The blessings of the reign of Christ. The desolation of the Jews, and prosperity of the church of Christ.
The prophet conforteth the Iewes, foreshewing that their king Ezechias wil rule wel, and prosper; but most especially prophecieth of Christ. 9. That they shal be reiected for persecuting him, 15. and his Church shal prosper.
1Behold a king shall reign in justice, and princes shall rule in judgment.Ecco, che il re regnerà con giustizia, e i principi governeranno con rettitudine.BEHOLD the king shal reigne in iustice, & the princes shal rule in iudgement.Ecce in justitia regnabit rex, / et principes in judicio præerunt. 2And a man shall be as when one is hid from the wind, and hideth himself from a storm, as rivers of waters in drought, and the shadow of a rock that standeth out in a desert land.Ed ei sarà come luogo di riparo dal vento, e rifugio dalla tempesta, come un rio di acque in tempo di sete, e come l'ombra di un masso, che sporge in fuora in una deserta campagna.And a man shal be as he that is hid from the wind, and hideth himselfe from a tempest, as riuers of waters in drought, and the shadow of a rocke that standeth out in a desert ground.Et erit vir sicut qui absconditur a vento, / et celat se a tempestate; / sicut rivi aquarum in siti, / et umbra petræ prominentis in terra deserta. 3The eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken diligently.Non saranno più offuscati gli occhi dei veggenti, e le orecchie degli ascoltanti saranno intente a udire.The eies of them that see, shal not be dimme, and the eares of them that heare, shal harken diligently.Non caligabunt oculi videntium, / et aures audientium diligenter auscultabunt. 4And the heart of fools shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of stammerers shall speak readily and plain.E il cuor degli stolti capirà la scienza; e la lingua de' balbuzienti parlerà speditamente, e con chiarezza.And the hart of fooles shal vnderstand knowlege, and the tongue of mafflers shal speake readely and plaine.Et cor stultorum intelliget scientiam, / et lingua balborum velociter loquetur et plane. 5The fool shall no more be called prince: neither shall the deceitful be called great:L'insensato non avrà più nome di principe; né l'impostore sarà chiamato maggiore:He that is vnwise shal no more be called prince: neither shal the deceitful be called the greater man:Non vocabitur ultra is qui insipiens est, princeps, / neque fraudulentus appellabitur major; 6For the fool will speak foolish things, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and speak to the Lord deceitfully, and to make empty the soul of the hungry, and take away drink from the thirsty.Imperocché lo stolto parlerà scioccamente, e il cuore di lui macchinerà ingiustizie, usando ipocrisia, e parlando del Signore con doppiezza, e consumando l'anima dell'affamato, e togliendo al sitibondo il refrigerio.for the foole shal speake foolish thinges, and his hart shal doe iniquitie, that he may worke simulation, and speake to our Lord deceitfully, and make emptie the soule of the hungrie, and take away drinke from the thirstie.stultus enim fatua loquetur, / et cor ejus faciet iniquitatem, / ut perficiat simulationem, / et loquatur ad Dominum fraudulenter, / et vacuam faciat animam esurientis, / et potum sitienti auferat.
7The vessels of the deceitful are most wicked: for he hath framed devices to destroy the meek, with lying words, when the poor man speaketh judgment.Gli strumenti dell'uomo fraudolento son pessimi: perocché egli ordì sue trame per rovinare con mendaci parole i mansueti, mentre il povero chiedeva quello, che è giusto.The vessels of the deceitful are most wicked: for he hath framed deuises to vndoe the meeke, with the word of lying, when the poore man spake iudgement.Fraudulenti vasa pessima sunt; / ipse enim cogitationes concinnavit / ad perdendos mites in sermone mendacii, / cum loqueretur pauper judicium. 8But the prince will devise such things as are worthy of a prince, and he shall stand above the rulers.Ma il principe penserà cose degne di principe, ed egli soprasterà ai condottieri.But the prince wil thinke these thinges, that are worthie of a prince, & he shal stand aboue the dukes.Princeps vero ea quæ digna sunt principe cogitabit, / et ipse super duces stabit. 9Rise up, ye rich women, and hear my voice: ye confident daughters, give ear to my speech.Donne facoltose alzatevi, e udite mia voce: figlie, che vivete senza pensiero, prestate le orecchie al mio sermone:Ye riche wemen arise, and heare my voice: ye confident daughters geue eare to my speach.Mulieres opulentæ, surgite, / et audite vocem meam; / filiæ confidentes, / percipite auribus eloquium meum. 10For after days and a year, you that are confident shall be troubled: for the vintage is at an end, the gathering shall come no more.Imperocché dopo giorni, e dopo l'anno, voi senza pensiero sarete con turbate: perocché finita è la vendemmia, non vi sarà più da raspollare.For after dayes, & a yeare you shal be trubled that haue confidence: for the vintage is at an end, the gathering wil no more come.Post dies enim et annum, / vos conturbabimini confidentes; / consummata est enim vindemia, / collectio ultra non veniet. 11Be astonished, ye rich women, be troubled, ye confident ones: strip you, and be confounded, gird your loins.Restate stupide, o donne facoltose; tubatevi voi, che eravate senza pensiero: spogliatevi, siate confuse, raccogliete a' fianchi la veste.Be astonied ye riche wemen, be trubled ye confident: strippe you, and be confounded, gird your loynes.Obstupescite, opulentæ; / conturbamini, confidentes: / exuite vos et confundimini; / accingite lumbos vestros. 12Mourn for your breasts, for the delightful country, for the fruitful vineyard.Piangete i bambini, che allattate, l'amata terra, la vigna ferace.Moorne vpon your breasts, vpon the countrie worthie to be destroved, vpon the fruitful vineyard.Super ubera plangite, / super regione desiderabili, / super vinea fertili.
13Upon the land of my people shall thorns and briers come up: how much more upon all the houses of joy, of the city that rejoiced?Sulla terra del popol mio spunteranno spine, e pruni: quanto più sopra tutte le case della città ridondante di allegrezza?Vpon the ground of my people shal thornes and bryars come vp: how much more vpon al the houses of ioy, of the citie reioycing?Super humum populi mei / spinæ et vepres ascendent: / quanto magis super omnes domos gaudii / civitatis exultantis ! 14For the house is forsaken, the multitude of the city is left, darkness and obscurity are come upon its dens for ever. A joy of wild asses, the pastures of flocks.Perocché la casa è abbandonata, la città piena di gente è derelitta: le sue caverne sono coperte per sempre di palpabili tenebre: divertimento degli asini selvaggi, e luogo di pastura pei greggi,For the house is forsaken, the multitude of the citie is leaft, darkenesse and palpablenesse are made vpon the dennes for euer. The ioy of wilde asses the pastures of flockes,Domus enim dimissa est, / multitudo urbis relicta est, / tenebræ et palpatio / factæ sunt super speluncas usque in æternum; / gaudium onagrorum, / pascua gregum. 15Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high: and the desert shall be as a charmel, and charmel shall be counted for a forest.Fino a tanto che si spanda dall'alto lo spirito sopra di noi; e il deserto sarà un Carmelo, e il Carmelo sarà stimato un deserto.vntil the spirit be powred out vpon vs from on high: and the desert shal be as charmel, and charmel shal be reputed for a forest.Donec effundatur super nos / spiritus de excelso, / et erit desertum in carmel, / et carmel in saltum reputabitur. 16And judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and justice shall sit in charmel.E avrà sua stanza nella solitudine l'equità, e la giustizia sederà sul Carmelo.And iudgement shal dwel in the wildernes, and iustice shal sit in charmel.Et habitabit in solitudine judicium, / et justitia in carmel sedebit. 17And the work of justice shall be peace, and the service of justice quietness, and security for ever.E opera della giustizia sarà la pace, ed effetto della giustizia la quiete, e la sicura fidanza in sempiterno.And the worke of iustice shal be peace, and the seruice of iustice silence, and securitie for euer.Et erit opus justitiæ pax, / et cultus justitiæ silentium, / et securitas usque in sempiternum. 18And my people shall sit in the beauty of peace, and in the tabernacles of confidence, and in wealthy rest.E sederà il popol mio nella bellezza della pace, e ne' tabernacoli della fidanza, e nella doviziosa requie.And my people shal sitte in the beautie of peace, and in the tabernacles of confidence, and in wealthie rest.Et sedebit populus meus in pulchritudine pacis, / et in tabernaculis fiduciæ, / et in requie opulenta.
19But hail shall be in the descent of the forest, and the city shall be made very low.Ma al basso della foresta cadrà la grandine; perocché la città sarà grandemente umiliata.But haile in falling vpon the forest, and the citie shal be humbled with lownesse.Grando autem in descensione saltus, / et humilitate humiliabitur civitas. 20Blessed are ye that sow upon all waters, sending thither the foot of the ox and the ass.Beati voi, che seminate sopra tutte le acque, e vi mettete dentro il piede del bue, e dell'asino.Blessed are ye, that sow vpon al waters, sending in the foote of the oxe and the asse.Beati qui seminatis super omnes aquas, / immittentes pedem bovis et asini.
32:1
Calmet
King. Ezechias or Josias, as figures of Jesus Christ, who is meant. (Calmet)
St. Jerome
They and their counsellors only foreshewed the advantages derived from Christ and his apostles in a more abundant manner. (St. Jerome)
Worthington
Judgment and justice. These words have a higher meaning than what is assigned to them by philosophers. In God, the former implies the preparation of the means for man's redemption, as the latter does the execution; and in man, judgment denotes the selection of what is right, and justice implies the putting it willingly in practice. Thus Christ will fulfill all that he has graciously purposed, with the two other divine persons; and the princes, his pastors, shall discern what is good for their own and people's eternal welfare. (Worthington)
32:2
Land. Ezechias and Josias were both a defence to their subjects.
32:3
Calmet
Dim. True prophets shall speak, while false ones shall be silent. (Calmet)
32:4
Worthington
Plain. Some parts of the prediction relate literally to the Old Testament. But this alludes to the New, when the mysteries of religion are clearly confessed in the Catholic Church. (Worthington)
Haydock
Even the most illiterate are guided with security, if they will but hear the Church. (Haydock)
32:5
Deceitful. Hebrew, "miser be called liberal," Luke 22:25. These good princes are contrasted with Achaz, who had oppressed his subjects.
32:7
Haydock
Vessels. Arms, (Calmet) or all the words and actions of the miser are bent on evil. (Haydock)
Menochius
The ministers of wicked princes resemble them. (Menochius)
32:9
Women. Great cities. He announces the impending dangers.
32:10
Calmet
Year. After a long time; or the prophet speaks two years before the arrival of Sennacherib, after the vintage was ended, Isaias 30:20., and 4 Kings 19:29. (Calmet)
32:12
Haydock
Mourn. Septuagint, "beat." (Haydock)
Breasts, suckling infants. In mourning, women beat and uncovered their breasts, which, on any other occasion, would have been deemed very indecent. (Calmet) (Ezechiel 23:34.) (Herodotus 2:84.)
