title: Liber Paralipomenon II

source_edition: Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 113, coll. 663D–692C

source_text:
## CAPUT PRIMUM.

[0663D]

VERS. 1.-- *Confortatus est ergo Salomon,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] Quando in morte triumphavit eum qui habebat mortis imperium, et sibi regnum omnium acquisivit. Unde: *Data est mihi omnis potestas in coelo et in terra [n: (Matth. XXVIII)]*.

VERS. 3.-- *Gabaon,* etc., Quae fuit civitas metropolis [0664D] Hevaeorum, ceciditque in sortem Benjamin, et fuit separata Levitis. Mirum ergo est quod Josephus dicit, quia Salomon in Hebron venit ut sacrificaret in altari aeneo, quod fecerat Moyses: nisi forte ipsam Hebron excelsum Gabaon intelligi voluerit, eo quod ibi primum regnavit. Interpretatur enim Gabaon sublimitas, vel collis patruelis.

[0665A]VERS. 10.-- *Da mihi sapientiam,* etc. Non aurum, non divitias, non terrenam gloriam a Deo petit, sed ut sciat populum Dei regere et judicare. Si hoc elegit rector corporum, multo magis hoc eligere debent rectores animarum, ut ingressum ad fidem et egressum ad spem populo Dei demonstrent.

VERS. 13.-- *Ab excelso,* etc. Arcam significat, in qua erant tabulae Testamenti. Supra enim scriptum est: *Tabernaculum autem Domini quod fecerat Moyses in deserto et altare holocaustorum eadem tempestate erant in excelsis Gabaon,* etc. [n: (I Paral. XXI)]. Arca autem Domini postquam introduxit eam David in domum suam, mansit ibidem usquequo aedificaretur templum.

*Et duodecim millia equitum.* Hic numerus tempus [0665B] gratiae significat, in quo apostolica doctrina populum Novi Testamenti informat. Bene autem per quadragenarium numerum vel duodenarium currus et equites Salomonis numerantur: quia per utrumque testamentum, sancti viri sacris litteris eruditi, sessioni Dei aptantur, quos ipse summus auriga pro nuto suo gubernat.

VERS. 17.-- *Sexcentis argenteis.* Quia doctorum testamentum praedicatione ad cognoscendam fidei veritatem per praedicatores in usum veri Salomonis homines adducuntur. Sexcenti ergo, id est sexagies deni perfectionem evangelicae doctrinae significant, in qua perfectio legis omnino consistit: praecipue cum Redemptor noster sexta die passus, omnia quae de se in lege et prophetis scripta erant, complevit; [0665C] unde ait. *Consummatum est. Et inclinato capite, emisit spiritum [n: (Joan. XIX)]*.

*Centum.* Qui sunt ter quinquageni, et Veteris Testamenti propter Pentecosten et jubilaeum et triplicis Scripturae distinctionem, quia dicitur: *Necesse est omnia impleri quae scripta sunt in lege Moysi et prophetis et psalmis de me [n: (Luc. XXIV)]*, manifeste significant.

## CAPUT II.

VERS. 1.-- *Decrevit Salomon aedificare domum,* etc. [n: (BED., quaest. in lib. Reg., tom. II.)] Domus quam aedificavit Salomon, etc., *usque ad* qui seipsos aedificio Dei, credendo, operando, alios docendo, praeparant.

*Salomon.* Et nomine et regno pacatissimo illum [0665D] significat, etc., *usque ad* et illuminationis Spiritus sancti.

VERS. 8.-- *Et erunt servi.* [n: (RAB.)] Apostoli mei et doctores primi, etc., *usque ad* et ideo subtilius expugnaverunt.

VERS. 14.-- *Filium mulieris.* Ostendit eum esse de progenie Salomith; de tribu Dan, de quo in libro Numerorum legitur. Patrem ejus tradunt Hebraei fuisse Hebraeum, de stirpe Oliab, de tribu Dan, qui cum Beseleel in eremo operatus est. Quod vero Tyrium vocat, aiunt Hebraei hoc translatione factum fuisse. Zocri enim lingua eorum psalmatio interpretatur. Chyros enim quam illi Zor vocant, aliquando angustiam, aliquando plasmationem sonat.

[0666A] *Qui novit operari in auro et argento.* In his omnibus Hiram spiritualis novit operari, ut ornatus domus Dei coram oculis hominum digno decore fulgeat, et bonae opinionis odore Deo acceptabilis fiat.

VERS. 16.-- *Nos autem,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] Significat quod gentes audita fama Evangelii diversas personas per fidem ad baptismum transmittit. Solius tamen est veri pacifici, ut absolvendo peccata per baptismi sacramenta unitati Ecclesiae illos adunare, de quo dicitur: *Super quem videritis Spiritum descendentem et manentem super eum, hic est qui baptizat [n: (Matth. III)]*.

VERS. 17.-- *Numeravit igitur,* etc. Fuerunt operarii domus Domini de filiis Israel, etc. [n: (RAB.)] *usque ad* Ecclesiam Christi recte vivendo et docendo [0666B] construunt.

*Tria millia et sexcenti.* In Paralipomenon pro tribus millibus trecentis praepositis, qui in Regum numerantur, tria millia sexcenti scribuntur pro perfectione sublimium virorum. In senario enim Deus mundi ornatum complevit: et quia sancta Scriptura fidem Trinitatis docet et opera justitiae, recte tria millia sexcenti perhibentur fuisse.

## CAPUT III.

VERS. 1.-- *In area Ornan.* [n: (RAB.)] Ecclesia per aream signatur, etc., *usque ad* sed cum Christus eam respexit, pacis in se et locum invenit et nomen.

VERS. 2.-- *Mense secundo,* etc. Id est Maio, mox scilicet post pascha, ut consecratus mystica [0666C] solemnitate populus digne aggrederetur mysticum opus.

*Anno quarto regni sui.* Post expletam dispensationem divinae incarnationis, quae in quatuor Evangeliis scripta est, misso Spiritu de coelo Ecclesia fabricata est. Quae in libris Regum exposuimus, in Paralipomenon sub brevitate perstringimus.

Longitudo domus longam Ecclesiae patientiam significat. Latitudo charitatem qua etiam diligit inimicos, donec cum solis amicis in Deo gaudeat. Altitudo vero spem futurae vitae et retributionis, quia omnia adversa contemnit: donec videat bona Domini in terra viventium. Notandum quod triginta cubiti altitudinis, qui in Regum leguntur, non ad tectum templi, sed usque ad coenaculum inferius pervenerunt. [0666D] Hic enim quod altitudo centum viginti cubitorum erat. Alii triginta ad medium coenaculum, alii vero ad tertium, deinde usque ad supremum templi tectum numerabuntur, alii triginta et sic tota altitudo domus in centum viginti cubitis consummatur: quo numero virorum primitiva Ecclesia in Jerusalem gratiam Spiritus sancti accepit. Quindecim namque qui ex septem et octo constant, futuram vitam signant, quae nunc agitur in quiete animarum et perficietur in resurrectione corporum: quindecim vero in trigonum ducta, id est, cum omnibus partibus suis numerata centum viginti fiunt, quibus designatur futura beatitudo electorum. Bene autem hoc numero tertium coenaculum domus consummatur, [0667A] quae post praesentes labores, post animarum requiem, plena felicitatis gloria in resurrectione completur.

VERS. 4.-- *Porticum vero,* etc. Ipsum scilicet templum quod erat pro foribus oraculi: tripartita enim fuit fabricae distinctio: hoc est porticus ante templum: et ipsum templum in quo altare thymiamatis, mensa propositionis, et candelabrum luminis erant: et oraculum, id est, Sanctum sanctorum ubi arca testamenti et cherubim post velum collocata. Porticus vero ante templum antiquorum figuram gestat fidelium. Ipsum vero templum eorum qui post incarnationem Domini in mundum venerunt. Domus autem interior regni coelestis gaudia utrisque data.

[0667B]Notandum ergo quod parietes domus lapidibus pretiosis facti fuerunt tabulis cypressinis vel cedrinis operti, laminis aureis vestiti. Unde in Regum: *Et cedro omnis domus vestiebatur,* etc. Lapides parietis vel pavimenti et tabulae et aurum sanctorum vitam in Ecclesia significant. Lapides vivi sunt sancti fortitudine fidei in unam regulam conjuncti. Tabulae quoque cedrinae vel cypressinae sunt sancti latitudine variarum virtutum secundum donationem Spiritus sancti in eadem fide sibimetipsis connexi. Auri laminae sunt sancti supereminentem scientiae charitatem habentes, et hujus fulgore gratissimo ad invicem congaudentes.

VERS. 6.-- *Stravit quoque pavimentum,* etc. Sicut latitudo parietis in altum exsurgens, et ad laquearia [0667C] perveniens, provectus virtutum quibus sancti ad coelum perveniunt, vel sanctorum choros sibi per varia tempora succedentes significant: ita aequalitas pavimenti concordem eorum humilitatem, qua in hac vita positi sociali charitate conversantur. Pavimentum pretioso marmore stratum multo decore, et marmor tectum tabulis abiegnis, quia vita justorum primo fidei firmitate munienda est in corde: post virtutum latitudine ornanda in opere. Quid enim prodest decor marmoris tabulis obtectis, nisi aliquid mysticum ostendat? sed bonorum amplitudinem operum fortitudine fidei fulciendam esse significat. Abies vero alta et durabilis mentem electorum infima spernentem, coelestibus inhaerentem, et virtutem patientiae excellentem demonstrat. Auri laminae [0667D] marmori de tabulis abiegnis superpositae latitudo est charitatis de corde puro et conscientia bona et fide non ficta, quae sicut aurum aliis metallis, ita caeteris virtutibus in templo Dei praefulget.

VERS. 7.-- *Postes et parietes,* etc. Texit, cum aditum fidei ipso Domino pandente qua veritate reluceat omnibus Ecclesiam intrantibus ostendit. Ostium templi Christus est, per quem venitur ad Patrem, qui ait: *Ego sum ostium,* etc. [n: (Joan. X.)] In Regum ita scriptum est: *Oraculum habebat viginti cubitos longitudinis, et viginti latitudis et viginti altitudinis [n: (III Reg. III)]*. Oraculum dicitur Sanctum sanctorum, quia ibi divina et angelica locutione hominibus secreta revelantur. Unde: *Oraculum in abditis* id est, [0668A] interiori domo factum est, quia in superna patria angelorum visio et allocutio et ipsa Dei praesentia revelabitur. Quod dicit viginti cubitos altitudinis, parietem cedrinum significat, qui oraculum ab aede exteriori segregat.

*Coelavit cherubim.* Habet haec domus, sicut in Regum legitur, caelaturas eminentes, cum sancti opera virtutum non in oculto agant, sed exemplum omnibus praeferunt.

VERS. 8.-- *Fecit quoque domum,* etc. Oraculum ubi erat arca viginti cubitos habebat in longitudine, latitudine, altitudine, id est per quadrum: quia in superna patria ubi regem in decore suo vident sancti, sola charitas divinae et supernae gratiae per omnia fulget. Unde in sequentibus: *Laminis aureis [0668B] texit eam [n: (III Reg. VI)]*, id est, moenia supernae civitatis gratia charitatis implevit.

*Talentis sexcentis,* etc. In talentis ponderis perfectio quae charitatis perfectionem exprimit, sicut perfectio senarii per quem centenarius multiplicatur, ut fiant sexcenti.

VERS. 9.-- *Sed et clavos.* [n: (RAB.)] Quinquagenario numero peccatorum remissio, etc., *usque ad* qui ad perfectiora perveniens de clavis perfectionis, ait: *Mihi autem adhaerere Deo, bonum est [n: (Psal. LXXII)]*.

*Coenacula quoque.* Sicut Sancta sanctorum, ubi erat arca, internam sanctorum vitam in conspectu Redemptoris significat, unde: *Abscondes eos in abscondito faciei tuae, a conturbatione hominum [n: (Psal. XXX)]*. Ita coenacula in alto eamdem vitam, id [0668C] est in coelis esse et non in hoc mundo, unde: *Quae sursum sunt quaerite [n: (Col. III)]*, ubi Christus est in dextera Dei sedens.

VERS. 10.-- *Fecit etiam.* [n: (RAB.)] Hoc in Regum plenius legitur, etc., *usque ad* denario perpetui regni remunerandam.

VERS. 11.-- *Ita ut ala.* Quinque cubitorum erat ala cherub una, etc., quia angeli legem Dei descriptam in quinque libris indefessa devotione custodiunt, diligendo scilicet Deum ex omnibus viribus suis, et proximos tanquam seipsos. *Plenitudo autem legis est charitas [n: (Rom. XIII)]*. Proximi quoque adinvicem sunt spiritus angelici et homines electi. Unde utraque ala cherub ejusdem mensurae est: quia eadem devotione qua sese alterutrum in Deo diligunt, [0668D] nostram quoque ad se ascendentium societatem desiderant. Similiter ergo alae decem cubitos complent, cum in gemina charitatis exhibitione angeli, conditoris sui praesentia laetantur.

VERS. 12.-- *Tangebant parietem.* Duos aeque parietes alis suis tangunt, quia Judaeos et gentiles secum habent coelestis aulae possessores: non quod ibi sit localis distinctio inter utrumque populum, sed quia major est festivitas internae beatitudinis de consortio adunatae in Deo fraternitatis. Extendunt ergo ad utrumque parietem alas: quia laetantes in coelesti patria justos utriusque populi ad laudem excitant Creatoris. Alas tectas auro ad oraculi parietes extendunt, sicut habent facies versas ad [0669A] exteriorem domum: quia angeli sicut suam innocentiam conservant, sic de sanctorum beatitudine gaudent, ut eis quos adhuc in terris conspiciunt, opem ferant donec illos ad coelestem patriam introducant. *Omnes enim sunt administratorii spiritus in ministerium missi, propter eos qui haereditatem capiunt salutis [n: (Hebr. I)]*. Alis exterioribus iste unum parietem, ille alterum contingit: quia Vetus Testamentum antiquo populo scripto novum nobis qui post incarnationem Domini ad fidem venimus, et secundo parieti, id est, septentrionali recte comparamur, qui post frigora et tenebras idololatriae lucem veritatis cognovimus.

*Ala ejus.* Extendunt alas ad invicem super arcam, cum ad laudem Salvatoris referunt omne bonum [0669B] quod acceperant. Extendunt alteras alas ad parietes oraculi, cum sanctos secum videre laetantur, eosque velut alarum summitatibus tangunt, quos imitatores suae puritatis in hac vita fuisse exsultant.

*Et facies eorum versae.* Quia nostri gratia qui adhuc foris stamus, sed spe salvi facti sumus, divini libri sunt conditi, quorum scriptores jam cum Domino regnantes, nostrae salutis curam gerunt, et pro nobis interpellant apud Deum.

VERS. 14.-- *Fecit quoque. [n: (RAB.)]* Hoc in Regum praemittitur, etc., *usque ad* et veritas Evangelii et ingressus regni ipsa veritate aperitur.

*Et intexuit.* Intexuntur cherubim his quatuor coloribus, cum in omnibus quae pie agimus a venenatis [0669C] daemonum telis per angelica praesidia protegimur, et multitudine scientiae indesinenter utimur, respicientes semper ad eloquia divina, ne a virtutum calle aberremus.

VERS. 15.-- *Ante fores etiam templi duas columnas.* Stabant in porticu ante fores templi, et ingressum templi suo decore ex utraque parte ornabant. Ostium templi Dominus est, qui ait: *Nemo venit ad Patrem, nisi per me,* etc. [n: (Joan. XIV)]. Ostium columnae ab utroque latere circumstant, cum ministri sermonis utrique populo introitum regni coelestis ostendunt, ut quicunque a luce legalis scientiae vel gentilitatis errore ad fidem Evangelii venerit, habeat eos paratos qui sibi iter salutis verbo monstrent et exemplo. In Regum de his columnis legitur: [0669D] *Qui cum venisset ad regem Salomonem, fecit omne opus ejus, et finxit duas columnas aereas,* etc. [n: (III Reg. VII.)]

*Triginta et quinque.* Hic numerus perfectionem significat magistrorum. Septenarius enim numerus per quinarium, vel quinarius per septenarium multiplicatus, triginta quinque reddunt. Quinarius vero legem, septenarius propter Spiritum septiformem in flore radicis Jesse manentem, Evangelium exprimit; unde alibi Dominus quinque panibus quinque millia hominum, et alibi septem panibus quatuor millia hominum pavisse narratur. Columnae igitur triginta quinque cubitorum significant doctores Evangelii duorum Testamentorum habere [0670A] perfectam scientiam, unde: *Vobis datum est nosse mysterium regni Dei [n: (Marc. IV)]*. Et alibi: *Aperuit illis sensum, ut intelligerent Scripturas [n: (Luc. XXIV)]*.

*Quasi catenulas. [n: (RAB.)]* Multiplex catenarum contextio et retis, secundum Regum expansio ( *sic* ) multifarias electorum personas insinuat, quae cum verbis praedicatorum fideliter auscultando et obediende adhaerent, quasi capitibus columnarum superposita retia et catenulae miraculum suae connexionis spectantibus praebent.

VERS. 16.-- *Capitibus columnarum.* Capita columnarum, id est suprema pars, praecordia sunt doctorum, quorum Deo devotis cogitationibus sicut capite membra, ita ipsorum omnia opera dirigantur et verba.

[0670B] *Malogranata.* Uno foris cortice multa interius grana circumdant, unde Ecclesiam significant, quia unius fidei munimine innumera electorum agmina circumdat, vel cujusque justi vitam et mores, qui multa cogitationum virtutumque insignia, ne forte defluant, firma fidei et humilitatis vallant custodia. Apte vero capita columnarum malis granatis erant in gyro circumdata, quia sancti doctores priorum vitam fidelium ad memoriam revocant; eorumque exemplis et sermones suos omni parte confirmant, ne si aliter quam illorum habet regula, vixerint vel docuerint, errent.

## CAPUT III. (cont.)

VERS. 17.-- *Ipsas quoque.* Ideo duae factae sunt columnae et ita dispositae, ut nobis in prosperis et in adversis ingressum regni coelestis ante oculos [0670C] habendum doceant. Notandum vero quod porticus templi etiam vestibulum vocatur, et quod legimus inter vestibulum et altare, inter porticum et altare intelligi debeat. Secunda columna significat praedicatores qui gentibus ad praedicandum missi sunt. Vel dextra columna eos significat qui venturum in carne prophetaverunt Dominum. Secunda vero illos qui jam venisse et mundum suo sanguine redemisse testantur. Ambae columnae simili vocabulo censentur, cum una firmitas et altera in robore dicitur, ut una fidei, et operis fortitudo cunctis inesse doctoribus monstretur, et nostri temporis doctores tacite notentur, qui columnae domus Dei videri et appellari volunt, cum in se firmae fidei ad contemnendas saeculi pompas, ad desideranda bona invisibilia, nihil [0670D] habeant roboris ad corrigendos, vel industriae ad intelligendos eorum quibus praesunt errores.

## CAPUT IV.

VERS. 1.-- *Fecit quoque,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] Altare holo causti significat eos qui corpus suum et animam Deo igne amoris consecrant: quorum perseverantiam in bono opere longitudo altaris exprimit, latitudo amplitudinem in charitate Dei et proximi, spem in exspectatione visitationis altitudo praetendit.

*Viginti cubitorum.* Vicenarius magnam perfectionem indefessae longanimitatis et sincerae dilectionis significat, quae per utriusque Testamenti observantiam nobis tribuitur. Quater enim quini viginti [0671A] sunt, quinque autem sunt libri legis, et quatuor Evangelia. Cum vero ad intelligentiam et custodiam legis illustrante gratia pervenimus, vicenarium numerum perficimus; fitque idem numerus in longitudine et latitudine altaris, cum corda electorum docente utroque Testamento perseverantiam hujusmodi operis etiam in persecutionibus servant, et hilaritatem dilectionis etiam in eos qui persequuntur

*Et decem cubitis.* In denario spes coelestium praemiorum significatur. Unde qui in vinea patris familias laborant, denario remunerantur. Unde altare, quod electos significat, pro signanda eorum vita perpetua decem cubitis exaltatur.

VERS. 2.-- *Mare etiam.* [n: (RAB.)] Lavacrum salutare, [0671B] etc., *usque ad* et communem a Domino coronam justitiae sperare debet.

*Quinque cubitos habebat.* Quia quidquid visu, auditu, olfactu, gustu, tactuve delinquimus, totum in baptismo relaxatur. Sed non sufficit praeteritorum remissio peccatorum, nisi quisque deinceps bonis operibus institerit. Alioquin diabolus qui exierat multiplicius redit, et fiunt hominis novissima pejora prioribus. Unde audit:

*Funiculus triginta cubitorum.* Hoc est, disciplina coelestium praeceptorum, qua a nostris voluntatibus religamur, unde: *Funiculus triplex difficile rumpitur [n: (Eccle. IV)]*; quia observantia mandatorum Dei in cordibus sanctorum, fide, spe et dilectione supernae retributionis firmata, nulla potest adversitate [0671C] dissolvi.

