorned, and lacking the outer garment of divine gifts. She has become both an example, and most abominable, and sick with every kind of worldly impurity.
“And it shall be, everyone who sees you shall descend from you, and shall say, ‘Wretched Nineveh, who will lament for her? Whence shall I seek consolation for her?’” D “If,” he says, “anyone of those who previously knew your powers should gaze upon you fallen and desolate, he will lament greatly and hasten away, saying this: ‘Who will lament for her?’” As if there were no one there, or rather, no one even left who could merely look at such things, he speaks thus. And very wisely he has added to this: “Whence shall I seek consolation for her?” The meaning of the things said is such as this: When war and battle are joined against a city or country, sometimes a part is injured, but it is saved and sometimes escapes the victors, and this is a consolation to the inhabitants. For either the whole city is not burned, as with a region, and a portion remains undevastated: or some indeed have fallen, but another multitude has remained safe and unharmed. But as for the case of console Nineveh—where would one find the...
A consolation; or what manner will comfort her? For she has all been captured, and she has all been sacked, and every one within her has perished. And that saying, "Who shall lament for her?" might also be understood in another way: it is as if to say, "Who then will be a craftsman of such lamentations and funeral songs, so as to speak in a way worthy of these events, and to shed enough tears to suffice for these sufferings?"
Verses 8-10. Prepare a portion, align a string, prepare a portion for Ammon, which dwells in rivers. Water is round about her, whose beginning is the sea; and water is her walls, and Aithiopia is her strength, and Egypt. And there is no end to your flight. And the Libyans have become her helpers. And she herself shall go into captivity for exile, and her infants they shall dash to the ground at the beginnings of all her ways, and upon all her glorious things they shall cast lots, and all her magnates shall be bound in shackles.
B XXXI. The meaning of the proposed words is very obscure; nor will it be revealed otherwise than by first narrating the history contained within them. It is as follows: When Israel undertook defection and began to worship idols, and by ten thousand impiety-filled deeds provoked the God of all against himself, Nebuchadnezzar, with divine wrath inciting him to this, took up arms against Judea and Jerusalem, the divine wrath stirring him up to this. Then, when the Israelites ought to have ceased from the impiety they were practicing, and ought to have wished to abstain from worshiping alien gods, and to tear down altars, and set fire to shrines, and to destroy them, and to smash the C molten images, and by exercises of repentance to appease God and call upon Him for aid, the wretches did not do this. Rather, they thought that, assisted by human forces, they would be better than the Babylonians and would get the upper hand over their enemies, even if God did not wish to save them. For this reason, they hired many of the neighboring nations and sent embassies also to the Egyptians, and to the city called No, or Ammon, which is now Alexandria; and they promised that they would join in the war and would easily be able to repel the Babylonians. And this became a cause for the Israelites to D imagine that, even if God did not save them, they themselves would be sufficient for this, lacking nothing. But when Nebuchadnezzar took Judea, with God championing him and making those who resisted him fall prostrate beneath him, he subsequently moved also against Egypt, with divine wrath sending him, and he took all of it, and even that very No, or Ammon—for Alexandria, as I have said, had been called by that name at various times—which indeed, even more than the other cities of Egypt, was exceedingly brilliant, and was a secure and safe gathering-place, because it was girded about everywhere by waters, and on the northern side had the sea, and on the southern, a wide and long one, and like another sea—I mean the lake, the Mareotis—and was fortified furthermore by other rivers, and girded by lakes. The natives of the neighboring Libya also used to help her, who even as far as Aithio-
Aithiopians, extending toward the west and the south—these are the Garamantes, situated behind the land of the Africans—were armed for battle. Also, some of the Aithiopians from the east and south, who dwell in Meroe, the most interior city, and who occupy a wild and black land, were joining them in arms. But let the discussion of history suffice for us here; let us now proceed to the clarification of the meaning of the underlying text. "Prepare a portion," he says; it is as if he were to say: "O wretched Nineveh, choose a portion for yourself"—for since you have been exceedingly proud, and you believe that you will be everywhere and entirely unsackable because you are girded with great walls and have countless those willing to fight in your ranks—"choose," he says, "from among the lands which have been ravaged around you, although you have received the greatest aptitude for being able to endure with difficulty and being taken with difficulty." "Apta chordam" (Adapt the string); that is, let there be song and melody, and may you yourself become this for cities and lands, having suffered such things at the hands of the Persians and Medes as you have inflicted upon others yourself. "Prepare also the portion of Amon"; let there be for you, he says, a portion and lot of Amon; what you have done to her, the same it is necessary for you to suffer. And what was Amon, or what is that which inhabits the rivers? That is, that which was most conveniently fortified by the sea and rivers, and glorified in the auxiliaries of the Egyptians and the bows of the Aithiopians, which had obtained the most valiant multitude of Libyans. But even having such a position and strength and external aid, she has gone off into captivity, she has become a captive. And her infants were dashed to the ground; but the distinguished ones became choice spoils, and the more noble were the portions of the victors, and they were bound with shackles. Just as, therefore, you took Amon, who was impregnable as far as aid and position go—for it was God who was handing her over—so you also will be handed over entirely into the hands of enemies, even if because of the multitude of warriors and walls you have great haughtiness. For "I am against you, and no one will turn back my hand." C
VERS. 11. And you will feel drunken, and you will be despised, and you will seek for yourself a station from the enemies.
