The prophet sees in a vision the abominations committed in Jerusalem; which determine the Lord to spare them no longer.
In an other vision the prophet seeth innumerable most abominable idolatries, 11. committed by al sortes of men, and wemen, 17. for which God wil no longer spare them.
1And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the ancients of Juda sat before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell there upon me.Il sesto anno, il sesto mese, ai cinque del mese mentre io stava sedendo in casa mia, e sedevano i seniori di Giuda intorno a me, si fe' sentir ivi subitamente la mano del Signore Dio sopra di me.AND it came to passe in the sixt yeare, in the sixt moneth, in the fifth of the moneth: I sate in my house, and the ancients of Iuda sate before me, and the hand of our Lord God fel there vpon me.Et factum est in anno sexto, in sexto mense, in quinta mensis, ego sedebam in domo mea, et senes Juda sedebant coram me, et cecidit ibi super me manus Domini Dei. 2And I saw, and behold a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins, and downward, fire: and from his loins, and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the appearance of amber.E vidi, ed ecco un immagine d'uomo quasi di fuoco: dai lombi in già era fuoco, e dai lombi in su era come una splendida luce, come elettro lucente.And I saw, and behold a similitude as it were the resemblance of fire: from the resemblance of his loynes, and downeward, fire: and from his loynes, and vpward, as it were the resemblance of brightnes, as the appearance of amber.Et vidi: et ecce similitudo quasi aspectus ignis: ab aspectu lumborum ejus et deorsum, ignis: et a lumbis ejus et sursum, quasi aspectus splendoris, ut visio electri. 3And the likeness of a hand was put forth and took me by a lock of my head: and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the vision of God into Jerusalem, near the inner gate, that looked toward the north, where was set the idol of jealousy to provoke to jealousy.E stesa come una mano mi prese per una treccia del mio capo, e alzommi in spirito tra cielo, e terra, e portommi in Gerusalemme per una visione di Dio, presso alla porta interiore, che guardava a settentrione, dove era collocato l'idolo della gelosia a provocare l'emulazione.And the similitude of a hand put forth tooke me by the lockes of my head: and the spirite lifted me vp betwen the earth and the heauen, and brought me into Ierusalem in the vision of God, beside the inner doore, that looked to the North, where was set an idol of zele to prouoke emulation.Et emissa similitudo manus apprehendit me in cincinno capitis mei, et elevavit me spiritus inter terram et cælum: et adduxit me in Jerusalem, in visione Dei, juxta ostium interius quod respiciebat ad aquilonem, ubi erat statutum idolum zeli ad provocandam æmulationem. 4And behold the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision which I had seen in the plain.Ed ecco ivi la gloria del Dio d'Israele secondo la visione, ch'io avea veduta nella campagna.And loe there the glorie of the God of Israel according to the vision which I had seene in the filde.Et ecce ibi gloria Dei Israël, secundum visionem quam videram in campo.
5And he said to me: Son of man, lift up thy eyes towards the way of the north, and I lifted up my eyes towards the way of the north: and behold on the north side of the gate of the altar the idol of jealousy in the very entry.Ed ei mi disse: Figliuolo dell'uomo alza i tuoi occhi alla parte di settentrione: e alzai i miei occhi alla parte di settentrione, ed ecco a settentrione della porta dell'altare l'idolo di gelosia sullo stesso liminare.And he said to me: Sonne of man, lift vp thine eyes to the way of the North. And I lifted vp mine eyes to the way of the North: and behold on the North of the porte of the altar the idol of zele in the verie entrie.Et dixit ad me: Fili hominis, leva oculos tuos ad viam aquilonis. Et levavi oculos meos ad viam aquilonis, et ecce ab aquilone portæ altaris idolum zeli in ipso introitu. 6And he said to me: Son of man, dost thou see, thinkest thou, what these are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should depart far off from my sanctuary? and turn thee yet again and thou shalt see greater abominations.E dissemi: Figliuolo dell'uomo, vedi tu quel, che fanno costoro, e le abbominazioni grandi, che fa qui la casa d'Israele, perch'io mi ritiri dal mio santuario? E se tu ti volgerai altrove, vedrai abbominazioni maggiori.And he said to me: Sonne of man, doest thou see thinkest thou what these doe, the great abominations, that the house of Israel doth here, that I may depart far from my sanctuarie? and yet turning thou shalt see greater abominations.Et dixit ad me: Fili hominis, putasne vides tu quid isti faciunt, abominationes magnas quas domus Israël facit hic, ut procul recedam a sanctuario meo ? et adhuc conversus videbis abominationes majores. 7And he brought me in to the door of the court: and I saw, and behold a hole in the wall.E mi condusse a una porta dell'atrio interiore, ed eravi un foro nella muraglia.And he brought me into the doore of the court: and I saw, and behold one hole in the wal.Et introduxit me ad ostium atrii, et vidi, et ecce foramen unum in pariete. 8And he said to me: Son of man, dig in the wall, and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.E dissemi: Figliuolo dell'uomo, apri la muraglia: e rotto che ebbi il muro, comparve una porta.And he said to me: Sonne of man digge the wal. And when I had digged the wal, there appered one doore.Et dixit ad me: Fili hominis, fode parietem. Et cum fodissem parietem, apparuit ostium unum.
9And he said to me: Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they commit here.Ed ei mi disse: Entra dentro, e osserva le abbominazioni pessime, che fan qui costoro.And he said to me: Goe in, and see the most wicked abominations, which these doe here.Et dixit ad me: Ingredere, et vide abominationes pessimas quas isti faciunt hic. 10And I went in and saw, and behold every form of creeping things, and of living creatures, the abominations, and all the idols of the house of Israel, were painted on the wall all round about.Ed entrai, e vidi; ed ecco immagini d'ogni specie di rettili, e di animali, e l'abbominazione della casa d'Israele, e tutti quanti i suoi idoli eran dipinti all'intorno nel muro quant'era grande.And being entered in I saw, and behold euerie similitude of creeping creatures, and of beasts, abomination, and al the idols of the house of Israel were painted in the wal round about through out.Et ingressus vidi, et ecce omnis similitudo reptilium et animalium, abominatio, et universa idola domus Israël, depicta erant in pariete in circuitu per totum: 11And seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and Jezonias the son of Saaphan stood in the midst of them, that stood before the pictures: and every one had a censer in his hand: and a cloud of smoke went up from the incense.E settanta uomini de' seniori della casa d'Israele stavan dinanzi alle pitture, e in mezzo ad essi Giezonia figliuolo di Saphan; e ognun di essi avea alla mano un turibolo, e un vapor come nebbia alzavasi dall'incenso.And seuentie men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and Iezonias the sonne of Saphan stood in the middes of them, that stood before the pictures: and euerie one had a censar in his hand: and a vapour of a clowde rose vp from the frankincense.et septuaginta viri de senioribus domus Israël: et Jezonias filius Saphan stabat in medio eorum stantium ante picturas: et unusquisque habebat thuribulum in manu sua, et vapor nebulæ de thure consurgebat. 12And he said to me: Surely thou seest, O son of man, what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every one in private in his chamber: for they say: The Lord seeth us not, the Lord hath forsaken the earth.Ed ei mi disse: Certamente figliuolo dell'uomo, tu vedi le cose, che seniori della casa d'Israele fanno nelle tenebre, ognuno nel segreto della sua camera: imperocché essi dicono: Il Signore non ci vedrà: il Signore ha abbandonata la terra.And he said to me: Surely thou seest sonne of man what thinges the ancients of the house of Israel, doe in darkenes, euerie one in the secret of his chamber: for they say: Our Lord seeth vs not, our Lord hath forsaken the earth.Et dixit ad me: Certe vides, fili hominis, quæ seniores domus Israël faciunt in tenebris, unusquisque in abscondito cubiculi sui: dicunt enim: Non videt Dominus nos; dereliquit Dominus terram.
