Israel is reproved for sin. God’s favours to them.
The people by their sinnes procure their owne miseries, 3. not regarding Iacobs vertues.
1Ephraim feedeth on the wind, and followeth the burning heat: all the day long he multiplied lies and desolation: and he hath made a covenant with the Assyrians, and carried oil into Egypt.Ephraim si pasce di vento, e va a respirare un'aura ardente; tuttodì accumula le sue menzogne, e le ragioni di sua rovina: ed ha fatta confederazione cogli Assirj, ed ha portato il suo olio in Egitto.EPHRAIM feedeth the winde, and foloweth the heate: al the day he multiplieth lying and waste: and he hath made a league with the Assyrians, and he caried oyle into Aegypt.Ephraim pascit ventum, / et sequitur æstum; / tota die mendacium et vastitatem multiplicat: / et fœdus cum Assyriis iniit, / et oleum in Ægyptum ferebat. 2Therefore there is a judgment of the Lord with Juda, and a visitation for Jacob: he will render to him according to his ways, and according to his devices.Or il Signore verrà a giudizio con Giuda, e visiterà Giacobbe: e renderà a lui mercede secondo le opere sue, e secondo le sue invenzioni.The iudgement therfore of our Lord with Iuda, and visitation vpon Iacob: according to his wayes, and according to his inuentions he wil render to him.Judicium ergo Domini cum Juda, / et visitatio super Jacob: / juxta vias ejus, et juxta adinventiones ejus reddet ei. 3In the womb he supplanted his brother: and by his strength he had success with an angel.Giacobbe nel sen materno supplantò il fratello, e colla sua fortezza lottò coll'Angelo.In the wombe he supplanted his brother: and in his strength he was directed with the Angel.In utero supplantavit fratrem suum, / et in fortitudine sua directus est cum angelo. 4And he prevailed over the angel, and was strengthened: he wept, and made supplication to him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spoke with us.E fu superiore all'Angelo, e vinse: e con lagrime a lui si raccomandò. Egli lo trovò a Bethel, ed ivi quegli parlò a noi.And he preuailed against the Angel, and was strengthened: and he wept, and besought him: in Bethel he found him, an there he spake with vs.Et invaluit ad angelum, et confortatus est; / flevit, et rogavit eum. / In Bethel invenit eum, / et ibi locutus est nobiscum. 5Even the Lord God of hosts, the Lord is his memorial.E il Signore egli è il Dio degli eserciti; il Signore ebbe egli in memoria.And our Lord the God of hostes, the Lord is his memorial.Et Dominus Deus exercituum, / Dominus memoriale ejus. 6Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and hope in thy God always.Or tu convertiti al tuo Dio, osserva la misericordia, e la giustizia, e spera sempre nel Dio tuo.And thou shalt conuert to thy God: keepe mercie and iudgement, and hope in thy God alwayes.Et tu ad Deum tuum converteris; / misericordiam et judicium custodi, / et spera in Deo tuo semper.
7He is like Chanaan, there is a deceitful balance in his hand, he hath loved oppression.Ma questo Chananeo ha nelle sue mani una falsa stadera, egli ama di soverchiare.Chanaan in his hand a deceitful balance, he hath loued calumnie.Chanaan, in manu ejus statera dolosa, / calumniam dilexit. 8And Ephraim said: But yet I am become rich, I have found me an idol: all my labours shall not find me the iniquity that I have committed.Ma Ephraim va dicendo: Io però mi son fatto ricco, mi sono acquistato un idolo: non si troverà, che in tutte le mie fatiche io abbia commessa ingiustizia.And Ephraim sayd: But yet I am made rich, I haue found an idol to my self: al my labours shal not finde me the iniquitie, which I haue sinned.Et dixit Ephraim: Verumtamen dives effectus sum; / inveni idolum mihi: / omnes labores mei non invenient mihi iniquitatem quam peccavi. 9And I that am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, will yet cause thee to dwell in tabernacles, as in the days of the feast.Io però fin dalla terra d'Egitto sono il Signore Dio tuo; farò, che tuttora tu ti stia nelle tue tende, come nei giorni di quella solennità.And I the Lord thy God out of the Land of Aegypt, I wil yet make thee sitte in tabernacles, as in the dayes of festiuitie.Et ego Dominus Deus tuus ex terra Ægypti: / adhuc sedere te faciam in tabernaculis, sicut in diebus festivitatis. 10And I have spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and I have used similitudes by the ministry of the prophets.Io son quegli, che ho parlato a' profeti, moltiplicai le loro visioni, e me stesso dipinsi per mezzo de' profeti.And I haue spoken vpon the prophets, and I haue multiplied vision, and in the hand of the prophets I haue bene resembled.Et locutus sum super prophetas, / et ego visionem multiplicavi, / et in manu prophetarum assimilatus sum. 11If Galaad be an idol, then in vain were they in Galgal offering sacrifices with bullocks: for their altars also are as heaps in the furrows of the field.Se quel di Galaad fu un idolo, dunque in vano s'immolavan de' bovi a Galgal, dappoiché già gli altari di quelli son come que' mucchi di sassi, che son sui solchi del campo.If an idol in Galaad, then in vaine were they in Galgal immolating with oxen: for their altars also as heapes vpon the furrowes of the filde.Si Galaad idolum, ergo frustra erant in Galgal bobus immolantes; / nam et altaria eorum quasi acervi super sulcos agri. 12Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and was a keeper for a wife.Si fuggì Giacobbe nel paese della Siria, e Israele servi per una moglie, e fu guardiano di pecore per un'altra moglie.Iacob fled into the countrie of Syria, and Israel serued for a wife, and for a wife he kept her.Fugit Jacob in regionem Syriæ, / et servivit Israël in uxorem, / et in uxorem servavit.
13But the Lord by a prophet brought Israel out of Egypt: and he was preserved by a prophet.Indi il Signore trasse Israele dall'Egitto per mezzo di un profeta, e salvollo per mezzo di un profeta.But by a prophete our Lord brought Israel out of Aegypt: and by a prophete he was preserued.In propheta autem eduxit Dominus Israël de Ægypto, / et in propheta servatus est. 14Ephraim hath provoked me to wrath with his bitterness, and his blood shall come upon him, and his Lord will render his reproach unto him.Ephraim con fieri disgusti a sdegno mi provocò; sopra di fui caderà il suo sangue, e il suo Signore renderà a lui gl'insulti, che ad esso egli fece.Ephraim hath prouoked me to wrath in his bitternes, and his bloud shal come vpon him, and his reproch his Lord wil restore to him.Ad iracundiam me provocavit Ephraim in amaritudinibus suis: / et sanguis ejus super eum veniet, / et opprobrium ejus restituet ei Dominus suus.
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Haydock
On. Literally, the wind. (Haydock)
Worthington
To trust in men is no less vain. (Worthington)
Septuagint, "Ephraim is an evil spirit," etc.
Haydock
Heat. Hebrew, "eastern or burning wind." (Haydock)
Manahem attempted to engage Egypt on his side, but he was frustrated in his hopes, (4 Kings xv.; St. Jerome) as Osee was likewise; to which king the sense conducts us better, Osee 13:15.
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Judgment. Hebrew, "trial." What follows refers to all the people, whose impiety is contrasted with Jacob's virtue.
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Wept. Septuagint, "they wept, and besought me." Other interpreters agree with the Vulgate.
Cap.[Cappel?
Us. By changing a vowel point, in Hebrew, it might be, "He spoke to him." (Cap.[Cappel?;] Grotius)
Calmet
The most magnificent promises were made, at Bethel, regarding the Israelites: this made the profanation of the place more horrible. (Calmet)
Septuagint, "They found me in the house of On, and there the word was addressed to them."
Haydock
Bethaven was the name of Bethel, among the pious Jews, in the days of Osee. (Haydock)
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Memorial, and the object of worship; or this great Jehovah spoke to Jacob.
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Haydock
Chanaan. The Phoenicians were so called, and all merchants. Here the title is given reproachfully (Calmet) to all the posterity of Jacob. (Haydock)
None more ignominious could be used, Daniel 13:56. Thus Rome is styled Babylon.
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Idol. Hebrew also, "vanity." Riches are vain, and lead to idolatry when people place their affections on them, Matthew 13:22., and Ephesians 5:5.
Calmet
Committed. I am conscious of no injustice. (Calmet)
Haydock
Yet he had used a deceitful balance, and his judgment is equally perverse. (Haydock)
Clement of Alexandria
"What rich man shall be saved?" (Clement of Alexandria)
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Egypt. At Sinai the covenant between God and Israel was chiefly ratified. The former ceased not to perform the conditions, but the latter repaid him with ingratitude.
Theodoret
Feast. The people shall be brought back, (Calmet) or they shall again be forced to dwell under tents. (Theodoret)
Tournemine
"Shall I still cause?" etc. (Tournemine)
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Calmet
Prophets. They have represented me as it were under visible forms, that you cannot plead ignorance. The prophets prefigured Christ, the end of the law, etc. (Calmet)
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Challoner
Idol. That is, if Galaad, with all its idols and sacrifices, be like a mere idol itself, being brought to nothing by Theglathphalassar, how vain is it to expect that the idols worshipped in Galgal shall be of any service to the tribes that remain. (Challoner)
Will these idols be more powerful? Septuagint copies vary. Roman edition has Galaad, and Comp. Galgal in both places. But that of St. Jerome and of Theodoret is better.
Haydock
Heaps of stones. They are in ruins, or very numerous: (Calmet) yet have not secured the country. (Haydock)
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Worthington
Jacob. The history of the patriarch, and of his posterity, serves to place the ingratitude of the people in the clearest light. (Worthington)
The prophet had interrupted the account of Jacob, (ver. 4.) who had signalized his piety in Galaad, Genesis 31:46.
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Calmet
Prophet. Josue put the people in possession of the country, and offered sacrifice at Galgal, where the rite of circumcision was performed. This place is now defiled. What perfidy (Haydock) and ingratitude. (Calmet)
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Menochius
Him. He shall suffer for his crimes. (Menochius)
Calmet
He can blame only himself. (Calmet)
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If Galaad be an idol, etc.... That is, if Galaad with all its idols and sacrifices be like a mere idol itself, being brought to nothing by Theglathphalasar: how vain is it to expect, that the idols worshipped in Galgal shall be of any service to the tribes that remain.
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To make shevv of turning to God; and to trust more in men is as vayne as to thinke to fede or to gouerne the vvinde.
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Concordance Gen. 25. & 32.
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The historie of Iacob and his children written in Genesis and Exodus vvhich the prophet here toucheth, sheweth the singular benefites of God tovvards this people.
Concordance Gen. 28. Exo. 14.
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 4.2
… But this ill thing I also refused, not out of a pure love for Thee, O God of my heart; for I knew not how to love Thee, knowing not how to conceive aught beyond corporeal brightness. And doth not a soul, sighing after such-like fictions, commit fornication against Thee, trust in false things, and nourish the wind?
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Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.39
… Some places there were in Jerusalem where to teach; other places outside Jerusalem whither to retire —“in the day-time He was teaching in the temple;” just as He had foretold by Hosea: “In my house did they find me, and there did I speak with them.”
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St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 3.12.13
… “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” Thus were they perfected who knew one and the same God, who from beginning to end was present with mankind in the various dispensations; as the prophet Hosea declares: “I have filled up visions, and used similitudes by the hands of the prophets.”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.20.6
… for God the Father is shown forth through all these [operations], the Spirit indeed working, and the Son ministering, while the Father was approving, and man’s salvation being accomplished. As He also declares through Hosea the prophet: “I,” He says, “have multiplied visions, and have used similitudes by the ministry ( in manibus ) of the prophets.”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.20.12
… and from men of this stamp it will be God’s good pleasure to take out a Church which shall be sanctified by fellowship with His Son, just as that woman was sanctified by intercourse with the prophet. And for this reason, Paul declares that the “unbelieving wife is sanctified by the believing husband.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 15
… It sits not, nor stands, nor walks: these things belong all to bodies. But how He Is, He only knoweth. And this He hath declared by a certain prophet, saying, “I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes by the hands of the prophets” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 1
… nevertheless, the Son saw Him. For the expressions, “at sundry times and in divers manners” are the same as “in different ways.” “For I” (saith He) “have multiplied visions, and used similitudes by the ministry of the Prophets.” (
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus 1
Orth. —Yes; and this He has shewn through the Prophet, “for I,” He says, “have multiplied visions and by the hands of the Prophets was made like.”
