The synagogue shall be divorced for her iniquities. Christ for her sake will endure ignominious afflictions.
The Sinagogue shal be diuorced for her iniquities. 4. Christ wil omite no ordinarie meanes, but for her sake wil indure ignominious afflictions. 10. Al which she contemning shal perish.
1Thus saith the Lord: What is this bill of the divorce of your mother, with which I have put her away? or who is my creditor, to whom I sold you: behold you are sold for your iniquities, and for your wicked deeds have I put your mother away.Queste cose dice il Signore: Che libello di ripudio è quello, con cui ho ripudiato la vostra madre? o chi è quel mio creditore, a cui io vi ho venduti? ecco, che voi per le vostre scelleraggini siete stati venduti, e per le vostre scelleraggini ho io ripudiata la madre vostra.THVS sayth our Lord: What is this bill of the diuorce of our mother, wherwith I haue dismissed her? or who is my creditour, to whom I sold you? Loe you are solde for your wicked deedes, I haue dismist your mother.Hæc dicit Dominus: / Quis est hic liber repudii matris vestræ, / quo dimisi eam ? / aut quis est creditor meus, / cui vendidi vos ? / Ecce in iniquitatibus vestris venditi estis, / et in sceleribus vestris dimisi matrem vestram. 2Because I came, and there was not a man: I called, and there was none that would hear. Is my hand shortened and become little, that I cannot redeem? or is there no strength in me to deliver? Behold at my rebuke I will make the sea a desert, I will turn the rivers into dry land: the fishes shall rot for want of water, and shall die for thirst.Perocché io venni, e anima non vi era: chiamai, e non fu chi mi ascoltasse. E ella forse accorciata, ed è divenuta piccola la mano mia, talmente che io non possa redimere? o non è in me possanza per liberare? Ecco, che alla mia minaccia renderò deserto il mare, asciugherò i fiumi: marciranno senz'acqua i pesci, e periranno di sete.Because I came, and there was not a man: I called, and there was none that would heare. Why, is myne hand abridged and made a litle one, that I can not redeme? or is there no strength in me to deliuer? Behold, in my rebuke I wil make the sea desert, I wil turne the floodes into drie land: the fishes shal rot without water, and shal dye for thirst.Quia veni, et non erat vir; / vocavi, et non erat qui audiret. / Numquid abbreviata et parvula facta est manus mea, / ut non possim redimere ? / aut non est in me virtus ad liberandum ? / Ecce in increpatione mea desertum faciam mare, / ponam flumina in siccum; / computrescent pisces sine aqua, / et morientur in siti. 3I will clothe the heavens with darkness, and will make sackcloth their covering.Vestirò a nero i cieli, e li cuoprirò di cilicio.I wil clothe the heauens with darknes, and wil make sackcloth their couering.Induam cælos tenebris, / et saccum ponam operimentum eorum. 4The Lord hath given me a learned tongue, that I should know how to uphold by word him that is weary: he wakeneth in the morning, in the morning he wakeneth my ear, that I may hear him as a master.Il Signore mi ha dato una lingua erudita, affinchè io sappia sostenere colla parola i caduti: egli al mattino mi tocca, tocca a me al mattino le orecchie, affinchè io l'ascolti come maestro.The Lord hath geuen me a learned tongue, that I may know to stay him vp that is wearie, with a word: he stirreth vp in the morning, in the morning he stirreth vp mine eare, that I may heare him as a master.Dominus dedit mihi / linguam eruditam, / ut sciam sustentare eum qui lassus est verbo. / Erigit mane, / mane erigit mihi aurem, / ut audiam quasi magistrum.
5The Lord God hath opened my ear, and I do not resist: I have not gone back.Il Signore Dio mi ha aperta l'orecchia, ed io non contraddico: non mi tiro indietro.The Lord God hath opened mine eare, and I doe not gaynsay? I am not gone backward.Dominus Deus aperuit mihi aurem, / ego autem non contradico: / retrorsum non abii. 6I have given my body to the strikers, and my cheeks to them that plucked them: I have not turned away my face from them that rebuked me, and spit upon me.Ho dato il corpo mio a que', che mi percuotevano, e le mie guancie a que', che mi strappavan la barba: non ho ascoso il mio volto a quegli, che mi schernivano, e mi sputacchiavano.I haue geuen my bodie to the strikers, & my cheekes to the pluckers: I haue not turned away my face from the rebukers & spitters.Corpus meum dedi percutientibus, / et genas meas vellentibus; / faciem meam non averti ab increpantibus / et conspuentibus in me. 7The Lord God is my helper, therefore am I not confounded: therefore have I set my face as a most hard rock, and I know that I shall not be confounded.Il Signore Dio è mio aiuto, per questo io non son restato confuso: per questo ho renduta la mia faccia come selce durissima, e so, che io non rimarrò confuso.The Lord God is mine helper, therfore am I not confounded: therfore haue I set my face, as a most hard rocke, and I know that I shal not be confounded.Dominus Deus auxiliator meus, / ideo non sum confusus; / ideo posui faciem meam ut petram durissimam, / et scio quoniam non confundar. 8He is near that justifieth me, who will contend with me? let us stand together, who is my adversary? let him come near to me.Mi sta dappresso colui, che mi giustifica, chi sarà mio contraddittore? Stiamo insieme in giudizio, chi è il mio avversario? si accosti a me.He is neere that iustifieth me, who shal gaynesay me? let vs stand together who is myne aduersarie? let him come to me.Juxta est qui justificat me; quis contradicet mihi ? / Stemus simul; / quis est adversarius meus ? accedat ad me. 9Behold the Lord God is my helper: who is he that shall condemn me? Lo, they shall all be destroyed as a garment, the moth shall eat them up.Ecco, che il Signore Dio è mio aiuto, chi è, che mi condanni? Ecco, che tutti (questi) saran consunti come un vestimento, il verme li mangerà.Behold the Lord God, my helper: who is he that shal condemne me? Loe they shal al be destroyed as a garment, the mothe shal eate them.Ecce Dominus Deus auxiliator meus; / quis est qui condemnet me ? / Ecce omnes quasi vestimentum conterentur; / tinea comedet eos. 10Who is there among you that feareth the Lord, that heareth the voice of his servant, that hath walked in darkness, and hath no light? let him hope in the name of the Lord, and lean upon his God.Chi è tra voi, che tema il signore, e ascolti la voce del suo servo? Chi cammina nelle tenebre, ed è senza luce, speri nel nome del Signore, e si appoggi al suo Dio.Which of you feareth our Lord, heareth the voice of his seruant, who hath walked in darkenes, and hath no light? let him hope in the name of our Lord, and leane vpon his God.Quis ex vobis timens Dominum, / audiens vocem servi sui ? / Qui ambulavit in tenebris, / et non est lumen ei, / speret in nomine Domini, / et innitatur super Deum suum.
11Behold all you that kindle a fire, encompassed with flames, walk in the light of your fire, and in the flames which you have kindled: this is done to you by my hand, you shall sleep in sorrows.Voi tutti però, ecco, che accendete fuoco, siete in mezzo alle fiamme, camminate al lume del vostro fuoco, e delle fiamme accese da voi: dalla mano mia è stato a voi fatto questo; voi dormirete in mezzo ai dolori.Loe al you doe kindle a fyre, are compassed with flames, walke in the light of your fyre, and in the flames which you haue kindled: of my hand is this done to you, you shal sleepe in sorrowes.Ecce vos omnes accendentes ignem, / accincti flammis: / ambulate in lumine ignis vestri, / et in flammis quas succendistis; / de manu mea factum est hoc vobis: / in doloribus dormietis.
50:1
Away. Such a one could not be received again, if she had taken another husband, Deuteronomy 24:3. Some explain this of the captives. But God restored them to favour. It seems rather to relate to the reprobation (Calmet) of the synagogue, which will never again become the true Church, (Haydock) though many of Israel will be converted, Romans 11:25.
Calmet
Sold you, as a father might do, Exodus 21:1., and Matthew 18:15. St. Ambrose (Tob.[Tobias?] viii.) inveighs against such cruel parents, as the Christian religion had not then entirely repressed this inhumanity. (Calmet)
Worthington
God rejected the synagogue, not out of hard-heartedness or want, but because of her sins. (Worthington)
50:2
Calmet
Hear. My spouse had gone after other lovers. The people refused to hear the prophets; and the priests were become as corrupt as the rest, when the city was taken by the Chaldeans and by the Romans. (Calmet)
Haydock
Sea. Babylon, Isaias 21. (Haydock)
I could work the same miracles, as I did when Israel came out of Egypt.
50:4
Calmet
Weary. Isaias speaks in the name of Christ, whose words carried conviction and comfort along with them, John 6:69., and 7:46. (Calmet)
Ec. vi
Wakeneth. Literally, "lifteth up." Cynthius aurem---Vellit. (Ec. vi.)
Haydock
Hear, or obey. (Haydock)
Worthington
Christ preached more powerfully than Isaias, and continues to do so by his pastors. (St. Jerome) (Worthington)
50:6
Calmet
Spit. The greatest indignity, Job 30:10., and Deuteronomy 25:9. Yet this was the treatment of our Saviour, Luke 18:31., and Matthew 26:67. (Calmet)
50:7
Rock. Christ heard the accusations of his enemies unmoved, as he had not been afraid to blame the conduct of the Pharisees.
50:10
Menochius
Light. The faithful are exhorted to take courage, while the Romans will destroy the rebellious Jews, (ver. 11.; Calmet) and the wicked shall dwell in hell fire. (Menochius)
50:1
God diuorced not the Synagogue from him of hardnes of hart.
Neither deliuered her for payment, as though he were in debt to anie creditor.
But her owne reuolt, and iniquities separated her from Christ.
50:2
50:4
Skill of tongue how to speake, & discretion when & where, was geuen to Isaias, ch. 6. v. 6. Much more (saith S. Ierom) to Christe who spake in his life, was silent in his passion, and now speaketh by his Apostles, and other pastores.
50:6
Concordance Mat. 26.
50:8
Concordance Rom. 8.
50:1
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on Matthew 14.17
… wherefore, reproaching her for falling away from him, it says in Isaiah, “Of what kind is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, with which I sent her away?”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 12
… Do you note the wisdom of Paul, how he points out that the Law itself designs that we should be divorced from it, and married to another? For there is nothing, he means, against your living with another husband, now the former is dead; for how should there be, since when the husband was alive it allowed this to her who had a writing of divorcement?
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 23.12
… Hear what He added to the former passage, and how He charges the same servants of sin with the reason for their voluntary sale. “Is My hand shortened and become little that I cannot redeem, or is there no strength in Me to deliver?”
50:2
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 68
… lxxiii. 27 , LXX.) And Hosea saith, “Thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, and I will also forget thee” ( Hos. iv. 6 , LXX.); and He saith Himself also in the Gospels, “How often would I have gathered your children—and ye would not.” ( Luke xiii. 34 .) Esaias also again, “I came, and there was no man; I called, and there was none to hearken.” (
50:3
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.42
… These proofs would still have been suitable for me, even if they had not been the subject of prophecy. Isaiah says: “I will clothe the heavens with blackness.”
50:4
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 102
… as has been declared in the memoirs of His apostles, in order that what is recorded by Isaiah might have efficacious fruit, where it is written, ‘The Lord gives me a tongue, that I may know when I ought to speak.’
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.39
… Now, one cannot wonder that He forbade “premeditation,” who actually Himself received from the Father the ability of uttering words in season: “The Lord hath given to me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season (to him that is weary);”
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.42
… “And they shall carry Him bound as a present to the king.” Herod was “exceeding glad” when he saw Jesus, but he heard not a word from Him. For, “as a lamb before the shearer is dumb, so He opened not His mouth,” because “the Lord had given to Him a disciplined tongue, that he might know how and when it behoved Him to speak”
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 22
… spake to them concerning the Father,” although they ought certainly to have known that the Father’s words were uttered in the Son, because they read in Jeremiah, “And the Lord said to me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth;” and again in Isaiah, “The Lord hath given to me the tongue of learning that I should understand when to speak a word in season.”
