The parable of the young lions, and of the vineyard that is wasted.
The Israelites calaminitie is described by two parables, of lions, 10. and of a vine planted and plucked vp.
1Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,Ma tu mena duolo per i principi d'Israele,AND thou take vp lamentation vpon the princes of Israel, and thou shalt say:Et tu assume planctum super principes Israël, 2And say: Why did thy mother the lioness lie down among the lions, and bring up her whelps in the midst of young lions?E dirai: Per qual ragione la madre vostra, la lionessa si pose a giacere tra' leoni, e in mezzo ai lioncelli allevò i suoi parti?Why lay thy mother a lionesse among the lions, in the middes of young lions brought vp her whelpes?et dices: Quare mater tua leæna inter leones cubavit ? / in medio leunculorum enutrivit catulos suos ? 3And she brought out one of her whelps, and he became a lion: and he learned to catch the prey, and to devour men.E de' suoi lioncini uno ne innalzò, e divenne lione, e apparò a rapire la preda, e mangiare gli uomini.And she brought out one of her young lions, he became a lion: and he lerned to catch prayes, and to eate man.Et eduxit unum de leunculis suis, / et leo factus est: / et didicit capere prædam, / hominemque comedere. 4And the nations heard of him, and took him, but not without receiving wounds: and they brought him in chains into the land of Egypt.E se ne sparse la fama tralle nazioni, e queste non senza rilevarne delle ferite lo presero, e in catene il condussero nella terra d'Egitto.And the Gentils heard of him, and not without their woundes they tooke him: and they brought him in cheynes into the Land of Aegypt.Et audierunt de eo gentes: / et non absque vulneribus suis ceperunt eum, / et adduxerunt eum in catenis in terram Ægypti. 5But she seeing herself weakened, and that her hope was lost, took one of her young lions, and set him up for a lion.Ma ella vedendosi priva del suo sostegno, e che era perita la sua speranza, si diè a rilevare un altro de' suoi lioncini, e ne fece un lione.Who when she saw that she was weakened, and her expectation was lost, she tooke one of her young lions, she made him a lion.Quæ cum vidisset quoniam infirmata est, / et periit exspectatio ejus, / tulit unum de leunculis suis; / leonem constituit eum. 6And he went up and down among the lions, and became a lion: and he learned to catch the prey, and to devour men.Ed egli andava insieme co' leoni, e diventò lione, e imparò a rapir la preda, e a divorare gli uomini:Who went among the lions, and became a lion: and he lerned to take praye, and to deuoure men.Qui incedebat inter leones, / et factus est leo: / et didicit prædam capere, / et homines devorare:
7He learned to make widows, and to lay waste their cities: and the land became desolate, and the fulness thereof by the noise of his roaring.Imparò a far delle vedove, e a disertar le città, e al tuono de' suoi ruggiti restò la terra vuota de' suoi abitatori.He lerned to make widowes, and to bring their cities into a desert: and the land was made desolate, and the fulnes therof by the voice of his roaring.didicit viduas facere, / et civitates earum in desertum adducere: / et desolata est terra et plenitudo ejus a voce rugitus illius. 8And the nations came together against him on every side out of the provinces, and they spread their net over him, in their wounds he was taken.E si adunarono le genti da tutte le provincie contro di lui, e gli tesero agguati, e con iscambievoli ferite lo pigliarono.And the Gentils came together against him on euerie side out of the prouinces, & they spred their nette vpon him, in their wounds he was taken.Et convenerunt adversus eum gentes undique de provinciis, / et expanderunt super eum rete suum: / in vulneribus earum captus est, 9And they put him into a cage, they brought him in chains to the king of Babylon: and they cast him into prison, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.E lo misero in una gabbia, e lo condussero incatenato al re di Babilonia, e lo rinchiusero in una prigione, affinchè non si udisse più la sua voce sui monti d'Israele.And they put him into a caue, in cheynes they brought him to the king of Babylon: and they cast him into prison, that his voice might no more be heard vpon the mountaines of Israel.et miserunt eum in caveam: / in catenis adduxerunt eum ad regem Babylonis, / miseruntque eum in carcerem, / ne audiretur vox ejus ultra super montes Israël. 10Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood planted by the water: her fruit and her branches have grown out of many waters.La madre vostra come una vite nel sangue vostro fu piantata lungo le acque: sulle molte acque sono cresciuti i suoi frutti, e le frondi.Thy mother as it were a vine in thy bloud is planted vpon the water: her fruit and her branches haue growen out of manie waters.Mater tua quasi vinea in sanguine tuo super aquam plantata est: / fructus ejus et frondes ejus creverunt ex aquis multis. 11And she hath strong rods to make sceptres for them that bear rule, and her stature was exalted among the branches: and she saw her height in the multitude of her branches.E le sue solide verghe diventarono scettri di sovrani, e il suo fusto si innalzò in mezzo alle frondi, ed ella si vide esaltata nel gran numero de' suoi tralci.And there were made to her strong roddes for the scepters of them that rule, and her stature was exalted among the branches: and she saw her height in the multitude of her branches.Et factæ sunt ei virgæ solidæ in sceptra dominantium, / et exaltata est statura ejus inter frondes, / et vidit altitudinem suam in multitudine palmitum suorum.
