God’s judgments upon Gog. God’s people were punished for their sins: but shall be favoured with everlasting kindness.
Our Lord permitting Gog, most vehemently to afflict the Church, 3. after a while wil destroy him, with al this troupes: 9. their weapons shal be burned, 11. their sepulchres infamous, the earth not fully clensed of their carcases in seuen monethes. 17. Gods people shal reioyce; 22. and al men shal know that their sinnes were the cause of their captiuitie.
1And thou, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I come against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Mosoch and Thubal.Or tu, figliuolo dell'uomo, profetizza contro Gog, e dirai: Queste cose dice il Signore Dio: Eccomi a te, o Gog principe, e capo di Mosoch, e di Thubal;BVT thou sonne of man, prophecie against Gog, and thou shalt say: Thus saith our Lord God: Behold I vpon thee Gog, the prince of the head of Mosoch and Thubal.Tu autem, fili hominis, vaticinare adversum Gog, et dices: Hæc dicit Dominus Deus: / Ecce ego super te, Gog, / principem capitis Mosoch et Thubal. 2And I will turn thee round, and I will lead thee out, and will make thee go up from the northern parts: and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel.Ed io ti aggirerò, e ti trarrò fuori, e farotti partire dalle parti di settentrione, e ti condurrò sui monti d'Israele.And I wil turne thee about, and wil reduce thee, and wil make thee ascend from the sides of the North: and wil bring thee vpon the mountaines of Israel.Et circumagam te, et educam te, / et ascendere te faciam de lateribus aquilonis, / et adducam te super montes Israël. 3And I will break thy bow in thy left hand, and I will cause thy arrows to fall out of thy right hand.E spezzerò il tuo arco nella sinistra tua mano, e farò cadere dalla tua destra le tue saette.And I wil strike thy bow in thy left hand, and thine arrowes I wil cast downe out of thy right hand.Et percutiam arcum tuum in manu sinistra tua, / et sagittas tuas de manu dextera tua dejiciam. 4Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou and all thy bands, and thy nations that are with thee: I have given thee to the wild beasts, to the birds, and to every fowl, and to the beasts of the earth to be devoured.Sui monti d'Israele caderai tu e tutte le tue schiere, e i tuoi popoli, che sono con te, io ti ho dato alle nere, agli uccelli, e a tutti i volatili, e alle bestie della terra, perchè ti divorino.Vpon the mountaines of Israel shalt thou fal, and al thy troupes, and thy peoples that are with thee: to the wilde beastes, to the birdes, and to euerie foule, and to the beastes of the earth haue I geuen thee to be deuoured.Super montes Israël cades tu, et omnia agmina tua, / et populi tui qui sunt tecum: / feris, avibus, omnique volatili et bestiis terræ / dedi te ad devorandum. 5Thou shalt fall upon the face of the field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.Tu cadenti in mezzo del campo: Perocchè io ho parlato, dice il Signore Dio.Thou shalt fal vpon the face of the fielde: because I haue spoken, saith our Lord God.Super faciem agri cades, / quia ego locutus sum, / ait Dominus Deus.
6And I will send a fire on Magog, and on them that dwell confidently in the islands: and they shall know that I am the Lord.E scaglierò fuoco contro di Magog, e contro di quelli, che senza timore abitano le isole, e conosceran, ch'io sono il Signore.And I wil send in fire vpon Magog, and on them that dwel in the ilandes confidently: and they shal know that I am the Lord.Et immittam ignem in Magog, / et in his qui habitant in insulis confidenter: / et scient quia ego Dominus. 7And I will make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel, and my holy name shall be profaned no more: and the Gentiles shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.E il santo nome mio farò conoscere in mezzo al popol mio d'Israele, e non lascerò più profanare il nome mio santo, e conosceranno le genti, ch'io sono il Signore, il Santo d'Israele.And my holie name wil I make knowen in the middes of my people Israel, and I wil pollute my holie name no more: and the Gentils shal know that I am the Lord the holie one of Israel.Et nomen sanctum meum notum faciam in medio populi mei Israël, / et non polluam nomen sanctum meum amplius: / et scient gentes quia ego Dominus, Sanctus Israël. 8Behold it cometh, and it is done, saith the Lord God: this is the day whereof I have spoken.Ecco il tempo, e la cosa è fatta, dice il Signore Dio: quest'è il giorno, del quale io parlai.Behold it cometh, and it is done, saith our Lord God: this is the day, wherof I haue spoken.Ecce venit, et factum est, / ait Dominus Deus: / hæc est dies de qua locutus sum. 9And the inhabitants shall go forth of the cities of Israel, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, the shields, and the spears, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves and the pikes: and they shall burn them with fire seven years.E usciranno dalle città d'Israele gli abitatori, e getteranno al fuoco, e bruceranno le armi, gli scudi, e le aste, gli archi, e le saette, e i bastoni da mano, e le picche: e gli arderanno col fuoco per sette anni.And the inhabitants shal goe forth of the cities of Israel, and shal set on fire and burne weapons, buckler, and speares, bow and arrowes, and handstaues, and polaxes: and they shal burne them with fire seuen yeares.Et egredientur habitatores de civitatibus Israël, / et succendent et comburent arma, / clypeum et hastas, arcum et sagittas, et baculos manuum et contos: / et succendent ea igni septem annis. 10And they shall not bring wood out of the countries, nor cut down out of the forests: for they shall burn the weapons with fire, and shall make a prey of them to whom they had been a prey, and they shall rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord God.E non porteranno legna dai campi, e non ne taglieranno ne' boschi; perocché faran fuoco delle armi, e goderanno la preda de' loro predatori, e le spoglie de' saccheggiatori, dice il Signore Dio.And they shal not carie trees out of the countries, nor cut downe out of the forests: because they shal burne the weapons with fire, and shal make praye of them, to whom they had bene a praye, and they shal spoile their spoilers, saith our Lord God.Et non portabunt ligna de regionibus, / neque succident de saltibus: / quoniam arma succendent igni, / et deprædabuntur eos quibus prædæ fuerant, / et diripient vastatores suos, / ait Dominus Deus.
