Liber Isaiae prophetae
by Anselm of Laon and his school
Source text: Public Domain. English translation/apparatus/encoding: CC BY-NC 4.0, Wroot Press.
https://migne.app/pl/113/liber-isaiae-prophetae/
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## PROLOGUE OF ST. JEROME ON THE PROPHET ISAIAH.

[n: ( Vide Hieron. in Isa., Operum tom. IV. )]

## THE LIFE OF ISAIAH[n: (Ex Epiphanio, lib. de Vitis prophetarum.)]

[1231B]Isaiah was born at Jerusalem of noble stock, and there he prophesied: under king Manasseh, cut into two parts, he met his death. And he was buried beneath the oak of Rogel, beside the crossing of the waters which king Hezekiah had once blocked up with cast dust. For God makes the spring Siloam for the Prophet's sake, since before he died he prayed a little while that he might deign to fashion waves there. And at once he sent down to him from heaven living water, whence that place obtained the name Siloam, which, if one interpret it, sounds "sent down." Under king Hezekiah also, before he had built the pool and the fish-ponds, it was brought about by Isaiah's prayers [1232B] that a scanty water should well up, because the people was being held in a siege of enemies, and lest the city itself should perish, forsaken of waters. In everlasting memory of which thing the people carefully gave the Prophet back to the soil in that place with glory and honor, so that through his intercessions, even to the consummation of the age, the fruit of water of this kind might be obtained, to whom, that is, they credited the use they had received. And the monument of Isaiah stands next to the burial-place of the princes, behind the tombs of the priests, toward Notus and the southern quarter. For Solomon, in building Jerusalem, raised up the mausolea of the kings, according as David had prescribed them.

## PREFACE ON ISAIAH.

[1231]

[1231C] [n: (HIERON. in Isa. )] Isaiah, a man noble and of urbane eloquence, having nothing of rusticity in his speech, is to be called not so much a prophet as an evangelist: for he pursues the mysteries of Christ and of the Church so clearly that he might be thought to be weaving a history of things past. Now he prophesied in Jerusalem and in Judah, the ten tribes not yet being led captive; and of both kingdoms he wove his oracles, now mingled together, now apart. And although at times he looks to the history then present, and signifies the return of the people into Judaea after the Babylonian captivity, yet he bends all his care upon the calling of the nations and the coming of Christ.



## CHAPTER ONE.

[1231D]

VERS. 1.-- *The vision of Isaiah,* etc. There are three kinds of vision: the first bodily, by which we see heaven and earth and things of this sort; the second spiritual, by which we see, as in dreams, the images of men and things of this sort; the third intellectual, which is in the reason, by which we know the Creator, and, the Holy Spirit [1232C] revealing it, understand anything at all. "To see" is also often put for "to understand": whence we often ask, saying: Seest thou, that is, understandest thou? Prophets too are hence called seers, that is, understanders. This vision Isaiah saw by the Holy Spirit, that is, at his intimation, he understood the things that were to come upon them. Whence at the beginning he does not set down visions as Daniel does, nor does he say what he saw; but at once he says: Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth.

[n: (HIER. in Isa., tom. IV)]. Not only Isaiah, etc., *as far as* they were not therefore ignorant, according to Montanus, who saw in this way.

[n: (ID., Ibid. )] "Isaiah" is interpreted, etc., *as far as* and [1232D] when he shall have done all things, he says: *I am an unprofitable servant; what I ought to have done, I have done.* [var: Vulg. Lc 17:10 has the plural, "We are unprofitable servants: what we ought to have done, we have done."]

*The son of Amos.* [n: (ID., ibid. )] Amos, the father of Isaiah, is not the third of the twelve Prophets, etc., *as far as* they contend that they were Prophets.

*Upon Judah and Jerusalem.* [n: (ID., ibid. )] Isaiah principally [1233A] concerning the two tribes, etc., *as far as* that these things were foretold for the correction of the two tribes.

*The vision of Isaiah,* etc. [n: (HIER., ibid.)] For Judah, in whom the two tribes are signified, etc., *as far as* of which: *Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem, for thy light is come.*

*In the days of Ozias. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* Ozias is himself the man who is also Azarias, etc., *as far as* so that our histories may appear more ancient than those of the Gentiles.

VERS. 2.-- *Hear, O heavens,* etc. [n: (ID., ibid.)] Above, who the Prophet is, etc., *as far as* since this belongs to the power of God, and not to earthly understanding.

*The Lord hath spoken. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* Not to you, but to me, that what I have heard in the spirit I may report to you, who do not deserve to hear him yourselves.

*I have brought up sons. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* In that he says: I [1233B] adopted them as sons, etc., *as far as* whence: *He gave them power to be made the sons of God.*

VERS. 3.-- *The ox hath known,* etc. [n: (ID., ibid.)] Whence: *Thou shalt not plow with a calf and an ass together [n: (Deut. XXII)]* [var: Vulg. Dt 22:10 reads *in bove*, "with an ox"]. Like Ebion, etc., *as far as* to whom it is said: *Come to me, you that labor and are burdened.*

*The ass.* The Gentile, or the wanton man converted, unclean before, burdened with sins, who has believed the incarnation of Christ, who as soon as he was born was laid in a manger, that by the bridle of his own flesh he might feed all men.

*Israel.* [n: (HIER., uti supra. )] The Scribes and Pharisees, having the key of knowledge and of the law. Whence they were called Israel, "those who see God."

*He hath not known me.* Whose day, that is, Abraham saw and was glad [n: (Joan. VIII)]; whose coming [1233C] the choir of the Prophets, in awaiting it, foretold.

VERS. 4.-- *Woe to the sinful nation,* etc. [n: (HIER., ibid.)] In this title he records the person, the cause, and the time; secondly, he makes them attentive; thirdly, he tells what the Lord has spoken; fourthly, as though in transports, he rebukes the sinful nation. *Woe to the nation.* etc. He threatens everlasting destruction, because they reject the Son, who brought salvation.

*With iniquity. [n: (ID. ibid.)]* Whence: *Iniquity sitteth upon a talent of lead [n: (ZACH. V)]*; whence elsewhere: *As a heavy burden they are become heavy upon me [n: (Psal. XXXVII)]*.

*Wicked.* Others, "of the most wicked," so that the fault should not be of the seed, but of the malice of those who by their own will have forsaken God. For the nature of the good and of the evil is not to be thought different.

[1233D] *They have blasphemed.* Saying: *Thou hast a devil,* and *Thou art a Samaritan [n: (Joan. VIII)]*; and *We have no king but Caesar;* and *Is not this the son of the carpenter?*

*They are gone away estranged. [n: (HIER., ibid.)]* They who were called the portion and the sons of God [n: (Joan. XIX; Matth. XIII)]. It is said of them: *The strange children have lied to me [n: (Psal. XVII)]*, whence: *No man putting his hand to the plow,* etc. [n: (Luc IX)], whence the Apostle: *Stretching himself out to the things that are before, forgetful of the things behind [n: (Philip. III)]*.

VERS. 5.-- *For what shall I strike you,* etc. [n: (ID. ibid.)]. As if he should say, etc., *as far as* but that there is now no place fit for healing he shows thus: *Every head is sick* etc.

*Every head is sick. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* Just as gladness [1234A] of mind sometimes softens the pains of the body, etc., *as far as* whence: *From the sole of the foot,* etc.

VERS. 6.-- *A wound and a bruise. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* As if he should say, etc., *as far as* and they slew the merciful physician who had been sent to them.

*Nor dressed with medicine. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* Whence: *We have healed Babylon, and she is not healed,* the city, that is, of confusion and of vices, etc., *as far as* and he expressed the irremediable captivity of the Jews.

VERS. 7.-- *Your land is desolate,* etc. [n: (ID., ibid.)] These things were fulfilled in part under the Babylonians, etc., *as far as* whence: *Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain,* etc.

VERS. 8.-- *The daughter of Sion,* etc., [n: (ID., ibid.)] With the affection of a most loving father. And: *For we are all by nature the sons of God* [1234B] [n: (Joan. XIV)], but by our own fault we are made strangers. Whence Babylon is often called *daughter*.

VERS. 9.-- *Unless the Lord.* [n: (ID.)] This from the person of the Prophet, etc, *as far as* so the Almighty, [he] is the Son of the Almighty.

VERS. 10.-- *Hear the word.* [n: (ID.)] The remnant being saved, etc., *as far as* and now he is discerned by the mind, when he is believed to be invisible.

VERS. 11.-- *I am full.* [n: (ID.)] As if he should say: Do you think that I have need of these things, or take delight in them? But I am full, that is, I have need of nothing. *For mine is the earth and the fulness thereof.* Or, I am full, that is, affected with weariness, because you do not offer rightly.

*The holocausts of rams,* etc., as far as: *To judge for the fatherless,* etc. He rejects the sacrifices of the Jews, he commends the obedience [1234C] of the Gospel: *The holocausts of rams,* etc. He points to the last destruction of the temple, which endures for ever. For after the Babylonian captivity the temple was built by Zorobabel, and sacrifice was offered in it for a long time.

[n: (ID.)] *The holocausts of rams.* It can also be taken of those who, while they despise the precepts of God, wish to appease him by a multitude of sacrifices, and to buy themselves licence to sin. Or of those who offer robbery and avarice upon the altar, and bestow them on the poor.

*I would not.* Using the past tense, he shows that he never loved the sacrifices of the Jews, but bore with them for a time on account of what they signified; and that, the true sacrifice being fulfilled, he reckoned them as nothing.

VERS. 12.-- *When you came.* [n: (ID.)] God did not [1234D] seek these sacrifices as though he were in need; but that they might not sacrifice to demons, and that through carnal and typical things they might come more easily to the spiritual and true sacrifice.

*Who required?* Let the Ebionites hear this, who after the passion of Christ think that the law is to be kept: let their fellows hear this, who decree that it is to be kept only by the Israelite race.

VERS. 13.-- *The new moon,* etc, The feast of the new moon, which they used to celebrate at the beginning of the months: *Neos,* new, *mene,* moon; whence: *Blow up the trumpet to the Lord on the new moon [n: (Psal. LXXX)]*.

*Your assemblies are wicked,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Because they do not offer spiritual victims; whence: *A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit [n: (Psalm. L)]*.

[1235A]Vers. 14.-- *My soul hath hated.* [n: (ID.)] Ανθρωποσπαθῶς. Not that he has a soul, but he speaks after our manner; as if to say, I have utterly hated.

*I have labored,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Symmachus. *I have failed in pitying,* etc., *as far as* but thou art saved by my help alone.

VERS. 15.-- *For your hands are full of blood,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Of the Prophets, and at last of their Lord, etc., *as far as* they keep watch in prayer by day and by night.

VERS. 16.-- *Be washed,* etc. As if he should say: This I have hated: the truth of the Gospel pleases me: *Be washed,* in the blood of Christ, in the water of baptism. *Be clean,* abiding in innocence of life. For baptism alone avails unto the remission of sin, whence: *Unless a man be born again [n: (Joan. III)]*, etc. And [1235B] elsewhere: *Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,* etc.

[n: (HIER., ubi supra )]. The chief order, etc., *as far as* but also in the sight of God, from whom nothing can be hidden.

*Cease to do perversely.* [n: (ID.)] It sounds that saying of the Gospel, etc., *as far as* whom they follow in the Apocalypse who shine with the whiteness of virginity.

VERS. 17.-- *Learn to do well.* [n: (ID.)] Not trusting in nature, etc., *as far as* the thresholds of masters must be worn away.

*Seek judgment,* etc. [n: (ID.)] To the victims of the Jews the commandments of the Gospel succeed. Provision is made for orphans and widows, so that the martyrs, secure concerning their wives and children, may go forth to their battles.

VERS. 18.-- *As scarlet,* etc. [n: (ID.)] The same thing is the scarlet grain [1235C] and the scarlet, and the little worm, namely a great sin, and murder and adultery, etc. But what is signified by snow, this is signified by wool: the purging, that is, and the washing away of sins.

*As snow.* Because they shall be cold against the incitements of vices: *And as wool,* because they are clothed against the cold of faithlessness.

*White wool,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Of which the garment of Christ is made.

VERS. 19.-- *If you be willing and will hear,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Free will is preserved, etc., *as far as* religion might pass over to the praise of God.

[n: (ID.)] Morally; the faithful soul, and full of judgment, while it obeys God, God dwells in it, who is the justifying justice; but if it withdraws from God, not by place but by desert, it is inhabited by malignant spirits, who are the murderers [1235D] of souls.

VERS. 21.-- *Justice.* [n: (ID.)] Justice, in the Hebrew *sedek* צדק, which rather signifies "the just," so that we may understand that the Lord tarried in her, of whom: *But the just man, what hath he done?* which in Ezechiel is signified by Ooliba, which is interpreted *tabernacle,* or *my tabernacle in her.*

VERS. 22.-- *Silver,* etc. The bright, that is, and the shining have turned back to vices.

*Into dross.* [n: (ID.)] Dross, in Hebrew *siggim* (סגים) : which is the rust of metals, or the refuse and filth that are burned off by fire.

*Thy wine,* etc. Others: *Thy vintners mingle wine with water.* Symmachus: *Thy wine is mingled [1236A] with water.* Morally: *Thy wine is mingled with water:* because the precepts of Holy Scripture, by which they ought to correct their hearers, he softens to the will of those hearers, and, his own meaning being mixed in, he corrupts the wine. *Thy wine,* etc. Heretics too corrupt the Gospel, worst of vintners, making water out of wine, whereas the Lord turned water into wine, at which the steward of the feast marvels: and the queen of Saba, at Solomon's banquet, praising his cupbearers and the servers of the wine.

VERS. 23.-- *Companions of thieves.* [n: (ID.)] Receiving from the Scribes and Pharisees the gifts which they were taking away from the poor. In the passion of the Lord also they were unbelieving, unwilling to believe in Christ; and companions of thieves, that is, of the Scribes and Pharisees and of Judas the traitor, *Companions of thieves,* etc. We too ought to beware that we do not receive gifts from [1236B] those who gather riches out of the tears of the poor, lest we be companions of thieves, and lest it be said of us: *If thou didst see a thief, thou didst run with him,* etc.

*They follow after rewards.* [n: (ID.)] Because they do not count them friends, etc., *as far as* that is, bear it patiently.

