title: Liber Leviticus

source_edition: Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 113, coll. 295D–380A

source_text:
Hebraice VAIICRA ( ויקרא ).

## PRAEFATIO.

[0295D]

[n: (ISICHIUS in Levit. )] Liber iste Leviticus dicitur quia scilicet in hoc nomine totius libri argumentum manifestatur. Tribus Levi tabernaculi ministerium sortita est, in quo sacrificia, et primitias, et primogenitorum [0296D] oblationes offerri praeceptum est, quia omnia sacrificia ad Levitas pertinent [n: (Num. XVIII)]. A quibus liber iste congruum sortitus est nomen, qui haec omnia digerit per ordinem.

Latine *Offertorius* vel *sacrificativus* dicitur, quia [0297A] de sacrificiis et caeremoniis agit. Hic bene post Exodum ponitur: in eo enim tabernaculum ordinatur, in hoc ea continentur quae Dominus Moysi de tabernaculo loquebatur, et tabernaculi caeremoniae.

Si quis autem quaerat quare libri legis divisi sunt, cum historia tempore indivisa sit, respondendum est: ut fastidium scilicet lectori auferret librorum divisio, sicut et viae spatia dividit viator, ut tanquam divisus minuatur labor.

Rabanus ab Isichio Hierosolymorum episcopo, qui Leviticum satis plene exposuit, multa collegit, et ab aliis quoque Patribus, qui ejus aliquas sententias exposuerunt, quaedam operi suo apposuit, et ex confuso sententiarum ordine quemdam expositionis ordinem multorum doctorum sententias alternando [0297B] composuit.

[n: (ISICHIUS in Levit. )] Prae omnibus necesse est interpretationem legis ad anagogen trahi, et spiritualem intelligentiam in littera prescrutari. Hoc enim non contradicit legi, sed eam defendit. Spiritualem quippe intellectum diligenter esse inquirendum etiam ipse Christus ostendit, qui in parabolis suis [n: (Matth. XIII)] agrum, mundum; agricolam seminantem semen bonum, justos; zizania, malignos; messores quoque, angelos; et inimicum superseminantem, diabolum appellavit. Quis ergo vetat bovem eum qui operatur justitiam, appellare; sicut ovem, simplicem; et innocentem, columbam: et turturem sublimius agentes et contemplationi vacantes? Nunquid non Ezechiel Hierusalem leaenam dixit: et catulum ejus, [0297C] Eliachim, qui ductus est in Aegyptum, et alium catulum Joachim in Babylonem ductum? [n: (Ezech. XIX.)] Non solum quae in parabolis dicta sunt, sed et quae secundum historiam sunt, ad sublimiorem ducenda esse intellectum Paulus ostendit, dicens: *Scriptum est quoniam Abraham habuit duos filios,* etc.; post quae addidit: *Quae sunt secundum allegoriam dicta: haec enim sunt duo Testamenta,* etc. [n: (Gal. IV)]. Fortassis autem noxia erit littera spoliata spirituali intelligentia, et variis reprehensionibus obnoxia. Unde per Ezechielem et bonam legem, et non bonam Dominus appellat, dicens: *Dedi eis praecepta mea, et judicia mea ostendi eis, quae faciat homo et vivat in eis.* Et alibi: *Dedi eis mandata non bona, et judicia [0297D] in quibus non vivant.* Patet ergo bona esse et non bona; et in quibus vivant et in quibus non vivant: qui enim custodit sanctum Spiritum, vivit in eis; qui autem secundum carnem, moritur, quia vitam non cognoscit in eis. Deinde legislator non semper, sed certo tempore voluit custodiri legis superficiem, ut reprimeret duram Judaeorum cervicem; unde: *Scio quod populus iste durae cervicis sit [n: (Exod. XXXII)]*; Osee autem vocat Judaeos vitulam consternantem, quae scilicet nullo modo domatur. Et alibi: *Ephraim vitula docta diligere trituram, transivi super pulchritudinem colli ejus [n: (Osee. X)]*; in quo obedientia significatur. Jugum enim legis imposuit, ut humiliati libenter susciperent leve et suave jugum Evangelii [n: (Matth. XII)].

[0298A] [n: (ORIG., homil. 1, in Levit.)] Si secundum quosdam etiam nostrorum simplicem intellectum sequamur, et absque ulla, ut ipsi nos ridere solent, stropha verbi et allegoriae nubilo vocem legislatoris excipiamus, ego ecclesiasticus sub fide Christi vivens, et in medio Ecclesiae positus, ad sacrificandum vitulos vel agnos, et ad offerendam similam cum thure et oleo, divini praecepti auctoritate compellor: ipse ergo Dominus, ipse Spiritus sanctus deprecandus est, ut omnem nebulam peccati quae visum cordis nostri obscurat, auferre dignetur, ut spiritualem intelligentiam intueamur, secundum illud: *Revela oculos meos et considerabo mirabilia,* etc. [n: (Psal. CXVIII)].

[n: (ISID.)] Omnis hostiarum diversitas Christi hostiam praefigurabat. Unde, *veritate oblata, cessavit umbra* [0298B] [n: (I Cor. XV)], verum sacrificium veri et aeterni sacerdotis praefigurans. Ideo autem hostiis animalium propter emundationem oblatis, una vera hostia Christi promittebatur, in qua fieret remissio peccatorum contractorum de carne et sanguine, qui regnum Dei non possidebunt: quia substantia corporalis in coelestem mutabitur qualitatem. Christus in vitulo propter virtutem crucis offerebatur; in agno, propter innocentiam; in ariete, propter principatum; in hirco, propter similitudinem carnis peccati; in turture et columba, quia Deus et homo. Mediator enim Dei et hominum in duarum substantiarum conjunctione monstrabatur; in similaginis conspersione, credentium per aquam baptismi collectam esse Ecclesiam, id est corpus Christi, ostendebatur. Nos autem moraliter [0298C] offerimus vitulum, cum carnis superbiam vincimus; agnum, cum irrationabiles motus corrigimus; haedum, cum lasciviam superamus; columbam, dum simplices sumus; turturem, dum casti sumus, vel dum castitatem servamus; panes azymos, cum non in fermento malitiae, sed in azymis sinceritatis et veritatis epulamur.

[n: (RAB.)] Singula sacrificia, imo singulas pene syllabas, et vestes Aaron, et totum Leviticum ordinem coelestia dicit spirare sacramenta.

Origenes quoque ait: Quia sicut in novissimis diebus Verbum Dei ex Maria virgine carne vestitum processit in mundum; cujus caro ab omnibus videbatur, divinitas paucis et electis cognita tegebatur: sic verbum Dei per prophetas profertur ad homines, [0298D] ibi carnis, hic litterae velamine tectum. Littera tanquam caro aspicitur: spiritualis sensus tanquam divinitas sentitur.

## CAPUT PRIMUM.

VERS. 1.-- *Vocavit,* etc. [n: (ISICH. in Levit. )] Per conjunctionem sequentia jungit praecedentibus; initium, scilicet libri hujus cum fine praecedentis: unius enim et ejusdem diei opus in utroque continetur. Liber quoque Numeri, quia nihil habet medium inter se et Leviticum, simile sortitur prooemium; hoc est: *Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen in deserto Sinai,* etc. [n: (Num. I)]. Nihil ergo post historiam Levitici ante historiam Numeri populus egit: neque enim locum mutaverat, quia necdum tabernaculum [0299A] dedicaverat, nec multum temporis praeterierat. In primo quippe mense secundi anni, ejusdem mensis initio agere coeperunt. In Exodo autem et Genesi, quia multum temporis medium, mortis Joseph et egressionis filiorum Israel, fluxerat, conjunctio non obtinet principium, sed opportunum dispensationi eorum dispensatur exordium: *Haec sunt nomina filiorum Israel, qui ingressi sunt Aegyptum.*

[n: (ISICH.)] Secundum LXX. *Revocavit.* Sicut secundum eos *revocavit* Deus Beseleel ex nomine, quando praecepit fieri tabernaculum secundum figuram, quae ostensa est in monte: ergo et nunc quamdam sacrificiorum intelligibilium imaginem describere praecepit; haec revocatio quippe quamdam dispensationem rerum vel verborum ad superiora respicientium [0299B] innuit.

*[n: (ORIG. hom. 1 in Levit.)] Vocavit autem,* etc. In principio, etc., *usque ad* qui ad haec audienda interiores aures afferunt mundas.

[n: (ISICH. in Levit. )] Quod non diligat Deus Judaeorum sacrificia, etc., *usque ad* et aperte haec vocatio dispensationem verborum vel rerum respicientium ad superiora innuit.

[n: (ORIG. homil. 1 Exod.)] Hominem quem primo posuit ad offerendum Domino, etc., *usque ad* sacrificium quoque duplex est quod et terrestria et coelestia salvet.

[n: (ID., ibid.)] Homo qui ad imaginem Dei et similitudinem factus rationabiliter vivit, etc., *usque ad* et collum ejus sicut turturis.

[0299C] [n: (ISICH. in Levit. )] Simplicem designat hominem, etc., *usque ad* jumentis etiam salus conceditur.

[n: (ID.)] Sacrificium Deus exigit ut nobis proficiat, non sibi, etc., *usque ad* quae tandem pro nobis aut contra nos testimonium dicant.

VERS. 3.-- *De armento,* etc. [n: (ISID.)] Primum sacrificium est vitulus, id est Christus, *de armento,* id est de patriarcharum stirpe progenitus, qui aratro suae crucis terram carnis nostrae perdomuit, et Spiritus sancti semen virtutum fruge ditavit.

[n: (ORIG., ut supra. )] Vitulus superbus, caro nostra, etc., *usque ad* oleum autem charitatis et pacis et aliarum virtutum non habuerunt.

*Ad placandum,* etc. Juxta LXX autem hoc acceptum dicit offerenti, scilicet si enim acceptum nobis [0299D] vere sit, et cor nostrum recte judicans, nullique adhaerens passioni, munus ad suscipiendum dignum probaverit: tunc orare in conspectu Domini, id est remissionem possumus obtinere. Unde coram ipso suadebimus corda nostra, quia si reprehenderit nos cor nostrum, scimus quia major est Deus corde nostro, et cognoscit omnia, etc.

VERS. 4.-- *Ponetque,* etc. Quod nos hostiam dicimus, Graece καρπώμα dicitur, in quo intelligibile holocaustum significatur. Spiritualiter enim fructificat, qui per spiritualem conversationem efficitur holocaustum: propter quod qui offert, manum in caput hostiae ponit, quod significat initium praedictae conversationis, quam qui offert, ipse sibi causa promissionis [0300A] est. Sponte enim offert, quia donum est, et omne donum voluntarium est. Si enim promissionem suam trangressus fuerit, seipsum accusat, cum poenas luerit. Sic autem acceptabilis erit, et ad expiationem suam proficiens, cum positione manus manifestaverit, quia sponte non necessitate obtulerit.

VERS. 5.-- *Immolabitque,* etc. [n: (ISICH. in Levit. )] Non solum enim propriam conscientiam et conversationem Deo debemus offerre, etc., *usque ad* sicut Christus ostium appellatur, sic doctrina apostolica quam largitur.

*Filii Aaron.* [n: (ORIG., ubi supra. )] De genere Aaron erant Anna et Caiphas, et alii qui Christum pronuntiaverunt esse reum mortis, et effuderunt sanguinem [0300B] ejus ad basim altaris: ibi enim est occisus, ubi altare erat et basis ejus, unde: *Non capit prophetam perire extra Hierusalem.*

VERS. 6.-- *Detractaque,* etc. [n: (ORIG., ibid.)] Sacerdos pellem detrahit, etc., *usque ad* terrena coelestibus et divinis humana sociavit.

(ID) Intestina cum pedibus jubet aqua dilui, in significationem baptismi. Intestina lavat, qui conscientiam purgat; pedes abluit, qui consummationem suscipit sacramenti. *Qui enim mundus est, non indiget nisi ut pedes lavet, sed est mundus totus [n: (Joan. XV)]*: nec quisquam potest habere partem cum Jesu, nisi laverit pedes ejus.

[n: (ISICH. in Levit. )] Pellis detrahitur cum divitiis et quibuscunque saecularibus exspoliamur, etc., *usque [0300C] ad* Christum imitantes sicut possumus.

[n: (GREG. lib. I Moral., cap. 40.)] Pellem hostiae detrahimus, etc., *usque ad* nihil lubricum in ara suae orationis imponat.

VERS. 10.-- *Quod si,* etc. [n: (ISICH. in Levit. )] Paucis immutatis eadem dicit, etc., *usque ad* unde: Filius non portabit iniquitatem patris, etc.

*Anniculum,* etc. [n: (ISID.)] Agnus oblatus, Christus innocens crucifixus. Unde: *Ecce agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccata mundi.* Bene haedus offertur, quia per mortem Christi jugulatur diabolus auctor peccati.

[n: (ISICH.)] Hoc de bobus non praecepit, etc., *usque ad* propterea holocaustum dicitur etiam sine operatione [0300D] justitiae.

VERS. 11.-- *Ad latus,* id est Gentilitatem altare respicit, quia pro gentibus celebrata est passio Christi. Nos vero ad aquilonarem partem altaris sacrificium offerimus, dum memoriter passionem Christi pro gentibus factam credimus.

VERS. 13.-- *Omnia adolebit.* Haec omnia super altare offerentem ponere jubet ut omnem nostrum hominem, spiritualibus scripturis quae de intelligibili altari Dominici corporis dictae sunt, coaptemus, et ad imitationem ejus vivere studeamus.

*Et odorem.* Quando sacrificium nostrum holocaustum fit, et offerimus omnia super intelligibile altare, tanquam imitatores Christi conversationem [0301A] vitae nostrae conformantes ei, tunc offertur Domino odor suavissimus.

VERS. 14.-- *Si autem.* [n: (ISID.)] Turtur, caro Christi, secundum illud Salomonis: *Pulchrae sunt genae tuae sicut turturis:* Columba Spiritum sanctum significat. Unde: *Super quem videris Spiritum descendentem sicut columbam, hic est Filius meus.* Turtur ergo columba caro Christi est Spiritui sociata: haec tria sacrificia offert homo, id est Christus, de bobus scilicet, pecoribus, et avibus.

(ISICH. *in Levit.* Admirabilis verborum subtilitas, etc., *usque ad,* contemplantur et sapiunt coelestia, ubi Christus est in dextera Dei sedens.

## CAPUT II.

[0301B]VERS. 2.-- *Anima,* etc. A meliori parte totum hominem significat: requirit enim spiritualem et perfectum auditorem, quia anima est sapientiae capax, non caro.

[n: (ISID.)] *Anima,* etc. Quartum sacrificium offert anima. Simila Ecclesiam significat, quae de multis personis quasi granis est collecta, legis et Evangelii mola inter litteram et spiritum separata, per aquam baptismi adunata, chrismate peruncta et solidata spirituali igne; per humilitatem fit accepta hostia.

[n: (ORIG.)] *hom 2 in Lev. Anima.* Quae scilicet nec vitulum habet, etc.; *usque ad* oleo divinae misericordiae vel gratiae.

Mystice, significat, sicut ibi: *Cunctae animae quae [0301C] ingessae sunt cum Jacob in Aegyptum,* etc. [n: (Gen. XLVI.)] Lucas autem ait: *Eramus autem omnes animae in navi ducentae septuaginta sex [n: (Act. XXVII)]*. Forsitan per animam, Gentilem significat. Supra enim filiis Israel praecepit, ut sacrificia offerrent cum sanguine. Hic autem qui est sine lege, offerre praecipiens, non dicit homo, sicut supra, sed *anima.* Animalis erat Gentilis, non intelligens ea quae sunt Dei, sed vocatur ad oblationem misericordia Dei, ut percipiat salutem; cum pro peccatis sacrificia disponit, qui nec habet ovem nec capram, turturem vel columbam offerre praecipitur; qui nec habet illud, similam. Non enim jam ex operibus, ut pauper virtutibus, sed sola cognitione Dei salvatur, quae licet principium sit salutis, tamen thus et [0301D] oleum, supponendum, ut gratia de eleemosynis et orationibus misceatur. Unde angelus ad Cornelium ait: *Orationes tuae et eleemosynae tuae ascenderunt ad Dominum [n: (Act. X)]*. In thure interiores curantur passiones, et fumo ejus sanantur occuli ex infirmitate lacrymantes. Oratio quippe animae passiones sanat, oculos interiores curat ab ignorantia lacrymas ex aegritudine peccati accendentes fugat.

VERS. 2.-- *Filios,* ministros Ecclesiae; quia quidquid offerimus, cum sanctis Ecclesiae doctoribus conferre debemus. Unde Paulus cum apostolis contulit Evangelium, ne in vacuum cucurrisset [n: (Gal. II)].

*Quorum.* Unitas Ecclesiae pugillum similae tollit, [0302A] quia pro capacitate sensus unusquisque fidelis Scripturae scientiam debet appetere. Unde: *Non plus sapere quam oportet, sed sapere ad sobrietatem. Quorum unus,* etc. [n: (Rom. XII)]. Notandum quod pugillus similae et olei, totum vero thus offerri jubetur; quia sapientia quae in simila, et charitas vel misericordia quae in oleo signatur, in hac vita non possunt esse plena. Unde: *Videmus nunc per speculum in aenigmate:* et, *nunc cognosco ex parte,* etc. [n: (I Cor. XII)]. Olei quoque pars offertur, quia misericordia nunquam impletur, quia etsi miserearis quantum potes, plus tamen debes velle. Charitas etiam quae oleo figuratur, in praesenti inchoatur, in futuro perficietur. Thus autem totum crematur, quia semper orationi insistitur.

[0302B] *Similae.* Scientiae vel cognitionis Dei. Accepta enim est scientia a Deo, quam fides comprehendere potest, et sicut qui pugillo vult plus comprehendere, nihil proficit, totum quippe decurrit: sic fides est mensura scientiae Dei. *Credere enim oportet accedentem ad Deum, et quod non est ex fide, peccatum est [n: (Heb. XI)]*.

*Memoriale,* etc., cognitionis Dei perfectam scientiam, cujus memores erimus, quae nunquam destruitur; et eam quae nunc est, non ut contrariam, destruit, sed partem minimam esse per plenitudinem suam ostendit: *Cum enim venerit quod perfectum est, evacuabitur quod ex parte est [n: (I Cor. XIII)]*.

VERS. 3.-- *De sacrificio,* etc. [n: (ISICH. in Lev. )] De illa scilicet perfecta et in coelis abscondita, in Christoque [0302C] reposita scientia, *in quo sunt omnes thesauri sapientiae et scientiae absconditi [n: (Col. II)]*.

*Aaron,* montanus interpretatur, id est, altiora de Deo intelligens; vel arcanus, quasi in se legem Dei et eloquia habens: hic sacrificium offerre potest. Sanctum sanctorum, est de oblationibus Domino: partile enim est quod reliquum est, omnes tamen scientias superans et ad perfectionem exaltans

VERS. 4.-- *Cum obtuleris sacrificium,* etc. [n: (ISICH., ibid. )] Sacrificium Christus pro nobis immolatus.

*Coctum in clibano* virginis, scilicet utero. Clibanus enim panem suscipit et ignem: sic uterus virginis panem vitae, id est, Dei verbum, et ignem Spiritus sancti de coelo suscepit. Unde: *Spiritus sanctus superveniet in te,* etc. [n: (Luc. I)]. Si ergo offers munus [0302D] incarnationis Christi, quae facta est in ventre virginis, non est acceptum Deo, nisi de simila, id est, scientia vel notitia Dei fiat. De hac re siquidem locutionem ab apostolis et a prophetis suscipimus, Verba apostolorum sunt panes, lagana prophetarum. Quanto enim panes laganis, ad nutriendum aptiores, tantum praecellunt verba apostolorum verbis prophetarum. Utrique autem azymi sine fermento scientiae saecularis. Utraque tamen in oleo fiunt, concorditer enim ab illis de Christi miseratione scriptum est, quia apostoli et prophetae scripserunt, sed apostoli plenius scripserunt, qui completum ostenderunt, quod illi nuntiabant futurum.

*Lagana.* Panis latus et tenuis, qui prophetiam et [0303A] legem significat, quantum enim distat inter soliditatem panis et tenuitatem lagani, tantum inter Evangelium et verba legis et prophetarum: haec tamen oleo lita, quia lex et prophetia charitatem Christi praedixerunt, qua in salutem humani generis venit.

VERS. 5.-- *Si oblatio tua fuerit,* etc. [n: (ISICH. in Lev. )] Oblatio de sartagine, etc., *usque ad* et ideo ab ejus scientia recessit.

*Similae conspersae,* etc. Quia mortuus est et misertus nostri.

*Absque fermento,* id est, sine macula.

VERS. 6.-- *Divides eam minutatim:* ut sermonem passionum ejus, qui per partes processerunt, dividamus, alapas, scilicet colaphos, sputa et vulnera [0303B] diligenter distinguamus.

*Et fundes super,* etc., ut quemadmodum misericorditer pro nobis mortuus est, nos quoque pro fratribus usque ad mortem misereamur.

*De sartagine.* Sicut enim sartago media inter ignem et cibum, sic quodammodo crux inter impassibilem divinitatem et humanitatem, quae igne passionis est assata. Et sicut in sartagine mollia durescunt, dura mollescunt, sic in passione crucis lapidea corda mollita, mollia et fluxa solidata. De sartagine ergo sacrificium offerre est de mysterio crucis cum veneratione disputare.

VERS. 7.-- *Sin autem de,* etc. [n: (ISICH. in Lev. )] Sicut in sartagine crucem, etc., *usque ad* ex misericordia quippe mortem sustinuit, et resurrectionem [0303C] dispensavit.

*Sin autem,* etc. Moraliter, similam offert qui in aliquibus communis vitae usibus bene conversari studet. Haec oleo conspergenda est, quia omnis anima oleo eget misericordiae, nec vitam praesentem evadere potest, nisi misericordia coelestis affuerit. Clibanus autem pondus tentationis exprimit, sartago constantiam et robur animi, craticula multiplicem impugnationem.

VERS. 11.-- *Omnis oblatio. [n: (ORIG. homil. 2 in Lev.)]* Dicat aliquis, etc., *usque ad* hoc modo verius et perfectius secundum Evangelium sacrificia offers, quae jam secundum legem non potest offerre Israel.

*Fermenti ac mellis.* Nihil voluptuosum, nihil suave placet Deo, sed quod habet aliquid mordacitatis et [0303D] severitatis. Unde pascha cum amaritudinibus manducatur.

*Ac mellis.* Gentilis eloquentiae, quae voce suavis est, non re. Unde: *Favus distillans labia meretricis [n: (Prov. V)]*. Quod autem dicitur in Canticis: *Mel et lac sub lingua tua [n: (Cant. IV)]*, praesentibus non contradicit. Sub lingua enim dicitur, non in lingua, ut ostendatur paganorum sapientia, et Judaeorum littera linguae Ecclesiae, id est doctrinae subjecta esse. Horum non vult integram doctrinam offerre. Unde ait: *Non adolebitur in sacrificium,* id est, holocaustum: *primitias tantum eorum offeretis.* Primitias enim illius sapientiae offerimus, non totam, sicut Paulus ad Athenienses, inquit: *Sicut vester poeta dixit: hujus [0304A] et genus sumus.* Quod enim invenit congruum scientiae Dei, non respuit: non tamen ultra testimonia multiplicavit, quia placuit Deo per stultitiam praedicationis salvos facere credentes; unde Moyses ait: *Super altare vero non imponentur,* et cum liceret dici non ponentur, dicit: *Non imponentur in odorem suavitatis:* significans, quia si tentaverimus de exterioribus divinitatis adipisci notitiam, tale sacrificium ad altare non ascendit, sed deprimitur in terrenis, quia de terra est.

[n: (BEDA. in Lev., tom. II)]. Quod mel in Dei sacrificium non offerretur, etc., *usque ad* imperfecta quaeque omittimus.

VERS. 13.-- *Sale condies nec auferes sal foederis.* Apostolica sapientia. Unde: *Vos estis sal terrae,* etc. [0304B] [n: (Matth. V)]. Sicut omnis cibus sale conditur, ita apostolica doctrina sermo praedicationis. Ideo praecipitur sal in omni sacrificio offerri, ut secundum Apostolicam doctrinam et institutionem et imitationem operis vivamus. Unde Paulus, ait: *Imitatores mei estote, sicut et ego Christi [n: (I Cor. IV)]*. Et alibi: *Superaedificati super fundamentum apostolorum et prophetarum [n: (Eph. II)]*. Unde et legislator non dixit simpliciter sal: sed, *sal foederis Dei tui.* Sicut enim foedus rationale, sic etiam sal rationale. Testamenti ergo Evangelici et salis Apostolici nos commonere voluit. Oleum in sacrificium offertur, si cum hilaritate offeramus, non ex tristitia aut ex necessitate. Hilarem enim datorem diligit Deus [n: (II Cor. IX)].

Sal qui stypticam vim habet, et contrarius est [0304C] melli, jubetur addi sacrificiis: sal symbolum est prudentiae, quae restringit et exsiccat voluptatem.

*In omni oblatione,* etc. Placere enim Deo non poterit quod non ad normam voluntatis ejus correctum fuerit. Nam si in rebus humanis tanta cautela agendum admonuit quidam de mundi hujus sapientibus, ut diceret: Omnis actio temeritate et negligentia vacare debet: quid de Dei rebus aestimandum est?

*Si autem obtuleris,* etc. [n: (ORIG., lib. I in Levit.)] Secundo in loco primitiarum, etc., *usque ad* quia littera separabatur a spiritu.

[n: (ISICH.)] *Confringes in morem,* etc. Non modo praecepit eos Dei notitiam, etc., *usque ad* per eleemosynam quippe et orationem scientia divina nobis perficitur.

## CAPUT III.

[0304D]

VERS. 1.-- *Quod si hostia,* etc. [n: (ORIG. homil. 3 in Levit.)] Transmissis caeteris, de salutaribus sacrificiis dicit, quae de animalibus, id est bobus et capris et ovibus offeruntur, et nihil ultra ad immolandum substituitur: nec aves quidem, quae in offerendis muneribus substitutae sunt superius. Qui enim salutares offert hostias salutis suae conscius est: necesse ergo habet ut magna et perfecta offerat, unde Apostolus: *Perfectorum autem est cibus solidus [n: (Heb. V)]*.

[n: (ISICH.)] *Quod si hostia,* etc. Sunt secundum leges diversae hominum conversationes, etc., *usque ad* oportet enim eas digne conversari, ut perveniant ad salutem.

[0305A] *Marem sive feminam,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Superius in holocaustum tantum mares offeruntur, etc., *usque ad* id est infirma opera cum fortioribus.

VERS. 3.-- *Adipem qui,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Oportet intelligibilem adipem offerri, etc., *usque ad* et per deliberationem massam sanctificemus.

*Vitalia.* LXX: Ventrem, id est cor, cujus secundo facit mentionem juxta LXX, quia duplicem habet operationem secundum medicos, quia per unam partem alimentum trahit, quam vocant ventrem superiorem: per alteram purgationem discernit, quam vocant ventrem inferiorem. Renes sunt genitalium seminum ministeria, cum ventre et femoribus communicantes. Primum ergo adipem, qui supra ventrem est, et duos renes, et adipem qui super eos est, [0305B] id est super femora, quae renibus sunt vicina, jubet offerri: in medio enim femoris et ventris sunt positi.

VERS. 4.-- *Reticulum jecoris:* Id est, epatis, in quo delectatio vel concupiscentia. Unde juxta LXX pinna epatis cum renibus auferetur: jecur enim in renibus vim operationis ministrat.

VERS. 6.-- *Si vero de ovibus fuerit,* etc. (ISICH). Quem praecipiat offerre bovem, etc., *usque ad* in lumbis quoque operatio generationis.

VERS. 9.-- *Et caudam.* LXX: Lumbum sine macula integrum, ne scilicet aliud offeratur Deo, aliud adversario. Sufficit enim huic ad veniam quae virtutis sunt non agere; sin autem mala operatur, veniam non consequitur. Unde: *Estote simplices sicut columbae.* [0305C] Columbae enim nimiam simplicitatem habent, malitiam nullam. Qui de bobus sacrificium offert, lumbum Deo offerre non eget: quem in bonis operibus constringit et exercet. Qui de capris immolat, non habet lumbum immaculatum quem offerat, quia eum olim peccato maculavit. Qui ergo non fuit in peccatis, immaculatum lumbum offerre potest, non qui peccator fuit. Hac causa in sacrificio pacificorum capras ab agnis distinxit.

VERS. 17.-- *Nec adipem.* Propriam concupiscentiam, id est carnalem habere non debemus: *Quisque enim tentatur a concupiscentia sua abstractus et illectus.* Sanguinem prohibet comedi, ne quemquam interficiamus: sanguinem enim edere, bestiarum, [0305D] id est crudelium, est. Ideo aut omnino additur: ut et proximis parcamus et nobis. Deo autem debet anima immolari, unde jussit sanguinem fundi circa basim altaris.

## CAPUT IV.

VERS. 1-2.-- *Locutusque* etc. *Anima quae peccaverit,* etc. [n: (ORIG., hom. 2 in Levit.)] Recte animam dicit, etc., *usque ad* et spiritus dux ad virtutem, si eum sequi velit.

[n: (ISICH.)] *Anima cum peccaverit,* etc. Nihil necessarium legislator omisit, etc., *usque ad* unde, *Qui nescibat peccatum, pro nobis peccatum factus est.*

VERS. 3.-- *Si sacerdos,* etc. (ORIG. Observandum est quod in peccato pontificis legislator non addit [0306A] quod ignorans aut nolens peccaverit: neque enim ignorantia in eum cadere potest, qui ut doceret caeteros provectus est.

[n: (ID.)] *Si sacerdos,* etc. Terror simul et misericordia, etc., *usque ad* qui conscientia infirmitatis mordetur.

[n: (Id.)] *Si sacerdos,* etc. Pontifex, sensus pietatis et religionis, etc., *usque ad* Christi morte reparatur.

VERS. 3.-- *Vitulum immaculatum Domino,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Secundo invenimus offerri a pontifice vitulum in holocaustum, etc. *usque ad* in quo passus est Christus.

VERS. 5.-- *Hauriet quoque de sanguine,* etc. Sanguinem vituli in tabernaculum, id est, in coelum intulit: cum post resurrectionem coelos conscendens, [0306B] vultui Patris astitit, quasi offerens sanguinem passionis, interpellans pro nobis.

VERS. 6.-- *Septies:* pro dimissione, scilicet peccatorum et sub ministratione spiritalium donorum. Sanguis autem passionem significat, secundum illud: *Mundus ego sum a sanguine justi hujus.* Et alibi: *Sanguis ejus super nos,* etc. De hac aspersione Petrus ait: *In obedientiam et aspersionem sanguinis Christi,* etc.

*Velum,* humanitatem Christi. Nam sicut velum erat inter sancta sanctorum et exterius tabernaculum, ita caro Christi est inter nos, qui exterius tabernaculum sumus, et divinitatem, quae per sancta sanctorum significatur. Contra velum ergo testimonii sacerdos sanguinem vituli aspersit, quia Christus [0306C] carnem suam sanguinem passionis cruentavit.

*Contra velum,* etc. Multis nominibus carnem Domini appellat, quia operatio ejus multa. Unde ipse Dominus seipsum, modo sacrificium [n: (Luc. XXI)], modo pastorem, rursus vitem, deinde panem vitae et granum tritici, translatis vocabulis nominavit. [n: (Joan. X, XV, VI, XII)] Sic et Moyses carnem ejus velum appellavit. Unde Paulus: *Initiavit nobis viam per velamen, id est carnem suam [n: (Heb. X)]*. Velum quoque sanctuarii exhinc appellatur, quia in eo sancti sanctorum caro figuratur.

VERS. 7.-- *Super cornua.* Hoc altare sedem Dei, id est Seraphin significat, unde Esa: *Volavit ad me unus de Seraphin, et in manu ejus calculus, quem forcipe tulit, de altari [n: (Isa. VI)]*. Thymiama, secundum [0306D] LXX, compositiones omnium virtutum. Ubi enim decet compositas esse virtutes, nisi in sede Dei? de coelo namque ad nos descendunt. Unde Jacobus ait: *Quae autem desursum sapientia [n: (Jac. III)]*. Quatuor autem virtutes, sapientia, justitia, fortitudo, temperantia, quia caeterarum virtutum genera continent, nominantur cornua: has inungit Deus proprio sanguine confortans, scilicet majori et perfectiori virtute, ut possint contra adversarias potestates fortitudinesque praevalere.

*Altaris,* etc. Angelicarum virtutum. Si enim homines gratum Deo odorem bonorum operum reddunt, quanto magis sancti angeli in puritate naturae permanentes? Si autem peccatum quod Christi sanguine [0307A] piaretur, non admiserunt, per sanguinem tamen ejus nobis pacificati sunt, et numerus eorum reparatus.

*In basim.* Basis, pars altaris inferior, infirmos homines significat. Sanguine enim Christi non solus numerus angelorum restitutus est, sed et homo redemptus: ideo angelorum quoque redemptio Christus dicitur [n: (Col. I)].

*Altaris holocausti.* Corporis Christi. Ipse enim est sacerdos, ipse sacrificium, ipse et altare. Sicut enim multa operatur, ita convenienter multis nominibus appellatur. Unde Paulus: *Habemus altare de quo non habent potestatem edere qui tabernaculo deserviunt [n: (Heb. XIII)]*: hoc est, corpus Christi, de quo non licet edere Judaeis; hoc altare est in introitu [0307B] tabernaculi, id est coeli, quia per ipsum ingressum habemus in coelum.

*Et adipem.* Mystice, delectationes et desideria carnis; quae tamen omnia non sunt in Christum recipienda, sicut gulae, et coitus desiderium. Quae autem habuerat, habuit ex nobis, ut sitim et esuriem, et hujusmodi. Haec autem Patri obtulit, ad cujus transtulit gloriam, et nobis in exemplum protulit, ut ad Deum desideria nostra referamus.

VERS. 9.-- *Duos renunculos et reticulum, quod est super eos juxta ilia.* [n: (ISICH.)] Quae fiunt et in sacrificio pacificorum, vel salutari. Et in duo sacrificium dividit, ut sacrificium Christi liceat omnibus imitari tam his scilicet qui inferioris sunt conversationis, [0307C] quibus sacrificium pacificorum convenit, quam his qui altiora sequuntur, quibus sufficit si sequentia imitantur.

VERS. 11.-- *Pellem vero et omnes carnes cum capite et pedibus et caetera.* Hoc praecipit ut Christum non dividas, sicut quidam dividunt dicentes: Qui de Maria passus, qui de Deo passus non est; *Nobis autem unus est Deus Jesus Christus per quem omnia [n: (I Cor. VIII)]*. Caro enim in Domino omnis humanitas est, secundum quod dicitur: *Verbum caro factum est [n: (Joan. I)]*. Unde ait: *Carnes ejus cum capite et pedibus* vel extremis secundum alios, ut per haec verba, eum qui pro nobis passus est, primum et novissimum esse credamus: ipse enim est ante omnia, et in ipso constant omnia. *Cum intestinis et fimo,* [0307D] LXX: cum ventre et stercore. Venter autem significat mentem; eum ergo qui pro nobis passus est, mentem humanam habuisse minime dubitemus, quod quidam haereticorum negant. Fimus, peccatum humani generis, signat quod crucifixus in se suscepit. Fimus, cum sit immundus, gerentem non polluit; neque naturae nostrae est, quamvis in nobis sit: sic peccata nostra, quae Dominus portavit, aliena ab illo fuerunt, nec eum polluerunt.

*Intestinis et fimo,* etc. [n: (ORIG.)] Forte ad comparationem, etc., *usque ad* plenius legislator in sequentibus figurat ejus mysterium.

VERS. 13.-- *Quod si omnis turba.* [n: (ISICH.)] Idem praecipit in sacrificio turbae et sacerdotis, etc., *usque [0308A] ad* pro ipsis enim crucifixoribus oravit: *Pater, ignosce illis quia nesciunt quid faciunt.*

VERS. 21.-- *Vitulum efferet extra castra* [n: (ID.)] Sufficit nobis conclusio legis ad manifestanda praesentia, nihil enim praecipitur hic mutari pro peccato multitudinis. Manifestum est quod idem peccatum plebis et sacerdotis intelligit, ideo in utroque idem sacrificium ordinavit.

VERS. 22.-- *Si peccaverit princeps et fecerit.* [n: (ID.)] Sicut in spontaneis sacrificiis, etc., *usque ad* sabbatum enim ad otium malorum datum est.

[n: (ORIG.)] Princeps iste potest dici vis rationis, quae intra nos est, quae si peccet, ut aliquid stultum agamus, sententiam illam timeamus: *Vos estis sal terrae. Si vero sal infatuatum fuerit, ad nihilum valet [0308B] nisi projiciatur foras, et conculcetur ab hominibus. [n: (Matth. V.)]*

VERS. 23.-- *Hircum de capris.* Non capram, facilem scilicet vel mediocrem, sed difficilem et asperam poenitentiam. Quanto enim quis intellectu praeeminet, tanto, si peccat, pro majori culpa majorem poenam sustinet.

VERS. 24.-- *Ponet manum,* etc., per semetipsum peccatum manifestans, et offerens confessionem suam. Ipse autem juxta LXX, non occidit, sed alii; quia illi est necessarium aliorum auxilium, ut poenitentia suscipiatur, nec sacerdos occidere praecipitur, ait enim:

*Cumque immolaverit,* etc., nec addidit, quis immolare debeat, licet enim in sacrificio poenitentiae [0308C] alterius uti adjutoriis: unde Jac.: *Orate pro invicem, ut salvemini.*

*Ubi solet mactari,* etc. Quia similiter placent Deo digna peccatorum poenitentia et fortia justorum opera.

VERS. 25.-- *Cornua altaris,* etc. Super crucem offeruntur primitiae sanguinis qui pro peccato offertur, quia opus crucis et effectus peccatorum nostrorum perfecta remissio est.

*Et reliquum fundens.* Omnem scilicet poenitentiam evangelicae praedicationi tribuens cujus intentio est ut se corrigat et salvetur qui poenitet. Unde in principio Evangelii Dominus inquit providenter: *Poenitentiam agite, appropinquat enim regnum coelorum.* [0308D] [n: (Matth. III.)]

VERS. 27.-- *Quod si peccaverit,* etc. [n: (ORIG. hom. 2. in Levit.)] Faciens unum ab omnibus mandatis Domini, etc., *usque ad* cum agnoscit immolare sacrificium laudis.

*De populo,* etc. [n: (ORIG.)] Ad distinctionem ejus, etc. *usque ad* propter nos necessarium ducit.

*Si autem de pecoribus.* [n: (ISICH.)] Oblationi caprae quam offerunt qui de populo sunt, etc., *usque ad* de capra et ove similia praecipit.

## CAPUT V.

VERS. 1.-- *Si peccaverit anima,* etc. [n: (AUG. quaest. 1 in Levit.)] Videtur dicere peccare hominem, etc., [0309A] *usque ad* sed statim subjunxit: *Anima quae tetigerit aliquid immundum,* etc.

[n: (ISICH.)] *Si peccaverit,* etc. Non repetit quae superius dixit, etc., *usque ad* quia alterius peccatis vel errori non debemus consentire, sed arguere.

VERS. 2.-- *Anima qui tetigerit.* [n: (ISICH.)] Non corporis, etc., *usque ad* sed potest dicere cum David: *Anima nostra sicut passer erepta est de laqueo venantium [n: (Psal. CXXIII)]*.

[n: (GREG. lib. XXXII Moral., cap. 4 tom. II.)] Juramentum proferre est voto nos divinae servitutis alligare, etc., *usque ad* igni doloris ardemus.

VERS. 4.-- *Anima quae juraverit,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 2 in Levit.)] Quid est quod pro tacito perjurio, vel tacto morticino, vel aliquo immundo nullum sacrificium [0309B] praecipitur? Pro eo vero quod quisque falsum nesciens jurat, agnam vel capram offerri decernit? an pro omnibus supradictis hoc sacrificium oportet intelligi? Omnibus enim enuntiatis intulit sacrificium expiationis.

*Intellexerit delictum.* [n: (ISICH.)] Notandum quod delictum, etc., *usque ad* sicut sequentia ostendunt.

VERS. 7.-- *Sin autem non potuerit,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Hoc adjiciamus, ut si quid horum princeps peccaverit, hircum offerat de capris, condignam scilicet poenitentiam sibi, qui nec peccare debuit, nec communicare aliis, nec subditos ad peccandum provocare. Quod ergo evenire non debuit, indiscussum reliquit.

*Sin autem,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Qui non potest affligere se continue, etc., *usque ad* quia seipsum plenissime [0309C] Deo sacrificat.

VERS. 8.-- *Retorquebit caput* [n: (GREG., hom. in Ezech. )] Mors Christi ad conjunctionem sui corporis, etc., *usque ad* omnes nos sibi verius in ipsam mortem suam conjunxit.

[n: (GREG.)] *Retorquebit,* etc. In sacrificio Dei turtur esse debemus, ut caput nostrum ad pennulas retorqueatur, id est, sensus ad virtutes. Per caput, mentem intelligimus, quia sicut caput corpus, ita mens actiones regit. Sed caput collo inhaeret, nec funditus abscinditur, quia mens nostra a carnis delectatione est separanda, non a carnis necessaria cura, nec curam carnis faciamus in desideriis [n: (Rom. XIII)]. Caput ergo turturis partim abscindatur, et partim collo inhaereat.

[0309D] *Abrumpatur,* etc. Vult nos non servire corpori, sed abrumpi vel retorqueri, ne lex peccati regnet in membris nostris. Quia vero corpus nostrum non debemus odio habere, nec diaboli facturam secundum haereticos existimare, sed menti supponere, non praecipit separari corpus a collo, utrumque enim unius ejusdemque creatura est.

VERS. 9.-- *Fundamentum,* etc. LXX, basim, quod est Evangelium, quia, secundum intentionem sacrificii Christi et Evangelii, debet sacrificium pro peccatis offerri. Unde addit: *Quia pro peccato est,* nihil enim sic a peccato eripit, quemadmodum imitatio Christi et obedientia Evangelicae praedicationis.

[0310A] *Quod si non quiverit.* Quia non omne tempus ad poenitentiam facile, quando scilicet ipsa poenitentia abutimur, et fructum ejus, ad peccatum redeuntes, abolemus, legislator innuit dicens: *Quod si non quiverit manus ejus,* etc.

[n: (AUG. quaest. 8 in Levit., tom. III.)] Quaeritur utrum ubique accipiendum sit quod dictum est, etc., *usque ad* ut caetera omnia ab istis ad illam generalitatem pertinerent.

VERS. 11.-- *Ephi.* [n: (ISICH.)] Mensura est trium mensurarum, etc., *usque ad* non perire eos qui sub manu ejus fuerint.

*Non mittet in eum,* etc. Quasi: non est haec perfecta poenitentia, ideo oleum non habet, id est, spiritualem laetitiam hilaritatis, nec thus, quia nec [0310B] confidendum est ei in orationibus: sed tradat, qui offert oblationem, sacerdoti, id est, spem salutis committat divinae pietati.

*Qui pro peccato.* Quia nescit utrum boni odoris sit oratio ejus qui frequenter praevaricatur. Unde: *Quis scit si convertatur et ignoscat Deus, et relinquat post se benedictionem [n: (Joan. III)]*? Non sinit ergo desperare nec tamen praesumere, ne iterum negligentes sint.

VERS. 12.-- *Pugillum.* In pugillo Scriptura significatur, quo scribitur. Scriptum est autem: *Non dico tibi septies, sed usque septuagies septies [n: (Matth. XXVIII)]*. Per pugillum ergo innuit Deum exorandum esse, ut meminerit scriptae misericordiae suae, ut eam nobis donet: sicut fratribus donari jubet; hoc [0310C] enim orantem mundabit sacerdos magnus.

VERS. 13.-- *Anima si praevaricans,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Ab omni peccato abstinendum est, sed maxime ab eo quod contra sancta committitur: quantum autem sit horrendum oblatio testatur. Nusquam enim a principio historiae, nisi hoc in loco, aries offerri jubetur, in quo necessitas et utilitas sacrificii perhibetur: non offertur hic hircus, non capra, non ovis, non par turturum, aut duo pulli columbarum.

*Caeremonias per,* etc. [n: (ORIG.)] Multae species sanctificationis sunt. Est oleum, quo ungitur solum tabernaculum; et thymiama, de quo dicitur: *Quicunque talem compositionem fecerit, peribit de populis suis:* panes quoque propositionis soli mares comedunt, qui sunt de stirpe Aaron. Mystice autem in [0310D] his quae sanctificata sunt, peccat, qui in sacro loco aliquid irreverenter usurpat, vel res divinas indigne tractat.

VERS. 15.-- *Duobus siclis.* Duo sicli, duo praecepta charitatis sunt, quibus peccator emit sibi confidentiam remissionis. Nihil enim valet poenitentia sine gratia remissionis; unde juxta LXX aries quinquaginta siclis emitur, quia per poenitentiam et geminae charitatis observantiam perfecta requies acquiritur, quando remissio peccatorum datur. LXX, *argenti quinquaginta siclis, siclo sancto.* Nemo enim acquirit Domini sacrificium nisi per Spiritum sanctum, quia *nemo potest dicere Dominus Jesus nisi in Spiritu sancto [n: (I Cor. XII)]*. Quinquaginta vero Spiritus sancti adventum [0311A] significat, quia die Pentecostes, id est, quinquagesima ad apostolos venit. LXX: *siclo sancto.* In siclo sancto, Spiritus sancti virtutem et operationem significavit. *Siculus 20 obolorum est,* vicenarius obnoxius peccati non est: unde qui de Aegypto exierunt, cum essent viginti annorum, peccati populi poenam non susceperunt [n: (Num. XIV)]; mundus quippe est ab omni peccato spiritualis homo.

VERS. 16.-- *Et quintam partem,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Qui vase sancto vel cibo, etc., *usque ad* sic enim pro peccato nostro deprecabitur.

VERS. 17.-- *Anima si peccaverit,* etc. [n: (ID.)]. Videtur oblitus quod praeceperat: pro quibus enim peccatis capram vel ovem offerri praecepit, nunc arietem offerri praecipere videtur; sed nec oblitus [0311B] est anteriora, nec contraria praecepit: ibi enim per animam, Gentilem significavit: hic autem eum qui per ignorantiam transgreditur mandata legis.

[n: (AUG. quaest. 7 in Levit.)] Quaeritur quomodo discernitur hoc delictum ab eis quae generaliter complexus est, etc., *usque ad* vel aliqua in sacris servitiis.

VERS. 18.-- *Offeret arietem,* etc. Superius praecepit ut poenitens capram offerret, hic arietem immolari jubet, quia nihil prodest asperitatem poenitentiae immolare, nisi statueris in Christi immolatione plenam confidentiam habere.

## CAPUT VI

VERS. 1, 2.-- *Locutus est,* etc. *Anima quae peccaverit,* [0311C] etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Idem peccatum est quod in sancta, etc., *usque ad* simile est rapinae.

*[n: (ORIG. hom. 4 in Levit.)] Anima quae peccaverit,* etc. Ego puto quod animam nostram, etc., *usque ad: Nemo enim mittit vinum novum in utres veteres.*

*Rem perditam,* etc. [n: (ORIG.)] LXX: *perditionem.* Laborant haeretici in Scripturis perditionem invenire, unde possint errorem astruere: sed forte ecclesiastica verba audientes resipiscunt, et quod invenerant, perditionem esse intelligunt et reddunt, id est, auctori suo dimittunt.

VERS. 5.-- *Et quintam insuper partem,* etc. Linguam, scilicet in qua unus de quinque sensibus: haec offertur, ut de caetero non peccet, quia per ipsam unumquodque praedictorum commissum est.

[0311D] [n: (ORIG.)] LXX: non *quintam partem,* sed *quintas,* ut bis quinque, etc., *usque ad* unum Deum referamus.

VERS. 8.-- *Locutusque est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens.* [n: (ISICH.)] Hic de jugi sacrificio loquitur, etc., *usque ad* et totam vitam suam ad perfectionem componat.

VERS. 10.-- *Lineis,* non laneis, tunicam et feminalia linea vult esse, non lanea [n: (Exod. XXVIII)]. Vestis enim linea habilis et mollis est, et adhaerens corpori; lanea autem aspera, quia habiles multumque cohaerentes sunt animae justitia et castitas. Linea quoque vestis facile potest haberi, sic et virtutes, si quis voluerit eas consequi.

[0312A] *Tolletque cineres,* etc. Cinis consummatio boni operis. Cineres extra castra efferet Aaron, qui post hanc vitam bona opera per Christum pontificem magnum Deo Patri praesentant. Et ibi in favillam rediguntur, dum assistit vultui Dei pro nobis. Castra enim sunt praesens vita, in qua semper contra spirituales nequitias pugnamus [n: (Heb. IX)]. Juxta altare ponuntur, dum consummatio bonorum operum in arca cordis reconditur. Altare enim in hoc loco cor significat. *Gloria nostra haec est testimonium conscientiae,* etc. [n: ( Eph. ult. )]

VERS. 11.-- *Indutusque aliis.* [n: (ORIG.)] Observandum quod aliis indumentis utitur sacerdos in sacrificiorum mysterio, et aliis quando procedit ad populum. Unde: *Sapientiam loquimur inter perfectos* [0312B] [n: (II Cor. I)]. Et alibi: longe inferiori stola indutus, *nihil judicavi,* inquit, *me scire inter vos, nisi Jesum Christum, et hunc crucifixum [n: (II Cor. I)]*.

VERS. 12.-- *Ignis in. [n: (AUG. quaest. 12 in Levit.)]* Non vult ignem prorsus exstingui, sed cum usque mane arserit holocaustum, ablatis reliquis iterum renovati, quo ardeant alia quae imponuntur.

*Quem nutriet sacer. Allegorice.* Mane judicatus est Christus, vespere crucifixus. Ignis ergo mane et vespere subjicitur: quia charitas Dei in nobis nutritur, dum Christum mane judicatum, vespere crucifixum, recolimus.

[n: (GREG. lib. XXV Moral., cap. 7.)] Altare Dei cor nostrum est, etc., *usque ad* ut quo magis videtur Deus, magis diligatur.

[0312C] *Et imposito holocausto desuper adolebit,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 13 in Levit.)] Videndum est utrum nullus dies praetermitteretur, etc., *usque ad* quod mirum est si taceret, nec admoneret talia vespere offerri.

VERS. 14.-- *Haec est.* Videtur legislator iterare quae dixit, memoriam renovans repetitione mandati, et ostendens utilitatem et necessitatem legis. Interponit tamen aliquid novi in quo mandatum necessarium et inexcusabile innuit. Sicut ergo de holocaustis sacrificia iteravit, permiscens eis assiduitatem, ut est illud: *Ignis in altari semper ardeat et nunquam deficiat:* sic in sacrificio similae, id est theologiae addit, quia oportet in loco tantum sancto, et a masculo comedi.

*Et coram.* Secundum quod Christus revelaverit, [0312D] qui est verum altare. In his ergo theologiam constituamus quae nobis tradidit Christus incarnatus, ut Patrem in eo, et ipsum in Patre cogitemus, et quia Spiritus est Filii et a Patre procedit.

VERS. 16.-- *Reliquam,* etc., ut non ex toto a theologia cessemus, quia summa scientiae in futurum conversatur.

*In loco.* Ecclesia, quae est introitus et vestibulum coeli, in ea oportet de divinitate loqui, unde psal. LXVII: *In ecclesiis benedicite Deo,* est quisque sibi domestica ecclesia, dum a terrenis negotiis cessat: hic sibi de Deo loqui et theologiam exercere potest. Tales sunt quibus pars sacrificii datur, de Deo, scilicet, meditari et loqui.

[0313A]VERS. 17.-- *Sicut pro peccato.* Simile innuit hoc sacrificium ei, quod et pro peccato et pro delicto: sermo enim de Deo maxime ad expiationem et ad emundationem animae habetur, quando oleo et thuri, id est, eleemosynae et orationi, sacrificium verbi Dei, id est, theologiae, conjunguntur.

VERS. 18.-- *Mares tantum.* Non omnium est de Deo disputare, sed eorum qui nihil femineum, nihil fluxum in cogitationibus vel operibus habent. *Legitimum ac sempiternum est.* De Deo enim disputare praesumere non debemus, dum per saeculares phantasias a masculorum dignitate declinamus.

*Omnis qui tetigerit.* [n: (ISICH.)] Hoc ad litteram stare non potest: nunquid enim si tetigerit homicida aut profanus sanctificabitur? nullus enim excipitur. Sed [0313B] Christus, in cujus typo haec praecesserunt, immolatur: hujus carnem qui tetigerit, id est, qui fideli corde totam spem salutis in passione ejus et resurrectione posuerit, continuo sanctificabitur.

[n: (ID.)] *Omnis qui,* etc. Omnis commemoratio Dei sanctificationem praestat. Unde: *Sanctificatur autem per verbum Dei et orationem.* Sed cum dicit, tangentem sanctificari, plane ostendit quia disputando de Deo, id est, theologizando, sufficit nobis tantum tangere: qui enim vult calefieri, si manum in ignem miserit, pro calefactione adustionem sustinebit.

*Haec est oblatio. [n: (AUG., quaest. 14 in Levit.)]* Alia sunt sacrificia quae commemoravit in Exod., quibus per septem dies sanctificantur sacerdotes, ut fungantur [0313C] sacerdotio. Aliud est quod commemorat, quod offerat summus sacerdos, quando constituitur, id est quando ungitur: unde addit: *In die qua unxerit eum,* non eos, cum etiam secundos sacerdotes ungi praecipiat; hoc sacrificium est sempiternum per successionem, scilicet sacerdotum. Vel quia quod signat est sempiternum.

*Haec est,* etc. Aaron mons fortitudinis, id est, Christus; filii ejus omnes fideles; dies unctionis, tempus incarnationis, quo unctus est oleo laetitiae prae participibus suis.

*Ephi.* Christi humanitatem. Ephi quidem tres modios capiens significat Trinitatem, si tamen ephi Domini caro est, ut demonstretur divinitatis eminentia, et Dominicae carnis cum ea inseparabilitas, nihilominus [0313D] sacrificium perpetuum est. Una enim oblatione consummavit in sempiternum sanctificatos: unde et *salvare in perpetuum potest.*

*In sacrificio.* [n: (ORIG.)] Lex Moysi sacrificium est sacerdotis, etc., *usque ad* in quo nihil sit remissum, nihil luxuriosum [n: (Matth. XVI)].

*Mane.* Mane coepit passio Domini ex quo in atrio Caiphae alapis caesus est, et usque ad vesperum protelata est, tenebris enim eam interpolantibus, a sexta hora usque ad horam nonam in mane et vespere dividitur.

VERS. 21.-- *Quae in sartagine. [n: (GREG. hom. 12 in Ezech.)]* Nullum Deo tale sacrificium est, etc., *usque ad* holocaustum Deo deputatur.

VERS. 22.-- *Sacerdos.* LXX: *Sacerdos unctus pro [0314A] eo ex filiis ejus faciet ea.* Christus enim *pro* Aaron est, non in loco ejus, quia transtulit in se sacerdotium, et abstulit Aaron. *Ex filiis ejus,* quia de Jacob per Mariam descendit et ex eadem tribu.

*Qui patri.* Unus Dominus Jesus Christus, per quem omnia [n: (Rom. XI)]. Dominus enim gloriae crucifixus est, et incarnati Verbi passio est, quae fuit in carne Christi: *Qui semetipsum totum exinanivit, formam servi accipiens et obediens patri usque ad mortem crucis.*

VERS. 23.-- *Omne enim.* Quaecunque in sacrificio pacificorum in hoc quoque jubet fieri.

*Nec quisquam.* Quod comeditur comminuitur: sacrificium Christi comminuit, qui pro peccatis mortuum dicit, cum peccatum non fecerit.

[0314B] [n: (ORIG.)] *Nec quisquam comedet.* Sacrificium in hoc loco Verbum ipsum accipiendum est, et doctrina, de qua nullus edit, id est, disputat vel retractat; sed holocaustum est. Quidquid enim dixit, quidquid statuit, aeterna consecratione perdurat.

*Sacerdos qui,* etc. [n: (AUG. quaest. 18 in Levit.)] Non quod imponit, etc., *usque ad* hoc et modo breviter commemorat.

[n: (ORIG. homil. 5 in Levit.)] Quaedam hostiarum sunt solius Dei, etc., *usque ad* melius ista igni reservamus.

VERS. 27.-- *Quidquid tetigerit.* Quamvis oblatio sit alterius, id est poenitentis, sanctificabitur etsi non poeniteat. Similiter si parvulus baptizatus fuerit, [0314C] qui per se nondum peccavit, mundatur ab originali

*Si de sanguine,* id est, si substantia carnis peccatis fuerit maculata. Unde: *Vestimentum mistum sanguine erit in combustione, et cibus ignis [n: (Isa. IX)]* infernalis, scilicet lavabitur in loco sancto, id est spem habebit in baptismo, qui non solum praeterita abluit, sed instruit ut de futuris poenitere possit.

VERS. 28.-- *Vas autem fictile,* etc. Infirmus: scilicet, imbecillis, qui peracta poenitentia relabitur ad peccata, his confringendus est terrore judicii.

VERS. 29.-- *Omnis masculus,* etc. Sacerdos integrum sacrificium offerens et comedens, Christus est, qui nostram poenitentiam offert, et comedit peccatorum salutem. Carnes autem sacrificii, quia pertinent [0314D] ad poenitentiam, omnis masculus de sacerdotibus comedit, fortis, scilicet et strenuus, cui dicitur: *Viriliter age, et confortetur cor tuum, et sustine Dominum [n: (Psal. XXVI)]*.

VERS. 30.-- *Non comedetur,* etc. Quia ad Christum pertinet, qui propria auctoritate, et propria divinitatis virtute remissionem tribuit. Ejus enim passio, per quam nobis procuratur remissio, non fuit hominis puri, sed Dei incarnati. Ideo non editur ab hominibus, sed igne consumitur, quia remissionem dare Dei solius est, qui per ignem significatur, *Deus enim noster ignis consumens est [n: (Deut. IV)]*.

## CAPUT VII.

[0315A]

VERS. 1.-- *Delicto.* [n: (ISICH.)] Delictum aliquando dicit, etc., *usque ad* oblatio autem renum et pinnulae epatis et femorum sanctimonia est.

[n: (ORIG. quaest. 5 in Levit.)] Quidam dicunt esse delictum cum non facimus quod debemus: peccatum vero cum non facimus quod non debemus, sed non ubique hoc observatur.

VERS. 2.-- *Sanguis ejus,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Quaecunque fiunt in sacrificio pacificorum, in hoc quoque jubet fieri.

VERS. 7.-- *Sicut pro peccato,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 20 in Levit.)] Peccatum est perpetratio mali, delictum desertio boni. Sicut enim aliud est declinare a malo, [0315B] aliudque facere bonum, ita et aliud abstinere a bono, et aliud facere malum, et illud delictum hoc peccatum sit. Vel delictum est quod ignoranter, peccatum quod scienter committitur.

[n: (ORIG., ubi supra. )] *Sicut pro peccato,* etc. Similiter jubentur adipes arietis, *usque ad* id est, quod a via peccati peccatorem convertunt.

*Ad sacerdotem,* etc. Christum, qui pro nobis propitiatio factus est. In ipso ergo omne sacrificium ministratur, et agitur, et quod ex poenitentia consequitur, ad eum refertur. Ipse enim, ut nos salvaret, venit dicens: *Non veni vocare justos, sed peccatores [n: (Matth. IX)]*.

*Holocausti victimam.* [n: (ISICH.)] Non bonum scilicet aut ovium, etc., *usque ad* cujus respectu patientiam [0315C] habemus in passionibus.

VERS. 9.-- *Habebit pellem.* Circumstantiam divitiarum, quas debent offerre vero sacerdoti, qui volunt holocaustum fieri. Sathan circumstantia divitiarum pellem nominavit, dicens: *Pellem pro pelle, et omnia quae habet homo, dabit pro anima sua [n: (Job II)]*. Hanc dedit Job ut pellem, id est patientiam retineret, quae pellis dicitur ex qua fiunt multa utilia.

*Et quidquid in craticula,* etc. Quia haec theologiae incarnationis proxima sunt, necessario offerentis sacerdotis sunt, id est Christi nati, passi, et qui resurrexit.

VERS. 10.-- *Sive oleo conspersa,* etc. [n: (ORIG. hom. 5 in Levit.)] Sacrificium salutare jubetur fieri in oleo etc., *usque ad* alter in sartagine, tertius in craticula.

[0315D] [n: (ISICH.)] Conspersum oleo sacrificium de simila dicit, etc., *usque ad* filiis Aaron deputavit.

VERS. 12.-- *Si pro gratiarum actione fuerit oblatio.* Ad litteram pro gratiarum actione fit oblatio, cum quis de magna tribulatione liberatus gratias agit, sicut Moyses post transitum maris Rubri [n: (Exod. XV)]. Mystice quoque, qui majora crimina non commiserit, Dei misericordiae laudes persolvit, qui se immunem ab horrendis criminibus custodivit.

*Et lagana azyma uncta oleo.* Panem, scilicet tenuem et latum, qui scientiam prophetarum significat. Quantum autem distat inter soliditatem panis et teneritudinem lagani, tantum inter scientiam veteris et Novi Testamenti; panes ergo sparguntur oleo, lagana [0316A] unguntur, quia majus est lumen et gratia Novi Testamenti quam veteris.

*Coctamque similam, et collyridas olei,* etc. Divinam scilicet sapientiam, quae coquitur igne charitatis. Nam Christus Dei sapientia propter nimiam charitatem se tradit morti.

VERS. 14.-- *Offeretur Domino, et erit sacerdotis,* etc. LXX: *Et offeret de omnibus muneribus suis laudationem Dei sacerdoti profundenti sanguinem salutaris illi erit. Non enim volentis neque currentis, sed Dei miserentis est [n: (Rom. IX)]*. Christo autem ministranti et perficienti sacrificium primitiae offerendae sunt.

VERS. 15.-- *Cujus carnes eadem comedentur die,* etc. [n: (ORIG., ubi supra.)] Alius animae cibus est lactis, [0316B] etc., *usque ad: Sint,* inquit, *nova et vetera.*

*Usque mane.* Futurum saeculum, ubi erit verus dies qui nocti hujus saeculi succedit, non vult nostram vitam imperfectam relinqui per quam nos oportet salvari: in futuro enim non licebit operari.

VERS. 16.-- *Si voto vel sponte,* etc. Omne sacrificium pacificorum, vel salutare spontaneum est, unde inter dona superius positum est. Sed gratiarum actionis vel laudis sacrificium, quamvis species ejus sit, quia rationabile est, voluntarium non dicitur: quia, cum rationales sumus, debitum quodammodo praecipuum Creatori debemus rationabile sacrificium.

*Eadem similiter.* Quia quidam post hujus vitae finem aliam talem descripserunt, introducentes quoddam [0316C] saeculum mille annorum in quo Jerusalem aedificatur et templum ejus, et sancta sanctorum restaurabuntur, et sacrificia offerentur. Sed si quis hoc credit, et quodammodo in mente comedit, sperans se eo tempore comedere, quod est impossibile, oblatio ejus non suscipitur, quia polluta, peccatum quoque contrahit, unde ait: *Quaecunque anima tali se edulio contaminaverit,* etc.

*Sed et si quid,* etc. [n: (ORIG., ubi supra. )] Duos dies, quibus licet vesci carnibus sacrificii, etc., *usque ad* non ergo assumam nobis cunctorum scientiam.

VERS. 17.-- *Tertius invenerit dies.* Futurum saeculum in quo generalis resurrectio, quam Christi resurrectio significavit. Mane facto tertii diei, tunc quod reliquum est igne consumetur: quodcunque [0316D] enim salutare imperfectum reliquerimus, aut malum fecerimus, tanquam ligna, fenum, aut stipula, igne consumetur: nos autem detrimentum patiemur [n: (I Cor. III)].

