God’s judgment against the sins of Israel: Juda is warned not to follow their example.
Diùers great sinnes of both kingdomes, 3. are the cause of great punishments threatned, 15. yet the sinnes of Iuda are lesse excusable, because they haue more meanes to serue God.
1Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel, for the Lord shall enter into judgment with the inhabitants of the land: for there is no truth, and there is no mercy, and there is no knowledge of God in the land.Udite la parola del Signore voi, figliuoli d'Israele; perocché il Signore viene a far giudizio degli abitatori di questa terra; perocché non è verità, e non è misericordia, perchè non è scienza di Dio sulla terra.HEARE the word of our Lord ye children of Israel, because there is iudgement to our Lord with the inhabitants of the land: for there is no truth, and there is no mercie, and there is no knowlege of God in the land.Audite verbum Domini, filii Israël, / quia judicium Domino cum habitatoribus terræ: / non est enim veritas, et non est misericordia, / et non est scientia Dei in terra. 2Cursing, and lying, and killing, and theft, and adultery, have overflowed, and blood hath touched blood.La bestemmia, e la menzogna, e l'omicidio, e il furto, e l'adulterio la hanno inondata, e il sangue incalza il sangue.Cursing, and lying, and manslaughter, and theft, and aduoutrie haue ouerflowed, and bloud hath touched bloud.Maledictum, et mendacium, / et homicidium, et furtum, et adulterium inundaverunt, / et sanguis sanguinem tetigit. 3Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth in it shall languish with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of the air: yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be gathered together.Per questo la terra sarà in pianto, e tutti i suoi abitanti saranno in languore, e le bestie della campagna, e gli uccelli dell'aria, e i pesci stessi dei mare periranno.For this shal the land moorne, and euerie one shal be weakened that dwelleth in it, in the beast of the filde, and in the foule of the heauen: yea and the fishes of the sea shal be gathered together.Propter hoc lugebit terra, / et infirmabitur omnis qui habitat in ea, / in bestia agri, et in volucre cæli; / sed et pisces maris congregabuntur. 4But yet let not any man judge: and let not a man be rebuked: for thy people are as they that contradict the priest.Nissuno però faccia rimprovero, ovver correzione ad alcuno; perocché il popol tuo è come chi sta a tu per tu col sacerdote.But yet let not euerie man iudge: and let not a man be rebuked: for thy people are as those, that gaynesay the priest.Verumtamen unusquisque non judicet, / et non arguatur vir: / populus enim tuus sicut hi qui contradicunt sacerdoti. 5And thou shalt fall today, and the prophet also shall fall with thee: in the night I have made thy mother to be silent.Ma tu oggi anderai in rovina, e teco anderà in rovina il profeta. In quella notte farò tacere la madre tua.And thou shalt fal to day, and the prophete also shal fal with thee: in the night I made thy mother hold her peace.Et corrues hodie, / et corruet etiam propheta tecum. / Nocte tacere feci matrem tuam.
6My people have been silent, because they had no knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will reject thee, that thou shalt not do the office of priesthood to me: and thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children.Il mio popolo è rimaso muto, per chè era privo di scienza. Perchè tu rigettasti la scienza, per questo io ti rigetterò, affinchè tu non eserciti il mio sacerdozio. Tu poi ti se' scordata della legge del tuo Dio, ed io pure mi scorderò dei miei figliuoli.My people haue held their peace, because they had not knowlege: because thou hast repelled knowlege, I wil repel thee, that thou doe not the function of priesthood vnto me: and thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also wil forget thy children.Conticuit populus meus, / eo quod non habuerit scientiam: / quia tu scientiam repulisti, / repellam te, ne sacerdotio fungaris mihi; / et oblita es legis Dei tui, / obliviscar filiorum tuorum et ego. 7According to the multitude of them, so have they sinned against me: I will change their glory into shame.Più si son eglino moltiplicati e più son cresciuti i loro peccati: io cangerò in ignominia la gloria loro.According to the multitude of them so haue they sinned to me: their glorie I wil change into ignominie.Secundum multitudinem eorum sic peccaverunt mihi: / gloriam eorum in ignominiam commutabo. 8They shall eat the sins of my people, and shall lift up their souls to their iniquity.Mangiano i peccati del popolo mio, e mentre egli pecca gli fan coraggio.They shal eate the sinnes of my people, and at their iniquitie shal lift vp their soules.Peccata populi mei comedent, / et ad iniquitatem eorum sublevabunt animas eorum. 9And there shall be like people like priest: and I will visit their ways upon them, and I will repay them their devices.Onde qual è il popolo, tal sarà il sacerdote, e io punirò sopra di lui, le sue azioni, e renderò a lui la mercede de' suoi pensamenti.And as the people, so shal the priest be: & I wil visite their wayes vpon them, and their cogitations I wil render to them.Et erit sicut populus, sic sacerdos; / et visitabo super eum vias ejus, / et cogitationes ejus reddam ei. 10And they shall eat and shall not be filled: they have committed fornication, and have not ceased: because they have forsaken the Lord in not observing the law.Ei mangeranno, e non si satolleranno: hanno prevaricato senza darsi mai posa: hanno abbandonato il Signore, non osservando la legge.And they shal eate and shal not be filled: they haue fornicated, and haue not ceased: because they haue forsaken our Lord in not obseruing.Et comedent, et non saturabuntur; / fornicati sunt, et non cessaverunt: / quoniam Dominum dereliquerunt in non custodiendo.
11Fornication, and wine, and drunkenness, take away the understanding.L'impudicizia, il vino, e l'ubbriachezza tolgono il bene dell'intelletto.Fornication, and wine, and drunkenes take away the hart.Fornicatio, et vinum, et ebrietas auferunt cor. 12My people have consulted their stocks, and their staff hath declared unto them: for the spirit of fornication hath deceived them, and they have committed fornication against their God.Il mio popolo ha consultato un pezzo di legno, e le sue bacchette han predetto a lui il futuro: perocché lo spirito di fornicazione gli ha affascinati, ed hanno voltate le spalle al Dio loro.My people hath asked in their wood, and their staffe hath declared vnto them: for the spirit of fornications hath deceiued them, and they haue fornicated from their God.Populus meus in ligno suo interrogavit, / et baculus ejus annuntiavit ei; / spiritus enim fornicationum decepit eos, / et fornicati sunt a Deo suo. 13They offered sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burnt incense upon the hills: under the oak, and the poplar, and the turpentine tree, because the shadow thereof was good: therefore shall your daughters commit fornication, and your spouses shall be adulteresses.Sulle vette dei monti offersero sagrifizj, e sulle colline abbruciarono i timiami, e sotto la quercia, e sotto il pioppo, e sotto il terebinto, perchè l'ombra di essi era gradita: per questo le vostre figliuole faran getto del loro onore, e le vostre spose saranno adultere.Vpon the heads of mountaines they did sacrifice, and vpon litle hilles they burnt incense: vnder the oke, and the poplartree, and the terebinth, because the shadow therof was good: therfore shal your daughters fornicate, and your spouses shal be aduoutresses.Super capita montium sacrificabant, / et super colles ascendebant thymiama; / subtus quercum, et populum, et terebinthum, / quia bona erat umbra ejus; / ideo fornicabuntur filiæ vestræ, / et sponsæ vestræ adulteræ erunt. 14I will not visit upon your daughters, when they shall commit fornication, and upon your spouses when they shall commit adultery: because themselves conversed with harlots, and offered sacrifice with the effeminate, and the people that doth not understand shall be beaten.Io non gastigherò le vostre figliuole, quando avranno peccato, né le vostre spose, quando saran diventate adultere: perocché costoro conversavano colle meretrici, e andavano a far sagrifizio con gli effeminati. Per la qual cosa questo popolo senza intelletto sarà percosso.I wil not visite vpon your daughters when they shal fornicate, and vpon your spouses when they shal commit aduoutrie: because they themselues conuerst with harlots, and with the effeminate they did sacrifice, and the people not vnderstanding shal be beaten.Non visitabo super filias vestras cum fuerint fornicatæ, / et super sponsas vestras cum adulteraverint, / quoniam ipsi cum meretricibus conversabantur, / et cum effeminatis sacrificabant; / et populus non intelligens vapulabit.
15If thou play the harlot, O Israel, at least let not Juda offend: and go ye not into Galgal, and come not up into Bethaven, and do not swear: The Lord liveth.Giacché tu, o Israele, ti se' dato alla fornicazione, non pecchi almeno Giuda or non vogliate entrare in Galgal, e non salite a Bethaven, e non fate quel giuramento: Vive il Signore.If thou fornicate ô Israel, at the least let not Iuda offend: and enter ye not into Galgal, and goe not vp into Bethauen, neither sweare ye: Our Lord liueth.Si fornicaris tu, Israël, / non delinquat saltem Juda; / et nolite ingredi in Galgala, / et ne ascenderitis in Bethaven, / neque juraveritis: Vivit Dominus ! 16For Israel hath gone astray like a wanton heifer now will the Lord feed them, as a lamb in a spacious place.Perocché Israele è uscito di strada come una vacca indomita: adesso il Signore lo menerà a pascere come un agnello in ispaziosa campagna.Because Israel hath declined as a wanton cow: now wil our Lord feede them, as a lambe in latitude.Quoniam sicut vacca lasciviens declinavit Israël; / nunc pascet eos Dominus, quasi agnum in latitudine. 17Ephraim is a partaker with idols, let him alone.Ephraim ha fatta società cogl'idoli: lascialo stare.Ephraim is partaker of idols, let him alone.Particeps idolorum Ephraim: dimitte eum. 18Their banquet is separated, they have gone astray by fornication: they that should have protected them have loved to bring shame upon them.Egli ha a parte i suoi conviti, è caduto nella più orrenda fornicazione: i suoi protettori hanno amata la sua ignominia.Their banket is separated, with fornication they haue fornicated: the protectours therof loued to bring ignominie.Separatum est convivium eorum; / fornicatione fornicati sunt: / dilexerunt afferre ignominiam protectores ejus. 19The wind hath bound them up in its wings, and they shall be confounded because of their sacrifices.Li porta il vento legati alle sue ale, e i lor sagrifizj saranno la loro vergogna.The spirit hath bound him in his winges, and they shal be confounded at their sacrifices.Ligavit eum spiritus in alis suis, / et confundentur a sacrificiis suis.
4:1
Worthington
Israel. They are chiefly addressed, (Chaldean; St. Jerome; Calmet) or what follows to ver. 15, regards all. (Worthington)
Judgment. Hebrew, "a trial."
Calmet
Mercy. The want of humanity and of practical knowledge is urged. (Calmet)
Worthington
The knowledge of God includes the observance of the commandments, 1 John 2:4. (Worthington)
4:2
Calmet
Blood. The successors of Jeroboam II were mostly murdered. (Calmet)
Haydock
Incestuous marriages take place. (Haydock)
4:3
Calmet
Together. The waters shall be dried up, or infected. (Calmet)
Haydock
When the people are taken away, beasts will not long remain, Jeremias 9:10., and Sophonias 1:2. (Haydock)
4:4
Challoner
Judge, etc. As if he would say: It is in vain to strive with them, or reprove them, they are so obstinate in evil. (Challoner)
Calmet
Priest. Such must be slain, Deuteronomy 17:12. (Calmet)
Theodoret
Septuagint, "my people are like a priest contradicted," (Haydock) or degraded. (Theodoret)
4:5
Prophet, both true and false.
Night of tribulation. Hebrew and Septuagint, "I have compared thy mother to the night."
4:6
Silent. Septuagint, "like those who had," etc.
Calmet
Knowledge. Jeroboam I had appointed unlawful priests, and some of the house of Aaron went over to him, and were excluded from officiating at Jerusalem, after the captivity, 1 Kings 12:31., and Ezechiel 44:10. Knowledge is always expected of priests, Deuteronomy 17:8., and Malachias 2:7. (Gratian. dist. 38. c. omnes.) (Calmet)
Worthington
When the power of sacrificing is withdrawn, all spiritual functions cease, as sacrifice belongs properly to a priest. (Worthington)
4:7
Calmet
Me. A father rejoices in a numerous offspring. But my people take occasion to offend me the more they increase. (Calmet)
4:8
Worthington
Sins: victims. (Worthington)
Iniquity; or "they seek for support in their propitiatory offerings," and lull the people asleep in their sins. The priests of the golden calf imitated the sacred rites of Moses. It would have been too difficult to make the people change altogether.
4:9
Priest. They are equally dissolute, and shall meet the like punishment.
Calmet
Devices, or thoughts. (Calmet)
St. Jerome
Cogitatio mali operis paenas luet. (St. Jerome)
4:10
Calmet
Ceased. Hebrew, "increased." They have no children living. (Calmet)
Septuagint, "let them not succeed."
4:11
Haydock
Understanding. Literally, "heart." (Haydock)
Worthington
Some sins darken reason more than others; but none so much as spiritual fornication. (Worthington)
4:12
Staff. It was customary to use this mode of divination, (Ezechiel 21:21.) and likewise incense, ver. 13.
Oak. These terms are variously rendered as the trees and stones mentioned in Scripture, will probably never be ascertained.
4:14
Visit. This is the most dreadful of God's judgments. He permits those who offend him to receive discontent from their own families.
Calmet
Effeminate, like the Galli, etc., (St. Jerome) and votaries of Priapus, 3 Kings 15:11. Hebrew, "the consecrated women." Septuagint, "initiated," to honour a lewd idol by prostitution. (Calmet)
Haydock
Beaten. Septuagint, "adhere to a harlot. But thou, Israel, be not ignorant, and Juda go," etc. (Haydock)
4:15
Worthington
Offend. It was more culpable for Juda to commit idolatry (as they had the temple, etc., of the true God) than for Israel, whom Jeroboam hindered from going to Jerusalem, after he had set up his golden calves. (Worthington)
Challoner
Galgal and Bethaven. Places where idols were worshipped. Bethel, which signifies the house of God, is called by the prophet Bethaven, that is, the house of vanity, from Jeroboam's golden calf which was worshipped there. (Challoner)
Calmet
Galgal was on the confines of the two kingdoms, and always venerated by the Jews. Idols had been there in ancient times, and probably a sort of oracle, Judges 3:19. If Israel be thus abandoned, let not Juda imitate them. (Calmet)
Theodoret
Lord. Profane not this sacred name by giving it to idols. (Theodoret)
St. Jerome
Use not this expression, since you do not worship me. (St. Jerome)
4:16
Wanton. Septuagint, "stung," or rendered furious. Thus Israel gives way to ungovernable passions. The people shall be led into captivity, and have room to range about.
4:17
Partaker. Hebrew, "tied to abominations."
Calmet
Alone. His case is desperate. (Calmet)
Haydock
Septuagint, "he has placed stumbling-blocks for himself." (Haydock)
4:18
Separated from that allowed to God's people, Deuteronomy 12:12. Hebrew, "insipid," or spoiled. Chaldean, "their princes have sought after banquets." Septuagint, "He has provoked (surpassed) the Chanaanites." These two have not read as we do.
Calmet
They. Hebrew, "their shields (chiefs) have loved shame:" dissolute practices, or "presents," which are disgraceful. (Calmet)
Haydock
Septuagint, "They have loved shame by her rage. (19) A whirlwind shall whistle in," etc. (Haydock)
4:19
Calmet
Wings. They shall be quickly removed hence. (Calmet)
4:4
Let not any man judge, etc.... As if he would say: It is in vain to strive with them, or reprove them, they are so obstinate in evil.
4:15
Galgal and Bethaven.... Places where idols were worshipped. Bethel, which signifies the house of God, is called by the prophet, Bethaven, that is, the house of vanity, from Jeroboam’s golden calf that was worshipped there.
4:1
Children of Israel importe the vvhole people of the tenne, & tvvo tribes, so he speaketh to al til. v. 15.
Knovvlege of God includeth the keping of his cōmandments For he that saith; he knovveth God, and kepeth not his commandments, is a lyer. 1. Ioan. 2. v. 4.
4:6
Function of priests vvhich is properly sacrifice, being taken away, al spiritual offices decay thervvith.
4:8
The hostes offered for sinnes.
4:12
Certaine sinnes more then others do obscure mans vnderstanding, but spiritual fornication blindeth the hart aboue al other vices.
4:15
It was a greater sinne in the kingdom of Iuda to commit idolatrie, vvhere they had the publique true seruice of God in the temple, then in Israel vvhere Ieroboam had set vp calues, and forbid the people from going to Ierusalem.
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St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 1.19
… For instance, when the prophet Isaiah says, “But Israel hath not known Me, and My people have not understood Me,” they pervert his words to mean ignorance of the invisible Bythus. And that which is spoken by Hosea, “There is no truth in them, nor the knowledge of God,”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 An Address to Demetrianus 9
… Therefore shall the land mourn, with every one that dwelleth therein, with the beasts of the field, with things that creep on the earth, and with the fowls of heaven; and the fishes of the sea shall languish, so that no man shall judge, no man shall rebuke.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.48
… they mingle blood to blood. Therefore the land shall mourn, with all its inhabitants, with the beasts of the field, with the creeping things of the earth, with the birds of heaven; and the fishes of the sea shall fail: so that no man may judge, no man may refute.”
