The prosperity of the wicked shall be but for a short time. The desolation of the Jews for their sins. Their return from their captivity.
It semeth strange that the wicked prosper. 5. The Iewes heretofore afflicted by weaker enimies, shal be more oppressed by the Babylonians. 10. Euil pastors shal be punished. 14. and forraine enimies destroyed.
1Thou indeed, O Lord, art just, if I plead with thee, but yet I will speak what is just to thee: Why doth the way of the wicked prosper: why is it well with all them that transgress, and do wickedly?Veramente checché io disputi teco, tu, o Signore, se' giusto: con tutto questo io parlerò giustizia con te: per qual motivo tutto va a seconda per gli empi; sono felici tutti i prevaricatori, e gli iniqui?THOV in deede ô Lord art iust, if I dispute with thee, but yet I wil speake iust thinges to thee: Why doth the way of the impious prosper: why is it wel with al that transgresse, and doe wickedly?Justus quidem tu es, Domine, si disputem tecum: / verumtamen justa loquar ad te: / Quare via impiorum prosperatur; / bene est omnibus qui prævaricantur et inique agunt ? 2Thou hast planted them, and they have taken root: they prosper and bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.Tu li piantasti, e gettarono radici; van crescendo, e fruttificano: tu se' vicino alla loro bocca, ma lontano da' loro affetti.Thou hast planted them, and they haue taken roote: they prosper and bring forth fruite: thou art nigh to their mouth, and farre from their reynes.Plantasti eos, et radicem miserunt: / proficiunt, et faciunt fructum: / prope es tu ori eorum, / et longe a renibus eorum. 3And thou, O Lord, hast known me, thou hast seen me, and proved my heart with thee: gather them together as sheep for a sacrifice, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.Ma tu, o Signore, mi hai conosciuto, mi hai veduto, ed hai sperimentato, che il mio cuore è con te. Radunali qual gregge al macello, e tienli a parte pel giorno della uccisione.And thou Lord hast knowen me, thou hast sene me, and proued my hart with thee: gather them together as a flocke to the victime, and sanctifie them in the day of slaughter.Et tu, Domine, nosti me, vidisti me, / et probasti cor meum tecum. / Congrega eos quasi gregem ad victimam, / et sanctifica eos in die occisionis. 4How long shall the land mourn, and the herb of every field wither for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? The beasts and the birds are consumed: because they have said: He shall not see our last end.Fino a quando la terra sarà in lutto, e seccherassi l'erba in ogni regione per la malvagità de' suoi abitatori? animali, ed uccelli sono stati consunti, perchè costoro hanno detto: ei non vedrà il nostro fine.How long shal the land mourne, and the herbe of euerie fielde be withered for malice of the inhabitants therein? Beast is consumed, and foule: because they haue saied: He shal not see our later endes.Usquequo lugebit terra, / et herba omnis regionis siccabitur, / propter malitiam habitantium in ea ? / Consumptum est animal, et volucre, / quoniam dixerunt: Non videbit novissima nostra.
5If thou hast been wearied with running with footmen, how canst thou contend with horses? and if thou hast been secure in a land of peace, what wilt thou do in the swelling of the Jordan?Se ti sei affannato correndo con gente a piedi, come potrai tu gareggiar co' cavalli? Che se in una terra di pace tu se' stato senza paure, che farai in mezzo alla superbia del Giordano?If running with footemen thou hast laboured: how canst thou contend with horses? And whereas in a land of peace thou hast bene secure, what wilt thou doe in the pride of Iordan?Si cum peditibus currens laborasti, / quomodo contendere poteris cum equis ? / cum autem in terra pacis securus fueris, / quid facies in superbia Jordanis ? 6For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have fought against thee, and have cried after thee with full voice: believe them not when they speak good things to thee.Imperocché i tuoi stessi fratelli, e la casa del padre tuo hanno a te fatto guerra, e hanno gridato contro di te con voce sonora. Non ti fidar di loro quando ti parleranno con amore.For euen thy bretheren, & the house of thy father, they also haue fought against thee, and haue cried after thee with ful voice: beleue them not when they shal speake good thinges vnto thee.Nam et fratres tui, et domus patris tui, / etiam ipsi pugnaverunt adversum te, / et clamaverunt post te plena voce: / ne credas eis, / cum locuti fuerint tibi bona. 7I have forsaken my house, I have left my inheritance: I have given my dear soul into the hand of her enemies.Io ho abbandonata la casa mia, ho rigettata la mia eredità: ho lasciato l'amor dell'anima mia nelle mani de' suoi nemici.I haue forsaken my house, I haue left mine inheritance: I haue geuen my beloued soule into the hand of her enemies.Reliqui domum meam; / dimisi hæreditatem meam: / dedi dilectam animam meam in manu inimicorum ejus. 8My inheritance is become to me as a lion in the wood: it hath cried out against me, therefore have I hated it.La mia eredità è divenuta per me qual lione nella boscaglia: ha alzata la voce contro di me, per questo io la ho odiata.Myne inheritance is become vnto me as a lion in the wood: it hath vttered a voice against me, therefore haue I hated it.Facta est mihi hæreditas mea quasi leo in silva: / dedit contra me vocem, ideo odivi eam. 9Is my inheritance to me as a speckled bird? is it as a bird dyed throughout? come ye, assemble yourselves, all ye beasts of the earth, make haste to devour.E ella forse per me la mia eredità come l'uccello a varj colori? È ella come l'uccello dipinto per ogni parte? Venite bestie della terra quante voi siete, raunatevi per divorare.Why, is myne inheritance vnto me as a bird of diuers coulors? is it as a birde died through out? come, assemble yourselues al ye beastes of the land, make haste to deuoure.Numquid avis discolor hæreditas mea mihi ? / numquid avis tincta per totum ? / Venite, congregamini, omnes bestiæ terræ: / properate ad devorandum.
10Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot: they have changed my delightful portion into a desolate wilderness.Molti pastori han devastata la mia vigna, hanno conculcata la mia eredità; han cangiata la mia amata porzione in un solitario deserto;Manie pastours haue destroyed my vineyard, they haue troden downe my portion: they haue made my portion that was worthie to be desired, into a desert of desolation.Pastores multi demoliti sunt vineam meam, / conculcaverunt partem meam, / dederunt portionem meam desiderabilem in desertum solitudinis. 11They have laid it waste, and it hath mourned for me. With desolation is all the land made desolate; because there is none that considereth in the heart.La hanno desolata, ed ella piange rivolta a me: una orribile desolazione ha invasa la terra; e chi in cuor suo rifletta, non è.They haue laied it into dissipation, and it hath mourned vpon me. With desolation is al the land made desolate: because there is none that considereth in the hart.Posuerunt eam in dissipationem, / luxitque super me: / desolatione desolata est omnis terra, / quia nullus est qui recogitet corde. 12The spoilers are come upon all the ways of the wilderness, for the sword of the Lord shall devour from one end of the land to the other end thereof: there is no peace for all flesh.Per tutte le vie del deserto son venuti gli sterminatori, perchè la spada del Signore divorerà la terra da una estremità fino all'altra estremità: per nissun uomo vi sarà pace.Vpon al the wayes of the desert the wasters are come, because the sword of our Lord shal deuoure from one end of the land to the other end thereof: there is no peace to al flesh.Super omnes vias deserti venerunt vastatores, / quia gladius Domini devorabit: / ab extremo terræ usque ad extremum ejus, / non est pax universæ carni. 13They have sown wheat, and reaped thorns: they have received an inheritance, and it shall not profit them: you shall be ashamed of your fruits, because of the fierce wrath of the Lord.Hanno seminato del grano, ed hanno mietute spine: hanno avuta un'eredità, e non sarà loro di giovamento: sarete confusi nella vana espettazione de' vostri frutti per la furibonda ira del Signore.They haue sowen wheate, and reaped thornes: they haue taken an inheritance, and it shal not profite them: you shal be ashamed of your fruites, for the wrath of the furie of our Lord.Seminaverunt triticum, / et spinas messuerunt: / hæreditatem acceperunt, / et non eis proderit. / Confundemini a fructibus vestris / propter iram furoris Domini.