VERS. 19.-- *Caro quae,* etc. [n: (ORIG., hom. 5 in Levit.)] Carnes sanctae divina verba intelliguntur, *usque ad* et aliena immunditia pollutus est.

VERS. 21.-- *Vel jumenti.* Jumenta immunda sunt qui immundis et terrenis actionibus intenti sunt, unde fornicatores *equi emissarii* dicti sunt.

VERS. 23.-- *Adipem ovis,* etc. Idest nec fortis, nec innocentis, nec poenitentis, bona intentio vel desiderium sinistra interpretatione depravandum tanquam per hypocrisim sit factum, ne quis velit meritum [0317A] alterius exterminare, et quasi comedendo imminuere.

[n: (AUG., quaest. 21 in Levit. tom. III.)] Dixit superius, etc., *usque ad* sibi elegerunt mortem peccati.

VERS. 24.-- *In varios usus.* Non solum bonorum imitando opera, sed etiam malorum nobis in exemplum trahendo. Legimus enim Herodem natalis sui diem celebrasse, et epulas sanguine foedasse [n: (Matth. XIV)]: tale desiderium in usum habemus ut caveamus, sed econtrario nostri natalis diem quo in paradiso fuimus, cum luctu et afflictione memoremus. Pharisaeus superbiens ait: *Gratias ago tibi, quia non sum sicut caeteri homines,* etc. [n: (Luc. XVIII.)] Nos econtrario dicamus: *Deus, miserere mei, quia non sum similis servis tuis,* qui angelicam ducunt [0317B] vitam in terris.

VERS. 25.-- *Si quis adipem,* etc. [n: (ORIG.)] Quasi: nemo scandalizet unum ex his minimis, qui in me credunt, etc. Sanguis comedi prohibetur, quasi, *ne glorieris adversus fractos ramos, ne tu excidaris, et illi, si non permanserint in incredulitate, inserantur [n: (Rom. XI)]*. Sanguis autem Judaeorum populus recte intelligitur: non enim ex fide neque ex spiritu Abrahae, sed tantum de sanguine ejus descendit.

VERS. 29.-- *Qui offert victimam. [n: (ORIG. hom. 5 in Levit.)]* Alia littera, etc., *usque ad* et salutis suae conscius gratias Domino refert.

[n: (ID., ibid. )] Sacrificium quod dicitur salutare, etc., *usque ad* qui portant vasa Domini.

VERS. 30.-- *Tenebit manibus,* etc. *(HIERON., epist. [0317C] ad Fabiolam, tom. I.)* De victimis salutaribus adipem offerunt sacerdotes, etc., *usque ad* ut discat contemnere quae se videt in secessum projicere.

LXX: *Offerens sacrificium salutare Domino, offeret munus suum Domino de sacrificio salutari ejus.* Quod exponens adjungit: *Tenebit manibus adipem hostiae.* Vel juxta LXX: *manus ejus offerent ex ea Domino:* Ipsum enim oportet quae ad salutem suam pertinent operari: *quia justitia justi super eum erit, et impietas impii erit super eum [n: (Ezech. XVIII)]*.

*Pectusculum autem erit,* etc. [n: (ISID.)] Pectus datur sacerdoti, ut cogitationem mundam et doctrinae habeat notitiam. Brachium dextrum, ut bona opera habeat, et ad pugnam contra diabolum armata manu procedat, et quod corde conceperit, operum exemplo [0317D] perficiat. Datur et de privato maxilla, ut eloquentia polleat: datur et venter, ut luxuriam exstinguat, et gulam contemnat.

VERS. 32.-- *Sacerdotis.* [n: (AUG.)] Christi, in sacerdote figurati. Unde solus sacerdos potest sacrificium hoc perficere. Incipere enim bonum nostrum est: perficere et ad finem ducere, divinae gratiae est. *Non est volentis neque currentis, sed Dei miserentis dirigere actiones:* unde et brachium Dei nominatur. Unde recte armum vel, juxta LXX: brachium accepit.

VERS. 33.-- *Qui obtulerit sanguinem,* etc. Christus est, qui verum sanguinem pacificorum et adipem, animas scilicet et desideria salutarium offert, qui est [0318A] de filiis Aaron sacerdos scilicet singularis et in omnibus praecipuus, cui cedit armus dexter in portionem, id est, omnis actio bona et perfecta.

VERS. 35.-- *Haec est unctio.* [n: (ISICH.)] Videntur ergo haec ad unctionem sacerdotum pertinere, etc., *usque ad* quid autem per praedictam unctionem intellexerit in sequentibus ostendit.

VERS. 37.-- *Ista est lex holocausti,* etc. [n: (ORIG., hom. 5.)] Cum proposuerit legislator, etc., *usque ad* in qua figurarum veritas conservatur.

*Ista est lex,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Vides differentes conversationes quae Deo conjungunt, honorem scilicet, sapientiae perfectum, qui significatur per holocaustum; vel justitiam mediocrem, quae operatur ea quae sunt ad salutem. Sacrificia enim pacificorum vel per holocaustum [0318B] vel per oblationem recte esse utilia ad sacerdotalem dignitatem lex intellexit. Unde in die qua legem unctionis mandavit, subdidit ea quae sunt de sacrificiis simulque omnia breviter memoravit.

VERS. 28.-- *In monte Sinai.* Qui rubus vel tentatio interpretatur: similis est autem rubo tentatio: asperum enim virgultum est et difficile capitur: sic corona bonae vitae in tentationibus et tribulationibus vix habetur. Unde: *Beatus vir qui sustinet tentationem, quia, cum probatus fuerit, accipiet coronam vitae [n: (Jac., II)]*.

## CAPUT VIII.

VERS. 2.-- *Duos arietes.* Christi passio significatur, qui est dux populi. Bene autem duo arietes immolantur, [0318C] quia Christus bis nobis mysteria suae passionis commisit: primum quando agnum mysticum in coena comedit, secundo quando eadem mysteria in panis et vini consecratione constituit.

VERS. 3.-- *Et congregabis.* Convocavit Moyses omnem synagogam, quamvis Dominus elegisset et praecepisset, convocatur tamen synagoga: requiritur enim in ordinando sacerdote praesentia populi, ut sciant omnes et certi sint quia qui praestantior est ex omni populo, doctior, sanctior et virtute eminentior, ille eligitur ad sacerdotium. Lavit ergo eum et induit. Quali indumento? tunica, et praecinxit eum zona. Et iterum: *Vestivit eum tunicam talarem [n: (Eccli. XLV)]*, vel, ut alibi legimus, *interiorem [n: (II Reg. XV)]*. Video autem duabus tunicis indutum [0318D] pontificem. Jesus autem prohibet apostolos duabus tunicis indui, cum Moyses et Jesus, id est lex et Evangelium convenire debeant [n: (Matth. X)]. Dicunt alii quod Jesus praecepit duas tunicas non habere, non esse contrarium legi, sed perfectius lege: sicut et cum lex homicidium vetat [n: (Exod. XX)], Jesus vero iracundiam resecat [n: (Matth. V)]; et cum lex prohibet adulterium, Jesus vero concupiscentiam abscidit. Ego non intra hujus intelligentiae angustiam, pontificalia sacramenta concludo: amplius mihi aliquid ex ista forma videtur ostendi. Sciebat pontifex ille, quem tunc ordinabat Moses, quia circumcisio esset spiritualis: servabat tamen et circumcisionem carnis, quia incircumcisus esse non poterat, habeba [0319A] ergo duas tunicas, unam carnalis mysterii, aliam intelligentiae spiritualis. Non enim poterat esse pontifex eorum qui tunc erant, nisi carnalia sacrificia offerret, quamvis spiritualia esse debere sciret. Convenienter ergo habebat duas tunicas. Apostoli vero qui dicturi erant: *Si circumcidimini, Christus nihil vobis proderit [n: (Gal. V)]*, et litteralem observantiam penitus reprobaturi, merito duas tunicas habere prohibentur; sufficit eis una, et haec interior, eam vero quae foris est legis tunicam nolunt, quia unam Jesus et ipsam interiorem habere permittit.

VERS. 6.-- *Cumque lavisset.* [n: (HIERON., ubi supra. )] Jam tunc purgationem mundi, etc., *usque ad* ut quod mente concipimus, opere perpetremus.

[n: (ORIG., hom. 6 in Levit.)] Lavet te Moyses, etc., [0319B] *usque ad* quali ordine pontifex constituatur.

VERS. 7.-- *Vestivit.* [n: (HIERON., ibid. )] Discamus prius communes sacerdotum vestes, etc., *usque ad* quia in tela non potest fieri hujusmodi opus.

[n: (ID.)] Secunda est ex lino poderis, id est talaris duplici syndone, quam Josephus vocat byssinam, haec adhaeret corpori ita arcta et strictis manicis, ut nulla in veste ruga sit, et usque ad crura descendat. Tales solent habere milites lineas quas camisias vocant, aptas membris et astrictas, ut ad omnia expediti sint. Hac sacerdotes utuntur tunica, habentes vestitorum pulchritudinem, et nudorum celeritatem, quae dicitur linea.

Tertium cingulum, serpentis pelli quam in aestate exuit simillimum, ut longum marsupium in rotundum [0319C] textum, sub tegmine cocci, purpurae, hyacinthi, et byssi: propter decorem et fortitudinem, ita polymite distinctum, ut diversos flores et gemmas artificis manu non intextas, sed additas putes. Hoc balteo inter umbilicum et pectus linea tunica stringitur, qui quatuor digitorum habens latitudinem et magna ex parte ad crura descendens, cum expeditione ad sacrificia opus est, in laevum humerum retorquetur.

[n: (HIERON.)] Quartum est rotundum, etc., *usque ad* statim moriturus.

[n: (ID.)] Sextum Hebraice, etc., *usque ad* in humeris portet.

[n: (ID.)] Septimum parvulum est, etc., *usque ad* et una textura videntibus putaretur.

[0319D] [n: (ID.)] Octava est lamina aurea, etc., *usque ad* totamque pontificis pulchritudinem Dei nomen coronet et protegat.

Mala autem Punica et tintinnabula in inferioribus posita fulgura demonstrant et tonitrua, vel terram et aquam et omnia elementa inter se consonantia, et sic sibi perplexa, ut sint in singulis omnia.

[n: (HIERON.)] Hebraei quatuor colores, etc., *usque ad* providentia penetrat universa.

[n: (ORIG., hom. 6 in Levit.)] In Exodo, ubi de sacerdotalibus mandatur vestibus, etc., *usque ad* ne sanctum detur canibus et magaritae ponantur ante porcos [n: (Marc. VII)].

*Et inducens,* etc. LXX: *Induit tunicam et praecinxit [0320A] zonam et vestivit eum epomidem.* Incarnationem Christi exsequitur. Totum enim hominem suscepit, corpus scilicet et animam; *tunicam* terrenum appellavit, quia de terra est; epomidem coelestem, quia ὑπωρίς poderis est. Et *hyacinthina,* qui est color coelestis: utrumque enim suscepit, et utrumque salvavit.

[n: (HIERON.)] In tunica hyacinthina, mala Punica, et tintinnabula: quia tanta debet esse pontificis scientia, ut gressus ejus et motus et omnia vocalia sint, et veritatem, quam mente concepit, habitu resonet; quidquid agit, quidquid loquitur, doctrina sit. Sine tintinnabulis, coloribus diversis, gemmis, floribusque virtutum nec in Ecclesiam ingreditur, nec pontifex est.

[0320B] *Humerale,* etc. [n: (ORIG.)] Imposuit Moyses pontifici, superhumerale, quod est humerorum ex circumductione vestis ornatus: humeri autem laboris et operis indicta sunt. Vult ergo pontificem in operibus esse ornatum: non enim sufficit sola scientia, *sed qui fecerit et docuerit hic magnus vocabitur [n: (I Tim. III; Matth. V)]*.

*Superhumerale.* [n: (HIER.)] Superhumerale et duos lapides smaragdinos vel onychinos, qui desuper humeros tegunt, interpretantur duo hemisphaeria, quorum aliud super terram, aliud sub terra; vel solem et lunam qui desuper rutilant.

[n: (ID.)] Duo lapides in superhumerali Christus et Ecclesia, duodecim apostolorum qui ad praedicationem missi sunt nomina continentes, vel littera et spiritus [0320C] in quibus omnia legis mysteria; a dextris spiritus, a sinistris littera [n: (II Cor. III)]. Per litteras ad verba, per verba venimus ad sensum. Pulcher ordo ipso habitu sacramenta significans: in humeris opera, in pectore ratio, unde et pectusculum comedunt sacerdotes.

VERS. 8.-- *Quod astringens.* [n: (ORIG., ubi supra. )] Cinxit eum secundum facturam humeralis, etc., *usque ad* quia secundum opera sua cingulo virtutis utitur.

*Aptavit rationali,* etc. [n: (HIERON.)] Rationale in medio positum, terram indicat, quae instar puncti, cum omnia in se habeat, cunctis vallatur elementis.

[n: (ORIG., ubi supra. )] Imposuit super eum logion, λογίον, etc., *usque ad* nihil enim post haec adjicitur capiti [0320D] pontificis.

[n: (HIERON., ubi supra. )] Rationale duplex, apertum et absconditum, etc., *usque ad* et his praecedentibus doctrina et veritas sequatur.

[n: (ID.)] Duodecim lapides, etc., *usque ad* nobis scientiam demonstrante.

*Posuit laminam.* [n: (ID.)] Nihil prodest omnium eruditio, nisi Dei scientia coronetur, quae semper est ei cum Patre: unde laminam super cidarim imposuit.

[n: (ID.)] Imperfecta sunt omnia nisi currui quaeratur auriga, et super creaturas Creator insistens regat ipse, qui condidit. Quod olim in lamina, nunc in signo crucis ostenditur: pretiosior est sanguis evangelii [0321A] auro legis; tunc juxta Ezechielem signum gementibus figebatur in fronte thau [n: (Ezech. VIII)]: nunc portantes crucem dicimus: *Signatum est super nos lumen vultus, Domine,* etc. [n: (Psal. IV)]

Auri lamina in fronte pontificis, et nomen Dei inscriptum; omnia quae super terram sunt Dei arbitrio gubernari significant. Justum enim erat ut pontifex Dei, creaturarum omnium typum portans in vestibus suis, indicaret cuncta Dei misericordia indigere, et cum sacrificaret, expiaretur conditio universalis: ubi non pro liberis, parentibus, et propinquis, sed pro omni creatura voce et habitu precaretur.

VERS. 10.-- *Tulit,* etc. Ipse est Filius Dei, qui ungit et qui ungitur: ungens verbo divinitatis, secundum [0321B] quod cum Patre et Spiritu sancto habet omnia communia. A Patre ungitur secundum illud: *Unxit te Deus, Deus tuus oleo laetitiae,* etc. [n: (Psal. XLIV)]. Unxit eum Spiritus sanctus secundum Isaiam: *Spiritus Domini super me, eo quod unxerit me [n: (Isa. LXI)]*. Quae autem Pater et Spiritus sanctus, haec eadem facit et Filius. Ungit ergo secundum divinitatem, ungitur secundum humanitatem. Unde et Daniel oblatum illum videt, offerentem non videt, quia semetipsum offert. Unxit ergo Moyses et offert, Christi figuram gerens.

VERS. 11.-- *Sanctificant.* [n: (ORIG.)] Significat supernam creaturam sanctificatione nostra ditatam: id est, per carnem Dominicam ex nobis sumptam. Unde: *ut notum fieret principibus et potestatibus per [0321C] ecclesiam,* etc.

VERS. 12.-- *Fundens,* etc. Caput Christi divinitas. Sicut enim caput a pedibus non dividitur, sic nec divinitas Christi ab humanitate post unctionem [n: (I Cor. XI)]. Unde ait: *Unxit te, Deus Deus tuus,* etc. [n: (Psal. LIV.)] Sic enim Deus ungitur et sanctificatur.

VERS. 13.-- *Filios,* etc. [n: (ORIG., ubi supra. )] Attende differentiam minorum sacerdotum ad majores etc., *usque ad* etiamsi primi nomen acceperit.

*Vestivitque,* etc. Filiis Aaron similes tunicae et zonae vel baltei et cidares vel mitrae imponuntur, ipsum enim induunt, ipso cinguntur, ipsum portant in capite; lumbi enim praecinguntur veritate, quae est Christus, et induuntur lorica justitiae: Christus autem justitia est sicut et galea salutis, ipse enim [0321D] est salutare Dei.

VERS. 14.-- *Obtulit,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Quae sit hujus legis virtus, etc., *usque ad* necessario autem filii Aaron tanquam communicantes ei sacrificio manus imponunt.

[n: (AUG., quaest. 23 in Levit.)] Cum sacrificia pro peccatis memoraret, etc., *usque ad* et sanguinem fusum ad basim altaris sacrificiorum.

*Obtulit,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Lex sacerdotem in multis Christum figurantem, etc., *usque ad* ovibus praecepit.

*Obtulit,* etc. Mysteriorum traditionem, et pascha mysticum, quod Christus celebravit cum discipulis suis [n: (Matth. XXVI)], significat *aries: secundus* nominatur, [0322A] quia post agnum in coena immolatum, seipsum obtulit; unde Aaron super caput arietis manus imposuit cum filiis suis, quia communem coenam cum discipulis suis Christus celebravit; sed Moyses specialiter hoc sacrificium obtulit, quia plus aliis figuram Christi expressit, qui maxime sacrificium suum fecit.

VERS. 24.-- *Tetigit extremum auriculae,* etc. Si per Aaron Christum accipimus, extremum auriculae ejus sanguine tactum fuit, quia Patri usque ad mortem obedivit. Si sacerdotes Ecclesiae aures eorum tangendae sunt, pollicesque manuum et pedum, ut eminentiam actionum et gressuum Domino consecrent. *Tetigit extremum,* etc. Quis sit hujus sacrificii effectus unctio aurium et manuum pedumque [0322B] demonstrat: propter obedientiam quippe nostram actionesque bonas, et conversationem celebratur, ut inobedientia Adae carentes Unigeniti obedientiam consequamur.

*Manus ejus,* etc. Ut in bona actione confortemur. Confortantur enim quae unguntur, destruuntur quae non unguntur. Ubi enim unctio non fuit sanguinis immolati, percutiebatur Aegyptus. Sed prius sacerdos, et postea filii ejus ungebantur sanguine, quia Christus primus sanguinem accepit in coena, deinde discipulis dedit.

## CAPUT VIII. (cont.)

*Fudit super altare.* Cum enim bibit, et apostolis dedit bibere, intelligibilem sanguinem super altare, id est, corpus suum fudit. Ecclesia autem corpus Christi; unde Marcus: *Et sumens, gratias agens dedit [0322C] eis, et biberunt ex eo omnes, et dixit eis: Hic est sanguis meus novi testamenti, qui pro multis effundetur [n: (Marc. XIV)]*.

*Adipem vero.* Quid haec significent, in salutari sacrificio, vel pacificorum dictum est. LXX vero pro cauda, lumbum; pro intestinis, ventriculum; et pro reticulo jecoris, pinnam epatis ediderunt: non frustra autem etiam nunc in ariete commemorantur.

VERS. 26.-- *Canistro.* LXX, canistrum: consummationis, quae est lingua Domini, quae praecipuam perfectamque doctrinam introduxit. Non enim venit solvere legem, sed adimplere [n: (Matth. XIII)]. Haec bene canistrum dicitur propter textum doctrinae ejus, cum multa in parabolis dixerat. Erat autem [0322D] et ferculum et mensa totius doctrinae. Recte ergo de canistro consummationis mysticum panem proponit.

*Panem.* Apostolicam doctrinam, legalemque, et propheticam. Lex enim, et prophetae, et apostoli memoriam ejus faciunt. Lex enim dicit: *Hic est panis quem dedit vobis Dominus [n: (Exod. XXVI)]*. Propheta autem: *Panis ejus dabitur,* etc. [n: (Isa. XXXIII.)] Prophetica autem et legalis doctrina minus nutriunt quam apostolica. Unde Paulus: *Posuit Deus in ecclesia primum apostolos, deinde prophetas [n: (I Cor. XII)]*. Apostoli autem legis et prophetarum ducunt testimonia, per quae eis collyrida et lagana sunt subjecta.

[0323A] *Et armum [n: (GREG. lib. I Regist., ep. 24.)]* Sacerdos ex praecepto legis armum dextrum, etc., *usque ad* et in sequentibus Moyses dicit.

VERS 39.-- *Tulit pectusculum. [n: (AUG., quaest. 23 in Levit.)]* Superius quia generaliter praecipiebat, etc., *usque ad* a principio enim dicitur: *Ipse tibi quae ad populum, tu illi quae ad Deum.*

VERS. 30.-- *Assumesque unguentum. [n: (ID., quaest. 24.)]* Quaeritur post mortem Mosi quis ungebat sacerdotem, etc., *usque ad* obsequendo non excellendo.

*Aspersit,* etc. Quaecunque in nobis sunt bona ad eum tanquam caput nostrum reducenda sunt; unde: *Pro eis ego sanctifico meipsum, ut sint et ipsi sanctificati in veritate.* Aperte igitur, *sanctificationem,* [0323B] passionem suam dixit, quae sanctificatio datur nobis.

*Et super filios* [n: (AUG.)] Non apparebat quis filiorum summo sacerdoti succederet. Non enim primogenitum vel majorem definit Scriptura, nisi in aliquo divino judicio fiebat, quamvis ex contentione venisse videatur, ut postea plures fierent sacerdotes summi, quia contendentibus excellentioribus litis finiendae causa pluribus honor ipse tribuebatur.

VERS. 31.-- *Panes quoque.* Carnes cum panibus comedi praecepit, ut intelligamus corpus Christi, qui caro est, et panis qui de coelo descendit [n: (Joan. VI)], et hoc in ecclesia tantum debet celebrari.

VERS. 32.-- *Quidquid autem.* Hoc videmus in Ecclesia fieri, et quae inconsumpta remanserint ignibus tradi. Non dicit autem, quotquot diebus inconsumpta [0323C] remanserint, ut semper, si remanserint, tradantur igni: innuens, ut si a comestione sacrificii deficimus, nec perscrutari valemus, utrum ea quae videmus, ipsum corpus Domini sint, non tamen relinquamus, sed igni tradamus, ut comedat Spiritus sanctus quod non possumus. Comedit autem, cum cogitamus ei possibilia esse quae non possumus.

VERS. 33.-- *De ostio.* Significat quia toto tempore praesentis vitae non est de tabernaculo recedendum, sed Dei servitio insistendum.

[n: (AUG., quaest. 24 in Levit.)] Ad ostium tabernaculi testimonii, etc., *usque ad* habitatio quippe hoc nomen accepit.

*Septem enim,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)]. Quinquagesima septenario [0323D] in se multiplicato, etc., *usque ad* observantes custodias Domini, etc.

VERS. 36.-- *Feceruntque,* etc. Aaron conjungitur filiis, nec exit de janua tabernaculi. Ipse enim erat praedicandus, et in eis praedicaturus, sicut ipse consecrat et in membris consecratur.

## CAPUT IX.

VERS. 1.-- *Octava die,* etc. Octava dies post dedicationem significat diem Pentecostes, quo Spiritus sanctus advenit [n: (Act. II)]. Septem vero a dedicatione dies innuunt septies septem dies, qui fuerunt a resurrectione usque ad Pentecosten, scilicet 49, addito quasi octavo ipso die Pentecostes.

Pentecoste quae contigit die resurrectionis, [0324A] gerit figuram futuri, et consummationis saeculi praesentis, quia septem volvitur diebus. Oportebat enim ut eadem die adveniret Spiritus, qua resurrexit Christus. Tunc ait vocari Aaron et filios ejus, et majores natu: tunc enim convocatum est Ecclesiae spectaculum, in qua est Aaron, id est, Christus et filii ejus qui altae sunt conversationis, et ideo sacerdotii ministri, et majores natu, id est, presbyteri: ex his enim corpus Ecclesiae consistit.

VERS. 2.-- *Tolle de,* etc. Accipit Aaron vitulum in holocaustum et arietem, et offert Domino. Tunc enim Christus sacrificium suum notificavit, cum Spiritus adveniens Parthos, Medos, Elamitas, et omnium gentium primitias ad apostolorum coenaculum colligit [n: (Act. II)].

[0324B]Vitulum offert Aaron et arietem, quando doctores Ecclesiae mysteria passionis annuntiant, et pro salute humani generis celebrata insinuant.

*Tollite.* Hircum obtulerunt apostoli die Pentecostes quando Petrus poenitentiam annuntians inquit: *Convertimini et agite poenitentiam.*

[n: (AUG., quaest. 26 in Levit.)] Accipite hircum ex capris unum, etc., *usque ad* ubi autem universi, ibi et singuli, sed non convertitur.

VERS. 6.-- *Iste sermo,* etc. Sermonem, scilicet rem imperatam. *Hoc facite in meam commemorationem [n: (Luc. XXII)]*. Sermonem autem dicit, quia plus in sermone consideratur vel constitit hujus dispensatio mysterii, et maxime Dominico verbo ea quae [0324C] apparent in aliud majus et intelligibile tranferente. Unde et de manna ait: *Hic est panis quem dedit vobis Dominus ad comedendum, hic est sermo quem constituit Dominus [n: (Exod. XVI)]*. In his ergo significat quia sanctum mysterium illis agentibus et Dominicam coenam celebrantibus advenit Spiritus sanctus. Erat enim dies Dominicus, in quo oportebat apostolos sacra celebrare mysteria: quorum sequentes traditiones Dominicam diem divinis conventibus deputamus. Similiter et Christum post resurrectionem per mysticam coenam et panis fractionem invenimus manifestum.

VERS. 7.-- *Et immola pro peccato,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 27 in Levit.)]. Alia littera, etc., *usque ad* non est necesse super holocaustum imponi.

[0324D] *Offer holocaustum,* etc. Non dicit holocaustum consummationis, ut supra, quando oblatum est ut sanctificatione consummaretur, ut sacerdotio fungeretur, quo fungebatur. Notandum sane cum pro populo offeruntur sacrificia et pro peccato sacrificia esse jussa offerri, et holocaustum et sacrificium salutaris. Pro sacerdote vero oblatum fuisse pro peccato, et holocaustum consummationis, non salutaris. Sed consummationis oblatum est, quando sanctificati sunt sacerdotes. Et haec obtulit Moyses pro Aaron et filiis suis, postea vero Aaron jam sacerdotio fungens praecipitur pro se offerre vitulum pro peccato, et arietem in holocaustum non consummationis; tunc enim offerebatur ut sanctificatione consummaretur, et sacerdotio [0325A] fungi posset, quo cum fungebatur, non erat necesse iterum consummare.

VERS. 8.-- *Statimque,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Qua causa haec etiam hic sacrificia peragantur superius diximus, etc. *usque ad* unde in persona sacerdotis utrumque perspicimus oblatum.

[n: (AUG., ubi supra )]. Movet etiam quod cum faceret Aaron dona populi quae supra memorantur, etc. *usque ad* utrumque ex utroque animante, quasi pectuscula dixerit.

VERS. 15.-- *Et pro peccato,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Cujus haec figuram habeant, etc., *usque ad* et quae docerent Ecclesiam meditari non cessabant.

*Extendens manum,* etc. [n: (AUG., Quaest. 28 in Levit.)] Ad altare stans deserviebat, etc., *usque ad* qui ibi [0325B] gradus prohibuit esse.

VERS. 22.-- *Sicque completis et caetera.* [n: (ISICH.)] Evidenter omnem figuram Ecclesiae vult exponere, etc., *usque ad* sequentia demonstrant.

VERS. 23.-- *Ingressi autem Moyses et Aaron tabernaculum testimonii,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Quia de intelligibili tabernaculo, etc., *usque ad* idoneus est ut praestet benedictionem.

*Ingressi autem.* Praemisit *ingressi,* et subdit *egressi,* quia sacerdos ingreditur tabernaculum, quando pro se vel pro populo orat, vel divinae contemplationi vacat; egreditur cum docet, vel benedicit populo, vel cum ad conscientiam redit perscrutando se, ne forte in praedicatione offendat.

*Apparuitque gloria Domini.* In specie ignis, sicut [0325C] in die Pentecostes, unde subdit: *Et egressus est ignis a Domino.* Unde et Lucas: *Apparuerunt illis dispertitae linguae, tanquam ignis.*

*Omni multitudini,* etc. Cui simile Lucas ait: *Facta autem hac voce convenit multitudo, et mente confusa est [n: (Act. II)]*; non solum convenit, sed expavit. Unde hic sequitur: Obstupebant autem et mirabantur, etc.

*Qui erant super altare.* Invenit quia necesse sit praedicta sacrificia, et eorum expositiones superponere intelligibili altari corporis Christi, ut illuc suspiret nostra intentio, et tunc nutrimenta intelligibilis ignis, id est Spiritus sancti, aderunt, de quo dictum est: *Dominus Deus noster ignis consumens est [n: (Deut. IV)]*.

## CAPUT X.

[0325D]

VERS. 1.-- *Arreptisque Nadab. [n: (AUG. quaest. 31 in Levit., tom. III.)]* Exeunte a Domino igne mortui sunt filii Aaron, etc., *usque ad* tormenta patientur.

*Arreptisque,* etc. [n: (ISID., quaest. in Levit., tom. V.)] Alienum ignem offerunt, etc., *usque ad* ne vitiis flagremus.

[n: (ISICH.)] Hic eos qui aliena docent, etc., *usque ad* unde vitam poterant promereri.

[n: (AUG., ubi supra. )] Alia littera, etc., *usque ad* per quos nobis Scripturam dedit.

VERS. 4.-- *Vocatis autem Moysi, Misaele et Elisaphan.* מישאל Misael, *Dei attrectatio.* אלצפן Elisaphan, [0326A] sive Elzaphan, *Dei illuminatio,* vel *Dei speculum.* His jure praecipitur ut tollant Nadab et Abiu extra castra. Hi enim sanctos significant, qui a Deo illuminati ipsum manibus fidei attrectant, et Deum perfecta fide contemplantur. Unde bene filii Oziel dicuntur, qui significat *Evangelium:* unde patruelis Aaron fuisse dicitur, quia magna cognatio est Evangelii et Legis. Evangelium namque expositio est Legis: filii autem Evangelii haereticos vere mortuos a castris Ecclesiae detrudunt. Vel Misadai et Elisaphan primus *attrectatio Dei,* id est Misadai; Elisaphan interpretatur *specula Dei mei.* Quicunque scit attrectare Deum, et speculari Christi scilicet carnem et divinitatem, sicut Thomas qui manu contrectans carnem dicebat: *Deus meus et Dominus meus [n: (Joan. XX)]*, potest ignem [0326B] alienae doctrinae auferre a facie sanctorum, id est sacerdotum. Tunicae sacerdotum, conversatio et vita qua sacerdotii induuntur habitu. Abjiciuntur ergo cum sacerdotio a consortio sacerdotum et etiam populi. Unde addit, *extra tabernaculum,* id est, ecclesiam populi, filii patrui Aaron haec faciunt.

*Aaron,* id est David, per quem prophetiae intelliguntur, quae Christum manifestum faciunt, et quodammodo ignorantibus pariunt. Frater autem prophetiae Evangelium est; quae enim in Evangeliis facta sunt, a prophetis praedicta sunt. Filii ergo fratris patris Aaron, id est Evangelii, tales ejiciunt. Unde: *Si quis venit ad vos, et hanc doctrinam non affert, nolite eum recipere in domum [n: (II Joan.)]*.

VERS. 6.-- *Capita,* etc. Ad litteram. Quia nuper [0326C] fuerant Deo consecrati, praecipit ut sancta vestimenta non deponant, sed parati servire Deo assistant.

Allegorice autem, ne in Christo divisionem personarum faciant. Caput enim Christi Deus est, Christus autem ex divinitate constat et humanitate; capitis enim, id est divinitatis tiara humanitas est, qua tecta fuit velut pileo divinitas; haec non est auferenda, nec divisio personarum in Christo praedicanda, sed duarum substantiarum una persona.

*Capita vestra,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 32 in Lev.)] Ne scilicet cidares deponant, etc., *usque ad* unde addit:

*Fratres vestri et omnis domus Israel plangant incendium.* [n: (ISICH.)] Non ignoramus quid cidares significent, [0326D] etc., *usque ad* de qua: *Unctio ejus docet vos de omnibus.*

VERS. 9.-- *Vinum et omne quod inebriare.* [n: (ID.)] Usque nunc hanc legem Ecclesia custodit, etc., *usque ad* id est spiritualiter inspirasse.

*Vinum et omne quod,* etc. Ab iis quae statum mentis dejiciunt vel evertunt abstinere jubentur, quando tabernaculum ingrediuntur. Nos autem nunquam inebriemur, sed semper mente et corpore sobrii simus.

*Quando intrabitis. [n: (AUG., quaest. 33)]*. Quando ergo eis licebat bibere, etc., *usque ad* ut hoc sit officium sacerdotum legitimum aeternum in progenies eorum.

[0327A]VERS. 10.-- *Ut habeatis scientiam discernendi.* [n: (AUG.)] Hoc et ambigue positum est, etc., *usque ad* an potius ad utrumque referendum est?

VERS. 12.-- *Tollite sacrificium,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Quod pectusculum confidentiam, etc., *usque ad* quae autem ad pacifica et salutaria pertinent, totius populi sunt.

*Tollite,* etc. Arcana, scilicet et profunda Scripturae sacramenta, quae vulgus non capit, retinenda ac comedenda sunt perfectis; *juxta altare,* id est juxta Dominicae passionis fidem et auctoritatem.

VERS. 14.-- *Pectusculum,* etc. *[n: (AUG., quaest. 34.)] Pectusculum.* Quamvis singulis singula nomina data sint, etc., *usque ad* de pectusculo imponebatur altari.

[0327B]VERS. 16.-- *Inter haec.* [n: (ISICH.)] Quia omne peccatum per poenitentiam deletur, et qui praedictum peccatum alterius doctrinae et blasphemiae commiserunt, salvati non sunt, causam mortis eorum legislator exponit.

*Inter haec hircum,* scilicet quia non comederunt filii Aaron quod pro peccato erat in loco sancto, id est poenitentiam peccati commissi in ecclesia peragi non fecerunt. Quibus hoc praeceptum est, quos Christus in Ecclesia vicarios suos constituit. Ipse enim oblationis suae sanguinem, quae pro nostro sanguine oblata est, in sanctum, id est in coelum, in conspectu Patris obtulit. Debet autem comedi hoc sacricium in loco sancto, id est ecclesia, in propitiationem peccatorum, unde addit: *Quemadmodum praeceptum [0327C] est mihi,* id est sicut praecepi. Moyses enim gerit personam Christi. Exustum reperit, quia in Spiritum sanctum peccaverant, ab intelligibili igne Spiritus sancti oblatio pro poenitentia ablata est. *Voluntarie enim peccantibus non relinquitur hostia pro peccato [n: (Heb. X)]*. Nam sicut vera poenitentia veniam promeretur, ita simulata Deum irritat: *quia Spiritus sanctus disciplinae effugiet fictum [n: (Sap. I)]*. Hoc autem sancti Patres irremissibile peccatum, et blasphemiam in Spiritum sanctum dixerunt, in sceleribus usque ad finem vitae perseverare, de salute sua desperare, de potentia et misericordia Redemptoris diffidere.

[n: (ADAMANT.)] Non peccare solius Dei est, etc., *usque ad* nisi verum et sincerum.

[0327D] [n: (AUG., quaest. 36 in Levit.)] Sane quoniam sex pecora praecipiuntur offerri pro populo, etc., *usque ad* quae omnia fuerant pro peccato.

VERS. 19.-- *Respondit Aaron,* etc. In persona Ecclesiae, cujus figuram gerit, sicut et Christi, videtur Aaron dicere hoc. Quasi, quia post adventum Salvatoris deputati sunt ministare, et pro poenitentia offerre, et propheticam vitam exponere. Aliter: Docentes perierunt et in eis haec Ecclesiae acciderunt, ut sacerdotum et magistrorum lugeret mortem, unde comedere hodie pro peccato non potuit, nec orare: Domino autem displicebat.

[n: (AUG.)] *Respondit Aaron,* etc. Si hodie obtulerunt quae pro peccato illorum sunt, etc., *usque ad* Hoc [0328A] autem quare sit factum, respondit Aaron, et placuit Mosi.

*Hodie.* Quasi dicat: si ante remissionem Salvatoris hoc peccassent, forsitan ignosceretur, cum nondum mundo scientia manifestaretur: unde, *Si non venissem, et locutus eis fuissem, peccatum non haberent; nunc autem excusationem non habent de peccato suo [n: (Joan. XV)]*.

## CAPUT XI.

VERS. 1.-- *Locutus est Dominus.* [n: (ISICH.)] Quidquid a Deo factum ipsa institutionis auctoritate mundum est. In animalibus igitur mores pinguntur hominum, et actus, et voluntates, ex quibus fiunt mundi vel immundi.

[0328B] [n: (ID.)] Dixit Dominus ad Noe: *Omne quod movetur et vivit, erit vobis in cibum [n: (Gen. IX)]*, etc. In Genesi quoque dictum est: *Vidit Deus cuncta quae fecerat, et erant valde bona [n: (Gen. I)]*. Hic autem quaedam prohibentur, velut mala, et immunda decernuntur. Non sunt tamen ista contraria sibi: nam et Judaeorum gastrimargiam ad modicum Dominus reprimit, et spiritualis praeceptorum expositio quales debeant esse instruit. Lex enim nutrimentum est animae rationalis rationabiliter intellecta. Sicut autem in superioribus per oblationes figuravit offerentes, sic nunc per ea quae comeduntur exprimit comedentes.

VERS. 3.-- *Omne quod habet,* etc. [n: (ISID.)] In piscibus quidquid pinnulas et squamas non habet, [0328C] abominabile est: aspera pro mundis habentur. Hispidi enim et hirsuti, firmi, et graves hominum mores approbantur. Qui sine his sunt, immundi dicuntur, quibus leves et lubrici, infirmi et effeminati mores adjiciuntur. Pinnulas quoque conjungit et squamas; quicunque enim pisces pinnati sunt et squamosi. Si quibus ignorantia solubilis est, his et cognitio sublimis et vita coelestis: qui autem tales non sunt, cum his nec cibum sumere.

*Moraliter.* [n: (GREG.)] Pisces qui pinnulas habent et squamas, dare saltus super aquas solent. In pinnatis ergo piscibus electae animae figurantur, quae solae in coelestis Ecclesiae corpus transeunt; quae pinnulis virtutum fultae per coeleste desiderium saliunt ad contemplationem, quamvis in se relabantur per carnis [0328D] fragilitatem. Soli ergo in electorum corpus quasi cibus electus transeunt, qui dum imis serviunt, mentis saltibus superna conscendunt, ne semper in profundis curarum lateant, ubi nullam amoris summi, quasi liberi aeris, curam habent. Qui ergo rebus temporalibus occupantur, tunc bene exteriora disponunt, cum sollicite ad interiora refugiunt, nec perturbationis strepitus diligunt, sed apud semetipsos intus in tranquillitatis sinu requiescunt.

VERS. 10.-- *Quidquid pinnulas,* etc. Sunt etiam pisces testam pro pelle habentes, quorum squama auferri non potest, quia nec verbo Dei squamas ignorantiae deponunt, nec cultrum spiritus suscipiunt: et quamvis in mari baptismi inveniantur, vel [0329A] in poenitentiae fluminibus, abominabiles sunt tamen in his quae moventur et vivunt in aquis, quia regenerationem et vitam, quam in baptismo acceperunt, vivendo male corrumpunt.

VERS. 11.-- *Carnes.* [n: (RAB. in Levit. )] Cum suem prohibet, etc., *usque ad* quaerentes tenebras noctis.

VERS. 13.-- *Haec sunt quae de avibus,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Quae ad contemplativorum vitam pertinent, adjungit, etc., *usque ad mulierculas peccatis oneratas.*

VERS. 14.-- *Vulturem juxta genus suum.* [n: (ID.)] Qui bellis gaudet. Unde sequitur exercitum, expectans cadavera mortuorum: non debet enim alieno luctu pasci, qui dat operam contemplationi.

VERS. 16.-- *Struthionem.* Struthio avis est, sed volare non potest, et semper circa terram est, sicut [0329B] quidam Deo militantes et saecularibus negotiis se implicantes [n: (Job XXXIX; II Tim. II)].

*Noctuam.* Hanc aiunt in nocte acute videre, et parum in die. Tales sunt qui Legis gloriantur contemplatione, et Evangelii lucem capere non valent. *Nycticorax.* In nocte tantum rapit. Tales sunt gentes noctis operibus inhiantes, quae sunt fornicatio, immunditia, impudicitia [n: (Gal. V)].

*Larum.* Larus est animal tam in aqua quam in terra habitans: volat enim et natat. Huic assimilantur qui circumcisionem et baptismum venerantur.

*Accipitrem.* Accipiter inter rapaces est aves, sed mansuescit, et rapinam cum hominibus operatur. Hunc imitantur qui mansueti videntur, sed cum potentibus et avaris atque rapacibus rapere nituntur.

[0329C] *Mergulum et ibin.* Haec longi colli sunt, et cibum ex profunditate terrae vel aquae (ut dicitur) trahunt, nec imitanda sunt. Qui enim contemplationi vacat ad superiora debet tendere, nec de inferioribus sollicitus esse.

VERS. 19.-- *Upupam.* Haec lugubris est et luctum amans. Saeculi autem tristitia mortem operatur. Qui autem Deum diligit, debet gaudere, sine intermissione orare, in omnibus gratias agere [n: (I Thess. V)].

*Vespertilio.* Quae circa terram volat, pennis pro pedibus utitur: quod alienum est ab eis qui contemplantur, ne contemplatio eorum in terrenis occupetur.

VERS. 20.-- *Omne de volucribus quod graditur super [0329D] quatuor pedes,* etc. Qui contemplativis videntur esse similes, sed tanquam reptilia terrenis inhaerent concupiscentiis, etiamsi in quatuor pedibus ambulent, id est si evangelicam praedicationem simulent, quae vocat ad poenitentiam; quia non vere socialem amplectuntur vitam, voluptatibus servientes, abominabiles sunt.

VERS. 21.-- *Quidquid autem ambulat,* etc. Quia cum sint in carne, non secundum carnem ambulant [n: (II Cor. X)], sed a sordidis actionibus exsiliunt, et terrenis hominibus permiscentur, ut instruant et doceant: sicut Dominus cum peccatoribus et publicanis [n: (Matth. IX)]. Habere nos oportet crura sublimiora pedibus, ne claudicemus utroque pede, sicut [0330A] Judaei in lege et prophetis; sed crura habeamus recta, sicut Cherubin, de quibus dicitur: *Crura eorum recta, et pennati pedes eorum [n: (Ezech. I)]*.

VERS. 22.-- *Brucus.* Qui exsilit, sed minus quam attacus, vel locusta, quae magis exsiliunt. Tales sunt, qui cum peccatoribus conversantur, ad conversationem, non ad consensum vel imitationem.

*Ophiomachus.* Qui pugnat cum serpentibus, nobis autem pugna est cum antiquo serpente et angelis ejus [n: (Apoc. XII)].

VERS. 25.-- *Ut portet.* Sicut qui dicit malum bonum, et amarum dulce [n: (Isa. V)]: laudando enim malum a quo prohibere debuerat, suum facit et portat.

VERS. 26.-- *Omne animal quod.* [n: (ISICH.)] Nullum peccatum praeterit lex; quaecunque in Evangelio prohibentur [0330B] Legis aenigmatibus exprimuntur, *ut in ore duorum testium stet omne verbum [n: (Matth. XVIII)]*, et in utraque lege laudes Deum, et, sicut prohibet, fugias malum.

VERS. 27.-- *Quod ambulat super manus,* etc. Qui evangelicam conversationem migrat, sed manibus ambulat, turpis, scilicet, lucri causa manus imponens [n: (I Tim. IV)], hic recte omnibus bestiis comparatur, ut vel adulterum dicas, vel avarum, homicidam et similia: omnibus enim per pravam manus impositionem communicat.

VERS. 28.-- *Qui portaverit hujusmodi cadavera.* Falsa dicendo testimonia, dignum dicendo indignum, et mundum immundum.

VERS. 29.-- *Mustela.* Ingluviem. Mus enim pro [0330C] ventris ingluvie nulla vitat pericula.

*Crocodilus.* Qui durae cutis et malitiosus luto pascitur.

VERS. 30.-- *Chamelaeon.* Miserescit, et prae infirmitate mansuetum se fingit, cum crudele sit.

*Talpa.* Animal caecum de terra genitum. Creatur enim, ut aiunt, de terra compluta et lutulenta, sed prius corrupta.

VERS. 31.-- *Qui tetigerit,* etc. Si naturaliter essent immunda, immundus esset viventia etiam qui tangeret. Morticina talium actiones sunt, id est, dolus, furtum, duplicitas, et hujusmodi in quibus mors animae.

VERS. 32.-- *Et super quod,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Admirabili divisione utitur legislator, etc., *usque ad* tam [0330D] vas ligneum quam vestimentum.

VERS. 34.-- *Omnis cibus,* etc. Cibum et potum opera bona intelligit, ideo dixit: *Cibus quem comedetis, et liquens quod bibitur,* etc. Quia malarum actionum et cibus et potus prohibetur, ne quis participet. Si ergo bonis actionibus, quae sunt in omni vase, id est in omni homine, quodlibet morticinum inciderit, necessario immunda actio erit. Si enim bonae actioni, superbia, dolus, hypocrisis vel quodlibet morticinum, id est, participanti mortem inferens inciderit, et hic immundus erit: bonam enim actionem mala incidens intentio polluit.

VERS. 34.-- *Si fusa fuerit super eum aqua. [n: (AUG., quaest. 37 in Levit.)]* De vase, scilicet quod [0331A] factum est immundum de morticinis immundis si forte aquam habuit.

*Aqua.* Baptismi: est enim sermo de baptizatis; de infidelibus autem mentionem non facit. Unde Paulus: *Scripsi vobis non commisceri fornicariis [n: (I Cor. III)]*, non utique fornicariis hujus mundi, etc.

VERS. 35.-- *Sive clibani.* Per hoc magistri designantur, in quibus cibi sacrae doctrinae coquuntur operatione et igne Spiritus sancti. Nec mirum: Moab enim lebes appellatur: *Moab olla spei meae [n: (Rom. II)]*.

*Chytropodes,* etc. Quia qui docent non furari, furantur; et qui praedicant non moechari, moechantur: doctrina tamen munda est. Unde fontes et caetera.

[0331B]VERS. 37.-- *Si ceciderit.* [n: (ISICH.)] Nihil indiscussum relinquit, etc., *usque ad* si quodlibet morticinum super eos ceciderit, fiunt immundi.

VERS. 39.-- *Qui cadaver ejus tetigerit, immundus.* [n: (ISICH.)] Iniquorum vitam debemus abominari, justorum imitari. Qui enim vitam malorum tetigerit, immundus erit, donec poenituerit.

VERS. 40.-- *Qui comederit.* Id est, quasi advocatus defenderit, et in se auxiliando transtulerit, lavet vestimenta sua, id est actiones pravas, donec poenituerit.

VERS. 41.-- *Omne quod reptat super terram.* Hoc superius legislator exposuit, sed ad frequentationem meditandae legis monendo auditorem, repetit.

VERS. 47.-- *Et sciatis quid comedere.* Non hi cibi [0331C] nos mundant vel polluunt, sed nos ipsi: vivificamus enim quae comeduntur, et quemadmodum omnis cibus bonus [n: (I Petr. II)], et nihil rejiciendum, quod cum gratiarum actione percipitur; sic ea quae comeduntur, id est quae nutriunt animam, bonas scilicet actiones, nos vivificamus, si bene utimur: si male, mortificamus. Qui enim ex rapina facit eleemosynam mortificat eam, et aufert ei potentiam; et qui abstinent a cibis, fratribus vero detrahunt, mortificant abstinentiam.

## CAPUT XII.

VERS. 2.-- *Mulier si suscepto semine. [n: (ISID., quaest. in Levit., tom. V.)]* Septimana est praesens vita, etc., *usque ad* nec in futuro purgabitur.

[0331D] *Immunda erit.* [n: (ISICH.)] Quia scilicet sator immundus, ut haeres Adae, qui per transgressionem immundus, et ita uxori mistus. Postquam enim exiit de paradiso cognovit uxorem suam, et ita propagatur humanum genus.

*Septem diebus.* [n: (ID.)] Quia Adam, etc., *usque ad* quando Adam separatus a paradiso in hanc miseriam decidit.

*Die octavo,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Dies octavus, etc., *usque ad* Inobedientia autem immunditiam nobis sordemque contraxit.

VERS. 4.-- *Triginta tribus diebus,* etc. [n: (ID.)] septem additis, etc., *usque ad* incertum est enim an feminam, an marem pariant.

[0332A] [n: (AUG., quaest. 40 in Levit.)] Quae differentia est inter septem dies, etc., *usque ad* in feminae octoginta.

*Omne sanctum non tanget.* Quid sanctuarium vult intelligere cum tabernaculum nonnisi sacerdotes debeant ingredi, et usque ad velum secundi: ultra velum autem, ubi erat arca, summus tantum sacerdos introibat? Forte ante tabernaculum, ubi altare sacrificiorum est, potuit dici sanctuarium. Nam saepe sanctus locus appellatur etiam atrium, cum dicitur: *In loco sancto edent ea.* Illuc forsitan intrabant mulieres dona sua offerentes, quae altari imponerent.

VERS. 6.-- *Cumque expleti fuerint.* Intentionem aperit, quia scilicet, pollutionem naturales motus non faciunt, sed peccatum, de quo dicit David: *Ecce enim in iniquitatibus conceptus [n: (Psal. L)]*, etc., [0332B] Matrem naturam appellans, et immunditiam peccati Adae et Evae in totum genus humanum descendisse significans. Ideo Moyses, completis diebus purificationis holocaustum, et pro peccato praecepit immolari; evidenter ostendens quia imago Dei perfectionem tribuit generi nostro. Nam formationem dies mundationis ostendunt, perfectionem holocaustum.

[n: (AUG., ubi supra. )] Nunquid peperisse peccatum est? etc., *usque ad* non ut dicerent super filio aut super filia, sed pro filio aut filia.

Notandum autem quam pauper Dominus nasci voluerit, ut non pro illo offerretur agnus et pullus columbinus aut turtur, sed par turturum aut duo pulli columbarum secundum Evangelium, quod scriptura Levitici tunc jussit offerri, si non habuit [0332C] agnum manus offerentis, quod satis est magnum.

[n: (BEDA, in Lev., tom. II.)] Dominus noster non solum homo, etc., *usque ad* et post in coelestem Jerusalem bonorum operum victimis Domino commendata perveniet.

VERS. 7.-- *A profluvio,* etc. Tanquam aliquis quaerat, unde mundabitur quae legitime generavit? ait, a *profluvio sanguinis sui,* hoc est inobedientia, unde immunditia et poena profluxit, per meditationem et contemplationem legis, cujus negligentia hominibus immunditiam invexit.

## CAPUT XIII.

VERS. 1.-- *Locutusque est Dominus.* [n: (ISID.)] Semel loquitur Deus, et duo audiuntur: Spiritum audit [0332D] Moyses, ut sublimior; litteram, Aaron, ut inferior, qui litteram nuntiat populo. Unde *ipse loquetur ad populum, et erit os tuum, tu autem eris in his quae ad Deum pertinent [n: (Exod. IV)]*.

VERS. 2.-- *Homo.* [n: (ID.)] Aliquando excellenter accipitur, qui Dei imaginem et naturae servat dignitatem. Aliquando peccator, in quo dignitas deformatur, sicut hic.

*In cujus carne,* etc. In carne et cute lepram portat, qui carnalia vel exteriora suadere certat, ut Corinthiani, qui putabant resurrectionem futuram in voluptate carnis: et in fide manentibus, quamvis carnaliter vivant, non imputari peccata.

*Aut quasi lucens.* Lepra alia nimis vel moderate [0333A] obscura, nondum effervente passione, quae nimia indiget deliberatione. Alia nimis clara et perspicua, cujus aperta cognitio.

*Plaga leprae.* [n: (ISID.)] Lepra falsa doctrina; leprosi haeretici, qui unitatem verae fidei non habentes, varios doctrinae profitentur errores, vera falsis admiscentes et Ecclesiam, sicut lepra corpora, irradiando commaculant.

In corpore lepram gerit, qui Ecclesiae detrahit, sicut Carpocratiani, qui negant resurrectionem carnis, et Novatiani, qui nuptias damnant, et peccantibus auferunt poenitentiam.

*Vel ad unum quemlibet filiorum ejus,* etc. Cognatorum secundum spiritum, a quo habet sacerdotium, quibus inest perfecta et plena prophetia, ut discernere [0333B] possint subtilia et animae motus absconditos.

VERS. 3.-- *Pilos.* Cogitationes, quibus anima ornatur, mensque contegitur, a qua generantur, sicut caput capillos generat, quibus ornatur et tegitur. Unde *capilli capitis vestri omnes numerati sunt [n: (Matth. X)]*. Inde Nazaraei caput non tondent [n: (Num. VI)], quia superfluas cogitationes non habent, sanctas autem deponere sanctum, damnum est.

*Humilior carne,* etc. Humilior seipso: unde recte veniam non meretur. Vinci enim ab alio majori, portabile est; bonum autem a Deo praeceptum non operari (dividit enim Dominus prout vult), ut seipso quispiam deterior fiat, hoc importabile est.

VERS. 4.-- *Recludet eum.* Secundo recluditur, ut studiose inspiciatur, et duplici probatione transacta [0333C] districtum judicium fiat. Manifestum enim erat peccatum sacerdoti, sed animum consentire passioni nesciebat, sed conjiciebat: ideo iterum inspiciebat. Hinc Dominus post negationem, animum Petri quomodo se habeat tertio interrogat [n: (Joan. XI)], ut non cito judicemus, sed frequenter inquiramus. Septem diebus recluditur. Septenarius enim praesentis vitae plenitudinem signat, quae septem diebus agitur, quo impleto, peccatum et servitium cessabit. Unde septima in divinis Scripturis requies nominatur.

VERS. 6.-- *Mundabit eum, quia scabies est.* Sic Paulus eum qui in Corintho fornicatus est (quia manifesta erat passio) sanctorum tabernaculo removit, et Satanae tradidit; quem cum inspexisset secundo, et poenitere vidisset, suscipi jussit [n: (I Cor. V)].

[0333D]VERS. 10.-- *Cumque color albus in cute fuerit.* Manifesta transgressio litterae legis, quae propria Judaeis sicut in sacrificiis et purgationibus et in hujusmodi. Est enim et communis gentibus de adulterio, rapina, avaritia, et similibus.

VERS. 12.-- *Sin autem effloruerit.* [n: (ISICH.)] Ostendit Judaicum populum partim leprosum, ut in parte transgressorem legis: unde eum sacerdos expellit tanquam immundum. Sed toto corpore leprosum Gentilem, qui totam transgreditur legem, non expellit; sed eum mundum judicat, quia legis jugo subjectus non erat.

[n: (HIERON.)] *Sin autem effloruerit,* etc. In hac lepra quasi florente et alba, diversa crimina designat. Quia [0334A] cum mundialis vitae voluptas quasi candida aestimatur et florens, tunc grave vitiorum contagium grassatur in corpore. Nam aut avaritiae aut libidinis patescunt maculae. Sed avaritiae crimen facile potest resecari, unde: *Date eleemosynam et omnia munda erunt vobis.* Libido quoque jejuniis et abstinentia mundatur. Sed omnibus per sacerdotem medela adhibetur. Alia enim sacrificiorum oblationibus mundatur; alia est, quae facilius; alia, quae extra castra posita mundatur; alia, quae omnino non mundatur.

VERS. 14.-- *Caro vivens,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Judaicum mandatum, quod vivere dicitur quantum ad mandatum, vel quia bene intellectum affert vitam.

VERS. 18.-- *Caro enim,* etc. [n: (ISID.)] In carne viva [0334B] lepram gestat, qui de anima, quae vita carnis est, aliquid falsum existimat. Sicut Luciferiani qui dicunt animam de carnis substantia propagatam; et Arabici qui animam cum corpore mori putant.

VERS. 19.-- *Cicatrix,* etc. [n: (ID.)] In cicatrice sanati vulneris lepram portant, qui post agnitionem fidei et medicinam Dei quam in Christo suscipiunt, rursus aliquod indicium erroris aut perfidiae veteris dogmatis ostendunt.

*Alba.* Quia ex vulnere legalis transgressionis; lex enim alba et a sole justitiae non calefacta [n: (Act. XV)].

*Subrufa.* Quia de praevaricatione evangelica, sicut idolothytum sanguinem, vel suffocatum comedere; utrumque autem fit contra Christum, cujus est Lex et Evangelium.

[0334C]VERS. 20.-- *Contaminabit.* Quia in habitu est peccatum, et animae mala depastio per ulcus incubuit. Unde lepram ex vulnere efflorentem vocavit.

*Caro et cutis quam ignis exusserat,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Supradicta videtur repetere, sed partim eadem dicit, partim adjicit, alteram quippe passionem, sed eamdem ponit indicationem. Egit enim de ulcere quod aliqua aegritudine neglectae carnis generatur et proficit. Ulcus ergo carnis nostrae est voluptas, ebrietas, gastrimargia et hujusmodi, quae luxuriante corpore et in semetipso pruriente proveniunt. Nunc autem de plaga majori, id est exustione ignis. De quo dicitur: *Ignis adversarios consumet [n: (Isa. LXXIV)]*.

VERS. 25.-- *Quia plaga,* etc. In cicatrice exustionis lepram habent Manichaei, qui in abstinentiae cruciatu [0334D] corpora sua exurunt, et per infidelitatem, non munditiam inde, sed lepram gignunt.

VERS. 29.-- *Vir sive mulier.* Qui scilicet in divinitate errat, sicut haeretici, qui non solum Patrem factorem mundi negant, sed etiam actorem malorum affirmant, ut Manichaeus.

*Vel barba,* etc. [n: (ISID.)] In barba lepram gerunt qui de apostolis et discipulis Christi perverse sentiunt, et falsa praedicare confingunt. Barba enim est ornamentum viri, et apostoli doctores corporis Christi.

[n: (ISICH.)] Sex species leprae invenimus legislatorem posuisse, etc., *usque ad* quia erroris sui perfidiam aperta pravitate defendunt.

[n: (ID.)] Diversos colores leprae supponit, etc., *usque [0335A] ad* linguam mendacem significat et imbecillitatem.

VERS. 31.-- *Recludet eum septem diebus, et die,* etc., non tam pro poena quam districtae probationis causa; tempus enim in omnibus servandum, districtius in his quorum lingua circa divinitatem se effrenat.

VERS. 34.-- *Si die septimo.* Quia verbum in quo delinquitur, si semel negat qui peccavit, dijudicari non oportet. Quis enim reum judicat per quod confessus est lingua, voluntate se protulisse negat?

*Lotisque vestibus mundus erit,* etc. [n: (HIERON.)] Alia ante baptismum commissa, etc., *usque ad* de quo dicitur: *Qui peccat in Spiritum sanctum, non remittetur ei,* etc.

VERS. 37.-- *Capilli nigri,* id est, si luxerit impietatem suam, et veram egerit poenitentiam. Lugentes [0335B] enim et poenitentes nigro habitu deformantur.

VERS. 38.-- *Vir sive mulier,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] In praevaricatione divini dogmatis, etc., *usque ad: quibus non vivant.*

VERS. 40.-- *Calvus ac mundus est.* Simplex, non stultis; nemo enim est cui saltem pauci non remaneant capilli.

VERS. 44.-- *Quicunque ergo maculatus,* etc. [n: (ISID.)] Haeretici ab Ecclesia ejiciuntur donec purgentur. Dissutis tunicis, id est, manifestatis secretis sedere jubentur. Capite nudato, ut nuditas eorum a cunctis videatur. Ore clauso, ne ulterius impia loquantur.

VERS. 46.-- *Habitabit extra castra.* Sic Joannes intelligibilem leprosum ab intelligibili habitaculo excludit: [0335C] *Qui hanc doctrinam non affert, non recipiatis eum in domum, et ave ei non dixeritis [n: (II Joan. 10)]*.

[n: (ISICH.)] Ridicula sunt haec secundum litteram interpretata, etc., *usque ad* ne dicatur ei, *Qui praedicas non furandum, furaris; peccatori autem dixit Deus: Quare tu enarras justitias meas? [n: (Rom. II.)]*

VERS. 47.-- *Vestis lanea,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Lanea, pretiosa et animum calefacientia, etc., *usque ad* scilicet et bona opera.

VERS. 48-- *In stamine,* etc. [n: (HIERON.)] Stamen anima est: quae cum tentationis fuso in filiorum tenuitatem torquetur, firmioris virtutis soliditate constringitur. Stat ergo anima, ut tamen erecta, corporis sensus subjacet ut trama; alia autem sunt [0335D] corporis, alia animae peccata.

[n: (ISICH.)] Qui solam litteram attendunt, etc., *usque ad* sed et de ea quae circa virtutes evenire consuevit.

[n: (ID.)] Lepra, in veste linea, etc., *usque ad* in conversatione hujus vitae.

*Pellis vel quidquid,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Tentatio tribulationis, etc., *usque ad* nec sicut munda temere suscipiat.

VERS. 49.-- *Si alba,* etc. [n: (ID.)] LXX: *Viridans atque flavescens,* id est, superbia, quae ad modicum floret: unde, *Sicut olera herbarum cito decident [n: (Psal. XXXVI)]*, aut cenodoxia. Vult enim Christus virtutes esse sine vana gloria.

VERS. 56.-- *Abrumpet eum.* Per poenitentiam [0336A] abscindet passionem; superbia abrumpitur, admota humilitate; vana gloria, amota adulatione, et vana laude.

VERS. 57.-- *Lepra volatilis. [n: (GREG., hom. X in Ezech.)]* Aliquando nos mala egisse cognoscimus et vitamus, etc., *usque ad* per immoderatam continentiam ad iracundiae vitium transit.

## CAPUT XIV.

VERS. 1.-- *Locutusque est.* [n: (ISICH.)] Quia maculas, etc., *usque ad* ipse enim omne peccatum curavit.

VERS. 4.-- *Duos passeres.* [n: (ID.)] Divinitatem, scilicet et humanitatem Christi. *Quae munda,* quia peccatum non habuit; *et viva,* quia ex peccato non fuit obnoxia mortis.

[0336B] *Quos vesci,* etc. Quia, *Verbum caro factum est,* et *nisi manducaverimus carnem Filii hominis, non habebimus vitam in nobis.*

*Lignum cedri.* [n: (ISICH.)] Crucem, quae contra omnia fortis, sicut cedrus fortis et imputribilis.

*Vermiculum.* LXX: Coccinum tortum passionem, scilicet quia coccinum rubeum est, tortum passibilitate, et impassibilitate contextum.

*Hyssopum.* Gratiam Spiritus sancti, quae nostrae emundationi cooperatur. Unde: *Asperges me, Domine, hyssopo, et mundabor,* etc. [n: (Psal. L.)]

VERS. 5.-- *Super aquas,* etc. Baptismatis. *Quicunque in Christo baptizati sumus, in morte ipsius baptizati sumus [n: (Rom. VI)]*.

VERS. 6.-- *Tinget in sanguine,* etc. Quia comprehenduntur [0336C] omnia in virtute baptismi. Vivens passer in sanguine occisi passeris tingitur, quia non in hominis passione tantum, sed Dei et hominis baptizamur.

VERS 7.-- *Septies ut jure purgetur.* Pro septiformi Spiritu, in quo omnis mundatio et remissio; vel ut purgetur anima a septem daemonibus.

*Et dimittet passerem.* Quia quodammodo tenetur sub contemplatione humani intellectus.

VERS. 8.-- *Vestimenta sua.* Opera et si quas virtutes habuerit, quia et has peccatum polluit.

*Purificatusque,* vere. Superius tamen dictum est lepram mundatam, sed sic intelligendum est, mundari aptam.

