Isaias
Prophetia IsaiæIntroductions
Enciclopedia Cattolica
The book presents a very clear division into two parts, which is accepted identically by all scholars.
1. First part (chaps. 1-35) and historical appendix (chaps. 36-39). - The first part has a content that reflects the characteristic prophetic mentality of the 8th-7th centuries B.C., as it is known from the other similar writings of that age, in this case accompanied by power of thought and perfection of expression. The prophetic theme is essentially a grandiose divine judgment on life and contemporary history: not only the pagans and not only the schismatic northern kingdom, but also Judah (Jerusalem) for its religious infidelities and moral corruption will be subjected to "judgment": the instrument of punishment will be Assyria, moved by Yahweh. The people will be swept away along with the reigning dynasty; from the disaster only a small "remnant" will be saved, which will be the seed of the messianic people. From the Davidic stock a shoot will sprout: the Emmanuel (v.), the Messiah, who will reign eternally and universally in Zion.
Haydock
We come now to another division of the Bible, specified by our Saviour: All things must needs be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me, Luke 24:44. He more frequently comprises all the Scriptures under the titles of Moses, or the Law and the Prophets; (Luke 24:27) as in effect, all the sacred writings refer ultimately to him, who is the end of the law; (Romans 10:4.) and the Jews comprise under the name of the first prophets, the histories of Josue, etc. (Haydock) --- God has kept up a succession of prophets from the beginning, who either by word of mouth or by writing, established the true religion. Their predictions are the most convincing proof of its divine origin, Isaias 41:23. They contain many things clear, and others obscure: having, for the most part, a literal, and a mystical sense. (Calmet) --- Yet some relate solely to Christ, while others must not be applied to him. (Bossuet) --- The Fathers, in imitation of the ancient Jews, and of the apostles, discover frequently a spiritual sense, concealed under the letter, as Christ himself declared that Jonas, in the whale's belly, prefigured his burial and resurrection on the third day. See Matthew 12:39., Mark 9:11., and Galatians 4:24. When the figurative sense is thus authorized, it may serve to prove articles of faith; and such arguments must be more cogent in disputes with the Jews, than what can be drawn from their authors. They must confess that the New Testament contains a true history, or they cannot require that we should pay greater deference to the Old. Tertullian (Praes.) well observes, that heretics have no right to the Scriptures: But if they will quote them, they must receive them all, and adopt the sense given to them by the Church. (Calmet) --- The providence of God, in giving prophets, and other guides to direct his people, was ever an object of admiration and gratitude. The prophets were enabled, by a supernatural light, superior to that of faith, though beneath that of glory, to announce the secrets of futurity, as eye-witnesses; whence their predictions are styled visions, as such witnesses deserve the utmost credit. We have the writings of the four great, and the twelve less prophets. In these, many things are hard to be understood, which must not be interpreted by the private spirit, 2 Peter 1. A large commentary would be requisite to explain these to the bottom, and we must refer the curious to the works of the Fathers, etc., as the subsequent notes will be rather briefer than usual. (Worthington) --- The Septuagint varies much from the original in Isaias. But we cannot specify every particular. (Calmet) --- St. Jerome has frequently given a double version in his learned comments on the prophets, as he would not peremptorily decide which exhibited the sense of God's word more accurately. (Haydock)
This inspired writer is called by the Holy Ghost, (Ecclesiasticus 43:25.) the great prophet; from the greatness of his prophetic spirit, by which he hath foretold, so long before, and in so clear a manner, the coming of Christ, the mysteries of our redemption, the calling of the Gentiles, and the glorious establishment, and perpetual flourishing of the Church of Christ: insomuch that he seems to have been rather an evangelist than a prophet. His very name is not without mystery: for Isaias in Hebrew signifies the salvation of the Lord, or, Jesus is the Lord. He was, according to the tradition of the Hebrews, of the blood royal of the kings of Juda; and after a most holy life, ended his days by a glorious martyrdom; being sawed in two, at the command of his wicked son-in-law, king Manasses, for reproving his evil ways. (Challoner) --- He began to prophesy ten years before the foundation of Rome, and the ruin of Ninive. His style is suitable to his high birth. He may be called the prophet of the mercies of the Lord. Under the figure of the return from captivity, he foretells the redemption of mankind (Calmet) with such perspicuity, that he might seem to be an evangelist. (St. Jerome)
Douay 1582/1609
The argument of Prophetical bookes in general. 2 paragraphs
AMongst manie great benefites, which God bestowed vpon his peculiar Gods special benefite of sending Prophetes to the people. people in the old Testament, one principal, and very excellent was, that besides their ordinarie Pastors, and gouerners in spiritual causes, the Priestes of Aarons progenic, and other clergie men of the same tribe of Leui, in •erarchical subordina ion of one chief, with other superiors and subiectes, disposed in sacred functions; he also gaue them other extraordinarie Prophetes of sundrie tribes, as admonitors and guides, to reduce them from errors of sinne, into the right way of vertue. Which office the same Prophetes The function of Prophetes, to exhorte to repentance with hope of Gods mercie by Christ. performed, as wel by threatning the offenders with Gods wrath, and punishment, as by exhorting them to repentance, and so to trust in Gods assured mercie, that he would geue them better times, and reliefe from their miseries. But most especially these holie Prophetes did foresee, and foretel the happie times of Grace in the New Testament. The coming of Messias, Christ our Redemer and Sauiour: With the mysteries of his Incarnation, Birth, Passion, Death, Resurrection, Ascension, Coming of the Holie Ghost, Fundation, Propagation, perpetual Stabilitie of his Church; and finally the General Iudgement, Eternal Glorie of the blessed, and Euerlasting paine of the damned. For albeit they preached and prophecied manie thinges, properly and immediatly perteyning to the particular state, and people of the Iewes, and other nations, Where they conuersed, yet the principal summe of al the prophetical bookes, is of Christ and his Church. Yea al the old Testament is a general prophecie, and forshewing of the New. Which (as we noted in the beginning) is conteyned, and lieth hid in the old. Neuertheles speaking more distinctly of the proper arguments, or contents of the foure partes of the old Testament, the former three more peculiarly setforth the Law, the Historie, and Sapiential precepts: and this last part chiefly conteyneth Prophecies of thinges to come. Of which the greatest part is now come to passe, or dayly fulfilled, and the rest shal likewise be performed in due time. So now in Foure greatter Prophetes, and welue lesse⸢r⸣ were auctors of the prophetical bookes folowing. Baruchs booke being inserted in Ieremies. order after the Legal, Historical, and Sapiential bookes, folow the Prophetical: and are these, according to the names of the Prophetes that writte them. Isaie, Ieremie with Baruch, Ezechiel, and Daniel, commonly called the greatter Prophetes: and the twelue lesser a•e Osee, Ioel, Amos, Abdias, Ionas, Micheas, Nahum, Abacuc, Sophonias, Aggeus, Zacharie: and Malachie. Who were al singularly inspired, and gouerned in their preachings and writinges, by the Holie Ghost, that they could not erre. Yea they were so illuminated in their vnderstanding, that they clerly saw that, which they vttered. And therfore their Prophecies are called Visions, for the assured infallibilitie of truth, which they auouch. For as nothing is Prophecies are called visions, for their certaintie. more certaine in vulgar knowlege then that, which we see with our corporal eyes, and therfore of al witnesses the eye witnes is estemed the surest: and as in al natural knowlege, that is most certaine, which is sene by discourse of reason: so in supernatural knowlege nothing is more assured then that, which is sene by supernatural light. Whereof there be three sortes: the light of Faith, of Prophecie, and of Glorie. Al three certaine, and vndoubted; but Light of prophecie is next to the light of glorie, and more clere then the light of faith. most clere and manifest is the vision by light of glorie: wherby God is sene in himself, and al thinges in him, that perteyne to the state of euerie glorious Sainct. Next therto is the vision by light of prophecie, wherwith God illuminateth the vnderstanding of the Prophet by a special, extraordinarie, and transitorie light of grace, that either he clerly seeth the reueled truthes, or at least perfectly knoweth, that he is moued by the Holie Ghost, though he vnderstand not al, that the Holie Ghost intendeth; and so when, and where it is Gods wil, he vttereth the same, for instruction of others. The last, which is also certaine, but more obscure, is the supernatural knowlege, which al Catholique Christians haue by light of faith, assuredly beleuing al thinges which God reueleth by his Church.
Concerning therfore this excellent diuine gift of Prophecie, granted to few, for the benefite of al Gods seruants, we are here to informe the vulgar reader, Prophecies are hard to be vnderstood for diuers causes. that wheras these prophecies are for most part hard to be vnderstood, and as S. Peter teacheth, not knowen by priuate interpretation, but must 2. Pet. 1 be interpreted by the same Spirite, wherwith they were written, our purpose is not to explicate them, nor yet to produce large explications of the godlie lerned Fathers, but rather fewer and briffer notes then hertofore. and for the rest we remitte the more lerned and studious readers, according to their capacities, to search the same, in the commentaries of ancient and late Expositers: wishing others to content themselues, with the more easie partes of holie Scriptures, and other godlie bookes, and daylie instructions of spiritual teachers. And such as do also read these, may obserue with vs, these (amongst other) special causes of the hardnes of the Prophetes. One cause is Suddaine transition from one thing to an other. the frequent interruption of sentences, with suddaine change from one person, or matter to an other, without apparent coherence. Which S. Ierom noteth in sundrie places. As I saie. 7. after that the Prophet hath seuerely S. Ierom. i•c. 2. & 3 Nahum reprehended king Achab, for his distrust of Gods assistance against his temporal enimies (v. 13.) in the next wordes he prophecieth, that a Virgin shal conceiue, and beare a sonne, Christ our Sauiour, and the like in other places. An other cause is, that the Prophetes speake thinges of some That which is spoken of certaine persons is ment of others S. Chrys. •o. 8. i• ••ath. 2. persons, which are to be fulfilled in others, either of their progenie, or prefigured by them. As the prophecie of the Iewes and Gentiles, comprised in the historie of Esau & Iacob. Likewise that which Iacob prophecied (Gen. 49.) of Simeon an Leui, not fulfilled in themselues but in the Scribes, and Priestes descending of their stock. Also much of that which Dauid semeth to speake of S. Aug. d•catech. •••ibus. c. 3. Salomon, Psal. 88. can only be vnderstod of Christ. Other examples wil Prophecies are often vttered in figuratiue speaches. Some consist in thinges done, others are mixt with histories, and temporal thinges with spiritual. occurre in the Prophetes ensuing. Briefly, for we can not here expresse al the causes in few wordes, prophecies are often times vttered in figuratiue speaches, and often not in wordes, but in factes; other times so mixed with Et cont. Mend. c. 1•. histories, and temporal thinges with spiritual, againe some thinges perteyning to the old Testament, so ioyned with mysteries of the new, and the like, that most hard it is to discerne, nay not possible without special reuelation, or instruction of others to know, to what purpose or thing euerie part perteyneth, •••ym. in P⸢s⸣al. 1•7. or is to be applied: for some thinges are spoken only of the historie, some thinges of misteries, manie thinges of both. And the reason why the Holie Ghost doth so vtter these prophecies is noted by S. Ierom (in Nahum. 3.) that VVhy God would haue them obscure. the proud and malicious enimies of Religion may not vnderstand them: lest (sayth he) a holie thing should be geuen to dogges, pearles cast to swine, most sacred mysteries laide oppen before prophane persons. S. Gregorie also alleageth an other reason (ho. 17. in Ezech.) that occasion of humilitie may be geuen vs by those thinges, which are hidden in holie Scriptures. And increase also of merite by beleuing more then we vnderstand, because faith hath not merite, where reason geueth experiment.
THE ARGVMENT OF THE PROPHECIE OF ISAIE. 2 paragraphs
ISaie the sonne of Amos, and nephew (as S. Ierom insinuateth) to king Isai of noble lineage and a mar•i• prophecied a long time. Presat. ad Paul. & Lusto. Amasias, prophecied in the times of Osias, Ioathan, Achaz, Ezechias, and in the beginning of Manasses, Kinges of Iuda; in al aboue three score yeares and was cruelly put to death, sawed into partes by commandment of Manasses. He is commonly called the Euangelical Prophet, for his ample Is called the Euangelical Prophet. Hewritte in a high stile S. Ie⸢r⸣o. Epist. ad Pa••••. Et in com Isa⸢i⸣. S. Aug. ••. 18. c. 27. •u•t. & lib 9 c. •. con••••. Heb. 1. and particular speaches of Christ, more large and more plaine then in a••e other of the old Prophetes. His stile is high and eloquent, according to his liberal education being of the royal bloud. For so it pleaseth the Holie Ghost, to vtter his diuine prophecies diuersly according to the qualities, and conditions of the persons, by whom he speaketh: by Isaie in a loftie, and by Amos in a meane stile: as a musitian soundeth the same songue, by a simple pipe, & by a corner, trumpet or other musical instrument. Which S. Paul also witnesseth, saying, Diuersly and by diuers meanes, God spake to the fathers in the Prophetes. Isaie therfore conuersing in the kingdom of Iuda, Liued in the kingdom of Iuda. especially in the Emperial and Metropolitan citie of Ierusalem, preached & prophecied manie thinges perteyning to the Tribes of Iuda and Beniamin, as also to the tribe of Leui. Which after the schisme of Ieroboam, repayred in maner al to the kingdom of Iuda, where God was rightly serued. He prophecied also of the tenne Tribes, the kingdom of Israel: & of the future captiuities of them both, and of the reduction of Iuda. Also he prophecied of other nations, and peoples, with whom the Iewes had either emnitie, or freindlie conuersation: and of al the world. But most especially of the coming of Christ, to redeme, and deliuer mankind from captiuitie of sinne.
The whole prophecie conteyneth two general partes. First more principally The contents, diuided into two general partes. and into eight particular. the Prophet admonisheth, and threatneth the people, that they shal be punished for their manifold sinnes. in the 39. former chapters. In the other 27. he comforteth them, signifying that God of his mercie, wil after chatisment, & their repentance, deliuer them from their aduersaries. Yet so that ech part participateth of the principal contents with the other. More particularly the whole booke may be diuided into eight partes. In the twelue first chapters, the 1. Prophet admonisheth alsortes in the kingdom of Iuda, of their ingratitude towards God, with manie other sinnes and of iust punishment, but mixt with consolation of Gods mercie, and thanksegeuing for the same. In eleuen 2. chapters folowing, he directeth his speach to other Nations, aduersaries to the Iewes. In foure more he extendeth his admonitions to al the world, stil intermixing 3. some consolations. In other foure he reprehendeth both the 4. kingdoms, of Israel and Iuda, for seeking helpe of strange nations. In the 5. next eight chapters he prophecieth of diuers dangers imminēt to the kingdom of Iuda, of their captiuitie in Babylon, of Gods benignitie deliuering them, & 6. very much in euerie part of Christ, and his Church. Then in fiue chapters he prophecieth very particularly of the comfortable deliuerie from sinne by Christ. In other foure from temporal captiuitie by Cyrus King of Assirians. 7. And finally in the last eightene chapters, he prophecieth largely of the perfect 8. deliuerie by Christ, conuersion of al Nations, reiection of the Iewes, til nere the end of the world, when they shal also returne to Christ.
Cornely
CAPUT II. DE PROPHETIA ISAIAE. S ^. — De prophetae vita et temporibus 7 paragraphs
250. — Inter propheticos libros primum locum iure merito obtinet Isaiae Prophetia, quippe quae, licet longitudine vaticiniis leremiae et ipsius Ezechielis, antiquitate libris Oseae, Ioelis aliorumque ex Minoribus superetur !, argumenti tamen copia, varietate, gravitate, atque dictionis pulchritudine et sublimitate prae omnibus emineat. Spiritus S. ipse per Siracidam Isaiam proclamavit « prophetam magnum et fidelem in conspectu Dei, qui magno spiritu vidit ultima et consolatus est lugentes in Sion »; Patres velut principem prophetarum eum assiduis laudibus celebrarunt; Eusebius et Theodoretus non tantum « magnum et admirabilem » aut « divinum prophetam », sed « maximum » et « divinisimum » eum appellarunt, « magniloquentissimum » S. Gregorius Naz. et S. Chrysostomus salutarunt, SS. Cyrillus autem, Hieronymus, Augustinus eum evangelistam et apostolum potius quam prophetam appellandum censent, quia evangelicae praedicationis splendore vaticinia sua exornaverit?.
De tanti vero viri vita praeter paucissima, quae ex sacris literis colliguntur, vix quidquam certi memoriae est traditum. Ne id quidem constat, qua ex tribu sit oriundus?. Utique si rabbinis fidem haberemus, ex tribu Iuda atque ex ipsa davidica stirpe eum diceremus prognatum ; Amos enim, quem patrem suum fuisse scribit Isaias, Amasiae regis fratrem fuisse tradunt, aliique addunt prophetae filiam Manasse regi nupsisse*. At animum quidem ingeniumque prophetae vere fuisse regium, totum eius opus docet; sanguinem autem eius regium fuisse traditio illa non demonstrat, quum soli nominum Amos et Amasiae similitudini originem debere videatur. Neque felicior fuit aliquorum Patrum coniectura, qui ob linguae hebraicae ignorantiam nomina patris Isaiae Amos (^x) et prophetae Amos (otv) confundentes prophetam nostrum dixerunt filium pastoris thecoensis?. Ex honesta potius familia ierosolymitana natus videtur tempore regis Oziae (Azariae); liberalibus autem artibus institutus (id quod ex styli elegantia carminibusque libro insertis luculenter apparet) ultimo Oziae anno (a. 747.) ad propheticum munus est vocatus. Sublimi enim illa visione, in qua labia eius per unum ex Seraphim throno Dei adstantibus sunt mundata (6,1 sqq.), eum inauguratum esse prophetam, probabilior est modernorum interpretum sententia. Matrimonio iunctus ex uxore sua, quae ipsa quoque prophetissa vocatur (8,3), duos filios genuit, quibus & Deo iussus prophetica nomina imposuit, ut non minus pueri eius quam ipse nominibus suis « essent in signum et portentum Israel »5. Munere prophetico sub tribus Oziae successoribus, loathan, Achaz, Ezechia,. functum se esse testatur (1,1); quanta autem auctoritate apud omnes sit gavisus, non tantum docet modus, quo et cum impio rege Achaz et cum pio Ezechia eum egisse sacrae literae tradunt, sed praeprimis insignis illa libertas, qua in integri populi atque adeo principum et magnatum vitia invehitur?. Quae eius fuerint de republica merita, statim dicemus (251). Usque ad ultimos annos regis Ezechiae Isaiam munus propheticum exercuisse, tantum non est certum, siquidem cladem Assyriorum, quam praedixit, a. &. Sennacherib (a. 701.) accidisse ex monumentis cuneiformibus colligitur; vix quinque autem annis postea Ezechias successorem habuit Manassen filium suum 5. Antiqua autem est Iudaeorum traditio, quae epistola ad Hebr. (11,37) confirmari videtur atque inde a S. Iustini M. aetate a Patribus recepta est, tempore regis Manasse prophetam serra lignea dissectum martyrio vitam suam coronasse?. Si Isaiam iam 1. a. Manasse, qui puer duodecim annorum rex creatus est, occisum esse statuamus, ab ultimo anno Oziae per quinquaginta duos annos munus propheticum sustinuit; quoniam autem parum est verisimile, eum ante vigesimum aetatis annum ad difficile et grave illud munus esse vocatum, senex plus septuaginta annorum martyrium est passus; immo maiorem eum aetatem attigisse magis credo, quia ab occisione prophetae, quocum pater eius arctissimo amicitiae vinculo coniunctus fuerat, puer Manasses regnum auspicatus esse non videtur. '
Praeter vaticinia, quae in canone nobis sunt conservata, Isaias hi:toricum quoque opus de « primis et novissimis rebus » i. e. de integro regno Oziae regis composuit, quo veluti fonte usi sunt auctores ll. Regum et Paralip. (2 Paral. 26,22). Minus certum est, simile opus de Ezechiae rebus gestis ab eo esse conscriptum, id quod nonnulli ex 2. Par. 32,32 deducunt. At opus, ad quod auctor Paral. lectores suos remittit, vocatur « Visio Isaiae », quo titulo Prophetia nostra est inscripta, atque res toto cap. 32. narratae revera Is. 36.-39. leguntur !0.
