A prophecy against the presumptuous assurance of the great ones. A remnant shall be saved, and receive a new spirit, and a new heart.
Against falseprophetes affirming that the people should not be caried into captiuitie, 4. Ezechiel prophecieth that they shal not escape it. 13. Pheltias a falseprophet dieth: 14. and God promiseth to conserue some reliques: 19. and to geue a new spirite in their hartes.
1And the spirit lifted me up, and brought me into the east gate of the house of the Lord, which looketh towards the rising of the sun: and behold in the entry of the gate five and twenty men: and I saw in the midst of them Jezonias the son of Azur, and Pheltias the son of Banaias, princes of the people.Levommi lo spirito, e menommi alla porta orientale della casa del Signore, che guarda il sol nascente, ed ecco all'ingresso della porta venti cinque uomini; e vidi in mezzo a questi Giezonia figliuolo di Azur, e Pheltia figliuolo di Banaia, principi del popolo.AND the spirite lifted me vp, and brought me into the east gate of the house of our Lord, which looketh to the rysing of the sunne: and behold in the entrie of the gate fiue and twentie men: and I saw in the middes of them Iezonias the sonne of Azur, and Pheltias the sonne of Banaias, the princes of the people.Et elevavit me spiritus, et introduxit me ad portam domus Domini orientalem, quæ respicit ad solis ortum: et ecce in introitu portæ viginti quinque viri: et vidi in medio eorum Jezoniam filium Azur, et Pheltiam filium Banaiæ, principes populi. 2And he said to me: Son of man, these are the men that study iniquity, and frame a wicked counsel in this city,E (il Signore) mi disse: Figliuolo dell'uomo, questi son coloro, che manipolano iniquità, e trattano pessimi consigli in questa città,And he said to me: Sonne of man, these are the men, that conceiue iniquitie, and deuise most wicked counsel in this citie,Dixitque ad me: Fili hominis, hi sunt viri qui cogitant iniquitatem, et tractant consilium pessimum in urbe ista, 3Saying: Were not houses lately built? This city is the caldron, and we the flesh.Dicendo: Non si è egli fabbricato poco fa delle case? Questa è la caldaia, e noi le carni.saying: Were not houses builded of late? This is the caldron, and we the flesh.dicentes: Nonne dudum ædificatæ sunt domus ? hæc est lebes, nos autem carnes. 4Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, thou son of man.Per questo tu profetizza sopra di essi, profetizza, figliuol dell'uomo.Therfore prophecie of them, prophecie thou sonne of man.Idcirco vaticinare de eis, vaticinare, fili hominis. 5And the spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said to me: Speak: Thus saith the Lord: Thus have you spoken, O house of Israel, for I know the thoughts of your heart.E lo spirito del Signore venne sopra di me, e mi disse: Parla: Queste cose dice il Signore: Voi avete parlato così, o casa d'Israele, e i pensieri del vostro cuore son noti a me.And the spirit of our Lord fel vpon me, and said to me: Speake: Thus saith our Lord: So haue you spoken ô house of Israel, and the cogitations of your hart I know.Et irruit in me spiritus Domini, et dixit ad me: Loquere: Hæc dicit Dominus: Sic locuti estis, domus Israël, et cogitationes cordis vestri ego novi.
6You have killed a great many in this city, and you have filled the streets thereof with the slain.Voi avete ucciso molta gente in questa città, e avete ripiene le strade ai morti.Very manie haue you killed in this citie, and you haue filled the wayes therof with the slaine.Plurimos occidistis in urbe hac, et implestis vias ejus interfectis. 7Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Your slain, whom you have laid in the midst thereof, they are the flesh, and this is the caldron: and I will bring you forth out of the midst thereof.Per questo il Signore Dio dice così: Que', che voi avete uccisi, e gittati nel mezzo della città, queste sono le carni, e questa è la caldaia: ma voi io trarrò fuora di lei.Therfore thus saith our Lord God: Your slaine, whom you haue layd in the middes therof, these are the flesh, and this is the caldron: and I wil bring you out of the middes therof.Propterea hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Interfecti vestri, quos posuistis in medio ejus, hi sunt carnes, et hæc est lebes: et educam vos de medio ejus. 8You have feared the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you, saith the Lord God.Voi avete temuto la spada, e la spada io farò venire sopra di voi, dice il Signore Dio,The sword you haue feared, and the sword I wil bring vpon you, saith our Lord God.Gladium metuistis, et gladium inducam super vos, ait Dominus Deus. 9And I will cast you out of the midst thereof, and I will deliver you into the hand of the enemies, and I will execute judgments upon you.E vi discaccerò da lei, e darovvi in poter de' nemici e farò giudizio di voi.And I wil cast you out of the middes therof; and I wil geue you into the hand of the enemies, and wil doe iudgements in you.Et ejiciam vos de medio ejus, daboque vos in manu hostium, et faciam in vobis judicia. 10You shall fall by the sword: I will judge you in the borders of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord.Perirete di spada, ai confini d'Israele farò giudizio di voi, e conoscerete, ch'io sono il Signore.You shal fal by the sword: in the borders of Israel wil I iudge you, and you shal knowe that I am the Lord.Gladio cadetis: in finibus Israël judicabo vos, et scietis quia ego Dominus. 11This shall not be as a caldron to you, and you shall not be as flesh in the midst thereof: I will judge you in the borders of Israel.Questa città non sarà la vostra caldaia, e voi in essa non sarete le carni: ai confini d'Israele farò giudizio di voi.This shal not be as a caldron to you, and you shal not be as flesh in the middes therof, in the borders of Israel I wil iudge you.Hæc non erit vobis in lebetem, et vos non eritis in medio ejus in carnes: in finibus Israël judicabo vos,