VERS. 24.-- *The Strong One of Israel.* [n: (ID.)] LXX: *Woe, ye strong ones of Israel,* etc., *as far as* or in character.

*Ah, I.* [n: (ID.)] With the affection of a loving father he laments and strikes them (though they be enemies), because they perish and will not repent.

*I will comfort myself,* etc. [n: (ID.)] He comforts himself by vengeance, etc., *as far as* wherein he signifies that they shall suffer torments.



## CHAPTER ONE. (cont.)

VERS. 25.-- *Thy tin.* [n: (ID.)] The false doctrine of the Scribes and Pharisees, which is like [1236C] the true, as tin is like silver. And I will give the pure and perfect knowledge of the law and of the Gospel.

VERS. 26.-- *And I will restore thy judges,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Not only after the captivity, as Zorobabel, Esdras, and the others who ruled over the people down to Hircanus; but also after the coming of the Lord, the Apostles and the other doctors of the Church.

*The city of the just, the faithful city Sion, shall be redeemed in judgment.* [var: Vulg. divides otherwise, closing Is 1:26 with "the faithful city" and opening Is 1:27 with "Sion shall be redeemed in judgment."] The Church, in which they are called back to living justly. For a city is a gathering of men for living justly.

VERS. 30.-- *As an oak with the leaves falling.* [n: (ID.)] As from an oak shaken by drought, etc., *as far as* it does not bring forth even herbs, which a sick man might eat.

## CHAPTER II.

[1236D]

VERS. 2.-- *In the last days.* [n: (HIER.)] Of which Jacob, etc., *as far as: it grew into a great mountain.*

*A mountain. Mountains,* the angels, the prophets, the patriarchs, the apostles, the martyrs, and the rest who shone forth with miracles. *Hills,* the lesser, receiving their light from the greater.

*And it shall be exalted.* [n: (ID.)] Above all the saints, because of his fulness all receive (of whom: *The mountains round about it* ), who are called mountains from Christ the mountain.

VERS. 3.-- *The house.* [n: (ID.)] Which is said for this reason, that we may receive the Old Testament, and may not, after Manichaeus, seek another house than the house of the God of Jacob.

[1237A] *His ways,* which others have trodden. The Lord too, going up into the mountain, taught his disciples. First, then, the ways must be learned; afterward one must walk in the paths.

*Out of Sion.* [n: (HIER.)] Not from the rock Sina, but from mount Sion, in which is Jerusalem, in which is the temple and the religion of God. The Lord also taught in the temple, because it was not fitting that a Prophet should die outside Jerusalem.

*The law and the word.* As above, he set the word and the law together, so that the princes might hear the word, and the people take in the law with the ear. For he who shall have kept the law will come through to the word of God; the law will go forth from the word as from a fountain, that it may water others.

VERS. 4.-- *And they shall stand fast their swords.* [var: Vulg. Is 2:4 *conflabunt*, "they shall beat (their swords into ploughshares)"] [n: (ID.)] All zeal for warring shall be turned into peace, etc., *as far as* let us eat at the time of harvest, that is, [1237B] of death.

VERS. 5.-- *O house of Jacob,* etc. [n: (ID.)] After the calling of the nations and the showing of the mountain of God, he invites his own people, who are of Jacob, that, going out from the darkness of unbelief, they may receive the light of Christ.

*In the light.* [n: (ID.)] *Whilst you have the light, believe in the light. Come ye to him and be enlightened,* etc. As if he shall say: *He that doth evil hateth the light: but come with me, let us walk in the light of the Lord, who saith: I am the light of the world,* etc.

Vers. 6.-- *For thou hast cast off.* After he had exhorted them, he saw in spirit their hardness, and suddenly turning the eyes of his mind to the Lord, he says: *For thou hast cast off,* etc., as if he should say, and therefore they are to be exhorted, because *thou hast cast off,* etc.

[1237C] *Because they are filled up, as of old,* etc. [n: (ID.)] The Romans, that is, casting out, the Jews: foreigners dwelt in Judaea, brought in from every quarter by Titus and Vespasian, or by the other princes. Or, before they were laid waste by the Babylonians, they committed these things under impious kings.

*As the Philistines.* [n: (ID.)] The Philisthiim, who are today the Palestinians, because the Hebrew tongue has not the letter *p.*, but in place of it uses the Greek φ.

*With boys,* etc. He signifies the lust of the conquerors against the Jewish nation. For the Greeks and the Latins labored long under this vice: but under the emperor Constantine, and with the Gospel flashing forth, this baseness was carried away together with the rest.

VERS. 7.-- *The land is filled.* [n: (ID.)] Both the avarice of the Romans and that of the Jews is censured; for the Greek [1237D] and Latin histories bear witness that nothing is more avaricious than either nation: among the idols, avarice is condemned.

VERS. 8.-- *With horses, and innumerable.* [n: (ID.)] And this against the Lord, who forbade that chariots and horses should be multiplied: for these animals were given for helping, not for growing proud; whence they are also called beasts of burden.

VERS. 9.-- *He hath bowed himself down.* Where once was the temple and the religion of God, there is the statue of Hadrian and the idol of Jupiter.

*Therefore not.* Isaiah does not curse, but blesses, etc., *as far as* and they are filled with idols, etc.

*From the face of the fear of the Lord.* From the wrath of judgment.

*And from the glory of his majesty.* Because *he shall come with great power and majesty.*

[1238A]VERS 11.-- *The lofty eyes,* etc. [n: (Hier.)] Neither riches, nor power, nor nobility of birth shall save any man; one captivity shall come upon them all. These things can also be taken of the day of judgment, when every creature shall be humbled in the sight of God, and shall perceive that it is nothing in comparison with him.

*But the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.*

VERS. 12.-- *Of the Lord of hosts.* Wherever he speaks of the victory or of the vengeance of the Lord, he records him as the Lord of hosts, that we may not doubt of the victory of him whose power is so great.

VERS. 14.-- *The high mountains.* [n: (HIER.)] According to the variety of virtues, some are called the mountains of the good, others hills. According to the diversity of vices, some are the mountains of the impious, others [sic: *allii*] hills, to whom it is said: *I will bring upon [1238B] you the sword,* etc.

*And upon every tower.* [n: (ID.)] To the letter: when the Romans came, both the towers and the walls were overthrown from their foundations, etc., *as far as* lest a perverse teaching prevail over the truth.

VERS. 16.-- *Ships.* [n: (ID.)] Josaphat had ships which he used to send to Tharsis, etc., *as far as* there are also good ships, of which it is said: *They that go down to the sea in a ship,* etc.

*Tharsis.* [n: (ID.)] Of any sea whatever, etc., *as far as* if it is said otherwise, it is Syriac.

VERS. 17.-- *Every one shall be bowed down.* [n: (ID.)] Allegorically: human speech seems reasonable, etc., *as far as* by that also, by which they had been framed, they shall be utterly crushed.

[1238C]VERS. 18.-- *And the idols utterly.* This in the captivity of the Chaldeans, etc., *as far as* this is to be referred especially to the former sense.

[n: (BED.)] Solomon built a thing in Jerusalem, Astaroth the idol of the Sidonians, etc., where (if I am not mistaken) it is shown that Solomon never perfectly repented, because he did not destroy the idols which he had built.

VERS. 20.-- *To adore moles.* [n: (HIER.)] Not in fact, but like moles, etc., *as far as* by which one comes to the truth.

VERS. 22.-- *Cease ye therefore.* Because these things shall come to pass unless you cease. Cease therefore, that you may not rage against Christ, who seems a mere man: because he breathes through his nostrils and lives like other men.

*High. The Lord is high above all nations. [1238D] And the Most High himself hath founded her [n: (Psal. CXII, LXXXIX)]*. Yet the Hebrew signifies *excelsum,* not *excelsus.* For he is height itself, not merely high.



## CHAPTER III.

VERS. 1.-- *For behold.* Thus far they think it is spoken of the judgment, etc., *as far as* after all the gifts of grace were taken away from the Jews.

VERS. 2.-- *The valiant man.* [n: (HIER.)] There is not among the Jews one who wars for the law, one who judges according to it: for they are all empty and foolish.

*And the diviner.* Because sometimes they divine true things, as Balaam, and the soothsayers of the five cities of the Palestinians, by whose counsel the ark of the Lord was sent back; as though he should say: [1239A] Both the true prophets and the false shall be taken away from the Jews.

*The ancient.* Whom the LXX have rendered "presbyter," etc., *as far as* because he would not hear the presbyters.

VERS. 3.-- *The prudent man.* A teacher or a hearer, etc., *as far as* who might discern by what spirit the prophets were speaking.

*Concerning architects.* Christ himself is called the Son of the carpenter: and in Paralipomenon we read of the valley of craftsmen. For there were craftsmen there whom knowledge did not puff up, but they followed the humble Christ.

VERS. 4.-- *And I will give. children.* [n: (HIER.)] Whereas the rest in the person, etc., *as far as* the Apostle forbids that a neophyte be chosen bishop, lest he grow proud like the devil.

*The effeminate.* The LXX, "mockers," etc., *as far as* the holy state of the Church is thrown into confusion.

[1239B]VERS. 6.-- *He shall take hold.* [n: (ID.)] To the letter, etc., *as far as* and let our ruin be propped up by thy help.

VERS. 7.-- *He shall answer.* [n: (ID.)] This is not in the Hebrew, but is added from the LXX. For according to the Hebrew it is joined thus: *In that day he shall say:*

*I am no healer.* Let us not at once acquiesce in the judgment of the multitude, etc., *as far as: Seek not to be made a judge, lest perchance thou be not able to offer iniquities [n: (Eccl. VII)]*. [var: Vulg. Sir 7:6 *nisi valeas virtute irrumpere iniquitates*, "unless thou art strong enough to break through iniquities"]

VERS. 8.-- *For Jerusalem is ruined.* From the person of the Prophet. As if he should say: Therefore they shall not find one who is willing to come to their help, because they blasphemed the Lord, saying: *Thou hast a devil [n: (Joan. VIII)]*, and the like.

*Because the tongue.* Although the Romans, so far as concerned themselves, came to the siege on account of the tribute that was being refused, yet the death of the Lord was chiefly the cause.

[1239C]VERS. 9.-- *The acknowledging.* They shall acknowledge that this has befallen them because of their sins, or they shall always have their sins before the eyes of their mind.

*Woe to their soul.* [n: (ID.)] The LXX: *Woe to their soul, for they have devised a most wicked counsel against themselves, saying: Let us bind the just man, for he is unprofitable to us [n: (Sap. I)]*.

[n: (ID.)] Let us beware, then, lest we be exactors among the people; lest, after the impious Porphyry, matrons and women be our senate, who should bear rule in the Churches, and the favor of women pass judgment upon the priestly rank.

VERS. 12.-- *And the way of thy steps,* etc. [n: (ID.)] He, then, is the ecclesiastical teacher, etc., *as far as* of which: *I am the way, the truth, and the life [n: (Joan. XIV)]*.

VERS. 13.-- *He standeth up to judge.* [n: (ID.)] Now as it were [1239D] angry, etc., *as far as* he comes against the princes and the presbyters that he may judge them, giving them room for defense.

VERS. 14.-- *For you have eaten up.* [n: (ID.)] I judge that there was between the elders and the princes of the old people what there is between the presbyters and the bishops of our own time.

*My vineyard.* [n: (ID.)] Thou hast brought a vineyard out of Egypt. *The vineyard of the Lord Sabaoth is the house of Israel [n: (Psal. LXXIX)]*.

VERS. 15.-- *Why do you grind my people?* Our own princes too, etc., *as far as* they make them to be the riches of themselves or of their own.

VERS. 16.-- *Because they are lifted up.* This can be referred chiefly to the wives of the Scribes and Pharisees, and to others as well: for whose delicacies and luxury their husbands used to despoil the poor. Lest, then, they should think themselves [1240A] free from sin, the Lord says: *Because,* etc.

VERS. 17.-- *He will make bald.* What is hidden shall lie open, and the foul baldness shall appear. For nothing is covered that shall not be revealed.

VERS. 18.-- *In that day,* that is, of the Babylonian captivity, or more truly when they were taken captive by the Romans, and lost all their ornaments.

*Of the shoes.* Which in the wilderness were not worn away, etc., *as far as* so that in place of matronly cleanness there may be a turning to the filth of the earth.

VERS. 21.-- *Rings.* By which we are sealed unto the malice [cj: *malitiam*; read *militiam*, "the warfare"] of Christ, whom the Father hath sealed. The prodigal Son too received a ring together with the robe, and shoes.

[1240B] *Jewels on the forehead.* By which our faces and our head are adorned.

VERS. 22.-- *Linens.* [n: (HIER.)] That we may fully enjoy broad delights in the Lord.

VERS. 23.-- *Fillets.* Which bind fast the mind that flows hither and thither.

*Theristra.* A woman's garment, most fine, and transparent to the sight, suited to summer, and from that it is named: for theria is what summer is called.

VERS. 24.-- *For a stomacher, haircloth.* By which the breasts are chastened, lest they grow rank.

VERS. 26.-- *And they shall mourn and.* Whosoever shall have given his place to the devil, and shall not have kept his heart with all watchfulness, his gates shall mourn, and, the bridegroom being absent, he shall be always in grief, and falling down he shall sit [1240C] in the dust.

*Her gates shall mourn, and she shall sit desolate on the ground.* Metonymically: the judges, the kings, the princes who used to sit in the gate.

## CHAPTER IV.

VERS. 1.-- *And seven shall take hold.* [n: (HIER.)] When Nabuchodonosor [took] Sedecias the king, etc., *as far as* in this place we can understand more of them.

*Seven women.* [n: (ID.)] The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: *The spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and of godliness, and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill him.* Which are called women, because no one is begotten unto God save through the Spirit: and in the plural, because the gifts are many, though the Spirit is one.

[1240D] *Our bread.* Our bread is Christ, the rod from the root of Jesse, and the flower; the bread of the women is the Father, as he is also of Christ, who says: *My food is to do the will of my Father [n: (Joan. IV)]* [var: Vulg. Jo 4:34 *voluntatem ejus qui misit me*, "the will of him that sent me"]. *We will eat our own bread,* the body of Christ.

*We will be covered with our own garments.* With the ornaments of the virtues.

*Let thy name be called upon.* Let us be called Christians from Christ.

