The restoration of Israel. Rachel shall cease from morning. The new covenant. The church shall never fail.
God wil reduce Israel from captiuitie, 4. and geue them abundance of al thinges: 9. after their tribulation. 15. Rachel (The afflicted Church) shal cease from mourning: 18. confessing that she is iustly chastised. 20. Christ a perfect man shal be conteyned in his mothers wombe, 26. He rising from slepe (death) wil build his Church. 31. with a new couenant: 36. that it shal be large, and perpetual.
1At that time, saith the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.In quel tempo, dice il Signore, io sarò il Dio di tutte quante le famiglie d'Israele, ed elle saran mio popolo.AT THAT time, saith our Lord: I wil be the God of al the kindredes of Israel, and they shal be my people.In tempore illo, dicit Dominus, / ero Deus universis cognationibus Israël, / et ipsi erunt mihi in populum. 2Thus saith the Lord: The people that were left and escaped from the sword, found grace in the desert: Israel shall go to his rest.Queste cose dice il Signore: Trovò grazia nel deserto il popolo avanzato alla spada: giungerà alla sua requie Israele.Thus saith our Lord: The people that remayned from the sword, found grace in the desert: Israel shal goe to his rest.Hæc dicit Dominus: / Invenit gratiam in deserto populus qui remanserat a gladio: / vadet ad requiem suam Israël. 3The Lord hath appeared from afar to me. Yea I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore have I drawn thee, taking pity on thee.Il Signore mi si fa vedere di lontano; ma io ti ho amato con amore eterno; per questo a me ti trassi per misericordia.Our Lord hath appeared to me of long time. And in euerlasting charitie haue I loued thee, therefore haue I drawen thee, taking compassion.Longe Dominus apparuit mihi. / Et in caritate perpetua dilexi te: / ideo attraxi te, miserans. 4And I will build thee again, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy timbrels, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.E ti ristorerò di nuovo, e ti darò nuovo essere, o vergine d'Israele: tu avrai ancora l'accompagnamento de' tuoi timpani, e camminerai in mezzo al coro de' suonatori.And I wil build thee againe, and thou shalt be builded ô virgin Israel: thou shalt yet be adorned with thy timbrels, & shal goe forth in the quyre of them that play.Rursumque ædificabo te, et ædificaberis, virgo Israël: / adhuc ornaberis tympanis tuis, / et egredieris in choro ludentium. 5Thou shalt yet plant vineyards in the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and they shall not gather the vintage before the time.Tu pianterai ancor vigne ne' monti della Samaria: pianteranno i coltivatori, e sino a tanto che sia suo tempo non faranno vendemmia;Thou shalt yet plant vinyards in the mountaines of Samaria: the planters shal plant, and til the time come, they shal not make vintage:Adhuc plantabis vineas in montibus Samariæ: / plantabunt plantantes, / et donec tempus veniat, non vindemiabunt.
6For there shall be a day, in which the watchmen on mount Ephraim, shall cry: Arise, and let us go up to Sion to the Lord our God.Imperocché giorno verrà quando le sentinelle grideranno sul monte d'Efraim: Sorgete, e andiamo in Sionne al Signore Dio nostro.because there shal be a day, wherein the watchmen on mount Ephraim shal crie: Arise, and let vs goe vp vnto Sion to the Lord our God.Quia erit dies in qua clamabunt custodes in monte Ephraim: / Surgite, et ascendamus in Sion ad Dominum Deum nostrum. 7For thus saith the Lord: Rejoice ye in the joy of Jacob, and neigh before the head of the Gentiles: shout ye, and sing, and say: Save, O Lord, thy people, the remnant of Israel.Perocché queste cose dice il Signore: Esultate, e fate festa per amor di Giacobbe, e alzate le voci al cospetto delle nazioni: fate sentire i vostri cantici, e dite: Salva Signore il popol tuo, le reliquie d'Israele.Because thus saith our Lord: Reioyce in gladnes ô Iacob, and neye against the head of the Gentiles: sound ye, and sing, and say: Saue ô Lord thy people the remnant of Israel.Quia hæc dicit Dominus: / Exsultate in lætitia, Jacob, / et hinnite contra caput gentium: / personate, et canite, et dicite: / Salva, Domine, populum tuum, reliquias Israël. 8Behold I will bring them from the north country, and will gather them from the ends of the earth and among them shall be the blind, and the lame, the woman with child, and she that is bringing forth, together, a great company of them returning hither.Ecco, che io li condurrò dalla terra di settentrione, e dagli ultimi confini della terra li riunirò: saranno insieme il cieco, e lo zoppo, la donna gravida, e quella, che ha partorito; sarà grande la turba di quegli, che qua torneranno.Behold I wil bring them out of the land of the North, and wil gather them from the endes of the earth: among whom shal be the blinde and the lame, the woman with childe, and she that beareth childe together, a great companie of them that returne hither.Ecce ego adducam eos de terra aquilonis, / et congregabo eos ab extremis terræ: / inter quos erunt cæcus et claudus, / prægnans et pariens simul, / cœtus magnus revertentium huc. 9They shall come with weeping: and I will bring them back in mercy: and I will bring them through the torrents of waters in a right way, and they shall not stumble in it: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.Verranno piangendo, ed io li ricondurrò con misericordia, e li guiderò per mezzo alle acque de' torrenti, per la strada diritta, e non vi troveranno inciampo; perchè io sono il padre d'Israele, ed Efraim è mio primogenito.They shal come in weepeing: and in mercie I wil reduce them: and I wil bring them through the torrents of waters in a right way, and they shal not stumble in it: because I am become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstbegotten.In fletu venient, / et in misericordia reducam eos: / et adducam eos per torrentes aquarum in via recta, / et non impingent in ea, / quia factus sum Israëli pater, / et Ephraim primogenitus meus est.
10Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the islands that are afar off, and say: He that scattered Israel will gather him: and he will keep him as the shepherd doth his flock.Udite, o genti, la Parola del Signore, e portate l'annunzio alle rimote isole, e dite: Colui, che ha disperso Israele lo riunirà, e lo custodirà come un pastore il suo gregge;Heare the word of our Lord ye Nations, & shew forth in the ilands, that are farre of, and say: He that dispersed Israel, wil gather him: and he wil keepe him as the pastour his flocke.Audite verbum Domini, gentes, / et annuntiate in insulis quæ procul sunt, / et dicite: Qui dispersit Israël congregabit eum, / et custodiet eum sicut pastor gregem suum. 11For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and delivered him out of the hand of one that was mightier than he.Imperocché il Signore ha redento Giacobbe, e lo ha liberato dalla mano del più possente.For our Lord hath redeemed Iacob, and he wil deliuer him out of the hand of the mightier.Redemit enim Dominus Jacob, / et liberavit eum de manu potentioris. 12And they shall come, and shall give praise in mount Sion: and they shall flow together to the good things of the Lord, for the corn, and wine, and oil, and the increase of cattle and herds, and their soul shall be as a watered garden, and they shall be hungry no more.E verranno, e canteranno laude sul monte di Sion; e correranno in folla a godere i beni del Signore, il grano, e il vino, e l'olio, e i parti delle pecore, e degli armenti: e l'anima loro sarà come un orto inaffiato dalle acque, e non patiranno più fame.And they shal come, and shal praise in mount Sion: and they shal runne together to the good thinges of our Lord for the corne, and wine, and oile, and the increase of cattel and heardes, and their soule shal be as a watered garden, & they shal be hungrie no more.Et venient, et laudabunt in monte Sion: / et confluent ad bona Domini, / super frumento, et vino, et oleo, / et fœtu pecorum et armentorum: / eritque anima eorum quasi hortus irriguus, / et ultra non esurient. 13Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, the young men and old men together: and I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them joyful after their sorrow.Si allegreranno allora i cori delle vergini, e i giovani, e i vecchi insieme: e il loro lutto cangerò in gaudio, e li consolerò, e farò argomento di lor letizia il (passato) dolore.Then shal the virgin reioyce in the quyre, the youngmen and old men together: and I wil turne their mourning into ioy, and wil comfort them, and make them ioyful from their sorow.Tunc lætabitur virgo in choro, / juvenes et senes simul: / et convertam luctum eorum in gaudium, / et consolabor eos, et lætificabo a dolore suo.
14And I will fill the soul of the priests with fatness: and my people shall be filled with my good things, saith the Lord.E L'anima de' sacerdoti sazierò di pinguissime carni; e il popol mio de' miei beni sarà ripieno, dice il Signore.And I wil replenish the soule of the priestes with fatnes: and my people shal be filled with my good thinges, saith our Lord.Et inebriabo animam sacerdotum pinguedine, / et populus meus bonis meis adimplebitur, ait Dominus. 15Thus saith the Lord: A voice was heard on high of lamentation, of mourning, and weeping, of Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted for them, because they are not.Queste cose dice il Signore: Si è sentita nell'alto voce di querela, di lutto, e di gemito di Rachele, che piange i suoi figli, e riguardo ad essi non ammette consolazione, perch'ei più non sono.Thus saith our Lord: A voice of lamentation is heard on high of the mourning, and weeping of Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted for them, because they are not.Hæc dicit Dominus: / Vox in excelso audita est lamentationis: / luctus, et fletus Rachel plorantis filios suos, / et nolentis consolari super eis, / quia non sunt. 16Thus saith the Lord: Let thy voice cease from weeping, and thy eyes from tears: for there is a reward for thy work, saith the Lord: and they shall return out of the land of the enemy.Queste cose dice il Signore: La tua bocca cessi dalle querele, e i tuoi occhi dal piangere: perocché la tua pena avrà mercede, dice il Signore; ed ei torneranno dalla terra nemica.Thus saith our Lord: Let thy voice cease from weeping, and thine eies from teares: because there is a reward for thy worke, saith our Lord: and they shal returne out of the land of the enemie.Hæc dicit Dominus: / Quiescat vox tua a ploratu, / et oculi tui a lacrimis, / quia est merces operi tuo, ait Dominus, / et revertentur de terra inimici: 17And there is hope for thy last end, saith the Lord: and the children shall return to their own borders.E una speranza in fine è per te, dice il Signore; e torneranno i tuoi figli alla loro terra.And there is hope to thy last endes, saith our Lord: and the children shal returne to their borders.et est spes novissimis tuis, ait Dominus, / et revertentur filii ad terminos suos. 18Hearing I heard Ephraim when he went into captivity: thou hast chastised me, and I was instructed, as a young bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Convert me, and I shall be converted, for thou art the Lord my God.Ho ascoltato attentamente Efraim nella sua cattività: Tu mi hai gastigato, e, qual giovenco non domo ancora, io fui corretto: convertimi, ed io mi convertirò: perocché tu Signore se' il mio Dio.Hearing I heard Ephraim going into trāsmigration: Thou hast chastised me, and I am taught, as a young bullocke not tamed. Conuert me, and I shal be conuerted: because thou art the Lord my God.Audiens audivi Ephraim transmigrantem: / Castigasti me, et eruditus sum, / quasi juvenculus indomitus: / converte me, et convertar, / quia tu Dominus Deus meus.
19For after thou didst convert me, I did penance: and after thou didst shew unto me, I struck my thigh: I am confounded and ashamed, because I have borne the reproach of my youth.Imperocché dopo che tu mi hai convertito, io ho fatta penitenza; e dopo che tu m'illuminasti, io percossi il mio fianco. Son confuso, ed arrossito portando l'obbrobrio di mia adolescenza.For after thou didst conuert me I did penance: and after thou didst shew vnto me, I stroke my thigh: I am confounded, and ashamed, because I haue sustayned the reproch of my youth.Postquam enim convertisti me, egi pœnitentiam: / et postquam ostendisti mihi, percussi femur meum. / Confusus sum, et erubui, / quoniam sustinui opprobrium adolescentiæ meæ. 20Surely Ephraim is an honourable son to me, surely he is a tender child: for since I spoke of him, I will still remember him. Therefore are my bowels troubled for him: pitying I will pity him, saith the Lord.Non è egli per me Efraim il figliuolo onorato, il fanciullo, che è mia delizia? Mentre da che io a lui ho parlato, lo ho sempre in memoria. Per questo si son commosse per lui le mie viscere: io avrò viscere di misericordia per lui, dice il Signore.Certes Ephraim is an honorable sonne to me, certes a delicate childe: because since I spake of him, as yet wil I remember him. Therefore are my bowels trubled vpon him: pitying I wil pitie him, saith our Lord.Si filius honorabilis mihi Ephraim, / si puer delicatus ! / quia ex quo locutus sum de eo, / adhuc recordabor ejus. / Idcirco conturbata sunt viscera mea super eum: / miserans miserebor ejus, ait Dominus. 21Set thee up a watchtower, make to thee bitterness: direct thy heart into the right way, wherein thou hast walked: return, O virgin of Israel, return to these thy cities.Fatti una vedetta: datti in preda alla amarezza: rivolgi il cuor tuo alla via diritta, per cui camminasti; torna, o vergine d'Israele, torna alle tue città.Sette thee a watch tower, make vnto thee bitternes: direct thy hart into the right way, wherein thou hast walked: returne ô virgin Israel, returne to these thy cities.Statue tibi speculam; / pone tibi amaritudines; / dirige cor tuum in viam rectam in qua ambulasti: / revertere, virgo Israël, / revertere ad civitates tuas istas. 22How long wilt thou be dissolute in deliciousness, O wandering daughter? for the Lord hath created a new thing upon the earth: A WOMAN SHALL COMPASS A MAN.E fino a quando ti snerverai tralle dissolutezze, vagabonda figliuola? imperocché nuova cosa ha creato il Signore sopra la terra: Una Donna chiuderà in se un uomo.How long wilt thou be dissolute in deliciousnes ô wandring daughter? because our Lord hath created a new thing vpon the earth: A WOMAN SHAL COMPASSE A MAN.Usquequo deliciis dissolveris, filia vaga ? / quia creavit Dominus novum super terram: / femina circumdabit virum.
23Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: As yet shall they say this word in the land of Juda, and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring back their captivity: The Lord bless thee, the beauty of justice, the holy mountain.Queste cose dice il Signore degli eserciti, il Dio d'Israele: Questa Parola dirassi ancora nella terra di Giuda, e pelle città sue, quand'io avrò fatti ritornare i suoi fuorusciti: ti benedica il Signore, o splendor di giustizia, o monte santo:Thus saith the Lord of hostes the God of Israel: As yet shal they say this word in the land of Iuda, and in the cities thereof, when I shal conuert their captiuitie: Our Lord blesse thee the beauty of iustice, the holie mountaine.Hæc dicit Dominus exercituum, Deus Israël: / Adhuc dicent verbum istud / in terra Juda et in urbibus ejus, / cum convertero captivitatem eorum: / Benedicat tibi Dominus, pulchritudo justitiæ, mons sanctus: 24And Juda and all his cities shall dwell therein together: the husbandmen and they that drive the flocks.Ed ivi abiterà Giuda, e tutte le sue città insieme: que', che coltivan la terra, e quei, che guidan la greggia;and Iudas and al his cities shal dwel in it together: the husbandmen and they that driue the flockes.et habitabunt in eo Judas et omnes civitates ejus simul, / agricolæ et minantes greges. 25For I have inebriated the weary soul: and I have filled every hungry soul.Imperocché io ho inebriata l'anima sitibonda, e ho satollata ogni anima affamata.Because I haue inebriated the wearie soule: and euerie hungrie soule I haue filled. Therefore I was raised vpQuia inebriavi animam lassam, / et omnem animam esurientem saturavi. 26Upon this I was as it were awaked out of a sleep, and I saw, and my sleep was sweet to me.Per questo mi son quasi svegliato dal sonno: e gli occhi ho aperti, e dolce è stato per me il mio sonno.as out of a sleepe, and I saw, and my sleepe was sweete to me.Ideo quasi de somno suscitatus sum: / et vidi, et somnus meus dulcis mihi. 27Behold the days come, saith the Lord: and I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Juda with the seed of men, and with the seed of beasts.Ecco, che viene il tempo, dice il Signore, ed lo darò semenza alla casa d'Israele, e alla casa di Giuda, semenza di uomini, e semenza di giumenti.Behold the daies come, saith our Lord: and I wil sow the house of Israel and the house of Iuda with the seede of men, and with the seede of beastes.Ecce dies veniunt, dicit Dominus, / et seminabo domum Israël et domum Juda / semine hominum et semine jumentorum. 28And as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to throw down, and to scatter, and destroy, and afflict: so will I watch over them, to build up, and to plant them, saith the Lord.E nella stessa guisa, che io non perdei tempo ad estirparli, ad abbatterli, a dissiparli, a dispergerli, e ad affliggerli; così non perderò tempo a ristorargli, e piantargli, dice il Signore.And as I haue watched vpon them, to plucke vp, and deface, and dissipate, & destroy, and afflict: so wil I watch ouer them, to build, and to plant them, saith our Lord.Et sicut vigilavi super eos / ut evellerem, et demolirer, et dissiparem, / et disperderem, et affligerem, / sic vigilabo super eos / ut ædificem et plantem, ait Dominus.