12But she was plucked up in wrath, and cast on the ground, and the burning wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods are withered, and dried up: the fire hath devoured her.Ma ella è stata schiantata dall'ira, e gettata per terra, e un vento ardente fe' seccare i suoi frutti, marcirono, e inaridirono i rigogliosi suoi tralci, e il fuoco la divorò.And she was plucked vp in wrath, and cast on the ground: and the burning winde hath dried vp her fruite: the roddes of her strength are withered, and dried vp: fire hath eaten her.Et evulsa est in ira, in terramque projecta, / et ventus urens siccavit fructum ejus: / marcuerunt et arefactæ sunt virgæ roboris ejus: / ignis comedit eam. 13And now she is transplanted into the desert, in a land not passable, and dry.Ed ella è ora trapiantata in un deserto, in una terra arida, e disabitata.And now she is transplanted into the desert, in a land not passable, and drie.Et nunc transplantata est in desertum, / in terra invia et sitienti. 14And a fire is gone out from a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit: so that she now hath no strong rod, to be a sceptre of rulers. This is a lamentation, and it shall be for a lamentation.E usci da una verga de' suoi rami un fuoco, che mangiò un suo frutto, e non rimase di lei una verga forte da servir di scettro a' sovrani. Questo è carme di duolo, e servirà pel duolo.And there came forth fire from the rod of her boughes, which hath eaten her fruite: and there was not in her a strong rod, the scepter of rulers. Lamentation it is, and it shal be into lamentation.Et egressus est ignis de virga ramorum ejus, / qui fructum ejus comedit: / et non fuit in ea virga fortis, / sceptrum dominantium. Planctus est, et erit in planctum.
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Year of the World 3411.
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Calmet
Lioness; Jerusalem (Challoner) which made alliances with the lions, or nations. (Calmet)
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Haydock
Whelps; Joachaz, or Sellum, (Challoner) who reigned only three months, like his brother Jechonias. (Haydock)
Worthington
The four last kings were all cruel. (Worthington)
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But. Hebrew, "he was taken in their pit," (Protestants; Haydock) as also [in] ver. 8. Septuagint, "in his or their corruption." We do not read that Joachaz fought, (Calmet) though this passage insinuates as much. (Sanctius) (4 Kings 23:30., etc.)
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Challoner
Lions: Joakim. (Challoner)
Calmet
He reigned eleven years; but was such a monster, that the prophet does not speak of him or bewail his fate, 4 Kings 23:34., and Jeremias 22:19. His words are applicable to Jechonias alone; who was cruel, and banished to Babylon, ver. 8. (Calmet)
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Haydock
Wounds. Hebrew, "pit." He was besieged, (4 Kings 24:11.; Calmet) and gave himself up. (Haydock)
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Menochius
Blood. She has given birth to many kings. (Menochius)
Haydock
The original may be inaccurate, and perhaps should be, "a vine-tree or branch:" (Calmet) cormoc instead of bedammecha. Septuagint read kerimmon, "like a rose-flower," planted, etc. (Haydock)
Calmet
He speaks of Sedecias more obscurely. (Calmet)
Worthington
The kingdom had flourished under David and Solomon. It afterwards lost its splendour under wicked kings, and all the tribes were removed. (Worthington)
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Rods. The king had many children, and confided in them, but they were slain.
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Calmet
Dry; unfit for vine-trees. He speaks of the prison of Babylon. (Calmet)
Haydock
The country was naturally wet. (Haydock)
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Calmet
Fire. Ismael, who slew Godolias, was of the royal family, Jeremias xli., etc. (Calmet)
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Thy mother the lioness.... Jerusalem.
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One of her whelps.... Viz., Joachaz, alias Sellum.
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One of her young lions.... Joakim.
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Ierusalem brought forth. cruel kinges, as Ioachaz, Ioakim Iechonias, and Sedecias. 4. Reg. 2•. & 24. of the vvhich tvvo reigned but three moneths ech one, & the others but ech of them eleuen yeares.
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Rouers of Chaldea, of Syria, of Moab, & of Ammon. 4. Reg. 24. v. 2.
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The kingdom of al the Israelites vvas planted and prospered vnder Dauid and Salomon, but decayed vnder other kinges: and first tenne tribes, afterwardes the other two were ca••%d into captiuitie.
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1. PRINCES OF ISRAEL,—the kings already named in the synopsis.