*Take away our reproach.* Which we suffer from the Jews as though we were without God, etc., *as far as* we are often compelled to change our lodging.

*Take away.* Because false doctrines shall rise up against wisdom, and against the rest of the women, that is, the virtues: to each one its own contrary rises up, when false virtues steal away their name.

[1241A]VERS. 5.-- *A cloud,* that is, the overshadowing of the Spirit, that in prosperity they may not be lifted up, just as for the children of Israel there was a cloud by day, a fire by night.

*And smoke,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Whence: *The house was filled with smoke [n: (Exod. XIII)]*; and elsewhere: *He toucheth the mountains, and they smoke [n: (Psal. CIII)]*.

*For over all.* Very many of the Jews, etc., *as far as* but we to the first coming of Christ.



## CHAPTER V.

VERS. 1.-- *I will sing to my beloved,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] A canticle is sometimes in gladness, sometimes in sorrow, as this one is, namely the one which he composed who, seeing the city, wept, saying: *For if thou also hadst known,* etc. [n: (Luc. XIX)].

VERS. 2.-- *A chosen vineyard.* [n: (ID.)] Another edition, the vineyard [1241B] Sorec, which is a kind of the best vine, most fruitful with unfailing fruits; all the things that are said of the vineyard are referred to the state of the soul, which, planted by God, brought forth not grapes but wild grapes: and it was handed over to the beasts to be trodden down, nor did it receive the rain of doctrine, because it despised the gifts that had gone before.

VERS. 3.-- *Now therefore, O inhabitants,* etc. In like manner Nathan questions David, that he may pronounce sentence upon himself as though upon another.

VERS. 4.-- *Is it that I looked for,* etc.? This, according to some, he said above within himself; but here he asks others what he had been thinking.

VERS. 5.-- *And now I will show you.* As if he should say: Because you will not answer, therefore I will answer for you.

[1241C] *I will take away,* etc. That is, that they who have not felt God through benefits may feel him through punishments; and therefore he threatens a penalty, that they may be turned to repentance.

VERS. 6.-- *And the clouds.* [n: (ID.)] Which under Elias, etc., *as far as* when they had not the prophets, and drove the apostles away.

VERS. 7.-- *The house of Israel,* etc. [n: (ID.)] From the time the kingdom was divided, etc., *as far as* because Christ was born of them.

*Behold a cry.* Wherewith it cried out against the Lord and shouted, saying: Away with him, away with him, crucify him; or, they made a cry in place of justice, because they slew Christ, whose blood cries to the Lord: *The voice of the blood [sic: sanguis] of thy brother Abel crieth to me from the earth [n: (Gen. IV)]*.

[1241D]VERS. 8.-- *Woe to you that join.* This especially to the Jews, who were most avaricious, etc., *as far as* until the earth fail, that is, human sense and speech.

VERS. 9.-- *In the ears.* [n: (ID.)] As if the prophet should say: These words I have heard with my inward ears, which are of the Lord of hosts.

*Unless the houses,* etc. The pomp, that is, and the structure of heretics, *as far as* which is bound together by unity in comparison with a manifold number.

VERS. 10.-- *For ten acres.* [n: (ID.)] The barrenness of the land, which is to follow upon the captivity, is shown.

VERS. 11.-- *Woe to you that rise up.* As if he should say: Captivity is at hand, etc., *as far as* they do not understand the works of the Lord in themselves.

[1242A]VERS. 17.-- *And the lambs shall feed.* [n: (ID.)] According to the history it is the same as above: strangers devour your country before your face.

*Strangers: The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you,* etc. For gathered out of the whole world, etc., *as far as* so that the lambs should take the places of the bulls.

VERS. 18.-- *Woe to you that draw.* These things to the princes of the Jews, etc., *as far as* they anathematize the name of Christians.

*With cords of vanity.* [n: (ID.)] In which they were, etc., *as far as* we are held as though by the strongest chains.

VERS. 19.-- *Woe to you that call.* [n: (ID.)] This especially against the Jews who chose Barabbas and condemned Christ; generally, to all who justify the unjust and condemn the just. *Evil, darkness, [1242B] bitter,* are set down in a like signification and figure. In Barabbas we understand the devil, of whom: *Deliver us from evil.*

VERS. 21.-- *Woe to you that are wise.* The wisdom of God being despised, etc., *as far as* they neither enter in unto Christ, nor permit [others] to enter.

VERS. 22.-- *Drunkenness.* Wine contains every vice. Drunkenness (which in Hebrew is *sicera* ) signifies all the things that overturn the state of the mind. Out of the abundance of bread and wine the sin of the men of Sodom grew.

VERS. 23.-- *You that justify the wicked for gifts.* It was said above that instead of grapes they brought forth thorns, and hay, and wood, and stubble, and briars that were to be burned, because they did not only these things, but also cast away the law [1242C] and blasphemed the word of God. Of which: *Out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.*

VERS. 24.-- *Their root.* [n: (ID.)] A crooked thought, out of which the work proceeds like a bud.

VERS. 25.-- *Therefore was he angry.* [n: (ID.)] It is to be noted that he does not reproach them with idolatry and the other sins, but with this, that they cast away the law of the Gospel and blasphemed the holy word of the Lord: who had been angry against the princes and the mighty, who were wise in their own eyes and followers after gifts; whom the tongue of fire devoured, that the mighty might mightily suffer torments.

*He was angry.* [n: (ID.)] Not that he lies subject to human passions; but we who transgress, unless we have heard the Lord being angry, do not fear.

[1242D] *And he struck,* etc. He speaks things to come as though past, with a prophetic certainty.

VERS. 26.-- *And he shall whistle to him from the ends of the earth,* etc. [n: (ID.)] The Hebrews understand this place of the Babylonians, etc., *as far as* he joins himself to the people in affection, and says:

VERS. 30.-- *We shall look.* Not daring to look back upon heaven, whose inhabitant, God, we have offended; and our light, which we always had in God, is darkened with the gloom of tribulations.



## CHAPTER VI.

VERS. 1.-- *In the year,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Ozias himself is Azarias, etc., *as far as* falling upon his face, he cries out with a loud voice to the Lord.

[1243A] *King Ozias.* The king, namely the leper, who usurped the priesthood.

*I saw the Lord.* Christ, namely. The Son was seen in the habit of one reigning; the Holy Spirit spoke, because of the fellowship of majesty and the unity of substance.

*Upon a throne high,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] He who sees the Lord reigning in the heavenly powers sees him upon a throne high and lifted up, which are the Thrones and the Dominations, etc.

Some say that the seraphim are powers in heaven attending upon God and praising him, which are sent upon ministries chiefly to those who have need of purgation, and, for certain sins, in part to punishments.

[n: (ID.)] Cherubim, a multitude of knowledge, upon whom the Lord [1243B] is shown to sit after the manner of a charioteer, whence: *Thou that sittest upon the cherubim,* etc. But the seraphim, apart from this place, I do not remember to have read in the canonical Scriptures. They err therefore who are wont to write in their prayers: Thou that sittest upon the cherubim and seraphim.

VERS. 2.-- *They stood.* [n: (ID.)] That is, they stand attending upon God; they fly, showing forth God; they lay bare as it were the middle part; they do not make manifest the things that are veiled; they do not veil the things that are known.

*Six wings to one.* [n: (ID.)] Victorinus understands the twelve apostles. But we, the twelve stones of the altar which iron did not touch, and the twelve gems in the diadem of the priest.

[n: (ID.)] The angels are said to have wings, because they dwell in the higher places, [1243C] or because of their swift running to and fro in all things, as the winds also are called winged.

*With two they veiled his face.* What things were before these I know not, etc., *as far as* the angels also and the preachers teach nothing thereof; likewise:

*They veiled the feet.* [n: (HIER.)] What is to be after this world we know not: the middle things, however, which were made in six days or ages, or are made; we know only *With two they veiled,* because we have knowledge of the present alone.

[n: (ID.)] My Hebrew has entered by a far other way, etc., *as far as* and then, being truly purged in the lips, I said to the Lord: *Behold I, send me.*

VERS. 3.-- *And they cried.* [n: (ID.)] They do not say it lightly, but pronounce with a cry a confession salutary for all: [1243D] Holy, holy, holy, because they themselves also, namely the seraphim, are holy: for nothing is holier than these: but they marvel that the Son so humbled himself and underwent the cross, and became known to earthly things.

*Holy, holy,* etc. The mystery of the Trinity. In both Testaments the Trinity is preached, the Lord Christ, namely, who here is of four letters, which is set down properly of God: Iod, He, Iod, He; that is, two *ia,* which doubled make the ineffable name of God.

*The whole earth is full.* [n: (ID.)] And it shall be filled, etc., *as far as* after two and forty years from the passion of the Lord.

VERS. 4.-- *The lintels.* In the Old Testament the Lord spoke, etc., *as far as* which taking up [1244A] we say: *We know in part, and we prophesy in part [n: (I Cor. XIII)]*.

VERS. 5.-- *Polluted.* [n: (ID.)] This he says because of the fellowship of the people, with whom he was constrained to speak. It is harmful to live with sinners.

*I dwell.* Note that one must not tarry with sinners.

*And I have seen with my eyes the King, the Lord of hosts: and one flew to me.* So Abraham, after he had seen the Lord and heard his voice, confesses himself to be ashes and dust, because however great the dignity of men may be, it grows cheap in comparison of him.

VERS. 6.-- *Of the seraphim.* [n: (ID.)] Seraphim with *m* we say in the masculine gender, with *n* in the neuter gender plural. Seraphim, however, can be said in the singular, as [1244B] cherubim and cherub.

*And in his hand.* That is, by his working, that is, of Christ. The coal, that is, charity, which with the tongs, that is, the teaching of the two Testaments, he had taken from the altar, and had set before Isaias for an example.

*A coal.* [n: (ID.)] The Seventy: a carbuncle, a fiery stone, which because of its flame-like colour is called igneous.

*With tongs.* [n: (ID.)] This is the ladder of Jacob, the sword twice sharpened, etc., *as far as* comprehending the word of God with the double edge of the precepts.

*From the altar.* Which John saw in the Apocalypse, which is full of fiery coals, wherewith sins can be purged.

VERS. 7.-- *Behold I have touched thy lips:* whence: *What may be given to thee, or what may be added to thee for a deceitful tongue? [1244C] The sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals that lay waste [n: (Psal. CXIX)]*. [var: Vulg. Ps 119:3 *apponatur*, "may be set beside"] This is the word of God, of which it is said: Thou hast coals of fire, thou shalt sit upon them, these shall be to thee for a help.

*And the iniquity shall be taken away.* [n: (ID.)] Jeremias, who was a boy, and therefore almost free from sin, is purged by the touch of a hand alone. But to Isaias, who says: I am a man polluted in the lips, an angel is sent with a coal.

VERS. 8.-- *Whom shall I send?* He does not compel, but seeks the will: for the will alone deserves the reward. But Isaias, as one purged, offers himself of his own accord.

*Send me.* [n: (ID.)] He thinks that he is to announce good, etc., *as far as* that it was not of rashness but of obedience that he offered himself.

[1244D]VERS. 9.-- *Hear ye that hear.* [n: (ID.)] Luke according to the Seventy in the Acts of the Apostles: *With the ear you shall hear, and shall not understand,* etc., *as far as* and he uses Greek testimonies rather than Hebrew.

VERS. 10.-- *Blind,* etc. [n: (ID.)] To which is like, etc., *as far as* nor is it cruelty of God, but mercy, the unbelieving being blinded, to enlighten the humble.

*And he be converted.* Although the sin be grievous, if anyone be converted, he can be saved: but these, for the greatness of their crime, are unworthy of penance.

VERS. 13.-- *And still.* And in place of, that is, still out of that nation a tithing, as if still a tenth part of that nation shall remain.

*And it shall be.* Under Hadrian Judaea was laid waste again, [1245A] in the fiftieth year indeed after the captivity of the Romans. For they were forbidden by public laws to enter Judaea.



## CHAPTER VII.

VERS. 1.-- *And it came to pass in the days of Achaz,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] The things that are written up to this place were seen under Ozias and Joathan his son; those that follow, under Achaz, a most impious king, who, being forsaken by God, is overcome by his enemies.

*Achaz.* Who shut the doors of the temple and adored the Baalim, consecrated his son to an idol, took away the brazen altar, and set an altar of idols in the temple. Rightly therefore was he forsaken by the Lord: *And his enemies rose up against him [n: (II Par. XXVIII)]*.

*He went up,* a second time. For first the Assyrians of the tribe of [1245B] Juda, etc., *as far as* Herod and Pilate were made friends in the passion of Christ.

VERS. 3.-- *He was forsaken.* By his own brother Rabsaces, who had gone over to the Assyrians, as the Hebrews hand down.

*Jasub thy son.* [n: (ID.)] Who is interpreted *a remaining companion and one that turns back,* who was the people of Juda that was to be delivered out of the hands of the two kings.

*In the way.* There Rabsaces, afterward at the command of Sennacherib, blasphemed the people of God.

VERS. 4.-- *Of two tails.* Two tails, etc., *as far as* and he was led with the ten tribes into the mountains of the Medes and the Persians.

VERS. 6.-- *Tabeel.* [n: (ID.)] Tabeel, the good God, as if he should say: There let us set the idol of our God; or, to the letter, he so calls the Son of man.

[1245C]VERS. 8.-- *Yet sixty,* etc. As if he should say: In the meanwhile they shall be content with their own borders, and Rasim shall rule over Damascus as over the metropolis of Syria, and Samaria shall be the head of the cities of Ephraim, and in it in the meanwhile the son of Romelia shall reign.

*Sixty-five years.* From the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Ozias, when he was struck with leprosy, from that time Joathan his son reigned seven and twenty years, his father being yet alive. After his death, sixteen years; after whom Achaz other sixteen; afterward, Ezechias reigning, six years. Ephraim, that is, the ten tribes led into captivity, ceased to be a people.

VERS. 11.-- *Ask thee a sign.* [n: (ID.)] That he who did not believe the prophet might be terrified by the authority of the Lord; [1245D] as if he should say: It seems hard to thee that most powerful kingdoms should be brought to an end in a short time, and that thou shouldst be delivered, and thy people; but ask thee a sign.

*Ask thee a sign.* Moses received a sign from the earth, etc., *as far as* it looks to both the death of the Lord and his ascension.

