For their obstinacy in sin the Jews shall be led captive. He is cursed that trusteth in flesh. God alone searcheth the heart, giving to every one as he deserves. The prophet prayeth to be delivered from his enemies, and preacheth up the observance of the sabbath.
For obstinacie in sinne the Iewes shal be ledde captiue. 5. He is cursed that trusteth in flesh: 7. and blessed that trusteth in God. 9. Only God searcheth the hart, geuing to euerie one as they deserue. 11. The prophet prayeth to be deliuered from his enemies: 19. preacheth obseruation of the Law: 24. so they shal prosper, otherwise perish.
1The sin of Juda is written with a pen of iron, with the point of a diamond, it is graven upon the table of their heart, upon the horns of their altars.Il peccato di Giuda è scritto con istile di ferro, e con punta di diamante impresso sopra la tavola del loro cuore, e su' corni de' loro altari.THE sinne of Iuda is written with yron penne in naile of Adamant, grauen vpon the bredth of their hart, and in the hornes of their altars.Peccatum Juda scriptum est stylo ferreo / in ungue adamantino, / exaratum super latitudinem cordis eorum, / et in cornibus ararum eorum. 2When their children shall remember their altars, and their groves, and their green trees upon the high mountains,Siccome i figli loro si son ricordati de' loro altari, e de' loro boschi, e delle ombrose piante, che sono negli eccelsi monti,When their children shal remember their altars, and their groues, and their trees with greene leaues in the high mountaines,Cum recordati fuerint filii eorum ararum suarum, / et lucorum suorum, / lignorumque frondentium, / in montibus excelsis, 3Sacrificing in the field: I will give thy strength, and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin in all thy borders.E offeriscono sagrifizj ne' campi: io metterò a saccomanno le tue ricchezze, e tutti i tuoi tesori, e i tuoi eccelsi luoghi a motivo de' peccati da te commessi (o Giuda) in tutte le parti della terra.sacrificing in the field: I wil geue thy strength, and al thy treasures into spoile, thine excelses for sinne in al thy costes.sacrificantes in agro: / fortitudinem tuam, et omnes thesauros tuos in direptionem dabo; / excelsa tua propter peccata in universis finibus tuis. 4And thou shalt be left stripped of thy inheritance, which I gave thee: and I will make thee serve thy enemies in a land which thou knowest not: because thou hast kindled a fire in my wrath, it shall burn for ever.E tu resterai spogliata della tua eredità, ch'io ti aveva data; e ti farò serva de' tuoi nemici in una terra ignota a te; perocché tu hai acceso il fuoco del furor mio, e arderà eternamente.And thou shalt be left alone of thine inheritance, which I gaue thee: and I wil make thee serue thine enemies in a land, which thou knowest not: because thou hast kindled a fire in my furie, it shal burne for euer.Et relinqueris sola ab hæreditate tua, quam dedi tibi, / et servire te faciam inimicis tuis in terra quam ignoras: / quoniam ignem succendisti in furore meo: / usque in æternum ardebit. 5Thus saith the Lord: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.Queste cose dice il Signore: Maledetto l'uomo, che confida nell'uomo, e fa suo appoggio un braccio di carne, e col cuor suo si dilunga dal Signore;Thus saith our Lord: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, & maketh flesh his arme, and his hart departeth from our Lord.Hæc dicit Dominus: / Maledictus homo qui confidit in homine, / et ponit carnem brachium suum, / et a Domino recedit cor ejus.
6For he shall be like tamaric in the desert, and he shall not see when good shall come: but he shall dwell in dryness in the desert in a salt land, and not inhabited.Imperocché ei sarà simile al tamarisco del deserto, e non gioverà a lui il bene quando venga: ma starà al secco nel deserto in un terren salso, e inabitabile.For he shal be as litle bushes in the desert, and shal not see when good shal come: but he shal dwel in drynes in the desert, in a land of saltnes, and not habitable.Erit enim quasi myricæ in deserto, / et non videbit cum venerit bonum: / sed habitabit in siccitate in deserto, / in terra salsuginis et inhabitabili. 7Blessed be the man that trusteth in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his confidence.Benedetto l'uomo, che nel Signore confida, ed è sua speranza il Signore.Blessed be the man, that trusteth in our Lord, and our Lord shal be his confidence.Benedictus vir qui confidit in Domino, / et erit Dominus fiducia ejus. 8And he shall be as a tree that is planted by the waters, that spreadeth out its roots towards moisture: and it shall not fear when the heat cometh. And the leaf thereof shall be green, and in the time of drought it shall not be solicitous, neither shall it cease at any time to bring forth fruit.Ed ei sarà come arbore trapiantato presso le acque, che distende verso l'umido le sue radici, e non temerà quando viene il gran caldo. E le sue foglie saran verdeggianti, e non gli darà pena il seccore, ne mai cesserà di far frutti.And he shal be as a tree that is planted vpon the waters, that spreddeth his rootes towards moysture: and it shal not feare when the heate cometh. And the leafe thereof shal be greene, and in the time of drought it shal not be careful, neither shal it cease at anie time to bring forth fruite.Et erit quasi lignum quod transplantatur super aquas, / quod ad humorem mittit radices suas, / et non timebit cum venerit æstus: / et erit folium ejus viride, / et in tempore siccitatis non erit sollicitum, / nec aliquando desinet facere fructum. 9The heart is perverse above all things, and unsearchable, who can know it?Pravo è il cuore di tutti, ed inscrutabile: chi lo conoscerà?The hart of man is peruerse, and vnsearcheable, who shal know it?Pravum est cor omnium, et inscrutabile: / quis cognoscet illud ? 10I am the Lord who search the heart, and prove the reins: who give to every one according to his way, and according to the fruit of his devices.Io il Signore sono scrutatore del cuore, e discerno gli affetti: e do ad ognuno secondo le opere sue, e secondo il frutto de' lor pensamenti.I the Lord that searche the hart, and proue the reynes: which geue to euerie one according to his way, and according to the fruite of his inuentions.Ego Dominus scrutans cor, / et probans renes: / qui do unicuique juxta viam suam, / et juxta fructum adinventionum suarum.
11As the partridge hath hatched eggs which she did not lay: so is he that hath gathered riches, and not by right: in the midst of his days he shall leave them, and in his latter end he shall be a fool.La pernice cova le uova, che ella non partorì: così uno fa ricchezze, ma non con giustizia; le lascerà alla metà de' suoi giorni: nel suo fine sarà conosciuta la sua stoltezza.The partrich hath nourished that which she brought not forth: he hath gathered riches, and not in iudgement: in the middes of his dayes he shal leaue them, and in his latter end he shal be a foole.Perdix fovit quæ non peperit: / fecit divitias, et non in judicio: / in dimidio dierum suorum derelinquet eas, / et in novissimo suo erit insipiens. 12A high and glorious throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctification.O trono della gloria dell'Altissimo fin da principio: luogo di nostra santificazione.A throne of glorie of height from the beginning, the place of our sanctification:Solium gloriæ altitudinis a principio, / locus sanctificationis nostræ. 13O Lord, the hope of Israel: all that forsake thee shall be confounded: they that depart from thee, shall be written in the earth: because they have forsaken the Lord, the vein of living waters.O Signore, espettazione d'Israele: tutti quegli, che ti abbandonano, saranno confusi, coloro, che si allontanano da te, saranno scritti nella terra: perchè hanno abbandonato la sorgiva delle acque vive, il Signore.O Lord the expectation of Israel: al that forsake thee, shal be confounded: they that depart from thee, shal be written in the earth: because they haue forsaken the vaine of liuing waters our Lord.Exspectatio Israël, Domine, / omnes qui te derelinquunt confundentur: / recedentes a te, in terra scribentur, / quoniam dereliquerunt venam aquarum viventium Dominum. 14Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed: save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.Sanami, o Signore, ed io sarò sanato: salvami, ed io sarò salvato; perocché mia gloria se' tu.Heale me ô Lord, and I shal be healed: saue me, and I shal be saued: because thou art my praise.Sana me, Domine, et sanabor: / salvum me fac, et salvus ero: / quoniam laus mea tu es. 15Behold they say to me: Where is the word of the Lord? let it come.Ecco, che costoro dicono a me: Dov'è la Parola del Signore? Ch'ella si adempia.Behold they say to me: Where is the word of our Lord? let it come.Ecce ipsi dicunt ad me: / Ubi est verbum Domini ? veniat: 16And I am not troubled, following thee for my pastor, and I have not desired the day of man, thou knowest. That which went out of my lips, hath been right in thy sight.Ma io non mi son turbato seguendo te mio pastore; e non bramai il giorno dell'uomo, tu 'l sai. Quello, che uscì dalle mie labbra, fu retto dinanzi a te.And I am not trubled, folowing thee the pastour, and the day of man I haue not desired, thou knowest. That which hath proceeded out of my lippes, hath bene right in thy sight.et ego non sum turbatus, te pastorem sequens: / et diem hominis non desideravi, tu scis: / quod egressum est de labiis meis, rectum in conspectu tuo fuit.
17Be not thou a terror unto me, thou art my hope in the day of affliction.Non sii tu a me cagion di spavento, o tu speranza mia nel giorno dell'afflizione.Be not thou a terrour vnto me, thou art mine hope in the day of affliction.Non sis tu mihi formidini: / spes mea tu in die afflictionis. 18Let them be confounded that persecute me, and let not me be confounded: let them be afraid, and let not me be afraid: bring upon them the day of affliction, and with a double destruction, destroy them.Siano confusi coloro, che mi perseguitano, ed io non sia confuso; abbian quegli paura, ed io non abbia paura: manda sopra di loro il giorno dell'afflizione, e con doppio flagello percuotili.Let them be confounded that persecute me, and let not me be confounded: let them be afrayd, and let not me be afrayd: bring vpon them the day of affliction, and with duble destruction, destroy them.Confundantur qui me persequuntur, / et non confundar ego: / paveant illi, / et non paveam ego: / induc super eos diem afflictionis, / et duplici contritione contere eos. 19Thus saith the Lord to me: Go, and stand in the gate of the children of the people, by which the kings of Juda come in, and go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem:Queste cose dice a me il Signore: Va, e fermati sulla porta de' figliuoli del popolo, per la quale entrano, ed escono i re di Giuda, e fermati su tutte le porte di Gerusalemme.Thus saith our Lord to me: Goe, and stand in the gate of the children of the people, by which the kinges of Iuda come in, and goe out, and in al the gates of Ierusalem:Hæc dicit Dominus ad me: Vade, et sta in porta filiorum populi, per quam ingrediuntur reges Juda, et egrediuntur, et in cunctis portis Jerusalem: 20And thou shalt say to them: Hear the word of the Lord, ye kings of Juda, and all Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates.E dirai loro: Udite la Parola del Signore, o re di Giuda, e tu popolo di Giuda tutto quanto, e voi tutti abitatori di Gerusalemme, che entrate per queste porte.and thou shalt say to them: Heare the word of our Lord ye kinges of Iuda, and al Iuda, and al the inhabitants of Ierusalem, that enter in by these gates.et dices ad eos: Audite verbum Domini, / reges Juda, et omnis Juda, / cunctique habitatores Jerusalem, / qui ingredimini per portas istas. 21Thus saith the Lord: Take heed to your souls, and carry no burdens on the sabbath day: and bring them not in by the gates of Jerusalem.Queste cose dice il Signore: Abbiate cura delle anime vostre, e non portate pesi nel giorno di sabato; e non ne fate entrare per le porte di Gerusalemme.Thus saith our Lord: Take heede to your soules, and carie not burdens on the Sabbath day: neither bring them in by the gates of Ierusalem.Hæc dicit Dominus: / Custodite animas vestras, / et nolite portare pondera in die sabbati, / nec inferatis per portas Jerusalem:
22And do not bring burdens out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work: sanctify the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.E non portate pesi fuora delle vostre case nel giorno di sabato, e non fate verun lavoro. Santificate il giorno di sabato, come lo ordinai a padri vostri.And cast not forth burdens out of your houses on the Sabbath day, and al worke you shal not doe: sanctifie the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.et nolite ejicere onera de domibus vestris in die sabbati, / et omne opus non facietis: / sanctificate diem sabbati, / sicut præcepi patribus vestris. 23But they did not hear, nor incline their ear: but hardened their neck, that they might not hear me, and might not receive instruction.Ma eglino non ascoltarono, né piegarono le loro orecchie: ma indurarono la loro cervice per non udirmi, e per non ricevere l'insegnamento.And they heard not, nor inclined their eare: but hardned their necke, that they would not heare me, and that they would not take discipline.Et non audierunt, nec inclinaverunt aurem suam: / sed induraverunt cervicem suam, ne audirent me, / et ne acciperent disciplinam. 24And it shall come to pass: if you will hearken to me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burdens by the gates of this city on the sabbath day: and if you will sanctify the sabbath day, to do no work therein:Or la cosa sarà così: se voi mi ascolterete, dice il Signore, talmente che non portiate pesi per le porte di questa città in giorno di sabato, e santifichiate il giorno di sabato, non facendo in esso verun lavoro,And it shal be: if you wil heare me, saith our Lord, that you bring not burdens in by the gates of this citie on the Sabbath day: and if you wil sanctifie the Sabbath day, that you doe not al workes therein:Et erit: si audieritis me, dicit Dominus, / ut non inferatis onera per portas civitatis hujus in die sabbati: / et si sanctificaveritis diem sabbati, / ne faciatis in eo omne opus: 25Then shall there enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes, sitting upon the throne of David, and riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall be inhabited for ever.Entreranno per le porte di questa città i re, e i principi, che sederanno sul trono di David, e saliranno su' cocchi, e sopra i cavalli eglino, e i loro principi, gli uomini di Giuda, e gli abitatori di Gerusalemme, e questa città sarà abitata in sempiterno.there shal enter in by the gates of this citie kinges and princes, sitting vpon the throne of Dauid, and mounting on chariotes and horses, they and their princes, the men of Iuda, and the inhabiters of Ierusalem: and this citie shal be inhabited for euer.ingredientur per portas civitatis hujus reges et principes, / sedentes super solium David, / et ascendentes in curribus et equis, / ipsi et principes eorum, / viri Juda, et habitatores Jerusalem: / et habitabitur civitas hæc in sempiternum.