13And he said to me: If thou turn thee again, thou shalt see greater abominations which these commit.E dissemi: Ancor volgendoti in altra parte vedrai abbominazioni peggiori, che fanno costoro.And he said to me: Yet turning thou shalt see greater abominations, which these doe.Et dixit ad me: Adhuc conversus videbis abominationes majores, quas isti faciunt. 14And he brought me in by the door of the gate of the Lord’s house, which looked to the north: and behold women sat there mourning for Adonis.E menommi all'ingresso della porta della casa del Signore, che guardava settentrione: ed ecco ivi le donne a sedere piangenti Adone.And he brought me in by the doore of the gate of the house of our Lord, which looked to the North: and behold their wemen sate mourning for Adonis.Et introduxit me per ostium portæ domus Domini quod respiciebat ad aquilonem, et ecce ibi mulieres sedebant plangentes Adonidem. 15And he said to me: Surely thou hast seen, O son of man: but turn thee again, thou shalt see greater abominations than these.E dissemi: Tu certamente figliuolo dell'uomo hai veduto: se anche altrove ti volgerai, vedrai abbominazioni maggiori di queste.And he said to me: Surely thou hast senne ô sonne of man: yet turning thou shalt see greater abominations then these.Et dixit ad me: Certe vidisti, fili hominis: adhuc conversus videbis abominationes majores his. 16And he brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord: and behold at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men having their backs towards the temple of the Lord, and their faces to the east: and they adored towards the rising of the sun.E menommi nell'atrio interiore della casa del Signore; ed ecco all'ingresso del tempio del Signore trai vestibolo, e l'altare circa venticinque uomini, che voltavan la schiena al tempio del Signore, e la faccia all'oriente, e adoravano il sol nascente.And he brought me into the inner court of the house of our Lord: and behold in the doore of the temple of our Lord betwen the porch and the altar, as it were fiue and twentie men hauing their backes against the temple of our Lord, and their faces to the East: and they adored toward the rising of the sunne.Et introduxit me in atrium domus Domini interius, et ecce in ostio templi Domini, inter vestibulum et altare, quasi viginti quinque viri dorsa habentes contra templum Domini, et facies ad orientem: et adorabant ad ortum solis.
17And he said to me: Surely thou hast seen, O son of man: is this a light thing to the house of Juda, that they should commit these abominations which they have committed here: because they have filled the land with iniquity, and have turned to provoke me to anger? and behold they put a branch to their nose.E dissemi: Certamente, o figliuolo dell'uomo, tu hai veduto: è ella forse piccola cosa per la casa di Giuda il fare queste abbominazioni, che hanno fatto in questo luogo, che ripiena avendo la terra d'iniquità, si son rivolti ad irritarmi? Ed ecco che accostano un ramoscello alle loro narici.And he said to me: Surely thou hast sene ô sonne of man: why, is this a light thing to the house of Iuda, that they should doe these abominations, which they haue done here: because they replenishing the land with iniquitie, are turned to prouoke me? and behold they put a bough to their nosthrels.Et dixit ad me: Certe vidisti, fili hominis: numquid leve est hoc domui Juda, ut facerent abominationes istas quas fecerunt hic, quia replentes terram iniquitate, conversi sunt ad irritandum me ? et ecce applicant ramum ad nares suas. 18Therefore I also will deal with them in my wrath: my eye shall not spare them, neither will I shew mercy: and when they shall cry to my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.Anch'io pertanto nel mio furore agirò: non s'impietosirà l'occhio mio, e non avrò misericordia: e allorché alzeran le grida alle mie orecchie, io non gli esaudirò.Therfore I also wil doe in my furie: mine eye shal not spare, neither wil I haue mercie: and when they shal crie to mine eares with a lowd voice, I wil not heare them.Ergo et ego faciam in furore: non parcet oculus meus, nec miserebor: et cum clamaverint ad aures meas voce magna, non exaudiam eos.
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Year of the World 3410.
Usher
Sixth of the prophet's captivity, (Calmet) in August, the year of the world 3411. (Usher)
Worthington
He had rested on his left or right side, whenever he slept during 430 days, and on the following had this vision. (Worthington)
He was stationed in spirit at the northern gate leading to the court of the priests, and beheld the glory of God and the idol of jealousy. He saw the people, men and women, adoring idols, and priests worshipping the sun, Ezechiel 9. God rests on the gate of the temple, and orders a man to sign those who were to live, and six others to destroy the rest. The prophet prays, Ezechiel 10. God orders the man clothed in linen to take coals from the cherubim, and sprinkle them through the city. The throne goes to receive the Lord, Ezechiel 11. Ezechiel prophesies against many, at the eastern gate; and God informs him that the former captives shall return, but that the wicked at Jerusalem shall perish. His chariot then rests on the mountain to the east of the city. Thus his reasons for punishing the people become evident.
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Likeness. Septuagint add, "of a man," as it had appeared [in] Ezechiel 1:27.
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Calmet
Lock, like Habacuc; (Daniel 14:35.) or by a bandage, on which parts of the law were written. (Hebrew) (Calmet)
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Calmet
About. This was the council chamber, Jeremias 26:10. They durst not publicly adore the Egyptian, etc., idols. (Calmet)
Haydock
They denied Providence, ver. 12. (Haydock)
Worthington
The wicked do not regard it, and hence fall into idolatry. (Worthington)
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Calmet
Jezonias. He probably was over the temple, as his father had been, 4 Kings 22:3. (Calmet)
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Calmet
Adonis, the favourite of Venus, slain by a wild boar, as feigned by the heathen poets, and which being here represented by an idol, is lamented by the female worshippers of that goddess. In Hebrew the name is Tammuz, (Challoner) which means "concealed," as Adonis signifies "my lord." This idol, which the Egyptians called Osiris, was placed in a coffin, and bewailed till it was pretended he was come to life, when rejoicings took place. Obscene pictures were carried about; and the more honest pagans were ashamed of these practices, which began in Egypt, and became almost general. Moses alludes to them, Leviticus 19:27., and Deuteronomy 14:1. (Calmet)
Worthington
David and Solomon say that the image was made of brass, with eyes of lead, which seemed to weep, melting when it was hot. (Worthington)
But this is destitute of proof.
