The priests are sharply reproved for neglecting their covenant. The evil of marrying with idolaters: and too easily putting away their wives.
Priestes are further reprehended because they discharged not wel their great office. 10. Both they and others offended in marying strangers. 14. They ought to loue, and not lightly dismisse their wiues.
1And now, O ye priests, this commandment is to you.Adesso per voi è quest'intimazione, o sacerdoti.AND now to you this commandment ô ye priests.Et nunc ad vos mandatum hoc, o sacerdotes. 2If you will not hear, and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name, saith the Lord of hosts: I will send poverty upon you, and will curse your blessings, yea I will curse them, because you have not laid it to heart.Se voi non vorrete ascoltare, e se non vorrete mettervi in cuore di dar gloria al mio nome, dice il Signore degli eserciti, io manderò a voi la miseria, e maledirò le vostre benedizioni; io le maledirò, perchè voi non mi avete dato retta.If you wil not heare and if you wil not set it vpon the hart, to geue glorie to my name, sayth the Lord of hosts: I wil send vpon you pouertie, & wil curse your blessings, and I wil curse them: because you haue not set it vpon the hart.Si nolueritis audire, et si nolueritis ponere super cor, ut detis gloriam nomini meo, ait Dominus exercituum, mittam in vos egestatem, et maledicam benedictionibus vestris, et maledicam illis, quoniam non posuistis super cor. 3Behold, I will cast the shoulder to you, and will scatter upon your face the dung of your solemnities, and it shall take you away with it.Ecco, che io getterò a voi la spalla (delle vittime,) e vi butterò in faccia lo sterco delle vostre solennità, e anderete sparsi com' esso.Behold I wil cast forth to you the arme, and wil spinkle vpon your face the dung of your solemnities, and it shal take you with it.Ecce ego projiciam vobis brachium, et dispergam super vultum vestrum stercus solemnitatum vestrarum, et assumet vos secum. 4And you shall know that I sent you this commandment, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.E conoscerete, che io feci a voi quel comando, perchè fermo restasse il mio patto con Levi, dice il Signore degli eserciti.And you shal know that I sent you this commandment, that my couenant might be with Leui, sayth the Lord of hosts.Et scietis quia misi ad vos mandatum istud, ut esset pactum meum cum Levi, dicit Dominus exercituum. 5My covenant was with him of life and peace: and I gave him fear: and he feared me, and he was afraid before my name.Il mio patto con lui fu di vita, e di pace, ed io gli diedi il mio timore, ed egli mi temè, e tremava al mio nome.My couenant was with him of life and peace: & I gaue him feare: and he feared me, and at the face of my name he was afrayd.Pactum meum fuit cum eo vitæ et pacis: et dedi ei timorem, et timuit me, et a facie nominis mei pavebat.
6The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace, and in equity, and turned many away from iniquity.La legge della verità fu nella sua bocca, e sulle sue labbra non si posò la menzogna: camminò meco nella pace, e nell'equità, e molti ritrasse dal peccato.The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquitie was not found in his lippes in peace, and in equitie he walked with me, and turned away manie from iniquitie.Lex veritatis fuit in ore ejus, et iniquitas non est inventa in labiis ejus: in pace et in æquitate ambulavit mecum, et multos avertit ab iniquitate. 7For the lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth: because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts.Perocché le labbra del sacerdote hanno il deposito della scienza, e dalla bocca di lui apparerassi la legge, per chè egli è l'Angelo del Signore degli eserciti.For the lippes of the priest shal keepe knowlege, and the law they shal require of his mouth: because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts.Labia enim sacerdotis custodient scientiam, et legem requirent ex ore ejus, quia angelus Domini exercituum est. 8But you have departed out of the way, and have caused many to stumble at the law: you have made void the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.Ma voi siete usciti di strada, e a moltissimi foste di scandalo a violare la legge: annullaste il patto di Levi, dice il Signore degli eserciti.But you haue departed out of the way, and haue scandalized manie in the law: you haue made voide the couenant of Leui, sayth the Lord of hosts.Vos autem recessistis de via, et scandalizastis plurimos in lege: irritum fecistis pactum Levi, dicit Dominus exercituum. 9Therefore have I also made you contemptible, and base before all people, as you have not kept my ways, and have accepted persons in the law.Per questo siccome voi non avete seguitate le mie vie, e trattandosi della legge avete fatta accettazione di persone, io pure vi ho renduti spregevoli, e abbietti dinanzi a tutte le nazioni.For which cause I also haue made you contemtible, and base to al peoples, as you haue not kept my wayes, and haue accepted face in the law.Propter quod et ego dedi vos contemptibiles, et humiles omnibus populis, sicut non servastis vias meas, et accepistis faciem in lege. 10Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why then doth every one of us despise his brother, violating the covenant of our fathers?Non è egli uno solo il Padre di tutti noi? Non è egli un solo Dio quegli, che ci ha creati? perchè adunque ciascuno di noi disprezza il proprio fratello, violando il patto de' padri nostri?Why, is there not one father of vs al? hath not one God created vs? why then doth euerie one of vs despise his brother, violating the couenant of our fathers?Numquid non pater unus omnium nostrum ? numquid non Deus unus creavit nos ? quare ergo despicit unusquisque nostrum fratrem suum, violans pactum patrum nostrorum ?
11Juda hath transgressed, and abomination hath been committed in Israel, and in Jerusalem: for Juda hath profaned the holiness of the Lord, which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.Giuda prevaricò, l'abbominazione fu commessa in Israele, e in Gerusalemme, perchè Giuda contaminò la santità del Signore amata da lui, e sposò delle figlie di un dio straniero.Iuda hath transgressed, and abomination was done in Israel, and in Ierusalem: because Iudas hath contaminated the sanctification of our Lord, which he loued, and hath had the daughter of a strange god.Transgressus est Juda, et abominatio facta est in Israël et in Jerusalem, quia contaminavit Juda sanctificationem Domini, quam dilexit, et habuit filiam dei alieni. 12The Lord will cut off the man that hath done this, both the master, and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering to the Lord of hosts.Il Signore sterminerà da' tabernacoli di Giacobbe colui, che avrà fatto tal cosa, e il discepolo, e il maestro, e colui, che offerisce doni, dice il Signore degli eserciti.Our Lord wil destroy the man, that hath done this, the master, & the scholar out of the tabernacles of Iacob, & him that offereth gift to the Lord of hosts.Disperdet Dominus virum qui fecerit hoc, magistrum et discipulum, de tabernaculis Jacob, et offerentem munus Domino exercituum. 13And this again have you done, you have covered the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and bellowing, so that I have no more a regard to sacrifice, neither do I accept any atonement at your hands.E di più avete fatto anche questo; avete ripieno l'altare del Signore di lagrime, di pianti, e di muggiti, talmente che io non getto più lo sguardo a verun sagrifizio, e nissuna cosa riceverò dalle mani vostre, che possa placarmi.And this agayne haue you done, you couered the altar of the Lord with teares, with weeping, and howling, so that I haue respect no more to sacrifice, neither do I accept any placable thing at your hand.Et hoc rursum fecistis: operiebatis lacrimis altare Domini, fletu et mugitu, ita ut non respiciam ultra ad sacrificium, nec accipiam placabile quid de manu vestra. 14And you have said: For what cause? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee, and the wife of thy youth, whom thou hast despised: yet she was thy partner, and the wife of thy covenant.Ma voi dite: E per qual motivo? perchè il Signore fu testimone tra te, e la moglie presa da te nella prima età, la quale tu dispregiasti, ed ella era tua compagna, e tua sposa, mediante il tuo patto.And you haue sayd: For what cause? because the Lord hath testified betwen thee, and the wife of thy youth, whom thou hast despised: and she thy partaker, and the wife of thy couenant.Et dixistis: Quam ob causam ? Quia Dominus testificatus est inter te et uxorem pubertatis tuæ, quam tu despexisti: et hæc particeps tua, et uxor fœderis tui.
15Did not one make her, and she is the residue of his spirit? And what doth one seek, but the seed of God? Keep then your spirit, and despise not the wife of thy youth.Non la fece forse quell'uno? E non è ella porzione del suo spirito? E quell'uno, che vuol egli mai, se non una figliuolanza di Dio? Custodite adunque il vostro spirito, e non dispregiate le mogli della vostra prima età.Did not one make, and the residue of the spirit is his? And what doth one seeke, but the seede of God? Keepe ye then your spirit, and the wife of thy youth despise thou not.Nonne unus fecit, et residuum spiritus ejus est ? et quid unus quærit, nisi semen Dei ? custodite ergo spiritum vestrum, et uxorem adolescentiæ tuæ noli despicere. 16When thou shalt hate her put her away, saith the Lord, the God of Israel: but iniquity shall cover his garment, saith the Lord of hosts, keep your spirit, and despise not.Quando tu l'abbi in odio, rimandala, dice il Signore Dio d'Israele, ma l'iniquità cuoprirà il tuo vestimento, dice il Signore degli eserciti. Conservate il vostro spirito, e non vogliate disprezzarle.When thou shalt hate, dismisse, sayth our Lord the God of Israel: but iniquitie shal couer his garment, saith the Lord of hosts, keepe ye your spirit, and do not despise.Cum odio habueris, dimitte, dicit Dominus Deus Israël: operiet autem iniquitas vestimentum ejus, dicit Dominus exercituum. Custodite spiritum vestrum, et nolite despicere. 17You have wearied the Lord with your words, and you said: Wherein have we wearied him? In that you say: Every one that doth evil, is good in the sight of the Lord, and such please him: or surely where is the God of judgment?Voi avete recato affanno al Signore co' vostri discorsi. Ma voi dite a che gli abbiam noi recato affanno? In questo che voi andate dicendo: Chiunque mal fa, egli è buono negli occhi del Signore, e costoro a lui sono accetti; o almeno, quel Dio, che fa giudizio, dov'è?You haue in your wordes made our Lord to labour: and you sayd: Wherein haue we made him to labour? In that you say: Euerie one that doth euil, is good in the sight of our Lord, and such please him: or certes where is the God of iudgement?Laborare fecistis Dominum in sermonibus vestris, et dixistis: In quo eum fecimus laborare ? In eo quod dicitis: Omnis qui facit malum bonus est in conspectu Domini, et tales ei placent: aut certe ubi est Deus judicii ?
2:1
Worthington
Priests. Such, hoarding up riches, dishonour God and his sacraments, as if they were temporal things to be purchased, and so they scandalize the weak. It would be well for them if they were reduced to poverty, (ver. 2.) and would repent, as they will otherwise be deprived of eternal goods, having received their wages in this world, like hirelings, John 10. (Worthington)
2:2
2:3
Challoner
Shoulder. I will cast away the shoulder, which in the law was appointed to be your portion, and fling it at you in my anger: and will reject both you and your festivals like dung. (Challoner)
Calmet
Hebrew now reads for shoulder, zerah, "grain," or seed. (Calmet)
Haydock
"I will menace you with the shoulder, and will spread dirt on your faces, even the dirt of your feasts," (Aquila) or "the ventricle of your festivals." (Septuagint) (Haydock)
2:4
Calmet
Levi. When this tribe was chosen does not appear. Some think that he alludes to the renewing of the covenant under Nehemias, which seems best, 2 Esdras 9:1, 38. I then promised you life, etc. (Calmet)
2:7
Challoner
The angel, viz., the minister and messenger. (Challoner)
Worthington
Priests must administer the sacraments, and likewise instruct the people, being God's messengers. (Worthington)
The Jews were well acquainted with the law, Jeremias 18:18.
Calmet
The priests had to decide most intricate cases, Deuteronomy 17:9., and 33:9. (Calmet)
Diod. Sic. xl. apud Phol
The sentence of the high priest was received like that of an angel. (Diod. Sic. xl. apud Phol.)
Calmet
If such science was required under the old law, how much more is necessary in Christian priests, whose mysteries and duties are so much more important! (Calmet)
2:9
Worthington
People. If priests comply not with these high functions, they are despicable here, and condemned to eternal torments, Jude 11. (Worthington)
Accepted. Hebrew, "raised up faces," instead of reproving the guilty, Deuteronomy 1:10., and Leviticus 19:15.
2:10
Calmet
Brother, in distress, 2 Esdras 5:1. St. Jerome mentions the tradition of the Jews, which supposed that the captives at their return dismissed their wives, and married young ones, though strangers, ver. 11. But this is not probable. Such women were ordered to be dismissed, 1 Esdras 9:1., and 2 Esdras 13:23. (Calmet)
2:11
Calmet
God, or one addicted to idol-worship, (Haydock) which was contrary to the law, Deuteronomy 7:3. (Calmet)
Haydock
Septuagint, "the holy things of the Lord, by what he has loved and done for strange gods." (Haydock)
2:12
Calmet
Master. Hebrew, "the watcher, and him who answers," on guard. (Calmet)
Septuagint, "doth such things, till he be tumbled out," etc.
Haydock
Him. Septuagint, "and out of those who offer a sacrifice to," etc. Such people shall be excluded from the society of God's servants. (Haydock)
2:13
Challoner
With tears; viz., by occasion of your wives, whom you have put away, and who came to weep and lament before the altar. (Challoner)
Diod. in Photius
Though divorces were tolerated, (Matthew 19:6.) the more virtuous did not approve of them, particularly when a wife was put away who had been married in youth. See ver. 10. Perhaps this corruption had crept in, like others, (Calmet) owing to the people's commerce with strangers. (Diod. in Photius.)
2:14
2:15
His spirit. Eve received a soul from God, like Adam. Hebrew, "One (Abraham, Chaldean styled one, Ezechiel 33:24.) did it not, and he had the," etc. Septuagint vary. The text is very obscure. (Calmet) See Cap. Crit. 4:p. 317.; Grabe prologue.
Haydock
A strange god did not make women. The human race is best propagated, where polygamy and divorces are rejected. (Haydock)
2:16
Challoner
Garment; viz., of every man that putteth away his wife without just cause; notwithstanding that God permitted it in the law, to prevent the evil of murder. (Challoner)
Calmet
The original may receive this sense; or the woman must blame herself if she were hateful, (Deuteronomy 24:1.) and the man acted not treacherously. (Calmet)
Haydock
Septuagint, "iniquity shall cover your thoughts." (Haydock)
Haydock
It should be "garments," endumata, though St. Jerome and the printed edition read enthumemata, (Calmet) "thoughts." The first part contains the objection, and the second God's reply. (St. Jerome) (Haydock)
2:17
Calmet
Judgment. Being scandalized at the prosperity of the wicked, (Haydock) they deny Providence, Psalm lxxii., and Jeremias xii. (Calmet)
St. Augustine
Yet the wicked are left for wise purposes, either for their amendment, or for the trial of the just. (St. Augustine, Psalm liv.)
St. Jerome
Those who are offended at their present success, (Haydock) think not of judgment nor of eternal goods. (St. Jerome)
2:3
I will cast the shoulder to you.... I will cast away the shoulder, which in the law was appointed to be your portion, and fling it at you in my anger: and will reject both you and your festivals like dung.
2:7
The angel.... Viz., the minister and messenger.
2:13
With tears.... Viz., by occasion of your wives, whom you have put away: and who came to weep and lament before the altar.
2:16
Iniquity shall cover his garment.... Viz., of every man that putteth away his wife without just cause; notwithstanding that God permitted it in the law, to prevent the evil of murder.
2:1
Priestes coueting & scraping riches do greatly dishonour God: diminish the estimation of holie Sacraments & other rites, as though they were •em ••ral to be •ought & sold for money, & so do scandalize the weake
2:2
Concordance Leui. 2•. Deut. 28.
Such are happie if God by suffering them to be spoyled, recal them to repentance. For otherwise they wil be depriued of eternal revvard as being payed their vvages already in this vvorld. These our Sauiour calleth. Hyrelinges, not true pastors. Ioa. 10.
2:7
The proper office of priests besides the administration of Sacraments is also to teach the people true doctrine:
as being the Angel, that is to say, the messenger, from God.
2:9
VVhich holie functions priests not performing are made contemptible in this world and miserable in eternal torments. Ip. •ud. v. 11.
2:10
2:12
Concordance Amos 5. v. 22.
2:17
Concordance Ephes. 4. v. 39.
2:1
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 The Epistles of Cyprian 54.13
… If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessing.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 The Epistles of Cyprian 73.8
… if ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord Almighty, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings.”
2:5
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 2.6
… The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips. In the peace of the tongue correcting, he walked with us, and turned many away from unrighteousness. Because the lips of the priests shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at His mouth; for He is the Angel of the Almighty.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.21
… “The covenant was with life and peace; and I gave to them the fear to fear me from the face of my name.”
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.61
… he walked with me uprightly in peace, and turned away many from iniquity: for the priest’s lips shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth. And how honourable and at the same time how fearful is the cause! for he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 18.35
… and I gave to Him that He might fear me with fear, and be afraid before my name. The law of truth was in His mouth: directing in peace He hath walked with me, and hath turned many away from iniquity. For the Priest’s lips shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at His mouth: for He is the Angel of the Lord Almighty.”
2:7
Aphrahat † AD 346 Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations 22.16
… And as to what the apostles say, that We shall judge angels, hear, and I will instruct thee. The angels who shall be judged by the apostles are the priests who have violated the law; as the Prophet said, The lips of the priest shall guard knowledge, and the law shall they inquire of his mouth; because he is the angel of the Lord, the most mighty .
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Mysteries 2
6. You saw there the deacon, you saw the priest, you saw the chief priest [i.e. the bishop]. Consider not the bodily forms, but the grace of the Mysteries. You spoke in the presence of the angels, as it is written: “For the priest’s lips keep knowledge, and they seek the law at his mouth, for he is the angel of the Lord Almighty.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 32
… For as in the case of any other material, so also in this case: man is the subject-matter, but of this can be made either an angel or a beast. Does not this seem a strange saying? And yet ye have often heard it in the Scriptures. For of certain human beings it was said, “he is the angel of the Lord” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 2
… But here there is only thus much—“it is spoken of.” He well says that “it is spoken of,” showing that there was no need to add aught to what was said, or to take away. For a messenger’s business is this, to convey from one to another only what is told him. For which cause also the priest is called a “messenger” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Commentary on Galatians 1
… if one of the most exalted angels of heaven corrupt the Gospel, let him be anathema.” The phrase “of heaven” is purposely added, because priests are also called angels. “For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger [angel] of the Lord of hosts.” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 15.23
… But the same holy Scripture affords the most ample testimony that even godly men have been called angels; for of John it is written: “Behold, I send my messenger (angel) before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way.” And the prophet Malachi, by a peculiar grace specially communicated to him, was called an angel.
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 2.4
… Hence Paul says, That he may be able by sound doctrine even to convince the gainsayers ( Tit. i. 9 ). Hence through Malachi it is said, The priest’s lips keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth (
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great 5.40
… xxii. 8 ); that is unto the priests. And again it is written, Thou shalt not revile the gods ( Ib. 28 ), to wit, the priests. And the prophet says, The priest’s lips shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth; for he is the angel of the Lord of hosts (
2:10
St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to the Philippians 2
There is then one God and Father, and not two or three; One who is; and there is no other besides Him, the only true [God]. For “the Lord thy God,” saith [the Scripture], “is one Lord.” And again, “Hath not one God created us? Have we not all one Father?
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.20.2
… Rightly also has Malachi said among the prophets: “Is it not one God who hath established us? Have we not all one Father?”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.4
In Malachi: “Hath not one God created us? Is there not one Father of us all? Why have ye certainly deserted every one his brother?”