Tertullian † AD 220 Against Praxeas 23
… “And he that seeth me, seeth Him that sent me.” How so? Even because, (as He afterwards declares,) “I have not spoken from myself, but the Father which sent me: He hath given me a commandment what I should say, and what I should speak.” For “the Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know when I ought to speak”
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 21.4
… and that with unveiled face ye might reflect as a mirror the glory of the Lord . Then on your ears; that ye might receive the ears which are quick to hear the Divine Mysteries, of which Esaias said, The Lord gave me also an ear to hear
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.95
… before my eyes had been accustomed to gaze safely upon created things, with wonder only for the Creator, and without injury to the creature; before my ear had been sufficiently opened to the instruction of the Lord, and He had opened mine ear to hear
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 1.2
… I know that most persons speak because they do not know how to keep silent. It is seldom that any one is silent even when speaking profits him nothing. He is wise, then, who knows how to keep silent. Lastly, the Wisdom of God said: “The Lord hath given to me the tongue of learning, that I should know when it is good to speak.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Corinthians 7
… for not of himself alone is he speaking, but of the whole human race. What then? The Prophets, did not they hear? Yes, they heard; but the prophetic ear was not the ear “of man:” for not as men heard they, but as Prophets. Wherefore he said, (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 69
Surely these things were said for their sakes, that they might have no pretense of excuse. Since if this were not the case, what shall He have more than Isaiah? for he too saith the very same thing, “The Lord God giveth me the tongue of the learned, that I should know when I ought to speak a word.” (
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 2.13
… “the Lord hath given me a learned tongue that I should know how to uphold by word him that is weary:”
50:5
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 The Epistles of Cyprian 6.4
… and as a lamb before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.” “I am not rebellious,” says He, “neither do I gainsay. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to the palms of their hands. I hid not my face from the filthiness of spitting.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 2.14
… man has gone out of his way. And God has delivered Him for our sins; and He, because He was afflicted, opened not His mouth.” Also in the same: “I am not rebellious, nor do I contradict. I gave my back to the stripes, and my cheeks to the palms of the hands. Moreover, I did not turn away my face from the foulness of spitting, and God was my helper.”
50:6
St Barnabas † AD 61 The Epistle of Barnabas 5
… For says he who prophesies regarding Him, “Spare my soul from the sword, fasten my flesh with nails; for the assemblies of the wicked have risen up against me.” And again he says, “Behold, I have given my back to scourges, and my cheeks to strokes, and I have set my countenance as a firm rock.”
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 The First Apology 38
… “I gave My back to the scourges, and My cheeks to the buffetings; I turned not away My face from the shame of spittings; and the Lord was My helper: therefore was I not confounded: but I set My face as a firm rock; and I knew that I should not be ashamed, for He is near that justifieth Me.”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.33.12
12. Some of them, moreover—[when they predicted that] as a weak and inglorious man, and as one who knew what it was to bear infirmity, and sitting upon the foal of an ass, He should come to Jerusalem; and that He should give His back to stripes,
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 3.5
… It is indeed more natural to the prophetic divination to represent as seen and already brought to pass, even while forseeing it, that which it foresees; in other words, that which is by all means future. As for instance, in Isaiah: “I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks (I exposed) to their hands. I hid not my face from shame and spitting.”
Tertullian † AD 220 On the Resurrection of the Flesh 20
… and the rulers in Annas and Caiaphas, were gathered together “against the Lord, and against His anointed.” He, again, was “led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a sheep before the shearer,” that is, Herod, “is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.” “He gave His back to scourges, and His cheeks to blows, not turning His face even from the shame of spitting.”
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Persecution and Lapse of Liberius 1
… The Deacon, while he was being scourged, praised the Lord, remembering His words, ‘I gave My back to the smiters
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 10
… Thus even our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ comes before us, when He would shew men how to suffer, Who when He was smitten bore it patiently, being reviled He reviled not again, when He suffered He threatened not, but He gave His back to the smiters, and His cheeks to buffetings, and turned not His face from spitting
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 59
… On the contrary, the incorporeal Word made His own the properties of the Body, as being His own Body. Why, when the Body was struck by the attendant, as suffering Himself He asked, ‘Why smitest thou Me ?’ And being by nature intangible, the Word yet said, ‘I gave My back to the stripes, and My cheeks to blows, and hid not My face from shame and spitting
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 13.13
… But that they who are being saved may not disbelieve, the Holy Ghost writes before, in the person of Christ, who says, (for He who then spake these things, was afterward Himself an actor in them,) I gave My back to the scourges ; (for Pilate, when he had scourged Him, delivered Him to be crucified
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.115
115. By these arguments I charmed myself, and by degrees my soul relaxed and became ductile, like iron, and time came to the aid of my arguments, and the testimonies of God, to which I had entrusted my whole life, were my counsellors. Therefore I was not rebellious, neither turned away back,
Rufinus of Aquileia † AD 411 A Commentary on the Apostles' Creed 21
… For this reason they are foretold by the Prophets, lest any doubt should spring up in those who are about to believe. Christ the Lord Himself therefore in His own person, says, “I gave My back to the scourges, and My cheeks to the palms, I turned not away My face from shame and spitting.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 50.5
… I too have had a liberal education. As Juvenal says, “I also have often withdrawn my hand from the ferule.” Of me, too, it may be said in the words of Horace, “Flee from him; he has hay on his horn.” But I prefer to be a disciple of Him who says, “I gave my back to the smiters…I hid not my face from shame and spitting.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 69.9
… One hour’s debauch makes Noah uncover his nakedness which through sixty years of sobriety he had kept covered. Lot in a fit of intoxication unwittingly adds incest to incontinence, and wine overcomes the man whom Sodom failed to conquer. A bishop that is a striker is condemned by Him who gave His back to the smiters,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 92.8
… thou shalt not sink: hold thyself fast to Christ. What do I mean by this, hold fast to Christ? It was for this reason that He chose to suffer on earth Himself. Ye have heard, while the prophet was being read, how He “did not turn away His back from the smiters, and His face from the spittings of men,” how “He turned not His cheek from their hands;”
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 55
… whereas you did find truly and oft-times written that which applies to your abominable wicked-doing and to the Lord’s voluntary suffering. For He Himself says by Isaiah, “I gave My back to the scourges, My cheeks to the palms of the hand, I turned not My face from the shame of spitting
50:7
St Barnabas † AD 61 The Epistle of Barnabas 6
… “And he who shall trust in it shall live for ever.” Is our hope, then, upon a stone? Far from it. But [the language is used] inasmuch as He laid his flesh [as a foundation] with power; for He says, “And He placed me as a firm rock.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 To My Lady 2
… For the railings, and insults, and reproaches, and gibes inflicted by enemies, and their plots are compared to a worn-out garment, and moth-eaten wool when God says “Fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings, for they shall wax old as doth a garment, and like moth-eaten wool so shall they be consumed.”
50:8
St Barnabas † AD 61 The Epistle of Barnabas 6
When, therefore, He has fulfilled the commandment, what saith He? “Who is he that will contend with Me? let him oppose Me: or who is he that will enter into judgment with Me? let him draw near to the servant of the Lord.”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.33.13
… and partly the fact that, when He comes from heaven with His mighty angels, the whole earth shall be shaken, as He Himself declares, “There shall be a great earthquake, such as has not been from the beginning.” And again, when one says, “Whosoever is judged, let him stand opposite; and whosoever is justified, let him draw near to the servant of God;”
50:9
St Barnabas † AD 61 The Epistle of Barnabas 6
When, therefore, He has fulfilled the commandment, what saith He? “Who is he that will contend with Me? let him oppose Me: or who is he that will enter into judgment with Me? let him draw near to the servant of the Lord.” “Woe unto you, for ye shall all wax old, like a garment, and the moth shall eat you up.”
50:10
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 3.17
… Let us here, then, in general terms complete the subject which we had entered upon, by indicating, as we pass on, how Christ was fore-announced by Isaiah as a preacher: “For who is there among you,” says he, “that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of His Son?”
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.22
… but there was the accustomed voice from heaven, and the Father’s testimony to the Son; precisely as in the first Psalm He had said, “Thou art my Son, today have I begotten thee.” By the mouth of Isaiah also He had asked concerning Him, “Who is there among you that feareth God? Let him hear the voice of His Son.”
50:11
Tertullian † AD 220 An Answer to the Jews 13
… who, again, in the Psalm, demands of the Father their dispersion, saying, “Disperse them in Thy power;” who, withal, again through Isaiah prays for their utter burning . “On My account,” He says, “have these things happened to you; in anxiety shall ye sleep.”
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 3.23
… In the fifty-eighth Psalm He demands of the Father their dispersion: “Scatter them in Thy power.” By Isaiah He also says, as He finishes a prophecy of their consumption by fire: “Because of me has this happened to you; ye shall lie down in sorrow.”
Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis 2.10.4
4. We find in the prophet Isaiah, that the fire with which each one is punished is described as his own; for he says, “Walk in the light of your own fire, and in the flame which ye have kindled.”
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 40
… that is, that the signs of the illumination given are impressed upon him and recognized. One light alone let us shun—that which is the offspring of the baleful fire; let us not walk in the light of our fire,
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Concerning Repentance 1.14
… Let us then diligently take heed lest while we are fleeing from it we carry it with ourselves. For we wish for the most part to flee, but if we do not wholly cast it out of our mind, we rather take it up than forsake it. Let us then spring over it, lest it be said to us: “Walk ye in the flame of your fire, which ye have kindled for yourselves.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 23.9
… “Behold,” He says, “all you that kindle a fire, encompassed with flames, walk ye in the light of your fire and in the flames which you have kindled;” and again: “He that kindleth iniquity, shall perish by it.”
50:1
OR WHO IS MY CREDITOR, TO WHOM HAVE I SOLD YOU? — Ambrose, in the book On Tobias, chapter VIII, reads: to whom have I sold you to a money-lender? He says the same thing by another metaphor of sons sold into servitude. Note: Among the Jews it was permitted to a father in necessity to support himself by selling his sons into servitude, yet in such a way that he sold them not to a Gentile, but to a Hebrew or a proselyte, and only for a time: for in the jubilee, indeed in the seventh year of release, they went out free, as is evident from Exodus XXI, 1 and 7; Leviticus XXV, where, verses 39 and 47, it is permitted that in necessity someone may even sell himself, not only to a Jew, but also to a foreigner dwelling among the Jews; but only until the jubilee. The Gentiles did the same, indeed more. For Romulus enacted a law by which he gave to a father the right freely to sell his sons. The same law existed among the Athenians, which Solon abolished, as Plutarch testifies in his Life of Solon. This law prevailed and this custom existed even in the time of Christians. Whence St. Ambrose, in the book On Tobias, chapter VIII, complains gravely about it. Wherefore Constantine, law 2 On Fathers who sold their sons, book IV, title XLIII, restricted this law and enacted that a son should not be sold in perpetuity, but in such a way that he could be redeemed by payment of a price. To this therefore God alludes, and says: "Who is my creditor? that is, I do not have creditors, whose money I need, so that on that account I should be obliged to sell you into servitude to them. You therefore, O Jews! are sold and made over into servitude to sin and the devil, not so much by me as by yourselves. For by sinning willingly, you willingly took on this yoke. For, as it is said in John, chapter VIII, 34: 'Whosoever committeth sin, is the servant of sin.' Moreover, I have sold you signifies not simple sin, but the habit of sin, to which carnal men (for example, Jews to Judaism; the ambitious to their ambition; the intemperate to their lusts; adulterers to their concubines) have so given themselves over and attached themselves that they cannot be torn away from it. Thus Ahab is said to be 'sold to do evil,' III Kings XXI, 25. O hard servitude! O wretched necessity! For those who deliver themselves to sin, God also alienates from himself, and sells them, that is, delivers and enslaves them, to the devil, even though he receives no price from him. For, as it is said in Psalm XLIII, 43: 'Thou hast sold thy people for no price.' 2. BECAUSE WHEN I CAME (into the world, teaching and preaching), THERE WAS NO MAN — who would receive me, who would listen to me. See here how dangerous and pernicious it is to spurn God calling, and to make his calling void and ineffectual. For this reason God repudiated and rejected the Jews.