VERS. 3.-- *Et decem cubitis.* [n: (RAB.)] Sculptura subter labium, etc., *usque ad* quanta infelicitate propter scelera perierunt reprobi.

VERS. 4.-- *Posteriora.* Quia qua mercede praedicatores in perpetuum donentur, Dei examine dispositum est, sed nobis adhuc occultum est, quibus hoc occultum esse non potest, quod omnis qui baptismum ad salutem accipit, fidem, spem, et charitatem debet habere; nec sine his tribus virtutibus operari, vel ad salutem intrare valet, unde in Regum dicitur: *Grossitudo autem luteris trium unciarum [n: (III Reg. VII)]*. Grossitudo luteris, firmitas est virtutis. *Trium unciarum,* quia robore fidei, spei et dilectionis, perceptio baptismi munitur.

[0671D]VERS. 5.-- *Porro vastitas.* Grossitudo quam Josephus quatuor digitorum esse dixit, demonstrans quae fuit magnitudo palmi. Idem autem haec significant. Quisquis enim fide, spe, et charitate secundum quatuor Evangeliorum doctrinam opera facit justitiae, percipit et mercedem aeternae vitae.

*Tria millia metretas.* Millenarius perfectionem significat, quia denarius quadratum solidum facit. Decies enim decem, centum faciunt, qui est quasi quadrata figura, sed plana: sed ut in altitudinem surgat et solida efficiatur, multiplica centum per de cem, et fiunt mille. Quo numero stabilis et insuperabilis, et velut quadrata justorum conscientia signatur. Quocunque enim quadratum vertis, stabit. Sic [0672A] electorum animus nulla tentatione a statu rectitudinis inclinatur. Capit mare tria millia metretas; cum baptismi sacramentum in fide Trinitatis datum, in se ablutis confert omnium remissionem peccatorum

VERS. 6.-- *Fecit quoque conchas.* In Regum ita: *Fecit quoque decem luteres aeneos. Quadraginta batos capiebat luter unus. Eratque quatuor cubitorum. Singulos quoque luteres per singulas decem bases posuit,* etc. Apostoli et apostolici viri, qui per boves mare portantes signantur, per bases quoque portandis luteribus praeparatas exprimuntur, sicut ipsi luteres baptismum signant, quem figurabat mare. Omnia enim eis quae in holocaustis oblaturi erant, sacerdotes lavabant. Holocaustum autem Domini, omnis fidelium multitudo potest intelligi: quae ab ipso baptizatur [0672B] in aqua et igni. Sicut ergo sacerdotes qui in mari lavantur, eos signant qui per baptismum consortes summi sacerdotis efficiuntur: ita holocausta eosdem exprimunt, cum post ablutionem baptismi gratia implentur spirituali. Lavatur enim in lutere hostia, cum fidelis perfunditur aqua baptismi. Offertur in holocaustum, cum per impositionem manus episcopi, accipit donum Spiritus sancti.

VERS. 8.-- *Et posuit quinque.* In utrique parte templi positae sunt bases luterum, ut utraque populo sacri fontis gratia designaretur esse pandenda. Et quinque sunt in utraque parte, ut, sicut in expositione maris quod quinque cubitis altum esse jam diximus, demonstraretur typice, universa quae per quinque sensus corporis deliquerat, per lavacrum [0672C] baptismi esse remittenda. Sicut ergo in uno mari duodecim bobus superposito unitas exprimitur baptismatis, quae per apostolos toto erat orbe praedicanda: ita etiam per duos ordines luterum mystice ostenditur, quia gentilitas cum Judaea in unum fidei consortium per baptismatis undam erat procreanda.

*Candelabra aurea.* Divina eloquia, quae lucem sapientiae proferunt, unde: *Lucerna pedibus meis verbum tuum, et lumen,* etc. [n: (Psal. CXVIII)]. Hinc Salomon ait: *Quia mandatum lucerna est, et lex lux [n: (Prov. VI)]*. Bis quina sunt candelabra, quia quinque sunt legislatoris volumina, in quibus et tota Veteris Testamenti series complectitur quinque saeculi aetates. Quinque a dextris et quinque a sinistris ponuntur: cum post incarnationem Domini, eadem Scriptura [0672D] utrique populo committitur; vel evangelicis plena figuris ostenditur, quae quondam juxta litteram solum intelligenda esse putabatur.

*Necnon et mensas.* [n: (RAB.)] Has mensas, etc., *usque ad* quorum opera nobis velut ubera salutaria ad exempla vitae proposita.

VERS. 9.-- *Fecit etiam atrium.* [n: (RAB.)] Atrium sacerdotum in ecclesia, etc., *usque ad* in libro Regum secundum Bedam plenius expressimus.

*Et basilicam grandem.* Quae erat extra atrium sacerdotum, in quam omnis populus ad orandum vel ad verbum audiendum confluebat. Haec in Ecclesia vitam moresque carnalium significat, quibus dicitur: [0673A] *Non potui vobis loqui quasi spiritualibus, sed quasi carnalibus,* etc.

*Et basilicam.* Bene per basilicam grandem carnales significantur, quia multo major est in Ecclesia numerus talium quam perfectorum. Sed quantum praestant numero, tantum succumbunt merito. Unde haec basilica grandis etsi plurimos capit, non ad officium altaris, non in ipsum quoque atrium sacerdotum saltem intromittit, quia carnales et infirmi et si ob meritum castae fidei et pietatis ad electorum sortem pertinent, longe tamen ab his sunt qui dicunt: Non audeo loqui aliquid eorum quae per me non efficit Christus, in obedientia gentium verbo et factis.

*Et ostia in basilica.* Haec signant introitum fidei [0673B] sermone praedicationis praeparari, ut venientes discant quomodo per fidem Christi vel salutaria sacramenta debeant intrare Ecclesiam Dei, et postquam intraverint, quam religiose debeant conversari.

VERS. 11.-- *Fecit autem Hiram.* Lebetes cineres sacros suscipiunt, cum fideles exempla et sacramenta Dominicae passionis ad custodiam sui pia mente retractant, vel exitum justorum diligenter aspiciunt, qui magnis elaboratis agonibus, de percepto bravio sine fine laetentur, ut consideratis majorum virtutibus et ipsi magni efficiantur; unde: *Quorum intuentes exitum conversationis intueamini et fidem.*

*Et creagras.* Creagrae praedicatores signant qui animas fidelium verbo Dei reficiunt spiritualibus [0673C] spiritualia comparantes, carnalibus vero lac simplicis doctrinae ministrantes: qui autem sacramenta Christi summatim cognoscere et ad imitationem suscipere volunt, quasi carnalibus hostiae salutaris satiantur; et quia doctorum est cuique congrua dividere, recte fiunt sacerdotibus fuscinulae, quibus carnes hostiarum prout oportet componant, et alia hominibus mundis quaedam afferant, alia altaris ignibus consumenda relinquant; quaedam enim nostrae humilitati ad refectionem revelantur, quaedam solummodo patent scientiae sancti Spiritus; quaedam in Paralipomenis quae in Regum exposita praeterimus, quaedam exposita non invenimus et nostrae parvitatis consuetudinem excedere nolumus. Nusquam enim per nos aliquid exposuimus.

[0673D] *Et phialas.* Phialae latiorem et apertiorem sanctae doctrinae significant sermonem, qui haustum sapientiae pie sitientibus impendit, et pie laborantibus refocillationem congruam per praedicatorum ministeria tribuit, ut ad fontem vitae aeternae pervenire possint, ex quo bibentes non sitient in aeternum.

VERS. 17.-- *In argillosa.* Argillosa terra de qua factae sunt formae ad fundenda vasa, sacram Scripturam (de qua bene vivendi regulam accipimus) significat. Quasi enim argilla igne durata, formam vasis Domini, quanta et qualia fieri debent exhibet; cum nobis Scriptura regulam quam sequamur justitiae, et sanctorum ostendit exempla, qui igne tribulationis invincibiles in omnibus perstiterunt, ut nos [0674A] in domo Domini vasa pretiosa esse cupiamus. Aes autem liquefactum igne argillae formas ingreditur, ut possit vas aptum ministeriis coelestibus effici; cum ipsi salubriter humilitati, et flamma divinae charitatis vel humanae adversitatis emolliti viam Patrum bene operando intramus, ut ad praemia illorum bene currendo perveniamus. Nec enim semper nos regulis bene operandi necesse est arctari, sed completa operatione bona, palma beatae retributionis est speranda. Quia non semper vasa in formis argillae tenebantur inclusa: ubi ad perfectionem venerant, fractis formarum claustris producebantur in lucem, et in templo Domino pro suis quaeque locis disponebantur. Non quod opera sanctorum interitura sint, sed ubi coronam justitiae acceperint, cessabunt officia [0674B] laboriosae operationis.

*In regione Jordanis.* In quo Christus baptizatus est, cujus tinctus undis aquarum nobis vertit elementum in ablutionem peccatorum. Et quia omne fidelium baptisma quo Domino consecramur in exemplum illius baptismi celebratur, recte in regione Jordanis facta sunt vasa domus Domini. Non enim aliter vasa electionis fieri possumus, nisi ad baptisma ejus respicientes vitali flumine ablui satagamus. Notandum autem, quod non tantum in regione Jordanis, sed in campestri regione illius facta vasa dicit, significans multiplicationem fidelium, quae non solum in Judaea, sed in gentium latitudine futura erat; unde: *Gaudebunt campi et omnia quae in eis sunt [n: (Psal. XCV)]*. Et alibi: *Audivimus eam in Ephrata, [0674C] invenimus eam in campis silvae [n: (Ibid. CXXXI)]*. Fudit ergo rex vasa domus Domini in campestri regione Jordanis, quia Dominus baptismo salutis de quo vasa misericordiae faceret, totam mundi latitudinem implevit.

VERS. 18.-- *Fecitque Salomon.* Dictavit quod Hiram ipso opere complevit. Allegorice vero Redemptor noster in sanctis praedicatoribus et omnibus fidelibus ornatum Ecclesiae parat, et virtutum efficit opera, qui ait: *Nihil sine me potestis facere [n: (Joan. XV)]*; et alibi: *Omne enim datum optimum, et omne donum perfectum desursum,* etc. [n: (Jac. I.)]

## CAPUT IV. (cont.)

VERS. 19.-- *Altare aureum.* Corda perfectorum internae charitatis et castitatis luce fulgentium, quorum sublimitatem significat etiam locus altaris. Stabat [0674D] enim ante ostium sancti sanctorum, ut in factura tabernaculi legimus, in quo non hostiarum sanguis neque libamina, sed thymiamata tantum incendebantur, quorum superiora ascendens operiebat arcam, atque oraculum odore suavitatis implebat. In quo sancti figurantur, qui dum neglectis temporalium cupiditatibus tota intentione coelestia quaerunt, quasi intus juxta oraculum positi sunt: nec longe remoti a velo quo templum et sancta sanctorum dirimuntur; quia corpore tantum terram incolunt, sed tota mente in coelo sunt. Ascendit autem ab hoc altari fumus incensorum infra sancta sanctorum ubi arca est recondita; ut orationes sanctorum flamma charitatis excitatae ad coelum perveniant, [0675A] ubi Christus est ad dexteram Dei sedens. Non enim in hoc altari sanguis hostiarum sed thymiama tantum incenditur, quia tales viri non habent opera carnis et sanguinis quae mactent Domino in ara cordis, sed lacrymarum et orationum vota pro desiderio regni coelestis offerunt.

VERS. 21.-- *Et forcipes,* etc. Forcipes in usu altaris facti sunt aenei. Sed et hi quibus emundabantur lucernae, interpretationem spiritualis sensus per doctorum officia significant. Ipsa enim verba sacri eloquii ab historia in allegoriam, ab umbra in veritatem transferentes, quasi lucem scientiae in Ecclesiam super candelabrum mysticum positi multiplicant.

VERS. 22.-- *Et ostia coelavit.* Hi sunt doctores et [0675B] sacerdotes, qui instruendo, baptizando, communicando corporis et sanguinis Domini mysteria, prima nobis Ecclesiae limina pandunt.

*Sicque completum est omne.* Cum verus pacificus in die novissima omnes electos resurrectionis immortalitate glorificat. Quindiu autem status hujus saeculi geritur, facit quidem Salomon domus Domini opus, sed non perficit: quia corda electorum Dominus, ut bona operentur inspirat et adjuvat, nulli tamen absque peccato esse donat, quod in futuro fidelibus reservat. Perficit vero omne opus templi sui et dedicationi aptum reddit, cum translatos de hac vita electos, aeternum perducit ad regnum: unde septem annis aedificatur, octavo perfectum dedicatur. Septem enim diebus omne tempus volvitur, octavus est [0675C] dies judicii et resurrectionis, cui convenit quod sequitur.

## CAPUT V.

VERS. 1.-- *Intulit igitur Salomon omma,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] Hoc fit cum Christus, etc., *usque ad* sed multae in ea mansiones ad recipiendos omnes quos timentes se et diligentes *benedicit Dominus pusillis cum majoribus.*

VERS. 9.-- *Vectium autem.* [n: (ID.)] Notandum quia, etc., *usque ad* tanto minus interna gaudia vident.

VERS. 10.-- *Nihilque aliud erat.* Ostendit generaliter, quod in area nihil fuit contrarium legi Domini comprehensae in duabus tabulis; sed ea tantum ibi fuisse condita quae juxta legis mandata ad cultum [0675D] unius Dei et commendationem nostrae fidei sunt typice facta, ut umbra futurorum per omnia futurae veritati testiomonium praeberet, et ea in mundo apparente finem acciperet. Erat autem in arca secundum Paulum urna aurea habens manna, quia in homine Christo habitat omnis plenitudo divinitatis corporaliter. Erat et virgo Aaron, quae excisa denuo floruerat: quia potestas omnis judicandi penes eum est, cujus judicium in humilitate passionis videbatur esse sublatum. Erat et tabulae testamenti, quia in illo sunt omnes thesauri sapientiae et scientiae absconditi. Adhaerebant et vectes quibus portabatur, quia doctores qui quondam laborabant in verbo Christi, nunc praesenti visione congaudent gloriae [0676A] Christi. Unde: *Cupio dissolvi et esse cum Christo [n: (Phil. I)]*.

VERS. 12.-- *Vestiti byssinis.* Per stolas byssinas candida munditiae corporalis castitas designatur: hac induuntur omnes qui Dei officio assistunt, et laudes ei ore, moribus, et actu concrepant. Cymbala enim oris confessionem, psalteria mortalitatem, citharae carnis mortificationem, et bonae actionis strenuitatem, viginti quatuor chordis, id est propheticis et apostolicis doctrinis instructae significant.

*Sacerdotes.* Vel doctores scilicet per centenarium et vicenarium expressi, quia legislator hoc numero suorum summam annorum complevit, et in die Pentecostes eodem numero credentes Spiritus paracleti gratiam acceperunt.

[0676B]VERS. 13.-- *Igitur cunctis.* [n: (RAB.)] Cunctis sacerdotibus et Levitis, etc., *usque ad* veri sacerdotii ministerium perdiderunt.

VERS. 14.-- *Compleverat enim.* Quia mysteria quae sub velamine latebant per adventum Christi aperiebantur credentibus, et digne accipientibus. Caeteris vero ad fidem accedere nolentibus pristina caecitas remanebat. Unde: *Vobis datum est nosse mysterium regni Dei,* etc. [n: (Matth. XIII.)]

## CAPUT VI.

VERS. 1.-- *In caligine.* Unde Job: *Nubes latibulum ejus [n: (Job. XXII)]*. Et Psalmista: *Caligo sub pedibus ejus: et posuit tenebras latibulum [n: (Psal. XVII)]*. Latibulum Domini sacra Scriptura: quae sub [0676C] parabolis et figuris coelestia gestat sacramenta. Unde: *Confitebor tibi, Domine, pater coeli et terrae, quoniam abscondisti haec a sapientibus et prudentibus, et revelasti ea parvulis [n: (Matth. XI)]*.

## CAPUT VII.

VERS. 5.-- *Dedicavit.* [n: (RAB.)] Sanguine suo mundavit, et spirituali gratia sanctificavit Christus et diversis donis virtutum multiplicavit. Hancque dedicant filii Israel, quia quisque fidelis secundum donum sibi a Deo collatum verbo et exemplo proximos ad meliora et perfectiora convertit et provehit.

VERS. 7.-- *Sanctificavit.* Quia Christus ea quae in lege propter infirmitatem ejus perfici non poterant, in Ecclesia perficit. Ipsa est enim atrium domus [0676D] Domini, per quam ingressus patet in coelestem Jerusalem: quia ergo holocausta et sacrificia in altari Veteris Testamenti non potuerunt offerri; quia omnia figuraliter fiebant ibi, rex noster et sacerdos erexit novum altare fidei in Ecclesia, in quo quotidie offerunt pinguia holocausta et accepta Deo sacrificia. Unde *Sacrificium laudis honorificabit me, et illic iter,* etc.

VERS. 8.-- *Fecit ergo.* [n: (RAB.)] Non puto hoc aliud intelligendum, etc., *usque ad* in futura animarum requie, ipsius veritatis perceptione in re.

VERS. 10.-- *Igitur in die,* etc. Hoc est post octavam scenophegiae solemnitatis diem: sicut in Regum continetur. Significat autem post illius vitae finem, et post [0677A] subbatismum animarum sanctarum, quo ante judicium quiescunt; in octava aetate, id est, resurrectionis die sanctos recepturos corpora immortalia, et in coelestibus mansionibus secundum meritorum qualitates locandos, ubi semper laetentur, laudantes Deum in omnibus bonis quae in Christo Pater contulit populo Christiano.

## CAPUT VIII.

VERS. 1.-- *Expletis autem viginti,* etc., *dederat Hiram,* etc. [n: (RAB. in Paral. ex Hieron.)] Reddiderat scilicet, quia cum Salomon dedisset non placuerunt. illi. Ideo Salomon propriis utilitatibus eas deputavit.

VERS. 5.-- *Bethoron.* [n: (RAB.)] Civitas est, ad quam usque Jesus persecutus est inimicos reges in tribu [0677B] Ephraim, etc., *usque ad* et alius Bethoron inferior datis Levitis in possessionem.

VERS.--6.-- *Et omnes.* Ezer, scilicet, Mageddo et Gazer et Mello, quae omnes Ecclesiae monstrant decorem: quia verus Salomon in jucunditate regni sui ad laudem et laetitiam sibi praeparavit. Interpretatur autem Mello adimpletio; Ezer separatus et sanctificatus; Mageddo coena culum ejus; Gazer praecisio vel divisio; Bethoron domus montium; Balaath ascendens. Sancta autem Ecclesia civitas est Dei vivi, ubi impletur quotidie voluntas Dei, et separata ab omni errore infidelium, sanctificatur fide et bono opere. Ibi est refectio virtutum. Ipsa discernit mundum et immundum, et a virtute vitium: et est domus montium, id est, habitatio [0677C] sanctorum, et fructu justitiae *sicut palma florens ascendit de virtute in virtutem, ut videat Deum deorum in Sion [n: (Psal. LXXXIII)]*. Omnes vicos suos munivit Salomon, quia Christus coetus fidelium suorum gratiae suae protectione ita munit, ut hostibus suis spiritualibus resistere possint.

*In Libano.* [n: (HIERON.)] In templo, scilicet, quod cedrorum decore vestitum erat, unde Zacharias: *Aperi, Libane, portas tuas [n: (Zach. XI)]*; vel regiis aedificiis quae facta erant de lignis Libani.

VERS. 10.-- *Ducenti.* Centenarius, qui in computu digitorum, de laeva transit in dexteram, vitam significat aeternam. Quinquagenarius vero, peccatorum remissionem, et aeternam requiem, et gratiam sancti Spiritus significat: quia in psalmo ejusdem [0677D] numeri poenitentia, confessio, et remissio peccatorum describitur; et per jubilaeum requies futura. Per pentecosten vero in adventu Spiritus sancti septiformis gratia expressa.

*Qui erudiebant.* Quia ex utroque populo elegit Ecclesiae rectores, qui spirituali gratia illuminati, et plene edocti, remissionem peccatorum, vitamque aeternae salutis, et beatitudinem perpetuam appetendam, suo docerent exemplo.

VERS. 12.-- *Holocausta.* [n: (RAB.)] Holocaustum totum incensum dicitur, hoc in altari crematur, cum in corde cujusque electi qui seipsum totum, scilicet, carne et corde Deo vovit, opus bonum fervente charitatis igne succenditur.