29In those days they shall say no more: The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the teeth of the children are set on edge.In que' giorni non più si dirà: I padri mangiarono l'uva acerba, e si sono allegati i denti a' figliuoli.In those daies they shal say no more: The fathers did eate the bitter grape, and the teeth of the children are set on edge.In diebus illis non dicent ultra: / Patres comederunt uvam acerbam, / et dentes filiorum obstupuerunt. 30But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that shall eat the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.Ma chi perirà, nella propria iniquità perirà: e chiunque mangerà l'uva acerba, a lui i denti s'allegheranno.But euerie one shal dye in his owne iniquitie: euerie man that shal eate the sowre grape, his teeth shal be on edge.Sed unusquisque in iniquitate sua morietur: / omnis homo qui comederit uvam acerbam, / obstupescent dentes ejus. 31Behold the days shall come, saith the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Juda:Ecco, che vengono i giorni, dice il Signore, ed io farò colla casa d'Israele, e colla casa di Giuda una nuova alleanza:Behold the daies shal come, saith our Lord: and I wil make a new couenant with the house of Israel and the house of Iuda:Ecce dies venient, dicit Dominus, / et feriam domui Israël et domui Juda fœdus novum, 32Not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, the covenant which they made void, and I had dominion over them, saith the Lord.Alleanza non come quella, che io contrassi co' padri loro, allora quando li presi per mano, affin di trargli dalla terra d'Egitto: alleanza, cui eglino violarono; ed io esercitai il mio potere sopra di essi, dice il Signore.not according to the couenant, which I made with their fathers in the day that I tooke their hand, to bring them out of the Land of Aegypt: the couenāt which they made voide, and I had the dominion of them, saith our Lord.non secundum pactum quod pepigi cum patribus eorum / in die qua apprehendi manum eorum / ut educerem eos de terra Ægypti, / pactum quod irritum fecerunt: / et ego dominatus sum eorum, dicit Dominus. 33But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days, saith the Lord: I will give my law in their bowels, and I will write it in their heart: and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.Ma questa sarà l'alleanza, che io farò colla casa d'Israele dopo quel tempo, dice il Signore: Imprimerò la mia legge nelle loro viscere, e scriverolla ne' loro cuori: e sarò loro Dio, ed ei saranno mio popolo.But this shal be the couenant, that I wil make with the house of Israel: after those daies saith our Lord: I wil geue my law in their bowels, and in their hart I wil write it: and I wil be their God, and they shal be my people.Sed hoc erit pactum quod feriam cum domo Israël / post dies illos, dicit Dominus: / dabo legem meam in visceribus eorum, / et in corde eorum scribam eam, / et ero eis in Deum, / et ipsi erunt mihi in populum:
34And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying: Know the Lord: for all shall know me from the least of them even to the greatest, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.E l'uomo non farà più da maestro al suo vicino, né il fratello al fratello, dicendo: Conosci il Signore: perocché dal più piccolo fino al più grande, tutti mi conosceranno, dice il Signore: imperocché io perdonerò la loro iniquità, e non avrò più memoria del lor peccato.And a man shal no more teach his neighbour, and a man his brother, saying: Know our Lord: for al shal know me from the least of them euen to the greatest, saith our Lord: because I wil be propicious to their iniquitie, and their sinne I wil remember no more.et non docebit ultra vir proximum suum / et vir fratrem suum, / dicens: Cognosce Dominum: / omnes enim cognoscent me, / a minimo eorum usque ad maximum, ait Dominus: / quia propitiabor iniquitati eorum, / et peccati eorum non memorabor amplius. 35Thus saith the Lord, who giveth the sun for the light of the day, the order of the moon and of the stars, for the light of the night: who stirreth up the sea, and the waves thereof roar, the Lord of hosts is his name.Queste cose dice il Signore, che manda il sole a dar luce al giorno, e dà il corso fisso alla luna, ed alle stelle a rischiarare la notte; che mette il mare in tumulto, e i flutti di lui romoreggiano: il nome suo egli è Signor degli eserciti,Thus saith our Lord, that geueth the sunne for the light of the day, the order of the moone and of the starres, for the light of the night: that trubleth the sea, and the waues thereof doe sound, the Lord of hostes is his name.Hæc dicit Dominus qui dat solem in lumine diei, / ordinem lunæ et stellarum in lumine noctis: / qui turbat mare, et sonant fluctus ejus: / Dominus exercituum nomen illi: 36If these ordinances shall fail before me, saith the Lord: then also the seed of Israel shall fail, so as not to be a nation before me for ever.Se quest'ordine verrà meno dinanzi a me: allora eziandio verrà meno il seme d'Israele, onde egli non sia un popolo perenne dinanzi a me.If these lawes shal faile before me, saith our Lord: thee also the seede of Israel shal faile, that it be not a nation before me for euer.Si defecerint leges istæ coram me, dicit Dominus, / tunc et semen Israël deficiet, / ut non sit gens coram me cunctis diebus. 37Thus saith the Lord: If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I also will cast away all the seed of Israel, for all that they have done, saith the Lord.Queste cose dice il Signore: Se alcun mai potrà misurare colassù i cieli, o penetrar colaggiù ne' fondamenti della terra, potrò io pur rigettare tutto il seme d'Israele a motivo di tutte le cose, che egli ha fatte, dice il Signore.Thus saith our Lord: If the heauens aboue shal be able to be measured, and the foundations of the earth beneth to be searched out: I also wil cast away al the seede of Israel, for al thinges, that they haue done, saith our Lord.Hæc dicit Dominus: / Si mensurari potuerint cæli sursum, / et investigari fundamenta terræ deorsum, / et ego abjiciam universum semen Israël, / propter omnia quæ fecerunt, dicit Dominus.
38Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that the city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of Hanameel even to the gate of the corner.Ecco, che il tempo viene, dice il Signore, quando sarà dal Signore edificata la città dalla torre di Hananeel fino alla porta angolare.Behold the daies come, saith our Lord: and the citie shal be built to our Lord from the tower of Hananeel euen to the gate of the corner.Ecce dies veniunt, dicit Dominus, / et ædificabitur civitas Domino, / a turre Hananeel usque ad portam anguli. 39And the measuring line shall go out farther in his sight upon the hill Gareb: and it shall compass Goatha,E l'archipenzolo sarà portato più innanzi dirimpetto ad essa (porta) sul colle di Gareb; e girerà intorno a Goatha,And the rule of the measure shal goe out farder in his sight vpon the litle hil Gareb: and it shal compasse Goatha,Et exibit ultra norma mensuræ / in conspectu ejus super collem Gareb, / et circuibit Goatha, 40And the whole valley of dead bodies, and of ashes, and all the country of death, even to the torrent Cedron, and to the corner of the horse gate towards the east, the Holy of the Lord: it shall not be plucked up, and it shall not be destroyed any more for ever.E intorno a tutta la valle de' cadaveri, e della cenere, e a tutta la regione di morte fino al torrente Cedron, e fino all'angolo della porta de' cavalli, che sta ad oriente. Il luogo santo del Signore non sarà abbattuto, né mai distrutto in perpetuo.and al the valley of carcasses, and of ashes, and al the countrie of death, euen to the torrent of Cedron, and to the corner of the East gate of horses, the Holie of our Lord: shal not be plucked vp, and it shal no more be destroyed for euer.et omnem vallem cadaverum, et cineris, / et universam regionem mortis / usque ad torrentem Cedron, / et usque ad angulum portæ equorum orientalis, / Sanctum Domini: / non evelletur, et non destruetur ultra in perpetuum.
31:1
Year of the World 3406.
Worthington
They were more ready to receive Christ than the other two tribes, Matthew xiii., etc. (Worthington)
31:2
Grotius
Desert. From which the former inhabitants had been driven, (4 Kings 17:6, 24.; Calmet) or, as those under Moses were favoured, (Haydock) so shall the captives. (Grotius)
Haydock
Septuagint, "I found him warm," (thermon, means also a lupin, which has misled the old Latin interpreters. St. Jerome) murdered "in the desert, with those slain by the sword. Go, and destroy not Israel." (Haydock)
31:3
Calmet
Afar. He has seemed to despise me, (St. Jerome) or he has spoken to my ancestors. (Calmet)
31:5
Calmet
Time, three years being elapsed, Leviticus 19:35. (Calmet)
Calmet
Protestants, "plant, and shall eat (marginal note, profane) them as common things." They shall not be too greedy, (Haydock) but shall have leisure to enjoy the fruits of their labour. (Calmet)
31:6
Haydock
Watchmen. Some were stationed on eminences to observe the first appearances of the moon, (Calmet) which was a sort of festival. (Haydock)
31:7
Head. Rejoice over Babylon.
Save. Hebrew Hoshang, "I beg," was usually added; and this acclamation is used by the Church.
31:8
Together. All shall hasten, and there shall be no impediment, Isaias 35:5.
31:9
Shall, or "came" into captivity, Baruch 6:6., Psalm 125:6., and Isaias 66:20.
Way. They shall find every accommodation, and plenty of water, Isaias 35:7., and 49:10.
Calmet
Born. Chaldean, "beloved." I will treat the ten tribes as well as Juda. Christ inebriates his disciples with his graces. (Calmet)
Worthington
Ephraim shall be treated with all the love and attention shewn to the first-born. (Worthington)
31:12
No more, if they prove faithful. This was not the case.
31:14
Haydock
Fatness. Abundant crops secured them more plentiful tythes[tithes], as long as the people preserved their religion. (Haydock)
Calmet
No nation had more priests, or better provided for. (Calmet)
31:15
Haydock
High. Literally, "high places." Hebrew Rama. (Haydock)
Tirinus
There was a city of this name near Bethlehem, where Rachel was buried. Benjamin was her son, and was conducted by this road to Babylon. (Chaldean) (Grotius) (Tirinus)
Calmet
Ephraim and Manasses were also her grandchildren, and she may bewail their captivity by personification. St. Matthew 2:18. shews that this prediction was more fully accomplished when the innocents were slain. The same passage may allude to different events. (Calmet)
Worthington
All the people of God, both of the ten and of the two tribes, bewailed their captivity, and the mothers lamented for those slain near Bethlehem. (Worthington)
31:16
Reward. A time fixed for thy tears being dried up, Isaias 16:14., and 40:10.
31:18
I was. Chaldean, Theodoret, and St. Chrysostom have "not." But chastisement produced a salutary effect upon the ten tribes, Osee 6:1., and 14:3.
Calmet
Convert. Bring me back from captivity and from my evil ways. This must be attributed to grace. (Calmet)
St. Jerome
We cannot repent without it. (St. Jerome)
St. Augustine
Da quod jubes. (St. Augustine, Confessions 10:19, 31, and 37.)
Worthington
God's grace is the principal cause of justification. Man's co-operation is the secondary cause. (Worthington)
31:19
Ovid
Thigh, through grief. Femur moerenti plangere dextra. (Ovid, Metam. xi.)
Xenophon vii
Cyrus struck his thigh, mounted his horse, and went to attend the funeral of Abradates. (Xenophon vii.)
Homer
So did Achilles for Patroclus. (Homer, Iliad xvi.)
Youth, being seduced by Jeroboam.
31:20
I spoke. Hebrew, "my word is in him," and he is docile to my instructions.
31:21
Tower, to bewail thy past follies; or signals to know the way, or tombs for thy beloved.
31:22
Calmet
Daughter. Bury thy dead, and delay thy return no longer. The Israelites did not soon make use of the leave granted by Cyrus. (Calmet)
Tirinus
Man. Hebrew, "a hero." (Tirinus)
Calmet
The fathers generally explain this of the incarnation. (Calmet)
Haydock
Christ had the perfect use of reason in the virgin's womb. (Haydock)
Calmet
He was the brightness of his Father's glory, Hebrew 1:3. Even some ancient Jews apply this to the Messias. (Galatin. 7:14.) But the moderns understand that women would offer themselves in marriage; the times would be so happy. This was not so unusual in countries where polygamy prevailed, Ruth 3:9., Isaias 4:1., and Canticle of Canticles 8:1. (Calmet)
Haydock
Hence this is hardly the meaning; for God promises something new. (Haydock)
Aquila
"The Lord hath created a new thing in a woman." (Aquila)
Haydock
Symmachus agrees nearly with the Septuagint, "because the Lord has created thee by salvation a new plantation. Men shall go about in thy salvation." This "might be explained, if it were not sacrilegious to argue respecting God's word by human sense," says St. Jerome; though this censure of "the Vulgate" (Septuagint) seems rather harsh. He complains here of his copy. Theodoret explains it of the apostles going through the world to spread the gospel. (Haydock)
Haydock
Behold whence thy happiness must come, (Menochius) O thou who hast so long proved faithless, going astray after many lovers. (Haydock)
Haydock
Christ, in his mother's womb, was in stature small, but a perfect man (Worthington) in the use of reason, etc. (Haydock)
31:23
Bless thee. Thus the captives speak in rapture at their return.
31:24
Together. Jerusalem shall be large enough to contain all, at the great festivals.
31:26
Calmet
To me. Thus Jeremias concludes his prediction with joy. (Calmet)
31:27
Haydock
Men. They shall increase exceedingly by my blessing. (Haydock)
Worthington
Beasts were the source of their riches. Hence pecunia is derived from pecus. (Worthington)
31:29
Haydock
Edge. Such observations had been too often made, Ezechiel 18:12. (Haydock)
Calmet
Henceforward you shall not suffer for the faults of Achab, Manasses, etc. Each one shall bear his own burden. The captivity has been like a deluge, cleaning all away. (Calmet)
31:31
31:32
Haydock
Dominion. As a husband, (Hebrew; Calmet) or "Lord." (Haydock)
Hebrews viii
"I despised them." (Septuagint) (Hebrews viii.)
31:33
Heart. They were more docile after their return: yet still their service was very imperfect and forced. How many false traditions were received, at the coming of Christ! This of course, regards his disciples.
31:34
Haydock
Lord. Christ himself came to instruct mankind. The true God was better known than ever, even by the illiterate. Yet God requires us to have recourse to men, in order to know his truths, as St. Paul was sent to Hananias, and the eunuch to Philip. [Acts viii., and ix.] (Haydock)
Haydock
The apostles were enlightened by the Holy Ghost, (John 6:45.; St. Augustine, de Spir.; Calmet) who still guides the flock by his pastors. The private spirit is too fanatical and delusive. (Haydock)
Tirinus
The most ignorant shall easily become acquainted with the truths of salvation. External preaching is requisite, though of little use unless grace touch the mind and the heart. (Tirinus)
Haydock
All will hear successively, (Haydock) or embrace the gospel at the same time, for several years before the last day. (Houbigant, pref. in Prop. 356) (Isaias 11:9., and 45:23., and Sophonias 3:9., etc.) (Haydock)
31:36
Calmet
Ever. Like the Chanaanites and Ephraim during the captivity, Isaias 7:8. God restored the latter. Yet they are again dispersed from above 17 centuries, so that this perpetuity, which shall equal the world's duration, belongs to the Church. (Calmet)
Worthington
Israel remains, not in the incredulous Jews, but in those who with the apostles embraced and propagated the faith of Christ. (St. Jerome) (Worthington)
31:37
Calmet
Out, experimentally, and not by philosophical hypotheses, which were little known in the days of Jeremias. (Calmet)
Haydock
Septuagint, "if it be made lower." (Haydock)
Theodoret
This is impossible; so it is that I should abandon Israel. (Theodoret)
Calmet
All was not faithless. (Calmet)
Haydock
The Israel of God embraced the gospel. (Haydock)
31:38
Kennicott
Come, is only in the margin of the Hebrew, but is found properly in some manuscripts. (Kennicott)
Corner. On the south, opposite to the former, 2 Esdras 3:1.
31:40
Calmet
Valley of Hinnom, or Topheth, (chap. 7:32., and 19:6.) where Cedron flowed, Zacharias 14:4. (Calmet)
Josephus
The city was much enlarged on this side, under the Machabees. (Josephus, Jewish Wars 6:6.)
Calmet
Ever. Yet the temple was utterly destroyed by the Romans, so that we must explain this of the Catholic Church, founded on a rock, and proof against the gates of hell, and all the malice of heretics and persecutors, Matthew 16:18. (Calmet)
31:1
31:6
Isa. 2. which. 4. Zach. •.
31:9
God wil also ••evv his mercie to the tene tribes (signified by Ephraim) as a father loueth his first begotten.
31:15
By Rachel the mother of Ioseph & Beniamin, are signified al the vvemen of both kingdomes (Israel & Iuda) mourning the miseries of the captiuitie. And particularly of the mothers lamenting the slaughter of their children nere Bethlehem. Mat. 2.
Concordance Mat. 2,
31:18
Gods grace is the principal cause of iustification.
Mans cooperation by freewil is the secō darie cause.
31:22
Christ in his mothers wombe in stature an infant: but in al perfection a man.
31:27
God promised the Iewes multiplication of men.
And of catle which were a principal riches, as appeareth by the word, pecunia deriued of pecus.
31:34
Concordance Isa. 54
Concordance Ioa. 6.
31:36
The seede of Israel remaineth foreuer; not in the incredulous Iewes (saith S. Ierom) but in those which with the Apostles, & by the Apostles beleue in Christ.
31:1
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 3.10
… sometimes it is one that comes into being for the purpose, and that being accomplished, is discarded. Just as, also, when men are the messengers, sometimes they speak the words of God in their own person, as when it is premised, “The Lord said,” or, “Thus saith the Lord,”
31:8
Tertullian † AD 220 On Baptism 19
… But, moreover, when Jeremiah says, “And I will gather them together from the extremities of the land in the feast-day,” he signifies the day of the Passover and of Pentecost, which is properly a “feast-day.”
31:10
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 5.34.3
… At that time also shall the virgins rejoice in the company of the young men: the old men, too, shall be glad, and I will turn their sorrow into joy; and I will make them exult, and will magnify them, and satiate the souls of the priests the sons of Levi; and my people shall be satiated with my goodness.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 1.15
… “Hear the word of the Lord, ye nations, and tell it to the islands which are afar off. Say, He that scattereth Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd his flock: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and taken him out from the hand of him that was stronger than he.”
31:11
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 3.8.2
… For he was not strong, as opposed to Him who bound him, and spoiled his house; but as against those persons who were his tools, inasmuch as he caused their thought to wander away from God: these did the Lord snatch from his grasp. As also Jeremiah declares, “The Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and has snatched him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.”
31:15
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 78
… And Jeremiah prophesied that this would happen, speaking by the Holy Ghost thus: ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and much wailing, Rachel weeping for her children; and she would not be comforted, because they are not.’
St Hippolytus † AD 235 The Refutation of All Heresies 5.3
… whereas things carnal, he says, are all corruptible, even though very many things (of this type) are produced. For this reason, he says, “Rachel wept for her children, and would not,” says (the prophet), “be comforted; sorrowing for them, for she knew,” says he, “that they are not.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 9
4. “Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet,
31:18
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Concerning Repentance 2.5
36. Let us, then, cover our falls by our subsequent acts; let us purify ourselves by tears, that the Lord our God may hear us when we lament, as He heard Ephraim when weeping, as it is written: “I have surely heard Ephraim weeping.”
31:19
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Concerning Repentance 2.5
… And so repenting, Ephraim says: “Turn Thou me, and I shall be turned, for Thou art the Lord my God. Surely in the end of my captivity I repented, and after I learned I mourned over the days of confusion, and subjected myself to Thee because I received reproach and made Thee known.”
31:20
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Concerning Repentance 2.5
… “Ephraim is from youth a dear son, a pleasant child, for since My words are concerning him, I will verily remember him, therefore have I hastened to be over him; I will surely have mercy on him, saith the Lord.”
31:22
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Expositio Fidei. (Statement of Faith.) 3
… For all things were created by the Father through the Son, but the Son alone was eternally begotten from the Father, whence God the Word is ‘first-born of all creation,’ unchangeable from unchangeable. However, the body which He wore for our sakes is a creature: concerning which Jeremiah says, according to the edition of the seventy translators (
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 2.19
… but he called the life according to virtue the ‘man after God,’ and by the ‘created’ in Christ he meant the two people who are renewed in Him. Such too is the language of the book of Jeremiah; ‘The Lord created a new salvation for a planting, in which salvation men shall walk to and fro
St Ephrem the Syrian † AD 373 Ephraim Syrus: Nineteen Hymns on the Nativity of Christ in the Flesh 3
… The Magi brought myrrh and gold, while in Him was hidden a treasure of riches. The myrrh and spices which He had prepared and created, did the Magi bring Him of His own. It was by Power from Him that Mary was able to bear in Her bosom Him that bears up all things! It was from the great storehouse of all creatures, Mary gave Him all which she did give Him!
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 1.32
… for more are the children of the desolate, than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord.” This is she of whom God by the mouth of Jeremiah speaks, saying: “Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire.” Concerning her we read of a great miracle in the same prophecy
31:25
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Concerning Repentance 2.5
39. And what mercy He promises us, the Lord also shows, when He says further on: “I have satiated every thirsty soul, and have satisfied every hungry soul. Therefore, I awaked and beheld, and My sleep was sweet unto Me.”
31:26
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.31.2
… For it is said, “The Son of man came eating and drinking;” and when He had lain down, He fell asleep, and took repose. As He does Himself say in David, “I slept, and took repose.” And because He used thus to act while He dwelt and lived among us, He says again, “And my sleep became sweet unto me.”
