The prophet receives his commission.
The Prophet terrified with the vision, is encoreged by Gods spirite. 3. And is sent to preach 9. penance, and the seruice of God.
1This was the vision of the likeness of the glory of the Lord, and I saw, and I fell upon my face, and I heard the voice of one that spoke, and he said to me: Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak to thee.Questa visione era similitudine della gloria del Signore, e io la vidi, e caddi boccone, e udii voce di un, che parlava, e disse a me: Figliuolo dell'uomo, rizzati su' tuoi piedi, e io parlerò con te.THIS was the vision of the similitude of the glorie of our Lord. And I saw, and I fel on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking. And he said to mee: Sonne of man stand vpon thy feete, and I wil speake with thee:Hæc visio similitudinis gloriæ Domini. Et vidi, et cecidi in faciem meam, et audivi vocem loquentis, et dixit ad me: Fili hominis, sta super pedes tuos, et loquar tecum. 2And the spirit entered into me after that he spoke to me, and he set me upon my feet: and I heard him speaking to me,E dopo, che quegli ebbe parlato, entrò in me lo spirito, e mi alzò su miei piedi, e udii colui, che mi parlava,And the spirit entered into me after that he spake to me, and he sette me vpon my feete: and I heard him speaking to me,Et ingressus est in me spiritus postquam locutus est mihi, et statuit me supra pedes meos: et audivi loquentem ad me, 3And saying: Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious people, that hath revolted from me, they, and their fathers, have transgressed my covenant even unto this day.E diceva: Figliuolo dell'uomo, io spedisco te a' figliuoli di Israele, a nazioni di apostati, che si son dilungate da me; elleno, e i padri loro han trasgredito il patto, che avean meco, fino a questo dì.and saying: Sonne of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to nations apostates wich haue reuolted from me: they, and their fathers, haue transgressed my couenant euen vnto this day.et dicentem: Fili hominis, mitto ego te ad filios Israël, ad gentes apostatrices quæ recesserunt a me: ipsi et patres eorum prævaricati sunt pactum meum usque ad diem hanc: 4And they to whom I send thee are children of a hard face, and of an obstinate heart: and thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord God:E son figliuoli di dura cervice, e di cuore indomabile quegli, a' quali io ti mando: e tu dirai loro: Queste cose dice il Signore Dio;And they are children of an hard face, and of an hart that can not be tamed, to whom I send thee: and this thou shalt say to them: Thus saith our Lord God:et filii dura facie et indomabili corde sunt, ad quos ego mitto te. Et dices ad eos: Hæc dicit Dominus Deus:
5If so be they at least will hear, and if so be they will forbear, for they are a provoking house: and they shall know that there hath been a prophet in the midst of them.Se a sorte essi ascoltino, e se a sorte si posino; perocché famiglia contumace ella è questa. Ed ei sapranno, che v'ha in mezzo ad essi un Profeta.If perhaps they at the least wil heare, and if perhaps they wilcease, because it is an exasperating house: and they shal know that there was a prophet in the middes of them.si forte vel ipsi audiant, et si forte quiescant, quoniam domus exasperans est: et scient quia propheta fuerit in medio eorum. 6And thou, O son of man, fear not, neither be thou afraid of their words: for thou art among unbelievers and destroyers, and thou dwellest with scorpions. Fear not their words, neither be thou dismayed at their looks: for they are a provoking house.Tu adunque figliuolo dell'uomo non aver paura di loro, né ti diano apprensione i loro discorsi, perchè tu hai da fare con increduli, e distruttori, e tu coabiti con degli scorpioni: non temere le loro parole, né i loro volti ti spauriscano, perchè ella è una contumace famiglia,Thou therfore ô sonne of man feare them not, neither be afrayd of their wordes: because the incredulous and subuerters are with thee, and thou dwellest with scorpions. Feare not their wordes, and of their lookes be not afrayd: because it is an exasperating house.Tu ergo, fili hominis, ne timeas eos, neque sermones eorum metuas, quoniam increduli et subversores sunt tecum, et cum scorpionibus habitas. Verba eorum ne timeas, et vultus eorum ne formides, quia domus exasperans est. 7And thou shalt speak my words to them, if perhaps they will hear, and forbear: for they provoke me to anger.Tu adunque ripeterai loro le mie parole se a sorte ascoltino, e si posino; Perocchè sono gente fatta per irritare.Thou therefore shalt speake my wordes to them, if perhaps they wil heare, and be quiet, because they are prouokers to anger.Loqueris ergo verba mea ad eos, si forte audiant, et quiescant: quoniam irritatores sunt. 8But thou, O son of man, hear all that I say to thee: and do not thou provoke me, as that house provoketh me: open thy mouth, and eat what I give thee.Ma tu figliuolo dell'uomo ascolta tutto quello, che io dico a te, e non esser contumace, come è contumace cotesta famiglia: apri la tua bocca, e mangia tutto quello, che io ti do.But thou sonne of man heare whatsoeuer I speake to thee: & be not exasperating, as it is an exasperating house: open thy mouth, and eate whatsoeuer I geue thee.Tu autem, fili hominis, audi quæcumque loquor ad te, et noli esse exasperans, sicut domus exasperatrix est: aperi os tuum, et comede quæcumque ego do tibi.