XXXII. For in the way, he says, that Amon has suffered misery, bearing the arrows of your savagery and the calamities from your incursion, so you also will be dizzied and will be, as it were, in drunkenness, having no station—that is, being
A in no way able to stand. But that it is shaken, and possesses no stability for works of righteousness, who would doubt, or from where would one doubt? For it has fallen from the foundation of all things, and it does not have the infrangible base, that is, Christ. It is despised and given to enemies, whether you take this to mean the Romans, or those who drive it toward every kind of vicious impulse—I mean the unclean spirits. Christ, therefore, and faith in Him, will deliver us from every evil, and will make us superior to the perversity of our enemies, and will set us in the sight of God. For He will in no way despise those who love Him.
VERS. 12. All your fortresses are fig trees, having scouts. If they are shaken, they will fall into the mouth of the eater.
XXXIII. Ripe figs fall easily from a shaken tree, and they all but jump into the hand of the shaker, and come of their own accord to those who seek to eat. When Cyrus, therefore, was attacking and besieging Nineveh, and was applying siege machines or battering rams to its walls, the defenders were guarding the battlements; then the attackers kept shooting arrows at them, and with little effort they cast them to the ground. Therefore, he draws a comparison from that which is accustomed to happen with fig trees that have been brought to maturity and ripened, and says: All your fortresses—that is, your walls—are like fig trees, having scouts who will fall most easily into the hand of one who wishes to eat, if someone merely shakes the stem B or the tree.
Thus every soul that has slipped from help from above, and is destitute of guards, will easily come into the hands [of the enemy], and will be captured, and will be carried off without sweat by the devouring Satan. For it is written: “His food is choice.”
VERS. 13. Behold your people are as women in you; the gates of your land will be opened wide to your enemies, and fire will eat your bars.
XXXIV. He declares their hope to be vain. For they believed that they would never yield to another's dominion, since they had gathered to themselves an infinite multitude of auxiliaries, and were inhabiting a city fortified with walls that could not be razed. But he clearly proclaims beforehand that these things also will be entirely useless to them, saying that the defenders will fall into such cowardice that they will differ in nothing from feeble women; and that the gates will be opened C as the enemies violently force their way in. For it is true that: “Unless the Lord guards the city, he who guards it watches in vain.”
We must therefore possess the help that comes from above, and we must not rely in the least upon ourselves, but rather upon God who saves; and we must not boast greatly in human succors, nor imagine that we can escape the wrath of God if we have provoked Him. For no one shall be delivered from the tumult and the evils, against whom the God of all has become angry.
A And most wisely the divinely inspired David chants and says: "I will not hope in my bow, and my arm shall not save me. But I will work power in God," as he also says elsewhere.
*Water of siege draw for thyself.*
XXXV. It is said that when Cyrus and those with him were ravaging the regions neighboring Nineveh, and cutting off all supplies of aid for them, the Ninevites, fearing a siege, cut many and long trenches in the fields around the city, and indeed made it difficult for the enemy to pass by diverting rivers and filling them with water, and making the land full of marshes. But those who were fighting against them were stronger than such endeavors—or rather, the will of God who delivers them. Therefore that even this effort of theirs will be of no avail, He shows by saying: "Water of siege draw for thyself." B It seems to some that by "water" in this place is meant the gathering or multitude of the summoned nations for aid. And the account will proceed for us well in this way too; for the multitude of nations is often called by the name of waters.
*And take hold of thy fortifications. Enter into the clay, and trample in straw; repair the brick.*
XXXVI. God is not exhorting them to do such things; but because He perfectly foreknew what was to be, He mocks this kind of obstacle, and shows through these things that their exertion would be vain, as I just said. For since it happened that the walls needed battlements or some other care—for they were making bricks, that is, those from clay, though very strong; for a baked brick is most necessary for works, and would not be easily crumbled—"Trample C therefore, then," He says, "in straw, work also bricks." Be so bold and unyielding for battle, just as the brick itself is, and yet so you will be taken with little effort, and you will not be unbreakable in any way; rather, you will be very easily subdued by those who know how to shake you, and who bring forth attacks more robust than your hardness.
*There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall devour thee like the locust, and thou shalt be heavy like the bruchus.*
XXXVII. By "there" understand "then," so that the word denotes time, not place. For even if these things happen, He says, and you make bricks, yet so also you shall be consumed by fire; D even the land will war consume like locusts. You will be fettered by dread, and slow to flight, like a bruchus that has been weighed down. For they say that when hail falls and rains burst forth from the sky, the bruchus is weakened for flight, since its wings are soaked; therefore, He implies again the hopelessness for the Ninevites' flight through what happens to the bruchi.
