The confusion and other evils that shall come upon the Jews for their sins. The pride of their women shall be punished.
The Iewes shal be depriued of wise men, 4. and be subiect to childish, and effeminate gouerners, 8. for their greuous sinnes. 16. The proud, curious, and lasciuious attyre of their wemen, 24. shal be turned into ignominie, and sorow.
1For behold the sovereign Lord of hosts shall take away from Jerusalem, and from Juda the valiant and the strong, the whole strength of bread, and the whole strength of water.Imperocché ecco, che il dominatore Signore degli eserciti torrà a Gerusalemme, ed a Giuda i robusti, e i forti, tutto il sostentamento del pane, tutto il sostentamento dell'acqua.FOR behold the dominatour the Lord of hostes shal take away from Ierusalem, and from Iuda the valiant and the strong, al strength of bread, and al strength of water.Ecce enim Dominator, Dominus exercituum, / auferet a Jerusalem et a Juda / validum et fortem, / omne robur panis, et omne robor aquæ; 2The strong man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet and the cunning man, and the ancient.I forti, e gli uomini battaglieri, il giudice, e il profeta, e l'indovino, e il seniore.The strong, and the man of warre, the iudge, and the prophete, and southsayer, and the ancient.fortem, et virum bellatorem, / judicem, et prophetam, et ariolum, et senem; 3The captain over fifty, and the honourable in countenance, and the counsellor, and the architect, and the skilful in eloquent speech.Il capo di cinquant'uomini, e l'uomo di orrevol faccia, e il consigliere, e l'artefice sapiente, e l'uomo prudente nel mistico parlare.The prince ouer fiftie, and the honorable of countenance, and the counseler, and the wise of workemasters, and the skilful of mystical speach.principem super quinquaginta, et honorabilem vultu et consiliarium, / et sapientem de architectis, et prudentem eloquii mystici. 4And I will give children to be their princes, and the effeminate shall rule over them.E darò loro per principi dei ragazzi, e saran dominati da uomini effeminati.And I wil geue children to be their princes, and the effeminate shal rule ouer them.Et dabo pueros principes eorum, / et effeminati dominabuntur eis; 5And the people shall rush one upon another, and every man against his neighbour: the child shall make a tumult against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.Il popolo si leverà a furore, uomo contra uomo, e ciascuno contro il suo prossimo. Insolentirà il ragazzo contro il seniore, e il plebeo contro il nobile.And the people shal rush violently, man against man, and euerie one against his neighbour: the childe shal make tumult against the ancient, and the base against the noble.et irruet populus, vir ad virum, / et unusquisque ad proximum suum; / tumultuabitur puer contra senem, / et ignobilis contra nobilem.
6For a man shall take hold of his brother, one of the house of his father, saying: Thou hast a garment, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand.Perocché uno piglierà per mano il suo fratello della famiglia di suo padre (dicendo): Tu se' ben vestito, sii tu nostro principe: porgi la mano tua a questa rovina.For a man shal take hold of his brother, one of the house of his father: Thou hast a garment, be thou our prince, and let this ruine be vnder thy hand.Apprehendet enim vir fratrem suum, / domesticum patris sui: / Vestimentum tibi est, princeps esto noster, / ruina autem hæc sub manu tua. 7In that day he shall answer, saying: I am no healer, and in my house there is no bread, nor clothing: make me not ruler of the people.Risponderà egli allora: Io non son medico, e in casa mia non è pane, né vestimento, non mi fate principe del popolo.He shal answer in that day, saying: I am no physicion, & in my house there is no bread, nor garment: do not appoint me prince of the people.Respondebit in die illa, dicens: / Non sum medicus, / et in domo mea non est panis neque vestimentum: / nolite constituere me principem populi. 8For Jerusalem is ruined, and Juda is fallen: because their tongue, and their devices are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his majesty.Imperocché Gerusalemme va in rovina, e Giuda si perde: perchè la loro lingua, e i loro disegni sono contro il Signore, fino ad irritare gli occhi della sua maestà.For Ierusalem is gone to ruine, and Iuda is fallen: because their tongue, & their inuentions were against our Lord, to prouoke the eyes of his maiestie.Ruit enim Jerusalem, et Judas concidit, / quia lingua eorum et adinventiones eorum contra Dominum, / ut provocarent oculos majestatis ejus. 9The shew of their countenance hath answered them: and they have proclaimed abroad their sin as Sodom, and they have not hid it: woe to their souls, for evils are rendered to them.La vista della propria lor faccia darà ad essi risposta: perocché come Sodoma si vantavano del lor peccato: guai all'anima loro; perocché son dati loro i mali in ricompensa.The knowlege of their face hath answered them: and they haue proclaimed their sinne as Sodom, neither haue they hid it: woe to their soule, because euils are rendered to them.Agnitio vultus eorum respondit eis; / et peccatum suum quasi Sodoma prædicaverunt, nec absconderunt. / Væ animæ eorum, quoniam reddita sunt eis mala ! 10Say to the just man that it is well, for he shall eat the fruit of his doings.Dite al giusto, bene sta; perchè egli si goderà i frutti de' suoi consigli.Say to the iust that it is wel, because he shal eate the fruite of his inuentions.Dicite justo quoniam bene, / quoniam fructum adinventionum suarum comedet.
11Woe to the wicked unto evil: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.Guai all'empio malfacente; perocché saragli renduto quel, che han fatto le mani di lui.Woe to the impious vnto euil: for the reward of his handes shal be made to him.Væ impio in malum ! / retributio enim manuum ejus fiet ei. 12As for my people, their oppressors have stripped them, and women have ruled over them. O my people, they that call thee blessed, the same deceive thee, and destroy the way of thy steps.Il popolo mio è spogliato da' suoi esattori, ed è signoreggiato da donne. Popolo mio, quei, che te dicon beato, t'ingannano, e guastano la strada, che tu dei battere.My people their exactours haue spoyled, & wemen haue ruled ouer them. My people, they that cal thee blessed, the same deceiue thee, and dissipate the way of thy steppes.Populum meum exactores sui spoliaverunt, / et mulieres dominatæ sunt eis. / Popule meus, qui te beatum dicunt, ipsi te decipiunt, / et viam gressuum tuorum dissipant. 13The Lord standeth up to judge, and he standeth to judge the people.Si presenta il Signore per far giudicio, e siede per far giudicio dei popoli.Our Lord standeth to iudge, and he standeth to iudge peoples.Stat ad judicandum Dominus, / et stat ad judicandos populos. 14The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and its princes: for you have devoured the vineyard, and the spoil of the poor is in your house.Verrà il Signore a far giudicio dei seniori del popol suo, e de' suoi principi; imperocché voi avete divorata la mia vigna, e in casa vostra son le rapine fatte al povero.Our Lord shal come to iudgement with the ancients of his people, and his princes: for you haue deuoured the vineyard, and the spoile of the poore is in your house.Dominus ad judicium veniet / cum senibus populi sui, et principibus ejus; / vos enim depasti estis vineam, / et rapina pauperis in domo vestra. 15Why do you consume my people, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord the God of hosts.E perchè stritolate voi il mio popolo, e pestate le facce de' poveri, dice il Signore Dio degli eserciti?Why do you consume my people, and grinde the faces of the poore, sayth our Lord the God of hostes?Quare atteritis populum meum, / et facies pauperum commolitis ? / dicit Dominus exercituum. 16And the Lord said: Because the daughters of Sion are haughty, and have walked with stretched out necks, and wanton glances of their eyes, and made a noise as they walked with their feet and moved in a set pace:E il Signore ha detto: Dappoiché le figliuole di Sion si sono inalberate, e passeggiano col collo interato, e sen vanno ammiccando co' loro occhi, e si pavoneggiano, e tripudiano andando coi loro piedi, e a passi studiati camminano;And our Lord sayd: for that the daughters of Sion are haughtie, and haue walked with stretched out necke, and went with twinglings of eies, and clapped their handes, walked on their feete, and ietted in a set pace.Et dixit Dominus: / Pro eo quod elevatæ sunt filiæ Sion, / et ambulaverunt extento collo, / et nutibus oculorum ibant, / et plaudebant, ambulabant pedibus suis, / et composito gradu incedebant;
17The Lord will make bald the crown of the head of the daughters of Sion, and the Lord will discover their hair.Toserà il Signore la testa delle figliuole di Sion, e il Signore le spoglierà di capelli.Our Lord shal make balde the crowne of the daughters of Sion, and our Lord shal discouer their haire.decalvabit Dominus verticem filiarum Sion, / et Dominus crimen earum nudabit. 18In that day the Lord will take away the ornaments of shoes, and little moons,In quel dì il Signore farà sparire l'ornato de' calzari, e le lunette,In that day shal our Lord take away the ornament of shoes, and litle moones.In die illa auferet Dominus ornamentum calceamentum, 19And chains and necklaces, and bracelets, and bonnets,E i vezzi di perle, e i monili, e i braccialetti, e le scuffie,And cheynes, and ouches, and bracelettes, and bonnettes.et lunulas, et torques, / et monilia, et armillas, et mitras, 20And bodkins, and ornaments of the legs, and tablets, and sweet balls, and earrings,E le corone, e le gambiere, e le catenelle, e i vasetti a odori, e gli orecchini,And the sheading combes, and sloppes, and tablettes, and sweete balles, and earlets.et discriminalia, et periscelidas, et murenulas, / et olfactoriola, et inaures, 21And rings, and jewels hanging on the forehead,E gli anelli, e le gemme pendenti sulla fronte,And ringes, and pearles hanging on the forehead.et annulos, et gemmas in fronte pendentes, 22And changes of apparel, and short cloaks, and fine linen, and crisping pins,E le mute degli abiti, e le mantellette, e i candidi veli, e gli spilloni,And changes of apparel, and shorte clokes, and the fine linen, and nedles, and loking glasses, and launes,et mutatoria, et palliola, / et linteamina, et acus, 23And lookingglasses, and lawns, and headbands, and fine veils.E gli specchi, e i lini finissimi, e le bende, e le vesti da estate;and headbands, and bonegraces.et specula, et sindones, / et vittas, et theristra. 24And instead of a sweet smell there shall be stench, and instead of a girdle, a cord, and instead of curled hair, baldness, and instead of a stomacher, haircloth.E invece di odori soavi avranno fetore, e per cintura una corda, e in cambio de' capelli arricciati avran la calvizie, e per fascia pettorale il cilizio.And for swete sauour there shal be stinke, and for a girdle a corde, and for frisled haire baldnes, and for stomacher hairecloth.Et erit pro suavi odore fœtor, / et pro zona funiculus, / et pro crispanti crine calvitium, / et pro fascia pectorali cilicium.
25Thy fairest men also shall fall by the sword, and thy valiant ones in battle.I più avvenenti ancora de' tuoi uomini periranno di spada, e i tuoi campioni in battaglia.Thy fayrest men also shal fal by the sworde, and thy strong ones in battle.Pulcherrimi quoque viri tui gladio cadent, / et fortes tui in prælio. 26And her gates shall lament and mourn, and she shall sit desolate on the ground.E le porte di lei saranno in tristezza, ed in lutto, ed ella desolata sarà assisa per terra.And her gates shal lament and moorne, and she shal sit desolate on the ground.Et mœrebunt atque lugebunt portæ ejus, / et desolata in terra sedebit.
3:1
Haydock
Strong. Hebrew and Septuagint imply, "woman." (Haydock)
St. Cyprian
Validam. (St. Cyprian, Test. i.)
St. Jerome
After the death of Christ, the Jews had none strong. (St. Jerome)
Calmet
Strength. Hebrew, "staff," or support (Leviticus 26:26.) in the dreadful famine which fell on Jerusalem, Lamentations 4:5, 10. Who then shall rely on the power of any man? (Chap. 2:22.) (Calmet)
Worthington
The Jews were depressed at the sieges of their city, and will be so till the end of the world. (Worthington)
3:2
3:3
Countenance. Septuagint, "the admired counsellor," (Haydock) who came into the king's presence.
Calmet
Architect. 4 Kings 24:14. (Calmet)
Haydock
Eloquent. Literally, "mystic." (Haydock)
Aquila and Symmachus, "enchanter."
3:4
Haydock
Effeminate. Hebrew, "babes." Septuagint, "scoffers." Aquila, etc., "changers," (Calmet) who give way to unnatural excesses, Romans 1:27. (Haydock)
Some manifest a prudence beyond their years: but the last kings of Juda did not, 2 Paralipomenon 36:1., and Ecclesiastes 10:16.
3:5
People. They were divided, whether they should continue to obey Nabuchodonosor, or listen to the Egyptians. Ismael slew Godolias, Jeremias xli.
3:6
Garment. They were ready to follow any, who was not quite destitute, like themselves, Jeremias 39:10.
Ruin. Fallen people.
3:7
3:8
Menochius
For. The prophet tells what will happen. (Menochius)
Haydock
And their. Septuagint, "are sinful, disbelieving what regards the Lord. Wherefore now their glory is brought low." (Haydock)
Calmet
They must have followed a very different Hebrew copy from ours. (Calmet)
3:9
Worthington
Shew, (agnitio.) "Knowledge." (Worthington)
Calmet
Impudence, etc. (Calmet)
Calmet
Hacurath (Haydock) occurs no where else. (Calmet)
Menochius
From their countenance we may judge that they are proud, etc. (Menochius)
3:10
Calmet
Well. Jeremias (xxxix. 11.) was treated by the enemy with great respect. Septuagint, "having said, let us bind the just man, for he is troublesome, (Haydock) or displeasing (Calmet) to us. Hence they," etc. (Haydock) (Wisdom 2:12.) Many of the Fathers quote it thus. But our version agrees very well with the original, as Isaias joins consoling predictions with those which are of a distressing nature. (Calmet)
Houbigant
Yet the Septuagint seem to have thrown light on the Hebrew by supplying an omission from the book of Wisdom. (Houbigant)
Thus all must be explained of the wicked, whose malice shall be punished.
Haydock
He shall. St. Jerome and all versions read, "they shall eat the fruit of their doings, or devices." Fructum adinventionum suarum comedent. (Haydock)
Calmet
All who hear of this must applaud the just God for acting well in their punishment. According to the Septuagint, Christ and his adversaries are clearly pointed out. (Calmet)
3:12
Haydock
Women. "Let no women be our senate, as the impious Porphyrius objects." The scribes and Pharisees sought for lucre and pleasure. The teacher approved by the Church must excite tears and not laughter; he must correct sinners, and pronounce no one blessed. (St. Jerome) (Haydock)
Calmet
The last kings of Juda were real tyrants, and weak as women. (Calmet)
Blessed. Protestants' marginal note, and the text has, "lead thee."
3:16
St. Jerome
Pace. Protestants, "and making a tinkling with their feet," (Haydock) by means of little rings round their legs. (Calmet) Stridore ad se juvenes vocat. (St. Jerome, ep. xlvii.)
Worthington
The daughters of Sion, denote all the cities and villages which were defaced by the Chaldeans, and still more by the Romans, forty years after Christ. (St. Jerome) (Worthington)
3:17
Bald. Like slaves, Deuteronomy 21:12.
Hair. Hebrew and Septuagint, "shame."
3:18
Calmet
Of shoes. Hebrew, "gold tissue," Psalm 44:14. This term occurs no where else, and many of these superfluous ornaments are not well known. But we may conclude that they are pernicious to a state, and hateful to God. (Calmet)
Tertullian
Decorem....invitatorem libidinis scimus. (Tertullian, cult.)
3:24
Stench. The Jews are noted on this account, as if in consequence of this curse, or of their being confined to prisons, etc. Foetentium Judaeorum et tumultuantium saepe taedio percitus.
Marcellin ii
M. Aurelius "was often weary of the stinking and seditious Jews." (Marcellin ii.)
3:25
Calmet
Fairest. They shall not be spared. (Calmet)
"As they have perished by their beauty, their fairest," etc. (Chaldean)
3:26
Ground. The posture of captives, Lamentations 1:1.
3:1
This was fulfilled first in the captiuitie of Babylon and more notoriously after Christs passion, in the destruction of Ierusalem, and dispersion of the Iewes: euen to this day: and yet forward, til nere the end of this world.
3:12
An Ecclesiastical preacher must not flatter the people. He must moue teares (sayth S. Ierom) not laughter.
3:14
Concordance Apoc. 1.
3:16
By the metaphor of wemen, S. Ierom vnderstandeth the cities of Iurie, of which Ierusalem was the head, and Sion the chiefe place there of, al which were defaced, by the Babylonians, but more fully destroyed by Titus and Vespatian, fourtie yeares after Christs Passion.
3:1
Tertullian † AD 220 An Answer to the Jews 13
… For “the Lord of Sabaoth hath taken away , among the Jews from Jerusalem,” among the other things named, “the wise architect” too,
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 3.23
… Consider whether what follows in the prophet has not received its fulfilment: “The Lord of hosts hath taken away from Judah and from Jerusalem, amongst other things, both the prophet and the wise artificer;”
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on Matthew 14.19
… and the fact that “there is no more a prophet,” and that they say, “We no longer see signs;” for the Lord says, “He hath taken away from Judæa and from Jerusalem,” according to the word of Isaiah, “Him that is mighty, and her that is mighty, a powerful giant,” etc., down to the words, “a prudent hearer.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 1.23
… and, behold, they shall come swiftly with lightness; they shall not hunger nor thirst.” Also in the same place: “Behold, therefore, the Ruler, the Lord of Sabaoth, shall take away from Judah and from Jerusalem the healthy man and the strong man, the strength of bread and the strength of water.”
3:2
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 5.8
… This result the case itself shows; for after this time the Spirit of the Creator never breathed amongst them . From Judah were taken away “the wise man, and the cunning artificer, and the counsellor, and the prophet;”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Concerning Widows 3
… It is also shown in a mystery that the Son of God, in order to restore the Church, took upon Himself the mystery of a human body, casting off the Jewish people, from whom the counsellor and the prophet and the miracles of the divine benefits were taken away,
3:3
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.27
… cajoling the people, loving gifts, pursuing rewards, robbing the poor of the rights of judgment, that they might have the widow for a prey and the fatherless for a spoil. Of these Isaiah also says, “Woe unto them that are strong in Jerusalem!” and again, “They that demand you shall rule over you.”
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 5.6
… What has he also to do with illustrations from our God? For when (the apostle) calls himself “a wise master-builder,” we find that the Creator by Isaiah designates the teacher who sketches out the divine discipline by the same title, “I will take away from Judah the cunning artifi cer ,”
St Basil the Great † AD 379 De Spiritu Sancto 1.2
2. If “To the fool on his asking for wisdom, wisdom shall be reckoned,” at how high a price shall we value “the wise hearer” who is quoted by the Prophet in the same verse with “the admirable counsellor”?
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus 1
In the words of the prophet we find the wise hearer mentioned with the excellent councillor.
3:4
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.56
… Such was Paul, and everyone of like spirit with him. But we fear that, in comparison with them, we may be foolish princes of Zoan, or extortioners, who exact the fruits of the ground, or falsely bless the people: and further make themselves happy, and confuse the way of your feet, or mockers ruling over you, or children in authority,
3:7
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.56
… and further make themselves happy, and confuse the way of your feet, or mockers ruling over you, or children in authority, immature in mind, not even having bread and clothing enough to be rulers over any;
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 18
… Yet preach they did, and there were many sent forth for this very purpose. And whence does it appear that these are those persons sent? Then he brings the prophet in next, who says, “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” (
3:9
St Barnabas † AD 61 The Epistle of Barnabas 6
… “The assembly of the wicked surrounded me; they encompassed me as bees do a honeycomb,” and “upon my garment they cast lots.” Since, therefore, He was about to be manifested and to suffer in the flesh, His suffering was foreshown. For the prophet speaks against Israel, “Woe to their soul, because they have counselled an evil counsel against themselves,
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 17
… ‘Woe unto their soul! because they have devised an evil device against themselves, saying, Let us bind the righteous, for he is distasteful to us. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! evil shall be rendered to him according to the works of his hands.’ And again, in other words:
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 133
… But now the Lord shall assist His people to judgment, and He shall enter into judgment with the elders of the people and the princes thereof. But why have you burnt up my vineyard? and why is the spoil of the poor found in your houses? Why do you wrong my people, and put to shame the countenance of the humble?’
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 136
… But the highest pitch of your wickedness lies in this, that you hate the Righteous One, and slew Him; and so treat those who have received from Him all that they are and have, and who are pious, righteous, and humane. Therefore ‘woe unto their soul,’ says the Lord,
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 137
And as they kept silence, I continued: “My friends, I now refer to the Scriptures as the Seventy have interpreted them; for when I quoted them formerly as you possess them, I made proof of you [to ascertain] how you were disposed. For, mentioning the Scripture which says, ‘Woe unto them! for they have devised evil counsel against themselves, saying’
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 11
… Jews, meditating death against the Life , and devising unreasonable things against the ‘Word of the Father .’ For who that looks upon their dispersion, and the desolation of their city, may not aptly say, ‘Woe unto them, for they have imagined an evil imagination, saying against their own soul, let us bind the righteous man, because he is not pleasing to us
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 19
… But this wearied them, for they were not anxious to understand, ‘for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory .’ And what their end is, the prophet foretold, crying, ‘Woe unto their soul, for they have devised an evil thought, saying, let us bind the just man, because he is not pleasing to us
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 13.12
12. They bound Jesus, and brought Him into the hall of the High-priest. And wouldest thou learn and know that this also is written? Esaias says, Woe unto their soul, for they have taken evil counsel against themselves, saying, Let us bind the Just, for He is troublesome to us
Rufinus of Aquileia † AD 411 A Commentary on the Apostles' Creed 20
… It is related also in the Gospels that He was bound. This also the word of prophecy had foretold by Isaiah, saying, “Woe unto their soul, who have devised a most evil device against themselves, saying, Let us bind the just One, seeing that He is unprofitable to us.”