4:2
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 12.6
… for the godly man is perished out of the earth, and there is none that doeth right among men : and again, They are all gone out of the way, they are together became unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one : and again, Cursing and stealing, and adultery, and murder are poured out upon the land
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 15.3
3. Our Lord Jesus Christ, then, comes from heaven; and He comes with glory at the end of this world, in the last day. For of this world there is to be an end, and this created world is to be re-made anew . For since corruption, and theft, and adultery , and every sort of sins have been poured forth over the earth, and blood has been mingled with blood
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 65
… as also He Himself declared when He said, “Fill ye up the measure of your fathers.” For from the first the prophets used to charge them with these things, saying, “Your hands are full of blood;” and, “They mingle blood with blood;”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 71
… “For ye cannot say,” He saith, “Thou didst send from among the Gentiles, and therefore we were offended;” but they were led on unto this by being murderous, and thirsting for blood. Wherefore He also said beforehand, “For this cause do I send prophets and scribes.” This did the prophets also lay to their charge, saying, “They mingle blood with blood,”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 23
Henceforward, what consolation shall there be for us? He called us to Heaven, and we have thrust ourselves down to hell. “Swearing and lying and stealing and adultery, are poured out upon the earth.” (
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great 9.121
… Why should I say more? Overcome by its own weight, it sweats blood. For, unless sin were reckoned under the name of blood, the Psalmist would not say, Deliver me from blood guiltiness ( Ps. l. 16 ). But, when we add sin to sins, we fulfil this also which is said by another prophet, Blood hath touched blood (
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St Ephrem the Syrian † AD 373 Ephraim Syrus: The Pearl. Seven Hymns on the Faith 1.3
“At these uproars the fish in the sea were moved,
4:5
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 119.12
… 91 ). For all these things are day: “and this is the day which the Lord hath made: let us rejoice and be glad in it:” and “let us walk honestly as in the day.” “For all things serve Thee.” He said all things of some: “all” which belong to this day “serve Thee.” For the ungodly of whom it is said, “I have compared thy mother unto the night,”
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St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 42.8
… How long will ye inherit My holy Mountain? How long shall My ark be among the heathen? Now for a little longer ye indulge yourselves in that which belongs to others, and gratify your desires. For as ye have devised to reject Me, so will I also reject you,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 68
… lix. 2 , LXX.). And again, “They that go far away from Thee shall perish.” ( Ps. lxxiii. 27 , LXX.) And Hosea saith, “Thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, and I will also forget thee” (
4:8
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on 1 Timothy 14
… The physician, extending his hand to apply a remedy, does not exercise the healing art more than the poor man, who stretches out his hand to receive your alms, and thus becomes a cure for your ills. You give your money, and with it your sins pass away. Such were the Priests of old, of whom it was said, “They eat up the sin of My people.” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Enchiridion 41
… nevertheless, on account of the likeness of sinful flesh in which He came, He was called sin, that He might be sacrificed to wash away sin. For, under the Old Covenant, sacrifices for sin were called sins.
4:9
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 2.7
… But with what conscience can the overseer of souls avail himself among other men of his pastoral dignity, while engaged himself in the earthly cares which it was his duty to reprehend in others? And this indeed is what the Lord , in the wrath of just retribution, menaced through the prophet, saying, And there shall be like people, like priest (
4:12
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Life of Antony. (Vita Antoni.) 5
… I am called the spirit of lust. How many have I deceived who wished to live soberly, how many are the chaste whom by my incitements I have over-persuaded! I am he on account of whom also the prophet reproves those who have fallen, saying
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 16.15
15. But sin also is called spirit, as I have already said; only in another and opposite sense, as when it is said, The spirit of whoredom caused them to err
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 7.32
… “giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils speaking lies in hypocrisy.” And that there are other kinds of devils which are deaf and dumb the gospels testify. And that some spirits incite to lust and wantonness the prophet maintains saying: “The spirit of fornication deceived them and they went astray from their God.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 14.11
… “Let now the astrologers stand and save thee, they that gazed at the stars and counted the months, that from them they might tell the things that shall come to thee,” of which fornication elsewhere also the Lord says in rebuking them: “The spirit of fornication deceived them, and they went a whoring from their God.”
4:13
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 45
… Will you deem Him little on this account, that He humbled Himself for your sake, and because to seek for that which had wandered the Good Shepherd, He who layeth down His life for the sheep, came upon the mountains and hills upon which you used to sacrifice, and found the wandering one; and having found it, took it upon His shoulders,
4:1
1. Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel. — Hence it is clear that the Prophet is still addressing the ten tribes. Thus the Chaldean, St. Jerome, Hugo, Vatablus and others; for these are called Israel and Ephraim, verse 17, although some, such as Haymo and Arias, take these words of the two tribes, because verse 15 names Judah; but he does this in passing, by a sudden digression, indeed by comparison and opposition to Israel, that is to the ten tribes. Finally, others, such as Ribera, take these words of both Israel and Judah, that is of the twelve tribes, which is not improbable; although the first interpretation which I have stated is more probable, and more proper and connected. Because judgment to the Lord with the inhabitants of the land. — "Judgment," that is accusation and expostulation; whence the Chaldean translates, disputation, as if to say: God has that wherewith in judgment to accuse, and justly to expostulate with the inhabitants of Samaria. Thus Vatablus and others. For there is no truth, — that is fidelity, or faith in promises and covenants, as if to say: The Israelites do not keep faith, but are deceitful and fraudulent; for they deceive and defraud their neighbors. Thus the Interpreters everywhere. Albert alone, whom Dionysius follows, takes truth to mean the truth of morals and life, namely that life is called true, that is, right, just and conformable to its rule, namely to right reason. There is no mercy, — as if to say: There is no one who shows mercy, and by showing mercy comes to the aid of the needy and afflicted. Thus Haymo, Hugo, Vatablus, Arias and St. Cyprian, epistle to Demetrian, where he also adds: "Do you complain of sterility or famine, as if drought causes greater famine than rapacity, as if from the hoarding of grain increments and the piling up of prices a more burning ardor of want does not grow? Do you complain that heaven is shut off by rains, when thus granaries are shut up on earth? Do you complain that less is born, as if what is born is provided to the needy? Do you blame plague and pestilence, when by plague itself and pestilence detected are, or increased, the crimes of individuals, while mercy is not shown to the sick, and avarice and rapine gape after the dead; the same are eager for the service of piety, rash for impious gain, fleeing the funerals of the dying and coveting the spoils of the dead; so that it appears in their affliction that the wretched are perhaps abandoned for this reason, that they cannot, while being cared for, escape." Thus indeed even today often lack of mercy is the cause of private and public miseries. And there is no knowledge of God in the land. — And, that is because (for this is what the Hebrew vau signifies), as if to say: The defect of the knowledge of God, as it were of practical light, is the cause why mercy and truth, or fidelity, fail. Moreover, take the knowledge of God not as speculative, but as practical, by which we know, esteem and revere the divine majesty, providence, justice, vengeance, etc., and therefore this knowledge of God is joined with fear, love, worship and obedience of the same. For this is the knowledge, wisdom and prudence which Scripture commends everywhere, especially in Proverbs, Ecclesiasticus and other wisdom books, as if to say: There is no one who knows God practically, namely who apprehends and esteems his majesty and providence as is fitting, who fears, worships and reveres him; so that, thinking of his providence by which he punishes the wicked and rewards the pious, he may strive to please him, and therefore may devote himself to pious works and abstain from impious ones, concerning which St. John says, epistle I, chapter 2, 4: "He that saith he knoweth God, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar;" whence the Chaldean translates: There is no one who walks in the fear of the Lord. Thus also St. Cyril and St. Cyprian, book to Demetrian. For what deters men from sin and impels them to good is fear and reverence of the divine majesty; if you take this away, men will with impunity loosen the reins to their lusts, and rush into all wickedness. This is what the Psalmist seeks, Psalm 13: "The fool hath said in his heart: There is no God," for this reason "they are corrupted, and made abominable." On the other hand, St. Augustine, sermon 112 On the Seasons: "Knowledge," he says, "of God is nothing better, because nothing is more blessed, and it itself is true blessedness. Whence also the Savior says to the Father: Now this is eternal life, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." And soon after: "Blessed indeed is life the knowledge of divinity; knowledge of divinity is the virtue of good work; virtue of good work is the fruit of eternal blessedness. He who wishes to be always with God ought frequently to pray and read. For when we pray, we ourselves speak with God; but when we read, God speaks with us." The same wrote in the book On the Blessed Life, in which throughout he teaches that blessed life is nothing other than perfect knowledge of God. St. Bernard, treatise On the Interior House, at the end: "To know God," he says, "is the fullness of knowledge; but the fullness of this knowledge is the fullness of glory, the consummation of grace, the perpetuity of life. But for the fullness of this knowledge, there is need rather of intimate compunction than of deep investigation; of sighs rather than of arguments; of tears rather than of sentences; of prayer rather than of reading; of recollection rather of contemplation than of earthly occupation." The same, in the book On Conscience, teaches that many seek knowledge, few seek conscience, when true knowledge consists in pure and holy conscience before God.
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2. Cursing and lying. — The Chaldean renders it: The inhabitants of this land have perished, they lie, etc., they commit adulteries, they break (namely the fence of the commandments of God), and blood touches blood; slaughter follows slaughter. So also Vatablus. Others translate and explain it thus: With curses, calumnies, insults and execrations they assail their neighbors. Thus Theophylactus, Haymo, Lyra and Hugh. The Hebrew אלה ala signifies both, but more the former; for it shows that there is no truth in the land from the contrary, because namely in it reigns ala, that is, execratory perjury, as the Septuagint translates it, as if to say: They curse and say: May I perish, may the earth open for me, if this be not true, or if I do not do this, and they lie and break faith: and therefore they are perjurers. They have overflowed. — The Chaldean and Vatablus, they have burst forth like a flood, which breaking and bursting through all its banks and hedges by its force, fills and covers the fields with waters. For this is the Hebrew ברץ purats; in the same manner the Israelites by their very many and greatest crimes broke through all the laws and commandments of God, and filled all things with thefts, frauds, adulteries, murders, etc. And blood has touched blood. — The Septuagint, They mingle bloods in bloods. Thus the Vatican Codex reads it. In Hebrew it is word for word: Bloods in bloods have touched. "In bloods," that is "bloods"; for verbs of contact among the Hebrews are constructed with beth, that is, in. For they say to strike in the hand, for to strike the hand; to kill in the soul, that is to kill the soul. Blood in Scripture signifies, first, homicide, by metonymy, by which the object is put for the act; namely blood, for the shedding of blood, and from this it is extended by catachresis to any violence, fraud and injury inflicted on a neighbor; for these pave the way to homicide, and are as it were its beginning; whence it is forbidden by the fifth precept of the Decalogue: "Thou shalt not kill." Secondly, it signifies every defilement, pollution and uncleanness; for shed blood defiles, pollutes, stains and fouls all things. Thirdly, by synecdoche it signifies any crime whatsoever; because the greatest crime against a neighbor is homicide, hence from it as the more famous it takes its denomination, so that any other deed is called blood from a like or similar one. In all these ways it is taken here. Secondly, Rupert takes blood for the mixture of seed and blood (for seed is the best blood and thoroughly concocted) of blood relatives, as if to say: Blood relatives mingle blood with one another, that is, seed, they commit incest with one another and defile themselves. Thirdly, most fully, the Chaldean, St. Cyril, St. Jerome, Haymo and Hugh take bloods for sins, as if to say: They add sins to sins, they heap crimes upon crimes. Hear St. Gregory, hom. 11 in Ezech.: "Blood touches blood, when sin is added to sin; so that before the eyes of God the soul is stained with joined iniquities. The Apostle Paul says: That they may fill up their sins always. To John also through an angel it is said: He that hurteth, let him hurt still; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still," as if to say: Houses, streets, forums, temples, walls, fields overflow and abound with sins. You will ask, why is blood the symbol of sin? I answer, first, because the shedding of blood, namely homicide, is reckoned among men to be the gravest sin. Secondly, because blood is the seat and instrument of concupiscence, which is the cause of sin. For blood supplies matter both to lust, and to anger and pride, and kindles and inflames them. Whence blood is the symbol of carnal sense and cupidity, as I taught from Theodoret, Levit. cap. xvii, 11. Thirdly, because blood was unclean and abominable to the Jews by law, nor was it lawful for them to eat it, and this was in hatred and detestation of homicide, Levit. cap. xvii, 10. Again, the blood of menstruating women was most unclean both naturally and by law, Levit. cap. xv, 19 and following. Such is sin, which is a menstruum, and a most foul poison of the soul. Fourthly, because sin kills the soul, and as it were sheds its blood and life. Allegorically Theophylactus and from him Leo Castrius (who brings forward this sense as if it were literal): The Jews mingled the blood of the Prophets with the blood of Christ, of the Apostles and Martyrs, when they killed them equally as the Prophets, as Christ objects to them, Matt. cap. xxiii, 34. Again the same, says Castrius, crucified Christ between two thieves, so that he might be believed to be a thief. Thus therefore they mingled the blood of Christ with the blood of thieves.
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3. Therefore the earth shall mourn. — Here he threatens the punishment owed to so many and such great crimes. He says therefore, "shall mourn," that is, as the Chaldean [paraphrase renders it], shall be laid waste and desolated, the earth, so that it may seem to mourn metaphorically; just as conversely meadows are said to laugh, when they flourish with shoots, flowers and fruits. Thus Lyra, Arias and Vatablus. Secondly, "shall mourn," metonymically, because the laid waste [earth] will bring mourning upon its inhabitants. Thus Haymo and Hugo. Wherefore he adds the effect of this mourning of the earth, saying: And shall be weakened, — that is, shall languish, shall be consumed by famine, shall waste away and shall die. Thus the Chaldean [paraphrase]. It is a metonymy; for the antecedent is put for the consequent, namely weakness for death. Every one that dwelleth therein, with (that is, together with) the beasts of the field, and with (that is, together with) the fowls of the heaven, — as if to say, The earth being desolated, not only men, but also beasts and birds, nay and fishes will die, both because all these things live from the fruits of the earth: those being taken away, they die; and also because through all these things God punishes sinning man, who is their lord. And the fishes of the sea shall be gathered together, — that is, shall fail and shall die. Thus the Septuagint and the Chaldean [paraphrase]. Moreover this death or descent of fishes in the desolation of the earth happens partly naturally: for dryness and burning of the earth dries up the streams and brooks, which fed the fishes; partly and rather by the just judgment of God, who punishes impious men abusing the earth and water, beasts and fishes, by the deficiency and desolation of all things. This is what Isaias threatens to the Egyptians, cap. xix, 5: "The water shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be desolate and dry; and the rivers shall fail, and the fishers shall mourn." Thus in histories we read, and in this age we have seen, in France, Scotland, Holland cities once rich in fishing and fishes, after they admitted heresy, with fishes dying or migrating elsewhere, punished by God the avenger with sterility and poverty. Platina relates that under Pope Victor III, on account of the sins of that age, fishes failed both in the sea and in the rivers. The same happened to Ireland, but it was corrected by the prayers of St. Malachy, as St. Bernard writes in his Life. Thus conversely Christ once and again brought a great abundance of fishes into the nets of St. Peter, as the prince of the faithful, Luke cap. v, vers. 6, and John cap. xxi, vers. 6. Theodoret understands by birds the rich, who prey upon fishes, that is, the poor, and consume them; but this is mystical, not literal. (1) "When the captivity of the ten tribes shall come with the inhabitant removed, says St. Jerome, beasts also and the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea shall fail, and the wrath of the Lord even the mute elements shall feel. Whoever does not believe this happened to the people of Israel, let him behold Illyricum, let him behold Thrace, Macedonia, and Pannonia, and all the land which extends from the Propontis and Bosphorus as far as the Julian Alps, and he will approve that with men all animals fail, which were previously fed by the Creator for the uses of men."
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4. Yet let no man judge (that is, let no man expostulate, as Vatablus translates, let no man rebuke), and let not a man be reproved, — as if to say, Let no one rebuke and reprove the men of this region; for he will do so in vain, for they resist the one admonishing and contradict. Thus St. Jerome, Lyra and Vatablus. He speaks as if despairing of their amendment, and at the same time signifies that they are altogether unworthy of admonition and correction, says Rupert. Hear St. Jerome: "The sons of Israel were provoked to the judgment of God, that they might hear the causes of the Lord's indignation, and might know their past sins, on account of which they would be delivered to enemies. Now because they persist in crime, and with shameless face contemn God, they hear: It is not necessary that you come to judgment, that you be reproved in your crimes; because you are of such shamelessness, that not even when convicted do you have shame and modesty; but you contradict me, as if a disciple were to contradict a master, or the common people a priest."