9And I looked, and behold, a hand was sent to me, wherein was a book rolled up: and he spread it before me, and it was written within and without: and there were written in it lamentations, and canticles, and woe.E vidi, ed ecco una mano stesa verso di me, la quale teneva un libro involto; e lo spiegò a me davanti, ed egli era scritto di dentro, e di fuori, e in esso erano scritte lamentazioni, e cantici di mestizia, e di guai.And I looked, and behold, an hand sent to me, wherin was a rowled booke: and he spred it before me, which was writen within and without: and there were writen in it lamentations, and a song, and woe.Et vidi: et ecce manus missa ad me, in qua erat involutus liber: et expandit illum coram me, qui erat scriptus intus et foris: et scriptæ erant in eo lamentationes, et carmen, et væ.
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Year of the World 3409.
Menochius
Face, to adore God. (Menochius)
Worthington
Son of man. Our Saviour, out of humility, takes this title, which no other gave him; as the angel does commonly to this prophet, who was his figure: few else have received it, (Daniel 8:17.) but the reason is not known. (Worthington)
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Calmet
Israel. His commission was chiefly to them. (Calmet)
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Haydock
Forbear to sin. (Haydock)
St. Jerome
He thus insinuates free-will. (St. Jerome)
Calmet
If they refuse to hear my prophet, they will at least perceive that they are inexcusable. (Calmet)
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Scorpions. This people is no less destructive (Haydock) and hardened, Psalm 117:12.
Calmet
For might be better rendered, "though." (Calmet)
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St. Jerome
Eat. "If we do not eat the open book, we cannot teach." (St. Jerome)
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Calmet
Without. This was only done when the work was long. (Calmet)
Scriptus et in tergo, necdum finitus Orestes. (Juvenal 1.)
Haydock
Septuagint, "past and present things were written in it." (Haydock)
Worthington
Woe, or the words of the penitent, of the blessed, and of the damned. (Worthington)
Calmet
The canticles were of a mournful nature, and the prophet had sorrows to announce. (Calmet)
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Our Sauiour of his great humilitie and his singular loue towards mankinde, often calleth himself the Sonne of man, but no other so called him. Here the Angel most frequently calleth Ezechiel the Sonne of man, as wel to distinguish betwen Angelical & humane kind, as in honour of Christ, of whom this and other prophetes were figures: but why Ezechiel, and scarse anie other (Dan. 8. v. 17.) had this title is hard to explicate.
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Lamentations perteine to the penitent:
Songue to the praises of God
VVoe to the desperate damned.
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St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.20.10
… “This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of God.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 69.7
… The psalmist says:—“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity.” It would seem that we must add something to this song and say “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not a wife.” Let us hear also the declaration which Ezekiel the so called “son of man”
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Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 2.24
… We do not find it said of any one but the saints that he is sent by God. It is said of Isaiah as we showed before; it is also said of Jeremiah, “To whomsoever I shall send thee thou shalt go”; and it is said of Ezekiel,
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St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Concerning Repentance 2.5
… Inasmuch as the Lord says also to Ezekiel: “Son of man, I will send thee unto the house of Israel, to those who have angered Me, both themselves and their fathers, unto this day, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord, if perchance they will hear and be afraid.”