31:27
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 123
… for you are neither wise nor prudent, but crafty and unscrupulous; wise only to do evil, but utterly incompetent to know the hidden counsel of God, or the faithful covenant of the Lord, or to find out the everlasting paths. ‘Therefore, saith the Lord, I will raise up to Israel and to Judah the seed of men and the seed of beasts.’
Tertullian † AD 220 An Answer to the Jews 2
For why should God, the founder of the universe, the Governor of the whole world, the Fashioner of humanity, the Sower
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 1.29
… For the Lord saves men and beasts, and Israel and Juda are sowed with the seed not of men only but also of beasts.
31:29
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 2.15
… As was the grace, so was the offence; so that the grace and the offence equally ran down through the whole race, with the reservation, indeed, of that subsequent ordinance by which it became possible to refrain from saying, that “the fathers had eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth were set on edge:”
Tertullian † AD 220 On Monogamy 7
… But (now), when the “extremity of the times” has cancelled (the command) “Grow and multiply,” since the apostles (another command), “It remaineth, that both they who have wives so be as if they have not,” because “the time is compressed;” and “the sour grape” chewed by “the fathers” has ceased “to set the sons’ teeth on edge,”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 35
… but none so much as the soul. But as inaction is an evil, so is activity in things that ought to be let alone. For just as it is with the teeth, if one eats not, one receives hurt to them, and if one eats things unfitting, it jars them, and sets them on edge:
31:30
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 8.40
… “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children for the fathers. Every man shall be put to death for his own sin.” And again, “Every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.”
31:31
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 11
… ‘Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand, to bring them out of the land of Egypt’
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.9.1
… His beginning ( initium ), His name is glorified from the height of the earth: they declare His powers in the isles.” And Jeremiah says: “Behold, I will make a new covenant, not as I made with your fathers”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.33.14
14. And those of them who declare that God would make a new covenant
Tertullian † AD 220 An Answer to the Jews 3
… be circumcised to God, and circumcise the foreskin of your heart:” and in another place he says, “Behold, days shall come, saith the Lord, and I will draw up, for the house of Judah and for the house of Jacob, a new testament; not such as I once gave their fathers in the day wherein I led them out from the land of Egypt.”
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.1
… “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Jacob, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I arrested their dispensation, in order to bring them out of the land of Egypt.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 1.12
… and I will be to them for a God, and they shall be to me for a people; and they shall not teach every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least even to the greatest of them: for I will be merciful to their iniquities, and will no more be mindful of their sins.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.21
… and I will perfect for them an everlasting covenant, which I will not turn away after them; and I will put my fear into their heart, that they may not depart from me: and I will visit upon them to do them good, and to plant them in their land in faith, and with all the heart, and with all the mind.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 1
… for “He,” saith our Lord, “shall bring all things to your remembrance.” And that thou mayest learn that this was far better, hear what He saith by the Prophet: “I will make a new covenant with you, putting my laws into their mind, and in their heart I will write them,” and, “they shall be all taught of God.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 16
For that He Himself gave the old covenant also, hear the affirmation of the prophet, or rather (so we must speak), of Him who is both the one and the other: “I will make a covenant with you, not according to the covenant which I made with your fathers.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 19
… Why four Gospels? why not, ten? why not twenty? If “many have taken in hand to set forth a narrative” ( Luke i. 1 ), why not one person? Why they that were disciples (i.e. Apostles)? why they that were not disciples? But why any Scriptures at all? And yet, on the contrary, the Old Testament says, “I will give you a New Testament.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 19
Ver. 27 . “For this is my covenant unto them,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 14
… viii. 2 .) There was a service, and there is a service. (“To whom pertaineth the service”— Rom. ix. 4 : and again: “Serving God in the Spirit.”) ( Philip. iii. 3 .) There was a covenant, and there is a covenant. (“I will make with you a new covenant, not according to the covenant which I made with your fathers.”) (
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 2.10
… Why do the apostles say: “Lord, increase our faith,” if there is one measure for all? And why did our Lord rebuke His disciple, saying: “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” In Jeremiah also we read concerning the future kingdom:
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 75.14
… Jeremiah also prophesied thus in God’s name: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 82.18
… but said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God,” and that “we have received grace for grace for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ;” and although it was promised by Jeremiah that God would make a new covenant with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant which He made with their fathers;
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 18.33
… and He is a man, and who shall know Him?” That passage also is his which I have quoted in the seventeenth book concerning the new testament, of which Christ is the Mediator. For Jeremiah himself says, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will complete over the house of Jacob a new testament,” and the rest, which may be read there.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 32.9
… For it is thus foretold by the prophet: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 33
… and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 34
… that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Accordingly, in the passage which we cited from the prophet, he says, “I will consummate a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Work on the Proceedings of Pelagius 14
… At all events, in those ancient Scriptures it is most distinctly written: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will consummate a new testament with the house of Israel and with the house of Jacob; not according to the testament that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand, to lead them out of the land of Egypt.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 74.20
… Now I acknowledge Thy Testament: now understanding is Asaph, no beast is Asaph, now he seeth that which was spoken of, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, and I will accomplish with the House of Israel and of Juda a new Testament, not after the Testament which I ordered with their Fathers.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 105.6
… For who would dare to say that this world should last for 15000 years? Hence it seemeth to me that we ought not to understand here the Old Testament, which it said through the prophet was to be cancelled by the New: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant.”
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 95
… “behold the days come when I will complete a new covenant for the house of Israel and for the house of Judah. After those days, saith the Lord , I will put My laws in their minds , and in their heart will I write them
31:32
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 1.20
… Thus He says by Isaiah: Old things have passed away. “Behold, I will do a new thing.” And in another passage: “I will make a new covenant, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 138.7
… “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 18.4
… These types were figures of things to come, and are necessarily removed when the things themselves are fully revealed by Christ, that in this very removal the law and the prophets may be fulfilled. So it is written in the prophets that God would give a new covenant, "not as I gave to their fathers."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 34
… —“not, according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 35
The one was therefore old, because the other is new. But whence comes it that one is old and the other new, when the same law, which said in the Old Testament, “Thou shalt not covet,” is fulfilled by the New Testament? “Because,” says the prophet, “they continued not in my covenant, I have also rejected them, saith the Lord.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 42
… but he simply called attention to this difference, that God would impress His laws on the mind of those who belonged to this covenant, and would write them in their hearts,
31:33
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 2.10
… “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” In Jeremiah also we read concerning the future kingdom: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers.” And so on after:
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 35
… Then consider what follows, and see in how clear a light the fact is placed, that men who bare faith are unwilling to trust in themselves: “Because,” says he, “this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 36
… since it is said, “I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their hearts will I write them,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 37
He then went on to state the reward: “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 49
… and they were to arrive at such a knowledge of God, that they were not each one to teach his neighbour and brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all were to know Him, from the least to the greatest of them.
31:34
Tertullian † AD 220 On Repentance 6
… These, no doubt, are they who do steal a march upon (the treasure), who, after approaching to the faith of repentance, set up on the sands a house doomed to ruin. Let no one, then, flatter himself on the ground of being assigned to the “recruit-classes” of learners, as if on that account he have a licence even now to sin. As soon as you “know the Lord,”
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 On the Incarnation of the Word 32-2
… 5. But as to Gentile wisdom, and the sounding pretensions of the philosophers, I think none can need our argument, since the wonder is before the eyes of all, that while the wise among the Greeks had written so much, and were unable to persuade even a few
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 26
… And wherever a man may go, he might easily lay hold of his own salvation, if he were minded, that is, to be heedful, and not to look on this as a by-work. For were the doings shut up into Palestine, or in a little corner of the world? Hast thou not heard the prophet say, “All shall know Me from the least even to the greatest?” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Philippians 12
… Yet although the life of our teacher be careless, let us take heed to ourselves, and let us listen to the words of the prophet; “They shall be all taught of God.” ( Isa. liv. 13 .) “And they shall teach no more every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on 2 Timothy 2
… By no means. He will suffer the destined punishment, and you too will meet with that which is your due. For the Teacher now only fills a place. For “it is written, They shall all be taught of God.” ( John vi. 45; Isa. liv. 13 .) “Neither shall they say, Know the Lord. For all shall know Me from the least to the greatest.” (
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 2
Jerem. xxxi. 34 . The promise of the new covenant.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 13.22
… renewing of your mind, that he may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.” Therefore Thou sayest not, “Let man be made,” but, “Let us make man.” Nor sayest Thou, “after his kind,” but, after “our image” and “likeness.” Because, being renewed in his mind, and beholding and apprehending Thy truth, man needeth not man as his director
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 39
… For after saying, “I will be their God, and they shall be my people,” he at once adds, “And they shall no more teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least even unto the greatest of them.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 40
… lest the reward should be ascribed not to His grace, but to their due; and so grace should be no longer grace which was so earnestly defended and maintained by him who, though the least of the apostles, laboured more abundantly than all the rest,—yet not himself, but the grace of God that was with him. “They shall all know me,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 41
… then, there shall be eternal life for us to know the one very God; then shall we be like Him, because “we shall then know, even as we are known;” then “they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know me, from the least unto the greatest of them.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 42
… and this is remitted only by grace. Accordingly, after saying, “For all shall know me, from the least to the greatest of them,” He instantly added, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
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1. IN THAT TIME. — These words of the first verse St. Jerome, Lyranus, Hugo and others refer to the preceding chapter, and they pertain thereto.
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2. FOUND GRACE. — The Septuagint for חן chen, that is grace, read חם cham, that is warm, and translate: Found (God) warm, that is the Hebrew people in the desert languishing with hunger and heat. A PEOPLE THAT REMAINED FROM THE SWORD. — That is, as the Hebrew and Chaldean say, the Jews going out of Egypt, who then escaped the sword both of Pharaoh and of God punishing the rebellious, in the desert, found grace, and, as the Chaldean says, mercy with God, so that they might enter into rest in the promised land. Thus the Chaldean, Lyranus, Vatablus, as if to say: Much more therefore now "Israel shall go," that is the faithful people, led by Christ, "to rest" eternal. Otherwise St. Jerome, Rabanus and Hugo explain it, as if to say: The people of the Jews, who remained immune from the Roman or divine sword, found grace in the desert of the gentiles, so that in the midst of the multitude of gentiles in the Church of Christ they might be saved. Thirdly, Theodoret, St. Thomas and Sanchez thus explain it, as if to say: From Babylon through the midst of the desert Israel returned to the homeland of rest. But the first sense is the genuine one. ISRAEL SHALL GO TO HIS REST. — Vatablus and Pagninus translate: God went before him (Israel), so that he might prepare rest for him in Canaan, thus also the Chaldean. Better does Our author translate by the future "shall go," because the Hebrew and Septuagint have vade, that is shall go: for it is better that the imperative be taken for the future than for the past.
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3. THE LORD APPEARED TO ME FROM AFAR. — That is, the Lord withdrew far from me. Thus St. Jerome. Secondly, the Lord defers to appear to us for a long time, so that he might free us from Babylon. Thus Hugo: or as Lyranus, he defers to show himself until the end of the world: for then he will fulfill the promises made to the Jews concerning their conversion to Christ and their salvation. Thirdly and best, the Chaldean, Vatablus, Sanchez and a Castro thus explain it, as if to say: From a long time, long ago the Lord was seen and favored me in Sinai and the desert; but now he seems to have abandoned me in the captivity of Babylon, or rather of Assyria. These are the words of the Synagogue, or of Israel, that is the ten tribes, to whom God responds: You err, my people, I have not abandoned you, "and," that is nay, rather, "with everlasting charity," in Hebrew olam, that is from of old, from long ago, "I have loved you," as if to say: With the same love as of old I led away by the Assyrians into Assyria, never returned to Samaria. Mystically therefore these things were accomplished through the Apostles in Samaria, concerning whom Isaiah, cap. LII: "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings and preacheth peace!" pursue you with love, and that not by merit of your life, but by my mercy alone. THEREFORE HAVE I DRAWN YOU, HAVING MERCY, — as if to say: Therefore I have striven, and always strive, now by cajoling, now by scourging, to draw you to me, because I have compassion on you: for whom I love, I chastise. Others translate: I have drawn you with mercy, that is with many benefits, according to that in Hosea XI, 4: "I will draw them with the cords of Adam (that is with love and benefits by which men are wont to be allured and drawn) in the bonds of charity." Others finally thus translate, as if to say: Therefore I have protected my mercy toward you for a long time, therefore I have used long patience and mercy toward you. Thus R. David. But the first sense is the genuine one. This is as it were a dialogue between God and the Synagogue. Thus St. Augustine, lib. De Altercat. Ecclesiæ et Synagogæ, tom. VI.
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4. AGAIN I WILL BUILD (restore) YOU. YOU SHALL YET BE ADORNED WITH TIMBRELS. — Just as when you went out from Egypt, and after the passage of the Red Sea so happy, you danced in a circle to the timbrel of Mary: so now I will restore you to your former glory and festive joy, when I shall bring you back from Babylon and Assyria into Judea, say St. Thomas and Theodoret, see lib. III Esdr. V, 2. And far more, when I shall bring you back into my Church, and in it I will build you up through Christ and the Apostles, according to that which he promised through Amos, cap. IX, verse 11; for then you shall serve me, and give thanks in hymns and spiritual canticles. Thus St. Jerome, Rabanus, Hugo, Lyranus, Vatablus. God here responds to the Jews in Babylon mourning and saying, Psalm CXXXVI: "Upon the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept, when we remembered Sion. On the willows in the midst thereof we hung up our instruments. How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a strange land?" To these he here promises that he will restore freedom, joy, canticles, timbrels and dances.
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5. YET SHALL YOU PLANT VINEYARDS IN THE MOUNTAINS OF SAMARIA. — Because after the return three cities of Samaria were added to Judea, I Maccabees X, 30. Thus St. Thomas. But this is too narrow: for not the Jews, but the gentiles possessed all the rest of Samaria, I Esdras IV, 10. Therefore these things must be understood of the conversion of the Samaritans to the faith of Christ, and by vineyards particular Churches, as if to say: Many in Samaria shall I convert to thee, O Sion, O Church of Christ, through the preaching of the Gospel, so that thou mayest establish many Churches of Samaritans there. That this came to pass is evident from John IV, 41; Acts VIII, 14. For it is certain that the Samaritans, that is the ten tribes, THEY SHALL PLANT, AND THEY THAT PLANT SHALL NOT GATHER, UNTIL THE TIME COME. — In Hebrew and Chaldaic it is: They shall plant, and they shall profane, or make common, as if to say: Just as formerly in Leviticus XIX, 23, the fruit of trees in the first three years was reckoned unclean, nor was it lawful for the Jews to eat of it; but in the fourth year it was consecrated to the Lord, and in the fifth year it was profaned, that is, it became common, and it was lawful for all, even for the profane and the laity, to eat of it: so the Apostles and similar ones for many years, and with much patience, shall cultivate the vineyard of the Lord, and shall patiently await the fruit, and the time of vintage, when at last they shall rejoice in it. But, because here not labor, but rather the reward and fruit of the Church is promised; hence secondly, thou mayest better expound it thus, as if to say: Just as the Jews formerly according to the law of Leviticus XIX, so also the Apostles through the long labors of many years, shall at length arrive at the desired time of vintage, and shall enjoy the fruit of their labors, when they shall see so many infidels converted, who gradually shall unlearn and forget paganism and Judaism, whom before they shall have been purified from it, they shall not gather, that is, they shall not forcibly tear them away from their former rites; but gently and gradually shall lead them away from them, and then when they themselves are fully purified they shall eat, that is, they shall joyfully enjoy them, and shall make them common to others, that is, they shall communicate their joy and fruit, namely their conversion and holy conduct, to other faithful ones, as St. Paul did, Romans I, 8.
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6. BECAUSE IT WILL BE A DAY IN WHICH THE KEEPERS SHALL CRY OUT, — saying: Let us go up from Babylon to our homeland, to Jerusalem. Thus Theodoret, Hugo, St. Thomas. Secondly and better, St. Jerome, Rabanus, Hugo, Lyranus, Vatablus, that is to say, the Apostles and other keepers of vineyards, that is, of Churches, traversing the mountains of Samaria while preaching the Gospel, shall cry out: Come, let us go up to the Church of Christ founded in Sion, that is to say, the Apostles shall convert Ephraim, that is, the ten tribes, to Sion, that is, to the Christian Church. 7. REJOICE IN GLADNESS, O JACOB. — In Hebrew לֵיעקוב leiaacob, that is, of Jacob, or to Jacob, that is to say, Rejoice together and congratulate Jacob, that is, the Israelites and Samaritans, on account of the gladness, liberty and grace which Christ, Philip, Peter and John brought to them, Acts VIII. SHOUT AGAINST THE HEAD OF THE GENTILES, — cry out exultingly against the nations, or before the nations, so that they may shout back to you, and likewise in the faith of Christ St. Jerome, Rabanus and Hugo; or, as Castro says, "Israel" is called the two tribes, "Ephraim" is called the ten tribes: here therefore Ephraim is dear to me as the firstborn. He alludes to Jacob, who preferred Ephraim the younger son to Manasseh the elder son, crossing his hands and placing his right hand upon him, by which he signified through the cross of Christ that the Samaritans and gentiles would be first in the Church of Christ, and to be preferred to the Jews, who were first and more powerful in sonship, worship and the temple of God. Whence more forcefully with Sanchez you should translate and explain this passage thus, that is to say, I through the Apostles have become to Israel, that is, to the Samaritans, a father, that is, as a father: a father, I say, from whom the Israelites were called. You will say: The Israelites, that is, the ten tribes, had already been transferred to Assyria, and in their place colonists from Assyria were sent into Samaria, who were called Cutheans; how therefore does he call them here Israelites and Ephraimites? I answer: The reason is that the former inhabitants of Samaria were Israelites, especially because many true Israelites either remained or returned to Samaria, as is evident from Jeremiah XLI, 18, and Tobias XIV, 6. For which reason the Cutheans united with them into one nation, and wished to be called and to be held as Israelites: whence also they worshipped the God of Israel, as is evident from IV Kings XVII, 28. Finally, because those converted to Christ became genuine Israelites, that is, descendants and children of Jacob and Abraham according to faith and spirit, Romans cap. IX, 7. shout. In Hebrew it is, at the head of the Gentiles, that is, first among the gentiles, or before the gentiles you enjoy the Gospel, O Samaritans, and therefore rejoice. Others translate it, against the Gentiles, namely those who resist the Gospel, or, as Lyranus says, against the devil, who is the head of the Gentiles. SAVE, O LORD. — "Save," that is, you have saved: thus the Septuagint and the Chaldean. For it is the voice of those returning from captivity, and therefore not so much asking for future salvation as giving thanks for that already received and rejoicing. The imperative is placed by Hebrew enallage for the past tense. For this is what the Hebrew Hosanna signifies, which the Jews acclaimed to Christ as their Messiah being inaugurated, and as Conqueror, Matthew XXI, 13. Thus Maldonatus, Sanchez, Caninius and others. Hosanna therefore is the same as, that is to say, You have saved us, and continue to save us. For you are all our salvation, you are our eternal savior.