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6. My people were silent. — Vatablus: reduced to silence or cut off is my people, because it did not have the knowledge of God, concerning which verse 1 says: Because thou hast cast off knowledge, I will cast thee off, that thou shalt not do the office of priesthood to me. — He calls knowledge the study and knowledge of God's law and the divine law, not merely speculative, but practical, as I said in verse 1. Whence the Chaldee paraphrast translates: Because thou hast cast off the fear of God, I will cast thee off, etc. Note first: He addresses the Synagogue or the people of Israel; whence he speaks of it, now in the masculine gender, now in the feminine, saying: "Thou hast forgotten the law of thy God," that is to say, I will cast thee off, O Israel, so that none of thy sons, or from thy assembly shall be a priest to me. Yet he addresses especially the priests themselves, as is evident from what follows. For in verse 8 he says: "They shall eat the sins of my people," namely the priests; thus the Chaldee paraphrast and Arias. Now he understands priesthood not the false and idolatrous priesthood, instituted by Jeroboam, as Albertus wishes, for this was dedicated not "to me," that is to God, but to the golden calves; but the true and divine priesthood. The sense therefore is, that is to say, Because thou, O Israel, and especially you, O priests scattered throughout Israel, who ought to teach him the worship and fear of God, have cast off the study of my law; hence according to the law and the penalty of retaliation I will deal with you; namely, because you have so neglected my law, that you have neither read it, nor even possessed the books of the law, I in turn will take away from you that very law, knowledge, priesthood, and all my worship and religion, so that you may be reduced, as it were, to atheism and paganism. For upon priesthood depends the faith, worship and religion of the whole people. Therefore, with it taken away, it is necessary that these likewise be taken away and perish. Therefore the punishment which God here threatens to Israel, careless in his worship, is the taking away of priesthood. Let those heretical republics now see, which exterminate priests and Christian priesthood, how great an injury they do not only to them and to Christ, but also to themselves; for by this very thing they take away from themselves the faith of God, the Church of God, the worship of God and true religion. Finally, the Arabic version translates: Because thou art he who hast loved the world, and its consolation, and I will cast thee off, that thou shalt not do the office of priesthood to me. Which priests should note, lest they entangle themselves in worldly matters, as the Apostle admonishes, if they wish to serve God and enjoy him. Again from this sentence of Hosea, the Seventh General Council approves that ignorant men should be excluded from the episcopate, who lack knowledge of Holy Scripture, as is found dist. xxxviii, cap. Omnes.
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7. According to the multitude of them so they have sinned against Me. ("Their," namely, "of the sons," as preceded, that is to say, I multiplied the Israelites as the stars of heaven, but the more numerous they were, the more they sinned and more gravely; so that as many sons of Israel as I gave, so many enemies seem I to have begotten for myself; he himself educates them in hatred and envy of my love and worship.) Wherefore I will change their glory into shame, — that is to say, I will take away from them their sons (for these are the glory of parents, especially in the old law) which will be very shameful and ignominious to them. Thus St. Cyril, Theodoret and Theophylact. Second, St. Jerome explains, that is to say, "As many men as Israel had, so many altars did it build to demons, in whose victims it sinned against me. Therefore their glory, in which they gloried to themselves, preferring idols to God, I will change into shame; so that both priests may be captured and peoples. For indeed the priests eat the sins of my people, because when they perceive him sinning, they not only do not reprove him, but praise, and exalt, and proclaim him blessed." Third, the Chaldee paraphrast refers glory to riches and revenues; for it translates: As I multiplied for them revenues, so they have multiplied sins against me. Thus we often see not only laymen, but also priests grow insolent and luxurious from riches, according to that in Deuteronomy, chapter xxxii, 15: "The beloved grew fat, and kicked." Wherefore aptly, St. Ambrose says: "Riches have taken their name from vices," because riches are the fuel of vices.
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8. The sins of my people they shall eat. — "They shall eat," that is, they are accustomed to eat; for the future tense in Hebrew often signifies a custom or habitual action. Sin in Scripture is taken in three ways: first, for sin properly so called; second, by metonymy for the punishment of sin; third, for a sacrifice for sin: as when the Apostle says in II Corinthians, chapter v, 21: "Him who knew no sin, for us sin," that is, a sacrifice for sin, "He made." Three senses therefore are offered here. The first, that is to say, the priests shall eat, that is, shall pay the penalties of the sins of the people, on account of which they were the cause through their dissimulation; I will therefore bring it about that what they have eaten, the sins, and of which they themselves were the cause, they shall vomit up with their entrails, says Christopher a Castro. Whence also Theodoret thus expounds it, that is to say, "They shall reap what they have sown, and shall gather the fruit of their own sins." But with this explanation there does not rightly cohere what follows: "And they shall lift up their souls to their iniquity." The second, that is to say, sins, that is, sacrifices for sin offered by the people, the priests eat, and in these they feast and revel. Whence St. Bernard, sermon 77 in the Canticles: "The sins, he says, of my people they shall eat, that is to say, they exact the price of sins, and do not bestow upon sinners the care owed to them. Whom will you give me from the number of prelates, who does not watch more over emptying the purses of subjects than over rooting out vices!" Whence Prosper, book II On the Contemplative Life, chapter x, from this place teaches that those sin gravely who wish to be enriched from the goods of the Church: "Concerning clerics, the Holy Spirit says: The sins of my people they shall eat; but as having nothing of their own, they receive not sins, but sustenance which they appear to need: thus those who possess receive not sustenance of which they abound, but the sins of others." The third: "The sins of the people they eat," who by their prayers and sacrifices abolish and consume them. Thus Rufinus and others. But this is praise of a priest, not reproach, of which the matter here is. I say therefore that the sense is, that is to say, the priests "the sins of my people they shall eat," not consuming them through prayers and oblations, as was fitting (for this is their office, and equally the oblations of the faithful demand and require), but praising them, dissimulating them, and taking them upon themselves and their own conscience and head. For thus acting, as it were they were drawing in and absorbing the sins of the people, and were the cause that they were multiplied, and this to the end that "sins," that is, sacrifices for sin most numerous, they might receive from the people and eat. For they were saying, flattering and extenuating the sins of the people: That is nothing, or a light sin; God knows us to be fragile and weak: such therefore, knowing, He tolerates, and has compassion on them; be not therefore anxious, I take it upon myself, I will make satisfaction to God for you, and, as Theophylactus says, "let the condemnation be upon us," as the Jews saying to Pilate: "His blood be upon us and upon our children." Thus St. Jerome, Haymo, Rupert, Hugh, Lyra, Ribera and others. And St. Gregory, homily 17 in the Gospel: "Why, he says, is the word now used, the sins of the people they shall eat, unless because they foster the sins of those who offend, lest they lose temporal stipends?" And Arias: "They wish, he says, that there be a great abundance of sins, which may supply to them their reward and gain and profit." Thus also the Japanese, the priests of their people eat the sins, whom they themselves call Bonzes, who promise to each one impunity for all crimes whatsoever, provided he give large oblations and alms; of such promise of theirs they give documents, which the dying carry with them to the tomb, as if they were to exhibit them to the judge and avenger God; thus the Japanese letters have it. First therefore by this phrase the Prophet signifies, and so takes sin in two ways: namely, properly, and metaphorically, for a sacrifice for sin: for they offered this, and in part the priests ate it according to the law of Leviticus, chapter vii, 7; he therefore alludes to it, that is to say, these priests by law eat sins, that is, sacrifices for sin offered by the people; and because they are avaricious and gluttonous, they gape after these oblations and sacrifices, and therefore the very sins of the people, extenuating and flattering them, they suck in and swallow, and as St. Job says, they drink iniquity like water. Thus did that flatterer of King Henry VIII of England suck in the sins of Henry, when the king, wishing to marry Anne Boleyn, who was thought to be the king's daughter by a concubine, and asking how great a sin it would be to know both mother and daughter, answered: As great as if someone should devour a chick with its mother, namely with a hen, as Sander relates, book I On the English Schism. This sense is demanded by what follows: And they shall lift up their souls to their iniquity. — The Hebrew texts have precisely thus word for word: The priests shall eat the sins of my people, and to their iniquity (namely of the priests, that is their own) shall lift up, or shall bear the soul of it, namely of the people, in which because there are many, hence Our [translator] renders in the plural, their, namely of the peoples, as if to say: The priests, rejecting God and the knowledge of God, feast upon the victims and oblations of the people, indulge their genius and belly; and to imitate these and similar iniquities of theirs they invite, raise up, and lead the souls of the people by word and example. Whence he subjoins: "And it shall be as the people so the priest," as if to say: The priest, who ought to have gone before the people in virtue, is equal to it, nay rather goes before it in crime. Hence secondly, R. David, Vatable, Arias thus explain it, as if to say: They gape after, and eagerly await the iniquities of the people, either that the people might sin against the law, so that from it they might receive from him victims for those sins to be expiated, on which they might feast: they gape therefore after the sins of the people, as if from it they wholly depend and live; for to lift up the soul in Hebrew signifies to raise up the soul in hope, to hope, to gape after, as is evident from Ezechiel, cap. xxiv, 25, and elsewhere. Thirdly, Haymo: "They lift up, he says, saying: Since you are the people of God, you are descended from the race of Abraham, on account of his friendship God will spare you, if you sin against him." And Ribera thus explains it, as if to say: The priests add courage to the common people for this purpose, that they might sin more, while they connive at their sins, caress them, and flatter them. Fourthly, others interpret lift up by unburden, as if to say: The priests unburden souls laden with sins by flattering them, lighten, relieve them; thus St. Jerome, Haymo, Rupert, Hugh, Lyran and others. Fifthly, for "they shall lift up" the Septuagint renders "they shall receive," as if to say: The priests for the iniquities of the people receive, that is offer themselves to God, devoting themselves to the wrath of God for the people. Thus Cyril. But the first sense is most genuine, and then the second and third. Moreover Cyril beautifully teaches that priests ought by praying and living holily to offer themselves as a victim to God for the sins of the people: "For such a one, he says, can restore the people who have incurred the offense of God and violated the law of God to their former favor."
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9. And it shall be with the people, so with the priest. — Hebrew: And it shall be (or it is) with the people, with the priest. It is a Hebraism. For the Hebrews express likeness by the note of likeness, namely by appending the word 'as' to each thing compared, or similar, which the Latin Interpreter aptly rendered in Latin phrase by appending 'as' to one and 'so' to the other, which corresponds to the word 'as', and is a rendering of likeness. The sense is, as if to say: The people shall be like and similar to the priest, and the priest to the people; what the people is, such is the priest, and vice versa. For this is required not only by the reciprocal nature of the note of likeness itself, as Martinus Martinez wishes in book VIII of the Hypotyposes, chapter viii, but also by the very nature of likeness itself; for like is like to like, and vice versa, for like is indeed a relative of equivalence. Whether therefore you say: As the people as the priest, or you say: The people is as the priest; you say the same thing, and signify the same thing; similar, I say, in guilt. Whence Vatablus translates: Hence it comes to pass that such is the people as the priest; and consequently similar will it be in punishment. For he draws this meaning both from what immediately preceded, namely: "The priests shall eat the sins of my people, and shall lift up their souls to their iniquity;" by which words the priests are equated, nay preferred, to the people in guilt; and also from what he said a little before: "Their glory I will turn into shame," as if to say: There shall be no difference between priests and common people, for all shall be captives without distinction; and on this account all shall be affected with shame and contumely: "For enemies are not accustomed to have regard for the distinguished and the great," says Procopius in Isaiah chapter xxiv, 2. Whence also follows: "And I will visit upon him his ways." For the priests were the ornament and glory of Israel, as being consecrated to God, and mediators between God and the people. They ought therefore to protect this glory of theirs by excelling the people, both in knowledge of the law and in holiness and the worship of God. But because they did neither, but were equal to the people, nay superior, both in ignorance and in wickedness; hence they were equal to them, nay superior, in punishment and shame. Thus St. Jerome, Haymo and Hugo. In like manner you may say of undisciplined clerics and Religious: What the layman is, such is the cleric; what the secular is, such is the Religious. Take away the habit, you will not distinguish this one from that one; because the same is the tongue, speech, action, life and manners of both. St. Gregory urges this passage excellently, homily 17 in the Gospel, and in the second part of the Pastoral, chapter vii. Truly St. Chrysostom: "Many priests, few priests: not every priest is holy, but every holy one is a priest;" namely mystical, who offers to God the mystical sacrifices of praise, prayer and holy works. Hear also Gilbert the Abbot in the appendix to the sermon of St. Bernard in the Song of Songs, sermon 13: "The priest has become as the people, so that the people may more freely become as the priest. Monks conform themselves to the world by study, and those who are in the world defend their error by the example of ours with sufficient and too true cunning. Pastors and people, seculars and Religious mutually inform or foster themselves in vices by mutual examples; storehouses full of such things are eructating from this to that, either foul or lukewarm conversation with a pestilent spirit. Alas! with what eager mouth of the heart do we draw in this depraved spirit, and drink in the corrupting breeze! Good Jesus, when will it be, if indeed it ever will be, that as faith is whole, so also are morals uncorrupted." And I will visit upon him his ways, — as if to say: I will punish his acts and sins. For ways in Scripture are called acts, manner of living, tenor of life, conversation; for through these the mind proceeds, as through ways the body. And his thoughts I will render unto him. — The Hebrew מעללו (maalalav) signifies studies, machinations, schemes, works. These therefore are called here thoughts, namely the very machinations of crimes; God renders these to the sinner, when He punishes and afflicts him on account of the same things equally.
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10. And they shall eat, and shall not be filled. — The poor in spirit, who hunger and thirst after justice, shall be filled, and therefore are pronounced blessed by Christ, Matt. cap. v, 6. But these covetous priests and gluttons, who devour the sins of the people, and gape after them with insatiable greed, shall by the just judgment of God be reduced to such famine in the Assyrian captivity that they cannot satisfy and fill it. Thus Theophylactus and Arias, who adds: "Those who seize upon victims shall themselves be turned into victims," so that they may be despoiled and slaughtered by the Assyrians. Secondly, Ribera and Arias, as if to say: Although they immerse themselves in gluttony, belly, and crimes, they shall never fill their desire. For, as St. Jerome says and Haymo from him: "Pleasure is insatiable, and the more it is seized, the more it creates hunger in those using it. On the contrary, blessed are those hungering and thirsting after justice, because they themselves shall be filled. Just as justice fills, so iniquity, having no substance, deceives those eating in vain by fraud, and leaves the bellies of those devouring it empty." Otherwise Theodoret: They shall eat, he says, punishments and torments, but shall never be filled with them, that is, they shall never cease, because one shall continually succeed another. They have committed fornication, and have not ceased. — The Chaldean, Vatablus, Pagninus, Arias and Isidore take these things of bodily fornication, from which follows: "Fornication, and wine and drunkenness take away the heart;" whence they translate: They shall play the harlot and shall not break forth; the Syriac, they are not multiplied, that is they shall not grow, shall not be increased with children, as if to say: They seek offspring, and therefore they couple not only with wives, but also with harlots; but God shall punish them with sterility, so that they beget no children; just as a little before He punished these same ones, because they were gluttons, with famine, so that they cannot fill it. For the fitting and just punishment of fornicators is childlessness and sterility, so that those who do not wish to beget offspring from matrimony instituted by God for procreation, desiring to beget them from harlots, cannot do so, or if they do beget them, they are wicked and miserable, and of short life, as present-day experience often teaches. This is what is said in Wisdom cap. iv, 3: "Bastard slips," in Greek μοσχεύματα, that is, offshoots and new shoots, "shall not strike deep roots;" which is clearly explained in cap. iii, where it says: "The children of adulterers shall be in incompleteness," that is, shall be incomplete, and shall not reach perfect age. "And the seed from the wicked bed shall be rooted out." Secondly and better, St. Jerome, Theodoret, Cyril, Theophylactus, Haymo, Hugh and Lyra take these things of mystical fornication, that is, of idolatry: for the Prophet continually treats of this, and immediately, giving the reason for his saying, adds: "Because they have forsaken the Lord." The sense therefore is, as if to say: They shall eat and shall not be filled, because they have committed fornication with idols, and have not ceased, nor have they been satisfied with their fornication; but with insatiable lust they have continued to fornicate, that is, to commit idolatry. "Strength," says St. Jerome, "fails in fornication, and the desire of fornicating does not rest;" whence for have not ceased, in Hebrew it is לא יפרצו lo ipprotsu, that is, they are not divided, namely from their fornication, and from their lovers, namely idols; but they are continually joined to them; for the root פרץ parats means to divide. Hence the place where God, fighting for David, divided and scattered the Philistines, was called Baal Pharasim, that is, having division, as if to say: The plain of divisions, or the field of fracture and rupture, David saying: "The Lord hath divided my enemies before me, as waters are divided," II Reg. cap. v, 20. Each sense is true and genuine. For fornication here and in what follows is taken both properly for harlotry, and mystically for idolatry. The reason is, because that was not only the image and symbol of this, but also its companion and follower, indeed even its instrument. For they worshipped idols, especially Beelphegor, or Priapus, with fornication, and with all obscenity, even unspeakable and Sodomitic acts with effeminate men, as shall be evident in verse 14. Because they have forsaken the Lord in not keeping—namely, His law and precepts. Thus St. Jerome, Hugo, Albert, Lyra and others. The Hebrew texts have: Because they have forsaken the Lord to keep, that is, because they have forsaken to keep the Lord, or the keeping of the Lord. The keeping of the Lord is called in Hebrew the laws, especially the ceremonial laws of the Lord. These are called keeping by metonymy, because they are to be observed and kept most carefully, so that he who keeps them seems to keep God Himself who established them, and by whom He is worshipped and honored. Whence the Chaldean translator renders: Because they have forsaken the worship of the Lord and have not kept it; and Vatablus: Because they have forsaken the Lord, so as not to observe Him (that is, His commands). Just as therefore courtiers and attendants, for instance the Swiss, with the greatest care continually guard their prince, and all things that concern him, and do nothing else their whole life; so we, especially priests, ought to guard the worship and sacred rites of God. Thus in Wisdom cap. vi, 19, it is said: "The care of discipline is love, and the love of discipline is the keeping of her laws; and the keeping of her laws is the assurance of incorruption." He alludes to the Levites, who are said to watch in the tabernacle, and to keep the keepings of the Lord, that is, the tabernacle, the vessels and rites of the Lord, Levit. cap. viii, 33; Numer. i, 53; cap. iii, 32, 36, 38; cap. viii, 26; cap. xviii, 4, 5, 8, and elsewhere. Wherefore Cyril and Theophylact expound it less correctly, as if he said: They have forsaken the Lord, that they might keep their evil ways, drunkenness, fornication, etc. Rupertus on the other hand: They have not kept themselves, he says, lest they should serve sins.
