God will defend his church, and bring over even her enemies to the faith. The meek coming of Christ, to bring peace, to deliver the captives by his blood, and to give us all good things.
The bordering enimies of the Iewes shal beleue in Christ. 9. who wil first come to the Iewes in mekenes, yet in solemnitie riding on an asse: 11. deliuer the godlie from the lake, 12. geue great thinges to the faithful, 17. and one most excellent thing aboue the rest.
1The burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach, and of Damascus the rest thereof: for the eye of man, and of all the tribes of Israel is the Lord’s.Annunzio pesante del Signore per la terra di Hadrach, e di Damasco, sopra di cui quella si riposa: perocché l'occhio del Signore mira gli uomini, e tutte le tribù d'Israele.THE burden of the word of our Lord in the land of Hadrach, & Damascus his rest: because our Lord is the eye of man, and of al the tribes of Israel.Onus verbi Domini in terra Hadrach / et Damasci requiei ejus, / quia Domini est oculus hominis et omnium tribuum Israël. 2Emath also in the borders thereof, and Tyre, and Sidon: for they have taken to themselves to be exceeding wise.Anche Emath è dentro i termini dell'annunzio, e Tiro, e Sidone: perchè si arrogano gran saggezza.Emath also in the borders therof, and Tyre, and Sidon: for they haue taken to themselues wisedom excedingly.Emath quoque in terminis ejus, et Tyrus, et Sidon: / assumpserunt quippe sibi sapientiam valde. 3And Tyre hath built herself a strong hold, and heaped together silver as earth, and gold as the mire of the streets.Tiro ha fabbricati i suoi baluardi, ed ha ammassato, argento come se fosse terra, e oro, come si fa del fango delle piazze.And Tyre hath built her munition, and heaped together siluer as earth, and gold as the myre of the streets.Et ædificavit Tyrus munitionem suam, / et coacervavit argentum quasi humum, / et aurum ut lutum platearum. 4Behold the Lord shall possess her, and shall strike her strength in the sea, and she shall be devoured with fire.Ecco che il Signore se ne impadronirà, e sommergerà nel mare la sua possanza, ed ella sarà divorata dal fuoco.Behold our Lord shal possesse her, and shal strike her strength in the sea, and she shal be deuoured with fyre.Ecce Dominus possidebit eam: / et percutiet in mari fortitudinem ejus, / et hæc igni devorabitur. 5Ascalon shall see, and shall fear, and Gaza, and shall be very sorrowful: and Accaron, because her hope is confounded: and the king shall perish from Gaza, and Ascalon shall not be inhabited.A tal vista Ascalon rimarrà sbigottita; e Gaza si addolorerà, ed anche Accaron, perché è svanita la sua speranza: e Gaza perderà il suo re, e Ascalon sarà disabitata.Ascalon shal see, and shal feare, and Gaza, and shal be sorie excedingly: & Accaron, because her hope is confounded: and the king shal perish out of Gaza, & Ascalon shal not be inhabited.Videbit Ascalon, et timebit, / et Gaza, et dolebit nimis, / et Accaron, quoniam confusa est spes ejus: / et peribit rex de Gaza, / et Ascalon non habitabitur.
6And the divider shall sit in Azotus, and I will destroy the pride of the Philistines.E Azoto sarà la sede dello straniero, e io abbatterò la superbia de' Filistei.And the seperatour shal sit in Azotus, and I wil destroy the pride of the Philisthims.Et sedebit separator in Azoto, / et disperdam superbiam Philisthinorum. 7And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth: and even he shall be left to our God, and he shall be as a governor in Juda, and Accaron as a Jebusite.E torrò dalla bocca di essi il sangue, e le loro abbominazioni di sotto ai loro denti: ed eglino pure rimarranno soggetti al Dio nostro, e saranno come un capopopolo in Giuda, e Accaron sarà come 'l Jebuseo.And I wil take away his bloud out of his mouth, and his abominations out of the middes of his teeth: and he also shal be left to our God, and he shal be as a duke in Iuda, and Accaron as a Iebuseite.Et auferam sanguinem ejus de ore ejus, / et abominationes ejus de medio dentium ejus: / et relinquetur etiam ipse Deo nostro, / et erit quasi dux in Juda, / et Accaron quasi Jebusæus. 8And I will encompass my house with them that serve me in war, going and returning, and the oppressor shall no more pass through them: for now I have seen with my eyes.E a difesa della mia casa porrò coloro, che vanno, e vengono, militando in mio servigio, e l'esattore non comparirà più tra di loro: perocché io adesso li miro cogli occhi miei.And I wil enuiron my house of them, that serue me in warfayre going and returning, and the exactour shal no more passe ouer them: because now I haue sene with myne eyes.Et circumdabo domum meam / ex his qui militant mihi euntes et revertentes: / et non transibit super eos ultra exactor, / quia nunc vidi in oculis meis. 9Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion, shout for joy, O daughter of Jerusalem: BEHOLD THY KING will come to thee, the just and saviour: he is poor, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass.Esulta grandemente, o figliuola di Sion, giubila, o figliuola di Gerusalemme: Ecco che viene a te il tuo Re giusto, e Salvatore: egli è povero, e cavalca un'asina, e un asinelio.Reioyce greatly ô daughter of Sion, make iubilation ô daughter of Ierusalem: BEHOLD THY KING wil come to thee, the iust and sauiour: himself poore, and ryding vpon an asse, and vpon a colt the fole of an asse.Exsulta satis, filia Sion; / jubila, filia Jerusalem: / ecce rex tuus veniet tibi justus, et salvator: / ipse pauper, et ascendens super asinam / et super pullum filium asinæ.
10And I will destroy the chariot out of Ephraim, and the horse out of Jerusalem, and the bow for war shall be broken: and he shall speak peace to the Gentiles, and his power shall be from sea to sea, and from the rivers even to the end of the earth.Ed io torrò via i cocchi di Ephraim, e i cavalli di Gerusalemme, e gli archi guerrieri saranno spezzati; e quegli annunzierà la pace alle genti, e il suo dominio sarà di un mare all'altro, e dal fiume sino alla estremità della terra.And I wil destroy chariot out of Ephraim, and horse out of Ierusalem, and the bow of warre shal be dissipated: and he shal speake peace to the Gentils, and his power from sea euen to sea, and from the riuers euen to the end of the earth.Et disperdam quadrigam ex Ephraim, / et equum de Jerusalem, / et dissipabitur arcus belli: / et loquetur pacem gentibus, / et potestas ejus a mari usque ad mare, / et a fluminibus usque ad fines terræ. 11Thou also by the blood of thy testament hast sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit, wherein is no water.E tu stesso mediante il sangue del tuo testamento hai fatti uscire i tuoi, che erano prigionieri, dalla fossa, che è senz'acqua.Thou also in the bloud of thy testament hast let forth thy prisoners out of the lake, wherin is no water.Tu quoque in sanguine testamenti tui / emisisti vinctos tuos de lacu in quo non est aqua. 12Return to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope, I will render thee double as I declare today.Movete il passo verso la città forte, o voi prigionieri, che avete speranza: oggi io ti annunzio, che darò a te beni grandi.Conuert to the munition ye prisoners of hope, to day also declaring I wil render thee duble.Convertimini ad munitionem, vincti spei: / hodie quoque annuntians duplicia reddam tibi. 13Because I have bent Juda for me as a bow, I have filled Ephraim: and I will raise up thy sons, O Sion, above thy sons, O Greece, and I will make thee as the sword of the mighty.Perocché io ho fatto di Giuda come un arco teso per mio servigio, ed arco teso per me egli è Ephraim: e a' tuoi figliuoli, o Sionne, darò io valore sopra i tuoi figliuoli, o Grecia; e te renderò io come una spada d'uom valoroso.Because I haue bent Iuda for me as a bow, I haue filled Ephraim: and I wil rayse vp thy sonnes ô Sion vpon thy sonnes ô Greece, & I wil make thee as the sword of the strong.Quoniam extendi mihi Judam quasi arcum: / implevi Ephraim: / et suscitabo filios tuos, Sion, / super filios tuos, Græcia: / et ponam te quasi gladium fortium. 14And the Lord God shall be seen over them, and his dart shall go forth as lightning: and the Lord God will sound the trumpet, and go in the whirlwind of the south.E sopra di loro si vedrà il Signore Dio, che lancerà come folgori i suoi dardi: e il Signore Dio suonerà la tromba, e si muoverà co' turbini del mezzogiorno.And our Lord God shal be seene ouer them, and his dart shal goe forth as lightning: & our Lord God wil sound with trumpet, and wil goe in the whirle wind of the South.Et Dominus Deus super eos videbitur, / et exibit ut fulgur jaculum ejus: / et Dominus Deus in tuba canet, / et vadet in turbine austri.
15The Lord of hosts will protect them: and they shall devour, and subdue with the stones of the sling: and drinking they shall be inebriated as it were with wine, and they shall be filled as bowls, and as the horns of the altar.Il Signore degli eserciti sarà loro protettore: e divoreranno; e abbatteranno co' sassi della fionda e bevendo s'inebrieranno come per vino, e se ne empieranno come le coppe, e come corni dell'altare.The Lord of hosts wil protect them: and they shal deuoure, and subdew with the stones of the sling: and drinking they shal be drunke as it were of wine, & they shal be filled as phials, and as the hornes of the altar.Dominus exercituum proteget eos: / et devorabunt, et subjicient lapidibus fundæ: / et bibentes inebriabuntur quasi a vino, / et replebuntur ut phialæ, / et quasi cornua altaris. 16And the Lord their God will save them in that day, as the flock of his people: for holy stones shall be lifted up over his land.E il Signore Dio loro li salverà in quel giorno come gregge del popol suo, perché nella terra di lui sorgeranno come pietre sante.And our Lord their God wil saue them in that day, as the flocke of his people: because holie stones shal be eleuated ouer his land.Et salvabit eos Dominus Deus eorum in die illa, / ut gregem populi sui, / quia lapides sancti elevabuntur super terram ejus. 17For what is the good thing of him, and what is his beautiful thing, but the corn of the elect, and wine springing forth virgins?Ma che è il buono di lui, e il bello di lui, se non il frumento degli eletti, e il vino, che fa germogliare le vergini?For what is his good thing, and what is his beautiful thing, but the corne of the elect, and wine springing virgins?Quid enim bonum ejus est, / et quid pulchrum ejus, / nisi frumentum electorum, / et vinum germinans virgines ?
9:1
Worthington
Burden. Preaching of the truth is disagreeable to infidels, and light to the faithful. (Worthington)
Calmet
Hadrach; Syria, (Challoner) or a city near Damascus, on which it rested. The victories of Alexander and of the Machabees are here described. The former defeated the Arabs near Damascus, (which was betrayed to Parmenio) and having gained the victory at Issus, became master of Celosyria, of which he made Parmenio governor. (Calmet)
Haydock
Rest. Septuagint, "his sacrifice, for the Lord looks on men and on all the tribes of Israel." (Haydock)
St. Jerome
He wished for the conversion of all, and those who turn to him are not rejected. (St. Jerome)
9:2
Haydock
It shall also fall a prey to Alexander. (Haydock)
Curt. iv
Tyre was become again very rich and strong, (Calmet) and gloried in its wisdom; yet was taken after a long and obstinate resistance (Haydock) of seven months, when the inhabitants were slain or sold, the city demolished, and the ships sunk. (Curt. iv.; Usher, year of the world 3672.)
Calmet
Sidon made no resistance, as it hated the Persians. Yet Strato was forced to resign the throne to Abdolonymus, (Arian ii.; Just. xi.) which indicates some opposition. (Calmet)
9:5
Josephus
Ascalon was ruined. The other cities opened their gates, as Jerusalem did. (Josephus, Antiquities xi. ult.)
Curt. iv
Batis alone resolved to defend Gaza. He was dragged round the city when it was taken, after a siege of two months; the inhabitants were slaughtered or sold, and others brought in their stead. (Curt. iv.; Diod. Oly. cxii.)
9:6
Plut.[Plutarch]
Divider. Hebrew mamzer; "bastard," or rather "stranger." It is reported that Alexander was the illegitimate son of Nestabanes, whom Olympius took for Jupiter. (Plut.[Plutarch]; Just. xi.)
Calmet
But these might be popular reports. The sequel seems to shew that the Jews, etc., occupied the towns of the Philistines under the Machabees. (Chaldean) (Grotius) (Calmet)
Menochius
The divider may denote any conqueror. (Menochius)
9:7
Challoner
His blood. It is spoken of the Philistines, and particularly of Azotus, (where the temple of Dagon was) and contains a prophecy of the conversion of that people from their bloody sacrifices and abominations to the worship of the true God. (Challoner)
Many pagans devoured the victims raw, and drank the blood of their enemies. These marks of cruelty and superstition shall cease when they adopt the law of Moses, Genesis 9:4., and Leviticus 7:26,. and 17:11.
Haydock
Governor, or city of a thousand: (Calmet) Hebrew alup, Micheas 5:2. (Haydock)
Calmet
Jebusite. They probably embraced the faith with Areuna, 2 Kings 24:16. The city was formerly styled Jebus. The towns of the Philistines shall not be distinguished from the rest, under the dominion of Juda. See 1 Machabees 5:66., and 10:78. (Calmet)
9:8
Challoner
War; the Machabees. (Challoner)
Calmet
They stood up like a wall for the people and the temple. (Calmet)
Haydock
Hebrew, "my house, on account of those going," etc. I will protect it better than an army. (Haydock)
Calmet
After the Machabees, God preserved the temple from profanation till he abandoned it after the death of Christ. (Calmet)
Yet Pompey penetrated into the most holy place, and Crassus plundered the treasury. Both felt the effects of their impiety, and had no farther success.
Menochius
Oppressor; tax-gatherer, (Haydock) sent by foreign tyrants. (Menochius)
Haydock
Till the Machabees, particularly Hircan, (Calmet) or Simon, his father, (Haydock) threw off the yoke, the Jews were always subject (Calmet) either to the Persians, to Syria, or to Egypt. (Haydock)
Calmet
Hircan's son, Aristobulus, took the title king, and governed in peace. (Calmet)
9:9
Worthington
King. Christ often came to Jerusalem; but his last entrance, to die for man's redemption, was most excellent. (Worthington)
Calmet
If the Jews had not wilfully blinded themselves, they could not mistake Him, as he is here so minutely described, possessing the most humble and the noblest qualities. Not knowing how to reconcile them, they feign one Messias glorious and another poor and despised; while others admit only of one, and reject either the abject or the exalted things which the prophets have spoken of him. The Church alone can reconcile these apparent contradictions in our Saviour's character. After predicting what would befall the Jews till about one hundred years before the birth of Christ, the prophet turns to Him who was the desire and comfort of the nation. (Calmet)
St. Jerome
Saviour. Hebrew Noshah, (Haydock) or Jesus. (St. Jerome)
Menochius
Poor; or meek, as St. Matthew quotes it, after the Septuagint and Chaldean. (Menochius)
Calmet
They have read v for i, as hani (Haydock) means poor. (Calmet)
Protestants, "lowly," which may signify devoid of riches, or of pride.
Haydock
Ass. Septuagint, "yoked animal, and upon a young foal." (Haydock)
The former denotes the Jews.
9:10
Chariot. Arms shall be useless, Micheas 5:10.
Haydock
Earth. This can be understood only of Christ's kingdom, (Calmet) though it allude to the greatest limits of the promised land. (Haydock)
9:11
Menochius
Water; from limbo, (St. Jerome; etc.; Worthington; St. Thomas Aquinas, 3:p. q. 52. a. 1; Calmet) and purgatory. See St. Augustine, de Genesis 12:23., et ep. 99. (Menochius)
Christ delivered the ancient patriarchs by virtue of his covenant, just sealed with his blood. Hebrew at present reads, "and as for thee, Sion, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners," etc., delivering the Hebrews out of Egypt by the paschal lamb. (Chaldean) But this text is suspected, as St. Jerome remarks no variation.
9:12
Calmet
Hold. Return ye, who stay behind, to Jerusalem. God will make good all that you abandon; or come, Judas has procured liberty for the people, 1 Machabees 4:36. (Calmet)
Menochius
Embrace the gospel, and enter the Church. (Menochius)
9:13
St. Jerome
Juda: the Machabees. (St. Jerome)
Calmet
Filled, or stretched the bow of Ephraim. (Calmet)
Haydock
The people shall act with vigour and union. (Haydock)
Challoner
Sons; viz., the apostles, who, in the spiritual way, conquered the Greeks, and subdued them to Christ. (Challoner)
The Machabees repressed the insolence of the Seleucides, who were of Greek extraction.
9:14
Seen. God miraculously interposed in favour of the Machabees, and his angels appeared at their head, 1 Machabees 2:22., and 5:2., and 10:29., and 11:8., and 15:15. A handful of men thus routed vast armies, and asserted their independence, avenging religion and the state, which they restored to greater splendour.
South, whence storms usually arise in that country, Job 37:9. The angels confounded the enemy, 1 Machabees 10:30.
9:15
Sling. At first the Machabees had no other weapon, 1 Machabees 4:6. The sling was much used, Judges 20:16.
Calmet
Wine. They will shed blood of the enemy so abundantly, and be all besmeared with it. They would never drink it, like the pagans, Leviticus 17:10. (Calmet)
9:16
Challoner
Holy stones; the apostles, who shall be as pillars and monuments in the Church. (Challoner)
Calmet
The Machabees are like a wall. They restore the altar of holocausts, built of fresh stones, 1 Machabees 4:(Calmet)
9:17
Challoner
The corn, etc. His most excellent gift is the blessed Eucharist, called here the corn, that is, the bread of the elect, and the wine springing forth virgins, that is, maketh virgins to bud, or spring forth as it were like flowers among thorns, because it has a wonderful efficacy to give and preserve purity. (Challoner)
Calmet
It enables the weak to despise all things for the sake of virtue, and makes them fruitful and eloquent, as the original implies. (Calmet)
Haydock
Septuagint, "a fragrant wine for virgins." (Haydock)
Worthington
Christ is the grain of wheat, which dying, brings forth much fruit, (John xii.) and "of this wheat that bread is made which came from heaven," John vi. (St. Jerome) (Worthington)
Haydock
"How shall not they have joy, who being inebriated with the cup of our Saviour, are made virgins?" This was partly verified in the days of the Machabees, to whom plenty was granted. (St. Jerome) (Haydock)
Menochius
Those who partake worthily of the blessed Eucharist, become strong and pure. (Menochius)
Haydock
Protestants, "corn shall make the young men cheerful, (marginal note: grow, or speak) and new wine the maids." (Haydock)
9:1
Hadrach.... Syria.
9:7
His blood.... It is spoken of the Philistines, and particularly of Azotus, (where the temple of Dagon was,) and contains a prophecy of the conversion of that people from their bloody sacrifices and abominations to the worship of the true God.
9:8
That serve me in war.... Viz., the Machabees.
9:13
Thy sons, O Sion, etc.... Viz., the apostles, who, in the spiritual way, conquered the Greeks, and subdued them to Christ.
9:16
Holy stones.... The apostles, who shall be as pillars and monuments in the church.
9:17
The corn, etc.... His most excellent gift is the blessed Eucharist, called here The corn, that is, the bread of the elect, and the wine springing forth virgins; that is, maketh virgins to bud, or spring forth, as it were, like flowers among thorns; because it has a wonderful efficacy to give and preserve purity.
9:1
Preaching of true doctrine is at first vngratful to some hearers, and stil to the incredulous, but this burden becometh light to the faithful.
acitie of Syria.
9:9
Concordance Isa. 62. Mat 21. v. 5. Ioan. 1. v. 15.
Christ came often into Ierusalē but this last coming excelled al the rest, vvhen he came to dye for redemption of mankinde.
9:11
S. Ierom, S. Cyril & other fathers vnderstand this lake to be Limbus patrum from whence Christ deliuered the Sainctes of the old testaments.
9:17
Christ is the grane of vvheat vvhich dying bringeth much fruite Ioan. 12. And of this vvheat that bread is made that came from heauen Ioan. 6. • Ierom in hunc locum.
9:9
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 The First Apology 35
… The words are these: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 53
… Nay, it was prophesied by Zechariah, one of the twelve [prophets], that such would take place, in the following words: ‘Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; shout, and declare, daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King shall come to thee, righteous, bringing salvation, meek, and lowly, riding on an ass, and the foal of an ass.’
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 3.19.2
… But that He had, beyond all others, in Himself that pre-eminent birth which is from the Most High Father, and also experienced that pre-eminent generation which is from the Virgin, the divine Scriptures do in both respects testify of Him: also, that He was a man without comeliness, and liable to suffering; that He sat upon the foal of an ass;
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.33.1
… the one, indeed, in which He became a man subject to stripes, and knowing what it is to bear infirmity, and sat upon the foal of an ass,
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.33.12
12. Some of them, moreover—[when they predicted that] as a weak and inglorious man, and as one who knew what it was to bear infirmity, and sitting upon the foal of an ass,
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 10.17
… and immediately he will send them.” By these incidents Matthew declares that the prophecy was fulfilled which says, “Behold, the King cometh, meek and sitting on an ass and a colt the foal of an ass,” which we find in Zechariah.
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 10.18
… It is also fitting to rejoice at the destruction by Him who rides on the ass and the young foal of every hostile dart, since the fiery darts of the enemy are no longer to prevail over him who has received Jesus to his own temple. And there will also be a multitude from the Gentiles with peace
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 2.30
In Zechariah: “Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee: just, and having salvation; meek, sitting upon an ass that hath not been tamed.”
St Methodius † AD 311 Oration on the Palms 1
… for they are they which testify of Him, and be not ignorant of this miracle. Hear ye men without grace, and thankless, what good tidings the prophet Zechariah brings to you. He says, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; behold thy King cometh unto thee: just and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon the foal of an ass.
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 12.10
10. But who is this that cometh down? He says in what follows, And with the sun He endureth, and before the moon generations of generations . And again another of the Prophets saith, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold! thy King cometh unto thee, just and having salvation
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 12.17
… but I leave it to those who know. But He that cometh as the expectation of the Gentiles , what further sign then hath He? He says next, Binding his foal unto the vine . Thou seest that foal which was clearly announced by Zachariah
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 19
… Where, O Grave, is thy sting?” And another again, declaring glad tidings of the most profound peace, said, “They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.” And while one calls on Jerusalem, saying, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion, for lo! thy King cometh to thee meek, riding upon an ass, and a young colt;”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 63
But let us look also at the prophecy, that by words, that by acts. What then is the prophecy? “Behold, thy King cometh to thee, meek, and riding on an ass, and a young colt;”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 42
… Wherefore also He saith to Pilate, “My Kingdom is not of this world” ( c. xviii. 36 ), that He may not afterwards appear to have employed mere human terror or dominion for the purpose of persuasion. Why then saith the Prophet, “Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass”? (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 66
… xxi. 8 ), and that “the whole city was moved” ( Matt. xxi. 10 ); with so great honor did He enter. And this He did, figuring one prophecy and fulfilling another; and the same act was the beginning of the one and the end of the other. For the, “Rejoice, for thy King cometh unto thee meek” (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 27.3
… Our version, therefore, is, it is “a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation.” Lastly, let them take as much pleasure as they please in their Gallican “geldings;”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 53.8
… After he has described the horses, red, black, white, and grisled, and the cutting off of the chariot from Ephraim and of the horse from Jerusalem he goes on to prophesy and predict a king who shall be a poor man and who shall sit “upon a colt the foal of an ass.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 18.35
Zechariah says of Christ and the Church, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; shout joyfully, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King shall come unto thee, just and the Saviour; Himself poor, and mounting an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass: and His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.”
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 4.18
Some, again, have a prophetic sense, and of these some are in the future tense: for instance, He shall come openly , and this from Zechariah, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee
9:10
Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis iv.1.8
… own eyes, have not believed in our Lord and Saviour, judging that those statements which were uttered respecting Him ought to be understood literally, i.e., that He ought in a sensible and visible manner to preach deliverance to the captives, and first build a city which they truly deem the city of God, and cut off at the same time the chariots of Ephraim,
Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis iv.1-2.8
… have not believed on our Saviour, thinking that they are following the language of the prophecies respecting Him, and not perceiving in a manner palpable to their senses that He had proclaimed liberty to the captives, nor that He had built up what they truly consider the city of God, nor cut off “the chariots of Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem,”
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 10.18
… Whoever, then, receives Him will no longer be afraid of those who are armed with the specious discourses of the heterodox, those chariots of Ephraim said to be destroyed by the Lord,
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 53.8
… He sees Jesus, “clothed with filthy garments,” a stone with seven eyes, a candle-stick all of gold with lamps as many as the eyes, and two olive trees on the right side of the bowl and on the left. After he has described the horses, red, black, white, and grisled, and the cutting off of the chariot from Ephraim and of the horse from Jerusalem
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St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 12.10
… Thou hast a unique sign of the King who came. Jesus alone of kings sat upon an unyoked foal, entering into Jerusalem with acclamations as a king. And when this King is come, what doth He? Thou also by the blood of the covenant hast sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 13.34
34. The Sun was darkened, because of the Sun of Righteousness . Rocks were rent, because of the spiritual Rock. Tombs were opened, and the dead arose, because of Him who was free among the dead ; He sent forth His prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 18.35
… In another place, speaking in the Spirit of prophecy to Christ Himself of the remission of sins through His blood, he says, “Thou also, by the blood of Thy testament, hast sent forth Thy prisoners from the lake wherein is no water.”