32:13
Calmet
Up. Being uncultivated for two years. This was still more the case during the captivity. (Calmet)
Haydock
How. Septuagint, "from every house joy shall be taken away, thou rich city." (Haydock)
32:14
Ever. Some palaces had been demolished by Sennacherib, though this seems to refer to the Babylonian captivity.
32:15
High, as Ezechiel (xxxvii. 10.) saw the dry bones rise again. Under this idea prosperity is frequently described. The rest of the chapter may very well be explained of the propagation of the gospel.
32:17
Peace. The just shall enjoy peace, under Ezechias.
32:19
Hail. God's judgment shall overtake Babylon, or rather Ninive.
32:20
Calmet
Waters. Fruitful soils, abounding with cattle. (Calmet)
St. Jerome
Both Jews and Gentiles shall submit to Christ. (Clement of Alexandria, Strom. vi.) (St. Jerome)
32:1
1. The king shal reigne.] Some expound this whole passage of Ezechias, or This & manie other prophecies perteyne to the old testament as in figure, alluding to the historie, but principally to Christ, and his Church. Iosias kinges of Iuda, and of the chiefe princes vnder them: but so great effectes. as be here prophecied, were not fully verified in them, but as in figure only of a more excellent king, and his principal seruantes, that should folovv aftervvards. For albeit these vvere very good kinges, and had good and vvise counselers, & gouerners vnder them: yet they had not that perfect iudgement, nor performed that complete iustice, vvherby the subiectes enioyed such peace, rest, safetie, and consolation, as be here described, by the metaphores, and similitudes of men hid from vvinde, safe from tempest, refreshed vvith waters in their heate, and shadovved by a rock from the burning sunne in the desert, vvith the like. And therfore S Ierom, and other Christian Doctors vnderstand it of Christ, vvho hath most perfect iudgement and iustice; and of his Apostles, and other Pastors of his Church, vvho by vnction of the Holie Ghost, participate more abundantly of Christs grace, then did the priestes, & other rulers in the old testament. And so Christian people receiue these benefites of peace, rest, protection, refreshing in soule, & conscience, & other spiritual comfortes in Christ, by the mysteries of the nevv Testament, vvhich the faithful of the old Testament could not receiue by their kinges & princes, nor by priestes and prophets of that time. The same vve might deduce of innumerable other Pref. of prophetical bookes. places of this & other Prophetes: but it is not our purpose to explicate much in this Edition.
1. Reigne in iustice: and rule in iudgement.] Here also to auoide prolixitie, vve may once note that these vvordes: Iudgement, and Iustice, haue a sa••e other VVhat the wordes, Iudgement and Iustice signifie. higher and more excellent signification in holie Scriptures (vvhere they most frequently occurre) then in prophane vvritings, and natural or moral philosophical discourses. For Philosophers, such as Plato and Aristotel, could reach no further then to natural reason, vvhich they called right iudgement: and to moral equitie, vvhich in general they named iustice. But the Holie Ghost by these vvordes reueleth most high spiritual mysteries, knovven by faith, most comfortable to mens soules, releeuing and refreshing the consciences of penitents in this life, & replenishing the iust vvith vnspeakable gladnes in eternal glorie. Therfore in the sense vsual in holy Scripture, Iudgement is the act of the mind, Definition of Iudgement and Iustice as they are vsed in the holie Scriptures. Both applied to Gods, and mens actions. or vnderstanding, discerning what is right, iust, & agreing to reason: And Iustice is the rectitude of the vvil, doing conformably to right direction of the mind, or vnderstanding. And so these wordes are applied to signifie both Gods, and iust mens actions. As that vvhich God mercifully decreed in eternitie, and promised after the fal of man, to do for mankind, as conuenient for his Diuine Povvre, VVisdom, Iustice, Mercie, & Goodnes; vvith al the meanes vvhich he ordained for effecting the same, is called his Iudgement; and the performing and accomplishment therof, so sa•re as is of his part, is called his Iustice. Also that vvhich anie man discusseth, discerneth, and determineth in his vnderstanding, as right, or reasonable in supernatural thinges, is called his spiritual iudgement; and that vvhich he doth of his freevvil according to the same right iudgement, is called his iustice. So in this place the Prophet forshevveth, that Christ our Kingvvil reigne in iustice, that is, performe and fulfil al that he, as God Explication of the text. vvith the Father & the Holie Ghost, decreed for Redemption, Iustification and Saluation of men. And the princes. his Apostles and other Pastors, shal rule in iudgement: that is, discerne and iudge, vvhat is right and good for themselues, and the people in respect of their soules, and eternal saluation.
The fift part. Of the captiuitie, and relaxation of the kingdom of Iuda: with other afflictions and comfortes; but especially of Christ and his Church.
32:4
Albeit manie thinges in this and other places perteyne first and literally to the old testament: yet al are in figure, and some thinges haue no other literal sense but of the new testament. As this prophecie of maffling, or vnperfect tongues, to speake readily, is fulfilled in the Church of Christ; plainly and distinctly confessing al Mysteries of Catholique faith and religion: and the like, which can not be verified in the Iewish people.
32:9
Noble cities of Iuda.
32:1
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 5.34.4
4. Then again, speaking of Jerusalem, and of Him reigning there, Isaiah declares, “Thus saith the Lord , Happy is he who hath seed in Zion, and servants in Jerusalem. Behold, a righteous king shall reign, and princes shall rule with judgment.”
32:5
St Jerome † AD 420 Jerome's Apology for Himself Against the Books of Rufinus 3.1
… I see that in you are fulfilled the words of Solomon: “In the mouth of the foolish is the rod of contumely,” and “A fool receives not the words of prudence, unless you say what is passing in his heart;” and the words of Isaiah:
32:6
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Apology to the Emperor. (Apologia Ad Constantium.) 17
… But the Lord said, ‘But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and shut the door .’ What then will the accuser answer? or rather what will all prudent and true Christians say? Let your Majesty ask the opinion of such: for it is written of the other, ‘The foolish person will speak foolishness
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 60
… ‘A man that is heretical, after a first and second admonition refuse, knowing that such an one is perverted, and sinneth, being self-condemned;’ the more so, in that the Prophet says about such men: ‘The fool shall utter foolishness, and his heart shall imagine vain things
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 2
… But then, being ashamed to be thought such as “know not the power of God” ( Matt. xxii. 29 ), that we may not impute this to them, they allege: We do not say it with this meaning, but because there is no need of the body. Truly it may be seasonably said, “The fool will speak foolishness.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 20
Such then are those, who pride themselves upon their wisdom, and fall into the excess of recklessness. For recklessness of all things makes a person a fool. Wherefore the Prophet calls the barbarian by this name. But “the fool,” he says, “shall speak folly.” (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 51.6
… book of Proverbs, “My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother,” and have turned to error, and say to the fool that he shall be their leader, and do not despise the foolish things which are said by the foolish man, even as the scripture bears witness, “The foolish man speaketh foolishly, and his heart understandeth vanity.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 146
1. We read in Isaiah the words, “the fool will speak folly,”
32:9
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.19
The fact that certain rich women clave to Christ, “which ministered unto Him of their substance,” amongst whom was the wife of the king’s steward, is a subject of prophecy. By Isaiah the Lord called these wealthy ladies—“Rise up, ye women that are at ease, and hear my voice”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 69.5
… Concerning whom it is written in Isaiah, “Make haste ye women and come from the show, for it is a people of no understanding.” And again “Rise up, ye women that are wealthy, and hear my voice.”
32:13
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 4.16
… But that which I had conceived of Thee was falsehood, not truth,—fictions of my misery, not the supports of Thy blessedness. For Thou hadst commanded, and it was done in me, that the earth should bring forth briars and thorns to me,
32:17
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 3.14
… cxxxix. 12 ). Hence also Solomon says again, In the multitude of words there shall not want sin ( Prov. x. 19 ). Hence Isaiah says, The culture of righteousness is silence (
32:20
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 40
… Blessed is he from whom Jesus asks drink, as He did from that Samaritan woman, and gives a well of water springing up unto eternal life. Blessed is he that soweth beside all waters, and upon every soul, tomorrow to be ploughed and watered, which today the ox and the ass tread, while it is dry and without water,
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 27.3
… “Blessed is he that soweth beside all waters, where the ox and the ass tread under foot.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 108.10
… Here, when she looked upon the inn made sacred by the virgin and the stall where the ox knew his owner and the ass his master’s crib, and where the words of the same prophet had been fulfilled “Blessed is he that soweth beside the waters where the ox and the ass trample the seed under their feet:”
32:1
1. BEHOLD A KING SHALL REIGN IN JUSTICE, — namely Hezekiah, and his antitype Christ, whose princes are the Apostles, since before Hezekiah the impious grandfather Ahaz reigned, who polluted the city and temple with idols. These things were indeed done after Sennacherib was slain, and after the healing of Hezekiah: for then both king and people in full peace wonderfully cultivated piety and justice. The Septuagint beautifully renders it, ἄρχοντες μετὰ κρίσεως ἄρξουσι, princes with judgment shall rule, that is shall command. Note: Judgment is necessary to a prince; by its defect often under good princes the people fared very badly: as we read of Nerva, under whom all things were permitted, so that the condition of many was worse under him than under Nero: because the slackness of one dissolved was a cause of license to many wicked men.