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Men. Twelve priests and as many Levites officiated daily. The high priest made the twenty-fifth, 1 Paralipomenon xxiv.
Calmet
Sun. They prayed to God, turning their faces to the west: but here they despised him, and adored the sun, Job 31:26. (Calmet)
Serv
This posture was common. Illi ad surgentem conversi lumina solum. (Virgil, Aeneid xii.) (Serv.)
Calmet
Christians did the like, though the reason is not ascertained. (Calmet)
Haydock
It might be because Christ is the orient, and not to resemble the Jews. There was no danger of their being taken for idolaters. (Haydock)
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Haydock
Nose, to hide their faces respectfully, (Calmet) when they look at the sun rising. (Haydock)
Calmet
A thyrsus was used in honour of Bacchus, who is often confounded with the sun. Various improbable versions of this text are given. It may signify Hebrew, "they threw their instruments down before their faces," like the twenty-four elders, Apocalypse 5:8. (Calmet)
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After that the prophet had. ested in his house. •9•. dayes in which time. when soeuer he s••p•, he lay only on his left side, & 4•. dayes in like maner on his right side, which was in al. 430. dayes, which make one yeare two moneth, and fiue dayes, the next day he had this other vision before he went forth to preach.
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Concordance ••. 3. 7. ••.
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VVicked men either do not beleue, or litle consider Gods knovvlege, and prouidence, of al thinges, and so fal into idolatrie.
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Rabbi Dauid and Rabbi Salomon vvrite that the image of this idol being made of brasse had eyes of lead, and vvhen the brasse was made hote, by fire secretly put vnder, the lead beginning to melt, the image seemed to vvepe, wherupon the vvemen of compassion •id wepe with their goddesse.
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St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 1.25
… How then could he have sons who was still a youth? And only three years had elapsed when he was brought in to wait upon the king. Let no one suppose that Ezekiel at this time remembers Daniel as a man, not as a youth; for “It came to pass,” he says,
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St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 14
25. For when they speak against the ascension of the Saviour, as being impossible, remember the account of the carrying away of Habakkuk: for if Habakkuk was transported by an Angel, being carried by the hair of his head
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 46.2
… to leave also the plain of Shinar, where the tower of pride had been raised to heaven. He has to pass through the waves of this world, and to ford its rivers; those by which the saints sat down and wept when they remembered Zion, and Chebar’s flood, whence Ezekiel was carried to Jerusalem by the hair of his head.
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 14
… xi. 14 ), not as wishing to stop his praying (for He earnestly longeth for our salvation), but to terrify them: and this the prophet also seeing did not cease praying. And that you may see that it was not through a wish to turn him from it, but to shame them that He said this, hear what it says. “Seest thou not what these are doing?” (
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Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 2.10
… Whence it is rightly said to Ezekiel, Son of man, dig in the wall (
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Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 2.10
… 8 ); where the said prophet presently adds, And when I had digged in the wall, there appeared one door. And he said unto me, Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in and saw; and behold every similitude of creeping things, and abomination of beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, were pourtrayed upon the wall (
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Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 2.10
… Whence also it is well added, And all the idols of the house of Israel were pourtrayed upon the wall (
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Tertullian † AD 220 An Answer to the Jews 11
… And while these things were doing, He said unto an hearer, Go ye after him into the city, and cut short; and spare not with your eyes, and pity not elder or youth or virgin; and little ones and women slay ye all, that they may be thoroughly wiped away; but all upon whom is the sign Tau approach ye not; and begin with my saints.”
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St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 The Epistles of Cyprian 61.3
… How indignant and angry is He, and what penalties does He threaten against such unchaste connections! whose spiritual sword and the coming day of judgment, that every one of the brethren may be able to escape, we ought with all our counsel to provide and to strive. And since it behoves all by all means to keep discipline,
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St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 58.3
… The original persecutors, indeed, supposed that by polluting our holy places they would deprive us of our faith in the passion and in the resurrection. Even my own Bethlehem, as it now is, that most venerable spot in the whole world of which the psalmist sings: “the truth hath sprung out of the earth,” was overshadowed by a grove of Tammuz,
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2. A Likeness. The Septuagint: a likeness of a man. The Prophet therefore saw here, as also in chapter I, verse 27, a man from the loins downward burning and flaming as in a furnace of fire; but from the loins upward shining as gold, namely as electrum, that is, orichalcum. This golden color signifies the immense love of God: the furnace of fire signifies His zeal and indignation, because the spouse, that is, the people of Israel, preferred Baal to Him. Whence this idol of His is called "of zeal," because it provoked God to emulation. Our Prado has here beautiful antitheses of love and emulation, whom see, if you please. AS THE APPEARANCE OF BRIGHTNESS. Theodotion translated the Hebrew זהר zohar, that is, brightness, by aura; "so as to demonstrate in the heavenly things the refreshment of God. Thus in III Kings XIX: Elias does not contemplate the coming of the Lord in tempest and whirlwind, not in the burning of fire, but in the appearance of a thin and very light breeze, so as to prove the gentleness of God almighty," says St. Jerome.