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 61.4
… there thou wilt stand protected and fixed. But in what manner shalt thou flee to the Tower? Let not a man, set perchance in temptation, in body seek that Tower, and when he shall not have found it, be wearied, or faint in temptation. Before thee is the Tower: call to mind Christ, and go into the Tower.
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Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.39
… Hear what is predicted in Zechariah: “The Lord of hosts shall protect them; and they shall devour them, and subdue them with sling-stones; and they shall drink their blood like wine, and they shall fill the bowls as it were of the altar. And the Lord shall save them in that day, even His people, like sheep; because as sacred stones they roll,”
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Aphrahat † AD 346 Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations 5.8
… for when he was calling forth tears for them in the Lamentations, he said:— The children of Zion were more excellent than precious stones . And again he said:— How are the stones of the Sanctuary cast down at the head of all the streets ? And again He said by the Prophet:— The stones were holy that were cast down in his land .
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 22.19
Some people may be eunuchs from necessity; I am one of free will. “There is a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. There is a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together.” Now that out of the hard stones of the Gentiles God has raised up children unto Abraham, they begin to be “holy stones rolling upon the earth.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 108.16
… She wished to spend her money not upon these stones, that shall pass away with the earth and the world, but upon those living stones, which roll over the earth;
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 2
… I and my crew alone have nothing to fear. Other men shut up in their cells and who never see women, because, poor creatures! they do not listen to my words, are tormented with desire: crowds of women may surround me, I feel no stirring of concupiscence. For to me may be applied the
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St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to Hero, a Deacon of Antioch 1
… “For who shall eat or who shall drink without Him? For if anything be beautiful, it is His; and if anything be good, it is His.”
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Answer to Eunomius' Second Book 1
… Is there one who will venture to say that any of the virtues in the Divine nature are acquired, or to deny that all good whatsoever springs from and is seen in it? “For whatsoever is good is from Him, and whatsoever is lovely is from Him
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Catechising of the Uninstructed 27
… But rather connect yourself with the good, whom you will easily find out, if you yourself were once become of that character; so that you may unite with each other in worshipping and loving God for His own sake; for He himself will be our complete reward to the intent that we may enjoy His goodness and beauty
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 3.16
… For “every good gift and every perfect boon is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” And Zechariah too says, “For whatever is good is His, and what is excellent is from Him.”
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1. The burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach and Damascus. — You will ask, what is this burden? I answer, a burden is a burdensome and threatening prophecy, as I said on Isaiah XIII, 1, by which slaughter or destruction is threatened against some nation, as here it is threatened against the Syrians, Tyrians and Philistines, which was indeed accomplished, partly through Alexander the Great. For he, as Curtius testifies in books III and IV of the Deeds of Alexander, and Plutarch in his Life, captured Damascus with the treasure of Darius, Palestine, Syria, Cyprus, and all of Phoenicia, and indeed devastated and burned Tyre after a siege of seven months, and crucified two thousand of the citizens; partly through the Maccabees, who subdued the Syrians and Philistines, and compelled them to circumcision and Judaism, as is evident in I Maccabees cap. XI, verse 59, where it is said that Antiochus "appointed Simon as leader from the borders of Tyre to the borders of Egypt. And Jonathan went out, and traveled (as victor and ruler) across the river through the cities: and all the army of Syria gathered to him for aid, and he came to Ascalon, and they met him with honor from the city." Soon after, succeeding and plundering Gaza, "he traveled through the region as far as Damascus." Thus St. Cyril, Albert, Hugh, Lyra and Castro. For this is properly called a burden, which God here imposes upon the Syrians, Tyrians and Philistines. But because this dominion of the Maccabees was not complete and lasting, but slight and of short duration, nor was the whole nation of Syrians, Tyrians and Philistines converted to God and Judaism through them, hence the Prophet here, mixing the type with the antitype, flies away to Christ, who through the Apostles fully converted these and other nations, and subjected them to God and to himself through the Gospel. Thus St. Jerome, Theodoret, Remigius, Haymo, Clarius, Vatable, Arias, Ribera, Castro and others. You will say: This conversion of the nations to Christ, if it is justice and salvation, was not a burden, but an immense grace and gift. I answer, this joyful prophecy is called a burden. First, because it was sad and troublesome to the pagan world itself, and to the Gentiles themselves before their conversion, inasmuch as they were enemies of the faith, and resisted it even unto the deaths and martyrdoms of many. Whence the Apostles invaded them armed with bows, swords and flashing arrows, but mystical and spiritual ones, as we shall hear in verse 13, and slew them while they killed infidelity, lust, gluttony and all impiety in them, and made the unfaithful faithful, the unchaste chaste, the drunken sober, the impious pious. Thus St. Jerome. Arias adds that the Evangelical law which the Apostles imposed upon the converted Gentiles is a burden, and indeed a grave one: for such are the mortification of passions, the restraint of desires, abstinence, the forgiveness of injuries, the love of enemies, contempt of the world, etc.; but what is made light through the grace of Christ, according to that which he himself promised, Matthew cap. XI, 29: "Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart, and you shall find rest to your souls. For my yoke is sweet and my burden is light." Where note: Prophets, when about to prophesy concerning Christ, are accustomed not to pass abruptly to him, but gradually, namely through the things and histories of their own time, which are types of Christ, as it were ascending to Christ through steps, and therefore ascending gradually to him they mix those things with him, and speak of both together in the same discourse, touching those as a type in passing, but adhering to Christ as to the goal. Thus Zechariah does here, especially because he began to do this in the preceding chapter at the last verse. Moreover, the Prophets do this in order to show the agreement and connection of the things of the old law with the things of the new law, namely that all things happened to the ancients in figure, as the Apostle says in I Corinthians cap. X, 11. And that the end of the law and the Prophets is Christ, inasmuch as all have foreshadowed him, and into him as into a goal all things are terminated and end. Whence St. Jerome: "All this vision, he says, or weight and burden of the word of the Lord, as Aquila interpreted it, pertains to the calling of the Gentiles and the building up of the Church." For to this indeed from the structure of the temple does the Prophet rise, and into this as into an antitype does he end. Hadrach — a name of a place near Damascus; but who and where it is, is uncertain, especially since interpreters vary remarkably about it. It is probable, as Adrichomius writes in his Description of the Holy Land, page 75, from St. Jerome, Ptolemy, William of Tyre and others: "Adrach, he says, or Hadrach, also called Adra, Adraon and Adratum, is a city of Coele-Syria, distant twenty-five miles from Bostra, from which also the adjacent region is called the land of Adrach, of which the prophet Zacharias prophesied. After the time of Christ, this city was honored with an episcopal see and was subject to the archbishop of Bostra. And at the time when Western Christians held dominion over things in Palestine, it was also commonly called the city of Bernard of Scampis." The Rabbis therefore wrongly understand by Hadrach the Messiah: because he himself is to be חד chad, that is, sharp to the Gentiles; and רך rach, that is, soft and mild to the Jews. Wrongly also in the Septuagint for Hadrach is read Sedrach. Mystically St. Jerome says: The Word of the Lord is Hadrach, that is chad, that is sharp against sinners, and rach, that is soft and merciful toward the just. Again, Hadrach is Judea, upon which the Lord exercised both his severity and his mercy; severity upon those who were unwilling to believe, mercy upon those who with the Apostles returned to God through Christ. Damascus are the Gentiles: in them is the rest of the Lord. For Damascus in Hebrew is the same as drinking blood, or the blood of sackcloth, so that the former interpretation signifies a bloody people, the latter cruelty coupled with repentance. Whence follows: "For the eye of the Lord," etc. This is St. Jerome. Hence also the Arabic version translates: The revelation of the Lord in the land of Sedrach, and his victims shall be Damascus. And Damascus his rest. — The pronoun his refers to the burden of the Lord which preceded, as if to say, Hadrach and Damascus shall be the rest of the burden, which I here relate and prophesy: or, upon Hadrach and Damascus shall rest, and in them shall rest this burden and weight of calamities. Thus Albert, Arias and Clarius. Lyra therefore wrongly refers his to Syria, as if to say, the rest of Syria is in Damascus: for in it, as in its strongest and unconquered metropolis, it rests securely. For no mention is made of Syria here. Mystically, his can be referred to the Lord which preceded, as if to say, The rest of the Lord shall be Damascus, when in it he himself shall be known and worshipped, the Lord shall rest in Damascus through the Gospel, which was done through St. Paul and other Apostles. For St. Paul, going to Damascus, touched from heaven, was converted to Christ, and soon began to preach Christ in the Synagogue of Damascus, Acts IX. Whence the Chaldean version translates: Damascus shall be converted so as to be of the land of his majesty, according to that of St. Peter, epistle I, chapter IV, verse 14: "For that which is honor, glory and virtue of God, and his spirit which is upon you shall rest." Hence also the Septuagint translates: Damascus his sacrifice. For Damascus was a most noble, most ancient and most wealthy city, the capital of Syria, six days distant from Jerusalem, in which those celebrated silken cloths, commonly called Damascene, were made; and therefore illustrious and glorious was its conversion to Christ and the Church, and especially was it ennobled by the miraculous conversion of St. Paul, as I have already said, and afterwards by the birth of the Blessed John of Damascus. The eye of the Lord. — The eye of the Lord here can be understood in two ways, namely active and passive, that is, seeing and seen. First therefore St. Jerome and Theodoret explain the active eye thus, as if to say, the eye of the Lord sees, cares for and governs all men, equally as the tribes of Israel, so that namely he punishes the wicked, protects and defends the pious. Whence the Septuagint translates: For the Lord looks upon men, and all the tribes of Israel; and the Chaldean: Before the Lord are manifest the works of the sons of men, and he is pleased in all the tribes of Israel; and the Syriac: To the Lord are manifest men, and all the tribes of Israel; and the Arabic: The Lord has looked upon all men, and all the tribes of Israel. Secondly, concerning the passive voice, thus Albertus, Hugo and Lyranus expound it, as if to say: It is the Lord's, that is, the eye of man looks toward the Lord; or it is the Lord's to turn the eye of man toward himself. Wherefore Arias translates: The Lord is the eye of man. It is a metonymy: for power is put in place of the object, namely eye for the thing seen which the eye sees and regards, such as the Lord is here. Whence others from the Hebrew translate more clearly: Toward the Lord is the eye of man, as if to say: The Lord God is the object toward which the eye and mind of every man intends and looks, how much more the tribes of Israel beseeching and imploring God, that he punish the Damascenes and Philistines, who continually afflict Israel! Wherefore God, hearing Israel, will strike them, nay, will subject them to Israel, and therefore will impose this burden upon them, which through me Zacharias here foretells, as if to say: The reward of Israel's hope in God will be dominion over neighboring cities and nations. This is what the Psalmist says in Psalm 122:2: "Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hands of their masters, and as the eyes of a handmaid to the hands of her mistress: so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until he have mercy on us." For God is the monarch who can change kingdoms, and move kings and tyrants from their place. Mystically, Christ is the active eye, who regards and cares for the salvation of all nations, equally as the tribes of Israel. Whence he sent Apostles to all, who would convert them and save them. And passive, because in him as savior the eyes of all men look, hoping from him grace and every good. Wherefore Jacob said of him in Genesis 49:10: "He shall be the expectation of the Gentiles." And verse 18: "Thy salvation (that is, thy Savior, namely Christ) I will look for, O Lord." And Haggai chapter 2:8: "The desired of all nations shall come;" in Hebrew: The desire of all nations shall come: desire, that is, the most desired one.
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2. Hamath also in its borders, and Tyre and Sidon. — Thus the Roman Bible. First, St. Jerome refers to ejus to Damascus, as if to say: Hamath also situated in the borders of Damascus, receives its burden, equally as Tyre and Sidon. Moreover Hamath, Tyre and Sidon were in the borders of Damascus, not so much by situation and space of places, as by fellowship of vengeance: just as in Galatians chapter 4:25, Mount Sion is said to be joined to Mount Sinai, not by place, but by type and signification. More plainly you refer to ejus to the burden of the Lord, as if to say: The burden of the Lord, resting in Damascus, will also reach Hamath, Tyre, and Sidon, so that these cities are contained within the limits and borders of this burden of the Lord. For God will subject all these cities to himself and his burden and vengeance, so that in them he may sit as ruler, judge and avenger of crimes. Thus Albertus, Hugo and others. Hamath is either Antioch, or Epiphania, which many think to be Aleppo, commonly called Aleppo. See what is said on Amos, chapter 6:2. Mystically, as if to say: God and Christ will subject Hamath, Tyre and Sidon to themselves through the Apostles, and will impose upon them the burden of the Evangelical law, so that it may rest in them, equally as in Damascus. Whence the Chaldean translates: Hamath also shall be converted, so that it may be of the land of the house of his majesty, and Tyre, and Sidon. Thus St. Jerome and Theodoret. They have taken to themselves wisdom exceedingly. — Thus also the Septuagint translates in the plural. Now they translate in the singular, because he was very wise, namely Tyre. Moreover quippe is put for quamvis, as if to say: Although Tyre and Sidon, and all the Phoenicians glory in wisdom, namely that they were the first to invent and teach letters, yet these very ones will yield to the wiser God, when he will subject them through Alexander, and then through the Maccabees; and to Christ, when he will lead them to his faith and Church through the Apostles. For thus quippe, or quia, is put for quamvis, Exodus chapter 13:17. "He led them not by the way of the land of the Philistines, because," that is, although, "it was near." Psalm 77:19: "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness, because," that is, although, "he struck the rock, and waters flowed out." Secondly and more forcefully, take quippe properly as causal, as if to say: Because the Tyrians and Sidonians arrogated wisdom to themselves, as if by it they were unconquerable, hence God will show their foolishness, and by his wisdom will overcome and subject them, both through Alexander and the Maccabees, and through Christ and the Apostles, according to that saying of the Apostle in 1 Corinthians chapter 1:21: "Because in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of our preaching to save them that believe." And verse 25: "Because that which is foolish in God is wiser than men." Moreover that the Phoenicians, and namely Tyre, were wont to glory in wisdom, is evident from this, that they boasted of having invented letters. Whence Lucan in book 3 of the Pharsalia: "The Phoenicians first, if fame is to be believed, dared to mark lasting speech with rude figures." And from that passage in Ezekiel chapter 28:3: "Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel: no secret is hidden from thee. By thy wisdom and thy understanding thou hast gotten thee strength, and hast gathered gold." Whence Zacharias also adds of him:
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3. And Tyrus built her munition. — In the Hebrew there is an elegant paronomasia between צור tsor, and מצור matsor, as if to say, Tyrus built Tyrus, namely rock built rock, fortress fortress, munition munition. For Tyrus was called in Hebrew tsor (whence the Syriac Tor, and the Latin Tyrus), that is, rock, because it was built upon a rock, or rather upon a reef in the midst of the sea, most fortified and as it were an impregnable fortress. This was her human wisdom, by which she made herself a house upon the inaccessible rock of the sea, and therefore she derided the forces and strength of all kings. But God cast down this her wisdom and pride, when he took and laid waste her through Alexander the Great. And heaped up silver as dust. — Again in the Hebrew there is a paronomasia between תבצר tibtsar, and עפר aphar, as if to say, She heaped up for herself silver as heaps of sand, she daubed herself with silver as with mud, she pulverized silver as dust, as if to say, Tyrus by her merchandise and ships gathered together so great an abundance of riches, that gold and silver in her were not valued more than the dust and mud of the streets, on account of her immense plenty. Wherefore by this her gold she hired very many soldiers, in whom trusting she feared no enemy.
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4. Behold the Lord shall possess it. — In Hebrew ירשנה ioriscenna, which is of contrary signification. Whence first, it can be translated: The Lord shall inherit, or shall possess it by inheritance. Thus Our Version and the Septuagint. Second: The Lord shall cast out, or shall expel it by inheritance. Thus the Chaldean and Vatablus, because namely he drove out its inhabitants from his city, citadel, riches, glory, liberty and life. This was done first through Alexander the Great, who after a seven months' siege attacked Tyre with great labour, equally of effort and spirit, by earth embankments and by sea with two hundred triremes, as Plutarch narrates in his Life, who also adds prodigies foretelling the destruction of Tyre: namely first, Hercules appeared to Alexander in sleep, stretching out his hand to him from the wall and inviting him to enter the city. Second: To many of the Tyrians, he says, Apollo appeared in dreams, saying he was going over to Alexander; for he did not approve of the things being done in the city: wherefore the Tyrians bound the image of Apollo, as if a deserter, with chains and fixed it to the base with nails. Third, a Satyr appeared to Alexander playing with him, whom when he tried to seize, it eluded him; finally after many prayers and running about it came into his hands, which the seers interpreting said: Tyre is thine. For Satyr in Greek divided is the same as σὰ, that is thine, τύρος, that is Tyre. Then Tyre was subdued by the Maccabees: for in the time of Christ Tyre, the Sidonians and Palestinians obeyed, or were joined and associated with the Jews and their prince or governor, as Ezechiel predicted cap. XXVIII, 25; and it is sufficiently gathered from Acts cap. XII, 20, and from the fact that Christ, who personally preached only to the Jews to whom he was promised, preached also to the Tyrians and Sidonians, as appears Matt. cap. XV, 21, and Mark cap. VII, 24. Namely God brought this about through the descendants of the Maccabees, so that in this way the way might be prepared for Christ, who was about to preach in Tyre and Sidon. Thus Albertus, Hugo, Lyranus, a Castro and others. Moreover Josephus son of Gorion, lib. IV, cap. VII, writes that Aristobulus great-grandson of Judas Maccabeus, as being descended from his brother Simon, conquered Tyre. Whence and also in Damascus let it rest. Whence the Chaldean translates: Hamath also shall be converted, so that it may be of the land of the house of his majesty, and Tyre, and Sidon. Thus St. Jerome and Theodoret. Mystically is signified here the overthrow of idolatry in Tyre and its conversion to Christ: thus St. Jerome, Theodoret, Remigius, Rupertus, Vatablus, Ribera and others. Where note, the Prophet here teaches that there were three things in Tyre which made it invincible and which especially resisted the Gospel of Christ, namely wisdom, riches and strength, because it was wholly surrounded by the sea, and yet was to be conquered by God, both through Alexander and more especially through Christ and the Apostles by the sword of the word of God, with its errors and vices cut down. Whence persisting in the metaphor he says it is to be devoured by fire, namely of charity and the Holy Spirit, whom Christ came to cast upon the earth, and greatly wished to be kindled, Luke cap. XII, 49. Thus St. Jerome. Moreover how inflamed was the love and faith of the Tyrians in Christ, is evident from many martyrs, who there under Diocletian with their bishop Tyrannion were thrown to lions, bears, bulls and leopards, and when the beasts dared not touch the saints, with joyful and cheerful countenance with hands extended to heaven and eyes fixed wholly on God in mind, they were cruelly slain by executioners, as the eyewitness Eusebius of Caesarea narrates, lib. VIII Hist. VII and XIV, otherwise XXV. Similar is what Theodoret narrates lib. III Hist. cap. VI, namely that Cyril a deacon of Heliopolis in Phoenicia, because he had broken idols, was by the Gentiles under Julian the Apostate cut open in the belly, and moreover they devoured his liver after the manner of beasts, but soon they felt God's vengeance. He shall strike in the sea her strength. — For Tyre, situated in the heart of the sea, as Ezechiel says cap. XXVIII, 2, was its mistress and queen, but Nebuchadnezzar, and then Alexander besieging it, so that he might conquer it more easily, having brought together much stone, trees and embankments, and cast them into the narrow strait, filled up the bed of the sea and dried it, and thus joined it to the continent from the East: and made it from an island a peninsula, such as is still seen. Thus Curtius lib. IV, after the beginning; and Pliny lib. V, cap. XIX; St. Jerome and others. See the sayings of Isaiah cap. XXIII, 1. The Chaldean translates: He shall cast her riches into the sea. In Hebrew חיל chel, signifies both strength and riches.
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5. Because his hope is confounded, which Ascalon had in Tyre, namely that it would bring aid to itself, as being a neighboring and confederate city. For this hope will perish when Tyre perishes. Mystically, the hope of the Philistines, namely of the Gentiles, will perish, by which they hoped to protect their idols and paganism against Christ and Christianity by their own wisdom and strength. For this will fall when they see it turned away by the Apostles. And the king shall perish from Gaza. — "King," that is a petty king, namely a prince. For formerly the princes of cities were called kings. This petty king was Betis, appointed prefect of Gaza by Darius, the last king of the Persians, whom Alexander, after capturing Gaza following a two-month siege, caused to be dragged around the city, as Curtius says in book IV. Thus Albert and Hugh. Plutarch adds in the Life of Alexander an omen given to him of the taking of Gaza: "And as he was besieging Gaza, the greatest city of Syria, a clod of earth fell from a flying bird upon his shoulder. A bird sitting in one of the machines was suddenly caught in the cords, which they used for turning things. This portent had an outcome corresponding to the prediction of Aristandrus. For Alexander received a wound on his shoulder, and he took the city." Then he captured Gaza and purged it of idols, Simon, the brother of Judas Maccabeus, I Maccabees, chapter XIII, 43. Again Alexander Jannaeus, the grandson of Simon, after a year-long siege took Gaza and destroyed it, when previously the citizens had partly burned their own houses, partly in Saguntine madness killed their own wives and children with their own hands, lest they be dragged away to servitude and injury, as Josephus relates in book XIII of the Antiquities, chapter XXI. Mystically, the king shall perish from Gaza, namely the infidel, and, as St. Jerome says, the devil, because namely Christ alone will reign in it through his faithful ones. Properly, the king, that is the god, or the idol of Gaza was Marnas: hence the famous Marnæum, that is the temple of Marnæ, was there, which St. Porphyrius, bishop of the city, with the consent of the Emperor Arcadius, in the year of Christ 401, burned, being warned by the miraculous voice of a seven-year-old boy, who, although he was Syrian and did not know Greek, yet being moved by God spoke publicly in the Greek language, and uttered these words: "Burn the temple Note here that the Prophet teaches that there were three things in Tyre which made it unconquerable, and which especially resisted the Gospel of Christ, namely wisdom, riches and strength, because it was entirely surrounded by the sea, and yet it was to be conquered by God, both through Alexander, and more especially through Christ and the Apostles by the sword of the word of God, with its errors and vices cut down. Hence, persisting in the metaphor, he says it is to be devoured by fire, namely of charity and the Holy Spirit, whom Christ came to cast upon the earth, and greatly wished to be kindled, Luke, chapter XII, 49. Thus St. Jerome. Moreover, how inflamed was the love and faith of the Tyrians in Christ is evident from many martyrs, who there under Diocletian with their bishop Tyrannion were thrown to lions, bears, bulls and leopards, and when the beasts did not dare to touch the saints, with joyful and cheerful countenance with hands extended to heaven and eyes fixed wholly on God in mind, they were cruelly slain by executioners, as the eyewitness Eusebius of Caesarea relates, book VIII of the History, VII and XIV, otherwise XXV. Similar is what Theodoret relates in book III of the History, chapter VI, namely of Cyril a deacon of Heliopolis in Phoenicia, because he had broken idols, he was dissected by the Gentiles under Julian the Apostate, his belly being cut open, and moreover they devoured his liver after the manner of beasts, but soon they felt the vengeance of God. subdued him. For he himself is considered by many to be spurious, because Olympias his mother did not bear him from Philip her husband, as she herself confessed (whence she was also repudiated by Philip as it were), but from Nectanebo the magician, who feigned himself Jupiter by night. Wherefore Alexander wished to be believed and held to be the son of Jupiter Ammon. Secondly, mamzer signifies foreigners and strangers, who were not born from the Philistines native to Ashdod, whom therefore the Philistines called mamzers, that is, foreigners, spurious, just as the Jews did, as is evident from that passage in John, chapter VIII, 41: "We are not born of fornication," as are the Hagarenes, born from Hagar an alien and concubine, because we are born from Sarah the wife of Abraham, and therefore just as he himself, "we have one father and worship God." Whence the Septuagint translates: Foreigners shall dwell in Ashdod, namely Greeks under Alexander, afterwards Jews under the Maccabees, as if to say Ascalon shall remain desolate and shall not be inhabited: but Ashdod shall be inhabited indeed, but by foreigners. Wherefore the Chaldean translates: The house of Israel shall dwell in Ashdod, who were in it as strangers who have not a father. Moreover, that Jews scattered through Ashdod and Philistia existed before the times of Christ is evident from Acts, chapter VIII, 40. Paul translates otherwise: The Philistine, says he, as a stranger shall dwell in Ashdod; because namely he shall not be his own master, as he was before, but under the yoke and power of the Maccabees and Jews. Finally, after Judas Maccabeus was slain near Ashdod by Bacchides, the general of Demetrius, a little later Jonathan, the brother of Judas, occupied and burned Ashdod, as well as the neighboring cities: by which assault the temple of Dagon, who was the god of Ashdod, and all who were in it which is within even to the ground: for many grave things were done in it, and especially human sacrifices; and after it shall have been burned, the place being purified, establish there a holy church. I testify before God, that it cannot be done otherwise. For it is not I who speak, but Christ who is in me." Admiring this and glorifying God, thus writes St. Jerome in book VII on Isaiah: "We see this fulfilled in our times: the Serapeum (the temple of Serapis) at Alexandria, and the temple of Marna at Gaza, have risen up into churches of the Lord." St. Chrysostom greatly aided this matter, who diligently took care with the Emperor Arcadius that whatever idols remained in Phoenicia should be utterly removed, as Theodoret testifies in book V of his History, chapter XXIX. Thus it came to pass that the Gazans, formerly most devoted to Marna, when it was removed, were converted to Christ, to which the holiness and miracles of St. Porphyrius the bishop greatly incited them, as from his Acts which Marcus the Deacon of Gaza wrote, Baronius relates in the year of Christ 398 and 401. Ascalon shall not be inhabited, as if to say Ascalon shall be utterly desolate, so that there shall be pastures for the flocks of the Jews, as Zephaniah predicted in chapter II, 4 and 6. Jonathan the brother of Judas Maccabeus took Ascalon, as well as Accaron and Ashdod, which he also burned with eight thousand inhabitants, as is evident from I Maccabees, chapter X, 84 and seq. Yet afterwards it was rebuilt; for Herod the infanticide is said to have been born in it, who from this was surnamed Ascalonite. And even today retaining its ancient strength, it is the strongest bulwark of the Saracens. When Saladin had destroyed its walls, Richard the king of the English restored them, as Adrichomius relates from William of Tyre in his Description of the Holy Land, in Ascalon. Mystically, as if to say Ascalon converted to Christ shall not be inhabited by pagans and infidels, by whom it was formerly inhabited, but by Christians. Whence others shall appear to be citizens, and another city, according to that saying of the Poet: O ancient house, how you are ruled by a different master! For how hostile the infidel Ascalonites were to Christians of old, one may conjecture from this, that Theodoret writes in book III of his History, chapter VII, when Julian the Apostate had loosened the reins for them in the year of the Lord 362: "At Ascalon," says he, "and Gaza they rip open the bellies of priests and virgins dedicated to God, then stuff them with barley, and finally throw them to pigs to be devoured."