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2. WHY DID YOUR MOTHER, A LIONESS, LIE DOWN AMONG LIONS? - He calls the royal family of David the mother, or rather the Synagogue, as Vatablus holds; or, as Prado and Maldonatus most excellently maintain, Jerusalem. He adds "your," that is, your (addressing both the individual kings and all the kings already mentioned). Furthermore, Jerusalem is called a lioness on account of the nobility, boldness and savagery of its inhabitants: the lions are the neighboring kings of the gentiles, as if to say: Once Jerusalem dwelt among the kings of the gentiles without any fear, just as an intrepid lioness among lions. Thus Origen, St. Jerome and Theodoret. Again, the lioness denotes the shamelessness of Jerusalem: for the lioness is a symbol of a harlot, who exercises rapacity and dominion over her lovers. For as the Poet says: The cruelty of a lioness and of a woman is equal. Whence harlots are called Megaric sphinxes; for sphinxes had human heads but leonine bodies. Moreover, before the city of Corinth there was a temple of Venus, and near the tomb of Lais a lioness image appeared to be placed, with a ram seized between her front paws: which indeed indicated her wantonness, by which rams are especially prone to lust. Pierius confirms the same from Aristophanes, lib. I Hierogl. cap. XXI. SHE NOURISHED (in Hebrew ribbeta, that is, multiplied) HER CUBS, - namely, young lions, as if to say: Jerusalem nourished her princes, the sons of kings, among young lions, that is, among other princes, the sons of kings and princes. He calls Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah the cubs, both because they were young; and because in comparison with David, Solomon, Josiah and other earlier kings they were small, and under them the kingdom began to collapse. Thus Maldonatus. Epiphanius relates, in heresy LXXVIII, which is that of the Antimarianites, that the physicists (namely Herodotus, lib. III Histor., who is fabulous, whose words Gellius recites, lib. XIII, VII), teach that a lioness brings forth only one cub throughout her entire life, so that through her the Blessed Virgin might be represented, who brought forth only one Son, namely Christ. "They say," he says, "that a lioness does not bear except once and one." He adds the reason, that she herself carries the fetus in her womb for 26 months; and so the fetus by its leapings, movements and claws "tears apart and wounds the womb," and therefore "together with the birth the womb and matrix are also expelled." The lion therefore is Christ, the lioness the Virgin mother. "But a lioness does not conceive a second birth. Therefore Mary knew no further birth, the holy Virgin knew no further bodily union." St. Epiphanius drew this from the Egyptians, from whom Horus Apollo, lib. II Hierogl. cap. LXXVIII, says that they paint a lioness to signify a woman who gave birth once; for she does not bear a womb twice. Aristotle and Pliny, lib. VIII, cap. XVI, consider this an Egyptian invention. Wherefore St. Epiphanius here relates not his own opinion but that of others, and aptly adapts it to the Blessed Virgin. For that it is false is evident from this passage, where the lioness is said to have several cubs and young lions. The same reasons will prove it. For if a lioness brought forth only one cub, the leonine species could not be multiplied, but would always consist in the head of one single cub, yet we know for certain that there are more lions throughout the whole world. Secondly, if the cub is male, or if it is killed before it can generate, the leonine species would perish, since its mother the lioness cannot generate further. But we know that Samson, Judg. XIV, 5, David and many others captured and killed cubs of lions, even the most tender, before they could generate. Therefore the species of lions should have perished long ago. We know the consequent is false, therefore so is the antecedent. Thirdly, the cub of a lion would always have to be female, so that through her the species could be propagated: and she would have to be impregnated by her parent lion, likewise her offspring, and again the offspring of her offspring, and so on through all ages; since there is no other lion who could do this, granted that only one is brought forth by the lioness throughout her whole life, and only one generation of one. These and many more absurdities prove this opinion to be false. For it is established from Gen. VII, 2, that only one pair of lions, namely one male and one female, was preserved in Noah's ark for the propagation of the species; from which we now see so great a number of lions propagated throughout the whole world. Finally, Aristotle, and from him Pliny, lib. VIII, cap. XVI, relate: "A lioness brings forth five cubs in her first birth, and each year one fewer, until she becomes sterile at one." The same is written by Homer (whom Gellius cites, lib. XIII, cap. IX); Solinus, Oppianus, Philostratus, Aelianus, lib. X; Rhodiginus, lib. XXIX, cap. 33, and others, whom Gesnerus cites in Leone, pag. 650. (1) The kingdom of Judah, which alone remained after the kingdom of the ten tribes was overthrown, he calls by the ancient name, and before the time of Rehoboam common to all the tribes, namely Israel. Cf. above XVII, 2. Jerome, after he had warned that he had read many explanations of this passage, but so hindered by obscurities that they obscured rather than clarified the reading, and after he had mentioned one or another of them, "but we," he continues, "leaving such explanations to the judgment of the reader, will say that with captivity near at hand, the Prophet does not so much prophesy future things as narrate past things. For after the sixth year of Zedekiah (since we read the station in what follows, cap. XX, 1: And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, etc.), lamentation is taken up over the princes, namely one, who were born of the stock of Josiah." Note: