Commentary on Ezekiel

(Verse 1.) And it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth, on the fifth of the month.

The thirtieth year is said, not, as many suppose, of the prophet's age, nor of the Jubilee, which is the year of remission; but reckoned from the twelfth year of Josiah, king of Judah, when the book of Deuteronomy was found in the temple of God, up to the fifth year of the captivity of Joachin, surnamed Jechonias, who was led with his mother into Babylon, and with Daniel and the three young men, and Ezekiel (which is the first captivity of the tribe of Judah), when the wrath of God dropped down upon Jerusalem (Chron. 34). But according to the anagogical sense, the Lord and Savior is prefigured, who, being thirty years old, came to baptism, which is the perfect age in man. Whence also in the book of Numbers, according to the Hebrews, not, as is contained in the Septuagint, from the twenty-fifth year of age, but from the thirtieth, the priests begin to minister in the tabernacle.

As a sign of this, Joseph also went before, when in Egypt he generously gave grain to the hungry people, and John the Baptist came to the streams of the Jordan and preached the baptism of repentance. And that which is written, "in the fourth," with the sense left pending, is to be understood as "month." For it immediately follows, "on the fifth of the month." That this might be made more clear, the Seventy added it above. (Verse 2.) When I was in the midst of the captives by the river Chobar, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God on the fifth of the month: that is the fifth year of the transmigration of king Joachin. That the captive people sat by the rivers of Babylon, David prophesies in the spirit: By the rivers of Babylon there we sat and wept.

But Chobar is either the name of a river, or certainly, according to its own interpretation, since it is rendered "heavy," signifies the Tigris and the Euphrates, and all the great and heaviest rivers said to be in the land of the Chaldeans. And understand the heavens opened, not by a division of the firmament, but by the faith of the believer: because the heavenly mysteries were unlocked to him. Whence also at the baptism of the Savior, when the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove, we read that the heavens were opened, and, these being unlocked, visions of God are spread open: not one vision, but many, the Lord saying through the Prophet: I will multiply visions, and in the hands of the prophets I have been made like. These are the visions which the whole prophecy of Ezekiel weaves together. And more significantly, according to the Hebrews and the other Interpreters, it is called the transmigration of Joachin, not the captivity, as the Seventy translated it.

For he was not taken when the city was overcome, but, giving himself up by his own will, was led into Babylon. Therefore let the first transmigration be called that of Joachin, that is, of Jechonias; and the second, or last captivity, that of Zedekiah. (Verse 3.) The word of the Lord came to Ezekiel, son of Buzi, the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans, by the river Chobar. And to Daniel and to Ezekiel, who were in Babylon beside the rivers, the mysteries of things to come are opened over the waters, indeed in the purest waters, so that the power of baptism might be shown. Otherwise also the apostle Paul, when he was washed in the Lord by Ananias, the scales first covering his eyes, was freed from blindness. And in Genesis, the first living things came forth from the waters.

This too should be understood, that in the thirtieth year of his age the Lord came to baptism: in the fourth month, which among us is called January, and is at the very beginning of the year, apart from the month Nisan of new things, in which the Passover is celebrated. For among the Eastern peoples, after the gathering of the crops and the pressing of the wine, when the tithes were brought into the temple, October was the first month, and January the fourth. He adds, moreover, the fifth day of the month, to signify the baptism in which the heavens were opened to Christ, and the day of the Epiphany is venerable even to this day, not, as some think, the Nativity in the flesh, for then he was hidden and did not appear. Which fits this time, when it was said: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Further, Buzi is translated into our tongue as "spurned and despised": Ezekiel, "strengthened by God." Which will be fitted to the Lord thus, that we may say the Creator of the world, who is the Father of the Savior, is spurned and despised by all heretics who do not receive the Old Testament. Nor is it strange that the Lord should be the strength of God, since he himself is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

And the hand of the Lord was there upon him. The Seventy: And the hand of the Lord was upon me. That we may see the visions of God and be able to understand, we need the hand and strength of God upon us. By that hand and arm the people of Israel were led out of Egypt; a part of which strength even the Magicians perceived when they said: This is the finger of God. And the Savior in the Gospel: If I by the finger of God cast out devils. For which in another Gospel it is written: If I by the Spirit of God cast out devils. (Verse 4.) And I saw, and behold a whirlwind came out of the north, and a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and brightness round about it. And out of the midst thereof, as it were, the appearance of amber, that is, out of the midst of the fire.

The Seventy: And I saw, and behold a spirit taking up (or lifting) came from the north, and a great cloud in it, and a flashing fire, and brightness round about it. And in the midst of it, as it were, a vision of amber in the midst of the fire, and brightness in it. For the consolation of the people being led into transmigration, and the revelation of the sentence of God, the prophet sees a very great vision. In the interpretation of which all the synagogues of the Jews are mute, saying that it is beyond man to attempt anything concerning this, and concerning the building of the temple, which is written at the end of this prophecy.

But we, following what we have received from our elders, and according to the measure of our own small talent, comparing spiritual things with spiritual, can rather conjecture than fully explain; we will trust to well-disposed and faithful readers, begging pardon, that they may favor rather than be angered at our rashness—or rather, at a faith that does not know its own measure. And first it must be known that the spirit taking away, or lifting up, which we, following Aquila, have translated "a whirlwind," and, following Symmachus and Theodotion, "a blast and spirit of tempest," is taken by some in a good sense, by others in the contrary sense. For the Hebrew word RUAH (רוח), according to the character of the passages, is taken either as spirit, or soul, or wind. Spirit, as here: Send forth thy spirit, and they shall be created. Soul: His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return to his own earth. Wind: With a vehement wind thou shalt break the ships of Tharsis.

And elsewhere: Fire and brimstone and a storm of winds shall be a part of their cup. Those who read "wind and blast of tempest" understand it thus: that the wrath and fury of God comes from the north, that is, Nebuchadnezzar, and that Jerusalem is to be taken after six years from this vision. For the vision is seen in the fifth year of the transmigration of king Joachin, which was also the fifth year of Zedekiah reigning in Jerusalem, whom we read to have been led into Babylon likewise after six years, that is, in the eleventh year of his reign, when the city was taken. To those, therefore, who dwelt near the river Chobar, and who had given themselves up to the king of their own accord, it is revealed that they did well to obey the sentence of God. For in a short time both the province of Judea and the city of Jerusalem were to be taken.

And that a great cloud is described, let us understand that it carries the rains of overthrow upon Judea, and the showers of destructions. And the fire infolded shows the punishments to come, and the evils of captivity. And the brightness round about it signifies the manifest judgments of God. But those who understand it in the contrary sense, that is, the good sense, understand the spirit taking away, or lifting up, to be the Holy Spirit, who takes away from men their vices and sins, or lifts up those lying low to lofty things, and makes them withdraw from the north, a most cold wind, from which evils blaze forth upon the whole earth; and in Jeremiah, that terrible pot is kindled from the face of the north.

They also refer the great cloud to the person of Christ, who came into the Egypt of this world upon a light cloud: and they say it is properly called "great" in comparison with the lesser ones, namely the prophets and apostles and all the saints, of whom it is written: And thy truth even unto the clouds; and: I will command the clouds not to rain a shower upon Israel; and elsewhere: A cloud is the dust of his feet (Nahum 1, 3); and again: Cloud and darkness are round about him. They also take the flashing fire and the brightness round about it according to that which is written: God is a consuming fire. To send which upon the earth the Savior says he has come, and desires it to burn in us and in all believers; which, though it brings terror and punishments to sinners, yet gleams with brightness, and is full of light and radiance.

Therefore it refines us, that it may grant more joyful things to those who are purified and cleansed. (Verse 5.) And in the midst thereof the likeness of four living creatures: and this was their appearance: the likeness of a man was in them. And that which follows, "and brightness in it," is to be marked with an obelus. Had not the Scripture added, saying, "that is, out of the midst of the fire," on account of the ambiguity of the word we might have gone astray, so as to suppose the appearance, or vision, of amber to be in the midst of the wind, or spirit.

Therefore this is to be understood, that in the midst of the fire and torments of God there is the likeness of amber, which is more precious than gold and silver; so that after the judgment and torments, which seem sorrowful and harsh to those who suffer them, a more precious gleam of amber may appear, while all things are governed by the providence of God, and what is thought a punishment is a medicine. (Verse 6.) And in the midst thereof the likeness of four living creatures, and this was their appearance: the likeness of a man was in them. In the midst thereof, it is indeed understood, of the amber: but it is better that we understand it of fire, which is light to believers, and punishment to unbelievers.

In the midst, then, of this fire was the likeness of four living creatures, a likeness, not a nature; and of the four living creatures which are afterward called four-formed, there is one likeness, that of a man, so that all rational beings in the world might be represented: for it is said, Let us make man to our image and likeness. Now the image and likeness of God is not a bodily form, but of the mind: fashioned after the likeness of the true image of Christ, who is the image of the invisible God. These rational creatures move about in four places, whether on account of the four cardinal points of the world, by which the globe is enclosed, or on account of the four regions, of things celestial, terrestrial, and infernal, and supercelestial, of which also the apostle Paul speaks: That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things celestial, terrestrial, and infernal. Of three of these, Paul's testimony holds. Let us see the fourth also.

Praise the Lord, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that are above the heavens, let them praise the name of the Lord. And again, by the Apostle, some things are called celestial, and others supercelestial. (Verse 7.) Four faces to one, and four wings to one, and their feet were straight feet, and the sole of their foot was like the sole of a calf's foot, and sparks like the appearance of glowing brass. And the hand of a man was under their wings on four sides. The Seventy: And four faces to one, and four wings to one, and their legs straight, and their feet feathered. And sparks like flashing bronze, and their wings light, and the hand of a man under their wings on their four sides.

Concerning the four living creatures, whose appearance was the likeness of a man (in this respect only, that each had four faces, and four wings, and straight feet, and the sole of the foot like the print of a calf's foot, or, as Aquila translated it, round, which the Seventy entirely omitted), and also concerning the sparks glowing with the brightness of brass, and their light wings, which is not found in the Hebrew, and concerning the hand of a man under their wings on four sides, and the rest which the prophetic discourse describes, we shall attempt to say what seems to us to be meant, after we have briefly touched upon the opinions of each. Some think that the four Gospels are designated by the names of these living creatures, an opinion which we ourselves also followed in the preface of the commentaries on Matthew: that of Matthew, because he described as it were a man: The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

That of the lion they refer to Mark: The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God, as it is written in the prophet Isaiah: The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. That of the calf, to the Gospel of Luke, which begins with the priesthood of Zachary. That of the eagle, to the beginning of John, who, soaring on high, began: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. What we thought concerning this we have said in the aforementioned work, and more fully in the Apocalypse of John the forms and names of these living creatures are referred to the four Gospels. How the description of all the living creatures can be fitted to them, we shall try to say in its proper place.

But others, who follow the foolish wisdom of the philosophers, suppose the two hemispheres in the two Cherubim of the temple to be ourselves and the Antipodes, as it were men lying supine and falling. Very many, following Plato, refer the rational, the irascible, and the concupiscible part of the soul, which he calls logikon, rational faculty and thymikon, spirited faculty and epithymetikon, appetitive faculty, to man, and to the lion and the calf: placing reason and knowledge, and mind, and counsel, and the same virtue and wisdom, in the citadel of the brain; but fierceness and wrath and violence in the lion, which is situated in the gall. Furthermore, lust, luxury, and desire for all pleasures in the liver, that is, in the calf, which clings to the works of earth.

And they posit a fourth, which is above these and outside these three, which the Greeks call συντήρησιν, which spark of conscience is not extinguished even in the breast of Cain, after he was cast out of paradise, and by which, when overcome by pleasures or by fury, and sometimes deceived by the very semblance of reason, we perceive that we sin. This they properly assign to the eagle, as not mingling with the three, but correcting the three when they err; which we read is sometimes called in the Scriptures the spirit, which makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. For no man knoweth the things of a man, but the spirit of man which is in him. Which Paul also, writing to the Thessalonians, prays may be preserved whole with the soul and body.

And yet we see this very conscience itself, according to that which is written in Proverbs: The wicked man, when he has come into the depth of sins, despises: cast down among some and losing its own place, in those who have not even shame nor modesty in their sins, and deserve to hear: Thou hast had a harlot's forehead, thou wouldst not blush. This chariot-team, then, God guides in the manner of a charioteer, and checks it when it runs with disordered steps, and makes it docile, and compels it to obey his command. This discussion of the parts of the soul, that is, of man, who is called by the same philosophers the lesser world, we too shall touch upon. There are some who simply think that in the four living creatures, according to the opinion of Hippocrates, the four elements of the world are shown, of which all things consist: fire, air, water, earth.

How these are mixed with one another, and, though each is single, seem joined to one another, and touch one another mutually, and have the four forms and shapes in one person of the living creatures, is not the purpose of this work. Also the four wheels rising from earthly things to lofty ones, joined each to the four-formed living creatures, they suppose either signify the commingling of these same elements, or the cycle of the four seasons, which is completed in periods of three months each, and the revolving year, which took its name from the fact that it always turns and returns into itself. Of which it is beautifully said in one verse:

Spring, summer, autumn, winter, and the month, and the year.

And that which is said, "Wheel within wheel," they think signifies year within year. Concerning which another poet (Virgil, Georg. 2):

And the year rolls back upon itself through its own tracks.

Also the likeness of the firmament compared to crystal, they wish to be understood as this sky which we look up at: beneath which the four living creatures revolve and pass. And the throne of sapphire color, and the man sitting above it in human likeness, they suppose to describe the dominion of him who governs all things and has all things under his feet, that is, the omnipotence of God; and that at the end it is said: This was the vision of the likeness of the glory of God: through which, as through a certain picture and image, providence is shown. And that the feet of the living creatures are said to be straight, and the sole of the foot like that of a calf, or round, they take to signify that earthly things fly up to celestial ones, and, all angles being cut away, follow roundness, which is the most beautiful of all shapes.

The glowing sparks indicate that all things are full of light, and the hand of a man under the wings, both of the man himself, and of the lion, and of the calf, and of the eagle, signify that reason sustains all things, and lifts them up from earthly lowliness to celestial things. These things we can also refer both to the Gospels and to all the things which we have set forth above. I remember having heard that the four perturbations, concerning which Cicero disputes most fully in the Tusculan Disputations, namely joy, grief, desire, and fear, of which two pertain to present things and two to future things, are signified by the four living creatures, concerning which Virgil also briefly (Aeneid, book 6):

Hence they fear, and desire, and grieve, and rejoice:

which ought to be ruled by reason and the power of God; and to which are opposed, or rather set over them, the four virtues, Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, Temperance, that they may be governed by the judgment of these. But how these are fitted to the faces of the man, the lion, the calf, and the eagle, they have entirely passed over in silence. Concerning which the same philosopher and orator discusses in the three books of Offices addressed to his son.

I have also read a short little discussion of a certain Catina, whom the Syrians call λεπτόν, that is, subtle and ingenious, who supposes that the order of the camp of the twelve tribes is described in the wilderness, toward the East and the West, the North and the South, which are joined to one another both by love and by kinship, and that this is the "wheel within a wheel," which are led by the spirit, and covered by the cloud in the wilderness, and lit by the pillar of fire in the night; and do not return into Egypt, but always hasten to go to the land of promise.

But the likeness of amber in the midst he interprets as the Holy of Holies, and refers the face of a man to the whole of Israel; that of the lion to the royal scepter of Judah; that of the calf to the priestly and Levitical tribe: and outside of these is the face of the eagle, the vengeance and retribution of God looking upon all things from heaven, and prepared to tear the sinner to pieces, concerning which it is also said in Hosea: As an eagle over the house of God, that is, the temple. And in this same prophet (below, ch. 17), the great eagle with great wings and claws, which has the power of entering into Lebanon, is understood to be Nebuchadnezzar, whom he also now signifies is about to come, and that God sits upon such a chariot-team as a charioteer, and commands what is to be done or not done.

But this, he says, is said to the people who are in Babylon, that if they submit their necks to God, and obey his reins, they may again deserve his help, and receive back the land which they had lost. (Verses 8, 9.) And they had faces and wings on the four sides: and their wings were joined one to another. They turned not when they went: but every one went straight forward. The Gospels are joined together and cling to one another, and, flying about the whole world, run hither and thither: nor do they have an end to their flight, nor are they ever overtaken and fall back, but always advance to what lies further ahead. Whence Paul also says: Forgetting the things that are behind, and reaching forth to the things that are before. We can say the same thing also concerning the virtues of the soul, and concerning the flight of the seasons, and the commingling of the elements, that, leaving behind the things that are past, they always hasten toward the things ahead.

But that the seasons slip away and flee is shown in a short verse (Virgil, Georg. 3):

But meanwhile it flees, irretrievable time flees.

And in the lyric poem (Horace, Odes, book 2, ode 14):

Alas, alas, Postumus, Postumus, the fleeting years
Are slipping away!

(Verse 10.) Now the likeness of their faces was the face of a man, and the face of a lion on the right side of all four: and the face of an ox on the left side of all four: and the face of an eagle over all four. He calls the faces the beginnings of the Gospels, of which the man and the lion, that is, the birth of Christ, and the prophetic voice of one thundering in the wilderness, hold the right-hand parts. But that of the calf, that is, of the victims and priesthood of the Jews, is on the left: because, being abolished, it passed over to the spiritual priesthood, of which it is said: Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedech; in such a way, nevertheless, that all things cling to one another, and are reckoned as one body.

But the eagle, which is both above the birth and above the prophecy, which is fulfilled by the coming of the Lord, and above the priesthood which has passed away, and is outside all these, refers to the spiritual birth, how the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father. Of which it is most rightly said: Who shall declare his generation? These are, according to the Apocalypse, as we have already said above, the four living creatures full of eyes before and behind, of which one living creature was like a lion, and the second like a calf, and the third had the face as it were of a man. And the fourth like a flying eagle.

And there they are said, after the manner of the Seraphim, to have six wings each, two covering the face, and two the feet, and two for flying, and resting not day nor night, saying: Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come. (Verse 11.) And their faces, and their wings, were stretched out above: two wings of each were joined together, and two covered their bodies. And above we have said that the Gospels, and the seasons, and all rational creatures, and the four virtues, are joined to one another, so that whoever lacks one lacks all. And that two are stretched out, and raise themselves aloft, signifies heavenly preaching, and that all things tend toward the majesty of God. But by the two by which the bodies are covered, human knowledge is excluded, nor is perfect insight afforded, the Apostle saying: We know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, those things which are in part shall be done away.

Verse 12. And each one went before his own face. Where the impulse of the spirit was, thither they went, and they did not turn back when they walked. He who holds the plough-handle ought not to look behind his back, nor imitate the wife of Lot, lest he fall into the plague of Deuteronomy, and perish by an incurable ὀπιστοτόνῳ, by which Eli also fell, because he had offended God by the fault of his sons: how much more the four animals which were full of light and winged, which follow the Holy Spirit going before: which so fly about through the world, and lift themselves up to the heights, that they cover their bodies with the wings of history, and do not grant us a fuller sight? But as to what is said a second time: They did not turn back when they went, it indicates the mystery of each instrument, that in these four living beings both the Law and the Gospel hasten toward things to come; and never take a backward motion.

Verse 13. And the likeness of the animals, and their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps. This was the vision running to and fro in the midst of the animals, a brightness of fire, and lightning going forth from the fire. And the animals went and returned in the likeness of flashing lightning. The Septuagint: And in the midst of the animals a vision, like burning coals of fire, like the face of lamps running to and fro in the midst of the animals; and a brightness of fire, and out of the fire went forth as it were lightning. And what follows: And the animals ran and returned like the appearance of bezec, was added from Theodotion's edition into the Septuagint: for they, lest the prophet should seem to contradict his two former statements, thought that what they supposed to be contrary—namely, that the animals ran and returned—should be passed over in silence, lest it should give offense to the reader.

But it is better, in the divine books, to translate what has been said, even though you do not understand why it was said, than to remove what you do not know. Otherwise many other things also, which are ineffable and which the human mind cannot grasp, will be blotted out by this license.

But we say this: that just as in Proverbs it is written in the same place: Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you become like him; and again is set down what seems to us to be contrary: Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he seem wise to himself; and both agree according to the diversity of times and persons, since both the fool is despised, because he does not receive wisdom, and foolish pride is struck down by another folly, according to what the Apostle also says: I have become foolish, you have compelled me: so also in this place we ought to inquire why it was said above a second time: The animals did not turn back when they went; and now once, the animals ran and returned. And there would be a difficulty, unless there followed, in the likeness of flashing lightning: which in the Hebrew tongue is called BEZEC (בזק), and Symmachus interpreted it as, like the appearance of a flash of lightning.

Just as, therefore, the sky flashes with frequent fires; and in the twinkling of an eye and in a moment the lightnings run to and fro and return, without losing their matrix, and, so to speak, the source and matter of the fire: so also these animals, though they go forward with unimpeded foot, hasten toward what is before them. But if they see something obstructing their effort, they do not so much turn back as draw themselves in, to be stretched out again, and to give forth the light which they had for a little while hidden, that they may give food to the servants in due season, and not give what is holy to dogs, nor cast pearls before swine. Whence Paul says: I gave you milk to drink, not meat, for you were not yet able to bear it. And the election of Judas, and the anointing of Saul, do not charge God with ignorance of future things, but show him to be a judge of things present.

Whence the Apostles are also instructed that, if they find a house unworthy of their greeting, they should first shake off the dust from their feet; and the peace which they had given to the house should return to them. But the burning coals of fire and the lamps running to and fro in the midst of the animals have been interpreted from that passage of Isaiah: And the fire shall devour the matter as stubble, and I will sanctify them in burning fire. Of which it is also written elsewhere: Coals of fire shall fall upon them. And against deceitful lips, it is said in another psalm: What shall be given to you, or what shall be added to you, against a deceitful tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty, with desolating coals. And in another place: You have coals of fire, you shall sit upon them: these shall be a help to you. Whatever creature we look upon, it flashes forth the knowledge of God, since the Creator is known from His creatures.

And from the midst of the living beings goes forth the brightness of fire, and lightning. For if you collide the Gospels with one another, in the midst of the letter and of the seemingly base history, you will find the mysteries of the Holy Spirit. (Verses 15 and following.) And when I looked at the animals, there appeared one wheel upon the earth beside the animals having four faces. And the appearance of the wheels, and their work, was like the vision of the sea, and there was one likeness of the four, and their appearance and their works, as if a wheel were in the midst of a wheel. Going through their four sides they went, and they did not turn back when they walked. There was also a stature to the wheels, and a height, and a terrible appearance, and the whole body full of eyes round about the four of them. LXX: And I saw, and behold, one wheel upon the earth following the four animals.

And the appearance of the wheels, and their construction, was like the appearance of tharsis. And there was one likeness in the four: and their work was as a wheel is wont to be within a wheel. In their four directions they walked, and did not turn back when they walked. And their backs, and they had a height. And I saw them, and their backs full of eyes round about the four of them. Thus far the picture describes the four living creatures which had four faces each, following the spirit and the cloud which was in the midst of the spirit; now for each single animal single wheels are set, which were not joined to the animals, but followed them. Or else one wheel appeared upon the earth, which, divided into four, had as many faces as the animals it followed. And such was the likeness of the four wheels following the four animals that it might most truly be believed to be one wheel.

And their work and construction was as the vision of tharsis, which we translate as "sea." Aquila set down "hyacinth"; which stone has the likeness of the sky. And their appearance was as a wheel within a wheel, so that you would not think it one wheel, but one joined to another. Through the four sides they went, and were not dragged, nor did they turn back. For how could it be that they should turn back, since they were following the animals, which always tended toward what lay before them? The stature also of the wheels and their height was so great that it caused wonder in those who beheld it.

And the whole body and the backs were full of light round about, so that you would see no member which did not have eyes of light: such as the fables of the poets describe Argus to have been, hundred-eyed or many-eyed, whom Juno turned into a peacock on account of his negligent watch, so that what is a marvel of God the Creator might be the condemnation of an unpunished adultery. All heavenly and earthly things, and whatever falls under human understanding, revolve on the wheels of the sun. The moon runs through the annual circle of the sun in the course of single months.

The morning star, which is itself also the evening star, while it gleams ruddy toward the East and toward the West, and tempers the darkness of night with a small light, completes the same course in two years: and the other four stars which are called wandering, and whatever shines in the sky, and likewise the varieties of crops and trees and herbs, run through the four seasons on their own wheels, and we behold nothing that has not existed before. The spirit goes about circling, and returns to its own circuits. All the streams go into the sea, and the sea is not filled. Why? Because they return to their sources from the parent abyss. But of the Gospels, that is, of the four living creatures which breathe, live, and understand, if one considers the wheel and its course, he will see in a short time that the world has been filled with the Apostolic word.

The wheel also within a wheel, or the joining of the two, is of the Testaments, which the ladder of Jacob indicates, and the tongs of Isaiah, and the two-edged sword: or else the Gospels cohering with one another, whose course and stature tends toward heaven, and touches but a little upon the earth, and always hastening, presses on toward the heights. Of which it is also said elsewhere: Holy stones are rolled upon the earth; out of which the heavenly Jerusalem is built. This same thing I think is also signified by what is sung in the psalm: The voice of thy thunder in the wheel. And elsewhere: Which sets on fire the wheel of nativity. What sense these testimonies have in their own places is not for the present occasion.

But that the whole body and backs are full of eyes will be approved by him who shall see that there is nothing in the Gospels which does not shine, and illuminate the world with its splendor, so that even things thought small and mean gleam with the majesty of the Holy Spirit. (Verses 19 and following.) And when the animals walked, the wheels also walked equally beside them. And when the animals were lifted up from the earth, the wheels also were lifted up at the same time. Wherever the spirit went, thither the spirit going, the wheels also were equally lifted up, following it; for the spirit of life was in the wheels. With those going they went, and with those standing they stood: and with those lifted up from the earth, the wheels likewise were lifted up, following them; because the spirit of life was in the wheels. The four animals followed the spirit, and the cloud which was in the spirit.

And again, when the wheels followed the animals rising up from the earth, they were following not the animals at all, but the spirit, to show their own will: because the spirit of life was in the wheels. Now three things are indicated equally both in the animals and in the wheels, when they stood, when they walked, when they were lifted up, which both the animals and the wheels did in common. For neither could the wheels walk while the animals stood still, nor could the wheels lift themselves while the animals walked upon the earth, but those whose action was one had also one rest, and one course, and one lifting up. And it is said secondly, that the spirit of life was in the wheels: so that we should by no means think them to be some vessel of wheels, such as we see in the carts of wagons and chariots and coaches, but living things, indeed above living things. For the natural man does not perceive the things that are of the Spirit.

These wheels, therefore, in which was the spirit of life, do all things in order and by measure, and have concord with the animals, following them, and through them the Holy Spirit; nay rather, the intermediate things being passed over, rejoicing in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. All of which, according to the earlier understanding, the prudent reader will be able to fit to a varied interpretation. (Verses 22 and following.) And the likeness over the head of the animals of the firmament was like the terrible appearance of crystal, and stretched out over their heads from above. And under the firmament their wings were straight, one toward another. Each one covered its body with two wings, and the other was likewise covered. And I heard the sound of the wings, like the sound of many waters, like the sound of the sublime God. When they walked, there was a sound as of a multitude, like the sound of a camp, and when they stood, their wings were let down.

For when there came a voice above the firmament that was over their heads, they stood and let down their wings. And above the firmament that hung over their heads, was like the appearance of a sapphire stone, the likeness of a throne, and above the likeness of the throne, a likeness as of the appearance of a man from above. Where we have set, "their wings were straight," and "as it were a sound," or "the voice of the sublime God," the LXX translated: "their wings were extended and flying"; and "as it were the voice of the mighty," which in Hebrew is called SADDAI (שדי). Many things also in this and in other chapters were passed over by them, which on account of length I have refrained from setting down.

But what we have translated more clearly, "one toward the other: each one covered its body with two wings, and the other was likewise covered," for which in the Hebrew it is written, "of the woman toward her sister, the man covered his body with two wings, and the man was likewise covered": therefore after "woman" he set "man" in the same person, lest we should think there is sex in the heavenly things: since in one and the same, according to the Hebrew property, the same is called both man and woman. Now above the four animals and as many wheels, there appears the likeness of the firmament, which we call heaven, having the appearance of crystal, which is most pure, and is said to congeal from clean and shining waters through excessive cold: to such a degree that even water constricted by frost is called in Greek κρύσταλλος.

It was fitting that in the higher parts there should be exceeding purity, which should protect all things, that is, the rational and wise powers, and the course of the four seasons, and the regions of the world, and the order of all things, and the Evangelical preaching, which is understood in part, and in part veiled. And a voice is heard of the flying wings, like the voice of many waters, which according to the Apocalypse of John signify peoples, and gradually advancing it is called like the voice of camps, and like the voice of the sublime God, which in Hebrew is called SADDAI, and according to the LXX, the voice of the word; that we may believe all things which are preached in the world to be the voice of the Son of God. But when the animals stood, their wings were let down.

For they could not bear the voice of God Almighty resounding in the heavens, but they stood, and marveled; and by their silence they showed forth the power of God, who sat upon the firmament. Which firmament, to those who were below, had the likeness of crystal: but to those who were above, it appeared like a sapphire stone. And this likeness of sapphire was the throne of him who sat in the likeness of a man. From which we understand that the firmament, and the crystal, and the sapphire, and the man are shown in likeness, not in reality. Now that the man ought to be understood as God the Father, many testimonies teach. Among which is this in the Gospel: A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it out to husbandmen. And a little after: He sent servants, and above all his son. And again: A certain man made a marriage for his son.

Not that the Son is excluded from the kingdom, of whom Isaiah wrote: I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up. And John: But these things, he says, Isaiah said, because he saw the glory of the Son of God; but that the Son also reigns in the Father. For all things of the Son are the Father's, who is the image of the invisible God the Father. For also in Daniel God the Father is introduced sitting, and the Son of man is offered to him, that he may receive the kingdom. And in the Apocalypse of John, the same things are written of the Son. And at the combat of the first martyr Stephen, he is seen standing at the right hand of the Father. Of whom it is sung in the psalm: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand. Until I make thy enemies thy footstool.

But just as by crystal all the purest and most shining things are shown in the heavens, which illuminate our sighted body: so in the sapphire, that is, in the throne of God, and above the firmament which we take as heaven, the hidden and secret and incomprehensible mysteries of God are shown: He who made darkness his hiding place, and is seen in cloud and in darkness. Whence also it is written in Exodus: And under the feet of God there was as it were the work of a sapphire brick, and as the appearance of the firmament of the sky, most clean. Whence also the bride describes the beauty of the bridegroom in the Canticle: His belly is as an ivory tablet upon the sapphire stone. And in the Apocalypse of John the first foundation is of jasper, the second of sapphire. And in the rational (breastplate) of the high priest, in the row and order of the individual stones, the second row has the carbuncle, and the sapphire, and the jasper.

Of which stones, in part, we have spoken in the Explanations of Isaiah. (Verses 27, 28.) And I saw as it were the appearance of amber, like the appearance of fire within it round about, from his loins and upward. And from his loins downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire shining round about, like the appearance of a bow when it is in the cloud on a day of rain. This was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the vision of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. The likeness of a man who sat upon the likeness of a throne, which throne had the likeness of a sapphire stone, is compared from the loins and upward to amber. Which amber had, both within and without, as it were the appearance of fire.

But from the loins downward there was fire shining round about; that it might show that those things which are above the loins, where sense and reason dwell, have no need of fire nor of flames, but of the most precious and purest metal. But those things which are from the loins downward, where is coition, where is generation, where are the incitements of vices, have need of the purgation of flames, so that when they have been purged, they may have, according to the Hebrew and Greek exemplar—in the Latin we have "of stone" instead of "of a side/brick." the likeness of a bow, which is commonly called the rainbow, when it is in the cloud on a day of rain. For the rainbow, which in Holy Scripture is called "bow," and in the Apocalypse of John is called by the same name, "rainbow", cannot appear except in rain, and in a watery cloud, of diverse and most beautiful colors, gradually passing into one another. Whence also the poet (Virgil, Aeneid IV):

It catches a thousand varied colors as the light strikes it from the opposite side.

But also following the custom of the common people, the same poet says: "When it drinks," he says, "the bow." By which he signifies that the bow never appears except in cloud and in waters. This bow is a sign of clemency, and of the covenant of God, which he made with men: so that when it should appear in a cloud, we might know, according to the example of antiquity, that we shall by no means perish by a flood. By which it is shown that after punishments and sufferings, and the purging of sins, there will be a future mercy, at least for those who shall have deserved to see God reigning. Whence it is said: This was the appearance of splendor round about. Round about God, or the throne, or all the things that were beheld. And this is the vision of the likeness of the glory of God: not that he saw the glory of the Lord, but the likeness of his glory.

Now this whole vision is this: a spirit lifting up, and a great cloud, and four living creatures, and as many wheels following the living creatures, and the spirit, which deserved to be under the firmament of God. After these were lifted up, and heard a voice as of many waters, and as of the lofty word of God, and the voice of camps and of an army, they let down their wings, and showed astonishment in silence: and there appeared, sitting upon the likeness of a sapphire, as it were the likeness of a man, who from the loins upward had the appearance of amber, and from the loins downward the appearance of fire round about. After this terror a sign of mercy is given; like the appearance of the bow when it is in the cloud on a rainy day. Concerning this vision we have spoken at greater length because it is both obscure, and variously expounded by many.

In the rest, as far as can be done without harm to the meanings, we shall strive for brevity, on account of the size of the volume.

(Verse 1.) And I saw, and I fell upon my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking. He was not lifted up by the greatness of the visions, but out of consciousness of human frailty fell upon his face. Whence also the apostle Paul, after the ascension into heaven and paradise, and the hearing of ineffable words, says that there was given to him an angel of Satan, to buffet him, lest he should be exalted. And Abraham fell upon his face, after he heard the words of God. And yet because he had fallen not from sin, but from humility, he is raised up by the Lord, and is bidden to hear his words. It should also be known, that it is one thing to fall upon the face, another to fall backward. Abraham, after he heard of the birth of Isaac, fell upon his face, and laughed.

But Eli, who had sinned, fell backward. And of Dan it is written in Genesis: Let Dan be a serpent in the path, biting the horse's heel, and the rider shall fall backward, awaiting the salvation of God. For because he had fallen from his horse by the serpent's bite, on that account he awaits the coming of the Savior.

And in the Gospel according to John, those who had come to seize the Lord, after he answered: I am he, fell backward to the ground; unable at all to bear the word of him who had said to Moses: Go, say to the children of Israel: He who is, has sent me to you. And he said to me: Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak to thee. Lying down he could not hear the word of God, but he hears it as Moses did: But stand thou here with me. Which Daniel also relates to have happened to himself. (Verse 2.) And the spirit entered into me, after he had spoken to me, and set me upon my feet. And I heard him speaking to me, and saying: Son of man. The Septuagint: And the spirit came upon me, and took me up, and lifted me, and set me upon my feet: and I heard him speaking to me, and he said to me: Son of man.

The divine word had commanded the prophet and bidden him: Stand upon thy feet; but without the help of God and the coming of the Holy Spirit he could not stand: therefore the Spirit enters into him, or takes him up and raises him, that he might be firm of step, and be able to say: He has set my feet upon a rock. And we read of no sinner standing, but to the saints it is said: Stand therefore, having your loins girt. But the sinner deserves to hear that saying of Deuteronomy: There shall be no stable footing for thy foot. Frequently it is said to Ezekiel: Son of man, and to Daniel rarely: both of whom, in the person of him who had said, The Son of man has nowhere to lay his head, console the captive people, and draw them back to repentance. (Verse 3.) I send thee to the children of Israel, to the apostate nations, that have revolted from me. They and their fathers have transgressed my covenant even unto this day.

He calls them by no means the people of God Israel, but apostate nations, those who have withdrawn from the Lord, not only the fathers, but also the sons. Nor should the sons seem liable to the sin of the fathers; but that the impiety of both fathers and sons might be equal. Further, what the Septuagint translated, provoking me, or turning into bitterness, signifies this, that God, benign and sweet by nature, is changed by our vices into bitterness. For as it is said to the saints: Taste and see that the Lord is sweet; so sinners perceive him as bitter. Whence also the Apostle reports the goodness and severity of God toward the saints and sinners. And of the sinners who lay prostrate, it is written: The Lord raises up them that are cast down, the Lord loves the just, the Lord looses them that are bound. But to the saints standing he promises rewards. (Verse 4.) And the children are of a hard face and untamable heart, to whom I send thee.

This is not found in the Septuagint. And it is a mark of great clemency to send God to such, and not to despair of their salvation; and of prophetic confidence, that he should not fear to go even to such. Now untamable heart, and hard face, we ought to understand according to that which is said to the sinner: A sinew of iron is thy neck, and thy brow of brass. Who are also in what follows charged with a heart of stone, which God says he will pluck out, and give in its place a heart of flesh: that by its softness it may receive the precepts of God. (Verse 5.) And thou shalt say to them: Thus says the Lord God: If perhaps they will hear, and if perhaps they will be still: for it is a house that provokes; and they shall know that a prophet has been in the midst of them. Something similar is written in Jeremiah: If perhaps they will hear and do penance.

And in the Gospel: Perhaps they will reverence my son. Now God speaks these things with the feeling of one in doubt, so as to show man's free will, lest the foreknowledge of things to come, whether evil or good, should make immutable what God knew would come to pass. For it is not because he knows things to come that we are necessarily bound to do what he foreknew: but because we are going to do of our own will, he, as God, knows it as future. (Verse 6.) Thou therefore, son of man, fear them not, neither fear their words, for they are unbelievers and subverters with thee. The Septuagint: And thou, son of man, fear them not, nor be afraid before their face: for they will rage, and gather together against thee round about. Although they are of stiff neck and untamable heart, yet my precepts are stronger. And do not think yourself deceived, if you are sent to those who will not hear you speaking.

Behold, I foretell to you that they will rage, and gather against you, and surround you, leaving you no escape. But they will do this, because they are unbelievers, and despisers of the commands of God.

And thou dwellest with scorpions. Fear not their words, and be not afraid of their faces, for it is a house that provokes. Who are able to strike, to smite with a curved wound, and with a hollow sting, so that the same blow both opens the skin and diffuses poison. Each one is allotted a name according to his character. To the scribes and Pharisees it is said: Generation of vipers. And of Herod, who was a shape-shifter: Go and tell that fox. And the false prophets in this same prophet are compared to foxes. And now those of untamable heart are said to be scorpions. Whence also we read in the Gospel: All who came before me were thieves and robbers, and the sheep did not hear them. And how did the lost sheep of the house of Israel hear the adversaries?

By which it is shown, that those who heard the thieves and robbers lost the name of sheep, and took on other names, so that they perished not as sheep, but as vipers, foxes, and scorpions. (Verses 7, 8.) And thou shalt speak my words to them: if perhaps they will hear, and fear, or be still, for they are provokers. But thou, son of man, hear what I speak to thee. We must not therefore cease, even though those to whom we speak are evil; but rather, according to the Apostle, preach the word of God in season and out of season, because it can happen both that the hard one is corrected to softness, and that the one who is obedient, his will being changed, may not hear.

Be not thou provoking, as that house is a house of provocation. We have already said that the Septuagint renders "exasperation," or "provocation," as "bitterness." What he says, then, is this: You ought not to imitate those whom you are sent to correct, lest a like sin should merit a like punishment.

Open thy mouth, and eat what I give thee. Show yourself worthy, he says, of my words, and receive spiritual food, so that as it is said in the Gospel: He who has ears to hear, let him hear; so here it may be said: He who has an open mouth to eat, let him eat. Whence also the Lord speaks to the Psalmist: Open thy mouth, and I will fill it. And he answered: I opened my mouth, and drew in the spirit. And the apostle Paul, who had in himself the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and in whom the Lord Christ spoke, writes to the Corinthians: My mouth is open to you, O Corinthians. And of the Savior Matthew relates: Opening his mouth, he taught his disciples.

And I looked, and behold a hand was sent to me. For "hand sent," the Septuagint translated "outstretched." It is sent and stretched out to those who obtain benefits. But it is drawn back from those to whom it is said through the prophet: Is the hand of the Lord shortened and drawn back? And in the Psalm: Why dost thou turn away thy hand, and thy right hand from the midst of thy bosom forever? Finally, in the Passion he stretched forth his wings, and took up his disciples, and carried them upon his shoulders, and said: All the day long I have stretched out my hands to a people that does not believe, that he might gather the children of Israel, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings: and by the stretching out of the hands of Moses, Israel overcame Amalek. (Verse 9.) In which was rolled up a book, and he spread it out before me, and was written within and without: and there were written in it lamentations, and a song, and woe.

And he said to me: Son of man, whatsoever thou shalt find, eat. For "rolled-up book," the Septuagint translated "the chapter of the book." In the hand of one sitting upon the throne, which was sent forth and outstretched. Of which it is also said in the Psalms: In the chapter of the book it is written of me. Let us understand "chapter" as "beginning." This book, rolled up and sealed, and written within and without, or before and behind, was of such difficulty that no one was able, either in heaven, or on earth, or under the earth, to open it and read it, save the Lion alone of the tribe of Judah, the root of David and Jesse, whom John in the Apocalypse says he saw devour it, not the whole, but the chapter, that is, the beginning. For it cannot be that human nature should devour all the treasures of this book entire.

And he spread it out before the prophet, and gave it to be read and known, he of whom it is said in Isaiah that it was sealed to a people not believing. For unto this day a veil is placed upon the Jews in the Old Testament. And it was written before and behind: of things future and of things past. Or else, "without," in the letter of history; "within," in spiritual understanding, of which the Psalmist also says: All the glory of the king's daughter, he says, is from within. And there were written in it, both within and without, lamentations, and a song, and woe. Lamentations, concerning those who are called to repentance, as Samuel and the Apostle Paul mourned and lamented for Saul and the Corinthians, whom they desired to save. A song, over those who are worthy of testimony, and to whom the Psalmist commands: Sing to the Lord a new song.

But woe, over those who are utterly despaired of, and who, when they have come into the depth of sins, show contempt.

(Verse 1.) Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the children of Israel. Unless we have first eaten the opened scroll, we cannot teach the children of Israel. Finally, David also, after he himself had obtained mercy, said: I will teach the wicked thy ways, and the impious shall be converted to thee. (Verse 2.) And I opened my mouth, and he fed me with that scroll. And he said to me: Son of man. I, he says, opened my mouth, because it was said to me: Open thy mouth, and eat. And, my mouth being opened, the Lord bestowed the food; so that the beginnings of the will may be in us, but we obtain the perfection of blessedness from the Lord. For it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God who sheweth mercy. Yet both to will and to run belongs to our own free choice.

Instead of "I opened," the Septuagint translated "he opened," so that "God" is understood: because he himself both opened the mouth of the prophet, and fed him. (Verse 3.) Thy belly shall eat, and thy inward parts shall be filled with that scroll which I give thee. The LXX: Thy mouth shall eat, and thy belly shall be filled with this chapter given to thee. The beginnings of reading, and of simple history, is the eating of the scroll. But when by continual meditation we have stored up in the treasury of memory the book of the Lord, our belly is spiritually filled, and the inward parts are satisfied, so that we may have, with the apostle Paul, bowels of mercy, and that belly may be filled of which Jeremiah speaks: My belly, my belly, I am pained, and the feelings of my heart trouble me.

And I ate it, and it became in my mouth as sweet as honey. David also speaks: How sweet are thy words to my throat, above honey to my mouth. And elsewhere: The judgments of the Lord are true, more desirable than gold and much precious stone; and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. And Samson found a honeycomb in the mouth of the lion; and the Lord after the resurrection ate a piece of broiled fish and a honeycomb. And in Proverbs it is said of the bee, though the Hebrew exemplars do not have this: Go to the bee, and learn how she is a worker, and makes her work chaste: of whose labors kings and common men make use for health: which Moses and the prophets, and the evangelists and the apostles have wrought; that whoever should become a king, whose heart is in the hand of God, might enjoy sweet foods.

But he who is simple and, without the cunning of the serpent, has the innocence of doves, let him believe with simple faith and be saved: because everywhere there are snares, and often the devil transforms himself into an angel of light: and honey drips from the lips of the harlot woman, promising sweet things that she may insert poisons. (Verse 5.) And he said to me: Son of man, go and enter into the house of Israel, and thou shalt speak my words to them. To him it is said: Go and enter into the house of Israel, it is shown that he was not with the sinning people; although he seemed to dwell among them within the same borders by the river Chobar. For it is written: And I was in the midst of the captivity by the river Chobar. For the prophet's manner of life was set apart, and was offended by the sight of the wicked.

This same thing Moses also did, pitching his tabernacle far from the camp of the multitude: and when he had entered it, the pillar of cloud descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle. (Verses 5, 6.) For thou art not sent to a people of profound speech, and difficult tongue, to the house of Israel, nor to many peoples of unknown speech, whose language thou couldst not understand. And if I sent thee to them, they would hear thee. Since these are unwilling to come to thee, go thou to them. For they that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. Nor canst thou say: I cannot speak to them, because they are of another tongue, and we are barbarians to one another, nor can we understand each other's speech. Why do I speak of one people? If I sent thee to different nations, yet my authority and power would overcome every difficulty.

And would that the time were at hand when I am about to send to all nations, when I shall also give the graces of tongues, that my apostles may preach, and may subject the whole world, in diversity of tongues, to my yoke in one faith; more easily would they hear who are profound and lofty of speech, and have nothing of Jewish lightness, but walk with a grave and firm step, and though their tongues are unknown, their faith is known. Whence follows: And if I sent thee to them, they would hear thee. Indeed afterward he sent, and all alike believed. Whence Paul and Barnabas say to the Jews: To you indeed it was necessary that the word of God should be preached first: but because you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. And of the centurion it is said: I have not found so great faith in Israel. (Verse 7.) But the house of Israel will not hear thee, because they will not hear me.

For the whole house of Israel is of hardened forehead and stubborn heart. Be not grieved, he says, if they be unwilling to hear thee. For this reason they will not hear thee: because they will disdain to hear me: according to what the Savior also said: He that despises you, despises me. In this the freedom of the will is clearly shown. And two causes are given why they do not hear: because they are, he says, of perverse will, and hardened of forehead, or, as the Septuagint rendered it, contentious: and it is understood that, though often called to salvation, they were unwilling to hear. (Verses 8, 9.) Behold I have made thy face stronger than their faces, and thy forehead harder than their foreheads. As adamant and as flint have I made thy face. Fear them not, neither be thou afraid at their presence, because they are a provoking house. And he said to me.

The house of Israel is of hardened forehead, and of shameless audacity, and of a heart so hard that it is compared to scorpions. Therefore I have given thee a countenance most hard, and a forehead which no shame can overcome. From this we learn, that at times it is a grace of God to resist shamelessness, and, when the matter demands it, to strike forehead against forehead. But this is granted, lest our modesty and human shame should fear the snares of rivals. (Verse 10.) Son of man, all my words which I shall speak to thee, receive in thy heart, and hear with thy ears. This is the food of the scroll, and these are the words with which, according to the diversity of hearers, he speaks either lamentations, or a song, or woe to men.

And yet it must be noted, that God's words must first be stored in our heart, and heard and understood the more diligently; and then set forth to the people. (Verse 11.) Go, get thee in to them of the captivity (or transmigration), to the children of thy people, and thou shalt speak to them, and shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: if perhaps they will hear, and will forbear: And our Lord came to the people of the Jews, being sent by the Father, that he might preach remission to captives, and that what is written might be fulfilled in him: Ascending on high, he led captivity captive: he gave gifts to men. (Verse 12.) Then the spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the voice of a great commotion: Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place.

God, of whom it is written: The Lord taketh up the meek, he himself took up the prophet also, who was not in the flesh, but in the spirit, and, walking in the spirit, did not fulfill the works of the flesh: for the Spirit of God was in him. Wherefore, also despising earthly things, he is carried away by the spirit, and hears behind him the voice of a great commotion, forgetting things past, and stretching forward into the future, that he might leave the snares of his enemies behind his back. Something of this sort we also read in Exodus, when Pharaoh and all his army pursued Israel, and the angel in the pillar of cloud left the front of the camp, and came behind, and stood the whole night between Israel and the Egyptians: so that, the adversaries being terrified, Israel might hear: Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place. Now the place of the Lord is every place in which he finds hospitality.

Or else the Son is the place of the Father, just as the Father also is the place of the Son, the Lord the Savior saying: I am in the Father, and the Father in me. This same thing Micah also signifies: Behold the Lord will come forth from his place, and will come down upon the high places of the earth, and the mountains shall be moved under him, and the valleys shall melt like wax before the fire, and as waters that run down a steep place (Micah I, 3, 4). For when the Lord the Savior descended, and went forth from the Father, the high places of the earth and the mountains were moved, and the lower parts of the valleys were melted. The "place" may be the glory of the Lord, and the light inaccessible, of which the Apostle speaks: Who only hath immortality, and inhabiteth light inaccessible. When we turn over in our mind the past judgments of the Lord, we hear the voice behind our back of a great commotion.

When we meditate in our heart on things to come, the voice is heard of things that went before, and of the things that are ahead. (Verse 13.) And the noise of the wings of the living creatures striking one against another, and the noise of the wheels following the living creatures, and the noise of a great commotion. In place of what is understood ἀπὸ κοινοῦ [in common] according to the Hebrew: I heard behind me the voice of a great commotion, and I heard the sound of the wings of the living creatures, and the sound of the wheels, the LXX added: And I saw the voice of the wings of the living creatures striking one against another, and the rest, according to what is read in Exodus: And all the people saw the voice of God: so that the voice which came from behind, the prophet heard; but that which was before him, he saw.

But it is better and more true to understand that the voice was heard rather than seen, both of the wings striking each other, and of the wheels, of which we spoke above, and of the great commotion which showed that the wrath of God was about to come upon the people of Israel.

Verse 14. The spirit also lifted me up, and took me away, and I went forth bitter in the indignation of my spirit. LXX: And the spirit lifted me up, and took me up, and I went away exalted in the impulse of my spirit. After he was lifted up by the spirit, and taken up by it, then in the indignation and bitterness of his spirit he went whither he was borne, understanding the indignation of God, and pondering in his mind what the vision signified. Or else, borne aloft by the very impulse of his own spirit, he was desiring to go where the Lord commanded. But let us understand by his spirit, not the Holy Spirit, but the spirit of the man, of which it is said in many places, as in Isaiah: In the night my spirit rises up to thee, O God.

And the prophet is transported (not, as some suppose, in spirit only) but in his very body, which we also read concerning Habakkuk according to Theodotion. (Verse 15.) For the hand of the Lord was with me, strengthening me. And I came to the captivity, to the heap of new grain, to those who were dwelling by the river Chobar. And I sat where they were sitting, and I remained there seven days, mourning in the midst of them. LXX: And the hand of the Lord became strong upon me, and I entered into the captivity, exalted. And I went about among those dwelling by the river Chobar, who were there: And I sat there seven days, conversing in the midst of them. For what we have translated, “heap of new grain,” Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion set down the very Hebrew words Thel abib (תל אביב), which the Seventy translated as “exalted, and I went about”; believing it better to say something than to impose on the reader something that would cause a question.

But we have learned from the Hebrews that Thel abib signifies the time when new wheat or barley is gathered, and after famine and want, before it is threshed on the floor, promises some hope of food. So also Israel, small and slender, who was dwelling on the banks of the river Chobar, as though reviving and springing up from the earth, promised the seed-sowing of the Jewish people. Now the hand of the Lord comes upon the prophet, strengthening him, so that he may be able to receive the name of watchman, and to teach what he has learned. And for seven days beforehand he dwells among them, seeing all that they were doing, so that afterward he might know what to reprove. He mourns, or dwells, in the midst of them, seeing their crimes, and the just sentence of God upon the iniquity of their sins. For what we have said, “mourning,” in the Hebrew it is written MASMIM (משמים), which Theodotion translated “marveling,” so as to express the astonishment of the Prophet as he beheld their iniquities.

But the second edition of Aquila, which the Hebrews call kata ἀκρίβειαν, translated: ἠρεμάζων, that is, “being at rest,” and set apart, so as to show that he was indeed in the midst of the captives, but separated from them in mind. (Verses 16, 17.) And when the seven days had passed, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, I have given thee as a watchman to the house of Israel, and thou shalt hear the word from my mouth, and shalt announce it to them from me.

He who is to be a watchman, and to declare God’s words to the people, ought for a long time to remain silent, and to grieve over what he sees; and to have nothing in his own conscience of those things which he is about to reprove in others. (Verses 18, 19.) If, when I say to the wicked man: Thou shalt surely die, thou dost not announce it to him, nor speak to him that he may turn from his wicked way, and live: that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at thy hand. But if thou announce it to the wicked man, and he be not turned from his iniquity, and from his wicked way: he indeed shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul. There are two wicked, or iniquitous men, as the LXX translated. One who hears nothing from the watchman, and dies in his own wickedness; whose blood is required at the hands of the watchman.

The other, to whom the watchman announces, and he, despising to hear, dies by his own fault: provided always that the watchman be free from blame. From which we understand that the Lord threatens the wicked man, and says: Thou shalt surely die, for this purpose, that he may turn from his wicked way, and live. For the threat is not against men, but against sins; nor against those who are converted from vices, but against those who remain in sin. And it is a great distinction whether one is silent about the words of God for a threefold reason: either out of fear, or out of laziness, or out of flattery. Whence also Isaiah says: Woe is me, wretched man, for I have kept silence.

And what follows: But thou hast delivered thy soul, echoes that Apostolic saying: If any man’s work shall burn, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire; so that it may be proved whether the outward watchman is the cause of the death of him who perished, or is guilty. For the work of the master is the salvation of the disciple. (Verses 20, 21.) But also if a righteous man turn away from his righteousness and commit iniquity, I will set a stumbling-block before him. He shall die, because thou hast not announced it to him; he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered: but his blood I will require at thy hand. But if thou announce it to the righteous man, that the righteous man may not sin, and he does not sin: he shall surely live, because thou hast announced it to him, and thou hast delivered thy soul.

Just as we read of two wicked, or iniquitous men—one who did not hear, and perished; the other who heard, and persevered in wickedness—so there are two righteous men: one who did not hear, and perished; the other who heard, and being converted to repentance, saved his soul. And it is to be noted that a righteous man can fall; and if he has a teacher, he can be turned to better things. Good works, therefore, need a diligent instructor, lest, having fallen from the best course, one draw back his foot. And the wicked, or iniquitous man, if he be not converted, shall die in his wickedness and iniquity. But the righteous man, if he commit wickedness and sin, does not die immediately; but a stumbling-block, or torment, is set before him; and, as Theodotion said, “infirmity,” so that he may be tormented, and not find a smooth way, and may understand that he is weak—of whom the Apostle also says: Therefore many are weak among you, and many sleep.

For it profits the righteous man to understand his fault, and the torment of conscience, and to say with the Psalmist: I was turned in my affliction, while the thorn is fixed in me. And just as iniquities do not stand in the way of the wicked man, if he turn from his wicked way and live, so former righteous deeds do not profit the righteous man, if he be overwhelmed by new crimes. And what follows: He shall die, because thou hast not announced it to him—it is understood that he could have lived, if the watchman and teacher had taught him. (Verse 22.) And there the hand of the Lord came upon me, and he said to me: Rise up, go forth into the plain, and there I will speak with thee. What we have translated from the Hebrew, “there,” and is not found in the LXX, is set down significantly, and there is no doubt that it signifies a place.

For above we read: And I came to the captivity, to the heap of new grain, to those who were dwelling by the river Chobar (Above, III, 15). And rightly is he who had been told, “sit,” now bidden to rise. And he who had entered into the captivity hears, “go forth”—not into rugged valleys, not into steep cliffs, but into the breadth of a plain that could contain the glory of the Lord. Whence also it is said to the Corinthians: Be ye enlarged. When he enters among the captives, of whom it is said that they rave and persecute him, he needs a strong hand, that he may be able to resist, and endure the fury of his persecutors. But when he goes forth into the plain, the hand of the Lord does indeed come upon him—because without his help he could not go forth—but “strong” is not added. For he goes forth to see the glory of God, not to fight.

And this is to be noted, that while sitting in the midst of the sitting captives, the Prophet himself, sitting, did not see the glory of the Lord. (Verse 23.) And I rose up and went forth into the plain, and behold, there the glory of the Lord was standing, like the glory which I had seen by the river Chobar. At the Lord’s bidding he enters, and at his bidding he goes forth, and he sits with those who are sitting; because the multitude of captives could not have heard him standing. And having gone forth into the breadth of the plain, he saw the glory of the Lord standing, which he had before seen walking, and lifting itself up, and at times standing. Because by the river of this world, Chobar—which can be interpreted “most heavy”—the glory was beheld: which signifies that all the glory of this world flows past, and has no stable footing.

But the glory of the Lord, standing and abiding, is seen with the Prophet standing in the plain—which in the midst of the captives could neither stand nor be seen. (Verse 24.) And I fell upon my face, and the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet: and he spoke to me, and said to me: Go in, and shut thyself up in the midst of thy house. Not able to bear the standing glory of the Lord, he fell upon his face, that he might be raised up by the spirit entering into him. Which spirit set him upon his feet, and spoke to him, saying: Enter, and shut thyself up in the midst of thy house. And the meaning is: Since thou hast been strengthened by the sight of the Lord’s majesty, fear no one, nor dread anyone; but return to thy house—either for the necessities of the body, as some think, or as a sign of the coming siege.

And just as Isaiah, unshod and naked, announced the three years’ captivity and nakedness of the people, so also thou, shut up in thy house, wilt by the very deed prophesy the coming siege of the city of Jerusalem. (Verses 25, 26.) And thou, son of man: behold, bonds are laid upon thee, and they shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go forth from the midst of them, and I will make thy tongue cleave to thy palate (or throat), and thou shalt be dumb, and not as a man reproving them: for it is a house that provokes. That he is shut up in the house, that he is bound with bonds, that he does not go forth to those among whom he dwells, but among the multitude of captives suffers the solitude of a prison (as I have said above), is an indication of the siege—that Jerusalem, shut up and surrounded by the army of the Chaldeans, will permit none of its inhabitants to go out.

This is the pot of which Jeremiah speaks, and this same Prophet also in what follows; in which the flesh of the people is consumed. But as to the fact that the Prophet’s tongue cleaves to his palate or throat and he is made dumb, having no authority of reproof, the reason is plain: because, he says, it is a house that provokes. And the meaning is: They are of such bitterness, and such contention against God, that they do not deserve to hear one reproving them. From which it is clear that, where there is a multitude of sins, the sinners are unworthy to be corrected by the Lord. (Verse 27.) But when I shall have spoken to thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say to them: Thus says the Lord God: He who hears, let him hear; and he who ceases, let him cease: for it is a house that provokes.

That saying which we read in Ecclesiastes: A time to keep silence, and a time to speak, is confirmed also in prophetic speech: that it belongs to the same wisdom both to be silent and to speak in due time, and to give food to one’s fellow-servants in its season. Whence also Isaiah says to the unbelieving people: I have kept silence; shall I always keep silence? Says the Lord. He, therefore, who because of the multitude of sins had long kept his mouth shut, because he saw that some could be converted, of whom it is said: He who hears, let him hear; and he who ceases from evils, let him cease and desist—therefore, with his mouth opened, and not of his own will but at the Lord’s command, speaks to the people.

As for what we have rendered: “He who hears, let him hear; and he who ceases, let him cease,” for which the LXX have translated: “He who hears, let him hear; and he who is unbelieving, let him be unbelieving,” the second edition of Aquila translated thus: “He who hears shall be heard; and he who forsakes shall be forsaken.” And the meaning is: To him who has, it shall be given; but from him who has not, even that which he seems to have shall be taken away from him.

(Verses 1, 2.) And thou, son of man, take thee a brick, and lay it before thee, and thou shalt draw upon it the city of Jerusalem, and thou shalt order a siege against it, and build fortifications, and bring together a mound, and set camps against it, and place battering-rams round about.

As we said before: Go in and shut thyself in the midst of thy house, and behold, bonds are put upon thee, and they shall bind thee, and thou shalt not go forth—this was a type of the prophet foreshadowing the future siege of the city of Jerusalem: so now he is commanded to describe with a Geometrical art upon the brick, and the brick itself is placed in the sight of the prophet, so that after he has drawn Jerusalem in the dust, he may depict against it the whole siege; sketching out the fortifications, and the mounds heaped up, and the crown of the encircling army, and the battering-rams round about, through all of which cities are commonly taken.

Fortifications are what they call that with which a city is enclosed, lest any of the besieged be able to escape: heaped-up mounds, by which the rampart and ditches are filled up: camps, the guards of soldiers set round about: battering-rams, by which the foundations of the walls are shaken, and the joining of the stones dissolved. Now this is said in order to signify the coming captivity of the city of Jerusalem under Sedecias: in whose eleventh year both the king and the city were captured. For "brick," which in Greek is called by the feminine noun ἡ πλίνθος, Symmachus rendered more clearly πλινθίον, which we may call a little brick or a tablet. In the dust of which geometers are wont to draw γραμμάς, that is, lines, and rays. From which some wish it not to be absurd that even this discipline should have its own science (repeating those examples, that Jesus the son of Nave sent explorers to survey the land) which properly is called Geometry: and that the Angel in Zacharias had a Geometrical cord to measure Jerusalem.

And because the Prophet is now commanded to draw Jerusalem in the dust (which among them is properly called σκηνογραφία), we may also take the brick as a taunt against Israel, in that in mud and brick they had served Pharaoh. Or else, that the city, which they thought to be firm and unconquerable, is compared to the most fragile brick, which at the touch of water is at once dissolved, as was said before of it: shall the very hardest rock, or the mountain of the desert, be the daughter of Sion, be turned into a brick, which is corrupted by the flood of Babylon; according to that which is written: Therefore the Lord shall bring upon you many and mighty waters, the king of the Assyrians. (Verse 3.) And thou take thee an iron pan: and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city, and set thy face firmly against it, and it shall be for a siege, and thou shalt besiege it. It is a sign to the house of Israel.

What we said above, that the prophet himself, and the drawing of the brick, surrounded with fortifications, mound, and battering-rams, precedes as a sign of the siege of Jerusalem to come—this is now said more plainly, after many things intervening: It is a sign to the house of Israel, the iron pan, which is set like a wall between the prophet and the city, shows the great wrath of God, which is wearied by no prayers, nor bent to mercy. For as iron subdues all metals, and nothing is harder than it, so the unbelievable crimes of Jerusalem, by their own fault, have made God—by nature gentle—to be most hard. The pan is also said to be the wall set as a middle barrier between the people and God, to show that the whole multitude was soon to be broken, and reduced to nothing.

The firm setting of the face against the city is a sign of severity: according to that which we read written elsewhere: The face of the Lord is against those who do evil; that He may destroy their memory from the earth. (Verses 4 and following.) And thou shalt sleep upon thy left side, and shalt lay the iniquities of the house of Israel upon it, according to the number of the days that thou shalt sleep upon it, and thou shalt take upon thee their iniquity. And I have given thee the years of their iniquity, by number of days, three hundred and ninety days, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And when thou hast completed these, thou shalt sleep upon thy right side a second time, and shalt take the iniquity of the house of Juda for forty days. A day for a year, a day, I say, for a year have I given thee.

Let us ask who the three hundred and ninety years are, which are reckoned for as many days, during which the prophet lay bound and constricted on his left side; so that he did not turn himself to the other side, showing the captivity and miseries of the ten tribes, that is, of Israel. And what the other forty years are, during which for Juda and its iniquities he lay upon his right side, or as the holy Scripture relates, slept—this must be said of Israel: that under king Phacee son of Romelias, who reigned the nineteenth in Israel for twenty years, Teglathphalasar king of Assyria came, and took Ajon, and Abel, the house of Maacha, and Janoe, and Cedes, Azor and Galaad, and Galilee, and the whole land of Nephthalim, and carried them off to the Assyrians.

After him reigned in Israel Osee son of Ela for nine years, and he was captured with all Samaria by Salmanassar king of the Assyrians, and was carried off to Elam, and Abor, rivers of Gozam, in the cities of the Medes. Now in the sixth year of king Ezechias, as the sacred history of Kings relates, Osee was captured: from which, if we reckon in order, how many years Israel was pressed under the anguish and yoke of captivity, thus we shall be able to find it. From the sixth year to the twenty-ninth (for so many years did Ezechias reign) are reckoned twenty-four years: to whom succeeded Manasses, who reigned fifty-five years. After him Amon reigned two years. After whom Josias for thirty-two years. To whom succeeded Joacim, who was also named Eliacim, and reigned eleven years. After him Joachin, surnamed Jechonias, who was at once led into captivity, and in his place reigned Sedecias eleven years, under whom Jerusalem was captured and the temple destroyed.

There are therefore, from the first captivity of Israel, which happened under king Phacee, up to the eleventh year of Sedecias, when the Temple was made desolate, one hundred sixty-four years. From the second, when Osee was captured, and all Samaria overthrown, one hundred thirty-five years. And the years of the desolation of the temple were seventy, which added to the first captivity, make two hundred thirty-four years. For in the second year of Darius king of the Persians the temple was rebuilt by Zorobabel son of Salathiel, and Jesus son of Josedec, Aggaeus and Zacharias prophesying, who reigned thirty-six years: and one being taken away, thirty-five years of his are added. After him reigned Xerxes son of Darius, for twenty years. After whom Artabanus for seven months. And after Xerxes, who was surnamed Μακρόχειρ, for forty years. After him Xerxes for two months, and Sogdianus for seven months. To whom succeeded Darius surnamed Νόθος, who reigned nineteen years.

After whom Artaxerxes surnamed Μνήμων, son of Darius and Parisatis, reigned forty years, who is called by the Hebrews Assuerus; under whom the history of Mardocheus and Esther is told (Esther VIII): when all the people of the Jews, delivered from the peril of death, received back their former liberty. And there are from the second year of Darius to the last year of Assuerus, one hundred fifty-five years, four months. Which, added to the aforesaid two hundred thirty-four years, make three hundred eighty-nine years and four months. The sleeping on the right side, that is, of forty years, is easily reckoned. For after Eliacim, who was surnamed Joacim, reigned his son Joachin surnamed Jechonias for three months. In whose reign the servants of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon went up to Jerusalem, and it was surrounded with fortifications: and Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it.

And Joachin king of Juda went out to the king of Babylon, he himself, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his eunuchs, and the king of Babylon received him in the eighth year of his reign, and brought out from there all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the royal house.” And a little further: “He carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of the army, ten thousand into captivity, and every craftsman, and smith, and nothing was left, except the poor of the people of the land.” After he was captured with an infinite multitude of the people, and all the wealth of Jerusalem, Sedecias reigned eleven years: under whom the city was captured, and the temple destroyed. Whose desolation lasted, up to the second year of Darius, seventy years.

Now in the thirtieth year of the desolation of the temple, Cyrus reigned in Persia, having overthrown Astyages king of the Medes: who, according to the prophecy of Isaiah, sent back to Jerusalem about fifty thousand men of the tribe of Juda, and the vessels of the temple, which Nabuchodonosor had carried away, and the other things which the history of Ezra relates. Just as, therefore, in Israel, that is, the ten tribes, from Phacee king of Israel, under whom Salmanasar devastated much of the Israelite people, up to the fortieth year of Assuerus, we reckon three hundred ninety years, when the persecution of the whole Jewish people was mitigated: so from the first year of Jechonias, when the greater part of Jerusalem was carried off to Babylon, up to the first year of Cyrus king of the Persians, which was the thirtieth year of the desolation of the temple, forty years are reckoned, under whom the captivity of the Jews was relaxed, and liberty restored to the people.

Some, joining the three hundred ninety years of Israel and the forty years of Juda, make four hundred thirty years, and wish these to be fulfilled from the baptism of the Savior to the consummation of the world. Others, however, and especially the Jews, wish it to be reckoned from the second year of Vespasian, when Jerusalem was taken by the Romans, and the temple overthrown, that the people were set in tribulation, and anguish, and the yoke of captivity, for four hundred thirty years; and thus the people return to their former state: that just as the sons of Israel were four hundred thirty years in Egypt, so also in the same number the final captivity might be ended: and it is written in Exodus: Now the dwelling of the sons of Israel, in which they dwelt in the land of Egypt, was four hundred thirty years. And again: It came to pass after four hundred thirty years, all the host of the Lord went out by night.

And I wonder greatly why the common editions have one hundred ninety years, and in some it is written one hundred fifty years: when clearly both the Hebrew, and Aquila, and Symmachus and Theodotion, hold three hundred ninety years; and among the Seventy themselves, who nevertheless are not corrupted by the fault of copyists, the same number is found. This most difficult question, and—let me not say proudly—explained by no one, we believe we have set forth not so much by our own knowledge, as by the grace of the Lord, that promise of his being fulfilled: Seek, and ye shall find: ask, and ye shall receive: knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

But whoever wishes to reckon from the first captivity which occurred under Manahen son of Gaddi king of Israel, who reigned in Samaria for ten years: when Phul king of the Assyrians came into the land of Israel, and received a thousand talents of silver; and after him another two years of Phacee, during which he reigned in Israel, will find that in the twenty-eighth year of king Assuerus the three hundred ninety years are completed, when the story of Esther is told: which is also more credible. For it was not after the end of the reign of Assuerus, but while he still reigned, that Israel cast off the yoke of most grievous servitude. (Verse 7.) And thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thy arm shall be bared, and thou shalt prophesy against it. LXX: And toward the shutting up of Jerusalem thou shalt prepare thy face, and thou shalt strengthen thy arm, and thou shalt prophesy over it.

There is need of preparation of countenance and of strength, and of the firming of the bared and uncovered arm, so that not only by voice, but also by gesture, and by the bearing of the one prophesying, the siege of the city might be shown forth. (Verse 8.) Behold I have surrounded thee with bonds, and thou shalt not turn thyself from thy side to the other side, until thou complete the days of thy siege (or shutting up). The left parts, because they had been without the temple, and without knowledge of God, in Samaria, are assigned to Israel; the right, to Juda, in which was the worship and religion of God. And it should be noted that in the one is the punishment of sinners, in the other the exercise of virtue. Nor does he turn himself from one side to the other, so that no rest of torments might be indicated; until the perfect completion of the aforesaid days is fulfilled. What a day is to the prophet, that is a year to those who suffer.

And the years which Laban thought long, to Jacob were as but a few days. Not only is there variety in punishments according to the diversity of merits; but also in the reward of the good, the lambs stand at the right hand, and the kids at the left. Whence also it is written elsewhere: The heart of the wise man is at his right hand, but the heart of the fool at his left. There are other bonds of the Lord, by which we are bound unto salvation; other bonds of the devil, by which he had bound the woman in the Gospel for eighteen years. Whence also each one is bound by the cords of his own sins.

Which the Lord loosed through the type of Lazarus raised up, who had lain in the tomb bound with little bands and wrappings. (Verses 9 and following.) And you, take for yourself wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and vetch: and you shall put them into one vessel, and make for yourself loaves according to the number of days on which you shall sleep upon your side: for three hundred and ninety days you shall eat it. And your food which you shall eat shall be by weight, twenty staters a day: from time to time you shall eat it. And you shall drink water by measure, the sixth part of a Hin: from time to time you shall drink it. And you shall eat it as barley bread baked under ashes, and you shall cover it with human dung in their sight. As for what we have rendered "vetch," where in Hebrew it is called CHASAMIM (כסמים), the Septuagint and Theodotion put ὄλυραν, which some think is oats, others sigala.

But the first edition of Aquila and Symmachus rendered ζέας or ζείας, which we call either "far," or, in the common speech of Italy and Pannonia, "spica" or "spelta." In the matter of the vessel too the Septuagint added "earthen"; moreover the prophet is bidden to demonstrate by his own act the coming famine and want of the people of Israel. For just as in a scarcity of all things, one does not seek variety and delicacies of food, but merely how the belly may be filled: so now the prophet puts wheat, and barley, beans, lentils, and millet, and oats into one vessel, and makes three hundred and ninety loaves, which he is to eat one each day: and these loaves weigh twenty shekels each, that is, staters. Now a shekel, that is, a stater, has four drachmas. And eight drachmas make a Roman ounce; so that one loaf is said to weigh ten ounces, by which the soul is rather dragged along than sustained. The scarcity of drink increases the scarcity of food.

For he is bidden to drink daily the sixth part of the Hebrew measure called HIN. Now the HIN makes two Attic choes, which we may call two Italian sextarii, so that the HIN is the measure of the Jewish sextarius, and of our military sextarius, the sixth part of which makes a third part of the Italian sextarius. This food and drink, according to the famous Orator, does not give strength, but merely wards off death. Now when he says, "From time to time you shall eat," or "drink, it," this signifies from evening to evening: though some wrongly think it is to be understood from year to year. And the loaves themselves are made like barley bread baked under the ashes. And he is told to cover them with human dung, not with those who are to eat them being unaware (for ignorance is wont to soften miseries), but with them watching, and in their sight, so that he may endure the horror of sight before the nausea of taste.

It should also be noted that, corresponding to the number of days of the left side, three hundred and ninety loaves baked under ashes are ordered to be made and eaten one each day; while concerning the loaves for the forty days of the right side nothing at all is said: so that holy Scripture may secretly hint that the punishment of the sinning people is not the same, according as it has or has not knowledge of God—that is, the difference between the one who has some knowledge of God, and the one who has departed altogether from the religion of the true God. But we may also say this, according to the spiritual understanding, that the Jewish people, since offending God, even to this day eat bread baked under ashes mixed with wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and oats; of which the one is food for men, the other for beasts. For in that they seem to believe in one God, they have something of wheat.

But in that they deny the Son, they are fed with barley and beans, the food of beasts, by which the belly of those who eat is swollen, and the mind is said to be weighed down: so much so that even among the Pythagoreans this food was detestable. On account of lentils Esau lost his birthright. Millet is the food of rustics, of country folk, and of fattened fowl. Oats, or vetch and olyra, feed brute animals. As for what is written, according to the LXX, that Elijah, fleeing from Jezebel, found bread ἐλυρίτην, baked under ashes—this was then a sign of persecution and want. From this arises of itself, in particular, the opinion of the Rabbis about a double shekel, profane and sacred, which they think was twice the value of the ordinary one, and about which they contend Jerome is speaking here. But neither Jerome nor Josephus recognized any such distinction; nor can it be adequately extracted from Scripture itself. And is a sign of want.

Hence he was also fed by ravens, so that, since he had found no food in Israel, he might be fed with the food of nations that were unclean. The Law itself too, which they read and do not understand, is bread baked under ashes and covered with human dung. Wherefore also the apostle Paul says that he counted the gains of the Law, and the observance of the former ceremonies, as dung, that he might gain Christ. (Verses 13ff.) And the Lord said: So shall the children of Israel eat their bread polluted among the nations, to which I will cast them out. And I said, ah, ah, ah, O Lord God: behold, my soul has not been polluted, and I have not eaten a carcass, or what has been torn by beasts, from my infancy until now, and no unclean flesh has entered my mouth. And he said to me: behold, I have given you cow dung instead of human dung, and you shall make your bread with it.

We read very frequently in many places that the prophets, according to Zechariah, are portentous men, who portend future things by their own actions, and of whom God says: "By the hands of the prophets I have been likened". Just as Ezekiel therefore ate bread in dung, so too the children of Israel, or the whole people of the Jews, or, as others think, the ten tribes, will eat polluted bread among the nations: although the threat is not addressed to those already cast out, but to those who are about to be cast out from the land of promise. When the prophet had learned this, according to Aquila he thrice uttered his abhorrence, "ah, ah, ah." But according to Symmachus and the LXX, he answered μηδαμῶς, which in Latin means "by no means." For which Theodotion translated: "O Lord God." Let us not suppose that he was contradicting the Lord's command; rather he was giving reasons, or rather pleading, why he could not do this.

In the end he obtains what he asked, and the severity of the sentence was tempered by a milder command. It is asked why Ezekiel refused an easier thing, while Hosea was at once joined to a harlot, and did not contradict, nor even reply that he kept his body chaste, and ought not to be defiled by union with a harlot, though the Apostle says: "He who joins himself to a harlot becomes one body with her". From this it is shown that it was a figure of the Synagogue or of the Church, not literally carried out in fact: which very point we have discussed more fully in expounding that prophet. A carcass is what loses life without the shedding of blood, and in which the soul dies; what is torn by beasts is called in Greek θηριάλωτον.

And as for the fact that cow dung is granted instead of human dung, lighter evils are signified: while indeed they are commanded to eat their bread cooked in cattle dung in the assembly, yet to be far from the uncleanness of human dung: and to this day this sentence is kept among the people of the Jews, that they do not eat their bread with human dung. For they do not serve idols, nor venerate the various monstrous images of demons; but they are in cattle dung, in that they do all things for the sake of the flesh and the belly, and the goods of this earth, according to what is said: "He who does these things shall live by them".

But we despise earthly things, and not only trample underfoot foods of human dung, and reckon earthly delights as nothing, but we eat the bread which came down from heaven, and enjoy that food of which the Psalmist sings: "Man ate the bread of angels"; living by no means on the flesh of Egypt, but on the delicacy of manna. (Verses 16, 17.) And he said to me: Son of man, behold I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they shall eat bread by weight and in anxiety, and shall drink water by measure and in distress; so that, bread and water failing, each man may fall upon his brother, and they may waste away in their iniquities.

The Hebrew word MATE (מטה), the first edition of Aquila rendered "staff"; the second, and Symmachus, and Theodotion, rendered στερέωμα, that is, "firmament." Now what he had shown would happen by act, he also demonstrates by word; and the whole lying down on the left side and the right, and the bread baked under ashes, mixed of six kinds of ingredients, signifying the evils of the world, all tend toward this—that he might attest the failure of food in Jerusalem and the incredible scarcity of water; so that each man falls upon his brother, hoping for help from another which he does not perceive to exist in himself. For it is the nature of men, when pressed by evils and the weight of distress, to place their trust in their neighbor rather than in themselves; and they waste away in their iniquities, while they suffer everything on account of their iniquities.

And I fear lest this breaking of bread be found also in our own Jerusalem, in which the vision of peace is beheld, which the Lord breaks when he is angry, and judges us unworthy of his bread. And would that we might at least deserve to receive it by weight and in anxiety, and that the last finger of Lazarus might moisten our tongue, parched with excessive dryness. But when the bread and water of the Church fail, man will fall against his brother, and everywhere there is discord, as we tear apart the tunic of Christ, which even the soldiers at the Savior's passion did not dare to tear; and we waste away in our iniquities, since we do not have the justice of God. It is written in Jeremiah that the little ones, that is, the common people of the Church, asked for bread, and there was none to break it for them.

But Paul, who was a man of the Church, and knew that Christ had broken the legal loaves and given them to his disciples to distribute, speaks confidently: "The bread which we break, is it not a sharing in the Body of Christ?" And those who need the milk of infancy, and cannot receive solid food, cannot eat the staff or strength of bread. And nothing so strengthens the soul of one who eats as the bread of life, of which it is written: "And bread strengthens the heart of man".

This is the beginning of the second volume of explanations on Ezekiel, O virgin of Christ, Eustochium.

(Verses 1 ff.) And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp sword, as a razor of barbers (or one that shaves off hair), and draw it over thy head and thy beard, and thou shalt take unto thee a balance for weight, and divide them. A third part thou shalt burn with fire in the midst of the city, according to the fulfilment of the days of the confinement, and a third part thou shalt cut down with the sword round about it; and another third thou shalt scatter to the wind, and I will draw out the sword after them. And thou shalt take thereof a small number, and shalt bind them in the hem of thy cloak, and of these again thou shalt take, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them. Out of it fire shall go forth into all the house of Israel.

For the three parts of the hair and of the beard, of which one is burnt in the midst of the city, another is cut down with the sword round about it, a third is scattered to be carried hither and thither by the wind, of which a small portion is taken and bound in the hem of the cloak, and again a little of the third part is again sent forth into the fire, out of which a flame goes forth into all the house of Israel—the LXX have rendered "four parts." And when they had said: A fourth part thou shalt burn with fire in the midst of the city, and a fourth thou shalt cut down with the sword round about it, and a fourth thou shalt scatter to the wind, since there remained to them yet another fourth part, they added of their own:

And a fourth part thou shalt take, and burn it in the midst of the city—as though this were not the same one as the first, and as though the first statement had said one thing and this added statement another. Finally, in what follows, the enigma of the hair divided into three parts is itself expounded by the Lord through the Prophet, saying: A third part of thee shall die of pestilence, and shall be consumed with famine in the midst of thee—signifying that famine and pestilence are the fire; and a third part of thee shall fall by the sword round about thee—describing slaughters and wars abroad. But a third part of thee, he says, I will scatter into every wind, showing that these are they who are to be led into captivity.

After these he says he will bare or pour out his sword, so that captivity may not be the last of the evils; and that he will take of those very ones scattered and captive, and bind in the hem of his cloak those who are to return from captivity to Jerusalem, and that of these also he will take some part, and consume it with fire and flame, signifying the Macedonians, under whom the inhabitants of Judea, and especially of Jerusalem, suffered harsh things.

But when he says, "out of it," that is, out of the people of the Jews; or, according to the LXX, "out of her," so that "the city of Jerusalem" is understood, fire shall go forth into all the house of Israel: the history of the Maccabees relates that a certain part of the Jews delivered themselves to Antiochus Epiphanes, and incited him to persecute the people, and many other things which are written in that same history, and in the volumes of Josephus, and especially concerning the dissension of Hyrcanus and Alexander, on occasion of which Gnaeus Pompey took Jerusalem, and subjected it to Roman dominion; and afterward under Titus and Vespasian the city was taken, and the temple overthrown. And after fifty years, under Aelius Hadrian, the city was burned down to the ground and destroyed, so that it even lost its former name.

Now just as in the hair and beard is a sign of beauty and manliness, which if shaved off, a foul nakedness appears, and the extreme, and, so to speak, dead part of the whole body is in the hair and locks—so Jerusalem and her people, dead and separated from the living body of God, are given over to famine and pestilence and slaughter and the sword, to captivity and dispersion. Of which dispersion, under the figure of the hairs, some part is bound in the hem of the cloak, that a small portion again may be given to burning, from which an infinite flame, laying waste almost the whole, goes forth into all the house of Israel. (Verses 5 ff.) Thus says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem: I have set her in the midst of the nations, and the lands round about her; and she has despised my judgments, so as to be more impious than the nations, and my precepts more than the lands which are round about her.

For they have cast away my judgments, and have not walked in my precepts. That Jerusalem is situated in the midst of the world, the Prophet here himself testifies, showing that she is the navel of the earth. And the Psalmist, expressing the nativity of the Lord, says: Truth has sprung out of the earth. And then, expressing his passion: He has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth. For from the regions of the East is bounded the tract called Asia. From the regions of the West, that which is called Europe. From the south and the meridian, Libya and Africa. From the north, the Scythians, Armenia, and Persia, and all the nations of Pontus. In the midst, therefore, of the nations she is set, that he who was known in Judea as God, and whose name was great in Israel, might have all the nations round about follow her examples—she who, following the impiety of the nations placed about her, even outdid them in her own wickedness.

Which Symmachus has beautifully rendered: This Jerusalem, he says, which I have set in the midst of the nations, and the regions round about her, has exchanged my judgments for the impieties which she learned from the nations, and my justifications for those of the regions which are round about her: because she has rejected my statutes, and has not walked in my judgments. But that which the Seventy have said: "My justifications wickedly out of the nations, and my statutes out of the regions which are round about her," does not, even without my remarking on it, make coherent sense—this is plain. (Verses 8, 9.) Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have surpassed the nations which are round about you: you have not walked in my precepts, nor kept my judgments, nor have you acted according to the judgments of the nations which are round about you: therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, and I myself will execute judgments in the midst of you in the sight of the nations.

And I will do in you what I have not done, and the like of which I will not do again, because of all your abominations. For what we have rendered: "Because you have surpassed the nations which are round about you," Symmachus translated: "Because your multitude was from the nations which are round about you." Aquila's second edition: "Because you are numbered among the nations which are round about you." Further, the Seventy: "Because your occasion is from the nations which are round about you." And the sense is either that Jerusalem has surpassed in her crimes all the nations round about, or that her multitude—not the people of Israel, but a crowd of other nations—must be so called. Or certainly that they had been turned into the number of the other nations which are round about her, or that she had every occasion from the nations, whom she ought rather to have taught unto good.

What cause, he says, shall I allege that you have not walked in my precepts, and have not done my judgments, when you have even surpassed in your wickedness all the nations round about, and have not done what they, by the natural law written in their hearts, have often done? Therefore not through angels, nor through any ministers, but I myself will execute my judgments upon you before the eyes of all, such as I have not done before, and will not do again. Now in saying "judgments," he shows the truth of the sentence, lest the wrath seem to exceed the measure of the punishments. Nor has he done in any nation such things as he has done in Jerusalem: For the servant who knew the will of his lord, and did it not, shall be beaten with many stripes. And the mighty shall be mightily tormented.

And, he says, "the like I will not do again." He has said beautifully, "I will not do the like." For long after the perfection of Christ he will do harder things. For it is one thing to have worshipped idols at times, for which they were formerly punished, and another to have slain the Son of God. (Verse 10.) Therefore the fathers shall eat their sons in the midst of you, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in you, and will scatter all your remnant into every wind. To that which he had said above: "Because you have surpassed the nations which are round about you," or, according to the rendering, "because your occasion is from the nations which are round about you, you have not walked in my precepts, nor kept my judgments," he referred back "therefore" a third time.

First thus: "Therefore thus says the Lord God: behold, I am against you, and I myself will execute judgments in the midst of you." Second: "Therefore the fathers shall eat their sons in the midst of you." Third: "Therefore as I live, says the Lord God; surely because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your offenses," and so forth. It must be noted, however, that where the things are decorous and honorable, and in accordance with the merit of those who endure them, God professes that he himself will do them.

But where the things are sorrowful and unworthy of God, he does indeed say that they will happen, but not by himself, as in the present case: "Therefore the fathers shall eat their sons in the midst of you, and the sons shall eat their fathers." For he did not say, "I will cause the fathers to eat their sons in the midst of you, and the sons to eat their fathers." But what was decorous, and did not seem unworthy of the majesty of God, he says he himself will do. For there follows: "And I will execute judgments in you, and will scatter all your remnant into every wind." A similar thing we may find also in the curses of Deuteronomy, and especially in that passage: "Those who glorify me I will glorify, but those who despise me shall be brought to nothing". For those who glorify themselves, he himself glorifies.

But those who despise him are not said to be despised or brought to nothing by the Lord (for that would have followed if he had said so) but absolutely, "shall be brought to nothing"—not by God, but according to their own deserts and sins. We read in the book of Kings, that under the constraint of famine, a son was devoured by his mother. Josephus also, in the siege of Jerusalem, records many things of this sort done. But when fathers ate their sons, or sons their fathers, no history relates, unless perhaps in the many evils of that necessity, we must believe even this to have happened. This may also be referred to our own Jerusalem: when teachers against disciples, that is, fathers against sons, and disciples against teachers, that is, sons against fathers, are stirred up by mutual sedition, and there is fulfilled that which is said by the Apostle: But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you are not consumed one of another.

Whence also the Prophet was singing in a mystical utterance: When they that afflict me drew near against me, to eat my flesh. And Job speaks something similar: But if my handmaids have said, Who will give us of his flesh, that we may be filled? And concerning the teachers who pursue gain from their disciples, and take no care for their salvation, it is said: Who devour my people as they eat bread. Of whom also the Apostle says: And they devour the houses of widows. We may understand the fathers who ate their sons, and the sons who ate their fathers, not only in the Babylonian, but also in the Roman siege. But that which is said: "And I will scatter all your remnant into every wind," pertains more to the Roman captivity, when they were scattered throughout the whole world.

And this is the scattering into every wind of the hairs of the head and of the beard. (Verse 11.) Therefore as I live, says the Lord God: surely because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your offenses, and with all your abominations: I also will break you (or, according to the LXX, "cast you away"), and my eye shall not spare, nor will I have mercy. This is said properly to Jerusalem, because you have defiled my holy things, forsaking me, and have worshipped idols in my temple; I also will break all your idols, and crush and cut them down, or cast you away, because you have first cast me away: and my eye shall not spare when I see you bowing your neck to famine, sword, and servitude: nor will I have mercy, because you do not deserve my mercy. For it is written: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

The same is to be understood also in the Church, that God may say daily to teachers and priests who act negligently: Because you have defiled my holy things in all your offenses, and in all the abominations which you have committed, I also will crush and break you, and will render through myself what you have perpetrated against my people. Concerning which, against the shepherds, this same Prophet speaks more fully further on (below, ch. 34), that they are clothed with the wool of the sheep, and feed on milk and cheese, and do not seek out the broken and diseased flock.

Verse 12. A third part of you shall die by pestilence, and be consumed by famine in your midst, and a third part of you shall fall by the sword round about you. But a third part of you I will scatter into every wind, and I will draw out a sword after them. And I will fulfill my fury, and I will make my indignation rest upon them, and I will be comforted, and they shall know that I the Lord have spoken in my zeal, when I shall have fulfilled my indignation upon them.

Because the Seventy had earlier set down four parts, whereas the prophetic discourse, in describing the burning, the sword, and the dispersion, established that there are only three, so that superfluously one part—the burning—was divided into two parts, in this passage also they divided that same first part into two, so as to say: A fourth part of you shall be changed by death, and a fourth part of you shall be consumed by famine in your midst, and a fourth part of you shall fall round about you, and a fourth part of you I will scatter into every wind—although what we have set down, "And a fourth part of you shall fall by the sword," was added under asterisks from Theodotion's edition. But it is clear, as the Hebrew truth maintains, that there are three parts. Of the first of which it is said: And a third part of you shall die by pestilence, and be consumed by famine in your midst.

And it would have been much better to translate what was written than to seek a defense for a badly translated matter. Nor do we say this was done by those to whom antiquity gave authority, but that through many ages it was corrupted by the fault of scribes and readers. Although both Aristeas and Josephus, and the whole school of the Jews, assert that only the five books of Moses were translated by the Seventy. Concerning which point, since we have spoken above, it now seems to be omitted.

This only will I add, which is necessary, in what he says: And I will fulfill my fury, and I will make my indignation rest upon them, and I will be comforted, and they shall know that I the Lord have spoken in my zeal, when I shall have fulfilled my indignation upon them; how the fury, and the indignation, and the zeal of God are to be understood, we have often explained, namely that God speaks in human affections: not that he himself is angered, but that through punishments and torments we may perceive God as angry. Zeal, moreover, is to be taken under the metaphor of husband and wife, who, as long as he loves his wife, is jealous; if he should neglect her, he says that which we shall say in what follows: My zeal shall depart from you, and I will no longer be angry with you (below, xvi, 42).

And what is joined: And they shall know that I the Lord have spoken in my zeal—not those who were consumed by famine and pestilence, nor those who fell by the sword round about the city, but those who shall be scattered into every wind, shall perceive, by the deaths of others and their own miseries, God to be angry, whom they were unwilling to perceive as merciful.

Verse 14. And I will make you a desert; and what follows: and a reproach to the nations round about you, is not found in the Seventy: instead of which they added of their own, and your daughters round about you. And again, according to both editions, in the sight of every passer-by. Now it profits Jerusalem that all vices in her be laid desolate, and that she be reduced to a desert, and that she know her own sins, so that she who ought to have been an example of virtues to other nations, may be an example of miseries. And by her daughters we may understand cities or villages, or the churches scattered throughout the whole world, so that whoever is a stranger in this age, and says with the Psalmist: I am a sojourner and a stranger, as all my fathers were; and concerning whom it is said: They that passed by said not, The blessing of the Lord be upon you, may see her reproach and grieve.

Verse 15. And you shall be a reproach and a blasphemy, an example and an astonishment among the nations round about you. Instead of which it is read in the Seventy: And it shall be στενακτή, that is, worthy of groaning. And from Theodotion there was added δηλαϊστή, of which word we have no knowledge. Instead of which the three other interpreters translated "blasphemy," which in Hebrew is called GEDDUPHA (גדופה). It follows: When I shall have executed judgments in you in fury, and in indignation, and in the rebukes of wrath, which I the Lord have spoken. That Jerusalem was worthy of groaning, when she offended God, so that he executed judgments in her in fury and indignation, Paul also testifies, who says: We were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. And again, speaking not from his own sense but from the common sense: We who are in this tabernacle, groan, being burdened.

And we say with Jerusalem: I will bear the wrath of the Lord, because I have sinned against him. δηλαϊστήν or δηλαίαν—some wish it to be understood as unhappy and wretched; others as manifest and exposed to miseries.

Verse 16. When I shall send the worst arrows of famine, which shall be deadly: and which I will send to destroy you, and I will gather famine upon you, and I will break the staff (or support) of bread. It is evident that famine and pestilence, and the worst beasts, and whatever other evils we endure in this age, come on account of our sins. Whence also that famine which is recorded to have occurred in Ruth, and in the book of Kings under Elijah, when for three years and six months heaven was shut, and under Elisha, whose incredible want a sudden abundance compensated, was sent by the judgment of God. And this was done not only then in Jerusalem, but also happens in our Jerusalem, in which, because of the greatness of sins, first a famine of hearing the word of God is sent. Then death follows famine, so that we who did not hear: Taste and see that the Lord is sweet, may afterward feel: The death of sinners is the worst.

Concerning the staff and support of bread, we have spoken above (above, IV).

Verse 17. And I will send upon you famine, and the worst beasts even unto utter destruction: and pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring a sword upon you: I the Lord have spoken. That the worst beasts are brought upon a land of solitude, which has been laid waste by famine and sword and pestilence, present times also show: when domestic animals, dogs, are roused in rage against the flesh of their masters, and the land is filled with bears and wolves and all other kinds of beasts; and that pestilence and blood pass through it signifies disease and the sword. But also into our Jerusalem the worst beasts are sent, when we are handed over to passions of ignominy, and to a reprobate mind and the conscience of sins, which torment and tear apart our soul. Dissensions, heresies, schisms, rivalries, envies, sadnesses, detractions, evil desires, avarice, which is the root of all evils, are the worst beasts. And when these are in us, we deserve to hear: Your own transgression shall correct you.

And we pray and say: Deliver not to the beasts the soul that confesses to you.

(Verses 1 ff.)

And the word of the Lord was made to me, saying: Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and you shall prophesy to them. And you shall say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and the hills, to the rocks and the valleys. Because it is often said in this Prophet, "Adonai the Lord," it seems that a brief explanation should be given, for the sake of the Greeks and Latins, who have no knowledge of the Hebrew language. ADONAI (אדני) is one name among the ten designations of God, and signifies "Lord," which term we often use of men as well. Thus Sarah too, calling Abraham her lord, used this name. And where it is said, "My lord king," Adonai is written.

When, therefore, two names, "Lord" and "Lord," are joined together, the first name is common, the second properly belongs to God, which is called ἄῤῥητον (יהוה), that is, ineffable, which was also written upon the golden plate that was on the forehead of the high priest. Now the mountains of Israel, which had been occupied by the images of demons, hear and perceive their Creator not with ears, but by his command and power. Just as the sea saw and fled, the Jordan was turned back—not, of course, with the eyes of flesh, which it lacked. And to the sea it is said: Be still, hold your peace. And the blowing of the winds is commanded; and it is commanded to the worm that struck Jonah's shelter. And of that same earth it is written: Who looks upon the earth and makes it tremble. To these the Prophet speaks, indicating that the idols and altars, and all the ceremonies by which they had formerly served idols, are to be destroyed.

We may understand the mountains of Israel also as the princes, those who excelled in power, wisdom, knowledge, and riches. And this should be noted, that the face is indeed hardened and set against the mountains: but he speaks not only to the mountains alone, but also to the hills, and to the rocks and the valleys, in which a lower dignity and a lesser degree of prudence and knowledge is recognized. It seems to me, in tropological sense, that the mountains are those who have arrived at perfect knowledge; the hills, those who are a little lower; the rocks, those who, having no knowledge, and trusting only in their manner of life, presume something for themselves concerning the interpretation of the Scriptures, having, according to the Apostle, a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge; and the valleys are called the last in the Church, who, though inferior both in life and knowledge, nevertheless do not withdraw from the assembly of the Lord's household.

All of these are commanded to hear the word of God, so that each, according to his own measure and understanding, may perceive what the Lord commands.

Verse 4. Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places. And I will demolish your altars, and your images shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain before your idols. And I will give the carcasses of the children of Israel before the face of your idols: and I will scatter your bones round about your altars in all your dwelling places. It is said to the mountains of Israel that God will destroy their high places, in which men worshipped false gods, and will break their altars and images, and will cause their worshippers to be slain in the sight of their shrines; so that the corpses of the dead may lie where formerly the sacrificial victims lay; and that the bones may be scattered—not of the mountains, but of those who lay upon the mountains—round about the altars, and in all the cities and villages of Israel. This according to the letter.

Otherwise, also upon those who are lifted up in pride, and of whom the Apostle speaks: Knowledge puffs up, but charity builds up, a sword is brought, so that all their idols, which they had fashioned from their own mind, may be crushed, and lie slain, and feel that they are dead, perceiving that their idols and figments profit them nothing. And in that he says he will scatter the bones of the mountains round about the altars, he indicates that even the strongest among them shall be separated from one another. For it profits that the wicked of perverse knowledge be divided from one another. And just as those who, with the worst consent, were building a tower, for their own advantage were scattered, and their languages divided, lest the worst consent should make them worse; so shall the bones of the mountains be scattered, that they may understand their vain endeavors.

What we have set down: And I will give the carcasses of the children of Israel before the face of your idols, is not found in the Seventy.

Verse 6. The cities shall be deserted, and the high places shall be demolished; and your altars shall be dissipated and shall perish, and your idols shall be broken and shall cease, and your shrines shall be crushed, and your works shall be blotted out. And the slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord. The reason is clear why the cities of the mountains are to be abandoned: namely, so that the high places may be demolished, and the altars and idols destroyed, and the shrines perish, and all worship of idols cease; and that the slain may fall in the midst of the mountains; and that they may know that he is the Lord.

Through which an occasion is given us rather to pursue a spiritual understanding, so that the cities of the heretics, which are interpreted as churches, and the high places of their pride, and the altars of their perverse dogmas, may be broken, and the idols perish which they had fashioned for themselves out of their own heart, and the shrines be crushed—not temples, but those which had arisen against the temple of the Lord, and are called in Greek τεμένη, that is, fanes and shrines—and all the works of the mountains be crushed, which are not the works of God, but of the teachers of false knowledge. And when the slain have fallen in the midst of the mountains—whether those whom the mountains themselves had slain, or the men of the Church, who had killed them for their own salvation, though they lived badly—then there will be an end of the proud mountains, so that they may know that he is the Lord.

And it may happen that, from one people of the mountains of Israel, when some are slain, others may come to know. For when the pestilent man is scourged, the fool will become more shrewd. (Verse 8.) And I will leave among you those who shall have fled the sword among the nations, when I shall have scattered you into the lands: and your delivered ones shall remember me among the nations to which they have been led captive. That which the Lord speaks to Elijah: I have left me seven thousand men who have not bent the knee to Baal; and the apostle Paul writes: And even at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace, may fit this chapter. For the Apostles also, who were of the seed of Israel, and had fled the sword, were for this reason preserved, that they might be scattered into the lands, and might preach the Gospel among the nations, and might remember God among the nations, among whom in the time of captivity they dwelt.

It may also be said that certain ones were reserved from the Jewish captivity for this reason, that they might remember his name among the nations, and preach his power. Concerning also the peoples of the heretics, who shall have been able to escape the sword of their own destruction, and the most wicked faction which had been stirred up against God, scattered hither and thither, they will remember the name of God, doing penance, and will rejoice that they have been captured by men of the Church. (Verses 9, 10.) For I have crushed their heart, which has gone whoring and departing from me, and their eyes, which go whoring after their idols. And they shall be displeased with themselves for the evils which they had done in all their abominations. And they shall know that I the Lord have not spoken in vain, that I should do this evil to them.

Many things in this chapter were omitted by the LXX, and that phrase was changed: I swore to their whoring heart, in place of which we have put: I have crushed their whoring heart. Now he swore and decreed that he would do what he showed in deed; or he crushed the heart that went whoring and departed from God, of those concerning whom the Lord speaks through Hosea: They have been led astray by a spirit of fornication. And the eyes going whoring after idols, through whose windows death is said to have entered. For which reason also in Daniel the two elders ordered Susanna to be uncovered, that they might enjoy the beauty of her body. Nor did the Lord speak in vain, that he might do evil or evils, since at his threat those who were subject to the sentence do penance.

But if the heart be hard and untamable, not even feeling through punishments the benefits of the one correcting, it is said to them: In vain have I struck your children: you have not received discipline. It is also profitable for heretics, that their heart be crushed—the most wicked treasure of perverse doctrines—because it has departed from the Lord, and their eyes go whoring after their own inventions. When they shall have remembered the Lord, they will be displeased with themselves in all their abominations, and understanding the truth of the true faith, they will know that he is the Lord. Who for this reason often brings on tribulation, which seems to those enduring it ruinous and most evil, that they may be turned to repentance. (Verse 11.) Thus says the Lord God: strike with your hand, and stamp with your foot, and say: Alas! For all the evil abominations of the house of Israel.

The Prophet is bidden to show the magnitude of the sins with hands and feet and speech, that by bodily gesture and indignation of voice he may display the bearing of one astonished, marveling, and weeping. For just as, whenever we behold something new and wondrous, we shudder both in body and in soul, so that we clap our hands together, and stamp our feet upon the ground, and bend our voice to weeping; so now the prophet, seeing with the eyes of the mind the punishments to come, speaks the following words to all the evil abominations of the house of Israel. We strike spiritually with the hand, when we separate ourselves from evil works. We stamp the foot, when we do not walk in the path of sins. We lament and weep, when the things that are done displease us. This is shown by the word, alas. In place of which Aquila translated ὤ ὤ, Symmachus σχετλίασον, which means lament, or wail. The LXX and Theodotion, εὖγε, which belongs rather to one taunting than to one lamenting.

Who shall fall by sword, famine, and pestilence. This is the reason for lamenting, that the dwellers of the mountains, and the worshippers of altars and idols, shall fall by sword, famine, and pestilence. Those who are led by various errors, and daily change their faith, and are carried about by every wind of doctrine: these are cut down by the sword, and are divided into parts, forsaking the unity of the Church's faith. But he who does not have spiritual food dies of famine, not knowing him who said: I am the life. Moreover he who is given over to one or to several vices, and cannot be separated from them, falls as though by some old pestilence. (Verse 12.) He who is far off shall die of pestilence; but he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who shall have been left and surrounded [besieged] shall die of famine, and I will fulfill [complete] my indignation upon them.

Whoever shall escape the siege of the city, and shall have withdrawn to the deserts, shall die of pestilence; whoever shall be near shall fall by the sword of the enemies. But whomever the hostile army shall have surrounded shall perish by famine and want: and in all these the indignation of God will be fulfilled, that those who remain may know that he is the Lord. Whoever also shall have withdrawn from the Church shall straightway die of pestilence. Whoever seems to himself learned and diligent, unless he takes care, shall be struck by the enemy's sword.

Whoever, content with simple faith, lives, like the brute animals, indeed within the Church, but yet makes progress in no good work; nor imitates the ant, which in harvest prepares food for itself and gathers it in—such a one shall die of famine, and in all these things the wrath of the Lord will be fulfilled. (Verse 13.) And you shall know that I am the Lord, when your slain shall be in the midst of your idols, round about your altars, on every high hill: on all the tops of the mountains, and under every leafy tree, and under every leafy oak: the place where they burned sweet-smelling incense to all their idols. It is clear according to the letter, and needs no interpretation, that on the mountains of Israel, and on the high hills, among the very altars of the idols and the groves—for they are called leafy trees—the army of Israel was cut down, so that where they had sinned, there they might be punished.

Let us follow the order set forth according to the anagogical sense. When the teachers of the heretics have been crushed and overcome by men of the Church, who are instructed in the knowledge of the Scriptures, we see the slain of perverse doctrines lying among the idols they had fashioned, and those who raised themselves against the knowledge of God laid low on the mountains and hills under every leafy tree; who had bombastic words, and the shadow of leaves, but had no fruit of good works; who were under every leafy oak, which bears fruit not for men but for swine: where they burned incense sweet-smelling not to God, but to their idols. Nor could they say what is written of Noah: The Lord smelled a sweet odor; and that which Paul says: We are the good odor of Christ to God in every place.

But as the saint delights God with his odor, so the sinner—from whose person that psalm is sung: My scars have rotted and are corrupted before the face of my folly—burns to his idols stinking incense. What we have translated, on all the tops of the mountains, and a little after, and under every leafy oak, the LXX left out. (Verse 14.) And I will stretch out my hand upon them, and will make the land desolate, and destitute from the desert of Deblatha, in all their dwellings, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

O mountains of Israel, when your slain shall have fallen in the midst of the altars and idols on every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains; and when I shall have filled your groves with the corpses of the dead, in which they once burned incense sweet-smelling to their idols, then I will stretch out my hand for vengeance, which had until now been held back, and I will reduce the whole land of Israel to a solitude, from the desert of Deblatha, which is in the land of Emath, which today is called Epiphania of Syria, in all their dwellings; so that it may be plain to all that there is nothing between the wilderness and the Great Sea which the hostile sword has not consumed. Many think it to be the same place of which it is written in Jeremiah: And they seized Zedekiah in the desert which is near Jericho, and all his retinue fled from him.

And when they had taken the king, they brought him to the king of Babylon at Reblatha, which is in the land of Emath. It can also, on account of the close resemblance of DALETH and RESH, ד, ר, the Hebrew letters, which are distinguished by a small point, be called either Deblatha or Reblatha. But according to the mystical understanding, the Lord stretches out his hand over all who had been deceived by heretical error, that he may make their land, which is interpreted as the Church, desolate from the desert of Deblatha, which in our tongue sounds like παλάθην, that is, a mass of figs, and dried figs compacted together, so that after they have found, in a feigned sweetness which was not of cultivated land but of the wilderness, bitterness, then they may know that he is the Lord. For honey drips from the lips of the harlot woman, which for a time delights the palate of those feeding on it, and afterward is found more bitter than gall.

This is signified also by the two baskets of figs, which are set in Jeremiah before the face of the temple: one of the best figs, and one of the worst: of which the one is referred to the Church of Christ, the other to the congregation of evildoers.

(Verses 1, 2.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: And you, son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel: An end, an end has come upon the four wings of the land. Which we have interpreted as the regions of the world: namely, the East and the West, the South and the North. Concerning which wings Isaiah also speaks: O Lord, from the wings, that is, the ends, of the earth we have heard portents, which were being wrought throughout the whole world by the apostles.

And of the saints it is written: If you shall have slept among the midst of the lots, the wings of a dove covered with silver, and the hindmost parts of her back with the paleness of gold. Whence also the Lord, when he had drawn near and seen Jerusalem, wept and said: How often would I have gathered your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not? He it is who, in the song of Deuteronomy, spreading out his wings, took them up, and bore them upon his shoulders. Certain ones, understanding the wings of the land spiritually—by which we fly up to the things of heaven—set down four kinds of believers: the house of Aaron, and the house of Levi, and the house of Israel, and those who fear the Lord. Concerning whom the Psalmist also sings: House of Israel, bless the Lord: house of Aaron, bless the Lord: house of Levi, bless the Lord; you who fear the Lord, bless the Lord.

Understanding in Aaron the priesthood; in Levi, the temple-keepers and ministers; in Israel, the whole people; in those who fear the Lord, the proselytes. But we think it should be explained more simply, that after the threat against the mountains of Israel, the prophetic word is directed to the whole land of Israel, whether of the ten or of the twelve tribes: and that the prophet by no means foretells things to come, but already sees the captivity that is rushing upon them. For in the fifth year of Zedekiah Ezekiel began to prophesy in Babylon to the captives; and in the ninth year Nebuchadnezzar came and besieged Jerusalem, and took it in the eleventh year of Zedekiah.

From which it is clear that the end had come and drawn near, not upon the mountains and hills and rocks and valleys, but upon the four regions of the land from every part of Israel: not of the whole earth—for if he had said that, it could have been believed of the whole world—but of the land simply, which signifies Israel's. For thus he had begun: Thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel: An end, an end has come upon the four regions of the land.

Verse 3. Now the end is upon thee, and I will send my fury into thee, and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and I will set against thee all thy abominations. And my eye shall not spare over thee, and I will not have mercy: but I will set thy ways upon thee, and thy abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I am the Lord. In this chapter, according to the Seventy Interpreters, the order has been altered and confused: so that what is first becomes last, and what is last is either first or in the middle, and the middle parts themselves are transferred now to the end, now to the beginning. Wherefore we, following both the Hebrew itself and the other interpreters, have set forth the true order.

The word, then, is directed to the land of Israel, that the end and consummation has come upon it, and that the Lord will send forth His fury into it, not unjustly, and not merely from indignation; but full of equity and reason: so that He may judge it according to its ways, and show it all its abominations: that it may remember its own deeds, and understand what it has done wrongly. But when it says: My eye shall not spare over thee, and I will not have mercy, it is as a most gentle physician who wishes to cut away putrid flesh and to burn festering wounds with a cautery: he does not spare, in order that he may spare; he does not pity, in order that he may pity the more; lest anything putrid, and likely by its proximity to corrupt the living flesh, should remain in the body. For the Lord scourgeth whom he loveth, and chastiseth every son whom he receiveth. Of this understanding is that saying: I will strike, and I will heal.

For every medicine has bitterness for a time, but afterward the fruit of the pain is shown in health. Something of this kind God also speaks through Amos: For you only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. For the Lord knoweth them that are his. And thy ways, he says, and the whole course of thy life, and thy abominations and stains I will set in the midst of thee: so that before the eyes of the sinful woman who is punished for her health, her former sins may be set. And when the Lord has done this, they who have been tormented shall know that He is the Lord. This same thing is expressed also by that testimony: I will punish Jacob according to his ways, and according to his devices I will render to him (Osee xii, 2).

Verse 5. Thus saith the Lord God: One affliction, behold, an affliction cometh: the end cometh, the end cometh. It hath awakened against thee, behold it cometh. Contraction cometh upon thee, thou that dwellest in the land. These words are not found in the Septuagint, but are added in their edition, from the translation of Theodotion, under asterisks. Let us, however, follow the Hebrew. For "affliction," which, following Symmachus, who translated κάκωσιν, we have put for the sake of clarity: in both the Hebrew and the Greek, κακία, or πονηρία, is written; that is, malice. It is said, then, that the last time of the sins of the land of Israel has come; so that it may no longer escape the sentence of God, which for a long time it deserved. And because it had not yet completed its sins, the punishment was therefore deferred; according to that which is written: For the iniquities of the Amorrhites are not yet full. Whence also the Lord says to the Jews: And ye, fill up the measure of your fathers.

Misery, then, cometh to thee; affliction cometh, and captivity cometh. And lest you think that I am again threatening things to come, I point with my finger and show it plainly. Behold it cometh, the end cometh, the end cometh. He who till now seemed to slumber and rest against thee, has suddenly awakened and risen up. Contraction cometh, which in the Hebrew is called SEPHPHIRA (צפירה), and which Aquila translated προσκόπησιν, that is, contemplation and foresight, which you always feared would come upon you in dread; and which Theodotion translated πλοκήν, that is, the order and interweaving of all evils. Further, what is said, "upon thee that dwellest in the land," we ought to understand according to that passage of the Apocalypse of John: Woe to all that dwell upon the earth. For the holy man is not a dweller of the earth, but a stranger and pilgrim; and he says: I am a stranger and a pilgrim, as all my fathers were.

Wherefore Abraham the Hebrew also, that is, περάτης, "one who passes through," and a pilgrim, is so called, as is recorded; hastening to pass from the present age to the age to come. We may also interpret this passage spiritually against the people of the Jews, upon whom came the end and consummation from the blood of Abel the just even to the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom they slew between the temple and the altar. For as long as they did not lay hands on the Son of God, the sentence of the Lord slumbered against them, and was delayed. But when they slew the Heir, so that the inheritance might perish: then it awoke against them, and the whole order of miseries and entanglement arose; because they sought not the things of heaven, but desired to cling to the earth.

Verse 7. The time is come, the day of slaughter is near, and not the glory of the mountains. The Hebrew word ADARIM, which we have divided into two words, the first AD (הדר), the second ARIM (הרים), following Theodotion, we have translated "the glory of the mountains." Symmachus rendered it "delay until the morrow," and said: And the time is near: the day of haste, and not of postponement. The Septuagint, moreover, translated thus: The time is come, the day has drawn near, not with disturbance, nor with pains. Theodotion: The time is come, the day of famine is near, and not the glory of the mountains. The time of slaughter, and of famine, is now also verified in the Jewish people, which has no prophets nor the word of God, by which the soul of believers is fed. By "mountains" understand teachers, and those who have knowledge of the Scriptures. Of whom it is also said in another place: Thou enlightenest wonderfully from the everlasting mountains.

Further, the Seventy, who said "not with disturbance, and not with pains," signify by this that they have such great ignorance of God and blindness of soul that they are not even disturbed at their crimes, nor tormented with the pains of repentance.

Verse 8. Now shortly I will pour out my wrath upon thee, and I will accomplish my fury in thee, and I will judge thee according to thy ways. And I will lay (or give) upon thee all thy abominations. If we wish to reckon from the fifth year of the transmigration of King Jechonias to the ninth year of the reign of Zedekiah, when Nabuchodonosor came and besieged Jerusalem, there will be three years intervening. Whence it is rightly said: Now shortly I will pour out my wrath upon thee. I do not foretell to thee things that shall come long hence, nor threaten what shall be far in the future: now I will accomplish my fury in thee. Which fury and wrath is by no means without judgment: but so that it may render thy ways upon thine own head, and make thee feel all thy abominations.

We may also understand this of the final captivity, that after the killing of Christ, when the end came upon them and sin awoke against them, was fulfilled that which is written: Now the wrath of God has come upon them unto the end. When Jerusalem was surrounded by Titus and Vespasian, and its desolation came, and it was fulfilled: Behold, your house shall be left to you desolate. Then they were judged according to their ways, and their blasphemies, by which they denied the Lord; and they felt the fury of God: and all his indignation was poured out upon them, and they received their own crimes, so that the destruction of the temple remains even to the consummation.

Verse 9. And my eye shall not spare, neither will I have mercy: but I will lay (or give) thy ways upon thee, and thy abominations shall be in the midst of thee, and ye shall know that I am the Lord that striketh. He has appended the reasons for the severity and austerity, or, as the heretics think, the cruelty of God, that his eye does not spare nor have mercy, saying: I will give thy ways to thee, and thy abominations shall be in the midst of thee; so that you may feel what you have done, and seeing your abominations either before your own eyes or set in the midst of all, you may amend your error by repentance, and departing from your former deeds, when you have come to hate what you have done, then you may feel that He is the Lord. Who therefore strikes in order to amend, and chastises every son whom He receives.

Verse 10. Behold the day, behold it cometh, the contraction is gone forth: the rod has flourished, pride has budded. Iniquity has risen up in the rod of impiety, not of them, nor of the people, nor of their sound: and there shall be no rest for them. The Seventy: Behold, the day gives birth, behold the end comes, the embrace has gone forth, and the rod has flourished, pride has budded, injury has been roused, and it shall grind down the strength of the wicked one, and not with disturbance nor with haste, and they are not of themselves, nor is there beauty in them. The day, it says, is contracted and shortened, and the neighboring captivity presses close. The rod which threatened you for a long time has flourished, and from the flower brings forth the fruit of stripes.

Your pride, which you deserved, has budded, so that upon the rod of your impiety, with which you impiously beat those subject to you, iniquity may rise up, which is not of the miserable people, nor of those who, like brute animals, are led by their masters, nor of their outcry and sound, with which they vainly shouted, seduced by the priests and Pharisees, so that with unanimous voice they might cry out and say: Crucify, crucify such a one. Whence there shall be no rest for them, but eternal captivity. Further, the Seventy, according to that sense in which it is written: For thou knowest not what the day to come may bring forth, said: Behold the day gives birth, which had conceived long before: and the end came, and the embrace went forth, which embraces and holds all your evils, or, as Symmachus translated it, "inspection," so that God may see all that you have done, and consider your works, and render to each what he deserves.

In that which they likewise translated, "the rod has flourished," we may use that testimony: Withhold not the rod from thy son. And the Apostle: What will ye? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in charity and the spirit of meekness? But God also resounds through the mouth of the Psalmist: I will visit their iniquities with a rod, and their sins with scourges: but my mercy I will not take away from them. Therefore the Lord visits and strikes, so that all pride, which long lay hidden, may arise and be exposed; and injury may be roused against the pride that has arisen and budded, and the strength of the wicked one may be ground down, not with disturbance, nor with haste. For the end of the flourishing rod is health and correction, which comes not by the merit of those who are chastised, nor by beauty, which they do not have in themselves, but by the mercy of the Lord.

This is a difficult passage, and one greatly at variance between the Hebrew and the Septuagint, to which many things have been added from the edition of Theodotion, so that they might seem to have some consistency.

Verse 12. The time is come, the day has drawn near. Not only to Jerusalem is it said that the time of captivity has come for her, and that the day is near on which she shall be surrounded by the Babylonian army; but to him also who exulted in his enlarged and extended barns, the Lord speaks: Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: and whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? Whence also the Apostle: The time, he says, is shortened. And in another place: For the fashion of this world passeth away. Note that he did not put it off to the future, but spoke of the present, "passeth away," and daily the fashion of the world slips away. For it never remains in the same state; but the figure of things growing and diminishing always flies past and is changed. Whence also the Lord: Heaven and earth, he says, shall pass away.

But if these things, in which all things that are in the world are contained, pass away and go by, what can be perpetual in human affairs?

Verse 15. Let not the buyer rejoice, and let not the seller mourn. It is natural, in the buying of possessions, to rejoice: in selling, to mourn. But when servitude and captivity are imminent, both joy and sadness in either case are vain. Whence also the Apostle: The time is shortened. As to the rest, let those who have wives be as if they had none, and those who weep as if they wept not, and those who rejoice as if they rejoiced not, and those who buy as if they possessed not, and those who use this world as if they used it not. For the flood also overwhelmed both those who bought and those who sold, as the Lord says in the Gospel.

Because wrath is upon all its people. This is not found in the Septuagint. For "people" we may understand "multitude" and "throng," according to the Hebrew; for this is what AMONA (המנה) signifies. And the reason is clear why he who buys ought not to rejoice, and he who sells should cease to mourn, because the wrath of God is soon to come upon the whole multitude of the land of Judea, or of Jerusalem. For from what precedes it is understood, in which it is written: Thus saith the Lord God to the land of Israel (Verse 13.) For he who sells shall not return to that which he sold. He speaks according to Hebrew custom. For every purchase reverted to the seller in the fiftieth year of remission, which among them is called the jubilee. Before, therefore, the year of remission comes, when possessions revert to their former owners, captivity will come upon them, which will remove every custom of the city.

Moreover, as to what the Seventy translated: "For he who buys shall not return to the seller," although this does not cohere at all according to the historical sense, it can have this meaning according to anagogy: that we may say that he who had been deceived by heretical error, when he has understood the deceit of his teacher, by no means returns to the seller, that is, to the teacher, but despises and scorns him.

And their life is still among the living, for the vision shall not return to all its multitude. Just as a possession does not revert to its former owner when the overthrow of the city is imminent, so the vision and prophetic threat, which is directed to the whole multitude of the city, will by no means turn back and become void; but it will be fulfilled in fact, while those to whom the prophetic word is directed are still living twice over. He says this, moreover, to show that captivity is imminent, lest they should say, according to custom: "This vision will be for many days, and will be fulfilled after much time." We can also say this: that after the prophetic vision has departed from the Jews—for "the law and the prophets were until John the Baptist"—after the killing of the Savior it by no means returns to them, nor do they any longer deserve to have prophets. And significantly he says, "to all the multitude" the vision shall not return.

Therefore it will return to those of the Jews who believed in the Lord, namely the apostles, and the remnants of the Jewish people who were saved out of Israel. But these two verses are not found in the Septuagint edition either.

And the man shall not be strengthened in the iniquity of his life. LXX: And the man shall not obtain in the eyes of his life. And the sense according to the Hebrew is: his iniquity shall not profit the man, nor afford him any strength. According to the Seventy: And the man who desired what he thought precious in the world shall not obtain it; but with freedom perishing, everything that is beautiful shall be lost. The ambiguity of the Hebrew letters IOD י and VAU ו, which are distinguished only by size, caused some to translate "iniquity" and others "eyes." (Verse 14.) Blow the trumpet, let all be prepared. LXX: Sound the trumpet, and judge all things.

We read in many places about the sounding and blast of trumpets, as here: "Lift up your voice like a trumpet"; and elsewhere: "Blow the trumpet at the new moon, on the notable day of our solemnity"; and in the Apostle: "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God". And in the Gospel: "Do not sound a trumpet before you". And the history of Numbers tells of drawn silver trumpets, which are compared to the prophetic word and to Apostolic teaching. It is now commanded that all be prepared for war at the signal of the blast and the trumpet. Moreover, as for what the Seventy said, "and judge all things," no one doubts that this belongs to the power of the apostles, who, after the trumpet of the angels has sounded, are to judge the twelve tribes of Israel on twelve thrones. Of whom Paul spoke: "We shall judge angels"; and elsewhere: "The world shall be judged by you".

But according to the present sense, those who are devoted to this office are commanded, ironically, to sound the trumpet, so that all may be prepared against the Babylonian army.

And there is none who goes to battle, for my wrath is upon all its multitude. And these words are not found in the Septuagint. God had commanded that they sound the trumpet to prepare the army, which might be able to resist the strength of the Babylonians; but it profited nothing to have commanded it, since there is no one in the people who dares to go forth to war. The people is thus enervated, and lacks the strength to fight, because all the wrath of God is upon all its multitude—understood as the city of Jerusalem, or the land of Judea. But also in our own land and Jerusalem, when either public persecution or the incentives of various vices strive to overcome us, the teachers sound the trumpet in vain, and hasten to prepare us for battle, when there is no strength in the people, which has been withdrawn for this reason, that present sins have merited the wrath of God. (Verses 15, 16.) The sword is outside, pestilence and famine within.

He who is in the field shall die by the sword; and he who is in the city shall be devoured by pestilence and famine. And those of them who flee shall be saved; and they shall be in the mountains like doves of the valleys, all trembling, each one for his own iniquity. The Seventy said nothing at all about "doves of the valleys," or, as Theodotion translated, "meditating." And what we have translated as "all trembling, each one for his own iniquity," Theodotion translated thus: "all murmuring, each one for her own iniquity"—so that under the metaphor of meditating doves he might signify that each one of the people weeps for his own sin, and understands and perceives why he suffers these things.

We read above of the three parts: of some who die of pestilence and famine in the city, of others whom the sword will kill outside, and of those who will escape captivity by flight—of whom he who is saved will pass to the mountains, and, like murmuring doves, will trembling bewail his sins. Tropologically, however, it should be understood thus: that he who is in the field and open country, outside the borders of the Lord's city, which is interpreted as the Church, is struck by the sword of the adversary; but he who acts negligently in the city, and has not prepared food for himself—of whom it is written in Proverbs: "He who works his land shall be filled (or: satisfied) with bread"—this one shall die of famine and pestilence. But the few who escape either the sword of the heretics, or the famine and death of their own sloth, will not be saved except in the mountains, and unless they take up the wings of the dove, and fly away, and find rest.

These doves, as long as they are in the valleys, tremble and are terrified at every little thing: whose innocence we are commanded to imitate, and of whom it is written in the psalm: "If you sleep among the midst of lots, you shall be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and its hinder parts with the paleness of gold": in whose likeness the Holy Spirit descended and remained upon the Lord the Savior. And beautifully, following Theodotion, we shall call "meditating dove" him who meditates day and night in the law of the Lord, and of whom it is written: "The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom". (Verse 17.) All hands shall be loosed, and all knees shall flow with water. And they shall gird themselves with sackcloth, and terror shall cover them.

Instead of "knees flowing with water," the Seventy translated: "the thighs shall be defiled with moisture." When all have trembled, and have fled to the mountains, the hands of all shall be loosed, and no one will be able to resist the enemies, and by the greatness of fear urine shall defile the knees, nor will the bladder be able to hold back the flowing waters. They shall gird themselves with sackcloth, and trembling shall possess everything. This happened to that people, not only under the Babylonians, but also under the Romans, when the wrath of God came upon them even to the end. But also in our Judea, in which there is confession of the Lord, when iniquities have multiplied, and the charity of many has grown cold, all the hands of good works shall be loosed, and all knees, or thighs, shall flow with the waters of those who have sought unlawful intercourse, and whom the law calls "gonorrheics," that is, those enduring a flux of seed, and whom Scripture terms unclean.

Wherefore those who are such ought to gird themselves with the sackcloth of penitence, and dread the coming judgment. He who does this will deserve to hear Isaiah saying: "Be strengthened, hands that are loosed, and weak knees, be strong". (Verse 18.) On every face there is confusion, and on all heads baldness. Redness of face is a sign of shame, and the conscience of sins shines in the face; and it is a hope of salvation when shame follows the offense. Whence it was said to her who gloried with hardened heart in her sins: "You have made yourself the face of a harlot; you do not know how to blush". Baldness of the head, too, is a sign of mourning, when the hair loses its beauty and we lose the loveliness of our locks. Finally, it is also said to Jerusalem: "Instead of the ornament of your head you shall have baldness, because of your works". And another prophet says: "On every head, in every place, they shall be shorn, and every beard shall be shaved".

Micah also says to the same Jerusalem: "Make yourself bald, and be shorn for your delicate children; extend your baldness like the eagle". And baldness is also commanded to be made over the dead. Only the holy, that is, the Nazarites, and those who have deserved to attain to the priesthood of the Lord, do not shave their heads. For they have no works of death, nor are they unclean, because they are Nazarites, that is, holy to the Lord. But if someone should die near them, all the former days of their sanctification will not be reckoned. Samuel was holy to God, and therefore possessed everlasting ornaments of the head; and he heard that saying from the Song of Songs: "Your locks are black as a raven". But Samson, because he lost his hair, lost his strength; and as his hair gradually grew back, his former strength returned, so that dying he killed far more than he had killed living.

Elisha, though he had baldness of body, yet because he was a Nazarite of the Lord, enjoyed the locks of his head. Wherefore the little children—because they were children, and had not yet reached the age of manhood—mocking his baldness and saying, "Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead", were torn by the bites of wild beasts, whose dwelling is in the woodland glades. (Verse 19.) Their silver shall be cast out abroad, and their gold shall become a dunghill. LXX: Their silver shall be cast out into the streets, and their gold shall be for contempt. Under the compulsion of flight and captivity, they will cast into the streets their riches and the weight of gold and silver, desiring only to save their souls, lest what had before been objects of luxury become a burden.

Otherwise, also according to anagogy, all the silver of the captives and of those fleeing from Jerusalem will be cast into the streets, into the broad and spacious way that leads to death, because they have left the narrow path of salvation. But all the gold too will be for contempt, or will be reckoned as a dunghill and filth. For he cannot have cleanness who is outside the Church of the Lord.

Their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. And this is not found in the Septuagint. No one doubts, however, that in the time of siege and famine, gold and silver do not deliver the hungry; and their teeth, dashed against the most precious metal, are blunted as against the hardest stone. Then it follows: They shall not satisfy their soul, and their bellies shall not be filled. In present evils we have learned that many rich men, amid silk, gems, and weights of gold and silver, worn out by want, have had the end of beggars. For gold and silver of those who are outside the Church do not free the souls of their possessors in the day of the wrath of the Lord: but they have eternal hunger, and are tormented with an empty belly, as that testimony shows in which it is said: "The ransom of a man's soul is his own riches".

His own riches are those which the truth of Christ has taught us, who commanded that we make for ourselves friends from the mammon of iniquity, who may receive us into eternal dwellings.

Because it has become the stumbling block of their iniquity. Therefore, he says, neither will the soul of those who possess gold and silver be satisfied, nor will their belly be filled, because this very gold and silver has become the stumbling block of their crimes. He signifies the idols, which, fashioned of gold and silver, condemn their own makers. For which the Seventy translated: "because it has been the torment of their iniquities," that they might be tormented in their wicked error, and understand that they have wickedly turned the gifts of God into blasphemy. (Verse 20.) And they made the ornament of their jewels into an occasion of pride, and made of it images of their abominations and idols. LXX: The chosen things of the world they set for pride, and made of them images of their abominations, and their own stumbling blocks.

What I had given, he says, as an ornament to those who possessed riches, they turned into pride, so that from things by which they could, through almsgiving and good works, free their soul, they instead derived material for arrogance. Finally, out of gold and silver they made idols, and turned my gifts into images of demons. Moreover, as for what the Seventy said, "The chosen things of the world they set for pride," this must be referred to gold and silver, than which nothing in the world is thought more precious. And what follows, "their stumbling blocks," let us know was added from Theodotion.

The meaning is easy, however, according to tropology, that gold and silver—the meanings and utterances of the Scriptures, which are the chosen things of the world, and which were given to us as an ornament—the heretics have made into fuel and material for pride, and have made of them images of various doctrines and abominations and their own stumbling blocks, so that through the very things by which they might have worshiped and adored God, they have offended God instead. (Verse 21.) For this cause I have given it to them for uncleanness: and I will give it into the hands of strangers to be plundered: and to the wicked of the earth for a prey, and they shall defile it. The Septuagint: For this cause I have given them to them for uncleanness: and I will deliver them into the hands of strangers, that they may plunder them, and to the pestilent of the earth for a prey, and they shall pollute them.

Because out of the gold and silver, and the ornaments of necklaces which I had given them, they made for themselves images of their abominations and idols, therefore I have given these things to them for uncleanness and for dung. In place of which Symmachus interpreted "nausea," wishing to express the filth of idols. And I will deliver, he says, these things into the hands of enemies, that they may plunder all things, and I will show not so much that I am polluting, as that they have already been polluted, which before seemed to be most holy.

We too are delivered into the hands of enemies and strangers from God, when we make our ornaments into idols of demons, and all our glory is possessed by the impious, or by the pestilent of the earth, so that they may subject us to their power. (Verse 22.) And I will turn my face away from them: and they shall profane my secret place: and there shall enter into it the emissaries (or, as the Septuagint translated rashly; or, as Symmachus and Theodotion, those bursting in, and pestilent) and they shall defile it.

When, he says, on account of the aforesaid causes of the abominations of the people, I shall turn my face away from them, and shall judge them in no way worthy of my eyes: then they shall profane my secret place, which signifies the Holy of Holies, for which the Septuagint translated "visitation" (in order to show that the presence of God had been in the holy places) and the impious and pestilent of the earth will burst into it: which place, except for the priests and the high priest alone, no one else dared to enter. This we know was done both by the Babylonians, and by King Antiochus, and by Gnaeus Pompeius, and finally under Vespasian and Titus, when the temple was captured and overthrown, and all the things were carried out which the following words of the prophet encompass.

From our evil works also God turns away his face: and because his face is turned away, therefore the secret place of God is profaned, so that in place of the priests and the holy ones of God the pestilent may enter in, and defile all things: so that the place which ought to be one of holiness becomes a place of uncleanness, according to that saying of the Gospel: My Father's house shall be called a house of prayer: but you have made it a den of thieves. (Verse 23.) Make a conclusion, for the land is full of the judgment of bloods, and the city is full of iniquity. The Septuagint: And I will bring confusion, for the land is full of the judgment of blood, and the city full of iniquities.

The Hebrew word ARETHIC (הרתיק) Aquila interpreted "conclusion," Symmachus and Theodotion καθήλωσιν, that is, "a nailing together." For which the Septuagint has φυρμὸν, which we have rendered as "confusion." Therefore, O prophet, gather up my wrath over the land of Judea and over the city of Jerusalem in a brief discourse, so that just as the land is full of the judgment of blood—for all are judged in blood, pouring out innocent blood, which Scripture also records the Jews to have done in the case of Naboth—so too may their own blood be poured out, and the city be shown full of iniquity. For also under Manasseh the city of Jerusalem was filled from gate to gate with the blood of the prophets. And there shall come upon them conclusion, and confusion, and a nailing together, so that none of the impending miseries may be escaped. (Verse 24.) And I will bring the worst of the nations, and they shall possess their houses.

In place of the priests and prophets, I will bring the worst of all nations, the Babylonians, that they may possess your houses, and subject you to servitude. But our houses too, that is, our souls (for we are the temple of God, and the Holy Spirit dwells in us) shall be possessed by the worst demons, if our land be full of blood, and our dwelling full of iniquity.

And I will make the pride of the mighty to cease: and they shall possess their sanctuaries. The Septuagint: And I will turn away the roar of their strength: and their holy places shall be polluted. All pride offends God. Therefore the worst of the nations shall possess the houses of the mighty and the proud, and shall obtain their sanctuaries, because the filthy one enters into the place of holiness, and defiles it with his own uncleanness. But significantly, because the sanctuaries of God had been polluted, and his secret place profaned, he did not say, "they shall possess my sanctuaries," but "their sanctuaries": because after the contamination they ceased to be mine.

Anguish is at hand. The Septuagint: Propitiation shall come. According to the previous order, Aquila and Theodotion rightly interpreted it as anguish being at hand: and Symmachus, as sorrow. But the Septuagint set in the midst of all these sad things a word of joy: so that the grieving soul might be sustained, and might hope amid adversities for better things, and for the Lord's propitiousness; of whom it is written: The Lord raises up the broken. But we, following Symmachus, have joined the former sense with the latter, so as to say: (Verse 25.) When anguish comes upon them, they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. Which, according to the Septuagint, cannot stand at all. For if propitiation shall come, how shall they seek peace and not find it? But he shall seek peace and not find it, who has heard from the apostles: Peace to this house, and has not kept it, nor made it rest in his own mind, but by his evil works has driven it away and cannot find it.

This is the peace which surpasses all understanding (Philipp. IV, 7), and which the Savior, ascending victorious to the Father, left to the apostles. (Verse 26.) Trouble upon trouble shall come, and rumor upon rumor. The Septuagint: Woe upon woe shall be, and message upon message. Just as it is said to the saints: Rejoice, again I say, rejoice (Philipp. IV, 2); and it is written of them: They shall go from strength to strength, so that they may heap present goods upon future goods: so also upon those on whom anguish comes, and who have sought peace and have not found it, there shall come trouble upon trouble, or woe upon woe, according to what is written also in the Apocalypse: one woe is past, and behold another woe comes quickly. And rumor shall come upon rumor, and message upon message; according to that saying of blessed Job: While one was yet speaking, another messenger came, heaping evils upon evils, and describing the roar and tumult of the approaching Babylonian.