*I will not ask.* Not humbly, but proudly. For many are read to have asked signs of the Lord and to have received them; but Achaz answered thus, as having authority: *Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.* Or, he feared that in the sign God should be glorified and the idols made cheap.

VERS. 14.-- *Behold a virgin shall conceive.* [n: (ID.)] In Hebrew *alma;* in Latin also *alma* is called holy, etc., *as far [1246A] as* that it arose by violence is plain even to fools.

*Emmanuel.* [n: (ID.)] Some say that Isaias had two sons, etc., *as far as* for the sake of which the Word was made flesh.

VERS. 15.-- *To reprobate the evil.* [n: (ID.)] As if he should say: Set in the swaddling-bands of infancy he shall have the discernment of good and evil. By these words we perceive that the infancy of the Saviour did not diminish the divine wisdom in him, although it be said: *But the child advanced in age and wisdom,* [var: Vulg. Lc 2:52 *Et Jesus proficiebat sapientia, et aetate, et gratia*, "And Jesus advanced in wisdom, and age, and grace"] that the truth of the human body might be proved: for infancy is no prejudice to the divine wisdom.

VERS. 16.-- *He shall be forsaken,* etc. [n: (ID.)] as if he should say: The land of Syria and of Samaria shall be laid waste from the invocation of his name, and the house of Juda shall be delivered from the two kings.

[1246B]VERS. 18.-- *The fly.* [n: (ID.)] That is, the Egyptians, an unwarlike people and foul with idolatry. We read that Josias was slain by the Egyptians and the people of Israel subjugated; and not long after in time Nabuchodonosor with an innumerable army took Jerusalem, burned the temple, and set Assyrian inhabitants in Judaea.

VERS. 20.-- *A razor.* [n: (ID.)] The king of the Assyrians (who in Jeremias is called the dove of God), in him as in a most sharp razor, and in those who are beyond the river, namely the Assyrians, the Lord shall shave in Judaea the head and the hairs of the feet, namely all the strength of kings and of princes and of their subjects.

VERS. 22.-- *He shall eat butter.* He shall be delighted in [1246C] the passion of Christ or in his own. For butter is made out of many mixings.

VERS. 25.-- *And all the hills that shall be raked with the hoe.* [n: (ID.)] The plains being left for fear of enemies, they shall flee to the mountain places, tilling the rough parts of the mountains with their own hand; they shall sustain a wretched life. The rest shall be for pastures.

## CHAPTER VIII.

VERS. 1.-- *And the Lord said to me: Take thee.* [n: (HIER.)] First the prophet foretells to Achaz the things to come, etc., *as far as* whence again the virginal birth is described.

*Quickly the spoils.* [n: (ID.)] This is the name of the child, as if he should say: Suffer not the devil to reign any longer; and send not angels, send not Prophets, but come down thyself.

[1246D]VERS. 2.-- *Urias,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Urias, the light of the Lord; Zacharias, the memory of the Lord; Barachias, the blessing of the Lord: by these witnesses the nativity of the Lord is proved. Whence, to two witnesses going to Emmaus, beginning from Moses and the prophets, he discoursed of the things which had been said of himself.

VERS. 3.-- *To the prophetess.* [n: (ID.)] To the Holy Spirit, from whom is all prophecy, which in Greek is of the neuter gender, *pneuma;* in Hebrew of the feminine, *Ruach;* in Latin it is of the masculine gender, and therefore it is allotted by different positions, for it is of none. Or to Mary, whom no one doubts to have been a prophetess.

VERS. 4.-- *The child.* [n: (ID.)] Isaias therefore is commanded, etc., *as far as* he should save the house of David by invocation alone.

[1247A] *Because the people hath cast away the waters of Siole.* [n: (HIER.)] In which the blind man washed himself, etc., *as far as* he attempted to possess Juda, his own land. [var: Vulg. Is 8:6 *populus iste aquas Siloe*, "this people the waters of Siloe"]

VERS. 7.-- *The waters of the river.* [n: (ID.)] The army of Sennacherib, whose power, seizing the land of Samaria, is compared to the flooding of a river.

VERS. 9.-- *Gather yourselves together, O ye people.* [n: (ID.)] As if: Against Emmanuel you can do nothing, etc., *as far as* because perversity cannot overcome what is right.

VERS. 12.-- *Say ye not.* [n: (ID.)] As if he should say: Fear not the conspiracy of the two kings against Juda: a conspiracy is the consent of many unto evil.

*Fear ye not, neither be afraid.* Thou and the peoples that are with thee, because they seem to be feared; because the beginning of wisdom [1247B] is the fear of the Lord.

VERS. 14.-- *For a stone.* [n: (ID.)] Which the builders rejected, etc., *as far as* joining sins to sins and bound with the snares of their offences.

*To the two houses.* Or in the two families, etc., *as far as* through their own traditions they scattered and defiled the precepts of the law.

VERS. 16.-- *Seal the law.* As if he should say: Open it, Lord, to my disciples, etc., *as far as* we can also understand doctrines.

VERS. 18.-- *My children, born of God.* The other Prophets and their disciples. Some read this of the two sons of Isaias, etc., *as far as* who were for a portent of worldly wisdom and of the pride of the Jews. [var: Vulg. Is 8:18 *Ecce ego et pueri mei quos dedit mihi Dominus*, "Behold I and my children whom the Lord hath given me"]

VERS. 20.-- *Thou shalt not be to them.* [n: (ID.)] That is, if this people [1247C] will not seek the truth from the Lord, it shall not have Christ, namely the light of truth, which it neglects. [var: Vulg. Is 8:20 *non erit eis matutina lux*, "there shall not be for them the morning light"]

VERS. 21.-- *To his king.* To the devil and to the traditions of the fathers, that is, to ancient errors.



## CHAPTER IX.

VERS. 1.-- *In the first time,* [n: (HIER.)] These two tribes were led into captivity by the Assyrians, etc., *as far as* it first saw the light of Christ preaching.

*The land of Zabulon.* [n: (ID.)] In which Christ first preached and wrought miracles: for there he turned water into wine, and chose the apostles.

*The way of the sea.* The sea in this place is the lake of Genezareth, which is made by the inflowing of the Jordan. Upon whose shore is Capharnaum, [1247D] Tiberias, Bethsaida and Corozain, in which the Lord chiefly abode; and so: *The people that walked in darkness saw a great light.*

*Of the Galilee of the Gentiles.* There are two Galilees: one of the Gentiles, near to the Tyrians in the tribe of Nephtali; the other about Tiberias and the pool of Genesareth, in the tribe of Zabulon.

VERS. 2.-- *In the region of the shadow of death.* [n: (ID.)] They are in the shadow of death who still live in sins: *in the region of the shadow of death,* they who have already gone down to the lower regions with dead works.

VERS. 3.-- *Thou hast not magnified the joy.* To us, concerning the salvation of the Jews; for although they rejoice over the conversion of the Gentiles, yet they grieve over the rejection of the Jews.

[1248A] *They shall rejoice before thee,* etc. The prophet to Christ, concerning the disciples.

VERS. 4.-- *For the yoke.* [n: (ID.)] Christ has a yoke, but a sweet one; the devil also, but one unbearable by its burden. And Christ has the princedom upon his shoulder, upon which he bore the cross; and the devil upon his shoulder a rod, wherewith he is proud.

*Of the exactor.* Of him, namely, that exacts. For daily he exacts from posterity, with usury, the coin of sin which he committed to the first man.

VERS. 5.-- *For every violent plundering.* [n: (ID.)] As if he should say: The human race which the devil has plundered, the Lord shall take away from him violently, that is, powerfully, and shall thrust him down with tumult into hell. Whence both of him and of his members it is said: [1248B] *Their memory hath perished with a noise [n: (Psal. IX)]*.

*The garment mingled.* [n: (ID.)] The devil, who is full of the blood of all, who is a murderer from the beginning; or men, with whom the devil is clothed about as with a garment, whose hands are full of blood.

VERS. 6.-- *A child is born to us.* Not to the Jews, to us, etc., *as far as* but to them that see not, he seems not to rise. [var: Vulg. Is 9:6 *Parvulus enim natus est nobis*, "For a little one is born to us"]

*The princedom upon his shoulder.* [n: (ID.)] While he was being led to the gibbet, he bore the cross, upon which he merited the princedom.

[n: (ID.)] The Seventy: *The angel of great counsel.* Which is not had in the Hebrew; but, terrified by the majesty of the names, they did not dare to say of the child that he was openly to be called God. Therefore for these six names [1248C] they put this, *the angel of great counsel.*

VERS. 7.-- *The zeal of the Lord.* [n: (ID.)] The prophecy began from Emmanuel, where it is said: *Ask thee a sign from God.* Here it is ended.

VERS. 8.-- *The Lord sent a word.* [n: (ID.)] The Hebrew word (דבר) *Dabar,* etc., *as far as* they despise the Church, and think her simplicity to be unskilfulness.

VERS. 10.-- *The bricks are fallen.* [n: (ID.)] They said above, etc., *as far as* we will fortify the people out of strong and warlike princes.

*The cedars.* That is, we will set over them unconquerable princes out of ourselves.

## CHAPTER X.

[1248D]VERS. 1.-- *Woe to them that make.* [n: (HIER.)] Very many think that these things are still said against the ten tribes, etc., *as far as* when the day of the captivity, or of the judgment, shall have come.

VERS. 5.-- *Woe to Assur.* [n: (ID.)] Thus far against the ten and the two tribes, etc., *as far as* and he not only led captive, but in part destroyed.

VERS. 7.-- *But he.* [n: (ID.)] So the philosophers, so the heretics, and so the persecutors of the Christian name: when God permits some to be scourged by them, they rage against all, and desire not to scourge but to kill; and when a few are overcome they take boldness against all.

VERS. 9.-- *Are not my princes together.* The order is: Kings are my princes, that is, serving me: [1249A] for he brought many kings with him, whom he had subjugated.

*Damascus.* Damascus is the metropolis in Syria: Eliezer, the servant of Abraham, founded it; in it Rasin reigned.

VERS. 10.-- *As my hand hath found.* The voice of Sennacherib marvelling at his own power. He fulfilled fully the things he had said. For he plundered all the cities of the ten tribes, and of Juda and Benjamin, except Jerusalem, and the lower part of it, which Sobna the scribe delivered to him.

VERS. 12.-- *When the Lord shall have accomplished.* The overthrows, namely of the city, and also the siege, when Rabsaces came and did the things which are recounted in what follows.

[1249B]VERS. 14.-- *That should yelp.* To yelp belongs to foxes, or, as others say, to birds.

VERS. 16.-- *And under his glory.* Jerome says, according to the Hebrews, that the bodies of the slain Assyrians were burnt up by heavenly fire and reduced to dust, their garments unhurt; and that the Jews, coming and seizing the top of the garments, shook out the dust.

[n: (HIER.)] Some will have it that this king signifies the contrary fortitude, etc., *as far as* for the Hebrews hand down that only ten of his army remained.

VERS. 17.-- *And there shall be a light.* The Hebrews say that it was Michael the archangel, to whom the custody of that nation was committed, as Daniel says.

[1249C]VERS. 18.-- *And the glory of his forest.* Carmel is a great mountain, fruitful in trees. As it were an innumerable army (like the timber of the woods), it shall perish both in body and in soul.

*Unto the flesh.* [n: (ID.)] The heretics also, when the ecclesiastical doctrine has shone forth and their snare has been laid open, shall come to so great a solitude that, out of a forest and unfruitful trees and an innumerable multitude, scarcely a few shall be left who follow their error.

VERS. 20.-- *And it shall be in that day.* [n: (HIER.)] When Phacee and Rasin were minded to come, etc., *as far as* but let them put their hope in God.

VERS. 21.-- *The remnant shall be converted.* According to Josephus, an innumerable multitude of the Jews being slain, [1249D] we understand that a few were saved in the apostles and in apostolic men.

VERS. 22.-- *The consumption abridged.* The perfecting of the things which had been foretold of Christ so long a time before, completed in three years and a half.

*Justice,* because, being unjustly slain, he justly overcame death and the devil, and redeemed the world by his death.

VERS. 23.-- *For the consummation.* [n: (ID.)] To the letter. He did it, because so great a multitude, except ten, he slew in the short space of one night.

VERS. 24.-- *Upon thee in the way of Egypt.* Of the captivity of the ten tribes, etc., *as far as* he took and overthrew.

VERS. 25.-- *A very little and a moment.* This was fulfilled a long time after; but all ages [1250A] compared to eternity (in which all things are present) are momentary.

VERS. 26.-- *His rod into the sea.* [n: (ID.)] As if: Before he come upon thee, he shall set upon Tharaca, king of Ethiopia, and shall cross the Red Sea, and shall lift up his rod over Egypt, and so with a great army shall return against Jerusalem. [var: Vulg. Is 10:26 *virgam suam super mare*, "his rod over the sea"]

VERS. 29.-- *They have passed over in haste. Gaba the seat,* etc. The past for the future, after the prophetic manner.

VERS. 31, 32.-- *Be strengthened; it is yet day.* [n: (ID.)] After Sennacherib had pitched his tents in Nobe, wishing to storm Jerusalem in the morning, he ceased not until the middle of the night to threaten the desolation of Jerusalem, saying: Behold, shall this city alone be able to be delivered out of my hand?

[1250B]VERS. 33.-- *Behold the sovereign Lord of hosts,* etc. He said the name of the child that was to be born of a virgin, etc., *as far as* and let Libanus with its cedars be cut down.



## CHAPTER XI.

VERS. 1.-- *And there shall come forth a rod.* [n: (HIER.)] Up to the beginning of the vision of Babylon the prophecy is of Christ, which we expound by parts, lest we confound the memory of the reader.

*Shall come forth.* The Jews interpret the rod and the flower to be Christ himself, etc., *as far as* and thou art my firstborn Son, who reignest for ever.

VERS. 2.-- *And shall rest.* [n: (ID.)] Because in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead.

*The Spirit.* As the word of the Lord is called light, life and resurrection, etc., [1250C] *as far as* these are the seven eyes upon one stone, according to Zacharias.

VERS. 3.-- *And the spirit shall fill him.* [n: (ID.)] Spiritually, for the sake of the little ones who have need of fear, which perfect charity casts out. For he that fears has punishment, and is not perfect in charity.