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 3.31
… But, when any bad man shamelessly courts notice, then the more freely he perpetrates every wickedness, the more does he come even to think it lawful; and in what he imagines to be lawful he is without doubt sunk ever more and more. Hence it is written, They have declared their sin as Sodom, neither have they hidden it (
3:10
St Hegesippus † AD 180 Fragments from His Five Books of Commentaries on the Acts of the Church 1
Concerning the Martyrdom of James, the Brother of the Lord, from Book V.
Eusebius of Caesarea † AD 339 The Church History of Eusebius 2.23.15
15. And they cried out, saying, ‘Oh! oh! the just man is also in error.’ And they fulfilled the Scripture written in Isaiah,
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 2.6
… They too are just who for His Name’s sake have given themselves up to death, they are unjust who have avoided it. Of them it says: What profit is there in my blood? that is: what advance has my justice made? Wherefore they also say: “Let us bind the just, for he is useless to us,”
3:11
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on Matthew 13.30
… but it should be our ambition to procure the reward for a greater number of good deeds, since “with what measure we mete, it shall be measured to us,” and, “according to the works of our own hands shall it happen unto us,”
3:12
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.15
… “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” With equal stress does the Creator, by His prophet Isaiah, censure those who seek after human flattery and praise: “O my people, they who call you happy mislead you, and disturb the paths of your feet.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 The Epistles of Cyprian 27.2
2. Yet how can those mourn and repent, whose groanings and tears some of the presbyters obstruct when they rashly think that they may be communicated with, not knowing that it is written, “They who call you happy cause you to err, and destroy the path of your feet?”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 On the Lapsed 14
… Nor do I say this in such a way as that I would burden the cases of the brethren, but that I may rather instigate the brethren to a prayer of atonement. For, as it is written, “They who call you happy cause you to err, and destroy the paths of your feet,”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.116
In Isaiah: “They who call you blessed, lead you into error, and trouble the paths of your feet.”
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.56
… Such was Paul, and everyone of like spirit with him. But we fear that, in comparison with them, we may be foolish princes of Zoan, or extortioners, who exact the fruits of the ground, or falsely bless the people: and further make themselves happy, and confuse the way of your feet,
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 125.19
… but let not the oil of the sinner enrich my head.” For what says the apostle? “Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” By the mouth of Isaiah the Lord speaks thus: “O my people, they who call you happy cause you to err and destroy the way of your paths.”
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 2
… crowds of women may surround me, I feel no stirring of concupiscence. For to me may be applied the words, ‘Holy stones are rolled upon the ground,’ and the reason why I am insensible to the attraction of sin is that in the power of free will I carry Christ’s trophy about with me.” But let us listen to God
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 3.6
… Your disciples are lifted up that they may fall. In your flattery of the widow previously mentioned you are not ashamed to say that piety such as is found on earth, and truth which is everywhere a stranger, had made their home with her in preference to all others. You do not recollect the familiar words,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 86.23
… May God, who hath written this in your hearts, confirm it in your deeds. Ye see, brethren, that those who say unto you, Ye are happy, seduce you), “O My people, they that call you happy cause you to err, and disturb the way of your feet.”
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Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.42
… “And so the Lord hath stood on His trial.” And he placed His people on their trial. The Lord Himself comes to a trial with “the elders and rulers of the people,” as Isaiah predicted.
Tertullian † AD 220 On the Resurrection of the Flesh 20
… For it was not figuratively that the Virgin conceived in her womb; nor in a trope did she bear Emmanuel, that is, Jesus, God with us. Even granting that He was figuratively to take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria, still it was literally that He was to “enter into judgment with the elders and princes of the people.”
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Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.14
… And by Isaiah how He inveighs against the oppressors of the needy! “What mean ye that ye set fire to my vineyard, and that the spoil of the poor is in your houses? Wherefore do ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the face of the needy?”
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 12.12
… then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be distinct . But let yet another testimony be told us. Thou sayest, O Prophet, that the Lord cometh, and doeth signs such as never were: what other clear sign tellest thou? The Lord Himself entereth into judgment with the elders of His people, and with the princes thereof
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 13.12
… Angels stood ready at hand, saying, Let us burst their bands in sunder ; but they hold back, because their Lord willed to undergo it. Again, He was led to the judgment-seat before the Elders; thou hast already the testimony to this, The Lord Himself will come into judgment with the ancients of His people, and with the princes thereof
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 16.18
… Another has turned aside the way of the meek, and turned aside the just among the unjust; another has hated him that reproveth in the gates, and abhorred him that speaketh uprightly; another has sacrificed to his net which catches much, and keeping the spoil of the poor in his house,
Rufinus of Aquileia † AD 411 A Commentary on the Apostles' Creed 21
21. But, says some one, “Are these things to be understood of the Lord? Could the Lord be held prisoner by men and dragged to judgment?” Of this also the same Prophet shall convince you. For he says, “The Lord Himself shall come into judgment with the elders and princes of the people.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 50.11
… the Apostle saith of himself, “As an angel of God ye received me.” Of John Baptist it is said, “Behold, I send My Angel before Thy face, that shall prepare Thy way before Thee.” Therefore, coming with all Angels, together with Him He shall have the Saints also. For plainly saith Isaias also, “He shall come to judgment with the elders of the people.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 68.39
… and the virtue of Him in the clouds.” For not alone He shall come to judgment, but with the elders of His people:
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 29
Ver. 21 . “As it is written, To whom He was not spoken of, they shall see, and they that have not heard shall understand.” (
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St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 27
… ‘For the daughters of Zion have walked with a high neck, both sporting by winking with their eyes, and sweeping along their dresses.
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.15
… “Let not the rich man glory in his riches but let him that glorieth even glory in the Lord.” Similarly against the daughters of Sion does He inveigh by Isaiah, when they were haughty through their pomp and the abundance of their riches,
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 On the Dress of Virgins 13
… And instead of a sweet smell there shall be dust; and thou shalt be girt with a rope instead of with a girdle; and for a golden ornament of thy head thou shalt have baldness.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 17
But if thou desirest to hear also His rebuke for them in particular, listen to Isaiah,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 85
… For none of those whose eyes are toward thee admireth thee, but they jeer at thee, as fond of dress, as boastful, as a carnal woman. And shouldest thou enter into a church, thou goest forth, without getting anything but countless leers, and revilings, and curses, not from the beholders only, but also from the prophet. For straightway Isaiah,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on 1 Timothy 8
… It is on this account that we now urge these things, that we may not let you be amenable to those severe judgments. Let us fear, therefore, lest He reprove you in the words of the Prophet to the Jewish women. “They come to be seen of me wantoning and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet.” (
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 2.10
… Idol temples had fallen before the standard of the Cross and the severity of the Gospel: now on the contrary lust and gluttony endeavour to overthrow the solid structure of the Cross. And so God says by Isaiah,
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Tertullian † AD 220 On the Apparel of Women ii.10
Now, granting that God did foresee these things; that God permitted them; that Esaias finds fault with no garment of purple, represses no coil,
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Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis 2.3.6
… For what we call in Latin mundus , is termed in Greek κόσμος , and κόσμος signifies not only a world, but also an ornament. Finally, in Isaiah, where the language of reproof is directed to the chief daughters of Sion, and where he says, “Instead of an ornament of a golden head, thou wilt have baldness on account of thy works,”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on 1 Timothy 8
… and we might speak of their walk, and other artifices more alluring than any ornament of gold. Let us fear, beloved, lest we also hear what the Prophet said to the Hebrew women who were so studious of outward ornament; “Instead of a girdle, thou shalt be girded with a halter, instead of well-set hair, baldness.” (
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1. Behold indeed. — The word "indeed" signifies that these things depend upon and are connected with the preceding, as if to say: I have warned you to cease from Christ, and not to vex Him, nor to kill Him: but I know you will do the contrary, and will kill Christ; wherefore I foretell to you that Titus and Vespasian in vengeance for the blood of Christ will overthrow and burn Jerusalem. Thus St. Basil, Jerome, Cyril, Rupert, and the ancients everywhere. Isaiah therefore does not speak of the destruction of the Jews by the Babylonians, as Haymo wishes, but by the Romans, and this up to chapter vi, as is evident from the whole discourse and connection of Isaiah: for what he says in the following chapters concerning the magnificent offspring of the Lord, concerning the book of life, concerning the washing away of sins in the spirit of judgment and burning: and in chapter v, concerning the canticle of the beloved and the cousin, it is manifest from the common opinion of interpreters that it pertains to Christ, and to the times of Christ and the Church. He predicts therefore in this chapter that God will take away from the Jews on account of the slaying of Christ, first, all strength, and all mighty men of war; secondly, all grain, so that they may waste away with hunger; thirdly, prophecy and Prophets; fourthly, elders and princes; fifthly, counselors; sixthly, architects; seventhly, pious and spiritual men; finally all light of Holy Scripture, all worship of religion, all grace and favor of God. From which it will come to pass that, destitute of God's aid, the Jews, blind and miserable and lacking counsel, will rush to their own destruction, and will be vexed by dreadful war, famine and plague, will be slain and dragged into servitude. Thus the Fathers already cited. (1) In this chapter the Prophet pursues the same argument as in the preceding, namely he depicts the diminution impending from God the avenger: First, the diminution of the people from the scarcity of things pertaining to life, verse 1; secondly, the decrease of empire, from the defect of administrators, and the incompetence of rulers, 2-4; thirdly, the disturbance of the commonwealth from civil war and anarchy about to come, 5-7; fourthly, the ruin of Jerusalem, from insolent opposition against God, and shameless opposition against what is honorable, justly to follow, 8-9; fifthly, the separation of the just from the impious and a favorable outcome for those, an unfavorable one for these, not only on account of the sins of the people, but on account of princes and prelates greedy, rapacious, unwarlike and negligent, who will be to the people a cause of oppression, disgrace and deception at once, 10-12; sixthly, the judicial action by which God reproaches the more powerful for the oppression of the weak, 14-15. He decrees punishments for women, punishments which will chastise their pride, vanity and luxury with opposite evils, 16-24, and he predicts the slaying of very many men, and hence the resulting scarcity both of inhabitants for cities, and of husbands for wives, 25-26; and also verse 1 of the following chapter. THE LORD OF HOSTS SHALL TAKE AWAY, ETC., THE MIGHTY AND THE STRONG. — In Hebrew, the mighty and the mighty one, or the sustainer and the sustainer: the word therefore "strong" is feminine, as if to say: God will take away from Judah mighty leaders, such as once were Moses, Joshua, Gideon; and mighty leaders, such as were Deborah, Jael, Judith. Thus St. Basil. Secondly, Scripture is accustomed by both genders, namely masculine and feminine, to signify the universality of a thing, as in Ecclesiastes II: "Singers and singers," that is, every kind of musicians; Jeremiah VII: "The voice of the bridegroom and the bride," that is, all nuptial rejoicing; thus here "mighty and mighty," that is, all protection, all firmament. Thus Sanchez. By "strong," understand one who is courageous as well as robust and powerful. For Lampridius rightly said: "No one dares to provoke, or to do injury to a kingdom or people, whom he understands to be ready and prompt to avenge." SHALL TAKE AWAY, ETC., ALL THE STRENGTH OF BREAD, AND ALL THE STRENGTH OF WATER, — that is to say: God will take away from you all provisions, so that you may perish from hunger and thirst; will take away from you whatever could be of use for food or defense: will bring sterility and famine. How true this was, is evident from Josephus and Hegesippus, who teach that in the siege of Jerusalem by Titus mothers devoured their own sons from hunger. Note the Hebraism. For the Hebrews call "strength," and, as it is in Hebrew, משען misan, that is, a support, a staff, a rod, bread, food, and everything that sustains and supports man in life; hence bread is called a rod or staff, Leviticus XXVI, 26; Ezekiel IV, 16, and chapter V, 16, and chapter XIV, 13. For just as a staff supports the bent and drooping body of an old man, so bread sustains life that wavers and fails. Other Fathers explain these things differently, as if to say: I will take away the strength of bread, that is, I will make your bread lack strength, juice, power of nourishing, be vain and drained of juice, and not satisfy hunger: thus also I will make water not quench thirst. For thus God even now makes apples and fruits growing in Sodom vain. And thus crops often, when rust is sent upon them, He makes dry and vain within. Allegorically, in that same siege and thereafter until now God has taken away from the Jews the spiritual bread, that is, first, the true understanding of Holy Scripture. Thus St. Jerome, Cyril, and Haymo. Whence Philo of Carpathus in the Song of Songs, chapter IV: "It should be noted," he says, "that the strength of bread is mentioned first, and afterwards the strength of water will be taken away; because when the weighty sayings of Holy Scripture are not investigated, nor are they made to be chewed, gradually the mind will fall away from knowledge, so that at some point it may not even understand light matters." Second, the Eucharistic bread and the water of baptism. Thus Cyril and Basil, whom see: for he teaches beautifully how God takes away the use of the sacraments as a punishment for sins. Third, all spiritual charisms. Thus Chrysostom, in his third oration Against the Jews. Thus already God has taken away the same things in large part from the Greeks, Africans, Syrians, etc., once most flourishing in holiness and learning, whom on account of the sins of their descendants he permitted to be delivered into the hands of the Turks and Saracens.
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2. THE PROPHET. — In the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, says Sanchez, there were few prophets, namely only Jeremiah. Whence Azariah says: "There is not in this time a prince, and a guide, and a Prophet," Daniel III, 38. Sanchez adds that it is said that Prophets were lacking because, although there would be some in the future, nevertheless the people would not hear them or care for them, just as if they had not existed. For it is said that there was not what was in vain, what was useless. For if medicine does not heal, we say there was no medicine; if no counsel was useful, we say there was no counselor; if a king is a child or a fool, we say there is no king. But I say that Isaiah speaks of the destruction of the Jews, not by the Babylonians, but by the Romans: for then they had no Prophets; for neither was that Jesus crying out continually: "Woe to Jerusalem!" according to the testimony of Josephus, book VII of the Wars, chapter XII, a Prophet, but rather a sign and a portent. AND A DIVINER. — The Hebrew קסם cosem can be taken both in a good sense, so as to signify a conjecturer, a sagacious and prognosticating person, who from the observation of past causes, effects and signs conjectures about future or hidden things, thus the Septuagint takes it, translating σοφιστήν, and Vatablus and other moderns, and in a bad sense, so as to signify a diviner or soothsayer, thus St. Jerome and other ancients, as if to say God will take away from the Jews all prophecy, both true and false, and all prophets both true and false.
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3. A CAPTAIN OVER FIFTY, — who presides over fifty soldiers. For the Jews had pentacontarchs, just as we have hecatontarchs or centurions, who preside over one hundred soldiers, that is to say, God will take away from the Jews leaders and captains, so that there may be none among them who can lead war and draw up a battle line. Hence Epaminondas, as Plutarch testifies, the leader of the Thebans and Boeotians, when dying advised his men to make peace with the enemy on any terms whatsoever: for he saw that among the Boeotians there was no one who, as a leader, could wisely preside over war; with him therefore began and with him ended the dominion of the Thebans. That saying is true: "An army of deer led by a lion is more formidable than an army of lions led by a deer," as Chabrias used to say, and from him King Philip, according to Plutarch. AND HONOURABLE IN COUNTENANCE, — who by his maturity, gravity and authority presides over others and directs them, that is to say, There will be no one who can succour the failing fatherland in any way, namely neither by divine oracle, as a Prophet; nor by his authority, as an honourable man; nor by human counsel, as an elder; nor by military stratagem, as a man of fifty; nor by mathematical machine, as architects are wont to do; nor by his eloquence, as one prudent in mystical speech: for although the Jews, besieged by the Romans, made frequent sorties against their machines and counsels, yet they scarcely fashioned machines themselves, as Josephus testifies. Again, machines were useless to them, nor could they avert destruction, so that the Romans took possession of the city and the most fortified citadel of Sion. Whence he does not say, "an architect," but "a wise man among architects" will I take away. AND PRUDENT IN MYSTICAL SPEECH. — "Prudent in mystical speech," as Jerome Prado says, is a pious man and endowed with the gift of prayer, who by his lips as it were by incantations can lull to sleep and tame divine fury. Secondly, and more aptly, is he who is endowed with eloquence, grace and efficacy of persuading, for example, reconciling the discordant, softening the angry, bending the stubborn, correcting the wicked: for such men are necessary in a republic, so that tumults and seditions of the people, with an enemy threatening, may be scattered and calmed. Whence St. Jerome: "Prudent," he says, "in mystical speech, or, as Theodotion translated it, prudent enchanter; and, as Aquila, prudent whisperer, is a man learned and exercised both in the Law and the Prophets and in the Gospel and the Apostles: who can heal each disturbance of the soul by his teaching, and restore it to a complete state of mind, while the fornicator receives chastity, and the glutton frugality, and the once avaricious man gives alms." This speech is called "mystical," both from the manner, because mystically, that is secretly and latently, it creeps into the soul and bends it: and from the end and fruit, because it works a mystical, that is spiritual, movement and conversion, and mystical gifts and virtues in the soul. The Septuagint translates it as prudent hearer, that is prudent judge, who namely, having heard counsellors or Prophets, can discern between good and bad, between true and false. For thus when one Prophet spoke, others heard and judged, I Cor. XIV, 29; and this judge too could be understood by prudent in mystical speech, that is of prophecy, who namely has the gift of discernment of spirits, so that, as one experienced and skilled in prophecy, he can distinguish genuine from spurious. Note here the manner in which republics fall when God punishes, namely by the gradual failure of civil and ecclesiastical magistrates, and of worthy and wise men, who direct others by word and example. The author of the Politics said sagaciously: "Five things declare whether a republic is in good or bad condition, first, the house of prayer; second, the senate house; third, the school; fourth, the forum; fifth, the clock, according as these are well or badly maintained and governed, so also is the republic." Thus Charles V the Emperor, when he used to inspect cities, was accustomed to look at the clock, whether it was well regulated, at the temple, and at the streets, whether they were clean and orderly. He used to seek three P's: Whether there was in the city a Praetor, a Pastor, and a Preceptor. Moreover, the Gentiles also held that wise and prudent men are the pilots of the commonwealth, and that prudence is the pillar of human life. Plato said "Republics will be blessed if either philosophers govern them, or kings philosophize." He understood philosophy not as speculative and dry, but as practical, namely political, economic and ethical. Euripides said "One right counsel overcomes a great force of soldiers." Antisthenes: "Prudence," he says, "is the safest wall, which neither collapses nor is betrayed." Architas: "Just as," he says, "a general leads an army, a helmsman steers ships, God governs the world, the mind governs the soul: so prudence itself tempers and governs the happiness of the present life." For, as Isocrates teaches: "It is the part of the prudent man to remember the past, to act cautiously in the present, to foresee and guard against the future." For these are the three duties of prudence, which being observed, both the commonwealth and human life will be blessed. What therefore the eye is in the body, that prudence and the prudent man are in the commonwealth. Wherefore "a king or prince lacking prudence is like a one-eyed cyclops," who does nothing by judgment, but all things by fancy and whim with tumult, and therefore brings misfortune upon the commonwealth and upon himself. Thus Plutarch. Truly did the Statesman say: "More things in supreme fortune are accomplished by auspices and counsels than by weapons and hands." On the other hand: "All things," says Tacitus, "begun by rash impulse are strong in their beginnings but weaken in their course; and: Counsels that are cunning and bold are pleasant in appearance, difficult in execution, sad in outcome."