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 21
… For hear what the Prophet says to the Jews, “Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept (sheep)” (
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1. EPHRAIM FEEDS ON WIND. — First, St. Jerome, Albert, Clarius and Dionysius explain it thus: Ephraim loses oil and labor, and does a vain, useless and futile thing, indeed harmful and impossible, when, abandoning God, fleeing to idols and to idolaters in affliction and desolation, he hopes for help and salvation from them: for he does the same as if a shepherd wished to feed wind, as his flock, so that he might nourish and sustain himself from it: for this is futile and harmful (for wind is more powerful than man, and by blowing causes him harm), indeed impossible. In like manner Ephraim worships stone idols, which cannot help, indeed harm: for they provoke the wrath and vengeance of God. Second, from the Hebrew you may translate: Ephraim is fed by wind. Whence Rabbi David explains it thus: Ephraim worshiping calves is like a man opening his mouth to the wind, and feeding himself from it, from which he does not live. For "to feed" is a deponent verb, and governs both the accusative and the ablative. Whence Virgil, in book IV of the Georgics, says: "Bees feed on shrubs." And in book III: "They feed on forests." Thus we say: A horse feeds on grass, equally as feeds on grass. Therefore "Ephraim feeds on wind" can be taken partly actively, so that "feeds" is the same as "is fed by wind"; thus Ovid says in book II of the Fasti: "The sheep feeds the meadow, the wicked verbena plucked"; partly passively, so that "feeds" is the same as "makes himself food for winds," so that winds, namely the Assyrians, devour him. Thus St. Augustine, in book V Against Cresconius, explaining that passage from Proverbs chapter VI, 10: "He who relies on falsehoods feeds on winds: that is," he says, "becomes food for evil spirits." It seems it should be taken more actively here. For thus he who is deceived by vain hope, or deceives himself, is said to feed on wind, or to feed and eat wind. Tropologically, the ambitious feed on wind. For what is honor but popular breeze, and wind movable in every direction, and immediately vanishing? They are therefore like chameleons which are said to live and be nourished by wind. Thus Sanchez. Similar proverbs to this are: You hunt winds in a net: you draw water in a sieve: you build on sand: you sow on rocks: you cut fire: you plow the shore: you wash an Ethiopian: you boil a stone: you wash a brick: you weave a spider's web: you sing to the deaf: you number the waves: you measure the sand: you teach iron to swim: you pound water in a mortar: you teach a donkey to run under a bridle. AND FOLLOWS THE HEAT. — He says the same thing with another similitude. For "heat" in Hebrew is קדים kadim, that is, the east wind, which is burning and harmful, namely the subsolanus, which has two collateral winds, namely the Vulturnus to the north, the Eurus to the south. Whence Rabbi David understands the Euroaustral wind. The Chaldean translates it "whirlwind": Israel, he says, sows wind, and reaps whirlwind. Moreover St. Jerome elsewhere often translates kadim as Notus, or the South wind; indeed in Genesis chapter XLI, 6, he translates it "blight." Kadim therefore signifies every burning wind, and blight and heat itself, which the Septuagint translates as καύσωνα, which is accustomed to cause fevers, inflammations, and other diseases, and to scorch and consume crops; for thus the Septuagint translates: "A wicked spirit (that is, wicked will, says Theodoret) pursued καύσωνα, that is heat." "Israel," says Cyril, "desired the heat, when he could have taken himself under my shadow. Heat, that is, he calls calamities burning and inflaming with pain." What? Causon, says Aristotle, is a disease by which the outermost part of the body is heated by a slight fever, yet the innermost parts burn with the most intense heat. And by Hippocrates causon is called a fever, which we call burning and a true tertian fever. And Celsus, in book II, chapter VIII: "A burning fever," he says, "which the Greeks call καυσώδην, is relieved by sudden chills." Thus often in diseases of the soul, says Delrio in adage 958, heat is nourished in the veins, and in the soul there is a monstrous fire of lust, avarice, or wrath, scarcely showing itself outwardly, but fostering itself in its own time as lethal, and finally bursting forth into public conflagration of the city and the commonwealth. Such is heresy, especially that of Calvin, which makes its followers zealots of error, and like a hidden burning wind, at length spreads forth into public conflagration of city or province, as we have seen in this age in Gaul, Scotland, Belgium and other kingdoms. This is what St. Jerome says: "According to the tropological sense all heretics are possessed by the worst spirit of demons, concerning which Ephesians VI: Against the spiritual wickedness in the high places. And when the unclean spirit shall go out of a man, and shall find no rest, he taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. Therefore by the worst spirit they shall follow the καύσωνα, that is, aridity, or a burning wind, which is contrary to flowers, and destroys all things that germinate (the works of virtues): he pursues empty and vain things all day; nor is he content with his own error, but multiplies many disciples, indeed companions of his vanity and error. He also makes a covenant with the Assyrians, whose prince is great sense, so that whatever he has devised, he may seem to have feigned it wisely with that wisdom which is destroyed by God. Hence also Theophylactus, and from him Leo Castrius, understands by the burning wind the zeal of the Jews against Christ. This is allegorical, not literal, as they themselves wish. ALL DAY HE MULTIPLIES LIES AND DESOLATION,—that is to say, Israel continually contrives false things and hopes, which shall be the cause of desolation and ruin to him. St. Jerome refers these things to Manahem, king of Israel, who bought the aid of the Assyrians with tribute, IV Kings cap. XV, 19. Better Lyra and others refer it to Hosea, the last king of Israel: for he first made a covenant with the Assyrians, then implored aid against them from Sua, king of Egypt, sending him gifts, IV Kings cap. XVII, 4. Moreover Lyra distributes these things thus aptly: Ephraim, he says, feeds on wind, by paying tribute to the Assyrian: he follows heat, while he seeks aid from the Egyptian: he multiplies lies, while he breaks the covenant with the Assyrian, denying him the tribute agreed upon: and desolation; for the violation and denial of tribute brought this upon him. AND HE CARRIED OIL INTO EGYPT.—Under oil, by synecdoche, understand the other fruits and gifts which the Israelites sent to the king of Egypt, so that they might secure his favor and aid against Salmanasar. Thus St. Jerome, the Chaldean Paraphrase, Arias and others: oil, he notes before the rest, because Samaria excelled in it (as Rome excels in oil brought from the Tiber), which Egypt lacked.
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2. THEREFORE THE LORD HAS A JUDGMENT WITH JUDAH ("Judgment" that is, a just complaint, a just expostulation; in Hebrew it is ריב rib, that is, a suit, a dispute, a judicial accusation, as if to say: Because Judah followed Israel in apostasy from God and the worship of calves, therefore God brings a suit against him, and conducts him as guilty of impiety in judgment). AND VISITATION UPON JACOB.—By Jacob understand Israel, or the ten tribes, as if to say: God brings a suit against Judah, but upon Israel a visitation, that is, a certain punishment, by which he shall visit him, that is, punish and strike him: for both are guilty of idolatry, but Israel more so. Thus Lyra, Vatable, Arias, although St. Jerome, Theodoret, Hugh and others understand by Jacob Judah, so that the same thing is said and repeated in another name. Moreover Lyra also expounds with Judah for Judah, as if to say: The Lord contends for Judah against Jacob, so that from the punishment by which Jacob shall be struck, Judah may become wise, and not imitate his crimes, but repent. Better Arias, as if to say: The Lord contends with Judah, and rebukes him, lest he wonder at Jacob, who has sinned far more gravely, that he is visited and struck by God. Best of all, as if to say: I bring a judgment or suit against Judah, because his crime is not yet clear, because it is not yet public and common: it therefore needs inquiry and examination, before I pronounce sentence upon him, and condemn and strike him. But "visitation," that is, condemnation, punishment and destruction, I bring against Jacob, because his crime is clear, universal and inexcusable. Christ sets a similar difference and gradation between judgment and visitation, namely hell, when he assigns this and that to different degrees of wrath, as it were a punishment measured out. "Whosoever," he says, "is angry with his brother, shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire," Matthew cap. V, 22. A similar gradation occurred in the threefold voice of the deceased Doctor of Paris, who in life was commonly held to be holy, at his funeral, when that reading was reached: "Answer me, how many iniquities and sins do I have?" rising from the bier, on the first day he exclaimed: "By the just judgment of God I am accused;" on the second day: "By the just judgment of God I am judged;" on the third day: "By the just judgment of God I am condemned." Struck by this voice, St. Bruno with his companions, bidding farewell to the world and all things, withdrew into the desert, and instituted the Carthusian order.
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3. IN THE WOMB HE SUPPLANTED (Jacob) HIS BROTHER Esau. — For Jacob at his birth held the heel of Esau: by which God signified that He preferred Jacob and chose him beforehand, and would prefer him to Esau the firstborn, and that Jacob would wrest from Esau the right of the firstborn and the father's blessing, and thus would supplant him, whence he was to be called Jacob, that is, a supplanter: see the sayings at Gen. cap. XXV, 25. Thus St. Jerome, Theodoret and the Chaldean, who thus translated: Was it not said beforehand concerning Jacob your father before he was born, that he would become greater than his brother? The Prophet here commemorates the benefits bestowed upon Jacob once in the womb, before all merit, from the mere grace of God, and likewise Jacob's sanctity, so that the Israelites his descendants might imitate their father, serve God, and give thanks. For this election of Jacob, by which he was preferred by God to his brother Esau, looked more to his descendants, namely to the Israelites, whom God chose and preferred to the Idumeans, the descendants of Esau. For otherwise Esau, while he lived, was more powerful and richer than Jacob. AND IN HIS STRENGTH HE WAS DIRECTED WITH AN ANGEL. — "Directed," that is, he wrestled happily with an angel, because, as the Septuagint and Chaldean translate, he prevailed over the angel bearing the place of God. Whence this angel in Hebrew is called Elohim, and thence Jacob was called Israel, that is, ruling over God, Gen. cap. XXXII, 28. See the sayings there. Hence also the Zurich version has: He prevailed over God, he prevailed, I say, over an angel. But the Hebrew ישר iaschar properly signifies he was directed, and thence fittingly follows: "And he prevailed," that is he overcame, "against the angel," that is the angel, or against the angel: although in Hebrew these words are transposed. This is a signal benefit of God toward Jacob and the Jacobites. Note: To be directed in Scripture is to prosper, as Ps. CXXXIX, 12: "A man of a deceitful tongue shall not be directed in the earth," and often elsewhere. "He was directed" therefore Jacob with an angel, that is he prospered, the wrestling with the angel turned out well for him, because he conquered. More correctly perhaps, "he was directed with an angel," that is he did not succumb to the angel, but with upright and undaunted face and breast attacked him, side by side as it were mingling, and grasping him firmly, according to that of the Poet: Foot stuck to foot, and man pressed close to man. In the word directed he alludes to the name Israel, which can be derived and said to be as it were ישר אל ieschar el, that is upright toward God, or with God, or before God, and if this be not the origin of the name, nor the proper etymology. Israel therefore is said here to be directed, or directing himself with God, because not in any manner whatsoever, but with upright and undaunted face and breast he attacked the angel, and wrestling conquered him, so that by this it might be signified that he would be intrepid against Esau and all enemies, and would overcome them. Hence Wisd. cap. X, 12, it is said of him: "She gave him a strong contest that he might overcome." Thus Antonius Fernandius, vision II, in the Preface, and vision XXII, sect. II. Whence the Syrian translates: And he was able in the strength of the angel (as an angel) in strength he wrestled with an angel; the Alexandrian Arabic: And he was strengthened in the angel; the Antiochene Arabic: He resisted the angel, and was able, that is he prevailed.