26And they shall come from the cities of Juda, and from the places round about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plains, and from the mountains, and from the south, bringing holocausts, and victims, and sacrifices, and frankincense, and they shall bring in an offering into the house of the Lord.E verranno dalle città di Giuda, e da' contorni di Gerusalemme, e dalla terra di Beniamin, e dalle pianure, e dalle montagne, e dal mezzodì a portare i loro olocausti, e le vittime, e i sagrifizj, e l'incenso, e gli offeriranno nella casa del Signore.And they shal come from the cities of Iuda, and from round about Ierusalem, and from the land of Beniamin, and from the champaine countries, & from the mountaines, and from the South, carying holocaust, and victime, and sacrifice, and frankincense, and they shal bring in oblation into the house of our Lord.Et venient de civitatibus Juda, / et de circuitu Jerusalem, / et de terra Benjamin, / et de campestribus, et de montuosis, et ab austro, / portantes holocaustum, et victimam, / et sacrificium, et thus, / et inferent oblationem in domum Domini. 27But if you will not hearken to me, to sanctify the sabbath day, and not to carry burdens, and not to bring them in by the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day: I will kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the houses of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.Se poi non mi ascolterete in questo, di santificare il giorno di sabato, e di non portar pesi, né farne entrare per le porte di Gerusalemme in giorno di sabato, io appiccherò il fuoco alle sue porte, il quale divorerà le case di Gerusalemme, e non si estinguerà.But if you wil not heare me, to sanctifie the Sabbath day, & not to carie burden, and not to bring in by the gates of Ierusalem on the Sabbath day: I wil kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shal deuoure the houses of Ierusalem, and it shal not be quenched.Si autem non audieritis me / ut sanctificetis diem sabbati, / et ne portetis onus, / et ne inferatis per portas Jerusalem in die sabbati, / succendam ignem in portis ejus, / et devorabit domos Jerusalem, / et non extinguetur.
17:1
Kennicott
The. Grabe (de Vit. p. 8.) observes that the four first verses were omitted in the Septuagint by some careless transcriber, long before the days of Origen, who restored them from the Hebrew and the other Greek versions. On such occasions his work was very useful; but the marks being soon neglected, great confusion ensued. (St. Jerome) (Kennicott, Dis. ii.)
Haydock
Grabe has restored these verses in his edition. (Haydock)
Haydock
Eusebius (Dem. x.) and Theodoret acknowledged them; and Nobilius found the first verse thus expressed in many copies, (Calmet) as it is in Grabe: "The sin of Juda is expressed in writing with a finger nail of adamant, cleaving to the breast of," etc. (Haydock)
Calmet
Altars, to appear more conspicuously to the latest times. This excited God's indignation. (Calmet)
Worthington
These figurative expressions shew the inveterate malice of the people. (Worthington)
17:3
17:4
Haydock
Be left. Protestants, "discontinue from thine," etc. (Haydock)
17:5
Haydock
Thus. Septuagint continue from the last chapter, "cursed," etc. (Haydock)
Calmet
Sedecias had formed alliances with several princes, instead of turning to the Lord, Jeremias 27., and xxxvii. (Calmet)
Worthington
Our chief dependence must be on God, not on human policy. (Worthington)
17:6
Challoner
Tamaric. A barren shrub, that grows in the driest parts of the wilderness. (Challoner)
Harhar denotes some sort (Haydock) of "useless wood." (Symmachus) See Jeremias 48:6., and Isaias 17:2.
Salt, like the environs of Sodom, the fruits of which were bad.
17:8
Calmet
Fruit. See Psalm 1:3. (Pindar, Nem. viii.) How different from the wicked! (Calmet)
17:9
Perverse. Septuagint, "deep."
Haydock
Unsearchable. Septuagint, "man, who shall know him?" (Haydock)
17:11
Calmet
Partridge. Hebrew kore, (Haydock) may mean the "coucou." The kra lays many eggs, all of which she does not hatch. (Calmet)
Haydock
Protestants, "As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not," etc. (Haydock)
Haydock
It is rare that all produce birds; so the unjust do not succeed (Calmet) in the end. (Haydock)
17:12
Throne. The temple. We may also read "O high," etc., Jeremias 14:21.
17:13
Earth, where alone their portion shall be, (Apocalypse 3:5,) or they shall be forgotten. It is a proverbial expression, like that of Catullus: Dixit: sed mulier cupido quod dixit amanti In vento et rapida scribere oportet aqua.
Living, which never fail, unlike those of the wicked, Jeremias 2:13.
17:15
Calmet
Come. We have several instances of such impious sarcasms, Isaias 28:10., and 34:13., Amos 2:12., and Micheas 2:6. (Calmet)
Menochius
We fear not the Chaldeans. (Menochius)
17:16
Troubled. Hebrew, "in haste to be a pastor after thee." Chaldean, "I delay not, at thy command, to announce thy truths to them," Jeremias 1:6. Jeremias was aware of the dangers attending his office, yet not dismayed.
Calmet
Day: approbation, (1 Corinthians 4:3.) or advantages of the world. (Calmet)
Theodoret
Of man. Hebrew also "of the wretched:" anush. I wished rather for the people's welfare, (Haydock) and sought not their ruin. (Chaldean) (Theodoret)
17:18
Challoner
Let them be confounded, etc. Such expressions as these in the writings of the prophets, are not to be understood as imprecations proceeding from malice or desire of revenge, but as prophetic predictions of evils that were about to fall upon impenitent sinners, and approbations of the ways of the divine justice. (Challoner)
Haydock
The prophet has already prevented this objection, ver. 16. (Haydock)
17:19
Gate of the palace, or that by which the kings entered the temple, on the west. The time when this admonition was given is not ascertained.
17:21
Souls. Those who broke the sabbath were to die, Exodus 30:15., and Numbers 15:32.
Calmet
Burdens, or servile work. (Calmet)
Origen † AD 253
The Jews trifle in deciding what is a burden. (Origen, prin. 4:2.)
Worthington
Sabbath often denotes the observance of the whole law. (Worthington)
17:25
David. I will observe my covenant, 2 Kings 7:12.
Haydock
Horses: in prosperity, (Menochius) provided this law, as well as all the rest, be observed. (Haydock)
Worthington
Such temporal rewards were commonly proposed under the law, as spiritual ones are now. (Worthington)
17:26
Calmet
Sacrifices. Hebrew mincha, (Haydock) "offerings" of flour, wine, etc. (Calmet)
17:27
Menochius
Fire, by means of Nabuzardan. (Menochius)
Calmet
The city shall be entirely destroyed. (Calmet)
17:6
Tamaric.... A barren shrub that grows in the driest parts of the wilderness.
17:18
Let them be confounded, etc.... Such expressions as these in the writings of the prophets, are not to be understood as imprecations proceeding from malice or desire of revenge: but as prophetic predictions of evils that were about to fall upon impenitent sinners, and approbations of the ways of divine justice.
17:1
These metaphorical termes signifie that their sinnes were inueterated, and hard to be blotted out.
17:5
Chiefe and principal trust must be in Gods helpe, not in mans strength or policie.
Concordance Isa. 30.
17:8
Concordance Psal. 1.
17:10
It is proper to God only by his owne powre to search the hart of man and to know his secrete thoughts vvhich men, nor Angels can not naturally know; but holie Angels & glorified Sainctes do knovv the thoughtes of men by light of glorie vvhen mortal men pray vnto them; & prophetes know by light of prophecie, as Elizeus savv vvhen Giezi tooke bribes; and by special inspiration, S. Peter knew the fraude of Ananias & Za phira. Act. 5.
Concordance Psa. 7. v. 10. Apoc. 2. v. 23.
17:21
By the sabbath, as often els vvhere, is meant the obseruation of al the lavv.
17:25
Such temporal rewardes vvere commonly promised in the old testament, but in the nevv is promised life euerlasting, & eternal glorie.
17:1
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Holy Spirit 3.3
… The coherence of your soul is lessened if you do not believe the unity of Godhead in the Trinity. Your faith is written, and your sin is written, as Jeremiah said: “Thy sin, O Judah, is written with a pen of iron and the point of a diamond. And it is written,” he says, “on thy breast and on thy heart.”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose sermon-against-auxentius-on-th.23
… He will take them, although he is unwilling; he will take with him his conscience, although he takes no writing; he will take with him his soul inscribed with blood although he will not take a letter inscribed with ink. It is written: “Juda, thy sin is written with a pen of iron and with the point of a diamond, and it is graven upon thy heart,”
17:5
St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to the Antiochians 5
… And he that rejects the incarnation, and is ashamed of the cross for which I am in bonds, this man is antichrist. Moreover, he who affirms Christ to be a mere man is accursed, according to the [declaration of the] prophet,
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.15
… “O my people, they who call you happy mislead you, and disturb the paths of your feet.” In another passage He forbids all implicit trust in man, and likewise in the applause of man; as by the prophet Jeremiah: “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man.”
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.33
… But when the Pharisees “justified themselves before men,” and placed their hope of reward in man, He censured them in the sense in which the prophet Jeremiah said, “Cursed is the man that trusteth in man.”
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 5.6
… “Therefore,” says he, “let no man glory in man;” an injunction which is in accordance with the teaching of the Creator, “wretched is the man that trusteth in man;”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 On the Lapsed 17
… Man cannot be greater than God, nor can a servant remit or forego by his indulgence what has been committed by a greater crime against the Lord, lest to the person lapsed this be moreover added to his sin, if he be ignorant that it is declared, “Cursed is the man that putteth his hope in man.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.11
… and He will deliver us from thine hand, O king. And if not, be it known unto thee that we serve not thy gods, and we adore not the golden image which thou hast set up.” Likewise in Jeremiah: “Cursed is the man who hath hope in man; and blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and his hope shall be in God.”
Minucius Felix † AD 260 The Octavius of Minucius Felix 29
… Miserable indeed is that man whose whole hope is dependent on mortal man, for all his help is put an end to with the extinction of the man.
Aphrahat † AD 346 Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations 6.1
… Whosoever thinks upon the Law of his Lord, shall not be troubled with the thoughts of this world. Whosoever meditates on the Law of his Lord, is like a tree planted by the waters. Whosoever again has trust in his Lord, is like a tree that is set out by the river. Whosoever puts his trust in man shall receive the curses of Jeremiah.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 89.5
… “He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.” Wherefore the Church calmly declines to place her hope in man, lest she fall under the curse pronounced in Scripture, “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 218.2
… for you are but man, and “cursed is every one that trusteth in man.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 15.18
… “And it shall be that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” For these two expressions, “And he called his name Enos, which means man,” and “He hoped to call on the name of the Lord God,” are sufficient proof that man ought not to rest his hopes in himself; as it is elsewhere written, “Cursed is the man that trusteth in man.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Christian Doctrine 1.22
… It seems to me, then, that he is to be loved for the sake of something else. For if a thing is to be loved for its own sake, then in the enjoyment of it consists a happy life, the hope of which at least, if not yet the reality, is our comfort in the present time. But a curse is pronounced on him who places his hope in man.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Enchiridion 114
… and this is accompanied by a holy love . But of these matters, all of which are true objects of faith, those only pertain to hope which are embraced in the Lord’s Prayer. For, “Cursed is the man that trusteth in man”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Continence 10
10. But in order that we fall not away from Continence, we ought to watch specially against those snares of the suggestions of the devil, that we presume not of our own strength. For, “Cursed is every one that setteth his hope in man.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Patience 12
… lest they receive of Him true patience, they which glory in their own false patience, seek to “confound the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his hope.” Nor do they regard, seeing they are men, and attribute so much to their own, that is, to the human will, that they run into that which is written, “Cursed is every one who putteth his hope in man.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 13.8
… Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is: for he shall be as a tree beside the water, that spreadeth out its roots by the river: he shall not fear when heat cometh, but his leaf shall be green; he shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.5
… For what man can feel secure about a man, when it is written, "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man?"
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.102
… Truly I would bid them hearken not to you, but rather to those proofs which you have urged against ourselves, ay, and to words more awful yet; for not only is it written, "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man," but also, "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 3.2
… but whatsoever evil works you think or know to be in us, those do ye not. For this is not the time for me to justify myself before you, when I have undertaken, neglecting all considerations of self, to recommend to you what is for your salvation, that no one should make his boast of men. For "cursed be the man that trusteth in man."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 3.28
Chapter 28.— 33. This is what we look upon with horror in your party; this is what the sentence of God condemns, crying out with the utmost truth and the utmost clearness, "Cursed is every one that trusteth in man."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 3.49
… here you see that Christ also Himself washes, Himself purifies with the self-same washing of water by the word, wherein the ministers are seen to do their work in the body. Let no one, therefore, claim unto himself what is of God. The hope of men is only sure when it is fixed on Him who cannot deceive, since "Cursed be every one that trusteth in man,"
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 3.50
… As regards the question of baptism, that our being born again, cleansed, justified by the grace of God, should not be ascribed to the man who administered the sacrament, I quoted these: "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man:" and "Cursed be every one that trusteth in man;"
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 1.12
… “that the saints in the Old Testament were not without sins,—that is that they were not free from crimes even by amendment, but they were seized by death in their guilt.” Nay, I say that either before the law, or in the time of the Old Testament, they were freed from sins,—not by their own power, because “cursed is every one that hath put his hope in man,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Grace and Free Will 6
… so as to be followed by the prophet Jeremiah’s malediction when he says, “Cursed is the man who has hope in man, and maketh strong the flesh of his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Predestination of the Saints 1.2
For on consideration of your letters, I seem to see that those brethren on whose behalf you exhibit a pious care that they may not hold the poetical opinion in which it is affirmed, “Every one is a hope for himself,” and so fall under that condemnation which is, not poetically, but prophetically, declared, “Cursed is every man that hath hope in man,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Predestination of the Saints 2.46
… it is of which they have persuaded themselves—to wit, “that by the preaching of predestination, more of despair than of exhortation is impressed upon the hearers.” For this is to say that a man then despairs of his salvation when he has learned to place his hope not in himself, but in God, although the prophet cries, “Cursed is he who has his hope in man.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 46.2
… If then he had gone away from himself, let him also in returning to himself, from whom he had gone away, that he may “go to his Father,” deny himself. What is “deny himself”? Let him not trust in himself, let him feel that he is a man, and have respect to the words of the prophet, “Cursed is every one that putteth his hope in man.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 4.5
… But in regard that the Word was made flesh, the bad also shall have power to see Him: because in the day of judgment the bad also will see Him; for He shall so come to judge, as He came to be judged. In the selfsame form, a man, but yet God: for “cursed is every one that putteth his trust in man.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 37.2.8
… 19 ). In the day of trouble, in the day of distress, they shall not be “ashamed,” as he is ashamed whose hope deceives him. Who is the man that is “ashamed”? He who saith, “I have not found that which I was in hopes of.” Nor undeservedly either; for thou didst hope it from thyself or from man, thy friend. But “cursed is he that putteth his trust in man.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 24.2
… And supported by their bounty, we should be free from the care of preparing food, were it not that this curse of the prophet terribly frightened us. For “Cursed,” he says, “is the man that putteth his hope in man;” and: “Put not your trust in princes.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Seven Books of John Cassian on the Incarnation of the Lord, Against Nestorius 5.9
… or perchance the people who should be blessed may be involved in a curse, and be charged with putting their hope in man. For whoever declares that the Lord Jesus Christ was at His birth a mere man, is doubly liable to the curse, whether he believes in Him or not. For if he believes, “Cursed is he who puts his hope in man.”
