The judgments of God upon all the sinners of the world. A remnant shall joyfully praise him.
Al this world shal be destroyed, 7. wherof manie signes shal come before, 18. and general iudgement shal folow.
1Behold the Lord shall lay waste the earth, and shall strip it, and shall afflict the face thereof, and scatter abroad the inhabitants thereof.Ecco, che il Signore desolerà, e spoglierà la terra, e afflitta renderà la faccia di lei, e dispergerà i suoi abitatori.BEHOLD our Lord shal dissipate the earth, and make it naked, and afflict the face therof, and disperse the inhabitants therof.Ecce Dominus dissipabit terram: / et nudabit eam, et affliget faciem ejus, / et disperget habitatores ejus. 2And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest: and as with the servant so with his master: as with the handmaid, so with her mistress: as with the buyer, so with the seller: as with the lender, so with the borrower: as with him that calleth for his money, so with him that oweth.E sarà come il popolo, così il sacerdote; e come lo schiavo, così il padrone; come la serva, così la padrona; come chi compra, così chi vende, come chi dà in prestito, così chi prende; come il creditore, così il debitore.And as the people, so shal the priest be: & as the seruant, so his master: as the handmayde, so her mistresse: as the byer, so he that selleth: as the lender, so he that boroweth: as he that asketh his dewe, so he that oweth.Et erit sicut populus, sic sacerdos; / et sicut servus, sic dominus ejus; / sicut ancilla, sic domina ejus; / sicut emens, sic ille qui vendit; / sicut fœnerator, sic is qui mutuum accipit; / sicut qui repetit, sic qui debet. 3With desolation shall the earth be laid waste, and it shall be utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word.Disertata totalmente sarà la terra, e totalmente sarà devastata. Imperocché il Signore ha pronunziata questa parola.With dissipation shal the earth be dissipated, and with spoile it shal be spoiled: for our Lord hath spoken this worde.Dissipatione dissipabitur terra, et direptione prædabitur; / Dominus enim locutus est verbum hoc. 4The earth mourned, and faded away, and is weakened: the world faded away, the height of the people of the earth is weakened.La terra è in lagrime, e si consuma, e vien meno: si consuma il mondo, si consumano gli eccelsi del popolo della terra.The earth hath mourned, and fallen away, and is weakened: the world is fallen away, the height of the people of the earth is weakened.Luxit, et defluxit terra, et infirmata est; / defluxit orbis, / infirmata est altitudo populi terræ.
5And the earth is infected by the inhabitants thereof: because they have transgressed the laws, they have changed the ordinance, they have broken the everlasting covenant.La terra è infettata da suoi abitatori; perchè questi han trasgredite le leggi, han cambiato il diritto; hanno sciolta l'alleanza sempiterna.And the earth is infected by the inhabitants therof: because they haue transgressed the lawes, changed right, dissipated the euerlasting couenant.Et terra infecta est ab habitatoribus suis, / quia transgressi sunt leges, / mutaverunt jus, / dissipaverunt fœdus sempiternum. 6Therefore shall a curse devour the earth, and the inhabitants thereof shall sin: and therefore they that dwell therein shall be mad, and few men shall be left.Per questo la maledizione divorerà la terra, perchè i suoi abitanti son peccatori, e per questo daranno in pazzie que', che in essa dimorano, e scarso numero d'uomini resterà.For this cause shal malediction deuoure the earth, & the inhabitants therof shal sinne: and therfore the dwellers therein shal be madde, & few men shal be leaft.Propter hoc maledictio vorabit terram, / et peccabunt habitatores ejus; / ideoque insanient cultores ejus, / et relinquentur homines pauci. 7The vintage hath mourned, the vine hath languished away, all the merry-hearted have sighed.La vendemmia è in lutto, la vite ha perduto il vigore: sono in pianto quegli, che erano allegri di cuore.The vintage hath mourned, the vine is weakened, al haue sighed that reioyced in hart.Luxit vindemia, infirmata est vitis, / ingemuerunt omnes qui lætabantur corde; 8The mirth of timbrels hath ceased, the noise of them that rejoice is ended, the melody of the harp is silent.E finito il festoso suono de' timpani, cessò il romoreggiare delle allegre combriccole, la dolce cetra è in silenzio.The ioy of tymbrels hath ceased, the sound of them that reioyce is least of, the sweetnes of the harpe is silent.cessavit gaudium tympanorum, / quievit sonitus lætantium, / conticuit dulcedo citharæ. 9They shall not drink wine with a song: the drink shall be bitter to them that drink it.Non più beranno vino cantando: ogni bevanda sarà amara pei bevitori.They shal not drinke wine with song: the drinke shal be bitter to them that drinke it.Cum cantico non bibent vinum; / amara erit potio bibentibus illam. 10The city of vanity is broken down, every house is shut up, no man cometh in.La città della vanità si va distruggendo, tutte le case son chiuse, né alcuno più vi entra.The citie of vanitie is broken downe, euerie house is shut, no man goeth in.Attrita est civitas vanitatis, / clausa est omnis domus, nullo introëunte.
11There shall be a crying for wine in the streets: all mirth is forsaken: the joy of the earth is gone away.Saran grida nelle contrade per la penuria del vino: ogni solazzo è sbandito: se n'è ita l'allegrezza della terra.There shal be crying for the wine in the streetes: al mirth is left: the ioy of the earth is caried away.Clamor erit super vino in plateis, / deserta est omnia lætitia, / translatum est gaudium terræ. 12Desolation is left in the city, and calamity shall oppress the gates.In città e rimasa la solitudine, e le porte saranno in desolazione.Desolation is left in the citie, and calamitie shal oppresse the gates.Relicta est in urbe solitudo, / et calamitas opprimet portas. 13For it shall be thus in the midst of the earth, in the midst of the people, as if a few olives, that remain, should be shaken out of the olive tree: or grapes, when the vintage is ended.Perocché così avverrà nel mezzo della terra, nel centro de' popoli: come se si scuotano poche olive rimaste sull'albero, e si tolgano i gracimoli finita che sia la vendemmia.Because these thinges shal be in the middes of the earth, in the middes of peoples, in like maner as if a few oliues, which are remayning, should be shaken out of the oliue tree; and grapes, when the vintage is ended.Quia hæc erunt in medio terræ / in medio populorum, / quomodo si paucæ olivæ quæ remanserunt / excutiantur ex olea et racemi, / cum fuerit finita vindemia. 14These shall lift up their voice, and shall give praise: when the Lord shall be glorified, they shall make a joyful noise from the sea.Questi alzeran la lor voce, e intuoneran delle laude: daranno festosi gridi dal mare, allorché sarà stato glorificato il Signore.These shal lift vp their voice, and prayse: when our Lord shal be glorified, they shal make a ioyful noise from the sea.Hi levabunt vocem suam, atque laudabunt: / cum glorificatus fuerit Dominus, hinnient de mari. 15Therefore glorify ye the Lord in instruction: the name of the Lord God of Israel in the islands of the sea.Per questo colla dottrina glorificate il Signore, il nome del Signore Dio d'Israele nelle isole del mare.For this cause in doctrines glorifie our Lord: in the iles of the sea the name of our Lord the God of Israel.Propter hoc in doctrinis glorificate Dominum; / in insulis maris / nomen Domini Dei Israël. 16From the ends of the earth we have heard praises, the glory of the just one. And I said: My secret to myself, my secret to myself, woe is me: the prevaricators have prevaricated, and with the prevarication of transgressors they have prevaricated.Dalle estremità della terra abbiamo udito cantarsi laude a gloria del giusto. Ed io dissi: Il mio segreto è per me: il mio segreto è per me: povero me! i prevaricatori hanno prevaricato, ed hanno prevaricato con prevaricazione da protervi.From the endes of the earth we haue heard praises, the glorie of the iust one. And I sayd: My secrete to me, my secrete to me, woe is me: the preuaricatours haue preuaricated, and by the preuarication of trangressors they haue preuaricated.A finibus terræ laudes audivimus, / gloriam Justi. / Et dixi: Secretum meum mihi, / secretum meum mihi. / Væ mihi ! / prævaricantes prævaricati sunt, / et prævaricatione transgressorum prævaricati sunt.
17Fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon thee, O thou inhabitant of the earth.La scacciata, e la fossa, e il laccio sono per te, che sei abitator della terra.Feare, and pitte, and snare vpon thee, that art inhabiter of the earth.Formido, et fovea, et laqueus / super te, qui habitator es terræ. 18And it shall come to pass, that he that shall flee from the noise of the fear, shall fall into the pit: and he that shall rid himself out of the pit, shall be taken in the snare: for the flood-gates from on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth shall be shaken.E chi dalla scacciata si salverà, cadrà nella fossa, e chi si salverà dalla fossa, sarà preso al laccio; perocché si apriranno dall'alto le cataratte, e le fondamenta della terra saranno scosse.And it shal be: He that shal flee from the voice of feare, shal fal into the pitte: and he that shal rid him selfe out of the pitte, shal be held in the snare: because the fludgates from on high are opened, and the fundations of the earth shal be shaken.Et erit: qui fugerit a voce formidinis cadet in foveam; / et qui se explicaverit de fovea tenebitur laqueo; / quia cataractæ de excelsis apertæ sunt / et concutientur fundamenta terræ. 19With breaking shall the earth be broken, with crushing shall the earth be crushed, with trembling shall the earth be moved.Sarà spezzata con gran fracasso la terra; si spaccherà con crepature grandi la terra; sarà scommossa con isconvolgimento grande la terra,With breaking shal the earth the broken, with bruising shal the earth be bruised, with mouing shal the earth be moued,Confractione confringetur terra, / contritione conteretur terra, / commotione commovebitur terra; 20With shaking shall the earth be shaken as a drunken man, and shall be removed as the tent of one night: and the iniquity thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again.Sarà in agitazione la terra come un ubbriaco; e muterà sito come un padiglione, che sta fermo una notte: sarà a lei grave peso la sua iniquità, ed ella cadrà, né potrà più rialzarsi.With shaking shal the earth be shaken as a drunken man, and shal be taken away as the tabernacle of one night: and the iniquitie therof shal be heauie vpon it, and it shal fal, and not adde to rise againe.agitatione agitabitur terra sicut ebrius, / et auferetur quasi tabernaculum unius noctis; / et gravabit eam iniquitas sua, / et corruet, et non adjiciet ut resurgat.
21And it shall come to pass, that in that day the Lord shall visit upon the host of heaven on high, and upon the kings of the earth, on the earth.E in quel giorno visiterà il Signore la milizia del cielo nell'alto: e re della terra, i quali sono sopra la terra.And it thal be: In that day our Lord wil visite vpon the hoste of heauen on high, and vpon the kinges of the earth, that are vpon the earth.Et erit: in die illa visitabit Dominus / super militiam cæli in excelso, / et super reges terræ qui sunt super terram; 22And they shall be gathered together as in the gathering of one bundle into the pit, and they shall be shut up there in prison: and after many days they shall be visited.E saran riuniti tutti in un fascio nella fossa, e ivi saran chiusi in prigione; ed anche dopo molti giorni saranno visitati.And they shal be gathered together as the gathering of a bundel into the lake, and shal be shut there in prison: and after manie daies they shal be visited.et congregabuntur in congregatione unius fascis in lacum, / et claudentur ibi in carcere, / et post multos dies visitabuntur. 23And the moon shall blush, and the sun shall be ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Sion, and in Jerusalem, and shall be glorified in the sight of his ancients.E la luna arrossirà, e il sole si oscurerà, allorché il Signore Dio degli eserciti sarà entrato al possesso del regno nel monte di Sion, e in Gerusalemme, e sarà glorificato nel cospetto de' suoi seniori.And the moone shal be confounded, when the Lord of hostes shal reigne in mount Sion, and in Ierusalem, & shal be glorified in the sight of his ancients.Et erubescet luna, et confundetur sol, / cum regnaverit Dominus exercituum / in monte Sion et in Jerusalem / et in conspectu senum suorum fuerit glorificatus.
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Worthington
Priest. All distinctions shall be disregarded. (Worthington)
When Jerusalem was taken, all became captives.
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Weakened: Joakim, etc., are made prisoners. The greatest monarchs must come before God's tribunal.
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Worthington
Sin. Towards the end of the world iniquity will abound, and men shall rage against each other, Matthew xxiv. (Worthington)
They will also feel the effects of sin.
Menochius
Mad: abandoned to their passions, (Deuteronomy 28:28.) excepting only the elect. (Menochius)
Few. The Chaldeans permitted only a few of the poorest sort to remain, 2 Paralipomenon 29:10.
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The drink. Hebrew shecar, "palm wine."
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Haydock
Vanity. Jerusalem, (Calmet) or any other city, will be all in confusion. (Haydock)
Calmet
In, as was the case in times of mourning, Jeremias 9:21. (Calmet)
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Haydock
Sea. The few elect (ver. 13.) being rescued from the misery of the world, shall praise God. (Haydock)
Menochius
They are exhorted to lift up their heads, Luke 21:28. (Menochius)
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Worthington
Instruction. The Church is like an island, compared with the rest of the world; or it preaches the gospel to all nations, and to the islands, like Great Britain. (Worthington)
Menochius
Apostolic men are required to preach incessantly to all sorts of people. Hebrew, "in light;" or Pagnin, "in vales." (Menochius)
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Calmet
I said. The prophet, or any other, may speak thus in the latter days. (Calmet)
Myself. I cannot recount what horrid pains I beheld. (St. Jerome) (Menochius) (2 Corinthians 12:4.)
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Snare. He alludes to the methods of taking wild beasts, Job 18:11.