14Thus saith the Lord against all my wicked neighbours, that touch the inheritance that I have shared out to my people Israel: Behold I will pluck them out of their land, and I will pluck the house of Juda out of the midst of them.Queste cose dice il Signore contro tutti i pessimi vicini miei, i quali toccano l'eredità distribuita da me al mio popolo d'Israele: Ecco che io gli sradicherò dalla loro terra, e la casa di Giuda tonò di mezzo ad essi.Thus saith the Lord against al my most wicked neighbours: which touche the inheritance that I haue distributed to my people of Israel: Behold I wil plucke them out of their land, & the house of Iuda I wil plucke out of the middes of them.Hæc dicit Dominus adversum omnes vicinos meos pessimos, / qui tangunt hæreditatem quam distribui populo meo Israël: / Ecce ego evellam eos de terra sua, / et domum Juda evellam de medio eorum. 15And when I shall have plucked them out, I will return, and have mercy on them: and will bring them back, every man to his inheritance, and every man into his land.E quando gli avrò sradicati mi rappacificherò, e avrò compassione di essi; e li ricondurrò ciascheduno alla sua eredità, ciascheduno alla sua terra.And when I shal haue plucked them out, I wil returne, and haue mercie on them: and wil bring them backe, euerie man to his inheritance, and euerie man into his land.Et cum evulsero eos, convertar, / et miserebor eorum, et reducam eos: / virum ad hæreditatem suam, / et virum in terram suam. 16And it shall come to pass, if they will be taught, and will learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name: The Lord liveth, as they have taught my people to swear by Baal: that they shall be built up in the midst of my people.E se eglino fatti saggi appareranno la legge del popol mio, talmente che nel nome mio facciano i lor giuramenti, dicendo: Vive il Signore, come insegnarono al popol mio a giurare per Baal, ei saranno felicitati in mezzo al mio popolo.And it shal be: if being taught they wil learne the waies of my people, that they sweare in my name: Our Lord liueth, as they haue taught my people to sweare by Baal: they shal be built in the middes of my people.Et erit: si eruditi didicerint vias populi mei, / ut jurent in nomine meo: Vivit Dominus ! / sicut docuerunt populum meum jurare in Baal, / ædificabuntur in medio populi mei. 17But if they will not hear, I will utterly pluck out and destroy that nation, saith the Lord.Che se eglino saranno indocili, sradicherò totalmente, e sterminerò quella nazione, dice il Signore.But if they wil not heare, I wil plucke out that nation with plucking vp and with destruction, saith our Lord.Quod si non audierint, / evellam gentem illam evulsione et perditione, ait Dominus.
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Calmet
Is just. Hebrew, "judgment." Septuagint, "I will make my apology to thee." Jeremias had been grievously persecuted by his countrymen: he therefore mentions a subject which has been the source of much perplexity. The success of the wicked is a temptation for weak souls. See Job xxi., Psalm 72:3., and Habacuc 1:13. (Calmet)
Worthington
The prophets often speak in their names, not being ignorant or doubtful of the justice of divine providence. (Worthington)
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Gather. God orders his prophet to announce the misery of the wicked.
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Calmet
Mourn? Is not this a proof of my providence in chastising Juda? This famine is specified [in] Jeremias 8:13., and 14:4. (Calmet)
Kennicott
Last end. Two letters seem to be transposed in Hebrew, as the Septuagint read "ways." (Kennicott)
Calmet
The impious blaspheme as if all were ruled by chance. (Calmet)
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Horses. If thou hast been terrified at the threats of thy fellow-citizens, how wilt thou withstand those of Jerusalem? (Menochius) or he speaks to Juda, who would not be able to resist the Chaldeans, since the Philistines, etc., had routed the Jews, though destitute of cavalry.
Calmet
Jordan, or the nations of Ammon, etc., on that side. (Calmet)
Haydock
Protestants, "if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt," etc. (Haydock)
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Calmet
To thee. Edom, etc., made a league with Sedecias, which they broke. They always bore a hatred to the Jews, though sprung from the same stock, Jeremias 27:1., and Lamentations 4:21. (Calmet)
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Soul; people, (Haydock) whose punishment was decreed. Say not, therefore, that the wicked always prosper.
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Haydock
As a. Septuagint, "a den of the hyena:" Alexandrian, "robbers." Grabe inserts, "or a den around it?" (Haydock)
Calmet
They have read áuss, "a den," instead of hait, "a bird." Bochart, (III. 11.) however, shews that the latter word denotes various wild beasts, and nearly follows the Septuagint. Though the inheritance be most charming, it shall not pass unpunished. (Calmet)
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Pastors; princes of my people, as well (Haydock) as of the Chaldeans, Jeremias 6:3.
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Heart, to seek God and the cause of their misfortunes.
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Fruits. They shall not satisfy your expectations or wants.
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Calmet
Land. Nabuchodonosor led the Ammonites, etc., into captivity, five years after the Jews. (Josephus, Antiquities 10:11.) (Calmet)
Worthington
After the children are chastised, the rod is burnt. (Worthington)
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Land; the Jews, as well as their neighbours, Jeremias 49:6. (Menochius) (Isaias 23:15., and Ezechiel 16:55.)
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Calmet
People. After the captivity, converts were more cherished. Yet the predictions concerning the call of the Gentiles were accomplished only by the preaching of the gospel. (Calmet)
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Prophetes, & other holie men, not ignorant nor doubtful of Gods prouidence, speake sometimes in the person of the weake, as desirous to know why God suffereth the wicked to prosper in this world, and the godlie to be afflicted. Iob. 21. v. 7. Dauid Psal. 72. v. 2. 3. Abacuc. 1. v. 3.
Concordance Iob. 21. Abac. 1.
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Segregate.
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After that the children are chasticed, the rodde is to be burned.
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The 2. part. The peoples ingratitude s•ning against God, and persecuring the Prophet.
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St Gregory Thaumaturgus † AD 270 A Metaphrase of the Book of Ecclesiastes 3
… and regarding the others which the unreasoning creatures possess, whether they shall fall downward. And it seemed to me, that there is no other good save pleasure, and the enjoyment of things present. For I did not think it possible for a man, when once he has tasted death, to return again to the enjoyment of these things.
St Methodius † AD 311 Concerning Free-Will 1
… I appreciate your readiness, my friend, and applaud your zeal about the subject; and as for the opinion which you have expressed respecting existing things, to the effect that God made them out of some underlying substance, I do not altogether find fault with it. For, truly, the origin of evil is a subject that has called out opinions from many men.