1. Secundum Massoretharum epicrisin liber Isaiae continet viginti sex Sedarim et mille ducentos nonaginta quinque versus, lerem. unum et triginta Sedarim et mille trecentos sexaginta quinque versus, Ezech. viginti novem Sedarim et mille ducentos septuaginta tres versus, Daniel. septem Sedarim et trecentos quinquaginta septem versus, Minores unum et viginti Sedarim et mille quinque versus. At nec Sedarim nec versus sunt eiusdem longitudinis; revera Ieremiae liber fere seplima parte superat Isaiae librum; Ezechiel autem Isaia aliquantulum dumtaxat longior est. — Do aetate Minorum ínfra (296) dicemus.
quum nec constet ON YUN esse compositum cum praep. I!N, nec praepositio TIN, quae ticinitatem designat, sit eadem atque Q7, quae coniunctionem exprimit). Oheim und Neffe sind Jerem. 29,21 Propheten (textum non videtur legisse adversarius, quia non Colaja et Maaseja, sed eorum filii Ahab et Sedecias, qui Neh. 11,7 non nominantur, vocantur prophetae, sed ex genere eorum « qui prophetant vobis in nomine meo mendaciter » et « qui moechati sunt in uxores amicorum suorum »), und des letzteren Vater trágt den auf Prophetie bezüglichen Namen Colaja, d. i. Cól haja, eine Stimme ist geschehen (rectius : vox Iahve mp). Somit aber (sc. quia duorum pseudoprophetarum patres nomina habuerunt, quae Neh. 11,7 leguntur) scheint in dieser Familie Beruf der Weissagung einheimisch; ein Grund mehr, den Jesaja, welcher Neh. 11,7 an der Spilze steht, für den grossen Propheten dieses Namens zu halten (scilicet ut demonstrare possimus, ex prophetarum principe progenitos esse pseudoprophetas!).
Eam ex Graecis iam reiecit S. Cyrill. Alez. In Am. Prooem (M. 71,409), ex Latinis S. Hieron. In Is. 1,1 (M. 24,22), quare penes iuniores vix reperitur. 6. Is. 7,3 21u? RU « reliquiae convertentur » (vel « revertentur »; utramque enim significationem vocabulum admittit et utroque sensu nomen filii praedixit partis Israelitarum futuram conversionem futurumque reditum ex captivitate) ; 8,3 733 vn 55y "UD, « festinans praeda, velox rapina » (S. Hier. « Velociter spolia detrahe, cito praedare »), cuius nominis sensum propheticum ipse explicat Is. 8,4. Nominis prophetae 3*yU? (in libri titulo : /1*YV* unde Alez. 'Haalas, It. Esaias, Vulg.
Isaias) quae sit etymologia, non certo constat; alii ad rad. YYU recurrentes explicant (nescio quo cum iure) « saluti fuit Dominus », alii praeferentes rad. YU vertunt « intuetur Dominus », plerique moderni tamen cum $. Hier. priorem nominis partem ad rad. YU? trahunt, licet alii eam pro forma verbi habeant : « Salvat Dominus », alii pro substantivo : ewtrpía Kuplou « salus Domini » (S. Hier. In Ioel. Prooem. cfr de nomin. hebr. — M. 25,394; 23,869. 1279; minus recte S. Hier. Proleg. in Is. « salvatus Domini », « qui Domino praesidente salvatur » M. 24,24). « Ita autem appellatus est, inquit Abarbanel, quia proclamaturus erat et praedicaturus salutem Domini multaque oracula et promíssioncs de futura salute edidit », vel potius ut ipso nomine Salvatorem praesagiret. Cfr Knabenb. Comment. I. p. 9.
REGES IUDA. REGES ISRAEL. REGES ASSYRIAE. Ieroboam II 802-762 48 paragraphs
(a) P. de Hummelauer supponit Oziam undecim primos annos simul regnasse cum patre suo Amasia, et decem ultimos, postquam lepra percussus est, una cum loathan filio suo.
(b) Recte cum aliis supposuit, regem Phul eundem esse atque Theglatphalasarem lI. Duo
Destructio Samariae 720 | Sargon 721-704 Sennacherib 704-680 Manasses 696-641 Esarhaddon 680 - 667 Assurbanipal 667 -626 Amon 641-639 Iosias 639-608 Asuredilel 626-606 Ioachaz 608 Ioakim 608 -597 Destructio urbis Ninive (606) Iechonias 597 (Nabuchodonosor socius re- Sedecias 597-586 gni patris sui Nabopa- Destructio regni Iuda. lasar in BABYLONIA A.
Alia systemata chronologica cfr apud Raska Chronologie der Bibel. Wien 1878.; A. Scháfer Biblische Chronologie Münster 1879., qui fere consentit cum Oppert (La Chronologie bibl. Paris 1868. et Salomon et ses successeurs. Paris 1877.); Neteler in Tüb. Quartalschr. 1874. p. 389 sqq. et Zusammenhang der Alttestam. Zeitrechnung mit der Profangeschichte Münster 1885.; Brunengo La cronologia biblico assira. Prato 1886. etc.
enim ultimi Assyriae reges, Asurnadil et Asurnirar, desides fucrunt, ita ut eorum tempore Phul Chaldaeus eorum provincias paullatim sibi subiiceret, donec post ultitoi mortem thronum assyriacum occuparet nomenque babylonicum Theglatphalasar assumeret. Coniecturam hanc nunc confirmant inscriptiones postea repertae; cfr Schrader Keilinschriftl, Bibliothek. 1I. 1890. p. 286.
rologio Rom., quod die 6. Iulii legit : « In Iudaea 8. Esaiae prophetae, qui sub Manasse rege sectus in duas partes occubuit ». Cfr Acta SS. Iul. II. Fabulis multis deformatum est prophetae martyrium in apocrypha « Ascensione Isaiae, » de qua efr Introd. gener. Ed. ?. 1894. p. 221 sq. — De loco sepulturae Isaiae varia traduntur, quae proponere et diiudicare ad nos non spectat.
10. 8i tamen genuina est lectio hebr. : rymo255 *50 5y yv T»n3 « in visione Isaiae (quae recepta est) in librum regum Iuda », dicendum videtur Isaiam commentarios de integra vita Ezechiae edidisse , nam allegatio haec etiam illa complectitur, quae 2 Paral. 29. -31. leguntur et in canonico nostro libro Isaiae desunt. Cum hac lectione consentit quidem Syrus; sed Alez. et Vulg. legunt « in visione Isaiae et in libro regnum Iuda »; duos igitur fontes indicant.
251. — Difficillimis reipublicae temporibus Deus Isaiam elegit, qui tamquam custos fidelis in alta specula positus futuris poenis praedictis impios suos contribules a peccatis revocaret piosque omnes futura salute annuntiata regnique messianici felicitate descripta consolaretur et confortaret. Usque ad saec. 8. Deus, ut filiorum Israel idololatriam puniret durasque cervices frangeret, vicinis gentibus, Syris, Ammonitis, Moabitis etc. velut flagellis erat usus; interea autem in orientalibus Asiae partibus magnum sibi praeparaverat Ássyriorum regnum, quo infidelitatem in dies crescentem puniendam decreverat. Quatuor reges regni Iudae enumerat Isaias, quorum tempore munere suo functus sit : Oziam, loathan, Achaz, Ezechiam; eorum historiam paucis verbis adumbrabimus, ut quae prophetae fuerit provincia clarius appareat.
Eodem fere tempore , quo Ozias (799. - 147.) regnum meridionale , leroboam II. (802.- 762.) septemtrionale tenuit; fortissimus quidem is erat rex, qui « restituit terminos Israel ab introitu Emath usque ad mare solitudinis iuxta sermonem Domini , quem locutus erat per servum suum Ionam, filium Amathi, prophetam ». Ad summum igitur fortunae culmen regnum septemtrionale adduxit iis ferme restitutis finibus, quos tempore Davidis et Salomonis filii Israel habuerant. Quoniam vero « fecit quod malum est coram Domino neque recessit ab omnibus peccalis leroboam (I.) filii Nabat », mendax erat et fucata haec regni conditio neque externae respondebat interna regni felicitas. Non tantum vitulis, quos erexerat leroboam [L., in toto regno sacrificabatur, sed Baalim quoque cultus, quem Iehu Ieroboami II. proavus exstirpaverat, in tota terra revixerat, atque maxima erat morum corruptio : pauperes opprimebantur, iustitia pervertebatur, divites lasciviebant in stratis suis eburneis de regni conditione parum solliciti, rex et populus prophetarum monita irridebant!. Ita factum est, ut post Ieroboami lI. mortem internis dissidiis regnum sit perturbatum et dilaceratum ; filius eius Zacharias post paucos menses a Sellum (a. 761.), Sellum post mensem a Manahem throno et vita privati sunt; Manahem (760. -750.) autem Phul, regem Assyriorum, ingenti pecuniarum summa permovit, « ut esset ei in auxilium et firmaret regnum eius ». Ipsi igitur Israelitae gentem illam ad se advocarunt, quam Deus in eorum interitum praeparaverat; neque obtinuit Manahem quod speraverat : regnum eius non est firmatum. Licet ipse per decem annos thronum occupaverit, filius eius Phaceia (750. - 748.) iam post duos annos a duce exercitus eius, Phacee filio Romeliae (748. - 728.), e throno deiectus et occisus est, atque ab eo tempore Assyrii incursiones suas repetierunt, usque dum integram terram sibi subiecissent omnesque regni Israel tribus in captivitatem abduxissent ?.
Omnes hae regum Israel mutationes factae sunt, quo tempore Ozias (Azarias) thronum Iuda occupavit. Qui quum pius esset rex « faceretque quod erat rectum in oculis Domini et exquireret Dominum, etiam ab eo in omnibus directus est », ut regnum eius unum esset ex gloriosissimis in tota historia Iuda. Non tantum fines regni versus meridiem usque ad Elath extendit, quem portum Idumaeis ereptum ampliavit munivitque, versus occidentem usque in terras Philisthaeorum, quorum oppida Geth, Iabnia, Azotum expugnavit, versus orientem in Ammonitarum regionem , quam tributariam sibi fecit, sed etiam sanctam civitatem novis exstructis munitionibus et totum regnum magno congregato exercitu firmavit. Neque ita erat rebus bellicis intentus, ut regni administrationem negligeret, sed non minore cum cura opes regni sui augere studuit; quem in finem « exstruxit turres in solitudine et effodit cisternas plurimas, eo quod haberet multa pecora, eratque homo agriculturae deditus ». Itaque « egressum est nomen eius procul, eo quod auxiliaretur ei Dominus et corroborasset illum ». At fidelis in Dei servitio non permansit; quominus populus in excelsis sacrificaret et incensum adoleret, non impediverat, et quum roboratus esset, superbia elatus munus sacerdotale sibi arrogans in templo incensum adolere voluit. Quapropter lepra & Deo percussus ultimos vitae annos in domo separata peregit regni administratione filio suo Ioatham (Ioathan) tradita (a. 757.)?. Gloriosum eius regnum descripsit Isaias (250 p. 307.), qui anno mortis Oziae (a. 747.) uti diximus, munus propheticum iniit.
Eandem viam, quam pater eius, tenuit Joatham (197. veli. - 184.) « corroboratusque est eo quod direxisset vias suas coram Domino Deo suo ». Eadem fuit eius fortitudo in Ammonitis debellandis, qui Ozia mortuo iugum decutere conati erant; eadem sollicitudo in civitate sancta ornanda et munienda exstruendisque castellis et turribus per totam terram; at eadem quoque negligentia in auferendis excelsis , in quibus populus immolabat. Ex continuo autem hoc cultu illicito, qui ab idololatria non admodum erat remotus, et ex diuturna felicitate, qua sub Ozia et loatham regnum meridionale gavisum est, paullatim exorta est morum corruptio, quam paucis verbis innuit auctor Paralip.
(« et adhuc populus delinquebat »), fusius e& vehementius Isaias vaticiniis eo tempore editis castigat iudicio indicto superbis principibus, mulieribus luxuriosis, viris avaris , ebriosis, impiis. Neque longe abfuit iudicium , nam « in diebus illis coepit Deus inittere in Iudam Rasin regem Syriae et Phacee filium Romeliae »*.
Advenit autem peccatorum poena tempore AcAaz (141.-'25.) , qui patre loatham mortuo in thronum David ascendit, at « non fecit rectum in conspectu Domini, sicut David pater eius; sed ambulavit in viis regum Israel ». Immo peiores vias est ingressus, quum cultum Baalim in regno Israel fere abolitum in regnum Iuda adduceret, suos ipsius filios igne idolis consecraret (aut secundum nonnullorum interpretationem in holocaustum offerret), sacrificaretque in omnibus collibus et sub omni ligno frondoso. Quamobrem ea implere coepit Deus, quae sub Ioatham per Isaiam iam erat comminatus. Phacee enim, rex Israel, foedus inierat cum Rasin, rege Syriae (Damasci), probabiliter ut Assyriis, qui regnum suum usque ad mare mediterraneum extendere conabantur, unitis viribus resisterent; at primam suam expeditionem contra regem Achaz direxerunt, forte ne cum Assyriis debellantes periculosum hostem a tergo relinquerent. Rasin a meridie regnum Iuda aggressus occupavit Elath (Aila), quem portum Ozias quinquaginta annis antea expugnaverat et munierat, eiecitque ex eo Iudaeos magnamque praedam adduxit Damascum. Interea Phacee ab orientali, ut videtur, parte, regnum aggressus maiorem cladem regi intulit; nam « occidit de luda centum viginti millia in die uno, omnes viros bellatores », inter quos erant Maasias regis filius et duo praecipui eius duces ; « ceperuntque filii Israel de fratribus suis ducenta millia mulierum, puerorum et puellarum et infinitam praedam ». Moniti quidem a propheta Oded liberos dimiserunt captivos suos, at bellum denuo exarsit. Ipsam enim domum davidicam destruere voluerunt reges Syriae et Israel et in lerusalem regum constituere « filium Tabeel » quendam (Is. 7,6); quem in finem exercitus suos contra sanctam civitatem duxerunt. In extremo hoc periculo Deus promissionis Davidi et domui eius factae memor per Isaiam regi Achaz auxilium suum obtulit eumque, ut futuri auxilii certior fieret, signum quodcunque petere iussit. At abnuit rex impius atque Assyriorum quam Domini Dei sui auxilium implorare maluit. Sicut rex Manahem , ut regnum suum firmaret, assyriacum regem &dvocaverat in regnum septemtrionale, ita Achaz eundem in regnum meridionale arcessivit; etenim « quum collegisset argentum et aurum, quod inveniri potuit in domo Domini et in thesauris regiis , misit regi Assyriorum munera » humilibusque precibus eum rogavit, ut sibi contra Rasin et Phacee auxilium ferret. Acquievit Theglatphalasar petitioni eius; cum magno exercitu accurrens non tantum Damascum cepit vastavitque et rege Rasin interfecto incolas Damasci in Assyriam transtulit, sed etiam rege Phacee devicto septemtrionali parte regni Israel potitus multos Israelitas in Assyriam abduxit. Plenus gaudio accurrit Achaz Damascum, ut regi Assyriorum gratias ageret, atque divinae Legis prorsus oblitus ipsum templum Domini contaminavit; ut gratum enim se praestaret Assyriis aereum altare, quod erat coram Domino, removit eiusque in loco alterum exstruxit ad instar eius, quod viderat Damasci. Quae omnia ei non profuerunt; nam sicut Isaias praedixerat, « adduxit Dominus super eum aquas fluminis fortes et multas, regem Assyriorum et omnem gloriam eius... et extensio alarum eius implevit latitudinem terrae Emmanuel » i. e. integrum regnum luda (1s. 8,7 sq. cfr 7,17). Devictis enim regibus Israel et Syriae Teglatphalasar arma vertit in ipsum Achaz; teste auctore Paralip. «afflixit regnum Achaz et nullo resistente vastavit », atque in una ex ultimis suis inscriptionibus Theglatphalasar enumerat Achaz regem Iuda inter tributarios suos. Idumaei quoque et Philisthaei felicibus incursionibus magnam praedam et nonnullas civitates regi Achaz eripuerunt; « humiliavit enim Dominus Iuda propter Achaz eo quod contemtui habuerat Dominum » $5.
Phacee a Theglatphalasar devictus paullo post interfectus est ab Osee, filio Ela, qui ultimus fuit rex Israel (728- 720). Minus quidem malum eum fuisse quam eius praedecessores refert sacer auctor, attamen « malum eum fecisse coram Domino » addit; itaque imminentem regni interitum impedire non potuit. Tributarius factus a Salmanasar Assyriorum iugum excutere conatus est auxilio quaesito apud Sua (Sabaca) Aegypti regem. At novo exercitu adducto Salmanasar regnum Israel devastavit, regem Osee cepit vinctumque misitin carcerem , Samariam obsedit; eius autem successor Sargon urbem expugnavit et incolis in Assyriam translatis regnum Israel destruxit (a. 720.) 9.
Felicior interea conditio fuit regni meridionalis; Achaz enim successorem habuit filium EzecAiam (125.-696.), « qui fecit quod erat bonum coram Domino iuxta omnia, quae fecerat pater eius David...; - itaque post eum non fuit similis ei de cunctis regibus Iuda, sed neque in his, qui ante eum fuerunt. Unde et Dominus erat cum éo ». Duo Sibi proposuit piissimus rex, praeprimis idololatria destructa et legitimo cultu divino restituto mores populi voluit reformare, deinde excusso Assyriorum iugo regno suo libertatem vindicare. Quemadmodum fuse narrat auctor Paral. Ezechias iam « anno et mense primo regni sui aperuit valvas domus Domini et instauravit eas »; templum, quod Achaz polluerat, per levitas sacerdotesque lustrandum curavit magnaque cum sollemnitate sacrificia expiatoria obtulit; « et completus est cultus domus Domini ». Paucis deinde ut videtur annis post? indixit pascha celebrandum, ad quod etiam reliquias tribuum septemtrionalium invitavit; « congregatique sunt in lerusalem populi multi, et surgentes destruxerunt altaria, quae erant in lerusalem, atque universa, in quibus idolis adolebatur incensum , subvertentes proiecerunt in torrentem Cedron ». Quibus peractis « facta est grandis celebritas in lerusalem, qualis a diebus Salomonis in ea urbe non fuerat »; eaque terminata « egressus est omnis Israel, qui inventus fuerat in urbibus Iuda et fregerunt simulacra, succideruntque lucos, demoliti sunt excelsa et altaria destruxerunt non solum de universa Iuda et Beniamin, sed et de Ephraim quoque et Manasse ». Quibus non obstantibus integram idololatriam non esse destructam satis elucet ex Isaiae et Michaeae vaticiniis, quae ad hoc tempus pertinent (cfr ex. gr. Is. 30,22; 31,7 etc.) ; haud pauci enim idola sua secreto colebant, multo plures ob regis timorem mere externo cultu Dominum venerabantur?, atque magnam remansisse , praesertim inter divites regnique principes, morum corruptionem, clare docent Isaiae Michaeaeque conciones, quibus luxuriam, iniustitiam, venalitatem principum sacerdotumque et pseudoprophetarum vehementer obiurgant. Ita factum est, ut etiam Ezechiae tempore, quamvis felix fuerit eius regnum, Deus ab omni populi sui castigatione abstinere non potuerit. Philisthaeos quidem, qui ultimis annis Achaz nonnullas civitates iudaicas occupaverant, Ezechias plane devicit integramque eorum terram usque ad Gazam sibi subiecit; internus quoque reipublicae status erat florentissimus; nam « dives et inclytus valde erat Ezechias et thesauros sibi plurimos congregaverat argenti et auri et lapidis pretiosi... et urbes sibi aedificaverat et habebat greges ovium et armentorum innumerabiles » . At neque assyriacum iugum abiicere neque Assyriorum invasionem avertere potuit. Magnatibus enim, qui regi persuadere conabantur, ut Aegyptiorum auxilio implorato contra Assyrios insurgeret, fortiter restitit Isaias monens, « in silentio et spe esse fortitudinem » atque a Domino solo expetendam et exspectandam esse liberationem (Is. 30. 31.) Quibus monitis regem paruisse neque primis regni annis foedus cum Aegypto inisse, patet consideranti, terram Iuda eo tempore, quo Salmanasar eiusque successor Sargon Tyrum occuparunt regnumque Israel destruxerunt (723.-720.), ab Assyriorum incursionibus et vexationibus liberam fuisse. Aliter autem se res habuit, quum Ezechias a Merodach Baladan, rege Babylonis, ad foedus ineundum esset sollicitatus. A. 15. regni sui (a. 711.) gravissime aegrotavit Ezechias, sed miraculo sanatus promissionem a Deo accepit, quindecim annos vitae eius additum iri, promissionemque Deus magno miraculo confirmavit. Qua occasione usus Merodach legatos cum muneribus literisque misit, qui regi de sanitate restituta congratularentur eumque de portento interrogarent; praecipuus autem legationis finis fuit, ut regem ad foedus ineundum permoverent. Merodach enim, qui iam pridem Babylonem occupaverat, primum a Theglatphalasar atque iterum a Sargon victus et throno orbatus Elamitas, Aegyptios regesque Syriae et Phoeniciae foedere secum coniungere conabatur, ut unitis viribus Assyrios impugnarent (c. a. 709). Neque abnuisse videtur Ezechias, siquidem legatis gloriabundus omnes suos thesauros ostendit; « dereliquerat enim eum Deus, ut tentaretur et nota fierent omnia, quae erant in corde eius », nam « exaltatum erat cor eius, tam ipsius, quam habitatorum lerusalem ». Legatis profectis advenit [saias, qui regi praedixit omnes istos thesauros, quos legatis ostenderat, in Babyloniam transportatum iri; at altera poena antea ei populoque eius inflicta est. Post Sargonis enim mortem Merodach thronum quidem Babylonis iterum ascendit (a. 704.) , sed post sex menses jam devictus est a Sargonis filio et successore Sennacherib, qui deinde arma in eius socios vertit. Rapido cursu cepit Charcamis, et Euphratem transgressus Arpad, Hamath, Damascum, Sidonem aliasque civitates Phoeniciae; Ammonitae, Moabitae, Idumaei ei tributum miserunt; Ascalonem, loppe etc. vi expugnavit, sed etiam quadraginta sex civitates munitas regni luda aliaque oppida minora, ex quibus plus ducenta millia captivorum abduxit. Tunc perterritus « misit Ezechias nuntios ad regem Assyriorum in Lachis dicens : Peccavi ; recede a me, et omne quod imposueris mihi feram ». Trecenta talenta argenti et triginta talenta auri postulavit Sennacherib ; quibus acceptis pactum fregit legalisque missis primum incolas lerusalem, dein quum Aethiopiae regem Tharacam cum exercitu contra se accedere audisset, Ezechiam ad deditionem exhortari conatus est. At restitit Ezechias confortatus ab Isaia, per quem Deus auxilium suum regi promisit. Exercitus autem regis Assyriorum, quum sanctam civitatem obsidere vellet, una nocte per Angelum Dei destructus est, antequam sagittam in urbem mittere potuerat; ita enim Deus per [saiam praedixerat (a. 101.). Fugitivus Sennacherib reversus est in terram suam nec amplius arma vertit contra Iudaeos; ultimi autem anni Ezechiae felices fuerunt 9.