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8. AMONG WHOM SHALL BE THE BLIND, — that is to say, every kind of man, without respect of persons, from the land of the North, that is, from Chaldea, shall return, even the blind, the lame and the pregnant, who can scarcely undertake a journey, especially so long a one. Thus the Chaldean, Hugo, St. Thomas and Theodoret. Secondly, and rather, every kind of man from the land of the North, that is, from the kingdom of the devil, through Christ shall return to God and the Church, from which he had fallen through sin. Thus St. Jerome, Rabanus, Hugo, Lyranus and Vatablus. The Septuagint translates: I will gather them from the end of the earth in the solemnity of the Passover, as if after the day of Passover the Jews went out from Babylon (although neither Esdras nor Josephus have this), just as Christ slain at Passover immediately gathered many sons to himself. In Christ therefore this version of the Septuagint is verified.
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9. IN FLETU VENIENT. — The faithful shall come weeping, partly on account of joy and spiritual gladness, because of so great a good and salvation; partly on account of contrition for their sins; partly, as Lyra says, on account of love and compassion for Christ, suffering and crucified for them. The Septuagint and the Chaldean render it: In weeping they went, namely into captivity, but they shall return in joy. ADDUCAM EOS PER TORRENTES AQUARUM, — namely through the doctrines of the Apostles and Preachers, who like torrents shall pour forth the water of grace and sound doctrine. Secondly, through the Sacraments, which are fountains of grace. Thus Lyra. By these the faithful shall be led in a straight and easy way without stumbling-blocks. Thirdly and most plainly: "I will lead them through torrents of waters," that is, I will make them overcome all obstacles and all difficulties of the way, and as it were I will make the way level for them, so that all may come to the Church readily. This is what Isaiah promises in chapter XL, 4: "Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough ways plain." QUIA FACTUS SUM ISRAELI (that is to the two tribes) PATER, ET EPHRAIM PRIMOGENITUS MEUS EST. — "Ephraim," that is the ten remaining tribes, they say
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11. DE MANU POTENTIORIS, — that is from the power both of Nebuchadnezzar, and more truly of the devil.
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12. ET LAUDABUNT IN MONTE SION (in the Church), ET CONFLUENT AD BONA DOMINI (namely) SUPER FRUMENTO, ET VINO, ET OLEO. — That is to wheat, wine and oil. Thus Vatablus. Note the catachresis; for by these earthly goods are signified spiritual goods, which are begun here and shall be completed in heaven. By wheat and wine is signified the Eucharist: for it is "the wheat of the elect, and wine that germinates virgins," Zechariah IX, 17. By oil is signified the grace and unction of the Holy Spirit: by the offspring of flocks and herds, the multiplication of the faithful, both simple and wise. NON ESURIENT, — as if to say, They shall not have want of spiritual food, the word of God, grace and the Sacraments; but they shall be fed and watered by them as a garden by irrigation waters. It is a metonymy: otherwise the faithful who eat these goods still hunger for greater grace; but in heaven all their hunger shall be taken away, through consummated grace and glory: for they shall be inebriated with the abundance of the house of God, and the torrent of His delights shall give them drink.
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13. TUNC LÆTABITUR VIRGO IN CHORO. — Literally, to pass over other things, we see so many troops of virgins in convents, singing praises to God in choirs.
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14. INEBRIABO (as if to say, I will satisfy and abundantly fill) ANIMAM (that is the appetite) SACERDOTUM PINGUEDINE, — namely with the grace of the Holy Spirit. He alludes to the ancient sacrifices, in which the fattest part, after that which was burned for God, fell to the priest, as if to say, I will feed the priests of the new covenant with fatter victims than those of the Old Testament, namely with the body and blood of Christ; likewise with the gifts of the Holy Spirit: with which when the Apostles were filled, they appeared to be drunk, Acts II, 13. Thus Maldonatus. We have seen, and we see this fatness in Blessed Dominic, Vincent, Xavier and other Apostolic priests.
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15. A VOICE IN RAMA. — In Hebrew, in Rama. Rama is the name of a city so called because it is situated in a lofty place. Thus the Septuagint, the Chaldean and others. This city is in the tribe of Benjamin, near Gabaa and Bethel, and through it the Jews were led captive from Jerusalem into Babylon, Jer. XL, 1. You will say: Why does the Prophet mention lamentation in the context of joy and jubilation? I answer, in order to signify that there will be greater joy, which will follow from such great lamentation, and into which this lamentation will end; for he had said in verse 14: "I will turn their mourning into joy;" whence he adds in verse 16: "Let thy voice cease from weeping," etc. You will ask, what is this lamentation and weeping? First, Origen, homily 3 on various passages; the Author of Questions on the New and Old Testament, in St. Augustine, Questions LXII, and Hugh, understand these things of the slaughter of the Benjaminites on account of violence inflicted upon the wife of the Levite, Judges XX, as if to say Rachel, the mother of Benjamin, so loved the slaughter of these her grandsons, that her lamentations were heard in the neighboring city of Rama. Second, some according to St. Jerome understand these things of the lamentation of mothers in the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. Third, St. Jerome, Rabanus, the Chaldean, St. Thomas, Vatablus, Sanchez, a Castro and Maldonatus think that literally here the matter concerns captivity, either the Babylonian captivity of the two tribes, or the Assyrian captivity of the ten tribes; and thus they explain it: Because, they say, Rachel was the mother of the tribe of Benjamin, which was one of the two led away into Babylon; hence it signifies mothers weeping over the Babylonian captivity of the two tribes. Rabbi Solomon adds, therefore Rachel was buried in Judea near Bethlehem, so that she might pray for her sons at the hour when Nabuzardan would expel them from their homeland into Babylon. Again, because Rachel was the mother of Joseph, the father of Ephraim, who was the head of the ten tribes; hence Rachel signifies here mothers in Samaria, weeping over the captivity of the ten tribes. But it should have been said thus, that Rachel in Samaria, or Ephraim, wept; not however in Rama. Again, St. Matthew, chapter II, 18, says this prophecy was fulfilled in mothers weeping for their infants, whom Herod killed in hatred of Christ: therefore it was not fulfilled in mothers weeping over the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians or Assyrians. You will say: In these it was fulfilled literally, in those allegorically: because these mothers weeping were a type, or rather something similar, of those weeping their slain infants, as if Matthew were to say: The words of Jeremiah spoken of the destruction of Jerusalem rightly also apply to the infanticide of Herod; for the lamentation and wailing of mothers was similar in both. But it is objected, that the Jews led into Babylon on account of their crimes cannot rightly be said to be a type of innocent infants and Martyrs, who ascended not into Babylon, but into heaven through death. Again, Scripture is not said to be fulfilled in something similar, or when something similar happens: otherwise we would say all the prophecies of Jeremiah, spoken of the destruction of Jerusalem, were fulfilled in the destruction of Constantinople, and of any cities whatsoever that were overthrown: again the passion of Christ was fulfilled in the passion of any martyr whatsoever, which no one would say. For Scripture cannot be said to be fulfilled in an accommodated sense only: for thus accommodating anything whatsoever to anything similar, we would say that it is fulfilled. Add that this accommodated sense was not intended by the Holy Spirit. I say therefore that Jeremiah indeed alludes in the names Israel, Ephraim, Sion, the land of the North, to the Babylonian and Assyrian captivity, and its lamentation, as I said in the synopsis of the chapter: but in truth he does not speak of it, but speaks literally of the lamentation of the mothers of Bethlehem, on account of the infanticide of Herod: for in this entire chapter he treats of the time and Church of Christ. Thus Theodoret, Hugh, Lyran, Vatablus and others, indeed St. Matthew, II, 18. Which passage the presbyter Juvencus learned expressed thus in verse: Miserable mothers for the gift of offspring Horribly and gravely strike heaven with complaints. Where note pro munere: for these infants were as it were a gift of gladiators, and a spectacle in the children's hippodrome slain, says Delrio, adage 862. Note that by Rachel, as the mother, all the matrons of Bethlehem are understood. It is a metonymy, by which through a person a place or posterity is signified. For Rachel was the mother of Benjamin, who was mixed with Judah, and so Origen says Herod killed infants not only from the tribe of Judah, but also of Benjamin. and Rachel buried in Bethlehem, by her body as it were possessed it, so that she seemed to be the great mother of all the Bethlehemites. Secondly, it signifies that the lamentation was bitter, because Rachel was especially desirous and loving of children, and consequently mourned most greatly at their death; especially because she had only two, and in the childbirth of one, namely Benjamin, she died in sorrow in Bethlehem, and therefore called him Benoni, that is, son of sorrow. Castro adds that Rachel, as it were, is raised from the dead to lamentation, as if the calamity were so great that the living would not suffice to mourn it, but it would be necessary to raise the dead for this purpose. Thirdly, a voice in the high place, or in Rama, signifies that the voice of those weeping was great, which, spread forth from a high place, would be heard far and wide. You will say: Rama was sufficiently far from Bethlehem; for it was situated in the tribe of Benjamin near Gabaon, as is evident from Joshua XVIII, 25, and Judges XIX, 1, 13 and 16; therefore it should have been said: A voice was heard in Bethlehem, not in Rama: for the infants were slain in Bethlehem. I answer, that infants were slain not only in Bethlehem, but in the neighboring places round about. The Prophet therefore, joined with the Evangelist Matthew, who explains him, signifies that both tribes wept in this infanticide, namely Juda through Bethlehem, Benjamin through Rama, and that the lamentation in Bethlehem was so great that it was heard in Rama; and there the neighboring peoples and kinsmen of the infants bewailed their slaughter. For Rama was on the border of the tribe of Juda and Benjamin, as is evident from the place of Judges cited. Whence Maldonatus thus explains it: in Rama, that is, even unto Rama. Origen adds that infants of Benjamin were also slain in Rama, as I said a little before. BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT,—because they were slain and dead. 16. IS THE REWARD OF THY WORK.—He calls the captivity and servitude, mourning and tears, the work, says Maldonatus, as if to say, I will turn thy mourning into joy; thy captivity I will compensate with liberty and abundance of all things. But because the Prophet speaks not of captivity, but of infanticide; hence the reward of the work here must be understood as the reward of the patience of the mothers, and the martyrdom of the little ones. Whence St. Jerome in his Commentary translates it, is the reward for thy sons, as if to say: Weep not, O Rachel, O Bethlehem, for the slaughter of thy sons; because thy sons shall have the reward of blood shed for Christ, namely the palm of martyrdom, and in place of the land of Herod the enemy they shall possess the kingdoms of heaven; and thus they shall return to their borders, that is, to the heavenly fatherland, when in exchange for the body of humility they shall receive a glorious body. This he calls the last hope ("and it is," he says, "hope for thy latter end"), by which namely the just who suffer, and the martyrs at the end of the world shall attain the blessed and glorious life which they hoped for, so that they shall shine as the sun; and the infants, once small, without increase of age, without injuries and bodily labor, shall rise in a perfect man, in the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ, says St. Jerome. Whence note: He does not say, Is the reward of thy will: for the infants could not have this, but "is the reward of thy work," that is, of thy death and martyrdom. For by work he understands passion. In like manner even now Christian infants who are slain in hatred of Christ by Jews or infidels are martyrs, and deserve the palm of martyrdom, not from any act of will, which they cannot have, but from the very work of martyrdom itself. For just as God from his liberality established the sacrament of baptism for infants, so that they might be justified by it from the work worked: so likewise he established martyrdom for the same reason. Whence theologians teach that martyrdom purges infants from original sin, and justifies them as it were from the work worked. For this is a baptism not of water, but of blood. Thus the Church honors St. Simon, an infant of Trent, flayed by the Jews on Good Friday in hatred of Christ. Thus among the martyrs of Trier she honors also infants, who were slain together in the common slaughter of the whole city. Likewise infants burned in that city of Phrygia, which on account of the faith of Christ by the command of Diocletian was surrounded and set on fire, and was consumed with all its inhabitants, of which Eusebius speaks, lib. VIII of his History, cap. XI. Thus a little boy is honored as a martyr, who in the time of the Emperor Justin went to the pyre for Christians kindled by a Jew named Dunaan in the city of Nagran in Arabia, and when he saw his mother cast into it, he immediately cast himself into it also, and was burned. Baronius relates this illustrious history at length, in the year of Christ 522. Truly and elegantly St. Augustine, sermon 1 On the Innocents: "At the birth," he says, "of the Lord, mourning seizes not heaven, but the world: lamentation is proclaimed to mothers, exultation to angels, migration to infants. God is He who was born: those innocent ones are owed as victims, He who came to condemn the malice of the world. Lambs must be sacrificed, because the Lamb is about to be crucified, who takes away the sins of the world. But the mothers wail as sheep, because they lose their lambs bleating without voice. A great martyrdom, a cruel spectacle." And further down: "They are pledges, not entrusted, but created: not placed, but exposed. The lamentation of mothers was mingled, and the offering of the little ones passed up to heaven." Prudentius also in a hymn of the same: Hail, he says, flowers of Martyrs, whom at the very threshold of light the persecutor of Christ took away, as a whirlwind takes nascent roses. You are the first victims of Christ, a tender flock of the sacrificed, before the altar itself in simplicity you play with palm and crowns. There exists here in Rome in the temple of St. Stephen the Round a quatrain concerning the same, which because it is pious and festive, I shall set down here: Pure little souls, fair little maidens, scarcely born give their little bodies to the newborn God; and they fight unarmed, and with shield left behind, they conquer the cohorts, whom they know not how to strike. Now more beautiful than lilies and gems, now brighter than fiery sparkles, blessed ones soothe the seats with their little voices. The fierce tyrant, and he of iron breast, who brought parricide hands upon you, and defiled the sword with sacred little necks. Alas! thus a little bird is taken from its nest, and thus a young deer is snatched from its mother's breast, and thus fresh-born little flowers are gathered. sorrow and detestation. Thus St. Jerome and Rabanus. Hence it is clear that our conversion begins from God, and God's grace goes before free will; for the Prophet says: "Convert me, and I shall be converted." Thus against the Pelagians St. Augustine teaches throughout, vol. VII, and from him the Council of Trent. I HAVE BORNE THE REPROACH OF MY YOUTH,—of my wantonness, and of the sins which I committed as a youth. It is a catachresis: for youth is full of desires, ignorance and sins; or understand the days of youth literally, the former days, when the covenant of the Jews with God was fresh, in the desert under Moses. Or, as Maldonatus holds, he calls his youth all the time in which he had not yet been chastised by God; but as an unbroken young bull he did not bear the yoke of obedience.