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3. AND THE LIKENESS OF A HAND WAS SENT FORTH. In Hebrew, and he sent forth or extended, namely that form of a man, that is, a man of amber appearing to me in spirit, the likeness of a hand, which would seize me by the hair and transfer me to Jerusalem. Thus the Septuagint, Vatablus and others. BY THE HAIR. The Septuagint translated "κρασπέδων, that is, of which one fringe is customarily understood in the hair, the other in garments," says St. Jerome. AND THE SPIRIT LIFTED ME UP BETWEEN THE EARTH AND HEAVEN, I seemed to myself like a bird cutting through the air, and being carried through it by the spirit of the hand and of the man appearing to me. Morally, such is a Saint, especially a Religious and contemplative one. For, as St. Gregory says, book XXXI of the Morals, chapter VII: "Any saint placed in mortal flesh is constituted between heaven and earth; because he has not yet fully reached the things above, but has already abandoned the things below." For, as the Apostle says, Philippians III: "Our conversation is in heaven," that is to say, We live our life on earth through the flesh, but through desire and affection we dwell in heaven. Moreover, to this end he is seized by the hair. "What is," says St. Gregory in the same place, "the hair of the head, except the gathered thoughts of the mind, so that they do not flow away scattered, but remain held together by discipline? Therefore a hand is sent from above, and the Prophet is lifted up by the hair of his head; because, when our mind gathers itself through watchfulness, a power from above draws us apart from the lowest things." (1) "And the ancients of Judah sat before me." The Prophet sat in his house fleeing the crowd of the multitude, and the ancients of Judah sat before him, either desiring to hear the words of the Prophet, or lying in wait for his words, and they are significantly called ancients of Judah, so that we understand it to be said of nothing pertaining to Israel, that is to the ten tribes, which had been captured earlier, but of those who from the tribe of Judah had been led into captivity with Jeconiah. (St. Jerome.) IN A VISION. Hence also from verse 1, it is clear that Ezekiel saw not in body, but in spirit, since he sat at home among the ancients of Judah, verse 1. BESIDE THE INNER GATE. In Hebrew, at the gate of the inner gate, supply, of the court of the temple; for the court was called inner, not the gate, III Kings VI, 36. Moreover the inner court was the court of the priests, in which was the altar of holocausts. It is called "inner," in respect to the outer, which was as it were the temple of the laity. "Which," namely the gate, not the court, "looked toward the north." For in the court, toward the four quarters of the world there were gates. AN IDOL OF JEALOUSY TO PROVOKE EMULATION. The Syriac, a statue of jealousy (emulation, indignation); the Arabic of Antioch, a statue indignant (raging) with indignation, in the signification of the hiphil, that is, to cause indignation, provoking to indignation God, angels and men. It can be translated from the Hebrew: An idol of the jealous one possessing, or of the possessor. Thus the Septuagint; that is Baal. For Baal in Hebrew signifies the possessor, the master, the lord: hence they called the idol Baal, as it were the god, master and possessor of all. Our translator rendered it for the possessor, provoking (thus the Chaldean and Vatablus) or to provoke emulation (because the Hebrew קנא kana with aleph signifies to emulate; with he קנה to possess: it is therefore permissible here that it be with he, nevertheless Our translator took he for aleph, because the Hebrews often interchange aleph and he), that is to say, An idol of jealousy making me jealous. Others translate it, an idol of burning, or of irritation. Hence God is called jealous: because He does not suffer alien gods to be loved, worshipped, adored by Him: just as a wife moves her husband to jealousy, if she loves another. Hence the proverb: "He who is not jealous does not love;" which St. Augustine cites, book Against Adimantus, chapter XIII. Thus Polycarp, St. Jerome and Theodoret. Whence Isaiah, chapter XXVIII, verse 20, says: "The bed is straitened, so that one must fall out of it, and the covering is narrow, so that it cannot cover both"; and the Apostle, II Corinthians VI, 16: "What concord hath Christ with Belial?" Note that Manasseh placed an idol of Baal in the temple: Josiah removed this, II Paralipomenon XXXIV, 4, but that it was set up again under Joakim and Sedecia is evident from IV Kings XXIII, 37, II Paralipomenon XXXVI, 14. Moreover this idol was placed in the northern part of the temple, first, because that part was sloping, the temple was more easily approached; second, because in that region victims and holocausts were offered. Thus Prado. Morally, "the idol of jealousy" is in the desire for money and avarice, which is the servitude of idols, as the Apostle says: in the ambitious man, honor and loftiness; in the drunkard, wine; in the obscene man, his mistress; in the heretic, his own judgment and heresy, says St. Jerome. For these are idols, that is, vain and shadowy things, which each person forms for himself as the highest good, and consequently as God, and fashions in his mind, by which he provokes God to jealousy and wrath, and brings upon himself His indignation and punishments both present and eternal. Thus in this very year 1618, we see the Bohemians, while they depart from the one faith of the one God and Church, and consequently from their one prince and king, and rebel against him, in order to defend their idols of Wycliffe and Hus, have exposed their fame, wealth and life to plunder, and have entangled themselves in inextricable difficulties. Similarly, we see the Calvinists in Holland, while they depart from the unity of faith and of their prince, in this same year falling into implacable sects and schisms, which will never be quieted except by the mutual destruction of one party or the other: indeed God admonishes them in reality, that they return to their former unity, to God, I say, and to the Church, if they wish to obtain peace, if they wish to obtain present and eternal salvation. The Poet elegantly says: The Poet elegantly says: To the glutton his belly is god, and to the miser his money, And to him for whom the pleasures of Venus are first, Venus is god. To this man honor is god, and fame is truly a god in place of the Godhead, Whom an insatiable hunger for fame spurs on. To him for whom Christ becomes vile through excessive love of study, Does not he have study in the place of the Godhead? Thus to Alexander the Great glory was an idol: he himself served it, he made himself its slave. To him glory was an idol: he himself served it, he made himself its slave. Wherefore the Brahmans rightly wrote to him with philosophical freedom: "You despoil external enemies, that you may nourish internal ones: you subject men to your servitude, and within you serve your own appetites." Thus Curtius and Plutarch in their account of Alexander. Furthermore, God is jealous for His divinity, and does not suffer a rival; because, if there were many gods, divinity, which is one and indivisible, would have to be divided among many, and thus divinity would be mutilated, and consequently would be taken from the world. (1) The prophet was not brought within the court to this gate, says Lightfoot, Description of the Temple, in Works, vol. I, page 620, but was placed outside, and there commanded to look toward the north. This gate was the lower northern gate, also called (verse 5) the gate of the altar, because it was situated opposite to it; but the upper northern gate, chapter IX, 2, below verse 14, is called the gate of the house of the Lord, because it was opposite to the temple building itself. (2) By this name, says the same Lightfoot, you would rightly understand that He was designated as the creator of all things first of all; since we read that with other words of nearly the same meaning, and by the Hebrews, Arabs and Greeks, that which is properly the name of God the Best and Greatest was deliberately explained most frequently in ancient times. For the Tetragrammaton name יהוה is rendered by the Septuagint as Ἀδωναί or Κύριος, that is, Lord; and how fitting the name Baal could be for the true God is sufficiently shown by Hosea, II, 18: Then you shall call me not Ischi, my husband, nor shall you call me any more Baali, my lord. which is one and indivisible, would have to be divided among many, and thus divinity would be mutilated, and consequently would be taken from the world. Prudentius learned says in book II Against Symmachus: You, with me passed