[0678A]VERS. 14.--Secundum convenientiam cujusque temporis omnia in Ecclesia disponit, ut unusquisque ordo officio suo functus digne ministret

VERS. 17.-- *In Asiongaber.* Insula dicitur esse haud procul ab Ahila in Rubro mari, ubi classis Josaphat periit.

[n: (RAB.)] Classis quam fecit Salomon etc., *usque ad* per gratiam Spiritus sancti inveniunt, et eum sapientiae et consilio divina ascribentes tribuunt

VERS. 18.-- *In Ophir.* Nomen provinciae Ophir, ab uno posteriorum Heber vocata, ex cujus stirpe venientes, a fluvio Cophene usque ad regionem Indiae quae vocatur Geria habitasse Josephus refert.

## CAPUT IX.

[0678B]VERS. 1.-- *Regina quoque. [n: (RAB. in Paral., tom. III.)]* Regina austri quae ab extremis finibus excitata venit audire sapientiam Salomonis Ecclesiam de gentibus ad Christum venturam figurabat: quae circumamicta varietate in vestitu deaurato, obliviscens populum et domum patris sui, barbara gente, non animo fuit, quia optabat sanctorum fieri concivis, unde: *Surget regina austri in judicium cum generatione ista [n: (Matth. XII)]*.

VERS. 3.-- *Quod postquam,* etc. Conveniunt haec Ecclesiae qua auditis miraculis Christi provocata est ad quaerendum eum. Sed postquam ad ipsum venit per baptismum et fidem consideratis Scripturae testimoniis agnovit divinitatis praesentiam, et parum ei visum est quod ante de eo audierat in [0678C] comparatione perceptae gratiae. Unde et admirando in laudem ejus prorumpit dicens: *Beati viri tui,* etc.

VERS. 12.-- *De lignis.* Christus ligna pretiosa, id est, sanctos doctores, quorum viror fidei nunquam arescit, nec folia verborum decidunt, sed fructum bonorum operum temporibus suis reddunt: ponit in munimentum domus Domini et domus regiae, id est, in confirmationem Ecclesiae, et eorum undique doctrinis et exemplis vallata ruinam non sentiat. Hi quasi citharae et lyrae ad laudandum Dominum fabricati dicuntur, quia omnia quaecunque fecerint, prosperabuntur, et laudem Domini in prosperis et adversis corde et ore et opere pronuntiant, et omnia in gloriam Dei faciunt, tota die et nocte non tacent laudare nomen Domini.

[0678D]VERS. 13.-- *Sexcenta.* Senarius per senarium multiplicatus, sexaginta facit. Centenarius quoque sexies ductus centum et sex reddit. Denarius mandatorum significat perfectionem, centenarius aeternae beatitudinis remunerationem. Desiderat enim rex nostram perfectionem, ut habeat quibus reddat perfectam mercedem, unde: *Estote perfecti sicut et Pater vester coelestis perfectus est. Si vis ad vitam ingredi serva mandata [n: (Matth. V, XIX)]*. Et post pauca. *Si vis perfectus esse, vade et vende omnia quae habes,* etc., et *omnis qui reliquerit domum,* etc., *centuplum accipiet et vitam aeteram possidebit.*

*Omnesque reges Arabiae.* Offerunt Salomoni diversae gentes et negotiatores et omnes reges Arabiae [0679A] et satrapae terrarum aurum et argentum: quia quaeque gens et qualibet persona certatim pro viribus nostro pacifico offert rectae fidei munus, puritatem sensus, sacrae confessionis plenitudinem, eloquentiae nitorem, unde: *Reges Tharsis et insulae munus offerent,* etc. *Et adorabunt eum omnes reges, omnes gentes servient ei [n: (Psal. LXXI)]*.

VERS. 15.-- *Fecit igitur.* Quia patres utriusque Testamenti doctrina et operatione perfecti, quidquid sermone docuerunt, opere probaverunt.

*Hastas aureas.* Haec est armatura Dei, qua resistimus contra insidias diaboli: hanc habent praedicatores sancti, qui custodiunt domum Dei, et excubant ad ostium ejus, ne subintret hostis antiquus, unde: *Lectulum Salomonis ambiunt sexaginta [0679B] for es [n: (Prov. III)]*.

VERS. 16.-- *Trecenta quoque.* Perfectam fidem significat in sanctae Trinitatis confessione. Bene custodes domus Dei hastas et scuta aurea portant: quia praedicatores, qui sunt Ecclesiae custodes, claritate sapientiae splendentes, verborum jaculis inimicos confodiunt, et scuto fidei ignea tela nequissima exstinguunt.

*Sex quoque brachiola.* In senario bonorum operum perfectio. Sex enim diebus fecit mundum Deus, et senarius est primus perfectus numerus. Bonis vero et perfectis operibus ad coelum ascenditur.

*Scabellum aureum.* Sanctos virtutum splendore fulgidos, in quibus habitat Deus. Possunt quoque [0679C] per scabellum notari qui infirmi sunt in corpore Christi, sicut poenitentes, vel qui novissimi convertentur, juxta finem scilicet mundi, qui tamen sunt aurei igne tribulationum illius temporis excocti et probati.

*Stantes juxta brachiola: sed et alios duodecim leunculos,* etc. Quia sancti Patres quidquid in Evangelio boni fecerunt, non sibi sed Deo deputaverunt, unde: *Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam [n: (Psal. CXIII)]*.

*Brachiola,* etc. in Regum ita: *Et duae manus hinc et inde tenentes sedile [n: (III Reg. X)]*. Haec sunt solatia divinae gratiae, quae Ecclesiam provehunt ad regnum coeleste. Vel hoc per binarium designatur, [0679D] quia in utroque Testamento hoc maxime commendatur, quod non nisi per divinum adjutorium aliquid boni potest perfici. Unde: *Sine me nihil potestis facere [n: (Joan. V)]*.

VERS. 19.-- *Sex gradus.* Quia doctrina et exemplo certant, ne labor insipientium in operando vacillet, sed rectitudinem in progressu virtutum fortiter conservet.

*Non fuit tale solium,* etc. Quia de Ecclesia scriptum est: *Fortitudo et decor indumentum ejus,* etc. [n: (III Reg. X.)] Et: *Multae filiae congregaverunt divitias: tu supergressa es universas [n: (Prov. XXXI)]*.

VERS. 20.-- *Omnia quoque.* Animae sanctorum, quae voluntati Dei deserviunt, splendore sapientiae et charitatis nitentes, continent potum aquae vivae, [0680A] *quae fit in eis fons aquae salientis in vitam aeternam [n: (Joan. IV)]*.

*Argentum.* Non est in sermone verbum Dei, sed in virtute, ut in praedicatione Evangelii; non in persuasibilibus humanae sapientiae verbis, sed in ostensione spiritus et virtutis.

VERS. 21.-- *Siquidem naves regis ibant in Tharsis,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] Christus apostolos doctores Evangelii, quos de Judaeis elegit, cum praedicatoribus de gentibus electis trina confessione, sed una fide in mundum mittit, ut in credentibus afferant sibi aurum sapietiae, argentum eloquentiae, et ebur castitatis. Simia autem est animal ingeniosum, et hominis imitatorium, et philosophos significare potest, qui verae sapientiae sensus aliquando mutant, [0680B] et in disciplinis moralis vitae edisserunt actus. Pavo, qui laudatas ostendit pennas, eos significat qui propter laudes hominum variarum virtutum species ostentant; sed praedicatorum doctrina instructi discunt benefacere intuitu solius Dei, et aptantur aeterni regis deliciis.

VERS. 25.-- *Quadraginta.* Quadragenarius priscae legis tempora significat. Moses enim legem accepturus quadraginta diebus jejunavit, et populus per eum instructus quadraginta annis eremum circumivit. Senarius vero praesens tempus significat, in quo apostolica doctrina Novi Testamenti populum nutrit. Bene ergo per quadragenarium numerantur equi Salomonis in stabulis collocati, quia per duritiam legis veteris, coercita est insolentia prioris [0680C] populi. Duodenarius vero praesens tempus significat, in quo apostolica auctoritas populum gentium nutrit Novi Testamenti doctrina.

*In Jerusalem.* Visione pacis. Distantia locorum discretionem ostendit affectuum. Qui enim sunt in urbibus quadrigarum, illos significant qui diversis ecclesiae disciplinis per spirituales magistros erudiuntur. Alii vero jam eruditi, usui regis coelestis aptati praesentiam ejus habere merentur. Unde: *Currus Dei decem millibus,* etc. [n: (Psal. LXXVI.)] Et alibi: *Ascendens super equos tuos, et equitatus tuus sanitas [n: (Rabac. III)]*.

*Philisthinorum.* Dupliciter cadentium. Philitshiim enim interpretatur ruina duplex. Hoc fit cum per absolutionem peccatorum ab inchoatione sui in [0680D] Jordane baptismatis usque ab conversionem omnium gentium ad fidem Christi redundat gratia potestatis, ut ubi defluxus fuit carnalium desideriorum, ibi stabiliatur germen virtutum; et ubi idololatria et conversatio flagitiosa populorum fuit duplex ruina, ibi per confessionem rectae fidei et cultum pietatis ad coeleste regnum surgat vita fidelium. Pertingit enim potestas ejus usque ad terminos Aegypti, id est tenebrosas mentes infidelium, quas complet lumine fidei; unde: *Coram illo procident Aethiopes,* etc.

VERS. 27.-- *Tantamque.* Praebet verus Salomon in Ecclesia copiam argenti quasi tapidum, cum corda gentilium insensibilia, ad veri Dei intellectum quos lapides pro Deo coluerunt, ad meditationem legis, [0681A] et praedicationem Evangelii convertit. De quibus dicitur: *Similes illis fiunt qui faciunt ea,* etc. [n: (Psal. CXIII)]. Et alibi: *Potens est Deus de lapidibus istis suscitare filios Abrahae [n: (Matth. III)]*. Praebet etiam multitudinem cedrorum quasi sycomororum, quia sterilitatem gentium quae in altum se erigere non volebant, provexit ad fecunditatem bonorum operum et virtutum.

VERS. 27.-- *Et cedrorum.* Cedrus est imputribilis natura, odore jucunda, aspectu nitida, quae accensa nitore serpentes fugat et perimit.

*Reliqua vero.* Quae fecit postquam legem Dei transgressus est, cum alienigenae uxores usque ad idololatriam eum pertraxerunt: multi quidem ut Salomon bene incipiunt et male desinunt, dicique beatus ante obitum nemo supremaque funera debet.

## CAPUT X.

[0681B]

VERS. 8.-- *Reliquit consilium senum,* etc. [n: (HIERON.)] Hoc aiunt Hebraei esse Banaiam filium Joiadae et Jahihel filium Achamoni, qui et Chilla vocatur: quorum consilio relicto, tractare coepit Roboam cum juvenibus, id est, Aduram, qui in sequentibus lapidatus dicitur, et similibus. Juvenem autem non aetate, sed animo saepe dicimus. Non enim erat Roboam juvenis aetate, sed sensu: qui quadragesimo primo aetatis suae anno coepit regnare.

VERS. 13.-- *Responditque rex,* etc. Hic significat malos rectores in Ecclesia, qui terrenis cupiditatibus dediti, curam subditorum negligunt, et gaudent in multitudine sibi obsequentium. Interpretatur vero Roboam latitudo populi. Hi sunt qui latam ingrediantur [0681C] viam quae ducit ad mortem, non angustam, quae ducit ad vitam; et relicto patrum consilio quorum dicta et facta ad altitudinem perfectionis tendunt, consilio juvenum obtemperare eligunt, qui laudibus et adulationibus eos gravant, qui caeci sunt et duces caecorum, etc., unde: *Vae tibi, terra cujus rex puer est,* etc. [n: (Eccl. X.)]

## CAPUT XI.

VERS. 21.-- *Amavit,* etc. Habuit autem lege sibi conjunctas uxores decem et octo, concubinas vero triginta. Et filii quidem ei nati sunt decem et octo, filiae vero sexaginta.

## CAPUT XII.

VERS. 2.-- *Anno autem quinto regni Roboam ascendit.* [n: (RAB.)] Mali rectores per negligentiam suam [0681D] principem tenebrarum provocant in Ecclesiam, qui thesauros domus Domini et thesauros regis aufert, cum scientiam Scripturarum et opera virtutum subtrahit incautis et desidiosis.

VERS. 9.-- *Sesac rex.* Byssus cilicii vel gaudium cilicii. Byssus quidem subtilitatem significat: cilicium, quod fit de pilis caprarum, peccata. In bysso ergo cilicii, versutia diabolicae fraudis in persuasione peccati. Sesac Jerosolymitanas opes aufert, cum diabolus qui callide decipit et gaudet in multitudine peccatorum, ecclesiasticos viros scientia spirituali et opere virtutis spoliat: et eos qui videbantur in Ecclesia decori, spoliatos secum in barathrum perditionis mergit.

*Clypeos.* Salomon scuta aurea fecit, et custodibus [0682A] domus suae tradidit, cum Christus spiritualem scientiam per duo Testamenta doctoribus Ecclesiae ad plebem tuendam commendavit. Hanc antiquus hostis per incuriam retrorsum abstrahit. Cum enim intendunt terrenis rebus, minusque curant de coelestibus, officio pristino et scientia nudatos quasi in domo propria opibus spoliatos relinquit. Tales vero cum se sensu spirituali privatos aspiciunt, per eloquentiam verborum copiam quaerunt, quorum sonoritatem velut scutorum aereorum firmitatem contra hostes pro subjectis opponunt. Sed quanto aes auro vilius, tanto inferior est eloquentia verae sapientiae fructu. Unde: *Ubi plurima verba, ibi frequenter egestas [n: (Prov. XIV)]*.

VERS. 15.-- *Semeiae.* Qui superius Roboam et filios [0682B] Juda de peccatis arguebat.

*Addo.* Qui et Abdo, hic est qui ad arguendum Jeroboam pro altari quod fecerat, a Domino missus est in Samariam, qui in via interfectus est, quia contra praeceptum Domini a pseudopropheta seductus ibidem manducavit.

## CAPUT XIII.

VERS. 4.-- *Semeron.* [n: (RAB. ex Hieron.)] Civitas est quam cepit Jesus rege illius interfecto, quam dicunt vocari nunc Sebasten oppidum Palestinae, ubi Joannis Baptistae conditae sunt reliquiae. Legimus autem in Regum, quod Amri rex Israel emerit montem Semeron a quodam Semer, et aedificaverit in vertice illius civitatem, quam ex nomine domini, scilicet Semer, Semeron appellavit.

[0682C]VERS. 19.-- *Bethel.* [n: (RAB.)] Civitas in proximo lapide ab Elia ad dexteram euntibus Neopolim, quae prius Luza, id est Amigdalon vocabatur, et cecidit in sortem Benjamin juxta Bethan et Hai, quam expugnavit Jesus rege illius interfecto.

*Ephron.* Civitas est in tribu Juda. Unde et villa pergrandis Ephrea contra septentrionem in vicesisimo ab Elia milliario hactenus vocatur.

VERS. 20.-- *In diebus.* Non Jeroboam, in cujus vicesimo anno secundum librum Regum imperavit Asa filius Abia super Judam et Jerusalem, sed Abiam, qui accepta Bethel idola reservavit Israeli in scandalum, ut Hebraei asserunt.

## CAPUT XIV.

VERS. 2.-- *Egressus est,* etc. Cum Azarias decem [0682D] regnasset annis, castra contra eum movit cum magno nimis exercitu Zareas rex Aethiopiae, ducens pedestrium quidem nonaginta millia, equestrium vero decem millia, et currus trecentos. Castris contra eum positis, cum vidisset Asa Aethiopum multitudinem, poscebat a Deo cum clamore magno victoriam, et ut tam multa hominum millia ipse perimeret. Neque enim in alio confidendum esse dicebat, quam in eo qui posset etiam paucos multorum potiores ostendere, et facere infirmos fortissimis praevalere.

## CAPUT XV.

VERS. 15.-- *Azarias autem,* etc. Azarias propheta occurrens praecepit ut paululum a via gressum itineris sustinerent, et tunc coepit ad eos [0683A] dicere, quod illa victoria fuisset eis a Deo concessa, eo quod justos se sanctosque servassent, et omnia Dei voluntate fecissent. Quos in ejus mandatis permanentes, dixit super hostibus praevalere, et habituros divina virtute felicitatem et prosperitatem; relinquentes autem religionem, in contraria devenire, futurumque tempus in quo nullus inveniretur verax propheta in eo populo, neque sacerdos, ob quam rem et civitates subvertendas, et gentem in omni terra disseminandam, et vitam miserabilem et inopem habituros.

## CAPUT XVI.

VERS. 14.-- *Aromatibus,* etc.--Haec vana famae jactantia, quam philosophi vel poetae post mortem regum suorum, vel etiam falsi Christiani obeuntibus [0683B] magistris impendunt, et haec in ignem mittunt: quia omnia gehennae ignibus obnoxia esse ostenduntur, quae hic sine utilitate et aedificatione fratrum protulerunt.

*Combusserunt super eum,* etc. Nota quod regibus, ut Hebraei tradunt, reverentiae causa, combustiones pretiosarum vestium simul cum aromatibus fiebant. Unde alibi: *Juxta combustiones majorum facient tibi.* Mos enim fuit apud veteres, ut pretiosa ornamenta regum post obitum eorum pro exsequiis in pyra urerentur, sed sine cadaveribus.

## CAPUT XVII.

VERS. 3.-- *Ambulavit in viis David,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] Ostendit eum exsecutorem fuisse sicut David divinorum mandatorum antequam peccaret in uxorem [0683C] Uriae, cujus peccati satisfactio aeternam illi memoriam comparavit.

VERS. 5.-- *Dedit omnis Juda munera Josaphat.* Hic fideles de gentibus significat, qui relicto patrum errore, ad Christum conveniunt baptismo abluti chrismate liniti, a Christo Christianum nomen et re giam dignitatem accipientes. Unde: *Vos estis genus electum, regale sacerdotium,* etc. [n: (I Petr. II.)] In tempore enim Josaphat, Domini dos, vel qui est dos, vel qui est dotatus, et quia Ecclesia gentium, sanguine Christi comparata, Spiritus sancti pignore data, consortium Sponsi coelestis et societatem regni promeruit. Cui factae sunt infinitae divitiae cum diversae nationes credunt, et in acquisitione diversarum virtutum.

[0683D]VERS. 10.-- *Itaque factus est pavor,* etc. Pro virtutibus, quae geruntur in Ecclesia, aufertur gentilium audacia, et incitantur ut deferant Christo munera fidei et censum boni operis, et piae confessionis, et pecora simplicitatis.

## CAPUT XVIII.

VERS. 2.-- *Descenditque,* etc. Hi sunt haeresiarchae qui perditorum turbam per errorum devia ducunt, et in mortis praecipitium mergunt. Josaphat affinitate conjunctus est Achab, et descendit ad eum in Samariam contra hostes in auxilium: et illos significat qui de catholicis ad haereticorum amicitiam se inclinant: qui licet a rectae fidei non recedant tramite, tamen errantium societatem atque communionem [0684A] non devitant. Contra quos dicitur: *Haereticum hominem post primam et secundam correctionem devita [n: (Tit. III)]*. Unde Josaphat per Jehu videntem filium Anani, illius scilicet prophetae qui Asa increpaverat arguitur, qui impio praebuerat auxilium, et his qui oderunt Dominum amicitia jungeretur.

[n: (GREG., lib. II Moral., cap. 15, tom. I.)] Solium Domini angelicae potestates, etc., *usque ad* et tanto durius reperetur ad poenam, quanto securius viveret in culpa.

## CAPUT XIX.

VERS. 10.-- *Omnem causam quae venerit ad vos,* etc. [n: (AUG., lib. IV de Civ., cap. 3.)] Remota justitia, quid sunt regna, nisi magna latrocinia? quia et ipsa latrocinia quid sunt, nisi parva regna?

## CAPUT XX.

[0684B]VERS. 1.-- *De Ammonitis.* Idumaeos significat, sed scriptor historiae maluit quod gerebatur associatorum notare vocabulo, quam impietatem impudentium publice divulgare.

VERS. 2.-- *De his locis,* etc. Illa loca significat quae ultra mare Salinarum sunt, quod alias stagnum Asphaliti vel mare Mortuum nominatur.

*Engaddi.* Vocatur usque hodie, vicus pergrandis Judaeorum juxta mare Mortuum, unde opobalsamum venit: quas Salomon nuncupat vineas Engaddi.

VERS. 16.-- *Ascensuri enim per clivum nomine Sis,* etc. [n: (RAB. in Paral., ex Hieron.)] Qui et Jeruel secundum Hebraeos. Dicunt enim quod Sis, etc., *usque ad* incussus est alienigenis pavor undique.