12And you shall know that I am the Lord: because you have not walked in my commandments, and have not done my judgments, but you have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you.E conoscerete, ch'io sono il Signore; perchè voi non avete camminato ne' miei comandamenti, e non avete osservati i miei giudizi, ma avete seguitati i riti delle genti, che stanno intorno a voi.And you shal know that I am the Lord: because you haue not walked in my precepts, & haue not done my iudgments, but you haue done according to the iudgements of nations, that are round about you.et scietis quia ego Dominus: quia in præceptis meis non ambulastis, et judicia mea non fecistis, sed juxta judicia gentium quæ in circuitu vestro sunt estis operati. 13And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pheltias the son of Banaias died: and I fell down upon my face, and I cried with a loud voice: and said: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God: wilt thou make an end of all the remnant of Israel?E avvenne, che, nel mentre che io profetava, Pheltia figliuolo di Banaia morì, e io caddi boccone ad alta voce gridando, e dicendo: Ahi, ahi, ahi, Signore Dio, vuoi tu far fine degli avanzi d'Israele?And it came to passe, when I prophecied, Pheltias the sonne of Banaias died and I fel vpon my face crying with a lowd voice: & sayd: Alas, alas, alas, ô Lord God: makest thou a consumation of the remnant of Israel?Et factum est cum prophetarem, Pheltias filius Banaiæ mortuus est: et cecidi in faciem meam clamans voce magna, et dixi: Heu ! heu ! heu ! Domine Deus, consummationem tu facis reliquiarum Israël ? 14And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:E il Signore parlommi, e disse:And the word of our Lord was made to me saying:Et factum est verbum Domini ad me, dicens: 15Son of man, thy brethren, thy brethren, thy kinsmen, and all the house of Israel, all they to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said: Get ye far from the Lord, the land is given in possession to us.Figliuolo dell'uomo, a' tuoi fratelli, ai fratelli tuoi, e a' tuoi parenti, e a tutti gli uomini della casa d'Israele han detto gli abitanti di Gerusalemme: Andate lungi dal Signore, a noi è stata data in dominio la terra.Sonne of man thy bretheren, thy bretheren, thy kinsmen, & al the house of Israel, al to whom the inhabitantes of Ierusalem haue sayd: Depart ye far from our Lord, the land is geuen to vs in possession.Fili hominis, fratres tui, fratres tui, viri propinqui tui, et omnis domus Israël, universi quibus dixerunt habitatores Jerusalem: Longe recedite a Domino: nobis data est terra in possessionem.
16Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because I have removed them far off among the Gentiles, and because I have scattered them among the countries: I will be to them a little sanctuary in the countries whither they are come.Per questo il Signore Dio dica così: Se io gli ho mandati lontano tralle nazioni, e gli ho dispersi per terre straniere, io sarò per un po' di tempo il lor santuario nella terra, dov'ei son andati.Therfore thus sayth our Lord God: Because I haue made them far of in the Gentils, and because I haue dispersed them in the landes: I wil be a litle sanctification to them in the landes, to which they are come.Propterea hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Quia longe feci eos in gentibus, et quia dispersi eos in terris: ero eis in sanctificationem modicam in terris ad quas venerunt. 17Therefore speak to them: Thus saith the Lord God: I will gather you from among the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries wherein you are scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.Per questo tu dirai: Queste cose dice il Signore Dio: Io vi raccorrò di mezzo ai popoli, e vi raunerò dai paesi, pe' quali siete dispersi, e darò a voi la terra d'Israele.Therfore speake: Thus sayth our Lord God: I wil gather you out of the peoples, and vnite you out of the landes, wherin you are dispersed, & I wil geue you the ground of Israel.Propterea loquere: Hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Congregabo vos de populis, et adunabo de terris in quibus dispersi estis, daboque vobis humum Israël. 18And they shall go in thither, and shall take away all the scandals, and all the abominations thereof from thence.Ed eglino vi entreranno, e terranno da lei tutti gli scandali, e tutte le sue abbominazioni.And they shal goe in thither, and shal take away al the offences, and al the abominations therof out of it.Et ingredientur illuc, et auferent omnes offensiones, cunctasque abominationes ejus de illa. 19And I will give them one heart, and will put a new spirit in their bowels: and I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh:E darò loro un cuore unanime, e nuovo spirito infonderò nelle loro viscere, e torrò ad essi il cuore di pietra, e darò loro un cuore di carne,And I wil geue them one hart, and wil geue a new spirite in their bowels: and I wil take away the stonie hart out of their flesh, and wil geue them a fleshie hart:Et dabo eis cor unum, et spiritum novum tribuam in visceribus eorum: et auferam cor lapideum de carne eorum, et dabo eis cor carneum,
20That they may walk in my commandments, and keep my judgments, and do them: and that they may be my people, and I may be their God.Affinchè seguano i miei precetti, e osservino i miei giudizj, e li mettano in pratica, e sian essi mio popolo, ed io sia Dio loro.that they may walke in my precepts, and keepe my iudgements, and doe them: and they may be my people, and I may be their God.ut in præceptis meis ambulent, et judicia mea custodiant, faciantque ea, et sint mihi in populum, et ego sim eis in Deum. 21But as for them whose heart walketh after their scandals and abominations, I will lay their way upon their head, saith the Lord God.Ma quanto a quelli, il cuore de' quali va dietro agli scandali, e alle loro abbominazioni, porrò le opere loro sopra la loro testa, dice il Signore Dio.Whose hart walketh after their offences and abominations, their way wil I lay on their head, sayth our Lord God.Quorum cor post offendicula et abominationes suas ambulat, horum viam in capite suo ponam, dicit Dominus Deus. 22And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and the wheels with them: and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.E alzarono i Cherubini le loro ali, e le ruote dietro ad essi, e sopra di questi era la gloria del Dio d'Israele.And the Cherubs lifted vp their winges, and the wheeles with them: and the glorie of the God of Israel was ouer them.Et elevaverunt cherubim alas suas, et rotæ cum eis, et gloria Dei Israël erat super ea: 23And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood over the mount that is on the east side of the city.E la gloria del Signore si alzò dal la città, e fermossi sul monte, che sta all'oriente della città.And the glorie of our Lord ascended from the middes of the citie, & stood ouer the mount, that is on the east side of the citie.et ascendit gloria Domini de medio civitatis, stetitque super montem qui est ad orientem urbis. 24And the spirit lifted me up, and brought me into Chaldea, to them of the captivity, in vision, by the spirit of God: and the vision which I had seen was taken up from me.E levommi lo spirito, e mi condusse nella Caldea ai fuorusciti in visione per ispirito di Dio, e la visione, che io avea veduta, mi fu tolta.And the spirite lifted me vp, and brought me into Chaldee to the transmigration, in a vision in the spirite of God: and the vision which I had seene was taken vp from me.Et spiritus levavit me, adduxitque in Chaldæam ad transmigrationem, in visione, in spiritu Dei: et sublata est a me visio quam videram.