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4. AND HE PREVAILED, — that is, he came out superior and conquered, as the Chaldean translator rendered it; for the angel, as if conquered, said in Gen. cap. XXXII, 26: "Let me go." And Jacob, holding him more tightly, answered: "I will not let thee go," etc. AND HE WEPT AND BESOUGHT HIM, — namely the angel, that is to say, Jacob, fearing his brother Esau coming against him with four hundred armed men, wrestling with the angel, suppliant and weeping, begged from him a blessing, so that by the angel's aid he might escape this danger from his brother. These things concerning Jacob's tears and prayers are not found expressed in Genesis, but here Hosea supplies them as if from tradition, or from a revelation of God received. Thus St. Jerome, Theodoret, Haymo and Hugh. Whence Aquila, Theodotion and Symmachus translate: "He wept and besought me," as if God were speaking. Otherwise R. Solomon, and from him Lyran and Vatable; for they take these things concerning the angel, not concerning Jacob, that is to say, The angel wept, and humbly besought Jacob, who was holding him by wrestling, that he would let him go, because dawn was breaking. But the former exposition is the truer: for the occasion for weeping was in Jacob, not in the angel. For Jacob was unwilling to let him go unless he would bless him, and weeping he sought this blessing from him: therefore the angel could bless him, and thus Jacob would have let him go, and the angel would have gone away free, as indeed, the blessing having been given to him by the angel, Jacob let him go free. IN BETHEL HE FOUND HIM, — namely Jacob found the angel, or also the angel found Jacob. For the matter comes to the same thing: for there is signified a reciprocal meeting of those encountering, namely a mutual encounter of Jacob and the angel. This is the third benefit of God toward Jacob and the Jacobites, namely that God appeared to Jacob, fleeing and miserable on account of his brother's wrath, leaning upon a ladder, comforting and strengthening him: and from thence the place was called Bethel, that is, the house of God, Jacob saying: "Truly the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. How terrible is this place! this is no other but the house of God, and the gate of heaven," Gen. cap. XXVIII, 13 and following. By which vision God signified that he would be the God of Jacob and his posterity, their guardian and provider in all adversities, as well as in prosperities; and that he would give to Jacob, that is, to his posterity, that land flowing with milk and honey in inheritance. Thus St. Jerome, Theodoret, Haymo, Albert, Hugh, Lyran, Dionysius and others. Note first: For "he found him" in Hebrew it is ימצאנו iimtsaennu: for which Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion, reading with other points ימצאנו viimtsanu, translate, "he found us," namely not in our own person, but in the person of our father Jacob, in whose loins we were contained, when God appeared to him in Bethel. But the Septuagint, reading ימצאני iimtsauni, translate, "in the house of On (that is, of the idol and calves, namely in Bethaven: for this is Bethel, as I have already said many times) they found me." Lyran wrongly read "we shall find him." Note second: Jacob found and saw God twice, namely the angel of God, God's vicar, in Bethel. For first he saw him leaning upon a ladder, as I have already said. Second, when returning from Mesopotamia with his whole family, by God's command he ascended into Bethel, and there erecting an altar, he bound himself and all his to worship God continually, and therefore received from God the promise of the land of Chanaan, and of a great and long posterity, and heard: "Increase and multiply," Gen. cap. XXXV. Concerning this second appearance the matter is dealt with here especially. It follows therefore: AND THERE HE SPOKE WITH US, — namely God through the angel, promising to us in our father Jacob Chanaan, and the posterity already mentioned. Otherwise Vatable from the Chaldean, that is to say, There God spoke with us, that is, with me (namely with the prophet Hosea) and with Amos, commanding us that by our preaching we should invite the people of Israel to repentance. For Amos, cap. VII, 12, said Amaziah the false priest of Bethel to the prophet Amos: "Go, flee away into the land of Juda: and there eat bread, and prophesy there. But prophesy not again any more in Bethel: for it is the king's sanctuary."
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5. AND THE LORD GOD OF HOSTS, THE LORD IS HIS MEMORIAL. — In Hebrew it is: And Jehova Elohim (that is God) of hosts; Jehova (I say) is memory, or memorial of him. There is here a manifold sense, and one that is congruous and illustrious. First, as if to say, God spoke to us in Bethel, inviting and commanding that we worship him: but see, O Israelites, lest you be deceived by idolaters; lest, I say, you err in a false God (such as false prophets and gentiles thrust upon many of you: and upon me by fraud they impose; as the devil substitutes himself for God, just as an ape substitutes itself for man, and feigns himself to be God) for the true one to be worshipped. Behold I say and repeat, my proper name is Jehova: worship therefore God, who is Jehova, that is Being itself, and the being both of himself and of all creatures, namely who is the fullness of Being, creator of all things, an ocean of essence, wisdom, glory, and an immense abundance of all good. He alludes to Exod. cap. III, 14: "He who is (that is Jehova), sent me to you, etc. This name is mine forever, and this is my memorial unto generation and generation," as if to say, O Israelites, do not worship the Egyptian Apis as God: for this is a calf, not God; but worship me, who am Jehova, that is, "I am who am," or "who is," was and will be. This name is mine eternal: therefore by this name remember me, and call upon me. Thus the Chaldean, Arias and Lyra. Secondly, as if to say, God who preferred Jacob to Esau, and bestowed other benefits upon him and his posterity, is not Baal, but Jehova; this is his name and memorial, by which he wishes to be worshipped and named. Thus from Castro. Thirdly, as if to say, Jacob always had the true God, namely Jehova, in mind and memory as if present, either in act or in virtue. Therefore you also, O Israel, imitate your father, and preserve the constant memory of God; and therefore turn to your God: "Keep mercy and judgment, and hope in your God always." Thus Theodoret and Lyra. That you might do this more easily, God wished to impose his name upon your father and upon you, calling him and you Israel, that is ruling over God, so that in this name the constant memory of God might persist in you, nor could you forget him, just as you cannot forget your own name; and therefore whenever you name your father or yourself, or hear yourself named, you might remember and recall El, that is your God, who is so included in the name Israel, that he cannot be separated from it; as therefore El is included in Israel, so include God in yourself and in your mind, so that you never turn your eyes or mind away from him. Thus St. Jerome and Haymo: although here in the Hebrew the name of God is Jehova, not El, yet in fact Jehova is the same as El. Morally, learn here how constantly we ought to remember God, inasmuch as he is most present to us, everywhere and intimate, more than the soul and vital spirit, by which we breathe and live. For he is he in whom we live, move and are. He is he who holds our breath in his hand. He is he who has both our death and our life, both present and eternal, in his power, on whom we depend as rays on the sun, as shadow on a body, who always beholds us, always works in us; finally he is all in all. Most excellently St. Augustine, epistle 3 to Fortunatianus: "God," he says, "is wholly eye, wholly hand, wholly foot. He is wholly eye, because he sees all things; wholly hand, because he works all things; wholly foot, because he is everywhere." Wherefore the same in Soliloquies cap. XIII, having enumerated the perpetual benefits of God: "These," he says, "and many other benefits you have done for me, O Lord my God, life of my soul, concerning which it would be sweet for me always to speak, always to think, always to give you thanks, so that I might be able to praise and love you for all your goods." The same, lib. I On the Words of the Lord, serm. 6. "As," he says, "the soul is the life of the body, so God is the life of the soul. As the body expires when it sends forth the soul: so the soul expires when it loses God." Deservedly therefore the Psalmist, Psalm LXXVI, 4: "I was mindful," he says, "of God, and was delighted." St. Bernard gives the reason for the delight, in his treatise On Loving God, saying: "For it is just that those whom his presence does not delight, should have the memory of future things at hand; and those who disdain to be consoled by any abundance of flowing things, should be delighted by the remembrance of eternity. And this is the generation of those who seek the Lord. Therefore to those seeking and longing for the presence of God, the memory is at hand and sweet in the meantime, yet not such that they are satisfied, but rather that they hunger more for that by which they may be satisfied." Isaiah understood this cap. XXVI, 8: "O Lord, your name, and your memorial in the desire of my soul. My soul has desired you in the night, but also with my spirit in my heart I will watch early to you." And Jeremiah, Thren. cap. III, 20: "Remembering I will remember, and my soul will waste away in me." See the things said there.
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6. AND (that is, therefore) THOU TO THY GOD SHALT BE CONVERTED, — that is, thou shalt be converted, or be converted. It is a Hebrew enallage; for the future is put for the imperative, as if to say: Thou therefore, O Israel, return from idols to the God of thy father Jacob and be converted, as if a genuine offspring of Jacob and heir of the covenant made by him with God. KEEP JUDGMENT (that is, justice). — For he passes from God to one's neighbor, so that from the honor and love of God commanding this, he may render to his neighbor his due, equally as the mercy owed to him; for true faith and worship of God is followed by faith, that is, fidelity toward one's neighbor; just as conversely infidelity toward God is followed by infidelity and injustice toward one's neighbor. Whence he adds:
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7. CANAAN, IN HIS HAND IS A DECEITFUL BALANCE. — That is, as the Syriac [version has it], a deceitful balance (the Arabic [version has it], a balance of oppressions) is in the hand of Canaan. For the Hebrews repeat the relative pronoun and place it with its antecedent, as if to say: Ephraim is Canaan; that is, a fraudulent merchant; for in his hand is a deceitful and unjust balance. Note here that Ephraim, that is, Israel, or the ten tribes, is called Canaan by catachresis, as follows: first, because the impious Israelites were like the Canaanites, so that they seemed rather to be children of Canaan than of Jacob. Thus Daniel says, chapter XIII, 56, to the elder lying in wait for Susanna's chastity: "Seed of Canaan, and not of Juda." And Ezekiel, chapter XVI, 3: "Thy root and thy generation is of the land of Canaan." Thus Isaiah, chapter I, 10, says to the scribes and Jews: "Hear the word of the Lord, ye princes of Sodom." Thus St. Jerome, Cyril, Theodoret, Rupert, Hugh, Dionysius, Emmanuel and Mariana. Second, because Canaan in Hebrew signifies a merchant, as Leo the Hebrew, the Chaldean [Targum], Pagninus, Lyra and Arias translate here. Whence in Proverbs, chapter XXXI, 24, it is said: "She delivered girdles to the Canaanite," that is, to the merchant. For the Canaanites, being earthly and avaricious, on account of the proximity of the sea to commerce, and engaging in it with frauds, deceits, thefts and robberies; hence in Hebrew כנעני kenaani, that is, Canaanite, signifies a merchant. Hosea therefore alludes here to the deceits and frauds of a merchant, as if to say: Jacob thy father, on account of his holiness, merited to be called Israel, that is, one ruling with God; but thou, O Ephraim, dost not merit this name, but rather art to be called Canaan, because thou hast the ways of the Canaanites, and because thou defraudest thy neighbors in weight, as a merchant does, especially a Canaanite, who defrauds buyers with a deceitful balance, using a greater weight when he buys goods, a lesser when he sells them. Whence the Chaldean [Targum] translates: Be not like merchants, in whose hands are deceitful balances, devoted to robbery; just as therefore servants are called Phrygians, thieves Lacedaemonians, gluttons and the luxurious Sybarites, the infamous Ambrones; so impious and unjust merchants are called Canaanites, whose sole study is to deceive, and to grow rich by unjust gain, and therefore they have false balances, or, as the Wise Man says in Proverbs, chapter XX, 10: "Weight and weight, measure and measure," that is, double weights, double measures. Such even now are many among the Jews, who are mere money-makers knowing nothing but usury, whom therefore the Prophet, foreseeing in spirit, deservedly called Canaanites of the deceitful balance; so much so that if thou wishest to paint a greedy and fraudulent merchant, thou wouldst paint a Jew like a Canaanite, with balance and unjust weights. Similarly such are not a few merchants, who are wholly intent on gain. For it cannot be that such from so great an eagerness for gain are not often carried beyond the bounds of law and justice. Wherefore concerning such St. Chrysostom says, homily 38 in Matthew, and it is found in chapter XI Casting out, distinction 88: "The Lord casting out those who sold and bought in the temple signified that a merchant can never please God; and therefore no Christian ought to be a merchant." For he speaks of money-makers who place their ultimate end and supreme good in gain, prepared to sin mortally in order to gain, as St. Thomas expounds in II II, Question LXXVII, article 7, and who carry on business with frauds and perjuries, as our Lessius expounds, book II On Justice, chapter XXI, doubt 4. Thus Thales of Miletus is said to have constantly had this in his mouth: "Do not become rich wickedly; for gain obtained by fraud is a loss, not a gain." So Laertius, lib. I On the Lives of Philosophers, cap. I. Chilon the Lacedaemonian used to say: "Loss is to be preferred to shameful gain; for the former grieves once, but the latter always." A loss incurred can easily be repaired by added diligence, but infamy contracted from unjust gain is never washed away among good men; and thus gain obtained by crime is a loss, not a gain. So Laertius, lib. I, cap. IV. Antiphanes used to say "that usury and brief profit have short delights, but long calamity." Agesilaus publicly burned the promissory notes of money-lenders in the forum, saying "he had never seen a purer fire." So Plutarch in Laconian Affairs. Alfonso, king of Aragon, according to the testimony of Panormitanus in his Life, said that "usury" is nothing other than "the death of the soul." Musonius: "Jupiter," he says, "does not lend at interest, much less does he lend at interest," that is to say, God does not accept a loan at usury, much less does he give one. The Psalmist divinely, Psalm LXX, 15: "For I have not known learning (in Hebrew ספרות siphrot, that is, ciphers, numbers, as Symmachus and the Rabbis translated it, and the Septuagint, γραμματείας, or as St. Augustine, Arnobius and Chrysostom read it, πραγματείας, that is, business dealings, as the Roman Psalter has it), I will enter into the powers of the Lord." See there St. Augustine, who also in Psalm CXXIII says: "You have made a gain, but in order to make a gain you offended God; you acquired gold, you lost faith. You rejoice over the chest, you do not mourn over the heart? You have lost more than you acquired. they receive powers, if they receive them with the affection of one dominating through cupidity, and not consulting; if they choose to be ministered unto, and not rather to minister, which the Lord reproves through himself, and through the prophet Hosea, saying: Chanaan in his hand hath a deceitful balance, for he hath chosen oppression. And in the Gospel he himself: Whosoever will be the greater among you, shall be your servant: even as the Son of Man is not come to be ministered unto, but to minister." Thirdly, Rupertus: "A deceitful balance," he says, "is the malicious duplicity of earthly cupidity." Fourthly, a deceitful balance is the very malice and deliberate purpose of sinning. For this, says Ruffinus, "when it commits wickedness with weights suspended on either side, is said to have sinned under the balance, concerning which David, Psalm LXI, 10: But the children of men are liars in the balances, that they may deceive by vanity. Since therefore it is the principal function of such a faculty of the mind, that it should examine by the plumb-line of reason and by the weights of comparison what ought to be undertaken and what avoided, the profaned people holding the truth in a lie, have indeed applied a balance to their dealings, but a deceitful one, namely preferring worse things to better, and acquiescing in things harmful rather than useful." HE LOVED CALUMNY. — Leo the Hebrew: He delights to use force; καταδυναστεύειν ἠγάπησεν, that is, he loved to oppress by power.