by, meditate upon a thousand Godheads, That you might diminish me through parts, to whom no part Can be cut off or form, because I am simple substance. Hence Pythagoras held the monad of principles to be God, who is also the good, which is of one nature, and mind itself. of principles to be God, who is also the good, which is of one nature, and mind itself. Socrates and Plato thought that one, only-begotten, self-generated by its own will, singular, true and genuine good, namely God, exists. Lactantius, book I, chapter III: "God," he says, "because He is perfect, cannot be anything but one, so that all things may be in Him. For whatever admits of division must also admit of destruction." Aristotle, in book VIII of the Physics, teaches that all motion must be referred to some first mover, lest there be an infinite regress: this first mover therefore is one, namely God. See the words in Deuteronomy VI, 4. Wherefore God rightly complains, Deuteronomy XXXII, 21: "They have provoked me to jealousy with that which is not God; and I will provoke them to jealousy with a nation that is not," as St. Jerome reads it. And for this reason, burning with love equally as with knowledge of God, and taking up this zeal of God, St. Augustine said: "Lord, my soul exults greatly when it thinks that thou art God. But if it could happen by impossibility that Augustine were God, and thou wert Augustine; I would altogether wish to be Augustine, that thou mightest be God." This sentiment is attributed to St. Augustine by our Father Ribadeneira in the Life of St. Augustine, by P. Rossignolio, book V On the Perfection of Christ, chapter XX, and by many others, whom the Reverend Father Cornelius Lancillotus, Doctor of Sacred Theology and Provincial of the Order of Hermits of St. Augustine through Belgium, cites and praises in the Life of St. Augustine, book III, chapter XLII, although I have not found it thus far in the books of St. Augustine. For this to be sound, it must certainly be understood, not of a change of person into person, or of substance into substance: for if they be taken thus, they seem to sound absurdly. For if God were changed into the substance of Augustine, He would altogether cease to be God, and would begin to be another person and substance, namely that of Augustine. Conversely, if Augustine were changed into the substance of God, he would cease to be Augustine, and would begin to be God; and consequently he himself would be to be loved by himself, and by any other above all things, and his Being and conservation would be to be preferred to the Being of any other thing, as being created and finite. This sentiment must therefore be understood of a change of state into state, or of a change of conditions, gifts and qualities, the nature and person of each being preserved, as if to say: If it could happen by impossibility that Augustine, remaining in the substance and person of Augustine, could nevertheless acquire the gifts and excellences of God, for example wisdom, power, glory and honor of God, so that he would be held to be God by all: conversely, if on the other hand it could happen by impossibility that God, remaining in His nature, would descend to the state, abjection and infirmities of Augustine, if He would take on the form and appearance of Augustine, so that He would be held to be Augustine by all; I would say: Lord, be thou God as thou hast been hitherto, almighty, all-knowing, glorious: but let me be Augustine, wretched, abject, inglorious, ignorant, infirm, as I was before. For to thy nature, that is to thy divinity, are due these gifts and excellences; but to my nature is due this subjection, infirmity and miseries. To thee therefore as my God, I wish and transfer all thy good, nor do I desire it for myself, but for thee: for thou art my God, my love, my good and that of the whole world, and all things.
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4. In campo, that is to say, the vision shown to me was similar to that which I saw when the Lord led me forth from Chobar into the plain, chapter III, 22. The Prophet saw here the glory of God in the temple, as if departing and preparing to migrate, inasmuch as it was polluted on account of so many idols and crimes committed in it, as will be evident in chapters X and XI.
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5. THE GATE OF THE ALTAR. So called from the altar of the idol, or rather, because in IV Kings XVI, 14, Achaz transferred the altar of Solomon from the midst of the court to the northern gate, which was thence called the gate of the altar. Thus Prado.
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6. THINKEST THOU, SEEST THOU WHAT THESE ARE DOING? In Hebrew, dost thou see, that is to say, thinkest thou that thou seest all the abominations of Israel? If thou thinkest so, thou art deceived. For I shall presently show thee more and greater ones. THAT (thus that: for it signifies not a cause, but a consequence) I SHOULD DEPART FAR (in Hebrew, to departing: which the Septuagint refers to the people; for they translate, that they depart, namely the Jews) FROM MY SANCTUARY, namely from sacrifices and worship, to the worship of their idols. Better does St. Jerome refer it to God, that is to say, they themselves drive me from the temple by their crimes, and compel me to depart, having introduced Baal. Thus also the Chaldean and the Hebrews.
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7. The door, not of the temple, but of the treasury, or chamber of the priests, is evident from verse 12. For there were many such chambers in the court of the priests near the Holy Place, or temple, in which the priests dwelt: which are now called exedrae, now treasuries, now pastophoria. Whence it is evident that this crime of idolatry was that of the priests, who ought to have taught the people of God the law and worship, but now they themselves worshipped idols instead of God. Grave therefore was this sin of theirs, which stirred up the zeal and indignation of God unto the destruction of the whole nation. Grave, I say, first, because it was against religion, and directly against God, and sought as it were the very throat of God. Second, because it was a profanation of the most holy place, namely the house of God. It was therefore a crime of lèse-majesté divine. Wherefore Isaiah, chapter XXVI, 10: "In the land, saith he, of the saints he hath wrought iniquity; and, that is, therefore, he shall not see the glory of the Lord." Third, because the sins of priests infect the whole people: just as if the heart or brain be seized with poison or plague, straightway from them corruption spreads through the whole body. Wherefore St. Chrysostom, homily 28 on Matthew, seeking the reason why Christ, entering Jerusalem, first went to the temple, gives this answer: As a physician, saith he, visiting a sick man, first inquires about the stomach, and straightway endeavours to set it right: because, when that is healed, the whole body will be healed: so if the priesthood be sound, the whole Church flourishes; but if it be corrupted, the faith of all languishes and withers. And he adds: A farmer seeing a tree with pale leaves straightway knows that the injury lies in the roots: so thou, if thou seest a people undisciplined, without doubt thou wilt know that their priesthood is not sound. For who would not think it lawful to himself, nay good and religious, what he sees to be lawful and freely permitted to priests? Thus under an adulterous Jupiter adulteries have obtained liberty, saith Nazianzen, oration 4 Against Julian, and, as St. Cyprian saith, epistle 32: "They imitate their gods: finally they become wretched and religious in their sins."
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8. DIG THROUGH THE WALL. Hence it is clear that this door was of a chamber, not of the court. Mystically, St. Gregory beautifully teaches from this, II part of the Pastoral, chapter X, how prelates ought to scrutinize the consciences of their subjects, and diligently search out their sins, even secret ones, and correct and amend them.
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10. THE IDOLS OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL PAINTED. Maldonatus thinks that the idols were not truly painted, but as it were painted presented to the imagination of Ezekiel, so that by this it might be signified symbolically that the Jews worshipped God outwardly; but in the chamber, that is inwardly and in secret, idols. But it is truer that the idols are here represented to the Prophet according to the letter, which were really painted in the temple; and it is evident from what is said in chapter V, 11, and Jeremiah chapter VII, 30, and chapter XXXII, 34.