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6. And a separator shall sit in Azotus. — In Hebrew it is ממזר mamzer, that is, separator, alien (from the root zur, that is, he withdrew, was alien or strange), and from this spurious, as Vatablus translated it, who namely, being born outside of matrimony by an alien father, seems to divide and separate that. Now first, Albert, Hugh and Lyran think that Alexander the Great is noted here, who Azotus and the other Philistines and I will gather. Thus St. Jerome, Theodoret, Albert, Hugh and Lyran. Whence the Septuagint translates: I will take away their blood from their mouth: for the Scripture speaks of the Azotians by enallage now in the singular, because they were one people and singular, whence the Hebrew and Ours have his: now in the plural, because in the people there were many men and heads; whence the Septuagint translates, their. For it is less probable what Lyran thinks, that his is referred to the separator or mamzer, whom he himself takes as Alexander the Great, as if to say, I will take away threats from the mouth of Alexander, namely by which he boasted that he would overthrow the Jews, which he had favored against his enemy Darius: for I will make him suppliant to the high priest Jaddo, and consequently benevolent to the Jews. For it is not about Judea that is treated here, but about Azotus. Secondly, blood here can be taken for the victims, which they offered to their god Dagon, and then from these they ate and feasted, as if to say, I will take away these sacred rites and sacrilegious sacrifices from Azotus, and I will bring into it my sacred rites, first Jewish through the Maccabees, then Christian through Philip and the Apostles. Thus Arias and the Chaldean. And I will destroy, he says, those eating blood. This explanation is favored by what follows: And his abominations from the midst of his teeth. For abominations in Scripture are called idols, and things sacrificed to idols, or victims immolated to idols. Whence also what follows:
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7. And I will take away his blood from his mouth. — Blood here is taken in two ways. First, for threats of blood and slaughter, as if to say, I will take away and restrain the threats by which the Azotians threatened that they would pour out, or boasted that they had poured out the blood of the Jews and the faithful people: because I will subject them to you And he himself shall remain to our God. — "He himself," namely Alexander the Great, will become devoted to God, and to his high priest Jaddo, says Lyran. But "he himself," as I said, refers to the people of Azotus, as if to say, The people of Azotus subdued by Jonathan and the Maccabees, will abandon idols and will be joined to the Jews, and will worship their true God. For this the Maccabees especially cared about, as being high priests and princes full of zeal for the honor of God; that they might propagate not only the boundaries, but also the religion of their nation, and the worship of God among the Philistines and other peoples conquered by them. Indeed the people of Azotus "will be as a leader" (Septuagint, chiliarch) in Judah, who namely of the true faith and religion not only as a companion, but also as a leader presents himself to others, and therefore as a leader defends the Jews against enemies, and therefore is honored and celebrated as a leader in Judah. And Accaron as a Jebusite, as if to say, Just as once the Jebusites dwelt in Jerusalem, and there remained with the Jews, so likewise the Accaronites will be joined to the Jews and will dwell in Jerusalem, and in turn the Jews will live peacefully in Accaron. Whence the Chaldean translates: And the proselytes who remain in them will themselves also be added to the people of our God, and will be as princes of the house of Judah. Secondly and better, as if to say, Just as David subjected the Jebusites, so the Maccabees will subject the Accaronites to themselves. Thus Albert and Hugh. Mystically, these things are more truly of Christ and the Apostles, who subjected all the Philistines to themselves, to the Gospel and the Church, and thus made it so that the Philistines and Gentiles with the Jews in one faithful people, and one Christian Church coalesced and conspired.
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8. And I will compass about my house, namely the temple, that is to say, The temple which by my command you, O Jews, are now rebuilding, I will surround and protect like camps. For in Hebrew it is חניתי chaniti, that is, I will encamp about my house, or I will place camps around my house, that I may defend it, from "out of these who fight for me going and returning," namely through the Maccabees, who most valiantly defended the temple and the holy city in their camps. Whence the Septuagint translates: I will set up for my house an elevation like a fortress or camp, that none may pass through or return, and no exactor shall come upon them any more; and the Zurich Bible: And I will lead a camp about my house against him that passeth by and returneth; and Pagninus: And I will be as camps to my house, that it may not fear from an army, from him that passeth by and returneth. But the Chaldean paraphrases it magnificently: And I will cause the majesty of my glory to dwell in the house of my sanctuary, and the strength of the arm of my power shall be as a wall of fire round about it, because of them that pass by and return. The Maccabees literally accomplished this for the temple. Thus Theodoret, Hugh and Lyra. Allegorically, these things are more truly fulfilled in the Church, which is the living temple of the living God, that is to say, I will fortify and defend my Church with most powerful camps, both of Christian princes, such as Constantine, Theodosius, Charles; and of doctors, such as St. Augustine, St. Jerome, Chrysostom; and of angels, so that the exactor of tribute, namely tyrants, infidels and the devil, may no longer vex and lay waste it; because with eyes of mercy I have seen it, and looked upon it, according to that Psalm XXXIII, 8: "The angel of the Lord shall encamp (in Hebrew chone, that is, shall encamp) round about them that fear him, and shall deliver them." Note that "out of these who fight for me" can be understood in two ways: first plainly, for me, that is, on my behalf; secondly, for me, that is, against me. Thus the Septuagint, Chaldean, Pagninus and Zurich Bible from the Hebrew. Because now I have seen with mine own eyes. — It is a Hebraism, for which in Latin we say: "I have seen with mine own eyes," that is, plainly, clearly and certainly I have seen and beheld, namely the hardships and persecutions which you, O Jews, endure from neighbouring nations in the building of the temple and city, and therefore, taking pity on you as on my own house, namely the temple, I will protect and defend it. Thus Theodoret, Albert and Lyra. Otherwise Vatablus, that is to say, Now I have seen those things which I am about to do, and which I here promise concerning the happiness of the temple and Church; I have seen, I say, I have foreseen and provided for with the eyes of my providence. Otherwise also Arias, who refers these things to what follows, and judges them to be the words of Zechariah, that is to say, Behold I see in spirit with the eyes of my mind Christ coming, and entering Jerusalem and the temple with pomp. The first sense, as it is common, so it is plain and genuine. There is a connexion of this prophecy concerning Christ with the preceding ones concerning the building and protection of the temple and city. Now "greatly," that is, very, vehemently, for this is in Hebrew מאד meod, for which Our translator sometimes renders "greatly." Whence the Chaldean translates: Rejoice greatly, assembly of Sion; shout, assembly of Jerusalem. So also the Septuagint, Zurich Bible, Pagninus, Vatablus, and others. For "rejoice" St. John cap. XII, 15, paraphrases: "Fear not," that is to say, There is no reason for you to fear, but to rejoice, O Jerusalem, at the coming of Christ; for he is your king and saviour, who will defend you from all enemies, and will free you from all evils. Therefore put away all fear, and full of joy rejoice. Behold thy King. — The Messiah, or Christ, will come, so that he may subject to himself four chariots, that is, monarchies, concerning which cap. VI, and consequently, Tyre, Gaza, Azotus, and all Palestine, Phoenicia and Syria, concerning which this chapter has treated. For in the kingdom of Christ all kings and kingdoms cease, as Daniel predicted cap. II, 44, and Zechariah here. Whence he adds: "I will destroy the chariot," etc. Note: Christ wished to adorn this royal and unusual pomp and entrance into Jerusalem with various reasons. The first was, that he might give some indication and specimen of his royal power and magnificence; because the Jews thought, and still think, that their Messiah would come like another Solomon. By this appearance and pomp, therefore, Christ presented himself to them, lest they should turn away from him as a poor man and despise him, as they did: yet in such a way that by mixed arguments of humility and gentleness he showed that the kingdom of the Messiah is more spiritual than temporal, and therefore he wished all these things to be foretold by Zacharias, lest the Jews should reject this king coming without royal pride. Thus St. Chrysostom and the Author of the Imperfect Commentary on cap. XXI of Matthew, and Eusebius lib. VIII of the Demonstration cap. IV. The second, and accompanying cause was, that Christ might present himself to the Pharisees and scribes in this royal entrance, whom by this deed they could and ought to recognize as the Messiah, inasmuch as he was promised and foretold in this place by Zacharias: yet he knew that they would be the more exacerbated thereby, and would plot his death by the cross; which he himself determined to permit, that thus he might obtain the death so much desired, and through it redeem us. Thus the Author of the Imperfect Commentary in the place cited. Himself poor. — This properly signifies the Hebrew עני ani; the Septuagint, however, whom St. Matthew follows in cap. XXI, translate πραος, that is, meek. So also the Chaldean. Whence they seem to have read ענו anau; but the matter comes to the same thing: for the poor, especially in spirit, are wont to be humble and meek. Whence both ani and anau are derived from the same root ענה ana, that is, afflicted, humiliated; and from this עוני oni, which is the same as affliction, poverty, humility; and ענוה anava, is called humility and meekness. Whence when Christ says: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," Matt. V, by the poor in spirit St. Augustine, Hilarius, Chrysostom, Ambrose and others in that place understand the humble, because poverty of spirit is conjoined with, and arises from humility and contempt of riches and honors. Ascending (in Hebrew rocheb, that is, riding, or rather being carried, whether on a horse, or on an ass, or on a camel, or on some other beast, as Christ here properly was on an ass, not riding. Whence Our translator rightly renders: "Ascending") upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass, — In Hebrew, the son of asses, that is, one of the asses. For ass in Hebrew is חמור chamor, which signifies both a male ass and a female ass. But that here a female ass rather than a male ass is signified, is clear from what follows: "And a colt the foal of an ass;"; for colts are wont to accompany the mother ass, not the father ass; for they suck the udders of the mother, not of the father. It is therefore clear that Christ sat upon a female ass, not a male ass. For thus our Version has it here, and St. Matthew, cap. XXI, 5. The same teach Remigius, Albert, Hugh here, and St. Chrysostom hom. 65 in John, Theophylactus, Lyra, Cajetan and others to be cited presently. Origen notes in cap. I of Job, that in Arabia and Palestine asses are equal to horses in speed of going and returning, and are able to accomplish and carry business, and perform the same offices which among us are performed by mules and horses. Hence the sons of princes rode upon asses, as appears Judges cap. X, 4, and cap. XII, 14. See the sayings at Exod. cap. XIII, 13. But Christ used a female ass rather than a male ass, both on account of the mystery which I shall presently bring forward, and because a female ass is slower, and inferior in the remission of work, as Pliny writes lib. VIII, cap. XLIII, where he also adds, that asses are valuable for ploughing, but especially for the generation of mules. You will ask, how could Christ ascend upon an ass and upon a colt the foal of an ass at the same time? St. Jerome, Chrysostom, Euthymius, Maldonatus, Abulensis and Jansenius answer in Matthew XXI, that it is a synecdoche: for Christ sat upon one only, namely upon the colt, as the other three Evangelists have it. For thus they read: "Upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass." And, they say, it signifies, that is, as if to say, Upon an ass, that is upon a colt the foal of an ass. Whence it is less probable what some think, that Christ sat upon the ass alone. But more plainly and simply the same Chrysostom, Theophylactus, Lyra, Cajetan, Ribera and a Castro, think that Christ sat upon both, but successively. For St. Matthew expressly has this in cap. XXI, 5, and Zacharias here. Whence also the crowds put garments upon both, and made him sit "upon them," as the Roman Bibles have in St. Matthew. You will say: What need was there for Christ to change his mount over so short a distance and journey? I answer that this was done not on account of Christ's softness or fatigue, but for the sake of mystery: for all this pomp served him; yet it was easy for Christ to use some occasion that presented itself as a pretext. For the she-ass under the yoke signifies the people of the Jews who bear the yoke of the old law; the colt upon which no one had sat represents the untamed and lawless Gentiles, who had not submitted their necks to any law. For Christ was about to bring both peoples, both of the Gentiles and of the Jews, to himself and to the Church, and then to the heavenly Jerusalem. Thus St. Justin Against Trypho, Origen and Cyril on John XII. Mystically, Christ sits upon the ass, that is, upon a humble, meek, obedient, patient soul, which surrenders itself wholly to Christ the rider, and says with David: "I am become as a beast of burden before thee," Psalm LXXII, which therefore, having Christ as its guide, exults and dares all things. Whence that abbot in the Lives of the Fathers said: "I and the ass are one." Tropologically, Drogo, bishop of Hostia in the time of St. Bernard, in his tract On the Sacrament of the Lord's Passion, vol. II of the Library of the Holy Fathers: "Fear not, daughter of Sion. To fear, he says, is the part of the small-hearted; therefore still daughter, because thou fearest. Not yet Jerusalem, but daughter of Sion, that is, a watchtower. Therefore learn to watch, fear not, for fear troubles the eye. A cheerful pupil sees clearly. Faith is the pupil of thy eye. As the pupil of the eye is most delicate, and unless it is guarded carefully and diligently by the eyelids, it is confused by the touch of the lightest and finest dust; so the keenness of faith, unless it always has watchful protection, is troubled by nothing more quickly. But fear not, daughter of Sion, behold thy king cometh to thee. A sun rises for thee, which shall both guard and enlighten thee, and lead thee where there is no dust. He cometh to thee meek: as he himself is, so he wishes thee to be: become meek to bear his yoke. And let him sit upon thee, his ass, and the colt the son of the she-ass. And what is this ass? She herself who is called flesh and woman and virago, because she was taken from man. And who is her colt? The male man. And how is he her colt? Because not first what is spiritual, but what is animal, then what is spiritual. The meek king sits first upon the ass; then upon the colt: first the flesh is tamed, that it may be fit for the yoke; then the colt is born and nourished and strengthened, that it may bear its rider. And why son of the she-ass? Because woman is under man, and the head of woman is man; and yet the colt is son of the she-ass, because through woman is man, but in sorrow shall she bring him forth. Let the meek king sit upon both, making peace, lest they be at odds with each other. He cometh to thee meek, and thou goest not to him? Go forth from the land of thy flesh, and from the kindred of thy mother, and from the house, that is, the memory of thy father." The ass therefore is flesh, the colt is mind and spirit: for this is Adam and man, but that is Eve and woman. Christ sits upon both, when he subjects and reconciles flesh to spirit. The third reason was, that he might answer to the type of the Paschal lamb, for this was brought into the city with solemn pomp on the tenth day of the first month, to be slain on the fourteenth day. Thus Christ, as the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world, on the tenth day, namely on Palm Sunday, entered Jerusalem, to be slain on the fourteenth day; and he entered with pomp and with the joyful acclamations of the crowd, so that, being certain of victory over death, sin, hell and demons, he might proclaim triumph before the combat, and enter the combat as victor. The fourth cause was tropological, namely that by this deed he might mock and set before us as mockery the glory of the world, inasmuch as he knew that five days later he would be crucified by those same people by whom he was so honored at his entrance, and those same people who were already crying out: "Hosanna to the son of David," that is, Long live our king Messiah, son and heir of David; after four days would cry out in the tribunal of Pilate: "Crucify, crucify him"; and for this reason the city was to be utterly destroyed by Titus and the Romans, for which cause in this joyful entrance of his, seeing the city and foreseeing its destruction, he wept, as St. Luke has it, chapter XIX, 41. Again, that he might teach his followers and himself that his kingdom and glory in this life consist in passion and the cross, and therefore it is not to be shunned, but to be sought after, and to be approached with a joyful spirit and solemn pomp: for which reason the martyrs of Christ, his followers, went to martyrdoms as to feasts, nay, as to a kingdom and triumph, rejoicing, clothed in white and attended by the chorus of the faithful. There shall come to thee the just one and saviour, — that he may justify and save thee. For he himself is "everlasting justice and the Holy of Holies," sent for this purpose by God the Father into the world, "that transgression may be finished, and sin may have an end, and iniquity may be blotted out," Daniel, cap. IX, 24. For saviour in Hebrew is נושע nosça, which is a passive participle from the root ישע jasça, that is, he saved. Whence Vatablus, Pagninus, Clarius and others translate it passively, saved, namely by himself, as if to say: Because Christ, just and innocent, was led to the cross and to death, therefore by his own power, saved and brought back to life, on the third day he rose from death and the sepulchre. Others translate nosça better as, full of salvation, surrounded by salvation. Thus from Clarius, from Castro. But I say truly, that nosça here is not a participle, but a noun, signifying actively the same as Jesçua, Josue and Jesus, that is, saviour. For thus the Septuagint, St. Jerome, the Zurich Bible and others translate it; for the letter nun in nosça is a formative and characteristic letter of the noun, as it is in Nephtali, Nemrod and other proper names, equally as in appellative nouns, as נאמון neeman, which is the same as faithful actively, he who namely performs in deed the faith given to another: נעוה naave is perverse actively, he who namely thinks, acts, and speaks perverse things, and perverts others.
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9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. — Some Jews interpret these things of the victorious entry of Judas Maccabaeus into Jerusalem. Theodore of Mopsuestia, judaizing and ebionizing, asserted this king to be Zerubbabel returning with his people from Babylon. Each is an error. For it is certain from the faith that these things are to be understood literally of the solemn entry of Christ, as the Messiah promised to the Jews, into Jerusalem, which he made shortly before his death on Palm Sunday. For St. Matthew, cap. XXI, 4, and St. John, cap. XII, 15, interpret these things of him, and all the orthodox; indeed even the ancient Rabbis with Galatinus, lib. VIII, cap. IX; nay, even R. Solomon here, who nevertheless is a sworn enemy of Christians. Pope Vigilius defined the same thing in the Roman Council, where he condemns this error of Theodore under anathema. See the things said in the Proem, note 5. Therefore those err equally, who wish this king to be Alexander the Great, coming honourably to Jerusalem and venerating the high priest Jaddua: for Zechariah, after the manner of the Prophets, ends in Christ. For when he exhorted his people to the building of the temple and city, and they were slower in the work on account of neighbouring enemies, and on account of poverty and other difficulties presenting themselves, for this reason he encourages and spurs them on: first, by promising the aid and protection of God; second, that this temple of God by the aid of God would be celebrated and glorious; third, that the Messiah would come, who would enter into this temple with solemn pomp, and would adorn it by his presence, doctrine, miracles, as well as by his inauguration as king, and there would found and begin his Church, through which he would first call the Jews, then all the Gentiles to eternal life and glory. These
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10. I will destroy the chariot from Ephraim. — Theodoret and Eusebius in book VIII of the Demonstration, chapter IV, hold that this was done through Titus and the Romans. But these subjugated only the Jews, not Ephraim, that is the ten tribes, inasmuch as they had already been carried away into Assyria by Shalmaneser five hundred years before, and did not return from there. Add to this that the discourse here concerns the kingdom of Christ, not of Titus. The sense therefore is, as if to say, Christ through his kingdom, law and grace will take away from Israel and Judah, that is from the faithful Jews, as well as from the Gentiles, chariots, bows and wars, because he will bring peace to the world. For he will teach and command justice, humility, concord, brotherly love, through which he will exclude quarrels and wars; and for this purpose he will pour out abundant grace and the Holy Spirit upon the faithful. The same thing was foretold by Isaiah in chapter II, 4, and by Micah in chapter III, 5. See the things said there. Thus St. Jerome, Hugh, Arias and others. And his power shall be from sea to sea, as if to say, Christ will rule over the whole world, namely the whole earth and the whole sea; for no one can rule over the whole earth unless he also rules over the sea. For access to many regions is either impossible or difficult except by sea, as is evident from islands and the Indies both of the East and of the West. Thus Rupert, Remigius, Hugh and others. Wherefore some explain it more strictly thus, as if to say, Christ will rule from the Mediterranean Sea to the Ocean Sea: or from the Red Sea to the Sea of Palestine. For these two seas were the boundaries of the holy land promised to the Jews, Numbers XXIII, 31; for the Jews scarcely knew other seas. But even if the Prophet alludes to this, nevertheless he intends something more and rises higher, namely what I have said. For he speaks not only to the Jews of his time, but also to all Christians and to all men who will live in any age. Zechariah looks back to that oracle of David concerning Christ, Psalm LXXI, 8: "He shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth." The river is the Euphrates, which was the boundary of Judah toward the East. Here Zechariah says from rivers, because he looks to the Tigris near the Euphrates and to any other rivers whatsoever. As a herald and presage of this broad dominion of Christ, Augustus Caesar, under whom Christ was born, having overcome Antony, Lepidus, and others, whether enemies or rivals, was made by God the lord and monarch of the world. Concerning whom Virgil, in book VI of the Aeneid, sings thus: Over the Garamants and Indians He shall extend his empire: the earth lies beyond the stars, Beyond the paths of the year and sun, where the heaven-bearing Atlas Turns the axis on his shoulder, fitted with burning stars.