*Not according to.* He shall not accept the person, because God is not an accepter of persons, but in every nation he that fears God is acceptable to him.

*He shall reprove.* [n: (ID.)] The Pharisees, and them that reproved the apostles [sic: *apotolos*], when, walking on the sabbath through the corn, they plucked the ears with their hands and rubbed them and ate.

VERS. 4.-- *The rod of his mouth.* [n: (ID.)] By the rod the sentence of judgment can be understood. For in the beginning of his preaching [1250D] he said: *Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven shall draw near;* [var: Vulg. Mt 3:2 *appropinquavit*, "hath drawn near"] and he subjoined: *Every tree that doth not bring forth good fruits shall be rooted up and cast into the fire.* [var: Vulg. Mt 3:10 *Omnis ergo arbor quae non facit fructum bonum, excidetur*, "Every tree therefore that doth not bring forth good fruit shall be cut down"]

VERS. 5.-- *He shall slay the wicked one.* For if Michael shall slay him (as some say), yet God himself shall do this in Michael.

*Faith.* [n: (HIER.)] The faithful, by working well, shall cleave to him who was made wisdom, justice and sanctification, who says: *I am light and life.*

VERS. 6.-- *The wolf with the lamb.* [n: (ID.)] Paul with Peter, whence: *Benjamin a ravening wolf.* And: *Feed my sheep. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb.* It was not the lamb and the kid that dwelt with the wolf and the leopard, but the wolf and [1251A] the leopard imitate the innocence of the lambs and the kids, namely Christ.

*The wolf shall dwell.* [n: (HIER.)] Our judaizing Jews, etc., *as far as* nothing evil, save baseness.

[n: (ID.)] The calf and the sheep, the humble and the innocent, etc., *as far as* let the Church furnish this in the world.

VERS. 7.-- *The lion as the ox,* etc. [n: (ID.)] For the princes of this world, and other simple folk, are content with the surface of the history; for they do not understand the wheat and the marrow, that is, the inner sense.

VERS. 8.-- *The infant.* Christ, or the apostles, children in malice, perfect in understanding: who cast out demons from possessed bodies.

*Of the basilisk.* The basilisk, the king of all serpents, etc., *as far as* from possessed bodies, namely.

[1251B] *The hand.* That is, the divine power: he shall deliver up captive the asp or the basilisk thereupon seized, that is, the devil.

VERS. 9.-- *For it is filled.* After his manner, at the end the prophetic words are laid open, lest they be taken to the letter.

VERS. 10.-- *Who standeth for a sign,* whence: *Behold this child is set for the ruin and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted [n: (Luc. II)]*. The Seventy: Who shall rise up to be a prince, etc., *as far as* the same signifies a sepulchre. For a sleeping and a rest, with another word but the same sense, we have rendered *sepulchre.*

VERS. 11.-- *The remnant.* [n: (ID.)] The Apostle: *The remnant shall be saved.* For the histories relate that the apostles, [1251C] spread abroad through the whole world, preached the Gospel: and indeed they penetrated the Persians and the Indians, so that Ethiopia gave her hand to God.

VERS. 12.-- *A sign.* Of the cross, in which is the victory, that all may know in what the devil was overcome.

*From the four quarters.* [n: (ID.)] This seems to have been fulfilled at Pentecost, etc., *as far as* that the calling of the whole world might be shown.

VERS. 13.-- *And it shall be taken away,* etc. [n: (ID.)] When Isaias foretold this, between the two and the ten tribes there was an implacable discord; but they that believed were made peaceable in the faith of Christ and the unity of charity.

VERS. 14.-- *The precept of the hand,* etc. What they command, they do; and they teach both by word and by example.

VERS. 15.-- *The tongue of the sea.* [n: (ID.)] Which praised idols. [1251D] The sea, that is, the people of Egypt (which above all others worships idols), that it may praise and fear God, and condemn and cast away idols.

*And he shall lift up.* As Idumaea, and Moab, and the children of Ammon shall give their hands to the apostles, so also the Egyptians.

*And he shall strike.* That is, he shall lessen it by setting seven princes for one, etc., *as far as* that they might pass over dry-shod.

*That they may pass through it,* etc. Under a metaphor the Nile is said to be divided and cut into parts, etc., *as far as* the Lord preparing the way by the Gospel.

## CHAPTER XII.

VERS. 1.-- *I will give thanks to thee.* [n: (HIER.)] As, the Red Sea being passed, [1252A] they said: Let us sing to the Lord, etc. So, the kingdom of the world being destroyed, the Church says: *I will give thanks to thee.*

VERS. 3.-- *Out of the fountains of the Saviour.* [n: (ID.)] Whence: *Bless ye the Lord from the fountains of Israel,* etc., *as far as* that the prophecy may agree with the Gospel.

## CHAPTER XIII.

VERS. 1.-- *The burden of Babylon.* [n: (HIER.)] Babylon, the metropolis of the Chaldeans, etc., *as far as* who says: *All these will I give thee, if falling down thou wilt adore me.*

VERS. 7.-- *They shall be dissolved,* etc. Because no work worthy of the justice of God shall be found.

VERS. 8.-- *Burnt.* As it were coals, by excessive grief, or in very fact. For many were burnt. *Burnt with fire.* With the fire which they kindled for themselves, because they cannot say: [1252B] *The light of thy countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us [n: (Psal. IV)]*, and: *But we, beholding with open face the glory of the Lord [n: (II Cor. III)]*. [var: Vulg. 2 Cor 3:18 *Nos vero omnes, revelata facie gloriam Domini speculantes*, "But we all, with open face beholding the glory of the Lord"]

VERS. 10.-- *The sun is darkened.* These things can be referred to the day of judgment, when all the lights shall be seen to be darkened in comparison of the brightness of Christ.

VERS. 11.-- *And I will visit the evils of the world.* I will take vengeance that I may correct, etc., *as far as: But my mercy shall not be taken away from them.*

*And to rest.* As if he should say: This I will do, that he who is proud may be humbled.

VERS. 12.-- *A man shall be more precious than gold,* etc. [n: (ID.)] All rare things are precious, that is, a man of Babylon shall be found more rarely than gold. Likewise the word of the Lord is called precious, that is, they were rarely found. In the day of [1252C] judgment also the Lord shall visit the evils of the world, and shall make the arrogance of the demons to be still, and few elect shall be found because of the persecution of Antichrist.

VERS. 13.-- *I will trouble the heaven,* etc. Not that they are animate, but because of the indignation of the Lord, who looks upon the earth and makes it tremble. Perhaps, the captivity being at hand, the heaven was moved by thundering and the earth by shaking. It can be read of the day of judgment.

VERS. 14.-- *The fleeing doe.* The doe is the devil, or perverse doctrine, whose masters are signified in the doe, which in Greek is called δορκὰς.

VERS. 17.-- *Behold I will stir up,* etc. We read in Genesis X that Madai also, the son of Noe, was the author of the Medes: who is interpreted measure, or from a powerful or a strong one. Therefore against the Babylonians, who are confounded in mind, [1252D] there are stirred up by the powerful and strong God fortitudes for punishing, which shall render to every one according to his works.

VERS. 19.-- *And Babylon shall be that city,* etc. [n: (ID.)] It was not afterward rebuilt, etc., *as far as* to be devoured by wolves and dogs.

VERS. 21.-- *Beasts,* etc. By all these beasts that shun the light we understand the fortitudes of demons or of angels, to whom they are delivered up for punishment.

*Ostriches.* Of which there has been treatment enough in Job: which are not raised higher from the earth, although they seem to have wings.

*Hairy ones.* Wild shaggy men, who are also incubi, or satyrs, or kinds of demons.

[1253A]VERS. 22.-- *Owls in the houses.* Of the bigness of a raven, but sprinkled with spots, which with their beak set in the marsh make a horrid screeching.

*Sirens.* They are serpents crested and winged, like other sea-fishes, in the shape of a woman; or portents of the devil, which by sweet singing deceive men, the shipwreck of this world, as they pass by with ears not closed.



## CHAPTER XIV.

VERS. 1.-- *Jacob.* Note the propriety of the words. Jacob, who is still in the wrestling, he has mercy on: Israel, who received the name after the victory, he chose.

VERS. 4.-- *How,* etc. Marvelling how the waster of lands, etc., *as far as* but the last enemy, death, shall be destroyed.

*The exactor.* [n: (HIER.)] Who exacts to the last [1253B] farthing from his debtors, who say that word: *Forgive us our debts [n: (Matth. V)]*. To him shall the debtors be delivered; to him Paul delivered the fornicator of Corinth.

VERS. 5.-- *The staff.* He calls Nabuchodonosor, or the devil, because as through the one the impious are scourged by God, so through the other in the punishments of hell, or daily by suggesting sin, by lying in wait.

VERS. 8.-- *The fir trees also.* The princes of divers nations afflicted by him; or the sons whose fathers he slew.

*Since thou hast slept.* Because, the strong man being overcome and his vessels plundered, his satellites fell down; whence: *Go into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels (Matth. [1253C] XXV)*. [var: Vulg. Mt 25:41 *Discedite a me maledicti in ignem aeternum*, "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire"] Note that the death of death is called a sleeping.

*Who should cut down.* Whence the psalm: *The shadow of it covered the mountains, and its branches the cedars of God [n: (Psal. LXXIX.)]* These, sinning at some time, the Lord delivers over to punishment to be bruised: whence it is said: *The Lord shall crush the cedars of Libanus [n: (Psal. XXVIII)]*. [var: Vulg. Ps 28:5 *confringet Dominus cedros Libani*, "the Lord shall break in pieces the cedars of Libanus"]

VERS. 9.-- *Hell.* The inhabitants or the princes of that hell beneath thee. For hell is under the earth, in which that rich man was seen by Lazarus; whence the Lord drew out his own bound ones, and left the devil bound.

*All the princes.* Even though these things were not done, yet they could have been done. It is a solace of the wicked to have their enemies as companions of their punishments.

VERS. 10.-- *Thou art wounded.* Thou who didst seem immortal and God. We, by reason of the weakness of our senses, thought [1253D] that it was not possible to resist the power of God, and that thou alone didst remain in thy height.

VERS. 11.-- *Beneath.* [n: (ID.)] Rottenness, the moth and the covering of worms, etc., *as far as* who said to Christ: *All these will I give thee, if falling down thou wilt adore me [n: (Matth. IV)]*.

VERS. 12.-- *Who didst rise in the morning.* [n: (HIER.)] These are the false apostles, etc., *as far as* and in the sides of the north, in the cold places.

VERS. 13.-- *I will ascend into heaven.* [n: (ID.)] He was in the firmament; he desired to ascend into heaven, where is the throne of the Lord. All these things are to be referred to the heretics, who, though they be below with their prince, boast themselves to be on high.

[1254A] *In the sides of the north.* Whence: From the north evils break forth, and the pot of Jeremias is kindled. Of which: *I will say to the north: Give up:* that is, restore the captives.

*Of the clouds.* That is, of the prophets, of whom: *I will command my clouds that they rain no rain upon it [n: (Psal. XXXV)]*. *And thy truth even unto the clouds.* Judas was a cloud with the other apostles, but by his own fault he received the devil for his rider.

VERS. 15.-- *But yet thou shalt be drawn down to hell.* Thou who couldst have ascended by virtues shalt fall by vices. The saints have the wings of a dove and of an eagle, that they may fly and rest: the wicked are sunk as lead *in the mighty waters, and go down into the deep as [sic: quas] a stone [n: (Zach. V)]*. Iniquity sits upon a talent of lead.

[1254B] *Thou shalt be drawn down.* Christ unwilling; he came down willingly.

*The deep.* To the lowest and worst punishments. For the higher the step, the heavier the fall.

*Of the pit.* That is, of hell, etc., *as far as* but through lukewarmness and the pretence of faith they are rejected by the Lord.

VERS. 16.-- *Is this the man.* [n: (ID.)] Not God; whence: *An enemy man hath oversown cockle [n: (Matth. XIII)]*.

VERS. 17.-- *The cities.* [n: (ID.)] The churches, that he might make them synagogues of the devil, and might pollute the cleanness of the faith with heretical perversity.

*To his prisoners not.* Whom the apostles loose, imitators of their master, etc., *as far as* but he shut them up in darkness, so that he did not open even to Evilmerodach his son.

VERS. 18.-- *All the kings.* [n: (ID.)] The kings of the nations, [1254C] etc., *as far as* nor does he rest in death from torments.

VERS. 19.-- *But thou.* He seems to agree with the fable, etc., *as far as* thy father shall live again.

*As a carcass.* [n: (ID.)] By the multitude of sins *my sores are putrefied and corrupted [n: (Psal. XXXVII)]*. Virtue is of a sweet odour.

VERS. 20.-- *Fellowship.* Of burial, namely. For one is the punishment of the author, another of him who was compelled by the authority: This is the sword wherewith very many were wounded and slain.

*For thou the land.* As if: In thy pride the kingdom of the Chaldeans has been destroyed, which would still have remained, unless thy pride had not been.

[1254D] *The people.* Which God had committed to thee to be corrected and ruled.

*Thou hast slain.* Not reserving the living for God, but preparing companions for thy own punishment.

*He shall not be called.* Therefore he shall not be called, for ever, etc., *as far as* all the offspring is destroyed, for the pride and impiety of the father.

VERS. 21.-- *For the iniquity:* [n: (ID.)] The Seventy: For the iniquity of thy father. Which some not understanding, the Hebrews will have the dragon, who reigns in the sea, whom they call Leviathan, to be the father of the devil; according to that: *Because he is a liar and his father [n: (Joan. VIII)]*, which by understanding ill they deprave.

VERS. 23.-- *And I will make.* There is nothing in it but the royal [1255A] hunting, and it is shut in with brick walls repaired after very many years.

*For a possession for the hedgehog.* The world also is possessed now by the hedgehog and by marshes, that is, by unclean spirits; but at the end of the world the Lord shall sweep it, that is, shall purge it with the fire of purgatory.

VERS. 24.-- *The Lord hath sworn.* Thus far of Babylon and of the kings, etc., *as far as* and this in the land of Juda and in his mountains, as the Lord had foretold.

VERS. 25.-- *In the mountains.* Note the propriety, etc., *as far as* but also those who have advanced in virtues.

VERS. 26.-- *This counsel,* that is, let his yoke be taken away, etc., *as far as* to pertain generally to the whole world.