Aphrahat † AD 346 Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations 22.12
… They shall not marry wives there, nor shall they beget children; nor shall there the male be distinguished from the female; but all shall be sons of their Father Who is in heaven; as the Prophet said:— Is there not one Father of us all; is there not one God Who created us?
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 2.21
… for they could not become sons, being by nature creatures, otherwise than by receiving the Spirit of the natural and true Son. Wherefore, that this might be, ‘The Word became flesh,’ that He might make man capable of Godhead. This same meaning may be gained also from the Prophet Malachi, who says, ‘Hath not One God created us? Have we not all one Father
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 14
… What then, it may be said, did not they also call God Father? Dost thou not hear Moses, when he says, “Thou desertedst the God that begot thee?” ( Deut. xxxii. 15 . LXX.) Dost thou not hear Malachi reproaching them, and saying, that “one God formed you,” and there is “one Father of you all?” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 49
… the other, that He called God His Father, making Himself equal with God. And that this was no imagination of theirs, but His own declared judgment, and that He spake not as do the many, but in a special and peculiar sense, is clear from this circumstance. Many often called God their Father; as “Have we not all one Father, hath not one God created us?” (
2:11
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 1.2
… “Judah is forsaken, and has become an abomination in Israel and in Jerusalem, because Judah has profaned the holiness of the Lord in those things wherein He hath loved, and courted strange gods. The Lord will cut off the man who doeth this, and he shall be made base in the tabernacles of Jacob.”
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 1.10
… Whence Abraham also makes his servant swear upon his thigh, that is, on Christ, Who was to spring from his seed, that he would not bring an alien-born as a wife for his son Isaac. And Ezra checked an offence of this kind against God by making his countrymen put away their wives. And the prophet Malachi thus speaks,
2:13
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.61
… for he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty. Although I pass over the following imprecations, as strongly worded, yet I am afraid of their truth. This however may be cited without offence, to our profit. Is it right, he says, to regard your sacrifice, and receive it with good will at your hands,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 81
Touching whom also the prophet saith, “Ye covered my altar with tears.”
2:15
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.34
… Now, if a compulsory marriage contracted after violence shall be permanent, how much rather shall a voluntary one, the result of agreement! This has the sanction of the prophet: “Thou shalt not forsake the wife of thy youth.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Colossians 12
… For as though her own flesh itself were severed from her, each one separately is imperfect for the procreation of children, each one is imperfect as regards the constitution of this present life. Wherefore also the Prophet saith, “the residue of thy spirit.” (
2:17
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 20.28
… and in which the good shall be oppressed with not even a transitory wretchedness, but shall enjoy unsullied and eternal felicity. For he had previously cited some similar expressions of those who said, “Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and such are pleasing to Him.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 20.29
… It is this, then, which Elias will do, “lest,” he says, “I come and smite the earth utterly.” For they who mind earthly things are the earth. Such are the carnal Jews until this day; and hence these murmurs of theirs against God, “The wicked are pleasing to Him,” and “It is a vain thing to serve God.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 6.2
… “Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and such please Him: for surely where is the God of judgment?”
2:1
1. AND NOW TO YOU THIS COMMANDMENT, O PRIESTS! — He returns from the people to the priests, as it were to the source of evil: for he rebuked their avarice and neglect of sacred things in chapter 1, verses 6 and following. Let the priests of the new law hear this rebuke of God, and let them think it dictated to them by the Holy Spirit; from them God justly requires greater holiness, and thus will punish them more severely if they are negligent or scandalous in their office.
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2. IF YOU WILL NOT HEAR, AND IF YOU WILL NOT LAY IT TO HEART, TO GIVE GLORY TO MY NAME, — that is to say, If you will not obey me when I admonish and reprove your crimes; if, I say, you will not firmly determine within yourselves and impress upon your heart that henceforth you will worship me duly, and will take care that my altar, victims and worship shall have their proper dignity, honor and glory, namely by offering clean, lawful victims worthy of me. Note the Hebraism: "to lay upon the heart," or in the heart, is to impress upon the heart, to apply the heart, to bend and direct the heart, to be moved and intent with the heart. By heart understand the mind and will, and its purpose, resolution and decree. You may ask: What does God command here to be laid upon the heart? The Chaldean answers, his fear; for he translates: Unless you lay my fear upon your heart, to give glory to my name. For this fear is not merely servile, but also filial, and is like a heavy weight imposed upon the heart of man, which presses it and impels it to submit itself to God and to obey him in all things; just as weights in a clock, by pressing upon its wheels, move them and cause the index of hours to revolve in the fixed measure of time, to indicate and show the hours of any day. In a similar way, the weight of our heart is the fear and love of God, according to that saying of St. Augustine, book XI of the City of God, chapter 28: "My love is my weight, by it I am borne whithersoever I am borne. As the loves of bodies, says St. Augustine, are the weights of bodies. For just as a body is borne by weight, so the soul is borne by love, whithersoever it is borne." Second, Vatablus answers that the precepts of God are commanded here to be laid upon the heart, that is to say, Unless you attend to my precepts, unless you apply your heart to those things which I command you. Here note that the wise and good lay God's precepts upon their heart, so that they, as it were, rest upon them and dominate, and they do this to carry them out: but the foolish and wicked lay them beneath their heart, so that their heart dominates them, and they take them up if, where, and when they wish; if they do not wish, they cast them down and neglect them. Third, it can be said more simply and easily that God here commands the priests to lay the glory of the divine name upon their heart, that is to say, to determine in their heart to give and procure the glory of God in his sacrifices. For the prophet explains what he commands to "lay upon the heart," when he immediately adds: "To give glory to my name." For the glory of God is the weight which ought to press upon and impel the heart of the priest to carry out the duties of the priesthood piously and rightly. For the end and aim of the priesthood is the glory of God. Wherefore the priest in all his actions ought to regard this end and aim, and to carry them out so religiously that God may be honored and glorified through them. Thus St. Ignatius, the founder of our Society, had this firmly impressed upon his heart, as the principle and rule of his whole life: "For the greater glory of God." I WILL SEND UPON YOU WANT. — In Hebrew, meera, that is a curse. Whence follows: "And I will curse your blessings." Thus the Septuagint, the Chaldean, Pagninus, Vatablus and others. Now to curse of God is effective, and the same as to do evil; just as on the other hand to bless of God is to do good. Wherefore the curse of God can be understood as poverty, infamy, sterility, pestilence, and all evils and adversities. Our translator, however, renders it "want," both because this was chiefly and most often threatened and inflicted upon the Jews by God, and because the Jews, being earthly and carnal, feared this most; and also because poverty is the proper and fitting punishment of avarice, that is to say, You, O priests! endeavor through avarice, by stealing from me the better victims and arrogating them to yourselves, to enrich yourselves: wherefore I will cause you to be impoverished: for I will cause you to incur that want which through them you wickedly thought to escape. Let the avaricious note here, especially the ecclesiastical, that it is most justly ordained by the eternal law of God that covetousness be punished by contrary penalties, and that by what things a man sins, by the same he shall also be punished; namely, that the proud be punished with ignominy, the gluttonous with hunger, the envious with the exaltation of the rival whom they envy, the slothful with labor and fatigue, and consequently the avaricious with want and poverty. Let them know and think upon this, that it will certainly be inflicted upon them and their posterity by God, both in this life and in the future. Wherefore let them cease to serve avarice, since it will bring them not the riches which they desire, but want: but let them strive for almsgiving, which will procure for them all riches. I WILL CURSE YOUR BLESSINGS. — First, that is to say, I will deprive you of the good things which I have given you, and which you possess from my blessing, I will take away from you the better and richer offerings, because you have stolen them from me; I will make it so that the people offer sparingly, and worse things to you, because you have offered worse things to me, according to that: "He that soweth sparingly, shall also reap sparingly: and he that soweth in blessings, shall reap also blessings," II Cor. IX, 6. For the blessings of God are fruits, riches and graces, with which He Himself loads us and does us good. Whence also it preceded: "I will send want upon you." Thus St. Cyril, Remigius and Vatablus. Second, that is to say, Upon men, beasts, fields and houses, which you, O irreligious priests, shall bless, I will curse and do evil, I will afflict, I will overthrow. Thus St. Jerome. Third, that is to say, I will hold your blessings as curses. Whence the Chaldean renders: I will curse your blessing, and I will execrate it. Symbolically, Theodoret understands by blessing the priesthood, that is to say, I will take away from you the priesthood, because you are unworthy of it, and you abuse it, especially when I shall abolish it with the old law, and shall institute a new and holy one through Christ. Tropologically, St. Jerome: "Those," he says, "who abuse health in lust, and turn riches into luxury, and defile a good reputation with filthy conduct, these change the blessings of God into a curse." Likewise properly concerning priests: "those who flatter sinners, provided they are rich, and indulge their vices, concerning whom it is said in Isa. III: My people, those who call you blessed, deceive you, and destroy the paths of your feet." AND I WILL CURSE THEM. — He repeats and emphasizes the same thing, that is to say, I will curse your blessings utterly and gravely. Second, Pagninus and Vatablus render it, nay, I have even cursed, that is, I have begun to curse, it, namely any blessing of yours; the Chaldean, I will execrate it. To curse is God's is efficacious, and the same as to do evil, but in men it is inefficacious: for often those whom men curse, God blesses. Thus basil, Pliny says in book XXIX, chapter VII: "when they command it to be sown with curses and reproaches," superstitious gardeners, "so that it may grow more luxuriantly. And those who sow cumin pray that it may not come up." Yet God blesses it, so that it grows abundantly.
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3. BEHOLD I WILL CAST UPON YOU AN ARM. — For "I will cast" in Hebrew is goer, which properly, as the Chaldean translator renders it, signifies to rebuke, and by metonymy in rebuking to cast, corrupt, destroy. Again for "arm" in Hebrew it is what, if you point it zera, signifies seed; but if you point it zeroa, signifies arm: zera the rabbis and modern scholars read; whence Pagninus translates: I corrupt your seed, that is to say, Behold I will curse your blessings, as I have said, because the seed which you have sown in the earth I will corrupt, and I will cause it to be eaten by worms, so that little or nothing of the crop you reap will grow. Zurich: I will rebuke and in rebuking will scatter your seed, whether of grain or of sons, that is to say, And I will overturn your fruits and your stock, I will scatter you with your seed, that is with your sons. But the Septuagint and Our translation for zera, that is seed, read zeroa, that is arm, that is the right arm of the peace victim. For this according to the law of Leviticus VII, 31, fell to the priest; by which tropologically the priest was warned to work strenuously, "so that not only his work be useful, but also singular; so that just as he surpasses subjects in the honor of his order, so also he may transcend them in the virtue of morals," says St. Gregory in the second part of the Pastoral, chapter III. The sense is, that is to say, The arm which in the law I separated for you and gave you, I will leave to you with displeasure, and as if indignantly I will cast it away, when I will cause those offering to cast the arm and victims contemptuously and indignantly in your face, because they see you so vile, careless and irreligious, so negligently and irreverently handling and performing the sacrifices of God. Thus St. Jerome, Remigius and Hugh. To this is added Lyran, who by arm understands strength and sustenance, that is to say, The sustenance which you were receiving from the victims, I will take from you: or the arm, that is your strength, I will cast away, so that you accomplish nothing great or heroic, but succumb to enemies. Both readings, zera and zeroa, Arias and a Castro embrace, who thus explain it, that is to say, I will cast the arm by which you offer to me mincha, that is the flour of your seed and wheat, and the flour itself I will angrily scatter in your faces. Thirdly, Aquila translates: Behold I will rebuke you with an arm, that is to say, With my arm, and by my power I will cast you away and destroy you. He alludes partly to the leaders of war, partly to orators threatening and fighting with the arm. For "an arm extended further is as it were a certain weapon of speech," says Cicero in book III of the Orator. Symbolically Theodoret, that is to say, The arm or weapon, that is your victims and ceremonies, on account of your neglect and abuse I will cast away and abolish, and new ones through Christ and the Apostles I will introduce and sanctify. Finally in Hebrew there is an elegant allusion between zera and zeroa, and zorati, that is I will scatter, that is to say, I will scatter your arm, and the seed scattered by it from you in the field. AND I WILL SCATTER UPON YOUR FACE THE DUNG (In Hebrew for emphasis and greater reproach, the word dung is repeated: And I will scatter upon you dung in your faces, dung, I say) OF YOUR SOLEMNITIES. By dung, understand with the Septuagint the stomach, which makes and contains dung: for the stomach in the peace victim fell to the priest, according to the law of Leviticus VII, 31. The sense is, that is to say, Because you offer maimed, vile and illegitimate victims, I being displeased will give, and through those offering I will cast upon you the stomach, which by law I assigned to you, so that the dung contained in it, shaken out by this casting, may bespatter and defile your face, and that "it may take you with it," so that you, wrapped in this dung, may be a laughing-stock and object of contempt to me and to all, and may be called dung-men, vile and abject, as I threatened Heli, and in fact accomplished, I Kings II, 30. Moreover dung is a symbol of reproach and ignominy, with which God will afflict you, when on account of the neglect of sacred things, ignorance and evil life, he will make you contemptible and hateful to the people, and when he will punish you with want, famine and war, and will deliver you to Antiochus Epiphanes and other enemies to be harassed and mocked. Whence the Chaldean translates: I will reveal the confusion of your crimes in your faces.
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4. AND YOU SHALL KNOW, — that is to say, Now you do not believe me when I threaten, but punishment will teach you, namely "The Phrygians learn wisdom only through blows." For when you shall see yourselves despised and punished, as I here foretell, then you shall know that commandment concerning the religion, cleanliness and holiness of priests, and concerning clean victims to be offered rightly and lawfully, once sanctioned by me in Leviticus, but now renewed and refreshed through Malachi, was issued by me, namely by your God, to this end, that "my covenant once made with Levi," that is with the tribe of Levi, might remain firm and unviolated. For you will see that you have lost the good things promised to you by the covenant, because you have violated the conditions of the covenant; moreover you will also be punished. Thus St. Jerome, Remigius, Albert, Hugh and Lyran, who understand by Levi not a person, but the tribe of Levi, that is the Levites, as the Septuagint translates it. For God did not make this covenant with Levi the son of Jacob himself, but with his descendants, namely with Aaron, who was first consecrated by God through Moses as priest and pontiff of the Jews, and thereafter transmitted the priesthood and pontificate to his descendants, as is evident from Leviticus VIII. Whence concerning him Ecclesiasticus sings, chapter XLV, 7: "He exalted Aaron his brother and like unto himself of the tribe of Levi: he made with him an everlasting covenant, and gave him the priesthood of the nation, and made him blessed in glory." Thus the Hebrews, Theodoret, Vatable and Arias, who both understand by Levi also Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, from his father Eleazar, because on account of his zeal, by which he vindicated the honor of God by slaying the worshippers of Beelphegor, God confirmed and established the pontificate to him and his descendants forever by a new promise. Indeed some Hebrews, whom Blessed Peter Damian follows, epistle 12, or as others note, 11, chapter II, to Pope Nicholas II, think that Phinehas is the same as Elijah, and therefore that he still lives, and will live until the end of the world, as I said in Numbers XXV, 11. Less correctly does Rupert understand by Levi Moses, both because the descendants of Moses were not priests, but the descendants of Aaron: and because Moses did not so much make a covenant, as if bargaining with God, as he was the mediator and intermediary of the covenant, which God made not only with the Levites, but with all the tribes of Israel. Levi therefore here signifies the priestly order descending from Aaron, which as it was great honor, so it had great burden imposed upon it, as is evident from the whole of Leviticus, and often the penalty of death, if they sinned, as is evident from Leviticus X, 8, and chapter XXII, 3.
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5. MY COVENANT WAS WITH HIM OF LIFE AND PEACE, — namely to be given to him both in this age and in the future, if he would worship me rightly and observe my laws and ceremonies, that is to say, I made and promised to Aaron and his descendants a long, peaceful, abundant and happy life, if he would keep my covenant and my sanctions, namely if he would rightly and lawfully discharge the duties of the priesthood: thus Theodoret and others. God truly granted this to Aaron: for He prolonged his life to the age of 123 years, which was the fortieth from his pontificate, as also from the departure of the Hebrews from Egypt, and His pontificate against rivals, Core, Dathan and Abiron, He defended by swallowing them alive into the underworld, and by making Aaron's dry rod blossom. Numbers XVI and XVII. The Hebrews understand these things concerning Phinehas, whom they relate lived as a healthy and prosperous pontiff for three hundred years; indeed others think that he still lives; for he himself is Elijah, as I said a little before. AND I GAVE HIM MY FEAR. — Behold the covenant of God with Aaron and his descendants: for God promised Aaron a long life and peace, that is prosperity, if he would obey Him: Aaron in turn promised to God fear, namely that he would religiously venerate and worship Him. For fear here and elsewhere signifies the reverence and worship of God. Moreover this fear and reverence he did not have from himself, but from God: for it is a gift of God and of the Holy Spirit, as Isaiah teaches in chapter XI, 3. Whence it follows: "He feared me, and was afraid before my name," namely Aaron, and his grandsons Phinehas, Onias, the Maccabees and other true and good priests. For He speaks only of the good.
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6. THE LAW OF TRUTH WAS IN HIS MOUTH, — that is to say, Aaron truly and rightly taught my law to the people by his mouth. This is the second condition of the covenant, which God demands from Aaron, and which the priest and pontiff ought to fulfill, namely to teach the true faith of God, religion, law and worship, and to refute all heresy and superstition, and false worship of God. Wherefore the pontiff in the old law wore upon his breast the Urim and Thummim inscribed, that is doctrine and truth. See the sayings at Exod. XXVIII, 30, and Levit. X, 8. The Author of the Imperfect Work gravely speaks in St. Matthew at St. Chrysostom homil. 25: "Not only, he says, is he a betrayer of truth who, transgressing truth, openly speaks a lie for truth; but also he who does not freely proclaim the truth which he ought to proclaim freely, is a betrayer of truth. For with the heart man believeth unto justice, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." And St. Ambrose lib. II epist. 47 to the Emperor Theodosius: "Nothing, he says, in a priest is so dangerous before God, so shameful before men, as that he should feel unable to proclaim freely. For it is written: And I spoke of thy testimonies before kings, and I was not ashamed. And therefore thy clemency (O emperor) ought to be displeased with the silence of a priest, pleased with his freedom. For by my silence thou art involved in danger, by the good of freedom thou art helped." INIQUITY, — that is to say falsehood, error and false doctrine, as Vatablus says, and falsity, as the Chaldean translator rendered it, add also fraud, hypocrisy, flattery, injustice, and any other iniquity. IN PEACE AND IN EQUITY HE WALKED WITH ME, — namely in my precepts, that is to say Aaron strove to keep my precepts, observing peace and equity with his neighbors. Here note that he who walks peacefully and equitably with his neighbors, he walks with God, who is the lover, author and guardian of peace and equity. Whence the Septuagint translates: Walking in peace directing (that is in peace and rectitude, or plainness) with me. This is the third condition of the covenant, which God demands from Aaron and from any priest, namely equity and peace, or peaceful conversation, so that they walk in it with God, as Enoch in Genesis V, 22, and Noah in Genesis VI, 9. See the sayings there. AND HE TURNED MANY AWAY FROM INIQUITY. — This is the fourth condition of the true Aaron and true priest, that by word and example he should strive to draw all back from impious and iniquitous life to pious and holy life. Wherefore St. Chrysostom lib. III On the Priesthood calls priests our parents: "For parents, he says, beget us for the present life, priests for eternal life." St. Gregory justly complains: "Behold, he says, the world is full of priests, yet in the harvest of God a worker is found very rarely, because we indeed undertake the priestly office, but we do not fulfill the work of the office. For we receive the fruit of the holy Church in daily stipend, yet we labor not at all for the eternal Church in preaching." See more homil. 17 in the Gospel. But St. Chrysostom speaks gravely in Matthew cap. XXIII, homil. 43: "Many, he says, are priests and few are priests: many in name, and few in deed. See therefore how you sit upon the seat, because the seat does not make the priest, but the priest makes the seat: not the place sanctifies the man, but the man the place. He who sits well upon the seat receives honor from it: he who sits ill upon it, does injury to the seat. For in judgment the seat is. If you have lived well, and taught well, you shall be judge of all: but if you have taught well, and lived ill, of yourself alone. For by living well and teaching well, you instruct the people how they ought to live: but by teaching well and living ill, you instruct God how he ought to condemn you." The same in cap. XXV of Matthew: "When the people act well, each one is rewarded according to his merit; but the priest for the good of all. For he shall have a crown for his own deeds, a small crown for the acquisition of others." Again St. Gregory homil. 11 in Ezekiel: "We, he says, who are called priests, besides those evils which we have as our own, we add also the deaths of others; because we kill as many as we see going daily to death tepidly and silently. Then the subject dies without you, when you have borne him as a contradictory in the cause of death: for when he dies, to whom you do not contradict, you are joined." St. Isidore, lib. III On the Highest Good: "Priests, he says, are condemned for the iniquity of peoples, if they do not instruct them when ignorant, or do not reprove them when sinning. For as it is fitting that a sinner be reproved, so the just ought not to be exasperated." Hugh of St. Victor, lib. II On the Cloister of the Soul: "There are, he says, three voices of the pastor, namely the gentle, the sweet, the high. The gentle belongs to the infirm, the sweet to the dying, the high to the deaf."