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11. Fornication, and wine, and drunkenness take away the heart. — "Fornication," both carnal, for it is joined with wine and drunkenness; and that which is wont to follow from it spiritual, that is infidelity and idolatry, takes away the heart, that is the mind, reason, judgment, soul, and drives a man mad, and makes him senseless. Thus Theodoret, Theophylactus and others. And this both because fornication itself is foul and mad, and repugnant to right reason; and because carnal fornication subjects a man to a harlot, who is driven by mad desires; but spiritual fornication subjects a man to an idol and to a demon, who is his sworn enemy; and because it exhausts and destroys his wealth, reputation, health, conscience. Thus Delilah the Philistine robbed Samson of his heart, strength and life. Thus the seven hundred concubines of Solomon drove the wisest king to madness, and drew him to the worship of their idols and destroyed him, III Kings cap. xi, 1. Moreover, to the fornicator and the heartless sinner, the fear of God, of judgment and of hell restores the heart; for God by fear strikes the heart, and stirs it to spiritual life. For, as the Wise Man says, Ecclesiasticus xxi, 7: "He that feareth the Lord, shall turn to his heart." But the just and noble, yet sleeping or heedless, God stirs up through love and benefits; as He stirred up the heart of David, II Kings vii, 27, when He said: "Thou hast revealed the ear of thy servant, saying: I will build a house for thee: therefore thy servant hath found in his heart to pray this prayer to thee." Morally, learn here how brutal lust is, which above other vices robs a man, even a wise and princely man, of his heart and mind. Wherefore Diogenes, as Laertius testifies, lib. VI, said that "harlots are the queens of kings;" because they drive kings to madness, and from them they seek and obtain whatever they wish, and thus exercise over the kings themselves a kind of kingdom, nay a tyranny; for kings do not always obtain from the people what they demand, but harlots are denied nothing. The same Diogenes said that harlots are like mulled wine mixed with lethal poisons, in that they bring pleasure at first, but are followed by perpetual pain. Wherefore Demosthenes, when he asked the famous courtesan Lais at Corinth for the use of her body, and she stipulated ten thousand drachmas for a night, being frightened by the magnitude of the price, changed his mind, saying: "I do not buy at such a price to repent," signifying that to dishonest pleasure is joined madness, equally as repentance. Xerxes, angry with the Babylonians because they had revolted from him, after he had brought them under his power, forbade them to bear arms; but they were to sing with harps and pipes, maintain harlots, keep taverns, so that, enervated by pleasures and senseless, they would not attempt revolt again. Plutarch testifies to this in the Apophthegms of Kings. Demetrius of Phaleron, when he saw a luxurious youth: "Behold," said he, "a square statue having a train, a belly, genitals and a beard." Thus Brussonius, lib. III, cap. xxxiii. Thus the Gentiles; what then should Christians say, to whom greater purity and holiness is enjoined by Christ, and to whom the foulness, harm, and vengeance of lust by eternal fires is more known? Was he a boy? Certainly, and he felt it, when lust grew cold and he lost his eyes; for then, weeping over his error and blindness, but too late, he could neither retain the pleasure of lust nor recover his lost eyes. Fittingly also those three heroes, the guards of King Darius, when they asked and disputed among themselves what was the strongest thing? The first of them answered: "Strong is wine; another: The king is stronger; the third Zerubbabel: Stronger are women: but above all things truth conquers," III Esdras iii, 10. Women therefore are Sirens, who ensnared the companions of Ulysses with their form and song, drove them mad and destroyed them. Do you want a remedy? There is but one: flight. "Flee fornication," says the Apostle, flee the sight and voice of women. A famous example on this matter exists in the Life of St. Martinianus in Surius, who, gravely and frequently tempted by women, became a fugitive throughout the whole world to escape them, and his constant spur was: "Flee, Martinianus." Finally, fornication robs a man of his heart, that is his mind and brain: because in the very act of it a man seems to be beside himself, to rage and rave like an epileptic. Whence some philosophers have said that the act of Venus is mere epilepsy; especially because if it be frequent, it really brings this on, as I have seen by experience, and physical reason clearly demonstrates it. Wherefore Alexander the Great, although he heard from flatterers that he was the son of Jupiter, yet was forced to confess himself a man: "From the use," said he, "of Venus, and from sleep I am manifestly convinced that I am a man," Thus Plutarch in his Life. Wine and (and it is taken for that is: thus Emmanuel) drunkenness take away the heart. — The Septuagint punctuates and translates these things differently, namely: Fornication, wine and drunkenness the heart of my people has taken up; but others punctuate and translate throughout, as our Interpreter does. In Hebrew word for word it is: Fornication, wine and must or, (as Vatablus translates it, intoxicating drink) seize, or take, or snatch away, the heart. It alludes in Hebrew to תירש tirose, that is must or wine freshly pressed, from the root ירש iarase, that is possessed and occupied; because when it is thick, turbid, boiling and smoky, it immediately occupies and possesses the heart, that is the citadel of the mind, and makes a man drunk and senseless. He notes that the origin of idolatry and all evil has been feasting and drinking bouts: for these snatch away the mind and the judgment of right reason, and at the same time inflame lust, and thus precipitate man into fornication and other crimes, and finally into infidelity and idolatry; for his god is the belly. That this is so is evident from the first propagation of men after the flood. For when wine was discovered by Noah, immediately it snatched the heart to itself, and more so that of his descendants, and stole away the mind, so that almost all turned aside to vices, indeed to idolatry. For Noah, dying, groaning and raging, saw almost the whole world, that is all his impious and idolatrous descendants, as I said in Genesis ix, at the end of the chapter. Hence some noted that wine, discovered by Noah, was so eagerly and quickly seized and attempted by all, that its very name passed into all languages, and the same thing which before, among all, though now divided by languages, remained. For wine in Hebrew is called יין iain, or ien: hence Janus (namely Noah) the inventor of wine: hence the Greek οἶνος; hence the Latin vinum; French vin; Italian, Slavonic and Spanish vino; German, English and Dutch wijn, and thus for the other peoples and languages. Furthermore, how much wine and delights snatch away the heart, not only the Prophets, but also the philosophers of the gentiles taught. Antisthenes, when someone was praising delights: "May it befall the sons of enemies," he said, "to live in delights," detesting the matter as pleasant and pestilent, delights which most embrace as the highest good. Thus Laertius, book VI On the Lives of Philosophers, chapter 1. Diogenes, in Laertius in the same book, railed against those who offered gifts to the gods for good health, and in the very sacred rite buried themselves in all pleasures and perished. The same man said those who through luxury poured out their wealth on cooks, grandsons, harlots and flatterers were like trees growing over precipices, whose fruit man does not taste, but is eaten by crows and vultures: sensing that those who serve gluttony and the belly are not men. Socrates, in Laertius, book II, chapter v, said it was shameful if anyone, serving pleasures of his own accord, made himself such as no one would wish to have as slaves in his house. But to such men no hope of salvation remained, unless others prayed to the gods for them, that they might obtain good masters, when it was altogether decreed that they should serve: indicating that none serve a more base and miserable servitude than those who serve pleasures both in mind and body. The same man admonished that pleasures are to be passed by no otherwise than Sirens, with ear stopped like Ulysses, he who hastens so that he might behold Ithaca, that is virtue as it were his homeland. Plato, when he saw the Agrigentines building at great expense, and dining in the same manner: "The Agrigentines," he said, "build as if they were always going to live, and eat as if they were always going to die." Thus Aelian, book XII. Arcesilaus the Scythian, when asked by someone how it came about that many from other sects defected to the Epicureans, but none from the Epicureans defected to others: "Because," he said, "from men Galli are made, from Galli men in no way." He called Galli the eunuch priests of Cybele, as if to say: We are more prone to pleasure than to virtue, although the latter makes men from women, the former makes women from men. Thus Laertius, book IV, chapter vi. The same thing was answered by Blessed Thomas More to someone asking why so many defected to Luther's voluptuous heresy. Cato the Elder refused the familiarity of a certain wine-bibber and glutton who sought it, and added the reason: "Because," he said, "I cannot live with him who feels better and more subtly with his palate than with his heart." Thus Brussonius, book III, chapter vii. Tiberius Caesar, to Attilio Buta, a praetorian man, when he lamented that he had been reduced to poverty through luxury: "You have awakened too late," he said. For those devoted to drunkenness and luxury truly sleep rather than live; for "the life of mortals is a vigil." Thus Seneca in his epistle. Scipio Aemilianus, declared Censor, hearing that a young man had given to his guests a cake made of honey fashioned in the form of the city and named Carthage to be torn apart, deprived him of his horse. Asked why? "Because," he said, "Carthage tore me apart first." By this saying he condemned a lazy and senseless soldier, who, devoted to gluttony with cakes sweetened with honey, rather than fought against warlike enemies. Thus Brossius, book III, chapter 1. But hear the proper evils of wine and drunkenness. Pythagoras used to say "drunkenness is a meditation on madness." Thus Maximus, sermon 30. Leontichiades the Spartan, asked why the Spartans drink little? "Lest," he said, "others take counsel for us," that is to say, He cannot prudently take counsel about matters, whose sound judgment has been taken away by wine. Thus Plutarch in the Laconian [work]. When Astyages asked Cyrus why he had not drunk wine? "Because," he said, "I feared that mixed poisons might be in the bowl. For indeed when you brought a friend to your birthday celebration, I clearly learned that he had poured poisons into your drink." "And how," said he, "O son, did you know this?" "Because I saw you," he replied, "neither in possession of your body nor of your mind." Thus Xenophon in the Paideia. Androelides, a wise man, said to Alexander the Great, devoted to wine: "Wine about to be drunk, O king, remember that you drink the blood of the earth: hemlock is poison to man, hemlock is wine." Thus Brossius, book I, chapter 19. Concerning Bonosus, a great drinker, who was later made Emperor, Aurelian said: "He was born not to live, but to drink." Thus Vopiscus in Aurelian. The same Bonosus hanged himself: and when someone asked who was hanged, another replied that it was not a man, but an amphora. Aeschines used to say: "A mirror of form is bronze (for once mirrors were made from polished bronze), but wine is a mirror of the soul:" for nothing is so hidden in the heart that a drunkard does not blurt out. Thus Maximus, sermon 30. "Wine is a luxurious thing, and drunkenness is tumultuous." Proverbs 20:1. "Woe to whom? Woe to his father? To whom are quarrels? To whom are pits? To whom are wounds without cause? To whom is redness of eyes? Is it not to those who tarry in wine, and study to drink off cups? Look not upon wine when it is yellow, when its color shines in the glass, it enters pleasantly, but in the end it will bite like a serpent, and like a basilisk it will spread poison." Proverbs 23:29. "Give not wine to kings, O Lemuel, give not wine to kings: for there is no secret where drunkenness reigns." Proverbs 31:4. St. Basil and Ambrose say that drunkenness is voluntary madness. Furthermore St. Bernard says, book On the Manner of Living Well, chapter 25: "Many," he says, "are captured by demons through wine, and drunkenness is nothing other than a most manifest demon." And a little before: "Drunkenness weakens the body: drunkenness generates disturbance of mind: it increases the fury of the heart; thus it alienates the mind, so that man does not know himself." A certain Egyptian monk, asked why he continually deprived himself of pleasures, replied: "I deprive myself of them, so that I may cut off the cause and occasion of anger. For I know that it always wages war from pleasures, and disturbs my mind, and puts to flight knowledge itself." Thus Nicephorus, book XI of History, chapter 43.
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12. My people consulted their wooden idols. — He proves that fornication and drunkenness take away the heart, from the fact that men are led to idolatry, so that they interrogate wooden idols, deaf, blind, mute and empty, as if they were their gods, and consult them about the future outcomes of things. Or rather the sense is, as if to say, So much has luxury and lust, both of fornicating and of idolatry, driven them mad, that they seek oracles from wooden objects and staffs. You will ask, what is this wood? First, the Chaldean, Rupertus and Lyra answer that it is a wooden idol; second, Isidore says it is false prophets whom the people consulted: these are called wood metaphorically, because the common people leaned upon them as if upon wood and a staff; third, more rightly St. Jerome, Haymo, Hugo and Vatable, by wood here understand a divining rod: for by it as an instrument they divined. Whence the Septuagint translates: In their symbols they consulted; for these rods were symbols of superstition and divination. Hence also he adds: "And his rod (consulted by him) answered him." Note: The ancient Chaldeans, and the Hebrews following them, used ῥαβδομαντία and βελομαντία, that is divination by rods and arrows. Thus Nebuchadnezzar, doubting whether he ought to attack Jerusalem or Philadelphia in war, took two arrows, to one of which he inscribed the name Jerusalem, to the other the name Philadelphia; then he mixed them by lot and drew one out, and when he saw the name Jerusalem inscribed, he conjectured that it ought to be conquered by him first, Ezech. cap. xxi, 21. See the things said there. Again they would cast an arrow into the air, and observe where it would fall; whether forward or backward; whether to the right or to the left, and by this they would conjecture which way they ought to go. Thus Theophylactus. Third, Moses son of Samson, in the explanation of the negative precept 52, recalls such a rite: They would strip a wooden rod on one side, then throw it into the air; if in the first throw the stripped part appeared on top, but in the second throw the upper part was still covered, they augured a prosperous outcome: but if the contrary, the first part covered, an unhappy one: if in both throws the upper side was either covered or stripped, they promised themselves a mixed outcome; and this is noted and censured by Hosea here. See Rhodiginus lib. IV, cap. xxix, and Delrio, lib. IV Disquis. Magic. cap. ii, Quæst. VI, sect. I, near the end, and sect. III, at the beginning. For the spirit of fornications hath deceived them. — Some by this spirit understand the stimulus of the flesh, namely a vehement inclination and impulse to fornicate. To this Cassian agrees, Collat. VII, cap. xxxii, who from Abbot Serenus teaches that the spirit of fornication is a demon inciting to fornication: for although demons are incorporeal, and each of them solicits men to any vices whatsoever, nevertheless so that there might be some order among them, and so that more orderly, and therefore more powerfully and effectively they might attack men, they themselves distributed among themselves their works and vices; so that these preside over this vice and solicit to it, those over that, others over another, hence indeed in Scripture they seem to be called spirits of wrath, pride, gluttony, lust, etc. Thus the Moabite maidens deceived the Hebrews, when they first induced them to fornicate with them, then to worship their idol Beelphegor, and thus they brought upon themselves the wrath and plague of God, Num. xxv. Second, "the spirit of fornications" is the ardor and impulse of the mind, inciting it to idolatry; thus Theodoret, Theophylactus, Arias and others. Driven by this spirit as if by a gadfly, the mad Israelites rushed to worship idols, as a fornicator rushes to harlots; as is evident from the Prophets, who everywhere inveigh against and thunder against this ardor. Whence it follows: "And they have committed fornication with their god," as if to say, By fornicating, that is by idolatrizing, they departed from God and from the worship of God. Either sense fits this place, as I said verse 10; but the latter the Holy Spirit intends more.
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13. They sacrificed upon the tops of the mountains. — These tops are what are called from the lofty height of the place throughout the books of Kings. And upon the hills they burned incense, — that is incense, fumigation. For the Greek θυμιάω signifies to fumigate, to perfume, to burn incense, and this is what the Hebrew קטר katar signifies: therefore thymiama here is not only that compound made from stacte, onycha, galbanum and frankincense, which God commanded to be burned on the altar of incense, Exod. xxx, 34; but also frankincense, amber, and any incense, producing a fumigation.