[1255B]VERS. 28.-- *In the year in which he died.* From the beginning of the book up to this place Isaias prophesied under Ozias, Joatham, Achaz; up to the end, under Ezechias, the things foretold and in part fulfilled.

*Achaz.* While he was living, reigning among sinners: neither the burden against the aliens, nor the word of God (according to the Septuagint) could come to the Prophet.

VERS. 29.-- *Rejoice not.* The king being dead, his enemies rejoice, as though they were to make some gain out of the new state of things: hence the Philistines, whom Achaz afflicted, rejoice at his death and insult the Jews, because, the ripened king being lost, they are subject to his son, in whose reign they think that they can invade their borders.

*The rod of the striker.* [n: (HIER.)] The yoke of God being cast off, etc., *as far as* and out of them flying serpents, or such as should swallow up [1255C] birds.

VERS. 31.-- *Howl.* [n: (ID.)] As if: O Philistines, bewail your misery, which comes through Sennacherib.

*Howl, O gate; cry, O city.* The Philistines falling by a draught, etc., *as far as* a soul filled with evil thoughts.

*For from the north a smoke.* The arrows of the devil blazing up, who is hurtful to the eyes and contrary to the light. From the north the pot of Jeremias is kindled.

*There is none that escapeth his troop.* None but Jerusalem, etc., *as far as* and that Jerusalem alone is to be delivered.

VERS. 32.-- *To the messengers of the nation.* To the angels who are set over cities and nations: each one marvelling why Sion alone has avoided, or escaped, the bitterness of the smoke.

[1255D] *He hath founded Sion.* Upon the foundation of prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance, which are Christ.



## CHAPTER XV.

VERS. 1.-- *The burden of Moab.* This is the vision of Isaiah had concerning the burden, that is, concerning the destruction of Moab. Moab, the son of Lot, whose offspring and province was called Moab: in it is Ar, which is now Ariopolis the metropolis.

*The burden of Moab.* [n: (HIER.)] There is a circumcision carnal and spiritual, etc., *as far as* Lot too, when Sodom was perishing, came into Segor, and the sun rose.

[1256A] *Ar,* that is, adversary, etc., *as far as* afterward they were laid waste by the Chaldeans.

VERS. 2.-- *The house is gone up.* To the high places, in which it had been proud, that it might not sacrifice, but that it might bewail where it had sinned.

*Dibon.* [n: (ID.)] Their flowing: A lie passes and flows away, and never remains in the same state; but the word of the Lord is compact and stable. Whence manna is seen as it were ice: it does not flow, but stands firm.

*Upon Nabo.* [n: (ID.)] Because the sense of all this prophecy also is one, etc., *as far as* when their soul shall have howled to itself.

VERS. 3.-- *Every howling.* Another reading: Every one howls, Moab namely, and so it shall go down into weeping. [1256B] As if: It goes up to the high places, that it may weep before the idols. But when it found no help there, it went down to weeping into the land or into its own house.

VERS. 4.-- *Hesebon shall cry out.* From the beginning of the kingdom, which is in Hesebon, as far as Jasa the city, where it ends, everywhere clamor, everywhere mourning.

*The ready men of Moab shall howl.* Away from their wives, brave warriors. Hence Abraham is said to have chosen the home-born servants of his house ready, that is, without wives.

VERS. 5.-- *My heart to Moab.* That is, that I may provoke them to repentance, etc., *as far as* which is interpreted *the lion of God.*

*Unto Segor.* [n: (ID.)] Segor is one of the five cities of the Sodomites, etc., *as far as* if after the deliverance she had not sinned.

[1256C]VERS. 6.-- *Nemrim.* Nemrim is a town upon the sea, etc., *as far as* and therefore the grass shall wither.

VERS. 7.-- *And their visitation.* Visitation in evil: *I will visit their iniquities with a rod [n: (Psal. LXXXVIII)]*; visitation in good: *The Orient from on high hath visited us [n: (Luc. I)]*.

*To the torrent of the willows.* Thus far concerning the captivity of the Moabites by the Assyrians, now concerning that which was by the Chaldeans.

VERS. 8.-- *Its howling.* As if: therefore shall Moab howl, because where there was riot before, and delight by reason of the watered places and the pleasantness of the springs, there now are streams of blood.

VERS. 9.-- *The water of Dibon.* Dibon, silence; Dibon, weeping; and yet it is one city.

## CHAPTER XVI.

[1256D]

VERS.--1. *Send forth the lamb.* [n: (HIER.)] For this reason the prophets are scarcely understood, etc., *as far as* who may bear rule in the whole world.

*The rock of the desert.* [n: (ID.)] Ruth, namely, because according to the precept of the Lord, etc., *as far as* for as Christ came for either people, so he willed to be born of either.

*To the mount of the daughter of Sion.* Jerusalem, or rather the Church, which is in contemplation as it were the daughter of watching. In Jerusalem also he chiefly preached, wrought miracles, suffered, died, and rose again, and redeemed the human race.

VERS. 2.-- *So shall they be.* So shall they pass over into captivity [1257A] by Arnon: which is the boundary of the Moabites and of the Amorrhites.

[n: (HIER.)] *Arnon* (which is interpreted illumination) of those who, their errors forsaken, pass over to the knowledge of the truth.

VERS. 3.-- *Take counsel.* Do nothing without counsel, and be not carried about with every wind of doctrine; follow the angel of great counsel.

*Gather counsel.* [var: Vulg. Is 16:3 *coge concilium*, "call the assembly together"] Out of the straying, namely, and the erring, by making a Church.

*Set as night.* Thy tabernacle, namely, in which thou didst think to rest, etc., *as far as* that it may receive and hide with itself the fleeing people of God.

VERS. 4.-- *My fugitives.* Who have fled from me, who have gone out from the Church, who have followed their own sense, [1257B] not the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.

*For the dust is at an end.* He passes suddenly to the slaying of Sennacherib, who is dust and wretched, because his glory is as dust which the wind casts forth from the face of the earth, and he passed wretchedly from this light, slain by his own sons in the temple of his god.

VERS. 5.-- *And he shall prepare.* [var: Vulg. Is 16:5 *Et praeparabitur*, passive, "and a throne shall be prepared"] The Jews expound this of Ezechias, who, after the death of Sennacherib, reigned in peace. But they are better referred to Christ, and some things are referred to the first, some to the second advent.

VERS. 6.-- *He shall sit upon it.* Resting and judging, upon the hearts of the good.

*We have heard the pride of Moab.* After the manner of Scripture, because it had announced glad things, lest it should make them negligent, it terrifies [1257C] with a threatening.

*And the indignation.* [n: (ID.)] Against God he set his mouth in heaven, disparaging the prophets. Adding that word of the Gospel: *All who came to thee before me were thieves and robbers.* [var: Vulg. Jo. 10:8 *Omnes quotquot venerunt, fures sunt, et latrones*, "All, as many as came, are thieves and robbers"] He calls Moses and David murderers, Josue a man of blood.

VERS. 7.-- *He shall howl.* One to another, that is, all the diversities of heretics and of philosophers shall bellow against one another in torments.

*Upon the walls.* Not built of squared stone, as they are the temple of God, in which the stones are so polished that neither hammer was heard, nor axe.

VERS. 8.-- *The suburbs of Hesebon.* All their thoughts (which is what Hesebon signifies) do not belong to the city of God; of which: *The stream of the river maketh joyful the [1257D] city of God [n: (Psal. XLV)]*; but they are suburbs, that they may be believed to belong to the city of the Lord.

*Sabama.* Lifting up height, etc., *as far as* the lords of the nations, therefore, the apostles and apostolic men, cut off the shoots of the vine of Sabama.

*They wandered.* Ranging over the whole land of Moab.

*In the desert.* That at last they might not have those whom they should slay.

*The branches.* He pursues the metaphor of the vine.

*They passed over the sea.* [n: (ID.)] That they might see the wonders of the Lord in the deep of temptations, delivered out of them.

VERS. 9.-- *The vine:* The vine of Moab, from the neighbourhood of the place, is such as Sodom.

*Sabama.* He who lifts himself up against the sentence of God.

[1258A]VERS. 10.-- *From Carmel.* Carmel is a mountain between Phoenicia and Palestine overhanging Ptolemais, in which Elias prayed. And it is often put for any fertility whatever; whence here also: *Gladness and rejoicing shall be taken away from Carmel [n: (III Reg. XVIII)]*, that is, the fertility in which the Moabites rejoiced.

*He shall rejoice.* Because heretics boast that they have the knowledge of the spiritual circumcision.

*The voice.* Lest the poisons of the dragon be pressed out thence, and the drinkers be slain.

VERS. 11.-- *My belly.* The prophet, who as a harp, composed by the musician's art, and conceiving from the fear of God, begets many children, that every string may render its own sound.

*And the bowels.* As a harp does not [1258B] send forth a composed sound, etc., *as far as* and James, to whom one is lacking, to him all are lacking.

VERS. 12.-- *Her holy things.* To the holy thing, namely, of the Church, which she shall endeavour to make her own, she shall not prevail: for we do not at once perfectly take hold of virtue.

*She shall not prevail.* In them, namely, they shall not find the help in which she hoped, and so it appeared, because she worshipped in vain.

VERS. 13.-- *This word.* In the preface, etc., *as far as.* For what had begun for thee, here is completed.

VERS. 14.-- *In three years:* as if he should say: As few clusters remain, etc., *as far as* but, his error forsaken, converted, for three years only he is left small and slight and inglorious.

*Of a hireling.* [n: (ID.)] False doctrine does all things for the sake of gain, [1258C] etc., *as far as* it is a lighter sin to sin openly than to feign sanctity.



## CHAPTER XVII.

VERS. 1.-- *The burden of Damascus. Behold Damascus.* [n: (ID.)] Damascus, the metropolis of Syria, etc., *as far as* but because they did not do penance they were led captive.

VERS. 2.-- *Aroer for the flocks.* The tamarisk, which is a fruitless tree, springing up in deserts and in rocky places, as if he should say: All the Syrians shall be fruitless and desolate. Others say that from this tree hatreds are stirred up by evil arts.

VERS. 3.-- *And the kingdom.* That sin may not reign in her who before loved blood.

*The remnant of Syria.* Ironically, for a disgrace, etc., [1258D] *as far as* both therefore were led captive in disgrace.

VERS. 4.-- *And it shall be in that day.* [n: (ID.)] When Syria shall have been laid waste by the Assyrians, etc., *as far as* others were carried over into Cyrene, which is a region beyond Egypt.

*It shall wither away.* [n: (ID.)] They shall not have prophets, nor signs, nor powers, nor kingdom, nor priesthood; but the whole body of the nation shall wither.

VERS. 5.-- *In the harvest.* Of the nations it is said: *The harvest indeed is great, the labourers, however, few [n: (Matth. IX)]*. But those poor men gather the leavings of the harvest, which have been saved by the apostles, and the very rare ears. Nor on the mountains, but in the valley of Raphaim, that is, in humility, in the truth of the letter. For Raphaim sounds giants.

VERS. 6.-- *As the shaking.* [n: (ID.)] When the people [1259A] of the Jews had been struck down, the olive tree, which under Moses had had six hundred thousand armed men, and under David, when Joab numbered them, a people beyond counting, offered scarcely a few fruits to the Saviour.

*Of two or three.* Of Paul and Barnabas. And of three, Peter, and James and John, who beheld the Lord transfigured on the mountain, and saw the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue raised up.

*Or four.* [n: (HIER.)] These are the remaining nine, among whom Matthias obtained the place of Judas the traitor. These, unknown to us by reason of the diversity of graces, were parted into four or into five, that they might show forth in themselves the number of the Gospels and the volumes of the law, as preachers of either Testament.

VERS. 7.-- *In that day he shall bow down.* As if he should say: [1259B] The Lord hungering, scarcely a few, etc., *as far as* as is read in Paralipomen., and they cast away the idols.

VERS. 9.-- *In that day they shall be.* When the Assyrians rushed in, and laid waste not only Damascus, but also the land of the ten tribes.

*Ploughs.* [n: (ID.)] Of the Amorrhites. This against the ten tribes, as if he should say: As of old, when the children of Israel came, the Amorrhites fled and left their ploughs, so now the ten tribes, when the Assyrians come.

VERS. 10.-- *A faithful planting.* A planting is faithful when one plants and tills, and gathers the fruit. The planting is unfaithful, and the seed a stranger's, when a stranger gathers: *Every planting which my Father hath not planted shall be rooted up [n: (Matth. XV)]*. [var: Vulg. Mt 15:13 *Pater meus caelestis*, "my heavenly Father"]

*A stranger's seed.* Not receiving the Father, because thou dost not receive [1259C] the Son; for he who believes in the Father, believes in the Son. A stranger's seed, of blasphemy against Christ.

VERS. 11.-- *In the morning thy seed.* [n: (ID.)] When, namely, the shoot shall have been seen, etc., *as far as* that all the saints are saved with the branches of the wild olive, the root.

VERS. 12.-- *Woe to the multitude.* Sennacherib and his army, etc., *as far as* desiring to crush and to seize upon all things.

VERS. 13.-- *He shall be caught away.* He was caught away from Jerusalem, when he fled with a few into Ninive. From the world he was caught away, when he was quickly slain by his own sons, as is plain.

VERS. 14.-- *This is the portion of them that have laid waste.* The prophet in the person of Israel, as if he should say: Thus is [1259D] God wont to bless our enemies.

## CHAPTER XVIII.

VERS. 1.-- *Woe to the land.* [n: (ID.)] Because he had spoken of the rest of the persecutors of the Church, etc., *as far as* as though by straying he had done useless things.

*Woe to the land of the cymbal of wings.* [var: Vulg. Is 18:1 *cymbalo alarum*, ablative] He turns again to Egypt, and calls it, etc., *as far as* they took away from them the fear of the Lord.

VERS. 2.-- *In vessels of papyrus,* that is, in ships made of papyrus, etc., *as far as* it passes by and slips away.

VERS. 3.-- *A nation waiting and trodden underfoot.* For all heretics promise themselves great things, etc., *as far as* that is, they hear their doctrine.

[1260A]VERS. 4.-- *A cloud of dew.* Welcome to the wearied reapers, to whom it affords refreshment, and by moistening makes the dry stubble fit for cutting: so my word against Egypt shall be welcome to all that believe in me, and to the Assyrians the victory given them by me.