Mystice, Moabitae, Ammonitae, et Idumaei, paganos, [0684C] Judaeos, et haereticos significant, qui gratis bellum exicitant fidelibus, et religionem Christianam auferre contendunt. Sed Josaphat, id est Christi populus, non armis corporalibus, sed spiritualibus eos aggreditur, intima cordis devotione supernum quaerens auxilium.

VERS. 25.-- *Venit ergo Josaphat,* etc. Sancti doctores cum turba fidelium colligunt de spoliis hostium quidquid de Physica, Ethica, et Logica legendo, et scribendo, et docendo utiliter crediderunt, per sanctae Trinitatis fidem, in usum totius Ecclesiae convertunt, ut quod illi injuste et inutiliter possidebant, fideles utiliter possidentes, animarum ad salutem possideant.

VERS. 26.-- *Vallis benedictionis.* Humilitas Ecclesiae, [0684D] ubi digne Deo laudes redduntur. Qui autem quatuor Evangeliorum instructus dogmate per baptismi fidem ad unitatem Ecclesiae pervenit, ibi rite laudans, digne Deo conversans visionem perpetuae pacis, cum laude et laetitia sempiterna introibit.

## CAPUT XXI.

VERS. 2.-- *Omnes hi, filii Josaphat,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] Imitatores operum ejus, fratre eorum Joram semper in deteriora labente, unde ipse Joram legitur eos interfecisse cum principibus Israel.

VERS. 14.-- *Ecce Dominus percutiet te,* etc. Per Philisthaeos et Arabes qui ejus terram vastaverunt, et diripuerunt substantiam et filios pariter et uxores Joram, qui interpretatur, Quis est excelsus: qui de [0685A] religioso patre ad perfidiam declinavit, et fornicari fecit filios Juda: significat eos qui fide imbuti et baptismo regenerati, relinquunt fidei veritatem, haereticorum sequentes errorem, et alios secum pervertentes. Unde eos Elias, id est, sermo propheticus redarguit: quia omnis divinorum librorum auctoritas tales reprehendit, et merito perversitatis suae increpat contestationibus gravissimis.

VERS. 20.-- *Et octo annis regnavit,* etc. De Joram octo annis regnasse et quadraginta vixisse; filium autem ejus Ochoziam cum regnare coepisset fuisse quadraginta duorum annorum, quod si ita est, duobus annis antequam pater ipse nasceretur, filium genuit. Sed Hebraei dicunt quod Joram qui quadraginta annis vixisse describitur et octo annis regnasse, [0685B] quod vixerit annos quadraginta et regnaverit viginti et octo. Anni enim octo qui ei in regno tribuuntur, ipsi sunt quibus regnavit antequam fratres occideret, cum adhuc innocenter viveret. Reliqui vero viginti anni, quibus postea regnavit, ideo non numerantur, quia in languore et tribulatione vixit: ideoque filio ejus tribuuntur, qui non amplius quam viginti duorum annorum secundum librum Regum esse perhibetur, ne de numerorum summa anni remanentes, in temporum computatione errorem facerent.

## CAPUT XXII.

VERS. 6.-- *Azarias filius Joram,* etc. [n: (RAB., ex Hieron.)] Qui superius *Ochozias,* id est, apprehendens Dominum: Azarias vero adjutorium Domini. Ideoque [0685C] secundum Hebraeos nomen mutatur in melius ei: quia secundum praeceptum Domini infirmum visitavit.

VERS. 7.-- *Adversum Jehu,* etc. Jehu significat principatum gentium, quem Christus destinavit in sacrilegam civitatem, quae prophetas et Dominum prophetarum occidit, et apostolos persecuta est; ut eam digna ultione puniret, et phanum sacerdotum post adventum Christi destrueret, templumque subverteret: et impiam synagogam sanguinem eorum sitientem de regni culmine quasi Jezabel praecipitaret, et ipsius rectores interficeret.

VERS. 10.-- *Si quidem Athalia,* etc. Athalia quae semen David conabatur exstinguere, et regiam stirpem delere, significat impietatem Synagogae, quae per nequitiam mentis, semini Christi insidiatur inexorabili [0685D] odio saeviens, quae aliquando regnare videbatur cum legis caeremonias temporalis observabat. Interpretatur Athalia temporalis Domini, sed Josabeth strenuitate (quae interpretatur saturitas Domini, id est Ecclesiae in qua sunt verae deliciae) servatur Joas, qui interpretatur memoria Domini, id est, Christus, in quo est memoria nominis Domini: ne per crudelitatem saevientis interimatur in sanctis, sed nutriatur in domo Joiadae pontificis, qui interpretatur dilectus Domini, id est Christus, de quo Pater ait: *Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi complacui [n: (Matth. XVII)]*. Cujus domus est Ecclesia, ubi in fide electorum manens quotidie facit augmentum corporis sui, ut in tempore judicii sceptrum regni et potentiam extollat adversum eos qui eum deprimebant.

## CAPUT XXIII.

[0686A]

VERS. 13.-- *Super gradum.* [n: (RAB.)] Columnam, scilicet, et basim, quam praeparaverat Salomon, et posuerat in medio basilicae, habentem quinque cubitos longitudinis, et quinque latitudinis, et tres in altum.

VERS. 16.-- *Pepigit autem Joiada foedus.* Joiada interpretatur cognoscens Dominum, vel diligens: quia filios Israel Dominum cognoscere docuit. Pepigit ergo foedus inter Dominum populumque et regem, ut Domino scilicet obedirent, et legi ejus. Pepigit etiam inter regem et populum, ut populus erga regem fideliter ageret, et rex populum juste regeret secundum doctrinam sacerdotum et Levitarum, quorum officii fuit insinuare praecepta Domini.

## CAPUT XXIV.

[0686B]VERS. 4.-- *Post quae placuit Joas,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] Joas rex sacerdotes arguit, etc., *usque ad* ne per negligentiam doctorum pereat auditorum multitudo.

VERS. 7.-- *Et filii ejus,* etc. Non quod filios tunc habuerit, quia Ochozia mortuo, eo quod non habuerat filium, omne semen regium interficere molita est, sed filios ejus sacerdotes idolorum nominat, qui templum spoliaverant, et ex ornamentis ejus idola sua exornaverant, saepe enim filii imitatores dicuntur.

VERS. 12.-- *At illi conducebant,* etc. Hoc faciunt apostoli, quando per subjectos sibi discipulos verbi divini semina per mundum sparserunt, ut operarios voluntati Dei idoneos auditoribus praeficerent: quorum alii fabricant ligna, cum se et sibi obedientes [0686C] ligna fructifera in domo Dei praeparant. Alii sarta tecta faciebant, quando illa quae per haeresim vel schismata rupta fuerant, reaedificabant. Alii saxa caedunt, cum duros corde, et incredulos fortiter increpant. Alii metalla ferri et aeris, cum robur fidei, et confessionem catholicae veritatis ab unoquoque expetunt, ut impleatur domus Dei, juxta illud. *Unicuique nostrum data est gratia secundum mensuram donationis Christi [n: (Ephes. IV)]*.

VERS. 14.-- *Reliquam partem pecuniae,* etc. Videtur contrarium quod legitur in libro Regum: *Verumtamen non fiebant ex eadem pecunia hydriae templi et fuscinulae [n: (IV Reg. XII)]*. Sed non hic dicitur, quod de eadem pecunia quae offerebatur a populo in templo Domini ad instaurationem domus Dei facta fuerunt [0686D] sacra vasa in ministerium templi et ad holocausta, sed de reliqua parte pecuniae, id est, de ea quae aliis donationibus collata fuerat. Potuit enim fieri, ut in diversis temporibus pecuniae oblatae diversae facturae materiam praeberent, sicut alia est doctrina qua rudes imbuuntur ad fidem, alia qua perfecti instruuntur ad plenitudinem.

VERS. 18.-- *Et facta est ira.* [n: (RAB., ex Hieron.)] Tradunt Hebraei principes Juda regem ut Deum adorasse, et illum libenter accepisse: unde nimis Dominum offendit, et subito expertus est iram quam meruit. Ob hanc etiam culpam Herodes legitur in Actibus apostolorum ab angelo percussus.

VERS. 25.-- *Zachariae filii Joiadae,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] Dominus in Evangelio Zachariam inter templum et [0687A] altare occisum memorans, etc., *usque ad* quae Siloam dicunt, rubra saxa monstrantes Zachariae sanguine putant esse polluta.

VERS. 26.-- *Insidiati vero sunt,* etc. Asserunt Hebraei Ammonitas et Moabitas insidiatos esse regi Joas pro injusta nece Zachariae ad exaggerandam malitiam Israelitarum, qui ulcisci noluerunt sacerdotem Dei, quem vindicaverunt filii alienigenarum.

## CAPUT XXV.

VERS. 11.-- *In vallem Salinarum,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] Ubi sal fiebat, vel faeno salsuginis, ut multis in locis deciso et siccato et incenso, vel aquis puteorum salsis fervefactis, et ad salis firmitatem coquendo perductis. Vel aliter, ubi et Joab duodecim millia Idumoeorum percussisse legitur. Pro valle autem Salinarum [0687B] vetus editio quasi nomen regionis Gemel apposuit.

VERS. 16.-- *Scio, inquit, quod cogitaverit Dominus,* etc. Qui neminem vult perire, sed eum qui in peccato perseverat, justo judicio damnat. Ideo ergo Amasias periit, quia admonitus per prophetam ut ageret poenitentiam, non obedivit, sed usque ad finem permansit.

VERS. 18.-- *Carduus qui,* etc. Hanc similitudinem innuit: quia Amasias nobilissimis ortus natalibus de stirpe David veniens, propter idololatriae foeditatem degens et vilis factus propriam mensuram non considerat, sed ultra modum superbiae fastu se elevat.

VERS. 21.-- *Bethsames.* [n: (RAB.)] In Regum dicitur Bethsames oppidum Judae: quia pertinet ad regnum Judae, id est, ad duas tribus quibus imperabat domus [0687C] David; sed secundum situm locorum pertinet ad tribum Benjamin.

VERS. 24.-- *Et apud Obededom,* etc. Quia non solum vasa abstulit quae in domo Dei reperit, sed etiam illa quae observabant janitores et custodes templi. In Regum autem legitur, quod David elegit de filiis Obededom septuaginta duo ad ministrandum in domo Dei, et custodiam templi.

VERS. 27.-- *Qui postquam recessit.* Ex quo prophetae consilium non audivit, neque ad Dominum converti voluit, conjuratio praeparata est et dilata, donec ad consummationem perveniret.

## CAPUT XXVI.

VERS. 3.-- *Ozias cum regnare coepisset.* Qui et [0687D] Azarias. Ozias interpretatur virtus Domini. Azarias auxilium Domini, quia quandiu recte egit, divina ope adjutus plurima bella feliciter commisit, et de hostibus triumphavit. Sed priusquam per superbiam illicita tentavit, lepra percussus nominis et honoris offuscavit dignitatem, exclusus a populo usque ad diem mortis.

VERS. 9.-- *Super portam vallis.* [n: (RAB.)] Haec est porta Ephraim, etc., *usque ad* de hac autem porta et aliis portis Jerusalem in Esdra sequentes Bedam abunde diximus.

VERS. 16.-- *Sed cum roboratus esset,* etc. Fuit Ozias primo justus, et rectum fecit in conspectu Domini: unde et hostes vicit, et multos prophetas in imperio suo habuit. Hinc quandiu vixit Zacharias sacerdos cognomento intelligens, placuit Deo cum [0688A] omni veneratione serviens in templo. Sed postquam Zacharias obiit, volens per se offerre donaria, sacerdotii dignitatem non tam pie quam audacter invasit, nec reclamantibus Levitis et sacerdotibus obedivit: unde lepra in fronte percussus est, quam sacerdos auri lamina protegebat, quam in Ezechiele jubet Dominus Thau litterae impressione signari.

*Ingressusque templum Domini,* quia indutus stola sacerdotali instante solemni festivitate intravit in templum ad altare aureum, oblaturus incensum secundum Josephum. Unde ante civitatem in loco qui dicitur Eroge, scissa est media pars montis ad occidentem, et sua volubilitate per quatuor stadia procedens ad orientalem restitit montem, ita ut vias clauderet, et regias urbes opprimeret. Volunt Hebraei [0688B] in anno vigesimo quinto Oziae hoc accidisse, cujus reliqui anni sunt viginti septem.

Regnavit Ozias annis quinquaginta duobus, quo tempore apud Latinos Amulcus, apud Athenienses Agamestor imperabant, quo mortuo vidit Isaias visionem sicut ipse testatur, eo scilicet tempore quo Romulus Romani imperii conditor natus est.

VERS. 23.-- *In agro regalium sepulcrorum.* Non in regalibus sepulturis, non in civitate David. Haeretici enim atque schismatici indigni sunt societate et communione sanctae Ecclesiae, nec memoria eorum inter catholicos habetur: quia erroribus maculati, et vitiis squalidi ab eorum consortio separantur.

## CAPUT XXVII.

VERS. 1.-- *Viginti quinque annorum erat Joatham,* [0688C] etc. In principio et in fine, annos Joatham enumerat, quia sicut justitia coepit, usque ad finem perseveravit. Unde tempora vitae ejus laude digna praedicantur.

VERS. 3.-- *Ipse aedificavit portam,* etc. Quae in Actibus apostolorum dicitur Speciosa, secundum Hebraeos et ab eis porta Joatham (quia ipse aedificavit eam) usque hodie nuncupatur.

*Ophel.* Turris erat non longe a templo, mirae altitudinis. Unde et Ophel, id est, tenebrarum vel nubili nomen accepit. Ubi autem in Michaea scriptum est: *Et turris gregis nebulosa filiae Sion [n: (Mich. IV, 8)]*: In Hebraeo habetur, *turris Ophel.* Turris Ophel eminentiam Scripturae significat, quae in historia fundata spiritualis sensus caput inter nubila condit, dum scientiae [0688D] magnitudinem ab oculis hominum abscondit. Unde: *Posuit tenebras latibulum suum [n: (Psal. XVII)]*. Joatham, cujus vita laudatur, Christum significat, de quo dicitur: *Magnus Dominus et laudabilis nimis [n: (Ibid., XLVII)]*, etc. Interpretatur enim Joatham consummatus vel perfectus, et de Christo dicit Apostolus: *Et consummatus, factus est omnibus obtemperantibus sibi causa salutis aeternae,* etc. [n: (Hebr. V)]. Ipse construxit portam domus Domini excelsam, et mysterium suae incarnationis mirabili potentia effecit, qui de se ait: *Ego sum ostium. Per me si quis introierit, salvabitur [n: (Joan. X)]*. Haec porta excelsa vocabatur, de qua Psalmista ait: *Excelsus super omnes gentes Dominus [n: (Psal. CXII)]*, etc.

## CAPUT XXVIII.

[0689A]

VERS. 3.-- *In valle Benennom.* [n: (RAB.)] Haec est vallis Benennom, etc., *usque ad* omnes enim adulterantes, quasi clibanus, corda eorum.

## CAPUT XXIX.

VERS. 3.-- *In ipso anno,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] Non aliter imitaretur David patrem suum, qui ab infantia Deo deditus in principio regni sui cultum Dei magnificavit.

Moraliter autem admonet rectores Ecclesiae, ne sint desidiosi in officio sibi commisso, sed omnia diligenter agant.

Mystice Ezechias, qui non tantum per se vel per suos opus Dei strenue gessit, imo per nuntios ad simile studium alios provocavit, Christum significat, [0689B] quod etiam nominis interpretatio testatur. Ezechias enim apprehendens Dominum, vel fortitudo Domini. Christus autem Dei virtus et Dei sapientia, qui omnes patrum praevaricationes, quae sub lege fuerant, sanguine suo diluit, et cultum pietatis in Ecclesia plane instauravit. Ipse legatos ad convocandas gentes ad fidem misit. Primum prophetas, deinde apostolos, et eorum successores: hic secundo mense pascha celebrare instituit; quia umbra legis cessante, verum pascha servare docuit, de quo Paulus ait: *Etenim pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus [n: (I Cor. V)]*.

VERS. 6.-- *Peccaverunt patres nostri,* etc. [n: (HIERON., quaest. in Paral., tom. III.)] Hoc plene scribitur, etc., *usque ad* et adorabant ad ortum solis.

## CAPUT XXX.

[0689C]VERS. 1.-- *Misit quoque,* etc. [n: (HIERON.)] Cum omni Israel publice misisset nuntios, Manasse et Ephraim latenter misit ad eos quos sciebat conversum iri posse per epistolas. Illi enim superbiores erant propter regiam dignitatem quae erat in domo Ephraim.

## CAPUT XXXI.

VERS. 1.-- *Fregerunt simulacra,* etc. Post adventum Salvatoris, non solum in Jerusalem et in Juda, sed in cunctis nationibus orbis destructa est idololatria, et diaboli corruit superbia. Et crescente numero fidelium, decrescit cultura daemoniorum, donec in fine mundi obruatur mors novissima, et regnabit Dominus solus in die illa.

## CAPUT XXXII.

[0689D]VERS. 4.-- *Obturaverunt cunctos.* Contra paganos et haereticos pugnantes, diligens cautela adhibenda est, et velanda mysteria, unde: *Nolite sanctum dare canibus, neque mittatis margaritas ante porcos.*

VERS. 5.-- *Aedificavit.* [n: (RAB. in Paral. )] Christus aedificavit Ecclesiam quae est civitas Dei, etc., *usque ad* et disposuit doctores spiritualium bellorum principes.

## CAPUT XXXIII.

VERS. 12.-- *Et egit poenitentiam valde coram Deo patrum suorum.* [n: (RAB.)] Audita poenitentia Manasse nemo debet de Dei misericordia desperare, sed magis per poenitentiam de venia praesumere.

## CAPUT XXXIV.

[0690A]

VERS. 5.-- *Ossa praeterea.* [n: (RAB.)] Ideo combussit sacerdotes in altaribus idolorum, ut ostenderet, quia funesta erant eorum sacrificia qui non solum pecudum hostias daemoniis offerebant, sed et ipsos idololatriae tradebant. Hic significat omnes qui diaboli servitio mancipati vitam sacrilegam temporaliter finierant aeternis cruciatibus consumendos pro cujusque merito.

VERS. 22.-- *Ad Oldam prophetidem,* etc. [n: (HIERON.)] Oldam uxor fuit Sellum avunculi patris Jeremiae, et patris Ananeel. Habitabat in secunda. Locus erat Jerosolymitanus extra murum civitatis et antemurale, qui vocabatur secunda: cujus mentio fit in Sophonia propheta.

## CAPUT XXXV.

[0690B]

VERS. 1.-- *Fecit autem Josias in Jerusalem,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] Admonemur, ut purgemus primum terram cordis nostri ab omnibus vitiis, sicque pascha Domino celebremus, *non in fermento veteri, neque in fermento malitiae et nequitiae: sed in azymis sinceritatis et veritatis [n: (I Cor. V)]*. Mystice autem Josias, id est fortitudo Domini, Christum significat, de quo legitur: *Dominus fortis et potens: Dominus potens in praelio [n: (Psal. XXIII)]*. Interpretatur etiam Josias salus Domini, et *Christus salvum facit populum suum a peccatis eorum [n: (Matth. I)]*. Ipse zelo Dei mundat terram Juda et Jerusalem ab omnibus immunditiis, qui per prophetam dixit: *Zelus domus tuae comedit [0690C] me [n: (Psal. LXVIII)]*. De quo alibi: *Cujus ventilabrum in manu sua, et permundabit aream suam [n: (Matth. III)]*. Hic celebrat verum phase octavo decimo anno regni sui: quia octava aetate generali resurrectione donata, sanctos suos cum perfectione bonorum operum perducit ad aeternae beatitudinis denarium, ejectis prius omnibus scandalis de regno ejus.

VERS. 3.-- *Ponite arcam in sanctuario templi, quod aedificavit Salomon filius David rex Israel.* Tradunt Hebraei arcam tempore Achaz de templo fuisse elatam, simulacris ab eo in templo missis, et in domum Sellum viri Oldae avunculi Jeremiae fuisse traductam. Non enim poterat esse simul cum simulacris.

[0690D]VERS. 18.-- *Non fuit Phase simile huic,* etc. Quia ablatis figuris in die judicii, transibunt sancti de morte ad vitam, de corruptione ad gloriam, et in conspectu conditoris sui in coelesti Jerusalem, in aeternum gaudebunt: quia videbitur Deus deorum in Sion, quia mirificavit misericordiam suam in civitate munita.