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8. AND EPHRAIM SAID: NEVERTHELESS I AM BECOME RICH, I HAVE FOUND AN IDOL FOR MYSELF. — He calls his riches and wealth an idol, as if to say: The Prophets clamor against me and blame and accuse me on account of false weights; but I do not heed these voices, but despise them as the chatter of jackdaws; for I have with me an idol, that is a most mighty God (namely Mammon, that is riches, which I have procured for myself by my own industry alone) in whose presence I fear no one, because I abound in all good things. Thus St. Jerome. Note: For idol the Hebrew is און on, which properly signifies iniquity and rapine, as the Chaldean translator rendered it, or force and strength, as Arias and Vatablus rendered it. Moreover Lyra and Pagninus translate it as riches, namely unjustly obtained; the Septuagint as rest: for riches to the avaricious are first an idol; second, rapine; third, all his strength; fourth, his riches; fifth, all his hope and rest; but futile, false and evanescent. From the Chaldean some thus translate and explain it: I have found strength for myself, namely money, which as it were a master brings force upon me and oppresses me violently. Thus St. Gregory of Nazianzus, oration 24, at the beginning: "Gold," he says, "is a hidden tyrant, through which many things are tossed up and down as in a game of dice." Which words Elias of Crete thus explains: "He calls it a tyrant, because gold can bring force upon those desirous of it and oppress them as it were by tyranny; but invisible, for the reason that silently and scarcely perceived it subjects the avaricious to itself, and by force draws them away from what they have decreed." ALL MY LABORS SHALL NOT FIND IN ME THE INIQUITY WHICH I HAVE SINNED, — that is to say, It cannot be found in my and thou hast lost what not even shipwreck could have taken from thee." And below: "He has gold, who knows how to use gold; but he who does not know how to use gold, slips and does not have it, is possessed and does not possess. Be masters of gold and not servants of gold, because God made gold, and He made thee above gold. He made gold for thy support, thee for His image. See what is above thee, and trample what is below thee. What therefore hast thou acquired? Take with thee to the underworld what thou hast acquired. Thy heart empty of faith goes to punishments, which full of faith would go to a crown." Therefore let the merchant moderate this zeal for gain, and govern it by the fear of God, and by desire for greater and heavenly riches, and let him inscribe upon his mind that golden sentence of the Wise Man: "Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasures and insatiable," Proverbs cap. XV, 16. And: "Better is a little with justice, than many fruits with iniquity," Proverbs cap. XVI, 8; secondly, let him continually hear the Apostle thundering to him: "Charge the rich of this world not to be high-minded, nor to trust in the uncertainty of riches, but in the living God (who furnishes us abundantly with all things to enjoy) to do good, to be rich in good works, to give easily, to communicate, to lay up for themselves a good foundation for the future, that they may lay hold on eternal life," I Timothy cap. VI, 17; thirdly, let him frequently ponder that of Job cap. XX, 26, concerning the rich impious and wicked man: "The riches which he hath devoured, he shall vomit up, and God shall draw them out of his belly." And what we commonly say and see: From ill-gotten gains the third heir does not rejoice. Finally that saying of Christ: "Fool, this night do they require thy soul of thee; and the things that thou hast provided, whose shall they be?" Luke cap. XII, 20. Tropologically, first, the Canaanite is a heretic: for Canaan, as St. Jerome says, can be interpreted as it were moving. And note that he said, as it were moving, and not moving. Moving are those whom they have deceived; as it were moving are those whom they have attempted to move; but because they are founded upon a rock, they can be shaken by no storm, nor change the footprint of their feet. In the hand of such Canaanites, that is in their works, is the "false balance" and iniquitous; for whatever a heretic speaks, it does not have the justice of God, and is full of deceit and frauds. Hence also the black horse and rider, Apocalypse cap. VI, 5, denoting heresy, "had a balance in his hand." See the things said there. Secondly, the false balance is a perverse intention, ambition and desire for primacy. Hear Theodoret: "Thou, O Ephraim, imitating the malice of Canaan, hast an iniquitous balance of mind. Thou always dost despise justice, thou dost desire iniquitous power, thou art lifted up in spirit in riches, and thou dost arrogate much to thyself in their distribution." And Prosper, part. II On Prediction cap. XXIV, who admonishing kings and princes: "They themselves," he says, "let them beware who these dealings, contracts, weights (let whoever wishes examine them) any injustice by which I have sinned. Note here the voice of the rich, whom cupidity and avarice have blinded, who, exalting themselves in their god, namely Mammon, and in riches, think all things just and lawful for themselves. For they attend to one thing alone—profit; this is their idol, this is their law, whether they seek it by right or by wrong. Thus Arias and Vatablus. Such men still exist among Christians, who, while they continually enter into usurious and other unlawful contracts, nevertheless stir up no scruple for themselves; indeed, in sacramental confession, even when questioned about this matter, they respond that they have entered into none but lawful contracts. Thus in profit and avarice they have become hardened and deaf. Secondly, my gains "shall not find iniquity," that is, a judge who dares to condemn them for iniquity and injustice; for because I am rich and powerful, I fear no judge, or if I fear any, I will blind his eyes with gifts; for I am dependent on no one, all depend on my aid, as if to say, It matters not how I have my riches, provided I have them. Thus St. Jerome and Albert. Thirdly, the Septuagint translates passively and contrarily: All his labors shall not be found to him, on account of the iniquities by which he sinned, as if to say, Ill-gotten gains quickly disappear; and the Chaldean: All your riches shall not remain with you in the day of the retribution of sins, according to that in Psalm LXXV, 6: "All the men of riches found nothing in their hands." To this version Lyra accommodates ours, as if this were a correction by the Prophet, as if to say, You, O rich, trust and confide in your riches as in an idol; nevertheless know from me that they, however much obtained by your labor, shall not "find" for you "iniquity," that is, expiation of iniquity.
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9. AND I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD FROM THE LAND OF EGYPT, as if to say, From that time when I led thee out of Egypt, I have been thy constant guardian, guide, God, father. YET I WILL MAKE THEE TO DWELL IN TABERNACLES,—as if to say, I will wait to see whether thou wilt repent, and therefore I will defer the punishment of captivity which I have decreed for thy crimes, and I will make thee to dwell happily in thy seats and cities, and therefore thou shalt celebrate yearly in the customary manner the joyful festival of Tabernacles, which was instituted for this reason, Levit. cap. XXIII, 39, as thou hast hitherto celebrated it. Thus St. Jerome. Wherefore less correctly does Theodoret take these as threats, and expounds them contrarily, as if to say, Because thou art unmindful of thy liberation, by which I led thee out of Egypt, I will expel thee from thy house into Assyria, where, as an exile, thou shalt dwell in tabernacles, and mourning shalt remember the Passover, by which I led thee exulting out of Egypt, and the other festivals which thou wast wont to celebrate festively in thy native land. Secondly, Albert and a Castro refer these to the return from the Babylonian captivity; for from it many Israelites mixed with Jews returned, as if to say, O Israel, thou shalt go into captivity on account of thy crimes; but I will make it so that thou shalt return thence, and then in memory of the return and the happy passage through the desert, thou shalt celebrate the feast of Tabernacles, as thou didst formerly celebrate it in memory of the exodus from Egypt and the passage through the desert, when namely God himself led thee forty years, under the guidance of a pillar of fire and cloud, through the horrible wilderness even into Chanaan. Allegorically, as if to say, In the time of Christ I will make thee to dwell in tabernacles, that is, in Churches, first for those warring on earth, then for those triumphing in heaven, where thou shalt hold continuous and perpetual festivals, far more joyful than those thou didst formerly hold celebrating the Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles, etc. Thus Lyra and Clarius, who think this to be the literal sense.
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10. AND I SPOKE TO (that is, unto, as the Septuagint, Vatable and others translate it) THE PROPHETS (so that thou mightest be invited by them to penance, and consequently to this feast of tabernacles, and therefore) VISION (prophecies and corrections to be brought to thee, to them) I MULTIPLIED, AND IN THE HAND OF THE PROPHETS I WAS MADE LIKE, — that is to say, Through the deeds and words of the Prophets I assumed various forms and likenesses, now admonishing, now threatening, now cajoling. Again I made myself like now to a shepherd, now to a charioteer, now to a father, now to a king, now to a bridegroom, etc. Finally I commanded the Prophets that they should assume various figures and likenesses, by which they might move thee to amendment. Thus Hosea, cap. I, I commanded that by his marriage he should make me like to a bridegroom, seeking a bride given to fornication. Thus St. Jerome, Theodoret, Lyran and others. Note the Hebraism: "In the hand of the Prophets," that is, through the Prophets, as it were through my organ and instrument; for the hand is the organ of organs, says Aristotle. "In the hand" therefore, that is, in the ministry, works, words "of the Prophets I was made like," that is to say, Who I am and what kind of being I am, what I will, what I demand, can be known from the sayings and deeds of the prophets; for the Prophets represented me by their actions and deeds, equally as by their words; and they set before the eyes of men a certain likeness and image, as it were, not only of my mind and will, but also of my nature and character. Thus Pineda, lib. VII De Rebus Salomon. cap. XXIII, Emmanuel and Mariana here. Thus an ambassador represents his prince, an Apostle Christ. Allegorically, that is to say, I Christ shadowed forth, made like, and represented my incarnation, humanity, passion, etc., by various figures of the Prophets. Thus St. Chrysostom, homil. 58 in Genesis: "Then," he says, "because these were the beginning and principles, he appeared in figure to each of them, as he himself says through another Prophet: I multiplied visions, etc.; but when the Lord deigned to assume human form, and to receive the firstfruits of us, not merely putative and apparent, but true flesh did he put on." Thus concerning Cyrus God says, Isaiah LIV, 4: "I made thee like, and thou knewest me not," that is to say, I made thee similar to Christ, and his type; for as thou shalt free the Jews from Babylon, so Christ shall free men from hell; but thou knowest not this. This is what Paul says, Hebrews I, 1: "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all in these days hath spoken to us by his Son;" where for "divers manners," in Greek it is πολυτρόπως, that is, in many ways, forms, figures, likenesses.