32:2
2. AND A MAN SHALL BE AS, etc. — That is to say, Each of the faithful will be so safe under Hezekiah, and more so under Christ, as one is hidden under a roof and is safe from the wind; and as sailors in a harbor hide themselves and are protected from the storm: indeed Hezekiah and Christ will be to them as a stream of waters in thirst, and as a shadow in the desert, when the sun burns and the heat is intense. Learn here that a prince ought to be to the people, first, as a roof, which defends him from wind and the whirlwind of adversities; second, as a harbor, which receives ships from the storm and shuts them off; third, as a stream to the thirsty, for the prince ought to provide publicly for hunger and want; fourth, as the shadow of a rock in the heat, under which the traveler lies hidden in the desert, free from the rays of the sun and its burning. For tyrants and nobles often afflict the people no less than a whirlwind afflicts a man, a storm afflicts ships, thirst afflicts one burning with heat, heat afflicts a traveler: whoever therefore wishes to be a king, not a tyrant, ought to protect the people from these things. See the sayings, cap. IV, vers. 6. The Gentiles taught the same thing. Aristotle, lib. VIII Politic. cap. xix, thus distinguishes a tyrant from a king: "A tyrant," he says, "looks to and seeks his own advantage, but a king that of his subjects." Seneca, De Clementia: "Know (O prince!) that the safety of citizens has been entrusted to you, not their servitude; nor is the republic yours, but you belong to the republic." Cicero, lib. V De Republica: "To the ruler," he says, "of the republic the blessed life of citizens is set before him, so that it may be firm in wealth, rich in resources, great in glory, honorable in virtue." Hear Claudian addressing Honorius: You bear the citizen and the father; you consult for all, not for yourself: nor let your own concerns move you, but public losses. Hence Seneca infers, Cons. ad Polyb., that the prince ought to be ever watchful: "The vigilance of that one," he says, "defends the sleep of all, his labor the leisure of all, his industry the pleasures of all, his occupation the rest of all. Therefore he will sometimes have a relaxed mind, never an unoccupied one;" and he adds that this is the mark of a king, this the support of the republic: "That prince's," he says, "greatness is stable and founded, whom all know to be as much above them as for them." Hence again Cyrus in Xenophon, lib. VIII Paedia, held that "it is not fitting for anyone to have rule unless he were better than those over whom he ruled." Note here that in a king and ruler wisdom and prudence are especially required. For these, as they are "the eye of the soul," according to Aristotle, so also are they of the kingdom. Cicero said, lib. V De Finibus, "the art of living is prudence, as medicine is of health." Another said better, "the art of ruling is prudence;" for, as Menander says: "Everything that is prudence serves." And Sophocles, Antigone: "Prudence holds by far the first place of happiness." But on the contrary imprudence is unhappy, which "precipitates many things," as Sallust says to Caesar. The reason is, because "no animal is more difficult, none requires greater skill to handle," than man, as Seneca says, lib. I De Clementia: "Therefore the prudence of the ruler is his proper and unique virtue," says Aristotle, III Politic.; for more things are accomplished by counsels than by arms: "One wise mind conquers the hands of many," says Euripides. And: "Many things which nature has hindered are accomplished by counsel," says Livy lib. XL. Moreover, it is no small part of the wisdom of princes to have and to follow wise counselors. For even if the prince be most wise: "If he conducts all things by his own judgment, I shall judge him more arrogant than wise," says Livy, lib. XLIV. Thus Alexander had Callisthenes, Scipio had Panaetius and Polybius, Augustus had Arius and Athenodorus, David had Nathan, Joash had Jehoiada, Cyrus had Daniel, Artaxerxes had Ezra and Nehemiah; both as ornaments and as aids of the kingdom. This is what the wise Ulysses wished in Homer, Odyssey v, when he addresses Minerva, that is prudence, thus: But if you, O blue-eyed goddess, will thus stand by me, I would dare to rush into battle against three hundred men, trusting in you as my companion, O Goddess! and helper.
32:3
3. THE EYES OF THOSE WHO SEE SHALL NOT BE DIMMED. — He calls those who see Prophets, that is to say, Under Hezekiah, and more so under Christ, with the morals of the people changed for the better, the Prophets will have clearer visions and revelations from God, and the people will be more capable and docile in listening to them. He opposes this to the sayings of cap. xxix, vers. 10, where he said that God on account of the sins of the Jews had closed their eyes and covered the Prophets; and to the sayings of cap. xxx, vers. 9, where he said that they were unwilling to hear the law of God. Thus we shall see it come to pass in Isaiah, cap. xl, and thereafter, where he prophesies so openly about Christ and other things, that you would think you were reading history, not prophecy.
32:4
4. AND THE HEART OF FOOLS SHALL UNDERSTAND KNOWLEDGE. — The Jews were foolish under Hezekiah, believing false prophets; but when these were excluded by Hezekiah and true ones introduced, they understood from them the true knowledge of God and of things to be done: and then God shall make ready the tongue of the stammerers, that is, of Isaiah and the Prophets, who before were as it were stammering, that is, timidly, hesitatingly, obscurely and imperfectly preaching, so that they may plainly, readily and swiftly set forth the oracles of God to the people. But under Christ the Gentiles were foolish, who foolishly served idols and their vices: these received the knowledge of God and of salvation from the Apostles, and then the tongue of stammerers spoke plainly, when the Apostles, before rude and unfit, having received the Holy Spirit, received fiery tongues, by which they became eloquent and fervent in preaching the Gospel throughout the whole world. Thus St. Jerome, Cyril and Procopius.
32:5
5. HE WHO IS FOOLISH SHALL NOT BE CALLED PRINCE ANY MORE. — He does not speak of the proud Sennacherib, as St. Thomas wishes, but rather, as Hugh does, of Ahaz and other impious kings, who fraudulently appointed princes and magistrates of the people, whom the pious and wise king Hezekiah had already succeeded, who, having expelled impious and foolish princes and teachers, substituted those like himself. Again, he speaks antitypically of the time of Christ, as if to say: Under Christ the blind, avaricious and fraudulent Pharisees and Scribes shall no longer be held as princes and teachers: for they are foolish and teach foolish traditions, as follows, but the Apostles and apostolic men shall be princes and teachers. Thus St. Jerome, Cyril and Leo Castrius.
32:6
6. FOR THE FOOL SHALL SPEAK FOOLISH THINGS. — St. Thomas by the fool understands Sennacherib, whose speech to the Jews was foolish, blasphemous and fraudulent, promising the Jews grain and many other things, so as to bend them to surrender, which he was not going to provide, but would leave the people hungry and thirsty. Secondly, others refer these things to Ahaz, who foolishly led the people to idols, and thus was the author to him of famine, want and other evils. Whence the Chaldean translator renders it, the impious shall speak impiety. But truly, as I have said, these things pertain to the times of Hezekiah and Christ, as if to say: The unwise and fraudulent shall not be princes and teachers in the time of Hezekiah and Christ, as they were in the time of Ahaz, Manasseh and other impious kings: because then it shall be made manifest through the true Prophets and Apostles themselves that they speak foolish things, commit iniquity, are hypocrites, speak to the Lord, that is, of the Lord (for thus the Hebrew lamed, that is, to, is often taken for min, that is, of, as appears in Hebrews cap. 1, 7, and cap. IV, 4) fraudulently; because namely they honour him with their lips, but their heart is far from him: and then it shall be made manifest that they have not satisfied with their vain doctrine the souls hungry and thirsty for truth. This is clear concerning the Pharisees in the time of Christ, and that both in temporal things; for when they commanded sons to say to a needy father "corban," what else did they do but compel the father to hunger and thirst? then in spiritual things: for they truly reduced the spiritual worship of God to vain washings and inept ceremonies. The same is clear in the oracles of the Gentiles, which then became silent; and in the doctrines of the Philosophers: for all these, as it were foolish, were conquered and prostrated by the wisdom of Christ and the Apostles, as the Apostle teaches, I Cor. 1 and II; wherefore then the Apostles refreshed the souls of those hungry and thirsty for God with the solid food and drink of piety; and therefore the faithful fled to them, the former being abandoned. Note: A thing is said to be done or made, when it is declared to be done or made, according to Canon XXIX. Whence Vatable translates it, the sordid, that is, the avaricious, shall not be called any more liberal, nor the stingy magnificent: because the sordid shall speak sordid things, etc., as if to say: In the time of Christ truth shall have place, not simulation: for then every vice as well as virtue shall be declared and made manifest, which virtue shall have its praise, vice its infamy; whereas before false prophets called good evil, evil good, as I have said more fully on Isaiah x, 5. Let Christians therefore, Monks, Prelates, who are called Faithful, Holy, Beneficent, Religious, Venerable, Most Reverend, etc., see to it that they show themselves in works such as they are called; lest they bear an empty and painted name and title. Moreover, the force of the fool shall speak foolish things is a proverb, which Euripides also uses in the Bacchae, ὁ μωρὸς μωρὰ λέγει, the fool speaks foolish things; and Seneca to Lucilius: "Such was the speech of men as was their life;" and Democritus: "Speech," he says, "is εἴδωλον τοῦ βίου, a simulacrum of life." As brazen vessels are known by their sound, so men are known by their speech; for speech is a mirror of the soul and mind.
32:7
7. THE VESSELS (that is, instruments) OF THE FRAUDULENT ARE VERY BAD. — For, as follows, he himself thinks and contrives how he may destroy the meek and the poor who have a just cause, through lying and calumny, that is to say. Such therefore judges and magistrates, who crept in under Achaz, Ezechias will remove, and in place of the fraudulent he will establish the faithful and sincere. Thus in the time of Christ the vessels, that is, the instruments, of the fraudulent Pharisees were very bad: for they thought by their cunning and calumnies through friends and money to destroy Christ and Christians, when the meek and poor Apostles spoke judgment, that is, most just and most equitable things. In Hebrew there is a paronomasia kelai kelai raim: kelai, that is, the avaricious, says Vatablus, who give nothing, but seize much, and shut it up in a chest (for the root cala signifies to shut, to enclose), such as the fraudulent are wont to be; for those who wish to become rich, these by fair means and foul scrape together everything: rightly therefore our author translated, "fraudulent." Thus Arias.
32:8
8. BUT THE PRINCE SHALL THINK THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE WORTHY OF A PRINCE, — that is to say. Ezechias will give the idea of an excellent prince, and therefore will watch vigilantly to administer the commonwealth wisely, to direct dukes and magistrates rightly, and to think and execute whatever things are worthy of a good prince, as it were an animated image of God on earth, representing God to his subjects, and a certain earthly god. Again, Christ as another Ezechias, the Prince of Princes, will wisely rule the Church through himself and the Apostles, as it were his dukes, and will preside over them and will do things worthy of a Prince. Symmachus translated, the prince, that is, the principality, will establish, and he will stand over this principality, that is to say, Christ the king will establish principalities, that is, apostolates and episcopates, in the Church, and will make the Apostles and their successors his dukes, and he himself as it were a hierarch and king will preside over them. Thus St. Jerome, Procopius, Castrius. In Hebrew it is nadib nedibot, that is, as Vatablus translated, the liberal (prince) thinks liberal things, and through liberal deeds becomes renowned, that is to say, Prince Christ according to the name of prince, will liberally distribute his graces, and thereby will become illustrious. For a prince in Hebrew is called nadib, that is, liberal, in Greek euergetēs, that is, beneficent, Luke cap. xxii, 28. For it is proper to a prince, and his own virtue, to be liberality and beneficence: for these are the mark of a broad, great and royal mind. Wherefore Philo, to the Emperor Caius: "More," he says, "Emperor, ought you to love those who humbly begging benefits from you desire to have them bestowed upon them, than those who study to offer you gifts. For to these you owe recompense, but those make God your debtor, who counts in his own account what you have bestowed upon them, who will repay the institution of your humanity and kindness with the best gifts." Alexander Severus the Emperor was so beneficent to all, that he even invited those who deserved nothing of him to ask, and would say: "What is it that you ask for nothing? Do you wish to make me your debtor? Ask, lest you complain of me as a private man:" he acknowledged that it especially befits princes to be beneficent. Thus Lampridius in his Life. The same, when asked what seemed to him the best king, answered: "He who retains friends by gifts, and reconciles enemies to himself by benefits." Thus Maximus relates it, serm. 9 On Magistrates. Alphonsus, king of Aragon, hearing that some were ungrateful for benefits received from him, said: "So be it; nevertheless they will not prevent me from being both humane and beneficent." Thus Panormitanus. The same: "To barking and rebellious dogs," he says, "a morsel should be thrown," that is to say, The malevolent should be overcome and bound by benefits. Ludovicus XI, king of France, was liberal to men, especially holy ones; being asked the reason, he said: "Because I trust that by their prayers a long life may be secured for me." To this pertains the golden voice of Pacatus in the Panegyric of Theodosius: "I," he says, "would believe there is no greater happiness for princes than to have made happy, and to have come to the aid of want, and to have overcome fortune, and to have given man a new fate." He adds the reason: "For since all things are turned within him, and as he who encompasses all things, the Ocean, receives the waters which it supplies to the lands, and receives them back from the lands: so whatever flows from the prince to the citizens, flows back to the prince; and the munificent Emperor well consults the matter and his reputation. For he gains glory, when he gives money that will return."