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 65
… but of one desiring to show the sin to be great; and without any excuse. Since Himself knowing that they would slay Him, He sent Him. But He saith, “They will reverence,” declaring what ought to have been done, that it was their duty to have reverenced Him. Since elsewhere also He saith, “if perchance they will hear;”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 74
… For He Himself likewise saith, “Adam, where art thou?” and, “The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is waxed great before me. I will go down therefore, and see whether their doings be according to their cry which cometh unto me, and if not, I will know.” And elsewhere He saith, “Whether they will hear, whether they will understand.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 13
… for, says St. Paul, “Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor” ( 1 Cor. iii. 8 ), not according to the event of things. And that it is so, hearken: “And Thou,” he saith, “Son of man, testify unto this people, if they will hear, and if they will understand.” (
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Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 2.76
… your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers?” And are there not revilings in Ezekiel directed against the people, when the Lord says to the prophet, “Thou dwellest in the midst of scorpions?”
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great 10.36
… But our defence of the poor must needs be found of such sort that both the humble may feel protection and oppressors may not easily find what out of a malevolent disposition they may blame. Attend, then, to what is said to Ezekiel, Son of man, unbelievers and destroyers are with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions (
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great 11.45
… The blessed Job says of the society of the reprobate, I have been a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls ( Job xxx. 29 ). To Ezekiel the Lord says, Son of man, unbelievers and destroyers are with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions (
Pseudo-Clement The Recognitions of Clement 8.48
… No one there eats unclean flesh, no one knows aught of sacrifices; all are judges to themselves according to justice. For this reason they are not chastened with those plagues which we have spoken of; they live to extreme old age, and die without sickness. But we, miserable as we are, dwelling as it were with deadly serpents
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Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 6.6
… Ezekiel, e.g., received a roll, written within and without, in which were contained “lamentations,” and “songs,” and “denunciations;”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Concerning Repentance 2.6
51. And, lastly, Ezekiel was bidden to weep for Jerusalem, and he took the book, at the beginning of which was written: “Lamentation, and melody, and woe,”
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1. THIS VISION OF THE LIKENESS OF THE GLORY OF THE LORD. — That is: The vision of the chariot of the Cherubim, four animals with four faces, four wheels full of eyes, a crystalline firmament, a throne and the King sitting upon it, above as it were of amber, below as it were of fire, which I saw in chapter I. It was a vision of the glory and magnificence of the Lord, which He represented through these figures and symbols. For the glory of the Lord in itself is not visible to any mortal, but only to the Blessed. I FELL UPON MY FACE. — First, on account of the great novelty and wonder of so great a vision. Second, on account of fear and reverence, as if submitting the fasces to His majesty. For if the Seraphim veil their faces before God, says Theodoret, why should not mortal man fall, seeing the glory of God? Third, that he might adore God sitting upon the throne. For to fall upon one's face is the gesture of one adoring: but to fall upon one's back is the gesture of one repulsed, obstinate, impenitent, and reprobate, who cannot raise himself up and lift himself. Thus Abraham fell upon his face when God spoke to him, Genesis XVII, 3, and Isaiah, chapter XXI, 3, and Daniel, chapter IX, 3. But Heli fell backward and died the death of the body, I Kings IV, 18, and the Jews seizing Christ, hearing from Him: I am, John chapter XVIII, 6. Thus St. Jerome. Concerning these Isaiah says, chapter XXVIII, 13: That they may fall backward, and be broken, and snared. A VOICE SPEAKING, — namely of God from the throne: but he says a voice speaking, not of God; because troubled and falling upon his face, he could not see and recognize the speaker. A similar thing happened to Paul, when he was cast down and converted by Christ, Acts IX, 4.