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16. Thus saith the Lord: Let thy voice cease from weeping, and thy eyes from tears: for there is a reward for thy work, saith the Lord: and they shall return from the land of the enemy. 17. And there is hope for thy latter end, saith the Lord: and thy children shall return to their own borders. 18. Hearing I heard Ephraim removing: Thou hast chastised me, and I was instructed, as a young bullock not yet broken: convert me, and I shall be converted: for thou art the Lord my God. 19. For after thou didst turn me, I did penance: and after thou didst shew me, I struck my thigh. I am confounded and ashamed, because I have borne the reproach of my youth. 20. Is Ephraim an honourable son to me, is he a tender child: for I will surely remember him, since I spoke of him? Therefore my bowels are troubled for him: I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord. 21. Set up a sign, place for thyself waymarks: direct thy heart in the right way, in which thou hast walked: return, O virgin of Israel, return to these thy cities. 22. How long wilt thou be dissolved in delights, O wandering daughter? for the Lord hath created a new thing upon the earth: A woman shall compass a man. 23. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Yet they shall say this word in the land of Juda, and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring back their captivity: The Lord bless thee, O beauty of justice, O holy mountain: 24. And Juda shall dwell in it, and all the cities thereof together, husbandmen and they that go with flocks. 25. For I have inebriated the weary soul, and I have filled every hungry soul. 26. Upon this I awaked and saw, and my sleep was sweet to me. 27. Behold the days come, saith the Lord: and I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Juda with the seed of men, and with the seed of beasts. 28. And as I have watched over them to pluck up, and to break down, and to scatter, and to destroy, and to afflict: so will I watch over them to build up, and to plant, saith the Lord. 29. In those days they shall say no more: The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge. 30. But every one shall die in his own iniquity: every man that shall eat the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge. 31. Behold the days come, saith the Lord: and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Juda: 32. Not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt: the covenant which they made void, and I had dominion over them, saith the Lord. 33. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord: I will give my law in their bowels, and I will write it in their heart: and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying: Know the Lord: for all shall know me from the least of them even to the greatest, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. 35. Thus saith the Lord, who giveth the sun for the light of the day, the order of the moon and of the stars for the light of the night: who stirreth up the sea, and the waves thereof roar, the Lord of hosts is his name. 36. If these ordinances shall fail before me, saith the Lord: then also the seed of Israel shall fail, so as not to be a nation before me for ever. 37. Thus saith the Lord: If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath: then also will I cast off all the seed of Israel, for all that they have done, saith the Lord. 38. Behold the days come, saith the Lord: and the city shall be built to the Lord, from the tower of Hananeel even to the gate of the corner. 39. And the measuring line shall go out further in his sight upon the hill of Gareb: and shall compass Goatha, 40. and the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields even to the torrent of Cedron, and to the corner of the horse gate towards the east, the Holy of the Lord: it shall not be plucked up, and it shall not be destroyed any more for ever. Therefore the modern Jews are deceived, who take this chapter and the preceding one and similar passages, as Isaiah cap. LIV; Amos cap. IX; Zechariah cap. XIV, where a return from captivity and happiness and abundance of temporal things are promised to the Jews, in a gross literal sense as they sound, as if they pertained to themselves and to their present captivity, from which they are to be freed by their Messiah, whom they have now for 1600 years awaited in vain hope, and will await until the end of the world. For first, the Prophets speak of the captivity then present to them, namely the Babylonian, which Cyrus and Zerubbabel released, not of the Roman captivity by Titus, which has never been released, nor shall be: indeed in this chapter Jeremiah deals with the Assyrian captivity, which it is certain was never released literally, nor shall be: therefore he speaks of the mystical release of the same, which Christ made. Second, that this Roman captivity of theirs shall be perpetual is taught by Daniel cap. IX, vers. 27, where I have confirmed the same with many proofs. Third, because the Messiah has already come, and therefore it is in vain that the Jews now expect another to come, is evident from the prophecy of Jacob, Genesis XLIX, 10, concerning the Messiah about to come as soon as the scepter should fail from Judah, which has already been fulfilled in Christ. See the things said there, and from Daniel IX, 25, and from Isaiah LIII, where the passion and death of our Christ is foretold in precisely the same manner as it is narrated by the Evangelists and other historians. Fourth, because it is evident that these promises concerning the loosing and restoration of captivity are to be understood mystically, not crudely according to the letter, as they sound, first, because that verse 15: "A voice in the high place was heard, etc., Rachel weeping for her sons," St. Matthew teaches pertains to the infanticide of Herod in hatred of Christ, cap. II, verse 18, and the very event of the matter itself. Second, that verse 22: "A woman shall compass a man," can refer to nothing other than to the Blessed Virgin conceiving Christ. Third, that verse 31: "I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt;" plainly signifies that the old covenant made with Moses and the Jews, the law being given on Sinai, when they were brought out of Egypt by God, was to be made void and abrogated, and in its place a new covenant was to be instituted and ratified by Christ, as the Apostle urges and explains, Hebrews VIII, 8. For that old one was carnal, this new one is spiritual. Whence concerning it he says in verse 33: "I will give my law in their bowels, and I will write it in their heart. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying: Know the Lord: for all shall know me from the least of them even to the greatest of them: because I will be merciful to their iniquities." All which things are fulfilled through Christ ratifying the new covenant in his blood, by which he propitiated God for our sins, who also gave to his own a clear knowledge of God and the Holy Trinity, and can belong to no other, is clearer than light. Fifth, because that this covenant was to be ratified by Christ with the gentiles, and that this redemption of the Messiah pertains to the gentiles, and that it was to be spiritual, namely from the demon, sin and hell, the Prophets teach, as Isaiah cap. LV, verse 4: "Behold I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and master to the gentiles. Behold thou shalt call a nation thou knowest not: and nations that knew not thee shall run to thee." And cap. LX, verse 3: "And the Gentiles shall walk in thy light, and kings in the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thy eyes round about, and see: all these are gathered together, they are come to thee," O Jerusalem, that is O Church of Christ. Cap. XLIX, verse 6: "It is a small thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to convert the dregs of Israel (nay in verse 5, he clearly said: Israel shall not be gathered). Behold I have given thee to be the light of the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation even to the farthest part of the earth." And verse 12: "Behold these shall come from afar, and behold these from the north and from the sea, and these from the south land." See verse 22 and following. And cap. XLIII, verse 3 and 6, and cap. XLII, verse 1 and 7: "I have given thee," he says, "to be a covenant of the people, a light of the Gentiles." And cap. II, verse 2: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go, and say: Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths." Psalm II, verse 8: "Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thy inheritance," etc. Sixth, that the Jews are to be repelled from this covenant and its goods by Christ on account of their infidelity, and are to be blinded, Isaiah clearly predicts, cap. VI, verse 10: "Blind the heart of this people, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes: lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted and I heal them." And cap. L, verse 1: "Who is this bill of the divorce of your mother, whom I have put away, etc. Behold you are sold for your iniquities, and for your crimes I have put away your mother. Because I came, and there was no man: I called, and there was none to hear." Hosea I, 6: "Call her name, Not having obtained mercy: for I will not add any more to have mercy on the house of Israel, but I will utterly forget them." And verse 9: "Call his name, Not my people: for you are not my people, and I will not be your God." And verse 10: "And it shall be in the place (of the Gentiles) where it shall be said to them: You are not my people; it shall be said to them, You are the sons of the living God." And often elsewhere. Therefore all these promises concerning the Messiah, concerning the new covenant, concerning the loosing of captivity, namely of the demon and sin, pertain rather to the gentiles than to the Jews: for few Jews converted to Christ have received these goods from God; but all shall receive them at the end of the world, when they shall be converted to Christ. See Romans IX and following. Seventh, ad hominem, the Jews urgently press the letter: let us press the same letter ourselves, and answer them with it: Jeremiah in this chapter XXXI names and addresses only Israel, Ephraim and Samaria, that is the ten tribes which were led away into Assyria, and promises them liberation: therefore these things do not pertain to the two tribes, that is to the modern Jews, but to the Samaritans, and to the ancient kingdom of Israel, which was divided and separated from Judah under Rehoboam. Eighth, the new covenant which is here promised to be established through the Messiah is the new law, as the ancient Rabbis explain it in Galatinus, book X, chapter X. For they themselves in the book Mechilta, explaining that passage of Exodus XII: "On the tenth day of this month," say: "There is no berit, that is covenant or pact except law, as it is said in Deuteronomy, chapter XXIX, 1. These are the words of the covenant (that is of the law: for Moses promulgates this in Deuteronomy), which the Lord commanded Moses, that he should make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab: besides that covenant, which he made with them in Horeb." The same in Exodus XXXIV, 28: "And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant ten;" "of the covenant," that is of the law: for the law was the condition of the covenant; whence also this covenant he explains through the law when he adds: "I will give my law in their bowels." If the new law was to be given through the Messiah, therefore the old and Mosaic law was to be abrogated by him, and it was to come to pass that circumcision, sacrifices, purifications, ceremonies and other carnal precepts prescribed by the old law would be abrogated, that is Judaism itself; and it would be changed into spiritual things, for example into circumcision of the mind and spirit, into mortification of passions, into pure and chaste worship of God in spirit and truth, that is into Christianity. This is indeed what God promises: "I will give my law;" not in the body, but "in their bowels; and in the heart," not in the flesh, "of them will I write it." Note: The preceding chapter dealt especially with the Church to be gathered from the Jews at the end of the world; because there he spoke of the two tribes, their sins, desolation and liberation through Christ: for few of them will be converted before the end of the world. But this chapter speaks of the ten tribes and Samaria, where the Church flourished immediately after Christ, and of the very new covenant which God entered into with us through the incarnation of Christ. And so this chapter speaks of the beginnings of the Church of Christ, which immediately spread itself through Ephraim, that is through Samaria, and there was eagerly received and wonderfully propagated, as is evident from Acts VIII. Where note, secondly, that Jeremiah and the Prophets rightly say that Sion, Jerusalem, Ephraim, Samaria, etc., were brought back, redeemed, restored and rebuilt through Christ: because Christ restored and restored the old Church (which was in Judea and Samaria) tottering, through the new one which he substituted for it, indeed he raised it to a more noble state and dignity; when from Israel, Judah and Ephraim earthly and carnal he made Israel, Judah and Ephraim heavenly, spiritual and divine: and so the Prophets appropriately console their fellow citizens and the men of their time whom they address, promising them namely these goods and gifts of Christ. See Canon VI.
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18. I HAVE HEARD EPHRAIM MIGRATING. (It is the voice of God concerning Ephraim, that is the ten tribes in captivity
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20. IF A SON, — so if it has the appearance of a question, but the force of an assertion. For God answers Ephraim doing penance, and as if rushing into his embrace, as if to say "If," that is is it not so, after Ephraim has done penance, that I have forgotten all the sins of his youth, and have remembered the love with which I once pursued him: and therefore I hold him as a son in price, honor and delights, and, as the Hebrew has it, he is to me a child of delights; the Chaldean, a beloved child, whom I always carry in my eyes, mind and memory? Thus St. Jerome and Rabanus. Thus St. Mary Magdalene, St. Mary of Egypt, St. Pelagia, St. Paul, St. Matthew doing penance were children of delights to God and Christ. See here what penance does, namely that sinners formerly hateful to God, are now themselves in his delights. THEREFORE MY BOWELS ARE TROUBLED, — as if to say, I love him so tenderly that I cannot remember him without my bowels being moved by intimate compassion.
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21. SET UP A WATCHTOWER FOR YOURSELF. — Some think these things are said to the Jews going into Babylon, so that namely on the way in which they are led, they might set up stones here and there as markers and watchtowers, so that, as if about to return shortly, they might know the way by which they ought to return. He calls these same stones bitternesses, that is, signs of the bitter labor and sorrow which the Hebrews suffered when they were led captive along that way into Babylon. Thus Sanchez and Maldonatus. But truly the Prophet speaks to Ephraim, that is, the ten tribes, who never returned from captivity, as St. Jerome notes. The sense therefore is, "Set up a watchtower for yourself," as if to say, Keep watch, and observe what sin is, how bitter it is to have abandoned the Lord, what evils present and eternal have come to you from this, how blessed you were before sin: hence "set up bitternesses for yourself," that is, crush yourself, grieve and weep bitterly. Again, observe what occasion of sin and misery has been yours, so that you may henceforth avoid it. See St. Gregory, XXXI Morals, chapter XXXI. Secondly, as St. Jerome, set up for yourself watchers (for the Hebrew ציונים tsiunim also signifies these), who may announce to you that such great happiness of all things is about to come through Christ; and mourn for your ancient sins, prepare the way for Christ, and make straight his paths, as St. John the Baptist says: for I shall make you return straight to your cities, which you abandoned captive, namely to Samaria, Sion and Jerusalem, not corporeal, but spiritual; that is, to the Churches of Christ, which shall be erected and established throughout the whole world in individual provinces. Properly also, if you wish, return from Assyria to your cities in Samaria, where you shall see and rejoice in Christian Churches erected, flourishing in all spiritual goods; for these first received the Apostles and Christianity, as is evident from Acts VIII; and therefore the Prophet addresses Ephraim and the Samaritans here before others, and invites them to this joy of theirs. Anagogically, by cities understand the Churches and choirs of the just in heaven. Morally, learn here, for one willing to turn from sin, that one must climb the watchtower, so that the soul may be lifted up to heaven toward heavenly and divine things, and from there may despise this point of earth, and all earthly things which allure to sin: and then let one place bitternesses, that is, sorrow in the heart, lamentations and pains inflicted on the body, so that one may redeem and escape the eternal bitternesses of hell. Otherwise Lyra, so that they be the words of Christ, as if to say: Contemplate the mystery of the Incarnation, and the palms of the Innocent martyrs, which had been signs of Christ already born, and direct your heart to the way of my Gospel, in which I Christ have walked. DIRECT YOUR HEART IN THE RIGHT WAY. — Truly St. Augustine in Sentent. num. 245: "A right heart," he says, "is with God, when God is sought on account of God."
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22. HOW LONG WILL YOU BE DISSOLVED IN DELIGHTS? (that is to say, How long, O Ephraim, will you wander through delights and impieties, fleeing from your God, running after the gods and kings of the Gentiles? Consider what I say, wherein your blessedness is situated, whence the salvation of your misery is to be expected, your captivity—not under Salmanasar, but under the devil—your deliverance. Hear what you have never heard, a new way and life:) BECAUSE THE LORD HAS CREATED A NEW THING (that is, He will make a new and unheard-of thing, as it were a new work of creation, namely the work of the incarnation and nativity of Christ, without the work of man. Thus Rabanus, and this is what follows:) A WOMAN SHALL COMPASS A MAN (Arabic: shall vivify) A MAN.—This new thing comprehends many new and wonderful things, says St. Bernard, homily 2 on Missus est: "Because in it," he says, "there is recognized a brevity of length, a width of greatness that appeared in heaven." Moreover, St. Fulgentius, sermon On the Praises of the Blessed Mary: "Integrity," he says, "grew through childbirth, and virginity was rather amplified than violated." Merit therefore does St. Bernard exclaim, sermon 1 in the Vigil of the Nativity: "O childbirth alone without pain, alone knowing no shame, ignorant of corruption; not opening, but consecrating the temple of the virginal womb! O nativity above nature, but surpassing nature by the excellence of miracle, but restoring by the power of mystery! Brethren, who shall declare this generation? An angel announces it, the power of the Most High overshadows, the Spirit comes upon her: the Virgin believes, conceives by faith, the virgin brings forth, the virgin remains: who would not marvel? The Son of the Most High is born, God of God, begotten before the ages, the Word is born an infant: who could sufficiently marvel?" Wherefore Francis Mayro, Doctor of Paris, who merited the name of the Illuminated, in his sermon On the Annunciation, teaches that the incarnation is a greater work of God's power than creation: For, he says, there is greater distance between God and man than between the universe and nothing: for in the incarnation there is an infinite distance positively between God and man; but in creation, although on the part of the subject an infinite distance is said to exist, because it is made from a non-subject, yet on the part of the creature produced, which has finite perfection, the distance is positively finite. Wherefore it is more to make God of man than being from nothing. Merit therefore does St. Cyprian, sermon 3 On the Nativity: "O Lord," he says, "how admirable is your name! truly you are God, who works wonders. I marvel not only at the structure of this world, not at the stability of the earth, not at individual days, not at the sun, etc.: I marvel at God in the womb of the Virgin, I marvel at the Almighty in a cradle; I marvel how flesh adhered to the Word of God, how the incorporeal God put on the covering of our body, etc. This wonder alone encompasses me, and with Habakkuk I sing: I considered your works, and I was afraid." These are the new wonders which Jeremiah had foretold: "The Lord has wrought a new thing upon the earth: A woman shall compass a man." And St. Leo, sermon 2 On the Nativity: "Jesus Christ enters these lowest things, etc., in a new order, a new nativity. In a new order, because He who was invisible in His own things became visible in ours; incomprehensible, He willed to be comprehended; remaining before time, He began to be in time; the Lord of the universe assumed the form of a servant with the dignity of His majesty veiled: impassible God, did not disdain to be a passible man; and immortal, to be subject to the laws of death. But He was born in a new nativity, conceived of a virgin, born of a virgin without the concupiscence of paternal flesh, without injury to maternal integrity." Wherefore John of Damascus, sermon 1 On the Nativity, calls the Mother of God "a workshop of miracles," nay "an abyss." She herself therefore is a portent of the ages, a marvel of nature, a prodigy of the universe. O a new thing, never seen, never heard, never to be seen, nor to be heard! A woman conceives God, brings forth God, who is a man, nay a giant of eternity and immensity, inasmuch as He extends Himself through all the spaces of places, as well as of times, and He who sustains heaven and earth, nay encompasses them in His palm: and God suffers nothing, nor is the woman consumed by the rays of divine majesty, nor is virginity lost: "This is from the Lord, and it is wonderful in our eyes," says St. Augustine. Christ was born God of the Father in heaven; the same was born man of the mother on earth; of the father's immortality, of the mother's integrity; of a father without a mother, of a mother without a father; of a father without time, of a mother without seed; of a father the principle of life, of a mother the end of death; of a father ordaining every day, of a mother consecrating this day, on which a little child is born to us, and a son is given to us. A WOMAN SHALL COMPASS A MAN. — The Chaldean translator renders it: The Law, like a woman, shall guard like a wall the man, that is, the people of Israel, lest they be taken by enemies; but this is a far-fetched invention, as much as that of R. Judah, who according to R. Solomon translates: A woman shall be converted into a man, that is, he says, the Synagogue, which was weak as a woman, shall become strong as a man, and as a man shall divide and possess the land of enemies. Secondly, the Septuagint renders: The Lord hath created thee salvation in a new plantation: in thy salvation men shall compass about; and Theodotion: The Lord hath created new salvation: in salvation shall man compass about; as if to say: A woman, that is, salvation, shall compass the people of Israel. Now salvation is the Saviour Christ, whom God shall cause to be conceived of a virgin, whom all shall follow and worship, so that thus from him there shall be born a new plantation, that is, new plants, a new progeny of the faithful. Thirdly, others translate תסובב tesobeb passively, namely not, shall compass, but shall be compassed: for it is a poel, which is both passive and active, and thus they explain it, as if to say: By the just and faithful, as by spouses, Christ shall be compassed. Fourthly, Oleaster, following R. David, in the Canticles IV in the preface to Genesis, from the fact that it precedes: "Return, O virgin Israel, return to thy cities." A woman, he says, is the Synagogue, which before was fleeing from God, but now converted through Christ, shall follow and embrace him: but this is not new, because it has been done often. To this pertains the explanation of Sanchez: A woman, that is, the Synagogue, which as the spouse of God was adulterated with idols, and therefore was led away from Judea into Babylon, shall again compass a man, that is, shall return to the house and chamber of her spouse, that is, to Jerusalem, and shall return to the temple of God. Fifthly, Calvin explains it, as if to say: The Jews, captive and weak as a woman, shall compass, that is, shall besiege and prevail over, a man, that is, the Chaldeans. But this too, as an invention, is false: for the Jews did not prevail over the Chaldeans. It is remarkable that Calvin here and elsewhere acts as a patron of the Jews, and twists these passages from the sense of Christians to the sense of the Jews. Indeed, not without reason was a book written against him with this title: Calvin Judaizing. Indeed, in a similar manner the modern Achilles of the Jews, R. Abrabanel, expounds: The Synagogue, he says, now weak in the time of the Messiah, shall compass a man, that is, shall compass and rule over all the gentiles and nations, which now rule over them; as a man rules over a woman. But none of these things is new, because they have been done often. Neither is any of these things literal, but all mystical, and almost fabricated by the Jews, to avoid, indeed to overturn, the literal truth concerning the birth of the Virgin: for it is far different for a woman to compass a man, than for a woman to be converted into a man, or to rule over a man, or to return to him. I say therefore plainly and genuinely: "new," that is, a new man, namely God-man, from a new virgin mother, a new generation, namely without the seed of a man, produced by the sole creation of the Holy Spirit, as is said here, as if to say: A woman, that is, the Blessed Virgin, shall compass, and shall enclose in her womb a man, in Hebrew גבר geber, that is, that strong and mighty man, or hero (whence some for geber read גבר gibbor, that is, strong) whom Gabriel announced to the Blessed Virgin both by name and by his embassy. For Gabriel is composed of גבר geber and אל el, and signifies the strength of God, or the strong God. "She shall compass therefore a man," that is, Christ, who, since he is God, cannot be enclosed by any places or boundaries. Secondly, because although Christ, as conceived and born as man, in manner, stature and age is an infant, he is nevertheless from the first instant of his conception a man, perfect in wisdom, grace and glory. Thirdly, because Christ as a child is a strong man, who even then cast down the demon and all enemies, Isaiah IX, 4; for this infant shall be God, mighty, prince of peace, father of the world to come: who shall give to the new world a new law, a new covenant, and all things new. St. Jerome, Rabanus, Hugh, St. Thomas, Lyra, St. Augustine, sermon 9 On the Seasons, St. Cyprian, sermon On the Nativity of the Lord: and this is the common explanation of the Fathers, Interpreters and orthodox Doctors, indeed also of R. Haccados and other Rabbis, whom a Castro and Galatinus cite, book VII, chapter XIV. Note first: The word shall compass most aptly explains the virginity of the Blessed Mary in conception, as if to say: This woman shall not receive the fetus from a man (for she shall be a virgin), but shall enclose within herself that which is given from heaven in the manner of a circle, complete and perfect on all sides, violated by no division, however small: for this reason, Canticles IV, 12, she is called "a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed." Christ therefore is the center, the Virgin is the circle. The same virginity of the Mother of God, from the word "new," is gathered by R. Haccados and R. Josue in Galatinus, lib. VII, cap. XIV. For if a woman should encircle a man, that is a male, it is not new, but daily. But it is new that a virgin should encircle a male. Just as therefore it was new that the first woman, namely Eve, was created from a man, namely from the rib of Adam: so also it is more new that the second Adam, namely Christ a man, was conceived and created from the second woman and virgin Mother of God. And so just as the first virgin (Eve) was formed from the first virgin (Adam): so conversely the second virgin (Christ) was formed from the second Virgin (B. Mary). In Hebrew there is a beautiful paronomasia and antithesis between שובבה scobeba, that is, she who turns away, rebellious, and, as Our [translator] renders it, the wandering daughter of Sion; and תסובב tesobeb, that is, she shall embrace, she shall encircle, as if to say God: How long, O daughter of Sion! do you turn away from me your husband, nay your God, and flee? How long do you wander through idols like a harlot? Behold I will create from you a daughter and a woman of women, queen of heaven and earth, who will not flee from me your husband God, but will embrace you, as the Syrian renders it, and will hold and encircle you both in soul and in her womb. Observe how the words of this passage are weighed as if with singular exactness. Hear St. Augustine, serm. De Natali Domini: "Man," he says, "was made the maker of man, that he might suck the breasts of him who rules the stars, that he who is bread might hunger, that he who is the fountain might thirst, that light might sleep, that the way might be wearied from journeying, that truth might be hidden by false witnesses, that the judge of the living and the dead might be judged by a mortal judge, that justice might be condemned by the unjust, that discipline might be beaten with scourges, that a cluster might be crowned with thorns, that the foundation might be suspended on a tree, that virtue might be weakened, that salvation might be wounded, that life might die." These are new things and portents enclosed in this sentence: "A woman shall encircle a man." The Eucharist shall encircle, and truly shall embrace the whole Christ, as great as he is. But this exposition, as it is new, so it does not appear to be literal, but symbolic. 23. MAY THE LORD BLESS THEE, — as if to say, the Israelites will come to the Church of Christ, they will pray well for you, saying: O dwelling, or beauty (for the Hebrew word נוה neve signifies both), of justice, O mountain of holiness, may the Lord bless you, that is, may he multiply your inhabitants, and adorn you with benefits. Note: Not the Lord, namely Christ, as St. Jerome, Hugo, St. Thomas wish, but the Church through Christ is said here (as Rabanus, Lyranus and Vatablus rightly noted) to be blessed, because it is the dwelling of justice, because in it are Christ and all the just: likewise faith and the Sacraments, which justify; which neither the old law, nor any other thing had. Secondly, it is said to be the mountain of holiness, that is, of all grace, virtues and perfection. Thirdly, it is said that in it there is peace and concord of farmers, shepherds, citizens and all men. These therefore are the fruits of the incarnation of Christ, or of that which he said: "A woman shall encircle a man."