Tyrants of note in Scripture are compared to a lion, as Pharaoh, Ezech. XXXII, 2, Nebuchadnezzar, Jerem. XIX, 7; because the lion is magnanimous, ever watchful and savage, and thus subjugates and preys upon all animals. Thus Lucullus the Roman consul, waging war with Mithridates king of Pontus, when he had arrived at the Troad and had his camp near the temple of Venus, was seen to hear the goddess speaking to him at night thus: "Why do you sleep, noble lion? behold young stags are ready for you." Awakened, when he had heard that the enemy fleet was stationed nearby, he attacked it, and in battle killed all the defeated with Isidore their leader. Soon he attacked Tigranes king of Armenia. Tigranes, despising the fewness of his soldiers, said: "If indeed they are ambassadors, they are many; if soldiers, they are few." But Lucullus rushed upon them; and slaughtered them like a lion, so much so that Livy, admiring that battle, says the Romans never fought being so greatly outnumbered by the enemy; for the victors were the twentieth part of those who were defeated. Whence also Antiochus the philosopher writes that the sun never saw any other such battle. Again, lions, says St. Basil, hom. 9 Hexam., proceed solitary: and he gives the reason, namely lest they accept equal honors and associations with others. Kings do the same: for in order to display their excellence they dwell alone, and take care lest they meet with other kings. Moreover, just as the eagle among birds; Leviathan, that is the whale, among fishes: so the lion is king among beasts. On this matter there exists a notable fable in the myths of Aesop: A lion, he says, an ass and a fox had entered into partnership, so that what they should catch by hunting they would divide among themselves. Therefore when they had obtained prey by hunting, the lion immediately orders the ass to divide it. He, being stupid as he was, divided it into three equal portions. The lion, indignant at this division, because he was made equal to the others, attacked the ass and tore it to pieces: then he ordered the fox, who alone remained, to divide the prey. The fox therefore, made cautious by the ass's disaster, assigned almost the entire prey to the lion, keeping scarcely a small portion for herself. The lion, approving the distribution, asks who had taught her that art of dividing? to whom the fox: Misfortune, she says, of the ass. By this fable we are taught that the common people should beware of partnership with princes or the overpowerful. For this is a leonine partnership, in which the lion defrauding the others by force, ascribes almost everything to himself. Thus in the Pandects, Aristo relates from Ulpian, that the jurist Cassius answered that such a partnership could not be entered into, so that one should feel only gain, the other loss, and that this partnership is leonine. Thirdly, lions alone among wild beasts show clemency to suppliants and spare the prostrate, as Pliny testifies, lib. VIII, cap. XVI. Kings do the same, whose axiom this is: To spare the subject, and to subdue the proud. Fourthly, lions, says Pliny, fear the wheels of carts turned about, and empty chariots, and the crests and songs of roosters; but especially fires: thus tyrants fear shadows, regard things of nothing with suspicion, and think any gathering and crowd of the people to be hostile. Fifthly, lions, equally as tyrants, are borne by their nature from tender years to prey. The same do lynxes also, whose entire memory and soul is in hunger and prey. Hear St. Jerome to Chrysogonus, epist. 44: "What nature," he says, "has implanted in lynxes, not looking back behind them to remember former things, and the mind loses what the eyes cease to see: thus you, forgetful of our relationship." And soon he teaches that lynxes leap upon unwary goats and deer, while they are catching the leaves of trees. "And the fleeing prey," he says, "while carrying their enemy with them, they tear apart with rabid mouth from above, and they remember to prey so long as an empty belly and a throat parched with hunger exasperates: but when satiated with blood the wild nature fills the distended viscera, with satiety comes forgetfulness, so long not knowing what to seize, until hunger recalls memory: you therefore," he says, "O Chrysogonus, not yet satiated with us, why do you join an end to a beginning?" etc. Tyrants therefore surpass lions and lynxes in savagery; for the predatory desire and gluttony of these is satisfied with hunger: but the avarice and ambition of tyrants is insatiable, and is ended and ceases only by death and slaughter, not so much of others, as of their own.
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3. AND HE BROUGHT UP ONE OF HER WHELPS: A LION WAS HE MADE. - He understands Joachaz, who was also called Sellum, the fourth son of Josiah, whom the people, after Josiah's death, "brought up," in Hebrew exalted on high, that is, made king for themselves, perhaps because he himself was more spirited, more warlike, and more cruel than his brothers. The Chaldean clearly translates: He exalted one of his sons, he became king. For by whelps he understands the sons of kings, by a lion he understands a king: and at the same time he indicates that Joachaz, as soon as he was made king, began to roar and rage like a lion. Whence follows: "He learned to take prey," etc. Hence the Proverb: "Do not raise a lion's whelp," whose author is Aeschylus in Aristophanes in the Frogs, by which we are warned not to foster a power that could oppress the commonwealth: but if by chance such a one has arisen and already prevails, it is not expedient for the commonwealth to fight with him; whom you cannot overcome except with great harm to the commonwealth. For a tyrant is not to be received: but if he has been received, he is to be endured. AND MAN TO DEVOUR. - The Chaldean: to kill, namely the innocent, as his great-grandfather Manasses had done, and to plunder their goods.