And they shall seek a vision from the prophet: and the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders. Properly, each thing is sought from each person. The foretelling of future things is sought from the prophet. The interpretation of the law is the office of the priest. Mature age seeks wise counsel; according to what is written: In the counsel of the saints and the congregation are the great works of the Lord. But these things were sought not only at that time, when the Babylonian army was coming against Jerusalem, from the prophets, priests, and elders; but they are sought daily in the Churches.

And if these lose vision, law, and counsel, in vain do they boast that they have prophets and priests and elders. (Verse 27.) The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with sorrow, or, according to the Septuagint, with destruction: who, wishing I know not what, have altogether omitted this which we have rendered from the Hebrew text, "the king shall mourn." But holy Scripture records that Zedekiah mourned, and that all the princes of the people of the Jews were overwhelmed with sorrow. We may also say, although at first sight this may seem blasphemous, that the mourning king who mourns for our vices and sins is Christ, who speaks in the Psalms: What profit is there in my blood, while I go down to corruption? And drawing near to Jerusalem he wept over it, and said: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets, and stone those sent to you; how often would I have gathered your children, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!

The princes too, taken in a good sense, will be the apostles, who mourn for sinners: or, taken in the contrary sense, those to whom it is said: Hear the word of the Lord, you princes of Sodom. And, according to the Septuagint, they shall be clothed with destruction, he who does not have the armor of God, nor has put on Christ. For as many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

And the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled, or, according to the Septuagint, shall be loosened. When there is no vision in the prophet, and no knowledge of the Law in the priest, and no counsel in the elders: and the king mourns, and the prince is in sorrow, or in destruction: consequently the hands of the people too shall be troubled, losing their order, or shall be loosened, no longer having their former strength. And fittingly it is not called the people of God, whose hands are troubled, and whose citizenship is not in heaven; but the people of the land, of whom it is written: Those who depart from thee shall be written in the earth.

According to their way will I do to them, and according to their judgments will I judge them, or, as the Septuagint translated, I will take vengeance on them. God renders to sinners according to their ways, that he may maintain the truth of judgment. But toward the saints he exceeds the measure of clemency. For the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the future glory that shall be revealed in us. For the wages of sin is death, which the sinner receives according to his ways and his works. But the virtue of the just enjoys the Lord's generosity, of which Paul speaks: the gift of God is eternal life. And what he added, "and according to their judgments will I judge them," echoes that saying of the Gospel: with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged. And that of the Apostle: For in what judgment you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you do the same things which you judge.

And they shall know that I am the Lord. This little verse is frequently placed in this prophet, because the knowledge of God follows upon punishments and torments, so that those who did not understand him through benefits may know him through torments.

79-80 Nothing is long which has faith, and the whole passed series of times gone by does not profit: unless perhaps it has prepared for itself the provisions of good works, which always look to the future, indeed to the eternal, and are bound by no limits. True is the saying: All things that have risen fall, and all things that have grown old grow feeble. And elsewhere: For there is nothing made by work and by hand which age does not wear away and bring to an end. Who would have believed that Rome, built up by the victories of the whole world, would fall, that she herself would become both mother and tomb to her own peoples: that the whole shores of the East, of Egypt, of Africa, once ruled by that mistress city, would be filled with the numbers of her slaves and handmaids: that daily holy Bethlehem would receive as beggars those once noble of both sexes, and once abounding in every kind of wealth?

Since we are not able to bring them help, we grieve with them, and join our tears to theirs: and, occupied with the burden of this holy work, while we do not allow ourselves to see, without groaning, those flocking to us, we have set aside our explanations on Ezekiel, and almost all our study, and we desire to turn the words of the Scriptures into deeds, and not to speak holy things, but to do them. Wherefore, being again admonished by you, O virgin of Christ, Eustochium, we resume our interrupted labor, and, undertaking the third volume, we desire to satisfy your wish: begging both you and the others who are about to read this, that they consider not our strength, but our will, of which the one belongs to human frailty, the other is a holy will in the Lord.

(Verse 1.) And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me. We read that the earlier vision was made to the prophet in the fifth year of the captivity of Jechoniah, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month. But this vision, which we now wish to expound, is recorded as having happened in the sixth year of the same king, in the sixth month, on the fifth day. From which it is clear that these things which are written happened after a year and two months, and that the prophecy was either interrupted for a year and two months, or that what the preceding discourse relates took place over the whole fourteen months.

Now, whoever understands that the discourse is directed to the elders of Judah will not be surprised that the prophecy took place in the sixth year and the sixth month, and on the fifth day of the month—numbers which refer to the fabric of the world, and to fleshly senses which behold earthly things, and do not yet contemplate heavenly things. Of these, seventy held censers, and twenty-five worshipped the sun in the temple, and the prophet was sitting in his own house, fleeing the crowd of the multitude; and the elders of Judah sat before him, either desiring to hear the prophet's words, or lying in wait for his sayings. And significantly they are called the elders of Judah, so that we may understand that this is said not at all in reference to Israel, that is, to the ten tribes, which had earlier been taken captive, but to those who had been led into captivity from the tribe of Judah with Jechoniah.

Verse 2. And there fell upon me there the hand of the Lord God. And I saw, and behold a likeness as the appearance of fire from the appearance of his loins, and downward fire: and from his loins and upward, as the appearance of splendor, as the vision of electrum. The LXX: And there was made upon me the hand of Adonai the Lord: and I saw, and behold a likeness as the form of a man from his loins, and downward fire, and from his loins and upward, as [asterisk] the vision of the breeze*, as the vision of electrum. The Hebrew speech does not contain "man." But the vision of the breeze, which is not found in the Septuagint, we have added from Theodotion. And for what we said, "the hand of the Lord fell upon me," Symmachus translated, "the hand of the Lord befell me," which in the Hebrew is called ΤΕΡΗΡΗΘL (תפל). Now "hand" signifies ἐνέργεια, that is, works, so that he might be able to recognize the mysteries of the vision.

And this is to be considered, that he does not see the very realities themselves, but a likeness of fire, because from the loins downward fire appeared; and from the loins upward, as the appearance of splendor, as the vision of electrum. For "splendor," which in the Hebrew is called zor (זהר), Theodotion translated "breeze," so as to show the refreshments of God in the higher regions. Finally, in the book of Kings also, the blessed Elias beholds the coming of the Lord not in tempest and whirlwind, not in the burnings of fire, but in the appearance of a thin and very gentle breeze, so as to demonstrate the gentleness of God Almighty. Now the works of intercourse, which are signified in the loins downward, are purged by fire.

And the works of virtues, which rise up from the loins to the upper parts, have splendor and brightness; and yet neither is the fire said to reach down to the feet, nor the splendor of electrum up to the head, but downward and upward, so that, both among sinners and among the saints, according to the diversity of merits, one reaches to this or that member, another to those others. And just as those who hold the perfection of holiness attain even to the crown of the head, so those who are in the depth of sins are to be believed to hold only the soles of fiery feet. Verse 3. And a form like a hand was put forth and took hold of me by a lock of my head. The LXX: And he stretched forth the likeness of a hand, and took me by a fringe of the crown of my head. And here a likeness of a hand, not the hand itself, is stretched forth, for nothing corporeal exists in God.

And a hand is seen, as a member of the human and familiar body, so that it might in no way terrify him who is taken and seized. For if he had touched the prophet in the likeness of a serpent, or of any other kind of beast, the very unlikeness of the members would have terrified the one seized. And a part of the hair is seized, because human nature cannot bear the seizing of the whole head. For "lock," the Seventy translated κράσπεδον, that is, "fringe": of which the one is usually taken of the hair, the other of garments. And the spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven. First he is seized by the likeness of a hand; afterward he is lifted up by the spirit, which spirit does not at once raise him to heaven, but between earth and heaven, so that, leaving earthly things behind meanwhile, he might hasten toward heaven.

We may also say this, that on account of good works the prophet is seized by the likeness of the hand of God, and on account of the knowledge of spiritual things he is lifted up by the spirit. Verse 4. And he brought me to Jerusalem in the vision of God, to the inner gate that looked toward the north, where was set up the idol of Zeal, to provoke jealousy. And behold, there was the glory of the God of Israel, according to the vision that I had seen in the plain. The LXX: And he brought me to Jerusalem in the vision of God, to the vestibule of the gate that looks toward the north: where was the statue of the possessor. And behold, there was the glory of the Lord God of Israel there, according to the vision which I had seen in the plain. But what is found in certain codices, [asterisk] "and in the statue the image of Zeal*," has been added from Theodotion. The rest likewise.

When he says, "he brought me to Jerusalem in the vision of God," he shows that he was translated not in body but in spirit. According to which vision we too can behold the heavens, and the depths of the sea, and the infernal regions, when we embrace by thought the reasons of each thing. But first he comes to the vestibule, which looks toward the north, where he might see the statue of the idol of Zeal set up to provoke jealousy; so that from that place he might be able to penetrate to the interior, and behold the rest that is afterward described. Now history relates that a statue of the idol Baal was placed in the temple of God. And it is fittingly called the idol of Zeal, because it provokes the Lord to jealousy and zeal; according to what is said in Deuteronomy: They have provoked me to jealousy with that which was not God: and I will provoke them to jealousy with a nation that is not a nation.

Moreover, because "zeal" and "possession," which in Hebrew is called CENA (קנאה), are called by the same name, the Seventy interpreted "statue of Zeal" as "statue of the possessor." Finally, when Cain was born, the parent said, "I have possessed a man through God", alluding by the possession of the man to the name Cain. And there was the glory of the God of Israel, not because he delighted in such a neighborhood, but so that by his presence he might destroy the idol of Zeal and the temple. Whence also the overthrow of the city and the temple follows after a short time. And it is written in Isaiah, that a narrow bed can by no means hold two, and a short covering cannot cover both; the Scripture signifying that saying of the Apostle: What agreement has Christ with Belial? The temple of God with an idol?

Verse 5. And he said to me: Son of man, lift up your eyes toward the way of the north. And I lifted up my eyes toward the way of the north: and behold, from the north of the gate of the altar, the idol of Zeal in the very entrance. For what we have set down: "From the north of the gate of the altar, the idol of Zeal in the very entrance," the Seventy translated: "From the north to the eastern gate," which is not found in the Hebrew; leaving out the other things that are written there. He said, it says, to me—either the glory of God, which I had seen in the plain, or the spirit which lifted me between heaven and earth. And he spoke to me, after he had translated me to Jerusalem, and made me see either the city or the temple, and commanded that I lift up my eyes toward the way of the north.

For there the statue of Baal had been set up, which he calls the idol of Zeal, at the very entrance of the gate. But those who refer the idol of Zeal, or of the possessor, to the glory of God, or to the spirit, act impiously, changing the person of the idol for the majesty of God.

Verse 6. And he said to me: Son of man, do you think you see what these are doing: the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? And yet turning again, you will see greater abominations. Do not think, he says, that I am unjustly forsaking the temple and leaving the city to be overthrown; look at what they are doing in the temple. And when you have beheld those things, do not think it is the end of the crimes; you will see still greater things. This indeed can also be understood of our Jerusalem and our temple, when, after the example of Ophni and Phinehas, we commit the crimes of idols in the tabernacle of God; and we fornicate with those who have vowed themselves to the service and ministry of God; and we pluck the firstfruits of his sacrifices, giving them for the use of clients and servants, and do everything for the sake of gain.

But if these things which we see are so great, how much greater must be reckoned those which escape human conscience? (Ver. 7 ff.) And he brought me to the door of the court: and I saw, and behold, one hole in the wall. And he said to me: Son of man, dig through the wall. And when I had dug through the wall, one door appeared. And he said to me: Go in, and see the worst abominations that these are doing here. What I have translated: "And I saw, and behold, one hole in the wall," is not found in the Seventy. And because everything is shown as if by an image and a painting, he says he saw one hole in the wall, and that he was ordered to dig it through, and to make it larger, so that, the hole being opened wider, he might be able to enter more broadly and see what, standing outside, he could not see.

By which it is shown that, both in churches and in each of us individually, greater things are shown through small vices, and that, as if through certain holes, one arrives at the greatest abominations. For a tree is known by its fruits; and out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Words bursting forth are a sign of the inner man: just as sometimes shameful speech reveals a lustful man, because he craftily hides his own vices; and the desire for some trifling thing signifies avarice lying hidden within. For by small things greater things are shown, and by countenance and eyes conscience cannot be dissembled, while a luxurious and wanton mind shines in the face; and the secrets of the heart are indicated by the motion of the body and by gestures.

Verse 10. And having entered I saw: and behold, every likeness of creeping things, and the abomination of animals: and all the idols of the house of Israel were painted on the wall all around, throughout the whole. Not only did the idol of Zeal stand at the entrance of the north gate, but all the walls of the Temple were painted with various images of idols: so that there was no beast which the painting of the wall did not display. This we perceive to this day in the shrines of idols, and the temples of the nations, that foolish religion worships every kind of beast. Whence Virgil also says: And monstrous gods of every kind, and barking Anubis, As though those things were not also monsters which he praises Against Neptune and Venus, and against Minerva. We too can show idols painted on the walls of our own temple, when we lie subject to all vices, and paint in our heart the consciousness of sins, and various images.

Of which it is also said in the Psalm: Lord, in your city you will bring their image to nothing. And in another place: Surely man walks about in an image. Namely, that there is no man who does not have some image, whether of holiness or of sin. Wherefore it is said to the furious and the wrathful: Their fury is according to the likeness of a serpent: like the deaf asp that stops her ears, which will not hear the voice of the charmers. And of wicked men: Generation of vipers, who has shown you to flee from the wrath to come?

And of the crafty and deceitful: Go, tell that fox. And of lovers of women: They have become to me like horses maddened after females: every one neighed after his neighbor's wife. Also of the brutish and senseless: Do not become like the horse and the mule, which have no understanding. And again: Bind their jaws with bit and bridle, who do not draw near to you. And many things of this kind. But what we have set down: "And behold every likeness of creeping things and of animals," is not found in the Seventy.

Verse 11. And seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and Jezoniah the son of Shaphan, stood in the midst of them, standing before the paintings, and each one had a censer in his hand, and a cloud of vapor from the incense went up. When he says that there were seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel who held censers in their hands, he shows that there were many other elders who did not do this, but perhaps were held by other sins; and that one, by name Jezoniah the son of Shaphan, stood in the midst of them, as though the leader of their crime and sacrilege, who, having abandoned the religion of God, worshipped idols, and in the temple did not adore God, whose temple it was, but the paintings on the walls.

And it is fittingly said: Jezoniah the son of Shaphan stood—that is, of his own judgment and condemnation—in the midst of the standing elders, because both the leader and those whose leader he was stood with a firm step in their crimes, and did not waver in evil, but persisted most stubbornly: and the vapor of cloud, of confusion and turmoil, which rose from the incense, showed the sacrilege of those offering it. This happened at that time according to the letter. But we too must pray that the elders of the house of Israel—multiplying the number seven, which is holy, by seven decades—may not stand in their errors, and adore the paintings of idols, and that the vapor of sacrilege may not rise up or ascend in resistance to God.

When we see the worst people gathered together, of whom it is written: I have hated the assembly of evildoers; and rulers worse than the people, and a leader more wicked still, who is set over the people and the elders, let us say that Jezoniah stands before the paintings, and that each one has censers in his hands, adoring not the majesty of God but their own opinions, and that the odor of good fragrance does not reach God at all, but a stench reaches the idols.

Verse 12. And he said to me: Surely thou seest, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, each one in the secret of his chamber. For they say: The Lord seeth us not: the Lord hath forsaken the land. He says that from what they do gathered together alike in the temple, it is shown what each one does in his own chamber. But according to the anagogical sense it can be better understood that certain leaders of the Churches do in darkness things that are shameful even to speak of. This is the hidden man of the heart, of whom it is said: Enter into thy chamber. And again: He who sees in secret will repay thee. Let each one recall his conscience, and remember his works of darkness in the darkness, and let him know it is written: Every one that doeth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest he be reproved by the light.

And he will understand that this is fulfilled in himself: He who is drunk, is drunk by night. Which cannot stand according to the letter. For how many are made drunk at feasts and banquets by day? But because the drunkenness of the heart that offends God belongs to darkness and not to light, therefore whoever is drunk, is drunk by night. Now when the elders of the house of Israel have done evil in darkness and in the secrecy of their chambers, and have thought that they could hide from God, then accordingly they will say: The Lord seeth us not, the Lord hath forsaken the land. And there are many sinners walking after their own thoughts, who do not think that God cares for mortal things, nor that our vices pertain to him. Certainly when we sin, if we considered that God sees and is present, we would never do what displeases him.

Further, what follows, The Lord hath forsaken the land, is also the opinion of certain philosophers, who from the course and constancy of the stars, suspect that there is providence in the heavens, but that earthly things are despised, since nothing right nor according to order is carried on upon earth.

Verse 13. And he said to me: Turning thee again thou shalt see greater abominations, which they do. And he brought me in by the door of the gate of the house of the Lord, which looked toward the North; and behold women sitting there, weeping for Adonis. Whom we have interpreted as Adonis, both the Hebrew and the Syriac tongue calls THAMUZ (תמוז): whence, because according to the pagan fable, in the month of June the lover of Venus and most beautiful youth was slain, and afterward is related to have come to life again, they call that same month of June by the same name, and celebrate for him an anniversary festival, in which he is mourned by the women as one dead, and afterward, reviving, is sung and praised.

And so, after it has been shown what the princes and elders of the house of Israel did in the temple and in darkness and in their chambers, the vices of the women also are described, who mourn when deprived of the company of their lovers, and rejoice if they are able to obtain them. And because the same paganism interprets subtly fables of this kind of the poets, which have shamefulness in them, following the slaying and resurrection of Adonis with mourning and joy, thinking that the one is shown in the seeds that die in the earth, the other in the crops, by which the dead seeds are reborn: so we too may call those who either grieve or exult over the evils and goods of the world, women, with soft and effeminate spirit; and we may say that they mourn for Thamuz, that is, those things which in the affairs of the world are thought to be most beautiful.

Verse 15. And he said to me: Surely thou hast seen, son of man: turning thee again thou shalt see greater abominations than these. And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord, and behold at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, having their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the East, and they worshipped toward the rising of the sun. What we have translated as vestibule, following Symmachus, who put πρόπυλον, is for that which the Seventy and Theodotion translated the Hebrew word itself as ELAM (אילם): the first edition of Aquila rendered it προστάδα; the second, ELAM of the temple, which we can express as the porch of the temple: or the uncovered court which was between the temple and the altar.

And because we read above, after the idol of Zeal which appeared at the gate of the North: Turning thee again thou shalt see greater abominations; and after the pictures of all the beasts painted upon the wall were shown, which the seventy elders and Jezonias son of Saphan, holding censers in their hands, worshipped, it is said a second time: Turning thee again thou shalt see greater abominations, which these do, because women were sitting there weeping for Adonis; and after the third sin also it is said: Turning thee again thou shalt see greater abominations than these. What then is the greater abomination than the three previous crimes?

Namely the fourth which follows: Behold at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, about twenty-five men having their backs to the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the East, and worshipping toward the rising of the sun, because, having despised the Lord, that is, the Creator, they worshipped the sun, that is, the creature of the Lord, though the Lord himself commanded through Moses that they should by no means, after the manner of the nations, worship God toward the East: but in whatever part of the world they might be, whether toward the East, or the West, or the South, or the North, they should worship toward the temple, where the Holy of Holies was believed to be inhabited by the Lord. This indeed we read that Daniel also did in Babylon, who, with the windows of his upper room open, worshipped the Lord toward the temple which was in Jerusalem. That this was, according to the letter, a sacrilege, no one doubts.

According to the anagogical sense, that all heretics are worse than the former, that is, than the idol of Zeal and the figures of living creatures painted on the wall, and the mourning for Adonis, by which idolatry and voluptuousness are shown, he will be able to know who understands the prophet saying: But thou hast hated discipline, and hast cast my words behind thee. And in another place: They have turned against me the shoulder, going away. Do we not know that Marcion and the other heretics, who tear apart the Old Testament, having despised the Creator, that is, the just God, worship and adore some other so-called good God, whom they have poured forth from their own heart? And all the heretics of our time, who preach the Son of God to be a creature, and yet worship him, having left the temple of divinity and set it behind their backs, by their own confession declare that they worship a creature.

But we so worship the sun of righteousness, that we worship God in the temple of the Old Testament, where the Law and the Prophets are, where the Cherubim and the mercy-seat are. What we have translated as twenty-five men, the Seventy put as twenty; and in certain copies, five were added from Theodotion.

Verse 17. And he said to me: Surely thou hast seen, son of man: is this a light thing to the house of Judah, that they should commit these abominations which they have committed here, because having filled the land with iniquity, they have turned to provoke me? And behold they put the branch to their nose. For what we have said: And behold they put the branch to their nose, the Seventy translated: and behold they are as those who mock, to which is added from Theodotion, They will stretch out the branch; so that the whole together is: And behold they stretch out the branch as if mocking. For which Symmachus interpreted, as if sending forth a sound in the likeness of a song through their noses.

He signifies, however, twenty-five men, who are established in a solid position in a square, and by the five senses, through five times five, make the figure of a square, not only having the temple behind their back, but, after the manner of idols, putting the branch to their nose: no doubt of palm branches, which in Greek are called βαΐα, that by this he might signify that they worship idols. Finally, Job also says among his other virtues that he had this, that never looking upon the heaven and the sun and the moon and the shining stars, did he kiss his hand, that is, did he worship creatures. But the interpretation of Symmachus signifies a foul and hoarse sound proceeding from the nostrils, in contempt of God. And I see all: and thus the other Elam of the second edition is written in Greek letters αἰλάμ.

But that also is not without its difficulty, in that it is said, in the reading of this word, that the Seventy agree with Theodotion as to the Hebrew exemplar, whereas he read οὐλάμ, and these, who are also of the second edition version, read αἰλάμ. Heretics, who have filled the earth with iniquity, and have turned to a knowledge falsely so called, so as to provoke the Lord to wrath, are to be reckoned: since when they wish to praise God, they rather blaspheme with a shameful sound, or hold the God of the Old Testament in low esteem, mock him, and despise him.

Verse 18. Therefore I also will deal in fury: my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity. And when they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them. What follows, and when they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them, is not found in the Seventy. He says: For all these things which they have done, I will deal in fury, and my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity. Hearing this, the old heretics slander the Creator as cruel and bloodthirsty; nor do they consider that the Apostle Paul, who is certainly (as they themselves would have it) the apostle of the good God, writes to the Corinthians: If I come again, I will not spare; that with the rod he might chastise the offenders, and draw back the erring to salvation.

For those who do not understand what is good for them, and frequently pray for things contrary to their own good, it is expedient for them not to be heard by the Lord. Whence also in the Lord's Prayer we say: Thy will be done. Not our will, which is accustomed to err: but thy will, which knows the things to come. And sometimes it is a matter of great felicity, not to deserve mercy for the present. And so upon these, who are of the house of Judah, and have withdrawn from the confession of the Church, the Lord will not have pity. And though they cry with a loud voice, of which the Lord said: Their cry has come up to me; yet the Lord will not hear them: that, compelled by their evils, they may understand what they have done.

(Verse 1.) And he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying: The visitations of the city are at hand. Instead of visitations, the Seventy translated vengeance.

For vengeance is mine, and I will repay, saith the Lord. And every vengeance is a visitation, as it were of one who is sick, as it were of one having wounds, as it were of one awaiting healing hands, according to that which is written elsewhere: I will visit their iniquities with a rod, and their sins with stripes: but my mercy I will not take from them. And rightly (as we have said above) the visitation or vengeance is said to draw near, since the captivity is near.

And each one has in his hand a vessel of slaughter. He did not say, had, as the Seventy translated. For he does not narrate past things, but shows present and future things. He therefore who strikes down the wicked because they are wicked, and has vessels of slaughter, that he may kill the most wicked, is a minister of the Lord.

Verse 2. And behold, six men came from the way of the upper gate, which looks toward the North, and each one's weapon of destruction in his hand. And one man in the midst of them was clothed in linen, and had a writer's inkhorn at his loins: and they entered in, and stood beside the brazen altar. And the glory of the God of Israel was taken up from the Cherub, which was over it, unto the threshold of the house. And he called to the man who was clothed in linen, and had the writer's inkhorn at his loins. Instead of "linen," which we, following Symmachus, have translated, the Septuagint have ποδήρη (reaching to the feet); Theodotion the Hebrew word itself, BADDIM (בדים); Aquila, "select" (or "choice") things.

Again, where we said, "and a writer's inkhorn at his loins," the Septuagint put: "And a sapphire girdle upon his loins"; Theodotion, "a κάστυ of the scribe in his hand"; Aquila, μελανοδοχεῖον, that is, "the scribe's inkhorn at his loins"; Symmachus, "he had the tablets of the writer at his loins." And where we have rendered "the threshold of the house," the Septuagint and Theodotion have τὸ αἴθριον, that is, they have put "the vestibule under the open sky." For "the weapon of destruction" too, which each of the men had in their hands, only the Septuagint have translated "an axe." Therefore, for the blotting out of the sins of men, who were made on the sixth day of the fashioning of the world, six men come, and they descend from the upper gate, or, as the Septuagint rendered it, from the high place toward the North. And each one had an axe in his hands, of which John speaks: "For now the axe is laid to the root of the trees.

Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire". And there was among the six men one, that is, a seventh, in the garb of a high priest, clothed in linen garments, and he had a writer's inkhorn at his loins, with which he might record the sins of all, and separate the number of the saints from sinners: or a sapphire girdle, of the color of the sapphire stone, which is among the ornaments of the chief of the priests. And the six men went forth and stood beside the brazen altar. For there were two altars: one of incense, golden, within; and the other before the temple, of brass, for burnt offerings. Now they are said to stand beside the altar, ready for the command of the one giving orders, so that whomever they should see there whose sins were not remitted, they might know that he lay under the Lord's sentence and slaughter.

The glory also of the God of Israel ascended, or was taken up from the one Cherub, and went to the threshold, or to the open-air part of the court of the house and of the vestibule, which is by no means covered by a roof, but enjoys the freedom of the open air. And this very glory of the Lord called the man who was in the garb of a high priest, and had the inkhorn at his loins, and said what Scripture testifies. Some interpret the six men as six angels, who obey the will of God: and the one man himself who had the vestments of a high priest they understand as the Savior; according to that saying, that He is Priest and the Angel of great counsel, and that which is said: "Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedech".

Now ποδήρη, which the Septuagint translated, is one of the eight vestments of the high priest, which in Latin is called "reaching to the ankles" (talaris); and from the fact that it descends all the way to the feet, it has received this name. Concerning the vestment of the high priest, I know that many years ago I published a book, to the explanation of which I send the reader. For I cannot say everything in every place. And as for the fact that the first edition of Aquila and Theodotion said κάστυ, for which in the Hebrew is read CESATH (קסת), when I inquired of a Hebrew what it meant, he answered me that in Greek it is called καλαμάριον, from the fact that reeds are kept in it. We call it an inkhorn, from the fact that it holds ink. Many, more expressively, call them "cases," from the fact that they are cases for the writing reeds of scribes.

Of the four Cherubim, one Cherub is sent from the glory of the Lord's majesty, to speak to him who was clothed in the vestments of a high priest. And although very many think that τὰ χερουβεὶμ is said in the neuter gender and in the plural number, we ought to know that in the singular number it is "Cherub," of masculine gender, and in the plural of the same gender "Cherubim": not that there is sex among the ministers of God, but that each thing is called by different genders according to the property of its own language. Angels are called, in the plural number, "Malachim," and "Cherubim," and "Seraphim," of the same gender and number. Furthermore "Sabaoth," which is interpreted "of hosts," or of armies and powers, is said in the feminine gender, plural number, and ends in the final syllable οτη (ות).

Those, however, who wish the Savior to be understood under the figure of the high priest, make use of the example from the Apocalypse of John, in which it is written: "And I turned, and saw a voice that spoke with me. And having turned, I beheld seven golden candlesticks: and in the midst of the candlesticks one like unto the Son of man", and so forth. (Verse 4. Ff.) And the Lord said to him: Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and mark THAU upon the foreheads of the men who sigh and grieve over all the abominations that are done in the midst of it. And to them He said, in my hearing: Go through the city, following him, and strike: let not your eye spare; neither have pity. Slay to utter destruction old man, young man, and virgin, little child, and women: but upon whomsoever you shall see THAU, kill him not: and begin at my sanctuary.

It is commanded to him who was clothed in the ankle-length garment, or linen, and who bore the priestly habit, that he set a mark upon the foreheads of the men who sigh and grieve over all the abominations that are done in the midst of Jerusalem. Instead of "sign," which the Septuagint, Aquila, and Symmachus translated, Theodotion put the Hebrew word itself, THAU, which is the last of the twenty-two letters among the Hebrews, so as to demonstrate perfect knowledge in the men who sigh and grieve. Or, as the Hebrews maintain, because the Law is called among them THORA (תורה), which is written with this letter at the beginning of its name; they who had fulfilled the precepts of the Law received this seal. And to come to our own matters, in the ancient Hebrew letters, which the Samaritans use even to this day, the last letter, THAU, has the likeness of a cross, which is painted on the foreheads of Christians, and is marked by the frequent sign of the hand.

There are those who think, from the fact that according to the Hebrew alphabet this is the last letter, that it is shown that amid the multitude of sinners, remnants of the saints survive. Therefore those who sigh and grieve are saved; who not only did not consent to evil works, but also mourned the sins of others, according to what Samuel also mourned over Saul, and the apostle Paul over those who did not repent after sin. Whence he himself also said: "We who are in this tabernacle groan". And elsewhere: "I have great heaviness and continual sorrow of my heart." And it is commanded to the six men that, except for those who can say, "The light of thy countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us", they kill all, sparing not the old man, not the young man, not the virgin, not the little child, not the woman.

According to the mystical understanding, the old men in the Church are those of whom it is said: "The gray hair of a man is his wisdom"; the young men are those most ready for the battles of the faith; the virgins are those who preserve chastity with their whole mind; the little children are those who are given the milk of infancy, and do not yet perceive solid food; the women are those who by the frailty of their sex, testify to the weakness of the soul. None of these are spared, if they believe themselves to be anything apart from the seal of Christ. And what follows: "And begin at my sanctuary," or, as the Septuagint translated, "and begin at my holy ones," signifies either the priests, who dwelt in the temple and worshiped idols; or those who by the merit of the priesthood were called holy among the people, and who had been the cause of sin among the peoples, and were the first to deserve punishments.

For it is time that judgment should begin at the house of God. Verse 7. They began, therefore, with the elder men who were before the face of the house. And He said to them: Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. "Fill the courts with the slain." Instead of "courts," which in Hebrew are called ASEROTH (חצרות), the Septuagint have put "streets." Now the elder men are slain, of whom we read above that they had censers and burned incense to idols. Nor is there any longer reverence for the temple: because, God being offended by irreverence, all things are defiled, so that whence the sin came, thence the judgment also comes. And the courts are filled with corpses in the temple, and not the streets, which of course were outside—unless perhaps we may understand "streets" as the squares of the city. Nor could the angels have dared to defile the temple with the blood of the dead, in which the glory of God formerly dwelt, unless the Lord of that departing glory had commanded it.

Everyone who is dead in sin defiles the courts of the temple, and the streets of the Lord's city, in which he lives: who, rising again with Christ, ceases to be dead. And they went out, and struck those who were in the city. Or, as others translated: "they struck the city," naming the city itself for those who were in it. Verse 8. And when the slaughter was completed, I remained: and I fell upon my face, and cried out and said: Alas, Lord God, wilt Thou then destroy all the remnant of Israel, pouring out Thy wrath upon Jerusalem? All those who did not have the mark being laid low by the slaughter, the prophet fell upon his face, thinking that, because of the multitude of the slain, none but he had remained. And because this seemed to be contrary to that sentence, in which the Lord had commanded that the men of the marked foreheads should not be slain, therefore it was omitted in the Vulgate edition.

But we, following the Hebrew truth, have put, "I remained." And it must be noted that he did not say "alone": for if he had said that, it would have seemed contrary; but "I remained," so that it is to be understood along with the others, who had their foreheads marked. But that we may know that this was said pointedly, "I remained," in the book of Kings, when Elijah speaks to God: "They have thrown down Thy altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life to take it away"; he put "alone," because he did not know that others had remained. Some think that this may be understood, from the person of the Lord, of whom Ezekiel went before as a type, as concerning the people of the Jews: when all have gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable. And the Prophet testifies: "Save me, O Lord: for the godly man ceaseth". For the Lord alone was found who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth (I Peter ii).

And as to what follows: "pouring out Thy wrath upon Jerusalem," the word "pouring out" shows the magnitude of the punishments, as we read elsewhere: "Contempt hath been poured out upon princes". And again: "My steps had well nigh slipped [poured out]". And in a good sense: "The charity of God is poured out in our hearts". And: "Grace is poured out on thy lips". And in the contrary sense: "Pour out Thy wrath upon the nations that have not known Thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon Thy name". And: "Bring out the sword, and shut up the way against them that persecute me". Verse 9. And He said to me: The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great. And the land is filled with blood, and the city is filled with perverseness. For they have said: The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not. Therefore neither shall my eye spare, nor will I have pity: I will requite their ways upon their head.

The Lord, seeing His prophet weeping for the people, and marveling at the magnitude of the indignation, gives the reasons: not, as he thought, of an unjust or excessive punishment, but of a deserved and just sentence. "The iniquity," He says, "of the ten tribes of Israel and of the two tribes of Judah is great, and not only great, but exceedingly great." Nor is it enough to have said this, but He repeats "exceedingly," so that the magnitude of the punishment may correspond to the magnitude of the iniquity. From this we learn—not, as many suppose, and especially the Stoics, that sins are equal—but that they are great or small, and that according to the quality and measure of sinners, there is a diversity in the judgment that punishes.

"The land," He says, "is filled with blood," or, as the Septuagint translated, "with peoples": "and the city is filled with perverseness"; or, as the Vulgate edition has it, "with iniquity and uncleanness": not a small amount of blood has been shed, but from gate to gate: and the whole city has turned away from the worship of God, and instead is full of uncleanness, that is, of the filth of idolatry. Now the cause of such great crimes is this, that they supposed that providence does not extend over the earth, nor does God care for mortal things, according to that which we read elsewhere (Virgil, Æneid, Bk. IV):

Namely this is the toil of the gods above, this the care that troubles
their repose.

Since therefore they either thought there was no providence, or that the providence which had formerly existed among the peoples had, at this time, abandoned its own people: for this reason God's eye also will not spare, nor will he show mercy: so that, raging against vices, he may be appeasable toward virtues; and he requites their ways and their sins upon their heads, or upon the governing faculty (ἡγεμονικὸν) of the heart, or upon the princes of the people, according to the book of Numbers, in which the heads of the peoples are said to be the princes.

Verse 11. And behold a man, who was clothed with linen, who had an inkhorn at his loins, answered saying: I have done as thou hast commanded me. LXX: And behold a man, who was clothed with a podere (that is, a garment reaching to the feet), and girded about the loins with a girdle, and he answered a word, saying: I have done as thou hast commanded me. This is the man to whom it was commanded to pass through the midst of Jerusalem, and to set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and mourn over all the iniquities thereof. He says therefore that he has fulfilled the commands of the Lord, and has marked with the sign of the letter THAU the foreheads of the mourners. But the six men to whom the Lord had commanded, saying: Pass through the city following him, and strike: and have pity on none unto utter destruction, report nothing of this kind.

For they fulfil not a sentence of gladness, but of mourning, which is proved not by word but by deed. And in this place, instead of ποδήρη, that is, a garment reaching to the feet, which the Seventy have interpreted, Theodotion has set down the Hebrew word itself, BADDIM (בדים); Symmachus, linen; Aquila, a special or principal garment, or a stole. For "girdle" too, Symmachus put "tablets"; Aquila, "inkhorn"; Theodotion set down κάστυ.

(Verse 1, 2.) And I looked, and behold in the firmament that was over the head of the Cherubim as it were a sapphire stone: as the appearance of the likeness of a throne appeared above it. And he spoke to the man who was clothed with linen, and said: Go in between the wheels that are under the Cherub, and fill thy hand with coals of fire from between the Cherubims, and scatter them over the city.

Concerning the firmament that was above the Cherubim, and the sapphire stone that had the likeness of a throne, and the wheels which the living creatures followed, let it suffice to have spoken above, and let the reader be content with that explanation. But now, what is commanded to him who was clothed with linen—for whom the Seventy in this place have interpreted "stole"—that he should take burning coals of fire from the midst of the Cherubim, and pour them out or scatter them over the city, seems to me to show this: that after the slaughter and killing of many, and the corpses of the dead in the streets, coals of fire are taken up, in order to punish, or to cleanse, Jerusalem: according to that which is written in Isaiah: He hath sanctified him in a burning fire, and it shall devour the fuel as hay.

These are the coals which, as a remedy for the tongue and for lying, the Prophet, being asked, desires for those who lay waste vices and sins: What shall be given to thee, and what shall be added to thee, for thy deceitful tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals that lay waste. And we shall be able to find many things of this kind in the Holy Scriptures, concerning which we have often spoken. This alone must be noted, that in Isaiah, who had sinned only in speech, and had said that he had unclean lips, one coal is taken up with tongs for his cleansing. But here, because the city was full of iniquity, and after the punishments there were corpses of the dead, more coals of fire are taken up, and not with one hand, but with both, that all Jerusalem might be cleansed. Although this too must be understood, that the coals of fire are taken up not for cleansing, but for punishments and torments, to be poured out upon Jerusalem.

(Verse 3. Seqq.) And he went in, in my sight. Now the Cherubims stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court. And the glory of the Lord was lifted up from over the Cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord. And the sound of the wings of the Cherubims was heard even to the outward court, as it were the voice of God Almighty speaking. And when he had commanded the man that was clothed with linen, saying: Take fire from the midst of the wheels that are between the Cherubims: he went in and stood beside the wheel. And a Cherub stretched forth his hand from the midst of the Cherubims, to the fire that was between the Cherubims, and took, and gave into the hands of him that was clothed with linen.

Who, taking it, went forth: and there appeared in the Cherubims the likeness of a man's hand under their wings. The prophet seeing it, the man goes in, clothed with the garment reaching to the feet, or of linen—and as the LXX now change their interpretation—with a holy stole, although among the Hebrews one and the same word is held, BADDIM (בדים), and the other interpreters persist in the translation they had begun. He enters, then, as is said a second time, into the midst of the wheels that are beneath the Cherubim, that he may fill his hands with fiery coals.

And when he had entered, he stood only beside the wheel, and either from sorrow over the punishment about to be inflicted on Jerusalem, or stunned by the greatness of the glory, he himself did not put forth his hand to the fire, but one of the Cherubim, that is, the Cherub, put forth his hand, and took the fire that was in the midst of the Cherubim, and gave it into the hand of him who was clothed with linen garments. Who, taking it, went forth; and yet the Scripture does not say what he did after going forth, so that it might leave the sorrowful account of the matter rather to our understanding, than set it before our eyes.

Now while the man clothed with linen garments was entering, the Cherubim stood on the right side of the house, that the holy and heavenly powers might be seen to hold the right side of the house of God, and those that are sent to inflict punishments, of whom it is written: A sending forth by evil angels, might be believed to possess the left side. And when the glory of the Lord had been lifted up from the Cherub who was about to deliver the coals of fire to the man, and had passed to the threshold of the house, at once the inner court is filled with cloud, darkness, and gloom. For punishments are not carried out in the presence of the Lord's majesty, and the glory of the Lord is seen in the court, of which it is written: The sound of the wings of the Cherubims was heard even to the outward court. Instead of "sound," in the Hebrew "voice" is put: which voice had the likeness of the voice of God Almighty.

For which the Seventy translated: as the voice of God SADDAI (שדי); which Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion translated ἱκανὸν, which signifies "mighty and powerful." Note, reader, in what particulars this vision agrees or disagrees with the former one, so that from the comparison of both, without any prompting from me, you may understand the divine mysteries, and that which I have already often pointed out—that in the firmament, and in the throne, and in the hand of a man, not the truth itself, but a likeness, is spoken of. For we do not behold the glory of the Lord face to face with unveiled countenance; but we see all things in a likeness and an image, as long as we are surrounded by a fragile, corruptible, and mortal body. (Verse 8. Seqq.) And I looked, and behold four wheels beside the Cherubims: one wheel beside one Cherub, and another wheel beside another Cherub.

And the appearance of the wheels was as the appearance of a chrysolite stone: and the likeness of them was one likeness of the four, as if a wheel were in the midst of a wheel. And when they went, they went by their four quarters: and they turned not when they went, but to the place whither the first turned to go, the rest also followed, and did not turn back. And their whole body, and their necks, and their hands, and their wings, and the circles, were full of eyes round about the four wheels. And he called these wheels wheeling wheels, in my hearing. And every one had four faces: one face was the face of a Cherub, and the second face the face of a man, and in the third was the face of a lion, and in the fourth the face of an eagle: and the Cherubims were lifted up.

Observe what species of the wheels there had first been, according to the LXX, "as it were the appearance of tharsis"; but now, according to the same, "as it were the appearance of a carbuncle," so that a likeness of feathers through fire, which is delivered from the Cherub, might be shown: although in the Hebrew, both above and here, THARSIS (תרשיש) is written, which Aquila translated "chrysolite," Symmachus, "hyacinth." Again, where we translate: And their whole body—which is to be understood of the wheels—in the Hebrew it is written: And all their flesh, and their necks, and their hands, and their wings, and the circles.

Note that "flesh" is applied to the heavenly powers, so that when we read: Flesh and blood shall not possess the kingdom of God, neither shall corruption possess incorruption, we may know that it is not the substance of flesh that is condemned, but works: for BASAR (בשר), which is written in this place, signifies not "body" but "flesh." The circles of the wheels he called the iron rims (canthi), by which the roundness of the wooden wheel is bound and constrained. Now these wheels have not only flesh, or body, or members, but also necks, and hands, and wings, so that we may understand in each the operations of things, not the images of members. The wheels themselves are also called in the Hebrew tongue GELGEL (גלגל), which Symmachus interpreted "wheeling ones," Aquila, "wheel." Moreover, what follows: "in my hearing," down to the place where it is written: "the Cherubims were lifted up," is not found in the LXX, but has been added from the Hebrew.

In this, it must be noted, that it is not said, as above: the face of a man, and the face of a lion on the four right sides, and the face of a calf on the four left sides, and the face of an eagle on the four—as though some were believed to be on the left, others on the right—but an equal order of all is described, Scripture saying: But every one had four faces: one face, the face of the Cherub; and the second face, the face of a man; and in the third, the face of a lion; and in the fourth, the face of an eagle; so that the first, second, third, and fourth face is described not by diversity of place, right and left, but in one order by degrees. Now one face, that is, the first, he called Cherub, for which above he had said "the face of a calf." From which it is understood that the face of the Cherub is the face of the calf.

The sense of all these things is contained in the explanation of the former vision.

(Verse 15. Seqq.) This is the living creature which I had seen by the river Chobar. And when the Cherubims went, the wheels also went by them: and when the Cherubims lifted up their wings, that they might be exalted from the earth, the wheels also stayed not behind, but were beside them. When they stood, these stood; and when they were lifted up, these were lifted up. For the spirit of life was in them. All things live to God, and perceive their own Creator. For God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. Whence also all the bodies of the wheels are full of eyes (Above 1). And in the psalm it is said: The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the works of his hands. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night shows knowledge.

The sun too and the moon, the sea and the rivers, the mountains and the hills praise God, and the elements revolve into their own circle year by year, and we discern in the earth the order of the heavens, so that they revolve and run, preserving the order of the ancient law; and we see nothing new upon the earth. And what is said: This is the living creature which I had seen by the river Chobar, Scripture shows that we ought to understand the same things in the exposition of the living creature which we understood above. (Verse 18. Seqq.) And the glory of the Lord went forth from the threshold of the Temple, and stood over the Cherubims. And the Cherubims lifting up their wings, were raised from the earth before me, and as they went out, the wheels also followed. And it stood in the entrance of the east gate of the house of the Lord, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.

This is the living creature which I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chobar: and I understood that they were Cherubims. Each had four faces, and each had four wings, and the likeness of a man's hand was under their wings. And the likeness of their faces was the same faces which I had seen by the river Chobar, and their looks and the impulse of every one of them was to go straight forward. The glory of the Lord, or the majesty, which had stood on the threshold of the Temple, stood over the Cherubims. Which, lifting up their wings, in the prophet's sight, were raised on high, the wheels likewise following, and it stood in the entrance of the east gate of the house of the Lord, and little by little the protection of God left Israel. First it was in the Temple, then it stood in the court of the Temple, or the threshold; and as it withdrew from the Temple, a cloud and darkness filled the inner recesses of the Temple.

Again the glory itself sat upon the Cherubims, and, they at once flying away and departing to the outer parts, the wheels followed. And the glory stood in the gate of the house of the Lord toward the east, not in the door of the Temple, but after the court and the threshold, in the entrance of the eastern gate of the house of the Lord. When the prophet had seen this, he says: This is the living creature which I saw under the God of Israel, by the river Chobar, and I understood that they were Cherubims. For what new thing had he seen, that he should understand them to be Cherubim, which he had not understood before? Cherubim, in our tongue, means "fulness of knowledge": the knowledge of the mysteries of God, and his throne and his rest. Whence also in the psalm it is said: Thou that sittest upon the Cherubims, shine forth.

For the glory of the Lord ever sits in the fulness of knowledge, and is then manifested, when all things are shown to be ruled by providence; nor does anything happen by chance, nor may anyone say: The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not (Above IX, 9). Whence also the look of the Cherubim and their striving is to forget the things that are past, and to reach forward to the things that are to come (Philipp. III).

(Verse 1.) And the spirit lifted me up, and brought me to the eastern gate of the house of the Lord which looks toward the rising of the sun.

Because the glory of the Lord had gone forth from the threshold of the temple, and had stood over the Cherubim; and afterward, the Cherubim flying away, the glory itself stood at the entrance of the eastern gate of the house of the Lord, and the prophet, because he could not go to it by himself, was lifted up by the spirit, and led to that same eastern gate of the house of the Lord, which looks toward the sun of righteousness, of whom it is written: Behold the man: the Orient is his name: so that he should in no wise remain in the temple, which was confused by the cloud of ignorance; but standing at the eastern gate of the house of the Lord, he might come to know the mysteries that follow.

(Verse 2 ff.) And behold at the entrance of the gate twenty-five men, and I saw in the midst of them Jezoniah the son of Azur, and Phaltiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. And he said to me: Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity, and give wicked counsel in this city, saying: Were not the houses lately built? This is the caldron, and we are the flesh. Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, son of man. And the spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and he said to me, Speak: Thus says the Lord: Thus have you spoken, O house of Israel, and I know the thoughts of your heart. You have slain very many in this city, and have filled its streets with the slain. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Your slain, whom you have set in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this is the caldron, and I will bring you forth out of the midst of it.

You have feared the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you, says the Lord God, and I will cast you out of the midst of it; and I will give you into the hand of enemies, and will execute judgments upon you. You shall fall by the sword: I will judge you in the borders of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord. This shall not be to you for a caldron, and you shall not be in the midst of it for flesh. I will judge you in the borders of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord. What follows is not found in the Septuagint, but is added from the Hebrew: Because you have not walked in my precepts, and have not done my judgments; but have acted according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you.

The prophet is taken up according to that which is written: The Lord takes up the meek; or he is lifted from the earth, and brought to the eastern gate of the house of the Lord, so that he might come to know the mysteries of the twenty-five men who were at the entrance of the gate, and of Jezoniah the son of Azur, and Phaltiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. These, then, who were at the entrance of the eastern gate of the house of the Lord, despairing of salvation, and prepared for destruction by the consciousness of their crimes, and unwilling to correct their sins through repentance, say: Although lately, after the first captivity, houses have been built which had before fallen down, yet we know that this city is like a caldron, and we are as the flesh, that we may be consumed and burned up in it, according to that which is written in Isaiah: If the tempest shall pass, it shall not take us.

While they say these things, the spirit of the Lord rushes upon the prophet; and a second time he commands him to prophesy, and to say: Since you have said these things, and the secrets of your hearts do not escape me, I will interpret to you how the city is to be reckoned as a caldron, and you as the flesh: not according to that sense which you have spoken, but according to another which you do not fear. The city is indeed like a caldron, but it will not be filled with your flesh, but with the flesh of those whom you have slain. But you, who suppose that you will die in this city, I will bring forth out of the midst of the city, and deliver into the hands of enemies; and I will execute judgments upon you; so that when you fall by the sword, not in the city, nor outside the borders of Israel, but within the borders of your own province, then you shall know that I am the Lord.

And a second time it is said: I will judge you in the borders of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord. Now all these things you shall suffer, because you have not walked in my precepts, and have not done my judgments, but have practiced the crimes of the nations round about. And since the meaning according to the letter is plain, setting aside for a little while the names of Jezoniah and Azur, Phaltiah and Benaiah, which we reserve for another time, this must be said, that even to this day in the Church, which is the house of the Lord, both before the gate, and at the entrance, or in the way of the gate, which signifies the Savior, through whom we enter to the Father, there are twenty-five men, referring all things to the senses.

And as far as my memory does not fail me, I have never been able to find this number taken in a good sense: although in Leviticus men are chosen for the priestly ministry from twenty-five years of age; for in the Hebrew it does not have this number, which is given in the Septuagint, but the number thirty, which is contained in the beginning of this prophet, and in the age of the Lord, when he came to the streams of the Jordan, and was baptized by John. But if in the Gospel five wise virgins, and five foolish, are found, let us know that this number is set in a middle place, and can be applied, according to the quality of those using it, either to a good or to a bad meaning.

These men, therefore, who refer all things to the senses, and have two princes, of whom we have spoken above, are contained in the dual number, which cuts unity in two, and is not seen by the Lord in the number of the second day, according to the Hebrew truth. Whence also in the Ark of Noah, the unclean animals are brought in two by two. But the Lord, drawing the division together into one, made both one, and destroyed the middle wall, condemning enmities in his own flesh. Whence also he says something more strait and more sublime: I and the Father are one, that he might recall us from Jewish duality into the union of the Christian faith. Finally, when the priesthood of the Jews had been lost, the Lord suffers not under one prince, but under two, Annas and Caiaphas: to show the divided error of their religion.

There are many at the entrance of this gate before the eastern house of the Lord, who by their vices are compared to the nations, and who, from the consciousness of their sins, despair of salvation, and say: The city in which we dwell is a caldron, and we are all flesh, and we shall be consumed by the Babylonian fire, whose darts are fiery: unwilling to do penance, and despairing of salvation; therefore they hear that they themselves are not the flesh of the past and lost city, but those whom they have scandalized and those whom they have slain.

And therefore the sword is brought upon them, that after they have been judged not among the nations, but among Christians, within the borders of Israel, then they may know that he is the Lord, according to that which is read in the Psalms: When he slew them, then they sought him: that they might come to know through torments him whom they had not perceived through benefits. (Verse 13.) And it came to pass, while I was prophesying, that Phaltiah the son of Benaiah died: and I fell upon my face, crying out with a loud voice, and I said: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God: dost thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel? While the prophet was prophesying, one of the two princes, Phaltiah the son of Benaiah, dies, whose name is interpreted "a ruin declining," and he is the son of a builder, or mason; for οἰκοδόμος cannot be otherwise rendered in our language. The other of the princes is preserved unharmed, Jezoniah the son of Azur.

Jezoniah sounds as "his ears," which is understood of the soul. But Azur means "support," or "help." He, therefore, who by falling had declined from the Lord, and was of the worst building, rightly falls, while he prophesies whom God has strengthened. But he who obeyed the precepts of God, and was sustained and supported by his help, rightly remains in the rule of the people. We read in Exodus, that when Pharaoh king of Egypt had died, the children of Israel groaned from the works of clay, straw, and bricks, and cried out to the Lord, whom, while he was alive, they could not call upon. Isaiah also, when the leprous king Uzziah had died, saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and the Seraphim standing about him; and understanding that he had unclean lips, and dwelt among a people having unclean lips, he deserves that a coal be sent from the altar, and purge his unclean lips.

Here, however, while the strength of God prophesies, the prince who had declined from the service of the Lord falls, that he may be raised up by Christ. For if the Lord is resurrection, the devil is ruin. Concerning which it is asked, how it can be said of the Savior: Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel: for the fall of those who stood most wickedly, and the rising of those who had fallen. When the prophet had seen this, he fell upon his face: not by the merit of one sinning, but by the affection of one lamenting; and with a loud voice, which came from a great ardor of faith, he cried out three times, and said, Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God, dost thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?

And the sense is: Even the very remnant, which seemed to remain in the people, are being blotted out, thou being indignant. (Verse 14 ff.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, thy brethren, thy brethren: the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel, all of them, to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said: Get you far from the Lord; the land is given to us in possession. Therefore thus says the Lord God: because I have removed them far off among the nations, and because I have scattered them in the earth, I will be to them a small sanctuary in the lands to which they have come. LXX: And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, thy brethren and the men of thy captivity, and all the house of Israel is consumed; to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem said: You have gone far from the Lord: the land is given to us for an inheritance.

Therefore he says: Thus says Adonai the Lord, because I will drive them out among the nations, and scatter them into every land, and I will be to them a small sanctification in the regions to which they shall have gone. First, something must be said about the variety of interpretation. For that which is in the Hebrew, "men of thy kindred" (for this is what GOOLATHACH גאלתך means), the LXX translated as "men of thy captivity." Then, where it follows: "all of them, to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said"; instead of "all of them," they put "is consumed," because of the ambiguity of the letters and the word: for CHULLO (כלה), which Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion interpreted as "all," they rendered as "is consumed," which does not at all agree with the sense. The word of the Lord, then, came to Ezekiel, who had said: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God, dost thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?

Namely at the death of Phaltiah, and of those who were slain with him, that these were by no means the remnant which seemed to be captive in Babylon. And the sense is: O son of man, thy brethren, born of the same stock as thyself, thy brethren, I say, to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, You have withdrawn from the Lord, because you are captives, and have given yourselves up with Jeconiah, but to us the land of Israel has been given as an everlasting possession.

Tell them, therefore, that though I have removed them far from the land of Israel, and scattered them among the nations, and ordained that they be in foreign lands; yet because they have obeyed my commandment, I will be to them, even in foreign and hostile places, a small sanctification: while many are found among them who by no means bow their necks to idolatry; but are mindful of the commandments of God, as Daniel and the three children were, and it is to be believed that the rest were also, after the likeness of such great princes as Scripture now commemorates. From all this we learn that we ought not to insult those who have been delivered over to punishment by God's judgment; nor to reproach a man converted from his sins; nor should it ever be said to the penitent and to those who have gone forth from the Church: You have withdrawn far from the Lord; the land is given to us in possession.

Because thus says the Lord: Although I have separated them for a little from my Church, and scattered them among the nations, yet I will be to them a small sanctification, while they remember their sins, so that those who withdrew from their place on account of their vices, may hasten by penance to return to their former dwellings.

(Verse 17 and following.) Therefore speak: Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you from the lands in which you are scattered, and I will give you the ground of Israel. And they shall enter there, and shall take away all the offenses, and all the abominations from it. And I will give them one heart (or another heart), and I will put a new spirit within their inward parts. And I will take away the heart of stone from their flesh, and I will give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my precepts, and keep my judgments, and do them, and be to me a people, and I will be to them a God. But as for those whose heart walks after their offenses and abominations, I will bring their way upon their own head, says the Lord God.

The divine word speaks to those who were captives in the land of Babylon, to the brothers of the prophet Ezekiel, and to the kinsmen to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem said: You have withdrawn far from the Lord, to us the land has been given in possession. But he speaks what follows thus: I will gather you from the peoples, and restore to you the land of Israel. And when you have entered, you shall remove all the idols on account of which you had offended God, and I will give you one heart of the fear and service of God, that you may by no means serve various idols, or else another heart than you had before. And I will put a new spirit within your inward parts, according to what is written: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within my inward parts.

And I will take away from you the heart of stone, that is, the hard heart, according to what Stephen, the first martyr in Christ, speaks: Stiffnecked, and uncircumcised in heart. And the heart of Pharaoh is hardened, that he should not let the people of Israel go. And I will give you, he says, a heart of flesh, soft and tender, and able to receive the commandments of God, so that they may be written on the fleshly tables of the heart. And a soft heart is given, and the hard heart taken away, for this reason: that they may walk in my precepts, and keep my judgments, and be among the people of God: and the Lord, who before had been an adversary, may be to them a God. But as for those who by no means correct their former sins by penance, but walk after their abominations, I will repay to them, he says, what they deserve, so that their ways may be set upon their own heads.

Many suppose that these things happened under Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and under Jesus the son of Josedec the high priest, and under Ezra and Nehemiah, to the tribe of Judah, and to those who returned with them. Also that the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who were taken captive under Sedecias king of Judah, or who fled with Jeremiah into Egypt, were scattered into all lands, and by no means returned to the city of Jerusalem. But the full conversion of those who were captives, and of the remnants of Israel, is understood in Christ, when the remnants were made whole, and in one day three thousand believed, and again five thousand; and others, of whom James speaks to the apostle Paul: You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who believe? And they are all zealous for the Law.

But even now, daily, the proud inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem, whose heart walks after their offenses and abominations, deserve the offense of God, and those who were outside, their heart of stone removed, and having received a very soft heart, return through penance to the Church; and walk in the precepts of the Lord, and keep his judgments, and become the people of the Lord, and the Lord, whom they had before offended, becomes to them a God. (Verses 22, 23.) And the Cherubim lifted up their wings, and the wheels with them, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city. Little by little the glory of the Lord withdraws from Jerusalem.

First forsaking the temple, it stands in the court or on the threshold of the house, and afterward at the entrance of the eastern gate; last of all, its wings and wheels following, it stands upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city—there is no doubt that this signifies the Mount of Olives, from which the Savior ascended to the Father. And the glory of the Lord, which had departed from the city of Jerusalem, stood upon the Mount of Olives, as a sign of resurrection and of light, that from there it might behold Jerusalem about to perish and be burned. And what is said, "The glory ascended out of the midst of the city," the Lord speaks in other words to the disciples: "Arise, let us go hence"; and to the Jews: "Your house shall be left to you desolate".

Josephus also reports that a voice was heard in the temple of angels and heavenly powers, who had before been in the garrison of the city, saying: "Let us depart from these seats" (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews). And in a wondrous manner, even to the present day, the glory of the Lord, which forsook the temple, stands upon the Mount of Olives, and gleaming red in the sign of the cross, looks upon the temple once Jewish, now dissolved into ashes and cinders. (Verses 24, 25.) And the spirit lifted me up, and brought me into Chaldea, to them of the captivity, in a vision by the Spirit of God, and the vision that I had seen was taken up from me. And I spoke to them of the captivity all the words of the Lord which he had shown me.

In place of what we have rendered from the Hebrew truth: "And the vision that I had seen was taken up from me," the Seventy translated: "And I went up from the vision which I had seen." Both readings signify that the prophet was not carried in body from Babylon to Jerusalem, but in spirit; and the vision which had led him in spirit to Jerusalem, and had shown him all the things which the foregoing discourse recounted, being taken away, he returned into himself, and spoke to them of the captivity all that had been shown to him—that is, to those of whom it was written above: "I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, and the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there, and I saw" (above, chap. 8:1). And in a wondrous manner, while those who had come to visit him were sitting there, the prophet beheld mystical visions, and was absent, in spirit, from those who sat before him, though present in body.

And all these things come to pass, that those who were captives might receive consolation, in that they should be brought back into the land of Israel, and should walk in the precepts of the Lord, and should become his people, and he should become their God. But those who were not converted to penitence, but walked after their abominations, receive what they have done. Now we have often noted that in the holy Scriptures words are used for things.

(Verses 1 ff.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a house that provokes: who have eyes to see, and see not; and ears to hear, and hear not; for it is a house that provokes. In place of what we have rendered: "Thou dwellest in the midst of a house that provokes," the Seventy put: "Thou dwellest in the midst of their iniquities." But from what follows, "for it is a house that provokes," we understand that the former reading too agrees with this verse.

We have often taught also that "bitterness" is spoken of instead of "provocation," so that the sense is: thou dwellest in the midst of a house turning to bitterness, which makes God, who by nature is sweet and merciful, bitter and cruel by the bitterness of its own vices. Otherwise we read of God: "Taste and see that the Lord is sweet," or gracious. Now the prophet dwells in the midst of a people that provokes God to bitterness, who have eyes and do not see, ears and do not hear—not from any defect of the senses, but from the obstinacy of their perversity. Whence also the Lord says to the Jews: "If you were blind, you would not have sin", rebuking and condemning in them a voluntary blindness. Since therefore they have eyes to see, and see not; ears to hear, and hear not, and despise your words, teach them by image and picture; and show them by bodily figures, that they may recognize the coming captivity not only by hearing, but also with their eyes.

(Verse 3.) Thou therefore, son of man, prepare for thyself the equipment of a captive, and thou shalt go into captivity by day in their sight. And thou shalt go from thy place to another place, in their sight, if perhaps they may consider: for it is a house that provokes. The Seventy: And thou, son of man, make for thyself vessels of captivity, and go into captivity by day before them; and go into captivity from thy place into another place before their eyes, that they may see that it is a house that provokes. There is no doubt that all the content of this passage points to the coming captivity of King Zedekiah and the tribe of Judah, who was taken along with Jerusalem.

But since some wish the captivity of Zedekiah—whose name is interpreted "the Lord is just"—to precede as a type of the Savior, who, descending from heavenly things to earthly, assumed a human body, and that these are the vessels of captivity: therefore I think the prudent and cautious reader must be forewarned, that we indeed set forth these things, lest we seem to pass anything over, but do not approve them. For an impious king cannot precede in figure him who is the pattern of all piety. But that Zedekiah was taken by the Babylonians and Chaldeans, both the prophet Jeremiah and the history of Kings relate, and that he was led from place to place, that is, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and the rest that Ezekiel speaks of in what follows.

But those who refer this to the Lord Jesus Christ think that his captivity and removal from place to place signifies his descent from heavenly things to earthly. (Verses 4 ff.) And thou shalt bring forth thy vessels outside, as the vessels of one going into captivity, by day, in their sight. But thou shalt go forth in the evening before them, as one goes forth who removes, before their eyes. Dig for thyself through the wall, and thou shalt go out through it in their sight. Thou shalt bear it upon thy shoulders; thou shalt flee away in the dark. Thou shalt cover thy face, and thou shalt not see the earth; for I have made thee a portent to the house of Israel. The Seventy: And thou shalt bring forth thy vessels of captivity by day before their eyes. And thou shalt go forth in the evening before them, as a captive goes forth. Dig for thyself through the wall, and thou shalt pass through it in their sight.

Thou shalt be carried upon shoulders, and shalt go forth hidden. Thou shalt cover thy face, and shalt not see the earth; for I have made thee a portent to the house of Israel. The prophet is ordered to do in figure what Zedekiah will do in reality. Gather, he says, thy baggage (for these are the vessels of one going into captivity) in their sight. And after they have seen what thou art about to do, thou shalt go forth in the evening in the likeness of one removing. We read that Zedekiah fled by night through a breach dug in the wall to the deserts of the Jordan, and there was seized by the Babylonians, and this signifies the wall dug through. And what is said, "Thou shalt bear it upon thy shoulders," is understood as thy baggage, and whatever fugitives are accustomed to carry for the comfort of the journey. "Thou shalt flee in the dark," that thou mayest not be seen by anyone.

"Thou shalt cover thy face"—either on account of the blindness that befell him, his eyes having been put out by Nebuchadnezzar; or so that it might not be recognized that he was the king, and so the vigilance of his guards might be greater. And what follows: "And thou shalt not see the earth," signifies that he was led blind into Babylon, and did not see it. "For I have made thee a portent," he says, "to the house of Israel"—for both the sayings and the doings of the prophets were for a sign and figure. Whence also in Zechariah, the men are called "portentous men," because they portend things to come. And in Hosea God says: "I have been likened in the hands of the prophets" (Hosea 12:10).

But those who wish Christ to be understood in the person of Ezekiel take the vessels of captivity as the human body, and the wall dug through as that by which he broke through the bars of the underworld, and rising again was seen only by believers; and that he was borne upon shoulders when with the angelic powers he ascended as victor to heaven; and that he goes forth hidden, and veils his face, lest the divine majesty be seen in mortal flesh, and does not see the earth, lest it be illumined by his eyes, which does not deserve his gaze. For "the eyes of the Lord are upon the just", and he turns away his face from the wicked. And all these things, they say, are narrated as having been done, that through the likeness of a man he might convert the hard hearts of the people of Israel to faith.

And he is given as a portent to the house of Israel, according to what is written: "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many, and for a sign which shall be contradicted". (Verses 7, 8.) I did therefore as he had commanded me: I brought forth my vessels as the vessels of one going into captivity, by day, and in the evening I dug through the wall for myself with my hand. I went out in the dark, and bore it upon my shoulders in their sight. The Seventy: And I did so, according to all that he had commanded me: and I brought forth my vessels as the vessels of captivity by day; and toward evening I dug through the wall for myself with my hand, and went forth hidden; I was taken up upon my shoulders in their sight. He testifies that he fulfilled in deed what he had been commanded above to do, and it needs no further explanation according to either reading, as has been expounded above.

But this should be noted, that at one and the same time Jeremiah was prophesying in Jerusalem, and Ezekiel in Babylon, and the former's prophecy was sent to the captives, and the latter's to those who dwelt in Jerusalem; so that the providence of the one God might be proved in diverse regions, and the hearers might understand that whatever befell the people came to pass not by the power of idols, but by the command of the Lord. (Verse 9.) And the word of the Lord came to me in the morning, saying: Son of man, have not the house of Israel, a house that provokes, said to thee, What art thou doing? Say to them: Thus says the Lord God. If, he says, the provoking house shall ask thee: Why dost thou do these things? Or, according to the Septuagint, even if they do not ask, go in, that they may know why thou hast done these things.

(Verse 10. Ff.) This burden is upon the prince who is in Jerusalem, and upon all the house of Israel who are in the midst of them. Say: I am your portent: as I have done, so shall it be done to them. They shall go into removal and into captivity. But the prince who is in the midst of them shall be carried upon shoulders, he shall go forth in darkness; they shall dig through the wall, that they may lead him out; his face shall be covered, that he may not see the land with his eyes. And I will spread my net over him, and he shall be caught in my snare, and I will bring him into Babylon into the land of the Chaldeans, and he shall not see it; there he shall die.

And all who are about him, his guard and his troops, I will scatter to every wind; and I will draw the sword after them, and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have scattered them among the nations and sown them abroad in the lands. And I will leave of them a few men from the sword, and famine, and pestilence; that they may tell all their wicked deeds among the nations to which they shall come, and they shall know that I am the Lord. First let us set forth the historical sense. Say, he says, to them, O son of man, whether they ask or do not ask. Why do you do these things? That this burden and vision is upon the leader who is in Jerusalem, meaning the leader Zedekiah. And say: I am your portent, or, as the Septuagint translated, I am he who makes portents; that from present things future things may be known.

As I have done, so shall it be done to them, to the leader and to all who are in the leader's company. They shall be led captive into the Babylonian removal, and the leader who is in the midst of them shall be carried upon shoulders, either of beasts of burden, or of those who had fled with him. In darkness, and in the shadows of night he shall go forth: and his companions shall dig through the wall that they may lead him out. His face shall be veiled, either from the fear of one fleeing, or from the injury of blindness, so that as a blind man he may not see the land of Babylon. And I will spread my net over him, and he shall be caught in my snare. For indeed, by the Lord's permission, he was captured by the Babylonians: and he attests that he himself did these things which he suffered from enemies.

And having been led into Babylon, he shall not see the land of the Chaldeans, and there, a captive, he shall die. But all his companions, and helpers, and comrades of the flight, when he shall have been seized, I will scatter hither and thither, nor will I allow them to depart in safety: but I will draw my sword in the hands of the enemies; so that when they shall have been scattered among the nations, they may understand that I am the Lord, and that all things have been done by my will. And I will leave, he says, of his companions who fled with him, and who were able to escape, a few, who shall have escaped the sword, and famine, and pestilence, so that when they have come, whether by flight or captivity, to various regions, they may tell all their wicked deeds, whether by speech or by example; on account of which they deserved so many evils, and they may understand that I myself am the Lord.

But he who tries to set forth the tropology and the exposition begun concerning the Savior, interprets the leader who is in the midst of Jerusalem as he himself, who went before as a portent and a sign, that both he and his companions were captives of this world, and that, rising victorious from the dead, he was borne upon the shoulders of angels: going forth in darkness, unknown to unbelievers, having destroyed the middle wall of partition, he made both one: his face covered, that he might not look upon the land of the Jews. Nor is it strange if the Lord hid his face; since even to this day a veil is placed before the face of Moses for the unbelieving people. And the Lord spread his net over him, according to what the bride says of him in the Song of Songs: Behold, he stands behind our wall, looking through the windows, appearing through the lattice. Of whom also Jeremiah: The spirit of our countenance, Christ the Lord, was taken in our sins.

And: Though he had done no sin, he was made sin for us. And he shall be led, he says, into Babylon, the confusion of this world, into the land of the Chaldeans, who are interpreted as, so to speak, demons, that he might draw back to salvation those who had been given over to demons; and might lead captive our former captivity. And the land of the Chaldeans itself, he says, he shall not see, and there he shall die; that by his death he might give life to all of us. But all his helpers and companions, the apostles and apostolic men, he scattered throughout the whole world. And he drew the sword after them, that they might be crowned with various martyrdoms, and then they themselves, or those who had believed through them, might understand that he is the Lord, and that for this reason he scattered them among the nations, and sowed them abroad in the lands, that they might bear much fruit.

And he left of them a few men, such as John the Apostle, and others, delivered from the sword, and famine, and pestilence, and avoiding the onslaught of persecutions, that they might tell of the crimes of the Jews and the iniquities of all the nations to which they came, so that, penance having been done, they might know that he was the Lord. These things we have said, leaving judgment to the reader's discretion. But there is no doubt that it is a dangerous thing to compare the captivity and death of an impious king to the sacrament of the Lord. (Verse 17. Ff.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, eat your bread in trouble; and drink your water in haste and sorrow.

And say to the people of the land: Thus says the Lord God to those who dwell in Jerusalem, in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread in anxiety, and drink their water in desolation, that the land may be desolated of its multitude on account of the iniquity of all who dwell in it. And the cities that are now inhabited shall be desolate, and the land shall be a desert: and you shall know that I am the Lord. The Septuagint: And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, you shall eat your bread with pain, and you shall drink your water with torment and anguish. And you shall say to the people of the land: Thus says the Lord Adonai to the inhabitants of Jerusalem upon the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with want, and drink their water with dissipation, that the land may be laid waste, and its fullness.

For in impiety are all who dwell in it, and their cities that are inhabited shall be a desolation, and the land shall be laid waste, and you shall know that I am the Lord. After the prophecy about the prince and his companions, which was shown under a bodily image, it comes to the people: and whatever is said to the prophet is reported by the prophet as concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that in the evil of the siege they shall eat their bread in anguish and want, and drink their water not at all in abundance, but with torment and tribulation.

But these things, he says, O prophet, are said to you, that you may speak to the people of your land, and say: Thus says the Lord to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, which is in the land of Israel: Besieged by Nebuchadnezzar and by the Chaldeans, you shall endure the evil of hunger and thirst; that all the land, with its fullness (otherwise, multitude), may be destroyed, meaning by it the inhabitants through that which is inhabited. And lest they think this happens to them without cause: Say, he says, to them, that on account of their crimes and impieties, all the cities of Judea are to be reduced to solitude, and all cultivation of the land is to perish, that they may know God as one raging, whom, when merciful, they refused to know. We can, according to the anagogical sense, say that the inhabitants of Jerusalem who believe in Christ are those who dwell in the Church.

And if through their sins they should deserve his offense, let them eat bread with want, and drink water with sorrow and anguish: not the food of bread, nor the drink of water, but enduring famine of the word and doctrine of God. For when, either through the fault of the princes, who are to be captured and handed over to the Babylonians, or through our own hardness, we shall have lost the word of God, and shall not have deserved to have useful waters: then in sorrow and want we shall take our food, and the land shall lose the multitude of believers, and the cities, which throughout the whole world are understood as the churches, shall be desolated, and the land shall be a desert, that all may know that it is the offense of the Lord. This indeed we can also understand in the time of persecution.

(Verse 21. Ff.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, what is this proverb of yours in the land of Israel, of those saying: The days shall be prolonged, and every vision shall perish? Therefore say to them: Thus says the Lord God: I will cause this proverb to cease; nor shall it be spoken any longer in common among Israel. And speak to them, that the days are drawing near, and the fulfillment of every vision. For every vision shall no longer be void, nor divination ambiguous in the midst of the children of Israel. For I the Lord will speak; whatever word I shall have spoken, it shall be done. It shall not be prolonged any further; but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word, and I will do it, says the Lord God.

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, behold, the house of Israel, of those saying: The vision which this man sees is for many days, and this man prophesies for distant times. Therefore say to them: Thus says the Lord God: No further word of mine shall be prolonged: the word that I shall have spoken shall be fulfilled: says the Lord God. What we have rendered "proverb," according to Symmachus, all other translators rendered "parable," which in Hebrew is called MASAL (משל). Again, where we have rendered: "Neither shall there be ambiguous divination," the Septuagint translated: "nor divining according to grace"; for which all the others rendered "slippery," what we have called "ambiguous," that we might recognize the deceiving words of prophets to their hearers. But the sense of the whole chapter is this: Above he had prophesied against the leader who was in Jerusalem, then he had announced that famine and the heat of thirst would come upon the people.

Which the multitude, not believing, took up an old and worn proverb: The threat of the prophets is put off to a long time, and every vision shall perish, while it is seen in vain: or according to Symmachus, it shall dissipate into wind and thin air. Say therefore, he says, to them, that my threat is by no means to be delayed, nor is false and ambiguous divination to be uttered to the peoples having an uncertain end, so that it be spoken at one time and fulfilled at another: but now, while you who speak, and those who hear, are living, let the word which I have spoken be fulfilled. He signifies the near captivity of the city of Jerusalem, and that Zedekiah, with the people of Judah, is soon to be captured.

Not only at that time, but even to this day, the unbelieving crowd and the hard hearts of mortals do not receive the prophecy of God: but all the things that the prophets threaten, that the Gospel preaches, they think must be put off to another time. Let us know here that the word "parable," which is used by the Septuagint, is taken for "proverb," according to that which we read in the psalm: and I became a proverb to them. And in this same prophet: What is this proverb of yours in the people of Israel, of those saying: The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge (Below XVIII, 2)? We touch briefly upon what is clear, that we may linger over what is more obscure.

I should wish, Eustochium, if it could be done, to weave the explanations upon Ezechiel through each book together with their own prophecies, and by no means to divide by exposition what is joined together by the prophecy: that the course might be easier both for the one dictating and for the one reading; and to divide the long and vast journey of interpretation into fixed spaces, so that, as if by titles and indices, and, to speak more properly, by arguments, I might show what each several book contained. But what am I to do, since some prophecies are short, others long: so that we are often compelled by necessity both to compress several into one book, and to divide one into many?

Hence also now, against the prophets and prophecies, and against the elders of the people of Israel too, and against the land upon which the four most evil plagues are brought, and concerning the wood of the vine, which, when it has been cut off, is useless among all the trees of the forests, we wish also to comprise in this fourth book the catalogue of the vices of Jerusalem. Which, since the narrow limits of a single volume do not allow, we reserve the other part of it for the fifth volume: forewarning the concern of the most prudent reader, that he may know what is to be explained by us in this book, and what remains for him to read.

(Verses 1, 2.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and thou shalt say to them that prophesy out of their own heart: Hear ye the word of the Lord: Thus saith the Lord God.

That which we have set down: who prophesy, and thou shalt say to them that prophesy out of their own heart, the Septuagint omitted, and in place of what is not found in the Hebrew, they added, and thou shalt prophesy, and shalt say to them. Now this discourse is against the false prophets, who deceived the people, and, against God's commandments, prophesied something else. Nor let anyone be moved by the fact that they are called prophets: for holy Scripture has this custom, that it names every man a prophet of his own divination and speech: just as the prophets of Baal are so called, and the prophets of idols, and the prophets of confusion. Whence also the apostle Paul calls a Greek poet a prophet: A certain one of their own, a prophet, said: The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. And in Hosea we read: As a raving prophet, a man bearing the spirit (Hosea IX, 7).

Now whatever was said at that time to the Israelite people, this is now referred to the Church: so that the holy prophets are the apostles and apostolic men. But the lying and frenzied prophets are all the heretics; whose leaders fashion things out of their own heart; while those who have been seduced by them acquiesce in the lies of others. (Verse 3.) Woe to the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and see nothing. The Septuagint: Woe to those who prophesy out of their own heart, and see nothing at all, forsaking that which we have set forth, who follow their own spirit.

Since the name of prophets, according to the rule of the Scriptures, is common to the good and the wicked, they differ in this, that the good prophets are said to be wise, but the wicked, foolish and senseless: the one of these is referred to men of the Church, the other to all heretics, who, abandoning the Spirit of God, follow their own spirit: because they prophesy in no way by divine instinct, but out of their own heart: whence also they see nothing. But he who is wise follows not the thoughts of his own heart, but the Spirit of God, according to that which was said above (Above, 1), that the living creatures and the wheels followed the spirit of God. And the prophet says: Thou shalt walk after the Lord thy God. And in another place: Lead me into the right path. And again: Thy good spirit shall lead me into the land. And to the people of God, the pillar of fire and the cloud was a guide in the wilderness.

And Jeremiah speaks: I have not labored in following thee. But who among the heretics that follows his own spirit does not stumble in darkness, and, being blind, lead the blind into the pit? Whence, although in their mysteries, or rather their orgies, they seem to themselves to see more than the doctors of the Church, yet they see nothing at all: because they have lost the sun of justice, and vainly imitate those who were formerly called Seers, and to whom it is said: Thou that seest, go, depart into the land of Judah; and prophesy not in Bethel any more. Wherefore the vision of Isaiah and of Obadiah are set in the titles. And the Lord commanded the apostles: Lift up your eyes and see. And the prophet begs humbly: Reveal my eyes, and I will consider the wondrous things of thy law. (Verse 4 and following.) Thy prophets, O Israel, were like foxes in the deserts.

You have not gone up against the breach, nor set up a wall for the house of Israel, to stand in battle in the day of the Lord. They see vain things, and divine a lie, saying, saith the Lord: when the Lord hath not sent them, and they have persevered to confirm the word. Have ye not seen a vain vision, and spoken a lying divination? And ye say, saith the Lord, when I have not spoken. The Septuagint: Like foxes in the deserts are thy prophets, O Israel. They have not stood in the firmament, and they have gathered flocks upon the house of Israel. They have not risen up who say in the day of the Lord: seeing lies, divining vain things, who say, saith the Lord, and the Lord hath not sent them: and they have begun to raise up the word. Have ye not seen a false vision, and spoken vain divinations? And ye said, saith the Lord, and I have not spoken. Let us speak first according to the Hebrew.

The prophets of Israel are like foxes, daily making thefts of domestic fowls: who dwell, according to Aquila and the Septuagint, in the deserts; according to Symmachus and Theodotion, in ruinous walls and dilapidations: who are not able to go up against the breach, nor set up a wall for the house of Israel. We read that Aaron ran against the fire that was devouring the people of Israel, and stood in the midst, and set up a wall for the safety of the people. To Jeremiah also it is said, that he should not run to meet the Lord, nor stand against His wrath by perseverance in prayer. For as a wall is set up against an enemy, and one is wont to meet an adversary face to face and against him as he comes: so the sentence of God is broken by the prayers of the saints. Whence also it is said to Moses: Let me alone, and I will destroy this people.

For to whom it is said, Let me alone, it is shown that he has the power to hold back. These men cannot stand in battle in the day of the Lord, so as to fight for the people by prayers and resist by supplications the sentence of God. Therefore, because they see vain things, and divine a lie, and say that they have been sent by the Lord, when they have not been sent by Him, and they persevere in their errors, and desire to establish their own word as true; they are convicted that all things which they preach are empty, calling their lie the word of the Lord. Further, according to the Septuagint, the sense here is: All heretics, on account of their deceitfulness and wickedness, are like foxes, of whom the Savior speaks: Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests. And of Herod it is written: Tell that fox.

And concerning these same foxes who deceive little ones and the simple, and lay waste the vineyard of Christ, Solomon speaks: Catch us the little foxes, that destroy the vines. And in the psalm, concerning those who are undermined by their deceit, it is sung: They shall go into the lower parts of the earth: they shall be delivered into the hands of the sword: they shall be the portions of foxes. These prophets, who are like foxes, have not stood in the firmament; nor have they deserved, with Peter, to hear: Thou art Peter: and upon this rock I will build my Church. Nor are they like Moses, to whom it was said: But stand thou here with me. Nor like him who says: He hath set my feet upon a rock; but they have been tossed about by every wind of doctrine. Nor have they stood in the firmament, of which we read in the eighteenth psalm: The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament announceth the works of his hands.

These men have gathered together all manner of irrational beings, and, because of their excessive innocence, like cattle, against the house of God. Whence it is now said: And they have gathered flocks upon the house of Israel: neither have they themselves risen up, nor have they been able to raise up others; but whatever they have done and do is full of lies. And what follows: And they have begun to raise up the word, signifies this, that they wish indeed to rise up, and to raise themselves to lofty heights; but what they desire, they cannot fulfill: and it is said to them: Have ye not seen a false vision, and spoken vain divinations? And what follows, And ye said, saith the Lord, and I have not spoken, is not found in the Septuagint. (Verses 8, 9.) Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because you have spoken vain things, and have seen a lie: therefore behold I come against you, saith the Lord God.

And my hand shall be upon the prophets that see vain things, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the council of my people, and they shall not be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel: and you shall know that I am the Lord God. The Septuagint: Therefore say: Thus saith Adonai the Lord. Because your words are lies, and your divinations are vain: therefore behold I am against you, saith the Lord God, and I will stretch out my hand upon the prophets who see lies, and who speak vain things: they shall not be in the discipline of my people, nor shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and they shall know that I am Adonai the Lord.

Under the person of the prophets, the discourse is against the heretics, who speak vain things and see a lie, and persevere in establishing their own doctrine: that the Lord Himself comes and rises up against them, and stretches out His hand upon them to strike, and does not draw it back to spare them; and He threatens that they shall not be in the council of the people of the Lord to come, nor in His Church, but in the synagogue of the devil, nor shall they be written in the house of Israel. Of whom it is said in another place: Let them be written upon the earth: not into the land of Israel, which is the land of the living, of which it is now said, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel: but into the land of the dead and the shadow of death, so that after they have suffered these things, being separated from the assembly of the people of God, they may understand that He is the Lord.

For that which we have rendered, they shall not be in the council of my people, the Septuagint translated, they shall not be in the discipline, or in the correction of my people. For one is the correction of adversaries, another that of sons. Whence also Jeremiah says: Correct me, O Lord, yet in judgment, and not in thy fury, lest thou bring me to nothing. Pour out thy fury upon the nations that have not known thee; and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name. (Verse 10. And following.) Because they have deceived my people, saying: peace, and there is no peace. And he was building a wall: but they daubed it with mud without straw. Say to them who daub without tempering, that it shall fall. For there shall be an overflowing shower: and I will give great stones falling from above, and a stormy wind to scatter it. And behold, the wall has fallen. Shall it not be said to you, Where is the daubing which you daubed?

Therefore thus says the Lord God: And I will cause a spirit of tempests to break forth in my indignation: and there shall be an overflowing shower in my fury, and great stones of wrath unto consummation. And I will destroy the wall which you have daubed without tempering, and will level it to the ground: and its foundation shall be uncovered, and it shall fall and be consumed in the midst thereof: and you shall know that I am the Lord. And I will accomplish my indignation upon the wall, and upon those who daub it without tempering: and I will say to you: The wall is not, and they who daub it are not. The prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem: and see for it a vision of peace: and there is no peace, says the Lord God. LXX: Because they have deceived my people, saying: peace, peace, and there was no peace: and this man was building a wall, and these were daubing it with folly. Say to them who daub with folly, it shall fall.

There shall be an overflowing rain: and I will give great stones into their joints, and they shall fall. And a spirit taking away, and it shall be broken up. And behold the wall has fallen: and shall they not say to you, Where is your daubing which you daubed? Therefore thus says Adonai the Lord: And I will break up the spirit that takes away in my fury, and there shall be an overflowing rain in my wrath: and I will bring great stones in fury unto consummation, and I will dig under the wall which you have daubed, and it shall fall. And I will set it upon the ground, and its foundations shall be uncovered, and it shall fall. And you shall be consumed with rebukes, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

And I will accomplish my fury upon the wall: and it shall fall upon those who daub it: and I said to you: The wall is not, nor are they who daub it, the prophets of Israel: who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see peace for her: there is no peace for them, says the Lord God. The prophets of Israel, who shall not be in the council of the people of God, nor shall be written in the writing of the house of Israel, nor shall enter the land of promise, shall suffer these things for this reason, because they deceived my people, by doing injury to the rigor of penitence and conversion, announcing to them peace and prosperity, according to that which is said elsewhere: Peace, peace, where is the peace? God therefore was building for them metaphorically, through the precepts of the law and the sayings and threats of the holy prophets, a partition-wall.

For this is what the Hebrew word HIS (חיץ) signifies: so that he might remove from them every incursion of beasts and every hostile assault, while, being converted to God, they were girded as it were by this wall and most firm partition. But the false prophets, not once but frequently, promised them peace, for this is what the repeated word "peace" signifies. And this very wall, which in what follows is called CIR (קיר), the false prophets daubed without tempering, as Symmachus interpreted it, that is, with pure mud, which had no straw, so that it could afford no strength at all. But as the LXX and Theodotion have it, they daub it with folly: Aquila, however, interpreted the Hebrew word THAPHEL (תפל) as ἀνάλῳ, which signifies "without salt," passing from one metaphor to another, so that just as food without salt has no flavor, so also mud without straw, by which it is strengthened and bound together, can furnish no strength to a wall.

Say, he says, to those who promise them vain things, and pledge empty help, that this wall and this partition shall fall, and I will send a most violent rain, that is, most savage enemies. Now he signifies the Babylonians and Chaldeans; and likewise great hailstones falling from above, all by metaphor, whereby a sudden whirlwind overturns and casts down the unstable partition; and afterward it is said to them, that is, to the false prophets, Where is the daubing which you daubed, and where is the help which you promised?

But whatever we have said concerning the false prophets can also be referred to heretics, that all their contrivances be dissolved by the wrath of God; and that the edifice of most evil doctrines, which has not the seasoning of the Holy Spirit, may collapse, and crumble down even to its foundations and to dust, and that this very partition be leveled with the ground, and fall, and that the prophets who made the promises, and the people to whom the promise was made, be consumed in the midst of it: so that after he has accomplished his indignation, and has said to them: this is not a wall, that is, it is not your defense; and they are not those who daub it, but all things are vain and come to nothing: then you may know by the very fact that I am the Lord.

And that we may know who these are who daub the wall, it follows, The prophets of Israel, that is, the false prophets, who prophesy to Jerusalem, and see for her a vision of peace—these are the cause of sin and ruin, and of foolish security. For there shall be no peace, says the Lord, because the Lord did not send them, nor has he spoken to them. That which the LXX translated: and upon their joints, is not found in the Hebrew. It signifies the joinings of stones in a wall, or the props of timber, by which walls are strengthened.

Nor is that which we read above to be overlooked: he himself was building the wall; many refer this to the people of Israel, who promised themselves vain help, either of the Egyptians, or of peace. (Verses 17 and following.) And thou, son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people that prophesy out of their own heart: and prophesy thou against them, and say: Thus saith the Lord God: Woe to them that sew little pillows under every elbow of the hand: and make cushions for the head of every age to catch souls: and when they caught the souls of my people, they gave life to their souls. And they profaned me among my people for a handful of barley, and a piece of bread, to kill souls that should not die, and to save souls that should not live: lying to my people that believed lies.

Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold I am against your little pillows, wherewith you catch flying souls: and I will tear them off from your arms: and I will let go the souls that you catch, the souls to fly away. And I will tear your cushions, and deliver my people out of your hand: neither shall they be any more in your hands to be a prey: and you shall know that I am the Lord. Because you have made the heart of the just to mourn with lies, whom I have not made sorrowful, and have strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his evil way, and live: therefore you shall see no more vain things, nor divine divinations any more: and I will deliver my people out of your hand: and you shall know that I am the Lord.

LXX: And thou, son of man, harden thy face against the daughters of thy people, who prophesy out of their own heart: and prophesy against them and thou shalt say: Thus saith Adonai the Lord. Woe to them that sew cushions under every elbow of the hand, and make veils over every head of every age, that they may pervert souls. The souls of my people are subverted. And they saved souls: and they polluted me among my people for a handful of barley and a piece of bread: to kill souls that ought not to die, and to save souls that ought not to live: while they speak vain words to a people that hearkens. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold I am against your cushions, over which you gather souls, and I will tear them from your arms.

And I will let go the souls which you pervert, their souls into dispersion: and I will tear your veils, and deliver my people out of your hands: and they shall no more be in your hands for gathering: and you shall know that I am the Lord. Because you perverted the soul of the just unjustly: and I did not pervert him: and you strengthened the hands of the unjust, that he should in no wise be converted from his most evil way, and live. Therefore you shall no more see your lies: and you shall by no means divine divinations any more: and I will deliver my people out of your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord. Above, the divine word was directed against the prophets, who daubed the wall with clay, which had no straw, nor could give any strength to a wall or fence: now against the daughters of the people, the prophetesses, he is bidden to set, or direct, his face, and, as the LXX translated, to harden it.

But just as against the [male] prophets, other pseudo-prophets were inspired by a diabolical spirit, that they might overturn the commands of God, so against the prophetesses—such as Deborah was (Judges 5) and Huldah, and in the Acts of the Apostles the four prophesying daughters of Philip the evangelist—were inspired by a demonic spirit, other women also of the same sex, of whom were Prisca and Maximilla, who by lying prophecy overturned the faith of truth. But these the Hebrews say were trained in the arts of witchcraft through necromancy and a pythonic spirit, such as was she who was seen to raise up the soul of Samuel: and in the Acts of the Apostles, whose divination acquired much profit for her masters, from whom at the command of the apostle Paul the unclean spirit was cast out. But we shall say this: that other heretics preach virtue by the falsity of their doctrines.

Of these were Pythagoras and Zeno, from whom come the Stoics: the Brahmins of the Indians, and the Gymnosophists of the Ethiopians, who by continence of living attribute a miracle of themselves to the nations. And rightly are they said to daub the wall, and to promise some strength; but because they do not have the seasoning of Christ, their labor is vain, and their building will perish. For unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. But others, teachers of pleasures and lust, are said to sew pillows, and place them under every elbow of the hand—Epicureans, and Pyrrhonists, and among us Jovinian and Eunomius, who say: Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. The prophet, therefore, is bidden to set, or harden, his face against the daughters of his people. And first it must be said what it means for the face to be set, or directed and hardened.

Surely that which is written of the Lord: The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. For as wax melts before the face of fire, so do sinners perish before the face of God. According to which sense it is said in this same prophet: Son of man, set thy face hard against Theman and Darom and Nageb (below, 20:46). And again: The word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set thy face hard against the children of Jerusalem (below, 21:2). And a little after: The word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set thy face hard against the children of Ammon (below, 25:2). And again: Set thy face hard against Pharaoh king of Egypt (below, 29:2). And again: Son of man, set thy face hard against Gog and Magog.

And in another place: I will set my face against that man, and I will make him a sign, and a desolation, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people: and you shall know that I am the Lord (below, 14:8). Woe therefore to these heresies, and to these doctrines, which, promising rest, deceive every age and sex, that they may catch the souls of the wretched, and pollute me among my people, while I am believed to love pleasure—and this not on account of their homer and half-homer of barley, as we read in Hosea, but on account of a handful of barley, on which brute animals feed, and a piece of bread. Not whole bread nor solid testimonies of the Scriptures, but such as have been broken, curtailed, and diminished by heretical depravity; that they may deceive whatever holy people they can, and drag them to death; and strive to give life to sinners by vain promises.

Therefore the merciful and compassionate God does not kill the prophetesses themselves, but tears apart their pillows, which, like nets, catch flying souls, so that after they have been torn, they may have free power to fly. And they shall tear the veils, or cushions, in which the principal part of the soul rested, and with which the heads of the deceived were covered—although the Apostle teaches that the heads of men are not to be veiled, but that with unveiled face the glory of the Lord is to be beheld. For you, he says, broke the spirits of those serving God with false terrors, and by fraudulent promises kept the impious shut in, lest, doing penance, they should recover the life which they had lost.

Therefore you shall by no means see vain visions; nor will I call your lies prophecies, but divinations, of which it is written: There is no augury in Jacob, nor divination in Israel: that I may deliver my people out of your hands, and by the deed you may know that I am the Lord who has delivered the lost.

(Verses 1 and following.) And there came to me men of the ancients of Israel, and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, these men have placed their uncleannesses in their hearts, and have set up the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: shall I indeed answer them when they inquire of me?

Therefore speak to them, and say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Man, man of the house of Israel, that shall place his uncleannesses in his heart, and shall set up the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and shall come to the prophet inquiring of him by me: I the Lord will answer him according to the multitude of his uncleannesses: that the house of Israel may be caught in their own heart, whereby they have departed from me through all their idols. Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord God: Be converted, and depart from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your defilements.

For any man, man of the house of Israel, and of the proselytes, whosoever shall be a stranger in Israel, if he shall be alienated in Israel from me, and shall set up his idols in his heart, and place the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and shall come to the prophet, to inquire of me through him: I the Lord will answer him by myself. And I will set my face against that man; and I will make him an example and a byword; and I will cut him off from the midst of my people: and you shall know that I am the Lord. And when the prophet shall err, and shall speak a word: I the Lord have deceived that prophet: and I will stretch out my hand upon him: and I will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

And they shall bear their iniquity: according to the iniquity of him that inquires, so shall be the iniquity of the prophet: that the house of Israel may err no more from me, nor be defiled by all their transgressions; but that they may be to me a people, and I may be to them a God, saith the Lord of hosts. LXX: And there came to me men of the elders of Israel, and sat before my face. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, these men have set their thoughts in their hearts, and have set the torment of their iniquities before their face: shall I indeed answer them if they answer me?

Therefore thou shalt speak to them, and say to them: Thus saith Adonai the Lord: Man, man of the house of Israel that shall set his thoughts in his heart, and shall set the torment of his iniquity before his face, and shall come to the prophet, that he may inquire of him concerning me: I the Lord will answer him according to that by which his mind is held; that I may turn away the house of Israel according to their hearts which are alienated from me in their thoughts. Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord God: Be converted, and depart from your inventions, and from all your impieties, and turn your faces to me.

For any man, man of the house of Israel, and of the strangers who sojourn in the land of Israel: whosoever shall be alienated from me, and shall set his thoughts in his heart, and shall set the torment of his iniquity before his face; and shall come to the prophet, that he may inquire of him concerning me: I the Lord will answer him according to that by which he is held, and I will harden my face against that man: and I will make him a desert, and a destruction: and I will take him away from the midst of my people: and you shall know that I am the Lord. And if the prophet shall err, and shall speak a word: I the Lord have made that prophet to err. And I will stretch out my hand upon him, and I will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

And they shall receive their iniquity according to the iniquity of him that inquires, and likewise shall be the iniquity of the prophet, that the house of Israel may in no wise err from me, and that they may not be defiled any more in all their transgressions. And they shall be to me a people: and I will be to them a God, saith Adonai the Lord. And yet the house of Israel of those who wished to hear God's words is mocked by perverse prophesyings; but let there be a people of God, and let it deserve to have the Lord himself. In what he said: I the Lord have deceived him, the words of Solomon agree, who disputing concerning God, says: And he will mock the mockers: and that testimony: If they walk perversely toward me, I also will walk against them in perverse fury.

And in that it is said a second time, man, man of the sons of Israel, and of the strangers who are joined to them, he shows the twofold man in us according to the Apostle, the outward and the inward. For many, having the bodily face of a man, assume the images of various beasts, whose image the prophet, desiring to see them scattered, entreats: O Lord, in thy city thou shalt bring their image to nothing. Those of whom it is written: Man, when he was in honor, did not understand; he is compared to senseless beasts, and is become like unto them, are not men who are men, but men who are beasts. Again, those who hear in the Gospel, Serpents, generation of vipers, who has shown you to flee from the wrath to come? Are not men who are men, but men who are serpents.

And of those of whom it is written: Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests: and concerning Herod: Tell that fox, they are not men who are men, but men who are foxes. But those who possess the twofold name of man, if they have erred, are for this reason corrected by punishments, that they may understand that he himself is the Lord. And also what we have set down according to the Septuagint: The man who has been estranged from me, and has set his thoughts in his heart, and the torment, or punishment, of his iniquity before his face, agrees with that testimony which is written in Isaiah: Walk in the light of your fire, and in the flame which you have kindled.

For each one kindles for himself the burnings of flames, and prepares punishments for himself, while he is unwilling to correct his errors by repentance, but remains in his errors, and thereby deserves the burning of flames. (Verses 12, 13 and following.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, when a land shall have sinned against me so as to transgress grievously, I will stretch out my hand upon it, and break the staff of its bread, and send famine upon it, and destroy man and beast from it. And if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, should be in the midst of it, they by their righteousness shall deliver their own souls, says the Lord of hosts.

But if I should also bring evil beasts upon the land to waste it, and it should become impassable, so that none pass through because of the beasts, if these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they alone shall be delivered, and the land shall be made desolate. Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say to the sword, Pass through the land, and destroy man and beast from it, and these three men be in the midst of it, as I live, says the Lord God, they shall not deliver sons or daughters, but they alone shall be delivered. But if I also send pestilence upon that land, and pour out my wrath upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast, and Noah, Daniel, and Job be in the midst of it, as I live, says the Lord God, they shall not deliver son or daughter, but they by their righteousness shall deliver their own souls.

For thus says the Lord God: Even if I send my four dreadful judgments, sword, and famine, and evil beasts, and pestilence, upon Jerusalem, to destroy from it man and beast, yet there shall be left in it a remnant that shall bring out sons and daughters. Behold, they shall go forth to you, and you shall see their way and their doings, and shall be comforted concerning the evil which I have brought upon Jerusalem, in all things which I have brought upon it. And they shall comfort you, when you see their way and their doings, and you shall know that I have not done all things which I have done in it without cause, says the Lord God.

Four plagues are brought upon the transgressing land, or, as the Septuagint translated, the sinning land: famine, beast, sword, pestilence; of which, if each is brought singly upon particular regions, and these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, whose righteousness is proclaimed by the voices of the Scriptures, should intercede for the sinning land, they will be able not only not to save it, but not even their own sons and daughters, if these have committed the deeds of the sinning land; but they will be able to deliver only themselves. It is asked why, since Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and Moses too, and the other patriarchs and just prophets existed, only these are mentioned. This is easily resolved: for Noah, though the flood threatened the whole world because all the earth had corrupted the ways of the Lord, could not prevent it; but he had his sons, who were perhaps of the same virtue, preserved as the seed-bed of the human race. Daniel also could not mitigate by any tears the impending captivity of the Jewish people.

And Job too, not on account of sins but for the sake of testing, did not save his house or his sons. But others say that these three men alone saw both prosperity and adversity, and prosperity again; and therefore they are named together, and this is signified in a hidden way, that just as they saw both good and evil, and joy again, so too the people of Israel, who had first enjoyed good things and afterwards bore the yoke of captivity, if they should do penance, would return to their former happiness. But if Noah and Daniel and Job, gathered together and placed in one spot, cannot withdraw the sinning land, that is, those who dwell in the land, from the wrath of God, what must be said of those who think that sinning sons can be delivered from the fires of Gehenna by the merit and virtues of their parents?

Whence not even a martyr father will be able to deliver a sinning son, nor will a mother of holy life bestow the rewards of chastity upon an unchaste daughter. And conversely, the vices of parents will not harm the children; but the soul that sins, it shall die (below, XVII, 4). Lot, dwelling in Sodom, yet a stranger both in spirit and in flesh, did not deliver his wife, because she looked back; but only his daughters, who perhaps had not sinned. And Josiah, a holy man, not only did not save the sinning people by his virtues, but himself died amid their sins. But if at times the Lord promises His mercy to the descendants for the sake of Abraham and David, it must be noted that He does not spare those who persist in wickedness, but those who do penance, so that the merits of the fathers may aid the conduct of the children.

Since, he says, these things are so, and intercession by such men does not save the sinning land from each of these plagues, thus says the Lord God: because Jerusalem has sinned abominably, I will bring four plagues together upon it: the sword, by which it is slaughtered by enemies; and famine, which it endures in the siege; and beasts, by which those fleeing into the deserts and the wild groves are devoured; and pestilence, which always follows famine and want—for which the Vulgate edition rendered “death.” These things, he says, I will bring upon it, so that neither men nor beasts remain in it.

And yet, by my clemency, though four plagues threaten together and lay waste all things, I will leave in it some who will bring forth their sons and daughters; and let the captives come here, that is, into Babylon and Chaldea, so that when you see them and observe their deeds, you may then understand that they were justly taken captive, and that my sentence was just, and that your captivity may have consolation; while you understand that I delivered them from sword, famine, beasts, and pestilence for this reason, that by their perversity you might learn that Jerusalem was justly overthrown, and the temple burned, and the people led captive, apart from those whom the sword, famine, beasts, and pestilence consumed. Let these things be said of that Jerusalem, to which, as Ezekiel prophesied among the Chaldeans, captivity was drawing near.

But also concerning our own land, to which it is said: Earth you are, and to earth you shall return; and concerning our Jerusalem and each of the believers, if they shall have despised the commandments of God, and deserved to be called transgressors, famine will be brought—not famine of bread, nor thirst of water, but famine of hearing the word of God. The sword also will be brought, of which we read: They shall be delivered into the hands of the sword; they shall be the portion of foxes. And to Mary: A sword shall also pierce your own soul. Beasts also will be brought, to whom the righteous man prays that he not be delivered: Deliver not to the beasts the soul that confesses to you. Pestilence too will be brought (for which the Seventy translated “death”), of which it is written: The death of sinners is the worst. And: The soul that sins, it shall die. And, If bitter death thus separates (below, XVIII, 4)?

From all these, neither the teaching of spiritual parents, whom we understand as teachers, nor rulers, will be able to deliver, unless there be the consent of the sons, and their entreaties aid their own efforts. For the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the iniquity of the wicked shall abide in him: each shall die for his own sin, and shall be saved by his own righteousness. And in vain do the Jews say: Abraham is our father, since they do not have the works of Abraham. But if there is confidence to be had in anything, let us trust in the Lord alone. For cursed is every man who has his hope in man, however holy they may be, however prophets. We read: Do not trust in men. And again: It is better to trust in the Lord than to trust in princes—not only in the princes of the world, but also in the princes of the Churches, who, if righteous, will deliver only their own souls.

But the sons and daughters whom they have begotten in the Church, if these are negligent, they will not be able to save; and yet the Apostle says: If anyone’s work shall burn, he himself shall be saved; yet so as through fire. Now the hand is stretched out over the transgressing land, so that the staff, or strength, of bread may be broken. This, once stretched out, threatens plagues, though He who stretches it does not wish to strike down sinners and remove them, but by the stretching to terrify, and to preserve the terrified.

(Verses 1 and following.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, what shall be done with the wood of the vine, out of all the trees of the forests that are among the trees of the woods? Shall wood be taken from it, to make some work? Or shall a peg be fashioned from it, on which any vessel may hang?

Behold, it is given to the fire for fuel: the fire has consumed both its ends, and its middle part has been reduced to ashes. Will it be useful for any work? Even when it was whole, it was not fit for work; how much less, when the fire has devoured and burned it, will anything of work be made from it? Therefore thus says the Lord God: As the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire to devour, so will I deliver up the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will set my face against them. They shall go out from the fire, and the fire shall consume them. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have set my face against them, and have made the land impassable and desolate, because they have become transgressors, says the Lord God.

Where we translated: the fire has consumed both its ends, and its middle part has been reduced to ashes, the Seventy translated: fire consumes its yearly purging, and it is given up in the end. Again, where we said: When I have set my face against them, they rendered: when I have hardened. They also translated “transgression” as “offense.” Now by various similitudes, which the Greeks call parables, the overthrow of the city of Jerusalem is foretold.

And just as above (at chapter IV), in the pan in which the flesh of the people was fried, and in the tile on which the fortifications, the siege-mounds, and the battering-ram and vineyard-machines were depicted, the siege and famine of that same city were described, and afterward we shall read of this same thing in this same passage: In Jeremiah too it is written, that the pot which is set boiling from the face of the north signifies the city of Jerusalem: and the cutting down of the forest of Negeb, and Teman, and Darom foretells this very thing: so in the present passage the same Jerusalem is compared to a fruitful vine and vineyard. Of which it is written elsewhere: I planted you a fruitful vine, wholly true: how have you turned to the bitterness of an alien vine?

And in Isaiah: I planted, he says, the vineyard sorec, which means “chosen and beautiful.” And in the Psalms we read: You brought a vine out of Egypt; you cast out the nations, and planted it: you were the guide of its way before it. And we learn more plainly, since Scripture says: For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel. This vine, as long as it bears fruit, is more precious than all the trees of the forests; but if it ceases to have grapes, it will be useful for nothing, except to be given, root and branches, to the fire.

The other trees of the forests (to say nothing of the fruit-bearing trees, of which at this point Scripture makes no mention), even though they do not bear fruit, when cut down provide much usefulness, and serve for every kind of agriculture and for the use of arms: while they are thinned into shields, shaved into spear-shafts, made into doors, kept in cupboards, chests, and caskets, and furnish all the furniture of a house. But the vine, once it has ceased to bear grapes, is so useless that not even a peg can be made from it, on which anything might hang. And when you have cut the young shoots, fire first seizes both their ends, then the flame consumes them; and it profits nothing when it has been reduced to ashes, so that even when whole, without fruit it offers no usefulness.

Now there is an ambiguity in the Hebrew word SENE (שנה), which is written with three letters, SIN and NUN and JOD: if read SENE, it means “two”; if SANE, “years.” Whence it came about that, for “its two extremities,” which we translated as “both its ends,” the Seventy translated “its yearly purging”; while Aquila said “its two last parts”; Symmachus and Theodotion, “its two extremities.” And the sense is: Just as a fruitless vine is given over to fire, to no use, so also Jerusalem, or rather its inhabitants, will be delivered to the flames, so that they go out from the fire, and the fire consumes them—that is, even if they have escaped from the city, they will be consumed abroad by the enemy’s sword; and those who remain, crushed by the very weight of their miseries, will recognize that I am the Lord: when I have set, or hardened, my face against them, and have made them an everlasting solitude. For sinners are not like the other nations, but they became transgressors.

For it is one thing to neglect what you do not know, another to despise what you have cultivated. We can understand the vineyard and Jerusalem, according to spiritual understanding, as the multitude of believers. If this multitude has been negligent, and has lost the cultivation of its former religion, and has brought forth neither the fruits of the virtues nor made the wine which gladdens the heart of man, it will be handed over to eternal burnings, and will be reckoned as nothing. For the servant who knows the will of his lord, and does not do it, shall be beaten with many stripes. Something of this sort the Lord also says in the Gospel according to John: I am the true vine; and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch that abides in me, and bears no fruit, the Father will take away. And every branch that bears fruit, he will purge, that it may bring forth more fruit.

But if the Savior is the vine, and we are the branches, and God the Father is the husbandman, then as long as we keep the commandments of God, we are always being cultivated, and our cultivation is a purging: for it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. But if we, bringing forth fruit, are purged by the Father so that we may bring forth more abundant fruits, it is shown that all our effort, with the help of God, arrives at its end and brings forth the fruit of fullness. But the branch that does not bear fruit will be taken away by the Father. And when it has been taken away, Scripture does not say what the Father does with it—unless perhaps separation from the body of Christ is itself perpetual punishment and destruction.

What we have understood in the vineyard and vine, the Savior teaches under another figure in the Gospel: Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its savor, it is good for nothing, except to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men. And the eye that lights the whole body, if it has been blinded, hears from the Lord: If the light that is in thee be darkness, how great shall that darkness be? For in comparison with the transgressor, and with him who, having once confessed, has denied God, lighter is the punishment of those who have never had knowledge of God. But the woods, that is, the trees of the forests, according to the variety of believers, have some use in the great house, in which there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some unto honor, some unto dishonor.

(Verses 1, 2.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her abominations, and thou shalt say: Thus saith the Lord God to Jerusalem. LXX: And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, testify to Jerusalem her iniquities, and thou shalt say to her: Thus saith Adonai the Lord. In cases where the compass of each single prophecy was brief, we set down whole chapters, subjoining at once what seemed right to us. But here, because a long discourse is directed to Jerusalem, testifying to her and teaching her the sins she has committed; and the prophecy extends to almost two hundred verses, namely up to the place where it is written: When I shall be appeased toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God—we are obliged to set forth the whole prophecy in parts, and to fit the due explanations to what we have set forth.

Under the figure of a harlot woman who was first joined in the fellowship of a husband, the birth, upbringing, puberty, marriage, adultery, repudiation, and again the recalling of Jerusalem are woven together; so that both the clemency and the judgment of the husband, and the crimes of the adulteress and harlot, may be known, while after all the punishments he raises up for her an everlasting covenant: that she may remember her iniquity, and be confounded, and no longer open her mouth for her confusion, when he shall have been appeased toward her for all that she had done. For it is of great profit to sinners to know what they have done. Whence also the penitent says: For I know my iniquity, and my sin is ever before me.

Now Jerusalem can be understood in four ways: either this Jerusalem which was burned by the fire of Babylon and of Rome; or the heavenly Jerusalem of the firstborn; or the Church, which is interpreted as the vision of peace; or the souls of individuals who by faith behold God. But that interpretation which many think should be applied to the heavenly Jerusalem, the Church does not receive, lest we be compelled to take all that is woven together in the present prophecy as referring to the fall and torments of the heavenly powers, and their restoration to their former state. (Verse 3.) Thy root and thy generation are of the land of Chanaan. Thy father is an Amorrhite, and thy mother a Cethite. Great is the faith and great the boldness of the prophets, that a single man should charge a whole city with baseness. Wonderful is Daniel, who, a mere boy, dared to say to the sinning elder, who joined homicide to adultery: Thou seed of Chanaan, and not of Juda, beauty hath deceived thee.

Great too is Isaias, who cries out to the princes and to the people of the Jews: Hear the word of the Lord, ye princes of Sodom; give ear to the words of the Lord, ye people of Gomorrha. But not less is Ezechiel, who speaks confidently to the whole city: Thy root and thy generation are of the land of Chanaan; thy father is an Amorrhite, and thy mother a Cethite. Although Stephen too, the first martyr of the Gospel, spoke to the raging people: Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart, ye have always resisted the Holy Spirit.

And although we could take the root of Jerusalem, and her generation, as the land of Chanaan, according to that account by which the people was called out of Egypt, and dwelt there a long time (for Cham, the father of Chanaan, was the prince of the Egyptian nation), yet, according to the likeness of their sins, we shall say that the root of Jerusalem is the land of Egypt: whence also her father is called an Amorrhite, which is interpreted λαλούμενος, that is, one much talked about in speech. And thy mother a Cethite, that is, ἐξιστᾶσα: one who either herself is mad, or drives others into madness. For everyone who commits sin is born of the devil. Whence too, throughout the whole world, this ancient father has a notorious name, and turns many into madness.

And Jerusalem is bidden, whether according to the letter or according to the spirit, to leave her ancient father, and it is said to her: Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thine ear; and forget thy people and thy father's house: and the king shall desire thy beauty. And it is promised to her, if after sinning she should wish to return to her true father: I will restore thee as thou wast when thou wast born. Whose nobility was so great, that of the city of Jerusalem, which, descending from the stock of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had God for its father? And yet, because she sinned, and abandoned her true parent, she deserves to hear: Thy root and thy generation are of the land of Chanaan: thy father is an Amorrhite, and thy mother a Cethite.

If she heard this, what shall become of us, who, called out of the filth of the Gentiles, lost every stain in the laver of the Savior, if we should defile the garment of Christ, and not have at the feast the wedding garment? Surely this: that, bound hand and foot, we be delivered to the eternal burnings, wherein is weeping of the eyes and gnashing of teeth. (Verses 4, 5.) And when thou wast born, in the day of thy nativity thy navel was not cut, nor wast thou washed with water for thy health, nor salted with salt, nor swaddled with clouts. None eye had pity on thee, to do any of these things for thee, out of compassion for thee: but thou wast cast out upon the face of the earth, in the abjection of thy soul, in the day that thou wast born.

The Seventy: And in the day when thou wast born, thy nation bound not thy breasts, and thy navel was not cut, and thou wast not washed with water for thy health, nor salted with salt, and thou wast not wrapped in swaddling clothes: neither did thine eye pity thee, to do for thee one of all these things, nor to suffer aught for thee, and thou wast cast out upon the face of the field, because of the wickedness of thy soul, in the day that thou wast born. Let us discuss each point according to the order of the reading. When Jerusalem was born of an Amorite father and a Hittite mother, and poured out from the womb, her navel was not cut, by which offspring are nourished in the womb after the manner of trees and shrubs, which are fed by hidden moisture of the earth through their roots.

And just as the seed of men is signified in the loins: so, by an honorable manner of speech, according to the custom of the Scriptures, the genitals of women are called the navel, as witnessed by Job, who speaks under the figure of a dragon concerning the devil: His strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. For this dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, and who deceived the whole world, has his strength against men in the loins, against women in the navel. But this signifies concerning Jerusalem: that she did not immediately receive the law, nor were the beginnings of her shameful birth cut off; but she first lived a Gentile life. For which the Seventy have translated: In the day thou wast born, they did not bind thy breasts, the Holy Scripture having this custom, that instead of "heart," it names the little breast or breast, and calls it "breasts": as it seems fitting to each place.

The priests, in whom there ought to be doctrine, and from whose mouth the law is sought, receive the breast. John reclines upon the breast of the Lord, that he might draw from the most abundant fountain the streams of wisdom. In the Song of Songs, the virgin has two breasts, like two twin fawns of a roe, which feed among the lilies, until the day breathe, and the shadows be removed (Song of Songs 4). A careful mother, as soon as the little infant is born, binds her breasts, that they may cease from tender swelling, and preserve virginal beauty. But when she comes to the age of puberty, it will be said of her: Shall a bride forget her adornment, or a virgin the fillet of her breast? There follows: And thou wast not washed with water for thy health. The bloody bodies of infants, as soon as they are brought forth from the womb, are usually washed: so also spiritual generation needs a saving washing.

For none is clean from filth, no, not if his life be but of one day. And in the Psalms we read: In iniquities was I conceived, and in sins did my mother conceive me. The second birth dissolves the first birth. For it is written: Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. And there are many washings which the pagans in their mysteries, and heretics, promise: all of whom wash; but they do not wash unto salvation. Therefore it is added: and thou wast not washed with water for thy health. This indeed can be understood not only of heretics, but of churchmen, who do not receive the saving baptism with full faith. Of whom it must be said, that they have received water, but have not received the spirit: just as that Simon Magus also, who wished to redeem the grace of God with money, was indeed baptized in water, but was by no means baptized unto salvation. Thirdly it is said: nor salted with salt.

The tender bodies of infants, while they still retain the warmth of the womb, and by their first wailing bear witness to the beginnings of a laborious life, are usually touched with salt by midwives, that they may be drier and be constricted. Now Jerusalem, who was born of evil parents, obtained no savor, no diligence. But to those who are reborn in Christ it is said: You are the salt of the earth; and it is commanded them by the Apostle: Let your speech be always seasoned with salt in grace. Whence also, commonly, the wise are called "salted," and fools "unsalted." And in Leviticus the law is decreed: Every sacrifice of yours shall be salted with salt. The salt of the covenant of the Lord shall not cease from your sacrifices: in all your offerings you shall offer salt. He who shall be seasoned with this salt, and shall have dried up by its admixture all stench and noxious moisture, will no longer say: My scars have rotted and are corrupted before the face of my folly.

I recall having read in a certain volume concerning the Lord the Savior, that He Himself is the heavenly salt; and that He has seasoned with His savor not only things earthly and infernal, but heavenly things also: so that what is written may be fulfilled: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will. The fourth is: nor wrapped in swaddling clothes. The Savior too was wrapped in the swaddling clothes of infancy, and everyone who is born needs, through the wrappings of swaddling clothes, the protection of God. It is natural, where nevertheless the diligence of parents is not lacking, that in newborn infants the navel be first cut; then that they be washed with water to cleanse away the blood. Thirdly, that the moisture of the little bodies be dried by the application of salt.

Fourthly, that the tender bodies of infants be wrapped in swaddling clothes, for a twofold reason: both that the body, once dried by the salt, may be kept and held together by the clothes so that it does not fall apart; and that the most tender limbs may not easily be distorted. Whence also the bodies of Barbarians are straighter than the bodies of Romans. For up to the second and third year, they are always wrapped in swaddling clothes. But not such was Jerusalem, whose navel was not cut, nor were her breasts bound, nor was she washed with water for her health, nor salted with salt, nor wrapped and bound with the swaddling clothes of infancy. But why she deserved none of these things, the following Scripture testifies. No eye had pity on thee, to do for thee one of these things, out of compassion for thee. In place of which the Seventy have put: Thine eye had no pity on thee, to do for thee one of all these.

And it is necessary that a double edition have a double understanding. The first signifies this: No eye had pity on thee, to do for thee one of these things, out of compassion for thee. And the sense is: No one had pity on thee, God being offended; no one's bowels were moved over thee, so as to do for thee at least one of the four aforementioned things; because you did not deserve to receive all of them at once. In the other it is said: Thine eye had no pity on thee, that I might do for thee one of these things, out of compassion for thee. And this has the sense: You so acted, and were thus born in sins, and your mother conceived you in transgressions, that you yourself did not even have pity on yourself. And since you acted in such a way that through evil deeds you became cruel against yourself: what could I do for you, who did not deserve to receive even one of the aforementioned things?

Since therefore none of those things which are usually done for infants was done for you; and this not without cause nor without judgment, but by your own fault and sin, since you yourself did not even have pity on yourself: therefore you were cast out upon the face of the earth, or of the field; and cast out because of the wickedness of your soul, in the day that you were born. Let us pray that we not be cast out, by the wickedness of the soul, upon the face of the field, in which is the broad and spacious way that leads to death; in which the cavalry of the Chaldeans rages furiously. And at the same time it must be considered, that no one on the day he is born can commit anything wicked, except at the time of the washing, when a wise generation is assumed by the faith of the believer. (Verses 6, 7.) And passing by thee, I saw thee trodden down in thy blood.

And I said to thee when thou wast in thy blood, live: I said, I tell thee, to thee, in thy blood, live. I made thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and ... [this] is fuller from the Vulgate of Jerome's edition and the Hebrew, indeed also from the Seventy, in whose Latin codex it is read: and thou wast multiplied, and wast magnified. You entered, and arrived at womanly maturity. Thy breasts were formed, and thy hair grew: and thou wast naked, and full of confusion. The Seventy: And I passed by thee, and saw thee mingled in thy blood, and I said to thee, out of thy blood, live and multiply, as I gave thee the growth of the field, and thou wast multiplied, and wast magnified, and thou didst enter into the cities of cities. Thy breasts were raised, and thy hair grew: but thou wast naked, full of shame.

After you were cast out upon the face of the field, or upon the face of the earth, on account of the wickedness of your soul, you no longer deserved my help; nevertheless, passing by thee, I saw thee trodden down, or mingled, in thy blood, that is, guilty of mortal crimes: and I called upon thee, granting repentance, and said to thee: Though thou art in blood, yet live, having been converted; and there was in thee such an abundance of all things, that thou hadst the likeness of a most fruitful field, and the blessing of Jacob, with which his father blessed him, saying: Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a plentiful field, which the Lord has blessed; and thou wouldst enter the inner chambers of the Lord, and say with the bride: The king brought me into his chamber (Song of Songs 1:3); and thou wouldst arrive at womanly maturity, for which the Seventy translated: and thou didst enter into the cities of cities; so that just as it is said "the Song of Songs," and "the age of ages," so also cities are called "cities of cities." Of which it is said in the Gospel: Have power over ten, or over five cities: so that you may be called not merely a city, but a metropolis city, according to that which is read in Isaiah: The faithful mother of cities, Zion.

Furthermore, as to what Symmachus translated, "and thou didst arrive at the adornment of women," or as Theodotion, "and thou didst enter unto the adornment of ornaments," in place of which we, following the Hebrew sense, said: "and thou didst arrive at womanly maturity," this shows the time of puberty, when maidens are called marriageable, and can be joined in the embraces of husbands. Then follows: Thy breasts were formed, and thy hair grew. This decently indicates the maturity of young women, when their breasts swell or are raised, and hair grows. And when she was ready for marriage, and had bodily beauty, she had no covering of garments, nor was she protected by God's help. If anyone does not have the garment of Christ, he is naked. If anyone is not clothed with the inward parts of mercy, goodness, humility, chastity, meekness, patience, he lies upon the face of the earth: and his beauty is disfigured by confusion and nakedness.

Verse 8. And I passed by thee, and saw thee: and behold, thy time, the time of lovers. And I spread my mantle over thee, and covered thy shame. The Septuagint: And I passed by thee, and saw thee, and behold thy time, the time of those turning aside: and I spread my wings over thee, and covered thy shame. What great clemency! It had not sufficed to have once seen her trodden down in blood, and to have called her to repentance: but he visits again her who was sinning, and because she was naked and full of confusion, again he comes and visits, and behold her time, the time of lovers; or according to the Septuagint, of those turning aside; and whether according to the second interpretation of Aquila, συναλλαγῆς, that is, of espousals, and of the time of nuptials; or according to the first edition of the same and of Theodotion, μαστῶν, which is interpreted "of the breasts": for which Symmachus rendered ἀγαπῆς, which signifies love.

That, then, was the time when women can be joined to husbands, and can endure the marital union. Nevertheless the merciful God spread out his wings, and took them up, and carried them on his shoulders, according to that which is written in the Gospel: How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and thou wouldest not? Or he spread out his mantle in place of wings: for this is what πτερύγιον means, with which also Ruth was covered as she slept at the feet of Boaz. And on the hem, that is, the πτερύγιον, of our garment, we are commanded to fasten hyacinth-colored fringes. And he did this to cover the shame of Jerusalem: signifying under this name the genital part of the body of women. For according to the Apostle: Those parts of our body which are less honorable we surround with more abundant honor. Whence also the Psalmist sings: Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.

Because Ham did not cover this in his father, he is marked with an eternal curse. What we have said of Jerusalem, let us apply to our own soul, which, so long as it is established in infancy, is without sin. But when the time of its maturity comes, there are many lovers among the demons and heretics, and of perverse dogmas, who desire to turn it aside. These are driven off by the protection of God; so that it may receive not the satellites of the devil, but the ministers of the Savior. In place of "those turning aside," "of love," and "of the breasts," in the Hebrew there stands DODIM (דודים), which, according to the property of their language, signifies all the things translated above. The time of love, and of the breasts or of the lovers of God, can be understood as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: when the Lord promised them, after the Egyptian servitude, that his people would be freed.

And I swore to thee; and I entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God. The Septuagint: And I swore to thee, and entered into a testament with thee, saith Adonai the Lord. Because I spread my mantle, or my wings, over thee, and covered thy confusion: therefore I swore to thee, and entered into a covenant, or testament, with thee: that thou mightest be joined to me rather than to the others who wished to turn aside to thee, according to that: The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. For an oath is the end of all controversy. And, As I live, saith the Lord: I prefer rather the repentance of the sinner than his death. At the time, then, of the nuptials, Israel receives the oath of God, in place of every dowry-gift.

And because David had said of himself: Remember, O Lord, David, and all his meekness: he who swore to the Lord, vowed a vow to the God of Jacob; and the Lord himself swears to him, Scripture saying: The Lord hath sworn truth to David, and he will not disappoint him.

Verse 9. And thou becamest mine, and I washed thee with water, and cleansed thy blood from thee, and anointed thee with oil. Because I spread my wings, and covered thy shame, and swore to thee, and entered into a covenant with thee; therefore thou didst become my possession: so that thou, who wert another's when thou wast seen unclean, didst begin to be mine, when I confirmed my covenant with thee by oath. Or, according to the custom of the prophets: thou hast become mine, he says, in place of that which is, thou hast been joined to my marriage: and I washed thee, he says, with the water of saving baptism. For unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. And elsewhere we read: He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire.

Of this baptism Isaiah also speaks, saying: The Lord shall wash away the filth of the sons and daughters of Sion; and shall cleanse the blood from the midst of them, by the spirit of judgment, and the spirit of burning. But when he had washed, and cleansed the blood: just as by the touch of the fringe he healed the woman who had an issue of blood for twelve years: it is not enough for him to wash with water, and cleanse with blood, unless he also anoint with oil: according to that the Samaritan, whose name is interpreted "keeper," first soothed the wounds of the half-dead man with the pouring in of oil, then restrained them with the harshness of wine. But our Lord was anointed with another oil, which did not mitigate the pain of wounds, but bestowed gladness, the Holy Spirit saying to him: Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

The opposing powers also have the smoothness of a counterfeit oil, promising sweet things through heretics; which are turned into bitterness, and which the prophet detests, recalling: But let not the oil of the sinner fatten my head. But if he who is anointed from the anointing, that is, Christ, is so named, see how greatly Jerusalem has profited: that she too, anointed with spiritual oil, has received the name of Christ; according to what we also read in the Psalms concerning Abraham: Touch not my anointed ones, and do no evil to my prophets.

Verse 10. And I clothed thee with many colors. The Septuagint: And I clothed thee with varied garments: by the ceremonies of the Law, occupied with the zeal for which thou wouldst forsake idols. These are the varied garments with which Joseph was clothed: nor could his brothers sell him, unless they first stripped him of the varicolored tunic. And of the bride it is said in the forty-fourth psalm: The queen stood at thy right hand in gilded clothing, surrounded with variety. This is the garment of which the Apostle also speaks: Put on the new man, which is renewed unto knowledge according to the image of him that created him. Do we wish to know what these varied garments are? Let the same Apostle teach us, writing to believers: Put on therefore, as the elect of God, bowels of mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience. What is more beautiful than this variety? Of which Job also spoke: Who hath given to women the wisdom of weaving, or the skill of embroidery?

And the high priest, once a year, when he burned incense for the people, entering into the Holy of Holies, used to wear varied garments. Surely if riches, and not holiness and the diversity of virtues, made variety of garments, Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar would be recorded as having had these garments, and not Joseph, who, under a wandering and shepherd father, could not have had varicolored and royal robes.

And I shod thee with violet-colored shoes. The Septuagint: And I shod thee with hyacinth. Aquila and Symmachus rendered "violet-colored"; the Septuagint and Theodotion translated "hyacinth-colored." For which in the Hebrew is written THAS (תחש). And because the discourse is beautifully directed to Jerusalem, and under the figure of a woman, all her adornment is expressed, hyacinth-colored, or violet-colored, shoes are recounted, which do not befit the person of men. Finally, those preparing the Passover are commanded, without any variety of color, to have their loins girded, and their feet shod. These are the shoes of which the Apostle also writes: your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Philo, that most eloquent man of the Jews, compares the hyacinth in the vestments of the high priest to the air, by which he thinks that heavenly and celestial things are signified. Nor is Jerusalem shod with hyacinth-colored shoes before she is washed with water.

Whence also the feet of the Apostles, to whom the Lord had first commanded that they should shake off the dust of their feet, are washed by the Savior. And the bride says in the Song of Songs: I have washed my feet; how shall I soil them? And the divine word bears witness concerning Moses and Joshua, that they should loose the latchet of their shoe, because the place on which they stand is holy. But when the feet have been washed, and cleansed of all filth, they are shod with hyacinth-colored, or violet-colored, shoes; both of which are of an airy and κυανέου (dark-blue) color: so that they may be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and may hasten to the heavenly kingdoms.

And I girded thee with fine linen. Jerusalem is not only clothed with varied colors, and shod with hyacinth, but is also girded with fine linen, from which the finest threads are woven for the garment of the high priest. And the wife in Proverbs, who wove two cloaks for her husband, of this present age and of the age to come, is said to have made for herself garments of fine linen and purple. With this fine linen the loins are girded, whenever the fatty incentives of lust must be made thin, and no gross humor is left in them: and we fulfill the precept of the Apostle, saying: Stand therefore, having your loins girt about in truth; as if he were saying, in other words, "with fine linen." And the Lord speaks to the Apostles: Let your loins be girded, and lamps burning in your hands. For unless we bind up the flowing discharges of the loins, we cannot have lamps in our hands. Whence also God speaks to Job: Gird up thy loins like a man.

And those who are about to eat the lamb, their feet shod, holding a staff, standing in the truth of the Gospel, and prepared for the blood of Christ, are said to have their loins girded. With this mortifying belt on the loins, Elijah too and John the Baptist are girded. Of which also the penitent groans tearfully, saying: For my loins are filled with illusions.

And I clothed thee with fine garments. The Septuagint: And I surrounded thee with trichaptos. For which Aquila has "flowered," or "palpable": Symmachus, "garment": Theodotion put the Hebrew word itself, MESHI (משׁי). And when I diligently inquired what the word trichaptos, which the Septuagint translated, meant to say; and I could find neither the usage nor the etymology of the word from any of the Greeks: at last I learned that it was coined by the Seventy (for new names must be devised for new things) because the garment was of such fineness that it was believed to have the fineness of hairs and locks. Whence I too, wishing to express the fineness of the garment, translated, instead of "trichaptos," "fine garments," because it was woven with fine warp and woof. And fittingly to those of whom, rebuking, he had said: The heart of this people is grown fat, and Jacob did eat, and drink, and was filled, and grew fat, and the beloved kicked, and forsook God his maker, now the fineness of garments is granted.

For in the book of Wisdom also, which is inscribed by some as of Solomon, the only-begotten and manifold spirit of wisdom is called subtle and mobile. And the manna, of which it is written, Man did eat the bread of angels, is described as most fine, in the likeness of hoarfrost, and of coriander seed. We may, according to the interpretation of the second edition of Aquila, who translated "flowered," understand the garment, by metaphor, as the fertility of the land of Judea, or the beauty of divine worship.

Verse 11. And I adorned thee with ornament. He now sets down ornaments in general, of which he enumerates by parts in what follows, bracelets and a necklace, earrings and a crown, and the rest, which he attributes as ornaments to Jerusalem, and it is said in Isaiah that by her own fault she lost them all. For it is written: Because the daughters of Jerusalem are haughty, that is, because they were proud, and walked with stretched out necks, and so forth: instead of a girdle, they are girded with cords, and instead of the adornment of the head, they are disfigured with baldness, and instead of beautiful and soft garments, they are surrounded with the roughness of sackcloth.

And I put bracelets on thy hands. The Septuagint: And I surrounded thy hands with bracelets. When God gives us good works, he puts bracelets around our hands. Whence also he says that he has been likened in the hands of the prophets (Hosea 12), and we often read that the word of the Lord was made in the hand of Haggai or Jeremiah and the rest. In Job too, the lip of the dragon is pierced with a ring, and all his venomous hissings, which are understood as perverse doctrines, are pierced through by the ring of good works.

And a necklace about thy neck. In place of "necklace," which we, following the second edition of Aquila and Symmachus, have translated, the Septuagint and Theodotion rendered κάθεμα, which is written not only here, but also in Isaiah: The Lord shall take away the glory of their apparel, and the little moons, and the chains, and the bracelets, and the κάθεμα. But I think κάθεμα was so called by them from the necklace hanging down onto the breast of women, made of various gems, which itself also is a most beautiful adornment of women.

Verse 12. And I put a jewel upon thy nose, or, thy nostrils. The Hebrew word NEZEM (נזם), except for Symmachus, who translated it ἐπιῤῥίνιον, all the others rendered "earring": not that earrings are placed in the nostrils (they are called earrings from the fact that they hang from the ears), but because circlets made in the likeness of earrings are called by the same name, and even to this day, among the other ornaments of women, golden circlets are wont to hang over the mouth from the forehead, and to overhang the nostrils. These we understand according to mystical sense, when with the Apostle we can say: We are the good odour of Christ in them that are saved, and in them that perish: to some indeed the odour of death unto death; but to others the odour of life unto life.

When we live, and it can be said of us, Not the dead shall praise thee, O Lord, but we the living, then does God smell the odour of our sacrifice of good fragrance, and we have the golden circlet of divine senses and doctrines upon our nostrils. But when we are dead, and wallow in mire and in the filth of shameful deeds, we have that earring in our nostrils of which Solomon wrote: As a golden ring in a swine's snout, so is beauty in a woman without discretion.

And rings in thine ears. LXX: And little wheels upon thine ears. He who closes his ears, that he may not hear a judgment of blood, and hedges them about with thorns, that he may not become a partaker with the envious and the detractors, of whom it is written: Have no fellowship with detractors, for their destruction shall come suddenly, and who knows the ruin of them both? That is, of him who detracts, as well as of him who gladly listens: this man has circlets, and little wheels in his ears—not the wheels which follow the Cherubim (for that belongs to the angelic powers), but little wheels, in the diminutive, which are suited to human frailty. Wherefore also it is said to God: The voice of thy thunder was in the wheel. For in those who pass through earthly things, and scarcely touch the earth with small footprints, of whom it is written: The holy stones roll upon the earth, the voice of the Lord's thunder, and of lofty doctrines, resounds.

But those who are led by human errors, and have no firm footing, but are carried about by every wind of doctrine, and being cast out of the paradise of firmness, dwell in the land of Nod, which is interpreted "wavering," deserve to bear the sentence of a lying tongue, which sets on fire the wheel of our nativity.

And a crown of beauty upon thine head. LXX: And a crown of glorying upon thy head. We have translated "beauty" following Symmachus, for the elegance of the sense. Otherwise both in the Hebrew THOPHERTH (תפארת), and in the remaining translators, it is called καύχησις, "glorying." The other ornaments belong to the several members. The adornment of the head is the dignity of the whole body. Now he calls the crown the diadem of women, by which the ambition of the hair is bound and adorned. If we wish to know what is the crown of beauty upon the head of Jerusalem, let us turn back to Exodus, where it is written: And he made a plate of gold, and wrote upon it letters engraved with the seal of the Lord's sanctification, and set it upon the head of Aaron. The sign of the Lord's sanctification is the name of the omnipotent God, which is written with four Hebrew letters (יהוה), and is called among them ineffable, since His name cannot be uttered.

Whose majesty even the Gentile world does not fail to know, and the altar of the Athenians bears witness, "To the Unknown God." Whence also the Apostle says: Whom you ignorantly worship, him I declare unto you. This, I think, is the crown of which the Psalmist also says: The light of thy countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us. And the Apostle spoke: I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; as to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the just judge will render to me. And in another place, to believers: My joy and my crown. For the glory of fathers is their sons.