11And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give Gog a noted place for a sepulchre in Israel: the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea, which shall cause astonishment in them that pass by: and there shall they bury Gog, and all his multitude, and it shall be called the valley of the multitude of Gog.E in quel giorno io assegnerò a Gog per sepolcro un luogo famoso in Israele, la valle de' passeggieri all'oriente del mare, la quale farà rimanere stupefatti i passeggieri, e ivi seppelliranno Gog, e tutta la sua moltitudine; e sarà chiamata la valle delle schiere di Gog.And it shal be in that day: I wil geue Gog a renowmed place for a sepulcher in Israel: the valley of wayfaring men on the East of the sea, which shal make them that passe by, to be astonied: and they shal there burne Gog, and al his multitude, and it shal be called the valley of the multitude of Gog.Et erit in die illa: / dabo Gog locum nominatum sepulchrum in Israël, / vallem viatorum ad orientem maris, / quæ obstupescere faciet prætereuntes: / et sepelient ibi Gog, et omnem multitudinem ejus, / et vocabitur vallis multitudinis Gog. 12And the house of Israel shall bury them for seven months to cleanse the land.E la casa d'Israele li seppellirà in sette mesi, affin di purgare la terra.And the house of Israel shal burie them, that they may clense the land seuen monethes.Et sepelient eos domus Israël, / ut mundent terram septem mensibus. 13And all the people of the land shall bury him, and it shall be unto them a noted day, wherein I was glorified, saith the Lord God.E tutto il popolo del paese concorrerà a dar loro sepoltura: e sarà per lui famosa la giornata, in cui io mi sono glorificato, dice il Signore Dio.And al the people of the land shal burie him, and it shal be vnto them a renowmed day, wherin I was glorified, saith our Lord God.Sepeliet autem eum omnis populus terræ: / et erit eis nominata dies in qua glorificatus sum, / ait Dominus Deus. 14And they shall appoint men to go continually about the land, to bury and to seek out them that were remaining upon the face of the earth, that they may cleanse it: and after seven months they shall begin to seek.E deputeranno degli uomini, che girino pel paese, e seppelliscano, e cerchino que', che fosser rimasi sopra terra, affine di purificarla, e cominceranno a far ricerca dopo i sette mesi.And they shal appoint men continually going about the land, to burie and to seeke them, that were remayning vpon the face of the earth, that they may clense it: and after seuen monthes they shal begin to seeke.Et viros jugiter constituent lustrantes terram, / qui sepeliant et requirant eos qui remanserant super faciem terræ, / ut emundent eam: / post menses autem septem quærere incipient.
15And they shall go about passing through the land: and when they shall see the bone of a man, they shall set up a sign by it, till the buriers bury it in the valley, of the multitude of Gog.E gireranno, e scorreranno il paese, e quando vedranno un osso di uomo, porranno vicino ad esso un segnale, perno a tanto che i beccamorti lo seppelliscano nella valle delle schiere di Gog.And they that trauel through the land shal goe about: and when they shal see the bone of a man, they shal set vp a signe beside it, til the buriers burie it in the valley of the multitude of Gog.Et circuibunt peragrantes terram: / cumque viderint os hominis, statuent juxta illud titulum, / donec sepeliant illud pollinctores in valle multitudinis Gog. 16And the name of the city shall be Amona, and they shall cleanse the land.E il nome delle città sarà Amona: ed ei purificheranno la terra.And the name of the citie Amona, and they shal clense the land.Nomen autem civitatis Amona: / et mundabunt terram. 17And thou, O son of man, saith the Lord God, say to every fowl, and to all the birds, and to all the beasts of the field: Assemble yourselves, make haste, come together from every side to my victim, which I slay for you, a great victim upon the mountains of Israel: to eat flesh, and drink blood.A te adunque, o figliuolo dell'uomo, queste cose dice il Signore Dio: Di tu a tutti i volatili, e a tutti gli uccelli, e a tutte le bestie del campo: Raunatevi, affrettatevi, concorrete da tutte parti alla mia vittima, la quale io immolo per voi, vittima grande, sui monti d'Israele, affinchè ne mangiate la carne, e beviate il sangue.Thou therfore ô sonne of man, saith our Lord God: Say to euerie foule, and to al birdes, and to al the beastes of the filde: Come together, make hast, runne together on euerie side to my victime, which I immolate for you, the great victime vpon the mountaines of Israel: that you may eate the flesh, and drinke the bloud.Tu ergo, fili hominis, hæc dicit Dominus Deus: / Dic omni volucri, et universis avibus, / cunctisque bestiis agri: / Convenite, properate, / concurrite undique ad victimam meam / quam ego immolo vobis, / victimam grandem super montes Israël, / ut comedatis carnem, / et bibatis sanguinem. 18You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and you shall drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, and of lambs, and of he goats, and bullocks, and of all that are well fed and fat.Voi mangerete le carni dei forti, e berete il sangue de' principi della terra, degli arieti, e degli agnelli, e de' montoni, e de' tori, e degli animali di serbatoio, e di tutte le grasse bestie.The flesh of the strong shal you eate, and the bloud of the princes of the earth shal you drinke: of rammes, of lambes, and of buckgoates, and bulles, and of fed wares, and of al fat thinges.Carnes fortium comedetis, / et sanguinem principum terræ bibetis: / arietum, et agnorum, et hircorum, / taurorumque et altilium, et pinguium omnium.