Successorem habuit filium suum Manassen (696- 641) regem impiissimum, qui idololatriam ab Ezechia exstinctam resuscitavit. Sed eius historiam infra (260 p. 359 sqq.) adumbrabimus, siquidem ad Isaiae vaticinia intelligenda directe non iuvat.
peditionibus a Theglatphalasar II. contra Syriam Israel Iuda susceptis quid tradant inscriptiones cuneiformes, vide penes de Hummelauer (Stimmen aus M. Laach 1873. IV. p. 143; 1874. VII. p. 319 sqq.), Figourouz (La Bible et les découvertes modernes IV. p. 81 sqq.), Brunengo (L'imperio di Babilonia e di Ninive I. p. 470 sqq.), Schrader (Keilinschr. und A. T. Ed. 2. p. 240 sqq. 263 sqq.).
: 7. 9 Paral. 29,1-31,1. Ex narratione hac nonnulli concludunt, iam 1. a. Ezechiam pascha illud sollemne celebrasse (ctr 30,1 cum 29,3); quod parum probabile videbi- .tur consideranti, unius mensis spatio nec omnia illa, quae de lustratione templi narrantur, peragi nec omnia ad festum celebrandum apte praeparari potuisse. Accedit autem, quod illo anno Ezechiae non licuit septemtrionales tribus, quae suum regem babebant, ad festum invitare, atque multo minus Iudaei illo iam tempore in terra Ephraim et Manasse excelsa et idola destruere potuerunt. A. 2. Ezechiae autem BSal- "manasar jam terram Israel occupare et Samariam obsidere coepit; quare pascha "hoc post Samariae destructionem 6. vel 7. a. Ezechiae celebratum esse rectius statuimus. Nam ipsa quoque invitatio dirigitur « ad reliquias, quae effugcrunt manum regum Assyriae » (30,6 text. hebr.); ergo sermo non est de solis Nephtalitis, quos abduxerat Theglatphalasar, sed etiam de aliis tribubus transportatis à Sargone. . Auctor autem Paral. in tota sua narratione de regno Ezéchiae non indicat annos; si quis vero ex simplici nexu pericoparum concludere voluerit, omnia, quae narrantur, immediate sese excepisse sine ullo temporis intervallo, etiam expeditionem Sennacherib iam 2. vel 3. Ezechiae anno factam esse dicet; constat vero eam a. 24. esse factam.
8 5. — De libri Isaiae argumento , ordine, indole.
252. — Multis concionibus, quae quinquaginta circiter annorum spatio sunt habitae, multisque vaticiniis eodem tempore prolatis aut scriptis librum Isaiae constare, titulus integro operi praefixus (« Visio Isaiae, quam vidit super Iudam et lerusalem in diebus Oziae, loatham Achaz et Ezechiae, regum Iuda ») et nonnullarum pericoparum inscriptiones! docent. Errant autem, qui cum modernis rationalistis plerisque librum nostrum nihil esse volunt nisi farraginem quandam vaticiniorum nescio unde collectorum, cui omnis argumenti unitas, omnis ordo aptaque rerum dispositio plane desint?. Procul dubio varia themata tractantur; propheta enim a Deo missus, ut tamquam fidelis custos populo suo invigilans eum « ad Legem et testimonium » revocaret, in divinorum praeceptorum observantia retineret et promoveret, ad
Messiae promissi adventum praepararet, pro munere suo secundum auditorum necessitates ab aliis et aliis vitiis eos revocare, eos mox obiurgare, mox consolari, mox confortare debuit. Nihilominus integro Operi UNITAS ARGUMENTI non deest, quum omnes pericopae, quamvis diversum sit earum thema, ad unum finem collineent unaque ut ita dicamus idea regantur. Neque enim immerito moderni interpretes nonnulli totum libri argumentum illis primi capitis verbis comprehendi arbitrantur, quae Rupertus Tuit. pulchre vocavit « edictum gratiae »: « Sion in iudicio redimetur et conversi eius in tustitia »*. Universum Isaiae librum esse « consolationem » olim rectissime iam monuerunt Thalmudici; namque iudicium quidem annuntiat propheta filiis Israel gravissimasque poenas, at iudicium et poenae, etsi in interitum sint occaecatorum, in salutem erunt reliquiis, quae seria acta poenitentia ad Dominum Deum suum revertentur. In semine autem Abrahae benedicendae quoque erant gentes, quae longius, quam ipsi filii Israel, a Deo suo recesserant; quare sicut Iuda et lerusalem in iudicio redimentur, ita etiam severum Dei iudicium super omnes gentes veniet omniaque huius mundi regna destruet, ut gentium quoque reliquiae beneficiorum regni messianici participes fiant, quod in priorum regnorum ruinis erectum non dissipabitur in aeternum. Novi autem regni centrum erit lerusalem (2,2 sqq.) eiusque rex procedet ex [uda (4,2 etc.); ideo omnia vaticinia, etiamsi de externis et longinquis gentibus nonnulla agant, propheta, ut eorum unitatem insinuet, inscribit « de Iuda et de lerusalem », quippe ad quae vere referantur .
Clarius unitas haec apparebit, si in LiBR1 ORDINEM inquisiverimus 5. S. Hieronymus eumque secuti alii interpretes chronologico ordine vaticinia disposita esse existimarunt. « Quod in titulo ponitur, inquit S. Doctor, prophetasse eum sub Ozia et loatham et Achaz et Ezechia regibus Iuda, non ut in aliis prophetis confuse intelligendum est, ut nesciamus quid et sub quo specialiter rege dictum sit; sed usque ad finem voluminis scriptum refertur, quid seorsim sub Ozia, et quid sub loatham, et quid sub Achaz, et quid sub Ezechia a Domino ei revelatum sit »9. Quae parum recte asseruntur. Ultimo enim Oziae anno sola visio c. 6. adscribitur, neque alibi eius nomen legitur; loatham in solo titulo (1,1) nominatur nec ullum eius tempori diserte attribuitur vaticinium; in regno Achaz edita indicantur 7,1 sqq. et ultimo anno eiusdem regis adscribitur parvum vaticinium contra Philisthaeos (14, . 28 sqq.); Ezechias demum in titulo (1,1) et in pericopis historicis (36.- 39.) dumtaxat nominatur; secundum regna igitur partes libri distingui non possunt. Adde, prologum (c. 1.) tempori Ezechiae, cpp. 2.-5. regno loatham probabilius attribui ac proin visione c. 6. esse recentiora; item vaticinium contra Philisthaeos (15,98 sqq.) recentius videri quam onus Babylonis (13,1-14,97) etc. Unde clarum est, ordine chronologico vaticinia non esse disposita, licet non negemus aliquam quoque temporis rationem in illis disponendis esse habitam 7.
Omnes fere moderni interpretes duas partes illas distinguunt?, quas iam scholastici interpretes, S. Thomas, Lyranus etc., indicarunt divisionis fundamento petito ex ipso argumento. « Intentio huius prophetiae, inquit Lyranus Aquinatem secutus, est narrare Christi mysterium ; quod quidem mysterium fuit ad deiectionem superborum et exaltationem humilium; propter quod S. Simeon dixit : ecce hic positus est in ruinam et in resurrectionem multorum in Israel. Et ideo Isaias denunciando et scribendo Christi mysterium, simul denuntiat et scribit deiectionem peccatorum superbientium et erectionem humilium et iustorum. Et secundum hoc processus libri huius in duas partes dividitur, quia primo describitur peccatorum deiectio (1.-39.) , secundo iustorum erectio (40.- 66.) »; vel rectius secundum S. Thomam « in prima parte ponitur comminatio divinae iustitiae ad excidium peccatorum (1.- 39.), in secunda consolatio divinae misericordiae ad resurrectionem iustorum (50.-66.) » ?. Qua in divisione solae pericopae historicae (36.- 39.), quae duas partes propheticas (1.-35. et &0.-66.) apte separant, difficultatem quandam creant; cum S. Thoma et Lyrano plerique eas ad priorem partem trahunt, alii ad neutram eas pertinere volunt. At quatuor istis capitibus duo eventus regni Ezechiae narrantur, duobus prioribus (36.-37.) miraculosa liberatio urbis sanctae ab obsidione Sennacherib regis Assyriorum, duobus alteris (38. 39.) imprudentia Ezechiae thesauros suos legatis regis Babyloniae ostendentis, atque vaticinium Isaiae praedicentis omnes thesauros illos in Babyloniam transportatum iri. lam vero prior narratio cum vaticiniis praecedentibus, quae regem populumque ad invasionem Sennacherib praeparant, intime cohaeret eorumque impletionem demonstrat, altera aptissima est praefatio vaticiniorum secundae partis, quae in liberatione ex exsilio babylonico et ex iugo peccati describenda integra versatur. Quare illis omnino assentimur, qui duas partes ita distinguunt, ut priorem narrationem priori parti attribuant (1.-37.), alteram secundae (38. -66.).
À priore tamen parte sex prima capita velut integri operis introductionem separemus oportet !, qua summum eius argumentum indicatur, auctoritas eius demonstratur, fructus, quem inter Iudaeos producturum sit innuitur. Tribus autem concionibus et visionibus constat, quarum prima argumentum comminativum magis evolvit promissionibus obiter indicatis (c. 1.), altera promissiones multo clarius praedicat (c. 2. - 5.) , te:tia descriptione visionis, qua Isaias propheta inauguratus est, libri auctoritatem et fructum, quem inter suos proferet , manifestat (c. 6.). Porro prior pars sua sponte in tres sectiones distribuitur; nam prima agit de periculo, quod regno Iuda ab Assyriis per Achaz advocatis imminebat (c. 7.-12.), altera complectitur vaticinia contra exteras gentes (c. 13.-27.), tertia demum praeparat animos ad invasionem Sennacherib narratque felicem belli istius assyriaci exitum (c. 28. - 37.). Altera quoque pars praeter praefationem historicam (c. 38. 39.) tres sectiones complectitur eiusdem fere longitudinis, quae versu intercalari (« Non est pax impiis, dicit Dominus » 48,92; 57,91) distinguuntur. Eorum vero argumentum interpretes multi recte indicatum vident 40, 2 : « completa est malitia » (vel rectius : milita N3x i. e. molestia et afflictio c. 40.-48.), « dimissa est iniquitas » (c. 49.-5'7.), « suscepit lerusalem duplicia » i. e. « multas magnasque gratias pro suis peccatis et poenis peccatorum, quas merebatur » (c. 58.- 66.). Concinna igitur est totius libri divisio :
II. Pars prior. Sion et mundus in iudicio redimentur (7.-37.)
1. Sion tempore Achaz a Deo per Assyrios punitur, sed salvatur propter Emmanuel (7.-12.);
2. Regna ethnica omnia a Deo destruuntur, ut eorum reliquiae benedictionum regni messianici participes fiant (13. -27.).
3. Sion tempore Ezechiae a Deo per Assyrios iterum punitur; sed salvatur, quia credidit (28. -37.).
III. Pars aitera. Conversi in iustitia redimentur (38. -60.).
1. Post historicam introductionem (38. 39) promittit propheta terminatam esse aerumnam (40. - 48.),
3. multiplices fore benedictiones regni messianici (38. - 66.).
Accuratiorem idearum nexum in analysi paucis indicare conabimur, ut operis unitas clarius eluceat.
3. Is. 1,27 (text. hebr.); alii vertere malunt : reduces eius in. iustitia (sc. redimentur). 313U utrumque sensum admittit, ut et reverti (ex exsilio) et converti (a peccato ad Deum) significet, atque fieri potuit, ut utrumque indicare voluerit propheta.
650 sqq.; 1879 p. 18 sqq. 429 sqq.), quem in analysi tradenda praecipuum ducem sequemur in paucis tantum dissentientes. Conferri meretur ex protestanticis Delitzsch Der Prophet Jesaia p. 18 sqq.; etiam Naegelsbach Der Prophet Jesaia p. XV. sqq. 1 sq. et passim in nexum idearum diligenter inquirit.
« in prima comminatur duabus tribubus peccantibus (1.-6.), in secunda aliis eas perscquenlibus (7. -31.), in tertia liberat ab hostibus imminentibus (32. -39.) ». Nec felicius Lyranus duas sectiones distinguit : « primo ponitur punitio quantam ad Iudaeos (1,2- 10,4), secundo quantum ad populos exteros (10,5-39,8). Eandem fere, quam Delitzsch et Trochon, divisionem prioris partis habet iam Corn. a Lap.
1. Concio prima argumentum comminativum libri indicat : populus, quum magnae vocationis suae immemor in gravissima peccata delapsus sit, severo iudicio ad salutem reducendus est (1,2-31).
8.) Increpatur populus, qui omnium beneficiorum immemor ne ipsis quidem calamitatibus, quas patitur, ad Deum reduci potuit, ita ut parva spes salutis adsit (1,2-10); b.) frustra enim confidit mere externo suo cultu, qui a Deo reprobatur; interna conversio necessaria est, atque tum Deus quoque stabit promissis suis (1,11 -20). .
C.) At quam perversus est status populi; hinc nihil restat, nisi severum iudicium, quo Sion redimetur ablatis omnibus peccatoribus (4,91- 30).
2. Concio secunda, licet etiam $udicium praedicat, magis tamen argumentum consolatorium explicat et glorioso statui regni messianici. praesentem tristem rerum statum opponens necessitatem iudiciorum manifestat e 1- 5,30).
À. Glorioso statui messianico opponitur perversus status populi (2,
1-4,2). a.) Tempore messianico omnes gentes concurrent ad verum Deum colendum et sub eius dominio summa pace et felicitate fruentur (2,4 - 4).
b.) Exhortatur propheta populum suum, ut ipse quoque accurrat (2,5). Quam exhortationem necessariam esse demonstrat perversitas populi, quae Dei iudicia provocet (2,6-41). Iam vero
«.) iudiciis his divinis auferentur omnia, quibus nunc superbiunt (2,12 - 47), atque maxime idola (2,18-22), P.) at iisdem etiam plectentur Iuda et lerusalem (3,1 -11), praeprimis autem illi, qui ruinae sunt causa, principes et mulieres (3,42-4,1). B. Ne vero integer populus iudiciis divinis auferendus videatur, propheta antequam ad alteram increpationis partem transeat, praemittit alterum vaticinium messianicum, cui adnectitur increpatio (4,2-5,30).
a.) Ex ipsa terra Iuda velut germen progredietur Messias, qui sanctificabit reliquias Israel easque semper tuebitur (4,2- 6).
b.) Ad increpationem autem transiens parabolam proponit de vinea fructum non afferente eamque explicat (5,4 -7), atque deinde eam in populo verificari ostendit
&.) énumeratis peccatis, quibus est deditus (5,8- 23), £.) annuntiatis poenis, quibus punietur (5,24- 30). J. Visio, qua propheta inauguratur (6,4 -43).
a.) Dominus Deus a Seraphim ipsum laudantibus circumdatus Isaiae apparens (6,4-4) b.) eius labia per unum ex Seraphim mundat (6,5 - 7),
€.) eumque sese offerentem tamquam legatum populo mittit, fructu missionis explicato (6,8 -43).
II. PARs PRIOR (7,4 -37,38). SION ET MUNDUS IN IUDICIO REDIMENTUR 32 paragraphs
1. Vaticinia tempore Achaz edita. Apte distinguuntur tria membra (7,1-25 ; — 8,1-9,7; — 9,8-12,6), quae in eo conveniunt, quod propter futurum Messiam (Emmanuel) Israeli salutem promitiant, sed viam ad salutem esse divina iudicia ostendant, quibus impii destruentur et humanae potentiae deiicientur.
2.) Quum reges Israel et Syriae foedus inissent, ut domum davidicam throno privarent, propheta cum filio suo Schearjaschub regi Achaz annuntiare iubetur, hostium conatus fore irritos (7,1 - 7), Syriam et Israel punitum iri, modum autem salutis pro Iuda dependere a fide regis et populi (7,8. 9).
b.) Achaz nec credere vult nec signum a Deo petere (7,10-12), quare a.) Deus ipse dat signum certissimum quum salutis domus davidicae tum proximae liberationis, sc. Emmanuelem e Virgine nasciturum (7,13-16);
8.) sed quia Achaz non credidit, in iudicio redimetur Sion; punietur enim ab illis ipsis Assyriis, quos Domino suo diffisus rex in auxilium advocavit (7,17 -25).
,8.) Alterum signum dare propheta iubetur, quod brevi finituram esse calamifatem a regibus Israel et Syriae imminentem manifestet (8,4 - 4.
b.) Quia vero Iuda non credidit, Syria et Israel quidem ab Assyriis punientur, at ab iisdem regnum Iuda etiam punietur, redimetur autem ab illis et ab aliis hostibus propter Emmanuel (8,5-10).
'€.) Cui promissioni adnectit instructionem, qua ratione agere debeant in ista calamitate.
2.) Ad legem et testimonium eos revocans monet, illa non esse timenda, quae populus perversus timet, sed solum Deum esse timendum (8,11 - 18);
B.) ab ethnica quoque superstitione abstinentes ad solum Deum re- 'currant; qui vero id facere recusaverit, in tenebris erit et in angustiis (8,19-22).
d.) Terminat autem concionem promittens piis exorituram esse in illis calamitatibus lucem magnam, sc. Emmanuelem et regnum eius (9,4 - 1).
C. Tertium vaticinium (9,8-12,6). Priora vaticinia magis erant contra Achaz regnumque Iuda, quia Domino suo diffisi Assyriorum auxilium invocaverant; at nunc Israeli poenas annuntiat et, Assyriis, quia regnum Iuda aggredi ausi erant.
2.) Quatuor strophis, quae versu intercalari (« In omnibus his non est aversus furor Domini etc. 9,12. 47. 21; 10,4) distinguuntur, ostendit, Israelem peccatis suis poenam meruisse, eamque fore gravissimam , immo regnum destructum iri per Assyrios (9,8-10,4).
b.) Ab Israel se vertit propheta contra Assyriam, per quam Israel est interiturus. Nam
«.) Assur pro sua superbia missione divina, ut Israelem puniat, abusus dignum se reddidit poenis (10,5 - 15);
B.) quare ita est destruendus, ut reliquiae Israel non amplius eius auxilium sint invocaturae sed a solo Domino suo illud petiturae (10,1623).
R2) Populus igitur Dei, etsi advenientibus Assyriis hostibus prematur, ne timeat; subita enim ruina hostes peribunt (10,24-34".
c.) Dum Assur autem, qui est sicut saltus Libani, subito destruetur, ex humili trunco Iesse velut surculus prodibit Messias, qui rex omnibus donis Spiritus ornatus (11,1-5) regnutr fundabit summae pacis (11,6-10), summaeque potentiae, in quo reliquiae Israel congregabuntur et quod alia regna devincet secumque coniunget (11, 11-16).
d.) Quapropter cantico gratiarum actionis et laetitiae propter tam eximiam salutem sectionem hanc propheta terminat (12,4 -6).
2. Ongna CONTRA GENTES (13,1 - 27,13). Sicul [srael in iudicio redimetur, ita reliquae gentes punientur et destruentur, ut in, earum ruinis exsurgat regnum messianicum, in quod earum reliquiae intrabunt. Tamquam prologus huic sectioni praemittitur onus Babylonis, quippe quod regnum integram quasi potentiam mündanam repraesentet (13,1-14,27); epilogus autem est vaticinium de universali iudicio et de fructu singulis iudiciis producendo (24,1-27,13); de singulis populis autem ita agit propheta, ut a vicinis incipiat (14,28-17,14), ad longinquos transeat, atque ab illis ad viciniores revertatur (18,1 - 23,18).