And in Solomon it is written: The crown of glory is old age; that is, of those who have put away the things of children, and after the age of perfect manhood, have come to old age, and to the names of fathers, to whom John writes after speaking of children, and of youths who can say: When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away the things of a child.

Verse 13. And thou wast adorned with gold and silver. We have often said that gold pertains to the mind, silver to speech. May the Lord grant us that we may deserve to receive divine sense and wisdom, and to bring forth what we conceive in the mind with the beauty of speech, and by no means make of these things an idol, as the heretics do, of whom it is written: I gave them silver and gold; but they made of silver and gold a Baal (Osee ii, 8). And this, according to spiritual understanding, is the more fitting adornment of women. Otherwise the baser material of silver is the adornment of rustics and of the poor and of maidservants, which does not befit Jerusalem, who is said to have advanced to the rank of queen.

And thou wast clothed with fine linen, and embroidered work, and many colours. LXX: And thy garments were of fine linen, and of hair-work, and of divers colours. The Hebrew word MESI (משי)—here too Theodotion put it as above, Aquila ἀνθιμον, Symmachus "embroidered work." We, however, have said "embroidered work" here following Symmachus, whereas above we said "fine texture"; the LXX rendered it τρίχαπτα, keeping their former interpretation, so as to show garments as thin as in the likeness of hair.

The whole adornment of women is described: how she is washed, how she is made clean, how she is anointed with oil, and clothed with many colours, shod with hyacinth-blue, girded with fine linen, clothed with hair-woven or delicate garments, receives bracelets, and a golden necklace, rings hanging at her mouth, and little wheels in her ears, a diadem on her head, and is adorned with gold and silver—though the material of silver is baser, and is mentioned last: Thou wast clothed with fine linen, and embroidered work, and many colours; or, as the Seventy translated, with a mantle and cloaks, for this is what περιβόλαια signifies—so that she was adorned not only in the ornament of her body, and had all the jewels of women, but also that the marital diligence for her bed and couch was solicitous, so that after completing these things, she might come to the delights of food, and not even in these be allowed to lack anything.

All of which, according to the previous explanation, we shall adapt to spiritual understanding: that she be covered with fine linen and delicate garments, lest the delicate members of the spouse be weighed down by the heavy burden of cloaks, but that they may present both usefulness and beauty alike.

Thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil, and thou wast made exceeding beautiful, and thou didst advance to a kingdom. After the clothing, care is taken of food, that Jerusalem should eat fine flour and honey and oil—either separately, as most think, or by a mixture of the three, a sweeter bread, which is the bread that came down from heaven; and under three names, as some suppose, it indicates the mystery of the Trinity: not that there is one substance and another, but that under diverse names—of fine flour, honey, and oil—one sweetness of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit is shown. And this is to be noted, that in many sacrifices fine flour is offered, the marrow of wheat and most pure, of which it is written: And he satisfied them with the fat of wheat: not of barley, nor of common meal, which is offered only when the husband is moved by a spirit of jealousy.

In the book of Judges we read of Deborah (Judges iv), which is interpreted "bee," whose prophecy is sweetest honey, and is referred to the Holy Spirit, who among the Hebrews is called by the feminine gender RUA (רוח). In the Gospel according to the Hebrews too, which the Nazarenes read, the Saviour is introduced as saying: Just now my mother, the Holy Spirit, took me. Further, the fine flour, which is made from wheat, is referred to the Lord, who says of himself: Unless a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it remains alone. But if it die, it brings forth much fruit. The oil, however, which sustains and refreshes the limbs of the weary, and is nourishment for light, and by which the lamp burns continually in the tabernacle of God, is said to belong to the Father.

All of which bestow one grace upon believers, the Apostle saying: There are diversities of graces, but the same Spirit; and there are diversities of ministries, but the same Lord; and there are diversities of operations, but the same and selfsame God. He who shall eat such food, and shall be fed and nourished by this sweetest and most delightful bread, with the splendor of oil shining forth, shall be turned into beauty, and shall become most beautiful—not once, but repeatedly, exceedingly, exceedingly. For the doubled adverb gives weight to the expression, so that nothing further can be added to the greatness of the beauty.

And thou didst advance to a kingdom. This is not found in the Seventy, who perhaps, translating the Scriptures into Greek at Alexandria from the Hebrew truth, feared to publish this, lest they should seem to offend the king of Egypt, while mentioning that the kingdom owed by God was Jerusalem's—although the most learned agree that the books of Moses were translated by them. After the manifold adornment, then, after the crown, after the abundance of gold and silver, after the garments and most beautiful cloaks, after incredible beauty, she advanced to a kingdom, because she is the city of the great King; of whom it is written: Give to the king, O God, thy judgment, and to the king's son thy justice. And in the Apocalypse of John, Jerusalem is described as a bride adorned and arrayed for her husband. In the Psalms also it is said of the same: The queen stood at thy right hand in gilded clothing, surrounded with variety.

Now everything that we say of Jerusalem, lest we cling to individual points, and the size of the books cause weariness to the readers, let us refer to the Church. For if Jerusalem, according to the Apostle, is our mother; and our mother is the Church; consequently Jerusalem is the Church, the mother of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven.

Verse 14. And thy name went forth among the nations for thy beauty, because thou wast perfect through my comeliness which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God. LXX: And thy name went forth among the nations in thy beauty: because it was made perfect in the beauty which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God. This passage Symmachus interpreted more clearly: And thy name went forth among the nations, because it was perfect on account of my dignity, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God. And the sense is: By my benefits and my incredible bounty thou didst attain to the title of queen, so that the speech of all nations spoke of thee, and thou wast made perfect not by thy own merits and virtues, but by my liberality. For unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Unless the Lord keep the city, he watches in vain that keeps it.

For neither he that plants nor he that waters is anything, but God that gives the increase; because it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy: so that after we have done all things, we should say: We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which we ought to do. Not that by God's beneficence free will is taken away from man, but that this very freedom ought to have the Lord as its helper.

Verse 15. And having confidence in thy beauty, thou didst play the harlot because of thy renown, and didst prostitute thy fornication to every one that passed by, to be his. It is a great danger—not in the mercy of God, but—to trust in one's own beauty. And the more exalted one is, the more he ought to fear lest he fall and play the harlot because of his renown. For the adversary powers indeed despise their accustomed food, and desire foreign nourishment. Whence it is said of the devil: His meat is choice. He does not wish to deceive just anyone. He hastens to trip up Saul, the king chosen by the Lord, and Judas the apostle. Let us not, therefore, trust in our own beauty, nor consider God's liberality to be our own virtue; but rather let us listen: Boast not for tomorrow, for thou knowest not what the day to come may bring forth.

And in another place: Brethren, if a man be overtaken in any fault, you who are spiritual, correct such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Nor let us expose, or pour out, our fornication to every one that passes by, so that we become not God's, in whom we believe, but his by whom we are defiled. He who receives all vices, and takes into his bosom the spirit of divers sins passing by, and spreads apart his feet to every one that passes, that man pours out his fornication, and begins to sustain the dominion of him whose guest he has become. (Verse 16.) And taking of thy garments, thou didst make thee high places sewed together here and there, and didst play the harlot upon them, as hath not been done, nor shall be. The LXX: And thou tookest of thy garments, and madest thee sewed idols, and didst play the harlot upon them, and thou shalt not enter, nor shall it be.

Symmachus interpreted this passage thus: And when thou hadst taken of thy garments, thou madest thee high places of many colors, and didst play the harlot in them, things neither made nor to be made. For "sewed" and "of many colors" and "high places," or "idols," Aquila and Theodotion translated ἐμβολίσματα, which signifies diverse patches sewn together here and there, and an idol made after the manner of a patchwork, as it were a πολύῤῥαφον (much-sewn) garment. I clothed thee, He says, with garments of many colors, and thou wast clad with fine linen, and embroidered work, and with a variety of many forms. But thou didst take the garments with which thou wast endowed by my bounty, and didst make thee idols, or high places, which in Hebrew are called BAMOTH (במות), which has never before been done, nor shall be done; so that what thou hadst received for adornment, thou didst turn into an injury to the giver.

This can be understood of Jerusalem according to the letter, that she attributed all the precepts of the Law, and riches, and the abundance of all things to idols, which no other nation did, nor will do. For all the nations which from the beginning served idols are not guilty of so great a crime. But our Jerusalem, which is interpreted "vision of peace," is torn asunder by heretics, when, plucking one or another testimony of the Scriptures from its proper place, they try to stitch them onto things to which they cannot be fitted. To these it was said above in this same prophet: Woe to those who sew pillows under every elbow of the hand, and make coverings over the head of every age; which the Lord, forbidding to be done, says in the Gospel: No man puts a patch of new cloth on an old garment. Otherwise it takes away from its fullness, and the tear will be worse: neither do they put new wine into old bottles.

Such are the Nazaraeans, who try to fit the observance of the old Law to evangelical grace. And all heretics, who strive to sew a testimony fitting in its own place to one sense, onto another sense: whereas the Lord's tunic, woven throughout from the top, cannot be torn at all, but being woven by the Holy Spirit receives no tearing. But what is said according to the LXX, "and thou shalt not enter, nor shall it be," signifies this: when thou shalt have made thee idols of perverse doctrines, which thou dost think to be high places, and shalt have played the harlot upon them, believing in these things which thou thyself hast feigned, thou shalt not be able to enter the temple of God.

And thy images shall have no substance, nor shall they be forever, the Apostle saying: For we know that an idol is nothing in the world. (Verse 17.) And thou tookest the vessels of thy beauty of my gold and my silver, which I gave thee; and thou madest thee male images, and didst commit fornication with them. According to the letter, the Lord commanded in the Law that there should be made censers, bowls, the candlestick, the ark of the Testament, and all things either of gold or gilded, and others of silver, all of which Jerusalem melted down and turned into idols of Bel, or Baal, of Chamos and Astarte, and Melchom. According to spiritual understanding, we also make idols of gold and silver of the sacred Scriptures, when by heretical depravity we corrupt the grace of meaning and eloquence, and set our mouth against heaven, and our tongue walks through the earth.

Now the images are called "male," in which every heresy commits fornication, because each one thinks that he worships the strongest things, and possesses what he has fashioned, and that it can be overthrown by no assault. These are the images which we have fashioned from our own heart, and which must be destroyed in the heavenly Jerusalem, of which the Prophet declares: Lord, in thy city thou shalt bring their image to nothing. For of whatever man there is who has lost the name of God, it is said of him: Surely man walks in an image, surely he is disquieted in vain. But we have one husband, and we venerate one image, which is the image of the invisible and almighty God. (Verse 18.) And thou tookest thy garments of many colors, and didst cover them: understood, the male images: so that all the adornment which she had received for use, she turned into blasphemy.

But we do this, as often as we surround heretical depravity with prudence, temperance, fortitude, justice, and all the virtues, under the occasion of which we deceive any simple souls; so that, seeing the honey of virtues, they do not beware of the poisons of vice. And my oil, and my incense thou didst set before them. And my bread (or as the LXX translated, my loaves) which I gave thee; fine flour, and oil, and honey, with which I nourished thee, thou didst set them before them for a sweet savor.

The oil of which we spoke above, and the incense, of which the Psalmist proclaims: Let my prayer be directed as incense in thy sight; and the loaves of proposition, which we are commanded to offer to God; and fine flour also, the purest sense of the Scriptures, and honey, which Jonathan tasted, and his eyes were opened, and he was strengthened—miserable Jerusalem set these before the idols, or before the male images, that they might be to them for a sweet savor, things which by their nature are sweet and most pleasant: but while they are offered to idols and to false doctrines, they are turned into bitterness.

Lest the number of the books be confused, and, over the long spaces of time, the order of the volumes divided among themselves be corrupted, I have placed a little preface before each book: so that from the head of the title the reader may at once recognize which book he is to read, and what part of the prophecy is to be explained to us. In the previous volume, therefore, that is, the fourth, I have discussed, as briefly as I was able, the part of the prophecy against Jerusalem, whose beginning is this: Thy root and thy generation is from the land of Canaan, down to that place where it is written: Fine flour and oil and honey, with which I nourished thee, thou didst set before them for a sweet savor. Now the remaining part of the same prophecy, together with what follows, is dedicated to the fifth volume, and to thy name, Eustochium.

In it you will find nothing of rhetorical art, nothing of composition and elegance of words: but the care of simple and diligent industry, so that this alone may be my praise, if through me you understand what the prophet said.

(Verses 20 and following.) And it came to pass, says the Lord God, that thou didst take thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hadst borne to me: and didst sacrifice them to them to be devoured. Is thy fornication a small matter, that thou sacrificest my sons? And thou gavest them, consecrating them to them. And after all thy abominations and fornications thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and full of confusion, trodden underfoot in thy blood.

The LXX: And it came to pass after these things, says Adonai the Lord, that thou didst take thy sons and thy daughters whom thou hadst borne, and didst sacrifice them to them for consumption, as if it were but a small thing that thou hadst played the harlot, and thou didst slay thy sons, and gavest them when thou didst offer them to them, that is, above all thy fornication and thy abominations, and thou hast not remembered the day of thy infancy, when thou wast naked and disgraced: mingled in thy blood, thou livedst. That she immolated to idols her sons and daughters, of whom it is written: I have begotten sons and exalted them: but they have despised me, sacred Scripture records: They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. And again: They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the graven images of Canaan. Now he calls them "his own," according to the Hebrew. For He himself had said of them: Israel is my firstborn son.

Or according to the Septuagint, "thine," whom thou hast begotten by fornication. Now in that place where we have set, "and thou gavest them, consecrating them to them," for which the Septuagint translated, "and thou gavest them to appease," or "to expiate," Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion put, "thou didst make them pass over and lead them through": because the heathen either make their children pass through fire, or compel little ones or grown ones to pass through. When thou hast done these things, He says, thou hast not remembered thy infancy, when I took thee stained with blood and washed thee, and after many things which the prophetic word narrated, I joined thee to myself. Our Jerusalem too, if she be overthrown by heretical fraud, takes her sons, who are stronger in faith, and her daughters, who do not have so great a strength of faith.

Or certainly, sons who know the mystical things: daughters who follow the plain history; and she hands them over to demons to be devoured, and when she kills them she believes she is giving life, and appeasing the idols, which are sated by their slaughter. And what is said according to the Septuagint, that is, "above all thy fornication and thy abominations," signifies this, that the teaching of demons is worse than all sins and fornications: nay rather, it slays those whom God had begotten with much labor, or whom she had made her own sons, whom she had begotten in fornication. (Verses 23 and following.) And it came to pass after all your wickedness: woe, woe to you, says the Lord God. And you built yourself a brothel, and made yourself a stew in all the streets. At the head of every way you built a sign of your prostitution, and made your beauty abominable, and spread your feet to every passer-by, and multiplied your fornications.

And you played the harlot with the sons of Egypt your neighbors, men of great flesh, and multiplied your fornication to provoke me to anger. Septuagint: And it came to pass after all your wickednesses: woe, woe to you, says Adonai the Lord. And you built for yourself a dwelling of fornication, and made for yourself a prostitution in every street. And at the beginning of every way you built your fornications, and corrupted your beauty, and spread wide your legs to every passer-by, and multiplied your fornication; and you played the harlot with the sons of Egypt your neighbors, who are of great flesh, and you played the harlot many times over, to provoke me to wrath. This which is said a second time, woe, woe to you, the Vulgate edition does not have, but it has been added from the edition of Theodotion.

And again, where we said: "And you built yourself a brothel," for which the Seventy translated: "And you built yourself a dwelling of fornication," Symmachus and Theodotion translated πορνεῖον; Aquila, wishing to express the etymology of the Hebrew word GOB (גב), put βάθυνον, which we may render "a pit," so as to signify a den and a dug-out and dark cave, in which the lust of prostitutes is practiced. And what follows: "And you made yourself a stew in all the streets," for which the Seventy translated ἔκθεμα, in the Hebrew has RAMA: and both Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotion translated it "high" or "lofty." Finally also in what follows, where it is written: "At every head of the way you built a sign of your prostitution," instead of "sign" and "fornication," again in the Hebrew it has RAMA (רמה), which we have interpreted either as "stew" or "sign," since among the Hebrews it is one word.

Now this is set down because it is lofty, so that to those wishing to fornicate the place of fornication might appear from afar, and there be no need to search for it. What we have said once and twice and again, let it suffice to have said once for all: that under the person of a woman fornicating after many benefits from her husband, the fornication of Jerusalem is described—how she withdrew from God, and joined herself to idols, and was not content with hidden fornication; but built herself a brothel, and in every street set up a sign for passers-by, that they might come to the harlot and satisfy their lust—not so much their own, as that of her who spread her legs to every passer-by, and disfigured the greatness of her beauty by the greatness of her fornication; and among other things was also prostrated to her Egyptian neighbors out of love for great flesh.

And so that she might display every kind of shamefulness, she was disfigured by a manifold kind of filthiness. No one doubts, moreover, that Palestine is neighbor to Egypt, the Lord saying to Abraham: "I will give you all the land from the river of Egypt as far as the great river Euphrates", so that on one side she has the Egyptians, and on the other the Assyrians, with whom also in what follows she is said to have played the harlot. Now the fornication of Jerusalem with the Egyptians is the imitation of their idolatry. But to our Jerusalem, whether the Church or the souls of believers, if they should be negligent and lie open to all vices, a twofold word of malediction is directed, that they may hear: "Woe, woe to you, says the Lord God," according to that which is written in the Apocalypse of John: "Woe to all the inhabitants of the earth".

For if the saint says: "I am a sojourner and a pilgrim, as all my fathers were", why is the sinner said to be an inhabitant of the earth? Now he builds himself a brothel who sins with all the boldness of his brow, according to that which is written: "The sinner, when he has come into the depth of iniquity, despises". And he builds a very high place in all the streets: for "broad and spacious is the way that leads to death." And he builds at every head of the way, so as to leave out no kinds of sins; but imitating the harlot of Proverbs, openly in the streets and at the corners of the streets, invites passing foolish young men to her embraces, and pollutes the beauty of the soul which she was allotted as a gift from God the creator.

And all her ways are full of shamefulness, and to every thought that supplies incentives to vice she opens her heart, and spreads her legs, and plays the harlot with the Egyptians her neighbors, whose examples she follows—namely the pagans, who glory in their own shameful acts—and she is so wicked that she surpasses even them in shamefulness. And all this she does to provoke God to wrath. Now the Egyptians are said to be of great flesh, either because of the greatness of their shamefulness, or because of the deformity of their sins. Whence the saint is said to be of little flesh, which daily diminishes in him and is attenuated through virtues, so that it is called flesh no longer, but spirit; and he speaks in the psalm: "My soul thirsted for you, God; how manifold my flesh to you"; or (as some copies have it) "how my flesh has been consumed": "In a desert land, and pathless, and waterless: so have I appeared to you in the sanctuary".

Wherefore also the fornicator of Corinth is delivered over to the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved. Of this flesh it is written: "All flesh is grass, and all its glory as the flower of grass. The grass has withered, and its flower has fallen: but the word of the Lord abides forever". Of which also the Apostle spoke: "Flesh and blood shall not possess the kingdom of God". And in Genesis God says: "My spirit shall not remain in these men, because they are flesh". And to believers it is said: "They who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit".

But there is another flesh of the saints, of which it is written: "All flesh shall see the salvation of God". (Verse 27.) Behold, I have stretched out my hand over you, and I will take away your justification, and I will give you over to the souls of them that hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your wicked way. Septuagint: But if I stretch out my hand over you, and take away your lawful rights, and give you over into the souls of them that hate you, the daughters of the foreigners, who made you turn aside from your way. And what follows, ἠσέβησας, that is, "you have acted impiously," according to the Seventy is joined to the following chapter; according to the others it is the end of the preceding one. Now the Lord stretches out his hand over Jerusalem, to correct her in her transgression, and to take away her lawful rights, which, as long as she kept God's commandments, were called the Lord's lawful rights.

But when she worshipped idols, and changed religion into impiety, they are no longer called her lawful rights. This must be understood not only with regard to the law and ceremonies, but also with regard to sabbaths and feast days and new moons. For in giving the law he says: "My sabbaths and my feast days." But when they withdrew from God, it is said to them: "Your new moons, and your sabbaths, and the great day I will not accept: my soul hates your fasting and idleness, and your solemnities". This is also written of the people. For he who was formerly called the people of God, after he withdrew from the Lord, it is said of him to Moses: "Your people has sinned, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt". This stretching out of the hand is elsewhere called lifting up, or visitation. For when God does not chastise the sinner, he withdraws his hand.

But if one has sinned, and has begun to be sick in regard to God's law, visitation is sent upon him; according to that which is sung in the psalm: "If his sons forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments, I will visit their iniquities with a rod". And in this prophet it is written: "If the land sin against me by committing a trespass, I will stretch out my hand upon it, and break the staff of its bread," and so forth. In which we ask what the difference is between the stretching out of the hand and its sending forth. For the devil says to the Lord: "Send forth your hand, and touch all that he has: if he will not bless you to your face". And it seems to me that the hand is sent forth for the testing of those to whom it is sent, but stretched out for the punishment of those who deserve chastisement.

Nor is it only "stretching out" and "sending forth"; but the spreading out of God's hand is also spoken of, Isaiah proclaiming in the person of the Lord: "All day long I have spread out my hands to an unbelieving and contradicting people". The saint too is described as lifting up his hands, Scripture saying: "The lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice". Now, the lawful rights of God having been taken away from the people of the Jews, let us ask them what observance of the law they have. They cannot offer sacrifices, the temple having been taken away and overturned; nor can the stoning of adulteresses, and other crimes granted by the law, be carried out, nor the letting of the land lie fallow in the year of release, and other such things.

But she is given over into the souls of them that hate her, the daughters of the Philistines, when she is handed over to the Philistines, whom the Seventy indiscriminately call "foreigners"; whom we may understand as the cities or towns of Philistia. Our Jerusalem too, if we should pass over the ceremonies of God, and his hand be stretched out over us, and all observance of the law be taken away, will be handed over to the daughters of Philistia, and not to the sons. For we are not delivered at first to stronger punishments, but according to the quality of our sins, to lesser ones, so that, chastened in a lesser matter, we may avoid the greater torments of punishments. The Philistines, the first part of the name being changed, are interpreted "falling by the cup," or "breaking." By which it is signified that we shall be handed over to hostile powers, which drank of the cup of Babylon and fell, and whose works are perverse.

And so great will be the correction and disgrace of wretched Jerusalem, that even these hostile powers themselves will blush at the greatness of our sins. What we have translated, following Symmachus, as "wicked," Theodotion put the very Hebrew word ZEMMA (זמה). Now, the ceremonies of God having been taken from the people of the Jews, both priesthood and legislation pass over to us, Scripture saying: "Appoint, Lord, a lawgiver over them". And in another place: "Set me a law, Lord, in your way". (Verses 28, 29.) And you played the harlot with the sons of the Assyrians: because you had not yet been satisfied, and after you played the harlot, even so you were not satisfied. And you multiplied your fornication in the land of Canaan with the Chaldeans, and even so you were not satisfied.

Septuagint: You acted impiously, and played the harlot with the sons of Asshur; and even so you were not satisfied: and you played the harlot, and were not filled; and you multiplied your covenants toward the land of Canaan, and of the Chaldeans; and not even in these were you satisfied. It was written above that Jerusalem played the harlot with the sons of Egypt her neighbors, who are of great flesh; here another neighboring people, the Assyrians, is indicated. And for this reason she is handed over to both nations, because she venerated the idols of both, and entering Chaldea, which is the land of Canaan, imitated the errors of those under whose empire she lay subject. According to the tropological sense, we often pass from some sins to others.

And when we have not done penance for former crimes, we increase sins with sins, and are never satisfied by any error, but as with a long rope and the strap of a constant heifer we drag our sins along, and multiply our covenant, or fornication, in the land of Canaan, which is interpreted as "a sort of fluctuation," and with the Chaldeans, who themselves also, in our language, sound like "demons". And we always have our footing on unstable ground, and can never say: "He has set my feet upon a rock." And we are subjected to the depravities of heretics, who bear a resemblance to demons; or to the demons themselves, of whom Paul writes: "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places". (Verses 30, 31.) In which shall I cleanse thy heart, saith the Lord God, since thou hast done all these works of a woman that is a harlot, and impudent?

Because thou hast built thy brothel-house at the head of every way, and hast made thy high place in every street: and hast not been as a harlot by disdain increasing thy price. The Septuagint: What shall I do to thy heart, saith the Lord Adonai, since thou hast done all these works of a woman that is a fornicatress, and shameless? And thou hast committed fornication threefold among thy daughters: when thou didst build thy brothel-house at the beginning of every way, and didst make thy base in every street: and thou wast not as a harlot gathering hire. But what the Septuagint have said: And thou hast committed fornication threefold among thy daughters, is not found in the Hebrew, nor has any of the other Interpreters set it down.

Now God speaks all these things to Jerusalem in a manner of ἐπαπορητικῶς (contentiously), as one who cannot find how he might cure with a remedy her that is sick and half-dead; according to that which Isaiah writes: What is it that I ought to have done further to my vineyard, that I have not done to it? And Hosea: What shall I do to thee, Ephraim? What shall I do to thee, Judah? Your mercy is as a morning cloud, and as the dew that passeth away in the morning (Hosea VI, 4). For thy idolatry was committed not in secret, but with all freedom, so that thou didst set up altars at every beginning of the ways and at the crossroads, and didst make thy base, or thy high place, of which we spoke above, in every street. Nor didst thou imitate crafty harlots, who are wont by difficulty to increase the price of their lust, and thereby to provoke their lovers the more to madness.

Or according to the Septuagint: Thou wast not as a harlot gathering hire, but thou gavest what thou oughtest to have received, so that not even in that wherein thou didst commit fornication, and follow after demons, wast thou protected by their help, but wast oppressed by various captivities, thou mightest feel thy calamities. This indeed can also be referred to every Christian soul, which, having abandoned the worship of God, has given itself over to vices and luxury, and having followed the worldly life, has not even fared happily therein, but has both lost the riches of religion, and has not received the riches of the world: nor was there any difficulty in her being violated, but she herself thrust herself upon her lovers.

There is also another spiritual fornication, when, forsaking the Church, we join ourselves to heretics, and build our brothel-house at the head of every way, to whom the divine word commands: Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the everlasting paths of the Lord, which is the good way, and walk ye in it, namely the books of Moses, Joshua, Judges and Kings, and Isaiah and Jeremiah, and the other prophets. He builds his brothel-house at the beginning of every way, who to the perversion of doctrine wickedly abuses the testimony of the Scriptures and says: Thus saith Isaiah: thus saith Hosea: thus spoke Moses: thus Daniel. And beautifully he places his brothel-house not in the middle of the ways, nor at the ends of the ways, but at the beginning. For if one comes to knowledge, and to the depths of the divine books, he cannot err.

He also makes his high place, or his base, in every street, giving himself over to the wantonness and vices of the Gentiles and the impious, being defiled even among the heretics themselves when he has been dishonored by them, having no favor, but lying open to contempt, because he has easily lost the chastity of his former faith. But this which (as we said above) is not found in the Hebrew: Thou hast committed fornication threefold among thy daughters, whether it is said of Jerusalem according to the letter, that in every manner she committed fornication in her towns and villages; and no corner or street remained where she had not set up signs of idolatry; or it refers to the Church and the deceived believers, who did not hearken to that saying of the Apostle: And may the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly, that your whole spirit, and soul, and body may be preserved blameless in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; but committed fornication in every manner both in body, and soul, and spirit.

We read in Proverbs: But write thou these things threefold, that thou mayest answer words of truth to them that propose them to thee. And we are commanded to understand the words of truth, that is, the holy Scriptures, in three ways. First, according to the letter; second, in a middle way through tropology; third, more sublimely, that we may know each mystical sense. According to the letter is this: Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed fornication, and there fell in one day twenty-three thousand. And: Neither murmur ye, as some of them murmured, and perished by the destroyer. In a middle way, and according to tropology, when we withdraw from the letter, and ascend a little to higher things, as the Apostle says: It is written: Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And immediately follows: Doth God take care for oxen? Or saith he this altogether for our sakes?

But the extreme, that is, the third and sublime and sacred understanding, is according to that same saying of the Apostle: For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife. This is a great sacrament. But I speak in Christ, and in the Church. Now the daughters are of the fornicating Church, the souls of those who first believed, and were afterward deceived into heresy, whose guilt is charged back to the mother. (Verses 32 and following.) But as an adulterous wife, who bringeth in strangers instead of her husband. To all harlots hire is given: but thou hast given hire to all thy lovers, and hast bribed them to come to thee from every side to commit fornication with thee. And it happened in thee, contrary to the custom of women, in thy fornications, and after thee there shall be no fornication. For in this, that thou gavest hire, and didst not receive hire: the contrary was done in thee.

The Septuagint: An adulterous woman like unto thee: receiving hire from her husband: to all who committed fornication with her she gave hire: but thou gavest hire to all thy lovers, and didst load them, that they might come to thee round about in thy fornication. And there was done in thee a perverse thing contrary to women in thy fornication, and after thee they have not committed fornication: in that thou gavest hire, and hire was not given to thee: and there was done in thee a perverse thing. That which is written in the Septuagint, like unto thee, is not found in the Hebrew, and it disturbs the order of the reading, and raises no small question, as to which woman it is, whose likeness she bears: since Jerusalem herself is said to be the adulterous woman.

Jerusalem, therefore, took the abundance of all things, with which she had been endowed by the liberality of her husband, and gave it to strangers, that is, to demons and idols, according to that which is written in Hosea: And she did not know that I gave her wheat, and wine, and oil, and multiplied to her silver; but she made silver and gold for Baalim (Hosea II, 8). Whence, being angry, he immediately adds: Therefore will I return, and take away my wheat in its season, and my wine in its season; and I will take away my garments and my linens, that I may no more cover her shame: and now I will reveal her uncleanness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall deliver her out of my hand. And whereas all fornicating women are wont to receive hire from their lovers, Jerusalem did the contrary, so that she gave rather than received.

And to show the largeness of the hire: She loaded, he says (or, honored), them, that they might come to her from round about; lest there be any neighbor who did not pity her shame. And indeed Jerusalem surpassed other harlots even in this, that she gave not only her own goods, which she had sought by the labor of her shameful trade, but also gave marital gifts to her lovers and paramours. And such was the extravagance of the adulteress unto the whole magnitude of shamefulness, that she is preferred not only to present, but even to future harlots. Whence we also, following Symmachus, have translated: And after thee there shall be no fornication. For by comparison with thee, all fornication thereafter will be reckoned lighter.

Whatever we have said of Jerusalem is referred to the Church and to the souls of believers, who give the marital gifts, namely gold in understanding, and silver in speech, and garments, by which our foulness and shamefulness is veiled, to their lovers; either to the opposing powers, or to the teachers of perverse doctrines, when they assert that luxury does no harm, and that passive lust, according to the genital parts of the body, demands intercourse by natural law: that all foods are to be used indifferently, which were made for this purpose, that they be consumed. That prudence is necessary only insofar as it profits oneself; nor does justice have any place, since if it prevail, one must beg; and other things of this sort. Which wretched Jerusalem, receiving—she in whom there ought to be the vision of peace—turned the sharpness of her wit and the charm of her eloquence into shamefulness.

And for her lovers she went forth adorned against her husband with those ornaments, in which she had been adorned by her husband for the abuse of good. And what follows: And thou didst bribe them to come to thee from every side to commit fornication with thee, signifies every kind of sin, that she might not be content with one offense, but might endure a hunger for sinning, and, defiled in all her members contrary to the laws of nature, be polluted even to the crown of her head. (Verses 35 and following.) Therefore, harlot, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God: Because your money has been poured out, and your shame has been uncovered in your fornication (Vulg.

Fornications) over your lovers, and over the idols of your abominations, in the blood of your children whom you gave to them: Behold, I will gather all your lovers with whom you have mingled, and all whom you loved together with all whom you hated, and I will gather them against you from every side, and I will uncover your shame before them, and they shall see all your disgrace. And I will judge you with the judgments of adulteresses and of those who shed blood, and I will bring upon you blood of wrath and jealousy, and I will give you into their hands, and they will destroy your brothel, and demolish your place of harlotry, and strip you of your garments, and take away the vessels of your adornment, and leave you naked and full of shame. And they shall bring against you a multitude, and they shall stone you with stones, and they shall cut you down (Al. Cut off) with their swords.

And they shall burn your houses with fire, and shall execute judgments against you in the sight of many women; and you shall cease from fornicating, and shall no more give hire. And my indignation shall rest upon you, and my jealousy shall be taken away from you, and I will be quiet, and be angry no more: because you did not remember the days of your youth, and you provoked me in all these things. Wherefore I also have given your ways upon your own head, says the Lord God, and I have not done according to your crimes in all your abominations. The Septuagint: Therefore, harlot, hear the word of the Lord: Thus says Adonai the Lord: Because you have poured out your money, and your shame shall be uncovered in your fornication toward your lovers, and in all the devices of your iniquities, and in the blood of your children whom you gave to them.

Therefore behold, I will gather against you all your lovers with whom you have mingled, and all whom you loved together with all whom you hated, and I will gather them against you round about, and I will uncover your evils to them, and they shall see all your shame. And I will avenge you with the vengeance of adulteresses and of those who shed blood, and I will set you in the blood of wrath and jealousy, and I will deliver you into their hands: and they shall dig up your brothel, and destroy your base, and strip you of your garments, and take the vessels of your boasting, and leave you naked and full of shame, and they shall bring against you a multitude, and they shall stone you with stones, and cut you down with their swords.

And they shall burn your houses with fire, and shall execute vengeance upon you before many women: and I will turn you away from fornication, and you shall no more give hire: and I will send my fury upon you, and my jealousy shall be taken away from you, and I will rest, and be anxious no more: because you did not remember the day of your infancy, and you grieved me in all these things. And behold, I will give your ways upon your head, says Adonai the Lord: and thus you have done wickedness above all your iniquities. First we lay the foundations of the history. Because you have done this and that, which the preceding discourse comprises: therefore hear, O harlot, what you have done, and what you are about to suffer.

You poured out your money, which you had received from me, and gave as hire to your lovers what you ought to have received, and you killed your children while offering them to idols: so that you have proved yourself not only an adulteress, but also a murderer of your own kin. Therefore I will gather against you all your lovers, with whom you have fornicated, both those whom you loved and those whom you hated, and I will strip you naked by the law of adulteresses, that all may see your disgrace, and the genitals on account of which formerly the madness of love was borne.

All these things, however, are said under the metaphor of an adulterous and murderous woman, who has fornicated not only against her husband but has also killed her children, concerning Jerusalem: namely, that all the nations shall be gathered against her, whose idols she worshipped, and turned all the gifts of God to their worship; and that the temple of Baal shall be destroyed, and the altars of the whole city overthrown by fire, and nothing left remaining in it. And just as it is customary to cast all manner of stones against an adulteress, and to slay the harlot, so that she be killed by the wounds of individuals: so that all women may see the punishment of the fornicatress; so, in the sight of the other cities round about, and of all the nations, Jerusalem is to be abandoned.

And this is done so that she may cease from fornicating, and give no more hire to her lovers, and that the indignation of God may rest, and he be angry no more with her whom he has ceased to love. From which we perceive that a great offense consists in this: not to be cared for at all by God, but to be permitted to one's own crimes and sins. My jealousy, he says, shall be taken from you, and I will rest, and be angry no more, as toward one estranged, who has withdrawn from me, and whom I have handed over to everlasting nakedness. But if Jerusalem suffered this, because she fornicated with idols, what do we suppose she is to suffer, when she has slain the Son of God? And all these things, he says, you have done, forgetful of former benefits, and you have provoked me to wrath, or grieved me, whom you ought to have provoked to joy by good works. Therefore I also have rendered your deeds upon your own head.

And when I shall have overthrown you, O adulteress, yet I will exercise less of my wrath upon you than you have deserved: so that in this too the divine clemency may be shown; that the sins may be greater than the punishments. According to the tropology, every soul receives from God spiritual money, according to that saying of the Gospel which is spoken in the parables of the five and two and one talents; and of the ten servants receiving each a mina, who, having acted negligently, become debtors of fifty denarii and five hundred; and on account of this, in the presence of the lovers, whom we understand to be the demons and hostile powers, the shame of Jerusalem is uncovered, either in the day of judgment, or in the time of penitence when they are corrected. And first indeed only the almighty God discerns hidden things, as the Gospel word says: And the Father who sees in secret. And in another place: God who searches the hearts and reins.

And in the book of Kings: You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men. But when it shall be fulfilled: There is nothing hidden that shall not be made manifest, and nothing covered that shall not be revealed. And in another place: Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then shall every man have praise from God; and when the time of correction shall have come, then that saying of Hosea shall be fulfilled: Now their own devices have surrounded them (Hosea 7:2). And in another place: Their thoughts accusing or else excusing one another, in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men. And again: Behold the man, and his works before his face. And they shall see all the disgrace of her, who had fornicated with her before, and God shall give her over in the blood of wrath and jealousy.

For the wrath of a husband against an adulterous wife is full, and cannot be redeemed by any price. But the blood of the children can be understood thus, that we call the children of Jerusalem λογισμοὺς καλοὺς, that is, good thoughts, which have been implanted by God in men; these the adulteress kills, when she has turned aside to evil works. It also profits Jerusalem, that her brothel be dug up, and the whole seedbed of her fornication destroyed. For when this has been done, she shall no more give hire, and the indignation of God shall rest, and he will no longer be jealous of her, being secure of her chastity: namely, according to those who take these sayings in a good sense. Others, however, as we said above, refer them to the contrary sense, that it is a great wrath of God not to be angry, when he has once despised the fornicatress, and despaired of her salvation.

But if the heretics, who do not receive the Old Testament, following the Septuagint edition, should in this place find fault with what is said: And you grieved me in all these things; on the ground that God not only receives wrath, but is also subject to sorrow and sadness, let us ask them how they receive that which is certainly a commandment of the good God: Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed unto the day of redemption. Whatever they shall say in defense of that testimony, this we shall adapt to the satisfaction of the present discourse. (Verse 44.) Behold, everyone who commonly says the proverb shall take it up against you, saying: As the mother, so also her daughter. You are the daughter of your mother, who cast off her husband and her children, and you are the sister of your sisters, who cast off their husbands and their children. The Septuagint: These are all the things which they said against you in a parable, saying: As the mother, so the daughter.

You are the daughter of your mother, who rejected her husband and her children: and the sisters of your sisters, who rejected their husbands and their children. After the κατάλογον [catalogue] of the vices and the correction of Jerusalem, by which she is drawn back to salvation, there is applied to her a proverb worn smooth by the speech of the common people, or as the Septuagint translated it, a parable: As the mother, so the daughter. But the mother of Jerusalem, as has been written above and will be written in what follows, is called Hittite, which is interpreted "raving" or "turning into madness": by which are shown the incitements of this world, which lead the captive soul to destruction, and separate her from her husband (without doubt meaning the word and doctrine of God). And she is called the sister of her sisters, as we shall read a little later, Sodom and Samaria: of which the one signifies the gentile life and luxury, the other the snares of the heretics.

Further, what is read in the Septuagint: the sisters of your sisters, who rejected their husbands and their children, does not make sense. For what other sisters did Sodom and Samaria have, who are the sisters of Jerusalem? And this must be asked, what husbands Sodom and Samaria dismissed, and what children they cast off? Unless perhaps we may say this, that the feet of those who err always waver, and there are no solid footsteps that stand against the truth; but they run hither and thither, and are carried about by every wind of doctrine, while they pass from one falsehood to another. And when they have found that they have labored in vain in the first, they pass on to the second and third. (Verses 45 and following.) Your mother was a Hittite (Al. Chettite), and your father an Amorite, and your elder sister is Samaria: she and her daughters who dwell on your left hand. But your sister younger than you, who dwells on your right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.

But you have not walked in their ways, nor done according to their crimes a little (Vulg. A very little) less: you have done almost more wickedly than they in all your ways. The Septuagint: Your mother was a Chettite, and your father an Amorite, your elder sister was Samaria: she and her daughters who dwell on your left hand: and your younger sister than you, who dwells on your right hand, was Sodom and her daughters: and not even so did you walk in her ways, nor did you act according to her iniquities a little less, but you have gone beyond them in all your ways. Above he had said: Your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite; here, with the order and number changed: "Mother your Chethean, and your father the Amorrhite. For when crimes have progressed, they are torn into parts; and unity being abandoned, they proceed into a crowd and multitude, which with Jesus is not able to climb the mountains.

But that Jerusalem's sisters are Samaria and Sodom, of which one is on the left, the other on the right, you will also approve according to the bodily understanding, if from the temple of Jerusalem you look toward the East. And Samaria is called the greater, because she sinned first, and was led into captivity by the Assyrians: and Sodom the lesser and younger, which is referred to the crowd of the Gentiles. Otherwise at that time Sodom did not exist, which we read of in the Scriptures earlier than Jerusalem, when with Gomorrah, Adamah and Zeboim, it had been destroyed by divine fire. But Jerusalem, the middle one between the two sisters, which is also called by another name, Judah, was led away by the Chaldeans into Babylon: and she sinned much more wickedly than Samaria and Sodom, worshiping the idol Zel in the temple, and afterward slaying the Son of God.

Furthermore, according to tropology, Samaria and Sodom, that is, the heretics and the Gentiles, often commit lighter sins than those who are thought to be Jerusalem, that is, the churchmen. Whence it is said to the Corinthians, who indeed believed in Christ, but were weighed down by evil deeds: It is actually heard that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not even among the Gentiles, so that a man should have his father's wife, and so forth. Heretics, who nevertheless accept the Old Instrument, are accustomed to understand from this passage three natures, the spiritual, the animal, and the earthly. And they refer the spiritual to Jerusalem; the animal, to Samaria; the earthly, to Sodom. Let us briefly ask them, how the three natures, spiritual, animal, and earthly, which are certainly diverse among themselves, are said to have one mother and one father? Which does not agree with their fiction. And how are the animal and earthly nature, according to this same prophet, restored to their ancient state, that is, into the spiritual?

Which is itself also contrary to their reasonings. But that Samaria is understood as heresies is proven both in the prophet Hosea, and in many other places, and especially by that testimony: Woe to those who despise Zion, and who trust in the mountain of Samaria, they have vintaged the firstfruits of the nations. For all heretics despise Zion, which is interpreted "watchtower," and is referred to the Church; and they trust in themselves upon the mountain of Samaria, that is, in the pride of their perverse dogmas, which they think to be lofty, and through these fraudulent preachings, they vintage and plunder the firstfruits of the nations; so that by the marvel of their teachings, they drag even the powerful ones of the nations into heretical error. (Vv. 48, 49.) As I live, says the Lord: Sodom your sister, she and her daughters, did not do as you and your daughters have done.

Behold, this was the iniquity of Sodom your sister: pride, fulness of bread, and abundance, and her ease and that of her daughters; and they did not stretch out the hand to the needy and the poor. And they were lifted up, and did abominations before me, and I took them away as you have seen. And Samaria did not sin half your sins; but you have surpassed her in your crimes, and have justified your sisters in all your abominations which you have committed. Septuagint: As I live, says Adonai the Lord: Sodom your sister did not do this, she and her daughters, as you and your daughters have done. Nevertheless the iniquity of Sodom your sister was pride in fulness of bread, and in abundance. She and her daughters overflowed with delights: she and her daughters had this, and they did not take the hand of the poor and needy, and they gloried magnificently, and did iniquities in my sight, and I took them away as you have seen.

And Samaria did not sin half your sins, and you have multiplied your iniquities above them: and you have justified your sisters in all your iniquities which you have committed. What the Septuagint put, "she and her daughters had this," is not found in the Hebrew. In the Old Testament there is God's oath: As I live, says the Lord. But in the New: Amen, amen I say to you. But if this is common with the rest: The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, is not the God of the dead, but of the living. And in another place: I will be pleasing to the Lord in the region of the living: we ask, by what reasoning does God properly claim for himself a common word?

But just as it is said, a good tree, and a good man, and a good shepherd, and a good servant; yet no one is absolutely good, except God alone: so, although angels and the other powers, patriarchs too and prophets, and apostles, are living in comparison with almighty God, they are called dead. For who is the man who lives and shall not see death? Whence also the apostle Paul says of God: Who alone, he says, has immortality, and dwells in unapproachable light. And of the fountain of the living: Our life, he says, is hidden with Christ in God. This one therefore, who swears and says: As I live, says the Lord, in describing the crimes of Sodom and her daughters, set down pride first, the property of the devil, and the first sin. Whence the same Apostle: Lest, being puffed up, he says, with pride, he fall into the judgment of the devil, on account of which he fell from heaven.

For it had been said: By strength I will act, and by the wisdom of understanding I will remove the boundaries of the nations, and I will lay waste their strength, and I will shake the inhabited cities, and I will seize the whole world in my hand as a nest, and as broken eggs I will take it away. And: God resists the proud; but gives grace to the humble. We also read in another place: Why are you proud, earth and ashes? And the Gospel relates the pride of the Pharisee overcome by the humility of the publican: whose seedbed is fulness of bread, and abundance of all things, and idleness; or as the Septuagint translated, the opulence of delights and luxury.

That rich man clothed in purple in the Gospel is reported to have had no other crime, except that, overflowing with wealth and riches, he had broken out into such pride that he did not stretch out his hand to the needy and poor Lazarus: and so forgot his own condition, that he did not give even this to the wretched man, which was to be thrown away. For which cause it is also written in another place: Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled; and he who humbles himself shall be exalted. Pride, fulness of bread, abundance of all things, idleness and delights, is the sin of Sodom, and because of this there follows forgetfulness of God, which thinks present goods to be perpetual, and that one will never be in need of necessities. Wherefore it is also commanded in the Law: Take heed, lest, eating and drinking and being satisfied, having built the best houses, and having sheep and oxen, silver, and gold, you forget the Lord your God.

And in another place it is written of Israel: The beloved ate and drank, and was satisfied, and grew fat, and kicked. Knowing which, Solomon, the wisest of all, prays in Proverbs: Give me the things necessary and sufficient: lest, being satisfied, I become a liar, and say, who sees me? Or being made poor, I steal, and forswear the name of my God. And what follows: and you have justified your sisters in all your abominations which you have committed, does not decree that Sodom and Samaria are simply just, but by comparison with the worse: just as the Publican, of whom we spoke above, is not called just absolutely, but by comparison with the worse one. And yet, though Sodom and Samaria be such, they did not sin even half as much in comparison with Jerusalem. For the servant who knows his master's will, and does not do it, shall be beaten with many stripes. And: The mighty shall suffer torments mightily.

Furthermore, as to what is contained in the Hebrew for delights, namely idleness, it should be known that it pertains to that sense: In desires is every soul of the idle; namely that something should always be being done: lest the field of our breast, the hand ceasing, be occupied by the brambles of evil thoughts. (V. 52.) Therefore bear also your confusion, you who have surpassed your sisters by your sins, acting more wickedly than they: for they have been justified by you. Septuagint: And you also sustain your torment, in that you have corrupted your sisters in your sins, by which you have acted unjustly above them, and have justified them above yourself. It is the second plank after shipwreck, when you have sinned, to blush; and not to lie under that reproach which is spoken against Jerusalem: You have made yourself a harlot's face: you do not know how to blush.

But he bears his own torment, who is tormented by his own conscience, and in this age sustains torment by his own will, lest he sustain eternal torments. And we corrupt our brothers, or sisters, by our sins, when through our sins they are provoked to greater crimes. What I say will become clear thus: Imagine someone placed on the priestly summit not living well, and defiling his dignity with his deeds. Is not his lay brother corrupted by imitation of his vices? For he also who shall scandalize one of the least, a millstone being tied about his neck, is cast into the depths. Sodom and Samaria too, the sisters of Jerusalem, are justified: not because they are just in themselves, but as we have said, by comparison with the worse.

Therefore be confounded also, you; and bear your ignominy, you who have justified your sisters. Septuagint: And be confounded also, you; and receive your ignominy: in that you have justified your sisters. Confusion is followed by ignominy: ignominy by correction: correction by consolation: consolation by salvation: according to that saying of the Apostle: Tribulation works patience: patience, proof: proof, hope: and hope does not confound. There is no doubt but that in the future—since in the present she has, through her confusion, blotted out her sins. Something like this the Gospel too sounds: There is a confusion which leads to death, and there is a confusion which leads to life. The Holy Spirit also exhorts sinners in the Psalms: Let all my enemies be confounded and ashamed: let them be turned back, and confounded very speedily. It is also written in another place: Declare you first your sins, that you may be justified. And again: The just man is his own accuser at the beginning of his speech.

It is therefore not to be wondered at, if Jerusalem is provoked to confusion and ignominy; who has sinned so greatly, that she justified her sisters: to whom it is next said: And you, and your daughters, return to your ancient state.

Verse 53. And I will convert, restoring them, by the conversion of Sodom with her daughters, and by the conversion of Samaria and her daughters: and I will convert your reversion in the midst of them, that you may bear your ignominy, and you shall be confounded in all that you have done, comforting them. The Seventy: And I will convert their conversions by the conversion of Sodom and her daughters, I will convert the conversion of Samaria and her daughters, and I will convert your conversion in the midst of them, that you may bear your torment: and you shall have ignominy from all that you have done, so that you provoked me to wrath. Great is the progress of Jerusalem, that after the confusion and ignominy which she willingly received and bore, when it was brought upon her by the judgment of God, saying: I will bear the wrath of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, restoration to her ancient state is promised to her.

But nevertheless, since by comparison with her crimes Sodom and Samaria have been justified, of which the one is on the right hand, the other on the left; first the conversion, or captivity, of Sodom is restored, as Aquila interpreted it: secondly the captivity of Samaria, as the same Aquila and Symmachus translated it: and last of all Jerusalem shall be restored, who had been pressed down by greater iniquity, and had shown her sinning sisters to be righteous in comparison with herself. For who can doubt that among three sinners, or rather impious persons—the gentile, the heretic, the churchman—he who was of greater dignity is worthy of much greater punishments? For the mighty, as we have said, shall suffer torments mightily. But he who was least is worthy of mercy. And the servant who knew his lord’s will, and did it not, shall be beaten with many stripes. Whence also Peter says: It is time that judgment begin at the house of the Lord.

And in this same prophet it is commanded to those holding axes: Begin at my sanctuary (above ix, 6), so that Jerusalem last of all, her sisters having first been converted and restored to their former state, may bear her own ignominy, and be confounded, and blush for the things in which she had sinned, and in all things comfort her sisters, while she endures heavier things. Or certainly let her be confounded and blush because she provoked God to wrath. From which it is clear that the wrath of God is not natural, but that the most merciful and most gentle God is provoked to wrath by our vices, the Apostle saying: Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and patience? Not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But according to your hardness and impenitent heart you treasure up wrath to yourself, which God does not have naturally. Whence also it is written elsewhere: You sent forth your wrath, which devoured them as stubble.

For that which is joined and coupled in one body cannot be sent forth, but only that which is outside the body—for example, a lance, a dart, an arrow, a sword. We read also in the Gospel that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for that which did not receive the apostles.

Verse 55. And your sister Sodom and her daughters shall return to their former estate. And Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate. And you and your daughters shall return to your former estate. The Seventy: And your sister Sodom, and her daughters, shall be restored as they were from the beginning: and Samaria and her daughters shall be restored as they were from the beginning. And you and your daughters shall be restored, as you were from the beginning. The Jews, among their other fables and interminable genealogies and ravings which they invent, also dream this: that at the coming of their Christ, whom we know to be Antichrist, and in the thousand-year kingdom, Sodom is to be restored to her former state, so as to be like the paradise of God, and like the land of Egypt; and that Samaria is to receive back her former felicity, so that they may return from the Assyrians into the land of Judea.

For we read that the ten tribes were taken captive by Phul, and Salmanassar, and Teglathphalassar, kings of the Assyrians, and are captive there even to this day. Jerusalem also, they say, is then to be built, and all her daughters—that is, cities, villages, and fortresses which shall be under her dominion—are to flourish as they flourished before, and Jerusalem herself is to be built of gold and silver and precious stones, concerning which Isaiah also prophesies: I will restore your judges as before, and your counsellors as at the beginning, and afterward you shall be called the city of justice, the mother of cities, faithful Zion; and our Apocalypse speaks: and David sings: Do good, O Lord, in your good will to Zion, and let the walls of Jerusalem be built. And elsewhere: The cities of Judah shall be built, and they shall dwell there, and abide there, and their seed shall be established forever.

But leaving the full knowledge of these things to the judgment of God, or rather clearly confessing that after the second coming of the Lord Savior nothing lowly, nothing earthly shall come to pass; but the heavenly kingdoms which are first promised in the Gospel—we say this, that in the state of the Church all these things have been fulfilled, and are daily being fulfilled. Sodom returns to her former estate when the gentile soul, formerly impious, restored to its nature, understands the Creator. Samaria receives her former blessedness when the error of the heretics is despised, and she is joined to the doctrine and faith of Christ. And when they have returned, Jerusalem too, the vision of peace, which is interpreted as the Church, shall return to her former state.

Of which it is written: His place is made in peace; and: Jerusalem, which is built as a city whose participation is in itself; and in the Apostle: But the Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother; and in the same: You have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the assembly of many thousands of angels. And she returns with her daughters, who are scattered throughout the whole world. Of which we have discussed more fully in our explanations of Isaiah. (Verse 56. Ff.) Neither was Sodom your sister heard of in your mouth in the day of your pride, before your malice was revealed, as at this time you are the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all the daughters of the Philistines round about you, who surround you on every side. Your wickedness and your ignominy you have borne, says the Lord God.

The Seventy: Unless Sodom your sister had been heard in your mouth in the days of your pride, before your wickedness was revealed, as now it is with the daughters of Syria, and unless this had been so, what would have happened to you, and to all the daughters of the foreigners round about you, who surround you on every side? Your impieties and your iniquities, bear them. Symmachus interpreted this passage thus: Because Sodom your sister was not heard of by your mouth in the day of your pride, before your ignominy was revealed, as in the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all the daughters of Palestine who are round about you, who surround you in a circuit. Your crime and your abomination you shall bear.

Theodotion in this way: And Sodom your sister was not in the hearing of your mouth, in the day of your pride, before your malice was revealed: as the time of the reproach of the daughters of Syria, and of all the daughters of the foreigners round about her, who abhor you on every side. Your fornication and your defilements you have borne, says Adonai the Lord. Our translation agrees with the edition of Aquila; all of which I have set down, so that from a comparison of them all we might find some trace of the sense, and meanwhile, without prejudice to the others, the order of the reading seems to us to be rendered thus: In the days of your pride, when you were sinning, you did not remember the overthrow of Sodom your sister, before your malice became evident, which at this time has been revealed to such a degree that you became a reproach to all the cities of Syria and Palestine that are round about you.

Since, therefore, you surpassed your sister in crime, and were not terrified by her example, so as to check your foot lest you suffer the like: but now your ignominy has been revealed, hear the sentence of God. Either "bear," according to the Seventy: or "you have borne," according to Aquila and Theodotion: or "you shall bear," according to Symmachus, your crime and your ignominy, so that after you have endured punishment for your sacrilege, you may obtain pardon not by your own covenant, but by my clemency. Syria is called in the Hebrew tongue ARAM (ארם), which is interpreted "sublimity." And according to the explanation of that passage of the prophet Isaiah, in which Aram and Ephraim agree together against Judah and Jerusalem, the shrewd wisdom of the heathen, which promises to itself the sublimity of knowledge, joined to the malice of the heretics, attacks Judah, in whom is the true confession, and cannot prevail.

Here too the same arrogance of Syria, that is, of the philosophers, together with the daughters of the foreigners, in whom the manifold error of diverse doctrines among the nations is shown, mocks Jerusalem, and holds her in reproach, by whose vices she has been overcome. (Verse 59. Ff.) For thus says the Lord God: And I will deal with you as you have despised the oath, so as to make void the covenant. And I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth: and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant. And you shall remember your ways, and shall be confounded when you receive your sisters, your elder with your younger: and I will give them to you for daughters, but not by your own covenant.

And I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord, that you may remember, and be confounded, and no more open your mouth because of your confusion: when I am pacified toward you for all that you have done, says the Lord God. The Seventy: Thus says Adonai the Lord: And I will do to you as you have done, as you have despised these things, so as to pass over my testament.

And I will remember my testament, which I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting testament, and you shall remember your way, and shall be despised, when you receive your sisters, your elders with your youngers, and I will give them to you for a proving, and not by your testament, and I will establish my testament with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord: that you may remember, and be confounded, and no more open your mouth from the face of your ignominy, when I am propitious to you according to all that you have done, says the Lord God. Therefore I said to you: bear, or you have borne, or you shall bear, your crime and your ignominy, that you may receive what you deserve: because you despised my oath, and made void my covenant.

But when this has been fulfilled, I will kill and I will make alive: I will strike and I will heal: then I will remember my covenant, which I once had with you. And I will establish for you a covenant, not of the Law which has passed away, but the everlasting covenant of the Gospel: so that when you have remembered your ways, and have received your sisters, elder or younger, Samaria and Sodom and their companions, I will grant them to you as daughters, or for a proving (for there must be heresies also, that they who are approved may be made manifest), not by your own merit, but by my mercy, and then you shall know that I am the Lord; and you shall remember my benefits, and be confounded, and say with the Apostle: I am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. And you shall no more open your mouth because of your confusion.

For it belongs to the saints to open the mouth, as the Apostle says who declares: My mouth is open to you, O Corinthians: and to the Lord Savior, who opening his mouth, taught them, saying also in the psalm: I will open my mouth in parables. But to the sinner it is said: You have sinned: be still. And: Why do you take up my covenant in your mouth? And: Praise is not comely in the mouth of a sinner. And the saint deserves to hear: Open your mouth, and I will fill it. From which we understand that even when through the mercy of God we have received back our former glory, or rather have received the everlasting covenant of the Gospel, after the Lord has been appeased toward us for all that we have done, we still keep the memory of our former sin, and always keep our mouth shut, because we have been saved not by our own works, but by the grace of God.

(Verses 1 ff.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, propose a riddle, and tell a parable to the house of Israel, and thou shalt say: Thus saith the Lord God: A great eagle with great wings, long-limbed, full of feathers and of variety, came to Libanus, and took away the marrow of the cedar. It cropped off the top of the twigs thereof, and carried it away into the land of Chanaan, and set it in a city of merchants. And it took of the seed of the land, and put it in the land for seed, that it might take firm root over many waters; it set it on the surface. And when it had budded, it grew into a spreading vine of low stature, its branches looking toward it, and its roots were under it. So it became a vine, and grew into branches, and shot forth sprigs.

LXX: And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, tell a narration, and speak a parable to the house of Israel, and thou shalt say: Thus saith Adonai the Lord: A great eagle with great wings, long-limbed, full of talons, having the means of entering into Libanus, and it took the choice parts of the cedar. It plucked off the tops of the tender shoots, and brought them into the land of Chanaan. It set it in a walled city, and took of the seed of the land, and gave it in a plantation-field, over many waters: that it might be looked upon, it set it; and it sprang up, and became a weak vine, small in size, so that only its branches appeared beneath it, and its roots were under it. And it became a great vine, and made shoots, and spread out its branches.

When it is said to the prophet, Propose a riddle, tell a parable, or as the Seventy have translated: tell a narration, and speak a parable, it is shown that what is said is obscure. For no one doubts that a riddle and a parable put forth one thing in words, while holding another in meaning. For the Saviour also spoke to the people in parables, which he explained privately to the apostles. Therefore we ought to understand the riddle and the parable as being, so to speak, a riddle and a parable. Now in the present prophecy of Ezekiel two Eagles are set forth. Of the first we must now speak; of the other we shall discourse in what follows. And meanwhile let us take up the plain history. The great eagle with great wings, long-limbed, full of feathers and of variety, or as the Seventy translated, full of talons, is Nabuchodonosor king of the Chaldeans, of whom Osee also speaks: As an eagle over the house of God (Osee VIII, 1).

He, ruling over many nations, and hedged about with an innumerable army, came upon the house of God—doubtless signifying the temple; or, as Scripture now says, to Libanus, of which Zacharias speaks: Open, O Libanus, thy gates, and let fire devour thy cedars. Howl, O fir tree, for the cedar is fallen, because the mighty are laid waste. And frequently the temple, which was renowned and lofty, is called Libanus in the holy Scriptures. And it took the marrow of the cedar, and cropped off the top of its twigs, and carried it away into the land of Chanaan, and set it in a city of merchants. Instead of "merchants," or "of trafficking," changed, the Seventy have translated. Now it signifies Jechonias king of Juda, whom Nabuchodonosor took together with his mother and the princes of the people, and all the wealth of Jerusalem, and the vessels of the temple; and carried him off into Babylon, which is in the land of Chanaan, and there he grew old.

From whose lineage afterward, as the Scripture of the Evangelist Matthew testifies, our Lord and Saviour was born through Salathiel and Zorobabel. He brought forth of the seed of that same land, that is, of the royal stock, Matthanias, the uncle of Jechonias, whose name he changed, and called him Sedecias, and set him as king in Jerusalem, and placed him over many peoples. And yet he set him on the surface, and did not establish his power with a deep root of empire: but he set him, that he should look to and be under the power of Babylon, or of low stature, with its branches looking toward it: that he should indeed rule over the peoples of the Jews, but should look to the command of the ruler of Babylon.

For this is what Scripture says: Of low stature, with its branches looking toward it, understanding "the eagle." Which the Seventy translated more plainly: and that which had been planted sprang up, and became a weak vine, small in size, so that only its branches appeared, so that it should indeed seem to have a kingdom, but that kingdom itself should be low and weak, ruled by the will of the prince of Babylon. This meanwhile concerning the present chapter, to which let us append the rest also. (Verses 7 ff.) And there was another great eagle, with great wings, and many feathers. And behold this vine, as it were sending forth its roots toward it, extended its branches toward it, that it might be watered by it from the beds of its planting. It was planted in a good land, upon many waters: that it might put forth branches, and bear fruit, and become a great vine. Say: Thus saith the Lord God: Shall it prosper then?

Shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and strip off its fruit, and dry up all the branches of its budding, and shall it not wither, and that not by a great arm nor by many people, to pluck it up by the root? Behold, it is planted: shall it prosper then? Shall it not, when the burning wind shall touch it, wither, and dry up in the beds where it grew? LXX: And there was another great eagle, with great wings, and very many talons: and behold this vine was entwined toward it, and its roots toward it, and it extended its branches toward it, that it might water it with the clod of its planting. It was fattened in a good field, upon much water: that it might make shoots and bring forth fruit, and become a great vine. Therefore say: Thus saith Adonai the Lord: Shall it be prospered? Shall not the roots of its tenderness, and its fruit, rot away, and shall not all things that have sprung from it wither?

And that not by a great arm, nor by a numerous people, to pluck it up from its roots: and behold it is fattened. Shall it then be prospered? Shall it not, as soon as the burning wind shall touch it, wither, and be dried up with dryness: shall it not wither with the clod of its growth? The second eagle, that is, the other one, itself also great, full of feathers, of many talons, on account of its rapacity, and the devastation of very many nations, is Pharao, king of Egypt. And behold this vine—understand king Sedecias, who had been set up in Jerusalem by Nabuchodonosor—began, it says, to send its shoots toward it, that is, toward the king of the Egyptians, to direct envoys, and to ask help from him against the king to whom he was subject. For this is what Scripture now says, that it might water it from the beds of its budding.

This vine, which had been planted in a good land by Nabuchodonosor, that it might put forth branches, and bring forth fruit, and grow into a wider vine: therefore the prophet is bidden to speak to the vine, which had been planted by Nabuchodonosor, and had sent its branches to the Egyptian eagle: shall it prosper because it attempted this, and shall not all its branches and shoots be dried up at once? And not, it says, by a great arm, nor by a numerous people? For Sedecias, fleeing, and forsaken by the help of the king of Egypt, was captured by the generals of Nabuchodonosor in the deserts of Jericho: and all his companions were scattered here and there, as is written in the book of Kings and Chronicles, and in Jeremiah (Jeremiah XXXIX). (Verses 11 and following.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Say to the house that provokes: Do you not know what these things signify?

Say: Behold, the king of Babylon shall come to Jerusalem, and shall take the king and its princes, and shall bring them to himself in Babylon. And he shall take of the royal seed, and shall make a covenant with him, and shall take an oath of him: he shall also take away the mighty men of the land, that the kingdom may be humble, and not lift itself up, but keep his covenant, and observe it. But he, revolting from him, sent messengers to Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper, or shall he obtain safety, who hath done these things? And shall he that breaketh the covenant escape? As I live, saith the Lord God: surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even in the midst of Babylon he shall die.

Neither with a great army nor with much people shall Pharaoh make war against him in casting up a mount, and building forts, to cut off many souls. For he had despised the oath, that he might break the covenant. And behold, he gave his hand: and having done all these things, he shall not escape. This is the riddle, this is the parable, which under the two eagles and the vine the Scripture set forth, the two kings of Babylon and of Egypt; and King Zedekiah, who, contrary to his oath, forsaking his friendship with Nebuchadnezzar, transferred himself to the king of Egypt. He shall make, it says, a covenant with him, and shall take an oath of him, that he may keep his covenant and observe it. He that breaketh the covenant, it says, shall he escape? From this we learn that faith must be kept even among enemies, and one must not consider to whom, but by whom, you have sworn.

For much more faithful was found he who trusted you for the sake of the name of God and was deceived, than you who, under the occasion of the divine majesty, plotted treachery against your enemy—nay, now your friend. For, it says, in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, in the midst of Babylon he shall die. For we read that Zedekiah, being captured, was brought to Riblah, and there, after his sons were slain, he was blinded; and like a wild beast shut in a cage, he was brought to Babylon. Whence, although Scripture seems to contradict itself, yet in both it is most true. For it had been said to Zedekiah: And thou shalt enter Babylon, and thou shalt not see it. For he entered, because he was led to Babylon, and he did not see it, because he had been blinded.

But what follows: Neither with a great army, nor with much people, shall Pharaoh make war against him in casting up a mount, and building forts, to cut off many souls: is understood in two ways—either that the king of Egypt, coming against Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, will not be able to fight, nor with a small army resist so great a multitude; or that Zedekiah himself will be overthrown by Pharaoh, from whom he hoped for help—not that Pharaoh actually overthrew him, or that Scripture testifies to this anywhere, but that the overthrow by Nebuchadnezzar took place on the occasion afforded by the king of Egypt: nor does it seem that he who besieged Jerusalem overthrew it, but rather he in whom Zedekiah had vainly hoped. Behold, it says, he gave his hand to the king of Egypt, and surrendered himself; and he committed the sacrilege of perjury against God. Shall it, it says, profit him?

And having done all these things, he shall not escape. (Verses 19 and following.) Therefore thus saith the Lord God: As I live, because he hath despised the oath, and broken the covenant which he made, I will lay it upon his head. And I will spread my net over him, and he shall be caught in my snare: and I will bring him to Babylon, and will judge him there for the transgression by which he hath despised me. And all his fugitives, with all his troops, shall fall by the sword, and the residue shall be scattered to every wind: and you shall know that I the Lord have spoken. It is a maxim of the world:...who would inquire whether it be guile or valor against an enemy? Which they are wont to bring against us, who say that enemies are to be deceived by fraud.

Let us grant this for the sake of argument—Zedekiah did much worse: for he did not deceive an enemy, but a friend, to whom he had been bound by a covenant of the Lord. Therefore, so long as you have not sworn, and have not entered into a covenant in the name of the Lord, it is a matter of prudence and courage, either to deceive or to overcome an adversary however you can. But when you have bound yourself by an oath, he who trusted you is no longer an adversary, but a friend: and under the occasion of the oath, that is, the invocation of God, he was deceived. Therefore Scripture now says: The oath which he despised, and the covenant which he broke, I will lay upon his head. And lest we should think the oath and covenant and pact belonged to the king of Babylon, or to Zedekiah who had made it, it follows: In the transgression by which he despised me.

Therefore he who despises the oath, despises him by whom he swore: and does injury to him whose name the adversary trusted. For this reason, it says, I will spread my net over him, and he shall be caught in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will judge him there. Whatever therefore Nebuchadnezzar did against Zedekiah, he did not do by his own strength, but by the wrath of God, in whose name the oath had been broken. According to the anagogical sense, though the interpretation may seem forced, it should be known that just as other living creatures are sometimes taken in a good sense and sometimes in a bad, so also with the eagle and the lion. In the good sense it is said: Judah is a lion's whelp. In the contrary sense: Our adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goes about. And that in the psalm: He lieth in wait in secret places like a lion in his den; he lieth in wait to catch the poor.

In the good sense it is said of the eagle, that the just man, made rich, makes for himself wings like an eagle, that he may return to the house of his forefather. And it is written in Isaiah, that the just shall take wings as eagles: they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

Rightly, then, is he who had said: By strength I will act, and by the wisdom of understanding I will remove the boundaries of the nations, and will plunder their strength; and I will shake the cities that are inhabited, and will lay hold of the whole world with my hand as a nest, and gather it as eggs that are left, now described under the person of the eagle: because he does not wish to strike at little and lowly shoots of Lebanon, which is interpreted "brightness" and is referred to incense, but at the tops of the cedars, and at the princes and royal stock, according to that word of Habakkuk: His food is choice. And he makes a covenant with those whom he has captured, that they may bow their necks to the king of Babylon, and fulfill that which the Apostle says: Whom I have delivered to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

And in another place: Whom I have delivered, he says, to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved. We ought not, therefore, if perchance for some sin we are cast out of the congregation of the brethren and the house of God, to resist; but to bear with equanimity the sentence passed upon us, and say with the Prophet: I will bear the wrath of the Lord, because I have sinned against him, until he judge my cause, and so on. And it often happens that, being subject to one, we pass over to another, who promises us his help; and does not allow us to remain in our former resolve.

This is by all means to be avoided, lest our branches wither and our shoots dry up, and we be found acting against the covenant of God. (Verses 22 and following.) Thus saith the Lord: I myself will take of the marrow of the high cedar, and will set it: I will crop off from the top of its young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon a mountain high and eminent. On the high mountain of Israel will I plant it, and it shall shoot forth into a bud, and shall bear fruit, and shall become a great cedar: and all fowls shall dwell under it, every bird shall make its nest under the shadow of its branches. And all the trees of the country shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, and exalted the low tree, and have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish. I the Lord have spoken and have done it.

The Septuagint: For thus saith the Lord Adonai: I will take of the choice things of the cedar, from the top [asterisk], and will give of the top of its branches *, from their heart I will take, and will plant upon a high mountain, and will hang it upon the high mountain of Israel, and will plant it, and it will bring forth a bud, and will make fruit, and will become a great cedar, and every bird will rest under it, and every fowl will rest under its shadow, and its branches will be restored *, and all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord who bring low the high tree, and exalt the low tree, and dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree to bud. I the Lord have spoken and I do it.

This which is read in the Septuagint: And I will give of the top of its branches, has been added from Theodotion's edition. And again what follows: And its branches shall be restored, is to be marked with an obelus, because it is not found in the Hebrew. The true Nebuchadnezzar therefore takes of the marrow of the high cedar, of the top of its branches, that his kingdom might be humble, and not exalt itself. But the Lord God the Father Almighty, who spoke to Ezekiel, takes of the royal stock, and of the line of David; and plants it upon a high and eminent mountain—he who speaks in the psalm: But I am set king by him over Sion, his holy mountain. For a prince had failed from Judah, and a ruler from Israel, until he should come for whom it is reserved: and he shall be the expectation of the nations.

This one shot forth into a bud, and bore fruit, and surpassed all the cedars in his loftiness: so that all the birds of heaven dwell under him, and all fowls are sheltered under his shade. Of whom Habakkuk says: Horns are in his hands, there is his strength hidden; and he who desires to gather, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings: that all the trees of the region may know that he is the Lord. Speaking tropologically of believers: This is he who humbled Israel, once the high tree, and exalted the humble people of the nations, who dried up the green tree of the Jews, flourishing and budding in the Law and the Prophets; and made the dry tree of the nations to flourish: that what he had always spoken, he might fulfill in deed. This same thing is signified by the words of Simeon in the Gospel, saying: Behold, this one is set for the fall and the rising again of many.

And the grain of mustard seed, which, though it be the least of all seeds, after it has grown becomes a dwelling-place for birds. Some interpret otherwise, the high tree humbled, and the humble exalted, referring it to the passion of the Lord Savior. Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant; and after the resurrection, that same tree was afterward exalted, which, having first been green, was dried by death, and afterward reviving, received back its former verdure. Others, in Jewish fashion, refer both to Israel: that at the first coming he was humbled and dried up: and at the second he shall be restored to his former state, when that is fulfilled which the Apostle says: When the fullness of the Gentiles shall have come in, then all Israel shall be saved.

I thought that, once the serpent had been pierced through the middle, the hydra's fresh shoots would not spring up anew, and that, according to the fables of the poets, Scylla being dead, the Scyllaean dogs, which never cease to bark, would no longer rage against me; and that, once the heretics had been struck down by the hand of God, lest even the elect of God be tempted, if that be possible, heresy itself does not die, its hereditary whelps of hatred against us having been left behind, who, mimicking their ancient mother and the wiles of Ulysses, do not abandon the poisons, but only smear their lips with honey; and, according to the sayings of the Scriptures, have made their words softer than oil: yet they themselves are darts, and fiery darts, which must be repelled and quenched at once by the shield of faith.

I have said these things, daughter Eustochium, that you may help me by your prayers as I labor in this prophetic work and resist the heretics, and that the Lord may unfold, by my mouth but by his own understanding, the sixth volume of the Explanations on Ezekiel; and that by the grace of the same Spirit, by which the things we read as written were revealed to the prophets, they may also be revealed to us as we discourse, so that we may be able to say: I opened my mouth, and drew in the spirit.

(Verses 1, 2.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: What is it that you turn among yourselves into a byword this proverb in the land of Israel, saying: The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the teeth of the children are set on edge?

The Septuagint: And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, what is this parable concerning the children of Israel, who say: The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the teeth of the children are set on edge? This which the Seventy said, "son of man," is not found in the Hebrew. Now the divine Scripture calls to mind that which was said in Exodus: I am the Lord your God, a jealous God, who repay the sins of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and show mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

And again: The Lord descended in a cloud, and stood beside Moses, and Moses called upon the name of the Lord, and the Lord passed before his face, and called upon him, saying: O Lord God, merciful and gracious, patient and of much mercy, and true, and keeping justice, and showing mercy unto thousands, taking away iniquities and injustices and sins; and he will not cleanse away the iniquities of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's children, unto the third and fourth generation; this ought to be taken as a proverb and a parable, so that one thing sounds in the words, and another is held in the sense; which also we said above concerning the parable of the two eagles. Whence also the Lord in the seventy-seventh psalm says: I will open my mouth in parables: I will utter propositions from the beginning.

And in the Gospel he sets forth the parable of the sowing, and of the tares, and of the mustard seed, which, though it be the least of all seeds, grows up into a great tree, in such a way that one thing is put forward in the words, and another is held in the meanings. And we, up until the present day, supposed that the two testimonies of Exodus, which we set down above, were a parable in that we ourselves, but that they explained a simple statement. And although we would not dare to say anything, nor should the vessel of clay speak against the potter, saying why you have made me thus or thus: yet we suffered a hidden scandal, because it seemed an injustice of God, that one should sin, and another pay the penalty for sins. For if he repays the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation, it seems unjust that one should sin, and another be punished.

But from what follows: "of them that hate me," the scandal of the threat, or of the precept, is resolved. For they are not punished in the third and fourth generation because their fathers transgressed—since rather the fathers who were the sinners ought to have been punished—but because they proved to be rivals of their fathers, and hated God with an inherited evil, and with impiety growing also into the branches from the root. In this passage the heretics, who do not receive the Old Instrument, are accustomed to speak against the Creator, saying: How good and just is the God of the Law and the Prophets, who, resting and being silent as to the sins of the fathers, repays them upon those who have not sinned! Nay, how great is the cruelty in him, that he extends his wrath even to the third and fourth generation! To whom we shall answer, that in this the clemency of God the Creator is shown.

For it is not a mark of savagery and severity to hold wrath even to the third and fourth generation, but a sign of mercy to defer the punishment of sin. For when he says: O Lord God, merciful and gracious, patient and of much compassion; and adds: repaying the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and the children's children, this indicates that he is of such great mercy that he does not punish at once, but defers the sentence of punishing. But if the vengeance upon sinners is deferred to the third and fourth generation, what more does he do with the just and the holy? There follows: And keeping justice and mercy unto many thousands, for them that keep his commandments and do his precepts. It is written in Proverbs: As a sour grape is harmful to the teeth, and smoke to the eyes: so is iniquity to those who practice it.

From which it is clear that it is not the teeth of others that are destroyed and set on edge, but those of the ones who ate the sour grape. But the sense of this passage is this: as if one should wish to say: The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the teeth of the children are set on edge—this is ridiculous, and has no consequence; so it is unjust and perverse that the fathers should sin, and the children and grandchildren be tormented.

There are some who explain what is written in Exodus: Repaying the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation, by referring the statement to the human soul, saying that the father in us is the slight prick of the senses and the incitements of vices; but the son, if thought has conceived sin; the grandsons, if what you have thought and conceived you have carried out in deed; and the great-grandson, that is, the fourth generation, if you not only do what is evil and wicked, but glory in your crimes, according to that which is written: The wicked, when he has come into the depth of evils, despises. God, therefore, by no means punishes the first and second stirrings of thoughts, which the Greeks call προπάθειαι, without which no man can exist; but (Verses 3, 4.) As I live, says the Lord, this parable shall no more be to you a proverb in Israel.

Behold, all souls are mine: as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine. The soul that sins, it shall die. The Septuagint: As I live, says Adonai the Lord, it shall no more be that this parable be spoken in Israel: for all souls are mine. As the soul of the father, so is the soul of the son mine.

The soul that has sinned, it shall die. (Verses 5, 6 following.) And if a man be just, and do judgment and justice; if he have not eaten upon the mountains, and have not lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel; and have not defiled his neighbor's wife, and have not approached a woman having her monthly courses; and have not grieved any man; hath restored the pledge to the debtor; hath spoiled none by violence; hath given his bread to the hungry; and hath covered the naked with a garment; and hath not lent upon usury; and hath not taken any increase; hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity; and hath executed true judgment between man and man; hath walked in my commandments, and kept my judgments, to do them in truth: he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord God.

The Septuagint: But the man who shall be just, who does judgment and justice; who shall not eat upon the mountains, and shall not lift up his eyes to the thoughts of the house of Israel; and shall not defile his neighbor's wife, and shall not approach a woman flowing with blood; and shall not oppress a man; shall restore the pledge to the debtor; and shall not commit robbery, shall give his bread to the hungry; and shall cover the naked with a garment; and shall not give his money upon usury; and shall not take any increase; shall withdraw his hand from iniquity; shall execute just judgment between a man and his neighbor; shall walk in my precepts, shall keep my justifications, to do them: he is just, he shall surely live, saith Adonai the Lord.

Do you wish, he says, to know what is meant by that saying: I will visit the sins of the fathers upon the third and fourth generation, that it does not mean what most suppose; nor is it like this saying: The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the teeth of the children are set on edge: hear what I am about to bring forward: if there be a just father, who has done these things, and has not done those, and has a most wicked son, who, forsaking his father's virtues, has given himself over to crimes; shall not this one, since he is just, surely live? And shall not that one die the death, because he has perpetrated all those things by avoiding which the father was made just? Let us look at the catalogue of the father's virtues, which seem to me to be divided into seventeen parts.

The first of these is, to have done judgment; the second, similar to this, to have joined justice to judgment; the third, not to have eaten upon the mountains; the fourth, not to have lifted up his eyes to idols, or, as the Septuagint translated, to the thoughts of the house of Israel; the fifth, not to have defiled his neighbor's wife. The sixth, to have avoided the embraces of a menstruous wife.

The seventh, not to have grieved a man, or, as the Septuagint rendered it, not to have oppressed him through power; the eighth, to have restored the pledge to the debtor; the ninth, to have taken nothing by violence, or, according to the Septuagint, not to have committed robbery; the tenth, to have given his bread to the hungry; the eleventh, to have covered the naked with a garment; the twelfth, not to have given money upon usury; the thirteenth, to have received nothing more than he gave; the fourteenth, to have withdrawn his hand from iniquity; the fifteenth, which seems similar to the first, but is different in part, to have executed true judgment between man and man, or his neighbor; the sixteenth, to have walked in the precepts of the Lord; the seventeenth, to have kept his judgments and justifications. What each of these means we shall say in what follows. If a man be just, he says, and do judgment. It is written in Proverbs: The thoughts of the just are judgments.

He who has possessed this virtue, so as to do nothing without reason and judgment, can say that prophetic word: The judgments of the Lord are true, justified in themselves, and since he judges all things rightly, so as not to accept the person of the poor in judgment, he will fulfill the precept of the Lord: As the lesser, so also the greater shalt thou judge, boldly saying: My soul hath desired to long for thy judgments at all times. And again: I have chosen the way of truth, I have not forgotten thy judgments. And in the same psalm: I have known that thy judgments are justice; and he will advance so far in blessedness that he understands the judgments of the Lord, which are a great deep; and he will say with the Apostle: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out. And in prayer he will recall: Because thy judgments are delightful.

After judgment follows justice, which whoever has, will clearly possess Christ, who according to the Apostle was made unto us justice, and sanctification, and redemption; that he may do true justice, and not accept persons in judgment; but let him know that his own justice is to be judged in the judgment of others. The third is not to eat upon the mountains, which the Jews suppose pertains to the sin of idolatry. For we often read in the books of Kings and Chronicles: Nevertheless he did not depart from the high places. The people still sacrificed on the high places, and burned incense on the heights, Scripture signifying by this that on mountains and in groves they sacrificed victims to idols, and burned incense. But we shall say that he eats upon the mountains who says with the Pharisee: I give thee thanks, O God, that I am not as this publican: I fast twice in the week: I give tithes of all that I possess.

And on the contrary the Publican, hearing him who had said: Learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart, struck his breast with his hand, that is, the treasury of his worst thoughts, and did not dare to lift up his eyes to heaven. But also that which is said elsewhere: Seek not the things that are higher than thee, and search not into things too mighty for thee, convicts all heretics of eating upon the mountains of pride, and of despising ecclesiastical simplicity, and of not knowing that it is written of them: God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. In the fourth place is set, and he hath not lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, for which the Septuagint translated thoughts. But idols, that is, images which they have fashioned from their own heart, all heretics make, to which they lift up the eyes of their heart, who think falsehood and lying to be truth.

And the house of Israel is the name given to the images which are found in the Church; and by occasion of falsely-named knowledge they seduce the simple, so as to introduce the doctrines of the philosophers into the house of Israel, that is, of those who behold God with the mind. In the fifth place is set: and hath not defiled, or violated, his neighbor's wife, which openly forbids adultery indeed; but from that which is added, his neighbor's, unless every man is to be understood as neighbor, it seems to be a precept that we should abstain from the wives of our friends, but freely defile the wives of enemies and strangers. Therefore every man is to be taken as the neighbor of a man, according to the parable of the Gospel, which is set forth by the Savior, of a certain man who, going down to Jericho, was wounded by robbers: when the Pharisee asks who was his neighbor, teaching him that he is the neighbor who did good.

According to the mystical understanding, the wife of the holy man can be understood as wisdom, Solomon saying: Love her, and she will embrace thee: cherish her, and she will keep thee. This wisdom he desires to defile who reprehends the blessings of others, and, inflamed by the torches of envy, violates holy things, corrupts chaste things, defiles pure things. The sixth is: And hath not approached a woman, or wife, having her monthly courses. Monthly the heavy and sluggish bodies of women are relieved by the discharge of unclean blood. If at that time a man should lie with a woman, the offspring conceived are said to draw the vice of the seed; so that lepers and elephantiasis-sufferers are born from such conception, and in either sex foul bodies degenerate through corrupted matter, into smallness or enormity of limbs.

Therefore men are commanded, not only with other men's wives, but also with their own, to whom they seem joined by law—Scripture saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth—to know the certain times of intercourse, when they ought to come together, when they ought to abstain from their wives. This indeed both the Apostle and Ecclesiastes declare: A time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. Let the wife, then, beware, lest, overcome by desire of intercourse, she entice her husband; and let the husband beware, lest he do violence to his wife, thinking that the pleasure of marriage ought to be subject to him at all times. Whence also Paul: That every one of you, he says, should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor. It is beautifully said in the little sentences of Sextus the Pythagorean: He who loves his own wife too ardently is an adulterer.

A certain man, translating this book into the Latin tongue, wished to give it luster with the name of the martyr Sixtus: not considering that in the whole volume, which he needlessly divided into two parts, the name of Christ and of the Apostles is entirely passed over in silence. Nor is it surprising, if he has transferred a Gentile philosopher into a martyr and bishop of the city of Rome: since he also changed the first book of Eusebius of Caesarea in defense of Origen with the name of the martyr Pamphilus, that by such a commender he might more easily reconcile the most impious books Περὶ Ἀρχῶν (On First Principles) to Roman ears. There follows in the seventh place: And hath not grieved a man, or, as the Septuagint translated, hath not oppressed by power. I do not know who is free from this vice and sin. For the Egyptians also oppressed the Hebrews by power. Whence Habakkuk complains, asking why the wicked oppresses the just.

And would that this were said only of those who are outside, and not of those who are within. For the rulers of the Churches are also wont to oppress the people through pride. Of whom it is written: They have made thee a ruler, be not lifted up: be among them as one of them. And the Savior commanded: He who would be first among you, let him be the least of all. But that which is said according to the Hebrew, and hath not grieved a man, agrees with the apostolic testimony: Grieve not the Holy Spirit, who dwells in you. And in the Gospel which the Nazarenes are accustomed to read according to the Hebrews, it is counted among the greatest crimes for a man to have grieved the spirit of his brother. But if the sadness of another kills him who causes sadness, what is to be said of iniquity and a tyrannical mind, to which that saying applies: Why is earth and ashes proud?

So that, forgetful of his own condition, how full of phlegm, of bile, of excrements, and soon to be devoured by worms, he sets his mouth against heaven, and his tongue goes through the earth, and says with the true Nebuchadnezzar: I will ascend into heaven, I will set my throne above the stars of heaven, and I will be like the Most High. The eighth is: He hath restored the pledge to the debtor. Not to every debtor, otherwise for many it would become an occasion of receiving pledges, a matter of enrichment: but to that debtor of whom it is written in the law, that he is poor, and has pledged his own garment, and ought to receive back his covering before sunset, lest, tormented by cold, he cry out to the Lord, who is the avenger of his wrong.

But if, according to what follows, we ought to give bread to the hungry, and cover the naked with a garment: how much more ought we to return what is his own, if indeed the debtor's poverty is beyond doubt? We can also restore the pledge to the debtor when, to him to whom we are joined by love, and who owes us mutual charity, we return his pledge, retaining nothing further of his debt with us. The ninth holds this place: He hath spoiled none by violence, or, according to the Septuagint, hath not committed robbery. The Apostle also speaks of robbers, that among other sinners one ought not even to eat with such a one: for all robbery is mixed with violence. Unless perhaps it is that from which the monthly one suffers. For if force has been applied, plunder does not profit.

But there is also a holy violence, and plunder that is desirable, of which the Gospel also writes: from the days of John the Baptist the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent bear it away. Of which Jude the brother of James also speaks: And some indeed snatch out of the fire; but on others who are judged have mercy. And on the contrary the adverse powers hasten to seize their prey unto the ruin of those whom they seize. Which Jacob also signifies, saying: An evil beast has devoured him: an evil beast has seized Joseph. Whence also the sheep of the Lord who follow him are not seized out of his hands. And he himself says: What the Father has given me is greater than all, and no one can snatch out of my Father's hand. From which it is seen that there is one power, virtue, and substance of the Father and the Son.

For if no one can snatch out of the Son's hand what the Father gave, and these same things are in the Father's hand which are not snatched from him, it is clearly proved that all things of the Father and the Son are common, and that the Father holds in the Son's hand, just as the things that are the Son's are held in the Father's hand. The tenth is: He has given his bread to the hungry. By which we are taught that almsgiving is not to be done for those who are full, but for the hungry; nor is bread to be given to those who belch with fullness, but to those who are tormented with emptiness. Now in bread all food is contained. And it is said meaningfully, "his own": lest we turn into mercy bread sought by plunder and usury and another's evil: For the redemption of a man's soul is his own riches.

Which we see many do—clients and poor men, and farmers; not to mention the violence of soldiers and judges, who oppress by their power, or commit thefts, so that out of much they give a little to the poor, and glory in their own crimes. And publicly the deacon in the churches recites the names of those offering: so much this one offers, so much that one has promised, and they are pleased with themselves at the applause of the people, while conscience tortures them. And we give the wretched cause to rejoice at what is given, and not to lament at what has been seized. But it is better that we understand the bread of the just man to be him who says: I am the living bread which came down from heaven; and which we pray to be given us in prayer: Give us this day our substantial, or supersubstantial, bread; so that what we are afterward always to receive, we may in the present age daily deserve to receive.

This bread the just man gives to the hungry, of whom it is written: Blessed are they that hunger and thirst. For he who is just makes the common bread of all his own, which had failed in Judea, the prophet saying: I will take away from them the strength, or staff, of bread. This of which we speak, if indeed we are of Christ—nay, what the prophet recalls—is the bread of believers and of the hungry. Which is by no means to be given to those who have eaten and drunk and been filled, and grown fat, kicked, of whom it is said: Woe to you that are filled now, for you shall hunger, lest they vomit it forth, Solomon saying: For he will vomit it up, and defile your good words. Which the Savior says in other words: Do not give what is holy to dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine. The eleventh place holds: And has covered the naked with a garment.

Which saying, according to the explanation of the preceding verse, must be discussed in two ways: that we give covering to the naked, the Savior saying, I was naked, and you covered me, and that we give the garment of Christ to those naked in faith and virtues, of whom it is written: For as many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ. With this garment he was naked who, not having the wedding garment, was cast out from the banquet. Of this nakedness the Lord also speaks to Jerusalem: But you were naked and full of confusion (Above XVI, 7). The twelfth number holds: And has not lent his money at usury, or as the LXX translated, has not given his money at usury. In the Hebrew, usury of all kinds is forbidden; in the LXX, only of money. According to which it is also written in the fourteenth psalm: Who has not put out his money to usury.

And how is it said: You shall not lend at usury to your brother, but to a stranger you may lend at usury. But see the progress: at the beginning of the Law usury is taken away only from brothers; in the prophet usury is forbidden from all, Ezekiel saying: He has not given his money at usury. Further in the Gospel there is an increase of virtue, the Lord commanding: Lend to those from whom you do not hope to receive. There follows in the thirteenth place: And has taken no more. Some think usury exists only in money. Which divine Scripture, foreseeing, takes away the overabundance of every thing, so that you receive no more than you gave. It is customary in fields to exact usury of wheat and millet, wine, and oil, and other kinds—or as the divine word calls it, abundance: for example, that in winter time we give ten measures, and at harvest receive fifteen, that is, more by half.

He who thinks himself most just will receive a quarter more, and they are wont to argue and say: I gave one measure, which sown made ten measures. Is it not just that I receive half a measure more of my own, since he by my liberality has nine and a half of mine? Do not err, says the Apostle, God is not mocked. Let the merciful moneylender answer us briefly: whether he gave to one who had, or to one who had not? If to one who had, he certainly ought not to have given, but he gave as to one who had not. Why then does he demand more as from one who has? Others are accustomed to receive little gifts of various kinds for money lent, and they do not understand that whatever it is, if they receive more than they gave, it is called usury and overabundance. The fourteenth degree: He has turned his hand away from iniquity, that in every work he flees iniquity.

For iniquity is committed not only by the hand, but by other members as well, Solomon saying: Put away from you a froward mouth. And in the Psalms: They have spoken iniquity on high. The foot also runs to iniquity, and the eye, if it desire another's wife, let it not be imitated, of him of whom it is said: He did no iniquity, neither was guile found in his mouth. Whence also we are commanded to make friends for ourselves out of the mammon of iniquity, who may receive us into eternal tabernacles. The fifteenth is: He has executed true judgment between man and man, or his neighbor. Which seems to sound the same as the first, where it is written: If he shall be just, and shall do judgment; but with the truth of judgment added: which he does between man and man, or his neighbor, it is seen to have an intensification of virtues. Whence also in the beginning of Proverbs, after many precepts, the correction of judgment is introduced.

To know, it says, wisdom and discipline, and to understand words of prudence, to receive the subtleties of sayings, and to know true justice, and after all things to correct judgment. Wherefore the Apostle also reproves those who are established in the Church, that they have judgments among themselves, and the least and most despised is chosen, who according to the Gospel is first, to judge between man and man—who has destroyed the things that are of little ones, and has arrived at the perfect man; and yet needs a greater judgment, that he may be able to arrive at the truth of judgment. There follows in the sixteenth place: Has walked in my precepts. And in the seventeenth: Has kept my judgments and my justifications, to do them, and having done them, to keep them. Both of which have manifold meaning, if we wish to go through all the commands of the law, in which the precepts of the Lord, and in which the justifications, are said to be.

Full of precepts and justifications is the hundred and eighteenth psalm, and in part the eighteenth, in which it is written: The justices of the Lord are right, rejoicing hearts, and the commandment of the Lord is lightsome, enlightening the eyes. In which it is asked, how in this same prophet God said: I gave them statutes that were not good, and judgments in which they shall not live (Below XX, 25). And there is an easy and fuller answer in what follows, that the Jews who follow the killing letter do not live, and Christians who understand the life-giving spirit do live. It would be long, if we wished to prove by testimonies, where the precepts of the Lord, and where the justifications, are said to be, and by what diversities or obscurities each is involved. Whence also in the present place it is added: This man is just, he shall surely live, says the Lord God.

He who has done these things, and has not done those, shall in no way be punished for the sins of his father, but shall live by his own virtues. (Verse 10 ff.) But if he beget a son who is a robber, a shedder of blood, and who does any one of these things (or as the LXX translated, and does sins: has not walked in the way of his just father), and who indeed does not do all these things, but eats upon the mountains, and defiles his neighbor's wife, grieves the needy and poor (or oppresses them), commits robbery, does not restore the pledge, and lifts up his eyes to idols, commits abomination, gives to usury, and takes more: shall he live? Since he has done all these detestable things, he shall surely die: his blood shall be upon him.

For "robber" the Hebrew has written PHARIS (פריץ), which the second edition of Aquila renders "sinner"; Symmachus, "transgressor"; the Septuagint and Theodotion translated "pestilent." Now as pestilence creates diseases, and is wont to lay waste indiscriminately the regions upon which it settles, so a pestilent man devastates all things. Let us say first according to the history, that you may know the iniquities of fathers do not redound upon their sons. If the just man does what the previous saying wove through in order, he shall surely live. But if he begets a son who withdraws from the service of the Lord, and exchanges his father's virtues for vices, so that he does what that one did not do, and does not do what that one wrought: can he possibly live? Certainly he shall not live, but shall be guilty of his own blood. Further, according to the spiritual understanding, if a just man of the Church, having preached the evangelical faith, has a son and disciple who has been deceived by heretical error, he will be called pestilent.

Of whom it is also written in the first psalm: And has not sat in the chair of pestilence. And in Proverbs, the confident and impudent and proud man is called pestilent. This one has shed the blood of the deceived, and doubles all sins in himself; eating on the mountains of pride, and defiling the Church of his neighbor, grieving the needy and poor in the knowledge of the Scriptures, oppressing and supplanting them: seizing plunder, those whom he has seduced from the Church: not restoring the pledge which he had received from his master, that he might fulfill what is written: Freely you have received, freely give.

And lifting up his eyes to idols and images which he has fashioned from his own heart, and doing all abominations: and giving money at usury, that he may increase the error of his master by the diligence of disciples; and demanding back from those to whom he has given more than he had given: certainly he cannot live, but shall die in his own blood. (Verse 14 ff.) But if he begets a son who, seeing all the sins of his father which he did, is afraid, and does not do the like: does not eat upon the mountains, and does not lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and does not defile his neighbor's wife, and does not grieve a man, does not keep back the pledge, and does not commit robbery, gives his bread to the hungry, and covers the naked with a garment, turns away his hand from the injury of the poor, does not take usury and overabundance, does my judgments, walks in my precepts: this man shall not die for the iniquity of his father, but shall surely live.

His father, because he practiced calumny, and did violence to his brother, and wrought evil in the midst of his people: behold, he is dead in his own iniquity. Do not, it says, marvel, if the son of a just man, declining to vices and sins, dies. Since on the contrary the son of a sinner and impious man, if he sees the perversity of his father's ways, and turns himself, so that he does not do evil and does good, shall not be held guilty of his father's crimes. Which can also be understood of us, to whom it is said in the Psalms: Hearken, daughter, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your people and your father's house: and the king shall desire your beauty. And we who are begotten of the stock of the Gentiles, that we may leave behind our parents' crimes, and do judgment and justice, and live in it. He repeats therefore what we have pursued more fully above.

And therefore we run through all things briefly, desiring to pass on to those things which are more obscure and new.

Verse 19. And you say: Why has not the son borne the iniquity of the father? Namely, because the son has wrought judgment and justice, has kept all my commandments and done them: he shall surely live. The soul that sins, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, and the father shall not bear the iniquity of the son. The justice of the just shall be upon him, and the impiety of the impious shall be upon him. He resolves the question which the hearer might otherwise have raised. You are wont, he says, to say: Why has not the just son borne the iniquity of the father? To which he himself replies: Namely, because the son has done well, and has not committed the sins of the father. And it is just that, as the sinner dies in his own crime, so the just man should live in his own virtues; and let the soul that has sinned die, and let the soul that has kept the commandments of God live.

Verse 21. But if the wicked man do penance for all his sins which he has committed, and keep all my commandments, and do judgment and justice: he shall surely live, and shall not die. I will not remember all his iniquities which he has done. To such a degree, he says, do the sins of the fathers not redound upon the sons, nor does a wicked father weigh down a just son; nor are others punished for the crimes of others; that the very same man who before was wicked and a sinner, if afterward he does penance, and being converted to better things blots out his former sins, is not judged by the antiquity of his sin, but is received into my flock by the renewal of virtue. And at the same time it must be considered what sort of wicked man and sinner he receives when penitent.

If, he says, he turn himself away from all his sins which he has committed, and keep all the commandments of the Lord, so that he abandons all crimes and follows all virtues; if he do all good things, and forsake all evil things; then I too will forget all his iniquities which he has done.

Verse 23. In his justice which he has done, he shall live. He shall live not so much by my justice as by his own; although it belongs to my justice to render good things to the good, and evil things to the evil. Is it my will that the wicked man should die, says the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his ways, and live? Therefore it is the will of the Lord that all should be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth. Wherever, moreover, the sentence of God appears severe and harsh, it condemns not men, but sins.

Verse 24. But if the just man turn away from his justice, and do iniquity according to all the abominations which the wicked man is wont to do: shall he live? All his righteous deeds which he had done shall not be remembered. In the transgression by which he has transgressed, and in his sin by which he has sinned, in these he shall die. Just as former sins do not weigh down a sinner who was formerly just, so former righteousness does not help a sinner who was formerly just. For each one shall be judged in that state in which he is found.

Verse 25. And you have said: The way of the Lord is not equitable. Hear, O house of Israel: Is not my way equitable, and are not rather your ways perverse? He gives the reasons why the Lord's sentence is just. Do you think me unjust, he says, that I should repay the sins of the fathers upon the sons, and that while some eat the sour grape, the teeth of others should be set on edge? Behold, each one dies in his own sin, and is made alive in his own justice; in both cases it is not the past but the present that is judged. Rather it is your judgment that is unjust, who think a parable is not a parable, but take it as though it were the truth of history, so that the crimes of some are punished in others. Verse 26. For when the just man turns away from his justice and does iniquity, he shall die in them. In the iniquity which he has done he shall die.

This too can be understood thus: The people of Israel, formerly just, turned away from its justice, because it abandoned the author of justice, and did iniquity by denying the Son of God. In the sin and crime which it has committed it shall die: not in many things, but in one, killing the heir, that it might lose the inheritance. Verse 27. And when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has done, and does judgment and justice, he shall save his own soul alive. For considering, and turning himself away from all his iniquities which he has done, he shall surely live, and shall not die. On the other hand, he says, the people of the Gentiles, not having the knowledge of God, and being wicked, if he turn himself away from his wickedness, which he formerly practiced in idolatry, and do those things which were commanded to Israel by the law: he, though formerly dead, shall bring his soul to life.

And seeing that he had perished in the iniquities which he had committed, he shall believe in him who says: I am the way, the truth, and the life: he shall live, and shall not die. Verse 29. And the children of Israel say: The way of the Lord is not equitable. Are not my ways equitable, O house of Israel, and are not rather your ways perverse? Even to this day Israel blasphemes God, asking why he has abandoned his own people and taken up the multitude of the Gentiles. Whom the Lord rebukes, because their ways are perverse, but the sentence of the Lord is just, that, the former husbandmen being destroyed, he should send other laborers into his vineyard. Which the Jews, understanding in the parable of the Gospel, said: Let this not be. Verse 30. Therefore I will judge each one according to his ways, O house of Israel, says the Lord God.

Whether it be from the multitude of the Gentiles or from the people of Israel who are judged: There is no respect of persons with God, but each one shall be crowned by his own faith, and condemned by his impiety and unbelief. Verse 31. Be converted, and do penance for all your iniquities, and iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, by which you have transgressed. This word is properly directed to Israel, that they should do penance and abandon their iniquities, or transgressions, by which they have transgressed against God. But it can also be understood of both peoples: that both Israel and the crowd of the Gentiles, forsaking their vices, should be converted to him who is able to heal their contritions. And make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. That, forsaking the oldness of the letter, you may live in the newness of the spirit. The new heart of Israel is to believe in him whom it had formerly denied.

The new heart of the Gentiles is to abandon idols, and, having despised the worship of the dead, to believe in him who is the God of the living. And why will you die, O house of Israel? It is better, as we have said above, to take this exhortation, in which it is written: Be converted and do penance, as spoken to the person of the Jews, whom he does not wish to die, and to whom he now says: why will you die, O house of Israel, who have as fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, of whom it is written: The God of the living, and not of the dead? Why will you die by your own fault, who ought to live by the merit of the fathers and by my mercy? Verse 32. For I do not desire the death of him who dies (or, of the sinner), says the Lord God: return, and live. I do not wish, he says, that you should die, whom I begot unto salvation.

For I have begotten sons and exalted them; but they have despised me. Return, therefore, and live. It is not said "return" except to those who had formerly been with God, and afterward deserted his company. And live, through penance, you who are dead through sin. Therefore Israel, because it does not return to its former state, must be believed to be dead.

(Verse 1 ff.) And take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, and you shall say: Why did your mother, the lioness, lie down among the lions? In the midst of the young lions she nourished her cubs. And she brought up one of her cubs, and he became a lion, and he learned to catch prey, and to devour men. And the nations heard of him, and not without wounds of their own they took him, and brought him in chains into the land of Egypt. But when she saw that she was weakened, and her hope had perished, she took another of her cubs, and made him a lion.

He went about among the lions, and became a lion. He learned to catch prey and to devour men. He learned to make widows, and to lay their cities waste, and the land was desolated, and its fulness, at the voice of his roaring. And the nations gathered against him on every side out of the provinces, and spread their net over him; in their wounds he was taken. And they put him into a cage; in chains they brought him to the king of Babylon; and they cast him into prison, that his voice should no longer be heard upon the mountains of Israel. The Septuagint: And take up a lamentation over the prince of Israel, and you shall say: Why has your mother become a whelp in the midst of lions? In the midst of lions she multiplied her cubs. And one of her cubs leaped forth; he became a lion, and learned to seize prey; he devoured men; and the nations heard against him.

In their corruption he was taken, and they brought him with a hook into the land of Egypt. And she saw that he was taken away from her, and that her substance had perished, and she took another of her cubs, and made him a lion; and he lived among the lions. He became a lion, and learned to seize prey; he devoured men, and fed in his boldness, and led their cities into the desert, and laid waste the land and its fulness at the voice of his roaring. And the nations round about, out of the regions, set themselves against him, and spread their nets over him. In their corruption he was taken, and they put him in a hook, and he came in a cage to the king of Babylon, and they brought him into prison, that his voice should no longer be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

I know that in this place I have read many explanations, so encumbered with obscurities that they have not so much opened as involved the reading, since they refer all that is written to opposing powers, and describe lions and wars in the heavenly Jerusalem: how one of them was captured, and again another set up in his place, and they adduce many testimonies: that the devil and his companions are wont to be called lions, as in that saying about the apostle Peter: Our adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goes about, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter, 8); and from the Psalms: Deliver not to the beasts a soul confessing to thee. Certainly, when he comes to the history, he says that Johanan the son of Careah was led into Egypt: how he, fleeing with a few men, was called a lion, I cannot tell; and that the other of the lions was Zedekiah, who himself also was led into Babylon.

But leaving explanations of this sort to the judgment of the reader, we will say that, the captivity being near, the prophet is not so much foretelling the future as narrating the past. For after the sixth year of Zedekiah (since indeed we immediately read in what follows: And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month) the lamentation is taken up over the princes, or the prince, of Israel, and it is said: Why did your mother, the lioness, lie down among the lions? The lamentation, therefore, is over the princes, namely all who were begotten of the stock of Josiah. The mother of the princes, Jerusalem, is called a lioness, who bore and nourished the cubs; and she brought up one of her cubs and made him a lion, signifying Joachaz the son of Josiah, whom Pharaoh Necho led into Egypt, and in his place set up Joacim.

When he died, Jechonias his son was made king, and with his mother and the nobles of the city was led by Nebuchadnezzar into Babylon: from whom was born Salathiel, the father of Zorobabel, who took his name from the fact that he was born in Babylon. And it is clear that under the metaphor of the lioness, of the cubs, and of the lion, and again of another lion, are described those things which had already happened at the time when the prophet was speaking these things. For after Jerusalem brought forth from the royal stock Joachaz the son of Josiah, and set him up as king, he showed himself so cruel within a short time, that tropologically he is remembered to have caught prey and devoured men. To whom, when the Egyptian came, he took him not without wounds, or in a pit, as is properly contained in the Hebrew, so as to preserve the tropological capture of lions, which are always wont to be caught in pits.

And he led him with a hook, or in chains, into the land of Egypt, and there he died. When his mother Jerusalem, who had borne him, who had nourished him, who had set him up in the kingdom, saw that her hope had perished, she took Jechonias, the son of Joacim, from among the other kings, and set him up as king. He too, imitating the cruelty of his predecessor, is described under the ferocity of a lion, because he devoured men, made many widows, led cities into the desert; and at the voice of his roaring the whole province was terrified, so that the nations gathered against him, and spread their net over him, and take him in a pit, and put him in a cage, and in chains; not that this was done to Jechonias, for he surrendered himself to the king of Babylon, and was carried off to Chaldea; but that the figure of the lion might be preserved, which is caught in pits, bound with chains, and kept in cages.

Otherwise, according to the history: we read this of Sedecias, who after Jechonias was made king of Jerusalem. And this occasion has arisen, that because chains are read of, and a cage, and prison is named, most understand Sedecias rather than Jechonias. He was therefore kept in prison, and not slain, and only removed from the kingdom. But as for Sedecias, history relates that he was led blind into Babylon, and there immediately slain. (Verses 10 ff.) Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the water: her fruit and her branches grew from many waters. And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bear rule, and her stature was exalted among the branches. And she saw her height in the multitude of her branches: and she was plucked up in wrath, and cast on the ground, and the burning wind dried up her fruit: they withered, and the rods of her strength were dried up, the fire consumed her. And now she is transplanted into the wilderness, in a land impassable and thirsty.

And a fire went out from a rod of her branches, which devoured her fruit, and there was in her no strong rod, the sceptre of them that bear rule: it is bewailed, and shall be for a lamentation. The Septuagint: Thy mother is like a vine, like a flower on pomegranates, planted in water. Her fruit and her shoot became out of much water. And she had a rod of strength for a tribe of leaders: and she was exalted in her greatness in the midst of the branches. And she saw her greatness in the multitude of her branches, and she was broken in fury: she was cast to the ground, and the burning wind dried up her chosen shoots. They were avenged, and the rod of her strength was dried up. Fire consumed her, and now they have planted her in the desert, in a land without water, and fire went out from a rod of her chosen shoots, and devoured her, and there was in her no rod of strength.

The tribe is for a parable of lamentation, and shall be for a mourning. One thing is said in different words. And as above we read that Jerusalem is compared to a beautiful woman, and again to a lioness which nourished lions in her den, so now she is compared to a vine or most beautiful vineyard, which was planted by many waters, and therefore the branches, nourished by the moisture, grew so much that one branch, which Scripture calls a most solid or strongest rod, advanced to the sceptres of them that bear rule. For which the Seventy translated, into a tribe of leaders, that is, that kings should arise from it. So great, moreover, was the beauty of this vineyard, that the splendor of its greenness was compared to the flowers of the pomegranate, which in the Hebrew is said, like a vine in thy blood, the redness of the flowers being compared to blood.

The vineyard, therefore, exalted and lifted up: because God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble, was plucked up in the fury of the Lord and cast to the ground, so that the elegant figure of the vine might preserve the ruins of Jerusalem. For although the vine be beautiful, and be extended by long branches, if you remove the poles and stakes, joined to the ground it withers with heat, especially if the burning wind, which the Greeks call καύσωμα, has dried up its fruit, so that it withers, and is as it were burned with the heat of fire. But what is added in the Septuagint: They were avenged, in place of what is written in the Hebrew, they withered, what consequence it can have, I am not able to know. That vineyard, then, of such fruitfulness, and fruits, and such beauty, how is it now transplanted into the wilderness, into a land impassable and thirsty?

It signifies the land of Babylon, to which they were carried away, or Egypt, whither they fled, or the land of Judea itself, in which a few poor remained, over whom Godolias was set, to gather and rule the remnants of the people. Against whom rose up, from the royal stock, and from a rod of the branches of the vine, Ishmael, who slew him at Maspha, and devoured all the fruit of the vineyard, and thenceforth there was in that vineyard no strong rod, and sceptre of them that bear rule. For none remained of the kings to govern the people, but with Joanna the son of Caree they fled to Egypt. Therefore it is a lamentation, and a parable of mourning, that the royal race, which ceased in Judea beyond, should be mourned, until he should come to whom it was reserved: And he shall be the expectation of nations. From which it is clear that both the former passage, in which it is said: Why did thy mother the lioness lie down among lions?

And this in which it is written: Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood planted by the water, pertain to Jerusalem, which lost her lions and her branches, and there remained in her no rod that might rise into a tribe, or into the sceptres of them that bear rule. For it begins with mourning, and ends in mourning. Take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel. That is, in the beginning and now at the end, it is a lamentation; and with lamentation, and the mourning of the parable, the royal stock is to be followed.

Furthermore, according to the anagogical sense, which others refer to the heavenly Jerusalem, so as to say that from it very many have fallen into this vale of tears, and kings have ceased to be, and a vineyard once most beautiful has been dried up by the burning wind, so that no green branch remained in it, which afterward Jeremias laments under the figure of the city, we understand as concerning the Church, because in the last time, iniquity being multiplied, the charity of many grows cold: so that even the elect of God, if it be possible, may be tried, and her princes be caught in the nets of the devil, who is not content with the capture of one king, but hastens daily to catch kings and princes, according to that which is written: His meats are choice. The branches also of the Church, which formerly were likened to flowers and the redness of blood, are afterward dried up by the wind.

Which exposition the parable of the Gospel also sounds, in which, the sun having risen, the things that had sprung up were scorched, and immediately withered; so that scarcely one of the branches remains which rises into a rod, and becomes a worthy prince of the people. Which Amos speaks in other words: I will bring famine and thirst upon the land: not a famine of bread, nor a thirst of water, but a famine of hearing the words of God. Wherefore we ought to lament and mourn over the princes of Israel, by whose fault and pride Judea was made desolate, and Jerusalem was taken.

(Verse 1.) And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, there came men of the elders of Israel, to inquire of the Lord, and sat before me.

After eleven months and five days from the former vision, the word comes again to the prophet, after there came men of the elders of the house of Israel, to inquire of the Lord, and sat before him. That this was the custom of the people of Israel, that whatever they wished to know from the Lord, they sought through the prophets, many examples testify. Saul, seeking the asses, goes to Samuel, and takes counsel from the servant to offer the prophet a quarter of a shekel. When the son of Jeroboam was sick, his wife is sent to Silo to the prophet Achias, bringing small gifts, loaves and cakes, grapes and a small jar of honey, that she might learn concerning the sickness of the son. David also the prophet inquires of another prophet, Nathan, whether he ought to build a temple to the Lord. And Achab inquires whether he should go up or not to Ramoth Galaad. In Isaiah also, and in the book of Kings, the things that were to come upon Sennacherib are announced.

Nor is it strange if in the Old Testament the prophets announce individually the things that are to come, since we read that Agabus prophesied the things that were to befall Paul. It is written in Deuteronomy: The nations whom the Lord will destroy before thy face shall hearken to these dreams and divinations: but to thee the Lord thy God hath not given it so. For it is the way of the nations to go to Chaldeans, soothsayers, haruspices, diviners, sorcerers, oracles of demons, by which their error is mocked.

Whence now also the elders of Israel come to the prophet, that they may inquire of the Lord through him, and yet they are silent about the inquiry, he who was to be inquired of knowing what they would inquire, so that it might be a miracle in this also, that he knows why they came, and answers those things which the silent speech held in the mind. (Verses 2, 3.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Are you come to inquire of me? As I live, I will not answer you, saith the Lord God. To saints, and to those who inquire of fitting things, the promise is given, while thou art yet speaking I will say: Behold, I am here.

But to sinners, such as were the elders of Israel, whose crimes the prophet describes in what follows, no answer is given; but rebuke for their sins: and he adds an oath: as I live, that the sentence of denial might be more firm. But what the Seventy said, if I shall answer you, Symmachus translated more plainly, I will not answer you. (Verse 4.) If thou judgest them: if thou judgest, son of man. The Septuagint: if I shall have avenged them with vengeance, son of man. They indeed came to inquire of me, desiring to know concerning the things about which they doubt, and the things to come; but thou, son of man, judge them, so that it may not be the prophet's answer, but the sentence of one judging, for the iniquities which they have done, and following the crimes of their fathers.

Or certainly, if I shall have avenged them with vengeance, so that the sense is: They are covered with such iniquity that they are not worthy even of amendment and correction, according to that which is said in the prophet: I will not visit any more upon your daughters, and your daughters-in-law, when they shall have committed adultery (Osee 4). Whence also sinners, who have come into the depth of sin, are let go to do the desires of their heart.

Show them the abominations of their fathers, and thou shalt say to them. The Septuagint: Testify to them the iniquities of their fathers, and thou shalt say to them. If the sins of the fathers do not redound upon the children, how are the abominations and iniquities of the fathers now laid upon the elders? For this reason, evidently, that they may be shown to act like their parents, and to drag, by hereditary evil, a very long cord of sins, so that they may fear the punishments of those whose vices they imitate. (Verses 5, 6.) Thus says the Lord God: In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up my hand for the stock of the house of Jacob, and appeared to them in the land of Egypt, and lifted up my hand for them, saying: I am the Lord your God.

In that day I lifted up my hand for them, that I might bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land which I had provided for them, flowing with milk and honey: which is excellent above all lands. The Septuagint: Thus says the Lord God: From the day that I chose the house of Israel, and made myself known to the seed of the house of Jacob, and was known to them in the land of Egypt, and took them up saying: I am the Lord your God: in that day I took hold of them with my hand, saying: that I might bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land which I had prepared for them, a land flowing with milk and honey: it is a honeycomb beyond every land.

For what the Seventy said, "it is a honeycomb beyond all lands," in place of which we have translated "it is excellent among all lands," the first edition of Aquila set down "firmament"; the second, "renowned"; Symmachus, "region"; Theodotion, "strength"; namely, because this land is the foundation of all lands, because in it is the religion of God, and the temple, and the ceremonies, and the knowledge of God; and to such a degree did the people of Israel, established in Egypt, not know God, that Moses, sent to them, said: If they should ask me, who sent you? What shall I say to them? He said: Say to them: He who is has sent me. In Egypt, therefore, he became known to the people and to the seed of the house of Jacob: when he lifted up his hand for them against the Egyptians, and said: I am the Lord your God, and chose them to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land flowing with milk and honey.

For they were not yet able to take solid food: but like little ones and infants, they needed the milk and honey of infancy. According to the letter indeed, no one can doubt that the land of Judea is renowned, and more fertile than all lands, who has considered the whole land from Rhinocorura all the way to Mount Taurus and the Euphrates river, and the power of its cities and the pleasantness of its regions, namely Palestine and Phoenicia, Arabia, Coele-Syria, Cilicia, and the other regions which the Lord promised again to Israel, if it had kept the commands of God, which regions, because it did not receive, was the fault of its unbelief. For even in Palestine and the province of Judea itself many nations remained, which were not cast out.

For the one who makes a promise is not at fault, if he to whom it is promised has made himself unworthy of the promise: especially since the choice of the one promising is set forth: If you are willing and hear me, you shall eat the good things of the land. But if you are unwilling, the sword shall devour you. The present things, therefore, are chosen: nor can the one who is chosen not be tempted, nor perish; since Saul, chosen as king, and Judas, chosen as an Apostle, afterward fell by their own fault. The lifting up of the hand, or extension, shows the posture of one striking: that he might strike the Egyptians for their sake, and free the people of Israel from Egypt. (Verse 7.) And I said to them: Let every man cast away the offenses of his eyes, and do not be defiled with the idols of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

The Septuagint: And I said to them: Let every man cast away the abominations of his eyes, and let him not be defiled with the inventions of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. In place of "offenses," which in Hebrew are called SECUSE (שקוצי), Symmachus translated "nauseas," the second edition of Aquila, "cuttings off," so as to signify that bleary sights, and as it were nauseas, are to be cast away from the eyes, which not only impede sight but also create vomiting in those who behold them. GELULE (גלולי) likewise is a Hebrew word, which the Seventy render "inventions"; the first edition of Aquila, "defilements"; the second, and Symmachus and Theodotion, translated "idols": whom we also have followed in the present instance. Now he commands those first departing from Egypt to forget the idols whom they served for so long a time, indeed to cast them away from their eyes, so that they might not deem them worthy even of a glance: and by which they were defiled for so long a time, that they no longer acquiesce in them.

I, he says, am the Lord your God; not the portents of Egypt, not the figments of various monsters. But to us also, when we go out from Egypt, it is commanded that we cast away the offenses of our eyes: namely, lest we be delighted by those things by which we were formerly delighted in the world, lest we be defiled by the images of Egypt, namely the inventions of philosophers and heretics, which are rightly named idols. From spectacles too, indeed from the offenses of Egypt, let us remove our eyes, from the arena, the circus, the theaters, and all things which contaminate the purity of the soul, and enter into the mind through the senses; and let that be fulfilled which is written: Death has entered through your windows. (Verse 8.) And they provoked me. The Septuagint: And they withdrew from me. Or as Symmachus translated: They did not acquiesce to me. And immediately, when called, they withdraw from God, so that there is no interval between the calling and the withdrawal.

And this must be noted, that no one withdraws from God, except one who was before with him. Whence also the dragon in the book of Job is called apostate, transgressor, and one who withdraws.

And they would not hear me. Each one did not cast away the abominations of his eyes, nor did they leave the idols of Egypt. The Septuagint: And they would not hear me. They did not cast away the abominations of their eyes, and they did not leave the inventions of Egypt. Therefore, he says, they provoked me, and withdrew from me, because they would not hear me, while free will is preserved to man: and they did all the things which I commanded by law that they should not do: immediately despairing of salvation, and murmuring against Moses, and distrusting the promises of God. Whence it follows: And I said that I would pour out my indignation upon them, and fulfill my wrath upon them in the midst of the land of Egypt.

As soon as I commanded them to leave, or to cast away the offenses of their eyes, and by no means to be defiled with the idols of Egypt, they provoked me, and would not hear the things I had spoken, but on the contrary did the things I had commanded not to be done. Therefore I had decreed that I would pour out fury and my indignation upon them, and fulfill the wrath which I had conceived in mind in the midst of Egypt, because they had not yet gone out of Egypt. For it follows below: I cast them out therefore from the land of Egypt, and led them into the desert.

From which it is shown that they had not yet gone out of Egypt, when he wished to pour out his indignation, and fulfill his wrath upon them, and strike them in the midst of the land of Egypt. (Verse 9.) And I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned before the nations, in the midst of whom they were, and among whom I appeared to them so as to bring them out of the land of Egypt. What I was thinking of doing for the sake of justice, I did not do because of the greatness of my clemency, lest my name be defiled, and it be seen that I had not been able to fulfill what I had promised to Israel. I spared, therefore, my name, lest the nations, among whom I became known to them in the land of Egypt, should have occasion for blaspheming.

Up to this point the prophet describes what he promised them while they were established in the land of Egypt, and how immediately they gave offense, and what the Lord thought against them, and yet did not do. What follows was spoken to them after they had gone out of Egypt. (Verse 10 ff.) I cast them out therefore from the land of Egypt, and led them into the desert, and I gave them my precepts, and I showed them my judgments, which if a man does, he shall live in them. Moreover I also gave them my sabbaths, that it might be a sign between me and them, and that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. And the house of Israel provoked me in the desert: they did not walk in my precepts, and they rejected my judgments, which a man shall do and live in them, and they profaned my sabbaths exceedingly.

I said, therefore, that I would pour out my fury upon them in the desert, and consume them, and I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned before the nations, from whose sight I cast them out. These things are said to those who were led out of Egypt into the desert: that, freed from the vices of the Egyptians, they might more easily fulfill the precepts of God in the wilderness, and do his judgments, and keep the sabbaths. These were given as a sign between the one who gave them, and those to whom they were given, Scripture saying: And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: And you command the children of Israel, saying: See, and keep my sabbaths, which is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you, and keep the sabbath, because it is holy to you. Whoever profanes it shall surely die.

Every one who does work on it, that soul shall be cut off from the midst of his people. Therefore the sabbath and circumcision were given as a sign of the true sabbath, and of the true circumcision: that we may know that we must rest in the perfect and eternal sabbath from the works of the world, and that we must circumcise not the foreskin, but the heart. Whence, working for six days, we rest on the seventh day, that we may do nothing else day and night, except know that all our life is owed to the Lord, and, the week returning, may consecrate ourselves wholly to his name, that through the sanctification of the day we may remember the Lord who sanctifies us. These precepts, and justifications, and the observance of the sabbath the Lord gave in the desert, that, doing them, they might live in them: not that they should pass from them to greater things, as is promised in the Gospel. These things they violated, not once nor a little.

But exceedingly, that the intensification (ἐπίτασις) of the violation might be shown. He said, therefore, and in his own mind decreed, that he would pour out his fury upon them in the desert, and consume them, when he spoke to Moses: Let me alone, and being enraged with fury against them, I will destroy them. But he was unwilling to do it, sparing the Egyptians, and the other nations, lest they be scandalized, and sparing those on whom he had mercy, awaiting the repentance of those converted. And it must be noted that when he was speaking to those established in Egypt, after the offense: I acted, he says, for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned before the nations, from whose sight I cast them out. For then they were still in their midst, because they had not yet gone out. But now, after they had gone out, it is said, "from whose sight I cast them out."

Verse 15. I therefore lifted up my hand over them in the desert, that I might not bring them into the land which I gave them, flowing with milk and honey: the choicest of all lands, because they had cast away my judgments, and had not walked in my precepts, and had violated my sabbaths. For their heart went after idols, and my eye spared them, that I should not slay them, nor did I consume them in the desert. LXX: And I lifted up my hand over them in the desert, that I should altogether not bring them into the land which I gave them: a land flowing with milk and honey; it is a honeycomb beyond every land: because they rejected my ordinances, and did not walk in my precepts, and violated my sabbaths, and walked after the imaginations of their hearts. And my eye spared them, that I should not destroy them, and I did not slay them, in consuming them in the desert.

I had indeed decreed to pour out all my fury upon them, and to destroy and consume them: but I did it for the sake of my name, lest it should be profaned among the nations, namely the Amalekites and the rest, who fought against them in the wilderness, so that I should by no means bring them into the land which I had promised them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the choicest of all lands, or a honeycomb. Now the cause of this punishment and sentence is that they had cast away my judgments, and had not walked in my precepts, and had violated my sabbaths. And the cause of this cause is, that they did not do these things, because their heart followed the idols of Egypt. But my eye spared, he says, that I should not slay them and destroy them, nor utterly consume them.

Here it is asked how he spared them, whose corpses fell in the wilderness, and, except Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, none entered the land of promise. From which we understand that they lived, and were not reserved for eternal punishments, nor blotted out of the book of the living, nor consumed before the face of the Lord. For if because they were not brought into the land of promise they are to be believed to have perished, then Moses too perished, who only saw the land of promise and did not enter into it. Of whom the Lord speaks in the book of Joshua: Moses my servant is dead. And in Malachi: Remember the law of Moses my servant. And in Jeremiah, God speaks of him as of a friend and most intimate acquaintance: If Moses and Samuel stood before my face.

Otherwise we must also believe that the prayers of Moses were heard, when interceding for the people he said: If thou forgivest them their sin, forgive; but if not, blot me out of thy book which thou hast written. But that we may know that the sentence of God upon his sons and servants is not for destruction but for correction, let us hear the testimonies of the Scriptures. My son, do not refuse the discipline of the Lord, neither faint when thou art rebuked by him. For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth; and he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. And in another place: When he slew them, then they sought him. And in the Song of Deuteronomy: I will kill, and I will make alive.

We may also say this according to the letter, that he did not destroy them nor consume them together with their stock and offspring, but, the fathers having been slain, he spared the sons, whom he brought into the land of promise. (Ver. 18 seqq.) But I said to their sons in the wilderness: Walk not in the precepts (or statutes) of your fathers, neither keep their judgments, nor be defiled with their idols (or thoughts). I am the Lord your God. Walk in my precepts, and keep my judgments, and do them, and sanctify my sabbaths, that it may be a sign between me and you, and that it may be known (or that you may know) that I am the Lord your God. After the slaying of the fathers who fell in the wilderness, he gives precepts to the sons, in whose salvation he had mercy on the fathers.

And my eye spared, he says, that I should not utterly slay them and destroy them, but reserve the fathers in the sons; and he attests the same things which he had spoken also to the fathers; that after they have walked in his precepts, and kept his judgments, and observed the sanctification of the sabbath which is given as a sign, then they may know that he himself is the Lord their God. Now the precepts and statutes of the fathers, and their judgments, signify an inveterate error: that they should not imitate the sins of those whose torments they behold. Verse 21. And the sons provoked me, they did not walk in my precepts, and did not keep my judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall live in them, and they violated my sabbaths. And I threatened to pour out my fury upon them, and to fulfil my wrath in them in the desert.

But I withdrew my hand, and did it for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned before the nations, from among whom I brought them out in their sight. But the sons also, he says, followed the crimes of their parents, and did all that they had done; whence they too deserved a like sentence; but by the same greatness of my mercy by which their fathers were spared, they too were reserved, and for the same causes for which I had mercy on the fathers: that I, the one and same Creator of both, might mitigate my wrath with like patience. We have run through the plain things, and now pass to the more obscure. (Ver. 23, 24 seq.) Again I lifted up my hand against them in the wilderness, that I might scatter them among the nations, and winnow them into the lands: because they had not done my judgments, and had rejected my precepts, and had violated my sabbaths, and their eyes had gone after the idols (or thoughts) of their fathers.

Therefore I also gave them precepts that were not good, and judgments in which they shall not live, and I polluted them in their own gifts, when they offered (or passed through) everything that opens the womb (for which the LXX translated, that I might destroy them, and that which they had passed over): and they shall know that I am the Lord. Where in the Old Testament, against the sons of those who fell in the wilderness, the Lord lifted up his hand, wishing to scatter them among the nations, Scripture does not say; but from the fact that he relates it here, it must be believed to have happened.

Or this signifies that after they entered the land of promise, at various times, on account of many sins, they were delivered to different nations and kings, and at that time what by their own nature were good precepts of the Lord, and judgments in which believers might live, became to them not good, since they were in no wise able, in the captivity of the law, to keep the precepts and do what the divine word had commanded. Nor did he say, I gave them evil precepts, but, not good. For it does not follow immediately that what is not good is evil; just as the Apostle also teaches that it is good for a man not to touch a woman; but on account of incontinency let each one possess his own vessel in sanctification and chastity. But if he does not do so, it is neither good nor evil.

Therefore God gave to those scattered among the nations precepts that were not good, that is, he gave them over to their own thoughts and desires, that they might do what was not fitting. And he polluted them in their gifts: just as a priest, separating lepers from the people, and showing them to be polluted; while they offered to idols what they ought to have offered to God. And they passed through the fire of Baal everything that opens the womb, that is, the firstborn; that after they had been forsaken by God, and given over to the worship of idols, then they might understand that he himself is the Lord, whom by their own fault they had provoked to wrath. This passage Symmachus interpreted more clearly, putting the future for the past.

Therefore I also will give them precepts that are not good, and judgments on account of which they shall not live, and I will pollute them on account of their gifts, because they consecrate and pass through everything that opens the womb, that I may destroy them, and they shall know that I am the Lord. And the sense is: Because I saw the sons made equal to the crimes of the fathers, and doing the same things on account of which they had offended God, I wished to divide them among the nations, and to scatter them throughout the whole world, and to give them precepts that were not good; and judgments in which they should not live, that I might pollute them in their gifts, because they consecrated all the firstborn to idols, and might destroy them forever, and they might know that I was the Lord.

By which he shows that he did not give precepts that were not good to those who dwelt in the wilderness, but to those whom he wished to scatter among the nations, and to make wanderers in the whole world, he thought to give what he did not give: that there they might make the good precepts of God, by their own fault, not good, while they offered to idols what God had commanded to be offered to himself. It may also be said that before the offense they received only the decalogue; but after idolatry and blasphemy, the manifold ceremonies of the law, that they might rather offer to God the victims which they were offering to demons, and, by comparison with sacrilege, that which was not in itself good, and yet by no means evil, might become lighter, because it was offered to God, and yet not good, because they offended the author of good.

(Ver. 27, 29 seq.) Wherefore speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Yet further in this your fathers blasphemed me, when they had despised me, scorning me, and I had brought them into the land over which I had lifted up my hand, that I might give it to them: they saw every high hill, and every leafy tree, and there they immolated their victims, and there they gave the provocation of their offering, and there they set the odor of their sweetness, and there they poured out their libations. And I said to them: What is the high place to which you go in? And its name was called high place unto this day.

LXX: Therefore speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and say to them: Thus saith Adonai the Lord: Even unto this your fathers provoked me to anger by their transgressions, by which they fell against me, and I brought them into the land over which I lifted up my hand, that I should give it to them. And they saw every high hill, and every leafy tree, and there they sacrificed to their gods, and there they set the fury of their gifts, and there they set the odor of their fragrance, and there they poured out their libations. And I said to them: What is Abbana, that you go in there? And they called its name Abbana unto this day.

I wished, he says, since they were sinning in the wilderness, to scatter them into all the nations, and to give them precepts that were not good, so that what they ought to have offered to me, they might sacrifice to idols, and consecrate to them by fire all their firstlings, that I might slay them and destroy them. But when he says, I wished, he shows that he did not do what he wished. And that which follows: And they shall know that I am the Lord, is not found in the LXX. For it did not seem to them consistent that after their slaying they should come to know that he is the Lord.

But you, son of man, speak again to them, that is, to the elders of the house of Israel, who came to question you: Your fathers, from whose stock you are descended, even in this blasphemed me, and held me for nothing; after I had brought them into the land which by my strength they possessed, which I had given to them to possess, they turned to provoke me. For when they had seen every high hill, and leafy tree, they sacrificed on the mountains, and in the groves and thickets, and offered victims to idols, and poured out libations, which when I saw, I said to them: What is BAMA? For this is interpreted "high place": or why do you go into such a place, which you have chosen for yourselves on every hill, so that even to this day such places are called BAMOTH, and the ancient error retains its former name?

Instead of BAMA, which we render "high place," in the Septuagint edition an error prevailed, so that it is written ἀββανά, which means nothing in the Hebrew tongue. BAMA (במה), if you divide both syllables into two words, can signify "in which"; but in the present passage that sense does not fit. But wherever in the books of Kings and Chronicles it is written: The people still burned incense and sacrificed on the high place, BAMA in the singular, and BAMOTH (במות) in the plural signify "high places." (Verses 30, 31.) Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: In the way of your fathers you are defiled, and after their stumbling-blocks you go a-whoring. And in the offering of your gifts, when you make your sons pass through the fire, you are defiled in all your idols even to this day, and shall I answer you, house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not answer you.

You imitate the vices of your fathers, and you walk in the same ways, so that like offences might deserve like punishment, and you have advanced to such wickedness that you consecrate your sons through the fire to demons; nor does it suffice to have done this once, but you go on doing the same even to the present. Not that the elders in captivity do these things, but that those who were staying at Jerusalem, and upon whom captivity was hanging, do not cease to do all these things. And when you are bound by such crimes, he says, do you seek my answer? As I live, says the Lord God, and I swear by myself, that I will not answer you, and what follows: (Verses 32, 33.) Neither shall the thought of your mind come to pass, of those saying, we shall be like the nations, and like the families of the earth, so as to worship wood and stone.

As I live, says the Lord God, in a strong hand, and in an outstretched arm, and in wrath poured out, I will reign over you. This is the sense: Do not think that your thoughts, with which you blaspheme against me, can be fulfilled; for you say: We do not wish to be under the Lord, nor to be called his people: but just as there are nations throughout the whole world, and each nation lives by its own judgment, worshiping wood and stone and serving idols, so we too will be one nation among many.

To which God responds, and swears by himself and says: I will not abandon you nor despise you, as masters are wont to disregard fugitive and negligent servants, but I will draw you back to my rule, and with outstretched and striking arm and wrath poured out, I will reduce you to your former servitude, and I will reign over you: so that whether you will or not, you shall have me as king, and you shall feel an angry king, whose clemency you neglected. (Verse 34.) And I will bring you out from the peoples, and gather you from the lands in which you are scattered: with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out I will reign over you. Nor, he says, will I allow you to remain among the nations, nor to be held in eternal captivity, but I will bring you out from the peoples, and gather you from the lands into which hostile necessity has scattered you here and there for servitude.

But I will do these things, not to destroy and blot you out, but that I may be your king. From this we understand that even that which the heretics call the cruelty of the Creator resounds with clemency: while he becomes angry for this purpose, and rages, and pours out all his fury, that he may draw back to his kingdom those who chose the tyranny of demons for their servitude. (Verses 35, 36, and following.) And I will bring you into the desert of the peoples, and there I will be judged with you face to face. As I contended in judgment against your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt, so will I judge you, says the Lord.