*Extra tabernaculum.* Consortium sanctorum, a [0336D] quo excluduntur peccatores. Unde *cum hujusmodi nec cibum sumere [n: (I Cor. 5)]*.

VERS. 9.-- *Capillos.* Cogitationes quae ornatum homini ut rationali, et multa disceptanti praebent: sicut capilli capitis.

*Et supercilia.* Quae hominem contemplativum de sublimibus et divinioribus constituunt, quod supercilia in altioribus sita significant.

*Totius corporis.* Etiam verendarum partium, ut nulla remaneat veterum cogitationum, ut totus novus et quasi modo genitus veterem hominem exuat, novum induat. Quomodo enim rasis pilis succedunt novi, si novae cogitationes ad meliora pullulant veteribus abrasis.

[0337A]VERS. 10.-- *Die octavo.* Quo Dominus surrexit, quo leprosus ingreditur castra, quae patriarcha Jacob vidit occurrentibus sibi angelis: unde locum castra Dei appellavit [n: (Gen. XXXII)].

*Postquam.* Prima die, qua egreditur sacerdos, extra castra immolari ad immundationem leprosi praecepit, octava die alia sacrificia substituit. Haec enim eamdem vim habent quam prima: quia omne tempus in hebdomadibus terminatur. Octava ergo et prima est quae subsequitur. Et notandum quod lepram, id est peccatum summopere vitandum ostendit, quod tam diligenter purgari praecepit.

*Agnos immaculatos,* etc. Omnia haec figurant sacrificium Salvatoris, qui pro nobis hostia fuit. Ex utroque sexu sacrificium fit, quia utrumque sexum [0337B] salvavit.

[n: (HIER.)] In duobus agnis duo adventus Christi, quibus credendum est a lepra peccatorum mundari, primo enim venit et passus est: secundo in gloria venturus est.

*Anniculam.* Anniculum jubet esse sacrificium tanquam perfectum: perfecta enim in praedictis animalibus annicula sunt: unde et tunc generationi apta sunt.

*Et tres decimas.* Qui enim mundatur sacrificio Unigeniti, debet fide sanctae Trinitatis signari, tres decimas similae, id est Trinitatem, Patrem et Filium, et Spiritum sanctum habentem in unaquaque persona perfectionem: denarius enim perfectus est.

*Similae.* Unigeniti. Quamvis enim Unigeniti passio [0337C] fuerit, opus tamen est totius Trinitatis: unde in nomine Patris, Filii et Spiritus sancti baptizamur, dum in mortem Christi baptizamur.

[n: (ISID.)] Est lepra peccati, etc., *usque ad* et consequi veniam.

*Olei sextarium.* Quia fide intelligitur et agitur unumquodque praedictorum. Sextarius namque mensura est, nec plus nec minus capientis: quod enim plus est, effunditur, si minus est, non est sextarius. Sic fides ad mentis nostrae mensuram datur, nec capit plus aut minus quam a Deo distribuitur: quod enim plus est aut minus, extra fidem est.

Olei sextarium, pinguem Dei misericordiam et gratiam: et si clarissimam sanctimoniae faciem praeferre non valuit, lucernam fidei non exstinguat.

[0337D]VERS. 14.-- *Supra extremum.* Ut auditum muniat, et cautum reddat: ne amplius vocem serpentis audiat.

*Et pedis.* Ut in conspectu Dei motio nostra et via dirigatur. His enim supradictis custoditis per sanguinem agni et fidem ejus, quae nobis per misericordiam et compassionem ipsius donatur, intelligibilis lepra fugatur.

VERS. 16.-- *Et asperget,* etc. Praesumit enim talis sacerdos apud Deum, quoniam mundare et dimittere peccata potuerit: unde septies aspergit, quia numerus est remissionis et gratiae.

VERS. 17.-- *Quod autem,* etc. Ut fides sacerdotis in operibus ostendatur. Non enim aliter vim suam [0338A] exerit, nisi manu assumpta, id est, actione confirmata et signata. Mittit autem oleum in sinistram manum, et intingit digitum dextrum in oleo, ut per arma justitiae a dextris et sinistris conversetur, per gloriam et ignobilitatem, per infamiam et bonam famam.

VERS. 19.-- *Et faciet sacrificium,* etc. Per ea quae dicta sunt de delictis, possunt ea, quae pro peccato sunt, conjici: vicina enim sunt et communia tanquam in communi materia.

*Holocaustum,* etc. Christi sacrificium prius nos a delictis et peccatis mundat, et tunc nostrum conficitur holocaustum. Cum enim intelligibili emundatione corpus nostrum et animam sanctificantes facti sumus spirituales, tunc digni ad ascensionem altaris [0338B] efficimur: tunc enim plenam emundationem accipimus, nec alia indigemus. Sunt namque emundationum profectus, quaedam enim a pollutione leprae liberat; alia inducit in castra; alia plenissime mundatos ad altare praesentat.

VERS. 21.-- *Quod si pauper est et non potest manus ejus,* etc. [n: (HIERON.)] Hoc est, si divitias coelestium charismatum non habet, verbi gratia, si virginitatem servare non valuit, thorum custodiat immaculatum; si martyrii non potuit reportare tropaeum, se saltem servet invictum.

*Quod si pauper est,* etc. Mirabiliter condescendit et veniam tribuens paupertati, congrua pauperi sacrificia praecipit, ne obstupescat si majora viribus sacrificia [0338C] exigantur. Qui tamen non habet panem aut pecuniam, unde emat agnum aut columbam aut turturem? Ad spiritualia ergo horum occasione vocamur, ut lepram, malitiam; poenitentiam, emundationem intelligamus. Poenitentiae sunt opera necessaria, quae valeant delere peccata. Unde: *Facite ergo fructus dignos poenitentiae [n: (Luc. III)]*. Sunt autem plures qui non possunt solvere quod exigit districtio poenitentiae. Exigit enim orationem assiduam, eleemosynam, vigilias, sacrum jejunium, et ut possit dicere: *Factae sunt lacrymae meae panes die ac nocte;* et, *Lavabo per singulas noctes lectum meum, lacrymis meis,* etc. [n: (Psal. XIV.)] Et, *Quia cinerem tanquam panem manducabam,* etc. [n: (Psal. CI.)] Ignoscit his qui volunt, sed non possunt aliam viam poenitentiae, [0338D] id est, alia sacrificiorum genera exquirit.

VERS. 20.-- *Ponet super extremum auriculae dextrae illius qui,* etc. [n: (ORIG., hom. 8 in Levit.)] Vides quomodo ultimae et summae purificationis, etc., *usque ad* et per omnia Patris Filius reparetur.

VERS. 34.-- *Chanaan.* [n: (ISICH.)] Terra Chananaeorum Abrahae promissa est, etc., *usque ad* quod ibi patet *Salutate Nympham et domesticam ejus ecclesiam [n: (Col. IV)]*.

VERS. 40.-- *Extra civitatem.* Non tantum extra domum, quia de universali Ecclesia sunt ejiciendi, quae est civitas Dei vivi.

VERS. 42.-- *Lapidesque alios.* Dogmata veritatis, de quibus dicitur: *Lapides vivi volvuntur super terram* [0339A] [n: (Zach. IX)]; et alibi: *Quicunque aedificaverit super fundamentum aurum et argentum,* etc. [n: (I Cor. III)].

VERS. 44.-- *Reversam lepram et parietes,* etc. Id est, si, ejectis pravis dogmatibus, expositione subtili rursus impietatis doctrina inveniatur aspersa.

VERS. 48.-- *Quod si introiens,* etc. Memento quae legeris in mundatione leprosi. Manifeste enim apparet quia ecclesiam haereticorum exprimit; qui contra dispensationem incarnationis Christi agit: et ideo ad domum mundandum talia sacrificia adjicit, in quibus mysteria carnis et passionis Christi possint exprimi, et peccata in se commissa sanari.

VERS. 54.-- *Ista est lex.* Quia late leges leprae exposuit, necessario recapitulavit, prius genus, [0339B] deinde partes exponit.

*Leprae.* Impiae doctrinae, quae contingit etiam laicis, ideo additum est: *Vir aut mulier in quo fuerit plaga leprae et eat.* Si enim sacerdotes tantum intellexisset, mulierem non addidisset. Post haec lepram, quae est in virtutibus, posuit, haec enim sunt animae vestimenta. Inde quae est in Ecclesiae doctoribus, qui sunt parietes domus. Tandem cicatricis et erumpentium papularum memoriam facit: lepram veram describens, eam scilicet quae est in peccatis vel in dubiis vel manifestis.

## CAPUT XV.

[n: (ISICH.)] LXX sic, etc., *usque ad* in virum perfectum, etc.

[0339C]VERS. 2.-- *[n: (GREG., lib. XXXIII Moral., cap. 15, tom. II.)] Vir qui patitur,* etc. Quid est sermo nisi semen? etc., *usque ad* quam perpetuae mercedis fructum.

[n: (ISICH.)] Quia multae species sunt pravae doctrinae, etc., *usque ad* si particeps fuerit doctrinae ejus sequens discipulos ipsius.

VERS. 9.-- *Sagma super quo,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] LXX ἐπίσαγμα ὄνον, id est, stragulum asini. Per quod negligentior discipulus et molli corde commutandus intelligitur. Sagmata enim mollia sunt.

VERS. 13.-- *Numerabit septem dies.* [n: (ID.)] Quia per septiformem Spiritum datur remissio peccatorum, cujus septem donis indigent qui perfecte mundari [0339D] debent.

VERS. 14.-- *Duos turtures.* [n: (ID.)] Dignum doctoribus sacrificium. Turtur siquidem meditationem, columba frequenter generans et simplex, Spiritum sanctum designat. Oportet enim doctorem spiritualiter generare: digne ergo hoc sacrificium sacerdotibus et magistris dedicavit.

VERS. 15.-- *Coram Domino ut emundetur.* Secundum voluntatem et legem Dei, super quae peccavit, emundatur poenitendo, sacrificia orationum offerendo, et deinceps recte vivendo et perfecte sapiendo.

VERS. 16.-- *Vir de quo egreditur,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] *Nisi quis,* etc., *usque ad* mundavit genus humanum.

[n: (ID.)] Quia multi, etc., *usque ad* doctorum suorum traditionibus.

[0340A]VERS. 17.-- *Vestem et pellem.* Miseriam exprimit originalis peccati, quo genus humanum pollutum etiam insensata polluit. Mulieres exprimit quae libidinis causa miscentur viris ad temporalem usum, quem praestant, et vestimentum, pelles quoque veteratae projiciuntur, et muliebris consuetudo veterascente amicitia respuitur.

VERS. 19.-- *Mulier,* etc. Per menstrua pravae cogitationes designantur. Quae enim menstrua patitur, alienam carnem non tangit, et propria se polluit. Sic iniquae cogitationes et voluntates, quamvis opere non compleantur, apud Deum pro factis habentur et puniuntur.

*Mulier quae redeunte.* [n: (ISICH.)] Intendit tam mulieres, etc., *usque ad* quae corruptio humani generis [0340B] est.

*Septem diebus,* etc. Universitatem temporum significat, usque ad completionem, qua declaratum est Evangelium: separati enim erant homines a Deo usquequo conjungeret eos evangelica praedicatio.

*Qui tetigerit vestimentum ejus, lavabit,* etc. Sic oportet ab idololatria abstinere: ut nec idololatras nec eorum discipulos vel fautores, quibus quasi lectis vel vasis utuntur, contingamus, nec communionem cum eis habeamus.

VERS. 25.-- *Mulier quae,* etc. Quia fluxum seminis patientem, obscena et corrumpentia docentem diximus; et Judaica utentem doctrina de quo semen coitus egreditur; restant qui Gentilium doctrinam [0340C] spargunt, quae opportune fluxus sanguinis dicitur, quasi seductio idololatriae: gaudent enim daemones sanguine.

VERS. 29.-- *Offeret.* Superius fluxum sanguinis patientem sumere duos turtures, aut columbas in sacrificium praecepit, quia magistri locum occupavit; et hic quoque eum qui patitur fluxum sanguinis quia et idololatriae magister fuit.

VERS. 31.-- *Docebitis.* Hoc neque de leprosis, neque his qui tangunt morticinia, sancivit.

*Immunditias.* Omne peccatum immunditia est animae, sed idololatria maxime.

*Tabernaculum.* Interiorem hominem, in quo imago Dei. *Verbum* quoque *caro factum est, et habitabit in [0340D] nobis.*

VERS. 32.-- *Ista.* Quae sibi cohaerent, et communem intentionem habent, nectere consuevit, ut ostendat quomodo debeant intelligi, et quae cum quibus cognatione intellectus conjungantur.

*Et qui,* etc. Qui praecepta Judaica docet, et male docet bona, immundus est, dum quae ad litteram pertinent, extra tempus profert, sicut mundis utitur immundis, unde: *Omnia munda mundis,* etc.

VERS. 32.-- *Et quae,* etc. Hi sunt qui impietatem docent, cum genus humanum errore idololatriae sit detentum in menstruis, id est, in separatione malitiae.

## CAPUT XVI.

[0341A]

VERS. 1.-- *Locutusque est Dominus,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Unum corpus legis facit, etc., *usque ad* unde post mortem eorum Dominus haec ad Moysen loquitur.

VERS. 2.-- *Loquere ad Aaron,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Quantum parcat nobis Deus, etc., *usque ad* quod praesentibus cavetur verbis.

*Coram propitiatorio.* [n: (ISICH.)] LXX: Coram facie propitiatorii, etc., *usque ad* vel quam ex carne Dominica percipimus.

VERS. 3.-- *Vitulum pro peccato offeret.* [n: (ISICH.)] Mirandus ordo. Cum enim dixisset, quia non est semper ingrediendum in sancta, ne temere et incircumspecte accedere praesumamus, quando et quomodo [0341B] ingrediamur, ostendit.

*Vitulum offeret pro peccato.* Initium praedicationis divinae Christus est, et passio ejus, si haec non fuisset et ab errore tam Gentili quam Judaico homines non liberasset, de divinitate Patris loqui non posset. *Nemo enim novit Patrem nisi Filius et cui voluerit revelare [n: (Matth. XI)]*.

VERS. 4.-- *Tunica linea vestietur,* etc. Qui de Deo locuturus est, et ipsum secundum possibilitatem visurus, omnibus armetur virtutibus, quarum quatuor generales sunt, justitia, castitas, fortitudo, sapientia.

*Feminalibus. [n: (HIERON. epist. ad Fabiolam, tom. I.)]* Ubi refertur quomodo Moyses Aaron fratrem suum induerit, etc., *usque ad* morte moriamur.

[0341C] [n: (ID.)] Secundum Hebraeos, etc., *usque ad* ideo lineis feminalibus femina vel femora velantur.

*Cum lotus fuerit.* [n: (ISICH.)] Aqua baptismi, etc., *usque ad* sed dispensationem Christi intelligere cupiens.

VERS. 5.-- *Suscipietque ab universa multitudine,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Christus pro nobis immolatus est, etc., *usque ad* unde Paulus: *Mortificati estis per corpus Christi [n: (Rom. VIII)]*.

VERS. 7.-- *Duos hircos,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Quia tam pro peccatoribus quam pro justis, etc., *usque ad* dicens: *Non erunt tibi alieni [n: (Exod. XX)]*.

*[n: (AUG., quaest. 55 in Levit., tom. III.)] Duos hircos,* Hircus immolandus, etc., *usque ad* allegorica significatio.

[n: (ISICH.)] *Duos hircos stare faciet.* Quia Christus [0341D] Deus et homo, etc., *usque ad* et alteram capro emissario Christo.

VERS. 10.-- *In solitudinem.* Id est in sinum Patris, quo nullus accedit nisi ipse et Spiritus sanctus. Abiit ergo, id est, operandi virtutem cohibuit, et portavit iniquitates nostras, non ut haberet, sed ut consumeret. *Deus enim ignis consumens est.*

In solitudinem, de qua dicitur: *In terra deserta invia et inaquosa,* etc. [n: (Psal. LXII.)] Ibi hostis locum non habet, ubi Deus manet. In coelum enim divinitas tempore passionis abiisse dicitur; non locum mutans, sed quodammodo virtutem cohibens, ut possent impii consummare passionem.

VERS. 11.-- *Vitulum.* Quando Christus pro Judaicae [0342A] plebis liberatione offertur, vitulus dicitur: quia legis justificationem observabat. Unde ait: *Non veni legem solvere, sed adimplere [n: (Matth. V)]*; *qui factus est ex muliere, ut eos qui sub lege erant, redimeret [n: (Gal. IV)]*. Recte ergo dicitur vitulus, quasi mandatis legis subjugatus.

[n: (ISICH.)] Sacrificium Christi esse quidem carnis per virtutem divinitatis, et in beneplacito Patris, et propitiationem pro peccatis nostris: et ad subministrationem spiritus peragi legislator manifestat.

VERS. 12.-- *De prunis altaris,* etc. Spiritualibus verbis, quae Joannes, egresso Juda, in coena scripsit, quibus exponit quomodo ipse, cum sit in Patre et Pater in ipso Spiritum mittat; quomodo Pater agricola, ipse vitis, palmites apostoli, et alia multa, quae ad pietatem [0342B] accendunt tanquam carbones ignis [n: (Joan. XVIII)].

*Hauriens manu.* LXX. Implebit manus suas thymiamate, compositionis subtilis, subtilia scilicet spiritualia orans, non terrena.

*Thymiama* orationem. Unde: *Dirigatur oratio mea sicut incensum in conspectu tuo.* Oravit enim Christus pro discipulis.

VERS. 13.-- *Ut positis,* etc. Aaron pro dignitate sacerdotii, Christum et alios sacerdotes significat. Christus *super ignem,* id est doctrinam, ponit aromata, id est, orationem; et *vapor nebulae,* id est, virtus orationis, operit oraculum, id est carnem, ex qua nobis propitiatio peccatorum in Christo, qui est et testimonium. Ponit autem et quisque sacerdos de Christo loquens, in igne doctrinae spiritualis, aromata [0342C] orationis, cujus virtus operit oraculum, quod est super testimonium, nec permittit eum quaerere de passione Christi, quae sunt supra virtutem quaerentis, et non morietur immoderatis, scilicet quaestionibus.

*Et non morietur.* Caro ejus non vidit corruptionem, quia vapore aromatum operiebatur virtute, scilicet orationis, de qua dicitur. *Non dabis sanctum tuum videre corruptionem [n: (Psal. XV)]*.

VERS. 14.-- *Contra propitiationem.* Quia ad propitiationem nostram et illuminationem Christus passus est, qui propitiatorium dicitur, et oriens. Unde: Ecce vir, oriens, etc. [n: (Psal. XV.)] Et alibi: et *visitavit nos oriens,* etc. [n: (Zachar. VI)]. Vel contra propitiatorium, id est, in conspectu Patris, septies, quia [0342D] remissionem peccatorum et Spiritum sanctum nobis donavit.

VERS. 15.-- *Cumque mactaverint,* etc. Quia de communi massa hominum factus est Christus, recte hircus vocatur, quia hoc animal pilis asperum et hirsutum, et pro peccato genus humanum. Unde convenienter ait: *Cumque mactaverit hircum pro peccato populi [n: (Ose. I)]*, id est humani generis: quod quondam non populus, nunc autem populus, ex quo ejus primitias assumpsit Christus. Ut ergo monstraret de Judaeis principaliter, sed et omnis naturae, quae in peccato est, primitias Christum portare, vitulum simul et hircum assumpsit, et quia unum sacrificium, et unus effectus, necessario [0343A] communia in hirco aguntur et vitulo. Cernis enim quia hircus occiditur ante Deum, id est Patrem: et sanguis infertur in interiora velaminis, id est, ad eumdem Patrem. Et expiatur sanctuarium, massa, scilicet, humani generis, quae ab initio sancta fuit, et tabernaculum Spiritus sancti.

VERS. 16.-- *Tabernaculo testimonii,* etc. Quod superius sanctuarium, hic tabernaculum testimonii vocat. Eadem enim ratione et sancta et tabernaculum testimonii, dicitur massa humani generis. Sic enim tabernaculum testimonii coelum est, recte sancta nominatur: coelestis est homo noster de quo Paulus ait: *Sicut portavimus imaginem terrae,* etc. [n: (I Cor. XV)]. Hic recte sancta nominatur qui est in medio immunditiarum, quia passionibus carnis oppugnatur [0343B] Christus.

*Sanctuarium. Genus* humanum, carnem assumendo, ut in proprio sanctuario carnis rogaret per crucem.

VERS. 17.-- *Donec egrediatur.* Humano scilicet more spiritum emittens, et carnem in sepulcro relinquens.

VERS. 18.-- *Et sumptum sanguinem.* Quia passione sua cornua altaris, id est quatuor principales virtutes sanctificavit.

VERS. 19.-- *Expiet.* Christi sacrificio expiantur. Unde, *ipsa autem coelestia majoribus hostiis expiantur [n: (Heb. II)]*, quam istis.

*Ab immunditiis.* Quantum ad coelorum virtutes non indigent expiari, quae sunt in sanctificatione [0343C] perenni. Sed quia frequenter peccatorum nostrorum fumus ascendit, de quo dicitur: *Ascendit fumus in ira ejus [n: (Psal. XVII)]*; et de Ninive, *Malitia ejus ascendit coram me [n: (Jonae I)]*, recte ab immunditiis nostris expiat supernos choros, ut abominabilem auferat odorem. Ideo non simpliciter aspergit, sed septies, quia venia peccatorum nostrorum coelestia mundantur.

VERS. 20.-- *Postquam.* [n: (AMBR. epist ad Simplicianum. )]

Sicut duo sunt in agro, etc., *usque ad* quae facit animi tranquillitatem.

VERS. 21.-- *Et posita utraque manu,* etc. Manus impositio benedictionem ministrat in sacrificio, aut [0343D] remissionem peccatorum, aut Spiritum sanctum; quae esse non possunt in eo super quem cadit fors diaboli. Multae quoque circumstantiae sunt quae illi sententiae contradicunt.

*Et posita.* Ut ostendatur quia verbum Dei impassibile, immortale, in carne pro nobis sufficiens sacrificium suscepit: huic recte omnia peccata imponuntur, quia peccata nostra pertulit in corpore suo. LXX: *Imponet ea super caput haedi vivi.* In quo significatur spinea corona capiti ejus impressa, in spinis enim significantur peccata.

*Per hominem,* etc. Christum qui est omnia, sui sacrificii sacerdos, sacrificium, cultus, et altare. Paratus secundum illud: *Ego autem non contradico, retrorsum non abii: corpus meum dedi percutientibus,* [0344A] etc. [n: (Isai. L)]. Christus ergo seipsum per haedum vivum immolans, ipse se per hominem paratum, id est propriam virtutem, mittit hircum viventem in solitudinem, immortalem scilicet, impassibilemque divinitatem ad invia nobis loca, et omni malitia deserta. Unde: *Sciens Jesus quia omnia dedit ei Pater in manus, et quia a Deo exivit, et ad Deum vadit [n: (Joan. XIII)]*.

ORIG. *in homil. super Leviticum* hircum qui Domino immolatur, dicit significare eos qui ad fortem Domini destinantur, sicut Lazarus ille, qui in sinum Abrahae deportatur angelis [n: (Luc. XVI)]. Hircum vero qui dimittitur in eremum, reprobos significare, vel Judaicum populum, qui a facie Domini pro peccatis suis abjiciuntur, sicut dives purpuratus in inferno sepultus. Hominem vero paratum, Christum [0344B] vel angelos ejus, unde recipit unusquisque quod meretur.

VERS. 26.-- *Illi vero qui dimiserint. [n: (ORIG., hom. 9 in Lev.)]* Ascendit in cor tuum concupiscentia? etc., *usque ad* et hic in lavandis vestibus potest eadem figura servari.

VERS. 29.-- *Mense autem septimo.* (ORIG., *ubi supra.* In qua solemnitas repropitiationis, etc., *usque ad* id est abjectus et refutatus.

## CAPUT XVII.

VERS. 1.-- *Et locutus est,* etc. Praesenti lege demonstratur quia non tantum Moysi, sed omnibus communiter loquitur Dominus. Omnes scire cupit quod omnibus expedit, legem scilicet temporalem esse, et [0344C] expleto suo tempore, observari supervacue. Expletio vero temporis perfecta, destructio loci in quo sacrificia praecepit offerri, intimando eum qui extra castra, sive foris, tantum extra tabernaculum testimonii sacrificaverit, interire de populis suis, ut scilicet, destructo tabernaculo et loco, sacrificia finem habeant. Sanctas vero actiones et quae aedificant humanam mentem, ut patrem et matrem honorare, et proximos diligere, et similia, loco non circonscripsit, quia semper prosunt, et cum Evangelio conveniunt. Quicunque ergo nunc figuras agunt destructi loci, sanguinem effundunt, et communem conversationem maculant, in communi peccant; sicut qui sanguinem fundunt, eorum quoque sanguinem fundunt, [0344D] quos exemplo suo in errorem mittunt.

VERS. 3.-- *Homo quilibet,* etc. Quasi figurae legis temporales sunt, et in loco certo sunt, quo destructo non possunt manere.

*Si occiderit ovem. [n: (AUG., quaest. 56 in Levit.)]* Non de his dicit, etc., *usque ad* quidquid in hac re fecit, contra legem esse non potuit, quia dator est legis.

VERS. 7.-- *Et nequaquam ultra immolabunt hostias suas daemonibus,* etc. Cum a Domino dictum sit [n: (Exod. XX)]: *Non facies tibi idolum nec omnem similitudinem eorum quae in coelo sunt sursum, et in terra deorsum, et quaecunque subtus terram;* conflatilem vitulum fecerunt, et ei sacrificium obtulerunt, abligurire cupientes sacrificium. Lex ergo, quasi paedagogus eorum, praecipit Deo sacrificare [n: (Exod. XXXII)], [0345A] ut in hoc occupati abstinerent se a sacrificio idololatriae. Talia tamen sancivit sacrificia, quibus mysteria significantur futura.

*Cum quibus fornicati sunt.* Idololatriam fornicationem vocat, quia Deus despondit sibi animas nostras. Dicitur ergo fornicatio ab illo discessio. Terret etiam eos qui in carne fornicantur, cum peccatum fornicationis comparat idolorum cultui et daemonum oblationi.

VERS. 8.-- *Homo de domo Israel,* etc. [n: (AUG., ubi supra. )] Si idem repetitur mandatum, etc., *usque ad* frustra se Israelitas vel Judaeos jactant.

VERS. 10.-- *De advenis.* Gentilibus, qui non sunt conjuncti Judaeis, sed apud nos. Apud eos quippe fuimus, ut legem eorum et prophetas, et promissam [0345B] haereditatem habentes, non tamen ipsis sed Deo adhaerentes: propterea juxta LXX, *homo homo dixit,* ut ostendat tam eos qui in circumcisione, quam qui in praeputio adhaerent Deo, hoc debere mandatum servare.

*Si comederit sanguinem,* etc. Sanguinem, homicidium intelligimus; fratris odium, homicidium est: *Qui enim odit fratrem suum, homicida est [n: (I Joan. III)]*. Abstinendum est igitur ab omni odio fratrum, quia super talem animam quae talem comedit sanguinem (secundum illud: *Qui devorant plebem meam sicut escam panis [n: (Psal. XIII)]* obfirmat faciem suam Deus, Christum, scilicet qui est imago Patris. *Qui enim videt Filium, videt et Patrem [n: (Joan. XIV)]*. Ipse enim judex est de quo dicitur: *Vultus autem [0345C] Domini super facientes mala, ut perdat de terra memoriam eorum [n: (Psal. XXXIII)]*. Ipse autem comedentem sanguinem perdit de populo suo, de communi scilicet hominum genere: quia sicut immisericordem et impium cum malignis spiritibus mittit in ignem aeternum, *qui praeparatus est diabolo et angelis ejus [n: (Matth. XXV)]*. Ut autem ostenderet quantum debeamus esse invicem misericordes, quantum diligentes, ostendit quia pro expiatione nostra sanguinem suum fuderit dicens: *Ego dedi illum vobis,* sanguinem scilicet Christi.

VERS. 11.-- *Anima carnis. [n: (AUG., quaest. 57 in Lev.)]* Aliquid vitale est in sanguine, etc., *usque ad* cui tantum meritum acquirebat.

[0345D]VERS. 13.-- *Homo quicunque.* [n: (ISICH.)] Multa Deo cura est de nobis, ne alteri noceamus: propterea percutienti maxillam jubet alteram dare; et auferenti pallium, tunicam dimittere; et non in judicio contendere, ne ex contentione velimus etiam nocere [n: (Matth. V)], sed patiendo ipsum corrigere. Ideo legislator sanguinis mandatum recapitulat, ut fraudes et astutias nocendi varias auferat, dicens: *Sive venatione sive aucupio,* etc.

*Venatione.* Fraude, quae ad sanguinem vitamque pertinet. Unde: *Captabant in animam justi, et sanguinem innocentem condemnabant [n: (Psal. XLIII)]*. Et rursus: *Anima nostra sicut passer, erepta est de laqueo venantium [n: (Psal. CXXIII)]*. Hoc est, si peccantem viderit [0346A] eum, qui venationi et dolo ex infirmitate vel simplicitate expositus est.

*Vel ovem,* etc. Eum scilicet qui a terrenis se removet, quibus vesci licitum est: tales enim violenti et avari comedunt. Unde: *Si invicem comeditis, videte ne ab invicem consumamini [n: (Gal. V)]*. Vel quoniam prius erant justi, recte inter munda computantur.

*Operiat illum terra,* etc. Peccata confitentium terra operit, tanquam inferius remanentia et per poenitentiam mortificata: quorum prohibitus est clamor ad coelos ascendere, quo ascendebat clamor Sodomorum, qui nolebant poenitere [n: (Gen. XVIII)].

VERS. 15.-- *Anima quae comederit,* etc. Superius dictum est: Quae tetigerit morticina a bestiis capta, [0346B] id est, qui in talibus communicaverit: hic autem dicitur: *Anima quae comederit;* totum scilicet peccatum suum fecerit, et ex eo voluntatem suam expleverit.

## CAPUT XVIII.

VERS. 2.-- *Ego Dominus.* Quasi dicat, Cognoscite vestrum creatorem; diligenter servate ejus praecepta.

VERS. 3.-- *Juxta consuetudinem,* etc. Intentionem totius legis aperit, ut a malis scilicet abstineamus et bona teneamus.

*Neque in legitimis eorum,* etc. Non enim solum a fornicatione, avaritia et superbia, sed etiam a divinationibus, et auguriis, et omnium gentium superstitionibus [0346C] praecipit abstinere.

VERS. 5.-- *Vivet in eis. Ego Dominus.* Quia in ipsis vera vita in Christum credentibus: *quia qui videt Filium, et credit in eum, habet vitam aeternam [n: (Joan. VI)]*. Hoc in prioribus judiciis et praeceptis non addidit: lex enim non vivificat, nisi evangelium superveniat.

VERS. 6.-- *Omnis homo ad proximam,* etc. Prohibet ne astute ad peccantes in lege, cognationis occasione, accedamus, ut tandem turpia facta eorum cognoscentes prodamus; unde subdit: *Ego Dominus.*

*Omnis homo.* LXX: *Homo ad omnem domesticam carnis ipsius non accedet,* etc. Quemadmodum enim homo duplex, sic duplicia praecepta, interiorem et exteriorem hominem docentia. Lex exterior sanguineis [0346D] misceri prohibet, sicut gentes, quarum haereditatem accepturus erat Israel, qui adeo dissolutus et deditus carnis voluptatibus, ut unus multas uxores acciperet, ut sic saltem ab alienigenis abstinerent. Generationes ergo legislator exsequitur per ordinem, a quibus continere debent, ne confundantur generationes et dispereant haereditates. Talium conjunctionem turpitudinem appellat, ut abominandam horrendamque ostendat. Notandumque quod cum in principio hujus legis dixisset: *Ego Dominus Deus vester,* iteravit *Ego Dominus,* significans quia nobis carne conjunctus est, et nostrae cognationis particeps: tantam ergo cognationem offendere damnabile est.

[0347A] *Ego Dominus.* Non manifestans peccata hominum, sed delens et tegens quod fuerit confessione deletum vel detectum

*Turpitudinem,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 58 in Lev.)] Prohibet cum matre concumbere, etc., *usque ad* in charitate enim peccat, quae plenitudo legis est [n: (Rom. XIII)].

VERS. 9.-- *Foris genita est. [n: (ID., quaest. 59.)]* Ex matre, si de priori viro, etc., *usque ad* quod superius dixit obscure.

VERS. 11.-- *Filiae uxoris,* etc. [n: (AUG., ubi supra. )] Non cum filia novercae ex priori viro videatur prohibere concubitum, cum ei cui prohibetur, soror non sit, vel ex patre vel ex matre, addidit quod ex eodem patre.

[0347B]VERS. 14.-- *Turpitudinem fratris patris,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 61.)] Quaeritur utrum hoc, etc., *usque ad* posset enim aliquis putare quod talem liceret sibi ducere et adulterium non timere.

*Nec accedes,* etc. LXX: *Et ad uxorem ejus non introibis.* Proinde hanc enim turpitudinem dicunt patris fratris ejus, id est patrui pudenda, scilicet, uxoris.

VERS. 16.-- *Turpitudinem uxoris fratris,* etc. In matre concupiscentia, actio intelligitur in filia, in nepte mors. *Concupiscentia enim parit peccatum, peccatum mortem [n: (Jac. I)]*, vel aliud peccatum; sicut David ex concupiscentia adulteravit, et pro adulterio occidit.

VERS. 17.-- *Ut reveles ignominiam ejus.* Quasi [0347C] familiare et cognatum est nobis peccatum. Unde invicem debemus condolere, et onera nostra portare, ut adimpleamus legem Christi, qui peccata nostra portavit.

VERS. 18.-- *Sororem uxoris tuae,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. in Lev. )] Non prohibet, etc., *usque ad* ne faceret eam moechari.

*In pellicatum illius non accipies nec revelabis,* etc. LXX: *In zelum illius,* quasi hoc esset zelus inter sorores, quasi non sit et inter non sorores. An potius ne hoc animo fiat, ut in zelum sororis soror superducatur? *In pace nos vocavit Deus, pacem cum omnibus habeamus [n: (Rom. XII)]*, maxime cum proximis. In Judaica quoque conversatione non decet [0347D] ecclesiasticam suscipere, nec typicum pascha cum vero celebrare, nec circumcisionem cum baptismate. Unde Paulus: *Si circumcidimini, Christus vobis nihil proderit [n: (Gal. V)]*. Mortificata ergo Judaica conversatione Ecclesiae debet conjungi, quae est soror legis, eosdem habet doctores, eosdem prophetas. Sed Judaica conversatio aemulatur, quia ad Ecclesiam transierunt divitiae ejus. Unde Paulus ait: *Aemulantur vos non bene, sed excludere vos,* etc. [n: (Gal. IV)]. Uxor namque prior zelat, quia subintrat secunda. Unde Lia ait: *Parumne tibi videtur quod praeripueris maritum mihi? [n: (Gen. XXX.)]*

VERS. 19.-- *Ad mulierem,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 64 in Lev.)] Cum hoc superius sufficienter prohibuisset, [0348A] etc., *usque ad* sed concipiendae proli noxium prohibetur.

VERS. 20.-- *Cum uxore,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Hic prohibetur rursus adulterium, quod etiam in decalogo prohibetur: unde apparet illa ita esse prohibita, ut etiam mortuis viris non ducant uxores, quarum prohibet turpitudinem revelari.

VERS. 21.-- *De semine,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Convenienter haec subjunguntur, etc., *usque ad* nec in errore gentilium miscemur.

*Nec pollues,* etc. Non solum luxuriando, vel idolis immolando, sed et gentilium philosophiam in Ecclesiam introducendo. Quis enim consensus templo Dei cum idolis?

VERS. 23.-- *Mulier non,* etc. Non solum viris, [0348B] sed etiam mulieribus lex posita est [n: (II Cor. IX)]. Unde: *Mulierem fortem quis inveniet? [n: (Prov. XIII.)]* Sicut enim masculus animam fortem et constantem in virtutibus significat, sic mulier dignitatem suam custodientem designat: facta est enim in adjutorium viri [n: (Gen. II)]: quae vero talis est, non debet jumentorum coitu maculari.

VERS. 24.-- *Nec polluamini in omnibus his,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Quanta pollutio sit in praedictis, poena pollutorum ostendit. Nec incaute praetereundum, quia ea quae invicem sibi conjuncta sunt, in unum colligit, ut ostendat quia qui in uno pollutus fuerit, in omnibus offendit [n: (Jac. II)].

*Contaminatae sunt universae gentes,* etc. Daemones, qui propter multitudinem dicuntur gentes universae. [0348C] Qui cum omni peccato gaudeant, praecipue tamen fornicatione et idololatria, quia in his et corpus et anima maculatur, et totus homo, qui terra dicitur. Sed visitavit Deus terram, id est hominum genus.

VERS. 29.-- *Omnis anima,* etc. Qui enim post evangelicam praedicationem talia committunt, aliam mali medicinam non inveniunt; nec in sorte hominum, sed daemonum erunt.

VERS. 30.-- *Custodite mandata mea.* Quasi: Mea sunt mandata, non hominis; ad cujus imaginem facti estis; quam polluere non debetis: *quia templum Dei estis, et Spiritus Dei habitat in vobis [n: (I Cor. III)]*.

## CAPUT XIX.

[0348D]VERS. 1, 2.-- *Locutus est Dominus . . . Sancti estote. [n: (ORIG., hom. 12 in Lev.)]* Quid significet hoc nomen quod est sanctum, etc., *usque ad* ut scilicet in saeculo conversationem habeatis.

VERS. 3.-- *Unusquisque.* Super fundamentum aedificat: quasi, estote sancti, ut sanctus habitet in vobis; et naturae benignitatem impendite honorando patrem et matrem.

*Sabbata mea custodite.* [n: (ISICH.)] Mandata legis volens recapitulare, id est, *Non occides, Non furaberis,* etc., etc., inquit: *Sabbata mea custodite.* Verum enim sabbatum est ab omni malo cessare. Unde Moyses: *Omne opus servile non facietis in eo [n: (Exod. XXXI)]*.

*Sabbata mea custodite.* Volens nos Deus de intelligibili [0349A] requie docere, et de mundi consummatione, quando impossibile est cibum parare vel operari, nec circa aliquid corporale occupari, ait per Moysen: *Sabbata hodie Domino, non invenietis illud in agro [n: (Exod. XVI)]*, etc. Nota quia non ait, sabbatum, sed *sabbata,* quia intelligibilis requies non ab uno, sed ab omnibus carnalibus quieta est et absoluta: ideo in hoc loco prius sabbatorum nomen in divina Scriptura positum est, ut scias quia sabbatum plena et perfecta quies.

VERS. 5.-- *Si immolaveritis,* etc. Omnia fere legis capitula reiterat, ut eorum memoriam auditoribus infigat; sed maxime necessaria, sicut hoc mandatum quod superius proposuit, cum de sacrificiis ageret. Sacrificium salutare accepit, in quo quae ad [0349B] salutem pertinent necesse est operari, ut autem sit acceptabile, oportet immolari pietatem et pudicitiam. Hoc enim secundum Apostolum bonum est et acceptum coram Salvatore nostro Deo, *qui vult omnes homines salvos fieri [n: (I Tim. II)]*. Comedere autem in die immolationis et altero, est in vita praesenti quaecunque ad salutem pertinent operari: hodie enim et cras pro praesenti saeculo accipiuntur; unde Jacobus: *Qui dicitis: Hodie et crastino ibimus in civitatem,* etc. [n: (Jac. IV)]. Dies tertia, quia in ipsa Dominus a mortuis resurrexit, figuram gerit futuri saeculi et resurrectionis, in quo non licebit operari, sed operum suscipere retributionem. Qui ergo hic vivit tanquam illic operaturus sit, tanquam die tertia sacrificium manducaturus, a legislatore hoc facere [0349C] prohibetur, quia virtutem imperfectam relinquit, tanquam ibi perficere possit.

VERS. 9.-- *Cum messueris,* etc. Ut dilectionem adinvicem habeamus, ut amatores et misericordes in pauperes simus, praesenti capitulo praecipitur. Debemus enim egentibus dare, nec debita violenter exigere, et reliquias bonorum nostrorum concedere, imitando Deum datorem omnium. Propterea metentes vel vindemiantes vult aliquid derelinquere pauperi et proselyto, ne datori omnium videatur ingratus, qui aliis divitias dedit, alios de aliorum reliquiis vivere voluit; ut sic probaret dispensationem divitum, et patientiam pauperum. Pauperes enim et proselytos non abjicit, quibus etiam sic victum providit. [0349D] Unde subdit: *Ego Dominus Deus vester,* scilicet qui divites facio, qui pro vobis pauper fio, qui propter miseriam inopum et gemitum pauperum aliquando exsurgam.

*Cum messueris,* etc. Aperte ostendit quia doctores Judaeorum totius legis interpretationem non capiunt, sed quaedam pauperi et proselyto derelinquunt, gentibus scilicet, quibus dicitur: *Beati pauperes,* etc. [n: (Matth. V)]. Qui et proselyti sunt, quia cognationi Abrahae se ingerunt. Quod ergo dicitur: *Non occides, Non moechaberis,* metant Judaeorum doctores; quae autem spiritualem habent interpretationem, sicut emundationes, sacrificia et similia, cedant Ecclesiae doctoribus, et quae illis metentibus decidunt, id est quae ipsi non intelligunt.

[0350A]VERS. 10.-- *Neque in vinea.* [n: (ISICH.)] Vinea Domini sabaoth, etc., *usque ad* ut experimento divinum eloquium comprobetur.

VERS. 11.-- *Non facietis furtum,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 86 in Levit.)] Hoc in Decalogo positum est, etc., *usque ad* et detestanda talem sequuntur errorem.

*Non mentiemini.* Cognationem peccatorum ostendit. Multa putamus parva, quae sunt maxima, ut mendacium, perjurium; quae furto sunt conjuncta, et recte, quia haec furto cooperantur.

VERS. 12.-- *Non perjurabis,* etc. LXX: *Non levabitis,* etc., *usque ad* talia juramenta non debent fieri, vel si fiant, custodiri.

*Nec pollues,* etc. Maledicendo, quia jusjurandum [0350B] transgredi non potes. Deus enim, per quem juras, in tantum vult bona, ut si mala minetur, non tamen inferat, si poenitentes videat, ut pietatem impendat.

VERS. 13.-- *Non facies calumniam.* [n: (AUG., ubi supra. )] Omnia quae prohibentur non committi in proximum, ad hoc unum referenda sunt quod dictum est: *Non nocebis proximo.* Nam quod sequitur: *Non rapies,* nisi ad hoc referatur, ne rapiendo noceatur, evenit ut non rapiendo quis noceat, nam gladius insanienti rapiendus est.

VERS. 13.-- *Nec vi opprimes,* etc. Paulatim auditorem erudit, et quae videntur parva, magnis conjungit: ut qui definita malorum poena terrentur, abstineant a minoribus. Qui enim sociantur in mandato, [0350C] et in poena. Qui enim in uno offenderit, omnium reus est [n: (Jac. II)]. Ideo vim calumniae conjungit. Nec differt quomodo quis res suas perdat, vel fraude, vel potentia, vel quolibet alio modo.

*Non morabitur,* etc. Merces, scilicet qua forsitan vivit cum uxore et filiis et parentibus. Si differtur, deficit victus; etiamsi in crastino recipiat, vim et calumniam pertulit, quia interim unde viveret non habuit.

*Opus mercenarii,* etc. Merces praedicatoris ex verbo est praedicationis: quod non debet apud nos morari, id est otiosum esse, usque mane, in futurum scilicet saeculum, qui huic nocti succedit, in quo est lux inexstinguibilis. Ex proventu enim [0350D] discipuli crescit merces magistri.

VERS. 14.-- *Non maledices surdo.* Surdo maledicere est absenti et non audienti derogare. Coram caeco offendiculum ponere, est discretam quidem rem agere, sed ei qui lumen discretionis non habet, scandali occasionem praebere.

VERS. 15.-- *Non facies,* etc. (ISICH). Summam et perfectam justitiam, etc., *usque ad* et surdum ac caecum irridere divitum et potentum sunt.

VERS. 16.-- *Non eris criminator.* [n: (ISICH.)] LXX: *Non ambulabis in domo,* etc., *usque ad* qui tanto crimini est conjunctus.

*Non stabis contra.* Quasi non te conjunges his qui proximis insidiantur, sicut multi, aliis sociati, faciunt quod per se non possunt.

[0351A]VERS. 18.-- *Non quaeras ultionem.* Id est, ne ulciscendi libidine rapiaris dum arguis, ut laetari vel consolari velis de alieno malo, sed potius consulere illi quem arguis. Unde secundum LXX sequitur: *Non irasceris filiis populi tui,* etc. Sic enim recte ira definita est, quae sit ulciscendi libido.

VERS. 19.-- *Jumenta tua,* etc. Haec ad litteram videntur esse ridicula, nec a prophetis et spiritualibus viris sunt observata. Unde David dicit: *Ponite filium meum Salomonem in mulam meam [n: (Eccli. XIX)]*. Oportebit autem, secundum litteram ea quae ex tali commistione nascebantur, abominari. Unde: *Mulier quoque fortis inveniet lanam et linum, et operata est utile manibus suis [n: (Prov. XXXI)]*.

VERS. 20.-- *Homo si dormierit,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Cum [0351B] prohiberet jumenta misceri cum jumentis alterius generis, eos scilicet qui sunt sub jugo Christi suscipere jugum legis: opportune hoc subdidit ostendens quia et ante adventum Christi quicunque exterius miscebatur Judaeis, indigebat sacrificio veri arietis.

Nota quanta differentia libertatis et servitutis. In libera enim desponsata mors adulterii poena est, in ancilla autem nubili, et, secundum LXX, *custodita homini,* id est desponsata, sacrificium jubetur offerri, non mortem inferri. Spiritualiter tamen haec intelligenda sunt.

*Nubilis.* LXX: *Custodita homini,* id est Synagoga custodita legi, quae Christo non poterat desponderi, priusquam moreretur littera legis. Unde: *Mortui estis legi per corpus Christi, ut sitis alterius [n: (Rom. VII)]*. [0351C] Ancilla est Synagoga, secundum illud: *Abraham duos filios habuit, unum de ancilla, et unum de libera [n: (Gal. IV)]*.

*Vapulabunt ambo.* LXX: *Visitatio erit eis,* id est liberabuntur a servitute legis, secundum quod filiis Israel de Aegypto liberandis dicitur: *Visitans visitavi vos.*

*Et non morientur.* Quamvis enim secundum litteram agerent, non secundum spiritum, quia legislatoris intentionem ignorabant, facilius tamen assequebantur veniam.

VERS. 23.-- *Quando ingressi,* etc. Permanet in proposito, ostendens fructum bonum ante Christi adventum non habuisse Judaeos, cum dicit fructum non esse edendum in triennio, nec mundum, sed [0351D] quarto anno mundandum, nec dicitur quae sit mundatio. Spiritualiter ergo intelligendum est quod dicitur.

*Quando ingressi fueritis terram.* Terram vocat divinam Scripturam, quam primo Judaei susceperunt. Unde plantare ligna pomifera praecepti sunt. Lignorum autem plantatio, meditatio legis est et praedicatio, secundum quod dicitur: *Ego plantavi, Apollo rigavit,* etc. [n: (I Cor. III)]. Bona quidem mandata erant tanquam ligna pomifera, sed illi quod debebant non faciebant, tantum sequentes litteram. Fructus ergo, id est operatio legis, triennio erat immunda, ab Abraham usque ad David, a David usque ad transmigrationem Babylonis; inde usque ad Christum, sicut [0352A] Matthaeus distinxit [n: (Matth. I)]. Quarto anno fructum legis sanctum commendat et laudabilem, non tamen adhuc esse Judaeis esibilem. Fructus enim legis in quarto anno, id est in adventu Christi, sanctus et laudabilis, quem Sanctum sanctorum faciebat, cujus opera laudabilia et gloriosa. Unde et in paralytico grabatum portante glorificabant Deum *[n: (Matth. VIII)],* qui dedit talem potestatem hominibus: sed nondum edebat Judaeus, quia non conversus. In quinto vero anno, id est praedicantibus apostolis, fructum ejus ederunt quicunque crediderunt.

*Et plantaveritis,* etc. [n: (GREG., lib. VIII Moral., cap. 35.)] Ligna pomifera, etc., *usque ad* in praesentis vitae nocte gaudere.

VERS. 26.-- *Non comedetis,* etc. Totum Judaeorum [0352B] et gentilium radit fermentum. Unde nunc prohibet a legis servitute, nunc a gentilium errore.

[n: (AUG.)] Non comedere super montes, est superbis cogitationibus non pasci, de quibus Isaias: *Omnis mons et collis humiliabitur [n: (Isa. XL)]*. Non augurari volucribus, non attendere quae rapiunt semen pietatis. Comam in rotundum tondere, est cogitationes daemonibus consecrare. Barbam radere, est virtutis perfectionem corrumpere, ficte operando. Carnem non incidere, est delectationes non suscipere, quae et animae nocent et corpus corrumpunt. Stigmata, prava doctrina, quae animae infigitur et difficulter aboletur.

*Non augurabimini,* etc. Per partem totum significat, omnes hujusmodi superstitiones condemnans. Qui enim talia curat observare, Deum videtur infamare, [0352C] tanquam plus scientiae avibus quam hominibus contulerit.

VERS. 27.-- *Neque in rotundum attondebitis comam,* etc. Sicut barbari faciunt: debet quisque esse contentus naturalibus ornamentis, ne Creatorem videatur accusare, tanquam impotentem opus suum perficere, nec in honore daemonum cicinnos nutrire et fovere, sicut student pagani puerorum capita daemonibus offerre, quod maxime hic videtur prohibere.

## CAPUT XIX. (cont.)

VERS. 28.-- *Stigmata.* Legislator etiam curam nostri decoris gerit, ne carne abutamur in his etiam quae corpus deturpant.

VERS. 29.-- *Ne prostituas filiam tuam.* Carnalem, vel animam. Unde Psal. XXI: *Erue a framea, Deus, animam meam, et de manu canis Unicam meam.* Haec [0352D] recedendo a Deo fornicantur cum daemonibus.

VERS. 30.-- *Sabbata mea custodite.* Ab uno sabbato omne legitimum otium sabbatum appellatur. Sic ab una generali abstinentia studet legislator per singula currere, praecipiens nos ab omni malo abstinere. Unde addit: *Et sanctuarium meum metuite.* Sicut enim qui digne accedunt, sanctificant, sic qui inique praesumunt, et immundi accedunt, quantum est in se, polluunt, sicut Nadab et Abiu. Unde Apostolus: *Inter vos multi infirmi et imbecilles,* etc. [n: (I Cor. XI.)] Inde additur: *Ego Dominus,* sanctus, scilicet, et etiam in sanctis habitans et sanctorum vindicans injuriam.

VERS. 31.-- *Ad magos.* LXX: *Ventriloquas, id est* [0353A] pythones, vel falsos prophetas, qui de ventre cordis sui fabulas quasdam et fetentes doctrinas proferunt.

*Neque ab ariolis,* etc. LXX: *Veneficis,* qui daemonum scilicet nomina invocant, et aliquando corpus curant, ut animam interficiant.

VERS. 32.-- *Coram cano capite,* etc. *In senibus est sapientia, et in multo tempore prudentia [n: (Job XII)]*. Hinc Paulus ait: *Presbyteri duplici honore digni habeantur, maxime qui laborant in verbo et doctrina [n: (I Tim. V)]*.

VERS. 33.-- *Si habitaverit advena,* etc. Terra a Deo nobis data, est virtutum scilicet cultura, et bona doctrina. Si quis ergo ad fidem nostram converti voluerit, et civis terrae nostrae ascribi, non affligamus eum, nec imponamus grave jugum, sicut Pharisaei, [0353B] de quibus dicitur: *Alligant onera gravia et importabilia, digito autem suo nolunt ea movere [n: (Matth. XXIII)]*. Sit nobis sicut indigena, qui scilicet nutritus est in fide, et crevit in pietate. Hinc Petrus ad eos qui credentes de gentibus circumcidere volebant, ait: *Quid tentatis Deum, imponere jugum super cervices discipulorum? [n: (Act. XV.)]*

VERS. 35.-- *Nolite facere,* etc. In praecedentibus praecipit in judicio justitiam servari, hic in ponderibus et mensuris, et ne abutamur ad injustitiam justitiae terminis: haec enim termini sunt vendentibus et ementibus, sicut leges judicibus; ut ab omni injustitia contra proximum caveatur. Quod enim diviti agrorum possessiones et pecuniae thesauri, hoc pauperi mensura vini et tritici, et hujusmodi.

[0353C] [n: (ISICH.)] *Nolite facere,* etc. In judicio mentis non debemus injuste agere, nec mensuras naturalis justitiae corrumpere, aliter nostra, aliter proximi peccata judicantes. *In quo enim judicio judicaverimus, judicabitur et de nobis; et in qua mensura mensi fuerimus, remetietur nobis [n: (Matth. VII)]*.

VERS. 36.-- *Statera justa,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Stateras quoque divinas, et mensuras divinas justas habeamus; id est, leges divinae Scripturae sancte et juste custodiamus: nihil nostrum inferentes, nihil suum auferentes, ne nobis istud dicatur: *Quare transgredimini mandatum Dei propter traditiones vestras? [n: (Matth. XV)]*.

## CAPUT XX.

VERS. 1.-- *Locutus est Dominus,* etc. Frequenter [0353D] lex eadem repetit, ut eorum memoriam infigat legenti: quaedam tamen nova interserit, ne superfluere videatur. Sed nova inquirendo jam dicta studiosius inquirantur. Unde superius quaedam prohibendo poenam tacuit, ut quaerentes quae vel qualis sit, in sequentibus diligenter investigemus. Cum enim superius Moloch prohiberet sacrificari, idipsum poenam addendo repetit: *populus* scilicet *terrae lapidabit eum,* non solum principes. Nec his contentus addit: *Ego ponam faciem meam contra illum,* etc.

VERS. 4.-- *Quod si negligens,* etc. Provocat alios contra illum, et terret, si neglexerint poenam tam studiose praeceptam, Deo ipso irascente et ferente sententiam.

[0354A] *Nec voluerit,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Malum est permittere etiam eos qui foris sunt, fornicari a Deo et adhaerere diabolo: sed multo magis de medio populi, hoc est enim totum gregem lupo concedere. Consentientes autem, qui scilicet possunt accusare, vel arguere, vel monere, et non faciunt, non effugient judicium. Ponit Deus faciem super illum, de quo dicitur: *Vultus autem Domini super facientes mala,* etc. [n: (Psal. XXXIII)].

VERS. 6.-- *Anima quae declinaverit ad magos,* etc. Grande peccatum est ad magos et ariolos declinare: hoc est enim a Deo recedere. Sunt autem magi intelligibiles, qui in nomine Domini falsa prophetant; sunt arioli deceptores et adulatores, qui veneficis verbis auditus multorum corrumpunt et a veritate [0354B] avertunt.

VERS. 9.-- *Qui maledixerit patri suo,* etc. [n: (ORIG., hom. 11 in Lev.)] De his superius praecepta dedit, etc., *usque ad* ne puniat contemptorem servum.

[n: (ID.)] Nomen patris vel matris, etc., *usque ad* ad aliquam terrenam civitatem invertunt sensibus depravatis?

*Sanguis ejus,* etc. Quia ipse est sibi causa mortis. Si sic punitur, qui carnali patri maledixerit, quomodo punietur qui Christum blasphemaverit, nec obaudivit dicenti: *Nisi quis renatus fuerit ex aqua et Spiritu sancto,* etc. [n: (Joan. III)], morte scilicet morietur, alienatus a regno coelorum reus est: nihil enim grave, nec operosum, aut laboriosum ei praeceptum est.

[0354C]VERS. 10.-- *Si moechatus quis,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 73 in Lev.)] Hic aliquid voluit distare, etc., *usque ad* quam homo homini.

*Si moechatus,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Adulterium corporate malum est, etc., *usque ad* qui ei commisit hanc curam.

VERS. 11.-- *Qui dormierit,* etc. Haec superius dicta et exposita sunt, ubi dictum est: *Non revelabis turpitudinem patris tui,* etc. Sed hic aperte tan git eum qui idem quod proximus agit, nec peccati societate erubescens, prodit; in quo mortis poenam legislator sanxit. Novercae autem virum conjunxit, quia quod in patrem a filio delinquitur, hoc in filium a patre committitur, et similis utrobique impietas.

[n: (ORIG., ubi supra. )] Supra dictum est, etc., *usque [0354D] ad* non solum pro qualitate, sed etiam pro quantitate.

VERS. 13.-- *Qui dormierit cum masculo,* etc. Hoc peccatum injuria naturae est: unde et morte mulctari decretum est. Spiritualiter autem eum qui fortis est animo et masculus (vir enim in divina Scriptura, perfectus in virtutibus nominatur) verbis pravis vel actionibus effeminare caveamus, ne cum ipso dissolvamur et simul moriamur.

VERS. 14.-- *Qui supra uxorem,* etc. Saevam huic delicto poenam decernit. Qui enim ex matre sunt geniti, his quos filia genuit, cum unus pater sit, incertum est utrum fratres sint an avunculi. Caveatur ergo tam incerta commistio. Sed quia omnis peccati [0355A] concupiscentia mater est, si qua nobis concupiscentia sit, actionem non conjungamus ei. Qui enim hoc facit, igne incenditur, et concupiscentia et actio ejus. *Si enim facta carnis spiritu mortificaverimus, vivemus [n: (Rom. VIII)]*.

VERS. 15.-- *Qui cum jumento,* etc. Nimia contra eos exercetur districtio, qui in tantum iniqui et libidini dediti, ut inaudita scelera concupiscerent: unde viris vel mulieribus commistis quadrupedibus, mortis poenam indixit. Fidelibus quoque non erit haec lex superflua, si quadrupedia voluntates pravas ad terram pronas intelligamus: quae manus sicut homines non habent, quia omni humana actione carent, unde cognationes nobiscum non habent. Vir ergo vel mulier, quae non languore naturae, sed deliberatione [0355B] eis cohaeserit vel coierit, reus est mortis. Ipsi quoque mori dicuntur illis mortuis, neque enim per se subsistunt, nec ulla peccati substantia est, sed in peccatoribus operatur.

[n: (AUG.)] *Qui cum jumento,* etc. Quaeritur quomodo pecus reum sit, cum nec rationale nec legis capax sit? an quemadmodum transferuntur verba metaphorica ab animali ad animale; sicut dicitur ventus improbus, vel iratum mare, ita et hic translatum a rationali ad irrationale? Nam inde pecora jussa sunt interfici, quia tali flagitio contaminata indignam refricant memoriam facti.

VERS. 17.-- *Qui acceperit sororem suam,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Hoc tolerabile videbatur, quia Abraham de Sara dicit: Soror mea est ex patre, et non ex matre: [0355C] sed eos qui de Thare patre Abraham geniti sunt Moyses enumerans, nusquam Sarae fecit mentionem. Quod si sorori suae Abraham nupsit, ante tamen hoc quam Deum cognosceret, fecit. Bene ergo lex talem conjunctionem prohibuit.

*Qui acceperit,* etc. Tropologice turpitudinem sororis ex patre et non ex matre videt et accipit, qui turpem actionem a patre vel a matre (in qua scilicet deliquerunt) admiratur, et imitatur: non solum perscrutans quae non oportuit, sed conjungens se parentum pravitati quae soror ejus dicitur, quasi ab eisdem genita parentibus. Quia vero filii publicant parentum peccata faciendo similia, recte in conspectu populi infligitur poena; vel juxta LXX: *In conspectu filiorum generis sui,* eorum scilicet qui talia cogitant [0355D] imitari: ut unius afflictio, multorum sit correctio.

*Viderit turpitudinem,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 75.)] Id est, concumbendo cognoverit, sicut ibi: *Cognovit Adam uxorem suam [n: (Gen. IV)]*, id est, ei mistus est. Quod autem ait: *Portabunt iniquitatem suam,* id est, ipsum peccatum poena erat.

VERS. 20.-- *Qui coierit,* etc. Intendit legislator continentiam suadere, ne more pecorum cum mulieribus continue misceamur, sed velut coacti, ad usum continendi paulatim veniamus. Mirum autem quod nunc tales de populo suo disperdi praecipit, cum superius eisdem legem purgationis indixerit. Contemplemur ergo menstruatam gentilium sapientiam a Deo remotam, de volatu avium, et cursu siderum, [0356A] et mensuris coeli disputantem. Cum hac dormire, id est delectari, vel revelare et palam turpitudinem ejus proferre, fontemque totius erroris exponentem audire, impium est. Ideo talis interficietur de medio populi sui, ne nominetur homo qui imaginem Dei et seipsum ignorando Creatorem a se alienavit. Ipsa quoque interficietur, ne sapientia nominetur, quia sapientia hujus mundi stultitia est apud Deum [n: (I Cor. III)].

*Turpitudinem,* etc. Sororibus parentum filios misceri prohibet, ut generationes non confundantur, et parentibus reverentia exhibeatur. Secundum spiritum vero et parentum peccata debemus velare, et eorum qui eis sociati sunt, quasi fratres et sorores, quibus nudatis parentes latere non possunt. Unde addit: *Ignominiam carnis suae nudabit.* LXX: *Sine [0356B] filiis morietur,* id est, sine virtutibus, quae est pessima sterilitas.

*Qui coierit,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Ostendit quia causa filiorum, etc., *usque ad* superioribus similis est.

*[n: (AUG., quaest. 76. in Lev.)] Qui coierit cum uxore patris,* etc. Quicunque dormierit cum cognata sua, etc., *usque ad* id est nullo jure succedant parentibus.

VERS. 22.-- *Custodite leges,* etc. Non sufficit partem legis custodire, necesse habemus observare omnia praecepta et judicia.

VERS. 23.-- *Nolite ambulare,* etc. Non solum Judaeis, sed omnibus gentibus haec observanda sunt, si Deo servire volunt.

VERS. 24.-- *Lacte.* Deliciis beatitudinis, quibus nihil suavius, nihil dulcius, et sine omni labore et [0356C] dolore erunt, sicut mel et lac, quae sine nostro labore praeparantur.

VERS. 26.-- *Ego Dominus. Ne cogitetis dicentes: Quid comedemus, aut quid bibemus, aut quo operiemur? haec enim omnia gentes inquirunt [n: (Matth. VI)]*. Qui autem sublimiorem conversationem et retributionem sequuntur, separari debent a caeteris gentibus. *Separate,* etc. Jumenta vel pecora, populares: volatilia, contemplatores lex appellat. Omnis popularis mundus propter simplicitatem a pluribus judicatur. Similiter contemplativus, sed non ita est: popularis enim debet esse prudens in bono, simplex in malo, hic enim solus mundus est. Contemplativus quoque conscientiam debet habere mundam, et [0356D] fidem non fictam. Qui haec non habent, ad vaniloquia convertuntur, *non intelligentes neque quae loquuntur, neque de quibus affirmant [n: (I Tim. I)]*. Diligenter ergo mundi separandi sunt ab immundis, ut mundos sequamur, immundos fugiamus. Notandum vero quam discrete in quadrupedibus et volatilibus hic legislator distinguit, et non in reptilibus terrae. Cuncta enim quae moventur in terra immunda sunt, terrena autem sapiunt, quibus *Deus venter est* ipsorum [n: (Philip. III)].

*Et quae,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 76 in Lev.)] Videtur dicere quod non sunt haec natura immunda, sed pro aliquo sacramenti signo, quia dicit quia ostendit eis immunda, tanquam immunda eis non essent nisi ostensa fuissent.

[0357A] *Lapidibus.* Quia vanis erroribus simplicem populum seducunt; unde ventrem nutriunt, et auditoribus placere cupiunt: quales hodie in Ecclesia multi sunt, de quibus Paulus ait: *Hi enim non serviunt Christo, sed suo ventri, et per dulces sermones, et benedictiones seducunt corda innocentium [n: (Rom. XVI)]*.