Calmet
Opened, as they were in the days of Noe[Noah]. (Calmet)
All sorts of misery hang over us.
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Calmet
Night, unexpectedly, (Haydock) and with the utmost speed. (Calmet)
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Challoner
High. The stars, which in many places of the Scripture are so called. Some commentators explain that these words here signify the demons of the air. (Challoner)
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Menochius
Visited. Hence Origen (Prin. 3:6., etc.) took occasion to assert, that the damned would one day be released, though the Scripture so often declares the contrary. The prophet speaks of the future liberation of the Jews; (Calmet) or he intimates that after many days, yea throughout eternity, the reprobate will still be punished. (Menochius)
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Calmet
Blush: be turned into blood, Joel 2:10. Dreadful calamities shall ensue, to usher in the great day of judgment. (Calmet)
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The host of heaven on high.... The stars, which in many places of the Scripture are so called. Some commentators explain that these words here signify the demons of the air.
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Concordance Osee. 4.
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Diuersitie of states which is now in the world, shal cease at the general iudgement, and al men shal receiue according to their delertes.
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Nere the end of the world, manie forgetting the law of God, & nature, wil rage in extreme furie against others, persecuting & murthering one an other, especially the wicked afflicting the good: which our Sauiour describeth (Mat. 24) saying: Nation shal rise against nation. You shal be odious to al nations for my sake. Iniquitie shal abound. &c.
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This ioyful propagation of Gods glorie and name, is either vnderstood to be prophecied of the Church in general, which is as an iland of the whole world: or properly and particularly (amongst other gentiles) of ilandes conuerted to Christ: as great Britannie & others.
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Concordance Iere. 48.
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.82
82. Nor indeed is there any distinction between the state of the people and that of the priesthood: but it seems to me to be a simple fulfilment of the ancient curse, “As with the people so with the priest.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 128.4
… The prayers of His servant hindered His power. Who, think you, is there now under heaven able to stay God’s wrath, to face the flame of His judgment, and to say with the apostle, “I could wish that I myself were accursed for my brethren”? Flocks and shepherds perish together, because as it is with the people, so is it with the priest.
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Corinthians 7
In another point of view, the word indicates also the Gospel’s being contrary to all expectation. By no other name is Scripture wont to call what happens beyond all hope and above all thought of men. Wherefore also in another place, “My mystery is for Me
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 48.13
… the crowds hear my parables, but their interpretation is for my disciples alone”? The Lord puts questions to the Pharisees, but does not elucidate them. To teach a disciple is one thing; to vanquish an opponent, another. “My mystery is for me,” says the prophet; “my mystery is for me and for them that are mine.”
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 An Exhortation to Theodore After His Fall 1
… the earth shall shake as a hut, it shall fall and not be able to rise up again: for iniquity has waxed mighty therein. And God shall set His hand upon the host of the Heaven in the height in that day, and upon the kingdoms of the earth, and He shall gather together the congregation thereof into a prison, and shall shut them up in a stronghold.”
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St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 2
… In the Septuagint, however, we do not find the words “because I have been silent,” but “because I was pricked,” that is with the consciousness of sin; and thus the words of the prophet are fulfilled. “My life was turned into misery while I was pierced by the thorn.” He was pricked by the thorn of sin: you are decked with the flowers of virtue.
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1. Behold the Lord shall lay waste the earth (in Hebrew בוקק boker, that is shall make it empty and void) and shall strip it (both of men, and of animals, and of its other ornaments). And shall afflict the face thereof, shall burn the surface of the earth with the fire of conflagration, II Peter iii, 10. AND SHALL STRIP IT, — both of men, and of animals, and of its other ornaments. AND SHALL AFFLICT THE FACE THEREOF. — Shall burn the surface of the earth with the fire of conflagration, II Peter iii, 10. AND SHALL SCATTER THE INHABITANTS THEREOF. — The fire of conflagration shall equally devour priests as laymen, lords as servants, creditors as debtors, buyers as sellers; for it shall make all equal. And shall scatter the inhabitants thereof. — Just as in the destruction of a city the inhabitants are wont to be scattered while they attempt to flee, but often they do not escape; for they fall into death or captivity: so at the end of the world, many shall escape the plagues preceding the destruction, but the fire itself and the destruction no one shall escape.
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2. And it shall be with the people, so with the priest. — All shall be involved in the same common calamity of the world, both priests and laity, both nobles and commoners, both servants and masters, both creditors and debtors: there shall then be no distinction of rank and dignity: neither mitre nor wealth nor scepter shall protect anyone: for these things regard men, not God. Morally, St. Bernard in his Declamation adapts these words pathetically to priests, who live the life of laymen.
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3. By plunder it shall be plundered. — This doubling has the force of amplification, as if to say: The earth shall be utterly plundered and laid waste by the fire already mentioned.
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4. The earth has mourned and faded away. — In Hebrew there is a paronomasia: אבלה נבלה habela nabela, which the Interpreter aptly imitated by translating, mourned and faded away, that is, shall mourn and shall fade, or shall fall away, the earth, that is, the houses of the earth, citadels, cities, and likewise columns, pyramids, mausoleums, indeed even trees and forests. The height (that is, the strength or excellence, namely of princes and nobles) of the people of the earth has been weakened.
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5. The earth is infected — by sins (whence the Chaldean and Septuagint translate, it has sinned), equally by deceit and hypocrisy; for this is the Hebrew חנפה chanepha; this is what the Church prays: There are many things covered with deceit, which may be purged by thy light. For truly in this life men are full of deceit, many are masked, many have external and simulated sanctity, chastity, friendship; within they are full of pride, anger, lust, hatred, envy, and are driven by their passions and desires: God shall reveal these deceits in judgment, and show them to the whole world, indeed shall burn them with fire. They have broken the everlasting covenant. — By covenant he calls God's laws and justice: for God's laws are the condition of the covenant made with men: it is called everlasting, because God's law, especially the natural law, is eternal and shall endure forever, as if to say: God shall destroy the world, because its inhabitants have violated the covenant, namely the laws and justice of God. Others distinguish these three things. First, Forerius understands by laws the judicial precepts, by justice the ceremonial laws, by covenant the Decalogue. But the former two bound not all men, but only the Jews. Second, St. Thomas understands by laws the written law, by justice customs, by covenant pacts. Third, Hugh understands by justice the natural law, by laws the positive laws, by covenant friendship.
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6. Therefore a curse shall devour the earth. — For curse the Hebrew is אלה ala: which first, with the Chaldean and Vatablus, can be translated perjury, as if to say: Perjury, by which men have violated the covenant and laws of God, which they had sworn to keep, that is, solemnly promised, shall be the cause and guilt why this calamity devours the world: thus oath is taken for promise, Psalm 118:106: I have sworn, and have determined (that is, firmly determined, just as if I had sworn) to keep the judgments of thy justice. This is catachresis. Second and better, ala can be translated curse, malediction, that is, the extreme calamity due to such great crimes, shall devour the earth, that is, all the delights of the earth, the riches and filth which the luxury and sins of men have brought upon it. And the inhabitants thereof shall sin. — "And" is causal, signifying because; whence the Septuagint translates, because men have sinned. And therefore the tillers thereof shall rage, — as if to say: Because men have raged in sins, as if furious with lust and desires, so that seeing and feeling the plague, famine, and other horrible plagues of God and the seven Angels, which are described in the Apocalypse chapter 8, and as if they would not repent, as is said in Apocalypse 9:20; therefore likewise shall they rage with pain and horror of such great calamity: for thus shall they be struck, thus shall they be tormented, that they shall seem to be driven into madness and fury, according to that which God threatened in Deuteronomy 28:28: "The Lord shall strike thee with madness, and blindness, and fury of mind," which is what Christ says in Luke 21:26: "Men withering away for fear, and expectation of what shall come upon the whole world." And a few men shall be left, — as if to say: From this trembling and madness of sorrows shall be freed a few, who namely shall live not as brutes, but as men created to the image of God, and who therefore seeing this calamity shall not feel it: for they shall long for a better life to be entered upon through and after death in heaven: this is what Christ says in Luke 21:28: "Lift up your heads: for your redemption is at hand." Thus St. Jerome and Haymo. It is hinted here that the number of the holy and those to be saved shall be small at the end of the world.
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7. The vintage has mourned, the vine has been weakened. — "Has mourned," that is, has caused to mourn: "has been weakened," that is, has caused to be weakened the vine those who have given themselves to wine and gluttony, because it shall lead them to the horrible judgment of God, and to the eternal torments of hell. Second and genuinely, just as metaphorically meadows and vineyards are said to laugh when they luxuriate with foliage and fruit: so conversely they are said to mourn and be weakened, when they are foul with dryness, and produce neither grapes nor wine, by which voluptuous men are accustomed to delight and exult. God therefore at the end of the world shall bring sterility upon vineyards and fields, both through the fire of conflagration, and through the preceding plagues.
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8, 9, 11. THE JOY OF TIMBRELS HAS CEASED, etc. — All music and convivial gladness shall cease: wine shall not be drunk with singing, but with lamentation, groaning and bitterness. Vers. 9. 9. They shall not drink wine with a song. — That it was customary for both Jews and Gentiles as well as Christians to employ songs and music at banquets and wine-drinking, I have shown in Ephesians V, 19.
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Vers. 10. 10. The city of vanity is broken down. — First, St. Jerome, St. Thomas and Haymo: The city of vanity, they say, is Babylon, that is Rome, which at the end of the world, wholly given over to vanity, luxury and ambition, shall be most wicked, and therefore shall be laid waste with her daughters, that is other cities subject to her, Apocalypse XVIII, 2. Hear also Blessed Peter Damian, epistle 9 to Nicholas II, the Roman Pontiff, in which he asks from him permission, that, having resigned the bishopric of Ostia and the cardinalate, it may be allowed him to return to the quiet and silence of the monastery: "Why," he says, "should not I abandon Rome to avoid so many wounds to the soul? Although even to the body itself it is not altogether harmless, being productive of fevers and wandering diseases. Whence I remember that I once produced this tetrastich: Rome, devourer of men, tames the lofty necks of men: Rome, fertile in fevers, is most abundant in the fruits of death. The fevers of Rome are faithful by stable right: Whom once they seize, they scarcely depart from the living." Second, Sanchez: The city, he says, of vanity, that is devoted to gain and vanity, was Tyre, of which the preceding chapter speaks. Moreover Tyre was the type and image of all the luxury and vanity of the world, as if to say: The whole world, like the city of Tyre most vain, shall be broken down and consumed by fire, and shall become utter vanity and emptiness both of citizens and of all things. Third, the same Sanchez: The city, he says, that is all the cities of the world, which appeared to be most fortified and to be eternal, at the end of the world shall be broken down and destroyed, and then it shall appear that they were cities of vanity, and all their riches, fortresses, fortifications, etc., were mere vanity. Thus Solon the legislator of the Athenians, as Beroaldus testifies in his book On Earthquakes, was wont to say, "cities are nothing other than dwellings of the wretched, nay rather of wretchedness and misfortunes," in which infinite hardships, sorrows, disgust, groaning and lamentation are hidden. Fourth, truly and genuinely, the city of vanity is the world itself, in which, as Ecclesiastes says, chapter I, verse 2, there is vanity of vanities, and all is vanity. For nothing in it is stable, nothing solid, but all things are fleeting, flow away and pass. Whence the Arabic version translates it, the creature is plundered, or the earth. See St. Augustine, book On the City of God, at the beginning, where he established two cities mutually opposed to each other, one of God, the other of the devil; one of truth, the other of vanity. Note: Just as God and heaven, in which is eternal life and truth, is the city of truth: so earth and all things in it are vanity. Moreover, just as truth is manifold, so also is vanity. First, truth is veracity: so vanity is falsehood and falsity. God is truthful, the Angels and the Blessed are truthful, the true goods which are in the heavens are true: men are vain and deceitful, the false goods which are on earth are false. Thus it is said in Exodus XX, 7: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, that is to a lie. Whence others translate it, thou shalt not swear falsely. Thus Sinon, Aeneid II: Not, if fortune has made wretched Sinon, shall wicked fortune make him also vain and a liar. Fourth, in God and in the heavens is truth, that is eternity; on earth all things are vain, that is perishable and momentary. Where now is that famous Nineveh? where is Tyre? where is Babylon? where is Rome, mistress of the world? truly "Rome buried lies buried in Rome." I marveled that in Rome I could find no trace of the palace of Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, no house, no monument of the Scipios, Fabii, Camilli, nay not even the name of any of these or other pagan families remaining. All their memory has perished: "Now we seek Rome in the midst of Rome." But the just shall be in eternal memory: hence in Rome there stand the glorious tombs of SS. Peter and Paul in the Vatican; the house of St. Cecilia, St. Agnes; the martyrdom of St. Lawrence, St. Sebastian, St. Susanna, churches of many and most ancient Saints. Moreover this happened not only long ago to the ancient families, but happens daily to the new and present Rome. It is a common proverb: Nothing is so changeable as the air and the Roman court. We see this with our eyes, we touch it with our hands. Concerning the air, Galen, the prince of physicians, is a witness, when he asserts that he often sensed four seasons daily at Rome, namely in the morning a spring breeze, at midday a summer one, in the evening an autumnal one, at night a wintry one. Hence Rome, having a head, is subject to rheum and catarrh. As the air is, so is the court. Therefore Rome is the wheel of fortune, on which now these, now those, alternately ascend and descend. Now what happens in the head (for Rome is the head of the world), this is not to be doubted will also happen in the remaining members of this political body, namely in all the provinces and cities of the whole world. Is not therefore this whole world a city of vanity? Is it not a globe and a rolling sphere in which some arise, others set, all things are turned; the highest descend, the lowest ascend, and they ascend only soon to descend? Moreover, all this vanity of the world will appear most clearly at its end, and on the day of judgment, when all things that are in it shall be consumed by fire. Wherefore St. Macarius, about to cross the Nile with his companion, all ragged and squalid, when he heard from the Tribune of the region: Blessed are you who have mocked the world! answered: We mock the world, but the world mocks you. Palladius is a witness in the Lausiac History, chapter XX. Fifth, in God and in the enjoyment of God is truth, that is the fullness of being, and the possession of all goods. For His name is: I am who am, Exodus III, 14. See the things said there. And therefore the name of the earth, of men, and of all creatures is: I am not, so that when questioned with St. John the Baptist: Who art thou? they ought to answer with him: I am not; this is vanity. St. Tiburtius the Martyr, converted to Christ by Valerianus his brother and his wife St. Cecilia, when he was accused of madness by Almachius the Prefect, answered: Would that he deign to number us among the servants of his, who have rejected that which appears to be and is not, and have found that which appears not to be and is! Does anything, Almachius asks, appear to be which is not? All things, he says, which are in the world, which also lead their worshippers to eternal destruction through the brief joy of a time. What then, he says, is that which does not appear? The life of the just, he answered, and the punishment of the unjust. Thus it is in the Life of St. Cecilia. Wherefore prudently St. Thomas More, unjustly imprisoned in a cell by Henry VIII, King of England, thus addressed those who came to console him: This world is a prison, from which all are summoned to give account on their appointed days. But that my prison is smaller than the prison of other princes, I regard as a benefit, since from many evils the least should be chosen. Thus Sander, book I On the English Schism, and Stapleton, in the Life of More. St. Elizabeth, daughter of the King of Hungary, had heard from her mother that her husband was dead, and scarcely had she heard it, she said: If my brother has suffered death, and I too henceforth to the world and its vanities am dead, the world itself will die to me. Thus it is in her Life. Wisely the Poet: To be, to have been, to be about to be, are three flowers without a flower: For all that was, is and shall be perishes at the moment of a brief hour: What that was, is and shall be, perishes at the article of a brief hour: Therefore what does it profit to be, to have been, to be about to be? Awake therefore, O sons of Adam! why do you love vanity, and seek after a lie? Ascend to heaven, despise this point of earth. O eternal truth! establish our heart in thee, that no vanity may move us.