19And you shall eat the fat till you be full, and shall drink blood till you be drunk of the victim which I shall slay for you.E mangerete la pinguedine a sazietà, e berete fino all'ubbriachezza il sangue della vittima, ch'io scanno per voi:And you shal eate the fatte your fil, and shal drinke bloud til you be drunke of the victime, which I shal immolate for you.Et comedetis adipem in saturitatem, / et bibetis sanguinem in ebrietatem, / de victima quam ego immolabo vobis: 20And you shall be filled at my table with horses, and mighty horsemen, and all the men of war, saith the Lord God.E alla mensa mia vi satollerete di cavalli, e di forti cavaliere e di tutti gli uomini battaglieri, dice il Signore Dio.And you shal be filled vpon my table of horse, and strong horsemen, and of al the men of warre, saith our Lord God.et saturabimini super mensam meam / de equo, et equite forti, / et de universis viris bellatoribus, / ait Dominus Deus. 21And I will set my glory among the nations: and all nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.E farò mostra della mia gloria tralle nazioni, e le genti tutte vedranno la vendetta, che io avrò fatta, e la possanza mia esercitata contro coloro,and I wil put my glorie in the Gentils: and al nations shal see my iudgement, that I haue done, and my hand, that I haue put vpon them.Et ponam gloriam meam in gentibus: / et videbunt omnes gentes judicium meum quod fecerim, / et manum meam quam posuerim super eos. 22And the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward.E la casa d'Israele conoscerà, ch'io sono il Signore Dio loro, da quel dì, e in appresso.And the house of Israel shal know that I am the Lord their God from that day and so forward.Et scient domus Israël quia ego Dominus Deus eorum, / a die illa et deinceps. 23And the nations shall know that the house of Israel were made captives for their iniquity, because they forsook me, and I hid my face from them: and I delivered them into the hands of their enemies, and they fell all by the sword.E conosceranno le genti come la casa d'Israele per la iniquità sua fu posta in ischiavitù, perchè ella peccò contro di me, ed io ascosi a lei la mia faccia, e gli diedi in potere de' nemici, e tutti perirono di spada.And the Gentils shal know that the house of Israel was taken in their iniquitie, for that they forsooke me, and I hid my face from them: and deliuered them into the handes of the enemies, and they fel al by the sword.Et scient gentes quoniam in iniquitate sua capta sit domus Israël, / eo quod dereliquerint me, / et absconderim faciem meam ab eis, / et tradiderim eos in manus hostium, / et ceciderint in gladio universi.
24I have dealt with them according to their uncleanness, and wickedness, and hid my face from them.Secondo la immondezza loro, e le scelleratezze io li trattai, e ascosi loro la mia faccia.According to their vncleannes, and wickednes haue I done to them, and haue hid my face from them.Juxta immunditiam eorum et scelus feci eis, / et abscondi faciem meam ab illis. 25Therefore, thus saith the Lord God: Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and will have mercy on all the house of Israel and I will be jealous for my holy name.Per questo, così dice il Signore Dio, io adesso ritornerò gli schiavi di Giacobbe, e avrò pietà di tutta la casa d'Israele, e mi armerò di zelo pel mio nome santo.Therfore thus saith our Lord God: Now wil I bring backe the captiuitie of Iacob, & wil haue mercie on al the house of Israel: and I wil take on me zele for my holie name.Propterea hæc dicit Dominus Deus: / Nunc reducam captivitatem Jacob, / et miserebor omnis domus Israël, / et assumam zelum pro nomine sancto meo. 26And they shall bear their confusion, and all the transgressions wherewith they have transgressed against me, when they shall dwell in their land securely fearing no man:Ed ei porteranno la lor confusione, e tutte le prevaricazioni commesse contro di me, quando nella loro terra abiteranno tranquillamente senza paura d'alcuno:And they shal beare their confusion, and al the preuarication wherwith they preuaricated against me, when they shal dwel in their land confidently fearing no man:Et portabunt confusionem suam, / et omnem prævaricationem qua prævaricati sunt in me, / cum habitaverint in terra sua confidenter, / neminem formidantes: 27And I shall have brought them back from among the nations, and shall have gathered them together out of the lands of their enemies, and shall be sanctified in them, in the sight of many nations.E quando io gli avrò tratti di mezzo ai popoli, e dalle regioni de' loro nemici gli avrò raunati, e avrò fatta in essi conoscere la mia santità dinanzi agli occhi di moltissime genti.and I shal haue brought them backe out of the peoples, and shal haue gathered them together out of the landes of their enemies, and shal be sanctified in them, in the eyes of manie nations.et reduxero eos de populis, / et congregavero de terris inimicorum suorum, / et sanctificatus fuero in eis, / in oculis gentium plurimarum. 28And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, because I caused them to be carried away among the nations; and I have gathered them together unto their own land, and have not left any of them there.Ed ei conosceranno, che io sono il Signore, perchè li trasportai tralle genti, e li radunai nella loro terra senza lasciar colà un solo di essi.And they shal know that I am the Lord their God, for that I transported them into the nations; and haue gathered them together vpon their owne land, and haue not left any of them there.Et scient quia ego Dominus Deus eorum, / eo quod transtulerim eos in nationes, / et congregaverim eos super terram suam, / et non dereliquerim quemquam ex eis ibi.
29And I will hide my face no more from them, for I have poured out my spirit upon all the house of Israel, saith the Lord God.Ed io non asconderò ad essi il mio volto; perocché lo spirito mio ho diffuso sopra tutta la casa d'Israele, dice il Signore Dio.And I wil hide my face no more from them, because I haue powred out my spirite vpon al the house of Israel, saith our Lord God.Et non abscondam ultra faciem meam ab eis, / eo quod effuderim spiritum meum super omnem domum Israël, / ait Dominus Deus.