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14. I will not visit (that is, I will abandon, neglect, permit you to sin with impunity: thus St. Jerome, Theodoret, Hugo, Lyran, or, as Isidore and Vatablus say, as if to say, I will not punish so severely your daughters and brides when they have committed adultery). He adds the reason: Because they themselves conversed with harlots. — It is an enallage of person: for from indignation, as if turning his face away from them, he changes the second person into the third, saying: "They," that is, you yourselves, as if to say, Because you, abandoning your daughters and wives, go to harlots and commit fornication with them; hence they themselves, provoked by your example and abandoned by you, in like manner and by right, abandoned by you, will go to lovers and adulterers, and will fornicate with them. The Hebrew texts have: Because they themselves separated themselves with harlots, that is, separating themselves from daughters and wives, they conversed (1) See Ezech. xxi, annotation to verse 21. and committed fornication: although Marinus in the Hebrew Lexicon derives יפרדו yippuredu, that is, they will separate themselves, from פרד pered, that is, mule (which is so called because it is separated by generation), as if to say, They will beget mules, that is, spurious offspring; or, as if to say, After the manner of mules they abuse matrimony, not for the sake of generating, but solely for the satisfaction of lust. Moreover, these harlots were priestesses of Beelphegor, that is, of Priapus, and by their prostitution they worshipped him, says St. Jerome, Cyril and Theodoret, concerning whom III Kings xv, 12, or worshippers of Venus, as Albert wishes, who sitting at his temple prostituted themselves to those coming, as I said at Baruch vi, 42. with cymbals and pipes, bearing torches they ran about. Thus also Theodoret, Rupert, Haymo, Hugo, Lyran and others, who also add another reason why they are called effeminate; because, they say, many of them were castrated, and became eunuchs; so that they were able to serve Venus only passively, as women, not actively. Moreover, that these men, succubi of Beelphegor, that is, of Priapus, were consecrated in Israel and Judah, is evident from III Kings xiv, 24, and IV Kings xxiii, 7. But hear St. Jerome: "We," he says, "have translated effeminates. These are those whom today in Rome, serving the mother not of gods but of demons, they call Galli, because the Romans, from this nation, castrated by lust in honor of Atys (whom a harlot made a eunuch), enslaved as priests of that god: and for this reason men of the Galli nation are made effeminate, so that those who had taken the city of Rome might be struck with this ignominy. Such idolatry was in Israel, worshipped especially by women of Beelphegor, on account of the obscene magnitude, whom we can call Priapus." Secondly, however, no less aptly you may translate harlots for effeminates. For the Hebrew קדשות kedesçot, which is feminine, properly signifies these; for men and males are called masculine קדשים kedesçim (they can, however, also be called feminine kedesçot by catachresis, because they were effeminate, as I have already said). St. Jerome favors this: "It should be known," he says, "that in the present passage kadescot, the harlots themselves, that is, priestesses enslaved to Priapus, he calls." But Ribera rightly suspects that in the codex of St. Jerome there is a scribal error, and it should be read "priests enslaved to Priapus he calls," lest it contradict itself: for a little before he called them "men." They were therefore of the male sex, but harlots and women by the abuse of lust and nature. Symmachus also favors this, who called ἑταίρας, that is, companions, friends, mistresses, properly harlots. Thus also Theophylactus: "He calls," he says, "those initiated in such things sacred mystics, already judged worthy of the sacred mysteries among them, as more perfect: who, though seen to be males, were females, using cymbals, and going about the streets with feminine wailings, perfecting the sacraments of Beelphegor." And the Chaldean who translated: They feast and drink with harlots. Where note: For the Hebrews kedesça is more than זונה zona: for zona signifies any harlot whatsoever, but kedesça signifies a famous, public one, as if already registered in a brothel and consecrated: for this is called kedesça, that is, holy, by antiphrasis, because she is most foul and filthy, and infamous and celebrated by her filthiness. Again, kedesca, that is, holy, was called a harlot who was consecrated to Priapus or Venus as if a priestess, such as these were. And (that is, for this reason, namely on account of the crimes already recounted) a people without understanding shall be beaten. — When, that is, at length I shall punish you, destroy you, and lead you into captivity, namely into Assyria. Thus St. Jerome. The Zurich Bible translates: And a people that would not understand shall be tossed about with various evils; Vatablus: A people without understanding shall perish, or shall fall, as if to say, "A people ignorant of God is wont to fall. Or it shall be struck with stupor when, that is, it shall feel such great scourges of God, who, although he is merciful, is nevertheless just in punishing sins," and compensates the slowness of punishment with its severity. The Hebrew לבט labat properly signifies to strike, to stumble, to fall, to be beaten; R. David translates it, shall be perverted; R. Joseph, shall limp; the Targum, shall be taken; R. Solomon, shall labor, shall be wearied; Pagninus, shall hasten, shall be uncertain and doubtful, not knowing where to turn.
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15. If thou commit fornication, O Israel, at least let not Juda offend. — He turns his discourse from Israel to Juda, and admonishes it to remember the temple and the kingdom of God (for God reigned in Juda through the descendants of David, and there He had His house and temple) and not to imitate Israel in committing fornication, and by its fornication honoring and worshipping Beelphegor and other gods, that is, demons. And go not into Galgala. — Galgala was both a place and a renowned city, distant from the Jordan fifty stadia, from Jericho ten stadia: it was holy and illustrious through the miracles and religion of the holy fathers. For first, after crossing the Jordan, the children of Israel pitched their camp there for a long time, and there the first public circumcision of the nation was performed. For Joshua circumcised all the males of the Hebrews who had been born in the desert during the forty years of wandering, and there he first celebrated the Passover in Chanaan: whence the Hebrews came to Galgala as it were to take possession of the promised land. For when the manna failed, they first ate there of the fruits of the land. From this the place received its name, and was called Galgala, Joshua v, 9, where we read thus: "And the Lord said unto Joshua (the circumcision being completed): This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you," because this day I have transferred you from the life and customs of the uncircumcised Egyptians, through circumcision, into my holy law and people; and therefore "the name of that place was called Galgala." For Galgala, or Gilgal, or Galgal, or, as St. Jerome calls it, Golgol, in Hebrew means the same as removal and taking away; namely, of the foreskin, and consequently of the reproach and heathenism of the Egyptians: for the root galal signifies to roll away, to remove, to take away: hence with the doubled letter ghimel, ghilghal, or galgal, means the same as rolling away, removal, taking away. Secondly, in Galgala Joshua received an omen of victory and possession of Chanaan; for seeing an angel with a drawn sword, he went to him and said: "Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?" and he heard from him: "Nay, but I am the captain of the host of the Lord, and now I come," to subdue Chanaan for thee: "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy," Joshua v, 13. Thirdly, in Galgala Joshua set up twelve stones, which he had taken from the midst of the Jordan's bed, and this so that they might be there forever a monument of the miraculous passage, by which the twelve tribes had crossed the Jordan with dry feet into Chanaan, Joshua iv, 20. Whence St. Jerome in the Epitaph of St. Paula says that these stones were seen there by St. Paula. These twelve stones represent the twelve tribes and patriarchs; and consequently the twelve Apostles, as it were the twelve rocks and foundations of the Church, Apocalypse xxi, 14. Thus Tertullian, book IV Against Marcion, chapter xiii. Fourthly, in Galgala the tabernacle of God, with the ark and the mercy seat, stood for many years; whence Samuel judged the people there, and there he anointed Saul a second time as king, I Kings x, 8. There also he slew Agag, king of Amalec, I Kings chapter xv, 33. Fifthly, Elias and Elisæus frequently dwelt in Galgala, and there they prophesied and performed miracles, IV Kings ii, 1, and iv, 38. For this reason the idolaters set up their idols in Galgala from the very beginning, as being so holy and renowned a place. For in the time of Aod, who was the third judge of Israel after Joshua, there were idols in Galgala, as is evident Note here that the demon is the ape of God, and therefore wishes to be worshipped where God was worshipped, both that he may exclude God by his possession, and that his honor and veneration may be more celebrated. For this reason Antichrist will establish his royal seat in Jerusalem, as I have shown in Apocalypse xi, 8; and there he will sit in the temple and be worshipped as God, both that he may be held to be the true king of Sion, that is, the Messias, the successor of David and Solomon, and that he may profane the city once holy, and establish his own in place of the temple of God, and that he may destroy all the monuments of the passion, resurrection and ascension of Christ, whose enemy he will be, and Antichrist. Thus experience shows that the demon especially lies in wait for monasteries both of men and of women, that he may introduce into them some sorceress or wanton, turbulent woman, etc., who may disturb or corrupt all the others, so that where God was especially worshipped, he himself may be worshipped, and thus may as it were expel God from His temple, and avenge himself upon it. In Bethaven. — Bethaven was a city of Judea, but an obscure one, situated near Bethel, concerning which Joshua vii, 2, and de Castro thinks the Prophet speaks of it here. But St. Cyril, St. Jerome, Theophylactus, Theodoret, Haymo, Lyra and others in various places think that Bethel itself is called Bethaven; both because it was near to it; and because Bethel was most celebrated, first in holiness and piety, afterwards in idols and idolatry. For Jeroboam placed golden calves in Dan and Bethel, as it were in two boundaries of the kingdom, and there he himself sacrificed to these calves. Note: Bethel was formerly called Luz, on account of the abundance of nuts and almonds (for these in Hebrew are called luz); but by Jacob the patriarch, who there saw God leaning upon a ladder, and angels ascending and descending by the ladder, it was called Bethel, that is, the house of God, Genesis xxviii, 19. The same by the Prophets through antiphrasis is called Bethaven, that is, the house of iniquity, as Theodotion translates it, or the house of nothingness, as Symmachus and Aquila translate it. The Septuagint, reading aven through crasis as on, translate it, the house of sorrow, or the house of an idol, because in it was a temple in which the golden calves of Jeroboam were worshipped. That this is so is evident from Amos v, 5, where the Prophet uses almost the same words which Hosea has here, and says: "Do not seek Bethel, and do not enter into Galgal, etc., because Galgal shall be led into captivity, and Bethel shall be unprofitable," in Hebrew aven; therefore Bethel is Bethaven. He admonishes therefore Judah, namely the two tribes, not to approach the idols placed nearby in Galgal and in Bethel. I say nearby, because Galgal and Bethel were in the lot of the tribe of Benjamin, as is evident from Joshua xviii, 12 and 22; and therefore he names these rather than Dan or Samaria. But he says: "You shall not go up into Bethaven," because Bethel was situated in a high place. Thus Vatablus. Tropologically, Bethel becomes Bethaven, when a kingdom, people, or city, such as England, Scotland, Denmark, falls away from the faith and worship of God to heresy, when temples are converted into stables, monasteries into arsenals, hospitals into taverns and dens, to which that saying of Jeremiah and Christ applies: "My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves," Matthew xxi, 13. Again, a holy soul becomes Bethaven, when it falls from the grace of God through sin; for then it passes from the kingdom and dominion of God into the right and power of the devil. Note that the Prophet here and henceforth to the end of the chapter speaks especially to the two tribes; for he turns his discourse to them at verse 15, saying: "If you commit fornication in Israel, let not Judah at least sin." Neither shall you swear: The Lord lives, — that is to say, Do not swear by the life of an idol, which is in Galgal, or in Bethel, attributing to it the name Lord, in Hebrew Jehova, which is an incommunicable name, and proper to the true God. For an oath is an act of latria: for in swearing by someone, they testified that he was infallible, the first and uncreated truth; and consequently that he was a deity and God: for those swearing called him as a witness to their assertion, saying, for example, The Lord lives, that I have done or shall do this or that, as if they said: I swear by God and the life of God, that I have done or shall do this or that. As therefore a little before he forbade the worship of an idol, so here he forbids an oath by an idol: for this is a protestation and invocation of a deity and the true God. Thus Theodoret, Albert, Hugh, Lyra and others. Others explain it, that is to say, I am God and Lord, or Jehova your God, I do not wish that you swear any longer by me and my life, since you are idolaters; I do not wish that by a mouth which you have polluted by the invocation of idols, you swear, name and invoke, and thus pollute my holy name. Thus St. Jerome, Cyril, Theophylactus, Haymo, Isidore, Vatablus and others. But this exposition does not rightly cohere with what preceded: "Do not enter into Galgal, and do not go up into Bethaven;" for to this it connects: "Neither shall you swear: The Lord lives," for these three things are said in the same case, tenor and connection, as is evident from the Hebrew. They therefore tend to the same end; namely, that they should not worship idols in Galgal and Bethaven, nor swear by them. Otherwise, what would be the connection in saying: Do not worship idols in Galgal and Bethaven, and do not swear by my name. The contrary rather should be said, in this manner: Do not worship nor swear by the idols which are in Galgal, but rather worship me, and swear by my name.
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16. Since Israel has declined like a wanton heifer. — He sets forth the petulance and wantonness of Israel as a foul and unworthy thing, provoking God's indignation and the destruction of the nation; so that Judah, learning from the alien madness and peril of Israel, might avoid it, as if to say: Israel, lacking sense, wantons like a heifer; but you, O Judah, persist in God's law, like a lion: for I have likened you to this, Genesis xlix, 10. Thus St. Jerome, Theodoret, Theophylactus, Haymo and others. In the Hebrew there is an elegant paronomasia: Like a heifer, or calf, שררה שרר sarera sarar, Israel, as if to say: Like a rebellious heifer Israel has rebelled against God. Thus Vatablus. For surera indeed signifies a heifer which is driven by wantonness or heat, and therefore untamed and rebellious, shaking off every yoke, and as if raging runs hither and thither. Finally the Prophet compares Israel to a heifer, not to a dog or ass. First, because he cultivated heifers, namely golden calves; it is called a heifer rather than a calf, to greater confusion, because thus in a wondrous manner of fornication he was driven by calves, to which by visible adoration he debased himself; but invisibly he prostituted his soul to a bull, that is to a demon. Second, because his god was his belly, and, as David says: "Their iniquity has come forth as it were from fatness." Third, because his wantonness was to be changed into slaughter, his exultation into lowing and lamentation. Thus Rufinus, Rupert and from them Delrio, adage 977. Finally because he acted like a calf and wantoned, just as the calves and heifers which he worshipped. Now the Lord will feed them like a lamb in a broad place, — that is in a wide and spacious place, as if to say: Just as a lamb, which is fattened, is allowed to feed most widely in the richest pastures, so that when fattened it may be immediately slaughtered; thus God allows Israel to abound in goods and wanton, so that he may be prey to the Assyrians, and by them be despoiled and slaughtered. Thus St. Jerome, Vatablus and Lyran. Second, others say, as if to say: Israel captive will go into Assyria, where he will not wanton like a heifer; but will be led where enemies will, and driven at the will of the Assyrians like a tame lamb. Thus Haymo, Hugo and a Castro. Or like a tame lamb everywhere seeking its mother's udders; thus Israel in captivity tamed and made gentle, will seek me and my udders. Thus Theodoret and Theophylactus. Tropologically, St. Jerome understands by Israel the heretic, by Judah the faithful and Ecclesiastical: "If once," he says, "you fornicate, heretic; at least you, Ecclesiastical, do not sin; nor enter into Galgal, the assemblies of heretics, where all sins are revealed, and like swine they wallow in mire (for Galgal alludes to גלה gala, that is revealed, and to גלל galal, that is rolled, wallowed), lest you think yourself ascending to the proud and arrogant fictions of false doctrines. For there is not the house of God, but the house of an idol. For just as a heifer struck by a gadfly, so heretics have been struck by the burning arrows of the devil, and have abandoned the knowledge of the law: therefore they will be fed in a broad and spacious way, which leads to death, and the patience of the Lord and of a good shepherd will nourish them unto destruction." The same, changing the name of heretic, you may adapt to the ambitious, the luxurious, the avaricious and to any sinner.
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17. Ephraim is a partaker of idols, let him alone, — as if to say: O Judah, let Ephraim go, that is Israel, namely the ten tribes, which are partakers of the worship and table of idols; for they eat things sacrificed to idols, namely meats and foods offered to idols: do not therefore imitate him, do not participate with him in idols and things sacrificed to idols. Thus St. Jerome, Theophylactus, Hugo, Lyran and others. Less correctly Rupert and Vatablus think these are the words of God to the Prophet, as if to say: You will labor in vain, if you invite Ephraim to repentance; let him go therefore with his desires and idols. For it is a most grievous punishment to be abandoned by God, and to be delivered to himself and his own concupiscences.
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18. Their feast is separated. — He gives reasons to Judah why he ought to avoid the commerce and society of Israel. The first is this, as if to say: Because their worship, religion and feast are separated and different from yours, O Judah; for you abstain from foods forbidden by the law in Leviticus xi; they eat them without scruple, you partake of the peace offerings sacrificed to God; they partake and eat things offered to idols. Thus St. Jerome, Albert and Hugh; you preserve yourself chaste after meals; they, distended with feasts, burn with lusts. This is what follows: "They have committed fornication with fornication." For "their feast is separated," in Hebrew it is סר סבאם sar sobeam, that is, their drinking or drinking together has receded, that is, their feast. For the Hebrews call miste, that is, drinking together, as also the Greeks συμπόσιον, from the communion of drink, which the Latins call a feast from the communion of food and nourishment. It is a metaphor from sour wines. For to recede is used elegantly by the Hebrews of wine, when it is resolved into vinegar. Whence also the Greeks call such wine ἐξεστηκός, Cicero, fleeing wine, the Flemish afgaenden wiin. The Chaldean, R. David, Vatable, Pagninus and other recent scholars translate: Their drink has been disturbed or has become foul, as if to say: Their wine was once wine, that is, colored, fragrant, flavorful; now through their crimes it has receded from its color, odor, flavor; and it has become discolored, putrid, sour, as if to say: Their joy has been turned into sadness, their gladness into mourning, their feasts into wormwood. It is remarkable that the Septuagint translates: He provoked the Canaanites; which St. Jerome explains thus, as if to say: "Israel had such great zeal in the worship of idols, that it did not imitate the Canaanites, that is, the gentiles, but provoked them to imitate its own error." Finally, Isidore translates: Their drunkenness and gluttony has receded, as if to the Israelites here is tacitly objected that they gorged themselves even to gluttony and vomiting. His protectors loved shame. — The second reason by which the Prophet urges Judah to withdraw from Israel; because, he says, "protectors," that is, the gods whom they worship, or, as the Chaldean, Hebrew, Pagninus and Vatable, his princes, who sanction idolatry, fornication, gluttony, and lead him to these things by word and example, bring upon themselves nothing but shame and reproach. Therefore by shame understand the shameful and ignominious both idolatry, with St. Jerome, Haymo, Hugh and Lyran, and gluttony and fornication, with Arias and the Chaldean, who translate: They loved fornication, so that shame came upon their princes. The Interpreter reads הבו habo, that is, to bring; now others read with different points, הבו habu, that is, bring, give. Whence they translate: They love, give to shame, his shields, that is, his protectors who guard him as shields, as if to say: The protectors and princes of Israel love gifts, and say: Give, give us presents, which is shameful for them as well as for the people. Thus Vatable, Pagninus, Isidore, the Rabbis. Or, as Arias, give, namely wines and delights, as if to say: They continually ask for wines and delights, as if Epicureans, which is the height of shame. But this translation is more obscure, and adds and supplies something to the text; our translation, however, is clearer, plainer, and more adequate, and therefore truer and more genuine.