50:2
mine, therefore I am not confounded: therefore have I set my face as a most hard stone, and I know that I shall not be confounded. 8. He is near that justifieth me, who shall contradict me? let us stand together, who is my adversary? let him come near to me. 9. Behold the Lord God is my helper: who is he that shall condemn me? Behold all you shall be worn out as a garment, the moth shall eat you. 10. Who is there among you that feareth the Lord, that heareth the voice of his servant? who hath walked in darkness, and hath no light, let him hope in the name of the Lord, and lean upon his God. 11. Behold all you that kindle a fire, that are girded about with flames: walk ye in the light of your fire, and in the flames which you have kindled: this is done to you from my hand, you shall sleep in sorrows. 1. Who is this bill of divorce? — In Hebrew it is: Where is the bill of divorce? as if to say, Let it be produced (for it was then kept both by the repudiated woman and by the public scribe), and let it be examined and seen; whether I first put you away, or you have put me away by divorce. Thus Forerius and Vatablus. Now St. Thomas, Hugo and Sanchez understand these things down to verse 4 literally concerning the Jews captive in Babylon, as if they themselves complained of being dismissed and cast off by God. To whom God responds that He did not dismiss them, but they first forsook themselves and fell away to idols and vices; yet He has hand and power by which He can redeem and free them. But truly St. Cyril, Procopius, Eusebius, book II of the Demonstration, chapter XXXIV, Ambrose, book VIII on Luke, chapter 1 (where he says among other things: "You have heard of divorce, believe in marriage"), Adam, Forerius, and many others throughout (so much so that Origen in Matthew XXV, at those words: "Prophesy to us, O Christ," asserts this to be the consensus of the whole Church), understand these things concerning the Jews who came after Christ and were unwilling to believe in Him. These therefore pertain to the complaint of Zion, or of the Jews, in the preceding chapter, verse 14, saying: "The Lord hath forsaken me;" but with this distinction, that there it is the voice of Jews believing in Christ, complaining of their fewness; but here rather it is the voice of unbelieving Jews, and persisting in Judaism, as if to say: O unbelieving Jews! do you complain that in the time of Christ you are forsaken by God, repudiated, cut off and scattered, deprived of temple, sacrifices and public worship of God, and given as prey to the Romans and other Gentiles. You say: Our Synagogue was a spouse, whom God espoused to Himself on Sinai through Moses, Exodus XIX, 6; why therefore has He now utterly cast her off? why has He given her a bill of divorce? God responds: I repelled and repudiated your mother Synagogue, to whom I had given the dotal tablets of the law as a husband, says St. Augustine, because she herself first made divorce from me. For I repudiated her, not from hatred or disdain on my part, that I might join myself to another, but on account of her crimes, especially because she rejected and killed my Christ; nor so much I as she herself sold and delivered herself to the devil, as to a creditor, because Or who is my creditor, to whom I have sold you? — Ambrose, in the book On Tobias, chapter VIII, reads: to whom I have sold you to a usurer? He says the same thing by another metaphor of children sold into servitude. Note: Among the Jews it was lawful for a father in necessity to support himself by selling his sons into servitude, yet so that he would not sell them to a Gentile, but to a Hebrew or proselyte, and only for a time: for in the jubilee, indeed in the seventh year of freedom, they went out free, as is clear from Exodus XXI, 1 and 7; Leviticus XXV, where in verses 39 and 47, it is permitted that in necessity one may even sell himself, not only to a Jew, but also to a foreigner dwelling among the Jews; but only until the jubilee. The Gentiles did the same, indeed more. For Romulus enacted a law by which he gave to a father the right of freely selling his sons. The same law was among the Athenians, which Solon abolished, as Plutarch testifies in his Life of Solon. This law prevailed, and this custom also in the time of Christians. Whence St. Ambrose, in the book On Tobias, chapter VIII, complains gravely about it. Wherefore Constantine, law 2, On Fathers who sold their sons, book IV, title XLIII, restricted this law, and enacted that a son should not be sold in perpetuity, but so that he could be redeemed by payment of a price. 2. Because when I came (into the world, teaching and preaching), there was no man — who would receive me, who would listen to me. See here how dangerous and pernicious it is to spurn God calling, and to make His calling void and ineffectual. For this reason God repudiated and rejected the Jews. when "I came" into the world, "there was no man," that is, anyone, as if to say: Scarcely any of the Jews was there who would wish to hear me. Thus the Fathers cited. Concerning the bill of divorce I have spoken in Deuteronomy, chapter XXIV, verse 1. Morally observe, O man. For, as St. Chrysostom notes, homily 23 on chapter III of Genesis, vol. I, Holy Scripture calls those men who retain the pure image of God, so that they shine forth in virtue and religion; the rest, as unworthy of the name of man, it calls beasts and serpents. Is my hand shortened and become little, that I cannot redeem? — that is to say, The repudiation, or unbelief and rejection of the Jews, as well as the cause of their miserable condition and servitude, and finally of their destruction by Titus, is not the weakness and impotence of God or Christ, as you Jews suppose, and therefore you despise Christ as if he were humble, poor and abject. For he could, if he wished, dry up the entire sea and all rivers and turn them into a dry desert; so that all fish, deprived of their element, would rot, be corrupted, and exhale their vital breath, as he did to Pharaoh in Egypt under Moses, Exodus VII, 21. He can also change and darken the heavens and stars, as he did at the Passion of Christ, and will do at the end of the world, Matthew XXIV, 29. For his hand and power is not cut off, broken or diminished, but the same always remains strong, vigorous and omnipotent. Thus St. Jerome. Again, the cause of the abandonment and desolation of the Jews is not the foolishness or imprudence of Christ, because "the Lord gave him a learned tongue." Thirdly, neither is the cause the softness of Christ, as if he had avoided the labors and sufferings to be borne for them. For he himself gave "his body to those that struck him, and his cheeks to those that plucked them," etc. The true cause therefore is the hardness and obstinate malice of the Jews. Thus St. Jerome, Cyril and Origen in Matthew chapter XXVI. Behold, in my rebuke I will make the sea a desert. — He calls rebuke the threatening and terrible command of God. For God seemed as if angry at the Red Sea, when he divided it beyond nature and dried up its bed, and commanded it to yield and give place to his people passing through. Thus says the Psalmist, Psalm CV, 9: "He rebuked the Red Sea, and it was dried up."
50:3
I will make. — That is, I can make whenever and as often as I please, as I did in the Red Sea. For these are future tenses in the potential mood, in which the Hebrews delight, and δυνητικῶς are to be understood, so as to signify not so much the act as the power and faculty for the act. I will make rivers dry. — "I will make," that is, I can make, whenever I shall wish, as I made the Jordan, when I divided it and dried it up, so that the Hebrews might pass through under the leadership of Joshua.
50:4
The fishes grow putrid without water,—namely, if the sea or rivers dry up, as they putrefied and died of thirst in the Red Sea and Jordan, when I dried them up: or rather as they putrefied in the Nile, when I turned its waters into blood, Exodus VII, 18. For then, as is said there, the fishes both putrefied and died of thirst, equally as men. For this is allayed and extinguished by the drinking of water, not of blood. This is what the Psalmist says, Psalm CIV, verse 29: "He turned their waters into blood, and killed their fishes." Thus St. Jerome, St. Thomas and Hugh. 3. I will clothe the heavens with darkness, and I will make sackcloth (as it were sackcloth) their covering,—that is to say, I will cover and veil the heavens, so that they do not appear, as if they were wrapped in sackcloth, as I did in Egypt, when through Moses I brought upon it palpable darkness, Exodus X, 22. God did this in the Passion of Christ. Thus Tertullian, book IV Against Marcion, XLII. Symbolically, it signifies that the Gospel and cross of Christ obscured all the glory of Judaism, equally as of Paganism, of which Egypt was the type and as it were the matrix, as through the bloody and putrid Nile it signifies all the delights, riches and pomp of the world, by the doctrine of Christ became like filth, so that the faithful with Paul might regard them as dung. 4. The Lord hath given me a learned tongue.—The Hebrews refer this to Isaiah, who in chapter VI, purged from unclean lips by the Seraphim, became eloquent and bold for preaching. But this St. Jerome rightly refutes. For the common opinion of the Fathers is that this is a discourse concerning Christ, and the following passages prove it. For "learned" in Hebrew is למודים limmudim, that is, of the learned, which the learned have, who have seen, heard, read, studied and meditated upon many things, and have also instructed many. It alludes to Moses, and he prefers himself to him. For Moses, excusing himself lest he be sent by God to Pharaoh, because he was of impeded speech, heard from him: "Who made the mouth of man? Is it not I?" and Aaron "shall be thy mouth," Exodus IV, 10, 11 and 16. For Christ did not need an interpreter as Moses did, because he had a learned tongue, nor did he excuse himself from the embassy to men, as Moses did. For a ruler and teacher of the people a learned, powerful and efficacious tongue is necessary for persuading. This Christ had, so much so that the Jews themselves said of it: "Never did man speak like this man." And the Apostles: "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life." Again, he was teaching not as the Scribes and Pharisees, but "as one having power," Mark I, 22. Hence Plato asserts that the soul is nourished by the word of God, and that the knowledge of God is the true nourishment of souls. Namely: "Man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God." A great gift of God is a wise and learned tongue, for which we ought to pray daily with the Psalmist, Psalm L: "O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall declare thy praise." Which St. Gregory explains there: "He, says he, whose lips God opens, is one who attends not only to what he speaks, but also when, where, and to whom he speaks. For the Wisdom of God says: The Lord hath given me a learned tongue." Whence he adds: "Let us therefore utter words weighed in the balance of justice, so that there be gravity in sense, moderation in words, weight in discourse. Nor let us open our mouth in speaking before it is fitting; but let us examine our words, whether this should be silent, whether this should be said against this one, whether it be the time for this discourse, finally whether it does not dissent from the virtue of modesty. Let nothing unbecoming, nothing dishonorable, nothing envious sound forth." But Diogenes said well among Laertius, book VI, that for the afflicted and desperate one must seek, not a noose, but reason, not a rope, but the reason and consolatory discourse of a wise man: for this is a physician to the sick soul; that, medicine. Whence Demetrius of Phaleron, when he lived in exile among the Thebans, inglorious and abject, and learned that Crates the Philosopher had come to visit him, called him to him; and when he heard him discoursing on bearing exile bravely and moderately: Woe be, said he, to all business and occupations, through which it has not been permitted until now to know such a man, signifying that much distress had been removed from him by the discourse of the Philosopher. Thus Laertius, book V, chapter V.
50:5
That I should know how to sustain him that is weary with a word,—that is, miserable and faint sinners, weary under the yoke of sin and the demon, panting and groaning, I may raise up in hope, console, sustain, so that I may refresh and heal all those oppressed by the devil. He wakeneth, he wakeneth my ear in the morning.—He teaches here whence he has a learned tongue, namely from the fact that God has raised up, that is, awakened, his ear, and opened it to hearing the doctrine and commands of God, and this "in the morning," that is, early and seasonably, namely from the first instant of conception, as appears in Hebrews X, 5. It alludes to schoolmasters, who open their schools at the earliest morning and teach their pupils. But he doubles "morning, morning," that is to say, every day, or daily at the earliest morning. For this doubling signifies both continuity and the haste and diligence of a most vigilant teacher. A similar passage is Ezekiel XLVI, 14 and 15, in the Hebrew. For morning teaching and study is the best. For "the dawn is friendly to the Muses:" for then from sleep and nocturnal rest the brain and senses are vigorous.