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24. AND THEY SHALL DWELL IN IT, — in the mountain, that is to say, the place will be most capacious, the Church, and all men of all orders will be able to dwell in it. See Isaiah cap. LIV, 2 and following.
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25. I HAVE INEBRIATED THE WEARY SOUL, AND EVERY HUNGRY SOUL I HAVE FILLED. — "Weary," that is, thirsting and hungering for goods and earthly things, says Lyra, or rather, as St. Jerome says, for justice and salvation. "I have inebriated," that is, I will inebriate and fill with heavenly doctrine, grace and consolation. Whence in Hebrew it is, I have filled the sad soul, namely with joy, that is, I have consoled it. Whence Rabbi Elias, cited by Galatinus, book VII, chapter XIV, when asked why the Messias had delayed His coming so long, answers that before the Blessed Virgin there were not in Israel virgins from whom He might be born: for all were corrupted either by husbands or by adulterers. The Virgin Mary came therefore, that she might heal the corruption of these virgins, and might draw the bridegroom of virgins into her womb and make it pure. And this is the new thing that the Lord created in her. Let Helvidius therefore depart hence, and his followers; Herostratus, that he might procure for himself eternal fame and name, by night set fire to the most celebrated temple of Diana at Ephesus, as Valerius Maximus testifies, book VIII, chapter XV. Thus Helvidius, that he might attain the name of a new teacher, attempted to destroy by the fire of his heresy not a temple of the false Diana, but that most sacred temple of the divine Virgin, teaching that she did not remain a virgin in the conception and birth of Christ. The same do Calvin, Luther and other Novationists, who assert that two bodies cannot be in the same place, so as to penetrate each other, not even by the power of God. The sense therefore of this whole passage: "How long wilt thou be dissolved in delights, O wandering daughter? because the Lord hath created a new thing," etc., is, as if to say: It is altogether fitting that all men, renouncing all delights, concupiscences and sins, should take up a new life, cultivate chastity, and restrain and curb their loose and dissolute manner of living by Evangelical discipline; when God is about to work so great a novelty, that He will enclose His Son, made man for men, within the straits of a virgin's womb. Let the proud man restrain himself, and compress and restrict the loftiness of his mind, his pride, his anger, his envy: when God, high and immense, has confined, humbled and restricted Himself within a Virgin's womb and an infant's body. In like manner let the glutton restrain and curb his gluttony, the lustful his lust, the avaricious his thirst for gold, etc. Therefore Jeremiah gathers three things especially from the mystery of the Incarnation. First, that we ought to restrain the licentiousness of our morals with stricter discipline, since that eternal and immense God has enclosed Himself within a woman's womb for this reason; for this reason he says: "How long wilt thou be dissolved in delights, O wandering daughter?" Second, that we ought, despising all enticements, to embrace chastity and purity; since God so loved it that He willed His mother to be a virgin. Third, that we should enter upon a new manner of life in every kind of virtue; since God has wrought so great a miracle for us, that a virgin bore God made man in her womb. For the magnitude of so great a work and benefit, namely the Incarnation bestowed upon us, demands this. Finally, Alcazar in the Preface to the Apocalypse, note XIX, numbers 6 and 7, explains these words of the truth of the Eucharist, as if to say: "A woman shall compass a man," that is St. Jerome notes that God, now the people, now Jeremiah speaks by a silent name; for it is as it were a dialogue: here God speaks. 26. THEREFORE AS ONE AWAKENED OUT OF SLEEP, I HAVE BEEN RAISED UP. — It is the voice either of the people, as St. Jerome wishes, or rather, as Rabanus, Hugo, Lyra and Vatablus say, of Jeremiah, as if to say: O Lord, Thou hast awakened me as it were from heavy sleep, thinking upon the evils of the people and sad, when Thou didst gladden me with such joyful promises concerning Christ, so that henceforth sleep shall be peaceful and sweet for me. Vatablus explains it somewhat differently, as if to say: When I saw through a dream that prophecy concerning Christ coming, I awoke immediately, and the remembrance of such a dream was most pleasing to me. Isidore also explains it differently, as if the words were of Christ, as if to say: That these good things already mentioned might come to men, therefore I awoke from the sleep of death, and being raised up, I reckoned the sleep of my death brief and sweet.
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27. I WILL SOW THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL WITH THE SEED OF MEN, AND WITH THE SEED OF BEASTS. — That is, as the Chaldean paraphrase says: I will multiply Israel with men and beasts, as if to say: I will give the doctrine of Christ accommodated and suited both to men, that is, to the wise, and to beasts, that is, to the foolish; so that both the rude and the learned may be born again, nourished and grow in Christ. Thus St. Jerome. This is what the Psalmist says: "Men and beasts Thou wilt save, O Lord."
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29. THE FATHERS HAVE EATEN A SOUR GRAPE. — This is a proverb, signifying that innocent children are punished on account of the sins, not of Adam, but of others, and properly of their own parents, which was in the mouth of the Jews in captivity. For they thought themselves to be punished on account of the golden calf, adored by the fathers in the desert, and on account of other sins of the fathers, especially of Manasseh, IV Kings XXI, 11. Thus Theodoret. See the sayings at Ezech. XVIII, 2. God here refutes this proverb and promises and ordains that children shall not bear, nor pay the penalty for the sin of parents, but each one shall answer for his own. The ancients hold that this promise pertains to the New Testament, and was granted through Christ. Thus St. Augustine, lib. VI Against Julian, cap. XII; Leo, epist. 84; Gregory, XV Moral, cap. XXII; Thomas, III, Quest. LXXXI, art. 2, ad 1. Which understand allegorically, and fully and perfectly. For Christ also abolishes the sin of original guilt of Adam in Christians through baptism. For otherwise it is plain from the very course of the discourse that this is said to the Jews literally. Otherwise Vatablus explains it, as if to say: Christians will not accuse their parents, as the Jews do, but all most humbly will impute their afflictions to themselves and their own sins, saying: "My fault."
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31. A NEW COVENANT, — the New Testament. In this place the Jews are refuted, who wish the old law and Judaism not to be abrogated, but to endure forever. For, as the Apostle says, Heb. VIII, Jeremiah, by saying new, made the old obsolete. Whence also the ancient Rabbis among Galatinus teach that through the Messiah the law is to be renewed, that is, a new one is to be introduced, namely the Evangelical; and that the Messiah, in place of bodily and Mosaic circumcision, will introduce spiritual circumcision of the heart and mind, as Jeremiah here says.
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32. ON THAT DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND, — that is to say, Israel, not as a servant, but as a child leading by the hand, as a father, I brought them out of Egypt, and from this bringing forth on that day, the fiftieth day, namely at Pentecost, I gave him the law, and made a covenant, so that the Jews, mindful of so great a deliverance, would keep it exactly. AND I RULED OVER THEM, — that is to say, the Jews violated my covenant, although I offered them and promised that I would be their Lord, and, as it is in Hebrew, bridegroom and husband: for this is called among the Hebrews בעל baal: whence Vatablus translates: And I performed the office of a true bridegroom toward them. It can secondly, with St. Jerome, Rabanus, St. Thomas, Lyran, be thus translated and explained, that is to say, I as Lord punished them, and neglected them, as the Septuagint has it, which St. Paul follows, Hebrews VIII, 9. This is the first difference, says Maldonatus, which he assigns between the New Testament and the Old, namely, that the Old was made void and abolished, the New will never be abolished. The second is, that in the Old God ruled, that is, used severity: "For the law worketh wrath," Romans IV, 15, but in the New he will act benevolently with the faithful in the spirit of love: because his sons will be placated by his death. The third is, which follows: 33. THIS SHALL BE THE COVENANT, ETC., I WILL GIVE MY LAW IN THEIR BOWELS. — Note: Just as God made the old covenant and pact with the Hebrews on Sinai, Exodus XIX and XXIV, by which he bound himself to be the God and protector of the Hebrews, and to give them the land of Canaan, under this condition: If the people would obey him, and keep his laws; and that covenant was confirmed in Exodus XXIV, by the blood of victims and a common feast of those making the pact; for Moses and Aaron in place of God, with the people ate from the federal victim: for Moses was here as it were the herald, and mediator of God and the people; in like manner and way God made the new covenant with Christians, whose herald and pater patriatus is Christ, by which covenant God throughout the Gospel binds himself to give Christians his grace, remission of sins, friendship, adoption as sons, all help and protection for acting well and living, and finally the very inheritance of eternal life, under this condition: If they obey him, if they receive and observe the faith of Christ and his law, which is brief and easy, namely of faith and the Sacraments. Hence it is called new; because it brings new promises, precepts, Sacraments, new grace, new life, a new man. Note secondly: This new covenant Christ, as he instituted it, so also confirmed it, first and properly, by his blood, making himself a victim on the cross; secondly, by the feast of the Eucharist, which he communicates to all until the end of the world. Not therefore on the mountain alone in that long discourse, which Matthew has, chapter V, VI, VII, as Theodoret wishes, but throughout his whole life, and in the whole Gospel Christ instituted this covenant: where those making the pact are God and the Apostles, and other Christians: Christ is the herald. Note thirdly: Just as the old covenant on Mount Sinai at Pentecost, so the new on Sion at Pentecost was promulgated: and just as in the Old the law of Moses was given on tablets of stone, as it were the condition of the covenant; so in the New the law of Christ was given, but on the tablets of the heart: that written with a stylus, this with the spirit of the living God; because through Christ grace and charity have been poured out in our hearts, namely in our free will, through preventing, accompanying and sanctifying grace: therefore free will is not taken away here, as Calvin wishes, but is altogether presupposed in the free voice; and because, as I said, this covenant, like any other whatsoever, requires a condition on our part, namely that we freely obey God calling, and cooperate with his grace, pursue justice, and persevere in it, if we wish to attain the heavenly inheritance. Just as therefore Moses came down from Sinai to the people, bearing the tablets of the law, so the Apostles came down from Sion bearing in mind the Holy Spirit, and its dogmas and gifts, and proposed and communicated them to all nations. Thirdly, St. Jerome thus explains it, that is to say, One man will not teach his neighbor, that there is one God, that idols are not to be worshipped: for all will know this in the new law; whereas in the Old, Gentiles, and even Jews often, worshipped idols. Fourthly, St. Thomas explains it, that is to say, In the new law the Jews will not seek Jewish or philosophical masters, nor philosophical reasons, in order to come to the knowledge of God; but they will go to Holy Scripture, the Apostles, and similar divine doctors and preachers. Fifth, St. Chrysostom, Theophylactus, Œcumenius, in chapter VIII to the Hebrews, St. Augustine, On the Grace of Christ, chapter XII, explain it, that is to say: There will be such ease and grace of the law of the Gospel, that there will be no need of great labor to learn what is necessary for salvation; so much so that even children, as we see, immediately grasp it: because the precepts will be few, and there will be added the great illumination of God the teacher. And this is chiefly what Jeremiah wishes to say, namely that there will be such great illumination of the Holy Spirit in the new law, and such an obvious impulse of it toward believing, hoping, and loving, that external preaching of faith, compared to that internal voice of the Holy Spirit, appears to be little and as it were nothing; for it is plain that the external is also required: because for this God placed pastors and teachers in the Church, Ephesians IV, 11. A similar passage is I John chapter II, 27, where see St. Augustine. Note: "They shall know," that is, they shall properly know, and shall reverence what is known, shall fear and love it. It is a metalepsis. Wherefore St. Jerome rightly says here: "Knowledge of the one God is the possession of all virtues." Again Aeschylus: "He who knows what is fruitful, not he who knows much, is wise." And Lactantius, book II of the Institutes: "The common people sometimes know more: because they know only as much as is necessary." And Seneca, epistle 89: "To wish to know more than is sufficient is a kind of intemperance." Note here four goods which God promises in the New Testament: for He promises first, that He will give and inscribe His law in our hearts; second, that He will be to us a God, and we shall be to Him a people; third, that all shall know the Lord; fourth, that He will be merciful to our sins. I WILL GIVE. — Note: The thing which God promised to us in His new covenant and testament is the Holy Spirit, or the law of grace and charity, breathed into and inscribed upon the mind. Whence St. Augustine, On the Spirit and the Letter, chapter XXI: "What," he says, "are these other laws written by God in hearts, except the very presence of the Holy Spirit?" On the contrary, in the old covenant the law written on tablets was not the thing promised, but a condition of the covenant. Where, however, observe: God does not inscribe the Holy Spirit in the heart and mind by Himself alone, as He alone inscribed the old law on tablets of stone; but He requires the consent and cooperation of free will, and this is a condition of both the new and the old covenant. God therefore now inscribes His law and counsels, not in books or tablets, or on fringes, as formerly among the Jews, but in the very mind and intellect of Christians, when He impresses upon them faith and prudence in their actions, and frequent illuminations and illustrations, by which He shows to the mind how beautiful is the law of Christ, how useful, divine, sweet, how shameful is sin, how easy is penance, how pleasant is a pious and Christian life. Second, He inscribes these in the memory; when He impresses upon man and refreshes the memory of these things. Third, He inscribes these in the heart and will, when He infuses into them pious affections toward the law of God, complacencies, impulses, readiness, and finally charity, so that the will says: "Lord, give what Thou commandest, and command what Thou wilt." Thus St. Augustine, On the Spirit and the Letter, chapter XVII and following.
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34. NO MAN SHALL TEACH HIS NEIGHBOR. — Not as if the spirit of each private person were the judge of controversies of faith and the rule of actions: for this cannot be seen and known by others; and each one will say he has it, and thus there would be the greatest confusion and dissension in the Church, as we experience daily more and more among the Lutherans and Calvinists, indeed among the Calvinists themselves in Holland and elsewhere. This spirit, therefore, is not of God, but of the devil; inasmuch as it is contrary to itself, tears apart and lacerates the Church which is one, and makes of one Church a thousand, mutually contrary and repugnant to each other. First, therefore, St. Augustine, On the Spirit and the Letter, chapter XXIV, explains it thus, that is to say: In heaven no one will teach another, because all will see all things in God. But the Prophet speaks of the grace of the New Testament, which is given to the faithful in this life, not in heaven. Second, St. Ambrose in chapter VIII to the Hebrews thinks that Jeremiah speaks of the Apostles: for these were instructed not by man, but by Christ and by God. But this too is too narrow.