VERS. 21.-- *Ad quam Deus.* Quia ex verbis Jeremiae, et aliorum prophetarum potuit voluntatem Domini cognoscere, qua judicandum erat in populo peccatore. Unde et Rabsaces dixit de Sennacherib rege Assyriorum: *Dominus jussit me ascendere ad terram [n: (Psal. LXXXIII)]*, quia prophetae praedixerant eum esse ascensurum, quod eum minime latuit

VERS. 22.-- *In campo Mageddo.* Interfectio Josiae [0691A] qui a Pharaone Nechao interfectus est in Mageddo significat antiqui hostis persecutionem adversum praedicatores, quos neci tradere et de Ecclesia auferre conatur, ut facilius totam plebem invadere et dissipare possit. Interpretatur enim Pharao dissipans, Nechao percutiens, Mageddo de tentatione. Permittitur quippe diabolus consurgere adversum sanctos: et hoc totis viribus certat, ut tentando gregem Dei percutiens eos prius dissipando auferat, quorum solatio alii contra hostem dimicant.

## CAPUT XXXVI.

VERS. 4.-- *Constituitque.* Nechao regem Joakim constituit, imposuit mulctam terrae centum talentis argenti: quia diabolus pensum servitii a populo perditorum [0691B] expetiit, ut tam sensu quam eloquio parati sint ejus obsequio.

*Et vertit.* Notandum quod de eodem Joakim filio Josiae in Regum ita scriptum est: *Dormivit Joakim cum patribus suis, regnavitque Joachin filius ejus pro eo [n: (IV Reg. XXIV)]*. Josephus tamen dicit: Dum rex Babylonis intrasset civitatem, fidem nequaquam servavit, sed juvenes fortissimos et pulchritudine decoros occidit una cum rege Joakim, quem ante murum insepultum projici jussit. Filium vero ejus Joachin constituit regem universae provinciae. Eos autem qui erant in dignitatibus constituti numero tria millia, duxit in Babylonem, inter quos erat Ezechiel adhuc puer. Hic ergo finis habuit Joakim regem qui vixit annos decem et triginta, regnavit [0691C] autem undecim annis. Successor vero regni Joakim rex nomine Ononimus regnavit mensibus tribus et diebus decem. Sciendum autem, quod cum semel quis cuilibet vitio se mancipaverit, multis dominis obnoxius erit. Unde Joakim quem Pharao ante censum sibi solvere coegit, hunc Nabuchodonosor rex Babylonis tribus annis servire compellit. Nabuchodonosor eumdem significat quem et Pharao; principem scilicet confusionis et rectorem tenebrarum harum. Cum autem diabolus aliquem sibi censum peccati solvere coegit, totum in dominium suum [0692A] redigit, et plenum servitium exigit, persuasione scilicet, delectatione, consensu, cogitatione quoque, locutione, et operatione.

[n: (HIERON., quaest. in Paral., tom. III.)] Sciendum quod nomen istius Joachin, etc., *usque ad* praepositorum depravati exemplis cedunt cum ipsis in praedam diaboli.

VERS. 10.-- *Regem vero.* Sedecias significat eos qui regimen in populo Dei suscipiunt: interpretatur enim Sedecias justus Domini. Illi enim accipiunt sedem justitiae ad exercenda opera justitiae, honoris et officii accipiunt dignitatem, maxime quia filii Josiae, id est salutis Domini, per gratiam baptismi et unctionem chrismatis nuncupari merentur: sed degenerantes relabuntur in vitiorum foeditate, et se [0692B] subditos convertunt ad impietatem, nec fidem quam Deo promiserant, custodiunt, nec cum hominibus pacis foedera servant. Tales quotidie lex divina, prophetarum, et apostolorum miracula e peccatis recedere, et ad Dominum per poenitentiam reverti monent: sed semel indurati, verba salutis despiciunt, unde Deus iratus mittit contra eos regem Chaldaeorum, id est, diabolum cum satellitibus suis, id est, spiritualibus nequitiis, qui nulli parcentes aetati, nulli deferentes dignitati, quoscunque capiunt, in Babylonem, id est, in confusionem tranferunt; et domum Domini incendunt, quia fideles, qui sunt templum Dei, blasphemare compellunt. Muros Jerusalem destruunt, cum custodias pastorum decjiciunt, turres comburunt, cum praelatos per illicita desideria [0692C] exurunt: omne pretiosum demoliuntur, cum eos qui de virtutis et scientiae praerogativa sibi applaudunt, ad nihilum redigunt.

Finis libri Paralipomenon similis principio libri sacerdotis Esdrae: unde quod ibi exposuimus, hic replicare non est opus. De Cyro quoque quomodo Christum significet, et quae de eo dicantur, et quae ad ipsum referantur, in Isaia exposuimus.

[n: (RAB. ex Beda.)] Salomon templum Domini septem annis construxit in Jerusalem, etc., *usque ad* scilicet et civitatis Dei de qua ejecti fuerant, recipiunt.

english:
## CHAPTER ONE.

[0663D]

VERS. 1.-- *Solomon therefore was strengthened,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] When in death he triumphed over him who had the empire of death, and won for himself the kingdom of all. Whence: *All power is given to me in heaven and in earth [n: (Matth. XXVIII)]*.

VERS. 3.-- *Gabaon,* etc., Which was the mother city [0664D] of the Hevites, and it fell to the lot of Benjamin, and was set apart for the Levites. It is a wonder therefore that Josephus says that Solomon came to Hebron to sacrifice upon the brazen altar which Moses had made: unless perhaps he meant Hebron itself to be understood as the high place of Gabaon, on the ground that he reigned there first. For Gabaon is interpreted loftiness, or a cousin's hill.

[0665A]VERS. 10.-- *Give me wisdom,* etc. Not gold, not riches, not earthly glory does he ask of God, but that he may know how to rule and to judge the people of God. If the ruler of bodies chose this, much more ought the rulers of souls to choose this, that they may show to the people of God the entrance unto faith and the going forth unto hope.

VERS. 13.-- *From the high place,* etc. It signifies the ark, in which were the tables of the Testament. For above it is written: *But the tabernacle of the Lord which Moses had made in the desert, and the altar of holocausts, were at that same season in the high places of Gabaon,* [var: Vulg. 1 Par. 21:29 *ea tempestate erat in excelso Gabaon*, "at that season was in the high place of Gabaon" — singular verb, singular high place] etc. [n: (I Paral. XXI)]. And the ark of the Lord, after David brought it into his own house, remained in that same place until the temple should be built.

*And twelve thousand horsemen.* This number signifies the time [0665B] of grace, in which the apostolic teaching forms the people of the New Testament. And rightly are the chariots and horsemen of Solomon numbered by the number of forty or of twelve: because through either testament holy men, learned in the sacred letters, are fitted for the sitting of God, whom he himself, the highest charioteer, governs at his own beck.

VERS. 17.-- *For six hundred pieces of silver.* Because by preaching, the testament of the teachers, men are brought through preachers into the use of the true Solomon, unto the knowing of the truth of the faith. Six hundred therefore, that is, sixty times ten, signify the perfection of evangelical doctrine, in which the perfection of the law wholly consists: especially since our Redeemer, having suffered on the sixth day, fulfilled all the things that were written of him in the law and the prophets; [0665C] whence he says. *It is consummated. And bowing his head, he sent forth his spirit [n: (Joan. XIX)]* [var: Vulg. Joan. 19:30 *tradidit spiritum*, "gave up his spirit"; *emisit spiritum* is the wording of Matth. 27:50].

*A hundred and fifty.* Which are thrice fifty, and, on account of Pentecost and the jubilee, manifestly signify the distinction of the Old Testament and of the threefold Scripture, because it is said: *All things must needs be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the psalms concerning me [n: (Luc. XXIV)]*.

## CHAPTER II.

VERS. 1.-- *Solomon determined to build a house,* etc. [n: (BED., quaest. in lib. Reg., tom. II.)] The house which Solomon built, etc., *as far as* who make themselves ready, by believing, by working, by teaching others, for the building of God.

*Solomon.* Both by his name and by his most peaceable reign he [0665D] signifies him, etc., *as far as* and of the illumination of the Holy Spirit.

VERS. 8.-- *And they shall be servants.* [n: (RAB.)] My apostles and first teachers, etc., *as far as* and therefore they stormed it the more subtly.

VERS. 14.-- *The son of a woman.* He shows him to be of the offspring of Salomith; of the tribe of Dan, of whom it is read in the book of Numbers. The Hebrews hand down that his father was a Hebrew, of the stock of Oliab, of the tribe of Dan, who wrought with Beseleel in the wilderness. But as to his calling him a Tyrian, the Hebrews say that this came about by the translating. For Zocri in their tongue is interpreted a singing of psalms. For Chyros, which they call Zor, sounds sometimes narrowness, sometimes a forming.

[0666A] *Who knoweth how to work in gold and in silver.* In all these things the spiritual Hiram knows how to work, that the adornment of the house of God may shine with worthy comeliness before the eyes of men, and by the odour of good repute may become acceptable to God.

VERS. 16.-- *But we,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] It signifies that the Gentiles, the report of the Gospel having been heard, sends diverse persons through faith unto baptism. Yet it belongs to the true peaceable one alone, by absolving sins through the sacraments of baptism, to unite them to the unity of the Church, of whom it is said: *Upon whom you shall see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him, he it is that baptizeth [n: (Matth. III)]* [var: Vulg. Joan. 1:33 *videris*, singular, "thou shalt see"].

VERS. 17.-- *He numbered therefore,* etc. There were workmen of the house of the Lord of the children of Israel, etc. [n: (RAB.)] *as far as*, by living rightly and by teaching, they [0666B] build up the Church of Christ.

*Three thousand and six hundred.* In Paralipomenon, in place of the three thousand three hundred overseers who are numbered in Kings, three thousand six hundred are written, for the perfection of exalted men. For in the number six God completed the adornment of the world: and because Holy Scripture teaches the faith of the Trinity and the works of justice, rightly are three thousand six hundred reported to have been.

## CHAPTER III.

VERS. 1.-- *In the floor of Ornan.* [n: (RAB.)] The Church is signified by the threshing-floor, etc., *as far as* but when Christ looked upon her, she found in herself both the place and the name of peace.

VERS. 2.-- *In the second month,* etc. That is, in May, namely soon after the pasch, that the people, consecrated by the mystic [0666C] solemnity, might worthily set about the mystic work.

*In the fourth year of his reign.* After the dispensation of the divine incarnation had been fulfilled, which is written in the four Gospels, the Spirit having been sent from heaven, the Church was builded. The things which we expounded in the books of Kings, in Paralipomenon we touch upon briefly.

The length of the house signifies the long patience of the Church. The breadth, the charity wherewith she loves even her enemies, until she rejoice in God with friends alone. But the height, the hope of the life to come and of the recompense, because she despises all things adverse: until she see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living. It is to be noted that the thirty cubits of height which are read in Kings reached not to the roof of the temple, but as far as the lower upper chamber. [0666D] For here, that the height was of a hundred and twenty cubits. Others thirty to the middle upper chamber, and others to the third, then as far as the topmost roof of the temple shall be numbered, others thirty, and so the whole height of the house is completed in a hundred and twenty cubits: by which number of men the primitive Church in Jerusalem received the grace of the Holy Spirit. For fifteen, which consists of seven and eight, signifies the life to come, which now is passed in the rest of souls and shall be perfected in the resurrection of bodies: but fifteen drawn out into a triangle, that is, numbered with all its parts, becomes a hundred and twenty, by which is designated the blessedness to come of the elect. And rightly is the third upper chamber of the house completed by this number, [0667A] which after the labours of the present, after the rest of souls, is fulfilled in the resurrection in the full glory of felicity.

VERS. 4.-- *But the porch,* etc. That is, the temple itself which was before the doors of the oracle: for the distinction of the fabric was threefold: that is, the porch before the temple: and the temple itself in which were the altar of incense, the table of proposition, and the candlestick of light: and the oracle, that is, the Holy of holies, where the ark of the testament and the cherubim were set behind the veil. But the porch before the temple bears the figure of the ancient faithful. But the temple itself, of those who came into the world after the incarnation of the Lord. And the inner house, the joys of the kingdom of heaven given to both.

[0667B]It is to be noted therefore that the walls of the house were made of precious stones, covered with planks of cypress or of cedar, clothed with plates of gold. Whence in Kings: *And all the house was clothed with cedar,* etc. [var: Vulg. 3 Reg. 6:18 *Et cedro omnis domus intrinsecus vestiebatur*, "within"] The stones of the wall or of the pavement and the planks and the gold signify the life of the saints in the Church. The living stones are the saints, joined into one rule by the strength of faith. The planks also of cedar or of cypress are the saints, knit to one another in the same faith by the breadth of divers virtues according to the giving of the Holy Spirit. The plates of gold are the saints having the charity that surpasseth knowledge, and rejoicing together with one another in its most pleasing brightness.

VERS. 6.-- *He paved also the floor,* etc. As the breadth of the wall rising on high, and reaching to the [0667C] panelled ceilings, signify the advances of the virtues by which the saints come to heaven, or the choirs of the saints succeeding one another through divers times: so the evenness of the pavement, their concordant humility, wherein, set in this life, they live together in the charity of fellowship. The pavement laid with precious marble with much comeliness, and the marble covered with planks of fir, because the life of the just must first be fortified in the heart by the firmness of faith: afterward adorned in work by the breadth of the virtues. For what does the comeliness of the marble profit when the planks are laid over it, unless it show forth something mystical? but it signifies that the amplitude of good works is to be propped by the strength of faith. But the fir, high and lasting, shows the mind of the elect despising the lowest things, cleaving to the heavenly, and excelling in the virtue of patience. The plates of gold [0667D] laid upon the marble over the planks of fir are the breadth of charity out of a pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned, which, as gold before other metals, so shines before the other virtues in the temple of God.

VERS. 7.-- *The posts and the walls,* etc. He covered them, when, the Lord himself opening the entrance of faith, he shows to all who enter the Church with what truth it shines again. The door of the temple is Christ, through whom one comes to the Father, who says: *I am the door,* etc. [n: (Joan. X.)] In Kings it is written thus: *The oracle had twenty cubits of length, and twenty of breadth and twenty of height [n: (III Reg. III)]*. The Holy of holies is called the oracle, because there by divine and angelic speech secret things are revealed to men. Whence: *The oracle in hidden places* that is, [0668A] it was made in the inner house, because in the country above the vision and the address of the angels and the presence of God himself shall be revealed. In that he says twenty cubits of height, he signifies the wall of cedar which parts the oracle from the outer building.

*He graved cherubim.* This house has, as is read in Kings, carvings standing out, since the saints do not do the works of the virtues in secret, but set forth an example to all.

VERS. 8.-- *He made also the house,* etc. The oracle where the ark was had twenty cubits in length, in breadth, in height, that is, foursquare: because in the country above, where the saints see the king in his beauty, the charity alone of the divine and heavenly grace shines through all. Whence in what follows: *With plates of gold [0668B] he covered it [n: (III Reg. VI)]*, that is, he filled the walls of the city above with the grace of charity.

*With six hundred talents,* etc. In the talents, the perfection of weight, which expresses the perfection of charity, as the perfection of the six by which the hundred is multiplied, so that six hundred are made.

VERS. 9.-- *But the nails also.* [n: (RAB.)] By the number fifty the remission of sins, etc., *as far as* who, coming to the more perfect things, says of the nails of perfection: *But for me it is good to adhere to God [n: (Psal. LXXII)]*.

*The upper chambers also.* As the Holy of holies, where the ark was, signifies the inward life of the saints in the sight of the Redeemer, whence: *Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy face, from the disturbance of men [n: (Psal. XXX)]*. So the upper chambers on high the same life, that [0668C] is, to be in heaven and not in this world, whence: *Seek the things that are above [n: (Col. III)]*, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.

VERS. 10.-- *He made also.* [n: (RAB.)] This is read more fully in Kings, etc., *as far as* to be rewarded with the penny of the everlasting kingdom.

VERS. 11.-- *So that the wing.* One wing of a cherub was of five cubits, etc., because the angels keep with unwearied devotion the law of God written in five books, namely by loving God out of all their strength, and their neighbours as themselves. *And the fulness of the law is charity [n: (Rom. XIII)]* [var: Vulg. Rom. 13:10 *Plenitudo ergo legis est dilectio*, "the fulness therefore of the law is love"]. Neighbours also to one another are the angelic spirits and the elect among men. Whence each wing of the cherub is of the same measure: because with the same devotion wherewith they love one another in God, they desire also [0668D] our fellowship, of us who ascend to them. Alike therefore do the wings fill up ten cubits, when in the twofold showing of charity the angels are gladdened by the presence of their Maker.

VERS. 12.-- *They touched the wall.* [var: Vulg. 2 Par. 3:12 *tangebat parietem*, singular, "it touched the wall"] They touch both walls equally with their wings, because they have with them, as possessors of the heavenly hall, the Jews and the Gentiles: not that there is there a distinction of place between the two peoples, but because the festivity of the inward blessedness is the greater from the fellowship of a brotherhood made one in God. They stretch out therefore their wings to either wall: because they stir up to the praise of the Creator the just of both peoples rejoicing in the heavenly country. They stretch out wings covered with gold to the walls of the oracle, even as they have their faces turned toward [0669A] the outer house: because the angels, as they keep their own innocence, so rejoice over the blessedness of the saints, that they bring help to those whom they still behold upon earth, until they lead them into the heavenly country. *For all are ministering spirits, sent unto ministry, for the sake of them who receive the inheritance of salvation [n: (Hebr. I)]* [var: Vulg. Hebr. 1:14 *Nonne omnes sunt … qui haereditatem capient salutis?*, a question, and future "shall receive"]. With their outer wings this one touches the one wall, that one the other: because the Old Testament written for the ancient people, the New for us who came to the faith after the incarnation of the Lord, and we are rightly compared to the second wall, that is, to the northern, we who after the colds and the darkness of idolatry have known the light of truth.

*His wing.* They stretch out their wings toward one another over the ark, when they refer to the praise of the Saviour every good thing [0669B] which they had received. They stretch out their other wings to the walls of the oracle, when they rejoice to see the saints with them, and touch them as it were with the tips of their wings, whom they exult to have been imitators of their purity in this life.

*And their faces turned.* Because for the sake of us who still stand without, but are made safe by hope, the divine books were composed, whose writers, now reigning with the Lord, bear the care of our salvation, and make intercession for us with God.

VERS. 14.-- *He made also. [n: (RAB.)]* This is set down before in Kings, etc., *as far as* and the truth of the Gospel and the entrance of the kingdom is opened by the Truth itself.

*And he wove in.* The cherubim are woven in with these four colours, when in all the things that we do devoutly we are protected by angelic guards from the envenomed [0669C] darts of the demons, and use unceasingly the multitude of knowledge, ever looking back to the divine oracles, lest we stray from the path of the virtues.

VERS. 15.-- *Before the doors also of the temple two pillars.* They stood in the porch before the doors of the temple, and adorned the entrance of the temple with their comeliness on either side. The door of the temple is the Lord, who says: *No man cometh to the Father, but by me,* etc. [n: (Joan. XIV)]. The pillars stand about the door on either side, when the ministers of the word show to both peoples the entry of the kingdom of heaven, that whosoever shall have come to the faith of the Gospel from the light of the knowledge of the law or from the error of heathendom, may have them ready who may show him the way of salvation by word and by example. In Kings it is read of these pillars: [0669D] *Who when he was come to king Solomon, wrought all his work, and he cast two pillars of brass,* etc. [n: (III Reg. VII.)]

*Thirty and five.* This number signifies the perfection of the masters. For the number seven multiplied by five, or five by seven, yield thirty-five. But five expresses the law, and seven, on account of the sevenfold Spirit resting upon the flower of the root of Jesse, the Gospel; whence in one place the Lord is related to have fed five thousand men with five loaves, and in another four thousand men with seven loaves. The pillars therefore of thirty-five cubits signify that the teachers of the Gospel have [0670A] perfect knowledge of the two Testaments, whence: *To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God [n: (Marc. IV)]*. And elsewhere: *He opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures [n: (Luc. XXIV)]*.

*As it were little chains. [n: (RAB.)]* The manifold weaving of the chains and of the net, according to Kings the spreading ( *sic* ), suggests the manifold persons of the elect, who, when by faithfully hearkening and by obeying they cleave to the words of the preachers, as it were nets and little chains laid upon the heads of the pillars, offer to them that behold the marvel of their own knitting together.

VERS. 16.-- *Upon the heads of the pillars.* The heads of the pillars, that is, the topmost part, are the hearts of the teachers, by whose thoughts devoted to God, as the members by the head, so all their works and words are directed.

[0670B] *Pomegranates.* With one rind without they enclose many seeds within, whence they signify the Church, because by the defence of the one faith she encloses innumerable troops of the elect, or the life and manners of every just man, who fence about with the firm guard of faith and of humility the many marks of thoughts and of virtues, lest perhaps they flow away. And fitly were the heads of the pillars encircled round about with pomegranates, because the holy teachers call back to memory the life of the faithful of former times; and by their examples they confirm their own discourses also on every side, lest, if they should live or teach otherwise than their rule holds, they should err.