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Worthington
Fall. In every part some shall resist Antichrist, who shall be overpowered. (Worthington)
Cambyses died at Carmel.
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Calmet
Islands; in the naval forces, or in the places of his dominion where discord shall prevail. (Calmet)
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Eusebius † AD 339
East of the Mediterranean and of Carmel, the high road from Assyria to Egypt, (Genesis 37:2.; Calmet) where the Romans had a station at Legion. (Eusebius)
Calmet
Called, or shall be, Isaias 7:14., and 60:14. (Calmet)
Haydock
Valley. Septuagint, "Gai, the grave of Gog." Protestants, "the valley of Haman-Gog," ver. 16. (Haydock)
Worthington
Antichrist will not be burnt with material fire. But Catholics shall resist him zealously, and gain the victory. (Worthington)
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Land, to prevent infection, and to comply with the law, Numbers 19:16.
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Calmet
Day. It does not occur in the calendar. Yet Comestor and [Denis] the Carthusian mentions Cambysa, the day when Bethulia was delivered, Judith 16:31. The history of Judith may perhaps relate to the defeat of this prince. The embellishments will not injure the truth. The Jews immediately after his death recommence the building of the temple, (1 Esdras iv.; Aggeus 1:14.) which they are forced to discontinue, till Hystaspes confirmed the decree of Cyrus. This was the grand object of their desires, and therefore the day when Cambyses fell was ever memorable to them. (Calmet, Diss.)
Menochius
So will that be for Christians, when Antichrist shall be no more. (Menochius)
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Calmet
Buriers. These might be foreign slaves, or Jews, who followed this employment. (Calmet)
Calmet
They would be habitually (Haydock) unclean, and their company would be carefully avoided. Those who sought after the dead remains, contracted no uncleanness. (Calmet)
39:16
Calmet
Amona. Hebrew hamon, (Haydock) means "a multitude." (Calmet)
Haydock
Septuagint, "a place for many graves:" poluandrion. (Haydock)
Calmet
So many would be buried there, that the place might justly receive such a name; though we find no such city in the neighbourhood. (Calmet)
Haydock
Rabbath, of Ammon, was sometimes so called. (Haydock)
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Calmet
Sword. I could as easily have protected them against the Chaldeans as against this prince, if their sins had not been in the way. (Calmet)
Worthington
These bring on the ruin of God's people more than the power of the enemy. (Worthington)
39:25
Israel. All who please may now return. Hystaspes was very favourable to them. He married Esther, raised Mardochai to great power, and sent Esdras into Judea with ample privileges. Many returned under him, Artazerxes, and Alexander [the Great].
Haydock
Jealous. I will restore the people to favour, and will protect them (Calmet) like a husband. (Haydock)
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39:1
Of the true sense of this obscure vision there be foure opinions: two of the Foure expositions of this vision. Iewish Rabbins, and other two of Christian Catholique Doctors. The more ancient Iewes vnderstand this vision vvholly & only of the temple and citie of Ierusalem, reedified by Zorobabel and Nehemias vvith others, after their 1. Of the temple and citie reedified after the captiuitie. captiuitie in Babylon, assisted by the Persian kinges: But this opinion can not consist with the holie text, ch. 42. v 16. describing the vtter vval of the temple in length on euerie side (being foure square. v. 20) fiue hundred reedes, euerie rede conteyning six sacred cubits (ch. 40. v 5.) which are aboue tenne foote, or two passes; & so. 500. reedes making a thousand passes, or a myle, the whole wal was foure myles in compasse. Likevvise the citie is described (oh. 48. v. 16.) to haue in length on the north quarter, foure thousand fiue hundred reedes, vvith the same length on the vvest quarter, and consequently on the east, and south, that is, nine thousand passes, or nine myles on euerie side: in al the circuite thirtie six myles. Of vvhich greatnes it is certaine the temple and citie neuer were. No not after the temple vvas augmented by Herod Ascolo•ites, vvherof Iosephus writeth. li. 15. c. 14. Antiq. Iud•icarum. Neither vvere there anie such waters issuing from the material temple, nor such trees on the bankes 2. That Messias shal build a material temple and citie. therof, bringing forth fruites euerie moneth, as are described, ch. 47. v. 1. & 12. Al vvhich, vvith other like dissonances considered, the later Iewes confessing that this prophecie is not hitherto fulfilled, say that their Messias, whom they expect, shal builde such a terrestrial citie, and temple, with al the appertinances, as are shewed in this vision. Reiecting therfore these Iewish errors, and ridiculous 3. That this prophetical vision was conditional. imaginations. Richardus de Sancto Victore, Hugo Cardinalis, Nicolaus ch. 18 v. 23. Lyranus, and some other Christian Doctors, suppose that God in dede conditionally, according to his antecedent wil, promised al these thinges, euen as the ch. 33. v. •1. letter soundeth, to the Iewes, if after their deliuerie from captiuitie, they should sincerely serue him, vvalke rightly in his wayes, and perfectly kepe his commandmentes. And that besides this supposed literal sense, al the same should more excellently be performed in the mystical temple and citie of God, our Sauiour Christ, and his Church. But for so much (say these Doctors) as the Iewes performed not that which vvas required of their part, in perfect life and due seruice of God, this vision was not fulfilled, but only in some part, according to the vertues, and merites of the better sorte of that people, by the restauration of the citie, temple and other thinges, as in the bookes of Esdras: & that lastly for their general reuolt from Christ persecuting him to death, their temple and citie were againe destroyed, the people slaine, dispersed, & reiected, except only the few reliques conuerted to Christ. In vvhom, with the multitude of Gentiles, the vvhole vision hath ful effect. This opinion albeit grounded in 4. That it cannot al be expounded according to the historie but only mystically. probabilitie, yet semeth not so certaine, nor in dede so probable, as the iudgement of S. Ierom, & S. Theodoret in their commentaries, as also of S. Gregorie in his homiles vpon Ezechiel, and of manie others, both ancient and late writers. VVho not finding hovv to applie this vision in al partes to the state of the old testament, neither that promise of such a huge great temple, and citie with the rest vvere agreable to Gods vvisdome, do only expound this vision to perteine in some partes to the Iewes reduced from temporal captiuitie, as in figure of al mankind redemed by Christ, and of his Church gathered of al nations, enriched and adorned vvith al spiritual graces, vertues, and powre. Neither yet expounding al of the militant Church, but some part of the triumphant only, as surpassing the perfectest state of this transitorie life. Vve therfore out of their large discourses shal abridge a fevv, and brief marginal notes, for some light of vnderstanding the text, and entrance into the spiritual sense, principally intended by the Holie Ghost.