A. Onus Babylonis (13,4 -14,27), quae typus est totius potestatis anti-
' &.) Dramatice describit propheta, quomodo Deus exercitum contra Babylonem congreget (13,1-5), et quantus sit terror appropinquanlis illius iudicii (13,6 - 14).
b.) Vividissimis deinde coloribus depingit excidium Babylonis (13, 14-22);
€.) cuius iudicii fructus et finis erit liberatio filiorum Israel et ingressus populorum in societatem Israelitarum, i. e. in regnum messianicum (144. 2).
a.) ruinam interitumque regis Babylonis celebrant (14,3-11),
B.) ruinaeque gravitatem exaggerant oppositione pristinae eius su- . perbiae (14,12- 21). : e.) Certitudinem iudicii contra Babel aliquando exercendi iureiurando asserit Deus confirmatque certitudine instantis iudicii contra Assyriam (14,22 - 27).
8.) Onus PAilisthaeae (14,28-32). Etsi Iuda nunc sit sicut virga confracta, Philisthaea tamen ne laetetur; Iuda enim reflorebit, Philisthaea integra peribit; Sion enim a Domino est fundata, atque apud eam quaerenda est salus. : a.) Medias in res nos abripiens propbeta describit Moab iam destructum et devastatum (15,1-9), atque Moabitas exhortatur, ut Sionis dominium agnoscant ab eaque auxilium petant (16,1 - 5).
B.) Verum quoniam exhortationi huic non parent Moabitae , propter superbiam suam ita punientur, ut propheta ipse commiserationem suam exprimat (16,6 - 12).
1.) Post tres annos demum iudicii initium fore annuntiat (16,13. 14^.
a.) Damasci atque Israelis, qui foedus inierant contra Iuda, interitus ita praedicitur (17,1-6), ut simul castigationis fructus innuatur (4,1. 8).
8.) Accuratius describit interitum, qui completus erit (17,9-11),
1-) hosti autem, per quem Damascus et Israel peribunt (sc. Assyriis) rapidum excidium praedicit (17,12-14).
C. Onera gentium longinquarum, a quibus ad viciniores revertitur (18,1-
Cornelius a Lapide
Enigmas: From Daniel (Histories)
I. Cap. III, vers. 16. "It is not necessary for us to answer thee concerning this matter. For behold our God, whom we worship, is able to deliver us from the furnace of burning fire, and to save us out of thy hands, O king. But if he will not, be it known to thee, O king, that we will not worship thy gods, nor will we adore the golden statue which thou hast set up."
Continue reading 120 paragraphs
II. Vers. 40. "As in the holocaust of rams and bulls, and as in thousands of fat lambs: so let our sacrifice be made in thy sight this day, that it may please thee: for there is no confusion to them that trust in thee."
III. Cap. VI, vers. 22. "My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut up the mouths of the lions, and they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him justice hath been found in me."
IV. Cap. IX, vers. 7. "To thee, O Lord, justice: but to us confusion of face, as it is this day."
V. Cap. XIII, vers. 22. "I am straitened on every side: for if I do this thing, it is death to me: and if I do it not, I shall not escape your hands. But it is better for me to fall into your hands without doing this thing, than to sin in the sight of the Lord." This is the golden utterance of Susanna.
VI. Vers. 56. "Seed of Chanaan, and not of Juda: beauty hath deceived thee, and lust hath perverted thy heart: thus you dealt with the daughters of Israel, and they for fear spoke with you: but the daughter of Juda would not bear with your wickedness."
VII. Vers. 59. "Thou hast lied against thy own head: for the angel of the Lord hath received the sentence of God to cut thee in two."
Enigmas: From Isaiah
I. Cap. X, vers. 22. "Consumption shortened shall overflow with justice," that is to say, The fewness of the Jews, shortened by God, is so great that it shall appear to be a consumption, that is, a destruction and ruin of them, and shall cause the justice and salvation of God to spread itself and be diffused through all nations, and to overflow them as it were: see the sayings of Isaiah X.
II. Vers. 27. "The yoke shall rot at the presence of the oil," that is to say, All servitude shall vanish at the presence of the grace and consolation of God.
III. Cap. XI, vers. 1. "And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him." The rod of Jesse is the blessed Virgin, from whom germinated the flower Christ, upon whom rested the sevenfold spirit of the Lord.
IV. Vers. 6. "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb: and the leopard shall lie down with the kid: the calf and the lion and the sheep shall abide together, and a little child shall lead them." The wolves, leopards, and lions are barbarous nations, which converted to the faith of Christ have laid aside their ferocity, and with the calf and the sheep, that is, with the faithful Christians, dwell peacefully and in friendship, and allow themselves to be ruled by a boy, that is, by a simple shepherd.
V. Vers. 10. "In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, namely Christ glorious, who stands as a sign, that is, a standard, of the peoples, the Gentiles shall beseech him, and his sepulchre shall be glorious."
VI. Cap. XII, vers. 3. "You shall draw waters with joy out of the fountains of the Saviour," that is to say, As the Jews of old, being thirsty, drank from the rock as from a fountain, so Christians shall drink from the fountains of Christ the waters of doctrine and grace unto fulness.
VII. Cap. XIII, vers. 1. "The burden of Babylon," that is to say, Threats and sad oracles against Babylon. "Upon the dark mountain," that is to say, Against Babylon, which is covered with the mist of the vapours of the Euphrates and of smoke proceeding from so many of its houses and hearths, you, O Persians, lift up a standard, that is, a military ensign. "I have commanded my sanctified ones," namely the Persians, who as soldiers and priests are consecrated to me, that they may slay and immolate the impious Babylonians for my justice.
VIII. Cap. XIV, vers. 12. "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning? thou art cut down to the ground, that didst wound the nations? who didst say in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit in the mountain of the covenant, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I will be like the most High. But yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, into the depth of the pit," that is to say, How, O Baltasar the monarch, thou who didst appear in splendour and glory to be as the star Lucifer, and in pride as Lucifer, once the prince of the Angels, hast thou fallen from the throne of thy monarchy, as from heaven, stripped of thy kingdom and thy life, and cast down into the depths of hell?
IX. Vers. 29. "From the root of the serpent shall come forth a king, and his seed shall swallow the flying serpent," that is to say, From David and Ozia shall be born Ezechias, who shall afflict you, O Philistines, more grievously than they themselves, so that he shall appear to you to be a basilisk, which by its look and breath even kills and swallows flying birds.
X. Cap. XVI, vers. 14. "In three years, as the years of a hireling, the glory of Moab shall be taken away," that is to say, After three years Moab shall be laid waste by the Chaldaeans, who shall receive his riches as it were for a reward from God, because they served him in the conquest of Jerusalem and the punishment of other nations.
XI. Cap. XVIII, vers. 1. "Woe to the land of the whirring of wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, which sends ambassadors into the sea, and in vessels of papyrus upon the waters. Go, swift angels, to a nation scattered and torn in pieces, to a people terrible, after whom there is no other; to a nation expecting and trodden down, whose rivers have spoiled the land thereof," that is to say, Woe to Ethiopia, which proudly displays its forces; since they have nothing except empty ostentation, noise, and as it were the tinkling of a cymbal; which is situated beyond the Nile, and through it sends its ambassadors and soldiers in papyrus ships into Egypt: for it shall be laid waste by Sennacherib, and afterwards by Nebuchadnezzar. You therefore, O Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar, as my angels, go and lay waste the Ethiopians, who are a nation scattered, that is, to be scattered and torn in pieces by me through you, though they appear to be terrible.
XII. Cap. XIX, vers. 18. "In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt, speaking the language of Chanaan, and swearing by the Lord of hosts: The city of the sun shall be called one," that is to say, Five metropolises of Egypt, that is, all Egypt shall receive the faith of Christ, and shall worship and praise the true God.
XIII. Vers. 19. "In that day there shall be an altar of the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a title of the Lord near the border thereof shall be for a sign, and for a testimony to the Lord." By title he calls the cross, statues, columns, and temples, which the Egyptians converted to Christ themselves erected.
XIV. Vers. 24. "In that day Israel shall be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land, which the Lord of hosts hath blessed, saying: Blessed be my people Egypt, and the work of my hands Assyria: but my inheritance Israel," that is to say, Egyptians and Assyrians, now enemies among themselves, under Christ shall conspire into one Church, and with the Israelites shall worship the true God, and therefore shall be blessed by him: for Israel is God's inheritance, that is, the Christian people born in Israel.
XV. Cap. XXI, vers. 1. "The burden of the desert of the sea," that is to say, A threatening prophecy against Babylon, which, since it was a sea of nations, shall now be desolated by God through Cyrus, and reduced to a desert. "As whirlwinds come from the south," so "from the desert comes" a throng and whirlwind of Persians and Medes against Babylon.
XVI. Vers. 6. "Go, and set a watchman. And he saw" the watchman "a chariot of two horsemen, a rider upon an ass, and a rider upon a camel." A rider upon an ass, that is, the king of the vile and servile Persians, is Cyrus; a rider upon a camel, that is, the king of the noble Medes, is Darius: this Isaiah beheld these two, and saw them with joined chariots and forces invade Babylon.
XVII. Vers. 8. "And he cried as a lion: Upon the watchtower of the Lord I am, standing continually by day," that is to say, I Isaiah, as a vigilant lion, continually keep watch, that I may learn future things from the revelation of God and foretell them to others.
XVIII. Vers. 10. "My threshing, and the children of my floor, which I have heard from the Lord of hosts God of Israel, I have declared unto you," that is to say, O Jews, who were in Babylon, as it were in threshing, I shall announce to you those things which I have heard from God concerning the destruction of Babylon and your liberation.
XIX. Vers. 11. "He crieth to me from Seir: Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said: The morning cometh, and also the night: if you will inquire, inquire: return, come," that is to say, I Isaiah seem to hear the Idumeans, fearful at the approach of the Chaldeans, say to the watchman: O watchman, what have you seen, what have you perceived in the night concerning the Chaldeans? To whom he himself answers: "The morning cometh, and also the night," that is to say, Dawn is at hand, and yet it is still night; wherefore if you wish to go forth anywhere, if you wish to seek anything outside, hasten, and seek, and soon return to the city, before the enemy, awakening, perceives you and cuts off your return.
XX. Vers. 16. "Yet in one year, as in the year of a hireling, and all the glory of Cedar shall be taken away." See the things said above cap. XVI, vers. 14.
XXI. Cap. XXII, vers. 1. "The burden of the valley of vision." Jerusalem is called the valley of vision, that is, of Prophecy: for it was the seat of the Prophets. He alludes to the mount of Moria, that is, of vision.
XXII. Cap. XXIII, vers. 1. "The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of the sea, for the house is laid waste, from whence you were wont to come." Vers. 3. "In many waters the seed of the Nile, the harvest of the river is her fruit," that is to say, Egypt from the waters of the Nile overflowing becomes fertile, and gives a plentiful harvest and fruits.
XXIII. Vers. 4. "Be ashamed, O Sidon," because your colony, and as it were your daughter, namely Tyre, is laid waste. "For the sea saith: I have not travailed, nor brought forth, nor nourished young men: the sea," that is, Tyre the mistress of the sea, is thus bereft of inhabitants and children by this calamity, as if she had never brought them forth or nourished them.
XXIV. Vers. 10. "Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of the sea, there is no more a girdle for thee," that is to say, O daughter of the sea, that is, O Tyre, the Chaldean has taken away from you the girdle of the sea surrounding you on all sides: for he has filled that with earth, and thus has conquered you; pass therefore as a captive, not through a river, but through the land into Babylon.
XXV. Cap. XXIV, vers. 16. "My secret to me, my secret to me," etc. "Her princes in the midst thereof, as wolves ravening the prey."
XIV. Vers. 30. "And I sought among them for a man that should make up a hedge, and stand in the gap before me in favour of the land, that I should not destroy it: and I found none."
XV. Cap. XXXIII, vers. 11. "As I live, saith the Lord God: I will not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way, and live."
XVI. Vers. 32. "And thou (son of man), art to them as a musical song, which is sung with a sweet and pleasant voice: and they hear thy words, and do them not."
VII. Cap. XIII, vers. 1. "The burden of Babylon," that is to say, Threats and oracles of sorrow against Babylon. "Upon the dark mountain," that is to say, Against Babylon, which is covered with the darkness of the vapours of the Euphrates and of smoke issuing from so many of its houses and hearths, you, O Persians, lift up a standard, that is, a military banner. "I have commanded my sanctified ones," namely the Persians, who as soldiers and priests consecrated to me, shall slay and immolate the impious Babylonians for my justice.
XV. Cap. XXI, vers. 1. The burden of the desert of the sea, that is to say, A threatening prophecy against Babylon, which, since it was a sea of nations, shall now be desolated by God through Cyrus, and reduced to a desert. "As whirlwinds from the south come," so "from the desert comes" a throng and whirlwind of Persians and Medes against Babylon.
XVIII. Vers. 10. "My threshing, and the children of my floor: which I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have declared unto you," that is to say, O Jews, who were in Babylon, as it were in a threshing floor, I shall announce to you those things which I have heard from God concerning the destruction of Babylon and your liberation.
Vers. 3. "In many waters is the seed of the Nile, the harvest of the river is its fruit," that is to say, Egypt from the waters of the Nile overflowing becomes fertile, and yields a copious harvest and fruits.
XXV. Cap. XXIV, vers. 16. "My secret to me, my secret to me, woe is me," that is to say, Woe is me, because I cannot explain the dreadful punishments decreed by God for sinners, which have been revealed to me secretly by him.
XXVI. Cap. XXVI, vers. 14. "The dead shall not live, the giants shall not rise again," that is to say, The proud and tyrants, such as the giants were, shall die the death eternal in hell, and shall not rise again to blessed life.
XXVII. Cap. XXVII, vers. 1. "In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword shall visit upon Leviathan the serpent the bar, and upon Leviathan the serpent the tortuous, and shall slay the whale that is in the sea." Leviathan, or whale, here is an enigma of the devil, who is the ancient serpent, strong as a bar: God shall slay him, when on the day of judgment he shall deprive him of all his power, which he exercised in this world, and shall thrust him down into the depths to eternal death.
XXVIII. Vers. 6. "They that come with violence into Jacob, shall make Israel to flourish and bud, and they shall fill the face of the world with seed," that is to say, The Apostles, who with great impetus of the Spirit shall preach to the Jacobites, that is the Jews, shall make them flourish in virtues, and shall fill the world with the seed of the Gospel.
XXIX. Vers. 8. "With measure against measure, when it shall be cast off, thou shalt judge it," that is to say, Thou shalt punish it with equal measure, so that the magnitude of the punishment may equal the magnitude of the fault.
XXX. Vers. 11. "In drought his harvests shall be beaten down, women coming and teaching him: for it is not a wise people," that is to say, The Jews shall be so afflicted by famine, that destitute of counsel they shall be taught by their wives what must be done in such great affliction.
XXXI. Cap. XXVIII, vers. 9. "Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand the hearing? them that are weaned from the milk, that are drawn away from the breasts," that is to say, God gives knowledge to those who withdraw themselves from carnal delights.
XXXII. Vers. 10. "For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little." These are the words of mockers, who by mockery repeat the words of the Prophets. "Precept upon precept, etc."
XXXIII. Vers. 11. "For with stammering lips, and another tongue he will speak to this people." that is to say, As the Hebrews mock the Prophets with stammering tongue, so shall the Chaldeans mock them speaking Chaldean, not Hebrew; whence he subjoins. Vers. 13. "And the word of the Lord shall be to them: Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little: that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken," that is to say, Because they have mocked the word of the Lord, and its heralds saying, "Precept upon precept, etc.," therefore they shall be cast down and taken captive.
XXXIV. Vers. 20. "The bed is straitened, so that one must fall out: and the covering is narrow, so that it cannot cover both," that is to say, You cannot worship me with idols, nor can you place me with them in the same temple: for my temple, and my religion is narrow, and holds me alone, not idols.
XXXV. Vers. 21. "For as the Lord shall stand in the mountain of divisions: as in the valley, which is in Gabaon, he shall be angry: that he may do his work, his strange work: that he may perform his work, his work is strange from him," that is to say, As God in Baal Pharasim, that is in the mountain of divisions, fighting for David divided and scattered the Philistines; and as in Gabaon he stood for Josue to make the sun stand still, that the Chanaanites might be slain: so now shall he scatter and slay his enemies, although this work of vengeance be as it were strange to him: for unwillingly does he punish, whose nature it is to have mercy.
XXXVI. Cap. XXIX, vers. 1. "Woe to Ariel, Ariel the city which David took by storm. Ariel," that is, lion, or ram of God, is Jerusalem; because in it was the altar, on which rams were sacrificed to God: wherefore it itself defended by God, was terrible to the Gentiles as a lion: but now abandoned by him and laid waste, it will be as a ram slaughtered and sacrificed to divine vengeance. Vers. 2. "And I will compass Ariel about, and it shall be sorrowful and mourning, and it shall be to me as Ariel," namely as a ram of my justice sacrificed.
XXXVII. Vers. 17. "Shall not yet in a little while and in a short time Lebanon be turned into Carmel, and Carmel shall be counted for a forest?" Lebanon a part of Phoenicia, is an enigma of the Gentiles, Carmel of the Jews, that is to say, the Phoenicians, that is the Gentiles, through Christ shall flourish in faith and grace, but the Jews themselves rebellious shall wither and become wild.
XXXVIII. Cap. XXX, vers. 6. "The burden of the beasts of the south," that is, the threats of God against the Jews, who like beasts laden with their goods flee into Egypt, which is to the south of Judaea: for in the journey, namely in the desert, there shall meet them lions, vipers and flying serpents, which shall tear them. This is indeed what he adds: "In the land of tribulation and distress, the lioness and lion from them, the viper and the flying serpent, carrying upon the shoulders of beasts their riches, and upon the hump of camels their treasures, to a people that shall not be able to profit them."
XXXIX. Vers. 33. "Tophet is prepared from yesterday, prepared by the king, deep and wide. The nourishment thereof is fire, and much wood: the breath of the Lord like a torrent of brimstone kindling it." Tophet is an enigma of hell, because as in Tophet infants were burned in honor of Moloch, so in Gehenna the damned are burned at the pleasure of the Devil.
XL. Cap. XXXII, vers. 14. "Joy of wild asses, pastures of flocks, until the spirit be poured upon us from on high," that is to say, the desolation of Judaea shall endure, so that in it not men, but wild asses shall feed, until Christ shall send upon them the spirit of faith and grace, which shall convert them to God and salvation. Vers. 17. "And the work of justice shall be peace, and the service of justice silence and security forever," that is to say, the reward of the faithful shall be, that justified by Christ they shall obtain, first, peace of conscience; second, silence, that is, rest and the greatest tranquility; third, secure confidence of eternal beatitude.
XLI. Vers. 19. "And hail in the descent of the forest." That is, that is to say, the wrath of God shall hail, and shall strike the Jews, who have fallen away from the true worship of God and his glory, and have become like a desert and wild field.
XLII. Vers. 20. "Blessed are ye that sow upon all waters, sending thither the foot of the ox and the ass," that is to say, O blessed ones, Apostles, who into all waters, that is, into all peoples, send oxen and asses, that is, workers and preachers of the Gospel.
XLIII. Cap. XXXIV, vers. 4. "And all the host of the heavens shall pine away, and the heavens shall be folded together as a book: and all their host shall fall down as the leaf falleth from the vine and from the fig tree," that is to say, at the end of the world the stars shall fall from heaven, and the heavens shall be so darkened that they shall seem to waste away and vanish.
XLIV. Cap. XLI, vers. 2. "Who hath raised up the just one from the east (Abraham), called him to follow him? shall give (that is, gave) in his sight the nations, and shall rule over kings: shall give as dust to his sword, as stubble driven by the wind to his bow," that is to say, Who called Abraham, and made him glorious and a conqueror of four kings, Genesis XIV, was it not I God? Vers. 4. "Who hath wrought and done these things, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, first and last, I am he." For God is the king of ages, establishing, disposing and ordering all things.
XLV. Vers. 27. "The first shall say to Sion: Behold they are here" the Apostles, and preachers of the Gospel, "and to Jerusalem the Evangelist," that is the Evangelists and preachers of Christ and salvation, "I will give."
XLVI. Cap. XLIII, vers. 8. "Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears," that is to say, My people have eyes, and yet are blind; because they close them: and have ears, and yet are deaf; because they stop them to the warnings of God. Again, seeing they see not, hearing they hear not; because they will not understand what they see and hear, and fulfill it in deed.
XLVII. Vers. 20. "The beasts of the field shall glorify me, the dragons and the ostriches: because I have given waters in the desert, rivers in the wilderness, to give drink to my people, my chosen," that is to say, the Gentiles, who in paganism lived as beasts and dragons, now through Christ made men, nay Angels, shall glorify God; because I have given them rivers of graces.