And I will subject you to my scepter, and bring you into the bonds of the covenant, and I will choose from among you the transgressors and the impious: I will bring them out of the land of their sojourning, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord. I will do, says the Lord, to you who are in Babylon, and now serve idols, what I did to your fathers in Egypt, that I may bring you into the desert of the peoples, and there be judged with you face to face, as I contended in judgment against them, when they went out of Egypt. And after I have judged you, I will subject you to my scepter and rule, and I will enter into a covenant with you, and bring you into your land in the bonds of love, so that, bound by my love, you can in no way withdraw from me.

But the transgressors and impious, who persist in evil works through hardness of heart, I will choose from among you, not to be possessed, but to be cast away. And I will indeed lead them out of the land of their sojourning, so that having been led out they may not enter the land of Israel; but perish in various regions: and by the distinction of good and evil you shall know that I am the Lord, who does all things in judgment. The discourse hastens on to the rest, and we run briefly through each point, that we may offer only the sense to readers. (Verse 39.) And you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: each one, go after your idols, and serve them.

But if in this too you do not listen to me, and pollute my holy name any further in your gifts and in your idols. The Seventy: And you, house of Israel, thus says Adonai the Lord: Let each one take away his own devisings: and after this, if you shall listen to me, and shall no longer pollute my holy name in your gifts and in your pursuits. This passage Symmachus interpreted more clearly: Each of you, going after your idols, serve them, because you have refused to listen to me: but do not any further pollute my holy name through your gifts and images. But in my holy mountain, in the high mountain of Israel, says the Lord God, there all the house of Israel shall serve me. The translation of Symmachus has this sense: Because you do not wish to serve me, go and serve idols, and tread the footsteps of your images.

For you do not wish to listen to me, so that in no way will you offer sacrifices to me, nor burn incense, nor be called my people. For my worshipers will by no means serve me in groves, and shrines, and places of idols, which you do; but in my holy mountain, in the high mountain of Israel. Moreover the Seventy explain their own sense. Abandon your former thoughts, and take away the sins of your evil devisings: and if after this you shall listen to me, and shall not pollute my name in your gifts and images: then on my holy mountain you will offer me victims, and serve me, O whole house of Israel. Aquila, however, agreeing with Symmachus in part, differs in part: Go, he says, after your idols, and serve them, because you are unworthy of my rule, nor does your worship delight me.

But if in this too you shall by no means listen to me, but shall pollute my holy name, while you pretend to offer to me what you offer to idols, and commit blasphemy against my name alone, such that you, who are worshipers of idols, call yourselves mine; know this, that on my holy mountain, on the high mountain of Israel, there all the house of Israel shall serve me, not you who serve idols: but all the house of Israel that shall afterward believe. (Verses 40, 41.) But on my holy mountain, on the high mountain of Israel, says the Lord God: there all the house of Israel shall serve me: all, I say, in the land in which they shall please me, and there I will require your firstfruits, and the beginning of your tithes, in all your sanctifications, I will receive you in an odor of sweetness, when I shall have brought you out from the peoples, and gathered you from the lands into which you are scattered, and I will be sanctified in you in the eyes of the nations, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

Concerning this mountain, on which all the house of Israel shall serve God, Isaiah and Micah sang with equal voice: In the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be manifest on the top of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up above the hills, and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall go, and shall say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And again Isaiah: Go up, he says, onto a high mountain, you who announce good tidings to Zion: lift up and exalt your voice, you who bring good tidings to Jerusalem.

By this mountain we understand either Zion, or the Church, which is interpreted as "watchtower," and is established on the height of holy doctrines: or the Lord Savior himself, in whom both firstfruits, and tithes, and all worship are turned into an odor of sweetness: so that all the surrounding nations, seeing that the people of the Lord have been saved, may glorify God, and those who have been saved may know that he himself is the Lord. (Verse 42.) When I shall have brought you into the land of Israel: into the land for which I lifted up my hand, to give it to your fathers.

Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when, he says, I shall have brought you into the land of Israel, for which I lifted up my hand, that I might bring your fathers into it, which they lost by their own fault, and which you have received not so much by your own merit as by my clemency. (Verses 43, 44.) And you shall remember your ways, and all your crimes, by which you were defiled in them: and you shall be displeasing to yourselves in your own sight, for all your evil deeds which you have done, and you shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have done good to you for my name's sake: not according to your evil ways, and according to your most wicked crimes, house of Israel, says the Lord God.

We cannot remember our crimes and vices unless we have been brought into the land of Israel, and there, once established, say with the Apostle: I who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. And you shall be displeasing, he says, to yourselves in your own sight, for all your evil deeds which you have done. Or, as Symmachus interpreted it: And you shall seem to yourselves as little children, on account of all the evil deeds which you have wrought, so that after they have been exalted, they may believe themselves humble: because the Lord gives grace to the humble. And it is written elsewhere: Before destruction the heart of man is exalted, and before honor is humbled. For pride is followed by destruction, and humility by exaltation. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have done good to you.

And we have known the Lord Savior all the more, when he did good to us, and suffered for our sins, and bore our iniquities, and grieved for us; not for any merit of those who are saved, but for his own name's sake. Otherwise our ways and most wicked crimes would have deserved not mercy but punishment. But whatever we have said concerning the people of Israel, who, freed from Egypt, committed many things in the wilderness, and offended God, and afterward, having been brought into the land of promise, worshiped idols, and revered wood and stone, and afterward was preserved by the clemency of God—let us apply this to those who have been freed from the Egypt of this world by the high hand of the Lord, and, brought into the wilderness of vices, again sighed for Egypt, and did those things for which they ought to have been punished: but nonetheless, through repentance, were preserved not by their own merit, but by the clemency of the Lord.

239-240. Long ago, as boys, we read: Nothing is so easy that it does not become difficult, when you do it unwillingly. I confess that I promised explanations on Ezekiel a long time before, and that, occupied by the arrival of people coming here from the whole world, I have not been able to fulfill this promise: since there is no hour, and no moment, in which we do not meet crowds of brothers, and we exchange the solitude of the monastery for a throng of guests: so much so that either the door must be closed to us, or the study of the Scriptures, through which the doors are to be opened, must be abandoned. And so, in the stolen—nay, plundered—hours of the nights, which as winter approaches have begun to grow longer, we try, by this little lamp, to dictate whatever we can, and to dispel the weariness of a heart in turmoil through interpretation.

Nor do we boast, as some perhaps suspect, of our reception of the brothers, but we simply confess the causes of our delays: especially since the flight of the Westerners, and the crowding of the holy places by the destitute in their nakedness and wounds, displays the fury of the barbarians. We cannot behold without tears and groaning that former power and ignorance of riches has come to such poverty, that it lacks shelter, food, and clothing; and yet the harsh and cruel minds of certain persons are in no way softened, while they ransack their little rags and bundles, seeking gold even amid captivity. To this difficulty of dictating is added the fact that, with eyes growing dim from old age, and enduring something of the affliction of blessed Isaac, we are by no means able to read again the volumes of the Hebrews by lamplight at night, which even by the brightness of sun and day are blinded to us by the smallness of the letters.

But even the commentaries of the Greeks we know only by the voice of the brothers. And there is no doubt that food chewed by others' teeth causes nausea to those who eat it. Wherefore I beg you, daughter Eustochium, that you take up these things which we hammer out by the stylus of the notaries, and which we scarcely have space to correct, that is, that you begin the seventh book, and, as I have already said before, if the brevity or length of the books should prove unequal among themselves, you should attribute this to the brevity and length of the visions, or rather of the ὑποθέσεις (subject-matters), since we are unwilling either to separate what is joined, or to compress into one heap things that are discordant.

(Verses 45 ff.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set your face toward the way of the South, and drop toward the Southwest, and prophesy toward the forest of the field of the south.

And you shall say to the forest of the south: Hear the word of the Lord: thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and I will burn in you every green tree and every dry tree: the flame of the burning shall not be quenched, and every face shall be burned in it from the South even to the North. And all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it, and it shall not be quenched. And I said, ah, ah, ah, Lord God: they say of me, Does not this man speak in parables? The Seventy: And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set your face firmly against Theman, and look toward Darom, prophesy against the forest, the leader Mageb, and you shall say to the forest Nageb: Hear the word of the Lord, thus says the Lord: Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour in you every green tree and dry tree.

The kindled flame shall not be quenched, and every face shall burn in it from the south even to the North: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord have kindled it: it shall not be quenched. And I said: By no means, Lord, Lord: they say to me, Is this not a parable that is spoken? What "set" or "make firm your face" signifies we have said more fully above. For a firming of the countenance is needed, and hardness of brow, so that the Prophet may speak fearlessly the things commanded him, especially since sad tidings had been announced to the whole multitude of the people. As for Theman and Darom and Nageb; and again Nageb, for which the Seventy translated ἀπηλιώτην (east wind), what these sound in Hebrew our translation has expressed.

And what they said, "leader Nageb," is better rendered in the Hebrew as "of the field," or "of the southern region." For it is not written SARE (שׂר), as the Seventy supposed, which word means leader and prince, but SADE, which properly signifies a field or region, and because of the similarity of the letters DALETH and RESH, the error crept in. Now the divine word speaks by the metaphor of a forest against Jerusalem, which is the dwelling place of beasts and fierce men: that he kindles it, and all its wood is burned up—calling them not trees which needed fruits, but wood as it were prepared for burning. And first he burns in it the green wood, according to what we read in this same Prophet: "And begin at my sanctuary"; and afterward the dry, which could have nothing living in itself: namely the saints together with the sinners, so that some escape the evils of captivity by death; others are handed over to eternal punishments.

And what he adds: "From the South even to the North," this indicates, from Jerusalem even to Babylon: so that the whole way of those going into captivity may be filled with those falling by sword, famine, and pestilence. For to those who are in Babylon, Jerusalem is situated to the South; just as, on the contrary, the pot in Jeremiah which signifies Jerusalem is kindled from the face of the North, that is, of Babylon. And beautifully at the beginning it says: "drop toward the Southwest"; so that not the whole wrath of God may seem to be poured out, but a certain drop and part. But if a drop is of such savagery, what must be reckoned of the whole downpour? So that all flesh, which is to see the salvation of God, through the burning of the forests and the flame which is quenched by no help, may know that he himself is the Lord. Understanding this the Prophet answered, ah, ah, ah, Lord God: or as the Seventy translated, by no means, Lord, Lord.

And he adds: And they say to me, Does not this man speak in parables? Or is this a parable that is spoken? And the sense is: Speak more plainly, we do not understand what you say by parable: reveal to us the meaning of God's word in open speech. But tropologically, Theman and Nageb and Darom can be understood as Egypt: for we read in Daniel that the South is often taken for Egypt, and Egypt is referred to the straits of this world. Ezechiel therefore prophesies what evils are to come upon the world, which he calls a forest, having no fruit-bearing trees, but a habitation of beasts. Of which also in the twenty-eighth psalm it is said: "The voice of the Lord makes the deer complete, and he will reveal the thickets of the forests". These are the forests and the woodland which devoured more in the battle of Absalom's army than the sword slew.

And in the forests first the green wood is burned, and then the dry: those who live in evil, and those who have died to righteousness. And what is said: "And every face shall be burned in it from the South even to the North," this means: from those who seemed fervent in spirit, even to those who, as iniquity increased and the love of many grew cold, lost their pristine warmth; so that all flesh may perceive that the flame of the Lord is not quenched. And the prophet prays that what the Lord threatened may not happen: that is, that the forest not be kindled and all the wood burned up; so that either they may still receive a place for repentance, or that the necessity of announcing sad things not be imposed on him: especially since the people do not understand them, and by the obscurity of the sayings are rather provoked to madness.

(Verses 1 ff.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and drop toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the ground of Israel, and you shall say to the land of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I come against you, and I will draw my sword out of its sheath, and I will kill in you the just and the wicked. But because I have killed in you the just and the wicked: therefore my sword shall go forth out of its sheath against all flesh, from the South even to the North. And all flesh shall know that I the Lord have drawn my sword out of its sheath never to return.

The Seventy: And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Therefore prophesy, son of man: and set your face firmly against Jerusalem, and look toward their holy things, and prophesy over the land of Israel, and you shall say to the land of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I come against you, and I will bring out my sword from its sheath, and I will kill from you the unjust and the wicked. Thus my sword shall go forth out of its sheath upon all flesh from the South even to the North, and all flesh shall know that I the Lord have brought my sword out of its sheath: it shall not return again.

Because he had said above: "They say of me, Does not this man speak in parables?" and the people demanded a plain statement: therefore what the Lord had spoken by metaphor or parable, or as others rendered it, by proverb, he now speaks more openly, that the forest of Nageb and Darom and Theman is Jerusalem, and its temple, the holy of holies, and the whole land of Judea; and that the flame which is to burn the forest is understood to be the devouring sword, which is drawn out of its sheath to kill the just and the wicked. This indeed is the green wood and the dry wood. Whence also the Lord: "If they do these things in the green wood, what shall be done in the dry"? For which, wanting I know not what, the Seventy translated "the unjust and the wicked," as though the two did not signify the same thing.

And what he had said there: "And all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it," that is, the forest, or the flame, "and it shall not be quenched," here he speaks in other words: "So that all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn my sword out of its sheath never to return." For truly against Jerusalem the flame has not been laid to rest, nor the fire quenched, nor the sword recalled, because in a little time thereafter Jerusalem with its temple was burned by the fire of Babylon. (Verses 6, 7.) And you, son of man, groan with the breaking of your loins, and groan with bitterness before them. And when they say to you, Why do you groan? You shall say: Because of the report, for it comes, and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be loosed, and every spirit shall be weakened, and water shall flow through all knees. Behold it comes and it shall be, says the Lord.

The Seventy: And you, son of man, groan with the breaking of your loins, and groan in sorrows before them. And it shall be, if they say to you, Why do you groan? You shall say: Because of the tidings, for it comes, and every heart shall be seized with dread, and all hands shall be loosed, and all flesh and every spirit shall faint, and all thighs shall be defiled with moisture. Behold it comes and it shall be, says the Lord God.

First he had said: prophesy, or drop toward the South, the Southwest and the Meridian, and toward the forest of the south. Because this seemed obscure, and the people did not know what the prophet's words meant, it is set forth a second time more clearly, that the southern forest is Jerusalem, and all the unfruitful trees at whose roots the axe is laid are understood to be its inhabitants: and that the sword is to be interpreted as fire. Third, the prophet is bidden that, since they were silent and not asking why he had prophesied these things, he should do something by which he would be questioned, and answer what the Lord had spoken. Groan, he says, wail, not with a light voice nor with moderate sorrow, but with the breaking of the loins, so that your groan may be brought forth from the innermost bowels and the bitterness of soul.

And you shall do this before them: so that when they ask you why you are so broken with groaning, and what evil has befallen you that you groan so, you may answer them with my word: I mourn for this reason, and I cannot conceal the sorrow of my heart, because the report which had always sounded in my ears is now fulfilled in deed and comes: namely the raging army of Babylon now imminent. When it comes and besieges Jerusalem, then every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be loosed: so that, as fear seizes men's minds, none dares to resist. For the spirit of all the warriors shall be weakened, and such trembling and dread shall seize them all, that, fear compelling, their limbs and bowels are loosed, and the bladder cannot hold its moisture; so that the knees are defiled with urine. For it is natural that, under the compulsion of fear, the bladder is relaxed, and moisture flows out against the will of the man.

This indeed is also wont to happen in the severity of illnesses, so that after the strength of the sick has failed, not only the knees but also the beds are defiled. Behold, he says, it comes, which I have often foretold, and is fulfilled in deed and shall come to pass, what not I, but the Lord has spoken. I know that someone has gathered many testimonies concerning "the breaking of the loins" and "the flowing of waters," so that the chastity of the prophet might be fulfilled, and the bitterness of soul and the inward grief of mind, in that the waters of seed defile the knees. But this exposition does not pertain to the present passage. (Verse 8. Seqq.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, prophesy, and say: Thus saith the Lord God, speak: Sword, sword, it is sharpened and furbished, that it may slay victims, it is sharpened, that it may glitter, it is furbished: thou who movest the sceptre of my son, thou hast cut down every tree.

And I have given it to be furbished, that it may be held in the hand: this sword is sharpened, and this is furbished, that it may be in the hand of the slayer. Cry and howl, son of man, for this is come upon my people, this upon all the princes of Israel. They that had fled are delivered to the sword with my people: therefore smite upon thy thigh, because it is tried, and this when it shall have overthrown the sceptre, and it shall not be, saith the Lord God. Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and strike hand to hand, and let the sword be doubled, yea, let the sword of the slain be tripled. This is the sword of the great slaughter, which makes them stupefied, and their heart to melt, and multiplies the ruins. In all their gates I have set the terror of the sharp sword furbished to glitter: girded for slaughter. Be sharpened, go to the right hand or to the left, whithersoever thy face is set.

Yea, I also will clap hand to hand, and will satisfy my indignation, I the Lord have spoken. It would be a great matter if I were to set down both editions, and the length of the books would be extended: especially where there is either no difference, or but a slight one. I will therefore set down some points of difference. For that which we have said: Thou who movest the sceptre of my son, thou hast cut down every tree, they rendered: Slay, despise, repel every tree. Again, where we said: They that had fled are delivered to the sword, they and others rendered: My guests, or inhabitants. And where we said: Smite upon thy thigh, they put: Strike with the hand. And where we translated: And this when it shall have overthrown the sceptre, their edition has: The tribe is rejected. Now he speaks to the sword of Nebuchadnezzar, that it may come against Jerusalem, that it may be sharpened and furbished, for many are to be slain; and he makes an apostrophe to it itself.

Thou art he who movest and overturnest the sceptre of my son, that is, the dominion of the people of Israel, and cuttest down every tree, the whole multitude of the people. I have given, he says, this sword, that it may be held in the hand of Nebuchadnezzar; and be in the hand of a most mighty man. Wherefore, O prophet, cry out and howl, and with the lamentation of thy voice attest the pressing evils. This sword has spared none, nor left any of the impending evils untried. It has come upon the people, it has come upon the princes of Israel, it has come upon my guests and the priests who dwelt in my temple. Therefore smite upon the thigh, or the hand, and take on the posture of one mourning. For this sword is proved by me, and this, when it shall have overthrown my sceptre and kingdom, which shall be no more, and shall be ended in Sedecias the king.

Again I command thee, O prophet, that thou who hadst smitten thy thigh for astonishment and wonder, shouldst also smite thy hands, that not once only, but a second and a third time the sword may come to slay. For the first time Nebuchadnezzar had come, when he took Jechonias: and the second time, when Joacim reigned: the third time, when Sedecias reigned. And this is the sword tripled, when a great slaughter was made, and it multiplied ruins to such a degree that they were stupefied in mind, and melted in heart, and he set terror in all their gates. It is commanded therefore to it, that is, to the sword sharp and furbished to glitter, and girded and made ready, and prepared for slaughter, that it go either to the right, if it will, or to the left. Wheresoever, he says, it shall please thy face, go boldly, having me for guide, me for helper. I will clap hand to hand, that I may urge thee on, raging against my adversaries, as thy favorer and exhorter.

Doubt not, fear not, and be not afraid to suffer what Sennacherib suffered: I the Lord have spoken, thou art the minister of my will, fulfill my sentence. We can, according to the anagogical sense, take the sharp sword prepared for slaughter as the devil, of whom the Apostle says: To deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved. And in another place: Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. And in the Psalms it is written: He sent forth the fury of his anger, and indignation, and trouble, sent by evil angels. Some think that this was the sword in the hand of the angel also, when Jerusalem was struck under David.

But others suspect that it is spoken also of that sword of which it is written in the Gospel: I came not to send peace upon earth, but a sword; and to divide from one another every affection of kinship, that the wicked may fall, and the saints may rise again. But it is impious to believe this of the sword of the Savior, and rather it should be understood of the devil, who overturns the sceptres of the Lord in the Church, who slays all in the people, and the princes, and the guests of God: and then is he approved by the Lord, when he shall have overthrown Judas the traitor and those like him. Who after he had eaten the morsel, Satan entered into him. And the sword of the slain is doubled and tripled, that the sin of Jerusalem may be loosed, because she has received from the hand of the Lord double for her sins.

But the Lord rejoices and exults, and is the exhorter of the raging sword, that it may go either to the right or to the left, and whithersoever the desire of its face shall have carried it, that, the wicked being slain, the good may remain, and that may be fulfilled which is written: What is the chaff to the wheat? Saith the Lord. (Verse 18. Seqq.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: And thou, son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come. Both shall come forth out of one land, and he shall take a conjecture by his hand: at the head of the way of the city he shall conjecture. Thou shalt appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and to Judah, and to Jerusalem the fortified. For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of two ways, seeking divination, mingling arrows. He asked the idols, he consulted the entrails.

At his right hand was the divination made concerning Jerusalem, that he should set battering rams, that he should open the mouth in slaughter, that he should lift up the voice with howling, that he should set battering rams against the gates, that he should bring an embankment, that he should build fortifications. And it shall be unto them as a vain oracle in their eyes, imitating the rest of the sabbaths; but he himself will remember the iniquity for the taking. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because you have called to remembrance your iniquities, and have disclosed your transgressions, and your sins have appeared in all your thoughts; because, I say, you have called to remembrance, you shall be taken by hand.

I know that in this place, following the Septuagint interpreters, I have read a certain multiple exposition of someone, referring Rabbath of the children of Ammon to the people of the Gentiles: but Judah and Jerusalem to those who are gathered under the name of Christ, and who give by their deeds the dignity of the name; and that the king of confusion, the devil, stands at every head of the ways, and lies in wait secretly; and that this verse is fulfilled: Beside the path they have laid a stumbling-block for me; and that he stands at the parting of the way, either wishing to hold those who are his own, or to acquire new service for himself; and that he always proceeds to the right, that is, to those who are placed on the right side, that he may subdue them, that he may exult in the slaughter, that with battering rams and the heaping up of earthly works he may take miserable Jerusalem; and at first indeed, that it may seem to him that he accomplishes nothing, and strives in vain.

But when he calls to mind the iniquities of those who dwell in the Church, nay rather by evil works bring back the adverse powers to the memory of former sins, all the sins of the people and their thoughts are laid open, and therefore they are taken, because they have heaped new offenses upon old. This another may say; but we must pursue the truth of the history we have begun. When, he says, the divine word had said to me: Prophesy, son of man, and speak to the sword, and say: Sword, sword, and the rest that is contained in the prophecy concerning the sword; a second time the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Wilt thou, son of man, know who this sword is, and learn more plainly the person of the raging sword?

Listen to what I say: appoint two ways, that through them the sword of the king of Babylon may come, who indeed will go forth by one road of the Chaldeans, but when he shall have come through the desert and the wilderness to the parting of the ways of the land of Arabia, which is called of the children of Ammon, of which ways one leads to Jerusalem on the right hand, but the left to Rabbath of the children of Ammon, which is the chief city, and today is called Philadelphia: mindful, he says, of the destruction that befell the king of the Assyrians, when a hundred eighty-five thousand were slain in one night, he will fear to turn to the right hand, and to go against the most fortified Jerusalem; but he will stand at that very crossroad, and after the manner of his nation will consult the oracle, that he may put his arrows into the quiver, and mingle them, inscribed or marked with the names of each, that he may see whose arrow comes out, and which city he ought first to attack.

This the Greeks call belomancy, or rhabdomancy. He asked therefore the idols; he consulted the entrails. To the right hand was his divination made, that he should proceed against Jerusalem, and attack it, bring up embankments, set battering rams, build fortifications, and shut up the city, and open his mouth in slaughter, and stir up the roar of an exulting and howling army. This, he says, doing, it will seem to the inhabitants of Jerusalem that he consults the oracle in vain; and as it were wears away the rest of the sabbaths, that is, plays, and accomplishes no work. But the king of Babylon will trust, not in his own strength, but in the iniquity of the people, which he knows they have offended God with, and have heaped new offenses upon the sins of their fathers, and their transgressions have become manifest to all; and therefore he will not doubt of victory, because he will trust in the iniquity of Jerusalem.

This is according to the Hebrew, from which the Septuagint differ in very many places, not so much in sense as in words. (Verse 25. Seqq.) But thou, profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, in the time of appointed iniquity. Thus saith the Lord God: Take away the mitre, remove the crown. Is not this that which has raised up the low, and brought low the high? Iniquity, iniquity, iniquity will I make it: and this shall not be, until he come whose is the judgment, and I will deliver it to him.

LXX: And thou, profane, iniquitous leader of Israel, whose day has come, in the time of iniquity the end. Thus says the Lord God: Thou hast taken away the tiara, and put on the crown. This shall not be similar. Thou hast humbled the exalted, and raised up the lowly. Iniquity, iniquity I will set upon it: nor shall this be such, until he come to whom it is owed: and I will give it to him. Symmachus has interpreted this passage thus: But thou, profane, iniquitous leader of Israel, whose day has come, appointed in the time of iniquity: Thus says the Lord God: He has taken away the tiara, and taken away the crown: neither this nor that: he will lift up the lowly, and humble the exalted. Iniquity, iniquity, iniquity I will make it. And this was not that one, whose is the judgment, whom I am about to give.

After the overthrow of the city of Jerusalem and the captivity of the people, the word is directed to the leader of Israel, whom no one doubts to signify Zedekiah, in whom the rule of the kings of Israel from the stock of David came to an end. There has come, he says, upon thee the day, which was long ago appointed for thee, and on account of thee the priesthood and the kingdom of the Jewish people have perished. For the tiara is the mark of the high priest: the crown, that is, the diadem, is the sign of the king. Is not this the tiara, and is this the crown which did nothing by judgment; but in imitation of the king of Babylon exalted whom it wished, and humbled whom it wished?

Therefore not once, nor, as the Septuagint has it, twice, but a third time I will set iniquity upon thee forever, which was not immediately reckoned to thee, but until Christ come, whose is the judgment, and the Father give over to him the kingdom and the priesthood, or the Church gathered from the nations: For the Father judges no one; but has given all judgment to the Son. And in another place: O God, he says, give thy judgment to the king, and thy justice to the son of the king. This is he to whom empire is reserved, and everlasting priesthood, of whom Jacob also spoke: The prince shall not fail from Judah, nor the leader from his loins, until he come to whom it is reserved: and he shall be the expectation of the nations. In that place where we have translated: Is not this, Symmachus rendered beautifully: neither this nor that.

For since he had said: Take away the tiara, take away the crown, he added, neither this nor that, that is, the kingdom shall cease, and the priesthood. Whence those who afterward, up to the coming of Christ, were kings and priests alike, one of whom, Hyrcanus the pontiff, placed the diadem on his own head, in vain wished to claim for himself both this and that, since the kingdom was not owed to him after Zedekiah, but to him to whom it was reserved, and who was the expectation of the nations, of whom Malachi also speaks: You, priests, who contaminate my name. And a little after: My will is not in you, and I will not accept sacrifices from your hands. For from the rising of the sun to its setting, great is my name among the nations: and in every place sacrifice is offered and a clean offering is made to my name.

Which clean offering, without the blood of goats, rams, and bulls, is fulfilled at the coming of Christ, when he came who was desired by the nations, and the sun of justice arose, in whose wings is healing. (Verse 28. Ff.) And thou, son of man, prophesy, and say: Thus says the Lord God to the sons of Ammon, and to their reproach. And thou shalt say: Sword, sword, drawn out to slay: sharpened that thou mayest kill and flash. While vain things seemed to thee, and lies were divined, that thou mightest be given upon the necks of the wounded wicked, whose day has come, appointed in the time of iniquity. Return to thy sheath, to the place in which thou wast created: in the land of thy nativity I will judge thee. And I will pour out my indignation upon thee, in the fire of my fury I will blow upon thee: and I will give thee into the hands of foolish men, and of those forging destruction.

Fire thou shalt be food for; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land: thou shalt be given over to oblivion, for I the Lord have spoken. That the sword of the king of Babylon stood at the head of two ways, at the crossroads of the right and the left, one of which led to Jerusalem, the other to Rabbath of the sons of Ammon, and that the lot fell so that he should go first against Jerusalem, we have read above. When it was stormed and taken, he foretells that its kingdom and priesthood also have perished forever. It remained for the sons of Ammon, and the very order of the division demanded, what had become of the left way.

Whence the prophet is commanded to speak to the sons of Ammon, and to their reproach, that they too are to be captured, and he directs his speech to the same sword: O sword, sword, that art prepared for slaughter, that art sharpened, that thou mayest flash and kill; although idols may have answered thee, and vain is everything that is answered by demons, so that thou mightest indeed hang over the necks of the wounded, and through thee might be fulfilled what the Lord had for a long time threatened; yet, thy work completed, which thou hast done against the sons of Ammon, return to thy sheath, that is, to Babylon, to the place in which thou wast made and created: that in the land of thy nativity I may judge thee, and pour out my indignation upon thee, and thou mayest be taken by the power of the Medes and Persians. Which is more fully stated in the book of Isaiah, in the vision against Babylon: Behold I will stir up against them the Medes.

And a little after: And that Babylon, glorious among kingdoms, renowned in the pride of the Chaldeans, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah: it shall not be inhabited even to the end. And because he was speaking once under the person of the sword concerning the king, indeed the kingdom, of Babylon, he keeps up the metaphor. In the fire, he says, of my fury I will blow upon thee; that I may cause thee to be consumed by fire, and give thee into the hands of foolish and unskilled men, who have not the art of forging swords and sharpening them; that thou mayest no longer be sharpened, honed, and flash to kill; but be food for fire, and thy blood, which thou hast shed in the sight of all, may rather overflow upon thee; and be given over to eternal oblivion, and perish forever, because I the Lord have spoken, whose saying is doing.

(Verse 1.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: And thou, son of man, dost thou not judge the city of blood, and show her all her abominations? And thou shalt say: Thus says the Lord God: City pouring out blood in the midst of herself, that her time may come, and who has made idols against herself, that she might be defiled. In thy blood which has been shed by thee, thou hast sinned, and in thy idols which thou hast made, thou art defiled, and thou hast made thy days draw near, and hast brought on the time of thy years: therefore I have given thee as a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all lands. Those that are near, and those that are far from thee, shall triumph over thee (or mock thee), thou filthy one, noble, great in destruction. Behold the princes of Israel, each one by his arm has been in thee for shedding blood.

They have treated father and mother with contumely in thee (or have cursed father and mother). They have oppressed the stranger with calumny in the midst of thee. They have grieved the orphan and the widow (or oppressed them) with thee: you have despised my sanctuaries, you have polluted my sabbaths. Slanderous men (or robbers) have been in thee for shedding blood, and have eaten upon the mountains in thee. Wickedness (or, as it is more significantly in the Hebrew, ZEMMA (זמה), that is, incest) they have wrought in the midst of thee. They have uncovered the shame of the father in thee, and have humbled the uncleanness of the menstruous woman in thee, and each one has wrought abomination with the wife of his neighbor, and the father-in-law has defiled his daughter-in-law wickedly. The brother has oppressed (or humbled) his sister, the daughter of his father, in thee. They have accepted bribes with thee, to shed blood.

Thou hast taken usury and excess, and hast greedily defrauded thy neighbors by calumny (or, I will fill up the consummation of thy wickedness in thy oppression); and thou hast forgotten me, says the Lord God. Behold I have clapped my hands together over thy avarice which thou hast committed, and over the blood which has been shed in the midst of thee. Shall thy heart endure, or shall thy hands prevail, in the days which I will bring upon thee? I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it. And I will scatter thee among the nations, and winnow thee into the lands, and make thy uncleanness to cease from thee, and I will possess thee in the sight of the nations (or, according to Aquila's first edition, and Theodotion: And I will contaminate thee: or, according to Symmachus: And I will wound thee in the sight of the nations): and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.

And thou, he says, son of man (for I will use the accustomed name for thee), judge the city of blood, and show her all her abominations, that she may know that she deservedly endures the impending captivity, and by many bloodsheds has brought on the time of her ruin. First of all crimes, thou hast worshipped idols instead of God; and adored the works of thy own hands, and hast made the time of thy years draw near, which had for a long time been foretold, and put off, that thou mightest do penance. But thou, according to thy impenitent heart, storest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath. Therefore I have given thee as a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all lands, which are round about thee, both near and far: which shall triumph over thee, or mock thee. Filthy, noble, great in destruction. Filthy, because thou hast ceased to be clean. Noble in evil, thou who once in good surpassed all cities in nobility.

Great in destruction: that the higher thou wast, the more mightily thou mightest fall. And meanwhile, to omit the rest, I will number the few things that were in thee. Thy princes, judging not by justice, but by strength and force of arm, have poured out innocent blood in thee. Others have treated father and mother with contumely, or cursed their parents, Scripture saying: He who curses father or mother, let him die the death. They have oppressed the stranger and the sojourner in the midst of thee: as if pilgrimage and exile from their homeland were not sufficient affliction for them. They have grieved the orphan and the widow, or oppressed them with thee: so that they whose whole defense is in the justice of the laws, were not only grieved but oppressed by thee.

My sanctuaries, or holy things, you have despised, and my sabbaths you have polluted: so that you did not distinguish between the holy and the polluted, between the day decreed for religion, and the rest of the sabbath for the worship of God, and the other days, on which it is permitted by law to work and serve the necessities of the flesh. Slanderous men, or, according to Symmachus and Theodotion, deceitful ones, which in the Hebrew is called RACHIL (רכיל), and murderers were in thee, that they might blaspheme God, or do all things by deceit or violence. And they ate on the mountains, savoring lofty things, and lifted up against God in pride, wickedness, or incest, they have wrought in the midst of thee: so that what is rarely done even in corners and in secret, when it is avoided by the wicked because of men's conscience, thou hast done in the open.

But what incest is, the following speech signifies: They have uncovered the shame of the father in thee, stepmothers joined against right and permission, and they have humbled the uncleanness of the menstruous woman in thee, sparing not nature, nor giving respite to shamefulness, and cleaving to the wife of their neighbor. And what is more wicked than this, the father-in-law burned for his daughter-in-law, and the brother knew not the rights of his sister: so that he violated not merely a half-sister, but one of the same father. They have accepted bribes; that they might shed innocent blood. They have turned the necessity of the poor into gain, that they might take usury and excess; and out of avarice have defrauded their friends by calumny. But this, he says, thou hast done, O Jerusalem, because thou hast forgotten me. For the remembrance of God excludes all crimes.

Whence I have assumed the posture of the Lord being angry, and have clapped my hands together against thy avarice, and against the blood which has been shed in the midst of thee; that thou mayest understand, and know in mind, whether either in spirit or in hands thou canst endure my wrath. For I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it: and after thou hast been captured, Jerusalem, I will disperse thee among the nations, and winnow thee into the air, as useless chaff to be swept here and there: and I am of such clemency, that my severity is turned into mercy. For I will do all things, that thy uncleanness may cease from thee, and thou mayest recover thy former purity. Which when thou hast recovered, I will possess thee in the sight of all nations: that when thou hast been possessed by me, then thou mayest understand that I am the Lord.

But if we follow the interpretation of Symmachus and Theodotion, of whom one says: And I will wound thee, or the appended exposition of Jerome. But in the Greek, διασκορπιῶ σε.

I will pierce through: the other: I will contaminate thee in the sight of the nations, all things are to be referred to the bad sense: although that is contrary to this sense, which is said above: And I will make thy uncleanness to cease from thee. For the ceasing of uncleanness is the restoration of purity. I have discussed both editions equally, so as to avoid the enormity of the books. (Verses 17 and following.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to me. All these—brass, and tin, and iron, and lead in the midst of the furnace—have become the dross of silver. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem, a gathering of silver, and brass, and iron, and tin, and lead into the midst of the furnace, that I may kindle a fire in it for smelting.

So will I gather you in my fury and in my wrath, and I will rest, and I will smelt you, and I will kindle you in the fire of my fury, and you shall be smelted in the midst of it as silver is smelted in the midst of a furnace: so shall you be in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the Lord I have poured out my indignation upon you. The Hebrew word SIG (סיג), Symmachus translated as "dross," while the first edition of Aquila rendered it as στέμφυλον and γίγαρτον, both of which signify the grape-skin or pip.

His second translation, however, and the Septuagint rendered it "mixture." Now, "dross" signifies the filth and refuse of metals; so that, consequently, as the captivity draws near—indeed, as the destruction of the city is now imminent—fire is applied, so that, under the figure of smelting, pure silver may remain, which had been mixed with and defiled by brass, tin, iron, and lead: three of which—brass, tin, and lead—are of a meltable substance, and are dissolved by fire. Iron, however, between the anvil and the hammer, softens and is thinned, and takes on various shapes according to the will of the craftsman. Just as, therefore, silver which the aforesaid metals have defiled is put into the furnace, so that, once the filth and adulterated substances have been removed, it may remain pure: so, he says, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem, and I will surround it with the siege of Babylon, that I may kindle in you a fire for smelting.

And what the immense heat of the flames does there, famine and pestilence will do here: so that after I have gathered you, and kindled you in the fire of my fury, then I will rest, and I will assuage the grief of my contempt by the vengeance of your punishments. And I will do all this, so that after I have poured out my indignation upon you, the end of your torment may be the knowledge of me: and you may know that I am the Lord, the judge and rewarder of all. That he is called a smelter we read in many other places, but especially in Malachi and Isaiah, of whom the one says: Behold, the Lord goes forth like the fire of the smelting-house, and like the fuller's herb, and he will sit smelting like gold and silver, and he will smelt the sons of Levi.

The other: And the Lord will wash away the filth of the sons and daughters of Sion, and he will cleanse the blood from the midst of them, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning.

And I think that is what resounds in what is said in the Psalms: Prove me, O Lord, and try me. After which is added: Burn my kidneys and my heart: so that all the harmful humor of the loins' phlegm, its crimes, and the covering that has been placed over it, may be dried up. What we have understood of Jerusalem, let us understand of the state of souls, which were created pure by God; and they received gold in sense and wisdom, and silver in speech and eloquence, so that what they conceived in mind they might explain in words. Of silver we read: The words of the Lord are pure words: silver tried by fire, tested of the earth, purified seven times. Concerning gold and silver alike, the sixty-seventh Psalm contains this, in which it is written: If you sleep among the midst of the lots, you shall be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her back parts, or her inward parts, with the greenness, or paleness, of gold.

For all the glory of the king's daughter is within, who speaks in the Song of Songs: The king brought me into his chamber. Whoever sleeps and rests between the two Testaments at once takes up the silvered wings of the dove, and will shine with the brightness of gold in the treasury of the heart. To this sense I think those things also are to be referred, that for sinners and for those who have deserved God's displeasure, the heaven is brass, the earth is iron, and especially the land of Egypt, from which the Lord leads Israel out as from a furnace of iron. In Zechariah also, iniquity sits upon a talent of lead. And in the song of Exodus it is said: They sank as lead in the mighty waters. For they were weighed down by the heavy burden of sins, and could say: As a heavy burden they have weighed upon me.

But just as the false likeness of brass counterfeits the appearance of gold, so tin imitates the whiteness of silver, which the simple and rustic man does not easily discern. And it often happens that gold and silver mixed with heretical depravity are separated by the fire of the Holy Spirit and the judgment of the Lord, and pure gold and silver remain, of which the prophet says: I gave them silver and gold; but they made of them a Baal. Similar to this is: I led them out with silver and gold, and there was none feeble among their tribes: and let the end of all punishments be to know that he himself is the Lord. We also read in Zechariah of a stone of tin, or a mass of tin: what it signifies we have explained in its own place. (Verses 23 and following.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, say to her: You are an unclean land, and not rained upon in the day of fury.

There is a conspiracy of prophets in the midst of her, like a roaring lion seizing its prey: they have devoured souls, they have taken wealth and price, they have multiplied her widows in the midst of her. Her priests have despised my law, and have polluted my sanctuaries. They have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and have not discerned between the polluted and the clean, and they have turned their eyes away from my sabbaths, and I was profaned in the midst of them. Her princes in the midst of her are like wolves seizing prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, and greedily to pursue gains. And her prophets daubed them without temper, seeing vain things, and divining lies for them, saying: Thus says the Lord God, when the Lord had not spoken. They oppressed the people of the land with calumny, and seized violently: they afflicted the needy and the poor, and oppressed the stranger with calumny, without judgment.

And I sought among them for a man who would set up a wall, and stand opposed before me for the land, that I might not destroy it, and I found none. And I poured out my indignation upon them, I consumed them in the fire of my wrath. I have rendered their way upon their own head, says the Lord God. A diligent hearer could inquire what was that dross which defiled the purity of silver, and mixed it with brass, lead, tin, and iron. What was there expressed under the figure of the city and the furnace, is here proclaimed under the likeness of a land which has not been watered, nor received rain. We ought to understand those rains of which it is written: I will command the clouds that they rain no shower upon it: which we await, when there is given to us the early and the late rain, of which it is written: You shall set apart a voluntary rain, O God, for your inheritance.

But the day of fury is that which each one brings upon himself by the multitude of his sins. We desire to know what is the dross of the city, what is the squalor of the hardest land, full of briers and thorns. There is, he says, a conspiracy of the prophets, or, according to the Septuagint, of the leaders in the midst of her, having the likeness of a lion, of whom Peter also writes: Our adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goes about. This lion and all his companions seek not to devour bodies, but souls, and they take rewards, and judge all things by money. That this happened to the people of the Jews at that time, no one doubts. For on account of the priests and princes and prophets the Lord brought evil upon them. But in our own Jerusalem we often see this: who, according to the Septuagint, devour souls by their power, and take a price, so as to make many widows, who have lost the Lord as their bridegroom.

Now there is a faction and conspiracy among these prophets, that they be mutual supporters of one another, and do all things for the sake of base gain. The priests, who ought to be the guardians of the temple, and from whose mouth the knowledge of the Law is sought, violate the sanctuaries, and have no distinction between the holy and the profane, except that of money. They turn their eyes away from the sabbaths, and do not think upon the rest of God, which is in the knowledge of the Scriptures; nor do they say with the prophet: Reveal my eyes, and I will consider the wondrous things of your law. Nor that word of the Apostle: But we all, with unveiled face, behold the glory of the Lord (s-cited). Between such prophets and priests the Lord in the midst is polluted, of whom it is written: There stands in the midst of you one whom you do not know. The prophets, then, or leaders, are compared to lions.

But the princes, whom we understand to be men of a lower rank, imitate the rapacity of wolves, that they may shed the blood not of bodies, but of souls, and greedily pursue gain, by no means content with that: Those who serve the altar should live by the altar: but after they have come to the ministry of God, they gather the riches of Croesus. Those prophets also who foretell things to come, daubed them without temper, of whom we have spoken above, the prophets of divination, who, without any mixture of straw, daubed the wall which is dissolved by the rains. Such men see vain things, and rather divine a lie than prophesy, saying to the wretched land: Thus says the Lord, the Lord promises these things: when the Lord had not spoken to them.

But the people of the land, being zealous not for God but for earthly deeds, for the princes and priests, did all things through calumny and power: oppressing not the rich, but the poor, of whom it is written: But the poor man does not endure threats. And: The ransom of a man's soul is his own riches. The stranger too and the sojourner, who had not yet become a citizen of the Church, but only a hearer, and having the beginnings of faith, they oppressed with calumny: so that after they had gone about sea and land to make one proselyte, they made him a son of Gehenna. Amid such great vices and such a multitude of crimes, I sought among them for a man who could withstand my wrath, and, like Moses, and Aaron, and Samuel, oppose himself to my fire and burning; and I was not able to find one. Hence he said to Moses: Let me alone, and I will destroy this people.

And because I could not find one who would resist me and restrain me, therefore I poured out my whole indignation upon them, and I consumed them, not without measure and judgment, but that I might render their ways upon their own heads, attributing to the doers their own sins which they had committed, or indeed upon the heads of the leader, the prince, and the prophets of the people, of whom there was none who dared to resist the Lord in his anger, and for whose sake the parched and desolate land did not deserve to receive the rain of the Lord.

(Verses 1 ff.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, there were two women, daughters of one mother, and they committed fornication in Egypt, in their youth they committed fornication. There their breasts were pressed down, and the breasts of their puberty were broken (or, as is contained in the LXX, There their breasts fell, and there they were deflowered).

Their names were Oolla the elder (or older), and Ooliba her sister. And I had them (or they became mine), and they bore sons and daughters. And their names were, Samaria Oolla, and Jerusalem Ooliba. Oolla, therefore, played the harlot against me, and went mad (or went) after her lovers among the Assyrians, who drew near to her, clothed in hyacinth, princes and magistrates, young men of desire (or chosen), all of them horsemen mounted on horses. And she gave her fornications upon them, chosen sons of the Assyrians, all of them, and she was defiled in all upon whom she went mad in their uncleanness (or inventions). Moreover she did not forsake the fornications she had had in Egypt. For they too had lain with her in her youth, and they had broken the breasts of her puberty (or they too had deflowered her): and they poured out their fornication upon her. Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the sons of Assur, upon whose lust she went mad.

They uncovered her shame; they took away her sons and her daughters; and they slew her with the sword. And she became a notorious woman (or, she became a byword among women); and they executed judgments (or vengeance) upon her. That the twelve tribes of Israel, which had been joined together in Egypt, were afterward divided into two and ten tribes, and called Judah and Israel, the Scripture of Kings and Chronicles bears witness. Over Judah reigned, of the line of David, Rehoboam son of Solomon in Jerusalem, where the temple was, and the priests, and the greater part of the tribe of Levi. But over the ten tribes in Samaria reigned Jeroboam son of Nebat, of the tribe of Ephraim and Joseph; of these Samaria is now called Oolla, which in our tongue signifies “a tent”; but Jerusalem, Ooliba, that is, “my tent is in her.” For indeed in the ten tribes there was a tent, not of God, but of idols.

For Jeroboam, to turn the people away from the worship of God, had set up golden calves in Dan and Bethel. Let us then speak of each in turn. These two women, Samaria and Jerusalem, were daughters born of one mother of the stock of Israel, and they committed fornication in Egypt in their youth. For they would not have received the Law, when brought out of Egypt at Mount Sinai, forbidding them to worship idols, unless in Egypt they had worshipped Egyptian monstrosities. Now the mother of both may be the Hittite woman, of whom we read above: Your father was an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite (above, XVI, 3).

But also when it is said: Let everyone cast away the abominations of Egypt from before his eyes, this signifies that in Egypt Israel served idols, and there their breasts fell, or were broken, that is, the breasts of her virginity; and Samaria is called the elder and the older, either because of the multitude of the ten tribes, or because after the death of Moses, Joshua son of Nun, from the tribe of Ephraim, ruled over the people: whence also we read that Jeroboam, who tore them away, was from the house of David. And God had them, or they became his, when they groaned from the works of Egypt, serving formerly with mud and brick. These afterward bore him sons and daughters, either in the wilderness, or in the land of promise.

And first Oolla, that is, Samaria, played the harlot against God, when she went mad after the Assyrians, who were clothed in hyacinth, not just any of the people, but leaders and magistrates, not men worn out with age, but all young men, chosen horsemen, whose idols she followed, and from whom, against the command of God, she sought help. These came and defiled her, so that whatever she had done in her youth in Egypt, she did not abandon. For the Egyptians too had lain with her in her youth, whose images she had worshipped; and there she was deflowered, and her breasts were broken: and so great was the abundance of her fornication, that they are said not to have committed fornication with her, but to have poured out their fornication upon her. Therefore she was delivered to her own lovers, Pul and Tiglath-pileser, and Shalmaneser, upon whose lust she went mad, and they themselves uncovered her shame, tropologically, as of a harlot woman (hron. V).

Now the uncovering of the city is the captivity, in which they led away her sons and daughters captive, and slew her herself with the sword, so that she was butchered as an example to all women; and in an evil sense she is celebrated in the speech of all. They executed judgments and vengeance upon her, so that they left nothing of safety in her; but even to this day the ten tribes are held captive in the mountains and cities of the Medes, to which they were transported. According to the anagogical sense, what Joseph, Ephraim, Samaria, Jezreel, and Israel signify in the prophet Hosea, and how they are opposed to the house of David and to Jerusalem, which signifies the Church, we have discussed more fully. Of these also the seventy-seventh psalm speaks: The sons of Ephraim, bending and shooting the bow, turned back in the day of battle. And again: He rejected the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose the tribe of Judah.

For God chose the house of confession, the Church, and rejected the tabernacle of Joseph, which is interpreted “increase.” These, having set aside the Law of God, added golden calves to their worship: and they are called Oolla, that is, “tent,” not of God, but of error and demons. And the elder and older sister, because of her multitude and captivity by the Assyrians, played the harlot against God, because she abandoned the truth of the faith, and went mad after the princes of the heretics, her lovers, who were clothed in hyacinth, promising her lofty and heavenly things; and the horsemen, of whom it is said: These trust in chariots and in horses, the chosen sons of the Assyrians and leaders and magistrates, who promise themselves knowledge and eloquence. Now she did this because the same fornications which she had had in Egypt, that is, before she believed, while she was still occupied with the world, she practiced also in heresy. And she was deflowered by Assyrian men who persist in malice, or by avengers.

For our adversary the devil, he himself is the enemy and the avenger (I Peter V). They broke the breasts of Samaria; and they destroyed the virginity which she had had in the Church. Therefore she was delivered to her lovers, according to the Apostle who writes: I have delivered them to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. And: I have delivered them to the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved.

They uncovered the shame of wretched Samaria, and showed all her disgrace, and led captive her sons and daughters, begotten of her, endowed with knowledge, and the simple and unskilled, and slew her with the spiritual sword: and they are celebrated in the speech of the whole world in an evil sense, and become notorious among all the doctrines of the age, so that in her the disgrace of an example to all women is punished. (Verses 11 ff.) When her sister Ooliba saw this, she went mad with lust more than she; and she offered her fornication, beyond the fornication of her sister, shamelessly to the sons of the Assyrians: to leaders and magistrates coming to her, clothed in varied (or costly) garment; to horsemen who were carried on horses, and to young men, all outstanding in beauty. And I saw that one way was defiled for both of them, and she increased her fornications.

And when she had seen men portrayed on the wall, images of the Chaldeans expressed in colors, and their loins girded with belts, and dyed turbans on their heads: the form of all the leaders (or all the satraps), in the likeness of the sons of Babylon, and of the land of the Chaldeans in which they were born: and she went mad over them with the lust of her eyes, and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. And when the sons of Babylon came to her, to the bed of breasts (or of those who turn aside), they defiled her with their fornications, and she was defiled in them, and her soul was sated (or withdrew) from them. And she uncovered her fornications, and laid bare her shame: and my soul withdrew from her, as my soul had withdrawn from her sister. For she multiplied her fornications, remembering the days of her youth, in which she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.

And she went mad with lust over lying with those whose flesh is as the flesh of asses: and like the flow of horses, their flow (or the members of horses, their members). And you have revisited the crime of your youth: when your breasts were pressed down in Egypt, and the breasts of your puberty were broken. According to the letter, the interpretation is easy, that Ooliba, that is, Jerusalem, in which was the tabernacle of God, seeing the wounds of her sister, was not admonished by the example, to draw back her foot from error; but increased the fornication of her sister. For that one made idols once and outside, in Dan and Bethel: but this one repeatedly, in the high places, and in the temple of God, worshipped the statue of Baal, and played the harlot with the Assyrians. Now the idol Baal, or Bel, and (to speak more plainly) Belus, is the religion of the Assyrians, consecrated by Ninus, son of Belus, in honor of his father.

And she offered her fornication to the Assyrians shamelessly, to leaders and magistrates, who were clothed in varied and many-colored garment, to horsemen and young men outstanding in beauty in all: so that one fornication was made of the two sisters. Now in this Jerusalem increased her fornications, that seeing on the walls images of the Chaldeans, she went mad with lust, and, deceived by their form and dress, sent messengers to them, asking for help: who came, and defiled her. And because pleasure is not lasting, but quickly brings satiety: being defiled and sated in them, she withdrew from their alliance. Whence I too, seeing the disgraces and fornications published to all, withdrew from her, so that she who had surpassed the crimes of her sister might also surpass her sister in the greatness of her punishments. She was of such great insolence, that she committed all the errors of her youth even in her more advanced age: and pursued the vices of Egypt also in the lust of the Chaldeans.

For she had once gone mad in lying with the Egyptians, whose flesh is like that of asses, and whose flow of seed is so abundant, or whose members are so large, that they surpass the deformity of horses. Nor did the crime of her youth cease; rather she returned to it after she had become mine, so that both in the wilderness and in the land of promise she surpassed her former lust, in which she had been deflowered, and her breasts were broken, and all the beauty of her virginity perished.

Further, according to the tropological sense, the understanding is difficult, how the Church overcomes heretical lust, unless perhaps we can say this, that the servant who knows the will of his Lord, and does not do it, shall be beaten with many stripes: and that heretics commit abominable things outside, and perish by shipwreck outside the ark of Noah: but if churchmen, while following the true faith, imitate the vices of Assyria and Chaldea, and follow the many-colored images of sins, they are worthy of greater torments.

Do we not send messengers to the Chaldeans, who are interpreted as demons, when we open to them, and offer them our breasts to be broken in the breast, where the lodging of the mind is, and being sated with pleasures, we pass from one to others; and we desire not so much fornication, as a multitude of harlots, and come to such madness, that after much time of the Lord's service we return to Egypt, and do the things which we did in the world, before we received the name of the faith? (Verses 22 and following.) Therefore, Ooliba, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will stir up all your lovers against you, of whom your soul is sated, and I will gather them against you round about: the sons of Babylon, and all the Chaldeans, nobles and tyrants and princes, all the sons of the Assyrians, young men of surpassing form, leaders and magistrates, all the princes of princes, and the renowned riders of horses.

And there shall come upon you a multitude of peoples equipped with chariot and wheel: they shall be armed against you on every side with breastplate and shield and helmet. And I will give them judgment, and they shall judge you with their judgments, and I will set my jealousy in you, which they exercise upon you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and what remains they shall cut down with the sword. They shall take your sons and your daughters, and your remnant shall be devoured by fire, and they shall strip you of your garments, and take away the vessels of your glory. And they shall make your wickedness to cease from you, and your fornication from the land of Egypt: and you shall not lift up your eyes to them, nor remember Egypt any more.

The Seventy: Therefore, Ooliba, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will stir up your lovers against you, from whom your soul withdrew, and I will bring them against you round about, the sons of Babylon, and all the Chaldeans, phakouth and sy ei pou, and all the sons of the Assyrians with them, young men, chosen ones, leaders, and magistrates, all the "tristatas," and the renowned riders upon horses. All shall come upon you from the north, chariots and wheels, with a multitude of peoples, shields and targets, and they shall set a watch over you round about. And I will give judgment before their face, and they shall judge you with their judgments, and I will give my jealousy in you, and they shall deal with you in the wrath of fury. They shall take away your nose and your ears, and shall cast down the rest of you with the sword.

They shall take your sons and your daughters, and fire shall devour the rest of you, and they shall strip you of your garment, and take the vessels of your boasting, and shall turn away your impieties from you, and your fornication from the land of Egypt, and you shall not lift up your eyes to them, nor remember Egypt any more. Because you have remembered the Egyptian flesh, and imitated the shamefulness of an unclean nation, which venerates the images of all beasts: therefore I will bring against you your lovers, with whose embrace you were sated, from whose covenant you withdrew: so that as great as the former love had been, into so great hatred you might be turned.

The sons, I say, of Babylon, and all the Chaldeans, nobles, tyrants and princes; for which in the Hebrew is found PHACUD (פקוד) and SUE (שוע) and CUE (קוע), which many understand to be Eastern nations, since names of this kind we find neither in the book of Kings, nor in Chronicles, nor indeed in Jeremiah, who describe the captivity of Jerusalem, nor in any place of holy Scripture. Nor is it strange, if the Seventy themselves set down the Hebrew names, since Symmachus also and Theodotion agree in the same words. All, he says, the Assyrians, horsemen, and young men of surpassing form, leaders and magistrates, or "tristatas," which we have interpreted as princes of princes. Of whom also we read in Exodus: "the chosen riders, tristatas" (τριστάτας), for which the Latin simplicity translated "three-fold guards." Now "tristata" is a name among the Greeks for the second rank after royal dignity. Of whom it is written: "Yet he attained not to the three first, who were the chief of the horsemen and footmen and of the tributes" (Chron.

Xii): whom we call the magistrates of both branches of the army, and the prefects of the grain office. All, he says, in chariots and on horses, armed with breastplate, helmet and shield, besieged you round about, and I will give judgment to them, so that by these you may be judged by whom you had been abandoned, and whose covenant you had made void: and they shall judge you with their judgments as an adulteress. And I will set, he says, my jealousy in you, which they exercise upon you in fury. For my jealousy is among enemies, even of a faith not kept. They shall cut off, he says, your nose and your ears, as of an adulteress caught in adultery: that, being disfigured, you may cease to please.

For just as in the face all the beauty of the countenance consists in the comeliness of the nostrils, and in the ears, from which in women pearls and gems hang: so the dignity of king and judges, which is signified in the mouth and ears, shall be cut off by their sword. They shall take your sons and your daughters. "Your," he says, and "yours," not mine and mine, because they were begotten of adultery, and the rest shall be devoured by fire. And they shall strip you, he says, of your garments, with which I had adorned you, and of the vessels of your glory, which I had granted you of gold and silver for the ceremonies of the temple, of which it is written: "I gave them gold and silver, and they made of it Baal" (Hosea ii, 8).

But I will do all these things, that, your beauty being lost and your poisonous countenance disfigured, your wickedness may at last cease, and the fornication which you learned and practiced in Egypt: so that after you have lost your nose and ears, you may in no way dare to lift up your eyes to the Chaldeans, and show your foulness to your former lovers: nor remember any more the lust of the Egyptians, in whose greatness of flesh you delighted. All these things are said under the figure of an adulteress, and of one disfigured because of adultery: that she may no longer glory in her comeliness, but may blush at the foulness which she earned by the greatness of her pleasures.

Whatever is said tropologically of Jerusalem can also be referred to the soul, which, joined in the embrace of God through virtues, afterward committed adultery into vices, and withdrew from him, and, all her crimes being laid open, was stripped and shamed and displayed to all, that she might at last desist somewhat from her crime: nor glory in the dignity of her name, but, for the consciousness of evil and the remembrance of Egypt, may not dare any longer to lift up her eyes to heaven. Whence also her nose is cut off, and her ears are amputated, because she had turned the odor of good fragrance into stench, and had heard the judgment of blood, which we understand not only of scent and hearing, but also of sight, by which, because they had abused it wrongly, Samson and Zedekiah were deprived. God also made him deaf and dumb: lest his tongue should pass through even unto the earth, and all touch is taken away in those who have utterly lost their life.

And these things shall come to pass, that all may be purged by fire, and the fornication of Egypt may perish: nor may she any more be able to lift up her eyes toward evils. (Verses 28 and following.) For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate; into the hands of those of whom your soul is sated. And they shall deal with you in hatred, and shall take away all your labors, and shall leave you naked and full of shame, and the shame of your fornications shall be revealed. Your wickedness and your fornications have done these things to you: because you have played the harlot after the nations, among whom you were defiled with their idols. You have walked in the way of your sister: and I will give her cup into your hand. Thus says the Lord God: You shall drink your sister's cup, deep and wide.

You shall be a derision and a mockery, she that is most capacious: you shall be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of grief and sadness, the cup of your sister Samaria. And you shall drink it, and drain it even to the dregs, and you shall devour its fragments, and shall tear your breasts (or as the Seventy translated: I will take away her feasts and her new moons); for I have spoken, says the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord God. Because you have forgotten me, and cast me behind your body: you too shall bear your wickedness and your fornications.

It profits Jerusalem to have enmities against the Assyrians and Chaldeans, and in no way to remember Egypt; but to be delivered into the hands of those who hated her, for punishment: to whom she is not delivered beforehand, unless her soul be sated of them, so that after she has repented of her old sins, she may then be purged by punishments, and lose all the labors which she acquired by harlot's art: and may see her nakedness and her shame; and may know that the Lord did not do all these things to her, but her own fornications, by which she played the harlot through the nations enumerated above, so as to worship their idols. In the ways, he says, of your sister Samaria you have walked: therefore you ought to drink her cup, whose sins you have followed.

Now "cup," which is often taken for punishments and torments, has many examples, of which this is one: "A cup in the hand of the Lord full of pure wine mixed, and he poured out of this into that: yet the dregs thereof are not emptied out, all the sinners of the earth shall drink of it". And in Isaiah it is called "the cup of ruin, and the cup of fury". And to Jeremiah God speaks: "Take the cup of pure wine from my hand, and you shall give it to drink to all the nations to whom I shall send you, and they shall drink, and vomit, and be mad". For just as certain purgatives are given, that the noxious humor which is in bodies may be expelled: so too the Lord gives the cup of torments most pure, that whatever there is of bile and bitterness he may take away from sinners, and restore them to their former health. And that cup shall be deep and wide.

Deep, by the greatness of the punishments: wide, by the time of the captivity. But when, he says, you shall have been made drunk and seized with grief, and shall have drunk the cup even to the dregs, and shall have drained it so much that you devour even the fragments of the cup itself: then you shall be weary of your former fornication, and you shall tear the breasts which had been broken in Egypt, and which were subdued and bruised by your lovers: or, I will take away all your feasts and your new moons, so that instead of solemnity and gladness, you may have eternal mourning and grief. Because therefore you have done these things, and have forgotten me, and cast me behind your body, or backward, because of the vices of the body, or behind the genitals, by which the foulness of shame is indicated: therefore bear your wickedness and impiety, namely the punishments which you have deserved on account of your impiety and crimes.

This which is said: "And you shall drink even to the dregs, and shall devour its fragments," can be understood significantly of Jerusalem, who drank last the cup of her sister Samaria, and, as it were, drained the dregs of her torments even to the bottom. (Verses 36, 37 and following.) And the Lord said to me, saying: Son of man, do you judge Oolla and Ooliba, and declare to them their crimes (or iniquities): because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands, and they have committed fornication with their idols: moreover they have even offered their sons, whom they had borne to me, to them to be devoured (or, they have caused them to pass) through fire. But this also they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary on that day, and profaned my sabbaths. For when they sacrificed their sons to their idols, and entered my sanctuary on that day to defile it, they even did this in the midst of my house.

They sent to men coming from afar, to whom a messenger had been sent. And behold, they came, for whom you washed yourself (or, when they had come, you were straightway washed): and you painted your eyes, and were adorned with women's finery. You sat upon a beautiful couch, and a table was set before you. My incense and my ointment you set upon it, and the voice of an exulting multitude was in it (or, and with a composed voice she leaped for joy); and indeed men in multitudes were brought in, and they came from the desert (or drunk from the desert): they put bracelets upon their hands, and most beautiful crowns upon their heads. And I said concerning her who was worn out in adultery: Now this one too shall play the harlot in her fornication. And they went in to her: as to a harlot woman, so did they go in to Oolla and Ooliba, wicked women (or, to commit iniquity).

The men therefore are just: these shall judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, and with the judgment of those who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands. For thus says the Lord God: Bring against them a multitude, and deliver them to tumult and to plunder, and let them be stoned with the stones of the peoples, and pierced through with their swords: they shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn their houses with fire, and I will take away wickedness (or impiety) from the land, and all women shall learn not to do according to their wickedness (or impiety). And they shall lay your wickedness (or impiety) upon you: and you shall bear the sins of your idols, and you shall know that I am the Lord God. As I have often noted, the small points in which the Septuagint edition differs from the Hebrew I have joined in the margin, out of regard for the reader's tedium.

It followed then, that he who had described the adulteries of Samaria and Jerusalem separately, should also announce their punishments together. All these things are spoken as though to adulteresses, and, a recapitulation being made, their crimes are briefly set forth: that, rightly according to the command of the Law, stoning by the people might follow upon adulteresses. Because therefore they are adulteresses, a just ... bring forth the sentence. For they have committed adultery with idols, and blood is on their hands, namely of those whom they sacrificed to idols: that the sons whom they had borne to me they might consecrate to demons. Nor did they do this outside and on the mountains and in the groves, as they had often been accustomed to do; but at last they polluted my temple, so as to set up a statue of Baal in it. And they profaned my sabbaths, so that neither the religion of place nor of time was kept among them.

But they were not content with adulteries of the present only, nor was it enough for them that they sacrificed my sons to their idols or to demons; but also, growing wanton with foreign pleasures, they venerated the images of the Assyrians and Chaldeans.

When these had come, Oholibah Jerusalem, you fulfilled upon them every garb of an adulteress, so as to wash your body, to line your eyes with stibium, to assume feminine adornment, to sit upon a couch prepared for lust, to set forth banquets by which you might restore the strength of your lovers broken down for lust; my incense and the ointment which I had specially ordered to be made, and which decreed that the soul should be cut off from the people that would use it for private purposes—this you offered to idols; that you might gather a crowd of peoples, or that you might sing with every kind of musical instrument, so that not only by sight but also by hearing and smell, and by all the senses, you might please your lovers, who came to you drunk: not bearing the manner of any urbane elegance, but of the desert and the wilderness, displaying the garb of rustics and robbers.

And you burned into such madness of pleasures, O most wicked sisters, that you put your bracelets and headbands upon the hands and heads of your lovers, or upon yourselves, so that, full of ornament, you might be disgraced. Wherefore I said to her—whether to Jerusalem, or to Samaria, or to both: You have so worn down your forehead that you are by no means polluted in secret, nor do you avoid the sight of a husband or of men; but like harlots you are prostituted publicly, since they who entered in to you, as to harlots, desired eagerly to defile you. I will therefore hand you over for punishment to those to whom you have of your own accord been handed over for disgrace. For they are just men, in that they torment, at my command, the adulteress and the parricide.

For thus says the Lord God: At the summons of your voice gather against them, O prophet, a multitude of peoples, and first let all their substance be plundered; then let them be stoned and pierced with swords, and let their sons and daughters be slain, and their houses burn. And all this shall come to pass, that impiety may be removed from the land; and that all women and all provinces set afar off may learn to avoid the like of their punishments: so that after you have received what you deserve, and have borne the crimes of your idols, then you shall know that I am the Lord. All these things, however, are said tropologically, and under the type of adulteresses, against Samaria and Jerusalem, because, handed over to the Assyrians and Chaldeans, they were led into captivity, and their cities were burned with fire: the peoples were slain who venerated the images of demons instead of God.

These things can also be understood after the coming of Christ, in that just men from the nations themselves judge the Samaritans and Jews by comparison with themselves, and hand them over to be devoured, to whom the Lord had said: Your house shall be left to you desolate. And: When you shall see Jerusalem surrounded by an army, know that its desolation draws near. For even to this day they have committed adultery, and are crushed by the stones of the whole world.

Since they sent messengers to those who were afar off, and could not say: I am a God drawing near, and not a God afar off, says the Lord: and they prepared themselves for their lovers the demons: and all the worship and adornment which they had received from God as a natural good, they turned into the worship of demons, and their works and their beauty, which we understand in the bracelets and diadem, they offered to their adulterous lovers, whose punishment is a fear to the nations—rather to those who have believed from among the nations, lest they suffer the like, if they do what Samaria and Jerusalem did. From these their impieties shall then be taken away, when they have received their crimes, and have taken away from their eyes the veil that was placed before the face of Moses, so that they may know that he is the Lord Jesus Christ, whom they denied to be the Son of God.

(Verses 1 and following.) And the word of the Lord came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, saying: Son of man, write for yourself the name of this day, on which the king of Babylon has been confirmed against Jerusalem this day. And you shall speak by way of proverb to the provoking house a parable, and you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God: Set on the pot, set it on, I say, and put water into it. Gather its pieces into it, every good portion, the thigh and the shoulder, choice pieces full of bones. Take the fattest of the flock: arrange also heaps of bones under it: its boiling has boiled over, and its bones have been boiled through in the midst of it.

Therefore thus says the Lord God: Woe to the city of blood, the pot whose rust is in it, and whose rust has not gone out of it: piece by piece, and by its own portions cast it out: no lot has fallen upon it. For its blood is in the midst of it; it poured it out upon the clearest rock, it did not pour it out upon the ground, so that it might be covered with dust. That I might bring upon it my indignation, and take vengeance with retribution: I have set its blood upon the clearest rock, that it might not be covered. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Woe to the city of blood, whose pyre I will make great. Gather the bones which I will kindle with fire; the flesh shall be consumed, and the whole mixture shall be boiled down, and the bones shall waste away.

Set it also empty upon the coals, that it may grow hot and its bronze may melt, and its filthiness may be melted away in the midst of it, and its rust may be consumed. Much labor has been spent in sweat; and its excessive rust has not gone out of it, not even by fire. Your uncleanness is execrable, because I wished to cleanse you, and you have not been cleansed from your filth; but you shall not be cleansed until I make my indignation to rest upon you. I the Lord have spoken: it shall come, and I will do it: I will not pass by, nor spare, nor be appeased. According to your ways and according to your devisings I have judged you, says the Lord.

The Septuagint: And the word of the Lord came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, saying: Son of man, write for yourself the day from this day, on which the king of Babylon has been made firm against Jerusalem from this present day, and speak to the exasperating house a parable, and you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God: Set on the cauldron and pour water upon it, and put into it divisions: every good cut, the leg and the shoulder, with the flesh separated from the bones, taken from choice cattle, and kindle the bones under them: it has boiled, and its bones are cooked in the midst of it. Therefore thus says Adonai the Lord: O city of blood, cauldron in which is rust, and rust which has not gone out of it: it has brought forth by its own portions: no lot has fallen upon it, because its blood is in the midst of it.

Upon the smoothest rock I have set it: I have not poured it out upon the ground, so that the ground might cover it. That the fury might rise up for the vengeance of retribution: I have set its blood upon the clearest rock, that it might not be covered. Therefore thus says Adonai the Lord: Woe, city of blood, and I will magnify the terror, and multiply the wood, and kindle the fire, that the flesh may waste away and the juice be diminished, and the bones be burned and it may stand upon its own coals. It is kindled that it may be burned through and its bronze may be fried, and its filthiness may be burned away in the midst of it, and its rust may fail. Its rust shall be humbled, and its abundant rust shall not go out of it: its rust shall be put to shame: your uncleanness, ZEMMA, because you have been defiled, and have not been cleansed from your uncleanness.

And what shall be, if you shall not have been cleansed further, until I fulfill my fury upon you? I the Lord have spoken, and it shall come, and I will do it: I will not delay, nor have pity, nor be entreated. According to your ways, and according to your devisings, I will judge you, says Adonai the Lord.—Therefore I will judge you according to your blood, and according to your thoughts I will judge you, unclean and infamous one, and excessive unto provocation: Most of which are additions from Theodotion, and the Hebrew word ZEMMA (זמה), which we have rendered as "execrable uncleanness." And that which was added by them is not found in the Hebrew, and must be marked with an obelus: Therefore I will judge you according to your blood, and according to your thoughts I will judge you, unclean and infamous one, and excessive unto provocation. Let us then speak of each point.

In the ninth year of the captivity of King Jehoiachin (for he began to prophesy in the fifth year), and in the tenth month of that same ninth year, on the tenth day of the tenth month, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Ezekiel, established in the region of Babylon, and he said to him: Son of man, write for yourself this very day, and know that the king of Babylon has today, in the region of Judea, begun to besiege Jerusalem, and to surround it with an army; and describe this siege by a parable and proverb, which in the present passage signifies metaphor and figure of speech.

Set, he says, a bronze pot, that is, a cauldron, and put water into it, and cut up into pieces the whole body of the fattest animals, both thigh and leg and shoulder, and diligently separate the flesh from the bones, and having put the flesh into the cauldron, place or arrange the bones beneath the cauldron, and make heaps and piles of bones, so that the boiling of the cauldron may seethe not once but repeatedly, and the flesh may be boiled through within, and the bones beneath be burned by the fire. But do you wish to know, prophet, what this cauldron is, or what the flesh or bones are? Speak thus, says the Lord God: Woe to the city of blood, that is, Jerusalem, the cauldron, whose rust—that is, excessive malice—remains, and although fire has been placed beneath, yet its rust has not gone out of it. For even having been captured and tormented, they have persevered in their former wickedness.

Piece by piece, and one by one, consume it; let no one remain for salvation. No lot has fallen upon it, that some might perish and others be saved, but a common destruction has come upon all. For its blood—that is, murders and the slaying of children—is in the midst of it. This blood it poured out upon the clearest rock, that it might lie open to all, and not be covered with earth or dust: so that, namely, my indignation might not pass by, but vengeance might hasten upon the most openly displayed blood. For it is the nature of things, that if blood is poured out upon the ground, the soil drinks up the moisture of the blood, or the earth gradually covers it with dust. But when blood has been poured out upon the clearest rock, having no hollow, it flows and occupies a wide space.

This indicates that it committed murders not secretly but publicly, according to that which is said to Cain: The blood of your brother cries out to me: therefore say to the city, not of one blood, but of many bloods: Behold, I will make a great pyre in you, or bring forth a firebrand, which the common people call a "titio," and I will kindle in you not only the soft and tender flesh, but also the hardest bones, so that nothing shall remain in you that is not consumed by fire. And when the flesh and the bones have been consumed and burned, set the very cauldron, emptied, upon the coals, so that its bronze also may grow hot and be consumed, and with the bronze consumed, its rust too may perish—that is, with the city burned by fire, let malice perish along with the city. But what does it profit to have done what was commanded?

Not even by fire could the rust and malice of the cauldron and of the city be taken away; but there remains in it a wicked and execrable uncleanness: for this is what zemma signifies. And he makes an apostrophe to the cauldron itself, that is, to the city itself. I wished to cleanse you, and you have not been cleansed of your filth, nor will you be able to be cleansed further, until I fulfill my indignation upon you. I the Lord have spoken, and my sentence cannot pass away.

Now the siege of the city has come, I will do what I have threatened: nor will I pass over, as I have often done, thy crimes; and I will spare no more, nor be placated toward thee even if thou multiply thy prayers; but I will render to thee thy ways and thy devisings, nay rather I will judge thee according to thy works and thy thoughts, that in this too I may show my clemency after the manner of a physician, who does not spare the putrid flesh, that the healthy members may be saved: he does not spare, that he may spare; he is cruel, that he may show mercy; nor does he consider the patient's pain, but the healing of the wound, according to that Gospel saying, wishing rather that one member perish than that the whole body be destroyed. It should also be noted how, from the beginning of the prophecy up to the present day, when Jerusalem began to be besieged, the captivity comes in order.

First the sword is summoned; then two ways are set, Ammon and Jerusalem, of which the lot falls to Nebuchadnezzar on the right hand part; silver is melted in the city, bronze, tin, lead and iron; the land also is not watered with rain, but is occupied with settlements: afterward, under the names of the two sisters Oolla and Ooliba, the sins of Samaria and Jerusalem are narrated, how the one was taken captive, and the other is about to be taken.

At the last, in the ninth year, the tenth month, the tenth day of the month, Ezechiel being in captivity together with those who were with him, and who had surrendered themselves with king Jechonias, it is shown on what day the city began to be besieged, and the likeness of a cauldron is set forth; that as flesh and bones heaped into a cauldron are consumed by fire, so the whole city together with its citizens is about to perish, and none of those who were besieged shall remain, but shall be consumed by famine, sword, and pestilence, and the remaining part shall be led captive into Babylon. This same prophecy can also pertain to the time of the Lord's passion, on account of which Jerusalem was surrounded by an army, and her sons were slain, and, with Titus the son of Vespasian besieging, none escaped to safety, and the temple was overthrown; and after fifty years, under Hadrian, the city was consumed by everlasting fire.

But the present captivity, when Ezechiel was beholding these things in Babylon, Jeremias also sets at the beginning of his volume: What seest thou, Jeremias? Who answering, said, A pot on the boil, and its face from the face of the North. There are those who, according to the tropology, transfer this whole passage to the consummation of the world, and temper the number nine, which in the holy Scriptures belongs to punishments and sorrows and always follows justice, with the clemency of the tenth month and the tenth day. For this reason punishments are applied to the sick, that health may follow upon pain. The world therefore, which lies in the evil one, is set on fire by divine flame on the day of judgment; and the city of bloods is set upon coals of fire, that what is written in Isaiah may be fulfilled: Thou hast coals of fire, sit thou upon them: they shall be a help to thee.

And it is a difficult thing, how, when the coals and bones are consumed—of which even the Pharisees are full, to whom the Lord speaks in the Gospel: Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, who are like whited sepulchres, which within are full of filthiness and of dead men's bones—it should now be said that the rust and filth of the world are not consumed, but that even after the severity of judgment malice remains. This is easily resolved, if we understand that saying of the Apostle: God hath concluded all under sin, that he might have mercy upon all. For the creature was made subject to vanity. And the blood that was shed is set in the open sight of the whole creation, that the crimes of all may lie open.

But we can take the most limpid rock to be the Lord the Savior, who followed the people of Israel in the wilderness, concerning whom it is written: And they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them: and the rock was Christ: that in him all things may be revealed; and that what is written may be fulfilled: Nothing is hidden that shall not be revealed. And the Lord says that he will not have mercy, nor pass over the sins of the world; nor spare the impious, nor be placated, so that the ways of the impious may perish, according to what is set at the end of the first psalm: And the way of the ungodly shall perish. (Verses 15 and following.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, behold I take from thee the desire of thine eyes by a blow, and thou shalt not mourn, neither shalt thou weep, neither shall thy tears flow. Groan in silence, thou shalt make no mourning for the dead.

Let thy crown be bound upon thee, and thy shoes shall be on thy feet: neither shalt thou cover thy face with a mantle, nor eat the bread of mourners. So I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening, and I did in the morning as he had commanded me. And the people said to me: Wilt thou not tell us what these things mean that thou doest? And I said to them: The word of the Lord came to me, saying: Speak to the house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your empire, and the desire of your eyes, and that for which your soul is in dread, and your sons and your daughters whom you have left, shall fall by the sword. And you shall do as I have done: you shall not cover your faces with a mantle, and you shall not eat the bread of mourners.

You shall have crowns upon your heads, and shoes on your feet: you shall not mourn nor weep: but you shall pine away in your iniquities, and every man shall groan to his brother. And Ezechiel shall be unto you a sign, according to all that he has done, so shall you do when this comes, and you shall know that I am the Lord God. And thou, son of man, behold, in the day when I shall take from them their strength, and the joy of their dignity, and the desire of their eyes on which their souls rest, their sons and their daughters. In that day, when one that has escaped shall come to thee, to bring thee tidings; in that day, I say, thy mouth shall be opened together with him that has escaped, and thou shalt speak, and shalt be silent no more, and thou shalt be unto them a sign, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

The Septuagint: And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, behold I take from thee the desirable things of thine eyes in the line of battle (or in preparation); thou shalt not mourn, nor weep, nor shall tears come to thee, the groaning of blood is the mourning of things. Thy hair shall be bound up upon thee, and thy shoes on thy feet, and thou shalt not be comforted in their lips, and thou shalt not eat the bread of men. I spoke to the people. We have deleted the negative particle, against the faith of the manuscripts, but the matter itself cried out for it. The people in the morning, as he had commanded me, and my wife died in the evening, and I did in the morning as had been commanded me. And the people said to me: will you not tell us what these things mean that you do?

And I said to them, The word of the Lord came to me, saying: Say to the house of Israel: Thus says Adonai the Lord: Behold I will pollute my sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your souls spare. Your sons and your daughters whom you have left will fall by the sword, and you shall do as I have done. You shall not be comforted by their mouth, nor eat the bread of men, and your hair shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet. You shall not mourn nor weep, and you shall be consumed in your iniquities, and each one shall comfort his brother, and Ezechiel shall be to you a portent. According to all that he has done, you shall do. And when these things come, you shall know that I am Adonai the Lord.

And you, son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take away their strength from them, the elation of their glorying, the desire of their eyes, and the elation of their soul, their sons and their daughters. In that day one who has escaped shall come to you, that he may announce it in your ears. In that day your mouth shall be opened to him who has fled, and you shall speak, and no longer be silent, and you shall be to them a portent, and they shall know that I am the Lord. Above, the succession of the pot and cauldron had shown the siege of the city; now the prophetic word attests that it is captured and destroyed, and that all the people are either slain by the sword or led into captivity. And first, according to our custom, let us lay the foundations of the history.

Son, he says, of man, behold I will take away from before your eyes whatever is desirable to you, and I will take it away in a stroke, or, as the Seventy translated, in a preparation: that is, so that you may prepare yourself not to do the things which are customarily done in mourning. You shall not mourn, nor weep, nor shall flowing tears show the grief of the heart: but if perhaps you should be overcome by too great sorrow, keep your groan silent, and let it not break forth into words. You shall not make mourning for the dead, or, as the Seventy translated, the groaning of blood is the mourning of the loins. By which he shows that his wife was going to die. For it immediately follows: And my wife died in the evening; which properly pertains to the union of the loins.

For nothing is more lovable to a man than a good wife, who is provided for man by God, and to whom he is joined by the law of the Lord, and with whom he is made one body. And what follows: Let your crown be bound upon you, and your shoes shall be on your feet, this signifies: You shall have the hair which is cut in mourning, and shoes on your feet, which mourners are accustomed to cast off. Whence also David, fleeing from his son Absalom, and repenting over the murder of Uriah, walked with bare feet. The Hebrews say that up to this day the Babylonian teachers, keeping the precepts of the Law, bind the decalogue written on little skins around their head, and that these are what are commanded to hang before the eyes and on the forehead, so that they may always see what is commanded. And because Ezechiel was a priest, he ought by no means to lay down the crown of glorying, but to have it bound upon his head.

This is what they would say. But let us, following the Seventy, understand "crown of hair" as the head of hair itself: though even their interpretation has by no means expressed the force of the Hebrew word. Nor shall you veil your face with a garment, he says, nor take the food of mourners, which are customarily done in mourning, so that they cover the face, and receive from comforters what the Greeks call περίδειπνα (funeral feasts). I spoke, he says, to the people in the morning, what the Lord had commanded me, and in the evening my wife died, the desire of the eyes, and the mourning of the loins and of blood. And immediately, the next day in the morning, I did all that had been commanded me: and the people asked me why I had acted contrary to the custom of all.

And to those seeking the reasons for such great patience, I answered: The word of the Lord which came to me, that I should speak to the people of Israel, commanded these things: Behold I, that is, now already, will pollute my sanctuary, so that the temple may be burned and lie open to all foreigners and the profane, and that in which you had your pride, that is, your confidence and hope and desire of your salvation, and at whose siege your souls trembled: and I will also consume by the sword your sons and daughters whom famine and pestilence had left remaining. Whatever I have done, you also shall do. When the custom is kept in mourning, the grief is moderate; but when so great a necessity of evils presses that it is greater than any weeping, each one, anxious about his own necessity, does not groan over the miseries of others, however near they may be.

You shall do nothing, he says, that is customary in mourning: but when the city and the temple have been set on fire, you shall be stunned at the magnitude of the evils. You shall not shave your heads, nor go about with bare feet, nor mourn, nor veil your faces with a garment, nor take food from comforters: but you shall waste away, and be consumed in your iniquities, and you shall scarcely have a free groan, lest you offend the pride of the victors, if you should be seen weeping publicly; so that the prophet Ezechiel may be a portent to you, and all the things which he did not do at the death of his wife, you also should not do at the overthrow of the city and temple.

And yet more openly: O, he says, son of man, at the time when I shall have taken away from them their strength, that is, as we have said, the confidence and joy of the dignity of the temple, and that in which they had their only hope, and the desire in which their souls rested, and moreover their sons and daughters—this is to be understood from what precedes, that I shall have taken away—at that time, he says, when one fleeing from Jerusalem, or one who has escaped, comes to you, saying that the city has been overthrown, then you who had before been silent and did not have a free groan, and were of such great patience that at the death of your wife and the grief of your loins you did not let fall a tear, will open your mouth, and will speak, not to him who has come, but with him: so that whatever things you had foretold as coming, he may now announce as accomplished, and you will no longer be silent; but you will reprove them, and say that all these things have deservedly happened to them; so that you may be to them a portent, according to that which is written in Zechariah: Men who are prophets are portending men.

And the Lord elsewhere says: I have been likened in the hands of the prophets (Hosea XII, 10). Let these things be said according to the history. Let us come to the anagogical sense (if indeed it should not seem violent to the careful prudence of the reader). That the Lord Savior is called the Son of man, no one doubts, who in the last hour, that is, at the evening of this world, lost his former wife, and did not weep for her, nor veil his face with a garment, nor receive any consolation of men, and foretold these things to come in the morning, which were fulfilled in the evening, and again in the morning at the second coming proved by fact what he had foretold as coming, that the sanctuary of the Jews, and that which they had desired in their eyes, and over which their souls trembled, is polluted: that their sons also and daughters have fallen by the Roman sword.

But as for what is said: You shall have a crown on your heads, and shoes on your feet, we shall refer this to that part, that they ought by no means to mourn, nor take up the signs of mourning, after they have received the truth instead of the shadow, and certain ones have become Nazarites, and each one shall comfort himself over his brother: so that Ezechiel, whom God the Father strengthened, may be to them a portent, foretelling things to come, and after Jerusalem has been overthrown, and the temple burned, and the whole world has heard this, and the dispersion of Israel, which dwells to the ends of the earth, then the words of the Lord, fulfilled in deed, may have freedom, and with his sanctuary polluted, the Law fulfilled, or destroyed according to the killing letter, the glory of the Gospel may be opened, and Israel may know that he himself is the Lord and God, who foretold these things to come in the morning, and proved by his own coming that they were fulfilled in the evening and at the consummation of the world.

What benefit our dictation on the prophets may bring to others is a matter for the judgment of God, and of the conscience of those who, setting aside declamations and applause and the arrangement of words, desire to know what their discourse either narrates as past, or argues as present, or foretells as to come. Meanwhile it benefits us: for while we do this, and think of nothing else, we approach our explanations after the manner of theft, and compensate the miseries of the days by the study of the nights: the mind is fed, and forgets the calamities of the age, which, already placed at its extreme end, groans and is in labor, until he who now restrains be taken out of the way, and the feet of the statue, once of iron, be ground down by the fragility of the clay toes. The world falls, and its raised neck is not bent. Riches perish, and yet avarice does not cease. Men hasten to gather what will again be seized by others.

Tears have dried up, all piety has been taken away. Many there are who beg, few who give. Nor do we blush, preferring poverty in a cheap little cloak, to lie upon the wealth of Croesus; and to guard the hunger and death of many by our own treasures, after the manner of that purple-clad rich man, who, even if he had done nothing else—for Scripture does not attest his robberies and iniquities—his cruelty and pride knew no measure: to Lazarus lying half-dead before his doors, he did not even order to be given what is thrown to dogs. How many Lazaruses now lie, and how many are covered with purple in the various colors of their garments, who do not even turn to their own use what they preserve only to perish! Let these things, virgin of Christ, Eustochium, be spoken by the mouth out of the abundance of the heart, and let us have said them a little more freely than befits our humility.

But the eighth book on Ezechiel, which contains the rebuke of the sons of Ammon and of the other nations, and the prophecy of things to come, will have this beginning.

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set (or harden) your face against the children of Ammon, and you shall prophesy concerning them, and you shall say to the children of Ammon: Hear the word of the Lord God, thus says the Lord God: Because you said, aha, aha, over my sanctuary (or because you rejoiced over my sanctuary), because it was polluted, and over the land of Israel, because it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah, because they were led into captivity: therefore I will give you to the children of the East (or CEDEM) for an inheritance, and they will set their folds in you, and place their tents in you: they themselves will eat your fruits, and they themselves will drink milk (or your abundance), and I will give Rabbath as a dwelling place for camels (or the city of Ammon for pastures of camels): and the children of Ammon as a resting-place for flocks, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

For thus says the Lord God: Because you clapped your hand, and stamped (or made a sound) with your foot, and rejoiced with all your affection (or exulted from your soul) over the land of Israel: therefore I will stretch out my hand over you, and give you as plunder to the nations, and I will cut you off from among the peoples, and destroy you from among the lands, and crush you, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

After Jerusalem had been captured or besieged, once he who was able to escape had come into Babylon, and had announced that the city was on the very point of being taken, or had already been overthrown together with the temple, then, according to the custom of all the prophets, the prophetic word is turned against the other nations round about, who had insulted over the ruin of Jerusalem and the burning of the temple; and first against the children of Ammon, who had for their metropolis a city named Rabbath, which today has been called Philadelphia by Ptolemy, king of Egypt, surnamed Philadelphus, who held Arabia together with Judaea. Son, he says, of man, set, or harden, your face against the children of Ammon, who were begotten of the stock of Lot, and say to them: Thus says the Lord God (for these are not the words of the prophet, but of the Lord.

Concerning the hardening of the face, we have discussed more fully in this same prophet): Because you said, Aha, Aha, or you insulted, and rejoiced, because my temple and sanctuary was polluted by the entry of enemies, and over the land of Israel, because it was made desolate, and specially over the house of Judah, that is, of the two tribes, which have now been led into captivity: therefore I also will give you to the children of CEDEM, whom we have interpreted as the Easterners. And there is no doubt that the Midianites, and all the vastness of the desert, lie adjacent to the land of Arabia, who have flocks of camels, and multitudes of sheep and goats, and live off these resources. And history relates that this happened also to the land of Israel in the book of Judges, when the Midianites came and devoured all their territories, as far as Gaza.

Metaphorically, therefore, by the Midianites, Scripture signifies the Ishmaelites and Hagarenes, who are now called Saracens, falsely taking to themselves the name of Sarah, so that they might seem to be born of the freeborn woman and mistress; and it is said concerning king Nebuchadnezzar and all his army, that he shall come and take the city of Rabbath, which is called by this name either properly, or on account of its greatness. For "Rabbath" is said to mean "the greatest." And lest we should doubt that Nebuchadnezzar overthrew Arabia after Jerusalem was captured, Scripture testifies above: And you, son of man, set for yourself two ways, Ammon and Jerusalem, and the sword of the king of Babylon shall come. And again: At the head of the way of the city he shall cast, and you shall set the way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in Jerusalem the most fortified (above, xxi, 19, 20).

And again: Thus says the Lord God to the children of Ammon, and to their reproach (verse 28). The children of CEDEM, then, will come, and will set their folds, like shepherds, and will pitch their tents. They themselves will lay waste your crops, and drink milk, and the abundance of the land, with flocks of camels and of all peoples let loose upon it: so that the children of Ammon will be as a resting place for flocks, and by the necessity of their evils they will understand that he himself is the Lord who both foretold what was to come, and commanded that it should come to pass. Nor was it enough for the children of Ammon to insult and say, Aha, aha over the temple and sanctuary of the Lord, which had been polluted by the entrance of diverse nations; but so great was the wantonness of their insulting, that the whole people together clapped with hands and feet, and cried out with the whole affection of the heart, because the land of Israel was made desolate.

Therefore not through angels, nor through other ministries, but the Lord himself, stretching out his hand to strike, will give it up for plunder, not indeed to camels and flocks of sheep, but more plainly to nations, that it may be utterly rooted out from the number of peoples, and perish, and be reduced to nothing: and after it has been crushed, then let it understand that he himself is the Lord who judges all things, and has power over all lands. We may, according to tropology, understand by the children of Ammon, who were begotten of Lot's seed in a cave, and begotten in drunkenness and incest, all heretics, of whom Scripture says, and the apostle John: They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would surely have remained with us.

For these are sprung from a declining, for this is what "Lot" is translated into our tongue: Because they have all declined, they have together become unprofitable: there is none that does good, there is not even one.

Against these the prophetic face is set, or hardened, so that it may crush them by its own austerity, and it says to them: Because you insulted my Church in the time of persecution: because my sanctuary was polluted by the vice of various persons, whether by the vice of those who served me, or by the cruelty of enemies, who persecuted mine: also the land of Israel, that is, the perception of those seeing God, was made desolate of the chorus of virtues; and how the children of the house of Judah, that is, of him who confesses God, in which is true faith and right confession, were led into captivity, and ceased to serve the Lord: therefore, O you who insult in every way, you shall be delivered to the children of the East who have gone forth from the true light, and you shall be delivered as an inheritance, that you too may learn to confess the Lord.

And by way of transfer it is said, that the children of the East will place upon them their folds, and pitch their tents, and drink milk, and eat the fruits, and the city once of pride will become a dwelling place of camels, who are able, having laid down the burden of sins, to enter through the eye of a needle, and into the resting-place of flocks, which are ruled by the good shepherd, so that when they have done this, mixed and delivered to the shepherds of the East, they may understand that he himself is the Lord.

And again he reproaches them, for having insulted with too great affection of heart over the ruins of the people of God, and for having thought the land of Israel utterly deserted: for which they deserve the avenging hand of God, so that they who had exceeded the measure of exultation and joy over the ruin of the house of Judah, should by no means be delivered to the children of the East, but should be for plunder to all the nations, and be slain from among the peoples, and perish, and be crushed, and by no means be believed to be of the stock of Abraham, but of all nations; and then, seeing God, that it was made desolate of the chorus of virtues, and that the children of the house of Judah are to be believed of all nations, and then they may recognize, by the greatness of the evils, and by their own crushing, and the slaughter of the people, that he himself is the Lord.

What we have understood generally concerning the Church can be understood of each of the saints, at whose ruin the men of the age, and the adversary powers, rejoice, if for a long time they have lost their chastity: since the wicked think it a consolation for their own crimes, if they have many companions in guilt and in punishment: and let no one do this, unless he be a son of Ammon, that is, a son of the people, who was begotten in a declining. (Verses 8 following.) Thus says the Lord God: Because Moab and Seir said, behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations: therefore behold I will open the shoulder of Moab, from its cities I say, and from its borders, the renowned lands of Beth Jesimoth, and Beelmeon, and Cariathaim: to the children of the East together with the children of Ammon, and I will give it for an inheritance, that there may be no more memory of the children of Ammon among the nations, and I will execute judgments in Moab, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

The Septuagint: Thus says Adonai the Lord: Because Moab said [asterisk] and Seir: behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations: therefore behold I will dissolve the shoulder of Moab from the cities of its promontories, the choice land, the house of Beth Jasimuth, upon the fountain of the maritime city, the children of the East upon the children of Ammon, I have given it to him for an inheritance, that there may be no memory of the children of Ammon among the nations, and I will execute vengeance in Moab, and they shall know that I am the Lord. What we have translated as "and Seir" is not found in the Septuagint, but has been added from Theodotion's edition. But the Hebrews relate a ridiculous fable in this place.

After the city was opened, and the temple unbarred, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and Seir had entered the temple, and had seen the Cherubim covering the mercy-seat, they said: As all the nations worship idols, so also Judah has idols of its own religion; and therefore, they say, the Lord was angry, and delivered them to captivity. But we shall say this, that these also insulted the house of Judah, when it was captured by the Chaldeans, thinking that, as with the other nations, there was no help of God there, and therefore that the kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem, destitute of God's protection, lay open to the power of Babylon.

Therefore, not after a long time, but in the present, the Lord threatens that he will dissolve, or open, the shoulder—that is, the strength and might—of Moab, from its cities, so that the Babylonian conqueror may enter even upon them, and cities may cease to be in Moab, and within its borders and boundaries the renowned cities may be destroyed: whose names he sets down, Beth Jesimoth, and Beelmeon, and Cariathaim: for which, wishing something or other, the Septuagint translated "the house of Beth Iasimuth," though this word signifies a deserted village: Beelmeon too is even today the largest village in Moab, which they rendered "upon the fountain," and Cariathaim, "the maritime city": and this too is delivered, along with the children of Ammon, to the children of the East, that is, to the Babylonians, according to that sense which we have interpreted against the children of Ammon.

And I will give, he says, Moab for an inheritance, so that just as there is no memory any more of the children of Ammon among the nations, so also I will execute vengeance and judgments in Moab: that they may know that I am the Lord, who delivered Judah for sin, and will be an avenger against the children of Ammon, and against Moab. Even to this day, however, Moab, which is interpreted "from the father," and Seir, which is rendered "hairy" and "shaggy," despises and contemns the house of Judah, in which is true confession, and thinks that it can be overthrown as easily as the fortifications of other cities are overthrown.

Whence also the Lord threatens that he will open, or dissolve, all the strength of the Moabites: so that they may cease to have cities, and by no means trust in the art of dialectic: but that all their borders, which for the beating of the waves they call promontories, may be destroyed; and that the renowned and choice lands of Beth Jesimoth, which is interpreted "house of solitude" and "deserted," and Beelmeon, which itself is rendered "having a fountain," or "upon the fountain," and Cariathaim, which the Septuagint translated "the maritime city," may perish. For although they have the strength of warriors, and advance renowned to battle by the art of fighting, and march hedged and fortified on every side: nevertheless their renowned land is not a house of habitation, but a house of solitude.

And though they think they have a fountain of knowledge, and a maritime city, which could withstand all the storms of the age, promising themselves patience and strength: yet it will come to this, that they too will be delivered to the children of the East, of the true light in Christ; just as the children of Ammon were delivered, who trusted in themselves amid the heretical multitude. And let us consider the progress, and, in the very threat, the clemency of God, that the children of the East should be delivered along with the children of Ammon for an inheritance: and that no heresy at all should be named among the nations; but that, judgments having been executed in Moab, and vengeances for their arrogance, by the outcome of things they may know that it is the Lord who disposes all things.

Now, to prove that Moab in the present passage is understood as the pride of the Philosophers, of whom it is said: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the understanding of the prudent I will reject, a few examples from the prophets must be repeated. Amos speaks: Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away from him, because he burned the bones of the king of Idumea into ashes. For truly, whatever perverse dogma there is in the world, whatever pertains to earthly knowledge, and is thought to be strong, this is overthrown by dialectical art, and is dissolved, like a fire, into ashes and cinders. It is dissolved; that it may be proved that there was nothing which was thought to be strongest. But Isaiah rebukes the pride of Moab, saying: We have heard the reproach of Moab: he is exceedingly reproachful: I have taken away his pride. Jeremiah also, prophesying against all nations, speaks specifically to Moab: Because thou hast trusted in thy fortifications.

And a little after: Thou shalt have confidence in thy glory. And again: How do you say, we are strong? And then: The day of Moab is near to come, and his calamity is exceedingly swift. And more plainly: Tell how the glorious staff is broken, the magnificent rod? And again: The horn of Moab is broken. Now these things are said, so that under the name of Moab, the foolish pride of the world lifting itself up to heaven may be crushed. (Verses 12, 13, following.) Thus saith the Lord God: Because Idumea took vengeance, to avenge herself upon the children of Judah; and she sinned in offending, and sought vengeance upon them. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: I will stretch out my hand upon Idumea, and take away from her man and beast. And I will make her desolate from the south, and they that are in Dedan shall fall by the sword.

And I will lay my vengeance upon Idumea, by the hand of my people Israel, and I will do in Edom according to my anger and my fury, and they shall know my indignation, saith the Lord God. LXX: Thus saith Adonai the Lord: Because Idumea did, that they might avenge vengeance upon the house of Judah, and they kept the memory of evil, and avenged themselves with vengeance: therefore thus saith Adonai the Lord: I will stretch out my hand upon Idumea, and I will slay from her man and beast, and I will make her desolate: and from Theman those fleeing shall fall by the sword. And I will lay my vengeance upon Idumea, by the hand of my people Israel, and they shall do in Idumea according to my anger and my fury, and they shall know my vengeance, saith Adonai the Lord.

Above, he set forth two things, because they said Moab and Seir, and afterward, keeping silence about Seir, he spoke only against Moab: now he returns to the problem begun, what Seir, that is, Idumea, did. But that Esau and Seir, and Edom, and Idumea, and Duma, are called one nation, no one who has knowledge of the Scriptures will doubt. And to say nothing of the other prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, who prophesied against Idumea, and Duma, and Edom: Obadiah the prophet directs his whole prophecy against this nation, which we have discussed as best we could formerly. Seir is therefore rebuked, who, because he was hairy, received the name of "hairy," and Edom, "bloody," who because of the cooking of the red lentil lost his birthright, and got his name from the dish; the deeds of Esau also are interpreted. And this should be known, that in the Hebrew it is never written Idumea, but always Edom, which the Greek translation rendered Idumea.

By no means then did Idumea [Edom], as Moab, speak, but she took vengeance upon the children of Judah; and she sinned, or kept the memory of her former grief, that she might take vengeance upon those by whom she was supplanted in the womb. Therefore not through angels, nor through any other, but the Lord himself stretching out his hand upon Idumea, took away from her man and beast, and reduced her cities to desolation, that is Theman, which we have rendered "the south": from which, and from another city Dedan, they that are slain shall fall by the sword. And when they shall have avenged themselves upon Judah, I will lay vengeance upon the Idumeans by the hand, or in the hand, of my people Israel: that they may be oppressed by those upon whom they exercised vengeance.

Who shall do in Edom, or Idumea, according to my anger and my fury, that I may fulfill my indignation, and by the hands of my people Israel, my anger may rage against the enemy nation, and they may understand that against the unjust vengeance of Idumea, my vengeance was just, saith Adonai the Lord. According to the tropological sense, this meaning seems to me here. Idumea is called earthly and carnal, which rises up against the spirit, that we may not do the things that are of the spirit, and hastens to draw back to itself the soul placed in the midst; and she wishes to render vengeance to the children of Judah, to whom she had formerly been subject, and she remembers the ancient grief, that she was not of her own power, and therefore sought vengeance upon those who, departing from the flesh, followed the spirit.

Therefore the Lord himself, being the avenger of the children of Judah, stretches out his hand upon Idumea, and takes away from her man and beast, whatever seems to have either reason or simple faith, that he may reduce her to solitude. And of Theman, which is interpreted "failing," and Dedan, which itself also sounds of kinship, he slew all with the sword, which he placed in the hand of his people Israel, that Edom might be overthrown, and feel the anger of the Lord and his fury, and understand that his vengeance had this effect, that it should serve the house of Judah. This is that of which the Apostle also disputes, writing: Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated. Now he loves Jacob, because he supplants and overcomes the carnal and earthly one, and deserves to receive his blessings. For first we live according to the flesh, and afterward according to the spirit.

First vices, then virtues, by which vices are overthrown, because the heart of man is bent to evil from childhood, and mature age condemns the errors of youth. Whence also David says: Remember not, he says, the sins of my youth, and my ignorances. And yet it should be known that Jacob received the first blessing, Esau the second. And that which is finally said of him: Thou shalt be servant to thy brother, signifies this, that after the flesh shall have been subjected to the spirit, and joined to it, the flesh ceases to be flesh, and Idumea passes over into Judea. (Verses 15, 16.) Thus saith the Lord God: Because the Philistines have taken vengeance, and have avenged themselves with all their mind, killing, and fulfilling old enmities.

Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will stretch out my hand upon the Philistines, and I will slay the slayers, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast, and I will execute great vengeances upon them, rebuking in fury, and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have executed my vengeance upon them. LXX: Therefore thus saith Adonai the Lord: Because the foreigners took vengeance, and stirred up vengeance, insulting, from the mind, that they might blot out forever: therefore thus saith Adonai the Lord: Behold I will stretch out my hand upon the foreigners, and I will destroy, or slay, the Cretans, and I will destroy the remnant of the sea coast, and I will execute great vengeances upon them in the vengeance of fury, and they shall know that I am Adonai the Lord, when I shall have given my vengeance upon them.

After the children of Ammon, Moab, and Seir, who are themselves also Idumeans, and are joined to the people of Israel and the house of Judah by kinship through Lot and Esau, he comes to the Philistines, whom the Seventy translated ἀλλοφύλους, that is, foreigners, not by the general name of all nations which are not of the race of the Jews, but by the special name of their own nation, which is now called Palestine, the letter PHE being changed, according to the custom of the Greeks, into PI (π), just as among us for the Hebrew PHASE (פסח), the Greek and Latin "pascha" is celebrated. The Philistines are interpreted as "falling by the cup," who themselves also were made drunk from the golden cup of Babylon, and rage, and insult with all their mind, remembering the old enmities against Israel, by which they were separated from the people of God. And since the Lord says: Vengeance is mine, and I will repay, they themselves avenge themselves by killing, and fulfilling ancient hatreds.

For which things they shall feel the hand of the Lord stretched out over them, which shall slay the slayers. For which the LXX, wishing I know not what, translated "Cretans," whereas both Aquila and Symmachus, and Theodotion translated the Hebrew word itself CHORETHIM (כרתים) as either "slayers" or "slaughter," not only in the present place, but also in Zephaniah, where these things are said against the Philistines: Gaza shall be laid waste, and Ascalon shall come to destruction, Azotus and Accaron shall be rooted out. Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast, dwellers of the Cretans, the word of the Lord is upon you, O Canaan, land of foreigners, and I will destroy you from your dwelling, and Crete shall become a pasture for shepherds, and a fold for sheep. And here too, since the Seventy translated "Crete," the other translators rendered ὄλεθρον, that is, "slaughter" or "destruction." Concerning which, in the aforesaid prophet, with God's help, we have said what seemed right to us.

Whence also of David's two legions, one of which was called Phelethi, and the other Cerethi, the latter received the name Choretim, that is, "of the slayers," from the fact that they slew and put to death. And the Lord destroys all the remnants of the sea coast, which is beaten by the salt waves, and he shall execute vengeances not small, but great, in fury, that his fury may find an end in mercy, and after he has taken vengeance, rebuking with fury, then the Philistines shall know that he is the Lord.

And it came to pass in the eleventh year, on the first (or one) of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, because Tyre (or Sor) has said of Jerusalem: Aha, the gates of the peoples (or nations) are broken: she is turned to me, I shall be filled, she is laid waste (or she that was full, is laid waste); therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Tyre (or Sor): and I will cause many nations to come up upon you, as the sea comes up in its surging. And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and shall break down her towers, and I will scrape (or fan) her dust from her, and I will make her a very smooth (or shining) rock. She shall be a place for the drying of nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken, says the Lord God, and she shall become a spoil to the nations.

Her daughters also who are in the field (or in the plain) shall be slain with the sword, and they shall know that I am the Lord. The order of the prophecy is continued in sequence. He had spoken against the children of Ammon and Moab and Seir, who are themselves also Idumeans, and the Philistines who dwell on the coast, and hold the same boundary in the line of the sea. For after the Palestinians comes the region of Phoenicia, whose metropolis is the city of Tyre, which in the Hebrew and Syrian tongue is called SOR (צור). And because, when Jerusalem was captured, she also rejoiced, and insulted and said: The gates of the peoples are broken, I have the safest harbor, and she being overthrown, all the multitude which was ruled by her judgment has turned to me, and because she is laid waste, therefore I shall be filled, or she that was full before shall be reduced to a wilderness.

Because therefore you have said these things, and have insulted over the ruin of Jerusalem, which was overthrown by the judgment of God because of her sins, therefore not through messengers, nor through any others, but I myself will be against you, Tyre, and like the waves of the sea I will cause the Babylonians to come up against you with very many nations, by whose assault your walls and towers shall be destroyed, so much that they shall fall even to the ground, and her dust shall be scraped off, or scattered into various parts, and thus she shall be humbled, so that she may be compared to a very smooth rock: and there shall be such solitude in the city, once most crowded, that the fishermen's nets shall be spread out and dried in the midst of her. For I the Lord have spoken, whose words cannot be void, and I will give her over to the nations for a spoil.

Her daughters also, who are in the field or in the plain, that is, on the coast of Phoenicia, cities and towns, villages and forts, shall be slain by the sword: metaphorically, because he called them daughters, he sets down the slaying of the sword, that by the outcome of events they may know that I am the Lord, who commanded these things to be done. It can be understood according to tropology that since the Hebrew name SOR is translated as "anguish," every soul which is occupied by disturbances may be called Sor, which, when it sees Jerusalem—in which was the temple and the vision of peace—overthrown by the judgment of God for its vices and sins, exults and thinks that to itself the empire of the once-famous city is to be transferred. This is also understood in relation to contrary doctrines, and in men of the world, when they see a holy man fallen through negligence, and rejoice and exult, as if the ruin of others were their own resurrection.

Therefore the Lord threatens that he himself will fight against men of this sort, and will cause very many nations, like waves of the sea, to rise up against them, which shall destroy in them whatever seems most fortified and firm, and so overturn all their arguments that they be reduced to dust. He will also cause the seines and nets, with which they formerly fished for the deceived multitude, to cease, and to be spread out and dried on the ground of the deserted city, so that in their place other fishermen may come, whom the Lord has sent to fish.

But also her daughters, who before were kept as it were in a bridal chamber, and were not readily entrusted to anyone because of mystical and more secret teachings, are to come forth and be dragged into public view, and to be cut down by the sword of the Church, that they may understand that he is the Lord, who both left Jerusalem for a little while because of her sins, and destroyed the fortifications of Tyre because of her insult and rejoicing. (Vv. 6 ff.) For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will bring against Tyre (or against you, SOR) Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the north, king of kings, with horses, and chariots, and horsemen, and a company and a great people. Your daughters who are in the field he shall slay with the sword, and he shall surround you with fortifications, and shall build a rampart round about, and shall lift up the shield against you, and shall aim the battering rams (or lances) against your walls, and shall destroy your towers with his weapons.

With the flood of his horses their dust shall cover you; from the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots your walls shall be shaken, when he shall enter your gates as through the entry of a demolished city (or as one entering a city from the open country). With the hoofs of his horses he shall trample all your streets: he shall slay your people with the sword, and your noble statues shall fall to the ground (or he shall bring down the substance of your strength to the ground). They shall lay waste (or he shall lay waste) your riches, they shall plunder your merchandise (or he shall spoil your substance) and they shall destroy (or he shall destroy) your walls, and your splendid (or desirable) houses they shall overthrow (or he shall overthrow), and they shall cast your stones and your timbers and your dust into the midst of the waters (or he shall cast them into the midst of the sea).

And I will make the multitude of your singers to cease (or I will destroy the multitude of your musicians), and the sound of your harps (or the voice of your instruments) shall be heard no more. And I will make you a very smooth (or shining) rock. You shall be a place for drying nets, nor shall you be built again, for I have spoken, says the Lord God. I have joined both editions together as is my custom, and where they differ, I have added the difference alongside, providing for the brevity of the volumes.

Therefore what he had said, "I will cause many nations to come up against you as the sea comes up in its surging, and Tyre shall be a spoil to the nations," he now sets forth more plainly, that the Lord shall bring Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the north, king of kings, with horses and chariots, and with an infinite multitude of an army, who shall first overthrow the cities and forts subject to Tyre along the coast, and afterward shall cause Tyre to be besieged, and shall surround her with an army, and a rampart, and fortifications, and shall assault her walls with siege-works and battering rams and destroy them, and so great shall be the multitude of his horsemen, that by the dust of the cavalry, and the noise of the howling army, and the din of the wheels and the neighing of the horses, the foundations of the city shall be shaken, and thus he shall enter the city with its walls thrown down, as one entering securely from open country, and such shall be the security of the conquering army, that the hoofs of the horses shall trample the streets of Tyre, and all the people shall fall in the midst of the city, and the once-noble statues, or the whole substance, shall fall to the ground, and nothing of the former riches shall be preserved in the conquered city, but along with the walls the noble houses too shall be destroyed, and such shall be the fierceness of the victors, that the timbers and stones, whatever remain from the fire, shall be thrown into the midst of the sea, and either Nebuchadnezzar, or the Lord himself, shall make to cease all the joy of the city, with which it formerly resounded in songs and psalteries, and, overthrown down to the ground, it shall be a drying-place for nets.

And what follows, "You shall not be built again," seems to raise a question, how it is not built, since we see today that it is the most noble and most beautiful city of Phoenicia. From which some wish to hold that Tyre is to suffer this in the last time, so that afterward it will not be rebuilt. But how will they be able to preserve the person of Nebuchadnezzar: especially since we read in what follows that Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre, and did not receive the reward of his labor: and that therefore Egypt was given to him, because he had served the sentence of God in the siege of Tyre?

They say—those who contradict this history—that they have read Greek and Phoenician histories, and especially those of Nicolaus of Damascus, and other histories of the Barbarians, and have found nothing about a siege of the city of Tyre by the Chaldeans, though we can prove that many things are said to have happened in the Scriptures which are not found in the Greek volumes; nor ought we to acquiesce in the authority of those whose faithlessness and lies we detest. It can therefore be understood that what is said, "nor shall you be built again," means that she shall by no means any longer be queen of the peoples, nor have her own empire, as she had under Hiram and the other kings; but shall be subject either to the Chaldeans, or to the Macedonians, or to the Ptolemies, and at last to the Roman rulers.

But it is not doubtful to anyone that, according to anagogy, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who comes from the north, is understood to be the devil, who, though he is the harshest and most sinister wind, is called by the name of "right," presuming to himself the dignity of that name, and is king of kings and of all the kingdoms which he showed to the Lord, and said to him: "All these things have been delivered to me, which I will give you if you will fall down and worship me". He has horses and chariots, of which it is written: "A horse is a vain hope for safety". And: "They have slept, all who mounted the horses". And in another place: "The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea".

He slays the daughters of Tyre, souls placed in anguish and in a certain prison of sins, in the field and in the widest plain, and surrounds Tyre with his fortifications, so as to keep her enclosed, that none may escape from her the empire of the king of Babylon. He will destroy the walls and overthrow the towers, and whatever teachings she perhaps had, shall tremble at the flood of his horses and the noise of his horsemen and the din of the wheels and chariots, and he shall enter her gates, with none preventing him, and the streets of the city: Because "wide and broad is the way that leads to death", the hoofs of his horses shall trample it, and cast to the ground the whole substance, or the noble statues, with which they had fashioned for themselves images of falsehood, of which it is written:

"Lord, in your city you will bring their images to nothing", and, the walls being destroyed, the noble houses too shall be overthrown, which she had prepared for herself, and in which she exulted, and she shall come to such desolation, that her stones and timbers, with which she had built her walls, and the mortar she had constructed, shall be cast into the deep, and her songs and music, in which she trusted in the wisdom of this world, and the sound of all harps shall be heard no more, and her fishing shall cease, and she shall be brought low, so as to be a drying-place for nets, and shall not be built again, because, given over by the sentence of the Lord to Nebuchadnezzar, she is utterly overthrown, according to what the Apostle also says: "Whom I have delivered to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme". The passages are difficult, and the prudent and diligent reader ought to forgive my labor.

Or if he can find something better, I too will pass over to his opinion: provided he knows that the pardon he grants me, he himself will receive from others. (Verse 15. Seq.) Thus says the Lord God to Tyre: Shall not the isles be moved at the sound of thy ruin, and at the groaning of thy slain, when they shall be killed in the midst of thee? And all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones: and shall take away their robes, and cast off their broidered garments, and shall be clothed with astonishment. They shall sit upon the ground, and being astonished at thy sudden fall, shall wonder, and lifting up their voice shall lament over thee, and shall say to thee: How art thou fallen, that dwellest in the sea, O renowned city, that wast strong in the sea with thy inhabitants whom all men feared?

Now shall the ships be astonished in the day of thy terror, and the isles in the sea shall be troubled, because no one cometh out of thee. LXX: For thus says the Lord God to Sor. Shall not the isles be moved at the voice of thy ruin, when thy wounded shall groan, when the sword shall be drawn in the midst of thee, and all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and shall take away their crowns, and shall be stripped of their broidered garments? They shall be mad with fury: they shall sit upon the ground, and shall be in dread of their own destruction, and shall groan over thee, and shall take up a lamentation over thee, and shall say to thee: How art thou perished and destroyed out of the sea, O renowned city, that wast strong in the sea, thou and thy inhabitants, who gave thy fear to all thy inhabitants?

And the isles shall be in dread in the day of thy ruin, and the isles in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure. Let us first set forth the very words of the history with the briefest paraphrase, opening the sense of what is said. Thus says Adonai the Lord to Tyre, which in Hebrew is called Sor (צור): Shall not the isles be moved, on the day of thy ruin, when, Nabuchodonosor besieging, thou shalt have fallen, and at the groaning of the wounded, or slain, who shall have been killed in the midst of thee?

And all the kings shall come down from their thrones, or seats, and the princes of the sea who rule over various islands, and shall take away the diadems from their heads, laying aside all glory of reigning, and shall cast off from themselves their most precious garments, gleaming with incredible variety, and by the greatness of their astonishment shall be turned into madness, and, cast down in humility, shall sit upon the ground, and when they shall have seen thee fallen, shall dread the like for themselves; and shall think that nothing is lasting among the good things of earth; but on the contrary shall take up a lamentation over thee, and shall recall a tearful song, saying: How art thou perished, that dwellest (Al. Didst dwell) in the sea, O renowned, or praised city?

For that Tyre was an island, and had no entrance from the mainland, we read in the histories of the Greeks, and Latins, and Barbarians: but afterward, by Nabuchodonosor king of the Chaldeans, or, as some affirm, by Alexander, king of the Macedonians, ramparts were thrown up, and by siege-works and covered approaches and battering-rams a way was prepared, and the island was made into a peninsula. Thou, therefore, O Sor, O Tyre, who wast once the strongest of all the islands, or praised by the voice of all cities, together with thy inhabitants whom all men feared, how didst thou suddenly fall? Now shall the isles, or, as it is better given in the Hebrew, the ships, be astonished, or in dread, over thee, in the day of thy terror and ruin, and the isles in the sea shall be troubled.

Whence it is more consistent to read "ships" above, lest "isles" be set down a second time; because no one cometh out of thee, or, as the Seventy translated it, in the day of thy going forth: when thou shalt have been led away captive. Let these things meanwhile be laid down, as it were, as certain foundations of the history: now let us strive to raise upon them a spiritual summit. Suppose someone, having long kept his chastity, and having flourished with many virtues, afterward falls into some grave and mortal sin: shall not all the isles be moved at the sound of his ruin and of his slain virtues: namely, those who are beaten by the salt and bitter waves of this age?

And all who seemed princes in the brine of this age shall come down from the throne of their pride, and, cast down in humility, shall take away the diadems from their heads, which they seemed to possess by good works, and shall cast off the garments of varied virtue, and shall be clothed with astonishment, or, by the greatness of their fear, shall in some manner appear insane; and they shall sit upon the ground, and being astonished at his sudden fall shall wonder: with intent that all take up mourning and lamentation over him who has fallen, and say: How art thou perished, who wast formerly safe? How art thou fallen, who hadst stood for so long a time, who in the sea of this age wast reckoned among all the renowned, who by common opinion wast strong? And thy inhabitants, that is, the strongest thoughts resisting against all the fiery darts of the devil, which formerly were a terror to all adversaries, are turned into astonishment.

But the ships too, namely, all the saints, who pass through the waves of this age, shall be astonished when they shall have seen thee fallen. In the day of thy terror and ruin the isles shall be troubled, lest they too suffer the like. For the ruins of others are examples for the just, while we all abide in this age in a weak and feeble state and with wavering step, and our victory is never certain or secure: when they shall go forth out of thee who had formerly stood; or at thy going forth, at thy end and consummation. For we are judged not by our past, but by our present. And it must be watched for, and always feared, lest a storm of one hour overturn old glory and solid firmness.

(Verse 19. Seq.) For thus says the Lord: When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited, and shall bring the deep upon thee, and many waters shall cover thee, and I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit (or, to them that descend into the pit) to the everlasting people, and shall set thee in the lowest parts of the earth (or, in the depth of the earth), like the deserts of old, with them that go down into the pit (or, descend into the pit), that thou be not inhabited, and I shall give glory in the land of the living (or, that thou shalt not rise again in the land of the living), I will bring thee to nothing (or, I will give thee to destruction), and thou shalt not be, and thou shalt be sought and not found for ever, says the Lord God. Join this with what was said above.

When I shall have made thee, O Tyre, a city desolate forever, as other cities are which are not inhabited at all, and shall have brought the deep upon thee, and many waters, or the infinite multitudes of enemies, shall have covered thee, or certainly, since he is speaking to an island and to a city set on an island, he compares tropologically the crowding of adversaries to the waves of the deep: and I shall bring thee down with them that go down into the pit, or into the trench, to those who are in hell, of whom we also read in the Psalms: They shall go into the lower parts of the earth: they shall be delivered into the hands of the sword, they shall be the portions for foxes; to the everlasting people, where is the weeping of eyes, and the gnashing of teeth, and they have set thee in the lowest parts of the earth, in which the ancient dragon is established, and like the old deserts and wastes, where there is no remembrance of good things, but the punishments shall be everlasting, nor shall I cause thee to rise again in the land of the living, of which it is written: Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land.

And in another place: I will please the Lord in the land of the living: then thou shalt be brought to nothing, or shalt perish forever, and shalt be no more, according to what is written in another psalm: Suffer me that I may be refreshed before I depart, and be no more. Not that he who is in everlasting punishments ceases to exist: but that in the Holy Scriptures he who does not live to God is said not to subsist. Whence also Esther, speaking against idols, says: Give not, she says, thy sceptre to them that are not (Esther XIV). Surely there were those on whose behalf she beseeches that the sceptre not be given to them; but they were not to God, who had ceased to be, in the sense of virtues, and of the living God. And this is to be noted, that Tyre is sought by him who comes to seek and to save what had perished, and, leaving ninety-nine sheep on the mountains, seeks the one straying sheep.

The woman also, who had lost one drachma, seeks it, and finds it, and calls her neighbors together to share her joy. But if, when sought, Tyre is not found, it is not the fault of the seeker, but of him who has fled the hand of the good shepherd. And it says, thou shalt no longer be forever; or, as it is written in the Hebrew LOLAM (לעולם), and in Greek αἰῶν, it signifies one age, according to that saying of Isaiah, who says that after seventy years Tyre shall be restored to its former state. They say, moreover, that one age, that is, the span of human life, is reckoned by the number of seventy years, the Psalmist saying: The days of our years, in them are seventy years. But if in the mighty, eighty years, and whatever is beyond, is labor and sorrow. This we have said briefly, in a figurative way, concerning Tyre.

It can also be referred to those who, placed in the straits of this age, are led down to hell, and are covered by the abysses and waves of punishments, and are dragged to the lower parts of the earth, and are joined twofold with those who are in the ancient waste, and are led down into the pit, or into the everlasting trench, so that they may no longer be inhabited by the Holy Spirit. Of whom it is written: The wicked, when he has fallen into the depth of evils, contemns. Nor shall they be any longer in the land of the living, but shall perish, and be brought to nothing, and shall cease to be to God. These are the testimonies which are misused by those who say that the punishments of the wicked, and not of sinners, are perpetual: who, sought by God, are not found, and have ceased to be forever: because by their own fault they have lost him who says: I am the life.

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Thou therefore, son of man, take up a lamentation over Tyre, and say to Tyre, that dwells at the entrance of the sea, the mart of the peoples for many isles (or, from many isles). Thus says the Lord God. If I wished to comprehend the whole prophecy against Tyre, or concerning the lamentation of Tyre, in one continuous discourse, and it would be too long for Jerome to insist upon the words of Scripture, to Tyre, who wast strong in the sea with thy inhabitants, whom all men feared.

I would make it burdensome, and the sense obscure to the reader; since he cannot retain all things at once in his mind, especially in those places where the Septuagint edition differs from the Hebrew in this passage, that is, in what they have added, or what they have taken away. And so we shall be content with our own translation, and wherever they disagree, we shall set it alongside from the margin, leaving the perfect knowledge of all things to God: and what seems to us in each instance we shall briefly note. He who is lamented is still a matter of concern to him by whom he is lamented. Whence also Samuel wept and mourned over Saul. And the Apostle Paul laments and mourns over those who committed fornication and did not repent. And Jeremiah writes Lamentations over the overthrow of Jerusalem in four alphabets.

Tyre, then, or Sor, dwells, according to the letter, at the entrance of the sea: either because it was formerly an island, or because it receives ships coming from the deep in a most safe harbor, and is the mart of the peoples for many isles, or from many isles. This indeed continues even to this day, so that the commerce of nearly all nations is carried on there. But following the interpretation we have begun, whatever is said about Tyre, let us refer to the συνοχή, that is, the straits of this world, which lies in wickedness, and is constrained and battered by various disturbances as by waves. Of merchants of this sort it is also told in a mystical sense in the psalm: They that go down to the sea in ships, doing business in the great waters, these have seen the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.

Verse 3. O Tyre, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty (or, thou hast said, I have surrounded myself with beauty), and set in the heart of the sea. The first fault of Tyre is that, if she seems to have any good thing, she does not think it God's, but her own, and reckons all the beauty which comes to her from various regions to be the achievement of her own diligence and virtue. For she said: I am of perfect beauty, or, I have surrounded myself with beauty, though she is set in the heart, that is, in the midst of the sea, and, as it were, moved and tossed like an island, and shattered by the beating of the waves. That the "heart of the sea" signifies the middle is shown also by that prophetic saying: Therefore we will not fear when the earth shall be troubled, and the mountains shall be carried into the heart of the sea. Their waters roared and were troubled.

But our Lord too is said to have descended into the heart of the earth, that is, into the middle, to hell. But true and perfect beauty is in no man, save in the body of Christ, which is interpreted the Church, and is gathered together out of the virtues of many saints. Whence also he himself speaks to the bride: Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is no spot in thee. (Verses 4, 5.) Your neighbors who built you have filled up your beauty. With fir trees from Senir they built you, with all planking of the sea. They took cedar from Lebanon, that they might make thee a mast. In place of which, wanting I know not what, the Septuagint thus translated: Beelim thy sons surrounded thy beauty: cedar from Senir was built for you: they took thin boards of cypress from Lebanon, that they might make thee fir masts.

For the word Beelim is not found at all in this place among the Hebrews, but instead of Beelim there is written GEBULAICH (גבוליך), which signifies "thy borders." In this also, where they said "thy sons," they were deceived by the ambiguity of the word, and by the similarity of the writing, since by a different pronunciation the same letters are read as "of the beams" and "of the sons," BONAICH and BENAICH (בניך). Therefore, O Tyre, who saidst in pride, "I am of perfect beauty," or "I have surrounded myself with beauty," though thou art situated in the midst of the sea, hear how great things have been bestowed upon thee by God's bounty. Thy neighbors and bordering peoples, who are not from distant but from nearby regions, they have filled up thy beauty, and dost thou think that which is another's to be thine own?

And he speaks, as it were figuratively, to a ship, signifying the beauty of the city and the abundance of all things, so that after he has described its whole furnishing—mast, yards, oars, sails, prow, keel, ropes, coverings, hides, and the rest which the equipment of well-furnished ships requires—he then announces that a tempest and a south wind are coming upon it, by which the greatest waves will be stirred up, and that it will be subjected to shipwreck. By which he signifies the overthrow of the city of Tyre by King Nebuchadnezzar, or, as many think, by Alexander, king of the Macedonians, who is related to have besieged that city for six months and to have taken it, after he had conquered Darius in Lycia.

But according to the mystical understanding, the planking of the ship of Tyre is hewn from firs or cedars from Senir, with which it is woven and fitted together, and its mast from cedar or cypress from Lebanon: from firs on account of the smoothness and the joinings of the boards, which hold and bite into one another more softly; or from cedars, because that wood does not rot. Now it is said "from Senir," which is interpreted "way of the lamp"; or, as we more truly judge, "tooth of watches," because all the prosperity and illumination of the ship comes from the true light. Senir, moreover, according to the letter, is the same mountain as Hermon, which others call Senior. Read the history. Lebanon is interpreted "whiteness" or "bleaching": which itself also pertains to grace coming from elsewhere. (Verse 6.) Oaks from Bashan they hewed into thy oars: thy benches they made for thee of Indian ivory, and little cabins from the islands of Italy.

The Septuagint: From Bashan they made thy oars, and thy temples, and they made thee, of ivory, houses of the forest, from the islands of Chittim. How great was the beauty of the ship and its furnishing, that it had oars of cedar, not from just anywhere, but from Bashan, and benches of ivory, and little cabins, or storerooms, in which the most precious merchandise is kept, from the islands of Chittim, which we translate as Italy: understanding by that region, which is nearer to Greece, all the parts of the Western islands. Let us say, then, according to the anagogical sense, that the oars of the ship of Tyre are made from Bashan, of which it is also written in the Psalms: The Lord said, I will bring back from Bashan, I will bring back from the depths of the sea.

Bashan in our tongue is interpreted "shame." Those, then, who were in the depths of the sea and in the shame of sins, God converts, and converts into oars, that sailing with the Apostles they may be able to reach land and the shores; and benches are made of ivory, when they have mortified their bodies; or have devoted the use of their teeth to the praises of God; and little cabins, or storerooms, from the islands of Chittim, which according to the etymology of the Hebrew word is translated "smitten," so that by the blows of the devil it may not so much be destroyed as tested. We may say that the houses of the forest of ivory are from the islands of Chittim, which heretics strive to build not in the house of God, but in the ship of Tyre.

And they themselves, having their own ivory of speech and tongue, build temples of God contrary to the temple, and houses of the forest, dwellings of beasts, though Scripture says that in the house of God groves and forests and sacred woods are not to be planted. (Verse 7.) Fine linen with embroidery from Egypt was woven for thee for a sail, to be set upon the mast: blue and purple from the islands of Elisha became thy covering. The Septuagint: Fine linen with embroidery from Egypt was made for thee for a bed-covering, that it might surround thee with glory, and cover thee with blue and purple; from the islands of Elissa were made thy coverings. Because Tyre had said, "I am of perfect beauty," or "I have surrounded myself with beauty," she is charged with what she has received from each region, according to that word of Scripture: What hast thou that thou hast not received? But if thou hast received it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?

It is described, then, what each province sends, according to that of Virgil (Georgics, Book I):

India sends ivory: the soft Sabaeans their frankincense:
But the naked Chalybes their iron, and Pontus its rank
castoreum,

and the rest. Fine linen grows most abundantly in Egypt, from which the sail of the ship of Tyre is woven, which hangs upon the mast, and its covering, which in the heat of the sun and in calm provides shade for sailors and passengers, is made of blue and purple; which are from the islands of Elisha, so calling the islands of the Ionian Sea. Furthermore, according to the Septuagint, coverings of fine linen are woven into a bed and rest for the ship of Tyre, that being covered by these it may be more glorious, and being wrapped about may have a more beautiful garment.

That fine linen is referred to earth, because it arises from the earth, and blue to the air, purple to the sea from which it is made, with the addition of scarlet twice-dyed, with which the vestments of the High Priest are woven—we have often admonished that these signify the four elements: earth, fire, air, and water, of which all things consist, which Tyre takes to herself, so that she does not use the creatures of God with gratitude, but says: I am of perfect beauty: or, I have myself surrounded myself with beauty. (Verses 8, 9.) The inhabitants of Sidon and of Arvad were thy rowers. Thy wise men, O Tyre, became thy pilots. The elders of Gebal and its skilled men furnished sailors for the service of thy various furnishings. All the ships of the sea, and their sailors, were in the people of thy trading. The Septuagint: Thy princes dwelt in Sidon, and the Arvadites were thy rowers. Thy wise men, O Tyre, who were in thee, these were thy pilots.

The elders of Gebal, and its wise men, were in thee: these strengthened thy counsel, and all the ships of the sea, and their rowers, became for thee toward the West of the West. He had said above: Thy neighbors who built thee filled up thy beauty: before he comes to those who dwell far off, he describes the aids of the neighboring provinces. Thy inhabitants, he says, or the princes of Sidon, and the Arvadites, which is a neighboring island, are thy rowers. For governance properly belongs to the wise, Scripture saying: They that have no governance shall fall like leaves. The elders, or seniors, of Gebal, and its skilled men, furnished sailors for thy service, or strengthened the counsel of Tyre, and furnished various furnishing: and all the ships of the sea, and their sailors, were in the people of the trading of Tyre, or toward the West of the West. This, meanwhile, according to the letter.

But according to the mystical understanding, because the Sidonians are interpreted "hunters," and the Arvadites "those who lay down": we shall say that Tyre, a glorious and most proud city, which, the wind blowing, is afterward to be ground down, has citizens, or princes, who are hunters, of whom it is written: Our soul is snatched away like a sparrow from the snare of the hunters. Where we read "of the hunters," in the Hebrew it is written "of the Sidonians." These hunt unwary souls set on high, that they may bring them down to earthly things, and they become rowers, to lead them to shipwrecks. But the wise men of Tyre, who are taken in a bad sense, whereby the sons of darkness are wiser than the sons of light, they steer Tyre, prepared for shipwreck. The elders of Gebal and its skilled men furnished sailors to Tyre for service, or strengthened its counsel. Sacred history relates that many elders were rejected by the Lord, and younger ones were chosen, as a type of Synagogue and Church.

The elder Cain is set aside, and the younger Abel is chosen: Ishmael, son of Abraham, is estranged from the father, and the younger Isaac received the inheritance. Of the sons of Isaac also, the elder Esau is a hunter, and wanders in the woodlands, the younger Jacob dwells simply at home. Whence it is also written in Malachi: Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. And rightly, according to the Apostle, they had done nothing good or evil while established in the mother's womb, nor had they merit or offense, that one should be chosen and the other rejected, except that, in type, as we have said, of Synagogue and Church, the elder is rejected, and the younger is taken up. All, he says, the ships of the sea, and their sailors, were in the people of the trading of Tyre, or toward the West of the West.

As it is said "Song of Songs," and "age of ages," and "work of works"; that the song may be greater than other songs, and the age longer than other ages, and the work more useful than other works: so is called "the West of the West," to signify the greatness of the Western parts. And fittingly the ships of the sea, and their sailors, and the rowers who are of aid to the ship of Tyre, do not proceed toward the East, nor toward the rising of the light, where the sun of righteousness is born, but toward the West of the West, where the light sets, and where the beginning of darkness is. (Verse 10.) Persians and Lydians and Libyans were in thy army, thy men of war: they hung shield and helmet in thee for thy ornament (or: they hung small shields and helmets in thee; they themselves gave thee glory).

That the Persians were most valiant, whose king Cyrus, as is foretold by the prophecy of Isaiah, having overthrown Astyages, king of the Medes, took Babylon, both sacred and secular history relate. The Lydians also were at that time reckoned among the most robust of nations, whose king Croesus was captured by that same Cyrus, as Xenophon writes most fully. And that the Libyans, together with the Troglodytes and the Ethiopians, came against Jerusalem, we read in the book of Chronicles (2 Chron. 12): who, because they were most flourishing at that time, famous fighters in battle, are recorded to have been the defenders of the city of Tyre, and to have hung shields and helmets among the battlements of the walls to terrify enemies.

But the spiritual understanding conveys this, that the Persians, who are interpreted "those who tempt," or "the tempted"; and the Lydians, whom we understand as "the begotten"; and the Libyans, who in the Hebrew tongue are called PHUT (פוט), and are translated "mouth" (from "mouth," not from "bone"), strive in vain to defend Tyre, since they are overcome by temptation, and are enslaved to begetting and lust, and multiply only empty words, having neither the helmet of salvation nor the shield of faith; but display only glory and the noise of words for her adornment. (Verse 11.) The sons of Arvad with thy army were upon thy walls round about: but also the Pygmies who were in thy towers hung their quivers upon thy walls all around, they completed thy beauty. The Septuagint: The sons of the Arvadites, and thy strength, were upon thy walls round about; guards were in thy towers round about. They hung their quivers upon thy battlements all around. They perfected thy beauty.