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11. Thou also (O Christ, king of Sion, of whom verse 9) in the blood of thy testament. — Namely by the merit and price of thy blood shed on the cross, which thou didst pay out as it were a ransom for thy captives, and by it didst pay all their debt, namely all their guilt both original and actual. Now the blood of Christ is called of the testament, because by it Christ ratified the testament and new covenant, which he made and established between God and men, concerning eternal inheritance to be given to the faithful, as it were to his sons. Thus St. Jerome, Theodoret, Cyril, Remigius, Rupert, Lyran, Vatablus and others everywhere. Wrongly therefore the Chaldean and the Jews understand these things of the blood of victims, by which Moses ratified the old covenant between God and the Hebrews, Exodus cap. XXIV, 8, by which they think themselves freed from the lake, that is from the captivity of Egypt. For this is here impertinent, especially since there is here a continuous prophecy of the future, namely of things to be done by the Messiah, not a history of the past. See what is said I Corinthians cap. XI, 25, and Hebrews cap. IX, 45. Thou hast sent forth thy captives from the lake. — Thus also the Septuagint reads, whom Origen tract. XIV in Matthew, St. Augustine lib. XVIII De Civitate XXXV, Theodoret, Cyril here, and all the Greeks follow, equally as St. Jerome, Remigius, Rupert and the other Latins. But the Chaldean and the later Rabbis, whom Pagninus, the Zurich Bible, Vatablus and similar ones follow, translate far otherwise: for in the Hebrew text all these things are already feminine, namely את at, that is thou, feminine: beriteck, that is of thy testament, or of thy covenant, feminine: and for thou hast sent forth, the Hebrew already has שלחתי schillachti, that is I sent forth. Whence thus they translate and explain so that they are words of God, as if to say: Thou also, O daughter of Sion, exult, because thou shalt be saved in the blood of Christ, which he himself shall shed, that he may ratify the new testament and covenant between thee and me: for on account of him I sent forth, that is I shall send forth thy captives from the lake, namely the fathers from limbo, raising them up with Christ. But I say the modern Hebrew text here is corrupted, either by the Jews, that they might corrupt this oracle concerning Christ; or rather by scribes. For this corruption helps the Jews little, nay it comes to the same thing as our version, and redounds to great praise of Christ. For את at therefore, that is thou, feminine, there should be read with a point added אתה atta, that is thou, O Christ, masculine. Again for בריתך beritech, that is of thy testament, feminine, there should be read בריתך beritecha, that is of thy testament, masculine. Finally for שלחתי schillachti, that is I sent forth, there should be read שלחת schillachta, that is thou didst send forth. For thus the Septuagint reads, St. Jerome and all the ancients cited a little before; and the Syriac, which translates, thou didst loose; and the Arabic both, which translates, thou didst dismiss, or thou shalt free. And this reading is required by the very connection of the words, and the integrity of the sense: for the former reading of the Jews is gaping and broken; for from the first person it begins the sense, and soon passes to the second, and in it completes the sense begun. For what coherence is there in saying: Thou also in the blood of thy testament didst send forth thy captives? Surely thus it should have been said: I also in the blood of my testament sent forth thy captives. But since in the Hebrew there is not אני ani, that is I, but אתה atta, that is thou, it follows that for schillachti, that is I sent forth, by changing one point there should be read schillachta, that is thou didst send forth. For thus the thread of discourse is plainly coherent, and the very sense is suitably and completely fulfilled, saying: "Thou also in the blood of thy testament didst send forth thy captives from the lake." And the apostrophe of the Prophet to Christ, by which exulting he congratulates him on victory over enemies, and on the spoil shaken from them and triumph. The sense therefore is, as if to say: Thou, O Christ, as Messiah and triumpher shalt enter Jerusalem, as I said verse 9; for on the fourth day after thou shalt shed thy blood on the cross, by which thou shalt ratify the new covenant between God and men, and by thy death thou shalt triumph over death, sin, the demon and hell. Wherefore soon after death thou shalt descend to the lake, that is to the limbo of the fathers, that thou mayest make them partakers of this thy blood and new covenant, and assign to them the firstfruits of thy passion and redemption, which they have most eagerly hoped for and awaited for many hundreds, nay thousands of years. For rising on the third day, thou shalt likewise raise them up, with thee from limbo to earth, and from earth on the fortieth day ascending to heaven, as spoils and captives, but in a blessed captivity, thou shalt lead them in triumph. Thus St. Augustine epistle 99, and St. Jerome, Cyril and others already cited. Therefore the Chaldean and the Jews wrongly understand by the lake the Egyptian captivity, or, as Hugo and Calvin do, the Babylonian captivity: for the deliverance from this was not made in the blood of the covenant. Add to this, that both were temporal and had long since passed: but here we are dealing with full and perpetual liberty, to be brought to the fathers detained in limbo through Christ: for it is a prophecy concerning future times of Christ. Again wrongly Calvin and Beza understand by the lake heaven. For they themselves abolish limbo of the fathers, and teach that the souls of the saints before the death of Christ went into heaven, not into limbo; which is a manifest error. For neither can heaven be called a lake: nor are any bound in heaven: nor did Christ lead his people out of heaven. The lake therefore is hell, namely limbo. Thus the Fathers and Doctors with common consent, whom Bellarmine cites in book IV On the Soul of Christ, chapter XI. Finally, for "in the blood of thy covenant," the Arabic version renders it, "in the blood of thy commandment," because this covenant was commanded to Christ by the Father and by Christ to men, namely to the faithful and Christians. From this place therefore and similar ones the Church teaches that Christ, after the blood shed on the cross, namely immediately after death, descended to limbo, and there remained for three days until the Lord's day on which he rose, and then led the fathers out of limbo with him. It calls limbo a lake, because it is in the deep of the earth near its center; and that one without water, both because physically there is pure dryness; and mystically, because it lacks all refreshment and consolation. For water, because it refreshes and restores the weary and thirsty in heat and thirst, hence is a symbol of refreshment and consolation. Mystically, St. Augustine in book XVIII of the City of God, chapter XXXV, understands by the lake the misery and barrenness of human depth and nature lying in sin, from which Christ led men into happiness and fruitfulness of grace and glory. Whence also Theodoret understands by the lake idolatry: for this was the deepest and greatest pit of crimes, as much as blindness and misery; but Clarius and Arias understand by the lake the yoke of the old law, by which the Jews were held bound as if in a hard prison, from which Christ freed us. Thus tropologically, Christ draws the sinner out of the lake, that is, out of the state of damnation, when he transfers him from sin to grace, and thus as it were raises Lazarus from the sepulcher and vivifies him. Most excellently St. Augustine in sermon 181 On the Seasons, chapter VI: "What is weak in God is stronger than men. He was born of a virgin, that we might be born of the Church the virgin's womb. He was tempted, that he might free us from temptation. He was bound, that we might be released. He was mocked, that he might free us from the mockeries of demons. He was sold, that he might redeem us. He was humbled, that he might exalt us. He was captured, that he might take us from the captivity of demons. He was stripped, that the nakedness of the first man, through which death entered, might be covered. He was crowned with thorns, that he might free us from the thorns of sins, or rather that he might show himself to be crowned with them and that they would become the head and crown of the Church, those who were thorny in loving vices. He was given vinegar to drink, that he might inebriate us with the sweetness of heavenly desire and eternal joy. Finally on the altar of the cross he was sacrificed, that he might blot out the sins of the whole world. He died, that he might captivate the dominion of death. He was buried, that he might bless the burial of the saints, and that he might bury us with him in vices and concupiscences. This weakness therefore of Christ overcame all the strength of the world." sense begins, and soon passes to the second, and in that completes the sense begun. For with what coherence is it said: Thou also in the blood of thy covenant hast sent out thy prisoners? Surely it should have been said thus: I also in the blood of my covenant have sent out my prisoners. But since in the Hebrew there is not אני ani, that is I, but אתה atta, that is thou, it follows that for schillachti, that is I sent, with one point changed, we should read schillachta, that is thou didst send. For thus the thread of discourse is entirely coherent, and the very sense is fittingly and completely fulfilled, saying: "Thou also in the blood of thy covenant hast sent out thy prisoners from the lake." And it is an apostrophe of the Prophet to Christ, whereby exulting he congratulates him on the victory over enemies, and the spoils wrested from them and the triumph. The sense therefore is, as if to say: Thou, O Christ, as Messias and triumphator shalt enter Jerusalem, as I said in verse 9; for on the fourth day after thou shalt pour out thy blood on the cross, by which thou shalt establish a new covenant between God and men, and by thy death thou shalt triumph over death, sin, the demon and hell. Wherefore soon after death thou shalt descend to the lake, that is to the limbo of the fathers, that thou mayest make them partakers of this thy blood and new covenant, and assign to them the firstfruits of thy passion and redemption, which they have most eagerly hoped for and awaited for many hundreds, nay thousands of years. For rising on the third day, thou shalt likewise raise them up, with thee from limbo to earth, and from earth on the fortieth day ascending to heaven, as spoils and captives, but in a blessed captivity, thou shalt lead them in triumph. Thus St. Augustine in epistle 99, and St. Jerome, Cyril and others already cited. Therefore the Chaldean and the Jews wrongly understand by the lake the captivity in Egypt, or, as Hugo and Calvin, the Babylonian: for the solution of this was not made in the blood of the covenant. Add, that both were temporal, and had long since passed: but here is treated of full and perpetual liberty, to be brought to the fathers detained in limbo through Christ: for it is a prophecy of future things in the time of Christ. Again wrongly Calvin and Beza understand by the lake heaven. For they themselves deny the limbo of the fathers, and teach that the souls of the saints before the death of Christ went to heaven, not to limbo; which is a manifest error. For neither can heaven be called a lake: nor are any bound in heaven: nor did Christ lead his people out of heaven. The lake therefore is hell, namely limbo. Thus the Fathers and Doctors with common consent, whom Bellarmine cites in book IV On the Soul of Christ, chapter XI. Finally, for in the blood of thy covenant, the Arabic version renders, in the blood of thy commandment, because this covenant was commanded to Christ by the Father, and by Christ to men, namely to the faithful and Christians. From this place therefore and similar ones the Church teaches that Christ after the blood shed on the cross, namely immediately after death, descended to limbo, and there remained for three days until the Lord's day on which he rose, and then led the fathers out of limbo with him. She calls limbo a lake, because it is in the depths of the earth near its center; and that without water, both because physically there is pure dryness; and mystically, because it lacks all refreshment and consolation. For water, because it refreshes and restores the weary and thirsty in heat and thirst, hence is a symbol of refreshment and consolation. Mystically, St. Augustine in book XVIII of the City of God, chapter XXXV, understands by the lake the misery and barrenness of human depth and nature lying in sin, from which Christ led men forth into happiness, and the fruitfulness of grace and glory. Whence also Theodoret understands by the lake idolatry: for this was the deepest and greatest pit of crimes, as much as blindness and misery; but Clarius and Arias understand by the lake the yoke of the old law, by which as by a hard prison the Jews were held bound, from which Christ freed us. Thus tropologically, Christ leads the sinner out of the lake, that is from the state of damnation, when he translates him from sin to grace, and thus as it were raises Lazarus from the sepulcher and vivifies him. Most excellently St. Augustine in sermon 181 On the Seasons, chapter VI: "That which is weak in God is stronger than men. He was born of a virgin, that we might be born of the Church a virgin. He was tempted, that he might free us from temptation. He was bound, that we might be loosed. He was bound, that we might be forgiven. He was bound, that we might be freed from the knot of the curse. He was mocked, that he might free us from the mockeries of demons. He was sold, that he might redeem us. He was humbled, that he might exalt us. He was captured, that he might take us from the captivity of demons. He was stripped, that the nakedness of the first man, through which death entered, might be covered. He was crowned with thorns, that he might free us from the thorns of sins, or rather that he might show that he was to be crowned with them and that they were to be the head and crown of the Church, those who were thorny in loving vices. He was given vinegar to drink, that he might inebriate us with the sweetness of heavenly desire and eternal joy. Finally on the altar of the cross he was sacrificed, that he might blot out the sins of the whole world. He died, that he might captivate the dominion of death. He was buried, that he might bless the burial of the saints, and that he might bury us with him in vices and concupiscences. This weakness therefore of Christ overcame all the strength of the world."
9:12
12. Turn ye to the stronghold, namely to Christ and the Church, or, as Cyril says, to the evangelical law, which is the most fortified citadel of Christ. Bound with hope, that is, first, you who are bound with the bonds of sin and held captive by the demon, but at the same time you have hope of liberation, because you hope for redemption from Christ coming. Literally, return to the stronghold, that is Jerusalem, which in this place is called a stronghold, either on account of the divine protection promised above in chapter II, 5, or because at some time, namely in the time of Nehemiah, the city was to be fortified. let the arrow strike a blow, by which namely he may transfix and accomplish the thing proposed; for then the archer with all his strength and full force fills the bow as it were, while he draws it out and extends it in stretching it. Thus in IV Kings IX, 24, in the Hebrew it is said: Jehu filled his hand in the bow, as the Septuagint translates it, that is, he filled the bow with his hand, by hypallage, that is, he drew the bow with all his strength. Therefore it is the same thing: "I have bent Juda for me as a bow," which means, "I have filled Ephraim," namely, as if to say, Both the ten tribes and the two I have drawn and extended like a bow, so that I might cast strong arrows with them. Hear St. Cyril: "This phrase," he says, "is taken from what happens in a bow. For when we draw the string and iron of the bow near to the eyes, then archers are said to fill the bow, and there is a vehement shooting." Thus also Vegetius in book I On Military Matters, chapter XV, treating of the training of recruits in warfare: "Greater," he says, "care must be taken, that they hold the bow carefully and wisely, that they fill it strongly, that the left hand be fixed." And Sidonius in book I, epistle 2: "He takes up arrows, fills, and shoots them forth." Moreover, both the hand is filled by the bow fully and completely stretched, and the bow by the hand: for the extension of the bow is equal to the extension of the hands, and vice versa. Whence in IV Kings IX, Jehu is said to have filled his hand with the bow: for the bow was proportioned to the archer. When therefore he here fully extends his hand, he also fully extends the bow. Second, Sanchez thinks the bow is filled when, the string being drawn vehemently together at the extreme ends or horns of the bow, the circle is filled, which before appeared to be begun in the bow, if it obtains the form of a semicircle. Thus Turnus in Aeneid XI stretched the bow: And drew it far, until the curved ends came together. Which he took from Homer, Iliad IV, where he says the bow, vehemently stretched, is drawn into a circle. And Euripides in the Rhesus: "Join," he says, "the horns of the bow with strings." To this Delrio adds, in adage 1017, who thinks this phrase, to fill the bow, is taken from the moon which is called full, when the horns coming together are bent into a circle: for the bow stretched with the utmost force is similar to this. Now as to the sense, the Chaldean, Theodoret, St. Thomas and Hugh think Ephraim to be the same as Juda: for it is the same thing, "I have filled Ephraim," as "I have bent Juda for me as a bow," and it signifies that the Jews returning from Babylon were to be strong and warlike, as they indeed were in the time of the Maccabees. But, as I said a little before, these things literally regard Christ and the Apostles, who were born partly from Juda, partly from Ephraim, that is from the kingdom of the ten tribes. God therefore signifies that he will use the Apostles as most powerfully extended and poised bows, who by preaching will most powerfully poise and shoot forth the arrows of divine love, by which they will wound the hearts of their hearers and subject them to Christ. Thus Christ says of himself in Isaiah chapter XLIX, 2: "He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand he hath protected me." The Apostles therefore were as arrows of the mighty, sharp. Hear St. Cyril: "He calls Juda and Ephraim the whole race of Israel: from which the first Apostles, armed with the word of God, and made as a bow, struck down the other nations opposing them with divine doctrines: they struck, I say, and wounded, not unto death, but unto charity. Whence the Bride in the Canticle I, calls herself wounded with charity." AND I WILL RAISE UP THY SONS, O SION, AGAINST THY SONS, O GREECE. — That is to say, I will raise up from thy sons, O Sion, those who shall subdue the Greeks. He names the Greeks before other nations, because after the times of Zacharias the Jews had continual dealings with them; for Alexander, though hostile to the Jews, was appeased by Jaddus the high priest and entered into Jerusalem: Judas Maccabaeus and his brothers waged continual wars against Antiochus Epiphanes, who succeeded to the kingdom of Asia and Syria among the heirs of Alexander, and his followers. Whence Albert, Hugh and Sanchez judge that this passage is literally concerning the victories which the Maccabees obtained against Antiochus. But even if the Prophet alludes to them and touches upon them in passing, nevertheless persisting in the prophecy concerning Christ, he intends something deeper, namely St. Paul, St. John and other apostolic men armed with the word and zeal of God, who would convert Greece to the faith of Christ, as it is evident they did from the Acts of the Apostles and from the Epistles of St. Paul. Whence the Greek Church flourished almost first in the world, and gave to the Church the first and most excellent doctors, such as St. Dionysius the Areopagite, St. Polycarp, St. Chrysostom, St. Basil, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, and many others. AND I WILL MAKE THEE (O Sion, O Church) AS THE SWORD OF THE MIGHTY. — That is to say, I will make thee to be as a most mighty sword, and thou shalt strike down and slay the Greeks and other nations, because namely thou shalt slay in them infidelity and paganism, and shalt compel them to a new Christian life, holy and joyful.
9:14
14. AND THE LORD GOD SHALL BE SEEN OVER THEM. — God from on high shall be present with the Apostles and apostolic men, and shall send forth flashing darts of internal illuminations, by which he shall impel both the Apostles to preach the divine word, and the nations to hear eagerly and assent. Thus St. Cyril. AND THE LORD GOD SHALL SOUND THE TRUMPET. — "Trumpet," namely of the Gospel, by which he shall stir up his Apostles to evangelize, and shall lead them forth as it were drawn up in battle array, and shall go before them and rush upon the enemies most swiftly and mightily, and like a whirlwind coming from the South shall sweep all away and carry them off with him. By these warlike metaphors are signified the force and energy of evangelical preaching, inspired by God in the Apostles and preachers. Whence concerning them he subjoins:
9:15
15. THEY SHALL DEVOUR (their enemies) AND SHALL SUBDUE THEM WITH STONES OF A SLING. — This is understood in the Hebrew manner as a note of similitude, like or as it were: for the burning sentences of Holy Scripture and the discourses of the Apostles were as it were stones of a sling, which they cast upon the nations with such force and directness that they struck them down and laid them low. He alludes to the sling with which David twisted a stone against the forehead of Goliath, and struck him so powerfully that he laid him prostrate. In a similar manner, but mystical, the Apostles laid low those carnal towers of the Gentiles. He also alludes to the light-armed soldiers and slingers, who were formerly stationed in the first line of battle and were the first to engage in combat. AND DRINKING SHALL BE MADE DRUNK AS WITH WINE. — In Hebrew it is המו amu, that is, they shall rage like those intoxicated. Whence the Zurich Bible translates: They shall rage like those exhilarated with wine. It is a catachresis, signifying the copious slaughter of enemies and the great zeal of the Apostles both for destroying enemies, namely idols, infidelity and all the crimes of paganism, and for victory: for so much of the enemies' blood was to be shed by them that, if the victors were to drink it (which some savage men once did), they would be made drunk and filled, just as the bowls and horns of the altar are wont to be filled with the blood of victims. In a similar figure it is said of Christ the victor in Psalm CIX, 6: "He shall break the heads in the land of many: he shall drink of the torrent in the way." Wherefore the Septuagint here clearly translates: They shall drink them as wine. Such also is that passage of Isaiah LXIII, 3: "I have trodden them in my fury, and their blood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my apparel." He alludes to the bloody victories of the Maccabees, by which they shed much of the enemies' blood. Note: To as the horns of the altar, signifies that this slaughter of paganism was to be made by the Apostles a sacrifice and a victim most pleasing to God, just as the victims most pleasing to God are the enemies of God, when they are slain and their blood is shed, and as it were poured out to divine justice and vengeance. Whence the Septuagint translates: They shall fill the bowls; as the altar; or, as St. Jerome reads it: They shall fill as the bowls the altar. Thus Theodoret and the Chaldean: And it shall be, he says, their soul full of delights, as a bowl which is full of fine flour and oil, and they shall shine as blood which shines on the wall of the altar. Thus St. Paul calls the preaching of the Gospel a sacrifice, in which the nations are victims, Paul a priest, Rom. XV, 16: "That I may be, he says, a minister of Christ Jesus among the Gentiles, sanctifying (in Greek ἱερουργῶν, that is, sacrificing) the Gospel of God, that the oblation of the Gentiles may be made acceptable and sanctified in the Holy Ghost." Whence for this sacrifice he offers his blood through martyrdom as a libation to God, Philipp. II, 17: "But and if I am poured out, he says, upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and congratulate myself with all of you." Whence also Tertullian in book IV Against Marcion, cap. XXXIX, thus reads and explains: They shall fill as the bowls the altar, namely the martyrs with their blood, which they pour out to God, and as it were pour out as a libation upon the altar.