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On the other hand, St. Jerome, Haymo, Albert, Hugh and Lyran understand by this spirit the devil, that is to say, The devil is he who impels Israel to idolatry and other crimes; so much so that it appears to him to have gathered together their mind and will, and to have bound them to idols. Thus the demon binds the sinner to his mistress, to wine, to ambition, and thus agitated and snatched about while bound, like a slave, wherever he wishes, just as magicians and witches snatch both body and spirit hither and thither. Secondly, Leo the Hebrew translates: He bound the wind in his wings; which Vatablus explains, that is to say, The wind held that gathered congregation (for this is what the Hebrew אותה ota signifies, which is feminine) of the Israelites in its wings, and thus will transfer them elsewhere, namely into Assyrian captivity; for he calls wings the edges and folds of garments, as if Israel bound in them has the wind or whirlwind, which thus transfers him with wings swiftly into Assyria. Whence also Symmachus translates: He bound the wind in the wings of the wind; which St. Jerome explaining says: "He bound, he says, them in the wings of the devil's spirit, who are carried about by every wind of doctrine, and cannot remain with a stable foot in the Church." This second sense coincides with the first: whether you say Israel snatched away into Assyria by the whirlwind of God's wrath, or by the wings of his whirlwind, the matter comes to the same thing; for the whirlwind of Israel is no other than the whirlwind of God's wrath, which indeed God's wrath gave to him and impressed upon him, so that it might carry him away into Assyria; just as the force of him who throws a stone, and the force of the stone thrown, is the same. For he who throws impresses his force upon the stone thrown, so that he may project it where he wishes: therefore this force is as much that of the man throwing, as if effecting, as of the stone thrown, as if receiving and suffering. Finally, the Hebrew אותה ota, that is, her, some refer to shame, that is to say, The whirlwind of God's wrath bound shame in the wings of Israel, so that he cannot shake it off; whence he adds: "They shall be confounded by their sacrifices," that is, on account of the sacrifices which they offered to idols. Tropologically, learn here that sins create a whirlwind which shamefully scatters sinners, and finally hurls them down into the depths of hell. Wherefore Zechariah, chapter v, verse 7, saw a woman, whose name was impiety, sitting in a barrel, carried away by two women having the wings of a kite, and a spirit in the wings, into Babylon, which is a symbol of hell. See what I have said concerning the cords and bonds of sinners in Isaiah v, 18.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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4, 4 « Audite verbum Domini, filii Israel! quia iudicium Domino cum habitatoribus terrae ; non est enim veritas et non est misericordia et non est. scientia Dei in terra ». — Consueta formula attentio excitatur (cf. Deut. 32, 1. Is. 1, 2. Mich. 1, 2. 3, 1. 6, 1) ; propheta non loquitur, nisi quae Deus posuerit in ore eius (Deut. 18, 18) ; quare eius verba Domini sunt. Eos titulo honorifico alloquitur, ut eos pudeat tanti patris se probare filios adulterinos, sed utad patris exemplum (Israel enim vidit et audivit Dominum Ab.) nobili aemulatione imitandum provocentur (Aib.). Neque abs re Sanct. notat : « illud Jsrael non puto carere aliquo pondere, quod maxime ad reprehensionis acerbitatem faciat ; nam quo quis ab alio magis aut ornatur titulis, aut augetur commodis, eo magis augetur peccatorum gravitas... leve illud non est, quod mutato parentis nomine pro Iacob Israel appellari voluit, et eius progeniem filios Israel, ut in parentis ac filiorum nomine divinum quoque nomen audiretur... hoc sane beneficium maximum est, quale sponsa solet a sponso accipere, dum ab illo compellationem habet ». Ita nomine ipso fidem patris et obedientiam in memoriam revocat (cf. 12, 4. 12) et quantum a patre defecerint filii, coarguit. Iudicium i. e. disceptatio, lis ; bene Ps. Ruf. : «quia non recusat vobiscum inire conflictum et rationem ponere iudiciorum suorum meritorumque vestrorum, cui dicit beatus David, uf iustificeris in sermonibus tuis et vincas, cum iudicaris » ; est igitur « discussionis et convictionis iudicium » (Alb.) ; vel ut bene Cyr. : « iudicio contendit cum hominibus, coarguens, non sententiam excipiens, et impietati in ipsum obnoxiis aperta ac nuda eorum scelera proponit, iuxta illud : arguam te et statuam contra faciem tuam iniquitates tuas », cf. Is. 3, 14. Mich. 6, 2. Israel h. 1. ad decem tribus certe restringitur (Sanct. Lap. Mar.), quia v. 13 a [uda explicite distinguitur. Cur Deus adversus eos contendat, docet : quia non est fides, fidelitas (hebr.), neque 4pm amor i. e. populus, sponsa Dei non servat fidelitatem promissam, neque ullo in sponsum amore tangitur ; ita 2n ler. 2, 2. — Eodem modo vulg. explicant; veritas i. e. fides et fidelitas (cf. Rib. Lap. Sa), misericordia caritatem dicit erga proximum, sed qui ea destituatur, etiam Dei amore carere adnotant. Cur autem sponsa sit infidelis eta primaevo amore defecerit, quo olim in deserto Domino sese desponderat (Ex. 19), ratio affertur : non est scientia Dei in terra i. c. quis quantusque sit Deus, illa sponsa non perpendit, Dei cognitionem alto animo infigere neglexit. Bene Lap. : « scientiam Dei accipe practicam, qua cognoscimus, aestimamus, reveremur Dei numen, providentiam, iustitiam ; ideoque haec Dei scientia cum eiusdem timore, amore, cultu et obedientia coniuncta est ». Haec igitur causa est peccatorum. Quantopere autem defecerit populus a fidelitate et amore, explicat
Munere prophetico instituto Deus providit, ut populus scelerum admoneretur, ut quae ingruerent peccatoribus mala, edocerentur, et moniti discerent iustitiam vel si id respuerent, ut clare intelligerent ipsi etiam inviti, non Dei auxilium deesse, verum propter peccata ultionem instare Deumque uti hostium regnorumque alienorum potentia et crudelitate ad iusta sua consilia adimplenda (cf. Cyr. Ps. Ruf. Rup.). Quare quid accusationis et querelae Deus habeat, propheta proponit :
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v. 2 « maledictum et mendacium et. homicidium et. furtum et adulterium inundaverunt et sanguis sanguinem tetigit » ; — maiore etiam emphasi in hebr. iurare et mentiri et occidere et furari ct adulterare ; grassantur (perrumpunt i. e. violenter agunt) e£ sanguines pertingunt ad. sanguines i. e. frequentiam vitiorum denuntiat, quibus bona humana omnia pervertunt et auferunt : periuria, quibus aliorum bonis et vitae coram iudice insidiantur, mendacia et calumniae, quibus honorem et. famam proscindunt aliorum, caedes, furta, adulteria, ita ut omnia iura vitae, bonorum, familiae pervertantur et ordo socialis et publicus pessum detur ; quare omnes quasi limites et cancellos perrumpere eos et vi infringere dicit usque eo, ut caedes caedem excipiat, i. e. continuo caedes, vulnera, oppressiones innocentium perpetrentur. Ita contra Deum et homines omni modo peccant, foedus cum Deo initum de observando decalogo (Ex 19, 8. 20, 2 et seq.) turpiter violant et pedibus conculcant. Tales i Igi itur fructus enascuntur ! ex neglecta Dei scientia, ex Dei oblivione et contemptu (cf. Rom. 1, 19 et seq.). Peccatoribus dignas poenas denuntiat
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v. 3 « propter hoc lugebit terra et infirmabitur omnis qui habitat in ea, in bestia agri et in. volucre coeli; sed et pisces maris congregabuntur ». — Simul cum homine « iram Dei etiam muta elementa sentient » (Hier.); is est scil. nexus inter hominem et creaturam, ut cum homine peccante affligatur, maledicto subiaceat (Gen. 3, 171; 6, 1; 19, 23), sed etiam cum homine salutis ac gloriae pro sua parte futura sit particeps (Rom. 8, 19). « Terra lugere videtur, quando inculta remanet sublatis habitatoribus et quae antea suis laetos proferebat fructus, incipit vepres procreare et spinas » (Haimo), quare bene exprimi dicunt habitatorum transmigrationem (Cyr. Hier. Alb. Haimo) ; lugere enim est desertum esse, vastatum, carere illo ornamento, quod rei natura exigit (Sanct. Rib. Lap.), unde terrae vastationem et horrorem praedicit. Infirmabitur, hebr. tabescit, arescit, languescit omnis habitans in ea. Qui homines exprimi putant, in bestia exponunt vel usque ad : tabes et languor extenditur usque ad animalia omnia in terra, in aere, in aqua versantia ( Hitz. ), vel instrumentale : lugebit terra cum habitatoribus suis et infirmabitur, ut non habeat bestias agri ( Hier. Schegg ), LXX «vv «ot; 6notox, sim. Syrus « et bestiae deserti » etc.. Alii explicant : omne habitans in ea, id quod sequenti enumeratione ( 3 cf. Gen. 7, 94 ; 9, 10) per singula recensetur ( Keil, Scholz ); terrae summa ariditas imbrium defectu innui videtur ( cf. 3 Reg. 17). Sed cum OON etiam de hominibus dicatur (4 Sam. 2, 5. Ier. 45, 9) et hominis mentione enumeratio fiat uberior, et ipsum etiam verbum act homines dicere videatur, versio vulg., quacum et LXX et Syrus concordant, omnino retinenda est. Congregabuntur i. e. deficient, auferentur, uti ipse S. Hier. explicat, id quod voci hebr. now consonat (cf. Sanct. Rib. Lap.). Yudicium Dei tale est, quod ubique omnem creaturam tangat; id quoque propheta affert, quia Dei iudicia temporibus anteactis etiam aquas revera attigerunt (cf. Ex. "1, 20. Ps. 106, 33), quia in regionis vastatione etiam aquae, fontes, flumina suo modo vestigia vastationum ferunt ( cf. Is. 15, 6 ; 19, 9. Ez. 38, 20 ; 30, 12), et quia generatim enuntiare vult, omnia prorsus emolumenta, quae habere possit homo ex rebus creatis, esse ipsi auferenda ( cf. Is. 50, 9. Soph. 4, 9. Sanct. ), et quia iudicium Dei 1gne constare saepe apud prophetas asseritur ( cf. Is. 9, 18; 10, 16; 96, 11; 66, 16. Scholz). Ita piscium interitu ariditas illa, qua omnia sunt percutienda et interimenda, quam maxime ad vivum descripta cernitur. Ad impletionem sufficit, ut simul cum homine res creatae iram Dei experiantur ; neque abest a prophetarum more, ut iudicia particularia coloribus depingant a iudicio universali depromptis ; de qua re vide, quac adnotamus ad Mich. 1, 2.
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v. 4 « Verumtamen unusquisque non iudicet, eL mon arguatur. vir ; populus enim tuus sicut hi qui contradicunt sacerdoti », —i. e. «loquitur quasi desperans illorum correctionem : quid ago? nemo hunc populum obiurget, nullus ex hoc numero reprehendatur ; tantae est enim impudentiae, ut ne convictus quidem habeat pudorem » (Rib.; sim. Hier. Sanct. Lap. aliique). Sed vix puto, prophetam cum reprehensionem incipiat, prohibere munus correctionis et reprehensionis ; dein 3* certe respicit 23 4, £ et est litem movere, litigare. Rationem affert, cur nemo conqueri possit de severo iudicio : sacerdoti contradicere animum ostendit in rebellione et contumacia obstinatum, quippe qui summo et ultimo tribunali quod constitutum sit — cf. Deut. 41, 12 —et Dei nomine ius dicat, acquiescere nolit : « qui autem superbierit nolens obedire sacerdotis imperio... morietur homo ille et auferes malum de Israel » ( Sanct. Scholz ) ; etiam ad rebellionem et contradictionem Core ( Num. 16) respici potest (Sanct. Schegg), sacerdos enim « cum sanctitate et reverentia audiendus erat » ( Alb. ) ; alio modo Ps. Ruf. : «a vero pontificatu consectando idola recessisti », sed id nimis alienum est a verbis !. Obstinati et in malis et rebellione obfirmati animi poenam subiungit
Iudicio generatim annuntiato prohibet, ne quis obloquatur quasi excusationem praetendens; ita in hebr. verum ne quisquam disceptet, ne quis arguat, litiget; nam pronum est hominibus suam diminuere culpam vel asserere, se ultra meritum puniri, cf. Is. 58, 2; Ier. 2, 23. 33; 9, 19 (Scholz). Versio vulg. alium praebet sensum,
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v. 8 «et corrues hodie et corruet etiam propheta (ecum ; nocte tacere feci matrem. tuam » ; —hebr. ita iungitur : et corruet etiam propheta tecum nocte et excidi matrem tuam ( cf. Mar. Sanct. et plures apud Lap. Trochon ; corruere i. e. penitus cadere, in captivitatem abduci (Hier. Rib. Lap. Sa, Mar. Scholz), cum captivitas sit casus et. ruina. populi ; hodie vero indicat, ruinam esse proximam ( Rib. Sanct. Lap. Tir.); notat Hier : « quod dicit hodie aut praesens tempus significat, aut non fraude et insidiis, sed clara in captivitatem luce ducemini ». Propheta, qui corruere dicitur, non est munus propheticum vel gratia prophetalis, quae sit auferenda ( Hier. Haimo), verum pseudoprophetae, « qui mendacium vobis annuntiant » ( Theod.) ; nocte corruent simul cum iis, quos deceperint, i. e. quia tempus miseriae et calamitatis noz est (cf. Am.'8, 9) et quae nocte accidunt infortunia, ex ipsis tenebris magis sunt horrori. Postquam singulis ( corrues) ruinam praedixit, addit totius reipublicae formam cum metropoli iri ablatum et excisum ; hanc matrem populi appellat ; « mater vocatur populi frequentia et omnis turba nationis hebraeae, ad quam loquitur ; filii autem vel singuli ex populo, vel per oppida villasque dispersi » ( Hier. ). Idem dicunt graeci, cum synagogen matrem vocari explicant. Verum nota, de regno israelitico ( cf. v. 13) esse sermonem. Populus igitur corruet, ductor etiam et doctor qui censetur, pseudoprophetae scil. demum tota respublica in metropoli designata. Cur tale excidium ingruat, inculcat
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v. 6 « conticuit populus meus eo quod non habuerit scientiam ; quia. tu scientiam repulisti, repellam te, ne sacerdotio fungaris mihi; et oblita es legis Dei tui, obliviscar filiorum tuorum et ego » ; — i. e. aeterno silentio conticescit (Hier.), perit ; ia ma (cf. Is. 45, 1). Scientia est illa v. 1 practica et vivida, quae non solum mentem illuminat, sed etiam ad religiosum opus movet ct instimulat (Sanct.). Hanc non modo non habent, verum fastidiunt, cum fastidio repellunt et aversantur !, quare Deus pari par referens illos quoque eiiciet de dignitate, ad quam eos assumpserat, ut ipsi essent « in regnum sacerdotale et. gens sancta » (Ex. 19, 6); ad quod consequens est : « procul vos propter captivitatem ab iis locis submovens, in quibus rem mihi sacram a vobis fieri constitutum fuerat, vos a cultu meo expellam » (Theod. M.). Non est solum « ex vobis non assumam sacerdotes » (cf. Haimo, Lap.), verum totum populum dignitate illa theocratica, qua ad Deum potest appropinquare et eius protectione et favore fruitur (Is. 43, 2. Ier. 30, 21. Scholz), spoliatum iri praedicit. Hoc autem eiectione in exsilium factum et cessatione sacrificiorum expressum est (cf. Ephr.). Doctrinam (scientiam) Dei neglexerunt — et tamen « labia sacerdotis custodient scientiam » Mal. 3, 1 — pariter mandata (cf. v. 4. 2) Dei tui, cum emphasi propter foedus initum et sollemnem populi declarationem et sponsionem (cf. Ex. 19, 8). Eo maior iam est culpa. Deus pari modo se ad eos habet : obliviscar i. e. in malis sinam eos consenescere (Sanct.) ; Deus enim recordari dicitur pauperis, quando illius necessitatem miserando relevat. Quo ambitu et quo fine eos malis traditurus sit, ex prima parte elucet. Quare hae minae illi aeternae caritati, qua Israel Deus diligit neque unquam obliviscitur (Is. 49, 45. Ier. 31, 3), non contradicunt. Dum /ilii puniuntur, duplici ictu mater percutitur. Ait etiam ego vicem reddens non lubens, sed dolorem et coactionem significans (Scholz). lam peccati accusationem et poenae denuntiationem ex eo auget, quia gloria et potentia a Deo concessa insigniter abusi sunt ; v. "| « secundum multitudinem eorum sic peccaverunt mihi ; gloriam eorum in tgnominiam commutabo » ; — i. e. non quidem « quot homines in eo nati sunt, - tot hostes habeo peccantes in me » (Rib. sim. Hier. Theod. Lap. Sa, Mar.), sed sermo est de populi potentia, conditione florente, ad quam Dei ope evecti sunt ; tempore enim Ieroboam ll res israeliticae. denuo multum florebant. Bene Ps. Ruf. : « quasi dedita opera impensoque studio contra beneficia mea populus certare proposuit, ut quanto ego fuissem in largiendo affluentior, tanto hic in abutendo appareret insanior » (sim. Sanct. Tir. Trochon). Unde poena condigna : quo maior est. gloria, eo maior erit ignominia. Bona, opes, divitias idolis et peccatis impenderunt (cf. 2, 1. Ez. 16, 13 et seq.) ; « incrassatus est dilectus et recalcitravit » (Deut. 32, 15). Huius libidinis peccandi exemplum proponit in adscitis illis sacerdotibus, quos Ieroboam I recedens a domo David instituerat (3 Reg.