32:9
9. WEALTHY WOMEN, RISE UP. — This is a new prophecy, and spoken at another time (for the order of time was not observed in arranging the writings of the Prophets), and it is a sad one, either concerning the destruction of the ten tribes by Salmanasar, as Sanchez wishes; or rather, as St. Jerome, concerning the destruction of the two tribes by Titus and the Romans: for this will be seen to pertain to the times of Christ, vers. 16 and seq. Moreover, St. Thomas understands by women the weak Jews, and soft and effeminate ones; the Chaldean paraphrase understands the cities of Judea. Most simply you would take by women wealthy women, confident in their own riches and proud: for to them here equally as in cap. III he threatens destruction, and calls them to lamentation.
32:10
10. AFTER DAYS INDEED AND A YEAR, YOU SHALL BE TROUBLED, — that is, after a short time defined by me, but which I do not wish to explain to you definitively, and therefore I say: "After days and a year, you shall be troubled," and you shall be destroyed by the Romans. Thus Hugo and Adam. Others: "after days and a year," that is, after a long time, in which days are added to days, and years to years. Thus Vatablus. Otherwise Sanchez: "After days and a year," he says, that is, after the days of one year (so that it be a hendiadys), after one year Samaria shall be overthrown, namely in the sixth year of Hezekiah: these things therefore were spoken by Isaiah in the fifth year of Hezekiah. Whence in Hebrew it is, after days to a year, that is, which are sufficient for completing a year. Thus he himself. THE VINTAGE IS CONSUMED, THE GATHERING SHALL NOT COME. — The gathering is the gleaning, which is done after the vintage, in which few hidden grapes and the remaining ones are collected. Now vintage in the Scriptures often signifies destruction, gleaning signifies the scrutiny and slaughter of the few who escaped the destruction. The sense therefore is, as St. Jerome says: "After the final desolation, which shall happen under Vespasian and Titus and Hadrian, there shall not be another, but your city shall be overthrown once, so that no other captivity is to be expected: all shall be taken away, nor shall clusters remain in the vineyard for peoples who are then to be gathered." For he understands vintage both of men, and of grapes and fruits.
32:11
11. GIRD YOUR LOINS, — which before, idle, as if maidens adorned with elegant and splendid attire and commanding servants and handmaids at home, you sat, now as captives lay aside this attire, and gird your loins with vile garments as if handmaids, to render servile ministry to the Roman masters.
32:12
12. Over your breasts (namely, drying up from famine, and over the children of your breasts, especially the little ones still hanging from them) LAMENT, — because all these shall be prey with you to the Romans; this is what Christ predicted: "But woe to them that are with child, and that give suck in those days!" Matt. xxiv, 19. OVER THE DESIRABLE REGION, — over Judea your fatherland, pleasant and fertile like a vineyard, which the Romans shall lay waste, and subject to themselves, you being expelled and slain.
32:13
13. Over the ground of my people thorns, etc. — as if to say, Judea shall be punished and laid waste by the Romans, so that it shall be filled with uncultivated thorns and briars; how much more Jerusalem, so luxuriant, that all her houses appear to be full of joy?
32:14
14. FOR THE HOUSE HAS BEEN FORSAKEN, — that is, Jerusalem, which once was as it were my house, and sacred to me, I shall forsake, and shall make it so that the multitude of the city, that is, the city of such multitude (this is hypallage), in which there was such a throng of people, shall be left and deserted: this is what Christ says alluding to this: "Your house is left to you desolate." DARKNESS AND GROPING HAVE BEEN MADE OVER THE CAVES EVEN UNTO ETERNITY. — First, Sanchez by darkness and groping understands dense trees and forests: for these indeed bring darkness even palpable, and horror to the one passing through. Furthermore these trees grew up in caves, that is, in the ruins of the city laid waste and deserted: for when great masses fall, from the various concourse of walls some spaces are left within empty, or cavities like vaults and caves. Secondly, further Adam, as if to say, So dense shall be the ruins and wreckage both of the temple and of houses, that they shall be reduced into caves and caverns so deep and dark, that in them darkness palpable is seen, and this forever. Whence it is clear that this pertains to the final destruction of the Jews by Titus. Hence it comes to pass that the place is so deserted and a joy of wild asses, namely that wild and savage asses, and herds dwell there and feed. Thirdly, Vatablus, Pagninus and the Hebrews translate, towers and bulwarks shall be reduced into caves forever. For in Hebrew for darkness is ophel. For groping is bachan, that is, trial. But the Hebrews hand down that these two were towers of Jerusalem: one called Ophel, that is, darkness, because the eyes of those beholding its summit were so dimmed by its height: the other called Bachan; because in looking at its edge it would be tested how firm the sight of each one's eyes was, as if to say, These two towers so lofty fell into the deepest caves. Let the credibility of this matter rest with them; for the tower Ophel is mentioned by Josephus, Adrichomius and other geographers and historians: but the tower Bachan, by no one.
32:15
15. UNTIL THE SPIRIT BE POURED UPON US FROM ON HIGH. — Those who refer this to the Babylonian captivity explain it thus: In Babylon we shall be in prison as if dead, until God restores to us the spirit of life, that is, of liberty, and as it were resurrects us, and brings us back to our homeland; as if to say, Until from exile, as if from the sepulcher, we come forth revived, and return to Judea. But referring this to the destruction by Titus, as I have related with St. Jerome, the sense is this: this desolation shall endure, and Judea shall be desolate both corporally, as is evident, and spiritually: namely, because God shall abandon the Synagogue and the souls of the Jews destitute of faith, grace and salvation, until He sends the Holy Spirit upon them (be it few), who shall convert them to Christ and salvation: then indeed Jerusalem shall be restored, not earthly, but true and spiritual, namely the Church of God. Thus St. Cyril, Procopius, Theodoret. Thus Christ, ascending into heaven, commanded the Apostles to remain apart and in secret in Sion, until they should be clothed with power from on high, and should receive the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. AND IT SHALL BE A WILDERNESS IN CARMEL, — as if to say, The Gentiles hitherto destitute shall enter into the lot and riches of Israel and the people of God: on the contrary the Jews shall succeed to the desolation and blindness of the Gentiles (see what is said at chapter xxix, 23), except for a few, upon whom the Spirit from on high shall be poured out, that they may believe in Christ, as has been said before. Otherwise Sanchez from St. Thomas: Judea, he says, which during the captivity of the Jews was uncultivated, as a wilderness, after their return shall be cultivated, and shall be fertile like Carmel; Carmel itself, which was pleasant and fruitful before, after the return shall be so pleasant and fruitful that, if you regard the appearance of the former time, you would think you had seen a wilderness or a horrible forest. Or rather, as if to say, In Babylon the Jews who were rich and powerful, who were as it were Carmel, and who oppressed others who were poorer, shall be so worn down that they become as a wilderness, that is, that in spirit as well as in poverty and lot they equal the poor; as if to say, The lot of the rich and poor shall be nearly the same: hence there shall be justice among them, and from this peace, silence, security and riches: for these are the fruits of affliction and poverty. Thus Sanchez. But the former sense is more august and more genuine and should be followed by us. And justice shall dwell in solitude, — as if to say, In the Gentility, which before had been desert and barren, shall dwell judgment, that is, justice, when this solitude shall have been made Carmel, that is, fruitful and fertile through faith in Christ. AND THE WORK OF JUSTICE SHALL BE PEACE. — The words work and worship are put metonymically for the reward and recompense of the work, or of the pious worship of justice. Whence the Chaldean renders, those who cultivate justice shall rest, as if to say: The reward, fruit and recompense of the justice and holiness of the faithful Gentiles shall be, that justified in Christ they shall obtain first, peace of conscience, and friendship and union with God, likewise peace and concord among themselves; secondly, silence, that is, rest, as the Chaldean and Septuagint render it, and the greatest tranquility in this true worship of justice and of God, adoration and friendship; thirdly, secure confidence in His grace in the present, in His glory and future beatitude: confidence, I say, certain not with the certainty of faith, as the Lutherans wish; but with moral and conjectural certainty, which does not exclude all fear and dread. Thus St. Jerome, Cyril, Procopius, Theodoret. "The work of justice shall be peace," etc., as if to say, In the time of the Gospel and of Christ justice shall be cultivated everywhere by the Gentiles, a just and holy life, and from this in the Church and in the faithful shall arise first, a threefold peace, namely, peace with God, peace with conscience, peace with neighbors; secondly, silence and tranquility; thirdly, security of future glory; fourthly, there shall be in it great beauty of peace, and of spiritual charisms; fifthly, there shall be in it tabernacles of confidence, that is, in which the faithful may dwell without fear confidently, to which they may safely entrust themselves and their happiness; sixthly, there shall be in it abundant rest. These therefore are the gifts and epithets both of the Church militant and of the faithful and holy soul: for both of these possess and hold all these things in themselves. The Septuagint renders, justice shall obtain rest, ἀνάπαυσιν, that is, repose. Secondly, Hector Pintus understands by justice civil justice, from which peace is wont to arise; silence, he explains as abstinence from complaints and lawsuits: because where there is great justice, there is no cry of the oppressed from judges, or other powerful men. Third, St. Jerome expounds "silence" as "brevity of faith," which is opposed to the multiloquence and many ceremonies of the Jews: The Syriac version renders it, and the work of justice shall be peace, and the worship of justice silence, or rest, confidence, security, tranquility. The Arabic of Antioch, and his work (action) shall be in justice and salvation, and the work of truth (justice) in quietness, probity and hope, or confidence, forever; The Arabic of Alexandria, and the work of justice with truth and peace, and the acts of justice silence (rest) and hope (confidence) forever and ever. Morally, St. Bernard, epistle 89, refers these things to the virtue of silence: "To this," he says, "worship of justice, to this mother and guardian of all virtues, I invite and provoke you and whoever like you desire to make progress in virtues: if not by the word of doctrine, certainly by the example of my silence, so that by being silent I may teach you to be silent, you who by being silent compel me to teach what I do not know." And the Gloss: From justice justifying, it says, shall arise peace of conscience, from peace rest and silence, so that namely you be silent, and in prosperity beware of boastful words, in adversity of murmuring ones. Thus also Dionysius understands silence of heart and mouth: "We see this," he says, "fulfilled especially in those living in cloisters, who in the observance of silence establish the worship of justice, and consider the breaking of silence a great transgression of justice." Indeed, St. Gregory also, in the third part of the Pastoral, chapter