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11. AND SEVENTY MEN OF THE ELDERS. These seventy appear to have been senators of the council of the Sanhedrin: for this was the seventy men, and it was the highest senate of the Jews, which condemned Christ to death, as I have taught in Numbers XI, 16. JAZANIAS THE SON OF SHAPHAN. Polychronius thinks this to be Zephaniah the priest, who was given as it were as judge to Jeremiah in chapter XXIX, 25. STANDING BEFORE THE PAINTINGS. Standing therefore the Jews prayed, as also the Pharisee "standing prayed thus with himself," Luke XVIII, 11.
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12. In the secret of his chamber. In Hebrew, in the innermost parts of his painting, that is in their chambers excellently painted, and full of paintings of idols. Thus tropologically the sinner paints in his mind the image of a harlot, of Bacchus, etc., but the holy man that of God, of angels and virtues. See St. Gregory II part of the Pastoral, chapter X. These things Ezekiel spoke to his own age, we with St. Cyprian, book II, epistle 2, can say the same and more and graver things to our own age: "For a little while, saith Cyprian, believe thyself withdrawn to the lofty summit of a steep mountain, higher still, and from thence behold the faces of things lying below thee, and with eyes extended in different directions, thyself free from earthly contacts, observe the tumults of the fluctuating world. Now thou wilt pity the age itself, and admonished of thyself and more grateful to God, thou wilt rejoice with greater joy that thou hast escaped. Behold thou the roads closed to robbers, the seas beset with pirates, wars everywhere divided with bloody horror of camps; the world is wet with mutual blood." And further down: "O if thou couldst also, standing in that lofty watchtower, insert thine eyes into secrets, open the closed doors of chambers, and lay bare to consciousness the hidden penetralia of lights: thou wouldst behold what is done by the unchaste, which not even a modest brow could behold: thou wouldst see what it is a crime even to see: thou wouldst see what those maddened by the fury of vices deny they have done, and hasten to do: they rush into men with insane lusts. Things are done which can please neither themselves nor those who do them. The same are accusers in public, defendants in secret, judges and guilty alike of themselves. They condemn without what they work within: the more secret their guilt, the greater their audacity," etc. The Lord seeth not. The impious and atheists think that God in darkness, and in hidden places, much more in the heart and soul, doth not see their crimes, because they think themselves not to be beheld by God, saith Theodoret. Hence they rush into the abyss of crimes.
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13. Turned about thou shalt see, again thou shalt see. The Hebrew word שוב schab, that is to turn back, to turn, if joined with another word, signifies again, once more. Similar is verse 15, 17, and elsewhere.
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14. HE BROUGHT ME IN BY THE DOOR OF THE GATE (that is, He led me to the gate of the outer court: for there were women and laypeople, not in the inner court), WHICH LOOKED TOWARD THE NORTH. WEEPING FOR ADONIS. The Syrian, weeping for Tomuzo; the Alexandrian Arabic, weeping for Tamuza; the Hebrews retain the word Tammuz, that is Adonis, of which presently. The Antiochian Arabic wrongly translates: Weeping for Judah. It is an ancient fable of Egypt, of which Macrobius in book I of the Saturnalia, chapter XXVI, Theocritus in Idyll XXIII, Ovid in the Xth book of the Metamorphoses, Fulgentius in the IIIrd book of the Mythology, concerning Adonis the son of Cinara king of the Cypriots, the lover of Venus, who when he was a beautiful youth was killed by the tusk of a boar, whom Venus lamented as if dead, and soon received him again with joy as he came back to life. (1) That in this verse and the two which immediately follow, the worship of Egyptian animals is described, Warburton shows in the work in which he demonstrated the divine mission of Moses, vol. IV, page 18; cf. P. E. Jablonski, Pantheon of the Egyptians, vol. III, Prolegomena, page 84 et seq. "Adonis is painted," says Macrobius, "with head covered, with sad appearance, supporting his face with his left hand within his garment, tears are believed to flow from the sight of those beholding." Therefore women, and lustful men, worshipped Venus by this lamentation, and made her propitious to themselves. Thus St. Jerome. Moreover, Venus buried Adonis among lettuce leaves, concerning which there exists a learned man's epigram among Giraldus, syntagm. 13: The blood of Adonis, pierced by the fierce tusk, Cyprus buried lifeless among lettuce leaves. Hence in the generative field lettuce alone resists, Which the lustful rocket can scarcely stimulate. For lettuce by its coldness enervates lust. The blood of Adonis, pierced by the fierce tusk, Cyprus buried lifeless among lettuce leaves. Hence in the generative field lettuce alone resists, Which the lustful rocket can scarcely stimulate. For lettuce by its coldness enervates lust. Wherefore Hercules, as Hesychius testifies, when he first saw Adonis, said ουδεν λεπτον, nothing sacred. The truth of this fable they thus explain, Macrobius and others. Adonis is the sun, say the Egyptians; the slow and muddy boar is winter; Venus is the beauty of the earth in spring, which laments the absence of the sun through winter: for when the sun is seized by clouds, the beautiful Adonis seems as if destroyed by the boar: the soul rejoices when the sun returns in spring. Whence Adonis was called ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄδειν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, that is from that which benefits men, says Phornutus among Giraldus, syntagm. 13 On the Gods of the Gentiles. Which St. Jerome explains symbolically and tropologically: "We too," he says, "should call women those who are saddened or exult over the loves or goods of the world, with soft and effeminate spirit, and say that they weep for Tammuz, namely those things which in worldly matters are thought to be most beautiful." Whence also "gardens of Adonis" proverbially signify things that flourish and delight for a short time, but soon perish and vanish. On the other hand some others quite fittingly adapt these mystically to Christ dying and rising again; for Christ is our Adonis, our sun, our joy, our love. Whence the Blessed Virgin, Mary Magdalene, Salome, and other pious women most wonderfully lamented his death, and the whole Church mourns it every year on Good Friday; indeed daily in the Mass, and at midday by the mournful tolling of bells. And every pious and holy soul throughout all life continually contemplates this her Adonis, as it were her spouse, on the cross, laments and admires him: and embraces him rising again with new exultation and jubilation. In Hebrew, Chaldean and Syriac it is called Tammuz, that is June, because Adonis is said to have been killed in June. Hence in the same month they celebrated an anniversary solemnity for him, in which he was lamented as if dead, and soon as if coming back to life was sung and praised. Thus St. Jerome. They add that Rabbi Solomon and Rabbi David said Tammuz was a hollow idol, whose eyes they filled with lead, which when fire was kindled within, melted, and the image appeared to weep. But truly not the image, but those worshipping it wept and lamented, as is said. Our Prado thinks Adonis to be Osiris king and god of Egypt. So also Stephen, in the book On Cities. And they add: Adonis is what you might call the form of sorrow, mourning and lamentation. By this name Syrophanes among Fulgentius, in the book Mythology, called the idol of his dead son, whose death he lamented; which idol Prado believes was the first of all idols in the world, and that it is the same as what the Wise Man describes in chapter XIV, 12, which is to be examined there. But I would rather believe that the Egyptians, like others, received the name Adonis from the Hebrew Adonai, than from the Greeks, since they drew their wisdom and sacred rites from the Egyptians. For in Hebrew אדני אוני Adonai oni is the same as Lord or God of sorrow, such as Adonis was. Thus Benjamin was called Ben oni, that is, son of sorrow. Finally, R. Moses, son of Maimon, in the book More, relates a history of a false prophet and idolater, whose name was Tammuz, who, when he had persuaded a certain king to make seven stars and twelve signs, was killed by him. On account of whose death all the idols of the world were gathered together in the temple of Babel, at the golden image of the sun, which was suspended between heaven and earth: it then fell down in the middle of the temple. All the idols standing round about wept the whole night, and at the next light flew away from there to their own temples. From this arose the custom that on the anniversary of his death, women would mourn for him. But this is a fable fabricated by some Rabbi in the usual manner.