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4. THE NATIONS HEARD OF HIM (of his ferocity and eagerness for war), - namely the Egyptians. He alludes to the custom of the nations; for when they hear of a lion, a bear, or a similar beast roaming and raging in their places or fields, by agreement all come together to capture it. AND NOT WITHOUT WOUNDS OF THEIR OWN DID THEY TAKE HIM. - It signifies what the book of Kings passes over in silence, that Joachaz, like a warlike youth, fought a bloody battle against the Egyptians, and in it both wounding and wounded was captured. In Hebrew, he was taken in their pit, namely by the stratagem of the Egyptians: just as a lion is captured in a pit, or in his cave; or rather in a pit which hunters are accustomed to make near the cave, or the place where a lion is wont to roam, and to cover it with branches or vegetation, so that the lion, not knowing, falls into it and is captured there. Our translator rendered it, in wounds, because the Hebrew שחת sachat signifies both a pit, and destruction or corruption, as if to say, He was captured by the slaughter and death of many. This is what is said, IV Kings XXIII, 33: "And Pharao Nechao bound him (Joachaz) in Rebla."
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5. WHEN SHE (namely the lioness, that is Jerusalem) SAW THAT SHE WAS WEAKENED, - that is, bereft of her son and king Joachaz. Thus, I Kings II, 5, Anna says of Phenenna: "She who had many children was weakened," that is, bereft of them; for the strength and glory of a mother consists in her children. Again: "When she saw that hope perished;" the Septuagint, substance, that is subsistence, namely strength, of her, which she had conceived from the kingdom of the fierce Joachaz. SHE TOOK ONE, - that is another, namely Joachin the son of Joakim, as St. Jerome and Theodoret say, or rather Joakim himself the father of Joachin; for he succeeded Joachaz next, II Paralipomenon XXXVI, 5, and reigned for eleven years, whereas Joachin reigned for only three months. Joakim therefore, created king by Pharao with the consent of the people, walked like a lion among lions; because he made a treaty with Pharao, Nabuchodonosor and other neighboring kings, and walked among tyrants like a tyrant. Morally note: Parents who love their sons excessively and indulge them, destroy them, and thus will leave their inheritance to others, and not rarely to enemies. This is testified by Horus Apollo in book II of Hieroglyphics LXII, the Egyptians indicated by painting a monkey, and behind it a small one. For when it bears twins, it loves one of these excessively, hates the other. The one it loves, carrying constantly before itself, it suffocates: but the one it hates, it keeps behind, and thereafter raises. Thus this mother, loving her sons excessively, destroyed them, and left her own and their kingdom to the Chaldean enemies.
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7. HE LEARNED TO MAKE WIDOWS, - by the slaughter of their husbands, and their goods being added to the treasury. In Hebrew it is, he knew widows of him, or his, which Vatablus explains as, that is, he exercised lust with widows, whose husbands he had killed. But a lion is not accustomed to do this. Our translator therefore most excellently expressed the Hebraism. For it is an aposiopesis: he knew, or learned widows of him, supply, to make. The Chaldean, reading resch for lamed, namely reading ארמנותיו armenotav, that is his palaces, instead of אלמנותיו almenotav, that is widows, translates: He knew the strongholds and palaces of them, that is he claimed for himself, assigned, held as his own, recognized as his property. AND THEIR CITIES, - of the men whom he had killed. It is an enallage of number; for it passes from the singular to the plural. For people collectively is singular, distributively plural. AND THE LAND WAS DESOLATE; AND THE FULLNESS OF IT. - That is the inhabitants, who fill the land, abandoned their cities and fled on account of the cruelty of Joakim; just as animals flee when they hear the roar of a lion.
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8. AND THE NATIONS GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST HIM, - that is to say, the Babylonians with their forces, as it were with a net, seized Joakim and led him away into Babylon. IN HIS WOUNDS (both active and passive, that is, wounding and wounded, as I said in verse 4) WAS HE TAKEN. - This slaughter of lions and parable Cardinal Baronius aptly applies to the line of the Lion Emperors, who on account of iconoclasm and on account of plunders and murders inflicted upon the Religious, were cut off by God; namely, the strong man rushed upon the strong, the lioness upon the lion, the king upon God, and was broken by Him. The first Emperor iconoclast therefore was Leo the Isaurian, who after many plunders of the orthodox, who venerated holy images, exiles and slaughters, felt the public vengeance of the Godhead. For, the Godhead being angered, all the East trembled, many cities were levelled to the ground, and the statues of the Emperors which were in the city collapsed and were broken, as if they themselves could not stand where the sacred images had been cast down by that impious Leo, who himself moreover could not survive much longer; for a few months later he was taken from this life by an earthquake, in the year of the Lord 741. Leo was succeeded by his son Constantine Copronymus, who began his reign spreading heresy deceitfully like a fox, reigned like a lion, died like a dog. For at first he acted secretly; then, with his power confirmed, he openly raged against the holy images, temples, monks, and the Blessed Virgin herself, whom he contended was not the Mother of God, but was struck by her with a blow in the legs, which in Greek is called dobeat; and from this he contracted a most severe fever and died miserably, crying out and saying: "While still living I am delivered to inextinguishable fire," in the year of the Lord 775. Copronymus was succeeded by his son Leo the Younger, an evil raven's evil egg, and a young lion raging from the lion against the holy images and their worshippers; and since he raged about precious stones, he loved excessively the crown of the great church, and taking it wore it. Soon carbuncles broke out on his head and seized by a strong fever, he died in the fifth year of his reign, in the year of Christ 780. Loving therefore carbuncles, from his sacrilege he suffered carbuncles likewise, and crowned with these, he was punished by death. Leo was succeeded by his wife Irene, a pious woman, with her son Constantine, a boy of ten years, who brought peace (eirene), that is, peace, to the commonwealth and the Church, and immediately restored to the church its emblem, namely the crown taken away by her husband, most beautifully wrought and adorned with precious gems. Wherefore under her, a certain man digging in the walls of Thrace found a stone chest, and in it a man lying, to whom was inscribed: "Christ shall be born of the Virgin Mary. I believe in him. Under the Emperors Constantine and Irene, O sun! you will see me again." The report spread that it was the tomb of some prophet before Christ, and that this oracle had been revealed by God to him. Thus Theophanes and Baronius in their deeds and annals.