50:6
Moreover, to raise the ear is a symbol of the master: for he, having commanded silence and attention from his disciples, then also by plucking the ears stirs them up, so that they may listen and receive his teachings; this is what the Poet says: "When Cynthius would pluck the ear." To raise the ear, therefore, is to stir up the hearer to hearing, so that he may prick up his ears and receive the voice of the master. 5. The Lord God hath opened my ear, and I do not resist; I have not gone backwards. — He alludes to Moses, who contradicted God calling him, when he attempted a third and fourth time to shake off the burden of liberating the people from Egypt, fearing Pharaoh, the hardness of the people, and the difficulties of accomplishing the matter, Exodus IV. But Christ, sent by the Father for the redemption of men, immediately acquiesced, and offered himself, even unto the death of the cross, as if to say: When God at the beginning of my conception, to me as a man, nay as an infant, opened my infant ears, that is, revealed to me, and poured into the ears of my mind his will and command concerning the economy of my incarnation, and showed me all and each of the hard and difficult things which throughout my whole life he wished me to do and suffer, even unto the death of the cross; I did not resist, but eagerly accepted all things, and said: "Behold I come: In the head of the book it is written of me, that I should do, O God, thy will, O my God, I have desired it, and thy law in the midst of my heart," Hebrews X, 7, and Psalm XXXIX, 9. Nor did I merely say this, but I actually performed it: for I yielded to no difficulty, I never went backwards, but constant in this work I proceeded even to the last breath, when all things being perfected, I said: "It is consummated." By this Christ signifies the command imposed upon him by the Father of suffering and dying, and thus of redeeming men. For that the Father imposed this upon Christ is evident from John X, 18, and chapter XII, 49, and chapter XIV, 31, and from the place already cited, Hebrews X. Most beautifully St. Bernard, sermon 28 in the Canticles: "How blessed," he says, "is he who says: The Lord God hath opened my ear, and I do not resist, I have not gone backwards! Where you have both the form of willing obedience and an example of long-suffering. For he who does not resist is willing: and he who does not go back perseveres. Both are necessary: for God loves a cheerful giver, and he who shall have persevered unto the end, he shall be saved. Would that the Lord would also open my ear, and let the word of truth enter into my heart!" etc. 6. My body. — Forerius translates: My back. Whence the Septuagint, and from them St. Cyprian and Ambrose, in the book On the Incarnation of the Lord, book of sacraments, chapter V, translate: I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked them, or to blows. For the Hebrew גו gev signifies both back and body. The Jews understand these things of Isaiah, as if he himself suffered these things from the people and princes, whose vices he was censuring. Thus also St. Thomas. But from this and similar passages it is clear that these Commentaries are not his own, and are falsely inscribed to St. Thomas. For all the Fathers whom Leo Castrius cites understand these words literally of Christ: concerning whom these words are so clear that they need no explanation, but meditation. Note on dedi, as if to say: The Jews did not inflict blows upon me unwilling and forced by violence, but I myself willingly offered my body to be struck by them, offered it, nay gave it. There stands here in Rome, in the temple of St. Praxedes, a column, to which Christ was bound while he was being scourged. I have seen it many times, and never without great emotion of soul. It is short and humble: wherefore it seems to some that Christ was bent over it and bound to its ring; so that he offered his curved back, as if an anvil, to be struck in every direction by the raging torturers and their scourges. Or rather, with his hands bound behind him, thus Christ was bound upright to the ring of the column, so that the torturers could freely strike both his breast and his back. That it is whole, not a part of the column (as some thought), is taught by the ancient inscription and title affixed to it above, and this is proved more fully by James Bosius, book I On the Triumphant Cross, chapter XIII. This was patience, this was fortitude, this was the love of our love: namely, love is strong as death, jealousy is hard as hell. Behold, O Christian! the scourges of Christ, and whatever yours may be, you will judge them to be soft, nay nothing. "Consider," says St. Augustine, Sermon 114 On the Seasons, "who gave such payment for us (namely his blood, and his life, indeed his whole self as God), what interest he will exact from us. My body, he says, I gave to those who struck me, etc. Recognize, O man, how much you are worth, and how much you owe, and while you perceive such dignity in your redemption, instill shame in yourself against sinning. Behold, for the impious, piety is scourged; for the foolish, wisdom is mocked; for the liar, truth is slain; justice is condemned for the wicked; mercy is afflicted for the cruel; for the wretched, sincerity is filled with vinegar; sweetness is made drunk with gall; innocence is given over for the guilty; life dies for the dead." And my cheeks to those plucking them out,—to those willing to pluck out the hairs of the cheeks and beard, as Vatablus says. The Evangelists have nothing concerning this plucking and depilation of Christ: but from this it is established that he suffered it. For Isaiah too is an Evangelist. For Christ was afflicted with every kind of punishment and insult. For the plucking of the beard has notable pain, and is a disgrace and insult; as also is the spitting upon the face. For the beard is the ornament of a man, and the mark of manhood. Hence, when the Ammonite legates shaved half the beard of David, David received this as a supreme insult, and declared war upon them, II Kings, chapter X. For this reason Alexander the Great took care that his soldiers shave their beards, lest, if they were captured by the enemy, they should suffer this ignominy of the plucking or shearing of the beard, as Plutarch relates in his Life of Theseus. The Septuagint translates: I gave my jaws to blows. I have not turned away my face from those rebuking me,—from those reviling, mocking, jeering: "Hail, King of the Jews; save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Woe to thee who destroyest the temple of God. He saved others: himself he cannot save," etc. And from those spitting upon me.—The Septuagint, and from them St. Ambrose and others read: "I have not turned away my face from the shame of spittings." This is what Jeremiah says, Lamentations III, 30: "He shall be filled with reproaches." Think on this, ponder this, O Christian, when you suffer mockeries, reproaches, calumnies: "endure and be hardened," you have not yet borne the jeers and reproaches of Christ; you have received only words, and not blows, nor yet have you given your body to those striking you, and your cheeks to those plucking them out, as your Christ gave for you. Christ gave himself wholly as prey to God the Father, indeed to torturers and enemies; so that you in turn give yourself as prey to God, offer yourself wholly to him, resign yourself wholly into his hands, so that he may do and make of you and all yours what he pleases: give him your body as prey to sicknesses, pains, torments: give him your soul as prey to obedience, to loves, to divine joys and praises. Thus St. Lawrence, Vincent and other Martyrs gave themselves wholly as prey to God, and for God to executioners, to fires, to the rack, to gibbets and beasts. Thus St. Eusebius, Bishop and Martyr of Vercelli, in the year of the Lord 371, imprisoned and suffering much harshness from the Arians, writing to his Church of Vercelli, among other things by which he encourages it to constancy in faith: "Many things," he says, "the heretics said to me, boasting of their strength and power. But I showed them that it was nothing, and that they could do nothing against me, who willingly gave my body to them as prey, as to executioners: and for several days in which they tortured me, I showed with what great and steadfast spirit I received their injuries, with deep and continuous silence, while they themselves were more cruel than the Pagans and Gentiles, who persecuted the Christians."
50:7
Thus St. Agatha to the tyrant: "If it please you, she said, to draw iron upon me, behold my neck: if scourges, behold my back: if fire, behold to you my whole body: burn, cut, draw tight, bind, stretch, tear, rend, torment, slay: the more cruelly you rage against me, the greater benefit you confer upon me, the greater crown my spouse Christ will adorn for me." This same thing concerning Christ was clearly and expressly foretold by the Sibyl, for the faith and love and confusion, and for the instruction of the Gentiles, that they might believe in Christ suffering and crucified. Her verses are cited by St. Augustine, Oration Against the Jews, Pagans and Arians, chapters XVI and XVII, vol. VI. And these are they: Into wicked hands, and of the unfaithful afterwards he shall come. They shall give blows to God with unclean hands, And with foul mouths shall spit poisonous saliva. But he shall give his back entirely to scourges, the innocent one, And receiving blows shall be silent, that no one may know, And shall wear a crown of thorns. For food they gave him gall, and for thirst vinegar: This table of inhospitality they shall show. For you yourself, foolish one, did not know your God Playing with mortal minds; but also with thorns You crowned him with a crown, and mixed horrible gall. But the veil of the temple shall be rent, and on the middle day darkness most dark for three hours. And the deed of death shall end with sleep received of three days, And now returning from the dead he comes into light. He shows himself recalled, the beginning of resurrection first. 7. The Lord God my helper, — that is to say, In these utmost reproaches and plagues, God was at my right hand, he animated and strengthened me, and gave such patience and constancy, that I counted all things as nothing, and bore them with such spirit, that I stood immovable, as if they were striking a stone, nay rather I contended with their cruelty and rage itself, and far surpassed and overcame it: for when the Jews themselves, and my furious executioners, vomited forth wagons of punishments and insults upon me; I received all things as if they were not sorrows, but joys; not insults, but praises, as indeed they truly were. For God converted all these things to my praise and glory. Therefore I was not confounded, — I was not put to shame, knowing from the will, honor and love of God, that I suffer these things. It can be rendered with Forerius: Therefore I was not affected with ignominy, that is, I did not think myself affected with ignominy, but joyful with set purpose I endured all things. Hence you see, if God helps and strengthens, that insult is not insult, pain brings not pain: but the athlete of Christ with unconquered spirit bears all things, and in them with Paul rejoices and glories. Therefore I have set my face as a most hard stone. — Forerius renders it, as steel: for in Hebrew it is חלמיש challamish. Whence, he says, the Latin chalybs is derived, not however from the peoples who are called Chalybes, and dwell near the river Thermodon, who are said to have discovered the use of iron and steel (for chalybs is the marrow, or kernel of iron, as Pliny teaches, or most hard iron, as Aristotle calls it): But the Septuagint, our Vulgate, Vatablus, Pagninus and others, render challamish here and elsewhere as stone, rock, flint. Wherefore Vatablus renders it, therefore I harden my face like flint. Christ therefore in his passion stood immovable, unconquered and unshaken, as steel, as flint, as a rock, against which waves dash and break into foam; as a diamond, which is not broken by iron and hammers, but breaks those very ones that strike it. Hence with unafraid face, and as it were adamantine, he answered the Jews, Pilate, Annas and Caiaphas. Such it behooves us to be for Christ and faith: and so in all calumnies, sorrows, anguishes, persecutions and adversities, nothing is better than to harden the face as a stone, and with God's aid, hope and love to bear all things strongly. For thus we shall feel them less; nay rather they, as it were repelled, shall rebound from our virtue and constancy. Thus with Christ as leader the Martyrs stood in torments as adamants: for they were not dismayed, but were lifted up, living more by spirit than by flesh, the firmness of mind overcoming the infirmity of body. For, as Cyprian says, book IV, epistle 5, Concerning St. Celerinus the Martyr: "With the body placed in chains, the spirit remained loosed and free. He lay among punishments, stronger than his punishments, enclosed greater than those enclosing, lying more exalted than those standing, bound more firm than those binding, more sublime than those judging when judged. And although his feet were bound with cord, the serpent was trampled, and crushed, and conquered." Thus St. Romanus the Martyr, grievously tortured, when the torturers renewed the blows inflicted, drawing furrows through them in his flesh with iron, mocked them as if they were cowardly. For thus he speaks in Prudentius, hymn 10: O not manly strength, O soft hands! That you have not been able to scatter for so long a single tottering structure of a small body! Scarcely does it hold together now, and yet it does not fall entirely; conquering the arms of the weak right hands. Sooner do dogs tear a corpse with their teeth: you languish with feeble hunger, and you grow weary. It is bestial gluttony, but sluggish voracity. Thus St. Ignatius: "Would that," he says, "I might enjoy the beasts which are prepared for me! Fire, cross, beasts, breaking of bones, division of limbs, and bruising of the whole body, and all the torments of the devil come upon me, only that I might enjoy Christ." And when he had already been condemned to the beasts, with such ardor for suffering that when he heard the roaring lions: "I am," he says, "the wheat of Christ, I shall be ground by the teeth of beasts, that I may be found pure bread." Thus St. Lawrence, cooked on the gridiron, addressing the judge in Prudentius, hymn 2, says: It is cooked, devour it, and make trial, whether raw or roasted is more pleasant. Thus the unconquered Vincent, in hymn 5, addresses the judge in torments: Wring out, if you can, the faith. Torments, prison, claws, and the gridiron hissing with flames, and even the very last of punishments, death, is a game to Christians. Nor indeed did he speak more forcefully than he actually accomplished. For when the framework of his body was being loosened limb by limb by the stretching of the rack: This soldier of God laughed at these things, rebuking the bloody hands, because the nail did not penetrate more deeply into the joints. And again: There is another man within who cannot be violated by anyone, free, peaceful, whole, exempt from sad sorrows. That which you labor to destroy with such great fury of strength is a vessel broken and made of clay, to be shattered in whatever manner. Such soldiers did the heavenly Emperor bring forth into battle, stronger than columns, who pressed on the torturers growing weary, because they believed this delay to be an obstacle to those hastening to Christ. Such was also recently our Ogilby, a Martyr in Scotland, once my catechumen at Louvain, who, as is evident from his martyrdom, to the amazement of the Calvinists, was unconquered in torments, sharp in his responses, and closed his mouth to all who assailed him. What do we do at these things? We praise heroes, we desire to imitate them; but only up to the altars, up to words and blows exclusively! How well John of Kempis, brother of our Thomas the Teacher, said, as his Life has it: "We wish to be humble without contempt, patient without tribulation, obedient without constraint, poor without want, virtuous without labor, penitent without sorrow, praised without virtue, loved without goodness, honored without holiness: but Christ God did not do and teach thus, who promised the kingdom of heaven to those who take it by force, and will repay glory and honor to those who suffer injury, and will leave no evil unavenged." 8. Near is he that justifieth me. — This is a digression: for Christ meets a tacit objection. For someone would say: Thou indeed hast praise and reward with God for thy patience and constancy; but nevertheless thou labourest among men under infamy, because thou art condemned by the public judgment of Pilate and the Jews to the cross, as if seditious. This infamy will turn away many Gentiles from thee and thy faith. For the Jews will boast: We saw him condemned, hung upon the cross among thieves, and according to the law accursed. God did not snatch him from this judgment and so infamous a death; how therefore can he be our and the world's redeemer? To these things Christ answers: Why do ye cast in my teeth the unjust judgment of impious men and my enemies? For to this I oppose the most just judgment of God. Behold, God justifieth my cause, showeth me just and innocent to the whole world. For on the third day He raiseth me from death, soon He carrieth me up gloriously into heaven, He sendeth forth Apostles throughout the whole world, who by miracles, by gifts of grace and of all virtues, celebrate my name everywhere, and render it beloved and admirable to all Gentiles. Therefore no infamy, no stain from the cross and death, hath adhered to my name; nay, God hath turned all these things to my glory and veneration. This is what Christ said, John XVI, 10, concerning the Holy Ghost coming, that He would convince "the world of justice," that is, would convince the world's justice to be false; of the Jews indeed, because they sought it in the ceremonies of the law; of the Gentiles, because they placed it in works naturally and morally good: but would convince that Christ, whom they held to be unjust, to be just, and the fountain and parent of all justice, as St. Cyril expoundeth. For the justice of Christ was conspicuous to the whole world from this alone, that soon after death He went to the Father, and ascended into heaven, no longer to be seen on earth. For whom God and heaven received with such great glory and applause, who would dare to call unjust and impious? This is what Christ subjoined, giving the reason there: "Because I go to the Father." To this St. Paul alluded, Romans VIII, 33: "Who shall accuse against the elect of God? God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth?" For as God justifieth Christ, so also He justifieth and absolveth Christians elected from Christ. See the sayings there. Who is mine adversary? — In Hebrew, who is the lord of my suit? that is, who is the plaintiff who bringeth suit against me, who accuseth me, who by litigating assaileth me, who endeavoureth to make me guilty of some crime? Let him come forward and see how he rageth. 9. Behold all of you shall be consumed as a garment, the moth shall eat them. — For the moth Symmachus translated, rust; Aquila, a worm, as if to say: What do these wretched little men, soon to die, and to be eaten by worms, dare to pass sentence upon Christ the Lord, or to contend with Him, as if impious and guilty by judgment, whom God hath quickened, exalted, and made the redeemer of all? For all shall soon be consumed; nay, they shall themselves by their own crimes, and especially by this, that they provoke or condemn Christ the Lord, be the cause of their own destruction and punishment to be inflicted by God, and shall be as a garment, which from itself produceth a moth, by which it is eaten away and consumed. Thus indeed the Jews, by the slaying of Christ, brought upon themselves the scourge and destruction of Titus. For St. Jerome, Cyril and others expound these things concerning them. To this pertaineth what the Prophet subjoined, cap. LI, vers. 7: "Fear ye not the reproach of men, and be not afraid of their revilings. For the moth shall eat them like a garment, and the worm shall consume them like wool." For from the body of man so wretched, and composed of four elements, qualities and humours perpetually warring among themselves, proceed many putrefactions and foul humours, as it were moths, which gnaw and destroy the body itself. We therefore carry death in our bowels, and create and bring it forth for ourselves, because we carry it about with us everywhere. To man therefore thou mayest rightly attribute that riddle of Plautus concerning the thrush: "The bird itself createth its own death." For from its dung a worm is born, in which entangling itself it is caught. See here what is the fruit of sin, which like a moth, nay like a viper, gnaweth and killeth its parent, namely the sinner. Again in the moth, which slowly and secretly creepeth along, and gnaweth the garment, is signified that the crimes of the Jews slowly and secretly brought them to destruction. For, as St. Gregory saith, XI Moral. XXV: "The moth doth damage, and maketh no sound: so the minds of the wicked, because they neglect to consider their losses, lose their integrity as if unknowingly."