XLVIII. Cap. XLIV, vers. 5. "This one shall write with his hand, To the Lord," that is, I am the servant of the Lord: "and shall be surnamed by the name of Israel," that is, shall be called Israel, or Israelite.
XLIX. Cap. XLVI, vers. 1. "Bel is broken, Nabo is destroyed," that is to say, Babylon with its gods, Bel and Nabo, has been overthrown and destroyed.
L. Cap. L, vers. 11. "Behold, you all kindle a fire, girded about with flames, walk in the light of your fire, and in the flames which you have kindled." The sinner through sins, as it were through a bellows and dry wood, kindles for himself the fire of God's wrath, vengeance and hell; whence comes to pass what follows: "You shall lie down in sorrows."
LI. Cap. LI, vers. 1. "Look unto the rock whence you are hewn, and to the cave of the pit from which you are dug." The cutting from the rock and the cave is an enigma of the generation of Abraham and Sarah, who were barren, just as a rock is barren. For the Hebrews call generating to build a house, and they call sons banim, as it were abanim, that is stones, from which each one builds a house.
LII. Cap. LII, vers. 11. "Depart, depart, go out thence, touch not what is unclean: go out from the midst thereof, be clean, you that carry the vessels of the Lord," as if to say: Go out from Babylon, O Israelites, lest you be polluted by its crimes, as well as by the slaughter and destruction thereof.
LIII. Vers. 14. "As many have been astonished at thee, so shall his visage be inglorious among men, and his form among the children of men. He shall sprinkle many nations, over him shall kings shut their mouth." This is an enigma of Christ, who was inglorious in his nativity, life and death, but by his blood he sprinkled and washed all nations, and therefore they themselves with their kings submitted to him. Whence follows: "For that which hath not been told them, they shall see; and that which they had not heard, they shall understand," as if to say: The Gentiles, ignorant of God and salvation, beheld it through Christ.
LIV. Cap. LIII, vers. 9. "He shall give the wicked for his burial, and the rich for his death," as if to say: God shall subject the wicked and the rich to Christ, as a reward for his death and burial, and namely shall cause that Joseph of Arimathea, a noble and rich man, shall bury him honorably.
LV. Cap. LV, vers. 13. "Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the nettle shall come up the myrtle tree," as if to say: In the Church virtues shall grow instead of vices.
LVI. "And the Lord shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name," as if to say: God in the Church shall have a name and praise and a perpetual monument.
LVII. Cap. LVI, vers. 10. "His watchmen are all blind, they are all ignorant: dumb dogs not able to bark, seeing vain things, sleeping, and loving dreams: and impudent dogs never knowing satiety." These dogs, watchmen and sentries, are an enigma of wicked shepherds, who study not the welfare of the flock, but their own gluttony, sloth and avarice. Whence, explaining this, he adds: "And the shepherds themselves understood not: all have turned aside into their own way, every one to his unjust gain from the first even to the last: Come, let us drink wine, and be filled with drunkenness."
LVIII. Cap. LVII, vers. 3. "But you, draw near hither, you sons of the sorceress, seed of the adulterer and of the harlot. Upon whom have you jested? upon whom have you opened your mouth wide, and put out your tongue? are not you children of iniquity, a false seed? These are enigmas and titles of idolaters and the impious, who, devoted to auguries and superstitions, are children not of God, but of the devil and impiety. Whence concerning them he adds: "You have received the adulterer (a strange god): you have enlarged your bed, and made a covenant with them: you have loved their bed with open hand. And you hast adorned thee with ointment the king (the idol Moloch), and multiplied thy ointments."
LIX. Vers. 16. "My spirit that is in thee, and my words that I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever." This is an enigma of God, who alone creates the souls of men, and to them the vital spirit, both the natural breath and the supernatural breath of grace, imparts and inspires.
LX. Vers. 19. "I have created the fruit of the lips, peace," as if to say: The fruit of piety and prayer is peace. For "the wicked" are "like the raging sea, which cannot rest."
LXI. Cap. LIX, vers. 5. "They have broken the eggs of asps, and have woven the webs of spiders: he that shall eat of their eggs shall die: and that which is hatched shall break out into a serpent." This is an enigma of the wicked, who infect others with their wickedness, as if to say: Just as an asp cannot lay an egg except an asp's egg and a venomous one; so these wicked men are so full of wickedness that they emit nothing but what is wicked and harmful: whoever therefore associates with them shall draw from them and with them nothing but ruin and destruction. He compares them likewise to the futile webs of spiders, as if to say: The wicked always harm by their deeds, never benefit.
LXII. Cap. LX, vers. 8. "Who are these that fly as clouds, and as doves to their windows?" Clouds and doves are an enigma of the faithful, who at the preaching of the Apostles flocked in troops to the Church, just as dense clouds fly through the air when the wind blows, and doves in flocks return to their nest when rain is imminent.
LXIII. Vers. 17. "For bronze I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver; and for wood bronze, and for stones iron: and I will make thy visitation peace, and thy rulers justice." He alludes to the temple of the Jews, and compares and prefers the Church to it, as if to say: The Church will succeed the Synagogue, in which all things will be more august and more magnificent than they were in the temple. For in it I will bring truth for the figure, light for the shadow, the spirit of love and liberty for the spirit of fear and servitude, all nations for few Jews, spiritual charisms for bodily goods, heavenly things for earthly, eternal things for temporal, divine things for human.
LXIV. Cap. LXI, vers. 5. "And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks: and the sons of strangers shall be your husbandmen and your vine-dressers. But you shall be called the Priests of the Lord, the ministers of our God." The shepherds, husbandmen and vine-dressers are the Bishops and pastors of the Gentiles: the priests are the apostles and hierarchs.
LXV. Cap. LXIII, vers. 1. "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bosra? this one beautiful in his robe, walking in the greatness of his strength." The Angels propose this riddle concerning Christ contending and vanquishing demons, and all the princes and peoples of the Gentiles, subject to them through idolatry and crimes, to which Christ, resolving it, answers: "I, that speak justice, and am a fighter to save." The Angels press on: "Why therefore is thy garment red, and thy clothes like theirs that tread in the wine press?" Christ answers: "I have trodden the wine press alone, etc., I have trodden them in my anger: and their blood is sprinkled upon my garments," as if to say: I am reddened both by my own blood, shed in my passion; and even more by the blood of my enemies, whom I have vanquished through my passion and death.
LXVI. Vers. 16. "Abraham hath not known us, and Israel hath been ignorant of us: thou, O Lord, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting," as if to say: Abraham cannot care for us and save us; wherefore it seems he knows us not and is ignorant of us: but thou, O Christ, carest for us and savest us: thou therefore art our father and redeemer.
LXVII. Cap. LXIV, vers. 1. "O that thou wouldst rend the heavens, and wouldst come down: the mountains would melt away at thy presence. As fire kindleth brushwood, and the fire burneth the waters." It is a riddle of the advent of Christ most greatly desired. He alludes to the advent of God on Sinai, when he gave the law to Moses: for then, beyond the usual manner, violent rains were mixed with fires and lightnings. As if to say: O that thou wouldst now similarly come down to us, O Christ, in the flesh, and wouldst melt the frost of our heart by the fire of thy divine love, and wouldst convert the waters of our torpor and vices into flames of fervor and zeal.
LXVIII. Cap. LXV, vers. 10. "And the plains shall be for flocks, and the valley of Achor for the resting place of herds, for my people that have sought me." For "plains" in Hebrew it is "Sharon" which was a place of Judaea most praised for its pastures. The "valley of Achor" was similar. Each place is a riddle and symbol of the Church. Therefore God promises to them here, that like Sharon and the valley of Achor, it will be a common pasture; because namely in it the faithful will be fed by the word of God, the Sacraments, and other charisms of God. The herds are the pious stronger in faith, who are fit for teaching and ruling: the flocks are the weaker and subject.
LXIX. Vers. 16. "In which (the Lord) he that is blessed upon the earth, shall be blessed in God amen: and he that sweareth in the earth, shall swear in God amen," as if to say: In the Church of Christ the faithful shall swear and worship God amen, that is, the true God, not a false one, namely the idols which they worshipped before, and therefore likewise they shall be truly blessed by God amen, that is, truly.
Riddles: From Jeremiah
LXX. Vers. 20. "There shall be no more there a child of days, and an old man that shall not fill his days," as if to say: True Christians will be perfect in faith and virtues; "for the child shall die a hundred years old, and (that is) the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed."
LXXI. Vers. 22. "According to the days of the tree" of life, "shall be the days of my people," as if to say: Christians shall live eternally, as if they had eaten from the tree of life in paradise.
LXXII. Cap. LXVI, vers. 24. "And they shall go out, and see the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me: their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched: and they shall be a loathsome sight to all flesh." It is a riddle of hell and the damned; for their bodies will be as the carcasses of the slain, food of fire and worm, a spectacle and eternal reproach to God, the Angels, and all the Saints.
I. Cap. II, vers. 23. "A swift runner explaining his ways." A swift and speedy runner is a riddle of the camel, which from its swift running is called a dromedary, as if to say: Just as the camel, when driven and raging with the frenzy of lust, runs to the male: so thou, O Jerusalem, driven by mad superstition, hast run to idols.
II. Vers. 24. "A wild ass accustomed in the wilderness, and in the desire of her soul drew in the wind of her love: none shall turn her away: all that seek her shall not fail, in her monthly courses they shall find her," that is to say, As a wild ass burning with lust draws in the breeze to cool its heat, and burning runs to the she-ass: so thou with all thy mind and course runnest to idols. If anyone seek thee, there in thy monthly courses and filth of thy fornication, that is, of thy idolatry, he shall find thee.
III. Vers. 31. "Am I become a wilderness to Israel, or a land of late growth?" that is to say, Have I been useless and barren to Israel as a wilderness is, or a land which produces nothing from itself, or late? that is to say, By no means: for I gave them a land flowing with milk and honey. "Why therefore hath my people said: We are departed, we will come to thee no more?"
IV. Vers. 34. "In thy wings is found the blood of the souls of the poor and innocent: I found them not in pits, but in all things which I mentioned above." It is an enigma of the hawk, which while it kills its prey, stains its wings with its blood, that is to say, Thou, O Israel, like a hawk flying upon the poor and innocent, hast stained thy garments with their blood: and that "not in pits" after the manner of thieves and robbers, but in the groves and forests of idols, where thou didst immolate them as victims.
V. Cap. IV, vers. 3. "Break up your fallow ground, and sow not upon thorns," that is to say, As in a field, that it may be capable of seed, thorns must first be pulled out, and the field ploughed, that it may become fallow ground: so also do ye purge the field of your heart from the thorns of vices, and plough it with humility and contrition; that it may become fallow ground capable of divine seed, namely grace and virtues. Whence explaining this he adds: "Be circumcised to the Lord, and take away the foreskins," not of the flesh, but "of your hearts."
VI. Vers. 7. "A lion is come up from his couch, and a spoiler of the nations hath lifted himself up." Here the spoiler and lion is Nabuchodonosor, and any tyrant; his couch is Chaldaea.
VII. Vers. 23. "I beheld the earth, and lo it was void and nothing; and the heavens, and there was no light in them. I saw the mountains, and behold they were moved," that is to say, So great shall be the fear and consternation in the destruction of the Jews, that to them heaven and earth seem to be shaken, to perish and be destroyed.
VIII. Cap. V, vers. 1. "Go about the ways of Jerusalem, etc., and seek in the streets thereof, if you can find a man that executeth judgment, and seeketh faith: and I will be merciful to him," namely to Jerusalem for the sake of one man. God seeketh a man who in virtue is truly a man, him he esteemeth more than a hundred women: women are soft and unstable in virtue. A similar man Diogenes sought at Athens.
IX. Vers. 6. "Therefore a lion out of the forest hath slain them, a wolf in the evening hath spoiled them, a leopard watcheth over their cities." Here is a threefold enigma of Nabuchodonosor. For he is first called a lion, on account of terror and strength; secondly, a wolf, on account of voracity; thirdly, a leopard, on account of swiftness and watchfulness.
X. Vers. 14. "Behold I give my words in thy mouth for a fire, and this people for wood, and it shall devour them," that is to say, I will make thy oracles and threats to be efficacious and in fact fulfilled, so that like fire they shall burn the Jews as dry wood.
XI. Vers. 16. "His quiver (of the nation of the Chaldaeans) is as an open sepulchre," that is to say, The Chaldaeans with their strong arrows piercing the Jews, shall send all to death and the grave.
XII. Cap. IX, vers. 21. "Death is come up through our windows, it is entered into our houses, to destroy the children from without, the young men from the streets." Death is an enigma of the Chaldaeans, and tropologically of demons and enticements, who breathe nothing but slaughter and deaths.
XIII. Cap. XII, vers. 5. "If thou hast run with footmen, and hath wearied thee: how canst thou contend with horses?" If thou canst not bear lesser things, how canst thou bear greater? If, O Jeremiah, thou art not able to endure the persecutions of thy fellow-citizens the Anathothites, how shalt thou endure the violence and fury of the Hierosolymites? Tropologically, if thou canst not sustain lying words, how shalt thou sustain stripes and martyrdom?
XIV. Vers. 13. "They have sown wheat, and reaped thorns," that is to say, The Jews hope for prosperity, but shall feel adversity: their happiness shall be turned into misery, abundance into want, the seed into thorns.
XV. Cap. XIII, vers. 16. "Give glory to the Lord your God," worship God, and obey him, "before it grow dark, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains," to which ye shall flee in the destruction of the city: "ye shall look for light, and he shall turn it into the shadow of death, and into darkness." The shadow of death is an enigma of the saddest things, and of the utmost anguish and peril. Whence he adds: Vers. 25. "This is thy lot, and the portion of thy measure from me, saith the Lord, because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood."
XVI. Cap. XV, vers. 12. "Shall iron be joined with iron from the north, and brass?" that is to say, Hard and brazen are the Jews, even as the Northerners the Chaldaeans; therefore they shall not be able to be joined together, nor shall a covenant made between them endure.
XVII. Vers. 19. "If thou separate the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth," that is to say: If thou, O Jeremiah, shalt separate thyself from those who play, the impious and unbelieving Jews, if thou shalt consecrate thy mind and mouth to me and to my word, not to trifles nor vanities, thou shalt be my mouth: because thou shalt use the same conceptions and words as I do, and I through thee, as through my mouth, shall announce my words to them and to the whole world; and its efficacy and fruit shall be that which he subjoins: "They shall be converted to thee, and thou shalt not be converted to them."
XVIII. Cap. XVII, vers. 11. "The partridge brooded upon eggs which she did not lay: she made riches, and not in judgment: in the midst of her days she shall leave them, and in the end shall be (that is, shall appear) foolish," that is to say: Just as a partridge, stealing the eggs of others, by sitting upon them hatches out chicks; but when these grow up and hear the voice of their true mother, they fly away to her: so also riches obtained by theft and frauds, from thieves and fraudulent men shall fly away to other true masters.
XIX. Vers. 12. "A throne of glory, exalted from the beginning, the place of our sanctification," that is to say: I do not fix my hope in man, but in God, and to his throne I send my prayers: for from thence I expect holiness, freedom, and all good.
XX. Cap. XVIII, vers. 14. "Shall the snow of Libanus which comes from the rock of the field fail? or shall the cold waters that flow down be dried up? Because my people hath forgotten me," that is to say: Just as the snow and waters from Libanus cannot fail, so neither in me, who am the fountain of living water, can the flow of goods and benefits to men, especially to the faithful, such as the Jews are, fail. How therefore can they forget their own and me?
XXI. Cap. XX, vers. 3. "The Lord hath not called thy name Phassur, but fear on every side. For thus saith the Lord: Behold I will give thee up to fear, thee and all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword."
XXII. Vers. 14. "Cursed be the day wherein I was born: the day in which my mother bore me, let it not be blessed." This curse is an enigma of the evils and miseries into which we enter through birth as through a door. Whence he soon subjoins: "Why came I out of the womb, to see labour and sorrow, and that my days should be consumed in confusion?"
XXIII. Cap. XXI, vers. 8. "Behold I set before you the way of life, and the way of death." The way of death is: "He that shall remain in this city, shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence." The way of life is: "But he that shall go out, and shall flee to the Chaldeans, that besiege you, shall live, and his life shall be to him as a spoil," that is to say: If you resist the Chaldean, you shall be slain; but if you surrender yourselves to him, you shall live: for God wills that you subject yourselves to him, and that you willingly undergo this penance of subjection and captivity for your sins.
XXIV. Cap. XXII, vers. 6. "Thou art Galaad to me, the head of Libanus," that is to say: Just as Galaad is the head of Libanus, so the royal house of David is the head of Jerusalem.
XXV. Vers. 19. "He shall be buried with the burial of an ass (namely in a dunghill, king Joakim slain by the Chaldeans) putrefied and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem."
XXVI. Cap. XXXI, vers. 22. "A woman shall compass a man," namely the blessed Virgin shall conceive and bear Christ.
XXVII. Vers. 23. "The Lord bless thee, beauty of justice, holy mountain," that is to say: May God bless thee, O Church, who art adorned with all justice and holiness.
XXVIII. Cap. XLVI, vers. 20. "A fair and beautiful heifer, a goad from the north shall come upon her," that is to say: Egypt exults in riches and delights like a wanton heifer; but soon Nabuchodonosor coming from Chaldea shall restrain her, and with his goads shall prick her so that she shall not know whither to turn.
XXIX. Cap. XLVIII, vers. 11. "Moab hath been fruitful from his youth, and hath rested upon his lees: and he hath not been poured out from vessel to vessel, and into captivity he hath not gone: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed," that is to say: Moab, neighbour to Sodom, drew from it bad flavours and odours, that is bad morals and loves, in which it always sat as in lees; because it was never transferred from vessel to vessel, that is because it never left its own seat and the neighbourhood of Sodom, nor ever went into captivity. Wherefore that it may change these morals, I shall transfer it to Babylon, just as wine in its lees becomes vapid, so that it may change and correct its flavour and odour, it is poured out from those lees into another vessel. Whence he subjoins:
XXX. Vers. 12. "I will send to her them that shall toss her, and shall empty her vessels, and break in pieces her bottles," that is to say: I will send to her the Chaldeans, who like travellers shall overturn the bottles, as if about to pour wine from one into another; but in reality they shall drain the wine and break the bottles, that is they shall plunder and consume the citizens and riches of Moab.
XXXI. Cap. LI, vers. 7. "A golden cup in the hand of the Lord, that maketh all the earth drunk: of the wine thereof the nations have drunk, and therefore they are moved." that is to say: God gave to the Jews and other nations the cup of his wrath and vengeance, which though outwardly golden and shining, those who drank it were troubled, and like drunken men and those bereft of mind were affected by sorrow. This cup is the war and slaughter which Nabuchodonosor brought upon all.