9:16
16. AND THE LORD SHALL SAVE THEM, etc., AS A FLOCK OF HIS PEOPLE. — For the Apostles were as it were a flock of chosen and selected rams by Christ saying: "Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves," Matt. X, 16; but God protected and saved them, so much so that sheep conquered wolves, and converted them into sheep. Note: The phrase "as a flock of his people" can be understood in two ways: first, that is to say, as a flock not of sheep, but of his people. Thus all people and all the faithful are the flock of God. Second, that is to say, as a flock selected from the people. Thus the Apostles alone and apostolic men are the flock of God's people. BECAUSE THE HOLY STONES SHALL BE LIFTED UP UPON HIS LAND. — That is to say, the Apostles and the faithful whom they shall convert, especially those illustrious in virtue and holiness, shall be saved by God and delivered from all dangers; because they themselves are the flock of God, and as it were primary stones, which He Himself decreed to lift up, honor and exalt in the land. Albert and Hugh understand by holy stones the Maccabees. But even if there is an allusion to them, nevertheless these things properly pertain to Christ and the Apostles, as St. Jerome, Theodoret, Remigius, Lyra, Ribera, and others say throughout. For "holy" in Hebrew is נזר nezer, which can first be translated as "stones of separation," that is, separated from the common, and therefore holy; because they are appointed to the holy building of the Church, or as a title or trophy. Second, nezer is the same as consecration. Whence the Zurich Bible translates: "Consecrated stones shall be borne on high upon his land." Third, nezer signifies a diadem, crown, or tiara. Whence some translate it as "stones of the diadem" or "of the crown." Thus Vatablus. Hence from nezer were called Nazarenes, as it were separated from the common people and consecrated to God, and crowned with their hair, as I said in Numbers V. (1) It is said in the proper words that in the verse above an image of a storm was proposed. The Jews are compared to lions, who devour those whom they attack, and drink their blood. You ask: What sort of stones are these? First, some think they are gems; from which the diadem (for this is what nezer signifies) of Christ is made and adorned, that is to say, the Apostles will be gems which will stand out in the diadem of Christ, and will adorn it, and in turn will be adorned by it. Thus Vatablus and Sanchez. To this the Chaldean agrees, who translates: "He shall choose them as stones of the breastplate"; as if there were an allusion here to the twelve gems which were in the ephod and rational of the High Priest, inscribed with the twelve names of the Patriarchs, who represented the twelve Apostles: for these are the Patriarchs of the New Testament, as I said in Exodus XXVIII, 17. In a similar way concerning the same Isaiah says, cap. LXII, 3: "Thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord." To this Mariana agrees, who explains it thus, that is to say, the princes of Judah shall be lifted up as stones of the crown, that is, they shall be in value, they shall stand out in dignity and honor, as gems stand out in a royal crown. Second, others understand stones of the building, that is to say, the Apostles in the building of the Church as primary stones shall stand out at the summit, in virtue, dignity, authority and glory. Thus St. Jerome, Theodoret, Remigius, Lyra and others. For Zechariah seems to allude to the building of the temple, to which he continually stirred up the Jews: for this was a type of the building of the Church. But because here mention is made neither of a crown, nor of a breastplate, nor of a building, but of the land, in which he says these stones are to be lifted up; hence more fittingly do we understand by these stones those which are set up as a title of victory, triumph, or some illustrious thing. For he alludes to the twelve stones which Joshua, having crossed the Jordan with dry feet, entering into the Holy Land, set up in Galaad as a title and monument of this miraculous entry, and at the same time as a sign as it were of taking possession, namely that he had already reached the possession of the Holy Land, Joshua V, 19. For these twelve stones were a type of the twelve Apostles, who in like manner in the Holy Land, that is in the Church, are set up and lifted up as a title of victory and of possession obtained by Christ. Such also were the stones on which God commanded His law to be inscribed, and then to be set up and placed on Mount Gerizim, Deut. XXVII, 2 and following. Such also was the altar which Moses built and set up as a trophy of the victory obtained over Amalec, from stones, as it appears, Exodus XVII, 15, and he called it: "The Lord is my exaltation," or "my standard," namely by bringing it against Amalec, he prostrated him. For the Hebrew נס nes signifies a standard: whence נוסס noses is called: standard-bearer. Zacharias uses almost the same word here, namely מתנוססות mitnosesot, which Our Lord translates as elevabuntur; others translate it as vexillabuntur, that is, they shall bear the standard of the cross of Christ, and shall be his standard-bearers in the camps of the Church, so that they may proclaim his victories gained by his power, in whose glory they are raised up; to which therefore all the faithful, as soldiers of Christ, shall gather themselves, so that they may prostrate their enemies. The sense therefore is, as if to say, the Apostles and Apostolic men shall be preserved and protected by God as a flock selected from his people: for just as holy stones shall be borne on high in the land, so that they may be titles and monuments of Christ and the Church, and of their victories, and may show to all the way to heaven through them and by them. To this Sanchez adds: These stones, he says, nezer, that is of separation, consecration, or coronation, can be called, because as it were boundary stones, they separate fields from fields, namely they distinguish the Church from the Synagogues of the Jews, from the academies of philosophers, and from the sects of the Gentiles, and demonstrate that it is consecrated to God by some illustrious mark: or certainly they encircle and crown the Church, as it were the promised land, just as rivers are said to be crowned with willows. Which also can be called sacred, because they are erected by Christ for the sake of religion. And he adds that there is an allusion here to the boundary stones of Judaea, which after the devastation by the Chaldaeans the Idumeans and other neighbouring hostile nations occupying Judaea had taken away; but when the Jews returned from Babylon to Judaea, they were restored and elevated by them. From which the sense of this whole verse will be here: Just as God saved the Jews returning from Babylon, and fed them as his flock in pastures, sealed with his signs and titles, as it were with a boundary stone: so the same God will preserve Christians, as his flock, from all dangers, and will feed them in the high mountains of the Church, as it were in his pastures, which elevated stones, namely the Apostles, enclose, and distinguish from Jews and Gentiles, and sanctify, and elevate to heaven. Thirdly, some think these stones were spherical stones. Whence the Septuagint translates: Stones which roll (Tertullian in book IV Against Marcion, chapter XXXIX reads, roll) upon the earth. For the Hebrew mitnosesot can be derived from נוס nus, that is to flee; and in the poel active noses, that is to put to flight, as if to say, Stones fleeing, that is most swiftly rolling and mobile, and putting to flight all enemies and obstacles. For these stones signify the Apostles, who most swiftly traversed and went about the whole world evangelizing. Hear St. Cyril: "For he says they roll most aptly, so as to declare the agility and swiftness of the saints for anything. For stones that are spherical or round are most mobile without any difficulty, if anyone wishes to impel them: so the mind of the saints is versatile for all things pleasing to God." The reason is, that they look to heaven, but touch the earth only at a point. For a sphere or globe resting on a plane touches it only at a point, as mathematicians teach: by which it is signified that the saints, and especially apostolic men, are so fixed on heavenly things, that they scarcely touch earthly things, and only when forced by necessity, as St. Paul admonishes in II Timothy VI: "Having, he says, food, and wherewith to be covered, with these let us be content." Whence the Arabic translates: They are sanctified stones, and he shall cause them to ascend in the land of holiness from the place of the best goods. Wherefore St. Jerome elegantly and aptly explaining that passage of Psalm LXXVI, 19: The voice of thy thunder in a wheel, "that is, he says, the voice of thy preaching in the whole world:" for through that whole the preaching runs about like a wheel. Tropologically however: "A wheel, he says, stands on the earth with a certain small footprint; and not only stands, but as it were runs: it does not stand, but touches and passes by: so also a holy man, because he is in the body, has the necessity of thinking about some earthly things; but having food and clothing, he is content with these; and touching the earth he hastens to higher things (as if a wheel touching the earth, immediately rises on high). He who runs, and hastens to higher things, in him is thy word. We read in the Prophet (Zechariah IX): Holy stones roll upon the earth. For because they are wheels, therefore they roll upon the earth, and hasten to higher things." Thus Atherius, Archbishop of Asia, being commanded by an angel to seek out St. John, who was surnamed the Silent One from his silence; when he found him and learned that he had abandoned nobility, great wealth and a bishopric for the love of God, and had devoted himself to voluntary poverty, humility and the practice of the anchoritic life, and lived unknown among the anchorites, marveling he exclaimed: "Truly even now holy stones are rolling upon the earth," as Cyril relates in the Life of St. John the Silent One, who was a contemporary of St. Sabas and the Emperor Justinian, and flourished in the year five hundred after Christ. Morally, learn here how lofty, separated and elevated is the life of the saints, especially of those who are Nazarites by religion and sanctify others. For they are elevated from the earth to heaven, and thus attain to the nezer, that is the diadem which is upon the head of Christ, and adorn it. Therefore, as this diadem is elevated from the earth, so also are they elevated from earthly things and earthly customs: because their conversation is with Christ in the heavens. Receive the description and the portrayal of a holy man thus elevated: "A holy man orders himself inwardly; adorns himself outwardly; restrains himself from base things: loves right and useful discourse: does not break into laughter, does not shout, nor raises his voice. He walks modestly. He does not curiously inquire into the deeds of others; he receives admonitions with a cheerful countenance: he readily forgives the errors of others: he is humble, meek and kind: he compassionates the miserable with heartfelt mercy: he is not exalted by praise, not cast down by detraction: he answers the questioner readily and gently: he readily yields to the contentious: he listens to others patiently: in all things he strives to edify and perfect others: he is of rare and weighty speech: sparing in food, sober in drink: composed in countenance and words: he hates falsehood, fables and trifles: he is a son of truth: his eyes are cast down and simple. Bright in purity, prompt in obedience, perfect in patience, assiduous in prayer: steadfast in faith, diligent in work, rigorous in abstinence, exemplary in morals: gracious in conversation, affable in words, liberal in giving, faithful to friends, kind to enemies, resigned to God, dead to himself, crucified to the world, all things to all men that he may gain all: zealous for the honor of God and the salvation of souls." Hear also St. Gregory in book VI of the Morals, chapter II: "Because holy men, despising the prosperity of the world, trample it underfoot, just as they bear its adversity underfoot through great elevation of mind, subjecting to themselves both the adverse and prosperous things of the world, they say: As its darkness and its light, that is, just as the sorrows of the world do not press down the strength of our intention; so neither do its blandishments corrupt it." The same, book VIII, chapter XIV, explaining that passage of Job VII: My soul hath chosen hanging, and my bones death, by hanging he understands the elevation of the mind to heavenly things; by the death of bones, the mortification of the flesh: "For holy men, he says, know most certainly that they cannot have rest in this life, and therefore they choose hanging, because forsaking earthly desires, they lift their soul to high things. But the suspended bring death to their bones, because, devoted to virtue through love of the heavenly homeland, that which they were strong in before in the world, they pursue with the bond of humility." The same, book XII, chapter XVII, teaches that the saints are called heavens on account of the loftiness of their life and mind, "as it is written in Psalm XVIII: The heavens declare the glory of God, which by nature all have in themselves their own mutability, but while they desire to adhere studiously always to immutable truth, by adhering they act so as to become immutable." The same, book XX, chapter XIX: "The Lord helps His saints by coming, proves them by forsaking, strengthens them by gifts, tests them by tribulations." The same, book XXI, chapter X: "Holy men when they preside, do not regard in themselves the power of order, but the equality of condition; nor do they rejoice to preside over men, but to benefit them." The same, book XXI, chapter XV: "Holy men when they undertake matters of contention with lesser persons, while they fear to burden or in the least things, they themselves do not refuse to be burdened contrary to justice." The same, book XXVI, chapter XXI: "The saints, he says, are kings, because by not consenting to succumb to the motions of their temptations, but by ruling they know how to preside." The same, book XXI, chapter XV: "A holy man, the more he is pressed by persecution, the more keenly is he instigated to preach the truth; and when he patiently bears his persecutors, he hastens ardently to draw listeners to himself." The same, book XXXV, chapter II: "Holy men, when they hear the mysteries of divinity, the more they profit by contemplating, the more by despising what they are, they know themselves to be nothing, or nearly nothing." Hear also St. Augustine on Psalm CXXII: "Heaven is my seat. Who are the heavens, except the just? In them God sits, and from them God judges. Just as the sinner became earth, to whom it was said: Thou art earth, and into earth thou shalt go; so the justified have become heaven. They bore God, and from them God flashed forth miracles, thundered terrors, rained consolations. The soul of the just is the throne of wisdom, that is, in the soul of the just wisdom sits as in its seat, as in its throne, and from there judges all that it judges." The same in Psalm XCVI: "If thou wilt, thou shalt be heaven: If thou wilt be heaven, cleanse from thy heart the earth: if thou shalt not have earthly desires, and thou shalt not in vain answer that thou hast thy heart on high, thou shalt be heaven. For thy conversation shall be in heaven." The same, book II of the Sermon on the Mount, chapter X: "Our Father who art in heaven, that is in the hearts of the just, as in His holy temple." To these indeed He promised that of Isaiah LVIII, 14: "Thou shalt be delighted in the Lord, and I will lift thee up above the heights of the earth, and will feed thee with the inheritance of Jacob thy father." Hear also the pagan Seneca, book On the Four Virtues: "The good of a great-souled man is not to waver, to stand firm with himself, and to await the end of life without fear. There is nothing else great in human affairs except a spirit despising great things. If thou shalt be magnanimous, thou shalt never judge that an affront is done to thee."
9:17
17. FOR WHAT IS HIS GOOD, AND WHAT IS HIS BEAUTY, EXCEPT THE WHEAT OF THE ELECT, AND WINE SPRINGING UP VIRGINS? — The word "his" in Hebrew and Greek is masculine: whence it cannot refer to the earth, as being of the feminine gender. It refers therefore to God, and consequently to His people. For just as God can give nothing better or more beautiful than this gift, so neither can the people receive anything better. It is an epiphonema, by which through admiration and exclamation he closes, as it were in one synopsis, all the goods recounted a little before, and at the same time gives the cause, that is, the source of so many goods, as if to say: The cause why the Apostles and their followers are to be like arrows and lightning-flashing javelins, which will lay low all nations and subject them to themselves; why they are to be saved by God and fed as His flock; finally why they are to be stones of nezer, that is, separated and consecrated to God, and therefore to be elevated above the earth: the cause of all these things, I say, is that God loves them so much that He communicates all His good to them: "For what is His good, and what is His beauty, except the wheat of the elect?" etc., as if to say: Surely God has nothing to give that is better or more beautiful than the wheat of the elect. Hence the Septuagint translates: "For if what is beautiful of His, and if what is good of His, this surely is wheat for youths, and wine of good odor for virgins"; Pagninus and Vatablus: "For how great is His goodness, and how great is His beauty! Wheat will make youths vigorous and flourishing, and wine of good odor will make virgins vigorous and flourishing"; the Syriac: "How good, and how beautiful is wheat for adolescents, and wine delights virgins!"; the Arabic of Antioch: "How good and how useful is food for youth, and wine gladdens virgins!"; the Arabic of Alexandria: "From the place of the best goods, wheat for boys, and wine and ointment for virgins." O therefore the stupendous goodness and beauty of God! O abyss of goodness! O love! O wonder! You will ask: What is this wheat and wine? First, the Hebrews and Theodoret think that here abundance of wheat and wine is promised to the Jews literally. Whence Sanchez explains it thus, as if to say: O how great goodness and beauty will that field have, which the Lord will assign to His people, and which He will circumscribe for them by His titles! For it will bring forth wheat, which will make youths robust; and wine, which will make virgins flourishing and shining. But Mariana thus: What will be most beautiful in this victory will be its end, namely the banquets, which will instruct youths and virgins, and the songs by which they will celebrate their joy. But this sense is humble and earthly, especially because all the preceding things look to the times of Christ: nor does material wine spring up virgins, as our translator renders it, but rather kindles lust. Second, better do others take wheat and wine mystically for spiritual nourishment; namely for the law and doctrine of Moses and the Prophets, which nourished and sustained the minds of the Jews, both youths and virgins, in the worship of God, when the Maccabees raised up the law with the worship of God, which had fallen through persecution, and restored it to its entirety. Whence the Chaldean translates: "For how good and beautiful is the doctrine of the law, and judgment of truth directed in the congregation!" Thus Albert and Hugh. But because from verse 9 hitherto he has spoken of Christ, not of Moses; hence Third, more sublimely and more properly do others take through wheat and wine the law and doctrine of the Gospel, which preached by Christ and the Apostles nourishes the minds of those hearing, and stirs youths to fortitude, virgins to chastity. Thus Clarius, Vatablus and Arias. Fourth, most aptly and plainly to the letter, this wheat and wine is the Eucharist, in which the body of Christ the Lord under the species of bread made from wheat, and the blood under the species of wine, by the force of consecration, namely by the words of Christ the Lord, is really and substantially present on the altar, which nourishes the Apostles and the faithful, strengthens them and inflames them to fight the battles of the Lord, and the same transfers and elevates them from earthly desires to heavenly ones. For this wine of His does not spring up lust, but chastity and produces it: both species of the Eucharist therefore are here noted, namely wheat or bread and wine. Thus St. Jerome, Remigius, Haymo, Lyran, Ribera, a Castro and others throughout, and Paschasius in the book On the Body and Blood of the Lord, chapter XXI. Note here: The Eucharist is called the goodness and good of Christ, because with supreme goodness He communicates the supreme good, namely Himself as much as He is, that is, His entire divinity and humanity to us, and gives Himself as food; so that He pours out and exhausts, as it were, the entire treasury of divinity into us. It is likewise called the beauty and beauty of Christ, first, in substance: because namely it exhibits Christ to us substantially, who as God is the Word, the image and beauty of the Father; as man, is "fairer in beauty than the sons of men." Secondly, by causality and effect: because namely it is "the wheat of the elect, and wine springing forth virgins." For it causes in us a flourishing youth of spirit and soul, while it makes it robust, flourishing, agile and eager for all good: again while it makes it pure and virginal. Truly indeed the Wise Man says, chapter IV, 1: "O how beautiful is a chaste generation with brightness!" Thirdly, by Sacrament: because the species of bread and wine represent to us Christ immolated on the cross, namely the body separated from the blood, as if slain and dead. This immolation and victim was most beautiful, most excellent, most worthy and most pleasing to God, inasmuch as through it all honor violated and taken from sin was restored to Him, and consequently our redemption and reconciliation with God was accomplished. Wherefore St. Augustine elegantly and truly says in Psalm XLIV, after the beginning: "Christ, he says, is beautiful in heaven, beautiful on earth, beautiful in the womb, beautiful in the hands of His parents, beautiful in miracles, beautiful in scourges, beautiful calling to life, beautiful not caring for death, beautiful laying down His soul, beautiful receiving it, beautiful on the wood, beautiful in the sepulcher." Fourthly, by banquet: For the Eucharist is a banquet in which God feasts with us, and therefore sets before us food not human, not angelic, but divine, and therefore most beautiful and most magnificent. For the beauty of a banquet is its adornment and magnificence. This is what the Psalmist says, Psalm CX, 3: "Confession and magnificence are His work," because namely, "He gave food to those who fear Him." What food? "He gave them the bread of heaven: Man ate the bread of angels," Psalm LXXVII, 25. Therefore in the Eucharist, "confession and beauty are in His sight: holiness and magnificence in His holiness," Psalm XCV, 6. With good reason St. Augustine in sermon 50 On the Words of the Lord: "What do you say, he says, O good Lord? For You are the good shepherd, who are the good lamb: the same shepherd and pasture, the same lamb and lion." This beauty will be more evident from the symmetry and congruence of the Eucharist with the other mysteries of faith which I now add. Morally, learn here that the Eucharist is all the good and beauty of God and Christ, equally as ours, so that He cannot give us anything better or more beautiful. Truly of it the Christian Poet: Holy, august, nourishing, admirable gift of heaven, Through you the honey-flowing mountains drip with sweetness. Through you the honey-flowing valleys are filled with nectar. Love itself, itself the will joined to our souls. The reason is, because in the Eucharist, as it is said in Psalm CX, 4: "The merciful and compassionate Lord has made a memorial of His wonderful works, He gave food to those who fear Him." For the Eucharist is as it were a compendium and recapitulation of all the wonderful works of God. For first, here as it were is a new creation of the world: because transubstantiation is as it were a certain creation, by which the Lord Himself and Creator of the world is as it were created on the altar, and the world in Him, and therefore He changes and transubstantiates the entire natures of things, bread into the flesh, wine into the blood of Christ. Secondly, the manna was a wonderful work of God, which was the bread of heaven, and the bread of angels. The Eucharist is supernatural and divine manna, John chapter VI, verse 59. Thirdly, the Incarnation was an ineffable wonderful work of God, by which "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." In the Eucharist there is in a certain way a new incarnation, while the Word is again presented humanated on the altar, and as it were becomes incarnate. Fourthly, the crucifixion of Christ was a wonderful work of God, His death and the redemption of the world: in the Eucharist there is a living representation of the crucifixion and death of Christ: "As often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall show the death of the Lord," I Corinthians XI, 26. Fifth, because in the Eucharist God renews and surpasses all the old miracles. For He does not change water into wine, but wine into His own blood: He makes Christ, a man of six feet, subsist in a point, indeed in each individual point of the host: He makes the accidents of bread and wine subsist by themselves without a subject, as if they were substance. He does the same thing not in one place, but in all altars when consecration takes place, throughout the whole world. And so Christ, the same in His whole body and quantity, is in many and most distant places, and this continuously every single day, through all weeks, months, years and centuries. Sixth, therefore He left us the Eucharist, that it might be the object concerning which we exercise all virtues: for great faith is required here, that we believe the host is not bread, but the flesh of Christ; nor is the wine which was before wine, but is the blood of Christ; even though all the senses judge it to be wine, to be bread, not flesh, not blood. Second, religion is exercised here: because we have God present, whom we adore with latria. Third, hope: because if Christ gives us Himself as food, what will He not give? and thus concerning the rest. Seventh, the Eucharist is the supreme and most excellent sacrifice, by which God is supremely honored: because the most noble victim is offered and immolated to Him, namely not an ox, not a bull, but God's own Son Himself, God and man; and He is as it were slain and consumed in His honor. Again, the Eucharist is a propitiatory sacrifice, by which the priest, as it were a mediator between God and men, reconciles God to men, and obtains pardon of sins and all graces for the Church, which otherwise would be gravely punished by God on account of the sins of many. Eighth, the Eucharist is transsubstantial bread, ὑπερούσιος, and supersubstantial, Matt. VI, 11, strengthening the heart, spirit, mind of man, and all his powers and faculties. It is the medicine of immortality, by whose power we shall rise to immortal life, as Christ teaches, John VI, 59: "He that eateth this bread, shall live for ever;"; and St. Cyril teaches this expressly in the same place. It is the remedy of all infirmities and diseases