## CAPUT XXI.

VERS. 1.-- *Dixit quoque Dominus ad Moysen. . . . Ne contaminetur,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Id est nihil omittat ex his quae expediat sacerdotem docere, etc., *usque ad* cohabitantium enim non poterit ignorare peccatum.

VERS. 2.-- *Nisi tantum in consanguineis. [n: (HIERON., epist. ad Fabiolam, tom. I.)]* Super omnem animam quae mortua est, etc., *usque ad* minoribus vero aliquid [0357B] indulgetur.

VERS. 5.-- *Non radent caput.* [n: (ID., ibid. )] Summus autem pontifex, etc., *usque ad* quibus Christus donavit ut lumen sint.

*Non radent caput,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Nimis aegre dolere sacerdotes de mortuis prohibet lex, etc., *usque ad* ut possit exhortari, arguere, increpare.

*Non polluent nomen,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Quod est magnum in gentibus. Vos autem, dicit Malachias, *polluistis illud in eo quod dicitis: Mensa Domini deserta est [n: (Malach. I)]*. In peccato enim sacrificii nomen Dei polluunt sacerdotes.

VERS. 7.-- *Scortum,* etc. Sacerdos quilibet, nam de summo postea dicet, quod non nisi virginem [0357C] ducat uxorem.

*Quae repudiata est,* etc. Quia culpabilis invenitur, hanc non debet ducere sacerdos uxorem, nec praedicere ejus observantiam litteralem.

VERS. 8.-- *Sint ergo sancti,* etc. Si sacerdotes datam jam sibi a Deo sanctificationem custodiunt, sanctificant ipsum Deum: qui cum in natura sanctus sit, a participibus gloriae suae voluit sanctificari.

VERS. 9.-- *Sacerdotis filia,* etc. Grave est cujuslibet filiam fornicari, sed maxime sacerdotis, qui debet habere filios subditos in omni castitate.

*Sacerdotis filia.* Synagoga non solum uxor, sed et Dei filia appellatur; sed utrumque depravans, aliena facta est. Unde: *Relinquetur filia Sion sicut [0357D] umbraculum vineae,* etc. [n: (Isa. I)]. Et alibi: *Fornicata est mater eorum [n: (Ose. II)]*: quod igne sit exusta, incendii monstrant vestigia.

VERS. 10.-- *Pontifex,* etc. Christus *magnus Dominus noster, et magna virtus ejus,* qui pro nobis factus est sacerdos et hostia.

*Consecratae sunt.* Alii sacerdotes in sanguine vituli et arietis consecrabant, vel consummabant, scilicet, manus suas: ipse vero proprio sanguine, crucifixis manibus.

*Vestimenta non scindet,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Ex quo enim Verbum caro factum est, etc., *usque ad* haec vere sancta sunt indumenta.

VERS. 11.-- *Ad omnem mortuum,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] [0358A] LXX: *Animam mortuam. Anima quae peccaverit ipsa morietur [n: (Ezech. XVIII; Isa. LIII)]*. Hac morte maxime gentes perierunt, quae nec legem nec doctrinam habuerunt; sed Christus peccata omnium tulit, et tamen impollutus mansit.

*[n: (AUG. quaest. 81 in Lev.)] Ad omnem mortuum,* etc. LXX: *Super omnem animam mortuam non introibit.* Quomodo dicat animam mortuam, etc., *usque ad* quod secundum non prohibuit.

VERS. 12.-- *[n: (ID., quaest. 82.)] De sanctis non exibit.* Dum scilicet eorum funera celebrantur, de sanctis prohibitus est exire, etc., *usque ad* quod nonnullis diebus non imponebatur incensum.

*Super patre. [n: (ORIG., hom. 14 in Lev.)]* Omnis homo in patre et matre pollutus est, etc., *usque ad* vel [0358B] coelestis matris libertatem indigna peccati servitute maculant.

[n: (AUG., quaest. 85 in Levit.)] Quaeri potest, etc., *usque ad* sicut de ipso Aaron Scriptura testatur.

*Ego Dominus. [n: (AUG. quaest. 84.)]* De Moyse etiam dictum est, etc., *usque ad* nec superflua judicata est visibilis sanctificatio, quia invisibilis praecessit.

VERS. 13.-- *Virginem ducet uxorem.* [n: (HIERON., epist. ad Fabiolam. )] Vidua est cujus maritus, etc., *usque ad* unde: *Despondi enim vos uni viro virginem castam,* etc.

Nolo discipulam conjugemque pontificis quidquam habere veteris hominis. *Si consurreximus cum Christo, quae sursum sunt sapiamus,* praeteritorum obliti, [0358C] futurorum avidi. Infelix Simon qui post baptismum de antiquo matrimonio cogitavit, nec ad virginalem venerat puritatem, Petri consortio indignus fuit.

VERS. 14.-- *Viduam autem et repudiatam,* etc. [n: (ORIG., hom. 12 in Levit.)] Qui peccat, abjectus est; etiam si episcopus tacet, vel ignorantia, vel negligentia, non prodest hujusmodi gratia; animam abjectam Christus non ducit uxorem, nec pollutam, quae scilicet tantum peccatum voluit et optavit, quia magnus pontifex omnino puram requirit animam, quam sibi jungat et unum spiritum efficiat. Qui peccat ad mortem, abjectus est; qui venialiter, pollutus est.

*Sordidam,* etc. Quae vadit post amatores, scilicet daemones, qui animam pulchram, id est, ad imaginem Dei factam, adulterare cupiunt.

[0358D]VERS. 17.-- *Homo de semine.* [n: (ISICH.)] Haec secundum litteram tantum, etc., *usque ad* valde per contumeliam refragatur.

VERS. 18.-- *Si caecus* [n: (ISICH.)] Lumen contemplationis ignorans, praesentis vitae tenebris pressus, qui dum venturam lucem diligenter non conspicit, nescit quo porrigat operis gressum.

*Si claudus.* [n: (ID.)] Qui scilicet videt quo pergere debeat, sed infirmitate mentis non potest facere quod desiderat.

*Si parvo, vel grandi, vel torto naso.* [n: (ID.)] Parvo naso est, qui ad tenendum mensuram discretionis idoneus non est: naso enim odores fetoresque dis cernimus. Nasus grandis et tortus, est discretionis [0359A] immoderata subtilitas, quae plus quam oportet vel decet excrescens, actionis confundit rectitudinem.

VERS. 19.-- *Si fracto pede.* [n: (ISICH.)] Qui viam Dei pergere non potest, et boni operis exsors est, non ut claudus, qui saltem cum infirmitate tenebat

VERS. 20.-- *Si gibbus.* [n: (ID.)] Terrena sollicitudine pressus ad superna non respiciens, inferiora tantum inspiciens.

*Si lippus.* Lippus, cujus ingenium ad cognitionem veritatis emicat, sed operatio carnalis obscurat. In lippis enim pupillae sanae sunt, sed humore defluente palpebrae grossescunt, cujus crebra infusione acies etiam pupillae vitiatur.

*Si albuginem.* [n: (ID.)] Albuginem habet qui veritatis lucem videre non sinitur, quia arrogantia sapientiae [0359B] vel justitiae caecatur. Pupilla enim nigra videt, alba non videt: quia sensus humanae cogitationis si stultum se vel peccatorem intelligit, cognitionem intimae claritatis apprehendit: si candorem justitiae vel sapientiae sibi attribuit, a superna cognitione se excludit.

*Si jugem scabiem.* [n: (ID.)] Cui scilicet petulantia carnis sine cessatione dominatur in mente. In scabie namque fervor viscerum ad cutem trahitur, in quo luxuria signatur, quia similiter cordis tentatio ad operationem prosilit.

*Si impetiginem in corpore. [n: (GREG. Past., part. I, cap. 11.)]* Impetiginem habet in corpore, etc., *usque ad* quia per omnia vitia animum supplantat. *Radix enim omnium malorum est cupiditas [n: (I Tim. VI)]*.

*Vel herniosus.* Alii, *ponderosus,* quia scilicet turpitudinem [0359C] non exercet in opere, sed adhuc continua cogitatione gravatur in mente: qui totis cogitationibus ad lasciviam defluit, tanquam in corde gestans pondus turpitudinis.

VERS. 21.-- *Omnis qui habuerit maculam* Quisquis cuilibet horum vitiorum subjicitur, panes Domino offerre prohibetur, ne aliena delicta diluere non valeat, quem adhuc propria delicta devastant. [n: (AUG., quaest. 35 in Lev.)] Ablata est omnis dubitatio, etc., *usque ad* a quo incensum necesse erat imponi.

Oportet sacerdotem esse animo et conversatione immaculatum, quem sicut Moses duodecim maculis juxta LXX mundum esse praecepit: sic Paulus duodecim conservare eum monuit dicens: *Non superbum, non iracundum, non vinolentum,* etc. [n: (I Tim. II.)] [0359D] Est enim Dei dispensator, qui subjectis debet virtutibus praecellere. Hoc quoque in Ecclesia fit si quis maculatus fuerit, et poenitendo cessaverit, sanctis communicare non prohibetur: ministrare autem, vel ad velum accedere et ad altare non licet. Velum enim et altare corpus Christi est, unde Paulus: *Habemus altare de quo comedere non habent potestatem qui tabernaculo deserviunt [n: (Hebr. XIII)]*. Et alibi: *Habentes fiduciam in introitu sanctorum in sanguine Christi, quam initiavit nobis viam novam et viventem per velamen, id est carnem ejus [n: (Hebr. X)]*.

*Et contaminare non debet,* etc. Inordinate agendo populum scandalizent, putantes superfluum esse Dei ministerium, et justitiam et judicium.

[0360A]VERS. 24.-- *Locutus est Moyses,* etc. Moysi dignitatem commendat: aliis enim pauca, ipsi vero loquitur Deus omnia, quia justus est et imago Christi est. Nos quoque monet majoribus et perfectioribus attendere, qui continue fruuntur aeterna visione.

## CAPUT XXII.

VERS. 2.-- *Quae ipsi offerunt,* etc. Quae obtulerunt scilicet sacerdotibus, per eos Domino offerenda. Nota sanctificationis genus quod fit voto et devotione offerentis; sed utrum homines eodem modo seipsos sanctificare dicantur, cum in aliqua re seipsos vovent, observandum est.

VERS. 3.-- *Omnis homo qui accesserit,* etc. Quasi, non solum a ministerio et mystico officio abstineat, [0360B] sed nec tangat quae oblata sunt, mundus enim ad munda debet accedere.

VERS. 4.-- *Qui fuerit leprosus,* etc. Non sensibilem leprosum abominatur, qui invitus patitur, sed spiritualem: quod ibi exponit: *Qui tetigerit immundum super mortuo,* sive, juxta LXX: *Omnem immunditiam animae,* id est peccatum.

*Ex quo,* etc. [n: (HIERON., epist. ad Fabiolam. )] Si quis sacerdotum semine fluxerit, *usque ad* nullius alterius more teneatur.

VERS. 9.-- *Custodiant,* etc. Praecepta Domini custodientibus ea causa sunt justificationis et salutis; transgredientibus vero, peccati et mortis, et praecipue in perceptione sanctorum. *Qui enim manducat et bibit indigne, judicium sibi manducat et bibit,* etc. [0360C] [n: (I Cor. XI.)]

VERS. 10.-- *Inquilinus sacerdotis,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Qui non pure nec diligenter in Ecclesia versatur, tanquam migraturus, scilicet gloriae aut quaestus causa, tanquam mercenarius memoratur: qui non est pastor, cujus non sunt oves propriae [n: (Joan. X)].

VERS. 12.-- *Cuilibet ex populo nupta.* [n: (ID.)] Non sufficit in fide Christi nutriri: permanere et crescere in ea debemus; nec alienigenarum cuilibet, id est alienae a Deo doctrinae, vel legi vel actioni commisceri: nec quia de patribus sumus fidelibus, ideo de sanctis praesumamus, sed ubi et ipsi fideles persistamus.

VERS. 14.-- *Qui comederit de sanctificatis,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Sancta sanctorum, etc., *usque ad* Unde Salomon: [0360D] *Cum sederis ut comedas cum principe, diligenter attende quae posita sunt ante te [n: (Prov. XXIII)]*.

*Addet quintam,* etc. LXX: *Super ipsum.* Quinta ergo non aliunde, sed de ipso et cum ipso, vel super ipsum addi jubetur: hic est sermo prolatus ab ipso Christo super Dominicum mysterium. Ipse nos ab ignorantia removet, nec carnale vel terrenum aliquis putet. Hic bene quinta dicitur, quia spiritus et sermo quem tradit quinque sensus nostros componit; nec solum gustum producit ad mysterium, sed auditum et visum, tactumque et odoratum, ut nihil terrenum de his quae superna sunt suspicemur.

*Et dabit sacerdoti in sanctuarium.* [n: (ISICH.)] Sanctificationem mystici sacrificii, et a sensibilibus ad intelligibilia [0361A] translationem vero sacerdoti oportet dari: quia per ejus virtutem et sermonem sanctificata sunt quae videntur, ut omnes excedant sensus.

VERS. 15.-- *Filiorum Israel.* Fidelem populum significat, qui per hoc mysterium Deum videt: et quicunque Deo consecrat in Dominicum sacrificium, sancta sanctorum sunt, quia ex eis conficitur corpus Christi. Ipse enim est primitiae nostrae conspersionis: ideo recte ex nostris subsistit primitiis.

VERS. 17.-- *Locutus est Dominus,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Non solum sacerdotes, etc., *usque ad* aliter enim non suscipietur.

VERS. 18.-- *Homo de domo Israel,* etc. Ad litteram quoque, si offeras bovem vel ovem aut capram, aut aliquid hujusmodi, sacerdotibus primitias dando, [0361B] vel pauperes pascendo, vel divina aedificia constituendo, vel aliquid quod pertineat ad ipsum Deum faciendo (ideo enim holocaustum dicitur), impolluta sit haec oblatio; non tamen pollutionem nominat, ut spiritualem intelligamus pollutionem quae est ex rapina, injustitia, avaritia, et hujusmodi.

VERS. 21.-- *Homo qui obtulerit,* etc. Praecepit oblationem populi mundam esse: adjungit quales ministri debeant esse et offerre.

*Pacificorum,* etc. Quae valeant ad salutem et pacem: etsi non possit perfecte philosophari, sicut qui omnia reliquit, qui studet virginitati et hujusmodi. *Stella enim differt a stella in claritate [n: (I Cor. XV)]*.

VERS. 22.-- *Si caecum fuerit,* etc. Qui Deum ignorat et ejus ministerium, nec aliis potest exponere; [0361C] unde circa se et circa alios, et circa ministerium, negligenter agit. Unde: *Videte quoniam omnes nesciverunt, universi canes muti, non valentes latrare [n: (Isa. LVI)]*.

*Si fractum.* Pede vel manu: cujus actio scilicet vel voluntas debilis est vel distorta, non est dignus salute et sacris altaribus.

*Si cicatricem.* Detractorem notat: pessimus enim hic moribus et asperrimum vulnus non facile mitigatur.

*Si papulas.* LXX: *linguam incisam:* qui scilicet propter sordidam vitam perdidit docendi fiduciam; unde David: *Peccatori dixit Deus: Quare tu enarras justitias meas?* etc. [n: (Psal. XLIX.)]

*Scabiem vel impetiginem.* Fornicator significatur, [0361D] qui maculat corpus suum. *Qui enim fornicatur, in corpus suum peccat [n: (I Cor. VI)]*.

*Non offeretis ea Domino.* LXX: *Non offerent haec Domino:* tales enim ministerio altaris non sunt offerendi. Sacrificium pacificorum non addit sicut superius, ut de ministris altaris hoc dici intelligamus qui holocaustum debent esse, et vitam perfectam et consummatam agere. *Aure et cauda amputatis,* etc. Aure amputatus est, qui inobediens est, qui verbis turpibus delectatur, bona aversatur.

*Voluntarie,* etc. Talis enim vel mandata operatur, et dicitur bos; vel simplex est, et ovis appellatur. Ideo non omnino adversamur, aut in parte inimici deputamus, sed docemus et exhortamur.

[0362A] *Vel tusis,* etc. Qui illatis tentationibus cedit, et animae fortitudinem perdit. Non enim oportet haec pati, nec cedere hosti affligenti. Unde: *Utquid tristis incedo, dum affligit me inimicus [n: (Psal. XLI)]*?

*Ablatisque.* Qui una actione prava quasi cultro seipsum abscindit a conjunctione Dei, privatus prole virtutis et signis virilitatis: alter enim est qui paulatim conteritur.

VERS. 27.-- *Bos ovis et capra.* [n: (ISICH.)] Mater omnium natura est, etc., *usque ad* unde Salomon: *Ante mortem non laudes hominem [n: (Eccli. XI)]*.

VERS. 28.-- *Non immolabuntur.* [n: (ISICH.)] Legale pascha significat, quia haec Moyses in die paschatis tradidit immolanda Judaeis, dicens: *Immolabis pascha Domino Deo tuo; oves,* etc. [n: (Deut. XVI)]: hoc [0362B] pascha celebrare non possunt qui verum susceperunt.

*Una die,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Quia vetus pascha tempus suum habuit, etc., *usque ad:* In crastino Christum crucifixerunt.

## CAPUT XXIII.

VERS. 1.-- *Hae sunt feriae Domini.* [n: (ISICH.)] Si subtiliter attendas praesentia, etc., *usque ad* requiescit sabbato intelligibili.

VERS. 4.-- *Hae sunt ergo.* Non Domino, sicut aliae omnes, sed Domini proprie, quibus hoste devicto genus humanum salvavit, et a captivitate reduxit [n: (Exod. II)].

VERS. 5.-- *Quartadecima die,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Interrogemus Judaeos, etc., *usque ad* in qua pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus, etc.

[0362C] *Phase Domini est.* Quia passus est Dominus, non mox tempora finivit, sed reliquias novissimae horae et vespertinae reliquit, ut in omnem terram exeat sonus eorum [n: (Psal. XVIII)], scilicet apostolorum, et in fines orbis terrae verba eorum. Ad vesperum quoque, vel in vespere medio, pascha proprium praeveniens crucem suam celebravit, quia super mysticum, verum pascha discipulis tradidit. Nox ergo erat jam quando Judas, accepta buccella, ad prodendum exivit: sequenti die pascha complevit. Unde quinta decima die legislator hanc festivitatem constituit, et solemnitatem azymorum praedicavit.

VERS. 6.-- *Septem diebus,* etc. Si vere pascha celebrare volumus, septem diebus, id est semper, ab omni malitia azymi esse debemus, et maxime a [0362D] Judaico errore. Unde ait Apostolus: *Non in fermento veteri neque in fermento malitiae et nequitiae, sed in azymis sinceritatis et veritatis [n: (I Cor. V)]*.

VERS. 7.-- *Omne opus,* etc. *Qui facit peccatum servus est peccati [n: (Joan. VIII)]*. Non debemus servire peccato, cum pascha celebramus, in quo a peccato nos liberavit Christus.

*Servile,* etc. Non permittit agere servilia, aliis diebus quibus nos prohibuit, unde subdit: sed offeretis sacrificium in igne Domino.

VERS. 8.-- *Sacrificium,* etc. LXX: *holocaustomata,* ubi innuitur quod ab omnibus cessare jubet servilibus; praeterea non solum primam, sed et septimam nominavit, ut totam comprehenderet vitam [0363A] humanam, quia initium, haec finis, in quo omnia possunt comprehendi.

VERS. 11.-- *Altero die.* Potuit dicere secunda azymorum: sed ne ad sequentem diem nostram duceret intentionem, scilicet in crastinum primae, dixit, altera die significans resurrectionem quae successit passioni, sicut dies diei.

VERS. 12.-- *Atque in eodem die.* Resurrectionis, id est, elevationis manipuli, id est, quando resurrectionem celebramus, Dominici sacrificii oblivisci non debemus, ex quo oblatus est manipulus.

VERS. 13.-- *Duae decimae.* Oportet enim perfectam humanitatem et perfectam divinitatem in unum convenire: in oleo, id est, per eam quam circa nos habuit misericordiam; sic enim sacrificium odor suavitatis [0363B] Domino invenitur, si quae de eo digna sunt intelligimus.

*Liba quoque.* Ecce intelligibilis oblatio Melchisedech, quae in pane et vino perficitur [n: (Gen. XIV)]; inde quarta pars hinc offertur, ut per quartam partem evangelica doctrina significetur; per libationem vero sermo Dominicus, quo ait: *Hic est sanguis meus, qui pro multis effundetur in remissionem peccatorum [n: (Matth. XXVI)]*.

VERS. 14.-- *Panem.* Oblatio praesentium donorum, quae est Christi mysterium, reconciliavit nos Deo, et cibum praeparavit novum.

*Polentam.* LXX: χίδρα νέα, id est sata nova tosta non manducabitis, vel manibus contrita et emundata: sic enim χίδρα, chidra, alii interpretantur, quia [0363C] Christi praecepta actionem et correctionem quaerunt [n: (Matth. XI)].

VERS. 16.-- *Quinquaginta dies, et sic,* etc. Haec dies Dominica est, in qua Pentecostes festivitatem celebramus, quam Judaei nec secundum litteram, nec secundum spiritum celebrant, qui nec dies secundum legem numerant.

*Offeretis novum sacrificium,* novum non vetus, non saeculare. Adveniens siquidem Spiritus totam vitam humanam renovavit, quia Christi institutionem confirmavit, et vitae confirmationem in illis perfecit: unde, *De meo accipiet, et annuntiabit vobis [n: (Joan. XVI)]*. Ideo non in alia die advenit, sed in qua resurrectio fuit, et oblatus manipulus intelligibilis, ut ostendat quia nova conversatio resurrectione Christi et adventu [0363D] Spiritus sancti perfecta est.

VERS. 17.-- *Habitaculis vestris,* etc. Quia est habitaculum praecipuum, de quo dicitur: *Beati qui habitant in domo tua, Domine [n: (Psal. LXXXII)]*. Et alibi: *Unam petii a Domino, hanc requiram, ut inhabitem,* etc. [n: (Psal. XXVI)].

*Panes primitiarum.* Primus enim Dominus Evangelium cum lege perfecit et docuit. *Audistis quia dictum est antiquis: Non occides: Ego autem dico vobis: Omnis qui irascitur fratri suo, reus erit judicio [n: (Matth. V)]*: hinc enim legem conjunxit Evangelio. Hinc Lucas ait: *Quae coepit Jesus facere et docere,* etc. [n: (Act. I)].

*De duabus decimis,* etc. De doctrina scilicet, quae [0364A] perfectam divinitatem et perfectam humanitatem docet, nec aliter possunt coqui nisi per talem doctrinam.

VERS. 18.-- *Septem agnos.* Pro septem donis Spiritus sancti, quae vocat agnos, quia Spiritus sanctus unum est cum Christo, de quo scriptum est: *Ecce agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccata mundi, ideo nemo potest dicere Dominus Jesus, nisi in Spiritu sancto [n: (Joan. I; I Cor. XII)]*.

*Et arietes duos.* Quibus inimicus ventilatur. Haec sunt superiora mandata, et virtutes, quas aliae sequuntur ut oves, verbi gratia: *Vade et vende omnia quae habes, et da pauperibus [n: (Matth. IX)]*.

*Cum libamentis,* etc. Quae sunt scientia et correctio; unde: *Deo autem gratias, qui odorem scientiae [0364B] suae manifestat per nos, quia Christi bonus odor sumus,* etc. [n: (II Cor. II)].

VERS. 19.-- *Duosque agnos,* etc. Mandata pacis et sanctimoniae, unde: *Pacem sequimini cum omnibus et sanctimoniam,* etc. [n: (Heb. XII)]. Haec quia apostolico sermone dicta sunt, praecipit offerri cum panibus primitiarum, qui doctrinam Christi significant. Unde in sequentibus: *Cumque elevaverit eos sacerdos cum panibus primitiarum [n: (Joan. X)]*.

VERS. 20.-- *Cedent in usum,* etc. In usum ejus sacerdotis, id est, Christi, qui est sacerdos noster et Dominus noster: ipsius sunt panes primitiarum et agni mandatorum, ipse in Paulo loquebatur, ipse omnia quae dicta sunt obtulit; primus pacem discipulis annuntiavit, et sanctimoniam custodivit, sicut Sanctus [0364C] sanctorum.

VERS. 21.-- *Celeberrimum.* In quo gentium vocatio non modo praedicta est, sed impleta: quando Parti et Medi et Elamitae, et caeterae gentes audierunt apostolos loquentes variis linguis magnalia Dei [n: (Act. II)].

VERS. 22.-- *Postquam,* etc. Eadem superius dixisse videtur, sed ibi: *Non complebitis missionem vestram;* hic autem ait: *Non secabitis eam usque ad solum,* et differentiam innuit ipsa mutatio verborum.

*Segetem terrae,* etc. Conversationis, cujus messio post resurrectionem Christi, et adventum Spiritus sancti, non tamen omnem scientiam, quam in futuro sumus habituri, tradit verbum praedicationis. Sunt [0364D] enim quae nunc non possunt nobis revelari [n: (Matth. VIII)], unde in praedictis festivitatibus hanc legem interposuit.

*Pauperibus et peregrinis.* LXX: *pauperi et proselyto,* id est Christo, qui non habuit ubi caput reclinaret, et *in propria venit, et sui eum non receperunt.* Hic solos intelligit qui remanent; unde: *O altitudo sapientiae et scientiae Dei, quam incomprehensibilia sunt judicia ejus, et investigabiles viae ejus! [n: (Rom. XI.)]*

VERS. 24.-- *Mense septimo prima die mensis.* Septenarius consummationem vel specialem vel generalem significat. Hinc Deus die septimo requievit [n: (Gen. II)]; et sua requie nostram significavit; unde: *Qui ingressus est in illam requiem, requievit ab operibus [0365A] suis, sicut Deus a suis [n: (Heb. IV)]*. Initium vero consummationis temporum, adventus Domini est, unde: *Filioli, novissima hora est [n: (I Joan. II)]*. Hoc tempus appellat primam septimi mensis, sicut principium consummationis nobis etiam requies est, quos ab operibus malis cessare fecit, et a jugo gravi liberavit; unde: *Venite ad me, omnes qui laboratis, et onerati estis,* etc., *et discite a me quia mitis sum et humilis corde, et invenietis requiem animabus vestris [n: (Matth. XI)]*.

*Clangentibus tubis.* Quia praedicat Salvatoris resurrectionem, quae memoriale est generalis resurrectionis, quae secundum Apostolum erit in voce archangeli, et in tuba Dei, etc.

VERS. 25.-- *Omne opus servile non facietis in eo.* Quasi [sicut] non est opus servilia agendi: ante fecistis, *sed [0365B] sicut exhibuistis membra vestra iniquitati ad iniquitatem, ita nunc exhibete servire justitiae in sanctificationem [n: (Rom. VI)]*: hoc est enim verum holocaustum.

VERS. 27.-- *Decimo die,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Propitiationem et a peccatis liberationem acquiri in humilitate et afflictione animae ex his intelligimus. Hanc debemus agere a vespere, id est a poenitentia incipere quam fecit Christus initium praedicationis suae [n: (Matth. IV)]: poenitentiae superaedificanda est vita bona et virtutibus consummata. Unde adjecit: *Et offeretis holocaustum Domino.*

VERS. 28.-- *Dies propitiationis.* [n: (ISICH.)] Duo significat, quia in hoc tempore propitiationem suscipiemus, [0365C] et ideo in illo ab omni malo abstinere debemus.

VERS. 31.-- *Nihil ergo.* Semper a malis et superfluis significat esse cessandum. Unde et Dominus nec causam dicere concedit, nec cogitare quid comedatur, aut quid bibatur, aut induatur, verum enim et sabbatum sabbatorum annuntiavit.

VERS. 32.-- *Affligetis.* Recapitulatio est humilitatis, quae est fundamentum et basis virtutum. Unde Dominus ait: *Quicunque se humiliaverit sicut parvulus iste, hic est major in regno coelorum [n: (Matth. XVIII)]*.

VERS. 34.-- *A quintodecimo die.* [n: (ISICH.)] Hoc numero inchoatur festivitas, etc., *usque ad aedificatio non manufacta in coelis habetur [n: (II Cor. V)]*.

VERS. 36.-- *Dies quoque.* [n: (ID.)] Nota eadem de [0365D] primo et de octavo dici, quia scilicet resurrectionis dies secunda est, et initium futuri saeculi. Primus, in Christo est conversationis principium et futurorum exordium; octavus vero praesenti succedit saeculo, quod significat in septenario. Praeterea sancti habent requiem et vitam futuram in hac vita. Unde apostolis dictum est: *Regnum Dei intra vos est,* etc.

*Coetus.* LXX: egressus, quia hinc exitus, ibi habitatio, unde: *Cupio dissolvi et esse cum Christo [n: (Philipp. I)]*.

VERS. 37.-- *Hae sunt feriae Domini,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Legislatori consonat Paulus, etc., *usque ad* vel in periculis, vel voluntarie promittimus.

VERS. 39.-- *A quinto decimo,* etc. Quintusdecimus ex septem et octo compositus, Evangelicam praedicationem [0366A] significat, quae consistit ex praesenti vita et futura, hanc componit, illam praeparat.

*Die primo et die octavo.* [n: (ID.)] Qui est octavus, etc., *usque ad* quia fidelibus legem facientibus requies in futuro servatur.

VERS. 40.-- *Die prima fructus.* [n: (ID.)] Fructus est Christus, etc., *usque ad* in tempore suo.

*Spatulasque palmarum,* etc. Juvenescentia justitiae germina, quia *justus ut palma florebit;* quia vero de palma nihil respuitur, nec de his qui juste vivunt, addit, *et ramos ligni densarum frondium.*

## CAPUT XXIII. (cont.)

*Et ramos ligni.* Omnes scilicet virtutum fructus, sed maxime misericordiam, quam oportet esse continuam et permanentem. Unde: *Oleum de capite tuo non deficiet [n: (Eccle. IX)]*.

[0366B] *De torrente,* etc. De praesenti scilicet vita, quae fluit tanquam torrens, tentationibus et tribulationibus ebulliens, unde: *De torrente in via bibet, propterea et exaltabit caput [n: (Psal. CIX)]*, in cruce, scilicet, pendens.

## CAPUT XXIV.

VERS. 2.-- *Praecipe filiis Israel.* [n: (ISICH.)] Candelabrum evangelica vita, etc., *usque ad* ubi misericordes abscondunt thesauros.

VERS. 3.-- *Usque in mane,* futuri saeculi: scilicet tunc enim non erit tempus orandi, vel eleemosynam dandi, unde: *Ne dicas amico tuo, Vade et revertere, et cras tibi dabo: nescitis enim quid pariat superventura dies [n: (Prov. III, XXVII)]*.

VERS. 4.-- *Super candelabrum,* etc. Christus, qui [0366C] est lumen verum *et illuminat omnem hominem venientem.* Et *peccatum non fecit, nec inventus est dolus,* etc. [n: (Isa. LIII)]. Super hunc ardet lucerna, id est Spiritus sanctus, qui in igneis linguis super discipulos apparuit: huic purissimum oleum, id est mundam vitam debemus offerre, scientes quia non omnes possunt incendere illum (scilicet ignem), sed solus Christus et filii ejus, qui plenus Spiritu ait, *Spiritus Domini super me [n: (Isa. LXI)]*. Qui etiam ait, *Ignem veni mittere in terram, et quid volo nisi ut accendatur? [n: (Luc. XII.)]* Hunc insufflans, quasi incendens ait: *Accipe Spiritum sanctum,* etc. [n: (Joan. XX)]. Haec autem lucerna non accenditur, nisi per vitam et conversationem mundam, vel accensa cito exstinguitur, unde: *Spiritum nolite exstinguere,* etc. [n: (I Thes. V)].

[0366D]VERS. 5.-- *Accipies quoque. [n: (BEDA, lib. I de Tabernac., cap. 7, tom. II.)]* Duodecim panes in mensa tabernaculi, etc., *usque ad* ut per labores et opera bona vitae temporalis ad eam properemus.

*Coques ex ea duodecim. [n: (ORIG., hom. 13 in Exod.)]* Sermo Domini panis est, sed multiformis, etc., *usque ad* panis super mensam ponitur mundam, scilicet super mentem sanctam et puram.

VERS. 10.-- *Ecce autem,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Mulier Israelitis, etc., *usque ad* qui in Christo blasphematur.

*Ecce autem. [n: (ORIG., hom. 14 in Lev.)]* Duo litigant: unus ex integro Israelita, etc., *usque ad* interdura enim qui foras mittitur, intus est; et qui foras est, intus videtur retineri.

[0367A]VERS. 12.-- *Miseruntque eum,* etc. Moyses non ex auctoritate sua sententiam profert contra blasphemantem, sed Dei praecepto reservans, mittit in carcerem: lex enim odit eum qui blasphemat, contra quem frequenter Trinitatem praedicat, sed non manifeste sicut Evangelium; ideo illum ad judicium Evangelii reservavit. *Qui non credidit in Filium, jam judicatus est [n: (Joan. XXXI)]*, et hujusmodi.

VERS. 15.-- *Homo qui,* etc. Locutio est tanquam dicatur: homo ille aut ille, id est quicunque homo. Non sicut quidam putant, homo homo ita dici, tanquam laudabiliter, quasi homo; sed homo homo, id est qualiscunque, velut etiam similis pecori, sed qui vere sit homo, quem sensum non esse verum, sed locutionis hoc esse Scripturarum aperte hic ostenditur, [0367B] cum in eo dicitur qui culpatur, non qui laudatur.

*Homo,* etc. *[n: (AUG., quaest. 87 in Lev.)] Si maledixerit Deum suum, peccatum accipiet. Nominans autem nomen Domini morte moriatur;* quasi aliud sit maledicere Deum suum, etc., *usque ad* notandum est locutionis genus.

[n: (ISICH.)] LXX: *Homo homo,* etc., *usque ad* sicut filius Israelitidis nominavit et blasphemavit *(Josue VII)*.

VERS. 17.-- *Qui percusserit et occiderit hominem.* LXX: *Qui percusserit animam hominis,* etc., id est qui ad iniquitatem traxerit. Animam vero, animalem hominem intelligit, qui non percipit quae sunt Spiritus Dei.

[0367C] *[n: (AUG., quaest. 88 in Lev.)] Qui percusserit animam hominis et mortuus fuerit,* etc. Non ait, etc., *usque ad* hoc est enim animam hominis esse percussam.

VERS. 20.-- *Fracturam,* etc. LXX: *Contritionem pro contritione,* id est, si docendo, suadendo, scandalizando, aliquam virtutem proximi contriverit.

*Dentem pro dente.* Virtutem loquendi. Dentes enim pro verbis accipiuntur, unde: *Filii hominum, dentes eorum arma et sagittae,* etc. [n: (Psal. LIX)]. Et *pulchriores sunt oculi ejus vino, et dentes ejus lacte candidiores [n: (Gen. XLIX)]*. Clariora enim et apertiora sunt verba Evangelii lacte legis.

VERS. 21.-- *Qui percusserit,* etc. Haec secundum litteram Judaeis erant necessaria, qui non poterant capere: *Si quis percusserit te in dexteram maxillam, [0367D] praebe illi et alteram [n: (Matth. V)]*. Sed cum essent malevoli, mala inferre volebant, et non pati. Ideo metu alternae poenae erant a scelere revocandi.

VERS. 23.-- *Et eduxerunt,* etc. Experimento ipso egem confirmatam ostendit, ut et tu blasphemare imeres, et peccatum fugeres, quod non solum princeps, sed tota multitudo vindicat. Omnes enim communiter blasphemos debent punire, qui omnium auctori non metuerunt detrahere, et omnes ab eo separare.

## CAPUT XXV.

VERS. 1, 2.-- *Locutusque est Dominus,* etc. *Quando ingressi,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Terra, conversatio bona, de [0368A] qua dicitur: *Spiritus tuus bonus deducet me in terram,* etc. [n: (Psal. CXLII)].

VERS. 3.-- *Sex annis,* etc. Dum sumus in hac vita, et in visibili creatura sumus, quam significat senarius. Sex enim diebus creata sunt omnia quae videntur: septimo autem anno sabbatum erit terrae Domini. Cum enim post praesens tempus sabbatum venerit, de quo Paulus ait: Relinquitur sabbatismus populo Dei, quem dies septima significat, in qua requievit Deus ab omnibus operibus suis, scilicet visibilibus [n: (Hebr. IV)], jam non erit operandi tempus.

VERS. 3.-- *Seres agrum,* etc. Per agrum et vineam, cum illum seminari, et illam amputari prohibuit, omne genus agri intelligendum est: neque enim in oliveto vel quolibet alterius generis agro aliquid [0368B] operandum est.

VERS. 5.-- *Quae sponte,* etc. Eorum scilicet quae hic facimus, in futuro fructum manducabimus; unde: *Labores manuum tuarum quia manducabis, beatus es et bene tibi erit [n: (Psal. CXXVII)]*.

VERS. 6.-- *Sed erunt,* etc. Non prohibet Dominum vesci eis quae sponte sunt, sed reponere in usum proprium.

VERS. 8.-- *Numerabis quoque.* Interrogemus Judaeos, si septimum diem (ut aiunt) legislator honoravit, et ab operibus vacare praecepit, quare quinquagesimum annum celebrari praecepit: septem enim hebdomadae annos quadraginta novem faciunt. Non ergo quinquagesimo vacare oporteret, nisi mysterium lex significaret, quod Judaeorum infirmitas [0368C] non caperet. Duplex enim a Deo visibilium omnium significatur consummatio; una cujusque singularis, altera omnium communis, quando tempus operandi non erit; in superioribus primam, in his insinuat secundam.

*Septem.* In hebdomada dierum humanum saeculum dividitur. Cum igitur hic numerus multiplicatus in semetipso fuerit, et tota completa aetas saeculi, et tempus devolutum ad finem pervenerit, succedit quinquagesimus quasi quadragesimo nono anno, in quo erit resurrectio, unde subdit: *Et clangens buccina mense septimo,* etc. Unde Apostolus: *In tuba Dei descendent de coelo, et mortui qui in Christo sunt resurgent incorrupti [n: (Thes. IV)]*. Oportet enim suscitantem praecedere tubam: ideo in quadragesimo et [0368D] nono anno, in quo communis est consummatio, tuba canere praecepit.

VERS. 9.-- *Mense septimo.* Quia quasi septimo mense aetatis mundi Christus venit; primus mensis, qui in paradiso fuit; secundus usque ad diluvium; tertius usque ad Abraham; quartus usquequo descensum est in Aegyptum; quintus usque ad transmigrationem, sextus usque ad adventum Christi; septimus ipse adventus.

VERS. 10.-- *Sanctificabisque annum.* Quasi in sanctimonia exspectetur et cogitetur, *pacem* enim *debemus sequi et sanctimoniam [n: (Hebr. XII)]*, *sine qua* nemo videbit Deum.

*Unusquisque.* Patriarcharum et prophetarum est [0369A] quaedam familia hospitalis, cui praeest Abraham. Est et alia castitatis, cui praeest Joseph. Est et alia mansuetudinis, cui praeest Moyses [n: (Gen. XVIII, XXXIX; Num. XII)].

VERS. 14.-- *Quando vendes,* etc. Quisque vendere potest vel emere. Unde Paulus: *Omnia vestra sumus sicut et vos nostra [n: (I Cor. III)]*. Hoc secundum litteram moraliter informat, ut in contractibus proximis compatiamur, ne quis nimium molestus de pauperum necessitatibus negotietur, ne studeat possessiones aliorum acquirere, sed indigentibus commodare, et commodata paulatim de fructibus agrorum recipere.

*Juxta numerum* [n: (ISICH.)]. Id est secundum virtutem cujusque. Anni enim aetatem significant, in qua [0369B] manifestatur quid possit quisque secundum corpus.

VERS. 16.-- *Quanto plures* [n: (ID.)]. Id est, si potest multum operari, multum fructum exiget; si multum non potest, parum rependet; feret enim hic trigesimum, iste sexagesimum, ille centesimum fructum [n: (Matth. XIII)].

VERS. 18.-- *Facite praecepta.* Ne quis audita moderatione vendendi et emendi segnior fieret, et condescensio ipsa noceret, caute adjungit: *Facite praecepta,* etc. Neminem siquidem vult vacare, sed secundum virtutem fructificare. Virtutem quoque conscientia cujusque examinat.

*Et judicia,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Non corrumpentes intentionem vel operationem eorum; velut si quis eleemosynam tribuit, non alii noceat ut alii prosit: praeceptum [0369C] enim quod eleemosynam fieri jussit, justam esse voluit.

*Quod si dixeritis,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Quia per duos annos terram vacare praeceperat, ne conturbarentur tanquam solliciti quid comederent aut quid biberent, ait: *Dabo benedictionem meam,* etc. [n: (Matth. VI)]. Et notandum quia cum Christus dicat: *Nolite cogitare de crastino,* lex jubet ne cogitent de tribus annis.

VERS. 21.-- *Dabo benedictionem.* [n: (ID.)] Christum. Unde *benediximus vobis in nomine Domini,* id est, Christo, qui est nomen Patris. Qui Patrem nobis nominavit, et manifestavit; hic in sexto anno venit, id est, in perfectione, quam significat senarius; et ut hominem reformaret, quem formaverat die sexto, quod ibi sextus dies, hic sextus annus dicitur, quia [0369D] inter formationem nostram et reformationem multa tempora defluxerunt.

VERS. 23.-- *Terra quoque. [n: (AUG., Quaest. 90 in Lev.)]* Alii codices habent, etc., *usque ad* quisquis habet, uti debet.

VERS. 25.-- *Si attenuatus.* [n: (ISICH.)] Quae sit nostra substantia, etc., *usque ad* docet quomodo restituat.

*Potest redimere.* [n: (ISICH.)] Secundum illud, etc., *usque ad* ut quodammodo communis sit.

VERS. 28.-- *Usque ad annum* Annus, quia omnes horas in se habet, et dies et menses, et circuitus omnes, perfectionem significat. Peccatum aut perfectum et diuturnum non nisi perfecta poenitentia [0370A] emendatur, in qua jejunium, oratio, cilicium, eleemosyna, et lacrymae peraguntur: per haec enim plena remissio acquiritur.

VERS. 29.-- *Qui vendiderit domum.* [n: (ID.)] Non exprimitur venditor, nec proximus, nec propinquus dicitur. Non enim unus est, sed totus populus: nec de cognatione Judaeorum, sed Sodomae et Gomorrhae.

*Qui vendiderit domum,* etc. In superiori capitulo spiritualem cujusque conversationem exposuit, hic generaliter de synagoga vel Ecclesia tractare intendit, quia Ecclesia gentium libertatem accipit, synagoga in perpetuum servit, exceptis Levitis, id est apostolis, et qui adhaerent eis.

*[n: (ORIG., hom. 15 in Lev.)] Qui vendiderit domum,* etc. De Jacob scriptum est, etc., *usque ad* semper [0370B] poenitentiam recipiunt, et semper redimuntur.

VERS. 31.-- *Agrorum jure.* [n: (ISICH.)] Quia in Evangelio proximi sunt, non legi. Ideo semper possunt redimi, et ex quo Christus venit usque ad secundum adventum per partes redimuntur.

LXX: *Ad agrum terrae aestimabuntur,* de quo scilicet dicitur: *Simile est regnum coelorum thesauro abscondito in agro,* id est Evangelio, in quo thesaurus est mysterium Christi.

VERS. 32.-- *Aedes Levitarum. [n: (ORIG., hom. 15 in Lev.)]* Si sacerdotalis fuerit domus vel Levitica, etc., *usque ad* satisfactionem scilicet desiderii.

VERS. 34.-- *Suburbana.* [n: (ISICH.)] Alii agri, id est conversationes virtutum, et doctrinae. Hae separatae sunt a civitatibus eorum quae per ipsos consistunt, [0370C] et salvantur, et non venduntur, quia gratis accipiuntur, gratis dantur.

VERS. 35.-- *Si attenuatus fuerit.* [n: (ID.)] Mirare legislatoris sapientiam et pietatem; in humilibus enim sublimia exponit, secundum litteram vero dat regulam pietatis.

*Qui eduxi.* Quasi dicat: Sicut de dominio Aegyptiorum vos liberavi, et abjectis peccatoribus in terram Chananaeorum jam mandatam induxi, ita nolo vos sub dominio peccatorum teneri, neque peccatorum societatem amplecti, sed cum poenitere voluerint, et cohabitatione et facultatis largitione sustentetis.

VERS. 39.-- *Si paupertate.* Multa pietate littera plena est, sed spiritualis intellectus plenior.

[0370D]VERS. 40.-- *Sed quasi mercenarius.* Uterque subditus est, sed tamen hic liber est: sic qui per vos conversus est, subjectus quidem est, sed dignitate gratiae divinae frater est.

VERS. 43.-- *Ne affligas,* etc., quia in quo judicas, judicaberis: et eadem mensura qua mensi fueritis, remetietur vobis [n: (Matth. XVII)].

VERS. 44.-- *Servus et ancilla.* [n: (ISICH.)] Ostendit quid distet inter eos, quos ex infidelibus Deo salvamus, quosque jam fideles, et nobis similes vocationis et conversationis dignitate pro tempore virtutibus attenuatos corrigimus: hi enim usque ad jubilaeum apud nos operantur, illi autem servi sunt perpetui.

[0371A]VERS. 45.-- *Qui ex his.* [n: (ISICH.)] Judaeorum cognati haeretici, qui eadem nobiscum praedicant mysteria, quasi sint in terra nostra: sed non recte et perfecte credunt.

*Hos habebitis.* [n: (ID.)] Quos de gentibus aut de Judaeis aut de haereticis convertimus, quasi servos et ancillas in perpetuum acquirimus: quia pro eis doctrinae pecuniam expendimus, et filiis nostris, id est discipulis docendos tradere possumus, sicut Paulus Tito Cretenses, Timotheo Ephesios docendos commisit.

VERS. 46.-- *Fratres autem.* Quasi non eadem dignitate apud vos erunt, quos de impiis convertistis, et quos lapsos reparastis.

VERS. 47.-- *Si invaluerit.* [n: (ID.)] Id est, si noviter fidei vestrae conjunctus, Gentilis, vel Judaeus, vel haereticus, [0371B] virtutibus claruerit, ut possit arguere et exhortari.

*Si invaluerit,* etc. Secundum litteram quantum diligat libertatem ostendit. Ideo enim Israelitam alienis non permittit servire, sed praecipit redimi.

*Qui voluerit.* Turpe est hominem in fide ab infantia nutritum, talium subire magisterium, qui repente magistri facti sunt, unde Hieronymus: Heri in foro, hodie in altari; heri socius histrionum, hodie consecrator virginum.

VERS. 49.-- *Patruus,* etc. [n: (ID.)]. Patrueles sunt, qui nos in fide genuerunt, fratres eorum consimiles praedicatores, filii fratrum discipuli consimilium.

*Consanguineus.* [n: (ID.)] Qui remotior patruo vel patrueli, sed propinquior affini. *Qui enim suorum, et [0371C] maxime domesticorum curam non habet, fidem abnegavit [n: (I Tim. V)]*.

*Affinis.* [n: (ID.)] In cognatione fidei incarnationis Christi, qui de carne ejus et ossibus sumus.

*Sin autem.* [n: (ID.)] Pro libertate nostra et gloria Spiritus sanctus agit, et quemcunque servum peccati virtutibus redimi praecipit.

*Et ipse.* [n: (ID.)] Qui pauper factus est in peccato, cum prius virtute et doctrina dives esset, recte seipsum liberat dum exhortando, consulendo ad virtutem revocat.

VERS. 50.-- *Supputatis.* [n: (ID.)] Id est tractando apud se qua virtute, etc., *usque ad* ideo Dominus ait illi: *Hodie salus huic domui facta est.*

VERS. 51.-- *Reddet.* [n: (ID.)] Secundum ea quae peccavit, [0371D] oportet pretium reddere. Quod gula peccavit, jejunium corrigat; quod garrulitas admisit, silentium deleat, et similiter contrariis curantur contraria.

## CAPUT XXVI.

VERS. 1.-- *Non facietis.* Cultum idolorum tam visibilium quam invisibilium prohibet.

*Sculptile.* [n: (ISICH.)] In aedificiis domorum et possessionibus agrorum aliquam vestri memoriam sculpere cupientes.

*Nec insignem.* [n: (ID.)] Cumulum auri et argenti aut pretiosorum lapidum in quibus seducuntur avari, sic ut Gentiles in idolis.

VERS. 2.-- *Custodite.* [n: (ISICH.)] Ab omni malo abstinendo, [0372A] et omni bono vacando: hoc est enim verum sabbatum.

VERS. 3.-- *Si in praeceptis* Quid fieri, quid vitari deberet, praedixit. In fine quae observantibus praemia, quae praevaricantibus supplicia debeantur enumerat.

*Si in praeceptis.* [n: (ID.)] Haec ad litteram stare non possunt, etc., *usque ad* quae in hoc capite significantur.

[n: (ORIG., hom. 16 in Lev.)] Si lex carnalis est, etc., *usque ad, Joannes venit in spiritu et in virtute Eliae.*

*Mandata mea.* Quale est illud: *Qui sabbatum non custodit ab omni synagoga lapidetur,* et hujusmodi.

*Dabo vobis pluvias,* etc. Et dabo, *et* superfluum est, consuetudine locutionis nostrae, sed more scripturarum additum.

[0372B] *Temporibus.* [n: (ORIG.)] Tempore opportuno, non ebrio, non in aliis occupato: prudenter ergo conjiciat doctor cui ministret pluviam, et tritici mensuram, et cui debet lac dare, non det escam

VERS. 4.-- *Terra gignet.* LXX: *Ligna campi dabunt fructum suum.* [n: (ID.)] Motus animae, qui altiores sunt motibus terrae, id est, carnis nostrae, quorum fructus sunt charitas, justitia, mansuetudo et similia.

*Pomis arbores.* [n: (ORIG.)] *Non potest arbor,* etc., *usque ad* de qua dicitur: *Lignum vitae est his qui apprehenderunt eam.*

VERS. 5.-- *Apprehendet messium tritura.* [n: (ORIG.)] Anima quae germinat ex verbo Dei, etc., *usque ad* cum conservis in tempore dispensandum remaneat.

[0372C] *Apprehendet. Panis* enim *cor hominis confirmat, vinum laetificat [n: (Psal. CIII)]*. Quae de continentia, de observantiis et de custodiis mandatorum dicuntur, frumentum videntur, ex quo conficitur panis qui corda confortat. Ea vero quae ad scientiam pertinent et occultorum exploratione laetificant mentem, vino et vindemiae comparantur. Cor enim laetatur cum obscura [occulta] explanantur.

*Vindemiam.* Fructum animae. Vindemia enim arbor est. Haec autem simul habere, id est corpore et anima fructificare, magnae benedictionis est.

[n: (ISICH.)] Congregans enim anima virtutes suas mox desiderat alias. Unde: *Quae retro sunt obliviscens, ad priora me extendo [n: (Philip. III)]*.

*Vindemia.* [n: (ORIG.)] Quasi dicamus, etc., *usque ad* [0372D] ut de spiritu metamus vitam aeternam.

*Panem vestrum.* Scilicet qui de coelo descendit, et dat vitam mundo; non qui plus abundat malis quam bonis.

*Absque pavore.* Si corpus stabile fuerit, et anima fructificaverit, securi erimus in terra nostra, *quia caro non concupiscet adversus spiritum [n: (Galat. IV)]*.

VERS. 6.-- *Et gladius non.* [n: (ISICH.)] Quia pax erit in finibus vestris; modo ex concupiscentiis sunt bella et lites.

VERS. 7.-- *Inimicos.* [n: (ID.)] Occisi jejunio, oratione, et similibus; unde: *Hoc genus non ejicitur nisi cum oratione et jejunio [n: (Matth. XVII)]*.

*Corruent.* LXX: *In conspectu vestro morte vestra,* [0373A] scilicet mortificatis membris vestris, quae sunt super terram, id est, fornicatione, immunditia, et hujusmodi [n: (Col. III)].

VERS. 8.-- *Persequentur.* [n: (ORIG.)] Sicut quinarius sapientes indicat et insipientes, etc., *usque ad* ne credentes decipiant.

[n: (ISICH.)] LXX, etc., *usque ad* persequi potest et vincere.

*Et centum.* Qui non tantum subtilem scientiam, sed et vitam perfectam habent, qui spiritualiter deculpantur, et ideo centum dicuntur, scilicet qui centenos afferunt fructus.

VERS. 9.-- *Respiciam.* Cujus respectus, salus. Respexit Dominus Petrum, et flevit amare. Si sol segetem non respiciat, manet infructuosa. Segetem [0373B] cordis nostri respicit Deus, et radiis verbi sui nos illuminat, auget et multiplicat ut magni efficiamur; sicut magnus factus est Isaac, et magnus Moses, et magnus Joannes.

*Crescere.* In operibus bonis, ut parva magna. Unde: *Quod uni ex minimis meis fecistis,* etc. [n: (Matth. XXV.)]

*Multiplicabimini.* Ut pauca fiant magna vel multa. Unde: *Si quod est aliud mandatum in hoc verbo restauratur: Diliges proximum tuum sicut teipsum [n: (Rom. XIII)]*.

VERS. 10.-- *Comedetis.* [n: (ORIG.)] Vetus lex et prophetae, etc., *usque ad* et induimus novum.

VERS. 11.-- *Ponam.* Si praedicta habemus, abjecto veteri homine innovatum est cor nostrum: *Venit ad nos Deus et habitat in nobis [n: (Col. III)]*.

[0373C] *Non abjiciet,* etc. [n: (ORIG.)] Audeo et dico quia anima Dei Christus est, sicut et verbum Dei sapientia Dei et virtus Dei [n: (I Cor. I)]. Tale est ergo ac si dicat: non abjiciet vos Filius meus.

*Anima. [n: (AUG., quaest. 93 in Lev.)]* Animam suam Deus vocat, etc., *usque ad* qui dicunt animam non habuisse Jesum.

VERS. 12.-- *Ambulabo.* [n: (ISICH.)] Homo factus. Unde: *Hic est Deus noster, et non reputabitur alius ad eum; post haec in terra visus est, et cum hominibus conversatus est [n: (Baruc. III)]*.

VERS. 14.-- *Quod si.* [n: (ISICH.)] Obedientium bona praecedenti capitulo expressit: quae autem sint praevaricatorum mala, praesenti capitulo ostendit, quorum quaedam ad litteram Judaei passi sunt: omnia [0373D] vero secundum spiritum.

VERS. 16.-- *In egestate.* [n: (ID.)] Verbi Dei. Unde: *Durus est hic sermo, quis potest eum audire? [n: (Joan. VI.)]* Quia intellectum legis transgrediebantur, ut evangelicum testamentum irritum facerent, obscure loquebatur eis, ne intelligerent.

VERS. 17.-- *Fugietis, nemine.* [n: (ID.)] Quia gentiles non persequentur ad expellendum, sed festinantes salutem eorum, secundum illud: *Sequor autem, si quomodo comprehendam [n: (Philip. III)]*.

*Sin autem.* [n: (ID.)] Hujusmodi distinctionibus frequenter utitur, etc., *usque ad* plenam et integram vindictam significat.

VERS. 18.-- *Addam correptionem.* LXX: *Et apponam [0374A] castigare vos septies,* etc. Etiam hic superfluum est. Septies autem pro omni numero est accipiendum.

VERS. 19.-- *Et conteram superbiam duritiae vestrae.* Quia *dicitis: Semen Abrahae sumus, et nemini servivimus unquam [n: (Joan. III)]*: ideo gentibus servietis.

VERS. 25.-- *Gladium,* spiritus, quod est verbum Dei, quod per praedicatores Judaeos convincit, ne Vetus Testamentum habere cum Evangelio contradicant.

*In urbes mittam.* Prophetas in quibus fideles munitiones et salutem inveniunt, inimici fugientes capiuntur, illic moriuntur apertis de Christo prophetis resistere non valentes.

[0374B]VERS. 26.-- *Ita ut decem,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Panem doctrinae non habent, etc., *usque ad* ideo non satiantur qui his panibus nutriuntur.

VERS. 27.-- *Sin autem,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Non solum legislator est Moyses, etc., *usque ad* et auctorem legis blasphemaverunt.

VERS. 29.-- *Carnes filiorum.* Id est discipulos, quos vobis assumitis in filios, ad eamdem doctrinam verbis validis, et animam corrumpentibus inducatis.

VERS. 30.-- *Cadetis inter ruinas.* Cadit enim populus cum Pharisaeis spiritualiter cadentibus, quos quasi idola admirabatur populus traditionibus eorum intentus.

VERS. 31.-- *Urbes vestras.* Ad litteram vel libros prophetarum, in quibus sanctitatis fructum non inveniunt.

[0374C]VERS. 34.-- *Tunc placebunt terrae sabbata,* id est requies, scilicet vobis feriantibus et a lege remotis, cum in lege et prophetis voluntatem vestram non inveniatis.

VERS. 36.-- *Terrebit eos.* Sicut folium fructum, sic littera abscondit spiritum: aufer folium, accipe fructum.

*Sonitus folii volantis.* Hyperbole: quia etiam levissima quaeque formidabunt.

*Cadent nullo persequente.* Non enim persequimur eos, sed sequimur ut revocemus.

VERS. 37.-- *Corruent.* Disputantibus nobis cum eis, diversa proferunt testimonia alternatim: sed alternis conturbabuntur verbis, alter alterum conturbat [0374D] dum subvenire videtur.

VERS. 41.-- *Incircumcisa mens eorum.* Quia incircumcisi corde, vitiorum polluti praeputio, *non enim quae in carne est circumcisio [n: (Rom. II)]*.

*Tunc orabunt pro impietatibus suis.* LXX: *Peccata sua placita habebunt,* poenas scilicet quas pro peccatis patientur.

VERS. 42.-- *Quod pepigi cum Jacob.* [n: (ISICH.)] Nota quod temporis et generis ordinem mutavit, etc., *usque ad* conjunguntur vero tanquam cognata et convenientia.

*Terrae quoque memor ero.* [n: (ISICH.)] Scripturae scilicet, quam mandabo ejectis Judaeis, qui eam praevaricati [0375A] sunt vel praevaricabantur, et prave interpretabantur.

VERS. 44.-- *Attamen etiam cum essent in terra hostili.* Bene in fine capituli blanditur, et quos minis terruerat promissis consolatur.

*Non penitus. Caecitas ex parte contingit in Israel, donec plenitudo gentium subintraret; et caetera [n: (I Tim. II)]*.

*Nec sic despexi.* Qui salutem omnium volo: ideo post tantas iniquitates, etiam Judaeorum reliquias salvo.

VERS. 45.-- *Haec sunt.* [n: (ISICH.)] Usque ad certum tempus, etc., *usque ad* non solvendo, sed implendo.

*In monte Sinai.* Non in Sion. Unde: *Videbitur Deus deorum in Sion [n: (Psal. LXXXIII)]*. Et alibi : *Ex [0375B] Sion species decoris ejus. Deus manifeste veniet [n: (Psal. XLIX)]*. Et in Malachia: *Subito veniet ad templum suum dominator quem vos quaeritis [n: (Malac. III)]*.

## CAPUT XXVII.

VERS. 2.-- *Homo qui.* [n: (ISICH.)] Plena sunt haec verba prudentia: quae oporteat agi, vel minime, superius praecepit; nunc vel ex toto, vel ex parte agentium dignitatem exponit, quid perfecta vita, quid mediocris, quid incipiens cognitionis Dei habeat differentias quoque aetatum describit.

*Animam.* [n: (ISICH.)] Aquila et Theodotio, *admirabile.* Symmachus, *si se separaverit.* LXX: *honorem animae suae.*

*A vigesimo.* [n: (ID.)] Quando pubes, fortis, etc., [0375C] *usque ad* de qua dicitur: *Estote perfecti sicut et Pater vester perfectus est [n: (Matth. V)]*.

*Siclos.* [n: (ISICH.)] Vel didrachmas, sexagenarium fructum, etc., *usque ad* unde: *Vidua eligatur non minus sexaginta annorum [n: (I Tim. V)]*.

VERS. 5.-- *A quinto.* [n: (ID.)] Qui sensatus est, et proficere incoepit, sed conversatione jejunii non potest ornari.

*Usque.* [n: (ID.)] Qui proficere coepit sensibus quinque: provectus enim hic est ad virtutem, et perfectionem. Viginti enim annorum fortes sunt atque valentes.

*Masculus dabit viginti siclos.* [n: (ID.)] Vel didrachmas, id est quadraginta drachmas; id est obolos quadringentos. Quadragenarius vero jejunii et orationum [0375D] proventum significat. Tot enim diebus jejunavit Moses [n: (Exod. XXXIV)], et Elias [n: (III Reg. XIX)], et ipse Christus, et post a diabolo est tentatus [n: (Matth. IV)].

VERS. 7.-- *Femina decem.* [n: (ID.)] Vel didrachmas, id est viginti drachmas vel ducentos obolos, custodiam scilicet decem mandatorum, quae duplicantur secundum litteram et spiritum, in quibus non est praeceptum jejunium, quia provectos decet necdum perfectos.

*Ab uno.* Unius mensis est, qui nunc in fide genitus est, quibus dicitur: *Quasi modo geniti infantes rationabiles sine dolo, lac concupiscite,* etc. [n: (I Petr. II)].

*Quinque.* Vel didrachmae, scilicet ut masculus [0376A] duplices sensus habeat, et quae sensibiliter audit, intelligibiliter suscipiat. Sic enim ad perfectionem ducitur, propter quod centum obolorum est pretium ejus: centenarius autem perfectus est.

*Pro femina.* [n: (ID.)] Pro femina tres didrachmae, etc., *usque ad* quasi jam participes evangelicae conversationis.

*Sexagenarius.* Qui excellentiam conversationis promisit, sicut virginitatem, vel mundi abrenuntiationem, sed infirmatus est.

*Dabit quindecim.* Vel didrachmas, quae sunt triginta drachmae. Tres enim fructus bona terra reddidit [n: (Matth. XIII)]: centenarium, id est virginem esse vel mundo abrenuntiare; sexagenarium, scilicet continentiam; tricenarium, id est casti conjugii [0376B] conversationem.

VERS. 8.-- *Si pauper.* Qui multum peccavit, ideo interpretatus est Aquila, si *excessit.*

*Stabit.* Si enim quemlibet nobis subditum Dei servitio obtulerimus, in ministerium nostrum recipere non debemus, promittentes pro eo vel meliorem, vel minus bonum.

*Quantum ille aestimaverit.* Id est quantum viderit eum posse satisfactionis imponet: sed si locuples est, ut distribuat pecuniam, si sanus jejunet, oret, laboret.

VERS. 9.-- *Animal.* Quia differentias oblationum quae ex nobis ipsis sunt et gradus exposuit: jam eorum quae nobis tanquam pecora subditi sunt, quando sit oblatio sancta exponit.

[0376C] *Sanctum erit.* Secundum legem immaculatum et mundum: veluti si filium, discipulum, servum, vel quemlibet nobis subditum Deo obtulerimus.

VERS. 10.-- *Quod.* Ut sit duplex oblatio, et inimicus erubescat, qui oblationem mutare suggerebat.

VERS. 11.-- *Animal immundum.* [n: (ISICH.)] Quae non simul, etc., *usque ad* ut possit Domino offerri.

Sciendum est quod aliud est sanctificari, aliud est sanctum esse, aliud Deo offerri, aliud Dei esse. Quod enim sanctificatur et offertur sanctum incipit esse, quod non erat, et paulatim augmentatur. Quod sanctum est et Dei est, non eget augmento, quia perfectum est. Bonum est ergo aliorum doctrina et [0376D] auxilio sanctificari, sed melius est talem esse, qui seipsum, et alios possit sanctificare, quod paucorum est. Sanctificat ergo domum Domino, qui familiam suam, et cognationem tam sensibilem quam intelligibilem pure, et sancte vult conversari, ut sit Ecclesia Dei. Si autem per se non est idoneus hoc facere, sacerdos debet considerare utrum bona an mala sit. Ex diversis enim constat personis, et secundum quod possunt, debet injungere eis.