25And I spoke to them of the captivity all the words of the Lord, which he had shewn me.E dissi a' fuorusciti tutte quante le cose, che avea mostrate a me il Signore.And I spake to the transmigration al the wordes of our Lord, which he had shewed me.Et locutus sum ad transmigrationem omnia verba Domini quæ ostenderat mihi.
11:1
Year of the World 3410.
11:3
Challoner
Built, etc. These men despised the predictions and threats of the prophets; who declared to them from God, that the city should be destroyed and the inhabitants carried into captivity: and they made use of this kind of argument against the prophets, that the city so far from being like to be destroyed, had lately been augmented by the building of new houses; from whence they further inferred, by way of a proverb, using the similitude of a cauldron, out of which the flesh is not taken till it is thoroughly boiled and fit to be eaten, that they should not be carried away out of their city, but there end their days in peace. (Challoner)
Calmet
They thought themselves secure, (Worthington) and laughed at the menaces of Jeremias, 1:15. (Calmet)
Calmet
Hebrew, "The destruction is not soon coming. Let us build;" (Pagnin; Menochius) or, "It is not time to build." (Calmet)
11:6
Tirinus
Slain, under Manasses, etc. (Tirinus)
11:7
Haydock
Cauldron. I will explain the prediction, which you turn to ridicule. Those whom you have slain, are like the flesh (Calmet) boiled. (Haydock)
Calmet
But you shall be treated still worse, being led captives and slain. (Calmet)
Worthington
They feared wars, but had no dread of captivity. (Worthington)
11:10
Challoner
Israel. They pretended that they should die in peace in Jerusalem: God tells them it should not be so, but that they should be judged and condemned, and fall by the sword in the borders of Israel; viz., in Reblatha, in the land of Emath, where all their chief men were put to death by order of Nabuchodonosor, 4 Kings xxv., and Jeremias 52:10, 27. (Challoner)
11:12
But you. Some copies of Septuagint have, "neither have you done," Ezechiel 5:7.
11:13
Haydock
Pheltias, the prince, (ver. 1.; Haydock) or false prophet, whose death Ezechiel does not bewail, but fears the great destruction of the people; (Worthington; Menochius) though, if Pheltias died impenitent, his death might justly call for tears. (Haydock)
Lyranus
This happened in a vision. Yet (Calmet) he probably died suddenly about his time. (Lyranus)
11:15
Challoner
Thy brethren, etc. He speaks of them that had been carried away captives before, who were despised by them that remained in Jerusalem; but, as the prophet here declares to them from God, should be in a more happy condition than they, and after some time return from their captivity. (Challoner)
Calmet
David had been insulted in like manner, 1 Kings 26:19. (Calmet)
11:16
Calmet
A little. Hebrew, "for a short time, a sanctuary," or temple. They shall find all things in me. The Christian Church was never more pure than during the first persecutions, when her children could not assemble freely, or build temples. (Calmet)
Worthington
God will never totally abandon her, Jeremias 4:27., etc. (Worthington)
11:18
Haydock
Scandals: idols. They relapsed no more into idolatry, (Calmet) as a nation, though some fell in the persecution of Epiphanes. (Haydock)
11:19
Haydock
One. Septuagint, "another." They have read (Calmet) acher for echad, "one." (Haydock)
11:21
Calmet
Head. I will punish them as their crimes deserve. (Calmet)
11:23
Menochius
Mount Olivet, whence he might behold the conflagration of the city, before his ascent into heaven. (Menochius)
Calmet
He leaves his habitation by degrees, to shew how Jerusalem would be treated, and the Jews suffer after the ascension of our Saviour. Theodoret well observes, that the person on the throne represented Him, the upper part of the body being different from the lower, (chap. 1:26.) to denote the two natures. (Calmet)
11:3
Were not houses lately built, etc.... These men despised the predictions and threats of the prophets; who declared to them from God, that the city should be destroyed, and the inhabitants carried into captivity: and they made use of this kind of argument against the prophets, that the city, so far from being like to be destroyed, had lately been augmented by the building of new houses; from whence they further inferred, by way of a proverb, using the similitude of a cauldron, out of which the flesh is not taken, till it is thoroughly boiled, and fit to be eaten, that they should not be carried away out of their city, but there end their days in peace.
11:10
In the borders of Israel.... They pretended that they should die in peace in Jerusalem; God tells them it should not be so; but that they should be judged and condemned, and fall by the sword in the borders of Israel: viz., in Reblatha in the land of Emath, where all their chief men were put to death by Nabuchodonosor. 4 Kings 25., and Jer. 52.10, 27.
11:15
Thy brethren, etc.... He speaks of them that had been carried away captives before; who were despised by them that remained in Jerusalem: but as the prophet here declares to them from God, should be in a more happy condition than they, and after some time return from their captivity.