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7. FOR THE LIPS OF THE PRIEST SHALL KEEP (that is, ought to keep) KNOWLEDGE, AND THEY SHALL SEEK THE LAW (that is, ought to seek, and in fact shall seek) AT HIS MOUTH. — He gives the reason for what he said in verse 6: "The law of truth was in his mouth," namely because he did what he ought to have done. For it is the duty of the priest to know the law and to teach it to others, according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus concerning Aaron, chapter XLV, 2: "And he gave him in his commandments the power to teach Jacob his testimonies (that is, his laws: for these are the testimonies of the divine will, what namely God wishes to be done or not done by us), and to give light to Israel in his law." Thus St. Paul, in his letter to Titus I, demands of him "that he be able to exhort in sound doctrine, and to convince the gainsayers," as St. Jerome says. Wherefore St. Ambrose, book III On Faith, chapter VII, calls the Scriptures, which contain the law of God, "the priestly book," as if proper to priests and to be read by them constantly. St. Jerome notes that it is not said: They shall bring forth knowledge, but they shall keep it, so that namely they speak it opportunely and fittingly, giving food to their fellow servants in due season, as Christ admonishes in Matthew XXIV, 45, so that the mouth of the priest may be a kind of saving storehouse, from which each one may draw for himself what is necessary, which God has stored there for the common utility and instruction of each. Wherefore the Author of the Imperfect Work, cited by St. Chrysostom, homily 38 on Matthew: "Just as," he says, "the stomach receiving food digests it, so also priests receive the knowledge of the word of God through Scripture, and digest it in themselves, that is, treating and meditating upon it, they distribute it to the whole people." And St. Ambrose, sermon 13, compares priests to bees: "Just as," he says, "bees make sweet honey from the little flowers of divine Scriptures, and whatever pertains to the healing of souls, they compose by the art of their mouth." Most excellently St. Bernard, book II On Consideration to Eugenius, chapter XIII: "Among the laity," he says, "trifles are trifles; in the mouth of a priest they are blasphemies. You have consecrated your mouth to the Gospel: it is now unlawful to open it to such things, it is a sacrilege to accustom it. The lips of the priest, says Malachi, keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth, certainly not trifles or fables. A scurrilous word, which they color with the name of wit or urbanity, is not sufficient to wander from the mouth; it must be banished far away and from the ear. You are shamefully moved to laughter, more shamefully you move others." But in particular St. Chrysostom, in his homily on him who fell among robbers: "Let the priest remember," he says, "that he is a watchman over all, so that he may give wholesome pastures to the sheep, may offer pure waters of the fountain to the lambs, may drive wolves from the sheep, may exclude harmful beasts from the lambs, may heal the wounded, may recall the wandering, may instruct the ignorant, may raise up the fallen, may teach all in general, each one in particular, may provoke all by the example of his life: let his teaching be twofold, so that his deeds may accord with his words, and his conduct may correspond to his doctrine: in nothing let him be less who is greater than all. Let him shine with charisms; let him gleam with offices. Let him be humble with authority, sublime with humility. Nor let him be better because he is greater; but let him be greater because he is better. Let him multiply peoples, and make them better by teaching than he received them. Thus it will come to pass that while he applies himself fervently to men, he makes the Lord his debtor." Wherefore St. Ambrose, in his book On the Dignity of the Priesthood, chapter VI, says that priests are the eyes of the Church, so that through them the rest of the body may receive the guidance of light: "For what else," he says, "does bishop signify but overseer? especially since he sits in the Church on a higher seat, and thus looks upon all, so that the eyes of all also look upon him. Therefore if it is so, why do you show yourself to the eyes of all like a foul mirror?" BECAUSE HE IS THE ANGEL OF THE LORD OF HOSTS. — The Septuagint: Because he is the angel of the Lord Almighty. In Hebrew it is malach, or Malachi: "The priest Ezra," says St. Jerome, "explains his own name, that is Malachi (for he himself reckons with the Hebrews that Malachi was Ezra), which is interpreted as the angel of the Lord. Now an angel, that is a messenger, is most truly called the priest of God: because he is the mediator between God and men, and announces His will to the people: and therefore in the breast of the priest is the rational, and in the rational are placed doctrine and truth, so that we may learn that the priest ought to be learned, and a herald of the Lord's truth." A priest therefore is an angel of God: first, because he is a messenger of God to men. Whence the Zurich translation renders it: For he is a legate of the Lord of hosts. For just as a legate announces nothing other than the will of the prince who sends him, and can add nothing to it or take nothing from it: so also a priest announces the will of God to the people, and can add nothing to it or take nothing from it, says St. Chrysostom, homily 2 on the epistle to the Romans. And conversely he brings the vows of the people to God. He is therefore both a legate of the people to God and of God to the people, namely an intermediary between both, a mediator and arbitrator: "God," says Tertullian, book Against the Jews, chapter IX, "was accustomed to call those angels whom he set over as ministers of his power." Second, just as angels minister to God, so also do priests. Whence the Chaldean translation renders it: Because he is a minister before the Lord of hosts. Whence Plato in the Phaedro says there is a threefold ecstasy and frenzy: first, of prophets; second, of priests; third, of lovers. For nothing can be done worthily by these three unless the mind is withdrawn from the body and is carried outside itself into the ardor and as it were frenzy of the thing loved, especially the heavenly and divine. Third, just as angels continually stand before God, having their mental gaze fixed upon him, they exult and sing continually: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts ("for it is the work of angels to praise God," says St. Basil on Psalm XXVIII): so also ought a priest continually to pray and sing, according to that in Psalm CXXXVII, 2: "In the sight of the angels I will sing to thee." Fourth, because he ought to imitate the truth, sincerity, chastity, purity, virtue and zeal of angels, and as it were to be an angel among men, as a teacher among boys, as a shepherd among animals. Wherefore aptly from this place Isidore of Pelusium censures the levity of the presbyter Dorotheos, book I, epistle 319: "Since a priest," he says, "is called the form of the flock and the light of the Church, and truly is, it is necessary that subjects be impressed upon by his morals as wax by a seal. Wherefore if you wish to be a light, hate buffoonery and petulant laughter: lest otherwise you teach many petulance and impudence. For a priest is an angel of the almighty Lord: but an angel knows not laughter, serving God with fear and trembling." Fifth, a priest is an angel by divine consecration, by which he receives from God a power greater than that which angels have. Sixth, the angels have three functions, namely to purify, to illuminate and to perfect, as St. Dionysius says in the Celestial Hierarchy. And, "the perfection of angels is sanctification," says St. Basil in the homily On the Holy Spirit. These are the same functions of a priest. For as it were of a mediator it is to lead the people back to God: hence it is necessary that he continually have God in mind and see God, to whom he intends to lead the people back. Moreover, how anyone might be able to see God, Plotinus, though a Platonist, teaches briefly and beautifully, book On Beauty, chapter IX: "Let him become," he says, "divine, beautiful and deiform, who is about to behold divine beauty." Hear also St. Ambrose, book On the Initiated, chapter II: "A priest is an angel, who announces the kingdom of Christ and eternal life: not to be esteemed by you in appearance, but by his office." Socrates used to say "the mouth of a wise man (such as a priest is) is as it were the door of a temple," because just as this, so also that opens and brings forth nothing but sacred things. Seventh, it is the function of angels to persevere in holiness and sanctification, says Basil in the same place: for those who did not persevere in it became demons. Thus perseverance in his work and office is necessary for a priest. If this was true in Aaron and the priests of old, it is certainly far more true in Christians who perform and handle sacrifices and mysteries far more august and divine. Concerning which there is a golden saying of St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Apol. 1: "The defender and champion of truth," he says, "is with the company and order of angels, celebrates God with the archangels, sends sacrifices to the heavenly altar, and at the same time with Christ exercises the priesthood, restores the work of creation, and sets before the Creator his image, and acts as the world's maker on high, and to say what is greater, is God, and makes others gods." Again St. Chrysostom, hom. 2 in the epistle II to Timothy: "Do you not know," he says, "what a priest is? Surely he is an angel of the Lord. He does not speak from himself. If you despise him, you do not despise him, but God who ordained him." For a priest in his ordination receives from God alone the power of remitting sins, of consecrating the body of Christ, of teaching, of preaching, etc. The same, lib. III De Sacerdotio: "For indeed," he says, "the priesthood is performed on earth, but it must be referred to the company and order of heavenly things. For not any mortal man, not an angel, not an archangel, not any other created power, but the Paraclete himself established such an order, who was the author that mortal men still remaining in the flesh might conceive in their minds the ministry of angels. Therefore it is necessary that a priest be so pure that if he were placed in the very heavens, he would stand in the midst of those heavenly virtues." The same, homil. 5 De verbis Isai., demonstrates that a priest is greater than a king, and that the priesthood is greater than a kingdom: because a king has authority only over the earth, but a priest also over heaven: "To a priest," he says, "a throne is placed in the heavens, and he has authority to pronounce judgment concerning heavenly matters. Who said this? The King of heaven himself: Whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven, etc. Therefore a priest stands in the middle between God and human nature, bringing to us benefits coming from on high, and carrying our petitions thither, reconciling the angry Lord to both natures, snatching us who have offended from his hands. And therefore God has subjected himself, the royal head, to the hands of a priest." Therefore the priesthood is a heavenly kingdom. Hence the Author of the Imperfect Work, hom. 18 in Matthew, says: "Priests are vicars of Christ, and Christ: and he who honors the priest of Christ, honors Christ: and he who injures the priest of Christ, injures Christ." Appositely St. Ambrose, serm. 5, compares priests to bees on account of three analogies. The first is: "Because just as bees," he says, "make sweet honey from the little flowers of divine Scriptures, and whatever pertains to the healing of souls they compose by the art of their mouth." The second: "because just as bees prefer the chastity of the body, they exhibit the food of heavenly life, they exercise the sting of the law. For they are pure for sanctification, sweet for refreshment, severe for vengeance." The third: "because like a certain hive they contain the grace of Mother Church, in which composing cells of diverse merits with the sweetest preachings, from one examination of the Savior they produce many examinations of Christians." Finally St. Chrysostom, lib. II De Sacerdotio: "Behold," he says, "the dignity of a priest. It is exercised on earth, but the office is contained in heavenly matters. For not man, not an angel, not an archangel, not any other creature, not a virtue, but the Holy Spirit himself instituted this office, and granted that those still remaining in the flesh might exercise the ministry of angels." St. Ignatius, epist. to the Smyrnaeans: "The priesthood," he says, "is the sum of all goods that exist in men: which if anyone has dishonored, he dishonors God, and the Lord Jesus Christ the firstborn of all creation, and the sole natural high priest of God." See more in St. Chrysostom lib. III and VI De Sacerdotio. Wherefore St. Francis never allowed himself to be ordained a priest, saying he was unworthy of such dignity. And he would add: If a priest should meet me on one side and an angel on the other, leaving the angel I would run to the priest, I would kiss his hands, and I would ask from him a blessing, because he himself consecrates the body of Christ, and administers to us the bread of life. Thus also St. Hedwig, Duchess of Poland, wonderfully venerated priests as angels of God, and humbly asked from them a blessing, as her Life relates.
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8. BUT YOU HAVE DEPARTED FROM THE WAY (namely this way of the law, of knowledge, of truth, of equity and of the fear of God, which I prescribed to Aaron and the Levites in verses 5 and following, and therefore) YOU HAVE CAUSED MANY TO STUMBLE IN THE LAW (by giving them an example of violating and despising the law): YOU HAVE MADE VOID THE COVENANT OF LEVI, — by not observing the conditions of the covenant already mentioned, which I have already reviewed. Wherefore in turn neither shall I keep or fulfill to you those things which I promised in this covenant.
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9. FOR THIS CAUSE HAVE I ALSO MADE YOU CONTEMPTIBLE. — For it is just that a priest, despising God, should in like manner be despised by the people, according to that which God threatened to Heli, I Kings II, 30: "Whosoever glorifieth me, I will glorify him: but they that despise me, shall be despised." It is just that he who hath defiled the honour of the priesthood and dishonoured it, should himself be dishonoured, and all the more so, in that from a lofty pinnacle of honour he hath fallen to the lowest depth of baseness and contempt. Thus we see certain impure priests become a mockery to men, and reckoned the vilest of mortals, refuse and offscouring. In like manner St. Ambrose in lib. De Dignit. Sacerd. cap. VI, and St. Gregory hom. 17 in Evang. teach that the reason why priests and clerics are despised is their own ignorance, levity, and evil life. Truly St. Augustine or whosoever is the author, lib. De Bono viduitatis, cap. VII: "As one star, saith he, differeth from another star in glory, so one priest differeth from another priest in conversation. For many are called priests, but it is not given to all to be priests," etc. Wherefore that they may preserve the pinnacle of their degree and honour, let them honour God, live worthily of their degree, and discharge so holy a ministry holily. "Let the dignity of the priesthood claim for itself a sober gravity apart from the crowds, a severe life, a singular weight," saith St. Ambrose, epist. 26. And St. Gregory II part. Pastor. cap. I: "So much, saith he, ought the action of the ruler to transcend the action of the people, as the life of the shepherd is wont to differ from the flock. Let him therefore of necessity be pure in thought, excellent in action, discreet in silence, useful in speech, compassionate towards individuals, suspended in contemplation before all things, a companion to the well-doing through humility, raised up against the vices of the delinquent through zeal for justice, not diminishing care for internal things in the occupation of external matters, not abandoning providence for external things in solicitude for internal matters." Finally St. Jerome to Heliodorus: "The house of a bishop, saith he, and his conversation as if placed in a watchtower, is a teacher of public discipline: whatsoever he shall do, all think they ought to do the same." YE HAVE ACCEPTED THE PERSON IN THE LAW. — "Person," that is, the face, as the Septuagint translateth it; for the face is the most worthy and conspicuous part of the person, by which some please, others displease; hence some are accepted, others rejected. It is a Hebraism: for the Hebrews call the acceptance of persons the acceptance of faces, for the reason already stated. Whence Symmachus translateth: Ye have feared faces in the law. The sense is, as if to say, You, O priests, were judges of the people, and whereas ye ought to judge according to the law, and protect the innocent, orphans, wards and the poor, ye judged according to respect, or acceptance of persons; ye preferred the full and wealthy faces and the splendid countenances of the rich and powerful to the lean, needy, and abject faces of the poor, and ye adjudged the cause and goods of the poor to the rich. But thus the Prophet would rather have said: Ye have accepted the person in judgment, not in the law. For to accept the person in the law is in expounding the law; or in executing it to regard not so much the mind of the law, as the quality and dignity of persons, for example, to exempt the rich from the law, and to bind and punish the poor by it, according to that of Juvenal satyr. II: He grants pardon to crows, but punishes doves with censure. For the aspect of the face moveth much, whether to love, or to compassion, or to hatred, etc. Wherefore the Areopagite judges, incorruptible men, judged by night, or in darkness, lest any illustrious or abject face should move them to any affection which would pervert right judgment, saith Lucian in Hermotimus. First therefore Vatablus expoundeth, as if to say, If any question concerning the law be proposed to you, O priests, ye answer having regard to the persons rather than to the matter and truth, flattering the rich. Secondly, Theodoret, as if to say, Ye accepted and sacrificed even the maimed victims of the rich, forbidden by the law; but ye rejected those of the poor: which is a vice of acceptance of persons, as much as of sacrilege. Thirdly, Rupertus, as if to say, Ye regarded the fair and wealthy faces of foreign women, and took them as wives; but your own Israelite women ye rejected on account of their deformity, or poverty: for this vice he treateth at length in what followeth, and on account of it he reprobateth and rejecteth their victims and sacrifices, vers. 13. Otherwise the Syriac and Arabic versions translate, namely: Ye have accepted in the face the law, which some thus explain: in the face, that is, on the surface, as if to say, Ye fulfil the bark of the law before men, but not the mind and sense of the law, as if to say, Ye are hypocrites.