On the title "Son of Man" SON OF MAN. — In Hebrew, son of Adam. For from Adam, the first man and parent of all, every man is called Adam, as if to say: O man! For since Ezekiel was among angels, namely among the Cherubim, man is called so for distinction. The same happened to Daniel, chapter VIII, 17. Thus St. Jerome, Maldonatus, and Delrio, adage 890. Second, lest on account of the sublimity of the vision you think yourself an angel, know that you are a son of man. Thus St. Paul, II Corinthians XII, 7: Lest the greatness of the revelations should exalt me, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me. Thus Theodoret, as if to say: Do not be proud, when I raise you to this prophecy and so admirable a vision of God and the Cherubim, says Vatablus, as if you were an angel; for you are Adam, that is man, from red earth, a wretched sinner, and a son of Adam. Be mindful of what you are from your infirmity, lest you be exalted by the greatness of contemplation, says St. Gregory, homily 14. Ezekiel was therefore here a type of Christ, who after his descent in the flesh is called the Son of Man. Ribera adds that Ezekiel is called son of man more often than other Prophets, because in chapter I, 26, he had seen God under the appearance of man sitting upon the Cherubic throne, and from this, by God's revelation, he had known that the Son of God was to be incarnate for us and was to become the son of man; wherefore, suffused with wonderful sweetness and devotion, he conceived an immense and burning desire and love for the Incarnation of the Word. Morally, learn here that man is not called ish, that is a strong man, from strength and vigor, but adam from adama, that is earth and dust, from which he was formed. What then is Adam, what is man? First: Man born of woman, living a short time, is filled with many miseries. Who goes forth like a flower and is bruised, and flees as a shadow, and never remains in the same state, Job XIV, 2. Second: All flesh is grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of the field, Isaiah XL, 6. Third: What is your life? It is a vapor that appears for a little while, and then shall vanish away, St. James IV, 15. Fifth: All vanity, every man living, Psalm XXXVIII, 6. Hence rightly the Church on Ash Wednesday: Remember, man, that you are dust and to dust you shall return. Do you wish Gentiles? Aristotle among the Stoics: What is man? An example of weakness, a prey of time, a plaything of fortune, an image of inconstancy. Second: Man is nothing other than calamity itself, says Herodotus. Third, a certain philosopher: Man is a servant of death, a guest of place, a passing traveler. Fourth, Sophocles in Ajax: I see that we are nothing other than phantasms, as many as we live, or a thin shadow. Pindar: Man is a dream of a shadow. STAND UPON YOUR FEET. — That is, do not fear, says Polychroius, for I do not come to punish you, but to choose you as a Prophet of the people. Second, Apollinaris: It is the part of one standing to hear divine things, not of one lying down. Tropologically, St. Jerome: It is the part of the saints to stand: Stand with your loins girt about, Ephesians VI, 14. And St. Gregory, homily 9: To one lying down it is said that he rise; but to one standing it is commanded that he go forth to preach. Finally, a holy man, especially a herald of God, ought to stand elevated above all worldly things, his mind fixed in heaven. For truly, as Cyprian says, in his letter to Donatus: This world smiles that it may rage; it flatters that it may deceive; it allures that it may kill; it exalts that it may cast down.
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2. AND THE SPIRIT ENTERED INTO ME, — that is, divine power, says Theodoret, and, as St. Gregory and St. Jerome say, the Holy Spirit touched me and raised me up. Secondly, spirit, namely the animal spirit and vigor of heart and body which fear had taken away, returned and raised me up with God strengthening me. The former sense seems more genuine, both because he adds: And set me upon my feet; and because in chapter III, 24, repeating the same words, he signifies that he is speaking of the Spirit of God.
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3. I SEND THEE TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL (as a prophet, both to those who are in Jerusalem and to those who are captive in Babylon), TO THE NATIONS, — namely to the Jews, who having followed the idols and vices of the nations, are deservedly called Nations in contempt. For the Jews violated the covenant of God, which follows. APOSTATRICES, WHICH HAVE REVOLTED. — In Hebrew, to rebels, who have rebelled against Me, or provoked Me; the Septuagint, who turn Me to bitterness, that is, stir up my bitter gall; because they violated my covenant, that is, the conditions of the covenant made with them through Moses, Exodus XXIV, 8.
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4. AND CHILDREN OF A HARD FACE. — That is, as some translate it, obstinate in faces or foreheads, that is, says Theodoret and Vatablus, shameless, who do not blush at their wickedness, so much so that they commit shameful acts openly, indeed they glory in them. Thus Cicero in the Pro Quintio: I said that he seemed to me to be of the hardest face. And in the In Pisonem: Your iron brow. And Seneca: This hard countenance knows not how to weep. AND AN INDOMITABLE HEART, — obstinate, hardened mind, stiff-necked; and, as the Septuagint translates, sklerokardioi, that is, hard of heart. In Hebrew chiske leb, that is, strong of heart, that is, hard and obstinate, to whom God aptly opposes chiske el, that is, strong of God, namely Ezekiel (for this is his etymology) and similar Prophets. For the hard must be rebuked harshly, so that their hardness may be broken, as the Apostle teaches in the epistle to Titus, chapter I, 13, and St. Gregory, part III of the Pastoral Rule, chapter VIII: The shameless must be admonished otherwise than the modest. For you can restrain those from the vice of shamelessness only by harsh rebuke: these, however, are disposed to better things by modest exhortation.