11:1
The prophet in Chaldea saw in spirite what was dont in Ierusalem.
11:3
VVere not nevv houses builded (say the false prophetes) sine. Ieremie said, that al our houses should be destroyed? vvherupon they inferi• that his prophecie is false.
and so counted themselues as secure, in Ierusalem: as flesh in the potte.
11:8
The false prophetes feared warres, but not captiuitie, therfore the prophet assureth them that the people shal feele both sword, & captiuitie.
11:13
He lamented not the death of the false prophet, but feared great ruine of the people seeing this wicked man dye so sodenly.
11:16
God stil conserueth his Church from vtter ruine, as the prophets do often affirme. Iere. 4. v. 27. ch. 5. v. ••. 18. Psal. 88. •. •. ••.
11:5
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 16.14
… Philip by revelation of an Angel went down to the way which leads to Gaza, when the Eunuch was coming; and the Spirit said to Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot . Seest thou the Spirit talking to one who hears Him? Ezekiel also speaks thus, The Spirit of the Lord came upon me, and said unto me, Thus saith the Lord
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 16.30
… and again in his charge against the Jews, But they rebelled and vexed His Holy Spirit , and Where is He that put His Holy Spirit within them ? Also thou hast in Ezekiel (if thou be not now weary of listening), what has already been quoted, And the Spirit fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the Lord
11:13
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Persecution and Lapse of Hosius 1
Who that witnessed these things, or that has merely heard of them, will not be greatly amazed, and cry aloud unto the Lord, saying, ‘Wilt Thou make a full end of Israel
11:19
St Barnabas † AD 61 The Epistle of Barnabas 6
… prophet proclaimed, “Enter ye into the land flowing with milk and honey, and have dominion over it.” Behold, therefore, we have been refashioned, as again He says in another prophet, “Behold, saith the Lord, I will take away from these, that is, from those whom the Spirit of the Lord foresaw, their stony hearts, and I will put hearts of flesh within them,”
Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis 3.1.7
… and it will be maintained, as a consequence, that, agreeably to this illustration, neither do others who perish owe the cause of their destruction to the freedom of their own will. That expression, also, in Ezekiel, when he says, “I will take away their stony hearts, and will give them hearts of flesh, that they may walk in My precepts, and keep My ways,”
Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis 3.1.15
15. Let us now look at those passages of Ezekiel where he says, “I will take away from them their stony heart, and I will put in them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes, and keep Mine ordinances.
Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis 3.1-2.7
… and if so, then neither does Pharaoh possess free-will. And some one will say that, in a similar way, they who perish have not free-will, and will not perish of themselves. The declaration also in Ezekiel, “I will take away their stony hearts, and will put in them hearts of flesh, that they may walk in My precepts, and keep My commandments,”
Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis 3.1-2.15
15. Let us look also at the declaration in Ezekiel, which says, “I shall take away their stony hearts, and will put in them hearts of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My precepts.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 15.4
… This utterance of the apostles was a fulfillment of the long anterior utterances of the prophet whom the Manichæans reject, for they believe the apostles without understanding them. The prophet says: "I will take away from them the stony heart, and I will give them a heart of flesh."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 18.4
… After the manifest appearance of the things thus signified, we are not required to observe the types; but we read them to see their meaning. So, again, it is foretold in the prophets, "I will take away their stony heart, and will give them a heart of flesh,"
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Grace and Free Will 29
… Man’s free will is addressed when it is said, “Today, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” But if God were not able to remove from the human heart even its obstinacy and hardness, He would not say, through the prophet, “I will take from them their heart of stone, and will give them a heart of flesh.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Grace and Free Will 32
… but it is He who makes us act, by applying efficacious powers to our will, who has said, “I will make you to walk in my statutes, and to observe my judgments, and to do them.” When he says, “I will make you . . . to do them,” what else does He say in fact than, “I will take away from you your heart of stone,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Predestination of the Saints 1.42
… let Him not forsake us, nor turn Himself away from us; let Him incline our hearts unto Him, that we may walk in all His ways;” or, “I will give them a heart to know me, and ears that hear;” or, “I will give them another heart, and a new spirit will I give them.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 3.18
… “And I will give them one heart, and will put a new spirit in their bowels: and I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh and will give them a heart of flesh: that they may walk in My commandments, and keep My judgments and do them: and that they may be My people, and I may be their God.”
11:22
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Hortatory Address to the Greeks 31
… For he knew this from the following expressions of the prophet about the cherubim: “And the glory of the Lord went out from the house and rested on the cherubim; and the cherubim lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the Lord God of Israel was over them above.”
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.42
… Isaiah says: “I will clothe the heavens with blackness.” This will be the day, concerning which Amos also writes: And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that the sun shall go down at noon and the earth shall be dark in the clear day.” (At noon) the veil of the temple was rent” by the escape of the cherubim,
11:24
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 16.30
… as also in the Gospels, the loving father, on seeing his son who had returned from his wandering, had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck, and kissed him . And again in Ezekiel, And he brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldæa, to them of the captivity
11:1
1. HE BROUGHT ME, — namely from the court of the priests (where in chapter ix, 6 I saw their slaughter; and in chapter x, 4 and 6 there, I heard a sentence being pronounced by God concerning the burning of Jerusalem) to the Eastern gate of the court of the laity, where namely the glory of God had been established. WHICH LOOKS TOWARD THE RISING OF THE SUN. — This is a pleonasm; for it is the same as Oriental, as preceded. This gate was most celebrated, because from it the most august face of the temple, turned toward the East, could be seen. TWENTY-FIVE MEN. — Not priests, as those destined for death by God, chapter viii, 16, but, as follows, princes of the people. For the Hebrews relate that Jerusalem was distributed into 24 districts, and each district had its own leader or prince (as still happens in Rome); there were therefore 24. Moreover the twenty-fifth appears to be the president of all and governor of the city. To these correspond the 24 elders of the Church, Apocalypse iv, 4. These therefore 24 princes here gather at the gate of the temple, that they might consult concerning the commonwealth. JAZANIAH SON OF AZUR. — Therefore this was another from Jaazaniah, chapter viii, 11. For that one was the son of Shaphan.