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10. IS NOT HE ONE FATHER OF ALL OF US? — The Prophet passes to another vice of the priests (for these were the leaders in the crime) and of the people of that age, namely that after the return from Babylon they repudiated their wives, Israelite women, on account of poverty, old age, toil, sickness and hardships, as St. Jerome wishes; or rather that they might have them as handmaids and despise them, as Lyra wishes (whence he says only "ye despise," and repeats this a third time; and in verse 16, he advises that they rather dismiss them), and in their place they took foreign women, young, rich and beautiful, contrary to the law forbidding this, Deuteronomy VII, 3, and they honored them as if they were wives. Esdras, a contemporary of Malachi, censures and corrects this same vice, chapters IX and X. Moreover he uses two arguments to reconcile and restore love of wives, and thereby marriage itself. The first he draws from community of blood, namely that they have one and the same father, either Jacob, as the Hebrews wish; or rather the first patriarch Abraham: for he is called in Ecclesiasticus XLVI, 20, the father of a multitude of nations. For this is what the Hebrew name Abraham signifies: and from him the Jews called themselves and boasted of being sons of Abraham. Thus St. Jerome, Remigius, Rupertus, Lyra and others. The sense is, as if to say, You, O Jews, joined in marriage with Jewish wives, are mutually brothers and sisters: for you have one common father Abraham, just as Isaac and Jacob or Israel, from whom the Israelites are named, just as from Abraham the Abrahamites; it is therefore fitting that you mutually honor and love one another with fraternal love and honor, as if sons of the same house and family of Abraham. Do not therefore be unjust to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, by despising your wives, who are daughters of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; do not break this union of your family, nay rather its unity; do not prefer to your sisters strangers and foreigners. The second he draws from community of religion, namely that all have and worship one God, who although he created heaven and earth and all nations, yet properly created, that is, formed, took to himself and adopted the Hebrews into his Church, whom in his faith, religion, worship and Synagogue he created as it were a new and spiritual people, infusing knowledge, fear and love of himself, according to that in Deuteronomy XXXII, 6: "Is not he thy father, that possessed thee, and made thee, and created thee?" and verse 18: "Thou hast forsaken God who begot thee, and hast forgotten the Lord thy creator." God therefore is the creator of all by nature, but the proper creator of the Hebrews by faith and grace. Thus the Apostle says that Christians in Christ as it were in a common father are reborn through baptism, regenerated, and made a new creation, not natural but spiritual, and therefore ought to be united to one another most closely and love one another, because to all there is "one God, one faith, one baptism," Ephesians IV, 4. The sense therefore is, as if to say, If love and reverence for Abraham do not touch you, let fear and love of your God touch you: do not apostatize from your God and his daughters to the daughters of idolaters, who will certainly lead you away to their idols, as they led away Solomon: do not be rebels against your God forbidding this; otherwise believe and fear that he will be a keen avenger and punisher of both right and wrong. Since therefore you are bound to your wives by a twofold bond so tight, of blood and of religion, do not break and violate it. WHY THEREFORE DOES EACH ONE OF US DESPISE HIS BROTHER? — Lyra thinks that here are rebuked the hatreds and quarrels by which the Jews were divided and contended among themselves: whence, in order to bring them to concord, he said that they had one father Abraham and worshipped one God of Israel. But the Prophet properly does not deal here with any dissension of theirs, but with that which arose from the fact that they repudiated the wives of Israelite women, or rather despised them, as the Prophet says, that is, preferred to them foreign women beautiful and wealthy, whom they honored as spouses, but the Israelite women they depressed and held as handmaids or servants. For from this not only the women themselves were offended, but also their brothers, parents, and kinsmen, and therefore they contended among themselves with hatreds and quarrels. The sense therefore is, as if to say, Why do we despise the old wives and cast away the daughters of our brothers? says St. Jerome, who therefore understands by brother the father-in-law: for in despising the daughter of the father-in-law, they despised the father-in-law himself and the other relatives. Again, under the word brother, in the manner of Scripture, by enallage understand also sister, that is, a kinswoman or one of the same race, namely a Hebrew woman. For just as under the word man a woman is usually understood, so also under brother a sister. The sense therefore is, as if to say, You despise wives, who are your sisters, because they are of the same race and nation, namely Hebrew. Thus Arias. Moreover, for the sake of modesty the Prophet says: "Each one of us," not "of you," so that the reproof may be milder, as one which includes himself, although he himself was truly not allied to this fault. The sense therefore is, as if to say, "Each one of us," that is, most of our people. VIOLATING THE COVENANT OF OUR FATHERS. — "Covenant" namely, which we made with God, promising that we would keep his laws, among which one is not to marry foreigners. By covenant therefore understand metonymically the law, which was the condition of the covenant which the Jews had made with God: thus St. Jerome, Remigius, Rupertus and others; especially because, as Arias says, through these wives, being idolatresses, the husbands were gradually enticed to apostatize from God, and consequently from the covenant by which they had promised always to worship God, and to turn aside to their idols, superstitions and vices, as happened to Solomon.
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11. JUDAH HAS TRANSGRESSED (the covenant and law already mentioned): AND ABOMINATION HAS BEEN COMMITTED IN ISRAEL. — He said the same thing, aggravating it with other and sharper words. For after the return from captivity there was no other Israel than Judah and the Jews. BECAUSE JUDAH HAS DEFILED THE HOLINESS OF THE LORD. — By holiness, or, as it is in Hebrew codesh, that is, sanctity; the Zurich Bible, the holy; the Septuagint, the holy things; can be understood first, the holy law of God; second, the holy worship of God; third, the holiness of life, to which Israel was obligated and which it professed, and hence was called a holy nation, namely dedicated and devoted to God, according to that in Exodus XIX, 6: "You shall be to me a priestly kingdom, and a holy nation." Whence the Chaldean paraphrast translates: The men of the house of Judah have violated the soul of themselves, which was sanctified before the Lord and beloved. The same thing tropologically each sinner does: for he through sin pollutes the temple which God had sanctified for himself in his soul, and makes it a profane shrine, indeed a sacrilegious temple of the devil, as the Apostle teaches in I Corinthians VI, 19: "Do you not know," he says, "that your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you, whom you have from God?" Fourth, the holiness of faith and religion, because through idolatrous wives they were led away from the true faith of God to the faith and worship of idols: thus Lyra. Fifth, the holiness of the temple: for the temple in Hebrew codesh, that is, holiness, is called; because it is most holy and must be worshipped most holily. For sinners by their crimes pollute the earth, and especially the temple in which they dwell, as if to say, God despises your oblations and sacrifices, as I said in verse 13; because you despise his law, and you pollute his temple by your marriages with idolaters. Sixth, the holiness of charity, namely the kinship of blood and the sacred union of one's own nation, which they violated by repudiating or despising their fellow-tribeswomen and taking foreign women instead. Seventh, the holiness of matrimony, which they defiled through divorce. Thus Vatablus. Eighth, and best, the holiness of Judah was separation from the Gentiles, by which according to the law of God, Judah as a people dedicated to God, separated itself from commerce, and especially from marriage with the Gentiles who were idolaters; thus St. Jerome, Remigius and Hugh, according to that in Psalm CXIII, 2: "Judah became his sanctification," that is, a people separated from others, as if dedicated to God and holy, and worshipping, celebrating and sanctifying God. Finally, sanctification, or the holiness of God properly is that by which he himself is holy in himself, and as such is known and worshipped by men. For this is profaned if anyone mixes it with idols and idolaters. Whence he gives the reason and explains himself when he adds: "And he had a daughter of a strange god." Tropologically, whoever among the faithful pollutes and violates this eightfold holiness whenever he sins. For he himself through faith, baptism and grace is sanctified and dedicated to the worship of God, and especially the priest and religious, who through ordination or profession is properly consecrated to God. Sin therefore is a pollution and profanation of eightfold sacred things (as is evident to one running through each of the things already said and applying them to sin), and consequently is as it were an eightfold sacrilege. Whence the Septuagint translates in the plural: Because Judas has defiled the holy things of the Lord in which, that is, which the Lord loved, and therefore carefully commanded and wished to be observed by us. The prophet Isaiah threatens these things in chapter XXVI, 10, saying: "In the land of the saints he has done iniquity, and shall not see the glory of the Lord." Moreover, the faithful, and especially religious, through faith, grace and vows enter into marriage and nuptials with Christ, and as it were betroth their souls to him as brides; and therefore if they violate and dissolve this by sinning, they are spiritually adulterers, which is evident from II Corinthians XI, 2: "I have espoused you to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." For what that word "I will" effects in carnal marriages, that word "I vow" effects in spiritual ones. For, as St. Bernard says in sermon 85 on the Canticles, "the height does not terrify, which likeness associates, love reconciles, profession marries. The form of profession is this: I have sworn and determined to keep the judgments of thy justice." And soon after: "Therefore when you see a soul, having left all things, by the word adhere to all vows, by the word live, by the word govern itself, by the word conceive what it may bring forth by the word, which can say: For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain, namely espoused to the Word and married by the Word." Wherefore St. Agnes, as St. Ambrose testifies in sermon 90, said to a young man seeking her: "I am espoused to him whom the angels serve, whose beauty the sun and moon admire, whose mother is a virgin, whose father knows not a woman: whom when I shall have loved, I am chaste; when I shall have touched him, I am pure, when I shall have received him, I am a virgin. He has betrothed me with his ring, and adorned me with immense jewels. To him alone do I keep faith, to him do I commit myself with all devotion." This is what God promises through Hosea, chapter II, 19: "I will espouse thee to me for ever: and I will espouse thee to me in justice, and judgment, and in mercy, and in commiserations. And I will espouse thee to me in faith: and thou shalt know that I am the Lord." See the things said there. AND HAD A DAUGHTER OF A STRANGE GOD,—namely as a wife. For in Hebrew it is baal, that is, he married her, joined her to himself in matrimony, possessed her as a husband burning with love. He calls the daughter of a strange god an alien woman, who worships God, not the true God of Israel, but a strange one, namely the idol and demon of other nations, as her God and father. Tropologically, "the daughter of a strange god" is the concupiscence of the flesh and of the eyes, and the pride of life, to which the sinner couples himself as it were to a bride, nay rather to an adulteress with insane love. You have heard the guilt of Israel, hear the punishment; and from the gravity of this, estimate that gravity. Therefore he says:
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12. THE LORD WILL DESTROY THE MAN WHO HAS DONE THIS, BOTH MASTER AND DISCIPLE.—In Hebrew er veone, that is, the one who stirs up, or the watchful one, and the one who answers. The one who stirs up and is watchful is the master, who watches that he may seek out the truth, teach it, protect it, and stir up, stimulate and sharpen the mind of the disciple, now by teaching, now by disputing, now by questioning; the one who answers is the disciple, whose duty it is to answer the master who stirs him up and questions him. The sense therefore is, as if to say, God will destroy the Jew who, despising his own wife, takes an alien woman, whoever he may be, whether a doctor, or a disciple, or a priest, or a layman, or a nobleman, or a commoner. Thus St. Jerome. Secondly, the Zurich Bible translates er veone as the one who is the author, and the one who obeys, as if to say, God will destroy both the author and the executor of the crime. Thirdly, the Chaldean translates it as son and grandson. For the son is he who stirs up and begets the grandson; whence the grandson answers to him. Fourthly, Clarius and Arias translate it as the one who strikes in the house, or awakens from sleep, and the one who answers to the one striking or awakening, as if to say, God will destroy all and sundry in such a family. Fifthly, the Septuagint, reading ad for er, that is, until, translates: Until he be humbled from the tabernacles of Jacob; for the Hebrew ana means to humble and to answer. AND THE ONE OFFERING A GIFT,—as if to say: Even if he be a priest offering sacrifices. Thus the Chaldean and St. Cyril.
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13. AND YOU DO THIS AGAIN (Zurich: Then you also add this; Chaldean: And you do this a second time, that is to say, To the former crime, by which you lead away foreigners, you add a second one, namely), YOU COVER THE ALTAR OF THE LORD WITH TEARS,—that is to say, The former wives whom you despised, you treated so basely and miserably as if they were handmaids and servants, indeed you afflicted them grievously, so that those most wretched women took refuge in the temple, and there before the altar poured forth abundant tears, complaining to me of your injury, and seeking help and vengeance from me. Thus St. Jerome, Cyril, Theodoret and others everywhere, except Lyran, who explains it thus, that is to say, You, remaining in marriage with foreigners, in order to expiate this crime, run to the temple, and there with tears shed forth you seek pardon. But in vain, because you do not conceive the purpose of amending yourselves, but wish to persist in the crime and unlawful marriage. Which sense St. Chrysostom followed, relating these things tropologically to those who seize what belongs to others, and in order to expiate the seizure, give part to the temple or to the poor: "Such almsgiving is Jewish," he says, "or rather diabolical. Christ does not wish robbery to be nourished," etc. Thus he himself in homily 86 on Matthew. WITH BELLOWING.—The Septuagint and Chaldean, with groaning; Pagninus, with clamor; Our translator more forcefully renders it, with bellowing. For bellowing properly is the horrible voice of oxen. Whence Statius in the eleventh book of the Thebaid, concerning Jupiter changed into a bull, when he was carrying off Europa, thus sings: Deigning to be pressed by our virgin / Upon his back, and to bellow falsely through the calm waves. Hence by catachresis it is attributed to other animals, and to man, indeed even to earth and sea. Whence Virgil in the Aeneid: "You will see the earth bellow;" and in book VI: "The ground bellows beneath their feet;" and Catullus in epigram LXIV On Berecynthia: "With bellowing roar all places resound." Therefore this bellowing signifies the immense lamentation of wives despised by their husbands, flowing from great affliction and sorrow, so that they seemed not to wail in the manner of women, but to bellow in the manner of oxen, according to that of Oenone to Paris in Ovid: And I filled the sacred Ida with querulous howlings. SO THAT I WILL NO LONGER LOOK UPON THE SACRIFICE.—Because I look upon the tears and bellowing of the wives whom you oppress; for those women, being just and pitiable, move me more than the wicked and impure sacrifices of the cruel.
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14. BECAUSE THE LORD HATH TESTIFIED. — In Hebrew heid, that is, he hath protested, this to be his mind and will, that is, he commanded and ordained marriage to be indissoluble, and that the husband should love his wife, and on account of her leave father and mother, Gen. II, 24; but you violate this protestation and law of mine, by leaving and despising your wives. Thus St. Jerome, Theodoret, Remigius, Hugo and Lyra. Secondly, the Hebrew heid with the Zurich Bible can be translated, he hath testified, and with Vatablus, it can be testified, so that there may be an allusion to the rite of the ancient Hebrews, who contracted marriage with God as witness and bridesman, as Theodoret says, so that it might be more holy and inviolable, because it had been joined together with God as it were present and as bridesman. Whence Laban, Gen. XXXI, 49, invoking God as witness, says to Jacob his son-in-law: "Let the Lord look and judge between us, when we shall be departed from one another, if thou shalt afflict my daughters, and if thou shalt take other wives over them: no one is witness of our word but God, who is present and beholdeth;" and from this the place was called Galaad, that is, the heap of the witness. Thus also Raguel joined his daughter Sara to Tobias, invoking God, and saying: "God of Abraham, and God of Isaac, and God of Jacob be with you, and may he himself join you together." The same the priest prays for Christian spouses, while he joins them together and blesses them. Thus also among the gentiles the bonds and rights of marriage were so sacred, that they entered into them only with gods invoked as witnesses and presiders, and with sacrifices appeased. Hear Valerius Flaccus, book VIII of the Argonautica: Thence when he comes to the altars with his spouse to sacrifice, / The son of Aeson, and they approach together, and likewise begin / To pray, Pollux preferred fire and the conjugal wave, / So that they might turn their right hands together in the same direction. And a little later: First and behold I bring, and I shake this torch for your / Marriage, first I celebrate the dowry rites. Wherefore Modestinus in law I, Digest, On the Rite of Nuptials, defines nuptials as a conjunction of divine and human right. And Gordianus in law Adversus, Digest, On Criminal Matters and Heirs, calls the wife a partner in divine and human affairs. Hence they did not join in nuptials unless auspices had first been taken, so that the auspices might announce that they were undertaken by the will of the gods, and would be prosperous. Hence Claudian, in his epistle to Serena: The purple auspex / Would join me, the hall would gird me with a sacred bed. The same in Rufinus, book I: Under this auspex of the torch / The Oedipus joined to his mother, the Thyestes to his daughter. But properly they invoked Juno when about to marry, and they had many honors for her, because they thought her to preside over joining and reconciling spouses. Ovid teaches this in the epistle of Medea to Jason: Let Juno be conscious, presiding over sacred marriages. And in the epistle of Hypsipyle: I am not known to you in secret, the pronuba Juno / Was present. And Virgil in book IV of the Aeneid: Juno before all, to whom the marriage bonds are a care. And Statius in the Silvae: Juno gives the venerable / Bonds, and doubles concord with a distinguished torch. Moreover, when making sacrifices to Juno, they cast away the gall of the victim, so that they might mystically signify that all bitterness and anger ought to be absent from marriages. Thus Plutarch in the Precepts for Marriage. To this pertains the law of Numa, who succeeded Romulus, found in Gellius, book IV, chapter III: "Let not a concubine touch the temple of Juno; if she touches it, let her strike a female lamb for Juno with hair unbound." They also invoked the holy god Fidius, or Medius Fidius, as it were the guardian of faith, and the reconciler and avenger of the holy covenant: concerning whom Ovid in book VI of the Fasti, and St. Augustine in book XVIII of the City of God, XIX: "The Sabines," he says, "reported their king Sangus, or, as some call him, Sanctus, among the gods." So sacred were the marriages of the gentiles; how much more therefore ought the same to be religious and inviolable among Christians! Note: Malachi here dissuades the Jews from the contempt and repudiation of Israelite wives by seven arguments. The first is, because God from the beginning of the world ordained the bond of marriage, and willed it to be perpetual. He himself by the custom and rite of marriages was a witness and as it were the reconciler of your marriage; do not therefore violate the rights of marriage so sacredly ordained by God. Thus St. Chrysostom in the homily On the Bill of Divorce, vol. IV. BETWEEN THEE AND THE WIFE OF THY YOUTH. — This is the second argument, as if to say: This is your first and lawful wife, whom in your youth, that is when you first became of age, namely whom you took as a young man; do not therefore break off her first and tender affections. WHOM THOU HAST DESPISED. — In Hebrew, thou hast defrauded; the Chaldean, thou hast lied. AND SHE IS THY COMPANION. — Pagninus, your associate; the Zurich Bible, your partner. This is the third argument, as if to say: Just as God gave Eve to Adam as a helper both for generation and for life; so likewise he gave this one to you from your own people as it were a companion and partner of your household, of your labors and all your goods, equally as of your evils. Since therefore this woman has been a faithful and inseparable companion and partner to you for so long a time, do not abandon her at the end of your life; do not give this stain to your glory; do not conclude the comedy and fable of your life with so unworthy a catastrophe. AND THE WIFE OF THY COVENANT. — This is the fourth argument, as if to say: This is the wife with whom you first entered into the covenant of marriage; do not therefore break this covenant, lest you be called and in fact be a covenant-breaker.