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 42.3
3. To speak in a more feeling strain, trusting in Him Who then forsook me, as in a Father, “Abraham has been ignorant of us, Israel has acknowledged us not, but Thou art our Father, and unto Thee do we look; beside Thee we know none else, we make mention of Thy name.” Therefore, says Jeremiah, I will plead with Thee, I will reason the cause with Thee.
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 39.2
… Sometimes I say: “Let the day perish wherein I was born,” and again, “Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth.” I cry: “Righteous art thou, O Lord…yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments. Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper?”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 7.31
… “But yet I will speak what is just to Thee. Why doth the way of the wicked prosper? Why is it well with all them that transgress and do wickedly? Thou hast planted them and they have taken root: they prosper and bring forth fruit. Thou art near in their mouth and far from their reins.”
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Rufinus of Aquileia † AD 411 A Commentary on the Apostles' Creed 22
… He hath uttered his voice against Me, wherefore I have hated it. And therefore (saith He) I have forsaken and left My house.”
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St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 13.15
… So that the Prophet in amazement speaks of this too, Against whom have ye opened your mouth, and against whom have ye let loose your tongue ? and the Lord Himself says in the Prophets, Mine heritage became unto Me as a lion in the forest; it gave its voice against Me; therefore have I hated it
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.68
… the pastors also transgressed against Me. Again He says to him: The pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the Lord, and therefore all their flock did not understand, and was scattered. Again, Many pastors have destroyed My vineyard, and have polluted My pleasant portion, till it was reduced to a trackless wilderness.
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St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 51.1
1. It surely becomes us, dearly beloved, not to abuse our rank as clergy, so as to make it an occasion of pride, but by diligently keeping and observing God’s commandments, to be in reality what in name we profess to be. For, if the Holy Scriptures say, “Their lots shall not profit them,”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 52.5
do not look to your military experience for a standard of clerical obligation. Under Christ’s banner seek for no worldly gain, lest having more than when you first became a clergyman, you hear men say, to your shame, “Their portion shall not profit them.”
Sulpicius Severus † AD 420 The Doubtful Letters of Sulpitius Severus 2.16
Take heed that ye love not human glory in any respect, lest your portion also be reckoned among those to whom it was said, “How can ye believe, who seek glory, one from another?” and of whom it is said through the prophet, “Increase evils to them; increase evils to the boastful of the earth”; and elsewhere, “Ye are confounded
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount 2.24
… for, says He, “they sit in Moses’ seat.” It was, therefore, when engaged through divine providence in preaching the law of God, that they were able to be useful to their hearers, although they were not so to themselves. Respecting such it is said in another place by the prophet, “They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns;”
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 1.6
7. Still suffer me to speak before Thy mercy—me, “dust and ashes.” Suffer me to speak, for, behold, it is Thy mercy I address, and not derisive man. Yet perhaps even Thou deridest me; but when Thou art turned to me Thou wilt have compassion on me.
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1. THOU ART JUST, O LORD, IF I PLEAD WITH THEE, that is, thou art more just than that I should plead with thee, and I know that after every pleading thou wilt prevail, and wilt appear just: yet with thy peace, permit me, afflicted as I am, to indulge my feelings somewhat, and to set forth my just expostulation and complaint, as it seems to me: namely, why the wicked prosper and the pious are afflicted. The same question is raised by Job cap. XXI, verse 7, by David Psalm LXXII, 3, by Habacuc cap. I. The same question was raised also by the gentiles, as Claudian writes against Rufinus; for Rufinus, born in a humble station, insinuating himself into the favor of the Emperor Theodosius, was raised to the highest honors, which he exercised arrogantly and tyrannically, and reached such a degree of arrogance that he attempted to have the Emperor Arcadius as his son-in-law; indeed by this means he attempted to seize the Empire for himself. Wherefore on the very day on which he thought he should be declared by Arcadius as sharer of the Empire, he was surrounded by the army as a traitor to the Empire, torn apart, and cut into pieces. Whence Claudian, recognizing from Rufinus's punishment that there is providence with the gods, of which he had previously doubted, thus sings: At last the punishment of Rufinus ended this tumult, and absolved the gods; now I do not complain that the unjust have risen to the heights of things: they are lifted on high that they may fall with greater ruin. Thus many even now, overcome by adversities, cast away hope in divine Providence, and soon faith itself, while they see and consider that those who have devoted themselves more to virtue are afflicted more sharply by the bitterness of fortune. Wherefore they often have on their lips that saying of Hercules: "O unhappy virtue, is it thus, when thou wast nothing but a name, that I exercised thee as if thou wert something, when thou didst serve fortune?" Thus recently a certain Englishman concluded that the Orthodox of the Roman faith are neither dear to God nor a matter of His care, because He permits them to be so miserably vexed in England, imprisoned, and deprived of goods and life. I have also heard a Calvinist Hollander reasoning thus: God favors the Calvinists in Holland; for He causes them to abound in peace and riches: therefore they themselves have the true faith and worship of God; for it does not seem credible that God would so favor His enemies and heretics. By the same reasoning he would have concluded that Mohammedanism and paganism are the true religion of God, because God has granted to the Turks and pagan emperors so many victories and kingdoms, and still grants them. More prudently and modestly Cato, seeing that Pompey's affairs were proceeding unsuccessfully, and that victory was inclining toward Caesar, said: there is much obscurity in divine matters, because all things were proceeding prosperously for Pompey, who was advancing his affairs beyond what was right; while all things were turning out adversely for him who was conducting the just cause of the republic. From this unhappiness of the good and happiness of the wicked arose a threefold error of the gentiles: The first of those who deny the gods, such as he who sings: Licinus lies in a marble tomb, but Cato in a small one, Pompey in none: do we believe that gods exist? The second, that gods indeed exist, but do not care for earthly and human things. Thus Pliny felt, lib. II, cap. VII: "It is ridiculous," he says, "for that, whatever it is, supreme being to take care of human affairs." And he adds the reason: "Or do we not believe that it is polluted by such sad and manifold service, or do we doubt it?" To this Clement responds, lib. VII Strom., that God is not polluted by this care nor distracted; because with supreme quietness and most peacefully He manages all these things; because He himself "is wholly mind, wholly light, wholly eye, seeing all things, hearing all things, knowing all things." The third was that of Balbus the Stoic in Cicero, lib. II De Natura Deorum, "God cares for individual men; but," he says, "the gods care for great things, they neglect small things." Plato refutes them in the Epinomis, where he establishes this foundation for his entire discourse on the gods: "That they care for all things, whether they be great or small." And Seneca, lib. I De Providentia, teaches that nothing is by chance, but that there is some hidden divine counsel by which all things that appear to be fortuitous are directed. And Cicero, lib. II De Natura Deorum, teaches that divine Providence is the conqueror and moderator of universal matter. But most beautifully Epictetus, lib. I Dissertat. cap. XII: "There are," he says, "those who deny that any Divinity exists. There are those who teach that it exists, but is idle, careless, and provides for nothing. There are a third sort who say that it both exists and provides, but only for great and heavenly things, and for nothing earthly. A fourth sort, for both heavenly and earthly things, but for all things universally, not however for individual things and each one separately. But a fifth sort, in which class are Ulysses and Socrates, assert and maintain that thou, O God, art not hidden from me or deceived in even the smallest movement." Thus also Cicero in the place cited asserts "not only to the whole human race, but also to individual men are the immortal gods concerned and provident;" and he adds: "The Stoics reduce the majesty of God even to the perfection of bees and ants." Our Damascenus gives the reason: "It is necessary," he says, "that the same one be both creator of things and administrator; nor can they or ought they to be divided. For thus one or the other would be subject to weakness, as if either this one could not create, or that one could not administer and preserve." Golden is the saying of St. Augustine in the Sentences, no. 58: "The will of God is the first and supreme cause of all corporeal and spiritual motions. For nothing happens visibly and sensibly which is not from the invisible and intelligible court of the supreme Emperor, either commanded or permitted, according to the ineffable justice of rewards and punishments, of graces and retributions, in this most ample and universal commonwealth of all creation;" and no. 41: "The immutable reason contains the disposition of all mutable things, where without time are simultaneously those things which in times do not happen simultaneously;" and no. 140: "God would create none of the Angels or men whom He foreknew would be evil, unless He likewise knew to what uses of good things He would commend them, and would honor them in the order of ages as a most beautiful song, even from certain most beautiful antitheses;" and no. 239: "Sometimes God instructs the good through the wicked, and through the temporal power of those to be damned exercises the discipline of those to be freed." YET WILL I SPEAK JUSTLY. Hebrew, I will speak judgments; the Chaldean renders it, I ask the question of judgment from before your face, that is, I demand from you the cause and reason of your judgment. Thus Job says, chapter X, verse 2: "Tell me why you judge me thus."