VERS. 5.-- *Little branches.* [n: (ID.)] Useless: whence: *I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman: every branch in me not bearing fruit he will take it away, and every one that beareth fruit he will purge it.*

VERS. 6.-- *And all the beasts of the earth.* Hyperbolically. For not all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon him. But he signifies both a slaughter beyond measure, and a very great multitude of beasts about to come upon them, for whom the corpses shall suffice for food in summer and in winter.

[1260B]VERS. 7.-- *In the time.* The Prophet returns to the people of Israel, and promises them good things, saying: *In the time,* as if he should say: When Egypt has been laid waste, Juda shall hope no more in its shadow; but he would offer to the Lord the gift of faith and of good works. Which was fulfilled in the seventieth year after the captivity, under Zorobabel and the other leaders.



## CHAPTER XIX.

VERS. 1.-- *The burden of Egypt,* etc. [n: (ID.)] It is to be known that many things which are here said belong to Egypt historically; but, both here and in other places, many things of the Scriptures are set down which cannot stand according to history, so that by the necessity of the matter we are compelled to seek a higher understanding.

*Behold the Lord shall ascend,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Egypt, darkness [1260C] or sorrow, etc., *as far as* and the hearts of the wise men of Egypt melted with dread.

*The idols of Egypt.* Idolatry, feeling itself broken, so that even the magi, taught by the demons, or, according to the prophecy of Balaam, understanding that the Son of God was born, who should destroy the magic art, came into Bethlehem and adored the Child.

VERS. 2.-- *And I will make to run together.* [n: (ID.)] Whence in the Gospel: *I came not to send peace upon the earth, but the sword: for I came to separate a man from his father,* etc., [n: (Matth. X)]. [var: Vulg. Mt 10:35 *adversus patrem suum*, "against his father"]

VERS. 3.-- *And it shall be broken asunder,* etc. [n: (ID.)] The will of Egypt shall be divided into contrary things, so that they shall not be great in their own sense as before, but, sundered by the spiritual sword, shall know that their counsel has been cast headlong.

[1260D]VERS. 4.-- *Of cruel lords.* Egypt was delivered up to many lords. First to the Assyrians, afterward to Nabuchodonosor, thirdly to Alexander, at the last to the Romans, when Antony and Cleopatra were overcome by Augustus. The Chaldeans were the crueller, the Romans the mightier.

VERS. 5.-- *And it shall be dried up.* It is wont to happen, when captivity comes by the wrath of God, that pestilence follows upon his indignation, and that the elements rage against sinners. When therefore the captivity came by the Chaldeans or the Romans, perhaps both the Nile and the springs were dried up. Hyperbolically also, by reason of the exceeding tribulation, the rivers can be said to have failed, and the springs and the brooks to have gone dry.

VERS. 11.-- *Foolish.* When the Babylonian [1261A] or the Roman captivity came, all the counsels of the magi failed.

*The princes of Thaneos.* [n: (HIER.)] Of a lowly commandment; for all heretics teach a lowliness contrary to loftiness, and drag men down to the lower regions, and the princes are of a lowly commandment and cast down.

*The son of the wise.* Each one said these things to Pharao, etc., *as far as* and they boast that the great gods, Isis and Osiris and Typhon, were the founders of their nation.

*Of ancient kings.* As if he should say: I have the knowledge of the Scriptures together with worldly wisdom.

VERS. 14.-- *Drunken and vomiting.* [n: (ID.)] With the madness of dragons, that at last after the vomiting they may understand their drunkenness. For as long as they shall have been drunken, they shall have neither beginning nor end.

[1261B]VERS. 15.-- *That refraineth.* [n: (HAYMO. in Isa.)] In place of what Jerome ought to have rendered, etc., *as far as* others, out of wantonness, know not what they do.

VERS. 16.-- *Women.* Whom Egypt loves, whom alone Pharao wills to live, the men being slain. The devil kills the virtues, and preserves the vices.

VERS. 17.-- *The land of Juda to Egypt.* The knowledge of the Scriptures, the law and the prophets; the Gospels shall be to Egypt for a festival when she shall have known herself, or for a terror when she shall have understood that she held lies.

*For a dread.* Others, for a festival, etc., *as far as* by promising them help.

VERS. 18.-- *Five cities.* Some understand the five books of Moses, etc., *as far as* because they are changed from vices to virtues.

[1261C] *The tongue of Chanaan.* [var: Vulg. Is 19:18 *lingua Chanaan*, the bare place-name; Migne prints an adjectival form] It is asked why not the Hebrew tongue, etc., *as far as* and those who delight in an unclean touch.

VERS. 19.-- *In that day.* [n: (ID.)] Onias the priest, not understanding this, etc., *as far as* and that they have kept their own tongue until this day.

*And a title.* The title of the Lord is the evangelical and apostolic doctrine, which is unto the ends of the earth, whence: *Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth [n: (Psal. XVIII)]*. Or the title beside the boundary of faith is good work, which ought to be extended as far as faith also, or the imitation of the passion of Christ.

VERS. 20.-- *For they shall cry out.* When the evangelical doctrine shall have grown, and persecution shall have pressed in, then they that have believed shall cry out to God the Father.

[1261D]VERS. 23.-- *In that day.* Before the coming of the Lord, the several nations, etc., *as far as* who run to and fro from kingdom to kingdom.

*And the Egyptians shall serve.* Not that they were afterward subjugated, etc., *as far as* of the same condition with them.

*In that day it shall be.* [n: (ID.)] He shall not be vexed in the midst by the Assyrians and the Egyptians in turn, but he shall be a third with them, serving, namely, the Romans.

VERS. 25.-- *Blessed.* These regions had abounded above all other monarchies, and therefore they deserved to be blessed.

## CHAPTER XX.

VERS. 1.-- *In the year.* [n: (ID.)] These are Assyrian [1262A] names, etc., *as far as* he overcomes those who are in bondage to generation and to lust.

*In the year.* Azotus, the mightiest city of the Philistines out of the five, etc., *as far as* which the Lord spoke through him.

*When he had sent.* Beautifully is the king of the Assyrians called Sargon, that is, prince of gardens, to whom Achab is like: who desired to turn the vineyard of Naboth into a garden; which he, understanding it tropologically, chose rather to die than to do, lest the paternal inheritance and the ancient possession should be turned into the delights of an impious king.

VERS. 2.-- *Go and loose.* The prophet is commanded that, his sackcloth and his shoes laid aside, etc., *as far as* for there is nothing hidden that shall not be revealed.

*And he did so.* A wondrous obedience: a man most noble was clothed [1262B] in sackcloth alone, as the Hebrews hand down. Whose daughter King Manasses took in marriage; he did not blush to walk naked, judging nothing more honourable than to obey the Lord.

VERS. 3.-- *Unshod.* [n: (ID.)] It is to be noted that before Azotus is taken, etc., *as far as* to which it hastens, either to stand or to walk.

VERS. 4.-- *To the disgrace.* Because they could not eat the pasch of the Lord, which he ate with his loins girded, holding a staff in his hand, with shoes on his feet, lest, passing through the wilderness of this world, he be bitten by serpents.

VERS. 6.-- *Was this then.* [var: Vulg. Is 20:6 *Ecce haec erat spes nostra*, "Behold, this was our hope"] The providence of God is to be marvelled at, etc., *as far as* in the end it shall perish utterly, when the kingdom of Christ shall have shone forth.



## CHAPTER XXI.

[1262C]

VERS. 1.-- *The burden of the desert of the sea.* Of Babylon, called a sea for the multitude of its people.

*It cometh from the desert.* In which the Lord was tempted, in which the Israelites were struck by serpents.

VERS. 2.-- *He that is unbelieving.* A general sentence, as though it were the fault of individuals that they are overwhelmed in the storm.

*Go up, Aelam.* The LXX: The Aelamites and the legates of the Persians. Aelamites, despisers. *Go up,* as if he should say: O Persians and Medes, fear not, mount your horses, besiege Babylon. *Go up.* Trusting in the strength of God, he speaks boldly against his adversaries.

*All the mourning.* Whereby it made thee and other nations to mourn; [1262D] or, that none may now mourn, pressed by the power of Babylon; or, that it may be afflicted with so great evils that it dare not mourn against thee.

VERS. 5.-- *Prepare the table.* As if he should say: O Persians and Medes, take food, etc., *as far as* wherein ye may quench the fiery darts of the devil.

*Behold,* etc. What may fall upon him after the table; or, behold, O Balthasar, what he has written on the wall: *Mane, Tethel, Phares.* [var: Vulg. Dn 5:25 *Mane, Thecel, Phares*]

VERS. 6.-- *A watchman.* Those who watch are called prophets.

VERS. 7.-- *A rider.* Cyrus the prince was ruling over the Medes and the Persians, etc., *as far as* the letter, namely, and the spirit, refer to the two Testaments.

[1263A]VERS. 8.-- *A lion.* The same is a lion for the strength of his mind, who is a watchman by the prerogative of contemplation.

*Upon the watchtower of the Lord.* That is, set by day in contemplation, ready by days and by nights to hear and to speak the things which he shall have commanded.

*Standing all the nights.* That I may keep myself from all sin, that I may be worthy to hear the word of the Lord.

VERS. 9.-- *Behold this man cometh.* What follows, he signifies that he has seen, namely that the Saviour comes, sitting upon a two-horse chariot, and joining two animals, that is, an ass and a camel, to one chariot.

*It is fallen, it is fallen.* When Cyrus and Darius were laying Babylon waste, the idols also were broken in pieces, the temple of Bel being overthrown and burned with fire.

VERS. 10.-- *My threshing.* As if he should say: O people, [1263B] who art to be stored up in my barns, whom I have threshed with divers straits, that I might beat out the chaff and gather the pure wheat into the barns, the things which I have heard from the Lord, from the God of Israel, etc.

VERS. 11.-- *The burden of Duma.* The LXX: Of Idumaea, etc., *as far as* the burden of Duma crieth to me.

*He crieth to me.* [n: (HIER.)] God, namely, my keeper, etc., *as far as* he speaks thereafter to the nations: *If ye seek me,* seek *more earnestly [n: (Joan. IX)]*. [var: Vulg. Is 21:12 *si quaeritis, quaerite*, "if you seek, seek"]

VERS. 12.-- *The morning cometh,* etc. As if: to my people I will give the light of gladness, etc., *as far as* by working, and so I will hear you.

VERS. 13.-- *The burden in Arabia.* The Arabs are the Saracens, etc., *as far as* thence God addresses the fleeing Jews thus:

[1263C] *In the thicket at evening.* O ye Jews, who shall flee the Babylonian siege in the thicket, that is, ye shall sleep in the woods of the Saracens, fleeing the Chaldeans in the paths of Dodanim, which is interpreted *among the near of kin* or *the kindred,* that is, in the way which leads to your kinsmen the Saracens. [var: Vulg. Is 21:13 *in semitis Dedanim*]

*Evening.* [n: (ID.)] Which is the beginning of night. He who begins to sin is in the evening; he who has come to the height is in the middle of the night. In the middle of the night the firstborn of Egypt are slain. Peter denies; when the light is now near, he repents.

*In the paths.* [n: (ID.)] Because evening is the beginning of evils, etc., *as far as* when he rebelled against his father.

VERS. 14.-- *Meeting him that is thirsty, bring.* This can be said against those who have given themselves over to idleness and sloth and are content with their own salvation, and reach out no hand to the penitent and the converted.

[1263D] *Bring water to him that is thirsty.* To your brethren, wearied with the burning of the sun and with thirst, bring water, lest they perish in the wilderness.

VERS. 16.-- *Yet in one,* etc. As if he should say: Because ye have not had mercy upon them, ye shall soon endure the misery of captivity. A year after the captivity of the Jews and the overthrow of Jerusalem, these also were laid waste.

*As in the year of a hireling:* [n: (ID.)] which is: As a hireling his year, etc., *as far as* and shall have eaten the heavenly bread.

## CHAPTER XXII.

VERS. 1.-- *The burden of the valley.* Jerusalem, once the mistress of the nations, etc., *as far as* who have fallen from the lofty sense of the Scriptures to the lowest things.

[1264A] *The valley of vision.* The LXX: Sion, that is, of the watchtower, namely of the Church.

*What aileth thee also.* As if he should say: Since philosophy and worldly wisdom, disputing of lofty things, despises the simplicity of the Church, why dost thou also follow after high things?

VERS. 2.-- *Full.* The doctrine of the heretics is full of much talking and of clamor.

*Thy slain.* [n: (HIER.)] Of the valley, namely of Sion, by their own will, that is, they went over to the heretics. In comparison with those who have been conquered after a battle, they are more unhappily wounded who give themselves up of their own accord: as in martyrdom, he who denies after torments is more lightly punished than he who denies Christ without compulsion.

VERS. 3.-- *All the princes,* etc. As is read in Jeremias, [1264B] Sedechias by night through a hole in the wall, etc., *as far as* and they were led into Babylon.

*They fled.* In flight of one mind, whose prince is the fleeing dragon, the crooked serpent.

VERS. 5.-- *And of weepings.* [n: (ID.)] The LXX: Of error. Not that weeping and error are from the Lord, but from the occasion of the Scriptures which he gave them to read there arises an occasion of error, and they can say: *Why hast thou made us to err from thy way? [n: (Isa. LXIII.)]* [var: Vulg. Is 63:17 *Quare errare nos fecisti, Domine, de viis tuis*, "Why hast thou made us to err, O Lord, from thy ways?"]

VERS. 6.-- *Elam.* A city in the province of Persia, in which are the best archers: *Elam took the quiver.* Elam, their ascent, that is, the pride of the heretics, took the quiver, *that he may shoot in the dark at the upright of heart.* [var: Vulg. Ps 10:3 *ut sagittent*, plural, "that they may shoot"]

*The wall.* He stripped bare the bulwarks of the Church with his shield, that is, by his assault.

[1264C]VERS. 8.-- *The covering.* The temple, which before was covered and shut against the nations and the polluted.

*The armoury.* Beside the temple was a house which David built for the storing of arms, about which were many trees; whence it is called the house of the forest. It too was not of stone, but of wood: for from the moisture of the mortar and of the stones (as they say) iron rusts.