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15. DID NOT ONE MAKE HER? — This is the fifth argument, as if to say: God in the beginning made one woman, namely Eve; and one man, namely Adam, so that between these two, and consequently between all other spouses to be born from them, there would be one and indivisible marriage; for Adam could not be joined to another wife than Eve, since no other was created by God; nor could Eve turn to another man than Adam, since there was no other man in the world. Do not therefore break this sanctification of God and the unity of marriage: do not be degenerate from the protoplasts Adam and Eve. Thus St. Jerome, Theodoret, Remigius, Lyran. Secondly, the Chaldean by "one" understands Abraham; for he translates: Was not Abraham one, from whom the world was propagated? and what did one seek, except that offspring should remain to him in the sight of the Lord? as if to say: Abraham your father, from whom your whole nation descended, did not despise Sarah, although barren, but at her request took Hagar; because from her he sought not pleasure, as you do, but offspring. And the Zurich edition, Pagninus and Vatablus: Did not one do this, in whom there was excellence (for the Hebrew sear means both residue and excellence) of spirit? What then did that one do? He sought the seed of God; that is, Abraham, although one and without children, and a man of the greatest excellence, did not do what you do, as if to say: You despise and repudiate your wives without the example of your ancestors, nay, contrary to their example; for you have begotten offspring from your wives, which Abraham sought and could not beget from Sarah; yet he did not on that account despise her, much less repudiate her. You are therefore not legitimate sons of Abraham, but degenerate and spurious. AND THE RESIDUE OF HIS SPIRIT IS. — This is the sixth argument, as if to say: God from himself created one human spirit, and vital breath, of which he gave one part as it were to Adam, the other remaining part to the woman, namely Eve. Therefore you ought not to sunder this unity by divorce. For woman is as it were half of man, both in body, because she was formed from the residue of man, namely from his rib; and in spirit, because the vital breath which God breathed into Adam, he afterwards divided with Eve, when he breathed into her the same not in number, but in kind, that is human and similar, and made her to be a living animal, nay a living man. Thus St. Chrysostom in his homily On the Bill of Divorce. Hence secondly, spirit can be understood as love and affection; because Adam and Eve are formed and consist from the same as it were body, and vital breath, hence they likewise have the same spirit, that is an affection of love ingrained by nature, by which woman loves man, and man woman as his counterpart, and his half, nay as another self intimately and tenderly. For the cause and end why God formed woman from man was, that he might ingrain in them the highest love toward each other, and conjunction in marriage, so that they would never think of divorce or repudiation, because by this the one as it were body of man and woman is sundered, and one spirit, not only human, but also divine, as being breathed into them by God, as it were a particle of divine breath. Thus St. Jerome, Theodoret, Remigius, Albert and Lyran. Otherwise Arias; for he understands spirit as mind, counsel, judgment. Whence thus he translates: And not one did this, and the residue of spirit to him; and what did that one seeking? The seed of God; and thus he explains it, as if to say: Not one of you committed this sin of divorce, but many: hence scarcely is there one who has the residue of spirit, that is of sound mind, counsel and judgment. What then does each one seek? Is it the seed of God, namely that they might beget faithful offspring to God? Not at all; but they desire to satisfy their own lust. AND WHAT DOES ONE SEEK, EXCEPT THE SEED OF GOD? — This is the seventh argument, as if to say: What does one, namely God, intend and seek from the marriage of one with one sanctioned by himself, except faithful and holy sons to be born to him, from a faithful father and mother, not infidels from foreigners? For foreign and idolatrous mothers, whom you, O Jews, desire, will instill into their offspring love and worship of their idols, and will educate them in these. Thus St. Jerome and others who follow him. It signifies that Jews ought not in marriage to study pleasure and lust, and therefore desire foreign women; but offspring, and its pious and holy education, which they can hope for only from wives of Israel, and therefore these ought to be retained and desired. Morally, let preachers note these seven reasons by which the holiness and indissolubility of matrimony are demonstrated by God, and let them use them against divorces and adulteries, as well as against quarrels and litigations of spouses, so that they may persuade them to conjugal and holy love. Likewise, let them dissuade Catholics from contracting marriages with heretics; for these are foreigners, who will educate their offspring in an alien faith, that is, in perfidy and heresy. Valerius Maximus recounts illustrious examples of conjugal love among the Gentiles in book IV, chapter VI. GUARD THEREFORE YOUR SPIRIT. — First, "spirit," that is, your soul and will, guard from the sin of lust, love and marriage with foreigners, and conversely from the sin of contempt and repudiation of your former wives, who are Israelitesses. Thus St. Jerome. Second, Remigius, Albert and Lyra understand by spirit the wife: for he called her above "the remnant of the spirit" of the man, as if to say, Guard your former love toward your wives, who are as it were half of your spirit, that is, of your soul. Whence, explaining, he adds: "And despise not the wife of thy youth." Third, de Castro, as if to say, Guard the spirit of Abraham, so that just as he loved Sarah, so you may love your wives. Fourth, the Zurich translation renders it: You therefore, as dear as your soul is to you, beware lest you be faithless to your wives, who were betrothed to you in your youth. Fifth, Arias translates from the Hebrew: Guard in your spirit, as if to say, In a matter of such importance, do not allow yourselves to be driven by rashness and lust, but do all things with certain and mature spirit and judgment. Sixth, Vatablus translates: Keep therefore yourselves in your spirit, and do not transgress, that is, neither in mind nor in body sin against God. Seventh, more forcefully and more truly, understand by spirit the love and affection which a man ought to bear toward his wife, as it were another part of his body and spirit. For this is what the inferential word "therefore" signifies, namely that the Prophet looks back to the "remnant of the spirit" of which he spoke above, as if to say, Woman and man have the same spirit, both as vital and as moral in mutual love, as I said above; therefore it is fitting that they carefully guard the same. To this is added Father Pineda on Job XIX, 17, who understands by spirit the breath which husband and wife communicate to each other through frequent conversation and intercourse. There is therefore in them a reciprocation of spirit, according to that passage of Job: "My wife hath abhorred my breath." The sense therefore is, as if to say, Guard your breath, lest you communicate it to a foreign woman, but only to your legitimate wife, that is, do not live with, converse with, speak with and mingle with a foreigner, but only with an Israelitess, whom you took as spouse from the beginning. Morally, let men guard a chaste and manly spirit; for there is nothing which emasculates and softens it, even in ecclesiastical and devout men, so much as love, even if it appear pious, of women, especially of foreign women. An example is in Sardanapalus, the last king and monarch of Nineveh, whom, as Justin says in book I, Arbastus found among troops of harlots dyeing purple, and in womanly attire with bodily softness and wantonness of eyes surpassing all women, weighing out wool among maidens. Thus Jezabel dominated Ahab, concubines dominated Solomon, Delilah dominated Samson, Omphale dominated Hercules, as Seneca describes in the Hippolytus: Born of Alcmena, he laid down his quiver, / Suffered emeralds to be fitted to his fingers, etc. More clearly indeed Dejanira in Ovid sings thus of Hercules: She saw upon the neck of Hercules suspended necklaces, / Upon him to whom the heavens were a light burden. / And drawing thick threads with your robust thumb, / And weighing out equal portions to your beautiful mistress. / You are said to be wretched, trembling at the lash's reins, / Before the feet of your mistress to have feared threats. See St. Cyprian, tract. On the Singularity of Clerics.
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16. WHEN THOU SHALT HATE HER, PUT HER AWAY. — Various interpreters translate and explain this passage in various ways. First, Rabbi Hananus in Arias translates thus: God hates him who puts away his wife. Second, Pagninus: If he shall hate her, put her away, that is to say, If thy wife be quarrelsome and hate thee, put her away. Third, the Chaldean: But if thou shalt hate her, put her away, and cover not thy sin with thy garment, that is to say, If thou shalt hate thy wife, repudiate her, and do not cover thy hatred with that garment and pretext, that thou keepest her in thy house, as if thou lovest her, when secretly thou treatest her as a servant. Fourth, thus Vatablus translates and explains: He that hateth, let him put away: but each one of you committeth iniquity under his garment, that is, each one of you indeed puts away the wife whom he hateth, but without giving her a bill of divorce: whence it comes to pass that she cannot marry another. Fifth, others: He that hateth, let him put away, and shall cover iniquity under his garment, that is to say, A man putting away his wife shall cover his infamy, by which the wife, while she was detained in his house and treated badly, was wont to defame him. Sixth, many others think it is irony, that is to say, If thou shalt hate thy wife, put her away; but know that iniquity shall cover thy garment. For the law did not permit divorce on account of hatred, but on account of the uncleanness of the wife, that is on account of fornication, leprosy, incorrigible behaviour, etc., as I said on Deut. XXIV, 1. Seventh and most plainly, that is to say, When thou shalt hate thy wife, put her away, giving her a bill of divorce, so that she may marry another rather than that thou shouldest afflict her in thy house perpetually as a servant, beat her, maim her, or kill her: but know that thou shalt not escape iniquity. For although it be a lesser evil to put away a wife than to kill her, nevertheless in itself it is a great evil: for it is not lawful to put her away on account of mere displeasure or hatred alone. AND INIQUITY SHALL COVER HIS GARMENT, — namely of the husband putting her away, as is evident from the masculine Hebrew pronoun, and not of the wife put away. It is an enallage of person; for his is put instead of thy. For iniquity the Hebrew word is chamas, that is, injury, force, violence. Some translate: If a man put away his wife, iniquity shall cover his garment, that is to say, By putting her away, he shall cover his injury and infamy with a bill of divorce, as with a garment, veil and pretext, says P. Prado in Ezech. XIII, 18. On the other hand the Zurich version translates: Shall he therefore cover violence with his garment? that is to say, By no means. Or, as Clarius, that is to say, let not the man cover hatred in his heart, as if he should hide a stain under a garment. Otherwise Vatablus and others, as I reviewed a little before. But the explanation of our Vulgate version is various. First, St. Jerome understands by garment the body, which is as it were the garment of the soul, according to that saying of the Apostle, II Cor. V, 4: "We will not be unclothed" of the body, in the resurrection and in heaven, "but clothed upon, that that which is mortal may be swallowed up by life." The sense therefore is, "iniquity," that is the punishment of iniquity, shall cover the garment, that is thy body, that is to say, God shall punish thee severely in the body, whose delights and lusts thou unjustly pursuest, and shall afflict thee with diseases, hunger, plagues, etc. Second, the Septuagint understand by garment thoughts. For as a garment covers the body, so thoughts, intentions, desires and concupiscences cover the soul, which in the soul wrap themselves around one another in a ball as it were, just as in onions the rings one upon another, as it were wrappings are wound around and clothed. They translate therefore: Iniquity shall cover thy thoughts. Third, others properly understand garment, that is to say, Iniquity, that is the punishment of iniquity, shall cover his garment: because namely God shall punish the man putting away his wife out of hatred with poverty and nakedness, so that he shall be despoiled of his possessions, even intimate ones, namely garments. Fourth and genuinely, garment here is taken metonymically for the man clothed in a garment. It is therefore a Hebrew phrase, he shall cover the garment, for what we say, he shall cover the clothed man, taken from the fact that man is made conspicuous by garments and is known by them, according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus XIX, 27: "The apparel of the body, and the laughter of the teeth, and the gait of the man, shew forth concerning him." Thus conversely concerning the saints it is said in the Apocalypse VII, 14: "They have washed their robes, and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb;" where he calls robes consciences, which are to the soul as it were garments and robes. Wherefore in this place in Hebrew it is: Iniquity shall cover thy garment, that is, thy iniquity shall so overflow, stand out and abound, that it cannot be hidden or concealed by any garment. For it shall be so great that it shall cover, conceal and overwhelm thee and thy garment. A similar phrase is in Joshua XXIV, 7: "He brought upon them (the Egyptians) the sea, and covered them;" in Hebrew it is: He covered upon them. II Paralipomenon V, 8: "The Cherubim should stretch forth their wings over the place;" in Hebrew it is: The Cherubim covered over the ark. II Esdras IV, 5: "Do not cover their iniquity;" in Hebrew it is: Do not cover over their iniquity: for the preposition over signifies overflow and abundance. Thus Lyra, Arias and a Castro. Finally, by iniquity, or, as it is in Hebrew, injury and violence, understand both the guilt of iniquity and the punishment and vengeance, as if to say: If thou hast put away thy wife for hatred alone, grave guilt and infamy shall cover thee, as also the punishment by which God shall avenge this crime upon thee. KEEP YOUR SPIRIT (namely the affection and love toward your wives), AND DO NOT DESPISE—them: see what is said at verse 15.
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17. YOU HAVE WEARIED THE LORD WITH YOUR WORDS. — He touches here upon another crime of the Jews, namely blasphemy, which concerns atheism, in that they would say there is no divine power punishing the wicked and protecting the good. Whence Lyra and Pagninus begin the third chapter from here. The Septuagint translates: You have provoked God with your words; the Chaldee: You have made trouble before the Lord; Arias and the Zurich Bible: You have wearied and exhausted the Lord, namely by your continual contention, just as litigious and clamorous men weary judges with their lawsuits and clamors, and dull their ears; Vatablus: You have afflicted with trouble. Note here that the impious, especially the blasphemous and atheists, by their wickedness weary, afflict and exhaust God, as far as in them lies, although in truth they do not afflict or exhaust him, because he is not capable of affliction and weariness. For if he were capable of it, surely this wickedness would afflict and weary him; nor would God be afflicted and wearied by any other thing than by this. It is similar to Isaiah I, 14: "Your solemnities my soul hated: they are become grievous to me, I have been wearied in bearing them." And Ephesians IV, 30: "Grieve not the Holy Ghost of God, whereby you are sealed." The sense therefore is, Fifth, others: He who hates, let him put away, and cover iniquity under his garment, that is to say, A man putting away his wife covers his own infamy, by which the wife, while she was kept at home and treated badly, was accustomed to defame him. Sixth, many others think it to be irony, that is to say, If you hate your wife, put her away; but know that iniquity will cover your garment. For the law did not permit divorce on account of hatred, but on account of the baseness of the wife, that is on account of fornication, leprosy, incorrigible morals, etc., as I said on Deuteronomy XXIV, 1. Seventh and most plainly, that is to say, When you hate your wife, put her away, giving her a bill of divorce, so that she may marry another rather than that you afflict her at home perpetually as a slave, beat her, mutilate her, or kill her: but know that you will not escape iniquity. For although it is a lesser evil to put away a wife than to kill her, nevertheless in itself it is a great evil: for it is not lawful to put her away on account of mere displeasure or hatred. That is to say, You, O Jews, by your blasphemy have afflicted, exacerbated and wearied God, saying: "Everyone who does evil is good (the Chaldee, upright) in the sight of the Lord," that is to say, The wicked are pleasing to God, God loves the wicked; for he so prospers the wicked, enriches them, exalts them, that he seems to delight in them. Whence, explaining this, he adds: "And such please him. Or certainly where is the God of judgment?" where is God's providence? where are his just judgments? where is God the just avenger of the impious and protector of the pious, who has so afflicted us his faithful ones, and so magnified our enemies the infidels? It is a dilemma: either God loves the wicked and evil things, or he does not love them: if he loves them, then he himself is likewise wicked, which God forbid: if he does not love them, why then does he not punish them; nay rather he prospers them, and makes them to rule over the pious and to rage against them, as has happened to us? For the cause of this complaint and blasphemy was that, as St. Jerome says, "the people returning from Babylon, and seeing all the nations round about, and the Babylonians themselves serving idols abounding in riches, flourishing in bodies, possessing all things which are thought good in the world; themselves however who have knowledge of God, covered with squalor, hunger, servitude, are scandalized and say: There is no providence in human affairs, all things are borne by uncertain chance, nor are they governed by God's judgment, but rather evil things please him, and good things displease him: or certainly if God judges all things, where is his equitable and just judgment?" St. Jerome adds: "A mind unbelieving in future things raises such a question to God daily, when it sees the wicked powerful and the holy humble, etc. Such is the Lazarus read of in the Gospel, who before the door of the rich man clothed in purple desired to be filled with the crumbs which fell from the tables, to sustain his needy soul; the rich man however of such ferocity and cruelty, that man does not pity man, whose very dogs pity him; not understanding the time of judgment, nor that those are true goods which are perpetual, they say: Evil things please him, and where is the God of judgment?" A similar complaint is in Habakkuk 1. See the things said there. Malachi repeats the same in chapter III, 14, and answers it in verses 16 and following, namely, that in this matter they ought to await the time of vengeance appointed by God, and meanwhile to praise God's patience and longsuffering, which defers vengeance so that the sinner may repent, Romans II, 4. WHERE IS THE GOD OF JUDGMENT? — In Hebrew, he is a demonstrative particle which carries great emphasis: Where is God, hammisphat, that is, of that judgment, namely the great, most certain, most exact, most acute, all-knowing, most just, most free judgment, by which He regards neither the powerful, nor the rich, nor gifts, nor anything else except justice. For He Himself is the God hammisphat, to whom by nature it belongs to judge all things and all persons with exact judgment; for His nature is equity itself, justice itself, providence itself, governance itself, and that most just and most wise. Whence the Septuagint translates: Where is the God of justice? The Chaldean: Where then is God who executes judgment? whose property it is namely to be the judge of all, and to exercise rigorous judgment upon all: assuredly He will exercise that very judgment fully and completely on the decisive and final day of the world, which will be the horizon of this life and the future, distinguishing time from eternity, heaven from hell, the blessed from the damned, for all ages, through Christ, whom He appointed judge of all, the living and the dead. In vain therefore did the impious and foolish Jews cry out formerly, and even now cry out: Where is the God of judgment? who would judge and vindicate us, His people, from so many insults and afflictions, which we have suffered everywhere throughout the lands for 1500 years. Wherefore equally foolish Rabbis write in the Talmud that God, whenever He recalls the calamities which the Jews suffer from the Gentiles everywhere, sheds two tears into the Ocean sea, and from grief strikes His breast with both hands: which impious and absurd blasphemy of theirs Sixtus Senensis, among many other instances, recounts and ridicules in lib. II Biblioth. in the entry Talmud, pag. 142. More truly and wisely they ought to argue thus against themselves for God: God, since He is most just, by just judgment has cast us all down for 1500 years, and punishes us most severely: therefore we have committed a most grave crime, namely we have killed our Messiah, Jesus Christ God and Lord of all: God, I say, of judgment. In vain therefore do we complain and ask: Where is the God of judgment? for we ourselves have killed Him. ned, and meanwhile to praise God's patience and longsuffering, which defers vengeance so that the sinner may repent, Rom. II, 4. WHERE IS THE GOD OF JUDGMENT? — In Hebrew, he is a demonstrative particle which carries great emphasis: Where is God, hammisphat, that is, of that judgment, namely the great, most certain, most exact, most acute, all-knowing, most just, most free judgment, by which He regards neither the powerful, nor the rich, nor gifts, nor anything else except justice. For He Himself is the God hammisphat, to whom by nature it belongs to judge all things and all persons with exact judgment; for His nature is equity itself, justice itself, providence itself, governance itself, and that most just and most wise. Whence the Septuagint translates: Where is the God of justice? The Chaldean: Where then is God who executes judgment? whose property it is namely to be the judge of all, and to exercise rigorous judgment upon all: assuredly He will exercise that very judgment fully and completely on the decisive and final day of the world, which will be the horizon of this life and the future, distinguishing time from eternity, heaven from hell, the blessed from the damned, for all ages, through Christ, whom He appointed judge of all, the living and the dead. In vain therefore did the impious and foolish Jews cry out formerly, and even now cry out: Where is the God of judgment? who would judge and vindicate us, His people, from so many insults and afflictions, which we have suffered everywhere throughout the lands for 1500 years. Wherefore equally foolish Rabbis write in the Talmud that God, whenever He recalls the calamities which the Jews suffer from the Gentiles everywhere, sheds two tears into the Ocean sea, and from grief strikes His breast with both hands: which impious and absurd blasphemy of theirs Sixtus Senensis, among many other instances, recounts and ridicules in lib. II Biblioth. in the entry Talmud, pag. 142. More truly and wisely they ought to argue thus against themselves for God: God, since He is most just, by just judgment has cast us all down for 1500 years, and punishes us most severely: therefore we have committed a most grave crime, namely we have killed our Messiah, Jesus Christ God and Lord of all: God, I say, of judgment. In vain therefore do we complain and ask: Where is the God of judgment? for we ourselves have killed Him. As if to say: You, O Jews, have troubled, exacerbated and wearied God with your blasphemy, saying: "Everyone who does evil is good (the Chaldean: upright) in the sight of the Lord," as if to say: The wicked are pleasing to God, God loves the wicked; for God prospers, enriches and exalts the wicked in such a way that He seems to delight in them. Whence, explaining further, he adds: "And such please Him. Or certainly where is the God of judgment?" where is God's providence? where are His just judgments? where is God the just avenger of the impious and protector of the pious, who has so afflicted us His faithful ones and so magnified our enemies the infidels? It is a dilemma: either God loves the wicked and wickedness, or He does not love them: if He loves them, then He Himself is likewise wicked, which God forbid: if He does not love them, why then does He not punish them; nay rather, He prospers them and causes them to dominate the pious and to rage against them, as has happened to us? For the cause of this complaint and blasphemy was that, as St. Jerome says, "the people having returned from Babylon, and seeing all the nations round about, and the Babylonians themselves serving idols abounding in riches, flourishing in bodies, possessing all things which are thought good in the world; but themselves, who have knowledge of God, covered with filth, hunger and servitude, are scandalized and say: There is no providence in human affairs, all things are borne by uncertain chance, nor are they governed by God's judgment, but rather evil things please Him and good things displease Him: or certainly if God judges all things, where is His equitable and just judgment?" St. Jerome adds: "A mind unbelieving in future things raises such a question to God daily, when it sees the wicked powerful and the holy humble, etc. Such is the case in the Gospel of Lazarus, who is read to have desired before the door of the rich man clothed in purple the crumbs which were cast away from the remnants of the tables, to sustain his needy soul; but the rich man of such savagery and cruelty that man does not pity man, whose very dogs' tongue takes pity; not understanding the time of judgment, nor that those are true goods which are perpetual, they say: Evil things please Him, and where is the God of judgment?" A similar complaint is that of Habakkuk 1. See the things said there. Malachi repeats the same in chapter III, 14, and answers it in verse 16 and following, namely, that in that matter they ought to await the time of vengeance appointed by God.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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9, 4 « et nunc ad vos mandatum hoc, o sacerdotes !