Jacob of Serugh † AD 521 Homily on Habib the Martyr 1
Because it is written: “Cursed is he that putteth his trust in a man.”
Anonymous Martyrdom of Habib the Deacon 1
Habib said: I worship not a man, because the Scripture
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St Basil the Great † AD 379 The Hexæmeron 5.9
… The palm tree, on the contrary, from its birth to its death, is always adorned with the same foliage. Think again of the double life of the tamarisk; it is an aquatic plant, and yet it covers the desert. Thus, Jeremiah compares it to the worst of characters—the double character.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 1.3
… Therefore, according to their judgment, the salvation of the spirit is made uncertain, so long as in opposition to the holy Scriptures, which say, "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man," and, "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man,"
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Tertullian † AD 220 On Repentance 4
… Seize the opportunity of unexpected felicity: that you, who sometime were in God’s sight nothing but “a drop of a bucket,” and “dust of the threshing-floor,” and “a potter’s vessel,” may thenceforward become that “tree which is sown beside the waters, is perennial in leaves, bears fruit at its own time,” and shall not see “fire,”
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St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 3.18.3
3. But who is it that has had fellowship with us in the matter of food? Whether is it he who is conceived of by them as the Christ above, who extended himself through Horos, and imparted a form to their mother; or is it He who is from the Virgin, Emmanuel, who did eat butter and honey, of whom the prophet declared, “He is also a man, and who shall know him?”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 3.19.2
2. For this reason [it is, said], “Who shall declare His generation?” since “He is a man, and who shall recognise Him?”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.33.11
… Again, there are those who say, “He is a man, and who shall know him?”
Tertullian † AD 220 An Answer to the Jews 14
… Jeremiah says: “He is a human being, and who will learn to know Him?”
Tertullian † AD 220 On the Flesh of Christ 15
… “But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth;” and “The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath-day.” For it is of Him that Isaiah writes: “A man of suffering, and acquainted with the bearing of weakness;” and Jeremiah: “He is a man, and who hath known Him?”
St Hippolytus † AD 235 The Refutation of All Heresies 5.3
… For Jeremiah likewise, he says, was aware of the Perfect Man, of him that is born again—of water and the Spirit not carnal. At least Jeremiah himself remarked: “He is a man, and who shall know him?”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 2.11
In Jeremiah: “And He is man, and who shall know Him?”
St Hilary of Poitiers † AD 367 De Trinitate or On the Trinity 4.42
… Afterward did He shew Himself upon earth and dwelt among men . For previously he had said, And He is Man, and Who shall know Him
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Concerning Repentance 1.3
… nor does He say in the likeness of sin, for He did no sin, but was made sin for us. Yet He came “in the likeness of sinful flesh;” that is, He took on Him the likeness of sinful flesh, the likeness, because it is written: “He is man, and who shall know Him?”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 29
But that it belongs to God only to know men’s secrets, hear what saith the prophet, “Thou most entirely alone knowest the hearts;” and again, “God trieth the hearts and reins; ” and Jeremiah too saith, “The heart is deep above all things, and it is man, and who shall know him?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 18.33
… “Heavy is the heart through all; and He is a man, and who shall know Him?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 13.8
… whereas, in our apostolic doctrine, Christ is not only God in whom we may safely trust, but the Mediator between God and man—the man Jesus. The prophet explains this in the words in which he seems to check himself, and to supply the omission: "His heart," he says "is sorrowful throughout; and He is man, and who shall know Him?"
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 22.40
… So also, notwithstanding the surpassing justice and wisdom of Christ, His manhood was much more plainly and readily recognized by strangers, who, indeed, were not wrong in believing Him to be man, but they did not understand His being God as well as man. Hence Jeremiah says: "He is both a man, and who shall know Him?"
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Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.33
… But when the Pharisees “justified themselves before men,” and placed their hope of reward in man, He censured them in the sense in which the prophet Jeremiah said, “Cursed is the man that trusteth in man.” Since the prophet went on to say, “But the Lord knoweth your hearts,”
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 13
… ‘The whole world is a place of trial to men upon the earth .’ Nevertheless, they are proved in this world by afflictions, labours, and sorrows, to the end that each one may receive of God such reward as is meet for him, as He saith by the prophet, ‘I am the Lord, Who trieth the hearts, and searcheth the reins, to give to every one according to his ways
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 1.14
53. But we are satisfied with the witness of Him Who says: “I search out the heart and the reins.”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Holy Spirit 2.11
128. But if this moves you that He said “searcheth,” learn that this is also said of God, inasmuch as He is the searcher of hearts and reins. For Himself said: “I am He that searcheth the heart and reins.”
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St Hippolytus † AD 235 Treatise on Christ and Antichrist 54
… they whom he summons and they whom he does not summon shall march with him.” And Jeremiah speaks of him thus in a parable: “The partridge cried, (and) gathered what he did not hatch, making himself riches without judgment: in the midst of his days they shall leave him, and at his end he shall be a fool.”
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Second Arian Persecution under Constantius 1
… rather it shines out thereby more brightly every day, while they crying out, ‘We have no king but Cæsar ,’ and obtaining the judgment of Pilate in their favour, are nevertheless left destitute, and wait in utter shame, expecting shortly to become bereft, like the partridge
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Against Eunomius 12.1
… who had been thus outlawed by his own depravity, but instead of Him Who was by Nature God, those were honoured who, as the Apostle says, “by nature were no Gods ,” and in the place of the Father, he was deemed father who is falsely so called, as the prophet Jeremiah says in his dark saying, “The partridge called, she gathered together what she hatched not
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 133.4
… Now also the mystery of iniquity is working. Men and women in turn lay snares for each other till we cannot but recall the prophet’s words: “the partridge hath cried aloud, she hath gathered young which she hath not brought forth, she getteth riches and not by right; in the midst of her days she shall leave them, and at her end she shall be a fool.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 55.26
… But of them he saith what? “They shall not halve their days.” What is, “They shall not halve their days”? They shall not make progress as much as they think: within the time which they expect, they shall perish. For he is that partridge, whereof hath been said, “In the half of his days they shall leave him, and in his last days he shall be an unwise one.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 72.4
… But when without any addition He speaketh of judgment, He would at once have just judgment to be understood: as is that which He saith, “Ye forsake the weightier matters of the Law, mercy and judgment.” That also which Jeremiah saith is, “making his riches not with judgment.”
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St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 1.6
… O Lord, the Hope of Israel, all that forsake Thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from Me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the Fountain of living waters
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 13.13
… His words are: "A glorious high throne is our sanctuary."
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St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 2
viii. 3 . None of the accusers of the woman taken in adultery were without sin. Christ wrote their names in the earth (
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 17.25
… “O Lord, let all those that forsake Thee be confounded. Let them that depart from Thee be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the vein of living waters.” And elsewhere: “They shall not be in the counsel of My people, nor shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel.”
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St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Concerning Repentance 1.7
31. Thy Church does not excuse herself from Thy supper, Novatian makes excuse. Thy family says not, “I am whole, I need not the physician,” but it says: “Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved.”
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 2
Jerem. xvii. 14 . “Heal me, O Lord.” Otherwise Jeremiah could only say, as in the text next quoted,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 13.16
… And in order to do this, it declares, The salvation which Christ promises is with me; I will give it. In opposition to this the prophet says: "Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved." So we read in the apostle, "Let no man glory in men;" or in the words of the prophet, "Thou art my praise."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 11.2
2. For this cause have we who are evil a good Father, that we may not always continue evil. No evil man can make another man good. If no evil man can make another good, how can an evil man make himself good? He only can make of an evil man a good man, who is good eternally. “Heal me, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved.”
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St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 130.7
… but say always with the bride in the song of songs: “By night I sought him whom my soul loveth. Tell me where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon;” and with the psalmist: “my soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me;” and with Jeremiah: “I have not found it hard.…to follow thee,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 4.10
… The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil.” So it is the case, then, that “your time is alway ready,” because ye desire that kind of day to which the prophet refers when he says, “But I have not laboured following Thee, O Lord; and the day of man I have not desired, Thou knowest:”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 141.12
12. “Keep me from the trap which they have laid for me” ( ver. 9 ). What was the trap? “If thou consentest, I spare thee.” In the trap was set the bait of the present life; if the bird love this bait, it falleth into the trap: but if the bird be able to say, “The day of man have I not desired: Thou knowest:”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 19.4
If then anyone else delights in the recesses of the desert and would forget all human intercourse and say with Jeremiah: “I have not desired the day of man: Thou knowest,”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 24.2
… For it is but little for a monk to have once made his renunciation, i.e., in the early days of his conversion to have disregarded the present world, unless he continues to renounce it daily. For to the very end of this life we must with the prophet say this: “And I have not desired the day of man, Thou knowest.”
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John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 7.21
… and let them be covered with shame and confusion who imagine evil against us.” Jeremiah also says: “Let them be confounded, and let not me be confounded: let them be afraid, and let not me be afraid: bring upon them the fury of Thy wrath, and with a double destruction destroy them.”
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Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis iv.1.17
… i.e., if found sitting, he is to sit the whole day, or if reclining, he is to recline the whole day. Moreover, the injunction which runs, “Bear no burden on the Sabbath-day,”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 13.10
… “So run that ye may obtain:” but to its weakness John Baptist bears witness where he says: “No man can receive anything of himself, except it be given him from above.” We are commanded to keep our souls with all care, when the Prophet says: “Keep your souls,”
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St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 12
… peoples who know not Thee shall escape to Thee, because of thy God, the Holy One of Israel; for He has glorified Thee.’ This same law you have despised, and His new holy covenant you have slighted; and now you neither receive it, nor repent of your evil deeds. ‘For your ears are closed, your eyes are blinded, and the heart is hardened,’ Jeremiah
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St Barnabas † AD 61 The Epistle of Barnabas 15
Further, also, it is written concerning the Sabbath in the Decalogue which [the Lord] spoke, face to face, to Moses on Mount Sinai, “And sanctify ye the Sabbath of the Lord with clean hands and a pure heart.” And He says in another place, “If my sons keep the Sabbath, then will I cause my mercy to rest upon them.”