xv: The worship, he says, of justice is silence; because the mind is desolate from justice when it does not refrain from immoderate speech." Thus St. Andronicus with St. Athanasia his wife, clothed in masculine and monastic habit, both in a very long pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and in the same cell for twelve years, at the request of Athanasia, observed complete silence; and so he restrained his eyes, mouth and ears, so that he did not even know her by sight, as is contained in her Life. Hence of Christ's spouse it is said in the Canticle iv: "Thy lips are like a scarlet thread, and thy speech is comely." A scarlet thread is silence with charity, says Richard of St. Victor, that is to say, You excel in the grace of taciturnity; from this flows thy speech is comely: for a heart filled with spiritual delights through silence pours forth outwardly a good word of spiritual sweetness, of consolation, instruction, admonition, correction. St. Ambrose in Psalm xxxviii says, "the patience of silence, and the opportunity of speaking, and contempt of riches are the greatest foundations of virtues." Smaragdus in chapter vi of the Rule of St. Benedict: "Taciturnity," he says, "is the virtue of humility, the sign of gravity, the nurse of virtues, the guardian of souls." See the sayings at chapter xxx, 15. Anagogically, St. Jerome, Cyril, Procopius, Theodoret, refer these things to heavenly rest and glory in heaven: for there the reward of the justice of the Saints shall be first, most complete peace from every side; second, silence and supreme rest; third, security of blessedness throughout all eternity; fourth, the beauty of all peace and glory; fifth, the tabernacles of confidence, in which the Blessed dwelling confidently fear no enemy, nor anything adverse; sixth, there shall be abundant rest. Hear St. Augustine, book of Meditations, chapter xxii and xxv: "O life which God has prepared for those who love him! a living life, a blessed life, a secure life, a tranquil life, a beautiful life, a pure life, a chaste life, a holy life, a life ignorant of death, a life knowing not sadness, a life without blemish, without corruption, without anxiety, without disturbance, without change; a life most full of all elegance and dignity, where there is no adversary attacking; no enticement of sin, where there is perfect love, and no fear, where there is eternal day, and one spirit of all, where God is seen face to face, and by this food of life the mind is satisfied without defect." And after a few things he adds: "There the sweet solemnity of all returning from this sad pilgrimage to thy joys, there the provident choir of Prophets, there the twelve number of Apostles, there the victorious army of innumerable Martyrs, there the sacred assembly of holy Confessors, there the true and perfect cultivators of solitude, there holy women who overcame the pleasures of the world and the weakness of their sex, there boys and girls who surpassed their years with holy conduct. The glory of individuals is unequal, but the joy of all is common, full and perfect charity reigns there: they burn with love of God, they love and praise God continually; all their work is the praise of God without end, without defect, without labor. Happy therefore and truly happy forever, if after the dissolution of this little body I hear those songs of heavenly melody." And St. Bernard in Meditations, chapter IV: "The reward," he says, "shall be to see God, to live with God, to live from God, to be with God, to be from God, who shall be all in all; to have God, who is the supreme good. And where the supreme good is, there is supreme happiness, supreme joy, supreme freedom, perfect charity, eternal security, and secure eternity: there is true gladness, full knowledge, all beauty and all blessedness: there is peace, piety, goodness, light, virtue, honesty, joys, the sweetness of gladness, everlasting life, glory, praise, rest, love and sweet concord."
32:19
19. AND HAIL IN THE DESCENT OF THE LEAP. — "Hail," that is, the wrath, plague and storm of God shall rage upon the Jews and upon Jerusalem, so that the leap, that is their Synagogue growing wild, may be abandoned, descend and be humbled. See Can. XXVI. He returns to the destruction of the Jews, which he treated from verse 9 to verse 16. Sanchez continues to understand this of the calamity of Babylon: for he says that it is called a leap on account of the hanging gardens of Nitocris. The Septuagint translates: but if hail descend, it shall not come upon you, as if to say: All things shall be prosperous for the faithful; if any hail, that is, tempest, should come upon them, it shall fall upon the unfaithful and the wicked.
32:20
20. BLESSED ARE YOU WHO SOW UPON ALL WATERS. — Sanchez explains it thus, as if to say: O fortunate ones! who shall see that day of return from Babylon, when he shall make Judea, before barren, thorny and uncultivated, fertile by constant rain: it shall be permitted to them to drive the yoke of oxen and asses through fields made wet by heavenly dew, and with them thus disposed to receive sowing, to commit seed. Others say, as if to say: The crops shall grow so luxuriantly that, lest they suffocate one another from abundance, they send oxen and asses into them, which may graze the first luxuriant herbage. But in our exposition it is an apostrophe to the Apostles and Apostolic men, as if to say: O you blessed ones! who upon all waters, that is, all peoples, sow the Gospel, sending into them oxen and asses, that is, preachers and workers of the Evangelical and saving harvest. To send the foot of an ox and ass is nothing other than to till the earth with the yoke of oxen, or with the yoke of asses: for they could not plow together with an ox and an ass, according to the law in Deut. xxii, 10; but separately. Again, he calls waters the earth made wet with waters and rain: for in such is sown, not in pure waters. Note: The ox of plowing, and thence of harvest and fertility, was a symbol to the ancients, as is evident from the oxen which appeared to Pharaoh in a vision, Gen. cap. xli, 2. Wherefore oxen joined together on a coin of the Emperor Vespasian and others yoked on a coin of C. Marius signify that they procured agriculture and the grain supply for the sustenance of citizens. For also among soothsayers, to imagine plowing oxen foretold the happiest harvest and abundant prosperity of things. Indeed, the name was given to the ox from nourishing: for βοῦς means I nourish: for by his labor in tilling the earth he continually feeds us. Hence the Greeks call εὐβοΐαν, happy agriculture, to which agriculture is foreign, and also an epithet of the ox. The Romans moreover paid such honor to the ox that they say Italy itself was once named by the Italians, called oxen, from them. Indeed, among them it was once no less a capital crime to kill an ox than a man. Memorable moreover was the custom of the ancient Germans, who sent to a wife to be married yoked oxen, a bridled horse, and a shield with a sword as a dowry, so that the wife, as Cornelius Tacitus says, might be admonished that she comes to a man as a companion in labors and dangers, to suffer and to dare the same in peace, the same in battles; for the yoked oxen announced labor, the prepared horse announced war, and the given arms announced it. Thus Pierius, hieroglyph. 3. There exists an emblem of an ox with this inscription, "for altars and fields," representing a man living both an active and a contemplative life. For the ox acts by plowing in the fields, the same is sacrificed on altars: whence it is a symbol of religion and of the contemplative life. Symbolically, the ass, an unclean animal, signifies the Gentiles, the ox the clean Jews: he thus hints that both peoples shall conspire in the faith of Christ and the Gospel. Thus St. Cyril, Jerome, Theodoret, Procopius and Gregory, lib. XXXV Moral. cap. xli; Clement, lib. VIII Stromat., at the beginning. Whence in the new law that old law was abrogated: "You shall not plow with an ox and an ass." Tropologically St. Bernard, serm. on St. Benedict: "Blessed are those who sow upon all waters, even those which are above the heavens, which are the virtues of angels and the heavenly peoples. Thus indeed: because we have been made a spectacle both to angels and to men. Let us therefore sow to men a good example through open works; let us sow to angels great joy through hidden sighs;" and after a few words: "O race of Adam, how many have sown in you, and how precious the seed! how badly will you perish, and how deservedly, if such seed shall perish in you, and the labor of those sowing! The whole Trinity sowed in our land, angels sowed together and apostles, martyrs and confessors and virgins sowed. The Son also sowed: for he is the one who went out to sow his seed. Thus the whole Trinity sowed, the Father namely bread from heaven, the Son truth, the Holy Spirit charity." Otherwise St. Basil in cap. 1 of Isaiah: Blessed, he says, is he who stirs up the ox, that is, the noble one, to the tolerance of labors, and the ass, that is, the desirous and carnal one, so that he may trample upon and overcome his desires. Otherwise also St. Ambrose to Irenaeus: "The ox," he says, "horned, has ferocity, the ass gentleness; because blessed is he who tempers both severity and gentleness, so that by one discipline is maintained, by the other innocence is not oppressed."
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
32:4
Haec est tertia pars combinationis, in qua prosequitur liberationem ab hostibus, qui tunc eis imminebant. Et primo praedicit eam per modum prophetiae; secundo narrat per modum historiae, 56 cap.: Et factum est etc. Prima in duas. In prima praedicit Judaeorum prosperitatem; in secunda hostium destructionem. 55 cap.: Vae qui praedaris etc. Circa primum duo. Primo praedicit liberatorum statum, quantum ad regis aequitatem, ibi, Regnabit rex, scilicet Ezechias. Jer. 22: «Regnabit rex et sapiens erit, » quantum ad populi prosperitatem. Quantum ad consolationem in tribulatione, Et erit vir. Supra 4: «Tabernaculum » erit in umbraculum diei ab aestu. » Quantum ad emendationem: in spiritualibus, Non caligabunt, ut prius, propter peccata regis et populi, videntium, scilicet prophetarum; sed apertas a Domino visiones accipient; et aures, scilicet subditorum, auscultabunt, implentes praecepta Domini per prophetas, cor stultorum qui prius in idolis errabant, balborum, prophetarum, qui prius obscurе et in aenigmate loquebantur. Sapient. 10: «Sapientia » aperuit os mutorum, et linguas infantium fecit » disertas. » Et etiam quantum ad consecutam libertatem, scilicet a tyrannis: Non vocabitur qui insipiens est, scilicet Senacherib, cui prius tributa solvebantur, sicut patet 4 Reg. 18. Ezech. 24: «Eruam eos de manu regis Assyriorum.» Secundo exequitur liberationis modum, Stultus enim: et primo prosequitur afflictionem; secundo liberationem, ibi, Doner effundatur. Circa quod duo facit. Primo describit hostem persequentem; secundo persecutionem, ibi, Mulieres opulentae. Circa primum tria. Primo ipsius regis nequitiarn, quantam ad blasphemiam oris, Stultus, scilicet Senacherib, fata verba blasphemiae: infra 56.
32:6
Prov. 15: «Os fatuo- » rum ebulit stultitiam. » Quantum ad duplicitatem cordis: Cor ejus faciet, promittens populo bonam terram, ad Dominum fraudulenter, dicens se illius praecepto venisse: infra 56. Prov. 12: «Cogitationes justorum consilia. » Quantum ad credulitatem operis, Vacuam, spoliando eos rebus quibus debebant nutriri, conira illud Prov. 25: «Si » esurierit inimicus tuus ciba illum. » Secundo principum: ejus malitiam, Fraudulenti, scilicet Senacherib, vasa, idest nuntii et principes ejus. Prov. 29: «Principes qui libenter audit verba mendacii, » omnes ministros habet impios. » Et malitiae executionem: Ipse enim cogitationes, scilicet Rapsacis, de quo infra 56, concinnabit, idest componet. Cinnus est genus potionis ex diversis speciebus compositae: Pauper Judaeus. Psalm. 49: «Os tuum » abundavit malitia, et lingua tua concinnabat do- » los. » Tertio regnavitis Ezechiae prudentiam. Princeps, quia praecepit quod non illi aliquis responderet.