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4. AND I WILL GIVE BOYS AS PRINCES, — that is to say, Not only will I take away the elders, the Prophets, and prudent princes, but in their place I will give as princes boys, not so much in age as in imprudence, folly and morals, namely rash, foolish, unwarlike, wanton, dissolute men. For this is a great punishment of the commonwealth, as is evident from Eccles. X, 16. At Rome in the portico of a tavern (from which under the nativity of Christ oil flowed miraculously), in which once veteran and retired soldiers were maintained, these verses were inscribed in golden letters: Old Rome, while old Quirites ruled thee, Neither the good was exempt, nor any evil man was: When the fathers died, depraved youth succeeded, By whose counsel thou art precipitated to ruin. Of such men Lucan says, lib. VIII: The age of the Nile's tyrant is suspect to us: For indeed difficult loyalty demands robust years. Nicomachus Vopiscus in Vopiscus, in Tacitus the Emperor: "May the gods," he says, "avert boy princes and those called fathers of the fatherland who are not of age, whom to give to the consulship sweet things, and the circus, and whatever childish pleasure invites." The Poets feign that Phaethon, a boy, asked his father the Sun for the driving of his chariot. To whom the father: "You ask great things, Phaethon, and things which do not suit these your powers." Yet he extorted it; but what a conflagration did he give to the world through his inexperience! Most truly Eccles. cap. X, vers. 16: "Woe to thee, O land, whose king is a boy!" namely "the children of the wicked." Such boys were the unwise and untaught Scribes and princes of the priests and people: again those factious Zealots, who by their rash seditions and slaughters destroyed the city and its citizens more than the Romans, as Josephus testifies, lib. V and VI of the Wars. And this befell the Jews by the just judgment of God, because they themselves preferred Barabbas the seditious to Christ the king of glory, as St. Athanasius says, serm. On the Passion and Cross. Thus in this age the schismatic English, because they were unwilling to be subject to the Pontiff, by the just judgment of God had as head not only of the commonwealth but also of the Church, first, a layman Henry VIII; second, not a man but a boy Edward; third, not a male but a female Elizabeth. Are not these monsters which posterity will marvel at? Are not they the shame of our age? Second, by these "boys" can be understood Titus and the Roman pederasts, as I shall say presently: for to these God gave, that is, delivered for punishment, the Jews, just as criminals are given to the executioner; although Sanchez expounds "I will give," that is, I proclaim that they are to be given. AND THE EFFEMINATE SHALL RULE OVER THEM. — He notes the lust and pederasty of the princes both of the Jews and of the Romans, namely of Titus the subduer of the Jews, whom Suetonius places among the bands of catamites, and of Hadrian the Emperor who was a male prostitute (as Aquila here translates it) to Trajan; as Antinous was to the same Hadrian, as is evident from Dio and Xiphilinus in the Life of Hadrian. Again, that the Romans at that time were most effeminate is evident from Juvenal, satyr. I and II: Ages have broken themselves with shameful luxury, Soft riches, etc. Hence consequently they were also in spirit not manly, but effeminate, that is womanly, timid, weak and pusillanimous. Second, the Septuagint and Theodotion for "boys" translate ἐμπαῖκται, that is mockers: for in Hebrew עלל olel comes from עלל alal, that is to mock, to defile. For the Jews captured by the Romans were mocked, just as they themselves had mocked Christ. Thus from St. Athanasius and Procopius Leo Castrius. Finally, the "effeminate" are also acceptors, that is those subject to the rule of women, who are governed by them and by their sons. That saying about the boy Biophantus is famous: "Biophantus rules Greece;" because his father ruled Greece, his mother ruled his father, his son ruled his mother.
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5. AND THE PEOPLE SHALL RUSH, MAN AGAINST MAN, — that is to say, From the fact that they have children and effeminate men as princes, it will follow that neither age nor rank of any kind will be observed, but without respect a child against an old man, a plebeian against a nobleman, each against his neighbor will rise up. Thus it happened under Titus; for, as Josephus teaches, the city of Jerusalem was divided by those factious Zealots, of whom verse 4 speaks, into three parts: for some occupied the citadel and temple; the second group the lower, the third the upper part of the city. Thus St. Jerome. This discord is the certain ruin of an empire; just as on the contrary the unity of the same is its preservation: "For no nation, however small, can be destroyed by adversaries, unless it has consumed itself by its own quarrels," says Vegetius.
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6 and 7. YOU HAVE A GARMENT: BE OUR RULER, that is to say, Each one will say to each one who is richer, or more honorably clothed: You have a beautiful garment, and a splendid toga: therefore you have wealth and provisions: be therefore our ruler. BUT THIS RUIN UNDER YOUR HAND. (1) A mantle among the Hebrews was held, as among the Orientals, as a garment of honor by which a free man was distinguished from a slave and from a vile commoner. BUT THIS RUIN UNDER YOUR HAND. (It is a hypallage, that is to say, Let your hand be under this ruin, that is, support with your hand our tottering and desperate commonwealth, lest it fall; but he will say): I am not a physician (I cannot heal so great an evil; this disease and infirmity of the commonwealth surpasses my art, this ruin exceeds my strength and resources, I cannot support it or restore it. Thus nearly Cyril. This is what the Emperor Hadrian prudently warned: "Do not lean upon a falling wall"), and in my house there is no bread, — which I might distribute to the famished people, that I might relieve their hunger and sustain them. For physician, in Hebrew it is, חובש chobes, that is, surgeon, who binds a wound. He alludes to that in chapter I: "The wound swelling is not bound up," that is to say, This city is not so much a commonwealth as a hospital; it therefore needs rather a surgeon (which I am not) than a prince and governor: do not therefore choose me as ruler. Thus Sanchez. For "I am not a physician," the Septuagint translates, I will not be ruler; Pagninus, I will not be lord; another, I will not be curator; Pintus, I will not be one who binds, taking the translation from surgeons; the Chaldean, I am not worthy to be head or ruler. From this gather that a prince or Prelate is the head and physician, and surgeon; and ought not only to bind subjects with just precepts, but also to heal their wounds and languors of soul. Wherefore a king is called by the Greeks ἀκήν from ἄκος, that is, remedy, medicine and health, as Plutarch and Eustathius note, and from these the Lexicon. Alciatus, emblem 143, depicts a prince devoted to the safety of his subjects, in the form of an anchor surrounded by a dolphin, which according to Pliny, book XVIII, presages a storm, and in a sea agitated by winds, and a ship directs the anchor by a human sort of instinct, that it may be fixed more safely. Thus indeed ought a prince to strive, lest the commonwealth be disturbed by the tempest of war. St. Jerome here warns that the common people generally choose the richer men as shepherds and princes, not the wiser, nor the more apt; and therefore those elected by it ought not to acquiesce in its judgment, unless they know themselves equal to the burden.
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8. FOR JERUSALEM HAS FALLEN (These are words not of one excusing himself from the principate, but of the Prophet, that is to say, Therefore no one will wish to undertake the rule of Judah and Jerusalem, because it itself will fall and be destroyed. He adds the cause of the destruction): BECAUSE THEIR TONGUE AND THEIR INVENTIONS ARE AGAINST THE LORD, — that is to say, Because by their cursed and blasphemous words and by their wicked machinations and works they have provoked God to anger. For they called Christ a demoniac, a wine-drinker, a Samaritan, and they persecuted him equally as well as his Apostles, and killed them.
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9. The knowledge of their countenance answered them,—that is to say, the revelation and sight of their countenance testifies against them that they deserved this ruin, this destruction. They ask themselves and inquire: How has such great punishment come upon us? Why are we overwhelmed with such great evils? What sin of ours has merited this calamity? The Prophet answers: Let them not go far; they need only look upon one another's countenances, and there they will recognize and read written the cause and guilt of their own: for their shameless and impudent face will answer, and will give clear testimony of their audacity and wickedness; for the countenance speaks of crimes, even when all others are silent: for in their face is seen lasciviousness, arrogance, pride, etc.; their face cries out that they are swollen with pride, anger, hatred, lust. Whence, explaining this, he adds: "They have declared their sin as Sodom." The same thing is said by Jeremiah, chapter III: "Thou hast a harlot's forehead, thou wouldst not blush." He explains this clearly concerning women in verse 16, saying: "The daughters of Sion are haughty, and have walked with stretched out necks, and wanton eyes, clapping their hands,"—that is to say, their shameless face gives testimony of their audacity. He signifies that the men were similar to the women, and there is no doubt of it: therefore crimes shining forth in the face signify that they have merited this calamity. Whence St. Jerome, rendering not so much the phrase as the sense, explains by saying: "They have received their own sins." In a similar way Jeremiah says, chapter XIV: "Our sins have answered us." And Hosea, chapter V: "The arrogance of Israel shall answer in his face." The Hebrew הכרת haccarat can be translated first, "knowledge, revelation, laying bare," as our translator renders it, from the root נכר nachar, that is, he knew, he recognized. Second, alienation, that is to say, alienation and destruction of the countenance, or their face pale and ghastly, signifies their frauds and crimes. Whence the Septuagint translates, confusion of their countenance resisted them. Third, simulation, fiction, painting of their countenance answered them: for nachar in the hitpael, namely hitnacker, signifies to feign oneself another; to simulate oneself unknown, to conduct oneself as a stranger: for both men and women, verse 16, paint their faces, and as it were put on a mask of the face: for they simulate themselves to be good, friendly, just, chaste, when they are altogether otherwise, namely evil, enemies, fraudulent, incestuous; these masks of crimes therefore testify to their guilt, and call them to the punishment they have merited. Fourth, haccarat can very aptly be translated, hardness, harshness, impudence; for they displayed this in their countenance. Whence R. Jona says in Arabic haccar signifies hardness, from the Hebrew root הכר hachar, that is, he showed himself harsh, hard, impudent; his face was shameless, and as it were stupefied. Thus some of the more recent scholars. Note the Hebraism, by which abstract things are put for concrete things: "knowledge of the countenance," that is, sins known in the countenance, which the Septuagint call confusion; because they produce shame, present and eternal: thus fear is called the thing to be feared; praise, the thing to be praised; custody is called the precept to be kept; hearing, the thing heard; vision, the thing seen. Tropologically, learn that the countenance is the image of the mind, and this not only naturally but also supernaturally. Thus that holy Bishop in the Lives of the Fathers, book III, number 166, in sacred Communion through the faces of each one approaching saw also their souls: for he saw the faces of sinners to be black as coals, and filled with blood; but he saw the faces of the just to be white and clear. The same thing was seen by Blessed Paul the Simple in the same place, number 167. I follow the latest edition of our Father Heribert. Truly did the Wise Man say, Ecclesiastes VIII, 1: "The wisdom of a man shineth in his countenance." The reason is, because the mind and the senses are vigorous in the head and countenance. Truly Ovid: Alas! how difficult it is not to betray crime by the countenance! And Claudian: The brow of the dying man betrays the fires of the heart. And Seneca: And the countenances themselves bear fierce crimes. And the same: The countenance speaks whatever thou deniest.
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10. SAY YE TO THE JUST THAT IT IS WELL WITH HIM. — From the unjust and their punishment, by antithesis he turns himself to the just and their reward; for as those reap the fruits of joy, glory and exultation from the seed of evil works, so these do the same from the seed of good works, both in this life and especially in the future. Whence for "that it is well" the Hebrew is כי טוב ki tob, which can be translated, that it is good, that is, he shall eat a pleasant and most sweet fruit of his inventions. Inventions in Scripture are called the studies, machinations and works both of the pious and of the impious. For as the pious study to invent new ways of acting well, of living rightly, and of pleasing God: so the impious study to invent new pleasures, and new ways of enriching themselves, of exalting themselves and of pleasing the world. The Septuagint for אמרו imru, that is, say ye, read אסרו isru, that is, bind; whence they translate, let us bind the just, because he is useless to us, as if they were the words of the Jews wishing to seize, bind and kill Christ. For "shall eat" in Hebrew it is "shall eat" (plural); whence St. Jerome thus expounds it, as if to say, You who are about to read this prophecy, say to the just, namely to Christ, that is, praise Christ, because he well overthrew the Jews and made them eat the fruit of their iniquities. But this sense is more narrow and more foreign. The first sense therefore is the genuine one, and the Hebrew "shall eat," by a syllepsis customary among the Hebrews, is to be expounded distributively, as if to say, Each one shall eat, each of them shall eat. Thus Vatablus. WOE TO THE WICKED FOR EVIL! — that is, for all malice poured forth; whence in Hebrew it is, woe to the wicked, the evil one, or the malignant one! Thus Vatablus. "Woe" in Scripture signifies both present and eternal destruction, as if to say, Both present and eternal damnation awaits all the impious. Secondly, Adamus thus expounds it: "Woe to the wicked for evil," namely destined for it! because truly he is destined by God for grievous torments; so that it is the same as what preceded: "Woe to their soul! because evil hath been rendered to them." FOR THE RECOMPENSE OF THEIR HANDS (that is, of the works which are done by hands) SHALL BE RENDERED TO HIM. — It is a metonymy.
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12. MY PEOPLE, THEIR EXACTORS HAVE DESPOILED THEM. — He gave the internal cause of the ruin of the commonwealth, namely the sins of the people; now he gives the external cause, which the same sins of the people merited, namely avaricious, rapacious, cowardly and negligent princes and Prelates. By "exactors" therefore he means princes and magistrates, who were not so much praetors as plunderers of the people; likewise Prelates and teachers, namely the Scribes and Pharisees; for these avaricious men exacted very much from the people, so much so that they commanded sons to deny sustenance to their parents, and to say corban, that is, this gift is dedicated to God, it must be given to the Scribes and priests, Mark VII, 11. For "despoiled" in Hebrew it is מעולל meolel, that is, they gleaned, that is, they despoiled down to almost the last farthing: for a vineyard is gleaned when, after the vintage is completed, the few grapes which remain here and there are carefully sought out again and gathered: thus did these men plunder and strip the wealth of the people. WOMEN (that is, effeminate Scribes, and effeminate Romans) HAVE RULED OVER THEM. — See the words at verse 4. Thus says the Poet, "Ἀναΐδες, ὡς τ' Ἀναῖοι," You are Achaean women, not Achaean men; and Virgil, book IX of the Aeneid: "O truly Phrygian, and not Phrygians," as if to say, You have degenerated from men into women. Secondly, properly "women," that is, the wives of the Scribes and Pharisees have ruled over them, namely over the Scribes, their husbands, inasmuch as they are effeminate, and consequently over the other Jews. Thus Cato said: "Women rule us, we rule the Senate, the Senate rules Rome, Rome rules the world." This is a great plague. For a woman in her dominion is powerless, unwise, avaricious, and commands great exactions for her own and her family's adornment: and she acts not so much from reason and judgment, as from affection and lust, or from impulse and precipitation. Thus Adam. MY PEOPLE, THEY THAT CALL THEE BLESSED, THE SAME DECEIVE THEE. — He admonishes the people from a sincere feeling of compassion, that they may recognize that they are deceived by their Scribes, as if to say, The priests and Scribes, on account of gifts and offerings made to the temple and to themselves, call you blessed and blessed by God: but they deceive, and turn you away and lead you astray from the law, from virtue, from God, from blessing and salvation: for they do not study your interests, but their own conveniences and avarice; and in order to fill their purses, they teach you vain and impious things, and flatter your sins, and promise that all things will be expiated through your gifts and sacrifices; but falsely. For God is not pleased with these gifts and ceremonies, nor do they please him; but that which does is contrition and charity from a pure heart, and faith, which works through love. Morally, note here how great an evil flattery is. Truly the Wise Man said, Prov. XXVII, 6: "Better are the wounds of a friend, than the deceitful kisses of an enemy." Plato in the Phaedrus calls "the flatterer a beast pestilential to the human race," and in the Menexenus he says he is "like a juggler," inasmuch as he is worse than any robber, he snatches away from us reason and judgment, nay, he is crueler and more pernicious than Circe herself: for she transformed the external forms of men into beasts; but the flatterer with his enticements transforms the internal. Secondly, as a shadow imitates whatever you do: if you stand, it stands; if you run, it runs: thus the flatterer follows you wherever you turn; if you are silent, he praises your silence; if you speak, he celebrates and admires your speech; if you rejoice, he feigns himself to rejoice; if you grieve, he grieves. Again, just as with the shadow increasing or decreasing, the body itself is neither increased nor diminished: thus neither are we better by praises, nor worse by detraction. Hence Antisthenes, as Laertius testifies, when someone said to him: "Many praise you;" he replied: "What evil have I done?" That philosopher thought it shameful to be praised by the base, and to be celebrated by a blind and rash multitude. Thirdly, Plutarch, in his work On Discerning the Flatterer from the Friend, calls "the flatterer an enemy of the fatherland and of virtue." Diogenes: "calls flattery a honeyed snare;" Epictetus in the Enchiridion compares flatterers to crows. For "as these devour the eyes of the dead, so flatterers destroy and blind the souls and minds of the living." Fourthly, flatterers are like the heliotrope plant; which has such love of the sun, that it turns around with it, and wherever the sun turns, it bends its top in the same direction; at night also, as if with longing for the sun, it contracts its flower: thus sycophants accommodate themselves to kings and people in all things, and applaud their vices. Wherefore Agesilaus, king of the Lacedaemonians, said they ought to be hunted down, not otherwise than as insidious enemies of one's own life. And the way of your steps (the course of your life, your state, your salvation and happiness both private and public) THEY DISSIPATE. — For they take from you all fear of evil, of the enemy and of destruction, so that you may sleep more securely in sins and be overwhelmed by the impending enemy; for they say, as Jeremiah says, cap. VI: "Peace, peace; and there was no peace." For this is the reason why the Jews were delivered to the Chaldeans, namely because, as it is said in Lamentations, cap. II: "Thy prophets have seen for thee false and foolish things, neither did they discover thy iniquities, that they might provoke thee to penance." Thus morally, the sinner who sets aside all fear, who acknowledges God only as merciful and does not fear Him as the avenger of evils, nor thinks himself liable to eternal punishments; this one plainly dissipates his steps and, prone to all evils both of punishment and of guilt, rushes headlong; for he who fears God places his feet in the way of salvation, according to that Psalm CXXVIII: "Blessed are all they that fear the Lord, that walk in his ways. He that is without fear cannot be justified," Ecclesiasticus cap. I, vers. 28. Whence, in order to stir both the great and the people to fear, He gives a goad, saying:
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13 and 14. THE LORD STANDS TO JUDGE (he speaks properly of judgment, not the last and universal one, but the proper judgment of the Jews, which He exercised in their destruction through the Romans, also) with the elders of the people, — that is against the elders or senators of the people, whom he previously called "exactors," punishing them justly, and killing or capturing them, because they had unjustly oppressed the people and deceived them. Thus St. Jerome. Note: Senators are called "elders" because they ought to be elders in maturity, wisdom and probity; and therefore elders in age were accustomed and are accustomed to be chosen as senators: for elders are more mature and wiser than youths. Others expound it, as if to say, "With elders," that is with Patriarchs, Prophets and Apostles the Lord will come to judge the peoples. "You have devoured my vineyard." — You, O Scribes and Pharisees, who ought to have been keepers of the vineyard, that is of the Synagogue, or of my people, have devoured it, despoiling it of its goods. The Septuagint translates it, you have burned it: for the Hebrew בער biar signifies both, as if to say, You were the cause why Jerusalem was cut down and burned by the Romans.
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15. "Why do you crush (gradually consume) my people, and grind the faces of the poor?" — that is, you attenuate and cause to waste away by leanness and hunger, as Amos says, cap. VIII, vers. 4. Secondly, for "grind," Vatablus translates, you strike with blows; others, you bruise; the Septuagint, you confound, as if to say, You afflict and oppress the poor with ignominy, harsh words, and even with fists. Understand "poor" here both as any persons, and especially as the poor of Christ, namely the disciples and Apostles of Christ; for concerning these beaten by the council, Luke says, Acts V, 41: "They went from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus." Let princes and Prelates still think these things are said to them; indeed also Ecclesiastics, who consume the goods of the Church in their own luxuries or vices.
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16. BECAUSE THE DAUGHTERS OF SION ARE LIFTED UP. — He passes from men and princes to wives and daughters, who, in order that they might adorn themselves preciously, made men into exactors and plunderers of the poor, by whose sweat and blood they, decked out for lasciviousness, luxuriated and shone. He censures three vices of women, especially of maidens: first, pride; second, wantonness; third, lust. He signifies pride by: "lifted up," as if to say, in order that they might stand out above men and be gazed upon by all, they subjected themselves to buskins; so that they might walk tall in them, and seem to be as it were queens or certain goddesses. AND THEY WALKED WITH STRETCHED OUT NECKS. — Most proudly they stretched out their necks, like cranes or swans: this bearing is that of an insolent and wanton person. AND WINKING WITH THEIR EYES WENT. — By rolling their eyes, that is, by casting their eye obliquely at youths and lovers, and wantonly beckoning to them, which is the most certain sign of an illicit and harlot-like woman, as St. Chrysostom says: "Touch, jests, winks, hisses are the beginnings of dying virginity," says St. Jerome in the Life of St. Hilarion. Rightly does St. Basil compare these women to a basilisk; because each by its gaze infects and kills men. See St. Chrysostom, homily 27 on that passage of Matthew: "Whosoever shall see a woman to lust after her, etc." The Chaldean translator renders it, they went with eyes lined with stibium, and with hair wound about, and provoking with their feet, which Our translator renders, "and clapping." AND CLAPPING. — That is, with silken garments striking against each other and against the pavement, they made a sound; so that they might signify that they were clothed in silk. For the Hebrew טפף taphaph seems to signify a shaking and rustling of garments, such as is wont to come from that silken fabric, from which the common name taffeta is derived. Secondly, others translate the Hebrew taphaph as, they were playing the tambourine, they went striking the tambourine; as children do at dedications and weddings. For the Hebrew תוף toph signifies a tambourine. Thus Vatablus. Thirdly, and properly, "clapping," that is, they walked with a soft motion, a broken gait, and a stamping, as if dancing; as is wont to happen in choirs. Whence Virgil: "Some clap their feet in dances." Likewise of children, whose gait is therefore called in Hebrew טף taph, Ezekiel IX, 6. Fourthly, "clapping," that is, they excited the sound of rattles, says Vatablus; for thus adorned youths and maidens, walking in new and rattling shoes and sandals, display themselves: and perhaps these women added rattles and cymbals to their shoes; for Cicero testifies that this soft Gabinian shoe was added to shoes by women in Against Piso. Fifthly, "clapping," says Sanchez, that is, by the collision of pearls in shoes, they made a sound; for that this was wont to be done Pliny teaches, book IX, chapter XXXV: "Then," he says, "they call them crotalia, as if they also rejoice in the sound, and by the very collision of pearls, and now even the poor affect it, women in public calling the lictor a union." Where he says that these sounding pearls are for women in place of lictors; because just as lictors going before clear away the crowd, signifying that a consul is present: so the sound of pearls signified that a noble heroine was approaching: so that all would step aside from her way. AND THEY WALKED WITH A COMPOSED STEP, — they walked pompously with a gait arranged for majesty and elegance: perhaps also they wore on the soles of their shoes or buskins nails with heads, interspersed in such order that when impressed on the ground with sound they left certain amatory marks. Thus from Clement of Alexandria, book II of the Paedagogus, chapter XI. Sanchez.