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great 13.1
For this which is said by the prophet, Ye shall bring in no burden through your gates on the Sabbath day (
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He teaches that the sin of the Jews is written upon the altars of idols, and in the hearts of the Jews is indelible, and can only be blotted out by destruction: hence, verse 5, he says that cursed is he who trusts in man, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord; and he illustrates this with an elegant similitude of a withered tamarisk and an irrigated tree; and with a partridge brooding upon eggs not her own. Whence, verse 13, he asserts that those departing from the Lord shall be written in the earth. Thirdly, verse 14, he prays that God may protect him against the Jews: For, he says, I was not troubled, following thee as my shepherd: and I have not desired the day of man, thou knowest. Be thou not a terror to me, thou art my hope in the day of affliction. Fourthly, verse 19, he exhorts to the observance of the Sabbath, and consequently to all the worship of God. 1. The sin of Juda is written (in Hebrew כתובה ketuba, that is inscribed, engraved and as it were marked with a stigma) with an iron stylus. — The ancients formerly wrote with an iron stylus; but upon waxed tablets, whence Ovid: The right hand holds the iron; the other holds the empty wax. The Romans, however, wrote with a bone stylus, as Isidore testifies, book VI, chapter ix. Capella objects: Diamond is indomitable, and yields not to iron: therefore it cannot be written upon with an iron stylus. Delrio responds, adage 846, that in former times there flourished an art of writing with properly prepared iron upon diamond, with certain powders added, which in our age Jacob Tressius, the jeweler of Philip II king of Spain, brought to light. Upon the nail of diamond. — Upon a tablet or stone of diamond, which is called a nail on account of its brightness and smoothness. Thus St. Jerome, Rabanus, Hugo, St. Thomas, on this passage. The sin of Juda is written in the heart of Juda, which is diamond, that is most obstinate, where it may remain and be read forever: for diamond is the hardest substance, indeed harder than iron. Thus Job says, chapter xix, 23: "Who will grant me that my words may be written? Who will give me that they may be graven in a book with an iron stylus, and with a leaden plate, or be carved in flint?" that is, so that they may be indelible and perpetual. Thus Claudian says, book II Against Rufinus: Atropos marked voices with diamond. The Arabic version favors this interpretation: The sin of Juda is written with a pen of iron upon the nails of a nail, that is upon diamond, as I have said, sealed upon the doors (entrances) of their hearts, and upon the tables of their altars. Some less correctly understand by the nails of a nail the onyx, which is a kind of spice similar to a nail (which in Greek is called ὄνυξ) as if the sin of Juda were written in onyx, because they burned it not to God, but to idols, contrary to the law of Exodus III, 34. In onyx therefore the memory of sin remains. Secondly and better, the Syriac translates: The sin of Juda is written with a pen of iron, and with the nail of diamond, sealed upon the tablets (writing tablets) of their heart. What therefore our author translates, "upon the nail," that is and with the nail: for in Hebrew beth, that is in, often signifies an instrument, now with a nail, that is with a point, pen, stylus, or diamond stylus: for with the hard and sharp nails of birds, as it were with pens or styli, they were formerly accustomed to use for engraving, and with these to cut and inscribe letters upon plates. Thus the Septuagint, the Chaldean, Origen, Vatable and Pagninus. For the tablet upon which this sin is written is the breadth of the heart, which the Septuagint and others call the tablet of the heart, that is of their conscience, than which nothing is more powerful, says Theodoret, that is, the sin of Juda (namely idolatry) is indelible, and is indelibly engraved upon their conscience, and upon the horns of altars stained with the blood of victims. For these are perpetual monuments and witnesses, nay the letters and erasures of their idolatry, just as if it had been engraved upon them with an iron stylus, or a diamond one, not written with ink, which can easily be blotted out or erased, that is, so fixed is sin in the heart and conscience of the Jews, that the conscience has taken on the image and form of sin; which thus always strikes the eyes of God, so that He has pronounced a fixed sentence of their destruction. Thus St. Jerome, Theodoret, Rabanus. See Origen here. Add: "Upon the horns" of the altar the name or symbol or image of the idol to whom sacrifice was made there was wont to be written; whence Paul found written upon an altar: "To the Unknown God," Acts XVII, 14. This passage therefore signifies two things, namely that the sin of the Jews can neither be blotted out (that is can scarcely be blotted out): nor be hidden, since it is written upon public altars. This sense is grave, solid and genuine. Lyra and some Hebrews think the Hebrew שמיר scamir, that is diamond, is a worm, whose blood has the power of cutting and engraving stones; but this worm does not have a nail. Thirdly, Sanchez here and in the Prolegomena IX on the Canticles probably interprets: by sin he takes an idol; by the adamantine nail a gem enclosed in a ring; by the breadth of the heart a plate let down from the neck to the heart, on which, just as on the gem, they engraved the image of their idol, so that they might always carry it in the ring and on the breast, and show themselves to be worshippers of such an idol. Thus Hosea, chapter II, says: "Let her put away her adulteries (that is, idols, with which she commits spiritual fornication) from between her breasts:" because she carried a plate between the breasts and above the heart, or a boss in which an idol was engraved. Thus Jacob, burying the idols of his people, at the same time buried the earrings of each one: because, namely, they carried in them the effigies of their idols, as St. Augustine teaches in Genesis Questions CXII, and St. Chrysostom, homily 35 on Genesis, Lyra and the Gloss. Moreover the Septuagint and the Chaldean indicate that they had these effigies of their gods also in their hands, that is, in rings. For thus they translate, Genesis xxxv, 4: "They gave to Jacob the strange gods that were in their hands, and the earrings that were in their ears." Thus on the contrary, in rings, bosses and plates the law of God ought to be described and carried, the Wise Man admonishes, Proverbs vii, 3: "Bind, he says, them upon thy fingers, write them upon the tablets of thy heart." And thus the Jews carried it described in phylacteries. This also is what the bridegroom admonishes the bride, Canticles viii: "Put me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm," that is to say, Carry me and my effigy always engraved in a plate or boss of thy heart, and in a bracelet of thy arm. The contrary of which Pythagoras ordained, forbidding God to be engraved in a ring, lest a thing so frequently encountered become more worthless. Morally Theodoret teaches that the conscience is adamantine: "Nothing, he says, is more powerful than conscience, in which, namely, solid letters are fixed. For although all men endeavor to testify of their own conscience concerning a good life; nevertheless the sins of those who lie, the conscience cannot bear, but is struck and pierced, and brings forth an incorrupt sentence. Which also he says here: Namely, thy deeds argue thee, and thy conscience beareth witness:" and especially will it bear witness on the day of judgment, concerning which Origen, homily 12: "The conscience of my breast, he says, shall be laid bare, and with the heart opened the letters of sins will be seen, which are written with an iron stylus on an adamantine nail, and the whole multitude of spectators will read in my breast the images of sins marked out." Allegorically, the sin of the Jews who killed Christ was indelible, and of Judas the traitor, says Eusebius, book X of the Demonstration v, although he himself wrongly understands it here in the literal sense; for Judah is not Judas the traitor, but the people of the Jews. Anagogically, the sin of the obstinate, cast off by God, and especially of the damned, is written with an iron stylus on an adamantine nail, it is written indelibly with the immobile mind of God, in the eternal reprobation of God, it is written in the book of death, it is written in the book of Lucifer, it is written in hell with fiery letters; so that forever no water, no tears, no nitre can erase or scrape it away; it is written in the perpetual memory and conscience of the damned, which like a worm perpetually gnaws and pierces them, saying: Why didst thou commit this damnable sin? Fool, why for the moment of base pleasure hast thou brought upon thyself these eternal punishments? Madman, what hast thou done, that thou must dwell with devouring fire, with eternal burnings? O unhappy sinner, would that thou now, when thou art intoxicated, when thou luxuriatest, hadst wisdom, would that thou didst understand, would that thou didst provide for thy last things! For God in the universal judgment will read this writing, and will propose it to be read by all men and angels, when the books of this writing shall be opened, Apocalypse xx, 12, and then by the judgment and consent of all thou shalt be condemned, and thrust down into the depths of hell.
17:2
The Septuagint omitted the first four verses of this chapter, which St. Jerome thinks they did for the sake and honor of their people. But because these verses are read in the Complutensian and Royal Bibles, and in Origen and Theodoret, they seem rather to have fallen out from other manuscripts. 2. When they shall have remembered, — namely the sons, that their parents sinned and were punished, then let them see and beware of their sins and punishment. Thus Vatablus, that is to say, These altars are to the sons a monument of the punishment and guilt of their parents, so that they may beware of both. Secondly and better, that is to say, When the sons shall have remembered the sins of the fathers, so that, namely, they may imitate them by sacrificing to idols, and thus fill up the measure of sins, which being filled, I have decreed to take vengeance; then all thy things, O Judah, I will give to enemies, and thou shalt be left utterly desolate. Thus St. Thomas, Hugh, Lyra. And it is evident from the following verse, where the sentence here suspended is completed. Otherwise Sanchez: That, he says, "when they shall have remembered," is of past time, not of future, and means the same thing, and because they have remembered, namely practically, their altars, by sacrificing in them to their idols, therefore I will give their treasures to plunder. Which sense almost coincides with the one I have already given.
17:3
Thirdly, Vatablus translates: As the remembrance of dearest children is pleasant; so their altars are agreeable to them. The second sense is the genuine one, and our Latin version requires it. 3. Sacrificing. — In Hebrew it is הררי harari, that is, as the Septuagint, Vatablus and others translate, O mountaineer, that is, as the Chaldean, O Judah, who dwellest in mountains, that thou mayest worship idols there and sacrifice to them; I likewise in the field and mountains will expose thy goods to be plundered by enemies. Strength. — That is, riches, substance: for this in Hebrew is חיל chel.
17:4
Thy high places, — thy altars and temples, which thou hast erected to idols in mountains and high places. 4. Thou art left alone from thy inheritance, — namely as it were desolate and despoiled of thy inheritance. Vatablus, Pagninus and others translate: Thou shalt rest, or thou shalt make remission, and (that remission shall be) in thee from thy inheritance, which I gave thee, as if to say: I had commanded thee, Exodus chapter XXIII, 11, that even in the seventh year thou shouldst leave the fields uncultivated, and it should be a sabbath of the earth, thou hast neglected this: wherefore the earth shall give thee and itself rest, not seven, but seventy years of thy captivity, so that thou canst not till it, according to the threat in Leviticus xxvi, 33 and 34. Thus God, unwilling to deprive those who refuse to obey His command of a small profit or pleasure for a short time, deprives them for a sevenfold period, that is seventy years, nay even forever. Thus from Castro.
17:5
Thou hast kindled a fire in my wrath. — That is, thou hast kindled the fire of my wrath, which shall pursue thee with keen and fiery vengeance continually. It is a hendiadys, as above chapter xv, verse 14, and Isaiah L, 11: "Behold you all kindle a fire, girt about with flames, walk in the light of your fire, and in the flames which you have kindled." 5. Cursed is the man (in Hebrew haggeber, that is man, as if to say: he hath put off his manhood) who trusteth in man. — In Hebrew באדם baadam, that is in Adam, who from adama, that is from earth, is earthly, carnal and weak. And maketh flesh (that is carnal and fragile man) his arm, — so that namely by it as by an arm he might powerfully defend himself, as if to say: Man is flesh, not bone: if therefore thou leanest on this flesh as on bone, thou shalt fall with it, and to thy harm shalt feel that it was flesh, not bone. He gave a short time before one cause of the calamities of the Jews, namely idolatry: here he gives another, namely recourse to men, abandoning, nay against the will of God, who offered and promised them His aid. He censures Zedekiah and the Jews, who, abandoning and despising God, had recourse to the aid of the Egyptians, of whom Isaiah says, xxxi, 3: "Egypt is man and not God." Thus Theodoret, Hugh, St. Thomas and Lyran. He therefore is "cursed," because by God, angels, and all the good, like another Cain, he is forsaken. Secondly, as from Castro, because such a one is like a tree devoted to the infernal gods, upon which all prodigies, portents, thunderbolts, curses fell, upon which men cast all misfortune as upon a thing accursed and hostile to earth and heaven, and imprecated upon it with words and deeds; whence soon he compares him to a tamarisk and shrubs of the desert. Note: The Prophet here censures those who trust in man as in God, or more than in God, or so as not to trust in God: for in the Saints as friends of God we may rightly trust, and we call the Blessed Virgin after God our hope: thus Maldonatus.
17:6
Symbolically, St. Augustine, On Grace and Free Will, chapter IV: "The arm," he says, "he has put for the power of working: but by the name of flesh is to be understood human frailty, and for this reason he strengthens the flesh of his arm, who thinks that power frail and weak, that is human, suffices him for working well, and does not hope for help from the Lord; for this reason indeed he subjoined: And his heart departs from the Lord. Such is the heresy of Pelagius." 6. For he shall be like a tamarisk in the desert. — In Hebrew ערער arar, which Vatablus renders as juniper; others as sericam; but our Interpreter, the Septuagint, Pagninus and others translate as myrica, which is called tamarisk; and it is, as Pliny testifies, book XXIV, chapter IX, and Dioscorides, book I, chapter xcix, twofold: one cultivated, bearing rough fruit; the second wild, of which here, which is low; whence Virgil, eclogue IV: Not all shrubs please and lowly myricae. This is said to be accursed, and, as Pliny says, unlucky and condemned by religious observance, because it is barren, nor does it bear fruit, and it grows alone in solitude, vile, depressed, abject. Whence myrica is to the Hebrews a symbol of a humble man, abject and of no worth: hence Psalm ci, 48, in the Hebrew it is, he looked (God) upon the account of the myrica, that is of the humble, as our Interpreter explains. Basil adds, homily 5 of the Hexaemeron, and from him St. Ambrose, book III of the Hexaemeron, chapter vi, that the myrica is amphibious, that is aquatic, and also grows in deserts: thus the sinner who, God abandoned, places hope in man, first, will not have good success; second, bears no fruit; third, will be destitute of the rain of heavenly grace and wisdom; fourth, will be alone abandoned by God and men; fifth, will be cast to the demon and tyrants, as Zedekiah to the Chaldeans. Finally all men are as it were myricae amphibious, that is of doubtful and inconstant faith. He shall not see (shall not experience, shall not feel), when good shall come, — that is rain: for this is the wish and good desired by fields and plants dry and thirsty. Whence it follows: But shall dwell in dryness, — as if to say: Even when it rains upon others, it will not rain upon him, or upon his fields: "for God will separate voluntary rain from his inheritance," Psalm LXVII, 10. Such therefore in sum will be in utter desolation. Note: The Prophet sets down three effects of sin and distrust of God, and hope in creatures: the first is desert, that is separation from the aid and fellowship of God, Angels and Saints; the second is dryness, that is defect of grace, virtues, aid and help; and the third is sterility of good works, and all lack of prosperity and prosperous success, John xv, 4. On the contrary, holiness and hope in God bring God's friendship, aid, all gifts of grace, prosperity, and the rest of which verse 8, at the end.
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Deservedly therefore St. Augustine cries out against the worldly, book IV of the Confessions, chapter XII: "There is no rest where you seek it. Seek what you seek; but there is not what you seek. You seek the blessed life in the region of death? it is not there;" and book VI, chapter xvi: "Woe to the soul bold, which hoped, if you depart from it, that it would have something better. Turned and turned on its back, and on its sides, and on its belly; and all things are hard. And you alone are rest, O Lord." 7. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord. — Note, he is said by God to be blessed who hopes in him, because through hope God is honored most: for he who trusts in God, and commits himself to him, proclaims him to be most good, who wishes to succor by his goodness; and to be omnipotent, who is able; and to be omniscient, who knows how to help, and to be most faithful, who does not deceive him that hopes in him. Hence the Greeks said θεὸς, from θεῖν, as Nazianzen and Damascene say, that is from burning, because he breathes heat, life and all goods to all. Whence Nazianzen, oration On the Care of the Poor: Nothing is so divine, he says, as to deserve well of others: be to the calamitous a God, imitating God's mercy. Or from θεᾶσθαι, that is from seeing and contemplating all things, as St. Dionysius says, chapter XII of the Divine Names, and Damascene, I of the Faith, XII, or from θεῖν, that is from running, because he is swiftest, most efficacious and everywhere present. Conversely, man is called Enos, that is weak, wretched, incurable, as if man alone were he who can be cured by God alone, and who expects all goods from him, and sustains himself with good hope in him, and rests secure in him, without care of himself and his affairs, as Philo says, book On Abraham. Wherefore that Abba said in the Sayings of the Egyptian Fathers, Saying 71: "If a man does not say in his heart: I alone and God are in this world, he does not have rest." Thus Abraham believed God against hope in hope, and therefore was heaped with miraculous offspring and every blessing by him. On the contrary, he who distrusts God wrongs God: for he denies God's providence, namely that God either does not will, or is not able, or does not know how to help; hence he flees to the aid of men and idols. Thus from Castro.