50:8
Let religious persons note this, who neglect small venial sins and fall into the habit of them, and turn them as it were into their nature. For these things as it were like a moth will consume their spirit, and the strength of their virtues. 10. Who among you feareth the Lord? — First, some understand this concerning a penitent sinner, as if you were to say: Whosoever hitherto hath walked in the darkness of error, infidelity and sin, and now fearing the wrath of God, heareth the voice of his servant, that is of Isaias, saith St. Thomas, or rather of Christ, as others explain it; let him hope in the Lord, he shall illuminate him and shall expiate him from sins. Thus Haymo, Lyra, Procopius and St. Jerome, who thinks these are the words of Christ to his crucifiers, as if he were to stir them up to penance and hope of pardon.
50:9
Secondly, more aptly Cyril, Forerius, Hugo, Sanchez and others understand these things of the just man; for he is one who "fears the Lord," and "hears the voice of his servant," that is, of him, namely Christ, as if to say: Whoever is a faithful and just Christian, who has walked with Christ in the darkness of prison, sorrows, ignominies and afflictions, let him hope in the Lord. For if God did this, who comforted Christ in stripes, spittings and reproaches, delivered him and glorified him, he will not allow him to be confounded and put to shame; but will strengthen him, free him, and make him glorious. It is the conclusion of the whole prayer of Christ, by which he exhorts the Jews, and all the faithful, that in the midst of evils and tempests, they should trust not in men, but in God, and expect certain help from him. 10. Who has walked in darkness, — as if to say, says Forerius: Even if you walk in the midst of the shadow of death, even if all things seem to be mixed with darkness, even if you perceive no light shining forth, but all things obscure, on account of the wickedness of the times and of men, as will happen when that servant of God (Christ) is held as a seducer and seized as a robber, and cast upon the cross as a traitor, to denote the darkness of minds, the sun in the middle of the day will be darkened: yet do not abandon faith and hope, but with Abraham your father, against hope believe in hope, and lean upon God, knowing that he is able to raise both Christ and Isaac, both Christians and Christ, from death. For the Prophet knew that many would suffer scandal in the Passion of Christ, and would cast away faith in Christ and hope in God: wherefore, now turning to them, not without mockery, he says:
50:10
11. Behold, you all (most of you and almost all of you, O Jews! who either despised Christ, mocked him and killed him, or, seeing his cross and death, cast away faith and hope in him) kindling a fire. — What before, in verse 9, he said: "The moth shall eat them," here he says with another more efficacious metaphor, calling them kindlers of fire, stokers, furnace-tenders (who kindle furnaces and furnaces) and charcoal-makers. For these are the titles of the impious. They themselves prepare for themselves eternal fire, and its fuel, already here half-burned, dark and horrible, like charcoal-makers, says Forerius, as if to say: You, O Jews! by your fire of lust and crimes to which you are attached, were unwilling to acknowledge Christ who resisted these things, you kindle the fire of God's wrath, and bring upon yourselves the corporeal fire, which Titus will kindle, and will burn the whole of Jerusalem; and the eternal fire, which my hand will bring upon you. And therefore in eternal pains, and eternal forgetfulness of me, you shall sleep. Thus St. Jerome and Cyril. Girt about with flames. — In Hebrew, זיקות meatsere zicoth, which Vatablus first translated, girt, or surrounded with sparks, as if to say: Everywhere you scatter sparks of the fire of lust and crimes, which, falling as it were upon straw, will create for you a great and eternal conflagration. A spark of hell, therefore, is lust, anger, ambition, etc. Hear St. Jerome: "O infernal fire of lust, whose matter is gluttony, whose flame is pride, whose sparks are depraved conversations, whose smoke is infamy, whose ashes are uncleanness." Again at the end of this chapter: "In this chapter," he says, "we learn that according to the quality of sin, each one kindles fire for himself. And how in the same place, and if it can be said bed, some are healthy, others are burned by the ardors of fevers, experiencing different punishments from the diversity of humors and phlegm; so also the fire which is kindled by sinners has its matter in sins and iniquity, of which it is written: Iniquity shall burn as fire, and shall be devoured by fire as dry grass."
50:11
Thus the Venerable Bede, lib. III Hist. cap. XIX, relates that St. Furseus, caught up in spirit, saw in the air four fires which were setting the whole world ablaze; and when he asked his Angel guide what these were, he heard from him: "One is the fire of lying, in that those who promised in baptism to renounce Satan and all his works do not fulfill it. Another is of covetousness, in that they prefer the riches of the world to love of heavenly things. The third is of discord, in that they do not fear to offend the minds of their neighbors even in superfluous matters. The fourth is of impiety, in that they regard it as nothing to despoil the weaker and to defraud them. But the fire growing into a greater effect became one, and it approached him (Furseus), and fearing the threatening fire, he said to the holy Angel: The fire approaches me. To whom the Angel answered: What you did not kindle will not burn in you. For although this fire is terrible and great, yet according to the merits of works it examines each one, because the cupidity of each will burn in this fire. For just as the body burns through illicit pleasure, so also the soul will burn through deserved punishment." Secondly, Forerius translates: bound and bound with snares, namely of flames, or with fiery bonds. For what else does man do when he sins than kindle eternal fire in himself and bind himself with fiery snares, those namely with which demons and the damned in hell are bound, constrained and burned? as St. Jude teaches in his epistle, verse 6: "The angels, he says, who kept not their own principality, etc., he reserved in eternal chains under darkness." Forerius adds: "Or certainly he calls snares, bundles bound with snares." For thus bundles and piles of wood are bound with a snare or bond, as if to say: You, O impious Jews! by your crimes do nothing other than prepare and bind for yourselves bundles or piles of wood, by which you yourselves will be burned in Gehenna: "For sins are the bellows and fuel of Gehenna." Thus the Apostle says sins are light wood, hay, stubble of the fire of purgatory, I Cor. III, 12. Whence by sarcasm he adds: Therefore walk in the light of your fire, and in the flames which you have kindled," as if to say: Wallow in the burning of the inextinguishable fire which you have created and prepared for yourselves. It can be translated more clearly from the Hebrew: Go into the fire of your fire, and the bundles which you have kindled! To this Christ alludes when about to say to the reprobate: "Go, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil," etc. From my hand (as if to say: I, Christ, the just judge and avenger, whom you have treated unworthily, condemn you to this fire by my invincible and eternal hand, which therefore will nourish and cherish this fire for you eternally. There) you shall sleep in sorrows. — In Hebrew, תשכבון tishkebun, that is, you shall lie down, as if to say: You shall go to bed at the fires, to the sorrows and torments, these will be your beds, this your bedding, this your pillows. As concerning the bed of Baltassar slain it was said, cap. XIV, 11: "Under you shall be spread the moth, and worms shall be your covering." The former are the pillows of the body, the latter of the soul. This is the lot of the impious, who were unwilling to hear the learned tongue of Christ and to listen to him: "For he shall rain snares upon sinners; fire, and brimstone, and a spirit of storms shall be the portion of their cup." Otherwise Sanchez reads it by interrogation: "Was this done to you from my hand?" as if to say: Not at all. For, as I have shown, you yourselves have kindled this fire for yourselves, not I. But all Greek, Latin and Hebrew Bibles read this assertively without interrogation; therefore the former explanation is to be embraced.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
50:4
Hic incipit removere impedimenta liberationis: et primo removet impedimenta; secundo apponit re- media, cap. 53: Quis credidit auditui nostro? Circa primum removet tria impedimenta. Primo divinorum beneficiorum; secundo abjectionem personarum, cap. 51: Audite me qui sequimini quod justum est; tertio copiam rerum, cap. 52: Consurge, consurge, indu- re fortitudine tua Sion. Circa primum tria. Pri- mo excludit impedimentum; secundo ponit seipsum in exemplum: Dominus dedit mihi linguam erudi- tam; tertio concludit salubre consilium, ibi, Quis «x vobis timens Dominum? Circa primum duo. Pri- mo excludit defectum divinorum beneficiorum ex parte divinae voluntatis, secundo ex parte divinae potestatis: Numquid abbreviata et parvula facta est manus mea? Circa primum tria. Primo excludit di- vinae voluntatis defectum, quasi non vellet ex sei- pso Deus benefacere: excludens duplicem modum alienationis: scilicet modum alienandi uxorem, qui erat per libellum repudii, sicut dicitur Deut. 24:
« terebam molas iniqui. » Secundo liberationis mo- dum, ponens hostium destructionem. Vos, scilicet Chaldaeos, judicaverunt, injuste. Soph. 5: « Ego « interficiam omnes qui afflixerunt te. » Et ponit poenae determinationem, Et cibabo: vel propter dissensionem, sicut supra 9: « Unusquisque carnem « brachii sui vobabit: vel propter mortuorum mul- titudinem, quia unus cadebat super sanguinem al- terius, ac si vellet bibere: vel propter famem. Ter- tio ponit liberationis fructum: Et sciet omnis caro. Supra 40 (aliis verbis): « Videbit omnis caro sa- « lutare Dei nostri. »
quod quidem eis permissum est ad duritiam cordis ipsorum, Matth. 19: ibi, Quis est hic liber repudii matris vestrae quo dimisi eam? Sed contra. Jer. 5: « Pro eo quod moechata es- « set Israel, dimisissem eam. » Et dicendum, quod Dominus, quantum est in se non repudiavit cos; sed ipsi per peccata sua Deum dimiserunt. Excludit etiam modum alienandi possessionem: Aut quis est creditor meus, cui vendidi vos? quasi dicat: Vos qui estis mea hereditas. Supra 19: « He- « reditas mea Israel. » Vendidi, quoniam potius salvavi. Unde patet ex quo non alienavi vos a do- minio meo, quod paratus sum benefacere quantum ex me est. Secundo ostendit humanae voluntatis peccatum. Psalm. 50: « Ecce enim in iniquitatibus « conceptus sum, et in peccatis concipit me mater « mea. » Rom. 7: « Ego enim homo carnalis sum, « venundatus sub peccato. » Tertio ponit argu- mentum: Quia veni, per inspirationem; vocavi, per prophetas. Prov. 1: « Vocavi, et renuistis accipere « disciplinam. » Numquid abbreviata? Hic excludit defectum ex parte divinae potestatis, excludens pri- mo potestatis defectum, Abbreviata, ut etiam lon- ginquo non subjecere mihi possum: parvula, contra potestates. Infra 59: « Ecce non est abbreviata ma- « nus Domini. » Secundo ponit divinae potentiae signum, Ecce. Primo in aquis: Increpatione, idest jussione, faciam, si voluero, sicut feci in exitu Israel de Aegypto: Exod. 14, de mari rubro. Psalm. 103: « Increpuit mare rubrum, et exsecutum est. » Ponam flumina, sicut Arnon, Numer. 21, et Jorda- nem, Josue 4: Computrescent pisces, sicut Exod. 7, quando aquae versae sunt in sanguinem. Psalm. 104: « Convertit aquas eorum in sanguinem, et oc- « cidit pisces eorum. » Secundo ostendit signa suae potentiae in caelis: Induam caelos, aëreos, tenebris; sicut in Aegypto factum est, ut habetur Exod. 10. Psal. 146: « Qui operit caelum nubibus. » Dominus dedit mihi. Hic ponit seipsum in exem- plum: et primo quantum ad beneficii percepti gra- tiam; tum quantum ad eloquentiam: Linguam eru- ditam, ut sciam sustentare, confortationibus: Job 4: « Vacillantes confirmaverunt manus tuae, et ge• nua debilia roborasti: • tum etiam quantum ad sapientiam, Eritit, ad attendendum, mane, a principio praedicationis meae, vel a principio aetatis. Vel quia tunc solitus erat orare. Psal. 62: • In • matutinis meditabor in te. • Aperuit, ad intelligentium.