XXXII. Vers. 9. "We have healed Babylon, and she is not healed: let us forsake her, and go every one into his own land: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven" that is punishment and wound "of her." It is the voice of Angels, or rather of the neighbouring nations, which as physicians wished to heal Babylon and to defend her against Cyrus; but seeing her ruin and destruction, they fled and returned to their own.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
St Thomas Aquinas
IN ISAIAm PROPHETAM EXPOSITIO 2 paragraphs
Ex verbis istis tria possunt accipi circa librum Isaiae prophe’tae, quem prae manibus habemus; scilicet auctor, modus et materia. Circa primum tria ponuntur: scilicet auctor, auctoris minister, et ministri officium, sive donum. Auctor ostenditur in dicentis imperio: unde praemittitur: « Et respondet • mihi Dominus, et dixit: Scribe visum. » Auctor enim Scripturae sacrae Spiritus sanctus est. Infra 48: Nunc misit me Dominus, et Spiritus ejus. « Spiritus enim est qui loquitur mysteria, » sicut dicitur 1 Cor. 14. Minister ostenditur in scribentis actu: dicit enim, Scribe. Fuit autem lingua propheticae organum Spiritus sancti, sicut in Psal. 44. dicitur: « Lingua mea calamus scribae, velocior • scribentis. » 1 Cor. 5: « Quid igitur est Apollo? • Quid vero Paulus? Ministri ejus cui credi- • distis. » Officium vero ministri ostenditur in visionis privilegio: dicit enim, Visum. « Qui enim • hodie dicitur Propheta, olim vocabatur Videns, sicut 1 Reg. 9 dicitur. Et Numer. 12, dicitur: « Si • quis fuerit inter vos propheta Domini, in visio- • ne apparebo ei, vel per somnium loquar ad • illum. » Sic igitur patet auctor; sed modum ostendit in hoc quod sequitur, Et explana: modus enim istius prophetiae planus est et apertus. Unde, ut dicitur in Prologo (Hieronymi) « non videtur • vaticinari de futuris, sed magis de praeteritis hi- • storiam texere. » Et circa hoc tria ponuntur: scilicet visionis explanatio, explanationis ratio et utilitas consequens. Primum ostenditur in hoc quod dicitur, Explana eum. Explanatur autem ab eo visus, sive visio, tribus modis. Primo per similitudinis adaptationem; secundo per sententiae expressionem; tertio per verborum venustatem. Et in his tribus iste propheta alios prophetas excellit. Ponit enim pulchras et curiales similitudines, quae quidem sunt necessariae nobis, propter connaturalitatem sensus ad rationem: est enim naturale rationi nostrae accipere a sensibilibus: unde perspicacius capit ea quorum similia ad propositionem videt. Unde Dionysius in Epistola ad Titum secunda demonstrat, quod necessariae sint sensibiles figurae in Scripturis, dicens: « Quicumque plana cum audierint, in seipsis componunt figuram quamdam • ad intellectum Theologiae ipsos manuducenteum. » Et Osee 12: « In manibus prophetarum assimilata- • tus sum. » Excellit etiam in expressione sententiae, « ut videatur non prophetam, sed Evangelium • texere, » ut dicitur in Prologo galeato. Prover. 13: « Lingua sapientium ornat scientiam. » Sed explanationis tangitur consequenter ratio, cum dicit, Super tabulas. Sunt enim tabulae lapideae cordis, et sunt tabulae mollis et carnei cordis. 2 Cor. 3: « Epistola nostra vos estis . . . . scripta non in tabulis • lapideis, sed in tabulis cordis carnalibus. » Primae tabulae legis scriptae fuerunt digito Dei, sicut dicitur Exo. 51. Et ideo Scriptura est profunda et obscura, et plena multis mysteriis. Unde oportuit superscribi illis tabulis digito hominis planam prophetiam, ad explanandum. Infra 9: Sume tibi librum grandem, et scribe in co stylo hominis. Sed secundis tabulis, scilicet cordibus lapideis, superscribi oportuit plane ad confutandum. Matth. 15. « Bene prophetavit de • vobis Isaias dicens: Populus hic labiis me hono- • rat, cor autem eorum longe est a me. » Sed tertiis tabulis, scilicet cordibus carnalibus, oportet plane superscribi ad instruendum. 2 Esdrae 8: • Signate in libro Dei distincte et aperte ad intel- • ligendum. » Et sequitur: « Et intellexerunt cum • legeretur. » Utilitas autem explanationis ostenditur in hoc quod sequitur, Ut percurrat. Percurre- re enim est expedite in finem currando devenire. Est autem finis triplex; scilicet finis legis, finis praecepti et finis vitae. « Finis legis Christus est • ad justitiam omni credenti; » sicut dicitur ad Rom. 10. « Finis praecepti caritas est: » 1 ad Timoth. 1. Finis vitae mors est. « Statutum est ho- • minibus semel mori; » Hebr. 9. Dicit ergo: Ut percurrat qui legerit; ac si dicat: Ut qui legerit, sine impedimento dubitationis percurrat credendo Christum, credens amet, et in amore perseveret. Materia tangitur in hoc quod sequitur: Quia adhuc visus procul. Et est principaliter materia hujus libri apparitio filii Dei: unde in Ecclesia tempore Adventus legitur. Est autem triplex apparitio filii Dei. Prima qua apparuit in carne homo factus. Ad Titum 5: « Apparuit benignitas et humanitas salvatoris nostri Dei. » Secunda qua apparuit per fidem a mundo creditis. Ad Titum 2: « Apparuit gratia Salvatoris nostri Dei omnibus hominibus, erudiens nos, ut abnegantes impietatem et saecularia desideria, sobrie et juste et pie vivamus in hoc saeculo, expectantes beatam spem, et adventum gloriae magni Dei. » Tertia qua apparuit per spem in glorificatione. 1 Joan. 5: « Scimus quoniam cum apparuerit, similes ei erimus. » Et istae apparitiones sunt materia istius libri. Unde in Prologo dicitur, quia omnis cura ejus est in adventu Christi, et vocatione gentium. Sed certe iste qui postea sic visus est, adhuc suis temporibus procul erat. Siquidem procul, quia excelsus in majestatis aequalitate. Job 36. « Unusquisque intuetur procul. » « Ecce Deus magnus vincens scientiam nostram. » Erat etiam procul, quia absconditus in praefinitione Patris. Eph. 5: « Quae sit dispensatio sacramenti absconditi a saeculis in Deo. » Erat etiam procul, quia dilatus in expectatione patrum. Hebr. 11. « Juxta fidem defuncti sunt omnes isti non Al. justi.
Nemo eum prophetas versibus viderit esse descriptos, metro eos aestimet apud Hebraeos ligari, et aliquid simile habere de Psalmis, vel operibus Salomonis: sed quod in Demosthene et Tullio solet fieri ut per cola scribantur et commata, qui utique prosa, et non versibus conscripserunt. Nos quoque utilitati legentium providentes, interpretationem novam, novo scribendi genere distinximus. Ac primum de Isaia sciendum, quod in sermone suo disertus sit, quippe ut vir nobilis et urbanae elegantiae, nec habens quicquam in eloquio rusticitatis admixtum. Unde accedit ut prae ceteris florem sermonis ejus, translatio non potuerit conservare. Deinde etiam hoc adjiciendum: quod non tam propheta dicendus sit, quam Evangelista: ita enim universa Christi Ecclesiaeque mysteria ad liquidum prosecutus est, ut non putes eum de futuro vaticinari, sed de praeteritis historiam texere. Unde concilio noluisset tunc temporis septuaginta interpretes, fidei suae sacramenta perspicue ethnicis prodere, ne sanctum canibus, et margaritas porcis darent; quae cum hanc editionem legeritis, ab illis animadvertetis abscondita. Nec ignoro quanti laboris sit prophetas intelligere, nec facile quempiam posse judicare de interpretatione, nisi intellexerit ante quae legerit. Nos quoque patere morsibus plurimorum, qui stimulante invidia, quod consecuti uon valent, despiciunt. Sciens ergo et prudens in flammam mitto manum, et nihilominus hoc a fastidiosis lectoribus precor quomodo Greci post septuaginta translators Aquilam, Symmachum, et Theodotionem legunt, vel ob studium doctrinae suae, vel ut septuaginta magis ex collatione eorum intelligent; sie et isti saltem unum post priores habere dignentur interpretum. Legant prius et postea despiciant; ne videantur non ex odii praesumptione ignorata damnare. Prophetavit autem Isaias in Jerusalem et in Judaea, nec dum decem tribubus in captivitatem ductis, ac de utroque regno, nunc commixtum, nunc separatim texit oraculum. Et cum interdum ad praesentem respiciat historiam, et post Babyloniae captivitatem, reditum populi significet in Judaeam, tandem omnis ejus cura de vocatione gentium, et de adventu Christi est. Quem quanto plus amatis, o Paula et Eustochium, tanto magis ab eo petite, ut pro obtrectatione praesenti, qua me indesinenter aemuli laniant, ipse mihi mercedem restituat in futuro qui scit me ob hoc in peregrinae linguae eruditione sudasse, ne Judaei de falsitate Scripturarum Ecclesiis ejus diutius insultarent.
IN HUNC PROLOGUM EXPOSITIO S. THOMAE 5 paragraphs
Huic autem operi praemitit Hieronymus prologum, in quo tria facit. Primo ostendit modum dicendi; secundo modum prophetandi, ibi, Deinde (!) et hoc adjiciendum; tertio modum tractandi, ibi, Prophetavit autem. Modum dicendi ostendit circa ornatum prolocutoris ex duobus. Primo ex ordine verborum; secundo ex elegantia verborum, ibi, Ac primum de Isaia sciendum. Circa primum tria facit. Primo removet ordinem a quibusdam aestimatum, scilicet metricum; secundo demonstrat ordinem a propheta servatum, ibi, Sed quod in Demosthene et Tullio solet fieri; tertio ostendit cum dem modum se esse in sua translatione imitatum, ibi, Nos quoque utilitati legentium providentes. Versibus, idest brevibus clausulis, descriptos, idest distinctos, metro ligari. Metrum graece, mensura dicitur latine: unde illud dicitur metrice describi ubi servatur certa mensura pedum, syllabarum, et temporum; a qua lege prophetae soluti sunt. Et aliquid habere de Psalmis, idest eis simile, vel operibus Salomonis, quantum ad finem Proverborum, et in Canticis canticorum; et Demosthene, graeco, Tullio, latino oratoribus, qui prosa scripserunt per cola et commata. Tres sunt distinctiones in scriptis: coma, colus et periodus, ad similitudinem corporis humani, in quo sunt distinctiones quaedam in partibus unius membri; sicut sunt articuli, et distincta membra, sicut manus et pedes et iterum totum corpus. Primae distinctioni respondent distinctio quae sit per comata, quia coma, idem est quod incisio vel divisio; secundae respondet illa quae est per cola, quia colon interpretatur membrum; sed ad tertiam respondent periodus: periodus enim dicitur circulatio a peri, quod est circum, et odos, quod est via. Sola autem linea circuli completa est, sicut probat Philosophus. Sumuntur autem istae distinctiones in Scripturis tripliciter. Primo, secundum Isidorum, in versibus, coma est quando post duos pedes sequitur una syllaba, quae est pars alterius pedis, quia tunc deciditur pes unus, sicut ibi: «Gloria, laus, et honor.» (In hymno Dominicæ in Psalmis). Cola, quando accipiuntur duo pedes sine syllaba sequente, ut «carmina dulcia.» Sed periodus, quando tota sententia metrice traducta completur. Secundo modo, in prosa, secundum Isidorum et Tullium, coma est, quando imperfectae orationes pausam proferuntur, ut infra 1: Vae genti peccatrici, populo gravi iniquitate, filiis sce-leratis; et dicitur subdistinctio. Cola, quando perfectae orationes cum pausa proferuntur, quamvis perfecta non sit sententia; et dicitur distinctio, ut illud ibidem: Dereliquerunt Dominum, blasphemaverunt Sanctum Israel, alienati sunt retrorsum. Periodus, quando ex pluribus orationibus constat perfecta sententia. Tertio modo sumitur coma a Rabano pro capitulo uno, super illud Jer. 48: «Audiimus superbiam Moab;» ubi dicit: «In superiori provocavit ad poenitentiam;» idest in superiori capitulo. Sed secundo modo accipitur hic. Novam, idest a nobis primo editam de hebraeo in latinum novo genere servato, modo qui apud Hebraeos est, per cola et comata, qui in aliis translationibus non servabantur. Ac primum de Isaia. Hic ostendit modum dicendi quantum ad elegantiam verborum; et circa hoc tria facit. Primo ponit modum; secundo assignat rationem ex conditione dicentis, ibi, Quippe ut vir nobilis et urbanae elegantiae, tertio concludit excusationem defectus in sua translatione a tali modo, ibi, Unde accidit. Disertus, idest eruditus in eloquentia appareat, nobilis, generis, quia fuit avus maternus vel affinis Manasse regis Juda, sicut dicitur in historia (4 Reg. 19). Unde accidit. Quae pulchre dicuntur in una lingua, non sonant pulchre translata in aliam; et ideo quanto ipse prae ceteris prophetae pulchriori
eloquio usus est, tanto magis translatio a pulchritudine ipsius deficit. Florem, idest dulcedinem et ornatum. Deinde etiam hoc ad jiciendum. Ostendit modum prophetandi apertum et expressum: et circa hoc tria facit. Primo ostendit modum prophetandi qui dictus est; secundo ex modo concludit rationem defectus in antiqua translatione septuaginta, ibi, Unde conjicio: tertio excludit contradictionem aemulorum, ibi, Nec ignoro quanti laboris sit prophetas intelligere. Non tam propheta, quasi veritatem sub aenigmate obscurans, mysteria; idest secreta, a mystim, quod est secretum, ut incarnationem: infra 10: Filius datus est nobis; passionem: infra 53. Tamquam oris ad ocisionem ducetur, et sicut agnus coram tondente se obmutescet: et multa alia. Ad liquidum, idest expresse. Putes, idest putare possis propter expressionem facti, non quantum ad modum qui magis exprimi potest de praeteritis quam de futuris: unde in hoc superat Evangelista prophetam. Conjicio, idest sub quadam conjecturatione existimo, ethnicis idest gentilibus, ab Ethnon, quod est gens. Margaritas. Matth. 7: «Neque mittatis margaritas ante porcos.» Abscondita, occultata. Unde tria facit. Primo ponit defectum; secundo rationem defecti, ibi, sanctum; tertio probat per suam conditionem, ibi, Quae cum hanc. Abscondita, idest secreta. Nec ignoro. Hic refellit contradicentium falsum judicium, secundo convincit eos per exemplum, ibi, Et nihilominus hoc a fastidiosis lectoribus precor; tertio ostendit eis ordinem rectum, ibi, Legant prius et postea despiciant. Circa primum tria facit. Primo ostendit causam falsi judicii ex parte intellectus, ignorantiam; secundo ex parte affectus, invidiam, ibi, Nos quoque patere morsibus plurimorum; tertio concludit suam inter contradictiones constantiam, ibi, Sciens ergo et prudens in flammam mitto manum. Nec ignoro quanti laboris sit prophetas intelligere. Psal. 17: «Tenebrosa aqua in nubibus aeris.»
Contra. Supra dixit, Ad liquidum, idest expresse, hunc dicere Christi mysteria.
Respondeo. Verum est quantum ad quaedam principaliora.
Morsibus, idest dectractoribus. In flammam mitto manum, idest expono me periculo. Et alludit proverbio vulgari, quod habet ortum ex hoc quod Scaevola manum qua scribam interfecit, credens Porsenam regem interficere, misit in ignem, dicens: «Percat manus quae hoc scelus operata est.» Ob studium, idest exercitium scientiae. Prophetavit. Hic ponit modum tractandi: et circa hoc tria facit. Primo tangit tractatus ordinem, quantum ad tempus, ad materiam et modum simul; secundo tangit intentionem, ibi, Cum interdum ad praesentem respiciat historia; tertio ex intentione concludit orationis petitionem, ibi, Quem quanto plus amatis, Paula et Eustochium, tanto plus ab eo petite etc.
Cursus Scripturae Sacrae
Isaias, filius Amos, munere prophetico functus est tempore regum Oziae, Ioatham, Achaz, Ezechiae. Respublica iudaica per haec tempora magnas subiit mutationes, perturbationes, calamitates, quas nosse oportet quo melius et intelligamus et aestimemus ea quae Isaias propheta in variis rerum conditionibus pro muneris prophetici ratione egit et scripsit. Ozia rege regnum iudaicum. prospere floruit. Ipse enim rex « fecit quod erat rectum in oculis Domini et exquisivit Dominum in diebus Zachariae.. cumque requireret Dominum, direxit eum in omnibus » (2 Par. 26, 4. 5. 4 Reg. 15, 3). Della gessit felicia, regni fines et valide tuitus est et extendit, populi opes et prosperitatem auxit, praeclaro apparatu bellico regnum instruxit. Ailath urbem ad sinum aelaniticum (Akaba) sitam iterum ditioni iudaicae recuperavit (4 Reg. 14, 22. 9 Par. 26, 2) et pro commercio et navigatione valde oppor tunam et utilem munivit; unde apud Iudaeos eo tempore commercium tas devicit, ita Philisthaeis quoque arma felicia intulit, « destruxit murum Geth et murum labniae murumque Azoti » ; insuper aliquas regiones Philisthaeorum occupavit occupatasque arcibus exstructis . urbibusque munitis sub ditione retinuit i. e. « aedificavit quoque oppida in Azoto et in Philisthiim » (2 Par. 26, 6). Etiam contra Arabes qui habitabant in Gurbaal et contra Maunitas (hebr. prope Petram urbem ?) adiuvit eum Deus (l. c. 7); Ammonitae quoque « appendebant munera Oziae et divulgatum est nomen eius usque ad introitum Aegypti propter crebras victorias » (l. c. 8). Uti regni gloriam apud exteros propagabat,. ita illam solide stabilire apud suos studebat. Quem in finem urbem Ierusalem aedificatis turribus strenue munivit, exercitum quoque numero et apparatu bellico auxit (l. c. 14-15). Neque minorem curam impendit divitiis augendis quae ex gregibus et agris vineisque oriuntur, simulque Isaras I — 1. aedificatis castellis providit, ut labores illi adeo utiles tuto exerceri possent (l. c. 10). Ita factum est, ut nomen Oziae egrederetur procul, eo quod auxiliaretur ei Dominus et corroborasset eum (l. c. 15).
Verum hanc prosperitatem non comitabatur neque stabili modo fulciebat vera in Deum pietas morumque integritas. De ipso rege s. literae narrant : « sed cum roboratus esset, elevatum est cor eius in interitum suum et neglexit Dominum Deum suum ingressusque templum Domini adolere voluit incensum super altare thymiamatis » (l. c. 16). Lepra percussus habitabat in domo separata et Ioatham filius eius rexit domum regis et iudicabat populum terrae (l. c. 21; 4 Reg. 15, 5). Populus autem in excelsis immolabat (4 Reg. 15, 4) et praeterea morum corruptionem longe lateque serpsisse, . et reprehensionibus quae apud Osee et Amos leguntur (cf. Os. 4, 15. Am. 2, 4 etc.) nimis certo constat. Quare Isaias propheta externam hane regni gloriam et prosperitatem ultimo Oziae anno in visione inaugurali iam cernit ruinae ineluctabili traditam neque aliud superesse remedium salutis voce divina edocetur, nisi ut arbor regni succidatur et destruatur manente trunco quasi semine sancto ex quo instauratio oriatur (Is. 6, 10-13). Dum igitur gloria et prosperitas regno iudaico quam maxime adesse videtur, vates ruinam eius et salutem ex ruinis oriundam annuntiare iubetur.
Continue reading 26 paragraphs
In regni administratione successit Ioatham ; ipse quoque laudem habet : fecit quod placitum erat coram Domino (4 Reg. 15, 34. 2 Par. 27, 2) templumque exornavit aedificata porta domus Domini «sublimissima neque quod Ozias pater eius attentavit, iura sacerdotalia et auctoritatem sacram in se transferre conatus est. Quod eius pater ad regni gloriam et fortitudinem inceperat, loatham felici successu auxit : munitiones aedificavit et castella : « in muro Ophel multa construxit, urbes quoque aedificavit in montibus Iuda et in saltibus castella et turres » (2 Par. 97, 3. 4); feliciter quoque bellum gessit contra Ammonitas, quos ad tributa pendenda coegit; « corroboratusque est Ioatham eo quod direxisset vias suas coram Domino Deo suo » (l. c. 5. 6). Alia de magnificentia aedificiorum, de apparatu bellico, de luxu per commercium inducto Isaias (2, "|. 16; 3, 2 ete.) satis clare innuit. Verum omnia magna morum corruptione inficiebantur. Eam Isaias cp. 2-5 multis exagitat, eam auctor
, Paralipomenon breviter, sed nervose declarat : adhuc populus delinquebat (2 Par. 27, 2). Quare Isaias poenas Dei ingruentes praedicit, poenas idololatriae et luxuriei annuntiat,. populi animum durum et ingratum parabola vineae (5, 4 seq.) exàgitat et reipublicae ruinam et abductionem populi minatur. Neque immerito; nam versus finem regni Ioatham iam Dei tonitrua duduro annuntiata audiri coepta sunt, regnum iudaicum a vicinis infestatur et paulatim ruinae obviam fertur : « in diebus illis coepit Dominus mittere in luda Rasin regem Syriae et Phacee filium Romeliae » (4 Reg. 15, 37). Exortum est bellum syro-ephraimiticum quo regno iudaico magnae clades inflictae sunt, praecipue sub rege Achaz.