The word GAMADIM (גמדים), Aquila's first edition renders "Pygmies": Symmachus, "Medes": the Septuagint, "guards": Theodotion, "Gomadim," translated the Hebrew word itself. We see to this day that Arvad is an island which is entirely a city, and has opposite to it the town of Antaradus, and is near to Tyre, and stretches out on the Phoenician shore of the mainland: these are in the army of the city of Tyre and the guards of its towers, and they hung their quivers all around, and complete its beauty, so that they are shown to be archers, or are pygmies, that is, warriors, and most ready for wars, ἀπὸ τῆς πυγμῆς, which in the Greek tongue is rendered "combat." But if the Arvadites signify "those who lay down," then everyone who puts forward a knowledge falsely so called, and has in the quiver of his breast the fiery darts of the devil, with which he wounds and inflames the hearts of the deceived, is to be called an Arvadite.

For he desires to bring down those who strive to climb to the heights, and he completes the beauty of Tyre, of which it is written in Proverbs: Let not the desire of beauty deceive thee, lest thou be caught by thine own eyes. And again: As a ring of gold in a swine's snout, so is beauty in a woman without discretion.

Verse 12. The Carthaginian merchants filled thy fairs with a multitude of all riches, with silver, iron, tin, and lead. Not only in the present place, but also in Isaiah, where it is written: Howl, ye ships of Carthage, the other interpreters translated the Hebrew word THARSIS (תרשיש), which there is no doubt is a colony of the Tyrians. They, from the parts of the West, filled the fairs of Tyre with silver, iron, tin, and lead. Tarsis in our tongue means the exploration of joy. But we must understand "explorers" here not in a good sense, such as those whom Moses sent to explore the land of promise, but in the contrary sense, such as those whom the Apostle also says he avoided: Because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ: and of whom Joseph speaks: Ye are spies: ye are come to see the nakedness of the land.

And his brethren, understanding that it was no small crime to spy out the goods of others through deceit, answered: Thy servants are not spies. These, then, multiply the fairs of Tyre not with gold nor precious stone, but with silver, iron, tin, and lead, having the charm of eloquence, and weapons for conquest; and in the tin, the likeness of eloquence, which counterfeits silver; and in the lead, the most grievous impiety, according to Zechariah, in which the woman sat upon a talent of lead, and the Egyptians sank into the depths like lead. A long discussion of each of the metals would be possible, but brevity must be pursued.

Verse 13. Greece, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants, they brought slaves and vessels of brass to thy people: from the house of Togarmah they brought horses and horsemen and mules to thy market. The LXX: All Greece, and the lands adjacent to it, they were thy merchants in the souls of men, and vessels of brass they gave for thy trade: from the house of Thorgama they gave horses and horsemen and mules for thy fairs.

The Ionians, he says, who in Hebrew are called Javan, and Tubal, that is, the Eastern Iberians, or from the parts of the West, the Spaniards, who are so named from the river Iberus, and Meshech, whom we understand to be the Cappadocians, whose metropolis, which was afterward called Caesarea by Augustus Caesar, is even to this day called Mazaca in their own tongue: these made costly commerce with Tyre, so that they brought slaves and vessels of brass from Corinth to Tyre, and from the house of Togarmah, that is, from Phrygia, horses, and horsemen, and mules, of which that province once had the greatest abundance.

The Hebrews say that Greece, that is, Javan, both is and is not: which properly refers to worldly wisdom, in which if they discover something rightly, it is called "is"; if in the contrary way, "is not." For they too discourse much, by the good of nature, about duties, about continence, about the contempt of riches: which the Stoics especially claim for themselves, and they seem to gain the souls of the men whom they have deceived: and they have vessels of brass, by which they counterfeit the likeness of gold, which they bring in to the peoples of Tyre, that they may supplant them by the false opinion of doctrine.

From the house also of Togarmah, which is interpreted "stranger and sojourner," horses will be brought to its market and fairs, and horsemen and mules, of whom it is written: A horse is a vain thing for safety. And in another place: All they that rode upon horses have fallen asleep. And in the Psalms: Be ye not as the horse and the mule, which have no understanding. Wherefore also Doeg, the accuser and slayer of the priests, was set over many; and these are they of the house of the stranger and sojourner, who do not eat of the flesh of the lamb, of whom it is written: A stranger and a hired servant shall not eat thereof; that all the fairs of Tyre may be filled with these wares.

The sons of Dedan were thy merchants. For which, wishing I know not what, the Septuagint interpreted "the sons of the Rhodians": unless perhaps, by the likeness of the first letters (ד and ר), they read Radan for Dadan, which is itself also the greatest of the Cyclades, and was once a most powerful city in the Ionian sea, glorious in naval combat, and, because of its most safe harbor, the refuge of all merchants. And because the Rhodians are, in our tongue, rendered as "seeing judgment," it is now said of them tropologically, of those who discern the truth of judgment, and yet do not do it, the Apostle saying: Wherefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. For wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou doest the same things which thou judgest. But it is better to take DADAN as the name of another place, as it is found both in the Hebrew and in the other interpreters.

Verse 15. Many islands were the trade of thy hand: they exchanged ivory teeth and ebony for thy price. Syria was thy merchant, on account of the multitude of thy works, they set forth in thy market gum, and purple, and embroidered work, and fine linen, and silk, and chodchod. The LXX: From the islands they multiplied thy trade: teeth of elephants, and to those who were brought in thou didst render thy wages. Men were thy trade, from the multitude of thy commerce: in aphek, stacte, and embroidered work, from Tharsis, and Ramoth, and Chodchod they gave for thy fairs. The Septuagint edition differs greatly from the Hebrew in the present passage; therefore a few things must be said following each, lest, being occupied with the merchandise of Tyre, we pass too slowly to the remaining prophecies. The sons of Dedan, merchants of Tyre, multiplied its trade from many islands, so that they gave elephants' teeth to those who came to trade with it, and had men in the fairs on account of the multitude of trade.

But they had, in Apheck—which addition is in the Septuagint—for which Symmachus translates "embroidered work." Also "stacte," for which all the others translated "purple," which in Hebrew is called ARGAMAN (ארגמן): and varieties from Tharsis, for which in the Hebrew is said BUS (בוץ), which all have translated as "byssus." But Tharsis in the present passage is not found at all. And ramoth, they say, and chodchod they gave for thy fairs; which so stands in the Hebrew, except that for ramoth, Aquila interpreted "silks," or "fine fabrics." But chodchod all the interpreters translated just as it is placed in the Hebrew (כדכד). Therefore, according to the Septuagint, the sons of the Rhodians, merchants of Tyre, multiplied its trade from very many islands: according to the Hebrew, after the sons of Dedan, its merchants, the islands also of diverse nations increased its trade, bringing ivory teeth from India, and ebony wood, which are most precious for their black color, and exchanged them with the other wares of Tyre.

Syria also was a merchant of Tyre: for which in the Hebrew is placed ARAM (ארם), in whose place the Septuagint interpreted "men," reading ADAM for ARAM, deceived by the likeness of the letters RESH and DALETH, as above. But even to this day there remains in the Syrians an inborn ardor for trade, who run through the whole world out of desire for gain, and have such a madness for trading that, even now that the Roman world is occupied, amid swords and the deaths of the wretched, they seek riches, and flee poverty through dangers. Men of this sort are the merchants of Tyre, who trade in embroidered work, purple, and checkered stuffs: fine linen also, and silk, and chodchod they set forth in its market. For "purple," which all the others have interpreted; the Septuagint translated "stacte," that is, "gum." But what chodchod signifies, I have not been able to discover up to the present.

The Hebrews say that by this name are signified all the most precious wares, or that it is a certain kind of precious merchandise which the Roman tongue does not have a word for, or, by a common term, the "odds and ends" of sellers. But concerning the many islands—to pass over to the anagogical sense—which are beaten by the salt and bitter waves of this age, the merchants of Dedan bring ivory teeth, promising the whiteness of eloquence; of which it is written: Out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad, O king's daughters, in thy honor. But they are not white, nor do they imitate the bride, of whom it is said: Who is this that cometh up, made white, leaning upon her kinsman? But rather ebony of black color, which cannot change its blackness, Jeremiah saying: Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?

Syria also, that is, Aram, which is interpreted "exalted," and swollen with pride, is a merchant of Tyre, and in the multitude of the works of the Tyrians brings knowledge falsely so called, many varieties, and promises stacte of the finest odor, and purple of royal dignity, and checkered stuffs from the art of dialectic, and fine linen—for which the Septuagint interpreted Tharsis—given over to earthly works: and silk, for which in the Hebrew is written RAMOTH (ראמות), which is interpreted "vision of death." For all earthly works hasten to destruction; and chodchod, whatever it is that is understood by it, setting it forth in the fairs of Tyre. But Dedan, from these wares which are said to be brought by its merchants and islands, is to be understood either as the region of India, or of the Idumeans and of the vast wilderness, as some suppose, and it means "kinship," that we may recognize in heretics a likeness to divine doctrines. Verse 17.

Judah and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants, in the finest grain: they set forth in thy fairs balsam, and honey, and oil, and resin. The LXX: Judah and the sons of Israel, they were thy merchants in the traffic of grain and ointments: honey first, and oil, and resin they gave for thy fairs. The Hebrew word PHANAG (פנג) Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion translated just as it stands among the Hebrews: for which the LXX have "ointments," we have rendered "balsam." Now it is said with what supplies the land of Judea, which is now called Palestine, abounds—grain, balsam, honey, and oil, and resin—which are brought by Judah and Israel to the fairs of Tyre.

And since the letter is plain, we shall say, according to the spiritual sense, that the land of confession, and the mind that sees God, which refers to the Church, ought not to bring to Tyre first the wheat, which, falling into the ground, is multiplied, and is taken for the word of God: For man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Then the balsam which grows in the vineyards of Engaddi, or the ointment, of which it is written: Like the ointment upon the head, which ran down upon the beard, the beard of Aaron. And honey, of which Solomon also speaks: Thou hast found honey, eat so much as is sufficient for thee; lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it, when through excessive fullness honey is turned into wormwood. Oil also, from which the lamp is lit in the tabernacle of God, lest that prophetic word be fitted to us: Thou soldest oil in Egypt.

But if it should be in Egypt, and also in Tyre, it will be turned into the contrary, and it shall be said of it: But let not the oil of the sinner make fat my head. But resin also is gentle, fit for bodies, and is taken for medicine. Whence also it is written in Jeremiah: Is there no resin in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? Jacob also had this resin, which he sent to his son Joseph with honey, and turpentine, nuts, spices, and myrrh. The Ishmaelites also, who bought Joseph, carried these things from the land of Israel into Egypt, spices, and resin from Gilead, and myrrh. And that we may more plainly know what is meant by the grain, balsam, honey, and oil and resin being brought to the market of Tyre, let us hear the words of the Lord, saying: Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine.

Also to the Canaanite woman, who was pleading for her daughter, saying: My daughter is grievously vexed with a devil, the Lord answered: It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. But because she had gone out from the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and was drawing near to the land of Israel, therefore she obtained what she had asked.

Verse 18. Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of thy works: in the abundance of divers riches: in rich wine, in wool of the best colour. The Septuagint: Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of thy works, from the multitude of all thy strength: wine from Chelbon, and wools from Miletus. Instead of "rich wine," which Symmachus interpreted, and which is also found in Aquila and Theodotion, and in the Hebrew itself, it has "wine of HELBON" (חלבין). And again, where we have put "wool of the best colour," or shining wool, both Aquila and Theodotion translated "in wools of Soor." Now it signifies that among the other trades of Tyre, there was brought to its markets from Damascus the richest wine, and the finest wool: which we see even to this day.

But if Damascus is interpreted "drinking blood," and it is the true tradition of the Hebrews that the field in which Abel was killed by his parricide brother Cain was in Damascus, whence also the place was marked with this name, then it was justly that Paul, after the killing of Stephen, the first martyr in Christ, went on to Damascus, that he might lead bound to Jerusalem those who believed in Christ: and by the mercy of God, who made the blind man to see, he lost the eyes of the flesh, that he might receive those of the mind: and the scales of the dragon fell from his eyes, by which he had lost the light of truth, so that he might go to the street which is called Straight, and find Ananias, who in our tongue is interpreted "obedient".

From this land, therefore, to which it was said: Cursed is the earth which opened its mouth and drank up the blood of thy brother, the markets of Tyre are gathered together, and rich wine, and shining wools; or wine from Chelbon, which is interpreted "milky." The Septuagint, instead of "wool of the best colour," understood "wools of Miletus," or Soor. Miletus is not found in the Hebrew; but because the finest wools were brought from there, they interpreted Soor as Miletus. From which it is clear that Tyre feeds on the milk of infancy, and has no clothing of its own, but gathered from elsewhere and from various provinces. That Damascus is interpreted "blood of sackcloth" and "blood of a kiss" does not fit the present passage. For Hebrew names are frequently interpreted in various ways, according to the diversity of accents, and the change of letters and vowels, especially those which among them have their own peculiar properties.

Verse 19. Dan also and Greece and Mozel set forth wrought iron in thy fairs: stacte and calamus were in thy market. The Septuagint: Dan and Javan and Mozel in thy fairs: which were added in their edition from Theodotion. Wrought iron, worked in craftsmanship, and a wheel is in thy commixture. From the name of the patriarch Dan and the tribe, the place in which the tribe dwelt received its name, where today is Paneas, which was once called Caesarea Philippi. Whence also the river Jordan took its name, Jor, that is, "stream," and Dan, which flows from Lebanon. Javan, moreover, means Greece, which is interpreted, as we have said, "it is and it is not." Instead of Mozel also, Symmachus translated "bringing," so that the sense is: Dan and Greece brought to thy fairs wrought iron, and the rest. Aquila, however, instead of Mozel, put "from Uzal." It is to be believed that from these regions iron and stacte and calamus were brought to the markets of Tyre.

And we may say that Greece, that is, Javan, has iron wrought and most ready for wars, and constructed by the art of dialectic, boasting that it brings forth all things by judgment and reason; and it promises the vocal sound, which is interpreted in the reed, and the stacte of the best fragrance, or the wrought iron, and the wheel which is turned by the composition of words, and has the course of oratory.

Verse 20. Dedan were thy merchants, with tapestries to sit upon. The Septuagint: Dedan were thy merchants, with choice beasts for chariots. There is much discrepancy between the Hebrew and the Septuagint in the present passage, apart from the name of the region which is near, Dedan and Dadan. For there is an infinite distance between "tapestries to sit upon" and "choice beasts for chariots"; nor is there any doubt that chariots and horses, if earthly, are taken in a bad sense. Otherwise Elijah too is caught up to heavenly things by a chariot, and is called by Elisha "father, father, chariot of Israel and its horsemen". And the eyes of Gehazi are opened, so that he sees the chariot on the mountain, and horses without riders, prepared for the sitting of the Lord. In "tapestries," moreover, the beauty of discourses is shown, in which the merchants of Dedan are carried and rest, seated in comfort, as they come to the markets of Tyre.

Verse 21. Arabia and all the princes of Cedar, they were the merchants of thy hand: with lambs, and rams, and kids, they came to thee. Instead of lambs, rams, and kids, the Septuagint interpreted camels and rams and lambs. Now Arabia and the princes of Cedar (which today is the region of the Saracens, as has been most fully shown in the discourse of Jeremiah which is written against Cedar) abound in these animals, namely lambs, and rams, and kids, and by this contribution they multiply the markets of Tyre. But it is also a region most fruitful in camels, on account of the breadth of the desert pastures, and the temperateness of the air, in which this animal delights. Arabia, moreover, is interpreted "evening," and Cedar, "darkness." Of which it is also said in the Psalms: I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Cedar.

These regions bring to Tyre camels, weighed down with the heaviest burdens of sins, or lambs, and rams, and kids, which they sacrifice on their altars, which they have fashioned from a wicked and rebellious heart. But in this same prophet also, in the vision of the shepherds, we read of rams disturbing the clearest waters, and pushing the sheep with their sides, and fighting with their horns (below, xxxiv): and also of kids, which are accustomed to stand on the left, and of lambs which falsely claim to be the Lamb; of whom it is written: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. But in a good sense Isaiah writes of camels, coming from Midian, which is interpreted "the judgment of the Lord," to Jerusalem, and Ephah, and rams from Nebaioth, and Sheba bringing gold and frankincense: the last two of which are also offered to the Lord by the Magi.

And these camels, having laid down the burden of their sins, are able to enter the narrow and strait way, which leads to life.

Verse 22. The sellers of Saba and Reama, they were thy merchants: with all the choicest spices, and precious stones, and gold, which they set forth in thy market. In the Psalms, where it is written: The kings of the Arabians, and Saba shall offer thee gifts, the Hebrew has: the kings of Saba and Saba shall offer thee gifts: one of these Saba is written with the letter SIN, the other with SAMECH, which is like our letter. Since, therefore, Saba is interpreted "conversion," it must be said that in the present passage it does not signify conversion, but aversion, from which gifts are brought to Tyre, with all spices, and the best perfumes, and precious stone, and gold, all of which are set forth in the markets of Tyre. For they too falsely offer the best perfume, and precious stone, with which they strive to build up churches of their perversity, and gold which they promise in sense, and all these things are perverse.

For they receive nothing freely, nor give freely, but buy everything, while the kings of the Arabians and of Saba offer gifts to Christ freely. These are they who do all things for the sake of base gain: and they have received these gifts from him who says in the Gospel: All these things have been delivered to me: which I will give to thee, if falling down thou wilt worship me. Reama, or according to the Septuagint Rhegma, I have not been able to find in any other place of Scripture, nor what region it is, nor what it signifies; except that it is clear, from the fact that it is joined to Saba, that it is a region neighboring that province. Verse 23. Haran, and Channe, and Eden, thy merchants; Saba, Assur, Chelmad, thy sellers: these were thy merchants in many ways, with wrappings of hyacinth, and of embroidered work, and precious wares, which were wrapped and bound with cords.

The Septuagint: Charran, and Chana, and Edne, these were thy merchants: Sabba, Assur, and Chalman, thy dealers, bringing merchandise in Machalim, and in Galima: hyacinth, and embroidered work; choice treasures bound with cords. And these are the names of nations of various places. But that which was added in the Septuagint from Theodotion, "in Machalim, and in Galima," Symmachus interpreted as "in precious wrappings." "Embroidered work" also, which Theodotion rendered as "varied," we have added from Aquila and Symmachus. So precious, moreover, were the garments of the merchants, carried in wrappings, that they were bound with cords of hyacinth. Aran, or as the Septuagint said, Charran, sounds in our tongue "openings" [foramina]: Channe, "preparation": Eden, "delights": for which the Septuagint has "Edne," which is not found in the Hebrew, and we do not know what it means; and we ought not to seek the etymology of a fictitious name.

In the trade of Tyre, then, through the carnal senses which are indicated in "openings," there is the whole preparation of the men of this age who think there are delights only if they increase the commerce of the city of Tyre. Of Saba we have spoken above. Assur is interpreted "directing": Chelmad, or as it is contained in certain copies, Cherma, is translated "vineyards": there is no doubt that it refers to the men of Sodom, who come into the market of Tyre, in order to direct—rather to rebuke by punishments, and correct—what had been depraved, according to what is said in the Psalms: That thou mightest destroy the enemy and the avenger. And they have manifold furnishings, distinguished by an incredible variety, which is bound with wrappings of hyacinth; or their treasures are bound with cords, which they have treasured up for themselves in the earth, according to what is written: Every man is bound with the cords of his own sins. Nor did they have free trade, but bound everything with the chains of sins.

The wrappings of hyacinth, because of the likeness of colour, let us refer to the aerial powers, who bestow their treasures at the markets of this age. Cedars also they had among thy merchandise. Ships of the sea (or, as it is contained in the Hebrew, Tharshish), thy princes in thy trade. Instead of cedars, the Septuagint translated cypresses. And since we have spoken of both above, it is superfluous to increase the reader's weariness. Verse 25. And thou wast filled, and glorified (or made heavy) exceedingly in the heart of the sea. Nothing, he says, was lacking to thee that pertains to the riches of the islands. Yet this glorification was the burdening of its possessor, since thou canst not bear riches with moderation, though poverty too is often a temptation. Whence Solomon asks for only necessary things, and abhors both riches and poverty alike, lest in the one pride, in the other impatience and falsehood, creep in.

Verse 26. In many waters thy rowers brought thee. Above we read that the rowers of the city of Tyre were the Sidonians, and the Aradians, of whom the one is interpreted "hunters," the other "those who set down." For they hunt the souls of those whom they lead by their own will amid the waves of this world, and do not raise them to the heights, but plunge them into the depths: nor do they imitate those who, sailing until the fourth watch, broke through the raging waves of the sea, and were found worthy to receive the Lord and Saviour, and immediately, with such a passenger and companion, arrived at the harbor of rest. Of which it is written more fully in the Gospel.

The south wind hath broken thee in the heart of the sea. All the riches of Tyre perish when the south wind blows, which more significantly is CADIM (קדים), interpreted in Greek as καύσων; which we may translate as "burning wind." Of which holy David said: The sun shall not burn thee by day, nor the moon by night. By this wind Jacob was scorched, and yet not broken, while he says: I was scorched by day with heat, and with frost by night. Those also who were hired from the first hour bore the heat and burning of the whole day, and yet received their denarius, because they were scorched, and not broken. Whence the bride also says in the Song: I am black, but beautiful, because the sun hath looked upon me; or, as is better contained in the Hebrew, "the sun has discoloured me."

Thy riches, and thy treasures, and thy manifold apparatus. Many read thus: In the heart of the sea are thy riches, and thy treasures, and thy manifold apparatus; so that all the riches of Tyre, and its treasures, and its whole substance, are placed in the heart of the sea, and are overwhelmed by the waves of this world, and its inhabitants have nothing stable and lasting, so that this saying of the Gospel is fulfilled: Fool, this night they shall require thy soul of thee: and whose shall those things be which thou hast provided? And this saying of the apostle: They that will become rich fall into temptation and many snares, and are drawn down into the deep. The history is plain; and therefore we fit brief little sentences to almost every single verse. For now our discourse hastens toward the end of the book. (Verse 27).

Your sailors (or rowers), and your steersmen, who held your furnishings, and were set over your people: and your men of war who were in you, together with all your multitude which is in the midst of you, shall fall in the heart of the sea in the day of your ruin. We read that the rowers or sailors of the city of Tyre were Sidonians and Aradians, of whom mention has already been made; and according to the edition of the Septuagint, the counselors of Byblos, which in Hebrew is called GEBAL (גבל): and its men of war were the Persians, Lydians, and Libyans, all of whom shall fall, and shall be shown to be nothing, when Tyre shall fall, and all her glory shall come to an end in ruins. But the "multitude," which the Septuagint translated as "mixture," signifies the common people; who, without name, shall be crushed by a like judgment, apart from the leaders.

And the prophecy is mingled between the city and the ship, so that from the one you may understand the other: and yet both pertain to the consummation of the age, and to shipwreck. (Verses 28, 29.) At the sound of the cry of your steersmen the fleets shall be thrown into confusion, and all who held the oar shall come down from their ships. The sailors, and all the steersmen of the sea, and the passengers and the lookouts shall stand upon the land, and shall wail over you with a loud voice, and shall cry out bitterly: and they shall cast dust upon their heads, and be sprinkled with ashes (or shall strew ashes for themselves). But what follows: And they shall make themselves bald for you, and gird themselves with sackcloth: and they shall weep for you in bitterness of soul with most bitter weeping, and shall take up over you a mournful song, and shall lament you, is not found in the Septuagint, but has been added from the edition of Theodotion.

When Tyre shall fall, her steersmen shall be thrown into confusion, and shall come down from the fleets, and the rowers and passengers and lookouts, or sailors, and all the steersmen of the sea, tossed by the waves, shall at length stand upon a firm footing; and they shall wail over her with a loud voice, over her whom before they had enriched with their wares, and shall mark the bitterness of mind with their cry. They shall also cast dust, or earth, upon their heads, doing penance for their earthly works. And they shall be sprinkled with ashes, like the heifer, according to the Law, that they may be purified: or else they shall strew ashes for themselves, according to that which is said to Jerusalem: Scatter earth upon your head, and strew ashes for yourself, and make lamentation. And it is written in the Gospel: If these mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have done penance long ago in sackcloth and ashes. And the Psalmist says: I have eaten ashes like bread.

And they shall shave their head over Tyre, and make themselves bald, which is customary to be done in mourning, at the time when the greatness of grief shuts out all joy. Now the hairs of the Apostles were numbered, because they had consecrated their hair to the Lord after the manner of Nazarites. And Samson, as long as he had his hair, possessed strength, but when his locks were taken away, he was captured by the Philistines. But when it is said, and they shall gird themselves with sackcloth, the old lust of the loins is condemned, so that those who had lived in delights may afterward, doing penance, live in austerity and hardship. The Ninevites wore sackcloth. And again it is said to Jerusalem: Lament to me like a bride girded with sackcloth for the husband of her virginity. And they shall weep for you, it says, in bitterness of soul with most bitter weeping.

For it is better to go into the house of mourning than into the house of feasting: so that they may lament Tyre, and repeat together the mournful song, which the following Scripture subjoins. But that we may know that it is of profit to those who lament her fall, and who before dwelt in the heart of the sea, and in the midst of it, let the example of the prophet teach us: who is himself also bidden to lament Tyre, so that, when the time of penance has been completed, she may be restored to her former state, and, taking up the harp, may resound to the Lord. Read Isaiah. Some, ridiculously (but nevertheless what we read must be stated), interpret the steersmen as the bishops of the heretics, the counselors as the presbyters, the lookouts as the archdeacons, the rowers and sailors as the deacons, but they refer the passengers to the whole people; and if they had added the shipmaster as the devil, they would have completed the tragedy.

All of these shall wail together, and weep most bitterly, and do penance, after they have felt the shipwreck of their ship, and have stood upon the land, and have lost all the glory of their falsely-named knowledge; and instead of joy and gladness, shall mark their penance with mourning in bitterness of heart. (Verses 33 and following.) Who is like Tyre, who has become silent (or fallen silent) in the midst of the sea? (This is not found in the LXX.) You who, at the going forth of your dealings (or the wages you found) from the sea, have filled many peoples. In the abundance of your riches, and of your peoples, you have enriched many kings. Now you are broken by the sea (or in the sea) in the depths of the waters; your wealth (or your traffic) and all your multitude which was in the midst of you have fallen.

All the inhabitants of the isles are astonished (or crushed) over you, and all their kings, struck with a tempest (or turned to madness), have changed countenance (or wept). The merchants of the nations (or peoples) have hissed over you, you are brought to nothing (or made a ruin: and you shall be no more) for ever (or perpetually). The steersmen, the rowers, the lookouts, and the passengers, in the lamentation for Tyre, shall recall these things, that another among the cities fell so silent that she had no confidence to speak; and would hear that word of the Gospel, Peace, be still. And from the Psalms: But to the sinner God has said, Why do you declare my righteousness, and take up my covenant in your mouth? With how many wares, O Tyre, have you been enriched? And what have you sought with such labor, that day and night you gathered together things doomed to perish by shipwreck?

You have indeed filled many peoples, and with your riches you have enriched kings, of whom it is written: The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes gathered together, against the Lord and against his Christ. But now you are broken in the sea, and in the depths of the waters, according to that which is written of Pharaoh: The chariots of Pharaoh, and his host, he has cast into the sea. Who was sunk into the depth like a stone, and could have said: I have come into the depths of the sea, and the tempest has overwhelmed me (f. 14:4). All the isles, or the inhabitants of the isles, who are beaten by the waves of this world, shall be astonished over you, and their kings, struck with a tempest, shall perceive their own destruction, and, imitating the voice of the serpent, shall hiss and say: You are brought to nothing, or made a ruin; so that you have had not the nature of ruin, but the will. And you shall be no more.

But if it had said only this far, a great question would arise, how she is not, whom we now see standing built up. But from what follows: For ever, it shows the time of a single age, which is reckoned according to the span of a man's life at seventy years. Or, you shall not be to God, as the Apostle says: Who calls those things that are not. And the prophet Isaiah: Behold, all your adversaries shall be confounded and put to shame. They shall be as though they were not. And Esther, according to the Septuagint Interpreters: Do not give your scepter to those who are not (Esther 14:11). And in the psalm: Let me alone, that I may be refreshed before I depart, and shall be no more. In what sense these testimonies are to be taken, we have said above.

But all these things we may also refer to the person of heretics, who, in the breaking and shipwreck of Tyre, shall perceive their own error, and, set in the midst of the sea, shall desire to free their souls, and shall lament the riches evilly gathered, with which they had enriched many kings, namely their own patriarchs, and the ignoble common people, whose wealth shall fall in the midst of the sea. The inhabitants also of all the isles [if indeed we should wish to take in a good sense what has been said] shall be astonished at the breaking of Tyre, and the kings of all the isles, either themselves as if struck with a tempest, shall change countenance, or at least shall show the sorrow of their heart by weeping and tears, and shall testify the greatness of their astonishment by wonder and hissing, at how she who promised salvation to many nations has been brought to nothing, and has perished.

And she shall be no more, not for a fixed time, so that they interpret αἰῶνα as "for an age"; but forever: because the same word signifies both.

It would have been consequent, daughter Eustochium, that I should include the prophecy of Tyre and of the prince of Tyre in one volume, and, joined as they are both in place and in prophecy, should by no means separate them by the order of books. But because there are many things to be said, and they exceed the measure of prolixity: therefore the exposition has been deferred to the ninth book, which we believe, by your prayers and those of all the saints, will at last be brought to completion: so that we may also discuss what has been written in Ezekiel against Pharaoh and all Egypt. These too, on account of their own length, must be divided into the tenth book: whereby both the proportion of the volumes among themselves may be preserved, and the divided labor of the one dictating, of the one writing, and of the one reading may find rest in its parts.

(Verses 1 and following.) « And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre: Thus saith the Lord God: Because thy heart was lifted up, and thou hast said: I am God, and I sit in the seat of God (Vulg. I sit) in the heart of the sea: whereas thou art a man, and not God, and hast given thy heart as if it were the heart of God: behold, thou art wiser than Daniel? No secret is hidden from thee. In thy wisdom and prudence thou hast made thee strength, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures. In the multitude of thy wisdom, and in thy trading thou hast multiplied thy strength to thee, and thy heart is lifted up in thy strength. Therefore thus saith the Lord (Vulg.

Adds God): Because thy heart is lifted up as the heart of God: therefore, behold, I will bring upon thee strangers, the most mighty of the nations, and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy beauty. They shall slay thee and deliver thee, and thou shalt die the death of them that are slain in the heart of the sea. Wilt thou yet say, in the presence of them that slay thee: I am God, whereas thou art a man, and not God, in the hand of them that slay thee? Thou shalt die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers, for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.

LXX: And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: And thou, son of man, say to the prince of Tyre: Thus saith the Lord God: Because thy heart is exalted, and thou hast said: I am God, I have dwelt in the dwelling of God in the heart of the sea: but thou art a man, and not God, and thou hast given thy heart as the heart of God, art thou wiser than Daniel? Have not wise men instructed thee with their teaching? Hast thou, in thy learning or thy prudence, made thee strength, and made gold and silver in thy treasures, or by thy great learning and thy trading multiplied thy strength?

Thy heart is lifted up in thy strength; therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because thou hast given thy heart as the heart of God, therefore behold I will bring upon thee strangers, pestilent ones from the nations, and they shall unsheath their swords against thee, upon the beauty of thy learning, and they shall humble thy beauty in destruction, and shall bring thee down, and shall dispose of thee, and thou shalt die the death of the wounded in the heart of the sea. Wilt thou say, speaking, I am God, in the sight of them that slay thee? But thou art a man, and not God, in the multitude of them that wound thee. Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hands of strangers, for I have spoken it, saith Adonai the Lord.» Wherever, according to the Seventy, “Lord, Lord” is set down twice, the first name is the tetragrammaton (יהוה), which properly belongs to God, and is called ineffable: the second is common (אדני), which is often found applied to men.

Now just as, in the case of the city of Tyre under the figure of a ship, first its riches, then its ruin and lamentation were described: so also to the prince of Tyre a prophetic word is first addressed, because he was puffed up through pride and did not make good use of the wealth he had: and then follows mourning and lamentation, over from how great goods he came to how great evils. Let us therefore treat the first things first. It is written in Isaiah concerning the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, that he made himself equal to the power of God, and was lifted up into such arrogance that he dared to say: I will ascend above the stars of heaven, and I will be like the Most High. And having been cast down from his throne, he deserved to hear: How is Lucifer fallen, who used to rise in the morning? And concerning Pharaoh, in this same prophet: The rivers are mine, and I made them (Below xxix, 9).

And concerning the prince of Tyre, that with lifted heart he arrogantly said: I am God, and I have sat in the seat of God, or I have dwelt in the habitation of God, though he is a man, and not God. Although these things seem to exceed the powers of human frailty, and to be not so much the words of men as of raving demons, nevertheless we must take them as hyperbole, because they swelled up to such a degree, and did not know their own measure, that, puffed up by worldly prosperity and the power of a kingdom, while they thought present goods to be perpetual, they did not know themselves to be men, and claimed for themselves an eternal dominion. Although under the type of princes, kings, and individual cities or provinces, adversarial powers are shown, concerning which the apostle Paul also writes: We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, and the rulers of this darkness, and spiritual wickedness in high places.

And in another place: We speak wisdom among the perfect: yet wisdom not of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that are brought to nought. And again, discoursing of wisdom, he says, which none of the princes of this world knew. For if they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory. In the prophecy of Daniel also it is clearly read: Michael, prince of the people of Israel, and the prince of Greece, and the prince of the Persians. And Moses writes more openly in the Song of Deuteronomy: When the Most High divided the nations, and scattered the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the angels of God; or as it is better read in the Hebrew: according to the number of the sons of Israel. And the portion of the Lord became his people Jacob, the cord of his inheritance in Israel.

Nor should we wonder that on the opposing side the worst kings should go before in the type of prevaricating princes, since we teach that the best kings, David, and Solomon, and Josiah, and the patriarchs and prophets, went before in the figure of the Lord Savior. Therefore, according to both understandings, let us discuss what is written concerning proud kings and equally apostate princes. He says then (Al. Since he is, he says): Although you are held within the confines of the midst of the sea and of an island, I will say more, since you are a man, surrounded by the frailty of human flesh, yet, puffed up with pride of heart, you have thought yourself to dwell in the throne of God, in the heavens. And at the same time, because you boast of wisdom, to such an extent that the men of your kingdom challenged Solomon with riddles: are you wiser than Daniel, who by the grace of God overcame all the magicians and soothsayers, and now is the wisest man in Babylon?

Or it is to be understood thus: Even if you are wiser than Daniel, who by the confession of all is the wisest, and, by the greatness of your riches and power, you desire to make yourself equal to the power of God: yet you will be captured by your adversaries, and, your city being destroyed, you will be pierced through with many wounds: and you will no longer say, I am God: but, taught by your destruction, you will know yourself to be a man, not God. But if we should wish to say that the prince of Tyre is the same power to whom the city itself, or the province, was delivered by God, let us take up this testimony: I have said, You are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High. But you shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. For provinces were handed over to them to be governed, as to judges, by the Emperor.

Who, forgetting that their honor depends on another's command, such as recently was Heraclian (Al. Heradian) in Africa, were lifted up in tyrannical mind against their king and lord: so that, scattered throughout the whole world, under the names of idolatry, they assumed to themselves the names of gods, and, puffed up with pride, fell into the judgment of the devil and his snare. Of this the Savior also spoke in the Gospel: I saw Satan like lightning falling from heaven. (Verses 11 and following.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and thou shalt say to him: Thus saith the Lord God: Thou wast the seal of resemblance, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty: thou wast in the delights of the paradise of God. Every precious stone was thy covering: the sardius, topaz, and jasper, chrysolite, onyx, and beryl, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald. Gold was the workmanship of thy beauty, and thy holes were prepared in the day that thou wast created.

Thou wast a cherub stretched out and protecting, and I set thee in the holy mountain of God. Thou hast walked in the midst of the stones of fire: perfect in thy ways from the day of thy creation, until iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy trading thy inward parts were filled with iniquity, and thou hast sinned, and I cast thee out from the mountain of God, and I destroyed thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. And thy heart was lifted up with thy beauty: thou hast lost thy wisdom in thy beauty, I have cast thee to the ground: I have set thee before the face of kings, that they might behold thee. By the multitude of thy iniquities, and by the iniquity of thy trading, thou hast defiled thy sanctuary. I will therefore bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, which shall devour thee, and I will make thee ashes upon the earth, in the sight of all that behold thee.

All that shall see thee among the nations shall be astonished at thee. Thou art brought to nothing, and thou shalt not be for ever. LXX: And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, take up a lamentation over the prince of Tyre, and thou shalt say to him: Thus saith the Lord God: Thou art the seal of resemblance, full of wisdom, and a crown of beauty: thou wast in the delights of the paradise of God. Thou wast surrounded with every good stone: with sardius, and topaz, and emerald, and carbuncle, and sapphire, and jasper, and silver, and gold, and ligure, and agate, and amethyst, and chrysolite, and beryl, and onyx, and thou didst fill thy treasures with gold, and thy storehouses in thee, from the day that thou wast created, they prepared with the cherub anointed by God, and dwelling in the tabernacle, I gave thee on the holy mountain of God: thou wast made in the midst of the stones of fire.

Thou wast blameless in thy days, from the day thou wast created, until iniquities were found in thee. By the multitude of thy trading thou hast filled thy storehouses with iniquity, and thou hast sinned, and thou wast wounded from the mountain of God, and the overshadowing cherub led thee away from the midst of the stones of fire: Thy heart was lifted up in thy beauty: thy discipline was corrupted along with thy beauty. Because of the multitude of thy sins I have cast thee to the ground: I have set thee before the face of kings, that thou mightest be dishonored. Because of the multitude of thy sins, and the iniquities of thy trading, I have polluted thy holy things. And I will bring forth a fire in the midst of thee, this shall devour thee. And I will make thee ashes upon the earth in

in the sight of all who see you, and all who have known you among the nations shall be grieved over you. You have become a ruin, and you shall be no more forever. Since we have said who the prince of Tyre is, and how he fell through pride, let us come to know his lamentations over his former glory. First he is reminded what he was, so that he may grieve that he has lost what he had. You, it says, are the seal of likeness; according to that which John the Evangelist properly says of the Saviour: "For him has God the Father sealed". And of men: "He has sealed, because God is true". And in the Psalms: "The light of your countenance, O Lord, is sealed upon us". And in another place: "Beloved, now we are sons of God, and it has not yet appeared what we shall be. We know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him".

Whence it is also said to God: "Who shall be like unto you?" For likeness is one thing, equality another. Whence it is a most savage heresy which confesses in Christ only likeness to the Father, and takes away his nature. But we say of the Son not only likeness, but equality. For this reason the Jews persecuted him: because he not only loosed the sabbath, but also made himself equal to God. But where there is equality, there is the same nature and one substance. This is that of which the Apostle also speaks concerning likeness: "My little children, of whom I am again in labor, until Christ be formed in you", that you may receive, namely, his likeness, which you had lost by your own fault.

And because in the Latin manuscripts, instead of "seal," "reseal" is read, since the translator, rendering the word κακοζήλως word for word according to the Septuagint translation of ἀποσφράγισμα, put "reseal." Whence some understand it thus: that the king of Tyre broke the seal of God and the figure which was, as it were, impressed in the softest wax, and lost it, so that instead of a seal he made an unsealing, having in no way the image and likeness of God, according to which the first man also was made, God saying: "Let us make man to our image and likeness". And it should be noted that the image was then made only, while the likeness is completed in the baptism of Christ.

And consequently, to him to whom it is said, "You are the seal of likeness," is joined: "full of wisdom, perfect in beauty," or "a crown of beauty." For where the likeness of God is, there also is fulness of wisdom, and perfect beauty, or a crown of virtues adorned and composed as it were of diverse flowers, which the diligent increases by his own effort, while by industry he nourishes the good of nature, and the negligent one diminishes it, according to what is said in Proverbs under the figure of a beautiful but ill-mannered woman: "As a ring of gold in a swine's snout, so is beauty in a woman without discretion". There follows: "You were in the delights of the paradise of God," for which in the Hebrew is EDEN (עדן), which the history of Genesis also relates.

Now Eden is rendered "delights." And fittingly he names it, for distinction's sake, the paradise of God; to show that there is also a contrary paradise, not of God, among those who exchange the truth for a lie, and boast that they have a paradise. By this word he shows that it is by no means a man of whom it is written, but a contrary power, which once dwelt in the paradise of God, although the Jews reckon this to be prophesied of Hiram king of Tyre by that figure of speech called ὑπερβολή. But to him to whom it is said, "You were," or "were made, in the delights of the paradise of God," it is shown what he had, and what he lost. Further, joined to the dwelling of paradise is: "every precious stone was your covering," or your binding and encompassing—sardius, topaz, and jasper, chrysolite, and onyx, and beryl, sapphire, and carbuncle, and emerald, or, as in the Septuagint, in a different order and with other names, twelve stones are contained.

This must be observed: that the king of Tyre was not surrounded, or covered—as Symmachus also translated, bound and constrained—with every precious stone; but that every stone which the prince of Tyre had was precious. Otherwise there are many precious stones which Scripture does not name in the present passage: chalcedony, sardonyx, chrysoprase, hyacinth, crystal also, and the most precious pearl. But Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotion in the present passage differ greatly among themselves, and from the Seventy Interpreters, not only in order, but also in number and in names. In the Apocalypse of John also, where mention is made of the living stones of which Jerusalem is built, with the order somewhat changed at the extremities, the same stones are set in its foundations, so that the gates too are described as built of the light of crystal.

But also on the breast of the high priest, in four rows on the Rational, the same stones are described, and on his shoulders two onyx stones, on which the names of the twelve patriarchs are written, which the true high priest, of whom it is written: "You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedech", bears on his breast, bears on his shoulders, so as to show in the twelve stones the number of the apostles; and in the two, the mysteries of both Testaments, of which one, John the Evangelist, reclined on his breast, that he might drink in the streams of wisdom, and be able to say: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God: this was in the beginning with God".

These are the living stones, of which the Church is built, and of which the Apostle Peter writes: "If you have tasted that the Lord is sweet: to whom coming, a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen and honorable with God, you also, as living stones, are built up spiritual houses, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ: because the Scripture says: Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious; and he that believes on him shall not be confounded". Concerning which the vessel of election also agrees with equal voice, saying: built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone, in whom all the building being framed together grows into a holy temple of God. These are the stones of which we also read in another place: "Holy stones roll upon the earth like wheels", touching the ground but a little, and by their own rolling hastening toward heavenly things.

Of which Scripture also makes mention: "Behold I will lay your stones in order, and I will lay your foundations with sapphires, and I will make your bulwarks of jasper, and your gates of graven stones, and all your borders of pleasant stones; and all your children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of your children, and in justice you shall be established". Concerning which we have said what seemed good to us in the explanations of the same prophet. Of stones of this sort the twentieth psalm also sings: "O Lord, the king shall joy in your strength, and in your salvation he shall rejoice exceedingly. You have given him his heart's desire, and have not withheld from him the will of his lips. For you have prevented him with blessings of sweetness: you have set on his head a crown of precious stones".

These are the pearls of the prophets and apostles, which, in comparison with Christ, are all sold in the Gospel, that the most precious pearl might be bought, and the stone of which Zachariah writes, that it has seven eyes, that is, the seven graces of the Holy Spirit. Read Isaiah. And it is laid by the apostle Paul in the foundation of the Church, upon which gold, silver, and precious stones are built: whose colors and natures and the properties of each it is not for this time to discuss; but they demand a proper volume of their own: so that in Ezekiel, and in Exodus, and in the Apocalypse, and in Isaiah, all the stones and the orders of stones compared with one another make a great question both for the reader and the discusser. Concerning which the holy man Bishop Epiphanius has himself given me a proper volume. And the thirty-seventh book of Pliny Secundus's Natural History, after a manifold knowledge of all things, discusses gems and stones.

The diligent reader must be referred to their knowledge by us. Further, Symmachus's interpretation writes that this prince of Tyre was adorned, as it were, with a most precious necklace set with stones. He indeed calls it a "disc of gold" in which the stones were set. Whence also, according to the Hebrew, there follows: "The gold, the work of your beauty, and your perforations, were prepared on the day you were created." For which the Seventy put: "You have filled your treasures and your storehouses with gold," referring it to the sense and mind, that his thought was open to the divine mysteries, and that he had gathered for himself spiritual riches, of which the Lord commanded: "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither rust nor moth destroys, and where thieves do not dig through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there is your heart also".

This is the hidden treasure, of which he also speaks in the Gospel: "The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in a field, which when a man has found, he hides, and for joy thereof goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field". Now the storehouses, or granaries, are those of which it is written elsewhere: "Blessed be your storehouses, and your remains". After this it is said, according to the Hebrew: "You are the Cherub, outstretched and covering," understood as over the ark of God and the mercy-seat; or according to the Septuagint, that he himself was anointed and created with the Cherub. From which it is shown that this cannot pertain to a man, the prince of the city of Tyre, but to a certain holy and preeminent power, which was set as prince of the city of Tyre.

And I have set you, it says, in the holy mountain of God; there is no doubt that this signifies paradise, to which Paul the apostle says he was caught up after the third heaven. Now "Cherub" is masculine in gender, singular in number: and in the plural they are called Cherubim, who are interpreted "multitude of knowledge": upon whom God rests and sits, and this chariot he uses, the prophet saying to him: "You who sit upon the Cherubim, shine forth". And in another place: "He ascended upon the Cherubim, and flew: he flew upon the wings of the winds". Now this Cherub, or one created together with the Cherub, outstretched and covering the mysteries, was set on the holy mountain of God, of which we have often spoken. And the apostle Paul speaks, if indeed anyone accepts the Epistle to the Hebrews: "You have come to Mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the company of many thousands of angels".

Or certainly the holy mountain of God is paradise (as we have said), made of fiery stones, of which it is written: "Who makes his angels spirits, and his ministers a burning fire". And not only God, who is called a consuming fire, consumes hay, wood, and stubble: but also the angels, who are called fiery stones, fervent in spirit. Whence also the Lord says: "I have come to send fire upon the earth, and how I wish that it were already kindled". And what follows: "Perfect in your ways from the day of your creation" (for which the Seventy put: "You were blameless in your days, from the day you were created"), until iniquity was found in you, shows that every creature was made good by God, and had perfect virtue, and by this that the prince of Tyre too was without blemish, so that thereafter the blemish belongs not to nature but to will. Until iniquity was found in you.

Found by God, which was kept enclosed in the treasuries of your breast through pride and abuse of the power you had received. In the multitude also of his trafficking, his inward parts, or storerooms, were filled with iniquity. For while he seeks many things, and is not content with the knowledge he had received, nor with the power over which he was set, he filled the storerooms and inward parts of his breast: so that, satiated and grown fat, he kicked against his Creator. For "Jacob ate, and was filled, and the beloved kicked, having grown fat and thick and broad."

and abandoned God who had made him. And from the heart proceed the worst thoughts: on account of which God says: Thou hast sinned, and I cast thee out from the mount of God, or, thou wast wounded from the mount of God, which reading, we are compelled to fear. For if the Cherub outstretched and protecting, placed on the holy mountain of God, and in the midst of the fiery stones perfect and immaculate, on account of the multitude of his trading filled his inward parts with iniquity, and sinned, and was cast out from the mount of God, that is, from the dwelling of paradise, or wounded by the mount of God, which is clearly understood as Christ, or certainly, established and dwelling in the mount of God, was wounded by himself, and pricked by the evil of conscience, when he understood himself unworthy of the dwelling of the mountain: what must be reckoned concerning us?

For which reason it is said to him: And I destroyed thee, Cherub, protecting from the midst of the fiery stones: that thou shouldst by no means abide among the fiery stones, but perish. O thou Cherub himself, or the Cherubim who was protecting thee, I led thee out from the midst of the fiery stones: according to that which is also written of Adam: He cast out Adam, and set him (or, the Cherubim) over against the paradise of delights. And he gives the reasons why he was led out, or cast forth from the midst of the fiery stones. For thy heart was lifted up in thy beauty: while thou thinkest that which is God's to be thine own. Whence the Apostle also says that he received a thorn in the flesh and an angel of Satan, to buffet him, lest he should be exalted through the greatness of the revelations, and fall into the judgment of the devil.

And therefore, he says, thy doctrine was corrupted along with thy beauty, or, thou hast lost thy wisdom in thy beauty: so that while thou wishest to be more than thou wast created, and to know more than thou hadst received from God, thou shouldst even lose that which thou hadst, and instead of beauty and doctrine, deformity and foolishness should possess thee: whence thou wast cast down to the earth, thou who before didst dwell on the mount of God. Of whom Isaiah also writes: How is Lucifer fallen, who rose in the morning? And the Saviour in the Gospel says: I saw Satan as lightning falling from heaven. Which also Jeremiah speaks concerning Jerusalem: How hath the Lord in his wrath darkened the daughter of Sion: he hath cast down from heaven to earth the glory of Israel (Thren. Ii, 1)?

Thou wast cast down, moreover, in the sight of all the kings, that they might be terrified by thy example, whether the good kings, whose heart is in the hand of God, or the wicked, whose kingdoms the devil showed to the Saviour: who met the king of Babylon, saying: Thou too art captured as we are, and art reckoned among us. Wherefore also he defiled his sanctuary which he had had, when he dwelt in the mountain, and lived in the midst of the fiery stones. There follows: I will bring forth a fire from the midst of thee which shall devour thee. This fire had been kindled in the heart of the king of Tyre by him whose arrows are fiery, and of whom it is written: All that commit adultery, their hearts are like an oven (Osee).

Of this fire Isaiah also speaks: Walk in the light of your fire, and in the flame which you have kindled, so that, going forth, it may devour its possessor, according to that which is written in the same Isaiah: It devoured the material as stubble. In that day the mountains, and hills, and forests shall be consumed, and it shall devour from the soul even to the flesh. This fire, which is called strange, Nadab and Abihu offered upon the altar of the Lord, and therefore were consumed by divine fire. Whence Moses also says: This is the word which the Lord spoke: In those who draw near me, I will be sanctified. But the sanctification of God is the punishment of sinners. After these things it is said: And I will turn thee to ashes, so that the fire of thy evil conscience may consume all that thou hast built upon.

Thou, who oughtest to have rested on the sabbath, and by no means to have done servile work, didst gather wood on the sabbath: that thou mightest have that which the fire in thy breast could devour. He will also destroy all evil works, turning them into ashes, so that the noxious fire may be utterly quenched, so that all may see and be astonished that the king of Tyre has perished, and been brought to nothing, not for many ages, but in one, or indeed forever, that that which is written may be fulfilled: I will not spare thee, and I will not have mercy.

The Hebrews, among their other fables and genealogies and endless questions, are wont to understand these things as spoken against Hiram king of Tyre, although from Solomon to Ezekiel there are very many years, during which it is clear that men did not live: and thus they pronounce, as though the prophet spoke to him by way of irony: Art thou the seal of the likeness of God, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty: thou adorned with every stone, thou the Cherub, or created with the Cherub: whereas on the contrary thou hast sinned, and art to be dissolved into ashes? And they add to their fable a marvel, so that, against Scripture, indeed without the authority of Scripture, they say that Hiram lived a thousand years. But how violent this interpretation is, the prudent reader will understand without our judgment.

(Verse 20. Seq.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set (or, harden) thy face against Sidon, and thou shalt prophesy of it, and shalt say: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I am against thee, Sidon, and I will be glorified in thee (or, in the midst of thee): and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have executed judgments in her (or, in thee), and shall be sanctified in thee (or, in her). And I will send into her (or, into thee) pestilence, and blood in her streets (or, thy streets): and the slain (or, wounded) shall fall in the midst of her by the sword (or, swords) round about, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

And there shall be no more to the house of Israel a stumbling-block of bitterness, and a thorn causing pain on every side round about them from those who are adverse to them (or, who have done them insult): and they shall know that I am the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord God: When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples (or, from the nations) among whom they are scattered, I will be sanctified in them before the nations. And they shall dwell in their land, which I gave to my servant Jacob, and they shall dwell in it securely (or, in hope): and they shall build houses, and plant vineyards, and shall dwell confidently (or, in hope), when I shall have executed judgments on all who are adverse to them round about (or, who have done them insult): and they shall know that I am the Lord their God. And that which follows in the LXX: And thou, God of their fathers, is not found in the Hebrew.

Now, consequently, after Tyre, the word comes to Sidon; for both cities belong to one province. And in the Gospel Tyre and Sidon are named together: If in Tyre and Sidon had been done the mighty works which have been done in thee. Whence also the Canaanite woman, whose daughter was troubled by a demon, because she went out from the borders of Tyre and Sidon, obtained what she had asked. Now the divine word foretells that Sidon too is to be taken by the Babylonians, and shall know, by the weight of her evils, that he is the Lord: when he shall have judged her, and shall have been sanctified in her, and shall have consumed her by famine and pestilence and the sword: so that she shall fall in her streets, and shall no more be a stumbling-block to the people of God, nor frequently assail them.

But when this shall have been done, let the people of Israel, whom he had scattered into diverse nations, return into their own land, and let him be sanctified in them, not indeed as in Sidon unto evil, but unto good, when he shall have had mercy on them, and they shall have dwelt in the land which he gave to their father Jacob, and shall have dwelt securely, and trusting in the Lord, and shall have built houses, and planted vineyards, when he shall have fulfilled his promises: and then let them know that he is the Lord, whose promises are most firm. Which many refer to the time of Zorobabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, when the people of Israel returned, and dwelt in the land of Judea. Others, however, hope that it is to be fulfilled in the last time and in the thousand years. Further, according to spiritual understanding, this seems to us to be the sense.

Sidon is interpreted "hunters," concerning whom it is also written in the Psalms: Our soul, as a sparrow, is delivered out of the snare of the hunters. And in Proverbs: The eye of a harlot is a snare of the sinner. But there are also, in a good sense, hunters contrary to these, of whom Jeremiah also writes: Behold, I will send fishers and hunters, who shall hunt you from every hill and mountain: whom the Lord also sends to fish, and makes them, from fishers of fish, fishers of men. Whence also the little village of Peter and Andrew is called by this name: for Bethsaida in our tongue is interpreted "house of hunters." Against these, therefore, most evil hunters, the word of God is directed, and it is commanded to the prophet, that he set, or harden, his face against Sidon, and by no means waver with every wind of doctrine: but stand firm in truth, and slay his own hunters. What, then, are the things which the Lord threatens against Sidon?

Behold, I myself will come against thee, and I will be glorified in thee, when I shall have slain thee, and all who shall have lived shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have rendered to thee what thou deservest: and I will send pestilence, and blood into thy streets. And rightly are they called the streets of Sidon: For broad and spacious is the way that leadeth to death. And the slain, who had stood wickedly, shall fall by the sword round about: by that sword which the Lord came to send upon the earth, that he might part asunder what was wickedly joined, and that those who remain may know that he is the Lord. And when they shall have ceased, there shall no more be a stumbling-block of bitterness, and a thorn of pain, pricking and wounding the people of God.

Now all these things are said against the adverse powers, that in the last time they may be destroyed, and there may be eternal security, when the Lord shall have gathered the house of Israel, those who perceive God by sense: and he shall have been sanctified in them, and that which is written shall be fulfilled: Be ye holy, because I am holy. And they shall dwell in their own land, of which also elsewhere we read: I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living. Which he had given to Jacob, who had first supplanted his brother, and had deserved to receive his birthright. And they shall dwell in it securely, or in hope, and shall build houses, and shall plant vineyards, and shall dwell a second time in hope, according to that which is read in Isaiah: Ye who have been weaned from milk, who have been drawn from the breast, look for tribulation upon tribulation, and hope upon hope.

Now they shall build houses, which also in the Gospel he builds, who lays foundations not upon the sand, but upon the rock. Of which it is written: Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it. And in Exodus, according to the Septuagint: Because the midwives feared the Lord, they made themselves houses, and many things of this kind. Now when the Lord shall have executed judgment against those who are adverse, or who inflict insults upon Israel round about: then every creature shall know that he is the Lord, whose judgments are true, and justified in themselves.

(Verse 1, 2.) In the tenth year (or, according to the LXX, the twelfth), in the tenth month (or, according to the Hebrew, from the twelfth), on the first (or, one) day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set (or, harden) thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and thou shalt prophesy of him, and shalt speak all things concerning Egypt, and shalt say: Thus saith the Lord God. After Sidon, which is itself also situated on the coast of Phoenicia, the word comes to the prophet in the tenth year of the captivity of king Joachim, and the twelfth month, and the first day of the month, that he set his face, or harden it, against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and speak of him, and of all Egypt, or to all Egypt: for on the other side of Judea, in the same region, lies the province of Egypt, and let him prophesy the things that are to come upon it.

But if it is necessary to say something concerning the numbers, since

let one day hold a place among ten days: whence also at the beginning of Genesis it is not said, Evening and morning were made, the first day, but one, so as to teach that the same day is always revolved: the same order holds among ten decades, that is, the number ten possesses the number of a hundred, since the lamb is taken for the victim, to be immolated on the fourteenth day, and in this way the order of numbers proceeds by its decades up to a thousand and ten thousand and a hundred thousand and beyond. But after the tenth year, the twelfth month is set down, so that the perfect number of the twelve apostles and prophets (who are contained in one volume) might be shown. Moreover according to the LXX, the tenth month which in Hebrew is called TEBETH (טבת), and among the Egyptians tybi, is called among the Romans January, because among them it is the doorway of the year: with all heat taken away, it holds the chief place of winter cold.

Let this suffice to have said about the numbers. But this above all must be inquired into: whether this is the same Pharaoh who is named in Exodus, and Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and in many other places, and in the Song of Songs: "I have compared thee, my love, to my company of horsemen in Pharaoh's chariots"; or is it one and another? And it seems to me that it is not one, but that among the Egyptians royal dignity is signified by this word, just as among the Romans their kings are called Caesars and Augusti, from the first Gaius Caesar, and his second adopted son Octavian, who afterward was named Augustus: and among the Syrians, Antiochi, among the Persians, Arsacidae, among the Philistines, Abimelech, and after Alexander in Egypt the Ptolemies down to Cleopatra, upon whose defeat at Actium Egypt was made a Roman province.

Therefore in the present instance the word of the Lord is against whichever king of Egypt, who is interpreted διασκεδαστής, that is, one who destroys and tears apart, and who cuts and divides all things with the sword. Which according to the mystical understanding must be referred to that power to which Egypt is subjected. For never would a man dare to say: the rivers are mine, and I made them, nor would he be called the great dragon, sitting in the midst of his rivers; but Egypt is called in Hebrew MESRAIM (מצרים), and is translated into our language as θλίβουσα, that is, one who straitens and afflicts those who are subject to her: and does not let her eyes be raised to heaven; but according to the Gospel and the example of that woman whom the devil had bent double for eighteen years, always submerging her toward earthly things.

Let us see then what threat is made against Pharaoh and all Egypt. (Verse 3 and following.) Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, thou great dragon, that liest (or sittest) in the midst of thy rivers, and sayest: The river is mine, and I made myself (or them). And I will put a bridle (or a snare) in thy jaws, and I will make the fish of thy rivers stick to thy scales (or feathers), and I will draw thee out of the midst of thy rivers: and all thy fish shall stick to thy scales. And I will cast thee forth (or lay thee down) swiftly (or into the desert): and all the fish of thy river shall fall upon the face of the earth (or of thy field). Thou shalt not be gathered up, nor be assembled: I have given thee to the beasts of the earth and the fowls of the air to be devoured.

And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord: because thou hast been (or wast) a staff (or a reed-rod) to the house of Israel, when they laid hold (or he laid hold) of thee with his hand, and thou wast broken, and thou didst tear all their shoulder, and when they leaned upon thee, thou wast crushed, and thou didst dissolve (or break) all their loins. For the sake of brevity we mix both editions together, where they do not differ much from each other. Otherwise, where there is great difference, we set forth both. Now he speaks against Pharaoh the prince of Egypt, and under his figure he speaks to a great power, to which Egypt has been handed over to be ruled, and which nevertheless waxes proud against its Creator, claiming for itself dominion over the earth, and handing itself over to be worshipped by the Egyptian nations.

And he speaks according to the situation of the province, as it were to a king, that he trusts in the flooding of the Nile, and does not much desire rains from heaven, and thinks himself the author of himself, or boasts that the canals—that is, the διώρυχας—and the streams of the Nile were made by himself. I will not, he says, send an angel, but, O great dragon, who liest and rest in the midst of thy rivers, I myself will come to punish thee. For thou hast dared to say: The river Nile is mine, and I am the founder of myself: or, I myself made the river by which all Egypt is irrigated. And when I have come, I will put a bridle in thy jaws: or I will bind with snares thy mouth, with which thou spokest grandly, and I will make all thy allies and leaders, whom he calls fish, stick to thy feathers, or scales, so that, drawn out of the river, thou mayest be cast forth, or laid down.

For thou hadst lifted thyself up too much in the desert. And thou shalt fall upon the face of the plain, or of thy land, since Egypt is a level province. Nor shall thy corpse be gathered, nor shalt thou be assembled, that is, thou shalt in no way be buried, but I will give thee to the beasts and fowls of heaven to be devoured, so that when the inhabitants of Egypt have seen these my judgments carried out upon thee, they may know that I am the Lord. But these things shall befall thee, because thou didst deceive my people Israel by thy help, so that they trusted not at all in God their creator, but in thee.

Thou wast to them a reed-staff according to Isaiah, or an empty rod, and a most fragile reed, on which those who leaned found their support to be vain, so that when they leaned on thee thou wast broken, and thou didst tear the shoulder and the hand by which thou wast held, and while they were secure in thee, all the loins of those falling to the ground were crushed, and instead of help they received wounds. Now these things are said by metaphor as it were to the king of Egypt, since the province itself is to be put forward as well. For the same reason he presently reads: Because thou wast (or wast made) a reed-staff (or reed-rod) to the house

it was in no way hostile to Israel, but while it promised great things, it separated them from the help of God. Now the dragon, according to the anagogical sense, we often read of as signifying the contrary power. Whence also Pharaoh is called διασκεδαστής, because he separates and disjoins from God, and Egypt, that is, MESRAIM (מצרים), is translated as "those afflicting and troubling," namely those whom he has been able to subjugate to himself. That dragon is the prevaricator, of whom Job speaks most fully. And in the Psalms it is written: Thou hast broken the heads of the dragon, thou hast given him to be meat for the people of the Ethiopians. And the dragon is called "great" in comparison to lesser dragons, of whom it is sung in the psalm: Thou hast broken the heads of the dragons in the waters. And in another place: This great and spacious sea. There are creeping things without number: small animals with great, there the ships shall pass through: this dragon which thou hast formed to play with him.

Of whom also it is said in another place: He is the king of all that are in the waters, and the beginning of the figuration of the Lord, who was made that he might be mocked by his angels. Now he sits, or lies, in the midst of his rivers, not one river but many, which we understand as the various heresies, through which the dragon has flowed into the Egypt of this age, and has watered the souls of the deceived, not with rains coming from heaven, but with turbid waters from the earth, which Jeremiah does not forbid to drink when he says: What hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, that thou shouldst drink the water of Geon? Instead of which in the Hebrew SIOR (שיחור) is written, which word is translated as turbid and muddy waters. But that we may understand which are the rivers of the Egyptian dragon, we shall be able to know from their opposites.

The Lord speaks of his own rivers: He that believeth in me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. And to the Samaritan woman: He that shall drink of the water which I shall give him, shall not thirst forever: but it shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into life everlasting. These are the rivers coming from heaven, of which David sings: The stream of the river maketh the city of God joyful: doubtless signifying the Church. Let us consider therefore what is the dragon's punishment, or what his penalty. There follows: And I will put a bridle, or a snare, in thy jaws. To which that saying of Job is similar: Canst thou draw out the dragon with a hook, and put a halter round his nostrils. He trusteth that the Jordan may run into his mouth: he will take it with his eye. He shall bore through his nostrils with a ring, and his lips.

Now the Lord puts a bridle in the jaws of this dragon, and bores through his lips and binds them with the circle of a ring, when through churchmen who are learned in the holy Scriptures, he imposes silence on him, and all the dogmas of his perversity are dissolved. And he makes the fish of his rivers stick to his own feathers, or scales, by which the heretics hasten upward through pride, so that they, being bound together with the dragon, may become one body with him, and be joined to him either in fellowship of error, or in likeness of punishment: just as he who cleaves to the Lord is one spirit. Nor indeed does the Egyptian dragon have one river, but many rivers, with which he waters lowly Egypt, cast down, having nothing of mountains in itself: nor the waters of Siloe, which go with silence, but turbid and muddy waters.

Whence also the Lord draws him out of the midst of his rivers, that he may in no way lie upon them, nor sit in them: and all the fish stick to his scales, according to the quality of their vices, clinging to the whole body of the dragon, whether to the head, or the belly, or the tail, and the extreme parts: so that when the dragon is drawn out, the fish too, which cling to him, are drawn out together with him. And: I will cast thee forth, he says, into the desert, so that thou mayest by no means find any to deceive.

Or rather I will bring thee down from the height of thy pride, and I will bring thee down swiftly, according to that saying of the Apostle: And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet swiftly; so that with the dragon crushed and cast down, the fish of that river too may be brought down, and the author of crimes may fall, who before thought himself standing, and running through the whole world. And let him fall upon the face of his own land, to which he was cast down from heaven, that he may no longer be gathered in the churches of heretics, nor be assembled, or buried in those who have believed him, when they shall have been freed from him, but let him be given to be devoured by the beasts of the earth, and the fowls of heaven. The beasts, of whom it is written: Deliver not up to beasts the soul that confesseth to thee.

And the fowls of heaven, which eat the seed by the wayside, and are interpreted by the Savior to be the devils. For not only the prince of malice, but also his disciples, are called devils, according to that which is said of Judas: Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? Now the fowls are called "of heaven," because they promise themselves lofty things, so that after the dragon with his fish has been cast down and thrown forth, and given to be devoured by the beasts of the earth, which have nothing of gentleness in them, and by those who are carried about by every wind of doctrine, then all the inhabitants of this age may understand that he himself is the Lord.

Now the whole cause of the punishments is that he in vain promised help to the house of Israel, and was to it a rod, or reed-staff, empty and hollow, having nothing of fullness in itself, since he could not say: And of his fullness we have all received; whereas Scripture had commanded: Thou shalt not appear empty in the sight of the Lord thy God. And that we ought not to seek help from Egypt, Scripture testifies elsewhere too: Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help. Concerning this sort of reed-staff, Rabshakeh also vainly reproaches Hezekiah king of Judah, saying: Behold, thou trustest upon this broken reed-staff, upon Egypt; on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him. And indeed he lied concerning that just king in relating these things, he who is interpreted "much in cup." For he was drunk from the golden cup of Babylon, and therefore mistook what was his own.

he kept urging upon the people who confessed the Lord. But here it is cast as a reproach against Pharaoh, that he had been to the house of Israel a rod, or a reed staff, promising them help that was vain and fragile and quickly to be broken. Now that we may be able to know what this reed staff is, upon which the house of Israel ought not to trust, we can understand it from the contrary staff and rod of the Lord, of which it is said to the Lord: Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me. This rod Aaron also had, which devoured the Egyptian serpents, and when it struck the dikes of the Nile, and gnats were bred throughout all Egypt. Moses too, according to the LXX, stretched out this rod, and lifted it up to heaven, and the Lord brought a south wind upon the land all that day and all that night, and in the morning the wind rose, and brought locusts upon all the land of Egypt.

Of this rod, I think, it is also written in the book of Numbers, that it flourished, and put forth nuts or almonds. This the Apostle also had, when he said: What will ye? Shall I come to you with a rod? And those who celebrated the Passover held staves in their hands, without which, sustaining the weakness of the human body, they could not eat the flesh of the lamb. This is the rod out of the root of Jesse, upon which the seven spirits rested. But not such was Pharaoh, nor the staff of Egypt and reed rod which deceives those who lean upon it, and tears their shoulders, that is, their strength. And whosoever has leaned upon it, his loins are loosed and he cannot stand: nor, ungirt in the loins, can he celebrate the Passover. This applies to those whose hearts and reins God searches. (Verse 8. Ff.) Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will bring upon thee a sword, and will cut off from thee man and beast.

And the land of Egypt shall become a desert (or a ruin) and a wilderness: and they shall know that I am the Lord: because he has said (or thou hast said), My river is mine, and I made it (or my rivers are mine, and I made them). Therefore behold, I am against thee and against thy rivers: and I will make the land of Egypt into wildernesses, wasted (or utterly destroyed) by the sword from the tower of Syene (or from Magdolus and Syene) even to the border of Ethiopia. The foot of man shall not pass through it, nor shall the foot of beast walk in it, and it shall not be inhabited for forty years. And I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of desolate lands, and its cities in the midst of overthrown cities shall be desolate for forty years. And I will scatter (or sow) the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them into the lands.

For thus saith the Lord God: After the end of forty years I will gather Egypt (or the Egyptians) from the peoples (or nations) among whom they had been scattered. And I will bring back the captivity of Egypt, and settle them in the land of Phatures, in the land of their birth (or in the land from which they were taken). And there they shall be a lowly kingdom (or principality); among the other kingdoms it shall be the lowliest.

And it shall no longer be exalted above the nations, and I will diminish them, that they may not rule over the nations (or that they may not be many among the nations). Nor shall they any more be to the house of Israel a confidence (or a hope), teaching iniquity, that they should flee, and follow them (or bring them back into remembrance of iniquity, that they should follow them), and they shall know that I am the Lord God. Join to the former what follows. Because thou wast a reed staff to the house of Israel, and not only wast broken in its hand, but, according to Isaiah, didst pierce its hand, and now hast torn its shoulder, and thou thyself art broken to pieces, and hast loosed the loins of those who leaned upon thee: therefore I will bring upon thee the sword of the enemy, and will lay waste beasts along with men, and the land of Egypt shall be reduced to wildernesses, and a second time the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.

Nor shall I be content with this end; but because he burst forth into so great a blasphemy as to say that the rivers were his own, and all the abundance of Egypt: therefore I will also take away him who had called himself Creator, and the rivers which he had boasted were created by himself, and I will reduce the land of Egypt to a very long wilderness, and wasted by the sword, from the tower of Syene even to the borders of Ethiopia. For the tower, which in Hebrew is called MAGDAL (מגדל), the LXX put the name of the place, so as to write Magdolon. Now the tower of Syene remains even to this day, a fortress subject to Roman rule, where the cataracts of the Nile are, and up to which point the Nile is navigable from our sea.

He says, therefore, that all Egypt is to be laid waste even to the borders of Ethiopia, to which the farthest region of Egypt is joined, so that the foot of man does not pass through Egypt, nor are beasts found in it, and it is not inhabited for forty years. For the Egyptians are spared, and because they were once hosts to Israel, the condemnation of time is shorter. Tyre kept sabbath for her sabbaths for seventy years, and thus was restored to her former state. The captivity of Judea also, and the overthrow of the temple, completed seventy years up to Cyrus king of the Persians. For the mighty shall be mightily tormented. But when he says: I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of desolate lands, he signifies the Philistines, the Idumeans and the Moabites, and all the other regions, against which the prophecy above was directed. Then he will scatter, or sow, the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them into the lands.

And because the Lord is merciful and compassionate, patient, and of great mercies, after forty years there is a restoration of Egypt, and all the captivity shall be brought back to its ancient soil, and shall be settled in the capital city, which is called Phatures, where it arose, and whence it set out: yet only so that, for its own good, it lose its ancient pride, and be a lowly kingdom, indeed the lowliest of all nations: so that it be no longer exalted over the nations, nor have dominion over them; but, reduced to a small number, it may in no way deceive the house of Israel with confidence in itself, nor teach them iniquity. Iniquity; or bring them back into remembrance of iniquity, in that, having abandoned the help of God, they sought the aid of Egypt. And all these things shall happen, that a third time the Egyptians may know that he is the Lord. These things we have briefly touched upon, laying the foundations of the history.

Now the cloud of allegory must be discussed, and with the same brevity we shall try to avoid also the length of this explanation. The word is addressed to the dragon, who had said: The rivers are mine, and I made them (above, ibid.): that the Lord himself brings upon him the sword, of which it is written in Isaiah: My sword is drunk in heaven: now it shall descend upon the earth, that it may destroy from it man and beast, whatever seems to have either reason or simplicity: and destroy, not absolutely, but for the dragon, so that they may perish as belonging to the dragon, and live for God, and that the land of Egypt may become a ruin, according to the sense above, that what belongs to the dragon may perish, and after the ruin be reduced to a wilderness, ceasing to have the worst of hosts.

And then men and beasts, and the ruined land, shall know that he is the Lord: in that sense in which it is written in the seventy-seventh Psalm: When he slew them, then they sought him. For everyone who seeks shall find. It is indeed of God's mercy, that the abundance of this world should perish, and the streams of Egypt be dried up, indeed that their land become wildernesses, and the sentence of the Lord be scattered from the tower of Syene, which is interpreted "circle": so that it may have nothing right in itself, even to the land of the Ethiopians, who are called "the humble": that, namely, all pride which had raised itself against the knowledge of God may be destroyed, and be humbled unto its own salvation.

Nor let the foot of man, that is, anything rational, pass through Egypt, nor let the foot of beast walk in it: so that it may not hold fast even the simple, whom, having let the men go, Pharaoh wished to keep in Egypt, Moses contradicting him, and wishing that the beasts too be freed from the captivity of Egypt. And it shall not, he says, be inhabited for forty years, a number which is always one of affliction and punishment. Whence also Moses, and Elijah, and the Savior himself, fasted forty days and nights, and for forty years the people were in the wilderness, that afterward, circumcised at Gilgal, they might be freed from the reproach and shame of Egypt. In the mystery of which number, this same prophet also, for the tribe of Judah, sleeps forty days on his right side, and the people are told they shall serve four hundred years in Egypt: which make forty decades, or four hundreds. The rains of the flood also brought shipwreck upon the world for forty days.

For it was fitting that he who, through the four elements of the world, of which all things are said to consist, while he loves and cherishes them, offends God, should be punished in that same number: and that Israel, who had sinned regarding the sabbath, of seven decades, that is, of seventy years, should endure the penalty.

And the land of Egypt is given desolate, and its cities in the midst of desolate lands and overthrown cities, which are not built of stones, but of brick and straw, so that Egypt, which had been badly joined to itself, may be scattered, and winnowed into the lands, so that, namely, the wheat may be separated from the chaff, and, the end of forty years being completed, there may be a restoration of Egypt, and its captivity be brought back, and settled in the land of Phatures, which is interpreted "bread trodden down"; where that bread which had said: I am the bread which came down from heaven, has been trodden down by heretical depravity: so that when they have come to the Church, they may dwell in the trodden bread, and by no means be lifted up into pride, but be a lowly kingdom.

And that even when they have been restored to their former state, they may cast themselves down through humility, because they lived in Egypt, and built cities of brick, and among the many kingdoms of the Church may be lowly, and know against whom they have sinned, and that Egypt be no longer exalted over the Churches divided throughout the whole world, but be reduced to a small number, and few remain in it among the nations, according to that which is written: Give them, O Lord. What wilt thou give them? Give them a barren womb, and dry breasts: that they may by no means rejoice and exalt themselves in a multitude of the deceived, but be reduced to few: For many are called, but few chosen. And let them no longer deceive the house of Israel, that is, the Church; nor promise them a vain hope and confidence, teaching iniquity, that they may flee from ecclesiastical discipline, and follow Egyptian pleasures.

And these things shall happen, that a third time the Egyptians may know that he is the Lord. Which seems to me to be said for this reason, that the first knowledge of the Egyptians may be in the flesh, the second in the soul, the third in the spirit. First, upon the earth; second, when the sojourn of this world is finished; third, after the resurrection. (Verses 17 ff.) And it came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, and on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying: Son of man, Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon made his army serve with great servitude against Tyre: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was made bare, and reward was not given him, nor to his army, for Tyre, for the servitude wherewith he served me against it.

Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will give Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon into the land of Egypt, and he shall take away its multitude, and shall spoil its plunder, and shall carry off its spoils, and it shall be a reward for his army and for the work wherewith he served me against it: I have given him the land of Egypt for their labour with which they laboured for me, saith the Lord God. In that day a horn shall spring up for the house of Israel, and I will give thee an opened mouth in the midst of them, and they shall know that I am the Lord. It is asked how, after the tenth year of the former discourse, the twenty-seventh year is at once set down, and in what follows the tenth and twelfth, and in the last description of the temple, the twenty-fifth. But the solution is easy.

For since both the former prophecy and this which is now spoken concern Egypt, though made at different times, yet because they prophesy of one province, they are joined together. This we read frequently also in Jeremiah, that the times are described in preposterous order. For first the deeds of Sedecias are related in some places, and afterward those of Joachim, who was before him. In the Psalms, however, because it is lyric poetry, no order of history is required. Let us then say first, according to the letter: When Nabuchodonosor was besieging Tyre, and could not bring rams, engines, and mantlets up to the walls because it was girded by the sea, he ordered an immense multitude of his army to carry stones and heap up mounds, and having filled up the intervening sea—rather, the very narrow strait—he made the neighboring shore continuous with the island.

When the Tyrians saw this now on the point of completion, and that the foundations of the walls were being shaken by the battering of the rams, whatever precious things of gold, silver, garments, and various furniture their nobility possessed, they loaded on ships and carried off to the islands: so that, the city being captured, Nabuchodonosor found nothing worthy of his labor. And because in this matter he had obeyed the will of God, after some years of the captivity of Tyre, Egypt is given to him; and Tyre was much more cruel than Egypt. For the one besieged Jerusalem; the other promised vain help. For it is one thing to deceive weakness with hope, another to fight against the people of God.

This, then, is what he says: Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, in the siege of Tyre, made his army serve me, that I might accomplish my will: Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was made bare, of those carrying baskets of earth, and stones by which shoulders are chafed, and the head made bald; and yet neither he nor his army found anything worthy in Tyre. And since he served me in this, and fulfilled my will against Tyre, therefore I will give him the land of Egypt. Some say this was fulfilled under Nabuchodonosor; others under Cambyses the son of Cyrus, who laid waste Egypt as far as Ethiopia, so that he killed Apis, and destroyed all their idols. For which reason they think he was turned to madness by a fall from his horse, and pierced by his own dagger.

Herodotus narrates this history most fully: where also all Egypt is described by districts, fortresses, and villages, and the origin of the Nile and of that people, and the measure of the land in circuit as far as the desert of Ethiopia and the shores of the Great Sea, and the confines of Libya and Arabia, are set forth. Now the cause of the Lord’s anger against Egypt is this: that it deceived the people of God with its help, so that they should not hope in God, and thereby provoked Him to wrath. In that day, He says, in which Egypt shall be taken, a horn shall spring up for the house of Israel: doubtless signifying the royal race. Which some refer to Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, who was begotten through Jechonias of the stock of David; others refer to the last time, when they think Elias also is to come. But we, understanding the horn of the Lord concerning Christ, take up the present history.

And when, he says, O Prophet, this shall first have been fulfilled, then thy mouth shall be opened, and thy prophecy shall no longer hang upon doubtful promise, but shall be seen accomplished in deed: that all who hear may know that I am the Lord, whose saying is doing. Let these things be said according to the letter, or rather according to the truth, of the prophecy. But from the fact that Nabuchodonosor received reward for a good work, we understand that even the heathen, if they do any good, are not passed over without reward by the judgment of God. Whence also through Jeremiah Nabuchodonosor is called the dove of God, because he served the will of God against a sinning people. And I will bring, He says, my servant Nabuchodonosor. From which it is plain that we are condemned by comparison with the Gentiles, if they do by natural law what we neglect even though it is written. Concerning which the apostle Paul disputes most fully to the Romans.

And lest we seem to pass over anything according to the spiritual understanding, we inquire where we have read this number, that is, the twenty-seventh. In the book of Genesis Scripture testifies that in the six hundredth year of the life of Noah, in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the waters of the flood were brought upon the face of the earth, and afterward in the seventh month of the same year, which is next to the sabbath, and on the twenty-seventh day of that seventh month, the waters of the flood ceased, and the ark of Noah rested upon the mountains of Ararat, which are interpreted as of Armenia. From which we understand that it is a middle number and can be applied to both, since in this both the wrath of God begins from the flood, and His clemency is shown in the seventh month on the same number of days.

And because among the Hebrews the month, which among us proceeds by Kalends, Nones, and Ides, is reckoned according to the course of the moon—whence also in Greek the word μήν, that is, moon, gave the month its name—it is said that on the twenty-seventh day of the moon a little light still remained, lest His wrath be utterly without mercy. But when the whole orb of the moon is fulfilled, then also the Passover is celebrated, and all the greatest solemnities. This we have set down briefly, that we may know that in this number both good and evil are alike contained. Good for Nabuchodonosor, whose labor is rewarded; evil for the Egyptians, whose destruction is announced.

(Verses 1 ff.) And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying: Son of man, prophesy, and say: Thus saith the Lord God: Howl ye, woe, woe to the day: for the day is near, and the day of the Lord approacheth, a day of cloud, it shall be the time of the nations.

And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and there shall be fear in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and its multitude shall be taken away, and its foundations destroyed. Ethiopia, and Libya, and the Lydians, and all the rest of the common people, and Chub, and the children of the land of the covenant, shall fall with them by the sword. Thus saith the Lord God: And they that support Egypt shall fall, and the pride of her power shall be destroyed; from the tower of Syene they shall fall by the sword in it, saith the Lord of hosts. And they shall be scattered in the midst of desolate lands, and her cities shall be in the midst of desert cities. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have given fire in Egypt, and all her helpers shall be crushed.

In that day messengers shall go forth from my presence in triremes to strike down the confidence of Ethiopia, and there shall be fear among them in the day of Egypt, for without doubt it shall come. Thus saith the Lord God: And I will cause the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon: he and his people with him, the mightiest of the nations, shall be brought to destroy the land. And they shall draw their swords upon Egypt, and shall fill the land with the slain. And I will make the channels of the rivers dry, and I will deliver the land into the hand of the wicked, and I will lay waste the land and its fulness by the hand of strangers: I the Lord have spoken. Thus saith the Lord God: And I will destroy the idols, and cause the images to cease out of Memphis, and there shall be no more a prince in the land of Egypt, and I will put a terror in the land of Egypt.

And I will destroy the land of Phatures, and I will give fire in Taphnis, and I will execute judgments in Alexandria, and I will pour out my indignation upon Pelusium, the strength of Egypt, and I will slay the multitude of Alexandria, and I will give fire in Egypt. Pelusium shall be pained as a woman in travail, and Alexandria shall be laid waste, and in Memphis there shall be daily distress. The young men of Heliopolis and Bubastus shall fall by the sword, and they themselves shall be led captive. And in Taphnis the day shall grow dark, when I shall have broken there the scepters of Egypt, and the pride of her power shall have failed in her: a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall be led into captivity. And I will execute judgments in Egypt, and they shall know that I am the Lord. The Septuagint: And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying: Son of man, prophesy, and say: Thus saith Adonai the Lord: O, day!

For the day is near, and near is the way of the Lord: a day of cloud, it shall be the end of the nations. And the sword shall come upon the Egyptians, and there shall be trouble in Ethiopia. And the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be cut down. The Persians, and the Cretans, and the Lydians, and the Libyans, and all the mixed peoples, and of the children of my Covenant shall fall by the sword. Thus saith Adonai the Lord. And the supports of Egypt shall fall, and the insolence of her strength shall go down; from Magdolus even unto Syene they shall fall by the sword in it, saith Adonai the Lord. And it shall be made desolate in the midst of desolate regions, and her cities shall be in the midst of deserted cities, and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have given fire upon Egypt, and all that help her shall be crushed.

In that day messengers shall go forth from my presence, hastening to destroy the hope of Ethiopia, and there shall be trouble among them in the day of Egypt, for ... behold it will come. Thus says the Lord God. And I will destroy the multitude of the Egyptians by the hand of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon himself, and his people with him, pestilent ones who have been sent from the nations to destroy the land. And they shall unsheathe all their swords upon Egypt, and the land shall be filled with the slain. And I will make their rivers desolate, and I will deliver the land into the hand of the wicked, and I will lay waste the land and its fulness by the hands of foreigners: I the Lord have spoken. For thus says the Lord God: And I will destroy the abominations, and I will make the nobles of Memphis to fail, and the princes of the land of Egypt, and they shall be no more.

And I will put terror in the land of Egypt, and I will lay waste the land of Phatures, and I will set fire upon Taphnis, and I will execute vengeance in Diospolis, and I will pour out my fury upon Sais, the strength of Egypt, and I will destroy the multitude of Memphis. And I will set fire upon Egypt, and Sais shall be greatly troubled, and in Diospolis there shall be a breach, and the waters shall be spread abroad. The young men of Heliopolis and of Bubastis shall fall by the sword, and the women shall be led captive, and at Taphnis the day shall grow dark, when I shall have broken there the sceptres of Egypt, and there the pride of her strength shall perish, and a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall be led captive, and I will execute judgments in Egypt, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

After the twenty-seventh year of the captivity of King Joachim, he returns to the present time, when he had begun to prophesy against Egypt, that is, to the tenth year, and the tenth month, on the eleventh day of the month, and he says that it was commanded him by the Lord to speak to all the nations, and among all, especially to Egypt. What then is it that he says? Howl, woe, woe to the day, for the day is near, and the day of the Lord approaches: not gleaming with a clear sun, but covered with clouds, and bringing a Babylonian storm. And when the sword shall have begun to lay waste Egypt, there shall be dread in Ethiopia, which is neighbor to Egypt, lest the Babylonian blade should reach even to it.

For the slain shall fall in Egypt, and her multitude shall be taken away, and everything shall be destroyed down to the foundations: so that if anyone be found in Egypt of Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and in common of various peoples and Chub, which Symmachus renders as Arabia, and of the sons of the land of the covenant, that is, of the people of the Jews, he shall fall by the sword together with them. In place of these nations the Septuagint put: Persians, and Cretans, and Lydians, and Libyans, and all the mixed peoples, and the sons of my Covenant shall fall by the sword together with her.

And that we might know that all these nations had been in aid of Egypt, the following speech shows: And the supports of Egypt shall fall, or the props of Egypt, that is, her allies, and all the pride of empire, or the insolence of her strength shall be destroyed and brought down from the tower of Syene, which we said is situated at the farthest borders of Egypt, or from Magdolus even to Syene, as the Septuagint translated: all the cities of Egypt shall be desolate, that they may know the Lord, when the fire of the Chaldeans shall have laid waste everything, and all her helpers shall have been crushed, and messengers shall have arrived, according to Aquila and Theodotion, SIIM (ציים), which Symmachus rendered as "hastening"; we have rendered it as "triremes"; for so we have received it from the Hebrews: so that all the confidence of Ethiopia may be crushed, and when the neighboring province shall have been made desolate, dread may seize the one nearby.

But that we might know what this sword was that would lay waste Egypt and terrify Ethiopia, it follows more clearly: And I will cause the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, who will come not alone, but accompanied by many nations, so that all Egypt shall be filled with the blood of the slain, and so great shall be the anger of the Lord that the channels of the rivers shall be dried up, that is, the διώρυχες of the Nile, down to the bare ground, and by the hand of the pestilent, or of the most wicked men, the fulness of Egypt shall be made desolate. For my words cannot be void, and the indignation shall go so far that the idols of Egypt shall be destroyed, and the idols of Memphis shall cease, which to this day is the metropolis of Egyptian superstition; or the nobles and princes of Memphis, and of the land of Egypt.

So great, moreover, shall be the terror that shall possess all Egypt, that the whole land of Phatures shall perish, and fire shall lay waste Taphnis, or, as the Septuagint translated, Tanis. And I will execute, he says, judgments in Alexandria, which today is so called. Otherwise it has its former name NO, which Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, as it is set in the Hebrew, translated. In place of which, wanting I know not what, the Septuagint said Diospolis, which is a small city of Egypt. But we have put Alexandria for No, by anticipation, which in Greek is called πρόληψις, according to that Virgilian line (Aeneid, book 4): And to the Lavinian shores he came; not that at that time when Aeneas came into Latium they were called Lavinian, but that which afterward was named Lavinian, so that the place might become clearer to the reader's understanding.

And I will pour out, he says, my indignation upon Sais, which we have rendered as Pelusium, and it is called the strength of Egypt, because it has a very safe harbor, and the trade of the sea is chiefly carried on there. Whence also the poet calls it "Pelusiac lentil" (Virgil, Georg. 1), not because this kind of legume is grown there, or chiefly there; but because from Thebes and all Egypt it is brought there in great quantity by the channel of the Nile. And I will kill, he says, the multitude of Alexandria, which again in the Hebrew is set as NO, for which the Septuagint by no means translated Diospolis, as above, but Memphis. And that he might show the city to have already been populous at that time, I will destroy, he says, the multitude of NO (נא); and I will set fire, that is, the king of Babylon in Egypt, who like fire will lay waste everything.

As one in labor, Sais shall grieve, that is, Pelusium: or shall be greatly disturbed; and in Alexandria, that is, in No, there shall be a breach, and the waters shall be spread abroad, for which again the Septuagint translated Diospolis. Now it is the custom of the Egyptians, because of the flooding of the Nile, to build high embankments along the banks of the Nile. If these, through the negligence of the keepers, or through excessive volume of water, are broken, the fields lying beneath are by no means watered but overwhelmed and devastated. By which it is signified that Egypt is to be overrun by the army of the Chaldeans in the same way as it is wont to be covered and ruined by the flooding waters of the Nile when they rise beyond measure.

In place of the flooding of the waters, and the breaking and rupture of the embankments, in the Hebrew it is set: And there shall be daily anguish in Memphis, so that where the Nile is divided, and where the temple of Apis is, and where oracles answer inquiries, there daily anguish shall occur. The young men, too, of Heliopolis, which in Hebrew is called ON (און), and of Bubastis, another city, shall fall by the sword: so that these cities themselves, that is, their inhabitants, or their women, shall be led into captivity, for that sex is subject to outrage. In Taphnis, indeed, which is the royal city, the sceptres of Egypt shall be broken, that is, the whole royal line.

And when her power, with her princes slain, shall have failed, then the day shall grow black, and everything shall be filled with gloom and darkness, so that the city itself shall be covered with a cloud of mourning and grief, and her daughters, that is, the remaining towns, shall be led into captivity; so that after I have executed judgments in Egypt, and shown myself to be judge to all, then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord. These things we have described as it were for little children the elements, so that through letters, syllables, names, and the arrangement of words, they may be able to arrive at the reading of prose or verse. Now let us take up the tropology, and let us set forth, as it were in a small painted panel, the vast sea of discussion. The word of the Lord, who was always in the Father, came to the prophet, and calls him by no means by his own name, but son of man.

Which in the holy Scriptures is always taken in a good sense, at least in the singular number, as in this same prophet, and in Daniel, and in the Gospel. Otherwise in the plural number it is read in a contrary sense, as that: Sons of men, their teeth are weapons and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. And again: Sons of men, how long will you be heavy of heart? For the lion will roar, and who will not fear? The Lord has spoken, and who will not prophesy? Howl, he says, woe, woe to the day, for the day is near, and it approaches, says the Lord, a day of cloud, it will be the time or end of the nations. There is a twofold consummation: either generally of all things, when the end shall come, or specially of individuals, when the time of death shall press. Moreover, it is said "near" because, compared to eternity, all time is short.

Whence Jacob too, of the hundred and thirty years, said: few and evil, he says, are the days of my life. And the Psalmist, discoursing on the frailty of the whole human race, says: Our days have passed away like a shadow. Considering which, we shall not be puffed up by power, nor shall we lean upon riches, nor shall we rejoice in prosperity, knowing that all things are soon to be taken away. And fittingly it is called the day of the Lord, when all the conversation of the age shall be destroyed, and error being taken away, truth alone shall appear, a day of cloud and mist. For no one who is fearless and uncertain of the sentence awaits the judge without dread. And it shall be the time or end of the nations, not of one nation, Egypt, but of all, so that it may be manifest that the prophecy concerns all nations.

It follows, the sword shall come upon Egypt, the whirling, flaming sword, the divine word, which divides the good from the evil, and consumes the wicked with its fire. Upon the Egypt, moreover, of this world, so that there is dread in Ethiopia, that is, in those who dwell beyond Egypt in the night of error and in darkness, and whose blackness is converted to whiteness either with difficulty or not at all. And the wounded shall fall in Egypt, who had stood evilly in wickedness. And the multitude of Egypt shall be taken away. For wide and spacious is the way that leads to death. And her foundations shall be destroyed: so that nothing of the former firmness may remain in Egypt; but the wicked foundations being abandoned, the foundation of Christ may be laid, upon which the Church may be built. For every planting which the heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up. Whence also Jeremiah is bidden to destroy what had been built, that he might build better things.

There shall also perish in Egypt the Ethiopians, Libyans, and Lydians, or according to the Septuagint, Persians, Cretans, and Lydians, and Libyans, and Chub, that is, Arabians, and all the remaining common people, whom the Septuagint rendered as Hybrids and mixed peoples. All of whom, according to the diversity of vices and the interpretation of names, which we set forth in the vision of Tyre, we can understand as different nations. Whence also the Apostle says: You, he says, nations in the flesh, who are called the Uncircumcision. For he would never have said "nations in the flesh" unless there were others in the spirit, as in another place: Behold Israel according to the flesh.

Whence great care must be taken lest we turn back in heart to Egypt, from which we once went out, and be found among the other nations; and perish by the sword, of which it is said in what follows: The young men of Heliopolis and Bubastis shall fall by the sword, especially when it is joined, and the sons of the land of the covenant, or of my Testament, shall likewise be struck by the blade, of whom it is written: Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, trusting in horses and chariots. But if the men of the other nations are slaughtered in Egypt, how much more the sons of the land of the covenant and of the Testament of God, who, despising the bread of Angels, remembered the melons of Egypt, and the onions, and the garlic, and the cucumbers. Then the supports and props of Egypt shall fall, which sustained her in wickedness, the subtleties of the dialecticians and the wiles of the philosophers.

The insolent and proud empire also shall be destroyed, who speak all things arrogantly, and hold the simplicity of the Church as nothing. For they shall fall from the tower of Syene, in that which is at the farthest borders of Egypt, bordering on Ethiopia and the Blemmyes: where the Nile is unnavigable, and the roar of the cataracts, and everything is impassable and full of serpents and venomous creatures. But if (as we have said above) Magdalus signifies magnificence, and Syene signifies a circuit, it is clear that the Egyptian riches, and insulting strength and magnificence, that is, boastfulness, and exaltations shall perish by violence, even to the circuit of Egypt, where nothing is stable; but is whirled about in uncertain slipping, and comes to ruin.

Then shall the cities of Egypt be scattered, and the land shall be desolate, and no gathering shall remain having any firmness, so that by the outcome of things they may know that he himself is the Lord, when he shall have sent fire into Egypt, which the Lord desires to burn, so that the hay, wood, stubble, which have been built upon the foundation of Christ, may be consumed, and all the helpers of perverse doctrines be crushed. From which it is to be understood that the knowledge falsely so called, and those of whom it is written: "Scatter the nations that desire war", are called the allies and helpers of Egypt. In that day, he says, messengers shall go forth from the face of God, of whom it is written in the Gospel: "Their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven".

And in the sense of the parable, the reapers are angels, that is, they are messengers, sent that they may gather together all scandals, and cast them into the furnace of fire, where there is weeping of eyes and gnashing of teeth. And they shall hasten to fulfill the command, that they may terrify, or crush, the confidence of Ethiopia, which has reached the very summit of malice, so that in the overthrow of Egypt Ethiopia may be crushed, and may tremble, because it is the day of the Lord, of vengeance and retribution, by which the darkness of sins shall be put to flight, and the light of virtues shall remain. And I will cause, he says, the multitude of Egypt to cease by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to whom they are delivered to be punished. For he is the enemy and avenger who also received wages, because he served in the storming of Tyre, the multitude of Egypt: so that many who are always in Egypt may cease to be in it.

But if someone should object, how is it said in Deuteronomy: "In seventy souls your fathers went down into Egypt: but now you have become as the stars of heaven in multitude": it is easily resolved. For he did not set forth the example of an earthly multitude, but a heavenly one, which shines with virtues, and is full of lights, above which the multitude of Egypt is brought, that the mightiest of the nations may destroy the land, for whom the Seventy translated "pestilent ones." I know not how this suits those who are brought by the Lord, unless perhaps according to that example, the sending in through evil angels: who shall unsheathe their swords upon Egypt, and shall fill the land with the slain, or wounded, so that they may perceive themselves to be slain and wounded, and that Egypt is destroyed to such a degree, and reduced to nothing, that all the rivers of eloquence by which the errors of Egypt, the reed and the rush, were watered, dry up, and are delivered into the hand of the wicked, who torment them, and the fullness of the land of Egypt, which had grown evilly, is destroyed by the hand of strangers, its exaltations rebuked, which belong to the circuit of Egypt, born of God.

For it is not good angels but evil ones who are set over torments. This it is necessary that they know, that the Lord has spoken. Which phrase is often taken up, so that those who hear may know that they are not the words of the prophet, but of the Lord, whose commands cannot be void. There follows: And I will destroy the idols, which are abominations. The Seventy translated: And I will cause the idols to cease, or the nobles of Memphis, and the leader, or prince, in the land of Egypt, shall be no more. For it is of the most merciful Lord to overthrow evil fictions, so that no likeness which falsely imitates the image of truth may remain in Egypt: let the nobles also perish from Memphis, which is interpreted "from the mouth"; from which all the idols were fashioned, so that with the heads cut off and the masters of idols removed, there be no prince in Egypt, and all Egypt be filled with terror and destruction.

Of whose cities it is said: And I will destroy the land of Pathros, and I will give fire in Taphnis, or in Tanis, and I will execute judgments in No, which the Seventy translated as Diospolis: and I will pour out my indignation upon Sais, the strength of Egypt.

Pathros is interpreted "trampling of bread"; Taphnis, "humble command"; Diospolis, for which NO is set in the Hebrew, "rest"; Sais, "temptation": by which names the diverse conventicles of heretics and of all falsehoods are shown: who trample and despise the bread of the Church, and follow a humble command, one not leading to heavenly things, and are given over to delights, and are at rest; such a one as we read of in the Gospel, the rich man clothed in purple; and they serve tempters: of whom one asked of the Lord that he might have power to tempt Job. All these things the Lord will destroy and burn up, and will pour out his indignation upon them, and will scatter the strength of Egypt, so that, being reduced to nothing, they may in no way trouble the people of God, and make them hope in their own help; so that, truth being abandoned, they seek a lie, and, as by a staff of reed, may be wounded by their own protection.

After this it is said: And I will destroy, or scatter, the multitude of Mempheos, for which the Hebrew has NO, which above the same Seventy translated as Diospolis, which is interpreted "rest." For there are many who seek rest, and wish to lie upon ivory beds, and eat suckling lambs. Or according to the Seventy, who translated it Mempheos, many there are who say to others: "Let me remove the mote from your eye," while they themselves have beams in their own. And fire is given in Egypt, which shall consume with its burning the wordy talk and delights. All the temptation shall grieve, and in Diospolis, which again in the Hebrew is set as NO, there shall be a rending; so that the waters may be poured out and every most wicked assembly be scattered, and perish this way and that.

Or according to the Hebrew, in Memphis there shall be daily distresses, so that for every idle word they may render an account, that they may understand that nothing of their words escapes the judgment of the Lord.

The young men also of Heliopolis and of Bubastus shall fall by the sword. Heliopolis is called in Hebrew On, which is interpreted "grief." Bubastus, however, according to the Egyptian tongue, means "trial of the mouth." All those who could not bear the grief of the world, but pursued the delights of Diospolis, and trusted in themselves in the fluency of speeches and in disputing against other doctrines, having had trials of victory, shall fall by the sword of the word of God: and those who are called not young men, but by weakness of mind, women, shall be led captive. Or the cities themselves, through grief and boastfulness of mouth, shall be led into captivity. And in Taphnis, he says, the day shall grow dark.

Taphnæ is interpreted "yielding to the mouth," understood as the mouth of the devil; to whom those who have yielded shall lose the light of truth, and shall change day into night, and shall feel that the scepters of Egypt, and all its dominion, are broken in Taphnis, so that its insulting strength, or the pride of its power, fails in it, and the rays of the sun of justice are darkened in a cloud, and not women but daughters shall be led into captivity; and the Lord shall execute not one judgment, but many judgments in Egypt.

For as with the good there are diverse mansions with the Father: so also for the punishments of Egypt there are diverse judgments; so that when all these things have come to pass, the Egyptians may know that he himself is the Lord, whose judgments are true, justified in themselves. (Verses 20 and following) And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and behold it has not been bound up, that health might be restored to it, nor bound with bandages, nor bound up with linen cloths (or, that it might receive a plaster): and receiving strength, it might be able to hold the sword.

Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and I will break his strong arm, but broken (or, his strong and well-set arms): and I will cast the sword out of his hand, and I will scatter (or disperse) Egypt among the nations, and I will winnow them into the lands. And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and will give my sword into his hand, and will break the arms of Pharaoh, and they shall groan with the groans of the slain before his face (or, as it is contained in the Septuagint: And he shall bring a sword upon Egypt, and shall lay waste its spoils, and plunder its plunder.

There follows): And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall: and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have given my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he has stretched it out over the land of Egypt, and I will scatter Egypt among the nations, and will winnow them into the lands, and they shall know that I am the Lord. He returns to the order of the prophecy; for after the twenty-seventh year he now places the eleventh. This question is also contained in what precedes. For since the word of the Lord against Tyre was made in the eleventh year, which was set down first, in what follows he speaks to Pharaoh in the exposition subjoined. Jerome: He says that he has broken his arm, and that it is not bound up, nor tied, nor mended with linen cloths. Presently, for "accepto" [received], the same Victor put "recepto" from the Vulgate.

Pharaoh in the tenth year: and again he sets the twenty-seventh, as we have said, and now the eleventh. To pass over the other things which are contained in the order of the Psalms: it is asked, how the third psalm is placed before those psalms in which David changed his countenance before Abimelech, and concerning Doeg the Idumean, and when he was found in the cave, and the fiftieth, the psalm of penitence, in whose title it is shown that he had gone in to Bathsheba the wife of Uriah, whereas these psalms are earlier than the third, in which his flight from the face of his son Absalom is noted. But in the Psalms the answer is easy, that it is lyric poetry, and in a work of this kind the order of history is not sought; but the songs of individual deeds.

In history, however, this must be said, that things which are said of one matter at different times ought not to be divided in the telling, but concluded in the narration of a single place. For example, so that the things said of Egypt at one time and another may be known in one order of reading. Having said this, the question nevertheless remains: Why in this same place is the word of the Lord first made to Pharaoh in the eleventh year, and afterward in the twenty-seventh, and then in the tenth year, when surely according to order, first the tenth, second the eleventh, third the twenty-seventh year, ought to have been prefixed to each prophecy. To which we can answer: "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out".

And in another place: "Who shall search out the deep and wisdom?" But we can also say this, that even in the Prophets the order of history is by no means kept, at least not in all places, but in some; for they do not narrate past things, but foretell future things, as the will of the Holy Spirit has been. But in history, as are the five books of Moses, and the volumes of Joshua and of Judges, Ruth also and Esther, Samuel and Malachim, the book of Chronicles and of Ezra, joined together with Nehemiah, a preposterous narration is nowhere found. Let this suffice to have said concerning the order of the years. Now let us see what the prophecy is against Pharaoh, or concerning Pharaoh. He says that he has broken his arm, and that it is not bound up nor tied, nor mended with linen cloths, nor has it received a plaster, according to that which is written: "There is no plaster to be laid on, nor oil, nor bandages".

But if this had been done, indeed, strength having been regained, it could hold the sword, and go forth to wars. Therefore the merciful and compassionate God again breaks his arm, or arms, so that the sword falls utterly from his hand, and Egypt is scattered among the nations, and winnowed into the lands. But by the arm understand strength and might, as Scripture says: "Break the arm of the sinner and the malicious". Which is broken in our adversaries, when they indeed persecute us, but are not able to oppress us. And for the salvation of the servants of God the king of Babylon often rises up against Pharaoh, that the mightier may oppress the mighty, and the evil be delivered to worse, God strengthening the arms of the most wicked, so that he who is freed may know that he himself is the Lord: and that the profit of virtue is to know that he himself is the Lord. On the other hand we can say: "The sons of Eli, sons of pestilence, not knowing the Lord".

And in a good sense it is written of the kings who did right in the sight of the Lord, that they knew the Lord. But that which is said in the LXX: "And I will break his strong and disposed [τεταγμένα] arms," which in Greek is called τεταγμένα, has been corrupted by the fault of copyists. For they translated not τεταγμένα, but τεταμένα, that is, not "disposed," but "stretched out." For which, according to their custom, the other interpreters have put "lofty."

I would wish, as I have already said before, to expound the prophecies against a single province, or a single king, in the same books, and by no means to divide the sense of the reader. But what am I to do about the length, which, unless it be divided into parts, exceeds the measure of a volume; and an infinite mass is burdensome both to the one dictating and to the one reading? And so, after the discourse against Egypt and its lamentation, and the king of Egypt, concerning whose arm, neither wrapped up nor restored to its former soundness, we spoke in the last part of the ninth book, we pass over to the beginning of the tenth book against the same Pharaoh king of Egypt, who is compared to the king of the Assyrians, and after a very long prophecy, a lamentation over the same is taken up, and thereafter against all Egypt.

In discussing these matters, O virgin of Christ, Eustochium, raise up your hands with Moses, that our victory may be the fruit of your prayers. For it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy, who says to the prophet: Open your mouth, and I will fill it; the prophet answering the Lord: I opened my mouth, and drew in the spirit; who breathes where he wills. And where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, with which liberty the Lord has endowed us. Which the Jews vainly boasted they possessed, saying: We are the seed of Abraham, and have never served anyone, while subject to many vices and sins, and ignorant of that saying: by whom a man is overcome, of the same also he is the slave (II Peter ii, 19).

And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his people: To whom have you been made like in your greatness? Behold, Assyria was like a Cedar (or Cypress) in Lebanon, fair in branches and leafy with woods, and lofty in height, and among the thick foliage (or in the midst of the clouds) its top was lifted up. The waters nourished it; the abyss exalted it; its rivers flowed round about its roots, and it sent forth its streams to all the trees of the region. Therefore its height was exalted above all the trees of the region (or field); and its plantations (or branches) were multiplied, and its branches were lifted up because of many waters.

And when it had spread out its shadow, in its branches all the birds of heaven made their nests, and under its foliage all the beasts of the forests brought forth, and under its shadow (or covering) dwelt the assembly of all the nations. And it was most beautiful in its greatness, and in the spreading (or multitude) of its plantations (or branches); for its roots were beside many waters. The cedars (or cypresses) in the paradise of God were not taller than it, and the fir trees (or pines) did not equal its top, and the plane trees (or fir trees) were not equal (or like) to its foliage (or branches). No tree in the paradise of God (or in the paradise of God) was like unto it and to its beauty, because I made it beautiful, and with many and thick branches, and all the trees of pleasure (or delight) that were in the paradise envied it.

Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because it was exalted in height, and gave its top green and thick (or in the midst of the clouds), and its heart was lifted up in its height: I have delivered it into the hand of the strongest (or prince) of the nations: he shall surely deal with it (or: I will bring about its destruction): according to its wickedness have I cast it out. And strangers, the cruelest of the nations (or the pestilent of the nations) shall cut it down, and shall cast it upon the mountains, and its branches shall fall in all the valleys, and its boughs shall be broken in all the rocks (or fields) of the earth, and all the peoples of the earth shall withdraw from its shadow, and shall leave it. Upon its ruin all the birds of the heaven have dwelt (or rested), and in its branches were all the beasts of the region.

Wherefore all the trees of the waters shall not be exalted in their height, nor shall they set their loftiness among the leafy and wooded (or in the clouds), nor shall all that are watered by waters stand in their loftiness; for all are delivered unto death, to the nethermost land, in the midst of the sons of men, with those who go down into the pit. Thus says the Lord God: on the day when it went down to hell, I ordained mourning (or the abyss mourned for it): I covered it with the abyss, and restrained its rivers, and held back the many waters. Lebanon was struck down (or darkened) over it, and all the trees of the field were shaken (or failed).

At the sound of its fall I moved (or the nations were moved), when I brought it down to hell with those who were going down into the pit; and in the nethermost land all the trees of pleasure (or delight), the choice and excellent trees of Lebanon, all that were watered with waters, were comforted. For they also went down with it to hell, to those slain (or wounded) by the sword, and the arm (or seed) of each one of those who dwelt under its shadow, in the midst of the nations (or of their life), perished. To whom have you been likened, O renowned and lofty one among the trees of pleasure? Behold, you have been brought down with the trees of pleasure to the nethermost land; you shall sleep in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who were slain by the sword. So shall Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord God.

As is my custom, I have combined both editions, where nevertheless they differed greatly, lest a double rendering should increase the size of the books. And first it must be known, that whatever is said concerning the future Assyrian king is recorded in the Septuagint as though already past, and thus the discourse is addressed either to the tree or to the prince of the Assyrians, so that it may be understood of one person under both the masculine and feminine gender, since the tree is referred to Assyria, and Assyria is named in the tree. Nor is there any mention here of the king of Babylon, lest the discourse seem, when directed against the captive people placed in Chaldea, to provoke the wrath of their lords and rulers; but it speaks of the king of the Assyrians, who by that time had already been captured by the Chaldeans, and all the strength of Assyria lay subject to the Babylonian empire.

Whence also the ten tribes, that is, Israel, are taken by the Assyrians; but the two, that is, Judah and Benjamin, are overcome by the Chaldeans, who overthrow the city of Jerusalem. The divine word, then, about to speak against Pharaoh king of Egypt and his people, used this exordium against him: To whom have you been made like in your greatness? Behold, Assyria was like a Cedar in Lebanon, and so on. And the sense is: Do not marvel if you are to be conquered by the Babylonians and are to perish, and to lose your empire, and if all the wealth of Egypt is to be destroyed, when Assyria, far mightier than you, was destroyed by that same Chaldean conqueror.

And it describes the power of the Assyrian king under the figure of the Cedar tree—according to the Hebrew; according to the Septuagint, the Cypress—set on Mount Lebanon, which was fair in branches and thick with foliage, and raised up even to the clouds, which grew so great for this reason, that it was watered not by ordinary waters but by abysses, that is, by most abundant waters. For "abyss" signifies the great abundance of the sound of waters; so that all the birds made their nests in its branches, and under its foliage all the beasts of the forests brought forth. And lest we should doubt what the birds of heaven were, or the beasts of the forests, he stated it more plainly: And under its shadow dwelt the assembly of very many nations. The cedars, he says, and cypresses, the firs, or pines, and the plane trees, or cypresses, were not equal to its branches.

And lest he should speak of each tree individually, he says, all the trees of the paradise of God were not like unto it and to its beauty. By which some understand that this is said not of the Assyrian king, but of the contrary strength, which in the discourse concerning Tyre is said to have been generated among the Cherubim, and adorned with precious stones, and afterward, through its own fault, to have fallen to earthly things—he who, falling also in Isaiah, is called Lucifer, and is signified in the Gospel by the Lord: I was watching Satan falling like lightning from heaven. But let us for the present follow the historical sense, and understand these things as hyperbolic sayings, meaning that the Assyrian was of such great power, and so oppressed all the nations, that he compared himself to the strength of angels. All these things, however, are said metaphorically under the figure of the loftiest cedar, or cypress, concerning Assyria, and its slaying is called a cutting down.

And what follows: I have delivered it into the hand of the strongest of the nations, calls the king of Babylon, that he may understand that his victory over Assyria was not of his own strength, but of the divine power. According to its wickedness, he says, I have cast it out, so as secretly to warn the Babylonian that he ought not to be cruel, nor to oppress the people of God delivered to him, lest he suffer the like from the Assyrian, who was cruel and impious. And strangers, the cruelest of the nations, shall cut it down; or, according to the Septuagint, the pestilent ones: which he would never have said while placed in Chaldea, lest he stir that nation up against itself.

It is also cast down upon the mountains, and in all the valleys its branches fall, and are broken among the rocks, and it is left by all the peoples, that is, by the birds of heaven and the beasts of the field, and it comes to such ruin, that all the trees which were thought lofty in comparison with the Assyrian tree cease to be lifted up and raised aloft after its example, nor do they stand in their height, but it having been cut down, all are cut down likewise out of fear. And what had been said figuratively becomes now more manifest. All, he says, (kings, understood) are delivered to death, to the nethermost land (that is, to hell), in the midst of the sons of men (by no means among trees), with those who go down into the pit. There is no doubt but that this signifies the netherworld.

After the cutting down of the Assyrian tree, or on the day when the Assyrian went down to hell, and the Lord brought in mourning, he again speaks of him figuratively, that he was covered with the abyss, according to that which is written: I have come into the depth of the sea, and the tempest has overwhelmed me; and all the rivers, that is, all the nations, ceased to water him further, and Lebanon grieved, or was darkened, over it, that is, the tree, or him, that is, Assyria. And lest we think the discourse concerns a tree, it follows: At the sound of its fall I moved the nations. For how great could the fall of a single tree be, that at its sound all the nations should be moved? When I brought it down, he says, to hell—according to the letter, a tree cannot be brought down to hell along with others who were descending into the pit, that is, into hell.

And in the nethermost land, that is, in the heart of the earth, all the trees of pleasure, or delight (which in Hebrew is called EDEN [עדן]), were comforted, so as to signify the leafy groves and excellent, renowned forests that were in Lebanon and were watered by waters. For the trees themselves also, together with it, that is, with Assyria, shall go down to hell, to those slain, or wounded, by the sword. Trees are not wounded by swords, but felled, nor do they go down to hell. And the arm, he says, or seed (since in Hebrew the word ZARA [זרע] signifies both), shall rest under its shadow in the midst of the nations, by no means of forests, but of peoples. At the end, an apostrophe is made to Assyria itself, or to Pharaoh. To whom have you been likened, O renowned one, lofty among the trees of pleasure?

No one, he says, was equal to you, but you surpassed all kings in power, and yet with the other kings who were in your company you have been brought down to the nethermost lands, that is, to hell, as Scripture says: They shall go into the depths of the earth, they shall be delivered into the hands of the sword, they shall be the portion of foxes. In the midst, he says, of the uncircumcised you shall sleep with those who were slain by the sword. This shows what the trees were, what the cedar, or cypress, was, that was wounded by swords, and lies among the uncircumcised. And that he might join the last things to the former, because he had said above: To whom have you been made like in your greatness: behold Assur is like a Cedar in Lebanon, fair in his branches and foliage, and the rest, now he adds: So is Pharaoh, and all his multitude, says the Lord.

Just as, he says, the Assyrian, the cedar and cypress, was cast down when the Babylonian cut it down: so Pharaoh and his people, that is, the tree itself and its branches, shall be cut down by the Babylonian. Let these things meanwhile be said according to the history, which many understand as to occur at the consummation of the world, and that King Pharaoh, that is, that power to which Egypt is subject, is compared to the most powerful king of the Assyrians, that is, to antichrist: for if he shall fall, then indeed the other rulers of that darkness and the princes of this world will more easily fall too. Let us then speak of each point, briefly touching on all, so that we may not so much discuss and explain the obscure things, as seem to have furnished material to those wishing to explain them.

And first it must be examined why in the eleventh year, the third month, on one day of the month, the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel, saying: Son of man, say to Pharaoh of Egypt and to his multitude. To one about to speak to Pharaoh, the word of the Lord comes in the eleventh year: for it had not yet come to the twelfth, which number is that of full and consummated virtue. Whence also the sons of Jacob are twelve, from whom afterward the twelve names of the Prophets are contained in one volume. And the Apostles are twelve, of whom, since one, Judas, was a traitor, Matthias is chosen in his place. And the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, twelve years old, is raised up by the Lord. The woman with the issue of blood also receives health in the twelfth year. But because Pharaoh is rebuked, and afterward lamented, therefore the third month and one day are joined to the number of eleven years.

Whence also in what follows, in the twelfth year, the twelfth month, on one day of the month, the word of the Lord comes to Ezekiel, saying: Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and you shall say to him. For he who is lamented is lamented for this reason, that he may understand how many good things he has lost; and yet because he was Pharaoh, and his arm had not yet been bound, nor had he received back his former strength: therefore in the year and in the twelfth month, twenty-nine days still remain, that the number of twelve years may be completed. On one day of the month, therefore, the word of the Lord comes to the Prophet, and he is commanded to speak to the king of Egypt and to his multitude. In which it is to be wondered at that the four interpreters said not "people," but "multitude." For many are called, but few are chosen.

And it is written in the Law: You shall not be with the multitude for evil. And it is said to the king of Egypt: To whom have you been made like in your greatness, or in your height? Because he himself exalted himself, and lies under that sentence: Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled: but yet he is not like in his height to him who was as a cedar, or cypress in Lebanon, fair in branches and full of foliage; and lofty in height and lifting his head even to the clouds, to which, according to David, the truth of God reaches, and to which it is commanded that they should not rain a shower upon Israel. His beauty also is proclaimed, which was changed into ugliness by a depraved will; so that it is said of him: The Lord shall break the cedars of Lebanon: and he himself, set on high on the loftiest mountain of Lebanon, the more sublime he had been, the more mightily would he fall.

Wishing to show his height, holy Scripture calls him a great cedar, which the waters nourished, not the waters of Siloe which flow with silence, but the waters of Rasin, and the waters of Egypt, of which it is written: What is it to you, that you should drink the waters of Geon, or Shihor? Which signifies turbid waters. The abyss also exalted him, over which in the beginning of the world darkness was borne, and to which in the Gospel the demons beg not to be sent. The rivers of that same abyss were round about his roots, of which it is said: What have you to do with the way of the Assyrians, that you should drink the waters of the rivers? And in another place: Behold the Lord will bring upon you the strong and abundant water of the river, the king of the Assyrians and all his glory.

The abyss also sent forth its streams to all the trees of the region, that it might water not only the prince of this world, but also his associates. Therefore he was lifted up, and grew above all the loftiest trees, and his shrubs were multiplied, and he possessed the empire of the whole world, saying: All these things have been delivered to me. And his branches were lifted up, which had been watered by the waters of the abyss. He stretched out, or spread wide, his shade, that he might subject all to his dominion. In his branches all the birds of heaven made their nests. For everyone who commits sin is born of the devil, and is counted among the number of his branches. But those birds made nests in his branches, which according to the Gospel way devour the seed sown by the wayside, or because all have sinned, and need the mercy of God, of whom it is said: All have turned aside, together they have become unprofitable: therefore they made nests in his branches.

There follows: And under his foliage all the beasts of the forests brought forth their young, who have lost the gentleness of Christ, and under his shade dwelt the assembly of very many nations, so that there was none who was not covered by his shade, except him who said: Behold the prince of this world comes: and he shall find nothing in me. For through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin death; and thus death passed through to all men, in whom all sinned, and in Adam we all die, and we have all sinned, and lack the glory of God. And yet within that very habitation the condition is diverse. Some dwell in his branches like birds, promising themselves knowledge in philosophy, and in the dogmas of heretics. Others like wild beasts, fierce and cruel: others like a multitude of very many nations; so as to signify those mixed with various vices and sins.

Now Assur was most beautiful in his greatness, and in the spread of his shrubs, because his root had been watered by many waters, to such a degree that in the paradise of God no cedars and cypresses were taller, nor did firs and pines equal his loftiness; nor were the plane trees equal to his foliage. Therefore no tree of the plants in paradise had been made equal to him, because no tree of the paradise of God was likened to him and his beauty. For they were by no means raised up through pride, but knew their own lowliness, nor did they attempt, with sacrilegious mind, to claim for themselves the likeness of God. And what follows: And all the trees of delight that were in paradise envied it, we thus explain: The trees of paradise envied the multitude of his branches: For many are called, but few are chosen. And: Broad and spacious is the way that leads to death. For he desires to have as many for salvation, as Assur had for perdition.

Whence because Assur was exalted in his height; and gave his sublimity, green and dense, or raised his top even to the clouds, and his heart was lifted up so that he said: I will be like the Most High, therefore he was delivered into the hand of the strongest of the nations: whom we understand to be another detestable power, to whom he is delivered for punishment: for that one is the enemy and avenger; so that Assur is understood as Antichrist, and the strongest of the nations to whom he was delivered, as Satan, according to that of the Apostle: Whom I have delivered to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme: who, acting, will do to him whatever has been commanded him by the Lord. But this cypress was cast out of the paradise of God on account of its impiety; and strangers and cruel men, or pestilent ones among the nations, shall cut it down, that what is written may be fulfilled: When the pestilent man is scourged, the simple will become wiser.

And again: Now the axe is laid to the root of the tree: who shall cut it down upon the mountains, that it may fall in its pride. And in all the valleys its branches shall fall: that all who were in its company may be led down to Tartarus, and depart from its shade, and forsake it: so that the birds of heaven and the beasts of the earth, which had before been under it, and covered by its shade, might afterward be partakers of its punishment. And when the other trees of the forests, or of paradise, shall see Assur the cypress fallen by the sentence of God, they shall not be lifted up in pride, nor shall they think themselves to be anything, nor shall they consider the watering of their own waters as their own riches: because all the branches and the birds of heaven, and the beasts of the earth, which were under the empire of Assur, are led down in death to the lowest earth.

Of whom it is written: In his sight shall fall all who go down into the earth. And in another place: They shall go into the lowest parts of the earth: and they shall by no means be with the Angels, but with the sons of men, who go down into the pit, or into the everlasting ditch. But when he shall have gone down to the lowest parts of the earth, and shall be the portion of the foxes by whom he is to be torn: then there shall be mourning either of all his associates, or of the holy powers, who shall grieve that he has gone down to hell. Whence the Lord says: I covered him with the abyss, with whose waters he had before been nourished; and I stopped its rivers, that is, of the abyss, and restrained the many waters, lest they should water him, but rather oppress him. Lebanon was made sorrowful over him, in which he had been exalted, and all the trees of the field were shaken, dreading a similar cutting-down.

At the sound of his ruin I moved the nations, so that none might be ignorant of his destruction, and of his being led down to hell with the rest of his associates. And all the trees of delight, that is, of paradise, received consolation: while they see both evil things restored to the evil, and good things to the good. But these are the trees of Lebanon, watered by the waters of the rivers of the Lord, among which also that tree had been watered which fell. Or all the trees, which were once good, and were watered with waters, and abode in the height of Lebanon, shall receive consolation, when they shall see their prince undergo like torments. For they themselves also shall go down to hell, to those slain by the sword of the Lord, and all the strength of the trees shall dwell under his shade, that is, in punishment, in the midst of all the nations that shall be held within the enclosures of hell.

After this the word turns to Pharaoh himself, to whom it had been said at the beginning, to whom have you been made like in your greatness? And it is said to him: To whom have you been likened, O renowned and lofty one among the trees of delight? Surely to the Assyrian who fell. And you were renowned and lofty among the trees of Eden, that is, of delights and of paradise, and behold you are led down like the Assyrian, with all the trees which once were among the delights, to the lowest earth and to hell, and you shall sleep not in rest, but in punishments in the midst of the uncircumcised, that is, of the unclean, and with those who have fallen by the sword of the Lord. And that we may know who he is to whom he said: O renowned and lofty one among the trees of delight, he sets it forth more plainly: This is Pharaoh, and all his multitude.

Or according to the Septuagint, so is Pharaoh, and all his multitude, that as above the Assyrian was cut down and fell, so also the Egyptian may be brought down.

(Verses 1 following.) And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month (or the tenth), on one day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, take up a lament over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and you shall say to him: You have been likened to a lion of the nations, and to a dragon that is in the sea, and you brandished your horn in your rivers, and troubled the waters with your feet, and trampled down their (or your) rivers. Therefore thus says the Lord God: I will spread my net over you in the multitude of many peoples, and I will draw you up in my drag-net (or I will draw you up with a hook).

And I will cast you (or draw you) out onto the land: upon the face of the field I will cast thee away (or, thy fields shall be filled): and I will make (or, cause to sit) all the birds of the heaven to dwell upon thee, and I will satisfy the beasts of the whole earth with thee, and I will give thy flesh upon the mountains, and fill the hills (or, valleys) with thy gore (or, with thy blood), and I will water the earth (or, the earth shall be watered) with the stench of thy blood (or, with thy dung) upon the mountains, and the valleys shall be filled with thee. And when thou art extinguished, I will cover the heaven, and make its stars grow black: I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the lights of heaven will I make to mourn (or, they shall be darkened) over thee: and I will put darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord God.

And I will provoke the heart of many peoples, when I shall bring thy destruction (or, captivity) among the nations, upon lands (or, in the land) which thou knowest not. And I will make many peoples to be astonished (or, they shall be amazed) over thee: (or, many nations), and their kings shall be seized with exceeding horror over thee, when my sword shall begin to fly over their faces, and each one shall suddenly be astounded for his own life in the day of thy ruin (or, expecting their own ruin in the day of thy ruin). For thus saith the Lord God: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee. By the swords of the mighty (or, of the giants) I will cast down thy multitude: (or, thy strength): all these unconquerable nations (or, pestilent ones of all the nations): and they shall waste (or, destroy) the pride (or, injury) of Egypt, and her multitude shall be scattered (or, all her strength shall be crushed).

And I will destroy all her beasts that were upon the many waters (or, by the many waters): and the foot of man shall no more trouble them, nor shall the hoof of beasts disturb (or, trample) them. Then I will make their waters most pure (or, that their waters may at last be at rest), and I will bring their rivers along like oil (or, they shall flow like oil), saith the Lord God, when I shall have made the land of Egypt desolate (or, ruined). And the land shall be deprived of its fulness (or, together with its fulness) when I shall have struck (or, scattered) all its inhabitants: and they shall know that I am the Lord. It is a lamentation, and the daughters of the nations shall lament it over Egypt, and over her multitude (or, over all her strength) shall they lament, saith the Lord God. We combine both editions, only in those points where they differ. Otherwise, where there is one sense, we follow the Hebrew.

In many copies, according to the Septuagint, the twelfth year and the tenth month are given; but according to the other translators, the tenth year and the twelfth month, so that either Jerusalem has already been captured, and the joy of Pharaoh, with evils now impending over him, is taken away; or certainly it is about to be captured, and he grieves the more over his own miseries than rejoices in the captivity of others. And meanwhile, briefly laying down certain foundations of the history, let us run through what the Hebrews understand concerning this passage.

Pharaoh is compared to a lion, not of one nation, but of many nations; or to a dragon in the sea, as one possessing land and waters, who was lifted up into pride by the irrigation of the rivers, which is called a horn, and who by the multitude of his army, passing through all the waters, was able to trouble them: therefore he says that he will spread his net over his multitude, and draw him out with his drag-net or hook, and cast him forth, or stretch him out upon the land, who, like a serpent, had been wound in many coils, so that he might be devoured by all the birds of the heaven. And when not only the birds but all the beasts of the earth have torn him, the remainder of his flesh shall fill mountains and valleys and plains, so that all things swarm with worms.

But he speaks this by way of metaphor, that after the birds of heaven and the beasts have been satisfied with his flesh, that is, his army, and the whole remaining multitude, the rest is turned into worms and gore. Then, he says, the heavens shall be wrapped in darkness: the sun, and the moon, and the other lights shall not give their light, but all things shall grow black over thee: and nothing shall be joyful to thee, and at thy destruction all the peoples and all their kings shall be seized with exceeding horror, beholding my sword flying hither and thither and sparing none, and at thy ruin they shall dread a like ruin for themselves. But that thou mayest know who this sword is, hear more plainly: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee: by the swords of the mighty, or of the giants, I will cast down all thy multitude. These giants are the unconquerable nations which were held by the army of the king of Babylon.

These shall waste or utterly destroy the pride of Egypt, and all her multitude: and nothing shall remain in Egypt, but together with the men, the beasts also and the brute animals shall likewise be taken away. And there shall be such solitude in Egypt, that neither by the foot of man nor by the hoof of beast shall her waters be troubled, but all things shall be quiet: and the waters of her rivers shall flow like oil, most pure and shining, with none passing through them, nor troubling their streams. But this shall come to pass because of the solitude of Egypt, which shall be reduced to a desert from all her multitude: when the Lord shall have struck her inhabitants, so that those who remain may understand that he is the Lord. Therefore there is lamentation for Pharaoh, and the daughters of the nations round about shall lament him. Not only for him, however, but also for his multitude, which, the Lord laying it waste, has been destroyed.

Let this suffice, said cursorily concerning the simple letter; let us come to the spiritual understanding. Nor do I think it needs much labor to know who Pharaoh king of Egypt is, since we have said more fully above that he is that power to which Egypt has been entrusted; whether of one province, or of Egypt as the whole world, which is not by nature a lion, but by its own vice has been likened to the lion of the nations. For man, when he was in honor, did not understand; he has been compared to senseless beasts, and made like unto them. Of this lion Peter also speaks: Our adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about, seeking whom he may devour. And in the ninth psalm it is written: He lieth in wait in secret like a lion in his den; he lieth in wait that he may catch the poor. And in Jeremiah the Holy Spirit says: A lion out of the forest has struck them.

But that the devil is called a dragon (in place of which Aquila translated Leviathan, explaining the name of the dragon), I have shown by many testimonies according to the earlier explanation, where he had said: The rivers are mine, and I have made them. This dragon, therefore, with his rivers as with horns, was tossing about very many nations: which we can understand of Marcion, Valentinus, Arius, Eunomius, and the other founders of heresies, who imitate churchmen, saying to the Lord the Savior: In thee we will toss our enemies with the horn: and they do not toss unto salvation, so as to raise from earth to heaven, but so as to cast down into the depths. Then it follows: And thou didst trouble the waters with thy feet; according to that of the Apostle: But he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment.

For he does not wish to drink the waters of Siloe, which go with silence, but the waters of Egypt, turbid and muddy, which before they were trodden by the feet of the dragon were pure, and flowing in their proper order: but after they were troubled by his feet, they lost the order of their course. For heretics do not use the testimonies of Scripture in their proper coherence, but they trouble all things. And because he himself is the enemy and avenger, the Egyptian dragon troubles not only the waters of others with his feet, but also tramples his own rivers, not sparing even those whom he has once brought under his own power. Wishing to avoid this, the just man prays: Let not the foot of pride come to me. And in another place, having been trampled, he asks not to be trampled again: Have mercy on me, Lord, he says, for man hath trampled me.

But the enemy man is the devil, of whom another psalm also speaks: That man may no more be magnified upon the earth. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: I will spread my net over thee, in the multitude of many peoples. The net of the Lord, woven by the reasoning of the Old and New Testament, is cast over the dragon, who dwells in the multitude of peoples, and always delights in crowds and multitudes of peoples: that he may draw him out with his drag-net, or with his hook. This is the drag-net which is cast into the sea of this age, and draws out many fish, some to be chosen, and others to be cast away. Or this is the hook, of which it is written in Job: But thou shalt draw the dragon with a hook, and shalt put a halter about his nostrils; for which Aquila translated: Thou shalt draw out Leviathan with a hook, and bind his tongue with cords.

Now the dragon, or Leviathan, is drawn out of the sea by the hook, or the net of the Lord, that he may be cast forth, or stretched out upon the earth, and all his coils, by which he hid his snares, may be opened and brought forth into public view, and cast down upon the earth, and he may lie prostrate who had set his mouth against heaven, and boasted himself to be like the Most High. Whence it follows: And I will make, or cause to sit, all the birds of heaven to dwell upon thee, and I will satisfy the beasts of the whole earth with thee, according to that which is written: Thou hast given him for meat to the peoples of the Ethiopians. These are called either birds, or beasts of the earth. Birds, which, as we have said, snatch away the seed by the wayside. Beasts of the earth, made savage by vices, which can be referred to heretics and gentiles.

But what follows: And I will give thy flesh upon the mountains, and I will fill the hills with thy gore; or, I will fill the valleys with thy blood, has this meaning: that we understand by the birds of heaven and the beasts of the earth the peoples of the deceived, and the cruelty of the gentiles, and that we refer the mountains to the princes of heresies, such as Valentinus and Marcion were, and the hills to their successors who are gorged with the gore of the dragon; or the valleys, which are filled with the dragon's blood, to those of lesser standing among the believers. Or certainly the mountains signify the adverse powers, which run to and fro in the air, and the valleys, which reach down to the infernal regions, and are given over to eternal punishments.

Further, what is said: And I will water the earth with the stench of thy blood upon the mountains, or, the earth shall be watered with thy dung upon the mountains, and the valleys shall be filled from thee, signifies that all the pride and arrogant swelling of the heretics is filled, not so much with living and pure blood, as with putrid and stinking blood, according to that which is written: Set them as the dung of the earth. From this the saint is delivered by the Lord: Who raiseth up the needy from the earth, and lifteth the poor out of the dunghill. That he may set him with princes, with the princes of his people. But the valleys, pressed down into the depths, as we have said above, signify either the infernal regions, or the lowly disposition of heretics who do everything for pleasure and earthly wealth.

But what is joined: And I will cover the heaven when thou art extinguished, and make its stars grow black: I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light, all the lights of heaven will I make to mourn, or grow dark, over thee, and I will give darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord God—if we follow the letter, this cannot be fully understood. For when Pharaoh, or the dragon, was slain, when did the sun and moon and stars not give their light, and the heaven become covered with darkness, according to that poetic line (Virgil, Georgics I): The impious ages feared an eternal night. Therefore this must be said, that when Pharaoh was extinguished, who transformed himself into an angel of light, of whom it is written elsewhere: The light of the wicked shall be put out, the heaven, or the heavens, shall be covered with darkness. Of these Paul also speaks: And spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places.

And the Lord will make his stars, whether of the dragon or of heaven, grow black. Concerning which the Apostle Jude also writes: Wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness is reserved forever. The sun also shall be covered with a cloud, the sun of iniquity, which is contrary to the sun of righteousness, but by a cloud, either the Lord the Savior himself, who descended into Egypt upon a light cloud, weighed down by no burden of sins, or the prophets and apostles, of whom we read: I will command the clouds that they rain no shower upon it. And in the Psalms: Thy truth reacheth unto the clouds. But when the sun of iniquity shall have been darkened, the moon, which we understand to be the Church of the heretics, and which was thought to receive its light from the sun of iniquity, will not give its light, nor will it deceive believers with knowledge falsely so called.

All the luminaries also, and whatever is seen of doctrine among the heretics, once the dragon is extinguished, will be dried up, or will mourn, its prince being lost, so that the Lord himself will cover the land of the heretics with darkness, that is, with ignorance of the truth, so that the blind may lead the blind into the pit, and the inhabitants of the land may be sent into outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. After this it is said: And I will provoke the heart of many peoples, when I have brought your ruin, or captivity, among the nations upon a land which you do not know, so that those who had formerly served Pharaoh may be angry against him, seeing his captivity led away to another land, which the dragon did not know existed.