VERS. 13.-- *Quintam partem.* Mentem, scilicet, quae regit quinque sensus, sine qua virgines fatuae ad nuptias non suscipiuntur [n: (Matth. XXV)].

VERS. 14.-- *Homo si voverit.* [n: (ISICH.)] In sequentibus dicit: Omne quod Domino consecratur, sive [0377A] homo, sive animal, sive ager, redimi non poterit; hic autem domum et agrum redimi praecipit. Sed forsan hoc secundum diversas intentiones offerentium decernit, tanquam ibi non habeat voluntatem ulterius habendi, quod penitus consecravit.

VERS. 15.-- *Sin autem ille,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Redimere, est per doctrinam et formulam vitae familiam liberare, et quidquid sanctimoniae obviat diluere. Adjiciet vero admonitioni et aedificationi sacerdotis intelligentiam, et frequentem commemorationem.

VERS. 16.-- *Quod si agrum.* Id est, Scripturam divinam, cujus vitis Christus, Pater agricola [n: (Joan. XIV)]. In hoc absconditur thesaurus, id est, salutaris praedicatio: in hoc diversa est cujusque possessio, modus scilicet sciendi, quem sibi quisque obtinere [0377B] potuit.

*Si triginta modiis,* etc. [n: (ID.)] In triginta modiis hordei Vetus Testamentum. In quinquaginta siclis vel didrachmis juxta LXX spiritualem et perfectam doctrinam intellige. Sed quando haec regula, vel perfecte danda, vel minuenda sit, per sequentia intellige: *Si statim ab anno incipientis jubilaei,* etc.

VERS. 17.-- *Si statim ab anno.* [n: (ID.)] Id est, si gratiae viam, etc., *usque ad* offerens sacerdoti, ab ipso possidebitur.

VERS. 19.-- *Addet quintam partem.* Doctrinae sacerdotis proprium intellectum: doctrina enim et instructione sacerdotis prius gubernamur, sed postea proficere, et intellectum nostrum adjicere debemus.

VERS. 20.-- *Sin autem,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Ille consecrat [0377C] agrum et redimit agrum, etc., *usque ad* ejus enim lucrum est qui continue gubernat.

VERS. 22.-- *Et non de possessione.* Quia neque de custodia majorum suorum, neque ipsius emptoris fuerat

VERS. 23.-- *Supputabit sacerdos.* Recte sacerdos cum eo qui fratrem ad poenitentiam monuit, veram redemptionem supputat, qualiter scilicet poenitere debeat. Ille enim districte ejus actionem et conversationem novit, qui correxit: hic autem ut sacerdos perfectam redemptionem.

*Juxta annorum numerum.* Ex his scilicet quae de poenitentia praedicat Scriptura: ipsa enim aestimatio est jubilaei vel remissionis.

*Et dabit ille qui voverat eum Domino.* Non dicit [0377D] dabunt, sed dabit. Etsi enim communi consilio sacerdotis et ejus qui ad poenitentiam monuit, aestimationis definitio datur, ille tamen offeret eum qui ad poenitendum excitavit: huic enim obediet, qui et ipse poenitenti obligatur, ut quod coepit perficiat.

VERS. 24.-- *In jubilaeo autem revertetur ad priorem Dominum,* etc. Quia non statim, cum poenitentia datur, vel definitur, penitus mundatur, sed ea peracta; ideo recte ait: *In jubilaeo autem,* etc., peracta enim poenitentia et remissione suscepta, conversationis suae agrum suscipiet.

VERS. 25.-- *Omnis aestimatio siclo sanctuarii pondera.* Ut omnis definitio sanctis fiat ponderibus, id est de sacra Scriptura venientibus, exteriora enim [0378A] pondera, ut philosophorum, vel haereticorum, quibus veritates et perfectiones hominum pensant, nec sancta, nec justa sunt.

*Siclus viginti.* Id est decem mandata secundum litteram et secundum spiritum intellecta. Quicunque autem aut legem aut Evangelium renuit, non habet didrachma, nec ejus pondera sunt sancta.

VERS. 26.-- *Primogenita quae.* [n: (ISICH.)] Primogenita tanquam pecora nostra, sunt qui nobis obediunt, filii, servi, et discipuli. Sed horum primogenita sunt, qui sic obediunt, ut aliis praebeant exemplum et magisterium, de quibus alibi dicitur: *Omne masculinum adaperiens vulvam sanctum Domino vocabitur (Lucae II)*. Aperit enim vulvam generandorum filiorum, qui secundum Deum incipit obedire. Unde [0378B] Paulus de Timotheo ait: *Qui est filius meus dilectus in Domino, ipse vos commonefaciet vias meas,* etc. [n: (I Cor. IV)].

*Nemo sanctificare poterit et vovere.* Non quia sanctificatione indigna sunt, sed quia sancta sunt, nec egent sanctificari, ut filius, qui sic patrem et matrem honorat, ut etiam exemplum aliis fiat, tanquam Deo offerens honorem, qui hoc praecepit [n: (Exod. XX)]. Servus quoque qui etiam dominis carnalibus in simplicitate cordis non ad oculum servit, ipsi Deo servitutem impendit [n: (Eph. VI)].

VERS. 27.-- *Quod si immundum.* [n: (ISICH.)] Peccator, qui nec legem sicut oportet meditatur,nec distinguere conatur. Quicunque ergo vehementer obediens est patri, domino aut magistro: nec tamen legem [0378C] meditatur aut distinguit, primogenitus quidem in pecoribus est, sed immundus est.

*Et addet quintam partem pretii.* Doctrinam ei cum intellectu offerens, et sapienter regens. Insensati enim patris, domini aut magistri est, obedientiam eos, qui ad se pertinent, subditos non docere, et eorum vitam ut operentur secundum legem non disponere. Addat igitur subjectioni et doctrinae intellectum: ipse enim solus in praesenti mundus est. Ideo ait: *Addet quintam partem pretii.* Habet enim obedientia pretium: ideo non dixit: aestimabit eum sacerdos, sicut supra.

VERS. 28.-- *Omne quod Domino consecratur, sive homo.* [n: (ISICH.)] Aliud est anathematizare, etc., *usque ad* id est, conversatio nostrae sortis.

[0378D] *Quidquid semel fuerit consecratum.* [n: (ID.)] Jure belli acquisitum non potest aliquis inimicum exspoliare, etc., *usque ad* nec augmentum, nec profectum suscipiunt.

VERS. 30.-- *Domini.* [n: (ID.)] Ejus scilicet qui mandata legis operatur, etc., *usque ad* quia quam retributionem exspectare debeat nescit.

VERS. 31.-- *Si quis.* [n: (ID.)] Secundum litteram multa obscura et insolubilia legislator interposuit, etc., *usque ad* et poma arborum secundum tempus suum.

VERS. 32.-- *Sub pastoris virga.* [n: (ID.)] Virga crucis, etc., *usque ad* et ab illo solo, qui sanctos discernit, cognoscuntur.

[0379A]VERS. 33.-- *Non eligetur nec,* etc. Quia nullus est qui respui possit, et quod magis eligendum sit, non est vestrae discretionis.

*Si quis mutaverit,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Paulus et Barnabas aliquando dissenserunt, etc., *usque ad* scribens ad Timotheum ait: *Assumens Marcum, deduc tecum: est enim mihi utilis in ministerium [n: (II Tim. IV)]*.

*Sanctificabitur Domino,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Cum omnium cursus divinus sit, et altus, et supernae conversationi proximus, frustra conatis hunc subducere, [0380A] illum inducere, et Deo quasi meliorem consecrare.

VERS. 34.-- *Haec sunt praecepta quae mandavit,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Discipuli nostri quando sunt perfecti, nihil nostri egent magisterii: ideo ait immundorum primogenita esse redimenda, mundorum vero nequaquam, sed nec Domino consecrata, nec ea quae novissime sunt dicta: perfecta enim demonstrata sunt, quia intentionem divinam coelestemque gerunt.

english:
In Hebrew VAIICRA ( ויקרא ).

## PREFACE.

[0295D]

[n: (ISICHIUS in Levit. )] This book is called Leviticus, namely because in this name the argument of the whole book is made plain. The tribe of Levi obtained by lot the ministry of the tabernacle, in which it was commanded that sacrifices, and firstfruits, and [0296D] the offerings of the firstborn be offered, because all the sacrifices pertain to the Levites [n: (Num. XVIII)]. From these this book has obtained by lot a fitting name, a book which sets all these things in order.

In Latin it is called *Offertorius* or *sacrificativus*, because [0297A] it treats of sacrifices and ceremonies. It is rightly placed here after Exodus: for in that book the tabernacle is ordained, in this are contained the things which the Lord was speaking to Moses concerning the tabernacle, and the ceremonies of the tabernacle.

But if anyone should ask why the books of the law were divided, since the history is undivided in time, this must be answered: that the division of the books might take away weariness from the reader, just as a traveller too divides the stretches of the road, so that the labor, being as it were divided, may be lessened.

Rabanus gathered many things from Hesychius, bishop of Jerusalem, who expounded Leviticus fully enough, and from other Fathers too, who expounded some of his opinions, he added certain things to his own work, and out of the confused order of the opinions, by alternating the opinions of many doctors, he composed [0297B] a certain order of exposition.

[n: (ISICHIUS in Levit. )] Before all things it is necessary that the interpretation of the law be drawn to anagoge, and that the spiritual understanding be searched out within the letter. For this does not contradict the law, but defends it. That the spiritual understanding is to be diligently sought out Christ himself also shows, who in his parables [n: (Matth. XIII)] called the field, the world; the husbandman sowing the good seed, the just; the tares, the wicked; the reapers too, the angels; and the enemy oversowing, the devil. Who then forbids to call him who works justice an ox; as a sheep, the simple; and the innocent, a dove; and a turtledove, those who conduct themselves more loftily and are at leisure for contemplation? Did not Ezekiel call Jerusalem a lioness, and her whelp [0297C] Eliachim, who was led into Egypt, and another whelp Joachim, led into Babylon? [n: (Ezech. XIX.)] That not only the things which are said in parables, but also the things which are according to the history, are to be led to a loftier understanding, Paul shows, saying: *It is written that Abraham had two sons,* etc.; after which he added: *Which things are said according to allegory: for these are the two Testaments,* etc. [n: (Gal. IV)]. [var: Vulg. Gal 4:24 has *per allegoriam*, "by allegory," where Migne prints *secundum*] But perhaps the letter, stripped of the spiritual understanding, will be harmful, and liable to various reproaches. Whence through Ezekiel the Lord calls the law both good and not good, saying: *I gave them my precepts, and I showed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them.* And elsewhere: *I gave them commandments not good, and judgments [0297D] in which they shall not live.* [var: Vulg. Ez 20:25 has *praecepta*, "precepts," where Migne prints *mandata*, and the future *vivent* for *vivant*] It is plain, therefore, that they are good and not good; and that there are those in which they live and those in which they do not live: for he who keeps the Holy Spirit lives in them; but he who lives according to the flesh dies, because he does not know the life in them. Then the lawgiver willed the surface of the law to be kept not always, but for a set time, that he might restrain the hard neck of the Jews; whence: *I know that this people is of a stiff neck [n: (Exod. XXXII)]*; [var: Vulg. Ex 32:9 has *Cerno*, "I perceive"] but Hosea calls the Jews a heifer that shies away, one namely that is in no way tamed. And elsewhere: *Ephraim is a heifer taught to love threshing, I passed over the beauty of her neck [n: (Osee. X)]*; in which obedience is signified. For he imposed the yoke of the law, that being humbled they might willingly take up the light and sweet yoke of the Gospel [n: (Matth. XII)].

[0298A] [n: (ORIG., homil. 1, in Levit.)] If, following certain men even of our own, we were to follow the simple understanding, and were to receive the voice of the lawgiver without any twist of the word (as they themselves are wont to laugh at us) and without the cloud of allegory, then I, a churchman living under the faith of Christ and set in the midst of the Church, am compelled by the authority of the divine precept to sacrifice calves or lambs, and to offer fine flour with frankincense and oil: the Lord himself, therefore, the Holy Spirit himself, is to be entreated, that he may deign to take away every cloud of sin which darkens the sight of our heart, so that we may behold the spiritual understanding, according to that saying: *Open thou mine eyes, and I shall consider the wondrous things,* etc. [n: (Psal. CXVIII)].

[n: (ISID.)] Every diversity of victims prefigured the victim of Christ. Whence, *the truth being offered, the shadow ceased* [0298B] [n: (I Cor. XV)], prefiguring the true sacrifice of the true and eternal priest. And therefore, when the victims of animals were offered for cleansing, the one true victim of Christ was promised, in which there should be made the remission of the sins contracted from flesh and blood, which shall not possess the kingdom of God: because the bodily substance shall be changed into a heavenly quality. Christ was offered in the calf, because of the strength of the cross; in the lamb, because of innocence; in the ram, because of headship; in the he-goat, because of the likeness of the flesh of sin; in the turtledove and the dove, because he is God and man. For the Mediator of God and of men was shown in the conjunction of two substances; in the sprinkling of the fine flour it was shown that the Church, that is, the body of Christ, has been gathered out of believers through the water of baptism. But we morally [0298C] offer a calf, when we conquer the pride of the flesh; a lamb, when we correct irrational motions; a kid, when we overcome wantonness; a dove, while we are simple; a turtledove, while we are chaste, or while we keep chastity; unleavened loaves, when we feast not in the leaven of malice, but in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

[n: (RAB.)] He says that the several sacrifices, nay almost the several syllables, and the vestments of Aaron, and the whole Levitical order, breathe out heavenly mysteries.

Origen too says: That just as in the last days the Word of God, clothed with flesh from the Virgin Mary, went forth into the world, whose flesh was seen by all, while his divinity, known to few and to the elect, was covered over: so the word of God is brought forth to men through the prophets, [0298D] there covered by the veil of flesh, here by the veil of the letter. The letter is looked upon as flesh: the spiritual sense is perceived as divinity.

## CHAPTER ONE.

VERS. 1.-- *He called,* etc. [n: (ISICH. in Levit. )] By a conjunction he joins what follows to what precedes; the beginning, namely, of this book with the end of the preceding: for the work of one and the same day is contained in both. The book of Numbers too, because it has nothing intervening between itself and Leviticus, obtains a like proem; that is: *And the Lord spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai,* etc. [n: (Num. I)]. Nothing, therefore, did the people do after the history of Leviticus and before the history of Numbers: for it had not changed its place, because it had not yet [0299A] dedicated the tabernacle, nor had much time gone by. For in the first month of the second year, at the beginning of that same month, they began to act. But in Exodus and Genesis, because much intervening time had flowed by, that of the death of Joseph and of the going forth of the sons of Israel, a conjunction does not hold the opening, but a beginning suited to their dispensation is dispensed: *These are the names of the sons of Israel, who went into Egypt.*

[n: (ISICH.)] According to the Seventy, *He called back.* Just as, according to them, God *called back* Beseleel by name, when he commanded the tabernacle to be made according to the figure which was shown on the mount: so now too he has commanded a certain image of the intelligible sacrifices to be described; for this calling back intimates [0299B] a certain dispensation of things or of words looking to the things above.

*[n: (ORIG. hom. 1 in Levit.)] And he called,* etc. In the beginning, etc., *as far as* those who bring clean inward ears to the hearing of these things.

[n: (ISICH. in Levit. )] That God does not love the sacrifices of the Jews, etc., *as far as* and openly this calling intimates the dispensation of words or of things looking to the things above.

[n: (ORIG. homil. 1 Exod.)] The man whom he first set to offer to the Lord, etc., *as far as* the sacrifice too is twofold, which saves both earthly things and heavenly.

[n: (ID., ibid.)] The man who, made to the image and likeness of God, lives reasonably, etc., *as far as* and his neck is as a turtledove's.

[0299C] [n: (ISICH. in Levit. )] He designates the simple man, etc., *as far as* salvation is granted even to beasts of burden.

[n: (ID.)] God requires sacrifice that it may profit us, not himself, etc., *as far as* which at the last may speak testimony for us or against us.

VERS. 3.-- *Of the herd,* etc. [n: (ISID.)] The first sacrifice is the calf, that is, Christ, *of the herd,* that is, begotten of the stock of the patriarchs, who with the plough of his cross subdued the earth of our flesh, and enriched the seed of the Holy Spirit with the fruit of the virtues.

[n: (ORIG., ut supra. )] The proud calf, our flesh, etc., *as far as* but the oil of charity and of peace and of the other virtues they had not.

*To appease,* etc. But according to the Seventy he says this to be acceptable to the offerer, namely, if indeed it be to us [0299D] truly acceptable, and our heart, judging rightly and cleaving to no passion, shall have approved the gift as worthy to be received: then we can pray in the sight of the Lord, that is, obtain remission. Whence before him we shall persuade our hearts, because if our heart reprove us, we know that God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things, etc.

VERS. 4.-- *And he shall put,* etc. What we call a victim is in Greek called καρπώμα, in which the intelligible holocaust is signified. For he fructifies spiritually who by a spiritual manner of life is made a holocaust: for which cause he who offers puts his hand upon the head of the victim, which signifies the beginning of the aforesaid manner of life, of which he who offers is himself to himself the cause of the promise [0300A]. For he offers of his own accord, because it is a gift, and every gift is voluntary. For if he shall have transgressed [sic: *trangressus*] his promise, he accuses himself, when he shall have paid the penalties. And so he will be acceptable, and profiting toward his own expiation, when by the placing of the hand he shall have made it manifest that he offered of his own accord, not of necessity.

VERS. 5.-- *And he shall immolate,* etc. [n: (ISICH. in Levit. )] For not only our own conscience and manner of life ought we to offer to God, etc., *as far as* as Christ is called the door, so is the apostolic doctrine which he bestows.

*The sons of Aaron.* [n: (ORIG., ubi supra. )] Of the race of Aaron were Annas and Caiaphas, and the others who pronounced Christ to be guilty of death, and poured out his blood [0300B] at the base of the altar: for there was he slain, where the altar was and its base, whence: *It cannot be that a prophet perish outside Jerusalem.*

VERS. 6.-- *And being drawn off,* etc. [n: (ORIG., ibid.)] The priest draws off the skin, etc., *as far as* he joined earthly things to heavenly and human things to divine.

(ID) He commands the entrails with the feet to be washed with water, in signification of baptism. He washes the entrails who purges his conscience; he washes the feet who receives the consummation of the sacrament. *For he who is clean needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean wholly [n: (Joan. XV)]*: [var: Vulg. Jn 13:10 has *Qui lotus est*, "he that is washed," where Migne prints *Qui enim mundus est*] nor can anyone have part with Jesus, unless he wash his feet.

[n: (ISICH. in Levit. )] The skin is drawn off when we are despoiled of riches and of whatsoever things are worldly, etc., *as far [0300C] as* imitating Christ so far as we can.

[n: (GREG. lib. I Moral., cap. 40.)] We draw off the skin of the victim, etc., *as far as* let him lay nothing slippery upon the altar of his prayer.

VERS. 10.-- *But if,* etc. [n: (ISICH. in Levit. )] With a few things changed he says the same, etc., *as far as* whence: The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, etc.

*A yearling,* etc. [n: (ISID.)] The lamb offered is Christ the innocent crucified. Whence: *Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who taketh away the sins of the world.* [var: Vulg. Jn 1:29 has the singular *peccatum*, "the sin of the world"] Well is a kid offered, because through the death of Christ the devil, the author of sin, is slain.

[n: (ISICH.)] This he did not command concerning oxen, etc., *as far as* therefore it is called a holocaust even without the working [0300D] of justice.

VERS. 11.-- *At the side,* that is, the altar looks toward the Gentile world, because the passion of Christ was celebrated for the Gentiles. But we offer the sacrifice at the northern part of the altar, while we mindfully believe the passion of Christ to have been wrought for the Gentiles.

VERS. 13.-- *He shall burn all things.* He commands the offerer to place all these things upon the altar, that we may fit our whole man to the spiritual scriptures which have been spoken concerning the intelligible altar of the Lord's body, and may study to live to the imitation of him.

*And the odor.* When our sacrifice becomes a holocaust, and we offer all things upon the intelligible altar, as imitators of Christ conforming the manner [0301A] of our life to him, then is there offered to the Lord a most sweet odor.

VERS. 14.-- *But if.* [n: (ISID.)] The turtledove, the flesh of Christ, according to that saying of Solomon: *Fair are thy cheeks as a turtledove's:* the dove signifies the Holy Spirit. Whence: *Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending as a dove, this is my Son.* [var: Vulg. Jn 1:33 continues *et manentem super eum, hic est qui baptizat in Spiritu Sancto*, "and remaining upon him, this is he that baptizeth in the Holy Spirit"] The turtledove, therefore, the dove, is the flesh of Christ joined to the Spirit: these three sacrifices man offers, that is, Christ, namely of oxen, of cattle, and of birds.

(ISICH. *in Levit.* Wonderful is the subtlety of the words, etc., *as far as,* they contemplate and savor heavenly things, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.

## CHAPTER II.

[0301B]VERS. 2.-- *A soul,* etc. From the better part he signifies the whole man: for he requires a spiritual and perfect hearer, because the soul is capable of wisdom, not the flesh.

[n: (ISID.)] *A soul,* etc. The fourth sacrifice a soul offers. The fine flour signifies the Church, which is gathered out of many persons as out of grains, separated between the letter and the spirit by the millstone of the law and of the Gospel, made one through the water of baptism, anointed with chrism and made solid by spiritual fire; through humility it becomes an accepted victim.

[n: (ORIG.)] *hom 2 in Lev. A soul.* Which, namely, has neither a calf, etc.; *as far as* with the oil of the divine mercy or grace.

Mystically it signifies, as there: *All the souls that went in [0301C] with Jacob into Egypt,* etc. [n: (Gen. XLVI.)] But Luke says: *And we were in the ship, all the souls, two hundred seventy-six [n: (Act. XXVII)]*. Perhaps by "soul" he signifies the Gentile. For above he commanded the sons of Israel to offer sacrifices with blood. But here, commanding him who is without the law to offer, he does not say "man," as above, but *a soul.* The Gentile was animal, not understanding the things which are of God, but he is called to the oblation by the mercy of God, that he may receive salvation; when he appoints sacrifices for sins, he who has neither sheep nor she-goat is commanded to offer a turtledove or a dove; he who has not even that, fine flour. For he is now saved not out of works, as one poor in virtues, but by the knowledge of God alone, which, though it be the beginning of salvation, yet frankincense and [0301D] oil must be laid under it, that grace may be mingled from alms and prayers. Whence the angel says to Cornelius: *Thy prayers and thine alms are gone up unto the Lord [n: (Act. X)]*. [var: Vulg. Acts 10:4 reads *ascenderunt in memoriam in conspectu Dei*, "are gone up for a memorial in the sight of God"] In the frankincense the inward passions are cured, and by its smoke are healed the eyes that weep from infirmity. For prayer heals the passions of the soul, cures the inward eyes from ignorance, puts to flight the tears that kindle from the sickness of sin.

VERS. 2.-- *The sons,* the ministers of the Church; because whatsoever we offer, we ought to confer with the holy doctors of the Church. Whence Paul conferred the Gospel with the apostles, lest he should have run in vain [n: (Gal. II)].

*Of which.* The unity of the Church takes up a handful of the fine flour, [0302A] because according to the capacity of his understanding each of the faithful ought to seek after the knowledge of Scripture. Whence: *Not to be more wise than it behoveth, but to be wise unto sobriety. Of which one,* etc. [n: (Rom. XII)]. It is to be noted that a handful of the fine flour and of the oil, but the whole of the frankincense, is commanded to be offered; because the wisdom which is signified in the fine flour, and the charity or mercy which is signified in the oil, cannot in this life be full. Whence: *We see now through a glass in a dark manner:* and, *now I know in part,* etc. [n: (I Cor. XII)]. A part also of the oil is offered, because mercy is never fulfilled, since even if thou show mercy as much as thou canst, yet thou oughtest to will more. Charity too, which is figured by the oil, is begun in the present, and in the future shall be perfected. But the whole of the frankincense is burned, because prayer is always persisted in.

[0302B] *Of the fine flour.* Of the knowledge or acquaintance of God. For that knowledge is accepted from God which faith can comprehend; and just as he who wishes to grasp more with his fist gains nothing, for the whole runs out: so faith is the measure of the knowledge of God. *For he that cometh to God must believe, and whatsoever is not of faith is sin [n: (Heb. XI)]*. [var: Vulg. Heb 11:6 runs *credere enim oportet accedentem ad Deum quia est*; the second clause is Rom 14:23]

*A memorial,* etc., the perfect knowledge of the acquaintance of God, of which we shall be mindful, which is never destroyed; and that which now is it destroys not as contrary to itself, but shows it to be a least part through its own fullness: *For when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away [n: (I Cor. XIII)]*.

VERS. 3.-- *Of the sacrifice,* etc. [n: (ISICH. in Lev. )] Of that, namely, perfect knowledge hidden in the heavens and laid up in Christ, [0302C] *in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge [n: (Col. II)]*.

*Aaron* is interpreted "mountainous," that is, understanding higher things concerning God; or "hidden," as it were having in himself the law and the oracles of God: he can offer the sacrifice. The holy of holies is of the oblations to the Lord: for that which is left over is a portion, yet surpassing all knowledges and exalting to perfection

VERS. 4.-- *When thou shalt offer a sacrifice,* etc. [n: (ISICH., ibid. )] The sacrifice is Christ immolated for us.

*Baked in an oven,* namely in the womb of the Virgin. For an oven receives bread and fire: so the womb of the Virgin received the bread of life, that is, the Word of God, and the fire of the Holy Spirit from heaven. Whence: *The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee,* etc. [n: (Luc. I)]. If therefore thou offerest the gift [0302D] of the incarnation of Christ, which was wrought in the womb of the Virgin, it is not accepted by God unless it be made of fine flour, that is, of the knowledge or acquaintance of God. Of this matter indeed we receive the utterance from the apostles and from the prophets, The words of the apostles are the loaves, the wafers those of the prophets. For by as much as loaves are fitter than wafers for nourishing, by so much do the words of the apostles excel the words of the prophets. Yet both are unleavened, without the leaven of secular knowledge. Both, however, are made in oil, for concordantly it has been written by them concerning the compassion of Christ, since both apostles and prophets wrote, but the apostles wrote more fully, who showed to be fulfilled what those were announcing as to come.

*Wafers.* A broad and thin bread, which signifies prophecy and [0303A] the law; for as great as is the distance between the solidity of bread and the thinness of a wafer, so great is that between the Gospel and the words of the law and of the prophets: yet these are smeared with oil, because the law and prophecy foretold the charity of Christ, by which he came unto the salvation of the human race.

VERS. 5.-- *If thy oblation shall be,* etc. [n: (ISICH. in Lev. )] The oblation of the frying-pan, etc., *as far as* and therefore he departed from the knowledge of him.

*Of fine flour sprinkled,* etc. Because he died and had mercy on us.

*Without leaven,* that is, without stain.

VERS. 6.-- *Thou shalt divide it into little pieces:* that we may divide the discourse of his passions, which went forward by parts, and may carefully mark off the buffets, that is, the blows, the spittings and the wounds [0303B].

*And thou shalt pour upon,* etc., that as he mercifully died for us, so we too may have mercy on our brethren even unto death.

*Of the frying-pan.* For as the frying-pan is midway between the fire and the food, so in a certain manner is the cross between the impassible divinity and the humanity, which was roasted by the fire of the passion. And as in a frying-pan soft things harden and hard things soften, so in the passion of the cross stony hearts are softened, and soft and flowing ones made solid. To offer sacrifice, therefore, from the frying-pan is to dispute with veneration concerning the mystery of the cross.

VERS. 7.-- *But if of,* etc. [n: (ISICH. in Lev. )] As on the frying-pan the cross, etc., *as far as* for out of mercy he underwent death, and dispensed the resurrection [0303C].

*But if,* etc. Morally, he offers fine flour who studies to behave well in some of the usages of the common life. This is to be sprinkled with oil, because every soul needs the oil of mercy, nor can it escape the present life unless heavenly mercy shall have been at hand. But the oven expresses the weight of temptation, the frying-pan the constancy and strength of the mind, the gridiron the manifold assault.

VERS. 11.-- *Every oblation. [n: (ORIG. homil. 2 in Lev.)]* Let someone say, etc., *as far as* in this way thou offerest more truly and more perfectly according to the Gospel the sacrifices which Israel can no longer offer according to the law.

*Of leaven and of honey.* Nothing voluptuous, nothing sweet pleases God, but what has something of sharpness and [0303D] of severity. Whence the pasch is eaten with bitter herbs.

*And of honey.* Of Gentile eloquence, which is sweet in voice, not in fact. Whence: *A honeycomb distilling are the lips of a harlot [n: (Prov. V)]*. But what is said in the Canticles: *Honey and milk are under thy tongue [n: (Cant. IV)]*, does not contradict what is here said. For it is said "under the tongue," not "in the tongue," that it may be shown that the wisdom of the pagans and the letter of the Jews are subject to the tongue of the Church, that is, to her doctrine. Of these he does not will the whole doctrine to be offered. Whence he says: *It shall not be burned in sacrifice,* that is, as a holocaust: *ye shall offer only the firstfruits of them.* For we offer the firstfruits of that wisdom, not the whole of it, as Paul to the Athenians says: *As your own poet said: of him [0304A] we also are the offspring.* [var: Vulg. Acts 17:28 reads *sicut et quidam vestrum poetarum dixerunt: ipsius enim et genus sumus*, "as certain also of your own poets said"] For what he found agreeable to the knowledge of God, he did not reject: yet he did not multiply testimonies beyond this, because it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe; whence Moses says: *But upon the altar they shall not be laid,* and though it might have been said "they shall not be placed," he says: *They shall not be laid for an odor of sweetness:* signifying that if we shall have attempted to obtain the knowledge of the divinity from outward things, such a sacrifice does not ascend to the altar, but is pressed down among earthly things, because it is of the earth.

[n: (BEDA. in Lev., tom. II)]. That honey should not be offered in the sacrifice of God, etc., *as far as* we omit whatsoever things are imperfect.

VERS. 13.-- *Thou shalt season with salt, nor shalt thou take away the salt of the covenant.* The apostolic wisdom. Whence: *Ye are the salt of the earth,* etc. [0304B] [n: (Matth. V)]. As all food is seasoned with salt, so is the word of preaching by apostolic doctrine. Therefore it is commanded that salt be offered in every sacrifice, that we may live according to apostolic doctrine and instruction and the imitation of its work. Whence Paul says: *Be ye imitators of me, as I also am of Christ [n: (I Cor. IV)]*. And elsewhere: *Built up upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets [n: (Eph. II)]*. Whence also the lawgiver did not say simply "salt," but *the salt of the covenant of thy God.* For as the covenant is rational, so also the salt is rational. He willed, therefore, to admonish us of the evangelical Testament and of the apostolic salt. Oil is offered in sacrifice, if we offer with cheerfulness, not out of sadness or out of necessity. For God loveth a cheerful giver [n: (II Cor. IX)].

Salt, which has a styptic force and is contrary to [0304C] honey, is commanded to be added to the sacrifices: salt is the symbol of prudence, which restrains and dries up pleasure.

*In every oblation,* etc. For that will not be able to please God which shall not have been corrected to the rule of his will. For if in human affairs a certain one of the wise men of this world admonished that we must act with so great caution, so that he said: Every action ought to be free of rashness and of negligence: what is to be judged concerning the things of God?

*But if thou shalt offer,* etc. [n: (ORIG., lib. I in Levit.)] In the second place, of the firstfruits, etc., *as far as* because the letter was separated from the spirit.

[n: (ISICH.)] *Thou shalt break after the manner,* etc. Not only did he command them the knowledge of God, etc., *as far as* for through almsgiving and prayer the divine knowledge is perfected in us.

## CHAPTER III.

[0304D]

VERS. 1.-- *But if the victim,* etc. [n: (ORIG. homil. 3 in Levit.)] The rest being passed over, he speaks of the peace-offering sacrifices, which are offered from animals, that is, from oxen and goats and sheep, and nothing further is substituted for immolation: not even birds, which above were substituted in the offering of gifts. For he who offers peace offerings is conscious of his own salvation: he has need, therefore, to offer great and perfect things, whence the Apostle: *But solid food is of the perfect [n: (Heb. V)]*.

[n: (ISICH.)] *But if the victim,* etc. There are, according to the laws, diverse manners of life among men, etc., *as far as* for they must live worthily, that they may come to salvation.

[0305A] *Male or female,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Above, for a holocaust, males only are offered, etc., *as far as* that is, weak works together with stronger.

VERS. 3.-- *The fat which,* etc. [n: (ID.)] The intelligible fat must be offered, etc., *as far as* and by deliberation let us sanctify the lump.

*The vitals.* The Seventy: The belly, that is, the heart, of which he makes mention a second time according to the Seventy, because it has a twofold operation according to the physicians, since through one part it draws nourishment, which they call the upper belly: through the other it separates off the purgation, which they call the lower belly. The kidneys are the ministries of the generative seeds, communicating with the belly and the thighs. First, therefore, he commands the fat which is above the belly, and the two kidneys, and the fat which is upon them, [0305B] that is, upon the thighs, which are near to the kidneys, to be offered: for they are set in the midst of the thigh and of the belly.

VERS. 4.-- *The caul of the liver:* That is, of the *epar*, in which is delight or concupiscence. Whence according to the Seventy the lobe of the *epar* shall be taken away with the kidneys: for the liver ministers in the kidneys the force of operation.

VERS. 6.-- *But if it shall be of the sheep,* etc. (ISICH). Whom he may command to offer an ox, etc., *as far as* in the loins also the operation of generation.

VERS. 9.-- *And the tail.* The Seventy: The loin whole and without blemish, that is, lest one thing be offered to God and another to the adversary. For it suffices this man, for pardon, not to do the things which are of virtue; but if he works evils, he does not obtain pardon. Whence: *Be ye simple as doves.* [0305C] For doves have exceeding simplicity, and no malice. He who offers a sacrifice of oxen has no need to offer the loin to God: him he binds and exercises in good works. He who immolates of the goats has not an unspotted loin which he may offer, because he once stained it with sin. He therefore who has not been in sins can offer an unspotted loin, not he who has been a sinner. For this cause, in the sacrifice of the peace offerings, he distinguished the she-goats from the lambs.

VERS. 17.-- *Nor the fat.* We ought not to have our own concupiscence, that is, the carnal: *For every one is tempted, being drawn away and enticed by his own concupiscence.* He forbids blood to be eaten, that we may kill no one: for to eat blood belongs to beasts, [0305D] that is, to the cruel. Therefore either it is added altogether: that we may spare both our neighbors and ourselves. But the soul ought to be immolated to God, whence he commanded the blood to be poured out about the base of the altar.

## CHAPTER IV.

VERS. 1-2.-- *And he spoke* etc. *The soul that shall have sinned,* etc. [n: (ORIG., hom. 2 in Levit.)] Rightly does he say "the soul," etc., *as far as* and the spirit is a leader unto virtue, if he be willing to follow it.

[n: (ISICH.)] *When a soul shall have sinned,* etc. The lawgiver omitted nothing necessary, etc., *as far as* whence, *He who knew not sin was made sin for us.* [var: Vulg. 2 Cor 5:21 reads *eum qui non noverat peccatum pro nobis peccatum fecit*, "him who knew no sin he made to be sin for us," where Migne's verb is passive]

VERS. 3.-- *If the priest,* etc. (ORIG. It is to be observed that in the sin of the high priest the lawgiver does not add [0306A] that he sinned unknowing or unwilling: for neither can ignorance fall upon him who has been advanced that he might teach the rest.

[n: (ID.)] *If the priest,* etc. Terror and mercy together, etc., *as far as* who is gnawed by the consciousness of his infirmity.

[n: (Id.)] *If the priest,* etc. The high priest, the sense of piety and of religion, etc., *as far as* is repaired by the death of Christ.

VERS. 3.-- *A calf without blemish to the Lord,* etc. [n: (ID.)] In the second place we find a calf offered by the high priest for a holocaust, etc. *as far as* in which Christ suffered.

VERS. 5.-- *He shall also take of the blood,* etc. He bore the blood of the calf into the tabernacle, that is, into heaven: when after the resurrection, ascending the heavens, [0306B] he stood before the countenance of the Father, as it were offering the blood of the passion, making intercession for us.

VERS. 6.-- *Seven times:* for the remission, namely, of sins, and under the ministration of spiritual gifts. But the blood signifies the passion, according to that saying: *I am clean from the blood of this just man.* [var: Vulg. Mt 27:24 reads *Innocens ego sum*, "I am innocent"] And elsewhere: *His blood be upon us,* etc. Concerning this sprinkling Peter says: *Unto obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Christ,* etc.

*The veil,* the humanity of Christ. For as the veil was between the holy of holies and the outer tabernacle, so the flesh of Christ is between us, who are the outer tabernacle, and the divinity, which is signified by the holy of holies. Against the veil of the testimony, therefore, the priest sprinkled the blood of the calf, because Christ [0306C] made his own flesh bloody with the blood of the passion.

*Against the veil,* etc. By many names does he call the flesh of the Lord, because its operation is manifold. Whence the Lord himself named himself, now a sacrifice [n: (Luc. XXI)], now a shepherd, again a vine, then the bread of life and the grain of wheat, by transferred words. [n: (Joan. X, XV, VI, XII)] So Moses too called his flesh a veil. Whence Paul: *He hath consecrated for us a way through the veil, that is, his flesh [n: (Heb. X)]*. The veil of the sanctuary too is named from this, because in it the flesh of the holy of holies is figured.

VERS. 7.-- *Upon the horns.* This altar signifies the seat of God, that is, the Seraphim; whence Isaiah: *There flew to me one of the Seraphim, and in his hand a coal, which he took with the tongs from the altar [n: (Isa. VI)]*. The incense, according to [0306D] the Seventy, the compositions of all the virtues. For where does it befit the virtues to be composed, if not in the seat of God? for from heaven they descend to us. Whence James says: *But the wisdom that is from above [n: (Jac. III)]*. But four virtues, wisdom, justice, fortitude, temperance, because they contain the kinds of the other virtues, are named horns: these God anoints with his own blood, strengthening them, namely with a greater and more perfect strength, that they may be able to prevail against the adverse powers and forces.

*Of the altar,* etc. Of the angelic powers. For if men render to God a pleasing odor of good works, how much more the holy angels, remaining in the purity of their nature? But if they did not commit the sin which was to be expiated by the blood of Christ, [0307A] yet through his blood they were made at peace with us, and their number was repaired.

*Unto the base.* The base, the lower part of the altar, signifies weak men. For by the blood of Christ not only was the number of the angels restored, but man also redeemed: therefore Christ is called the redemption of the angels too [n: (Col. I)].

*Of the altar of holocaust.* Of the body of Christ. For he himself is the priest, he himself the sacrifice, he himself also the altar. For as he works many things, so fittingly is he called by many names. Whence Paul: *We have an altar whereof they have no power to eat who serve the tabernacle [n: (Heb. XIII)]*: that is, the body of Christ, of which it is not lawful for the Jews to eat; this altar is at the entrance [0307B] of the tabernacle, that is, of heaven, because through it we have entrance into heaven.

*And the fat.* Mystically, the delights and desires of the flesh; all of which, however, are not to be received into Christ, such as the desire of the gullet and of coition. But those which he had, he had from us, as thirst and hunger, and things of this kind. And these he offered to the Father, to whose glory he transferred them, and set them forth for us as an example, that we may refer our desires unto God.

VERS. 9.-- *The two little kidneys and the caul that is upon them near the flanks.* [n: (ISICH.)] Which things are done also in the sacrifice of the peace offerings, or of salvation. And he divides the sacrifice into two, that it may be permitted to all to imitate the sacrifice of Christ, both to those, namely, who are of a lower manner of life, [0307C] to whom the sacrifice of the peace offerings is suited, and to those who follow after higher things, for whom it suffices if they imitate what follows.

VERS. 11.-- *But the skin and all the flesh with the head and the feet and the rest.* This he commands, that thou divide not Christ, as certain men divide him, saying: He who suffered was of Mary, he who was of God did not suffer; *But to us there is one God Jesus Christ, through whom are all things [n: (I Cor. VIII)]*. [var: Vulg. 1 Cor 8:6 reads *nobis tamen unus Deus Pater ex quo omnia … et unus Dominus Iesus Christus per quem omnia*, distinguishing the Father from the Lord Jesus Christ] For the flesh in the Lord is the whole humanity, according to what is said: *The Word was made flesh [n: (Joan. I)]*. Whence he says: *His flesh with the head and the feet,* or the extremities according to others, that by these words we may believe him who suffered for us to be the first and the last: for he is before all things, and in him all things consist. *With the entrails and the dung,* [0307D] the Seventy: with the belly and the excrement. But the belly signifies the mind; let us therefore in no wise doubt that he who suffered for us had a human mind, which certain of the heretics deny. The dung signifies the sin of the human race, which the crucified took upon himself. Dung, though it be unclean, does not pollute him who carries it; nor is it of our nature, although it be within us: so our sins, which the Lord bore, were foreign to him, nor did they pollute him.

*With the entrails and the dung,* etc. [n: (ORIG.)] Perhaps by way of comparison, etc., *as far as* the lawgiver figures his mystery more fully in what follows.

VERS. 13.-- *But if all the multitude.* [n: (ISICH.)] The same thing he commands in the sacrifice of the multitude and of the priest, etc., *as far [0308A] as* for he prayed for his very crucifiers: *Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.* [var: Vulg. Lk 23:34 reads *Pater, dimitte illis, non enim sciunt quid faciunt*]

VERS. 21.-- *He shall carry the calf outside the camp* [n: (ID.)] The conclusion of the law suffices us for making plain the present matters, for nothing is here commanded to be changed for the sin of the multitude. It is manifest that he understands the sin of the people and of the priest to be the same, and therefore in both he ordained the same sacrifice.

VERS. 22.-- *If a prince shall have sinned and done.* [n: (ID.)] As in the voluntary sacrifices, etc., *as far as* for the sabbath was given for rest from evils.

[n: (ORIG.)] This prince can be called the force of reason which is within us, which if it sin, so that we do something foolish, let us fear that sentence: *Ye are the salt of the earth. But if the salt shall have become insipid, it is worth nothing [0308B] but that it be cast forth and trodden underfoot by men. [n: (Matth. V.)]* [var: Vulg. Mt 5:13 reads *quod si sal evanuerit in quo sallietur ad nihilum valet ultra nisi ut mittatur foras*, "if the salt lose its savour, wherewith shall it be salted?"]

VERS. 23.-- *A he-goat of the goats.* Not a she-goat, that is, an easy or middling penance, but a hard and rough one. For by as much as a man excels in understanding, by so much, if he sins, does he undergo a greater punishment for a greater fault.

VERS. 24.-- *He shall put his hand,* etc., manifesting his sin through himself, and offering his own confession. But he himself, according to the Seventy, does not slay it, but others do; because the help of others is necessary to him, that his penance may be received, nor is the priest commanded to slay it, for he says:

*And when he shall have immolated,* etc., nor did he add who ought to immolate, for it is lawful in the sacrifice of penance [0308C] to use the helps of another: whence James: *Pray one for another, that ye may be saved.*

*Where it is wont to be slain,* etc. Because there please God alike a worthy penance for sins and the strong works of the just.

VERS. 25.-- *The horns of the altar,* etc. Upon the cross are offered the firstfruits of the blood which is offered for sin, because the work of the cross and its effect is the perfect remission of our sins.

*And pouring out the rest.* Attributing, namely, all penance to the evangelical preaching, whose intention is that he who repents may correct himself and be saved. Whence in the beginning of the Gospel the Lord says providently: *Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven draweth near.* [0308D] [n: (Matth. III.)] [var: Vulg. Mt 3:2 reads the perfect *adpropinquavit*, "hath drawn near"]

VERS. 27.-- *But if he shall have sinned,* etc. [n: (ORIG. hom. 2. in Levit.)] Doing one thing out of all the commandments of the Lord, etc., *as far as* when he acknowledges it, to immolate a sacrifice of praise.

*Of the people,* etc. [n: (ORIG.)] For the distinguishing of him, etc. *as far as* he holds it necessary for our sake.

*But if of the cattle.* [n: (ISICH.)] To the oblation of the she-goat which those who are of the people offer, etc., *as far as* he commands like things concerning the she-goat and the sheep.

## CHAPTER V.

VERS. 1.-- *If a soul shall have sinned,* etc. [n: (AUG. quaest. 1 in Levit.)] He seems to say that a man sins, etc., [0309A] *as far as* but he straightway subjoined: *The soul that shall have touched anything unclean,* etc.

[n: (ISICH.)] *If he shall have sinned,* etc. He does not repeat what he said above, etc., *as far as* because we ought not to consent to the sins or the error of another, but to reprove them.

VERS. 2.-- *The soul who shall have touched.* [n: (ISICH.)] Not of the body, etc., *as far as* but he can say with David: *Our soul hath been delivered as a sparrow out of the snare of the fowlers [n: (Psal. CXXIII)]*.

[n: (GREG. lib. XXXII Moral., cap. 4 tom. II.)] To utter an oath is to bind ourselves by vow to the divine servitude, etc., *as far as* we burn with the fire of grief.

VERS. 4.-- *The soul that shall have sworn,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 2 in Levit.)] What is it that for a perjury kept silent, or for a carcass touched, or for anything unclean, no sacrifice [0309B] is enjoined? but that for the fact that anyone swears a falsehood unknowingly, he decrees a she-lamb or a she-goat to be offered? or is this sacrifice to be understood for all the things aforesaid? For when all had been set forth, he brought in the sacrifice of expiation.

*He shall have understood his offence.* [n: (ISICH.)] It is to be noted that an offence, etc., *as far as* as the following words show.

VERS. 7.-- *But if he shall not have been able,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Let us add this, that if a prince shall have sinned in any of these things, he should offer a he-goat of the goats, namely a penance worthy of himself, who ought neither to have sinned, nor to have shared it with others, nor to have provoked his subjects to sinning. What therefore ought not to have happened, he left undiscussed.

*But if,* etc. [n: (ID.)] He who cannot afflict himself continually, etc., *as far as* because he sacrifices himself most fully [0309C] to God.

VERS. 8.-- *He shall turn back the head* [n: (GREG., hom. in Ezech. )] The death of Christ unto the joining of his own body, etc., *as far as* he joined us all to himself more truly in that very death of his.

[n: (GREG.)] *He shall turn back,* etc. In the sacrifice of God we ought to be a turtledove, that our head may be turned back to the little wings, that is, the senses to the virtues. By the head we understand the mind, because as the head rules the body, so the mind rules the actions. But the head cleaves to the neck, and is not cut off utterly, because our mind is to be separated from the delight of the flesh, not from the necessary care of the flesh, and let us not make provision for the flesh in its desires [n: (Rom. XIII)]. Let the head of the turtledove therefore be partly cut off, and partly cleave to the neck.

[0309D] *Let it be broken off,* etc. He wills that we should not serve the body, but be broken off or turned back, lest the law of sin reign in our members. But because we ought not to hold our body in hatred, nor to reckon it, after the heretics, a making of the devil, but to set it under the mind, he does not command the body to be separated from the neck, for both are the creature of one and the same.

VERS. 9.-- *The foundation,* etc. LXX, the base, which is the Gospel, because, according to the intention of the sacrifice of Christ and of the Gospel, the sacrifice for sins ought to be offered. Whence he adds: *Because it is for sin,* for nothing so snatches a man from sin as the imitation of Christ and obedience to the Gospel preaching.

[0310A] *But if he shall not have been able.* Because not every time is easy for penance, when namely we abuse penance itself, and destroy its fruit by returning to sin, the lawgiver hints at this, saying: *But if his hand shall not have been able,* etc.

[n: (AUG. quaest. 8 in Levit., tom. III.)] It is asked whether what has been said is to be taken everywhere, etc., *as far as* that all the rest should pertain from these to that generality.

VERS. 11.-- *An ephi.* [n: (ISICH.)] It is a measure of three measures, etc., *as far as* that they should not perish who shall have been under his hand.

*He shall not put upon it,* etc. As if to say: this is not perfect penance, and therefore it has no oil, that is, the spiritual gladness of cheerfulness, nor frankincense, because neither [0310B] ought he to have confidence in his prayers: but let him who offers the oblation hand it over to the priest, that is, let him commit the hope of salvation to the divine mercy.

*Which is for sin.* Because he knows not whether the prayer of him who often transgresses is of a good odour. Whence: *Who knoweth if God will turn and forgive, and leave behind him a blessing [n: (Joan. III)]*? He does not therefore suffer them to despair, nor yet to presume, lest they be negligent again.

VERS. 12.-- *A handful.* In the handful Scripture is signified, wherewith it is written. And it is written: *I say not to thee seven times, but unto seventy times seven times [n: (Matth. XXVIII)]*. By the handful therefore he hints that God is to be entreated, that he may remember his written mercy, that he may grant it to us: as he bids it be granted to our brethren; for this [0310C] shall the great priest cleanse the one who prays.

VERS. 13.-- *If a soul transgressing,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] From every sin abstinence must be had, but most of all from that which is committed against holy things: and how horrible it is, the oblation testifies. For nowhere from the beginning of the history, save in this place, is a ram commanded to be offered, in which the necessity and the usefulness of the sacrifice is set forth: here no he-goat is offered, no she-goat, no sheep, no pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.

*The ceremonies, through,* etc. [n: (ORIG.)] There are many kinds of sanctification. There is the oil, wherewith the tabernacle alone is anointed; and the incense, of which it is said: *Whosoever shall make such a compound, shall perish from among his people:* the loaves also of proposition only the males eat, who are of the stock of Aaron. But mystically he sins in [0310D] those things which have been sanctified, who usurps anything irreverently in a holy place, or handles divine things unworthily.

VERS. 15.-- *With two sicles.* Two sicles are the two precepts of charity, wherewith the sinner buys for himself the confidence of remission. For penance is worth nothing without the grace of remission; whence, according to the LXX, the ram is bought with fifty sicles, because through penance and the observance of the twofold charity perfect rest is acquired, when the remission of sins is given. LXX, *with fifty sicles of silver, by the holy sicle.* For no one obtains the sacrifice of the Lord save through the Holy Spirit, because *no man can say the Lord Jesus, but by the Holy Ghost [n: (I Cor. XII)]*. But fifty [0311A] signifies the coming of the Holy Spirit, because on the day of Pentecost, that is, the fiftieth, he came to the apostles. LXX: *by the holy sicle.* In the holy sicle he signified the power and the working of the Holy Spirit. *A siculus is of 20 obols,* a man of twenty is not liable for sin: whence they who went out of Egypt, when they were of twenty years, did not undergo the punishment of the people's sin [n: (Num. XIV)]; for the spiritual man is indeed clean from every sin.

VERS. 16.-- *And the fifth part,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] He who with a holy vessel or food, etc., *as far as* for so shall he make entreaty for our sin.

VERS. 17.-- *If a soul shall have sinned,* etc. [n: (ID.)]. He seems to have forgotten what he had commanded: for the sins for which he commanded a she-goat or a sheep to be offered, now he seems to command a ram to be offered; but he has neither forgotten [0311B] the former things, nor commanded contrary things: for there by the soul he signified the Gentile: but here him who through ignorance transgresses the commandments of the law.

[n: (AUG. quaest. 7 in Levit.)] It is asked how this offence is distinguished from those which he has generally embraced, etc., *as far as* or some things in sacred services.

VERS. 18.-- *He shall offer a ram,* etc. Above he commanded that the penitent should offer a she-goat, here he bids a ram be immolated, because it profits nothing to immolate the harshness of penance, unless thou shalt have determined to have full confidence in the immolation of Christ.

## CHAPTER VI

VERS. 1, 2.-- *He spoke,* etc. *The soul that shall have sinned,* [0311C] etc. [n: (ISICH.)] It is the same sin which is committed against holy things, etc., *as far as* it is like to robbery.

*[n: (ORIG. hom. 4 in Levit.)] The soul that shall have sinned,* etc. I think that our soul, etc., *as far as: For no man putteth new wine into old bottles.*

*The thing lost,* etc. [n: (ORIG.)] LXX: *perdition.* The heretics labour to find perdition in the Scriptures, whence they may build up their error: but perhaps, hearing the words of the Church, they come to their senses, and understand that what they had found is perdition, and restore it, that is, they let it go back to its own author.

VERS. 5.-- *And the fifth part besides,* etc. The tongue, namely, in which is one of the five senses: this is offered, that for the rest he may not sin, because through it each one of the things aforesaid was committed.

[0311D] [n: (ORIG.)] LXX: not *the fifth part,* but *fifths,* as twice five, etc., *as far as* we may refer them to the one God.

VERS. 8.-- *And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying.* [n: (ISICH.)] Here he speaks of the continual sacrifice, etc., *as far as* and let him frame his whole life unto perfection.

VERS. 10.-- *Of linen,* not of wool: he wills the tunic and the drawers to be of linen, not of wool [n: (Exod. XXVIII)]. For a linen garment is fitting and soft, and clinging to the body; but a woollen one is rough, because justice and chastity are fitting to the soul and cleave much to it. A linen garment also can easily be had, so also the virtues, if anyone shall wish to attain them.

[0312A] *And he shall take up the ashes,* etc. The ash is the consummation of a good work. Aaron shall carry the ashes outside the camp: they who after this life present their good works to God the Father through Christ the great high priest. And there they are reduced to embers, while he stands before the face of God for us. For the camp is the present life, in which we always fight against spiritual wickednesses [n: (Heb. IX)]. They are placed beside the altar, while the consummation of good works is laid up in the ark of the heart. For the altar in this place signifies the heart. *Our glory is this, the testimony of our conscience,* etc. [n: ( Eph. ult. )]

VERS. 11.-- *And being clothed with others.* [n: (ORIG.)] It is to be observed that the priest uses certain garments in the mystery of the sacrifices, and others when he goes forth to the people. Whence: *We speak wisdom among the perfect* [0312B] [n: (II Cor. I)]. And elsewhere, clothed in a far lower robe: *Nothing did I judge,* he says, *myself to know among you, but Jesus Christ, and him crucified [n: (II Cor. I)]*.

VERS. 12.-- *Fire on. [n: (AUG. quaest. 12 in Levit.)]* He does not will the fire to be wholly extinguished, but that, when the holocaust shall have burned until morning, the remains being taken away, it be again renewed, whereby the other things which are laid on may burn.

*Which the priest shall feed. Allegorically.* In the morning Christ was judged, in the evening crucified. Fire therefore is laid under morning and evening: because the charity of God is nourished in us, while we call to mind Christ judged in the morning and crucified in the evening.

[n: (GREG. lib. XXV Moral., cap. 7.)] Our heart is the altar of God, etc., *as far as* that the more God is seen, the more he may be loved.

[0312C] *And the holocaust being laid on above he shall burn it,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 13 in Levit.)] It is to be seen whether no day was passed over, etc., *as far as* which is a wonder, if he were silent and did not admonish that such things be offered in the evening.

VERS. 14.-- *This is.* The lawgiver seems to repeat what he has said, renewing the memory by the repetition of the commandment, and showing the usefulness and the necessity of the law. Yet he inserts something new, in which he hints that the commandment is necessary and inexcusable. As therefore he repeated the sacrifices concerning the holocausts, mingling assiduity with them, as is that: *Let the fire on the altar always burn and never fail:* [var: Vulg. Lv 6:12–13 has the futures *ardebit* … *numquam deficiet*, "shall always burn … shall never fail"] so in the sacrifice of fine flour, that is of theology, he adds that it must be eaten only in a holy place, and by a male.

*And before.* According as Christ shall have revealed, [0312D] who is the true altar. In these things therefore let us establish theology which Christ incarnate delivered to us, that we may think of the Father in him, and of him in the Father, and that the Spirit is of the Son and proceeds from the Father.

VERS. 16.-- *The remainder,* etc., that we may not wholly cease from theology, because the sum of knowledge is conversant with the world to come.

*In the place.* The Church, which is the entrance and the vestibule of heaven; in it one must speak of the Godhead, whence in Psalm LXVII: *In the churches bless ye God,* each man is a household church to himself, while he ceases from earthly business: here he can speak to himself of God and exercise theology. Such are they to whom a part of the sacrifice is given, namely, to meditate and to speak of God.

[0313A] VERS. 17.-- *As for sin.* He hints that this sacrifice is like to that which is both for sin and for offence: for discourse concerning God is had chiefly unto the expiation and the cleansing of the soul, when to oil and frankincense, that is, to almsgiving and prayer, the sacrifice of the word of God, that is, of theology, is joined.

VERS. 18.-- *The males only.* It belongs not to all to dispute of God, but to those who have nothing womanish, nothing flowing, in their thoughts or their works. *It is lawful and everlasting.* For we ought not to presume to dispute of God, while through worldly imaginings we turn aside from the dignity of males.

*Everyone that shall touch.* [n: (ISICH.)] This cannot stand according to the letter: for shall a murderer or a profane man be sanctified if he shall have touched? for none is excepted. But [0313B] Christ, in whose figure these things went before, is immolated: he who shall have touched his flesh, that is, who with a faithful heart shall have placed the whole hope of salvation in his passion and resurrection, shall straightway be sanctified.

[n: (ID.)] *Everyone who,* etc. Every commemoration of God bestows sanctification. Whence: *But it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.* But when he says that the one touching is sanctified, he plainly shows that in disputing of God, that is, in theologizing, it is enough for us only to touch: for he who wishes to be warmed, if he shall have put his hand into the fire, shall suffer burning instead of warming.

*This is the oblation. [n: (AUG., quaest. 14 in Levit.)]* Other are the sacrifices which he commemorated in Exodus, by which through seven days the priests are sanctified, that they may discharge [0313C] the priesthood. Another is that which he commemorates, which the high priest offers when he is appointed, that is, when he is anointed: whence he adds: *In the day in which he shall anoint him,* not "them," although he commands the second priests also to be anointed; this sacrifice is everlasting by succession, namely of priests. Or because that which it signifies is everlasting.

*This is,* etc. Aaron is the mountain of strength, that is, Christ; his sons are all the faithful; the day of anointing, the time of the incarnation, in which he was anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows.

*An ephi.* The humanity of Christ. An ephi indeed, holding three measures, signifies the Trinity, if however the ephi is the flesh of the Lord, so that the eminence of the divinity may be shown, and the inseparability of the Lord's flesh with it; none the less [0313D] the sacrifice is perpetual. For by one oblation he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified: whence also *he is able to save for ever.*

*In the sacrifice.* [n: (ORIG.)] The law of Moses is the sacrifice of the priest, etc., *as far as* in which there is nothing slack, nothing wanton [n: (Matth. XVI)].

*In the morning.* In the morning the passion of the Lord began, from when in the hall of Caiphas he was smitten with blows, and it was drawn out even to the evening; for since the darkness interposed, from the sixth hour to the ninth hour it is divided into morning and evening.

VERS. 21.-- *Which in the frying-pan. [n: (GREG. hom. 12 in Ezech.)]* No such sacrifice is to God, etc., *as far as* it is reckoned a holocaust to God.

VERS. 22.-- *The priest.* LXX: *The anointed priest for [0314A] him, of his sons, shall do these things.* For Christ is *for* Aaron, not in his place, because he transferred the priesthood into himself, and took it away from Aaron. *Of his sons,* because he descended from Jacob through Mary and from the same tribe.

*Who to the father.* One Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things [n: (Rom. XI)]. For the Lord of glory was crucified, and it is the passion of the incarnate Word, which was in the flesh of Christ: *Who wholly emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, and obedient to the father even unto the death of the cross.* [var: Vulg. Phil 2:7–8 has neither *totum*, "wholly," nor *patri*, "to the father," and reads *factus obediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis*]

VERS. 23.-- *For every.* Whatsoever things are in the sacrifice of the peace offerings, these also he bids to be done herein.

*Nor shall any one.* What is eaten is broken small: he breaks small the sacrifice of Christ who says that he died for sins, whereas he did not commit sin.

[0314B] [n: (ORIG.)] *Nor shall any one eat.* The sacrifice in this place is to be taken as the Word himself, and the doctrine, of which none eats, that is, disputes or handles it over again; but it is a holocaust. For whatsoever he said, whatsoever he appointed, endures by an eternal consecration.

*The priest who,* etc. [n: (AUG. quaest. 18 in Levit.)] Not that he lays on, etc., *as far as* this too he now briefly commemorates.

[n: (ORIG. homil. 5 in Levit.)] Certain of the victims are of God alone, etc., *as far as* better do we reserve these things for the fire.

VERS. 27.-- *Whatsoever shall touch.* Although the oblation be another's, that is, the penitent's, it shall be sanctified even if he do not repent. Likewise if a little one shall have been baptized, [0314C] who has not yet sinned of himself, he is cleansed from the original

*If of the blood,* that is, if the substance of the flesh shall have been stained with sins. Whence: *A garment mingled with blood shall be for burning, and food for the fire [n: (Isa. IX)]* of hell, namely: it shall be washed in a holy place, that is, he shall have hope in baptism, which not only washes away things past, but instructs him that he may be able to repent of things to come.

VERS. 28.-- *But the earthen vessel,* etc. The infirm: namely, the feeble, who after penance is performed slips back to sins; he must be shattered by these, by the terror of judgment.

VERS. 29.-- *Every male,* etc. The priest offering and eating the whole sacrifice is Christ, who offers our penance and eats the salvation of sinners. But the flesh of the sacrifice, because it pertains [0314D] to penance, every male among the priests eats, the strong, namely, and the vigorous, to whom it is said: *Do manfully, and let thy heart be strengthened, and wait thou for the Lord [n: (Psal. XXVI)]*.

VERS. 30.-- *It shall not be eaten,* etc. Because it pertains to Christ, who by his own authority and by the proper power of his divinity grants remission. For his passion, through which remission is procured for us, was not that of a mere man, but of God incarnate. Therefore it is not eaten by men, but is consumed by fire, because to give remission belongs to God alone, who is signified by fire, *for our God is a consuming fire [n: (Deut. IV)]*.

## CHAPTER VII.

[0315A]

VERS. 1.-- *For an offence.* [n: (ISICH.)] He sometimes calls it an offence, etc., *as far as* but the oblation of the reins and of the little fin of the liver and of the thighs is holiness.

[n: (ORIG. quaest. 5 in Levit.)] Certain men say that it is an offence when we do not do what we ought: but a sin when we do not do what we ought not, yet this is not everywhere observed.

VERS. 2.-- *His blood,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Whatsoever things are done in the sacrifice of the peace offerings, he bids to be done in this also.

VERS. 7.-- *As for sin,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 20 in Levit.)] Sin is the perpetration of evil, an offence the desertion of good. For as it is one thing to turn aside from evil, [0315B] and another to do good, so also it is one thing to abstain from good, and another to do evil, and let the former be an offence, the latter a sin. Or an offence is what is committed unknowingly, a sin what is committed knowingly.

[n: (ORIG., ubi supra. )] *As for sin,* etc. In like manner the fat of the ram is commanded, *as far as* that is, the things which turn the sinner from the way of sin.

*To the priest,* etc. Christ, who was made a propitiation for us. In him therefore every sacrifice is ministered and carried out, and what is obtained from penance is referred to him. For he himself, that he might save us, came saying: *I came not to call the just, but sinners [n: (Matth. IX)]*.

*The victim of the holocaust.* [n: (ISICH.)] Not good, namely, or of sheep, etc., *as far as* in regard of whom we have [0315C] patience in sufferings.

VERS. 9.-- *He shall have the skin.* The compass of riches, which they ought to offer to the true priest who wish to become a holocaust. Satan named the compass of riches a skin, saying: *Skin for skin, and all that a man hath he will give for his life [n: (Job II)]*. This Job gave, that he might keep the skin, that is, patience, which is called a skin out of which many useful things are made.

*And whatsoever in the gridiron,* etc. Because these things are nearest to the theology of the incarnation, they are of necessity the offering priest's, that is, of Christ born, suffering, and who rose again.