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11. IF GILEAD IS AN IDOL, THEREFORE THEY WHO SACRIFICED OXEN IN GILGAL WERE IN VAIN. — Note: "Gilead" was a city and region beyond the Jordan, belonging to the ten tribes, namely to Reuben and Gad; whence it first encountered the Assyrians invading the land of Israel, and was conquered by them, IV Kings XV, 29. But Gilgal was on this side of the Jordan, and belonged to the tribe of Judah, says St. Jerome. Moreover, Gilead was so famous for idols, as appears cap. VI, 9, as was Gilgal, as appears cap. IX, 15. The discourse is addressed to two tribes, namely to Judah, as if to say: You, O two tribes, acknowledge that the calves of the Gileadites are an idol, that is a vain thing, a fictitious and painted divinity, and therefore wicked and impious (for this is what און aven signifies), and for this reason you have seen its altars destroyed by the Assyrians, and turned into heaps of stones, and its land laid waste, and the waste land subjected to the plough and furrows. Why therefore do you in vain worship a similar idol, namely calves, or oxen, and sacrifice to them in Gilgal? For this reason your land shall be reduced to similar heaps of stones and laid waste, and shall be subjected to the plough and furrows by oxen. Thus St. Jerome, Lyra, Clarius and others. Whence from the Hebrew it can be translated more expressly thus with Vatablus: If in Gilead iniquity, or vanity, namely a wicked and vain idol, was indeed, they were made vain, that is for this reason they went into vain, were cut off and vanished; why, in Gilgal did they sacrifice oxen (or oxen)? This is "the judgment of Judah," of which he says verse 2: "Therefore the judgment of the Lord is with Judah, and visitation upon Jacob," as if to say: If an idol did not profit the Gileadites, but harmed them, likewise to you, O Judah, an idol in Gilgal shall not profit, but shall harm. In Hebrew there is a forceful paronomasia in the words און aven, און on, עון avon. For it refers to verse 8, as if to say: "Ephraim said: I have become rich, I have found an idol;" in Hebrew on: "All my labors shall not find iniquity," in Hebrew avon. To this corresponds here that Gilead is aven, that is iniquity, vanity and an idol, and therefore labor and sorrow, and this is proved from the fact that its altars have been reduced to heaps and furrows. This prophecy therefore seems to have been uttered by Hosea after the city of Gilead in the tribe of Gad was laid waste by the Assyrians, before Samaria and Gilgal, which were beyond the Jordan, were laid waste by them, when the tribe of Gad and Gilead was with them. Thus Sanchez. Secondly, for "therefore" in Hebrew it is אך ach, that is certainly, assuredly, therefore, nevertheless, yet, as the Plantin Bible and Haymo read, who accordingly expound it, as if to say: If Gilead, that is Israel, worships an idol, it is to be pardoned in part, because it lacks the temple and altar of God; to you, however, O Judah, worshiping the same idols in Gilgal, it is not to be pardoned; because you possess the temple of God, the altar, priests, scribes, etc. Thirdly, others, as if to say: If you wish to worship idols, go to Gilead; for there is the seat of idolatry: therefore do not worship them in Gilgal; because this place belongs to Judah, and consequently to God, and God's temple. FOR THEIR ALTARS ALSO ARE AS HEAPS UPON THE FURROWS OF THE FIELD, — as if to say: Do not deny to me that the idol of the Gileadites was vain, fruitless and harmful; behold I appeal to the very altars of the idols themselves. For these have been reduced to heaps and arable land, as I have already said. Otherwise Clarius, as if to say: Wretches everywhere collect heaps of stones, so that from them they may construct altars to idols and sacrifice to the boundary gods, abandoning the true God. The former sense is the true and genuine one. For thus in rocky lands, such as Judea is, stones are usually removed, so that they can be ploughed and furrowed, which rustics call clearing the fields of stones; for stones are in fields, as bones are in man. Thus Persius in his last satire says: The field cleared of stones lies nearby.
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12. JACOB FLED INTO THE REGION OF SYRIA. — "Fled," namely from the face of Esau his brother, being angry because the birthright had been taken from him by him, Genesis XXVIII. The Prophet returns to show the providence and care which God had for Jacob the father of the Israelites, and consequently for the Israelites themselves, so as to demonstrate their ingratitude, and to recall them to love God again and to worship him anew. ISRAEL SERVED FOR A WIFE (that is, Jacob served Laban for the wife Rachel seven years): AND FOR A WIFE (that is for another wife, namely Leah), HE KEPT, — that is he guarded and fed the sheep of Laban. For here "kept" is to be read with the Hebrew, the Septuagint and the Romans, not "served," as a little before. The sense is, as if to say: God by his providence brought it about that Jacob serving Laban was enriched, both in sheep, and in wives and offspring, namely the twelve Patriarchs, from whom you are descended. Note the Hebraism: For the Hebrews by beth, that is in, signify price; for they say: I bought a house in silver, that is with silver: I acquired wealth for myself in labor, that is through labor: I served for a wife, that is for a wife; this therefore is beth of price, or for a wife, that is to, for the sake of acquiring a wife for himself.
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13. BY THE PROPHET (that is, through the Prophet, namely Moses) THE LORD LED ISRAEL OUT OF EGYPT, AND BY THE PROPHET (through the same Moses) HE WAS PRESERVED, — from Pharaoh and other enemies. Wherefore 14. EPHRAIM (that is, Israel, because ungrateful for so many benefits of mine, he spurns me and adores calves) HAS PROVOKED ME TO WRATH IN HIS BITTERNESSES, — that is, in his sins, especially idolatry, which move me to bitterness, that is, to sorrow and anger. He speaks anthropopathically. Note here that sins and idols are called bitternesses of God: because they offend God most greatly, so much so that, if pain, sorrow, anxiety, indeed death and destruction could befall God, these would come to him from no other source, nor by any other arrow, than from sin. HIS BLOOD SHALL COME UPON HIM. — "Blood" in Scripture is called homicide, and by metonymy the punishment of homicide, as here, as if to say: He shall be slain as guilty, and the punishment of his death and his destruction shall come upon him, and shall be imputed to him. AND HIS REPROACH (that is, the punishment of reproach) THE LORD HIS GOD SHALL RETURN UNTO HIM, — namely, for the reproach with which he himself affected God, taking away from him his divinity, and sacrilegiously transferring it to idols. For God permits no sin, especially one so enormous, to go unpunished. For, as St. Augustine says in Psalm XLIV: "God will punish sin, because the rod of direction is the rod of his kingdom itself. Sin must be punished: if it were not to be punished, neither would it be sin. I have prevented him: do you not wish that he himself should punish? You punish." And soon after: "It must be punished: therefore it will be either by you, or by him. You acknowledge it, so that he may forgive." The same in Psalm LVIII: "What is it," he says, "to work equity? because you have hated in yourself what he also hates, so that it may begin to please God, while you punish in yourself what displeases God. For sin cannot be left unpunished, because it is true: Have no mercy on all them that work iniquity." The same in Psalm L, explaining that passage: Behold thou hast loved truth, that is, he says: "The unpunished sins of theirs, even those to whom you forgive, you have not left: you have loved truth, thus you have preferred mercy, so as to preserve both truth and mercy. You forgive the one confessing, you forgive, but punishing himself. Thus mercy and truth are preserved: mercy, because man is freed: truth, because sin is punished." See the same, epistle 122 to Victorianus, where he teaches that God spares no one sinning, not even the holy; and therefore he permitted the Barbarians invading Italy and Spain to afflict even holy men, and to violate sacred virgins.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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v. 14 « Ephraim pascit ventum et sequi- (ur aestum ; tota die mendactum el vastitatem multiplicat, et foedus cum Assyriis iniit et oleum in. Aegyptum ferebat »;, — pascere. ventum (cf. 8, "1! ; 10, 13) proverbiali figura dicitur pro eo, quod est rem inanem et nihil profuturam agere, quasi si quis ventum regere et in morem ovis ducere quo velit, nitatur (Rib. Mar. Schegg) ; idque fieri magna cum sollertia atque ita, ut ipsum illud studium perniciem necessario creet, altero membro declaratur : sequitur aestum hebr. studiose prosequitur G'1p ventum wrentem, xaócwva ?, qui hominibus, bestiis et plantis valde nocivus est ?, immo quandoque incendii instar ardore suo omnia enecat ; est scil. tempestas illa nomine sirocco nota. Qualem uredinem Ephraim prosequatur, iam metaphora relicta explicat : tota die i. e. omni tempore (JJaimo, Rib.), continuo, per totum temporis spatium, quo regnum consistit (cf. 10, 9) mendacium, idololatriam (Theod. M. Haimo), foederis violationem multis modis exercet (cf. 4, 2 ; 1, 1. 3) et ita simul vastitatem multiplicat, varias calamitates, quibus reipublicae status deprimitur, dissolvitur, ipsa regio devastatur et populus bello, nece, captivitate interibit, regno inducit. Hebr. T etiam iniquitatem, oppressionem, violentiam dicit et inde consequentem vastationem et perniciem.— Defectionem a Deo foedera consequuntur cum exteris (cf. 5, 13; 71, 11) ; Palaestina olei ferax erat ! multo magis quam Aegyptus, id quod iam ex eo elucet, quod olivae in omni regione Palaestinae frequentissimae erant et ab olei ubertate regio commendabatur ?. Bene notat Hier. : « covexSoyixóg a parte totum, quod videlicet munera Aegyptiis miserit ; licet quidam arbitrentur, quod nequaquam in Aegypto oleum gignitur, sed pretiosissimum missum esse ab Ephraim, cuius terra Samaria olei fertilissima est » ; munera mittunt, ut auxilium sibi emant cf. Is. 30, 6; « per unam quippe speciem multa significat » (Ps. Ruf. Rib.). Hanc defectionem poena subsequitur :
Arg. — Ephraim impietatem studiose sequitur, foedera cum exteris appetit; etiam Iuda peccat; poenas luent condignas. Quantum posteri Iacob ab eius dignitate et exemplo fortitudinis et pietatis defecerunt ! reveriantur ad eius aemulationem (12, 1-6) ! At similes sunt Canaanitis ; de opulentia et impunitate gloriantur. Nihilominus (non igitur propter eorum merita, sed gratuito, non obstantibus eorum peccatis) Deus eos reducet (12, 1-9). Deus per prophetas eos multipliciver erudivit ; ipsi vero idololatriam amplexi sunt ; Iacob eorum pater obediens erat et in aerumnis ac laboribus constans, etiam Israel olim Dei fidem et salutem expertus est ; at nunc Ephraim contumax est, quare poenas dabit (19, 10-14). Olim potens erat, sed idololatriae causa infirmabatur ; nihilominus crimina auxerunt, quare respublica delebitur ; Dominus tamen, qui et quia olim ex Aegypto eos salvavit, non penitus eos abiiciet (13, 1-5). Ipsi saturati et elati Dominum spreverunt, quare Deus eos poenis coercuit et coercebit ; sibi ipsi sunt perniciei ; salus reponitur in uno Domino ; nihil enim proderunt idola, nihil principes; crimina eorum vindictam expostulant, quae subito et vehementer irruet ; neque tunc resipiscent neque per se salutem nanciscentur, sed Dominus eos eruet ex extrema calamitate, gloriose liberabit eos de morte ; quia ipse est Deus fidelis, Ephraim adhuc nomen et omen habebit (secundum textum hebr. — 13, 6-13 a). Peculiare est huic parti, quod lacob patris exemplum patientiae, pietatis, obedientiae iis proponitur, quo filiorum Iacob scelera magis reprehendantur. Sed cum radix sit sancta, nova colligitur ratio, cur etiam ramis ex illa radice oriundis spes salutis non auferatur. Gratis Deum illam esse concessurum et hominem per se ad illam impetrandam penitus esse impotem, clare docet (19, 9 ; 43, 13) ; praeterea gloriosam fore salutem, Deo scil. triumphatore dignam, per modum epinicii indicat (13, 14). Ceterum etiam in hac parte novis argumentis colligitur, Dei dona esse sine poenitentia (cf. 19, 9. 10. 13; 13, 4. 5. 13).