Nor should we doubt that the lands which Pharaoh does not know are good lands, namely, when Pharaoh's captivity is exchanged for another captivity, of which it is said to the Savior: Ascending on high, he led captivity captive: he received (or, according to the Apostle, he gave) gifts to men. And I will make, he says, many peoples astonished at you, so that those who formerly admired the power of Pharaoh may afterward admire that he has fallen from his height. The kings of the peoples too will be exceedingly afraid over him with dread, whose kingdoms the Lord the devil showed, and of whom it is said in the psalm: The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes gathered together as one. This will happen when the sword of the Lord begins to fly over their faces—understood as the faces of the kings, or of the peoples.

Now the sword of the Lord is to be understood as the living word of God, and effective, and sharper than any sword sharpened on both sides, which flies about and runs through and strikes the eyes of those who see it and terrifies their faces, so that, astonished at the ruin of Pharaoh, they may see themselves cast down in him. And indeed the sword of the Lord, of which it is written: Behold, this one is set for the fall and rising again of many, raises up those who lie fallen, and by humility changes those who were wrongly raised up. But the sword of the king of Babylon will come upon the Egyptian dragon, so that by the swords of the mighty, or of the giants, the Lord may cast down his multitude, who followed the king of Egypt. Unconquerable, he says, or pestilent are all these among the nations, so that the wicked may be handed over for punishment to worse ones, of whom it is written: A sending forth by evil angels.

And the Apostle says: Whom I have delivered, he says, to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme, or for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved. But when through ministers of this kind the pride of Egypt shall have been cast down, and its multitude scattered, all its beasts of burden shall perish, which were upon many waters, and the foot of man shall no longer trouble them. For if he is blessed who sows upon the waters, where the ox and the ass tread, on the contrary unhappy is he who will still be able to hold the simple in his error, so that the foot of man does not tread in them, so that the waters of Egypt may not even seem to have in themselves a sign of wisdom and reason. The hoof of the beasts of burden also shall not trouble them, so as to make them turbid and muddy instead of most clear and shining.

Then the waters, which had been troubled by the dominion of the dragon, will be restored most pure, not by another, but by the Lord himself, so that their rivers may glide like oil, and be the nourishment of true light. But this will happen, when the Lord has made the land of Egypt desolate, and has destroyed its multitude, and all its inhabitants have been struck, so that by this outcome they may know that he is the Lord.

As for what is added: There is lamentation, and the daughters of the nations shall lament him over Egypt, and over his multitude they shall lament him, says the Lord God—it is clear that the souls of all the nations, which had formerly been oppressed, or of those nations which had never dwelt in Egypt but in the land of the living, lament the slain dragon, and all his multitude: not in hope of salvation, but because from so great a power he has, by his own vice and pride, been cast down into eternal punishments. (Verses 17ff.) "And it came to pass in the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, sing a lament over the multitude of Egypt, and cast her down, her and the daughters of mighty nations, to the lowest land, with those who go down into the pit. Wherever you are more beautiful, go down, and sleep with the uncircumcised.

In the midst of those slain by the sword they shall fall: the sword is given: they have drawn her away, and all her peoples. The most mighty of the strong shall speak to him from the midst of hell, who have gone down with his helpers, and have slept with the uncircumcised, slain by the sword. There is Assur and all his multitude, round about him his graves, all slain, and who fell by the sword, whose graves are given in the depths of the pit: and his multitude is made round about his grave, all slain and fallen by the sword, who once caused dread in the land of the living. There is Elam and all his multitude round about his grave: all these slain and fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised to the lowest land: who set their terror in the land of the living: and bore their shame with those who go down into the pit.

In the midst of the slain they set his bed among all his peoples: round about him his grave. All these are uncircumcised, and slain by the sword. For they had caused terror in the land of the living, and bore their shame with those who go down into the pit: they are set in the midst of the slain. There is Mosoch and Thubal, and all their multitude round about them their graves. All these uncircumcised, and slain, fallen by the sword, who caused their terror in the land of the living. And they shall not sleep with the strong ones, and with the fallen, and the uncircumcised, who went down to hell with their weapons, and laid their swords under their heads: and their iniquities were upon their bones, because they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. You too, therefore, shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shall sleep with those slain by the sword.

There is Idumea, and her kings, and all her princes, who were given over with their army with those slain by the sword, and who slept with the uncircumcised, and with those who go down into the pit. There are all the princes of the North, and all the Sidonians (or hunters), who were led down with the slain, trembling, and confounded in their strength, because they slept uncircumcised with those slain by the sword, and bore their confusion with those who go down into the pit. Pharaoh saw them, and was consoled over all his multitude, which was slain by the sword, Pharaoh, and all his army, says the Lord God. Because I have set my terror in the land of the living, and he has slept in the midst of the uncircumcised with those slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord God." In this passage the edition of the Seventy Interpreters differs greatly, both in order and in translation, and certain things have been added to it from Theodotion.

Whence we found it necessary to set it down as well, sparing nothing of its length, and serving the diligence of the studious reader.

The Seventy. And it came to pass in the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month: the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, lament over the multitude of Egypt, and the nations shall lead down her daughters, dead, into the depth of the earth, to those who go down into the pit (Now under asterisks is added: Descend from the most beautiful water; and sleep with the uncircumcised: Again the order follows): In the midst of those wounded by the sword they shall fall with him, and all his strength shall sleep, and the giants shall say to you, in the depth of the pit, descend, wherever you are better, descend, and sleep with the uncircumcised in the midst of those wounded by the sword. There is Assur, and all his assembly. (And what follows: All the wounded were given there, and his grave is in the depth of the pit, and his assembly was made: this is not found in the Hebrew, but was added by the Seventy.

Again it is said): Round about his grave are all the wounded who fell by the sword. (And again from the Edition of Theodotion under asterisks is added: Who gave her sepulchres in the sides of the lake; and there was made a gathering round about her sepulchre. All these slain, and fallen by the sword. After which the Seventy set): Who gave their terror in the land of the living. There Elam, and all its strength round about its sepulchre, all slain, and fallen by the sword: and who descend uncircumcised into the depth of the earth, who gave their terror in the land of the living, and received their torment with those who go down into the pit in the midst of the slain.

There were placed Mosoch and Thubal, and all their strength round about their sepulchre, all their slain, all uncircumcised, and slain by the sword, who gave their terror upon the land of the living, and slept not with the giants who fell of old: who went down to hell with the weapons of their warfare, and laid their swords under their heads, and their iniquities were upon their bones, because they were the terror of the giants in the land of the living. And thou shalt be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shalt sleep with them that are slain by the sword. There is Edom, and her kings, and all the princes of Assur, who gave their strength for the wound of the sword: these slept with the slain, with them that go down into the pit.

There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the captains of Assur, who went down slain with their terror, and confounded in their strength, they sleep uncircumcised with them that are slain by the sword, and bore their shame with them that go down into the pit. Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude: Pharaoh slain by the sword, and all his army, saith the Lord God. For I have caused his terror to be in the land of the living, and he shall sleep in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain by the sword, Pharaoh, and all his multitude, saith the Lord God. I am not unaware that so great a discrepancy between the two editions will be tiresome to a fastidious reader.

But what am I to do with my slanderers, who cry out that I am sacrilegious and without fear of the Lord, if I remove anything from the translation of the Seventy interpreters—especially those who, though they disagree in the truth of the faith and follow the errors of the Manichees, nonetheless stir up the minds of the ignorant on this point, if they can show that anything in the old version has been changed from custom, being more willing to err than to learn anything true from a rival. Meanwhile, according to the historical sense the meaning is plain.

For in the same twelfth year, and in the same month, as we suppose, but not on the first day of the month, as above, but on the fifteenth day, the lament is taken up not over Pharaoh, but over the strength, or multitude, of Egypt, which is dragged down from its pride together with all its daughters, or the daughters of the mighty nations, to the lowest land, that is, into the depth of hell, and it is said to the king of Egypt: In what art thou better, that thou shouldst deserve to escape death?

For since Assur, and Elam, that is, the Persians, and Mosoch, who are interpreted Cappadocians, and Thubal, whom some wish to be understood as Iberians, others as Italians: also the Idumeans and the princes of the north, and the Sidonians with all their armies, by whose aid they struck all nations with dread, are dead, and slain by the sword, and have laid their swords under their heads (which expression must be taken ἐμφατικώτερον, more emphatically): canst thou alone bear not to suffer the same? Nay rather, when thou seest so great a multitude sleeping with thee among the dead, and thy sepulchre surrounded by the memorials of once most mighty princes, thou shalt have comfort, reckoning the torments lighter for the company of so many. Let this suffice for now, briefly, according to the simple sense. Now, with the same brevity, so far as the difficulty of explanation allows, let us glean the chief points of the spiritual understanding. Above, the word of the Lord came to the prophet on the first day of the month; here, on the fifteenth.

In the first day, that is, on the calends, is the beginning of the month: on the fifteenth, when the whole orb of the moon is full, and if it be the first month, it is the first day of unleavened bread; but if the seventh, it is the feast of Tabernacles, when tents are pitched (which solemnities are especially observed among the Hebrews). Now the lament is made over the strength of Egypt, that it may cease to be strong in evil: and may receive weakness, and when it shall be weaker, then it is stronger. Instead of "strength" of Egypt, the Hebrew has "multitude." For wide and spacious is the way that leads to death, and many enter by it: just as, on the contrary, it is said to Israel: But ye are few among all the nations: for virtue is always rare, and narrow and strait is the way that leads to life, and few there are that enter by it.

Now that Egypt is bewailed, and her daughters are dead, according to the Seventy, or that the daughters of the mighty nations are led down to the lowest land, into the lake, or into the deepest pit, there are signified the souls dwelling in the Egypt of this world, who have lost him who says: I am the life: and being dead in sins, are dragged down to hell by their weight, the sinner saying: For my iniquities are gone over my head, and as a heavy burden they are become heavy upon me. These are they of whom it is written in another place: They shall go into the lower parts of the earth: they shall be delivered up to the sword: they shall be the portion of foxes. For he that diggeth a pit shall fall into it. Whence we also read: He hath opened a pit and dug it, and is fallen into the hole he made.

And what follows: In what art thou fairer, go down, and sleep with the uncircumcised, is properly addressed to Pharaoh king of Egypt, or, as is added in the Seventy from Theodotion, to Egypt herself: From the fairest water, go down, and sleep with the uncircumcised. Which pertains especially to him who, reborn in the baptism of Christ, and hearing with the Church: Who is she that cometh up made white, leaning upon her cousin?, afterward, being defiled either by fornication or by other vices, is cast out of the Church, and it is said to him: From the fairest water, go down, and sleep with the uncircumcised, that is, with the unclean, according to the sense given by the Apostle: We are the circumcision, who serve God in the spirit, and glory in the Lord, and have no confidence in the flesh. All these shall fall in the midst of the slain, or the killed, with Pharaoh, by that sword which the Lord came to send upon the earth.

For as the sword of Christ separates the good from the evil, saying: I came not to send peace upon earth, but a sword: so the sword of the heretics cuts down all peoples, and leads the slain down to hell. These are the mighty giants, and rebels, and those who set their mouth against the heavens, and the more they lift themselves up in pride to the heights, the more they are dragged down to the depth of the pit, and the lowest parts of hell, all of whom have been slain by the sword. And that Pharaoh, or all the strength of Egypt, which has been dragged down to hell, might know what companions he has in his punishments, the following word shows: There is Assur, and all his multitude, or his synagogue. For the prince of the heretics is the devil, whose gathering is truly a synagogue, of which it is said in the Apocalypse: Who are of the synagogue of Satan.

But the following verses, which are marked with the obelus, I think should be passed over, and it should be said what is in the Hebrew: Round about him are their sepulchres, namely, of those deceived by him. All of whom are slain, or killed by the sword, and therefore have fallen, whose sepulchres are given in the lowest parts of the lake. That the lake is called hell, that psalm plainly shows, in which the penitent speaks: I am become like them that go down into the lake. Which we ought by no means to understand according to the propriety of Latin speech as that which in Greek is called λίμνη, such as the lake of Tiberias, and Lake Larius, and Benacus, and many others, but rather what we are accustomed to call cisterns.

Which lakes, because they cool the waters, and remove all heat of spirit from them, sinners and all heretics dig, and as far as my memory serves, Scripture testifies that none of the saints ever dug a lake, that is, a cistern; but all sinners, of whom was Ozias the leprous king, who fell through his own pride, of whom it is written that he was a man given to works of the earth, and built many towers of pride in the corners, and dug lakes (2 Chron. 26). On the contrary, it is said to the just man: Drink water out of thine own cistern, and the springs of thine own wells. And again: Let thy fountain be thine alone. Whence the Lord also says: They have forsaken me the fountain of living water, and have digged to themselves lakes, that is, cisterns, which can hold no water. It follows: And his multitude is made round about his sepulchre.

All these surround the Assyrian, and their multitude is very great, all of whom are slain and killed, and fallen by the sword. For none of them can stand with Moses, nor hear: Ye that stand in the house of the Lord; but all are slain and killed, and fallen, who once gave dread in the land of the living—dread, indeed, to those who were set over the churches, lest they should make peoples of the dead in the land of the living, and deceive any of the simple. Whence Paul also said: But I fear, lest as the serpent beguiled Eve by his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. But this fear is tempered by hope in the Lord, the man of the Church saying: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? After this it is said: There is Elam, and all his multitude round about his sepulchre—undoubtedly the Assyrians'.

Elam is translated into our tongue as "their ascent." For all who, having despised the humility of Christ, have desired to ascend to the pride of the devil, and have deemed themselves to be something in a knowledge falsely so called, are to be called Elamites, who surround the sepulchre of the Assyrian king, and are slain and killed by the sword. And though they set their mouth on high, yet they went down unclean and uncircumcised to the lowest land, that the higher they had been lifted up, the more grievously they might fall. These placed their terror not once, but a second time, in the land of the living. For who among churchmen is secure from the terror of such Elamites, and has not lost some of his flock? And beautifully is the Church of Christ called the land of the living, so that on the contrary the assemblies of the heretics may be believed to be the land of the dead.

And they bore, it says, their shame, or their torment, with those whom they dragged down with them into the lake, and into the depth of hell: whose bed is in the midst of the slain—namely, of those whom they slew with their own sword, and they are surrounded by such peoples. These peoples are the peoples of the Assyrian king, and though they boast themselves to be circumcised, yet they are uncircumcised and slain by the sword, and a third time gave terror and dread in the land of the living. Whence they bore their torment and punishment in the midst of those whom they deceived by their frauds. There also, that is, near the Assyrian, is Mosoch, and Thubal, and all his multitude round about his sepulchre: all uncircumcised and slain, and fallen by the sword, who had given their dread in the land of the living.

Instead of Mosoch and Thubal, Symmachus and Theodotion translated "from their bed," to show that the beds of the heretics, indeed the everlasting pits, are the punishments of the Assyrian king. Mosoch is interpreted "madness"; Thubal, "turning"—not from evil to good, but from good to evil; or "all," as if to show that all heretics are mad, and with equal zeal are turned to worse things. Nor is it strange that, being mad, and heaped together in evil, they have great numbers, since they are the companions of the Egyptian king, who rejoices in multitude. All these were slain by the sword, who had given their dread, not once, nor a second time, but a third time in the land of the living, of whom we have spoken more fully above.

It follows: And they shall not sleep with the mighty, or giants that have fallen, and the uncircumcised, who went down to hell with their weapons; and they placed their swords under their heads, and their iniquities were upon their bones, because they had been the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. They, he says, who had been the leaders of the heretics, have arrived at such a summit of malice and torment that they do not deserve to bear punishments like even the mighty and giants who fell from the beginning.

These, having by no means done penance for the deeds of their error, went down to hell with their weapons, rebels against God and His Church, carrying with them arms, of which it is written: The sons of men, their teeth are weapons and arrows; and they placed, it says, their swords under their heads, resting in a hostile mind; and, as though for the supreme victory, embracing the darts of their own opinions: so much so that their iniquities were upon their bones, that is, possessing the most obstinate fabrications and the dogmas of their error. Because they had been the terror of the mighty in their life, or in the land of the living. This is said in the fourth place, that they might terrify by their perversity even the mightiest, and those having knowledge of the Scriptures, and those who were of the region of the living, while they go down to hell with their weapons, and place their swords under their heads, and their iniquities reach even to their bones.

After this it is written: And so thou also shalt be crushed in the midst of the uncircumcised, which is said either of Pharaoh, or of the strength, or the multitude, of Egypt, and that it itself shall be crushed, according to that which is written: But may the God of peace crush Satan under your feet speedily. And thou shalt sleep, it says, with those slain by the sword, a perpetual sleep. There, with the Assyrian, and with the Egyptian multitude, shall be Idumea, and her kings, all who served earthly works, or took delight in blood. For indeed Idumea signifies both “earthly” and “bloody.” All kings and all the princes of whom the Apostle also frequently speaks, lying prostrate upon earthly works, and daily shedding the blood of those whom they had deceived by their fraud, have slept with the uncircumcised and unclean, and with those who went down into the pit, of whom we spoke above. In that same company shall also be the princes of the North, from whom evils blaze forth upon the earth.

And from whom, whether in Jeremiah, or in this same prophet (above, XXII), that pot full of flesh and bones is set aflame. And not only the princes of the North, but all the magistrates of Assur, for which in the Hebrew it is more truly placed, all the Sidonians, whom we have rendered as “hunters,” according to that which is written: Our soul has been snatched like a sparrow out of the snare of the hunters, for which in the Hebrew it is placed “of the Sidonians.” These Sidonians, or hunters, shall be led down to hell in fear, having once trusted in their own strength, and shall sleep unclean, and shall bear their confusion or torment, having the everlasting remorse of an evil conscience; so that their fire shall not be quenched, and their worm shall not die.

When Pharaoh shall have seen all these, he shall be consoled, either still retaining his former malice and seeing that he has many companions of his punishment, or indeed he was consoled, seeing them too confounded in their punishments and terrors, over all his multitude which was slain by the sword—that is, of Pharaoh, or of all his allies, and especially of the king of Assyria, and Mosoch and Thubal and the Idumeans, and the princes of the North, and the Sidonians. For these had spread their terror in the land of the living. This is said in the fifth place, that we ought to beware and flee from all nations of this kind, which have deceived us through all our senses, and to know that they are horrible, and cannot easily be avoided, unless we guard our heart with all watchfulness. He slept, it says, Pharaoh himself also with his allies slain by the sword, which allies are his multitude, going along the broad and spacious way to everlasting punishments.

(Verses 1 ff.)

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say to them: When I shall bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among their last (or one man from among themselves), and set him as their watchman; and he see the sword coming upon the land, and blow the trumpet, and announce it to the people. But whosoever, hearing the sound of the trumpet, shall not take heed to himself, and the sword come, and take (or seize) him: his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard (or the voice of) the trumpet, and took no heed to himself; his blood shall be upon him. But if he take heed to himself, he shall save his soul.

But if the watchman see the sword coming, and sound not the trumpet, and the people take no heed to themselves, and the sword come, and take away a soul from among them: he indeed is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand. And thou, son of man, I have made thee a watchman for the house of Israel. Hearing therefore from my mouth a word, thou shalt announce it to them from me. If I say to the wicked man, Wicked man, thou shalt surely die, and thou hast not spoken, that the wicked man may take heed to himself from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity: but his blood I will require at thy hand. But if, when thou announcest to the wicked man, that he may be converted from his ways, he be not converted from his way, he shall die in his iniquity: but thou hast delivered thy soul.

Again the word of the Lord comes to the prophet, who had been silent for some time, because the prophet, nor human frailty, can sustain a continual and unbroken revelation; and he speaks the same things that are contained above. Son of man, I have made thee a watchman for the house of Israel, and thou shalt hear a word from my mouth, and thou shalt threaten them from me, in that I say to the wicked man, Thou shalt surely die, and thou hast not announced it to him, nor spoken so as to announce it to the wicked man, that he might be converted from his ways and live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, and his blood I will require at thy hand. And thou, if thou announce it to the wicked man, and he be not converted from his iniquity and from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, and thou hast delivered thy soul.

If you examine these carefully, you understand that they are indeed similar, but not the same, since in many points they differ. And this we ought to observe in all the Holy Scriptures, that where there seems to be some similarity of meaning, not everything is said in the same way: but either much is subtracted, or added, and there is a reason for the discrepancy of each word among themselves. And meanwhile, before we come to higher matters, the brief sense is to be explained. If a watchman be set among the peoples, to announce the sword of the Lord and the wrath that is coming, and, when he announces it, the people refuse to hear, the watchman shall be free, and he who is oppressed by the sword shall himself bear the guilt of his own blood: but if he hear, he shall save his soul.

But if the watchman does not sound the trumpet, and the people, not knowing that the sword is coming, do not take heed to themselves at all, the people indeed shall die in their iniquity, yet I will require the blood of the dying man at the watchman's hand. And that the prophet Ezekiel might know that the general discussion pertains especially to himself. And thou, he says, son of man, not by the land and by the people of the land, as I said above, but by me thou art appointed a watchman for the house of Israel. If therefore, when I say to the wicked man: Wicked man, thou shalt surely die, thou hast not spoken to him, that he might take heed to himself, and be delivered from destruction: he indeed shall die in his own iniquity, which he had committed before, of which, if thou hadst announced it, he could have been delivered; but his blood I will require at thy hand.

But if thou announce and command the wicked man to be converted from his most evil ways, and he refuse to do this: he indeed shall die in his own iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul from the destruction of negligence. From these words we learn that a man, however wicked and impious, if he hear the words of his teacher, and do penance, can be saved from his impiety: and no less does the teacher incur peril, if he refuse to teach, either from fear of danger, or from despair of the sinner: since he is guilty of the blood of him who could have been delivered, and rescued from death, had he not fallen through the teacher's silence, and in both cases free will is preserved, since it is in the teacher's will either to be silent or to speak, and in the hearer's judgment either to hear, and do, and be saved, or to despise, and perish by his own contempt.

Nor does it follow at once that, because the prophet foretells, what he foretold must come to pass. For he does not foretell that it may come, but that it may not come: nor, because God speaks, is it necessary that what He threatens come to pass, but He threatens for this reason, that he to whom He threatens may be converted to penance, and that what is to come may not come, if the words of the Lord be not despised.

We may, however, discuss this passage in three ways: that the land which appoints for itself a watchman may be, according to the letter, the land of Judea, or, according to the spiritual understanding, the Church, which often chooses a watchman from among the last of her people, namely him whom the Apostle also, writing to the Corinthians, takes as judge, or indeed the soul of the believer, which sets its mind and reason over the people and crowd of its own thoughts: so that it may not receive every incitement of thoughts, but may judge and discern what is to be followed and what to be fled. The watchman of the land of Judea may be understood as either the king or the prophet: but the watchman of the Church, either the bishop or the presbyter, because he has been chosen by the people, and, knowing through the reading of the Scriptures, and foreseeing what things are to come, he may announce it to the people, and correct the one who is at fault.

Whence it is greatly to be feared, lest, having come to this office unworthy and taken up by the people, we give ourselves over to negligence and idleness: and, what is worse than these, serving pleasures and the belly and leisure, we think that we have received an honor, not a ministry. Since indeed the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister; and He washed the feet of His disciples, to show that all filth and vices ought to be washed and purged from the disciples by their teachers. Nor let us at once answer, what does it profit to teach, if the hearer will not do what you have taught? For each one is judged according to his own mind and office. You, if you have not spoken; he, if he has scorned to hear. Concerning negligent teachers Solomon speaks: Wisdom hidden, and treasure concealed, what use is there in either?

Something of this kind is signified also in the Gospel, that whoever shall scandalize one of the least of the Church, it would be expedient for him that a millstone be hung about his neck, and that he be cast into the depths, rather than, being set as a watchman, do harm to many. (Verse 10. Ff.) Thou therefore, son of man, say to the house of Israel: Thus have ye spoken, saying: Our iniquities, and our sins are upon us, and in them we pine away, how then can we live? Say to them: As I live, saith the Lord God: I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way, and live. Turn ye from your most wicked ways: And why will ye die, O house of Israel?

Thou therefore, son of man, say to the children of thy people: The justice of the just shall not deliver him, in whatsoever day he shall sin; and the wickedness of the wicked shall not hurt him, in whatsoever day he shall turn from his wickedness, and the just man shall not be able to live by his justice, in whatsoever day he shall sin. Even if I shall have said to the just, that he shall surely live; and, trusting in his justice, he shall have committed iniquity, all his justices shall be delivered to oblivion, and in his iniquity which he hath wrought, in that he shall die. But if I shall have said to the wicked, thou shalt surely die; and he shall have done penance for his sin, and shall have done judgment and justice, shall have restored the pledge, and rendered back the plunder, and shall have walked in the commandments of life, and shall have done nothing unjust, he shall surely live, and shall not die.

All his sins which he hath sinned shall not be imputed to him: he hath done judgment and justice, he shall surely live: And the children of thy people have said: The way of the Lord is not of equal weight, and their own way is unjust. For when the just man shall depart from his justice, and shall commit iniquities, he shall die in them. And when the wicked shall depart from his wickedness, and shall do judgment and justice, he shall live in them. And ye say: The way of the Lord is not right. I will judge every one of you according to his ways, O house of Israel. If we read carelessly, this prophecy seems to us to be the same as that above, where it is said: Do I desire the death of the wicked, saith the Lord, and not rather that he should be converted from his evil way, and live (above, xviii, 23)?

And at the end of the same prophecy: Be converted and return from all your wickedness, and iniquities shall not be to you unto torment. For there the word is addressed to those who wish to do penance and to blot out their sins by justice, that they may be converted with confidence, and do penance with full heart. But here he speaks to those who, because of the greatness of their sins, or rather their impieties, despair of salvation, and say: Our iniquities, and our sins are upon us, and in them we pine away: how then can we live? And the sense is: Since death has once been set before us, and no medicine can restore health to our wounds, what need is there to labor, and to be consumed in vain, and not to pass the present life in despair, so that at least we may enjoy this, since we have lost the life to come? To whom God replies, that He does not wish the death of the wicked, but that he turn and live.

And He makes an apostrophe to the despairing wicked: Turn ye from your most wicked ways. And that we may know who are the wicked to whom he speaks, the following word shows: Why will ye die, O house of Israel? Now life and death are not signified here in the sense whereby we all, by the common law of nature with the beasts, either live or are dissolved by death; but that of which it is written, I will please the Lord in the land of the living; and, The soul that sinneth, the same shall die. And from a special admonition, because he was speaking to the house of Israel, he passes to a general disputation: that neither do past deeds of justice save the just man, if he shall have been occupied with new crimes, nor do old sins destroy the sinner or the wicked man, if by works of justice he shall have amended his former errors: and that God judges neither the one nor the other by their past, but by their present.

If I shall say, he says, to the just man, thou shalt surely live, and shall have promised him the rewards of justice, and he, trusting in this, shall have sinned, all his former justices shall be delivered to oblivion, and he shall die by his present iniquity: nor is my sentence changed, since I cannot render to the same man, now a sinner, what I had promised to the just man. On the other hand, if I shall have threatened the sinner and the wicked man, and shall have said: Yet three days, and Nineveh shall be destroyed; and he shall have done penance, and by good works shall have amended his former error, so that he does judgment and justice, restores the pledge, renders back the plunder, walks in the commandments of life, and does nothing unjust: ought he not to live the life which is Christ, and by no means to die, since the threat against the sinner ought not to punish the just man?

Some such thing is spoken by the divine word to Jeremiah when he goes down into the potter's house, and hears either the promises or the threat of God intended either to provoke men to salvation, or to deter them from sin. Whence those who say: The way of the Lord is not equal, are convicted of having an unjust judgment themselves, having a most evil eye, and judging by old things, not new. By all of which it is shown, that neither ought the sinner to despair of salvation, if he do penance: nor ought the just man to trust in his own justice, if he shall have carelessly lost what he had sought with great labor. We pass quickly over what is plain, that we may dwell on the more obscure matters, in which the comparison of this prophecy with the former will show wherein the present prophecy differs from the earlier, and wherein it speaks similarly.

Moreover, what it is to do judgment and justice, to restore the pledge, to render back the plunder, to walk in the commandments of life, and the rest, we have said above in this same prophet.

Verse 21. And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month of our captivity (or transmigration): there came unto me one who had fled (or been saved) from Jerusalem, saying, The city is laid waste (or taken). Now the hand of the Lord had come upon me in the evening, before he came who had fled: and he opened my mouth until he came to me in the morning, and my mouth being opened, I held my peace no more.

In the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah, in the fifth month, the city of Jerusalem was taken. But this prophecy is dated the twelfth year, the tenth month, the fifth day of the captivity, or transmigration, when Jechonias was taken captive. From which it is shown that, after one year and four months and twenty-five days from the taking of Jerusalem, one of the citizens of Jerusalem came to Babylon to announce that the city had been taken and laid waste. Now the day before he came who was to relate these things, in the evening the hand of the Lord came upon Ezekiel the prophet, which opened his mouth, that had long been shut, and whatever he was about to say, this one had already related as already done: nor did he hold his peace any more, seeing his prophecy fulfilled in fact, and that the people who were in Babylon, or those who had been taken captive, could no longer doubt the prophetic oracle.

For then is the mouth of the prophet opened, when what he had earlier announced has shown itself accomplished in fact: and he proclaims with full freedom, who shows not things to come, but things present or past. This according to the letter. But according to the anagogical sense, if Ezekiel is interpreted as the strength of God: and Christ is the power and wisdom of God, this must be understood, that when Jerusalem was taken and overthrown, whoever was able to escape the perfidy of the Jews, such as were the apostles, and the remnant that was saved, he himself announces to Christ that all the ceremonies of the Jews are overthrown, which some even to this day think ought to be observed, not hearing that saying of the Apostle: Ye are fallen from grace, who are justified in the Law. And I marvel at the obstinacy of men, who wish to defend by word what they dare not fulfill in deed, unless perhaps under the skin of sheep, that is, of Christians, Jewish wolves lie hidden.

What does the defender of the synagogue proclaim in the churches of Christ? Jerusalem therefore having been taken and overthrown, the mouth of the Lord is opened through the apostles and apostolic men, who can say: My mouth is opened unto you, O Corinthians; and: A great door and effectual is opened unto me. And this: I opened my mouth, and drew in my breath, which shall never be able to keep silence, nor to hear with Israel: Hear, O Israel, and hold thy peace: but it shall resound through the whole world, and shall spread the gospel of Christ to the nations.

Whence according to this sense, the twelfth year is referred to the twelve tribes, and the tenth month to the time of the Jewish propitiation, which in Greek is called ἱλασμός: and the fifth day of the month to carnal senses, all of which, Jerusalem being taken and the Gospel succeeding, we have shown to have been abolished and passed away: and that in the evening, that is, at the consummation of the world, the hand of the Lord came upon the true Ezekiel, who had foretold the future ruin of the city through the prophets, and showed it fulfilled in the morning. (Verse 23. Ff.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, they that dwell in these ruinous places upon the land of Israel, speak, saying: Abraham was one, and he possessed the land: but we are many, the land is given us for a possession.

Therefore say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: You that eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood, shall you then possess the land by inheritance? You stood on your swords, you have committed abominations, and every one hath defiled his neighbor's wife: and shall you possess the land by inheritance? Say thou this to them: Thus saith the Lord God: As I live, they that dwell in the ruinous places shall fall by the sword: and he that is in the field shall be given to the beasts to be devoured: and they that are in strongholds and in caves shall die of the pestilence. And I will make the land a wilderness, and a desert, and the pride of her strength shall fail, and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, because there is none to pass through them. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have made their land desolate and forsaken, for all their abominations which they have committed.

And thou, son of man, the children of thy people talk of thee by the walls, and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, each man to his neighbor, saying: Come, and let us hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord. And they come to thee, as if a people were coming in (or as a people is wont to gather); and my people sit before thee, and hear thy words, and do them not; for they turn them into a song of their mouth; and their heart goeth after their covetousness (or as it is contained in the Septuagint: Because falsehood is in their mouth, they do it, and their heart goeth after their abominations. It follows): And thou art unto them as a musical song, which is sung with a sweet and pleasant voice: and they hear thy words, and do them not: and when that which was foretold shall come to pass—for behold it cometh—then shall they know that a prophet has been among them.

It should be known that eight verses, more or less, from that place which we have set down: You that eat upon the blood, and lift up your eyes to your uncleannesses, down to that place where it is written: Thus he says to them, thus says the Lord God, are not found in the Septuagint, who along with many other things also omitted these, whether the fault of scribes gradually removed things translated by them. And our Latins, nay rather envious Christians, and to speak more plainly, heirs of the Grunnian faction, bark against us for discoursing according to the Hebrew: as though food were being forced upon the unwilling, and not banquets prepared for those who receive them with thanksgiving.

Surely, if they do not have faith in us, let them read the other editions, of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion; let them question Hebrews, not of one place only, lest they claim these were bribed by me, but of diverse provinces; and when they see all agreeing with my error or ignorance, then let them understand that they are too clever, and desire more to sleep than to learn; and let them dwell in the seventy cells of the Alexandrian Pharos, lest they lose the sails from their ships and sigh over the loss of their ropes. This against the envious: now let us discuss what we have proposed. When Jerusalem, as we said, had been captured and the temple overturned, the poor of the land, of whom Jeremiah writes, alone had been left in Jerusalem, to till the vineyards and fields, and to dwell in the ruins of the burned city.

And though they ought to have done penance for those things on account of which the captivity had come, deceiving themselves with vain hope they said: Abraham our father was one, and yet he possessed this land as an inheritance—not that he himself possessed it, but that his seed received the land of promise. If therefore that one man was multiplied into so many peoples, we, who are far more numerous and who have been left in the land of Judea, and dwell in deserted and ruinous cities, shall surely be multiplied much more, so that we may possess more than that one man possessed. To whom the Lord answered: that Abraham had possessed the land of promise by faith, one man alone. For Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him unto righteousness. But these men, occupied with unbelief and with crimes, even if they be more numerous, cannot possess it. And at the same time he enumerates by doing what things they offend God, namely six kinds of sins.

You that eat upon the blood, and lift up your eyes to uncleannesses, that is, to your idols, and pour out blood, that is, commit murder: can you, doing these things, retain the land as an inheritance? Nor are you content with this as the limit of your crimes, but you stand daily upon your swords, ready to kill, and imitating Esau, who stood and lived by his sword, you commit incredible abominations, namely the disgraces of lust, and each one defiles his neighbor’s wife; so that in this he is the more wicked, in that he has defiled the wife of a friend and neighbor. And when you do these things, he says, do you think you will retain the land as an inheritance? Answer them therefore, O prophet, and utter over them this sentence from my word.

I swear by myself, that those who dwell in the ruins and broken walls shall fall by the sword: and those who are in the fields, or in the open country, shall be devoured by beasts: and those who are in walled places, or in strongholds and caves, shall not be able to escape the wrath of God, but shall die by famine and pestilence. And I will give, he says, the land of Judea into a wilderness, and her proud strength, which once was strength, shall fail. But God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble. The mountains too, and all things shall be forsaken, and shall come into such solitude that no one shall pass through them, and then the few who remained shall by no means trust in their multitude; but they shall know, by the greatness of the solitude, that I am the Lord, who gave the land into a desert on account of all the abominations which they wrought.

Let these things be said against those who, after Jerusalem was captured and the whole region of the Jews laid waste, dwelt few in number amid ruins, and in deserted cities and hamlets. Now let us come to the tropology, and, according to our custom, let us restrain rather than extend our broad discussion. Every heretic dwells among ruins and desolate places, and thinks himself to possess the land of Israel, and says: If Abraham by his faith, one man, came to such blessedness that his seed was multiplied like the sand of the sea and like the stars of heaven, how much more shall we, being more numerous, possess the land of Israel, that is, of those who see God, and Judea of the confession of the Lord? To whom the Lord answered: That man possessed the land by the merit of faith; but your unbelief, nay rather your blasphemy, cannot possess the land of Israel, that is, the Church. For first you eat upon the blood, pouring out the blood of those whom you scandalize.

Then you lift up your eyes to your uncleannesses or abominations, which you have fashioned from your own mind: whereas you ought to imitate the man of the Church, and say: To you have I lifted up my eyes, who dwell in heaven. Third, you pour out blood, not giving life to those whom you have seduced, but killing them. Nor is it enough for you to have done these three things, but you stand upon your swords, that is, you persevere in wicked opinion, and are ready for slaughter, and you have committed abominations, doing in your beds things shameful to speak, and you have defiled the wife of your neighbor, namely the manner of life of the Church, hastening daily to snatch away those deceived from the embrace of Christ. And when you have done these things, do you think you will hold the land of Israel as an inheritance?

To whom God says, that whoever shall dwell in the ruinous conventicles of heretics shall fall by the sword of the Church, of which it is written: Two-edged swords in their hands. And in the Gospel: I came not to send peace, but the sword. And the servant who gives himself to luxury and idleness shall be divided, that is, struck with the blade, and his portion shall be set with the unbelievers. And he who is in the field or in the open country shall be given to the beasts to be devoured, which the prophet, desiring to avoid, entreats: Deliver not to the beasts a soul that confesses to you.

But he who is in strongholds and walled places, of which it is written: The righteous ascends the strong cities, and destroys their fortifications, in which the wicked trusted; and dwells in caves, of which it is said: It is written, My Father’s house shall be called a house of prayer: but you have made it a den of thieves: this one shall die by famine of the Lord’s word, and by pestilence, and all the land of heretics shall be given into a wilderness, so that their pride is broken, and the mountains reduced to solitude, who promised themselves the height of knowledge.

These are called the mountains of Israel, because under the name of Christ they trip up whomever they deceive: and no one shall pass through them, nor be able to say what Moses said: Passing over I will see this great vision; for they are the inhabitants of perverse mountains, not sojourners and strangers: so that when they have suffered these things, then they may know that he is the Lord, who gave their land into a wilderness on account of the abominations which they wrought.

There follows: On the very same day, and at the same time, that is, in the twelfth year, the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, when he who had fled from Jerusalem came, and when the prophet spoke to those who were in the land of Judea, and who promised themselves the hope of eternal possession, and he bids the prophet to say to the people who dwell in Babylon, and live with him, and to rebuke them concerning flattering snares, who desire to hear the words of the prophet, not for the salvation of the soul, but for the pleasure of the ears.

These sat beside the walls, and in the doors of the houses: by no means desiring to enter into the sense of the prophet; but they exhort one another and say: Come, and let us hear what word comes forth from the Lord; and thus they come as a people entering the church of God, and they sit before you, my people, who say they are mine, and are unwilling to do what they have heard. In this way they seem to me like those who are entertained by theatrical songs: and either hear tragedians or comedians, and there are stroked with pleasure: so that when they have gone out from you, they repeat these things, and sing them over, and deceive themselves with the sweet sound. And they will hear, he says, your words, and will not do them.

Such are many even to this day in the churches, who say: Come, let us hear this man or that, turning over the words of his preaching with marvelous eloquence: and they stir up applause, and shout, and wave their hands, and what they had neglected in their works, after they have come to know it has arrived (for it is necessary that what the prophet pronounces by the word of God should come to pass), then they will begin to approve, and to know, that all the things which they had heard were not the words of a man, but of the Lord, who spoke through the prophet and man of the Church.

The eleventh book of the explanations on Ezekiel will contain, in its final part, a prophecy against Gog and Magog, and will come as far as to the beginning of the city set upon the mountain, and the temple situated in it. Which, if, with the Lord’s help, and expounding its own mysteries, I shall be able to bring through to the very end, I shall long have to doubt, and much, whether I ought to lay hands upon the spiritual temple, or openly confess ignorance: especially since among both the Jews and ourselves there is a great silence concerning its interpretation: some judging that it is to be built in a future time; others, with good intention indeed, but unskilled, knowing that the things spoken are spiritual, and yet not knowing how these very spiritual things ought to be discussed. And meanwhile, that the care of the present work may hold us, know, O virgin of Christ, Eustochium, that you must pray for us.

In this most difficult prophecy I briefly note this, that a man of no small reputation in our age, writing to the Emperor, said concerning this nation: This Gog is the Goth; but by what reasoning all the things written in it can be fitted to him, is not for me, but for those who think so, to discuss.

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, prophesy concerning the shepherds (or to the shepherds) of Israel, prophesy, and say to the shepherds: Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who fed themselves. (Or: O shepherds of Israel, do the shepherds feed themselves?) Are not the flocks fed by the shepherds? (Or: do the sheep feed the shepherds?) You ate the milk, and were covered with the wool, and you killed what was fat: but you did not feed my flock.

What was weak you did not strengthen (or comfort): and what was sick, you did not heal: what was broken, you did not bind up, and what was cast off (or straying), you did not bring back; what had perished, you did not seek; but with you ruled over them with harshness, and with power (or, as it perhaps was, you afflicted them with labor). And my sheep were scattered, because there was no shepherd (or shepherds), and they became a devouring prey for all the beasts of the field, and were scattered. My flocks (or sheep) wandered over all the mountains, and upon every high hill, and over the whole face of the earth my flocks (or sheep) were dispersed, and there was none who sought them out: there was, I say, none who sought them out (or who brought them back).

Therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As I live, says the Lord God, because my flocks (or sheep) have become a prey, and my sheep a devouring for all the beasts of the field, because there was no shepherd (or shepherds): for the shepherds did not seek my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and did not feed my flocks. Therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: thus says the Lord God: Behold, I myself will require my flock at their hand, and I will make them cease, so that they no longer feed my flock; nor shall the shepherds any longer feed themselves (or the sheep), and I will free my flock (or sheep) from their mouth, and they shall no longer be food for them.

For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I myself will require my sheep, and I will visit them as a shepherd visits his flock in the day when he is in the midst of his scattered sheep (or when there shall be darkness and cloud in the midst of his separated sheep): so will I visit my sheep, and I will free them from all the places in which they had been scattered in the day of cloud and darkness. And I will bring them out (or him) from the peoples (or from the nations), and I will gather them (or him) from the lands (or regions), and I will bring them (or him) into their own land, and I will feed them (or him) on the mountains of Israel, in the streams and in all the dwellings of the land.

In the richest pastures I will feed them (or him), and on the high mountains of Israel shall be their pastures (or their folds): there they shall rest among green herbs, and in fat pastures they shall feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my sheep, and I will make them lie down (or rest), says the Lord God. That which was lost, I will seek, and that which was cast off (or had strayed) I will bring back: and that which was broken I will bind up, and that which was weak I will strengthen (or confirm): and that which was fat and strong I will keep, and I will feed them in judgment (or with judgment). But as for you, my flocks (or my sheep), thus says the Lord God: Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, of rams and goats. Was it not enough for you to feed on good pasture?

Moreover you also trampled with your feet the remnant of your pastures, and when you drank the purest water, you fouled the rest with your feet (some manuscripts: "you fouled"). And my sheep fed on what had been trampled by your feet, and drank what your feet had fouled. Therefore thus says the Lord God to them: Behold, I myself will judge between fat cattle and lean (or between strong cattle and weak): because you pushed with your sides and your shoulders, and with your horns you tossed all the weak cattle, until they were scattered abroad. I will save my flock, and it shall no longer be a prey, and I will judge between cattle and cattle (or between ram and ram). And I will raise up over them (the Vulgate has "it" here and below) one shepherd who shall feed them (or him), my servant David: he shall feed them (or him): and he shall be to them a shepherd.

And I, the Lord, will be to them a God, and my servant David a prince in the midst of them. I, the Lord, have spoken. And I will make with them a covenant (or testament) of peace, and I will cause the worst beasts to cease from the land, and those who dwelt in the wilderness shall sleep securely in the forests. And I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing, and I will bring down (or give) rain in its season; there shall be showers of blessing. And the tree of the field (or the trees of the fields) shall give its fruit, and the earth shall give its increase (or strength): and they shall be (or dwell) in their own land without fear (or in hope of peace): and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bonds (or yoke-chain) of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those who ruled over them (or made them serve).

And they shall no longer be a prey to the nations: neither shall the beasts of the earth devour them: but they shall dwell securely (or in hope) without any terror. And I will raise up for them a renowned shoot (or a planting of peace): and they shall no longer be diminished (or perishing) by famine in the land, neither shall they bear any more the reproaches of the nations. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God with them, and that they are my people, the house of Israel, says the Lord God. But you, my flocks, the flock of my pasture (or sheep), are men, and I am the Lord your God, says the Lord God. I have often reminded that I combine both editions, so as to avoid the bulk of the books, at least in those places which do not differ much from one another in translation.

After Jerusalem was taken, after he who had fled announced it in Babylon, he spoke of those who dwelt among the ruins of Jerusalem, and then to those who, placed in captivity, nonetheless persisted in wickedness, unwilling to hear the words of the prophet: now he directs his speech to the shepherds, that is, to the princes, by whose fault the sheep, that is, the people, were scattered.

And this must be noted, that from the twelfth year, the tenth month, the fifth of the month of the transmigration, or captivity, of Jechonias, and of those who had been captured with him, up to the twenty-fifth year, when the temple is built upon the mountain of the built city, and the incredible mysteries of the Church are unfolded, no year is placed in between, nor is any specific time given; but it is simply said: The word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, speak to these and to those, so that we should understand that all the things read are said over thirteen years, at different times; and yet they do not have fixed intervals of time among themselves. Now the word is directed to the shepherds of Israel, whom we must understand as either kings, or princes, Scribes and Pharisees, and teachers of the Jewish people.

Or certainly, in the evangelical people, bishops, priests, and deacons: or according to mystical understanding, the Angels of each of the Churches, to whom John wrote in his Apocalypse, and whose Angels daily behold the face of God. And first it is said: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who, though they ought to feed the flock of the Lord, and provide for its safety, hasten instead after their own luxury. Whence it must be greatly guarded against, and those precepts observed: Do not seek to become a judge, lest perhaps you cannot remove iniquities. And again: The greater you are, the more humble yourself, and you will find grace in the sight of the Lord. And again: They have made you a leader; do not be lifted up: but be among them as one of them. Whence the Apostle also says that he was among the disciples as a little one and a nursing infant.

And what follows: You ate the milk, and were covered with the wool, speaks by metaphor of shepherds to princes, of whom it is also written elsewhere: Who devour my people as the food of bread. By milk understand all foods: by wool, the manifold variety of garments. But what is said: And that which was fat, you killed, speaks of the rich of the people, whom evil princes are said to slaughter in the Churches, while they praise them, and dare not rebuke their vices. Of whom the prophet also says: My people, those who call you blessed deceive you, and undermine the path of your feet. Of whom James also speaks, that when they have come in among them clothed in precious garments, and with a gold ring, they are honored by them, while it is said to the holy poor: You sit on the footstool, or on the ground, or stand. These do not strengthen, or confirm, what is weak. Whence Paul also says: Receive the weak. And: Take in the one weak in faith.

And: Many among you are weak, and sick. To whom the divine word is sent, of which it is written in the Psalms: He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. And that which was broken, he says, they do not bind up: by no means considering the mortal wounds among the peoples, such as the adulterer, the murderer, the sacrilegious. And that which was cast off, or which they saw straying, they do not bring back, allowing them to be deceived by heretics.

And that which had perished, they do not seek, desiring not so much to save the lost as to devour those who are within the Churches: but ruling over them with harshness and with power, which properly pertains to the arrogance of bishops, those namely who dishonor by their deeds the dignity of their name, and take up pride instead of humility, thinking that they have attained an honor, not a burden: and whomever they see in the Church to be too powerful, and to possess the word of God, they strive to oppress. Whence according to the Seventy it is written: And that which was strong, you afflicted with labor. And the people of God was scattered, either by vices or by the error of heretics: because there was no good shepherd, who would lay down his soul for the sheep: but all were hirelings, who consider only the profits from the flocks, and when they see the wolf, flee.

By whose negligence, the flock of the Lord is devoured by the beasts of the field, of which it is written: Thou hast appointed darkness, and it is night; in it shall all the beasts of the forest go about, the young lions roaring, that they may ravin, and seek their food from God. And they are scattered, and wander on all the mountains that are raised up against the knowledge of God, and on every high hill, which through heretical pride despise the Ecclesiastical simplicity. And they are scattered over the whole face of the earth, seeking earthly, not heavenly things. And there was none that sought them, nor that brought them back: because, occupied with delights, they do not care for the losses of the Lord's flock.

Whence the word of the Lord comes against the wicked shepherds, because they have done this and that, which I have explained above, and which he enumerates a second time: Behold, I myself will come to the shepherds, and will require my flock from their hand—for whom it were expedient that a millstone be hung about their neck—rather than that they scandalize the least of my people. And this will be their punishment, indeed the greatest, that they no longer feed my flock: lest under the pretext of the sheep they feed themselves, and gather riches: And I will deliver my people from their mouth. I will require it, he says, from their hand, and I will deliver it from their mouth, from that which is devoured by greedy jaws.

But when he shall have sought out the sheep, he visits them as sick and emaciated, and scattered by the negligence of the shepherds: and he will deliver them out of all places in the day of cloud and darkness, of which Joel also speaks: The day of the Lord is at hand, and near is the day of darkness, and a day of cloud, and of thick mist. Then they will be led out of the lands, that they may be brought into their own land, which is the land of the living: and he himself will feed them on the mountains of Israel, of whom David speaks: I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence help shall come to me. And not only on the mountains, but by the streams, and in all the dwelling-places of the land, in the richest pastures, and on the high mountain, of which Isaiah and Micah prophesy more fully: or on the high mountains of Israel.

There they shall rest in the green herbs, and shall say: The Lord feedeth me, and I shall want nothing: he hath set me in a place of pasture: He hath brought me up beside the waters of refreshment. And they shall feed in the richest pastures upon the mountains of Israel. It is a boundless promise, and hope of blessedness, when the Lord himself promises, saying: I will feed my sheep; and I will by no means commit them to evil shepherds, and I will make them lie down, saith the Lord God, that they may rest in the bosom of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then what had perished among the peoples of the nations will be sought out: and what had gone astray through the persuasion of the heretics will be brought back: and what had been broken will be bound up: and what had been crushed and weak will be strengthened; that what is written may be fulfilled: Who healeth their infirmities, and bindeth up their bruises. For a broken and humbled heart God does not despise.

Whence also the saint says: Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. And in the thirty-seventh Psalm the penitent says: There is no peace to my bones from the face of my sins: and that which is fat, he says, and strong, I will guard, lest it be devoured by beasts. And he shall feed his sheep in judgment, knowing to which sheep which pastures are owed. For there are diverse dwellings with the Father. And: The Father judgeth no man, but hath given all judgment to the Son. Now this he has spoken against the shepherds; now he speaks to the sheep, that is, to the people: and to the flock of both kinds of cattle, that is, of sheep and of goats: and not only to sheep and goats, but also to rams and he-goats, who are the princes among the flocks, to whom he says: Was it not enough for you, that you were fed with the good pastures of the Scriptures?

But besides this you trampled the residue of your pastures with your feet. And when you drank the purest water of the sayings of God, you troubled the rest of the waters with your feet, so that my people ate the pastures trampled by you, and drank the muddied waters, and by your fault received corrupted and violated what was in itself good. Which indeed all the heretics do, that they may pluck at the sayings of Scripture, and, as far as in them lies, defile them. But also churchmen who do not guard the truth of doctrine, but fashion things out of their own heart, having presumption as their teacher, are held by a similar error. Who, when they have persuaded the people that the things they invent are true, and have stirred up applause and shouts in theatrical fashion, become forgetful of their own inexperience, and with lifted brow, weighing and balancing their words, assume to themselves the authority of teachers.

Let us see, then, what the judgment is between cattle and cattle: and by what judgment the good and true shepherd, who has received all judgment from the Father, judges them. Behold, he says, I myself judge between the fat cattle and the lean, or between the strong and the weak. For the strong push with their sides and shoulders and knock about the weak cattle, and butt them with their horns, not knowing that in the law a goring bull is to be punished. But they pushed with their sides, and butted with their horns, until they scattered the sheep and cast them out. For through the pride of the greater ones, and the iniquity of the leaders, they are frequently driven out of the Church: so that those whom he himself has saved are scattered by the Lord.

But the Lord will no longer let them go to be a prey, and he will judge between cattle and cattle: not between the names of dignities, in which the leaders are puffed up; but between man and man, according to the fact that both are servants of the Lord. Then he will raise up one shepherd, he who says in the Gospel: I am the good shepherd; his servant David, according to that in which he deigned to assume the form of a servant; who is interpreted as David, strong of hand. He himself will feed them, and the Lord will be to them as God, either the Son and the Father, or certainly a shepherd according to the flesh assumed: but Lord and God, according to the Word which was in the beginning with God. This David, since the cattle profess themselves rational animals, shall by no means be called a shepherd, but a prince in their midst, of whom it is written: There standeth one among you, whom you know not.

Then he will make with them a covenant of peace, by no means of wars and discord, because his place is made in peace, but of the peace of Christ, which surpasses all understanding, who says: My peace I give unto you: my peace I leave with you. And he will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land—the vices, or the disturbances by which human souls are vexed: or the adversary powers, by which they are assailed. And those who dwell in the wilderness shall sleep securely in the woods. For the Lord will reveal the thickets of the forests, and in his temple all will speak his glory. But once the beasts are cast out, and the land reduced to a solitude, they will sleep securely from creatures of this kind, and will say: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? And he will set those who sleep securely around his mountain, or his hill, and they shall be a blessing.

Then he will give rain in its season, and there will be showers of blessing, which he promises in the blessings of Deuteronomy. And he will give, he says, the tree of life, of which it is written in Genesis: the wood of wisdom, of which it is said, She is a tree of life to all that lay hold upon her. And it will give its fruit, when the earth also shall have given her fruit: or the trees of the regions, the vast multitude of the saints. And the earth shall give her bud: For truth is sprung out of the earth.

And they shall be in their land without fear, or in hope of peace, in the land of the living, in the land of the meek, of which it is written: Blessed are the meek; for they shall possess the land: that by the happiness of all things they may know that he himself is the Lord: when he has broken the chains, or the iron ring of their yoke, by which they were pressed as by a most grievous dominion, and has delivered them out of the hand of those ruling over them, or the servitude of those afflicting them. For each man is the servant of him by whom he is bound. And they shall no longer be a prey to demon-worshiping nations; nor shall the beasts of the earth devour them, of whom we have spoken: but they shall dwell confidently without any terror, according to the previous exposition.

And I will raise up for them, he says, a shoot of renown, or a planting of peace, which speaks in the Gospel: I am the true vine. And they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land. Therefore hunger is in earthly things: but the hunger of hearing the word of God, which under the good shepherd, and the shoot of renown, and one celebrated in the speech of all, and the planting of peace, will by no means be in the land; neither will they any longer be subject to the reproaches of the nations, so that they say: Where is the Lord their God? And they shall know after all this, not only that he himself is the Lord, which he had also said above; but with the addition, that the Lord of all is properly their God with them, who says in the Gospel to the Apostles: Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.

But when the Lord himself shall be their God, then they themselves shall be his people, not just anyone, but those who shall have merited to be called the house of Israel. And lest we should think that all that has been said pertains to shepherds, and sheep, and he-goats and rams, he resolves the riddle, nay rather the metaphor, and sets it forth more plainly: But ye, my sheep, and the sheep of my pasture, are men. Therefore the whole divine discourse is about men, to whom he says: I am the Lord your God, saith the Lord God.

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set (or turn) thy face against mount Seir, and thou shalt prophesy about it (or to it), and shalt say to it, Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I come against thee, mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand upon thee, and I will make thee desolate and waste.

I will demolish thy cities (or in thy cities I will make a solitude): and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: because thou hast been a perpetual enemy, and hast shut up the children of Israel by the hand of the sword (or hast lain in wait for the house of Israel deceitfully, by the hand of the sword), in the time of their affliction, in the time of their extreme iniquity. Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will deliver thee to blood (or because thou hast sinned in blood), and blood shall pursue thee: and since thou hast hated blood, blood shall pursue thee. And I will make mount Seir desolate and waste, and I will take away from it him who goes and him who returns (or men and beasts). And I will fill its mountains with its slain (or wounded): on thy hills, and in thy valleys, and in the torrents, they that are slain by the sword shall fall.

I will give thee up to perpetual solitudes, and thy cities shall not be inhabited: and ye shall know (or thou shalt know) that I am the Lord: because thou hast said: The two nations and the two lands (or regions) shall be mine, and I will possess them by inheritance, although the Lord was there. Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God: I will do according to thy wrath (or enmity): and according to thy envy, which thou hast shown, hating them, and I will become known to thee when I have judged thee, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. I have heard all thy reproaches (or the voice of thy blasphemies) which thou hast spoken (or because thou hast spoken) against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are given to us as deserts to devour, and you have risen up against me with your mouth (or thou hast spoken proudly against me with thy mouth): and you have railed against me (or cried out against me) with your words: I have heard it.

Thus saith the Lord God: While the whole earth rejoices, I will make thee a solitude: as thou hast rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was laid waste; so will I do to thee: Thou shalt be laid waste (or desolate), mount Seir, and all Idumea, and they shall know that I am the Lord. But that which is added in the Septuagint, "and they shall be consumed," is not found in the Hebrew.

If the word of God were always in the prophets, and had constant lodging in their breast, Ezechiel would never so frequently set down: And the word of the Lord came to me, saying. But because, on account of human frailty, and the necessities of this life, it would sometimes withdraw from them, therefore John the Baptist speaks: He who sent me to baptize, he said to me: Upon whomsoever thou shalt see the Holy Spirit descending in the likeness of a dove, and remaining upon him, he it is. For that which is added, and remaining upon him, would never be proper to Christ unless the Spirit at times withdrew from others. Otherwise God also speaks to Moses: I will take away of the spirit that is in thee: which assuredly he would not have, unless it had descended to him from the Lord.

Now the whole prophecy of this chapter is against Mount Seir, that is, against the sons of Esau and Edom, who in Greek and in our own tongue are called Idumæans, because at the time of necessity and distress, when Judah was being taken by the Babylonians, they insulted them, and when the people of the Jews had been cast out, they supposed the land had been handed over to them to possess, and not only did they not receive their brothers, that is, the sons of Jacob, but they persecuted them, and shut them up into the hand of the sword. Whence Symmachus interpreted more plainly: Thou hast hated thy blood, and blood shall pursue thee.

Now it is prophesied that he himself also shall be taken and reduced to everlasting solitudes, and that at the end of things he shall know God to be the judge, because he had said: Two nations, and two regions are mine; whether of the Idumæans and the Jews, or certainly of Judah and Israel, that is, of the two tribes and the ten. And thou hast spoken concerning the mountains of Israel, saying: They are given to us as a desert to devour, not considering that this blasphemy would recoil upon God. Whence it follows: While the whole earth rejoices, I will reduce thee to a wilderness. And the sense is: when the whole land of Judæa shall have received its former state, thou shalt remain in everlasting solitude. And that which is added: As thou didst rejoice over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was scattered, so will I do to thee, is not found in the Septuagint, but has been added under asterisks from the edition of Theodotion.

Now the whole wrath of God proceeds thence against Mount Seir, that when it has been laid waste, both it and all Idumæa may know that he is the Lord. These things I have said cursorily according to the history, and more according to the sense than the words. I shall pass over to the anagogical sense, and for the sake of brevity touch on a few points. Set, he says, or turn thy face against Mount Seir. And he significantly says, turn, from one prophecy to another prophecy. Now the face is not of the body but of the mind, of which the Apostle also says: But we all, with open face beholding the glory of the Lord. Now Mount Seir, which is interpreted “rough” and “hairy,” must be understood as the opposing strength which presided over the nation of the sons of Esau, and had set itself up against the people of Judah, that is, against confession and true faith.

But if a prudent reader should object, how in this place Seir, that is, rough and hairy, is understood in a bad sense, when Elias also is called a hairy man: I will briefly answer, that it is written of Esau that he was ruddy, and hairy like a skin (Genesis XXV); but of Elias only that he was a hairy man. In Esau, who was bloody and blood-stained, the comparison to a hairy skin is an indication of mortal works, and of death itself; in Elias, it is a proof of manliness. Wherefore also his dwelling in the wilderness, and the austerity of his manner of life, showed him to be not only a man, but a most valiant man. Furthermore Jacob, who had supplanted Esau and received his birthright (Genesis, x), because he dwelt simply at home, and was not a hunter like the giant Nimrod, is therefore called smooth and sleek. Let us see, then, what God commands to be said to the mountain, or against Mount Seir.

Behold, I come against thee, Mount Seir—I will not send Angels, nor employ other ministers, but I myself will come to thee, and will stretch out my hand over thee, and will take on the guise of one who strikes, and will make thee desolate and deserted, so that thou who wast wickedly inhabited, and hadst very many companions in thy impiety, to such a degree that thou didst even build cities and claim dominion of thy own—now, desolate along with thy cities, which Jeremiah also is bidden to destroy and dig up (Jeremiah L, 11), that he may build good cities in their place—thou shalt attain to this, that thou mayest know that I am the Lord, whom before thy desolation thou couldst not know. Now the whole cause of thy sin is that thou wast an everlasting enemy. Whence the psalm also says: Be angry, and sin not, that we may quickly be reconciled to our enemies, and exchange hatred for charity.

But not such was Mount Seir, which persisted in everlasting enmities, or besieged the children of Israel with guile into the hand of the sword. From which we understand that whoever takes up the sword against the children of God, and acts deceitfully, and besieges them, is delivered into the hands of the sword, as Mount Seir was, in the time of the last iniquity, when the days are most evil, and the world lies in the evil one, and when, iniquity being multiplied, the charity of many grows cold. There is also another sin of Mount Seir: that, since it hated the blood of the just, which in each persecution it desired to shed, it should suffer persecution from that very blood. Whence also under the altar the souls of the saints cry out, and beg vengeance from the Lord for their blood (Apocalypse VI).

And they are taken away from Mount Seir, going and returning, that is, every inhabitant, whether men or beasts that are saved in the Church, of whom it is written: Men and beasts thou shalt save, O Lord. Because in Mount Seir both are destroyed, so that both those who seem to have some reason, and those who are content with simple faith, perish, God so commanding. And its mountains are filled with the wounded and the slain. And not only the mountains, which have reached the summit of impiety, but also the hills, that is, the lesser disciples of Mount Seir, and the valleys which are pressed down into the depths, or the torrents, which have turbid waters gathered from here and there, and come down from pride; or, according to the Septuagint, the plains, which lie between the hills and the valleys.

All these, slain, shall fall by the sword of the Lord, and by his outstretched hand, striking, so that they may be reduced to everlasting solitudes; and if there were any cities, that is, assemblies of evil dwelling, let them too perish, and cease to hold agreement for evil, and let their tongues be divided (Genesis XI), lest they be able to build a tower of blasphemy against God; and being reduced to solitude and desert, let them know that he is the Lord. Nor is it enough for Mount Seir to have said such things as the foregoing discourse has related: but this too it spoke out of pride: Two nations, and two lands, or regions, are mine, namely Idumæa and Judæa, and I shall possess heretics and Churchmen alike. And this, he says, thou hast said, when the Lord was there, who presided over his people.

Therefore the Lord swears, and says: As I live, saith the Lord God, according to thy wrath, with which thou didst rage against the people of God, and thy zeal with which thou didst persecute the family of Christ, hating those whom thou desiredst to possess, when I shall have struck thee and judged thee, then I will make myself known to thee, and thou shalt know that I have known thy reproaches and blasphemies, not by another’s report, but I myself have heard what thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying: They are given to us as a desert to devour. By the mountains of Israel we must understand Moses, the prophets, and the apostles, whom heretics and the prince of heretics, the devil, suppose to have been handed over to them to devour: when either rarely or never is one found in the Church who can fight for the mountains of the Lord, and defend their laceration with his own voice.

And you have risen up, he says, against me with your mouth, or have spoken grandly, not, as you suppose, against the mountains, but through them against me, and you have asked, or cried out, against me. For all your prayers, O Mount Seir, and companions of Mount Seir, of whom it was said above (above, same place): I will fill its mountains, and hills, and valleys, and plains, or torrents—were against me: they were by no means prayers and orisons, as you suppose, addressed to God, but outcries, clamors, and blasphemies. Whence the Lord also threatens, and says: As thou didst rejoice over the inheritance of the house of Israel, when by thy persecutions it was scattered, and torn apart, and dispersed throughout the whole world: so will I do to thee.

For while the whole land of the living rejoices, and the land of the saints, and all are turned to the service of God, thou shalt be laid waste, O rough mountain, O hairy mountain, and all Idumæa, that is, earthly works given over to blood and bloodshed, so that then thou mayest know that I am the Lord, who elsewhere have said: I am the Lord your God.

(Verses 1 and following.) But thou, son of man, prophesy concerning the mountains of Israel, and say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord: thus saith the Lord God, because the enemy hath said of you, aha, the everlasting heights (or solitudes) have been given to us for a possession (or inheritance), therefore prophesy, and say: thus saith the Lord God: Because you have been made desolate, and trodden down round about (or because you have been scattered by those who are round about you), and have become an inheritance (or possession) to the rest of the nations, and you have gone up upon the lip of the tongue, and are a reproach to the peoples (or the nations). Therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains and hills, to the torrents and valleys, and to the desolate ruins (or ravaged places) and the forsaken cities which have been depopulated, and mocked (or trodden down) by the rest of the nations round about.

Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because in the fire of my zeal I have spoken concerning the rest of the nations, and concerning all Idumæa, who have given my land to themselves for an inheritance with joy, and with the whole heart, and from the soul, and have cast it out that they might lay it waste (or, despising souls with hatred, that they might overturn them in devastation). Therefore, he says, prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, to the ridges and valleys, thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I have spoken in my zeal, and in my fury, because you have borne the confusion (or reproaches) of the nations. Therefore thus saith the Lord God (or the Lord Adonai): I have lifted up (or will lift up) my hand: that the nations that are round about you, they themselves may bear their own confusion (or ignominy).

But you, mountains of Israel, shall put forth your branches (or your grapes), and yield your fruit to my people Israel: for it is near that they should come. For behold I am toward you, and I will turn to you (or look upon you), and you shall be tilled, and shall receive seed, and I will multiply men in you, and the whole house of Israel, and the cities shall be inhabited, and the ruins shall be rebuilt (or the deserts shall be built up). And I will fill you with men and cattle, and they shall be multiplied, and shall increase, and I will make you dwell as from the beginning, and I will bestow greater goods than you had from the beginning: and you shall know that I am the Lord.

And I will bring (or beget) upon you men, my people Israel, and they shall possess you by inheritance, and you shall be a possession (or inheritance) to them, and you shall no more add to be without them (or you shall no more add, that they should make you childless). Thus saith the Lord God: Because they have said of you, thou art a devourer of men, and one that stranglest thy nation: therefore thou shalt no longer devour men, and thou shalt no longer slay thy nation, saith the Lord God: nor will I let the confusion (or ignominy) of the nations be heard in thee any more, and you shall no more bear the reproaches of the peoples, and your nation shall no more be lost to you (or your nation shall no longer be without children), saith the Lord God.

Above the face of the prophet is set, or turned against Mount Seir: here the son of man speaks to the mountains, or upon the mountains of Israel, which are bidden to hear the word of God.

And that I may for a little put off the tropology, the sense of the whole prophecy to the mountains of Israel is briefly this: Because the enemy, that is, Mount Seir, insulted you, and thought that he would possess you forever, and that the heights of the Lord, once deserted, had fallen to him as an inheritance, and not only said this, but for some time actually possessed you: to such a degree that he spoke proudly against you, so that you became a reproach to all nations: therefore thus says the Lord God, not only to Mount Seir, but also to its mountains and hills, torrents and valleys, and to the deserted and devastated places, and to the abandoned cities: because in the fire of his zeal he has spoken, indeed against all the nations, but especially against Idumea, which, together with the other nations, he says, held my land as a possession, and possessed it by the sword, and possessed it with the whole heart, so as to cast out its inhabitants and lay waste the land.

Therefore speak, he says, O prophet, concerning the land of Israel, and you shall say to the mountains, and hills, and ridges (for which the Seventy translated ταῖς νάπαις, which we understand as wooded places) and valleys. Thus says the Lord God: in my zeal, and in my fury, I will rise up as the avenger of your reproach, and I will lift up my hand, that the nations round about you may bear their own ignominy and confusion: but you, O mountains of Israel, shall according to your former state put forth shoots, and send out branches, or, according to the LXX, shall bear grapes, with which my people Israel may be satisfied. And lest you think this will happen after a long time, it is near, it is at hand, and the time will come.

And lest this seem difficult to you, I myself will come to you, and I who had withdrawn from you, will turn to you, that you may receive your former cultivation, and that all things may be filled with seed, so that many men may be in you, and the cities which had before been destroyed may be inhabited. And not only will I multiply men: but cattle also will equally be multiplied and increase, and I will make you dwell as at the beginning, when under the leadership of Moses, two and a half tribes received their possession beyond the Jordan, and under Joshua the son of Nun, the other nine and a half tribes possessed the land of Judea (Joshua, and xiii): and I will endow you with goods much greater than you had from the beginning, before you experienced various captivities. And when I have done this for you, then you shall know that I am the Lord.

And you shall be filled, he says, O land of Israel, with my people, who shall possess you as an inheritance, and you shall be their possession, and you shall no longer be without children. But when your inhabitant has been multiplied, O mountains of Israel, then your enemies will by no means say against you that you devour men, and that your possession is without children; but on the contrary you shall multiply men, and your posterity shall bring forth abundant offspring. Nor shall you hear, he says, any more, nor shall you endure the confusion of the nations, nor shall you lose your nation, so as at any time to endure captivity, because the Lord has spoken. These things we have said paraphrastically, in the Jewish manner, which they expect in the thousand-year kingdom, when they assert that the city of Jerusalem is to be built up, and the temple, which is described at the end of this volume, and the felicity of all things—some of them thinking that these things were fulfilled under Zerubbabel.

But how can that which is said stand: "And I will make you dwell as at the beginning, and I will endow you with goods greater than you had at the beginning"?

For under Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, few of the people were brought back, and they themselves, obedient to the Medes and Persians, and thereafter to the Macedonians and Egyptians and Romans, down to Titus and Vespasian, served the kings of various nations, and even to this day they serve: so that what is said at the end of the prophecy cannot stand at all: "And you shall no longer bear the reproach of the peoples, and you shall not lose your nation any more." And because it would be long now to argue against the Jewish dogma, and the beatitude that serves the belly and Jewish throat, who desire all earthly things, and say: "Let us eat and drink," concerning whom the Apostle also speaks: "Food for the belly, and the belly for food: but God will destroy both this and that"—in a brief explanation let us now pass over to the spiritual understanding, according to which we have also interpreted the final parts of Isaiah.

For we do not, according to the Jewish fables which they call δευτερώσεις, expect a jeweled and golden Jerusalem from heaven; nor again shall we suffer the injury of circumcision, nor offer sacrifices of bulls and rams, nor sleep in the idleness of the sabbath. This also many of our own writers promise, and especially the book of Tertullian entitled "On the Hope of the Faithful," and the seventh volume of Lactantius's Institutes, and the frequent expositions of Victorinus, bishop of Poetovio, and recently our own Severus in the dialogue to which he gave the name Gallus. And to name the Greeks too, joining the first and the last, Irenaeus and Apollinaris.

We, then, shall say that the mountains of Israel are the prophets and apostles, who hear the word of God, and against whom the devil, the enemy, has insulted, saying: Aha, you once lofty mountains, of which it is written: "Mountains are round about it, and the Lord is round about his people", have been given to me as a possession, when they were desolated by the straits of persecution, and trodden down all around, and made an inheritance for the remaining nations, and blasphemed by all. Therefore the Lord speaks to the trodden-down and desolate mountains, and not only to the mountains, but also to the lower places, and, by each degree, to those established in the land of Judea, that is, on the mountain of the Church, of which it is written: "A city set upon a mountain cannot be hid"; and to the hills and torrents, whose faith is increased by the winter of persecutions and the storm of oppression.

Also to the valleys, those who are pressed down in humility, and to the deserted Churches, and to the ruined walls, and to the assemblies of Churches abandoned throughout the whole world—such as was the persecution under Diocletian and Maximian throughout the whole world, by which the Churches were proscribed and laid waste: when all the nations of the Gentiles, and the peoples of the heretics round about, mocked the Church—because in the fire of his zealous fury he has spoken, and properly against Idumea, which by earthly works wished all men, having put off the image of the heavenly, to bear the image of the earthly. For they gave the land of God to themselves as an inheritance, and with their whole heart and mind persecuted the Church of the Lord, and cast her out of her seats, and laid her waste.

But what did it profit the nations, what did it help the peoples of the heretics, to have insulted the land of the Lord: since the Lord speaks to her, and to her mountains and hills and ridges, or wooded places, which were green with the pleasantness of paradise: and to the hills, of which we spoke above, he has spoken in his zeal and in his fury: and for the reproach of the nations he lifts up his hand against the adversaries who persecuted the Church, that they may bear their own confusion and ignominy?

Then, the persecutors having been slain, and peace restored to the Church, the mountains of Israel, namely the Apostles and apostolic men, shall put forth their trees, and extend their branches, and bring grapes to be trodden in the winepress of the Lord, from which new wine is poured out, which inebriates the peoples of believers, and there is pressed out the wine that gladdens the heart of man: so that all the fruit of the mountains, from which is made the bread that comes down from heaven, may be eaten by the people of God, Israel. And lest perhaps we despair in persecutions, it is added: "The time is near that it may come." For "coming it will come, and will not tarry".

Whence he promises his coming to the mountains, and to those who have persevered in tribulations, and promises that after the burning heat of persecution, the land, first plowed by the plowshare of Christ, shall be tilled, and shall receive every seed of virtues, from which men shall be born and multiplied, and the whole house of Israel. And when the cities, that is, the Churches of believers, shall have been inhabited by the returning crowds, then not only shall the men who excelled in the knowledge of the Scriptures, but also the cattle, that is, the simple among believers, be multiplied and increase, and the Churches shall be inhabited as at the beginning, that is, before the persecution: and they shall flourish with goods greater than they had at the beginning, crowned with the victories of the martyrs.

And then they shall know that he himself is the Lord, who has restored his people to their former state, that they may possess the Churches, and be themselves the inheritance of the Churches, and no longer be without children, whom they had lost in the persecution. Whence the prophet is bidden to speak to the land of the meek, and the land of the living, or to the mountains of Israel, and to say: You shall no longer suffer the reproach of persecutors, nor shall they insult your slaughtered people, as sheep for the slaughter.

For peace being restored, all reproaches shall cease, nor shall you endure confusion and ignominy among the various nations round about, but you shall have your nation and people, because the truth of the promise, spoken by the Lord, has been confirmed. (Verses 16 ff.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, the house of Israel dwelt (or dwelled) in their land, and defiled it by their ways, and by their pursuits (or idols): according to the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual impurity has their way become before me.

And I poured out my indignation (or my fury) upon them, for the blood which they shed upon the land: they defiled it with their idols, and I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed (or I dispersed them) into lands (or regions) according to their ways, and I judged them according to their inventions (or sins), and they went in among the nations to which they entered, and they defiled my holy name, when it was said of them, "This is the people of the Lord," and "they have gone forth out of his land." And I spared my holy name (or I spared them for the sake of my holy name), which the house of Israel had defiled among the nations to which they had entered. Therefore you shall say to the house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake that I act, house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have defiled among the nations to which you entered.

And I will sanctify my great name, which has been defiled among the nations, which you have defiled in their midst, that they may know that I am the Lord, says the Lord of hosts, when I shall be sanctified in you before them. For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the lands, and bring you into your own land. And I will pour out (or sprinkle) upon you clean water, and you shall be cleansed from all your defilements, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you (or I will give you), and I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you (or I will give you), and I will bring it about that you walk in my precepts (or my justifications), and keep my judgments, and do (or perform) them.

And you shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. And I will save you from all your defilements (or uncleannesses), and I will call for the grain, and multiply it, and I will not lay (or give) famine upon you, and I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the produce of the field, that you may no longer bear the reproach of famine among the nations. And you shall remember your very evil ways, and your pursuits that were not good, and your iniquities and your crimes shall displease you. Not for your sake do I act, says the Lord God, be it known to you. Be confounded and blush for your ways, house of Israel.

Thus says the Lord God: In the day when I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities, and shall have caused the cities to be inhabited, and shall have restored the ruins, and the desolate land shall have been cultivated, which was once desolate in the eyes of every passerby, they shall say: That land, once untilled (or desert), has become like the garden of pleasure, and the deserted cities, forsaken and undermined, now sit fortified. And the nations which are left round about you shall know that I, the Lord, have built up what was scattered, and planted what was untilled: I, the Lord, have spoken and I have done it. Thus says the Lord God: Yet again in this shall the house of Israel find me (or I shall be sought by the house of Israel), that I may do this for them.

I will multiply them like a flock of men (or like sheep, men) like a holy flock (or like holy sheep) like the flock (or sheep) of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts: so shall the deserted cities be, full of flocks (or sheep) of men, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

Clear are the things that are said, and the whole sense of the mountains of Israel, which had before been deserted, and afterward were restored, is now more manifestly set forth. And God renders the reasons why he delivered the people of Israel over to captivity, and, out of his own clemency, promises that he will lead them back into the land of Judaea, and will bestow much greater things than he had taken away. This some of the Jews refer to the times of Zerubbabel, when, Cyrus king of the Persians relaxing their captivity, very many of the tribe of Judah and Benjamin were led back into Judaea. Others, however, refer it to the thousand-year reign, when, under the Christ whom they suppose is yet to come, the city of Jerusalem is to be built up, and the temple constructed, of which we shall speak in the last part of this prophecy.

And meanwhile, that we may leave aside Jewish fables and interminable genealogies, let us, according to our custom, briefly run through the περικοπή of this chapter, and set forth what seems to us according to ecclesiastical understanding. The house of Israel, that is, the people of the Jews, once dwelt in its own land, that is, in the land of Judaea, when it was led out of Egypt; but they defiled it in their ways and in their pursuits, or their idols, and became so defiled that they were compared to the uncleanness of a menstruous woman. On account of which God poured out his indignation upon them, for the blood of the prophets and of the righteous, which they had shed upon the earth, the Saviour saying in the Gospel: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee.

And again: Amen, amen I say to you: the blood shall be required which has been shed from this generation, from the blood of Abel the just even to the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom they slew between the altar and the temple.

But not only did they shed blood, but they also defiled the land with their crimes (2 Chron. 24). Wherefore he scattered them, either under the Babylonian captivity, or under the Roman: when indeed they shed the blood of Christ, and were winnowed abroad into the lands, as chaff is winnowed, and were judged according to their ways and their most evil devisings, so that even among the nations to which they had been led captive they defiled the holy name of God: because, in mockery, all the nations would say: Behold, is this the people of God, who boasted that they alone knew the worship of God?

When I saw this, he says, not for their sake, but for my holy name's sake (for I am the Creator of all), I spared them, and sanctified them, and restored them to their former glory, so that upon those who believed and were converted from error I poured out the clean water of saving Baptism, and cleansed them from their abominations, and from all the errors in which they had been occupied, and gave them a new heart, that they might believe in the Son of God, and a new spirit, of which David speaks: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within my bowels (—51). And it is to be considered that a new heart and a new spirit are given through the pouring out and sprinkling of water.

But when the new heart and the new spirit shall have been given, then all hardness will be taken away from the Jewish heart, which is likened to a stone, so that in place of the heart of stone there may be a heart of flesh, soft and tender, which can receive the Spirit of God within itself, and be inscribed with saving letters. Then they will walk in the precepts of the Lord, and keep his judgments, and dwell in the land of confession, which he had given to their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to all the saints and prophets, and they shall be to God for a people, and the Lord will be to them for a God, which is proved in the present time. And when they shall have been saved, the Lord will call for the grain, and multiply it. For unless a grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remains alone.

And they shall in no wise suffer famine: not famine of bread and thirst of water, but famine of hearing the word of God, which that one suffered who, having gone forth from the Father, squandered all the substance he had received: when, compelled by the necessity of famine, he was fed on the husks of swine. Then the fruit of the tree shall be multiplied, that is, of wisdom, of which it is written: She is a tree of life to all who seek her: and the produce of the field in the likeness of Jacob, whose smell was as the smell of a full field, which the Lord blessed. Nor shall they any longer bear the reproach of famine among the nations, which the unbelief of the Jews suffers even today: but after they shall have attained beatitude, they will imitate the Apostle who says: I am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God.

And they will remember their most evil ways, and their pursuits which were not good, by which they had offended God: and their iniquities will be displeasing to them, and their crimes in which they had formerly erred. But all these things the Lord will bestow, not for the sake of those who perished by their own error, but for his own holy name's sake. Whence he provokes the house of Israel, that it may be confounded and blush over its former vices, and know its Creator.

But after he shall have cleansed the believing people from among the Jews of their iniquities, and shall have caused the cities of the Church to be inhabited, and shall have restored the ruins that had fallen in the synagogues, and the land of confession shall have been cultivated with the ceremonies of God, which once seemed desolate to all the saints, who pass over the works of earthly conduct: then all will say: How is it that the land of Judaea, which was once uncultivated, now has the likeness of the paradise of God; and the cities of Judaea, which had been deserted and forsaken, and undermined by their own unbelief, are now raised up and fortified in the confession and name of the Lord Savior? So that every creature may know, and the multitudes of Angels who encompass the land of Israel, that the Lord has built up the scattered cities, and planted the uncultivated regions, and has fulfilled in deed what he had promised through the prophets.

Nor will he be content with this bounty of his toward the people whom he has saved with this single gift; but he will bestow much greater things.

For he shall be found by the house of Israel, who had been sought for a long time, and had not been found. And after he shall have found him, he shall multiply them like sheep: not of brute animals, but sheep of men, which are full of reason and confession, like the holy sheep and flocks of Jerusalem, in which is properly the worship of God, and the vision of peace, in her solemnities when we eat the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, and feed on the flesh of the Lamb and drink His blood, and in seven weeks, and in the tabernacles of this age we celebrate the Lord's feasts, so that the cities once deserted may become full of flocks of men, and by this reasoning they may know that he himself is the Lord, who has furnished all these things.

This, according to the truth of history, or rather according to the faith of prophecy: how the people of Israel is to be restored to its full estate, and the remnant of the Jewish people, as the Apostle Paul teaches, may be saved in the Apostle, and in all who from the Jews believed at the beginning, and even to this day return to the Church, let it suffice to have said briefly. Now with the same brevity the sense of tropology must be opened. Whoever is of the house of Israel, and beholds the peace of Christ, which surpasses all understanding, dwells in his own land, that is, in the Church, or in the lodging of the flesh which was given to him by God.

But if he shall have polluted either land in his most wicked ways, and shall have been compared to the uncleanness of a menstruous woman: God pours out his indignation upon him, for blood, either his own, or that of those whom he has scandalized, and has poured out upon the land, and for the perverse thoughts by which he pollutes it. Then he shall be scattered among the nations, that he may be made equal to unbelievers, and shall be winnowed in the land like chaff, that he may be separated from the wheat of the Church, and judged according to his own ways. But if even so he does not perceive his sin, but has polluted his holy name, all among whom he dwelt will say: Behold the people of God, behold him who has gone out from his land, or rather has been cast out.

But if they shall have done penance, and I shall have been sanctified in the midst of them, then the whole crowd of the nations shall know that I take them up out of the lands into which they had been scattered, and lead them back into the land of the Church, and pour out upon them not the waters of saving Baptism, but the waters of doctrine and the word of God: and I will cleanse them from all their defilements, and from all the idols and errors which they had feigned in their heart. And I will give them, he says, a new heart, which through sin they had lost, and I will renew a right spirit within their hearts.

And I will take away the heart of stone, that is, the unbelieving heart; and I will give a heart of flesh, soft and tender, which may receive the precepts of God; so that they may walk in my precepts, and do judgments, which before they had neglected, and dwell in the land which I had given to their fathers, that is, to their masters and teachers: and again they shall be the people of God, and the Lord shall become their God, whom before they had offended. Then they shall be saved from all their defilements, and grain shall be multiplied to them, of which heavenly bread is made; and they shall no longer suffer the famine of the word of God; and it shall be multiplied

(Verse 1.) And following.) The hand of the Lord was made upon me, and he led me out in the spirit of the Lord: and set me down in the midst of a field, which was full of bones, and led me around them in a circuit.

Now they were very many upon the face of the field, and exceedingly dry. And he said to me: Son of man, do you think these bones will live? And I said, Lord God, thou knowest. And he said to me: Prophesy concerning these bones, and thou shalt say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord: thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold I will send spirit into you, and you shall live: and I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to grow up over you, and will stretch out skin over you, and will give you spirit, and you shall live and shall know that I am the Lord. And I prophesied as he had commanded me: and a sound was made, as I prophesied, and behold a commotion, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I saw, and behold sinews and flesh came up upon them, and skin was stretched over them above, but they had no spirit.

And he said to me: Prophesy to the spirit: Prophesy, son of man, and say to the spirit: thus says the Lord God: Come, spirit, from the four winds, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live again. And I prophesied as he had commanded me, and the spirit entered into them and they lived: and they stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army. And he said to me: Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say: Our bones are dried up, and our hope is perished, and we are cut off.

Therefore prophesy, and say to them: thus says the Lord God: Behold I will open your graves, and will bring you out of your sepulchres, my people, and will lead you into the land of Israel: and you shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have opened your sepulchres, and shall have brought you out of your graves, my people, and shall have put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will cause you to rest upon your own ground, and you shall know that I the Lord have spoken, and have done it, says the Lord God.

The Seventy: And the hand of the Lord was made upon me, and he led me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me in the midst of a field, and this was full of the bones of men, and he led me around them upon it in a circuit round about, and behold very many upon the face of the field, and exceedingly dry, and he said to me: Son of man, shall these bones live? And I said: How, Lord, Lord, thou knowest these things. And he said to me: Son of man, prophesy over these bones and thou shalt say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord: thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold I will bring upon you the spirit of life: and I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring flesh upon you, and will stretch skin upon you, and will give my spirit upon you, and you shall live: and you shall know that I am the Lord.

And I prophesied as he commanded me: and a voice was made when I prophesied, and behold a commotion, and bones were coming together, bone to its joint. And I saw, and behold sinews upon them, and flesh was arising, and skins were coming up over them above, and there was no spirit in them. And he said to me: Prophesy, son of man, prophesy over the spirit, and say to the spirit: thus says the Lord God: Come, spirit, from the four spirits, and breathe upon these dead, that they may live. And I prophesied as he had commanded me, and the spirit entered into them, and they lived, and they stood upon their feet: an exceedingly great congregation. And the Lord spoke to me, saying: Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.

They say: Our bones have become dry: our hope is perished, we have despaired: therefore prophesy, and say to them: thus says the Lord God: Behold I will open your memorials, and will bring you back from your sepulchres, my people, and will bring you into the land of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have opened your sepulchres, that I may bring you out of your sepulchres, my people, and I will give my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will set you upon your land, and you shall know that I am the Lord: I have spoken, and I will do it, says the Lord God.

By Christians it is believed to be the word of God, they are accustomed to say this: The hand of the Lord was made upon the prophet, that is, the Lord and Savior, through whom the Father wrought all things. For all things were made through him, and without him was made nothing that was made. And he led me forth, he says, in the spirit of the Lord, understood as, the hand of the Lord. But he led him forth in the spirit: not in body, but outside the body, and set him, or released him, in the midst of a plain, which was full of human bones: nor did it allow him to rest, but made him go around all the bones, which were not covered with earth, but lay upon the plain: and not only many, but very many, and, owing to the age of time, exceedingly dry and parched, and having in themselves no moisture.

And when the divine word had asked him whether he thought these bones could live, he answered: Lord God, thou knowest, who hast full knowledge of things to come. And the Lord said to him: Prophesy concerning the bones, or over these bones, and thou shalt say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. In which it is to be wondered how he spoke to dry bones, which, before sinews, flesh, and skin, and the life-giving spirit, could hear the word of God. And first the bones are joined to other bones by the bonds of sinews: then they are filled with flesh, and over them, for the sake of beauty, skin is stretched, which may cover the ugliness of the bare flesh; and then they receive the spirit, which may make them live, and after they have lived, then they may know that he himself is the Lord.

So when the prophet spoke what had been commanded him, immediately there was a commotion made, and the bones were joined together into their own framework, bound with sinews, filled with flesh, covered with skin: and there lay human bodies having no spirit. Therefore the prophet prophesies to the spirit, and says: Thus says the Lord God: Come, spirit, from the four winds: namely from the four quarters of the world, so that just as in the first formation of man, God breathed upon his face, and he became a living soul: so also the second formation, that is, the resurrection of the dead, may be given life by the breathing in of the spirit: which entered into the human bodies, and immediately they lived, and stood upon their feet. Whence also the resurrection of the dead is called a gathering, or a great Church, and as it is found in the Hebrew, a great army; and at that time is fulfilled: Send forth thy spirit, and they shall be created, and thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

But what follows: And he said to me: Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel, seems to raise a question, because it is said not of the general resurrection, but properly of the resurrection of the house of Israel, which says: Our bones are dried up, and our hope is perished, and we are cut off from our land, or, we have altogether despaired: and when they say these things, Ezekiel is compelled a third time to prophesy, and to say to the dry bones: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves. In which it is asked: If he opens the graves, how did he say above: But they were very many upon the face of the plain, and exceedingly dry.

And I will bring you forth, he says, out of your graves, my people, according to what is written in the Gospel: The hour is coming, when those who are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall come forth, those who have done good, unto the resurrection of life. And again: They who have heard shall live. And if, as some think, the divine word speaks of the general resurrection, what need was there for it to be said specifically: And I will bring you into the land of Israel, since throughout the whole world the dead ought to rise from those places in which they were buried? And when, he says, I shall have brought you out of your graves, and shall have put my spirit within you, and you shall have lived, then I will make you rest upon your own ground; so that after you have rested in the land of Israel, then you may know that I am the Lord, who have fulfilled my promises in deed.

Those, therefore, who understand these things to be said of the general resurrection, refer that which seems to raise a question—These bones are the whole house of Israel—to the resurrection of the saints, of which the apostle John also speaks in the Apocalypse: Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection, over him the second death has no power: namely, that there is one resurrection of the saints, another of sinners. Whence also in the first psalm it is said: The wicked shall not rise in judgment, nor sinners in the counsel of the just. And the land of Israel which the Lord promises to those rising again, they affirm to be that of which it is written: Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth. And: I will please the Lord in the land of the living. These things they say, who assert, as we have said, that Ezekiel wrote of the general resurrection.

But those who interpret these things thus ought not to make us odious, as though, by explaining this passage otherwise, we seem to deny the resurrection. For we know that far stronger testimonies, and ones about which there is no doubt, are found in the sacred Scriptures, as that of Job: He shall raise up my skin, which endures these things. And in Daniel: Many who sleep in the dust of the earth shall rise; some unto eternal life, and some unto reproach and everlasting confusion. And in the Gospel: Fear not those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. And the apostle Paul: Who shall give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit dwelling in you, and many other things.

From which it is clear that we do not deny the resurrection, but contend that these things were not written of the resurrection, and that by a parable of the resurrection there is prophesied the restoration of Israel, which at that time was captive in Babylon. Nor shall we thereby give occasion to heretics, if we deny that these things are to be understood of the common resurrection. For never would the likeness of the resurrection have been set forth to signify the restoration of the Israelite people, unless the resurrection itself stood firm, and were believed to be future: because no one confirms uncertain things by matters that do not exist.

And our whole assertion tends to this, that just as it seems incredible that to bones that are dry, and consumed by long age, a future resurrection is promised: and yet that which is promised is to come to pass: so also the restoration of the people of Israel, who were led into captivity, and dispersed throughout the whole world, seems indeed incredible to those who do not know the power of God, but nevertheless it is to come: because I, he says, the Lord have spoken, and I will do as I have promised.

Finally, also in the earlier prophecy, in which the ancient state is promised again to the mountains of Israel, the Lord says to them: And I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled, and you shall receive seed, and I will multiply men upon you, even the whole house of Israel (Above XXXVI, 9, 10): and again, that the house of Israel shall dwell in its own land, which was once untilled, but afterward shall be like a garden of delight, and the deserted and forsaken cities shall be fortified; and the house of Israel shall be multiplied in them like a flock of sheep, and the other things that follow pertain to the same meaning, which is now spoken under a trope and parable of dry bones, having in themselves no moisture of life at all, that what is written in the Gospel might be fulfilled: The things which seem impossible with men are possible with God.

But they are cast forth from their graves, from the graves of captivity, and from the bonds by which they were held bound in Babylonian servitude. But the Jews affirm that all these things were fulfilled either under Zorobabel, as I said before, when there was made a great commotion, and the kingdom of the Chaldeans was transferred to the Medes and Persians: or in the presence of their own Christ, whom they think is yet to come.

But we relate that these things were fulfilled spiritually after the cross of the Lord and Savior; and that they happen daily, especially in those who, like Lazarus, bound with the bands of their sins, are raised up at the voice of the Lord; and are truly the house of Israel, once dried up, and having no hope of salvation: but with the spirit of grace entering into them, and the Lord stretching forth his hand, they are freed from the depth of hell: and they who before had said, Lord God, thou knowest these things, afterward, being set free, hear: O ye of little faith, why did ye doubt? (Verses 15 and following.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: And thou, son of man, take thee one piece of wood, and write upon it Judah, and the children of Israel his companions; and take another piece of wood, and write upon it Joseph, the wood of Ephraim, and all the house of Israel his companions.

And join them one to another into one piece of wood for thyself; and they shall be united in thy hand. And when the children of thy people shall say to thee, speaking: Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these things? Thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will take the wood of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel that are joined with him; and I will put them together with the wood of Judah, and make them one piece of wood, and they shall be one in his hand.

And the pieces of wood upon which thou shalt have written shall be in thy hand in their sight; and thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from the midst of the nations to which they have gone, and I will gather them from every side, and bring them to their own soil, and I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall reign over them all. And they shall no more be two nations, neither shall they be divided any more into two kingdoms; neither shall they be defiled any more with their idols, and with their abominations, and with all their iniquities; and I will save them out of all the dwelling-places in which they have sinned, and I will cleanse them, and they shall be to me a people, and I will be to them a God.

And my servant David shall be king over them, and one shepherd shall be for all of them; they shall walk in my judgments, and keep my commandments, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land which I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell in it, they and their children, and their children's children, for ever; and David my servant shall be their prince for ever. And I will make with them a covenant of peace; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will establish them, and multiply them, and I will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for ever. And my tabernacle shall be among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the sanctifier of Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for ever.

The Septuagint: And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: And thou, son of man, take thee one rod, and write upon it Judah, and the children of Israel who are joined to him; and thou shalt take a second rod for thyself, and write upon it Joseph, the rod of Ephraim, and all the children of Israel who are joined to him; and thou shalt join them together for thyself into one rod, that thou mayest couple them, and they shall be in thy hand. And it shall come to pass, when the children of Israel shall say to thee, speaking: Wilt thou not tell us what these things mean to thee? Then thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will take into the tribe of Joseph, through the hand of Ephraim, the tribes of Israel that are joined to him, and I will put them all upon the tribe of Judah, and they shall become one rod, and shall be one in the hand of Judah.

And the rods upon which thou hast written shall be thus in thy hand before them; and thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will take the whole house of Israel from the midst of the nations into which they have entered; and I will gather them from all who are round about it, and bring them into the land of Israel, and I will make them one nation in my land, upon the mountains of Israel, and one prince shall be over all of them as king. And they shall no more be two nations, neither shall they be divided any more into two kingdoms, so that they be no more defiled with their idols, and with their stumbling-blocks, and with all their impieties. And I will deliver them out of all the iniquities in which they have sinned, and I will cleanse them, and they shall be to me for a people, and I will be to them for a God.

And my servant David shall be prince in the midst of them, and one shepherd shall be over all of them, because they shall walk in my precepts, and keep my judgments, and do them. And they shall dwell in their own land which I gave to my servant Jacob, where their fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell in it, they and their children, and their children's children, for ever; and David my servant shall be their prince for ever. And I will make with them a covenant of peace; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will give them increase, and multiply them, and I will set my holy things in the midst of them for ever; and my tabernacle shall be among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the nations shall know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them, when my holy things shall be in the midst of them for ever.

The history of the Kings relates that under Rehoboam the son of Solomon the twelve tribes were divided, and that two of them, namely Judah and Benjamin, together with the Levites and priests, followed Rehoboam, who reigned in Jerusalem, and his kingdom was called Judah.

But the other ten tribes, who said: "We have no part in David, nor inheritance in the son of Jesse," bowed their necks to Jeroboam the son of Nebat, of the tribe of Ephraim, who was a son of Joseph, and served him; and they were called for the most part by the ancient name Israel; and for a long time the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel had contentions against each other, and obeyed their own kings; and the ten tribes were first taken captive by the Assyrians, and after some time those who were called Judah were led captive to Babylon by the Chaldeans, and the tribe of Judah, after seventy years, was restored to its ancient land; but the ten tribes which were called Israel, even to this day serve as captives in the mountains and cities of the Medes.

This present prophecy, therefore, promises from the mouth of the Lord that both dominions—that is, the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel—shall be joined together; and that the rod of Ephraim, who was begotten of the stock of Joseph, together with the remaining tribes that were joined with him, shall be taken away and joined to the rod of Judah, so that it shall no longer be called Judah and Israel, but they shall be called by the one name Judah; and, under the figure of the prophet, who prefigures in type the Lord the Saviour, they shall be held no longer by two hands, but by one hand of Christ.

For he says that he will take the children of Israel from the midst of the nations to which they were led captive, and will bring them back into the land and mountains of Israel, of which we read above; and that they shall be called one nation, to be ruled under the rule of one king; that they shall no longer be defiled with their idols and abominations, but when they shall have been freed from the dwelling-places of captivity, in which they sinned, they are to be cleansed of all vices, and shall become the people of God, so that the Lord may be their God. "And my servant David," he says, "shall be king over them". Of whom also the Angel speaks in the Gospel, that he shall reign over the house of Jacob, and of his kingdom there shall be no end; and such shall be his clemency that he is called not only king, but also shepherd, in that he tempers the proud name of dominion with the title of shepherd.

Who, after they shall have become one nation, and shall have dwelt in the land of Israel and its mountains, are to walk in all the judgments of the Lord, and to keep his precepts; but they shall dwell not in another land, but in that which he gave to his servant Jacob, in which their fathers dwelt, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the rest of the saints; and not only shall they themselves dwell there, but also their children and grandchildren, according to that saying of Virgil (Aeneid, book 4): "And sons of sons, and those who shall be born of them"—and they shall dwell there not for a short time, but forever. Do you wish, he says, to know who this king and shepherd is? He is the one of whom I said above, my servant David.

Who, though he was in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, and became obedient to the Father even unto death, even the death of the cross. And when they shall be under such a king, I will make with them a covenant of peace, not as in the Old Testament, of contests and wars, but a covenant of peace which surpasses all understanding, of which the Saviour speaks to the Apostles: "My peace I give unto you, my peace I leave with you". And the prophet says: "His place is made in peace". And when he shall have founded and established them in the Church, so that they can say: "He hath set my feet upon a rock", then they shall be multiplied, either in the number of believers, or in the multiplication of virtues. "And I will give," he says, "my sanctification," or sanctuary, "in the midst of them forever," which the Jews interpret of the temple that was built under Zerubbabel.

But how can what is said, "forever," stand firm, when that temple which was built by Zerubbabel, and afterward restored by many, was burned by the fire of Rome? All these things must be referred to the Church, and to the times of the Saviour, when his tabernacle was set in the Church, where our God was made, and we became his people. And the purpose of all this is that they may know that he is the Lord, and that he sanctifies Israel, not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit, when his sanctification was made in the midst of believers forever.

Now, that the Lord rejected the tribe of Ephraim and chose the tribe of Judah we read also in the Psalms, where it is written: "And he rejected the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim; but he chose the tribe of Judah", of which it is written: "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a ruler from his thighs, until he come to whom it is reserved; and he shall be the expectation of the nations".

For truly at the coming of the Lord the Saviour, the two rods—or, as it stands in the Hebrew, the two pieces of wood—were joined into one sceptre, and in the baptism of Christ things long separated are united, so that they might become one new man, and one nation, and be no longer defiled with idols and abominations; but by the washing of purification they might be the people of God, and Christ might reign over them, and they might dwell upon the land of the meek, the land of the living, which he had given to his servant Jacob, who supplanted the people Israel in his mother's womb.

But if we wish, according to the prophecy of Hosea, which is directed almost entirely to the ten tribes, that is, to Joseph and Ephraim, and Samaria, and Israel, to understand the knowledge falsely so called, and the various crowds of heretics, we shall say this: that in the last time, when the fullness of the Gentiles shall have come in, and all Israel shall be saved, then also the adversary peoples, who fought against the house of Judah and the confession of the Church, shall surrender themselves to the faith of the Church, and, having abandoned all their errors, and the princes of this world who are being destroyed, and their patriarchs who led them into the pit of blasphemies, shall rise up and forsake their idols and their abominations, which they had fashioned from their own heart, and shall pass over from all the dwelling-places in which they sinned to the faith of the Church, and be cleansed, and be the people of Christ, and he shall be their God; which things I know I have set forth more fully in the prophet Hosea.

But if the Jews, and Judaizing Christians, wish to refer these things to a kingdom of a thousand years, they are of necessity compelled to hold that all who shall be saved will dwell in the land of Israel, that Jerusalem must be rebuilt, the temple constructed, all the ceremonies of the Law observed, the sabbath kept, the injury of circumcision received, eating and drinking practiced, and abundance of riches esteemed as the height of blessedness and as the sum of all good things—whereas the Apostle says: "Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats; but God shall destroy both it and them".

But just as the earlier prophetic word, under the figure of the resurrection, showed forth the resurrection of the Jewish people, not carnal, but spiritual, so also this prophecy pertains in no way to the happiness of the flesh, but to that of the soul, and to the faith of Christ, by which we are cleansed in baptism, whose kingdom is forever, so that we should not look for things to come which have already passed, and which we know are being fulfilled daily.

« And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set your face against Gog, the land of Magog, the prince of the head (or, dew) of Mosoch and Thubal, and prophesy concerning him. And you shall say to him: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of the head (or, dew) of Mosoch and Thubal, and I will turn you about, and put a bridle in your jaws, and I will bring out (or, gather) you and all your army, horses and horsemen clad in coats of mail, all of them, a great multitude, of those grasping spear and shield and sword (or, of bucklers and helmets and swords): Persians, Ethiopians, and Libyans, with them all bearing shields and helmets: Gomer and all his bands: the house of Thogorma, from the sides of the North (or, from the farthest parts of the North), and all his strength, and many peoples (or, nations) with you.

Prepare and equip yourself, and all your multitude which is gathered to you, and be to them for a command (or, and you shall be to me for a watch). After many days you shall be visited: in the latter years you shall come into the land which has been restored (or, turned back) from the sword: and has been gathered out of many peoples to the mountain (or, land) of Israel, which had been continually deserted: this has been brought out from the peoples, and they shall all dwell in it securely. And you shall come up like a storm, and like a cloud, to cover the land, you and all your bands, and many peoples (or, nations) with you.

Thus says the Lord God: In that day words shall come up into your heart, and you shall devise a most wicked device, and you shall say: I will go up against the land (or, upon the land) without a wall (or, cast down): I will come upon those who are at rest and dwelling securely (or, in peace): all dwell without a wall, they have neither bars nor gates: that you may plunder spoils and seize prey: that you may lay your hand upon those who had been deserted and afterward restored, and upon the people that is gathered out of the nations, who have begun to possess, and to be the inhabitant of the navel of the earth. Saba Gog, to be conquered, which has been turned back, or turned away from the sword. In the Hebrew also, משובבת.

Soon also it prefers “cast forth” instead of “cast down,” from the same interpretation. « and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish (or the Carthaginians and all the lions of its territory) will say to thee: Dost thou come to take spoils? Behold, thou hast gathered thy multitude to seize prey, that thou mayest carry off silver and gold, and take away household goods and substance, and plunder boundless booty. Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog: thus saith the Lord God: Shall it not be in that day, when my people Israel shall dwell securely (or in peace), that thou shalt know (or shalt arise)? And thou shalt come from thy place from the sides (or the farthest parts) of the North, thou and many peoples with thee, all of them riders of horses, a great company and a mighty army. And thou shalt come up against my people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land.

In the latter days thou shalt be (or it shall be), and I will bring thee upon my land, that all the nations may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee before their eyes, O Gog. Thus saith the Lord God: Thou art he then, of whom I spoke in ancient days by the hand of my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days and times (or years): that I would bring thee upon them? And it shall come to pass in that day, in the day of the coming of Gog upon the land of Israel, saith the Lord God: my indignation shall rise up in my fury.

And in my zeal, in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, that in that day there shall be a great commotion upon the land of Israel, and the fish of the sea, and the birds of the heaven, and the beasts of the field (or plain), and every creeping thing that moveth upon the ground, shall be shaken at my presence: and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, and shall be overthrown (or the mountains shall be rent, and the hedges [or valleys] shall fall): and every wall shall fall to the ground. And I will call for a sword against him in all my mountains (or every terror of the sword): saith the Lord God. Every man's sword shall be turned against his brother. And I will judge him with pestilence (or death) and blood, and with a vehement rain and huge stones (or hail).

I will rain fire and brimstone upon him, and upon his army (or upon all who are with him), and upon many peoples that are with him. And I will be magnified, and I will be sanctified, and I will be known in the sight of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord. » First the foundations of the history must be laid, and it must be known that this is the last discourse of the Lord addressed to the prophet Ezekiel. For after this we can find nothing similar, except that which is written in the twenty-fifth year of the captivity of Jechonias: The hand of the Lord came upon me, and brought me thither, that is, into the land of Israel, when the building of the temple is described, and the order of its ceremonies is related. Next it must be observed that it is set, or the face of the prophet is set firmly, against the land of Gog, or the land of Magog.

For a firm setting and much consideration of countenance is needed, that we may be able to know what is said, according to that saying of the Apostle: But we all, with open face beholding the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord. Therefore the Jews and our Judaizers think that Gog is the Scythian nations, monstrous and innumerable, which stretch beyond the Caucasus mountain and the Maeotic marsh, and near the Caspian Sea, all the way to India; and that these, after the thousand-year reign, are to be stirred up by the devil, so that they may come into the land of Israel to fight against the saints, having gathered many nations with them.

First, Mosoch, whom Josephus interprets as the Cappadocians, then Thubal, whom the same author takes to be the Iberians, or Spaniards, though the Hebrews suspect them to be the Italians, having with them in their army the Persians, the Ethiopians, and the Libyans: Gomer also and Thogorma, whom they interpret as the Galatians and Phrygians: the Sabeans also and Dedan, and the Carthaginians, or Tarshish, and this is what John also sets down in his Apocalypse: « And when the thousand years shall be finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go forth to seduce the nations that are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, and to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. And they went up over the breadth of the earth, and encompassed the camp of the saints, and the beloved city.

And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them: and the devil who seduced them was cast into the pool of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are: and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. » not understanding that the whole volume of John, which bears the title of Revelation, is mystical, and that we need revelation, that we may be able to say with the prophet: Reveal my eyes, and I will consider the wonderful things of thy law. Others, however, abandoning the earthly sense, and Jewish and old wives' fables which are harmful, and being satisfied with themselves, drag it down into the depths, climb too far up into the heights, and invent things much worse, so that they describe in the heavenly Jerusalem the wars of the devil and all his army, and under the topologies of individual nations they interpret the spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places.

All of which we leave to the judgment of the reader, and shall try not so much to condemn what is foreign, as to affirm the ecclesiastical explanation. From Gog, in Greek δόμα, in Latin "roof" is meant. Furthermore Magog is interpreted "from the roof." All pride therefore, and knowledge falsely so called, which raises itself against the knowledge of truth, is shown by these names. These are the roofs of which Isaiah also speaks in the vision against the valley of Sion: What aileth thee now, that ye are all gone up to the housetops, thou that art full of stirs? And we shall interpret "roof" as the leaders of heretics: and "from the roof" as those who have received their teachings. And it is fitting that after many mystical prophecies in this volume, the last prophecy is against Gog and Magog.

For if the time of judgment is, according to Peter, that it should begin at the house of God, and according to this same Ezekiel, who says: And begin at my sanctuary (above 9:6), and the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death (1 Peter 4): in Isaiah too the first discourse is against Judea, in which is the confession of the Lord, and the last against the four-footed beasts that are in the desert: rightly here too the last discourse is against Gog and Magog, who fight against the city of God, which the rush of a river makes glad. And what he says in Isaiah: I am the first city, which is attacked. And of which it is written in the Gospel: A city set on a hill cannot be hid. And more fully in the psalm: Jerusalem, which is built as a city, whose participation is in itself. Mountains round about her, and the Lord round about his people.

Furthermore, as to the fact that in the army of Gog, or Magog, who according to the Septuagint, Symmachus, and Theodotion, is the prince Ros, Mosoch, and Thubal: the first nation Ros, Aquila interprets as "head," which we also have followed, so that the sense is: the prince, the head of Mosoch and Thubal. And in truth, neither in Genesis, nor in any other place of Scripture, nor indeed in Josephus, who sets forth all the names of the Hebrew nations in the first book of the Antiquities, could we find this nation. From which it is clear that Ros does not signify a nation, but a head. This too must briefly be noted, that in Ezekiel Gog is said to be the prince of the land of Magog. But the Apocalypse mentions both Gog and Magog as nations, which go forth from the four corners of the earth.

And just as from Jacob, who afterward was called Israel, the whole people of the Hebrews took the name Israel, and from Aram, Syria, from Mesraim, Egypt, whose names are written in Genesis: so also from the prince Gog all who are subject to him are called Magog. Mosoch, moreover, is interpreted "madness," and Thubal, "whole" or "all." Therefore the prince and head of prideful madness, and of all evils, according to what is written: The whole world is set in wickedness, is called Gog and Magog. These nations, hostile and adversarial to the saints, go forth from the corners of the earth, abandoning the straight line and the arrangement of the camps of God; which is related in Numbers, and not knowing that testimony: Many shall come from the east, and west, and north, and south, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God. And in another place: I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back.

Bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone that is called by my name. But not such are the corners of the earth from which Gog and Magog go forth: near which corners the harlot stands in Proverbs, who hastens to deceive the foolish young men passing by in the streets, that is, by the broad and spacious way that leads to death. The scribes also and the Pharisees pray in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men, who have received their reward. What then is the threat against Gog? I will turn thee about, or turn thee back, and put a bridle in thy jaws. First, I will make thee waver and be turned from thy purpose.

And I will put a bridle in thy jaws, of which it is written: Bind their jaws with bit and bridle, who come not near unto thee; that like an untamed and wanton horse falling headlong down steep places, it may be subdued by the bridle of the Lord: to whom the prophet says: Thou didst ride upon thy horses, and thy riding was salvation. And to Job, through the cloud and the whirlwind, it is said: Hast thou clothed the horse's neck with strength? Such were the horses and the riders, whose multitude John saw in heaven. He says therefore to Gog: I will bring thee out, or gather thee together, and all thy army, or thy strength. He who is brought out, and gathered from dispersion, is drawn back to salvation, according to what is promised in the Law: If thy dispersion be from one end of heaven to the other, from thence will I gather thee.

His horses too and horsemen clothed in coats of mail, who imitate the armor of the Apostle, and boast that they have breastplates of righteousness: the multitude is exceeding great, and all seize shield and sword against the Church, and they are nations most fierce and hostile to Israel, Persians, Ethiopians, and Libyans: whose wars against the people of God are related in the sacred Scriptures. Gomer also and the house of Thogorma, who come from the sides of the north, which is the coldest wind, and is called by the name Dexter, and all the strength of Magog, and all the peoples subject to him, shall come with him to battle. To whom it is said by irony: prepare thyself, equip thyself, and gather to thee all the multitude that obeys thy commands; and know that after many days thou shalt be visited, according to that which is written: I will visit their iniquities with a rod, and their sins with stripes. In the latter part, he says, of the years thou shalt come.

Whence also John says: My little children, it is the last hour. And the people of the Gentiles are hired at the eleventh hour to work the vineyard, to whose land, that is, the land of the meek, and the land of the saints, which bears a hundredfold, and sixtyfold, and thirtyfold fruit, Gog comes to conquer, which land had turned back, or had turned away from the sword. For it knows what is written: Scatter, O Lord, the nations that desire wars. And it dwells in peace, and has been gathered from many peoples and nations; so that, the error of the nations having been contemned, it might come to the mountains of Israel, namely the patriarchs and prophets, who once had been forsaken continually without law and without the precepts of God: to whom afterward it is said: More are the children of her that was desolate than of her that hath a husband.

These are the desert and waterless places, in which the devil could find no place, because they had been called to salvation, and afterward, taking with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, he returned to his house, namely to the nation of Israel. This, he says, was led out from the peoples—land being understood; or here it is led out from the nations, so that it may be understood as the people of believers who dwelt in peace, and trusted in the Lord. Now Gog, ascending with all his army, shall come like a tempest, and like a cloud, to cover the land of believers. For which of the heretics, whose prince is the devil, does not come like a tempest against the Church, and hasten with the cloud of his words to oppress and cover every simple believer? Whence it is said to him: As far as it is in thee, thou shalt cover all things, and all thy troops, and many peoples with thee.

And fittingly Gog, ascending, has no voluntary rain, no early or late shower, which might gladden the parched fields, but tempest and gloom, that he might confound all things with darkness and error. Therefore the Lord God speaks these things to him: In that time, that is, in the latter days, thoughts shall arise in thy heart, and thou shalt devise a most wicked device, Scripture saying: If the spirit of him that hath power shall rise up against thee, leave not thy place. On the contrary, however, God ascends into the heart of the holy man, of whom it is written: He hath disposed ascents in his heart. And Gog says: I will go up to a land without wall, or cast down, that is, which is destitute of God's help, and not fortified by the argumentation of dialecticians; I will come to those at rest, and dwelling securely, or in peace. For our King is peaceable, and his place is in peace. All, he says, dwell without wall, they have neither bars nor gates.

This the devil, prince of heretics, says, that the Church has no defenses; nor worldly wisdom, which before God is foolishness, so that he might plunder her spoils, and invade the prey of the Church, and lay his hand upon those who had been forsaken, when they had no knowledge of God: and afterward, restored through Christ, they come to the Father, to whom he speaks in the Gospel: Father, I have made known thy name to men. And that we may know that the people who had been forsaken, and afterward restored, signifies the Christian people, it follows: And upon the people that is gathered together from the nations. Which people began to possess the inheritance of Christ, and to be an inhabitant of the navel of the earth, of which it is written: He hath wrought salvation in the midst of the earth. For truth is sprung out of the earth; which says in the Gospel: I am the way, and the life, and the truth.

While he is devising this and saying it, and hastening to seize the possession of the Church, the nations which had been converted from their former error to salvation—Saba and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, of Carthage, or of the sea, who among the waves of this age seek merchandise by good works, and all their villages, or lions, or the young lions of lions, as it is contained in the Hebrew, will say to him what follows. But that instead of "young lions of lions," which in Hebrew are called CAPHIR (כפיר), the Seventy and Theodotion put "villages," is a manifest error.

For if you write it with the letter chi, it means "lion cub"; but if with ce, which in Hebrew is called COPH, it means "field" and "village." Whence also Capernaum is called "a most beautiful field." Saba and Dedan, therefore, and the merchants of Tarshish, and all the saints, who are called lion cubs, or certainly the villages and dwellings of believers, will say: O Gog, dost thou come for this reason, to seize the spoils of the Church, and hast thou therefore gathered a multitude, that the possession of Christ might become thy inheritance? Or dost thou think thou canst take the silver and gold—which is understood as the speech and understanding—of the Church's possessors, to carry off her furniture and all her substance, and to plunder the boundless spoils gathered by Christ's victories?

Therefore, O Prophet Ezekiel, who in a type of Christ art called son of man, speak to Gog, and say to him: Thus says the Lord God, when the error of the whole world has been removed, my people Israel, who beholds God with the mind, shall dwell in the Church confidently, or in peace: then thou shalt know, or thou shalt arise, and come from thy place. But what the place of heretical depravity may be, the following discourse shows: from the sides of the North, which strives to chill all the warmth of believers. And many peoples shall come with him, all riders of horses, of whom it is written: The horse and the rider he hath cast into the sea: a great assembly and a mighty army, with whom, ascending, he says, against my people Israel like a cloud and darkness, to cover my land, of which it was said above: In the latter days thou shalt be, when the Gospel preaching shall come: and I will bring thee upon my land.

For there must be heresies, that they who are approved may be made manifest, and by God's will the devil, that contender (ἀγωνιστής), and all the doctrines of perversity have been abandoned: that all nations may know, and understand me, when I shall have been sanctified in thee in their eyes, O Gog, that is, when by thy punishments they shall have understood me to be judge. And he makes an apostrophe to Gog himself: Art not thou he of whom I spoke in ancient days, by the hand of my servants the prophets of Israel? Namely of Moses, who says in the Book of Numbers, at least according to the Septuagint: A man shall go forth of his seed, and he shall rule over many nations, and Gog's kingdom shall be exalted, and his kingdom shall increase. But according to the Hebrew I have found it written thus: Therefore Agag his king shall be taken away, and his kingdom shall be removed: because the kingdom of Israel was destroyed in Saul on account of Agag, king of Amalek.

And in another place: He will cleanse the land of his people. Joel also, in the valley of Josaphat, that is, of the judgment of God, describes the peoples to be gathered. And Isaiah, and all the prophets, by whose hands and good works the word of the Lord is fulfilled. When, therefore, thou shalt come upon the land of Israel, my indignation shall ascend in my fury against thee, and in my zeal for my people. In the fire of my wrath I have spoken, which shall consume all the wood of thy vices. In that time, he says, there shall be a great commotion upon the land of Israel.

For the devil sending it forth, there shall be frequent persecution against the Church: which, when it has been quieted, and overcome by the help of God, then shall be moved before his face the fish of the sea, and the birds of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and every creeping thing that moves upon the earth, and all men that are upon the face of the earth. Which is clearly shown of the inhabitants of the Church: of whom some, like fish of the sea; others, like birds of heaven; others, like beasts of the field, and all creeping things that move upon the earth; others, retaining the dignity of man, dwell upon the face of the earth.

That the diversity of morals is signified by various names, the Apostle also writes to the Corinthians, who says that after the resurrection some bodies are heavenly, others earthly; and that the body of a fish is one thing, of a bird another, of beasts another, of creeping things another, and of men, who kept their former name, another. In the Acts of the Apostles also, that linen sheet, which with four corners was shown thrice to Peter the apostle, signifies the variety of believers, which is also contained in the Ark of the flood. Then, from the face of the Lord, and from the sight of his majesty, shall be overturned the mountains, which lifted themselves up against the knowledge of God: and the hedges, or valleys, shall fall, which either by humility of feeling have been cast down to the depths; or certainly the fortifications, which promise something, so as to imitate the Church of God, of whose hedges it is said: He that breaks down a hedge, a serpent shall bite him.

And all the walls shall fall to the ground. For when the strength of ecclesiastical discourse shall appear, all the fortifications of the heretics shall collapse. And I will call, he says, against him—that is, against Gog, the prince of heretics—the sword in all his mountains, so that the princes of his army may be consumed by the sword of the Lord. Then heresy shall fight against heresy, whose mutual conflict is our victory. And I will judge him, he says, with death, or pestilence, and blood, and a vehement rain, and huge stones, or of hail. But Gog is judged by his own death, and by the blood which he shed, and by the vehement rain of the words of learned and perfect men, and by the huge stones, which overwhelm him with the testimonies of the Scriptures, or of hail, which cools his heat: For all who commit adultery are like an oven, their heart (Hosea vii, 4).

Fire, he says, and brimstone I will rain upon him: by which is signified the punishment of everlasting judgment. And not only upon him, who was the author of perversity, but also upon all his army and multitude, and upon many peoples who are with him. For heretics have many companions; nay, the devil, their prince, is surrounded by an infinite multitude. And when all error has been removed, and the princes of the heretics punished and destroyed, the Lord is magnified, and sanctified among believers, and made known in the eyes of many nations, which have believed in his faith: and both from his own blessedness, and from the punishments of his adversaries, they shall know and understand that he is the Lord. These things we have interpreted as we were able, obeying that precept: Thou shalt not turn aside either to the right hand or to the left, but shalt walk in the royal way.

But if anyone finds fault with our work, let him either bring forward better things for us to follow, or, if he wishes to say nothing, let him leave perfect knowledge to God; provided, however, that he know that it is not our powers but our intention that is to be judged.

(Verses 1 ff.) "But thou, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I am against thee, Gog, chief prince (or Ros), Mosoch and Thubal; and I will turn thee about (or gather thee); and I will lead thee back (or bring thee down); and I will cause thee to come up from the sides (or the uttermost parts) of the North; and I will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel.

And I will strike (or destroy) thy bow out of thy left hand, and thine arrows out of thy right hand; and I will cast thee down upon the mountains of Israel, and thou shalt fall, thou and all thy bands, and the peoples (or nations) that are with thee. I have given thee to be devoured by wild beasts, birds, and every fowl, and by the beasts of the earth. Thou shalt fall upon the face of the field (or plain): for I have spoken, saith the Lord God. And I will send fire upon Magog, and upon those who dwell in the islands securely (or the islands shall dwell in peace): and they shall know that I am the Lord. And I will make known my holy name in the midst of my people Israel, and I will no more pollute (or my holy name shall no more be polluted); and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.

Behold it cometh, and it is done (or thou shalt know that it shall be), saith the Lord: this is the day of which I have spoken. And the inhabitants of the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, the shield and the spears (or the targets and the poles), the bow and the arrows, the handstaves, and the poles (or lances): and they shall burn them with fire seven years. And they shall not bring wood out of the countries (or the fields), neither shall they cut it out of the forests: because they shall burn the weapons with fire, and they shall spoil those that had spoiled them, and plunder their plunderers, saith the Lord God.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place named a sepulchre in Israel; the valley of the passengers toward the East of the sea, which causeth those that pass by to be astonished (or the burial-ground of those who shall come to the sea, and they shall build round about the mouth of the valley); and they shall bury there Gog and all his multitude; and it shall be called the valley (or GE, גיא) of the multitude of Gog. And the house of Israel shall bury them, that the land may be cleansed (or that the land may be cleansed) for seven months. And all the people of the land shall bury them, and it shall be to them a notable day, wherein I shall be glorified, saith the Lord God.

And they shall appoint men continually, going through (or going about) the land, who shall bury and seek out those who remain upon the face of the earth, that they may cleanse it: and after seven months they shall begin to search. And they shall go about traversing the land; and when they have seen a man's bone, they shall set up a sign beside it, until the buriers bury it in the valley (or GE, גיא) of the multitude of Gog. And the name of the city shall be Amona (or Polyandrion): and they shall cleanse the land (or the land shall be cleansed)." And to the beasts of the earth: namely, to the adversary powers, which are wont to devour the seed by the wayside, and to the bloodthirsty beasts. For as it is written of the dragon: "Thou hast given him to be meat to the people of the Ethiopians"; so all who have been deceived by heretics become the food of demons.

But Gog shall fall, either in the breadth of the plain, or in the field, which is tilled by the husbandmen of God. For it cannot be that the words of the Lord should be void. Then shall fire be sent into Magog, that is, into those who have received the doctrine of Gog, and into those who, like the islands of the world, are beaten by the waves, and think that they ought to be secure: that fire of which the Lord speaks: "I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, but that it be kindled?"; that all may know and understand that I am the Lord, and that my holy name may be made known in the midst of my people, who has by no means been seduced by the authority of Gog: nor shall my name any longer be polluted among heretics under pretext of a false knowledge; and the nations round about shall know that I am the Lord.

And that which follows: "Behold it cometh, and it is done," is said of the judgment of Christ: "He that shall come will come, and will not tarry". And this is the day of punishments and of vengeance, of which the Lord has spoken through all the prophets. "And the inhabitants of the cities of Israel shall go forth"—the peoples of the believers: for by the cities of Israel we understand the Churches of the right faith. "And they shall set on fire and burn the weapons," of which it is also written elsewhere: "He shall break the bow, and shatter the weapons, and burn the shields with fire"—the shields and the spears, the bow and the arrows, the handstaves, with which they used to celebrate a perverse Passover: the lances or poles, with which they inflicted broad and incurable wounds of false doctrines: the shields, bows, and arrows, of which mention has been made above.

And that which follows, "And they shall burn them with fire seven years," is to be explained from Exodus and Leviticus, in which the Law commands that in the seventh year of release, when liberty is restored to the Hebrew slaves, and all debts are remitted, and the ancient possession returns to its owners, and rest is granted to the land, and all the fruits are given over to the poor—so that, namely, in the number seven, sacred and perfect, the armor of the heretics may perish, and the men of the Church shall by no means cut wood from the fields and regions, the forests and groves, of the nations, whom they desire rather to save than to destroy; but from the shields, spears, arrows, staves, poles, and lances of the heretics whom they shall have conquered.

For these also have various weapons wherewith to assail the Church of Christ, which are to be set on fire by learned men with the fire of the Holy Spirit; that is, with ecclesiastical discourse, of which he who possesses it may say: "Was not our heart burning within us in the way, while Jesus opened to us the Scriptures?" Nor can we have full peace, and confidence of dwelling, unless we plunder all the furniture of our adversaries: so that all may perish and be burned to ashes; and let us plunder those who had before plundered us, and lay waste those who first laid waste the Church.

"In that day," in the clear light of preaching: "I will give," He says, "to Gog a place named a sepulchre in Israel"; according to the Hebrew, "the valley of the passengers toward the East of the sea, which causeth those that pass by to be astonished." The sense of this saying is this: the sepulchre of Gog shall not be on the mountains, but in low valleys, and in rough places, which in Hebrew are called GE (גא), which the heretics, though they be in the West, pretend to be places of the East; that they may deceive travelers, that is, those who pass through this world, and are not dwellers but pilgrims, saying that prophetic word: "I am a stranger and a pilgrim, as all my fathers were". For which of those passing by, of whom it is written: "Neither did they that passed by say, The blessing of the Lord be upon you", does not marvel and stand astonished when he sees the valley of the travelers, which to travelers seems a valley, but to dwellers a mountain?

This according to the Hebrew. But the Seventy translated it: "the burial-ground of those who shall come to the sea; and they shall build round about the entrance of the valley." For it is the labor of those who go forth out of the cities of Israel, to close up and wall about every entrance and exit of heretical perversity for those who had come to the sea, and took delight in its bitterness, and in the surging waves and the cruelty of shipwreck, and to bury them in the abysses of the earth, that they may no longer be able to go forth, and deceive any by their fraud. There, then, shall they bury Gog, and all his multitude, in which the heretics ever delight. And the name of that valley, in which Gog is buried, shall be called "of the multitude, ge," or πολυάνδριον, that is, the sepulchre of a very great multitude.

And as we said above that for seven years the weapons of the adversaries are burned: so for seven months the land shall be cleansed of the filth of the heretics. For from the first month, when we celebrate the Passover of the Lord, and by the blood of the lamb on our doorposts avoid the destroyer of Egypt, even to the end of the year, that is, to the seventh month, when we pitch our tabernacles, and among other branches are covered also with palm boughs—so that a perfect victory over the enemies may be shown, we complete all the festivals among the peoples; and not only the teachers, but the whole people shall vie to do this, that they may bury Gog, and the earth cover him, and not allow him to breathe the free air at all.

But after the death and slaying, or burial, of Gog, men of the Church shall be chosen, who shall traverse the land, lest any of the former filth remain in the land of Israel, lest anything be a carcass; who shall have this zeal, that nothing of the former filth remain in the land of Israel, nor any carcass; who shall traverse the land, and seek out the dead, and bury them, so that the land of the Church may indeed be cleansed. But if, after the seven months, when all things ought to be purged, those who go through and traverse the land shall have seen in any place a man's bone, that is, the hardness of heretical perversity, or some carcass of the former doctrine remaining, they shall set up beside it, or build, a marker: that after those of such sort have been noted, then either they may be cleansed, or buried with Gog, and thrust down into the tomb of his burial.

And the name of the city, where is the victory of the servants of the Lord, and where the adversaries lie, and the whole multitude of his enemies is laid low, shall be called Amona, or Polyandrion: that the end of all things may be the restoration of purity. Finally there follows: "And they shall cleanse the land"; no doubt those of whom it was written above: "They shall begin to search, and shall go about traversing the land." (Verse 17. Ff.) "Thou therefore, son of man, thus saith the Lord God: Say to every bird, and to all the fowls, and to all the beasts of the field (or plain): Assemble yourselves, and make haste: come together from every side (or round about) to my sacrifice which I have slain for you, a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh, and drink blood.

You shall eat the flesh of the mighty (or giants), and drink the blood of the princes of the earth: of rams, of lambs, and of goats, and of fatted bullocks and of all the fat ones. And you shall eat fat to fulness, and drink blood to drunkenness, of the sacrifice which I have slain for you. And you shall be filled at my table with horse, and with the mighty horseman (or giant): and with all the men of war, saith the Lord God. And I will set (or give) my glory among the nations (or among you): and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand which I have laid (or brought) upon them. And the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward.

And all the nations shall know that the house of Israel was carried away captive for their iniquities, because they forsook me, and I hid (or turned away) my face from them, and delivered them into the hands of their enemies (or of their foes), and they all fell by the sword. According to their uncleannesses and their crimes (or iniquities) have I dealt with them, and hid (or turned away) my face from them.

Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and will have mercy on all the house of Israel: and I will take up jealousy for my holy name, and they shall bear their confusion (or shame), and all the transgression by which they have transgressed against me, when they shall dwell in their land securely (or in peace), fearing no one, and I shall have brought them back from the peoples (or nations); and I shall have gathered them out of the lands of their enemies (or out of the regions of the nations), and I shall have been sanctified in them in the eyes (or in the sight) of many nations. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, when I shall have brought them among the nations (or when I shall have appeared to them among the nations): and shall have gathered them into their own land, and shall not have left any of them there.

And I will no more hide (or turn away) my face from them, because I have poured out my spirit (or my fury) upon all the house of Israel, saith the Lord God." This which we have translated according to the Hebrews, "and I will gather them into their own land, and will not leave any one of them there," is not found in the Septuagint.

And again, what according to the Hebrews is set down as a blessing at the end, "because I have poured out my spirit," the Septuagint have rendered "fury," which pertains to wrath, especially since in the Hebrew it is RUHI (רוחי), which properly means "my spirit," and by no means "my fury." Now all things up to that place where the building of the temple follows, those whom we spoke of above—the Jews and our own Judaizers—refer to the very last time: that the flesh of Gog and all his army are to be, as it were, most fat victims to satiate the birds and beasts; and that Israel is to be restored to its former state, and never again to be conquered by the nations, but that God will pour out his spirit upon them, that they may dwell in their own land: not all the nations, but the house of Israel properly.

But we, following the tropology we have begun, will say this: that the Lord calls together all the birds and all the beasts, that he may deliver to them the princes of the heretics, as most fat victims, to be devoured. Now the birds and beasts are so called either because of their swiftness in running to all things, or because of their ferocity and cruelty, to whom the adversaries are delivered unto the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved, and that they may learn not to blaspheme. They shall eat, moreover, a great and most fat victim; not elsewhere, but upon the mountains of Israel, whom we ought to understand as the prophets and apostles and holy men.

For upon these the masters of contrary doctrines fall, and by them they perish, wounded—those upon whom the Church is built: and, to speak more truly, upon the mountain of mountains, of which Isaiah and Micah speak: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will show us his ways". Now these swift and cruel birds and beasts shall eat the flesh and drink the blood of those who cannot possess the kingdom of God: the flesh of the mighty, or of giants, who rebelled against the knowledge of God, and they shall drink the blood of princes, not of heaven, but of the earth, who savored all earthly things: the blood of rams, and lambs, and goats, or according to the Septuagint, of rams, calves, and goats, so as to signify three kinds of animals, which are offered in the sacrifices of God.

For the heretics also imitate ecclesiastical gentleness, but their offering profits not the worship of God, but the food of demons, which is their most fat victim, and they are filled as it were with fat, and drink the blood of the deceived even to drunkenness. Now God offers this sacrifice through churchmen, that the worst guests may be sated with the multitude of the deceived, and drink even to vomiting and drunkenness.

When you see holy men, learned in the divine Scriptures, cutting down the horses of the heretics and their riders, of whom it is written: "The horse and the rider he has cast into the sea", and cutting down all the rebels and giants with their sword, and pouring out the blood of all the warriors of falsely-named knowledge: then know that the table of the Lord is prepared, that he may set his glory among all the nations who believe in his name, and that they may understand the judgment of the Church of his saints, which they have executed upon the adversaries, and the strong hand with which he has struck them: and that the house of Israel may know and recognize that he is the Lord their God, who has spoken: "I am the Lord your God," from the day of the Lord's victory even for ever: and let them reflect that the house of Israel was once taken captive by the heretics, and scattered throughout the whole world of perverse doctrines, because they forsook him who for a little while hid, or turned away, his face from them, and delivered them into the hand of the heretics, and they fell pierced by their sword, because of their uncleannesses and their iniquities: which was the cause why he hid and turned away his face from them.

Now, having set forth the reasons, according to that which is written: "For there must be also heresies, that they who are approved may be made manifest", of the captivity of Israel—that is, of the Church, in which those who see God dwell—he now promises that he will bring back into the Church the captivity of Jacob, who had supplanted the Jewish people, and afterward was himself supplanted by the frauds of the heretics: and that he will have mercy on all the house of Israel, not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. "And I will take up," he says, "my jealousy for my holy name," which was blasphemed among the nations because of the heretics: so that after I shall have delivered them, they may blush and be confounded, because, having forsaken the ecclesiastical faith, they transgressed against me.

And let them be confounded and blush very swiftly, when they shall dwell in their own land, the land of the meek, and the land of the saints, and shall dwell securely, or in peace, fearing not at all the snares of the heretics.

Then shall they be brought back from the peoples, and gathered out of the lands of their enemies into their own land, and the Lord shall be sanctified in them in the sight of many nations, who themselves also shall believe in the Lord: and let the end of blessedness be to know and to recognize that he is the Lord their God: because he shall have appeared to them among the nations, or shall have brought them out from among the nations, and gathered them upon their own land, the land of Judea, the land of confession, the land of the meek, and the land of the living, and shall not have left even one to heretical depravity: and shall no more hide his face from them, nor shall he turn away from them, because he has poured out the spirit of his grace, of which the prophet Joel also speaks: "In the last days I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh": and he shall have poured it out upon all the house of Israel.

But if, instead of "spirit," according to the Septuagint, we read "fury," which is not found in the Hebrew, it must be understood thus: that he will no more hide his face from those upon whom he had before poured out his fury. Thus far, on the prophet Ezekiel, with God, as we hope and believe, helping and opening our mouth, we have spoken: not destroying the opinion of others, if any have written, or shall hereafter write, but asserting whatever our own may be. But concerning the building of the temple, and the order of the priests, and the division of the holy land, and the river issuing from the temple, and the trees on either bank ever green, and bearing fruit every month, and the rest which is contained in the prophetic volume down to the end, we openly confess our ignorance; judging it better meanwhile to say nothing than to say too little.