of body and soul. Do you labor under pride? Take the Eucharist, that is, Christ humbling Himself to flesh, indeed to bread; and this humble bread will make you humble. Do you labor under the temptation of lust? Take wine that produces virgins. Do you labor under anger and impatience? Take Christ crucified and most patient: He will communicate His patience to you, etc. Ninth, the Eucharist is the fire of divine love, kindling in us the ardor of charity. For in it Christ is "the love of loves," says St. Bernard, or whoever is the Author, sermon On the Supper of the Lord. For, as St. Thomas Aquinas sings: Being born He gave Himself as companion; Eating He gave Himself as food; Dying He gave Himself as price: Reigning He gives Himself as reward. For who would not love Christ, and as it were wholly pass into Him, while Christ wholly passes into him? Who, receiving Christ as fire, would not burn with it? St. Augustine, sermon 9 On the Nativity of the Lord: "God, he says, became man, that man might become God: that man might eat the bread of angels, the Lord of angels became man." We read of St. Catherine of Siena, her heart was split by consideration and love of the suffering Christ, so that she herself expired, as Ambrosius Catharinus relates in her Life, book II, chapter XXX. Thus it is a wonder that our heart in the Eucharist is not split by so great a love of Christ, is not consumed by so great a fire. It is an axiom of Philo in the Life of Moses: "Miracles by daily use cease to be seen as such." We experience this truth among men in holy communion: for to them the Eucharist, because it is daily, becomes worthless, when it is the miracle of miracles, and the prodigy of prodigies. This St. Francis lamented, indeed marveled at, as is found in his letter to the Priests of his Order, which is found at the end of volume V of the Library of the Holy Fathers: "Great, he says, is the misery, and lamentable the weakness, when you have Him Himself thus present, and care for something else in the whole world. Let the whole man fear, let the whole world tremble, and let heaven exult, when Christ the Son of the living God is upon the altar in the hands of the priest." Wherefore, that we might avoid this evil of contempt from custom, the newness of mind, attention, consideration, admiration and wonder of so great a Sacrament must be daily aroused, just as if it were being done for the first time on that day, and had never been done before: "So great, new and pleasant should it appear to you, when you celebrate, or hear Mass, as if on that very day Christ first descended into the womb of the Virgin and became man, or hanging on the cross suffered and died for the salvation of men," says our Thomas, book IV On the Imitation of Christ, chapter II. Zacharias comprehends all these things in this saying: "For what is his goodness, and what is his beauty?" and he does this for the purpose of sharpening in Christians a hunger for the Eucharist, and at the same time to indicate that the best disposition and preparation for holy communion is, if anyone stirs up in himself a great hunger, I say a great desire of receiving Christ. For just as the best disposition for usefully taking bodily food is appetite and desire: for these make every insipid thing savory, and that which is stringent becomes tender, is excellently digested, and is incorporated into oneself; whence that common saying: "The best seasoning of food is hunger;" so precisely the matter stands with the spiritual food of the Eucharist. Wherefore St. Chrysostom teaches that one approaching the Eucharist ought to approach it so eagerly, as if he were applying his mouth to the side of Christ, and from it were drawing and drinking the blood of Christ, which he truly does. St. Catherine of Siena approached the Holy Synaxis with such appetite as hungry infants approach the breasts of their mother, so much so that she seemed to faint and die from hunger. Whence also St. Chrysostom in homily 60 to the People says: "Do you not see, he says, with what readiness little children take the nipples, and with what force they press their lips to the breasts? Let us approach with such alacrity we too to this table, nay rather with far greater force let us draw, as nursing infants, the grace of the Spirit; and let there be one sorrow to us to be deprived of this food." St. Thomas, Opuscule 57: "The sweetness, he says, of this Sacrament no one is sufficiently able to express worthily, through which spiritual sweetness is tasted in its source, and the memory is recalled of that which Christ showed in his passion, of most excellent charity." Wherefore St. Mechtildis learned from God that the best disposition toward the Eucharist, and most pleasing to God, is that, although one does not feel in himself a living hunger for it and a burning desire, he should nevertheless conceive a desire of this desire, wishing for an intense hunger of this food, and praying to God that he would give and inspire in him this heavenly appetite for heavenly food. Again, so that we may enjoy this beautiful and good thing of the Eucharist, and fully taste and savor it, that same thing ought to be chewed over for a long time and devoutly after the Holy Synaxis with thanksgiving, and the mind ought to be gathered and united with Christ: concerning which matter our Father Balthasar Alvarez, a man of rare prudence and holiness, published excellent and very useful teachings, which Father Ludovicus de Ponte recounts in his Life, chapter VI, § 2: Many communicants, he says, itch in their feet so that they depart thence immediately under the pretext of reading, conversation, walking, which is intolerable madness. For what else are prayers and readings than certain cries by which we call upon the Lord that he deign to come to our house? What therefore is this folly, that after so many hours while he comes to us, nay enters in, we immediately leave the house abandoning him? What do you seek besides your God? He will teach you more than all books, he will refresh you more than all friends, he will give you more virtue than all saints. To this consider the following truths, by which the soul speaks with God: Weak is he, O Lord, who is not gladdened with you, he is very near to falling: The soul which does not exult with you, whence will it be able to exult? He who with you, O Lord, is not content, how will he not creep? He who while he has you as a guest hastens to leave the house, easily shows that his heart is bound elsewhere. To whom to remain with you is tedious, knows not that you are God and all his good. He who does not willingly remain with you shows that he labors under madness, since he was born for this reason. For you are all good and beautiful of the whole universe, you who freely communicate and impart a spark of it to each creature. What therefore is this folly, leaving the immense fountain of pleasure, to pursue one drop? Therefore you who are wise follow the counsel of the Wise One, Ecclesiasticus XIV, 14: "Do not defraud yourself of a good day, and let not the portion of a good gift pass you by." WHEAT OF THE ELECT. — In Hebrew it is בחורים Bachurim, which the Septuagint, the Syriac and Arabic, Vatablus and Pagninus translate as youths. For these are chosen before the aged to accomplish works both civil and military. The Eucharist therefore is "wheat of the elect," which namely makes select youths, that is, strong, eager and ready for all good, equally as for any battle however arduous and difficult. Secondly, "of the elect;" because it makes us to be chosen by God for eternal life, John VI, 59, and separated from the reprobate, to be numbered among the elect to be given to heaven. Hence it is clear that a sign and cause of election to glory is pious and frequent communion. Moreover, that the Eucharist is the grain of the elect and of young men, nourishing them, animating them and strengthening them, is evident first in the martyrs, who fortified and strengthened themselves with the Eucharist as they went to tribunals, stakes, racks and torments, as is clear from St. Cyprian, book I, epistle 2 to Cornelius, and for this reason they carried the Eucharist home during times of persecution, so that they might receive it when danger was imminent. For when we receive the blood of Christ poured out for us, we are strengthened and stirred up, so that we too might generously and willingly pour out our blood for him, says St. Cyprian, because love is strong as death: and he adds that those who are not clothed with these arms cannot fight strongly in this battle. Wherefore St. Anacletus, the fourth Pontiff and martyr from St. Peter, in the year of the Lord 112, when the persecution of Trajan was growing fierce, decreed that all Christians present at the sacrifice of the Mass, when it was completed, should communicate, and thus strengthen themselves for the struggle of martyrdom, as his Life and Decrees record. Secondly, in the assault of demons, whose rage the faithful, strengthened by the Eucharist, overcome and vanquish. Whence St. Chrysostom, homily 61 to the People: "Like lions," he says, "breathing fire, let us depart from this table, made terrible to the devil, according to that Psalm 22:5: 'Thou hast prepared a table before me against them that trouble me.' " St. Prosper writes in On the Promises and Predictions, half of the temporal age, chapter VI, that in Carthage a certain virgin, possessed by a demon, was freed by the power of the Eucharist. For this reason Christ, about to go with his own to his passion, first instituted the Eucharist, received it and distributed it to his own, so that he might teach us to do the same in every temptation and tribulation. Whence St. Chrysostom in the place cited: "When we," he says, "see ourselves moved by anger, or by another vice, let us think of what we have been made worthy, and let such a thought be the correction of our irrational movements." Thirdly, in battle and conflict: the Emperor Otto, about to join battle with the Hungarians, first received the Eucharist with his men, and then fighting he slew a great number of the enemy and obtained a glorious victory, in the year of the Lord 955, as Udalricus writes in his Deeds, and from him Cardinal Baronius. He also relates, in the year of the Lord 1040, from the Curopalata and Cedrenus, that Catalacus, prefect of the Emperor Michael, routed great forces of Saracens invading Messina, the soldiers being communicated with the holy viaticum before the battle line. Peter Damian and Boniface relate that the Emperor Henry, husband of St. Cunegundis, was accustomed to do the same before battles, in the year of the Lord 1022. Theodoretus writes in book III of his History, chapter III, that Constantius, son of Constantine the Great, exhorted his soldiers to receive the Eucharist before the contest with Magnentius. The same was done by Christians in the holy war when Jerusalem was besieged, as William of Tyre writes, and from him Molanus in the Nativity of Belgium, July 15, appendix 2. Memorable was the victory which by the virtue of the Eucharist and the Holy Cross Alfonso VIII, king of Castile, obtained over the Saracens, under the Pontiff Innocent III, in the year of the Lord 1212, on July 16. For when the king with all his soldiers had prepared themselves before the battle by holy confession and communion, and Rodericus, Archbishop of Toledo, had brought the standard of the cross against the barbarians, about two hundred thousand Saracens were slain, with only twenty-five Christians lost. Wherefore the Spanish celebrate an annual memorial of so great a miracle with a feast which they call the Triumph of the Holy Cross, on July 16. The king wrote of the deed to the Pontiff Innocent III, and Rodericus, Archbishop of Toledo, in book VIII of his History, I, and from them Father Ribadeneira in the Lives of the Saints on July 16. No less glorious was the victory which the King Ramirus obtained over the same enemies with the same arms, in the year of the Lord 834. For when Ramirus, having been defeated by them, withdrew with his men to the mountains, and afflicted besought God, St. James appeared to him, commanding that he purify all the soldiers by holy confession and refresh them with holy communion, and thus invade the enemies calling upon the name of God and St. James: for he himself would go before the camp on a white horse and scatter the enemies. Thus it was done: wherefore in that battle seventy thousand Moors were slain. And from then on the Spanish were accustomed to call upon St. James in battles. Thus Ribadeneira in the Life of St. James. Let Christian leaders and soldiers imitate this, and they will obtain similar triumphs over the enemies of the faith. Fourth, in bodily infirmity. St. Bonaventure writes, in the book On Perfection to a Sister, that often weak persons feel such strength, consolation and joy in the Holy Synaxis alone, that robust persons depart from it as if they were subject to no infirmity. In the Lives of the Holy Fathers we read that certain saints, sustained without food by the Eucharist alone, lived a healthy and long life. Palladius in the Lausiac History, chapter XV, writes that John the Monk never took food except on Sunday the Eucharist: for this alone was to him both Sacrament and sustenance. Thus Severus the abbot, refreshed on Sunday with the Eucharist and a little bread, ate nothing more for the rest of the week. Louis the Pious the emperor in the supreme illness by which he died, passed forty whole days fasting, taking the Eucharist alone daily, as the writer who was present to him testifies, as Thomas Bozius says, volume II, book XV On the Signs of the Church, chapter II. Sigebert writes in the Chronicle, in the year of the Lord 823 in the territory of Toul, a certain girl of twelve years, having taken the Eucharist at Easter, abstained from all food for three years. St. Mary of Oignies, celebrated in Belgium for the fame of her sanctity, when infirm rejected all food, lived and grew strong on the Eucharist alone; and then her face seemed to vibrate and diffuse certain rays of light from itself, as the Cardinal of Vitry says in her Life, book II, chapter XII. St. Gregory of Nazianzus wrote, in oration 19 at the Funeral of his father, that his father exhausted by the most ardent and prolonged fever, having taken the Holy Eucharist recovered, and the same one adds that a similar miracle befell his mother somewhat later: "For when he was never not," he says, "pressed by pain (the father), and indeed very often on single days, and sometimes even on hours, from the liturgy alone he conceived strength, and the disease as if by edict and command fled and withdrew itself." The same one in the Funeral of Gorgonia his sister, writes that she praying at the Holy Eucharist was restored from the dissolution of all her limbs and from the most grievous torments by which she was afflicted, to health and to herself. St. Ambrose in the Funeral of Satyrus his brother, writes that he swam unharmed from shipwreck with the Eucharist hung at his neck. Hence it is clear that the Eucharist is the wheat of the elect, given to them by God for this purpose, that nourished by it they may grow and become young. Tertullian excellently in the book On the Resurrection of the Flesh, chapter VIII: "The flesh," he says, "is nourished by the body and blood of Christ, so that the soul also may be fattened by God." AND WINE. — In Hebrew it is תירוש tiros, that is fresh wine, or must, which is most sweet, and so powerful that it boils, and the largest vessels, unless some opening is loosened and a vent through which it may burst forth, it breaks. What is sweeter than fresh must? what stronger? what more fervent? what more splendid? what more efficacious for gladdening the heart, for restoring the vital and animal powers, for exciting the spirits, for moving the soul and illuminating and sharpening the mind? You would rightly call it another life artificially made, not without God's counsel invented by Noah, so that it might succeed in place of the tree of life forbidden to men. So sweet, so powerful, so fervent, so splendid, so efficacious is the wine of the Eucharist, which instills into us the juice and spirit of Christ, by which when drunk the languishing are aroused, the dead revive, and they become other men, so that they conceive youthful ardor and strength conformable to that ardor for undertaking, daring and accomplishing great and difficult things. GERMINANS. — In Hebrew it is ינובב ienobeb, which the Septuagint translates as εὐωδίαν, that is, a fragrance to virgins, exhaling a good odor to virgins, so that it appears to be aromatic; whence wine is commonly called cos, because it has an excellent color, odor and taste, such as, says St. Jerome, is that of the Bride saying in Cant. VIII, 2: "I will give thee a cup of wine mingled, and the must of my pomegranates." The Zurich version translates: Making succulent and vigorous; Sanchez: Causing to flourish; others: Bearing fruit, procreating, propagating virgins; Vatablus: Exhilarating; the Syriac: Gladdening, delighting; the Arabic: Anointing like an ointment; Pagninus: Causing to sing; thus he translates: Grain for youths, and wine causing virgins to sing. Namely, the Eucharist first strengthens the soul; second, makes it vigorous, flourishing, cheerful and ready for all good; third, exhilarates it; fourth, intoxicates it, so that it bursts forth into hymns and praises of God. Whence formerly after the Holy Synaxis the faithful, as if intoxicated by the Eucharist and the love of Christ, sang sacred songs; indeed sometimes seized by enthusiasm and the Holy Spirit, they poured forth the most secret and sublime mysteries in wonderful ways and songs, as is evident from St. Paul, I Corinth. XIV, 26, and Ephes. V, 18: "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is luxury;" but with the wine of the Eucharist, wherein is holy and sober intoxication, and there "be ye filled with the Holy Ghost, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord." Thus St. Monica, having received the Holy Synaxis, as if drunk sang: "My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God." And: "Let us fly to heaven," let us leave the earth, "let us fly to heaven." For the Eucharist raises up, makes vigorous, strengthens, and elevates to heaven souls that are languid, creeping on the ground, sluggishly cast down, sorrowful, faint-hearted, pressed down to earthly things, and makes them angelic, nay, angels; for, as St. Bernard says, or whoever is the author, in the sermon On the Supper of the Lord: "This bread is called by excellence the Eucharist, that is, good grace. For in this Sacrament not only is any grace whatsoever received, but He from whom all grace comes." Hence the Psalmist, Psalm XXII, 5: "And my chalice," he says, "which inebriateth, how goodly is it!" Which words St. Cyprian explains, lib. II, epist. 3 to Caecilius: Just as, he says, drunkenness alienates a man from himself and from his mind, and makes him altogether different; so the Eucharist alienates the faithful from himself, and makes him from earthly become heavenly. We read in the Chronicles of the Cistercians of a certain monk who, as often as he received the Holy Synaxis, so often it seemed to him that he was receiving a honeycomb, whose sweetness remained in his mouth for three days. St. Francis, says St. Bonaventure in his Life, cap. IX, "burned with fervor in every fiber toward the Sacrament of the Lord's body, marveling with the greatest wonder at that most beloved condescension and most condescending charity. He communicated often, and so devoutly that he made others devout, while at the sweet tasting of the immaculate Lamb, as if drunk in spirit, he was for the most part rapt into an excess of mind." St. Mary of Egypt, going to the desert, received the Holy Synaxis, and then lived in the desert without food for many years; but when about to die, receiving it as a viaticum, stretching forth her hands to heaven, groaning with tears she exclaimed: "Now lettest thou thy servant depart, O Lord, according to thy word in peace, because my eyes have seen thy salvation." And soon she fell asleep in the Lord, holy and peaceful. Thus relates Zosymas, an eyewitness, in her Life. St. Mary Magdalene did the same with greater sense of piety and love, shortly before her death, when St. Maximin gave her the Eucharist. Thus St. Cassius, Bishop of Narni, celebrating daily, flowed with holy and pious tears, as St. Gregory relates, hom. 37 in Evang. Behold, these saints by their own sense and taste explain this passage of Scripture to us more clearly than any interpreters. Virgins. — That is, first, the chaste; second, the immortal: for a virgin flourishing in vivid and rosy color is a symbol of youth never growing old and of immortal life, says Jerome Prado in Ezech. cap. XV. For the effect of the Eucharist is resurrection: by its virtue we shall rise to immortal, blessed and eternal life, as Christ asserts in John VI, 59. Wherefore the Eucharist is called by the Holy Fathers the medicine of immortality, the antidote of incorruption, the tree of life, of which Genesis II. Thus St. Ignatius, epist. to the Ephesians at the end, points it out as "the medicine of immortality, the antidote of death, reconciling life in God through Jesus Christ, a remedy purging vices, and driving away all evils." Again, by virgins he alludes to the stones of the Nazarite, that is, the Nazarites and the holy ones, concerning whom in the preceding verse. For the Nazarites abstained from the pleasures of the flesh and wine, in which is luxury, so that they might be holy and chaste. This the Eucharistic wine accomplishes for us, producing virgins, and therefore makes us Nazarites, that is, separated from the pomp and delights of the world, consecrated and crowned to God. Christ therefore, says St. Jerome, "is the grain of the elect, or of the young: he himself is also the wine that gladdens the heart of man, and is drunk by these virgins, who are holy both in body and in spirit, so that made drunk and rejoicing they may follow the Church, and it may be said of them: The virgins shall be brought to the king after her, her companions shall be brought to thee; they shall be brought with gladness and rejoicing. For how shall they not have gladness, who made drunk with the cup of the Saviour are generated into virgins, and dare to say: Bring me into the wine cellar, comfort me with ointments?" And soon after: "Made drunk with this wine are those who follow the Lamb of God whithersoever he goeth, clothed in white garments; because they have not defiled themselves with women, for they remained virgins," Apoc. XIV. St. Cyprian also, epistle 63, or book II, epistle 3, concerning the cup of the Lord inebriating, most excellent, or most glorious, namely of his blood, says that those drinking thus become inebriated "so as to make them sober, so as to direct minds to spiritual wisdom, so that from this worldly taste each one may rise to the understanding of God; and just as by this common wine the mind is loosened, and the soul is relaxed, and all sadness is dispelled: so likewise when the blood of the Lord is drunk and the cup of salvation is taken, let the memory of the old man be dispelled, and let there be forgetfulness of the former worldly conversation, and let the sad and sorrowful breast, which before was pressed down by sins acting, be resolved by the joy of divine forgiveness." St. Cyril of Alexandria, book IV on John, chapter XVII: "The Eucharist," he says, "drives away not only death, but all diseases. For when Christ remains in us, it restrains the raging law of our members, strengthens piety, extinguishes perturbations of the soul, heals the sick, restores the broken; and like the good shepherd, who laid down his soul for his sheep, it raises us up from every fall." From this place therefore it is evident that the effect of the Eucharist is the repression of the temptations of the flesh, and the suffocation or extinction of lust, and the implanting of chastity, indeed of virginity. For the virginal flesh of Christ, which nourishes us in the Eucharist, makes us like unto itself, namely virgins eternally flourishing, never withering with a wrinkled brow, or growing old, shining perpetually and immortal; just as we see that phlegmatic foods, such as fish, make those who eat them phlegmatic; choleric foods, such as eggs, pepper, etc., make them choleric; sanguine foods, sanguine; melancholic foods, melancholic. For food is converted into the substance of man, and therefore imparts and communicates its qualities to him. See here how different, indeed contrary, the wine of Christ is to the wine of the vine and of Bacchus. For this is called by Aristophanes in Athenaeus, book X, the milk of Venus, and by Pontianus, the metropolis of all evils. For, as St. Jerome says in book II Against Jovinian: "The drinking of wine and the satiety of the belly is a seedbed of lust." Therefore it is a kind of miracle that this wine produces virgins, when this earthly wine makes the wise apostatize. The fountain of Cyzicus is called the fountain of Cupid, from which those drinking it Mutianus believes lose their love, as Pliny says in book XXXI, chapter II. Such is the Eucharist, concerning which St. Bernard, in the sermon On the Altar's Sacrament, and on the Washing of Feet: "If any one of you," he says, "does not feel so often, nor so bitter movements of anger, envy, lust, etc., let him give thanks to the body and blood of the Lord; because the virtue of the Sacrament works in him, and let him rejoice that the worst wound approaches health." The Selemus river is a remedy for love; for those who have bathed in it, whether men or women, forget desire, as Pausanias says in the Attic. Far nobler than the Selemus is the blood of Christ, which, as St. Chrysostom says, extinguishes the flames of impure love, and reforms the royal image in us. He himself therefore in the Eucharist is the wine producing virgins. Similar to this is the Aqua Virgo in Rome, which, as if a virgin, shuns all other water, celebrated among the ancients, and equally in esteem now: for almost all in Rome drink from it; concerning which Pliny, book XXXI, chapter III: "Nearby," he says, "is the Herculanean stream, which, being shunned, obtained the name of virgin." The Canathus fountain among the Argives is fabulous, whose waters, when bathed in, Pausanias narrates in the Corinthian account that Juno is renewed with fresh glory of virginity each year. The true fountain of chastity and virginity is Christ in the Eucharist. St. Catherine of Siena experienced this pre-eminently among others, she who by the virtue of the Eucharist became an angelic virgin, and such a virgin that she became a portent of all ages: for first, she conducted herself most familiarly with Christ, and with Him she read the hours of prayer. Second, Christ espoused her to Himself as His bride, inserting a ring upon her finger (which even now exists in Rome in the monastery called Magnanapoli, where it was shown to me), and betrothed her. Third, she lived on the Eucharist alone without bodily food, so that if she took any, she seemed about to die, and was forced to vomit it up. Fourth, when she asked Him to take from her her own will and her own heart, and prayed: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in my bowels. Give therefore to me, O Lord, a new heart, give me Thy heart," Christ, assenting, opened His side and removed her heart from her (so that she lived for some days without a heart), and after three days inserted another heart into her: "Receive, He said, daughter, My heart, so that henceforth you may live not for yourself, but for Me." Whence she thereafter praying would say: "Lord, I commend to Thee Thy heart, not mine." Fifth, after this exchange of hearts she