## CHAPTER III. (cont.)

VERS. 17.-- *The same pillars also.* Therefore were two pillars made, and so disposed, that they may teach that the entrance of the heavenly kingdom is, in prosperous things and in adverse, to be [0670C] held before our eyes. But it is to be noted that the porch of the temple is also called the vestibule, and that what we read, between the vestibule and the altar, ought to be understood, between the porch and the altar. The second pillar signifies the preachers who were sent to the Gentiles to preach. Or the right pillar signifies those who prophesied that the Lord would come in the flesh. But the second, those who bear witness that he has already come and has redeemed the world by his own blood. Both pillars are reckoned under a like name, when the one is called firmness and the other in strength, so that one fortitude, of faith and of work, may be shown to be in all teachers, and the teachers of our own time may be silently marked, who wish to be seen and to be called pillars of the house of God, since in themselves, of a firm faith for despising the pomps of the world, for desiring the invisible good things, they [0670D] have nothing of strength for correcting, nor of diligence for understanding, the errors of those over whom they are set.

## CHAPTER IV.

VERS. 1.-- *He made also,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] The altar of holocaust signifies those who consecrate their body and their soul to God by the fire of love: whose perseverance in good work the length of the altar expresses, the breadth their amplitude in the love of God and of the neighbour, the height sets forth their hope in the awaiting of the visitation.

*Of twenty cubits.* The number twenty signifies the great perfection of unwearied long-suffering and of sincere love, which is bestowed on us through the keeping of either Testament. For four times five [0671A] are twenty, and five are the books of the law, and four the Gospels. But when by the enlightening of grace we come to the understanding and the keeping of the law, we make up the number twenty; and the same number is made in the length and in the breadth of the altar, when the hearts of the elect, with either Testament teaching them, keep the perseverance of a work of this kind even in persecutions, and the cheerfulness of love even toward those who persecute

*And of ten cubits.* In the number ten is signified the hope of the heavenly rewards. Whence they who labour in the vineyard of the father of the household are rewarded with a penny. Whence the altar, which signifies the elect, is raised to ten cubits for the signifying of their perpetual life.

VERS. 2.-- *The sea also.* [n: (RAB.)] The saving laver, [0671B] etc., *as far as* and ought to hope for a common crown of justice from the Lord.

*It had five cubits.* Because whatever we offend in by sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch, is all loosed in baptism. But the remission of past sins does not suffice, unless each thereafter apply himself to good works. Otherwise the devil who had gone out returns the more manifoldly, and the last things of the man become worse than the first. Whence he hears:

*A line of thirty cubits.* That is, the discipline of the heavenly precepts, whereby we are bound back from our own wills, whence: *A threefold cord is hardly broken [n: (Eccle. IV)]*; because the keeping of the commandments of God in the hearts of the saints, made firm by faith, by hope and by love of the recompense above, can by no adversity be [0671C] dissolved.

VERS. 3.-- *And of ten cubits.* [n: (RAB.)] A carving beneath the brim, etc., *as far as* with how great unhappiness the reprobate perished for their crimes.

VERS. 4.-- *The hinder parts.* Because with what reward the preachers shall be endowed for ever has been disposed by the judgment of God, but is as yet hidden from us, from whom this cannot be hidden, that every one who receives baptism unto salvation ought to have faith, hope, and charity; nor without these three virtues is he able to work, or to enter unto salvation, whence in Kings it is said: *And the thickness of the laver of three inches [n: (III Reg. VII)]*. The thickness of the laver is the firmness of virtue. *Of three inches,* because by the strength of faith, of hope and of love the receiving of baptism is fortified.

[0671D]VERS. 5.-- *But the breadth.* The thickness which Josephus said to be of four fingers, showing what was the greatness of a palm. And these things signify the same. For whosoever by faith, by hope, and by charity works the works of justice according to the doctrine of the four Gospels, receives also the reward of eternal life.

*Three thousand measures.* The thousand signifies perfection, because ten makes a solid square. For ten times ten make a hundred, which is as it were a square figure, but flat: but that it may rise into height and be made solid, multiply a hundred by ten, and a thousand is made. By which number is signified the stable and unconquerable and as it were foursquare conscience of the just. For whichever way you turn a square, it will stand. So [0672A] the mind of the elect is bent by no temptation from the state of rectitude. The sea holds three thousand measures; when the sacrament of baptism, given in the faith of the Trinity, confers upon those washed in it the remission of all sins

VERS. 6.-- *He made also lavers.* In Kings thus: *He made also ten lavers of brass. One laver held forty bates. And it was of four cubits. He set also the several lavers upon the several ten bases,* etc. The apostles and apostolic men, who are signified by the oxen bearing the sea, are expressed also by the bases made ready for bearing the lavers, even as the lavers themselves signify baptism, which the sea prefigured. For the priests washed in them all the things which they were to offer in holocausts. And the holocaust of the Lord may be understood as the whole multitude of the faithful: which is baptized by him [0672B] in water and in fire. As therefore the priests who are washed in the sea signify those who through baptism are made partakers of the high priest: so the holocausts express the same men, when after the washing of baptism they are filled with spiritual grace. For the victim is washed in the laver, when the faithful one is poured over with the water of baptism. It is offered in holocaust, when through the imposition of the bishop's hand he receives the gift of the Holy Spirit.

VERS. 8.-- *And he set five.* On either side of the temple the bases of the lavers were set, that to either people the grace of the sacred font might be marked out as to be laid open. And there are five on either side, that, as in the exposition of the sea which we have already said to be five cubits high, it might be typically shown that all the things he had offended in through the five senses of the body are to be remitted through the laver [0672C] of baptism. As therefore in the one sea set upon twelve oxen the unity of baptism is expressed, which was to be preached by the apostles in the whole world: so also through the two ranks of lavers it is mystically shown, that the heathen world together with Jewry was to be begotten through the wave of baptism into one fellowship of faith.

*Golden candlesticks.* The divine oracles, which bring forth the light of wisdom, whence: *Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light,* etc. [n: (Psal. CXVIII)]. Hence Solomon says: *Because the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light [n: (Prov. VI)]*. Twice five are the candlesticks, because five are the volumes of the lawgiver, in which also the whole series of the Old Testament comprehends the five ages of the world. Five are set on the right and five on the left: when after the incarnation of the Lord the same Scripture [0672D] is committed to either people; or is shown to be full of evangelical figures, which once was thought to be understood according to the letter alone.

*And the tables also.* [n: (RAB.)] These tables, etc., *as far as* whose works, like saving breasts, set before us for examples of life.

VERS. 9.-- *He made also a court.* [n: (RAB.)] The court of the priests in the church, etc., *as far as* we have set forth more fully in the book of Kings according to Bede.

*And a great basilica.* Which was outside the court of the priests, into which all the people flowed together to pray or to hear the word. This in the Church signifies the life and manners of the carnal, to whom it is said: [0673A] *I could not speak to you as to spiritual, but as to carnal,* etc.

*And a basilica.* Rightly are the carnal signified by the great basilica, because much greater in the Church is the number of such as these than of the perfect. But by as much as they excel in number, by so much do they fall short in merit. Whence this great basilica, though it holds very many, admits them not to the office of the altar, not even into the court of the priests itself, because the carnal and the weak, even if for the merit of a chaste faith and of piety they belong to the lot of the elect, are yet far from those who say: I dare not speak of any of those things which Christ does not work through me, unto the obedience of the Gentiles by word and by deeds.

*And the doors in the basilica.* These signify that the entrance of faith [0673B] is prepared by the word of preaching, that they who come may learn how through the faith of Christ or through the saving sacraments they ought to enter the Church of God, and, after they have entered, how religiously they ought to live.

VERS. 11.-- *And Hiram made.* The caldrons take up the sacred ashes, when the faithful with devout mind go back over the examples and the sacraments of the Lord's passion for their own keeping, or diligently look upon the end of the just, who, their great contests having been wrought out, rejoice without end over the prize received, that, the virtues of their elders being considered, they too may be made great; whence: *Whose end of conversation beholding, behold ye also their faith.* [var: Vulg. Hebr. 13:7 *quorum intuentes exitum conversationis, imitamini fidem*, "imitate their faith"]

*And the fleshhooks.* The fleshhooks signify the preachers who refresh the souls of the faithful with the word of God, comparing to spiritual men [0673C] spiritual things, but ministering to the carnal the milk of simple doctrine: but they who will know the sacraments of Christ summarily and take them up for imitation, are filled, as carnal men, with the saving victim; and because it belongs to teachers to divide to each what is fitting, rightly are fleshhooks made for the priests, wherewith they may set in order the flesh of the victims as is meet, and bring some things to clean men, and leave others to be consumed by the fires of the altar; for some things are revealed to our lowliness for refreshment, some lie open only to the knowledge of the Holy Spirit; some things in Paralipomenon which were expounded in Kings we pass over, some we have not found expounded, and we are unwilling to exceed the custom of our own littleness. For nowhere have we expounded anything of ourselves.

[0673D] *And the vials.* The vials signify the broader and opener discourse of holy doctrine, which bestows a draught of wisdom on them that devoutly thirst, and grants through the ministries of the preachers a fitting refreshment to them that devoutly labour, that they may be able to come to the fountain of eternal life, drinking whereof they shall not thirst for ever.

VERS. 17.-- *In the clay ground.* The clay ground of which the moulds were made for casting the vessels signifies Holy Scripture (of which we receive the rule of living well). For as clay hardened by fire displays the form of the Lord's vessel, how great and of what sort they ought to be made; so Scripture shows us the rule of justice which we are to follow, and the examples of the saints, who unconquered in the fire of tribulation stood firm in all things, that we [0674A] may desire to be precious vessels in the house of the Lord. And the brass melted by fire enters the moulds of clay, that it may be able to be made a vessel fit for the heavenly ministries; when we ourselves, wholesomely humbled and softened by the flame of divine charity or of human adversity, enter by working well the way of the Fathers, that by running well we may come to their rewards. For it is not always necessary that we be straitened by the rules of working well, but when the good work is completed, the palm of the blessed recompense is to be hoped for. Because not always were the vessels kept shut up in the moulds of clay: when they had come to perfection, the enclosures of the moulds being broken, they were brought forth into the light, and were disposed in the temple to the Lord each in its own place. Not that the works of the saints shall perish, but when they shall have received the crown of justice, the offices [0674B] of laborious working shall cease.

*In the region of the Jordan.* In which Christ was baptized, who, dipped in the waves of the waters, turned the element for us into the washing away of sins. And because every baptism of the faithful, whereby we are consecrated to the Lord, is celebrated after the example of that baptism, rightly were the vessels of the house of the Lord made in the region of the Jordan. For we cannot otherwise be made vessels of election, unless, looking to his baptism, we take pains to be washed in the life-giving river. But it is to be noted that he says the vessels were made not only in the region of the Jordan, but in the plain country thereof, signifying the multiplication of the faithful, which was to be not only in Judea, but in the breadth of the nations; whence: *The fields shall rejoice, and all things that are in them [n: (Psal. XCV)]*. And elsewhere: *We have heard of it in Ephrata, [0674C] we have found it in the fields of the wood [n: (Ibid. CXXXI)]*. The king therefore poured out the vessels of the house of the Lord in the plain country of the Jordan, because the Lord filled the whole breadth of the world with the baptism of salvation, out of which he might make vessels of mercy.

VERS. 18.-- *And Solomon made.* He dictated what Hiram completed in the very work. But allegorically our Redeemer prepares the adornment of the Church in the holy preachers and in all the faithful, and works the works of the virtues, who says: *Nothing can you do without me [n: (Joan. XV)]*; and elsewhere: *For every best gift, and every perfect gift, is from above,* etc. [n: (Jac. I.)]

## CHAPTER IV. (cont.)

VERS. 19.-- *The golden altar.* The hearts of the perfect, shining with the light of inward charity and of chastity, whose loftiness the place of the altar also signifies. For it stood [0674D] before the door of the holy of holies, as we read in the making of the tabernacle, in which not the blood of victims nor libations, but only incense was burned, the upper part whereof, ascending, covered the ark, and filled the oracle with the odour of sweetness. In which are figured the saints, who, while, the desires of temporal things being neglected, they seek with their whole intent the things of heaven, are as it were set within beside the oracle: nor far removed from the veil by which the temple and the holy of holies are parted; because in body only do they dwell on earth, but in their whole mind they are in heaven. And from this altar the smoke of the incense ascends within the holy of holies where the ark is laid up; that the prayers of the saints, kindled by the flame of charity, may come to heaven, [0675A] where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. For on this altar not the blood of victims but only incense is burned, because such men have not works of flesh and of blood which they might slay to the Lord upon the altar of the heart, but they offer the vows of tears and of prayers for the desire of the kingdom of heaven.

VERS. 21.-- *And the tongs,* etc. The tongs for the use of the altar were made of brass. But these also, by which the lamps were cleansed, signify the interpretation of the spiritual sense through the offices of the teachers. For carrying over the very words of the sacred utterance from the history into allegory, from the shadow into the truth, they multiply as it were the light of knowledge in the Church, being set upon the mystic candlestick.

VERS. 22.-- *And he graved the doors.* These are the teachers and [0675B] the priests, who by instructing, by baptizing, by communicating the mysteries of the body and blood of the Lord, open to us the first thresholds of the Church.

*And so all was completed.* When the true peaceable one on the last day glorifies all the elect with the immortality of the resurrection. But as long as the state of this world is carried on, Solomon does indeed the work of the house of the Lord, but does not complete it: because the Lord inspires and helps the hearts of the elect that they may work good things, yet to none does he grant to be without sin, which he reserves for the faithful in the time to come. But he completes the whole work of his temple and renders it fit for the dedication, when he leads the elect, carried over out of this life, to the everlasting kingdom: whence in seven years it is built, and in the eighth, being finished, it is dedicated. For in seven days all time is rolled round, and the eighth is [0675C] the day of judgment and of resurrection, to which agrees that which follows.

## CHAPTER V.

VERS. 1.-- *Solomon therefore brought in all the things,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] This is done when Christ, etc., *as far as* but many mansions in her for the receiving of all whom, fearing and loving him, *the Lord blesseth, the little with the greater.* [var: Vulg. Psal. 113:21 *Benedixit omnibus qui timent Dominum, pusillis cum majoribus*, "He hath blessed all that fear the Lord"]

VERS. 9.-- *And of the bars.* [n: (ID.)] It is to be noted that, etc., *as far as* by so much the less do they see the inward joys.

VERS. 10.-- *And there was nothing else.* He shows generally that in the floor [cj: *area*; read *arca*, "the ark"] there was nothing contrary to the law of the Lord comprised in the two tables; but that those things only were laid up there which according to the commandments of the law were typically made for the worship [0675D] of the one God and for the commending of our faith, that the shadow of things to come might in all things afford testimony to the truth to come, and, when that appeared in the world, might receive its end. And there was in the ark, according to Paul, a golden urn holding manna, because in the man Christ dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. There was also the virgin [cj: *virgo*; read *virga*, "rod"] of Aaron, which, having been cut down, had flowered anew: because all power of judging is with him, whose judgment in the lowliness of the passion seemed to have been taken away. There was also the tables of the testament, because in him are all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge hidden. There clung to it also the bars by which it was carried, because the teachers who once laboured in the word of Christ now rejoice together in the present vision of the glory [0676A] of Christ. Whence: *I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ [n: (Phil. I)]* [var: Vulg. Phil. 1:23 *desiderium habens dissolvi*, "having a desire to be dissolved"].

VERS. 12.-- *Clothed in fine linen.* By the stoles of fine linen is designated the white chastity of bodily cleanness: with this are clothed all who stand by at the service of God, and who sound out his praises with mouth, with manners, and with act. For the cymbals signify the confession of the mouth, the psalteries mortality, the harps the mortification of the flesh, and the strenuousness of good action, being furnished with twenty-four strings, that is, with prophetic and apostolic doctrines.

*The priests.* Or rather the teachers, expressed by the hundred and the twenty, because the lawgiver completed with this number the sum of his years, and on the day of Pentecost the believers received in the same number the grace of the Paraclete Spirit.

[0676B]VERS. 13.-- *Therefore when all.* [n: (RAB.)] All the priests and Levites, etc., *as far as* they lost the ministry of the true priesthood.

VERS. 14.-- *For he had filled.* Because the mysteries which lay hid under the veil were opened through the coming of Christ to them that believed and worthily received. But to the rest, unwilling to come to the faith, the former blindness remained. Whence: *To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God,* etc. [n: (Matth. XIII.)]

## CHAPTER VI.

VERS. 1.-- *In the darkness.* Whence Job: *A cloud is his hiding place [n: (Job. XXII)]*. And the Psalmist: *Darkness under his feet: and he made darkness his hiding place [n: (Psal. XVII)]*. The hiding place of the Lord is Holy Scripture: which under [0676C] parables and figures bears the heavenly sacraments. Whence: *I will confess to thee, O Lord, father of heaven and earth, for that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones [n: (Matth. XI)]* [var: Vulg. Matth. 11:25 *Confiteor tibi, Pater, Domine caeli et terrae, quia abscondisti*, present "I confess", and "Father, Lord of heaven and earth"].

## CHAPTER VII.

VERS. 5.-- *He dedicated.* [n: (RAB.)] Christ cleansed it with his own blood, and sanctified it with spiritual grace, and multiplied it with the diverse gifts of the virtues. And the children of Israel dedicate it, because every faithful man, according to the gift bestowed on him by God, turns and advances his neighbours by word and by example to better and more perfect things.

VERS. 7.-- *He sanctified.* Because Christ perfects in the Church those things which in the law could not be perfected because of its weakness. For she is the court of the house [0676D] of the Lord, through whom the entrance lies open into the heavenly Jerusalem: because therefore holocausts and sacrifices could not be offered on the altar of the Old Testament; because all things were done there figuratively, our king and priest raised up a new altar of faith in the Church, upon which they daily offer fat holocausts and sacrifices acceptable to God. Whence *The sacrifice of praise shall glorify me, and there is the way,* etc.

VERS. 8.-- *He made therefore.* [n: (RAB.)] I do not think that this is to be understood otherwise, etc., *as far as* in the rest of souls to come, in the perceiving of the truth itself in reality.

VERS. 10.-- *Therefore on the day,* etc. That is, after the eighth day of the solemnity of the scenopegia: as is contained in Kings. And it signifies that after the end of that life, and after [0677A] the sabbath-rest of holy souls, wherein before the judgment they rest; in the eighth age, that is, on the day of the resurrection, the saints shall receive immortal bodies, and are to be placed in the heavenly mansions according to the qualities of their merits, where they may ever rejoice, praising God in all the good things which the Father has conferred in Christ upon the Christian people.

## CHAPTER VIII.

VERS. 1.-- *And when twenty were ended,* etc., *Hiram had given,* etc. [n: (RAB. in Paral. ex Hieron.)] He had given them back, namely, because when Solomon had given them they did not please. him. Therefore Solomon appointed them to his own uses.

VERS. 5.-- *Bethoron.* [n: (RAB.)] It is a city, as far as which Jesus pursued the enemy kings in the tribe [0677B] of Ephraim, etc., *as far as* and the other Bethoron the lower, given to the Levites for a possession.

VERS.--6.-- *And all.* Ezer, namely, and Mageddo and Gazer and Mello, all which show forth the comeliness of the Church: because the true Solomon in the pleasantness of his kingdom prepared them for himself unto praise and gladness. And Mello is interpreted a fulfilling; Ezer separated and sanctified; Mageddo his upper chamber; Gazer a cutting off or a division; Bethoron the house of mountains; Balaath ascending. And holy Church is the city of the living God, where the will of God is daily fulfilled, and, separated from every error of the unbelieving, she is sanctified by faith and by good work. There is the refreshment of the virtues. She herself discerns the clean and the unclean, and vice from virtue: and she is the house of mountains, that is, the habitation [0677C] of the saints, and by the fruit of justice *as a flourishing palm she goeth up from virtue to virtue, that she may see the God of gods in Sion [n: (Psal. LXXXIII)]* [var: Vulg. Psal. 83:8 *ibunt de virtute in virtutem: videbitur Deus deorum in Sion*, "they shall go … the God of gods shall be seen"]. Solomon fortified all his villages, because Christ so fortifies the assemblies of his faithful with the protection of his grace, that they may be able to withstand their spiritual enemies.

*In Libanus.* [n: (HIERON.)] In the temple, namely, which was clothed with the comeliness of cedars, whence Zacharias: *Open thy gates, O Libanus [n: (Zach. XI)]*; or in the royal buildings which had been made of the woods of Libanus.

VERS. 10.-- *Two hundred and fifty.* The hundred, which in the reckoning of the fingers passes over from the left hand into the right, signifies eternal life. But the fifty signifies the remission of sins, and eternal rest, and the grace of the Holy Spirit: because in the psalm of the same [0677D] number penance, confession, and the remission of sins is described; and through the jubilee the rest to come. But through Pentecost, in the coming of the Holy Spirit, the sevenfold grace is expressed.