50:5
Psal. 84: • Audiam quid loquatur in • me Dominus Deus. • Matth. 25: • Magister ve- • ster unus est, Christus. • Secundo ponit seipsum in exemplum quantum ad obedientiam: Ego autem non contradico, sed recipio, et accepto ipsius inspirationem, retrorsum non abii, a bono proposito.
50:6
Supra 45: • Vae qui contradicit factori suo. • Ponit etiam obediedi constantiam, quia obedientiam pro nullo periculo dimisit: Corpus meum dedi; idest, exposui me ut talia paterer. Vel forte ad litteram haec passus est. Sed in Christo plene impletum est: Matth. 26 et 27.
50:7
Jer. 12: • Dedi dilectam • animam meam in manus inimicorum. • Tertio ponit seipsum in exemplum quantum ad fiduciam quam in Deo habebat, primo ponens paratum defensionem: Dominus Deus auxiliator meus. Jer. 20: • Dominus mecum est tamquam bellator fortis. • Secundo fiduciae securitatem: Et posui faciem meam ut p-tram durissimam, ut timore vel ru-bore non moverer. Ezech. 5: • Ut adamantem • et silicem dedi te. • Tertio assignat securitatis rationem ex potestate adjuvantis: Juxta est qui justificat me, scilicet Deus.
50:8
Quis contradicet? verbis. Stems simul. Job 17: • Pone me, Domine, juxta • te, et cujusvis manus pugnet contra me. • Adversarius, factis. Condemnet, falsis judiciis. Rom. 8: • Deus qui justificat, quis est qui condemnet? • Iterum ex infinitate impugnantis: Ecce omnes quasi vestimentum conterentur, vetustate, in quo naturalis defectus; tinea, in quo violentus. Job 15: • Qui quasi putredo consumendus sum, et quasi • vestimentum quod comeditur a tinea. • Ac si diceret: Ex omnibus his sicut ego post accepta beneficia Deo obedio, et in ipso confido, ita et vos.
50:10
Quis ex vobis timens Dominum? Hie concludit ex exemplo suo salubre consilium: et primo ponit consilium; secundo ponit consilii contemptum, ibi, Ecce omnes vos accendentes ignem, accincti flammis. Consilium autem dat ut in Deo confident: unde tria facit. Primo requirit confidentium idonei-
tatem, quae est ex timore et obedientia, Servi, Isaiae, vel cujuscumque alterius. Psalm. 25: • Quis • est homo qui timet Dominum? • Secundo ostendit confidentiae necessitatem: Qui ambulavit in tenebris, erroris, vel adversitatis. Joan. 11: • Qui • ambulat in nocte, offendit. • Tertio ponit ipsum consilium: Speret in nomine Domini.
50:11
Ecce omnes vos accendentes ignem, accincti flammis. Hic ponit consilii contemptum, ponens tria. Primo culpam: Accendentes, peccatis vestris, ignem, vobis merentes, accincti, quasi ligati in peccatis vestris: vel expediti ad peccatum. Supra 1: • Erit fortitudo • vestra ut favilla stupae. • Secundo ponit poenam, Ambulate, quasi dicat, recipite poenam. Ps. 9: • In laboribus manuum suarum comprehensus • est peccator. • Tertio ponit punientis potentiam, De manu, scilicet potentiae Dei. Dormietis, somno mortis.
Nota super illo verbo, In iniquitatibus venditi estis, quia homo pro peccato vendit multa. Primo animi virtute. Thren. 1: • Dederunt pretiosa • quaeque pro vili. • Secundo caelestem hereditatem. 5 Reg. 21: • Propitius sit mihi Dominus, ne • vendam hereditatem patrum meorum. • Tertio animae libertatem. Eccl. 10: • Nihil est iniquius • quam amare pecuniam. • Quarto divini amoris honorem. Oseae 5: • Diligit Dominus filios Israel, • et ipsi respectant ad deos alienos, et diligunt • vinacia uvarum. •
Item super illo verbo, Ego autem non contradico, nota quod Deo contradicent primo infideles divinae veritati. Eccl. 4: • Ne contradicas verbo • veritatis. • Secundo impatientes divinae correctioni. Job 9: • Quis contradixit ei, et pacem habuit? • Tertio imponentes divinae bonitati. Oseae 11: • Populus meus pendebit ad reditum • meum. •
Nota super illo verbo, In doloribus dormietis, quia peccatores dolent in morte primo propter corporalium amissionem. Job 27: • Dives cum dor-mierit, nihil secum affere. • Secundo propter conscientiae contradictionem. Sap. 5: • Poenitentiam • agentes, et prae angustia spiritus gementes. • Tertio propter futurae gloriae desperationem. Thren. ult.: • Cecidit corona capitis nostri. Vae nobis, • quia peccavimus. • Quarto propter poenae timorem. Psal. 47: • Ibi dolores ut parturientis: in • spiritu vehementi conteres naves Tharsis. •
50:1
Anc. — Populus in miseram servitutem est venditus, non Domini .vel iniustitia vel impotentia, sed sua ipsius iniquitate, neque enim Domino obedivit, cui soli praesto est omnis potestas salvandi (50, 1-3). Contra hanc populi pervicaciam et inobedientiam servus Domini suam profitetur obedientiam, submissionem, patientiam in summis contumeliis ferendis, in quibus certus de divino auxilio animo perstat fortissimo (50, 4-71). Securus de victoria et auxilio divino adversarios ad cer- -tamen provocat; bene cum iis agetur, qui eius monitis obtemperant ; contumaces autem et refractarios Deus interitui et, flammarum incendiis - implicabit (50, 8-11). In hac oratione praeprimis clare inter se opponuntur inobedientia populi et prompta obedientia servi Domini v. 2. 4 seq. Haec autem obedientia ita describitur, ut in eius exercitio servus Domini plagis et contumeliis sit expositus, quas animo subit invicto. In iis perferendis ei adest auxiliator Deus ; unde praeclaram de adversariis reportabit victoriam. Demum omnes admonentur, ut audiant vocem servi Domini, si velint esse beati ; contumaces manet interitus. Describitur itaque populus inobediens, servus Domini obediens et patiens. Hac inter se oppositione via sternitur ad satisfactionem vicariam declarandam, quam demum 53, 4 seq. explicite docet vates. Magna illa humiliatio et afflictio servi Domini 49, 4. '1 hic in v. 6 etiam accuratius describitur, neque minus, quo animo illam subeat v. 1 seq. (cf. 49, 4). Denique servum Domini obedientibus sibi salutem alferre, renitentibus vero ruinae fore indicatur duobus ultimis versibus, quibus ea quae 49, 9 et 26 dicta sunt illustrantur. Proinde in hac oratione haec duo continentur : inobedientia populi calamitas est allata, obedientia servi Domini salus communicatur. Quare perspicuum est hoc caput omnino inter se cohaerere, Perperam Ges. Kn. orationem hanc dissecant et v. 1-3 ad orationem antecedentem adnectunt; sed postquam instauratio est descripta, haec pars de populi culpa et castigatione non potest sequi. Verum eum propheta ad conditionem illam afflictam redeat (de qua 49, 14), potius novae orationis indicium habetur. Dein quae sequuntur de obedientia servi Domini aperte respiciunt inobedientiam populi, alterius scil. servi Domini (cf. 42, 19). Haec duo non possunt inter se separari, nisi ab iis qui omnem viam qua ad Messiam satisfacientem oratio perducat omni modo occlusam et obseptam esse desiderant.
50:2
V. 2 « quia veni et non erat vir ; vocavi et non erat qui audiret »! — venit Deus ad populum suum per legislationem, per prophetas, perpetuos legis interpretes et custodes ; vocavit, docuit, admonuit, castigavit; sed populus non praesto erat, non occurrit Domino venienti, non se stitit ei, non obedivit vocanti. En eius inobedientia! Et tamen tota foederis cum Deo initi ratio et conditio continebatur in sponsione obedientiae. Nam ut foedus concluderetur, hanc Deus iis proposuit conditionem : « si audieritis vocem meam et custodieritis pactum meum, eritis mihi in peculium de cunctis populis », quibus auditis « respondit omnis populus simul : cuncta quae locutus est Dominus, faciemus » (Ex. 19, 5. 8); atque ad lianc foederis initi rationem primariam ac principalem refertur quod Deus dicit per Ieremiam : «.hoc verbum praecepi eis (in die qua eduxi eos de terra Aegypti) dicens : audite vocem .meam et ero vobis Deus et vos eritis mihi populus, et ambulate in omni via, quam mandavi vobis, ut bene sit vobis » (ler. 7, 23). Eadem exsilii causa apud leremiam frequenter indicatur : « et misi ad vos omnes servos meos prophetas per diem consurgens d'luculo et mittens et non audierunt » (ler. 7, 95; cf. 95, 4; 96, 5; 99, 19; 35, 15; 44, 4). Etiam efficacius in hebr. interrogatio ponitur : cur veni a vos el nemo aderat, (cur) vocavi et nemo respondit? i. e. cur nemo praesto erat, cum venirem? cum vocarem, cur nemo respondit? Hoc interrogationis modo simul declaratur indignatio interrogantis. Non sine singulari significatione dici videtur veni ; venit enim Deus revera in servo Domini et per servum neque tum eum receperunt; quare plerique verba haec vel unice vel etiam ad Messiam referunt, qui venit ad populum suum et non est receptus, quare demum populus in exsilium romanum a Deo separatus est eiectus (cf. S. IHlier. Cyr. Pint. Sasb. Sanct. Lap. Men. Naeg.). Atque revera venire de Deo ita dici absolute, inusitatum fere est; dicitur quidem Deus in somno venire (Gen. 20, 8), in nube vel in caligine nubis (Ex. 19, 9; 90, 90); dicitur venire et benedicere quando sacrificium offertur (Ex. 20, 94), vel venire ad Balaam eique imperare (Num. 22, 8) vel venire ad Samuel eumque vocare (1 Reg. 3, 10), vel venire de Sinai (Deut. 33, 2) ; saepius venire ad iudicium (Ps. 49, 3; 95, 13. 1 Par. 16, 32) vel Hab. 3, 3 venire ab austro, vel Zach. 14, 5 venire cum sanctis et sim. et apud ipsum Isaiam 3, 14 venire ad iudicium, 35, 4: ipse veniet et salvabit nos, 40, 10 : in fortitudine veniet ; sed vix adeo absolute : veni et nemo aderat ; quare illa explicatio sua probabilitate non caret, praeserlim cum statim in v. 4 servus Domini loquatur, per quem vere Deus venit ad populum. Illa ergo pristina inobedientia, qua Dominum per prophetas venientem et loquentem repudiarant praeludium erat et triste praesagium contumaciae qua Dominum ipsum venientem erant aspernaturi. Et tamen quot et quantis rationibus tenebantur Domino aurem praebere docilem? quali enim et quanta virtute est praeditus? « numquid abbreviata et parvula facta est manus mea, ut non possim redimere? aut non est in me virtus ad. liberandum? ecce in increpatione mea desertum faciam mare, ponam flumina in siccum ; computrescent pisces sine aqua et morientur in sili ;
50:3
v. 3 induam coelos tenebris el saccum ponam operimentum eorum » ; — hebr. cum emphasi : num brevior facta, est manus mea quam ut redimat? et potentiae suae documenta ex rebus olim gestis ita effert, ut ostendat se eadem etiamnum posse patrare et velle si opus fuerit : in increpatione mea siccum reddo mare, flumina. converto in campum ; cf. Ps. 105, 9 : increpuit mare rubrum et exsiccatum est ; Ex. 7, 48 : pisces quoque qui sunt in fluvio morieniur et computrescent aquae, vel Ps. 113, 5 : quid est tibi mare quod fugisti et tu Iordanis quia conversus es retrorsum? cf. Ps, 16, 47. In Aegypto quoque tenebris coelum induit ; nam Ex, 10, 91 : tenebrae tam densae sint, ut palpari queant; cf. Ps. 104, 98. Sap. 17, 2 seq. Cum haec fierent in Aegypto populus voci Dei obsecutus cum amore vocanlem secutus est in desertum (ler. 2, 4 seq.) ; postea autem inobedientes effecti sunt, neque nune cum similia miracula et beneficia iis promiserit (cf. 41, 148; 42, 15; 48, 21), immo maiora (43, 48), omnes dicto audientes erunt. — Proxime ista assertio divinae potentiae refertur ad inobedientiam eorum exagitandam (Sasb. Malv.); sed cum adeo di. stincte potentia Dei efferatur ad redimendum et liberandum, hisce interrogationibus simul magis explicatur quod in v. 1 dictum est, eos traditos esse non propter Domini impotentiam, non infirmitatem Domini in culpa esse cur sint in miseria constituti ; ità nexum concipiunt plerique (cf. S. Hier. Cyr. Osor. Mald. Men. Lap. Tir. Gord. Calm.) vel, ut Sanct. vult, ex parte Dei nihii obstare ad eorum liberationem, nisi adessent eorum scelera. Peccatis suis Dei potentiam quasi impotem reddunt. Ad liberationem concedendam verba refert S. Ephr. : « forte Babylonem per mare figurat et per flumina exercitus eius ; deiectum Babylonis regnum exprimit per coelos atros », sim. Barh.