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11. There shall be a cry for wine in the streets. — For wine, that is for the scarcity of wine. Thus St. Thomas, Lyra and Vatablus. It is evident from what has been said in verse 7.
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12, 13. DESOLATION IS LEFT IN THE CITY, AND CALAMITY SHALL OPPRESS THE GATES. — As with olives and grape clusters, God shall leave few just men after the general devastation of the world. 14. THESE SHALL LIFT UP THEIR VOICE, AND SHALL PRAISE. — Those few just men, who as olives and grape clusters remained after the destruction of the world, shall exult and praise God, because they have been saved by him. 13. In the midst of the earth, — in the earth itself, in all the earth; for thus indeed elsewhere often is the middle taken not geometrically, but commonly; for thus we commonly say: in the midst of the sea, that is in the very vast sea; secondly, in the midst of the earth, that is in Jerusalem, says Sanchez; for this is in the midst of the land of promise, or in the midst of the land then inhabited. For near Jerusalem, namely in the valley of Josaphat, which divides the city from the Mount of Olives, the universal judgment shall take place, as I have shown elsewhere, Joel III, 2. Thirdly, St. Thomas, Forerius and Vatablus connect these with what follows, whence Vatablus thus translates it, because thus it shall be in the midst of the earth, in the midst of peoples, as if someone should shake down the remaining olives, or complete the vintage with gleaning. As if few olives, — that is to say. At the end of the world, especially in the time of Antichrist, there shall be so few faithful constant in the faith, as few olives remain in the olive tree after its shaking, and as few grape clusters remain in the vineyard after the vintage.
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14. They shall lift up their voice, and shall praise: when the Lord shall be glorified, they shall make a noise from the sea. — When Antichrist is cast down, when Christ the glorious shall come to judge, they shall praise God, and exulting as it were shall neigh from this sea of the world, when they shall see that they have already escaped it and its tossings, its storms and dangers, and have arrived at the harbor of salvation. Thus St. Jerome. Voluptuaries love this sea, and in it like fishes plunge themselves, and are finally submerged; but the Saints navigate this sea, and struggle and pant toward the harbor.
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15. Therefore in the teachings glorify the Lord. — For in the teachings, the Septuagint, Vatablus and Pagninus translate, in the valleys; others, in caves, that is to say, You who dwell in valleys and in islands of the sea, glorify God: which morally signifies that those who are here cast down and humble themselves are to be exalted, and in their exaltation shall exult. Secondly, St. Jerome thus explains it: Therefore you who are now instructed in Holy Scripture, and know that so great a joy and such great rewards are reserved for you in the teachings, that is, on account of this doctrine received from God, glorify God. Thirdly, most excellently and fully St. Thomas, Lyra and Sanchez: Men of apostolic life are admonished here, they say, to glorify God by traversing the world and teaching all nations (even the Indians dwelling in caves and caverns) the mysteries of faith, and especially the ultimate joys of the good and the punishments of the wicked, which here they have heard from God through Isaiah and learned. For the Apostles and preachers of God ought to be sowers of eternity, and by hope and fear of the last things impel men toward heavenly life, in the manner of Christ and St. John the Baptist, whose sermons were concerning the coming wrath, concerning the winnowing fan of judgment and divine examination, concerning unquenchable fire, concerning the kingdom of heaven, as is evident from Matthew chapter III. For in the teachings in Hebrew is בְאוּרִים beurim, that is, in light or in fire, that is to say, By the fire of your zeal and the light of your preaching illuminate the whole world. Canius Rebilus was Consul of Rome for one day only; for on the same day on which he entered the consulship, he was also deposed: so that afterward it was sought by which Consuls he had been Consul. Wherefore Cicero jested at him, book VII, epistle 30: "We have, he says, a watchful consul, who in his whole consulship saw no sleep." Hear Boethius, On Consolation: If rare it stands in its form to the world, If it varies such changes, Believe in the fleeting fortunes of men, Believe in fleeting goods. It stands eternal and is fixed by law, That nothing generated stands. Q. Caecilius, having obtained great dignity and patrimony through the study and liberality of L. Lucullus, when he had always shown that one man would be his heir, and dying had even handed over his rings to him, adopted Pomponius Atticus in his will and left him heir to all his goods: but the Roman people dragged the corpse of that deceitful and treacherous man with a rope around his neck through the street. And so that wicked man indeed had a son and heir whom he wished: but his funeral and obsequies such as he deserved, Valerius Maximus says, book VII, chapter VIII, and Cornelius Nepos in the Life of Atticus.
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16. From the ends of the earth we have heard praises. — The Prophet exults, and it seems to him that he hears the voices of the peoples of the Indians, the Chinese, and the most remote nations of the world, converted through the Apostles, praising Christ the Lord. Whence the Septuagint for praises render miracles, namely those wrought in India and other nations, by which they themselves were converted. Again, the conversions of so many and so barbarous nations were and are great miracles, and changes of customs. The glory of the just. — He explains what these praises are; and says that they are those by which the glory of the just is celebrated, namely Christ the redeemer and justifier. Whence Vatablus takes these technically, as if this were the canticle of these praises: Glory be to the just one, that is, Let Christ our just one be glorified. My secret to me. — First, Vatablus and Pagninus translate, leanness is to me; others, wasting is to me, that is, I grow lean and waste away from inward sorrow while I see extreme evils threatening the sinner, and yet the whole world rushing into sins. Thus it happened to David, when he said Psalm 118: "I saw the transgressors, and I pined away." Second, the Hebrew רזי razi from the idiom and Chaldaic signification means my secret to me, that is, When at the end of the world I foresee so great a glory of the elect persevering in faith and holiness, yet that they will be so few, and on the other hand so great torments of the damned, yet that they will be so many, that I cannot speak of them, nor if I spoke would the hearers believe: for this reason I ponder and meditate upon them secretly with myself. Whence the Chaldean renders: The secret reward of the just has been shown to me, the secret vengeance of the wicked has been revealed to me: woe to those who do violence, for they shall suffer violence; and to plunderers, for behold they shall be plundered! And St. Jerome: I am not equal, he says, to narrate all things which I perceive, my tongue cleaves to my jaws, my voice is shut up with sorrow: woe is me, what a great order of punishments turns before my eyes! Thus also the Hebrews. This is the genuine sense. Third, St. Augustine in Psalm 7, and from him Leo Castrius, take this secret to be the mystery of the calling of the Gentiles and the reprobation of the Jews, whose depth and silence the Apostle commends not so much by exposition as by admiration, Romans chapter 11, when he says: "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God," etc. Whence Theodotion, as St. Jerome testifies, renders, my mystery to me. Some add, and to my own. Tropologically St. Bernard, sermon 22 in the Canticles, adapts these to the bride who in the secret of conscience seeks and finds the bridegroom: Thomas, he says, in the side, John in the breast, Peter in the bosom of the Father, Paul in the third heaven, have obtained the grace of this secret. Thomas in the solidity of faith, John in the breadth of charity, Paul in the intimacy of wisdom, Peter in the light of truth, Magdalene in the mud of humility. Woe is me. — Alas for me, because at the end of the world all transgression, all wickedness will overflow; and I am not able to speak the horrible punishments decreed for them by God: hence I am intimately tormented.
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17. Fear and the pit and the snare. — These are symbols, and signify the extreme evils threatening sinners at the end of the world, and their extreme straits. He alludes to huntings in which fear is set before birds and beasts, so that fleeing from it they fall into a pit, and wishing to emerge from the pit they fall into a snare set for them; for fear here is a bugbear, or scarecrow, which is set before birds and beasts, so that they are driven in the opposite direction and driven into prepared nets. Thus Horace concerning the image of Priapus says: I am a god thence to thieves and birds, the greatest terror. And Baruch, chapter 6, 69: "As, he says, in a cucumber field a scarecrow (that is, a terror, for example a boy of straw) guards nothing." Wherefore Sanchez rightly notes that fear is here called a line, or rope interwoven with variegated feathers, which placed in a certain place by hunters terrified stags by the agitation of the feathers, so that frightened they fled in the opposite direction, and there fell upon spears, or pits and nets prepared for them; for this is what Seneca says, book 2 On Anger, chapter 2: When a line distinguished with feathers terrifies the greatest herds of beasts and drives them into snares, from the very effect itself it is called fear; and St. Augustine, book 1 On Marriage and Concupiscence: And when they fear false infamy, they incur true infamy, like beasts which are surrounded by feathers, so that they are forced into nets; and Arrian, book 2 On the Life of Epictetus, chapter 1, says the same happens to us as to stags, who, when they flee from feathers, turn back and throw themselves into nets, having exchanged those things which were to be feared for those to be borne with strong spirit. Seneca also uses this, book 2 On Clemency, to teach that thus often men, while they do not strongly oppose lesser things, but turn their backs, fall into worse vices and greater inconveniences. Thus Delrio, adage 742. The sense is, that is, Just as stags and beasts are besieged and pressed in every way so that they may be captured: thus in that extreme calamity of the world God will prepare so many pits and snares, that the wicked cannot escape, but if they escape one, they fall into another. In the Hebrew there is a beautiful paronomasia: for in place of "fear, pit, and snare," there is פחד ופחת ופח pachad, vapachath, vapach.
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18. Because the cataracts from on high are opened. — Strabo, book V, chapter 17: A cataract, he says, is a certain rocky eyebrow at about the middle of the river, flat in its upper part so as to be able to receive the river; but ending in a precipice, from which the water is hurled down. Thus in mills and rivers the barriers of waters, which when loosened the water rushes down with force and noise, are called in Greek cataracts. He alludes to the flood of Noah, in which all the fountains of the great abyss were broken up, and the cataracts of heaven were opened, Genesis VII; as if to say, With such abundance and roaring shall the plagues inundate the world at the end of the world, in which time the waters inundated in the time of Noah, and as if with the cataracts of heaven loosened poured forth upon the earth; for God shall then loosen the reins of His wrath and vengeance, so that He may rain down plagues, just as now His clemency and the prayers of the Saints, which He holds back and restrains as if shut up in cataracts, according to that Psalm X, 7: He shall rain snares upon sinners: fire, and brimstone, and a spirit of storms, the portion of their cup. The Septuagint translates cataracts as windows; as if to say, With the windows of heaven opened as it were, God beheld the sins of the world, that He might avenge them, which before, because He did not punish, He seemed to see as if with the windows of heaven closed, but not to see, or to be ignorant, says St. Jerome. He beheld, I say, and being angry sent fire and other plagues through the Angels, Apocalypse VII and IX, by which He struck the earth so that to earthly men, as if drunk with fear and anguish, it seemed to turn and tremble. See Canon XXXIII. Perhaps also, and more truly, then the whole earth shall tremble, and shall be torn up from its center, as Didymus teaches that this very thing happened in the earthquake which occurred at the passion of Christ, as I said on Job IX, 6. For then there shall be the greatest disturbance of all things, and then God shall inflict extreme wrath and horror upon the wicked; and the following things signify this, when he says: With breaking shall the earth be broken, with crushing shall it be crushed, etc., with shaking shall the earth be shaken like a drunkard.