Post Ioatham successit Achaz rex impius et idololatriae deditus, qui ambulavit in via regum Israel et gentilium abominationibus indulsit (cf. 4 Reg. 16, 3. 4. 2 Par. 28, 2-5). Quare « tradidit eum Dominus Deus eius in manu regis Syriae, qui percussit eum magnamque praedam cepit de eius imperio et adduxit in Damascum » (2 Par. 28, 5) : inter alia Rasin rex Syriae Ailath Iudaeis eripuit (4 Reg. 16, 6); praeterea maiorem etiam stragem regno iudaico intulit Phacee, rex Israel; nam « occidit Phacee de Iuda centum viginti millia in die uno, omnes viros bellatores, eo quod reliquissent Dominum Deum patrum suorum; ceperuntque filii Israel de fratribus suis ducenta millia mulierum, puerorum et puellarum et infinitam praedam pertuleruntque eam in Samariam » (2 Par. 28, 6 seq.). Duo isti reges mox foedere iuncto bellum regno iudaico intulerunt idque funditus evertere statuerunt (— initio enim eos bellum movisse viribus haud unitis, elucet ex modo narrandi 2 Par. 28, 5—). Quare domum David regno privare et filium quendam Tabeel regem constituere decreverunt communi consilio. In ea rerum conditione cum ageretur de domo David evertenda, Isaias a Deo missus regi idololatrae opem divinam offert eique certissime praedicit fore, ut machinationes inimicorum irritae sint (Is. 1, 5 seq.). Verum rex impius opem divinam spernit et suae prudentiae confisus aliam salutis viam quam iam tenere coeperat obstinatus et contumax ingreditur : Theglathphalasar regem Assyriorum auxilium flagitaturus adit per nuntios : « servus tuus et filius tuus ego sum ; ascende et salvum me fac de manu regis Syriae et de manu regis Israel qui consurrexerunt adversum me » (4 Reg. 16, 1) eique spoliata domo Domini larga misit munera. lta se regnumque suum vendidit Assyrio frustra monente propheta et longam calamitatum seriem in regnum iudaicum induxit. Rex enim Assyriorum Damascum
-quidem expugnavit, Rasin regem interfecit et Israelitas quoque varie afflixit multosque ex utroque regno in captivitatem abduxit (cf. 4 Reg. 18, 99. 30), at haec minime ab Assyrio in commodum regis Iuda esse patrata per se liquet et confirmatur testimonio sacri scriptoris : « adduxit (Dominus) contra eum Thelgatphalnasar, qui et afflixit eum et nullo resistente vastavit » (2 Par. 28, 20). Vendiderat Achaz regni sui libertatem et independentiam ; ipse recensetur in inscriptionibus cuneiformibus a Theglathphalasar inter eos qui tributa solverint regi ; quam servili ingenio Achaz placere studuerit oppressoribus suis, refertur 4 Reg. 16, 10 seq. 2 Par. 28, 22; in quantas miserias autem regnum iudaicum coniecerit, exponit Isaias "1, 17 seq. Praeterea a Philisthaeis quoque regnum iudaicum varie est afflictum et. spoliatum (2 Par. 28, 18); « humiliaverat enim Dominus Iudam propter Achaz regem luda eo quod nudasset eum auxilio et contemptui habuisset Dominum » (l. c. 19).
Rempublicam igitur multis vulneribus laborantem post Achaz gubernandam suscepit Ezechias rex pius et vere theocraticus. Malis illis mederi studuit uno eo modo quo revera sperari poterat optimus rerum eventus : idololatriam funditus tollere et vitia grassantia cohibere, . religionem pietatemque fere emortuam apud plerosque denuo excitare studuit; quem in finem omnia idololatriae loca et instrumenta delevit (4 Reg. 18, 4), cultum divinum debito modo restituit sacerdotesque et levitas strenue officii sui admonuit (2 Par. 29, 4 seq.) et sollemnitatem paschalem ab universo populo celebrandam curavit : « facta est grandis celebritas in Ierusalem qualis a diebus Salomonis, filii David, regis Israel in ea urbe non fuerat » (2 Par. 30, 26). Ipse rex pietate et fiducia in Deum et fideli legis mosaicae observatione prae omnibus excelluit ita, ut magnis laudibus in s. literis extollatur. Instaurata vero per regem religione et pietate ex norma veteris legis etiam in rebus civilibus rediit prosperitas. « Unde et erat Dominus cum eo et in cunctis ad quae procedebat, sapienter se agebat; rebellavit quoque contra regem Assyriorum et non servivit ei; ipse percussit Philisthaeos usque ad Gazam et omnes terminos eorum » (4 Reg. 18, 1). In qua morum instauratione validum. habuit adiutorem et monitorem Isaiam prophetam, uti praesertim ex cap. 28-39 elucet, sed rem fuisse difficultatibus multis implicitam et impietatem apud multos altas egisse radices ibidem quoque patet.
Ezechias viginti novem annis regnavit (4 Reg. 18, 2. 2 Par. 29, 1). Unde morbus eius, in quo vitae eius additi sunt quindecim anni (4 Reg. 20, 6), in annum 14 regni eius incidit. Morbum hunc et legationem regis Merodach Balàdan (4 Reg. 20, 12) quae mox post sanationem Ezechiae advenit in Ierusalem, ante avastónem Sennacherib regis Assyriorum evenisse, plerique hodie assumunt et quamvis isti eventus non solum apud Isaiam sed etiam 4 Reg. 20 et 9 Par. 32, 94 serie alia referantur, tamen in ipsa narratione ea insunt ex quibus quo ordine acciderint concludi facile possit. Nam simul cum promissione sanationis audit Ezechias : « sed et de manu regis Assyriorum liberabo te et civiiatem hanc et protegam urbem istam propter me.et propter David servum meum » (4 Reg.90, 6. Is. 38, 6); quae promissio certe valet et data est tempore quo periculum invasionis revera aderat, non eo tempore quo Sennacherib clade accepta iam non meditabatur expeditionem in Palaestinam ; insuper verba dicunt non periculum a longe impendens — quale esset, si Deus post cladem Sennacherib promitteret regem a se. cohibitum iri ne redeat ad vindictam capiendam — verum periculum regi ipsi et urbi iam imminens describunt; a tali enim periculo quis gi liberari, liberari de manu regis, protegi. Deinde bene notandum t, legatis regis Babyloniorum ostensos fuisse thesauros Ezechiae;
« peor eis domum aromatum et aurum et argentum et pigmenta varia, unguenta quoque et domum vasorum suorum et omnia quae ha- .bere poterat in thesauris suis » (4 Reg. 20, 13. Is. 39, 2). Sed cum Sennacherib irrueret et civitates Iuda munitas caperet, Ezechias rex ad regem placandum non solummodo thesauros regios exhausit, verum cum isti non sufficerent tributo solvendo, ipsos templi thesauros expendit : « dedit Ezechias omne argentum quod repertum fuerat in domo Domini et in thesauris regis; in tempore illo confregit Ezechias valvas templi Domini et laminas auri quas ipse affixerat et dedit eas regi Assyriorum » (4 Reg. 18, 15. 16).
Cur eventus isti ordiua inverso referantur, ratio perspicua adest in libro Isaiae. Cum enim Isaias a cap. 28 tempus illud describeret quod praecederet invasionem Assyriorum et modum exponeret, quo regem populumque ad eventum illum praeparasset, apte ipsius eventus narratio subiungitur cap. 36-37. In altera vero libri parte a cp. 40-66 Isaias de tempore exsilii babylonici et de liberatione ab exsilio (et de liberatione messianica) agit; unde ei parti illam praemittit narrationem, qua quomodo exsilium babylonicum fuerit in poenam praedictum iam Ezechiae tempore refertur. Quare capita illa quattuor historica 36-39 apud Isaiam non ordine temporis collocata inter se subsequuntur, sed duo priora partem absolvunt antecedentem, reliqua duo viam parant ad subsequentia. Sed series haec quae ipsa dispositione libri Isaiae necessario exigebatur, in tantum valuit, ut in libris quoque Regum adoptaretur. Temporis quoque designatio « anno quarto decimo regis Ezechiae » (4 Reg. 18, 13. Is. 36, 1) non ad invasionem pertinet regis Assyriorum, sed utipso numero iam proditur, ad morbum Ezechiae, in quo 15 anni vitae e:us adduntur, ita .ut tandem viginti novem anni regni eius efficiantur. Per errorem igitur temporis eius designatio in locum irrepsit alienum.
Fidei et virtuti eximiae quam Ezechias in morbo ostenderat non plane stetit, cum legati Merodach Baladan regis Babyloniorum advenirent. Reguli enim Babylone potiti non semel conati sunt se iugo Assyriorum subtrahere. Ad quem finem haec quoque legatio missa erat ad Ezechiam, cuius praeclare gesta (cf. 4 Reg. 18, 8) et fortitudo bellica Babylonium non latebant. Babylonii regis quam maxime intererat rebellionem et foedus contra Assyrios fovere in Asia occidentali. Quare cum audisset aegrotasse Ezechiam, sane praetendens gratulationem Ezechiae offerendam, quo res melius tegeretur, legatos ad eum misit foederis contra Assyrios ineundi causa. Ezechias autem de gloria nominis sui quae ad regem usque Babyloniorum pervenerit et de tali. honore sibi praestito superbia est elatus et gloriabundus omnes thesauros et opes ostendit gentilibus et « elevatum est cor eius » (9 Par. 32, 95) et Deo « non iuxta beneficia quae acceperat retribuit » ; unde videtur foedus illud oblatum avide arripuisse et ita contra indolem theocraticam peccasse fiduciam ponens et spem in alienigenis et pactum antitheocraticum concludens. Unde propheta, vindex theocratiae, severe eum reprehendit Deique consilium ei aperit, quo omnia demum ablatum iri in Babylonem constitutum sit. Magna humilitate et animi submissione Ezechias sententiam Dei in se suosque latam excepit, quare ipse iram Dei in se non est expertus : « humiliatusque est postea... et idcirco non venit super eos ira Domini in diebus Ezechiae » (2 Par. l. c. 20). Reversus ad pietatem et mente vero theocratica imbutus eximium Dei auxilium expertus est in invasione Sennacherib.
Sennacherib primo et secundo regni sui anno bella gessit contra Babyloniam et regiones orientales; tertio demum anno arma vertit in Syriam et Palaestinam. Primo aggreditur Phoenicen ; Luli (Elulaeus) rex Sidoniorum, aufugit Cyprum ; urbes Phoenicum subiiciuntur, rex instituitur ab Assyrio Tubal, cui vectigal singulis annis solvendum imponitur; alii quoque reges urbium Phoenieum sese subiecerunt et pedes Sennacherib osculati sunt. Praeter eos mox accurrerunt ad eum obedientiam et subiectionem spondentes Mitinti, rex Azoti, Puduil, rex Ammonitarum, Kamosnadab rex Moabitarum et Malikram rex Edom. Sed Zidka regem Ascalon qui renuebat vicit eumque cum familia in Assyriam asportandum curavit; tum subiecit urbes Beth-Dagon, Joppen, Benebarak, Azor incolis in captivitatem abductis. Tum arma movit contra Amgarunna (Accaron, probabilissime), cuius urbis incolae Padi regem qui a partibus erat Assyriorum vinctum tradiderant regi Ezechiae. Sed antequam ipsam urbem Accaron expugnaret, pugna ei erat ineunda prope Altaqu cum exercitu aegyptiaco et aethiopico; quo devicto urbes expugnavit Altaqu (Elteqe, Elthece Ios. 19, 44) et Timnath et Accaron, cui urbi rezem Padi restituit tributo imposito. Postea Iudaeam devastare aggressus est ; narrat quadraginta sex urbes munitas, oppida vero innumerabilia a se esse expugnata; in captivitatem abducta esse ducenta millia centum quinquaginta hominum, animalia et greges; ipsum vero regem in urbe sua Ierusalem inclusum fuisse sicut avem in cavea; urbes luda a se esse separatas a regno iudaico et datas regibus Azot, Accaron, Gaza; demum addit Ezechiam solvisse timore perculsum tributum triginta talenta auri et octingenta talenta argenti aliasque res pretiosas (cf. Civiltà cattolica XI. 6 p. 401 etc. Vigourouz l. c. p. 192; Schrader 1. c.). Haec in inscriptionibus cuneiformibus. Sennacherib quae narrat vera refert ; at aliqua omittit; alia ita callide collocat, ut victor e Palaestina recessisse videatur. Qua in re eius narratio e s. literis suppletur. Utique Ezechias solvit tributum (4 Reg. 18, 15) et fuit inclusus in urbe; at Sennacherib suam tacet cladem et ultimo loco collocans tributum Ezechiam demum a se subiectum mentitur. Ceterum quo itinere Sennacherib pervenerit ad Palaestinam, utile est adnotare, ut quo sensu iter illud 10, 28 seq. accipiendum sit innotescat. Sed ex utraque narratione, et biblica et assyriaca, abundanter efficitur, quanta calamitate in invasione assyriaca regnum iudaicum fuerit afflictum quantoque in periculo revera tota respublica constituta sit, ita ut intelligamus, cur adeo sedulo Isaias regem populumque ad eam calamitatem vincendam fide et spe divina praeparaverit.
De quaestione chronologica pauca adnotasse sufficiat. Ope catalogorum epo-
De ipso Isaia solummodo pauca nota sunt; « Amos autem pater Isaiae non ut plerique autumant tertius duodecim prophetarum est, sed alius, diversisque apud Hebraeos scribuntur literis » (S. Hier.) !. Praeter librum quem habemus res gestas Oziae regis literis consignavit « reliqua sermonum (i. e. rerum gestarum ; cf. hebr. ^27) Oziae priorum
1. y*cw pater Isaiae; b*zy propheta; uterque apud LXX scribitur 'Apóz; unde sententia et novissimorum scripsit Isaias filius Amos, propheta:» (2 Par. 96 22); eum praeter librum nostrum etiam res Ezechiae regis descripsisse, aliqui ex 2 Par. 32, 32 concluserunt; at id saltem valde dubium videtur, quia l. c. solum asseritur res Ezechiae et beneficia ei divinitus collata scripta esse in visione Isaiae; sed visio 1*1 titulus est prophetici libri. — Traditio est antiqua et satis pervulgata, eum vixisse usque ad tempora Manasse impii regis ab eoque « qui sanguinem innoxium fudit multum nimis, donec impleret Ierusalem usque ad os » (4 Reg. 21, 16) crudeli mortis genere fuisse interemptum , scil. serratum. Esse hanc ait S. Hier. apud ludaeos certissimam traditionem, « unde et nostrorum plurimi illud quod de passione sanctorum in epistola ad Hebraeos legitur serrati sunt (11, 31) ad Isaiae referunt passionem » (ad Is. 57, 2; cf. Tertullian. de patientia c. 14; Justin. c. Tryph. n. 120 « serra lignea dissecuistis »; Chronicon pasch. p. 155; M. 1,1210; 6, 156; 92, 381); eiusque mortis generis etiam in talmude mentio fit (tr. Iebamoth 49 b) etin targum ad 2 Reg. 21, 16 (Sanhedrin 103 b; cf. RoAling, der Prophet Iesaja p. 1). Alia vide plane tamen incerta apud Ps. Epiphanium de vitis prophetarum (M. 43, 397. 419). — Uti ipsius nomen, quod éxplicatur vel salus Domini vel salvat. Dominus !, ita et. filiorum eius nomina, quos e prophetissa genuerat (cf. ad 8, 3), prophetica erant populi sortem adumbrantia; unde iure dicere potuit : « ecce ego et pueri mei, Due dedit mihi Dominus in signum et in portentum Israel » (8, 18; cf. 1, 3; 8, 1-4). Qua animi celsitudine et fortitudine munere prophetico dina sit, ipse liber abunde testatur. In vitia omnium etiam principum acriter inyehitur; id unum agere et spirare videtur, ut deiecta impietate fidem et spem in, Dominum apud omnes excitet et salutem messianicam annuntiet. Hanc autem et gloriam regni messianici nemo prophetarum adeo egregie ac splendide descripsit, ut Isaias, ita iam hoc solo titulo iuremerito prophetarum princeps appellandus sit. Laudes eiusipsis s. literis continentur; quid egerit, satis accurate in s. libris historicis refertur (4 Reg. 19. 20. 2 Par. 32); celebratur « Isaias propheta magnus et fidelis in conspectu Dei... spiritu magno vidit ultima et consolatus est lugentes in Sion; usque in sempiternum ostendit futura et abscondita antequam evenirent » (Eccli. 48, 25-28). Neque parvo ei cedit encomio quod
1. mmu ita in libro ipso et in aliis locis scribitur. Titulus libri in hebr. breviorem fert foreius liber adeo frequenter ab ipso Christo etin scriptis apostolorum allegatur; nam, uti Lap. advertit, in novo testamento saepius citatur et | auditur qüam omnes reliqui prophetae simul iuncti, et. revera si recensum locorum vet. test. in novo passim obvium lustraveris, fere centies invenies Isaiam allegatum.
Magnis laudibus Isaiam s. Patres quoque celebrant. Eusebius eum appellat magnum et admirabilem (0xop.áoov) prophetam, maximum prophetarum (dem. evang. 2, 4; 5, 4) ; Jsidorus pelusiota eum laudat «2» Biopatt o tatoy , Ov xpogtizo» oxoícvaxoy (Epist. 1, 42. 366), Theodoretus zz» 0sózasow. Et S. Cyrillus alexandrinus : « mihi videtur beatus propheta Isaias non sola prophetiae gratia plurimum exornatus, sed et decoribus . apostoli ; est enim hic propheta simul et apostolus et in hac scriptione sua habebit sermones evangelicae praedicationis splendore non carenies ». Eandem laudem ei tribuit S. /lier. : « universa Domini sacramenta praesens scriptura continet... quidquid sanctarum est scripturarum, quidquid potest humana lingua proferre et mortalium sensus accipere, isto volumine continetur » (prolog. in comment.) ; et ad Paulam ei Eustochium idem scribit : « ac primum de Isaia sciendum, quod in sermone suo disertus sit, quippe ut vir nobilis et urbanae eloquentiae nec habens quidquam in eloquio rusticitatis admistum. Unde accidit, ut prae ceteris florem sermonis eius translatio non potuerit conservare. Deinde etiam hoc adiiciendum quod non tam propheta dicendus est quam evangelista. Ita enim universa Christi Ecclesiaeque mysteria ad liquidum prosecutus est, ut non putes eum de futuro vaticinari, sed de praeteritis historiam texere » (praefat. in translat.). Similiter S. Augustinus (de Civit. D. 18, 29) et Conf. 9, 5 narrat, cum per literasinsinuasset Ambrosio antistiti pristinos suos errores et praesens votum, ut moneret quid potissimum ipsi de libris sacris legendum esset, quo percipiendae tantae gratiae paratior aptiorque fieret, Ambrosium iussisse legere Isaiam prophetam ; « credo quod prae ceteris evangelii vocationisque gentium sit praenuntiator apertior ».
Dicendi genus Isaiae omnes admirantur ; laudant splendorem, vim, maiestatem. Ex veteribus v. g. lege S. Chrysostomum (in Is.) ; e recentioribus audi quid de eo iudicet Lowth : « Isaias ut ordine ita dignitate prophetarum omnium princeps, sic omnibus abundat virtutibus, ut nihil in hoc genere perfectius concipi possit. Idem elegans et sublimis, ornatus et gravis, cum ubertate et copia, tum vi et pondere mirabilis. In sensibus incredibilis elatio, maiestas, divinitas, in imaginibus summa proprietas, dignitas, pulehritudo, fecunditas denique et varietas lectissima; in dictione singularis elegantia et in tanta rerum obscuritate mira perspicuitas et candor; ad haec in poetica sententiarum compositione tanta dulcedo, id sive felicitatis sive artificii, ut si quidquam iam reliqui habent carmina hebraea pristinae iucunditatis et gratiae, id in Isaiae praecipue monumentis contineri clarissimeque perspici posse crediderim. Excellit etiam Isaias vel maxime in iusta partium dispositione facilique rerum connexione et ordine » etc. (cf, de sacra poesi Hebr. praelect. 21, ed. Rosenmüller p. 241). Et simili modo Danko : « argumento oraculorum convenit sublimitas et maiestas eloquii ; Isaiae genus "dicendi omnium quae sacra lingua exstant scripta primas fert partes palmamque eloquentiae. In eo puritas hebraismi resplendet. Oratio prophetae viva est et efficax, pollet quidem figuris sententiarum, sed ornamentis quoque verborum omnis generis affluit » (cf. Histor. revel. vet. test. p. 396). — De carminibus in libro Isaiae contentis et ratione meirica descriptis vide quae scripsit Bickell, Carmina vet. test. metrice p. 200 seq. ; praeterea vide Gietmann, de re metrica Hebraeorum p. 59 seq. Systema illud etiam eo haud parum commendatur, quia ea versibus descripta invenies quae carminis indolem et naturam cumprimis prae se ferunt v. g. 15. 5, 14. 2; 9, 1- 10, 4; 44, 1-85; 19, 1. . 6 ; 44, 4-91; 14, 99 - 32; 93, 16; 95, 4. 5; 25, 9 - 11; 96, 4 - 10 ; 27, 3- 8 etc. II. — De argumento prioris partis libri.
Argumentum totius libri quam maxime amplum et generale ipso Isaiae nomine salus Domini vel Dominus salvat comprehenditur. Ad hanc salutem omnia in libro contenta convergunt; ut possit oriri salus Domini, ostendit quaenam impedimenta in vita privata et publica, apud singulos et nationes sint removenda ; quomodo singuli et nationes sese debeant praeparare; demum eius salutis excellentiam, beatitatem in regno messianico contentam et expressam varie atque eleganter describit.
Liber Isaiae duabus partibus maioribus dividi solet. Priore oracula illa continentur quae occasione eventuum et temporum Iloatham, Achaz, Ezechiae regum potissimum data sunt et cap. 1-37 continentur. Altera parte oracula ea exhibentur quae de exsilio babylonico, de liberatione ex exsilio, et de altiore liberatione messianica agunt; iis praemittitur narratio qua occasione exsilium babylonicum propheta vaticinatus sit; unde altera haec pars complectitur cap. 38-66. Hae partes maiores in sectiones minores apte dispertiuntur, quae ipso argumento arctius inter se connectuntur et facile ab aliis distinguuntur. Atque in priore quidem parte praeter prologum, qui cap. 4 proponitur, quattuor deprehenduntur oraculorum series : prima quae tempus lIoatham spectat cp. 2-5; altera quae occasione belli syro-ephraimitici data est et cui visio inauguralis praemittitur cp. 6-12; tertia quae ex secunda enata iam ad omnes nationes legem illam et normam applicat per iudicia esse perveniendum ad salutem cap. 13-21; quarta demum, qua praeparatio continetur ad invasionem assyriacam, eius invasionis narratio, victoria cap. 28-31. Haec generatim. lam summam et nexum argumenti paucis accuratius describam.