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v. 9 si nolueritis audire et si nolueritis ponere super cor, ut detis gloriam nomini meo, ait Dominus exercituum, mittam 1n vos egestatem et maledicam benedictionibus vestris et maledicam illis, quoniam non posuistis super cor » ; — i.e. si noluerint serio operam dare et animum eo dirigere, ut Deo debitum reddant cultum et honorem, et poenis temporalibus i. e. in re temporali castigabuntur et maiora quoque detrimenta experientur ; est officii sacerdotalis benedicere ; at eorum benedictiones Deus convertet in maledictionem, eas abominabitur, reiiciet, frustra pro populo intercedent ; nemo ex eorum munere aliquid boni vel gratiae suscipiet. Ita ipsi punientur et punitur populus, qui malis sacerdotibus connivet, eorum abusus et negligentiam tolerat et tolerando auget et fovet. In hebr. nervose dicitur : et etiam maledixi eis 1. e. maledictio iam facta est. — Varie benedictiones concipiunt : alii bonorum fruitionem (TAeod. M.), alii decimas ceteraque dona sacerdotibus debita intelligunt (S. Hier.), alii promissa a Deo (Sanct. Tir.), alii ipsum sacerdotium (Theod. Theod. M.), alii preces eorum (Lap.), quas Deus exsecretur. Sed cum sacerdotum sit benedicere populo (cf. Lev. 9, 923. Num. 6, 23), iure merito propter socordiam ita puniuntur, ut. eorum benedictiones vanae et inanes evadant et steriles. Hac enim ratione etiam populus mox discet, Dei favorem recessisse a sacerdotibus, iique contemptui habebuntur, quippe qui nihil commodi populo apud Deum acquirere valeant. Poena simul est condigna delicto : Deum honorare negligunt, Deus eos quoque honore privat ; mandata Dei spernunt, spernit Deus eorum intercessionem. Immo maiora minatur et plena indignatione :
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v. 3 « ecce ego proiiciam vobis brachium et dispergam super vultum vestrum stercus sollemnitatum vestrarum et assumet vos secum » ; — lege statutum erat, ut sacerdotes a sacris quandoque reportarent armum ac ventriculum (Lev. "1, 31. Deut. 18, 3) ; ut Deus iram manifestet suam in indignos altaris ministros, ait se illa in faciem eorum esse proiecturum et fimum victimarum in eorum vultus effusurum, ut turpiter foedati et ignominia repleti coram omnibus consistant (cf. S. Hier. Theod. Rib. Sanct. Lap.). Hisce contestatur, in quantum sollemnitates eorum et sacrificia detestetur. Apte monet Rib. :
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& et bene dicit sollemnitatum vestrarum 1. e. non mearum ; non enim ego in iis color, nec mihi placere studetis, sed vobis ». Ita fimo, ignominia oppleti simul cum stercore victimarum auferentur et everrentur in locum sordidum et abiectum ; id dicit assumet vos secum ; id quod ex hebr. potius vertes : et auferent vos cum eo. Quanta poena indignis proponitur sacerdotibus ! Deus facies eorum fimo opplet et cum stercoribus foetidis in loca immunda sicut ramenta et spurcitiae abiiciuntur ! Corruptio optimi pessima. Bonum est sal ; sed si sal evanuerit, ad quid utile erit ? neque in terram, neque in sterquilinium utile est (Luc. 14, 33). In hebr. verbum *9à explicatur increpare; brachium increpare intelligunt vel : brachio ad benedicendum elevato maledicere ; vel : rigidum et iners efficere et omni vi et efficacia privare (cf. Sanct. Sa, Tir. heinke, Keil). Textus mas. pracbet y? semen ; et ita Syrus quoque et. Chald. ; explicant : serio interdicere semini ne gerntinet aut fructum ferat ; semen abiicere ita, ut in. agro torpeat aut eliam in ipsa herba a locustis absumatur (Ros.); vel semini maledicere, ut negato rore coelesti aut immissa aurugine uratur et vanescat (Sanct.). Sed cum sacerdotes agriculturae operam non navarent, plerique interpretes cum LXX, Aq. (1605 £vO iriipó Üpiv oov 10 Ópxyíow — ita. apud Theod.) et S. Hier. omnino censent legendum esse y", yim brachium Minas et exhortationem confirmat dicens, eas non fore inanes, verum eos experturos esse efficaciam verborum divinorum v. 4 « et scietis quia misi ad vos mandatum istud, ut esset pactum meum cum Levi, dicit Dominus exercituum » ; — scire i. e. reipsa in se experiri ; mandatum est nuntius per prophetam iis declaratus iubente Deo v. 2, sunt minae lis propositae. Si non resipuerint, illas poenas subibunt. Deus autem tantam impendit curam in sacerdotibus reprehendendis propter pactum cum Levi initum — hebr. verte : quia ! pactum meum est cum Levi (ct. 1. Tali significatione » adhiberi, certum est; cf. Ex. 19, 42. Num. 11, 11 ; enascitur enim Reinke). Tribum enim Levi elegit ad sacrum ministerium ; sacerdotibus concessum erat rogare et offerre pro populo eumque expiare (Lev. 6, '. Num. 8, 19; 253, 12. 13. Deut. 33, 8 seq.). Tale pactum Deus irritum esse non sinit. Quare per prophetam negligentes ad officium revocat, ut aut foedus illud sanctum sancte servent aut si renuerint, poenas violatae religionis gravissimas luant. Hoc autem pactum commemorans viam sibi sternit ad veri sacerdotis speciem delineandam ; qua proposita malorum sacerdotum vitia tanto maiore pondere accusantur. Qui sententiam interiectam, ut esset pactum meum tamquam finalem accipiunt, in duas praesertim partes abeunt ; aut enim explieant, ut foedus meum cum Levi firmum permaneat (cf. Sanct. Lap. Mar. Tir. Schegg), aut ex antecedentibus supplent mandatum : ut mandatum istud sit pactum meum cum Levi i. e. scient Dominum uti antea sacerdotibus pactum cum Levi initum fideliter servaverit, ita in posterum mandatum illud et minas habiturum esse pro pacto cum iis inito (Keil, Pressel, Trochon). Priori interpretationi obstat, quod esse n'3 non est permanere, perdurare ;, nisi vocem explicare malueris exsistere sensu praegnanti, vel ut fiat i. e. ut iterum fiat pactum meum cum Levi. Altera interpretatio est artificiosa nimis, uti iam co ostenditur, quia longiore indiget paraphrasi, ut demum rite percipiatur ; porro ex sequentibus elucet, Levi non sumi omnino in universum de omnibus sacerdotibus — alias enim non diceretur pactum meum cum eo fuit... dedi ei etc. — ergo prorsus improbabile est v. 4 dici sacerdotes eos irreligiosos Levi.
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Deus cuius dona sunt sine poenitentia, ad sacerdotes officii immemores admonendos prophetam misit, quia pactum iniit cum Levi. Huius meminit pacti, ut ad meliorem frugem eos revocet, vel si noluerint, ut pacti violati reos illos agat. Unde eius pacti bona et conditiones exponit et meliorum temporum antiquorum memoriam atque priscorum sacerdotum religionem et sanctitatem in medium profert, ut ea recordatione iisque exemplis animi sacerdotum excitati et perculsi ad sanctam quandam aemulationem et ad bonorum promissorum desiderium stimulentur. Pacti bona conditionesque summatim proponit v. 5$ « Pactum meum fuit cum eo vitae et pacis et dedi ei timorem et timuit me et a facie nominis mei pavebat » ; — « duas partes continet pactum illud ; altera sacerdotibus abunde promittit, quae hominum opinione numerantur in bonis quae pacis ac vitae nomine significantur ; altera a sacerdotibus aliquid requirit, quod si absit nulla Deus fidei datae obligatione tenetur, quia promissio illa conditionata fuit. Id enim valet dedi ei timorem ; ac si diceret : valet in Scriptura sacra timor » (Sanct. sim. Lap. Gord.). Intelliguntur nomine vitae bona et commoda vitae, abundantia, honor, vita opulenta et felix ; pacis bona salutis integerrimae et prosperitatis imperturbatae (cf. Sanct. Lap. Mar. Men. Tir. Reinke). Talia sacerdotibus i. e. familiae leviticae promittebantur ; cf. Num. 23, 12. Deut. 33, 8-11. Quae bona ut consequerentur et conservarent, dedi ei timorem, « principium enim sapientiae timor Domini et... super quem requiescam nisi super humilem et quietum et trementem verba mea (Is. 66, 2) » (S. Hier.)? Omnia enim bona, ut ait. Alb., in timore Dei custodiuntur (cf. Eccli. 21, 4) ; timor autem in reverentia et cultu Dei consistit (Sanct. Lap. Tir.), quo omnia sollicite et serio, non perfunctorie peragantur (S. Cyr.). Tali pietate et reverentia talique animorum submissione a priscis sacerdotibus sacram religionem esse observatam, ultimum membrum dicit ; vide v. g. laudes Aaroni et Phinees tributas Eccli. 45, "| seq. Ille timor sacer et pavor intelligitur, de quo Eccli. 1, 11 seq. (S. Cyr. Rib.). Textus hebr. in priore membro verti potest, uti LXX et S. Hier. interpretati sunt : pactum meum fuit cum eo (pactum) vitae et pacis (ita v. g. Hitz. Pressel) ; alii vertunt : fuit cum eo vita et pax sensu tamen eodem (Reinke, Keil). [n altero membro legitur in textu mas. et dedi ei ea ; hoc pronomen ea ex veteribus solus Syrus exprimit, deest quoque in pluribus codd. hebr. (apud de Rossi). Si suffixum retinetur ef dedi ei ea scil. vitam et pacem, non adeo facile videtur subsequens N??2 posse explicari. Vertunt vario modo : et dedi ei ca ad. vel ob timorem, seil. ut me coleret (Ros.), ut istis timor Dei promoveretur (Hitz. Keil) ; vel ita iungi potest, ut altera haec sententia priori ad amussim respondeat : pactum meum erat eum ipso — pactum vitae et pacis et dedi ei ea — timor, et timuit me ; ita utraque pars pacti, promissio scil. et conditio effertur (Pressel), vel etiam siniplicius et forte magis obvium erit vertere : pactum meum erat cum eo vita et pax et dedi ei ea, et timor et timuit me. — Alii pronomen suflixum esse delendum censent (cf. Reinke). Iam proponitur quam perfecte prisci sacerdotes pactum illud servaverint et quid felicitatis inde sit consecutum. Describitur, ut S. Hier. bene monet, ex persona Dei officium sacerdotis perfecti qualis esse debeat et qualem eum esse voluerit qui esse praecepit :
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v. 6 «lez veritatis fuit in, ore eius et iniquitas non est inventa in. labiis eius; in. pace et in aequitate ambulavit mecum el multos avertit ab iniquitate » ; — hebr. doctrina (institutio) veritatis erat ín ore eius... in pace et in rectitudine ambulabat mecum ; i. e. erant inculpabiles in doctrina et in vita et, ita efficaciter multos ab impietate et vitiis revocarunt ad pietatem et virtutem. Veram tradebant et salutarem institutionem ; perversitas, falsa doctrina non inveniebatur in eorum sermonibus ; de iis igitur non valuit id de quo conqueritur Isaias : vae qui condunt leges iniquas (10, 1), et Ieremias : vere mendacium operatus est stilus mendax scribarum (8, 8). Legem ut populum doceant, iis praecipitur Deut. 31, 10-13. Praeclarae doctrinae parem adiungebant vitam : amicitia scil. Dei et pace fruebantur et in omni rectitudine et iustitia sollicite cum Deo et coram Deo conversabantur ; ambulare cum Deo dicitur de Enoch (Gen. 5, 94. 24) et de Noe (Gen. 6, 9), de magnis illis virtutum heroibus, qui unice Deo placuerunt ; et huius laudis societatem Deus priscis attribuit sacerdotibus. Ita praeclara doctrina instructi et vitae probitate et familiari cum Deo consuetudine insignes apti quoque erant, per quos multi a vitiis ad virtutem revocarentur. Eximius igitur muneris sacerdotalis successus iis non deerat. Si deest, nonne propterea deesse censendus est vi huius effati, quia vel doctrina deest vel vitae probitas, sanctitas et assidua cum Deo conversatio ? Atque talis esse debet sacerdos, et iuremerito qui vias Dei et voluntatem eius noscere cupiunt, sacerdotum doctrinam et. institutionem exquirent; v. "1 « labia enim sacerdotis custodient scientiam et legem requirent ex ore eius, quia angelus Domin: exercituum. est » ; — cf. Lev. 10, 11. Deut. 171, 10. 11 ; sacerdotibus enim dedit « praecepta et legem vitae et disciplinae, docere Iacob testamentum suum et iudicia sua Israel » (Eccli. 45, 6), illis datum est « docere Iacob testimonia et in lege sua lucem dare Israel » (l. c. 21). Unde quae sit voluntas Dei, a sacerdotibus quaerunt; idque recte; est enim angelus Domini i. e. « nuntius sacerdos Dei verissime dicitur, quia Dei et hominum sequester est eiusque ad populum nuntiat voluntatem ; et idcirco in sacerdotis pectore rationale est (Ex. 99) et in rationali doctrina et veritas ponitur, üt discamus sacerdotem doctum esse debere et praeconem dominicae veritatis » (S. Hier.) ; est nuntius, « non enim suam voluntatem nuntiat nec suae cognitionis ac scientiae sermones eructat, sed potius dominicis oraculis inservit... nam illud ad laudem nomine Dei quidpiam nuntiantium pertinet, quod nihil auditis apponunt nec aliquid subtrahere audent » (S. Cyr. sim. Rup. Rib.). Est sacerdos Dei interpres, ut-suo tempore depromat ac proferat veram illam scientiam a Deo hominibus communicatam (Mar.), qua lex credendi et vivendi continetur. Quare haud male haec affert Theod. M. : « hoc est sacerdotis opus, ut sit angeli instar ceteris hominibus datus, ut omnes ad virtutem adducat, quod ipsorum " angelorum erga nos officium est ». Est sacerdos legatus Dei ad populum, sed etiam, ut addit Lap., legatus populi ad Deum, est internuntius inter utrumque et mediator ; tamquam legatus ministrat Deo et «sicut angeli iugiter adstant Deo, in eum intentam habent aciem mentis, ei iubilant et psallunt iugiter, ita et iugiter orare et psallere debet sacerdos... debet angelorum veritatem, sinceritatem, puritatem, virtutem et zelum imitari; uti angelorum est suae curae commissos purgare, illuminare et perficere, ita eadem sunt munia sacerdotis » (Lap.). Ceterum verum est, quod h. l. monet Estius, textus sacri verba non tam egere explicatione, quam « diligenti consideratione et operis exsecutione, ut tanto muneri respondere conemur, quotquot ad sacerdotalem dignitatem vocati sumus ; alioquin merito audiemus quod sequitur : vos autem recessistis de via etc. ». De sacerdotum munere angelico praeclaros affert SS. Patrum locos Lap. ad h.l. Pactum igitur sacerdotale, ut Alb. dicit, exponitur in quattuor : in doctrina (idque dupliciter in veritate et puritate doctrinae, ut vanum nihil et falsum addatur), in vita i. e. in pace et rectitudine virtutis et iustitiae, in utilitate, ut scil. per praedicationem et correptionem multi avertantur ab iniquitate, denique in officio, ut scientiam custodiant et alios doceant. — Ceterum vide Deut. 21, 5; 31, 10-15. 2 Par. 17i, 9. Hebr. TN»- est in universum legatus, nuntius, qui mittitur vel a privatis hominibus et civibus (1 Reg. 11, 3. 2 Reg. 11, &. 19. 4 Reg. 5, 10. Iob 1, 14) vel a rege (1 Reg. 16, 19 etc.). Devin vox speciatim adhibetur de angelis, idque frequentissime, qui apparent, humana forma induti se hominibus exhibent, pios tuentur, e periculis eripiunt, divina mandata ad eos perferunt, impios puniunt calamitatibus inflietis etc. ; cf. Gen. 48, 16. Ex. 23, 20 ; 33, 2. Iud. 13, 3. 3 Reg. 19, 5. Zach. 1, 9 etc. Verum quantopere mutati sunt ab illis ! « Ego volui vos facere quae priore capitulo continentur et de quibus per Moysen in Deut. sum locutus : date Levi doctrinam eius et veritatem viro iusto (Deut. 33, 8 secundum LXX) et reliqua, vos autem recessistis de via recta sive declinastis et infirmos fecistis multos in lege » (S. Hier.) ;
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v. 8 « vos autem recessitstis de via et scandalizastis plurimos in lege, irritum fecistis pactum Levi, dicit Dominus exercituum » ; — viam scil. a Deo iis demonstratam i. e. legis observationem reliquerunt, instituta et exempla maiorum neglexerunt et pravo suo exemplo et legis cultusque Dei neglectu et contemptu impingere fecistis multos in lege (hebr.), ut scil. peccarent in legem (Ros.) vel cadere fecistis per legem, i. e. per legis contemptum vestrum (Schegg), exemplo et institutione vestra legem pro aliis fecistis non lucernam, sed offendiculum, falso legem explanantes, permittentes connubia cum extraneis etc. (Sanct. Hitz. Keil); unde ad eos applicari potest, quod Ieremias dicit 8, 8 : « vere mendacium operatus est stilus mendax scribarum ». Non igitur salutis, sed ruinae occasio aliis exsistebant. Notat Theod. : « Aq. et Sym. icxav8xAdaxe interpretati sunt ; haec autem est sententia : cum iniquitatem amplexi estis, aliis etiam detrimentum intulistis ». Cum pastor per abrupta graditur, ad praecipitium grex sequitur, ut dicit S. Gregorius (de cura pastor. 1, 2); cf. Os. 9, 8. Ita irritum fecerunt pactum i. e. « effecistis, ut ego non reddam vobis quae leviticae familiae promiseram, quia nec vos id quod illa facere solebat, facitis » (Rib.) ; unde nervose in hebr. corrupistis pactum vel vastastis et ad nihilum redegistis. Illi ergo conditiones pacti non servabant; iam dicitur quod Deus ex sua parte (et etiam ego vos contemptos reddo hebr.) agat, simulque aliud sacerdotum crimen, iniustitia gravis in iure dicendo, accusatur
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v. 9 «propter quod et ego dedi vos comtemplibiles et humiles omnibus populis, sicut non servastis vias meas et accepistis faciem 1n lege » ; — Aaron sacerdotem Deus fecisse excelsum dicitur et beatificasse eum in gloria, dedit illi habere laudem, addidit ei gloriam etc. (Eccli. 48, 1. 8. 19. 23); sacerdotes autem malos omnium contemptui exponit eosque viles reddit et despectos, quia quo altior est dignitas, eo turpior est casus; cf. 1 Reg. 2, 30 ad Heli sacerdotem dicitur : quicumque glorificaverit me, glorificabo eum, qui autem contemnunt me, erunt ignobiles. Ex criminibus sacerdotum unum effert ex praecipuis : in iure dicendo non ex iustitiae norma agunt (cf. Deut. 11, 9), sed partium studio et personarum acceptione legem et ius pervertunt. Adnotat Theod. : « Sym. interpretatus est: reveriti estis facies in lege (i396wxetc0:); eos accusat ut legis praevaricatores et qui in aliquorum gratiam inique iudicarent ». Dicitur persona vel facies accipi, «quando iudex non legibus aut iustitia ducitur, sed personam intuetur eius qui in iudicium venit eaque movetur, ut illi contra ius faveat, sive quod amicus sit, sive quod potens aut minax» (Atib.).De sacerdotum auctoritate et officio iudiciali vide Deut. 171, 8 seq. ; 21, 5 (hebr.). 2 Par. 19, 8. Illis praesertim incumbebat legis praecepta generalia ad casus applicare singulos (Lev. 10, 10; cf. Ier. 2, 8; 18, 18. Ez. 1, 26; 22, 26) et populum docere, quid praestare debeant; qua in re partium studio et personarum acceptioni ampla offerebatur opportunitas. Unde ultima accusatio latissime patet' . Contemptum quem Deus iis minatur, forte etiam cernere licet eo quod levitis partes debitae non darentur a populo, uti postea Nehemias est - conquestus (Neh. 13, 10), qui etiam ordinem leviticum et sacerdotalem ad meliorem legis observantiam reduxisse videtur (cf. Neh. 13, 22. 28 - 31). munera, eo maiorem poenam et abiectionem apud Deum et apud homines esse incursurum, si officio defuerit. Quam ruinam etiam Ieremias fere adumbrat in Lament. 4, 1-8; et simili ratione de urbis theocraticae dignitate et poena Ez. 5, 5-10. — Notatu dignus est nexus qui adesse . Statuitur hoc Dei oraculo inter sacerdotes sanctos et plebis pietatem, inter sacerdotes malos et plurimorum seductionem et lapsum (cf. Ez. 3, 18. 90).