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20. And it shall be taken away as a tent of one night, — as if to say, Just as those journeying through trackless or desert places pitch the tents which they carry with them at night, that they may lodge in them; in the morning they take them away: so also the earth shall be taken away, not as to substance, but as to its inhabitants, and as to its form and figure, and, as St. Jerome says, not the earth, but all earthly things, namely all earthly dwelling, conversation, all earthly men, and the former life, customs and deeds shall pass away.
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21. The Lord shall visit the host of heaven on high. — First, the host of heaven in Scripture signifies the sun, moon and stars, which proceed in composed array and beautiful order, as if drawn up in battle line, and serve God as soldiers. Thus St. Jerome understood it here: "These," he says, "God shall visit as if sick, and shall burn them with iron and cautery, so that there may be a new heaven and a new earth;" for "stars," as Job chapter XXV, 5 says, "are not clean in His sight," especially since they have now been worshipped or polluted by idolatry and other crimes; these stars therefore God shall visit, that is, shall darken, indeed shall cast them down from heaven, Matthew XXIV, 29. Perhaps also St. Jerome speaks according to the opinion of Origen, as he is accustomed to do, who thought that stars are animated, and that all souls were created together before the body, and on account of sins which they then committed, some were bound to stars, some thrust into human bodies, and daily thrust in: which error has been refuted. Second and genuinely, here the host of heaven is called the army of Angels, that is, of demons, who once cast down from heaven, now dwell in this air, and harass men, and at the end of the world shall be visited by God, that is, shall be punished and condemned; for although they are already condemned even now, yet then they shall be condemned by public sentence before the whole world, and shall be stripped of all liberty by which they dwell in this air, and of the dominion which they usurp over sinners here, and shall be relegated to the prison of hell, to be shut up and burned eternally; which shall be a great punishment for them. For this reason Scripture speaks thus, as if demons were then to be condemned for the first time, namely in the sense which I have already stated. Third, Forerius: The soldiers of heaven, he says, are the ministers of the temple, that is, priests, because, just as Angels in heaven, so they always stand before God and minister in the temple; and as they are as it were heaven to earth, and as Angels to laymen, they excel in dignity, and likewise ought to excel in holiness: but if they do not do this, they shall be visited and tormented grievously by God before laymen. For to enter into military service in the phrase of Scripture signifies to perform ecclesiastical ministry, as I said on Numbers IV, 3 and 30. But although this seems to Forerius to be most literal, yet to me it seems mystical in this place. And upon the kings. — Kings shall not be exempted from the judgment and wrath of God by power or majesty: Because the mighty shall be mightily tormented.
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22. And they shall be gathered together, — that is to say, Kings as well as demons, together with other impious and common people, bound together as it were in bundles, shall be cast into the fire of hell, just as we cast a bundle of logs both large and small into the fire. Haymo thinks these bundles are to be made various, according to various crimes: "They shall be gathered together," he says, "in the gathering of one bundle, so that those who are equal in guilt may be condemned equally in punishments: the avaricious with the avaricious, the lustful with the lustful." See St. Gregory, book IX of the Morals, chapter XXXIX. And after many days they shall be visited. — Origen thus expounds it: The damned shall indeed be shut up in the prison of hell; but the prison shall not be perpetual, because, when they have been there for many days, that is, for a hundred years' course defined by God, they shall be visited so that they may be freed. Thus Satan wished through him to take away faith and memory of the eternity of punishments, which especially restrains men from sin. Whence St. Gregory, book XXXIV of the Morals, XVI, explaining that passage of Job XL: "He shall esteem the abyss as growing old, that is," he says, "he shall cause it to be esteemed by men." But this is an error; for fire in Scripture is called eternal and inextinguishable. See St. Augustine, book XXI of the City of God, chapter XXIII, and Canon XIII, at the beginning of the book. Secondly, Haymo: After many, he says, days, that is years, they shall be visited, namely so that they may rise again, and be tormented in body and soul. Thirdly, Lyra translates it, they shall be visited from many days; and thus explains it, that is to say, In judgment and in hell sins committed from many days and long ago shall be punished. Fourthly, and genuinely, "after many days," that is after many centuries they shall be visited, that is punished, that is to say, Although they be in hell for many days and years, yet their punishments shall never end; but after however many days and years there shall be a continuous beginning of punishments; for the word visited signifies a continued and perpetuated act. Thus the eternity of punishments is signified here. So St. Jerome, Adam and Suarez in the place about to be cited. Whence the Septuagint translates: For many generations their visitation shall be, and thus it can be translated from the Hebrew. Thus on the other hand eternal salvation of the just is signified, when it is said in chapter XXV, 9: "Behold our God is this, etc., and he shall save us." Fifthly, our Turrian, Alcazar On the Eucharist, chapter XXXI, and Alcazar on the Apocalypse XX, 1, note 4, by this visitation to come after many years, understand the loosing of Satan bound by Christ, to come after a thousand years; for by the army of heaven and by the kings of the earth are understood demons, whom Paul calls the rulers of this world. For Alcazar holds, chapters XXIII, XXIV, XXV, XXVI and XXVII, that Isaiah plainly corresponds to chapters XVII, XVIII, XIX and XX of the Apocalypse, namely the destruction of Tyre, which Isaiah describes in chapter XXIII, is the destruction of pagan Rome, or of Gentilism, which John narrates in the Apocalypse XVII and XVIII under the name of Babylon. In chapter XXIV, Isaiah describes the reprobation of the Jews, and the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, of which John treated in the Apocalypse, from chapter six to chapter twelve, in the seven seals of the sealed book. Then therefore Satan was bound by Christ for a thousand years, until the times of Antichrist, when he shall be loosed for a short time, as John says, Apocalypse XX. Hence the three following chapters of Isaiah, namely XXV, XXVI and XXVII, are devoted to giving thanks to God, because he laid waste pagan Rome, and converted it into a new Sion, that is the Christian Church; and subjected its obedience to Leviathan, or the beast of the sea, that is the pagan Roman empire, just as in the Apocalypse XIX, the heavenly ones for the same reason repeat: Alleluia. And this is the mystery, of which Isaiah speaks in chapter XXIV, 16: "My secret to me, my secret to me." Hence in chapter XXVI, he sings of it: "The city of our strength Sion, etc. Open ye the gates, and let the just nation enter in. The old error hath passed away, because he shall bow down the inhabitants on high," in Hebrew marom, that is in Rome. For Rome in Hebrew is derived from rum, that is from height. But these are mystical and ingenious applications rather than genuine explanations of Holy Scripture, as is evident from what has been said, and will be evident from what shall be said in the Apocalypse. To this may be referred the exposition of St. Thomas, III part., Question LII, article 6, to 1, which is as follows: Christ, he says, descending to the lower regions, all who were in any part of hell were in some way visited; but some to their consolation and liberation; some however to their refutation and confusion, as the damned. Whence there is added in the same place: And the moon shall blush, and the sun shall be confounded. Thus also St. Jerome explains it. St. Thomas continues: This can also be referred to the visitation by which they shall be visited on the day of judgment, not that they may be freed, but that they may be more condemned, according to Zephaniah I: I will visit upon the men that are settled on their lees. Where Suarez adds: Because, he says, on the day of judgment Christ as it were anew shall condemn the condemned. Mystically, St. Cyril explains this visitation of the overthrow of idolatry, and of power taken away from demons by Christ; for he himself repressed them by his power, and as it were shut them up in custody.
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23. And the moon shall blush. — First, the Chaldean and the Arabs translate it: the worshippers of the sun and moon shall blush on the day of judgment before God and Christ the judge. Second, the moon and sun signify the idol of the sun and moon; but an idol signifies the demon inhabiting the idol, as Adam says, meaning: When the demons, who are now worshipped as gods on earth, shall see Christ, death conquered, reigning simply and absolutely, then they shall be confounded. Third, others, meaning: The sun and moon shall blush when they shall see such great glory and light of the Blessed, because in comparison with it their own light shall appear dim. Fourth, and genuinely, meaning: The moon and sun shall be amazed and shall blush when they shall see such great damnation and punishment of the reprobate, and such great majesty of Christ the judge and of the Blessed in the assembly of the elders, that is of the Patriarchs and Apostles, meaning: These things exceed all the comprehension and analogy of men and creatures. The moon shall therefore blush, that is, as Joel says, and from him St. Peter, Acts cap. II: "The moon shall be turned into blood," that is shall blush like blood, and, as Christ says: "The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light." St. Jerome gives the cause of the blushing and confusion: "The moon, he says, shall blush and the sun shall be confounded, seeing men who enjoyed its light did nothing worthy of God's goodness, because He maketh His sun to rise upon the good and bad." The stars shall therefore blush, because they have shone upon the wicked man, who abused this light for many and nefarious crimes, by which he has infected and defiled the earth, the air and heaven. If the sun, how then shall the impious man himself blush and be confounded? Thus St. Caesarius, brother of St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Dialog. III, gives the cause why the moon now blushes, now grows pale, as murders, poisonings, and other crimes which are committed by night in its light. "For this reason, he says, the moon is agitated with grief, shudders, hides itself by putting on a cloud, following the example of her brother (he calls the sun the brother of the moon, who in the passion of Christ, indignant at the Christ-killing Jews, withdrew his rays), she disdains to bestow her splendor upon the unworthy, crying out from heaven as it were from some watchtower through her own change, and punishing with darkness; and restraining murderers from impious crime." If you take these things literally as they sound, they smack of the error of Plato, who thought the sun, moon and stars to be animate; but if you take them mystically and symbolically, as Isaiah does here, they are true. Moreover the Septuagint translates: the brick shall melt, and the wall shall fall; for the Hebrew laben or lebana signify both brick and moon: but chamma, that is the sun, if you read it with another pointing choma, signifies a wall. Again for chapera, that is shall blush, they read haphera, that is shall be broken, shall dissolve, shall fall. The sense is, meaning: In the destruction of the city of Jerusalem, or rather of the whole world, by the fire of conflagration all bricks shall melt, and all walls shall fall. But in the Complutensian edition of the Septuagint and in some others, there is added likewise what Our version translates: And the moon shall blush, and the sun shall be confounded. But these are not read in the Roman edition of the Septuagint, nor are they found in St. Cyril, and in Procopius they are added to the margin as from another edition; and St. Jerome testifies that the Septuagint translated for these: the brick shall melt, and the wall shall fall. For it does not seem credible that the Septuagint in the same place translated the same word in two ways, that is differently and differently. When the Lord shall have reigned, — when He shall have begun to reign in the valley of Josaphat near Mount Sion, judging and condemning the wicked, but glorifying the Saints.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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ces suas; et rursus forni abitur, idest negotiabitur. Jer. 50: « Glorificabo eos, et non attenuabuntur. » Contra. Ezech. 27: « Ad nihilum deducta es, et non eris usque in perpetuum. » Glossa ibi: « Idest in memoria, quae est vita unius hominis, quod est per septuaginta annos. » Psal. 89: « Dies annorum nostrorum inipsis septuaginta anni. » Tertio ponit liberationis fructum, Et erunt. Infra 60: « Aurum pro aere afferam, et pro ferro afferam argentum. »
Nota super illo verbo, Sume cytharam, quod per cytharam significatur recta vita. Primo quantum ad carnis mortificationem, propter chordarum materiam. Psalm. 70: « Psallam tibi in cythara, Sanctus Israel. » Secundo quantum ad virtutum connexionem, propter cantus concordantiam. Supra 16: « Venter meus ad Moab quasi cythara sonabit. » Tertio quantum ad dulcedinem boni operis, propter audientis laetitiam. Job 21: « Tenent tympanum et cytharam, et gaudent ad sonitum organi. »
Item nota super illo verbo, Circui civitatem, quia debet homo circuire civitatem: primo propriæ conscientiae, recogitando peccata. Eccl. 12: « Circuibunt in plateis plangentes, antequam rumpatur funiculus argenteus. » Secundo militantis Ecclesiae, imitando justorum exempla. Psalm. 47: « Circumdate Sion, et complectimini eam. » Tertio caelestis patriæ, cogitando sanctorum præmia. Cant. 3: « Surgam, et circuibo civitatem. »
Item nota super illo verbo, Bene cane, quod debet homo bene canere: primo hilariter. Psal. 146: « Deo nostra jucunda sit laudatio. » Secundo attente. 1. Corinth. 14: « Psallam spiritu, psallam et mente. » Tertio devote. 2. Paral. 29: « Obtulit populus hostias et laudes mente devote. »
Item nota super illo verbo, Frequenta canticum, quod debet frequentari primo propter ipsius magnitudinem. Eccl. 45: « Glorificantes Dominum quantumcumque potueritis, supervalebit adhuc, et admirabilis magnificentia ejus. » Secundo propter bonorum interiorum multitudinem. Psalm. 97: « Cantate, exultate et psallite. » Tertio propter peccatorum abundantiam. Psalm. 118: « Sepites in die laudem dixi tibi . . . Domine Deus meus, ne perdas me. » (Psalm. 27).