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17. THE LORD SHALL MAKE BARE THE CROWN OF THE HEAD OF THE DAUGHTERS OF SION, — that is to say, God shall punish this proud lust of the daughters of Sion with the greatest ignominy to them; namely, that He shall take away and make bare their principal ornament, namely their hair; and this first and chiefly through the enemies the Chaldeans; for enemies are wont to make captives bald. Whence the Septuagint, reading for נשף sippuel through שין sin, that is "shall make bare," reading שפח schippach through שין schin, "shall make handmaids," translate "shall humble the mistresses." For shaving and baldness was the appearance of the conquered, and thence of servants and handmaids, even among the Gentiles. Thus it is said of the Scipios: Beneath whose titles Africa lies shorn. Secondly, by God, who shall smite this glorious head of the proud with just punishment, namely alopecia, ringworm and leprosy, which shall make the head bare not only of hair but also of flesh: for this is what sippach means, through sin. Others add thirdly, that they shall be made bald by the burden and weight which they shall continually bear upon their head as captives: for thus the soldiers of Nebuchadnezzar, bearing burdens for the siege of Tyre, had their heads made bare and their shoulders stripped of hair, as Ezekiel says in chapter XXIX. How great an ornament hair is to women (in which they therefore so greatly delight), and how great a deformity baldness is, Apuleius teaches in book II of the Metamorphoses, and from him St. Ambrose in book VI of the Hexameron, chapter IX: "If," says Apuleius, "you should strip the head of any woman of surpassing and most beautiful appearance of her hair; although she were cast down from heaven, although surrounded by the whole choir of graces, and attended by all the multitude of loves, and girded with her own girdle, fragrant with cinnamon and dripping with balsam, she would go forth bald and could not please." To this pertains Ovid's verse: A mutilated flock is foul, a field without grass is foul, And a shrub without leaves is foul, and a head without hair. AND THE LORD SHALL UNCOVER THEIR HAIR. — For hair in Hebrew is פת pat, that is an angle, namely a lock; which is at the angles of the forehead, and is artificially curled, in which especially young men and maidens take pride. Others translate pat as the buttocks, that is to say, Those who walked in long garments and swept the ground with their train, shall now walk as it were handmaids and servants in short garments, so that they scarcely cover the shameful parts. Thus Isaiah says in chapter XX, verse 4: "The king of the Assyrians shall lead away the captivity of Egypt, etc., barefoot, with the buttocks uncovered to the shame of Egypt." Thus the sons of Ammon cut the garments of David's servants up to the buttocks. Thirdly, others translate pat as the shameful parts. Whence the Septuagint translates, ἀποκαλύψει τὸ αἰσχύνωμα αὐτῶν, shall reveal their shame, that is to say, God shall make bare the daughters of Sion through the Chaldeans, and shall expose them naked to them to be mocked and violated; this is what Jeremiah laments in the Lamentations, chapter V: "The women in Sion have been humbled." Or, as others say, that is to say, God shall cause these daughters to suffer menstruation and a flow of blood, so that they may foul the ornaments of their shoes with that foul effusion of blood.
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18. The ornament of shoes. — The Septuagint add from the Hebrew καὶ τοὺς κοσύμβους, which some translate as fringed garments, others as nets and curls. I follow with Sanchez St. Basil, who says that these are ornaments which are sewn to the edge of garments, or hang from it, such as the bells and pomegranates which hung from the tunic of the High Priest; and perhaps these proud women wished to imitate these things sacrilegiously in their own garment. Lunules. — These were crescent-shaped ornaments like the moon; these they wore either on the head, as diadems, or on the neck, or on the garment.
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19. Necklaces. — A necklace is an ornament of the throat, which hangs from the neck; it is so called because it admonishes of virtue: for formerly necklaces were given as a reward for some distinguished deed. BRACELETS. — These are arm ornaments, or rings and chains adorning the arms: they are called bracelets from the arms; because formerly the shoulders together with the arms were called armi. MITRES. — These are veils, or fine linen bands of the head, gleaming with gems and trembling golden plates. The Hebrew רעלות realot also signifies poisons, and this is fitting: for, as St. Jerome says, "if a man or woman shall adorn himself, and provoke the faces of men to himself; and if no harm shall follow from it, yet he shall suffer eternal judgment; because he brought poison, if there had been one to drink it."
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20. DISCRIMINALIA. — These are instruments for discerning and separating the hair, and likewise for twisting and curling it, such as curling irons; or, as Lyra says, combs. Secondly, Sanchez says that discriminalia are ribbons, bands and fillets; which separate the hair into ringlets and braids, and thus keep the separated hair in place, support it and make it shine, which are commonly called crinalia: which manner of adorning the hair Juvenal calls "building the head," and Nazianzenus πυργοῦν κεφαλήν, that is, to tower the head, or to raise it in the likeness of a tower. Thirdly, St. Jerome, on Ezekiel XXIV, 17, translates the Hebrew פארים pearim as crowns: by these nobles and the rich were distinguished from the common people. Periscelidas. — These are bracelets of the shins or feet, says the Chaldean. They are called Periscelides from περί and σκέλος, as if to say, around the shin. MURENULAS. — Murenulae are twisted necklaces or chains of gold; when namely from it, becoming flexible into rods, a certain chain of twisted order is woven together, says St. Jerome to Marcella. In Hebrew they are called קשורים kiscurim, that is, bindings. They are called murenulae from the murena fish, because in its manner they are made of gold and silver, striped and variegated, and encircle the neck; or rather the lower arm, or the wrist. Thus St. Basil and Pollux interpret the Greek ψέλλια, which the Septuagint has. See also concerning these Clement of Alexandria, book II of the Paedagogus, chapter XII. OLFACTORIOLA. — These are myrrh-vessels, or perforated and eyed boxes, which breathe out their odors and sweet exhalations through their holes. Whence in Hebrew they are called "house of the soul," that is, of breath. Sanchez by "house of the soul" understands vessels in which women kept unguents at home, with which they sprinkled the table, bed or garments; such as was the alabaster jar of St. Mary Magdalene, who breaking it poured the ointment upon the head of Christ; such also as that harlot had, saying in Proverbs VII, 17: "I have sprinkled my bed with myrrh, and aloe, and cinnamon." INAURES. — These are golden or silver rings, from which a gem hangs by gold. Earrings were first used as amulets of the ears against enchantments; hence in Hebrew they are called לחשים lachasim, from whispering: but from then on they went into ornament and luxury. Thus also rings, which were first worn by Prometheus for disgrace, as is in the fables, now are worn for honor's sake. Thus Hyginus in the Prometheus, and from him our Sanchez.
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21. GEMMAS IN FRONTE PENDENTES. — "Even to this day," says St. Jerome in Ezekiel XVI, "among other ornaments of women, golden rings are accustomed to hang on the mouth from the forehead, and to overhang the nostrils." Whence Theodoret translates ἐπιρρίνιον, that is, an ornament of the nose: and this is what is signified in Hebrew: nezem. Others properly understand a gem, or a ring piercing the nose, and hanging from it, such as some Indians wear. But this is barbarous and ungraceful.
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22. MUTATORIA. — Nobles and the rich often change their garments, whence they have various change-garments: and this is a sign of wealth and luxury. Add that "mutatoria" are more precious garments, which are rarely put on for display, so as to show themselves abroad, and immediately upon returning home are taken off. For thus among the Romans the garment at home was the synthesis, abroad the toga. Whence the Septuagint calls these change-garments περιπόρφυρα, that is, bordered with purple, which among the Romans were called laticlaviae. Palliola. — Noble matrons still use these small cloaks, especially on journeys: these were precious and proud among the Judean women. LINTEAMINA. — These were white and transparent veils, by which they lasciviously displayed the breast, or the thigh, or the whole body in banquets and dances. Whence the Septuagint translates: Laconian transparent garments. For Laconian maidens were called φαινομηρίδες, because they displayed the naked thigh in walking. Thus St. Basil. Acus, — namely golden and silver hair-pins, which were worn for appearance in the hair, by which the hair was divided, and so that it would not flow apart again was fastened. Hear Martial: Lest the silken ribbon violate the moist locks, Let the pin fasten and hold the moist hair. These pins therefore were not curling irons, by which the hair was curled, but were long and thick pins, by which the locks and head were adorned. Thus St. Jerome and Isidore, book XIX, chapter XXXI.
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23. FINE LINEN. — In Hebrew it is סדינים sedinim, whence the Latin "sindones," says Forerius. Thus he calls linen coverings, or the outermost garments most delicate and fine, such as noble widows wear among us from Cambrai cloth. The Septuagint signifies that these fine linens were dyed in purple, violet and scarlet color. St. Basil gives the reason, namely that these proud women, just as in other things, so also in this wished sacrilegiously to imitate the priestly vestment. For the Pontiff, about to pray for the whole universe, put on a tunic woven from purple, hyacinth, fine linen and scarlet, so that by these four colors he might represent the four elements of the world for which he prayed, as I said at Exodus XXVIII, 5. Moreover this hyacinthine color, as also the scarlet, was almost the mark of famous women, namely the unchaste: as also of married women, and a symbol of conjugal love. BANDS. — In Hebrew צניפות tseniphot, that is cidaris and tiaras. Thus Forerius and the Hebrews: A cidaris, or tiara, was a round cap of the head, not pointed, which priests and pontiffs used. See here again the apes of pontifical ornament. SUMMER GARMENTS. — Summer garments, so called because θέρει, that is in summer, from heat and burning they protected the bodies of women. St. Jerome says they were small cloaks, such as Rebecca had, and now women have in Arabia; small cloaks, I say, smooth without nap and fine, which do not burden, nor heat, such as our silk garments. Forerius, however, thinks summer garments were head veils: for these in Hebrew are called רדידים reddidim, which word St. Paul, I Corinthians XI, 10, translates as ἐξουσίαν, that is authority; because a veil on the head of a woman is a sign that she is subject to the authority and dominion of her husband. Whence by summer garments can also be understood bonnets which women use against the sun, as now traveling women and those on journeys use broader bonnets made of straw.
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24. And there shall be instead of a sweet fragrance (from musk and other aromatics) a stench, — from the filth and squalor of captivity and prison. Again, a natural and peculiar stench is inherent in the Jews after the death of Christ; whence Ammianus Marcellinus, book II, calls the stinking Jews, and adds that they were therefore a grave disgust to the Emperor Marcus; and Martial, book IV, epigram to Bassa: "You stink, O Bassa! from the fasts of the Sabbath-keepers," that is of the Jews: he says "fasts," because an empty stomach emits a heavy breath. This hereditary stench of the Jews Fortunatus asserted was washed away by baptism, book V: The Jewish stench is washed away by divine baptism. Thus Sanchez. Whence also the Saracens formerly took care to have their infants baptized, so that through baptism they might drive away the stench from them; as is evident from the Sixth Synod in Trullo, Canon LXXXV, and Baronius, volume XII, in the year of Christ 1148. And instead of a girdle (golden and jeweled there shall be) a rope, — by which as beasts the captives shall be dragged into Babylon. AND INSTEAD OF CURLED HAIR BALDNESS, — which either they themselves shall bring upon themselves as a sign of mourning, or enemies, or God through disease shall inflict upon them. See what is said at verse 17. AND INSTEAD OF A BREAST BAND (by which the breasts are bound so that they do not expose their shame by their size, there shall be) SACKCLOTH. — In Hebrew a sack girdle, or one made of sack. The Hebrew texts add here כי תחת יפי ki tachat iophi, that is because instead of beauty, in which they reveled, this deformity has been rendered to them, so that it may be an epiphonema. Forerius, however, translates it, burning instead of beauty. For ki he translates burning, from the root כוה kavah, that is it burned, as if to say: Their faces and bodies once so beautiful are now eaten away, consumed and as if burned. For thus it is said in Lamentations V, verse 10: "Our skin is burned like an oven"; and in Isaiah chapter XIII, verse 8: "Their faces are burned with fire." Whence the Chaldean here clearly translates: This vengeance shall be taken upon them, because they committed fornication in their beauty.
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26. And her gates shall mourn and lament. — "Her," namely of Jerusalem, concerning which all this discourse of mine is most dear to me, as much as the thought and care of it. Thus the bride says in the Canticle chapter I: "Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth," who? the bridegroom, whom I love, and revolve in my mind. In the word "shall mourn" and "shall lament," there is catachresis: for just as flowering meadows are said to laugh; so burned gates, or desolate ones, and empty of citizens, the city itself is said to mourn and lament. Desolate she shall sit upon the ground. — It is a prosopopoeia: for he speaks of Jerusalem as of an afflicted matron: for she, mourning on the ground and oppressed with sorrow, sits. Hence in Lamentations I, 1, it is said of her: "How doth the city sit alone?" Thus also a coin of Vespasian exists, in which Judea is painted as a woman sitting at the roots of a palm tree, with this inscription: "Judea Captured."
Moral teaching against feminine adornment and luxury of clothing This is a famous passage against feminine adornment and luxury of clothing: for if that practice was once so displeasing to God among the Jews, and was punished by the destruction of the entire nation; how much more will it displease and be punished in Christians? First, hear and learn from St. Cyprian himself in his book On the Dress of Virgins, teaching the same thing from this passage of Isaiah: "Virgins," he says, "adorned with care have deserved shame and foulness; clothed in silk and purple, they cannot put on Christ; adorned with gold, pearls and necklaces, they have lost the ornaments of heart and breast." Second, St. Basil, in his sermon Against Avaricious Rich Men, who spend their wealth not on the poor but on the luxury of their wives, speaks thus: First, "while a proud woman burns with trifles and delights, she will increase the enticements of pleasure for her husband; her care is occupied day and night with pearls, emeralds, hyacinths, gold. Second, a thousand flatterers are present bringing fullers, goldsmiths, perfumers, weavers, hairdressers, who by her commands never allow the husband to breathe for a moment. Third, no treasure is sufficient for feminine desire, not even if it flowed from rivers: some gems are adapted for adorning the neck, some the throat, some the belt, some the hands and feet. Fourth, therefore the man following his wife's appetite, when will he care for his soul? For just as storms scatter weak ships, so the depraved affections of wives corrupt the weak souls of men." Third, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, against women adorning themselves too ambitiously: "Gold," he says, "purple, and cosmetics bring no adornment to noble women; but their adornment is the probity of morals and elegance, to remain at home for the most part, to converse with divine oracles, to apply themselves to spindle and wool, to entrust work to handmaids, etc." Fourth, St. Ambrose, in his Exhortation to Virgins, cites this passage of Isaiah and adds: "Whence also St. Peter said, not in the braiding of hair, nor in twisted locks, or gold and silver or precious clothing: but rather the ornaments of the inner man are to be sought by women, because that hidden man of the heart who is poor to the world, he himself is rich to God; and in 1 Timothy chapter II: 'The more splendid a woman appears to men, the more she is despised by God.'" Fifth, St. Jerome, in his letter On Avoiding Cohabitation, compares those who adorn themselves excessively and ostentatiously to brothels: "The shoe," he says, "of one walking, dark and shining with a creaking sound, calls young men to itself; the breasts are compressed with bands; and with a tight belt the chest is constricted more narrowly; the hair flows either onto the forehead or over the ears; a cloak sometimes falls so as to bare white shoulders; and as if she did not wish to be seen, she hastens to hide what she had willingly uncovered. And when in public, as if from modesty she covers her face, by this art she shows only what, if openly shown, could please more." Sixth, St. Augustine in sermon 18 On the Words of the Apostle, speaks thus: "The ornaments of the outer man, the more they are desired, the greater are the damages to the inner man: but the less they are desired, the more is man adorned with beautiful morals." Seventh, St. Chrysostom, homily 30 on the epistle to the Romans: "Laying aside," he says, "the burden of vile hay (for this is the expense of clothing), receive the heavenly adornment of virtues. This is the adornment of the Church, that of theaters: this is worthy of the heavens, that of horses and mules; that also surrounds dead bodies, this shines in the soul alone, in which Christ dwells." The same, homily 18 on 1 Corinthians: "Do you not think," he says, "that the devil sits together with the avaricious and others whom Paul enumerates in 1 Corinthians VI? But do you not think that adorned women sit with him for the sake of lust? If anyone contradicts, let him strip away the soul of women who conduct themselves so indecorously, and he will plainly see that wicked demon joining and mingling with them vehemently." The same, in his book On Virginity chapter LXII: "If a woman is beautiful, excessive adornment obscures her beauty; if deformed, adornment makes her more ugly; for deformity always shines forth and appears, so that spectators laugh at the woman and admire the adornment." Eighth, St. Peter the Hermit said to the mother of Theodoret, who was adorned: "If an excellent painter had painted an image, and another common painter had applied other colors to it, the painter would certainly be enraged: so also God, the maker and painter of our nature, justly grows angry that you accuse his nature and wisdom of ignorance, and condemn the Creator himself of weakness. Do not therefore corrupt God's image nor attempt to add to it what he did not wisely give; nor contrive this adulterous beauty, which brings either destruction to the modest or snares to those who see it." Thus Theodoret relates in the Lives of the Holy Fathers, Life IX. Ninth, Tertullian most sharply attacks this luxury of clothing in his book On the Dress of Women, from which I shall gather a few of the more notable passages: "You," he says, "are the devil's gate, you are the unsealer of that tree, you are the first deserter of the divine law, you have persuaded him whom the devil did not dare attack; on account of your desert, that is, death, even the Son of God had to die, and is it your intention to adorn yourself beyond your leather tunics?" Second: "The adornment of woman is twofold, namely, worldly feminine adornment in gold, gems and garments; and ornament, which may be called immodest feminine: in the care of hair, skin, and those parts of the body which draw the eyes, to the former we impute the crime of ambition, to the latter of prostitution." Third: "Stones and gems are trifles of the earth, which have known how to build not houses, not roofs, but only this stupor of women." Fourth: "They say that gems are extracted from the foreheads of dragons. This too will be lacking to the Christian woman, that she become more refined from the serpent: thus will she tread upon the devil's head, while from his head she constructs ornaments for her own neck." Fifth: "Abundance is always insulting in itself." Sixth: "What is the just honor of garments from the adultery of unjust colors? It does not please God, what He Himself did not produce, unless He was unable to command purple and hyacinthine sheep to be born." The same Tertullian, in his book On the Adornment of Women. First, he says this adornment is that of the Gentiles. Second: "The zeal to please through beauty does not come from an entire conscience, which we know naturally invites lust." Third: "A man perishes at the same time in your form, O woman! and you have become a sword to him." Fourth: "You ought to please your husbands alone: but you will please them so much, in as much as you have not cared to please others." Fifth: "It is unworthy for a Christian to wear a painted face, to whom simplicity is enjoined; to feign an image, to whom it is not permitted to lie; to desire what has not been given, to whom the study of chastity is prescribed: how will you keep the precepts of God, not keeping the lineaments of God?" Sixth: "Would that I, most wretched, on that day of Christian exultation, might see your head raised even among your heels; whether with white lead and purple dye, and saffron, and in that circlet of the head you rise again: whether thus adorned the Angels in the clouds lift you up to meet Christ?" Seventh: "Where God is, there is chastity, there is gravity as its helper and companion: how therefore shall we treat chastity without its instrument, that is, without gravity and severity of dress?" Eighth: "This time is short," says the Apostle, "why therefore do you give it to vanity?" Ninth: "The Apostle commands that God be magnified in our body; but He is magnified through chastity, and through the adornment befitting chastity." Tenth: "Let it be permitted to appear chaste, certainly it is not permitted to appear unchaste." Eleventh: "For Christian chastity it is not enough to be, but also to appear; so that it may emanate from the mind into habit, and eruct from conscience into the surface." Twelfth: "Let us cast away earthly ornaments, the restraints of our hope, if we desire heavenly things." Thirteenth: "The times of Christians always, and now