Denuo paucis delineat, quomodo Ephraim defecerit a Dei cultu, a morum honestate, a reipublicae administratione divinitus instituta ; eam defectionem poena necessario subsequitur ; « proponit tria : occupationem circa inutilia per metaphoram ; secundo metaphorae explanationem, tertio iudicii convictionem » (Alb.);
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v. 2 « iudicium ergo Domini cum Iuda et visitatio super lacob ; iuxta vias eius et iuxta adinventiones eius reddet ei » ; — ex hebr. ita iunge : ad visitandum super lacob iuxta vias eius; secundum opera eius reddet ei. luda scelerum socius est (cf. 9, 14; 6, 4; 8, 14) ; unde tudicium i. e. expostulatio (3'? cf. 4, 1) Deo est cum Iuda et acris contentio, obiurgatio, castigatio ; « visitationem autem vocat flagella atque supplicia » (Hier.); lacob propter oppositionem ad Judam regnum Israel designat, cuius populi vias et opera iam ex parentis cuius nomine gloriantur praeclare ac pie gestis illustrat, ut tam excellenti exemplo proposito agnoscant, quantum aberraverint, quanto supplicio digni sint, et pudore suffundantur (cf. Cyr.). Iacob enim patriarcha, Dei electione et dilectione praeventus, dignitatem et supernam vocationem sibi collatam summo studio, patientia, pietate summa ac fidelitate prosecutus est atque maxima constantia retinuit ; « recordatur, ut supra coepit, nobilitatis antiquae, ut quidquid honorum stirps electa promeruit, vel quidquid virtutis ostendit, ad arguendam posterorum vilitatem proficiat ; ac si diceret : en quo parente generati ad quae ludibria pervenerunt, quantumque a priscorum degeneravere virtuübus » (Ps. Ruf. sim. Theod.) ;
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v. 3 « in utero supplantavit fratrem suum et in fortitudine sua directus est cum angelo » ; — cf. Gen. 25, 25 : « plantam fratris tenebat manu » (cf. Sanct. Rib. Mar. Sa), hac scil. actione iam praesignificante, fore, ut Esau ius primogeniturae praeriperet ; « sicenim tenens plantam immiscuit se primogeniturae, quod non erat infantis, nisi virtute Dei factum fuisset » (Alb.) ; Dei enim electio et vocatio adeo iam in infante operabatur, ut eo symbolo quasi conatum et studium ederet adipiscendi primogenituram et sua opera et labore dignitatem illam sibi comparandi, quae ipsi a Deo erat proposita (cf. Gen. 25, 23). Actio igitur illa praesignificabat et exprimebat, quantopere Iacob divinae electioni cooperari niteretur, cum iam in infante quasi nisum ostenderet, quo nativitatis praerogativam etiam sibi attribueret. Rem ita perpendit Ps. Ruf. :«lacob siquidem ita fuit appetens gloriae, ut antequam in hanc lucem de utero matris exiret, propheticum inierit cum fratre certamen ... auspicium ergo lucis cum testimonio dignitatis assumpsit, ostendens videlicet, quod placita Deo polleret generositate, cui frugem secuturae virtutis contigisset etiam ante sentiendi tempora polliceri» ; et sim. Cyr. : «abipsis igitur fasciis Iacob fuisse indole generosa ac nobili ( 6vt £9zue x£vovev. "Iuxo), ex eo probat »; neque enim sine Dei ordinatione factum, ut actione ista symbolica se beuedictionem esse praerepturum significaret (cf. Sa, Mar. Tir.) ; ita Dei electionem iam tunc prae se fert (Lap.) et merito S. Hier. veteris historiae mentionem fieri ait, ut Dei misericordia erga lacob cognoscatur ; nam non fortitudine propria, qui sentire non poterat, sed misericordia Dei symbolum illud edidit. Atque hisce initiis reliquus vitae cursus ad amussim respondebat ; in virili enim aetate 1. e. 4n. robore suo luctatus est cum Deo (hebr.) ; cf. Gen. 32, 24; pugna illa prodebat, qua constantia, patientia, virtute et quibus laboribus Iacob impedimenta et difficultates esset superaturus ; quare LXX non male vertunt éy xóxotg a3103 &vigyo0sw «pig «2» Ocóv (cf. Cyr. :« nam cum Deus eum providenter ad labores sudoresque misisset, non defecit ... obediens praevaluit, et veluti superior ac victor, quod iussa impleret »). Palmam sine serio ac constanti conatu attingi non posse, 1. e. regnum coelorum vim pati et solos violentos illud esse rapturos, pugna illa significabat. Accidit, cum e Mesopotamia redux consistebat ad vadum Iaboc !, terram patriarchis promissam occupaturus et non sine timore Esau fratris sibi irati adventum opperiebatur. S. /FBier. vertit et directus est cum angelo ; angelum dicit, uti statim etiam in hebr. sequitur v. 5 et luctatus est cum angelo, et quia Dci apparitio sub angeli forma fieri solebat (cf. Ex. 3, 2 hebr. et gr. — Act. "1, 30. Gal. 3, 19 Hebr. 2, 2; 13, 2), uti «tenent communiter Patres docentque, quoties Deus apparuisse dicitur hominibus in veteri maxime testamento, non Deum, sed angelum speciem illam divinam humanis oculis obiecisse » (Sanct.), et uti theologi quoque scholastici communi consensu duce S. Thoma docent (cf. Suarez, de Angelis 6, 20 et « Katholik »1882 II p. 149) ; directus est i. e. feliciter luctatus est cum angelo; ita Lap. explicat addens : «nota, dirigi in Scriptura est prospere agere ut Ps. 139, 19, ergo recte ei successit cum angelo, vel rectius forsan : recto ac imperterrito vultu et pectore aggressus est eum ». S. Hier. verbum non ad pugnam referre videtur, cum scribat : « sUfucacou quod hebraice dicitur isar (9") h. e. dirigentis sive directi nomen accepit », id quod Schegg quidem explicat aciem dirigere, directa acie pugnare ; at immerito ; nam S. Hier. ait : « directus est cum angelo, quando adversus angelum ad torrentem Iaboc tota nocte pugnavit », qui loquendi modus ostendit dirigi non esse idem ac pugnare ; neque ad hoc só0Usaco; apte applicatur, neque w^, verum [acob illa pugna se hominem iustum ac probum probasse indicatur. Gen. 32, 98 vertit S. Hier. fortis fuisti ; cur h. 1. eandem vocem transtulerit directus est, nemo dixerit, praesertim cum statim transferat v. 4 et invaluit. Apud LXX rite bis ivicyvcs ponitur. Nam, quo praeclarior celebretur pugna et victoria, triumphantis in morem propheta repetit
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v. 4 « et ?nvaluit ad angelum et confortatus est ; flevit et rogavit eum ; 1n Bethel invenit eum et ibi locutus est. nobiscum » ; — cf. Gen. 32, 29 ; hebr. et luctatus est cum angelo et praevaluit; quomodo praevaluerit, docent verba flevit et rogavit !, lacrimis, precibus quibus Deum obsecratus est maximo cum fervore, quasi ab invito largissimam benedictionem obtinuit ; alludit scil. propheta ad magnum illud desiderium benedictionis, quod prodidit Iacob dicens : « non dimittam te, nisi benedixeris mihi » ; unde vates ostendit, quam acri studio et conatu, quanta cum contentione et constantia patriarcha benedictionem Dei sibi acquirere adnisus sit. Et acquisivit. Nam ?n Bethel invenit eum ; ibi insigni Dei apparitione magnificisque promissis donatus est cf. Gen. 35, 1. 11 et seq. : « ego Deus omnipotens, cresce et multiplicare, gentes et populi nationum ex te erunt, reges de lumbis tuis egredientur, terramque quam dedi Abraham et Isaac dabo tibi et semini tuo post te ». Iis lacob tamquam populi electi patriarcha constitutus et confirmatus est, iure hereditario a Domino accepit benedictionem illam messianicam, Abraham et Isaac datam, ei eiusque posteris dignitas regia theocratica promissa est et terrae possessio tamquam pignus divini favoris sollemni sponsione data. Iacob igitur sua fidelitate et. constanti pietate dignitatem, ad quam a Deo praeelectus erat, quodammodo sibi promeruit. Ea autem quod in Bethel facta sunt secundo, uti primo proficiscenti in. Mesopotamiam ibidem promissiones datae sunt cf. Gen. 98, 12-19, quae iam secunda illa apparitione laboribus a Iacob persolutis ratae habitae sunt ac confirmatae, eo magis praesentis generationis impietatem accusant; « utrumque beneficium accepit Iacobus in Bethel, ubi postea erectus est aureus vitulus, quem pro Dco coluit ingratus populus » (Sanct.). Idque diserte indicat propheta : et ibi locutus est nobiscum, 1. e. promissiones illas non ad unum spectare Iacob, verum ad totum illius genus, et sponsionem a lacob datam (Gen. 28, 20-23) non eius tantum fidem obstringere, verum. totius posteritatis. Se et suos aequales propheta heredes promissionum sublimium nominat (nobiscum), ut antiquo populi honore commemorato et Dei salute ostensa ad nobilem aemulationem omnes provocet. Quod ut faciat, prius sollemni exclamatione Dei maiestatem qui promissa dederit eiusque potentiam et fidelitatem effert
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v. 5 « et Dominus Deus exercituum, Dominus memoriale eius » ; — cf. Ex. 3, 15; pignus promissionum in nomine Dei Jahve continetur ; qui est nomen Dei essentiale Deum tamquam actum purissimum, ut schola loquitur, tamquam fontem omnis exsistentiae, aeternum, immutabilem, omnium perfectionum cumulum designat ; hoc nomen est memoriale Dei ; i. e. hoc nomen ut sibi proprium in perpetuam rei memoriam et ad promissionum veracitatem declarandam et fidem suam ac fidelitatem obstringendam sollemni ratione promulgavit et epochae illi praefixit, in qua promissiones opere exsequi coepit ; « hoc nomen mihi est in aeternum et hoc memoriale meum in generationem et generationem » (Ex. 3, 43). Uti Deus alias sollemni iureiurando interposito veracitatem et fidelitatem suam oppignerat (Gen. 22, 16. Ps. 109, 4), ita nomen suum essentiale qui est tamquam documentum et monumentum proponit, quo omnium animis fixum ratumque inhaereat, eum qui est et potentia et constantia et immutobilitate potiri ad promissa in opus deducenda. Potentiam et maiestatem practerea illustrat et effert Deus exercituum i. e. Deus cui praesto sunt exercitus, copiae militares, virtutes omnes coelestes atque terrestres, agmina angelorum et universa militia bellica regnorum terrae; — pro tanta vocis amplitudine cf. Gen. 2, 4 (hebr.) Ex. 7, 4; 12, 41. 1 Reg. 1, 3. 11 ; 4, 4. Ios. 5, 14. 3 Reg. 22, 19. Deinde propheta exhortatur, ut patris exemplum aemulantes tali Deo omni religione se devoveant (cf. Cyr.)
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v. 6 « et tu ad Deum tuum : converteris, misericordiam et iudicium custodi el spera in Deo tuo semper » ; — hebr. in Deo tuo, uti LXX àv 8:6 coo &xiozpeigerz i. e. Dei opeet auxilio, in sola eius virtute et gratia poteris ad eum redire ; reditus norma rem illum pristinum in te instaura, quo olim foederis observationem spopondisti (cf. Ex. 19, 6. Ier. 2, 2) et tudicium, normam legis, normam veri et iusti, in te fideliter exprime. Quae si praestiteris, iure salutem Dei sperare poteris. Qualem spem propheta commendet, clarius in hebr. dicitur : exspecta ad. Deum tuum continuo i. e. omni fiducia exspecta ; sed cum nostrum non sit ponere tempora et momenta, quibus exspectanda est, idque continuo, semper, in quacumque rerum conditione. Ad talem igitur eos spem exhortatur vates, qualem in patriarchis S.Paulus descripsit et laudat: « iuxta fidem defuncti sunt omnes isti, non acceptis repromissionibus, sed a longe eas aspicientes et salutantes » (Hebr. 11, 13).