*Thou hast multiplied thy merchandise above the stars of*
of the heavens. The caterpillar has rushed forth, and has spread itself. Your mingled host has leapt forth like a locust, like a locust settled upon a hedge in a day of frost. The sun has risen, and it has flown away, and it knew not the place thereof. A
XXXVIII. Here he seems to signify negotiations not those which are carried on with money for the sake of gain and for the purpose of increasing property, but those which are undertaken rather for the gathering and inciting of nations. For, as I said, they hired the neighboring nations, bringing in those who were all but about to die in the manner of merchants, and gathering for battle those who would shortly thereafter perish: of whom the multitude was by far the greatest and innumerable. Wherefore they are also compared to stars. But although they have been gathered, he says, and have run together within one rampart, nevertheless they shall be smitten by the fear of the enemy, and none the less shall they perish like the caterpillar and the locust. Now there is a small species of locust which, when it falls into hedges or garden walls when there is frost, as I have said, and rain is falling, closes its eyes and remains quiet, its flight hindered by the force of the moisture. But when the sun rises and pours forth its radiant heat upon them, they soon depart and fly away after their custom. Thus, he says, shall thy mingled hosts be. For they shall fly away and return home, frustrating thy hope. B "It is good" therefore, according to the true voice of the Prophet, "to trust in the Lord, than to trust in a man."
VERS. 18. Woe to them! Thy shepherds have slumbered, the king of Assyria has lulled thy mighty ones to sleep; thy people have gone away upon the mountains, and there was no one to gather them.
XXXIX. He laments the multitude, as having been cast into such cowardice and fear that they languish at the mere arrival of the enemies, and flee across the mountain ridges, and make for themselves inaccessible places as a rampart against the danger. Immediately, bringing forward the cause of this great terror, he places a skillful narration, namely the destruction of the leaders; as if he were to say urbanely, that on this account they were overcome, and perished, and emerged ignorant of military arts: this is how he signifies it, while he says that those who were in charge of magistracies and powers, and who held the tribunate of the people and more distinguished honors, had slumbered and been lulled to sleep. C They were affected, however, by this sleep by the king of the Assyrians, that is, one who derived his lineage from them. For Cyrus was a native and of Persian blood. The prophetic word almost feigns a lamentation, while it rather mocks those so prone to fear. For he says, "Thy people have gone away upon the mountains, and there was no one to gather them." D That is, who would dare, who could restrain the timidity of the fugitives, and could draw back the unwarlike man and him who casts away his shield from among those who were inflicting wounds on the foremost. Those who were accustomed to do this, the very leaders of military science, had perished before the rest. It might also, and indeed most aptly, be understood also concerning the
A Jewish flock: "Woe to them! Thy shepherds have slumbered; the king of Assyria has lulled thy mighty ones to sleep." For "woe" truly to those who put to death the Saviour and Redeemer of all, and who, besides the blood of the saints, have poured out the blood of the Lord Himself! This happened to them because they were lulled into a deep slumber through the evil counsel of their leadership, and those who were taken into the order of shepherds—I mean the Scribes, and the Pharisees, and those adorned with the insignia of the priesthood—whom the king of Assyria, that is to say, Satan, did indeed lull to sleep. For the rule of the Babylonians is B often taken for his person. And that the shepherds and the powerful among them were lulled to sleep, how can there be any doubt, when the divinely inspired Scripture everywhere attributes to them the destruction of the peoples? For it is written: "O ye shepherds that scatter and destroy the sheep of my pasture!" And again: "The priests said not, Where is the Lord? and they that handled the law knew me not; and the shepherds dealt wickedly against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal." And Isaiah says again: "How has the faithful city Zion become a harlot? In which justice once dwelt, but now murderers. Your silver is reprobate, thy tavern-keepers mix wine with water, thy princes are disobedient, partners of thieves, loving gifts, following after rewards, not judging for the orphans, and not attending to the judgment of the widows."
"There is no healing for thy bruise; thy wound has inflamed."
40. All dire and repulsive things might be endured if they came within measure, and not altogether beyond what is fitting. For there exists a good hope for those subjected to suffering, that they might be able to rise again, just as from a sickness to the ability to live thereafter with strong vigor, and that they will pass over to prosperity, the affairs having turned for the better. But when matters have progressed to the most miserable state for them, then truly the calamity is hard to escape, or rather is entirely C inescapable. Because Nineveh suffered this, he signifies that it was both crushed and had perished at the same time, because the hope of being able to obtain healing was taken away, and the evil, in a pitiable manner, was as it were swelling up and contriving its final destruction.
That the Christ-killing Jerusalem also has been in these conditions is accurate to say. It was struck many times by enemies invading it, but healings followed, as God had pity and as it were softened the blow that had befallen it. But since they acted outrageously against the Lord of all, it was crushed and has fallen, and there was no healing, according to the voice of the prophet, and the festering of what had befallen them remained unsoftened. Therefore the blessed prophets also said, comparing it to Babylon: D "We have healed Babylon, and she was not healed."