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Antichrist persecuting the Church in al partes of the world, shal be resisted by some in euerie place, and at last vanquished.
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Not vvith material fire but with zele and feruour Catholiques shal resist him and finally ouercome him.
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Gods people vvere not made captiues by the povvre of their enimies, as if God could not defend them, but by his permission for punishment of their sinnes.
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St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 2.16
… and the house of Israel shall overwhelm them, that the land may be cleansed.”
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.66
… so that, because there was no shepherd, the sheep were scattered over every plain and mountain, and became meat for all the fowls and beasts,
39:1
and I will deliver them into the hands of enemies, and they shall all fall by the sword. 24. According to their uncleanness and their wickedness I have dealt with them, and I have hidden My face from them. 25. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and will have mercy on all the house of Israel: and I will be zealous for My holy name. 26. And they shall bear their confusion, and all their transgressions by which they have transgressed against Me, when they shall dwell in their land safely, fearing no one: 27. and I will bring them back from the peoples, and will gather them from the lands of their enemies, and shall be sanctified in them, in the sight of many nations. 28. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, because I carried them away into captivity among the nations, and have gathered them upon their own land, and have not left any of them there. 29. And I will not hide My face any more from them, because I have poured out My spirit upon all the house of Israel, saith the Lord God. 1. Above, — against thee namely I will come, that I may punish thee.
39:2
The prince of the head, — that is the chief prince. Otherwise Vatablus, as if to say, Thou who art the head of Mosoch, that is Cappadocia, and Thubal, that is Italy. See the preceding chapter, verse 2. 2. I will turn thee about. — Vatablus, I will break, or crush thee; Pintus, I will reduce thee into fragments, or sparks.
39:3
I will lead thee forth. — Pintus, I will cut thee down; the Chaldean, I will cause thee to wander; in Hebrew it is ששאתיך scisseticha, that is, I will leave a sixth part of thee, that is of thy army, because namely I will slay the other five parts. Better do R. Joseph, R. David, Vatablus and Maldonatus interpret it: I will smite thee with six plagues, namely with pestilence, blood, rain, hailstones, fire and brimstone, as I said in the preceding chapter, verse 22. For he is speaking of the complete destruction and ruin of Gog.
39:4
3. I will strike the bow in thy left hand, — I will take away all thy power and strength from thee. For archers are accustomed to carry the bow in the left hand, arrows in the right. He puts one kind for the whole class of arms, as if to say, I will disarm thee, I will knock the weapons from thy hands.
39:6
4. Upon the mountains of Israel. — Hence it appears that against Gog some king, or several Christian princes will lead forth a great army, and will fight with Gog in Judea, and will slay him, so that the bodies of the slain shall become unburied prey for birds and beasts. Yet this will be done more by the arms of God than of the faithful: for this is what is said in Apoc. xx, 9: "And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." And Apoc. xix, 14: "And the armies that are in heaven followed him," namely Christ going forth to war against Gog. 6. I will send fire (lightning and fires from heaven) into Magog, — that is, into the region and land, as much as into the army of the king Gog: and into the islands, namely subject to, or confederate with Magog.
39:7
Mystically, it signifies that the whole kingdom of Antichrist shall be overthrown.
39:8
7. I will not profane (I will not permit to be profaned, that is to be desecrated and blasphemed) My holy name any longer, — as I have hitherto permitted it to be profaned by the victories and impiety of Gog and Antichrist.
39:9
8. Behold he cometh, and it shall be done, — that is to say, What I say is at hand, and it shall come to pass as surely and quickly as if it had already been done. Assuredly a thousand years with God are as one day, II Peter III, 8. Whence also St. John, epistle I, cap. II, 18, calls this last age of the world the last hour. 9. And they shall go out of the cities of Israel, — that is to say, When Antichrist is slain, and Gog and all his army, there shall be so great a spoil of the slain, of spears and arms, that the Jews from all cities shall flock together to plunder them, and shall have enough for seven years to burn them, nor shall they need any other wood from the region and forests. See Apoc. xix, 17 et seq. Hence it appears that after the death of Antichrist there must be given not merely 45 days, as some wrongly gather from Daniel xii, 12, but several years, so that those who have fallen under Antichrist may repent, and then after the greatest persecution there shall be the greatest peace of the Church. Thus H. Pintus, Ribera in Apoc. xx, num. 72, Lessius lib. XIII De Attribut. divinis, cap. xix, near the end, and others. For Ezekiel does not say that the Jews will be able to burn, but that they shall in fact burn the arms of the army of slain Gog, for seven years. Again in vers. 12 and 13, he says: "After seven months they shall begin to seek" the remains of the bodies of Gog, that they may bury them. The reason is: for, as the Apostle says in Romans xi, 25, then "all Israel shall be saved:" but for this more time is required. Add, it is probable that then Churches are to be founded again in Judæa, and in Jerusalem then a Christian people both of Jews and Gentiles shall worship Christ, as the Venerable Bede expressly teaches in Luke xxi, and Dionysius the Carthusian here. And this is hinted at in Apoc. xx, 8. Read there Pannonius. Finally Lyra in I Thessal. v: "Doctors, he says, and Saints commonly say that, when Antichrist is dead, and his falsehood is manifestly detected, all nations shall be converted to Christ." Whence Sebastian Barradius tom. III, lib. IX, cap. vii, concludes that some years shall remain from the death of Antichrist until the judgment. For God shall grant to the Jews, equally as to the Gentiles, time for conversion, and for the founding of Churches, that the Christian religion may be established among them. But how many years precisely shall come to pass, whether seven, or more, or fewer, is not certain; especially since through these seven years Maldonatus and some others understand not precisely seven, but indefinitely many, so that a certain and definite number is put for an indefinite one. For they think that through all these things it is signified figuratively that there shall be a notable slaughter of enemies and victory. And thus often elsewhere the number seven signifies only abundance and multitude. Thus he says in vers. 12, "seven," that is many, "months." Wherefore the Sibyl, lib. III Oracul., teaches that after the death of Antichrist, a widow woman shall reign, who shall cast gold, silver, brass and iron into the sea, and then shall follow the end of the world and the day of judgment.