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v. 10 «JYumquid mon pater unus omnium nostrum? numquid non Deus unus creavit nos? quare ergo despicit unusquisque nostrum fratrem suum violans pactum patrum nostrorum »? — duo videtur vates efferre : communionem generis et religionis societatem et dignitatem. Ex uno patre, ex sacra patriarcharum stirpe, ex Israel descenduntet ita iam propter patres, Abraham, Isaac, Iacob, a Deo adeo dilectos, semen sanctum sunt ; accedit, quod ab uno eodemque Deo peculiari ac singulari ratione prae ceteris omnibus gentibus in Dei hereditatem et peculium, in regnum sacerdotale electi et evecti sunt. Deus eos creavit, non solum eo modo quo omnes demum homines ad Deum referuntur creatorem omnium, sed eo sensu, quo Deus dicitur genuisse Israel, tamquam pater illum possedisse et fecisse (Deut. 32, 6. 18), filios genuisse et exaltasse (Is. 1, 2), quo Israel appellatur filius primogenitus Dei, filius deliciarum (Ex. 4, 22. 23. Ier. 3, 19; 31, 20. Os. 11, 1 etc.). Cum igitur magna haec dignitas in unoquoque Israelita agnoscenda sit, turpe est si inter se ipsos despiciunt, turpe, si se ita abiiciunt, ut cum spurcitiis gentium misceantur. Fratrem autem dicuntur despicere, quia filias fratrum quas in matrimonium duxerant, abiiciunt et tali opprobrio suam propriam nationem, suos contribules et fratres afficiunt (cf. S. Hier. Alb. Rib. Lap. Men. Mar. Tir. Schegg). Praeterea foedus illud violant, quod patres eorum et ipsi cum Deo pepigerunt; pactum illud profanant (hebr.); id quod in hebr. jam in membro antecedente innuitur : quare ergo perfide agimus alter tn alterum ? Fidem datam violant, eo quod fidelem legis observationem negligunt et praesertim leges de matrimonio latas spernunt. Severe enim lege interdicebantur matrimonia cum Amorrhaeis, Chananaeis, Hethaeis, Pherezaeis, Iebusaeis, propter idololatriae periculum (Ex. 34, 16. Deut. 1, 3. 4), quod Nehemias quoque graviter advertit: «numquid non in huiuscemodi re peccavit Salomon rex Israel? et certe in gentibus multis non erat rex similis ei et dilectus Deo suo erat et posuit eum Deus regem super omnem Israel; et ipsum ergo duxerunt ad peccatum mulieres alienigenae » (Neh. 13, 23). Quis sit unus ille pater omnium nostrum, interpretes non consentiunt. Multi intelligunt Abraham ; ita iam S. Hier. allegans Is. 51, 2 : attendite ad Abraham patrem vestrum, et S. Cyr. Alb. Rib. Lap. Men. ; obiicit quidem Sanct. Abraham uti communis sit quidem Hebraeorum pater, tamen etiam aliis multis gentibus ortum dedisse, ita per Ismael Nabathaeis, Cedarenis, ex Cetura Madianitis, per Isaac Edomitis ; sed haec obiectio rem non tangit, de qua hoc loco agitur ; nam pater earum gentium quibuscum tempore Esdrae et Nehemiae coniugia miscere solebant, Abraham nullo modo dici potuit; erant enim praeter Chananaeos, Hethaeos, Pherezaeos, lebusaeos, Ammonitae, Moabitae, Aegyptii et Amorrhaei et Philisthaei (cf. Esd. 9, 1. Neh. 13, 93). Alii Israel explicant ; ita Sanct. Tir. Drusius, Grotius ; Aaron ibi exprimi vult Theod. M. Complures, praesertim recentiores, ipsum Deum vocari etiam h. l. patrem censent; ita Theod. Mar. Ros. Schegg, Reinke, Keil, Trochon ; vocari enim patrem Deum etiam 1, 6 et saepius v. g. Deut. 32, 6. 18. Is. 63, 16 ; 61, 8. ler. 2, 27 (?) 3, 4. 19; 31, 9. Iob 38, 98 (?); ita Reinke. Attamen haec rem non evincunt. Etiam Abraham saepius nomine patris honoratur Ios. 94, 3. Is. 51, 2 et iam Ex. 3, 6. 15. 16; 4, 5. Deut. 1, 85 6, 10; 9, 5; 29, 13; 30, 20; quibus in locis sermo est « de patribus tuis, Abraham, [saac et Iacob » ; praeterea Iudith 8, 92. Eccli. 44, 20. Baruch 2, 34. Dein argumentatio plenior est, si ratio congrua ex duobus petitur ex communione generis stirpisque et ex religionis societate (cf. Rib.); porro notum est, quantopere Semitae originis nobilitatem et puritatem incontaminatam in pretio habeant (cf. ad Iob 159, 19), ergo prorsus consentaneum est et ad animos permovendos aptum, ut vates ab hac nobilitate incipiat et primo loco eam causam ponat, qua omnes naturae vi et impulsu tanguntur, et dein ad altiorem ac sublimiorem ascendat. Dein ipsa sermonis conformatio mihi hanc explanationem suadere videtur ; dicitenim pater unus ct Deus unus nobis est ; in altera sententia potius dicendum esset : nonne pater et creator nobis unus Deus ? Ad acuendos conscientiae stimulos confert, quod antequam crimen proprio nomine proferatur, eius indignitas et turpitudo pluribus causis ostenditur. Id non sine emphasi fit, quando auditores iam suae conscientiae testimonio subodorantur, de quonam scelere reprehensio instituatur, fit etiam, ut iis praemissis maior attentio ad illud dirigatur, ad quod longiore ac graviore praefatione via sternitur. Unde propheta sicut incepit, ita in crimine amplificando pergit, ut demum nomine prolato rem designet
De matrimoniis cum alienigenis contractis iam Esdras valde erat indignatus eaque stirpitus eradicare aggressus est (Esd. cp. 9 et 10). At malum mox iterum serpsit. Novam indicit separationem NNehemias atque in foederis innovatione sollemnem exigit sponsionem, « ut non daremus filias nostras populo terrae et filias eorum non acciperemus filiis nostris » (Neh. 10, 30; cf. 9, 2 seq.). Sed malae cupiditates non sunt exstinctae. Absente Nehemia malum iterum germinavit. Id ostenditur acri reprehensione Malachiae ; idem testatur? Nehemias ab aula regis reversus (Neh. 13, 23 seq.). Rei indignitatem Ma]achias declarat ex arcto religionis vinculo et sacra dignitate theocratica, qua tamquam populus Deo sacratus cum Deo et inter se sunt coniuncti. Praemittit igitur, uti 1, 6, doctrinae caput ab omnibus non solum admissum, verum maximi aestimatum, quo maiore vi transgressores perstringat; ita
Anc. — Prima reprehensio de re agit matrimoniali, in qua duplex peccatum vituperatur, quod scil. cum alienigenis matrimonia. ineunt et uxores legitimas iniuste repudiant. Utrumque scelus varia ratione exagitatur eiusque malitia ex doctrina et historia sacra graviter ostenditur (2, 10-16). Secundo loco vituperantur propter importunam cum Deo expostulationem, quasi Deus esset iniquus et iniustus non statim auferens populi sui conditionem vilem et hostes eius puniens. Murmur istud propheta ita retundit, ut ostendat quale iudicium Messias venturus sit exerciturus ; suntne igitur illi parati, ut talem iudicem secure ac confidenter possint excipere (2, 11-3, 6)? Minime vero, nam multum se exhibent negligentes in legis observatione, in sacris tributis reddendis ; unde egestate merito premuntur, quam Deus auferet, si negligentiam deposuerint (3, 1-12). Ipsi autem summa iniuria conqueruntur de Deo, quasi nihil sit utilitatis in obsequio Dei et impii prospera fortuna utantur continuo, cum Deus tamen sollicitam piorum gerat curam et quantum sit discriminis inter pium et impium sit manifestaturus ; in die enim iudicii flammis torquebuntur impii, iusti autem beatitate perfundentur. Quare memores sint legis. Demum Deus pollicetur, missum iri Eliam ante diem iudicii ad eorum salutem, ne forte iudicis adventus iis sit exi. tialis (3, 13-4, 6).
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v. 14 « transgressus est Iuda, abominatio facta est in. Israel et in lerusalem, quia contaminavit ludas sanctificationem Domini quam dilexit, et habuit filiam dei alieni » ; — hebr. perfide agit Iuda ; est violatio fidei promissae ; est res abominanda, qua Israel, sanctus scil. Deo populus et ipsum theocratiae centrum cum nausea et fastidio Domini commaculatur ; Iuda profanavit sanctuarium Domini quod Deus singulari dilectione prosequitur, quia mulierem idololatram eamque quae ab idolorum cultu recedere non vult, populo associat sacro intima societate et coniunctione, qua illa cum cultore Dei una fit caro. Quale sanctuarium Dei intelligatur, non apud omnes constat. Templum designari censent, Sanct. Reinke, Pressel; « quis dubitet, Azotidas et Ammonitidas feminas quae nupserant Israelitis templum ingressuras, cum in Dei populum ipso coniugis iure sicut in viri sui familiam essent cooptatae et licet non professione et cultu, domo tamen et fortasse nomine tamquam Israelitides haberentur; praesertim cum viros haberent Israelitas et in his aliquos e sacerdotali genere, qui iniuriae sibi et ignominiae ducerent, si uxores suas ex Israelitarum atrio excludi viderent » (Sanct.). Res fortasse non improbabilis ; nam etsi non ad Deum colendum, : certe curiositatis causa istae feminae templum adire appetebant et ne secundo quasi ab israelitici generis feminis loco haberentur. Dein ipsa locutione profanari sanctuarium ea explanatio commendatur ; templum enim vocari sanctuarium, probatione non indiget et profanari locum sacrum vel rem sacram spectat et de iis potissimum dicitur. Nihilominus plerique ' h. l. ipsum populum Israel semen scil. sanctum et Deo consecratum dici existimant sanctuarium Dei quod profanetur (cf. S. Hier. Rib. Lap. Men. Tir. Calm. Schegg, Keil, Trochon) ; Israel enim dicitur nv vi7p Ier. 2, 9 et sim. Ex. 19, 6. Lev. 20, 6. Ps. 114, 2 (hebr.); etiam profanari 5on dicitur de personis ; cf. Lev. 21, 4. 9. Is. 43, 98. Ez. 13, 19; 36, 22 etc. et apud ipsum nostrum vatem 1, 12. Unde haec interpretatio ex *hac parte non potest cum Reinke impugnari; neque obstare videtur, quod porro obiicit Reinke, populum a propheta reprehensum non posse appellari sanctuarium quod. Dominus diligat ; nam propheta populi dignitatem theocraticam in medio profert et haec beneficia collata et insignem Dei electionem, qua iuremerito istis titulis honorantur, immo ad maiorem ignominiam et pudorem incutiendum vocantur, etsi peccatis veram sanctitatem amiserint. Manet enim etiam peccatoribus iste titulus a consecratione olim facta enatus et ex debito illo ortus, quod praestandum obligatione sanctissima omnino erat 7? similiter Ephraim, licet apostata, filius dicitur deliciarum Domini (Ier. 31, 90 hebr.), quibus titulis simul egregie Dei fidelitas et misericordia commendatur.— Cultrix idolorum dicitur filia dei alient, quae scil. filiali pietate deo Israelitis extraneo adhaeret secundum illud : « dicentes ligno : pater meus es tu, et lapidi : tu me genuisti » (Ier. 2, 21). Similiter Iudaei filii Dei dicuntur, ut cum emphasi admoneantur vitae Deo dignae ; v. g. Deut. 14, 1. Prov. 14, 206. Quam indigna res sit, vates ostendit vindictam Dei invocans in caput reorum ; « quia igitur hoc fecerunt, prophetae ad eos sermo dirigitur et a peccato maledictionibus retrahuntur » (S. Hier); v. 12 « disperdet Dominus virum qui fecerit hoc, magistrum et discipulum de tabernaculis lacob, et offerentem munus Domino exercituum » ; — hebr. exscindat Dominus vel deleat talem ex populo suo electo ; expungat nomen eius ex albo populi sui, ut et ipse abiiciatur neque prolem concipiat qua stirps eius in populo Dei perduret. Poena est condigna, quia eiusmodi coniugio praerogativam populi electi abiicit, eam dignitatem flocci facit et seipsum periculo idololatriae exponit (Ex. 34, 16. Deut. 71, 4. 3 Reg. 11, 3. 4). Cum emphasi precatur vates, ut omnis qui tale quid commiserit, deleatur sive nobilis fuerit et magnus, sive indoctus et despectus, sive senex sive iuvenis — locutio enim proverbialis ita in universum valere videtur — ; immo, ut is quoque eadem plectatur poena, « qui pro huiusmodi hominibus voluerit ad altare munus offerre, quorum solum remedium est non facere quae fecerunt » (S. Hier.) ; vel ut alii magis generaliter accipiunt : etiamsi sacrificiis Deum placare studeant, sive sacerdotes (offerentes munus) sive laici (afferentes munus), veniam non consequentur, nisi meliora meditati fuerint (Sanct.) ; demum alii : etiam sacerdotem qui tale contrahit matrimonium, deleat Deus (S. Cyr. Rib.; ita Chald. quoque ; utique admittebantur talia a sacerdotibus Esd. 10, 18. Neh. 13, 28. 29). A talibus et pro talibus Deus non admittit minchah. Incruentum sacrificium commemorari videtur vel quia « pro anima quae tetigerit aliquid immundum et quidquam de immunditia hominis iuxta omnem impuritatem qua pollui solet », oblatio similae pro peccato fieri potuit (Lev. 5, 2. 3. 11), vel ne Deus oblationem respuere credatur propter defectum victimae, sed propter ipsius offerentis indignitatem ; in cruento enim sacrificio facile defectus adesse poterat et saepe admittebatur tempore Malachiae (cf. 4, 8. 13), non item in incruento, quia dummodo recta materia offerebatur, v. g. simila et oleum et vinum, eo ipso oblatio erat munda et legitima. Unde ne in hoc quidem loco opus est minchah generali acceptione sacrificii intelligi. explicare censenda est. Recentiores autem varia coniectant : vigilem et respondentem significare omnem viventem, qui scil. mortis somnum nondum dormiat, sed vocanti et pulsanti respondere possit ; vel esse locutionem petitam a militibus vel custodibus nocturnis, qui dum excubias agant alios aeelamare et responsum elflagitare soleant (Ges. Thes. p. 1004. Fürst C.), aut posse verti puerum ettestem i. e. sobolem ; *Y puerum ex arabico derivare conantur, vel puerum ita voeari quia sit alacer, excitatus etc. (cf. Schegg, Reinke, Keil) ; vel designari vigilem et loquentem i. e. omnem viventem (Hitz. Trochon) etc. ; cf. Zach. 9, 8 3xj1 *^3y. Si r^» in mitiore significatione capi posset : amoveat eum Deus de Iacob, versio LXX donec humilietur i. e. poenitentia actà ad obedientiam humilis revertatur, bonum praeberet sensum et spem veniae et emendationis propositum exhiberet; et revera mitior illa significatio non prorsus abesta verbo; vide 1 Sam. 20, 13. At cum ceteroquin semper de excisione et deletione adhibeatur, non erit satis consultum ab ea frequentissima notione recedere. Si quis censet *y signilicare ezcitantem, melius ad sensum verteretur : perdat Deus et suadentem et obedientem i. e. qui lale facinus suadet et qui suadenti obsequitur.