12:7
Patris virtute commemorata, quantum ab illo filii sint mutati, menti vatis obversatur: « sed quid ego varia insignia paternae generositatis evolvo, a quibus turba ista quam defleo, tanto spatio dilapsa convincitur, ut non immerito soboles Canaan nuncupetur » (Ps. Ruf.) ? quare per amaram potentiam dilexit, uti vocem calumn?am rite explanant. Alb. Rib. Mar. ; nam calumnia etiam apud latinos vexationem dolo ac fraude aliis illatam significat. Acerba reprehensione non /srael (qui adversus Deum invaluit), sed Chanaan vocantur, inimici scil. misericordiae et iustitiae (Cyr. Theod.) ; similes enim facti sunt illis populis, quos olim propter scelera e terra eiicere et interimere debebant (Theod. M.) ; quantus iam pudor, illo appellari nomine populum Dei ! Ita quae sint viae et adinventiones (v. 3) eorum, describit, similiter, uti Is. 1, 10. Ez. 16, 3. Dan. 13, 56. Zach. 14, 91, prout S. Hier. adnotat. Peccata iniustitiae, fraudis, oppressionis praecipue accusat, quia ea maxime adversantur virtutibus v. 6 commemoratis (cf. Prov. 20, 40 ; 41, 1. Mich. 6, 10). Cum indignatione vates Chanaan exclamat et non eos alloquens, quos reprehendit, magis rei indignitatem effert. Iam quantopere in malo sínt obdurati et quanta cum impudentia se quasi omni noxa superiores iactent, egregie describit
12:8
v. 8 « et dixit Ephraim : verumtamen dives effectus sum, inveni idolum mihi ; omnes labores mei non invenient mihi iniquitatem quam peccavi »; — perfracte et impudenter reprehensioni opponunt: et tamen dives effectus abundo. Loquuntur (ut bene notat Ps. Ruf.), sicuti tempore Ieremiae ii, qui profitentur, dum reginae coeli sacrificaverint et libaverint, « saturati sumus panibus et bene nobis erat malumque non vidimus » (Ier. 44, 171). Prosperitatem idololatriae attribuunt cf. 2, 5. 8; et gloriantur, quod bonis fruuntur iis, quae ex legis promissione (Lev. cp. 25 — Deut. cp. 28) soli pietati debentur. Unde haud incongrue advertit Rib. : « allatrent me prophetae et avaritiae ac rapinarum arguant ; certe me non poenitet quae, siisse divitias, sed gaudio dives effectus sum » et S. Hier. : « non refert un. de possideam, dummodo possideam », id quod reprehensioni v. "1 immediate opponunt. Quod in vulg. legitur: inveni idolum mihi, explicant de opibus ac divitiis, quas suum deum vocent: gaudeo habere penes me et invenisse deum, divitias, quaesunt numen meum, quo praesente neminem timeo, bonis omnibus abundo (cf. Lap.). S. Hier. legit et vertit, ut ipse narrat, aven vx ! (cf. 4,155, 5, 8; 10, 5.8) 1. e. tnane, nihilum, quo nomine dolum significatur ; « sicut gulosi et luxuriosi venter deus est, ita ct avarus adorat auri idolum et dicit in corde suo : inveni quod quaerebam » (Hier.). Ex mente igitur prophetae idolum vocatur. Ea explicatione gravis et apta habetur oppositio ad v. 4:Iacob invenit Deum, posteri eius aliud invenisse numen et amplecti se iactant, qua locutione obduratos in malitia animos produnt. Textus autem mas. fert six opes, divitias (cf. Mar. Scholz), uti explicant ex parallelismo ?. Dein perfracte negant, se ulla in re peccasse : omnes labores mei i. c. quidquid acquisivi, labore meo et conatu mihi comparavi (cf. hebr.) non afferunt mihi iniquitatem YS? ; nota paronomasiam ad Y (vel potius TN?) non talem afferunt iniquitatem, qua peccati rei constituantur et poenae obnoxii. Ita enim oppressionem diligunt v. "1, ita ea delectantur, ut flagitium poena dignum in ea adesse prorsus negent. Magnus est sceleris gradus scelus non agnoscere. At Dei dona cum sint sine poenitentia, populum olim electum non plane abiicit. Impietate vero descripta liberalitas Dei in beneficiis conferendis illustrior apparet. Quare pergit
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v. 9 « eL ego Dominus Deus tuus ex terra Aegypti, adhuc sedere te faciam 1n tabernaculis, sicut in diebus festivitatis » ; — Deusliberatione ex Aegypto per magnalia potentiae facta populum suum acquisivit; tale opus effectu non carebit ; uti illa eductio gratuito ex gratia et benevolentia est vocem chaldaicam et syriacam NJTIN. (Jiospitium!, vertunt enim. 3vxdz77z». Vel ex. arabico TNN YN (aaua, aunun) commode agere, commoditas, quies (cf. Freitag, lex arab.) quae vox facta, ita populi post castigationem et. alteram in terra aliena servitutem instauratio divinae liberalitati accepta est referenda. Quod quo clarius cernatur, vates v. '1. 8 populi indignitatem proponit. Prima illa liberatio pignus est alterius salvationis, unde adhuc "? iterum, denuo habitare t? faciam (hebr.) ita, ut festos dies qua decet pompa, religione, laetitia celebres. Verba enim esse laeta et promissoria — minime vero, uti Ps. Ruf. Theod. Theoph. volunt, comminatoria de inhabitatione in terra aliena incerta ac vaga, neque rem praeteritam tantum in memoriam reducere, quae sententia Theod. M. est — iam ipsa locutio habitare faciain ostendit, quae tutam atque securam inhabitationem cum larga Dei benedictione in promissae terrae occupatione significat cf. 11, 11. Ps. 67, 'i. ler. 32, 21. Ez. 36, 11. 33 etc. Neque promissio sub conditione tantum profertur : post tot peccata licebit per me, si meliora cogites, securum in patria degere et festum scenopegiae laetum agere quotannis (cf. Sanct. praedicitur. Cur dicatur in tabernaculis, vix aliter accipi potest, quam prout Lev. 23, 43 innuitur et Alb. concipit, « ut scil. iterum festum tabernaculorum celebres pro reductione de captivitate, sicuti celebrasti pro eductione de Aegypto » ; iste sensus iuvatur ex eo, quod dicitur Ier. 23 : « ecce dies venient, dicit Dominus, et non dicent ultra : vivit Dominus, qui eduxit filios Israel de terra Aegypti, sed vivit Dominus, qui eduxit et adduxit semen domus Israel de terra aquilonis » ; sim. Mar. Plerique ad tale festum alludi censent ; Scholz autem cl. 2, 11 de omni festivitate explicat et in tabernaculis ad habitaudi modum patriarcharum, populi in deserto, pastorum in Israel et totius plebis in sollemnitate scenopegiae referri censet. Alii demum, uti Cyr. et Schegg, non promissionem verbis exprimi censent, verum id solum, Deum eousque populum non expulisse e terra ; sed adhuc.. promissionem de re futura indicat, cui alia prophetarum vaticinia concordant (cf. ler. Ez. 1. c.) et 11, 10. 141, quo loco pariter liberatione ex Aegypto commemorata eadem fit promissio (cf. 2, 13 ; 3, 5). Quare Darh. bene exponit : habitare te faciam in terra promissa.
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v. 10 « Et locutus sum super prophetas et ego visionem multiplicavi, et in manu prophetarum. assimilatus sum » . — Notari supereminentiam spiritus illuminantis prophetas, uti v. gr. spiritus Domini super ! me (Is. 61, 1) censet Alb. idque praeplacet eo sensu, ut verba et actiones prophetarum a Deo superne regi ac disponi dicantur ; dum prophetae loquebantur, ego eram qui superne loquebar, vox prophetarum vox Dei erat coelitus allata. Praeter verba prophetas docuit visionibus, quas imaginarias et intellectuales distinguunt (cf. Alb. S. Thom. 2, 2, qu. 113) et in quibus rerum symbola menti prophetae proponebantur atque res futurae adumbrabantur. Praeterea prophetae actionibus symbolicis externe peractis populum docere iubebantur (cf. cp. 1. 3. Is. 20, 1. Ier. 13. 16. 19. etc. Ez. 4. 12. etc.). Eas quoque hic indicari, interpretes iure censent ; et alii quidem ad visiones eas referunt (cf. Theod. Theoph.), alii in tertio membro eas exprimi volunt (cf. Alb. Sanct.). « Nota hebraismum : in manu prophetarum i. e. per prophetas, quasi per meum organum et instrumentum, ergo ministerio, opera, sermonibus prophetarum assimilatus sum » (Lap.). Quid sibi velit assimilari in textu (at. — idem in graeco ópztoógs et apud Syrum — optime explicare videtur Tir. : « adumbratus et repraesentatus sum tibi, quis, quantus, qualis sim, quid item a te velim, quid mihi debeatur » (sim. Lap.). Ceterum in varias explicationes abeunt. Et S. Hier. quidem ita : « ego enim sum qui per omnes prophetas et varia genera visionum assimilatus sum hominibus et te ad poenitentiam provocavi » ; Ps. Ruf. Dei apparitiones sub variis formis — sim. Theod. Theoph. — et actiones typicas intelligit, quibus novi testamenti mysteria et Dei operationes significabantur ; v. g. Deum personam induisse invalidi luctatoris, in ignem esse transfiguratum, quo rubus non consumeretur, agni sanguine Israelitarum limina communisse, « ut appareret videlicet Deus noster in his imaginibus, quas dispensatio suscepta poscebat, non quae maiestati illius competebant ». Rup. opera illa dici vult, quae Dei quasdam simiülitudines prae se ferrent ; Rib. varias similitudines exponit, quibus usi sunt prophetae, Deum patri, regi, amico, pastori, leoni comparantes. Alb. et Sanct. actiones symbolicas exprimi putant, quibus Dei voluntatem explicaverint ; Sa similitudines et figuras, Mar. parabolas et rerum futurarum imagines intelligit. Cyr. demum id de pseudoprophetis exponit : « imitati sunt me. . meos sermones fingentes, meorumque prophetarum opera imitantes ». In hebr. legitur jy23N ' ; explicant : similitudines proposui, in parabolis locutus sum (cf. Rib. Sanct. Keil, Scholz, Trochon) ; at vox aliis in locis non est nisi assimilare, comparationem instituere (cf. Is. 40, 48; 46, 5. Cant. 1, 9j mente pertractare (Is. 10, 7. Ps. 48, 10 ; 30, 21 hebr. Iud. 20, 5) ; unde potius cum nv21 quam cum ovn vox erit conferenda (cf. Schegg) et explicanda : similitudinem exhibui i. e. rerum symbola dedi per prophetas. LXX et S. Hier. et Syrus videntur legisse formam Aithpael *v21w? — Chald. vertit: « misi in manu prophetarum ». Sed quid cura Dei et institutio tam assidua valuit apud populum durae cervicis?