was wholly changed, so that she seemed to be an angel, and to live a heavenly, indeed a divine life. Wherefore she herself affirmed to her confessor, and said: "I am not such as I was, I am wholly other. For my heart burns so with charity, that corporeal fire compared to that burning seems to me not to burn, but to freeze; and I am so flooded with joy in my mind, that I do not contain myself, but marvel how I am not torn apart and do not die from joy. Moreover, I feel in myself such great love toward my neighbors, and such great zeal for souls, that I wish to undergo all labors, all torments, even death itself for any one, so that I might save her." Sixth, she was frequently rapt outside herself in ecstasies, and saw secrets and divine ineffable things; whence when asked by her confessor to explain them, she answered: Our words, she said, are too lowly, and signify only earthly things: wherefore it is impossible for me to express in our words things so sublime, so august: for they are ineffable and incomprehensible; whence neither can I speak them with human voice, nor if I were to speak them, could you comprehend and understand them. Thus it is in her Life, which Raymond has, who was her confessor, and afterwards General of the Order of St. Dominic, who also adds that five sacred stigmata of His wounds were impressed upon her by Christ in her hands, feet and side. Indeed in the hand of St. Catherine, which remains intact in Magnanapoli, I saw this stigma. Moreover he asserts that her heart was split open from love of Christ, and thus she died and flew to heaven, and saw God; but was sent back by Christ to life, so that she might benefit the Church. Thus it is in her Life, book II, chapter L, translated into Italian by Ambrose Catharino. Wherefore St. Catherine herself writes in the Dialogues, and from her Garetus On the Eucharist, century 14, that God said to her: "That you may more fully understand with what burning desire I wish to be with you, and that you may be more inflamed to subject to Me and join your will to Mine, see and consider with lofty mind that I wished My Only-Begotten to be incarnate, etc. I prepared moreover a table of the greatest and little-known Sacrament, of His own body and blood, so that receiving it as food you may be transformed; and be changed into Me: and as the bread and wine which you eat pass into bodily substance, so also you eating Him who is with Me, under the species of bread and wine, may pass into spiritual substance, and be converted into Me. And this is that which I said to Augustine My servant: I am the food of the great; grow, and you shall eat Me; nor shall you change Me into you, but you shall be changed into Me." This wine bearing fruit virgins also drank abundantly, St. Casimir Jagellonides, son of Casimir king of Poland, who attended the dreadful sacrifice of the Mass so attentively, and with mind raised up to God, that he seemed to be wholly rapt outside himself: indeed he had the custom of going secretly to temples in the dead of night, and placing his face upon the ground before their entrance, to beseech God present and dwelling in them, namely in the Venerable Sacrament, with supplication. Hence he had such great love of virginity, that he preserved it undefiled even to his last breath. For when seized with grave illness, and the physicians asserted that it could be cured only by the use of marriage, and therefore his parents urged him to marriage, and almost forced him, he himself rather to die rather than lose the glory of virginity, which he most steadfastly chose. Therefore a martyr of virginity, and a virgin he died in martyrdom at the age of 24 years, in the year of Christ 1484, on the 4th of March, on which same day and year Pope Sixtus IV also ended his pontificate and life in Rome. Wherefore St. Casimir was enrolled in the number of Saints by Leo X, and Clement VIII commanded his memory to be celebrated with the office of double solemnity in Poland, as one whom God illustrated with many remarkable miracles, and notably with a memorable victory, in which a few Lithuanians, by a vow made to Blessed Casimir, with him appearing in the air as it were a leader going before, utterly destroyed vast multitudes of Muscovites. Thus his Life has it, and the Polish Breviary on the 4th of March. Whence aptly Casimir by anagram is the same as, sum ac iris, into which namely the sun of justice Christ shining forth in the Eucharist breathed upon him his splendor of chastity. Again Casimir, as it were cadis mirus, because for chastity thou fallest. Wherefore a Polish poet sang of him: Willingly thou fallest, but through love thou fallest, Casimir, of modesty. Wonderful, with Christ making thee wonderful, thou fallest. Finally the words "wheat and wine sprouting virgins," signify that we cannot live a spiritual life, nor long persevere in the grace of God, and especially in virginity or chastity without the Eucharist, just as we cannot sustain natural life without wheat, food and drink; again the more frequently we receive the Eucharist, the more we grow and are strengthened in spirit and angelic purity, just as through frequent food we grow and are strengthened in animal life. Wherefore the first faithful "continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house (the Eucharistic bread) took their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising the Lord, and having favour with all the people," Acts cap. II, 46. For these reasons, in former times immediately after baptism the Holy Eucharist was given to the baptized, as it were a symbol, nourishment and perfection of Christianity. This is taught by St. Clement I, Pontiff, epistle 3 On the Office of Priests and Clerics. And by St. Dionysius the Areopagite, lib. On Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, cap. On Baptism: "They lead, he says, the baptized to the Hierarch; he, when he has marked the man with the ointment (in the sacrament of confirmation) which most makes divine, pronounces him to be a partaker of the Eucharist, which has the greatest power of perfecting holiness." Thus in the Acts of SS. Processus and Martinianus, whom St. Peter converted and baptized in prison, it is said: "They were baptized, of both sexes, and of different ages, in number 47. And (St. Peter) offered a sacrifice of praise for them, and made them partakers of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ." We read the same in the Acts of St. Getulius, Cerealis, Pelagia, and other martyrs. Hence Tertullian, lib. I Against Marcion, rebukes him, because although he used the same ceremonies as the Church, he nevertheless felt differently from her in faith: "He, he says, even now has neither rejected the water of the creator, with which he washes his own, nor the oil with which he anoints his own, nor the fellowship of honey and milk (which were formerly given to the baptized) with which he nourishes his own infants, nor the bread with which he represents his own heart itself." The same testifies St. Ambrose, lib. On Those Initiated into Mysteries, cap. VIII: "Having laid aside, he says, the cast-off garments of ancient error, renewed in the youth of the eagle, he hastens to approach that heavenly banquet. He comes therefore, and seeing the most holy altar prepared, exclaiming says: Thou hast prepared a table before me." This custom lasted until the year of the Lord nine hundred. For in that time lived Theophilus, who writes that the same custom then endured, commenting on cap. X of St. Luke: "Daily, he says, those who are baptized are freed from the wounds of the soul, anointed indeed with the oil of ointment, but immediately communicating they become partakers of the divine blood." The same custom even now endures in Greece and Ethiopia. For Jeremiah, Patriarch of Constantinople, who recently flourished in Greece and resisted our heretics, response I, cap. II: "It is consonant with reason, he says, that chrism be joined to baptism, nor deferred to another time, but that the baptized immediately become a partaker of that venerable communion." Concerning the Ethiopians it is established from the Ritual of their baptism, in which we read these words: "Afterwards they receive the Holy Sacrament and life-giving, the priest sponsoring for them, namely the body and blood of the venerable Lord God and our redeemer Jesus Christ." The Eucharist therefore is wheat nourishing the young, and wine sprouting virgins.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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v. 4 « Onus verbi Domini 1n terra Hadrach et Damasci requiei eius, quia Domini est oculus hominis et omnium tribuum Israel ;
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v. 2 Emath quoque in terminis eius » ; — vaticinium grave, calamitate plenum onus indicat ; cf. Nah. 4, 1; tamquam onus verbum Domini recumbet et incumbet in verram Hadrach i. e. in regionem ac oppida quae ad maiorem urbem, ad . metropolim Hadrach pertinent. Si Hadrach eadem est urbs, quae in inscriptionibus cuneiformibus ' Hatarika appellatur, in parte septemtrionali non adeo longe distans a monte Libanon sita fuisse videtur (cf. Delitzsch, Wo lag das Paradies? p. 279). Dein Damascus designatur tamquam requies eius i. e. verbi Domini ; ibi scil. onus Domini peculiarem quasi moram faciet vel singulari pondere et diuturnitate incumbet ; cf. 8, 6 (Sanct. Lap. Men. Tir. ; sim. iam S. Cyr. : « requiescit quodammodo inimica malis ira Dei, cum qui eum plurima et effrenate peccando offenderunt, poenas luerint »). Ratio affertur, quia Dominus attente dirigit oculos in universum genus hominum et in tribus Israel; in hebr. Domino est oculus ; && de homine i. e. de humano genere in. universum dicitur; uti iam LXX intellexerunt : &ióvt xóptoc 5oopa. av0pomouc. « Intuetur enim homines universorum Deus et uniuscuiusque viam considerat et iniuriam facientes ulciscitur, poenas iratus infligit, iniuriam autem passos salvat » (S. Cyr ). Propter theocratiam et foedus initum tribus populi electi speciatim efferuntur ; ad tale enim opus Dei singula Dei iudicia intimum exhibent nexum. Cum adversus Damascum iam plura propheta- . rum oracula directa sint (cf. Is. 471, 4. Ier. 49, 43. Am. 4,3), eo facilius intelligitur, cur Damascus sit requies oneris verbi Domini ; extenditur etiam ad Emath, quae contermina ei est (hebr.), terrae Hadrach vel regioni Damasci. Emath urbs est ad Orontem fluvium, « quae ab Antiocho 'Exigavet Epiphaniae nomen accepit et nunc Syriae Coeles est civitas » (S. Hier.). Tempore felicissimo regni iudaici fines extendebantur ab introitu Emath usque ad rivum Aegypti (cf. 3 Reg. 8, 65. 4 Reg.14, 25). Trochon ad h. 1.). Saniora iam veteres proposuerunt : ita S. Cyr. : « terra Adrach Tegio est orientis cui finitima est Emath, quae est Epiphania » ; Theod. eam urbem esse Arabiae, Darh. Antiochiam opinatur. Ex latinis interpretibus plerique sententiam S. Cyr. amplexi urbem Syriae interpretantur. Chald. exhibet in terra daro) ma (woY1) i. e. australi. Fertur quoque dictum R. lose apud Iarchium, qui se ait Damasci natum, ibique esse locum qui vocetur Hadrach (cf. Ges. Thes. p. 448). Demum notari iuvat, etiam id quod assyriologi de Hatarika regione et urbe (— utraque enim designatione et appellatione invenitur in inscriptionibus — ) ad nostram vocem explicandam afferunt, non omnibus probari. Áliqua dubia movit Wolf Baudissin (Real-Encyklop. l. c.), qui inter alia locum in Assyria Xaxp£yapxva (apud Ptolemaeum 6, 1, 6) pro comparatione affert. Cum Damasco etc. nihil speciale denuntietur, oracula iam antea data perstare et demum exitum suum consecutura esse satis indicatur. A Syria sermo propheticus convertitur in Phoeniciam : «et Tyrus et Sidon; assumpserunt quippe sibi sapientiam valde » ; — i. e. etiam istae urbes erunt requies eius scil. oneris verbi Domini ; quia sapiens valde (hebr.) ; Deus igitur humanam sapientiam, superbiam, arrogantiam confundet. Tyrus ut urbs principalis effertur, uti iam Is. 93, 4. Ez. 98, 2. In quanam re illa Tyri sapientia, fiducia, gloriatio consistat, declaratur
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v. 3 « et aedificavit. Tyrus munitionem suam et coacervavit argentum quasi humum, et aurum. ut lutum. platearum » ; — erat urbs arte et natura munitissima et insuper ditissima ; tuto igitur prophetarum iudaicorum minas se spernere et irridere posse confidebat. Tyrii enim sedem principalem divitiarum et commercii quo magis ab expugnatione essent securi collocaverant in insula, tribus quattuorve stadiis a continente dissita. Verum quod iam Ezechiel vaticinatus erat et quod expugnatione a Nabuchodonosore facta solum ex parte impletum erat, id postea revera opere complebitur :
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v. 4 « ecce Dominus possidebit eam et percutiet in mari fortitudinem eius et haec igne devorabitur » ; — Dominus expugnabit eam tradetque hostibus ; divitias eius, opes, subsidia ac munimenta arte et natura comparata ? Deus in mare abiiciet, prosternet ; ita, gradus fiet ad vastitatem illam extremam, de qua Ez. 26, 4 : «dabo eam in limpidissimam petram ; siccatio sagenarum erit in medio maris ». In ruina et casu urbis principalis et potentissimae etiam involutum im Sidonem, per se intelligitur. Eius autem calamitatis terrore urbes Philisthinorum percellentur; nam si Tyrus, urbs potentissima, non potuit evadere, quid regnis minoribus erit exspectandum? Unde
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v. 8 «videbit Ascalon et timebit, et Gaza et dolebit nimis et. Accaron, quontam confusa est spes etus; et peribit rex de Gaza et Ascalon non habitabi:tur » ; — bene notat, Theod. M.: «varie autem poenas illas exponit urbes enumerans... haec autem clocutus est, non quia hoc quidem futurum esset et aliud secus; quasi dicat Gazae hoc, illud vero Ascaloni; sed idiotismo suo quod commune est divisim dicit, nempe quod casus huiusmodi cunctis evenient alienigenis ». In hebr. potius videat Ascalon ; iubetur attendere ad effectum divini iudicii simulque terror tamquam divinitus incussus et Tyri casu reliquis incutiendus designatur. Urbes enumerantur eodem ordine, quo apud Ieremiam 25, 20 ; omittitur Gath, sicut Am. 1,6 - 8. Soph. 2, 4; ex quo enim Azarias moenia eius destruxerat, urbs oblivione et pulvere obruta esse videtur. Ultimo loco ponitur Azotum (Asdod);
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v. 6 «et sedebit separator in. Azoto et disperdam superbiam Philisthinorum » ; — hebr. *?72:3; Deut. 28, 3 S. Hier. retinuit vocem mamzer et explicavit de scorto natus ; uti eo loco etiam LXX explicant éx «ópvae. Sensus est h.l.fore ut alienigenae, etiam infimo loco nati et a Philisthinis tamquam spurii et abiecti homines habiti regionem eorum urbesque occupent; ita etiam LXX xat xacxoufooucty aAAcyevetg £. "Atto, et Chald. : et habitabunt ibi domus Israel qui erant in ea sicut alieni, et Syrus : et habitabunt alieni !. Ad quid vero ea Philisthinorum clades et humiliatio ex Dei benignissimi consilio inservire debeat, declaratur v. "1 « et auferam sanguinem eius de ore eius et abominationem eius de medio dentium eius; et. relinquetur etiam '?pse Deo nostro et erit quasi dux in. Iuda et Accaron quasi lebusaeus »; — ita scil. idololatria eorum, sacrificia cruenta et epulae sacrificiales cessabunt. Non est improbabile, sanguinem victimarum quandoque ut potum sacrum haustum esse; de qua consuetudine apud aliquos populos certa adsunt testimonia. Carnes diis immolatae dicuntur sicut ipsa idola abominationes. Ablata idololatria ipsi illi, qui tamquam incircumcisi et immundi iure quodam praecipuo habebantut populo Dei accensebuntur et ita quidem, ut magna in theocratia dignitate fruantur; sicut dux i. e. gOX3apyos, qui sit princeps chiliadis, princeps et dux familiae et cognationis maioris, quae intra tribum arctioris consanguinitatis vinculis inter se consociantur (cf. Iud. 6, 15), . vel qui praeest alicui chiliadi i. e. populi parti intra tribum constitutaeet fere mille capitibus constanti vel mille domibus familiisque. Proinde in theocratia etiam alienigenis altiores patere dignitatis gradus significatur et discrimen omne inter Iudaeos et exteros abolitum iri innuitur. Confusio et ignominia Accaronitarum (v. 5) eis cedet utilitati et honori, uti olim lebusaeis expugnatio urbis a Davide facta (2 Reg. 5,6 geq.), qua ipsi quoque lebusaei habitantes inter Dei populum beneficiorum foederis paticipes effecti sunt eorum que urbs lebus caput regni et theocratiae est electa. Aliis verbis, erunt Accaronitae socii populi Dei et simul cum ipso hereditatis divinae participes, uti olim Areuna lIebusaeus peculiari favore a Deo est insignitus (2 Reg. 24, 16. 1 Par. 21, 15 seq.); valebit igitur etiam de Philisthinis id quod Isaias de aliis iam vaticinatus erat : « benedictus populus meus Aegypti et opus manuum mearum Assur» (Is. 19, 23 hebr.). Ergo, uti olim lebusaei non sunt deleti sed cum filiis Iuda habitabant (los. 15, 63. lud. 1, 21), ita iudicium Dei non erit in interitum Philisthinorum sel ut eorum saluti consulatur. Sion peculiari Dei custodia cireumdetur et qui regnum pacis et sanctitatis per orbem sit instituturus. Uti igitur prophetae ante exsilium regna mundi i. e. regna Assyriorum, Babyfoniorum, Aegyptiorum etc. interitui esse devovenda dixerunt, ut regnum Messiae consistat, ita Zacharias reduces consolatur et confortat, ne quid sibi timeant a gentibus vicinis et earum inimicitiis, et hoc ipso oraculo eos edocet, consistere adhuc et valere antiquum illud Dei decretum quo statuerit, omnem potentiam inimicam ess? deiiciendam, ut regnum Dei consistat. Quod igitur visione illa 1, 19-21 in nniversum exhibuit, iam applicatione facta ad gentes vicinas per singula quasi membra proponit. In qua quidem praedictione mirari licet tempus futurum sub Alexandro et Machabaeis fuisse ita delineatum, ut magna cernatur similitudo ; sed simul adverti potest, ipsum oraculorum ambitum iis rebus non fuisse ex aequo impletum, esse autem impletum in regno Christi, quod illis gentibus vel deletis vel subiectis longe lateque dominetur invictum et in perpetuum insuperabile. Unde rem bene explicat Theod. scribens ad v. 8: « haec quidem ad finem pervenerunt etiam sub Machabaeis... verumtamen exactus prophetiae exitus (5$ & dxpi&i, Ex6noi) post Salvatoris nostri adventum patefactus est. Nunc enim idolorum errorem repudiantes et Áscalonitae et AÁccaronitae et ceteri allophyli divinae notionis lumen admiserunt, et qui ex eis constituti sunt ad eos pascendos, quasi quidam tribuni et belli duces praecellunt ». Alii, uti Lap. Gord., saltem concedunt mystice haec quae dicantur veriora esse de Christo et Apostolis, qui Philisthaeos omnes sibi, evangelio et Ecclesiae subiecerint itaque fecerint, ut gentiles cum Iudaeis in vnum populum fidelem coalescerent; sim. Sanct. qui historice de regno Iudaeorum, fypice de Ecclesia explicat. Ad considerationem & Theod. 1. c. propositam magis accedunt Men. Tir.
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v. 8 « Et circumdabo domum meam ez his qui militant mihi euntes et revertentes, et non transibit super eos ultra exactor, quia nunc vidi in oculis meis» ; — Deus domum i. e. familiam, populum suum, Ecclesiam (cf. Hier. Cyr. . Theod. M. Rib. Sa, Tir. Schegg, Trochon) praesidiis cireumdabit electis ex iis, qui ipsi militant efficietque, ut ii eant et revertantur i. e. diligenter et ad nutum Domini ministrent, sedulo in officio suo discurrant. Haec praesidia explicant vel angelos (S. Hier.) vel fidei praecones, cultores, magistros (cf. Rib.) Qui domum Dei templum interpretantur, praesidia illa cernunt in Machabaeis (Lap. Men. Gord. Calm.). Simplicius hebr. habet : castra ponam domui meae ab exercitu, a. transeunte et revertente i. e. Deus castris positis defendet familiam suam ab incursionibus hostium, ita ut nulla parte, nulla occasione irruere possint; transiens et revertens dicitur hostis, qui repetitis vicibus ac vario modo invadere ac diripere studet. Erit ie'tur Deus pro theocratia, ut promiserat « murus ignis in circuitu » (2, 5). Tum utique cessat servitus illa et subiectio, qua olim saepius ingemuerunt sub ezactoribus ; cf. Ex. 5, 14. Is. 9, 4; 14, 4. Olim enim Deus tradidit populum hostibus eumque in miseria reliquit, quasi non videret eorum mala; nunc vero se oculis suis videre ait i. e. eos intueri, praesto eis esse, omnem eis curam et studium impendere (cf. Rib.). Unde Chald. ita sententiam effert : « nunc manifestabo potentiam meam ad benefaciendum iis ». Iam clare declaratur, cur domus Dei sit divina protectione munienda, cur servitus et oppressio hostilis cessare debeat et quantopere cura divina eis impendatur :
Dum gentes circa Ierusalem hostili impetu turbentur et subiciantur, populus Dei sub divina protectione securus deget:
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v. 9 «ezsulta satis, filia Sion, iubila, filia Ierusalem ! ecce rez tuus veniet tibi iustus et salvator, ipse pauper et ascendens super asinam et super pullum, filium asinae » ; — hebr. ezsulta valde ... vociferare! ad immensae laetitiae significationem et summum amoris iubilum manifestandum. Et quam merito? veniet rex fuus, diu iam promissus, qui unus post abiectum Sedeciam ex vaticinio Ezechielis exspectandus est rez, cuius est regni ius et cui Dominus illud dabit (Ez. 91, 2'1), qui est rez tuus, tibi promissus, thronum David occupans et stabiliens in aeternum, totus in populi theocratici utilitatem, honorem, gloriam intentus ; quid enim sub tali rege non erit sperandum, de cuius imperii felicitate, splendore, beatitate tam praeclara iam per prophetas priores innotuerunt (cf. Is. 9, 6; 11, 4; 60, 4. Mich. 5, 3 seq. Ier. 23, 5. Ez. 34, 23 etc.). Et iste rex veniet tibi, pro te, in tuam utilitatem, ut te bonis suis compleat; cf. Is. 9, 6: « parvulus enim natus est nobis et filius datus est nobis ». Quare gaudium maximum exserere iubetur filia Sion, veniet enim potestas prima, regnum filiae Ierusalem (Mich. 4, 8). Et exsultationis ratio potissimum declaratur, quia rex est iustus, afferens iustitiam, efficiens illum iustitiae et sanctitatis statum, quem Deus hominibus inesse vult et quem tot prophetarum oraculis iam promisit; unde apud Isaiam $ustus servus appellatur (03, 11; cf. 45, 8; 81, 5) ; venit salvator, efficiens et praebens salutem, pacem, securitem. Atque ut de indole regis Messiae eiusque regni pacifica, a mundi pompa et bellicis expeditionibus alienissima, spirituali, dubium incidere ne possit, describitur rex ille pauper i. e. humilis, pompa carens, vectus asino in testimonium humilitatis, pacis, mansuetudinis; equum enim superbum, bellicosum spernit; non in modum victoris, triumphatoris urbem suam regiam et sedem potestatis paternae ingreditur, sed uti decet indolem regis theocratici, qui est pastor populi, asino vectus venit ad « turrem gregis, ad collem filiae Sion » (cf. ad Mich. 4, 8). Huius va- LXX, Syrus, S. Hier. Chald. omnes concorditer praebent adjv, servator, salvator ; quare omnino verisimile videri posset eos legisse Y*UtD, dum textus mas. ' fert Yw33 i. e. partic. niphal salvatus. Posset ergo aliquis suspicionem movere, ne forte locus sit a Iudaeis corruptus. Attamen cum ipsi prisci Iudaei locum hunc de Messia explicaverint (cf. Reinke, Messian. Weissag. IV, 9 p. 145 - 149), vix talis suspicio consistere poterit. Átque revera lectio quoque hebr. sensum praebet Messiae eiusque muneri congruum. Sunt quidem satis multi interpretes qui etiam YU'3 explicent salvatorem. Verüm id ex usu verbi in niphal probari vix satis potest. Sed cur salvatus, salute praeditus non iuremerito Messias dicatur, nemo poterit in dubium vocare. Est enim, ut iam apud Isaiam dicitur, ipse in opere redemptionis subeundo et in labore talis certaminis servatus a Domino : « haec dicit Dominus : in tempore placito exaudivi te et in die salutis auxiliatus sum tui et servavi te» et iterum ipse Messias loquens inducitur : « Dominus Deus auxiliator meus, ideo non sum confusus... ecce Dominus Deus auxiliato. meus » (Is. 49, 8 ; 50, "7. 9 ; 42, 6). Unde rex Messias bene describi potest tamquam salvatus, salute, protectione divina praeditus, qui ut ipse hanc habet salutem ita eam aliis distribuet, vel qui propterea illam a Deo accepit salutem, ut ab eo in alios redundet. Ita salvatus fit salvator. Neque hoc a s. literis novi foederis alienum est ; ibi enim Messiam audimus precantem : « Pater, salvifica me ex hac hora... venit hora, clarifica filium tuum » (Ioan. 19, 97; 1'l, 4) et S. Paulus nos docet, Christum in diebus carnis suae preces supplicationesque obtulisse ad eum, qui possit illum saltum facere a morte (Hebr. 5, '7). Sicut itaque ipse est iustus i. e. iustitia et sanctitate praeditus et iustificans (cf. Is. 53, 11), ita salvatus est et simul salvans. Cum igitur talis adsit nexus, haud immerito aliqui vocem hebr. explicant de Messia victorioso ; i. e. egregie a Deo adiuto et liberato, qui triumphantis in morem victoriosus ad urbem regiam adveniat. Hebr. *zy S. Hier. vertit pauper (uti Theod. et versio quinta); certe voci inest significatio ea; praeterea saepe dicit miserum, afflictum ; verum etiam mansuetum, mitem, modestum ; et hac significatione hic accipitur a LXX et Aq. xpxóc, a Syro et Chald. (proprie humilitatis notionem is exprimit). Atque id quidem recte. Nam ad mansuetudinem et pacis studium etiam vectio super asinum valde est accommodata et simul magnam prae se fert humilitatem, qua Messias rex indolem sui regni delineat. unumque sententiae membrum bipartito enuntiari ; id quod hoc loco eo aptius fit. ut hac repetitione emphasis maior habeatur. Accedit quod particula et saepius non addit aliquid novi, verum membrum antecedens solum declarat magis atque explicat, ita ut saepe aequivaleat notioni et quidem, nempe, nimirum , ef. Gen. 13, 15 et locis parrall. ; 1 Sam. 28, 3. Dan. 4, 10 (vide Ges. Thes. p. 394). Idque narratione quoque Evangelistarum constat. Nam Marcus (11, 7), Lucas (49, 33), loannes (12, 14) solius pulli (vel, ut Joan. aselli) mentionem faciunt ; neque contra est Matthaeus : «et adduxerunt asinam et pullum et imposuerunt super eos vestimenta sua et eum desuper sedere fecerunt » xai. é£zexa- Ów3v indwo abrG et sedit super ea, scil. vestimenta (21, 7) , & discipulis ignaris, utro animali Iesus usurus esset, super utrumque imposita erant vestimenta , at Iesus aon potuit, uti per se patet, sedere super atrumque ; ixexd0ws unam dicit actionem ; de successiva quadam mutatione et sessione ne vestigium quidem adest in-textu. Quare longa illa disceptatione de successiva super utrumque ses- $ione, quam praebent h. 1. Rib. Sanct. Lap. Men. Tir. , carere possumus et satius erit adnotare cum Maldonato (ad Matth. 921, 6), Marcum et Lucam indicare Christum voluisse sedere super pullum, uper quem nemo homium sederat, quia non decuerit Christum sedere super iumentum, super quod alii iam. insedissent ; primitiae enim Domino erant consecrandae ; insuper in aliquibus sacrificiis Dominus postulaverat, ut victima seligeretur, quae non portaverit iugum (cf. Num. 19, 2. Deut. 21, 3. 1 Reg. 6, 7). Rationem aliam, quam multi amplexi sunt, reddit S. Cyr. : « quievit enim Christus super novo populo, hoc est ad agnitionem veritatis vocato, qui aliquando idola venerabatur , instar. pulli quippe erat nondum domitus, neque recta sciens ingredi, atpote lege divina nondum institutus. Sed qui omnes ad spiritualem scientiam deducit, sibi pullum destinavit. Secuturam autem aliquando synagogam, per asinam sequentem nos docet ». Si in anteceedntibus aliqua saltem ratione Alexandri Magni facinora et bellicas expeditiones descripta cernimus, adest optima oppositio inter victorem et expugnatorem superbum bellatoremque sanguinolentum atque inter Messiam regem pacis, sicuti eodem modo apud Isaiam Cyrus expugator et Messias pacificus insigni inter se comparatione proponuntur (ls. 44, 9-6 : 42, 1-7). latine legitur asínam, narreturque cum pullo asidam fuisse adductam ; cuius loci occasione possit hic asinum cum asinam esse mutatum ». Correctores romani praetulerunt asinam ; an iuremerito ita elegerint, valde dubium est. In editione plantiniana Bibliorum Antverpiae 1559 quam conferre licuit, legitur in textu asinum, in margine inter lectiones variantes asinam. Quo indoles regis Messiae pacifica clarius demonstretur, spondet Deus apparatum bellicum destructum iri, ut ei iter et via pandatur, ipsumque Messiam pacem esse annuntiaturum inter gentes et regnum tale fundaturum universum per orbem . Haec tria proponuntur