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3. WERE NOT HOUSES RECENTLY BUILT? THIS IS THE CAULDRON, AND WE ARE THE FLESH. — Vatablus translates: Destruction is not near; let us build houses. So also Pagninus and others. The Septuagint with our text read by interrogation, that is, were not houses recently built? These are the words of certain princes, as if to say: The houses and walls of Jerusalem, like a cauldron, are iron and most strong: who therefore should fear the Chaldeans? Although Jeremiah saw in chapter 1 a cauldron, that is a pot heated, and us as flesh being cooked in it; nevertheless we shall not be drawn from the pot, that is Jerusalem, unless cooked, that is in extreme old age. Thus Theodoret. For flesh is not usually removed from a pot unless it is thoroughly cooked, says Maldonatus. Secondly, otherwise St. Jerome and Origen, as if these are words of other princes contrary to that opinion, as if to say: Although Jerusalem be surrounded by iron walls, we nevertheless in the cauldron shall be burned and cooked by the Chaldeans; let us therefore flee into Egypt. Thirdly and fully: Jeremiah was persuading the Jews, saying: Surrender yourselves to the Chaldeans, and you shall live; but if you resist them, the city shall be burned, and you shall perish. and fully: Jeremiah was persuading the Jews, saying: Surrender yourselves to the Chaldeans, and you shall live; but if you resist them, the city shall be burned, and you shall perish. The Jews on the contrary: There is no reason we should fear the Chaldeans in a city so fortified. Against this Jeremiah: I saw, he says, Jerusalem like a cauldron heated. You saw, say the Jews, yet after this we have long seen, and, as the Septuagint, recently we see houses being built: therefore Jeremiah's prophecy is not true; nor do they commonly fear it. And although Jerusalem be a cauldron or pot, and we be flesh in it, we prefer nevertheless to be cooked and burned in it, rather than to be slain by the sword, if we surrender ourselves to the Chaldeans. It is irony, as if to say: We do not fear fire in the city, but the sword without. It is clear from verse 8. For the city like a most fortified cauldron shall preserve us, like flesh, and shall carry us. Symbolically, note here the impious and carnal, depressing their souls to pots, loving those pots. Dwelling in them; so that they say in their sense that word of Psalm cx, 6: "Moab is the pot of my hope." Thus the Hebrews, having gone out from Egypt, soon began to murmur: "Would that, they say, we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat over pots of flesh!" clinging to those with their whole body, mind, affection and gluttony, Exodus xvi, 3. This perpetual greed of the gullet and habit produces in them. For they do nothing else than to irritate it continually by devouring and drinking. Such is the force of habit and exercise. Lycurgus showed this to the Spartans with a beautiful example of two puppies. For he reared twin puppies of the same mother, not in similar manner: for one, nourished at home, he made a glutton; the other, exercised abroad, he made sagacious and a hunter. Afterwards, when the Lacedemonians had gathered in one place: "For preparing," he said, "virtue, doctrine and habit are of great moment: which I shall immediately show you." Soon bringing two puppies, when he had placed a pot in the middle and a hare before them, one indeed rushed with great force toward the hare, the other toward the pot. Then he said: "These two, born of the same parents, yet having followed a different habit of life, one became gluttonous, the other a hunter." Thus Plutarch in Lycurgus.
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7. YOUR SLAIN ARE THE FLESH, — as if to say: You are not the flesh in Jerusalem like a cauldron to be cooked and buried, as you wish yourselves, O Jews; but the flesh are the Prophets, whom you slay like victims of God: but you shall be led out from Jerusalem, unworthy to be buried in it, to be slain in Riblah, verse 10. Thus Origen and Polychroius.
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8. THE SWORD YOU FEARED. — That is, you were unwilling to deliver yourselves to the Babylonians, as Jeremiah commanded, fearing that they would kill you: hence their sword will devour you. Moreover, this affirmation contains a tacit negation, as if to say: You did not fear captivity, but the sword, that is, war from the Chaldeans, and therefore you sought help against them from the Egyptians, Jer. ii, 18; wherefore I will send both upon you, namely the sword, which you feared; and captivity, which you did not fear. Thus Maldonatus. 9. Thus Maldonatus. 9. JUDGMENTS, — just vengeance. 10. JUDGMENTS, — just vengeance. 10. IN THE BORDERS OF ISRAEL, — in Riblah, which is in the borders of Israel. I WILL JUDGE (the Chaldean, I will avenge), YOU; (because there Nebuchadnezzar killed the princes, and blinded Zedekiah, Jer. IN THE BORDERS OF ISRAEL, — in Riblah, which is in the borders of Israel. I WILL JUDGE (the Chaldean, I will avenge), YOU; (because there Nebuchadnezzar killed the princes, and blinded Zedekiah, Jer. xxxix, 6, as if to say: Not in the pot, that is, in Jerusalem, as you boast; but in the borders of Israel you will die, indeed you will be slain.
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11. THIS (Jerusalem) SHALL NOT BE FOR YOU A CAULDRON, AND YOU SHALL NOT BE IN THE MIDST OF IT AS FLESH (as if to say: Jerusalem, like a cauldron, will not be able to protect you like flesh; because) IN THE BORDERS OF ISRAEL (in Riblah) I WILL JUDGE, — that is, I will punish and slay you. 13. 13. And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pheltias the son of Benaiah died: and I fell upon my face, crying with a loud voice, and said: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God: wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel? 14. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 15. Son of man, thy brethren, thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel altogether, to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said: Depart far from the Lord, the land is given to us for a possession. ix, 2, God begins to slay. AND I SAID: ALAS, ALAS! — Although Pheltias was impious, and his death should have been a matter of rejoicing, nevertheless the Prophet groaned: because with Pheltias the leader of the people slain, he feared lest his whole people likewise be slain.