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9. AND THEY SENT HIM INTO PRISON, THAT HIS VOICE MIGHT BE HEARD NO MORE. - "Him," namely Joakim the father; under him also is understood Joachin the son (concerning which St. Jerome and Theodoret understand these things); for Joakim, first rebelling against the Chaldeans, was captured by them, soon pledging himself to be subject to them, was released into the kingdom, and again rebelling, was not captured but slain. But Joachin, captured, or rather voluntarily surrendering himself to the Chaldeans, was led by them into Babylon, and there remained captive his whole life. Hence the Prophet here omits Joachin, because he includes him under his father Joakim. But he passes over Zedekiah, because he was still reigning at this time. Morally, observe here how brief is tyranny, and how swift and fatal is the end of tyrants. Behold these four young lions Jehoahaz, Joakim, Joachin and Zedekiah, all together reigned scarcely 22 years. Truly Seneca, book I On Clemency: "Kings," he says, "grow old and hand over kingdoms to their children and grandchildren; but the accursed and brief power of tyrants is." Thales, as Laertius testifies in his Life, being asked: "What did he find difficult?" "A tyrant in old age," he said. And Juvenal, Satire I: Few kings and tyrants descend to the son-in-law of Ceres without slaughter and blood, and with dry death. And Curtius, book IV: "No power sought through crime is lasting." And Sallust to Caesar: "Indeed I consider all cruel empires, more harsh than lasting; nor is anyone feared by many, without fear from many falling back upon him. That life wages eternal and uncertain war; since you are safe neither against enemies, nor from behind, nor from the sides, you always live in fear or danger." And Seneca the Tragedian: "He must fear many, whom many fear." And Cicero, book II On Duties: "No force of empire is so great that, pressed by fear, it can be lasting. No resources can withstand the hatred of many. Whom they fear, they hate; whom each one hates, he wishes to perish. Fear is a bad guardian of lasting power, but on the contrary benevolence is faithful for perpetuity." The same, in Philippics I and II, teaches that this is the voice of tyrants, but an unwise one: "Let them hate, so long as they fear. For fear is not a lasting teacher of duty. It is better to die a thousand times than not to be able to live in one's own city without the protection of arms. The protection ought to be surrounded by the charity and benevolence of citizens, not by arms." Finally Aelian, book VI, chapter XIII: "Most beautifully," he says, "it has been learned from the immortal gods that they do not allow any tyranny to extend to the third generation, but either immediately destroy and uproot tyrants like tall pines, or strip and despoil their children of strength." Among the Greeks, within the memory of men, these tyrannies alone are remembered to have lasted to the grandchildren: that of Gelo in Sicily, of the Leucanians in the Bosporus, and of the Cypselids in Corinth." Moreover, this applies not only in tyrants, but also in legitimate kings and princes. For as Ecclesiasticus chapter 10, verse 11 says: "All power is of short duration." And another: "The glory and prosperity of the world is not more lasting, nor more constant, than the serenity of winter, the tranquility of a ship, the stability of the moon." Do you want examples? Hear St. Jerome in the Epitaph of Nepotian, page 15: "Constantius, a supporter of the Arian heresy, while preparing against an enemy and being carried swiftly to battle, dying in the village of Mopsus left his empire to his enemy with great sorrow. Julian, a traitor to his own soul and a slayer of the Christian army, felt Christ in Media, whom he had first denied in Gaul; and while he wished to extend the boundaries of the Romans, he lost what had been extended. Jovian, having tasted only the imperial goods, suffocated by the stench of coals perished; showing to all what human power is. Valentinian, having laid waste his native soil and leaving his country unavenged, was extinguished by vomiting blood. His brother Valens, defeated in the Gothic war in Thrace, had the same place both of death and of burial. Gratian, betrayed by his own army and not received by the cities he approached, was a mockery to the enemy; and the bloodied hands and traces on the walls of your walls, Lyons, bear witness. The young Valentinian, and almost a boy, after flight, after exiles, after recovering the empire at great cost in blood, was killed not far from the city conscious of his brother's death, and his lifeless corpse was made infamous by hanging. Why should I speak of Procopius, Maximus, Eugenius, who certainly while they held power were a terror to the nations? All were captured and stood before the faces of the victors, and, what was most miserable for the once most powerful, they were pierced by the enemy's sword only after the ignominy of slavery, not before. I will come to private dignities, lest I speak of those who exceed two years; and to pass over the others, it suffices for us to write of the diverse ends of three recently consular men. Abundantius, needy, is exiled in Pityus. The head of Rufinus was carried through Constantinople by the hair, and his right hand cut off, to the shame of insatiable greed, begged