32:9
Supra 1: «Restitum principes tuos ut fuerunt prius. » Mulieres opulentae. Hic describit persecutionem inflictam quantam ad tria. Primo quantam ad fructuum amissionem, excitans attentionem, Mulieres, quae facile potestis plorare, opulentae, quae plorandi materiam habetis ex bonorum perdizione. Vel mulieres, idest vos Judaei imbecilles. Psalm. 48: «Qui confidunt in virtute sua, et in » multitudine divitiarum suarum gloriantur. » Et ponit temporis determinationem, Post dies, aliquot, annum, unum. Psalm. 24: «Quoniam tribulatio » proxima est, et non est qui adjuvet. » Et ponit fructuum amissionem: Consummata, destructa, collectio, frugum, non veniet, in domos nostras ab agris. Jer. 48: «Ablata est laetitia de Carmelo et » de terra Moab, et vinum de torcularibus sustuli. » Secundo quantam ad camporum vastationem, incidens planetum, Obscupescite. Baruch 4: «Exui me » stola pacis. » Supra 22: «Et vocabit Dominus » in die illa ad fletum. » Et praedicit damnum, Super humum.
32:13
Supra 5: «Ascendent super eam » vipres et spinæ. » Tertio quantam ad desolationem, Quanto magis, scilicet flendum est, civitas exultantis, scilicet Jerusalem, cujus inferior pars fuit tradita Assyriis. Supra 22: «Urbs frequens » civitatis exultans. » Et desolationis magnitudinem quantam ad domos, quia redactae in perpetuas tenebras, sicut accidit in aedificiis ruinosis. Et temperae. Job 12: «Palpabunt in tenebris, et non in » luce. » Et quantum ad agros, Gaudium onagrorum, qui morantur in magnis solitudinibus. Jer. 2: «Onager assuetus in solitudine. » Donec effundatur.
32:19
Hic prosequitur liberationem: et primo ponit Judaeorum consolationem; secundo hostium destructionem, ibi, Grando autem in descensione saltus; tertio prophetæ congratulationem, ibi, Beati qui seminati super omnes aquas. Circa primum tria. Primo divinam consolationem: Haec dico, contingent vastante terram Senacherib: Donec spiritus, divina consolatio. Ezech. 57: « Scietis quia ego Dominus, » quia intromittam in vos spiritum et vivetis. » Secundo consolationis modum et ordinem, quantum ad terræ fertilitatem, Et erit desertum; idest, terra vestra prius deserta, ita erit fertilis sicut Carmelus cujus fertilias reputabitur sterilatas comparatione terræ vestræ. Supra 29, idem habetur. Quantum ad justitiæ observationem, Et habitabit. Supra 1: « Sion in judicio redimetur, et reducent eum in » justitia. » Et quantum ad pacis tranquillitatem, Et erit opus, idest effectus, silentium, quia sine tumultu contentionum et bellorum. Supra 26: « Do- » mine, dabis pacem vobis. » Tertio ponit divinæ consolationis jucundam fruitionem, Et sedebit. Prov. 1: « Qui autem me audierit, sine terrore requiescet, » et abundantia perfruetur. » Grando, scilicet tribulationis, in discesione saltus; idest, descendet a Domino super hostes vestros. Civitas. Nivive. Supra 26: « Civitatem sublimem humiliabit. » Beati qui seminati super omnes aquas. Hic ostenditur prophetæ congratulatio. Super aquas, idest super loca fertilis ex abundantia aquarum.
32:20
Pedem bovis et asini, non simul, quia hoc prohibitum est. Deut. 2: « Non arabis in bove et asino. » Psalm. 127:
Labores manuum tuarum quia manducabis, be- » tus es, et bene tibi erit. » Nota super illo verbo, Erit opus justitiæ par, quia pax sanctorum in patria erit pulchra, primo quia non erit falsa. Sap. 13. Secundo quia non interrupta. Supra 9: « Et pacis non erit finis. » Tertio quia plena. Psalm. 147: « Posuit fines tuos » pacem. » Item nota super pacem futuram, quod tria faciunt pacem appetibilem. Primo firmitas divinæ potentiae. Psal. 124: « Qui confidunt in Domino, » sicut mons Sion, non commovebitur in æternum » qui habitat in Jerusalem. » Secundo puritas propriæ conscientiæ. Prov. 3: « Ambulabis fiduciali- » ter in via tua, et pes tuus non impinget. » Ter- tio remoto hostilis nequitiae. Joan. 16: « Confidite, » ego vici mundum. » Item nota super illo verbo, Beati qui seminati super aquas, quia doctrina Domini est aqua, primo quia abundat. Eccl. 24: « Ego sapientia effusi flu- » mina. » Secundo quia refrigerat. Prov. 25: « A- » qua frigida animæ sitienti. » Tertio quia fecundat infra 35: « Quomodo descendit imber de cælo » et illuc ultra non revertitur, sed inebriat terram, » et germinare eam facit; sit erit verbum quod » egredietur de ore meo. » Quarto, quia velociter portat. Joan. 4: « Fiet in eo fons aquæ salientis » in vitam æternam. » Quinto, quia singulis se conformant. Prov. 5: « In plateis aquas tuas divide. »
32:1
v. 4 « Ecce in ?ustitia regnabit rex et principes in, iudicio praeerunt » ; —&angi regnum Ezechiae eiusque imaginem proponi plerique interpetes concedunt, at simul monent, in Ezechia eiusque tempore minime esse sistendum neque in eo plenam hanc iustitiae formam fuisse exhibitam, quam hoc loco vates proponat; quare ad altius iustiliae exemplar, ad ipsum regem messanicum esse ascendendum, et sub iypo Ezechiae describi regnum Christi. Ita iam advertit Theod. heracl. historiae ratione habita agi de Ezechia, praeprimis tamen (xugíoz) verba dirigi in ipsum Salvatorem; simili modo Osor. Sanct. Sasb. Pint. For, Mar. Lap. Men. Tir. Calm. Gord. Rohl. Troch., dum alii vel de solo Ezechia mentionem faciunt (S. Ephr. Thom.) vel solum regem Messiam agnoscunt (S. Hier. Cyr. Euseb. Procop. Haimo, Malv. Mald. Sa). Periodum exhibet propheta post cladem assyriacam iis utique coloribus qui solum imperfecte in Ezechiae tempus congruunt ; quare occasione capta ex pio Ezechiae regnandi modo altius et sublimius propheta spectasse censendus est. Idque consequenter ad alia dicitur, cum iam saepius adverterjmus post cladem assyriacam fieri transitum ad liberationem messianicam (cf. 41, 1). lam quam laetos fructus editura sit iustitia quam rex et principes sedulo servant et administrant, vates exsequitur
Post cladem assyriacam prospici feliciorem rerum conditionem, pietatem omnium auctam, iustitiam florentem, iam saepius vidimus (cf. 28, 19. 29; 29, 18-24; 30, 18-26) idque plane iis congruit, a quibus hanc prophetiae partem vates auspicatus est (28, 5. 6) sorte Samariae et Ierusalem inter se opposita. Neque ullo modo dubium esse potest quin periculo assyriaco mira ratione depulso sub Ezechia rege pietas creverit et optimi regis exemplum, cui Deus tanto succurrerat miraculo, permultum valuerit ad cultum Dei inter populares promovendum et morum emendationem efficiendam. Hunc igitur fructum e calamitate oriundum vates hoc quoque loco celebrat. Quam apposite id fiat, perspicuum est. Hisce enim summopere commendatur divina providentia; quae sit utilitas calamitatis ostenditur, eriguntur et confortantur pii et edocentur, ut fructum illum prospicientes castigationes a Deo inflictas tamquam in salutarium remediorum numero habeant. Quod propheta ab initio monuit : Sion in iudicio redimetur, quodque tamquam iudiciorum Dei finem ac terminum declaravit : restituam iudices tuos ut fuerunt prius (1, 96. 21), id inchoatione quadam iam fieri post tempus tribulationis assyriacae innuit. Ceterum ad explanationem huius loci recole quae supra ad 30, 18-26 notata sunt; eadem enim est utriusque loci ratio. Ut laeta felixque efficiatur rerum conditio, primum iustitiam adesse oportet sancteque coli a rege et principibus ( vide rem a contrario 1, 23; 3, 14; 5, 23). Quare
32:2
v. 2 « et erit vir sicut qui absconditur a vento et celat se a tempestate, sicut rivi aquarum in siti et. umbra petrae prominentis in terra deserta » ; — magis nervose in hebr. et erit unusquisque sicut absconsio a vento et latibulum adversus imbrem i. e. protectionem et tutelam ab impiorum iniuriis rex et principes efficaciter praestabunt, bonorum abundantiam procurabunt, omnibus afferent consolationem ; umbra petrae ! maius praebet refrigerium, quam arboris, per cuius ramos radii solis calorem transmittunt. Sub eo igitur rege adfore describitur maximam securitatem, pacem, prosperitatem, quietem suavissimam, eaque explicantur imaginibus consuetis. Bonis hisce atque commodis alia etiam maiora sociantur
32:3
v. 3 « non caligabunt oculi videntium et aures audientium diligenter auscultabunt » ; — ablata scil. est maledictio illa et poena : excaeca cor populi et aures eius aggrava et oculos eius claude, ne forte videat oculis suis (6, 10), ablata obcaecatio 29, 10; 30, 10; iam vident et intelligunt Dei consilia, diligenter et avide doctrinam et verba prophetarum suscipiunt;
32:4
v. 4 « et cor stultorum intelliget scientiam et lingua balborum velociter loquetur et plane » ; — eaque doctrina rite percepta altas aget in corde radices ; qui antea erant festini, praecipites (hebr.), verae sapientiae expertes, iam divinae providentiae consilia intimis animis et affectibus complectentur; cor enim vitae totius quasi cardo concipitur. Et quae rite perceperunt, expedite cum aliis communicant. Antea balbutientes prophetas irridebant (28, 10); nunc praecones exsistunt veritatis. Quanta igitur ubique rerum mutatio! Notatu dignum est, quantopere vàtes spiritualem eius mutationis indolem efferat. Cum vera iustitia et pietas vigeat et omnium animi recta rerum intelligentia sint imbuti, impii e sede et auctoritate deiecti iam non sunt in honore neque fraudulentis artibus aliquam sibi vindicare poterunt in alios dominandi potestatem
32:5
v. 8 « non vocabitur ultra is qui insipiens est princeps neque fraudulentus appellabitur maior»; — morum enim perversitate fit, ut vocabula speciosa foedis rebus affingantur (cf. 5, 20); stultus 52: in s. literis vocatur impius, qui Deum esse negare conatur (cf. Ps. 43, 4) et qui variis vitiis ac sceleribus indulget; peccatum enim in s. Scriptura, uti verissime est, tamquam stultitia, amentia, mendacium traducitur. Talis autem eo tempore unusquisque reputabitur qualis revera est ; vera enim norma ferendi iudicii omnibus praesto est. Uti in v. 3 duo illa genera peccatorum, in Deum scil. et in proximos, praecipue indicat propheta, ita in v. 6 et "1 « exegesin proponit hominis flagitiosi, qui designatur ab animo, verbis et factis in Deum et homines » (Malv.)