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2. You have planted them, you have established them, as trees that are planted high. THEY PROSPER, increased in riches, say the Chaldean, St. Thomas, Vatablus, and in offspring, say the Septuagint. You are near, that is, as the Chaldean says, they have you continually in their mouth; but in their reins, that is in their affections, mind and impure will you have no place; secondly, Castro thus explains it, as if to say, "You are near to their mouth," namely giving to them to satiety, that is at their will according to their wishes, whatever they desire and ask for; and you are far from their reins, because you do not even touch their backs with a small scourge, Lamentations III, 13.
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3. And you, Lord, (as if to say, You know, Lord), and HAVE PROVED (that is, have experienced) MY HEART to be pure, and that I have you, not only in my mouth as the wicked just mentioned, but also in my heart, desiring to obey you in all things and to please you: why therefore am I grieved and afflicted by them, while they enjoy peace and good things? Gather, collect and heap them with good things, and fatten them like sheep for the victim. For sheep, when they are to be slaughtered, are accustomed to be gathered in the fold and there fattened: thus St. Jerome, Rabanus, Hugo, St. Thomas; but in Hebrew it is copum hattikem, that is, as Vatablus says, draw them out to slaughter. Sanctify them, as if to say, Establish the day of their destruction, holy to your justice, in which you slay them as victims, and sacrifice them to your justice. For thus the Poet says: "And me he destines to the altar." For to sanctify is to consecrate and dedicate to God. See the sayings at chapter VI, verse 4. Secondly, "sanctify," that is separate, set apart "them" as a sacred thing (lest anyone touch it or apply it to another use) for the day of slaughter, as if for the day of sacrifice pleasing to God.
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5. IF THOU HAST RUN WITH FOOTMEN AND HAST LABOURED (The Syriac and Arabic: and they have wearied thee), HOW WILT THOU CONTEND WITH HORSES? It is a proverb which was used against those who, when they cannot accomplish lesser things, attempt greater ones; or who, when they cannot bear lesser evils, must bear greater ones; as if to say, If thy fellow-citizens the Anathothites are so troublesome to thee that thou scarcely bear them, O Jeremiah, how wilt thou bear the insults of the most wicked Hierosolymites, with their king and princes? As if to say, Take courage, thou hast endured small things, thou shalt endure greater ones. Thus the Chaldean, Lyra, Vatablus, and it is evident from what follows; for it follows: "But when thou shalt be at rest in the land of peace," as if to say, Thou seemest to thyself to dwell in thy land and native country in peace, and yet they desired to kill thee there; what therefore is to be expected for thee "in the pride (the Syriac, in the force and strength; the Arabic, in the abyss, that is, the utmost depth) of the Jordan?" that is, in Jerusalem, where there are men proud and swollen like the swelling Jordan. Thus Lyra and Vatablus. It is a parable, or proverb, having the same bearing as the preceding one of running with horsemen. For proverbially he calls "the land of peace" the quiet and peaceful country of Jeremiah, Anathoth; but "the pride of the Jordan" he calls the proud Hierosolymites. For the Jordan, because it swells in summer and as it were grows proud; hence among the Jews in proverbial and common speech it signified the proud and puffed up. Secondly, St. Jerome, Theodoret, Rabanus, Hugo, St. Thomas take these words as if God or the Prophet speaks to the Jewish people, as if to say, If thy kinsmen, thy neighbours the Ammonites and Edomites, who fight as footmen, have often brought such great slaughter upon thee; how wilt thou resist the Chaldeans with their horsemen, and how wilt thou run with them, when they shall lead thee across the swelling waters of the Jordan into Chaldea? Thus also Sanchez, who nevertheless refers these words to the end of the preceding chapter, and by the pride of the Jordan aptly understands the numerous and glorious enemies of the Jews, namely the Chaldeans, who associated with themselves the Ammonites, Moabites and Edomites, divided from the Jews by the Jordan. These are called "the pride of the Jordan," both because, crossing the Jordan to invade Judea, they caused it to swell with so great a multitude of soldiers and horsemen, and as it were to grow proud; and also because they themselves, like the pride of the Jordan, or as the Jordan swelling and overflowing its banks and inundating the fields, laid waste and devastated all Judea and all its fields. Thus in chapter XLIX, verse 19, concerning Nebuchadnezzar, having subdued Judea and proceeding against the Ammonites and Edomites, it says: "Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the pride of the Jordan unto the strong habitation." Thus elsewhere Scripture often calls hostile forces a river overflowing, which violently levels crops and houses, as in Isaiah VIII, 7, and LIX, 19; Jeremiah chapter XLVI, verse 7. Thirdly, Isidore expounds it, as if to say, God: Thou didst not know the counsels and secrets of thy fellow-citizens wishing to kill thee, and how dost thou wish to search out and know my counsels concerning the happiness of the impious? Fourthly, the Chaldean expounds it, as if to say, If I, God, have bestowed so many good things upon Nebuchadnezzar and the impious Chaldeans as upon my footmen, what shall I do for thy fathers, who as horses have run in my service and obedience? Surely, on account of them I shall bestow upon you their sons abundant blessings, like the waters overflowing into the Jordan. Thus morally, if God has given to his enemies, such as Nero, Decius, Diocletian, in this vale of tears so great glory; how much shall he give to his sons on the day of triumph and nuptials? says St. Augustine. The first sense is most genuine. Moreover, it is certain that some are so agile that they contend in running with horses. For the Irish do this, who exercise themselves continually in running and wrestling. Thus of Camilla Virgil sings, Aeneid XI: Thus speaks the maiden, and with swift fiery feet She passes the horse in running. Tropologically, "if thou hast run with footmen," etc., that is, if thou hast with difficulty resisted visible enemies, namely the world and the flesh, how wilt thou resist horsemen, that is, invisible demons, most strong and swift? Again, if thou art not able to bear the contradictions of inferiors, how wilt thou endure the molestations of prelates and princes; learn therefore to overcome lesser things, that thou mayest become accustomed to overcome greater ones. Hence Capella and Delrio, in adage 836, aptly adapt this proverb to those who, when they cannot govern themselves and their family, covet prelacies, and wish to govern Churches and commonwealths. Hugo adapts it to religious novices, who, when they are inferior to many in the world in piety and austerity of life, wish to contend with veterans and to walk with them at an equal pace.