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16. In the inner court of the house of the Lord, in the court of the priests. AND THE ALTAR of holocausts, which was before the temple or the Holy Place, under the open sky in the court of the priests. HAVING THEIR BACKS TOWARD THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD, that is, they turned their backs to the ark of the Lord, and to the Lord himself, and facing toward the East they adored the sun after the manner of the Gentiles. For the Gentiles adored the rising sun, as testified by Trismegistus at the end of the Asclepius, and by St. Job cap. XXXI, 26, saying: "If I saw (that I might adore after the manner of other gentiles) the sun when it shone, and the moon going in her brightness, and my heart hath been secretly enticed, and I kissed my hand with my mouth." For this kiss was a rite of greeting and adoring, as St. Jerome, Pliny, Apuleius and others teach, according to Lipsius, lib. II of Selections, cap. VI. Indeed, Virgil also, in the XII book of the Aeneid, teaches that the ancients sacrificed to the rising sun; for he says: They, turned toward the rising sun with their eyes, Give fruits with salted hands, and mark the highest parts of the cattle with iron, and pour libations from cups upon the altars. For the sun was called by the ancients the eye of the world. I pass over the dream of Xenophanes, who thought that it perished at sunset, but that a new sun was made from the rising. Hence flowed those morning greetings of the gods, by which they were said to announce the first hour of the day to their gods, as if awakening sleeping gods at first light, as Arnobius teaches, lib. VII Against the Gentiles, and Seneca, epistle 95. Thus Plato relates that Socrates was accustomed to greet the rising sun. So Q. Catulus: I stood greeting the rising sun by chance, When suddenly from the left Roscius emerged. With your permission, heavenly ones, let me say, A mortal face seemed more beautiful than a god. The Hebrews appear to have received this custom of adoring the sun as a god from their neighboring Egyptians, among whom during the time of Moses they dwelt for a long time, and imbibed their religion and customs. For the Egyptians worshipped the sun, so much so that they dedicated a city to its worship, and named it from its name Heliopolis, that is, the city of the sun. Indeed, their chief deity Osiris was nothing other than the sun, as Macrobius teaches, lib. I of Saturnalia, cap. XXI, when he says: "The Egyptians assert that Osiris is the sun, whenever they wish to express it in their hieroglyphic letters, they inscribe a scepter, and upon it they depict the form of an eye, and by this sign they show Osiris, because antiquity called the sun the eye of Jupiter." The same author, in the same place cap. XVII, teaches that all gods are referred to the sun. Thus the Persians worshipped the sun by the name of Mithras, the Greeks by the name of Apollo. Hence the proverb among Athenaeus, lib. III: "Jupiter who is young reigns;" and: "More adore the rising sun than the setting sun," which the young Pompey said to the aged Cinna; and afterward Caesar was the same to Pompey. For the sake of avoiding this idolatry, God had commanded the Holy of Holies to be erected toward the West. Wherefore the Jews, turned toward the Holy of Holies, prayed facing toward the West. Which tropologically signifies, says Theodoret, that those who wish to dedicate themselves to God ought to turn their backs to the East, that is, to the pomps and appearances of worldly things rising in this world, just as ambitious men are said to adore the rising sun, when they flatter new princes or prelates. For the servant of God ought to trample upon these hopes, and therefore turn his back to the East, but his face to the West, inasmuch as this world with all its hope and vanity sets therein. Moreover, the temple, according to the testimony of Josephus, lib. VIII of Antiquities, had a door facing toward the East, so that the sun rising thence, suddenly directing its rays through the doors of the temple and the oracle, would illuminate the ark and the mercy seat, and as it were first adore God sitting upon it above the Cherubim; so that the Jews might learn from the sun to adore God in the temple, not the sun. Furthermore, when this idolatry vanished, Christians adored and adore God facing toward the East, both because paradise was in the East; which reason St. Chrysostom, Theodoret and Damascene assign, as I said on Genesis II, 8; and because with the rising sun, the first benefits of God, we receive them as it were rising for us on that day; and because Christ, his face turned away from Jerusalem and the temple, and turned toward the West, namely toward the Gentiles, was crucified. Therefore, facing toward the East, we look upon and adore the face of the crucified Christ. Thus Damascene, lib. IV On the Faith, cap. XIII, and others. Then finally, because Christ ascended above the heavens of heavens toward the East, and as if we still have the desires of one ascending, we direct ourselves thither, where heaven rises, says St. Augustine, vol. IV, lib. II On the Sermon of the Lord on the Mount, cap. IX. St. Thomas adds two other causes, II II, Quest. LXXXIV, art. 2, ad 3, namely, first, "on account of the indication of divine majesty, which is made manifest to us in the motion of heaven, which is from the East;" secondly, "on account of Christ who is the light of the world, and is called the Orient, Zach. VI. And he ascended above the heaven of heaven toward the East: and from the East also he is awaited to come, according to that Matt. XXIV: As lightning comes forth from the East, and appears even to the West, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be." Thus far St. Thomas. For just as Christ ascended to heaven on the Mount of Olives, which is to the east of Jerusalem: so there he shall descend to carry out judgment in the valley of Josaphat, which is adjacent to the Mount of Olives. Note: The Prophet enumerates four kinds of idolatry here. The first, Baal at the entrance of the first court; the second, of pictures in the court; the third, of Adonis; the fourth, of the sun near the altar, which they adored with their face turned away from God's altar. Tropologically, the first idolatry and abomination is the thought of wickedness; the second, the perpetration thereof; the third, the habit; the fourth, the defense with contempt of God and obstinacy. This is unrepentant sin that cannot be forgiven; the other three can be forgiven to the penitent.