39:10
It was an error of the Chiliasts, or Millenarians, who taught that after the persecution of Antichrist the just alone would rise again, that they might reign with Christ a thousand years on earth, and after these thousand years Gog and Magog would come, and bring war upon the Church, and finally there would be a general resurrection and the last judgment. Nay, some Catholics, although they do not subscribe to the error of the Chiliasts, yet as far as concerns the designation of a thousand years after the death of Antichrist, agree with the Chiliasts. Among them is Joachim the Abbot, Ubertinus of Cassalis, Seraphinus of Fermo, Pannonius, and some others writing on Apoc. xx, 6, where these thousand years are treated of. But this opinion is improbable, and lacks foundation, as I shall show on Apoc. xx.
39:11
10. Neither shall they cut down from the forests. — Thus it should be read with the Romans, and this signifies the Hebrew yaḥtab. Therefore some read corruptly here succendent. 11. A place named. — The Hebrew reads mecom scem, that is a place of a name, that is named. So also the Septuagint. Now others wrongly read with different points scam, that is there, as if to say, This place from the slaughter and multitude of men, which shall be buried there with it, shall be named and famous: for it shall be called a polyandrium, or the valley of the multitude of Gog. The Syriac renders: And it shall be called the valley (or torrent) of the destruction (perdition) of Gog; the Arabic: And it shall be called the valley of the perdition of Agog. The valley of the travellers on the east of the sea, — that is to say, The proud Gog coming from the mountains shall be buried in a valley of Judæa frequent and famous, so that his sepulchre may be seen by very many, namely in a valley, because travellers coming from the East go to the sea, namely the Dead Sea, or rather the Sea of Tiberias. For this is properly called the sea of Judæa. Thus the Chaldean, who renders it, to the sea of Genesareth; which by another name, from a city nearby built in honour of Tiberius Cæsar, is called Tiberias. Allegorically, this valley is hell, through which many travellers, who enter the broad way, pass. This is on the east of the sea, because from it arises bitterness, and in it is the fountain most bitter of all sorrows.
39:12
Which shall cause to be astonished, — on account of the abundance of sepulchres and the buried. R. David renders: Which valley shall cause to stop up the noses of those passing by, on account of the intolerable stench of the bodies. 12. That they may cleanse the land, — namely from the stench of the bodies.
39:13
Mystically, that is to say, They shall labor seven, that is for many months, Catholics in suppressing the heresy of Antichrist and heretics, so that they may purge the Church. Thus Maldonatus, although he himself wishes this sense to be literal.
39:14
13. And it shall be to them a noted day, in which I was glorified, — namely by slaying so great an army of Gog and Antichrist. This day therefore shall be celebrated by Christians, because together with it they will root out and bury his heresies and vices, the faithful and prelates.
39:15
14. After seven months, — in which they shall bury the corpses, as verse 12 says, they shall begin to seek whether any things remain to be buried. 15. And when they shall see a human bone, they shall set up a title beside it, — so that from it, as from a sign, they may know it to be a human bone, not of a beast, and shall bury it. Pollinctores, — that is those who care for the dead and bury corpses: concerning whom Martial in book X:
39:16
Now in a grave, now in a bed, now with an undertaker prepared. 16. The name of the city (near which Gog shall be buried with his followers, shall be called) Amona, — that is its multitude. The Septuagint translates it πολυανδρείον, that is a cemetery, or a multitude of men buried, as St. Jerome says. Namely from this multitude of the slain the neighboring city shall be called "Amona;" just as verse 11 said: "The valley of the multitude of Gog shall be called." Some think this city to be Jerusalem. The Syriac translates: And the name of the city shall be called, strong (fortified).
39:17
For the Hebrew אמן aman (whence Amona) signifies to confirm, fortify, establish: whence amen is a mark of confirmation. The Arabic Antiochene: And the name of the city shall be called, strong (glorious, illustrious).
39:18
17. A sacrifice. — God calls a sacrifice the great slaughter of enemies, which He has as it were immolated to His justice.
39:20
18. And of bulls and fatted animals. — In Hebrew, of bulls and oxen of Basan, that is which in the fertile region of Basan were nourished, fattened and made fat. Thus Vatablus, who by these understands magistrates, and those who had performed some public office in the army of Gog. But this seems mystical, the former literal.
39:21
20. Upon My table. — God calls His table that valley full of the corpses of Gog.
39:23
21. And I will set (display) My glory (among the nations) and My hand; — that is My power and vengeance, by which I struck them down.