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5. IF PERHAPS EVEN THEY HEAR, AND IF PERHAPS THEY CEASE (namely from sin, says the Chaldean and Septuagint): BECAUSE IT IS A PROVOKING HOUSE, — as if to say: I wish that you preach even to the Jews, averse and unwilling, because it often happens that those who hear the word with reluctance receive it fruitfully, says St. Jerome. Secondly, from the Hebrew Vatablus, R. David, and Maldonatus translate: whether they hear or whether they cease, that is, you speak to them, whether they hear you or not. BECAUSE IT IS A PROVOKING HOUSE. — In Hebrew bet meri, which can be translated: house of mutability and defection, or house of bitterness, or house of rebellion. Thus the Chaldean, Vatablus, Maldonatus and others. AND THEY SHALL KNOW THAT THERE HATH BEEN A PROPHET IN THE MIDST OF THEM. — As if to say: If they will not hear, they will be inexcusable, nor will they accuse Me; since I shall have forewarned them and done all that I could. Thus God gives grace to the hardened, even if he foresees it will be in vain, and he does this for his own justification; to show that it was not on his part that they were not saved. Thus Theodoret. Note here that God does not deny sufficient grace to the hardened (otherwise they would seem to be outside the state of salvation, and as if damned); by which if they make use, gradually they receive more and more, so that at length they truly repent, are converted and saved. Marvel here at the clemency and bowels of mercy of our God.
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6. BECAUSE — as if to say: I forewarn you not to fear, so that you may show yourself a man, since I send you to the unbelieving and rebellious. UNCREDULOUS, — that is, disobedient, rebellious: Septuagint, raving; as if beasts, says Theodoret, driven by a star. AND SUBVERTERS. — Vatablus and the Hebrews translate thorns, that is, thorny; the Chaldean, hard; our interpreter subverters, who subvert others by evil doctrine or example. ARE WITH THEE. — Septuagint and Chaldean, are against you, as if to say: Although your business is with rebels and harsh men, who like thorns are wont to prick those who deal with them; nevertheless do not fear, but boldly reprove them. AND THOU DWELLEST WITH SCORPIONS. — A scorpion is a venomous little creature, curved and having a tubular sting in its tail, with which curved it strikes a wound. In the word scorpions, he notes the most pestilent false prophets, who flatter with their mouth, saying: Thus saith the Lord: but with the tail, that is, in the end, they instill the venom of impiety.
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7. AND THEY CEASE. — In Hebrew, and if they cease; Vatablus, whether they hear or whether they do not hear. See the words of verse 5. AND THOU SHALT SAY TO THEM: THUS SAITH THE LORD. — As if to say: You shall prophesy, and you shall use the customary exordium of the Prophets saying: Thus saith the Lord, as if to say: I now constitute you a Prophet, so that you may put My name before your words. Thus Vatablus.
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8. AND BE NOT EXASPERATING, — that is, rebellious, provoking the Lord, as they provoke Him by their disobedience and rebellion, as if He said: Do not resist the Holy Spirit, who calls you to prophesy and preach to the rebellious; as they resist the same Spirit calling them to repentance. OPEN YOUR MOUTH. — Origen: Open the vessels of your soul, that you may receive My words, that is, commit them to memory and retain them, as if He said: Whatever you receive and hear from Me, accept with an even mind, refuse nothing, reject nothing, conceal nothing, speak all things, announce all things to the people.
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9. A SCROLL ROLLED UP. — In Hebrew, a volume of a book. For the ancients wrote on membranes or sewn skins, and rolled them up into spirals and cylinders, and when they wished to read, they unrolled and unfolded them. It was the custom to preserve them uncorrupted by rolling them around a cedar rod, or another precious material, to which the end of the membrane was bound. HE UNROLLED IT, — so that I might understand the prophecy written in it, and having understood it, announce it to the Jews. Thus Polychronius. WRITTEN WITHIN AND WITHOUT. — That is, as the Syrian says, before and behind. The ancients called such books opisthographic, because they were written on the back. Concerning these, Juvenal, Satire 1: Written also on the back, the Orestes not yet finished.