VERS. 10.-- *Or sprinkled with oil,* etc. [n: (ORIG. hom. 5 in Levit.)] The saving sacrifice is commanded to be made in oil, etc., *as far as* another in the frying-pan, a third in the gridiron.

[0315D] [n: (ISICH.)] He calls the sacrifice of fine flour sprinkled with oil, etc., *as far as* he assigned to the sons of Aaron.

VERS. 12.-- *If the oblation shall be for thanksgiving.* According to the letter the oblation is made for thanksgiving, when anyone delivered from great tribulation gives thanks, as Moses after the passage of the Red Sea [n: (Exod. XV)]. Mystically too, he who shall not have committed the greater crimes pays the praises of God's mercy, who has kept himself untouched by horrible crimes.

*And unleavened wafers anointed with oil.* Bread, namely, thin and broad, which signifies the knowledge of the prophets. And by as much as there is a distance between the solidity of bread and the thinness of a wafer, by so much is there between the knowledge of the Old Testament and of the New; the loaves therefore are sprinkled with oil, the wafers [0316A] are anointed, because the light and the grace of the New Testament is greater than that of the Old.

*And fine flour baked, and little cakes of oil,* etc. The divine wisdom, namely, which is baked by the fire of charity. For Christ, the wisdom of God, on account of his exceeding charity delivered himself to death.

VERS. 14.-- *It shall be offered to the Lord, and it shall be the priest's,* etc. LXX: *And he shall offer of all his gifts a praise of God to the priest that poureth out the blood of the peace offering; it shall be his. For it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy [n: (Rom. IX)]*. But to Christ ministering and perfecting the sacrifice the firstfruits are to be offered.

VERS. 15.-- *Whose flesh shall be eaten the same day,* etc. [n: (ORIG., ubi supra.)] Another food of the soul is of milk, [0316B] etc., *as far as: Let there be,* he says, *new things and old.*

*Until the morning.* The world to come, where there will be the true day which follows upon the night of this world: he does not will our life, through which we must be saved, to be left imperfect: for in the world to come it will not be lawful to work.

VERS. 16.-- *If by vow or of free will,* etc. Every sacrifice of the peace offerings, or peace offering, is voluntary, whence it was set above among the gifts. But the sacrifice of thanksgiving or of praise, although it be a kind of it, because it is reasonable, is not called voluntary: because, since we are rational, we owe in a manner a chief debt to the Creator, a reasonable sacrifice.

*The same things in like manner.* Because certain men after the end of this life have described another such life, bringing in a certain [0316C] age of a thousand years in which Jerusalem is built and its temple, and the holy of holies shall be restored, and sacrifices shall be offered. But if anyone believes this, and in a manner eats it in his mind, hoping that he shall eat at that time, which is impossible, his oblation is not received, because it is polluted, and he also contracts sin, whence he says: *Whatsoever soul shall have defiled itself with such food,* etc.

*But if anything,* etc. [n: (ORIG., ubi supra. )] The two days, on which it is lawful to feed on the flesh of the sacrifice, etc., *as far as* let us not therefore take to ourselves the knowledge of all things.

VERS. 17.-- *The third day shall find.* The world to come, in which is the general resurrection, which the resurrection of Christ signified. When the morning of the third day is come, then what is left over shall be consumed by fire: for whatsoever [0316D] peace offering we shall have left imperfect, or evil we shall have done, as wood, hay, or stubble, shall be consumed by fire: but we shall suffer loss [n: (I Cor. III)].

VERS. 19.-- *The flesh which,* etc. [n: (ORIG., hom. 5 in Levit.)] By the holy flesh the divine words are understood, *as far as* and he is polluted by another's uncleanness.

VERS. 21.-- *Or of a beast.* Unclean beasts are they who are intent on unclean and earthly actions, whence fornicators are called *stallion horses.*

VERS. 23.-- *The fat of a sheep,* etc. That is, neither of the strong, nor of the innocent, nor of the penitent is the good intention or desire to be depraved by a sinister interpretation, as though it were done through hypocrisy, lest anyone wish to destroy another's merit, [0317A] and as it were by eating to lessen it.

[n: (AUG., quaest. 21 in Levit. tom. III.)] He said above, etc., *as far as* they chose for themselves the death of sin.

VERS. 24.-- *For various uses.* Not only by imitating the works of the good, but also by drawing those of the wicked to ourselves for an example. For we read that Herod celebrated the day of his birth, and defiled the banquet with blood [n: (Matth. XIV)]: such a desire we have in use that we may beware of it, but on the contrary let us remember with mourning and affliction the day of our birth, in which we were in paradise. The Pharisee, growing proud, said: *I give thee thanks, that I am not as the rest of men,* etc. [n: (Luc. XVIII.)] Let us on the contrary say: *God, have mercy on me, because I am not like thy servants,* who lead an angelic [0317B] life on earth.

VERS. 25.-- *If any man the fat,* etc. [n: (ORIG.)] As if to say: let no man scandalize one of these least ones, who believe in me, etc. Blood is forbidden to be eaten, as if: *boast not against the broken branches, lest thou too be cut off, and they, if they shall not have continued in unbelief, be grafted in [n: (Rom. XI)]*. [var: Vulg. Rom 11:18 has *noli gloriari adversus ramos*, "boast not against the branches," without *fractos*, and 11:23 the future *inserentur*, "shall be grafted in"] But by the blood the people of the Jews is rightly understood: for it descended not from the faith nor from the spirit of Abraham, but only from his blood.

VERS. 29.-- *He that offereth the victim. [n: (ORIG. hom. 5 in Levit.)]* Another reading, etc., *as far as* and, conscious of his own salvation, he renders thanks to the Lord.

[n: (ID., ibid. )] The sacrifice which is called a peace offering, etc., *as far as* who bear the vessels of the Lord.

VERS. 30.-- *He shall hold in his hands,* etc. *(HIERON., epist. [0317C] ad Fabiolam, tom. I.)* Of the peace offerings the priests offer the fat, etc., *as far as* that he may learn to despise what he sees himself cast out into the privy.

LXX: *He that offereth the sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, shall offer his gift to the Lord of his peace offering.* Expounding which he adds: *He shall hold in his hands the fat of the victim.* Or according to the LXX: *his hands shall offer of it to the Lord:* for he himself must work the things which pertain to his own salvation: *because the justice of the just shall be upon him, and the impiety of the impious shall be upon him [n: (Ezech. XVIII)]*.

*But the little breast shall be,* etc. [n: (ISID.)] The breast is given to the priest, that he may have a clean thought and the knowledge of doctrine. The right arm, that he may have good works, and may go forth to the battle against the devil with armed hand, and what he shall have conceived in his heart, may perfect [0317D] by the example of works. There is given also of the private part the jaw, that he may be strong in eloquence: there is given also the belly, that he may extinguish wantonness, and despise gluttony.

VERS. 32.-- *Of the priest.* [n: (AUG.)] Of Christ, figured in the priest. Whence the priest alone can perfect this sacrifice. For to begin the good is ours: to perfect it and to bring it to its end belongs to divine grace. *It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy, to direct our actions:* whence he is also called the arm of God. Whence rightly he received the shoulder, or, according to the LXX, the arm.

VERS. 33.-- *He that hath offered the blood,* etc. It is Christ, who offers the true blood of the peace offerings and the fat, that is, the souls and the desires of those who are saved, who is [0318A] of the sons of Aaron, a priest namely singular and in all things chief, to whom the right shoulder falls for his portion, that is, every good and perfect action.

VERS. 35.-- *This is the anointing.* [n: (ISICH.)] These things therefore seem to pertain to the anointing of the priests, etc., *as far as* but what he understood by the aforesaid anointing he shows in what follows.

VERS. 37.-- *This is the law of the holocaust,* etc. [n: (ORIG., hom. 5.)] When the lawgiver shall have set forth, etc., *as far as* in which the truth of the figures is preserved.

*This is the law,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Thou seest the differing ways of life which join men to God, namely honour, the perfect thing of wisdom, which is signified by the holocaust; or middling justice, which works the things that are unto salvation. For the law understood that the sacrifices of the peace offerings, whether by holocaust [0318B] or by oblation, are rightly useful unto the priestly dignity. Whence on the day on which he gave commandment of the law of anointing, he added the things which are concerning the sacrifices, and at once briefly recounted them all.

VERS. 28.-- *In mount Sinai.* Which is interpreted a bramble or a temptation: and temptation is like to a bramble: for it is a rough shrub and is grasped with difficulty: so the crown of a good life is scarcely had amid temptations and tribulations. Whence: *Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, because, when he shall have been proved, he shall receive the crown of life [n: (Jac., II)]*. [var: Vulg. Jas 1:12 has *suffert*, "suffereth," and *quoniam* for *quia*]

## CHAPTER VIII.

VERS. 2.-- *Two rams.* The passion of Christ is signified, who is the leader of the people. And rightly two rams are immolated, [0318C] because Christ twice committed to us the mysteries of his passion: first when he ate the mystical lamb at the supper, secondly when he established the same mysteries in the consecration of bread and wine.

VERS. 3.-- *And thou shalt gather together.* Moses called together the whole synagogue, although the Lord had chosen and commanded, yet the synagogue is called together: for in the ordaining of a priest the presence of the people is required, that all may know and be certain that he who is more excellent out of all the people, more learned, more holy and more eminent in virtue, he is chosen to the priesthood. He washed him therefore and clothed him. With what garment? with a tunic, and he girded him with a girdle. And again: *He clothed him with an ankle-length tunic [n: (Eccli. XLV)]*, or, as we read elsewhere, *with an inner one [n: (II Reg. XV)]*. But I see the high priest clothed with two tunics [0318D]. Yet Jesus forbids the apostles to be clothed with two tunics, whereas Moses and Jesus, that is the law and the Gospel, ought to agree [n: (Matth. X)]. Others say that Jesus's commanding them not to have two tunics is not contrary to the law, but more perfect than the law: as also when the law forbids homicide [n: (Exod. XX)], but Jesus cuts away anger [n: (Matth. V)]; and when the law forbids adultery, but Jesus cuts off concupiscence. I do not shut up the pontifical sacraments within the narrowness of this understanding: something further seems to me to be shown by that form. That high priest, whom Moses was then ordaining, knew that circumcision was spiritual: yet he kept also the circumcision of the flesh, because he could not be uncircumcised; he had [sic: *habeba*] [0319A] therefore two tunics, one of the carnal mystery, another of the spiritual understanding. For he could not be the high priest of those who then were, unless he offered carnal sacrifices, although he knew that they ought to be spiritual. Fittingly therefore he had two tunics. But the apostles, who were to say: *If you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing [n: (Gal. V)]*, and who were utterly to reject the literal observance, are rightly forbidden to have two tunics; one suffices them, and this the inner one, but that which is outside, the tunic of the law, they will not have, because Jesus permits them to have one, and that the inner one.

VERS. 6.-- *And when he had washed.* [n: (HIERON., ubi supra. )] Even then the cleansing of the world, etc., *as far as* that what we conceive in mind, we may carry out in deed.

[n: (ORIG., hom. 6 in Levit.)] Let Moses wash thee, etc., [0319B] *as far as* in what order a high priest is appointed.

VERS. 7.-- *He clothed.* [n: (HIERON., ibid. )] Let us learn first the common vestments of the priests, etc., *as far as* because a work of this kind cannot be made on the loom.

[n: (ID.)] The second is the *poderis* of linen, that is, the ankle-length garment of a double linen cloth, which Josephus calls the byssine; this clings to the body, so close and with sleeves so tight that there is no wrinkle in the garment, and it comes down to the legs. Such linen garments soldiers are wont to have, which they call shirts, fitted to the limbs and drawn tight, that they may be unencumbered for all things. This tunic the priests use, having the beauty of the clothed and the swiftness of the naked, and it is called the linen one.

The third is the girdle, most like to the skin which a serpent puts off in summer, as a long pouch woven into a round [0319C] shape, under a covering of scarlet, purple, hyacinth and fine linen: for the sake of comeliness and of strength, so marked with embroidery that you would think the various flowers and gems were not woven in by the craftsman's hand, but added. By this belt the linen tunic is drawn tight between the navel and the breast, which belt, having the breadth of four fingers and coming down for the greater part to the legs, when there is need of dispatch for the sacrifices is thrown back over the left shoulder.

[n: (HIERON.)] The fourth is round, etc., *as far as* about to die at once.

[n: (ID.)] The sixth in Hebrew, etc., *as far as* he may bear on his shoulders.

[n: (ID.)] The seventh is a little one, etc., *as far as* and it would be thought by those who saw it to be one weaving.

[0319D] [n: (ID.)] The eighth is the golden plate, etc., *as far as* and let the name of God crown and protect the whole beauty of the high priest.

But the pomegranates and the little bells set in the lower parts show forth lightnings and thunders, or the earth and the water and all the elements sounding together among themselves, and so interwoven with one another that all are in each.

[n: (HIERON.)] The Hebrews the four colours, etc., *as far as* his providence penetrates all things.

[n: (ORIG., hom. 6 in Levit.)] In Exodus, where command is given concerning the priestly vestments, etc., *as far as* lest the holy be given to dogs and pearls be set before swine [n: (Marc. VII)].

*And bringing in,* etc. LXX: *He put on him the tunic and girded [0320A] him with the girdle and clothed him with the epomis.* He follows out the incarnation of Christ. For he took up the whole man, that is, body and soul; the *tunic* he called earthly, because it is of the earth; the epomis heavenly, because ὑπωρίς is the *poderis.* And *of hyacinth,* which is the heavenly colour: for he took up both, and saved both.

[n: (HIERON.)] On the hyacinthine tunic, pomegranates and little bells: because so great ought the knowledge of the high priest to be, that his steps and his motions and all things be vocal, and that he sound forth by his bearing the truth which he has conceived in mind; whatsoever he does, whatsoever he speaks, let it be doctrine. Without little bells, without divers colours, gems and flowers of the virtues, he neither enters into the Church, nor is he a high priest.

[0320B] *The shoulder-piece,* etc. [n: (ORIG.)] Moses laid upon the high priest the ephod, which is the adornment of the shoulders from the drawing round of the vesture: but the shoulders are the tokens of labour and of work. He wills therefore that the high priest be adorned in works: for knowledge alone does not suffice, *but he that shall do and teach, he shall be called great [n: (I Tim. III; Matth. V)]*.

*The ephod.* [n: (HIER.)] The ephod and the two stones of emerald or of onyx, which cover the shoulders from above, are interpreted the two hemispheres, of which one is above the earth, the other beneath the earth; or the sun and the moon which glow red from above.

[n: (ID.)] The two stones on the ephod are Christ and the Church, containing the names of the twelve apostles who were sent to preach, or the letter and the spirit [0320C] in which are all the mysteries of the law; on the right the spirit, on the left the letter [n: (II Cor. III)]. Through the letters we come to the words, through the words to the sense. A beautiful order, signifying the sacraments by the very garb: on the shoulders works, on the breast reason, whence also the priests eat the little breast.

VERS. 8.-- *Which binding fast.* [n: (ORIG., ubi supra. )] He girded him according to the making of the shoulder-piece, etc., *as far as* because according to his works he uses the girdle of virtue.

*He fitted to the rational,* etc. [n: (HIERON.)] The rational, set in the midst, points to the earth, which, after the manner of a point, though it have all things in itself, is walled about by all the elements.

[n: (ORIG., ubi supra. )] He laid upon him the logion, λογίον, etc., *as far as* for nothing after these things is added to the head [0320D] of the high priest.

[n: (HIERON., ubi supra. )] The rational is twofold, open and hidden, etc., *as far as* and let doctrine and truth follow upon these which go before.

[n: (ID.)] Twelve stones, etc., *as far as* showing knowledge to us.

*He put the plate.* [n: (ID.)] The learning of all things profits nothing, unless it be crowned by the knowledge of God, which is always his with the Father: whence he set the plate above the tiara.

[n: (ID.)] All things are imperfect unless a charioteer be sought for the chariot, and unless he himself who founded them, standing over the creatures, rule them. What was once shown in the plate is now shown in the sign of the cross: more precious is the blood of the Gospel [0321A] than the gold of the law; then, according to Ezekiel, the sign thau was fixed on the forehead of them that mourned [n: (Ezech. VIII)]: now, bearing the cross, we say: *The light of thy countenance is signed upon us, O Lord,* etc. [n: (Psal. IV)]

The plate of gold on the forehead of the high priest, and the name of God inscribed, signify that all things which are upon the earth are governed by the will of God. For it was just that the priest of God, bearing on his vestments the figure of all creatures, should declare that all things stand in need of the mercy of God, and that, when he sacrificed, the universal creation should be expiated: where he should pray by voice and by bearing not for his children, his parents, and his kindred, but for every creature.

VERS. 10.-- *He took,* etc. He himself is the Son of God, who anoints and who is anointed: anointing by the word of the divinity, according to [0321B] which he has all things in common with the Father and the Holy Spirit. By the Father he is anointed according to that: *God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness,* etc. [n: (Psal. XLIV)]. The Holy Spirit anointed him according to Isaiah: *The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me [n: (Isa. LXI)]*. But the things which the Father and the Holy Spirit do, these same the Son also does. He anoints therefore according to the divinity, he is anointed according to the humanity. Whence also Daniel sees him offered, and does not see the one offering, because he offers himself. Moses therefore anointed and offers, bearing the figure of Christ.

VERS. 11.-- *They sanctify.* [n: (ORIG.)] It signifies the creature above enriched by our sanctification: that is, through the Lord's flesh taken from us. Whence: *that it might be made known to the princes and powers through [0321C] the church,* etc. [var: Vulg. Eph 3:10 has *ut innotescat principatibus et potestatibus in caelestibus*, "that the manifold wisdom of God may be made known to the principalities and powers in heavenly places"]

VERS. 12.-- *Pouring,* etc. The head of Christ is the divinity. For as the head is not divided from the feet, so neither is the divinity of Christ from the humanity after the anointing [n: (I Cor. XI)]. Whence he says: *God, thy God, hath anointed thee,* etc. [n: (Psal. LIV.)] For thus God is anointed and sanctified.

VERS. 13.-- *The sons,* etc. [n: (ORIG., ubi supra. )] Mark the difference of the lesser priests to the greater, etc., *as far as* even if he shall have received the name of the first.

*And he clothed,* etc. Like tunics and girdles or belts and tiaras or mitres are put upon the sons of Aaron, for they put on him, are girded with him, bear him on the head; for the loins are girded with truth, which is Christ, and they are clothed with the breastplate of justice: and Christ is justice, as also the helmet of salvation, for he himself [0321D] is the salvation of God.

VERS. 14.-- *He offered,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] What the power of this law is, etc., *as far as* but of necessity the sons of Aaron, as sharing with him in the sacrifice, lay on their hands.

[n: (AUG., quaest. 23 in Levit.)] When he was recounting the sacrifices for sins, etc., *as far as* and the blood poured out at the base of the altar of the sacrifices.

*He offered,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] The law, the priest figuring Christ in many things, etc., *as far as* he commanded for sheep.

*He offered,* etc. The handing down of the mysteries, and the mystical pasch, which Christ celebrated with his disciples [n: (Matth. XXVI)], is signified by the *ram: the second* he is named, [0322A] because after the lamb immolated at the supper he offered himself; whence Aaron laid his hands upon the head of the ram together with his sons, because Christ celebrated the common supper with his disciples; but Moses in a special manner offered this sacrifice, because more than the others he expressed the figure of Christ, who chiefly made his own sacrifice.

VERS. 24.-- *He touched the tip of the ear,* etc. If by Aaron we understand Christ, the tip of his ear was touched with blood, because he obeyed the Father even unto death. If the priests of the Church, their ears are to be touched, and the thumbs of their hands and feet, that they may consecrate to the Lord the eminence of their actions and of their steps. *He touched the tip,* etc. What the effect of this sacrifice is, the anointing of the ears and of the hands and feet [0322B] shows: for it is celebrated on account of our obedience and our good actions and our manner of life, that, lacking the disobedience of Adam, we may attain to the obedience of the Only-begotten.

*His hands,* etc. That we may be strengthened in good action. For the things that are anointed are strengthened, the things that are not anointed are destroyed. For where the anointing of the immolated blood was not, Egypt was struck. But first the priest, and afterwards his sons, were anointed with the blood, because Christ first received the blood at the supper, then gave it to the disciples.

## CHAPTER VIII. (cont.)

*He poured out upon the altar.* For when he drank, and gave the apostles to drink, he poured out the intelligible blood upon the altar, that is, upon his own body. But the Church is the body of Christ; whence Mark: *And taking it, giving thanks he gave [0322C] to them, and they all drank of it, and he said to them: This is my blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many [n: (Marc. XIV)]*.

*But the fat.* What these things signify has been said in the peace offering, or in that of the pacific victims. But the LXX gave, for the tail, the loin; for the entrails, the little belly; and for the caul of the liver, the fin of the liver: and not in vain are they even now commemorated in the ram.

VERS. 26.-- *The basket.* LXX, the basket: of the consummation, which is the tongue of the Lord, which brought in the chief and perfect doctrine. For he came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it [n: (Matth. XIII)]. This is rightly called a basket because of the weave of his doctrine, since he had said many things in parables. And it was [0322D] both the dish and the table of the whole doctrine. Rightly therefore he sets forth the mystical bread out of the basket of the consummation.

*The bread.* The apostolic doctrine, and the legal, and the prophetic. For the law, and the prophets, and the apostles make his memorial. For the law says: *This is the bread which the Lord hath given you [n: (Exod. XXVI)]*. And the prophet: *His bread shall be given,* etc. [n: (Isa. XXXIII.)] [var: Vulg. Is 33:16 has *panis ei datus est*, "bread is given him"] But the prophetic and the legal doctrine nourish less than the apostolic. Whence Paul: *God hath set in the church first apostles, then prophets [n: (I Cor. XII)]*. But the apostles draw the testimonies of the law and of the prophets, by which the little cakes and the wafers are set beneath them.

[0323A] *And the shoulder [n: (GREG. lib. I Regist., ep. 24.)]* The priest by the precept of the law the right shoulder, etc., *as far as* and Moses says in what follows.

VERS 39.-- *He took the little breast. [n: (AUG., quaest. 23 in Levit.)]* Above, because he was commanding generally, etc., *as far as* for from the beginning it is said: *Let him be to thee for the things which pertain to the people, thou to him for the things which pertain to God.*

VERS. 30.-- *And thou shalt take of the ointment. [n: (ID., quaest. 24.)]* It is asked who anointed the priest after the death of Moses, etc., *as far as* by serving, not by excelling.

*He sprinkled,* etc. Whatsoever good things are in us are to be led back to him as to our head; whence: *For them do I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.* Openly therefore he called his passion *sanctification,* [0323B] which sanctification is given to us.

*And upon the sons* [n: (AUG.)] It did not appear which of the sons should succeed the high priest. For Scripture does not appoint the firstborn or the elder, unless it was done in some divine judgment, although it seems to have come of contention, so that afterwards there were made several high priests, because, when the more excellent were contending, for the sake of ending the strife the honour itself was bestowed on several.

VERS. 31.-- *The loaves also.* He commanded the flesh to be eaten with the loaves, that we may understand the body of Christ, who is flesh, and the bread which came down from heaven [n: (Joan. VI)], and that this ought to be celebrated only in the Church.

VERS. 32.-- *But whatsoever.* We see this to be done in the Church, and the things which shall have remained unconsumed to be given to the fire. But he does not say, for however many days they shall have remained unconsumed, [0323C] so that always, if they shall have remained, they be given to the fire: hinting that, if we fall short of the eating of the sacrifice, and are not able to search out whether the things which we see are the very body of the Lord, we should nevertheless not leave them, but give them to the fire, that the Holy Spirit may eat what we cannot. And he eats, when we consider that the things which we cannot do are possible to him.

VERS. 33.-- *Of the door.* It signifies that during the whole time of the present life one must not depart from the tabernacle, but must persevere in the service of God.

[n: (AUG., quaest. 24 in Levit.)] At the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, etc., *as far as* for the dwelling received this name.

*For seven,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)]. The fiftieth, the number seven [0323D] being multiplied into itself, etc., *as far as* keeping the watches of the Lord, etc.

VERS. 36.-- *And they did,* etc. Aaron is joined with his sons, and does not go out from the door of the tabernacle. For he himself was to be preached, and was to preach in them, as he himself consecrates and is consecrated in his members.

## CHAPTER IX.

VERS. 1.-- *On the eighth day,* etc. The eighth day after the dedication signifies the day of Pentecost, on which the Holy Spirit came [n: (Act. II)]. But the seven days from the dedication intimate seven times seven days, which were from the resurrection until Pentecost, namely 49, the very day of Pentecost being added as an eighth.

Pentecost, which fell on the day of the resurrection, [0324A] bears the figure of what is to come, and of the consummation of the present age, because it is rolled round through seven days. For it behoved that the Spirit should come on the same day on which Christ rose. Then he bids Aaron and his sons and the elders be called: for then was the assembly of the Church convoked, in which is Aaron, that is, Christ, and his sons who are of a lofty manner of life, and therefore ministers of the priesthood, and the elders, that is, the presbyters: for of these the body of the Church consists.

VERS. 2.-- *Take of,* etc. Aaron takes a calf for a holocaust, and a ram, and offers them to the Lord. For then Christ made his sacrifice known, when the Spirit, coming, gathered Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and the firstfruits of all nations to the upper room of the apostles [n: (Act. II)].

[0324B]Aaron offers a calf and a ram when the doctors of the Church announce the mysteries of the passion, and make known that they were celebrated for the salvation of the human race.

*Take ye.* The apostles offered the he-goat on the day of Pentecost, when Peter, announcing repentance, said: *Be ye converted and do penance.* [var: Vulg. Act 2:38 has *Poenitentiam agite*; these are the words of Ez 18:30]

[n: (AUG., quaest. 26 in Levit.)] Take ye one he-goat of the goats, etc., *as far as* but where all are, there also are the individuals, though it is not convertible.

VERS. 6.-- *This word,* etc. The word, that is, the thing commanded. *Do this in commemoration of me [n: (Luc. XXII)]*. But he says the word, because more is looked to in the word, or because in the word stands the dispensation of this mystery, and chiefly by the Lord's word transferring the things which [0324C] appear into something else, greater and intelligible. Whence of the manna also he says: *This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat, this is the word which the Lord hath appointed [n: (Exod. XVI)]*. [var: Vulg. Ex 16:15-16 *Iste est panis quem Dominus dedit vobis ad vescendum* … *hic est sermo quem praecepit Dominus*] In these things, therefore, he signifies that the Holy Spirit came upon them as they were performing the holy mystery and celebrating the Lord's supper. For it was the Lord's day, on which the apostles were bound to celebrate the sacred mysteries: whose traditions we follow in appointing the Lord's day for the divine assemblies. In like manner we find Christ made manifest after the resurrection through the mystical supper and the breaking of bread.

VERS. 7.-- *And offer for sin,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 27 in Levit.)]. Another reading, etc., *as far as* it is not necessary that it be laid upon the holocaust.

[0324D] *Offer the holocaust,* etc. He does not say the holocaust of consummation, as above, when it was offered that he might be consummated by sanctification, that he might exercise the priesthood which he was exercising. It is indeed to be noted that when sacrifices are offered for the people, sacrifices were commanded to be offered both for sin, and a holocaust, and a sacrifice of peace offerings. But for the priest there was offered a sacrifice for sin, and a holocaust of consummation, not of peace offerings. But that of consummation was offered when the priests were sanctified. And these things Moses offered for Aaron and his sons; but afterwards Aaron, now exercising the priesthood, is commanded to offer for himself a calf for sin, and a ram for a holocaust not of consummation; for then it was offered that he might be consummated by sanctification, and might be able to exercise the priesthood, [0325A] which, when he was exercising it, there was no need to consummate again.

VERS. 8.-- *And forthwith,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] For what cause these sacrifices also are performed here we have said above, etc. *as far as* whence in the person of the priest we discern both to have been offered.

[n: (AUG., ubi supra )]. It moves one also that, when Aaron was performing the gifts of the people which are recalled above, etc., *as far as* both from each living creature, as though he had said little breasts.

VERS. 15.-- *And for sin,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Of what these bear the figure, etc., *as far as* and they ceased not to meditate the things which they were teaching the Church.

*Stretching forth his hand,* etc. [n: (AUG., Quaest. 28 in Levit.)] Standing at the altar he was serving, etc., *as far as* who there [0325B] forbade there to be steps.

VERS. 22.-- *And so, these being completed, and the rest.* [n: (ISICH.)] Plainly he wishes to set forth the whole figure of the Church, etc., *as far as* the things that follow show.

VERS. 23.-- *And Moses and Aaron entering into the tabernacle of the testimony,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Because concerning the intelligible tabernacle, etc., *as far as* he is fit to bestow the blessing.

*And entering in.* He set *entering in* first, and subjoins *going out,* because the priest enters the tabernacle when he prays for himself or for the people, or gives himself to divine contemplation; he goes out when he teaches, or blesses the people, or when he returns to his conscience by searching himself, lest perchance he give offence in his preaching.

*And the glory of the Lord appeared.* In the form of fire, as [0325C] on the day of Pentecost, whence he subjoins: *And there went out a fire from the Lord.* Whence Luke also: *There appeared to them parted tongues, as it were of fire.*

*To all the multitude,* etc. To which Luke says the like: *And this voice being made, the multitude came together, and was confounded in mind [n: (Act. II)]*; not only came together, but was terrified. Whence here there follows: And they were astonished and wondered, etc.

*Which were upon the altar.* He finds that it is necessary to set the aforesaid sacrifices, and the expositions of them, upon the intelligible altar of the body of Christ, that our intention may sigh thither, and then the nourishments of the intelligible fire, that is, of the Holy Spirit, will be at hand, of which it is said: *The Lord our God is a consuming fire [n: (Deut. IV)]*. [var: Vulg. Dt 4:24 *Dominus Deus tuus*, "thy God"; the form with *noster* is Heb 12:29]

## CHAPTER X.

[0325D]

VERS. 1.-- *And Nadab having taken. [n: (AUG. quaest. 31 in Levit., tom. III.)]* Fire going out from the Lord, the sons of Aaron died, etc., *as far as* they will suffer torments.

*And having taken,* etc. [n: (ISID., quaest. in Levit., tom. V.)] They offer strange fire, etc., *as far as* lest we burn with vices.

[n: (ISICH.)] Here those who teach strange things, etc., *as far as* whereby they were able to earn life.

[n: (AUG., ubi supra. )] Another reading, etc., *as far as* through whom he gave us the Scripture.

VERS. 4.-- *And Moses having called Misael and Elisaphan.* מישאל Misael, *the touching of God.* אלצפן Elisaphan, [0326A] or Elzaphan, *the illumination of God,* or *the mirror of God.* To these it is with right commanded that they take up Nadab and Abiu outside the camp. For these signify the saints, who, being illumined by God, touch him with the hands of faith, and contemplate God with perfect faith. Whence they are well called the sons of Oziel, which signifies *the Gospel:* whence he is said to have been Aaron's cousin on the father's side, because great is the kinship of the Gospel and of the Law. For the Gospel is the exposition of the Law: and the sons of the Gospel thrust heretics, truly dead, from the camp of the Church. Or Misadai and Elisaphan: the first, *the touching of God,* that is Misadai; Elisaphan is interpreted *the watchtower of my God.* Whosoever knows how to touch God, and to behold, namely, the flesh and the divinity of Christ, as Thomas who, handling the flesh with his hand, said: *My God and my Lord [n: (Joan. XX)]*, [var: Vulg. Jo 20:28 *Dominus meus, et Deus meus*, the order reversed] is able to take away the fire [0326B] of strange doctrine from the face of the saints, that is, of the priests. The tunics of the priests: the manner of life and the life by which they are clothed with the habit of the priesthood. They are cast out therefore, together with the priesthood, from the fellowship of the priests and also of the people. Whence he adds, *outside the tabernacle,* that is, the church of the people: the sons of Aaron's uncle do these things.

*Aaron,* that is David, through whom the prophecies are understood, which make Christ manifest, and in a manner bring him forth to those who know him not. But the brother of prophecy is the Gospel; for the things which were done in the Gospels were foretold by the prophets. The sons therefore of the brother of Aaron's father, that is, of the Gospel, cast out such men. Whence: *If any man come to you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into the house [n: (II Joan.)]*.

VERS. 6.-- *Heads,* etc. According to the letter. Because they had lately [0326C] been consecrated to God, he commands that they lay not aside the holy vestments, but stand ready to serve God.

But allegorically, that they make not a division of persons in Christ. For the head of Christ is God, but Christ consists of divinity and humanity; for the tiara of the head, that is of the divinity, is the humanity, by which the divinity was covered as with a cap; this is not to be taken away, nor is a division of persons in Christ to be preached, but one person of two substances.

*Your heads,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 32 in Lev.)] That is, lest they lay aside the mitres, etc., *as far as* whence he adds:

*Let your brethren and all the house of Israel bewail the burning.* [n: (ISICH.)] We are not ignorant what the mitres signify, [0326D] etc., *as far as* of which: *His unction teacheth you of all things.*

VERS. 9.-- *Wine, and every thing that may make drunk.* [n: (ID.)] Until now the Church keeps this law, etc., *as far as* that is, to have breathed spiritually.

*Wine, and every thing that,* etc. They are bidden to abstain from those things which cast down or overturn the state of the mind, when they enter the tabernacle. But let us never be made drunk, but let us always be sober in mind and in body.

*When you shall enter. [n: (AUG., quaest. 33)]*. When therefore it was lawful for them to drink, etc., *as far as* that this may be the lawful office of the priests for ever in their generations.

[0327A]VERS. 10.-- *That you may have knowledge to discern.* [n: (AUG.)] This too is set down ambiguously, etc., *as far as* or is it rather to be referred to both?

VERS. 12.-- *Take the sacrifice,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] That the little breast is confidence, etc., *as far as* but the things that belong to the peace and welfare offerings are of the whole people.

*Take ye,* etc. The hidden things, that is, and the deep sacraments of Scripture, which the common sort does not grasp, are to be kept and eaten by the perfect; *beside the altar,* that is, beside the faith and the authority of the Lord's passion.

VERS. 14.-- *The little breast,* etc. *[n: (AUG., quaest. 34.)] The little breast.* Although several names have been given to the several things, etc., *as far as* it was laid upon the altar from the little breast.

[0327B]VERS. 16.-- *Among these.* [n: (ISICH.)] Because every sin is blotted out through penance, and they who committed the aforesaid sin of another doctrine and of blasphemy were not saved, the lawgiver sets forth the cause of their death.

*Among these the he-goat,* that is, because the sons of Aaron did not eat that which was for sin in the holy place, that is, they did not cause the penance for the sin committed to be performed in the church. To whom this is commanded, whom Christ appointed as his vicars in the Church. For he himself offered the blood of his own oblation, which was offered for our blood, into the holy place, that is, into heaven, in the sight of the Father. But this sacrifice [sic: *sacricium*] ought to be eaten in the holy place, that is, in the church, unto the propitiation of sins, whence he adds: *As it hath been commanded [0327C] to me,* that is, as I have commanded. For Moses bears the person of Christ. He finds it burnt up, because they had sinned against the Holy Spirit: by the intelligible fire of the Holy Spirit the oblation for penance was taken away. *For to them that sin wilfully there is not left a sacrifice for sin [n: (Heb. X)]*. For as true penance earns pardon, so feigned penance provokes God: *because the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee the feigned [n: (Sap. I)]*. But this the holy Fathers have called the unremissible sin, and the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit: to persevere in crimes unto the end of life, to despair of one's own salvation, to distrust the power and the mercy of the Redeemer.

[n: (ADAMANT.)] Not to sin belongs to God alone, etc., *as far as* save what is true and sincere.

[0327D] [n: (AUG., quaest. 36 in Levit.)] Indeed, since six beasts are commanded to be offered for the people, etc., *as far as* all which had been for sin.

VERS. 19.-- *Aaron answered,* etc. In the person of the Church, whose figure he bears, as also that of Christ, Aaron seems to say this. As it were, because after the coming of the Saviour they were appointed to minister, and to offer for penance, and to set forth the prophetic life. Otherwise: The teachers perished, and in them these things befell the Church, so that it mourned the death of the priests and the masters, whence it could not eat to-day for sin, nor pray: but it was displeasing to the Lord.

[n: (AUG.)] *Aaron answered,* etc. If to-day they offered the things which are for their sin, etc., *as far as* But [0328A] why this was done, Aaron answered, and it pleased Moses.

*To-day.* As if he said: if they had sinned this before the remission of the Saviour, perhaps it would be pardoned, since knowledge was not yet made manifest to the world: whence, *If I had not come, and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin [n: (Joan. XV)]*.

## CHAPTER XI.

VERS. 1.-- *The Lord spoke.* [n: (ISICH.)] Whatsoever was made by God is clean by the very authority of its institution. In the animals, therefore, are depicted the manners of men, and their acts, and their wills, from which they become clean or unclean.

[0328B] [n: (ID.)] The Lord said to Noe: *Every thing that moveth and liveth shall be meat for you [n: (Gen. IX)]*, etc. In Genesis also it was said: *God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very good [n: (Gen. I)]*. But here certain things are forbidden as evil, and are decreed unclean. Yet these things are not contrary to one another: for the Lord both restrains for a little the gluttony of the Jews, and the spiritual exposition of the precepts instructs what manner of men they ought to be. For the Law is the nourishment of the rational soul when it is understood in a reasonable way. And as in the passages above he figured those who offer by the oblations, so now by the things that are eaten he expresses those who eat.

VERS. 3.-- *Every thing that hath,* etc. [n: (ISID.)] Among fishes whatsoever hath not fins and scales [0328C] is abominable: rough things are held for clean. For bristly and shaggy, firm and grave manners of men are approved. They who are without these are called unclean, to whom smooth and slippery, weak and effeminate manners are attached. He joins fins also and scales; for whatsoever fishes are finned are also scaly. If to any their ignorance can be dissolved, to these belongs also lofty knowledge and a heavenly life: but they who are not such, with these not even to take food.

*Morally.* [n: (GREG.)] Fishes which have fins and scales are wont to give leaps above the waters. In finned fishes, therefore, are figured the elect souls, which alone pass over into the body of the heavenly Church; which, upheld by the fins of the virtues, leap through heavenly desire to contemplation, although they slip back into themselves through the frailty of the flesh. [0328D] Those alone, then, pass over into the body of the elect as chosen food, who, while they serve the lowest things, ascend to the things above by the leaps of the mind, lest they always lie hid in the depths of cares, where they have no care of the highest love, as of the free air. They therefore who are occupied with temporal things dispose their outward affairs well then, when they anxiously flee back to the inward ones, and love not the din of disturbance, but rest within themselves in the bosom of tranquillity.

VERS. 10.-- *Whatsoever fins,* etc. There are also fishes having a shell for a skin, whose scale cannot be taken away, because they neither lay aside the scales of ignorance at the word of God, nor receive the knife of the spirit: and although they be found in the sea of baptism, or [0329A] in the rivers of penance, they are nevertheless abominable among those things which move and live in the waters, because by living ill they corrupt the regeneration and the life which they received in baptism.

VERS. 11.-- *Flesh.* [n: (RAB. in Levit. )] When he forbids the swine, etc., *as far as* seeking the darkness of night.

VERS. 13.-- *These are they which of the birds,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] He adds the things which belong to the life of contemplatives, etc., *as far as little women laden with sins.*

VERS. 14.-- *The vulture after its kind.* [n: (ID.)] Which rejoices in wars. Whence it follows an army, awaiting the carcasses of the dead: for he who gives his labour to contemplation ought not to be fed on another's grief.

VERS. 16.-- *The ostrich.* The ostrich is a bird, but it cannot fly, and is always about the ground, like [0329B] certain men who serve God and entangle themselves in secular businesses [n: (Job XXXIX; II Tim. II)].

*The owl.* They say that this sees keenly by night, and little by day. Such are they who glory in the contemplation of the Law, and are not able to receive the light of the Gospel. *The night-raven.* It seizes prey only by night. Such are the nations that gape after the works of night, which are fornication, uncleanness, immodesty [n: (Gal. V)].

*The gull.* The gull is an animal dwelling as much in water as on land: for it both flies and swims. To this are likened they who venerate both circumcision and baptism.

*The hawk.* The hawk is among the birds of prey, but it grows tame, and works its rapine together with men. Him do they imitate who seem gentle, but strive to seize together with the powerful and the covetous and the ravening.

[0329C] *The didapper and the ibis.* These are of long neck, and draw their food out of the depth of the earth or of the water (as it is said), and are not to be imitated. For he who gives himself to contemplation ought to stretch towards the higher things, and not to be solicitous about the lower.

VERS. 19.-- *The hoopoe.* This is mournful and loving of grief. But the sorrow of the world worketh death. But he who loves God ought to rejoice, to pray without ceasing, in all things to give thanks [n: (I Thess. V)].

*The bat.* Which flies about the ground, uses its wings for feet: which is foreign to those who contemplate, lest their contemplation be occupied in earthly things.

VERS. 20.-- *Every one of the winged things that goeth upon [0329D] four feet,* etc. They who seem to be like the contemplatives, but cling like creeping things to earthly concupiscences, even if they walk upon four feet, that is, if they feign the evangelical preaching, which calls to penance; because they do not truly embrace the social life, serving pleasures, they are abominable.

VERS. 21.-- *But whatsoever walketh,* etc. Because, although they are in the flesh, they walk not according to the flesh [n: (II Cor. X)], but leap away from filthy actions, and mingle with earthly men, that they may instruct and teach: as the Lord with sinners and publicans [n: (Matth. IX)]. We ought to have legs loftier than our feet, lest we halt on either foot, as [0330A] the Jews in the law and the prophets; but let us have straight legs, like the Cherubim, of whom it is said: *Their legs were straight, and their feet winged [n: (Ezech. I)]*. [var: Vulg. Ez 1:7 *et pedes eorum, pedes recti, et planta pedis eorum quasi planta pedis vituli*; no received verse reads *crura eorum recta*]

VERS. 22.-- *The bruchus.* Which leaps, but less than the attacus, or the locust, which leap more. Such are they who associate with sinners, for association, not for consent or imitation.

*The ophiomachus.* Which fights with serpents; but for us the fight is with the ancient serpent and his angels [n: (Apoc. XII)].

VERS. 25.-- *That he bear.* Like one who calls evil good, and bitter sweet [n: (Isa. V)]: for by praising the evil from which he ought to have restrained, he makes it his own and bears it.

VERS. 26.-- *Every beast that.* [n: (ISICH.)] The law passes over no sin; whatsoever things are forbidden in the Gospel [0330B] are expressed by the riddles of the Law, *that in the mouth of two witnesses every word may stand [n: (Matth. XVIII)]*, [var: Vulg. Mt 18:16 *duorum, vel trium testium*, "of two or three witnesses"] and that in both laws thou mayest praise God, and, as it forbids, mayest flee evil.

VERS. 27.-- *That walketh upon hands,* etc. He who transgresses the evangelical manner of life, but walks upon his hands, laying on hands, that is, for the sake of filthy lucre [n: (I Tim. IV)], is rightly compared to all beasts, so that thou mayest call him either an adulterer, or covetous, a murderer and the like: for by a wicked imposition of hands he communicates with them all.

VERS. 28.-- *Whosoever shall carry carcasses of this kind.* By speaking false testimonies, by calling the worthy unworthy, and the clean unclean.

VERS. 29.-- *The weasel.* Voracity. For the mouse for the [0330C] voracity of its belly shuns no dangers.

*The crocodile.* Which, of hard skin and malicious, is fed on mud.

VERS. 30.-- *The chameleon.* It shows pity, and out of weakness feigns itself tame, though it is cruel.

*The mole.* A blind animal begotten of the earth. For it is created, as they say, of earth rained upon and muddy, but first corrupted.

VERS. 31.-- *He that toucheth,* etc. If they were unclean by nature, he would be unclean who touched them even living. The carrion of such are their actions, that is, guile, theft, duplicity, and things of this kind, in which is the death of the soul.

VERS. 32.-- *And upon what,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] The lawgiver uses a wonderful division, etc., *as far as* as well [0330D] a wooden vessel as a garment.

VERS. 34.-- *All food,* etc. By food and drink he understands good works, therefore he said: *The food which you shall eat, and the liquid that is drunk,* etc. Because both the food and the drink of evil actions is forbidden, lest anyone partake of them. If therefore any carrion whatever fall upon good actions, which are in every vessel, that is, in every man, the action will necessarily be unclean. For if upon a good action there fall pride, guile, hypocrisy, or any carrion whatever, that is, anything bringing death to him that partakes, this man also will be unclean: for an evil intention falling upon a good action defiles it.

VERS. 34.-- *If water be poured upon it. [n: (AUG., quaest. 37 in Levit.)]* Concerning the vessel, that is, which [0331A] was made unclean by unclean carrion, if perchance it held water.

*Water.* Of baptism: for the discourse is about the baptized; but of the unbelieving he makes no mention. Whence Paul: *I have written to you not to keep company with fornicators [n: (I Cor. III)]*, not indeed with the fornicators of this world, etc.

VERS. 35.-- *Or ovens.* By this the masters are designated, in whom the foods of sacred doctrine are cooked by the working and the fire of the Holy Spirit. Nor is it a wonder: for Moab is called a cauldron: *Moab is the pot of my hope [n: (Rom. II)]*.

*Pots with feet,* etc. Because they who teach not to steal, steal; and they who preach not to commit adultery, commit adultery: yet the doctrine is clean. Whence fountains and the rest.

[0331B]VERS. 37.-- *If it fall.* [n: (ISICH.)] He leaves nothing unexamined, etc., *as far as* if any carrion whatever fall upon them, they become unclean.

VERS. 39.-- *He that toucheth its carcass shall be unclean.* [n: (ISICH.)] We ought to abominate the life of the wicked, to imitate that of the just. For he who touches the life of the evil shall be unclean, until he has done penance.

VERS. 40.-- *He that eateth.* That is, has defended it as an advocate, and by helping has transferred it upon himself: let him wash his garments, that is, his wicked actions, until he has done penance.

VERS. 41.-- *Every thing that creepeth upon the earth.* This the lawgiver set forth above, but he repeats it, admonishing the hearer to the frequent meditation of the law.

VERS. 47.-- *And that you may know what to eat.* These foods [0331C] do not cleanse or pollute us, but we ourselves: for we quicken the things that are eaten, and as every food is good [n: (I Petr. II)], and nothing is to be rejected which is received with thanksgiving; so the things that are eaten, that is, which nourish the soul, namely good actions, we quicken, if we use them well: if ill, we mortify them. For he who makes an alms out of rapine mortifies it, and takes away its power; and they who abstain from foods, but disparage their brethren, mortify their abstinence.

## CHAPTER XII.

VERS. 2.-- *If a woman having received seed. [n: (ISID., quaest. in Levit., tom. V.)]* The week is the present life, etc., *as far as* nor shall she be purged in the world to come.

[0331D] *She shall be unclean.* [n: (ISICH.)] Because, that is, the sower is unclean, as the heir of Adam, who through his transgression was unclean, and so was mingled with his wife. For after he went out of paradise he knew his wife, and so is the human race propagated.

*Seven days.* [n: (ID.)] Because Adam, etc., *as far as* when Adam, separated from paradise, fell down into this misery.

*On the eighth day,* etc. [n: (ID.)] The eighth day, etc., *as far as* But disobedience contracted for us uncleanness and filth.

VERS. 4.-- *Three and thirty days,* etc. [n: (ID.)] seven being added, etc., *as far as* for it is uncertain whether they will bear a female or a male.

[0332A] [n: (AUG., quaest. 40 in Levit.)] What difference there is between the seven days, etc., *as far as* to eighty in the case of a female.

*She shall touch no holy thing.* What does he wish to be understood as the sanctuary, since none but the priests ought to enter the tabernacle, and that as far as the veil of the second: but beyond the veil, where the ark was, the high priest alone entered? Perhaps that before the tabernacle, where the altar of sacrifices is, could be called the sanctuary. For often the court also is called a holy place, when it is said: *In the holy place they shall eat them.* Thither perhaps the women entered, offering their gifts, which they were to lay upon the altar.

VERS. 6.-- *And when they shall be expired.* He opens his intention, namely, that natural motions do not make pollution, but sin, of which David says: *For behold I was conceived in iniquities [n: (Psal. L)]*, etc., [0332B] calling nature the mother, and signifying that the uncleanness of the sin of Adam and Eve has come down into the whole human race. Therefore Moses, the days of purification being completed, commanded a holocaust, and a sacrifice for sin, to be immolated; plainly showing that the image of God bestows perfection upon our race. For the days of cleansing show the formation, the holocaust the perfection.

[n: (AUG., ubi supra. )] Is it a sin to have borne a child? etc., *as far as* not that they should say over a son or over a daughter, but for a son or a daughter.

But it is to be noted how poor the Lord willed to be born, so that there was not offered for him a lamb and a young pigeon or a turtle, but a pair of turtles or two young pigeons according to the Gospel, which the scripture of Leviticus then commanded to be offered, if the hand of the offerer had not [0332C] a lamb, which is great enough.

[n: (BEDA, in Lev., tom. II.)] Our Lord not only man, etc., *as far as* and afterwards it shall come into the heavenly Jerusalem, commended to the Lord by the victims of good works.

VERS. 7.-- *From the issue,* etc. As though someone should ask, from what shall she be cleansed who has brought forth lawfully? he says, from *the issue of her blood,* that is, from disobedience, whence uncleanness and punishment flowed forth, by the meditation and contemplation of the law, the neglect of which brought uncleanness upon men.

## CHAPTER XIII.

VERS. 1.-- *And the Lord spoke.* [n: (ISID.)] God speaks once, and two things are heard: Moses hears the Spirit, [0332D] as the loftier; Aaron the letter, as the lower, who announces the letter to the people. Whence *he shall speak to the people, and shall be thy mouth, but thou shalt be in those things which pertain to God [n: (Exod. IV)]*. [var: Vulg. Ex 4:16 *ipse loquetur pro te ad populum … tu autem eris ei in his quae ad Deum pertinent*, "he shall speak for thee" and "thou shalt be to him"]

VERS. 2.-- *A man.* [n: (ID.)] Sometimes it is taken in an excellent sense, of him who keeps the image of God and the dignity of his nature. Sometimes of a sinner, in whom that dignity is deformed, as here.

*In whose flesh,* etc. He bears leprosy in flesh and skin who strives to persuade to carnal or outward things, as the Corinthians, who thought that the resurrection would be in the pleasure of the flesh: and that to those who remain in the faith, although they live carnally, sins are not imputed.

*Or as it were shining.* One leprosy is exceedingly, or moderately, [0333A] dark, the passion not yet boiling up, which needs much deliberation. Another is exceedingly clear and manifest, whose recognition is open.

*The plague of leprosy.* [n: (ISID.)] Leprosy is false doctrine; the lepers are heretics, who, not having the unity of the true faith, profess various errors of doctrine, mixing true things with false, and by their spreading defile the Church, as leprosy defiles bodies.

He bears leprosy in the body who disparages the Church, as the Carpocratians, who deny the resurrection of the flesh, and the Novatians, who condemn marriages, and take away penance from those who sin.

*Or to any one of his sons,* etc. Of kinsmen according to the spirit, from whom he has the priesthood, in whom there is a perfect and full prophecy, that they may be able to discern [0333B] subtle things and the hidden motions of the soul.

VERS. 3.-- *The hairs.* Thoughts, by which the soul is adorned and the mind is covered, and by which they are begotten, as the head begets the hairs of the head, by which it is adorned and covered. Whence *the hairs of your head are all numbered [n: (Matth. X)]*. [var: Vulg. Mt 10:30 *Vestri autem capilli capitis omnes numerati sunt*; this word order is that of Lc 12:7] Hence the Nazarites do not shave the head [n: (Num. VI)], because they have no superfluous thoughts; but to lay aside holy ones is a loss to a holy man.

*Lower than the flesh,* etc. Lower than himself: whence rightly he does not merit pardon. For to be overcome by another and a greater is bearable; but not to work the good commanded by God (for the Lord divides as he wills), so that a man becomes worse than himself, this is unbearable.

VERS. 4.-- *He shall shut him up.* He is shut up a second time, that he may be diligently inspected, and, a double trial being gone through, [0333C] a strict judgment may be made. For the sin was manifest to the priest, but he did not know that the mind consented to the passion, but conjectured it: therefore he inspected again. Hence the Lord, after the denial, asks a third time how Peter's mind stands [n: (Joan. XI)], that we may not judge quickly, but may inquire often. He is shut up for seven days. For the number seven marks the fullness of the present life, which is passed in seven days; and when it is fulfilled, sin and servitude shall cease. Whence in the divine Scriptures the seventh is named rest.

VERS. 6.-- *He shall cleanse him, because it is a scab.* So Paul removed from the tabernacle of the saints him who had committed fornication at Corinth (because the passion was manifest), and delivered him to Satan; and when he had inspected him a second time, and had seen him repent, he commanded him to be received [n: (I Cor. V)].

[0333D]VERS. 10.-- *And when the colour shall be white in the skin.* A manifest transgression of the letter of the law, which is proper to the Jews, as in sacrifices and purgations and things of this kind. For there is also one common to the nations, concerning adultery, rapine, avarice, and the like.

VERS. 12.-- *But if it shall flower forth.* [n: (ISICH.)] He shows the Jewish people to be leprous in part, as being in part a transgressor of the law: whence the priest casts him out as unclean. But the Gentile, leprous in his whole body, who transgresses the whole law, he does not cast out; but judges him clean, because he was not subject to the yoke of the law.

[n: (HIERON.)] *But if it shall flower forth,* etc. In this leprosy, as it were flowering and white, he designates diverse crimes. Because [0334A] when the pleasure of worldly life is esteemed as white and flowering, then the grievous contagion of vices rages in the body. For either the spots of avarice or those of lust break out. But the crime of avarice can easily be cut away, whence: *Give alms, and all things shall be clean unto you.* [var: Vulg. Lc 11:41 *et ecce omnia munda sunt vobis*, "and behold, all things are clean unto you"] Lust also is cleansed by fastings and abstinence. But to all of them a remedy is applied through the priest. For one is cleansed by the oblations of sacrifices; another there is which is cleansed more easily; another which is cleansed after being placed outside the camp; another which is not cleansed at all.

VERS. 14.-- *Living flesh,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] The Jewish commandment, which is said to live so far as regards the commandment, or because, well understood, it brings life.

VERS. 18.-- *For the flesh,* etc. [n: (ISID.)] He bears leprosy in living flesh [0334B] who judges anything false concerning the soul, which is the life of the flesh. As the Luciferians, who say that the soul is propagated from the substance of the flesh; and the Arabici, who think that the soul dies together with the body.

VERS. 19.-- *A scar,* etc. [n: (ID.)] They bear leprosy in the scar of a healed wound who, after the acknowledgment of the faith and the medicine of God which they receive in Christ, again show some token of error or of the perfidy of the old doctrine.

*White.* Because it comes from the wound of the transgression of the law; for the law is white and not warmed by the sun of justice [n: (Act. XV)].

*Somewhat reddish.* Because it comes from an evangelical prevarication, as to eat what is offered to idols, or blood, or what is strangled; and both are done against Christ, whose are the Law and the Gospel.

[0334C]VERS. 20.-- *It shall defile.* Because the sin is in a settled habit, and the evil consuming of the soul has settled in through the ulcer. Whence he called it a leprosy flowering forth out of the wound.

*The flesh and the skin which the fire had burned,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] He seems to repeat the things said above, but partly he says the same, partly he adds; for he sets down another passion, but the same indication. For he treated of the ulcer which is begotten by some sickness of neglected flesh, and grows. The ulcer, then, of our flesh is pleasure, drunkenness, gluttony and things of this kind, which come forth when the body runs riot and itches within itself. But now he treats of a greater plague, that is, of the burning of fire. Of which it is said: *The fire shall consume the adversaries [n: (Isa. LXXIV)]*. [var: Vulg. Is 26:11 *ignis adversarios tuos devoret*, Heb 10:27 *ignis aemulatio, quae consumptura est adversarios*; no verse reads as printed, and Isaiah has sixty-six chapters]

VERS. 25.-- *Because the plague,* etc. In the scar of a burning the Manichees have leprosy, who in the torment of abstinence [0334D] burn up their own bodies, and through unbelief beget thence not cleanness, but leprosy.

VERS. 29.-- *A man or a woman.* That is, who errs concerning the divinity, as the heretics, who not only deny the Father to be the maker of the world, but even affirm him to be the author of evils, as Manichaeus.

*Or the beard,* etc. [n: (ISID.)] They bear leprosy in the beard who think perversely of the apostles and disciples of Christ, and feign that they preached false things. For the beard is the ornament of a man, and the apostles are the teachers of the body of Christ.

[n: (ISICH.)] We find that the lawgiver set down six kinds of leprosy, etc., *as far as* because they defend the perfidy of their error with open depravity.

[n: (ID.)] He sets down diverse colours of leprosy, etc., *as far [0335A] as* it signifies a lying tongue and weakness.

VERS. 31.-- *He shall shut him up seven days, and on the day,* etc., not so much for punishment as for the sake of a strict trial; for the time is to be observed in all cases, more strictly in those whose tongue runs unbridled about the divinity.

VERS. 34.-- *If on the seventh day.* Because the word in which one offends, if he who has sinned once denies it, ought not to be adjudged. For who judges a man guilty by that which he has confessed with his tongue, when he denies that he uttered it with his will?

*And his garments being washed he shall be clean,* etc. [n: (HIERON.)] Some things committed before baptism, etc., *as far as* of which it is said: *He that sinneth against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him,* etc. [var: Vulg. Mt 12:32 *qui autem dixerit contra Spiritum sanctum, non remittetur ei*, "he that shall speak against"]

VERS. 37.-- *Black hairs,* that is, if he has mourned his impiety, and has done true penance. For they that mourn [0335B] and do penance are disfigured with a black habit.

VERS. 38.-- *A man or a woman,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] In the prevarication of the divine doctrine, etc., *as far as: whereby they may not live.*

VERS. 40.-- *He is bald and clean.* Simple, not to the foolish; for there is no one to whom at least a few hairs do not remain.

VERS. 44.-- *Whosoever therefore is spotted,* etc. [n: (ISID.)] Heretics are cast out of the Church until they be purged. With their tunics unsewn, that is, their secrets made manifest, they are commanded to sit. With the head bared, that their nakedness may be seen by all. With the mouth closed, that they may not speak impious things any further.

VERS. 46.-- *He shall dwell outside the camp.* So John shuts out the intelligible leper from the intelligible dwelling: [0335C] *He that bringeth not this doctrine, receive him not into the house, and say not God speed to him [n: (II Joan. 10)]*. [var: Vulg. 2Jo 10 *Si quis venit ad vos, et hanc doctrinam non affert, nolite recipere eum in domum, nec ave ei dixeritis*]

[n: (ISICH.)] These things are ridiculous when interpreted according to the letter, etc., *as far as* lest it be said to him, *Thou that preachest that men should not steal, stealest; but to the sinner God hath said: Why dost thou declare my justices? [n: (Rom. II.)]*

VERS. 47.-- *A woollen garment,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Woollen, precious, and warming the mind, etc., *as far as* namely, and good works.

VERS. 48-- *In the warp,* etc. [n: (HIERON.)] The warp is the soul: which, when it is twisted by the spindle of temptation into the fineness of sons, is bound together by the solidity of a firmer virtue. The soul, then, stands, yet as erect; the sense of the body lies beneath as the woof; but some sins are [0335D] of the body, others of the soul.

[n: (ISICH.)] They who attend to the letter alone, etc., *as far as* but also of that which is wont to come about concerning the virtues.

[n: (ID.)] Leprosy, in a linen garment, etc., *as far as* in the manner of life of this life.

*A skin or whatsoever,* etc. [n: (ID.)] The temptation of tribulation, etc., *as far as* nor let him rashly receive it as clean.

VERS. 49.-- *If white,* etc. [n: (ID.)] LXX: *Greening and growing yellow,* that is, pride, which flowers for a little: whence, *As the herbs of the field they shall quickly fall [n: (Psal. XXXVI)]*, or vainglory. For Christ wills the virtues to be without vain glory.

VERS. 56.-- *He shall break it off.* Through penance [0336A] he shall cut off the passion; pride is broken off when humility is brought near; vain glory, when flattery and vain praise are taken away.

VERS. 57.-- *A flying leprosy. [n: (GREG., hom. X in Ezech.)]* Sometimes we recognise that we have done evil, and we avoid it, etc., *as far as* through immoderate continence he passes over to the vice of wrath.

## CHAPTER XIV.

VERS. 1.-- *And he spoke.* [n: (ISICH.)] Because stains, etc., *as far as* for he himself healed every sin.

VERS. 4.-- *Two sparrows.* [n: (ID.)] The divinity, namely, and the humanity of Christ. *Which are clean,* because he had no sin; *and alive,* because out of sin he was not liable to death.

[0336B] *Which to eat,* etc. Because, *The Word was made flesh,* and *unless we shall have eaten the flesh of the Son of man, we shall not have life in us.* [var: Vulg. Jn 6:54 *nisi manducaveritis carnem Filii hominis, et biberitis ejus sanguinem, non habebitis vitam in vobis*, second person plural, and with the drinking of his blood]

*Cedar wood.* [n: (ISICH.)] The cross, which is strong against all things, as the cedar is strong and cannot rot.

*Scarlet.* The LXX: twisted crimson, that is, the passion; namely because crimson is red, and twisted, woven together of passibility and of impassibility.

*Hyssop.* The grace of the Holy Spirit, which works together toward our cleansing. Whence: *Thou shalt sprinkle me, O Lord, with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed,* etc. [n: (Psal. L.)] [var: Vulg. Ps 50:9 *Asperges me hyssopo, et mundabor*, without the vocative *Domine*]

VERS. 5.-- *Over the waters,* etc. Of baptism. *Whosoever of us have been baptized in Christ, have been baptized in his death [n: (Rom. VI)]*.

VERS. 6.-- *He shall dip in the blood,* etc. Because all things are comprehended [0336C] in the power of baptism. The living sparrow is dipped in the blood of the slain sparrow, because we are baptized not in the passion of a man only, but of God and man.

VERS 7.-- *Seven times, that he may be rightly purged.* For the sevenfold Spirit, in whom is all cleansing and remission; or that the soul may be purged of the seven demons.

*And he shall let the sparrow go.* Because in a certain manner he is held under the contemplation of the human understanding.

VERS. 8.-- *His garments.* His works, and whatever virtues he shall have had, because sin has defiled these too.

*And being purified,* truly. Yet above the leprosy was said to be cleansed; but it is to be understood thus: fit to be cleansed.

*Outside the tabernacle.* The fellowship of the saints, from [0336D] which sinners are shut out. Whence *with such a one not even to take food [n: (I Cor. 5)]*.

VERS. 9.-- *The hairs.* The thoughts, which furnish a man with adornment as a rational being and one that debates many things: even as the hairs of the head.

*And the eyebrows.* Which set a man in contemplation of things sublime and more divine, which the eyebrows, placed higher up, signify.

*Of the whole body.* Even of the parts of shame, that none of the old thoughts may remain, that being wholly new and as it were newly born he may put off the old man and put on the new. For just as, when the hairs are shaved, new ones follow, if new thoughts sprout up toward better things when the old have been shaved away.

[0337A]VERS. 10.-- *On the eighth day.* On which the Lord rose, on which the leper enters the camps which the patriarch Jacob saw when the angels met him: whence he called the place the camps of God [n: (Gen. XXXII)].

*After that.* On the first day, on which the priest goes out, he commanded a sacrifice to be offered outside the camps for the cleansing of the leper; on the eighth day he appointed other sacrifices. For these have the same force as the first, because all time is bounded within weeks. The eighth, therefore, is also the first that follows. And it is to be noted that he shows leprosy, that is, sin, to be shunned with the utmost care, in that he commanded it to be purged so diligently.

*Unspotted lambs,* etc. All these things figure the sacrifice of the Savior, who was a victim for us. The sacrifice is made of either sex, because he saved [0337B] both sexes.

[n: (HIER.)] In the two lambs are the two comings of Christ, by which we must believe that we are cleansed from the leprosy of sins: for first he came and suffered; secondly he is to come in glory.