especially, are pierced not with gold, but with iron, the robes of Martyrs are prepared, Angels as bearers are sustained. Come forth now you women instructed in ornaments, taking from simplicity whiteness, from chastity redness, your eyes painted with modesty, and your spirit with taciturnity, inserting into your ears the word of God, fastening about your necks the yoke of Christ: subject your head to your husbands, and you will be sufficiently adorned: occupy your hands with wool, fix your feet at home, and you will please more than in gold: clothe yourselves in the silk of integrity, the linen of holiness, the purple of chastity; thus adorned you will have God as your lover." Tenth, St. Cyprian follows Tertullian, who handles the same matter forcefully and elegantly in his book On the Discipline and Dress of Virgins. First: "Continence and chastity," he says, "do not consist in the integrity of the flesh alone, but also in the honor of dress and adornment together with modesty." Second: "It is unlawful for a virgin to adorn herself for the sake of her beauty, or to glory in her flesh and its comeliness, when there is no struggle more incumbent upon them than against the flesh, and a persistent contest of conquering and subduing the body." Third: "Paul says: Those who are Christ's have crucified their flesh; and how can she who professes to have renounced the desires of the flesh and vices be found in those very things from which she had renounced?" Fourth: "It is fitting for no Christian, and especially not for a virgin, to account any brightness or honor of the flesh; but only to desire the word of God, to embrace good things that remain forever. Or if there be glory in the flesh, then truly when she glories in the confession of the name, when a stronger woman is found against men who torture, when she endures fires, or crosses, or iron or beasts, that she may be crowned: those are the precious ornaments of the flesh, those are the better adornments of the body." Fifth: "The insignia of ornaments and garments, and the allurements of beauty befit none but harlots and immodest women; and scarcely any have more costly adornment than those whose modesty is worthless. In the Apocalypse, chapter XVII, that lost harlot is described, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, clothed in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stones, holding a golden cup in her hand." Sixth: "Did God wish wounds to be inflicted on ears, so that innocence still in infancy, and ignorant of worldly evil, should be tortured, that afterwards precious grains should hang from the scars and cavities of the ears, heavy though not by their own weight, by the quantity of merchandise?" Seventh: "The apostate angels taught to lead the eyes about, to blacken with paint, and to stain the cheeks with the falsehood of blush, and to change the hair with adulterous colors, and to assail all the truth of the face and head, by the assault of their corruption." Eighth: "Women bring injury to God, when they strive to reform and transfigure what He formed, not knowing that all that is born is the work of God, whatever is changed is the work of the devil." Ninth: "Your Lord says: You cannot make one hair white or black; and do you, to overcome the voice of your Lord, wish to be more powerful? With bold attempt and sacrilegious contempt you dye your hair," etc. Tenth: "Do you not fear, I pray, being such as you are, that when the day of resurrection comes, your maker may not recognize you, and may turn away and exclude you coming to His rewards and promises? rebuking you with the vigor of a censor and judge, saying: This work is not mine, nor is this image ours; you have polluted your skin with false medicine, you have changed your hair with adulterous color; your face has been assailed by falsehood; your figure is corrupted; your countenance is alien; you cannot see God; when your eyes are not those which God made, but those which the devil has defiled." Eleventh: "Overcome garments, you who are a virgin, who serve God: overcome gold, you who overcome flesh and the world: nor seek the ornaments of jewels or garments, but of morals." Meritedly therefore the Blessed Nonnus, Bishop, seeing Pelagia drawing and enticing the eyes of the whole city to herself with such luxury and pomp of garments, wept abundantly: when asked the reason, he said: "Two things move me: one indeed the perdition of this woman; the other, that I who profess the Christian name, do not strive so much to please God by the innocence of life, as this woman strives to please wicked men." But praying for her and preaching thus pierced her heart, so that he made of her another Magdalen, namely Pelagia penitent, whose life and wonderful deeds were written with great faith by James the Deacon, an eyewitness of the same Nonnus: it is extant in Surius, October 8. And St. Bernard was unwilling to see his sister coming to him more splendidly adorned: wherefore she, moved to compunction by his direction, put off all luxury of garments, and even with her husband's consent entered a monastery, as the author of the Life of St. Bernard has it, book I, chapter VI. But hear a horrible example of Prætextata, which St. Jerome relates in his letter to Læta: "Prætextata, once a most noble woman, at the command of her husband Hymettius, who was the uncle of Eustochium the virgin, changed her dress and adornment, and neglected her hair and combed it in worldly fashion, desiring to overcome both the virgin's resolution and the mother's desire. And behold, on that very night she saw in her dreams an angel coming to her with a terrible voice threatening punishments, and uttering these words: Did you dare to prefer your husband's command to Christ? You dared to touch with your sacrilegious hands the head of the virgin of God? These hands shall now wither, so that being tormented they may feel what you have done: and at the end of the fifth month you shall be led down to hell: but if you persist in your crime, you shall be deprived both of your husband and of your sons. All things were fulfilled in order, and the death of the wretched woman signified her late repentance." Hear also the Gentiles. Lycurgus expelled the art of cosmetics from Sparta, and for this reason first, because it corrupted the city with evil arts: whence at that time the chastity of Spartan women was so great that adultery was considered incredible. Second, so that anyone looking upon the character of a girl might follow virtue in choosing a wife, and not be deceived by cosmetics. For the same reason he wished them to be taken without dowry: likewise he wished them to be exercised in running, wrestling, discus and javelin throwing, so that they might become strong and bear strong offspring. Whence Gorgo, the wife of Leonidas, when someone objected to her: "You Spartan women alone rule your husbands;" answered: "Indeed, we alone bear men." Plutarch is witness in his Life of Lycurgus. Diogenes to a certain young man who adorned himself excessively: "If indeed," he said, "it is for men, you are wretched; if for women, you are unjust." Theophrastus: "A woman," he said, "ought neither to see others nor to be seen herself, especially one who is elegantly adorned: for both are an incentive to dishonorable things." Hyperides: "At home," he said, "it is permitted for a wife to adorn herself before her husband as she wishes: but the ornaments which she will take when going out of the house do not regard her husband, but others." Crates: "That adorns a woman," he said, "which makes her more honorable; such a thing is provided not by gold, not by emerald, not by scarlet; but by whatever has the appearance of gravity, moderation and modesty." Democritus: "Sparing speech," he said, "adorns a woman, and the sparingness of her adornment itself is becoming to her." Stobaeus is witness, sermon 32. Hear also the poets. Terence: You know the ways of women; While they are dressing, while they are combing, a year passes. Ovid: We are carried away by adornment, all things are covered with gems and gold; the girl herself is the smallest part of herself. Propertius: What does it avail to proceed through life with adorned hair, And to sell yourself with foreign gifts, And to lose the beauty of nature with a purchased face? Naked love does not love the artificer of beauty. Plautus: She is by no means well adorned if she is ill-behaved, etc. It is more fitting for a courtesan to bear shame than gold. Beautiful adornment with base morals is worse than mud. Hear also kings and emperors. The Emperor Aurelian, when his wife asked that he permit her to use a single silk garment, answered: "God forbid that gold threads be weighed out;" for at that time a pound of gold was equal to a pound of silk. Alphonsus, king of Aragon, dressed like the common people: when advised to go about in royal adornment, he answered: "I prefer to excel my subjects in character and authority, than in a diadem and purple." Aristotle, in his Preface to Alexander the Great, teaches him thus: "It is much more beautiful and more kingly to display a refined and composed mind, than the dress of the body." Alexander Severus said: "Imperial majesty consists in virtue, not in the adornment of the body." He likewise thought that royal matrons ought to be content with a single garment sprinkled with gold, and a cyclas which should not have more than six ounces of gold, as Lampridius testifies. This adornment today scarcely suffices for the wives of merchants. Augustus Caesar, as Suetonius testifies, used to say: "Distinctive and soft clothing is the standard of pride, and the nest of luxury." The same man, seeing many in cloaks at a public assembly, indignant: "Behold," he said, "the Romans, masters of the world, and a toga-wearing people." So much did he strive to restore the ancient customs and dress. Dionysius, tyrant of Sicily, sent splendid garments as a gift to the daughters of Archidamus. Archidamus refused to accept them, saying: "I fear lest in this dress the girls should appear base to me." Finally, Augustus Caesar truly said: "The luxury of banquets and garments are signs and harbingers of a sick and wasting republic." Let Belgium be witness, which paid for this luxury with war and continuous disasters for nearly fifty years; and what was formerly a paradise of earthly delights is now a valley of miseries. On the contrary, ancient simplicity and modesty of dress shines forth in the Germans, which preserves their republics in peace and flourishing. I saw at Nuremberg noble and very wealthy matrons dressed in simple cloaks and leg coverings, as if they were warrior women and wives of ancient leaders, walking about. I saw at Würzburg all matrons, even the most noble, having cloaks or heucas not of silk or wool, but of wood. For all carry in place of a heuca a hotta (such as charcoal workers carry at Liège) more or less beautiful according to the condition of the person; so much so that she who does not carry a hotta is not considered respectable. These hottas, when about to enter the temple, they set down before it, and when leaving they take them up and adapt them to their backs. I believe that in the wine-producing region they once exported all grapes in hottas, as they still do, and therefore have preserved the use of hottas.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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1. Hic incipit secunda pars, in qua arguit peccatum eorum quantum ad oppressionem proximorum; et dividitur in duas partes. In prima ponitur opprimenium confutatio; in secunda oppressorum consolatio. Cap. 4: Et apprehendent septem mulieres virum unum in die illa. Et quia violentum dominium non solum est culpa hominis, sed etiam est poena Dei judicantis peccata populi, sicut dicitur Job 34: «Qui regnare • facit hypocrim propter peccata populi: » ideo prima pars dividitur in partes duas. In prima enim praedicitur secundum quod est poena a Deo inflictà; in secunda arguitur secundum quod est culpa ab homine commissa, ibi, Popule meus. Prima dividitur in duas partes. In prima comminatur regiminis subversionem; in secunda assignat rationem, ibi, Ruit enim Jerusalem. Prima dividitur in tres. In prima subtrahitur a regiminis officio idonei; in secunda praeficiuntur indigni, ibi, Et dabo pueros principes eorum; in tertia refutant vocati, ibi, Respondebitque in die illa. Prima in duas. In prima subtrahit idoneum a regiminis officio; in secunda utilem ad regentis auxilium, ibi, Et consiliarium. Prima dividitur in tres, secundum tria quae requiruntur ad idoneitatem praefatorum. Primo enim aufert idoneum quantum ad potestatem; in secunda quantum ad sagacitatem, ibi, Judicem; in tertia quantum ad auctoritatem, ibi, Senem. Potestas ad regenda bella populi requiritur in duce, et valet ad compescendum insolentias: Eccl. 9: « Noli quaerere fieri judex, nisi virtute valeas irrumperе ini-quitates: » quae in tribus consistit, secundum quae dividitur prima pars hujus tertiae partis; scilicet in fortitudine corporis, quae consistit in tribus: scilicet in complexionis vigore; et quantum ad hoc dicit: Moneo ut quiescatis; enim, idest quia, ecce, in proximo est, auferet validum, idest bene valentem in complexionis sanitate. In membrorum robore: et sic dicit, Fortem, quia fortitudo consistit in ossibus et nervis, ut dicit Philosophus. Iterum in cibi multitudine; et sic dicit, Omne robur panis
etc. in quo omnis cibus et potus significatur. Eccl. 29: « Initium vitae hominis aqua et panis et vestimentum. » Secundo consistit potestas in constantia cordis; et sic dicit, Fortem, secundum quod venit a fortitudine quae est virtus animae.
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Tertio consistit in exercitio bellicae artis, et sic dicit, Virum bellatorem. Sapientia autem requiritur ad exercendum judicia; propter quod petit Salomon sapientiam a Deo. 3 Reg. 3: « Dabis servo tuo cor docile... ut possit discernere inter bonum et malum. » Et hoc habetur tripliciter. Vel humana institutione; et quantum ad hoc dicit, Judicem, quasi juris peritum: vel divina inspiratione; et quantum ad hoc dicit, Prophetam: vel daemonis revelatione; et quantum ad hoc dicit, Ariolum, quia in aris daemonum divinabant, et aliaquing vera dicebant. Auctoritas necessaria est ad reverentiam; et haec etiam consistit in tribus. In officii dignitate; et quantum ad hoc dicit, Principem; et per hoc omnes alios Principes intelligi, ut dicit Glossa: In morum honestate; et propter hoc dicit, Senem, scilicet moribus. In vultus maturitate; et propter hoc dicit, Honorabilem vultu. Utiles autem sunt aliqui principibus ad regimen populi, vel ad expendendum dubia negotia; et quantum ad hoc dicit, Consiliarium: vel ad facienda aedificia; et ideo dicit, Sapientem de architectis, ab archos, quod est princeps, et tecti, quod est ars, et praecipue mechanica rum. Unde architector dicitur principalis artifex, qui praecipit artificibus inducere formam, et praeparare materiam, secundum considerationem finis cujus scientia habet usum per actionem. Sapientia autem, ut dicit Philosophus, est duplex; scilicet universalis et particularis. Particulariter definiens dicit, quod est virtus per quam homo potest in ultimo cujuscunque artis, ut medicinae: et ob hoc dicitur sapiens medicus qui est certissimus in his quae sunt medicinae; et similiter sapiens faber; et sic de aliis. Et hoc modo sumitur hic. Universalis sapientia est quae est ultimum in omnibus artibus et scientiis; et ista est per quam homo elevatur in cognitionem nobilissimarum causarum, idest substantiarum separatarum, vel spiritualium. Et haec, secundum Philosophum, est metaphysica, et secundum nos est theologia.
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Tertio aliquis necessarius est ad instruendum divina: et quantum ad hoc dicit: Et prudentem eloquii mystici, a mystim quod est secretum, idest divinorum verborum quae secreta sunt. Et de omnibus his habetur 4 Reg. penulti, quod translatis sunt a Nabuchodonosor in Babylonia. « Translulit quoque Joachim in Babylonem, • et matrem regis, et uxores regis, et eunuchos, • et judices terrae duxit in captivitatem. » Et dabo pueros. Hic ostenditur subversio regiminis quantum ad hoc quod praeficiuntur indigni. Et dividitur in duas partes. In prima ponitur indignorum praefectio; in secunda consequens populi turbatio, ibi, Et corruet populus vir ad virum.
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Sunt autem indigni quantum ad defectum sapientiae et aetatis; et ideo dicit: Dabo pueros Principes: et quantum ad defectum virtutis; et sic dicit: Et effeminati dominabuntur, idest lascivi et imbecilles. Oseae 13: « Dabo • tibi reges in furore meo. » Effectus autem regiminis in perturbatione populi tangitur tripliciter. Primo universalis dissensio: unde dicit: Corruet populus, scilicet ab unitate pacis, per quam est populus, vir ad virum, ideo contra virum. Prov. 11: « Ubi non est gubernator, corruit populus. » Zach. 10: « Adducti sunt quasi grex: affligentur, quia non est eis pastor. » Secundo amicitiae dissolutio: Unusquisque ad proximum suum, ideo contra proximum suum.
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Jer. 9: « Omnis frater supplantans supplantabit, et omnis amicus fraudulenter incedet. » Tertio ordinis confusio: Tu multuabitur puer contra senem, et ignobilis contra nobilem. Thren. 4: « Facies sacerdotum non erubue runt, nec senum miseri sunt. » Apprehendit. Hic ostendit subversionem regiminis quantum ad hoc quod invitati ad regendum recusant, quasi quod dam ruinosam. Et dividitur in partes duas. In prima ponitur eligentium invitatio; in secunda electi recusatio, ibi, Et respondebit in die illa dicens: Non sum medicus, et in domo mea non est panis neque vestimentum. Circa primum tria ponuntur: scilicet ipsa electio, electionis occasio, officii immutatio. Electio est inordinata, quia ab uno tantum; unde dicit: Tumultuabitur enim: ideo quia non convenienter eligent; sed apprehendet vir fratrem suum, ideo conjunctum sanguine, domesticae patris sui, ideo familiaritate acceptum, quamvis etiam vilem. Mich. 5: « Qui aedificat Sion in sanguinibus, et Jerusalem in iniquitate. » Et hoc est contra formam servatam Numer. 1, in electione principum facta praecepto Domini, auctoritate praelati, et consensu multitudinis.
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Sed occasio est viris, quia propter divitias: unde dicit: Vestimentum tibi est: sperat enim temporalem subventionem; et hoc est contra formam traditam Exod. 18: « Provide de omni plebe viros potentes, et timentes Deum, in quibus sit veritas, et qui oderint avaritiam; et constitue ex eis tribunos et centuriones... qui judicent populum omni tempore. » Sed injunctio periculosa: unde dicit: Princeps esto noster; ruina autem haec, ideo periculum, sub manu tua, ideo sub custodia tua et defensione tua. 5 Reg. 10: « Custodivi virum istum, qui si lapsus fuerit, erit anima tua pro anima ejus. » Respondebit. Hic ponitur recusatio electi: et primo ponitur rationabilis excusatio; secundo concluditur officii refutatio, ibi, Nolite constituere me principem populi. In excusatione praetendit tria; scilicet impotentiam ad repellendum nociva: Non sum medicus, scilicet ut possim mederi miseris vestris.
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Jer. 8: « Numquid resina non est in Galaad, ant medicus non est ibi? » scilicet ad supplendum defectum: et propter hoc dicit: Et in domo mea non est panis, quo suppleam defectum famis vestrae. Thren. 4: « Parvuli petierunt panem, et non erat qui frangeret eis. » Ad fovendum vel conservandum nutrimentum; et ideo dicit: Nec vestimentum, quo conservatur calor. Prov. ult.: « Non timebis domui suae a frigoribus nivis. Omnes enim domestici ejus vestiti sunt duplicibus. » Nolite me constituere principem populi. Hic concluditur officii refutatio. Judicum 9: « Numquid possum desere re pinguedinem meam, qua dii utuntur et homines? » Ubi ponitur triplex ratio: scilicet impedimentum devotae contemplationis; dulcis affectionis infra (ibidem): « Numquid possum desere dulcedinem meam? » et spiritualis exultationis (ibidem): « Numquid possum desere vinum meum,
• quod laetificat Deum et homines, et inter cetera ligna promoveri? »
2. Hic ponit causas dictae renuntiationis: et primo ponit causam proximam, scilicet poenam universalis ruinae: unde dicitur ex parte prophetæ: Ideo recusabit, enim, ideo, quia, rut Jerusalem, ideo ipsa civitas, et Judas, ipsa provincia, concidit, per poenam a sua integritate. Infra 25: In captivitatem transluxerunt robustos ejus, suffoderunt donos ejus, posuerunt eam in ruinam. Secundo ponit causam remotam, scilicet culpam. Et dividitur in partes tres. In prima aggravat culpam: in secunda contra culpam ordinat poenam, ibi, Vae animae eorum, quoniam reddita sunt eis mala; tertio ostendit punientis justitiam, ibi, Dicite juste quoniam bene. Peccatum aggravat ex tribus.
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Ex peccati specie, quia blasphement in Deum: unde dicit: Ideo concidit, quia lingua eorum contra Dominum. Infra 57: Supra quem lucistis, super quem dilatatis os, et ejecistis linguam? Secundo ex peccati novitate; unde dicit: Adinventiones eorum contra Dominum. Oseae 7: « Nunc circumdederunt eos adinventiones suas, coram facie mea factae sunt. » Tertio ex peccati publicatione: unde dicit: Agnitio vultus eorum; et hoc quia peccatum suum a vultu agnitum aliis fecerunt. Respondit eis, in poenam, quantum ad gestus.
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Et quantum ad peccati commendationem dicit: Et peccatum suum quasi Sodomæ prædicaverunt. Jer. 2: « Frondes meretricis facta est tibi et noluiti erubescere. » Aliter exponitur in Glossa: Agnitio vultus eorum, ideo cognitio suorum peccatorum, quem in intellectu habebunt, quia in vultu sunt sensus, respondet ibi, quaerentibus quare puniuntur. Vel aliter. Agnitio vultus eorum, ideo remorsus conscientiae, respondebit eis, sicut poena. Et mystice hoc refertur ad peccatum quo Christiani videntes cognoscere noluerunt, de quo conscientia redarguet eos, secundum quod dicit Glo. Et quia justitia Dei non sint tam gravia mala inulta, ideo vae animae eorum, non solum corporis: quoniam reddita sunt eis mala, scilicet in Dei praescientia: vel praeteritum ponitur pro futuro. Et ne putetur poena omnes involvere, subjungitur Dei justitia in discretione honorum a malis: et circa hoc duo facit.
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Primo ponit remunerationem bonorum, dicens, Dicite justo, enicunque, quoniam bene erit ei, cum alii damnabuntur, quoniam fructum, ideo mercedem adinventionum suarum comedet, quasi fructum capiens bonorum exeogitationum. Sicut enim mali sunt solliciti ad inveniendum modos quibus peccatur, ita et boni sunt solliciti ut adinveniant qualiter Deo placere possint. 1 Cor. 7: « Qui sine uvore est, solicitus est quæ Domini sunt, quomodo placeat Deo. » Psal. 127: « Labores manuum tuarum quia manducabis, beatustus es. » Secundo ponit punitionem malorum, dicens, Vae impio in malum, ideo pro malo quod sibi imminet.
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Retributio manuum ejus fiet ei. Psal. 9: « In operibus manuum suarum comprehensus est peccator. » Populum meum. Hic arguitur oppressio populi, secundum quod est peccatum hominis opprimantis. Et dividitur in partes duas. In prima ponitur oppressionis vitium; in secunda reducitur poenae judicium, ibi, Stat ad judicandum Dominus, stat ad judicandos populos. Tripliciter autem quidam opprimebant populum.