39:25
23. And they shall know that in iniquity (on account of their iniquity, by which they killed Christ, the house was captured and overthrown) the house of Israel,—that is, Judaea through Titus, and it remained overthrown and desolate until the destruction of Antichrist, after which the Jews, seeing themselves deceived by him boasting that he is the Messiah, shall all be converted to Christ. And this is what he says in verse 25: "Now I shall bring back the captivity of Jacob;" although some think that there it returns to liberation from the Babylonian captivity. But the former exposition is the genuine and more common one, which Adrian Finus also follows, lib. VII Flagelli Judæorum, cap. xv. The Jews therefore abuse this passage in vain, in order to defend their Judaism. For they object to Catholics: God promises us Jews here a return from captivity after the fall of Gog and Magog: therefore then our Messiah will come, who will restore the Jews and Judaism. I answer by denying the consequence. For the Messiah came long ago, and abolished Judaism, and substituted the new Testament for the old, as I showed from Daniel ix, 23, from the 70 weeks; and from Jerem. xxxi, 31, where this new Testament of Christ is promised; and from Gen. xlix, 10, where Jacob predicts the Messiah coming, when the scepter shall have failed from Judah: but this fails under Herod; and elsewhere. Moreover, this Roman captivity befell the Jews on account of the Christ rejected and killed by them, as I showed in Daniel, in the place cited; therefore in order that they be liberated from it and return, they must first return to God through repentance, and to Christ sent by him, and become Christians: which they will do at the end of the world. For God does not remove punishment unless first the guilt, which is its cause, be removed. As long therefore as the Jews remain in Judaism, and in hatred of Christ, they remain in guilt, and consequently remain in their captivity, which they will not escape unless, abandoning Judaism, they embrace Christ and Christianity, which will happen after Antichrist is struck down by Christ: for then the remnants of Israel deceived by him, seeing themselves, will be converted to Christ, and thus will be saved. And this is what Daniel says: "And after sixty-two weeks Christ shall be put to death, and the people that shall deny him will not be his. And a people with their leader that shall come will destroy the city and the sanctuary, and the end thereof shall be a desolation, and after the end of the war a determined desolation, etc., and in the midst of the week (in which they will kill Christ), the victim and the sacrifice shall fail: and there shall be in the temple the abomination of desolation: and even to the consummation and the end there shall be a desolation" of the temple, and consequently also of Judaism. Add that this liberation will be "in the last days," as is said cap. xxxviii, 8. It will be therefore, not earthly, as the Jews wish, but spiritual and heavenly, namely that which is begun here through grace, and soon perfected in heaven through glory.
39:26
25. I shall take up zeal,—I shall be zealous for the salvation of my Jewish people, not on account of their merits, but on account of me and my name, that I may be called a faithful and merciful father.
39:27
26. They shall bear their confusion,—when they shall think that they killed Christ, that they afflicted him with insults and injuries in Judaism, now converted to Christ they shall be confounded. 27. I shall bring them back from the peoples,—among whom the Jews were dispersed both through Titus and through Antichrist, I shall bring them back to their seats, and to Judaea, both corporal and rather spiritual, that is to the Church of Christ.
39:29
And I shall be sanctified in them,—when I shall show and exercise my holy mercy, as before justice, upon them, and thus shall declare myself to be God, whose property it is to be holy. Wherefore God is sanctified in Scripture is God showing himself to be God: for God is holy and holiness itself infinite and uncreated by essence. 29. Spirit,—of grace, justice, holiness. The Chaldean, the Holy Spirit; but the Septuagint fury, namely which I poured out upon the Jews, on account of their crimes. From these two chapters, and from cap. xix of the Apocalypse vers. 11 and seq., and cap. xx, vers. 9, we certainly gather these things concerning Gog and Magog: First, that they shall be the army of Satan and Antichrist which shall fight against Christ and Christians. For this is what is said in Apoc. xix, 19: "And I saw the beast (that is Antichrist), and the kings of the earth, and their armies (Gog and Magog) to make war with him that sat upon the horse (that is with Christ, as is evident ibid. vers. 13) and with his army." And cap. xx, 7: "Satan shall be loosed, and shall seduce the nations, which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, etc., and they went round about the camp of the saints." Secondly, that they shall be very many, and as it were innumerable. For this is what is said in Apoc. xx, 7: "Whose number is as the sand of the sea." Again that they shall be fierce, and coming from the North, as is said Ezech. xxxviii, 15, and this at the end of the world. For this is what Ezechiel says ibid., vers. 8: "In the last years he shall come;" and St. John, Apoc. xx, 7: "After a thousand years Satan shall be loosed, and shall seduce Gog." Thirdly, that Jerusalem shall then return to its former splendor, both of kingdom and faith, so that in it there shall be many faithful and Christians: wherefore in it Antichrist shall establish his royal seat, and there against him Elias and Henoch shall fight and preach, as is evident Apoc. xi, 8, to whose preaching many shall flock to Jerusalem, and with them constantly, like the Machabees, shall oppose themselves to Antichrist, who with his army Gog and Magog shall surround them, so as to destroy them near Jerusalem: and there Antichrist, Gog and Magog shall be divinely smitten. For this is what is said Apoc. xx, 8: "And they went up (Gog and Magog) upon the breadth of the earth, and compassed about the camp of the saints (Christians) and the beloved city. And fire came down from heaven, and devoured them." Fourthly, that God from heaven shall rain upon the army of Gog and Magog stones of hail, pestilence, fire and brimstone, by which he shall destroy it, as is expressly said Ezech. xxxviii, 22. Again he shall send upon them a horrible earthquake, likewise terror and panic fear, so that they shall slay one another with mutual slaughter, as is said ibid. vers. 21. Fifthly, that there shall be such great slaughter of Gog and Magog, that their