32:6
v. 6 « stultus enim fatua. loqueturet cor. eius faciet iniquitatem, ul. perficiat simulationem et loquatur ad. Deum fraudulenter et vacuam faciat animam esurientis et potum sitienti auferat; v. "1 fraudulenti vasa pessima sunt; ipse enim. cogitationes concinnavit ad perdendos mites in sermone mendaci, cum loqueretur tur iniquitatem, quae ita in opus transeat, ut contra alios exerceat omne genus fraudis et impietatis (721 cf. 9, 1), contra Deum autem loquatur vesana (hebr.). Impietas in Deum, iniustitia, oppressio, crudelitas in alios, fraus occulta et aperta violentia, i. e. peccata in Deum et proximum arcte inter se connectuntur, sicut a contrario dilectio Deiet proximi vinculo indissolubili in una virtute theologica caritatis continetur. In v. 1 hebr. adest paronomasia; vasa intellige arma, instrumenta, scelesta, ut afflictos perdat (hebr.) sermonibus mendacii, quamvis egenus iustam suam causam demonstret. En, quanta in alios duritia, quanta perversitas ex pietate in Deum neglecta redundet. Sed illa periodo ii qui in auctoritate positi sunt, mores habent emendatos, ita ut qui munus quoddam gerit etiam quae munere digna sunt exsequatur
32:8
v. 8 « princeps vero ea quae digna sunt principe cogitabit et ipse super duces stabit » ; — hebr. nobilis nobilia decernit et ipse nobilibus insistit i. e. consilia capit principe nobili et generoso digna et quae cepit ea firmiter atque constanter in opus deducit neque se a nobili agendi ratione dimoveri sinit. Quod igitur nomine prae se fert, ditionis ita proponit propheta, ut ex ipsa descriptione facile perspiciatur, quid potissimum in aequalibus reprehendere velit : indignos quosdam esse in auctoritate positos multumque valere; ipsos populi duces et primores aliquos nomine et honore plane esse deiiciendos ; illos sane occulte petit qui foedus aegyptiacum ordiuntur. S. Hier. datam sequuntur et fraudulentum vertunt (cf. Ges. Del. Naeg. Bred. Rohl. Drechsl.) aliis notionem perditoris coniectantibus (cf. Kn.). Sed versio S. Hier. est reünenda. Ei adstipulatur Sym. o08& xà oM £5055s1xt cc5p in v. 5. Vox nun abiecto orla est ex *5*52, sicut. N'V pro N'iv3i Iob 20, 6. Ceterum veteres interpretes in ea voce explicanda variant. Aq. praebet owsuaccfáy, quae interpretatio ex eius vertendi modo facile declaratur, respexit enim externam illam cum 1*3 cvsUo; similitudinem. Theod. verit x4ex» — an igitür nos sponsam, murum ob oculos habuit ? ! LXX in v. 7 praebent : consilium enim impiorum iniqua cogitabit; multo magis in v.B a textu mas. recedunt : nec ullra dicent ministri tui : tace. — Syrus vocem interpretatur vacuum ; Chald. in v. 7 impium intelligere videtur; in v. 5 vero banc praebet paraphrasin alterius membri : qui transgressi sunt verbum eius, non dicentur fortes.
32:9
v. 9 « Mulieres opulentae, surgite et audite vocem meam! filiae confideutes, percipite auribus eloquium meum »! — hebr. mulieres securae vel tranquillae; ergo simul elucet quam parum fidei verbis et oraculis prophetae adhibuerint! De modo paroemiastico vide Prov. 2, 1; 3, 1; 4, 1; 5, 1; 6,1 etc. Si verba spectas adeo plana et mente retractaveris, mulieres tamquam matres et uxores multum valere in familia domestica, immo blanditiis, precibus, lacrimis haud parum efficere posse penes maritos, filios, mecum sane miraberis tot fuisse interpretes qui non mulieres, sed urbes et oppida vel provincias sint interpretati (S. Ephr. Cyr. Theod. Malv. For. Osor: Sanct. Mar. Calm. — Vitringa, Ros. Eichhorn), uti Chald. quoque, alios autem intellexisse vel viros effeminatos vel synagogas (Euseb.), alios rem in medio reliquisse (cf. S. Hier. Haim. Thom. Pint.). Verum nulla adest nec excogitari potest ratio, cur ab ea interpretatione recedamus quam teste S. Hier. iam eius tempore plerique veram arbitrabantur, intelligendas esse mulieres; ita quoque explicant Eam iis primo denuntiat calamitatis partem qua matresfamilias et rerum domesticarum administrae maxime tanguntur, defore messem indeque victus rationem
Uti sacer vates in describenda conditione meliore, quae subsecutura est calamitatem assyriacam, sui temporis vitia iam tetigit (v. 5 seq.), ita nunc plane ad aequales suos exhortandos revertitur. Mulieres autem alloquitur easque a falsa quadam securitate qua nihil mali sibi esse pertimescendum opinantur deiicere studet. Proinde nobiles quaedam mulieres talem videntur posuisse spem in foedere aegyptiaco quod inire principes gestiebant, ut nihil ab Assyriis esse timendum sibi persuaserint. Hisce vates graviter denuntiat quantopere fallantur. Uti 3, 16 seq. pompam et luxum muliebrem acriter insectatus est, ita nunc falsam earum fiduciam et fallacem securitatem perstringit. Incipit more paroemiastae attentionem excitans atque postulans
32:10
v. 10 «post dies enim et annum vos conturbabimini confidentes; consummata est enim vindemia, collectio ultra non veniet » ; — hebr. proprie dies ad annum i. e. ad annum praesentem dies adhuc addendi sunt numero incerto, ergo aliquo tempore post annum evolutum vel etiam a tempore quo haec dicuntur annus adhuc praeteribit integer et certus dierum numerus; utro sensu verba sint intelligenda, nemo definierit. Ceterum des spatium designant satis incertum ; Num. 9, 22 plus quam mensis, Iud. 17, 10. 4 Sam. 27, '| annus ea voce designatur. Ergo post aliquod tempus ex falsa securitate certissime expergiscent trepidantes : deerit vindemia et collectio fructuum, messis igitur aestiva seu autumnalis. Assyrii enim vel per aestatem regionem vastaverunt vel ita omnem circa urbem regionem et campum occupant, ut vineae hortique nequeant adiri. Rerum autem penuria ad luctum provocantur, quem ut more orientalium edant propheta hortatur; tali vero ad luctus indicia assumenda exhortatione efficax exprimitur rerum futurarum praedictio, quae ob certissimum affirmandi modum non poterit non multum in animos valere
32:11
v. 41 « obstupescite opulentae, . conturbamini confidentes, exuite vos et confundimini, accingite lumbos vestros,
32:12
v. 12 super ubera plangite super regione desiderabili, super vinea. fertili »!— hebr. contremiscite securae, trepidate confidentes, deponite scil. ornatum et pompam, vestes v. g. illas luxuriosas, de quibus 3, 16 seq. mudate vos, uti est lugentium vestibus squalidis incedere vel etiam vestitu convenienti carere ad luctus magnitudinem declarandam, accingite lumbos vestros sacco scil. (cf. 3, 99; 15, 3; 22, 12); et cum saccus quandoque super nudo gerebatur (3 Reg. 91, 21. 4 Reg. 6, 30), illud nudate vos etiam accipi potest, ut vestimenta mollia omnia seponant et carnem sacco ac cilicio affligant. Hisce v. 42 addere dicuntur aliud luctus signum : pectora scil. tundunt (hebr.) propter regionis vastationem lugentes. Undique igitur moerore confectae apparent : anguntur, tremunt, lugent vehementer. De luctus indiciis cf. Iob 46, 16. Mich. 4, 8. Nah. 9, 40 etc. formae in v. 11 tres illae n PUn mous, mus secundum accentus mas. appositos 5 illud paragogicum esse declaratur. Quare explicatio quam maxime probabilis ea esse videtur, ut ibi cernatur imperat. masc. cum he paragogico ; ita iam formam explicuit Mar. et explicant Ges. Hitz. Del. Naeg. Bred. Rohl. In qua sententia iterum cernitur enallage generis eL numeri. Aliis explicare placet imp. pl. fem. ita tamen ut litera aum sit elisione eiecta (ita rabbini, Drechsl. Ewald 8. 226 a), quae tamen literae eiectio nullo alio exemplo hebr. demonstrari polest, quamvis in lingua aethiopica inveniatur. Alii demum explieant inf. cum he (cf. Malv. For.) vel per modum substantivi vel cum he paragogico. Sed priori explicationi. obstat punctatio, allera non minus inusitata videtur (ef. Del. Naeg. Hebr. Grammatik p. 30 not. 4). Atque revera aderit, cur lugeant et pectora tundant. Tota enim regio vastatione et horrore squalebit invasionem hostilem experta
32:13
v. 13 « super humum populi mei spinae et vepres ascendent ; quanto magis super omnes domos gaudii civitatis exsultantis » ? — cf. 24, 1 luxit vindemia ; spinae et vepres maledictionem dicunt quae propter incolarum impietatem agris campisque infligitur, Gen. 3, 18. Hisce igitur contecti hominum accusant iniquitates. Atque eadem vastatione etiam (hebr. *» immo ? profecto) prosternentur domus deliciarum urbis exsultabundae ; immo eae iure potiore, quia ubi peccatis magis indulgebatur, ibi magis etiam cerni maledictionem peccati oportet. Unde facile fluit quod habet vulg. quanto magis. Cum autem ipsa urbs Ierusalem non sit capta ab Assyriis, potissimum intelligendae erunt domus gaudii quas cives extra muros habebant, uti iam monet For. Atque quantopere finis sit imponendus laetitiae et tripudiis et quid immineat, nisi sincera ad Deum conversione ultimam averterint et extremam ruinam, vates minatur
32:14