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35. WHO GIVETH THE SUN FOR A LIGHT (for a light, that is, light, that is, for illumination) OF THE DAY, THE ORDER OF THE MOON AND THE STARS FOR A LIGHT OF THE NIGHT, — that is to say: God who ordained the moon and stars, that they move and rise in a certain order and law, so that they illuminate the night. WHO TROUBLETH THE SEA, — who causes the sea to roar, so that it is tumultuous with waves. In Hebrew it is, who splits or cleaves the sea: for it appears to be split by waves. Otherwise Vatablus: Who divided, he says, the Red Sea, so that, under the leadership of Moses, the Hebrews crossed over, and the Egyptians were drowned, Exodus XIV: God, I say, says and promises what follows:
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36. IF THESE LAWS SHALL FAIL, — namely of nature, such as the fixed course of the sun, moon and the agitation of the sea, its waves and tides, as if to say: If I preserve constant order in natural things, much more so in supernatural things; and sooner and Vilalpando, On the City and Temple, part I, book I, chapter IX. The Valley of Cadavers is the valley where the Assyrians were slain by the Angel in the time of Sennacherib, and their bodies lay prostrate there, IV Kings XIX. Thus the Chaldean. Or rather, Adrichomius and Vilalpando above: The Valley of Cadavers is that which is situated between Golgotha, or the Mount of Calvary, and the walls of Jerusalem, so called because there were cast the bodies, bones and ashes of those who had been put to death or burned at Golgotha. Whence also the cross of Christ and the bodies of the thieves crucified with Him, cast down into this valley, were afterwards covered with the filth of the city. For which reason St. Helena labored to dig up and find the cross there. The Valley of Ashes (for thus it should be read with the Romans, not ashes, as the Plantin Bible and others read it), was that into which were cast the ashes of the altar and of the victims, as Theodoret and Vilalpando say; which appears to have been the valley of Cedron, namely beside the torrent of Cedron, and beside Sion and the temple: for it surrounded the temple like a ditch, says Adrichomius. The whole region of death, that is Golgotha, and places near to it, which were places of punishment, say Maldonatus and Vilalpando (the Hebrew interpreter reads it separately in this manner, שדי מות sede mavet; now they read it as a single word, שדמות sedemot, that is all the plains) as far as the torrent of Cedron. The Gate of Horses was the gate of the fountain and waters between Sion and Moria, situated in the chasm of Mello toward the East. It was called the gate of the fountain and waters, because it opened access to the waters and fountain of Siloe; it was called the gate of Horses, either because near it was the stable of the king, as Vilalpando says, or, as Adrichomius holds, because horses were led through it for watering into the torrent of Cedron. This gate also led into the valley of Gehennom. All these places therefore are near Jerusalem; by which Jeremiah signifies here that Jerusalem is to be enlarged. these shall perish, than the seed of Israel, that is the faithful people, and the Christian Church, should fail. 37. IF IT BE MEASURED, — as if to say: Just as no man can comprehend the height and magnitude of the heavens, or penetrate the depth of the earth, so it shall never come to pass that I cast off all Israel because of their iniquities which they have committed; but rather because of Christ, already the Apostles, and some others from Israel, and at the end of the world all Israelites I shall restore to myself and to salvation and the Church. 38. FROM THE TOWER OF HANANEEL (as if to say: The city of Jerusalem shall be built after the return from Babylon, from the tower of Hananeel, of which Esdras, book II, chapter III, 1) UNTO THE GATE OF THE CORNER. — That was the gate of Benjamin, which was called the corner gate, because it was at the corner of the city. Thus Theodoret and St. Thomas. But it is evident from Esdras and Josephus that that rebuilding was meager, and did not include those places which follow: whence the Jews expect the Messiah, who shall perfect it. Secondly, Lyra thus explains it, as if to say: The Emperor Adrian shall rebuild Jerusalem, the Jews being expelled, and Christians admitted, and shall enclose Gareb and Goatha, that is the Mount of Calvary, within the walls of the city, as the author of On the Places of Hebrew in the Acts of the Apostles, which is found in vol. III, St. Jerome and St. Gregory, homily 39 on the Gospel, testify that Adrian actually did. Indeed, now that the Mount of Calvary is situated in the very middle almost of the city of Jerusalem, a certain R. P. John Marietus assured me at Rome, who a few years ago traversed Judea and the neighboring regions. The same thing is to be seen in the chorography of the Holy Land and modern Jerusalem, which Bernardinus Amicus, a Franciscan, published at Rome. Note therefore first, that Jeremiah here describes symbolically the restoration of captivity and the enlargement of Jerusalem; whence he says: "It shall go forth beyond the measure" (thus the Roman edition), as if to say: The measuring line by which streets and buildings to be constructed are usually measured, shall be extended beyond the usual, so that the city may become larger. Secondly, Gareb is a hill which is situated near Jerusalem toward the North; thus from St. Jerome Adrichomius: Goatha is Golgotha, where Christ, as if a criminal and a blasphemer, was crucified. Thus Adrichomius. Thirdly, he does not understand these things of Jerusalem itself, as is evident from what has been said at the beginning of the chapter, and from verses 15, 22, 31, especially because Jerusalem with its temple was laid waste by Titus and by Adrian, and shall remain desolate until the end of the world, as Daniel predicted, chapter IX, 26 and 27. Under Jerusalem therefore, and its neighboring places, is understood the Christian Church, of which that was a type; for he has treated of the Church throughout this whole chapter, as if to say: On all sides toward all nations. the Church will be enlarged, and will be like a very broad city, just as if Jerusalem were enlarged, so that it would embrace within its walls Gareb, Goatha, and all the fields as far as the Cedron, namely the valley of corpses, the valley of ashes and the entire region which was called the valley of death. Which place, although it was formerly defiled and devoted to impious religion, nevertheless in the new structure of the Church, equally as its other parts, will be called "The Holiness of the Lord," in Hebrew, holiness to the Lord, that is a holy thing, and as it were a holy temple consecrated to the Lord, which will never be destroyed, but will stand perpetually. Thus concerning the Church, as concerning the streets and places of Jerusalem, speak Zechariah, chapter XIV, 10, and Isaiah, chapter LIV, 11. Lyra, to wit that it will be called the Holiness of the Lord, expounds it of the sepulchre of Christ, which even now remains in honour as a holy place. But this is too narrow, yet among other things the Prophet alludes to this. For the mount of Calvary, and thereon the sepulchre of Christ, are adorned and enclosed in a magnificent temple by Helena, the mother of Constantine. Whence to this temple the faithful journey from the whole world for the sake of religion, and in it all the Christians of Jerusalem desired to be buried. There remain therein the sepulchres of Godfrey of Bouillon, who recovered the Holy Land, and was the first of the Christians to be crowned king of Jerusalem, and of his brother Baldwin, who succeeded Godfrey in the kingdom, and his epitaph is still read there, carved in marble in capital letters, as Bernardinus Amicus relates in the Description of the Holy Land and Modern Jerusalem, printed at Rome in the year of Christ 1609. King Baldwin, another Judas Maccabaeus, Hope of the fatherland, strength of the Church, virtue of both, Whom they feared, to whom they brought tribute, Cedar, Egypt, Dan, and murderous Damascus, Alas! in this small tomb is enclosed. Fourth, St. Jerome, Rabanus, St. Thomas and Hugh wish these names to be taken appellatively, that is to say the Church will be built from the tower of Hananeel, that is obedience, or the grace of God, that is from the Apostles full of the Holy Spirit, as far as the gate of the corner, that is as far as the conjunction of Jews and Gentiles; upon the hill of Gareb, that is of scab, so that namely it may embrace sinners infected with the scab of sin, and "it will go round Goatha," that is its lowing, so that namely it may embrace the penitent lowing on account of contrition: "and all the valley of corpses," that is all the faithful given over to the flesh; "and of ashes," that is those who converted from flesh to spirit, sprinkle ashes upon their head, "and all the region of death" of sinners, which extends "as far as the torrent of Cedron," that is of darkness, and as far as "the corner of the gate of horses toward the east," so that namely it may embrace those who like horses contend, and run toward difficult things, that is to say the Church will embrace all the faithful, both sinners and penitents, and the just and the perfect. See St. Jerome. But this interpretation is rather mystical than literal. Finally, if anyone wishes to satisfy a Jew stubbornly insisting that all these things are to be taken literally as they sound concerning earthly Jerusalem, let him plainly concede that it is so; but let him add that this same thing will be fulfilled at the end of the world a little before the second coming of the Messiah or Christ to judgment. Thus Thomas Malvenda, book XI On Antichrist, IX, takes these as they sound concerning earthly Jerusalem, and thinks that it is to be rebuilt by the Jews at the time of Antichrist with such amplitude that it may reach all these boundaries which Jeremiah assigns. Where note, that by this reasoning and response it is possible to satisfy many of the arguments of the Jews, if namely we say that the prophecies from the Scriptures promising the restoration of Israel, the restoration of Jerusalem, the redemption and salvation of the Jews, are to be understood and fulfilled as they sound in the second coming of the Messiah, that is of Christ, which the Jews think will be the first, because they deny that Christ has come. In this therefore all their error and dissension from Christians consists, in that they deny the first coming of Christ, and think his second coming will be the first, and therefore they expound the Scriptures speaking of the second coming of Christ as concerning the first; because they deny the first, and think that Christ has not yet come to earth. Moreover, that the Prophets speak of the second coming of Christ is clear from the circumstances, which signify that they are speaking of the end of the world, judgment, resurrection, etc.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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Hic consolatur eos ex promissione prosperitatis: et circa hoc duo facit. Primo promittit prosperitatem gentis; secundo ampliationem civitatis, ibi, ecce dies veniunt et cetera. Prima in tres. In prima consolatur decem tribus; in secunda duas, ibi, haec dicit dominus, etc., in tertia utrasque, ibi, ecce dies venient, et cetera. Prima in duas. In prima ponitur destructi populi restauratio; in secunda restaurationis ordo, ibi, quia haec dicit dominus: exultate in laetitia Jacob. Circa primum tria. Primo promittit eis restaurationem ad religionis cultum: in tempore illo, vel post reditum de Babylone, universis, quantum ad illos de decem tribubus, qui duabus adhaeserunt; vel quantum ad omnes, quia omnis Israel salvus fiet, postquam plenitudo gentium introjerit: ad Rom. 11. Apoc. 20: ipsi populus ejus erunt, et ipse Deus cum eis erit eorum Deus.
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Secundo promittit restaurationem ad nativitatis locum, promittens revocationis beneficium: populus qui remanserat a gladio, Babylonis, in deserto, in terra captivitatis, in qua a Deo deserti videbuntur, per quam purgati ad terram suam redierunt, sicut per desertum ad terram promissionis quondam, invenit gratiam, idest hanc misericordiam apud Deum, quod vadet ad requiem, idest ad terram suam, in qua pacifice requiescet: quod potest mystice exponi quantum ad pacem quam tempore Simonis Machabaei habuerunt: 1 Mach. 14. Isa. 13: sedebit populus meus in pulchritudine pacis, et in tabernaculis fiduciae, et in requie opulenta. Determinans revocationis tempus: longe, antequam futurum fit, apparuit, revelans futuram liberationem. Supra 28: confringam jugum Nabuchodonosor regis Babylonis post duos annos dierum de collo omnium gentium. Habac. 2: adhuc visus procul, et apparebit in finem, et non mentietur.
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Et ostendens revocantis affectum: in caritate perpetua dilexi te, quasi dicat: non ad tempus, sed in perpetuum tibi bona largitus est, attraxit, ad locum tuum, miserans, misericordiam exterius beneficio complens. Oseae 11: in funiculis Adam traham eos, in vinculis caritatis. Supra 2: recordatus sum tui, miserans adolescentiam tuam, et caritatem desponsationis tuae. Tertio promittit revocationem ad prosperitatis statum: et primo promittit prosperitatem quantum ad reparationem gentis: rursumque aedificabo, secundum metaphoram qua dicitur domus Israel. Supra 24: aedificabo eos, et non destruam; plantabo eos, et non evellam.
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Quantum ad jucunditatem cordis: virgo Israel, ornaberis tympanis tuis, idest ornata incedes ludens ad tactum tympani. Isa. 30: laetitia cordis, sicut qui pergit cum tibia, ut intret in montem domini ad fortem Israel.
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Et quantum ad tranquillitatem pacis: adhuc plantabis vineas in montibus Samariae, propter tres civitates quae additae sunt Judaeis: 1 Mach. 10: plantabunt donec tempus veniat; quasi dicat: propter timorem hostium non praeoccupabunt tempus vindemiae. Isa. 65: plantabunt vineas, et comedent fructus earum. Secundo assignat prosperitatis rationem: quia erit dies; in quo significatur reversio ad cultum Dei, ad quem mutuo se exhortantur. In Sion, et non in Bethel ad vitulos Jeroboam: 3 Reg. 12. Et Isa. 2: venite, ascendamus ad montem domini, et ad domum Dei Jacob; et docebit nos vias, et ambulabimus in semitis ejus.
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Hic prosequitur operationis ordinem: et circa hoc duo. Primo inducit eos ad exultationem: exultate in laetitia. Psal. 80: exultate Deo adjutori nostro, jubilate Deo Jacob. Ad quam exultationem exprimendam indicit hostium insultationem: et hinnite, insultantes, contra caput gentium, idest regem Babyloniae, vel Assyriorum, qui captivavit vos. Habac. 2. Numquid non repente consurgent qui mordeant te, et suscitabuntur lacerantes te, et eris in rapinam eis? Et etiam divinam laudem, personate, in Psalteriis, et hujusmodi.
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Secundo ponit liberationis ordinem: ecce ego adducam eos, describens reversionis terminum a quo, de terra Aquilonis, et revertentium caetum, inter quos; quasi dicat: nullus vel aliqua corporis infirmitate a reditu impedietur; hoc quia securi venient. Isa. 35: erit saliens sicut cervus claudus. Et etiam reversionis modum, in fletu: quidam propter laetitiam reversionis, et quidam videntes terrae vastitatem. 1 Esdr. 3: nec poterat quisque cognoscere vocem clamoris laetantium, et vocem fletus populi.
31:9
Et in misericordia reducam eos, a rubore mentis. Isa. 54: in miserationibus magnis congregabo te. Per torrentes aquarum, per quas navigantes faciliter vadunt, et juxta eos sunt viae bonae; in quo excluditur labor itineris, et taedium. Prov. 3: ambulabis fiducialiter in via tua, et pes tuus non impinget. Tertio assignat rationem ex paterno affectu, quo ad eos movetur: quia factus sum pater: unde sicut pater non possum dimittere quin eorum miserear. Inter omnes enim populos primogenitus Israel. Exod. 4: filiis autem Joseph data sunt primogenita, sicut dicitur 1 Paral. 5, in quo Ephraim Manassi praelatus est: Gen. 48: unde relinquitur Ephraim primogenitum esse.
31:11
Hic ponitur divulgatio liberationis. Et primo excitat gentes ad attentionem. Audite, ut omnes in ipso confidant qui taliter liberare potest. Isa. 49: audite insulae, et attendite populi de longe. Secundo praenuntiat populi liberationem, non impediente divina indignatione, quia qui dispergit Israel congregabit eum. Isa. 40: sicut pastor gregem suum pascet in brachio suo congregabit agnos, et in sinu suo levabit, fetas ipse portabit. Nec impediente detinentium potestate: redemit, quondam ab Aegyptiis, et de manu potentioris, scilicet Chaldaei. Psal. 71: liberavit pauperem a potente, et pauperem cui non erat adjutor. Tertio promittit liberatis prosperitatem: et primo quantum ad omnes promittit religionis debitam observantiam: in monte Sion, non in Bethel ad vitulos. Isa. 51: qui redempti sunt a domino revertentur, et venient in Sion laudantes, et laetitia sempiterna super capita eorum. Et temporalium bonorum affluentiam, ponens bonorum fertilitatem quantum ad terrae nascentia quae in cibum nostrum producuntur, et condiuntur, quantum ad animalia. Et confluent, et laudabunt, Deum, super frumento et vino. Genes. 27: frumento, vino, et oleo stabilivi eum.
31:12
Et possidentium satietatem: eritque anima eorum quasi hortus irriguus, qui pluviam non expectat. Hoc potest intelligi de bonis spiritualibus collatis per Christum; quod nunc ex parte, in futuro ex toto complebitur. Apoc. 7: non esurient, neque sitient amplius, neque cadet super illos sol, neque ullus aestus. Et cordis laetitiam, quantum ad signa laetitiae: laetabitur virgo. Supra 30: egredietur de eis laus, voxque ludentium, et multiplicabo eos et cetera.
31:13
Et quantum ad cessationem tristitiae: convertam luctum eorum in gaudium. Tob. 3: post tempestatem tranquillum facis, et post lacrymationem et fletum, exultationem infundis. Secundo specialiter quantum ad sacerdotes: inebriabo, idest abundanter satiabo, pinguedine, abundantia oblationum et sacrificiorum, et populus adimplebitur, ut Deo offerre possit. Hoc autem spiritualiter intelligitur de pinguedine devotionis. Psal. 62: sicut adipe et pinguedine repleatur anima mea, et labiis exultationis laudabit os meum.
31:15
Hic ponitur gentium consolatio. Et primo inducit matris fletum: Rachel, quae fuit mater Joseph, plorantis, destructionem filiorum suorum. Figurative loquitur, secundum quod dicitur hyperbolice, in parentes mortuos tristitiam redundare de filiorum adversitate. Vel quia in Romana captivitate juxta sepulcrum Rachelis Judaei captivi ducti sunt, et venditi. Vel quia figurative dicitur plorare pueros juxta se occisos, cum ipsa juxta Bethleem sepulta sit, sicut habetur Gen. 35, lamentationis, quae fit verbis dolorem exprimentibus, fletus, quantum ad emissionem lacrymarum, luctus, quantum ad quamdam observantiam in expressione doloris, sicut fit in mutatione vestium, et hujusmodi. Supra 3: vox in viis audita est, ploratus, et ululatus filiorum Israel: quoniam iniquam fecerunt viam suam, obliti sunt domini Dei sui. Excludit consolationis remedium: et nolentis consolari super eis, quia non sunt, reversi cum aliis, quia ad nihilum redacti sunt. Oseae 13: consolatio abscondita est ab oculis meis, quia ipse inter fratres dividet.
31:16
Secundo impendit consolationis remedium: haec dicit dominus: quiescat vox, quantum ad lamentationem, oculi, quantum ad fletum. Apoc. 21: absterget Deus omnem lacrymam ab oculis sanctorum: et mors ultra non erit, neque luctus, neque clamor, neque dolor erit ultra: quia prima abierunt. Tertio promittit liberationis beneficium: et primo quantum ad terminum a quo, quia merces, in quo ostenditur per meritum sanctorum patrum eos liberatos. Inimici, Chaldaei. Isa. 40: ecce merces ejus cum eo, et opus illius coram illo.
31:17
Secundo quantum ad terminum ad quem: et est spes novissimis ad significandum quod in novissimis temporibus revertentur ad veram fidem, et forte etiam ad terram suam mortuo Antichristo. Proverb. 10: expectatio justorum laetitia, spes autem impiorum peribit.
31:18
Hic ponitur poenitentium susceptio, cui praemittitur confessionis cognitio, audiens audiri, idest misericorditer exaudivi. Exod. 3: videns vidi afflictionem populi mei qui est in Aegypto, et clamorem ejus audivi. Et subditur confessio: castigasti me, domine, et eruditus sum quasi juvenculus, qui difficile corripitur, et multis verberibus. Isa. 28: sola vexatio intellectum dabit auditui. Secundo ponitur petitio: converte me, et convertar. Thren. ult.: converte nos, domine, ad te, et convertemur: innova dies nostros sicut a principio. Tertio assignatur petitionis ratio ex poenitentia quam inchoavit.
31:19
Unde primo ponit poenam: postquam enim convertisti, infundendo gratiam, postquam ostendisti, flagellis peccata, percussi femur meum, interiorem dolorem exteriori percussione designans, ad modum hominis dolentis. Vel percussi femur, voluptates carnales reprimendo. Job ult.: auditu auris audivi te, nunc autem oculus meus videt te. Secundo poenitentiam, quia ex poena quam sustinuit peccatum recognoscens, confusionem passus est, quae signum poenitentiae fuit: confusus sum, interius, erubui, exterius, quoniam sustinui opprobrium, idest poenam, et confusionem pro peccatis adolescentiae meae. Et nominat adolescentiam, tempus ante conversionem; quasi dicat, quod ex ignorantia peccavit. Job 13: scribis contra me amaritudinem, et consumere me vis peccatis adolescentiae meae.
31:20
Hic suscipit poenitentem. Et primo ponitur divina miseratio; secundo poenitentis instructio, ibi, statue tibi speculam; tertio ipsius revocatio, ibi, revertere virgo Israel. Circa primum duo. Primo ponit misericordiae rationem ex parte populi: si filius honorabilis mihi Ephraim; quasi dicat: numquid non filius honorabilis? Propter jus primogeniturae: si puer delicatus, propter teneritudinem aetatis, quia Joseph quasi minimus filiorum Jacob, et Ephraim minor filiorum Joseph. Et haec duo provocant patres magis ad miserandum. Oseae 11: puer Israel, et dilexi eum, et ex Aegypto vocavi filium meum. Ponit etiam rationem ex parte Dei: quia ex quo locutus sum; quasi dicat: non decet ut verba Dei irritentur: recordabor, verborum. Num. 23: dixit, et non faciet, locutusque est, et non implebit? Secundo ostendit miserationem: idcirco conturbata sunt viscera mea, antropospatos, in quo interior compassio, miserans, in quo exterior subventio. Oseae 11: conversum est in me cor meum, pariter conturbata est poenitudo mea.
31:21
Hic ponitur poenitentis instructio: statue tibi speculam, ut consideres prospera quae nuntiatur vel viam per quam redeas, amaritudines, solicitudinem de reditu. Dirige, considera viam per quam venisti ut per eam redeas: vel melius speculum contemplationis. Amaritudines, pro peccatis praeteritis. In viam rectam, idest in viam justitiae, per quam patres tui ambulaverunt. Apoc. 2: memor esto unde excideris, et age poenitentiam, et prima opera fac.