In parte ista comminatur destructionem totius terrae, vel quae facta est in singulis regnis et diversis partibus, vel quae futura est in die iudicii, secundum quod supra 14, est dictum: «iifoc « est consilium quod cogitavi super omnem terram, et haec est manus extenta super universas gentes:» quamvis quidam hic exponant de terra Judeorum, vel de terra Babylonis, vel de terra Idumaeorum. Dividitur autem in duas. Primo comminatur contra terrae habitatores; in secunda contra populorum gubernatores, ibi, Et erit in die illa, visita il Dom nas super militiam caeli in excelso. Circa primum tria ponit. Primo destructionem hominum; secundo subtractionem gaudiorum, ibi, Luxit vindemia, infirmata est vitis; tertio multitudinem periculorum, ibi, Praevaricantes praevaricati sunt. Circa primum tria. Primo comminatur destructionem: Nudabit, evacuando habitatoribus; dissipabit, privando cultoribus; affliget, diversis poenis, faciem, idest habitantes in superficie; disperget, in diversa dividendo per captivitatem. Joel. 1: «Nudans spoliavit eam, et proiecit.» Secundo destructionis universalitatem quantum ad punitos, adeaquans differentes dignitate: Sicut populus; conditione, sicut servus; rerum possessione, sicut emens. Job 5: «Parvus et magnus ibi sunt, « et servus liber a domino suo. » Quantum ad diversitatem poenarum, Dissipatione, ponens rerum amissionem; quantum ad immobilia, dissipabitur; quantum ad mobilia, praedabitur. Jerem. 12: «Desolatione desolata est omnis terra. » Quantum ad potentiae deletionem, Luxit et defluxit, praeteritum pro futuro, idest defluct lugens pro infirmitate; et hoc est, Infirmata est; ut hoc dicatum sit quantum ad populares. Secundo quantum ad potentes, Defluxit orbis, idest rectores orbis.
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Supra 15: «Visitabo super orbis mala. » Ponit etiam hominum interfectionem, Et terra infecta est ab habitatoribus suis. Psal. 105: «Interfecta est « terra. » Tertio ostendit poenae aequitatem, quia transgressi sunt; et hoc per comparationem ad culpam: unde duo facit. Primo ponit culpam: Leges, scriptas vel naturales, jus, consuetudinis, foedus, amicitiae, sempiternum, quia ex similitudine speciei causatum. Oscae 8: «Transgressi sunt foedus « meum, et legem meam praeviaricati sunt.» Soph.
5: «Polluerunt sanctuarium meum, injuste egerunt « contra legem. » Secundo comminatur poenam propter hoc quadruplicem. Primo divinae maledictionis, Maledictio. Jerem. 25: «A facie maledictionis luxit terra. » Secundo divinae desertionis, Peccabunt; quasi dicat, Domino eos derelinquente. Rom. 1: «Propterea tradidit eos Deus in passiones « ignominiae. » Apoc. ult.: «Qui in sordibus est, « sordeascat adhuc. » Tertio infutationis, Ideoque insaniant. Ps. 77: «Conversi sunt in arcum pravum. » Quarto diminutionis, Derelinquentur.
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Dent. 28: «Remanebitis pauci numero. » Luxit vindemia, infirmata est vitis. Hic comminatur subtractionem gaudiorum quantum ad malos; et secundo gaudia bonorum, ibi, Quomodo si paucæ olivae, quæ remanserunt, excutiuntur ex olea. Et circa primum tria.
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Primo ponit cessationem laetitiae quae ex tribus erat: vel in fertilitate rerum, Luxit vindemia, deficientis, idest causa luctus fuit: supra 16: «In vineis non exultabit, neque jubilabit;» vel in exercitio ludorum, cessabit gaudium: Apoc. 14: «Vox cytharaedorum cytharizantium in cytharis suis:» vel in deliciis conviviorum: Cum cantico non bibent vinum, amara erit potio bibentibus illam. Supra 5: «Cythara et lyra et timpanum et « tibia et vinum in conviviis vestris. » Secundo ponit recompensationem tristitiae: Amara, quia in conviviis tristitiam habebunt, contra delicias conviviorum. Amos 8: «Convertam festivitates vestras « in luctum. » Attrita, contra vanitatem ludorum. Ps. 58: «Universa vanitas. » Eccl. 1: «Vanitas « vanitatum, et omnia vanitas. » Civitas, Babylonis, quaelibet anima. Clamor, conquerentium de defectu vini, contra fertilitatem. Amos 5: «In omni « bus vineis erit planctus. » Tertio concludit commutationem, Deserta, commutata in tristitia. Luc. 6: «Vae vobis qui ridetis, quia flebitis. » Ps. 14: «Risus dolore miscebatur. » Quomodo etc. Hic ponit gaudia bonorum.
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Et primo praedicit laudem futurorum, quorum praedicti salutem: Quomodo si paucæ: pauci salvabuntur respectu aliorum. Supra 17: «Relinquetur in ea sicut excessus oleæ, duarum « aut trium olivarum. » Et ponit ipsorum laudem, Hi laudabunt, hinniunt, sicut equi ad significationem magnam laetitiam.
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Infra 52: «Vox speculatorum tuorum: levaverunt vocem, simul laudabunt. » Secundo indicit laudem praesentibus, ibi, Propter hoc in doctrinis glorificate Dominum. Et primo ponit praeceptum, In doctrinis, idest docendo alios. Alia translatio, Laudationibus. Eccl. 45: «Glorificantes Dominum quantumcumque potueritis, supervalebit « adhuc. » Secundo designat praecepti exemplum, A finibus terrae. Justi, idest Christi. infra 62: «Ecce Dominus auditum faciet in extremis terrae. » Tertio implentum praemium, Ei dixi, Secretum meum mihi, de praemiis eorum. 1 Cor. 2: «Oculus non vidit, nec auris audivit, nec in cor « hominis ascendit, quae praeparavit Deus diligentibus se. » Mihi, soli. Vae mihi, quia non possum aliis enarrare. 2 Cor. 12: «Audivi arcanas « verba, quae non licet homini loqui. » De poenis damnatorum. Vae mihi, quantas poenas video. Et sic tenet se cum parte sequenti.
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Praevaricantes praevaricati sunt. Hic comminatur multitudinem periculorum; et circa hoc duo facit. Primo arguit diversitatem peccatorum. Praevaricantes, omitiendo, transgre-si, committendo. Ps. 118: « Praevarican tes reputavi omnes peccatores terrae. » Secundo comminatur multitudinem periculorum. Et pri- mo ponit hanc multitudinem, Formido. Loquitur ad similitudinem eorum qui prae timore insequentes fugiunt. Supra 8: « Cadent, et conterentur, et ir- retientur, et capientur. » Secundo evadendi im- possibilitatem: Et erit qui fugerit: quasi dicat: de- cidet in Scyllam, cuipiens vitare Charybdim. Joel 1: « Residuum erucae comedit bruchus. » Et assignat causam, quia de caelo et de terra veniet eis tribu- latio. Et hoc est Cataractae, idest occulti meatus per quos aqua transit. Genes. 7: « Cataractae caeli « apertae sunt. » Tertio ostendit reparationis im- possibilitatem sub triplici similitudine; scilicet rei divisae, quae non integratur, Contractione, quantum ad partes magnas, contritione, quantum ad parvas. Amos 9: « Ecce oculi Domini super regnum « peccans, et conteram illud a facie terrae. » Et per similitudinem rei commotae, et quae non sta- bilitur: Commovebitur, de loco ad locum, agitabi- tur, quasi tremens in proprio loco, sicut ebrius. Et per similitudinem tentorii viatoris, quod in eo- dem loco non firmiter figitur, Et quasi tabernacu- lum. Infra 58: « Generatio mea ablata est, et con- « voluta est a me quasi tabernacula pastorum. » Et assignat causam: Et aggravabit, quasi pondus grave, ut non resurgat.
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Psalm. 57: « Iniquitates « meae sicut onus grave gravatae sunt super me. » Et erit in die illa, visitabit Dominus super militiam caeli in excelsa. Hic agitur contra populorum gu- bernatores: et circa hoc tria ponit. Primo ponit eorum poenam, In die illa, judicii, militiae, idest daemonum, et super eosdem reges. Joan. 12: « Nunc « Princeps hujus mundi ejicietur foras. » Vel etiam malos reges. Congregabuntur, simul in infernum. Matth. 25: « Qui paratus est diabolo et angelis « ejus. » Fascis. Matth. 13: « Alligatae in fasci- « culos ad comburendum; » ut sint similes in pocna qui fuerunt similes in culpa. Vel in die illa, scilicet destructionis singularum regnorum, militiae, idola scilicet solis et lunae, et aliarum stellarum. 4 Reg. 21: « Adoravit omnem militiam caeli. » Et congregabuntur, per destructionem. Infra 54: « Ta- « bescet omnis militia caelorum. » Secundo deter-
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minat miseriam quantum ad tempus: Et post mul- tos dies visitabuntur, quia post quantunlibet tem- pus tormentis punientur in aeternum. Matth. 25: « Ite maledicti in ignem aeternum. » Vel in die judicii: ut statim ad infernum peracto judicio redeant. Vel, secundum aliam expositionem, consolabuntur, quia post tempestatem, omnibus aliquam tranquillitatem facit.
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Tertio punientis gloriam: et primo judicis: Et erubescet luna, et confundetur sol; idest, splen- dor ejus nihil reputabitur comparatione splendoris corporis Christi. Joel 2: « Sol convertetur in te- « nebras, et luna in sanguinem, antequam veniat « dies Domini magnus et terribilis. » Vel culto- res solis et lunae. Secundo assessorum, Cum re- gnaverit... senum: Supra 5: « Dominus ad judican- « dum veniet cum senatoribus terrae. »
Nota super illo verbo, Amara potio, quia potio peccati est amara primo propter conscientiae re- morsum. Proverb. 5: « Novissima illius amara « sunt. » Secundo propter mortis metum. Eccl. 41: « O mors, quam amara est memoria tua! » Tertio propter divinae dulcedinis defectum. Jer. 2: « Sci- « to, et vide, quia malum et amarum est reliquis- « se te Dominum Deum tuum. » Quarto propter poenitentiae planctum. Infra 58: « Recogitabo tibi « omnes annos meos, in amaritudine animae meae. »
Nota super illo verbo, Secretum, quia Dei ma- gnalia sunt secreta primo propter eorum magnitu- dinem. Matth. 19: « Non omnes capiunt verbum « hoc. » Joan. 5: « Si terrena dixi vobis, et non « creditis: quomodo si dixero vobis caelestia, cre- « detis? » Secundo propter eorum dignitatem. Matth. 15: « Vobis datum est nosse mysterium « regni Dei; ceteris autem in parabolis. » Tertio propter aliorum indoneitatem. Matth. 7: « No- « lite sanctum dare canibus. »
Nota super illo verbo, Et erit in die illa, visi- tabit, quod est visitatio Domini multiplex. Prima condemnationis. Jerem. 8: « In tempore visitationis « suae corruent. » Secunda correctionis. Ps. 88: « Visitabo in virga iniquitates eorum. » Tertia consolationis, Luc. 1: « Visitavit nos oriens ex alto. »