alms door to door. Timasius, suddenly cast down from the highest grade of dignity, thinks he has escaped because he lives inglorious in Assa." To pass over other secular men, this is most clear in the Pontiffs, many of whom sat in the Pontificate for only three years, others for one, others for a few months, others for a few days. We saw in one and the same year 1590, three Pontiffs successively presiding, Sixtus V, Urban VII, Gregory XIV, and soon in the year 1591, Innocent IX, and after thirty days Clement VIII. Indeed, and what seems remarkable, of all the Pontiffs who have thus far ruled the Church through the years 1618, none has existed who reached the 25th year of the Pontificate. St. Leo I came quite close, who reigned for 21 years; St. Sylvester, who reigned for the same; and of all most nearly Adrian- us I, who, created Pontiff in the year of the Lord 772, sat for those very 24 years, except for 43 days; for he sat for complete 23 years, ten months, and 16 days; and he died in the year of the Lord 795, as Baronius and others say. Therefore neither he nor anyone else precisely reached 25. Wherefore when a Pontiff is inaugurated, the acclamation is made: "Most Blessed Father, you will not see the years of Peter." For that this will be so, continuous experience of so many hundreds of years sufficiently presages, indeed proves, divine providence secretly disposing it thus, either for the honor of St. Peter, who first established the Pontificate in Rome and sat for 25 years, so that he himself, as in dignity and merits, so also in years might surpass all other followers and successors; or, so that Pontiffs constituted in such a high position and pinnacle of dignity might be admonished of humility and modesty, and might be taught to hold this in low regard and to aspire to heavenly and eternal honors; or, so that this might be a spur to them for keen and continuous study of heroic works and virtues, while they think that the Pontificate will be brief for them, as also life, and therefore they might continually say to themselves: What you intend to do, do quickly; for this power will be brief for you, brief the faculty for great deeds; fill therefore few years with great virtues, do in a few years so much and such things as may illuminate your name both on earth and in heaven, and transcribe it to eternity; imitate Linus, Cletus, Clement, Gregory, Leo, who being made perfect in a short time fulfilled many times. Pope Alexander II once proposed this question to Blessed Peter Damian, why Pontiffs lived so few years, and none reached the years of St. Peter, when some had flourished in age and vigor? Peter Damian answered in book I, epistle 17, that the order of heavenly judgment disposed this so that it might strike fear of death into the human race, and how contemptible the glory of temporal life is, in the very principate of glory, and as if the sun suffering an eclipse, might evidently show; especially since one Pope presides over the whole world, while there are many kings at once, nor are Pontiffs accustomed to fall by violent death as kings do. Our Lorinus adds in the second epistle of Peter, chapter 1, verse 14, that this happens so that men might less desire the height of the Papacy, which they are almost certain will not last long.
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10. THY MOTHER (that is, yours, O kings of Judah! See the words of verse 2) IS LIKE A VINE IN THY BLOOD PLANTED UPON THE WATER. - Jerusalem, and the royal lineage, which the Prophet a little before compared to a lioness and a lion, he now compares to a noble vine: for royal blood is similar to the red and purple liquor of the grape, from which the purple vine is called by Ovid in the eighth book of the Metamorphoses. This vine, as if planted by the waters, grew with its branches and tendrils, namely with its families, citizens, power, riches and glory: because it was the stock of David, chosen by God, to whom God had promised a throne and a stable house, Psalm LXXXVIII, 5. Otherwise Maldonatus: "In thy blood," that is, he says, in thy flower, so that the flower on account of its redness is called blood. Whence the Septuagint translates, ὡς ἄνθος ῥοᾶς, that is, as the flower of the pomegranate. But it seems more truly that the Septuagint, for מושל בדכך tedommecha, that is, in thy blood, read with other neighboring Hebrew letters כרמרן kerimon, that is, as a pomegranate. Thy mother is, namely, producing many leaves and fruit, and, as Eucherius says, as in the pomegranate, one outer rind unites many seeds within: so the unity of the kingdom and king contains very many citizens and cities. Secondly, as those seeds are arranged in their cells and separated by their partitions: so also citizens are in their families and associations. Hence the ancients dedicated the Punic apple to Juno, as if the guardian of kingdoms, and placed it in her hand. And the Hebrew priest in his vestment had Punic apples mixed with bells, which signify the unity of the Church from many nations coming together in the same sound, that is, in the same law and religion, says Eucherius, and St. Gregory in the Song of Songs IV. Or they signify the variety and harmony of the same virtues, of which it is said in Acts IV: "The multitude of them that believed had but one heart and one soul." Thus St. Jerome, and from him Prado.