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v. 13 « Et hoc rursum fecistis : operiebatis lacrimis altare Domini, fletu et mugitu, ita ut non respiciam ultra ad. sacrificium, nec accipiam placabile quid de manu vestra » ; — hebr. et hoc secundum (alterum) facitis; aliud additis crimen priori (v. 10). Explicat S. Ifier. : « quod nobis ab Hebraeis sit traditum, disseramus : derelictae uxores israeliticae et in toris maritorum alienarum gentium feminas contemplantes ad Dei solius auxilium confugiebant, diebus ac noctibus ante altare Domini provolutae lacrimis, gemitu atque eiulatibus invidiam faciebant eius providentiae, quod non respiceret humana et miserias non iuvaret ». Iniuriae quae sentitur magnitudinem effert ex doloris. significatione maxima et ex ira divina qua Deus iam non se respicere ait ad oblationem rite factam neque placationem admittere. Operire, ut notat Sanct., aliquid importat magnum et abundans ; altare opertum dicitur fletu quia multae erant feminae quae in templo diu ac saepe lacrimabantur. Idem advertit, feminas esse valde impatientes iniuriae, maxime cum a viro aut a pellice se contemni videant; sequi solere furorem et clamorem qui viciniam compleat. Verum viri iniuriam factam esse et peccatum commissum solita contumacia agnoscere nolunt, hac in re sacerdotum duritiem et callum imitati (ef. 1, 6. '). Quam mentium habitudinem describit, dum eos facit quasi admirantes, quod Dei iram incurrerint, et nescientes qua de causa sint ei exosi :
Matrimonia illa cum alienigenis ex libidine inita uxoribus prioribus erant perniciei ; maxima enim iniustitia eiiciebantur a viris et repudiabantur. Harum dolores et gemitus, quos coram Domino vindice iuris laesi effundunt, propheta describit
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v. 14 « et dixistis : quam ob causam ? quia Dominus testificatus est inter te et uxorem. pubertatis tuae, quam tu. despexisti et haec particeps tua et uxor foederis tui » ; — Deus enim qui matrimonium instituit ita ut sit inviolabile et foedus perdurans — Gen. 2, 24 quem locum multi hic bene allegant ; cf. S. Hier. Theod. Theod. M. Alb. Rib. Sanct. Lap. Tir. Gord. Calm. — est etiam foederis initi, utpote rei sacrae, testis et vindex ; erat scil. festis cum matrimonium iniretur, inter uxorem et virum. Unde Laban ad lacob: « intueatur, inquit, et - iudicet Deus inter nos, si afflixeris filias meas et si introduxeris alias uxores super eas : nullus sermonis nostri testis est absque Deo, qui praesens respicit » (Gen. 31, 49. 50) et Raguel filiam Saram copulavit Tobiae dicens: «Deus Abraham et Deus Isaac et Deus Iacob vobiscum sit et ipse coniungat vos » (Tob. "1, 15); quare de muliere infideli dicitur : « pacti Dei sui oblita est » (Prov. 2, 18). Deus igitur sanxit, firmavit matrimonium ; eo auctore factum est et stipulatore (ita Mar. sim. Sa, Lap. Men. Schegg, Reinke, Trochon). Quae est prima et valentissima ratio, cur ab iniusto divortio abstinendum esse vates doceat. Alias addit quae aptae sunt ad animos recordatione amoris pristini et felicissimi emolliendos et ad miserationem et priscam fidem flectendos ; vocat enim urorem pubertatis tuae, quam scil. iuvenis duxit, cui primos et ardentissimos amores consecravit'et ex qua suavitates plurimas percepit (cf. Sanct.); «laetare cum muliere adolescentiae tuae» (Prov. 5, 18). Quam inhumanum et crudele, eam nunc despicere, vel ut in hebr. habetur, in eam. perfide agere, fidem datam frangere— et tamen erat et est socia tua; in memoriam duro marito revocatur suavis illa et dulcis societas cum uxore et quomodo per annos fideliter et amanter omnia communia inter se habuerint et gaudia et moerores. Talis autem societas diuturna et earundem rerum experientia et mutua inter se oblata consolatio et confortatio quam maxime animos solet arctissimo vinculo copulare, eiusque rei memoria apta est ad saxea pectora emollienda. Ultimo loco graviter monet, eam uxorem esse wrorem foederis tui i. e. quacum legitime verum ac sanctum foedus iniit, quod rescindere impium sit, praesertim si ex libidine fiat et impuro amore in alienam et extraneam. Virum igitur monet, quantopere eum deceat esse constantem, ne sibi ipsi maculam inurat, foedus a se sollemniter initum turpiter violans; aliam non esse foederis uxorem, sed libidinis instrumentum. Quare in hebr. (uti versus concipi potest) pergit vates : et (ita) nemo agit, qui reliquias spiritus habet i. e. qui ex aliqua parte adhuc vera doctrina et spiritu Dei est imbutus vel sua ratione humana rite uti velit; in matrimonio enim non libidinem esse quaerendam, sed semen Dei, scil. ut filios procreent servos Dei, ut benedictionem in semine Abraham in filiis consequantur (cf. Tob. 6, 22). Verum plerumque rem aliter concipiunt : foedus illud sancte est servandum, quia uterque coniugum a Deo est formatus, idem Dei spiritus utrique est communis :
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v. 19 «nonne unus fecit et residuum spiritus eius est? et quid unus quaerit nisi semen Dei » ? — nonne idem Deus etiam mulierem creavit ? nonne communis utrique spiritus, quia quod fuit Adae residuum, id datum est Evae (Sanct.). Deus enim in hominem inspiravit spiraculum vitae et residuum spiravit in mulierem, i. e. aequalem utrique dedit animam ; uno eodemque quasi spiraculo (neque enim nisi semel in eos inspirasse legitur) animavit utrumque (Tir.).- Cum ergo corpus mulieris sit ex costa Adami formatum et anima eius sit quasi residuum spiritus, flatus sive halitus Dei, par est virum et uxorem tantam coniunctionem non dissolvere, sed admonentur ut unius plane animi et affectus sint (ita Lap. Men. Tir. ; sim. S. Hier. Rup. Rib. Sanct. Sa, Mar. Schegg). Et quid unus ille scil. Deus quaerit, nisi - sanctos gigni filios ex' fideli patre et matre? vult, ut semen sanctum, populus Dei propagetur, ut populus nascatur qui in cultu Dei bene instituatur et se semen Dci i. e. spiritu Dei imbutum et animatum revera praebeat. Sed num tales filii ex coniugiis cum idololatris exorientur ? Vel Deus populum suum sanctum vult conservare, non vult semen adulteratum per matres alienigenas, uti fecerunt tempore Esdrae : « commiscuerunt semen sanctum cum populis terrarum » (Esd. 9, 2). Ita iidem explicant. eorum favere incontinentiae. Nam post genitos Ismael et Isaac duxit Ceturam et filios genuit ex concubinis ; « quomodo dicent eum quaesivisse semen Dei, cum populus Dei non per filios concubinarum, sed per Isaac esset propagandus ... certe si hoc propheta diceret, facile responderent ludaei se verius semen Dei quaerere i. e. propagationem populi Dei, non autem infidelium populorum, ut Abraham » (Rib.). Commodior sane et aptior est ea explicatio, quam recentiores quidam proponunt (cf. apud Calm. Reinke, Trochon, Pressel) simulque facilior : non-unus i. e. nullus ita agit qui levissimo divini spiritus residuo est instructus ; an istud faceret, si solum semen sanctum et posteros Deo consecrandos quaereret? non prolis amore, sed libidine ad talia coniugia cum infidelibus et ad repudia legitimarum impelluntur. Locutio 71N7x5 potest illum habere sensum ; cf. Num. 16, 15. 1 Reg. 8, 56. Hanc explicationem etiam tangere videntur LXX, cum satis facile ad variam LXX lectionem accommodetur, sive legeris ob xaAov émot- 73s... (cum cod. vatic.) sive obx 31Àoz 2xotnasv (cum cod. alex. et cod. syr. hexapl. etc.), sensus utrimque erit : eum qui habeat residuum spiritus, talia non esse perpetraturum. LXX legerunt ^N pro TN. Unde eis praecipitur : « custodite ergo spiritum vestrum et uxorem - adolescentiae tuae noli despicere » ,— hebr. cavete spiritui vestro et in uxorem adolescentiae tuae ne (quis) agat perfide ! i. e. cavete ne spiritus Dei a vobis recedat, ne penitus eum amittatis (cf. Neh. 9, 20), ne abducamini libidine et voluptate vincente et penitus exstinguente spiritum bonum et Dei in vobis imaginem ; ergo aliis verbis « cohibete malas appetitiones » (Theod. S. Hier. Rib. Lap.), ne istae mentem et rationem subvertant et id quod in homine est divinum perdant et exstinguant. Cur autem uxor non debeat repudiari, aliam rationem addit ex textu hebr.
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v. 16 quia odio habens (ego) dimissionem, dicit Dominus Deus . Israel, et qui talia agit, iniquitate operit vestimentum suum i.e. palam et magnopere iniquitate oppletus apparebit. Nexus iste est facilis et obvius. Difficiliora sunt vulg. verba, quae repudium et divortium non reprehendere et impedire, sed permittere et commendare videntur v. 16 « cum odio habueris, dimitte, dicit Dominus Deus Israel ; operiet. autem. iniquitas vestimentum eius, dicit Dominus exercituum ; custodite spiritum vestrum et nolite despicere » ; — sed cum in antecedentibus divortia adeo reprehendantur, nunc certe non possunt suaderi, si quis odio habet uxorem ; tali enim ratione omne divortium et repudium facillime vestiri potest et sine odio nullum fit. Unde textum aliter explicant; et S. Hier. quidem verba illa considerat ut dicta et obiecta a Iudaeis ex Deut. 24, 1 seq. «statimque respondit : hoc quidem in lege praeceptum est, sed propter duritiem cordis vestri. Quod plenius Dominus in evangelio prosequitur : quicumque autem excepta causa fornicationis uxorem inique dimiserit, operiet vestimentum eius iniquitas » (sim. Men.). Alii ea per ironiam dici censent : dimitte, si vis ; atscelere te undique operies quasi vestimento (Rib.) ; alii : dimitte eam potius liberam, ut sui iam sit, non alieni ac tyrannici iuris (Sanct.) ; id satius est, quam ut eam domi perpetim ut servam affligas ; sed scito quod iniquitatem non evades (Lap.). - Alii causas repudii restringunt ad odium zustum quod non ex qualibet re vel mala affectione, sed ex delicto uxoris, ex eius adulterio ortum sit (cf. S. Cyr. Theod. M.). Iniquitas ea dicitur operire vestem, quae sit patens et conspicua et totum hominem involvat et circumdet ad instar vestimenti (cf. Lap. Mar. Men. Tir. Schegg, Reinke, Trochon). De ultimo membro cf. v. 15. Textum hebr. vertunt veteres, uti S. Hier. i. e. si odio habes, dimitte; Syrus verba ea omittit. Chald. etiam in secundo membro addit negationis particulam : nec obtege peccatum vestimento tuo. Tieinke ita : si quis ex odio dimittit, crudelitate operit vestem suam. Sed planior est et ad verba hebr. magis accommodata et ad sensum et nexum prorsus facta versio recentiorum : quia odio habens dimissionem, dicit Dominus (cf. Hitz. Schegg, Keil, Pressel, Trochon et iam invenitur apud aliquos rabbinos, quos Arias, Lap. Ros. commemorant). Est enim N32 participium ; unde quis sit odio habens facile suppletur ex. subsequenti dicit Dominus (cf. Zach. 9, 19) ; infinitivus n» est obiectum. Neque id ullo pacto contradicit permissioni Deut. 24, 1 datae. Nam eo in loco non conceditur divortium illimitate, sed ex gravissima solum causa, ex fornicatione vel adulterio a muliere commisso ; tempore autem Malachiae agebatur de frequentia repudiorum, quae ex libidine fiebant et ex amore alienigenarum. Deinde cum Deus docente Christo libellum repudii solum concesserit [udaeis ob cordis duritiem atque ab initio ipso naturae instituto matrimonium statuerit et declaraverit insolubile ac perpetuum, iure merito dicitur odio habere repudium.
2:17
Prophetae praecedentes cum reditum ex captivitate annuntiarent, ei fere continuo adiunxerunt splendida de instauratione messianica vaticinia. Ita fit, ut ipsum reditus tempus saepe proponi videatur tamquam periodus prosperitatis et felicitatis abundantissimae. Reditum v. g. promittit Ezechiel ; sed immediate addit : « et replebo vos hominibus et iumentis et multiplicabuntur et crescent ; et habitare vos faciam sicut a principio bonisque donabo maioribus quam habuistis ab initio... nec auditam faciam in te amplius confusionem gentium et opprobrium populorum nequaquam portabis... et salvabo vos ex universis inquinamentis vestris et vocabo frumentum et multiplicabo illud et non imponam vobis famem ; et multiplicabo fructum ligni et genimina agri, ut non portetis ultra opprobrium famis in gentibus... terra illa inculta facta est ut hortus voluptatis et civitates desertae et destitutae atque suffossae munitae sederunt... et scient gentes quaecumque derelictae fuerint in circuitu vestro, quia ego Dominus aedificavi dissipata plantavique inculta, ego Dominus locutus sim et fecerim...requiescere vos faciam super humum vestram... percutiam illis foedus pacis, fundabo eos et multiplicabo... et scient gentes quia ego Dominus sanctificator Israel » etc. (Ez. 36, 10. 13. 29. 35; 37, 14. 22). Et quam splendide urbis instauratio erat annuntiata ab Isaia (49, 1'1 ; 54, 1 seq.), a Ieremia (83, '1 seq. 31, 38; 32, 26 seq.), a Zacharia (2, 2 seq.) ? Verum eventus omnem fallere videbatur exspectationem. Iudaei reduces ex Babylonia et ab externis vexabantur inimicis et. domesticis quoque affligebantur calamitatibus. Templi urbisque initia parva erant et admodum exilia et hostium insuper infestationibus turbata, impedita; accedebant sterilitatis famisque plagae et tantum aberat, ut gentes maiestatem ac potentiam Dei Israel et populi electi dignitatem eximiam agnoscerent et venerarentur, ut utrumque opprobiis et dicteriis afficerent (cf. Esd. 3, 12; 4, 4 seq. Neh. 1, 3 seq. 2, 19; 5, 2 seq. Agg. 1, 6; 2, 11). Neque ea rerum conditio in melius mutabatur templo urbeque exstructis. Sub alienorum imperio vitam trahebant penuria afflictam (Mal. 1, 7. 13); at quis nesciat animum quo maiore prematur miseria, eo ardentiore desiderio et cupiditate avidiore anhelare ad tempora meliora? Atqui talia oraculis certissimis promissa erant Israelitis; ergo non erit mirum, si magna cum impatientia, uti homines solent, eorum temporum adventum prospexerint et se longiore iam exspectatione et spe vana delusos esse conquesti sint. Neque id mirum est quod magnam rerum afflictarum partem non propriae negligentiae, socordiae et divini cultus virtutumque neglectui adscripserint, sed suae infidelitatis obliti aequam se ac iustam bonorum mensuram a Deo accepisse negaverint ; is enim est hominum animus, ut fausta quidem promissa avide capiat, at quae ab ipso sint praestanda ut illis potiatur, tum maxime negligat si strenuum virtutum solidarum exercitium requiratur. Hisce suppositis iam populi intelliguntur querelae quas refert Malachias et modus ille quo eis obviam it propheta. Censent enim illi comparatione instituta cum gentibus, se iniquius a Deo adhiberi neque Deum in adimplendis promissis esse solertem, se autem iniuste negligi et fruStra ius suum et adversariorum punitionem, quae duototies sint promissa, exspectare. Huncautem animorum morbum propheta more suo quaestione proposita et acri accusatione prolata in medium affert, ut ipsi sibi conscii fiant malitiaelatentis ; v. 4'1 « Laborare fecistis Dominum in sermonibus vestris, et dixistis: in quo eum fecimus laborare ? in eo quod dicitis : omnis qui facit malum bonus est in conspectu Domini et tales ei placent ; aut certe ubi est Deus iudicii » ? — Dominum fatigant, fastidium ei et nauseam afferunt ; « illud laborare magnum habet pondus, neque enim leve est illud onus in quo sustinendo laborare dicuntur et lassari divini humeri » (Sanct.). Aegerrime scil. ferunt quod i Ipsi qui sint populus Dei, adeo sint in rebus angustis et afflictis constituti, dum gentiles peccatores mundi dominatione, opibus, potentia potiantur — unde cum acerbitate dicunt, tales peccatores utpote beneficiis et favoribus divinis exornatos iam a Deo approbari eique pro rerum eventu esse acceptos; simul animis exulceratis omnem defensionem Dei excludentes et reiicientes addunt : aut si quis obloqui et. Dei causam tueri vellet, ubi est i. e. certissime et. apertissime nullibi cernitur illud iudicium quod Deus toties gentibus annuntiavit, illud iudicium, ille status quem suo populo se restituturum esse toties pollicitus est. Non sine acerba impatientia Deum vocant 2udicii Deum, utpote qui ius et iustitiam in terris efficere, populo suo bona foederibus promissa tamquam ius suum reddere se velle sollemniter saepe sit professus et vindictam in gentes frequenter sit comminatus (cf. Is. 26, 9; 34, 5; 40, 27; 58, 2; 59, 11; 60, 15. Ez. 99, 21. Dan. 71, 10. Os. 6, 5. Soph. 3, 5. 8 etc.). Bene monet S. Hier. illas fundi querelas, quibus homines videntes malorum prosperitatem saepe exagitantur ; ita Ps. 38 et '/2 ; Iob 21, 1. Ier. 12, 14. Hab. 4, 3. 13. « Reversus ergo populus de Babylone et videns cunctas in circyitu nationes ipsosque Babylonis idolis servientes abundare divitiis, vigere corporibus, omnia quae bona putantur in saeculo possidere, se vero qui habeat notitiam Dei squalore, inedia, servitute coopertum, scandalizatur et dicit : non est in rebus humanis providentia ... aut certe si Deus cuncta diiudicat, ubi est illius aequum iustumque iudicium » (S. Hier)? Expostulationi obviam it propheta modo aptissimo. Querelis enim eorum respondet (cf. Lap. Mar. Tir.), venturum esse Dominum iudicii et foederis ; at ipsi videant, num sint ad iudicem illum qui districtum iudicium etiam in suum populum sit exerciturus, rite excipiendum praeparati ; ipsi perpendant, num non eius adventus potius ruinae sit futurus illis, qui impii cum sint et rerum divinarum 'contemptores, tamen cum Deo expostulare audeant. Tempore enim messianico districtum fore iudicium etiam adversus magnam populi electi partem, iam in antecePrimo promittitur praecursore praemisso Dominum novi foederis conciliatorem venturum esse :
2:4
MALACHIAS. - Prophet, the last in the canon of the Old Testament, and therefore called the "seal of the prophets." He prophesied after the exile, during the Persian domination, whose peḥāḥ ("governor") he mentions, and after the restoration of worship in the Zerubbabel temple (Mal. 1:10; 2:4 ff.; 3:1, 10). It does not appear, however, whether this was before, during or after the return of Ezra-Nehemiah to Palestine. …
2:6
… the (oral) directive that the priests gave in the name of Yahweh, especially in matters of ritual observance (the various sacrifices and their modes, the conditions of purity, the criteria of leprosy, etc.), to those who consulted them; cf. Hag. 2, 11; Mal. 2, 6-9. The depositaries and dispensers of the t. were the priests: Mic. 3, 11; Jer. 2, 8; 18, 18; Zeph. 3, 4; Ez. 7, 26; 22, 16; 44, 23 (cf. Lev. 14, 57); cf. Hab. 1, 2-4 and Lam. 2, 9. …
2:10
BIBL.: In general: H. Höpfl - A. Miller - A. Metzinger, Introductio specialis in Vetus Testamentum, Rome 1946, pp. 532-535. Studies: S. ab Auscio, De matrimonium mixti apud Mal. 2, 10-16, in Verbum Domini, 11 (1931), pp. 366-71; B. Mariani, De sacrificio a Malachia (1, 10-11) predicto, in Antonianum, 6 (1934), pp. 193-242, 361-82, 451-74; I. Kroon, De Wederhouti van …
2:11
There is also insistence on reproving marriage with foreign women as a cause of religious syncretism and moral corruption (cf. Gen. 28:6-9; Jud. 3:5 f.; I Kings 11:1 f.; Mal. 2:11 f.; Esd. 9:1 ff.; Neh. 10:30; 13:23-25). In a particular way the prohibition applied to the various Canaanite populations of Palestine or of the neighboring regions (cf. Ex. 34:11-16; …
2:14
Finally, mention should be made of the texts that recommend perfect conjugal fidelity (Prov. 5:15-20; 6:24-35; 23:26-28; Eccl. 9:1-13; Mal. 2:14 ff., etc.) or describe the ideal wife (Prov. 31:10-31; Eccl. 26:1-24) in opposition to the perverse one (Eccl. 25:17-36). For the preference of the married state over celibacy cf. Judg. 11:37.
2:17
… later attributed the theophanies to an angel in order to safeguard the transcendence of God), B. Stein, limiting his investigation to the angel of Exodus (Ex. 3, 2; 14, 19; 23, 20-3; 32, 34; Num. 20, 16; Ios. 5, 14; Iud. 2, 1-4; Is. 63, 9; Mal. 2, 17; 3, 1), argues for identity: the angel of Yahweh is the same omnipresent God who emerges from his transcendence to appear and act in a place, and the expression was the most appropriate …
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.