weapons shall suffice the faithful Jews for wood to burn for seven years, and that all birds and beasts shall feed upon their corpses. Sixthly, that they themselves shall be slain and buried near the city of Amona, in the valley of the multitude of Gog, as is evident Ezech. xxxix, 11 and 16. Seventhly, that in this battle Antichrist himself shall be slain, and his precursor, or false prophet, and both shall be cast down from heaven to the depths. For this is what is said Apoc. xix, 19, concerning this battle: "And the beast was taken (that is Antichrist), and with him the false prophet, etc., and both were cast alive into the pool of fire burning with brimstone." Eighthly, that after the slaughter of Antichrist, Gog and Magog, the Jews shall be converted to Christ; and Christians fallen away in the persecution of Antichrist shall return to Christ, and then the faith and religion of Christ shall flourish. For this is what is said in this cap. xxxix, 25: "Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and will have mercy upon all the house of Israel, and will be zealous for my holy name," etc. From what has been said, it appears less probable what Pererius teaches, in the Prologue to the Apocalypse disp. v, namely that Gog and Magog shall be after Antichrist; for the sixth persecution of the Church shall be brought by the army of Antichrist: but the seventh by the remnants of Antichrist, namely Gog and Magog. For Scripture signifies the last persecution to be that of Antichrist, and in it joins Gog and Magog as his companions. Mystically, Gog and Magog, and the precursors of Antichrist were heretics, who attacked the Church: and therefore likewise as those were punished by God they perished. How great was the fury of the Arians and Arianists, and especially of the Emperor Constantius, against the orthodox, both St. Athanasius and others, and St. Hilarius writing to him, thus describes: "Priests," he says, "are confined in prisons, the people are bound in custody by chains of order, virgins are stripped for punishment, bodies consecrated to God are exposed to public view, fitted for the fruit of spectacle and profit. They compel, namely, not that we all be Christians, but that we be Arians." Wherefore Arius, God avenging, poured out his bowels (in which others are contained in the mother's womb, because he himself had been impious and blasphemous toward the Son of God) in latrines along with his soul. Constantius nearly perished from grief, when he saw himself gradually excluded from power and life by Julian the Apostate, his kinsman, whom he had made Caesar. Valens the Arian, a great persecutor of the Homoousians, was defeated by the rebellious Goths, and gravely wounded in flight, he chanced to enter a hut nearby, and was burned alive by fire cast by the enemies: truly receiving a worthy end of temporal fire from heretics, to whom he had procured eternal fire. For he himself had previously made the Goths, whom he had conquered, into Arians. Theodoric, king of the Goths and an Arian, slew with the sword Symmachus the patrician and Boethius the senator, men who were Catholic and outstanding in virtue; wherefore dying he was seen by a certain holy hermit ungirt and unshod, bound by the hands and led among them, and cast into the nearby cauldron of Vulcan, so that by them it might be signified that he was sent into eternal fire, whom he had oppressed here with most unjust judgments, as St. Gregory relates in the Dialogues. Totila, king of the Goths, invaded Italy and Sicily, most cruel and most savage toward the Ecclesiastics, leaving traces of his cruelty everywhere: hence also Carbonio, Bishop of Populonia, because he had received soldiers of Catholics as guests and had hidden and preserved them in his house from the Goths who came upon him, he ordered to be cast to most savage bears in the theater, in which the king himself sat as spectator. Then he took Perugia, and soon gave such a command concerning cruelty to his prefect: "From the bishop (it was St. Herculanus) first take a strip of skin from the crown of his head to his heel, and then cut off his head: moreover slay with the sword all the people who shall be found there." Wherefore deservedly he heard from St. Benedict: "You do many evils, you have done many evils, now cease from iniquity. Indeed you shall cross the sea, you shall enter Rome, you shall reign nine years, in the tenth you shall die." For in that year Narses the exarch, sent by the Emperor, defeated the Goths in battle and killed Totila. See St. Gregory, III Dialogues xii and xiii, and lib. II, cap. xv. Julian the Apostate, enemy of the Galileans (thus he called Christians), struck by a heavenly weapon, perished, crying out: "You have conquered, Galilean, you have conquered." How great were the disasters which the Arian Vandals and their king Huneric inflicted upon the faithful, may be seen in Victor of Utica in three books, which he wrote concerning the persecution of the Vandals. But what was the end? Huneric, long fed on the blood of Saints, at length seized by a demon, tore himself to pieces with his own bites, says Gregory of Tours, and, as Victor of Utica testifies, with his body laid open in the more secret parts, teeming with worms he expired. Constantine, who from a defiled font, when he was baptized, was called Copronymus, sworn enemy of the Blessed Virgin and the holy images, and destroyer of monks, when he had reigned 33 years in this cruelty, seized by the most burning fevers, in despair cried out that he himself was still being delivered alive to inextinguishable fire, and begged that honor be restored to the Blessed Mother of God (whom he had so often assailed with blasphemies).
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
39:1
Thubal (Heb. Tûbhal; Septuagint Θοβήλ)
The three names are again associated in Ezek. 27:13 as suppliers of slaves to the Phoenicians; T. and Javan are mentioned in Isa. 66:19 as typical distant, overseas peoples; but more often T. is associated with Meshech: both are part of the eschatological army of Gog and Magog (Ezek. 38:2,3; 39:1); their destruction is foretold (ibid. 32:26).
39:11
Joel (Heb. Yôʾēl "Yahweh Is God")
… The name of the valley (cf. 3, Heb. 4), where God will judge the nations hostile to Judah, is symbolic (Jehoshaphat = "Yahweh judges," cf. Ez. 39:11 ff.). …
39:18
… The Hebrew name Bāfān is generally used with the article; it was a land celebrated for its fertility to such an extent that its name became a synonym for it, and therefore the Septuagint and the Vulgate replace the proper name with the translation "fat": Ps. 21, 13; 67, 16; Ez. 39, 18; Am. 4, 1.
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.