50:4
Uti iam monet S. Hier., sermo redit ad conditionem illam, de qua Sion conquerebatur 49, 14 : dereliquit me Dominus ; cui querelae iam aliud subiungitur responsum v. 4 « Haec dicit Dominus : quis est hic liber repudii matris vestrae, quo dimisi eum ? aut quis est. creditor meus, cui vendidi vos? ecce in iniquitatibus vestris venditi estis et in sceleribus vestris dimisi matrem vestram » ! — hebr. ubinam est libellus repudii matris vestrae... aut quis e creditoribus meis... propter scelera vestra dimissa est mater vestra. Interrogatione posita vult ut praevaricatores redeant ad cor et considerent causam malorum. Quare Deus iis in memoriam revocat non a se foedus illud ae vinculum quo populum sibi elegerit in peculium de cunctis gentibus et in sponsam fuisse solutum. In quam rem duo illa commemorantur quibus vir mulierem et filias e domo eiicere poterat; vel enim dedit ei libellum repudii (Deut. 24, 1) vel filios filiasque vendidit ad solvenda debita (Ex. 91, 1. 4 Reg. 4, 1. Neh. 5, 5. Matth. 18, 25). Utrumque affertur quia Sion tamquam mater et uxor, singuli autem tamquam eius matris filii considerantur. Dominus autem Sionem non repudiavit; nam ubi est libellus repudii ? non potest Sion eum exhibere. Neque Dominus eos vendidit; nam quis est creditor ille, cui Dominus solvendo impar eos vendidisset? Foedus theocraticum tamquam sacrum cum Deo connubium consideratur (cf. 4, 91. Os. 2, 5. 9. Ier. 2, 1. Ez. 16, 8 etc.), cui omnino consentaneum est, quod alias ipse Messias tamquam sponsus appellatur (Ps. 44. Ioan. 3, 29), Ecclesia autem vel theocratia nova tamquam eius sponsa (2 Cor. 11, 2. Eph. 5, 25. Apoc. 21, 2). Non Deus iniustitia vel tyrannide eos abiecit vel propter fastidium et inconstant'am foedus solvit, neque impotentia eius factum est, uv adversarii ei suum eriperent et abducerent populum, sed ipsi sua sponte et invito Deo foedus violarunt, recesserunt, et propter suas iniquitates hostium potestati traditi sunt ; cf. 49, 19 seq. Ipsa ergo synagoga se ultro coniecit in conditionein mulieris dimissae recedens a Domino ; nam, ut S. /JHier. ait, « non potius quod verum est intelligitis, illam suo a me vitio recessisse? adulteram matrem ultra tenere non potui, sed volentem abire permisi » ; ita ipse S. Hier. explicat illud quod vertit d«misi, id quod melius in hebr. apud Syrum et Chald. voce passiva exprimitur dimissa est vel eiecta est. Iam quaenam sint illae iniquitates et scelera, summatim declaratur v. 4 « Dominus dedit mihi linguam eruditam, ut sciam sustentare eum qui lassus est verbo ; erigit mane, mane erigit mihi aurem, ut audiam quasi magistrum » ; — hebr. dedit mihi linguam discipulorum... ut audiam discipulorum instar ; servus Domini se discipulum Dei profitetur qui a Domino edoctus sit, et qua talis verbo suo et doctrina erigit, confortat, consolatur lassum, qui prae fatigatione et debilitate iam non ambulare valet in viis Domini vel qui desperatione et miseria prostratus iacet. Ad hoc se a Domino edoctum et institutum dicit; similiter uti supra descriptus est : requiescet super eum spiritus Domini, spiritus sapientiae et scientiae etc. (11, 2) et 49, 2 : posuit os meum quasi gladium acutum ; iam ergo clarius describitur qualis hostis sit gladio oris perimendus : lassus est sustentandus verbo; ergo debilitas, infirmitas, impotentia, qua nihil fit in re divina, in opere Dei, haec sunt gladio perimenda. Quid est hoc aliud nisi : venite ad me omnes qui laboratis et onerati estis et ego reficiam vos ? Ad hoc ipse edocetur a Domino. Id cum gaudio quodam et verborum abundantia dicit : quovis mane excitat ei aurem ad audiendum discipulorum instar i. e. continuo divinam revelationem et manifestationem accipit, continuo a Deo magistro edocetur mentique eius divina illustratio continuo illabitur quam aure excitata i. e. attente, maximo studio et perspicientia suscipit. Quovis mane, ita continuo se Dei alloquium percipere, nemo prophetarum asserere potuit ; ad hos enim Deus minime singulis diebus loquebatur; neque propheta dicere potuit quovis mane ; nam : si quis fuerit inter vos propheta Domini, in visione apparebo ei, vel per somnum loquar ad illum (Num. 12, 6); hie ergo is loquitur qui supra omnes prophetas divinam accipit communicationem et qui hac quoque in re, sicut Moyses inter prophetas, unus eminet et ipsius etiam Moysis familiare cum Deo commercium superat. Ita is solum loqui potest, qui 11, 2 descriptus est tamquam plenitudinem spiritus Domini in se continuo habens, super quem dedit Dominus spiritum suum (42, 2), ut scil. continuo in eo maneat et agat, qui est a Deo assumptus et instructus, uti 49, 2 proponitur. Haec autem praeclare in Christo esse impleta liquet. Nam ipsi illius hostes fateri cogebantur neminem unquam suavi adeo dicendi vi valuisse (loan. 7. 46) ; nemo unquam maiore sapientia, vi, suavitate aut efficacia disseruit (Calm.), ergo linguam habuit divinitus edoctam. Ipse quoque se a Patre accipere cuncta constanter professus est : sicut dixit mihi Pater, sic loquor ; sermonem quem audistis non est meus, sed eius qui misit me Patris; mea doctrina non est mea etc, (cf. Ioan. 8, 26. 40; 12, 50 ; 14, 24 ; 45, 15 ; "1, 16 etc.). Divinae illi querelae v. 2 ulterius respondet suam ostendens animi ad ohediendum promptitudinem
Cum igitur, uti ex interrogationibus v. 2 propositis colligitur, inobe-, dientia populi ipsam Dei potentiam quam maxime impediat quominus redimat et salvet, quis iam hoc expiabit et tollet. impedimentum ? Proponitur a vate servus Domini maximam exhibens obedientiam. Redemptio ex Aegypto facta est potentia Dei ; ut vero redemptio ex captivitate iniquitatum fieri possit, opus est servo Domini mediatore et expiatore, qui sua obedientia et patientia viam quasi paret divinae potentiae ad redemptionem et salutem donandam. Neque enim significatione carere. potest, quod postquam dictum est eos peccatis suis esse venditos, immo eorum obduratione Dei potentiam quasi ligari, iam servus Domini lo-: quens inducitur, qui suam obedientiam et verbis et rebus maximam sollemni modo coram Domino profitetur et doctrina et exemplo suo alios docet, quibus si vocem eius audierint salus promittitur. Ergo obedientia servi Domini fit, ut inobedientia vincatur et obstaculum salutis removeatur. Illi enim Dei expostulationi et querelae : veni, vocavi et nemo audivit, suam opponit et offert obedientiam promptissimam, qua simul alios.se reddere ad obsequendum expeditos profitetur; iam quid hoc aliud est, nisi Deo irato expiationem et satisfactionem offerre, ut pro scelere illo iam servi promptum animum benigne suscipiat? Ait enim
50:5
v. 8 « Dominus Deus aperuit mihi aurem, ego autem non contradico, retrorsum non abii » ; — i. e. uti Deus me semper edocuit et suam voluntatem manifestavit, ita ego semper obedio, nunquam ne minimum quidem renuo vel haesito; ergo munus a Deo iniunctum summa semper alacritate et studio exsequitur : quae placita sunt ei, facio semper ; sicut. mandatum dedit mihi Pater, sic facio (Ioan. 8, 21; 14, 31) ; sic Messias saepius se non suam facere profitetur voluntatem sed eius qui se miserit Patris (cf. Ioan. 4, 34; 5, 30 ; 6, 38). Verbis ipsis et ista affirmatione obedientiae iam exprimitur gravia ac molesta ab eo esse postulata et obedientiae exercitium labore multo constitisse. Bene notat S. Cyr. Christum suam obedientiam Iudaeorum contumaciae opponere; « ego enim vocavi, inquit, nec erat audiens; desides facti sunt, ad obediendum tardi, renuerunt; ego autem non renui nec contradico ». Atque quantopere ex iis quae passus est didicerit obedientiam et quantam in obedientia praestanda exhibuerit patientiam, fortitudinem, constantiam, sequentibus declaratur
50:6
v. 6 « corpus meum dedi percutientibus et genas meas vellentibus; faciem meam non averti ab. increpantibus et conspuentibus in me » ; — en, quomodo retrorsum non abierit ! hebr. dorsum meum dedi percutientibus... faciem meam non abscondi a. contumeliis et sputo (cf. For. Mald. Mar. Malv.); proprie genas meas (praebui) depilantibus i. e. avellentibus barbam indignissime ; habet autem vellicatio barbae et dolorem et insignem contumeliam ( For. Sanct.). Et verbum ded? abunde indicat quam non gravate ista pertulerit, cum obvium se dederit percuüentibus neque genas vellentium inclementiae subduxerit (Sanct. Lap.). Contumeliam sputorum tamquam omnium maximam extremo loco posuit Iob : « abominantur me et longe fugiunt a me et faciem meam conspuere non verentur » (lob 30, 410), solent enim ad sputa et putria oris eiectamenta despicatissimum eligere locum (Sanct.). LXX vertunt : dedi tergum meum ad verbera (uászwyac) et genas meas ad alapas (£axísyaza), faciem autem meam non averti ab ignominia sputorum. Cur autem servus Domini tam duram debuerit subire obedientiam, explicabitur accuratius 53, 4 et seq. et iam hic poterit aliqua ratione coniici, si consideraveris eius obedientiam opponi inobedientiae populi; debuit ergo huius inobedientie poenas in se suscipere et pro ea expiare ; populus qui etiam servus Domini vocatur sceleribus suis in conditionem abiectam et servilem est redactus; ut eam solvat alter servus Domini innocens sponte miseriam subit: ego autem sum vermis et non homo, opprobrium hominum et abiectio plebis (Ps. 91, 7), sustinui opprobrium, operuit confusio faciem meam (Ps. 68, 8). Impletionem vide Matth. 26, 27; 27, 30. Marc. 14, 65. Luc. 48, 32; 992, 64. Ioan. 18, 22. In hisce autem contumeliis scit sibi Dominum adesse opitulatorem, quare invicto animo eas subit certus illas demum in ornamenta gloriae fore
50:7
v. 1 « Dominus Deus auzxiliator meus, ideo mon sum confusus ; ideo posui faciem meam ut petram durissimam et scio quoniam non confundar » ; — quo igitur animo, qua mente et fiducia ea opprobria enim de servo Domini dictum est : sustentavi eum, apprehendi manum eius, servavi te (42, 4. 6), in umbra manus suae protexit me (49, 2) et iterum : in die salutis auxiliatus sum tui et servavi te (49, 8). Quare illa ad hune qui nunc loquitur referri manifestum est. Ope divina fretus aggressoribus in isto conflictu convieiorum et vexationum constantiam opponit invictam, animum excelsum, qui in ipsa facie intrepida cernitur; ideo posui faciem meam ut silicem (hebr.); scil. induruit ad convicia et plagas tolerandas neque iis cedit; sed est « sicut saxum quod in medio mari verberant fluctus, non tamen labefactant aut commovent » (Sancl.). Animum similiter intrepidum atque constantem adfore Ieremiae et Ezechieli Deus promiserat (Ier. 1, 18. Ez. 3, 8). Contumeliis porro non succumbit, verum illis excelsior est quia mediis in ignominiis scit se confusione minime obrutum iri, verum se ex illis ad suam et operis sui gloriam evectum iri. Illud enim non confundar iam adest in promissis illis et opere ei assignato, adest in ipso nomine servi Domini, adest in sollemni Dei assertione : in te me gloriosum exhibebo; quare iam antea dixit postquam Deo suam causam commendavit : glorificatus sum in oculis Domini (49, 5; cf. 42, 1. 3. 6; 49, 2- 10). Verba sunt scil. eius, qui dixit : Pater, clarifica filium tuum, ut filius tuus clarificet te (Ioan. 11, 1), confidite, ego vici mundum (loan. 16, 33). Quemadmodum igitur per totam Isaiae prophetiam a capite primo et deinceps norma illa continuo etfertur per castigationem, humiliationem, deiectionem pompae etc. esse demum perveniendum ad beatam prosperitatem et felicitatem, ita eandem viain nobis in servo Domini delineat, quam quidem iam 11, 4 indicat, cum dicat surculum ex radice Iesse vel ex trunco lesse exoriturum et demum fore in signum populorum. Unde quoque magis magisque innuitur servum Domini in se suscipere personam populi, in eandem intrare humilem conditionem 'et eius in se suscipere perpessiones, ut populum simul secum ad gloriam et beatitatem evehat.