*Who taught.* Because out of either people he chose rulers of the Church, who, enlightened by spiritual grace and fully taught, might teach by their own example the remission of sins, and the life of eternal salvation, and the perpetual blessedness that is to be sought after.

VERS. 12.-- *Holocausts.* [n: (RAB.)] A holocaust is called a thing wholly burnt, this is consumed upon the altar, when in the heart of each of the elect who has vowed his whole self, namely in flesh and in heart, to God, a good work is kindled by the burning fire of charity.

[0678A]VERS. 14.--According to the fitness of each season he disposes all things in the Church, that each order, having discharged its own office, may worthily minister

VERS. 17.-- *In Asiongaber.* It is said to be an island not far from Ahila in the Red Sea, where the fleet of Josaphat perished.

[n: (RAB.)] The fleet which Solomon made, etc., *as far as* they find through the grace of the Holy Spirit, and, ascribing divine things to wisdom and to counsel, they attribute him

VERS. 18.-- *In Ophir.* The name of the province Ophir, called from one of the later descendants of Heber, from whose stock those that came, Josephus relates, dwelt from the river Cophene as far as the region of India which is called Geria.

## CHAPTER IX.

[0678B]VERS. 1.-- *The queen also. [n: (RAB. in Paral., tom. III.)]* The queen of the south, who was stirred up from the uttermost ends and came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, prefigured the Church of the gentiles that was to come to Christ: who, clothed about with variety in a gilded vesture, forgetting her people and the house of her father, was of a barbarian nation, not in mind, because she desired to become a fellow-citizen of the saints, whence: *The queen of the south shall rise up unto judgment with this generation [n: (Matth. XII)]*.

VERS. 3.-- *Which after she had seen,* etc. These things agree with the Church, who, when the miracles of Christ had been heard, was stirred up to seek him. But after she came to him through baptism and faith, having considered the testimonies of Scripture, she acknowledged the presence of the Godhead, and what she had heard of him before seemed little to her in [0678C] comparison with the grace received. Whence also, marvelling, she breaks forth into his praise, saying: *Blessed are thy men,* etc.

VERS. 12.-- *Of the woods.* Christ sets precious woods, that is, holy teachers, whose greenness of faith never withers, nor do the leaves of their words fall away, but they render the fruit of good works in their seasons: he sets them for the fortification of the house of the Lord and of the royal house, that is, for the strengthening of the Church, and that, fenced about on every side by their doctrines and examples, she may not feel ruin. These are said to have been fashioned as harps and lyres for praising the Lord, because all things whatsoever they shall do shall prosper, and they proclaim the praise of the Lord in prosperity and in adversity with heart and mouth and work, and do all things unto the glory of God, and all the day and the night they cease not to praise the name of the Lord.

[0678D]VERS. 13.-- *Six hundred.* The senary multiplied by the senary makes sixty. The centenary also, drawn out six times, yields a hundred and six. The denary signifies the perfection of the commandments, the centenary the recompense of eternal blessedness. For the king desires our perfection, that he may have those to whom he may render a perfect wage, whence: *Be ye perfect as also your heavenly Father is perfect. If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments [n: (Matth. V, XIX)]*. And after a little. *If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all things that thou hast,* etc., and *every one that shall leave house,* etc., *shall receive a hundredfold and shall possess life everlasting.*

*And all the kings of Arabia.* Divers nations and traders and all the kings of Arabia [0679A] and the satraps of the lands offer to Solomon gold and silver: because every nation and every person, striving as they are able, offers to our peaceable one the gift of right faith, purity of understanding, the fulness of holy confession, the splendour of eloquence, whence: *The kings of Tharsis and the islands shall offer a gift,* etc. *And all kings shall adore him, all nations shall serve him [n: (Psal. LXXI)]*.

VERS. 15.-- *He made therefore.* Because the fathers of both Testaments, perfect in teaching and in working, whatsoever they taught by word they proved by work.

*Golden spears.* This is the armour of God, wherewith we resist against the wiles of the devil: this the holy preachers have, who guard the house of God, and keep watch at its door, lest the ancient enemy should enter in, whence: *The bed of Solomon sixty [0679B] valiant men encompass [n: (Prov. III)]*.

VERS. 16.-- *Three hundred also.* It signifies perfect faith in the confession of the holy Trinity. Fitly do the guardians of the house of God bear golden spears and shields: because the preachers, who are the guardians of the Church, shining with the brightness of wisdom, pierce their enemies through with the javelins of words, and with the shield of faith quench the most wicked fiery darts.

*Six little arms also.* [var: Vulg. 2Par 9:18 *Sex quoque gradus … et brachiola duo altrinsecus*, "six steps … and two little arms on either side"] In the senary is the perfection of good works. For in six days God made the world, and the senary is the first perfect number. And by good and perfect works there is an ascent to heaven.

*A golden footstool.* The saints, shining with the splendour of virtues, in whom God dwells. There may also be noted [0679C] by the footstool those who are weak in the body of Christ, as penitents, or those who shall be converted last, namely toward the end of the world, who nevertheless are golden, baked and proved by the fire of the tribulations of that time.

*Standing beside the little arms: but also other twelve little lions,* etc. Because the holy Fathers, whatsoever of good they did in the Gospel, ascribed it not to themselves but to God, whence: *Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to thy name give glory [n: (Psal. CXIII)]*.

*The little arms,* etc., in Kings thus: *And two hands on this side and on that holding the seat [n: (III Reg. X)]*. These are the consolations of divine grace, which carry the Church forward to the heavenly kingdom. Or this is designated by the binary, [0679D] because in both Testaments this above all is commended, that nothing of good can be perfected except by divine help. Whence: *Without me you can do nothing [n: (Joan. V)]*.

VERS. 19.-- *Six steps.* Because by teaching and by example they strive, lest the labour of the unwise should waver in working, but should stoutly keep uprightness in the advance of the virtues.

*There was not such a throne,* etc. Because of the Church it is written: *Strength and beauty are her clothing,* etc. [n: (III Reg. X.)] And: *Many daughters have gathered together riches: thou hast surpassed them all [n: (Prov. XXXI)]*.

VERS. 20.-- *All things also.* The souls of the saints, which serve the will of God, shining with the splendour of wisdom and of charity, contain the drink of living water, [0680A] *which becomes in them a fountain of water springing up into life everlasting [n: (Joan. IV)]*.

*Silver.* The word of God is not in speech, but in power, as in the preaching of the Gospel; not in the persuasive words of human wisdom, but in the showing of the spirit and of power.

VERS. 21.-- *For the ships of the king went to Tharsis,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] Christ sends into the world the apostles, the teachers of the Gospel, whom he chose from among the Jews, together with the preachers chosen from among the gentiles, of a threefold confession but of one faith, that in them that believe they may bring to him the gold of wisdom, the silver of eloquence, and the ivory of chastity. But the ape is a clever animal, and given to imitating man, and can signify the philosophers, who sometimes change the meanings of true wisdom, [0680B] and expound the acts of the moral life in their disciplines. The peacock, which displays its praised feathers, signifies those who for the praises of men make a show of the appearances of divers virtues; but being instructed by the teaching of the preachers they learn to do good with a view to God alone, and are fitted for the delights of the eternal king.

VERS. 25.-- *Forty.* The quadragenary signifies the times of the ancient law. For Moses, being about to receive the law, fasted forty days, and the people instructed by him went about the desert for forty years. But the senary signifies the present time, in which the apostolic teaching nourishes the people of the New Testament. Rightly therefore are the horses of Solomon placed in the stables numbered by the quadragenary, because through the hardness of the old law the insolence of the former [0680C] people was restrained. But the duodenary signifies the present time, in which the apostolic authority nourishes the people of the gentiles with the teaching of the New Testament.

*In Jerusalem.* In the vision of peace. The distance of places shows the distinction of affections. For they who are in the cities of the chariots signify those who are instructed in the divers disciplines of the church by spiritual masters. But others, already instructed, being fitted for the use of the heavenly king, are worthy to have his presence. Whence: *The chariot of God with ten thousands,* etc. [n: (Psal. LXXVI.)] And elsewhere: *Ascending upon thy horses, and thy cavalry is health [n: (Rabac. III)]*. [var: Vulg. Hab 3:8 *et quadrigae tuae salvatio*, "and thy chariots salvation"]

*Of the Philistines.* Of them that fall doubly. For Philitshiim is interpreted a double ruin. This comes to pass when, through the remission of sins, the grace of power overflows from its beginning in the [0680D] Jordan of baptism even from the conversion of all nations to the faith of Christ, so that where there was a flowing away of carnal desires, there the seed of virtues may be established; and where the idolatry and the shameful converse of the peoples was a double ruin, there through the confession of right faith and the worship of piety the life of the faithful may rise to the heavenly kingdom. For his power reaches even to the borders of Egypt, that is, to the darkened minds of unbelievers, which he fills with the light of faith; whence: *Before him the Ethiopians shall fall down,* etc.

VERS. 27.-- *And so great an abundance.* The true Solomon affords in the Church an abundance of silver as of stones, when he turns the senseless hearts of the gentiles, which stones they worshipped in place of God, to the understanding of the true God, to the meditation of the law, [0681A] and to the preaching of the Gospel. Of whom it is said: *They that make them become like unto them,* etc. [n: (Psal. CXIII)]. And elsewhere: *God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham [n: (Matth. III)]*. He affords also a multitude of cedars as of sycamores, because the barrenness of the gentiles, who would not raise themselves on high, he advanced to the fruitfulness of good works and of virtues.

VERS. 27.-- *And of cedars.* The cedar is by nature incorruptible, pleasant in odour, bright in appearance, which, being kindled, by its brightness puts serpents to flight and destroys them.

*But the rest.* Which he did after he transgressed the law of God, when foreign wives drew him even to idolatry: many indeed, like Solomon, begin well and end ill, and no man ought to be called blessed before his death and his last funeral rites.

## CHAPTER X.

[0681B]

VERS. 8.-- *He forsook the counsel of the old men,* etc. [n: (HIERON.)] The Hebrews say that these were Banaias the son of Joiada and Jahihel the son of Achamoni, who is also called Chilla: whose counsel being forsaken, Roboam began to treat with young men, that is, with Aduram, who in what follows is said to have been stoned, and with such as he. But we often call a man young not in age, but in mind. For Roboam was young not in age, but in understanding: who began to reign in the forty-first year of his age.

VERS. 13.-- *And the king answered,* etc. He signifies here the evil rulers in the Church, who, given over to earthly desires, neglect the care of their subjects, and rejoice in the multitude of those who are obsequious to them. And Roboam is interpreted the breadth of the people. These are they who enter the broad [0681C] way which leads to death, not the narrow, which leads to life; and, forsaking the counsel of the fathers whose words and deeds tend to the height of perfection, they choose to obey the counsel of young men, who burden them with praises and flatteries, who are blind and leaders of the blind, etc., whence: *Woe to thee, O land, whose king is a child,* etc. [n: (Eccl. X.)]

## CHAPTER XI.

VERS. 21.-- *He loved,* etc. Now he had eighteen wives joined to him by law, and thirty concubines. And there were born to him eighteen sons, and sixty daughters.

## CHAPTER XII.

VERS. 2.-- *And in the fifth year of the reign of Roboam he went up.* [n: (RAB.)] Evil rulers through their negligence provoke [0681D] the prince of darkness into the Church, who carries off the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king, when he withdraws the knowledge of the Scriptures and the works of the virtues from the incautious and the slothful.

VERS. 9.-- *Sesac the king.* The fine linen of haircloth, or the joy of haircloth. Fine linen indeed signifies subtlety: haircloth, which is made of the hairs of goats, sins. In the fine linen of haircloth, therefore, is the craftiness of diabolical fraud in the persuasion to sin. Sesac carries off the riches of Jerusalem, when the devil, who craftily deceives and rejoices in the multitude of sinners, despoils churchmen of spiritual knowledge and of the work of virtue: and those who seemed comely in the Church, being despoiled, he plunges with himself into the abyss of perdition.

*The shields.* Solomon made golden shields, and delivered them to the keepers [0682A] of his house, when Christ committed spiritual knowledge through the two Testaments to the teachers of the Church for the protection of the people. This the ancient enemy through carelessness draws back again. For when they are intent upon earthly things, and care less for the heavenly, he leaves them stripped of their former office and of knowledge, as men despoiled of their riches in their own house. But such men, when they see themselves deprived of spiritual understanding, seek by eloquence an abundance of words, the sonorousness whereof they set against their enemies on behalf of their subjects as though it were the firmness of brazen shields. But by how much brass is baser than gold, by so much is eloquence inferior to the fruit of true wisdom. Whence: *Where there are very many words, there is frequently want [n: (Prov. XIV)]*.

VERS. 15.-- *Of Semeias.* Who above reproved Roboam and the sons [0682B] of Juda for their sins.

*Addo.* Who is also Abdo, this is he who was sent by the Lord into Samaria to reprove Jeroboam for the altar which he had made, who was slain on the way, because, seduced by a false prophet against the commandment of the Lord, he ate there.

## CHAPTER XIII.

VERS. 4.-- *Semeron.* [n: (RAB. ex Hieron.)] It is a city which Jesus took, the king of it being slain, which they say is now called Sebaste, a town of Palestine, where the relics of John the Baptist were laid. But we read in Kings that Amri king of Israel bought the mountain Semeron from a certain Semer, and built a city on the top of it, which from the name of its lord, namely Semer, he called Semeron.

[0682C]VERS. 19.-- *Bethel.* [n: (RAB.)] A city at the next milestone from Elia, on the right hand as men go to Neopolis, which formerly was called Luza, that is Amigdalon, and it fell to the lot of Benjamin beside Bethan and Hai, which Jesus stormed, the king of it being slain.

*Ephron.* It is a city in the tribe of Juda. Whence also a very large village to the north is to this day called Ephrea, at the twentieth milestone from Elia.

VERS. 20.-- *In the days.* Not of Jeroboam, in whose twentieth year, according to the book of Kings, Asa the son of Abia reigned over Juda and Jerusalem, but of Abia, who, Bethel being received, kept the idols for Israel unto a stumbling-block, as the Hebrews assert.

## CHAPTER XIV.

VERS. 2.-- *He went out,* etc. When Azarias had reigned ten [0682D] years, Zareas king of Ethiopia moved his camp against him with an exceeding great army, leading ninety thousand foot indeed, and ten thousand horse, and three hundred chariots. The camp being pitched against him, when Asa had seen the multitude of the Ethiopians, he begged victory of God with a great cry, and that he himself might destroy so many thousands of men. For he said that trust was to be placed in no other than in him who was able to show even a few stronger than many, and to make the weak prevail over the strongest.

## CHAPTER XV.

VERS. 15.-- *And Azarias,* etc. Azarias the prophet, meeting them, commanded that they should stay the step of their journey a little from the way, and then he began to say to them [0683A] that that victory had been granted them by God, for that they had kept themselves just and holy, and had done all things by the will of God. And he said that they, remaining in his commandments, would prevail over their enemies, and would have by divine power happiness and prosperity; but forsaking religion, would come into the contrary, and that a time would come in which no true prophet would be found among that people, nor priest, for which cause both the cities were to be overthrown, and the nation to be scattered over all the earth, and that they would have a miserable and needy life.

## CHAPTER XVI.

VERS. 14.-- *With spices,* etc.--This is the vain boasting of fame, which philosophers or poets bestow after the death of their kings, or even false Christians upon their dying [0683B] masters, and these things they cast into the fire: because all those things are shown to be liable to the fires of hell, which they have here brought forth without profit and without the edification of the brethren.

*They burnt over him,* etc. Note that for kings, as the Hebrews hand down, burnings of precious garments together with spices were made for reverence' sake. Whence elsewhere: *According to the burnings of thy forefathers shall they do to thee.* For it was the custom among the ancients that the precious ornaments of kings should be burned upon a pyre after their death in place of funeral rites, but without the bodies.

## CHAPTER XVII.

VERS. 3.-- *He walked in the ways of David,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] He shows that he was an executor of the divine commandments, as David was, before he sinned against the wife [0683C] of Urias, the satisfaction for which sin gained him an everlasting memory.

VERS. 5.-- *All Juda gave gifts to Josaphat.* Here he signifies the faithful of the gentiles, who, forsaking the error of their fathers, come together to Christ, washed by baptism and anointed with chrism, receiving from Christ the Christian name and royal dignity. Whence: *You are a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood,* etc. [n: (I Petr. II.)] For in the time of Josaphat, the dowry of the Lord, or he who is a dowry, or he who is endowed, and because the Church of the gentiles, purchased by the blood of Christ, given by the pledge of the Holy Spirit, merited the fellowship of the heavenly Bridegroom and the society of the kingdom. To whom infinite riches have been made when divers nations believe, and in the acquisition of divers virtues.

[0683D]VERS. 10.-- *Therefore there was a fear,* etc. For the virtues which are wrought in the Church, the boldness of the gentiles is taken away, and they are stirred up to bring to Christ the gifts of faith and the tribute of good work, and of pious confession, and the flocks of simplicity.

## CHAPTER XVIII.

VERS. 2.-- *And he went down,* etc. These are the heresiarchs who lead the crowd of the lost through the by-ways of errors, and plunge them into the precipice of death. Josaphat was joined to Achab by affinity, and went down to him into Samaria to his help against his enemies: and he signifies those who from among catholics incline themselves to the friendship of heretics: who, although they depart not from the path of right faith, nevertheless do not shun the fellowship and communion [0684A] of them that err. Against whom it is said: *A man that is a heretic, after the first and second correction, avoid [n: (Tit. III)]*. Whence Josaphat is reproved by Jehu the seer, the son of Anani, that prophet namely who had rebuked Asa, because he had given help to the impious, and was joined in friendship with those who hate the Lord.

[n: (GREG., lib. II Moral., cap. 15, tom. I.)] The throne of the Lord, the angelic powers, etc., *as far as* and by so much the more hardly would he be found unto punishment, by how much the more securely he was living in guilt.

## CHAPTER XIX.

VERS. 10.-- *Every cause that shall come to you,* etc. [n: (AUG., lib. IV de Civ., cap. 3.)] Justice being removed, what are kingdoms but great robberies? because even robberies themselves, what are they but little kingdoms?

## CHAPTER XX.

[0684B]VERS. 1.-- *Of the Ammonites.* He signifies the Idumaeans, but the writer of the history chose rather to note what was being done by the name of their associates, than to publish abroad the impiety of the shameless.

VERS. 2.-- *From these places,* etc. He signifies those places which are beyond the Sea of Salt, which is otherwise named the Asphaltite lake or the Dead Sea.

*Engaddi.* It is called so to this day, a very large village of the Jews beside the Dead Sea, whence comes balsam: which Solomon calls the vineyards of Engaddi.

VERS. 16.-- *For they shall go up by the ascent named Sis,* etc. [n: (RAB. in Paral., ex Hieron.)] Which is also Jeruel according to the Hebrews. For they say that Sis, etc., *as far as* a terror was struck into the strangers on every side.

Mystically, the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Idumaeans signify the pagans, [0684C] the Jews, and the heretics, who stir up war against the faithful without cause, and strive to take away the Christian religion. But Josaphat, that is, the people of Christ, attacks them not with bodily arms, but with spiritual, seeking the help from above with the inmost devotion of the heart.

VERS. 25.-- *Josaphat therefore came,* etc. The holy teachers with the crowd of the faithful gather from the spoils of their enemies whatsoever in Physics, Ethics and Logic they have believed to be profitable in reading and in writing and in teaching, and turn it, through faith in the holy Trinity, to the use of the whole Church, so that what those men possessed unjustly and unprofitably, the faithful, possessing it profitably, may possess unto the salvation of souls.

VERS. 26.-- *The valley of blessing.* The humility of the Church, [0684D] where praises are worthily rendered to God. And he who, instructed in the teaching of the four Gospels, comes through the faith of baptism to the unity of the Church, praising there duly and conversing worthily with God, shall enter into the vision of perpetual peace with everlasting praise and gladness.

## CHAPTER XXI.

VERS. 2.-- *All these, the sons of Josaphat,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] Imitators of his works, while their brother Joram was ever slipping into worse things, whence Joram himself is read to have slain them together with the princes of Israel.

VERS. 14.-- *Behold the Lord will strike thee,* etc. By the Philistines and the Arabians who laid waste his land, and plundered the substance and the sons and likewise the wives of Joram, who is interpreted, Who is high: who from [0685A] a religious father turned aside to perfidy, and made the sons of Juda to commit fornication: he signifies those who, imbued with faith and regenerated by baptism, forsake the truth of faith, following the error of heretics, and perverting others with themselves. Whence Elias, that is, the prophetic word, refutes them: because all the authority of the divine books reproves such men, and deservedly rebukes them for their perversity with the gravest protestations.