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17. INIQUITY. In Hebrew חמס chamas, that is violence, injury, oppression of the poor and neighbors, as if to say: This crime is not enough for them; but moreover they are violent toward me, and provoke me with their idolatry. APPLY A BRANCH TO THEIR NOSE. Hebrew zemora, which some Hebrews, such as R. Solomon and R. David, translate as stench, as if to say: They send a stench (that is a breaking of wind) into my face. Whence the Septuagint translates: And behold they themselves mocking, as if to say: They worship idols, mocking me. The Syriac translates: And they themselves use force with (by) their nostrils, that is, as the Scholiast says, they snort, and through their nostrils to show indignation, as if with some noise they emit a breath. The Arabic Alexandrian: And when mention is made of me with them, they lift up their nostrils, and mock, and abhor the mention of me. For the Hebrew zemora and branch, and then also signifies sound and song; whence מזמור mizmer, that is a psalm. Hence also Symmachus translates: Which emitting sound in the likeness of a song through their nostrils, namely foul and hoarse in contempt of God. The Chaldean translates: They bring confusion to their face, that is they do things on account of which they will sometimes be ashamed and confounded. But that the Jews did this not for the sake of mockery, but of worship, is evident from the circumstances. Again zemora properly signifies a branch, namely of laurel, which was sacred to the sun alone, says Giraldus, syntagm. 16, and Pliny, lib. XII, cap. 1. For just as the Gentiles sacrificed to Jupiter crowned with oak, to Minerva with olive, to Venus with myrtle, to Hercules with poplar, to Bacchus with ivy, II Mach. VI, 7, or with vine-shoots, to Pan with pine, to Sylvanus and Dius with cypress, to Isis with southernwood: so to Apollo, that is the sun, they sacrificed with their temples crowned with laurel. At Athens there was a festival of branches, in which in honor of Bacchus ὄσχοι were carried, as it were μόσχοι, that is thin branches, especially of the vine, as if calves and victims. From which ὀσχοφόρεῖ, that is branch-bearers, were called, and the festival ὀσχοφορία. Moreover Josephus, lib. III, cap. X, teaches that the Jews were accustomed to sacrifice in thanksgiving, holding in their hands branches of myrtle and palm, from which Persian apples hung, to signify that the heart and tongue are to be dedicated to God. For the Persian apple has leaves in the form of a pointed tongue, and the fruit is shaped in the form of a heart. Hence also the Hebrews, bringing Christ as it were the Messiah king into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, carried before him branches of palm and olive. Porphyry gives the reason, and from him Nicholas Causinus, Elect. Symbol. pag. 212: "The ancients," he says, "offered neither frankincense nor any other victim, but leaves, as the first down of nascent nature plucked by hand, they burned to the gods: by which sign they testified God the creator, from whom herbs and crops, and all things born from the earth are produced and grow." Moreover they crowned not only themselves, but also the victims and altars, indeed also those standing by. For the sun is the king of the stars, just as the laurel is of trees; hence the laurel was to the ancients a symbol and omen of kingship. Thus Suetonius in Galba relates that when Livia shortly after her marriage to Augustus was revisiting her estate at Veii, an eagle flying past dropped into her lap a white hen holding a laurel branch in its beak. And when it pleased her to rear the bird and plant the branch, such a multitude of chicks came forth that even today that villa is called Ad gallinas; and such a laurel grove that the Caesars about to triumph plucked laurel wreaths from it. And it was the custom of those triumphing to plant another in the same place immediately. And it was observed that at the death of each, the tree instituted by him languished. Thus in the last year of Nero, both the whole grove dried up by the roots, and whatever chickens were there perished. Moreover the laurel was believed, equally as the sun, to dispel poisons. Hence Pliny, lib. XV, cap. XXX, teaches that the laurel was accustomed to be used in purifications. Moreover the laurel alone of all trees is not struck by lightning. Wherefore Tiberius, as Suetonius testifies, continually wore a laurel crown on his head, while thunder was sounding. Finally the Roman kings sent the laurel, as it were their own gift, to Apollo of Delphi, as Pliny testifies in the place already cited. It appears therefore that the Jews converted to the sun rising in the east, and worshipping it, held branches; not of palms, as St. Jerome, but of laurel in their hands, and because they were fragrant applied them to their nostrils, as if giving thanks to Apollo the creator of the laurel and author of its sweet odor, and kissing them adored Apollo; just as they adored the sun with the kiss of their hands, Job XXXI, 26. For since they could not kiss and touch it, in its place they kissed their hand and the branch, and thus adored and venerated it. Hence Virgil, ecloga 7: (Most pleasing) laurel to Phoebus. And Horace, lib. IV Carm. ode 2: "Apollo's laurel to be given." And by Ovid: "Laurel of Apollo, and of Phoebus," and conversely "Phoebus," that is the sun, "is called laurel-bearing." Therefore the Hebrews err wrongly in Galatinus, lib. I, cap. VIII, here correcting and reading: They apply a branch to my nose, when it should be read, their own, not mine. For thus the Hebrew, Chaldean, Our version and the Interpreters read everywhere.
8:18
18. I WILL DO to them what they deserve.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
8:1
Ezechiel (Heb. Jēḥezqēl «God is strong» or «God strengthens»)
… They formed colonies, in which the elders held a certain authority (Ez. 8:1; 14:1; 20:1). Jeremiah's advice to build houses and plant gardens (Jer. 29) and the great prosperity of the exiles at the time of the return show how the exiles were permitted to …
… ceases to illuminate him (cf. the example of Nathan, of Isaiah; Jeremiah [42:7] waits 10 days for Yahweh's answer; Elisha: 2 Kings 4:27). If Am. 3:8 and 2 Pet. 1:21 might suggest a lack of freedom in the prophet, Jer. 20:9 with 1:6; Ezek. 1:3; 3:22; 8:1 with 3:17-21 attest the full consciousness and autonomy of the prophet's mind and will under divine action (v. ISPIRAZIONE; cf. A. Bea, in Studia Anselmiana, 27-28 [1951], pp. 47-65).
8:13
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, 1; 30, 8; Hab. …
8:14
A. was an oriental semi-god, of Syrian origin, as demonstrated by: his being the son of Cinyras, king of Paphos on the island of Cyprus or of Theias king of Syria; the correspondence of his elements with the Syro-Mesopotamian Tammuz (v.) (cf. Ez. 8, 14, where the Vulgate translates "plangentes Adonidem"), god of vegetation who died at a young age, spouse or son of Ishtar; his very name which is the Phoenician invocation Adon ("my …
… He was "the delight of the women" of Syria (Dan. 11:37 ff.). Ez. 8:14 stigmatizes in 590 B.C. the idolatrous "abomination" (tō'ēbhāh) of the cult of T. at the northern gate of the Temple: there sat the women who wept for T. While the Septuagint transcribes …
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.