50:8
v. 8 « Juxta est qui iustificat me, quis contradicet mihi ? stemus simul, quis est adversarius meus ? accedat ad me » | — causam enim suam Domino commisit qui eam se tuiturum esse et praeclaro successu donaturum promisit, uti 49, 4. 6 est expositum. Quare hoc loco servus Domini illum sibi adstare asserit, qui se declaraturus sit iustum sua sententia iudiciali coram omnibus proferenda; est igitur ?ustificare h. 1. causam defensionis suscipere, ab adversariis vindicare, illum ad ius suum perducere, illum demonstrare victorem in conflictu hostili. Cum igitur talem Deum sibi adstare sciat opitulatorem et iuris vindicem, audacter adversarios ad certamen provocat : quis mecum disceptabit (hebr.)? consistamus simul i. e. in ius simul eamus! quis poterit me arguere vel accusare? age prodeat in medium! Similem Christi vocem audimus apud Ioan. : quis ex vobis arguet me de peccato (8, 46)? Provisum itaque dicit servus Domini a Deo auxiliatore, ne propter contumelias sibi illatas apud homines nomen suum infamia laboret, immo decretum ut omnibus gloriosum futurum: sit et venerabile (Sanct.). Quare certam fore victoriam declarat
In hac abiectione et vilipensione (v. 6) servus Domini scit instare sibi gloriam et insignem victoriam ; unde
50:9
v. 9 « ecce Dominus Deus auxiliator meus, quis est qui condemnet me? ecce omnes quasi vestimentum conterentur, tinea com»det eos » ! — fore impugnatores servi Domini innuit qui eius famae insidientur vel eum apud alios tamquam hominem scelestum traducere studeant. At conatus adversariorum fore vanos et árritos ; hostes robore ac virtute destitui, impotes in se ipsis concidere, suis sceleribus corrodi et tabescere. Comparationes si cum aliis de Cyro (42, 2; 45, 4 seq.) componantur, non eam dicunt victoriam quae tumultu et strepitu bellico acquiratur, verum potius talem quae sensim, tacite habeatur; nam quod advenit vestimento aut ligno vitium a tinea, sensim inolescit tacitoque morsu quod prius solidum videbatur et integrum exeditur et putrescit, unde malum quod sensim et tacite serpit et conficit occulto damno, tineae nomine designatur (Sanct.). Certa quidem est victoria, at poterit diutius differri, poterit apud adversarios per aliquod tempus fallax quaedam felicitatis species cerni, uti tinea in occulto diu latens non statim destruit neque externam speciem aufert. Apta est sane comparatio, si qualiter Messias de suis adversariis soleat triumphos agere attente consideraveris. Etiam de iis valet quod de ipso annuntiatum est 42, 2. 3. Quid magis exiguum quam tinea? At quam magna Deus efficere solet re minima! Etiam hic valet: infirma Deus elegit, ut confundat fortia et ignobilia et contemptibilia et ea quae non sunt elegit, ut ea quae sunt destrueret (1 Cor. 1, 27. 28). Talis ergo servus Dei in obedientia et patientia exhibetur talisque et populo contumaci opponitur et demum ad victoriam praeclaram a Deo perducetur; quare in eo demum spes salutis pro afflictis constituitur; unde eo exemplo proposito et tali doctrina in medium prolata ipse Deus qui sermonem exorsus est (v. 1) conclusionem et applicationem colligit, bene agi cum iis qui servum Domini audierint, pessime cum iis qui spreverint. Haec est enim victoria servi Domini, ut obsequentibus afferat salutem, contumacibus sit ruinae. Qui afflicti sunt, spem concipiant ex servo Domini afflicto prius et postmodum exaltato; v. 10 « quis ez vobis timens Dominum, audiens vocem servi sui? qui ambulavit in tenebris el. non est lumen ei, speret in nomine Domini et innitatur super Deum suum » | — paucos fore ipsa interrogationis forma indicari videtur, constans quippe est norma reliquias Israel salvas fore. Dein attendatur nexus inter timorem i. e. cultum et religionem Dei et obedientiam servo Domini praestiandam; qui Deum colit, audiet et intelliget vocem servi eius; nam « qui non honorificat Filium, non honorificat Patrem qui misit illum » (Ioan. 5, 23). Iam vero si servum Domini audierint suam enarrantem obedientiam, patientiam, fiduciam, victoriam, facile quoque ipsi quid in angustiis et miseriis sibi sit praestandum intelligent. In afflictione ergo reipublicae et piorum quae sine ulla spe ingruere et omnem melioris conditionis exspectationem penitus auferre videtur (si res humanitus spectatur), spem suam et firmam fiduciam collocent in Domino, in nomine /ahve, qui est foederis Deus immutabilis et constans ; videant ergo et intelligant exemplum servi Domini et eosdem animi sensus induant, quibus ipse opprobriis atque infestationibus obrutus invicta spe Domino inhaesit : Dominus auxiliator meus, ideo non sum confusus v. 1. 8. Docet ergo propheta pro tempore calamitatis h.l. idem quod iam inculcavit 8, 47 seq. 26, 8. 9. Unde cernis quantopere in oraculis quoque de tempore futuro sui temporis necessitatibus consulat. Quo alacrius vocem servi Domini audiant, sortem eorum adumbrat qui adversarii servi Domini esse malunt
50:11
v. 11 « ecce vos omnes accendentes ignem, accincti flammis, ambulate in lumine ignis vestri et in flammis quas succendistis ; de manu mea faclum est hoc vobis, in dolovibus dormietis »! — adversarii servi Domini ignem accendunt, sese malleolis vel sagittis ardentibus cingunt (hebr.) i. e. magna persecutionum incendia contra eum suscitant, calumniis et sermonibus mendacibus, tamquam sagittis, eum confodere et interimere student; cf. 9, 18: succensa est quasi ignis impietas; Ps. 56, 5 : lingua eorum gladius acutus. Sed suis se machinationibus perdent; quare iubentur a Domino ire in lumen ignis sui, sese proripere et iniicere in suas sagittas ardentes; ergo incendia quae suscitarunt contra servum Domini in perniciem succendentium vertentur. Ita igitur Deus incendia in ipsos vertet et. in flammis suis sepulti cubabunt in doloribus (hebr.). Nonne haec ad literam iam impleta sunt in inimicis servi Domini, in Iudaeis contumacibus? qualia incendia in Messiam et discipulos eius suscitarunt, donec ipsi illis incendiis in expugnatione urbis et templi interierint (cf. S. Hier. Cyr. Theod.)? Norma utique statuitur generalis; verum, ut S. Hier. dicit, pro qualitate peccati ignem unusquisque sibi succendet, sua iniquitate se perdet poena congrua; unde applicatio et impletio multiplex per saeculorum cursum habetur pro varietate impugnationum. Neque enim est in alio aliquo salus ; « quoniam lucem meam non suscepistis, hostium ignem suscipite, cui vos ipsi alimentum suppeditastis » (Theod.). Illud eubabitis in doloribus (hebr.) supplicia dicit contemptoribus Messiae parata; cf. 66, 24; et de tali incendio a scelestis excitato iam monuit vates 1, 31. « Non est pax impiis ». Habes h. l. inter v. 10 et 11 eandem oppositionem, quam in parte priore saepius deprehendimus; cf. 8, 21 et 9, 1; 26, 9 et 10; 30, 23 et 21; cap. 34 et 35. iisdem verbis afferuntur, iam eadem esse negare cogeris; alias etiam 42, 1 seq. et 49, 1-9 debebis de Isaia explicare. Sed haec de Isaia nullo pacto posse intelligi, ex ipsis verhis iam demonstratum est, neque rationalistae in iis capp. Isaiam agnoscunt. Ergo planearbitrarium est et contra regulas sanae interpretationis peccatur, si quis ea quae illis capp. innituntur et ex iis enascuntur tamen de Isaia accipi voluerit, i. e. si90, 4 seq. de alio aliquo interpretetur, quam 42,1 et 49, 1-9 interpretatus est. Dein id quoque adde, nihil prorsus notum esse Isaiae unquam eiusmodi contumelias, verbera, sputa esseillata; ad quam rem expende, quam accurate Ieremias de infestationibus sibi factis referat. Sed quid haec pars ex vita Isaiae hoc loco inserta et iis verbis relata, sibi velit, quando, qua occasione acciderit, nemo explicare potest. Num [saias singulis diebus (v. 4) accepit revelationes ? num Isaias verberibus pereussus adhue quaerit: quis sit adversarius? num insidiatores suos ad novum provocabit certamen ? num [saias tam audacter asserere potest se a nullo posse condemnari ? et tamen postmodum ab inimicis est interfectus! Quomodo ergo oraculum illud impletum est : omnes inimicos eius contritum iri et a tinea consumptum (v. 9)? quomodo in Isaia promissio illa v. 11 impleta est, eius adversarios suis se interempturos esse machinationibus? En, si haec [saias de se dixit, potius falsus demonstratur propheta. Locos ss. Patrum qui hoc caput de Christo exponunt recensitos invenies apud Reinke l. c. p. 157 etc. et apud Kilber, Analys. bibl. ed. Tailhan I p. 381.
50:4
… In the Synoptics this concept of salvation is constant, corresponding in the Fourth Gospel to that of "life" and "eternal life." It is a concept intertwined with that of Redemption (v.) which, already latent in the poems of the Servant of Yahweh (Isa. 42:1 ff.; 49:1-6; 50:4-9; 52:1-3; 53:12), but unknown to the Jews in its full sense, emerges clearly from the Gospel, both in Christ's affirmations that he has come for sinners (cf. Matt. 9:13; Mark 2:17), …
50:5
Servant of Yahweh (Heb. 'Ēbhedh Yahweh)
passion and the grandeur of his consequent exaltation (cf. Is. 50:5-6; 52:14; 53:1-22). The prophet describes the straitened life, the deformities that the body
50:6
Then were fulfilled the words of Ps. 2, 1-2 concerning the conspiracy of princes and kings against C., as the first Christians remembered (Act. 4, 25-28). J. there also suffered the sufferings already foretold by Is. 50, 6; 52, 13-53, 12. J. is the "servant of Jahweh" who does not turn away his face from ignominies and spittings, has presented his back to those who beat him and his cheeks to those who …
Servant of Yahweh (Heb. 'Ēbhedh Yahweh)
… Is. 52:1; Mt. 8:17 with Is. 53:4; Acts 8:32-35 with Is. 53:7-8; Lk. 22:37 with Is. 53:12. In these one observes fulfilled in Christ what is said of the S. of Y. (cf. also Lk. 2:32 - Is. 42:6; Mt. 11:5 - Is. 42:7; Rev. 19:13-15 - Is. 49:2; Mt. 26:67 - Is. 50:6). Jesus applies to himself Is. 53:12 (Mk. 15:28; Lk. 22:37). No one can doubt that the figure and the mission of the S. of Y. fit in full only Christ, indeed that they fit him so clearly …
50:7
J. shows throughout the Passion the special protection that God grants him (Is. 50, 7); he reveals himself in his answers as king of a spiritual kingdom; he reaffirms his mission and his superhuman origin (Io. 18, 36-37); he affirms that he is in Pilate's hands by the …
50:11
11). Although it is the "end of acting and thinking" (Eccles. 9:10), the wicked have far more to fear it (Ps. 48:15) than the righteous do. There is also mention of the fire that devours (Deut. 32:22; Is. 50:11; Eccl. 51:4); for the wicked "their worm shall not die and their fire shall not be quenched" (Is. 66:24; Eccl. 7:17; Jud. 16:21; Mk. 9:23), an allusion to cadaveric corruption …
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.