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6. FOR EVEN THY BRETHREN, thy fellow citizens the Anathothites fought against thee. This verse confirms the first interpretation of the preceding verse given. Otherwise St. Jerome: Brethren, he says, that is the Moabites, Edomites, and, as Theodoret says, some Jews who fled into the camps of the Chaldeans: for these indeed fought with them against their own country Jerusalem; so that Jerusalem may regard thee. But it is an obstacle that the preceding discourse may regard Jeremiah, not Jerusalem. and in the following passages. For it follows: "For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they themselves fought against thee." By a similar figure Ezekiel, chapter XVII, verse 3, calls magnificent Judea and Jerusalem Lebanon, and calls the proud Nebuchadnezzar a great eagle with great wings. Moreover, through the pride of the Jordan the Chaldeans and other enemies of the Jews could be understood, as I shall say presently, as if he were to say: If in thy land thou sufferest such things from thine own, how much shalt thou suffer when the proud Chaldeans and thy other enemies invade thee and thine with a full and entire army? For God answers this to the complaint of Jeremiah, as the Chaldean has it, namely why the impious prosper and rule over the pious and afflict them, as he himself was afflicted by his own citizens; but he answers by rebuking and raising him up to greater contests, and so that he may blindly submit himself to the abyss of God's providence and his inscrutable judgments. THEY CRIED OUT AFTER THEE WITH A FULL VOICE. Vatablus translates: They called together after thee the fullness, that is a multitude of citizens, that they might pursue thee.
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7. I HAVE LEFT MY HOUSE (that is the temple), I HAVE FORSAKEN MY INHERITANCE (that is Judea and the Jewish people, which was as it were the inheritance of the Lord), I HAVE GIVEN THE BELOVED OF MY SOUL. That is the temple and the city Jerusalem, which as a soul I loved; in Hebrew it is, I have given the love of my soul, that is the city which I loved with all the affection of my soul, on account of its wickedness I delivered it into the hands of the enemies the Chaldeans. Thus St. Jerome, Theodoret and the Chaldean. For it is evident that these are the words of God. For there is here a frequent enallage and change of persons, as is the case with speakers in a scene. Allegorically, Christ forsook the temple and the Jews, when he delivered his soul to be crucified by them in his passion. Thus St. Jerome, Theodoret, Rabanus and others. Whence it follows:
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9. Is my inheritance to me as a speckled bird? Note: St. Jerome, by a speckled bird and one dyed throughout, understands the peacock, and by it he thinks is signified the beauty of Israel, which was so great that there was nothing of good things which was not seen in it. Thus also Rabanus, Hugo and St. Thomas, as if to say: This peacock, stripped of feathers and devoured, O beasts, that is the Chaldeans, because it is proud toward me and rebellious. To this Sanchez adds, who thus explains: Has my inheritance, which I hear making a noise, afforded me that pleasure which a speckled bird and one dyed with various spots (which therefore Martial, book V, epigram 104, calls spotted, such as is the peacock, the parrot, etc.), and vocal and melodious, is wont to afford to its master, so that I do not hate it? Has it not, instead of sweet song, uttered a roar like a lion against me? Whence follows: "Come therefore, gather yourselves together, all the beasts of the earth, make haste to devour." In the peacock is noted the ostentation of Israel's beauty, and its inconstancy: for the peacock, with its tail-train spread out, is variegated with most beautiful eyes and swells up; but when it beholds its foul feet, it lets down its train and deflates. Whence Martial, book XIII: You marvel as often as it unfolds its glittering wings. Again, in movement it now contracts its feathers, now expands them, and this frequently and variously; wherefore "it is multicolored, and speckled, and changeable, never itself, always other, although always itself when other, so many times therefore to be changed as many times to be moved," says Tertullian, book On the Mantle, chapter III. Whence tropologically Hugo thinks that by this changeable peacock are represented women painted with gems, antimony and white lead and swollen. Likewise hypocrites, who appear beautiful outwardly, while inwardly they are foul and ugly: for these indeed like a peacock look about and display themselves. Secondly, very aptly "a speckled and dyed bird" is a foreign bird, distinguished by various colors, and adorned with unusual feathers, for example, an owl sprinkled with red spots, which therefore other birds, especially wild and rapacious ones, which here are called "beasts," envying will pursue, so that they may plunder and devour, as if to say: In like manner other nations have persecuted and will persecute the Jews, and this will happen with God avenging, and calling them and saying: "Come, gather yourselves together, make haste to devour." Note: The word speckled signifies the inconstancy of Israel, in that it now worshipped God, now idols. Thus St. Thomas, Kimchi and Capella. It alludes to the nature of birds, which love those of the same color, and fly with them, but hate and pursue those of different colors. For like rejoices in like, and similarity is the maker of friendship, dissimilarity of enmity, says Aristotle. Hence the proverbs: The jackdaw sits with the jackdaw, the cicada is dear to the cicada, the ant to the ant, the ass to the ass, the pig to the pig; the thief knows the thief, as the wolf knows the wolf. Thirdly, by Castro this bird is taken as the Aesopian crow, which, when it had clothed itself in the feathers of other birds, each one recovering its own feather, remained naked, of which Horace, book I, epistle 3: Lest if perchance the flock of birds should come seeking back their feathers, the crow, decked out in stolen colors, should move to laughter. As if to say: In like manner the Jews snatched their goods from the gentiles, namely the Canaanites; but God, permitting on account of the crimes of the Jews, the gentiles, namely the Chaldeans and Canaanites, to recover them in war, the Jews remained naked as they had been before. Fourthly, Pagninus and Isidore translate: Is my inheritance given to a bird dyed in blood, that is to the bloodthirsty Nebuchadnezzar, namely Israel? Fifthly, Lyra translates: Is Israel a bird dyed in blood, that is wounded, bloodied and slain by the Chaldeans? To this R. Joseph agrees. Is not, he says, Israel a bird dyed in blood, which when other beasts see it, they recognize it to be some carcass, and therefore run to it? Sixthly, Forerius in Isaiah XLVI, 11: "Jeremiah compares," he says, "the Jews to rapacious birds, insinuating that, just as they like a flock of wild birds flew upon the Lord; so also their enemies, like a flock of wild birds dyed in blood, were about to fly upon them. For it preceded, in that like a lion they had given voice against the Lord." Finally the Septuagint translates: Is my inheritance to me as the den of a hyena? As if to say: Just as fierce and unclean hyenas are wont to gather at a den to devour the carcasses of the dead, so the Chaldeans will come to Judea, so that they may be satiated with the blood of citizens and the bodies of the slain. Jerusalem is rightly compared to the den of a fierce and voracious hyena, because like it it was full and reeking with the bodies of Prophets and innocents, whom it was killing. Moreover the Septuagint translates hyena, because the Hebrew tsabua by zain, in Arabic signifies a hyena, and it is the same as the Hebrew זאב zeeb, that is wolf; for a hyena is similar to a wolf, and is a species of wolf, as I said on Habakkuk I, 8. But the Hebrews in this place have צבוע tsabua, by tsade (not by zain), that is a speckled bird, as Our version and others translate better throughout. Of these senses the second is most genuine, then the first.