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15. YOUR BROTHERS (that is, your kinsmen, namely the Jews carried away with you into Babylon, and delivering themselves to the Chaldeans, are mocked by the Hierosolymites, that is, by the Jews who were unwilling to deliver themselves to the Chaldeans. For these, mocking them, say to them): DEPART FROM THE LORD, — that is, from the city, and temple, and inheritance of the Lord, renounce yourselves from the right of Israel. The Lord wished you to be far from him, but to us he has distributed the land of promise. Therefore, says the Prophet, or rather through him God: On the contrary, all things will happen otherwise. For I will deliver you to death, but them I will bring back, that they may be a seed of posterity, and heirs of Jerusalem. Thus Theodoret and St. Jerome. It is a Hebrew aposiopesis. "Your brothers," understand, "are mocked and derided." The sense therefore is, as if to say: The Jews, who contrary to God's command remain in Jerusalem, unwilling to deliver themselves to the Chaldean, and who glory in their temple, that they retain and inhabit it: these, I say, truly do not have a temple, because they retain only the walls of the temple, without God. For I, God, and all my glory have now departed from the temple and the Jews, as I said in the preceding chapter, verses 4 and 18. Again, these from those very walls of the temple and city, which they retain, will shortly be ignominiously cast out by the Chaldeans: but the Jews, who, at my command, delivered themselves to the Chaldean, and migrated to Babylon, whom others remaining in Judea think to be without temple and without God, these have a temple in Babylon; because they have me, who will be for them an invisible temple for a short time, until shortly I bring them back to their homeland, to the visible temple. Thus Maldonatus.
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16. I WILL BE FOR THEM A SMALL SANCTIFICATION, — In Hebrew למקדש lemicdas, that is, a small sanctuary or temple; Vatablus, of the few, as if to say: Although, at my command, they abandon the temple of Judea, I will nevertheless give them another temple in Babylon, which they so desire, namely, I will give them a place and an oratory, in which these few may worship me, and from which, as from a temple, I may hear them, console them, protect them, and provide for them. That this happened thus we gather from Psalm cxxxvi, 1. He calls it "small," because in exile they did not have a temple, but an oratory. Again, "small," that is, lasting for a short time. Allegorically, this was more truly fulfilled when God through Christ built a new Church of the few in Sion. To this the Prophet ascends. Otherwise St. To this the Prophet ascends. Otherwise St. Jerome, as if to say: In Babylon I will sanctify them, that is, I will turn them away from idolatry, that they may worship me in a holy manner. I will change their wicked heart, I will give them a pious, upright, clean and holy heart. Again the Scholiast, as if to say: Small, that is, few, holy ones I will give them, namely Daniel, the three youths, the prophet Zechariah, etc. Finally Theodoret, as if to say: Sanctification, that is, consolation, small I will bring to them, namely by promising them that they will be freed by a brief captivity. Whence others translate: And I will be for them a sanctification for a short time.
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17. SPEAK, — namely to the Jews held captive in Babylon, that you may console them. For up to this point the Prophet has spoken to the Jews remaining in Jerusalem, and has predicted sad things to them: but now he promises joyful things to the captives, and a joyful liberation, and this for this purpose, that the Jews who are obedient, and captive in Babylon, may rejoice among themselves: but those who are disobedient, and remaining in Judea, may be struck with compunction and repent. I WILL GATHER YOU, — under Zerubbabel, Ezra, Nehemiah I will lead you back from Babylon into the land of Israel. Thus St. Jerome. repent. I WILL GATHER YOU, — under Zerubbabel, Ezra, Nehemiah I will lead you back from Babylon into the land of Israel. Thus St. Jerome.
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18. THEY SHALL REMOVE ALL OFFENSES, AND ALL ABOMINATIONS. — That is, idols, by which they offended God, and therefore they struck and brought upon themselves all calamities alike. For from the return from captivity the Jews never publicly worshipped idols, but the true God. Thus Theodoret and Prado: The Israelites, he says, as if refined by the fire of captivity in Babylon, put off the rust of idolatry.