17:8
And the Lord shall be his confidence. — that is, as Vatablus translates it, and whose hope is the Lord, who is accustomed to hope in the Lord. 8. And (because) he shall be as a tree, — that is to say, He who hopes in God shall be as a blessed tree and sacred to God, planted by the waters, ever green and fruitful, because in every temptation and difficulty, from God in whom he trusts, he shall draw aid, influence and grace. This is what the ancients used to say: "The dice of Jupiter always fall happily." He therefore who hopes in God, and draws from Him all solid virtue and all good, is like the laurel. For just as lightning strikes whatever it finds on earth, except the laurel, as Pliny says, book II, chapter LV, so great calamity can take away, strike down and overturn all things, except firm virtue resting on God. For hope and steadfast virtue is like a beautiful laurel ever green, burned or shaken by no fire bursting from the clouds, by no assault of storms and afflictions. Hence the Syriac version translates: Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his confidence; he shall be as a tree planted upon waters, which is stronger in heart (firmer) than any man. Who shall know him? I the Lord searching the heart. Note: He says "that is transplanted," because from our first planting we are barren trees, and are born children of wrath; but from thence transplanted in Christ and God, and in the hope and love of God, we become fruitful. Thus Theosterictus relates, in the funeral oration concerning the Blessed Niceta of Athanasius, a distinguished cenobite and a man of great hope, that from the breast of the deceased and buried man a cypress tree grew forth, whose fronds drove away diseases. Armed with this confidence in God, St. John the Almsgiver used to say: "Even if the whole world should flow together to Alexandria for the sake of alms, I would give it to all; because the whole world cannot straiten the treasures of God, of which He has made me the steward. Cease therefore, O miserable and fearful soul, to tempt the untempable God through your pusillanimity and distrust." Wherefore God converted tin into silver for him, and gave him a hundredfold in this life, so that the more he gave, the far more he received. Leontius is witness in his Life. Strengthened by the same confidence, Theodore the monk used to say: "If heaven should cleave to earth, Theodore does not fear." For he had asked by prayers of God that fear might be taken from him. Thus it is related in the Lives of the Fathers, book V, chapter vii, number 6. So also that old man entering into a cave, and finding a lion there, when the lion roared and bellowed, said to it: "Why are you troubled? there is a place that can hold me and you. But if you will not, rise and depart hence." But the lion, unable to bear it, went out from there. Ibid., book VI, chapter III, number 15. So also Sisois the Abbot, praying for Abraham his disciple who was tempted and had fallen, said confidently: "God, whether you will or not, I will not let you go unless we have healed him." And that brother was healed. Ibid., number 14. So also monks relying on God, in their desert by their confidence and prayer slew great dragons and serpents, as Palladius testifies in the Lausiac History, chapter LII. In the same place Abbot Apollo in time of famine was liberal to the poor, saying: "Did not the Apostles and Prophets do these things? Was God present then; but now has He gone away?" Wherefore food and fruits were divinely supplied to him by unknown persons, even those which were not born in Egypt, namely grapes, pomegranates, figs, honeycombs, milk, lupines, breads, etc. With this confidence St. Pachomius, as his Life relates, trod upon serpents unharmed, and riding upon crocodiles swam across rivers. So the Blessed Hellenius hoping and saying: "God is able to prepare a table in the wilderness," there received sustenance from an Angel for himself and his guests, as Palladius testifies in the Lausiac History, chapter LIX. This confidence in the desert nourished and protected St. Paul, Anthony and countless others. This confidence strengthened St. Paul, Andrew, Thomas, Dominic, Vincent, Xavier and others, so that they converted even wild and barbarous nations. Nor shall it ever cease to bear fruit. — "The saints," who hope in God, "bear fruit," says St. Thomas: "first, through the contemplation of wisdom, Ecclesiasticus vi, 19: As he that ploughs and he that sows, come to her, and wait for the good fruits thereof; secondly, through the fervor of charity, Canticles v: Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat the fruit of his apple trees; thirdly, through the confession of praise, Hebrews xiii: By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise always to God, that is the fruit of lips confessing to his name; fourthly, through meritorious work, Psalm LXXXIV: For the Lord will give goodness, and our earth shall yield her fruit; fifthly, through the conversion of neighbors, John xv: That you go, and bring forth fruit, and your fruit remain." Again, the Saints bear fruit, "because they follow Christ, first, through the integrity of the flesh, Apocalypse xiv: For they are virgins, and follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth; secondly, through the intention of the heart, Philippians III: But I follow, if so be that I may apprehend; thirdly, through the passion of tribulation, I Peter ii: Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow his steps; fourthly, through the observance of commandments, Job xxiii: My foot hath followed his steps, I have kept his way, and have not declined from it; fifthly, through the reception of glory, Ecclesiasticus xxiii: Great glory it is to follow the Lord: for length of days shall be received from him." Thus far St. Thomas. and it is miserable that, God being abandoned, he hopes in riches, friends, Egyptians! Thus St. Jerome, Theodoret, Rabanus, Vatablus, a Castro.
17:9
Others refer these things to him in whom hope is placed, or who offers his aid to the afflicted and promises it, as if to say: Deceitful and inscrutable is the heart of man, who promises aid to another in distress (as the Egyptians promise to you, O Jews); for now he lacks the power to help, now serious and constant will; for if he sees it expedient for his own affairs, he will abandon his friend and care for his own, as the Egyptians did to the Jews. 9. Deceitful. — The Chaldean [paraphrase], deceitful; the Septuagint, βαθεῖα, that is, deep (wrongly Theodoret, St. Augustine and Chrysostom read βαρεία, that is, heavy), in Hebrew עקב acob, that is, first, crafty, double-dealing; secondly, fraudulent, of deceivers; thirdly, more genuinely in this place, tortuous, winding, fallacious, and therefore inscrutable, as follows, as if to say: Sinuous, and with a thousand thoughts, desires and longings implicated and perplexed in secret byways, recesses, retreats, like a labyrinth. Is the heart of man. — Correct with the Romans and St. Jerome, "is the heart of all." For in Hebrew it is מכל miccol, that is, of all, that is, of everyone; or, as Vatablus, Maldonatus and others translate, before all, above all, as if to say: Nothing in all things is so deceitful as the heart of man. Heretics infer: Therefore man after the fall cannot act well, but only badly, namely to deceive, to lie, etc. I answer, I deny the consequence; for man is said to be deceitful, not because he always deceives, but because he easily and often deceives.
17:11
Note: The Septuagint for אנוש reads אנוש enos, and translates: And man is, and who shall know him? which Tertullian, book III Against Marcion, vii; Cyprian, book II Against the Jews, x, Lactantius, book IV, chapter xiii; Ambrose, book On Penance, chapter ii; Augustine, book III Against Faustus, xi, understand of Christ, as if to say: Christ is man, but who shall know his divinity? Yet from the circumstances it is clear that the Prophet speaks of the secrets of the human heart, not of Christ. 11. The partridge gathereth. — It is understood in the Hebrew manner with the similitude of the caph, as if to say: As the partridge gathereth, in Hebrew דגר dagar, that is, congregates; and, as Vatablus translates, incubates. Aristotle, Theophrastus, Pliny and other natural philosophers relate, says St. Jerome, that the partridge steals the eggs of another partridge, that is, of another, sits upon them, and hatches the chicks: which when they have grown up and hear the voice of the one that hatched them, they fly away from her as from a stranger to the first and true mother, who laid the eggs, whose voice they recognize by the instinct of nature. Such, says Jeremiah, are Sedecias and the Jews and other rich men, who "not in judgment," that is, not justly, but unjustly, by usuries, robberies and other evil arts, by fair means and foul, gather riches, seize what belongs to others, and make riches for themselves, which the Babylonians will soon plunder, or sudden death or accident will take away; when it shall be said Morally St. Bernard, tract. On the Interior House, chapter xxx: "The conscience," he says, "of man is an abyss of many things. For as an abyss cannot be exhausted, so the heart of man cannot be emptied of its thoughts; but they roll about in it with continual motion. The sea is great and spacious in its extent: there are creeping things in it without number. For as a creeping thing creeps secretly and wanders hither and thither in winding passages; so poisonous thoughts enter and leave the conscience of man, so that man knows not whence they come or whither they go. He knew this well who said: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? which admits not of scrutiny nor of knowledge." Inscrutable. — In Hebrew אנש anus, that is, toilsome; Vatablus, stubborn, obstinate and desperate, so that you might penetrate its depth, its windings and changeableness, as if to say: The heart of men is impenetrable, except to God alone, who searcheth the reins, that is, the affections, and proveth the hearts, that is, the intentions. The Arabic version translates: I know it, I the Lord, who prove (test, investigate, search) the hearts, and know what is in the reins. "Nothing is closed to God; he is present to our souls, and intervenes between our thoughts," says Seneca, epistle 84. Famous is the fable which Lucian among others relates in the Hermotimus: Momus reproached Vulcan because he had not made the breast of man with windows, through which his thoughts might be plainly seen. Hence the Scholastics in the matter concerning angels teach that angels naturally cannot know the present thoughts and intentions of men (much less future ones), unless they are revealed by voice or sign. It is an epiphonema of the preceding, as if to say: O how sorrowful, changeable, inscrutable is the heart of man! so that you know not whither to direct your hopes, whether to God, or to creatures and men; whether you truly hope in God, or pretend to hope: O how toilsome it is to them that word of Luke xii, 20: "Thou fool, this night do they require thy soul of thee; and the things thou hast provided, whose shall they be? For nothing is more foolish than not to foresee the future, and to think brief things perpetual," says St. Jerome. Whence the Chaldean clearly translates: As the partridge which gathers eggs which are not hers, and sits upon chicks which will not follow her; so every wicked man who possesses riches contrary to justice, in the midst of his days shall leave them. Sanchez refers these things to the immediately preceding, as if to say: Those who hope in man, not in God, and so for a time become rich, shall be despoiled of these riches, just as the partridge of stolen eggs and chicks. For whatever he shall have received from another than from God the Lord of all things must be reckoned theft, and such theft will at some time return to the true Lord: wherefore it will be to him not so much for use as for fraud; for in necessity it will abandon him. Others more simply understand these things plainly as they sound, as if to say: As the chicks of the partridge from the false mother, so riches from unjust possessors, as from false masters, fly away. The Prophet here destroys another foundation of the impiety of Sedecias and the Jews (the former was hope in the Egyptians, of which he has already spoken), on account of which they departed from God, namely, riches unjustly obtained contrary to God's law: for he predicts that ill-gotten gains will be ill-spent, as if to say: In vain therefore do you trust in them. Aldrovandus teaches from St. Augustine, Ambrose and others that this is the nature of the partridge. Hence also Theodoric, king of the Goths, in Cassiodorus, book II of the Variae, epistle 14, detesting the false adoption of the partridge, and praising the piety of the adopted chicks toward their true and legitimate parents, to whom they fly away from their thieving mother, exhorts his own people to similar piety, and orders that they punish Romulus as impious toward his parents: "It is the custom of partridges," he says, "to repair lost eggs through the loss of another's mother, so that by adopting another's offspring they might repair the disadvantages of their own childlessness. But as soon as the born chicks begin to have confidence in walking, they go out into the fields with the nurse, and when they have been warned by the maternal voice, they seek rather the mother who gave birth to their eggs, even though they are being raised by other thieving broods. What therefore ought men to do, when they know that even this piety exists in birds? Therefore make Romulus, who is polluted by the bitterness of his deed and brings shame to the Roman name, come to your judgment: and if it is established that he laid hands on his father Martin, let him immediately feel legitimate vengeance." There exists an emblem concerning this nature of the partridge in Nicholas Reusner, under the lemma, "False use of wealth": The lustful partridge steals another's eggs, and fostering in the nest raises new chicks from them. But the chick, once raised, abandons the nurse of its own accord, hanging on the voice of the singing mother. The miser hides his wealth, and labors over exhausted gold, by right and wrong the miser hides his wealth. Whence he might have it, he cares not: but he must have it, and wishes to become rich quickly, and remains poor. For common death reduces him to a worthless coin, or shameful court snatches away his gathered wealth. Things gathered with great evils perish with greater sorrow: what God gives to each, and kindly fortune, is enough. An apt example of this matter, namely how ill-gotten wealth flies away like birds, or rather through birds, is related by Gregory of Tours, On the Glory of Confessors, chapter 109: "A certain man," he says, "among the Lyonese had scarcely acquired one third of a solidus through much labor: when he wished to multiply it, he bought wine from it, mixing it with water and selling it again through silver coins, he doubled his money. He does this again and again; and for so long he became a follower of shameful profit, until he gained one hundred solidi from this third. Afterward, he goes to the market of another merchant, and drawing out the third, as if about to do business, he began to converse with his partner. Now there was a purse made of Phoenician leather: and behold, suddenly an arriving kite snatches it and tries to tear it, thinking from its color that it was part of flesh; but when it felt no fat in it, flying over the channel of the river Arar (from which river this man had drawn the water which he had mixed with wine), it dropped the loosened purse into the river. When this was seen, the other, sad and grieving, exclaimed: Woe to me, as I did, so I have received; what I had from the river, I see has returned to the river." Second, Theodoretus: The partridge, he says, when tame, calls other partridges by its voice, and they flying toward it fall into nets. For hunters are accustomed through tame partridges to allure and capture other wild birds. Third, St. Ambrose, epistle 47, from Aristotle, Pliny, Aelian, Solinus: The partridge, he says, eludes the fowler lying in wait at the nest, by simulating weakness of feet or wings, until gradually it escapes, and calls the chicks by its voice, and they fly away. Therefore no bird is more deceitful and cunning than the partridge. Whence that Aristophanic word, ἐκπερδικίσαι, that