Post beneficium eductionis ex Aegypto Deus populum non dereliquit, sed continuo inter alia per prophetas missos eum erudivit, docuit multiplici modo ; hanc gratiam iis in memoriam revocat
12:11
v. 41 « si Galaad idolum, ergo frustra erant in. Galgal bobus immolantes ; nam et altaria eorum quasi acervi super sulcos agri ». — Bene exorditur explicationem versus Sanct. : « hic locus mihi valde videtur esse difficilis » ; veterum plerique rem ZAistorice explanant : si Galaad idolum habet et colit et tamen servari non potuit ab eversione, ergo operam perdunt ii, qui in Galgalis immolant bobus ; vel Galgala alieno periculo non didicit frustra se salutem exspectare a vitulis, quamvis cerneret aras idolorum eversas conculcari, quasi agrorum sulcos (cf. Rib. Sanct. Lap. Mar. Men. Tir. Calm.); rem scil. 4 Reg. 15, 29 narratam, varias urbes, inter quas Galaad, a Theglathphalasar esse captas et habitatores in Assyriam translatos, hic tangi. Explicationi suffragatur textus graecus: ei u7, 'aAx&y éecty, &pot yeuóetz 7av.. cf. Cyr. Theoph. et, ut videtur, Chald. : si in Gilead oppressores erant. Ita Schegg quoque. S. Hier. autem ad illum eventum verba non refert, sed id dici existimat, et decem tribus et duas pari idololatriae errore esse deceptas : « si in. Galaad falsi sunt dii et perversa religio et est trans lordanem, ergo et Galgal, de qua in hoc eodem. propheta legimus : omnis malitia eorum in Galgala ». Aliter Ps. Ruf.: «si sententiam convincentis induxit ; i. e. cum nulli sit dubium solas esse in ipsis locis brutarum pecudum imagines collocatas, credereturne hoc committi posse (tamen), antequam fieret, ut apertam stultitiam.... plebs quondam virtutibus clara sequeretur et idola frustra i. e. absque ulla vel brevis commodi utilitate susciperet » ? Legit non ergo, sed tamen ; uti etiam legunt Rup. Haimo (in explicatione) aliique testes multi (vide v. g. notationem Lucae Brugensis ; correctores autem romani ergo praetulerunt), idque magis consonat cum hebr. 'jN Sensus erit : si Galaad est YN i. e. iniquitas (cf. 6, 8 : « Galaad civitas operantium iniquitatem »), tota iniquitati dedita, tunc quia talis est, evanidi sunt, funditus peribunt, neque aliquid aliud Galaad iis afferet. Et quantopere hanc sortem mereantur, declarat addens : in Galgal bobus immolant (hebr.), sacrificia offerunt. Commodior etiam sensus elicitur, si particulam QN eo modo explicamus, quo Ps. Ruf. si accepit : profecto, certo Galaad. est inanis, tantummodo evanidi sunt in. Galgal ; bobus sacrificia immolant, uti Scholz vertit et coniungit. Brevi ac conciso modo et magna cum indignatione praecipuas idololatriae sedes Deus commemorat et quod indignitatis caput est, addit : bobus fieri sacrificia. Ita cum S. Hier. verti debere, non boves immolant (Keil), ! res ipsa cla- 1. In. hebr. avo 53533 fortasso p ante D''31U propter praecedentem consonantem mat ; nam id est idololatriae et stultitiae culmen, quod vitulos adorant, iis sacra faciunt ; et post praecedentem reprehensionem haec gradatio omnino exspectatur. Tertium denique membrum est : etiam altaria eorum.. (hebr.) quasi acervi, in 253 esse allusionem ad Galgal iam adnotat Mar. Ea comparatione exprimi altarium frequentiam Rup. et. Scholz censent ; alii vilitatem et contemptum signari dicunt (cf. Sanct.), alii ad destructionem futuram referunt : fore, ut arae evertantur et locus aretur (cf. Ephr. Alb. Rib. Sa, Keil, Schegg). Sed cum in duobus membris antecedentibus non praedictionem, sed praesentis cohditionis reprehensionem agnovimus, etiam in hoc membro ararum totiusque cultus vilitatem, contemptum exprimi censemus, qui in eo quoque cernitur, quod frequenter vilia huiusmodi altaria erexerint, eum in verae religionis reverentiam uno in loco tantum aram exstrui liceret. Idolorum altaria acervis lapidum comparantur eo rectius, quia aliquot lapidibus erectis ac superimpositis honos idolis habebatur. (cf. von Haneberg, Die religioesen Alterthümer der Bibel p. 71). Quare haud abs re adnotat Ps. Ruf. : « consequenter profanos ritus observationum quoque vilitas ipsa convincit, ut sine aliquo locorum delectu aras exstruant et probrosos deos tumultuaribus venerentur altaribus ». Heu, quantum ab exemplo patris, cuius tamen nomine vocantur, degcnerarunt! « Quia non historicae narrationis tenore commemorationem intulit antiquorum, sed sub impetu et dolore degeneres posteros arguendi recoluit facta maiorum, ideo quasi fluctuabundus sermo progreditur, ut invicem sibi exprobratio laudatioque succedat, obiurgationique pondus praedicatio antiquae nobilitatis adiungat; proinde, ut instituerat, labores beati Iacob proventusque dinumerat » (Ps. Ruf.).
12:12
v. 12 « fugit lacob in. regionem Syriae et. servivit. [Israel in uxorem, et. in uxorem servavit » ; — hebr. fugit in campum Aram ! et. servavit Y2 l. e. oves, greges custodivit, cf. Gen. 99, 18 et seq. et eandem vocem habes 30, 31. Propheta Iacob patris pietatem et duros labores et patientiam describit. Nam parentum hortatu : « noli accipere coniugem de genere Chanaan » (Gen. 28, 1. 6) ex obedientia profectus est; « maluit uxorem iuxta beneplacitum Dei, patris ac matris, propria servitute acquirere, quam filias Chanaan ducere cum offensione... quae possent illi iam S. Hier. advertit ; altaria autem i zz2«vxt (93) i-i i200» àvypoo. Sym. ut refert scandalum esse et causa peccati.. cur fugit? videlicet ne quando ad eiusmodi perduceretur altaria per mulieres Chanaan » ; ita praeclare Rup. et sim. Theod. Alb. Rib. Simul quia fratris odium fugit, cum pietate, obedientia virtutem quoque patientiae exercet. Ille fugit idololatriae periculum, porro adnotat Rup., isti autem contra de Galaad in Galgal, de Galgal in Galaad cursitabant quaerendo et sequendo idola. Rem sane miram, promissionum magnificarum heredem eumque qui caput futurus erat populi electi, duram servire servitutem et in laborioso gregum custodiendorum munere tamdiu sudare, propheta ipso sermone effert : addit nomen honorificentissimum 4/srael, quod postea accepit quia in Deum praevaluit, ut innuat, etsi quis potens sit apud Deum et dilectus, eum tamen minime a laboribus et humili conditione statim eximi ; repetit ?n uxorem servivit, in uxorem servavit : quanti constitit, ut pater populi fieret ! Servivit, quasi egenus et pauper, ut illi, qui proprio labore pretium, quo mulierem a parentibus sibi emant,. comparare debent (sim. Ephr. Barh.). In repetitione alii duas signari volunt uxores, Liam et Rachel (cf. Hier. Alb. Rib. Lap.). Praeter virtutum exercitium in hac historia Dei paterna cura, sedulitas, providentia cernitur (cf. Rib. Sanct. Lap.), « a parvis enim exordiis et adeo parvis, ut opere mercenario pasceretur, usque ad eam magnitudinem populi divitiarumque pervenit, ut eum iam Aegyptus tota quodammodo capere non valeret » (Ps. Ruf.). Multiplex igitur populi degenerati in eo exemplo reprehensio continetur idololatriae, ignaviae, luxuriae, apostasiae ; magnusque simul pudor incutitur, quia talem Dei curam ac dignationem neglexerint (cf. Cyr.). Hanc miram providentiam et praedilectionem illustrat
12:13
v. 13 « in propheta autem. eduxit Dominus Israel de Aegypto et in propheta servatus est » ; — quantopere Israel a patris pauperis conditione mutatus est ; ille fugit,hic manu potenti et insignibus miraculis educitur per prophetam Moysen a Deo missum ; ille servivit, hic gloriose in libertatem vindicatur; ille servavit gregem ovium, hic servatur et custoditur a Deo per prophetam. Et tunc quidem Israel vocem Domini audivit et ei obsecutus est et secutus Dominum vocantem (cf. Ier. 2, 9. Ez. 16, 1-14). At nunc —! « quae ergo erit satis digna conquestio, quod gens quae fuerit tam illustri stirpe conspicua, nunc stultitia insignis, et solis agat famosa criminibus » (Ps. Ruf.)? Unde e diametro opponitur
12:14
v. 14 « ad iracundiam me provocavit Ephraim in amaritudinibus suis ; et. sanguis eius super eum veniet et opprobrium eius restituet. ei Dominus suus » ; — explicat S. Hier. : é cum ergo Ephraim tanta praestiterim.... deseruit me Ephraim, immo ad iracundiam provocavit, et amaritudine sua amarum fecit esse qui dulcis sum. Unde sanguis eius super eum veniet, id est, ipse erit causa mortis suae. Quodque sequitur : et opprobrium eius.. illi sensui congruit, quem Nathan loquitur ad David (2 Reg. 42, 14), ipsa blasphemia atque opprobrium, quo per te Dominus blasphematus est, vertetur in caput tuum ». Unde simul elucet, quomodo S. Doctor singula intelligi velit. Hebr. pan accusativum adverbialem explicant, qui vim verbi augeat : valde et acerbe me ad iram provocavit Ephraim (cf. Hitz. Keil, Schegg), neque id a grammatica hebr. alienum est ( cf. Gesenius-Roediger, hebr. Gr. 2. 116. 135. 136) — aliter Scholz, qui ex Ier. 31, 21 vocem eandem habere significationem quam p5a coniecat : Ephraim signis illis idololatricis me offendit, columnis scil. erectis et lapidum acervis in deorum honorem congestis ; sed 1l. c. cippi vel obelisci, vel generatim signa quaedam ita dicuntur posita ad viam denuo cognoscendam et rite inveniendam ; esse idololatriae signa, nullo indicio constat. Veteres e contra versiones cum 5S. flier. fere consentiunt : LXX xai zagopyuasy ; Syrus: « iram et amaritudinem excitavit Ephraim » ; Chald. : « ad iracundiam provocant peccata addentes » ; unde patet eos ita explicasse, ut vim verbi augeat vox apposita. Sanguis i. e. innocentium oppressio et caedes vindicabitur a Domino ; iniustitiae poenas luent ( cf. 1, 4; 4, 2). In hebr. sanguis sese extendat super eum, VO2 cf. 4 Sam. 4, 2; 30, 16 vel Dominus relinquet sanguinem eius super eum, ut scil. caedes expiet ; et opprobrium i. e. probrosa peccata, quibus se Ephraim inquinavit, Dominus ei reddet (cf. Alb. Mar.) ; alii opprobrium, quo Deum affecerit, explanant, hoc, i. c. supplicium ei debitum inducet Dominus in capat auctoris (cf. Hier. Cyr. Rib. Lap. Sa, Men.), ut sicut Ephraim Dominum opprobriis affecit, ita Dominus ei adducat ignominiam et opprobrium servitutis et abiectionis. Cum enim peccatum necessario poenas gignat, apte ipsum illud opprobrium adducere vel reducere super illum Deus dicitur i. e. sinit peccatum nancisci debitum effectum et peccatores sibi ipsis esse fabricatores malorum docet.
12:2
1 and 2 (3 and 4) Book of Kings
… The content of R. also finds frequent verification in other historical books, and in the prophetic ones (cf. among many cases: Hos. 7, 7; 8, 4 = II Reg. 15, 10, 14, 25; Hos. 5, 13; 7, 11; 8, 9; 12, 2 = II Reg. 15, 17-20; Am. 7, 10; 4, 1-6 = II Reg. 14, 23-29; It. 7, 1-12 = II Reg. 16, 5; It. 36, 1-37, 38 = II Reg. 18, 13-19, 37, etc.). …
… To enter into the game of political powers, trusting in one's own arms and in the stronger kingdoms, means no longer having faith in the covenant, in God's faithfulness and omnipotence; it is to set out toward syncretism and idolatry (Hos. 5:13; 7:11; 8:9; 10:4 ff.; 12:2; 14:4).
12:4
… Sprachwissenschaft, Strasbourg 1910, p. 75], "to fight") undertaken by the patriarch (Gen. 32:24-32; the conception in Hos. 12:4 ff. is different), the name of I. is explained as: "He struggles with God." But since in theophoric names God is usually the subject, some, departing from Gen. 32:29, explain it as: "God …
… Supporting this explanation is the biblical account according to which the child (the future J.) grasps "the heel" of his twin brother (Gen. 25, 26); and the other concerning the "deceits" devised by J. to obtain the birthright (Gen. 27, 36; cf. Hos. 12, 4; Jer. 9, 3). B. Jacob (Genesis, Berlin 1934, p. 544), referring to the Thesaurus of Gesenius: "imitatur formas adiectivorum, quae colores similesque species designant," to Hos. 6, …
Moses (Mōšeh, Μω[θ]σῆς, Vulg. MoySES, Ancient Latin Moses)
… This is a religion that does not come from man, but from God, of whom M. was only the "prophet," the spokesman (Ex. 3:10; 4:12; Num. 11:24 ff.; 12:2; Deut. 18:15, 18; 34:10; Hos. 12:4; Ps. 103:7, etc.). …
12:12
II. SYRIA IN THE BIBLE. - Both in Greek and in Latin, the name was sometimes used to translate Aram (v.), in general and with the determinations "of Damascus, of Zobah," etc.: Σορία Δαμασκού: II Sam. 8, 5; Σ. Σουβά: II Sam. 10, 8; Σ. Μοογά: I Par. 19, 6, etc.; Syria: Os. 12, 12 (Hebr. 13); Mesopotamia Syriae: Deut. 23, 5 (Aram Nahārajim); etc.
12:14
already Amos 2:10 ff.; Jer. 7:25 trace the institution of prophetism back to Moses [Hos. 12:14]). From ecstatic prophetism, evolving through Elijah and Elisha, one would arrive at Amos, who would introduce an absolutely new type of prophecy. …
12:15
… religious-moral deviations to which it immediately gave occasion in worship justify Moses' reaction against the calf and later the prophets' attacks against the resurgence of the symbol and the related cultic practices (Am. 8, 14; Hos. 8, 4-6; 10, 5-8; 12, 15-13, 4; etc.). …
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.