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12, 31 ) : v. 8 « peccata populi mei comedent et ad iniquitatem eorum sublevabunt animas eorum » ; — plerique peccata — oblationes, sacrificia pro peccatis intelligunt, de quibus adipes solum in altari cremabantur (cf. Lev. 4, 8 - 10. 19. 26. 31. 33), carnes vero a sacerdotibus comedebantur (Lev. 6, 19 seq.), et revera tale sacrificium nun peccatum appellabatur ( Lev. 4, 1. 6, 1'1. Num. 153, 22) ; unde ita explicant Ps. Ruf. Cyr. Theoph. Alb. Sanct. Lap. Sa, Mar. Tir. Keil, Schegg, Trochon. Alii peccata comedere metaphorice intelligunt i. e. peccatis consentire, ea fovere et promovere eorumque complices se reddere (cf. Hier. Barh.), vel: illa metent, quae seminaverint (Theod. Theod. M.). Peccatum alii idololatriam intelligunt et cultum illum illegitimum, quem leroboam instituit, qui revera hoc nomine in s. literis designatur 3 Reg. 14, 16. 13, 30 etc. ( Scholz), ad quam explicationem iam prope accedit Rup.: « peccata namque populi comedebant, qui pro hoc solum, ut ipsi decimas atque oblationes caperent, populum in peccatis et in mendacio detinebant » i. e. in cultu illo mendaci ; hoc enim erat consilium Ieroboam, ne ultra ascenderent ad adorandum in Ierusalem (3 Reg. 12, 26 seq.). Quare isti sacerdotes etiam iniquitatem dicuntur populi desiderare et expetere: in hebr. e£ iniquitatem eorum desiderat anima eius ! 1. e. anima sacerdotum, quia ex cultu superstitioso et oblationibus pro delictis suos percipiunt fructus. Eheu, quantum a vera sacerdotum forma recedunt, a quibus lex Dei sit requirenda ( Mal. 2, 1). Quare communi ruinae involventur ;
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v. 9 « et erit sicut populus, sic sacerdos ; et visitabo super eum vias eius et cogitationes eius reddam ei » ; — qui scelerum socii sunt et adiutores, etiam poenae erunt ; Deus et vitam illorum et mentem pessimam ad vindictam revocabit. In hebr. adsunt fere synonyma viae et opera eius; viae tamen magis universim de tota sentiendi et agendi ratione, qua homo per vitam incedit, dicuntur. Iam paucis per modum proverbii tangit, quomodo Deus eos sit visitaturus ; et quidem in textu hebr.
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v. 140 et comedent et non saturabuntur ; fornicantur et non multiplicantur ? i. e. non dilatantur, non propagantur ; nulla erit prosperitas ; labor omnis erit inanis et sterilis, Dei maledicto obnoxius ( cf. Lev. 26, 26. Deut. 28, 20. Mich. 6, 14. Agg. 14, 6); haec una est ex longa calamitatum serie ( Lev. 26) rebellibus praedicta : neque pro se neque pro familia aliqua prosperitate fruentur. Sterilitatis poena iam olim erat proposita peccantibus (Deut. 7, 14) eamque Osee imprecatur 9, 14: « da eis vulvam sine liberis ». Vocat propheta per contemptum omne eorum matrimonium fornicari, quatenus est matrimonium ab idololatris contractum, quia non est wxor mea 1. Textus mas. habet TUA WU; ; Sed versiones veteres omnes et codices aliqui apud (2, 2). Textus vulg. in priore membro cum hebr. concordat, in altero scelerum descriptionem continuat v. 10 «et comedent et non saturabuntur ; fornicati sunt et non cessaverunt, quoniam Dominum dereliquerunt 1n non custodiendo » , — fornicari alii uti cap. 2 de foedere violato et de idololatria explicant (cf. Ps. Ruf. Alb. Sanct. Rib. Lap. Men. ); alit proprie: « vires in fornicatione deficiunt et fornicandi desiderium non quiescit . . voluptas insatiabilis est et quanto magis capitur, tanto plus utentibus se famem creat »; ita S. Hier. de utroque membro ; sim. Trochon. Concludit causam repetens vates, cur puniantur: Dominum dereliquerunt et addit, qua ratione eum dereliquerint, vid. -O5 i. e. in observatione praeceptorum, ea scil. negligentes ; cf. 4, 1. 2. 6. — Poena proposita et causa poenae iterum inculcata haec pars apte concluditur. In sequentibus obcaecationem et stultitiam idololatriae tangit, quare v. 11 non cum Scholz ad hanc partem sed ad sequentem trahi oportebit ; idque eo magis, quia eadem cogitatione in v. 14 recurrente ea pars apte in se concluditur. Hebr. y?» v. 2 inundare vertit. S. Hier., Ex. 1, 12 crescere, Is. 53, & penetrare i. e. dilatari, propagari. Ita etiam h. ]. vox est accipienda, uti eam accepit Syrus ; sim. Chald. : « accipient uxores et non generabunt filios » ef. Mar. Scholz. Hebr. nzm hiphil erebro fornicari significat ; id quod aliqui explicant: quaerent et desido- rabunt liberos, unde etiam meretricibus copulantur ; omni modo, per fas et nefas quaerent, sed frustra. At praeplacet alia explicatio supra proposita.
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v. 44 « Fornicatio et. vinum et. ebrietas auferunt cor » ; — bene S. Hier : « sicut enim vinum et ebrietas eum qui biberit, mentis suae impotem facit, ita et fornicatio ac voluptas pervertit sensum animumque debilitat, et de rationali homine brutum efficit animal ». In hebr. fornicatio et vinum et mustum ; a venere et ebrietate quam maxime sapiens dehortatur (cf. Prov. cp. 5. '1. 20, 4. 31, 3-85. Eccli. 19, 2); cor apud Hebraeos quasi sedes est et centrum totius vitae intellectualis et affectuum, unde et intellectum et voluntatem complectitur ; utramque vero facultatem corrumpi a venere et vino nimium constat. Adnotat Sanct. : « vide quid de Salomone prorsus excorde Scriptura tradat 3 Reg. 11: averterunt mulieres cor eius; et iterum : depravatum est cor eius per mulieres », et ita per libidinem rex sapientissimus idolorum cultor effectus est. 2 Ad quantam autem stultitiam delapsi sint per scelera veneris et ebrietatis, depingit
Iam accuratius exponit, in quantum scientiam Dei repulerint (4, 1. 6) et Dominum dereliquerint (4, 10). Et primo quidem generatim indicat, qua via ad idololatriam perveniatur et mentis acies intantum obtundatur, ut quis et stultissimo cultu et horrendis spurcitiis se commaculet ; ita
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v. 12 « populus meus 4n ligno suo interrogavit et baculus eius annuntiavit ei ; spiritus enim fornicationum decepit eos et fornicati sunt a. Deo suo » ; — « en tibi signum dementiae » (Tir.) ; nam populus meus, i. e. a Deo electus, edoctus, tantis miraculis et curis circumdatus, per prophetas assidue monitus, per calamitates iam eruditus a ligno tamquam a Deo responsum quaerit, a ligno suo, quod ipse sibi fecit ; omnino alludere videtur vates ad ?dola ex ligno etc. confecta, quam enormem stultitiam prophetae saepius exagitant (cf. Is. 44, 12. Ier. 10, 3. Hab. 2, 19 — Rup. Alb. Sa) ; alii lignum intelligunt virgam divinatoriam (Lap. Men. Schegg, Scholz), eodem modo, uti in altero membro : et baculus eius annuntiet ei hebr. ; verum prior explicatio re et sensu uberior, quae divinationem nexam cum stulta idololatria ostendit, praeferenda videtur '. Insuper volunt, ut baculus eis futura annuntiet ; carpit. rhabdomantiam (Hier. ) ; « inventum fortasse chaldaicae curiositatis. .. duas enim virgas statuentes, deinde arcanis quibusdam verbis eas incantantes, ut agente diabolo prociderent, cadentes rursum observabant, utrum prorsum an retrorsum, in dexterum an in sinistrum ferrentur » (Cyr.) ; « talis erat auguralis lituus, qui genus quoddam erat baculi, pastorali similis, de quo sic Cicero lib. 4 de divin. : lituus erat incurvum et leviter a summo inflexum bacillum... fuerunt praeterea alia virgarum seu baculorum genera, quae ex augurali aut divinatorio ritu varia inclinatione ac motu ac multiplici casu multiplices etiam eventus portendere putabantur, quale divinandi genus adhibuisse videtur Nabuchodonosor Ez. 91, 91 : stetit rex Babylonis in bivio, in capite duarum viarum divinationem quaerens, commiscens sagittas, interrogavit idola, exta consuluit » (Sanct.). Haec quidem ad belomantiam spectant, cuius usum S. Hier. in commentario ad Ez. l. c. describit. . Cur in tantam dementiam prolapsi sint, rationem affert : spiritus enim l. e. vis quaedam interna, impulsus, motus, ardor ille animi et vitiatae naturae pondus, quo ad vitia homines propelluntur (Sanct. Lap.), vel vh» egt v» mopyelav 6pyt;» ovopatzet (Theod.) ; fornicationes vero utrumque fornicandi genus idololatriam et ei coniuncta scelera impura complectuntur (Rup.), uti ex sequentibus patet ; idque eo magis, quia aliqua cultus genera potissimum impudicitiis exercebantur. Libidine igitur decepti, allecti et obruti ad tantam amentiam progressi sunt. Spiritum alii daemonem interpretantur (Cyr. Haimo), qui etsi non verbo designatur h. l., recerte suas in idololatria agebat partes (cf. 14 Cor 10, 20). In hebr. fornicantur amos nnno i. e. qui esse debebant sub Deo eiusque mandatis, inde ab eius iugo se subtrahentes idola sectantur. Potissimum idololatriam vocari fornicationem ex v. 13 elucet ; at ei adnexa esse impura scelera, altera pars v. 14 ostendit. Primariam igitur partem reprehendit
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v. 13 « super capita montium sacrificabanut et super colles accendebant thymiama, subtus quercum et populum et terebinthum, quia bona erat umbra eius ; ideo fornicabuntur filiae vestrae et sponsae vestrae adulterae erunt ». — Israelitae ingressuri Palaestinam idola eorumque cultum tollere iussi erant ; Deut. 12,92 : « subvertite omnia loca, in quibus coluerunt gentes.. deos suos super montes excelsos et colles et subter omne lignum frondosum ». Iam quam indignum, ut idololatriae ultores et vindices in eadem scelera sint prolapsi ! « Hoc est quod legimus de singulis regibus : verumtamen excelsa non abstulit ; adhuc populus immolabat et sacrificabat in excelsis » (S. Hier.) ; cf. Is. 351, 9. ler. 2, 20; 3, 6. 13 ; 41, 13. Ez. 6, 13 ; quia bona umbra, hoc uno bono, hac amoenitate illecti iam idolis serviunt, et in frondium umbraculo numinis symbolum venerantur. Haec ad ironiam adduntur : tam proni sunt ad idola colenda et tam grati diis, ut pro suavi arborum umbra iam sacrificia offerant ! Ideo i. e. exemplo patrum et maritorum incitatae etiam filiae et sponsae — vel nurus, uti alii (Lap. Schegg, Keil) hebr. vertunt — cultui idolorum et promiscuae fornicationi se prostituunt, quae in dcorum honorem exercebatur (cf. Num. 25, 3. 6. 3 Reg. 15, 13. 2 Par. 15, 16 — Movers, Phocnizier I, 511. 583). Alii explicant, talia passuras esse filias libidine victorum et hostium, ita ut earum violenta oppressione parentes puniantur (cf. Ps. Ruf. Cyr. Theod. Theod. M. Theoph. Alb.), uti Am. 1, " similes minae intentantur ; sed obstat v. 14, quo ipsae illae culpa minime vacare declarantur et tota vitiorum turpitudo apertius panditur ;
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v. 14 « non visitabo super filias vestras, cum fuerint fornicatac, et super sponsas vestras, cum adulteraverint, quoniam ipsi cum meretricibus conversabantur. et cum effeminatis sacrificabant. Et populus non. intelligens vapulabit » ; — 1. e. cum ipsi patres et mariti exemplo pessimo praeirent et cultum impurum cum omni licentia et aperte profiterentur, Deus dicit se filias et sponsas, i. e. fragiles illas et ad libidinem pronas non puniturum ratione habita maiorum parentum scelerum et ea comparatione instituta ; illae quasi excusatione et impunitate dignae sunt, illis venia concedenda, quoniam adeo pessimis exemplis pertrahuntur. Ita patrum et maritorum culpam exagitat, minas auget. Loquendi figura ea est, qua filiabus impunitas non promittitur, sed aliorum scelera acerbius perstringuntur ; neque maius supplicium maiorque Dei furor eo habetur, quia Deus earum emendatione desperata illam maximam poenam irroget, ut iam nullatenus puniat, sed eas sinat magis magisque tabescere (cf. Hier. Cyr. Haimo). Est quidem haec calamitas maxima ; at hoc loco de ea non est sermo ; nam tota oratio prophetae reprehensio est vitiorum et poenae ingruentis denuntiatio ; Deus igitur populum suum minime ita abiecit, ut iam quasi non dignaretur eum punire ; insuper oppositio illa, quae adest inter prius ac secundum membrum v. 14, eam interpretationem non admittit. Quoniam ?psi, non pergit eos alloquens, sed indignabundus quasi ad alios convertit sermonem, cum ii indigni sint quos compellat (cf. Rib. Lap.) ; scil. cum meretricibus illis in cultu Baal et Astartes venalibus sese recipiunt ! (hebr.) in tabernacula ad scortationem (cf. Num. 25, 6, 4 Reg. 23, '1) et publica etiam luce cum scortis ? ad altaria et sacrificia illa immunda accedunt. Tantam igitur foeditatem perpetrantes neque rei indignitatem sentientes poena interitus affligentur; vapulabit i. e. peribit, corruet, ? uti hebr. vertunt (cf. Lap. Mar.) ; « hoc significat, quod vapulet in captivitate et diversis afficiatur plagis. ut per dolorem recipiat disciplinam » (Hier. sim. Rib. Lap.) ; populus non intelligens, ita sermo redit, postquam argumenta allata sunt, ad initium v. 14 (cf. 4, 1. 6), et interitus annuntiatione haec pars concluditur, uti v. 3. 10. 19. templi aerarium referebant vel sacrificiis impendebant (cf. Ges. s. v. ; Movers, Phoenizier I, 679), S. Hier. dixit effeminatos, cinaedos, scorta mascula intelligens (cf. comment. ad h. 1.). Cum pretium scortationis Astartae esset devovoendum, sacrificabant fortasse idem dicit, quod in membro antecedente enuntiatur (Scholz). 3. Cf. Prov. 10, 8. 10 Hier. verbum t335* eodem modo vertit caeditur, verberabitur ; co Videt vates Israel in scelera et ruinam ruentem : dolore correptus exoptat, ut potior populi Dei pars, Iuda, qui legitimo regi et centro cultus a Deo constituto adhaeret, immunis servetur a culpa et ruina ; simul tali desiderio et exhortatione apostasiam Israel acerbius perstringit, rei indignitatem effert, ad aemulationem et nobiliores sensus suos populares provocat. Unde