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Primo opprimebant principes per violentiam rapiendo: et quantum ad hoc dicit: Populum meum expoliaverunt, bonis suis. Ezech. 22: «Populi terrae calumniabantur calumniam, et rapiebant violenter; egenum et pauperem affligebant.» Secundo mulieres, trahendo ad concupiscentiam, et etiam ad idolatriam, sicut de Salomone dicitur 5 Reg. 5; et quantum ad hoc dicit: Mulieres eorum dominatae sunt eis. Eccli. 3: «Ne des mulieri potestatem animae tuae, ne ingrediatur in virtute tua.» Tertio prophetae decipiendo per astutiam adulationis; et quantum ad hoc dicit, Popule meus; quasi dicat: Per prophetas consueveram vobis loqui; sed, quia illi mendaces sunt, per me vobis loquar, ne videatur non debere credi, quod propheta sit contra prophetam. Decipiunt, promittendo securitatem. Dissipant, praebendo occasionem culpae.
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Mich. 5: «Haec dicit Dominus super prophetas, qui seducunt populum meum, qui mordent dentibus suis, et praedicant pacem.» Jer. 14: «Prophetæ dicunt eis: Non videbitis gladium, et fames non erit in vobis; pacem veram dabit vobis in loco isto.» Stat ad judicandum. Hic inducitur judicium ad puniendum oppressores: et dividitur in partes duas; et primo ponitur judicium contra oppressores principes; in secunda contra mulieres, ibi, Et dicit Dominus. Pseudoprophetæ ad spoliationem populum decipiebant; et ideo habent idem judicium cum principibus. Ezech. 15: «Violabant me ad populum meum, propter pugillum hordei et frumentum panis.» Circa primum tria facit. Primo inducitur judex: unde dicit, tat ad judicandum.
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Ezech. 34: «Ego judicabo inter pecus et inter arietem et hircum.» Tertio ponitur causa: et primo inducitur accusatio actoris, cum dicit, Vos depastis estis: Mich. 5: «Comederunt carnes populi mei;» secundo ponitur increpatio judicis, cum dicit: Quare alteritis, affligendo, et facies pauperum commolitis, attenuando? Amos 4: «Calumniam facitis egenis et confringitis pauperes.» Ipse enim Deus erit actor et judex.
Notandum super illo verbo, Dicite justo quoniam fructum adinventionem suarum comedit, quod est fructus justi primo quem reddit: et hic est triplex: scilicet fructus suae operationis. Joan. 15: «Eatis et fructum afferatis, et fructus vester maneat.» Suae praedicationis. Heb. ult.: «Offeremus hostiam laudis Deo, idest fructum laborum confitentium nomini ejus.» Seu confessionis. Secundo quem percipit; et hic est etiam triplex; scilicet fructus remissionis culpae. Infra 27: Dimitteur domui Jacob iniquitas. Et iste est omnis fructus ut auferatur peccatum ejus. Participationis gratia. Gal. 5: «Fructus autem spiritus, caritas, gaudium, pax, potentia, etc.» Contemplationis sapientia. Prov. 5: «Melior est acquisitio ejus negotiatione auri et argenti, primi et purissimi fructus ejus.» Tertio quem quaerit. In fruitione Dei. Can. 2: «Fructus ejus dulcis gutturi meo.» In societate caelestis chori. Ezech. 56: «Montes Israel ramos vestros germinetis, et fructum vestrum afferatis populo
Israel.» In perceptione divini doni. Cant. 4.: «Emissiones tuae paradisus malorum puniceorum cum pomorum fructibus.»
5. Hic ponitur divinum judicium contra mulieres: et primo aperitur culpa; secundo praedicetur poena, ibi, Decalabit Dominus verticem filiarum Sion. Prima dividitur in duas. In prima arguit eas de superbìa; in secunda de lascivia, ibi, Et nutibus oculorum ibant. Circa primum duo facit.
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In prima arguit superbiam in corde, cum dicit: Pro eo quod elevatae sunt filiae Sion, in superbiam. Psal. 150: «Domine, non est exaltatum cor meum.» Secundo arguit superbiam signum in corpore, Ambulaverunt extento collo, quod signum superbiae est. Job 15: «Cucurrit adversus eum erecto collo; et pinguis cervice armatus est.» Et nutibus. Hic arguit lasciviam earum in quatuor, quibus homines ad concupiscentiam provocabant. Primo in ipso visu: unde dicit, Et nutibus. Proverb. 6: «Non concupiscat pulchritudinem ejus cor tuum, ne capiaris nutibus ejus.» Secundo lusu: etc. Et plaudebant. Glossa, ludendo. Eccli. 9: «Cum saltatrice ne assiduus sis . . . . ne forte pereas in efficacia ejus.» Tertio in incessu. Et ambulaverunt erecto collo. Prov. 7: «Garrula quietis impatiens, nec valens in domo consistere pedibus suis.» Quarto, lascivo ornatu, Composito gradu. Glos.
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«Ornatae de rapina pauperum.» Proverb. 7: «Ecce occurrunt illi mulier ornata meretricio praeparata ad capiendas animas.» Decalabit Dominus verticem filiarum Sion. Hic comminator poenam: et primo quantum ad ablationem ornamentorum; secundo quantum ad solatium virorum, ibi, Pulcherrimi quoque viri tui gladio cadent. Circa primum duo facit. Primo aufert ab eis ornamenta quae sunt signa ineptae laetitiae et lasciviae; in secunda recompensat signa tristitiae et miseriae, ibi, Et erit pro suavi odore foetor. Circa primum duo facit. Primo aufert ab eis ornatum naturalem capillorum; secundo artificialem, ibi, In die illa. Dicit ergo primo, Decalabit, quantum ad capillos veros. Infra 11: «In cunctis capitibus ejus erit calvitium.» Nudabit, quantum ad capillos adulteros, qui sunt sicut indumenta. Deut. 52: «De captivitate nudati iuimicerum capitis.» In die illa. Hic aufert ab eis ornamenta artificialia; et primo ea quae pertinent ad ornatum membrorum; secundo ea quae pertinent ad cultum ornamentorum, ibi, Arcus, et specula, et sindones, et vittas, et theristra. Circa primum duo facit. Primo aufert ea quae pertinent ad ornatum parium; secundo ea quae pertinent ad ornatum totius, ibi, Et mutatoria, et palliola, et lint-amina.
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Circa primum duo facit, Primo aufert ea quae pertinent ad corporis membra; secundo ea quae specialiter ad sensus organa, ibi, Olfactoriola, et inaures, et annulos: et gemmas in fronte pendentes. Circa primum duo facit Primo aufert ea quae pertinent ad inferiores partes corporis; secundo quae specialiter ad membra capitis, ibi, Et vittas et theristra. Dicit ergo primo quantum ad pedes, Ornamentum calcementorum; quaecumque, et specialiter lunulas, idest quasdam picturas factas in calcementis de corio deaurato. Cant. 7: «Quam pulchri sunt pedes tui in calcementis, filia principis!» Secundo quantum ad collum, Torques, idest quaedam ornamenta colli usque ad pectus pendentia in honorem victoriae data. Proverb. 1: « Ut addatur gratia capiti tuo, et torques collo tuo. » Tertio quantum ad pectus dicit, Monilia, quaelibet ornamenta, sed specialiter fibulae, quibus monitur pectus, ne vestes aperiantur. Cant. 7: « Juncturae feminarum tuorum sicut monilia quae fabricata sunt manu artificis. » Quare quantum ad brachia dicit, Armillas, ornamenta brachiorum ab armo dicta. Exod. 52: « Viri cum mulieribus praebuerunt armillas . . . ad faciendum opus tabernaculi testimonii. » Et mitras. Hic ponit ornamenta capitis: et primo quantum ad verticem. Mitras, ornamenta capitis ad modum coronae. Judith 10: « Imposuit mitram super caput suum, discriminato crine capitis sui. » Secundo quantum ad capillos dicit: Discriminalia, instrumenta quaedam de argento vel auro in modum acuti fusi facta, quibus mulieres dividunt capillos suos ante frontem, sicut dictum est Judith eodem: « Discriminavit crinem capitis sui. » Tertio quantum ad collum tangit duo. Primo periscelidas, a peri, quod est circum, et skelon, quod est membrum, quasi ornatus circa membrum. Haymo dicit, quod fit ex auro ad similitudinem armillarum, et ponitur circa collum. Glossa dicit, quod super pedes similis armillis. Alii dicunt, quod sunt quidam ornatus positi circa extremitates vestium sicut aurifrigia, vel pelles aliquae, vel aliud hujusmodi. Et hoc potest stare cum utroque praedictorum; quia sic sunt et circa collum, et circa pedes. Vestes enim habent talia et in caputiis et in fimibriis inferioribus, et sic ornant collum mediate. Numer. 31: « Ob hanc causam offerimus in donariis Domini singuli quod in preda auri potuimus invenire, periscelidas, et armillas, et anulos. » Secundo ponit ornamenta colli immediata, cum dicit, Murenulas, scilicet quaedam catenae virgulis aureis et argenteis vermiculatae in modum murenae, quae ponuntur circa collum. Cant. 1: « Murenulas aureas faciemus tibi, vermiculatas argento. » Et quia collum est medium inter caput et corpus, ornatus ejus in utrumque redundat; et ideo cum utroque ponitur. Et olfactoriola. Hic ponuntur ea quae pertinent ad organa sensus: et primo quantum ad olfactum. Olfactoriola, quaedam pixides in quibus ponebant muscum et hujusmodi, vel etiam quaedam vasa, sicut poma de argento facta, perforata ad modum thuribuli, in quibus ponitur ignis et aliquid odoriferum. Cant. 1: « Curremus in odorem unguentorum tuorum. » Secundo quantum ad auditum, Inaures, idest quidam circuli aurei vel argentei, qui apponuntur in auribus mulierum ad hoc perforatis. Oseae 2: « Ornabatur inaure sua et monili suo, et ibat, post amatores suos. » Tertio quantum ad tactum, qui maxime viget in digitis. Anulos. Num. 31, auctoritate inducta superius: « Ob hanc causam offerimus anulos, etc. » Quarto quantum ad visum, Gemmas in fronte, quibus ornabantur mulieres Aegyptiae. Exod. 25: « Accipietis lapides onychinos et gemmas ad ornandum ephod ac rationale. » De gustu non facit mentionem, quia instrumentum ejus interius est, non ornatur. Et mutatoria. Hic ponit ornamenta pertinentia ad totum corpus; et primo ad inducendum; et sic dicit Mutatoria, idest diversa vestimentorum paria. Zach. 3: « Indui te mutatoriis; et dixit, Ponite cyderim. » Secundo ad operiendum: et sic dicit, Pallia. Gen. 24: « At illa tollens cito pallium, cooperuit se. » Tertio ad jacendum, et sic dicit, Linteamina, Joan. 20: « Venit Petrus, et introivit in monumentum, et vidit linteamina posita. » Et acus. Hic ponit ea quae pertinent ad cultum ornamenti: et primo ad componendum. Acus. Matth. 19: « Facilius est camelum intrare per foramen acus, quam divitem intrare in regnum Dei. » Secundo ad discernendum, Et spcula, quibus mulieres discernunt utrum sint bene ornatae, Exod. 58: « Fecit et labrum aeneum cum basi sua de speculis mulierum, quae excubabant ante ostium tabernaculi et atrium. » Tertio ad ornamentum operiendum; et primo ad operiendum humerorum ornamenta, Et sindones, subtilia velamina quibus operiuntur humeri, sicut fit in Campania a mulieribus. Proverb. ultim.: « Sindonem fecit et vendidit, et cingulum tradidit Chananaeo. » Secundo ad operiendum ornamenta capitis, Vittas, idest pepla. Vel melius dicendum, quod dicuntur ligamenta, quibus mulieres ligant capillos suos, ad modum retis facta; et sic accipitur Exod. 24: « Colligabis que cam vitta hyacinthina, » scilicet laminam de auro purissimo, ubi scriptum erat nomen sanctum Domini. Tertio ad operimentum totius corporis dicit, Theristra. Glossa: « Vestis muliebris tenuissima, et visu pervia, aestati idonea, et inde nominatur. » Theria enim idest aestas. Et praeципue consueverunt hujusmodi portare mulieres super serica vestimenta. Gen. 58: « Depositis viduitatis vestibus, assumpsit theristrum. » De pluribus horum dicitur Ezech. 16: « Vestivi te discoloribus, calceavi te hyacintho, et cinxi te bysso, et indui te subtilibus.... et dedi armillas in manibus tuis, et torquem circa collum tuum, et dedi inaures super os tuum, et circulos in auribus tuis, et coronam decoris in capite tuo. » Et erit pro zona funiculus, et pro suavi odore factor, et pro crispanti crine calvitium, et pro fascia pectorali cilicium.
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Hic sublatis ornamentis lasciviae, comminatur cultum miseriae: primo quantum ad id quod est extra, dicit: Et erit pro suavi odore factor: odor enim ab extra est. Joel 2: « Ascendet factor ejus, et ascendet putredo, quia superbe egit. » Secundo quantum ad id quod est circa, dicit, Pro zona funiculus. Job 12: « Balteum regum dissolvet, et praecinget fune renes eorum. » Tertio quantum ad id quod est supra, dicit, Pro crispanti crine calvitium. Quarto quantum ad id quod est intra: Pro fascia pectorali, qua constringuuntur ubera, idest comprimuntur, ne ex magnitudine sua turpitudinem ingurant. Pulcherrimi quoque viri tui gladio cadent. Hic aufert ei viro rum solatium quantum ad quatuor.
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Delectantur mulieres in virorum pulchritudine; et quantum ad hoc dicit: Pulcherrimi quoque viri tui gladio cadent. Thren. 4: « Candidiores Nazaraei ejus nive, nitidiores lacte, rubicundiores ebore antiquo, sapphyro pulchriores. » Secundo in fortitudine; et quantum ad hoc dicit, Et fortes. Infra 25: In captivitatem traduxerunt robustos ejus, suffoderunt domos ejus, posuerunt eam in ruinam. Tertio in dignitate; et quantum ad hoc dicit: Et moerebunt, scilicet interius, et lugebunt, scilicet exterius, portae ejus, idest judices sedentes in portis.
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Thren. 2: « Destructae sunt in terra portae ejus; et perditit et contrivit vectes ejus, regem ejus et principes ejus, in geniibus. » Quarto delectantur in virorum jucunditate; et quantum ad hoc dicit: Et desolata in terra sedebit. Thren. 1: « Posuit me desolatam, tota die moerore confectam. »
Quaeritur primo circa hoc capitulo de hoe quod dicit, Ariolum. Videtur secundum hoc quod inquirere futura ab ariolis sit licitum: auferre enim illicitum non est poena, sed magis beneficium. Praeterea idem videtur ex Glossa, quia aliquando vera dicunt; sed a qualibet est accipienda veritas: ergo et ab iipsis. Praeterea cum daemones sint specula clarissima secundum intellectum, ut dicit Dionysius, videtur quod in his quae pertinent ad cognitionem, ad minus non sit malum accipere: et ita divinationibus intendere erit licitum; et praecipue cum nulla cognitio sit malum, et divinatio dicat cognitionem.
Ad quod dicendum est, quod divinatio suo nomine dicit usurpationem actus divini, et hoc præcipue in cognitione futurorum quae naturaliter cognosci non possunt. Sunt enim quaedam futura quae habent causas determinatas in natura, ex quibus necessario proveniunt, sicut eclipsys solis; et de his non est divinatio. Quaedam etiam habent causas determinatas ex quibus proveniunt ut in pluribus, sicut siccitas in aestate sub cane: unde de his non est divinatio. Tales etiam sunt praenosticationes medicorum de sanitate vel morte, et nautarum de tempestate futura; nisi forte prænuntientur immobili veritate futura, quia hoc solius Dei est. Sunt etiam quaedam futura quae non habent causas determinatas in natura, et præcipue quae fiunt ex libero arbitrio; et harum præcognitionem nullus habet nisi Deus, cui omnia sunt præsentia, propter stabilitatem suæ æternitatis, vel aliquis accipiens a Deo. Et si quidem inspiratione divina talia prædicuntur; erit prophetia, non divinatio: si autem per propriam inventionem et deceptionem propter lucrum, sicut faciunt vetulæ; dicitur divinatio, et est peccatum: tum propter mendacium, quia asserunt incerta pro veris, tum propter deceptionem, tum propter usurpationem divinitatis. Similiter dicitur divinatio si fiant consilio daemonum qualitercumque; qui quidem possunt aliqua futura prædicere, vel quorum ipsi sunt causa, vel quæ ipsi sciunt per revelationem bonorum Angelorum, vel præsciunt naturali cognitione in his quæ habent causas determinatas in natura; latentes tamen nobis, et notas eis, tum propter perspicacitatem intelligentiæ, tum propter experimentum longi temporis. Et tamen semper est peccatum
inquirere ab eis, et apostasia a fide, ut dicit Augustinus. Et hoc propter tres rationes: primo, quia quamvis vera dicant, tamen semper intentio eorum est ad fallendum; secundo, quia certitudinem cognitionem habere non possunt, nisi de his quæ per revelationem sciunt; tertio quia non possumus simul esse participes donorum Dei et diaboli. Et haec inter omnes præcipua est. Et quamvis beneficium simpliciter sit auferre talia; tamen poena est illis qui talia sequuntur, quia est contrarium voluntati eorum.
Deinde quaeritur de ludis chorealibus, utrum sine peccato exerceri possint, propter illud quod dicit, Et plaudebant: arguit enim hoc tamquam peccatum.
Ad quod dicendum, quod ludus secundum se non est malus; aliter in ludis non esset virtus quæ dicitur eutrapelia: sed secundum quod ordinatur diverso fine, et vestitur diversis circumstantiis, potest esse actus virtutis et vitii. Quia enim impossibile est semper agere in vita activa et contemplativa; ideo oportet interdum gaudia curis interponere, ne animus nimia severitate frangatur, et ut homo promptius vacet ad opera virtutum. Et si tali fine fiat de ludis cum aliis circumstantiis, erit actus virtutis, et poterit esse meritorius, si gratia informetur. Istæ autem circumstantiæ videtur in ludo choreali observandæ: ut non sit persona indecens, sicut clericus, vel religiosus: ut sit tempore laetitiæ, ut liberationis gratia, vel in nuptiis, et hujusmodi: ut fiat cum honestis personis, et cum honesto cantu; et quod gestus non sint nimis lascivi, et si qua hujusmodi sunt. Si autem fiant ad provocandum lasciviam, et secundum alias circumstantias, constat quod actus vitiosus erit.
Deinde quaeritur de ornatu mulierum, utrum sit licitum mulieribus ornare se. Et videtur quod non, per hoc quod hic dicitur, et 1 ad Timoth. 2: « Non in tortis crinibus, aut auro et argento, aut margaritis, vel veste pretiosa; sed quod decet mulieres, promittentes pietatem per opera bona. »
Et dicendum, quod ornatus mensurandus est ad modum et mensuram personæ et intentionem. Si enim mulieres portent ornamenta decentia, secundum statum et dignitatem suam; et moderate se habeant in factis suis secundum consuetudinem patriæ: erit actus virtutis modestiæ, quæ modum ponit in incessu, statu, habitu et omnibus motibus exterioribus: et poterit esse meritorius, si sit cum gratia. Similiter si faciat ut placeat decenter viro suo, quem habet, vel quem accipere debet, et ut ab aliis mulieribus retrahatur. Si autem habeant ornamenta pretiosiora quam deceat ipsas; erit arrogantia, vel quid deformatum vitio luxuriæ, si faciat ad provocandum ad concupiscentiam sui.