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19. AND I WILL GIVE THEM ONE HEART, — that is, unanimous, friendly and agreeing, so that namely with unanimous consent they may worship the God of their fathers: whom the ancients called single-hearted, for whom Christ prays: "That all may be one," John xvii, 21. Of these it is said in Acts iv, 32: "And the multitude of them that believed had but one heart, and one soul." Or "one," that is, whole and entire, not divided, not double; so that namely with one heart they worship God, with another idols. Thus the Chaldean, R. David, and Maldonatus. Thus in Ecclesiasticus ii, 14, it is said: "Woe to the double-hearted!" And Psalm xi, verse 3: "In heart and heart they have spoken." For hypocrites and fraudulent men seem to have two hearts, one within the breast, another on the lips; similar to the partridges of Paphlagonia, which are double-hearted, and therefore fraudulent and pernicious, as witnesses Pliny, lib. xi, cap. xxxvii; Aelian, lib. x De Anim. cap. xxxv; Gellius, lib. xvi, cap. xv. Whence also St. Ambrose, lib. vi Hexam. cap. iii, wishes the partridge to be named from losing. The Septuagint translates: I will give them another heart, that is, another will. They seem themselves to have read אחר acher, that is, another, for אחד echad, that is, one. AND A NEW SPIRIT, — a new mind, will, impulse to the commandments of God and obedience, even to be accomplished through the difficult works of virtue; and this implanted in them by the force of grace of the Holy Spirit inspiring and impelling the soul to these heroic deeds. Note that these things were begun to be fulfilled in the Jews returning from Babylon to a new worship of the one God, and to a new life, new customs: but these things were fully accomplished in Christians returning from the captivity of sin, whom these Jews represented. I WILL TAKE AWAY (the Septuagint, I will extract) THE STONY HEART (hard and intractable); AND I WILL GIVE THEM A HEART OF FLESH, — that is, soft, easy, obedient, flexible. Wherefore, St. Augustine, XVIII Contra Faust. iv: A heart, he says, of stone is a will without feeling; a heart of flesh is a will with feeling, namely, and with taste of divine things. "I will take away," says Augustine, "from them a heart of stone, and I will give them a heart of flesh, that is, not a heart without feeling, but a heart with feeling: whence the Apostle drew, when he says, II Cor. iii, 3: Not in tables of stone, but in the fleshly tables of the heart. For what else did he say than a heart of flesh?" The same, lib. De Gratia et lib. arbit. cap. xiv: "Because," he says, "a stone is without feeling, to which a hard heart is compared, to which, unless to flesh feeling, ought an understanding heart to be compared?" And below: "A stony heart signifies nothing but a most hard will, and altogether inflexible against God." Soon after, cap. xv, St. Augustine objects from the mind of Pelagius: If God takes away a stony heart, how then does Ezekiel say to the Jews, cap. xviii, verse 31: "Make yourselves a new heart, and a new spirit?" and he answers: "Let us remember that he himself says: Make yourselves a new heart, and a new spirit, who says: I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will give you. How then what he says: Make yourselves; does he say: I will give you? why does he command if he himself is about to give? Why does he give if man is about to make, unless because he gives what he commands, and helps to make him to whom he commands?" God gives a new heart and a new spirit, by breathing into man preventing grace, cooperating grace, by which man being stirred up, and freely cooperating with it, makes himself a new heart and a new spirit. A new heart therefore is both of God moving first, and of man cooperating with God. Thus also explain it St. Jerome, Theodoret and throughout the Interpreters, and orthodox doctors. By a similar scheme Ovid said: You were born on rocks, nourished with wild milk; and I would say you have a heart of flint. More concerning a heart of flesh and of stone I will say cap. xxxvi, verse 26. Note: God takes away a hard and obstinate heart in sins, and gives a heart of flesh, soft and obedient to him. First, because he takes away hardness, which is a natural quality: corporeal, in a body, for example stone; spiritual, namely obstinacy and stubbornness, in a soul. He can however take it away by merely denying the concurrence, which is necessary for its sustenance and preservation. Again he takes away hardness by removing difficulties, which, like a stone, weigh down, depress and harden the will: for example the lustful man apprehends it to be impossible for him to abstain from fornication, because he has induced in himself a habit, which is as it were another nature. The slothful man apprehends his own cowardice and weakness, on account of which he thinks it impossible for him to undertake the difficult path of virtue. God removes these, showing to reason through his grace and divine powers that it is possible, indeed easy, to overcome all these things, and that many Saints have overcome them. Secondly, because it imparts softness to the soul; first, by showing to reason that the path of virtue is plain, and whatever in it is difficult is overcome strongly and easily, both through the aid of God, and by considering and comparing it with the immensity and eternity both of heavenly rewards and of infernal punishments; then by proposing other similar motives to reason so vividly that reason itself thoroughly grasps, esteems and weighs them according to the gravity and dignity of things. For God not only proposes the object, but at the same time opens the intellect, so that it may penetrate and weigh it well. Thus in Acts xvi, 14, God opened the heart of Lydia, that she might attend to those things which were spoken by Paul. Again, He imparts to the will pious affections, impulses, strengthenings, consolations, etc., by which the soul is stirred and aspires to virtue however difficult, and gradually overcomes all obstacles and contrary inclinations. Concerning which matter St. Augustine relates a notable example from himself, in book viii of the Confessions, chapter xi, and book ix, chapter i, where among other things he says: "How suddenly it became sweet to me to be without the sweetness of trifles! For thou didst cast them out, and in their place didst enter in, my true and supreme sweetness: and thus what I had feared to lose, it was now a joy to let go." Finally, God alone by His omnipotence and omnipotent will comprehends and contains the wills of individuals, both of men and of angels, and He alone can infuse Himself into them, and sweetly allure and bend them, so that they freely consent and bend themselves to every nod of God, as St. Augustine teaches in the book On Correction and Grace, chapter xiii, and St. Thomas, Question vi On Truth, article 3, where he says that God, when He wishes to convert someone, gives those things which are most apt to move the will, removing the impediments of passions and temptations, and bringing it about that no reason of good appears in the opposite, no difficulty in that which is to be chosen. Again, St. Augustine, in the book On the Spirit and the Letter, chapter xxxviii, places the efficacy of grace in this, that it makes it so that nothing escapes us of those things which pertain to justice, and delights the soul with them so that whatever else pleasure or pain brings in, that delight surpasses. Thus God bent the heart of Paul the persecutor, so that touched by God he changed his purpose and mind entirely, and becoming Paul and a disciple, said: "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Acts ix.
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JUDGMENTS,—just commandments. SHALL DO,—shall perfect: For this is to do among the Hebrews, namely to perfect, to do exactly, to complete; for a completed act is signified, not an begun one. AND LET THEM BE TO ME FOR A PEOPLE, AND I WILL BE TO THEM FOR A GOD. 20. JUDGMENTS,—just commandments. SHALL DO,—shall perfect: For this is to do among the Hebrews, namely to perfect, to do exactly, to complete; for a completed act is signified, not an begun one. AND LET THEM BE TO ME FOR A PEOPLE, AND I WILL BE TO THEM FOR A GOD. that they may walk in my precepts, and keep my judgments, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 21. But as for them whose heart walketh after their scandals and abominations, their way will I recompense upon their own head, saith the Lord God. 22. And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and the wheels with them: and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. 23. 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.