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10. MANY SHEPHERDS (that is, kings and princes; whom Nebuchadnezzar joined to himself) HAVE DESTROYED MY VINEYARD, that is, Judea. For thus he called enemies "shepherds," cap. VI, 3. For shepherds are not accustomed to pasture flocks in their own vineyards, but if they wish, to invade the vineyards of others. Thus Rabanus, Hugo, St. Thomas, Lyranus, Vatablus. Allegorically these "shepherds" were Titus and the Romans overthrowing Jerusalem. Thus Theodoret. Otherwise the same Theodoret, Rabanus and Hugo interpret this literally; namely, concerning the shepherds of the Jews, as if to say: Shepherds, leaders, princes and priests of the people, by their crimes and evil counsels destroyed Jerusalem; for he called these "shepherds," cap. II, 8, and cap. X, vers. 21; but the former sense is more apt. Whence some interpret these shepherds allegorically as heretics, who lay waste the Church, and are specially called "many," because when they depart from the one shepherd and teacher Christ, they scatter into various and contrary sects; namely, while they are proud, and one disdains to follow another, and wishes himself to be master, and to lead a band of disciples after him. Thus Arius, establishing certain degrees in God and asserting the Son to be lesser than the Father, left Christ to us without true divinity. Sabellius, when he inferred from the unity of nature that there is one person in God, also asserted that the Father was born and suffered. Nestorius, establishing two persons in Christ equally as natures, taught that the Blessed Virgin was Christotokos, that is, Christ-bearer, not Theotokos, that is, God-bearer. Apollinaris denied in Christ a soul or mind, saying that its place was abundantly supplied by divinity itself. Eutyches thought the two natures in Christ so united that from two one remained, in no way the substance of the other existing; as if which could not happen without the consumption or separation of the other. Pelagius rejected the medicine of Christ's grace prepared in his death, and while he denies the sin of infants being born, and their captivity under the devil, he does not believe Christ to be their redeemer. Valentinus established that Christ brought a body from heaven, passed through the virgin as through a channel. Manes said it was phantasmal, and denied that Christ truly suffered and died. MY DESIRABLE PORTION (my inheritance), beautiful, fruitful, enviable. Tropologically, such is the soul of the faithful. See therefore how dear and precious it is to God; for he calls it here "his desirable portion, his vineyard, his soul," which he loves uniquely, protects and adorns. Whoever therefore pollutes it with sin, and snatches it from God, and enslaves it to the demon, is supremely injurious and hateful to God: "If any man violate the temple of God, God shall destroy him," I Corinth. III, 17.
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11. It hath mourned over me. That is, against me it hath mourned, complaining that I have abandoned it and permitted it to be desolate. Thus Rabanus, Hugo, Lyranus and Vatablus; or, as the Chaldean, Hugo and Maldonatus: "The land hath mourned over," that is, before me, or to me, as if in its desolation seeking aid from me: for thus the land, when parched by excessive drought, opens as it were with gaping mouth and asks rain from God; or, as Sanchez, "it hath mourned," because in its destruction, although it invokes me with tears, yet it is not heard. ALL THE LAND, namely of the Jews; for the word land is conveniently to be understood. THERE IS NONE THAT RECONSIDERETH, as if to say: The land mourns, and yet there is none who reconsiders, namely the threats of the Prophets. Thus St. Jerome. The Hebrew: There is none who puts upon his heart, namely God, and the fear of God and his law, and his terrible wrath, threats and plagues, so that by fear of these they may repent from evils, and appease him and reconcile themselves to him.
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12. Upon all the ways of the desert, because upon all the ways the enemies were about to come, to besiege Jerusalem; in Hebrew it is, upon all the high places the devastators shall come, as if to say: There shall be such a multitude, force and assault of the enemy, that they shall occupy and lay waste all things, even the high and steep places: "there is not (there shall not be) peace to all flesh," because this calamity shall touch all Jews; for all flesh, equally as the land, is here conveniently to be understood, namely of the Jews, concerning whom alone the discourse is. Thus St. Jerome.
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13. THEY HAVE SOWN WHEAT, AND REAPED THORNS, they shall reap: it is a proverb, that is to say, the Jews began prosperously, and hoped for prosperity; but they shall suffer adversities, happiness shall be turned into misery, abundance into want, and properly, the seed which they have sown shall be turned into sterility, so that instead of wheat they gather thorns, and so that they reap few fruits and crops, which shall also not profit them, because the enemy shall lay them waste. Thus St. Jerome, St. Thomas and Lyran. He alludes to the curse of Adam, Genesis III, 17: "Cursed is the earth in thy work. Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee." Wherefore Theodoret thinks that it is signified here that the hope of harvest should not be placed in the goodness of the earth, but in its proper cultivation; for those who, he says, proceed deceitfully or wickedly, gather thorns instead of a harvest, namely anxieties, and the lancinations both of conscience and of mind. Tropologically, Hugo thinks that those are noted here who teach, preach, and perform other spiritual things with a view to temporal reward, namely riches; for Christ called these thorns, Matthew XIII, 22. Otherwise Vatablus translates: They have sown (namely the Prophets) wheat (of their admonitions), they have reaped thorns (of persecutions), they have grown sick (the Prophets from sorrow) because they had not profited, they are put to shame because of your fruits (because of your most evil works). For the Hebrew nachala, from the root nachal, signifies to inherit, as our translator renders it; but from the root chala, it signifies to grow sick. In this sense it is signified that the true preachers of God's word often suffer persecutions, exiles, robberies, torments and death for the truth. Again, for they have inherited, and it shall not profit them, the Septuagint translates, their lots shall not profit them, which mystically St. Jerome and Epiphanius adapt to wicked clerics: "It is said," says St. Jerome, "this also to Ecclesiastics. For what shall the name of Bishop, and presbyter, or the rest of the Ecclesiastical order avail them, when they are rather burdened by their dignities, and the powerful suffer torments powerfully?" And to Nepotian: "Have not more than when thou didst begin to be a cleric, and let it be said to thee: The clergy shall not profit them." And St. Epiphanius, epistle to John, Bishop of Jerusalem: "It behooved us," he says, "dearest, not to abuse the honor of the clergy into pride, but to be by the keeping of the commandments of God and by the most diligent observance that which we are said to be. For if Scripture speaks: Their clergy shall not profit them; what arrogance of the clergy could conduct to our benefit, we who sin not only in thought and sense, but also in speech?" YOU SHALL BE CONFOUNDED BY YOUR FRUITS, your fruits shall deceive your expectation, and thus as it were with shame they shall affect you.
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14. THUS SAITH THE LORD. God threatens the enemies of the Jews (for to them the discourse passes), who came first in the army of Nabuchodonosor against Jerusalem, namely the Philistines, Idumeans, Ammonites, Moabites, and Jews dwelling among them (for this is what he means: "And the house of Juda I will pluck out from the midst of them"), destruction through the Chaldeans, so that thus he might draw the Jews to love of himself. See Chapter XLII. Thus St. Jerome, Theodoret and Lyran. Otherwise Maldonatus explains these things concerning the Chaldeans, that is to say, I myself shall at length punish and overthrow the Chaldeans through the Medes.