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v. 4 « Ecce enim dominator Dominus exercituum. auferet a. Ierusalem et a Iuda validum et fortem, omne robur panis et omne robur aquae, v..2 fortem et virum bellatorem, iudicem et prophetam et ariolum et senem,
Normam divini iudicii proposuit sacer vates generalem, esse scil. pompam humanam deiiciendam, ut Deus solus exaltetur — inde concluserat, desistendum esse a fidücia humana (2, 22). Hanc admonitionem nunc illustrat eo modo qui proxime ad aequales refertur; ne scil. ob regni splendorem quisub Azaria et Ioatham adfuerit vanae se securitati committant. Quare graviter exhortationem datam fulcit dicens:
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v. 3. principem super quinquaginta et honorabilem vultu et consiliarium et sapientem de architectis et. prudentem eloquii myslici »; — titulis magnificis Dei potentia describitur, quo magis humanae fragilitatis impotentia sentiatur. Ipsa enumeratio incipit summatim : auferet. Dominus omne fulerum, fulerum et adminiculum. (hebr.) ! ; dein singula recensentur; primo quae ad vitam sustentandam necessaria sunt, cibus et potus; dein quae tempore pacis bellique rempublicam sustinent serie dupliei efferuntur ; ab initio enim v. 3 et 4 belli praesidia, in altera autem versuum parte ea enarrantur quibus res civiles et religiosae continentur. Quae omnia si Deus dicitur esse ablaturus, quam ingens futura sit rerum omnium ruina patet. De fulcro vel baculo panis — eo enim vita, vis et vigor fulcitur, sustentatur — — cf. Lev. 926, 26. Ez. 4, 16; 14, 13. Ps. 104, 16. Vastationibus hosuüum annonae caritatem et penuriam ortam esse liquet; quae quanta fuerit in obsidione Chaldaeorum, vide Lament. 2, 20. Unde simul elucet, quam immerito aliqui recentiores (Hitz. Kn. Cheyne, Reuss, Bred.) hoc membrum ut glossema eiiciant vel alii (Ewald, Drechsl.) improprie de principibus, reipublicae fuleris explicent. Quid plura? Abundantia frumenti et vini in V. T. promissa erat observantibus mandata Dei; eorum subtractione iuremerito rebelles puniuntur (Deut. 28, 20. 48). Deinde cum 2, 8 bellicum apparatum reprehendisset, iam quam inanes eiusmodi conatus futuri sint denuntiat : Deus auferet fortem... fortitudo, arma nihil afferent utilitatis ; auferet eos quoque qui ordinem reipublicae debitum tuentur vel qui saltem tueri et res privatas tuto dirigere censentur; eos qui in auctoritate constituti sunt, vel propter aetatem sapientiae et experientiae laude florere creduntur; eos quoque qui artium periti varia vitae commoda praebent. Si enim in aliqua civitate desint qui ius dicant et lites dirimant et iustitiam administrent (vudices), si desint qui rerum civilium administrationem auctoritate et sapientibus consiliis promoveant (senes, consiliarii, honorabiles vultu), si desint viri militiae periti ad hostium impetus retundendos, maxima eius civitatis perturbatio et proxima ruina imminet. Neque aliquid adiumenti afferre poterunt prophetae; ii enim si qui exsistant non invenient responsum a Domino (Lament. 9, 9) aut nemo iis erit dicto audiens (Ier. 43, 2) — vel Deus munus propheticum in poenam omnino cessare sinit (cf. Ps. 73, 9). Multo minus ruinam civitatis sanare poterunt divini et periti incantationis (vel periti in mussitando) * quorum mendacia et fallaciae excidium non amovent sed promovent. Demum quo superstites eo maiore paupertate et vili conditione premantur, etiam auferuntur prudentes fabrorum vel accuratius. ex hebr. ? prudentes artium fabrilium i. e. qui in artibus mechanicis exercitati erant easque callide tractabant (cf. S. Hier. Mald. Malv. For. Mar. Sasb.). Quam solliciti fuerint Chaldaei id revera y exsequi et fabros e terra abducere, lege 4 Reg. 24, 14. Ier. 24, ; 29, 2; « nihilque relictum est exceptis pauperibus populi terrae ». Ceterum de impletione bene monet Malv. : « haec autem iudicia non uno tantum certo tempore effecta sunt, sed ad tempora omnia subsequentia pertinent, quibus omnia haec mala mutationesque ludaei perpessi sunt ». Propheta enim uno quasi intuitu excidium videt normamque generalem proponit. Parum refert pro annuntiatione prophetica quae adeo fit im universum, utrum haec uno quasi impetu atque ictu fiant, an per longam rerum seriem casus jue repetitos demum ad exitum sint perducenda. Totius reipublicae dissolutio et cessatio praedicitur, quae utique non statim subsecuta est, at demum eam verissime accidisse quis negare poterit? Verum quo excidium maius et periculosius evadat, pessimos ait reipublicae praefectum iri duces. Rite enim advertit S. Chrys. : « qui principem non habet, duce privatur; qui vero malum nactus est ducem, habet qui se in praecipitia coniiciat ». Sublatis igitur bonis, ita connectit S. Hier., dabit Dominus mala, vel ex S. Thoma : « subtrahuntur idonei, praeficiuntur indigni ». Ita
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v. 4 « et dabo pueros principes eorum et effeminati dominabuntur eis » ;, — hebr. et ludificationes (i. e facinorosi, illusores) dominabuntur eis (cf. Malv. For.) ; nomen abstractum maiorem vim habet. Rerum administratio igitur describitur quae tota ex arbitrio, lubidine, crudelitate, insania composita est ; cf. Eccl. 10, 16 : « vae tibi terra, cuius rex puer est » i. e. iuveniliter agens; dabo principes lascivos et dissolutos more puerorum, pueros moribus, im-. prudentia, stultitia, imbelles, temerarios (Ifaiyi.. Tir.). Regnum Achaz ita delineari potest. « Deinceps quo tandem res evadet et in quantum detrimentum ipsis erumpet, manifeste aperit, cam mox subdit »
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mum suum; tumultuabitur puer contra senem et ignobilis contra nobilem »; — sensum exhibet Osor. : « hanc igitur rerum conversionem (i. e. temeritatem et amentiam dominatorum) magna quaedam perturbatio consequetur et ex eo intestinae seditiones excitabuntur; nec enim plebs effrenatam suam libidinem et inconsideratam temeritatem a nobilitate cohibebit, nec nobilitas a plebe impotentiam animi continebit, nec iuventus senilem aetatem verebitur neque senes iuventuti prospicient, sed pueri senibus erunt infesti et plebs nobilitati pestem et exitium machinabitur, omnisque civitas pestifera partium contentione divulsa atque dissipata corruet ». Omnis scil. pietas ac reverentia concidet; odiis mutuis et infestationibus omnia flagrabunt, neque aetati grandaevae neque nobilitati meritisque ullus iam erit honor, ulla reverentia. Vinculis istis dissolutis maxima solet designari calamitas (cf. ad Mich. 1, 5. 6). Interprete S. Thom. tria indicantur, perturbatio populi in universali dissensione, in amicitiae dissolutione, in ord;nis confusione. Hinc quod magnum signum est communis exitii, summa imperii vilitas exsistet (Osor.) et adeo omnia sunt conclamata et desperata, ut qui tantum habet quantum ad vestitum honestum requiratur iam ad regnum capessendum aptus et dignus censeatur;
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v. 6 « apprehendet enim vir fratrem, suum domesticum palris sui ; vestimentum tibi est, princeps esto noster, ruina autem haec sub manu tua! v. "1 respondebit in die illa dicens : non sum medicus et in domo moea non est panis neque vestimentum ; nolite constituere me principem populi » ! — hebr. cum apprehenderit quis alterum in domo patris sui.... in tanta rerum perturbatione qui aliquid facultatum possident, dom? se continent; unde in domo patris ille ab aliis apprehenditür ; eum regem volunt constituere qui in rerum summa penuria vestimentum habens honestias iam potens et dives et inclytus esse credatur (S. Hier.); « haec dicendi figura aliquid redolet proverbiale, qua significari videtur usque adeo exhaustas esse hominum fortunas, ut dignus aut idoneus existimetur regno, cui paulo honestius vestimentum habere contigerit » (Sanzt.). Ei scil. committere volunt ruinam hanc i. e. ruinosam provinciam ac desperatam, quam instauret atque consuütuat. Verum unusquisque tale onus refugit; adeo prae rerum angustiis viluit dignitas omnis, adeo praevalet summa omnium inopia. Responsum declarat S. Chrys. comparatione instituta ex communi loquendi consuetudine : « sicut multi dieunt : si contingeret urbem totam obolo venumdari, non possem illam emere, extremam paupertatem ostendens, sic et propheta dicit : si principatus veneat vestimento uno aut pane solo, nemo erit qui emat ». Aptissime talia monet vates; nam tabernaculum David quod collapsum est (cf. ad Am. 9, 11), iam nemo ius (cf. Ez. 21, 21 et quae notavi ad Agg. 1, 1). Respondet ille : non potero curare aut sanare vulnera vestra (Malv.); cf. 1, 5. 6; nam ne meis quidem domesticis difficultatibus possum consulere, quanto minus suscipere vestras ! Ergo revera « insanabilis est fractura tua, pessima plaga Quid sibi velit in domo patris sui, varie concipiunt : indicari, ei esse hereditatem paternam, proinde eum esse sat opulentum (cf. Kn.) — sed cur tunc additur : vestimentum est tibi? — vel illum esse primogenitum (Schegg) — sed qua ratione id ea locutione designetur non apparet; — vel fore incolas terrae tam paucos eosque ita animis deiectos, ut qui rex sit faciendus, facile ab una familia possit constitui reliquisque imponi (cf. Del.) ; sed etiam hoc longius abesse videtur. Vult enim propheta totius populi dissolutionem et miseriam depingere. 'Haec autem in eo cernitur, quod res ita desperatae sint, ut nullus velit oblatam dignitatem admittere, et quod parati sint incolae cuicumque se submittere, dummodo tenuissimam praebeat spem fore ut aliquid levaminis afferat. — Alii in hoc versu eam rerum perturbationem exhiberi censent, qua unusquisque velit regem constituere eum qui sibi sit propinquus et familiaris ; in hae diversa et multiplici principum electione cerni seditionem (cf. Pint. Sasb. Lap.). Sed iniri quasi conneertationem et certamen, quis princeps sit constituendus alis alium arripientibus et regem proclamantibus, iis verbis minime indicatur. — Rerum conditionem satis effert Sanct. : « duo habebat incommoda illa Iudaeorum respublica, et quod a planta pedis usque ad verticem capitis esset saucia et quod famem extremam aut pateretur aut timeret. Quare ad illud quidquid erat incommodi levandum medicus erat necessarius qui corpori mederetur aegro et a pecunia sivc , & frumento satis instructus, qui laborantem aut potius deficientem populum recrearet ». Et cur iuremerito quisque respuat et horreat regnum, ratio affertur
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v. 8 « viit enim Ferusalem et Iuda concidit, quia lingua eorum et adinventiones eorum contra Dominwn, ut provocarent oculos maiestatis eius » , — verbis etfactis sanctissimum Dei numen quod peculiari ratione inter eos in templo habitat ad iram provocant, gloriae (hebr.) Domini enim maxima iniuria infertur, quod populus theocratieus totus (urbs principalis et regio) contra Dominum praesentem adeo impudenter peccat. Quam impudentiam vates perstringit
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v. 9 « agnitio vultus eorum respondebit eis et peccatum suum quasi Sodoma praedicaverunt nec absconderunt ; vae animae eorum, quoniam reddita sunt eis mala » | — cf. 1, 10. Si contra minas propheticas excipere voluerint, cur talia ipsis immineant, respondebit vel contestabitur eis (hebr.) intuitus vultus, ipsos boc excidium meritos esse; ibi enim scriptam legent causam et culpam suam ; frons impudens dabitluculentum procacitatis et nequitiae testimonium (Lap.) ; oculis, toto vultu et habitu peccata palam prae se, ferunt et de iis gloriantur omni pudore abiecto ; quare quasi Sodoma... « quomodo Sodomitae cum omni libertate peccantes et ne pudorem quidem ullum habentes in scelere dixerunt ad Lot : educ foras viros (Gen. 49, 9), sic et isti publice proclamantes suum praedicavere peccatum nec ullam in blasphemando habuere verecundiam » (S. Hier.). Talis procacitas — frons mulieris meretricis facta est tibi, noluisti erubescere Ier. 3, 3 — provocat Dei vindictam ; unde vae.. quia reddunt sibi mala (hebr.) i. e. se ipsos affligunt. , Annuntiavit vates iudicium in Iudam et Ierusalem (3, 1-7) eiusque causam et rationem in universum reddidit (3, 8. 9). Iam uti supra 2, 22 post iudicii denuntiationem declaravit, quale documentum pro omnibus ex Dei norma proposita consequatur, ita nunc monet, qualem normam Deus in ruina et casu regni sit observaturus. Etsi calamitas sit publica et universalis, Deo tamen docet minime deesse vias et subsidia, quibus inter pii impiique sortes ingens ponat discrimen. Quare vates normam Dei proclamat :
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v. 10 « dicite iusto quoniam bene, quoniam fructum adin-- ventionum suarum comedet » ; — id ergo consolationis piis annuntiatur : pietas mercede et fruetu non carebit ; bene erit iusto, etsi omnia ruinis sint implenda. Hac fide et spe se soletur ; etsi forte dubius quaerere velit, quomodo id fieri possit, Deo omnipotenti et fideli omni fiducia se committat ! Quare ut pii virtuti studere non negligant, ut hae spe se erigant, publice et per multorum ministerium haec Dei norma est promulganda; unde dicite ! ! « Generale documentum edicit quod alta mente reponendum esse sua illa brevitate significat : hoc sentite, hoc praedicate quod iustum esse sit bonum i. e. amabile, volupe, iucundum, utile et gratum (nam hoc proprie £ob significat) » (For.). Et bona quae eis contingent, fructus sunt operum i. e. in eorum mercédem et merita iis rependentur. Sed alia prorsus improbi ex malo flagitiorum semine metent
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v. 11 « vae impio in malum ! retributio enim manuum etus fiet ei » ; — i.e. quae seminaverit homo, haec et metet (Gal. 6, 5). Iudicia Dei hisce in terris facta iis solum sunt in veram ruinam qui in impietate persistunt. Haec norma duplex : bene iusto, vae impio, omnibus iudiciis quae annuntiantur praefigenda est ; ea fides iustorum, in angustiis erigitur, ea habetur continua. quaedam adhortatio, ut impii derelinquant vias suas et ad Deum sincere redeant. 1. Pro quo corrigendum censet Bred. iw (LXX. &5oopsv 1. e. c8?), ut. adsit parallelismus cum vae et difficultas in p'7x iv2w deficiente p» evitetur. LXX alia proponere, iam diligenter notat S. Hier. In fine v. 8 habent : quia nunc humiliata est gloria eorum; v. 9 confusio vultus eorum restitit eis i. e. ut S. Hier. explicat : ante oculos suos propria semper habuere delieta; vel secundum S. Chrys. suis ipsorum peccatis probrosis se supplicio maximo affecerunt. Sequentia autem sic efferunt : vae animae eorum ; quoniam cogitaverunt cónsilium pessimum contra semetipsos dicentes : alligemus iustum, quoniam inutilis est nobis ; itaque fructus operum suorum comedent (S. Hier.). Qüam sententiam S. Hier. Cyr. Basil. Theod. de Christicidio explicant, S. Chrys. vero de quovis iusto quem insidiose insectentur.
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v. 19 « Populum meum exactores sui spoliaverunt et mulieres dominatae sunt eis; popule meus qui te beatum dicunt, ipsi te decipiunt el viam gressum. (ucrum. dissipant» ; — hebr. exactores eius sunt pueri (cf. v. 4) i. e. qui populum tyrannide vexant, qui
Iudicio in Iudam et Ierusalem annuntiato iam modo speciali ad duces et mulieres sermonem convertit eos arguens scelerum et debitam iis denuntians poenam. lta enim vates a generali sententia 2, 11 et seq. magis magisque ad specialia et singularia descendit et singulis ordinibus quae sint eorum vitia et quantopere ad communem ruinam efficiendam conspirent, graviter et aperte intimat. Duos hoc loco ordines notat qui malorum fautores sunt ceterosque in calamitatem et iniquitatem prowudunt, duces et mulieres v. 12; illis v. 19-15, his v. 16-4, 1 crimina et débitae poenae exponuntur. Qui sint malorum promotores et ruinae auctores et qua ratione, breviter docet
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v. 13 « st(at ad. iudicandum Dominus et stat ad, iudicandos populos » ; — nihil scil. eius oculos fugit, omnia iustissima lance administrat semper intentus, ut iustiiiae norma sancte consistat, promptus et paratus, ut iura violata vindicet. Quare
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v. 14 senes populi et principes vocantur. Ratio gubernandi lascivia, arrogantia, crudelitate continetur; inde peri vel illusores; non pueri aetate, vel si etiam aetate, certe magis moribus, petulantia, amentia, qua gravissima quaeque negotia negligunt et populum pessumdant. Cum iis in populi perniciem conspirant mulieres; qua ratione istae ruinam promoveant, vide a v. 16. Inde quoque patet, intelligi mulieres, non viros molles et effeminatos, ut multi volunt (cf. S. ier. Haim. For. Mald. Malv. Tir. Calm.); sed nulla est ratio talem tropum assumendi, cum et alibi mulieres a prophetis reprehendantur (cf. 32, 9. Am. 4, 4. Prov. 5 etc.) et earum auctoritas et potentia cérle non sit minima. Quape eo magis mulieres sensu obvio.intelligi debent (cum Ierv. S. Thom. Osor. et recentioribus), quia et Athaliae tempus et Iezabel mores ostendunt quid valeant mulieres in malum et quia Achaz rex voluptatibus deditus sane nimium mulierum cupiditatibus indulsit. Mulieres valuisse auctoritate aliqua in rerum publicarum administratione forte etiam concludi potest ex eo, quod in libris historicis tam diligenter nomen matris regis recenseri soleat (cf. Ier. 92, 26; 29, 9). Hebr. 553 hoc solum loco invenitur. Veteres explicant a verbo 559 racematus est ; cf. Lev. 19, 10. Deut. 21, 21. Ier. 6, 9 (in forma poel). Ita LXX h. l. xaàauiovzat Ops, sim. Syrus; idem exprimit S. Hier. et Chald. periphrastice : populum meum moderatores sui spoliarunt quasi vindemiantes vindemiam. Sed plerisque praeplacet vocem eadem significatione capere qua ooyr puer, infans et uti supra v. & vox eiusdem radicis ac notionis habita est. [ta iam Pagninus, Vat. Mald. For. Malv. Mar. et recentiores. Non sine sensu commiserationis de misera plebe male habita et seducta bis dicitur populus meus. lis autem qui ruinam moliuntur accensentur pseudoprophetae : qui te dirigunt, decipiunt (hebr. cf. 1, 11) scil. peccata populi non arguunt, pacem et prosperitatem promittentes et malis populi cupiditatibus blandientes tantum abest ut eos a peccatis retrahant, ut eos praesumptione et falsa securitate repleant (cf. Mich. 3, 5. Ier. 23, 18. Lament. 2, 14. Ez. 13, 10 etc.) ; dicuntur viam qua populus incedere deberet absorbere (hebr.) i. e. perdere, corrumpere, iis rectum tramitem reddere impervium et abscondere, ut misera plebs demum misere erret et vagetur. Notari pseudoprophetas, plerique recte statuunt (cf. S. Ephr. Chrys. For. Mald. Sanct. Est. Calm. Troch.) neque refert quod v. 14 non eorum mentio fiat explicita ; nam quae in pae vertuntur; adde quod ipsi quoque vero sensu duces populi et principes, i. e. qui auctoritate pollent et suo imperio valent, nominari possunt. Cum Deus populum suwm ita male tractari doleat, eo ipso iam iudicium in vexatores exercendum esse declarat. Quare propheta Deum statim proponit tamquam universorum iudicem v. 14 « Dominus ad. iudicium veniet cum senibus populi sui et principibus eius ; vos enim depasti estis vineam et rapina pauperis in domo vestra ;
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v. 15 quare atteritis populum meum et facies pauperum commolitis ? dicit Dominus Deus exercituum » ;, — veniet scil. ut iudicium exerceat contra seniores populi i. e. magistratus et principes ; venire dicitur quando singulari ratione suam ostendit potentiam, iustitiam etc. (cf. ad Mich. 1, 2). Avaritiam, oppressionem, crudelitatem in magistratibus accusat. Populus Dei vinea dicitur (cf. Deut. 32, 32. Ps. 19, 9); qui vineam colere et custodire debebant, eam ferarum instar depasti vastaverunt (hebr.) i. e. se iniuste lócupletabant, populum misere opprimebant et vectigalibus onerabant. Rei indignitas v. 15 in hebr. magis effertur : quid vobis est quod. contunditis populum meum ? i. e. quae est haec. inhumanitas ? qua ratione ad tantam audaciam et ferocitatem progredimini (cf. For. Malv.)? Praeter exspoliationem populum opprobriis et afflictionibus atterunt. Vide quam benigne Deus causam oppressorum suscipiat et iniurias illis illatas poenis ulciscatur. Unde « vae pastoribus Israel, qui pascebant semetipsos... cum austeritate imperabatis eis et cum potentia » (Ez. 34, 2 seq.). Similes duces ac tyrannos plebs habuit Christi tempore ; unde « misertus est eis quia erant vexati et iacentes sicut oves non habentes pastorem » (Matth. 9, 36). — Hisce simul declaratur quam late serpserit iniquitas et quam impudenter leges Dei conculeent ; unde habetur commentarius ad 8, 8. 9. Iudicio exactoribus denuntiato transit ad eorum mulieres (cf. v. 12). Quarum partes quae fuerint in iniustitiis ac oppressione populi, indicat S. Hier. : « ob quarum delicias atque luxuriam depasti sunt exactores vineam Domini » ; sim. S. Chrys. Cyr. ; nam, ut Sanct. notat, dum lautitiam atque elegantiam amant et viris nimium uxoriis dominantur et pene pro imperio cogunt in pretiosas illas nugas prolixe impendere, exactores reddunt compilatoresque pauperum, quorum ipsae sudore ac sanguine ad lasciviam comptae luxuriantur et spiendent. Tales quoque mulieres ob oculos habet Amos propheta : « dicitis dominis vestris : afferte et bibemus » (Am. 4, 1) et haud incongrue potest cum S. TÀhom. in memoriam revocari, quantum mulieres olim in. ipsum quoque Salomonem valuerint. Hie ergo ponitur, ut idem S. Thom. ait, divinum iudicium contra eas et primo aperitur culpa, secundo praedicitur poena ; arguuntur autem de superbia et lascivia;
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v. 16 « et dixit Dominus : pro eo quod. elevatae sunt filiae Sion et. ambulaverunt extento collo et nutibus oculorum ibanl et plaudebant, ambulabant pedibus suis et. composito gradu incedebant, v .A'1 decalvabit Dominus verticem filiarum Sion et Dominus crinem earum nudabit » ; — primo notatur fastus ac superbia in universum : elevatae sunt i. e. superbiunt vel efferuntur, elatae sunt et, fastuosae animos altiores sumentes (cf. 123). Dein qua ratione fastus, pompa, lascivia se prodat : incedunt erectae gutture (hebr.) « instar gruum vel cygnorum ; habitus hic est insolentis ac procacis » (Lap.): « nam modesta ac verecunda vultum demittit; impudica vero et quae supra ceteras videri vult substrato sibi cothurnorum adminiculo ut nihil de illa celsitudine demittat, quam potest superbissime cervicem extendit » (Sanct.). Ipsa autem descriptio ita est conformata, ut quam indigna res sit et quam contemptibilis ex vocibus selectis appareat. Porro lasciviam oculis et incessu. palam faciunt : oculis niclitantes ! (hebr.) i. e. oblique oculos in iuvenes et amasios convertendo et petulanter illis adnictando et ad turpem voluptatem alliciendo (cf. Sanct. Lap. Men. Tir.); « id amasiarum proprium est pupillas vertere mollitiemque multam et lasciviam hinc exprimere » (S. Chrys.) Incessus quoque animos prodit meretricios : plaudebant i. e. crepitacula in pedibus gerebant (Mar.), incedentes plausum excitabant (cf. Sanct.); ipse incessus ad artificium et numerum erat compositus ; « pompatice credo dicuntur incedere et composito gradu sive ad maiestatem sivead elegantiam et palaestram » (Sanct.). In hebr. ad verbum incedendo et saliendo incedunt et in. pedibus suis periscelides habebant i. e. catenulas habebant pedibus affixas quibus gressus moderabantur et strepitum et tiunitum edebant ; « noti naturam sequuntur ducem sed histriones redimunt praeceptores » (S. Hier.). Verum pro fastu et libidine condigna poena iis annuntiatur: caput quod tam superbe extollunt ornatu suo ignominiosum in modum privabitur; immo ex textu hebr. scabie vel porrigine eas inficiet (cf. Lev. 13, 2; 14, 56; Vat. Mald. Malv. Lap. Tir. Calm. et recentiores passim) et 4gnominiam earum. revelabit. (cf. ad Nah. 3, 5) i. e. maximo opprobrio afficientur, uti verba hebr. passim intelligunt; cf. Malv. Sanct. Rohl. Troch. Del. etc. Ewald, Lehrb. 2. 184 c, qui etiam plura profert exempla. —.Barh. textum. syriacum intelligit de saltationibus in templis idolorum, quibus ira Dei provocatur. "Eüam v. 17 veteres vario modo concipiunt LXX et humiliabit Deus principes filias Sion et revelabit habilum (oyux) earumi. e. sumptuosi cultus ademptionem iis minatur (Theod. sim. S. Chrys. Basil. Cyr.). Idem Syrus exprimit; Chald. quoque de gloria filiarum Sion prosternenda et auferenda textum explieat in universum. Sed nervosior est textus hebr. qui feminarum pulchritudini et honestati maximum inferri de- - decus declarat. Peccarunt pompa et luxuria; quare in quo peecarunt, in eo quoque punientur. — Versio S. Hier. crinem earum nudabit accedere videtur ad signiteationem vocis chald. ND2; vel S. Hier. vocem hebr. eadem significatione accepit, qua nND pollet, uti iam explicat Lap., est enim angulus, extrema pars et vox ad capillos refertur Lev. 19,27. Ier. 9,25; 25, 23; 49, 32. Haec explicatio eo commendari potest, quia exacte parallelismus servatur; «in qua repetitione non vulgaris epitasis est, quae magis confirmat dieta insignemque contumeliam ostendit « (Sanct.). Sed hebr. plerumque intelligunt de pudeudo (vox non occurrit n5 nisi hoc loco et 1 Reg. 7,50 cardines osüorum; cf. Vat. Malv. Sanct. Lap.) idemque nomine crinis denotari pro Emphasi non caret quod mulieres istae luxu et luxuria diffluentes filiae Sion appellantur et ipso nomine admonentur indolis pietatisque theocralicae quae in iis ex iure nativitatis et electionis adesse debebat, sed quam petulanti suo et lascivo agendi modo adeo turpiter negligunt. Quantopere immersae sint rebus vanis et luxuriosis, propheta iam insigni enumeratione ostendit; sed simulea omnia iri ablatum et molles illas feminas maximis calamitatibus iri punitum serio et clare annuntiat. Reculas recenset 21 quae ad ornatum et vanitatem muliebrem pertinent et quibus denuo querelae antea propositae de pompa et fastu (cf. v. g. 2, 1) egregie illustrantur et iudicii necessitas (2, 19) comprobatur;
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v. 18 «in. die illa auferet Dominus ornamentum calceamentorum et lunulas
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v. 19. et torques et. monilia et armillas | et. mitras
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v. 20 et discriminalia et periscelidas et. nurenulas et olfactoria et inaures
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v. 21 et annos et gemmas in. fronte pendentes
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v. 99 et mutatoria et palliola et. linteamina et acus.