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21. THEIR WAY (that is their deeds and merits) WILL I RECOMPENSE UPON THEIR OWN HEAD,—that is I will avenge upon their head, as if to say I will punish them according to their merits. It refers to the Jews remaining in Jerusalem against God's will.
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23. AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD ASCENDED,—as if to say that image of amber, of which in chapter 1, representing God, departed from Jerusalem and from the temple. AND STOOD UPON THE MOUNTAIN, WHICH IS ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE CITY. 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. 24. And the spirit lifted me up, and brought me into Chaldea to them of the captivity, in the vision of the spirit of God: and the vision which I had seen was taken up from me. 25. And I spoke to them of the captivity all the words of the Lord, which he had shewn me. is said to be on the east, because it receives the rays of the rising sun, that is of the grace of God. Baruch, looking forward to this happiness of the new sun of justice, which was to arise in Jerusalem restored and renewed in later ages, exults and cries out in chapter iv, verse 36: "Look about, Jerusalem, toward the east, and behold the joy that cometh to thee from God," and in chapter v, verse 5: "Arise, Jerusalem, and behold thy children gathered from the rising of the sun." See Eusebius, book vi of the Demonstration, 1, and the sayings of Jeremiah xi, 16.
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24. AND HE BROUGHT ME (the spirit brought me back from Jerusalem) INTO CHALDEA.—Ezekiel was in body and in fact in Chaldea: but because he had been caught up and led in spirit to Jerusalem, hence now when the vision was completed, he is brought back by the same means, not in body, but in mind and spirit. For all these things were done through a vision in the mind and spirit, as the Prophet says here. 25. TO THE CAPTIVITY.—That is to the captives who had migrated into Babylon, with whom I dwelt in body. For in chapter viii, verse 1, he says: "I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat with me"
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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Jezonias (Hebrew Ja'āzāujah and Jēzaujāh [ā] "Yahweh Has Heard")
4. One of the most prominent exponents of the anti-Babylonian policy (Ezek. 11, 1).
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… from which it results that the sacred writer is a "prophet" (Mt. 26, 56; Lk. 18, 31; 24, 25; Rom. 16, 26; Heb. 1, 1-2, etc.), that he writes under the influence of God who fills him with the Holy Spirit (Hos. 9, 7; Mic. 3, 8; Ezek. 2, 2; 3, 12; 8, 13; 11, 5, 24; Zech. 7, 12; II Sam. 23, 2; Eccl. 39, 8; 48, 27; II Esdr. 14, 21, 25, 40-44); who orders him to speak or to write (Ex. 17, 14; 34, 27; Deut. 31, 19; Is. 8, 1; 30, 8; Hab. 2, 2; …
… It is said, for example, that the Lord will give, in messianic times, a "new rūah" (Ez. 11, 19; 18, 31; 36, 29; Ps. 51 [50], 12); in the rūah thoughts ascend (Ez. 11, 5); the rūah seeks, desires the Lord (Is. 26, 9), is cast down (Is. 66, 2; Prov. 15, 13), humble (Prov. 16, 19; 29, 23), magnanimous (Ps. 51 [50], 14).
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… reconstitute the new Israel; this, in due time, will be raised up and absorbed into the kingdom of the M., the end of the whole divine economy (Am. 4, 11; 9, 9; Mic. 4, 6 f.; 7, 19; Is. 1, 9; 7, 3; 10, 20 ff.; 40-66; Jer. 3, 14, 16; 23, 3; 24, 6; 30-31; 33; Ez. 11, 13-20; 34; 37, 12; etc.). …
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… J. could not disappear, because from the stock of David the Messiah must be born (cf. Is. 7-12). Its infidelity will be severely punished: destruction of Jerusalem and of the Kingdom, but a "remnant" will always be left to it. From this "remnant" (the exiles of 597: Jer. 24:5; 29; Ezek. 11:14-20) the new Israel will rise again,
… Ezekiel reworked it systematically, illustrating and developing with clarity every particular (Ez. 11, 14, 16, 20, 34, 36, 37, 40-48; for Hosea cf. A. Clamer, in DThC, XI, coll. 1643-51; for Jeremiah, id., ibid., VII, coll. 871-82). The post-exilic prophets illustrate especially the …
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… fundamental concept of sanctifying grace is implicit: a) an action of God in the depths of the soul (Jer. 18, 6; 17, 14; 31, 18; I Reg. 8, 58); b) a purification of the spirit (Is. 1, 18; Ps. 50); c) an interior renewal according to the forceful expression of Ez. 11, 19: « Et dabo eis cor unum et spiritum novum tribuam in visceribus eorum et auferam cor lapideum de carne eorum et dabo cor carneum ut in praeceptis meis ambulent ». One senses here the …
… It is said, for example, that the Lord will give, in messianic times, a "new rūah" (Ez. 11, 19; 18, 31; 36, 29; Ps. 51 [50], 12); in the rūah thoughts ascend (Ez. 11, 5); the rūah seeks, desires the Lord (Is. 26, 9), is cast down (Is. 66, 2; Prov. 15, 13), humble (Prov. 16, …
… vices and concupiscences (Gal. 5:24) is the antagonist, often personified, of the spirit (ibid. 5:17). The spirit, which is fundamentally the divine Holy Spirit, in the interior of the regenerated man is the new spirit introduced by God (foretold by Ez. 11:19-20; 36:26-27; cf. Ps. 50:12), which constitutes the new man or new creature (Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:9-10; II Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15); it removes "the body of the flesh" or carnal body (Col. 2:11).
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I. DOCUMENTS OF REVELATION. - The holiness of the Church, foretold already by the Old Testament (Ps. 71:7; Is. 2:2; Jer. 31:31 ff.; Ez. 11:27-20), is reaffirmed in the New.
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.