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15. And I will bring them back, namely the Jews from Babylon through Cyrus. Thus Theodoret, Lyran, Dionysius and Vatablus. Secondly, better St. Jerome and Rabanus thus expound it, that is to say, I shall bring back the aforesaid nations, namely the Ammonites and Moabites with the Jews, through Cyrus from Babylon; for it is evident that they were brought back thence, chapter XXIX, verse 6, and I Esdras IX, where after their return the Jews contracted marriages with the Moabites and Ammonites. Mystically, the calling of the Gentiles to the faith of Christ is signified here. A man. That is, each one.
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16. IF THE MOABITES AND AMMONITES HAVE LEARNED THE WAYS OF MY PEOPLE, the faith and religion of the Jews. THAT THEY SWEAR, and consequently that they worship the true God, not Baal; for an oath by synecdoche signifies all worship of God. THEY SHALL BE BUILT IN THE MIDST OF MY PEOPLE. That is, they shall act peacefully and prosperously, abounding in offspring, family and riches, "in the midst of my people," that is, in or among my people. For they shall be of my people and Church, even if they dwell in their own regions neighboring Judea.
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17. I WILL UTTERLY PLUCK OUT THAT NATION WITH ROOTING OUT AND PERDITION. That is, I shall completely overthrow and destroy them. When these things came to pass, neither Holy Scripture nor histories relate. Sanchez thinks these things were accomplished by the Maccabees; for Judas and Jonathan the Maccabees conquered the Philistines, Ammonites and Idumeans, I Maccabees V, 3, 6. But these men indeed laid waste and subdued those nations, yet did not utterly destroy them.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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Hic propheta disputat de punientis justitia: et primo ponitur prophetae disputatio; secundo domini responsio, ibi, reliqui domum meam. Circa primum tria. Primo captat benevolentiam ex persona judicis: justus quidem tu es, domine. Ps. 118: justus es, domine, et rectum judicium tuum. Et ex honestate causae: verumtamen juxta loquar ad te. Job 13: ad omnipotentem loquar, et disputare cum Deo cupio. Et sic uterque eorum tenet locum opponentis. Sed Habacuc tenet locum respondentis, cap. 2: super custodiam meam stabo, et figam gradum super munitionem. Secundo proponit causam quantum ad adversarios, proponens eorum prosperitatem quantum ad temporalium abundantiam: quare prosperatur via, processus, impiorum, per infidelitatem, qui praevaricantur, contra legem agendo, et inique agunt, contra proximum? Job 12: abundant tabernacula praedonum, et audacter provocant Deum, cum ipse dederit omnia in manus eorum. Ps. 72: zelavi super iniquos, pacem peccatorum videns. Et quantum ad prosperitatis augmentum, plantasti, in bonis temporalibus: et per similitudinem arboris, et radicem miserunt, confirmatis prosperitatibus, proficiunt, sicut arbor crescit, per augmentum prosperitatis, et faciunt fructum, implentes opere quod mente disponunt. Job 21: quare impii vivunt, sublimati sunt, confortatique divitiis?
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Et proponit eorum iniquitatem; prope es tu ori eorum, et longe a renibus, affectibus, quae duo simul videntur adversari divinae justitiae. Isa. 29: populus hic labiis me honorat, cor autem eorum longe est a me. In quo datur intelligi, quod imperfectis bonis, imperfectam retributionem recipiunt. Ex parte autem sua dat intelligere justitiam: et tu, domine, nosti, ab aeterno, vidisti, quomodo recte ambulo coram te: etsi enim haec loquar, non tamen in his scandalum patior. Supra 1: priusquam te formarem in utero, novi te. Et dat intelligere correctionem, probasti: a poenis probatus, inventus sum tecum ambulans. Ps. 16: probasti cor meum, et visitasti nocte, igne me examinasti, et non est inventa in me iniquitas. Tertio ostendit poenam per modum imprecationis: et primo imprecatur poenae inflictionem: congrega eos; quasi dicat: quia justus es, non potest esse quod impios non punias. Ideo ita eos in prosperitatibus exaltas, sicut qui impinguat gregem ad occisionem. Ergo ex quo impinguati sunt, et injusti sunt, congrega eos: in quo significatur quod paschali tempore, quando ad festum convenerant in urbe, obsessi sunt.
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Sanctifica eos: loquitur per similitudinem animalium, quae occidebantur ad immolandum. Isa. 34: victima domini in Bosra, et interfectio magna in terra Edon. Et excludit poenae dilationem, quia tempus est ut puniantur in propriis personis, non in possessionibus, neque in terrae nascentibus: usquequo lugebit terra? Ps. 106: posui flumina in desertum, et exitus aquarum in sitim; terram fructiferam in salsuginem a malitia inhabitantium in ea.
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In animalibus: consumptum est animal. Ezech. 9: dixerunt: dereliquit dominus terram, et dominus non videt. Secundo quasi exauditus, contra puniendos ponit insultationem: et primo ex parte hostium quantum ad potentiam: si cum peditibus currens laborasti, quomodo contendere poteris cum equis? Quasi dicat: si vicinae gentes quae pedites pugnant, tibi multum laborem fecerunt, quomodo poteris resistere Chaldaeis, et Aegyptiis, qui equis potentes sunt? Job 6: qui timent pruinam, irruet super eos nix.
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Et quantum ad captivitatis terram: cum autem in terra pacis secura fueris; idest, etsi etiam in terra tua semper pacem habuisses, quid facies, quando eris trans Jordanem, cujus gurgites sunt tumentes, quia scilicet superbi sunt? Eccli. 10: qui gloriatur in substantia, paupertatem vereatur. Secundo quantum ad sanguine junctos, commemorans pristinam injuriam: nam et fratres, scilicet Idumaei, et domus, scilicet Moabitae et Amonitae. Cant. 1: filii matris meae pugnaverunt contra me.
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Et indicit cautelam: ne credas eis, cum locuti fuerint tibi bona, quasi volentes tibi foederari ad resistendum Chaldaeis. Infra 27: fac tibi vincula et catenas, et pones eas in collo tuo, et mittes eas ad regem Edon, et ad regem Moab et cetera. Supra 9: unusquisque a proximo suo se custodiat, et in omni fratre suo non habeat fiduciam: quia omnis frater supplantans supplantabit, et omnis amicus fraudulenter incedet, et vir fratrem suum deridebit, et veritatem non loquetur.
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Hic ponitur domini responsio: et primo ponit poenae comminationem; secundo poenae consolationem, ibi. Haec dicit dominus et cetera. Circa primum duo. Primo comminatur poenam quantum ad divini auxilii destitutionem: reliqui domum, scilicet templum, ut non defendam, hereditatem, populum Israel. Isa. 19: hereditas autem mea Israel. Supra 9: derelinquam populum meum, et recedam ab eis, quia omnes adulteri sunt, coetus praevaricatorum, et cetera. Et quantum ad hostium oppressionem, dedi dilectam, idest Judaeos, quos quasi animam meam diligebam.
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Secundo ponit culpam, primo significans culpae magnitudinem: facta est mihi hereditas, scilicet populus, quasi leo, ferox ad impugnandam me. Dedit vocem, blasphemiae. Psalm. 9: insidiatur in abscondito quasi leo in spelunca sua.