VERS. 20.-- *And he reigned eight years,* etc. Concerning Joram, that he reigned eight years and lived forty; but that his son Ochozias, when he had begun to reign, was forty-two years old, and if this is so, he begot a son two years before his father himself was born. But the Hebrews say of Joram, who is described to have lived forty years and to have reigned eight years, [0685B] that he lived forty years and reigned twenty and eight. For the eight years which are attributed to him in the kingdom are those in which he reigned before he slew his brethren, while he still lived innocently. But the remaining twenty years, in which he reigned afterwards, are for this reason not numbered, because he lived in sickness and tribulation: and therefore they are attributed to his son, who is reported according to the book of Kings to be not more than twenty-two years old, lest the years remaining over from the sum of the numbers should make an error in the reckoning of the times.

## CHAPTER XXII.

VERS. 6.-- *Azarias the son of Joram,* etc. [var: Vulg. 2Par 22:6 *Ochozias filius Joram*, "Ochozias the son of Joram"] [n: (RAB., ex Hieron.)] Who above is *Ochozias,* that is, laying hold of the Lord: but Azarias, the help of the Lord. And therefore [0685C] according to the Hebrews his name is changed for the better: because according to the commandment of the Lord he visited the sick man.

VERS. 7.-- *Against Jehu,* etc. Jehu signifies the sovereignty of the gentiles, which Christ destined against the sacrilegious city, which slew the prophets and the Lord of the prophets, and persecuted the apostles; that he might punish it with a worthy vengeance, and destroy the shrine of the priests after the coming of Christ, and overthrow the temple: and cast down the impious synagogue, thirsting for their blood, from the height of the kingdom as another Jezabel, and slay its own rulers.

VERS. 10.-- *For indeed Athalia,* etc. Athalia, who endeavoured to extinguish the seed of David and to blot out the royal stock, signifies the impiety of the Synagogue, which through the wickedness of its mind lies in wait for the seed of Christ, raging with implacable [0685D] hatred, which once seemed to reign when, being a thing of time, she observed the ceremonies of the law. Athalia is interpreted the temporal one of the Lord, but by the strenuousness of Josabeth (who is interpreted the fulness of the Lord, that is, of the Church in which are the true delights) Joas is preserved, who is interpreted the memory of the Lord, that is, Christ, in whom is the memory of the name of the Lord: lest he should be slain in the saints through the cruelty of her that raged, but should be nourished in the house of Joiada the high priest, who is interpreted the beloved of the Lord, that is, Christ, of whom the Father saith: *This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased [n: (Matth. XVII)]*. Whose house is the Church, where, abiding in the faith of the elect, he daily makes increase of his body, that in the time of judgment he may lift up the sceptre of the kingdom and his power against those who were pressing him down.

## CHAPTER XXIII.

[0686A]

VERS. 13.-- *Upon the step.* [n: (RAB.)] The pillar, namely, and the base, which Solomon had prepared and set in the midst of the basilica, having five cubits of length, and five of breadth, and three in height.

VERS. 16.-- *And Joiada made a covenant.* Joiada is interpreted knowing the Lord, or loving him: because he taught the sons of Israel to know the Lord. He made a covenant therefore between the Lord and the people and the king, that they should obey the Lord, namely, and his law. He made one also between the king and the people, that the people should deal faithfully toward the king, and the king should rule the people justly according to the teaching of the priests and Levites, whose office it was to make known the commandments of the Lord.

## CHAPTER XXIV.

[0686B]VERS. 4.-- *After which it pleased Joas,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] King Joas reproves the priests, etc., *as far as* lest through the negligence of teachers the multitude of hearers should perish.

VERS. 7.-- *And her sons,* etc. Not that she then had sons, because, Ochozias being dead, in that he had had no son, Athalia endeavoured to slay all the royal seed, but he calls her sons the priests of the idols, who had despoiled the temple, and had adorned their idols out of its ornaments, for often imitators are called sons.

VERS. 12.-- *But they hired,* etc. This the apostles do, when through the disciples subject to them they scattered the seeds of the divine word throughout the world, that they might set over their hearers workmen fit for the will of God: whereof some fashion timbers, when they prepare themselves and those obedient to them [0686C] as fruitful timbers in the house of God. Others made the roofs sound, when they built up again those things which had been broken by heresy or by schisms. Others hew stones, when they stoutly rebuke the hard of heart and the unbelieving. Others work the metals of iron and of brass, when they demand from each one the strength of faith and the confession of catholic truth, that the house of God may be filled, according to that word. *To every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the giving of Christ [n: (Ephes. IV)]*.

VERS. 14.-- *The remaining part of the money,* etc. That seems contrary which is read in the book of Kings: *But there were not made of the same money the water-pots of the temple and the flesh-hooks [n: (IV Reg. XII)]*. But it is not said here that of that same money which was offered by the people in the temple of the Lord for the repairing of the house of God there were made [0686D] the sacred vessels for the ministry of the temple and for holocausts, but of the remaining part of the money, that is, of that which had been contributed by other donations. For it could come to pass that moneys offered at divers times should furnish the material for divers workmanships, just as one teaching is that by which the untaught are imbued unto faith, and another that by which the perfect are instructed unto fulness.

VERS. 18.-- *And there was wrath.* [n: (RAB., ex Hieron.)] The Hebrews hand down that the princes of Juda adored the king as God, and that he willingly received it: whence he offended the Lord exceedingly, and suddenly experienced the wrath which he deserved. For this fault also Herod is read in the Acts of the apostles to have been struck by an angel.

VERS. 25.-- *Of Zacharias the son of Joiada,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] The Lord in the Gospel, making mention of Zacharias slain between the temple and [0687A] the altar, etc., *as far as* which they call Siloe, pointing to the red rocks they think them to be polluted with the blood of Zacharias.

VERS. 26.-- *And they lay in wait,* etc. The Hebrews assert that the Ammonites and the Moabites lay in wait for king Joas because of the unjust slaying of Zacharias, to aggravate the malice of the Israelites, who would not avenge the priest of God, whom the sons of strangers avenged.

## CHAPTER XXV.

VERS. 11.-- *Into the valley of Salt,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] Where salt was made, either from the hay of the brackish ground, which in many places is cut and dried and burned, or from the salt waters of wells heated and brought by boiling to the firmness of salt. Or otherwise, where Joab also is read to have slain twelve thousand of the Idumaeans. But for the valley of Salt [0687B] the old edition set Gemel, as though it were the name of the region.

VERS. 16.-- *I know, saith he, that the Lord hath thought,* etc. Who wills that no man perish, but condemns by a just judgment him who perseveres in sin. Therefore Amasias perished for this cause, that being admonished by the prophet to do penance, he obeyed not, but remained so unto the end.

VERS. 18.-- *The thistle which,* etc. He hints at this likeness: that Amasias, sprung of a most noble birth, coming of the stock of David, on account of the foulness of idolatry passing his life so and made vile, considers not his own measure, but lifts himself up beyond measure with the arrogance of pride.

VERS. 21.-- *Bethsames.* [n: (RAB.)] In Kings Bethsames is called a town of Juda: because it belongs to the kingdom of Juda, that is, to the two tribes over which the house of [0687C] David ruled; but according to the situation of the places it belongs to the tribe of Benjamin.

VERS. 24.-- *And with Obededom,* etc. Because he took away not only the vessels which he found in the house of God, but also those which the doorkeepers and the guards of the temple watched over. But in Kings it is read that David chose from the sons of Obededom seventy-two to minister in the house of God, and for the guard of the temple.

VERS. 27.-- *Who after he departed.* From the time that he heard not the counsel of the prophet, nor would be converted to the Lord, a conspiracy was prepared and deferred, until it should come to its consummation.

## CHAPTER XXVI.

VERS. 3.-- *Ozias when he had begun to reign.* Who is also [0687D] Azarias. Ozias is interpreted the strength of the Lord. Azarias, the help of the Lord, because as long as he did rightly, aided by divine help he waged very many wars happily, and triumphed over his enemies. But before he attempted unlawful things through pride, being struck with leprosy he darkened the dignity of his name and of his honour, shut out from the people until the day of his death.

VERS. 9.-- *Upon the gate of the valley.* [n: (RAB.)] This is the gate of Ephraim, etc., *as far as* but concerning this gate and the other gates of Jerusalem we have spoken abundantly in Esdras, following Bede.

VERS. 16.-- *But when he was strengthened,* etc. Ozias was at the first just, and did what was right in the sight of the Lord: whence he both conquered his enemies, and had many prophets in his reign. Hence, as long as Zacharias the priest, surnamed the understanding, lived, Ozias pleased God, serving in the temple with [0688A] all reverence. But after Zacharias died, wishing to offer the gifts by himself, he invaded the dignity of the priesthood not so much piously as boldly, nor did he obey the Levites and the priests who cried out against him: whence he was struck with leprosy in the forehead, which the priest covered with a plate of gold, which in Ezechiel the Lord commands to be signed with the impress of the letter Thau.

*And having entered the temple of the Lord,* because, clothed in the priestly stole, at the approach of a solemn festival he entered into the temple to the golden altar, about to offer incense, according to Josephus. Whence before the city, in the place which is called Eroge, the middle part of the mountain toward the west was rent, and going forward by its own rolling for four stadia it stood still against the eastern mountain, so that it closed the ways and overwhelmed the royal cities. The Hebrews will have it [0688B] that this happened in the twenty-fifth year of Ozias, whose remaining years are twenty-seven.

Ozias reigned fifty-two years, at which time Amulcus among the Latins and Agamestor among the Athenians were ruling, and when he was dead Isaias saw the vision, as he himself testifies, namely at that time in which Romulus the founder of the Roman empire was born.

VERS. 23.-- *In the field of the royal sepulchres.* Not in the royal burial-places, not in the city of David. For heretics and schismatics are unworthy of the society and communion of the holy Church, nor is their memory held among catholics: because, stained with errors and squalid with vices, they are separated from their fellowship.

## CHAPTER XXVII.

VERS. 1.-- *Joatham was five and twenty years old,* [0688C] etc. At the beginning and at the end he numbers the years of Joatham, because as he began with justice, so he persevered unto the end. Whence the times of his life are proclaimed as worthy of praise.

VERS. 3.-- *He himself built the gate,* etc. Which in the Acts of the apostles is called Beautiful, and which according to the Hebrews and by them is called even to this day the gate of Joatham (because he himself built it).

*Ophel.* It was a tower not far from the temple, of wonderful height. Whence also it received the name Ophel, that is, of darkness or of cloud. But where it is written in Micheas: *And the tower of the flock, cloudy, of the daughter of Sion [n: (Mich. IV, 8)]*: in the Hebrew it has, *the tower Ophel.* The tower Ophel signifies the eminence of Scripture, which, founded upon history, buries the head of its spiritual sense among the clouds, while it hides the greatness of knowledge [0688D] from the eyes of men. Whence: *He made darkness his covert [n: (Psal. XVII)]*. Joatham, whose life is praised, signifies Christ, of whom it is said: *Great is the Lord and exceedingly to be praised [n: (Ibid., XLVII)]*, etc. For Joatham is interpreted consummated or perfect, and the Apostle says of Christ: *And being consummated, he became to all that obey him the cause of eternal salvation,* etc. [n: (Hebr. V)]. He himself built the high gate of the house of the Lord, and wrought the mystery of his incarnation with wonderful power, who says of himself: *I am the door. By me if any man enter in, he shall be saved [n: (Joan. X)]*. This gate was called high, of which the Psalmist says: *The Lord is high above all nations [n: (Psal. CXII)]*, etc.

## CHAPTER XXVIII.

[0689A]

VERS. 3.-- *In the valley of Benennom.* [n: (RAB.)] This is the valley of Benennom, etc., *as far as* for all of them that commit adultery, their hearts are as an oven.

## CHAPTER XXIX.

VERS. 3.-- *In that same year,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] Not otherwise would he imitate David his father, who from infancy, being given to God, magnified the worship of God in the beginning of his reign.

But morally he admonishes the rulers of the Church, that they be not slothful in the office committed to them, but do all things diligently.

Mystically Ezechias, who not only performed the work of God strenuously by himself or by his own men, but rather stirred up others by messengers to a like zeal, signifies Christ, [0689B] which the interpretation of his name also testifies. For Ezechias is laying hold of the Lord, or the strength of the Lord. But Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, who washed away by his blood all the transgressions of the fathers which had been under the law, and plainly restored the worship of piety in the Church. He himself sent legates to call together the nations unto the faith. First the prophets, then the apostles, and their successors: he appointed the pasch to be celebrated in the second month; because, the shadow of the law ceasing, he taught that the true pasch was to be kept, of which Paul says: *For Christ our pasch is sacrificed [n: (I Cor. V)]*.

VERS. 6.-- *Our fathers have sinned,* etc. [n: (HIERON., quaest. in Paral., tom. III.)] This is written fully, etc., *as far as* and they adored toward the rising of the sun.

## CHAPTER XXX.

[0689C]VERS. 1.-- *He sent also,* etc. [n: (HIERON.)] When he had publicly sent messengers to all Israel, he sent secretly to Manasses and Ephraim, to those whom he knew could be converted by letters. For they were the prouder because of the royal dignity which was in the house of Ephraim.

## CHAPTER XXXI.

VERS. 1.-- *They broke the images,* etc. After the coming of the Saviour, not only in Jerusalem and in Juda, but in all the nations of the world idolatry was destroyed, and the pride of the devil fell. And as the number of the faithful increases, the worship of demons decreases, until at the end of the world the last death be overwhelmed, and the Lord alone shall reign in that day.

## CHAPTER XXXII.

[0689D]VERS. 4.-- *They stopped up all the fountains.* For those fighting against pagans and heretics, diligent caution must be used, and the mysteries must be veiled, whence: *Give not that which is holy to dogs, neither cast pearls before swine.*

VERS. 5.-- *He built.* [n: (RAB. in Paral. )] Christ built the Church which is the city of God, etc., *as far as* and he appointed teachers, the leaders of spiritual wars.

## CHAPTER XXXIII.

VERS. 12.-- *And he did penance exceedingly before the God of his fathers.* [n: (RAB.)] The penance of Manasses being heard, no man ought to despair of the mercy of God, but rather to presume of pardon through penance.

## CHAPTER XXXIV.

[0690A]

VERS. 5.-- *The bones moreover.* [n: (RAB.)] Therefore he burned the priests upon the altars of the idols, that he might show that the sacrifices of those men were deadly, who not only offered victims of cattle to demons, but delivered up even themselves to idolatry. Here he signifies all those who, made over to the service of the devil, have ended a sacrilegious life in time, as men to be consumed with eternal torments according to the desert of each.

VERS. 22.-- *To Olda the prophetess,* etc. [n: (HIERON.)] Olda was the wife of Sellum the uncle of the father of Jeremias, and the father of Ananeel. She dwelt in the second. It was a place of Jerusalem outside the wall of the city and the outer wall, which was called the second: of which mention is made in the prophet Sophonias.

## CHAPTER XXXV.

[0690B]

VERS. 1.-- *And Josias made in Jerusalem,* etc. [n: (RAB.)] We are admonished to purge first the ground of our heart from all vices, and so to celebrate the pasch to the Lord, *not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness: but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth [n: (I Cor. V)]*. But mystically Josias, that is, the strength of the Lord, signifies Christ, of whom it is read: *The Lord strong and mighty: the Lord mighty in battle [n: (Psal. XXIII)]*. Josias is also interpreted the salvation of the Lord, and *Christ saves his people from their sins [n: (Matth. I)]*. He it is who with the zeal of God cleanses the land of Juda and Jerusalem from all uncleannesses, who said through the prophet: *The zeal of thy house hath eaten [0690C] me [n: (Psal. LXVIII)]*. Of whom elsewhere: *Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his floor [n: (Matth. III)]*. He celebrates the true phase in the eighteenth year of his reign: because in the eighth age, the general resurrection being granted, he leads his saints with the perfection of good works to the penny of eternal blessedness, all scandals having first been cast out of his kingdom.

VERS. 3.-- *Put the ark in the sanctuary of the temple, which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built.* The Hebrews hand down that the ark was carried out of the temple in the time of Achaz, when idols had been put by him in the temple, and that it was brought over into the house of Sellum the husband of Olda, the uncle of Jeremias. For it could not be together with the idols.

[0690D]VERS. 18.-- *There was no Phase like to this,* etc. Because, the figures being taken away in the day of judgment, the saints shall pass from death to life, from corruption to glory, and in the sight of their Creator in the heavenly Jerusalem they shall rejoice for ever: because the God of gods shall be seen in Sion, because he hath made his mercy wonderful in the fortified city.

VERS. 21.-- *To which God commanded me to go in haste.* Because from the words of Jeremias and of the other prophets he was able to know the will of the Lord, by which judgment was to be passed upon a sinful people. Whence Rabsaces also said of Sennacherib king of the Assyrians: *The Lord commanded me to go up to the land [n: (Psal. LXXXIII)]*, because the prophets had foretold that he would go up, which was by no means hidden from him

VERS. 22.-- *In the field of Mageddo.* The slaying of Josias, [0691A] who was slain by Pharao Nechao in Mageddo, signifies the persecution of the ancient enemy against the preachers, whom he strives to deliver to death and to take away from the Church, that he may the more easily invade and scatter the whole people. For Pharao is interpreted scattering, Nechao striking, Mageddo of temptation. For the devil is permitted to rise up against the saints: and he contends with all his strength for this, that by tempting and striking the flock of God he may first take them away by scattering them, by whose comfort others fight against the enemy.

## CHAPTER XXXVI.

VERS. 4.-- *And he appointed.* Nechao appointed Joakim king, and laid a fine upon the land of a hundred talents of silver: because the devil demanded the weight of service from the people of the lost, [0691B] that both in understanding and in speech they might be ready for his obedience.

*And he turned.* It is to be noted that of the same Joakim the son of Josias it is thus written in Kings: *Joakim slept with his fathers, and Joachin his son reigned in his stead [n: (IV Reg. XXIV)]*. Josephus however says: When the king of Babylon had entered the city, he by no means kept faith, but slew the strongest young men and those comely in beauty together with king Joakim, whom he commanded to be cast forth unburied before the wall. But his son Joachin he appointed king of the whole province. And those who were set in dignities, to the number of three thousand, he led into Babylon, among whom was Ezechiel, still a boy. This end therefore had Joakim the king, who lived ten and thirty years, and reigned [0691C] eleven years. But the successor of the kingdom of Joakim, a king by name Ononimus, reigned three months and ten days. And it is to be known that when once a man has made himself over to any vice, he will be liable to many masters. Whence Joakim, whom Pharao before compelled to pay tribute to himself, him Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon compels to serve three years. Nabuchodonosor signifies the same one that Pharao does; the prince, namely, of confusion and the ruler of these darknesses. And when the devil has compelled anyone to pay him the tribute of sin, he brings him wholly [0692A] into his own dominion, and exacts full service, by persuasion, namely, by delight, by consent, and by thought too, by speech, and by work.

[n: (HIERON., quaest. in Paral., tom. III.)] It is to be known that the name of this Joachin, etc., *as far as* being corrupted by the examples of their superiors they go with them into the prey of the devil.

VERS. 10.-- *But the king.* Sedecias signifies those who undertake the rule among the people of God: for Sedecias is interpreted the just one of the Lord. For they receive the seat of justice for the exercising of the works of justice, they receive the dignity of honour and of office, chiefly because they deserve to be called sons of Josias, that is, of the salvation of the Lord, through the grace of baptism and the anointing of chrism: but degenerating they slip back into the foulness of vices, and turn those [0692B] subject to them [cj: *se*; read *sibi*, "to them"] to impiety, and keep not the faith which they had promised to God, nor observe the covenants of peace with men. Such men the divine law daily, and the miracles of the prophets and of the apostles, admonish to withdraw from their sins and to return to the Lord through penance: but once hardened, they despise the words of salvation, whence God, being angered, sends against them the king of the Chaldeans, that is, the devil with his satellites, that is, the spiritual wickednesses, who, sparing no age, yielding to no dignity, carry over into Babylon, that is, into confusion, whomsoever they take; and they burn the house of the Lord, because they compel the faithful, who are the temple of God, to blaspheme. They destroy the walls of Jerusalem, when they cast down the watches of the shepherds, they burn the towers, when they burn up the prelates through unlawful desires [0692C]: they demolish everything precious, when they reduce to nothing those who applaud themselves upon the prerogative of virtue and of knowledge.

The end of the book of Paralipomenon is like to the beginning of the book of Esdras the priest: whence what we have expounded there, there is no need to repeat here. Concerning Cyrus also, how he signifies Christ, and what things are said of him, and what things are referred to him, we have expounded in Isaias.

[n: (RAB. ex Beda.)] Solomon built the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem in seven years, etc., *as far as* namely, and of the city of God from which they had been cast out, they receive.