On the nature and symbolism of the scroll This opisthographic book signifies that the prophecy will be lengthy, says Vatablus, and will contain so many evils impending over the Jews that it will have filled the entire volume within and without. Thus Maldonatus. Mystically, St. Gregory, homily 9: Sacred Scripture, he says, is a book written within through allegory, without through history. Within, because it promises invisible things: without, because it arranges visible things by the rectitude of its precepts. Within, because it promises heavenly things: without truly, because it prescribes contemptible earthly things, how they are either to be used or to be fled. It is rolled up, so that the very obscurity may be an occasion of multiple meanings, and moreover of study and meditation, so that by unrolling it, we may gradually learn to elevate our mind to divine things, says St. Dionysius, chapter 1 On the Celestial Hierarchy. Symbolically, the rolled-up book signifies the mystery of God's counsels and decrees. This is written within and without, because very many, indeed infinite counsels of God are written in it. Note here: in God there is as it were a threefold book. The first, of creation and creatures, concerning which it is said in Psalm 138, 16: In your book all shall be written. The second, of laws and obligations, concerning which it is said in Baruch 4, 1: This is the book of the commandments of God, and the law that is eternal. The third, of particular providence concerning each creature, especially man and angel, by which He decrees for these in particular rewards for merits, and for those punishments for demerits.
SONG. — The Septuagint, a melody, namely a mournful one, as is evident from what follows. He calls it a song, either because it was adapted to musical modes, or rather because it was a certain formula composed of fixed words for funerals, by which the dead were lamented. This book therefore did not contain the whole prophecy of Ezechiel: for in it there are both many joyful things, and many promises; but only the former part of it, which is threatening, sad and mournful. AND WOE. — Woe signifies the groaning of the voice, and the beating of the breast, with lamentation. It is therefore an amplification of misfortune and calamity, that is of the captivity of the Jews, which gradually increased, until Sedecias with all the people was led away. For lamentation is simple mourning, a song is more vehement and premeditated: woe also denotes the beating and clapping of hands. Aquila, for lamentations, song and woe, translated: aviah, that is creation; hege, that is exemplar or comparison; and ouai, and it shall be: as if to say: These three things were written in the book: construction, exemplar, and it shall be: just as mene, tekel, phares, that is number, weight, division, were written on the wall and shown to Balthassar, Daniel V, 25. Construction therefore signifies the city, temple, kingdom, and priesthood of the Jews founded and instituted by God: exemplar signifies all these things transferred from the Jews to the Gentiles, and restored there, namely among Christians: it shall be signifies that this sentence of God concerning them shall be irrevocable. Thirdly, R. Solomon: Lamentations, he says, are the sadness of the just in this world; a song, the reward of the Saints in the future; woe, the torments of the impious in the future age. And St. Gregory here, hom. 9, says that lamentations are of the penitent, songs of the blessed, woe of the damned. Wherefore concluding devoutly, St. Gregory says: What therefore, brethren, what is to be done by us wretched ones, except that we awake to the words of this volume, and punish with tears the evils which we remember having done, so that through the penitence of lamentations, we may arrive at the song of life? Lest, if we are now unwilling to afflict ourselves by reproving, we afterwards feel woe without end. From this it is evident that Aquila, Origen, St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, St. Gregory, R. Solomon and others understood by song the joyful promises. Which opinion is probable on account of so many and such great authors; although the contrary seems more conformable to the text, namely that the song placed between lamentations and woe, is of the same kind with them, and is a sad and mournful song. Note: St. John, in his Apocalyptic visions, often alludes to the vision of Ezechiel and Daniel. Thus he alludes to this vision of Ezechiel in chapters IV and V. For just as John, chapter IV, saw God sitting on a high throne, encircled by a rainbow and attended by four animals: so Ezechiel saw him in the same way attended by four Cherubim, chapter I. Secondly, just as St. John, chapter V, saw in the right hand of God a book sealed, written within and without: so Ezechiel in this chapter II saw a book sent to him by God, in which were written within and without lamentations, and a song, and woe.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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«SON OF MAN». — A Semitic expression normally meaning "man." In Hebrew ben 'ādhām ("s. of m.") is found in parallelism with 'ādhām or 'ēnās ("man"): Job 25:6; Ps. (Heb.) 144:3; Is. 51:12; Ez. 2:1, etc. In Aramaic and Syriac bar 'ēnās ("s. of m.") or bar nāsā ("the s. of m.") is commonly used to indicate "man."
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They indeed report or presuppose the various elements 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, …
2:8
… is the mouth of God (Jer. 15, 19; Is. 30, 2, in accordance with Ex. 4, 15 ff.; 7, 1). Some symbolic actions describe plastically the divine influence on the prophet-writer, e.g., Ezekiel must devour the book that contains the object of his preaching (Ezek. 2, 8-3, 3); the lips of Isaiah and Jeremiah are purified so that they may be made fit for their ministry. …
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.