is, to escape cunningly like a partridge, and to flee danger. Thus Plutarch, in the book On the Cleverness of Animals: "Partridges," he says, "accustom their chicks, which cannot yet fly, when the fowler presses, to lie on their backs, and to throw some clod or rubbish on their body, and to pretend it as a shelter or covering of some kind. They themselves pursuing turn aside elsewhere, and wheel about: flying here and there, and gradually yielding ground, until they draw the chicks, tired of hope of capture, far away." The same in the Gryllus: "Partridges," he says, "teach their own chicks to hide themselves while fleeing, and to put a clod in place of themselves, after they have fallen on their backs." The scholiast also of Aristophanes in the Comedy of Birds: "Partridges," he says, "easily escape fowlers by their cunning, often throwing themselves on their backs, and covering themselves with straws." The sense therefore of the Prophet is, as if to say: Just as partridges deceive the fowler and mock him; so riches delude the rich man, and draw many others into nets and dangers. But these things are not according to the mind of Jeremiah. Tropologically, St. Jerome and at length Ambrose (whom see), epistle 48, and book VI of the Hexameron, chapter iii: "The partridge, he says, which received its name from losing, and in Hebrew is called קרא core from crying out and calling, is Satan who cried out in Cain, in Pharaoh, in the Jews, and in every faithless one, and even now by his voice he allures many to himself and preys upon them; but the Lord Jesus has preyed upon this partridge, that is the devil, with his chicks, that is the faithful, crying out that word from Proverbs IX, 5: 'Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mingled for you.'" Wherefore Theodoret takes the partridge as a decoy, at whose voice and cackling the others fly to it, and falling into nets are captured. So also St. Augustine, book XIII Against Faustus, chapter XII: "Heretics, he says, like partridges gather what they have not brought forth. For they find Christians, whom they especially seduce by the name of Christ, already born through the Gospel of Christ himself: and they make them their riches, not indeed with judgment, but with rash inconsideration." For experience confirms that heretics have never hitherto gone to pagans or gentiles and converted them first, but have perverted those converted by Catholics, and made them heretics. Add that heretics, equally as the devil, warm alien eggs, when they so cunningly brood over the counsels and doctrines of God and the Church, that they pervert them by their warmth and offspring, and as it were hatch a viper from vipers' eggs, for example: God and the Church teach that Christ satisfied for our sins, the heretics infer: Therefore there is no need of our penance, labor, sorrow, sacrifice of the Mass, etc. Thus, when God suggests holy inspirations of penance, almsgiving, religion to the mind; the devil broods over them, that he may divert or pervert them, so that either they are not done, or, if they are done, they are done with an evil end, manner or means; or they are done indiscreetly, namely too much or too little. Whoever is wise therefore, let him take care to separate these from those— of ours, supply, is his seat and throne: that is, as the throne of glorious God was from the beginning of the world in heaven; so now it is in our temple, as if to say: Since God dwells in our temple as in heaven, who therefore dares to say that he does not see or does not care for what is done in the world? But the first sense is most apt, to which can be joined the exposition of Jerome Prado in Ezekiel I, page 51: "The throne, he says, conspicuous and sublime, is a symbol of eternity and eternal peace to the Egyptians, and indeed is the most fitting hieroglyphic of divine Majesty and royal dignity, which no disturbance can disturb. Hence Jeremiah signified the divine Numen itself through the throne of God, saying: The throne of glory, the height from the beginning, the place of our sanctification, the expectation of Israel, as if to say: O God, who sittest upon the high throne of the Cherubim from the beginning, and who hast established thy throne in our sanctuary, hope of Israel." Hence St. Clement, book VI of the Apostolic Constitutions, chapter v, by this throne, or as he himself reads it, the throne of the glory of God, understands the Church. Finally, R. Moses, and from him Galatinus, book VII On the Mysteries of Faith, chapter XVIII, contend that this throne is literally the Blessed Virgin, not the temple. "For she herself, as R. Haccados says, was to be the seat which God built, that in her the king Messiah might sit," who is the expectation of Israel, "to show forth the glory of his majesty to all mortals." Thereupon Galatinus teaches that God has a threefold seat: the first is the Blessed Virgin; the second is the humanity of Christ; the third is his divinity itself. But Jeremiah says "from the beginning," to show that the Blessed Virgin was conceived without original sin: for from that time she was destined and prepared as the seat and throne of the Messiah. Hence she herself was also signified by the throne of God, which Ezekiel saw, chapter I, 22. Thus he literally, I symbolically and allegorically. Morally, men are accustomed to flee to this throne and tribunal of God, and to appeal to it, when they are oppressed, especially by unjust death, or think themselves oppressed; nor without fruit. For, as the Psalmist sings, Psalm LXXXV, 15: "Justice and judgment are the preparation of thy seat;" and Psalm XLIV, 7: "Thy seat, O God, is for ever and ever, the scepter of thy kingdom is a scepter of uprightness." Thus Dio Cassius writes that the Emperor Hadrian ordered a certain Severianus to be killed: who before he was beheaded, asked for fire, and having kindled incense: "You, he said, O gods, I call to witness that I have committed no evil: of Hadrian I only imprecate this, that when he wishes to die, he may not be able to." Moreover Hadrian after his illness, having often in vain invoked death, often also wished to kill himself. There exists his letter, in which he says: "How miserable it is to wish for death, and not to be able to die!" Fulgentius, lib. I, cap. vi: In our times, he says, when the triremes of the Genoese, equipped against pirates, had captured a Catalan bireme, they hanged its commander by night. He, appealing to God for the injury done to him, summoning the patron of the Genoese, that he should appear before God within the sixth month, died: according to which time this patron was taken by death. Nauclerus relates that Henry, Archbishop of Mainz, falsely accused and deposed from his pontificate, worn out by grief, dying appealed to Christ the judge. Upon hearing of his death, another of the judges expired in the latrines; another, gnawing his hands in madness, breathed out his soul, to render an account to God. Volaterran, lib. XXI of the Anthropology, relates that Walter Francis, on account of the fame of his excellent learning and holiness, was assumed as Bishop of Poitiers, and in defending the right of the Church fell into litigation with the Bishop of Bordeaux, who shortly after assumed the name of Pontiff Clement the Fifth. This man deposed Walter from his bishopric: who bearing this ignominy with equanimity for some time, finally dying caused to be inscribed upon his sepulcher: "I appeal to the just judgment of God." When Clement read this, he was terrified, and not long after died. I have recounted more examples in Genesis IX, 5. Moreover, this tribunal, just as it hears innocent or doubtful defendants, so also protects judges, when it is established that they have judged justly, and there is no doubt about the matter: wherefore such a citation to the tribunal of God should be made little of by them. For to a just judge, reward from God, whose vicar he acts, is to be expected, not punishment. That great Emperor of soldiers, Gonzalvo Ferdinand of Cordova, knew this, who when besieging Taranto, ordered a certain wicked and seditious soldier (as Jovius says) to be led to punishment, and he, struggling greatly, cried out that he was most unjustly condemned, and therefore cited Gonzalvo to state his case at the tribunal of the greatest God with a loud voice: "Go," said Gonzalvo, "trusting in the best judge, and present your case: for there will be present for me one who will answer appropriately, Alfonso my brother, who recently from the Sierra Vermeja hastened to heaven." For then it had been reported to Gonzalvo that his brother, surrounded by Moors, had met a death worthy of a brave and pious leader. Thus from the Life of Gonzalvo our Delrio relates, tom. II Mag. lib. IV, cap. IV.
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13. The expectation of Israel (O Lord, who art the hope and expectation of Israel, in whom the true Israelites, followers of Abraham and Jacob, have always hoped and do hope): departing from thee (through distrust and apostasy, as the Jews depart from God fleeing to idols and to the Egyptians (for the whole chapter tends to this)): shall be written in the earth. — This is, first, shall be ascribed and numbered among those who savour of earthly things, shall be known to earthly things. Thus Origen, Rabanus and St. Jerome. Hence it is said Psalm XLVIII, **: "They have called their names in their lands." Just as on the contrary, the Saints are ascribed to heaven, Luke x, 20, and to the heavenly citizens, as it were, written in the book of life, that is in the eternal memory and predestination of God, that they may be heirs of God. Hence Hugo: The worldly, he says, are inscribed to earthly felicity, riches, delights, honours as it were with letters, which indicate what they are, namely avaricious, proud, luxurious. Others inscribe their name on columns and statues, wishing to make it eternal. Secondly, Vatablus and Hugo: To write, they say, the impious in the earth, is for their name, memory and fame to perish: for those things which are written in dust are easily blotted out by wind or foot. For serious matters which we esteem greatly, and which we wish to hand down to memory and posterity, we commit to writings or stone or bronze; but those which we esteem as nothing, as it were in jest we write in dust or water, as if soon to be abolished. Thus, John cap. viii, 6, Christ wrote the sin of the adulteress in the earth, as if to say: Your sin, O Pharisees, is written with an iron stylus on the nail of adamant, but this poor woman's sin, soon to be blotted out forever through her repentance and my clemency, it is fitting that it be written in the earth. Thus the gentiles called those who were born of unknown and obscure parents, and who had done nothing worthy of memory, and were already buried in oblivion, children of the earth, as if to be ascribed to the common mother of all. On the contrary they called the children of heaven heroes, as it were men fallen from heaven, and worthy of eternal memory on account of the deeds they had performed. Thirdly, as if to say, the Jews departing from Christ shall be written in the earth of captivity as citizens, there to remain perpetually, as if to say, the Jews shall no longer be written in the book of life of the children of Israel, but among the Babylonians and Assyrians, whose custom it was, as Pliny testifies, lib. VII, lvi, to write the deeds of their people on baked bricks. Fourthly, Lyra and the Chaldean: Departing, they say, from God, shall be written in the earth, that is in hell which Theologians teach is in the centre of the earth. All these senses are suitable, but the first and second are most genuine. Fifthly, more subtly Sanchez, as if to say, hope in man is futile, equally as futile is that which is written in water or in dust. Thus concerning womanish promises, as being inconstant, Xenarchus says in Athenaeus, lib. I, cap. x: "I write a woman's oath in water." For when the words or promises of others are said to be written in earth or dust, even those who trust in them are said to be written in the same: for he who trusts in another, as it were delivers himself to him. Wherefore he who writes his faith or promise in dust, seems to have written there also him to whom his faith is entrusted and committed. Note here the fitting punishment; for they persistently retain the memory of their idols and sins in the tablet of their heart engraved with an iron stylus, as was said verse 1, they are worthy to be blotted out of the book of life, and their names to be written in dust, snatched away by the wind to be abolished from under heaven. Because they have forsaken the vein of living waters, the Lord, — which namely fails by no drought or accident, but perpetually springs forth, and gives living water of aid, prosperity and grace, springing up unto life eternal, John IV, 14. See what is said cap. II, verse 18. Throughout this whole chapter the Prophet strives to establish hope in God, and to abolish hope in men, God being abandoned.
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14. Heal me, O Lord, — not from sin, as St. Thomas, but from calumny, by which they say my threats are lies, from reproaches and snares. Thus Rabanus, Hugo, Theodoret, and it is evident from what follows. And consequently from the pain of the soul, and consequently from all the evils and afflictions of the body heal me. For often the sickness and health of the body depend upon the sickness and health of the mind. And I shall be healed, — that is to say, Neither the Egyptians nor any other men can heal or save me: thou alone canst. Thus the woman with an issue of blood no physicians could heal, but Christ alone, Luke viii, 43, says St. Jerome. Because thou art my praise. — For praise the Septuagint translates, boasting, that is the object of praise and boasting, that is to say, Thou art, O Lord, in whom and of whom I am accustomed to glory, even if the Jews laugh and mock me, namely because I am a minister and prophet of the true God, whom they themselves despise while adhering to idols. See Canon XXXVIII. Secondly, and more profoundly Sanchez, that is to say, Whatever praise I shall have from men, I shall not consider it to be of any substance, nor worthy of praise; since it is neither great, nor can it be solid and lasting: but what I shall have from thee, that shall be glorious to me, and shall make me truly praiseworthy, because it is true and stable good. Praise therefore, that is to say, truly praiseworthy, shall be the health which I shall receive from thee, not that which I receive from man. Most excellently concerning morals St. Jerome instructing Eustochium, epistle 22: "That," he says, "thou must avoid most carefully, lest thou be seized with the ardor of vain glory. How," he says, "can Jesus say, can ye believe, who receive glory from one another? See what an evil it is, that he who hath it cannot believe. But let us say: Because thou art my boasting. And: He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. And: If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. And: But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world. And that: In thee shall we be praised all the day: In the Lord shall my soul be praised. When thou doest alms, let God alone see; when thou fastest, let thy countenance be cheerful. Let thy garment be neither too clean nor sordid, and marked by no distinction; lest the crowd of those passing by should stop to meet thee, and thou be pointed out with the finger."
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15. Behold they say unto me: Where is the word of the Lord? let it come, — that is to say, See, O Lord, how faithful I am to thee, and how I trust in thee, and remain firm in thee. For behold the Jews laugh at my oracles, nay thine, as vain and fabricated, and say mockingly: "Where is the word of the Lord," which thou art constantly dinning into us to the point of nausea? where are the Chaldeans, whom thou threatenest to us? let them come: we fear not, we care not. We do not believe they will come; and if they come, they shall experience our arms and strength and those of our allies, especially the Egyptians. For that "let it come" is the language of one confident, not fearing, but desiring war and the enemy, nay provoking and challenging. And yet hearing all these things, I am not moved, I am not troubled, I do not cease from prophesying and threatening, because I follow thee, O Lord.