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v. 23 et specula et sindones et viltas el Lheristra » ; — de vocibus haec adnotat S. Hier. : « habent mulieres in lunae similitudinem bullulas dependentes, torques quoque ad pectus usque pendentes;.. monilia uno sermone omnia ornamenta significant; murenulae auri atque argenti texuntur virgulis... mutatoria et pallia quae significantius Symmachus transtulit ày82Xa«z ornamenta sunt vestium muliebrium quibus humeri et pectora proteguntur ; habent acus mulieres quibus ornatorum crinium compago retinetur; habent sinlones quae vocantur amictoria, et vittas quibus crines ligantur, quas appellant za»(z;; habent et theristra, quae nos pallia possumus appellare,.. dicuntur ab eo quod in 02pa,, hoc est, in aestate et caumate eorpora protegunt feminarum ». Bene notat S. Chrys. : « ut onerosiorem ipsis texeret sermonem aut auditorum mentem perstringeret, ornamentum vestium mulierum illarum minutatim recenset »; ea quippe enumeratione ad amussim facta et acris continetur reprehensio et singulari cum. pondere annuntiatur « futuram esse inopiam et abiectionem omnium exquisite inventorum et pristinae illius felicitatis et deliciarum » (S. Cyr.). Ex harum rerum numero et copia « videre est quam insatiabiliter elegantiae et. ornandi se, immo magis iam scortandi studio ardeant; probaeenim et honestae mulieres harum rerum studia aversanur eaque ex quibus habitus illiberalis nascitur, illudque potius propositum habent ex bonis factis laulem consequi » (S. Cyr.). Erat ornamenti genus circa collum lunari forma (S. Chrys. sim. S. Basil.) ; sed lunulas istas esse figurae faleatae advertunt (cf. Ros.) ad formam lunae Crescenlis sive. cornutae; ornamenti genus etiam uli ex Tud. 8, 21 elucet, iumentis appensum, quod fortasse idololatrieum quendam ae superstitiosum usum redolet. Chald. vocem habet N22'D quam reticulum explicant; cf. Levy l. c. II 131. Nominantur v. 19 4) ni2uz, proprie gutiae? ergo margaritae? inaures? LXX ha- Is. 3, 22-24 91 inter cetera ornamenta mulierum solent aurei cireuli in os ex fronte pendere et imminere naribus (cf. Sanct. Malv.). Enumerantur v. 22 14) vestes pretiosae, chlamydes plumatae? 15). tunicae exteriores, longiores, manicatae. Chald. pallia; 16) pallia; cf. Ruth. 3,15 : « expande pallium tuum quo operiris ei tene utraque manu ; qua extendente et tenente mensus est sex modios hordei et posuit super eam »; ergo forte intelligi debet. velum satis magnum reliquis vestibus cireumvolutum. S. Hier. hoc loco vertit linteamina; pannos magnos vel velamina etiam. Chald. exprimit, dum LXX habent. «x &uxgavij Aaxeovtxi, si haec vox huc trahi potest et non potius ad v. 23. Dein 17) ava» quae vox 2 Reg. 23 sacci i. e. loculi, marsupia ad recipiendam pecuniam duorum talentorum argenti explicatur; unde h. l. intelligunt marsupia elegantiora et ornatiora. S. Ilier. h. l. verlit acus ; sim. Chald. fibulas (Burtorf p. 1187). Sequuntur v. 23 18) specula, uti cum vulg. ct Chald. plerique vocem hebr. explicant; sunt laminae ex metallo polito faetae quas mulieres ornatus gralia secum circumferre solebant. Cum modo sermo fuerit de loculis circeumgestatis apte mentio speculorum infertur. Quare non opus est aliam voci exquirere notionem, illam quam forte LXX iam exprimunt (nam quo ordine singula verba hebr. legerint vel interpretati fuerint, nemo dicere potest), cum habeant xx é&«gazvz A«vwwzx et quam Hh. l. aliqui sequendam esse censent explicantes vestes pellucidas, indumenta tenuia (cf. Ros. et apud Malv».). Dein 19) sindones i. e. interulae linteae seu tunicae interiores (Ros. Ges.) vel generatim vela et operimenta valde tenuia et pretiosa; demum 20) fiarae, vel fasciae capiti cireumvolutae; cf. [s. 62, 3. Zach. 3, 5. Iob 29,14; denique 21) avr quam vocem S. Hier. Cant. 5, 7 pallium verüit, h.l. theristra; significat tegumentum amplum, pretiosum, tenue vestibus aliis superinductum ; recentiores aliqui non inepte vertunt Flore, Florüberwürfe (cf. Del. Rohl. Net.); alii : vétement de dessus qu'on prend pour sortir (Troch.). Chald. vela vel velamina intellexisse videtur (cf. Levy 1 351). Iam « sublatis ornamentis lasciviae comminatur cultum miseriae » (S. Thom.)
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v. 94 « et erit pro suavi odore foetor et pro zona. funiculus et pro crispanti crine calvitium et pro fascia pectorali cilicium » ; — i. e. pro suavi odore aromatum et unguentorum erit putredo, foetor, « sive a carceris situ atque squalore, sive ab illuvie et sordibus quae a captivis plerumque abesse non solent » (Sanct.); « forma ac specie erunt quam abiectissimae, ut zonae aureae loco solo fune circumligentur, patienturque nuditatem capitis, calvitium scilicet, licet quondam aureis capillorum nodis redimitum fuerit; indumentum etiam dat illis dignum captivis crassum et vile quod saccum nominat idque purpuratae vestis et lauti amictus vice » (S. Cyr.). In hebr. cura illa capillis exornandis impensa effertur : pro opere tornatili calvitium i. e. pro studio illo quo opere tornatoris quasi ef calamistri cincinnos artificiose crispandos curabant, iam ad turpitudinem rasae apparebunt sive hostium petulantia id fiat, sive squalore et miseria captivitatis sordibusque crines defluant, sive crinium evulsione luctus notetur gravissimus. In hebr. quintum additur membrum, quod Vat. Malv. Mald. Sanct. For. aliique rite vertunt. : adustio pro pulchritudine i. e. pro eo quod colebant faciem venustatis causa, earum faciebus ac frontibus stigmata ab hostibus inurentur, uti quandoque servis fieri solebat (Ges, Ros. Del. Naeg.), vel ut alii explicant : facies coeli iniuriis solisque ardore adurentur (Mald. Malv.), vel lucta et desperatione sibi ipsae unguibus facies foede lacerabunt (Kn. RoAl.), vel quod fortasseoptimum erit, sensu omnino generali : facies quas tam studiose ornabant iam foede nigrescent deformatae vulneribus, laboribus, miseriis et iniuriis ab hominibus et coeli inclementia illatis (ef. Lap. Drechsl.) similiter, uti Lament. 4, 8 : « denigrata est super carbones facies eorum ». Vocem n2pà LXX, S. Hier. et Syrus quoque inlerpretati sunt de fune, de loris; quae explicatio ipsa iam oppositione ad xonam commendatur et a plerisque adoptatur. — Alii ex vocis etymo vertunt. pro cinctura perforatio id quod vel de vestibus detritis vel de cute scissa et exulcerata, de vulneribus et ulceribus exponunt. Id iam exprimit Chald. : in loco ubi zonas ligabant, erunt stigmata percussionis. Vocem ouwnz fasciam pectoralem explicat S. Hier. secutus Symmachum, ut ipse refert; adnotat : « LXX tunieam yscozopgópx» i. e. clavatam purpura transtulerunt, quod Aquila cingulum e vsultationis expressit, Theodotio ipsum verbum hebr. posuit phihigil, quod genus ornamenti muliebris est. Fascia pectus tegit et eum possidet locum in feminis quem rationale in pontificibus ». Recentiores fere pallium amplum significari volunt. Ceterum vox est incertae nolionis et originis; varia afferunt Malv. Ges. Ros. Iam Chald. quid significet ignorasse videlur; scribit enim : pro eo quod ambulabant in superbia, aceingentur saceis. Syrus vocem adhibet quae pro hyacintho et eliam pro fimbria usurpatur (ef. Ex. 26, 1. 31. Matth. ?3, 5). Vertit Doederlein : vestes candidae mulabuntur pullatis. — Ultimi quoque membri saltem vestigium quoddam superest in textu vulg. cum versus subsequens incipiat pulcherrimi quoque; sim. apud LXX et filius tuus pulcherrimus quem iligis; legerunt ergo saltem vocem pulchritudinis. Aliter legit Syrus : quoniam corrumpetur pulehritudo earum; ergo *2 particulam explicat et pro nnn formam legisse videtur a rn derivatam. Chald. hane praebet paraphrasin huius membri : haee vindicta sumetur ex eis quia fornicatae sunt in pulchritudine sua. Ut demum iudicio in mulieres devolvendo culmen imponatur, postquam vana eis et fucata ornamenta detracta sunt, omni etiam maritorum solatio et auxilio destituuntur ignobili viduitati et orbitati traditae. Hunc autem luctum vates ita exhibet, ut singularum mulierum privationem et tristitiam in moerore et luctu metropolis quasi matris totius populi repraesentet. Describit enim urbem Ierusalem tamquam omnium matrem lugentem de morte tot filiorum et heroum et habitu squalido animi moerorem palam profitentem. Hac clade universa tot virorum et his lamentationibus egregie illastratur, quod ante dictum est : proiecisti populum tuum ...dies Domini super omnem superbum (2, 6. 12);
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v. 23 « pulcherrimi quoque viri tui gladio cadent et fortes tui in proelio ;
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v. 26 et moerebunt atque lugebunt portae eius et desolata in terra sedebit »; — de additamento in vulg. pulcherrimi vide quae notata sunt modo ad v. 24. Sion vel Ierusalem tamquam mater liberis orbata luget; ipsa est deserta, relicta ; portae eius et aedificia destructa ; ipsa abiecta in pulvere sedet moerore confecta, Insignis luctus et totius populi destructionis descriptio ! qua hypotyposi cum magna animorum commotione Ieremias in suis lamentationibus utitur (cf. Lament. 1, 1 eto.). Singulorum luctus colligitur et augetur strage universali; nam praeter damna domestica excidium publicum lacrimis est prosequendum. Sedet in terra cf. 9, 9. 10. 11; 3, 8; « et in argenteo nummo Vespasiani Iudaea muliebri habitu fingitur sedens ad palmae radices cum hac inscriptione : Iudaea capta » (Sanct. Lap. Calm. Rohl. Troch. D .). Bene monet S. Chrys. : « per haec omnia luctum amplificat, auget timorem, angorem reddit maiorem. Sub aspectum ducit aerumnas, extendit colanitatis narrationem quoquoversum circumcurrens, undique tristia colligens ob auditorum stoliditatem ». Quam exhausta et desolata sit Sion, alia imagine ruinae et miseriae speciem ferente declaratur 4, 14 « et apprehendent septem mulieres virum unum in die illa dicentes : panem nostrum comedemus et vestimentis nos(ris operiemur, tantummodo invocetur nomen tuum. super nos; aufer opprobrium nostrum » !—numerus certus adhibetur pro incerto (Mald.), sed talis tamen, quo virorum paucitas designatur. Quot igitur iudiciis divinis consumpti sunt ! Mulieres ne maledicto illi subiaceant : maledicta sterilis et quae non facit. semen in Israel (cf. Deut. 7, 14; S. Ilier. Basil. Cyr. Chrys. Sanct.) et ab opprobrio solitudinis et orbitatis vindicentur, verecundia postposita — tantus est scil. miseriae timor atque horror — magno studio unum virum rogabunt eum quasi manu apprehendentes et retinentes, ut est instanter flagitantium, et quo facilius optatis potiantur : « non tibi, inquient, erimus oneri ; nos victam et vestitum nobis ipsae parabimus ; hoc unum a te contendimus, ut uxores tuae nominemur et hoc viri nomine dedecus nostrum tollas nosque a. solitudine vindices, ne omnino desertae atque derelictae videamur » (Osor.). Ex lege ad viros spectat de victu cultuque uxoribus providere (Ex. 21, 10) ; sed ne forte labor ille et sumptus viri animum a nuptiis avocet, ipsae earum rerum curam in se suscepturas spondent ; invocari nomen i. e. « ut dicaris vir noster nosque dicamur uxores tuae » (Mald. Sa, Mar.). i Ita mulierum superbia (3, 16) omni genere poenarum est afflicta et quae ante iudicium fastuose dominabantur (3, 12), iam ignominia et: abiectione et omnium rerum spoliatione afflictae et oppressae cernuntur, postquam Dominus steterit ad iudicandum (3, 13). Dies ille Domini qui. annuntiatur contra omnem fastum et superbiam (2, 12), hac ultima hypotyposi matris Sion desolatae et in pulvere sedentis et mulierum derelictarum egregie illustratur; non adsunt enim nisi ruinae : ineurvata est altitudo hominum, sed eum in finem, ut exaltetur Deus solus in die illa (2, 14). — Quando autem hoc vaticinium impletum est? Vates normam exhibet iudicii divini, qua respublica Iudaeorum erit destruenda. Quod utique quomodo per saeculorum cursum factum sit, « usque hodie oculis cernimus» (S.Hier.). Hoc iudicium per varias partes et repetitis ictibus opere est impletum. Quare et ii interpretes non aberrant qui haec ad captivitatem babylonicam referunt neque frequentiores illi qui omnia haec ultimà tempora reipublicae iudaicae spectare contendunt. Propheta vero normam Dei annuntiat ab omni tempore absolutam : Sionem esse castigatione et iudicio reducendam ad Dominum ; pompam humanam, superbiam, lasciviam esse poenis condignis ulciscendam. Intelligi in hac descriptione mulieres, non solum propter nomen sed etiam propter tot ornamenta muliebria satis videtur evidens. Nihilominus etiam inter recentiores aliqui non mulieres sed urbes [udaeae et speciatim lerusalem ea figura describi volunt (cf. Hupfeld, Psalmen 2 edit. II p. 459 ad Ps. 48, 12). Quae sententia etiam veteres aliquos tenuit. Nam notat S. Hier. ad v. 16 : « alii metaphorice de urbibus Iudaeae dici arbitrantur quae appellantur filiae Sion, minores videlicet civitates, vici et oppida » ; et ipse, cum v. 29 sermo aperte fiat de Sione, advertit intelligi posse de animae statu quae post virtutes peccaverit, « sin autem sequamur historiam, ex his sermonibus docebimur non de mulieribus prophetae esse sermonem, quarum viri in proelio corruerunt, sed de urbibus ludaeae quas filias Sion appellavit et quarum bellatores ceciderunt in certamine ». At figura ista loquendi adeo frequens apud prophetas qua metropolis tamquan mater appellatur, non est ratio eur sermo praecedens non ad mulieres dirigi dicatur, praesertim eum iransitus ab allocutione mulierum ad matrem Sionem adeo sit facilis et omnium luctum et tristitiam una in imagine collectam exhibeat. Etiam F'or. principes et magistratus vult intelligi more feminarum deliciis deditos ; « sunt haec omnia figurate accipienda ; omnibus illis nominibus quae ad mundum muliebrem pertinent, effeminatos animos atque mores designat » (sim. Rup. et in aliquibus Sasb.). In quam rem iam adnotavit Euseb. : « possunt haec non de mulieribus tantum sed de mollibus etiam et effeminatis animabus dieta fuisse » ; de qua applicatione plura vide si lubet apud S. Hier. Herv. aliosque. — De mulieribus esse sermonem longe plurimi interpretes iuremerito tenent (cf. S. Basil. Cyr. Theod. Chrys. Ephr. Thom. Sanct. Lap. ete.).
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The prophetic writings abound in reproaches against recourse to magic (cf. Hos. 4:12; Is. 2:6; 3:2 f.; 57:3; Jer. 27:9; Mal. 3:5), and this aversion persists in the writings of the New Testament (Acts 8:9; 13:6, 10; 19:19). This shows how deeply rooted in the people was the tendency …
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… The gate opposite, gilded together with the wall, led into the "holy place" (lâkhâll); it had golden doors, and above them golden vines (symbol of Israel: Is. 3:14; Jer. 2:11; Ex. 19:40), from which hung clusters the size of a man. Before the gate hung a curtain woven of violet, fine linen, scarlet and purple, wonderfully worked. …
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.