Prologo quasi compendio quodam totius prophetiae summa continetur et proponitur, cum populi scelera exagitentur, poenae declarentur debiiae, at simul poenis persolutis et iudiciis Dei exercitis spes instaurationis exhibeatur. Statim in prologo lex statuitur princeps, qua tota prophetia regitur et quasi animatur : Sion in iudicio redimetur; quae norma in subsequentibus declaratur et demum ad omnes nationes et orbem universum applicatur. Ita statim in prologo egregie apparet unitas consilii et veritatis concinnitas qua quasi vinculo concordi totum libri volumen continetur. Atque in prima quidem vaticiniorum serie oraculo de monte domus Domini proposito docet propheta de theocratia per orbem diffundenda; sed utid fieri possit, omnia ea quae theocratiae obstant, removeri oportet ; quare vates iudicium Dei annuntiat, quo excelsa - omnia deiiciantur, Iuda et Ierusalem acerbis poenis visitetur et fastus omnis funditus evertatur. Quo facto efflorebit salus messianica i. e. germen Domini erit in magnificentia et gloria. Ut iudicii poenaeque necessitas clare demonstretur, appenditur parabola de vinea quam Dominus omni cura fovit, sed quae cum solum labruscas tulerit iamiam erit exscindenda. Inter hanc et sequentem seriem interseritur visio inauguralis prophetae, qua simul ratio redditur, cur admonitiones prophetae parum eousque fructus attulerint, et subsequentis temporis indoles, quae impietate et contumacia Achaz regis continetur, bene adumbratur.
In altera oraculorum serie tempus tangitur Achaz regis. Regi ob foedus initum a rege Syriae et Israel timore percusso vates offert opem Dei. Hanc cum Achaz respueret, Isaias ei vaticinatur domum David humiliatum in posterum iri, et iam mox regem populumque multum iri afflictum ab eo ipso in quo spem posuerint, a rege Assyriorum. Ingruet ergo pro Iudaeis tempus calamitatis; sed solatium in afflictione exhibetur Emmanuel, qui omnium gentium consiliis atque conatibus destructis regnum suum condet; quare vates pios iubet in Dei timore omnem collocare spem; adfore scil. post tenebras et afflictionem lucem messianicam regnumque pacis et beatitatis. Unde duplex exhibetur fidelibus signum : alterum pro liberatione mox futura in filio Isaiae (8, 4 seq.), alterum pro liberatione messianica, ex qua omnium hostium conatus irriti reddentur (8, 9. 10; 9, 6). Duplex haec liberatio in altera quoque huius seriei parte 9, 8-12, 6 proponitur. Ibi enim primo varia peccatorum et castigationum genera quibus populus est obnoxius recensentur; dein impetus, arrogantia et superbia hostium describitur, quos Deus ultores mittet sed quos punitione faeta egregie deiiciet. Ruinam subsequitur descriptio Emmanuelis regnique eius, quod sit regnum iustitiae, pacis, orbem terrarum cognitione Dei replens, quod regnum salvati cantico laudis et gratiarum actionis consalutant. Ita in hac serie illustratur lex illa : Sion in iudicio redimetur.
In tertia vaticiniorum serie, cap. 13-271, eadem iudicii ac salutis norma ostenditur applicata ad gentes et orbem universum. Prologi instar et tamquam compendium potestatis universae Deo inimicae proponitur Babel : Deus evocat milites suos et diem furoris plenum quo coeli et terra concutiantur, immittet; Babylon in solitudinem redigetur; ea autem ruina populo Dei simul cum alienigenis via panditur ad salutem; qui autem in libertatem vindicati sunt, hostium interitum et superbiam carmine epinicio prosequuntur. Hoc quasi prooemio generali praemisso vates ad singulas iam descendit nationes eisque interitum aununtiat, at simul salutem in Sion consequendam, in cultu Domini et in theocratia omnibus praeparatam declarat. Et primo quidem gentes vicinas alloquitur : monet Philisthaeos de tempestate a septemtrione ingruente, qua intellecturi sint omnes Sionem peculiari ratione a Deo protegi ; describit (cap. 13. 16) Moabitarum ruinam flebilem, causas calamitatis in superbia et fastu reponi ostendit; monet ut opem quaerant in Sion; ibi enim adesse thronum gratiae; ruina quoque annuntiatur Damasco et Israeli (cap. 171) et causae calamitatis in oblivione Dei et idololatria sitae recensentur ; quare is ex iudicio fructus exsistet, ut homo inclinetar ad Factorem suum et oculi eius ad Sanctum Israel respiciant. A gentibus vicinis transit vates ad longe dissitas : iubet nuntiari Aethiopibus (cap. 18) Deum hostes esse - subito prostraturum; quo facto fore ait ut ipsi quoque Aethiopes maiestatem Domini venerentur. Aegyptiorum quoque idolis et fastui castigationes denuntiantur severae (cap. 19) ; at fore promittitur, ut in tribulatione agnoscant Dominum et demum cum Assur et Israel populo Dei accenseantur ; in,cuius rei pignus initium humiliationis iamiam instare (cap. 20) actione symbolica propheta declarare iubetur. Vaticiniis de gentibus.meridionalibus adiungit vates oraculum in gentem aquilonarem, in Babylonios (cap. 21) : inexspectato urbem captum iri; eam autem expugnationem Israelitis solatio esse. Quo melius iudicium Dei universale repraesentetur, etiam gentes minores, Edomitas et Arabes (21, 11- 41) ei substare et humiliatum iri annuntiatur et ipsa etiam urbs hierosolymitana media apparet inter gentes iudicanda et punienda; gentium mores imitata est, cum gentibus et per gentes merito iudicatur. Illud - ostenditur (cap. 22) eo modo quo et cives se habent miseria ingruente, dum humana quidem subsidia anxie cireumspiciunt, Dei autem monita frivole spernunt, et quo agit ille qui est praepositus domus regiae, qui publicum exhibet exemplum contumaciae et contemptus minarum divinarum. Demum oraculum funditur in Tyrum, ergo in illam civitatem quae occidentem versus latissimum exercuit per commercium et colonias imperium (cap. 23); ita populi omnes, vicini et longinqui, in quattuor plagis habitantes Dei iudicio subiecti exhibentur. Sed etiam Tyriis post ruinam a Domino effectam conceditur instauratio et aperitur spes fore ut prospere agant, dummodo Domino servierint.— Iam iudicia haec particularia comprehenduntur et absolvuntur (uti in prologo cap. 13 innuitur) iudicio quodam generali in orbem universum et in omnem potestatem Deo adversariam sive humanam sive diabolicam (cap. 24), quo iudicio regnum Dei gloriosum constituitur. Norma enim illa : Sion in iudicio redimetur, iam quam late pateat in orbem universum exhibetur. Unde eodem modo sicut per iudicia priora particularia Dei gloria est manifestata et sanctus Deo populus est effectus et eruditus, ita hoc iudicio maiestas Dei revelatur, quam electi ex omnibus orbis partibus summis laudibus celebrant. Qualia bona Deus in regno suo civibus theocratiae paraverit, symbolo declaratur convivii divinitus parati (cap. 93) et explicatur variis hymnis laudis et actionis gratiarum, quas cives theocratiae laetis animis concinunt (cap. 26). Absolvit propheta hanc seriem (cap. 27) monens populum, ut dum Dei iudicia devolvuntur, cum spe et patientia Deum punientem revereatur, et admirans benignam Dei providentiam et misericordiam, qui populum castigat, ut fructus salutis exoriatur, et qui expiatos denuo colliget, ut Dominum adorent in monte sancto in Ierusalem. Unde quod statim ab initio exhibuit, oraculum de monte Sion elevato ad quem omnes confluent, ad id aptissime revertitur vates via iudiciorum omnium delineata.
Uti in tertia oraculorum serie vates id exsecutus esse videtur, quod 8, 9. 10 (cf. 2, 12 seq.) statuerat, ita in quarta serie (cap. 98-37) id latius proponit quod iam 8, 11 seq. et 10, 5 seq. de invasione assyriaca et de fide et fiducia in solo Deo habenda docuerat. Quare in hac quarta serie duo potissimum inculcat : fiduciam omnem quae reponatur in hominibus vel in subsidiis humanis esse penitus abiiciendam ; omni autem vi et modq enitendum esse ut firmissima in Deum fides ac spes concipiatur. Ad duo haec efficienda, quibus optima contineatur praeparatio ad invasionem assyriacam debito modo subeundam, omnia in hac serie diriguntur. Quare primo sex orationibus quae a vae incipiunt adminicula falsae prudentiae humanae subvertit et ubi verum auxilium et firmissima sit salutis spes ostendit. Quam perniciosum sit recedere a Domino, exemplo discant Samariae eversae (cap. 98); quam indignum pro civibus Sion imitari stupiditatem, impietatem Israelitarum et ab hominibus sperare opem, ita ut contra Deum animos obdurent! Ubi verum sit atque inconeussum spei fundamentum, vates eodem modo docet, sicuti 1, 9; prudentiam illam humanam, foedus cum extraneis iis fore in perniciem docet, fide vero in Deum piis allatum iri salutem ; utinam divinae providentiae suavem agnoscerent dispositionem ! Quae sit divini consilii dispositio, declaratur cap. 29 : Ierusalem ita iri angustiis pressum, ut prudentissimi quique quo se vertant iam nesciant; vae illis qui divinis obniti velint consiliis! eo modo quo Domino placuerit, inexspectato liberationem iri concessum. Cum igitur Dominus pro suo beneplacito opem laturus sit, quam stultum sit atque perversum monet propheta (cap. 30), in Aegypto spem ponere; acerbas fore poenas luendas ad hane perversitatem expiandam; infidelitate sua perituros esse multos; unicam salutis tesseram contineri in spe divina; hac pios iri confortatum ; hanc Deum esse remuneraturum eo quod terribili sua maiestate Assyrios sit subito devicturus. Quare denuo vae ingeminat (cap. 31) in eos qui ab Aegyptiis opem efflagitant; Deus enim, iterato » vates inculcat, ipse sui populi causam fortiter tuendam suscipiet, non humana vi, sed nutu divino cadet Assur; post ruinam eius in populo Dei reflorebit pietas et iustitia (cap. 32), sed ut hisce virtutibus via paretur, igne vindictae ac punitionis divinae vitia sunt exurenda : hac exustione facta iustitia florebit. Spem divinam ulterius erigit vates (cap. 33) praeclare describens impetum Assyriorum, repentinam eorum ruinam, praeclaram piorum in Deum spem, impotentiam humanam, opem divinam, laetitiam et exsultationem de tanta gloria urbi lerusalem civibusque concessa, Hisce orationibus sex vae comprehensis subdit propheta duas orationes, quibus modo maxime generali sortem depingit contrariam quae maneat pios et impios, fideles et infideles. Describit enim cap. 34 quantam desolationem, iram, vindictam Deus contemptoribus suis sit illaturus; sed cap. 35 laetissimam proponit atque beatissimam salutis imaginem. Unde eligant, utrum iudicem terribilem provocare velint an iucundissima eius bonorum communicatione perfrui! Ita ad quem exitum demum et infidelitas et fides perventura sit, aeque nervose atque eleganter vates proposuit. Tali ergo ratione et huiusmodi sermonibus populum praeparare studuit, ut calamitatem illam quam Achaz impietate sua (cap. "1) adduxerat, pietate ac fide vinceret. Quomodo id revera factum sit, quomodo Ezechias rex pius et cum eo populus fide sua ac fiducia pristinam illam regis populique expiaverint impietatem et poenas luerint et demum servati fuerint, vates cap. 36. 31 enarrat et ita hanc quartam vaticiniorum seriem simulque priorem libri partem absolvit.
Alterius partis argumentum exponetur in Prolegg. ad illa Isaiae oracula in altero huius commentarii tonio.
Quanta cum cura et fidelitate sua cuique prophetae vaticinia servata fuerint, testimonia insignia habentur in libro duodecim prophetarum, in quo minora quoque effata, uti Abdiae, non solum religiose servata et custodita cernuntur, verum etiam propriis prophetarum nominibus inscripta atque distincta habentur. Eandem curam et sollicitudinem etiam in libris historicis advertere poteris. Ita iam in Pentateucho vaticinia suis auctoribus diligenter attribuuntur; cogita de Lamech Gen. 5, 29, de Noe Gen. 9, 25 - 291, de Isaac Gen. 27, 21, de Iacob Gen. 49 ; de Balaam Num. 24; de Moyse Deut. 18, 18; de Iosuelos. 6, 25; de Nathan 2 Reg. 1, 8 seq. ; de Michaea 3 Reg. 22, 171; de Iona 4 Reg. 14, 25 etc. etc. Quam curam adeo constanter adhibitam si rite perpenderis et praeterea consideraveris prophetarum libros sedulo fuisse asservatos, id quod ex eorum nominibus atque titulis in libris historicis allegatis ! patet, facere non poteris quin concedas iam eo ipso quod vaticinia haec omnia uno in libro sub nomine Isaiae fuerint collecta et tradita, firmum gigni árgumentum ea revera ad Isaiam auctorem esse referenda. Cur enim apud unum Isaiam id statuendum sit, quod apud alios non evenisse , perspicimus, scil. ut vaticinia alterius alteri vati perperam attribuerentur, rationes oportet adesse plane convincentes et eo magis convincentes, quo maiora et graviora sunt vaticinia. Talia enim vaticinia qualia apud Isaiam legimus propter argumenti gravitatem, sublimitatem nemo facile supponet vel ab auctore ignoto fuisse in vulgus emissa vel postquam emissa fuerint ab eorum vero auctore, esse alii prophetae priori cuius oracula iam cognita essent perperam adscripta. Quaero enim, quandonam falso adscripta esse censenda sint? Aut ab auctore ipso emittebantur in vulgus, aut diu post auctoris mortem demum innotuerunt. Prius si dixeris, fieri nequit, ut ita auctor in oblivionem abierit, ut demum alii falso attribuerentur ; alterum si assumpseris, iterum fateri cogeris, eo ipso quod Isaiae libro coniuncta sint certum adesse indicium tum cum innotuerint exstitisse de auctore certam atque indubitatam doctrinam et traditionem. Id suadetur a contrario. Exstant enim in canone Iudaeorum multi libri quibus nomen auctoris nullo modo praefixum est vel etiam cernis quasdam partes quae nominibus additis a reliquo volumine distinguuntur (cf. Prov. 93, 1; 24, 23; 80, 1; 31, 1); unde iure concludere debebis, si nomina praefixa sunt, collectoribus certis atque indubitatis argumentis de auctore constitisse ; si nulla nomina legantur, tum vel ex ipsius libri testimonio de auctore patere (uti est in Pentateucho ; Deut.. 31, 24), vel ipsis collectoribus de auctore certam scientiam non adfuisse. Temere autem collectores nomina addidisse vel ex coniectura debili si asserueris, eo ipso revinceris, quia multis libris nullum adscripserunt auctoris nomen.
Huic considerationi adde, carmina illa quae apud criticos recentiores in dubium vocantur, iam nota fuisse Ieremiae, Sophoniae ; unde eo tempore illa iam exstitisse negari nequit; iam eo tempore innotescere poiuit quis eorum sit auctor, et; cum semper fuerint coniuncta cum volumine Isaiae, Isaiam quoque auctorem habitum fuisse certum est. Iam si hoc, redit argumentum modo expositum. Quae autem in priore parte hodie Isaiae esse auctoris negantur, haec sunt : 13, 1-14, 23; capp. 18. 16. 21, 4-10; aliqui etiam cap. 93; capp. 24-97 ; capp. 34. 35. Ft de primo quidem, de oraculo in Babel, sufficit commemorasse vaticinium Ieremiae capp. 50. 514, in quo uti Keil dicit (Lehrbuch der hist. krit. Einleitung, 2 ed. 2. 01, 10) fere singuli versus Isaiae retractati inveniri possint. Idem vaticinium notum erat Sophoniae ; cf. Soph. 1,1; 3, 11 et Is. 43, 3; Soph. 2, 13 - 19 et Is, 13, 20-22 et 34, 11, — Si quis vero contendit, oraculum in Moab capp. 13. 16 ab antiquiore propheta depromptum et ab Isaia operi fuisse insertum, nihil asserit, quod iure possit reprehendi, cum ipse Isaias vaticinium hisce concludat : hoc verbum quod locutus est Dominus ad Moab ez tunc, et nunc locutus est etc. (vide in comment.). Vaticinium in Tyrum cap. 93 aliqui Isaiae abiudicarunt (ita Eichhorn, Ros. Movers, Hitzig, Ewald) qui illud vel alicui Isaiae discipulo vel Ieremiae attribuunt ; at ipse Ges. et de Wette eorum rationes non rem evincere contendunt ; unde alii merito oraculum hoc Isaiae vindicant (cf. Keil l. c. Drechsl. Del. Naeg.). Oracula vero capp. 24-27 minime possunt in dubium vocari ; nam arcte adnectuntur ad antecedentia, ita ut si ab illis avellantur intelligi nequeant ; adverte enim sermonem in iis fieri de hoste, de tyrannis, de urbe, de terra sine ullo nomine vel determinatione ulteriore non adiecta ; id intellisitur, si vaticinia antecedentia supponuntur, recoluntur, absolvuntur (vide in comment.) ; nullo modo autem, si vaticinium hoc separatum exstitisset. Insuper horum capitum argumentum quam maxime pendet a prioribus et priora haud raro tanguntur ; cf. 24, 13 et 17, 5. 6; 24, 16 et 21, 9; 27, 9 et 11, 8 ; 21, 2 seq. et 5, 1; praeterea haec vaticinia iam nota fuerunt prophetis Nahum, Ieremiae, Ezechieli ; cf. Nah. 2, 10 et 94, 1. Ier. 4, 23-26 et Is. 24, 1-12. 19. 20. 23; Ier. 4, '1 et Is. 24, 10; Ier. 8, 13 et Is. 24, 4 (cf. Scholz, Commentar z. Buche Deinde minime omitti debet in serie hac oraculorum consideranda et diiudicanda, quomodo ex illis revera constituatur unum aliquod opus . firmo consilio constans, unitate interna compactum, ita ut quae in prioribus partibus quasi semina sparsa fuerint, in subsequentibus crescere et explicari cernantur. Id autem ita esse iam ex argumento proposito (sub n. III) facile perspicitur et in libri explanatione etiam clarius uberiusque demonstrabitur. Talem autem .unitatem internam et argumenti incepti explicationem non posse oriri ex fragmentis variis fortuito collectis vel inter se assutis demonstratione haud videtur indigere.
Denique minime tacendum est unam ex primis rationibus, cur vaticinia quaedam Isaiae fuerint abiudicata, eam fuisse quia rerum futurarum certa praedietione a vate facta critici illi offendebantur.. Ita enim ex cap. 13 de expugnatione urbis Babylonis quae tanto tempore post Isaiam facta sit statim concludunt, oraculum illud non esse ab Isaia profectum ; dieunt nempe ipso oraculi argumento nos omnino edoceri effatum ultimo exsilii tempore esse ortum (cf. Bleek-Kamphausen, Einl. 4 201) vel : oraculi auctor loquitur de regno potentissimo babylonico, quo ludaei exsules opprimerentur ; ruinam regni et liberationem exsulum mox fore videt; nominat Medos qui expugnaturi sint Babylonem : haec omnia autem Isaiae non congruunt, quippe qui alias semper de uno: regno Assyriorum agat et ad summum vaticinari potuerit nihil aliud nisi fortasse fore aliquando regnum babylonicum et, fortasse pericula ex eo regno iudaico iri illatum (ita Knobel). Praescribunt scil. critici: isti Deo, quid possit et debeat cum suis prophetis communicare et quid non possit, non attendentes quantis se contradictionibus involvant et quot veri nominis vaticinia nullo modo ex libris veteris novique foede- . ris amoveri possint. Insuper falsum est Isaiam solum regno assyriaco occupari (cf. capp. 38. 39; eventus enim ibi narratos tempore Isaiae accidisse nemo negat); et cum regnum babylonicum iam dudum ante Isaiam exstiterit et saepe cum Assyriis de summo imperio varia fortuna pugnatum sit, etsi revelationem divinam omiseris, non adeo difficile erat praevidere Babylonios demum fore Assyriis iterum superiores, uti olim per longum tempus fuerant. ' Isaiam esse quoque auctorem alterius partis (cap. 40- -66) in Prolegg. ad eam partem demonstrabitur, in altero huius commentarii volumine.