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16. And I have not been troubled. — In Hebrew לא אצתי lo atsti, which the Chaldean translator rendered as, I have not delayed; Pagninus, I have not withdrawn, so as to be a shepherd after thee, as if to say, Although I am thus vexed, yet I have not abandoned the office of prophesying committed to me by thee. Secondly, Vatablus translates it, I was not anxious, that is, I did not thrust myself forward to prophesy, but thou, O Lord, didst command this to me. Thirdly, properly lo atsti, that is, I did not hasten, I did not tremble, I was not distressed, that is, as Our [commentator says], I was not troubled by so many curses of the Jews, so as not to be a shepherd after thee, as the Hebrew texts have it, but undaunted I proceeded to feed the Jews with the word of God, and to prophesy to them the most grave oracles and threats, because I follow thee, O Lord, as the supreme shepherd. Thus St. Jerome, Rabanus, Hugo, St. Thomas, Lyra. Whence the Septuagint translates: I have not labored following after thee. Who can, says Ambrose, in book III, epistle 20, labor, following Jesus, who gives strength to those who follow him, who says: "Come to me all you that labor, and I will refresh you," and who to those following him gives the prize and the crown? Therefore Theodoret reads badly: I have been weary, namely by persecutions, following thee. Truly St. Augustine in the Sentences, no. 97: "Adhering," he says, "to God, and always doing his will, is never abandoned by his inhabitant, and if he suffers certain hard and adverse things, he is not forsaken, but proved." And no. 143: "The good of a rational creature by which it is made blessed is nothing but God. For by obtaining this it becomes blessed, by losing it miserable." Note: "A sure sign of contempt for the world is to be disturbed by nothing." For he who loves nothing in the world grieves at or is disturbed by none of its loss. To arrive at this, fix thy mind on God. Let him be thy love: set before thee the example of thy Christ the shepherd and guide, and follow that. For Christ, preaching the kingdom of God and the way to salvation, endured a thousand reproaches of the Scribes, but yielded not to them, and did not cease from preaching: do thou likewise. Hear Origen, in a homily on these words: Jesus, he says, says to thee: Take up thy cross, and come, follow me: "If therefore thou shalt be such that thou always followest Christ, the more thou hast followed, the less shalt thou labor." And St. Augustine, who in the book On the Christian Life teaches that it consists in the following of Christ, so that we follow the shepherd like sheep. Whence in chapter xv, he paints the true Christian, and his duties, acts and manners with this golden brush: "A Christian," he says, "is he who follows the way of Christ, who imitates Christ in all things, as it is written in I John II: He that saith he abideth in Christ, ought himself also so to walk as he walked. That Christian is, first, he who shows mercy to all; secondly, he who is altogether unmoved by injury; thirdly, he who does not suffer the poor to be oppressed in his presence; fourthly, he who succors the wretched, who helps the needy; fifthly, he who mourns with those that mourn, who feels the sorrow of another as his own, who is moved to tears by the tears of others; sixthly, he whose house is common to all, whose door is closed to none, whose table no poor man is ignorant of, whose gift of bread is offered to all; seventhly, he from whom no one feels injury; eighthly, he who serves God day and night, who meditates upon his precepts unceasingly, and thinks of them; ninthly, he who becomes poor to the world, that he may become rich to God; tenthly, he who is held inglorious among men, that he may appear glorious before God and his Angels; eleventhly, he who in his heart appears to have nothing feigned or false, whose soul is simple and undefiled; twelfthly, he whose conscience is faithful and pure; thirteenthly, he whose whole mind is in God, whose every hope is in Christ; fourteenthly, he who desires heavenly things rather than earthly; who despises human things, that he may be able to have divine things." Thus St. Malachy Archbishop of Ireland: "He moved about in crowds without disturbance. If thou shouldst see a man immersed in the midst of crowds, and entangled in cares, thou wouldst say he was born for his country, not for himself. If thou shouldst see a man alone and dwelling with himself, thou wouldst think he lived for God alone and for himself," says St. Bernard, sermon on the same. I have not desired the day of man. — The Chaldean, Theodoret, Vatablus, for man read anus, as if to say, The day of affliction and distress, that is, a calamitous and desperate day, namely the day of destruction which I foretell to them, I did not wish for them, nay I am forced to foretell it with sorrow: because thou, O Lord, commandest this to me; and thus Our [commentator] could take it, "the day of man," namely enos, that is, fragile and distressed, that is, I did not wish the distresses of man upon them. But truly St. Jerome, the Septuagint, Lyra, St. Thomas and others read better, enos, that is, of man. Note that man is said from nature and matter to be called adam from adama, as if you were to say, man from earth. But after sin, corruption and hardships, he was called enos, which Eusebius, book XI of the Preparation, translates as forgetful, or one of whom forgetfulness quickly comes, from the root nasa, that is, he forgot: so that the Psalmist alludes to this, Psalm viii, 5: "What is man (in Hebrew enos), that thou art mindful of him?" Others, and better, derive enos from unas, so that enos is the same as wretched, overwhelmed with hardships, desperate. Now the day of man is that day on which man prospers, is powerful, glorious, honored, praised; as if to say, I did not desire a longer life, prosperity, riches, honors, delights, the applause of men: for I know that man is enos, that is, wretched, and soon to perish with his goods; but I desired only in my prophecies and sermons, O Lord, to serve thee and please thee, to be commended by thee, whom I invoke as judge and witness, saying: "Thou knowest. For the true day which knows no setting is eternal truth, true eternity, and therefore true and eternal satisfaction," says St. Bernard in Psalm xc, sermon 17. Thus Job xvi, 20, says: "Behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high." Thus St. Jerome, Rabanus, Hugo, St. Thomas, Lyra. Do you wish to know what is the day and favor of man? Behold the image by which Apelles painted it, which someone expressed thus in verse: Painter Apelles, what do you paint from your art as Favor? Whence are the seeds of this kind known to you? Here Form is born, Fortune here boasts of her foster-child; He by chance, she by the gifts of mind to be born. Who is the constant companion at his side? Flattery; and what follows with slow steps? Envy. Who stand around? Wealth, Pride, Honors, Laws, and often Lust the parent of crimes. Why do you make him winged? Lifted up by Fortune's breeze he flies aloft, indeed not knowing his footing. Why do you paint him blind in his eyes? He does not know his friends, wicked, seeking high things from a low place. Why does he stand on a wheel? He imitates Fortune, and makes himself her companion, by which she carried unstable feet. Why does he fear, and carry himself more ambitiously outside himself? Prosperous fates are wont to blind minds. The Psalmist despised this day of man, saying Psalm xxxv: "From the height of the day I will fear; but I will hope in thee," as if to say, The great power and prosperity of my enemies, if I regard my own strength, I dread: but I trust in thy strength, and therefore I do not fear them, but despise them. So the Apostle, I Corinthians IV, 3: "To me, he says, it is a very small thing to be judged of you, or of human day," that is, of the power and wisdom of this world, of the favor and commendation of men, of human judgment: I fear nothing what you judge of me, or the most powerful and most renowned of this world. Blessed is he who can say: "I have not desired the day of man," so that he has God as witness of this thing. This is the sum of perfection, by which all things are counted as dung, that we may gain Christ. Moses, already advanced in age, did this (for this is a matter of the great) by denying that he was the son of the daughter of Pharaoh, "choosing rather to be afflicted with the people of God, than to have the pleasure of sin for a time," Hebrews xi. So St. Augustine answered Secundinus the heretic who was detracting from him: "Think of Augustine what you will, only let my conscience not accuse me before God." So St. Chrysostom, homily 2 on the Epistle to Titus: "I do not forbid, he says, glory to be sought; but I wish that to be sought which is true, which is from God, whose praise, says Paul (Romans ii), is not from men, but from God. Let us look to one thing alone, let all our intention be directed to this, namely, in what way we may deserve to be praised by the mouth of God. If we look intently at this, we shall always esteem all human things as nothing; he does not praise you, or he does, you lose nothing from it; and if anyone should blame you, he has harmed you not at all; whether praise or blame, from God alone does it have either profit or loss." In the same place Chrysostom teaches that contempt of human praise and glory makes us like God. For just as God does not need the praise and glory of men, which through eternity (in which he had immense glory from the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), before he created the world, there was none: so also the despiser of glory. Whence he concludes: "Whenever, he says, you think it difficult to despise glory, turn this over in your mind; if I despise this, I shall become equal to (that is, like) God, and straightway contempt of glory will enter into your soul." So St. Ignatius: "That I may be sound, he says, in those things which pertain to God, yet I must fear more vehemently, and beware of those who rashly puff me up; for those who praise me scourge me." Thus Clement of Alexandria, as reported by Maximus in his sermon On Praise, relates that certain flatterers had proclaimed a certain blessed wise man, but he said to them: "If you cease to praise me, I shall think myself to be some great person from your departure; but if you do not cease to praise, I infer impurity in myself from your praise." Thus St. Dionysia, when stripped by executioners and beaten ignominiously with scourges, reproved them boldly, saying: "Ministers of the devil, those things which you do to my shame are praise to me." Victor is witness, book III of the Vandals. Thus St. Macarius in the Lives of the Fathers, book VII, chapter 28, said: "In truth, if contempt has become to a monk as praise, poverty as riches, want as feasting, he never dies. It is impossible for one who believes well and piously worships God to fall into unclean passion and into the error of demons." The gentiles also saw this same thing, but through a shadow. Seneca, book III On Anger, chapter 12: "Let conscience be satisfied," he says, "let us labor nothing for reputation." For, as he himself says elsewhere: "Ambition seeks the stage." Fabius Maximus, unwilling to engage with Hannibal, but following him through the mountains so that he might wear him down by hunger, was mocked as if he were Hannibal's pedagogue. He meanwhile, following sound counsel, said: He who fears curses and insults is more timid than one who flees enemies. Whence Hannibal feared Fabius not fighting more than Marcellus fighting. Finally, "Fabius by delaying restored the state." A triumph was decreed to Pompey; the soldiers protested, demanding gifts. Then Pompey: "I shall rather," he said, "forgo the triumph than flatter the soldiers." Servilius exclaimed: "Now at last I see that Pompey is truly great and worthy of a triumph." Lycurgus taught the Spartans not to be moved by words, but to strive for noble deeds. It was therefore the way of the Spartans to be able to tolerate the false words of others. Lysander, leader of the Lacedaemonians, when someone said to him: "I praise you and defend you," replied: "I have two oxen in the country, and by their silence, I know exactly which of them is lazy and which is industrious." The same man, to another who was reviling him: "Say these things often," he said, "if perhaps you might be able to discharge the evils of your soul, with which you seem to be full." Thus Plutarch, in the Lacedaemonian and Roman Lives. What has gone forth from my lips was right, — that is, it was true, not false. Thus St. Jerome, as if to say: What seemed right to you, O Lord, I have spoken; what you inspired in me, I have proclaimed, flattering no man: freely at your command I have censured the vices of princes, "nor have I feared anyone's offense, because I have sought no one's favor." Thus Blessed Peter Damian, falsely accused by some, defends his innocence by the testimony of a right conscience, writing to Pope Leo IX, epistle 4: "Nevertheless," he says, "in these matters I return to my conscience, I recur to the secrets of my mind, certain that, unless for the love of Christ, whose wretched servant I am, I seek the favor of no mortal man, nor do I fear the anger of any." 17. Be not you a terror to me, — do not permit me to be in danger on account of your word, in which death or some other evil should be feared by me, when I place all my hope in you.
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Again, as if to say: Neither men, nor threats, nor anything that is in the world, except you, O Lord, do I fear. I fear you alone and your offense and anger. While you are not angry with me, while you are not a terror to me, but a help and protection, so that you may be present to me in persecutions, I shall not fear, I shall stand secure, and I shall say with the Psalmist, Psalm 26, verses 1 and 3: "The Lord is my illumination and my salvation, whom shall I fear? If armies stand against me, my heart shall not fear. If battle rise up against me, in this I shall hope." The Seventy translate: Be not strange to me, sparing in the evil day, that is, says St. Jerome: "Do not spare me in the present age, which is evil; but render to me according to my sins, so that in the future I may have eternal rest." 18. Let them be confounded, — cause that they be deceived, not I; cause that they appear to be liars, when they shall see the ruin which I foretell, and they mock: so that thus I may not be confounded, but appear truthful. Thus St. Jerome. For the motions of mercy and vengeance alternate in the Prophets; mercy, by which they ask that their own, especially the simple people, be spared and forgiven; and vengeance, by which they ask that the proud, mockers and rebels be tamed and broken by scourges. Others, like Sanchez, explain these optatives by futures, so as to signify the prediction of a future thing: "let them be confounded," that is, they shall be confounded: "let them fear," that is, they shall fear: "break," that is, you shall break. Or they supply the particle if, as if to say: If either of us
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should be confounded, as is fitting, me affirming a future ruin, them denying it; cause, O Lord, that they rather be confounded, who mock your words, not I, who proclaim them. Break them with double breaking. — "Double," namely by hunger and sword, says St. Jerome; or, by death and captivity, as Lyra. Secondly and most simply, "double," that is, severe, manifold. See the sayings at chapter 16, verse 18. Thus the Latins call triple, or decuman, that which is great, huge and strong. 19. Stand in the gate — of the royal city, which is most celebrated and most frequented.
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21. Keep your souls, — lest they be stained by sin, especially by violation of the sabbath. In Hebrew: Beware in your souls, or for your soul, that is, since your soul is dear to you, beware lest you violate the sabbath, otherwise you will be cut off: but if you keep it, and consequently all worship of God, peace will be yours, and abundance of all things. This is clear from what follows. By the keeping of the sabbath, he understands the observance of the whole law, as also Isaiah, chapter LVI, 2 and 4. For whoever kept the sabbath, by this very fact tacitly professed that God is the creator and governor of heaven and earth; for in memory of this thing and benefit, the sabbath was instituted: but whoever despised the sabbath, seemed to deny that God is the creator of the world. Thus if anyone today should refuse to celebrate the Lord's Day, he would seem to deny that Christ rose — in memory of which that day was established. Thus Vatablus.
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Note this passage, for the worship of the sabbath among the Jews, and of the Lord's Day among Christians. See how strictly God commands here to the Jews, that they not carry burdens on the sabbath. 22. To cast out, — to carry away burdens.
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25. Kings and princes. — as if to say, I will give you kings from the line of David, and I will keep the covenant which I made with him, Psalm cxxxi, 11, and II Kings vii, 12. In chariots and horses, — abounding in peace, and glory, and prosperous things: for chariots and horses are the glory of kings.
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26. And they will come, — as if to say, Jerusalem will flourish, and the temple will be wonderfully frequented.
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27. I will kindle, — through Nebuzaradan and the Chaldeans.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
17:1
Hic ostenditur explicite populi obstinatio, quae est reprobationis causa: unde primo ostendit eorum obstinatam malitiam; secundo consummatam poenam, 19 cap.: haec dicit dominus et cetera. In prima duo. In prima ponuntur obstinationis causae; secundo probatur ipsa obstinatio per experimentum, 18 cap.: verbum quod factum est ad Jeremiam a domino. Prima in duas. In prima ponit causas obstinationis, in secunda revocat eos ad cultum pristinae religionis, ibi, haec dicit dominus et cetera. Circa primum duo. Primo tangit unam causam, scilicet affectum iniquitatis, ponens culpam, in qua ponit exemplum: peccatum Juda, duarum tribuum, scriptum est, idest affectui eorum ita profunditus impressum, praecipue idolatriae, sicut Scriptura, quae fit ferreo stylo, in ungue, idest in adamante, qui est lapis politus ad modum unguis. Zach. 7. Cor suum posuerunt ut adamantem, ut non audirent legem, et verba quae misit dominus exercituum in spiritu suo sancto per manum prophetarum priorum. Vel peccatum, idest sententia pro peccato. Et exponit peccati affectum: exaratum, idest profundatum, super latitudinem, idest super cor dilatatum in affectione peccati: unde cor sic dilatatum est loco adamantis, et cornua ararum, idest idolorum, sunt loco styli ferrei. Praeceperat enim Deus ut ex altari procederent quatuor cornua, in quibus penderet craticula, Exod. 27: et simile fecerant in aris idolorum. Oseae 8: multiplicavit sibi Ephraim altaria ad peccandum, factae sunt ei arae in delictum.
17:2
Ponit etiam affectus signum in successione prolis: cum recordati fuerint filii eorum, in affectu retinentes, in diversitate loci, ararum, quae in civitatibus construebantur. Supra 2: sub omni ligno frondoso tu prosternebaris meretrix. Et adjungens poenam, scilicet bonorum direptionem quae pertinent ad necessitatem vitae, fortitudinem, idest bona, in quibus putabas te fortem esse, sicut arena, castra.