v. 44 « domus enim dimissa est, multitudo urbis relicta est, tenebrae et palpatio factae sunt super speluncas in. aeternum ; gaudium. onagrorum, pascua gregum » ; — clarius colligitur sensus ex hebr. palatium relictum est, tumultus urbis cessavit i. e. urbsob frequentiam olim tumultu et strepitu plena iam tristi silentio luget ; arz (Ophel) et munilio erunt in speluncam in aeternum, gaudium onagrorum ; ita hebr. iam explicant Vat. Mald. Mar. Malv. Sasb. Calm. et recentiores. Ipse S. Hier. notat in hebr. dici Ophel et Been (1^3) « quas Hebraei duas turres in Ierusalem fuisse arbitrantur », haec autem nomina interin commentario autem palpabiles tenebras utramque vocem explicat ; quare sensus vulg. ita commode cum Mald. reddi potest : urbes frequentissimae fient obscurae speluncae, ut earum tenebrae palpari queant. 1. Explicat nempe pd ac si esset *5x, quod idem habes Mich. 4, 8 ; vide quae ad illum . Hebr. Ophel tumulum vel clivum dicit, sed peculiari modo eo nomine vocatur clivus in parte meridionali montis Sion muro munitus (cf. 29 Par. 91, 3; 83, 14. Neh. 3, 26; 141, 21); Bachan explicant speculam vel turrim quae fuerit in colle Ophel; neque improbabiliter ; cf. Neh. 3, 25.97 (ita For. Mald. Malv. Troch. Kn. Del. Naeg.). Sensus non restringatur oportet ad lIerusaiem, sed in universum enuntiatur, quid per terram palaestinensem futurum sit ; quare Ophel quoque notione communi explica i. e. omnes colles et turres, omnes munitiones fore vastandas. Id. factum esse per Assyrios, facile sibi persuaserit qui legerit omnes civitates munitas fuisse captas ab Assyriis (36, 1. 4 leg. 18, 13) et in ipsis annalibus Sennacherib regis dici oppida innumerabilia et loca munita fuisse expugnata (cf. Vigourouz, Schrader, ]. c.). Regionem ergo fertilissimam, urbes, oppida, castella in solitudinem ac desertum, ubi bestiae impune commorentur esse convertenda propheta minatur, idque in aeternum i. e. peccatis incolarum talem deberi punitionem quam ipsi vel avertere vel expiatione criminum facta tollere nulla ratione possint. Verum Dominus isque solus vastationi terminum ponere atque feliciorem rerum conditionem ex illis ruinis ac miseriis excitare potest et excitare revera vult. Unde
32:15
v. 15 « donec effundatur super nos spiritus de excelso, et erit desertum in. Carmel et Carmel in saltum reputabitur » ; — en, spiritus ille soporis 29, 10 non poterit vinci et expelli nisi spiritu Dei in homines effuso, quo interna quaedam animi quasi regeneratio efficiatur et novus vitae fons homini aperiatur. Ita scil. Dei virtute et gratia, quam hominum mentibus infundit et qua eas nova rerum divinarum luce et robore imbuit, felix illa mutatio in opus deducetur. Verissime id monet propheta ; homo enim suis viribus plane impos est qui peccata eorumque damna reparet et resarciat; opus est gratia .Dei et virtute, qua animus a morte ad novam vitam revocetur et qua ei denuo spiraculum vitae inspiretur. Spiritus Dei effusio peculiari ratione periodo messianicae attribuitur (cf. Ioel 2, 28. Ez. 36, 25; 39, 29); unde hoc quoque loco denuo confirmatur quod saepius monuimus, prophetam post calamitatem assyriacam felicem rerum mutationem ita adumbrare, ut uno conspectu tempus quoque messianicum complectatur (cf. 32, 1). De Carmel vide 29, 1. Quemadmodum maledietio peccato inhaerens in desolatione et vastitate terrae exprimitur (cf. 18, 14 et modo in v. 12-14), ita innovationi et sanctitati proprium esse perhibetur, ut in rerum quoque naturam splendore quodam redundet (cf. 30, 23 seq.). Quare elfectus effusionis spiritus Dei ita describitur, ut desertum transmutetur in campum amoenum ; quo symbolo et nova illa vita ubertasque operum bonorum quam spiritus Dei in animis efficiet, et benedicto illa optime illustratur quae ab hominum sanctitate in. res creatas redundabit. Ita sane intelligenda erit prior membri alterius pars. Sed quid sibi vult : campus amoenus et fertilis in saltum reputabitur ? Non puto sensum esse : impius elatus qui prius videbatur cultissimus iam horrescit (Malv.) neque censeo designari priorem conditionem | securitatis falsae, quae nunc demum tamquam talis agnoscatur et despiciatur; nam ex v. 13. 14 abunde constat talem rerum conditionem iam dudum censeri ablatam, neque puto effusionem spiritus Dei ita exhiberi, ut priorem effectum amplissimum alter subsequatur multo minor, cui habendo par sit calamitas ipsa per Assyrios inflicta. Veram explicationis viam innuit S. Thom. : « terra vestra prius deserta ita erit fertilis sicut. Carmelus, cuius fertilitas reputabitur sterilitas comparatione terrae vestrae ». Unde si rationem symbolicam consideraveris, merito dixeris ea comparatione declarari quantopere nova illa conditio priore futura sit perfectior ac sublimior, ita ut si utriusque temporis speciem inter se contuleris, id quod antea in regionis amoenae 3c fertilis censu habebatur, iam nunc prae gloria novae conditionis non reputandum sit nisi in loco silvae horridae atque incultae (cf. Sanct.). Atque hanc esse veram v. 15 acceptionem, etiam sequentibus colligitur, quibus quae sit spiritus Del effusio clarius proponitur
32:16
v. 16 « et habitabit in solitudine iudicium et iustitia in Carmel sedebit » ; — 1. e. norma Dei eiusque voluntas ubique valebit et plene dominabitur ; in solitudine, apud eos ipsos, quorum quia Deo rebelles erant terra antea . est vastationi et solitudini tradita; et in regione fertili, apud eos quorum regio benedictione coelesti tamquam mercede fidei et pietatis non carebat. Quodsi iustitia et sanctitas ubique viguerit, fructus exorientur laetissimi
32:17
v. 11 « et erit opus iustitiae pax et cultus iustitiae silentium et securitas usque in sempiternum » ; — cultus i. e. proventus, effectus iustitiae erit quies et securitas (hebr.); ubi enim lex Dei observatur, ibi Deus pacis bona sua abundanter largitur. Bene notat Mald.: « allüdit ad falsam illam securitatem v. 9. 11, cui opponit veram et solidam securitatem ». Tunc populi Dei conditio talis erit. qualem pro hereditate Dei iuremerito exspectamus
32:18
v. 18 « et sedebit populus meus in pulchritudine pacis et in tabernaculis fiduciae et in requie opulenta » ; — parliceps erit bonorum Dei cuius est summa pace et beatitate imperturbata perpetuo frui ; huius quasi imaginem populus prae se feret. Haec bona tamquam tempori messianico propria describi solent, apud prophetas ; unde iterum patet prophetam felicitatem futuram quam describit non uno Ezechiae tempore concludere, verum beatiorem prospicere messianicam periodum. Demum per modum epiphonematis et cladem hostibus infligendam et felicitatem subsecuturam i. e. totum huius partis argumentum breviter recolit;
32:19
v. 19 « grando autem in descensione saltus et humilitate humiliabitur civitas » ; — hebr. grandinat, dwm. saltus cadit; saltus qui succiditur et grando quoque iam supra cladem annuntiarunt et descrip. serunt Assyriorum (10, 34 ; 30, 30); quare dubium non est ruinam declarari Assyriorum, qua scil. via paratur ad feliciorem conditionem ; urbs autem quae huinilitate hwmilianda erit i. e. quae pro sua superbia quam maxime humiliabitur est illa ipsa, de qua talis annuntiatur abiectio et castigatio 29, 1-4. 14; 28, 18. 19; 30, 16. 17, urbs scil. lerusalem, quatenus summo periculo et angustiis premetur ita, ut omnia subsidia humana plane deficiant (cf. 37, 3). Hanc rite intelligant S. Ilier Osor. For. Sasb. Malv. Mar. Lap. Men. Tir. Rohl., dum alii vel Niniven civitatem Assyriorum (S. Ephr. Thom. Calm.), vel Babylonem (Sanct. Troch.) vel omnes urbes hostium Dei, uti 24, 10 explicant (Drechsl. Bred.); at in hac oraculorum serie de alia civitate quam lerusalem non est sermo, quare in isto epiphonemate (uti Sanct. bene hanc partem appellat) alia urbs nequit intelligi. In hebr. attende paronomasiam (nma 753; ^v, ?'). Sunt qui saltus quoque deiectionem de Iudaeis contumacibus accipiant (S. Hier. For. Lap. Men. Pint.); sed sane in brevi hoc sermonum argumento non quaerenda est tautologia, verum rerum iractatarum mentio succincta; adde saltum et grandinem alias clare usurpari de Assyriis. Hostibus Dei et alienigenis et domesticis (qui scil. sint ex domo et familia Dei) deiectis atque punitis laetiorem subsequi ac feliciorem epocham, saepius audivimus ; quare id quoque h. l. recolitur
32:20
v. 20 « beati qui seminaltis super omnes aquas immittentes pedem bovis et asini » ; — qui seminatis ad omnes aquas, dimittentes liberum pedem bovis... eos vagari libere permittentes in pascuis abundantibus. Depingitur terrae fertilitas, pax, securitas, quia greges libere vagari possunt. Alii : immittentes in ipsas segetes, ut eas depascantur; tantam scil. fore copiam et luxuriem satorum (Malv. Mar. Troch.). Propheta hac imagine brevi recolit quod cognata ratione pluribus 30, 23. 94 proposuerat; etiam hoc loco valet fertilitate terrae exhibita benedictionem Dei et beneplacitum declarari propter populi pietatem et sub allegoria bonorum temporalium abundantiam promitti spiritualium (cf. Malv. Sanct.) ; recole quae dicta sunt ad 30, 95.
32:11
… E. Kautzsch understands it as "sons of wrath," that is, "irascible" (the Hebrew-Aramaic rgs means "wrath": Is. 23:11; 32:11; 37:28 ff.; Dan. 3:13; etc.). …
32:14
by Is. 32:14 (Vulg. tenebrae) and by Mic. 4:8 (Vulg. nebulosa
32:15
… 27:18, and more often in the prophetic books; Isaiah announces the outpouring of the Spirit upon the Messiah (Is. 41:1; 42:1 ff.; principally 11:1-2, a text that became classic for the enumeration of the gifts of the Holy Spirit) and upon all his people (Is. 32:15; 44 ff.), as later expressed in Ez. 37:12 and Joel 2:28-29. The value of these testimonies is assessed in different ways. …
… remain in Jerusalem until they are clothed with "power from on high" (Lk. 24, 49: which is the power of the Holy Spirit, Acts 1, 4-8). J. thus fulfills the other messianic prophecy, which promised for his days the outpouring of the Spirit of the Lord: Is. 32, 15; Joel 2, 28-32 [Hebr. 3, 1-5]. The outpouring of the Spirit brought with it confirmation in the apostolate, especially in its office of bearing witness to the Risen One: Acts 1, …
32:20
The declarative exclamation beginning with "blessed" (Heb. 'ashre, "blessings of...") occurs in the Old Testament (Deut. 33:29; 1 Sam. 10:8; Job 5:17; Prov. 3:13, 18, and 6 other times; Eccles. 10:17; Is. 30:18; 32:20; 56:2; Dan. 12:12), especially in the Psalms (Ps. 1:1, and 25 other times). …
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.