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Anc. — Propter peccata quibus terra inundata est. ingens vastitas terrae et.omnibus hominum ordinibus castigatio annuntiatur, ex qua pauci relinquentur (24, 1-6). Huius vastitatis et punitionis terrores quibus et terra et homines percutientur varie proponuntur; hisce Deus maiestatem suam manifestat, quam electi ex omnibus mundi partibus celebrant laudantes (24, 1-16) ; verum peccatoribus ingruet ruina multiplex quam evadere nullo modo poterunt : orbis enim terrarum et tota mundi machina dissolvetur, omnium vero peccata, praecipue potenter dominantium, punientur, Deus autem in gloria regnans suis manifestabitur (24, 16-23). Quare electi de tanta gloria exsultantes hymnum concinunt laudis et gratiarum actionis de tanta maiestatis divinae gloria et de salute praestita (25, 1-5). Haec autem salus et bonorum divinorum communicatio symbolo exhibetur convivii quo Deus suos recreat, quos immortalitate et exsultatione donat, dum inimici Dei misere cruciantur et pereunt (23, 6-19). Hanc vero piorum exsultationem eorumque sensus laudis et actionis gratiarum praeclaro carmine vates prosequitur et explicat : celebrant divinam protectionem, cuius ablata erroris vetustate jam participes sunt iusti felicitate et. fiducia immota ;hostes enim humiliati sunt, exaltati autem humiles et iusti, qui calamitatibus olim oppressi toto animorum desiderio iustitiam divinam et gloriam Dei expetierunt, ut haec prostratis inimicorum conatibus innotescat omnibus (26, 1-11). Gratis animis agnoscunt se: a solo Domino salvatos et in aeternum potestati et insidiis hostium ereptos Deique regnum mortuorum resurrectione facta illustre fore praedicant (26, 12-19). — Ita vates ultimam regni Dei perfectionem ac consummationem delineavit. Ab isto quasi fastigio propheta summum rei tractatae argumentum complexus regreditur ad viam quae percurrenda sit, donec ad illud culmen perveniatur : dum Dei iudicia devolvuntur, populus Dei patientia et spe exspectet; Deus potestatem inimicam conteret, populus autem Dei vinea erit Domini electa quam ipse omni studio et amore fovebit atque defendet ita ut fructus exoriantur praeclari (26, 90-91, 6). Hoc modo cum populo agens Deus immensam suam misericordiam manifestat : castigat populum et terram urbemque vastitate percutit, ut demum ad meliorem frugem redeant; sed calamitate expiatos denuo colliget, ut Deum suum adorent in monte sancto in Ierusalem (2, 1-13). Hoc argumento summatim proposito iam elucet in hac parte ea quae in antecedentibus pertractata sunt partim uno conspectu colligi, partim autem etiam magis explicari et augeri. Iudicia quae in gentes singulas devolvuntur iam per modum iudicii universalis, quo universus orbis et tota mundi machina concutiatur, repraesentantur, ita scil. in unum iudicium illud collecta exhibentur, quo demum evangelio docente tota rerum divinarum et humanarum administratio erit absolvenda. Uti iudicia illa particularia ad Dei regnum fundandum vel quod idem est ad salutem hominibus communicandam dirigi ac disponi vidimus, ita praeclarus iste finis ac beatitate plenus praecipua cura in hac parte describitur. Ad eum enim iam gradus fit in ipsa iudicii universalis delinealione 24, 14. 15. 23; is insigni modo effertur in canticis, quibus iusti et salvati Deo laudes concinunt et divinam rerum gubernationem extollunt, is proponitur in symbolo convivii coelestis, is depingitur in resurrectione mortuorum et generatim in populo sancto Dei, qui hostibus prostratis de magna tribulatione demum in adoratione Dei et gloria beatus colligitur. Prophetam a iudiciis particularibus quae descripserat iam ascendere ad iudicium quoddam generale depingendum quo totus orbis sit devastandus, verbis ipsis declaratur et a plerisque quoque interpretibus agnoscitur. In quam rem bene notat Sasb. : « solet Isaias post commemorata particularia aliquorum mala libenter transire ad generalia », et Osor. : « haec ubi de iudiciis quibus Deus singulares orbis terrarum partes perdidit et afflixit ampliter et copiose praemonuit, nunc in universum de totius humani generis interitu sermonem instituit » (sim. S. Hier. Euseb. Sanct. Lap. Men. Gord.). Sed accuratius determinari oportet, quo sensu de iudicio generali instituatur sermo, utrum scil. propheta solum iudicia particularia quae eousque consideravit in unum colligat et s?c iudicium generale efformet, an iudicium ultimum universale relictis particularibus vaticinetur illud de quo in evangeliis docemur, an utrumque coniungens iudicium Dei exhibeat per se tale quale exsistit et mente et cogitatione fingi et comprehendi potest, ut ex iudiciis particularibus et ultimo universali unum exoriatur iudicium Dei simpliciter, quo et particularia illa quasi quidam gradus et initia et ultimum universale tamquam omnium illorum absolutio et ultimum culmen repraesententur et describantur. Hic tertius modus omnino assumendus esse videtur; eo enim solo omnia quae in sequentibus proponuntur ad unitatem quandam et aptam inter se connexionem rediguntur. Nam si iudicium Dei ita acceptum supposueris, per se explicatur, cur ea quae iudieiis particularibus propria sunt media cernantur in descriptione tali quae limites iudiciorum particularium longe excedat, vel vice versa, cur singula illa iudicia iis exhibeantur et proponantur coloribus, iis effectibus, eo ambitu, quae neque singulis per se neque omnibus particularibus simul conveniant, verum in solo ultimo generali exspectanda sunt. Non ergo hic consideratur iudicium Dei tale vel tale, sed iudicium Dei in universum, quatenus per temporis decursum et in fine saeculorum devolvitur. Talem autem considerationem visioni propheticae esse consentaneam certum est. Nam, uti saepius iam monuimus, ad visionem propheticam pertinere advertimus ipsa oraculorum forma, ut normae Dei generales proponantur, ut ipsae rerum notiones quales in mente exsistunt abstractae a temporum serie et spatio locorum in se depingantur et exprimantur. Adde quod hac sola consideratione ea habetur unitas, ea conformitas et dicendi constantia, quae necessario requiritur. Nemo enim quibusdam interpretibus consentiet dicentibus, vatem modo loqui de iudicio quodam singulari, modo ad ultimum ascendere universale, ut mox iterum particulare quoddam tangat ex quo denuo se elevet ad ultimum generale, et ita vatem fere continuo ab altero ad alterum transire vel « avolare ». Profecto non ita sermones prophetici discerpendi sunt, verum una illa et fecundissima notio vel idea vel intuitio mentis est exquirenda ex qua oraculum amplissimum efflorescat et maxima rerum varietas et abundantia quasi sua sponte nascatur et contineatur. Tale autem est in re nostra iudicium Dei quod per se et in se consideratur. In rerum cursu adsunt iudicia Dei particularia in singulis gentibus variis temporibus et aderit iudicium ultimum universale, sed ex his coalescit unum iudicium per se et pro mentis consideratione unum potest coalescere, quia et iudicia illa particularia non sunt nisi praeformaiiones quaedam et quasi praeludia ad ultimum et in ultimo demum plane et perfecte id absolvitur quod in singulis fiebat i. e. prostratio hostium Dei et cultorum Dei beatitas, vel quod ad idem recidit, manifestatio gloriae Dei. Haec igitur Dei victoria vel manifestatio gloriae in se concipitur tamquam una, omnia complectens tempora, coelum et terram implens et tamquam talis describitur; inde vero fit, ut in mentis intuitione et descriptione iudicia particularia luminibus et coloribus illustrentur iudicii ultimi universalis, ultimum vero iudicium eum quoque induat rerum statum et eos ostendat effectus qui proprie ad singularia pertinent. Cuius rei exempla in subsequentibus habentur. Ex veteribus oraculi huius vim et ambitum optime declaravit Theod. : « duplicem oratio continet prophetiam ; ostendit enim tum ea quae diversis temporibus apud hostes gerenda sunt, tum ea quae in saeculi huius consummatione futura sunt ». Id unum apud Theod. desideratur, ut ostendat quomodo haee duo ex una mentis intuitione quasi sua sponte enascantur vel ad unitatem idealem reducantur. $. Cyr. modo totius orbis excidium id vocari dicit quod multis gentibus accidit, modo ea praedici innuit quae tempore consummationis mundo sint eventura (sim. Procop.) Etiam S. Thom. in medio rem relinquit dicens : « comminatur destructionem totius orbis vel quae facta est in singulis regnis et diversis partibus vel quae futura est in die iudicii ». Rectius dixeris utrumque simul una quadam imagine generali adumbrari. Ex hoc nexu interno qui inter iudicia particularia et ullimum generale exsistit, facile etiam declaratur, cur apud alios quoque prophetas quandoque iudicia particularia schemate universalis proponantur ; de qua re vide quae notavi ad loel 2, 10. Abd. 45. Mich. 4, 2. Hab. 3, 8 (Comment. in Proph. min. I p. 217. 352. 396 ; II p. 105). Neque ab ea dicendi forma abest, si v. g. praeparatio regni messianici eiusque perfectio uno complexu describuntur, quemadmodum advertere licet ad Os. 41, 11. Soph. 3, 20. Zach. 2, 4. 10, 10 seq. (1. c. E p. 150; II p. 168. 241. 341). — Fuerunt etiam qui in hisce vaticiniis non agnoscere volebant uisi iudicium in terram Iuda devolvendum (cf. For. Calm. Kn. Drechsl. Schegg, Troch.), quae sententia ipso verborum ambitu iam refutatur ; cf. 24, 1 seq.
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v. 2 « et erit sicut populus sic sacerdos, et sicut servus sic dominus eius, sicut ancilla sic domina etus, sicut emens sic ille qui vendit, sicut. foenerator sic 4s qui mutuum accipit, sicut. qui repetit sic qui debet » ; — omnes conditiones quaein theocratia, in familia, in vitae commercio ac consuetudine inveniuntur, aequali ratione iudicio subiiciuntur et districte examinantur; sex membris bipartitis omnes comprehendi ostenditur : sacerdotes et laicos, heros et famulos, divites et egenos, qui omnes in hebr. una eademque. particula duodecies repeüita.efferuntur, ut eodem sono toties recurrente idem iudicium omnibus instare aequali, modo ad vivum exprimatur. Neque eiusmodi enumeraliones a more Isaiae absunt ; cf. 2, 49-46; 3, 2. 3. 18-23; 5, 20-23 ; 9, 14-16 ; 10, 28-32 ; 16, 8. 9 etc. Et quanto cum pondere iudicium ingruat, ex effectibus concludendum erit qui in orbe terrarum ut eius indicia et comites cernuntur; unde vates versum 1 magis explicans pergit
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v. 3 « dissipatione dissipabitur terra et. direptione praedabitur; Dominus enim locutus est verbum hoc ; v. & luxit el defluxit terra et infirmata est, defluxit orbis, infirmata est altitudo populi terrae ».; — paronomasiis et repetitionibus rei gravitas sensibus subiicitur et quod in verbo exprimitur plenissime ac penitus fieri designatur ; ipsa vox 52n de orbe universo fieri sermonem docet (cf. 13, 11; 18, 3). Hebr. luget, marcescit terra, languet, marcescit orbis, languent — sublimitas (sublimes) populi terrae ; ultimum membrum plerumque de primoribus populi explicant (cf. Mald. Mar. For. Men. Calm. IVet. Rohl. Troch. Kn. Drechsl. Dcl. Naeg.), sed cur hocloco unus ordo prae ceteris nominetur, ratio non apparet. quare satius erit vel explicare cum Sanct. : omnis populorum terrae sublimitas infirmatur et deprimitur i. e. omnis fastus et superbia deiicitur, vel cum ScAhegg 2172 intelligere, de altitudine coeli quae sit super populum terrae; hoc enim sensu vox hebr. v. 21 adhibetur (cf. Ps. 48, 11. Hab. 2, 9), ad hanc acceptionem verbum languere, uti antea usurpatum cernitur, optime convenit et cum postea ipsum coelum iudicio dicatur visitari et obscurari (v. 21. 23), ad indolem horum versuum generalem prorsus consentaneum est, ut statim quoque coeli mentio ingeratar. Verbis tot accumulatis quibus evacuari, diripi, lugere, languere, marcere depingitur adeo vehementer, certe non communes casus solum describuntur, sed illa orbis in iudicio ultimo exustio et mutatio; si solum particularia iudicia agnoveris, sermo est quam maxime turgidus, exaggeratus; aptus vero et quam maxime accommodatus, si ultima mundi conflagraiio menti prophetae obversatur. Solet Isaias confirmationis gratia inserere Dominus locutus est (cf. 14, 90; 16, 413; 21, 17; 22, 25 etc.) verba sua demum esse verba Dei declarans, cum propheta sit quasi os Dei. Iam « irae ac concitationis adiungit causas » (S. Cyr.)