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Secundo miratur animi instabilitatem: numquid avis discolor hereditas mea mihi? Quasi dicat, quandoque mihi, quandoque idolis adhaerens, tincta, sordibus peccatorum, per totum, quia omnes mali sunt. 3 Reg. 18: usquequo claudicatis in duas partes? Si dominus ipse est Deus, sequimini eum; si autem Baal, sequimini illum. Vel potest esse sensus. Numquid eam ita caram teneo sicut hujusmodi aves pulchras, ut tandem non abjiciam? Ut discoloritas ad decorem referatur. Ezech. 16: vestivi te discoloribus, et calceavi te hyacintho. Vel hoc quod dicit, reliqui domum, etc. possunt esse verba prophetae, qui ut annuntiaret verbum Dei, mortis periculo se exposuit, et domum, et patriam reliquit, et a compatriotibus suis quasi leonibus, et variis dolositate, et plenis malitia, insidias perpessus fuit. Mystice sunt verba Christi, qui domum, et patriam relinquere dicitur in mundum veniens, quia ad modum relinquentis se habuit, quando in infirmitate abscondit majestatem. Hereditatem, caelestem patriam. Prosperantur impii propter hereditatis amissionem. Genes. 25: dedit Abraham Isaac filio suo cuncta quae possederat, filiis autem concubinarum largitus est munera. Propter imperfectam remunerationem. Matth. 6: amen dico vobis, receperunt mercedem suam. Quia non sunt digni divina correctione. Ezech. 16: requiescet indignatio mea in te, et auferetur zelus meus a te. Oseae 4: non visitabo super filias vestras cum fuerint fornicatae, et super sponsas vestras cum adulteraverint. Hebr. 12: si extra disciplinam estis, cujus participes facti sunt omnes; ergo adulteri, et non filii estis. Propter morbi desperationem. Thren. 2: magna est velut mare contritio tua. Quis medebitur tibi? Infra 30: insanabilis fractura tua, pessima plaga tua. Propter eorum dejectionem. Psal. 72: verumtamen propter dolos posuisti eis; dejecisti eos dum allevarentur. Rom. 1: propter quod tradidit eos Deus in reprobum sensum, ut faciant ea quae non conveniunt, et cetera.
12:10
Hic comminatur poenam in speciali: et primo poenam captivitatis; secundo poenam sterilitatis terrae, ibi, seminaverunt triticum, et spinas messuerunt. Circa primum tria. Primo determinat poenam, designans occisionis magnitudinem, ad devorandum, cadaverum multitudinem. Ezech. 39: haec dicit dominus Deus: dic omni volucri, et universis avibus, cunctisque bestiis agri: convenite, et properate, concurrite undique ad victimam meam, quam ego immolo vobis, victimam grandem super montes Israel, ut comedatis carnes, et bibatis sanguinem. Carnes fortium comedetis, et sanguinem principum terrae bibetis, et cetera. Hostium afflictionem quantum ad interfectos, pastores multi, idest principes Chaldaeorum. Supra 6: ad eam venient pastores, et greges eorum. Vineam, domum Israel. Isa. 5: vinea enim domini, domus Israel est. Vel pastores, principes populi, demoliti sunt, per occisionem. Et quantum ad oppressos servitute, et captivitate, conculcaverunt. Isa. 5: auferam sepem ejus, et erit in direptionem. Et terrae desolationem: dederunt portionem (...) luxitque super me, quamvis tarde. Oseae 2: et dicet: vadam, et revertar ad virum meum priorem, quia bene mihi erat tunc magis quam nunc.
12:11
Secundo ponit poenae causam: desolatione desolata est omnis terra, quia nullus est qui recogitet, Dei mandata, et beneficia. Isa. 5: propter hoc captivus ductus est populus meus, quia non habuit scientiam. Tertio ponit poenae mensuram, primo ostendens multitudinem hostium: super omnes vias; quasi dicat, omnes vias implent, deserti, quod est inter Jerusalem et Babyloniam. Supra 4: ventus urens in viis quae sunt in deserto viae filiae populi mei, non ad ventilandum, et ad purgandum et cetera. Secundo multitudinem interfectorum, quia gladius vel pestilentiae, vel etiam Chaldaeorum. Deuteron. 32: gladius meus devorabit carnes. Tertio consolationis defectum: non est pax; quasi dicat nullus immunis erit. Isa. 57: non est pax impiis dicit dominus Deus.
12:13
Hic comminatur poenam sterilitatis: et primo seminis frustrationem, seminaverunt; quasi dicat, semina corrumpentur. Matth. 13: nonne bonum semen seminasti in agro tuo? Unde ergo habet zizania? Isa. 5: expectavi ut faceret uvas, et fecit labruscas. Secundo hereditatis amissionem: hereditatem acceperunt, et non proderit, quia ab hostibus surripietur. Thren. ult.: hereditas nostra versa est ad alienos. Tertio concludit confusionem, confundemini, scilicet propter defectum fructuum. Isa. 24: luxit vindemia, infirmata est vitis; ingemuerunt omnes qui laetabantur corde.
12:14
Hic ponit consolationem ex hostium poena: et circa hoc tria. Primo ponit eorum transmigrationem: qui tangunt hereditatem, laedendo eam. Zach. 2: qui tangit vos, quasi qui tangit pupillam oculi mei. Supra 1: ecce constitui te hodie super gentes, et super regna, ut evellas, et destruas, et disperdas, et dissipes, et aedifices, et plantes et cetera. Secundo eorum eductionem: et cum evulsero, tollam vos de gentibus, Ezech. 36.
12:16
Tertio ponit eorum instructionem ex promissione bonorum, si bene fecerint: et erit, si eruditi didicerint vias populi mei (...) aedificabuntur; quasi dicat: computabuntur inter populum meum: quod pertinet ad conversionem.
12:17
Et comminationem poenarum: quod si non audierint, evellam gentem illam evulsione, et perditione, perpetua. Isa. 1: si volueritis et audieritis me, bona terrae comedetis. Nota, quod praelati destruunt populum propter operis perversitatem. Supra 10: quia stulte egerunt pastores, et dominum non quaesierunt, propterea non intellexerunt, et omnis grex eorum dispersus est. Propter doctrinae falsitatem. Infra 50: grex perditus factus est populus meus, pastores eorum seduxerunt eos, feceruntque vagari in montibus et cetera. Propter timoris pusillanimitatem. Zach. 11: o pastor, et idolum derelinquens gregem: gladius super brachium ejus, et super oculum dexterum ejus. Propter dominii austeritatem. Ezech. 34: cum austeritate imperabatis, et cum potentia, et dispersae sunt oves meae et cetera. Propter curae remissionem. Zach. 11: suscitabo pastorem in terra qui derelictum non visitabit, dispersum non quaeret, et contritum non sanabit, id quod stat non enutriet, et carnes pinguium comedet, et ungulas eorum dissolvet.
12:1
On the other hand, the affinity and dependence of G. on the sacred books, and particularly on Jeremiah, is undeniable (cf. Jer. 12:1-4 with the argument of G.; Jer. 20:14-19 with Job 3:3-12; Jer. 9:3 with Job 7:15; etc.). …
12:7
… Abel [op. cit. in bibl.], p. 280). After the rebellion of Jehoiakim (ca. 601 B.C.), bands of Moabites, Ammonites and Edomites joined the Chaldean forces and attacked Judah (II Kings 24:2; cf. Jer. 12:7-17). In 594 M., with Ammon, Edom, Tyre and Sidon, urged Judah to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. 27:1-11). In 588 it rebelled against the Chaldeans together with Judah. …
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.