*A yearling.* He bids the sacrifice be a yearling, as being perfect: for among the aforesaid animals the yearlings are perfect, whence also they are then fit for generation.

*And three tenths.* For he who is cleansed by the sacrifice of the Only-begotten ought to be marked with faith in the holy Trinity: three tenths of fine flour, that is, the Trinity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, having perfection in each several person: for ten is a perfect number.

*Of fine flour.* Of the Only-begotten. For although it was the passion of the Only-begotten, [0337C] yet it is the work of the whole Trinity: whence we are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, while we are baptized into the death of Christ.

[n: (ISID.)] There is a leprosy of sin, etc., *as far as* and to obtain pardon.

*A sextary of oil.* Because by faith each of the aforesaid is understood and done. For the sextary is a measure, holding neither more nor less: for what is over is poured out; if it is less, it is not a sextary. So faith is given to the measure of our mind, and it holds neither more nor less than is distributed by God: for what is more or less is outside faith.

A sextary of oil, the rich mercy and grace of God: and if a man has not been able to display the most shining face of holiness, let him not put out the lamp of faith.

[0337D]VERS. 14.-- *Upon the tip.* That he may fortify the hearing and make it wary, lest it hear the serpent's voice any more.

*And of the foot.* That in the sight of God our motion and our way may be directed. For when these aforesaid things are kept through the blood of the Lamb and faith in him, which is given us through his mercy and compassion, the intelligible leprosy is put to flight.

VERS. 16.-- *And he shall sprinkle,* etc. For such a priest presumes with God that he may be able to cleanse and remit sins: whence he sprinkles seven times, because it is the number of remission and of grace.

VERS. 17.-- *But that which,* etc. That the faith of the priest may be shown in works. For it does not otherwise put forth its own force [0338A] except when the hand is taken up, that is, when it is confirmed and sealed by action. But he pours the oil into the left hand, and dips the right finger in the oil, that he may walk by the arms of justice on the right hand and on the left, by glory and ignobility, by ill fame and good report.

VERS. 19.-- *And he shall make a sacrifice,* etc. From the things that have been said of trespasses, those that are for sin may be gathered: for they are neighbouring and common, as being in a common matter.

*A holocaust,* etc. The sacrifice of Christ first cleanses us from trespasses and sins, and then our holocaust is completed. For when by the intelligible cleansing we have been made spiritual, sanctifying our body and our soul, then we are made worthy [0338B] of the ascent of the altar: for then we receive full cleansing, and we need no other. For there are degrees of cleansings: one frees from the pollution of leprosy; another brings into the camps; another presents to the altar those who are most fully cleansed.

VERS. 21.-- *But if he is poor and his hand is not able,* etc. [n: (HIERON.)] That is, if he has not the riches of the heavenly graces: for example, if he has not been able to keep virginity, let him keep the marriage bed unspotted; if he could not carry off the trophy of martyrdom, let him at least keep himself unconquered.

*But if he is poor,* etc. Wonderfully he condescends, and granting pardon to poverty he appoints sacrifices suited to the poor man, lest he be struck dumb if sacrifices beyond his strength [0338C] were required. Yet he who has neither bread nor money, whence should he buy a lamb or a dove or a turtledove? By the occasion of these things, therefore, we are called to spiritual matters, that we may understand leprosy as malice, and penance as cleansing. The works of penance are necessary, such as have power to blot out sins. Whence: *Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of penance [n: (Luc. III)]*. But there are many who cannot pay what the strictness of penance requires. For it requires assiduous prayer, almsgiving, watchings, holy fasting, and that a man be able to say: *My tears have become my bread day and night;* [var: Vulg. Ps 41:4 *Fuerunt mihi lacrimae meae panes die ac nocte*, "my tears have been my bread"] and, *I will wash my bed every night, with my tears,* etc. [n: (Psal. XIV.)] And, *Because I did eat ashes like bread,* etc. [n: (Psal. CI.)] He pardons those who will, but cannot; he seeks out another way of penance, [0338D] that is, other kinds of sacrifices.

VERS. 20.-- *He shall put upon the tip of the right ear of him who,* etc. [n: (ORIG., hom. 8 in Levit.)] Thou seest how of the last and highest purification, etc., *as far as* and that in all things the Son of the Father may be restored.

VERS. 34.-- *Chanaan.* [n: (ISICH.)] The land of the Chanaanites was promised to Abraham, etc., *as far as* which is plain there: *Salute Nympha and the church that is in her house [n: (Col. IV)]*.

VERS. 40.-- *Outside the city.* Not only outside the house, because they are to be cast out of the universal Church, which is the city of the living God.

VERS. 42.-- *And other stones.* The doctrines of truth, of which it is said: *Living stones are rolled upon the earth* [0339A] [n: (Zach. IX)] [var: Vulg. Zech 9:16 *lapides sancti elevabuntur super terram ejus*, "holy stones shall be lifted up upon his land"]; and elsewhere: *Whosoever shall have built upon the foundation gold and silver,* etc. [n: (I Cor. III)] [var: Vulg. 1 Cor 3:12 *Si quis autem superaedificat super fundamentum hoc, aurum, argentum, lapides pretiosos*].

VERS. 44.-- *The leprosy returned and the walls,* etc. That is, if, when the depraved doctrines have been cast out, the teaching of impiety is found sprinkled over it again by a subtle exposition.

VERS. 48.-- *But if going in,* etc. Remember what thou hast read in the cleansing of the leper. For it plainly appears that it expresses the church of the heretics, which acts against the dispensation of the incarnation of Christ: and therefore for the cleansing of the house he adds such sacrifices as those in which the mysteries of the flesh and the passion of Christ can be expressed, and the sins committed in it healed.

VERS. 54.-- *This is the law.* Because he had set out the laws of leprosy at large, he necessarily recapitulated, expounding first the kind, [0339B] then the parts.

*Of leprosy.* Of impious teaching, which befalls laymen also, and therefore it was added: *A man or a woman in whom shall be the stroke of leprosy, and let him go.* [var: Vulg. Lv 13:29 *Vir, sive mulier, in cujus capite vel barba germinaverit lepra*] For if he had understood priests only, he would not have added the woman. After these things he set down the leprosy which is in the virtues, for these are the garments of the soul. Then that which is in the doctors of the Church, who are the walls of the house. Last of all he makes mention of the scar and of the breaking-out pustules, describing the true leprosy, namely that which is in sins, whether doubtful or manifest.

## CHAPTER XV.

[n: (ISICH.)] The LXX thus, etc., *as far as* unto a perfect man, etc.

[0339C]VERS. 2.-- *[n: (GREG., lib. XXXIII Moral., cap. 15, tom. II.)] The man that suffers,* etc. What is speech but seed? etc., *as far as* than the fruit of an everlasting reward.

[n: (ISICH.)] Because there are many kinds of depraved teaching, etc., *as far as* if he shall have been a partaker of his teaching, following his disciples.

VERS. 9.-- *The saddle upon which,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] The LXX ἐπίσαγμα ὄνον, that is, the coverlet of an ass. By which is understood the more negligent disciple, and one to be changed in his soft heart. For saddle-cloths are soft.

VERS. 13.-- *He shall number seven days.* [n: (ID.)] Because through the sevenfold Spirit remission of sins is given, of whose seven gifts they have need who are to be perfectly cleansed [0339D].

VERS. 14.-- *Two turtledoves.* [n: (ID.)] A sacrifice worthy of doctors. For the turtledove signifies meditation, and the dove, frequently bearing young and simple, signifies the Holy Spirit. For a doctor must beget spiritually: worthily therefore did he dedicate this sacrifice to priests and to masters.

VERS. 15.-- *Before the Lord, that he may be cleansed.* According to the will and the law of God, against which he has sinned, he is cleansed by repenting, by offering the sacrifices of prayers, and thereafter by living rightly and by being perfectly wise.

VERS. 16.-- *The man from whom there goeth out,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] *Unless a man,* etc., *as far as* he cleansed the human race.

[n: (ID.)] Because many, etc., *as far as* by the traditions of their teachers.

[0340A]VERS. 17.-- *The garment and the skin.* He expresses the misery of original sin, by which the human race, being defiled, defiles even things without sense. He expresses the women who for lust's sake are mingled with men for the temporary use which they afford; and the garment and the worn-out skins are cast away, and the custom of women is spat out when the friendship grows old.

VERS. 19.-- *The woman,* etc. By the monthly courses depraved thoughts are signified. For she who suffers the monthly courses does not touch another's flesh, and defiles her own. So iniquitous thoughts and wills, although they are not fulfilled in deed, are accounted before God as deeds and are punished.

*The woman who at the return.* [n: (ISICH.)] He aims at women as well, etc., *as far as* which is the corruption of the human race [0340B].

*Seven days,* etc. It signifies the whole of times, up to the completion in which the Gospel was declared: for men were separated from God until the evangelical preaching should join them.

*Whosoever shall touch her garment, shall wash,* etc. So must a man abstain from idolatry: that we touch neither idolaters nor their disciples or supporters, whom they use as beds or as vessels, nor have communion with them.

VERS. 25.-- *The woman who,* etc. Because we have said that the man suffering an issue of seed is he who teaches obscene and corrupting things, and that he who uses Judaic teaching is he from whom the seed of coition goes out; there remain those who scatter the teaching of the Gentiles, [0340C] which is fitly called an issue of blood, being as it were the seduction of idolatry: for the demons rejoice in blood.

VERS. 29.-- *He shall offer.* Above he commanded that the man suffering an issue of blood take two turtledoves or doves for a sacrifice, because he had occupied the place of a master; and here likewise him who suffers an issue of blood, because he was a master of idolatry too.

VERS. 31.-- *Ye shall teach.* This he ordained neither of lepers nor of those who touch carcasses.

*Uncleannesses.* Every sin is an uncleanness of the soul, but idolatry most of all.

*The tabernacle.* The inward man, in whom is the image of God. *The Word* also *was made flesh, and shall dwell in [0340D] us.* [var: Vulg. Jn 1:14 *et habitavit in nobis*, past tense, "and dwelt among us"]

VERS. 32.-- *These.* Things which cohere with one another and have a common purpose he is wont to bind together, that he may show how they ought to be understood, and which things are joined with which by kinship of understanding.

*And he who,* etc. He who teaches the Judaic precepts, and teaches good things badly, is unclean, while he brings forth out of season the things that pertain to the letter, just as he uses clean things as unclean, whence: *All things are clean to the clean,* etc.

VERS. 32.-- *And she who,* etc. These are they who teach impiety, since the human race is held in its monthly courses by the error of idolatry, that is, in the separation of malice.

## CHAPTER XVI.

[0341A]

VERS. 1.-- *And the Lord spoke,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] He makes one body of the law, etc., *as far as* whence after their death the Lord speaks these things to Moses.

VERS. 2.-- *Speak to Aaron,* etc. [n: (ID.)] How greatly God spares us, etc., *as far as* which is guarded against by the present words.

*Before the propitiatory.* [n: (ISICH.)] The LXX: Before the face of the propitiatory, etc., *as far as* or which we receive from the Lord's flesh.

VERS. 3.-- *He shall offer a calf for sin.* [n: (ISICH.)] A wonderful order. For when he had said that entrance into the holy places is not always to be made, lest we presume to approach rashly and without circumspection, he shows when and how [0341B] we are to enter.

*He shall offer a calf for sin.* The beginning of the divine preaching is Christ, and his passion; and if this had not been, and had not freed men from error both Gentile and Judaic, one could not speak of the divinity of the Father. *For no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom he shall be pleased to reveal him [n: (Matth. XI)]*. [var: Vulg. Mt 11:27 *neque Patrem quis novit, nisi Filius, et cui voluerit Filius revelare*, prefaced by *nemo novit Filium, nisi Pater*]

VERS. 4.-- *He shall be clothed with a linen tunic,* etc. He who is to speak of God, and to see him according to what is possible, must be armed with all the virtues, of which four are general: justice, chastity, fortitude, wisdom.

*With linen breeches. [n: (HIERON. epist. ad Fabiolam, tom. I.)]* Where it is related how Moses clothed his brother Aaron, etc., *as far as* let us die the death.

[0341C] [n: (ID.)] According to the Hebrews, etc., *as far as* therefore with linen breeches the thighs or the loins are veiled.

*When he shall have been washed.* [n: (ISICH.)] With the water of baptism, etc., *as far as* but desiring to understand the dispensation of Christ.

VERS. 5.-- *And he shall receive from the whole multitude,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Christ was immolated for us, etc., *as far as* whence Paul: *Ye are made dead by the body of Christ [n: (Rom. VIII)]*. [var: Vulg. Rom 7:4 *mortificati estis legi per corpus Christi*, "made dead to the law by the body of Christ"]

VERS. 7.-- *Two he-goats,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Because both for sinners and for the just, etc., *as far as* saying: *There shall not be to thee strange gods [n: (Exod. XX)]*. [var: Vulg. Ex 20:3 *Non habebis deos alienos coram me*, "Thou shalt not have strange gods before me"]

*[n: (AUG., quaest. 55 in Levit., tom. III.)] Two he-goats,* The goat to be immolated, etc., *as far as* the allegorical signification.

[n: (ISICH.)] *He shall make two he-goats to stand.* Because Christ is [0341D] God and man, etc., *as far as* and the other to the scapegoat, Christ.

VERS. 10.-- *Into the wilderness.* That is, into the bosom of the Father, to which none draws near save he himself and the Holy Spirit. He went away, therefore, that is, he restrained the power of working, and bore our iniquities, not that he might have them, but that he might consume them. *For God is a consuming fire.*

Into the wilderness, of which it is said: *In a desert land, without way and without water,* etc. [n: (Psal. LXII.)] There the enemy has no place, where God abides. For the divinity is said to have gone away into heaven at the time of the passion; not changing place, but in a certain manner restraining its power, that the impious might be able to accomplish the passion.

VERS. 11.-- *A calf.* When Christ is offered for the deliverance of the Judaic [0342A] people, he is called a calf: because he observed the justification of the law. Whence he says: *I came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil [n: (Matth. V)]*; *who was made of a woman, that he might redeem them that were under the law [n: (Gal. IV)]*. [var: Vulg. Gal 4:4-5 *factum ex muliere, factum sub lege, ut eos qui sub lege erant, redimeret*; Migne drops *factum sub lege*, which is the very clause the gloss's conclusion rests on] Rightly therefore is he called a calf, as being brought under the yoke of the commandments of the law.

[n: (ISICH.)] The lawgiver makes manifest that the sacrifice of Christ is indeed of the flesh, through the power of the divinity, and in the good pleasure of the Father, and a propitiation for our sins: and that it is accomplished unto the ministration of the Spirit.

VERS. 12.-- *Of the coals of the altar,* etc. With the spiritual words which John, when Judas had gone out, wrote down at the supper, in which he sets forth how he himself, being in the Father and the Father in him, sends the Spirit; how the Father is the husbandman, he himself the vine, the apostles the branches, and many other things which kindle to piety [0342B] like coals of fire [n: (Joan. XVIII)].

*Taking up with his hand.* The LXX: He shall fill his hands with incense of fine composition, praying, that is, for things fine and spiritual, not earthly.

*Incense,* prayer. Whence: *Let my prayer be directed as incense in thy sight.* For Christ prayed for his disciples.

VERS. 13.-- *That, being put,* etc. Aaron, by the dignity of the priesthood, signifies Christ and the other priests. Christ puts the spices, that is, prayer, *upon the fire,* that is, upon doctrine; and *the vapor of the cloud,* that is, the power of prayer, covers the oracle, that is, the flesh, out of which comes to us the propitiation of sins in Christ, who is also the testimony. And every priest speaking of Christ also puts upon the fire of spiritual doctrine the spices [0342C] of prayer, whose power covers the oracle, which is above the testimony, and does not permit him to inquire concerning the passion of Christ into things that are above the power of the inquirer, and he shall not die of immoderate questionings, that is.

*And he shall not die.* His flesh saw not corruption, because it was covered by the vapor of the spices, that is, by the power of prayer, of which it is said: *Thou shalt not give thy holy one to see corruption [n: (Psal. XV)]*.

VERS. 14.-- *Toward the propitiation.* Because for our propitiation and enlightenment Christ suffered, who is called the propitiatory, and the East. Whence: Behold a man, the East, etc. [n: (Psal. XV.)] And elsewhere: and *the East hath visited us,* etc. [n: (Zachar. VI)]. Or toward the propitiatory, that is, in the sight of the Father, seven times, because [0342D] he gave us the remission of sins and the Holy Spirit.

VERS. 15.-- *And when they shall have slain,* etc. Because Christ was made of the common mass of men, he is rightly called a he-goat, because this animal is rough and shaggy with hairs, and because the human race is for sin. Whence he fitly says: *And when he shall have slain the he-goat for the sin of the people [n: (Ose. I)]*, that is, of the human race: which once was not a people, but now is a people, from which Christ took his firstfruits. That he might show, therefore, that Christ bears the firstfruits chiefly of the Jews, but also of every nature that is in sin, he took at once both the calf and the he-goat; and because there is one sacrifice and one effect, necessarily [0343A] things common are done in the he-goat and in the calf. For thou seest that the he-goat is slain before God, that is, before the Father: and the blood is carried within the veil, that is, to the same Father. And the sanctuary is expiated, that is, the mass of the human race, which from the beginning was holy, and the tabernacle of the Holy Spirit.

VERS. 16.-- *The tabernacle of the testimony,* etc. What above he called the sanctuary, here he calls the tabernacle of the testimony. For by the same reasoning the mass of the human race is called both the holy place and the tabernacle of the testimony. For thus the tabernacle of the testimony is heaven, and is rightly named holy: heavenly is our man, of whom Paul says: *As we have borne the image of the earth,* etc. [n: (I Cor. XV)]. [var: Vulg. 1 Cor 15:49 *sicut portavimus imaginem terreni*, "the image of the earthly man"] Here is he rightly named holy who is in the midst of uncleannesses, because Christ is assaulted by the passions of the flesh [0343B].

*The sanctuary. The race* of mankind, by taking flesh, that in the proper sanctuary of his flesh he might make petition through the cross.

VERS. 17.-- *Until he go out.* After a human manner, that is, giving up the spirit, and leaving his flesh in the sepulchre.

VERS. 18.-- *And having taken the blood.* Because by his passion he sanctified the horns of the altar, that is, the four principal virtues.

VERS. 19.-- *Let him expiate.* They are expiated by the sacrifice of Christ. Whence, *but the heavenly things themselves are expiated with greater victims [n: (Heb. II)]*, than these. [var: Vulg. Heb 9:23 *ipsa autem caelestia melioribus hostiis quam istis*, "with better victims than these," and with no verb *expiantur*]

*From the uncleannesses.* So far as concerns the powers of the heavens, they have no need to be expiated, being in perpetual sanctification [0343C]. But because the smoke of our sins frequently ascends, of which it is said: *There went up a smoke in his wrath [n: (Psal. XVII)]*; and of Nineveh, *Its malice is come up before me [n: (Jonae I)]*, he rightly expiates the choirs above from our uncleannesses, that he may take away the abominable odor. Therefore he does not sprinkle simply, but seven times, because by the pardon of our sins the heavenly things are cleansed.

VERS. 20.-- *After that.* [n: (AMBR. epist ad Simplicianum. )]

As there are two in the field, etc., *as far as* which makes the tranquillity of the mind.

VERS. 21.-- *And having laid both hands,* etc. The imposition of the hand ministers in the sacrifice either blessing, or [0343D] the remission of sins, or the Holy Spirit; which things cannot be in him upon whom the lot of the devil falls. There are also many circumstances which contradict that opinion.

*And having laid.* That it may be shown that the Word of God, impassible, immortal, took upon himself in the flesh a sufficient sacrifice for us: upon him rightly are all sins laid, because he bore our sins in his own body. The LXX: *He shall lay them upon the head of the living kid.* In which is signified the crown of thorns pressed upon his head, for by thorns sins are signified.

*By a man,* etc. Christ, who is all things, the priest of his own sacrifice, the sacrifice, the worship, and the altar. Prepared according to that word: *But I do not contradict, I went not backward: I gave my body to the strikers,* [0344A] etc. [n: (Isai. L)]. Christ therefore, immolating himself by the living kid, sends by the man prepared, that is, by his own power, the living he-goat into the wilderness, the immortal, that is, and impassible divinity, into places without way for us, and deserted by all malice. Whence: *Jesus knowing that the Father had given him all things into his hands, and that he came from God and goeth to God [n: (Joan. XIII)]*.

ORIG., *in homil. super Leviticum,* says that the he-goat which is immolated to the Lord signifies those who are destined to the Lord's lot, as that Lazarus who is carried by angels into Abraham's bosom [n: (Luc. XVI)]. But the he-goat which is let go into the desert signifies the reprobate, or the Judaic people, who are cast away from the face of the Lord for their sins, as the rich man clad in purple was buried in hell. And the man prepared signifies Christ [0344B] or his angels, whence each receives what he deserves.

VERS. 26.-- *But they who shall have let go. [n: (ORIG., hom. 9 in Lev.)]* Has concupiscence come up into thy heart? etc., *as far as* and here in the washing of garments the same figure can be kept.

VERS. 29.-- *In the seventh month.* (ORIG., *ubi supra.* In which is the solemnity of re-propitiation, etc., *as far as* that is, cast away and refuted.

## CHAPTER XVII.

VERS. 1.-- *And he spoke,* etc. By the present law it is shown that the Lord speaks not to Moses only, but to all in common. He desires all to know what is expedient for all: namely, that the law is temporal, and that, its time being fulfilled, it is observed to no purpose. [0344C] But the perfect fulfilment of the time is the destruction of the place in which he commanded the sacrifices to be offered, by intimating that he who shall have sacrificed outside the camps, or without, only outside the tabernacle of the testimony, shall perish from among his people: namely, that when the tabernacle and the place are destroyed, the sacrifices may have an end. But holy actions, and those which build up the human mind, such as to honor father and mother, and to love one's neighbours, and the like, he did not circumscribe by place, because they always profit, and agree with the Gospel. Whosoever therefore now enact the figures of the destroyed place, shed blood, and stain the common manner of life, and sin in what is common; and just as they shed blood, they shed also the blood of those [0344D] whom by their example they send into error.

VERS. 3.-- *Any man whatsoever,* etc. Inasmuch as the figures of the law are temporal, and are in a fixed place, which being destroyed they cannot remain.

*If he shall have killed a sheep. [n: (AUG., quaest. 56 in Levit.)]* He does not say this of those, etc., *as far as* whatever he did in this matter could not be against the law, because he is the giver of the law.

VERS. 7.-- *And they shall no more immolate their victims to demons,* etc. Whereas it had been said by the Lord [n: (Exod. XX)]: *Thou shalt not make to thyself an idol, nor any likeness of those things which are in heaven above, and in the earth beneath, and whatsoever is under the earth;* [var: Vulg. Ex 20:4 *Non facies tibi sculptile, neque omnem similitudinem quae est in caelo desuper, et quae in terra deorsum, nec eorum quae sunt in aquis sub terra*] they made a molten calf, and offered sacrifice to it, desiring to lick up the sacrifice. The law therefore, as their schoolmaster, commanded them to sacrifice to God [n: (Exod. XXXII)], [0345A] that being occupied in this they might abstain from the sacrifice of idolatry. Yet he ordained such sacrifices as signify future mysteries.

*With whom they have committed fornication.* He calls idolatry fornication, because God has betrothed our souls to himself. Departure from him is therefore called fornication. He terrifies also those who commit fornication in the flesh, when he compares the sin of fornication to the worship of idols and to the oblation offered to demons.

VERS. 8.-- *A man of the house of Israel,* etc. [n: (AUG., ubi supra. )] If the same commandment is repeated, etc., *as far as* in vain do they boast themselves Israelites or Jews.

VERS. 10.-- *Of the strangers.* The Gentiles, who are not joined to the Jews, but are among us. For among them we were, as having their law and the prophets and the promised [0345B] inheritance, yet cleaving not to them but to God: therefore, according to the LXX, *man, man, he said,* that he may show that both those who are in circumcision and those who in uncircumcision cleave to God ought to keep this commandment.

*If he shall have eaten blood,* etc. By blood we understand murder; hatred of a brother is murder: *For he that hateth his brother is a murderer [n: (I Joan. III)]*. We must therefore abstain from all hatred of the brethren, because against such a soul as eats such blood (according to that word: *They who devour my people as the food of bread [n: (Psal. XIII)]* God sets his face firmly, that is, Christ, who is the image of the Father. *For he that seeth the Son, seeth the Father also [n: (Joan. XIV)]*. [var: Vulg. Jn 14:9 *qui videt me, videt et Patrem*, "he that seeth me, seeth the Father also"] For he himself is the judge, of whom it is said: *But the countenance [0345C] of the Lord is upon them that do evil things, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth [n: (Psal. XXXIII)]*. And he destroys the eater of blood from his people, that is, from the common race of men: because as one without mercy and impious he sends him with the malignant spirits into the everlasting fire, *which is prepared for the devil and his angels [n: (Matth. XXV)]*. And that he might show how merciful we ought to be to one another, how loving, he shows that for our expiation he poured out his own blood, saying: *I have given it to you,* the blood, namely, of Christ.

VERS. 11.-- *The soul of the flesh. [n: (AUG., quaest. 57 in Lev.)]* There is something vital in the blood, etc., *as far as* for whom it was acquiring so great a merit.

[0345D]VERS. 13.-- *Any man whatsoever.* [n: (ISICH.)] God has much care of us, that we harm not one another: therefore he bids a man give the other cheek to him that strikes it; and to leave his coat to him that takes away his cloak; and not to contend in judgment, lest out of contention we should wish even to do harm [n: (Matth. V)], but by suffering to correct the man himself. Therefore the lawgiver recapitulates the commandment concerning blood, that he may take away the various frauds and cunning devices of doing harm, saying: *Whether by hunting or by fowling,* etc.

*By hunting.* By fraud, which touches blood and life. Whence: *They hunted after the soul of the just, and condemned innocent blood [n: (Psal. XLIII)]*. [var: Vulg. Ps 93:21 future *Captabunt … condemnabunt*, "they will hunt … will condemn"] And again: *Our soul, as a sparrow, hath been delivered out of the snare of the fowlers [n: (Psal. CXXIII)]*. That is, if he shall have seen sinning [0346A] the man who through weakness or simplicity lies open to hunting and to guile.

*Or a sheep,* etc. Him, namely, who withdraws himself from earthly things, on which it is lawful to feed: for such men the violent and the greedy devour. Whence: *If ye devour one another, take heed lest ye be consumed one of another [n: (Gal. V)]*. Or, because they were formerly just, they are rightly counted among clean things.

*Let the earth cover it,* etc. The earth covers the sins of those who confess, as things remaining beneath and mortified by penance: whose cry is forbidden to ascend to the heavens, whither the cry of the Sodomites ascended, who would not repent [n: (Gen. XVIII)].

VERS. 15.-- *The soul that shall have eaten,* etc. Above it was said: Whosoever shall touch the carcasses of beasts taken by wild beasts, [0346B] that is, whoever shall have had part in such things; but here it is said: *The soul that shall have eaten;* that is, who shall have made the whole sin his own, and shall have fulfilled his own will out of it.

## CHAPTER XVIII.

VERS. 2.-- *I am the Lord.* As if he said: Know ye your creator; keep his commandments diligently.

VERS. 3.-- *According to the custom,* etc. He opens the purpose of the whole law, namely that we abstain from evils and hold fast to good things.

*Neither in their ordinances,* etc. For he commands them to abstain not only from fornication, avarice and pride, but also from divinations, and auguries, and the superstitions of all the nations [0346C].

VERS. 5.-- *He shall live in them. I am the Lord.* Because in them is the true life for those who believe in Christ: *because he that seeth the Son and believeth in him hath life everlasting [n: (Joan. VI)]*. This he did not add in the former judgments and precepts: for the law does not give life, unless the Gospel come upon it.

VERS. 6.-- *No man to her that is near,* etc. He forbids us to approach craftily, on the occasion of kinship, those who sin against the law, so that at last, knowing their shameful deeds, we should betray them; whence he adds: *I am the Lord.*

*No man.* The LXX: *Man shall not approach to any that is of the household of his own flesh,* etc. For as man is twofold, so the precepts are twofold, teaching the inward and the outward man. The outward law forbids that men be mingled with those of their own blood, [0346D] as the nations did, whose inheritance Israel was to receive — Israel being so dissolute and given over to the pleasures of the flesh that one man would take many wives, so that at least in this way they might abstain from women of another race. The lawgiver therefore goes through the generations in order, from which they ought to refrain, lest the generations be confounded and the inheritances perish. The conjunction of such persons he calls a shameful thing, that he may show it to be abominable and dreadful. And it is to be noted that, whereas at the beginning of this law he had said: *I am the Lord your God,* he repeated *I am the Lord,* signifying that he is joined to us in the flesh, and is a partaker of our kindred: to offend so great a kindred, therefore, is damnable.

[0347A] *I am the Lord.* Not making manifest the sins of men, but blotting out and covering what has been blotted out or uncovered by confession

*Shamefulness,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 58 in Lev.)] He forbids to lie with a mother, etc., *as far as* for he sins against charity, which is the fulness of the law [n: (Rom. XIII)].

VERS. 9.-- *She is born abroad. [n: (ID., quaest. 59.)]* Of the mother, if by a former husband, etc., *as far as* what he had said obscurely above.

VERS. 11.-- *Of the wife's daughter,* etc. [n: (AUG., ubi supra. )] Let it not seem to forbid intercourse with the stepmother's daughter by a former husband, since she is not a sister to him to whom it is forbidden, either by the father or by the mother, he added that she is by the same father.

[0347B]VERS. 14.-- *The shamefulness of the father's brother,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 61.)] It is asked whether this, etc., *as far as* for someone might think that he was allowed to marry such a woman and need not fear adultery.

*Neither shalt thou approach,* etc. The LXX: *And thou shalt not go in to his wife.* Accordingly they say that this shamefulness is that of his father's brother, that is, of the uncle's private parts, namely of his wife.

VERS. 16.-- *The shamefulness of thy brother's wife,* etc. In the mother is understood concupiscence, in the daughter the act, in the granddaughter death. *For concupiscence bringeth forth sin, and sin death [n: (Jac. I)]*, [var: Vulg. Jas 1:15 *concupiscentia cum conceperit, parit peccatum: peccatum vero cum consummatum fuerit, generat mortem*] or another sin; as David out of concupiscence committed adultery, and for the adultery killed.

VERS. 17.-- *That thou mayest discover her disgrace.* As it were, [0347C] sin is familiar and akin to us. Whence we ought to grieve with one another, and to bear our burdens, that we may fulfil the law of Christ, who bore our sins.

VERS. 18.-- *The sister of thy wife,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. in Lev. )] He does not forbid, etc., *as far as* lest he should make her commit adultery.

*Thou shalt not take for her rival, nor discover,* etc. The LXX: *For her jealousy,* as if this were jealousy between sisters, as though it were not also between those who are not sisters. Or rather, lest it be done with this mind, that a sister be brought in upon a sister for jealousy? *God hath called us in peace; let us have peace with all men [n: (Rom. XII)]*, [var: Vulg. 1 Cor 7:15 *in pace autem vocavit nos Deus*, conflated with Rom 12:18 *cum omnibus hominibus pacem habentes*] and chiefly with those nearest us. In the Judaic manner of life also it is not fitting [0347D] to take up the ecclesiastical, nor to celebrate the typical pasch with the true, nor circumcision with baptism. Whence Paul: *If ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing [n: (Gal. V)]*. When the Judaic manner of life has been mortified, therefore, she ought to be joined to the Church, who is the sister of the law, has the same doctors, the same prophets. But the Judaic manner of life is jealous, because its riches have passed over to the Church. Whence Paul says: *They are zealous for you not well, but would exclude you,* etc. [n: (Gal. IV)]. For the first wife is jealous, because a second comes in. Whence Lia says: *Doth it seem a small thing to thee that thou hast taken away my husband from me? [n: (Gen. XXX.)]*

VERS. 19.-- *To a woman,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 64 in Lev.)] Since he had sufficiently forbidden this above, [0348A] etc., *as far as* but what is harmful to the offspring to be conceived is forbidden.

VERS. 20.-- *With the wife,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Here adultery is again forbidden, which is forbidden in the decalogue also: whence it appears that those women are so forbidden that, even when their husbands are dead, men may not marry them, whose shamefulness he forbids to be uncovered.

VERS. 21.-- *Of thy seed,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Fittingly are these things subjoined, etc., *as far as* nor are we mingled in the error of the Gentiles.

*Neither shalt thou defile,* etc. Not only by living wantonly, or by sacrificing to idols, but also by bringing the philosophy of the Gentiles into the Church. For what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?

VERS. 23.-- *A woman shall not,* etc. Not for men only, [0348B] but for women also is the law laid down [n: (II Cor. IX)]. Whence: *Who shall find a valiant woman? [n: (Prov. XIII.)]* For as the male signifies a soul strong and constant in the virtues, so the woman designates one that keeps her own dignity: for she was made for the help of the man [n: (Gen. II)]: and she who is such ought not to be stained by the coupling of beasts.

VERS. 24.-- *Neither be ye defiled in any of these things,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] How great a defilement there is in the aforesaid things, the punishment of the defiled shows. Nor is it to be passed over incautiously that he gathers into one those things which are joined to one another, that he may show that he who shall have been defiled in one, offends in all [n: (Jac. II)].

*All the nations are contaminated,* etc. The demons, who because of their multitude are called all the nations. [0348C] And though they rejoice in every sin, yet chiefly in fornication and idolatry, because in these both the body and the soul is stained, and the whole man, who is called earth. But God has visited the earth, that is, the race of men.

VERS. 29.-- *Every soul,* etc. For they who after the evangelical preaching commit such things find no other medicine for their evil; nor shall they be in the lot of men, but of demons.

VERS. 30.-- *Keep ye my commandments.* As if to say: Mine are the commandments, not a man's; to whose image ye were made; which ye ought not to defile: *because ye are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you [n: (I Cor. III)]*.

## CHAPTER XIX.

[0348D]VERS. 1, 2.-- *The Lord spoke . . . Be ye holy. [n: (ORIG., hom. 12 in Lev.)]* What this name which is "holy" signifies, etc., *as far as* namely, that ye may have your manner of life in the world.

VERS. 3.-- *Every one.* He builds upon the foundation: as if to say, be ye holy, that the Holy One may dwell in you; and pay the kindness of nature by honouring father and mother.

*Keep my sabbaths.* [n: (ISICH.)] Wishing to recapitulate the commandments of the law, that is, *Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal,* etc., etc., he says: *Keep my sabbaths.* For the true sabbath is to cease from every evil. Whence Moses: *Ye shall do no servile work therein [n: (Exod. XXXI)]*.

*Keep my sabbaths.* God, wishing to teach us concerning the intelligible [0349A] rest, and concerning the consummation of the world, when it is impossible to prepare food or to work, nor to be occupied about anything bodily, says through Moses: *Sabbaths today to the Lord, ye shall not find it in the field [n: (Exod. XVI)]*, etc. [var: Vulg. Ex 16:25 *sabbatum est Domini: non invenietur hodie in agro*, the singular "sabbath" and a passive "shall not be found"] Note that he does not say, sabbath, but *sabbaths,* because the intelligible rest is quiet and set free not from one thing, but from all carnal things: therefore in this place the name of sabbaths is first set down in divine Scripture, that thou mayest know that the sabbath is a full and perfect rest.

VERS. 5.-- *If ye shall offer,* etc. He goes over again almost all the chapters of the law, that he may fix the memory of them in his hearers; but especially the most necessary ones, such as this commandment which he set forth above, when he was treating of the sacrifices. He took the saving sacrifice, in which it is necessary to work the things which pertain to [0349B] salvation; and that it may be acceptable, piety and chastity must be offered up. For this, according to the Apostle, is good and acceptable before God our Saviour, *who will have all men to be saved [n: (I Tim. II)]*. But to eat on the day of the offering and on the next is to work, in the present life, whatsoever pertains to salvation: for today and tomorrow are taken for the present age; whence James: *Ye who say: Today and tomorrow we will go into the city,* etc. [n: (Jac. IV)]. [var: Vulg. Jac 4:13 *hodie aut crastino ibimus in illam civitatem*, "today or tomorrow ... into that city"] The third day, because on it the Lord rose from the dead, bears the figure of the age to come and of the resurrection, in which it will not be lawful to work, but to receive the recompense of works. He therefore who lives here as though he were to work there, as though he were to eat the sacrifice on the third day, is forbidden by the lawgiver to do this, [0349C] because he leaves virtue imperfect, as though he could perfect it there.

VERS. 9.-- *When thou shalt reap,* etc. It is enjoined in the present chapter that we have love one toward another, that we be lovers of the poor and merciful toward them. For we ought to give to the needy, and not to exact debts by violence, and to grant the leavings of our goods, imitating God the giver of all things. Therefore he wills that they who reap or gather the vintage should leave something for the poor man and for the stranger, lest he seem ungrateful to the giver of all, who gave riches to some, and willed others to live upon the leavings of others; that so he might prove the stewardship of the rich, and the patience of the poor. For he does not cast off the poor and the strangers, for whom even in this way he has provided food. [0349D] Whence he adds: *I am the Lord your God,* namely, who make men rich, who for you become poor, who because of the misery of the needy and the groaning of the poor will one day arise.

*When thou shalt reap,* etc. He plainly shows that the doctors of the Jews do not take in the interpretation of the whole law, but leave certain things to the poor man and the stranger, that is, to the Gentiles, to whom it is said: *Blessed are the poor,* etc. [n: (Matth. V)]. Who are also strangers, because they thrust themselves into the kindred of Abraham. What therefore is said: *Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery,* let the doctors of the Jews reap; but the things which have a spiritual interpretation, such as the cleansings, the sacrifices and the like, let them yield to the doctors of the Church, and the things which fall from those reapers, that is, the things which they themselves do not understand.

[0350A]VERS. 10.-- *Neither in the vineyard.* [n: (ISICH.)] The vineyard of the Lord of hosts, etc., *as far as* that the divine utterance may be proved by experience.

VERS. 11.-- *Ye shall not commit theft,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 86 in Levit.)] This is set down in the Decalogue, etc., *as far as* and detestable things follow such an error.

*Ye shall not lie.* He shows the kinship of sins. We reckon many things small which are greatest, such as lying, perjury; which are joined to theft, and rightly, because these work together with theft.

VERS. 12.-- *Thou shalt not forswear thyself,* etc. LXX: *Ye shall not lift up,* etc., *as far as* such oaths ought not to be made, or, if they are made, to be kept.

*Neither shalt thou pollute,* etc. By cursing, because thou canst not [0350B] transgress an oath. For God, by whom thou swearest, so far wills good things that, if he threaten evils, he nevertheless does not bring them, if he see men repenting, that he may bestow his mercy.

VERS. 13.-- *Thou shalt not do calumny.* [n: (AUG., ubi supra. )] All the things which are forbidden to be committed against a neighbour are to be referred to this one thing which was said: *Thou shalt not hurt thy neighbour.* For as to what follows: *Thou shalt not seize,* unless it be referred to this, that no hurt be done by seizing, it comes about that a man does hurt by not seizing, for the sword must be seized from a madman.

VERS. 13.-- *Neither shalt thou oppress by force,* etc. Little by little he instructs the hearer, and joins the things which seem small to great ones: so that they who are terrified by the appointed penalty of evils may abstain from the lesser. For they who are associated in the commandment, [0350C] are so also in the penalty. For he who has offended in one is guilty of all [n: (Jac. II)]. Therefore he joins force to calumny. Nor does it make a difference in what way a man loses his goods, whether by fraud, or by power, or by any other way whatever.

*It shall not tarry,* etc. The wages, namely, on which perhaps he lives with wife and children and parents. If it is deferred, his living fails; even if he receive it on the morrow, he has suffered force and calumny, because meanwhile he had not that whereon to live.

*The work of the hireling,* etc. The wages of the preacher are from the word of preaching: which ought not to tarry with us, that is, to be idle, until the morning, namely in the age to come, which succeeds this night, in which there is unquenchable light. For from the increase of the disciple [0350D] grows the wages of the master.

VERS. 14.-- *Thou shalt not curse the deaf.* To curse the deaf is to disparage one who is absent and does not hear. To set a stumbling block before the blind is to do a thing that is indeed discreet, but to offer occasion of scandal to him who has not the light of discretion.

VERS. 15.-- *Thou shalt not do,* etc. (ISICH). The highest and perfect justice, etc., *as far as* and to mock the deaf and the blind belongs to the rich and the powerful.

VERS. 16.-- *Thou shalt not be a slanderer.* [n: (ISICH.)] LXX: *Thou shalt not walk in the house,* etc., *as far as* who is joined to so great a crime.

*Thou shalt not stand against.* As if to say, thou shalt not join thyself to those who lie in wait for their neighbours, as many do who, being allied with others, do what by themselves they cannot.

[0351A]VERS. 18.-- *Seek not revenge.* That is, be not carried away by the lust of avenging while thou reprovest, so as to wish to rejoice or to be consoled at another's evil, but rather to take counsel for him whom thou reprovest. Whence according to the LXX it follows: *Thou shalt not be angry with the children of thy people,* etc. For thus has anger rightly been defined, as that which is the lust of avenging.

VERS. 19.-- *Thy beasts,* etc. [var: Vulg. Lv 19:19 *Jumentum tuum*, in the singular] These things to the letter seem to be ridiculous, nor were they observed by the prophets and by spiritual men. Whence David says: *Set my son Solomon upon my mule [n: (Eccli. XIX)]*. [var: Vulg. 3 Rg 1:33 *imponite Salomonem filium meum super mulam meam*] But it will be needful, according to the letter, to abominate the things which were born of such mingling. Whence: *The valiant woman also shall find wool and flax, and hath wrought a useful thing with her hands [n: (Prov. XXXI)]*. [var: Vulg. Pr 31:13 *Quaesivit lanam et linum, et operata est consilia manuum suarum*, "She sought wool and flax, and hath wrought by the counsel of her hands"]

VERS. 20.-- *If a man shall sleep,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Since [0351B] he had forbidden beasts to be mingled with beasts of another kind, that is, that those who are under the yoke of Christ should take up the yoke of the law: he opportunely subjoined this, showing that even before the coming of Christ whosoever was outwardly mingled with the Jews had need of the sacrifice of the true ram.

Note how great is the difference between liberty and servitude. For in a free woman betrothed the penalty of adultery is death, but in a bondwoman of marriageable age, and, according to the LXX, *kept for a man,* that is, betrothed, a sacrifice is commanded to be offered, not death to be inflicted. Yet these things are to be understood spiritually.

*Of marriageable age.* LXX: *Kept for a man,* that is, the Synagogue kept for the law, which could not be betrothed to Christ before the letter of the law died. Whence: *Ye are dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye may be another's [n: (Rom. VII)]*. [var: Vulg. Rom 7:4 *mortificati estis legi*, "ye are made dead to the law"] [0351C] The bondwoman is the Synagogue, according to that: *Abraham had two sons, one of the bondwoman, and one of the free [n: (Gal. IV)]*.

*They shall both be beaten.* LXX: *There shall be a visitation for them,* that is, they shall be freed from the servitude of the law, according to what is said to the children of Israel who were to be freed out of Egypt: *Visiting I have visited you.*

*And they shall not die.* For although they acted according to the letter, not according to the spirit, because they were ignorant of the lawgiver's intention, yet they the more easily obtained pardon.

VERS. 23.-- *When ye are entered,* etc. He continues in his purpose, showing that the Jews had not good fruit before the coming of Christ, when he says that the fruit is not to be eaten in the three years, nor is it clean, but [0351D] is to be cleansed in the fourth year, nor is it said what the cleansing is. Spiritually therefore is that to be understood which is said.

*When ye are entered into the land.* By the land he means the divine Scripture, which the Jews first received. Whence they were commanded to plant fruit-bearing trees. But the planting of trees is the meditation of the law and preaching, according to what is said: *I planted, Apollo watered,* etc. [n: (I Cor. III)]. The commandments were indeed good, like fruit-bearing trees, but they did not do what they owed, following only the letter. The fruit therefore, that is, the working of the law, was unclean for three years, from Abraham to David, from David to the transmigration of Babylon; thence to Christ, as [0352A] Matthew distinguished [n: (Matth. I)]. In the fourth year he commends the fruit of the law as holy and praiseworthy, yet not as being edible for the Jews as yet. For the fruit of the law in the fourth year, that is, in the coming of Christ, is holy and praiseworthy, which the Holy of holies made, whose works are praiseworthy and glorious. Whence also, over the paralytic carrying his bed, they glorified God *[n: (Matth. VIII)],* who gave such power to men: but the Jew did not yet eat, because he was not converted. But in the fifth year, that is, when the apostles preached, whosoever believed ate the fruit of it.

*And ye shall plant,* etc. [n: (GREG., lib. VIII Moral., cap. 35.)] Fruit-bearing trees, etc., *as far as* to rejoice in the night of the present life.

VERS. 26.-- *Ye shall not eat,* etc. He shaves away the whole leaven of the Jews [0352B] and of the Gentiles. Whence now he forbids the servitude of the law, now the error of the Gentiles.

[n: (AUG.)] Not to eat upon the mountains is not to be fed with proud thoughts, of which Isaiah says: *Every mountain and hill shall be brought low [n: (Isa. XL)]*. Not to augur by birds is not to attend to those things which snatch away the seed of piety. To shear the hair round is to consecrate one's thoughts to the demons. To shave the beard is to corrupt the perfection of virtue by working feignedly. Not to cut the flesh is not to take up delights, which both harm the soul and corrupt the body. The stigmata are wicked doctrine, which is fixed in the soul and is with difficulty done away.

*Ye shall not augur,* etc. By the part he signifies the whole, condemning all superstitions of this kind. For he who takes care to observe such things seems to defame God, [0352C] as though he had conferred more knowledge upon birds than upon men.

VERS. 27.-- *Neither shall ye round off the hair,* etc. As the barbarians do: every man ought to be content with natural ornaments, lest he seem to accuse the Creator, as though unable to perfect his own work, nor in honour of the demons to nourish and cherish ringlets, as the pagans are eager to offer the heads of their boys to the demons, which he seems here chiefly to forbid.

## CHAPTER XIX. (cont.)

VERS. 28.-- *Stigmata.* The lawgiver takes care also for our comeliness, that we may not misuse the flesh even in those things which disfigure the body.

VERS. 29.-- *Prostitute not thy daughter.* The carnal one, or the soul. Whence Psal. XXI: *Deliver, O God, my soul from the sword, and my only one from the hand of the dog.* These, [0352D] by withdrawing from God, commit fornication with the demons.

VERS. 30.-- *Keep my sabbaths.* From the one sabbath every lawful rest is called a sabbath. So from one general abstinence the lawgiver is at pains to run through the particulars, commanding us to abstain from every evil. Whence he adds: *And fear my sanctuary.* For as they who approach worthily sanctify it, so they who presume wickedly, and approach unclean, so far as in them lies, pollute it, as Nadab and Abiu. Whence the Apostle: *Among you are many weak and feeble,* etc. [n: (I Cor. XI.)] Thence it is added: *I am the Lord,* holy, namely, and also dwelling in the holy ones and avenging the wrong done to the holy ones

VERS. 31.-- *To the magicians.* LXX: *Ventriloquists, that is,* [0353A] pythons, or false prophets, who out of the belly of their heart bring forth certain fables and stinking doctrines.

*Neither to the soothsayers,* etc. LXX: *Poisoners,* who, namely, invoke the names of the demons, and sometimes heal the body, that they may kill the soul.

VERS. 32.-- *Before the hoary head,* etc. *In old men is wisdom, and in length of time prudence [n: (Job XII)]*. [var: Vulg. Job 12:12 *In antiquis est sapientia*, "In the ancients is wisdom"] Hence Paul says: *Let the priests be accounted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine [n: (I Tim. V)]*.

VERS. 33.-- *If a stranger dwell,* etc. The land given us by God is the cultivation of the virtues, namely, and good doctrine. If therefore any man will be converted to our faith, and be enrolled a citizen of our land, let us not afflict him, nor lay upon him a heavy yoke, as the Pharisees did, [0353B] of whom it is said: *They bind heavy and insupportable burdens, but with their own finger they will not move them [n: (Matth. XXIII)]*. Let him be to us as one home-born, who, namely, has been nourished in the faith, and has grown in piety. Hence Peter says to those who wished to circumcise the believers of the Gentiles: *Why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the necks of the disciples? [n: (Act. XV.)]*

VERS. 35.-- *Do not,* etc. In the foregoing he commands that justice be kept in judgment, here in weights and measures, and that we do not misuse to injustice the boundary-stones of justice: for these are the boundary-stones of sellers and buyers, as the laws are of judges; that men may beware of every injustice against a neighbour. For what to the rich man are the possessions of fields and the treasures of money, that to the poor man is a measure of wine and of wheat, and the like.

[0353C] [n: (ISICH.)] *Do not,* etc. In the judgment of the mind we ought not to act unjustly, nor to corrupt the measures of natural justice, judging our own sins in one way and our neighbour's in another. *For with what judgment we shall have judged, it shall be judged also of us; and with what measure we shall have measured, it shall be measured again to us [n: (Matth. VII)]*. [var: Vulg. Mt 7:2 *judicaveritis ... judicabimini ... mensi fueritis, remetietur vobis*, in the second person: "with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged"]

VERS. 36.-- *A just balance,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Let us have divine balances also, and just divine measures; that is, let us keep the laws of divine Scripture holily and justly: bringing in nothing of our own, taking away nothing of theirs, lest this be said to us: *Why do you transgress the commandment of God for your traditions? [n: (Matth. XV)]*.

## CHAPTER XX.

VERS. 1.-- *The Lord spoke,* etc. Frequently [0353D] the law repeats the same things, that it may fix the memory of them in the reader: yet it inserts certain new things, lest it should seem superfluous. But by inquiring into the new things, the things already said are inquired into more studiously. Whence above, in forbidding certain things, it kept silence as to the penalty, so that we, asking what or of what kind it is, should diligently investigate it in what follows. For since above he forbade sacrifice to be made to Moloch, he repeats that same thing by adding the penalty: *the people,* namely, *of the land shall stone him,* not the princes alone. Nor content with these things he adds: *I will set my face against him,* etc.

VERS. 4.-- *But if being negligent,* etc. He stirs up others against him, and terrifies them, if they shall have neglected a penalty so studiously enjoined, God himself being angry and passing sentence.

[0354A] *And will not,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] It is an evil to allow even those who are without to commit fornication away from God and to cleave to the devil: but much more from the midst of the people, for this is to yield the whole flock to the wolf. But those who consent, who, namely, are able to accuse, or to reprove, or to admonish, and do not do it, shall not escape judgment. God sets his face upon him, of whom it is said: *But the countenance of the Lord is upon them that do evil,* etc. [n: (Psal. XXXIII)].

VERS. 6.-- *The soul that shall turn aside to magicians,* etc. It is a great sin to turn aside to magicians and soothsayers: for this is to withdraw from God. But there are intelligible magicians, who prophesy false things in the name of the Lord; there are soothsayers, deceivers and flatterers, who with poisonous words corrupt the hearing of many and turn them away [0354B] from the truth.

VERS. 9.-- *He that curseth his father,* etc. [n: (ORIG., hom. 11 in Lev.)] Concerning these he gave commandments above, etc., *as far as* that he may not punish the contemptuous servant.

[n: (ID.)] The name of father or of mother, etc., *as far as* do they turn it, with depraved senses, to some earthly city?

*His blood,* etc. Because he himself is to himself the cause of death. If he is so punished who has cursed a carnal father, how shall he be punished who has blasphemed Christ, and did not obey him who says: *Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost,* etc. [n: (Joan. III)], he shall die the death, namely, and being estranged from the kingdom of heaven he is guilty: for nothing heavy, nor toilsome, or laborious has been enjoined upon him.

[0354C]VERS. 10.-- *If any man commit adultery,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 73 in Lev.)] Here he willed something to differ, etc., *as far as* than man to man.

*If any man commit adultery,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Adultery is a bodily evil, etc., *as far as* who committed this charge to him.

VERS. 11.-- *He that sleepeth,* etc. These things have been said and expounded above, where it was said: *Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father,* etc. But here he openly touches him who does the same as his neighbour, and, not blushing at the fellowship of the sin, betrays it; in which the lawgiver has established the penalty of death. But he joined the husband to the stepmother, because what is done wrong against a father by a son, this is committed against a son by a father, and the impiety is alike on either side.

[n: (ORIG., ubi supra. )] It was said above, etc., *as far [0354D] as* not only according to the quality, but also according to the quantity.

VERS. 13.-- *He that sleepeth with a male,* etc. This sin is an injury to nature: whence also it was decreed that it be punished with death. But spiritually let us beware of making effeminate by wicked words or actions him who is strong in mind and male (for a man, in divine Scripture, is named one perfect in virtues), lest we be dissolved together with him and die together.

VERS. 14.-- *He that upon his wife,* etc. He decrees a savage penalty for this offence. For as to those who are begotten of the mother, and those whom the daughter has borne, since the father is one, it is uncertain whether they are brothers or uncles. Let so uncertain a mingling therefore be guarded against. But because concupiscence is the mother of every sin, [0355A] if there be any concupiscence in us, let us not join action to it. For he who does this is burned with fire, both his concupiscence and his action. *For if by the spirit we shall have mortified the deeds of the flesh, we shall live [n: (Rom. VIII)]*. [var: Vulg. Rom 8:13 *si autem spiritu facta carnis mortificaveritis, vivetis*, in the second person: "if you mortify ... you shall live"]

VERS. 15.-- *He that with a beast,* etc. Excessive strictness is exercised against those who were so wicked and given over to lust that they lusted after unheard-of crimes: whence upon men or women mingled with four-footed beasts he laid the penalty of death. Nor will this law be superfluous for the faithful, if by four-footed beasts we understand depraved wills bent down to the earth: which have not hands as men have, because they lack all human action, whence they have no kinship with us. A man therefore or a woman, who not by the weakness of nature but by deliberation [0355B] shall have cleaved to them or come together with them, is guilty of death. They too are said to die when those are dead, for neither do they subsist by themselves, nor is there any substance of sin, but it works in sinners.

[n: (AUG.)] *He that with a beast,* etc. It is asked: how is the beast guilty, since it is neither rational nor capable of law? or is it as metaphorical words are transferred from one animal to another, as a wind is called wicked, or the sea angry, so here too a transfer is made from the rational to the irrational? For therefore were the beasts commanded to be killed, because, defiled by such an outrage, they rub up again an unworthy memory of the deed.

VERS. 17.-- *He that taketh his sister,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] This seemed tolerable, because Abraham says of Sara: She is my sister by the father, and not by the mother: [0355C] but Moses, enumerating those who were begotten of Thare the father of Abraham, nowhere made mention of Sara. But if Abraham married his own sister, yet he did it before he knew God. Rightly therefore did the law forbid such a union.

*He that taketh,* etc. Tropologically, he sees and takes the nakedness of a sister by the father and not by the mother, who admires and imitates a base action of his father or of his mother (in which, namely, they went wrong): not only searching out the things which he ought not, but joining himself to the depravity of his parents, which is called his sister, as though begotten of the same parents. But because sons publish their parents' sins by doing the like, rightly is the penalty inflicted in the sight of the people; or according to the LXX: *In the sight of the sons of his own race,* namely of those who think to [0355D] imitate such things: that the affliction of one may be the correction of many.

*He shall have seen the nakedness,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 75.)] That is, shall have known her by lying with her, as in that place: *Adam knew his wife [n: (Gen. IV)]*, that is, was mingled with her. But as to his saying: *They shall bear their iniquity,* that is, the sin itself was the penalty.

VERS. 20.-- *He that shall come together,* etc. The lawgiver intends to urge continence, that we may not after the manner of cattle be continually mingled with women, but that, as it were constrained, we may come by little and little to the habit of containing. But it is a wonder that he now commands such to be destroyed from among his people, when above he had appointed for the same a law of purification. Let us therefore contemplate the menstruous wisdom of the Gentiles, far from God, disputing of the flight of birds, and the course of the stars, [0356A] and the measures of heaven. To sleep with her, that is, to take delight in her, or to uncover and bring forth openly her nakedness, and to listen to her setting forth the fountain of all error, is impious. Therefore let such a one be killed from the midst of his people, lest he be named a man who, by not knowing the image of God and himself, has estranged the Creator from himself. She too shall be killed, lest she be named wisdom, because the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God [n: (I Cor. III)].

*The nakedness,* etc. He forbids sons to be mingled with the sisters of their parents, that generations be not confounded, and that reverence be shown to parents. But according to the spirit we ought both to veil the sins of our parents, and those of them who are associated with them as brothers and sisters, since, when these are stripped bare, the parents cannot lie hid. Whence he adds: *He shall uncover the shame of his own flesh.* LXX: *He shall die [0356B] without children,* that is, without virtues, which is the worst barrenness.

*He that shall come together,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] He shows that for the sake of children, etc., *as far as* it is like the things above.

*[n: (AUG., quaest. 76. in Lev.)] He that shall come together with his father's wife,* etc. Whosoever shall have slept with his kinswoman, etc., *as far as* that is, let them by no right succeed their parents.

VERS. 22.-- *Keep my laws,* etc. It is not enough to keep a part of the law; we must needs observe all the precepts and judgments.

VERS. 23.-- *Walk not,* etc. Not to the Jews only, but to all nations are these things to be observed, if they will serve God.

VERS. 24.-- *With milk.* With the delights of blessedness, than which nothing is sweeter, nothing more pleasant, and they shall be without all labour and [0356C] sorrow, like honey and milk, which are prepared without our labour.

VERS. 26.-- *I am the Lord. Think not, saying: What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be covered? for after all these things do the nations seek [n: (Matth. VI)]*. [var: Vulg. Mt 6:31 *Nolite ergo solliciti esse, dicentes: Quid manducabimus*, "Be not therefore solicitous, saying: What shall we eat"] But they who follow a loftier manner of life and recompense ought to be separated from the rest of the nations. *Separate,* etc. Beasts of burden or cattle the law calls the common people: winged creatures, the contemplative. Every common man is judged clean by most, because of his simplicity. Likewise the contemplative, but it is not so: for the common man ought to be prudent in good, simple in evil, for he alone is clean. The contemplative also ought to have a clean conscience, and [0356D] faith unfeigned. They who have not these turn aside to vain talk, *understanding neither the things they say, nor whereof they affirm [n: (I Tim. I)]*. Diligently therefore are the clean to be separated from the unclean, that we may follow the clean, and flee the unclean. But it is to be noted how discreetly this lawgiver distinguishes among the four-footed beasts and the winged creatures, and not among the creeping things of the earth. For all the things which move upon the earth are unclean, and they savour of earthly things, whose *God is their belly* [n: (Philip. III)].

*And the things which,* etc. [n: (AUG., quaest. 76 in Lev.)] He seems to say that these things are not by nature unclean, but for the sake of some sign of a mystery, because he says that he showed them to be unclean, as though they would not have been unclean to them unless they had been shown.

[0357A] *With stones.* Because with vain errors they seduce the simple people; whence they nourish the belly, and desire to please their hearers: such as many are today in the Church, of whom Paul says: *For these serve not Christ, but their own belly, and by sweet words and blessings seduce the hearts of the innocent [n: (Rom. XVI)]*.

## CHAPTER XXI.

VERS. 1.-- *The Lord said also to Moses. . . . Let him not be defiled,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] That is, let him omit nothing of those things which it is expedient for a priest to teach, etc., *as far as* for he will not be able to be ignorant of the sin of those who dwell with him.

VERS. 2.-- *But only in his kinsfolk. [n: (HIERON., epist. ad Fabiolam, tom. I.)]* Over every soul that is dead, etc., *as far as* but to the lesser ones something is [0357B] allowed.

VERS. 5.-- *They shall not shave the head.* [n: (ID., ibid. )] But the high priest, etc., *as far as* to whom Christ granted that they should be light.

*They shall not shave the head,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] The law forbids priests to grieve too bitterly over the dead, etc., *as far as* that he may be able to exhort, to reprove, to rebuke.

*They shall not pollute the name,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Which is great among the nations. But you, says Malachias, *have polluted it in that you say: The table of the Lord is forsaken [n: (Malach. I)]*. [var: Vulg. Mal 1:12 *Mensa Domini contaminata est*, "The table of the Lord is defiled"] For in the sin of the sacrifice the priests pollute the name of God.

VERS. 7.-- *A harlot,* etc. Any priest whatsoever, for of the high priest he will speak afterwards, that he take to wife none but a virgin. [0357C]

*Who is put away,* etc. Because she is found blameworthy, the priest ought not to take her to wife, nor to preach beforehand the literal observance of her.

VERS. 8.-- *Let them be therefore holy,* etc. If the priests keep the sanctification already given them by God, they sanctify God himself: who, since he is holy in his nature, willed to be sanctified by the partakers of his glory.

VERS. 9.-- *The daughter of a priest,* etc. It is grievous that the daughter of anyone should commit fornication, but most of all of a priest, who ought to have sons subject in all chastity.

*The daughter of a priest.* The Synagogue is called not only the wife but also the daughter of God; but depraving both, she became an alien. Whence: *The daughter of Sion shall be left as [0357D] a covert of a vineyard,* etc. [n: (Isa. I)]. And elsewhere: *Their mother hath committed fornication [n: (Ose. II)]*: that she was burned with fire, the traces of the burning show.

VERS. 10.-- *The high priest,* etc. Christ, *our great Lord, and great is his power,* who for us was made priest and victim.

*Are consecrated.* Other priests used to consecrate, or consummate, in the blood of a calf and of a ram, namely, their own hands: but he in his own blood, with his hands crucified.

*He shall not rend his garments,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] For from the time that the Word was made flesh, etc., *as far as* these are truly holy vestments.

VERS. 11.-- *To any dead man,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] [0358A] LXX: *A dead soul. The soul that shall have sinned, the same shall die [n: (Ezech. XVIII; Isa. LIII)]*. By this death the nations chiefly perished, which had neither law nor doctrine; but Christ bore the sins of all, and yet remained undefiled.

*[n: (AUG. quaest. 81 in Lev.)] To any dead man,* etc. LXX: *Over any dead soul he shall not go in.* How he calls it a dead soul, etc., *as far as* which he did not forbid according to the second.

VERS. 12.-- *[n: (ID., quaest. 82.)] He shall not go out from the holy places.* While, namely, their funerals are being celebrated, he was forbidden to go out from the holy places, etc., *as far as* that on some days the incense was not laid on.

*Over his father. [n: (ORIG., hom. 14 in Lev.)]* Every man is polluted in father and mother, etc., *as far as* or [0358B] they stain the liberty of their heavenly mother with the unworthy servitude of sin.

[n: (AUG., quaest. 85 in Levit.)] It can be asked, etc., *as far as* as Scripture testifies of Aaron himself.

*I am the Lord. [n: (AUG. quaest. 84.)]* Of Moses also it was said, etc., *as far as* nor was the visible sanctification judged superfluous, because the invisible went before.

VERS. 13.-- *He shall take a virgin to wife.* [n: (HIERON., epist. ad Fabiolam. )] A widow is she whose husband, etc., *as far as* whence: *For I have espoused you to one husband, a chaste virgin,* etc.

I would not have the disciple and spouse of a high priest keep anything of the old man. *If we have risen with Christ, let us savour the things that are above,* [var: Vulg. Col 3:1-2 *si consurrexistis cum Christo, quae sursum sunt quaerite ... quae sursum sunt sapite*, in the second person] forgetful of the past, [0358C] eager for what is to come. The unhappy Simon, who after baptism thought of his old marriage, and had not come to virginal purity, was unworthy of Peter's fellowship.

VERS. 14.-- *But a widow and one put away,* etc. [n: (ORIG., hom. 12 in Levit.)] He who sins is cast off; even if the bishop keep silence, whether from ignorance or from negligence, such a man's favour profits nothing; a soul that is cast off Christ does not take to wife, nor a polluted one, which, namely, has willed and desired so great a sin, because the great high priest requires a wholly pure soul, which he may join to himself and make one spirit. He who sins unto death is cast off; he who sins venially is polluted.