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Quemadmodum supra 15, 1; 1*1, 1; 91, 1; 92, 1; 93, 1, etiam hic medias in res rapimur et quae vates visione percepit, brevi ac conciso dicendi genere nobis ob oculos ponit v. 4 « Ecce Dominus dissipabit terram et nudabit eam et affliget faciem eius et disperget habitatores eius » ; — hebr. ecce [ahve evacuans terram et vastans eam et evertit superficiem eius ; simul cum terra habitatores disperguntur; statim per modum compendii, uti Isaias solet, integrum complectitur argumentum. Uti in regno messianico, ita in poenae quoque annuntiatione ubique arcius cernitur nexus inter terram vel creaturam et hominem ; cogita de paradiso, de maledicto propter hominis peccatum terrae imposito, de diluvio, de pentapoli, de oraculis in Babylonem, in Moab etc. latis et altera ex parte de regni messianici descriptione Is. 11, 6. Ioel 3, 18. Am. 9, 13; eundem nexum praeclare proponit S. Paulus (Rom. 8, 20. 21) et S. Petrus (2 Petr. 3, 13). Ambitu quodam dicendi iudicium eiusque vis describitur et in hebr. etiam paronomasiis quasi ad vivum oculis et auribus subiicitur : terra dicitur evacuari ab omni ornatu, tum in se quasi exinaniri et in superficie, in figura et forma sua everti, destrui ; ergo mutatio talis innuitur, qualis verbis Christi : coelum et terra transibunt (Matth. 24, 35) vel : terra et quaé in ipsa sunt opera exurentur (2 Petr. 3, 10). Omnes heminum ordines iudicio perstringi ampla enumeratione declaratur
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v. 8 « et terra infecta est ab habitatoribus suis, quia transgressi sunt leges, mutavevunt. ius, dissipaverunt foedus sempiternum ;
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v. 6 propter hoc maledictio vorabit terram et peccabunt habitatores eius; ideoque insanient cultores eius et relinquentur homines pauci » ; — hebr. et poenas dant habitantes in ea ; propterea ezuruntur (extorrentur) habitantes terram; terram pollui vel profanari (hebr.) peccatis hominum frequenter in sacris literis dicitur (cf. Num. 33, 33. Ps. 105, 38. Ier. 3, 2) ; unde terra a sordibus istis quas ab improbitate hominum contraxit et quibus servitus quoque corruptionis (Rom. 8, 21) continetur, flammis purgatricibus est excoquenda (cf. Sanct.). Hebr. sub incolis suis terra polluta est quasi gravi pondere pressa et ab incolis oppressa; pondus autem peccatorum exprimitur conglobatione vocum idem fere significantium (Sasb. Sanct.) : violarunt leges, statuta, foedus sempiternum, quibus cura Dei de populo eiusque benignitas et amicitia declaratur, quam cum spreverint impudentia audaciore peccarunt. Verbis hisce proxime ea designantur quae apud Iudaeos divinitus facta sunt ; attamen ex vera quadam similitudine facile gressus fit ad omnes gentes, « omnes quippe homines qui a saeculo orbem incoluerunt, Graeci simul et barbari, naturali accepta lege et praecepta Dei in animis insculpta habentes atque testamentum a saeculo in communi cogitandi inodo complectentes, postea ubi se peccatis contra naturam dediderunt, naturalis legis transgressores effecti sunt » (Euseb. sim. Sanct.); etiam gentes a foedere Dei defecerunt; quare Michaeas Niniven vocat meretricem (1, 1; cf. Ez. 16, 45). Scelera atuahunt maledictum quo quasi igne terra exuritur (cf. Is. 4, 31; 5, 94; 9, 18; 10, 16 etc.), homines vero poenas dant'cruciati et igne depasti (cf. hebr.); vel peccabunt (vulg.) poenis exacerbati novis se culpis blasphemiae illigabunt (cf. 8, 21), insanient, gravitate poenarum quasi amentes bacchantur, quemadmodum alias calamitas enormis ebrietate et stupefactione designatur. Ex ista conflagratione evadent pauci; etiam hic valet illud : reliquiae salvabuntur, et quae est norma pro omni epocha Israelitarum, iam norma declaratur in universum pro toto orbe : pauci electi (cf. S. Cyr). Quos autem sensus pauci isti induant, vates explicat v. 14. 15. Hisce paucis fructus et effectus iudicii est declaratus ; ab eo redit vates ad iteratam iudicii descriptionem, uti solet in ampla materia, quam pluribus carminibus illustrat. Inceperat supra a descriptione quam maxime generali; iam ad specialia magis et particularia descendit, qualia in iudieiis quoqae singularibus obvenire contingit
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v. 7 « luxit vindemia, infirmata est vitis, ingemuerunt omnes qui laetabantur corde » ; — hebr. luget mustum, languet vitis ; ex interitu praeclarissimorum facile omnium concluditur vastitas et desolatio. Strepitus impiorum conticuit; qui voluptatibus sese dederant, iam gemitibus dissolvuntur. En quomodo tumultui ac tripudio et lasciviae peccatorum finis imponitur
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v. 8 « cessavit gaudium tympanorum, quievit sonitus laetantiwum, conticuit dulcedo citharae ;
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v. 9 cum cantico non bibent vinum, amara erit potio bibentibus illam » ; — ecce mediis in luxuriis terrores iudicii incautos occupabunt ; « cum enim dixerint pax et securitas, tunc repentinus eis superveniet interitus » (1 Thess. 5, 3) ; « sicut erant in diebus ante diluvium comedentes et bibentes, nubentes et nuptui tradentes, usque ad eum diem quo intravit Noe in arcam, et non cognoverunt donec venit diluvium et tulit omnes : ita erit et adventus filii hominis » (Matth. 24, 38-39). Voluptas omnis angoribus maximis et cruciatibus mutatur ; id uno declaratur exemplo, ex quo reliqua discas : vinum alias laetificat cor (cf. Ps. 103, 45. Tud. 9, 43. Prov. 31, 6. Eccl. 9, 7); nunc vero sicera amara est (hebr.); de sicera vide ad Ioel 14, 5 et S. Hier. (ep. ad Nepot. M. 22, 536). — Quantopere versus isti ad morem Isaiae exacti sint, comparatione instituta cum 5, 12. 14; 22, 2; 28, 1; 30, 22; 32, 13 rebus et verbis declaratur !. Agri et campi lugent (v. 7), homines affliguntur (v. 8. 9); simul cum eis corruit pompa omnis in aedificiis, urbibus, arcibus olim con- Spicua
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v. 10 « attrita est civitas vanitatis, clausa est omnis domus nullo introeunte » ; — hebr. confracta est urbs vacuitatis (tohu), clausa est omnis domus (ne quis introeat) ab ingrediendo ; urbs tohu i. e. desolationis, exinanitionis, qua voce indoles potestatis Deo inimicae describitur, quae uti vastitatem et conturbationem et vacuitatem ubique spargit, ita ipsa demum desolatione et exinanitione erit abolenda. Quare haud immerito cernunt in hae urbe tohu mundum vel orbem totum quatenus Deo est inimicus (cf. Sanct. Sa, Lap. Men. Tir. RoAl. Del. Naeg.), cuius quasi centrum et castra in urbe tohu consistere eoque nomine declarari concipiuntur. Quemadmodum enim regna singula capta urbe principali aliorum dominationi subiacere censentur, ita iudicium in orbem devolvendum ad normam interitus regni alicuius exhibetur. Simul cum confractione et ruina urbis pompa concidit omnis, omnia luetu ingenti complentur
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v. 11 « clamor erit super vino in plateis; deserta est omnis laetitia ; translatum est gaudium terrae ;
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v. 12 relicta est in. urbe solitudo et calamitas opprimelt portas » ; — hebr. vastitate percutitur porta (cf. Mald. Malo. Mar.) i. e. in ruinas concidunt portae ; quae firmissima censebantur, corruunt. Opera hominum iudicio prosternentur. Uti in priore parte (v. 1-6) magis descripsit orbem terrarum 4n se esse iudicio dissolvendum, ita in hac potius delineat terram ab hominibus cultam, vel ornatam plantis, vel urbibus et aedificiis instructam. Iudicio declarato paucos esse remansuros dixerat in parte priore v. 6; eodem modo altera haec pars absolvitur
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v. 13 « quia haec erunt in medio terrae, in medio populorum : quomodo si paucae olivae quae remanserunt. excutiantur ex olea, et racemi cum fuerit. finita vindemia »; — brevius in hebr. sed eodem sensu sicut excussio oleae, sicut ! racemaltiones, cum finita est vindemia (cf. Vat. Mar.) ; cf. 41, 6; ergo ' reliquiae eaeque paucae salvabuntur ; cf. 1, 9; 4, 3; 6, 13; 10, 21; 11, '12. Ex eo quod dicitur in medio terrae perperam aliqui arguunt de Iudaea agi, quae terra ex veterum opinione fuerit in medio orbis terrarum vel fuerit umbilicus terrae (cf. Ez. 3, 5; 38, 12. Ros. Troch.). Contra quam explicationem iam bene excipit Sanct. mediocriter in Scriptura versatis compertum esse, in mediío saepe dici id quod in -eodem loco cum aliis sit; proinde sensum esse simpliciter in erra, £n populis. Idque prorsus verum esse patet ex Gen. 43, 6 : coepit fames ,esse in medio terrae (hebr.) i. e. in terra Aegypti, vel ex Deut. 4, 5: sic facietis in medio terrae (hebr.) quam possessuri estis i. e. in terra, et quam clarissime ea notio exprimitur Ex. 8, 22 : ego Dominus in medio terrae — praeterea vide Gen. 24, 3. Deut. 18, 2 hebr. — quare optimo iure hanc phrasin quae non occurrit nisi in libris Moysis et Ps. i4, 12 et apud Isaiam (cf. 3, 8; 6, 12; 7, 92 ; 10, 93; 19, 24), explicant in terra, in. populis (cf. Mald. Mar. Lap. Men. Tir.); immo audiatur S. Hier. : « ut sciremus perspicue de totius orbis interitu nuntiari, intulit : haec erunt in medio terrae, in medio gentium ». Iudicium Dei exerceri, ut gloria Dei manifestetur omnibusque inno- ' tescat, sacer vates iam repetitis vicibus nos monuit : exaltabitur Dominus solus in die illa (2, 11), haec tessera lex est fundamentalis et fructus effectusque iudiciorum Dei atque haec gloria ut exoriatur, iterum iterumque iudicia particularia fieri dicuntur (cf. 14, 13. 32 ; 17, 7:
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v. 14 « Ai levabunt vocem suam atque laudabunt ; cum glorificatus fuerit Dominus, hinnient de mari » ; — triplici modo praeconii magnitudinem, maximam laetitiae exsultationem, summi gaudii effusionem vates designat, qua electi im gloria Domini (hebr.) in praeclara maiestatis eius manifestatione et sublimitate iubilationes edunt; laetis vociferationibus exsultant « mari i. e. ab extremis finibus, a remotissimis quibusque locis (Mald.) vel ab occidente (cf. Vat. For. Malv. Mar.), cui in v. sequenti 282 (in luminibus, in regionibus lucis?) forte opponitur in notione regionis orientalis, ita ut de extremis terrae partibus laudes Deo concinantur et ea universalitate iudicium de toto orbe declaretur (cf. Rohl. Troch. Del. Naeg.). Ut praeconia illa in immensum augeantur et undique Domino offerantur, propheta monet vel ipsos iam laudantes quomodo inter se ad iubila'provocent inducit
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v. 15 « propter hoc in doctrinis glorificate Dominum, in insulis maris nomen Domini Dei Israel »! — hebr. in luminibus ; doctrinas poteris intelligere divinas revelationes quae totidem quasi lumina sunt quibus Deus se nobis suaque consilia et opera manifestat nobisque illucescit; proinde in his praeclaris manifestationibus praeclare est etiam exaltandus. Atque hae laudes iam regio- - nes remotissimas, insulas maris, occupant. Lectio a2 ín luminibus difficultate laborat, Eam utique S. Hier. legit, uti ex Undique et multiplici ratione admonitio opere completur ; uti iudicium est universale, ita quoque praeconium maiestatis divinae, quia ubique omnibus in regionibus electi invenientur
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v. 16 « a finibus terrae laudes. qudivimus, gloriam iusti » ; — completum est quod seraphim cantabant: plena est omnis terra gloria eius (6, 3), quare in hac Dei laude et gloria fructus consistit excellentissimus iudicii divini et omnium operum Dei finis ultimus. Hebr. decus iusto q. d. summum gloriae decus ac praeconium iusto Deo esse attribuendum eique iam fieri ex orbe universo qui iusta iudicia exercuit et hac sua iustitia gloriam sibi comparavit. Unde in toto carmine et in iudicii descriptione ratio continetur, cur Zustus vocetur, et etiam cur iustus Deus, non homines salvati, intelligendus sit (cf. Sanct. Osor. Mald. For. Sa, Mar. Lap. Men. Tir. Schegg, Rohl.). Post terrores iudicii imaginem nobis depingit vates amoenitate et suavitate plenam : exhibet nobis electos ex omni mundi plaga summa laetitia Deo laudes concinentes et gloriam Dei effusam super terram. En talis est finis operum Dei! Et quia supremus iste finis hic descriptus est nobisque offertur ut fastigium et culmen ad quod per iudicia demum perventum sit, idcirco hoc loco haec pars est finienda ; id quod ex eo quoque patet, quia in subsequentibus vates denuo ad terrores et horrores iudicii et ad impiorum poenas revertitur. Sunt qui decus iusto explicent de electis quibus iudicio Dei decus ac gloria a Deo attribuitur ; ita iam LXX intellexerunt vertentes 2Azis «à ebcefiet ; ita quoque S. Hier. : « laudes eius audivimus praedicari et quod gloria vel spes iusti non sit irrita, sed rebus omnia compleantur » ; ita quoque Drechsl. Del. Naeg. Sed cum de laudibus Dei a v. 14tam continuo sermo instituatur, propius sane adiacet decus vel gloriam etiam h. l. eadem ratione explicare. Cur Deus dicatur iustus, ratio satis adest el per se intelligitur ipso carmine; neque bene obiicit Del. Deum donare "23, ipsi autem reddi gloriam 7125; im Is. 4, 9 germen Iahve erit *23 x5 eodem inéda sicut Tino. Sensus ille iustis fore decus, etiam in nostra explieatione eo ipso adest, quia iusti tanta exsultatione de gloria Dei laetantur ; sed praeterea explicatio data videtur esse magis ad carminis tenorem consentanea et sublimem continet partis huius conclusionem, dum id effertur quod omniuni: operum divinorum est finis ultimus. À visione adeo laeta electorum Dei gloriam laudantium et ab exitu iudicii sacer vates mox redit ad terrores iudicii, quos visio alte animo impresserat et quorum iam ex eo admonetur, quod pauci ea iubilatione exsultant (cf. v. 6. 13). Transitum ad sequentia S. Hier. bene de- Scribit : « dicentibus itaque haec sanctis et hinnientibus de mari et levantibus vocem suam atque laudantibus propheta sibimetipsi loquitur : cum inquit haec audissem et in subversionem orbis vaticinium prophetarum explendum esse perspicerem, locutus sum mihi interno cordis affectu : non possum cuncta narrare quae cerno ; haeret lingua faucibus meis, . vox dolore concluditur! vae mihi quantus ordo poenarum ante oculos versatur meos ; cerno praesentia quae futura sunt ». Unde v. 46 « Et dizi : secretum mewm mihi, secretum meum mihi, vae mihi ; praevaricantes praevaricati sunt ei. praevaricatione transgressorum praevaricati sunt » ; — secretum intellige de ipsa re tristi, de ruina plurimorum, in visione vati ostensa, quam ruinam statim ex multitudine scelerum et ex poenis describit. Hebr. proprie macies mihi, macies mihi ' i. e. emarcui prae horrore, defecit me animus prae dolore vel ingenti dolore contabesco (cf. Vat. Sanct. Malv. Mald. et recentiores) ; cernit enim cumulum peccatorum in immensum quasi accrescere et augeri et tali cumulo iudicium Dei provocari ; quare magna quoque commiseratione populi tactus (cf. 6, 41; 15, 5 ds) vae mihi exclamat ; praevaricanies 2122 ii dicuntur qui a Deo defecerunt ; in hebr. quinquies eadem voce adhibita apostasiam longe lateque serpentem magna cum emphasi depingit, quam Osor. ita imitatur : « nefarie desciverunt, fidem perfregerunt, fidem, inquam, impudentissime perfregerunt ». Crescentem cernit vates cumulum scelerum, donec mensura impleta iudicium ingruit, quod describens exclamat v. 1'1 « formido et fovea et laqueus super te qui habitator es terrae »! — omnes comprehenduntur ac constringuntur animis terrore et horrore — cf. « arescentibus hominibus prae timore » Luc. 21, 26 — et dum ita angoribus cruciantur iam adsunt exitia et mortes ; fugere nil iuvat, varii generis insidiis et periculis capiuntur, ita ut qui unum evaserit, altero certo pereat