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11. STRONG RODS WERE MADE FOR HER FOR THE SCEPTERS OF RULERS, - that is, from this one vine shoot, as if one very strong rod, many rods grew forth, which were to be the scepters of rulers, so that namely kings would be made from her. For formerly patriarchs and princes, as shepherds with a rod, followed and governed their flock: hence now instead of rods kings bear scepters, as if to say, Jerusalem produced many and strong kings, bearing scepters. For a rod is the insignia of kingdom and of the king. Thus the Chaldean. HER STATURE WAS EXALTED AMONG THE BRANCHES, - as if to say, Jerusalem, growing into so many and such great citizens and princes, appeared high and glorious with them and among them. AND SHE SAW, - that is, seeing it pleased her, and she became proud. The Interpreter reads actively ויאר vaiar, now they read it passively ותאר vaiera, that is, and she was seen.
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12. SHE WAS PLUCKED UP IN WRATH, - namely, the vine Jerusalem was cut down in the wrath of God, and as if a vine was uprooted under Zedekiah. A BURNING WIND (that is, the assault of the Chaldean enemies) DRIED UP HER FRUIT (that is, it exhausted the sons and wealth of Jerusalem): THE RODS OF HER STRENGTH WERE MADE DRY, - that is, her kingdom and power withered; or, as Maldonatus says, "rods of strength," that is, strong, "and solid for the scepters of rulers," as he said in the preceding verse, that is, the sons of Zedekiah, who were to succeed to their father's kingdom and to wield scepters, were either captured or slain, IV Kings XXV, 7. "Fire," that is, the vengeance of God, and plague, and properly (1) This metaphor is similar to this passage of the Iliad (A, verse 234), where Achilles thus speaks of his scepter: Nae per hoc sceptrum, quod quidem nunquam folia et ramos producet, postquam semel truncum in montibus reliquit. Nay by this scepter, which indeed shall never produce leaves and branches, after once the trunk was left in the mountains. fire and the burning of the Chaldeans, "consumed her." Otherwise Vatablus: The vine, he says, is Zedekiah, the fruit his son, fire affliction. Whence in Hebrew it is, consumed him, namely Zedekiah, because he died in prison, without a successor to the kingdom.
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13. NOW SHE IS TRANSPLANTED INTO THE DESERT, INTO A LAND WITHOUT PATH AND THIRSTING, - that is, the citizens of Jerusalem were transferred into Babylon, where, as if in a dry desert, they are in want of all things. Thus St. Jerome. Or, as the same adds: Judea itself, laid waste, was as if changed into a desert, with its inhabitants slain or captured, and its cities destroyed. Whence it follows:
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14. AND FIRE WENT OUT OF A ROD OF THE BRANCHES THEREOF, WHICH DEVOURED THE FRUIT THEREOF, - that is to say, Ishmael from the royal seed, envying Gedaliah, whom Nebuchadnezzar had appointed governor of Judaea, slew him together with many who adhered to him, and this is what is subjoined: "It devoured the fruit thereof." Whence the remaining Jews, fearing the wrath of the Chaldaeans, fled with Johanan into Egypt. Thus St. Jerome and Theodoret. Note: These things are spoken prophetically of the past to signify the future. "It is plucked up, it is transplanted;" that is, it shall be plucked up, it shall be transplanted; "it went out," that is, it shall go out. For the Prophet spoke these things in the sixth year of Zedekiah, as is evident from chapter VIII, 1, when Jerusalem still stood. Otherwise the Chaldaean, that is to say, "Fire," that is, the punishment which consumed Jerusalem, "went out from it," that is, from the impiety of its princes and citizens. Otherwise also Rabbi David, as if to say: Zedekiah went out from the royal seed of Jerusalem, who, like fire, lost all its riches, and he himself was the cause of its destruction. Whence it follows: "There was not a strong rod in it for a sceptre of them that bare rule," that is to say, He left no heir who might succeed to the sceptre and kingdom. A LAMENTATION WAS MADE, - that is, now lamentation is made for Joiakim and the captivity of the citizens; but greater shall be the lamentation in the destruction of the city and kingdom. Secondly, Maldonatus and Vatablus from the Chaldaean and Hebrew texts expound it, that is to say, This lamentation, which I explained at the beginning, is a mournful prophecy; but the event itself shall be greater; for when these things which I here bewail and predict shall actually come to pass, there shall be the greatest lamentation and mourning of all. Thirdly, the Septuagint translates: It is become a lamentation in parables, and it shall be for a lamentation, that is to say, When posterity shall bewail the greatest calamity, they shall use this as an example and proverb: Let not that which befell Jerusalem befall me. Thus Theodoret. Fourthly, simply understand it thus, that is to say, Jerusalem is lamented and shall be lamented, that is to say, This lamentation of Jerusalem shall last long, and shall be perpetual and continuous.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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.