*A foul one,* etc. Who goes after her lovers, namely the demons, who desire to commit adultery with the beautiful soul, that is, the soul made to the image of God.

[0358D]VERS. 17.-- *A man of the seed.* [n: (ISICH.)] These things according to the letter only, etc., *as far as* he strives against it very reproachfully.

VERS. 18.-- *If blind* [n: (ISICH.)] Not knowing the light of contemplation, pressed down by the darkness of the present life, who, while he does not diligently look upon the light to come, knows not whither to direct the step of his work.

*If lame.* [n: (ID.)] Who, namely, sees whither he ought to go, but by the weakness of his mind cannot do what he desires.

*If with a little, or a great, or a crooked nose.* [n: (ID.)] He is of a little nose who is not fit to hold the measure of discretion: for by the nose we distinguish odours and stenches. A great and crooked nose is the immoderate subtlety of discretion, which, [0359A] growing more than is fitting or seemly, confounds the rightness of action.

VERS. 19.-- *If with a broken foot.* [n: (ISICH.)] Who cannot go the way of God, and has no share in good work, not like the lame man, who at least with his weakness was holding

VERS. 20.-- *If crook-backed.* [n: (ID.)] Pressed down by earthly care, not looking back to the things above, gazing only on the lower things.

*If blear-eyed.* The blear-eyed is he whose wit flashes out to the knowledge of the truth, but whose carnal working darkens it. For in the blear-eyed the pupils are sound, but with the humour flowing down the eyelids grow thick, and by its frequent flooding even the keenness of the pupil is impaired.

*If he have a white speck.* [n: (ID.)] He has a white speck who is not permitted to see the light of truth, because he is blinded by arrogance of wisdom [0359B] or of justice. For the black pupil sees, the white does not see: because the sense of human thought, if it understands itself to be foolish or a sinner, lays hold of the knowledge of the inward brightness: if it attributes to itself the whiteness of justice or of wisdom, it shuts itself out from the knowledge that is above.

*If a continual scab.* [n: (ID.)] Over whom, namely, the wantonness of the flesh rules without ceasing in the mind. For in a scab the heat of the inward parts is drawn to the skin, in which lust is signified, because in like manner the temptation of the heart leaps forth into action.

*If a ringworm in the body. [n: (GREG. Past., part. I, cap. 11.)]* He has a ringworm in the body, etc., *as far as* because through all vices it supplants the mind. *For the root of all evils is covetousness [n: (I Tim. VI)]*.

*Or one that hath a rupture.* Others, *burdened,* because, namely, he does not practise baseness [0359C] in deed, but is still weighed down in mind by continual thought: who with all his thoughts flows down to wantonness, as though bearing in his heart the weight of baseness.

VERS. 21.-- *Every one that hath a blemish* Whosoever is subject to any of these vices is forbidden to offer bread to the Lord, lest he be unable to wash away others' offences, whom his own offences still lay waste. [n: (AUG., quaest. 35 in Lev.)] All doubt has been taken away, etc., *as far as* by whom it was necessary that the incense be laid on.

A priest ought to be unspotted in mind and in manner of life, whom, as Moses commanded him to be clean from twelve blemishes according to the LXX, so Paul admonished to keep twelve, saying: *Not proud, not angry, not given to wine,* etc. [n: (I Tim. II.)] [0359D] For he is the steward of God, who ought to excel his subjects in virtues. This also is done in the Church: if any man has been spotted, and by repenting has ceased, he is not forbidden to communicate with the holy ones: but to minister, or to approach to the veil and to the altar, is not lawful. For the veil and the altar are the body of Christ, whence Paul: *We have an altar whereof they have no power to eat who serve the tabernacle [n: (Hebr. XIII)]*. And elsewhere: *Having confidence in the entering into the holies by the blood of Christ, a new and living way which he hath dedicated for us through the veil, that is, his flesh [n: (Hebr. X)]*.

*And he must not defile,* etc. By acting disorderly let them scandalize the people, thinking the ministry of God, and justice and judgment, to be superfluous.

[0360A]VERS. 24.-- *Moses spoke,* etc. He commends the dignity of Moses: for to others God speaks few things, but to him all things, because he is just and is the image of Christ. He admonishes us also to give heed to the greater and more perfect, who continually enjoy the eternal vision.

## CHAPTER XXII.

VERS. 2.-- *Which they themselves offer,* etc. Which they offered, namely, to the priests, to be offered by them to the Lord. Note the kind of sanctification which comes about by the vow and devotion of the offerer; but whether men are said in the same way to sanctify themselves, when in some matter they vow themselves, is to be observed.

VERS. 3.-- *Every man that approacheth,* etc. As if to say, let him not only abstain from the ministry and the mystical office, [0360B] but let him not even touch the things which have been offered, for the clean must approach clean things.

VERS. 4.-- *Who shall be a leper,* etc. He does not abominate the leper who is perceived by the senses, who suffers unwillingly, but the spiritual leper: which he there sets forth: *He that toucheth what is unclean by reason of the dead,* or, according to the LXX: *Every uncleanness of the soul,* that is, sin.

*From whom,* etc. [n: (HIERON., epist. ad Fabiolam. )] If any of the priests have an issue of seed, *as far as* let him be held by the manner of no other.

VERS. 9.-- *Let them keep,* etc. To those who keep the precepts of the Lord they are a cause of justification and of salvation; but to those who transgress, of sin and of death, and chiefly in the receiving of the holy things. *For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself,* etc. [0360C] [n: (I Cor. XI.)]

VERS. 10.-- *The sojourner of the priest,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] He who is not purely nor diligently occupied in the Church, as one about to migrate, namely for the sake of glory or of gain, is spoken of as a hireling: who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not [n: (Joan. X)].

VERS. 12.-- *Married to any one of the people.* [n: (ID.)] It is not enough to be nourished in the faith of Christ: we ought to abide and to grow in it; nor to be mingled with any of the aliens, that is, with a doctrine or a law or an action alien from God: nor, because we are of faithful fathers, are we therefore to presume upon the holy things, but let us persist where they too were faithful.

VERS. 14.-- *He that eateth of the sanctified things,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] The holy of holies, etc., *as far as* Whence Solomon: [0360D] *When thou sittest to eat with a prince, consider diligently what is set before thee [n: (Prov. XXIII)]*.

*He shall add the fifth part,* etc. LXX: *Upon it.* The fifth part therefore is commanded to be added not from elsewhere, but from it and with it, or upon it: this is the word brought forth by Christ himself upon the Lord's mystery. He himself removes us from ignorance, and let no man think it carnal or earthly. Here it is rightly called a fifth part, because the spirit and the word which he delivers composes our five senses; nor does it bring forth the taste only to the mystery, but the hearing and the sight, and the touch and the smell, that we may suspect nothing earthly of the things which are above.

*And he shall give it to the priest in the sanctuary.* [n: (ISICH.)] The sanctification of the mystical sacrifice, and the passage from things sensible to things intelligible, [0361A] must indeed be given to the priest: because by his power and word the things which are seen are sanctified, so that they surpass all the senses.

VERS. 15.-- *Of the children of Israel.* He signifies the faithful people, who through this mystery see God: and whosoever consecrates to God for the Lord's sacrifice, they are the holy of holies, because of them the body of Christ is made. For he himself is the firstfruits of our lump: therefore he rightly subsists of our firstfruits.

VERS. 17.-- *The Lord spoke,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Not only the priests, etc., *as far as* for otherwise it will not be received.

VERS. 18.-- *A man of the house of Israel,* etc. To the letter also, if thou offer an ox or a sheep or a she-goat, or anything of this kind, by giving firstfruits to the priests, [0361B] or by feeding the poor, or by setting up divine buildings, or by doing anything that pertains to God himself (for therefore is it called a holocaust), let this oblation be undefiled; yet he does not name the defilement, that we may understand the spiritual defilement which is from rapine, injustice, avarice, and the like.

VERS. 21.-- *The man that offereth,* etc. He has commanded that the oblation of the people be clean: he adds what kind the ministers ought to be, and to offer.

*Of peace offerings,* etc. Such as avail unto salvation and peace: even if a man cannot perfectly philosophize, like him who has left all things, who is zealous for virginity and the like. *For star differeth from star in brightness [n: (I Cor. XV)]*.

VERS. 22.-- *If it be blind,* etc. He who does not know God and his ministry, nor can set it forth to others; [0361C] whence about himself and about others, and about the ministry, he acts negligently. Whence: *See that they have all been without knowledge, all dumb dogs, not able to bark [n: (Isa. LVI)]*. [var: Vulg. Is 56:10 *Speculatores ejus caeci omnes; nescierunt universi: canes muti non valentes latrare*, "His watchmen are all blind, they are all ignorant"]

*If broken.* In foot or in hand: whose action, namely, or will is weak or twisted, he is not worthy of salvation and of the holy altars.

*If it have a scar.* He marks the detractor: for this man is the worst in his manners, and a most bitter wound is not easily assuaged.

*If it have pimples.* LXX: *a cut tongue:* he, namely, who because of a sordid life has lost his confidence in teaching; whence David: *God said to the sinner: Why dost thou declare my justices?* etc. [n: (Psal. XLIX.)]

*Scab or ringworm.* The fornicator is signified, [0361D] who stains his own body. *For he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body [n: (I Cor. VI)]*.

*You shall not offer them to the Lord.* LXX: *They shall not offer these to the Lord:* for such are not to be offered to the ministry of the altar. He does not add the sacrifice of peace offerings as above, that we may understand this to be said of the ministers of the altar, who ought to be a holocaust, and to lead a perfect and consummated life. *The ear and the tail being cut off,* etc. He is cut off in the ear who is disobedient, who delights in base words, turns away from good things.

*Voluntarily,* etc. For such a man either works the commandments, and is called an ox; or is simple, and is called a sheep. Therefore we do not altogether oppose them, or reckon them on the enemy's side, but we teach and exhort them.

[0362A] *Or bruised,* etc. He who yields to the temptations brought upon him, and loses the strength of his soul. For it behoves us not to suffer these things, nor to yield to the enemy that afflicts us. Whence: *Wherefore do I go sorrowful, whilst the enemy afflicteth me [n: (Psal. XLI)]*? [var: Vulg. Ps 41:10 *quare contristatus incedo, dum affligit me inimicus*, "why do I go about mourning"]

*And taken away.* He who by one depraved action cuts himself off, as with a knife, from union with God, deprived of the offspring of virtue and of the signs of manhood: for it is another who is worn away little by little.

VERS. 27.-- *The ox, the sheep and the goat.* [n: (ISICH.)] Nature is the mother of all, etc., *as far as* whence Solomon: *Praise not a man before his death [n: (Eccli. XI)]*.

VERS. 28.-- *They shall not be sacrificed.* [n: (ISICH.)] It signifies the legal pasch, because Moses delivered these things to be sacrificed by the Jews on the day of the pasch, saying: *Thou shalt sacrifice the pasch to the Lord thy God; sheep,* etc. [n: (Deut. XVI)]: [var: Vulg. Dt 16:2 *Immolabisque Phase Domino Deo tuo de ovibus, et de bobus*, "And thou shalt sacrifice the Phase ... of sheep and of oxen"] this [0362B] pasch they cannot celebrate who have received the true one.

*In one day,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Because the old pasch had its own time, etc., *as far as:* On the morrow they crucified Christ.

## CHAPTER XXIII.

VERS. 1.-- *These are the feasts of the Lord.* [n: (ISICH.)] If thou attend subtly to things present, etc., *as far as* he rests in the intelligible sabbath.

VERS. 4.-- *These therefore are.* Not to the Lord, as all the others are, but the Lord's properly, in which, the enemy being overcome, he saved the human race, and brought it back from captivity [n: (Exod. II)].

VERS. 5.-- *On the fourteenth day,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Let us ask the Jews, etc., *as far as* on which Christ our passover was sacrificed, etc.

[0362C] *It is the Phase of the Lord.* Because the Lord suffered, he did not straightway end the times, but left the remnants of the last and evening hour, that their sound might go out into all the earth [n: (Psal. XVIII)], that is, the sound of the apostles, and their words unto the ends of the world. At evening also, or at mid-evening, forestalling his cross he kept his own passover, because upon the mystical passover he delivered the true one to the disciples. It was night therefore already when Judas, having received the morsel, went out to betray him: on the following day he fulfilled the passover. Whence on the fifteenth day the lawgiver appointed this festival, and proclaimed the solemnity of the unleavened bread.

VERS. 6.-- *Seven days,* etc. If we would truly keep the passover, for seven days, that is, always, we ought to be unleavened of all malice, and most of all of [0362D] the Jewish error. Whence the Apostle says: *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)]*.

VERS. 7.-- *All work,* etc. *Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin [n: (Joan. VIII)]*. We ought not to serve sin, when we keep the passover, in which Christ set us free from sin.

*Servile,* etc. He does not permit servile things to be done on the other days on which he forbade us, whence he adds: but you shall offer a sacrifice in fire to the Lord.

VERS. 8.-- *A sacrifice,* etc. LXX: *holocaustomata,* where it is hinted that he commands them to cease from all servile things; moreover he named not only the first, but the seventh also, that he might take in the whole of [0363A] human life, because that is the beginning, this the end, in which all things can be comprehended.

VERS. 11.-- *On the next day.* He could have said, the second day of the unleavened bread: but lest he should draw our attention to the following day, that is, to the morrow of the first, he said, on the next day, signifying the resurrection which came after the passion, as day comes after day.

VERS. 12.-- *And on the same day.* Of the resurrection, that is, of the lifting up of the sheaf, that is, when we keep the resurrection, we ought not to forget the Lord's sacrifice, from which the sheaf was offered.

VERS. 13.-- *Two tenth parts.* For it behoves the perfect humanity and the perfect divinity to come together into one: in oil, that is, through the mercy which he had toward us; for so the sacrifice is found an odour of sweetness [0363B] to the Lord, if we understand of him the things that are worthy.

*The cakes also.* Behold the intelligible oblation of Melchisedech, which is accomplished in bread and wine [n: (Gen. XIV)]; thence a fourth part is offered here, that by the fourth part the evangelical doctrine may be signified; but by the drink offering the Lord's word, in which he says: *This is my blood, which shall be shed for many unto the remission of sins [n: (Matth. XXVI)]*.

VERS. 14.-- *Bread.* The oblation of present gifts, which is the mystery of Christ, has reconciled us to God, and has prepared new food.

*Parched corn.* LXX: χίδρα νέα, that is, you shall not eat new grain roasted, or rubbed with the hands and cleansed: for so others interpret χίδρα, chidra, because [0363C] the precepts of Christ require action and correction [n: (Matth. XI)].

VERS. 16.-- *Fifty days, and so,* etc. This is the Lord's day, on which we keep the festival of Pentecost, which the Jews keep neither according to the letter nor according to the spirit, who do not even number the days according to the law.

*You shall offer a new sacrifice,* new, not old, not worldly. For the Spirit at his coming renewed the whole of human life, because he confirmed the institution of Christ, and perfected in them the confirmation of life: whence, *He shall receive of mine, and shall show it to you [n: (Joan. XVI)]*. Therefore he came not on another day, but on that on which the resurrection was, and the intelligible sheaf was offered, that he might show that the new manner of life was perfected by the resurrection of Christ and the coming [0363D] of the Holy Spirit.

VERS. 17.-- *Your dwellings,* etc. Because there is a chief dwelling, of which it is said: *Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, O Lord [n: (Psal. LXXXII)]*. And elsewhere: *One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after, that I may dwell,* etc. [n: (Psal. XXVI)].

*The loaves of the firstfruits.* For the Lord first perfected and taught the Gospel together with the law. *You have heard that it was said to them of old: Thou shalt not kill: But I say to you: Whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment [n: (Matth. V)]*: for hereby he joined the law to the Gospel. Hence Luke says: *Which Jesus began to do and to teach,* etc. [n: (Act. I)].

*Of two tenth parts,* etc. That is, of the doctrine which [0364A] teaches the perfect divinity and the perfect humanity, and they cannot be baked otherwise than by such doctrine.

VERS. 18.-- *Seven lambs.* For the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, which he calls lambs, because the Holy Spirit is one with Christ, of whom it is written: *Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who taketh away the sins of the world, therefore no man can say, the Lord Jesus, but in the Holy Spirit [n: (Joan. I; I Cor. XII)]*.

*And two rams.* By which the enemy is winnowed away. These are the higher commandments, and the virtues, which others follow as sheep, for example: *Go and sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor [n: (Matth. IX)]*. [var: Vulg. Mt 19:21 *Vade, vende quae habes, et da pauperibus*; the *omnia* is Lc 18:22, and Matthew has the saying at ch. XIX, not IX]

*With the drink offerings,* etc. Which are knowledge and correction; whence: *But thanks be to God, who manifesteth the odour of his knowledge [0364B] by us, because we are the good odour of Christ,* etc. [n: (II Cor. II)]. [var: Vulg. 2 Cor 2:14 *odorem notitiae suae*; Migne's *scientiae* is the very word the gloss expounds]

VERS. 19.-- *And two lambs,* etc. The commandments of peace and of holiness, whence: *Follow peace with all men, and holiness,* etc. [n: (Heb. XII)]. Because these were spoken in the apostolic word, he commands them to be offered with the loaves of the firstfruits, which signify the doctrine of Christ. Whence in what follows: *And when the priest shall have lifted them up with the loaves of the firstfruits [n: (Joan. X)]*.

VERS. 20.-- *They shall fall to the use,* etc. To the use of that priest, that is, of Christ, who is our priest and our Lord: his are the loaves of the firstfruits and the lambs of the commandments, he spoke in Paul, he offered all the things that have been said; he first announced peace to the disciples, and kept holiness, as the Holy [0364C] of holies.

VERS. 21.-- *Most solemn.* In which the calling of the nations was not only foretold, but fulfilled: when Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and the rest of the nations, heard the apostles speaking in divers tongues the wonderful works of God [n: (Act. II)].

VERS. 22.-- *After that,* etc. He seems to have said the same things above, but there: *You shall not complete your reaping;* and here he says: *You shall not cut it down to the ground,* and the very change of words hints at a difference.

*The corn of the land,* etc. Of the manner of life, whose reaping is after the resurrection of Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit; yet the word of preaching does not deliver all the knowledge which we are to have in the time to come. For there are things [0364D] which cannot now be revealed to us [n: (Matth. VIII)], whence among the aforesaid festivals he set this law between.

*To the poor and the strangers.* LXX: *to the poor man and the proselyte,* that is, to Christ, who had not where to lay his head, and *came unto his own, and his own received him not.* Here he understands only those who remain; whence: *O the depth of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! how incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways! [n: (Rom. XI.)]* [var: Vulg. Rom 11:33 *O altitudo divitiarum sapientiae et scientiae Dei*, "the depth of the riches of the wisdom"]

VERS. 24.-- *In the seventh month, on the first day of the month.* The number seven signifies a consummation, either particular or general. Hence God rested on the seventh day [n: (Gen. II)]; and by his rest he signified ours; whence: *He that is entered into that rest, hath rested from his own works, [0365A] as God did from his [n: (Heb. IV)]*. [var: Vulg. Heb 4:10 *Qui enim ingressus est in requiem eius, etiam ipse requievit ab operibus suis, sicut a suis Deus*, "into his rest"] But the beginning of the consummation of the times is the coming of the Lord, whence: *Little children, it is the last hour [n: (I Joan. II)]*. This time he calls the first day of the seventh month, since the beginning of the consummation is a rest to us also, whom he has made to cease from evil works, and has freed from the heavy yoke; whence: *Come to me, all you that labour and are burdened,* etc., *and learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart, and you shall find rest to your souls [n: (Matth. XI)]*.

*With trumpets sounding.* Because it proclaims the resurrection of the Saviour, which is a memorial of the general resurrection, which according to the Apostle shall be in the voice of an archangel and in the trumpet of God, etc.

VERS. 25.-- *You shall do no servile work therein.* As if [sicut] there were no need of doing servile things: before, you did them, *but [0365B] as you have yielded your members to iniquity unto iniquity, so now yield them to serve justice unto sanctification [n: (Rom. VI)]*: for this is the true holocaust.

VERS. 27.-- *On the tenth day,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] From these things we understand that propitiation and deliverance from sins are gained in humility and affliction of soul. This we ought to keep from the evening, that is, to begin from penance, which Christ made the beginning of his preaching [n: (Matth. IV)]: upon penance a good life, consummated in virtues, is to be built. Whence he added: *And you shall offer a holocaust to the Lord.*

VERS. 28.-- *A day of propitiation.* [n: (ISICH.)] It signifies two things, that in this time we shall receive propitiation, [0365C] and therefore in it we ought to abstain from all evil.

VERS. 31.-- *Nothing therefore.* He signifies that there must always be a ceasing from evil and superfluous things. Whence the Lord neither allows a cause to be pleaded, nor allows us to think what shall be eaten, or what drunk, or what put on; for he proclaimed a true sabbath too, and a sabbath of sabbaths.

VERS. 32.-- *You shall afflict.* It is a recapitulation of humility, which is the foundation and base of the virtues. Whence the Lord says: *Whosoever shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven [n: (Matth. XVIII)]*.

VERS. 34.-- *From the fifteenth day.* [n: (ISICH.)] With this number the festival is begun, etc., *as far as a building not made with hands is had in the heavens [n: (II Cor. V)]*.

VERS. 36.-- *The day also.* [n: (ID.)] Note that the same things are said of [0365D] the first and of the eighth, namely because the day of the resurrection is the second, and the beginning of the age to come. The first is, in Christ, the beginning of the manner of life and the opening of things to come; but the eighth succeeds the present age, which he signifies in the number seven. Moreover the saints have rest and the life to come in this life. Whence it was said to the apostles: *The kingdom of God is within you,* etc.

*An assembly.* LXX: a going out, because hence is the departure, there the dwelling, whence: *I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ [n: (Philipp. I)]*.

VERS. 37.-- *These are the feasts of the Lord,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Paul accords with the lawgiver, etc., *as far as* whether in dangers, or of our own will, we promise.

VERS. 39.-- *From the fifteenth,* etc. The fifteenth, composed of seven and eight, signifies the evangelical preaching, [0366A] which consists of the present life and the life to come; the one it composes, the other it prepares.

*On the first day and on the eighth day.* [n: (ID.)] Which is the eighth, etc., *as far as* because for the faithful who keep the law a rest is reserved in the time to come.

VERS. 40.-- *On the first day, the fruits.* [n: (ID.)] The fruit is Christ, etc., *as far as* in his own time.

*And the branches of palm trees,* etc. The youthful shoots of justice, because *the just shall flourish like the palm tree;* and because nothing of the palm is rejected, nor anything of those who live justly, he adds, *and the boughs of thick trees.*

## CHAPTER XXIII. (cont.)

*And the boughs of trees.* Namely all the fruits of the virtues, but chiefly mercy, which ought to be continual and abiding. Whence: *The oil shall not fail from thy head [n: (Eccle. IX)]*. [var: Vulg. Eccle 9:8 *et oleum de capite tuo non deficiat*, "let not the oil depart from thy head"; Migne's future indicative turns the precept into the promise the gloss reads]

[0366B] *Of the torrent,* etc. Namely of the present life, which flows like a torrent, boiling up with temptations and tribulations, whence: *He shall drink of the torrent in the way, therefore shall he lift up the head [n: (Psal. CIX)]*, hanging, that is, upon the cross.

## CHAPTER XXIV.

VERS. 2.-- *Command the children of Israel.* [n: (ISICH.)] The candlestick is the evangelical life, etc., *as far as* where the merciful hide their treasures.

VERS. 3.-- *Until morning,* of the age to come: for then there shall be no time for praying, or for giving alms, whence: *Say not to thy friend, Go and come again, and to-morrow I will give thee: for you know not what the day to come may bring forth [n: (Prov. III, XXVII)]*. [var: Vulg. Prv 3:28 *Ne dicas amico tuo: Vade, et revertere: cras dabo tibi*, and Prv 27:1 *ignorans quid superventura pariat dies*; Migne's *nescitis* puts the second clause in the plural]

VERS. 4.-- *Upon the candlestick,* etc. Christ, who [0366C] is the true light *and enlighteneth every man that cometh.* And *he did no sin, neither was guile found,* etc. [n: (Isa. LIII)]. [var: Vulg. Is 53:9 *eo quod iniquitatem non fecerit, neque dolus fuerit in ore eius*; the words printed here are those of 1 Pt 2:22 *qui peccatum non fecit, nec inventus est dolus in ore eius*] Upon him burns the lamp, that is, the Holy Spirit, who appeared in fiery tongues upon the disciples: to him we ought to offer the purest oil, that is, a clean life, knowing that not all men can kindle it (that is, the fire), but Christ alone and his sons, who, full of the Spirit, says, *The Spirit of the Lord is upon me [n: (Isa. LXI)]*. Who also says, *I am come to cast fire upon the earth, and what will I but that it be kindled? [n: (Luc. XII.)]* Breathing this upon them, as though kindling it, he says: *Receive the Holy Spirit,* etc. [n: (Joan. XX)]. But this lamp is not kindled save by a clean life and manner of living, or, once kindled, is quickly quenched, whence: *Extinguish not the Spirit,* etc. [n: (I Thes. V)].

[0366D]VERS. 5.-- *Thou shalt take also. [n: (BEDA, lib. I de Tabernac., cap. 7, tom. II.)]* Twelve loaves upon the table of the tabernacle, etc., *as far as* that through the labours and good works of the temporal life we may hasten to it.

*Thou shalt bake twelve of it. [n: (ORIG., hom. 13 in Exod.)]* The word of the Lord is bread, but manifold, etc., *as far as* the bread is set upon a clean table, that is, upon a holy and pure mind.

VERS. 10.-- *And behold,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] An Israelite woman, etc., *as far as* who is blasphemed in Christ.

*And behold. [n: (ORIG., hom. 14 in Lev.)]* Two strive together: the one wholly an Israelite, etc., *as far as* for sometimes he who is put forth is within; and he who is without seems to be held within.

[0367A]VERS. 12.-- *And they put him,* etc. Moses does not of his own authority pronounce sentence against the blasphemer, but, reserving him to God's command, casts him into prison: for the law hates him who blasphemes, against whom it frequently preaches the Trinity, but not openly as the Gospel does; therefore it reserved him to the judgment of the Gospel. *He that hath not believed in the Son is already judged [n: (Joan. XXXI)]*, and the like. [var: Vulg. Jo 3:18 *qui autem non credit, iam iudicatus est*, "he that doth not believe"; *in Filium* belongs to Jo 3:36 *qui autem incredulus est Filio*, and John has twenty-one chapters, not thirty-one]

VERS. 15.-- *The man who,* etc. It is a manner of speech, as though it were said: this man or that man, that is, whatsoever man. Not, as some think, that man, man is so said in praise, as who should say "a man indeed"; but man, man, that is, of whatever sort, even like to a beast, yet one who is truly a man; and that this sense is not the true one, but that this belongs to the manner of speech of the Scriptures, is here plainly shown, [0367B] since it is said of him who is blamed, not of him who is praised.

*Man,* etc. *[n: (AUG., quaest. 87 in Lev.)] If he shall have cursed his God, he shall bear his sin. But he that nameth the name of the Lord, let him die the death;* as though it were one thing to curse one's God, etc., *as far as* the kind of speech is to be noted.

[n: (ISICH.)] LXX: *Man, man,* etc., *as far as* as the son of the Israelite woman named and blasphemed *(Josue VII)*.

VERS. 17.-- *He that striketh and killeth a man.* LXX: *He that striketh the soul of a man,* etc., that is, he who has drawn him to iniquity. But by the soul he understands the animal man, who perceiveth not the things that are of the Spirit of God.

[0367C] *[n: (AUG., quaest. 88 in Lev.)] He that striketh the soul of a man, and he shall have died,* etc. He does not say, etc., *as far as* for this is for the soul of a man to have been stricken.

VERS. 20.-- *A fracture,* etc. LXX: *Bruise for bruise,* that is, if by teaching, by persuading, by giving scandal, he shall have bruised some virtue of his neighbour.

*Tooth for tooth.* The virtue of speaking. For teeth are taken for words, whence: *The sons of men, their teeth are weapons and arrows,* etc. [n: (Psal. LIX)]. And *his eyes are more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk [n: (Gen. XLIX)]*. For the words of the Gospel are brighter and plainer than the milk of the law.

VERS. 21.-- *He that striketh,* etc. These things according to the letter were necessary for the Jews, who could not take in: *If any man shall strike thee on thy right cheek, [0367D] turn to him also the other [n: (Matth. V)]*. But since they were ill-willed, they wished to inflict evils, and not to suffer them. Therefore they had to be called back from wickedness by the fear of a like punishment.

VERS. 23.-- *And they brought forth,* etc. By the very trial he showed the law confirmed, that thou also mightest fear to blaspheme, and mightest flee sin, which not the prince only but the whole multitude avenges. For all in common ought to punish blasphemers, who have not feared to disparage the author of all, and to sever all men from him.

## CHAPTER XXV.

VERS. 1, 2.-- *And the Lord spoke,* etc. *When you shall have entered,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] The land is a good manner of life, of [0368A] which it is said: *Thy good spirit shall lead me into the land,* etc. [n: (Psal. CXLII)].

VERS. 3.-- *Six years,* etc. While we are in this life, we are in the visible creation also, which the number six signifies. For in six days were made all the things that are seen: but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of the land of the Lord. For when after the present time that sabbath shall have come, of which Paul says: There remaineth a sabbath-rest for the people of God, which the seventh day signifies, on which God rested from all his works, that is, from the visible ones [n: (Hebr. IV)], there shall then be no time for working.

VERS. 3.-- *Thou shalt sow thy field,* etc. By the field and the vineyard, when he forbade the one to be sown and the other to be pruned, every kind of land is to be understood: for neither in an oliveyard nor in a field of any other kind is anything [0368B] to be worked.

VERS. 5.-- *The things that grow of themselves,* etc. That is, of the things which we do here we shall eat the fruit in the time to come; whence: *For thou shalt eat the labours of thy hands, blessed art thou, and it shall be well with thee [n: (Psal. CXXVII)]*.

VERS. 6.-- *But they shall be,* etc. He does not forbid the Lord [cj: *Dominum*; read *Dominus*, "the Lord does not forbid"] to feed upon the things that grow of themselves, but to lay them up for his own use.

VERS. 8.-- *Thou shalt also number.* Let us ask the Jews, if the lawgiver (as they say) honoured the seventh day and commanded that men rest from works, why he commanded the fiftieth year to be kept: for seven weeks make forty-nine years. It would not therefore behove them to rest in the fiftieth, unless the law signified a mystery which the weakness of the Jews [0368C] could not take in. For a twofold consummation of all visible things is signified by God; one particular to each man, the other common to all, when there shall be no time for working; in the passages above he intimates the first, in these the second.

*Seven.* The age of man is divided into a week of days. When therefore this number shall have been multiplied by itself, and the whole age of the world completed, and the time rolled onward shall have come to its end, the fiftieth succeeds as it were to the forty-ninth year, in which shall be the resurrection, whence he adds: *And thou shalt sound the trumpet in the seventh month,* etc. Whence the Apostle: *In the trumpet of God they shall come down from heaven, and the dead who are in Christ shall rise incorruptible [n: (Thes. IV)]*. [var: Vulg. 1 Th 4:15 *in tuba Dei descendet de caelo: et mortui qui in Christo sunt, resurgent primi*, singular "he shall descend" and "shall rise first"; *incorrupti* is drawn from 1 Cor 15:52] For the trumpet must go before him that raises: therefore in the forty-ninth year, [0368D] in which is the common consummation, he commanded the trumpet to sound.

VERS. 9.-- *In the seventh month.* Because Christ came as it were in the seventh month of the world's age; the first month is that which was in paradise; the second, unto the flood; the third, unto Abraham; the fourth, until the going down into Egypt; the fifth, unto the transmigration; the sixth, unto the coming of Christ; the seventh is that coming itself.

VERS. 10.-- *And thou shalt sanctify the year.* As though it were to be awaited and thought upon in holiness, for *we ought to follow peace and holiness [n: (Hebr. XII)]*, *without which* no man shall see God.

*Every one.* Of the patriarchs and the prophets there is [0369A] a certain household of hospitality, over which Abraham presides. There is another of chastity, over which Joseph presides. And there is another of meekness, over which Moses presides [n: (Gen. XVIII, XXXIX; Num. XII)].

VERS. 14.-- *When thou shalt sell,* etc. Every man can sell or buy. Whence Paul: *We are all yours, as you also are ours [n: (I Cor. III)]*. [var: Vulg. 1 Cor 3:22 *omnia enim vestra sunt*, "for all things are yours"; the phrasing printed here is that of 2 Cor 1:14 *gloria vestra sumus, sicut et vos nostra*] This, according to the letter, instructs morally, that in our contracts we have compassion on our neighbours, that no man be too troublesome in trafficking upon the necessities of the poor, that he study not to acquire the possessions of others, but to lend to the needy, and to receive back what is lent little by little out of the fruits of the fields.

*According to the number* [n: (ISICH.)]. That is, according to each man's strength. For the years signify the age in which [0369B] it is made plain what each man can do according to the body.

VERS. 16.-- *The more* [n: (ID.)]. That is, if he can work much, much fruit shall be required; if he cannot do much, he shall repay little; for this one shall bear the thirtieth fruit, that one the sixtieth, and that other the hundredth [n: (Matth. XIII)].

VERS. 18.-- *Do my precepts.* Lest any man, having heard of this moderation in selling and buying, should grow the slower, and the very condescension should do harm, he cautiously adds: *Do my precepts,* etc. For he will have no man idle, but bear fruit according to his strength. And each man's conscience examines his strength.

*And my judgments,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Not corrupting their intention or their working; as, if a man gives an alms, let him not hurt one that he may profit another: for the precept [0369C] which bade alms be given willed that it should be just.

*But if you shall say,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Because he had commanded the land to rest for two years, lest they should be troubled, as men anxious what they should eat or what they should drink, he says: *I will give my blessing,* etc. [n: (Matth. VI)]. And it is to be noted that, whereas Christ says: *Think not of the morrow,* the law bids them not think of three years. [var: Vulg. Mt 6:34 *Nolite ergo solliciti esse in crastinum*, "be not solicitous for to-morrow"; the gloss turns on *cogitare*, thinking, which it carries over to the three years]

VERS. 21.-- *I will give my blessing.* [n: (ID.)] Christ. Whence *we have blessed you in the name of the Lord,* that is, in Christ, who is the name of the Father. He named the Father to us, and made him manifest; he came in the sixth year, that is, in perfection, which the number six signifies; and that he might reform the man whom he had formed on the sixth day. What is there the sixth day is here called the sixth year, because [0369D] between our forming and our reforming many ages have flowed away.

VERS. 23.-- *The land also. [n: (AUG., Quaest. 90 in Lev.)]* Other copies have, etc., *as far as* whosoever has, ought to use.

VERS. 25.-- *If being impoverished.* [n: (ISICH.)] What our substance is, etc., *as far as* he teaches how he may restore it.

*He may redeem.* [n: (ISICH.)] According to that, etc., *as far as* that it may in a manner be common.

VERS. 28.-- *Until the year* The year, because it has in itself all the hours, and the days and the months, and all the circuits, signifies perfection. But a sin that is perfect and long continued is not amended save by a perfect penance, [0370A] in which fasting, prayer, sackcloth, almsgiving and tears are gone through: for by these full remission is obtained.

VERS. 29.-- *He that shall have sold a house.* [n: (ID.)] The seller is not expressed, nor is he called a neighbour or a kinsman. For he is not one man, but the whole people: nor of the kindred of the Jews, but of Sodom and Gomorrha.

*He that shall have sold a house,* etc. In the chapter above he set forth the spiritual manner of life of each man; here he means to treat generally of the synagogue and of the Church, because the Church of the nations receives liberty, while the synagogue serves for ever, save only the Levites, that is, the apostles, and those who cleave to them.

*[n: (ORIG., hom. 15 in Lev.)] He that shall have sold a house,* etc. Of Jacob it is written, etc., *as far as* they always [0370B] receive penance, and are always redeemed.

VERS. 31.-- *By the law of the fields.* [n: (ISICH.)] Because in the Gospel they are near, not in the law. Therefore they can always be redeemed, and from the time that Christ came unto the second coming they are redeemed by parts.

LXX: *They shall be valued according to the field of the land,* of which, that is, it is said: *The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in a field,* that is, the Gospel, in which the treasure is the mystery of Christ.

VERS. 32.-- *The houses of the Levites. [n: (ORIG., hom. 15 in Lev.)]* If the house shall have been priestly or Levitical, etc., *as far as* the satisfying, that is, of desire.

VERS. 34.-- *The suburbs.* [n: (ISICH.)] Other fields, that is, the manners of life of the virtues, and of doctrine. These are set apart from their cities, which subsist through them [0370C] and are saved; and they are not sold, because they are received freely and freely given.

VERS. 35.-- *If he shall have been impoverished.* [n: (ID.)] Marvel at the wisdom and the piety of the lawgiver; for in lowly things he sets forth lofty ones, while according to the letter he gives a rule of piety.

*Who brought you out.* As though he said: As I freed you from the dominion of the Egyptians, and, the sinners being cast out, brought you into the land of the Chanaanites already promised, so I will not have you held under the dominion of sinners, nor embrace the fellowship of sinners; but when they shall be willing to repent, that you sustain them both by dwelling with them and by the bestowing of your substance.

VERS. 39.-- *If through poverty.* The letter is full of much piety, but the spiritual understanding is fuller.

[0370D]VERS. 40.-- *But as a hired servant.* Each of them is subject, yet this one is free: so he who has been converted through you is indeed subject, but by the dignity of divine grace he is a brother.

VERS. 43.-- *Afflict him not,* etc., because in what thou judgest, thou shalt be judged: and with the same measure that you shall have measured, it shall be measured back to you [n: (Matth. XVII)]. [var: Vulg. Mt 7:2 *In quo enim iudicio iudicaveritis, iudicabimini: et in qua mensura mensi fueritis, remetietur vobis*, "with what judgment you judge"; Matthew has the saying at ch. VII, not XVII]

VERS. 44.-- *Bondman and bondwoman.* [n: (ISICH.)] He shows what difference there is between those whom out of unbelievers we save unto God, and those already faithful and like to us in the dignity of calling and of manner of life, whom we correct when for a time they are impoverished in virtues: for these labour with us until the jubilee, but those are servants for ever.

[0371A]VERS. 45.-- *They that are of these.* [n: (ISICH.)] The heretics are kinsmen of the Jews, who preach the same mysteries with us, as though they were in our land: but they do not believe rightly and perfectly.

*These you shall have.* [n: (ID.)] Those whom we convert from among the nations or from the Jews or from the heretics, we acquire for ever as bondmen and bondwomen: because for them we spend the money of doctrine, and we can deliver them to our sons, that is, to our disciples, to be taught, as Paul committed the Cretans to Titus and the Ephesians to Timothy to be taught.

VERS. 46.-- *But your brethren.* As though they shall not be of the same dignity with you, those whom you have converted from among the ungodly, and those whom, being fallen, you have restored.

VERS. 47.-- *If he shall have grown strong.* [n: (ID.)] That is, if one newly joined to your faith, a Gentile, or a Jew, or a heretic, [0371B] shall have grown famous in virtues, so that he can reprove and exhort.

*If he shall have grown strong,* etc. According to the letter he shows how much he loves liberty. For therefore he does not permit an Israelite to serve strangers, but commands that he be redeemed.

*Whosoever shall will.* It is shameful that a man nourished in the faith from infancy should come under the mastership of such as have suddenly been made masters, whence Jerome: Yesterday in the market place, to-day at the altar; yesterday a companion of stage players, to-day a consecrator of virgins.

VERS. 49.-- *His uncle,* etc. [n: (ID.)]. Cousins are they who begot us in the faith; their brethren are preachers like to them; the sons of the brethren are the disciples of the like.

*A kinsman.* [n: (ID.)] One more remote than an uncle or a cousin, but nearer than a connexion by marriage. *For he that hath not care of his own, and [0371C] especially of those of his house, hath denied the faith [n: (I Tim. V)]*. [var: Vulg. 1 Tim 5:8 *Si quis autem suorum, et maxime domesticorum curam non habet, fidem negavit*, "But if any man have not care"; Migne's *Qui enim* turns the condition into a general maxim, and *abnegavit* strengthens the denial]

*A connexion by marriage.* [n: (ID.)] In the kinship of the faith of the incarnation of Christ, we who are of his flesh and of his bones.

*But if.* [n: (ID.)] The Holy Spirit acts for our liberty and our glory, and commands that whatsoever servant of sin there be, he be redeemed by virtues.

*And he himself.* [n: (ID.)] He who has been made poor in sin, though before he was rich in virtue and doctrine, rightly frees himself while by exhorting and counselling he calls himself back to virtue.

VERS. 50.-- *The reckoning being made.* [n: (ID.)] That is, by considering with himself by what virtue, etc., *as far as* therefore the Lord says to him: *This day is salvation come to this house.*

VERS. 51.-- *He shall render.* [n: (ID.)] According to the things in which he has sinned, [0371D] he must render the price. What gluttony has sinned, let fasting correct; what talkativeness has committed, let silence blot out; and in like manner contraries are cured by contraries.

## CHAPTER XXVI.

VERS. 1.-- *You shall not make.* He forbids the worship of idols, both visible and invisible.

*A graven thing.* [n: (ISICH.)] Desiring to carve some memorial of yourselves in the buildings of your houses and the holdings of your fields.

*Nor a remarkable stone.* [n: (ID.)] A heap of gold and silver or of precious stones, in which the covetous are led astray, even as the Gentiles are in idols.

VERS. 2.-- *Keep.* [n: (ISICH.)] By abstaining from all evil, [0372A] and being at leisure for every good: for this is the true sabbath.

VERS. 3.-- *If in my precepts* He has foretold what ought to be done, and what avoided. At the end he enumerates what rewards are due to those who keep them, and what punishments to the transgressors.

*If in my precepts.* [n: (ID.)] These things cannot stand according to the letter, etc., *as far as* the things that are signified in this chapter.

[n: (ORIG., hom. 16 in Lev.)] If the law is carnal, etc., *as far as, John came in the spirit and power of Elias.*

*My commandments.* Such as this: *He that keepeth not the sabbath, let him be stoned by the whole synagogue,* and the like.

*I will give you rain,* etc. And I will give: the *and* is superfluous by the custom of our speech, but is added after the manner of the Scriptures.

[0372B] *In their seasons.* [n: (ORIG.)] At a fitting time, not when a man is drunken, not when he is busied about other things: let the teacher therefore judge prudently to whom he should minister the rain and the measure of wheat, and to whom he ought to give milk, let him not give meat.

VERS. 4.-- *The ground shall bring forth.* LXX: *The trees of the field shall give their fruit.* [n: (ID.)] The motions of the soul, which are higher than the motions of the earth, that is, of our flesh, whose fruits are charity, justice, meekness and the like.

*The trees with fruit.* [n: (ORIG.)] *A tree cannot,* etc., *as far as* of which it is said: *She is a tree of life to them that have laid hold on her.*

VERS. 5.-- *The threshing of the harvest shall reach.* [n: (ORIG.)] The soul that buds forth from the word of God, etc., *as far as* there remains what is to be dispensed to the fellow servants in due time.

[0372C] *Shall reach.* For *bread strengtheneth man's heart, wine maketh it glad [n: (Psal. CIII)]*. The things that are said of continence, of observances and of the keeping of the commandments seem to be wheat, out of which is made the bread that strengthens hearts. But the things that pertain to knowledge, and gladden the mind by the searching out of hidden things, are likened to wine and to the vintage. For the heart is made glad when dark [occulta] things are explained.

*The vintage.* The fruit of the soul. For the vintage is a tree. But to have these together, that is, to bear fruit in body and in soul, is a matter of great blessing.

[n: (ISICH.)] For the soul, gathering her virtues, soon desires others. Whence: *Forgetting the things that are behind, I stretch forth myself to those that are before [n: (Philip. III)]*.

*The vintage.* [n: (ORIG.)] As if we should say, etc., *as far as* [0372D] that of the spirit we may reap life everlasting.

*Your bread.* That is, which came down from heaven, and gives life to the world; not that which abounds more to the evil than to the good.

*Without fear.* If the body shall have been steadfast, and the soul shall have borne fruit, we shall be secure in our own land, *because the flesh shall not lust against the spirit [n: (Galat. IV)]*. [var: Vulg. Gal 5:17 *caro enim concupiscit adversus spiritum*, "for the flesh lusteth against the spirit"; Migne prints a negative the Apostle does not, and cites Galatians IV for V]

VERS. 6.-- *And the sword shall not.* [n: (ISICH.)] Because there shall be peace in your borders; now from concupiscences come wars and strifes.

VERS. 7.-- *Your enemies.* [n: (ID.)] Slain by fasting, by prayer and the like; whence: *This kind is not cast out but with prayer and fasting [n: (Matth. XVII)]*.

*They shall fall.* LXX: *In your sight by your death,* [0373A] that is, your members being mortified which are upon the earth, that is, fornication, uncleanness and the like [n: (Col. III)].

VERS. 8.-- *They shall pursue.* [n: (ORIG.)] As the number five points to the wise and the foolish, etc., *as far as* lest they deceive believers.

[n: (ISICH.)] LXX, etc., *as far as* he can pursue and conquer.

*And a hundred.* They who have not only subtle knowledge but a perfect life also, who are spiritually cleared of blame, and are therefore called a hundred, namely those who bring forth a hundredfold fruit.

VERS. 9.-- *I will look upon you.* Whose look is salvation. The Lord looked upon Peter, and he wept bitterly. If the sun look not upon the corn, it remains without fruit. God looks upon the corn [0373B] of our heart, and enlightens us with the rays of his word, increases and multiplies us that we may be made great; as Isaac was made great, and Moses great, and John great.

*To increase.* In good works, that small things may become great. Whence: *What you have done to one of the least of mine,* etc. [n: (Matth. XXV.)] [var: Vulg. Mt 25:40 *Quamdiu fecistis uni ex his fratribus meis minimis, mihi fecistis*, "as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me"]

*You shall be multiplied.* That few things may become great or many. Whence: *If there be any other commandment, it is restored in this word: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself [n: (Rom. XIII)]*.

VERS. 10.-- *You shall eat.* [n: (ORIG.)] The old law and the prophets, etc., *as far as* and we have put on the new.

VERS. 11.-- *I will set.* If we have the things aforesaid, the old man being cast off our heart has been made new: *God comes to us and dwells in us [n: (Col. III)]*. [var: Vulg. has no such verse; compare Jo 14:23 *ad eum veniemus, et mansionem apud eum faciemus* and 2 Cor 6:16 *inhabitabo in illis*; Colossians III has nothing of the kind]

[0373C] *He shall not cast off,* etc. [n: (ORIG.)] I dare to say that the soul of God is Christ, as also the word of God is the wisdom of God and the power of God [n: (I Cor. I)]. It is therefore as though he said: my Son shall not cast you off.

*Soul. [n: (AUG., quaest. 93 in Lev.)]* God calls it his own soul, etc., *as far as* who say that Jesus had no soul.

VERS. 12.-- *I will walk.* [n: (ISICH.)] Being made man. Whence: *This is our God, and no other shall be accounted of beside him; after this he was seen upon the earth, and conversed with men [n: (Baruc. III)]*. [var: Vulg. Bar 3:36 *et non aestimabitur alius adversus eum*, "shall not be esteemed against him", and 3:38 *in terris visus est*, "upon the earth" in the plural]

VERS. 14.-- *But if.* [n: (ISICH.)] In the preceding chapter he set forth the good things of the obedient: but what are the evils of transgressors he shows in the present chapter, of which the Jews suffered some according to the letter: but all [0373D] according to the spirit.

VERS. 16.-- *In want.* [n: (ID.)] Of the word of God. Whence: *This saying is hard, who can hear it? [n: (Joan. VI.)]* Because they were transgressing the understanding of the law, that they might make void the evangelical testament, he spoke to them darkly, lest they should understand.

VERS. 17.-- *You shall flee, no man.* [n: (ID.)] Because the gentiles will not pursue them to drive them out, but hastening after their salvation, according to that: *But I follow after, if I may by any means lay hold [n: (Philip. III)]*.

*But if.* [n: (ID.)] He frequently uses distinctions of this kind, etc., *as far as* it signifies a full and entire vengeance.

VERS. 18.-- *I will add correction.* LXX: *And I will proceed [0374A] to chastise you seven times,* etc. Here too it is superfluous. But seven times is to be taken for every number.

VERS. 19.-- *And I will break the pride of your hardness.* Because *you say: We are the seed of Abraham, and we have never served any man [n: (Joan. III)]*: therefore you shall serve the nations.

VERS. 25.-- *A sword,* of the spirit, which is the word of God, which by preachers convicts the Jews, lest they gainsay the having of the Old Testament together with the Gospel.

*I will send into your cities.* The prophets, in whom the faithful find fortifications and salvation, while the enemies fleeing are taken, and there die, not being able to resist the prophets who speak openly of Christ.

[0374B]VERS. 26.-- *So that ten,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] They have not the bread of doctrine, etc., *as far as* therefore they are not filled who are fed with these loaves.

VERS. 27.-- *But if,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Moses is not only a lawgiver, etc., *as far as* and they blasphemed the author of the law.

VERS. 29.-- *The flesh of your sons.* That is, the disciples whom you take to yourselves for sons, that you may lead them into the same doctrine by words that are strong and that corrupt the soul.

VERS. 30.-- *You shall fall among the ruins.* For the people falls together with the Pharisees who fall spiritually, whom the people, intent upon their traditions, admired as idols.

VERS. 31.-- *Your cities.* According to the letter, or else the books of the prophets, in which they find no fruit of holiness.

[0374C]VERS. 34.-- *Then shall the sabbaths of the land please,* that is, its rest, namely while you keep holiday and are removed from the law, since in the law and the prophets you find not your own will.

VERS. 36.-- *It shall terrify them.* As the leaf hides the fruit, so the letter hides the spirit: take away the leaf, receive the fruit.

*The sound of a flying leaf.* A hyperbole: because they shall dread even the very lightest things.

*They shall fall when none pursueth.* For we do not pursue them, but follow after them that we may call them back.

VERS. 37.-- *They shall fall.* When we dispute with them, they bring forward divers testimonies by turns: but they shall be confounded by one another's words, and the one confounds the other [0374D] while he seems to be helping him.

VERS. 41.-- *Their uncircumcised mind.* Because they are uncircumcised in heart, defiled with the foreskin of vices, *for neither is that circumcision which is in the flesh [n: (Rom. II)]*.

*Then shall they pray for their impieties.* LXX: *They shall hold their sins acceptable,* that is, the punishments which they shall suffer for their sins.

VERS. 42.-- *Which I made with Jacob.* [n: (ISICH.)] Note that he has changed the order of time and of birth, etc., *as far as* but they are joined together as kindred and fitting.

*I will remember the land also.* [n: (ISICH.)] That is, the Scripture, which I will entrust to the Jews when they are cast out, who have transgressed [0375A] it, or were transgressing it, and interpreted it perversely.

VERS. 44.-- *And yet even when they were in the enemies' land.* Well does he speak kindly at the end of the chapter, and console with promises those whom he had frightened with threats.

*Not utterly. Blindness in part befalleth in Israel, until the fulness of the nations should come in; and the rest [n: (I Tim. II)]*. [var: Vulg. Rom 11:25 *caecitas ex parte contigit in Israel, donec plenitudo gentium intraret*, past *contigit* and simple *intraret*; the passage is Romans XI, not I Timothy II]

*Neither have I so despised them.* I who will the salvation of all: therefore after so great iniquities I save even the remnant of the Jews.

VERS. 45.-- *These are.* [n: (ISICH.)] Until a certain time, etc., *as far as* not by destroying, but by fulfilling.

*In mount Sinai.* Not in Sion. Whence: *The God of gods shall be seen in Sion [n: (Psal. LXXXIII)]*. And elsewhere: *Out of [0375B] Sion is the loveliness of his beauty. God shall come manifestly [n: (Psal. XLIX)]*. And in Malachias: *Suddenly shall come to his temple the ruler whom you seek [n: (Malac. III)]*. [var: Vulg. Mal 3:1 *et statim veniet ad templum suum Dominator quem vos quaeritis*, "and presently he shall come"]

## CHAPTER XXVII.

VERS. 2.-- *The man who.* [n: (ISICH.)] These words are full of prudence: above he commanded what things ought to be done and what not; now he sets forth the dignity of those who act, whether wholly or in part, what a perfect life has, what a middling one, what one that is beginning in the knowledge of God; and he describes also the differences of the ages.

*A soul.* [n: (ISICH.)] Aquila and Theodotion, *a wonderful thing.* Symmachus, *if he shall have separated himself.* LXX: *the honour of his soul.*

*From the twentieth.* [n: (ID.)] When he is grown, strong, etc., [0375C] *as far as* of which it is said: *Be you perfect as your Father also is perfect [n: (Matth. V)]*. [var: Vulg. Mt 5:48 *Estote ergo vos perfecti, sicut et Pater vester caelestis perfectus est*, "your heavenly Father"]

*Sicles.* [n: (ISICH.)] Or didrachmas, the sixtyfold fruit, etc., *as far as* whence: *Let a widow be chosen of no less than sixty years [n: (I Tim. V)]*.

VERS. 5.-- *From the fifth.* [n: (ID.)] He who has understanding, and has begun to make progress, but cannot be adorned with the manner of life of fasting.

*Unto.* [n: (ID.)] He who has begun to make progress in the five senses: for this man is advanced toward virtue and perfection. For they that are of twenty years are strong and vigorous.

*The male shall give twenty sicles.* [n: (ID.)] Or didrachmas, that is, forty drachmas; that is, four hundred obols. But the number forty signifies the yield of fasting and of prayers. [0375D] For so many days did Moses fast [n: (Exod. XXXIV)], and Elias [n: (III Reg. XIX)], and Christ himself, and afterward he was tempted by the devil [n: (Matth. IV)].

VERS. 7.-- *The female ten.* [n: (ID.)] Or didrachmas, that is, twenty drachmas or two hundred obols, namely the keeping of the ten commandments, which are doubled according to the letter and the spirit, in which fasting is not commanded, because it befits those who are advancing and not yet perfect.

*From one.* He is of one month who is now begotten in the faith, to whom it is said: *As newborn babes, reasonable, without guile, desire milk,* etc. [n: (I Petr. II)]. [var: Vulg. 1 Pt 2:2 *sicut modo geniti infantes, rationabile sine dolo lac concupiscite*, where *rationabile* belongs to the milk and not to the infants]

*Five.* Or didrachmas, namely that the male [0376A] may have his senses doubled, and may take in intelligibly the things he hears sensibly. For so is he led to perfection, on account of which his price is a hundred obols: and the number a hundred is perfect.

*For a female.* [n: (ID.)] For a female three didrachmas, etc., *as far as* as being already partakers of the evangelical manner of life.

*A man of sixty.* He who has promised an excellence of life, such as virginity, or the renouncing of the world, but has grown weak.

*He shall give fifteen.* Or didrachmas, which are thirty drachmas. For the good ground rendered three fruits [n: (Matth. XIII)]: the hundredfold, that is, to be a virgin or to renounce the world; the sixtyfold, namely continence; the thirtyfold, that is, the manner of life of chaste [0376B] wedlock.

VERS. 8.-- *If he be poor.* He who has sinned much; therefore Aquila rendered it, if *he has gone beyond.*

*He shall stand.* For if we have offered any one subject to us to the service of God, we ought not to take him back into our own ministry, promising in his stead either a better or a less good man.

*As much as he shall have valued.* That is, he shall lay upon him as much satisfaction as he shall have seen him able to bear: but if he is wealthy, that he distribute his money; if he is sound, that he fast, pray, labour.

VERS. 9.-- *A beast.* Because he has set forth the differences and the degrees of the oblations which are of ourselves: now he sets forth, concerning those who are subject to us as cattle, when their oblation is holy.

[0376C] *It shall be holy.* According to the law unspotted and clean: as if we have offered to God a son, a disciple, a servant, or any one subject to us.

VERS. 10.-- *Which.* That the oblation may be twofold, and the enemy be put to shame, who was suggesting that the oblation be changed.

VERS. 11.-- *An unclean beast.* [n: (ISICH.)] Which not at the same time, etc., *as far as* that it may be able to be offered to the Lord.

It is to be known that it is one thing to be sanctified, another to be holy, another to be offered to God, another to be God's. For that which is sanctified and offered begins to be holy, which it was not, and is increased little by little. That which is holy and is God's needs no increase, because it is perfect. It is good therefore to be sanctified by the doctrine and [0376D] help of others, but it is better to be such a man as can sanctify himself and others, which belongs to few. He therefore sanctifies a house to the Lord who wills his household and his kindred, both the sensible and the intelligible, to live purely and holily, that it may be the Church of God. But if of himself he is not fit to do this, the priest ought to consider whether it be good or evil. For it consists of divers persons, and he ought to enjoin upon them according to what they are able.

VERS. 13.-- *The fifth part.* The mind, namely, which rules the five senses, without which the foolish virgins are not received to the marriage [n: (Matth. XXV)].

VERS. 14.-- *If a man shall vow.* [n: (ISICH.)] In what follows he says: Everything that is consecrated to the Lord, whether [0377A] man, or beast, or field, cannot be redeemed; but here he commands that a house and a field be redeemed. But perhaps he decides this according to the differing intentions of those who offer, as though there he has no will to have any further what he has utterly consecrated.

VERS. 15.-- *But if he,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] To redeem is, by doctrine and by a rule of life, to set the household free, and to wash away whatever stands against holiness. But he shall add to the admonition and edification of the priest his own understanding, and frequent remembrance.

VERS. 16.-- *But if a field.* That is, the divine Scripture, whose vine is Christ, and the Father the husbandman [n: (Joan. XIV)]. In this the treasure is hidden, that is, the saving preaching: in this each man's possession is different, that is, the measure of knowing which each has been able to obtain [0377B] for himself.

*If thirty bushels,* etc. [n: (ID.)] In the thirty bushels of barley, the Old Testament. In the fifty sicles or didrachmas, according to the LXX, understand the spiritual and perfect doctrine. But when this rule is to be given in full, or to be lessened, understand by what follows: *If from the year of the beginning of the jubilee,* etc.

VERS. 17.-- *If from the very year.* [n: (ID.)] That is, if the way of grace, etc., *as far as* offering to the priest, he shall be possessed by him.

VERS. 19.-- *He shall add the fifth part.* His own understanding, to the priest's doctrine: for we are first governed by the doctrine and instruction of the priest, but afterward we ought to make progress and to add our own understanding.

VERS. 20.-- *But if,* etc. [n: (ID.)] He consecrates [0377C] the field and redeems the field, etc., *as far as* for the gain is his who governs continually.

VERS. 22.-- *And not of the possession.* Because it had been neither of the keeping of his forefathers, nor of the buyer himself.

VERS. 23.-- *The priest shall reckon.* Rightly does the priest, together with him who admonished the brother to penance, reckon the true redemption, that is, in what manner he ought to repent. For the one who corrected him knows strictly his action and his manner of life: but the other, as a priest, knows the perfect redemption.

*According to the number of years.* That is, out of the things which the Scripture preaches concerning penance: for that valuation is of the jubilee, or of remission.

*And he shall give it who had vowed him to the Lord.* He does not say [0377D] they shall give, but he shall give. For although the determining of the valuation is given by the common counsel of the priest and of him who admonished to penance, yet he who stirred him up to repentance shall offer him: for to this man he will be obedient, who himself also is bound to the penitent, that he may finish what he has begun.

VERS. 24.-- *But in the jubilee it shall return to its former Lord,* etc. Because he is not utterly cleansed straightway, when the penance is given or determined, but when it has been gone through; therefore he rightly says: *But in the jubilee,* etc., for when the penance has been gone through and remission received, he shall receive the field of his own manner of life.

VERS. 25.-- *Every valuation, weights by the sicle of the sanctuary.* That every determination be made by holy weights, that is, by such as come from Holy Scripture; for outward [0378A] weights, such as those of the philosophers or of the heretics, by which they weigh the truths and perfections of men, are neither holy nor just. [var: Vulg. Lv 27:25 *Omnis aestimatio siclo sanctuarii ponderabitur*, "shall be weighed by the sicle of the sanctuary"; Migne's *pondera* leaves the clause without its verb]

*A sicle of twenty.* That is, the ten commandments understood according to the letter and according to the spirit. But whosoever refuses either the law or the Gospel has not the didrachma, nor are his weights holy.

VERS. 26.-- *The firstborn which.* [n: (ISICH.)] The firstborn, as being our cattle, are they who obey us, sons, servants and disciples. But the firstborn of these are they who so obey as to furnish others with an example and a teaching, of whom it is said elsewhere: *Every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord (Lucae II)*. For he opens the womb of the sons to be begotten who begins to obey according to God. Whence [0378B] Paul says of Timothy: *Who is my beloved son in the Lord, he shall put you in mind of my ways,* etc. [n: (I Cor. IV)]. [var: Vulg. 1 Cor 4:17 *qui est filius meus carissimus et fidelis in Domino: qui vos commonefaciet vias meas*, "my dearest and faithful son"]

*No man shall be able to sanctify and to vow.* Not because they are unworthy of sanctification, but because they are holy, and need not be sanctified: as a son who so honours father and mother that he becomes an example to others also, offering honour as it were to God, who commanded this [n: (Exod. XX)]. So too a servant, who serves even carnal masters in simplicity of heart and not to the eye, pays his service to God himself [n: (Eph. VI)].

VERS. 27.-- *But if it be unclean.* [n: (ISICH.)] A sinner, who neither meditates on the law as he ought, nor endeavours to distinguish. Whosoever therefore is vehemently obedient to father, master or teacher, and yet does not meditate on the law [0378C] or distinguish, is indeed a firstborn among the cattle, but he is unclean.

*And he shall add the fifth part of the price.* Offering him doctrine together with understanding, and ruling him wisely. For it belongs to a senseless father, master or teacher not to teach obedience to those who belong to him and are subject to him, and not to order their life that they may work according to the law. Let him therefore add understanding to subjection and to doctrine: for that alone is clean in the present time. Therefore he says: *He shall add the fifth part of the price.* For obedience has a price: therefore he did not say, the priest shall value him, as above.

VERS. 28.-- *Everything that is consecrated to the Lord, whether man.* [n: (ISICH.)] It is one thing to anathematize, etc., *as far as* that is, the manner of life of our lot.

[0378D] *Whatsoever hath once been consecrated.* [n: (ID.)] What is acquired by the right of war, no man can despoil the enemy of it, etc., *as far as* they receive neither increase nor advancement.

VERS. 30.-- *Of the Lord.* [n: (ID.)] That is, of him who works the commandments of the law, etc., *as far as* because he knows not what reward he ought to look for.

VERS. 31.-- *If any man.* [n: (ID.)] According to the letter the lawgiver has set between many dark and insoluble things, etc., *as far as* and the fruits of the trees in their own season.

VERS. 32.-- *Under the shepherd's rod.* [n: (ID.)] The rod of the cross, etc., *as far as* and they are known by him alone who discerns the saints.

[0379A]VERS. 33.-- *It shall not be chosen, nor,* etc. Because there is none that can be rejected, and what is the more to be chosen is not of your discerning.

*If any man shall change it,* etc. [n: (ISICH.)] Paul and Barnabas once disagreed, etc., *as far as* writing to Timothy he says: *Taking Mark, bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry [n: (II Tim. IV)]*. [var: Vulg. 2 Tim 4:11 *Marcum assume, et adduc tecum*, "take Mark, and bring him with thee"]

*It shall be sanctified to the Lord,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Since the course of them all is divine, and lofty, and near to the heavenly manner of life, in vain for those who strive to withdraw this one, [0380A] to bring in that one, and to consecrate him to God as though better.

VERS. 34.-- *These are the precepts which he commanded,* etc. [n: (ID.)] When our disciples are perfect, they have no need of our teaching: therefore he says that the firstborn of the unclean are to be redeemed, but those of the clean by no means; nor the things consecrated to the Lord, nor those that were last named: for they have been shown to be perfect, because they bear a divine and heavenly intention.