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18, "1 5 19, 19 ; 20, 6; 23, 18). Quare ad institutum Isaiae plane accommodatum est et ipsa re necessario exigitur, ut electi hanc gloriam maiestatis divinae summis laudibus celebrent declarantes iudicio Dei id revera effectum esse quod ex Dei consilio exoriri debuit. Unde apte adnectitur v. 18 « et erit, qui fugerit a, voce formidinis, cadet in foveam, et qui se explicaverit de fovea, tenebitur laqueo, quia cataractae de excelsis apertae sunt et concutientur fundamenta terrae » ; — bene S. Cyr. : « omnia genera malorum super vos et a calamitate suffugium nullum erit nec declinatio ; sed si forte unum quid malorum effugerit, capietur altero et ubique ac semper aliquo malorum illatorum comprehendetur ». Idque propterea, quia « communis erit coeli et terrae conspiratio ad efficienda iudicia Dei » (Malv.) secundum illud : « et pugnabit cum illo orbis terrarum contra insensatos » (Sap. 5, 21). Uti olim in diluvio, cataractae coeli apertae sunt (cf. Gen. 1, 11 ; 8, 2) et perniciem pluunt, terrae ipsa fundamenta, alias rei inconcussae et immptae conditionis certissima symbola (cf. Eccl. 1, 4. Ps. 92, 1) concutiuntur, imae montium radices, . quibus quasi fuleris terra inniti concipitur, iam confractae contremiscunt — « rupti sunt omnes fontes abyssi magnae » Gen. "1, 14 — quis in tanta coeli terraeque ruina communi evadet incolumis ? Iam vero cum summa et ima, coelum et terra, ad peccatorum punitionem concurrant coeli cataractis apertis et fundamentis terrae concussis, quid aliud indicari censebimus nist universale et ultimum iudicium ? de quo Luc. 21, 98 : « et erunt signa in sole et luna et stellis et in terris pressura gentium prae confusione sonitus maris et fluctuum ». Iam qualis sit fundaraentorum terrae concussio, vel quid eam subsecuturum sit describitur
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v. 19 « confractione confringetur terra, contritione conterehur terra, commotione commorveblitur terra ;
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v. 90 agitatione agitabitur terra. sicut ebrius et auferetur. quasi. tabernaculum unius noctis et gravabit eain iniquitas sua et corruet et non adiiciet ut resurgat » ; — cum tali dissolutione terrae confer quae 2 Petr. 3, 11. Matth., 24, 29. Marc. 13, 24. Luc. 21, 25 dicuntur. Gradatione quadam illa dissolutio describitur : terra contremiscit, sese findit, scinditur et disrupta dissolvitur ; partes scissae iam ut rudis moles agitantur et titubant, donee tota terra ex loco suo quasi remota disparet : quasi tabernaculum i. e. tanta facilitate et celeritate terrae moles e spatio aufertur. Pondus autem illud immensum quo terra scinditur et in profundam abyssum e stàtione sua eonfraeta deiieitur est iniquitas quae terrae incumbit. Ecce quam praeclare adumbravit vates in hae terrae disruptione et ruina pondus peccati, quo tanta orbis terrarum moles obruitur, scinditur, e sitione in abyssum protruditur et ibi confraeta opprimitur, ut iam nequeat surgere. Interitus iste est, uti aliis locis s. literarum docemur, liberato ereaturae a servitute corruptionis: quare non destructionem üjert, verum mutationem ; nàm « novos ceoeios et novam terram seeundum promissa eius exspectamus » (2 Pe:r. 3, 13. S. Hier. Lap. Mon. Fir). Ad dieendi colorem notat Sanct. : « ex hac synonymia et voeum coniugatione mire siznilicari observo quanta impendeat calamius universo ; nam quodlibet bcrum seorsum maznam habet epitasim ». lam per qos tale iniquitatis pondus terrae imposita est eiusque ruina effecia ? et quid poenarum aucteribus illis. divino inicio erit inlligendum? Ad id respondet vàt;s
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v. 21 « et erit. in die illa visitabit Dominus s. pzr militiam co: i in excelsa et super reges torrae qui sunt sUner terrazi
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v. 22 et congregabuntur i.i congregatione univs fascis in lacum et. claudentur. ibi in carcere ; et post. mois dies visitabuntur » ; — eo ipso quod in iudicio peculiari modo dicuntur visitari i. e. plecti, poenis addici, tamquam auctores iniquitatis (cf. v. 16) propter quam fit visitatio iudicis declarantur. Isti auctores sunt angeli mali et reges, potentes super terram : auctores scil. principales quibus reliqui peccatores tamquam subditi et instrumenta subiacent. Militia coeli principes sunt et potestates, spiritualia nequitiae in coelestibus, de quibus S. Paulus loquitur (Eph. 6, 12), daemones scil. qui quantopere peccata et iniquitatem promoveant, non opus est pluribus prosequi. Illis in regionibus superioribus, in aere (cf. Eph. 2, 9) constitutis, opponuntur et sociantur reges in terra super terram; illorum arma sunt spiritualia, potestas eorum et natura spiritualis; horum vero arma, potestas rebus continetur terrenis; utrique tamen ad peccata promovenda potentissimi. Unde iure prae ceteris soli nominantur, regis enim ad exemplum, ut fert adagium, totus componitur orbis ; praeterea in s. literis reges pastores populorum dicuntur; unde illis culpa populi rite imputatur, sicut pastori errores et perditio gregis. Poena eo prorsus modo describitur, quo in libris sacris novi foederis : alligate ea (zizania) in fasciculos ad comburendum (Matth. 13, 30. 40-42) ; de lacu et carcere vide Apoc. 14, 19; 19, 20; 20, 1. 9. 14; 21, 8etc. Atque daemonibus quoque in consummatione saeculi iudicium instare et poenae augmentum, elucet ex 1 Cor. 6, 3. Iud. 6. 2 Petr. 2, 4; elucet quoque ex eo quia tum in inferno includentur neque iam per terras vagari poterunt; in terris autem vezsari illis est alicui levamini (cf. Matth. 8, 31. Marc. 5, 12. Luc. 8, 31 : « et rogabant ilium ne imperaret illis, ut in abyssum irent,... rogabant eum, ut permitteret eis in porcos ingredi »). Haec autem poena illis tam demum infligetur, postqam per multos dies, per longa tempora malitiae et iniquitati promovendae operam dare illis fuerit permissum. Eo enim sensu dicitur: post multos dies visitabunturi.e. visitatio ista, de qua propheta loquitur v. 21 et quae fit propter iniquitatem v. 16. 20, non statim erit simul atque iniquitatis. pondus in terram incumbere coeperit, sed post dies multos. Hac igitur sententia vates non aliquid addit quod posí inclusionem in carcerem futurum sit, sed, uti voce visitar? indicatur ex v. 21, hac. voce antecedentia repetens et absolvens dicit illam visitationem de qua sermonem modo fecerit fore post multos dies. Nam visitari hoc. loco de poena inflicta dici certum est; non. solum enim "p23 hac significatione adhibetur (cf. Num. 16, 29. Prov. 19, 23. Is. 29, 6 eic.), verum hoc loco, in quo omnia iudicium et castigationem spirant et ipsis creaturis inanimatis propter scelera hominum destructio et inieritus annuntiatur, necessario poenae denuntiantur iis qui auctores fuerint et promotores scelerum, Commendant igitur multi dies, ut Theod. notat, magnam ac diuturnam Dei longanimitatem et patientiam. ^ textu non potest intelligi nisi de punitione ; in v. 20. 23 ultima catastrophe proponitur: non adiiciet terra, ut resurgat i. e. terra pristina quae iniquitate possit pollui iam non restituitur ; ergo de alia epocha post iudicium futura, in qua denuo daemones potestatem ad augenda peccata exerceant, nullo modo sermo esse potest ; in v. 23 regnum Dei eiusque gloria describitur tamquam fructus iudicii ; hoc autem regnum ct hanc gloriam victoria parta denuo obfuscari, interturbari, proinde vietoriam non exhiberi perfectam, nullum adest indicium. Praeterea nemo sibi facile persuaserit, rem tanti momenti—de liberatione captivorum et devictorum—tam obiter dici. Quare recte plerique vocem intelligunt de poenis et castigationibus. Attamen quomodo post multos dies dicatur, non consentiunt. Multi supplent : post quantumque multos dies adhuc visitabuntur i. e. semper et in aeternum (cf. S. Thom. Sanct. Sasb. Est. Lap. Tir. Men. Gord.) ; at tale quid supplere audacius est. Ergo nihil aliud relinquitur, nisi ut dicamus enuntiari iudicium illud ac visitationem tum fore, postquam diu malitiam exereuerint ; « etenim, inquit S. Cyr. de daemonibus, a constitutione mundi tyrannidem occuparunt nec destiterunt cum divina et secreta maiestate bellum gerere ». — Non solum terra (v. 19. 20) et qui auctores malitiae fuerunt, daemones et homines (v. 21. 22) iudicio divino percellentur, verum mundus universus adspectabilis commovebitur, dum regnum Dei in gloria constituitur
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v. 23 « et erubescet luna. et confundetur sol, cum regnaverit Dominus Deus exercituum in monte Sion et in Ierusalem et in conspectu senum suorum fuerit glorificatus » ; — ad ultimum iudicium signa illa in luna et sole referri, explicite docemur : « sol obscurabitur et luna non dabit lumen suum et stellae cadent de coelo et virtutes coelorum commovebuntur » (Matth. 24, 29. Marc. 13, 24. Luc. 21, 25, Act. 9, 20; vide quae notavi ad Ioel 2, 31). Sicut v. 6 et v. 14 iudicio descripto fructus et effectus eiusdem declaratus est, ita hoc quoque loco ad quid iudicium ultimatim tendat additur, scil. ad regnum Dei. perfecte constituendum ; hoc vero in eo consistit ut Dominus sit rez et tamquam talis ab omnibus agnoscatur et ut omnia eius imperio plene sint subiecta et ut coram. senibus eius sit gloria (hebr.) i. e. coram electis gloria Dei est manifestata, illi in eius gloriae participationem ingressi sunt; labor omnis et molestia praeteriit; nihil aliud coram iis est, nihil aliud eos manet nisi gloria. Dicuntur salvati illi (v. 6. 14) nomine honore pleno seniores, D'2p?, «pec6ísspor i. e. qui in regno Dei tamquam praecipui tribuum et familiarum principes honorantur, ergo in Dei consilio principem locum obtinent. Supra v. 15 Dei laudes concinere dicuntur salvati, hoc loco Dei gloria illustrari ac beari perhibentur. Deum autem regnare in Sion et in. Ierusalem, inde explica quod theocratiae centrum est in Sion et Ierusalem (cf. 2, 2; 4, 3. Ps. 2, 6; 86, 3 — vide quae notavi ad Ioel 2, 32. Zach. 19, 2. 4) et hoc regnum per iudicia particularia in Sion et exinde in orbe universo conditur; quare idem Dei regnum eodem modo per iudicium | universale fundari perhibetur secundum eam rationem vislonis propheticae qua omnia illa iudicia in uno conspectu ac complexu proponuntur. Dein eo ipso quod Sionis mentio fit, postquam terrae dissolutio aec destructio tanta cum epitasi est descripta (v. 19. 20), monemur Sionem intelligi illam in nova terra et in novis coelis (cf. Is. 65, 17. 2 Petr. 3, 13) ; unde nostro loco praeclare praeformatur notio coelestis lerusalem (de qua Hebr. 13, 22. Apoc. 21, 2). — Attende quam egregie haec pars absolvatur : post iudicii terrores, post terrae destructionem, postquam daemones et peccatores in lacu profundo inclusi et poenis addicti sunt, post mundum universum (in luna et sole) perturbatum visio aperitur regnantis Dei et gloriae electorum. Hic erit rerum finis : Sion in iudicio redimetur ; haec norma iam in universum valere perhibetur. Quare hoc capite particularia iudicia universali proposito et absolvuntur optime et apte in unam quasi notionem ad eundem terminum ac finem concluduntur. Quod vates iam 24, 14. 45 indicaverat, nunc latius prosequitur nobis ob oculos ponens quibus animorum sensibus pii gloriam Dei iudicio manifestatam et vindicatam celebrent. Canticum fundunt laudis et gratiarum actionis (S. Cyr. Thom. Sanct.), et, ut adnotat Sasb.: « tractatus iste (de oneribus gentium et totius mundi) carmine eucharistico tamquam epiphonemate clauditur, quod quidem commune habet cum tractatu qui est a capite septimo usque ad decimum tertium ». Primum quod animos salvatorum ingenti laetitia perfundit est ipsa gloria Dei adeo praeclare et eximie manifestata; « coram senibus eius gloria» (24, 23) ; unde
24:10
… The messianic Kingdom is the kingdom of full peace (Is. 9:6-7; 11:6-9; 24:10; Ex. 34:25). Christ inaugurated peace and is "our peace" (Eph. 2:14-15; Col. 1:20 εἰρηνοποιήσας), he brought to the world the gospel of peace (Eph. 6:15). Prerogative of these …
24:21
… of man's life on earth, in struggle with his own passions and with the seductions of the external world (Job 7:1; 14:17; II Cor. 10:4; I Tim. 1:18; Jas. 4:1; I Pet. 2:11), and compares the heavenly hierarchies to armed hosts (Deut. 17:3; II Par. 33:3; Isa. 24:21; Jer. 8:7; Luke 3:13; Acts 7:42).
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… Its models are principally the last Prophets: Ezekiel (the background vision is in Ez. 1:4-28; cf. Is. 6:1-4; 24:23) and Daniel (Dan. 7-12), followed
The K. of G. is promised for the future: God will reign from Zion, in the restored Israel (Isa. 24:23; 52:7; Dan. 7:14; Ps. 2; 71 [72]; 109 [110]); "the idea of the divine Kingdom fits perfectly into the messianic perspective" (J. Bonsirven).
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.