My trepidation in the explanation of the temple of Ezekiel—nay, my perseverance in keeping silence—your prayers, daughter Eustochium, and the promises of the Lord, who says: Ask, and you shall receive; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you, have overcome. And the excuse which we used, so as to say at the end of the former volume, that it is better to say nothing than to say too little, you have turned into its opposite, so that you think it better at least to say a little than to say nothing: because in the one there is a ready will, in the other despair of the whole work; and you recall that it is the nature of men of this sort not to feel as much gratitude for what you have given as sorrow over what you have withheld. For we praise virtues with less zeal than we reprove vices; and although bodies are beautiful, they become more conspicuous by the depravity and deformity of a single member.

I will therefore comply with your wish, and, the Holy Spirit blowing, I will hoist the sails, not knowing to what shores I shall come, crying out with this same prophet, From the four winds I have come, O spirit; and to the fastidious reader—nay, to the mind hostile to us who is about to read this—I declare with full freedom in the explanation of the temple, that if he desires the truth, let him seek it from others. But we simply confess and set down what we can conjecture in a most difficult work, ready to give thanks to the Lord if He shall have opened to us the doors of knowledge, not in all things, for that is impossible, but in most. For, as the sublime orator says, "For one pursuing the first things, it is honorable to hold even to the second or third."

(Verse 1 ff.) "In the twenty-fifth year of our transmigration (or captivity), in the beginning of the year (or in the first month), the tenth of the month, the fourteenth year after the city was smitten (or captured): on this very day (or on that day) the hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me thither. In the visions (or vision) of God He brought me into the land of Israel, and set (or placed) me upon a very high mountain, upon which was as it were the building of a city, facing toward the South (or opposite). And He brought me in thither, and behold, a man whose appearance was as the appearance of brass (or shining brass); and a linen cord (or a mason's cord) was in his hand, and a measuring reed was in his hand.

Now he stood in the gate: and that man spoke to me: Son of man, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you (or, set in your heart all that I shall show you): for you have been brought (or, have entered) here that these things may be shown to you: and you shall announce (or, you shall show) all that you see to the house of Israel." If in the fifth year of the captivity, or of the transmigration of king Joachin, in the fourth month, on the fifth of the month, the heavens were opened to Ezekiel the prophet, by the river Chobar, and he saw the visions of God, and now it is said that in the twenty-fifth year of the same transmigration from Jechonias, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, the hand of the Lord came upon him, and he was brought into the land of Israel, and set upon a very high mountain, that he might see the building of a city facing toward the South, there is no doubt that when nineteen years, and nine months, and five days of the twentieth year had been completed, the whole context of that prophecy was woven together.

But if, according to Theodotion, who in that place where we have put "at the beginning of the year," has interpreted "in the new year, the tenth of the month" (now the new year is called among the Hebrews the seventh month, which among them bears the name THESRI (תשרי), so that on the Kalends of the seventh month there is the blast of trumpets, and the tenth day of that same month is the day of fasting and propitiation; and the fifteenth, when the whole orb of the moon is complete, is the day of the feast of Tabernacles)—it is given to understand that on the tenth day, the day of the Lord's propitiation, the building of the city was shown to Ezekiel.

And just as he showed the restoration of the people, indeed their vivification, in the bones of the plain under the image of resurrection, so now the Lord promises, under the description of it, the restoration of the city which had been destroyed by fire by the Babylonian fourteen years before; so that just as the type of the seething pot from the face of the North had shown the captivity and overthrow, and the truth of the prophecy was proved by the event, so from the faith of things past the truth of the future building might be proved by the prophecy. Nor is this said of that time, as certain unlearned among the Jews would have it, when under Zerubbabel and under Jesus the son of Josedec, the high priest, the temple was built, with Haggai and Zechariah prophesying. For this temple, which is now described, and the order of the priesthood, and the division and fertility of the land, is much narrower than that which Solomon had built.

But that which was built under Zerubbabel was so small, and as nothing in comparison with the former, that those who had seen the former temple, and afterward beheld this one, wept aloud, and testified their grief with tears, and the outcry of those wailing was much greater than the blast of the trumpets. Read the book of Ezra. Further, as to what is added, "the fourteenth year after the city was smitten (or captured)", according to the mystical understanding it signifies fourteen generations; when these are completed from David to the birth of Christ, the restoration of the city is promised by Him of whom it is written: He shall build my city, and shall bring back the captivity of my people. And again: He came to preach deliverance to the captives, and sight to the blind, saying to those who were in bonds, Go forth, and to those who were in darkness, Show yourselves.

Now the hand of the Lord came upon him, so that, situated in the flesh in Babylon, he might come in spirit to the land of Israel: and he was set not merely "in vision," but "in visions of God," upon a very high mountain, of which Isaiah and Micah prophesy: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. This mountain is exceedingly high, in comparison with the other mountains, of which the prophet testifies, saying: I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence help shall come to me. And in another place: Mountains are round about it, and the Lord is round about His people. Of which it is also said to Isaiah: Get you up upon a high mountain, you who bring good tidings to Zion.

Upon this mountain the building of the city is shown, according to the LXX and Aquila, "opposite," and "facing the North," from whence the prophet came to the land of Israel; but according to Theodotion and Symmachus, "facing toward the South," where the full light is, and the sun of righteousness is set at the very summit of the sky. Whence also in the Song of Songs it is said: Arise, O North wind, and come, O South wind, blow through my garden, and let its spices flow forth. For the North wind, most harsh, is driven from the garden of the Lord, lest the warmth of love be chilled, and the flowers wither.

But when it is said, "as it were the building of a city," not a true city, but the likeness of a city is shown, of which it is written: Glorious things are said of you, city of God: which is Jerusalem, built as a city, whose participation is in itself, and in which the Lord is great and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, in His holy mountain. And in the towers of that city God is known, when He shall receive it. Of which also elsewhere: The rush of the river makes glad the city of God. And: A city set upon a mountain cannot be hidden, which speaks in Isaiah: I am a strong city, a city that is attacked. He did not say "which is conquered," but "which is attacked": which is built upon a rock, and is shaken by no storm. There follows: And He brought me in thither—understood, the hand of God.

"Thither," that is, as it were to the building of the city, that He might show me all that was within. And behold, he says, a man, whose appearance or vision was as the appearance of shining brass—namely, he of whom it is written: Behold the man, the Orient is his name. Now he had not the appearance of amber, as is said at the beginning of this volume, nor was he girded with a golden girdle, as is contained in the Apocalypse of John: but he had, according to the Hebrew, an appearance as of brass. For this material is more resonant than all metals, and rings far in its sound. Whence also in Daniel, in the image which was composed of gold, silver, brass, and iron, the kingdom of Alexander and of the Greeks is shown in the likeness of brass; that the eloquence of the Greek tongue might be signified: by which it is made clear that those still need instruction who do not yet fully know the mysteries of the temple to be built spiritually.

There was also a linen cord, or mason's cord, in his hand, of which it is written in Zechariah, that he had a geometric cord, that he might measure the breadth and length of the city. Of masons, moreover—either of the angels who minister at God's command, or of Moses, and of all the prophets and apostles, who build the city of God, and are helpers or ministers of the Lord's will. Whence also the apostle Paul spoke: We are God's husbandry, God's building. And what follows: "And a measuring reed in his hand," designates prophetic grace, of which it is written in the forty-fourth psalm: My tongue is the pen of a scribe, writing swiftly. And of John the prophet and baptist: What went you out into the desert to see, a reed shaken by the wind? Which reed those wish to imitate who, writing, write iniquity, and against whom the prophet exclaims: Rebuke the beasts of the reed.

Now he stood in the gate; because through Him we enter to the Father, and without Him we cannot enter the city of God, that He may receive the worthy, and cast out the unworthy. In the gate also is judgment. Whence also the prophet says: They hate him that rebukes in the gate. And in another place: He shall not be confounded when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. This man spoke to the prophet, in whose hand was the cord, and whose appearance was as of brass, and who held the reed in his hand. The true architect spoke to Ezekiel, whom Paul the apostle also imitated, saying: As a wise architect I have laid the foundation.

Now he calls the architect wise, in distinction from him who is foolish, and who in Zechariah is called the foolish shepherd; and he spoke what follows: Son of man, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears: not with the eyes of the flesh, but of the spirit; nor with the ears of the body, but of the soul. Lift up, he says, your eyes, and see, for the fields are already white for the harvest. And: He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Now the building of the city is seen, and the order of the ceremonies and of the priests, and the description of the land, is heard. And it does not suffice that he was bidden to perceive with his eyes and hear with his ears; but he added: And set your heart upon all—or, and set in your heart all that I shall show you. For it profits nothing to have seen and heard, unless what you have seen and heard you store up in the treasury of memory.

And when he says, all that I shall show you, he makes the hearer attentive, and prepares also the eyes of the heart, that he may hold in memory what is to be shown to him, because you have been brought here that all things may be shown to you. By which saying he shows in particular that nothing is sweeter than contemplation and knowledge, which the prophet desires, saying: One thing have I asked of the Lord, this will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. That I may behold the pleasure of the Lord, and visit His temple. Whence he joins and says: Lord, I have loved the beauty of your house, and the place where your glory dwells. Announce, he says, all that you see, to the house of Israel, that those who cannot see for themselves may learn through you what is shown to you by the Lord.

Now by the house of Israel are meant those who behold God with the mind, among whom was also Nathanael, who most zealously sought Christ, and deserved to hear: Behold a true Israelite, in whom there is no guile. (Verses 5 and following.) « And behold a wall on the outside round about the house on every side, and in the man's hand a measuring reed of six cubits and a handbreadth, and he measured the breadth of the building with one reed, and the height also with one reed. And he came to the gate that looked toward the way of the East, and went up by its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate one reed in breadth, that is, one threshold one reed in breadth, and one chamber one reed in length, and one reed in breadth, and between the chambers five cubits, and the threshold of the gate beside the porch of the gate within, one reed.

And he measured the porch of the gate, eight cubits, and its front two cubits: but the porch of the gate was within. Now the chambers of the gate toward the way of the East were three on this side and three on that, one measure for the three, and one measure for the fronts on either side. And he measured the breadth of the threshold of the gate, ten cubits, and the length of the gate thirteen cubits. And a border before the chambers of one cubit, and one cubit the boundary on either side: and the chambers were six cubits on this side and on that. And he measured the gate from the roof of one chamber to the roof of the other, the breadth being five and twenty cubits, door against door. The septuagint: And behold a wall outside the house round about, and in the man's hand a reed of measure of six cubits and a palm; and he measured the wall, breadth equal to the reed, and its height according to the measure.

And he entered the gate that looked toward the East by seven steps, and he measured thee [obelus] six on this side and six on that; the elam of the gate equal to the reed in length, and equal to the reed in breadth, and the elam in the middle, theelath, six cubits, and the second thee equal to the reed in breadth, and equal to the reed in length, and the elam five cubits. And the third thee equal to the reed in breadth, three, and equal to the reed in length, three, and the elam of the gate which is next to the elam of the gate, eight cubits, and the elam two cubits, and the elam of the gate within, and the thee of the gate opposite, three on this side and three on that, and one measure for the three: one measure for the elam on this side and that.

He measured the breadth of the entrance of the gate, ten cubits, and the breadth of the gate, thirteen cubits, and one cubit was brought back to the sight of the theer, one cubit, and one cubit the boundary on this side and that, and thee six cubits on this side and six cubits on that. And he measured the gate from the wall of thee unto the wall of thee, the breadth twenty-five cubits.

This gate over against that gate. » When I was a boy at Rome, and was being trained in the liberal studies, I used, together with others of the same age and purpose, on the Lord's days to go round the tombs of the apostles and martyrs; and often to enter the crypts, which, dug deep into the earth, have on either side, along the walls, as one enters, the bodies of the buried, and all is so dark that almost that prophetic word is fulfilled: Let them go down alive into hell: and rarely does light let in from above temper the horror of the darkness, so that you would think it not so much a window as a hole letting down light; and again one approaches step by step, and to those wrapped in blind night is set forth that saying of Virgil (Æneid, Bk. II):

Horror everywhere fills the mind, and the very silences terrify.

Let this be said by me, so that the discerning reader may understand what opinion I hold concerning the explanation of the temple of God in Ezekiel, of which it is written: Cloud and darkness are under his feet. And again: Darkness is his hiding place: whence also Moses entered into the cloud and the darkness, that he might be able to contemplate the mysteries of the Lord, which the people, standing afar off and remaining below, could not see. Then after forty days the base multitude, their eyes being dazzled, could not look upon the face of Moses, because it was glorified, or, as is contained in the Hebrew, because the face of Moses was horned.

So also it happens to me when reading the description of the mystical temple (which the Jews think must be built according to the letter at the coming of their Christ, whom we prove to be Antichrist, and which we refer to the Church of Christ, and see built daily in his saints): wherever the eye of the heart is opened, and I think I see something and hold the bridegroom, and joyfully say: I have found him whom my soul sought, I will hold him, and I will not let him go; again the divine word deserts me, and the bridegroom flees from my hands, and my eyes are closed with blindness, so that I am compelled to say: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! And what is written elsewhere: The judgments of the Lord are a great deep.

And: Out of the depths have I cried to thee, O Lord, Lord, hear my voice: and that word of Elisha, who followed with the eyes of his heart the master snatched from him, saying: Father, father: the chariot of Israel and the horseman thereof. Simply, then, must it be confessed that I do not wish to discuss the temple of blessed Ezekiel, which all the ages have passed over in silence, out of rashness, but out of faith and fear of God I desire to set forth to my readers the conjecture of my mind; so that if I offer to the tabernacle of God goatskins and hair, whereby the thorns and stings of sins may be covered, and rains and storms kept off, another who is rich, according to the quality of his merits, may offer either iron, or bronze, or silver, and gold and most precious stones, and not despise what is ours because it is lesser, but rejoice in his own resources.

For unless there are lowest things, there cannot be highest; and that greater things may be praised, they grow by comparison with the lesser. Let us see, then, what Ezekiel, having entered the building of the city inclining toward the South, first saw, then heard: And behold, he says, a wall outside round about the house on every side. For "wall," which Aquila and Theodotion translated, Symmachus and the Septuagint put περίβολον. The wall, then, or περίβολος, surrounded the house, that is, the temple of the Lord, on every side, and the man, whose appearance was as the appearance of bronze, held not only a geometric line and mason's tools, but also a reed in his hand, whose measure was mentioned above tacitly, and is now given as six cubits and a handbreadth, which is more correctly called in Greek παλαιστή, and is the sixth part of a cubit. Otherwise "palm" sounds like σπιθαμή, which some, for distinction's sake, call palma; while παλαιστήν they are accustomed to call palmus.

With this reed, then, he measured the breadth and the height of the wall, and both, that is, the breadth and the height, were one reed, that is, six cubits and one handbreadth. And since there were very many gates, he did not wish to enter by the other gates, but by that which looked toward the Eastern quarter. And because the ground was not level, for the wall ran round about, and the house of God itself was built on higher ground, therefore he enters by steps, indeed ascends: these the Septuagint alone name as seven, whereas in the Hebrew, and in the other translators, we read only of steps without a number. And having entered the gate, he immediately measured the threshold of the gate, which the Septuagint call θεέ: for which in the Hebrew is written seph.

And I think the careful and studious reader ought to be warned, if indeed he is guided by knowledge of the Scriptures, and not by the vain declamations of orators, that he should know that almost all the Hebrew words and names, which are set down in the Greek and Latin translation, have been corrupted by excessive age, and depraved by the fault of copyists, and while more uncorrected things are written from things already uncorrected, the Hebrew words have become Sarmatian, or rather belonging to no nation at all, since they have ceased to be Hebrew, and have not begun to be foreign. The threshold of the gate, then, or θεέ, or rather seph, which Symmachus rendered οὐδὸν, and Aquila and Theodotion πρόθυρον, had one reed, that is, six cubits and a handbreadth in breadth: to which, wishing I know not what, the Septuagint added of their own, six on this side and six on that. But after the threshold, in some parts of the temple, the Hebrews used also cubits of five handbreadths, in others of six.

Of the gate, according to the Hebrew, he measured the chamber or bedchamber, as Symmachus translated it, παραστάδας, that is, the posts on either side, one reed each, both in length and in breadth. This same word the LXX translated as ælam (αἰλὰμ), which in what follows Symmachus rendered as anteliminare (fore-threshold). Between the two chambers, or bedchambers, and the παραστάδας there were five cubits, and another fore-threshold of the gate, next to the vestibule within, of one reed. The third vestibule of the gate also had eight cubits, and on its front, or on its margins, two cubits. Lest anyone suppose this vestibule to be the same as the one mentioned above, he added: But the vestibule was of the inner gate: for which the LXX translated first, and second, and third vestibule. The chambers, that is, the bedchambers, which were built after the eastern gate in the vestibules, looked toward the eastern way.

And that we might know how many chambers there were, it is added, three on this side and three on that: namely looking toward the North and toward the South, and toward the eastern way: and there was one measure of the fronts on either side. He also measured the measure in breadth of the threshold of the gate, and found ten cubits, and in length thirteen cubits, and the extremities of the chambers, or as Symmachus translated, of the παραστάδες, narrowed to one cubit, and each front had one cubit each. The chambers, however, or παραστάδες, and as the LXX put it in their own way θεηλὰθ, had six cubits on either side. And he measured the gate from the roof of the chamber, or παραστάδος, to its roof or to its wall, and found, between roof and roof, a breadth of twenty-five cubits. For that was the amount of space between doorway and doorway, or between gate and gate.

These things we have said with the mind rather of one divining than of one explaining, wishing to sketch a picture, following the obscure and almost invisible letter. For the rest, the few things we can conjecture we shall set down briefly and with hesitation. The Apostle Paul, wishing the Ephesians to know more sacred things, prays for them that they may be filled with the wisdom and love of the Lord, that being rooted and grounded, they may be able to know and comprehend what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth of his riches, and he speaks to them: Therefore you are no longer strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone, in whom every building, being fitly framed together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord: in whom you also are built together into a habitation of God, and in the Holy Spirit.

Peter also the apostle, in almost the same words, because in the same spirit, speaks in his Epistle: If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious, to whom coming, a living stone, indeed rejected by men, but chosen and honored by God, you also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter II, 3ff). From which it is clear that the Lord Savior, who is the true architect, tests the stones which can be placed in the foundations of the temple, which in the middle, which in the higher places, and of lesser measure, or of not so solid a firmness, are set in the wall, and outside the temple in the circuit of the περιβόλου. For it is no small strength nor least firmness to sustain the stones placed above. Whence the Apostle writes to believers: Bear one another's burdens. And elsewhere it is written that we ought not to take up a weight which we cannot carry.

The measuring reed, moreover, which had six cubits and a palm, signifies this: that our manner of life is known to God, which is contained in the six days in which the world was made, and that the reckoning of each work is known, so that one thing pertains to works, another to the mind. Whence also the breadth is equal to the height: of which the breadth pertains to works, as we said; the height is referred to the soul, which hastens to lofty things. Let it suffice to have noted this once: that I know that cubitus and cubita are called by the neuter gender, but for the sake of simplicity and ease of understanding, and by common usage, I put them also in the masculine gender. For it is not my care to avoid faults of speech, but to explain the obscurity of Holy Scripture in whatever words.

There enters, therefore, the man whose name is the East, through the eastern gate, that he may enlighten those whom he finds at the first front of the vestibule, or at the very entrance of the gate: not by one, but by several steps, whose number is passed over in silence, so that the difficulty of the ascent may appear, and however many steps you propose to yourself, you should know there are fewer than that which is left in doubt. I think this is the gate of which it is also sung in the Psalms: This is the gate of the Lord, the righteous shall enter through it. And he measured the threshold of the gate, that we might know that all things lie open to the knowledge of God. This threshold is said to be one reed in breadth, and its height and length are passed over in silence.

For it is a way and an entrance, and through it one must proceed to the interior (although in this passage the Seventy have superfluously said length, or, as is found in many manuscripts, height); but the chambers, that is, the bedchambers and the παραστάδες, have one reed each in length as in breadth, but between chamber and chamber there are only five cubits, so that the interiors of the chambers have the full measure of the reed, that is, six cubits and a palm, while works and reason agree together. But those things which are on the outside, that is, between chamber and chamber, are five cubits; for as yet they have not penetrated the secrets of Christ, nor can they say: The king has brought me into his chamber. And elsewhere: All the glory of the king's daughter is within.

But when the disciples abide at home with Christ, they cannot hear his mysteries, and they desire the word of God to go out to them outside; and therefore the measure of five cubits is set in them, that they may be taught to refer all things to the five senses. The threshold also of the other gate, or as it is contained in the Seventy, of the second and third vestibule, is of the same measure of one reed. After which its vestibule, that is, the threshold of the gate, at the entrance, eight cubits are set, so that the interiors of the vestibule do not hold the number seven, and six cubits and one palm, but the number eight, which pertains to the mystery of the resurrection and the Lord's Day.

And in the front, he says, of that same vestibule there were two cubits, which pertain either to both Testaments, or to the letter and the spirit, or to the mystery of the tongs by which in Isaiah a coal is taken from the altar and brought to purge the prophet's lips. And that we may know what this vestibule is, which is bounded by eight and two cubits, he states more plainly: But the vestibule of the gate was within, through which we come to the temple of God. The chambers also, and bedchambers which were toward the way of the eastern gate, for which the Seventy write Elau, were three on this side and three on that, of one measure, that is, of one reed, which had six cubits and one palm, of which it was said above: And the ailam, one reed in length and one reed in breadth, and between the chambers five cubits.

Lest, therefore, we should think there were only two chambers, he set three on either side: to show the number six, which is also indicated in the water-jars of the Gospel, in which the water was changed into wine, and daily the Jewish waters are turned into wine, which gladdens the heart of man, and by the blood of Christ is made sweeter. He also measured the breadth of the threshold of the gate as ten cubits, which is the perfect number, and is contained either in the Decalogue, or in the mystery of the four Gospels. Beginning from one, it thus arrives at four, so as to fill up the number ten. Its length had thirteen cubits: for which in the Seventy breadth is again put, which seems to me to be corrupted by the negligence of the copyists. For Scripture would not have said in one place breadth, and again breadth of ten, or thirteen cubits.

But the gate of the threshold, in which the number of the Old and New Testament is consecrated, may be understood either as the Lord himself, who says: I am the door; or certainly all the saints, through whom we enter into the knowledge of God, to whom the Apostle Paul spoke: My mouth is open to you, O Corinthians; and: Be enlarged, you also. The thirteen cubits, after the number eight, contain the mystery of the books of Moses, which is also shown in the five loaves, and in the Samaritan woman of the Gospel, who is convicted of having had five husbands, and the sixth whom she thought she had, she did not have: and yet the number eight and the number five are completed by one cubit, that is, the fourteenth: because in Christ all things are gathered up into one.

Whence it is said: And one cubit was the end on either side: while both the Old and New Testament are embraced by one measure of Christ, and one cubit encloses the height of thirty cubits of the ark of Noah. The chambers, moreover, he says, or as the Seventy put it thau, or thee, translating and changing in each place, as they wished, the Hebrew names, were six cubits on either side, which is said, on this side and that, and had by no means a palm nor any reckoning added above, which would summon the present manner of life to future blessedness, but only six cubits. Whence it follows: And he measured the gate from the roof of the chamber to its roof, or wall: and found the breadth to be twenty-five cubits; which number, though it be a square, is nevertheless referred to meanings.

For if you arrange five cubits against five cubits five times, you will make the number twenty-five: which is that between the roof of the chambers and the roof; and yet each, though set opposite the other, has from its topmost parts a door opposite a door. Let not these things seem frivolous to the reader, though they displease even me who say them, feeling that I am knocking at a closed door; but they must be read with indulgence: otherwise I could simply have confessed ignorance, and cut off all the desire of the studious. For since we are far from perfect knowledge, we judge it a lighter fault at least to say a little, rather than to say nothing at all. (Vers. 14ff.) "And he made fronts of sixty cubits, and at the front the court of the gate round about.

And before the face of the gate, which extended to the face of the vestibule of the inner gate, fifty cubits, and slanting windows in the chambers, and in their fronts which were within the gate round about. And likewise there were windows in the vestibules round about within: and before the fronts a painting of palm trees." LXX: And in the open air the aelam of the gate, sixty cubits, and theim of the court of the gate round about. And in the open air of the court, outside, the aelam of the inner gate, fifty cubits: and hidden windows above the theim, and above the aelam within the gate of the court round about. And likewise the elamoth, and windows round about within, and above the aelam palm trees on this side and that.

Symmachus translated this passage thus: And he made περιστάσεις, which we may call "surroundings": for which in the Hebrew it has ELIM (אילים), which Aquila translated κρίωμα, and we have rendered as "fronts." Again, where the Seventy put theim of the court, in the Hebrew it has EL (אל), in the singular number, which Symmachus translated "near the court," Aquila κρίωμα, that is, the front of the court. Also, in the open air the aelam of the gate, Aquila translated "before the face of the posts of the gate"; Symmachus, "opposite the face of the vestibule of the gate." The windows hidden chambers, which are called in Hebrew ATEMOTH (אטמות), Symmachus translated as τοξικὰς (bow-shaped). And where the Septuagint said, upon theim, and upon aelam, Symmachus in the same place put posts and surroundings; Aquila, chambers and their fronts: for which in the Hebrew is written THEIM (תאים) and ELE (אלי). Further, ELAMOTH, which the Septuagint and Theodotion translated similarly; Symmachus interpreted as surroundings, Aquila as fronts. But Aelam, for which in the Hebrew is written EL, is called a doorway or porch.

For palms also in the Hebrew is written THAMARIM (תמרים), in the plural number: since the singular number calls the palm, THAMAR (תמר). I know these things will be tiresome to the fastidious reader: but I wished briefly to show how greatly, through length of time, or rather through the fault of scribes, and to speak more openly, through ignorance, the ancient translation differs from the Hebrew truth: especially in Hebrew names, which we have rendered into the Latin tongue from the editions of others, indicating not so much an explanation of the words as our own conjecture simply. I think, moreover, that between the wall of the temple outside round about, and the shrine itself in the court, that is, in the middle, certain things had been set up for the sake of adornment, which Symmachus interprets as surroundings, that is, certain standing structures, erected from the ground level on high, and that these occupied a space of sixty cubits.

And again, for those going out from the inner gate to the front of the porch which looked toward the outer gate, fifty cubits occupied the place, in which were slanting windows, which the Septuagint calls hidden, Symmachus calls τοξικὰς. And these windows were in the chambers, that is, in the individual bedchambers, and in the porches which extended before the bedchambers, occupying fifty cubits. These slanting or τοξικαὶ windows received their name from arrows for this reason, that like arrows they let in a narrow light into the buildings, and widen within: and all round about were full of windows of this kind.

And before the fronts, it says, of the porches, was a painting or carving of palms: by which it is shown that at the entrance of the gate, and immediately upon entering the wall, sixty cubits present themselves with various ornaments, which refer to the condition of the world, so that from creatures the Creator may be understood: and all things running in order and reason show forth the variety of the world, which among the Greeks is called κόσμος, taking its name from adornment: and it was made in six days, so that for each single day, single decades may be reckoned, which we said above is the perfect number. After this, as we enter the inner court, there meet us before the very porch of the inner gate chambers with slanting windows, holding a space of fifty cubits, which number is itself also sacred. And after seven full weeks of festivity and joy, the first day of the Ogdoad begins, which is that of the resurrection, and brings us to the vicinity of the temple.

For when we shall have done all things, doing penance for our former error: then we are made neighbors and near to God, so that in the outer court, the order and constancy of creatures may teach us knowledge of the Creator, and in the inner court the true jubilee, in which all debts are forgiven us, may instruct us in θεολογία, and bring us in to the Holy of Holies. It must also be noted that the inner court has more windows, not straight and equal, but slanting, and narrow on the outside, and widening within, so that through certain small openings we may be able to penetrate to the interior, and arrive at the fullness of that most brilliant light which dwells in the temple.

Finally, after the sixty and fifty cubits, and the chambers, and the porches, and the fronts of the porches, and the many windows round about, the carving or painting of palms is shown to us, so that, possessing victory over the world, we may be made worthy to see the palms of the virtues. (Verses 17 ff.) "And he led me out to the outer court, and behold, chambers, and a pavement laid with stone in the court round about: thirty chambers in the circuit of the pavement. And the pavement in front of the gates, according to the length of the gates, was lower. And he measured the breadth from the front of the lower gate to the front of the inner court on the outside, a hundred cubits toward the East and toward the North." Septuagint: "And he brought me into the inner court, and behold, chambers, and colonnades of the court round about, thirty chambers by the columns, and porticoes behind the doors along the length of the doors, before the columns, lower down.

And he measured the breadth of the court from the place that was under the open sky of the outer gate to the inner: under the open sky of the inner gate which looked toward the outside, a hundred cubits, and it inclined toward the East." For "thirty chambers," which the Seventy rendered, or "storerooms and cellars," as Aquila interpreted, Symmachus put "exedras." And for the hundred cubits of the outer space, which extended as far as the Eastern gate, in the Hebrew the same number of cubits is said to extend toward the North as well; but in the Septuagint the name "North" has been omitted.

That man, then, who held the measuring cord of the masons in his hand, and the reed of measure, and stood in the gate, among the other things which he showed to the prophet's view, after the court of sixty cubits, and another vestibule of the inner gate which measured fifty cubits, led the prophet out to the outer court, or, as is contained in the Septuagint, brought him in to the inner court. And I greatly wonder, following the letter and the Septuagint, how, after the outer parts of the court, measuring sixty and fifty cubits, there could be an inner court extending in breadth a hundred cubits—unless perhaps, according to mystical understanding and the advancement of those entering in, the inner parts, which pertain to teachings, are broader.

Now, having been brought into the inner court, or led to the outer court, as is contained in the Hebrew, he at once beheld the thirty chambers or storerooms, or, as Symmachus interpreted, exedras, which had been prepared for the dwelling of the Levites and priests, and a pavement laid with living stones, or colonnades—so that it might be shown that the inner or outer court had, before its doors, a row of columns, and a pavement in front of the gates, or porticoes behind the gates. In these porticoes I think the columns were arranged in order, so that before the chambers there were porticoes, and at the fronts of the porticoes columns supporting the porticoes. But the pavement which was laid with stones, and which extended before the porticoes of the court, was lower in the ascent of the porticoes, and had the same length as the structure of the chambers occupied.

And the same man, in whose hand was the cord and the reed, measured from the front of the lower gate, or, as the Seventy would have it, of the outer gate, to the front of the court or of the inner gate, a hundred cubits toward the East, and, as is said in the Hebrew, toward the North as well. From these things we understand that the Gospel saying reported by the Savior, of the seed cast into good ground, which multiplies its fruits according to the variety of virtues into thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and hundredfold, agrees with the prophecy of this passage. For here too the number thirty, sixty, and a hundred is set down, so that by these as it were steps we may be able to attain to perfect knowledge; provided, however, that the number fifty leads us to the inner parts of the Church, which, when the sabbath of seven weeks was finished, burst forth into the day of resurrection.

Now they are called "storerooms" which are full of spiritual riches, of which it is written: "The ransom of a man's soul are his own riches". Concerning which the apostle Paul also rejoices over his disciples, that they are filled with all speech and all knowledge. "Gaza" in the language of the Persians means "riches." Or certainly the chambers, which in Greek are called "pastophoria," show rooms prepared for the coming of the bridegroom, which were thirty in number, so as to signify the perfect age of the inhabitants. And the pavement was laid with stone, lest the footsteps of the inhabitants be defiled with the mud and earth and dust of sins; but that they might walk upon living stones, of which the temple of God is built. Or the colonnades were before the doors of the chambers, to support the structure placed above. These are the columns of which the apostle Paul also writes: "They gave to me and to Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, Peter and John, who seemed to be pillars".

And in another place: "The pillar and ground of the truth". And in John's Apocalypse we read: "He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out no more". The pavement, then, which was in front of the gates, of which we have already spoken, or the porticoes behind the gates, which protected the inhabitants of the chambers from the rains, was lower. For the lower things are always placed beneath the higher, so that we may be able to reach, by ascent and by steps, the mystical and secret things, full of spiritual riches. And the full and perfect number is found in the number of ten decades, which also multiplied Isaac's sowing a hundredfold. But because he was in the land, and could still say: "I am a stranger and a sojourner, as were all my fathers", he is said to have sown barley and reaped a hundredfold crop.

For the grain of wheat had not yet died in the earth, which would produce many fruits, and satisfy the hunger of the Jewish people for hearing the word of God with that bread which came down from heaven. But how the hundred cubits belonged not only to the Eastern gate but also to the gate of the North, the following testimony will show. (Verses 20, 21.) "The gate also, which looked toward the way of the North of the outer court, he measured, both in length and in breadth, and its chambers, three on this side and three on that, and its front, and its vestibule, according to the measure of the former gate, fifty cubits its length, and twenty-five cubits its breadth. And its windows, and its vestibule, and its carvings, according to the measure of the gate which looked toward the East. Its ascent was of seven steps, and a vestibule before it. And the gate of the inner court was opposite the gate of the North and of the East.

And he measured from gate to gate a hundred cubits." Septuagint: "And he brought me in toward the North, and behold, a gate looking toward the outer court. And he measured it in length and in breadth, and its 'thee' three on this side and three on that, and 'elau' and 'elamoth' (which is not found in the Hebrew, and 'its palm'); and it was made according to the measure of the gate which looks toward the East: fifty cubits its length, and its breadth twenty-five cubits. And its windows, and its 'elamoth' and its palms, as in the gate which looked toward the East; and one went up to it by seven steps, and 'elamoth' within, and the gate of the inner court looking toward the gate of the North (and what is not found in the Hebrew, like the gate which looks toward the East).

And he measured the court from gate to gate, a hundred cubits." What the Hebrew words "thee" (תא), and "elau" (איל), and "elamoth" (אלמות) signify, we have said more fully above; but the comparison of our translation with itself will also instruct us at present. Now the man who had the cord in his hand measured also the gate of the North of the outer court, or led the prophet through the gate of the North to the outer court. In which it must be considered that he is first led in through the gate of the North; secondly, through the gate of the South; thirdly, through the gate of the East. For "out of the North evils are kindled upon the inhabitants of the earth". And fittingly, he who is an inhabitant of the earth, and not a stranger and sojourner, lies open to the darts of him who comes from the North, whose fiery darts, according to the Apostle, are quenched by the shield of faith.

And toward the North the court is called "outer": but toward the South, that is, the Auster, not outer but inner. For Scripture says: "And he brought me into the inner court by the Southern gate," which is likewise found written also concerning the Eastern court. For the first entrance to virtue is to trample the North underfoot, and, through the number fifty, and twenty-five, to arrive at the summit of the hundred: then to be brought into the Southern region, and to expel the cold of the North: and then to arrive at perfect virtue, that is, at the Eastern gate, in which the sun of justice rises, and through which alone the high priest enters.

And this is to be observed, that although there are four regions, the Western gate is passed over in silence, concerning which it is written at the beginning of the sixty-seventh psalm: "Make a way for him who ascends upon the West, the Lord is his name"; so that, after we have prepared the way for the Lord, and fulfilled that which John the Baptist proclaims in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths", we may be able to hear what is said in the last part of the same psalm: "Sing to God, sing psalms to the Lord, who ascends above the heaven of heavens toward the East". And as for its being said that there are chambers three on this side and three on that, this teaches that both the letter and the spirit, and both understandings, of history and of tropology, pertain to the mysteries of the Trinity.

And that which is said: "And its front, and its vestibule, according to the measure of the former gate," signifies the Eastern gate, which is called "former" not in order but in merit. And it had, it says, fifty cubits in length, and twenty-five in breadth; so that in the fifty, after seven weeks, eternal rest may be shown: extending through the day of resurrection to the kingdoms of heaven, in which is true rest. But in the twenty-five, of which number we have already spoken above, the measure of the five senses through five ranks of a square is preserved, of which one corresponds to length, the other to breadth; so that in the length may be shown rest and the delight of more sacred knowledge; in the breadth, the reasoning that pertains to present things, which belongs to sense.

And what is added: "And its windows, and its vestibules, and its carvings," or, as the Seventy added, "its palms," were according to the measure of the gate which looked toward the East—this subtly indicates that whoever, set at the entrance of the virtues, has entered the chambers three and three, and has recognized the front and vestibule of the measure of the former gate, arrives at those things, and beholds those things, which he is also to receive most fully at the Eastern gate. Further, what follows: "And its ascent was of seven steps, and a vestibule before it," or "within," has this meaning: that through the seven steps of the week, and of the pot which is kindled from the face of the North, and the ceremonies of the Jews to whom God gave precepts not good, and ordinances in which they should not live, we may climb to higher things and to its vestibule, that is, of the gate, for which the Seventy rendered "elamoth." Which vestibule before the gate either, or interior.

Nor is there only one gate of the North, which above is called the exterior gate: but also another interior one, which has the likeness of the Eastern gate, as the Seventy have expressed more plainly. "And the interior gate of the court looking toward the gate of the North, just as was the gate which looked toward the East." And he measured from the exterior gate of the North to the interior gate of the same North a hundred cubits: so that by these steps and measures, as it were, withdrawing from the exterior gate, we may be able to arrive at the interior one, concerning the mystery of which number it has been spoken above. (Verses 24 ff.) "And he brought me out to the way toward the South, and behold a gate that looked toward the South.

And he measured its front and its vestibule, according to the measures above, and its windows, and the vestibules round about, like the other windows: in which the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth twenty-five, and it was ascended by seven steps, and there was a vestibule before its doors, and carved palm trees, one on this side and another on that, on its front. And the gate of the interior court in the way toward the South, and he measured from gate to gate on the way toward the South, a hundred cubits. And he brought me into the interior court to the gate of the South, and he measured the gate according to the measures above, its chamber, and its front, and its vestibule, with the same measures, and the windows of the vestibules round about, fifty cubits in length, and twenty-five cubits in breadth. And a vestibule going around, in length twenty-five cubits, and in breadth five cubits.

And its vestibule toward the exterior court, and its palm trees on the front, and it had eight steps by which it was ascended to it." The Seventy agree in the same words, except for thee (תאה), and elau (אלו), and elamoth (אלמות), and elam (אלם), for which in the Hebrew is placed ulam. Now thee is interpreted as threshold, or front; elau, "around it," or supports; elamoth, propyla, or vestibules; ulam, πρόπυλον, that is, before the doors. But that which we have set down according to the Hebrew: "And a vestibule," or πρόπυλον, "round about, going around, of twenty-five cubits in length, and of five cubits in breadth," is not found in the Seventy.

But this also should be noted, that in the Southern gate, according to the Seventy, it is not said "way," but simply: "and he brought me out to the South, and behold a gate that looked toward the South." Through each entrance therefore Ezekiel, whom God strengthened—for this is what his name signifies—is led, and passes from the gate of the North to the gate of the South, whose fronts and thresholds, προπύλαια, or vestibules, and windows round about had similar measures, fifty cubits in length, and twenty-five cubits in breadth, and it was ascended by seven steps, that is, to the Southern gate, and its vestibule, that is, elamoth, before its doors: also two carved palm trees, of which we spoke at the gate of the Northern region. And let it suffice to have noted this much, that whatever things are set down there, according to the lowlier understanding, that is, according to the letter, in the southern gate we understand according to the spiritual sense.

For along the same lines both history and tropology run: but the former is humbler, the latter more sublime: the former clings to earth, the latter flies up to heavenly things. And round about through the windows all things were full of light. For each of the "projections" have their own boundaries, and through them a proper light enters into the soul of the believer: especially if the length of his life should be prolonged by fifty years, that is, by the mystery of the jubilee, and he should be able to arrive at the breadth of a more divine understanding. In which breadth wisdom also acts confidently in the streets, and cries out with a lofty voice: and it enters by seven steps, so as to arrive at the vestibule, and through the palm trees of its resolve and effort, may hold everlasting victory.

And lest we should think there is one court on the Southern side, of a second court it is said: "And the gate of the interior court in the way toward the South": and he measured from gate to gate on the way toward the South, a hundred cubits; so that after the mysteries of the week and of the Old Testament, one might arrive at the good land and the grace of the Gospel. Nor is there only a second court at the Southern gate; but a third, of which it is now said: "And he brought me into the interior court to the gate of the South, and he measured the gate according to the measures above,". For each of the courts has its own measures and orders, and in the same measures there is a different grace, since we recognize the same things differently at the beginning, differently in progress, differently at the end.

But this, which is not found in the Seventy, "and a vestibule, or πρόπυλον, going around, in length twenty-five cubits, and in breadth five cubits," seems to raise a question, because it was not placed in the old translation, how, after the progress of the third stage, twenty-five cubits and five should be set down. But that which follows removes the ambiguity: "And its vestibule toward the exterior court: and its palm trees on the front"; so that, namely, this court, which had a length of twenty-five cubits, and a breadth of five, should not be of the interior, but of the exterior court, so that the breadth of the former court, that is, twenty-five cubits, should be possessed by the length of the exterior court, and it should hold five cubits in breadth.

These measures, that is, twenty-five and five, we refer to the same senses, namely sight, and hearing, taste, and smell, and touch, which, if we ascend to higher things, we double five times, and out of the carnal senses we make spiritual ones, as is that saying: "Lift up your eyes, and see, that the fields are already white for harvest". And: "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear". And: "Taste and see, that the Lord is sweet". And: "We are the good odor of Christ unto God, in them that believe". And in the Epistle of John it is said: "That which we have heard and seen, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life".

And finally, seven steps do not suffice, as in the northern region: but after the seven, the number eight is set down, so that we may pass from the Synagogue to the Church, from the old covenant to the new, from earthly things to heavenly. (Verses 28 ff.) "And he brought me into the interior court by the way of the East: and he measured the gate according to the measures above; its chamber, and its front, and its vestibule as above, and its windows and its vestibules round about, in length fifty cubits, and in breadth twenty-five cubits.

And its vestibule," that is, of the exterior court (for which the Seventy and Symmachus have set "interior"); "and carved palm trees on its front on this side and that, and by eight steps was its ascent." From the Northern region, into whose court one ascended by only seven steps, he passes to the Southern gate and the court of the same region, to which one ascends not only by seven, as above, but by eight steps: namely, that we may pass through the old things to the new; and, to speak more plainly, through the patriarchs and prophets, we may come to the apostles: so that in the one there is a "week," in the other an "eight-fold" number. Now he comes to the last, indeed to the highest, and brings the prophet through the way of the interior gate, or through the court, to which one goes by the way of the East.

"Way," according to the Seventy, is found only in this place; in the Northern and Southern region it is altogether omitted, so that we may understand that only in the Eastern gate is that way to be understood, of which it is said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life". For through him we come to the Father, and of him it is written: "Blessed are the undefiled in the way", who savor nothing amiss concerning Christ, but whose faith is pure before him, and in no way defiled by the filth of heretics. And the same number of chambers, fronts, and vestibules, and windows, and their light, and the same measure of length and breadth: namely fifty and twenty-five cubits, preserving the mysteries, and its vestibule of the gate or of the interior court, which according to the Hebrew is set as exterior, so that all things may be held enclosed by the Eastern light, according to that which is written: "Nor is there any that can hide himself from his heat".

But if we take both exterior and interior court: it is to be understood thus, that God is both poured around and poured into, saying through the prophet: "Who holds the heaven in his palm, and the earth in his fist": so that all things may be seen to be enclosed by him. And again: "Heaven is my throne: and the earth is the footstool of my feet", so that he is to be believed to be within all things: according to that Virgilian saying (Aeneid, book 6):

In the beginning the sky and the earth and the watery plains,
the shining orb of the moon, and the Titanian stars,

a spirit within nourishes; and, infused through the limbs, Mind stirs the whole mass, and mingles itself with the great body.

And when, through the arms of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, through glory and dishonor, through good report and evil report, through praises and reproaches, we shall have won the victory over this age: then palm branches are given to us from either side, which neither joys have changed, nor sorrow, nor prosperity, nor adversity have overcome: and by no means through seven steps, as in the region of the North, nor through seven and eight, as is contained in the south: but through eight (alt.

Seven) steps only do we ascend to the summit: because the mystery of the number eight, that is, the Evangelical mystery, suffices for us; so that we may be able to say with the Apostle: "And if we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now henceforth we know him so no more"—"according to the flesh" being understood. (Verses 35 and following) « And he brought me in to the gate that looked toward the North, and he measured it according to the measures above, its chamber, its front, its vestibule, and its windows round about: fifty cubits in length, and twenty-five cubits in breadth. Its vestibule looked toward the outer court, and there was carving of palm trees on the front thereof, on this side and on that, and there were eight steps of its ascent. And at each treasure-chamber there was a door in the fronts of the gates: there they were to wash the holocaust.

And in the vestibule of the gate there were two tables on this side, and two tables on that, upon which the holocaust might be immolated, and the sacrifice for sin, and for trespass. And at the outer side, which goes up to the door of the gate that goes toward the North, two tables, and at the other side, before the vestibule of the gate, two tables. Four tables on this side, and four tables on that: along the sides of the gate there were eight tables, upon which they used to immolate: but four tables for the holocaust were built of squared stones, in length a cubit and a half, and in breadth a cubit and a half, and in height one cubit, upon which they were to place the vessels wherein the holocaust and the victim are immolated. And their lips were of one palm, turned inward round about: and upon the tables were the flesh of the offering. » In this testimony the Hebrew Truth greatly disagrees with the edition of the Seventy Interpreters.

For what we have said: There they shall wash the holocaust, and in the vestibule of the gate two tables on this side, and again: That the holocaust may be immolated upon them, and for sin, is not found in the Seventy: but in most codices it has been added from Theodotion. Again, where we have said: And their lips were of one palm, turned inward round about, the Seventy translated: and having a gison of one palm, hewn on the inside round about. Whether this word is Hebrew or Greek, we cannot know, except this much, that for gison, Symmachus and Theodotion have "lips"; the first edition of Aquila has ἐπίστασεις, in the plural number; the second translated "lips": for which in the Hebrew is found ASEPHATHAIM (השפתים). And where we have said, and upon the tables the flesh of the offering, the Seventy set down of their own: and in the tables there were roofs above, that they might be covered from rain and drought.

But what they rendered in Hebrew names, Thee, and Elau, and Elalamoth, and Elam, what it signifies we have both noted above, and our translation set opposite can show; nor is it necessary to warn the reader repeatedly on this point, and to distrust his prudence and diligence. He is therefore brought in again to the gate that looked toward the North: but not, as above, toward the outer court, but toward the inner. For in what follows it is said: Its vestibule looked toward the outer court, it is shown that this court was on the inside.

Through these the progress of the one entering is shown; while in each place there are proper names and measures, and windows round about full of light showing the whole of knowledge, and through the fifty and twenty-five cubits are set the mysteries of remission and of divine understanding, so that, placed in the vestibule of the inner court, we may see the things outside: contemplating the knowledge of things past and present, through which we come to the double palms and victories, and may come to know the mysteries of the eight steps, having entered the treasure-chambers, in which the riches of the temple are contained, and our prayers are washed from all filth of sin: and the tables on either side are set two by two, so that first the holocaust may be immolated, which the sacred fire wholly consumes, then the offering for sin, and lastly for ignorance: whatever we have committed either knowingly or unknowingly.

At the outer side also, according to the Seventy, there was a channel skillfully made, which carried outside the ashes of the holocausts and the exudations of the flesh; or there were two tables, and at the other side of the vestibule of the same gate two tables, that is, four on each side, four here and four there, and behind, or at their side eight other tables: so that together they make sixteen tables: by which number the mysteries of the prophets are shown: so that whatever we offer through the dignity of the Gospel, we may approve as foretold by their prophecies. And whereas four tables built of squared stones are brought in, and these very ones for sacrifice and holocaust, these are the living stones which are rolled over the earth, and have with them the corner-stone, by which the walls of the Old and New Testament are held together.

But the number four shows the sacraments of the Gospel, having in length and breadth one cubit and a half, that is, in the square, which joined together make three cubits, which three cubits have in height one cubit; so that it may preserve the mysteries of the Trinity of one cubit, that is, the measure of the divine majesty, the Lord saying to his disciples: Go, baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. But the name of God is, as it were, of one cubit's height, which embraces three properties, and ever takes up the holocausts of our offerings.

But upon these very four tables of the holocausts, built of living stones, whose length, and breadth, and height have been described, are placed the vessels in which the holocaust of the martyrs is immolated, of whom it is said: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints; and their victims, who by continence and holiness of body offer their souls to the Lord. And by the name of these tables, I think, are contained the apostles Matthew and Luke, Mark and John: whose crown, bent inward above, went round about the margins, so that it might contain the holocausts within, and not allow them to flow about at random, and might hold the flesh of the offering; or, as the Seventy translated: And the tables themselves were covered above, on account of the violence of rains, and the excessive dryness of the summer sun: so that the flesh placed above them might say with the prophet: The sun shall not burn us by day, nor the moon by night.

Of these, the one dissolves the offerings by excessive rains and the storms of tribulations; the other dries up by the fierce heat of persecutions whatever has been offered. Pardon, reader, the difficulty of these passages; or if you can find something better, teach me: gladly do we learn what we do not know. (Verses 44 and following.) "And outside the front gate the chambers of the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the gate facing the North, and their front toward the South way: one at the side of the East gate, which faced toward the way of the North. And he said to me: This is the chamber which looks toward the south way, for the priests who keep the watches of the temple. But the chamber which looks toward the way of the North shall be for the priests who keep watch for the ministry of the altar: these are the sons of Sadoc, who among the sons of Levi draw near to the Lord to minister to him.

And he measured the court in length a hundred cubits, and in breadth a hundred cubits, square; and the altar before the face of the temple. And he brought me into the porch of the temple: and he measured the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side, and the breadth of the gate three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side. But the length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits, and it was ascended to by eight steps, and its pillars were on the fronts, one on this side, and another on that." Instead of "chambers," the Seventy translated "exedrae." And that which we have rendered "exedrae, or chambers of the singers," was omitted by them.

And again after the measurement of the porch of five cubits on this side and five cubits on that, they added of their own, "and the breadth of the gate was fourteen cubits," whereas in the Hebrew there is only set down, "and the breadth of the gate three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side." I have admonished the reader of these things, lest he be troubled by the diversity of translations, but that in the present passage, and especially in the measurements of the temple, he be content with the Hebrew truth.

Therefore, after the wall, which the Seventy translated περίβολον, which encompassed the whole temple square about, we read that the prophet was brought into the inner court, and then to the North, and to the South, and to the East gate, and again to the North: concerning which, as we have been able, we have spoken, and in whose diversities, whether of names or of measurements, what seemed to us the former discourse has shown: whose meaning the testimony of the Saviour briefly declares, saying: In my Father's house there are many mansions. These things having been completed, he enters the temple, that is, the Holy of Holies, concerning which it is now said, and within the inner gate, the chambers, or exedrae, of the singers. To these that command belongs: Sing to the Lord a new song. Who together with the Angels cry out: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will.

This inner court was situated at the side of the gate which faced toward the North, and toward the South, and toward the East; so that the singers of the Lord might always remember, and those who are held by the office of angels, by what steps they arrived at the heights; and might diligently recognize the mysteries of each place. Finally, that man whose reed and cord was in his hand, when the prophet had been brought into the inner court which faced the southern way, spoke thus: This is the chamber, or exedra; and as Theodotion put it, the chamber, which is set apart for the dwelling of the priests who keep watch in the guardhouses of the temple. But the chamber which looks toward the way of the North shall belong to the priests who keep watch for the ministry of the altar.

In which it is to be noted, that the priests to whom the guarding of the temple has been assigned dwell in the chamber which looks toward the southern way, in which the light is fullest. But those who keep watch for the ministry of the altar, on which victims are offered for sin, are in the chamber which looks toward the way of the North, desiring to receive and save those who come from the North, and offer victims for their sins. Both of these, serving the Lord according to their offices, are called sons of Sadoc, which is interpreted "just," or "justifying," namely the omnipotent God, of whom it is written: The Lord is just, and hath loved justice: his countenance hath beheld equity.

But these sons of Sadoc are of the sons of Levi, which is interpreted "assumed": and they themselves are assumed by the Lord, that they may draw near to him, and it is by no means said only of Moses: Moses drew near to the Lord; but the others did not draw near; but also all who serve him and minister are said to draw near to the Lord. Now that man who brought Ezechiel into the inner court, and, so to speak, into the Holy of Holies, measured the court itself, in which there were two exedrae, or chambers, assigned to the keepers of the temple, or to the dwellings of the altar, and found it a hundred cubits square in length and breadth: so that the Priests of God, serving in the ministry, who had entered by the narrow and strait way, might have very broad walks, and might dwell in the perfect and consummate number of virtues.

And in the same court there was an altar before the face of the temple: so that the prayer of the saints to God might never cease. The aforesaid man also brought Ezechiel into the porch, or πρόπυλον of the temple, which he measured, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that: because he who was brought in had been instructed in divine perceptions, and knew neither the right hand nor the left, but entered by the royal road. Now the breadth of the very gate through which was the entrance to the porch of the temple had three cubits on this side and that. In which the elegance of Holy Scripture is to be observed: that it did not say "from the right and the left," lest it should seem to name something "left" in the Holy of Holies; but "on this side and on that," that is, on each side.

And straightway the prudent reader understands that the ternary number pertains to the mystery of the Trinity, which is the gate of those who enter to God, since the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father, and in both the Holy Spirit. Which ternary number is the one gate of those who, after the baptism of the Trinity, arrive at salvation. But that which follows, "the length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits," seems to raise a question, how the dual number, which refers to two decades, and the number eleven, which seems to have one less to complete the sacred number twelve, should be said to be in the porch of the temple. Which many resolve thus: Although the priests are holy and stationed in the ministries of the temple, and daily offer victims to Christ; yet because they dwell in this mortal and fragile little body, subject to sicknesses and vices, they have the number twenty and eleven.

Whence also the Apostle said: Wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Not that we believe, according to the most savage heresy, that bodies are to be abolished; but that it is our wish to be clothed over, not stripped, and that this mortal thing should put on immortality, and this corruptible thing put on incorruption. But that which follows, "and it was ascended to by eight steps", that is, to the inner gate, creates great difficulty for those who know the Hebrew language.

Finally, Symmachus, whom we have followed in this place, set down eight steps; the Seventy, ten; Theodotion and the second edition of Aquila, eleven; but the first edition set down no number, but simply says, "and the steps by which one ascended to it": so that either, according to the custom of the former gates, we may understand eight steps, as Symmachus also understood, or certainly those which the inner gate had, whose number Scripture did not state (in place of which in the Hebrew is set URO (ורחב), that is, "and the breadth," ASTE (ועשתי), ESRE (עשרה). If this be read thus, it signifies eleven: but if instead of ESRE, that is, "ten," we read ESER (אשר), it does not signify "ten," but the pronoun "which"). These may seem trifles to those unacquainted with the Hebrew tongue: but we are now writing not controversies or orations, in which one is wont to play with the composition of words, but explanations and commentaries on the Hebrew volumes. But let us return to what we had begun.

By eight, or ten steps—which is the perfect number—or eleven, of which we have already spoken, one ascends to the gate of the holy places, on whose fronts were pillars, one on this side, and another on that. He did not say "two," lest he should fall into the dual number, but "one and one," which is the perfect number, and by its unity imitates God. Now these were the two pillars, of which it is also said in the Apocalypse: He that shall overcome, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out no more. And Peter and John are called pillars of the Church, through whom we enter to the Holy of Holies, and by whose doctrine our entrance is to Christ.

(Verses 1 and following.) "And he brought me into the temple, and he measured the fronts, six cubits in breadth on this side, and six cubits in breadth on that side, the breadth of the tabernacle.

And the breadth of the gate was ten cubits, and the sides (or shoulders) of the gate five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side. And he measured its length, forty cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits." After many mysteries, and various entrances, and the properties of each place, at length that man, whose masons' cord and measuring reed was in his hand, brings the prophet Ezechiel into the temple, and measured the front of the temple: for which the Seventy translated "ælam"; and Theodotion, "ælim"; and Symmachus, "round about." And on each side the breadth of the tabernacle was six cubits, containing the mystery of all creatures: for in six days the world was completed. Through the knowledge of these, and the causes and reason of their creation, we enter into the temple of God, and from the order and constancy of creatures we come to know the Creator.

But the breadth of the gate of the temple was ten cubits, which is the sacred and perfect number, and in which, in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, is the fast and the propitiation. But on the tenth day of the first month, which is called Nisan, the lamb is taken for the sacrifice and preparation of the Passover. In the seventh month, therefore, tithes are offered into the granaries of God, or, as Scripture is accustomed to call them, the winepresses. Whence the Apostle also says: Be ye also enlarged; so that after one shall have entered the temple through the ten cubits of the gate, on either side of that gate the sides, or, as it is properly said in the Hebrew, the "shoulders," may be measured, which always refer to works. Whence also Isachar desired good, resting between the two lots, and seeing that rest is good, and the land, that it is fat, he put his shoulder to labor, and became a husbandman.

And in the vestment of the high priest, the ephod is bound together with the rational, so that works may be joined to reason, and the man of the Church may be able to say: From thy commandments I have had understanding. These shoulders of the gate, on each side, had five porticoes, so that through earthly senses and divine—concerning whose difference we have often written—we may enter the inner shrine of the temple, whose length that man, who was the guide of the prophet, measured as forty cubits, and its breadth twenty cubits, or rather, the length and breadth of the gate: because above he had spoken only of its breadth and its shoulders. Now that twenty times forty makes the number eight hundred, which is near to the number eight, no one doubts. Whence in Ecclesiastes it is commanded: Give a portion of seven, and also of eight.

Concerning the mystery of which number I know I have often disputed, whether it is because through tribulations and straits of this age we enter into the sanctuary of the Lord: for this reason the length of the gate had forty cubits, a number always associated with labor. Whence also Moses and Elias for forty days ate no bread, and drank no water: and for forty years the people of Israel is vexed and tried in the wilderness, and through many labors enters the land of promise: and the Lord and Saviour, according to the frailty of the assumed body, is tempted for forty days in the wilderness, that after the victory the angels might come and minister to him.

But when through tribulations and straits we shall be able to say that saying of the Apostle: In everything we are troubled, but not distressed, and that prophetic saying: In tribulation thou hast enlarged me, then a very broad entrance is opened to us, which has a breadth of twenty cubits, so that, having overcome the contests of the world and earthly things—which is itself the dual number—we may enter the inner shrines of the temple, and hear the Lord commanding his disciples: Be of good cheer: I have overcome the world. (Verses 3, 4.) « And having entered within (or into the inner court) he measured at the front (or ælam) of the gate two cubits, and the gate six cubits, and the breadth of the gate seven cubits (or, and the shoulders of the gate seven cubits on this side and seven cubits on that side). And he measured its length (or of the doors) twenty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits, before the face of the temple.

And he said to me: This is the Holy of holies. » However much we advance, a greater advance is always disclosed to us. Whence, after the entrance of the temple, we again enter within, or, as the Septuagint translated, the inner court, in whose front, or æl—for which Symmachus has, about the gate; Theodotion, ælam; the Hebrew, UL (איל); Aquila, doorway; we have interpreted as front—there were two cubits: so that, according to the sense given above, by the number two we might enter into that place where are the Holy of holies. Whence also the gate itself was of six cubits, through which, having entered, we possess eternal rest, which is signified by the number seven. For this the Septuagint translated, and the breadth of the gate seven cubits on this side and seven cubits on that side; in the Hebrew and the other editions only once are the seven cubits set down, in the breadth of the gate.

And what follows: And he measured its length, or, as the Septuagint translated, of the doors, twenty cubits—for which in many manuscripts, following the Septuagint, forty are contained—the breadth also of twenty cubits before the face of the temple, this signifies that before the face of the temple, and its entrance, the measure of past labor and struggle always meets us. For the same reasoning that the double number holds in single numbers, the same two decades hold. And this is to be considered, that having entered within through a gate of two cubits in front, and having six cubits, and seven in breadth on each side, and twenty cubits in length, and the same number in the very doors of the temple, the prophet is taught what that place is, or by what name it is called. For he said, it says, to me: This is the Holy of holies.

But if before the temple, or, as Scripture names it, before the face of the temple, there is the Holy of holies, how great a blessedness must we reckon in the inner shrine of the temple, and in its interior parts! Of which the prophet speaks: This is labor in my sight, until I enter into the sanctuary of God, and understand in their last things. But this too is to be noted, that in the description of the tabernacle they are called the Holy of holies, in the plural number; but here, the Holy of holies, in the singular number, so that after holy things we might come to the holy: just as after many songs we arrive at the Song of songs, which is the song of all songs, and singing which, we are joined in the embraces of the bridegroom. (Verses 5 ff.) « And he measured the wall of the house, six cubits, and the breadth of the side chamber, four cubits, on every side round about the house.

And the side chambers were side to side, twice thirty-three, and there were projections which entered through the wall of the house on the sides round about, so that they might be supported and not touch the wall of the temple. And there was a broad way ascending in a circle: upward by a spiral stair it led up to the upper room of the temple by a circuit. Therefore the temple was broader in the upper parts, and thus from the lower parts one ascended to the upper, to the middle [asterisk] and from the middle parts to the third stories and Thrael: » But what is set down in the LXX, And from the middle parts to the tristega, that is, to the three upper rooms, and Thrael, is not found in the Hebrew.

For Thrael also (which I know not what it signifies; for it is not found in the Hebrew) there is read among them URAITHI (וראיתי), which both we and the others have translated, and I saw, so that the order of the testimony may follow. (Verses 8 ff.) « And I saw in the house the height, founded round about the sides, according to the measure of the reed, in a space of six cubits, and the breadth by the wall of the side chamber outside, five cubits, and the interior of the house among the sides of the house, and between the treasure chambers, a breadth of twenty cubits round about the house on every side. And the door of the side chamber for prayer (which is not found in the Septuagint), one door toward the way of the North, and one door toward the way of the South, and the breadth of the place for prayer (which likewise the Septuagint did not translate), five cubits round about.

And the building that was set apart, and turned toward the way looking toward the sea, of a breadth of seventy cubits: but the wall of the building was of five cubits' breadth round about, and its length ninety cubits ». After he arrived at the Holy of holies, of which we spoke above, that venerable man measured the wall of the Holy of holies, which, because of the fabric of the world, and all visible creation, which was founded in six days, had six cubits, and the breadth of one side of four cubits: not on one side only, but round about. Now the breadth of the house held four cubits round about, so as to show the four elements, out of which all things are compacted, and especially human bodies, against which the saints, contending, and subjecting themselves to the power of the soul, deserve to enter the inner parts, and to know the secrets of the Lord.

Now the very sides which were round about the house, and were separated from the walls of the temple by a space of four cubits, were joined to one another: so that one side touched the other side, and had in length not thirty-three cubits, but twice thirty-three, that is, sixty-six. The Old Testament speaks in Leviticus, that at the birth of a male, after one week, both she who bore and he who was born fulfill thirty-three days, that they may come to purification. But if she bore a female, a double number is observed, that is, sixty-six.

And because, in order that we may come to the Holy of holies, we need not only the first birth, but also the second, that being born in the flesh, we may be born again in the spirit: therefore not sixty-six, but the number of twice thirty and three is set down: so that each birth may be owed to God the author and to His clemency, and the sides which support the fabric of the temple go round with a double wall. And what follows according to the Hebrew: « And there were certain projections, which went out through the wall of the house by the sides round about, so that they might be supported, and not touch the wall of the temple, » signifies this: that holy men, in the multitude of believers, break forth through the wall of the temple, through all the sides indeed round about, and support the foundations of the Church, and yet do not touch the wall of the temple: content only to have seen, and to have adored from afar the ineffable mysteries.

For now we see through a glass in an enigma, and we are not able to touch and comprehend the fullest truth. Now that the way was in a circle, ascending upward by a spiral, and led up to the upper room of the temple by a circuit: and therefore the temple was broader in the upper parts, and thus from the lower parts one ascended to the upper, and the middle: I think it is plain to the reader, that the things below are always narrower, in fastings, χαμευνίαις (lying on the ground), and continence of food, and that little by little, as we climb to the summit, a broader way is opened to us, and there is fulfilled what is written: in tribulation thou hast enlarged me.

Now by the round shape and by the spiral we ascend to the upper room of the temple, which figure, among all σχήματα, is approved as more beautiful even by the philosophers of this age: since both heaven, and the sun, and the moon, and the other stars, and the point of the earth, and also in human bodies, the eyes, as it were other stars, and the shape of the head, which is the receptacle of all the senses, and the rounded fingers, and the thigh, and the arms display this roundness. Now the upper room of the temple, to which we ascend from the narrower places to the higher, I think is that which, in the book of Kings, Elijah had, and Elisha, and in the Acts of the Apostles, Tabitha, that is, δορκάς and our little roe deer, possessed, who by good works had climbed to the heights.

But the apostle Peter, upon whom the Lord established the foundations of the Church, passed beyond the upper room, and came to the roof, which is more significantly called in Greek δῶμα, that is, the terrace of the roof: and he came to know the mysteries of the Church unknown before to the world. The Savior too of the human race made the passover in an upper room, and a great and broad upper room, and, all filth having been purged, and it having been furnished and prepared for a spiritual banquet, where he handed on to his disciples the mystery of his body and blood, and left to us the eternal feast of the unblemished Lamb. And what he added: And from the middle parts to the tristega, that is, third upper rooms, and Thrael, seems to me to be marked with an obelus. For what need is there to discuss things doubtful and unwritten, when we ought to lean upon what is contained in the books held by the Hebrews?

There follows: « And I saw in the house the height founded round about, according to the measure of the reed, in a space of six cubits: and the breadth by the wall of the side chamber outside, five cubits, and between the treasure chambers » (which Symmachus calls ἐξέδρας) « a breadth of twenty cubits round about the house. By these numbers it is shown, that from this world, and from earthly senses, and from the twofold number of two decades, which is referred to twenty, we may deserve to ascend not only into the Holy of holies, but also into their upper rooms, and always to keep in memory, that through the six days of our formation, and through the five senses, and through the twenty cubits of breadth, we may ascend to the upper room of the temple, and, leaving behind earthly lowliness and the sense of the letter, we may pass over to the summit of the Church, and rejoice in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

And the door, he says, of the side chamber for prayer, opposite the way of the North, from which evils blaze forth over all the earth, and which the Lord promises he will drive away from us, saying: And him that is from the North I will drive far off from you. And fittingly, at the door opposite the North, is the place of prayer, so that, according to the Apostle, let us pray without ceasing, and say with Jeremiah: Let not the pupil of my eye be silent, whether wishing to avoid present evils, or giving thanks for past ones. For as long as we are in the tabernacle of this body, we groan, and say: Wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? But also toward the southern way there was a door, and this too, according to the Hebrew, had a place of prayer and extended five cubits round about.

For after the cold of the North we pass over to the heat of the South, and yet again we seek a place of prayer, at the door of the North, that we may escape dangers; at the South, that we may give thanks for things past, and that the possession of victory may be secure to us. Now the five cubits, in this place too, indicate the divine senses, by which we ascend from earthly things to higher things.

And the building, he says, which was separate and turned toward the way looking toward the sea, of the breadth of seventy cubits: that after labors, and dangers, and the waves and shipwrecks of this age, and after seventy years, of which Jeremiah writes, and Daniel, and Zechariah, we may attain the true and lawful sabbath of seven decades: so that there may be for us eternal rest, and through the breadth of five cubits we may come to the length of ninety cubits: at which age, by the promise, Sarah bore a son, who at ninety years, that is, nine decades, brought forth Isaac, joined to Abraham the centenarian, that is, having the mystery of ten decades. What this number signifies, the following Scripture will show. « (Verse 13. Seqq.) And he measured the house, the length of a hundred cubits. And that which was the separate building, and its walls, of the length of a hundred cubits. And the breadth before the face of the house, and of that which was separate toward the East, a hundred cubits.

And he measured the length of the building over against its face, that which was separate at the back. » EKΘETAC (that is, projections) on either side, a hundred cubits: And the inner temple, and the porches of the court. The thresholds and the slanted windows, EKΘETAC, round about on three sides opposite each threshold, and floored with wood round about in a circuit: and the ground reached up to the windows: And the windows were closed. Above the doors, and even to the inner house: And outside along the whole wall round about within: And outside according to measure. And there were wrought Cherubim and palm trees: And a palm tree between Cherub and Cherub: and each Cherub had two faces: the face of a man toward the palm tree on this side, and the face of a lion toward the palm tree on the other side; portrayed throughout the whole house round about. From the ground up to the top of the door, Cherubim and palm trees were carved on the wall of the temple.

The threshold was square: And the face of the sanctuary was aspect against aspect of the wooden altar, its height three cubits: And its length two cubits: And its corners, and its length, and its walls were of wood. LXX: And he measured against *, the house, the length of a hundred cubits: and the rest also, and the separating parts and its walls, in length a hundred cubits: And the breadth over against the face of the temple, and the rest likewise a hundred cubits. And he measured the length of that which separated over against the face of the remaining parts, which were behind the back of that house, and the rest here and there, a hundred cubits in length. And the temple and the corners, and the Ælam outside floored with wood, and windows made in the manner of lattices, three, for giving light, that one might see through them. And the house, and the parts adjoining it, floored with wood round about: And the pavement, and from the pavement up to the windows.

And the windows opened in a triple manner, that one might see through them: even to the inner house, and the outer, and along the whole wall round about within and without, according to measure, and carved Cherubim, and palm trees between Cherub and Cherub. Two faces had the Cherub: the face of a man toward the palm tree on this side, and the face of a lion toward the palm tree on that side: every wall was carved round about from the pavement up to the ceilings, with Cherubim, and palm trees carved.

And the sanctuary and the temple opened by four corners over against the face of the holy places: the appearance was like the likeness of a wooden altar: its height three cubits, and its length two cubits: and its breadth two cubits: and it had horns, and its bases too and its walls were of wood. » The word “against,” which the LXX translated at the beginning of the passage, where it is written: And he measured against the house, is not found in the Hebrew, and therefore it must be marked with an obelus: so that it may be more correct and truer, "and he measured the house, in length a hundred cubits," and the rest.

Now are described the Holy of Holies and the inner temple, which after ninety cubits is said, on three sides, to have a hundred cubits each: namely, the perfect number of ten decades: so that both in mind, and in speech, and in works we may serve the Lord, remembering that Apostolic example in which he says: That we may be able to know what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height. Now what is said in the Hebrew, "the separate building and its walls," the LXX interpret as "the rest and the separating parts," which do not adhere to the walls of the temple, but have their own neighboring walls. The temple itself too, and its corners, and the Ælam, that is, the πρόπυλον, or vestibule, were on the outside floored with wood, namely wisdom, which Scripture records as the wood of life situated in paradise.

The windows too were made in the manner of a lattice, like trelliswork: so that they might be closed not with mirror-stone, nor with glass, but with carved and interlaced woodwork; for which the Hebrew has "slanted windows," which were only on three sides of the temple, namely to the right and to the left, and behind, that is, to the South, and to the North, and to the West. But the eastern part had no windows, because the entrance itself let in clear light within, and all the interior parts of the temple were filled with the light of the doorway, so that through each window and the openings of the lattices one could look inside. And not only the exterior parts were floored with wood, but there was such an abundance of wood all around, that both the pavement and everything from the pavement up to the windows were joined with wood.

These windows, according to the Seventy, opened in a triple manner: so that, when opened, a threefold understanding might be shown in the temple of God, according to that which is said elsewhere: But do thou describe them in a threefold manner. And one may look through them not only inward, but also outward: so that we may know that what is interior is invisible; what is exterior, visible: so that one thing may show the mind, another the flesh, one the spiritual understanding, another the simple history; and along all the walls round about, both within and without, there were their own measures. For nothing was made in the temple of God, and especially in the Holy of Holies, without reason and measure. Cherubim also were carved, no doubt in the woodwork reaching from the pavement up to the windows, and the carvings were so skillfully wrought that they seemed not carved, but attached.

Cherubim are interpreted as "multitude of knowledge." Therefore within, in the inner parts of the temple, after the multitude of knowledge, palm trees also are carved, in which is the sign of victory, the Apostle saying: But I press on toward the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. These palm trees were between Cherub and Cherub, so that one Cherub was flanked on either side by two palm trees: which Cherub did not, as we read at the beginning of this prophet, have four faces, namely of a man, and a lion, and a calf, and an eagle; but only two, that is, of a man and a lion, of which the first pertains to reason, the second to wrath, which is more significantly called in Greek θυμὸς. But we do not mean by wrath that which is akin to disturbance and vice, but that which consolidates the softness of the mind, and makes stronger the spirit of one who is fighting.

For in the beginning we are subject to concupiscence, which relates to the calf, on account of earthly works; and some things are carnal, others spiritual, of which the last is assigned to the eagle. But when we shall have entered the Holy of Holies, and taken possession of the inner parts of the temple, we need nothing else, but reason and fortitude, of which the one pertains to sense and prudence, the other to perseverance of mind. Therefore every wall around the temple, from the pavement to the ceilings, had Cherubim, and palm trees carved with wondrous art: after which the sanctuary and the temple opened by four corners facing the holy places. For first we have the multitude of knowledge, by which we obtain victory over the enemy, and afterward the sanctuary is opened to us, and the temple, which has four corners, and a most firm standing, and one which inclines to no side.

For this is the nature of a quadrangular measure, that it stands upon a stable base, and in the mystical number, which is evident to the prudent reader, possesses solid and perpetual the four elements, of which all things consist. And all things looked toward the face of the sanctuary: before which sanctuary, or in which sanctuary, was the likeness of a wooden altar, three cubits in height, and two cubits in length, two cubits in breadth, which joined together make seven cubits. This altar had horns; and both its bases and its walls, that is, its sides, were of wood, in which the mysteries of Holy Scripture human speech cannot explain: how the altar, on which fire was to be kindled, namely the table of incense, suffers nothing from the fire, but, so to speak, becomes purer by the fire.

For just as the works of the saints, of which the Apostle writes: The fire shall test of what sort each man's work is, do not perish, but through fire are shown to be purer, so also the wood of the altar, which is of the woods of paradise, is not consumed by the neighboring fire, but is rendered purer. Nor is it strange to believe this of the sanctuary, and of the interior of the temple and the altar of incense, since even the asbestos, ἀμίαντος, which is a kind of linen, or has the likeness of linen, the more it is burned, the cleaner it is found. Forgive, reader, the difficulty, and grant pardon to a poor understanding.

For through the slanted windows, made in the manner of a lattice, and which are always closed, we can scarcely bring the eye of our understanding even so far as the inner house of our heart, so that we may see all the things we behold in shadow and in image, and cry out with the Apostle: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! And: Who has known the mind of God, except he who is the angel of great counsel, and who can open his mysteries to the worthy?

Now the ἐκθέτας are called at Rome sun-terraces, projecting from the walls of upper rooms, or Meniana, from him who first invented them, which some of the Greeks call ἐξώστρας. (Verses 23 and following.) And he spoke to me: This is the table before the Lord, and there were two doors in the temple and in the sanctuary, and in the two doors on either side there were twin little doors, which folded back upon themselves. For there were twin doors on either side of the doors, and there were carved on the very doors of the temple Cherubim and carvings of palm trees, just as they were also represented on the walls. Wherefore also the timbers were thicker on the front of the vestibule outwardly: above which there were slanting windows, and the likeness of palm trees on this side and that on the little shoulders of the vestibule, according to the sides of the house and the width of the walls. In this passage the Septuagint edition differs greatly from the Hebrew truth.

Whence I will only note this: that instead of “thicker timbers” they translated σπουδαῖα, that is, necessary, or worthy of care, and instead of “slanting windows,” “hidden,” and that at the end of the testimony it is set down: and he measured on this side and that the coffered ceilings of the lintel, or of the vestibule, and the sides of the house, compacted, or joined together, which they rendered ἐζυγωμένα, for which we may translate “of equal weight.” That man, then, who had led the prophet into the hidden places of the temple, and among other things had shown him the wooden altar, which according to the LXX had both corners and horns and wooden walls, said to him: This altar which you behold is itself the table before the Lord, which burns in the likeness of the bush, and is not consumed; of which the saint speaks to God: Thou hast prepared a table before me against them that afflict me.

There were also two doors in the temple and in the sanctuary itself, through which the mysteries of both Testaments are shown, and in the two doors on either side there were twin little doors, which folded back upon themselves: so that you may have in the history a spiritual understanding, and in the tropology the truth of history, of which each needs the other, and if one be lacking, the knowledge is not complete. But what follows: “There were twin doors on either side of the doors,” is plain according to the letter. For it is customary in larger dining-halls for twin doors to be joined and fastened together: so that the greater entrance is closed or opened not by two immense doors, but by four smaller ones. On these doors of the temple, or of the holy of holies, were carved the Cherubim, of whom we have spoken above, and the carvings of palm trees, so that after the abundance of knowledge, victory might be offered to those entering.

This carving of palm trees was also on all the walls of the Temple. And he gives the reasons why the Cherubim were carved on the doors themselves, and the likenesses of palm trees expressed. Whence also the timbers were thicker in the vestibule of the gate outwardly: so that they might have both firmness and be able to receive carving. And beautifully, according to spiritual understanding, the doors are made both firmer and carved, so that they might have both firmness and beauty, lest anyone, like Uzziah, should be able to break into the holy of holies and claim the priesthood for himself (2 Chron. 26). Above these doors were windows that were slanting, or hidden, so that even the light which was afforded within might not have perfect knowledge, nor a clear light open to all, but might for the most part be hidden.

For now we see in a riddle; and we do not yet know as we ought to know: but when that which is perfect has come, then that which was in part shall be done away. And there was the likeness of palm trees on this side and that. Elegantly, in the interior parts of the Temple, and in the holy of holies, he did not set right and left: lest he should seem to say anything sinister of these things which are great and hidden; but “on this side and that,” according to that which is written in the Gospel: Whosoever shall strike thee on thy right cheek, offer him the other also. Could he not have said, and the left? But when the right is struck, another right is offered: because in the holy man both are right, both are perfect.

And on the little shoulders of the vestibule, according to the sides of the house and the width of the walls: for which the LXX translated, “in the coffered ceilings of Ælam,” that is, of the propylaeum, and the sides of the house, of equal weight, or measure: by which it is latently shown that both the posts of the lintel, or of the vestibule (for this is what the “little shoulders” seem to signify), and the sides of the house, and the width of the walls, are all full of reason and measure, and that nothing is found in the temple of the Lord that has been established without measure and wisdom.

The thirteenth book of the Explanations on Ezekiel is the second of the exposition of the temple, which, together with the fourteenth, with the help of our Saviour, I desire to dictate through to the end, singing that same number with David in the fourteenth psalm: Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle? Or who shall rest in thy holy mountain? Which we ought to receive as both difficult and impossible. Whence also in another place, as a man of desires, he prays more earnestly and says: One thing have I asked of the Lord, this will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may behold the delight of the Lord, and visit his holy temple. And again: How beloved, he says, are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts: my soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord.

I forestall the curses of rivals, who consider not what they themselves can do, but what I cannot do: and while they pass judgment on our work, they offer nothing of their own to be judged, never fighting in the contest, but judging those who fight, with an idle, nay a haughty spirit. It is easy to dictate opinions about the people, and to find fault with individual blows, and to laugh at another’s blood, and, in the manner of an unskilled fencing-master, to discourse on where the wound ought to have been inflicted. I confess that in the exposition of the temple of Ezekiel, and of the other things which pertain to the end of this very volume, I am writing nothing worthy of the greatness of the subject, and that in the few things, if indeed I shall have deserved to receive any, I give thanks to the Saviour. For it is written: Unless you believe, you shall not understand.

And in another place: If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, and shall say to this mountain, Remove and be planted in the sea, it shall be done. And how does the Apostle recall that a grain of mustard seed is not a small portion of faith, but the whole of faith, saying: And though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains (1 Cor.:)? Therefore this grain of mustard seed, even though it be small, grows up into a great tree, and the birds of the air dwell in its branches.

Wherefore, to you, daughter Eustochium, who gladly accept whatever our work may be, I wish to make this attestation, and briefly recall that saying of the rhetorician Victorinus, that you should know the obscurity of books arises from three causes: either the greatness of the subject, or the ignorance of the teacher, or the dullness of the hearer: of which the first and second I will openly confess in this work; the third your keen intellect and desire for the Scriptures easily refuses: for by the privilege of virginity, and by the continence of your life, you possess God not, I would say, as a frequent, but as a constant guest. Let us then take up the thirteenth book on Ezekiel, whose beginning is this:

(Verses 1 and following.) “And he brought me out into the outer court by the way leading toward the north, and he led me into the chamber which was opposite the separate building, and opposite the structure facing the north. In the face of the length, a hundred cubits, the door of the north: and in width fifty cubits, opposite the twenty cubits of the inner court: and opposite the pavement paved with stone of the outer court, where there was a portico joined to a triple portico. And before the chambers there was a walk of ten cubits in width, looking toward the interior, of one cubit’s way: and their doors were toward the north, where there were chambers, lower in the upper parts, because the porticoes which projected from them bore up over the lower and the middle parts of the building. For they were three-storied, and had no columns, as the columns of the courts had: therefore they projected from the lower and middle parts, fifty cubits from the ground. And the outer enclosure, corresponding to the chambers, which…”

were in the way of the outer court before the treasuries: its length was fifty cubits. For the length of the treasuries of the outer court was fifty cubits, and the length before the face of the temple was a hundred cubits. And beneath these treasuries was an entrance from the east for those entering into them from the outer court: in the breadth of the enclosure of the court which was opposite the east way, at the face of the separate building. And before the building were treasuries, and a way before their face after the likeness of the treasuries which were in the way of the north, according to their length, and so their breadth. And every entrance of them, and their likenesses, and their doors, according to the doors of the treasuries which were in the way looking toward the south, a door at the head of the way, which was before the separate vestibule by the eastern way for those entering.

LXX: And he led me out into the outer court toward the east, opposite the north gate, and he brought me in, and behold, five chambers by the side of the building, and near the separate building toward the north: and opposite, a hundred cubits in length toward the north, and fifty cubits in breadth, laid out like the gates of the inner court, and like the columns of the outer court, in a row, opposite the face of the triple portico, and opposite the chambers of the walkway, ten cubits in breadth, along a hundred cubits in length into the inner way of one cubit, and their doors toward the north. And the walkways of the upper rooms likewise, since the columns projected from the lower columns, and the space was similar.

And the porticoes were triple, and did not have columns like the columns in the outer parts: therefore they projected from those which were below, and in the middle, fifty cubits from the ground, and the outer light was like that of the chambers of the outer court, which looked opposite the chambers of the north, fifty cubits in length. For the length of the chambers looking into the outer court was fifty cubits. And these are opposite their own face, all a hundred cubits, and the doors of these chambers were toward the eastern entrance, so that one might enter through them into the outer court, according to the light which was at the beginning of the walkway toward the south, opposite the south, and the face of the rest of the building, and of the separate part.

And the chambers and the walkway opposite their own face, according to the measures of the chambers and the way toward the north, and their length, and their breadth, and every outlet of them, and entrance, and lights, and doors of the chambers toward the south, and the entrance from the beginning of the walkway to the light, a space of a reed: and that one might go toward the east through them.” This which the LXX rendered “toward the east” is not found in the Hebrew, and it is plainly superfluous. For how is one led out to the outer gate toward the east, when it follows, “opposite the north gate”? That which also above, and may have the same force as the twenty-fold measure of the inner court. For if you reckon four times five, in the number twenty, you will find both Testaments: so that the Law is held in the Gospel, and the Gospel is born from the root of the Law.

Instead of which number the LXX rendered “the likeness of the inner court,” perhaps fearing to place the number twenty—in which Esau’s gifts are offered—in the inner court. There follows: And opposite the pavement paved with stone of the outer court: where there was a portico joined to a triple portico; for which the LXX translated: “And as the columns of the outer court set in order, opposite the face of the triple porticoes.” This signifies that the pavement of the outer court was paved with living stone, so that neither the dust of summer nor the mud of winter should defile the footsteps of the priests.

Whence also the Lord, about to ascend to the Father, washes the feet of the Apostles, that with feet cleansed and purged they might climb up to the kingdoms of heaven: and he commands the apostles that into whatever city they enter, if they are not received, they shake off the dust of their feet: so that, namely, they allow nothing of earthly rewards to remain with them from those people. Not only was the pavement paved with stone, but the portico was also joined to a triple portico. One portico, protecting the priests from rain and heat, and joined to a triple portico, shows forth the mystery of the Trinity, which, although distinguished by the names of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is nevertheless joined together in one Godhead. There was also before the treasuries, or chambers, or bedchambers, a walkway ten cubits in breadth, looking toward the interior of the way of one cubit.

And that which was added by the LXX, “along a hundred cubits in length,” is superfluous, because it is not found in the Hebrew; those who inserted it took away what is in the Hebrew, “looking toward the interior of the way of one cubit,” which we have translated from the Hebrew truth. This signifies that before the doors of all the treasuries, or chambers, and bedchambers, there was a walkway having a breadth of ten cubits, which is itself a perfect number, either on account of the Decalogue, or on account of the mystery of the Gospel. For if you proceed from one, through two and three, to the fourth number, the number ten of the Gospels is produced: in the breadth of which the priests walk, going before each of the treasuries: in such a way, indeed, that they always look toward the interior of that way which leads to one cubit, namely, to the worship of the one Godhead, the Son saying to the Father: I have revealed thy name to men.

For it is that very way, looking toward the interior, which says in the Gospel: I am the way, and the life, and the truth: because no one comes to the knowledge of the Father except through the Son. There follows: And their doors toward the north, where the treasuries in the upper stories were lower: because they supported the porticoes which projected from them, from the lower and middle parts of the building. For they were three-storied, and did not have columns as the columns of the courts had: therefore they projected from the lower and the middle parts, fifty cubits from the ground. That which is joined, “their doors,” is to be understood of the chambers, or treasuries, of which mention was made above. These treasuries, which were in the upper stories, that is, in the upper rooms, were lower.

To these upper rooms Elijah and Elisha went up: and the Lord, about to make the Passover with his disciples, and Tabitha, who was raised up both by the faith of the Apostle and by the merit of her own virtues. These are the upper rooms of which it is written in the Psalm: Who watereth the mountains from his upper rooms. For unless one has been made a mountain, and has risen to higher things, he will not be watered by the rains of the Lord, who according to the diversity of merits is watered from the first, second, or third upper room. The treasuries themselves too, that is, the treasures of the riches of the Lord, are lower in the upper stories. For the higher one is, the more he is cast down in humility along with the Apostle, saying: Who am not worthy to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God.

Now these treasuries in the upper rooms were lower, because they supported porticoes which projected from them, from the lower and the middle parts of the building. And he gives the reasons why the treasuries placed in the upper rooms were lower. Because, he says, they supported porticoes, which enjoyed the freedom of the open air, and projected from the lower and middle parts of the building: so that the second upper room was more elevated than the pavement of the lower house, and the third upper room was loftier than the second, and the higher one climbed, the loftier upper room he used, which grew by humility, the Lord saying: Whoever wishes to be greater among you, let him become the least of all. For they were not carried by other columns, as we read of the columns of the courts; but they projected from the lower and middle parts, fifty cubits from the ground, the number of the remission of all debts.

These are the three-storied buildings of which it is commanded: Describe them threefold, with counsel and knowledge, that thou mayest answer with words of truth to those who question thee. The lower and outer parts, therefore, need columns; but the higher and inner parts do not need the use of columns, that is, of another’s help. After this it is said: And the outer enclosure according to the treasuries, which were in the way of the outer court before the treasuries, its length was fifty cubits: because the length of the treasuries of the outer court was fifty cubits, and the length before the face of the temple was a hundred cubits. The enclosure signifies the wall which was outer, and encircled the treasuries in the way of the outer court, having in length fifty cubits: concerning the mystery of which number we have often spoken.

Further, the length before the face of the temple was by no means fifty cubits, as before the treasuries; but a hundred cubits: so that, after the remission of all sins, we may await perfect rewards in the number one hundred. Instead of “enclosure,” or “wall,” which in Hebrew is called GADER (גדר), the LXX rendered “light,” which comes from outside, and illumines the eyes of our heart: since the nature of our own light, which operates in sense-perception, does not suffice to have the perfect brightness of knowledge, unless it enters from outside through the grace of God. This first illumines the eyes of our heart, and makes all the outer court, which extends fifty cubits in breadth, grow bright. Afterward, indeed, when we shall have come before the face of the temple, we shall receive perfect rewards in the number one hundred. Now beneath the treasuries there was an entrance from the east for those entering into them from the outer court.

For we must possess the riches of God, and find an entrance from the outer court beneath the treasuries of the east, and through the breadth of the enclosure, which looks toward the way of the east, come to the building which is set apart for the saints, before which are the treasuries, and in that very way the likeness of the treasuries which were in the way of the north. For although we arrive at the entrance of the east, nevertheless the likeness of the greater things is in the lesser, and we cannot arrive at the light of the east except through the way of the north, that is, through the lesser and lower things we must strive toward the greater and higher. Now in that very entrance the length was similar to the breadth, that is, the same measure throughout, square: and every entrance and the likenesses, and the doors had the same measure and likeness as the treasuries which were in the way looking toward the south.

For through the east, quenching the colds of the north, we arrive at the south, in which the bridegroom reclines at noon, and dwells in full light. Now at the head of that same way, that is, the eastern way, which lies open to those entering, there is a door, which unless it has been opened by him who says: I am the door, and who has the key of David, we cannot arrive at the vestibule set apart for the saints by virtues, and which receives those coming from the north. It is superfluous to discuss each word of this passage according to the LXX: since both these things which have been said are not without obscurity, and those which we pass over in silence are nearly similar to those which we have said. (Verses 13, 14.) And he said to me: The chambers of the North, and the chambers of the South, which are before the separate building, these are the holy chambers in which the priests eat who approach the Lord in the holy of holies.

There they shall put the holy of holies, and the offering for sin and for trespass: for the place is holy. But when the priests have entered, they shall not go out from the holy places into the outer court, and there they shall lay up their garments in which they minister, because they are holy: and they shall be clothed with other garments, and so shall come forth to the people. That man who was the guide of the prophet, after he had led him into the outer court, and had shown him all the things which the preceding discourse related, the chambers also, or the storerooms, in which he had tarried a very long time, said to him: These are the chambers, or the storerooms and inner rooms, toward the North and toward the South, which are before the separate building, and are called the holy chambers, in which the priests eat, who approach the Lord in the holy of holies.

From this we learn that there are many varieties of foods, of which it is lawful or not lawful for the priests to eat, and that even of those which it is lawful to take as food, they are not taken in all places, nor by all, nor at every time. I think that the chambers of the North and of the South are those which either contain the simplicity of the history, or the mysteries of spiritual understanding, so that through the North we may come to the South. For the letter is not to be read, nor the foundations of the history to be laid, in such a way that we do not come to the heights; nor should the roof of so beautiful a building be placed such that the foundations are by no means solid. But the priests who eat in the storerooms, in which many riches are contained, are themselves those who approach the Lord: concerning whom Scripture testifies that Moses approached the Lord, and the rest were not able to draw near.

In the building of the mystical temple, and in the sacrament of the Church, there are many priests and apostolic men who draw near to the Lord, and not in just any place, but in the holy of holies. And that which is said according to the Seventy: "Sons of Sadoc," which is interpreted "just," is not found in the Hebrew. There, he says, the priests shall put the holy of holies, and the offering, that is, the victim of the holocaust, and for sin, and for ignorance: so that they may not only offer continual sacrifice, but according to the diversity of times and the quality of the sin and of the ignorance, may know how to appease the Lord, because the place itself is holy, and the priestly dignity abides in it, which is able to intercede for the rest.

But when they must go forth to those who cannot penetrate the inner shrines of the temple, nor come to know the secrets of divine knowledge: let the priests, he says, go forth to them outside into the outer court: by no means with those garments with which they had been clothed within, namely the bowels of mercy, and the Lord the Savior, concerning whom it is written: "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ"; nor let them use those words of which God speaks: "My mystery to myself and to mine"; lest they fall into that which the Savior forbids, saying: "Give not that which is holy to dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine". But they shall lay up their garments within, with which they are clothed when they minister in the inner shrines of the temple; for they are holy, and ought not to be brought forth to those who do not have perfect holiness: and they shall take other garments, and so go forth to the people.

Thus, he says, they shall speak to the people in such a way as the people can hear. Whence also the Apostle spoke to the Corinthians, among whom fornication was heard of, and such fornication as was not even among the Gentiles: "I gave you milk to drink, not meat," that is, solid food; "for you were not yet able". To whom again he says: "My little children, of whom I travail again in birth, until Christ be formed in you". For to little ones and infants not only does solid food not profit, but it kills them, food which is fitting for those of perfect age.

But that which was added by the Seventy: "Therefore the priests shall not go out into the outer court, that they who offer may always be holy," let us mark with an obelus, because it is not found in the Hebrew. (Verses 15 and following.) And when he had finished the measures of the inner house, he brought me out by the way of the gate that looked toward the East; and he measured it round about on every side (or the likeness of the house round about in order). And he measured against the East wind (or, and I stood behind the gate that looked toward the East) with the measuring reed round about five hundred reeds, by the measuring reed all around. And he measured against the North wind five hundred reeds, by the measuring reed round about. And toward the South wind he measured five hundred reeds, by the measuring reed round about. And toward the West wind he measured five hundred reeds, by the measuring reed.

On the four winds he measured its wall round about on every side, in length five hundred cubits, and in breadth five hundred cubits, dividing between the sanctuary and the place of the common people. It should be known that after the East wind and the North, in the South wind and the West wind, the order in the Septuagint is reversed. For they first placed the West, that is, the sea; and afterward the South, whereas among the Hebrews the South wind is placed first, and afterward the West. And whereas Scripture now says: "And when he had finished the measures of the inner house, he brought me out by the way of the gate that looked toward the way of the East," it shows that all the things said above, both outside and within, and in the interior parts of the temple, that is, of the holy of holies, properly pertain to the building of the temple, and of the inner temple.

Whence it now follows: "He brought me out by the way of the gate that looked toward the way of the East, and he measured it round about on every side, or the likeness of the house." By which it is shown that it is not the house itself, but the likeness of the house, which is seen: because "now we see through a glass in a dark manner: but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away". Whence also Moses in the tabernacle, and Solomon in the building, made not the truth of the tent or temple, but a likeness and figure: so that through these lesser and earthly things we might be able to understand those things which are in the heavenly places, and in the spiritual building.

But the man who had led the prophet out, not into the outer court, but by the way of the gate that looked toward the way of the East, first measured, against the East wind, that is, toward the Eastern region, five hundred reeds round about; secondly, toward the North; thirdly, toward the South; fourthly, toward the sea, that is, toward the West, that is to say, on the four winds, the wall round about, both in length and in breadth, that is, in a square, which wall together had two thousand reeds. But if the reed was six cubits and one palm—the palm being a sixth part of a cubit—it is clear that the outer wall had round about two thousand reeds, which make twelve thousand three hundred and thirty-three cubits, and one third over the two thousand. Let the prudent and diligent reader read the book of Joshua the son of Nun, and he will find how this measure is observed in the suburbs.

Whence also the legion of demons chose this number for the suffocation of the swine, so that he who is separated from those serving God by the Lord's precept might be turned to the opposite side, unto the destruction of those who pursue a life worthy of mire and filth. But the whole wall which is outer, and has the most spacious length and breadth in a square, contains the number of the apostles, that is, twelve thousand: so that to each apostle a thousand may be assigned, and yet it does not come to the measure of the fullness of Christ and of the perfect man, unless there be joined to it also the palm, which is three hundred thirty-three cubits and a third of a cubit: by which the mystery of the holy and venerable Trinity is shown, which girds and encloses all things, and renders the inhabitants of its temple most secure.

Whence the ark of Noah has a length of three hundred cubits, and a height of thirty cubits, which is completed in one cubit. But the fifty cubits which are added there in breadth signify (as we have often said) the sacrament of remission. Whence also the Lord came to baptism at thirty years, and this same prophet at the beginning of his volume sets down the thirtieth year: which number, three hundred and thirty, is completed by the addition of three and a third part.

But that which, through the simplicity of interpretation, while we attended too little because of the speed of dictation, both the Seventy and our own translation have—"its wall round about on every side, in length five hundred cubits, and in breadth five hundred cubits"—the Hebrew text does not contain; but simply, "the length of five hundred, and the breadth of five hundred," so that "reeds" is understood: just as it was said above four times, that toward the East wind, and toward the North, and toward the South, and toward the sea, by five hundred reeds, the wall of the several sides was measured by him who held the reed. But the number five hundred, which is near to fifty, pertains to the remission of all sins, as is shown not only by the old Scripture, but also by the words of the Savior in the Gospel, saying: "There were two debtors of a certain creditor: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty".

And the wall divides between the sanctuary and the place of the common people. From which we understand that the whole description of the temple above was delegated to the ministries of the priests, who are the sons of Sadoc. But this wall, which is spread over so great a space, and encompasses the whole, separates the sanctuary from the place of the common people.

(Verses 1 and following.) And he brought me to the gate that looked toward the way of the East: and behold the glory of the God of Israel entered by the way of the East: and his voice was like the voice of many waters: and the earth shone with his majesty. And I saw a vision like the appearance which I had seen when he came to destroy the city: and the appearance was according to the sight which I had seen by the river Chobar, and I fell upon my face.

And the majesty of the Lord entered into the temple by the way of the gate that looked toward the East. And the spirit lifted me up, and brought me into the inner court: and behold the glory of the Lord filled the house. And I heard one speaking to me out of the house. And the man who stood beside me said to me: Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, they and their kings, by their fornications, and by the carcasses of their kings, and by the high places: who built their threshold near my threshold, and their posts near my posts: and there was a wall between me and them: and they defiled my holy name by the abominations which they committed: for which I consumed them in my wrath.

Now therefore let them put far from me their fornication, and the carcasses of their kings: and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever. LXX: And he brought me to the gate that looked toward the East [obelus] and he brought me out: and behold the glory of the God of Israel was coming by the way of the East: and the voice of the camp was like the voice of many doubling: and the earth shone as with lightning from the glory round about. And the vision which I saw was according to the vision which I had seen when I entered to anoint the city [obelus] And the vision of the chariot which I saw was according to the vision which I had seen upon the river Chobar: and I fell upon my face. And the glory of the Lord entered the house by the way of the gate that looked toward the East.

And the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court: and behold the glory of the Lord filled the house. And I stood, and behold a voice out of the house speaking to me: and a man stood beside me, and said to me: Hast thou seen, son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the print of my feet, in which my name shall dwell in the midst of the house of Israel for ever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, they and their leaders, by their fornication and by the murders of their leaders in their midst, when they set my threshold by their thresholds, and my posts near their posts. And they made my wall as it were joined between me and themselves: and they defiled my holy name by the iniquities which they committed. And I destroyed them in my fury and in slaughter.

And now let them cast away their fornication, and the murders of their leaders, from me: and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever. The Seventy has very great obscurity: how Ezekiel entered so as to anoint the city; against whose prophecy and threatening it fell: unless perhaps we should say that the reproof of the prophet is the anointing of the city, and the anointing of oil is of sacerdotal and royal exultation, so that those who willingly receive it, and are willing to hear it, are made anointed of the Lord, of whom it is written: Touch not my Anointed ones, and do no evil to my prophets. But according to the anagogical sense he can anoint the city, of which it is written: Glorious things are spoken of thee, city of God; he who saw the vision of the chariot and the mysteries of God, which Ezekiel beheld upon the river Chobar, which signifies burden and weight.

For what is heavier than the rivers of Babylon, upon which David sat and wept when he remembered Sion? Of which it is written: For the fashion of this world passeth away. And I think nothing in the confusion of this age is permanent: but all things pass away and flow. Whoever considers these things will fall upon his face, understanding how far he is from the majesty of God, and will bend his knees to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ.

And when, he says, I had fallen, the majesty of the Lord entered the temple by the way of the gate which looked toward the East, and the spirit immediately lifted me up (for lying I was not able to proceed), and brought me into the court of destruction, for I had fallen outside; and behold, I who had before seen the glory of the God of Israel coming by the way of the East, saw his house filled with the glory of the Lord, and I heard a voice speaking to me from the inner house. What it spoke, Scripture does not narrate, unless perhaps that of the Apostle: And I heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. But the man, he says, who stood beside the prophet, said to him: whom we clearly understand to be the Lord.

For to whom else could this that follows apply: Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever, unless to him who dwells in the Church in the midst of the children of Israel who behold God, and dwells forever, not according to the temple of Solomon for a time? And his place is that of which it is written: And his place is made in peace, which surpasses all understanding: And the place of the soles of his feet, the Apostles saying: Let us adore in the place where his feet stood. And he said beautifully, stood: for in the Church the feet of the Lord stand, in the synagogue they walk and pass by. But that we may know this is said of the Church, it is joined: And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name: which properly pertains to those who dwell in the Church of holy conversation.

But who they are who before defiled the holy name of God, he sets forth more plainly: They and their kings, both people and priests, in their fornications by which they fornicated from God: and in the ruins of their kings, who in vain through pride assume to themselves the royal name. Then follows: And in the high places. For an arrogant mind offends God: a humble one provokes mercy. Who, after pride, or rather through pride, have built their threshold next to my threshold, and their posts next to my posts. Let little women burdened with sins, who are carried about by every wind of doctrine, always learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth, hear this according to the letter: that it is a mind joined to God, not the neighborhood of churches and nearness of dwelling, that provokes the clemency of God toward itself; rather it stirs up the indignation of the Lord, when in places consecrated to God there is an unworthy inhabitant.

They have built, he says, their threshold next to my threshold, so that there would be no difference between the sacred and the profane, and their posts next to my posts, so that there would be one entrance for laymen and priests. Whence also the Apostle says: But let a man examine himself, and so let him approach to the body and blood of the Lord. And that he might make what he was saying more weighty, he adds the following verse: And there was a wall between me and them; so that a very short wall divided the priestly sacrifices and the places of the sacraments of the body and blood of Christ. And they defiled, he says, my holy name, by the abominations which they committed. What good is the nearness of dwelling, and a wall in between our little cell and the altar of the Lord, when in those things which we do secretly, and which it is even shameful to mention, the name of the Lord is contaminated and defiled?

I think this, that no one defiles the name of the Lord, except him who has seemed to believe in his name, and to be reckoned under his title. And just as he takes away the members of Christ and makes them members of a harlot who has first believed in Christ: so he defiles the name of God who has first received the faith of his name. Otherwise, though a pagan and a Jew are defiled and contaminated, indeed are contamination and defilement itself, they cannot defile and contaminate the name of God: it is those who defile it of whom it is said: My name is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you. For these causes therefore I consumed them in my wrath, because they did these things which we have mentioned.

And yet the merciful Lord again commands the prophet to bid them remove far from him their former fornications and the ruins of their kings and princes, and to repel them not so much from himself as from God: and he immediately promises the rewards of good work, saying: And I will dwell in the midst of them, of which it is said in the Gospel: There stands one among you whom you know not: and he will dwell not for a short time, as in the Synagogue, but forever, which is proven in the Church of Christ. (Verses 10 and following.) But thou, son of man, show the house of Israel the temple: and let them be ashamed of their iniquities, and let them measure the fabric, and blush at all that they have done.

The figure of the house and its fabric, its goings out and its comings in, and its whole description, and all its ordinances: and its whole order, and all its laws show them, and thou shalt write them before their eyes, that they may keep all its distributions and its precepts, and do them. This is the law of the house on the top of the mountain: All its boundaries round about shall be Most Holy. This then is the law of the house. The Seventy: And thou, son of man, show the house of Israel the house, and they shall cease from their sins, and its vision, and its arrangement: and they themselves shall bear their torment for all that they have done.

And thou shalt describe the house and its preparation, and its goings out and comings in, and its substance and all its precepts, and all its ordinances and all its laws he shall show them, and thou shalt describe it before them: and let them keep all my justifications and all my precepts, and let them do them, and the description of the house on the top of the mountain, all its boundaries round about are the Holy of Holies. This is the law of the house. It is no small work, to demonstrate to hearers with the eyes of the flesh, or with the mind, what you have beheld, so that they too may seem to have seen it with you. Wherefore Josephus also writes that those who were sent by Jesus the son of Nave to survey the land were γεωμέτρας (surveyors), and possessed that art which is now proper to philosophers, geometry.

To the house of Israel, then, of those who behold God with the mind, the house is shown, that is, the temple which Ezekiel saw situated on a mountain, and not only on a mountain, but as is now said, on the summit of the mountain: which we should by no means suppose to be that which is narrated as built by Solomon in the books of Kings and Chronicles. For that one is of another order and measure, and has great diversity in its several parts: and is so much inferior to the temple which is now shown to Ezekiel, that not only its worshippers and custodians, but even its builder Solomon himself sinned and offended God, although afterward he did penance, writing the Proverbs, in which he says: At the last I did penance, and I looked to choose discipline.

But that which is shown to Ezekiel, and through Ezekiel to the house of Israel, is such that whoever beholds it with the mind ceases from his iniquities: not from some, but from all; or, as it is contained in the Hebrew, is confounded; and bears his torment for all that he has done. But he bears the torment of his iniquities who ceases to commit past sins: and it profits greatly him who has sinned before, to see the house of God, and to know the reason of its whole fabric; that he may cease to sin, and having desire of it, may say to the Lord: Lord, I have loved the beauty of thy house, and the place where thy glory dwelleth. And again: One thing have I asked of the Lord, this will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, when I shall begin to live and to be with Christ, who is the life of believers.

There follows: Its goings out and its comings in, understood, of the house. But the goings out are of those who go forth to those who are outside, and the comings in are of those who, through the discipline of teachers, penetrate to the inward parts. And all, he says, its description, or its substance, as the Seventy they translated, which pertains not so much to the nature of the house as to its furnishings and riches. And show them all the precepts, and the whole order, and all the laws of the temple, to those who have borne the torment of their iniquities and have ceased, or are confounded, over what they had done before. Show it to him for this reason, that they may keep all the things that are commanded. For it profits nothing to know the description of the house and all its distributions, of which it is written: Many mansions are with my Father.

And again: He set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the sons of Israel, or of the angels of God, unless you do the things that are commanded. But the house and the law of all God's precepts, and the city that is set on the height of the mountain, is to be believed to be that of which it is written: A city set upon a mountain cannot be hid. And: The rush of the river makes glad the city of God: which is plainly referred to the Church, and is situated on that mountain which is at the summit of all mountains, and from which the prince of Tyre was wounded: and all the bounds and limits of this house are the holy of holies.

In that house, that is, in the tabernacle which Moses built, and in the temple which was constructed by Solomon, only the inner parts, where were the Cherubim, and the mercy-seat, and the ark of the testament, and the table of incense, were called the holy of holies. But in this house which is shown to Ezekiel, and which is set on the summit of the mountain, all its bounds are reckoned as holy of holies. And what is added, This is the law of the house, pertains either to the things already said, or to those which are to be said afterward. (Verse 13 ff.) "These are the measures of the altar in the most exact cubit, which had a cubit and a palm (or παλαιστή) in its bosom: and a cubit in breadth: and the boundary unto its lip round about, of one palm. This also was the trench of the altar.

And from the bosom of the earth unto the lowest ledge, two cubits, and the breadth one cubit; and from the lesser ledge unto the greater ledge, four cubits, and the breadth one cubit. And the ariel itself was of four cubits; and from the ariel upward were four horns. And the ariel was twelve cubits in length, by twelve cubits in breadth, square with equal sides. And the ledge was fourteen cubits in length, by fourteen in breadth on its four corners, and a crown round about it of half a cubit, and its bosom of one cubit round about. And its steps looked toward the East." The Septuagint: "And this is the measure of the altar in the perfect cubit: a cubit and a παλαιστή, its bosom in height round about, and a cubit in breadth: and the gisus by its lip round about, of one palm.

And this is the height of the altar, from the depth of its beginning in its bosom, unto the great mercy-seat, which was underneath, of two cubits, and the breadth of a cubit. And from the lesser mercy-seat unto the greater mercy-seat, four cubits: and the breadth a cubit: and the ariel four cubits: and from the ariel unto the upper part of the horns, a cubit. And the ariel itself had twelve cubits in length: and twelve cubits in breadth of the four corners on each of its sides: and the mercy-seat of fourteen cubits in breadth on its four sides: and its gisus going round about it by half a cubit: and its circuit of a cubit round about: and its steps looking toward the East." It is written: Who shall search out the deep and wisdom? And: O the depth of the wisdom and knowledge of God: whose depth is high, and who shall find it?

It would be a great undertaking, should we wish to compare the temple of Solomon, and all its parts and tabernacles, with this temple. Since that is very difficult, let us for the present, in a small way, compare the altar shown to Ezekiel with the altar we read of in Exodus. There the altar is described as five cubits in length and five cubits in breadth, that is, square, and three cubits in height: but here, departing from the number five, it tends toward unity, in which the perfect, or most exact, cubit is set, to which is joined a palm, that is, a παλαιστή, having, as we said above, a sixth part of a cubit. In its bosom, that is, of the altar, there was a cubit, which received those things that were consumed by fire, and in its breadth another cubit: so that the inner parts, that is, the secret places and spaces of the altar which are shown in breadth, might be bounded by one cubit.

And what follows, "And the boundary unto its lip," for which Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion put "the limit," the Seventy again interpreted as "gisus." Of this word, as I have already said before, I cannot know the meaning, nor can I confidently say of what language it is: except to remind the reader that where I have now translated "boundary," I earlier rendered it as "crown." And this is briefly shown, that round about the altar itself, that is, at the margin and rim, the lip was spread out, and as it were a crown in the manner of a lily, having very great beauty to the sight. This boundary, or gisus, extended round about the width of one palm, or παλαιστή. But the trench of the altar, or the depth and height, for which in the Hebrew is put GAB (גב), from the bosom of the earth unto the lowest ledge, or unto the greatest mercy-seat, was two cubits, and its breadth one cubit.

For the lower and deep things, and those clinging to the earth, are contained in the dual number, which is also assigned to unclean animals: but the higher things, reaching to the ledge, or mercy-seat, which Theodotion called by its own Hebrew name AZARA (עזרה), have a breadth of one cubit, so that the dual number may pass over into the solitary; and the good of marriage, which is lower, may attain to the blessedness of unity. And what follows, "And from the lesser ledge unto the greater ledge, four cubits, and the breadth one cubit," for which the Septuagint has put: "And from the lesser mercy-seat unto the greater mercy-seat"; and Theodotion in both places translated AZARA—this is to be understood, that the lesser mercy-seat is the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, and the greater mercy-seat is that same stone which grew into a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

Or, according to another sense, the lesser mercy-seat is when he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, and the greater mercy-seat is when he received the glory which he had with the Father before the world was made. For first we come to know the lowlier things of Christ, and thus we arrive at the height of his divinity: and yet the mercy-seat of both natures, that is, of the lesser and of the greater, pertains to the mystery of one altar. Between the two mercy-seats, the lesser and the greater, there were four cubits, signifying the four elements of the world, which themselves also come to the height of one cubit.

And this is to be noted, that in the measure of the altar the first cubit in breadth is joined to none, but is made perfect by its own unity: but the second cubit of breadth, after two cubits, grows to the top, and the third cubit, after the lesser and greater mercy-seat through the four elements, tends to the mystery of one cubit; and the first and the second and the third cubit, in the altar of the Lord, are by no means to be called first, second, and third, but one and one and one. But the ariel itself was of four cubits, and from the ariel upward were four horns; or, as it is said in the Septuagint, from the ariel unto the upper part of the horns, one cubit. Ariel (אריאל), as most think, is interpreted "my light is God." Concerning which, in the prophet Isaiah also, where it is written: "Woe to thee, city of Ariel, which David besieged," or "surrounded," we have spoken more fully.

But as I judge, it means "lion" or "the strong one of God": which name is properly referred to the altar, in which is either the illumination of God, or his lion-like strength, as Jacob says to Judah: "Judah is a lion's whelp: to the prey, my son, thou art gone up: resting thou hast couched as a lion, and as a lioness, who shall rouse him up?" It is of four cubits, and has four horns; or the upper parts of the four horns are bounded by one cubit; so that the measure of the Gospels, and the strength running through the whole world, may be shown under the illumination of God and the strength of the lion, and may attain to the one cubit of divine confession. And that the obscurity of the present passage may become gradually clearer, there follows: "And Ariel—the boundary," which he afterward renders "crown." twelve cubits in length, by twelve cubits in breadth, square, with equal sides.

Which no one doubts pertains to the twelve tribes, which are written of in the Apocalypse of John, and to the number of the Apostles, of whose mystery I remember I have spoken above. But through the four sides of the world, the twelve cubits together make forty-eight cubits of the priestly cities, so that, with these as foundations, as it were, distributed throughout the whole world, the strength of the Church may be made solid.

Further, the ledge, for which the Septuagint has "mercy-seat," Theodotion as above "AZARA," Symmachus "περιδρομήν," that is, "circuit," was fourteen cubits in length by fourteen in breadth, on its four corners, and a crown round about it of half a cubit; for which again the Seventy translated "gisus," and the bosom, or according to Symmachus its consummation and perfection, of one cubit round about—this shows in a hidden way that our Lord, who is truly called the mercy-seat not only for our sins but for the whole world, came through fourteen generations from Abraham unto David; and again through another fourteen unto the captivity of Jechonias, and by the mystery of the same number descended to earthly things: so that in the third set of fourteen, by the mystery of the divine number (or "gift"), he might save the four corners of the world, of which it is written:

"Many shall come from the East and the West, and from the North and the South, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven". And what follows, "and the crown," or "gisus round about it," understood of the mercy-seat, had half a cubit, and the bosom of that same mercy-seat, or its consummation and perfection, which Symmachus interpreted as "περιδρομήν," had one cubit—this signifies that both sinners and just are saved by the Lord's propitiation, as the Apostle Paul says: "We are reconciled to God by the blood of his Son". And of sinners it is said that they have the measure of half a cubit round about; who nevertheless are saved by the mercy of the Creator, according to that which is written in the Psalm: "For nothing shalt thou save them". Of the just: that they are saved in one solitary and perfect number, and imitate the one divinity, as the same Apostle says: "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself".

And what is placed at the end of this testimony, "and its steps turned toward the East"—the steps of this mercy-seat ought to be taken either as the twenty-four books of the Old Instrument, who had harps in the Apocalypse of John, and crowns on their heads: or as the mystery of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, in which true propitiation is given to us. And to speak more plainly, the number of steps is left uncertain for this reason, that however much effort we may be able to make to climb to the higher things, we should think ourselves placed among the lower, and consider that saying of the Psalmist: "They shall go from strength to strength". (Verse 18. Ff.) And he said to me: Son of man, thus says the Lord God: These are the rites of the altar, on whatever day it shall have been made, that holocaust may be offered upon it, and blood be poured out.

And thou shalt give to the priests, the Levites who are of the seed of Sadoc, who draw near to me, says the Lord God, that they may offer me a calf of the herd for sin. And thou shalt take of its blood, and put it upon the four horns, and upon the four corners of the ledge, and upon the crown round about: and thou shalt cleanse it and expiate it. And thou shalt take the calf which was offered for sin, and burn it in a separate place of the house outside the sanctuary. And on the second day thou shalt offer a he-goat of the goats without blemish for sin, and they shall expiate the altar as they expiated it with the calf. The Septuagint: And he said to me: Son of man, thus says the Lord God: These are the precepts of the altar in the day in which it shall be made, that holocausts may be offered upon it, and blood be poured out upon it.

And thou shalt give to the priests, the Levites who are of the seed of Sadduc, and who draw near to me, says the Lord God, that they may minister to me a calf of the oxen for sin: and they shall take of its blood, and put it upon the four horns of the altar, and upon its base round about, and they shall cleanse and expiate it. And they shall take the calf for sin, and it shall be burned in a separate place of the house outside the holy places. And on the second day they shall take two kids of the goats without blemish for sin, and they shall expiate the altar as they expiated it with the calf.

After the prophet was shown the altar, and its cubit, and two cubits; and again a cubit and four cubits, and thirdly a cubit, and twelve cubits by another twelve, and the four horns of the altar: also the Ariel of twelve cubits by twelve cubits, and the ledge, that is, the propitiatory, of fourteen cubits by fourteen cubits: also its crown, and its bosom of half a cubit and one cubit round about: and the steps toward the East, whose number is uncertain, the man spoke, whose reed and cord were in his hand, and he teaches him how, when the work of the altar is finished, the altar ought to be expiated and consecrated. And first a victim is offered, and given to the priests of the line of Levi, who are of the seed of Sadoc, whom I cannot know why the Seventy call Sadduc. Now Sadoc is interpreted "just": and according to the Seventy and Theodotion a calf is offered; according to Symmachus, a bull, which in Hebrew is called PHAR.

Now the calf which was immolated for us is named both in many places of the Scriptures, and especially in the Epistle of Barnabas, which is found among the apocryphal writings. And the he-goat of the goats is offered on the second day. Whence also those who are about to keep the Passover take from the flock a lamb and a kid: and those who could not keep the first Passover, keep it in the second month: of which the one pertains to the just, the other to penitents.

But if the interpretation of the Seventy pleases us, who said: "and on the second day they shall take two kids without blemish for sin," bold indeed is what we are about to say, but nevertheless the opinion of others must simply be set down, who say that two unblemished kids were offered after the Lord's passion upon the altar of the Lord—James and Stephen: of whom the one was of the number of the apostles, the other was chief of the seven chosen for the ministry of the Lord. This is that James who saw the Saviour transfigured on the mountain, who beheld, along with the Lord and Peter and John, the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue rising again, who in the catalogue of the apostles, in which names are joined two by two, is placed before his brother. This one Herod slew, and, as it were an unblemished kid, immolated him on the second day after the Saviour's passion.

And Stephen too (whose wisdom and doctrine no one could withstand, and who saw the Son standing at the right hand of the Father, and said: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit) the Jews overwhelmed with stones. And just as the Apostle names certain of the believers the firstfruits of Achaia and Asia, so also these were the firstfruits of the martyrs, whom afterward the confession of Christ crowned. And this must be noted, that the calf is offered whole as a holocaust, and the fatness of its body is consumed by the divine fire. For although we had known Christ according to the flesh: yet now we know him no longer according to the flesh. But James and Stephen, who were offered on the second day, or the he-goat, which according to the Hebrew is related as offered, is indeed offered as a victim, but the holocaust is reserved for the presence of the Lord.

As for the taking of the blood, of which Peter speaks: We were redeemed from our vain manner of life handed down from our fathers, by the precious blood of Christ (I Peter I); and the apostle Paul teaches: You were bought with a price; and elsewhere: Making peace through the blood of his cross, whether on earth or in the heavens—this signifies that by the blood of the Saviour the four horns of the altar are purified, that is, the four regions of the world: and the crown of the propitiatory, or the bases round about, are sprinkled, that all things may be purged, and the propitiation be sure. And the reason why on the second day either the two kids, of which we spoke above, or the he-goat is taken, is because this animal is always hastening to the heights, and undergoes no danger on precipices, and there finds a way where for other animals there is destruction.

Whence also in Greek speech the flock of goats and he-goats is called "the conversation of the lofty," that is, αἰπόλιον as it were αἰποπόλιον, since αἶπος signifies "lofty," and πόλιον signifies "conversation" (manner of life). Furthermore the altar of Christ is expiated by blood, that the prayers of the saints may pass through, pure, to God. This too must be noted, that according to the Hebrew, Ezechiel himself, as it were a priest, is bidden to take the calf, and make the holocaust, and sprinkle its blood round about, both on the altar and on the corners and the crown, or base. But the Septuagint interpreters show that other priests do this, of whom it is said: Thou shalt give to the priests, the Levites, who are of the seed of Sadoc, who draw near to me. (Verse 23. Ff.) "And when thou shalt have finished expiating it, thou shalt offer a calf of the herd without blemish, and a ram of the flock without blemish.

And thou shalt offer them in the sight of the Lord; and the priests shall cast salt upon them; and they shall offer them a holocaust to the Lord. For seven days thou shalt make a he-goat for sin daily, and they shall offer a calf of the herd and a ram of the flocks without blemish. Seven days shall they expiate the altar, and cleanse it: and they shall fill its hand. When the days are completed, on the eighth day and onward, the priests shall make upon the altar your holocausts, and those which are offered for peace, and I will be appeased toward you, says the Lord God. The Septuagint: And when thou shalt have completed the expiation, they shall offer a calf of the oxen without blemish, and a ram of the sheep without blemish, and you shall offer them before the Lord, and the priests shall sprinkle salt upon them; and they shall offer them as holocausts to the Lord.

For seven days thou shalt make a kid for sin daily, and a calf of the oxen, and a ram of the sheep without blemish they shall make for seven days. And they shall expiate the altar, and cleanse it, and fill their hands, and complete the days.

And it shall be, from the eighth day and onward, the priests shall make upon the altar your holocausts, and for your salvation, and I will accept you, says the Lord God." After the altar and its measurements were shown to the prophet on the top of the mountain; and again the expiation and consecration of it was shown to the prophet, through one unblemished calf and a he-goat, or two kids, of which we have referred the first to the Lord the Saviour, the two following to the apostles and ministers, lest in the consecration of the spiritual altar, belonging properly to the Church, the Law and the Prophets should seem to be excluded—therefore, the altar having been consecrated, an unblemished calf is taken and a ram, and is offered in the sight of the Lord; and the sons of Sadoc, that is, the priests of the just, sprinkle salt upon their heads, that both the Law and the Prophets may be seasoned with the savor of the Gospel.

Nor is there any sacrifice (according to the command of the law and the interpretation of the Apostle, who says: Let your speech be seasoned with salt) that lacks salt. Both, however, are offered as a holocaust to the Lord, that the body of the fat letter, which is signified in the Law, and the cloud of prophecy, may by the fire of the Lord, that is, the Holy Spirit, of whom Paul says, fervent in spirit, be converted into a spiritual and subtle substance. If we wish to know more plainly who is the unblemished calf of the herd, and the ram of the sheep of purest fleece, let us understand Moses and Elias; of whom the former was the meekest of all men who dwelt upon the earth; the latter, like Moses in ardor of faith. Whence also he dared to say: I alone am left. As to what is written in the Hebrew: "Thou shalt offer a calf," in the Septuagint, "the priests shall offer"—let there be no question.

For Ezechiel himself, to whom these things are said, is of the number of the priests, of full and perfect age; and the grace of prophecy increased his priestly rank. And Moses and Elias are seen on the mountain with the Lord, that is, the Law and the Prophets, who announced to him what he was to suffer at Jerusalem. Now when the altar has been expiated, for seven days a he-goat, or kid, is offered for sin daily, and a calf of the herd, and a ram of the flocks without blemish, that through these sacrifices of seven days the altar may be perfectly expiated. In the seven days a sabbath-rest is shown, which according to the Apostle is reserved for the people of God: in which we hope for eternal and true rest, and by no means do the servile work of sinners. In the he-goat, moreover, and the calf, and the ram, three general sins are shown, under which the whole race of mortals lies.

For we sin either in thought, or in speech, or in deed. Thought is referred to the ram, which is the first of all sins, and from which the other two sins are born. The kid, or he-goat, however, refers to speech or utterance, which always discourses of loftier things. Works, indeed, are properly assigned to the calf: since it is given over to the plough and to labor and to earthly works. These things, therefore, unblemished, we ought to offer to God through the seven days of the true and perfect sabbath, and to expiate the altar, that our prayer may come pure to God. As for what follows: "And they shall cleanse it, and fill its hand," which both the Hebrew and the other translators rendered, this signifies that the gifts of the altar itself also, for whose expiation the sacrifice is offered, must be completed, just as it is offered for the priests and the people and the high priest; lest anything should appear to stand empty in the sight of the Lord.

For which the Seventy put: "and they shall cleanse it, and fill their hands," so that "priests" is to be understood—who, when they shall have been filled with good works (for this is what full hands signify), the sabbath having passed, may come to the eighth day of the resurrection, and say with the Apostle: We have risen with Christ; and beyond the eighth day may stretch forth to the heavenly things, and offer for us holocausts, or those things which are for the peace and salvation of our sins: that through the fire of the Holy Spirit, all that we think, speak, and do may be converted into spiritual substance: and the Lord, delighted with sacrifices of this kind, may become appeased toward us.

(Verses 1 and following.) And he brought me back by the way of the gate of the outer sanctuary, which looked toward the East, and it was shut.

And the Lord said to me: This gate shall be shut, and shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it: because the Lord God of Israel has entered (or shall enter) through it; and it shall be shut for the prince. The prince himself shall sit in it, that he may eat bread before the Lord. By the way of the vestibule (that is, Elam), he shall enter the gate, and by the way of it he shall go out. For what is written in the Hebrew, "it shall be shut for the prince," the Septuagint translated, "it shall be shut: because the leader himself shall sit in it." Many are the gates which the Scripture mentions in the description of Ezekiel's temple, both within and without. The discourse just past also ran through the figure of the altar, and its consecration, and the sacrifices.

This finished, he comes to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which looked toward the East, and it was shut: and immediately that man who was the prophet's guide, and who showed him everything, spoke to him: This gate which you see shut shall always be shut, and shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it. And he gives the reason why it is always shut: because the Lord God of Israel has entered, or shall enter, through it: and it shall be shut, according to the Hebrew, for the prince, whom the Septuagint translated as "leader." This prince and leader, that is, NASI (נשיא), shall sit in it, that he may eat bread before the Lord: and by the way of the vestibule of the gate he shall enter, and by the same he shall go out. What, then, is this gate, which is always shut, and through which only the Lord God of Israel enters?

Surely that of which the Savior speaks in the Gospel: Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, and woe to you, teachers of the law, who take away the key of knowledge: you yourselves do not enter, and those entering you prevent. Of this, under the name of a book, Isaiah also writes: The words of this book shall be as the words of a sealed book: which when they give to one who knows letters, and say to him, Read this, and he shall say, I cannot, for it is sealed. But this is the book, whose seals no one is able to loose and open, neither in heaven, nor on earth, nor under the earth, except him of whom it is said in the Apocalypse of John: Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root and offspring of David, has conquered, to open the book and loose its seals.

For before the Savior assumed a human body, and humbled himself, taking the form of a servant, the Law and the Prophets were shut, and all knowledge of the Scriptures, and paradise was shut. But after he hung on the cross, and said to the thief, "Today you shall be with me in paradise", immediately the veil of the temple was torn, and all things were opened; and with the veil removed we say: But we all, with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory. But if all things are revealed—for in Christ, according to the word of Paul, all things are revealed—how shall the gate be shut and not opened, and no man pass through it? From which we learn that, although we have come to the highest knowledge, in comparison with divine knowledge we now know in part and understand in part; but when that which is perfect shall come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

Whence also in another place the Apostle himself says he is imperfect, and again perfect. But if this lacks interpretation, it seems contradictory. For he says: Not that I have already attained, or am already perfect. Brothers, I do not consider that I have laid hold; but this one thing, forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God. And while we might think that, according to his own profession, he is not yet perfect, and rather seeking than having found what is true, he says not only of himself, but of others also, that they are perfect: Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be thus minded.

Now the sense of this passage is: In comparison with other men, who have no care for the knowledge of the Scriptures nor for the mysteries of God, I confess myself to be perfect; but as regards the knowledge of the divine majesty, I now see in a riddle and through cloud and darkness, and I say with the prophet: Your knowledge has become wonderful for me; it is strengthened, and I am not able to attain to it. This gate, then, which is shut to all (for no man shall pass through it), shall be shut for the prince, or leader, and shall be unbarred at his coming, who shall sit in it, that he may eat bread before the Lord: of whom he himself professes in the Gospel, saying: My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to finish his work.

He is the prince, and the pontiff according to the order of Melchizedek, and the victim and the priest, who in the sight of the Father eats the heavenly bread with us, and drinks wine, of which he speaks in the Gospel: I will not drink of the fruit of this vine, until I drink it new in the kingdom of my Father: in that kingdom, namely, of which he himself elsewhere also says: The kingdom of God is within you. And the gate shall be shut. For no one can know the mysteries of the Lord's passion, and of his body and blood, according to the majesty of the matter. And of such goodness and clemency is our prince, that although he alone sits in the gate that is shut, and eats bread before the Lord, he wishes to have many sharers of his table and banquet, and says: Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone shall open to me, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with me.

But he alone eats bread before the Lord, because his substance and divine nature are separated from all substances of created things. He himself enters and goes out through the same gate of the vestibule: because he is both within and without, that is, infused and diffused through all things; entering by the gate, that he may bring in with himself those who without his teaching and help cannot enter; and going out, that he may again bring in others; and speak to those who cannot grasp the more difficult things. And that the Eastern gate is always shut outside the bounds of the world, and by no means open to human sight, the Gospel of John proves, saying: No one has ever seen God: the Only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him. As if he had said in other words: And it shall be shut for the prince. The prince alone shall sit in it, that he may eat the bread of perfect and consummate knowledge.

For no one knows the Son but the Father, and no one knows the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. Beautifully do some understand the shut gate, through which the Lord God of Israel alone enters, and the leader for whom the gate is shut, as the Virgin Mary, who remained a virgin both before and after childbirth. For at the time when the angel was speaking: The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God, and when he was born, she remained an eternal virgin; to confound those who think that she, after the birth of the Savior, had children by Joseph, from the occasion of his brothers who are named in the Gospel.

On this small question, I know that I wrote, at Rome, against Helvidius, a heretic of that time, in my youth, a not very large book. (Verses 4ff.) And he brought me by the way of the North gate before the house, and I saw, and behold, the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord, and I fell upon my face. And the Lord said to me: Son of man, set your heart, and see with your eyes, and hear with your ears everything that I shall speak to you concerning all the ceremonies of the house of the Lord, and concerning all its laws, and you shall set your heart upon the ways of the temple through all the exits of the sanctuary.

The man who is the prophet's guide, and by whose showing he comes to know everything in the temple, after he had shown him the gate that was shut and would never be unbarred, and yet was opened for him who entered through shut doors, leads the prophet to the way of the North gate, which nevertheless was also itself before the house—no doubt signifying the temple. And when the prophet had seen, from that region, the house of the Lord full of the glory of the Lord—that same glory, namely, which, positioned toward the North side, he beheld opposite—he immediately fell upon his face, unable to bear the majesty of the glory of the Lord. Whence, because he had been cast down in humility, he says to him—no longer the man, but the Lord: Son of man, set your heart, and so on.

At the completion of the tabernacle and the building of the temple which was constructed by Solomon, the glory of the Lord appeared, which afterward, in comparison with the evangelical glory, was destroyed, as the Apostle says: For that which was glorified was not glorified in this respect, because of the surpassing glory. For if that which is done away was through glory, much more that which remains is in glory. And we must beware lest we think the destruction of the former glory to be its abolition; but we must understand it thus, that after that which is perfect has come, that which was in part shall be done away: as if you were to compare the rays of the sun with a lamp, or the light of a lamp with a candle. Wherefore also it is said of John the Baptist: He was a burning lamp in the house. But after the sun of righteousness came, the light of the lamp was hidden, as the prophet and Baptist himself says: He must increase, but I must decrease.

Now the prophet fell upon his face, lest, while desiring to see more than human frailty can behold, he should even lose the very light of his eyes. Whence the Lord calls him more familiarly "son of man"; and commands him to set his heart, and see with his eyes, and hear with his ears. For first the mind must be opened to understand what is said; second, it must be understood with the eyes of the heart, of which it is said to Abraham: Lift up your eyes, and see the stars of heaven; third, it must be heard with these ears, of which the Savior says: He who has ears to hear, let him hear; that he may be able to understand all the ceremonies of the temple and its ordinances, and, at the last, to set his heart upon the ways of the temple; because there are various entrances to God. Or by the ways of the temple, he signifies the order of ceremonies, and the exits of the sanctuary.

This, then, is the preface and preparation of the prophet, for understanding what he is afterward going to learn concerning the order of the temple. And this must be noted, that in this region of the world, which lies in the evil one, and set in the cold of the North, the heavenly order of ceremonies is shown to us. (V. 6 ff.) And thou shalt say to the house of Israel that provokes me: Thus saith the Lord God: let all your crimes suffice you, O house of Israel, in that you bring in strangers (or foreigners), uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, that they may be in my sanctuary and pollute my house, and you offer my bread, the fat, and the blood, and you have dissolved (or transgressed) my covenant in all your crimes; and you have not kept the precepts of my sanctuary, and you have set keepers of my observances in my sanctuary for yourselves.

When he says, let all your crimes, or iniquities, suffice you, he exhorts to repentance for former sins, lest we heap sins upon sins, and prepare fuel for a future conflagration; but let us hear that which Isaiah speaks: Woe to them that draw iniquity as with a long rope, and sin as it were with a cart rope of a calf. And the first sin is that they bring in strangers, or foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, that they may be in the sanctuary of God, and pollute the house of God. For a little leaven corrupts the whole lump; and in certain copies of Proverbs it is read: Do not bring in the wicked man into the tabernacles of the just. The Jews and the Ebionites press us at this place, who accept circumcision of the flesh: how can we expound the present passage, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh? Namely, that after the spiritual understanding we ought also to receive circumcision of the flesh.

But we who read Paul saying: I testify to every man that is circumcised, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. And that of Jeremiah: Behold, your ears are uncircumcised, and you would not hear. And in Exodus Moses spoke in the sight of the Lord, saying: Behold, the children of Israel have not heard me; and how shall Pharaoh hear me? But I am of slow speech, for which the Septuagint said: ἐγὼ δὲ ἄλογός εἰμι; which is better rendered in the Hebrew: But I am uncircumcised in lips—let us ask them, nay, let us compel them to circumcise ears, and to cut off lips, that they may seem to fulfil Scripture. But if they should begin to interpret the circumcision of the ears as meaning that we suffer ourselves to hear nothing base and dishonorable, and the circumcision of the lips as meaning that we speak nothing unseemly, let us say to them: you ought to keep this same exposition also in the heart and in the flesh.

We circumcise the heart with the knife of God, and the foreskin is taken away from our heart, when base thoughts by no means proceed from our heart, nor is it said of us: The heart of this people has become fat, and with their ears they have heard heavily. Therefore the flesh likewise is circumcised, that we may in no way do earthly works, which we are compelled by bodily necessity to do—to take food, and drink and sleep, and to use clothing—which things we then circumcise, if we do all these things not for delights, and for luxury, and for idleness, but for the necessity of nature and the support of this body. He who drinks a little wine for his stomach's sake and his frequent infirmities, and hates drunkenness, circumcises his flesh.

He who sleeps as much as nature allows shall hear from Solomon: If thou sit down, thou shalt be without fear; if thou sleep, thou shalt sleep sweetly, and thou shalt not fear sudden terror, nor the assaults of the wicked coming upon thee. And he who flees fornication, and renders the debt to his wife, returning to the same, lest Satan tempt him, shall hear together with the people of Israel: This day I have taken away from you the reproach of Egypt. He shall also use garments which repel the cold, not such as by their thinness show the bodies naked. Flesh made thin by fasting and circumcised by continence flees the reproach of the Egyptians, who are of great flesh, and can say that which is read in many copies according to the Septuagint edition: How my flesh has wasted away, in a land desert, pathless, and waterless, so have I appeared to thee in the sanctuary.