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v. 10 «et disperdam quadrigam ex Ephraim et equum de lerusalem et dissipabitur arcus belli. Et loquetur pacem gentibus et potestas eius a. mari usque ad mare et a fluminibus usque ad fines terrae » ; — et disperdam cf. Mich. 5, 10-12. Regna terrae bellico apparatu gloriantur eoque potissimum et exoriuntur et conservantur ; alia est indoles regni sionitici. Satis clare subvertit vates spem et exspectationem regni terreni et pompae saecularis. Simul tamen, ut advertit S. Cyr., virtus ac potentia Messiae declaratur, qui tantum proderit in se confidentibus, ut summam pacem in longum per omnes gentes extendat. Tribus membris bellicum apparatum enumerat vates, ut enumeratione ipsa res cum emphasi notetur ; « apte vero quadrigas accommodat Ephraim, equos lerusalem, quia ephraimiticum solum magis aptum curribus quam hierosolymitanum ; hoc enim confragosum est et intercisum salebris, illud magis in planitiem aequatum. Quare reges Israel magno quadrigarum numero instructos fuisse Scriptura sacra commemorat » (Sanct.). Rex Messias ius dicet. gentibus, lites componet ; talia docet, loquitur, quae pacem spirant, pacem adducunt, et veram pacem, securitatem, felicitatem efficiet (cf. quae dicta gunt ad Mich. 4, 3 vel quae scripsi ad Is. 2, 4). | Et eius regnum est regnum un?versale ; nam « quod omnium maxime est mirandum, is qui non habebat ubi reclinaret caput, quique pullo insedit, totius terrae marisque cum illi placuit, imperium tenuit » (Theod.). Ea phrasi terrae ambitus designatur; cf. Am. 8, 12. Mich. 7, 12. Ps. 4, 8; Chald. verba explicat : dominabitur a mari usque ad occidentem, atque ab Euphrate usque ad extrema terrae. Atque recte quidem ; nam fines terrae v'w7'o5x nunquam adhibetur de finibus terrae palaestinensis, verum de extremis orbis terrarum finibus ; cf. 1 Reg. 2, 10. Ps. 2, 8;21,28,98,15;,66,8,;11,8; 971, 3. Prov. 30, 4. Is. 45, 22 ; 52, 10. Ier. , 16, 19. Mich. 5, 4 (de qua re vide Reinke l. c. et in comment. ad Ps. 2 | et 12). Eam notionem generalem etiam interpretes protestantes verbis ; inesse statuunt ; ita Ros. : «sensus est : dominabitur, quam late patet / orbis terrarum » ; Keil, Hupfeld-Riehm (Die Psalmen ; 2 ed. ad Ps. 2, 8) tec. Atque post vaticinia messianica, quae ante Zachariae tempus facta sunt, plane necessario exigitur, ut reznum Messiae universale dicatur ; id quod e locis modo allatis elucet et iam in benedictione illa annuntiatur, qua in semine Abraham omnes gentes sunt ditandae, vel etiam in promissione a Noe filio Iapheth facta : Iaphethitas habitaturos esse in tabernaculis Sem. Hoc regno universali pacis templum illud exstruet Messias, de quo nos docuit vates 6, 12. 13; hoc regno continetur gloria throni eius ; in hoc erit sacerdos et rex et consilium pacis erit. Ad tale autem fastigium perveniendum est per humilitatem ac mansuetudinem ; hoc innuit vates 6, 19 (vide ad verba: et subter eum orietur) et nostro loco: veniet rex ... pauper, mansuetus. tempore Zachariae est editum. — De rege ideali i. e. de Messia textum loqui, ipse etiam Hitz. aperte fatetur negatque ad rem esse eventum aliquem v. g. Azariae triumphum Philisthiis devictis tamquam oraculi occasionem et substratum fingere. Uti supra 92, 6. "1 postquam vates gloriam et felicitatem instaurationis mente et visione percepit, Dominum audivit invitantem exsules ad reditum, ita nunc rege Messiae eiusque regno beato sublimi ratione descripto omnes invitat, qui etiamtum procul a Sione in terra aliena commorabantur, ut ad tantum bonum capessendum ad urbem Ierusalem et ad theocratiam redeant. Hanc invitationem ita inducit, ut prius moneat iam ex Dei gratia vincula captivitatis esse soluta, carceres apertos, omnibus datam opportunitatem ad patriam remeandi. Hoc habetur
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v. 14 « Tu quoque 1n sanguine testamenti tui emisisti vinctos tuos de lacu in quo *'n est aqua » ; — sermo fit (ex hebr.) ad Sionem ; propter foedus olim sanguine initum et consecratum (Ex. 24, 4- 8) Sioni data est opportunitas, qua captivi solverentur ; carcer erat quandoque cisterna sine aqua (cf. Gen. 371, 24) vel fovea (Ier. 38, 6 : submiserunt leremiam funibus in lacum, in quo non erat aqua, sed lutum) ; non quod exsules carceribus inclusi tenerentur, sed conditio exsilii universa imagine captivitatis et incarcerationis proponitur, ut innuatur, quanto studio libertate oblata eos potiri deceat et quanta cum laetitia et gratiarum actione reduces de libertate recuperata sentire ac loqui debeant. In textu lat. Siom emisit ; ita quoque LXX et Syrus ; potest intelligi eo sensu, ut foedus sioniticum, foedus a Deo cum. Sione initum dicatur attulisse libertatem. Clarius ac simplicius rem effert textus hebr., ubi Deus loquitur : etiam ad te ! quod spectat, propter sanguinem foederis tui dimisi vinctos tuos. Foedus illud initum ad montem Sinai erat inchoata quaedam expletio promissionum patriarchis datarum, quae ultimo suo fastigio tempus spectabant et bona messianica; unde ea ratione consideratum foedus illud erat aeternum et necessario exigebat, ut theocratia instauraretur ; quare Deus fidelis intanta populi infidelitate pacti initi mentionem facit: Textui hebr. omnino consentit Chald. : vos quoque quibuscum in sanguine sancitum est foedus, redemi; ita textus quoque syriacus legi potest. Eodem modo textum hebr. vertunt Pagninus, Vatablus, Clarius : tu quoque — in sanguine... emisi, et explicant recentiores (Schegg, Patritius, Trochon etc.) : « Sionis filiam Deus adloqui pergit aitque respectu foederis a se cum ea pacti captivitati finem factum esse » (Patritius). Veteres communiter etiam hunc versum de Christo explicant Salvatore et multi ibi tangi opinantur Christi descensum ad inferos, ad limbum, qui sit lacus sine aqua, ex quo liberaverit sanctos veteris foederis (Rib. Sanct. Lap. etc.). Verum de limbo et de tali redemptione nihil est in contextu apud prophetam, uti verba ostendunt et sequentia probant. Quare illa explicatio merito est derelicta. Cum Deus tanta fecerit et tam praeclaram spem exhibeat, quid restat, nisi ut opportunitate toties oblata utantur? quare
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v. 49 « convertimini ad munitionem vincti spei ; hodie quoque annuntians duplicia reddam tibi »; — i. e. redite ad urbem munitam ideoque securam (cf. 9, 5), quam Deus sua providentia et cura cingit et quae tamquam theocratiae centrum tot mirabilium Dei fuit spectatrix et particeps (cf. Ps. 47). Appellantur vincti spei i. e. captivi qui spe tenentur (Patrit.), qui ita captivi sunt, ut certam habeant spem liberationis (ita plerique, cf. Rom. 8, 91), vel qui propterea adhuc remanent in exsilio, quia spem illam gloriosae instaurationis nondum expletam cernunt, qui igitur spe et exspectatione maioris gloriae adhuc capti retinentur in terra aliena (Schegg). Hos invitat annuntians etiam hodie i. e. quaecumque demum sit praesens rerum conditio non adeo splendida, et praedicans Deum promissa impleturum abundanter ; duplicia (vide Is. 40, 2; 61, 1) i. e. quo plura perpessi fuerant, eo maiora iis reddet bona (Patrit.). Quaenamsintista duplicia, in sequentibus per singuladeclaratur. Atque primo quidem Deus insignem victoriam pollicetur, quam populus electus singulari ac mirabili Dei protectione cinctus reportabit de Graecis. Promissio est valde accommodata ad conditionem populi et ad animos confortandos. Nam et reduces varias experiebantur infestationes hostiles (cf. Esd. B, 3 seq.), etqui in Babylonia morabantur, dominium alienigenarum certeaegre ferebant. Unde promissio gloriosi triumphi omnium animos non potuit non vehementer delectare et allicere. Deus autem ipse, quo certior sit et habeatur victoria, tamquam bellator et pugnator exhibetur, qui suo populo utitur tamquamarmis:
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v. 13 « quoniam extendi mihi Iudam quasi arcum, implevi Ephraim ; et suscitabo filios tuos, Sion, super filios tuos, Graecia, et ponam te quasi gladium fortium » ; — populum coniunctum ex Iuda et Israel alloquitur ; omnibus enim spes reditus proponitur, et separatione illa, tot fecunda malorum, demum sublata in-unum populum et unam theocratiam coalescant oportet. Arma describuntur, quibus eminus et cominus pugnatur : luda est arcus, Ephraim sunt sagittae, quibus arcus impletur ; extendere arcum, hebr. ca/care i. e. tendere arcum. Ipsa imagine intima unio et concordia operis depingitur. Deus ipsepectora excitabit bellicosa, hostem ostendet quem petant ; est scil. Graecia ; deiecto enim regno assyriaco - babylonico et regno persico superato tertia succedit Bionarcla Graecorum i. e. Saccelit. regnum Alexandri Magni et varia illa regna ex eius imperio exorta. Haec scil. ex visione Danielis tertia est bestia (1, 6) vel ex somnio Nabuchodonosor regis quod explicavit Daniel « regnum tertium aereum quod imperabit universae terrae » (Dan. 2, 39). Etiam istud regnum erit deiiciendum, ut theocratia consistat. In hac autem deiectione populus Dei insignem habebit victoriae partem. Erit scil. gladius Dei fortis. Certamina illa speciali Dei ductu et protectione erunt insignia :
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v. 14 « et Dominus Deus super eos videbitur et exibit ut fulgur iaculum eius et Dominus Deus in tuba canet et vadet in turbine austri » ; — praesenti Dei ope et apparitione iuvabuntur; ipse signum dabit ad congrediendum; vehementis tempestatis instar, quae ex deserto Arabiae irruere solet, ingruet clades et perditio in hostes. Membrum versus primum et tertium Dominum ut certaminis ducem, membrum secundum et quartum tamquam pugnatorem exhibet terribilem, qui fulgure (Hab. 3, 14) et tempestate hostes prosternat, iis scil. telis et armis, contra quae nulla humana subsidia protectionem vel tegumentum afferre possunt. Descriptio talis est, quae sponte sua certamina a Machabaeis gesta menti offerat. Quare illius temporis pugnarum mentionem hic iniiciunt non pauci (S. Ephr. Theod. Alb. Sanct. Houbig. Tir. Calm. Reinke, Patrit. Trochon) vel saltem ad eas fieri allusionem concedunt (Lap.), dum alii de solis armis spiritualibus et de tempore praedicationis evangelii sermonem institui volunt (cf. S. Cyr. Rib. Sa, Mar. Men. Gord.). Si quis temporum illorum certamina legerit in iisque adverterit toties fieri mentionem specialis divini auxilii, miraculorum patratorum, signorum coelestium, angelorum apparentium et adiuvantium !, certe quam maxime huius prophetiae editae admonetur. Et cum illa non contra Dei hostes in universum, sed speciatim contra Graeciam (lIavan hebr.) dirigatur, ratio adest sane gravissima, ut dicamus illa tempora a spiritu prophetico fuisse delineata. Accedit, quod certamina illa exhibentur in oraculo ion ingenti hostium clade insignia et religionis ac pietatis causa sub singulari Dei tutela suscepta. Haec enim proponuntur
9:15
v. 48 « Dominus exercituum proteget eos et devorabunt et subiicient. lapidibus fundae et bibentes nebriabuntur quasi a, vino et replebuntur ut phialae et quasi cornua altaris » ; — devorare, bibere de ingenti clade inflicta, de pugnandi ala- : critate et fervore et de laetitia victoriae dicitur (TAeod.) ; quasi ebrii, sui obliti furore et impetu maximo in hostes feruntur (Aib.). Bella tempore Machabaeorum satis fuisse sanguinolenta, e libris Mach. constat ; ita v. g. totus exercitus Nicanoris fuga dilapsus interiit « et ceciderunt omnes gladio » (4 Mach. 7, 2'1-471) ; alio proelio occisa sunt centum millia hominum (l. c. 41, 48), alias viginti millia saepius (2 Mach. 8, 30; 40, 171. 23. 31); alias undecim millia (l. c. 14, 11), decem millia (12, 19), triginta millia (12, 23), viginti quinque millia (12, 96. 28), triginta quinque millia (15, 2']) etc. ! In ipsa descriptione Zacharias ob oculos habuisse videtur Num. 23, 94: « ecce populus ut leaena consurget et quasi leo erigetur ; non accubabit donec devoret praedam et occisorum sanguinem bibat ». In hebr. conculcant lapides fundae i. e. hostium tela pedibus calcant; nihil eis nocent ?. Victores sanguine occisorum implentur ut phialae i. e. eorum certamina sunt Deo dicata et sacra, quasi sacrificia a Deo acceptantur ; in sacrificiis enim sanguis victimarum et phialis sacris excipiebatur et ad angulos altaris (hebr.) spargebatur. Unde sacra bellorum indoles et theocratica effertur ; « hi qui vicerint, placebunt Domino quasi altaris cornua eiusque libatio » (S. Hier.). Bellatores isti sunt tamquam sacerdotes victimas Domino offerentes; id quod ad Machabaeorum sacerdotum preeclara facinora adumbranda optime congruit. Salutem pugnatoribus a Domino concessam duplici ratione describit v. 16 et 17; prius enim sanctuarium Domino erigent ; dein omni bono- . rum copia et abundantia praediti erunt. Eos Deus tamquam gregem suum agnoscet ac tuebitur
9:16
v. 16 « et salvabit eos Dominus Deus eorum in die illa ut gregem populi sui, quia lapides sancti elevabuntur super terram eius » ; — quia hoc versu et in sequenti ita accipio, ut modus ac ratio salutis declaretur; salvabuntur enim, quia id obtinebunt propter quod certamina illa subierunt : Dei scil. sanctuarium contra Graecos defenderant; iam fructus certaminum exhibetur : lapides consecrationis exsurgent, vel (ut alii hebr. vertunt) splendescent super terram Domini ; lapides Deo sacri dicere videntur sanctuarium Dei, templum Dei, quod novo splendore novaque gloria istis victoriis resplendebit in terra sancta. Si aliqui lapides sanctos de altari novo erectoet dedicato (1 Mach. &, 47. 2 Mach. 10,3 ; cf. Theod. Alb. Calm. Patrit.) intelligunt, id certe non est ab hac prophetia alienum, quamvis minime ad unam eam rem sit restringenda sed sensu ampliore capienda de templi gloria sublimiore, qua in terra sancta quasi relucere dicatur. Varia est huius loci explanatio. Alii enim "7 intelligunt de corona et diade- mate (cf. Ex. 99, 6 ; 39, 30. 2 Sam. 4, 40. 9 Reg. 11, 12 etc.) et explicant gemmas diadematis i. e. Deos eos salvabit qui in oculis eius tam pretiosi sunt sicut gemmae in diademate regis vel in ornatu pontificis ( cf. Sanct. Lap. Mar. Ges. Thes. p. 871 ; Keil, Trochon). Neque contra id excipi potest cum Schegg, in diadematis vel coronis veterum gemmas non esse adhibitas ad ornatum ; nam id in tanto usu gemmarum apud veteres improbabile est et contrarium satis elucet ex 2 Reg. 12, 30. Ez. 98, 13. Alii metaphorice explanant : lapides sunt electi ex monte sacro scil. Ábraham (S. Ephr.) ; ad quod conferri potest Is. 51, 4 : « attendite ad petram unde excisi estis... attendite ad Abraham patrem vestrum ». Át res est longius petita et allusio nimis obscura. Vel audaciore metaphora : « servabuntur, quia ipsi sunt lapides vivi et sancti, ex quibus aedificabitur Ecclesia; elevantur, cum superaedificantur lapidi vivo Christo » (Hib.); talis enim metaphora intelligitur quidem ex claro contextu apud S. Paulum Eph. 9, 90-92 et apud S. Petrum 4 Petr. 2, 4. 5; sed ubi falis nexus rerum hoc loco? Praeterea cum versu insequenti partictla *2 non causa afferatur, cur salvati sint, sed abundantia salutis magis declaretur, certe hoc quoque versu eadem particula eodem modo erit accipienda. Hoc sensu ita aliqui accipiunt : « lapides sancti . qui oppressi fuerant (lapides autem vocat propter duritiam tribulationum et animi fortitudinem), elevabuntur de humilitate sua et erunt in terra illius gloriosi » (S. Hier.) ; vel : in monumentum victoriae, ut sint tituli gloriae Dei (Pressel), erigentur simili modi, uti Iosue in titulum et monumentum mirabilis ingressus in terram et usucapionis duodecim erexit lapides (Lap.); vel : lapides sancti erigentur i. e. fines terrae undique cingentur terminis sacris et inviolatis; isti scil. lapides sancti sunt ferminales, qui separant terram sanctam a regione profana, qui eam Deo consecratam esse ostendunt, qui terminos sacros ac tutos constituunt (Sanct. Schegg). Uti igitur 2, 5 urbs dicitur defendenda et cingenda muro ignis, ita nunc terra terminis sacris et inviolatis. Sensus utique est aptus. Sed valde dubito, an verba hebr. eum admittant. Nam ex eo quod Deus legem tulit : non transferes terminos proximi tui, et : maledictus qui transfert terminos (Deut. 19, 44; 27, 17), nondum sequitur neque statim percipitur, lapides consecrationis dici terminos quos Deus violari non permittet. — Chald. de gemmis in ephod pontificis verba capit ; habet enim : eliget eos sicut lapides ephod ; cf. Ex. 28, 11. LXX praebent 2i0ot &ytot xoAtovzot ; id quod S. Cyr. exponit de agilitate et promptitudine sanctorum ad omnia Deo grata obeunda. Altera salutis declaratio et ampliatio proponitur v. 4" « quid. enim bomum eius est et quid pulchrum eius, misi frumentum electorum et vinum germinans virgines » ? — hebr. per modum exclamationis : nam quid. (quantum est) bonum eius et quid pulchrum eius? i.e. quanta est bonitas, felicitas eius, quanta pulchritudo eius ? frumentum iuvenes, vinum vigere facit virgines. Sermo est de prospero ac felici statu populi victoria parta ; haecque conditio vigore et flore iuventutis et felicissimo ac saluberrimo frugumterrae proventu ad modum veteris foederis describitur (cf. Lev. 26, 3-13. Deut, 28, 4 seq.), sicut peccatorum poenae annonae caritate, terrae sterilitate, caede iuventutis exhiberi solent (cf. ler. 9, 21 ; 12, 4. Lament. 2, 11. 12. Os. 2, 8-12 etc.). Deus igitur post tempus bellorum ac tribulationum mira benedictione populum suum complectetur et bonis abundantissime cumulabit, ita ut eorum magnitudinem exclamatione admirabunda sacer vates celebret ; dein ex bonorum copia unum effert de florente iuventute, in qua et gaudium et spes laetissima populi consistit. Qua in re imitatione exprimere leremiam vates videtur ; ille enim, uti caedem iuvenum et virginum squalorem et ablationem vocis sponsi et sponsae tamquam extremae ruinae ac summae miseriae documenta proponere solet ', ita eorum laetitiam, choros, prosperam fortu- - nam ad instaurationis felicitatem delineandam adhibet ?; cf. 8, 5. Similiter locum hunc explicant Theod. Sanct. Mar. Houbig. Calm. Schegg, Patrit.. Trochon aliique ; neque ab ea expositione abest Alb., qui in hac promissione incitamentum ad audaciam cernit : « refectio optima in esculento... et in poculento quae virginibus datur ad pulchritudin is conservationem, quam terra sponte gignit et quam Deus promittit, ad tantam movet audaciam ». Et Patritius explicat : « quod additur de ea futurae prosperitatis parte, quae erit abagrorum ubertate ac feracitate, eo item pcrti- : net, ut Israelitae nondum in patriam reversi ad reditum adiicia ntur ». Sed quod iam saepius monuimus (cf. Os. 2, 21. Ioel 3, 18. Am. 9, 13), etiam hoc loco valet : prosperitas externaex indole veteris foederis delineat populi sanctitatem internam et symbolum est gratiae ac favoris divini ; proinde copiam bonorum quoque supernorum ac divinorum hoc quasi involucro contineri ac promitti manifestum est (vide quae notavi ad Is. 62, 8. 9 ; Erklaerung p. 613). Os. 9, 22; 7, 14. loe! 1, 10. Agg. 1, 114 etc. ; quare in tam frequenti verborum ' eoniunctione id anum apparet, iis terram abundasse eaque ad vitam esse pernecessaria. Ex tali autem pro vita usu et necessitale ntique iuremerito colliges rationem congruam, cur Christus Dominus s. Eucharistiae materiam et signum - elegerit panem et vinum ; sed ex hoc Zachariae loco cave ne pro s. Eucharistia . eiusque effectibus argumenta promas nisi sensu quem dicunt accoinmodato (hune . fuse prosequitur Lap.). Demum de totius partis interpretatione notatu digna quoque sunt, quae S. Hier . : ex ludaeorum explicatione aifert, referri scíl. ad Machabaeorum tempora, qui vicerint Macedonas et sordidatum templum «mundaverint; ita ad v 13, v. 14 | spectare Machabaeos contra Antiochum dimicantes , « nos autem, ait S. ffier.,- referemus euncta ad intelligentiam Salvatoris » , sed v. 13. 16 ipse quoque de Machabaeorum tempore interpretatur ; scribit enim : » salvabit quoque Dominus eos sicut oves et gregem populi sui : don enim ut armatus exercitus et instructus arte bellandi adversum Macedones dimicabit, sed veniet quasi grex paratus ad mortem et Domino auxiliante superabit ». Ad v. 17 haec notat: « ideo, inquiunt, Machabaei huc illucque fugientes Domino auxiliante superabunt, ut eiectis Mace- . donibus de terra Israel munudetur templurn, legis praecepta serventur et eruditio Seripturarum rursum germinet virgines, id est, populos eredentium in unum | Deum, qui prius 1dololatriae fuerant cultibus constuprati. In frumento electorum i.e. baurim, aon iuvenes, ut LXX transtulerunt, sed electos et eruditos viros - intelligi volunt, qui frumentum, id est, legem Dei comedere mereantur ...... Haec ludaei aestimant ». Approbat igitur SS. Hier. partim tustoricam expositionem, partim ea repudiata «el saltem neglecta statim verba ad Ecclesiam Christi refert. .— Singulare est, quod TAeod. M. et Barh. etiam hie certamina cernunt contra Gog. Descripta felici conditione quam Dominus populo suo pollicetur (9, 16. 41), propheta, uti 2, 6 et 9, t1. 12, ex oraculo accepto doctrinam colligit et applicationem pro tempore suo et pro suis aequalibus, scil. ut abiecta omni superstitione et vana fiducia humana ab uno Deo, qui paratus est tam eximia suis largiri, optima quaeque expetant. Et cum modo 9, 17] de terrae ubertate et fertilitate tamquam pignore et symbolo benevolentiae et liberalitatis divinae mentio sit iniecta, apposite propheta suos adhortatur 10, 1 « Petite a Domino pluvtam tin tempore serotino , el Dominus faciet nives et pluviam imbris dabit. ets, singulis herbam in agro » ; — hebr. tempore serotinae pluviae v. 2. quando pluvia praecipue necessaria est, utsegetes ad spicam et maturitatem adducat (Sanct.). In Palaestina enim sunt, ut loquitur iam recte A/b., « duae pluviae, scil. temporanea quae descendit ut semina pullulent et in herbam germinent, et serotina quae descendit ad hoc quod grana tumescant » ; prior sub medium Octobrem contingit, altera sub Martium medium et Aprilem ; cf. Os. 6, 3. Ioel 2, 23. Deus enim mandata sua observantibus explicite has pluvias promiserat (Deut. 11, 13-15). Unde simul innuitur ad petitionem mentis fidelem mandatorum Dei observationem accedere debere, ut preces effectu suo non careant. Propheta adhortationem fulcit generatim monens Dominum aeris tempestatumque conditiones moderari et suum cuique nutrimentum elargiri. Hebr. Dominus faciens fulgetra ; cf. Ier. 10, 13; pluvia imbris i. e. copiosus imber ; geminata enim nomina, ut iam Sanct. advertit, habent semper auxesin quandam ; Áerbam autem generatim dici pro quolibet fructu, quem tellus producat, uti Gen. 1, 41. 29, iam Theod. M. advertit. Hebr. pn S. Hier. h. ]. vertit nives ; suspicati sunt Rib. aliique esse legendum nubes. In libro Iob S. Hier. vocem vertit procellam (cf. Iob 28, 26 ; 38, 25). Plerumque fulmina, fulgetra explicant (Sanct. Schegg, Keil, Trochon). LXX h. l. praebent qavtxoia;, « nescio quid volentes LXX. phantasias interpretati sunt » (S. Hier.) ; vocem S. Cyr. explicat &cxpaxác ; Theod : « ipse enim est et pluviae auctor et aliarum rerum opifex, quae ad hominum terrorem fieri solent » ; intelliguntur phantasiae phaenomena et mutationes illae quae in aere fieri solent (cf. Theod. M.). Vocem hebr. LXX Iob 28, 26 vertunt sivxqua ; Sym. ibidem habet xtozxoc, alio veroloco Iob 38, 25 v6goc; Syrus hexapl. ad nostrum locum praebet strepitum (cf. cod. syr. hexapl. ed. Middel- dorpf p. 241. 962) ; Syrus vero stillas, Chald. autem ventos. ) Monet igitur vates, ut talia petant ab eo qui dare potest (Theod.). Salutaris autem institutionis causa praeterita mala commemorat, uti nexum cum sequentibus ZAheod. M. adstruit, atque simul certe etiam pro suis aequalibus vanam omnem superstitionem amovere volens adhortatur
9:5
Accaron (Hebrew Egrān; Assyrian Amqarrāna)
The Prophets name A. together with Gaza, Ashkelon and Ashdod, foretelling its ruin (Am. 1:8; Jer. 25:20; Zeph. 2:4; Zech. 9:5-7). In 147 Alexander Balas, king of Syria, gave A. with its district to Jonathan Maccabeus (I Macc. 10:89).
9:7
… Macc. 6:7 only τὸ βδέλυγμα appears): "disgrace, horror, horrible thing"; it is a descriptive designation of the pagan gods or idols (I Reg. 2:5; mostly in the plural: Hos. 9:10, and often in Jer. and Ez.) or of what is connected with idolatrous worship (Zech. 9:7: the sacrificed meats). …
JEBUSITES. - Gentile name of an ancient clan (Heb. [ha]-Jēbhūti, always with the article, except in II Sam. 5:8; I Chron. 11:6; Zech. 9:7, and in the singular; Septuagint: ὁ Ἰεβουσαῖς), settled in Canaan (Gen. 10:16; I Chron. 1:14), always included, as a secondary group, in the northern list of the peoples that Israel …
9:9
I. a) According to the style of the Septuagint (cf. Zeph. 3:14; Joel 2:21; Zech. 9:9; Lam. 4:21) and the constant interpretation of the Greek Fathers, the angel's "humble greeting": χαῖρε, κεχαρισμένη (in Hebrew probably ronni mūhanhāh), expresses an invitation to …
… theocracy, flows into the kingdom of the M., the single and final object intended by Jahweh (I Chron. 17, 10-14). The post-exilic prophets emphasize: a) the triumph of the M., a gentle king, who comes on a donkey, and will rule peacefully over all the earth: Zech. 9, 9 f. = Mt. 21, 5; b) a single perfect, immaculate sacrifice, offered to Jahweh throughout the world, will take the place of the Mosaic sacrifices: Mal. 1, 11; c) a precursor will immediately …
… 18:5; Ezek. 18:5 ff.; cf. Tob. 12:9). At the same time, trust in the God who saves is required, as the Psalms especially inculcate, and above all faith in God and in the One whom God will send to his people as Messiah-Savior (cf. Isa. 62:1; 11; 12:3; Zech. 9:9; Mic. 7:7). Circumcision is the sign of entry into the state of righteousness and is prescribed for whoever wishes to benefit, together with the rest of the chosen people, from God's …
… im Buch Zach., Monaco 1930; S. Grill, Zur Authentie von Zacharias Kap. 9-14, in Biblische Zeitschrift, 18 (1928 sgg.), pp. 40-44; A. Skrinjar, «Adipicient ad me, quem confixerunt», in Verbum Domini, 11 (1931), pp. 233-42; id., Messias rex pacificus (Zach. 9, 9 sg.), ibid., 12 (1932), pp. 248-53; C. L. Feinberg, Exegetical studies in Zacharias, in Bibliotheca
9:13
… Dan. 8:21 ff. and 11:2 describe the power of the ram, or Alexander "king of the Greeks" ("first king of the Greeks": 1 Macc. 1:1; 6:2). The Seleucids too are "kings of the Greeks" (Dan. 10:20; Zech. 9:13; 1 Macc. 1:11; 8:18: against them the Jews ask help from the Romans, that they may free them from the "yoke of the Greeks").
… Later I., like the corresponding Oriental terms, was used in the generic sense of "Greece" (Zech. 9:13; Dan. 8:21 agg.) and "sons of the Jāveānim" are the Greeks (Joel 4:6). Giovanni Rinaldi
9:14
… developed is one and the same: the certain realization of the rebirth promised by Yahweh, and of the punishment of the neighboring peoples foretold by Ez. 35-36; its perpetuity, with the triumph over the violent attacks of the nations (Ez. 38-39 = Zech. 9:14; cf. Dan. 7-12); the new theocracy is in fact ordered to, and is the immediate preparation of, the kingdom of the Messiah, by which it will be raised up and "absorbed." The repatriates …
9:18
… Clamer, s. v. in DThC, XV (1950), coll. 3648-70; E. E. Le Bas, Zachariah's contribution to the dormer stone (3,8 seg.), in Palestine exploration quarterly, 82 (1950), pp. 102-22; 83 (1951), pp. 139-55; M. Delcee, Les allusions à Alexandre le Grand dans Zach. 9, 18, in Vetus Testamentum, 1 (1951), pp. 110-24; id., Un problème de critique textuelle et d'exégèse: Zach. 12, 10, in Revue biblique, 58 (1951), pp. 189-99; id., Les sources du Deutéro-Zacharie …
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.