31:22
Hic ponitur revocatio ipsorum in terram suam: et primo ponitur revocatio: revertere (...) usquequo deliciis dissolveris filia vaga? Hoc dicitur quantum ad illos qui absorpti deliciis Chaldaeorum, in terram promissionis reverti nolebant, qui recte propter mollitiem mulieres vocantur. Supra 3: tu autem fornicata es cum amatoribus multis; tamen revertere ad me, dicit dominus, et ego suscipiam te. Secundo ponitur revocationis ratio ex Christi incarnatione, quae omnes inducere debet ut a deliciis recedant: quia creavit dominus novum super terram; quia sola divina virtute agente, conceptio illa facta est. Femina, propter fragilis sexus conditionem, circumdabit, in utero suo, virum, Christum ab initio conceptionis suae perfectum in scientia et gratiam. Unde ad terram in qua novum hoc evenire debet, debetis properare, Ephes. 4: induite novum hominem qui secundum Deum creatus est, in justitia et sanctitate veritatis. Zach. 6: ecce vir, oriens nomen ejus: et subter eum orietur; et aedificabit templum domino.
31:23
Hic ponitur consolatio specialiter ad duas tribus: et primo ponitur laeta Annuntiatio, quia annuntiat religionis sanctitatem: adhuc dicent, dominum, et templum ipsius laudantes, non idola: pulchritudo justitiae, mons sanctus, idest mons Sion: ex eo enim doctrina legis, et judicium in totum regnum diffundebatur, propter sacerdotes, et reges, qui ibi morabantur. Psalm. 144: magnus dominus, et laudabilis nimis, et magnitudinis ejus non est finis. Vel mons, idest Christus. Dan. 2: lapis excisus de monte. Promittit etiam pacis securitatem, et habitabunt. Isa. 62: non vocaberis ultra derelicta, et terra tua non vocabitur amplius desolata; sed vocaberis voluntas mea in ea, et terra tua inhabitabitur.
31:25
Promittit etiam bonorum ubertatem: quia inebriavi, abunde replevi, animam lassam, pristinis tribulationibus. Psal. 106: quia satiavit animam inanem, et animam esurientem satiavit bonis.
31:26
Secundo ponitur annuntiantis exultatio: ideo quasi de somno suscitatus sum, divina scilicet revelatione, dulcis, propter visam prosperitatem. Possunt etiam esse verba populi, et somnus significat praecedentem miseriam, dulcis, inquantum misericordiam consequitur. Psalm. 3: ego dormivi, et soporatus, sum, et exsurrexi, quia dominus suscepit me. Eccl. 5: dulcis est somnus operanti, sive parum, sive multum comedat.
31:29
Hic consolatur communiter utrosque. Et primo ponitur promissio; secundo promissionis confirmatio, ibi, haec dicit dominus et cetera. Circa primum duo. Primo promittit bona temporalia, quantum ad hominum: et jumentorum multiplicationem, seminabo, quasi seminando multiplicabo. Zach. 2: absque muro habitabitur Jerusalem prae multitudine hominum, et jumentorum in medio ejus. Quantum ad destructorum reparationem: sic vigilavi, diligenter explevi quae comminatus fueram, ut evellerem, tollendo omne praesidium, in quo sicut in radice firmabantur, demolirer, idest destruerem, quantum ad occisionem hominum, et desolationem civitatum, dissiparem, sepem auxilii humani et angelici, auferendo, disperderem, captivitatem in diversa loca, affligerem, gravi onere servitutis captivatos. Zach. 8: sicut cogitavi ut affligerem vos cum ad iracundiam provocassent patres vestri me, dicit dominus, et non sum misertus; sic conversus cogitavi in diebus istis ut benefaciam domui Juda, et Jerusalem. Et quantum ad poenae immunitatem pro peccatis patrum: in diebus illis. Ezech. 18: quid est quod inter vos parabolam vertitis in proverbium istud in terra Israel dicentes: patres comederunt uvam acerbam, et dentes filiorum obstupuerunt?
31:31
Secundo promittit bona spiritualia: ecce dies venient: et primo promittit foederis innovationem: dies, scilicet gratiae, foedus novum, novum testamentum, hoc est Evangelium. Dominatus, crudeliter, et potestative ulciscendo. Isa. 55: feriam vobiscum pactum sempiternum, misericordias David fideles. Secundo ponit pacti tenorem: sed hoc erit pactum (...) dabo legem meam, Evangelium, in visceribus, non in tabulis lapideis. Oseae 2: ducam eam in solitudinem, et loquar ad cor ejus.
31:33
Tertio ponit pacti utilitatem primo quantum ad obedientiam: et ero eis in Deum. Ezech. 36, idem.
31:34
Secundo quantum ad sapientiam: et non docebit ultra vir proximum suum; in quo excludit docendi necessitatem. Et hoc quidem impletur in praesenti tempore, quantum ad hoc quod non per prophetiae rationes, et humanas inventiones in divinam veritatem venimus, neque etiam per Judaicas traditiones, sed in futuro ex toto complebitur. Matth. 23: nolite vocari Rabbi: unus est enim magister vester. Et assignat rationem: omnes enim cognoscent me. Isa. 54: ponam omnes filios tuos doctos a domino, et multitudinem pacis filiis tuis. Joan. 15: omnia quaecumque audivi a patre meo, nota feci vobis. Tertio quantum ad peccatorum munditiam: quia propitiabor iniquitati eorum. Psalm. 102: qui propitiatur omnibus iniquitatibus tuis, qui sanat omnes infirmitates tuas.
31:36
Hic ponitur promissionis confirmatio: et primo confirmat ex creaturarum immutabilitate, proponens promittentis potestatem: qui dat solem in lumine diei. Psal. 135: qui fecit luminaria magna, solem in potestatem diei, lunam et stellas in potestatem noctis. Quasi dicat: qui haec fecit immobilia, etiam promissionem suam firmare potest. Et comparationem: si defecerint leges istae, quasi dicat: sicut non deficient usque ad finem mundi, ita nec semen Israel quantum ad illos qui salvantur. Isa. ult.: sicut caeli novi, et terra nova, quae ego facio stare coram me, dicit dominus Deus, sic stabit semen vestrum, et nomen vestrum. Secundo ex creaturarum immensitate: haec dicit dominus.
31:37
Et primo proponit mensurandi impossibilitatem: si mensurari poterunt caeli sursum, humano ingenio. Isa. 40: quis mensus est pugillo aquas, et caelos palmo ponderavit? Secundo proponit promissionem. Et ego abjiciam; quasi dicat: sicut illud est impossibile, ita et istud: universum semen, quia aliquos ex eis abjecit. Thren. 3: non enim humiliavit ex corde, suo, et abjecit filios hominum.
31:38
Hic promittitur urbis reparatio: et primo promittitur reaedificatio: et aedificabitur. Isa. 44: qui dico: Jerusalem, habitaberis; et civitatibus Juda, aedificabimini; et deserta ejus suscitabo. Secundo ponitur ampliatio: a turre Hanameel; quam quidam dicebant esse in Anathoth, quod Hieronymus in Glossa excludit: usque ad portam anguli, ubi duo muri conjungebantur, ultra normam, pristinam, super collem Gareb, qui interpretatur scabies, ubi forte leprosi extra urbem morabantur, Goatha, qui interpretatur gens peccatrix, ubi morabantur illi qui pro aliquo peccato immundi erant, vallem cadaverum, ubi erant populi sepulcra, cineris, ubi projiciebantur cineres mundi, sicut de sacrificiis; vel immundi, sicut de domibus leprosorum, et hujusmodi, mortis, ubi malefactores occidebantur, usque ad angulum portae equorum Orientalis: non enim undique poterant equi ascendere propter montis asperitatem. Isa. 54: dilata locum tentorii tui, et pelles tabernaculorum tuorum extende.
31:40
Tertio ponitur duratio: sanctum domini non evelletur, idest sanctuarium, scilicet templum, vel tota civitas, quae domino sanctificata erat. Supra 3: vocabunt Jerusalem, solium domini et congregabuntur ad eam omnes gentes in nomine domini in Jerusalem. Isa. 33: tabernaculum quod nequaquam transferri poterit, nec auferentur clavi ejus in sempiternum, et omnes funiculi ejus non rumpentur. Judaei exponunt hoc de aurea Jerusalem, quod Hieronymus improbat in Glossa, et exponit de Ecclesia quae in se et perfectos et imperfectos et peccatores colligit, qui significantur per loca immunda extra civitatem. Potest etiam aliter dici, id impletum fuisse sub Esdra: unde habetur Nehemiae 3: quia inceperunt aedificare Hanameel, et ad litteram, forte aliquod spatium civitati addiderunt. Quod dicitur in perpetuum manere, intelligitur, si non peccaverint. Supra cap. 18: si fecerit malum in oculis meis ut non audiat vocem meam, poenitentiam agam super bono quod locutus sum ut facerem ei.
31:4
Jeremias (Hebrew Yirmeyāh[â] = "Yahweh Exalts or Establishes")
… Pathetic allusions to the beauty of family life (cf. Jer. 6, 11; 9, 20; 16, 9; 25, 10; 31, 4-5, 20; 48, 33) and the psychological struggle provoked in him by the prophetic vocation give us a glimpse of his gentle soul, averse to easy enthusiasms. …
31:6
… Accurate determinations are found in the Bikkūrim tractate of the Mishnah concerning the material of the basket and the arrangement of the first fruits in it. Ordinarily groups were formed; the leader of the company gave the signal for departure by reciting Jer. 31:6; along the way Ps. 122 (121) was recited; at the entrance of the Temple, each one took his basket and carried it inside singing Ps. 150, to which the Levites responded with Ps. 30 (29). …
31:9
… Firstborn were the object of the greatest affection (cf. Gen. 22:2, 12, 16; Ios. 6:26; II Reg. 3:27; Zach. 12:10). God therefore calls Israel "his firstborn" (Ex. 4:22 ff.; Eccli. 36:14; cf. Ier. 31:9). And "beloved son" (Lk. 20:13: ἀγαπητός) is equivalent to only son (Mc. 12:6: cf. M.-J. …
31:10
… Israel; it is sung on Holy Saturday morning after the fifth prophecy. - 10. Hezekiah, prodigiously freed from a mortal illness (Is. 38, 10-20: Tuesday II) poetically sets forth the anguish of extreme peril and the joy of sudden recovery. - 11. Jeremiah (Jer. 31, 10-24: Thursday I), comforted by God with the vision of Israel's forgiveness, sings the joy of the return from Babylon. - 12. 13. The three youths, Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael (Dan. 3, 52-56; …
Primacy of Saint Peter and of the Roman Pontiff
Jer. 23:3; 31:10; Is. 40:11; 49:9-10; Ez. 34:7-24; 37:23-25; Zach. 11:7-9) and Jesus himself had presented himself as the true shepherd (Mt. 18:12; Lk. 15:4; Jn. 16:11-16). By entrusting his flock …
31:11
… God redeems from the slavery of Egypt (Ex. 6:6), from that of Babylon and from the hand of the strong (Jer. 31:11; Mic. 4:10). Men saved from the danger of losing their way in the desert and from diseases that threatened them are called "redeemed" by the Lord. …
31:12
On the return from the Exile, the approximately 50,000 repatriates, almost all of the tribe of Judah (whence the appellation "Jew," which only Jeremiah used, but as a simple synonym for "people of Israel" [Jer. 31:12] and in opposition to the Moabites [ibid. 40:11 f.], the Chaldeans [ibid. 38:19; 41:1], and the Egyptians [ibid. 44:1]), concentrated within a radius of about 20 km. around Jerusalem, …
31:13
… When Solomon had the Ark transferred from its temporary dwelling on the S. into the Temple he built on the hill of Moriah (II Par. 3:1 and 5:2), this hill was in the poetic language of the Psalms and the Prophets called S. (Ps. 73:2; Is. 8:18; 10:12; Jer. 31:13; Joel 3:17); indeed the glorious name was used, symbolically, for the whole city of Jerusalem (Is. 29:9;
31:15
Massacre of the Holy Innocents
INNOCENTS, MASSACRE OF THE HOLY. - I. SACRED SCRIPTURE. - After the flight into Egypt, Mt. 2:16-18 describes the vengeance of Herod the Great, which fulfilled a prophecy of Jer. 31:15. "Herod, seeing himself mocked by the Magi," who, obedient to the voice of the angel, had returned to their countries by another way, "was greatly enraged" at the trick played on …
… appears as Jacob's favorite, and he assigns her the safest place in the caravan (ibid. 33, 2). R. dies giving birth to her second-born, Benjamin (v.), during the journey between Bethel and Ephrath, that is, in the vicinity of Ramah (cf. 1 Sam. 10, 2; Jer. 31, 15) and not at Bethlehem, as the current text has it following a very ancient gloss (Gen. 35, 19). This gloss, together with the tradition of a tomb near Bethlehem, led the Evangelist …
… There are few cases in which St. Jerome misunderstood the text (cf. Gen. 49, 2; Jer. 31, 15, etc.); more often he supposes (cf. Is. 16, 1) or accentuates (cf. Is. 11, 10; 12, 3; 51, 5) the messianic sense.
31:18
Attrition (from Latin attero = I strike down, I crush)
… (Denz-U, 1304-1305; 1410-16; 1525), affirms that a.[ttrition] conceived through fear (simply servile, that is) of hell is a good act and capable of uprooting every attachment to sin. This doctrine is well founded in Scripture, which presents the Prophets (Jer. 31, 18-20; Ezek. 36, 31-32; Dan. 3, 38-40), Jesus Christ (Mt. 5, 20-30; 10, 28-33; 13, 41; Lk. 7, 44; 3, 5; Jn. 6, 14), the Apostles (Acts 8, 23; II Pt. 3, 3-9) as preachers of …
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 novum …
31:22
also speak of "she who is to give birth" to the "ruler in Israel" who will be born in the humble village of Bethlehem (Mic. 5, 1-2; Vulg. 5, 2-3). The very difficult text of Jer. 31, 22, in the translation of St. Jerome: "Creavit Dominus novum super terram: femina circumdabit virum", would refer to the virginal conception of the Savior: an interpretation common from …
31:23
… Is. 2, 2 ff.; Mic. 4, 2 ff.; Jer. 31, 33; Ez. 16, 60 ff.; 17, 23; etc.); it will be a source of blessings for all the nations (Ez. 34, 26 = Gen. 12, 2). Characteristics of the kingdom of the M.: the remission of sins and holiness: Is. 56, 6; 57, 13; Jer. 31, 23-34; Ez. 36, 25-28; etc. (cf. Lk. 1, 77 ff.); peace, the perfect order in the relations of each one with God and with neighbor: Is. 9, 6 f.; Mic. 5, 5; Ez. 34, 25 f.; etc.; the abundance …
31:25
… "They will be satisfied": the recompense was assured (Jer. 31:25) in the messianic kingdom to all who had toiled (Is. 49:10; 55:1-2 "without money"; cf. Eccl. 51:33; Apoc. 22:17). The expression is spiritually evocative, for in the Bible "hunger …
31:29
… I Kings 17; II Kings 2:3, 11-12; 4:33-36; 13:21; Ps. 9:2; Wis. 2:24; 16:13) and with deep aspirations of the human heart (permanent familiarity with God: Gen. 3:8; Is. 38:18; Ps. 6:5-6; 73:25; otherworldly justice as the work of Yahweh: Jer. 31:29; Ezek. 18). The first hint appears in the 8th century B.C., under the veil of symbolism in Hos. 6:1-2: "Come, let us return to God, for it is he who has wounded us and will heal …
31:31
… An antithetical parallel to the human fall and the fulfillment of the divine promise in Eden (Gen. 3), the mystery of the A. marks the "fullness of time" (Gal. 4, 4; Eph. 1, 10) and the beginning of the "New Testament" (Jer. 31, 31). "The fixed term of eternal counsel" (Dante, Par., 33, 3), a cooperator in the divine plan of the Redemption, the "new Eve," Mary rises above the world like the aurora consurgens, …
I. DOCUMENTS OF REVELATION. - The holiness of the Church, foretold already by the Old Testament (Ps. 71:7; Is. 2:2; Jer. 31:31 ff.; Ez. 11:27-20), is reaffirmed in the New.
Foretold in the Old Testament by the messianic prophecies (Is. 9, 6; Dan. 11, 44; Jer. 31, 31; Ez. 37, 24), the indefectibility of the Church is affirmed by Jesus Christ himself: «Tu sei Pietro e su questa pietra edificherò la mia Chiesa e le porte dell'inferno (cioè le potenze …
His kingdom will be universal, definitive and spiritual: Is. 11, 10; 42, 1-7; 49, 5 ff.; 61, 1 ff.; Jer. 31, 31-34 (= Hebr. 8, 8-12); Dan. 7, 14-27; 9, 24; its center of diffusion will be Zion (Hos. 2, 19-24; Is. 2, 2 ff.; Mic. 4, 2 ff.; Jer. 31, 33; Ez. 16, 60 ff.; 17, 23; etc.); it will be a …
31:32
… will be in force in the messianic kingdom; the holy work par excellence, the study of the T., will be the reward of the righteous in Eden; such rabbinic affirmations twist the divine promise: "I will put my t. within them and write it on their heart" (Jer. 31:32 [Vulg. 33]; cf. Isa. 54:13; Ps. 37 [36]:31).
31:33
His kingdom will be universal, definitive and spiritual: Is. 11, 10; 42, 1-7; 49, 5 ff.; 61, 1 ff.; Jer. 31, 31-34 (= Hebr. 8, 8-12); Dan. 7, 14-27; 9, 24; its center of diffusion will be Zion (Hos. 2, 19-24; Is. 2, 2 ff.; Mic. 4, 2 ff.; Jer. 31, 33; Ez. 16, 60 ff.; 17, 23; etc.); it will be a source of blessings for all the nations (Ez. 34, 26 = Gen. 12, 2). Characteristics of the kingdom of the M.: the remission of sins and …
… to his faithful one (Job 22, 22; Ps. 78, 1 Heb.), by the sages (Prov. 3, 1; 4, 2; 6, 23; 7, 2; 13, 14), by the mother (ibid. 1, 8; 6, 20; 31, 26); Yahweh (or his representative) will give it in the messianic kingdom (Is. 2, 3 = Mic. 4, 2; Jer. 31, 33; Is. 42, 4; 51, 4). In this second semantic stage, the t. ("instruction," "teaching") has as its purpose and effect dâ'ath "knowledge." The t. dispensed by the priest has
31:38
It was originally the "tower of Hananel," existing in the time of Jer. 31:38 (cf. Neh. 3:1; 12:39, and Zech. 14:10). Later restored by the Hasmonean prince (135-104) John Hyrcanus I (Flavius Josephus, Antiq. …
31:40
… In Holy Scripture this valley is never called the "valley of I.," but the valley or torrent of the Cedron (II Sam. 15, 23; II Kings 2, 37; Jer. 31, 40; John 18, 1): it is little more than the bed of a torrent, and it agrees poorly with the text of Joel, which presupposes ('ēmeq, "broad valley") a spacious valley to receive the peoples. …
31:53
… that will make man act with justice and equity (Is. 11:2-4); as an interior renewal (Ez. 36:25-31). This will not be the fruit of human industry, but only of God (Is. 26:12). This Kingdom of men interiorly docile, in opposition to legal exteriorism (Jer. 31:53), entails, as is better expressed in the New Testament, an interior holiness, similar to that of God (Mt. 5:48). This perfection is a true participation in the divine nature (II Pt. …
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.