If therefore we should ever wish to bring foreigners into the temple of God, let us circumcise their ears, and lips, and heart, and all flesh, and eyes, taste and smell, that we may do all things with the fear of God and with reason. Let bishops and presbyters and every ecclesiastical order hear this, that they may not bring in strangers uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, lest they be in the sanctuary of God and pollute his house. For if they do this, that which follows will be fitted to them: And you offer my bread—namely the loaves of proposition in all the Churches and throughout the whole world, sprouting from one bread—and not only loaves, but also fat, of which it is written: He has satisfied them with the fat of wheat, and the blood which was shed in the passion of Christ.

And it must be read thus, and the order of the reading rendered so: When you bring in foreign children uncircumcised in heart and body into my sanctuary, and pollute my house, you dare to offer bread and fat and blood, mystical sacraments, and you do not understand that you have loosed, and transgressed, my covenant in all your crimes and impieties, and have not kept the precepts of my sanctuary, nor set keepers of my ceremonies in my sanctuary. But all the threat is against those who have not heeded the Apostle forewarning: Lay hands hastily on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins. Or certainly it is to be understood thus: You have dissolved my covenant in all your crimes, and you have not kept the precepts of my sanctuary, and you dare to set unworthy and alien keepers in the observance of my sanctuary for yourselves—so that it is understood, not for me.

And the sense is: those who serve and minister to you in carnal things, and for the sake of your refreshments pollute my sanctuary. (Verse 9. Seqq.) Thus saith the Lord God: No stranger uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh shall enter into my sanctuary: no son of an alien, who is among the children of Israel. But also the Levites who withdrew far from me in the error of the children of Israel, and erred from me after their idols, shall bear their iniquity, they who were in my sanctuary as keepers and porters of the gates of the house, and ministers of the house; and they slew holocausts and victims for the people, and there they stood before them to minister for them. Because therefore they ministered for them in the sight of their idols, and became to the house of Israel a stumbling-block of iniquity: therefore I have lifted up my hand over them, saith the Lord God, and they have borne their iniquity.

And they shall not come near to me, that they may execute the priesthood unto me: neither shall they approach unto all my sanctuary near the holy of holies: but they shall bear their confusion and their crimes which they have committed. And I will make them keepers of the house in all its ministry, and in all things that are done therein. But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Sadoc, who kept the ceremonies of my sanctuary, when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me: and they shall stand before my face, to offer me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord God. They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall approach my table, to minister to me, and to keep my ceremonies.

LXX: Therefore thus saith the Lord: Every son of an alien stranger, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall not enter into my holy things, among all the sons of strangers who are in the midst of the house of Israel, but also the Levites who withdrew far from me when Israel erred from me after their own devices, and they shall receive their iniquity, and they shall be ministering in my holy things, doorkeepers at the gates of the house, and ministers of the house. These shall slay the holocausts and victims for the people, and these shall stand before the people to minister unto them.

Because they ministered unto them before the face of their idols, and it became to the house of Israel a torment of iniquity: therefore I have lifted up my hand over them, saith the Lord God, and they shall receive their iniquity: and they shall not come near to me to execute the priesthood unto me: nor to offer at all the holy things of the children of Israel: nor at the holy of my holy things: and they shall bear their ignominy in the error wherein they erred. And they shall be set to keep the charges of the house in all its works, and in all things which they have done therein. The priests, the Levites, the sons of Sadduc, who kept the charges of my holy things when the house of Israel erred from me, these shall come near to me to minister unto me, and shall stand before my face to offer me a victim, the fat and the blood, saith the Lord God.

These shall enter into my holy things, and these shall approach my table, to minister unto me, and to observe my charges. I have set down the testimony according to both editions, that from a comparison of them we may be able to know what the Seventy understood, and what the Hebrew holds.

The Seventy signify this, that strangers uncircumcised in heart and in flesh who dwell among the children of Israel ought not to enter the sanctuary of God: but the Levites—that is, those of the priestly rank—who withdrew far from the Lord in the error of the children of Israel, and erred after their idols, after they shall have received their iniquity, are to stand in the sanctuary of the Lord as keepers and porters, and ministers of the house, and are to slay the holocausts and victims of the people: and these are to be in their sight, to minister to them what they ministered to them in the sight of their idols, and they became to the house of Israel a torment of iniquity: and therefore the Lord God says he has lifted his hand over them: so that they should not come near to him, and execute the priesthood for him, nor offer to him in the holy of holies, and they shall bear their ignominy in the error in which they erred: namely, that they should be set to keep the charges of the house in all its works, and in all things that are done in the house.

But if this is so, how can it stand, that the Levites who withdrew far from God in the error of the children of Israel, and erred from him after their idols, should themselves minister in the house and slay the holocausts and victims of the people, and themselves stand in their sight, to minister to them? For what more will the priests, the sons of Sadoc, do who kept the ceremonies of the sanctuary of God, of whom it is said: They shall come near to me to minister unto me, and shall stand in my sight, to offer me the fat, and the rest? But the Hebrew has this sense: Every stranger uncircumcised in heart and flesh shall not enter my sanctuary, though he may seem to be with the people of Israel.

But the Levites—that is, of the priestly rank—who withdrew far from me in the error of the children of Israel, and followed idols, shall bear their iniquity, because they were in my sanctuary ministering in the office of the gates of the house, and its ministers. For they used to offer the holocaust, and the victims of the people, and they used to stand in their sight, to minister for them. Because therefore they ministered for them in the sight of their idols, and were to the house of Israel a stumbling-block of iniquity, therefore I have lifted up my hand over them, saith the Lord God: and they have borne their iniquity, and they shall not come near to me, that they may execute the priesthood unto me: neither shall they approach to all my sanctuary near the holy of holies: but they shall bear their confusion, and their crimes which they have done.

For instead of the priestly office, they who were accustomed to offer the holocaust and victims and every sacrifice, shall be reduced to the lowest rank, and shall be doorkeepers of the house, unto everlasting ignominy, so that they may be seen by the whole people coming in and going out, from what a sublime dignity to what a last degree they have come. But the priests, he says, that is, the Levites, who are the sons of Sadoc, that is, of the just, or the just of God, and who at the time of the error of all Israel kept the ceremonies of my sanctuary, they shall come near to me, to minister unto me, and shall stand in my sight, and shall offer me the fat, that is, the fattest victim, and the blood, namely the living and pleasing victim to God, and they themselves shall enter my sanctuary, and shall approach my table, to burn incense for me, and shall keep the whole rite of sacrifice.

But if this is so, that those who in the time of error and persecution followed idols, which they had fashioned from their own heart, and not only by voice but even by the subscription of the hand asserted the Son of God to be a creature, and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever, how do they take upon themselves the priestly and pontifical summit, and dare to offer victims to God, they who were once worshippers of idols? But, as the most fervent poet testifies, Whatever is sinned by many goes unpunished: The multitude of sinners has made pardon more attainable for the impious, so that those who, reduced to the laity, ought to have bewailed the former crimes of their sacrilege, now sit reclining on the pontifical throne, and belch forth to us the nauseas of feigned faith, or rather the open shortcuts of a hidden perfidy. Let them therefore hear at least late, and observe the precepts of almighty God.

Every stranger uncircumcised in heart, and uncircumcised in flesh, shall not enter my sanctuary. Though he be a son, though joined by kinship, though he cling to us by an ancient bond of intimacy: if he is uncircumcised in heart or flesh, let him not be brought into the sanctuary of God: lest we make the ministers of Christ our own servants, and for the sake of carnal refreshments pollute the altars of the Lord. As to what we have rendered: And I will make them keepers of the house in all its ministry, and in all things that are done therein: namely, those of the Levites who withdrew far from God in the error of the children of Israel, and followed idols to which they offered victims.

Symmachus, considering the order of the reading and the sense, translated more correctly, saying: For I had made them keepers of the doors of the house of all its ministry and of all things that are done therein, so that it may not pertain to those who are to be in the temple, but to those who have been. (Verse 17. Seqq.) And when they shall enter the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen vestments (or stoles): nor shall anything woolen come upon them (or, they shall not be clothed with woolen garments) when they minister at the gates (or from the gates) of the inner court and within. Linen fillets shall be on their heads (or, they shall have linen tiaras upon their heads) and linen breeches shall be on their loins, and they shall not gird themselves with sweat (or violently).

And when they shall go forth into the outer court to the people, they shall put off their garments (or stoles) in which they ministered, and shall lay them up (or lay them) in the treasuries (or chambers) of the sanctuary (or of the holy things), and shall put on other garments (or stoles), and they shall not sanctify the people in their garments (or stoles). And they shall not shave their head, nor let their hair grow, but shall trim, they shall trim their heads (or, they shall not shave their heads, and shall not clip their locks close-cropped: covering, they shall cover their heads). And no priest shall drink wine, when he is about to enter the inner court. First the words of the history must be set forth.

Among the other things which the word of the Lord commands to the priests, this too he bids to be observed, that in the very gates of the inner court, they be clothed with garments, that is, with linen stoles: nor use woolen garments either in the gates of the inner court, or within, that is, in the inner shrines and the holy of holies: and that fillets or linen tiaras be on their heads, and linen breeches on their loins. And what follows according to the Septuagint: And they shall not gird themselves violently, for which Aquila and Symmachus translated, in sweat: Theodotion, expressing the Hebrew word itself, put JEZE (יזע): Aquila's second edition, BUSA (בוזא): by which it is signified, that they are not to be girded violently, tightly and constrictedly like those bound, lest in the priestly and Levitical ministries they become unfit both to hold and to slay the victims, and also unable to draw them and to run about.

And because he had once commanded with what garments the priests ought to be clothed, when they were within in the ministries, again he commands that as they go out into the treasuries, or into the chambers of the holy things, they put off their former garments, and be clothed with others: lest, if they have the holy garments, they sanctify the people standing outside, who has not yet been sanctified, nor prepared himself for the sanctification of the temple, that he may be a Nazarite of the Lord. From which we learn, that we ought not to enter into the holy of holies in garments defiled with the daily and any common use of life, but with a clean conscience, and clean garments, to hold the sacraments of the Lord.

But what follows: And they shall not shave their head, nor let their hair grow, but shall trim, they shall trim their heads, clearly shows that we ought not to have shaven heads, like the priests and worshippers of Isis and Serapis: nor again let the hair hang down, which is properly a mark of luxury, and of barbarians and soldiers; but that an honorable habit of the priests should be shown in the countenance. For which the Seventy said, They shall not shave their heads, and they shall not clip their locks close: but covering, they shall cover their heads, according to which we learn, that baldness ought not to be made with a razor, nor the head clipped so close that we may seem like the shaven, but the hair is to be let down so far that the skin is covered. Or certainly the priests ought always to cover their heads, according to that Vergilian verse (Æneid, book III):

Veil thy hair with purple, thy garment drawn over.

But this is a violent interpretation. For wine is not only not drunk by priests and Levites in ministry, but not even by those about to enter the holy of holies, lest the mind be oppressed and the sense become dulled. Whence also the Apostle says: It is good not to drink wine, and not to eat flesh. And in another place: And wine, in which is luxury. For the people ate and drank, and rose up to play. And what he grants to Timothy, that he drink a little wine, he clearly shows why he granted it: for thy stomach's sake, he says, and thy frequent infirmities. The Egyptian priests use linen garments not only within, but also without. Now the divine religion has one habit in ministry, another in ordinary use and common life. Breeches are rightly assumed, that decency and propriety may be preserved: lest, namely, those ascending the steps of the altar, and moving about in ministry, should uncover their shame. Shaved heads belong to gentile superstition.

As for wine, as far as my knowledge extends, I do not think any of the gentiles abstain from it. What all these things signify according to the spiritual sense, the following words will show. That there are holy and spiritual garments, the Apostle also teaches, saying: Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. And in another place: Put on the bowels of mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. And again: Having put off the old man with his deeds, and having put on the new man, who is renewed unto knowledge, according to the image of the Creator; which I think that also signifies: For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. And when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, and the rest. Concerning the priestly vestments it is written more fully in Exodus: and we ourselves formerly published a book (Epist. 64, to Fabiola), to whose interpretation the diligent reader should be sent.

For we cannot comprehend so broad a matter in a brief discourse. These garments we make with our own labor, which are woven from above, such as also was the tunic which the Lord had, which could not be torn; with which we are clothed when we come to know the secrets and mysteries of the Lord, and have the spirit which searches even the deep and profound things of God, which are not to be shown to the common crowd, nor brought forth to the people who is not sanctified, nor prepared for the holiness of the Lord: lest, if they should hear greater things than they can bear, they should not be able to endure the majesty of knowledge, and be suffocated as it were by solid food, they who still need to be nourished with the milk of infancy. That, on the contrary, there are also the worst garments, divine Scripture teaches, as is that which is sung in the Psalms concerning Judas the traitor: He is clothed with cursing as with a garment.

And a little after: Let it be unto him as the garment with which he is covered, and as the girdle with which he is always girded. Whence also the Lord, who suffered for us, and bore our sins, is said in Zechariah to have filthy garments, of which it is written: And Jesus was clothed with filthy garments: which afterward he puts off, Scripture saying: Take away from him the filthy garments, and clothe him with a change of raiment, and the rest. And what follows: Fillets, or linen tiaras, shall be on their heads, I think shows the crown of graces, of which it is written: For thy head shall receive a crown of graces. Nor should that make for us a question about covered and uncovered head, which the Apostle teaches. The Apostle speaks: The woman ought to have a covering on her head, because of the angels. For if the woman be not veiled, let her be shorn. But if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.

For the man ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. For if it belongs to men not to cover the head, it seems to be contrary, how now the priests are commanded to cover their heads with fillets, or with a tiara. But if we read more carefully, the present matters will be resolved by what precedes. For above it is said: When they minister at the gates of the inner court and within. For if we enter into the holy places and stand in the sight of the Lord, we ought to cover our heads: For no man living shall be justified in the sight of the Lord. And: From his infancy the heart of man is bent toward evil. Finally we also use breeches within, lest in the sight of God any shame of a polluted conscience and of the nuptial act should appear.

With these breeches the Savior wills the apostles to be girded, saying: Let your loins be girded, and lamps burning in your hands. And the Apostle speaks to believers: Stand therefore, having your loins girt about in truth. And imitators of Christ hear that which is written of him: He shall be girded with righteousness about the loins, and truth shall encompass his sides. And with this same girdle, he who is holy and has ascended to the summit of the virtues is by no means violently bound: lest he should seem unwillingly to observe the good of continence, and eat his bread in the sweat of his face, but rather do the Lord's precept willingly. Finally, when he shall go forth, and mingle himself with the people, he lays aside the priestly vestments in the treasury, in which the Lord's riches are kept: and priests use other garments, and other teaching toward the ignoble common people, lest the people be sanctified in their own robes.

It is a grave burden for the multitude to undertake beyond their strength, as Solomon says: It is a snare to a man to quickly consecrate something of his own; for when he has made a vow, repentance creeps in. Finally the Nazirites also offer themselves voluntarily; and whoever has vowed anything and has not fulfilled it is guilty of the vow. Whence also it is said of widows: When they have grown wanton, they wish to marry in Christ: having damnation, because they have made void their first faith. For it is better not to promise, than to promise and not perform. Hannah offered Samuel, who remained in eternal holiness. And Manoah offered his son Samson, but the sanctification of his hair was defiled by the lust of Delilah. Finally the Lord departed from him, and he was condemned to blindness, except that afterward, as his hair grew again, he received his former strength, and in the type of Christ he slew more of the foreigners dying than living.

But the Lord wills his priests to have perpetual hair of sanctification, and to have their heads covered, not by any external veil, but by their own natural hair, not for ornament and luxury, but for decency. Whence also the hairs of the head of the apostles are numbered, the Savior saying: But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Of that head, of which it is written in Ecclesiastes: The eyes of the wise man are in his head. But the head of man is Christ, which the sinner tramples underfoot and despises, and, so to speak, shaves with a razor, and takes away its beauty. Which also the sons of Ammon did to those whom David had sent as ambassadors. But if the transgression of the law dishonors God, then consequently he who keeps the precepts of the law honors him: that what is written may be fulfilled: That all should honor the Son even as they honor the Father.

Furthermore, what follows: That every priest, when he is about to enter the inner court, shall not drink wine, is plain, in that in drunkenness and strong drink the state of the mind is overturned, and we do not think soundly when the mind is occupied with the satiety of wine. But drunkenness is shown not only in the drinking of wine, but in all things, by which also in contracts and in the affairs of the world, and in losses and gains, in love and hatred the mind is made drunk and fluctuates, and cannot keep its own state. And because we are surrounded by frail flesh, and are compelled for food and clothing and the necessities that pertain to the body to do some things which we ought not to do, at least this is required of us, that when we return into ourselves, and know why we were born, and enter the inner and inmost recesses of the temple, we withdraw from the vices of the world, and commit not even the least sins.

By which it is shown both that we sin lightly for the necessities of the flesh, and again that there is a time when, entering the inner court, we ought to be free from all drunkenness of the world and estranged from it. (Verse 22. Seqq.) They shall not take to wife a widow, or one divorced (or cast out), but a virgin of the seed of the house of Israel. But also a widow who has been the widow of a priest, they shall take: and they shall teach my people what is between holy and polluted, and shall show them between clean and unclean. And when there shall be controversy (as is added in the LXX, of blood), they shall stand in my judgments, and shall judge my laws, and shall keep my precepts in all my solemnities. This whole passage contains precepts for priests, who, after the many things we have expounded above, are commanded not to take to wife a widow, or one divorced, or cast out.

The widow and the divorced woman is the synagogue, that is, the congregation of the Jews, which did not receive the Lord. Whence she is rightly called cast out, or the widowed synagogue. Cast out, indeed, is the multitude of heretics, who went out from us, because they were not of us. But a virgin, he says, of the seed of the house of Israel, who has been nourished in the house of God, in the law and the prophets, of whom the Apostle also speaks: I would have you all present as a chaste virgin to Christ. This is the virgin of whom also elsewhere the divine word says: Love her, and she will keep thee; embrace her, and she will exalt thee; honor her, that she may embrace thee. But who is the virgin who is to be loved, and who keeps her own lover, he shall know who reads this: Her have I loved and sought from my youth, and I sought to take her as my bride, and I became a lover of her beauty (Sapien.

VIII, 2). And again: And the Lord of all things loved her. But priests ought to take to wife not only a virgin, but also a widow, who nevertheless has been the wife of another priest; that is to say, the knowledge which another worshipper of God has discovered. For we ought not to be content with new teaching only, but also to cultivate the old, and join it to our company, provided, however, that she has been instructed in the sacred worship. It is also the office of the priest to teach the people what is between holy and polluted, between clean and unclean; that we may refer the first to doctrines, the second to works which are done through the flesh. For who understands his failings?

And when there shall be controversy about any matter, or, as the Seventy translated, of blood, that is, what pertains to a capital crime, the priests shall stand in my judgments, that they may not judge according to rank, nor accept the person of the poor or of the rich in judgment: but stand in the judgments of God, and remember that psalm: God stood in the congregation of the gods, and in the midst he judges the gods, calling those gods who have the power of judging concerning men: who, in whatever judgment they shall judge, shall be judged by it. My laws, he says, and my precepts they shall keep in all my solemnities, that they may know how Christ has been sacrificed as our Passover; how we ought to fulfill the seven weeks of joy and gladness, and to humble our souls in fasting; and to understand the sounding of trumpets and the spiritual feasts of tabernacles, in which we say: I am a stranger and a pilgrim, as all my fathers were.

These are the true solemnities of God, which whoever discusses the Pentateuch will more fittingly interpret. The first virtue of the priest is not only to teach what he has known, but to keep all the feasts of God, that he may be able to enjoin upon others what he himself has observed. That it is also the office of priests to have knowledge of the law, we learn in Malachi also, who says: The lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth: for he is the angel of the Lord of hosts. (Verse 25. And following.) And they shall sanctify my sabbaths, and shall not enter in to a dead man, lest they be polluted (for which the Septuagint translated: and they shall not enter in upon the soul of a man, lest they be polluted): except, he says, to father and mother, son and daughter, brother and sister who has had no husband, shall they be contaminated.

And after he shall have been cleansed, seven days shall be numbered to him, and on the day of his entering into the sanctuary and into the inner court, that he may minister to me in the sanctuary, he shall offer for his sin to the Lord God (or, he shall offer a propitiation). But they shall have no inheritance: I am their inheritance, and you shall not give them possessions in Israel: I am their possession. Further instruction is given to the priests: in which it must be observed that he did not say absolutely, "and they shall sanctify sabbaths"; or, as in Isaiah: "My soul hates your new moons and sabbaths": but with a distinction, "my sabbaths." Whence also it is written in the Gospel: "The priests in the temple violate the sabbath, and are without guilt": not the sabbath of God, but the sabbath of the letter, the sabbath of the Jews, which those rightly violate who are a chosen, royal, priestly race.

Furthermore, let us understand that the sabbath which is sanctified is that which the Apostle also teaches has been left to the people of God, concerning which it is said: "If they shall enter into my rest": which in Hebrew is called sabbath. Now he sanctifies the sabbath of God who does not carry the burden of sin on the sabbath, nor says: "Like a heavy burden they have weighed upon me". He who is such does not gather wood on the sabbath; nor does he build upon the foundation of Jesus Christ, wood, hay, stubble: nor does he kindle a fire that consumes useless material, and on the sabbath day he remains in one place: nor does he go forth outside, but remains fixed like a column in the temple of God, concerning whom John writes in the Apocalypse: "He who shall overcome, I will make him a column in the temple of my God, and he shall go out no more".

And that which follows: "And they shall not enter in to a dead man, lest they be polluted," properly belongs to the priestly office, not to touch dead bodies, that he who intercedes for the sins of others may himself approach the altar clean. Of these dead the Savior also speaks in the Gospel: "Let the dead bury their dead". These are contaminated in a dead father, when they forsake their Creator: and in a dead mother, by departing from the Church: in a son also and a daughter, since one pertains to thoughts, the other to deeds, which is more expressively said in Greek τὰ νοητὰ καὶ αἰσθητά (the intelligible and the sensible). Also, if anyone thinks a brother or sister, reborn in the same spirit, to be dead, he is contaminated in him: provided, however, that the sister has remained a virgin, and has not been defiled by the embrace of any man.

From which we understand the privilege of virginity, that the touch of any man whatsoever removes perfect purity—whether this be rightly or wrongly said, we leave to the judgment of the reader. The affection of nature is also proved regarding this matter, so that in the order of charity, according to what is written: "Set charity in order in me", after God the parent of all things, the father of the flesh also should be loved, and the mother; the son and the daughter; the brother and the sister; provided, however, that he has not gone out from the house, nor passed into another's power.

Now after the priest shall have been cleansed by the order of purification which is written in the Mosaic law, seven days shall be numbered to him—either the perfect number of penitence, or after the consummation of the world, when we pass over into the true ogdoad, so that he may enter the holy of holies (for this is the inner court) and be able to minister in the sanctuary and always offer a victim for the sin of conscience: and there be no time in which he does not remember that he has been defiled over father and mother, son and daughter, brother and sister. For we are compelled to do many things while established in the straits of this age, whether by the condition of the flesh or the frailty of nature.

But whoever shall be found such as to minister in the sanctuary, and enter the inner court, and always offer sacrifice to God, so as to be a true priest, indeed an imitator of him of whom it is written: "You are a priest forever after the order of Melchisedech", that man shall have no inheritance except God, who is his inheritance: nor shall he receive a possession in Israel, that is, among the ignoble common people; but a priestly one, so that the Lord may say of him: "I am the inheritance, and I am their possession." Whom when they find him, they will speak and say: "I will hold him, and will not let him go"; and they will sing with the prophet: "The Lord is my portion".

Verse 29. The victim both for sin and for trespass (or for ignorance) they themselves shall eat, and every vow (or, separation) in Israel shall be theirs. And the first-fruits of all the firstborn, and all the libations from all the offerings that are offered, shall belong to the priests, and you shall give the first-fruits of your foods to the priest, that he may lay up a blessing upon his house (or, that he may place blessings upon your houses). For "victim" and "sacrifice," which in Hebrew is called MANAA (מנחה), Aquila and Symmachus translated as "gift." Again, for "vow," which the Septuagint translated as ἀφόρισμα, that is, "separation," Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion translated as ἀνάθημα, which in Hebrew is called HEREM (חרם). And it must be considered that all these things which the Lord now speaks through the prophet, he had already spoken before through Moses.

And it must be asked why he repeats the same things that were already said: namely, that those things which are in the minds of men—whether erased by negligence in reading, or by contempt and forgetfulness in hearing—might be renewed by a living voice, one not written with pen and ink, but by the Spirit and word of God. Whence also the Savior left behind no volume of his own teaching, which many of the apocryphal writings falsely feign; but he speaks daily in the heart of believers by the Spirit of the Father and his own. And this shall be the answer against those who slander the prophets, asking why they repeat in their own volumes what is contained in the Pentateuch. Therefore let the priests eat the victim, both for sin and for trespass, or ignorance, of whom it is written: "They shall eat the sins of my people". And one should not rejoice so much at the offering of gifts, as fear the condemnation of that honor, if we abuse it unworthily.

The first-fruits, according to the letter, are of animate and inanimate things which are born first, and which the earth first brings forth. The first-fruits also of our foods are offered to the priests, so that we may taste nothing of the new crops unless the priest has tasted first. But we do this so that the priest may lay up the blessing, and our offering, in his house: or that at his intercession the Lord may bless our houses. Great is the dignity of priests: but great is their fall if they sin. Let us rejoice at the ascent, but fear the fall. It is not as great a joy to have held the heights, as it is a sorrow to have fallen from the higher places. For we shall not render account only for our own sins, but for those of all whose gifts we abuse, and for whose salvation we are in no way solicitous.

Verse 31. Every dead thing, and that which is taken by a beast, whether of birds or of cattle, the priests shall not eat. And according to the letter, these precepts apply to every chosen race, royal and priestly—which properly refers to Christians, who have been anointed with spiritual oil, concerning whom it is written: "God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows"—that they should not eat a dead thing, whether of birds or of cattle, whose blood has not been shed, which in the Acts of the Apostles is called "strangled"; and which things must necessarily be observed, the Epistle of the apostles from Jerusalem admonishes: and that which is taken by a beast; because this too is likewise strangled: and he condemns priests who, in thrushes, fig-peckers, dormice, and other such things, do not observe these rules out of gluttonous greed.

But we may also, according to the anagogical sense, call "dead" that in which the blood of the soul has died out, and who imitates Nabal the Carmelite, whose name is interpreted "fool": who, upon hearing of David's wrath, trembled with fear, and his heart died within him. And he who is seized by beasts—from whose bites the prophet sighs that he may not be torn, saying: "Deliver not to the beasts the soul that confesses to you"—is to be understood as he who is devoured by the bites of the adversary lion, and of the leopard who does not change his variegated spots, and of the she-bear who rages when her cubs are seized, and of the wolves of Arabia, and of the rest of the beasts, which we take to represent the variety of demons. And we say that those are birds who set their mouth toward heaven, and those are cattle who, bent downward and inclined toward the earth, serve only the belly and the things that are under the belly.

(Verse 1.) And following.) And when you shall begin to divide the land into possession, set apart first-fruits to the Lord, a sanctified portion of the land, twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: it shall be sanctified in all its border round about. And of this there shall be sanctified, five hundred by five hundred, fourfold, round about, and fifty cubits for its suburbs round about. And by this measure you shall measure the length of twenty-five thousand, and the breadth of ten thousand, and in it shall be the temple (or, the sanctification) and the holy of holies. A sanctified portion of the land shall belong to the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who approach to the ministry of the Lord, and there shall be for them a place for houses, and for the sanctuary of holiness. Twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth.

But the Levites who minister to the house: they themselves shall possess twenty storerooms (for which the Septuagint translated: they themselves shall hold the city to dwell in). And you shall give the possession of the city, five thousand in breadth, and twenty-five thousand in length. According to the separation of the sanctuary, to the whole house of Israel. To the prince also, on this side and that, from the separation (or first-fruits) of the sanctuary into the possession of the city, over against the face of the separation of the sanctuary, and over against the face of the possession of the city, from the side of the sea unto the sea, and from the side of the East unto the East, and in length according to each several part, from the western boundary unto the eastern boundary, there shall be to him a possession of land in Israel: and the princes shall no more join together (or lay waste) my people: and they shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

After the ceremonies of the priests, and their worship and the food which they ought to take, and which to avoid: now he makes a description of the holy land, and before he divides the whole among the tribes, he commands that out of all the tribes a place be chosen, which in length shall have twenty-five thousand, and in breadth ten thousand. And because it is not stated of cubits or feet or ells, it is to be understood as signifying the reed which was in the man's hand, and had for its measure six cubits, and the sixth part of one cubit, that is, a παλαιστή. Let the diligent reader calculate how many reeds make a thousand paces, and how many thousands there were in length and in breadth.

After this description, he again commands that, out of the sanctified land which has been chosen from all the tribes of Israel, that is, of twenty-five thousand reeds in length, and ten thousand in breadth, there be chosen for the building of the sanctuary, that is, the temple of the Lord, another land within, of five hundred reeds round about, that is, two thousand. And lest perhaps other buildings should be joined to the building of the temple, he commands that for fifty cubits round about the land be empty as a suburb: or, as Symmachus and Theodotion and the Seventy translated it, for a boundary, and a separation, and a space.

This description being finished, another measure of sanctification is commanded to be set apart entirely anew, so that twenty-five thousand reeds in length, and ten thousand in breadth, beyond the former measure, another land be measured, in which there shall by no means be the temple, that is, the holy place, but the holy of holies, and in it shall dwell the priests who draw near to the ministry of the Lord. But they shall dwell there at the time when they perform the priestly office, and this shall be, as we have said, a possession of twenty-five thousand reeds in length, and ten thousand in breadth. Furthermore the Levites, who serve the priests and have their own ministries, shall receive a place for building twenty storehouses; according to Aquila, chambers; according to Symmachus, bedchambers; according to Theodotion, gazerae, or, as the Seventy translated, a city.

By which we understand that a certain place set apart for the habitation of the Levites is called by the name of city, which place has five thousand reeds in breadth, and twenty-five thousand in length. Now all these, that is, the sanctuary, and the second sanctuary, and the holy of holies, and the habitations of the priests, and the house of the Levites who minister to the priests, are called places set apart and consecrated for ministry, and for the sanctification of the house of Israel. After the fourfold description of the holy land, a fifth division is set down.

The prince, or leader of the people, shall receive on this side and that, that is, from both sides of the sanctuary, into his own possession, and shall dwell in the city: and his possession shall look toward the place set apart for the temple, and toward the face of the city: and it shall be from the side of the sea, that is, from the West, unto the other side of the sea, having a breadth which the prophet describes further below in the description of the individual tribes. Then it follows: But in length, according to each several part which the individual tribes receive, from the western boundary, that is, of the sea, unto the eastern boundary—where it ends we shall learn in the description of the tribes. And this shall be the possession of the leader, or prince, in the land of Israel. Let these things be said for the present, that the plain sense of the history may be known.

But if we should wish to compare spiritual things with spiritual, and, following certain interpreters, to ascend to higher things, who assert that present things are a figure of things to come, and that all that is said pertains to the heavenly Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all, and to the Church of the firstborn, it will indeed not be difficult to repeat what has been said by others: but we fear lest the prudent reader should by no means accept an exposition of this kind. Hence all things must be referred to the present time, and to the Church which now labors in the world, and hastens toward heavenly things, so that out of the whole world some may be chosen into the possession of God, who possess the holy place; others, who have advanced to greater things, may hold the holy of holies.

Among the ministers also there is a different order of priests and Levites, of whom some by their prayers and virtues daily offer sacrifices to God; others are in a second and lesser degree, so that they minister to them, and through those who have climbed to the heights of virtues; and at the last there is the leader or prince, who is able to do so much that he receives a possession as great as against one tribe; and the merit of one man compensates for the merits of many; and while he first dwells in this age, he possesses breadth from sea to sea; then from the West, or from the sea, unto the East, so that, leaving present things behind, he may hasten to future things, and have his own sure possession, and the princes may in no way desire what belongs to others, and each tribe hold its own part: which can properly be referred to bishops and presbyters, to whom it is said that they should no more lay waste and despoil the people of God, nor possess the land of Israel as an inheritance: but each one should have the possession that is established for his rank.

Now the twenty-five thousand, which are set down four times, refer to the senses. Further, the ten thousand refer to perfect knowledge, so that in the one only the plain history is retained, in the other there is also discussion of theology and of the powers above: because the number ten is a perfect number. This also must be considered, that the priests, who are established in the greater rank, possess twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth. But the Levites, that is, the lower rank, have indeed the same number in length, that is, twenty-five thousand: but their breadth is bounded by the number five. Whence also they hold only twenty storehouses: in which number the gifts of Esau are offered.

But the prince, who is truly a prince among the people, and deserves to receive the name of leader, receives a possession of the sanctuary from this side and that: namely, from all who are subject to him by will, and he is an inhabitant of the city, and makes the salvation of many his own reward. In the former temple, which is called the sanctuary, five hundred reeds are described on each side: and again fifty cubits, by which the whole possession of the priests is set apart. But in the second sanctuary, where the holy of holies is, the breadth of the temple and the space are not described, but the number is left uncertain.

This indeed we find also in the possession of the prince, who has a possession among the people of Israel without any fixed number, since the advancement of all redounds to the prince: and the salvation of the disciples is the reward of the teachers. (Verse 9.) Thus saith the Lord God: Let it suffice you, O princes of Israel: cease from iniquity and rapine, and execute judgment and justice, and separate your borders from my people, saith the Lord God. For "rapine" the Seventy translated "misery"; for "borders," "oppression." Now the sense is this: Because you have received your portion, O princes, Scripture saying: To the prince also, on this side and that, into the separation of the sanctuary, the possession of the city—it is understood, "you shall give"; and such is your power that your possession has received the portion of one tribe: therefore I command and admonish that it should suffice thus far to have done iniquity and rapine, while you invade and plunder what belongs to others.

And because it is written: Depart from evil, and do good; on the contrary, execute judgment and justice, judging for the fatherless, and doing justice for the widow: separate your borders from my people, that is, that you not move the boundaries. And because nearness itself harms the lowlier man, who cannot bear the arrogance of the greater and more powerful, hence it is said through Isaiah: Woe to you who join house to house, and field to field, up to the boundary of the place. Let this be said for the present as to the people of that time. But it can also be fitted to our own leaders, who after the manner of Pharaoh and the Egyptians oppress the children of Israel by their power, and do not remember that it is written: They have made thee a leader; be not lifted up: but be among them as one of them.

And that which the Lord speaks in the Gospel kata Λουκᾶν: But if that servant shall say in his heart, My lord delays his coming, and shall begin to strike the menservants and maidservants, and to eat and drink and be drunken, the lord of that servant will come in a day when he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know, and will cut him off, and place his portion with the unbelievers. He also instructs his disciples in the Gospel according to Matthew with these precepts: You know that the princes of the Gentiles lord it over them, and they that are greater exercise power over them. It shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be first, let him be the servant of all. The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a redemption for many.

There are many passages, if I wished to unroll them from the sacred Scriptures, where the pride of the great is checked, and all are summoned by the Lord to humility, who says: Learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart.

What I ought to have said at the beginning concerning the temple of Ezekiel, I am now going to say in reverse order at the end, mindful of that verse (Virgil, Aeneid, Bk. 6): This is that labor of the house, and the inextricable maze. Concerning which the same poet also sings in another place (Aeneid 5): As once, they say, in high Crete the labyrinth, Woven with blind walls, held a path, And a treacherous ambiguity of a thousand ways, by which the token Of the way to follow might deceive, unperceived, and the wandering Be beyond return.

So too have I, entering the ocean of these Scriptures, and, so to speak, the labyrinth of the mysteries of God, of which it is written: He made darkness his hiding place; and: Clouds are round about him: I do not indeed dare to claim for myself perfect knowledge of the truth, but I have offered to those wishing to know some indications of doctrine, not by my own powers, but by the mercy of Christ, who himself, while we wander, unravels the deceptions and windings of the building, guiding our blind steps by the Holy Spirit; following whom, we shall be able to reach the harbor of the explanations of the prophet Ezekiel, into which the last, that is, the fourteenth book, leads.

And if, with thee praying, O virgin of Christ, Eustochium, I shall have brought it through to the end, and the Lord shall have granted the space of this life, I shall pass on to Jeremiah, who alone remains to us of the prophets; whose interpretation will indeed be the fruit of my labor and of thy prayers, but properly of the clemency of Christ.

(Verses 10, following.) "A just balance, a just ephah, and a just bath shall be for you. The ephah and the bath shall be equal, and of one measure, so that the bath may hold the tenth part of a cor, and the ephah the tenth part of a cor: according to the measure of the cor shall be their equal reckoning. The shekel, moreover, has twenty obols. Now twenty shekels, and twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels make a mina. The Seventy: A just balance, and a just measure, and a just chœnix shall be for you as a measure, and the chœnix likewise shall be one for receiving. The tenth part of the gomor is a chœnix, and the tenth part of the gomor is an ephah. The gomor shall be equal in weight to twenty obols.

Twenty shekels: five and twenty shekels, and fifteen shekels shall be a mina for you." This passage, according to the Seventy, does not hold together, and can by no means be understood, since not only the numbers of the measures but also the names are changed. For instead of ephah they have translated "measure," a general term for a specific one, and instead of bath, "chœnix": and for the Hebrew homer, which in Greek is called κόρος, they have rendered "gomor": and again for bath, "chœnix." Let us therefore state the matter according to the Hebrew and the letter, and explain more plainly in each instance what seems to us to be meant. The balance, which in Hebrew is called MOZENE (מאזני), is understood as that by which things are weighed. The ephah, however, which in Greek speech is corruptly called Ἔφι, pertains to the measure of various crops, for example, of wheat, barley, and legumes.

Further, the bath, which in Hebrew is BATH (בת), is the same measure as the ephah, but only for liquid kinds, wine and oil, and the like. The cor holds thirty modii, and in both measures, that is, both of dry and of liquid things, it is the primary unit. The tenth part of the cor, in things measured by the modius, is called the ephah, that is, three modii: and the tenth part of the cor in liquid kinds is called the Bath or Vadus: so that the ephah and the bath are of the same measure. Further, the shekel, which in Greek is called στατήρ, has twenty obols. The mina, however, which is called mna, has sixty shekels: which make twelve hundred obols. As for the statement that twenty shekels, and twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels make a mina, this should not trouble the reader. For difficulty is set in the numbers for this very reason, that it may sharpen the attentive mind of the hearer.

Hence many things are spoken in parables and riddles, that he who has ears to hear may hear. And every prophecy contains truth in obscurity, so that the disciples may hear it inwardly, while the ignoble crowd, standing outside, may not know what is said. The divine Scripture therefore commands that weights be just, saying: There shall not be in your bag a greater and a lesser measure: a true and just balance shall be yours, and a true and just measure shall be yours. And in Proverbs it is said: A greater and a lesser balance, both are an abomination in the sight of God. This indeed we must observe not only in commerce and in the use of daily life, but justice must be kept in all things, as Scripture says: With your words you shall make a balance and a weight, so that in words, and in deed, and in thoughts, we may do all things by weight and reason.

Now the obol, that is, the twentieth part of the shekel or stater, we read elsewhere to be the smallest little portion: To him who is faithful belongs the whole world of riches; but to him who is unfaithful, not even an obol (according to the Seventy). As if he had said in other words: The unfaithful man possesses nothing in the world; indeed he lacks even the smallest portion. Of this it is said in other words in the Gospel: He shall not go out from there until he pays the last farthing, that is, even the last and smallest coin. We read that ten minas were handed over to each servant for trading: and in another parable talents were divided among the servants: and a debtor of five hundred denarii, and of fifty: and the workers of the vineyard who each received a denarius (—sic): and the widow woman who had lost a drachma, and scarcely found it by lighting a lamp. What meaning all these things have is not for this occasion to discuss. (Verses 13, 14).

"And these are the firstfruits which you shall take: the sixth part of an ephah from a cor of wheat, and the sixth part of an ephah from a cor of barley. The measure of oil also: a bath of oil is the tenth part of a cor: and ten baths make a cor; for ten baths fill a cor. The Seventy: And these are the firstfruits which you shall set apart. The sixth part of the measure from the gomor of wheat, and the sixth part of the ephah from the cor of barley, and the prescribed cotyle of oil, that is, a cyathus, ten cotyles of oil, because ten cotyles make a gomor." And here too, with the names of the measures changed, all things are confused in the edition of the Seventy, so that what is said cannot be understood.

For those who above had rendered "measure" for ephah, and "chœnix" for bath, and "gomor" for cor, and "little weight" for shekel, here have put "measure" for ephah: for cor, now "gomor," now the cor itself: and in the measure of oil, for bath, κοτύλην, that is, cyathus. Let us then state first, according to the letter, that the δεκάς, that is, the tenth part of all crops, the people owed by law to the Levitical tribe. Again, out of these same tithes, the Levites, that is, the lower rank of ministers, gave a tithe to the priests: and this is called the δευτεροδεκάτη. There were also other tithes, which each one of the people of Israel set aside in his own granaries, that he might eat them when he went to the temple in the city of Jerusalem, and in the vestibule of the temple, and the priests and Levites would invite them to feasts. There were also other tithes, which they laid up for the poor, called in Greek πτωχοδέκαται.

But the firstfruits which they offered from the crops were not defined by a specific number, but left to the discretion of the offerers. And we have received a tradition of the Hebrews, not prescribed by law, but established by the custom of the teachers: he who gave the most gave the fortieth part to the priests; he who gave least, the sixtieth: between the fortieth and the sixtieth it was permitted to offer whatever one wished. What therefore was left undetermined in the Pentateuch is here specifically defined, on account of the greed of the priests, lest they demand more from the people in bringing firstfruits, that is, so that they offer the sixtieth part of what is produced from the earth.

For if the cor, which in Hebrew is called HOMER (חמר), and by the Seventy is called gomor, holds thirty modii, both in dry and in liquid kinds: and the ephah and the bath, according to what we said above, are the tenth part of the cor, it is commanded that a sixth part both of the ephah and of the bath be given to the priests in the offering of firstfruits, which makes half a modius out of three modii, and it is clearly computed that the priests ought to receive the sixtieth part of the firstfruits. Let this suffice for now, both to have understood and to have heard according to the letter and according to the Hebrew truth.

Now let us return to the spiritual understanding, in which the first thing to be asked is how it is said: Honor the Lord with your just labors, and give him of the fruits of your righteousness: that your barns may be filled with grain, and your winepresses overflow with wine; so that after you have offered the firstfruits of your labors and virtues, and have said: Behold now I have brought to you the firstfruits of the fruits of the earth, which you have given me, O Lord: you may deserve to hear: Blessed are you in the city, and blessed are you in the field: blessed are the children of your womb, and the offspring of your land, and the fruit of your cattle, and so on, and you may possess, according to the Apostle, every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ: while whatever you have, you consider not to be of your own virtue, but of his mercy, who gave the crops.

And if indeed we have such knowledge of the Scriptures that we can unfold mystical things and teach men, that is, the rational animal, we give the firstfruits of our wheat. But if, after the anagogical sense, we follow only the plain history, which can nourish the simple, according to what is written: Men and beasts you will save, O Lord, we give the firstfruits of our barley, which barley Isaac sowed, but in the land of foreigners, and it sprang up a hundredfold for him. He who gives the firstfruits of barley can say: The Lord feeds me, and I shall want nothing; in a place of pasture he has placed me: he has brought me up beside the waters of refreshment. But he who feeds rational living beings changes the saying, and says: You have prepared a table before me against those who afflict me.

And after he has offered the firstfruits of oil and wine, he adds and says: You have anointed my head with oil, and how excellent is your inebriating cup, that oil which, being most pure without dregs, is prepared for the lamp of the Lord. He who has prepared this, his face is made cheerful with oil; with the oil of gladness, with which Christ was anointed above his companions; and having become an olive tree, he will sing with the prophet: But I am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God. And with that wine, which flows from the true vine into the winepresses of the Savior, the Lord saying: I am the vine, you are the branches, my Father is the husbandman. Of these winepresses we read three psalms, the eighth, and the eightieth, and the eighty-third, all of which are referred to the mysteries of the Church. And indeed in the old law, the firstfruits were without measure and number: for God did not give the Spirit by measure.

But in the second building of the temple, which the prophecy of Ezekiel contains, there is a fixed measure, that is, the number sixty, by which the world is completed, as it is said to us: With what measure you have measured, it shall be measured to you again. (Verses 15 following.) And one ram out of a flock of two hundred, from those which Israel feeds, for a sacrifice, and for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make atonement for them, says the Lord God: All the people of the land shall be bound to these firstfruits for the prince in Israel. And upon the prince shall fall the burnt offerings, and the sacrifice, and the libations, at the solemnities, and at the new moons, and at the sabbaths, and at all the solemnities of the house of Israel. He himself shall provide the sin offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.

Above he said what portion of the things that are weighed, and also of the measures both of dry and of liquid kinds, ought to be offered to the prince: now he keeps the same order of firstfruits in the case of living animals: so that he commands one ram out of a flock of two hundred to be offered, which Israel feeds, for a sacrifice and for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make atonement for the people of Israel, says the Lord God. What we have translated as "from those which Israel feeds," in the Hebrew is written MEMMASCE (ממשקה), which Aquila and Symmachus interpret as ἀπὸ τῶν ὑδάτων ("from the waters"), the Seventy and Theodotion as ἀπὸ τῶν ποτιστηρίων ("from the watering places"): of which the one refers to irrigated lands, the other to channels or pools: so that clearly the firstfruits of the prince are nourished nowhere else but in irrigated pastures.

And just as we read above that the sixtieth part ought to be offered to the prince of the things that are weighed and subject to measure: so now the two-hundredth part of the animals is commanded to be offered, and by precepts of this kind the whole people is subject, so that

let him offer to the duke or prince, namely that through him holocausts, and sacrifices, and libations may be offered on each solemnity for the people, and the house of God may be expiated. From this it should be noted, that just as the people is debtor of the first-fruits to be offered to the prince: so the prince is debtor of the people, to offer victims for him, whom according to the tropology we can understand to be none other than the Lord Saviour. This is he who from two hundred living creatures receives a ram, or as the Hebrew word more significantly shows, βόσκημα, which can refer to all living creatures, and not properly to the ram alone, and receives an animal or ram, which has been nourished in well-watered places, that is, of the holy Scriptures, and can say: The Lord feeds me, and nothing shall be lacking to me: in a place of pasture there he has set me, beside the waters of refreshment he has brought me up.

These were the well-watered places, or rather these the channels, to which Jacob also led his flocks, that they might drink at them and conceive, and according to the color of the rods bring forth young for the Lord. For "sacrifice," that is θυσία, Aquila and Symmachus interpret as "gift": which in Hebrew is called MANAA (מנחה), and properly does not pertain to the victim, but to those things which are offered in sacrifice from fine flour, and meal, and oil. But the holocaust is that which is offered whole to God, and is consumed by the sacred fire. The peace-offerings, when we are reconciled to God; and for us the Apostle speaks: We beseech you for Christ, be reconciled to God. And in another place: God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself. Now this prince, to whom the first-fruits from the living creatures are offered, is himself also king: as is shown even in the title of the cross, in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin letters.

And when the Jews strove that the triumphal title be taken down, the crowd of the nations in Pilate answered: What I have written, I have written. "Under the prince," he says, "they shall be." Beautifully the priestly dignity is admonished, to which office it is subjected; that it may know that it must offer sacrifice, and the libations which are offered from wine, for the people on all the solemnities: namely both on the calends, that is, the new moons, and on the sabbaths: when, darkness covering all things, there is the beginning of the moon's light: and on the rest of the sabbaths: that he may act, namely, for sin, to make expiation for the house of Israel, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. For this is the house of the living God, and the house of Israel, which needs expiation of its own sins.

(Verses 18 ff.) Thus says the Lord God: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a calf from the herd without blemish, and shall expiate the sanctuary. And the priest shall take of the blood which shall be for sin, and shall put it on the posts of the house, and on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner court. And so you shall do on the seventh day of the month for every one who has sinned in ignorance, and has been deceived by error, and you shall expiate for the house. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, the solemnity of the Passover shall be for you: seven days they shall eat unleavened bread. And the prince shall offer on that day for himself and for all the people of the land a calf for sin.

And in the solemnity of the seven days he shall make a holocaust to the Lord: seven calves, and seven rams without blemish, daily for seven days, and for sin a goat of the she-goats daily. And a sacrifice of an ephah for the calf, and an ephah for the ram he shall make: and a hin of oil for each ephah. In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, at the solemnity, he shall do as has been said above for seven days: both for sin, and for holocaust, and in sacrifice, and in oil. I have set down the whole chapter, lest, divided into single parts, it disturb the reader's mind. And first something must be said about the variety of interpretation.

Where we have translated, "on the four corners of the ledge of the altar," the LXX translated, "and upon the four corners of the temple, and upon the altar." And where we said, "for every one who has sinned in ignorance, and has been deceived by error," they put, "for the ignorant, and for the little one." Likewise where we said, "and a sacrifice of an ephah for the calf, and an ephah for the ram he shall make: and a hin of oil for each ephah," their edition has: "and a sacrifice, and a baking for the calf, and a baking for the ram you shall give, and a hin of oil of baking." Also in the last little verse, where we said, "in sacrifice and in oil," they said, "as in the manaa, as in the oil." "In the first," he says, "month and on the first day of the month" (there is no doubt but that Nisan is meant) "you shall take a calf from the herd": not one nourished at home, but one from the herd, that is, from the flock and the number of the many.

Also on the seventh day of the same month: which two solemnities, that is, the first day of the first month, and its seventh, are not found in the Mosaic law. But the fourteenth day of the month, on which the Passover is celebrated, Moses also commanded to be observed, when for seven days we eat unleavened bread. But the fourth solemnity, of which he says, "in the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, at the solemnity", and so on, seems to me to signify the feast of Tabernacles, which he has here set down without a name. Let us then run through the particulars, and briefly discuss what seems to us right. That the solemnities are spiritual, the Apostle also teaches: Let no one therefore judge you in food and drink, or in respect of a feast day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come.

And thus through Isaiah God speaks: Your new moons, and your sabbaths, and the great day I do not accept: fasting, and feast-days, and new moons, and your solemnities my soul hates. It is manifest that he who hates the solemnities of the Jews loves his own, namely the sabbath which is left to the people of God: that we may see what things have been given to us by God, and speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in the teaching of the Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. For in this present age, which is set in evil, we cannot see good days, but in the new age: concerning which days the Holy Spirit sings in the Mosaic song: Remember the days of old: understand the years of generation upon generation. Of which the Saint also spoke in the psalm: In the night I meditated in my heart. And again: And I have had in mind the eternal years, and have meditated.

Let him who does not accept this understanding answer how he can otherwise explain what Isaiah prophesies of the future and new age: There shall be month after month, and sabbath after sabbath: and all flesh shall come to adore the Lord: when the true worshippers will by no means worship on Mount Gerizim, nor in Jerusalem, but in spirit and in truth; when there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, and every creature shall be freed from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the sons of God, and the sun shall receive light sevenfold, and the moon shall be as the sun. For we have come to Mount Sion, which is interpreted "watchtower," and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to thousands of angels' solemnities. Of which solemnity another prophet also speaks: What will you do in the days of the assembly, and in the days of the solemnity of the Lord (Hosea ix, 5)?

This is that which is also said elsewhere: Celebrate, Judah, your festivals: pay your vows. If therefore we have learned the spiritual solemnities, we shall consequently be taught also the spiritual victims. A calf from the herd is assumed, or a bull, as Symmachus interpreted, free and pressed by no yoke, that is, by no burden of sins, and without blemish: who did no sin, nor was guile found in his mouth, a young calf, bearing horns and hoofs: that in him the sanctuary may be cleansed and expiated. And the priest, he says, shall take of his blood which shall be for the sin of all: who by other words is called the lamb in Exodus, and in the Gospel, John the Baptist saying: Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.

But that blood itself is precious, in which we are redeemed by the passion of the Lord Saviour; by whose flesh we are fed, and by whose blood we are given drink; by which the four corners of the ledge of the altar are touched, which Theodotion rendered by the Hebrew word itself, azara (עזרה), or of the temple, as the LXX translated: that the house and the altar may be sanctified.

For all the elements of the world are sanctified by this blood: that when anyone has been expiated and cleansed, he may enter the gate of the inner court, and may be able to know the secrets of the Lord, and consequently come to the seventh day of the first month, and obtain rest, and offer to the Lord a sacrifice both for ignorance, of which David speaks: The sins of my youth, and my ignorances remember not, and for the little one, who, when he has come to the measure of a perfect man, will put away the things that are a child's, and will speak confidently: When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child. Or for him who has been deceived by error, and has sinned not so much by will as by opinion of good.

But when the two solemnities of the first month, that is, of its first day and its seventh, are completed, he comes to the fourteenth day of the month, on which is the solemnity of the Passover: of which it is written: For Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. Then we eat unleavened bread for seven days in rest and security of all things, when, destroying the leaven of malice and wickedness, we eat the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, our prince offering all these things for us, and first for himself. For he took human body, and through sin destroyed sin, he who grieves for us, and bears our infirmities: then (as it is written in the LXX; but is not found in the Hebrew), for his house, that is, for the Church, and for all the people of the land, namely the whole human race. For he is the Saviour of all men, and especially of the faithful, and he himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but for the whole world.

Now the calf having been offered for all the people of the land, on the remaining seven days of the Lord's passion, seven calves, and seven rams without blemish are offered daily, that they may be burned by the holocaust and the fire of the Lord. And the seven calves, and seven rams, are those who are figured to the Lord's passion, that they may imitate the true calf, and the true ram, so that by the blood of the martyrs for seven days the sins of the whole world may be purged. A goat of the she-goats also is offered for sin daily, namely for seven days. And it should be carefully noted, that in the sacrifice an ephah is offered for the calf, and an ephah for the ram, and a hin of oil, as prescribed by the Law. But in the offering of the goat, neither an ephah nor (as the Septuagint translated) a baking is set down, who for "ephah" rendered πέμμα, that is, a baking.

But the hin, which is a fixed measure of oil, of which we have already spoken before, is taken up in the sacrifice of the calf and the ram: that we may receive the kindling of eternal light, and rest from labor, and healing of weariness, after the appeasement of sins. Also in the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, that is, of the feast of Tabernacles, the same order of offering and sacrifices must be observed, both for sin and for holocaust, and in sacrifice, and in oil; that we may attain the festival of the Lord, the darkness put to flight and the light of oil having risen: and may have brighter solemnities, in which all sins are forgiven.

(Verses 1 and following.) Thus says the Lord God: The gate of the inner court which looks toward the East shall be closed six days, in which work is done: but on the sabbath day it shall be opened, and also on the day of the new moon it shall be opened. And the prince shall enter by the way of the vestibule of the outer gate, and shall stand at the threshold of the gate: and the priests shall offer his holocaust, and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate, and shall go out: but the gate shall not be shut until evening. And the people of the land shall worship at the entrance of that gate on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, before the Lord.

Now this holocaust the prince shall offer to the Lord on the sabbath day: six unblemished lambs, and an unblemished ram, and a sacrifice of an ephah for the ram: but for the lambs, the sacrifice which his hand shall give, and a hin of oil for each ephah. But on the day of the new moon, an unblemished calf from the herd, and six lambs, and unblemished rams. And he shall make an ephah for the calf, and an ephah for the ram as a sacrifice: but for the lambs, as much as his hand shall find, and a hin of oil for each ephah. Where we have translated "ephah," which is the tenth part of a cor, the LXX rendered πέμμα, which in our language means "a baking" or "cooked offering." And where we said "sacrifice," they set down the very Hebrew word MANAA (מנחה), which Aquila translated as "gift" or "sacrifice," and Theodotion as "sacrifice." And meanwhile, before we discuss what these things signify, the very words of Scripture must be set forth paraphrastically.

The gate, it says, of the inner court, for six days—concerning which it is written: Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work—shall be closed; not just any gate, but the one which looks toward the East, whence the Sun of Justice arises. But on the sabbath day, that is, the seventh, on which there is rest, it shall be opened week by week, and again, when thirty days are completed, when there is the end of one month and the beginning of another, that is, the new moon, namely on the day of the new moons, it shall be opened, so that the privilege which the seventh day has in the week, the beginning of the month may have the same privilege. But why the gate of the inner court which looks toward the East is opened on the seventh day and on the day of the new moons, the following discourse will show.

And the prince, it says, shall enter by the way of the vestibule of the outer gate—namely, of the outer court: and shall stand at the threshold of the gate of the inner court, which looks toward the East: and he shall not enter the inner court, but while he stands there, other priests shall make on his behalf the holocaust, which Symmachus interpreted as "the offering": and the peace offerings, or those things which pertain to salvation, so that after the victim of the prince has been consumed by the sacred fire, and the leader has been reconciled to God, then he may worship at the threshold of the gate of the inner court where he had stood, and go out. What then? After the prince's departure, will the gate immediately be closed?

By no means, but it will remain open until evening; so that after the prince, all the people of the land may worship facing the entrance of that gate: and they shall worship on the sabbaths and on the new moons, when the gate is opened. And because it had said above: The priests shall make his holocaust and his peace offerings, without specifying the number of the holocausts; now it adds: Now this holocaust the prince shall offer to the Lord on the sabbath day. But he shall offer it not by himself, but through the priests, of whom it is written: And the priests shall make his holocaust and his peace offerings: six, it says, unblemished lambs, and an unblemished ram: so that the sacrifice for the ram is the measure of an ephah, which in Hebrew is called EPHA (איפה). But for the six lambs, the sacrifice shall be whatever the hand of the one offering is able to offer; and for each ephah there shall be a measure of oil which is called a hin.

But the day of the new moons, that is, of the beginnings of the months, shall have this privilege beyond the sabbath day, that a calf from the herd, or an unblemished bull, be sacrificed. But the rest, that is, the six unblemished lambs, and the unblemished ram, and their sacrifices, shall keep the rite of the sabbath: in such a way, of course, that just as in the case of the ram an ephah of sacrifice is offered, that is, of fine flour, and a hin of oil, so it is offered also in the case of the calf. Let these things be set down for the sake of clarity: now, by the Lord's gift, let us open up the spiritual sense. During the six days in which we labor in the world, the eastern gate of the inner court is closed to us.

But after we have come to the seventh day, that is, to the sabbath day, on which there is eternal rest, or to the day of the new moons, when after the blind night and horrible darkness there is the beginning of light, the eastern gate is opened to us: and if any of us, through the merits of the virtues, shall have attained the name and dignity of a leader, by the way of the vestibule of the outer gate, that is, through the labors of this world: he shall enter the gate of the Church, which is still situated within earthly bounds: not the inner court, for this is written of the present place; but to the threshold of the inner gate, and he shall stand there. But if the prince in the present Scripture does not enter the inner court, but stands at its threshold, there is no doubt that we now see in part and know in part; and do not yet contemplate the glory of the Lord with unveiled face.

Then, while the prince stands at the threshold of the gate of the inner court, the other priests, to whom this office has been delegated (whom we can understand as the angelic virtues), shall make on his behalf the holocaust and the peace offerings. For we stand in need of God's mercy, and every creature, in comparison with the Creator, is unclean, and must be purified by divine fire, by which also the lips of the prophet Isaiah were purified: so that after he has received peace through the sacrifice, then, standing at the threshold, he may worship the omnipotence of God, and confess himself unworthy of entrance into the inner court, and forthwith enter.

But after the one who is first shall have gone out, the gate of the inner court shall not be closed until the evening of this age, but shall remain open: so that the people of the land also may be at the entrance, and worship toward him: not indeed at every time, but when he has rested from sins, and, the darkness put to flight, has received the light of the knowledge of the faith. Now this very holocaust which the prince offers through the priests on the sabbath day is limited to the number of six unblemished lambs; namely for the six days in which we labor in the world, and an unblemished ram, who is the leader of the flock; so that for each ram an ephah, that is, a tenth part of a cor, is offered in sacrifice. But in the sacrifice of the six lambs no fixed measure is set: but as much as the hand of the one offering gives, that is, according to the quality and measure of works.

But he shall offer a hin of oil for each ephah, that is, the oil which the five virgins prepared for themselves; that he may anoint the fine flour, or mix it in, and every offering to God may be full of the light of truth, and the face of the one offering the oil may be made cheerful.

But on the day of the new moons, that is, on the thirtieth day, when the firstborn and the Levites are numbered in the Law, apart from all Israel, of whom we spoke above, an unblemished calf from the herd is offered, concerning which we discussed more fully in the previous chapter, and six lambs, and unblemished rams, and the rest which are offered on the sabbaths, that we may attain eternal rest, and deserve to hear: Well done, good servant, because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many things: enter into the joy of thy Lord; and that we may not only reach the gate of the inner court, but may also be able to enter its inmost recesses, and possess it in deed: They that are planted in the house of the Lord: shall flourish in the courts of our God.

(Verses 8 ff.) And when the prince enters, let him enter by the way of the vestibule of the gate, and let him go out by the same way. And when the people of the land shall enter before the Lord on the solemn feasts, he who enters by the north gate to worship, let him go out by the way of the south gate; and he who enters by the way of the south gate, let him go out by the way of the north gate. He shall not return by the way of the gate through which he entered, but shall go out opposite it. But the prince shall be in the midst of them; when they go in he shall go in, and when they go out he shall go out. And at the fairs, and on the solemn feasts, the sacrifice shall be an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram. But for the lambs the sacrifice shall be as his hand shall find, and a hin of oil for every ephah.

That prince, of whom it was said above: “And the prince shall enter by the way of the vestibule of the gate from without, and shall go out by the same gate,” is he of whom it is written: “I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself: I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again”. For it is a matter of free will, and he has the power of laying down his life and of taking it up again; and both in coming to us and in ascending to heavenly things, he uses the same freedom of his majesty. Accordingly, he does not seek out fairs, nor solemn feasts, nor observe any difference of days, because every time is a festival to him. But the people enter and go out only at the fairs and on the solemn feasts, and not by the same way, but by one way and then another.

For it is written: “And when the people of the land shall enter before the Lord on the solemn feasts, he who enters by the north gate to worship, let him go out by the way of the south gate, and he who enters by the way of the south gate, let him go out by the way of the north gate; he shall not return by the way of the gate through which he entered, but shall go out opposite it.” This is enjoined not only upon those who go out from Sodom, to whom it is said, “Look not back”; nor upon those who put their hand to the plough, that they should not look back at the things that are behind; but also upon those established in the house of the Lord, it is commanded that they should not look back to their rear and return to the weak and beggarly elements, and, having begun in the spirit, be consumed in the flesh: but that they should proceed from spiritual things also to greater things, and say with the Apostle: “Forgetting the things that are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before”; so that they should not know in part and prophesy in part, but come to the perfect, according to that perfection, however, which human nature can attain, that we may understand that saying of the Gospel: “And you, when you shall have done all these things, say: We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which we ought to do”.

Whence also the Apostle in the same Epistle speaks of two kinds of perfection; for as one imperfect he writes: “Not as though I had already attained, or were already perfect; but I follow after, if I may by any means apprehend, in which also I am apprehended by Christ”. And immediately, as one perfect, he speaks: “But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be thus minded”. For how can the statement stand, that he who had said, “Not as though I had already attained, or were already perfect,” should dare to say: “Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, be thus minded”? From this it is clear that every man, and the whole of creation, though it may have arrived at perfection, still needs the mercy of God, and possesses full perfection by grace, not by merit.

It is commanded, then, to the people of the land, that if he enter by the north gate to worship, he should go out by the way of the south gate. Who is this people to whom this is commanded? Surely that of the nations; so that whoever, leaving the north gate, from which evils blaze forth upon the earth, shall have entered the temple, should not go out except by the way of the south gate, to the gate of light, to the gate of warmth, to the gate in which the bridegroom rests at noon. Accordingly it is said in the same Song of Songs: “Arise, O north wind, and come, O south wind”. But he who enters by the way of the south gate, let him go out by the way of the north gate. Who then is that people? Namely, that of the Jews, who, leaving the gate of the way of light, goes to the north gate, of which it is said: “The north wind is a most severe wind”.

For also the pot of Jeremiah is kindled from the face of the north. Let us also say otherwise: He enters by the north gate who lets go of sins, and goes out by the south gate who follows virtues. And on the contrary, if a just man has fallen into sins, he indeed enters by the south gate, but goes out by the way of the north gate. But the prince, it says, shall be in the midst of them—namely of those going in and going out—according to that which is written: “There standeth one among you, whom you know not”. And the Apostle: “Do you not know that Christ is in you?” But if it is said even to the ignorant that Christ stands in their midst, how much more to those who know! But when Christ shall have stood among those who know, then the body will become dead because of sin, and the spirit living because of righteousness.

But the prince enters with those who enter, and goes out with those who go out, standing as witness of the virtue and sin of both. Therefore at the fairs and on the solemn feasts—namely of the sabbaths, and of the new moons, and of the whole festivity of which we have spoken above—there shall be offered in sacrifice, both for the bullock and for the ram, an ephah for each.

But for the lambs there shall be no fixed number, nor shall the choice be left to the will; but each shall use his strength and the good of conscience, so that he offers as much as he can, not as much as he wills; and above all, a hin of oil for each ephah, that the fine flour may be anointed and the lamp lit in the sight of the Lord; and he who makes use of it may be able to say: “But I am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of the Lord”. (Verses 12 ff.) But when the prince shall make a voluntary holocaust, or voluntary peace offerings to the Lord, the gate that looks toward the East shall be opened for him, and he shall offer his holocaust and his peace offerings, as is wont to be done on the sabbath day: and he shall go out, and the gate shall be shut after he has gone out.

And he shall offer daily an unblemished lamb of a year old for a holocaust to the Lord: morning by morning shall he offer it. And he shall make a sacrifice (or “manaa”) upon it morning by morning, the sixth part of an ephah (or measure); and of oil the third part of a hin, and let it be mingled (or, according to Symmachus, sprinkled) with the fine flour as a sacrifice (or “manaa”) to the Lord, a lawful ordinance, continual and perpetual. You shall offer the lamb and the sacrifice and the oil morning by morning, a perpetual holocaust. Where we read “unblemished,” in the Hebrew is written THAMIM (תמים): Aquila translates “perfect.” And where the Septuagint has MANAA (מנחה), Theodotion has “sacrifice,” Aquila and Symmachus rendered it “gift.” But for what we have said as “voluntary,” the Septuagint rendered ὁμολογίαν, that is, “confession”; and for “prince,” “leader,” for this is what NASI (נשיא) means.

The discourse still concerns the prince, of whom Isaiah speaks: “Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and a commander to the peoples”. And Ezekiel: “And I the Lord will be to them a God, and David the prince in the midst of them”. When, therefore, this prince shall have made a voluntary offering, and shall have said: “Make the freewill offerings of my mouth acceptable, O Lord”—a voluntary holocaust, that he may offer his whole self to God, and voluntary peace offerings, which is not found in the earlier passages; for it is written: “And the priests shall make his holocaust and his peace offerings”: and concerning voluntary and freewill offerings, of which mention is now made, nothing at all is said, so that they may not do it out of necessity, but of their own will; after the holocaust let him offer peace offerings, and be reconciled to God. Whence also virginity is greater than marriage, because it is not required, nor rendered, but offered.

For “peace offerings,” which in Hebrew are called SELAMIM (שלמים), the Septuagint interprets as “salutary offerings”—so that the very reconciliation of the peace offerings may be the salvation of the offerer. When, therefore, the prince shall have done this, the gate shall be opened for him: or, according to the Septuagint, he shall open for himself the gate that looks toward the East—namely that gate of which it is written: “This is the gate of the Lord, the just shall enter into it”, and from which the sun of righteousness rises. And he shall make, it says, his holocaust and his peace offerings, of which we have now spoken. But he himself shall make them, because it is a voluntary sacrifice, and the priests shall not make it for him, namely as is wont to be done on the sabbath day. Therefore at all times the holocaust and the peace offering, which is offered voluntarily, has the gate of the Lord open, nor does it observe the sabbath, but all days are reckoned to it as rest.

Accordingly, after he shall have offered the holocaust and the peace offerings, he immediately goes out, and the door is shut after him, or he himself shuts the door: so that the prince's own privilege may be preserved, and his sacrifices not be mingled with those of the people. And because he had said generally, “a voluntary holocaust, or voluntary peace offerings to the Lord,” without specifying a bull or bullock, and a ram or sheep, and a he-goat for sin, he teaches what this holocaust itself is: “A lamb,” he says, “of a year old, without blemish, he shall make a holocaust”; and not on fixed days, but daily, nor at any hour, but morning by morning shall he offer it: namely, each morning, when, the sun having risen, is the beginning of light. Of which morning David speaks in the psalm: “In the morning thou shalt hear my voice; in the morning I will stand before thee, and will see”. And in another place: “In the evening weeping shall have place, and in the morning gladness”.

And again: “O God, my God, to thee do I watch at break of day”. But who this unblemished lamb, or perfect and yearling lamb, is, Isaiah teaches more fully, saying: “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before his shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth”. And Jeremiah: “But I was like an innocent lamb, that is carried to be a victim, and I knew not”. And John the Baptist: “Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world”. This is the lamb which is sacrificed in Egypt, by whose blood the doorposts of faith are armed, and the destroyer is shut out. But he is called “of a year old” because he proclaimed the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of retribution.

Nor let the reader marvel that the same one is both prince, and priest, and calf, and ram, and lamb, since in the holy Scriptures, according to the variety of the matters treated, we read of him as Lord, and God, and man, and prophet, and rod, and root, and flower, and prince, and judge, and king, just, and justice, apostle, and bishop, arm, servant, ointment, shepherd, son, and child, only-begotten, and firstborn, door, way, angel, arrow and wisdom, and many other things, all of which, if I wished to give the testimonies, would require a book of their own. In the holocaust, then, of this unblemished and yearling lamb, which is always offered in the morning, the prince himself shall make the sacrifice, or MANAA: and fine flour, or a gift, morning by morning, the sixth part of an ephah, understood of fine flour. Now the sixth part of an ephah is half a modius.

For if an ephah is the tenth part of a cor, that is, three modii, there is no doubt that the sixth part of an ephah makes half a modius. Of oil also, of the measure of a hin, the third part is offered, that it may be mingled, or sprinkled, with the fine flour as a sacrifice to God, lawful, continual and perpetual, which is intermitted on no day, but is always offered at all times, at sunrise, so that what is set down at the end of this chapter may be fulfilled: “He shall offer the lamb for a sacrifice: and the oil morning by morning, a perpetual holocaust.”

(Verses 16, 17 and following) Thus saith the Lord God: If the prince (or leader) shall give a gift to any of his sons, it shall be the inheritance of his sons: they shall possess it as an inheritance. But if he shall give a legacy from his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his until the year of release (for which Theodotion set down the very Hebrew word, DEROR), but it shall return to the prince: and his inheritance shall belong to his sons. And the prince shall not take from the inheritance of the people by violence, nor from their possession: but he shall give inheritance to his sons out of his own possession, that my people be not scattered, each one from his possession. Thus far the discourse concerns the prince; now precepts are given concerning his heirs—indeed concerning gifts, inheritance, and legacies, as to what he ought to give, and whose possession it is, whether for a time or in perpetuity.

If, he says, he shall give to his sons either a gift or an inheritance, they themselves shall possess it, because it is owed to them by right of succession, and possession cannot pass from one to another. But if he shall give it to one of his servants under the name of a legacy, that one shall have possession only so long as until the seventh year of release, which is called DEROR (דרור), or the jubilee, that is, the fiftieth year, arrives: at which time every purchase and gift returns to its former owners; so that the servant has the use of it for a time, but the ownership of the possession belongs to the son of the prince.

Now what follows: And the prince shall not take from the inheritance of the people by violence, or as the Septuagint translated, that he oppress them, or as Aquila and Symmachus have it, that he afflict and grieve them: but he shall give inheritance to his sons out of his own possession: this rebukes not only the priests and princes of that time, but also those of our own day, who become richer through the dignity of the priesthood, and beyond what is owed to them by the Lord's ordinance, take from the poor by violence; or under the name of honor despoil the wealthy, so that even to their own sons, to whom paternal inheritance is due, they leave nothing except what was left to them by their parents.

Therefore whatever priest is wealthier than when he came to the priesthood, whatever excess he has, he ought to give not to his sons, but to the poor, and to the holy brethren, and to the household of the faith, who surpass the claims of children, so that he may render to his Lord the things that are the Lord's, who speaks in the Gospel: Whatsoever you have done to one of these, you have done unto me. For he himself is received in hospitality in the poor; he is visited in prison; naked, he is clothed; thirsty, he drinks; hungry, he is filled. That my people, he says, be not scattered from their possession.

For if the prince should have license either to take, or to seize, or under the guise of honor to hold what is not his own, and to leave it to his children, the people, who had been gathered together in the name of God, would be scattered into factions and torn apart; or according to the Law, lest gradually one's inheritance pass to another and the measuring-line of the division be lost, by which perhaps the inheritance came to each one.

Therefore he scatters the people of God, and takes from them the everlasting possession of the faith, who leaves to sons and brothers and kinsmen the gifts or goods of others, whether obtained by plunder, or flattery, or blandishments, or under pretext of religion. (Verses 19 and following) And he brought me in by the entrance which was at the side of the gate (or behind it), into the chambers of the sanctuary for the priests (or into the sacristies and chambers) which looked toward the north; and behold, there was a place there facing westward (or toward the sea; and as the LXX translated, separate). And he said to me: This is the place where the priests shall boil the offering for trespass, and for sin (or for ignorance, and therefore) where they shall boil the sacrifice (or manaa and the gift), that they may not carry it out into the outer court, and the people be sanctified.

And he brought me out into the outer court, and led me about through the four corners of the court; and behold, there was a little court in the corner of the court, little courts one by one at the corners of the court. In the four corners of the court there were little courts arranged, forty cubits in length and thirty in breadth. The measure of the four was one; and there was a wall going around, enclosing the four little courts; and kitchens were built beneath the porticoes round about (or for the couches, which Aquila translated στιβάδας, Symmachus περιφράγματα, Theodotion set down the very Hebrew word TUROTH). And he said to me, he says: This is the house of the kitchens, in which the ministers of the house shall boil the victims of the people. For this is what ZEBA (זבח) signifies in Hebrew.

The man who held in his hand the reed and the mason's cord, by which he measured the building, brought me in, he says, by the entrance which was at the side of the gate, or behind the gate. Nor does he state of which gate—the eastern, the southern, or of another quarter—but he left it uncertain, so that I might go to the place of the sanctuary, and into the chambers, or into the priests' rooms, which looked toward the north and toward the sea: that is, toward the north and toward the west; sacred Scripture having this custom, that according to the position of the land of Judea, it always calls the west "sea." And it should be considered that the place of the priests, where the sacrifices are boiled for trespass, or ignorance, and for sin, lest they be offered raw, is placed in the outer court toward the north and the west—whence the coldest wind arises, and where the light of the sun sets.

From which it is shown that whatever pertains to food is either for error or for sin. But if a sacrifice is offered even for ignorance, how much more for the consciousness of trespass! Whence Job also offered a victim every morning for his sons, fearing lest they had sinned through ignorance. Now what follows: That they may not offer it in the outer court, and the people be sanctified—the people who had not been prepared for sanctification—this signifies that we should not readily give holy things to those not sanctified: nor, according to the Gospel, cast pearls before swine, nor give what is holy to dogs. Finally, Moses wishes the people to be sanctified for three days from all uncleanness, and from the embrace of their wives, so that they might approach Mount Sinai, and, being sanctified, receive holy things.

But if those who are about to approach to hear and receive the words of God are commanded to be sanctified from their wives, it is clear that that Apostolic saying is contained in the Law: Do not defraud one another, except perhaps by consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to prayer: and by consent one must abstain from wives, that we may give ourselves to prayer. After this it is written: And he brought me out into the outer court, and led me about through the four corners of the court; and behold, there was a little court in the corner of the court, little courts one by one at the corners of the court, in the four corners of the court little courts arranged. That man whom he often mentions led him out from the place of the priests which faced toward the north, or which was separate, where the priests boil for trespass, and for sin, or ignorance: but he led him out into the outer court.

From which we understand that the court from which he went out was the inner one, and that there are many courts in the holy Scriptures, of which we read: You who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God. And in John: And other sheep I have which are not of this fold, and them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd: for this is what αὐλὴ signifies in Greek, which Latin simplicity has rendered as "sheepfold." Now when he says, "of this fold," he shows that there is another as well: which is shown either in the multitude of the Gentiles, as distinguished from Israel, or in the heavens, as separated from the earthly court; and according to the quality of merits, a court is assigned to each office, concerning which fuller discussion has been made above.

But this court, of which we now speak, had at each of its four corners little courts, which the LXX call "smaller," and we, for ease of understanding, have called diminutively "little courts." They were forty cubits in length, and thirty in breadth. Concerning these numbers I recall having discussed in this same Prophet, that one number refers to tribulations and straits, the other to perfect age. Whence Moses, and Elijah, and the Lord and Savior fasted forty days in the wilderness; and men come to the priestly office not after the twenty-fifth year of age, but after the thirtieth.

Wherefore also the Lord was thirty years old when he came to baptism: and in this same prophet the thirtieth year is placed at the beginning. Where therefore there is food, there is also anguish and trial, through which food is prepared. And when we shall have come to the age of a perfect man, there all things must be trodden underfoot, and it must be said: Having food and clothing, let us be content with these. And: If the Lord shall give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on. Or certainly that saying: Meat for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. For in the world to come we shall not eat and drink, but we shall be fed with that bread which came down from heaven, of which it is sung in the Psalter: Man ate the bread of angels. And: My meat is to do the will of him that sent me.

But the fact that the measure of the little courts was one, four of them possessing the corners of the greater court, signifies the four quarters of the world: that in the sweat of our face we should eat bread, and that all labor should serve the belly and the sewer; and these four little courts either one wall surrounded, and kitchens were built beneath the porticoes round about, or they had adjoining couches: so that where there was food, there was also the preparation of measures. And lest perhaps the prophet should not know what these things were which he saw, it was said to him: This is the house of the kitchens, in which the ministers of the Lord shall cook the victims of the people. The victims of the people indeed, which shall be offered for trespass, or sin, and ignorance, are the food and refreshments of the priests: that they may remember that they ought to seek nothing else, since even in the temple flesh has been prepared for their refreshment.

(Verses 1 ff.) And he brought me back to the door of the house, and behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house toward the east. For the face of the house looked toward the east. And the waters descended into the right side of the temple, toward the south of the altar. And he brought me out by the way of the north gate, and led me about by the way outside unto the outer gate, by the way that looked toward the east, and behold, waters gushed out on the right side, when the man went forth toward the east, who had a line in his hand, and he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters, the waters unto the ankles (or he passed through in the water, the water of remission). And again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters unto the knees (or he passed through in the water unto the thighs).

And he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters unto the loins (or he passed through the water unto the loins). And he measured a thousand, a torrent, which I could not pass over, because the deep waters of the torrent had swelled, which could not be forded. For which the Seventy translated: And he measured a thousand, and he could not pass over: because the water was borne along like a headlong torrent, which cannot be crossed. These waters which went out from under the threshold of the house, that is, of the temple, were not borne toward the north and toward the west: but toward the east, and on the right side of the temple, that is, toward the south, and that south not of just any place, but of the altar. From which it becomes clear that these are sacred waters, and signify the doctrine of our Saviour, according to that which is written: Out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

And in another place: All things shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as many waters covering the sea. Of these waters also the prophet Zechariah prophesied, saying: In that day living water shall go out from Jerusalem, and half of it toward the former sea: and half of it toward the utmost sea. Of these waters also the Lord spoke to the Samaritan woman: If thou knewest who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou perhaps wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. And again: Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but he that shall drink of the water that I shall give him shall not thirst for ever. And in the temple he cried out and said: If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink. He that believeth in me (as the Scripture saith), out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water: but this he spoke of the Spirit which they that believed in him were about to receive.

These are the waters of which the prophet spoke in the psalm: He brought me up upon the waters of refreshment. And Ezekiel: I will take you from among the nations and from the lands, and I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be cleansed from all your uncleannesses. For the fountains of waters appeared. And in the ninety-second Psalm it is sung: The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice, at the voices of many waters. Wonderful are the surges of the sea. These are the waters of Siloe, which go with silence, of which Isaiah speaks: You shall draw waters with joy out of the fountains of the Saviour. And the Psalmist: Bless the Lord from the fountains of Israel. And the same Isaiah of the Lord the Saviour: This one, he says, shall dwell in the high cave of the strongest rock. Bread shall be given him, and his water shall be sure. For water broke forth in the desert, and a valley in a thirsty land.

And it is said to believers: Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; thou art mine, and if thou pass through the water, I am with thee. And again: All ye that thirst, come to the waters. And through Jeremiah God speaks: My people have done two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have digged to themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water. As therefore we read that the waters which go forth from the threshold of the temple are taken in a good sense, and are referred to the doctrine of the Church: so there are bitter waters, and most evil waters, to which the prophet Jeremiah forbids us to go, saying: What hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, that thou shouldst drink of the waters of Geon? Which in Hebrew are called SIOR (שיחור), that is, turbid and muddy.

Of which, angered at the heretics, God speaks: Behold, I will feed them with straitness, and give them the water of gall to drink; in which the Egyptian dragon reigns, who says: The rivers are mine, and I made them; who sees every high thing, and is himself the king over all that are in the waters. Whence the man of the Church prays to the Lord, and says: Save me, O Lord, for the waters are come in even unto my soul. I stick fast in the mire of the deep, and there is no sure standing, and the storm has overwhelmed me. And again: Deliver me from them that hate me, and from the depths of the waters: let not the storm of water drown me, nor the deep swallow me up, nor the pit shut her mouth upon me. And in another psalm: If it had not been that the Lord was with us, let Israel now say: if it had not been that the Lord was with us.

When men rose up against us, perhaps they had swallowed us up alive. When their fury was kindled against us, perhaps the water had swallowed us up. And the Bride in the Canticle of Canticles: Many waters cannot quench charity, neither shall the floods drown it. This is the water of which Hosea speaks: Galaad the city, which works vanities, has despised me, troubling the water, and its strength is that of pirate men. Which water is called by another name MARA, that is, bitterness; into which the wood of the Cross is cast, and bitter things are turned into sweet.

Consider the law of Moses, if it be understood according to the carnal sense of the Jews, how bitter it is, digging out eye for eye, tooth for tooth: see the fornication in Thamar, and Hosea joined to a harlot, Jeremiah's περίζωμα, the Ethiopian wife of Moses, and the slaying of the Egyptian, and a thousand other things which, if we understand them according to the killing letter, and not according to the life-giving spirit, are bitter, and do not so much edify their reader as destroy him. These, then, are the waters which go forth from the temple of the Lord, and proceed toward the east, and descend into the right side of the Temple, toward the south of the altar, where the bridegroom feeds his guests, and reclines.

But what follows: And he brought me forth by the way of the north gate, and led me about by the way outside unto the outer gate, by the way that looked toward the east, this shows secretly that we cannot immediately arrive at the eastern gate, unless by the way of the north gate we arrive at it by a long circuit. For unless we have overcome the most frigid wind by the heat of faith, and have trodden down its regions—so that in us that saying of the Apostle may be fulfilled: And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly—we shall not be able to enter the gate through which the waters go forth, and are on the right side. And note that these waters which enter through the eastern gate flee so far from the left-hand parts that they are described as proceeding from the right side of the altar toward the south.

But the man, it says, who had the line in his hand, when he had led me through the north gate outward to the way that looked toward the east, and he himself also was in the same place, measured a thousand cubits of the same water: and brought me through the water unto the ankles, which Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotion translated ἀστραγάλους, for which the Seventy translated: and he passed through into the water, the water of remission: which we can understand to signify the first sins of men, which are forgiven us as we enter the waters of the Lord, and show the saving grace of baptism, and are the beginnings of progress, yet themselves lofty. Finally they reach as far as the ankles, which are near the sole and the heel, which lies open to the bites of the serpent, the Lord saying: Thou shalt watch his head, and he shall watch thy heel.

And in the Psalter it is said of Judas the traitor: He that ate my bread has magnified his supplanting against me, or his heel, for this is what the Greek πτέρνη signifies. After the thousand cubits which reach unto the ankle, he measured another thousand cubits in the water, and brought me unto the knees. After indeed the remission of sins, and the way of progress, when we strive to ascend a little from earthly things to higher things, we bend our knees to the Lord, the Apostle saying: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, of things on earth, and of things under the earth: and every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father. Third, he measured another thousand cubits, and brought me, he says, through the water unto the loins.

For by these steps we arrive at the loftier things: which yet themselves, being lofty, reach as far as the loins and the reins, that all base lust in us may be cut off, and we may possess the sanctification of the body, without which no one sees God. Whence also in this same prophet (above, viii): from the feet unto the loins God is seen as fiery. For the works of the loins need fire and purification, the just man saying: For my loins are filled with illusions, by which the enemy mocks us both by day, and in the phantasm of the night. But from the loins even to the head and the crown, it shines with the gleam of the most precious metal, electrum; so that it has nothing filthy, nothing base in itself. Whence now, fourthly, it is said: And he measured a thousand (cubits understood), a torrent (which the Seventy did not translate) which I could not pass through: much better than the Septuagint, who said, and it could not be passed through.

For the prophet, and all human nature, after the loins, cannot pass through the torrent of thoughts and the incitements of vices in the heart. But that man who was clothed in BADDIM, and the guide of the prophet, passed through clearly: who did no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth. And he gives the reasons why the prophet could not pass through the thousand fourth cubits: because, he says, the deep waters of the torrent had swelled up, which cannot be forded. And how is it written, with the prophet boasting: Our soul has passed through the torrent? But this is easily resolved, if we know that in the Hebrew it is written thus: The torrent passed through my soul. Concerning this torrent Isaiah also speaks: Behold, I incline over them like a river of peace, and like an overflowing torrent, glory. And in the thirty-fifth psalm it is said of the saints: In the protection of your wings they will hope.

They will be made drunk from the abundance of your house, and you will give them to drink from the torrent of your delights; for with you is the fountain of life. And in the hundred and twenty-fifth: Turn, O Lord, our captivity, as a torrent in the South. And concerning the Savior: He shall drink of the torrent in the way. For who among men can boast that he has a pure heart? Or into whose mind, through the windows of the eyes, will not the death of concupiscence enter, and (to say little) the titillation of the mind? For the world is placed in wickedness; and from childhood the heart of man is inclined to evil, so that human condition is not without sin for even a single day from the beginning of its birth. Whence David also confesses in the psalm: For behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins my mother conceived me. Not in the iniquities of my mother, or indeed of myself, but in the iniquities of the human condition.

Whence the Apostle also says: Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin after the likeness of Adam’s transgression. As for the fact that we say cubitos in the masculine gender, and not cubita in the neuter, according to the rule of the grammarians, as I have also taught above—we do this not out of ignorance, but by custom, on account of the simple and unlearned, of whom there is a greater number in the congregation of the Church. (Verses 6 and following.) And he said to me: Surely you have seen, son of man; and he led me out, and turned me toward the bank of the torrent (or river). And when I had turned (or he had turned me), behold, on the bank of the torrent (or river) very many trees (or very many trees) on either side.

And he said to me: These waters which go out toward the hillocks of the sand of the East, and go down to the plains of the desert (or: this water which goes out into Galilee, which inclines toward the East, and goes down to Arabia), shall enter the sea, and shall go out, and the waters shall be healed. And every living soul (or of animals) which creeps (or of creeping things), wherever the torrent (or river) shall come, shall live: and there shall be very many fish after these waters have come there: and they shall be healed, and all things shall live to which the torrent (or river) shall come. And fishermen shall stand upon them from Engaddi even to Engallim, there shall be a drying place for nets. Very many kinds of its fish shall there be: like the fish of the great sea, of exceeding multitude. But in its swamps and marshy places, they shall not be healed, but shall be given up to salt pits.

And upon the torrent (or river) there shall grow up on its banks, on either side, every tree bearing fruit (or bearing produce); its leaf shall not fall (or shall not grow old), and its fruit shall not fail. Every month it shall bring forth first-fruits (or all things shall be renewed); because its waters flow out from the sanctuary, and its fruit shall be for food, and its leaves for medicine (or its rising for health). I wished to set down the whole chapter together, though it is lengthy, so as not to interrupt the reader's sense, and lest the order of the reading, divided into parts, should confuse the understanding of the hearer.

First it must be said, that for “torrent” in Hebrew is said NEHEL (נחל), and in Greek speech it is called χειμάῤῥους, which the Septuagint translated as “river.” Then for “Galilee,” which in Hebrew is called GALILA (גלילה), Aquila interpreted it as θῖνας, which signifies hillocks of sand; Symmachus as μεθόριον, which we can translate as “border region.” For “Arabia” likewise, Symmachus translated “uninhabitable”; Aquila, “low” or “plain”; Theodotion translated it as “Araba.” Let us say then what seems right to us in each case. That man who was the guide of Ezekiel admonishes the prophet to look more carefully and see, and to attend with the eyes of the mind to the hidden mysteries.

He calls him “son of man,” either in the figure of the Lord the Savior—for Ezekiel is interpreted as “strength” or “dominion of God”—or certainly to stir up human frailty, lest he forget his own condition while great things are shown to him: and having admonished him, he leads him and turns him to the bank of the torrent, so that, since he had not been able to cross the middle depth, he might at least recognize the things that are on the banks. And when, he says, I had turned, or he had turned me, who was the guide and admonisher; behold, on the bank of the torrent, or river, very many trees, or very many trees indeed on either side. This torrent, which flows in torrent fashion from an abundance of waters, and receives rains from heaven, of which we spoke in the previous reading, is itself called “river” by the Septuagint, because it has perpetual waters: not collected here and there from rains, but flowing from a living and perpetual spring.

Concerning this river we read many things in the holy Scriptures; but for the present a few must be said, and first this: The rush of the river makes glad the city of God. And in another place: The river of God is filled with waters, you have prepared their food, for such is your preparation. And again in the plural: The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voices, from the voices of many waters: wonderful are the surges of the sea. And in Isaiah: I will make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the pathless land. And in another place of the same, more clearly: There shall appear in Sion a river running gloriously through a thirsty land. Over this river there were very many trees on either bank; so that between the two Instruments, as it were, the Old and the New, the enclosed river might run.

But the many trees, or the very many and exceedingly numerous trees, I think are those which Scripture recalls as abounding in paradise with various fruits; and the guide and preceding teacher instructs the prophet, and says: These waters which go out, either into “Galilee of the nations,” according to the Septuagint, or (as is more truly contained in the Hebrew) to the hillocks of the eastern sand, and go down to the plains of the desert, or to Arabia, shall enter the sea, or the outlets of the sea, and the waters shall be healed. We have already said that the waters signify either the grace of baptism, or the Evangelical teaching.

If these go out from the threshold of the temple of the Lord, and hold to Apostolic discipline, they make the hillocks of sand, formerly barren and unfruitful, become fruitful, and all the plains and deserts are so irrigated that they express in themselves the mystery of the river of Jericho: which Elisha healed with Evangelical and Apostolic salt, to such a degree that where before there had been barrenness and death, there now was abundance and life. And not only did they heal the deserts, but they enter the Eastern Sea, namely the Dead Sea, in which nothing can be alive, and the most bitter sea, which in Greek they call λίμνην ἀσφαλτῖτιν, that is, the pool of bitumen. And in a wondrous manner, by the Evangelical waters the dead waters are healed, which took their name from death because they have nothing living in themselves. For they did not know him who says: I am the life and the truth.

And truly, according to the letter, up to now nothing that breathes and can move, because of excessive bitterness, can be found in this sea: not even little snails and small worms, and eels, and other kinds of living or creeping things, whose little bodies we can know better than their names. Finally, if the Jordan, swollen by rains, sweeps fish flowing into it there, they die at once, and float upon the greasy waters. Since these things, then, have no usefulness, as the plain account testifies, even if they were to happen, as the foolish superstition of the Jews believes, according to the spiritual understanding, healed by the torrent of the Lord, they will have very many fish, and everything will live to which this torrent shall come; so that fishermen shall stand upon the banks from Engaddi to Engallim: of which the former sounds “fountain,” or “eye of the kid,” the latter “fountain” or “eye of the calves.” For Engallim is at the beginning of the Dead Sea, where the Jordan enters.

Engaddi, however, is where it ends and is consumed. And I think that Dead Sea is the one of which Zechariah speaks: In that day living water shall go out from Jerusalem, and half of it into the former sea. Daniel also agrees in these words: I was looking, and behold, the four winds of heaven were striving upon the great sea. And David: Wonderful are the surges of the sea. And in the person of the Savior in the psalm: I have come into the depth of the sea, and the tempest has overwhelmed me. The king of Egypt also, according to this same Ezekiel, is called a dragon, who dwells in the sea, and stirs the rivers as with his horns. And again, This sea great and wide.

Which, as long as it has not received into itself the waters of the river, or torrent, kills everything it has within it; but the Lord, of whom it is said, He will strike, and he will heal after two days, and on the third day we shall rise, and we shall live in his sight (Osee 6:23), himself speaks in the same prophet Osee: I bound Ephraim, I took him up in my arm, and they did not know that I healed them in the corruption of man (Osee 11:9); who was wounded for our sins, and afflicted for our iniquities. The discipline of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed. He himself healed by his own death this sea which is most salty, and dead with excessive bitterness, he who says through Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me; he has sent me to preach good news to the poor; to heal those who are contrite of heart.

Whence also through Jeremiah he cries out: Return, O rebellious children, and I will heal your breaches (Jerem. For the impatient people said, unable any longer to bear the pain of their wounds: Summer has passed, harvest has passed, and we are not saved. Whence the Lord answered them: Is there no resin in Galaad, or is there no physician there? Why has not healing come up for the daughter of my people? And Jeremiah himself cries out and says: Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved. Finally the angels who were presiding over the people of the Jews, at that time when the foolish multitude cried out and said, His blood be upon us, and upon our children; and, The veil of the temple was rent, and all the sacraments of the Hebrews were laid open, answered the Lord commanding them, and said: We have healed Babylon, and she is not healed: let us leave her, namely the city of confusion and of vices.

Whence also Josephus relates in his History, that after the Lord was crucified, and the veil of the temple was rent, or the lintel of the temple broke and fell, a voice was heard in the inner sanctuaries of the temple of the heavenly powers, saying, Let us pass hence from these seats. All this has been said not superfluously, but of necessity, because the Dead Sea, by the river of the Lord flowing into it, is said to be healed. Upon this sea, from Engaddi, the eye and fountain of the kid, which is always offered for sin, unto Engallim, the fountain of calves, which are slain to the Lord, and imitate the calf bearing horns and hoofs, which in the type of the Saviour is slain at the altar, there shall be fishers, to whom the Lord Jesus speaks: Come to me, and I will make you fishers of men; of whom also Jeremiah says: Behold, I will send fishers. And there shall be very many kinds, nay rather genera, of fish in the sea once dead.

Which fish, at the Lord's bidding, Peter drew up on the right side, and they were a hundred fifty-three; so that for their multitude the nets were breaking. Now those who have written about the natures and properties of living things, who have learned the ἁλιευτικά as well in Latin as in Greek speech, among whom is Oppian the Cilician, a most learned poet, say that there are a hundred fifty-three genera of fish, all of which were caught by the apostles, and nothing remained uncaught, while both noble and ignoble, rich and poor, and every kind of man is drawn out of the sea of this age unto salvation.

But that which follows: In its shores, and in the marshy places, or in those places which go forth outside the shores, the waters shall not be healed, shows secretly that whoever was not in Noah's ark perished while the flood reigned; and those whom this river has not touched shall not receive healing; but, it says, they shall be given over to salt pits, according to that which is written: When the pestilent man is scourged, the fool will become wiser. For the examples of the worse instruct the good. Or they shall be given over to salt pits, according to that which is written in the Gospel: Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its savor, it is good for nothing: that they may forever lack crops and greenness. Which also the city, sprinkled with salt after its ruin, demonstrates.

But upon the torrent or river there shall arise on its banks, on either side, every fruit-bearing tree, or as all with one voice have translated it, βρώσιμον, that is, one which yields food and nourishment, and which can be eaten: and it is called in the Hebrew tongue MACHAL (מאכל), and nothing, according to the Septuagint, shall grow old in it, but its crops shall be renewed daily, or its leaf shall not fall off from it, and its fruit shall not fail; according to that which is written in the first psalm: And he shall be like a tree that is planted beside the running waters, which shall yield its fruit in its season, and its leaf shall not fall off. Every month, it says, it shall bring forth first-fruits, or as it is written in the LXX: Its fruit in its renewal shall give first-fruits; so that all the fruits of believers may be first-fruits, and each month may be assigned to each apostle.

Now this shall come to pass, because its waters shall go forth from the sanctuary: Let us not think that such abundance of crops belongs to the banks, or to the trees, or to the months; it gives the causes of the fruitfulness, and adds: Because its waters shall go forth from the sanctuary. It is therefore not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Of all these trees the chief place is held by the tree of life, which is understood as wisdom, of which it is written: She is a tree of life to all who believe in her. And that which is said: And its fruits shall be for food, and its leaf for medicine, shows the mysteries of the divine books: of which the one pertains to the letter, the other to the spirit; so that we understand the simple words in the leaves, but the hidden sense in the fruits.

For just as the knowledge of the Scriptures leads to the kingdoms of heaven, and offers us the bread who says: I am the bread which came down from heaven: so its leaves contain moral teaching, and confer healing, so as to cure the wounds of sinners. For "leaves," which in Hebrew are called ALE (עלה), the LXX, on account of the similarity of the word and sound, translated as "ascension," which itself can also be explained thus, that after the foods of the fruits, by the admonitions of words we may ascend to heavenly things. (Verses 13, 14.) Thus says the Lord God: This is the border by which you shall possess the land, in the twelve tribes of Israel, because Joseph has a double cord. But you shall possess it, each equally as his brother, into which I lifted up my hand to give to your fathers: and this land shall fall to you as a possession.

For that which we translated, "because Joseph has a double cord," the LXX rendered "increase of the cord." For Joseph is interpreted "increase"; understanding the thing for the name, and confounding the mind of the reader. For, the Levitical tribe being withdrawn and assigned to the sacrifices of the temple, there remained eleven tribes, of which the tribe of Joseph was divided into two, Ephraim and Manasseh, who said to Joshua the son of Nun: Why have you given me a possession of one lot and one cord, since I am of so great a multitude, and the Lord has blessed me? To whom Joshua answered: If you are a numerous people, go up into the forest, and cut down for yourself spaces in the land of the Pherezite and of the Raphaim, since the possession of Mount Ephraim is too narrow for you.

And again: And Joshua said to the house of Ephraim and Manasseh: You are a numerous people, and of great strength: you shall not have one lot, but you shall pass over to the mountain, and cut down for yourself and clear spaces to dwell in, and you shall be able to advance further, when you have overthrown the Canaanite, whom you say has iron chariots, and is very strong. We have said this for the reason that Scripture now mentions that Joseph, that is, Ephraim and Manasseh, has a double cord. But each tribe, according to its multitude, receives equal portions of land, by no means at the discretion of one dividing it, but by lot, which rests in the power of the Lord.

Finally, Joshua himself, who was the divider of the land, did not set apart any land for himself, lest he should seem to have chosen the best; but he received from the leaders of all the tribes Thamnathsareth on Mount Ephraim. (Verses 15 ff.) Now this is the border of the land toward the northern quarter, from the great sea, by the way of Ethalon, to those coming to Sadada, Emath, Berotha, Sabarim, which is between Damascus and the confines of Emath: the court of Thicon, which is next to the borders of Auran (or Auranitis). And the border shall be from the sea to the court of Enon (or Seraranan), the border of Damascus, and from north to north, the border of Emath northern. Between the description of the holy land of the twelve tribes by Joshua the son of Nun, and that which is now commanded to be done through Ezekiel, this is the difference: that there the land is divided among the tribes by lot, here it is assigned by the will of the Lord commanding.

In the book of Numbers, therefore, in which the whole land of promise is divided in a brief statement into four quarters, from the north, that is, the northern quarter, this is the description: But toward the northern part the borders shall begin from the great sea, reaching to the highest mountain, from which you shall come to Emath, unto the borders of Sadada; the confines shall go on unto Zephrona and the village of Enam, or Aser Enon. And the Hebrews say that the northern quarter begins from the great sea, which stretches along the shores of Palestine, Phoenicia, and Syria which is called Coele, and of Cilicia, and extends through Egypt toward Libya.

But as to what he says: The borders shall reach unto the highest mountain, the same Hebrews suppose either that Mount Amanus is meant, or Taurus, which seems to us truer. Whence, he says, you shall come to Emath, which is now called Epiphania, its name having been changed from Antiochus, most cruel of tyrants, for he had the surname Epiphanes. Unto the borders, he says, of Sadada, which place is also set down in the present reading of Ezekiel, the confines shall go as far as Zephrona, which city today they call Zephyrium, a town of Cilicia. But that which follows: And the village Enam, for which in the Hebrew is written Aser enon (חצר עינן), or Enan, the present passage also contains. And meanwhile let it suffice to have touched briefly upon the historical sense, and to have joined side by side the description both of Numbers and of Ezekiel, so that the prudent reader may understand in which respects the same, or neighboring, or different things are mentioned.

Now, the names of each having been interpreted, let us follow the anagogical sense, and, the Lord granting it, discuss what seems to us in each case. Ethalon is interpreted, the cradle of sorrow: Sadada, its side, understand from the side, not from breadth: Emath, wrath, which in Greek is called χόλος: Berotha, wells: Sabarim, the circuit of mountains: Damascus, the blood of a sack and of a kiss, or of a cup. Symmachus interprets the house, or court, Thicon, as the middle court, which proceeds to the borders of Auran. Thicon, therefore, means middle: Auran, which the Seventy translated into Greek as of Auranitis, means wrath. Aser Enon, moreover, which is the border of Damascus, is called in our tongue the court of the fountain. The northern region, therefore, begins from the great sea by the way of Ethalon, which is interpreted the cradle of sorrow, and through repentance comes to Sadada, where there is a turning from the side.

For we understand that Emath is impending over us, that is, the indignation of God: or, once the truth of Emath has been discovered, there are opened to us the wells of Berotha, which the princes Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob dug: and by a long circuit we arrive at the mountains of Sabarim, which are set between Damascus, that is, the blood of sackcloth, and the border of Emath, that is, of truth, as we said above. For just as through sorrow we turn aside from impending evils and avoid them from the side, so after blood, and the sackcloth of a bloody life, before we come to the borders of Emath, we go round about and arrive at the mountains, of which it is written: Mountains are round about it, And the Lord is round about his people.

Which place is called the court Thicon, that is, the middle court, as Symmachus interpreted, next to the borders of Auran, which means wrath, and with the prophet let us say: I will bear the wrath of the Lord, because I have sinned against him. And from the sea unto the borders of Damascus; in which place also the apostle Paul, from Jewish fury and the shedding of the Church's blood, though blind beheld the light, and, having taken up the fillet of his former persecution, preached the Gospel, that he might arrive at the court of the eternal fountain, and, though once placed in the north, might lay hold of the border of truth. Verse 18. Further, the eastern region, from the midst of Auran, and from the midst of Damascus, and from the midst of Galaad, and from the midst of the land of Israel: the Jordan bounding it, unto the eastern sea you shall measure the eastern region.

In place of which I found it written thus in the book of Numbers: Thence they shall measure the borders toward the eastern region from the village of Enan, that is, Aser Enon, unto Sephama: and from Sephama the borders shall go down to Rebla, over against the fountain: thence they shall come toward the East into the sea of Chenereth, and shall extend unto the Jordan, and at the last shall be closed in by the sea. Above he had said: And the border shall be from the sea unto Aser Enon, the border of Damascus. From the end, therefore, of the northern region, that is, the court of Enan, the borders extend, according to the book of Numbers, unto Sephama, which the Hebrews call Apamia: and from Apamia the borders go down to Rebla, which is now called Antioch of Syria.

And that you may know that this Rebla signifies the city which is now most renowned in Syria Coele, there follows: Over against the fountain, by which it is clear that Daphne is meant: from which fountain the aforesaid city enjoys most abundant waters. This place, moreover, was planted with a military colony by Gnaeus Pompey, who first subdued Judea to Roman rule; and from him, according to the poets' fable, it received the name of Daphne, on account of the laurels and cypresses, which trees are most abundant in that very place. Thence, he says, the borders shall come toward the eastern region unto the sea of Chenereth, unto the lake of Tiberias. But it is called a sea, though it has sweet waters, according to the idiom of the Scriptures, whereby gatherings of waters are called seas.

And the borders, he says, shall extend unto the Jordan, and at the last shall be closed in by the sea, either the Dead Sea, or, as others think, by the tongue of the Red Sea, on whose shore Ahila is situated, where now a legion and Roman garrison dwells. Let this be said according to the book of Numbers.

But according to Ezekiel, from the midst of Auran: which is a town of Damascus in the wilderness, and from the midst of Galaad, which mountain, joined to the hills of Lebanon, fell by lot to Reuben, and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and is behind Phoenicia and Arabia: unto which mountain Jacob came when he set out from Haran, and was overtaken there by Laban, of which also Jeremiah speaks: Galaad, thou art to me the head of Lebanon, which Galaad, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, took from the region of the Amorites: and the end of this region is the river Jordan bounding it, and the eastern sea, which in this place they understand as the Dead Sea, not the tongue of the Red Sea.

Let us say according to tropology: After the borders of the North, by a long circuit through Ethalon, and Sadada, and Berotha, Sabarim also, Thicon, and Auran, and Damascus, and the court of Enon, unto Emath, the eastern region arrives: from the midst of the wrath of Auran, and from the midst of Damascus—that is, the blood of repentance—and from the midst of Galaad, which is interpreted revelation, or the heap of testimony; so that after wrath and repentance it may show the hope of salvation: and from the midst of the land of Israel, which contains the vision of peace, it reaches unto the most sweet streams of the Jordan; which, the sea being set far apart, attains to the light of the East, so that it is bounded by the river Jordan, which is interpreted the stream of judgment, and by the border of the East.

But that which is set down in the Seventy as φοινικῶνος, that is, of the palm-grove, is not found in the Hebrew: in place of which we have translated, you shall measure: and the error is manifest, because for THAMODDU (תמדו), deceived by the similarity of the letters daleth and resh, they read THAMORRU (תמרו).

Verse 19. But the southern, meridional region, from Thamar unto the waters of contradiction (or unto the waters of Mariboth: for this means contradiction, or διαδικασμὸς, that is, quarrels). Cades also, and the torrent, unto the great sea this is the region toward the southern meridian. In place of which it is thus written in the book of Numbers: It shall begin from the wilderness of Sin, which is next to Edom, and it shall have its borders toward the eastern sea, which shall go round the southern region by the ascent of Scorpion, so that they pass through Senna, and shall come in the south unto Cadesbarne: whence the confines shall go out to the village named Addar, and shall extend unto Asemona: and the border shall go round about from Asemona unto the torrent of Egypt, and shall be bounded by the shore of the great sea.

This briefly means (lest, by occasion of Ezekiel, we should seem to have passed over to a most extensive exposition of Numbers), that the border goes round from the wilderness of Sin, which is next to Edom, and the Red Sea, and through the ascent of Scorpion, and through Senna and Cadesbarne, and the court of Addar, and from Asemona arrives unto the torrent of Egypt, which flows into the sea near the city of Rhinocorura. But this border of the southern, that is, the meridional region, begins from Thamar, which is a city in the wilderness, which Solomon also built up with wonderful works, and today is called Palmyra: and in the Hebrew tongue it is called THAMAR (תמר), which in our language means palm, unto the waters of contradiction of Cades, which is undoubtedly in the desert, and the torrent entering the great sea, this being that which stretches along the shores of Egypt and Palestine, and this is the southern region toward the meridian.

After the northern and eastern region, therefore, when the sun of righteousness has risen for us, we receive the meridional region, when the light of noonday is poured down upon us from above, and we enter with Abraham into the banquet, and are made drunk with the wine that gladdens the heart of man, together with Joseph and his brethren. This possession begins, then, and these borders, at Thamar, that is, from the palm and victory over vices, unto the waters of contradiction. For virtues are always contradicted. Whence also to the Gospel preaching, the Jews, arguing against Paul, assert that it is contradicted throughout the whole world. And in the Gospel we read Simeon saying: This one shall be for the ruin and resurrection of many, and for a sign that shall be contradicted.

But every contradiction is of holiness, which Cades is interpreted, the Psalmist saying: The Lord shall shake the wilderness of Cades; which surely at first did not have the holiness of the Lord: but it was shaken and moved, that it might receive God as a guest, who says: Upon whom shall my spirit rest, but upon him who is humble and quiet, and trembles at my words? After the wilderness of Cades, unto the great sea in the south, is the torrent of the southern region, of which we spoke above; which has its rains not from the earth, but from heaven, gathered together from the variety of diverse virtues: Verse 20. And the region of the sea, the great sea from the border in a straight line, until you come to Emath, this is the region of the sea. Of which the book of Numbers writes more clearly and more briefly.

But the western region shall begin from the great sea, and shall be enclosed by that same boundary, that is, from sea to sea: namely, from the torrent of Rhinocorura, which flows into the sea, unto that place which is over against the city of Emath in Syria, of which we spoke above. But the West, according to the laws of tropology, is always in the sea: always in the swell and the waves, where daily shipwrecks arise, and the deaths of the wretched, and the loss of riches and merchandise, and yet, when we have broken all these things by patience, we come in a straight line to Emath, that is, to the truth of the Lord, who, persecutions having been overcome, has promised us eternal rewards.

(Ver. 21 and following.) And you shall divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel, and you shall cast it into an inheritance for yourselves, and for the strangers who have joined themselves to you, who have begotten children in your midst, and they shall be to you as natives among the children of Israel: they shall divide the possession with you in the midst of the tribes of Israel. And in whatever tribe the stranger shall be, there you shall give him a possession, says the Lord God. By this chapter we learn (and the eyebrow of the Jews is knocked down) that nothing is divided between Israel and the people of the nations.

For if the land is divided among strangers and foreigners together with those who are of the people of Israel, that is, the natives, there is no doubt that the inheritance of the people of the nations and of the people of the Jews is the same: provided, however, that they have been converted to the worship of the God of Israel, which name the Christian people properly possesses—the Jews having the letter of the Law, and we the spirit: they holding the parchments, and we him who is written on the parchments. And with Moses the land is divided by lot; but here, as we have said, it is assigned by the judgment of the Lord: and there is one possession for the stranger and for Israel, and in each of the tribes an inheritance is given, at the command of the Lord God.

(Verses 1 and following.) And these are the names of the tribes: from the borders of the North, along the way of Ethalon, going toward Emath, the court of Enon, the border of Damascus toward the North, next to Emath, and it shall be theirs on the eastern side, the sea; Dan, one portion. And from the border of Dan on the eastern side to the side of the sea, Aser, one portion. And upon the border of Aser, from the eastern side to the side of the sea, Nephthali, one portion. And upon the border of Nephthali, from the side of the East to the side of the sea, Manasses, one portion. And upon the border of Manasses, from the eastern side to the side of the sea, Ephraim, one portion. And upon the border of Ephraim, from the eastern side to the side of the sea, Ruben, one portion. And upon the border of Ruben, from the eastern side to the side of the sea, Juda, one portion.

Now that the possession of the holy land has been described, both according to the present prophecy of Ezechiel and according to the book of Numbers, the possession of each of the tribes is now described from the eastern side up to the western side, that is, the sea; and first they receive their borders from the North, along the way of Ethalon, going toward Emath, the court, or Aser-Enon, the border of Damascus toward the North, next to Emath—of which we have already spoken above. Now the first tribe begins with Dan; the second, Aser; the third, Nephthali; the fourth, Manasses; the fifth, Ephraim; the sixth, Ruben; the seventh, Juda—that is, on the left side, and the number seven is completed. Then come the firstfruits of the priests and of the Levites, and the sanctuary of the Lord in the middle, and the holy of holies. The city itself is also described on each of its sides as a square, having four thousand five hundred reeds.

The suburbs of the priests and Levites are likewise described in order, and the possession of the prince. And again, on the right side there follow five tribes, likewise from the eastern side up to the western side, of which the first is Benjamin; the second, Simeon, having his own special possession, and no longer mixed with Juda as before; the third, Isachar; the fourth, Zabulon; the fifth, Gad; and the gates of the city, three on each side; and the name of the city itself, which is contained on the plate of gold on the forehead of the High Priest. Of all these we shall discourse in their proper places.

And this should be noted, that the names of the forty-eight cities which in the book of Numbers are given to the tribe of Levi to dwell in, with their suburbs, are here passed over in silence, as are the cities of refuge for fugitives—of which three beyond the Jordan, namely Bosor, and Ramoth, and Gaulon, were given in the two and a half tribes; and three within the Jordan, namely Cades, and Sichen, and Cariatharbe. For there was no need, in a mystical description, and in the dwelling of the saints, and in a perfect way of life, that the aids for fugitives should be described, of which Israel had need while still placed in the land, and hastening through many toils and dangers to come to this city, and speaking in each of the saints: I am a sojourner and a pilgrim, as were all my fathers.

And in another place: I have dwelt among the inhabitants of Cedar, my soul has sojourned long. (Verses 8, 9.) And upon the border of Juda, from the eastern side unto the side of the sea, shall be the firstfruits which you shall set apart, twenty-five thousand in breadth and length, as each of the portions from the eastern side unto the side of the sea; and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it. The firstfruits which you shall set apart to the Lord, twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth. It is superfluous to discuss again what has already been discussed, and to labor once more, as though we had said nothing, over the matters on which we have already toiled above. After the borders of the seven tribes, from the East unto the West, the firstfruits are described, whose breadth is to hold twenty-five thousand reeds; but the length is as each of the tribes holds from the East unto the sea, of which length the number is uncertain.

For in the description of each of the tribes no measure was given. But if the breadth holds twenty-five thousand reeds, it may be conjectured that the number of the length is much greater, since length is always greater than breadth. Now in the middle is placed the sanctuary next to the firstfruits which are set apart to the Lord, of a length of twenty-five thousand reeds, and a breadth of ten thousand; reading which I can say nothing else but that saying of the Apostle: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

And in another place: That you may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth; to know also the charity of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God: and that the number twenty-five is referred to the senses, of which it is said: You shall possess the divine sense; and the ten thousand, to perfect and consummate virtue, which passes from the Decalogue of the Old Instrument to the sacrament of the Gospel—a matter we have already briefly touched upon, and which we shall here in part recall.

For if, adding one to the number, you arrive at four, you will fill up the number ten; and thus it comes about that the Old Testament is compressed into the New, and the New is expanded in the Old. (Verse 10 and following.) Now these shall be the firstfruits of the sanctuary of the Priests: toward the North, twenty-five thousand in length, and toward the sea, ten thousand in breadth; but also toward the East, ten thousand in breadth, and toward the South, twenty-five thousand in length; and the sanctuary of the Lord shall be in the midst of it. For the priests there shall be the sanctuary, of the sons of Sadoc, who kept my ceremonies, and did not err when the children of Israel erred, as the Levites erred. And there shall be to them firstfruits of the firstfruits of the land, the holy of holies, next to the border of the Levites.

Four sides of the firstfruits of the sanctuary are described, which pertain not to the people, nor to the ignoble common folk, nor to the Levites, of a lower rank, but properly to the worship of the priests: namely of the North, and the West, and the East, and the South; and the order of progress is narrated part by part, so that, leaving behind the cold of the North, we come to the West—that is, that our vices set for us and perish—and thence we pass over to the East; and, the sun of righteousness having risen for us, we come to the South, in which is the clearest and most perfect light: and both from the North unto the sea, and from the East unto the South, there are to be twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth, so that everywhere the same measure of length and breadth is kept.

But the sanctuary, that is, the Temple of the Lord, shall be in the middle of the priestly firstfruits, and shall be enclosed on every side by an equal margin. And whereas he had said, "Now these shall be the firstfruits of the sanctuary of the Priests," lest all priests should claim for themselves under the common name the possession of this place and the observance of its ceremonies, he specifically adds, saying: The sanctuary shall belong to the priests of the sons of Sadoc, which is interpreted "just"; of whom it is said: The Lord is just, and has loved justice; his countenance beholds equity. For which "Sadoc" the LXX write "Sadduc." This Sadoc speaks in the Gospel: For the Father judges no man, but has given all judgment to the Son. And of him, under the name of Solomon, the Prophet mystically sings: O God, give your judgment to the king, and your justice to the king's son.

Now those priests of the Lord shall possess the sanctuary, and shall keep his ceremonies, who did not err when the children of Israel and the Levites erred, of whom we have spoken above; who do not offer victims, but, content with the privilege of the name, and with the humility of their own error, always say in their heart: I acknowledge my iniquity, and my sin is always before me. Let the priestly rank hear this—even one overcome by the heat of the Arian persecution, and afterward, bowing his neck to the power of the true faith so as not to lack riches, let him be content, if he is not expelled from the temple, if he retains a certain shadow and image of his former name, and does not, reclining backward, belch forth delights, as though immaculate and pure, from a lofty throne, the nausea of his own ignorance and barbarous chatter upon us.

There shall be, he says, to them firstfruits of the firstfruits of the land—that is, to the priests; and to those who did not err when the children of Israel and the Levites erred. Now firstfruits of the firstfruits, as it were tithes of tithes, and the holy of holies, next to the border of the Levites: so that the Levites indeed have their borders adjoining those of the priests, but they are not able to hold the navel, that is, the middle of it, and that possession itself. (Verses 13 and following.) But also for the Levites, likewise next to the borders of the priests, twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: the whole length twenty-five thousand, and the breadth ten thousand. And they shall not sell any of it, nor exchange it (or measure it), nor shall the firstfruits of the land be transferred (or taken away), which are sanctified to the Lord.

But the five thousand which remain over in the breadth, throughout the twenty-five thousand, shall be profane, for the dwelling of the city, and for its suburbs; and the city shall be in the midst of it. What we have translated as "profane," for which Aquila translated βέβηλον, Symmachus and Theodotion translated λαϊκόν; the LXX said προτείχισμα, which we may render "outer wall." Now "profane" is also "lay," that is, common, which it is permitted to any and all of the people to inhabit indiscriminately. But that which the LXX said, "It shall not be measured, nor shall it be taken away," in place of what we have said, "it shall not be exchanged, nor shall it be transferred"—it is plain that this makes no sense.

There is also described the possession of the Levites, which indeed is neighbor to the borders of the priests, and has the same dimensions in length and breadth for the multitude of the Levites, which the small number of the Priests possess—yet nevertheless it makes use of its own boundaries, and understands itself to be separated from the priestly rank: in order to strike down the pride of ministers, who, ignorant of the humility of their own status, swell up beyond the Priests, that is, the presbyters, and reckon dignity not by merit but by riches. Certainly whoever is first among the ministers, because he addresses the people in every matter, and does not withdraw from the side of the Pontiff, thinks it an injury if he is ordained a presbyter; and he does not remember that the minister of tables and widows is delegated to service and ministry not only of the Priests, but also of the widows and the poor.

And they shall not sell, he says, any of it, nor exchange it, so that the eternal possession of the Levitical distribution may remain, and the merit of dignity be not overcome by price, nor be transferred by us from one to another: because the things which have been sanctified to the Lord belong not to those to whom they were given, but to him in whose name they are possessed. But the five thousand which remain over in the breadth, throughout the twenty-five thousand—length being understood—shall be profane for the city: so that it may be permitted to all Israelites, and to all the common people, to dwell there; not that they are unclean, or that anything in the habitation of the holy land is thought polluted, putrid, and sordid; but because, apart from the Priests, all are permitted to dwell in them.

By which we understand that all things which we refer to the senses, that is, to the pleasures of the body, which we take in by sight, and hearing, touch, smell, and taste, are profane, and do not have the holiness of the temple, nor are they a priestly privilege, but of lay commonness. But the city shall be in the middle, of which it is written: The rush of the river makes glad the city of God. And: A city set upon a mountain cannot be hidden: of which we shall speak in what follows. Προτείχισμα, that is, "outer wall," and διάστημα, that is, "space," which the LXX interpreted in place of "suburbs"—what sense they have in this place, we do not know.

Verse 16. And these are its measures: toward the northern side, five hundred and four thousand; and toward the southern side, five hundred and four thousand; and toward the eastern side, five hundred and four thousand; and toward the western side, five hundred and four thousand. When he says: And these are its measures, one must understand, of the city. For at the end of the preceding chapter it was set down: And the city shall be in the midst thereof, that is, of the land. And first he begins from the northern side, and sets over against it the southern side. And again he renders equal to equal: so that opposite the eastern side he sets the western, that is, the sea; and each side of the city has four thousand five hundred reeds; which make, computed together, eleven thousand and eighty-five paces; so that the whole city together, as is written at the end of this volume, has all around a circuit of eighteen thousand reeds, which make forty-four thousand three hundred and forty paces.

Whence also the forty-fourth Psalm, which is inscribed, Unto the end, for them that shall be changed, and pertains to Idida, that is, to the beloved of the Lord, or, as Aquila has interpreted it, for the lilies, and Symmachus, for the flowers, contains the mysteries of the Church, which is the city of the Lord, concerning which it is written in the same psalm: The queen stood on thy right hand in gilded clothing, surrounded with variety. And again: All the glory of the king's daughter is within: so that she may not be like the sepulchres whitened outside, but may cleanse everything both within and without the platter.

And when we have withdrawn from the North, the coldest wind, we pass over to the south, and after the rising of the light of knowledge within us, we dread the setting of our strength, considering not the things that are past, but the things that are to come, and having no sure possession of virtue, but daily saying in prayer: Lead us not into temptation which we are not able to bear.

Verse 17. And the suburbs of the city shall be toward the North, two hundred and fifty; and toward the south, two hundred and fifty; and toward the East, two hundred and fifty; and toward the sea, two hundred and fifty. For "suburbs," which in Hebrew are called MAGRAS מגרש, the Seventy again have translated διάστημα, that is, space. But when it says two hundred and fifty for each side, one must understand reeds, which have six cubits and one palm; and for each side they make six hundred and seventeen paces, a little less; and altogether a thousand reeds, having two thousand four hundred and sixty-eight paces; which spaces surround the walls of the city on every side, so as to divide between the city and what remains.

From this it is shown that none has license to exercise the works of the city in these spaces, or to gather fruits, but that they are to be free from the use and labor of men: so that the surroundings of the city's walls may have the pleasantness of spontaneously growing shrubs and grasses, and of the other things which the earth brings forth.

But what shall remain in length according to the firstfruits of the sanctuary, ten thousand toward the East, and ten thousand toward the West, shall be as the firstfruits of the sanctuary: and its produce shall be for food (or for bread) to them that serve (or work) for the city. And they that serve (or work) for the city shall serve (or work) out of all the tribes of Israel. All the firstfruits of the twenty-five thousand by twenty-five thousand foursquare shall be set apart for the firstfruits of the sanctuary, and for the possession of the city.

After the description of the holy city, and its suburbs, he wills that the remaining part of the firstfruits of the sanctuary, ten thousand reeds toward the East, and another ten thousand extending toward the West, be assigned to those who carry out the works of the city for various uses, whatsoever the city may need: that is to say, that they may sow, and that from the produce which springs up in this space of land, the workers may be fed, who either build the walls of the city, or restore what is broken down and ruinous, so that the city may have its due care, and its roofs and structures, when necessity demands, may be repaired.

And this is contained not only in Israel, or in the possession of the holy land, according to the spiritual mystery of the Church: but we prove that it is also done in the Roman empire, that certain estates belong to the rights of cities, either by royal munificence, or by inheritances and the donation of many, lest, namely, buildings should gradually collapse, and public edifices, which are an ornament to the city, be vexed by long neglect. But the workers, he says, or those who serve in the works of the city, shall be from all the tribes of Israel: so that no one may think himself exempt from the work of the city, but that all may vie with one another in building up the Church.

This we read was also done in the tabernacle, that according to the diversity of their means, one offered gold and silver, scarlet, fine linen, and purple, and various and diverse woven works: others offered skins and goats' hair: and though the gifts were diverse according to the quality of substance, the reward of the givers was one; nay, greater was that of those who indeed offered small things, but great ones according to their strength, after the example of the poor widow, who cast two mites into the treasury; who was praised by the judgment of the Lord, saying: Verily I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: For all these have of their abundance cast into the offerings of God: but she of her want hath cast in all the living that she had.

As therefore we have said concerning the works of the city, so this must be briefly touched upon, that all the firstfruits of the sanctuary, and the possession of the city, computed together foursquare, contain two hundred forty-six thousand and a third part. For if twenty-five thousand reeds, which have six cubits and one palm each, make in our reckoning, that is, in Roman measure, sixty-one thousand six hundred and sixty-seven paces, there is no doubt that these, computed fourfold, make the above number.

From which we perceive that, understanding all things spiritually, the possession of the Church is much wider than that which once was in Judea, who did not even receive parts of the holy land: but out of each tribe received, not full possession, but dwelling and lodging in forty-eight cities: so that even those who seem to be laymen, and who have not attained to the priestly and Levitical rank, may nevertheless, if they labor in the city of the Lord, feed upon the holy land, the land of the meek, and the land of believers, of whom one spoke: I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.

Verse 21. But what shall remain shall belong to the prince, on every side, whether on this side or on that of the firstfruits of the sanctuary and of the possession of the city, over against (or facing) the twenty-five thousand of the firstfruits as far as the eastern border, and also from the sea facing the twenty-five thousand as far as the border of the sea, likewise it shall be in the parts of the prince, and the firstfruits of the sanctuary shall be, and the sanctuary of the temple in the midst thereof. Also concerning the possession of the Levites, and concerning the possession of the city, in the midst of the portions of the prince it shall be, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, and it shall belong to the prince. Concerning this prince we have disputed more fully above, and that he alone should receive as much as one tribe.

But now we learn another thing, that from all the tribes whatever remains, he alone shall receive it: so that there is no tribe which does not offer gifts to the prince—not from elsewhere, but from the firstfruits which serve the temple and the sanctuary and the assigned portions of the city. For this is what he says: Facing, or over against, the twenty-five thousand of the firstfruits as far as the eastern border, or as far as the border of the sea: so that the firstfruits are between the seven and the five tribes, and in these very firstfruits the city, and its suburbs, and in the midst of the city the sanctuary of the temple.

But also from the possession of the Levites and from the possession of the city, whatever remains shall be assigned to the prince: and the outermost part of the seven tribes, neighboring the firstfruits and the city, and the temple, shall be in the tribe of Judah; and the outermost part of the five tribes, by the same right as above, shall be in the tribe of Benjamin, and this outermost part shall belong to the prince. From which the mysteries of holy Scripture are to be marveled at, and rather to be pondered than declared in speech. For in the earlier division of the lands beyond the Jordan, through Moses, the land was divided to the two tribes Reuben and Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh: but within the Jordan, through Joshua the son of Nun and Eleazar the son of Aaron, Judah possessed from the South; and Ephraim, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, from the North.

But afterward, when explorers had been sent from Shiloh through each of the tribes, and a description of the land had been brought to Joshua and Eleazar, Benjamin received a possession next to Judah from the South, and next to Ephraim and the half-tribe of Manasseh. The second tribe, Simeon, received an inheritance within the tribe of Judah: that what is written concerning Levi and Simeon might be fulfilled: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. The third, Zebulun, received Galilee, in which is Mount Tabor. The fourth, Issachar, where Jezreel is, as far as the Jordan. The fifth, Asher, as far as Mount Carmel, which overlooks the great sea, and Tyre and Sidon. The sixth, Naphtali, in Galilee as far as the Jordan, where Tiberias is, which was formerly called Chinnereth.

The seventh, Dan, as far as Joppa, where are the towers of Aijalon, and Shaalabbin, and Emmaus, which is now called Nicopolis: although we later read that they took for themselves, having crossed over other tribes, the city of Leshem in the tribe of Dan, which today is called Paneas. Since these things are so, and since between the earlier description of the tribes and that which is now given there is so great a diversity, let us consider how, both in the present description and in the former, the city and the Temple are placed between the tribe of Judah and Benjamin. And in the earlier description indeed Judah was from the South, and Benjamin from the North: but here it is the contrary, so that Judah is from the North, and Benjamin from the South: after which is Simeon second, Issachar third, and Zebulun fourth, Gad fifth: namely five tribes, as is said in what follows; for it is written: (Verse 23. Ff.) And for the remaining tribes, from the east side to the west side, Benjamin one.

And over against the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west side, Simeon one. And over the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west side, Issachar one. And over the border of Issachar, from the east side to the west side, Zebulun one. And over the border of Zebulun, from the east side to the side of the sea, Gad one. And over the border of Gad toward the south side, southward, and the boundary shall be from Tamar to the waters of contradiction of Kadesh: an inheritance facing the great sea. This is the land which you shall measure for the tribes of Israel, and these are their divisions, says the Lord God.

That in the case of the five and seven tribes, "one" is always placed at the end, one understands either "portion," or "possession," or "inheritance": although Aquila and Symmachus translate it in the neuter gender, τὸ ὅριον, which signifies "border." And this briefly is to be noted, that in the last of the five tribes, the tribe of Gad, which in the earlier description was beyond the Jordan, is placed in that portion which Judah formerly held, namely toward the south side, southward, and its border is from Tamar to the waters of contradiction of Kadesh, an inheritance facing the great sea: Tamar itself, of which we have already spoken, which they now call Palmyra, and which was built long ago by Solomon: for "palm" in the Hebrew tongue is called Tamar, and some think it received this name because there are very many palm groves there.

And what follows: To the waters of contradiction of Kadesh, an inheritance facing the great sea; for which the LXX translated: "from Theman, and the water of Meribath, Kadesh, an inheritance unto the great sea," it is to be observed that in the Hebrew the same word NEHELA (נחלה), because it is ambiguous, can mean both "inheritance" and "torrent": and here it ought rather to be taken as "torrent" than as "inheritance." For this is the torrent which enters the great sea at Rhinocorura, as we have already said before. But Kadesh, which in the book of Joshua is called Kadesh-Barnea, is in the desert which extends as far as the city of Petra: but Meribath, which is interpreted "of contradiction," is not the name of a place, as many suppose, but of waters, in which the people contended against the Lord, and Moses offended God, as the Psalm says: They provoked him at the water of contradiction, and Moses was afflicted for their sakes.

And the whole inheritance of the holy land, from the southern region near the borders of Egypt, is bounded by Rhinocorura and the torrent. And because Gad is interpreted "temptation," in its possession we pass from the palm groves to the waters of contradiction as far as Kadesh, which is interpreted "holy," that we may understand that even after victory over the world we ought to be watchful, and always in fear, and to remember that verse: The life of man upon earth is a trial; and that we should arrive at holiness, while adversaries assail us, and thus obtain victory, so that from nearby we may behold the torrent full of rains. (Verse 30. Ff.) And the exits of the city on the north side, four thousand and five hundred measures [to be measured]. And the gates of the city, from the men of the tribes of Israel: three gates on the north. The gate of Reuben, one; the gate of Judah, one; the gate of Levi, one.

And on the east side, four thousand and five hundred, and three gates. The gate of Joseph, one; the gate of Benjamin, one; the gate of Dan, one. And on the south side you shall measure four thousand and five hundred, and three gates. The gate of Simeon, one; the gate of Issachar, one; the gate of Zebulun, one. And on the west side, four thousand and five hundred, and their three gates. The gate of Gad, one; the gate of Asher, one; the gate of Naphtali, one: round about eighteen thousand; and the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there. Concerning the circuit of the city, that on each of the four sides it had four thousand five hundred reeds squared, the preceding discourse has related: which make eighteen thousand reeds, as is also stated in the present chapter, that is, forty-four thousand paces and three hundred forty paces.

Now it is written that on each side, that is, on each of eleven thousand paces and eighty-five paces, there were three gates, which Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion call διεξόδους, and the LXX διεκβολάς: we have translated it "exits" and "goings-out" of the city. And this first must be briefly noted, that the same tribes were encamped around the tabernacle in such a way that to the East were Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, sons of Leah: and to the South, Reuben, Simeon, Gad—two sons of Leah, and the third the son of Zilpah, Leah's maidservant. But to the West were Ephraim, and Manasseh, and Benjamin—namely two sons of Rachel; because Joseph, in place of the tribe of Levi, which was assigned to sacrifices, was divided into two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh.

But to the North were Dan, and Asher, and Naphtali, of whom the first and third are sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant, the second the son of Zilpah, Leah's maidservant—of lowly station, and placed to the North: since they were born of the stock of maidservants at variance among themselves. This is according to the book of Numbers, and the description of the tabernacle, which, by God's command, was dictated by the mouth of Moses. But our city, which is the city of the great King, whose maker and founder is God, of which the Psalmist also sings: Shall not a man say, "Sion"? And a man was born in her, and the Most High himself has founded her—this has another description of the tribes in the holy land, and another order of the measure of the city and possession, and of the regions of the individual tribes.

For first, opposite the region of the North are set three gates, or exits of the city, of which the firstborn is Reuben, and Judah the founder of the royal stock, and Levi, concerning whose name nothing was said in the tabernacle and the description of sacred things: so that we, possessing the birthright, as it were a royal and priestly race, may despise the cold of the North. Secondly, to the East is Joseph, Benjamin, and Dan: both sons of Rachel, and one the son of Bilhah her maidservant. To the South are Simeon, Issachar and Zebulun, who are the three sons of Leah. Then to the West, Gad, Asher and Naphtali: of whom the first two are sons of Zilpah, Leah's maidservant, the third the son of Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant. Who is wise, and shall understand these things: and shall know and understand them? Because the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but transgressors shall fall in them (Hosea xiv, 10).

These twelve gates, or exits, I think were assigned to each of the tribes according to the quality of their merits and virtues, under the names of the Apostles and the Patriarchs: concerning which it is written more openly also in the Apocalypse of John, and many mysteries of the divine Scriptures bear witness. And it is necessary that such a city hold eighteen thousand reeds in circuit: under which number, in the eighteenth psalm also, the natural law is written, and the grace of the Gospel is described: by which the Church, that is, the city of the Savior, is built. Also the name of this city shall by no means be, as before, Jerusalem, which is interpreted "vision of peace," but Adonai shammah (יהוה שמה), which is rendered into the Latin tongue, "The Lord is there," who shall never withdraw from her, as he formerly departed from the earlier people, saying to the disciples: Arise, let us go hence.

And to the Jews: Your house shall be left to you desolate: but she shall have an eternal possession, and he himself shall be her possession, promising the same to the disciples: Behold, I am with you even to the end of the world.