17:3
Supra 15: divitias tuas, et thesauros in direptionem dabo gratis in omnibus peccatis tuis, et in omnibus terminis tuis. Idest, cum malitia tua ita consummata fuerit ut filii patres imitentur, in omnibus locis idola colentes, tunc fortitudinem tuam, et omnes thesauros tuos in direptionem dabo. Et bonorum quae pertinent ad cultum idolatriae, excelsa tua, in quibus idola colebant. Ezech. 6: ecce ego inducam super vos gladium, et disperdam excelsa vestra, et demoliar aras vestras, et confringentur simulacra vestra, et dejiciam interfectos vestros ante idola vestra. Comminatur etiam captivitatem: relinqueris, o Jerusalem, ab hereditate, a populo tibi subjecto. Vel, o gens, a terra, dum in captivitatem ibis. Thren. 1: quomodo sedet sola civitas plena populo, facta est quasi vidua domina gentium, princeps provinciarum facta est sub tributo? Comminatur et servitutem: et servire faciam te inimicis tuis. Deut. 28: servies inimico tuo quem immittet tibi dominus, in fame, et siti, et nuditate, et omni penuria; et ponet jugum ferreum super cervicem tuam, donec te conterat.
17:4
Et tangens proximam poenae causam, scilicet divinam iram, quae est voluntas puniendi: quoniam ignem succendisti. Deut. 32: ignis succensus est in furore meo, et ardebit usque ad Inferni novissima. Secundo tangit aliam causam, scilicet fiduciam impunitatis: maledictus homo qui confidit in homine. Promittebant autem sibi impunitatem ex tribus. Primo ex potentia amicorum, scilicet Aegyptiorum: et hanc primo tollit. Secundo ex multitudine divitiarum, et hanc, ibi, perdix fovit quae non peperit. Tertio ex incredulitate divinarum comminationum; et hanc ibi, ecce ipsi dicunt ad me; ubi est verbum domini? Circa primum duo. Primo ponit discretionem eorum qui confidunt in domino et in hominibus; secundo inducit discretionis auctorem ibi, pravum est cor hominis. Circa primum duo. Primo ponitur maledictio eorum qui confidunt in auxilio humano, ubi ponit maledictionem: maledictus, quasi malo addictus.
17:5
Et ponit carnem brachium, idest fortitudinem; in quo ponitur spei irrationabilitas, quia per carnem signatur humana fragilitas. Et a domino recedit; in quo ostenditur ratio maledictionis: licet enim confidere in homine sub Deo, non tamen ut relinquatur Deus. Et hoc dicitur propter Judaeos, qui, Deo contempto, in Aegyptiis spem ponebant. Isa. 31: vae qui descendunt in Aegyptum ad auxilium, in equis sperantes, et habentes fiduciam super quadrigis, quia multae sunt, et super equitibus, quia praevalidi sunt; et non sunt confisi super sanctum Israel, et dominum non requisierunt. Psalm. 145: nolite confidere in principibus, in filiis hominum, in quibus non est salus.
17:6
Et ponit maledictionis similitudinem: erit enim quasi myricae, quae viles habentur. Simmachus: quasi lignum infructuosum in solitudine. Non videbit: quia ante liberationem de captivitate, fere omnes mortui sunt. Sed habitabit; in quo ostenditur horror loci captivitatis, non quod in se malus esset, sed eis qui in servitute opprimebantur, in siccitate, in deserto, quod non colitur, sed est sicci aeris, qui facit arbores infructuosas, salsuginis, quantum ad siccitatem terrae, ex adustione humoris a sole. Ps. 106: posuit flumina in desertum, et exitus aquarum in sitim. Secundo ponitur benedictio eorum qui confidunt in divino auxilio.
17:7
Et primo ponit benedictionem: benedictus vir qui confidit in domino, et erit dominus fiducia ejus, ut scilicet in quocumque confidit, confidendi ratio sit Deus. Ps. 2: cum exarserit in brevi ira ejus, beati omnes qui confidunt in eo. Isa. 30: beati omnes qui expectant eum. Secundo ponit similitudinem sumptam ex arbore, primo quantum ad radicum firmitatem: et erit quasi lignum, in quo figuratur firmitas divinae protectionis. Ps. 1: et erit tamquam lignum quod plantatum est secus decursus aquarum, quod fructum suum dabit in tempore suo. Secundo quantum ad foliorum viriditatem: et erit folium; in quo significabitur prosperitas temporalis, et viror spiritualis. Proverb. 11: justi quasi virens folium germinabunt.
17:8
Tertio quantum ad fructuum ubertatem; in quo significatur copia bonorum operum: nec aliquando desinet facere fructum. Apocal. 21: per menses singulos reddens fructum suum. Et quia Judaei possent dicere, non posse fieri discretionem praemiorum pro diversitate cogitationum; ideo consequenter inducit hujus discretionis auctorem. Et primo ponit quaestionem, pravum est, idest multis malitiis involutum. Proverb. 20: sicut aqua profunda, sic consilium in corde viri, sed homo sapiens exhauriet illud. Secundo ponit responsionem: et ponit duo quae sufficientem faciunt discretionem judicii: scilicet scientiam: ego dominus scrutans corda; quantum ad cogitationes, renes, quantum ad affectiones. Rom. 8: qui scrutatur corda scit quid desideret spiritus, quia secundum Deum postulat pro sanctis.
17:10
Et justitiam: qui do unicuique iuxta viam suam, quantum ad cordis dispositionem, fructum, quantum ad opus exterius. Isa. 3: dicite justo, quoniam bene, quoniam fructum adinventionum suarum comedet.
17:11
Hic tangit secundum, unde scilicet spes impunitatis proveniebat, scilicet divitiarum abundantiam: et primo tangit fiduciam malorum, quae est in divitiis, sub similitudine perdicis, quae ova aliena furatur, et super ea incubat, et tandem a pullis deseritur, tangens, injustam congregationem, perdix fovit, et exponit: fecit divitias, et non in judicio. Habac. 2: vae ei qui multiplicat non sua. Usquequo et aggravat contra se densum luctum. Et ipsarum amissionem: in dimidio dierum suorum derelinquet eas: quia in juventute morietur: vel quia adhuc ipso vivente eas amittet, diripientibus Chaldaeis. In novissimo, idest in divino judicio, vel in morte, quando invenientur ei divitiae nihil profuisse, erit insipiens, idest apparebit. Ps. 48: et relinquet alienis divitias suas, et sepulcra eorum domus illorum in aeternum. Job 12: ipse novit decipientem, et cum qui decipitur.
17:12
Secundo ponit spem justorum, quae est in cultu divino: solium gloriae, idest expectatio et fiducia populi Israel est templum, et arca, et propitiatorium, in quibus intelligitur cultus divinus; quod dicitur solium gloriae altitudinis: ibi enim gloria domini in revelationibus apparebat a principio legis datae, locus sanctificationis, idest in quo sanctificamur, vel quem sanctificasti coram nobis, et pro nobis. Supra 14: solii gloriae recordare, ne irritum facias foedus tuum nobiscum.
17:13
Et adjungit poenam discedentium ab hac fiducia, ponens poenam: domine, omnes qui te derelinquunt, confundentur, recedentes a te, in terra, captivitatis, scribentur, quasi cives perpetuo ibi manentes; vel cum illis qui terrena sapiunt, vel in terrenam corruptionem descenderunt: de quibus Psalm. 48: vocaverunt nomina sua in terris suis. Et assignat causam: quia dereliquerunt fontem aquae vivae. Supra 2: me dereliquerunt.
17:14
Tertio porrigit petitionem suam ad eum qui est sua expectatio: sana me, a languoribus peccati, et angustiae quibus involvor, salvum me fac, conservando in bonis, laus mea, quem laudo, vel in quo laudor. Ps. 40: ego dixi: domine, miserere mei, sana animam meam, quia peccavi tibi.
17:15
Hoc est tertium, unde eis fiducia impunitatis proveniebat, quia divinis comminationibus non credebant: et circa hoc tria. Primo ponitur incredulorum insultatio: ubi est verbum? Quasi dicat, non venient. Isa. 5: qui dicitis: festinet, cito veniat opus ejus, ut videamus, et appropriet, et veniat consilium sancti Israel, et sciemus illud. Amos 5: vae desiderantibus diem domini. Ad quid enim vobis?
17:16
Secundo ponitur prophetae excusatio quantum ad constantiam mentis: et ego non sum turbatus, propter eorum contradictionem, sequens, implens quod mihi praecepisti, diem, praesentem vitam, quia etiam paratus mori; vel prosperitatem et gloriam praesentem. 2 Corinth. 4: mihi autem pro minimo est ut a vobis judicer, vel ab humano die. Et quantum ad veritatem praedicationis: tu scis (...) rectum in conspectu tuo fuit, quamvis non eorum. Job 16: in caelo est testis meus. Tertio ponitur ipsius petitio: et primo petit salutem: non sis tu mihi, quasi dicat: solum indignationem tuam timeo. Job 9: aufert a me virgam suam, et pavor ejus non me terreat. Matth. 10: nolite timere eos qui occidunt corpus, animam autem non possunt occidere, sed potius timete eum qui potest animam et corpus perdere in Gehennam. Secundo petit incredulis afflictionem in corde ex confusione, de culpa, confundantur. Psalm. 39: confundantur et revereantur, qui quaerunt animam meam ut auferant eam. Et timorem poenae, pavent, Proverb. 10: pavor his qui operantur malum. Sapient. 17: cum enim sit timida nequitia, data est in omnium condemnationem.
17:18
Et in corpore: induc super eos diem afflictionis, in vita, contere, per mortem, duplici, gladio et fame, vel anima et corpore.
17:19
Hic revocat eos ad cultum pristinae religionis quantum ad mandatum de observatione sabbati, quod levissimum est, ut magis eorum obstinatio ostendatur: et circa hoc duo facit. Primo determinat praedicationis locum, in porta, ut quasi inviti cogantur audire. 2 Timoth. ult.: insta opportune, importune, argue, obsecra, increpa. Filiorum, ipsi enim sunt populus meus; sed filii populorum sunt. Per quam ingrediuntur: ipsa enim specialis porta erat juxta domum regiam, per quam reges urbem ingrediebantur. Supra 7: sta in porta domus domini, et praedica ibi verbum istud et cetera.
17:20
Secundo proponit praedicationis verbum: et dices ad eos: et circa hoc tria facit. Primo ponit praeceptum, petens auditum, audite. Psalm. 2: et nunc reges intelligite, erudimini qui judicatis terram.
17:21
Promulgans praeceptum: haec dicit dominus: custodite, a peccato, portare, extra civitatem, pondera, mercium, et opus, servile, pertinens vel ad servitutem culpae, vel ad servitutem poenae: quia etiam ab illis, quae peccata non erant, tenebantur abstinere; a quibus omnibus nos non tenemur abstinere, sed secundum praeceptum Ecclesiae ordinantis de hoc. Sanctificate, ut bonis operibus vacetis. Exod. 20: memento ut diem sabbati sanctifices. Nehemiae ult.: vidi in Juda calcantes in sabbato, portantes acervos, et onerantes super asinos vinum et uvas et ficus et omne onus, et inferentes in Jerusalem die sabbati. Et contestatus sum et cetera. Et ponit praecepti contemptum: et non audierunt.
17:23
Supra 7: non audierunt, nec inclinaverunt aurem suam, sed abierunt in voluptatibus, et pravitate cordis sui mali, et cetera. Secundo promittit obedientibus praemium: et erit, si audieritis: quantum ad tria; in quibus civitas gloriosa erat: scilicet in dignitate regni; et quantum ad hoc, ingredientur. Isa. 1: restituam judices tuos ut fuerunt prius, et consiliarios tuos sicut antiquitus. In multitudine populi; et quantum ad hoc, et habitabitur: Isa. 62: non vocaberis ultra derelicta, et terra tua non vocabitur amplius desolata.
17:26
Et quantum ad religionem templi: et venient de civitatibus Juda, de circuitu Jerusalem, et de terra Beniamin, et de campestribus, et de montuosis, et ab Austro, etiam ab Aegypto. Isa. 60: offerentur super placabili altari meo, et domum majestatis meae glorificabo.
17:27
Tertio comminatur contemnentibus incendium: si autem non audieritis (...) succendam ignem in portis, quia portas intrantes Chaldaei ignem miserunt in civitatem. Isa. 1: succendetur utrumque simul, et non erit qui extinguat. Nota, quod sancti fructificant per sapientiae contemplationem. Eccl. 6: quasi is qui arat, et qui seminat, accede ad eam, et sustine bonos fructus illius. Per caritatis fervorem. Cant. 5: veniat dilectus meus in hortum suum, ut comedat fructum pomorum suorum. Per laudis confessionem. Heb. 13: per ipsum offeramus hostiam laudis semper Deo, idest fructum labiorum confitentium nomini ejus. Per meritoriam operationem. Psal. 84: etenim dominus dabit benignitatem, et terra nostra dabit fructum suum. Per proximorum conversionem. Joan. 15: ut eatis, et fructum afferatis, et fructus vester maneat. Item notandum, quod sequitur aliquis Christum per carnis integritatem. Apoc. 14: virgines enim sunt, et sequuntur agnum quocumque ierit. Per cordis intentionem. Philip. 3: sequor si quo modo comprehendam. Per tribulationis passionem. 1 Petr. 2: Christus passus est pro nobis vobis relinquens exemplum, ut sequamini vestigia ejus. Per mandatorum observationem Job 23: vestigia ejus secutus est pes meus, viam ejus custodivi et non declinavi ex ea. Per gloriae receptionem. Eccli. 25: magna gloria est sequi dominum; longitudo enim dierum assumetur ab eo.
17:8
… Some reading suited to the situation in the text can be found for a better adaptation to the mystery celebrated, as on Passion Saturday (Jer. 17, 8).
17:14
From the whole of the Old Testament one can easily derive these elements, in which the fundamental concept of sanctifying grace is implicit: a) an action of God in the depths of the soul (Jer. 18, 6; 17, 14; 31, 18; I Reg. 8, 58); b) a purification of the spirit (Is. 1, 18; Ps. 50); c) an interior renewal according to the forceful expression of Ez. 11, 19: « Et dabo eis cor unum et spiritum …
17:21
From prophetic texts (Jer. 17:21-27; Am. 8:5) and from Neh. 13:15-22 it is known that even the market was forbidden on that day.
… and families, but also the community, all Israel as a nation (cf. Ex. 21, 12-17). Observance of the law ensures the return of Israel's political and social prosperity (Is. 58, 12 ff.), and its violation, which brings hardship, famine and misery (Jer. 17, 21-27; cf. Ex. 20, 12-32; 22, 8), is punished with the death penalty (Num. 15, 32-36). On the Sabbath day not only must rest be observed, but sacrifices must also be offered to God …
17:26
animals and other unbloody offerings (cf. Jer. 17, 26; 41, 5); at the beginning of the Christian era there is mention, in a chronological specification, of the "hour of incense" (Lk. 1, 10). The fragrance of incense suggests graceful …
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.