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v. 13 « Si fornicaris tu, Israel, non delinquat saltem Iuda ; et nolite ingredi in Galgala, et ne ascenderitis in. Dethaven, neque iuraverilis : vivit Dominus ». — Alio modo nexum adstruit Ps. Ruf.,scil. ut Israel, propria lue contentus, patiatur innocentiam manere Iudae, ut cesset invitare Iudam ad idololatriam et impietatem illuc transfundere. At prior nexus et verbis et rerum conditioni magis aptus est. Vates enim indignabundus se ab Israel, quasi eius emendationem desperans, avertit et Iudaeos monet, ne ii, qui possideant lerusalem et templum Dei habitaculum, se complices reddant cultus idolorum : unde nolite ingredi in Galgala. Tria oppida eius nominis inveniuntur : unum in campestribus Iericho, contra orientalem plagam urbis Iericho (Ios. 4, 19; 5, 10), «locus desertus in secundo Ierichus milliario, ab illius regionis mortalibus miro cultu habitus » ( Hier. in Onom.) ; alterum, haud ita a Sichem dissitum ( Deut. 11, 30) ; tertium Ios. 12,93, quod nomine Gelgulis effertur et ab Antipatride in sexto milliario contra septemtrionem situm esse perhibetur (cf. Winer, bibl. Realwoerterbuch s. v. — Scholz ). Plerique interpretes h. l. de primo illo mentionem fieri censent. ldque merito. Nam illud oppidum vetere iam religione erat sacrum (cf. Hier. Theod. Rib. Lap.) : in ingressu opprobrium Aegypti ibi est ablatum (Ios. 5, 9); ibi Iosue omen victoriae et possessionis Palaestinae accepit ( Ios. 5, 13), ibi reposuit duodecim lapides, ut essent in monumentum perpetuum transitus (Ios. 4, 20), ibi per multos annos constitit tabernaculum et arca Dei (1 Reg. 10, 8; 141, 14; 13, 4; 45, 21); haec vetus loci religio oppidum celebre reddidit et superstitioni commendavit. — Alii tamen h. l. et 9, 45; 12, 12 (et Am. 4, 4; 5, 5) alterum oppidum, a Silo non longe dissitum, intelligunt (cf. Keil). Bethaven certe est illa nominis Bethel transformatio, quam ad idolorum - cultum traducendum etiam apud Amos (95, 3) legimus : Bethel, domus scil. Dei, locus iam Patriarchis sacer (Gen. 238, 10; 35, 14), in quo arca testamenti per aliquod tempus erat collocata (Iud. 20, 18 hebr. LXX. 926 ; cf. 1 Reg. 10, 3) a leroboam sedes facta est principalis idololatriae (cf. 3 Reg. 12, 28. Am. 3, 14; 7, 10. Ier. 48, 13), unde iam non domus Dei sed domus iniquitatis a vate dicitur. Pnoru. Mix. 1 — 5 Vocem Bethaven * Aq. et Theod. oixov &v»oc5 interpretati sunt, Sym. ofxov &6ixía; ( Theod. ). *tN dicit molestiam, onus, perniciem, vanum, malum, iniquitatem et tamquam nomen etiam sollemne cultui idolorum et idolis tribuitur (ef. Is. 66, 3. 1 Sam. 15, 23), et certe indolem, fructum, stultitiam eiusmodi cultus praeclare exprimit ; cf. 5, 8; 10, 5. 8,6, 8 ; 12, 12. Iudaeos igitur ipso nomine Bethaven edocet et hortatur, ne ad idoli vanitatem et iniquitatem deflectant ; neque iuraveritis ; id aliqui intelligunt cum S. Hier.: « nolo enim per os vestrum nominis mei fieri mentionem, quod jidolorum mentione pollutum est » ; quod eatenus verum est, quatenus Deus cultum suum cum idolorum cultu permisceri et coniungi vetat, id quod Ps. Ruf. innuit ; addit tamen aliam interpretationem, quam a plerisque adoptari video: vitulis scil. veri Dei nomen adscripsisse idololatras perque eorum nomen numenque iurasse (cf. Theod. Rib. Lap. Sanct. Mar. Tir. ), tribuisse igitur incommunicabile nomen (Sap. 14, 21) vituli imagini; neque id incredibile, Iahve scil. sub vituli symbolo ab iis cultum et invocatum ; nam Ex. 32, 5 postquam vitulus est, confectus, Aaron edixit: « cras sollemnitas est Jahve », et Iud. 17, 3 ex argento Domno consecrato fit conflatile (cf. Rib. Sanct.). Ne Dominum in Bethel colant, prohiberi censet Scholz ; proinde hanc sententiam idem dicere, quod antecedens membrum. Ut Iuda a consortio cum Israelitis idololatris deterreatur, in sequentibus vates et mores Israel et sortem excidii instantem proponit. Ita primo quidem
4:16
v. 16 « quoniam sicut vacca lasciviens declinavit Israel ; nunc pascet eos Dominus quasi agnum in latitudine » ; — cum ex more aegyptiaco sub bovis ( vituli) simulacro numen colant, comparatio sua sponte oritur; lasciviens « idem valet quod rebellis, contumax, aratri ac lori impatiens, cum lascivum pecus neque aut labore fractum aut usu domitum parere velit aut. assuescere iugo, et libere huc atque illuc erret furioso simile » ( Sanct. ). « Iugum suscipere detrectat » ( Haimo ) ; id praecipue hebr. dicit: à333:D rebelAltero membro poenam edicit: pascet etc. comparationem varie exponunt: uti agni in pascuis saginantur, ita Israel permittit Dominus per tempus aliquod prospere agere, ut demum cedant in praedam Assyriorum (cf. Sanct. ) ; vel uti agnus in campis solus?luporum incursibus est expositus certeque peribit, ita Israel (cf. Ps. Ruf. Theod. M. Barh. Trochon) ; vel in latissimos campos eos educet ac disperget, scil. inter gentes et captivitati tradet (cf. Hier. Theod. Rup. Alb. Rib.) ; vel per antonomasiam pascet i. e. Dominus eas persequetur, conteret tamquam leo ( 19, 1. Ier. 2, 30; 50, 111) agnum in lato campo, qui non possit effugere ( Scholz); at commodissimum est 'exponere, uti 2, 14 ducam in solitudinem. Dein iterum mores tangit : v. 4'1 « particeps idolorum Ephraim, dimitte eum » ; —i. e. coniunctus cum idolis, quasi alligatus illis ( hebr. ) arcteque adnexus; Ephraim nomen est tribus, quae novo Israel vel Samariae regno post defectionem a domo David primos reges dederat (cf. Hier. Alb. — 3 Reg. 11, 26), unde tribus potentissimae nomen ad universum regnum transiit, praecipue apud prophetas, vel etiam simul cum Israele commemoratur ; Osee 36 locis eo utitur nomine. Dimitte eum i. e. sine eum agere, quod agit; ne tibi sit curae, quod ita agit; cf. 2 Sam. 16, 11 ; 2 Reg. 23, 18 (hebr. ). Aliqui hoc a Deo ad prophetam dici volunt: ne ultra moneas ; frustra est enim (cf. Rup. Scholz ) ; at plerique ad Iudam id referunt (Hier. Ps. Ruf. Haimo, Alb. Sanct. Rib. Lap. Sa, Mar. Men. Schegg ), idque recte ; nam uti ex v. 43 elucet, Iudam monere vult, ne cum Israel impiam ineat communionem. Quomodo vero propheta a monitione sit prohibendus, nulla ratione cernitur, et ipso nostro libro refutatur, cum invehi in eosdem pergat ; cf. quae ad 4, 4 adnotata sunt. Mores ulterius delineans, quid ad idolorum cultum addant, innuit
4:18
v. 18 « separatum est convivium eorum, fornicatione fornicati sunt ; dilexerunt afferre ignominiam protectores eius » ; — ex textu lat. cur sorietas cum Israel vitanda sit, hanc reddit rationem : « cultus et religio et cibus a tuo convivio separatus est ( Hier. Sanct. Lap.), nullum intercedere debet. commercium, nulla victus vel sollemnitatis communio (cf. Ioan. 4, 9: « non enim coutuntur Iudaei Samaritanis »). Hebr. QN30O "D locus est obscurus ; Syrus eum omisit ; Chald. explicat : principes eoruin multiplicaverunt convivia ; LXX, uti Hier. dieit : provocavit Chananaeos * , ergo 7pí0wsv, (130 ; cf. Scholz) ? sed editiones [habent 750£::6s, elegit i. e. eorum ritus adoptavit ( cf. Cyr.), vel amavit, uti fert textus syr. hexaplaris. Magis ad textum hebr. accedunt Sym. et Theod. * kzíx)tv& 16 aupxóctov aótóv, 1óv olvov abtàv ; proprie verba sonant : recessit vinum eorum ( cf. Is. 1, 22. Nah. 1, 10) vel compotalio eorum; sed quo sensu h. l. *D venit ? aliqui: putruit, vel foetuit vinum eorum, i. e. propter scelera eorum epulae vertuntur in absinthium (cf. Lap. Mar.) ; alii: degeneravit ( omnes limites transcendit) compotatio eorum ( Keil) ; alii : y alienum factum est. convivium eorum, q. d. gentium mores exprimunt (Schegg) ; alii : quando recessit compotatio eorum, fornicantur ; alii versum, ut v. 19, de futuro explicant : recedet ebrietas eorum, qui nunc assiduo fornicantur, q. d. ex sopore et ebrietate scelerum acerbitate poenae evigilabunt ad sobrietatem ( Hitz.) ; alio prorsus modo Scholz : Israel est vinea. Domini (10, 1. Is. 5, 1) ; iam vitis degeneravit et uvas ct potum attulit acidum, unde : degeneravit fructus eorum (cf. Ier. 2 , 21; 5, 7). Quod Chald. habet, ad contextum satis aptum est, cum mores principum toto versu proponantur; sed alium parumper textum hebr. supponit. Uti textus iacet, *D videtur omnino respicere 13D v. 16, et cum reprehensio de fornicatione sequatur, de impiis et lascivis conviviis sermo esse videtur, ad quorum mentionem ardens illud fornicandi studium, quod repetitionis forma exprimitur, accedit. Utrumque absolvit dicens : dilexerunt afferre ignominiam, i. e. delinquere (Ps. Ruf.), vel speciatim ita cultus idolorum nominatur (Hier. Theod. Theod. M. Alb.) vel potius conditio populi et reipublicae designatur ct status sordidus, quem populus vitio principum subiit in exsilio ; mali igitur et excidii probrosi auctores notantur (cf. Sanct.) et eorum studium perstringitur, quo perniciem attrahunt et interitum diligunt (cf. Sap. 1, 16). Talem ruinam illi afferunt, ? esse debebant protectores, hebr. clypei populi, tutores ac defensores. Eo quod Deum reiecerunt et peccata dilexerunt, etiam interitum, ignominiam, opprobrium et cetera, quae peccatis adnexa sunt, diligere et amplecti merito dicuntur, cum talis adsit nexus inter peccatum et poenam, quem nemo possit ignorare. Poenam ulterius delineat
4:19
v. 19 « ligavit eum spiritus n alis suis et confundentur a sacrificiis suis » ; — i. e. ventus et tempestates eos abripient et tunc confusione oppleti vanum illum cultum esse et omnium ma- 1. Vel ex cod. syr. hexapl. Sym. igfxsv a):0», üníxXws ... Theod. xaxí£zavosv Exutw, lorum originem deprehendent. Vehementem dispersionem et acerbam : concussionem imago portendit. Hebr. 43y arripit eam ventus alis suis, alludit ad 434p v. 16, ut ipsa soni cognatione ille nexus inter peccatum et poenam exprimatur. Populi igitur et reipublicae eversiohem, in longinquas regiones ablationem et summam ignominiam praedicit incurrendam. Admonitio pro Iuda est gravis : num cum tali sorte suam vult nectere? nectet autem, si idola cum Israel sequitur. Cum sermo ad ultimum populi excidium progressus sit, indicatur hic esse finem reprehensionis ponendum. Ita sermonis conformitas ad v. 3 et v. 14 exacta est, uti etiam v. 10 poenae denuntiationem continet : hac aequali conclusione simul discimus, quales orationis partes apte distinguamus. Mentione facta sacrificiorum ad sacrificulos, [ad sacerdotes increpandos viam sibi sternit, cum ipsi sint ruinae fautores et auctores. ]lÍ. — SECUNDA REPREHENSIO AD DUCES POTISSIMUM DIRECTA 5 - 6, 3. Anc. — Duces populum perdunt, in eos iudicium devolvitur, quia aliis sunt deceptioni et scandalo, cuius rei Deus ultor exsistet. Nam coram eo patent scelera eorum, contumacia, et Dei oblivio, impudentia, arrogantia ; quare in interitum ruent neque iram Dei placare poterunt (5, 1 - 6). Ruinam hanc in praevaricatores devolvendam delineat bellico tumultu et strepitu et terrore ; interserit, cur talia sint eventura Israelitis et Iudaeis, scil. propter illorum culpam simulque Deum auctorem ultionis principalem ostendit ; at quia punitione non ad saniora consilia reducuntur, sed apud exteros auxilium quaerunt et solatium inane, Deus illos ineluctabili demum ruina prosternet (3, '1- 44). At excidium vertetur in salutem : in tribulatione quaerent Dominum, eritque salvator, vitae, felicitatis, sanctitatis largitor (5, 13 - 6, 3). Dum prima reprehensio minis absolvebatur, haec altera, quae prioris est fere tantum continuatio et ad duces potissima applicatio, laeta promissione concluditur (cf. 1, 10 ; 2, 13; 3, 5), cum fixum sit ratumque, Dei populum tribulatione iri praeparatum feliciori instaurationi. « Omnes veluti sopitos excitat et expergefacit ad audiendum » (T/eoph.), et « verba obiurgationis ad fallaciae et deceptionis inventores et ad morbi et amentiae huius auctores convertit» (Cyr.). Quare
4:1
… 30, 8; Hab. 2, 2; Dan. 8, 26; 12, 4; Ezek. 24, 2; in a special way Jer. 36) and to set forth only what God wills (Deut. 18, 15-22; Jer. 23, 16; 20, 7-9, 15, 19; 14, 14; Ezek. 13, 3-17; Mic. 3, 5-8; Zech. 7, 12; cf. II Sam. 7, 1 ff.), declares divine (Hos. 4, 1; Joel 1, 1; Am. 1, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2, 1 etc.; Obad. 1; Jon. 1, 1; 3, 1; Mic. 1, 1; 3, 5; 6, 1; Nah. 1, 12; Zeph. 1, 1; Hag. 1, 1; 2, 1, 11, 21; Zech. 1, 1; 7, 1 ff.) what he has written; …
… It is essentially expressed in the Decalogue: monotheism and moral precepts (Hos. 4:1 ff. 12-19; 6:6 ff., etc.; cf. Am. 3:1 ff.; 5:21-26; 8:2; Mic. 6:6 ff.; Isa. 1; 5:1-7; Jer. 7; 11, etc.). …
… binding on all, on a moral basis (cf. Ex. 23, 1-9; Lev. 19, 1-37), which was to bring about in Israel the "knowledge of God." The priest was to apply it and inculcate it; to the negligence of the t. on the part of the priests are due the crimes of Israel (Hos. 4, 1-6). Particularly associated with the priesthood, the t. (like the cognate verb hôrāh) denoted the (oral) directive that the priests gave in the name of Yahweh, especially in matters …
4:2
… It is beyond doubt that they inculcate the observance of the commandments of the D. (Gampert): cf. Hos. 4:2, 13; 6:9; Jer. 7:9; etc. All their preaching is for the return to the pure monotheism of the origins, and is against idolatry, that is, for the observance of the first precept, the root …
… In the Mosaic law very severe penalties are sanctioned against adulterers, particularly when the woman is guilty (cf. Gen. 39:7-20; Ex. 20:14, 17; Lev. 18:20; 20:10; Deut. 22:22; II Sam. 11:2 ff.; Jer. 5:8 ff.; Ex. 23:20; Hos. 4:2). It is the severity found in other Semitic legislations (cf. code of Hammurabi, § 129; Hittite and Middle Assyrian laws in G. Furlani, Leggi dell'Asia anteriore antica, Rome 1920, …
4:4
… The priests, for their own interests, are the guardians of this fatal disorder (cf. Am. 7:10-17: A. Neher [v. bibl.], pp. 20-33; Hos. 4:4-10; 5).
4:6
… And they presuppose these precepts as known, when they inveigh against their violation: Am. 2:4-16; Hos. 4:6; 6:5-11; Is. 1:12; Jer. 6:19; Mic. 6:8; etc.
From the office, entrusted to the priests, of adapting the t. to life (Deut. 17:8-12, 18; Jer. 2:8; 18:18; Ezek. 7:26; 22:26; Hos. 4:6) derived the oral t., connected with the activity of Ezra (5th century), and from the very beginning of Pharisaism (2nd century B.C.) considered as inseparable from the written t. …
4:12
… In the minor prophets, even in the most ancient (Am. 2:4; 4:13; 5:8 ff.; 9:2, 5 ff.; Hos. 4:12; 9:10; 13:4), the same faith is found.
The prophetic writings abound in reproaches against recourse to magic (cf. Hos. 4:12; Is. 2:6; 3:2 f.; 57:3; Jer. 27:9; Mal. 3:5), and this aversion persists in the writings of the New Testament (Acts 8:9; 13:6, 10; 19:19). This shows how deeply rooted in the people …
… On God's part, every benefit and the greatest affection; on Israel's part, the infidelity that began with the first contacts with the Canaanites (Hos. 9:10; 10:1; 11:1 ff.; 13:5 ff.; cf. Jer. 2:1-3; Ezek. 20:28), and now in Samaria is at its height (Hos. 2:4-15; 4:12 and passim). …
4:13
Bamah (Heb. "height"; plural Bāmāth)
The Bible mentions the 'Āšērāh, pl. 'Āšērīm (Deut. 12:4; 7:5, etc.), the hammānīm (Lev. 26:30; II Par. 14:4) (v. Baal), tents (Ez. 16:16, 18), altars erected on high hills and mountain peaks, under leafy trees, where incense was burned to idols and food offerings were made (Os. 4:13; Ez. 6:13) and banquets (Ez. 22:9). In the b. there have been found, among other things, bronze daggers, libation cups, burned vessels, perfumes, votive objects of every kind, …
4:15
Gilgal, Gilgala (Heb. Hag-Gilgâl "The Circle")
… 15:12). David was received there festively by the tribe of Judah on his return from his flight into Transjordan (II Sam. 19:16). After G. later became a center of idolatry, like the sanctuary of Bethel, it was condemned in the invectives of the prophets (Hos. 4:15; 9:15; Am. 4:4) and after the Babylonian exile its memory was lost.
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.