VERS. 9.-- *And you gathered together.* The land of promise, although most rich, etc., *as far as* the lower, which could be taken by the enemy, the upper, which could not.

VERS. 11.-- *And a pool.* [n: (ID.)] Not a well which has living and eternal water, but broken pools which cannot hold water.

*Between two walls.* That is, both the New and the Old [1264D] Testament: they made for themselves new waters, which they think are more inward and contain greater mysteries than the Old Testament.

VERS. 12.-- *And the Lord God of hosts shall call.* Daily the Lord provokes the heretics to repentance, etc., *as far as* but, making light of it and despairing, they said: *Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die [n: (Jerem. XXXIV)]*.

VERS. 14.-- *Ye shall die.* [n: (ID.)] To your vices, or ye shall go down with them to the lower regions, etc., *as far as* the things which are here said do not belong to the captivity made in the time of Ezechias.

VERS. 15.-- *Sobna.* [n: (HIER.)] Turn thee now, etc., *as far as* whence the Lord threatens him with these evils

[1265A]VERS. 16.-- *What dost thou here?* As if he should say: Why dost thou wish to build thee a house? etc., *as far as* than which it is to be called a sepulchre and a memorial.

VERS. 18.-- *Crowning he will crown thee.* Thou, namely, who once hadst the crown of the pontiff, and the sanctification in a plate of gold (in which the name of God was written), shalt be crowned with tribulation and anguish.

*With tribulation.* In place of the golden plate in which the name of the Lord was written, which the priest bore on his forehead once in the year.

*As a ball.* As a sphere cannot stand in a sloping and spacious place, so thy people shall be scattered to the ends of the world.

VERS. 20.-- *My servant Eliacim.* By Sobna the proud, etc., *as far as the son of Helcias,* that is, of the father [1265B] of the Lord.

VERS. 22.-- *The key.* By the key which he bears upon his shoulder, the sceptre of the kingdom and the sign of victory, that is, *the cross we can* understand, which Christ himself bore upon his own shoulder.

*The house of David.* He calls the house of David the house of the Lord, in which was the golden key.

*And he shall open.* Whence: *He that openeth and no man shutteth, shutteth and no man openeth.* What he unlocked in his passion cannot be shut; what he shut in the ceremonies, no man shall open.

VERS. 24.-- *And I will hang upon.* [var: Vulg. Is 22:24 *Et suspendent super eum*, "And they shall hang upon him"] Whence in the Gospel: *All the people hung upon him.* [var: Vulg. Lc 19:48 *omnis populus suspensus erat, audiens illum*, "all the people was in suspense, hearing him"] To-day also they hang upon the word of his wisdom.

VERS. 25.-- *The peg shall be taken away.* The things which are said, etc., [1265C] *as far as* the Jews shall be converted to the faith.



## CHAPTER XXIII.

VERS. 1.-- *The burden of Tyre.* Tyre, the most noble city of the Chananites, etc., *as far as* this misery Isaias foretells: *The burden of Tyre,* etc.

*Howl ye.* In the Greek more openly: Howl, ye ships of Carthage: ye, namely, who were wont to come to Tyre for the sake of trading. Carthage was a colony to the Tyrians, built and tilled by them.

*Ships of the sea.* In Hebrew Tharsis, that is, the exploring of joy or contemplation, because the contemplation of joy and of gladness shall be turned into tears.

VERS. 3.-- *Trading.* [n: (HIER.)] Traders, etc., *as far as* and they pass over from other vices to others.

*The seed of the Nile, the harvest of the river, the fruits,* etc. It is so construed: [1265D] the seed of the river Nile was her harvest and her fruits, namely Tyre's. The land of the Chananites, in which Tyre is, is unfruitful: Egypt, which the Nile waters, is fruitful in fruits, which Tyre used to exchange with the Egyptians.

VERS. 4.-- *The sea.* Of the world, namely, in which are small living things with the great; the dragon (whom the Lord formed to make sport of him), seeing those taken by the hunters of Christ who had been taken by the demons, says to the strength contrary to the hunters (which Sidon signifies): Blush, O Sidon.

*I have not been in labour.* As if he should say: It has profited nothing to have been in labour, to have brought forth and nourished up young men, because Tyre was taken without defence.

VERS. 5.-- *When it shall have been heard in Egypt,* etc. [1266A] This is understood both of all the vices and of the heresies, because when one is taken another is greatly afraid, and in the confusion of the one the other feels that it is to be taken.

VERS. 6.-- *Pass over, howl, ye that dwell.* As has been said above, when they could not resist Nabuchodonosor, those hastened who were able to go on board the ships: the rest remained in the city.

VERS. 7.-- *Is not this your city, which gloried from the days of old in its antiquity,* etc. As if he should say: This I therefore command, because your city Tyre, its old error laid aside, shall pass over to the truth.

VERS. 8.-- *Her princes, her traffickers, the nobles of the earth,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Among other traders, or even in kingdoms.

VERS. 9.-- *That he might bring down to disgrace,* etc. The Lord is not the author of disgrace, but he shows what [1266B] is disgraceful, according to that word: *He shall defile him with defilement,* not that the priest is the author of the defilement, but that he shows him defiled whom many thought clean.

VERS. 10.-- *The river.* Of the Babylonians. *Upon the rivers of Babylon there we sat and wept, while we remembered Sion [n: (Psal. CXXXVI)]*.

*No girdle any more for thee.* The strength of resisting, for with a girdle we bind up the loins: in the loins we are said to have strength.

VERS. 11.-- *He hath troubled the kingdoms.* Namely of the Egyptians and of the Moabites, and of the others round about. For when Tyre had been taken and overthrown, the other kingdoms were troubled with fear. The kingdom of Egypt also was given to Nabuchodonosor in place of Tyre overthrown.

[1266C]VERS. 12.-- *The daughter of Sidon.* [n: (ID.)] In the land of Chanaan are Tyre and Sidon; whence: The Chananite woman went out of the borders of Tyre and Sidon, meeting the Saviour [n: (Matth. XV)].

*Pass over.* Often we see certain men pass over from their own purpose to another, from soldiering to trading: from lawsuits to arms they change their industry, that they may change their ill fortune. But, by God's dispensation, all things fall out contrary, that, constrained by miseries, they may trust not in themselves, but in the Lord the Creator.

VERS. 13.-- *There was no such people.* Until the death of Nabuchodonosor the Chaldeans and the Assyrians were the mightiest above all; afterward the people of the Greeks and of the Romans was mightier.

*They dug through.* When Nabuchodonosor invaded Tyre [1266D] with a fleet, he overthrew not only the wall, but the houses also; and what was the trafficking of the cities became for seventy years the drying of nets.

VERS. 14.-- *Ships of the sea,* etc. In Hebrew Tharsis, etc., *as far as* the churchman destroys and subjects it to himself.

VERS. 15.-- *Seventy years.* [n: (HIER.)] Tyre, once straitened, etc., *as far as* who then may not have hope of salvation, if he shall have sung well, if he shall have well composed the strings, that is, the virtues?

[n: (ID.)] The seventh and the seventieth, which is completed either by single days or by seven decades, signifies perfect penance, so that, the time of penance being fulfilled, Tyre is by right restored to her ancient state.

[1267A] *The song of a harlot.* Who, forsaken by her lovers, is wont to compose songs for her consolation, and to call to mind things past; so also Tyre, returned.

VERS. 16.-- *Take thee a harp.* [var: Vulg. Is 23:16 *Sume citharam*, without *tibi*] The things which follow concerning this burden look to the return of Tyre.

*Sing well, often,* etc. [var: Vulg. Is 23:16 *frequenta canticum*, "repeat the song"] He admonishes her always to sing the song of her miseries, lest she suffer the same again. For they say that this is the nature of music: if it find a man glad, it makes him gladder; if sad, it renders him sadder.

VERS. 18.-- *And her trafficking shall be, and her hire.* As Jerome says on Jeremias, etc., *as far as* they sacrificed their hire to the Lord.



## CHAPTER XXIV.

VERS. 1.-- *Behold the Lord shall make naked,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] [1267B] After the particular rebuke of the several nations, etc., *as far as* he passes over from the Egyptians and many others to the general burden of the last judgment.

VERS. 2.-- *It shall be.* [n: (ID.)] All alike shall either be rewarded for their good deeds or damned for their evil ones. There shall be no difference between the noble and the base-born, the priest and the layman, the servant and the lord, etc. For all shall stand on equal terms before the tribunal of Christ; nor shall there be any respect of persons with God.

*So the priest.* A good people with a good priest shall receive the crown of life; the wicked together shall bear the torments of hell without respect of person.

*The earth.* [n: (ID.)] Earthly works shall be brought to nothing, so that, the image of the earthly man being abolished, the image of the heavenly may remain. For flesh and blood shall [1267C] not possess the kingdom of God, because this mortal shall put on immortality.

VERS. 6.-- *A curse shall devour the earth.* As in the beginning God blessed every creature, so in the end he curses those who are earthly; and not sojourners, but dwellers in the earth: those also who sin in it, forgetful of their condition, raging against one another. And few shall remain, who have the image of the heavenly.

VERS. 7.-- *The vintage hath mourned, the vine hath been made weak.* [n: (ID.)] At the consummation, the remembrance of the world's past delights shall be matter of torment; whence the rich man clothed in purple, who had received good things in his lifetime, lifting up his eyes out of hell, beholds Lazarus at rest [n: (Luc. XIX)]; whence: *Woe to you that are filled, for you shall hunger [n: (Luc. VI)]*.

*All have groaned who shall rejoice,* [var: Vulg. Is 24:7 *qui laetabantur corde*, "who rejoiced in heart"] etc. This testimony [1267D] we press upon those who at banquets riot not only in gluttony and drunkenness, but in the ears, so that through all the senses the strength of the soul is softened.

VERS. 10.-- *The city of vanity is broken down.* The world, in which all things are vain, vanity of vanities and all is vanity.

VERS. 11.-- *There shall be a crying over wine.* By wine, error; for drunken men go astray. By the streets (which in Greek are named from breadth) we understand the spacious and broad way which leads to death. Over these, then, who have gone astray in the broad and spacious way of this world, there shall be a cry of grief in the day of judgment.

VERS. 13.-- *In the midst of the earth.* Jerusalem, which is (as they say) the navel of the earth. And many suppose that the Lord, being about to judge upon Mount Sion, [1268A] from which he ascended, shall sit in the air, shall come in a cloud.

*As if a few olives,* etc. Few being left, when persecution shall have devoured the earth, etc., *as far as* the clusters also being gathered, scarcely a few remain on the empty vines.

VERS. 14.-- *And they shall praise: when the Lord shall have been glorified.* [n: (ID.)] They shall praise who shall be able to remain and to flee the oppression of Antichrist, or the burning of the hell that hangs over them.

*They shall neigh.* By the likeness of horses, showing forth the greatness of their gladness.

VERS. 16.-- *From the ends of the earth we have heard praises, the glory of the just one.* In Hebrew, *the wings of the earth.* Now the wings or the ends of the earth are the prophets and the apostles, who fly from earthly things to heavenly, and bound the manner of living by certain ends of precepts. The saints therefore say: [1268B] *As* from the prophets and the apostles *we have heard, so* now do we *see* it fulfilled.

*My secret to myself.* [n: (ID.)] He can neither fully declare the rewards of the good, nor the punishments of the wicked, which he foresees in the spirit; and thence he grieves, saying: *Woe is me.*

VERS. 17.-- *Fear and the pit.* These things may be referred both to the times of the martyrs, etc., *as far as* so also shall it be in the time of Antichrist.

VERS. 18.-- *They are opened,* etc. That God may see the iniquities of Antichrist and judge them. For while he does not punish sins, he makes as though he did not see them.

*The foundations of the earth.* The princes of the world, earthly works.

VERS. 19.-- *With breaking shall it be broken.* Not that the earth is reduced to dust, or to nothing, but because all earthly things shall pass away. And as a drunken man knows not [1268C] what he does, so all who dwell in the earth shall be drunk with the greatness of their evils and shall be astonished at all things.

VERS. 20.-- *A tent of one night.* [n: (ID.)] Which is carried off by the traveller, so that no trace remains, so shall the figure of this world pass away [n: (I Cor. VII)], and the earth shall be deserted so that there be no dwelling of men in it any more.

VERS. 21.-- *And it shall be,* etc. As if he should say: The windows of heaven are opened, so that, the Lord looking upon the sins of the earth, every figure of earthly works may pass away and fall, and not rise again in its former stature. The Lord therefore shall visit in that day upon the host of heaven, that he may judge not only earthly things, but heavenly.

*Upon the host.* [n: (ID.)] *My sword is inebriated in heaven. The stars are not clean in his sight. And in his angels he found depravity [n: (Isa. XXXIV, Job. XV, IV)]*. [var: Vulg. Job 15:15 *caeli non sunt mundi*, "the heavens are not clean"]

[1268D] *The kings of the earth.* [n: (HIER.)] *The rulers of darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places [n: (Ephes. VI)]*; whence in Daniel: *The prince of the kingdom of the Persians went out to meet me, and the prince of the kingdom of the Medes [n: (Dan. X)]* [var: Vulg. Dan. 10 has neither this sentence nor any *prince of the kingdom of the Medes*; 10:13 sets *princeps regni Persarum* and 10:20 *princeps Graecorum*]

VERS. 22.-- *And they shall be gathered together.* [n: (ID.)] Origen says that, after this sentence: *Go, ye cursed, into everlasting fire [n: (Matth. XXV)]*, after many days, that is after a thousand years, they are to be visited and set free. But the Church does not receive this. For it has been said: *The wicked shall go into everlasting punishment, but the just into life everlasting [n: (Matth. XIII)]*. [var: Vulg. Matt. 25:46 *Et ibunt hi*, "and these shall go"] Now what is everlasting lacks all end, and as the joy is everlasting, so also is the punishment.

*One bundle into the pit.* [var: Vulg. Is 24:22 *unius fascis*, "of one bundle"] Whence: *Bind them in bundles to burn.*

[1269A] *And after many.* It is to be noted that he does not add: by the Lord or by the angels, etc., *as far as* which has been left to the Lord's judgment.

VERS. 23.-- *And it shall blush.* Whence the creature groaneth and travaileth, etc., *as far as* such as was Abraham, dead in a good old age.

## CHAPTER XXV.

VERS. 1.-- *Amen.* [n: (HIER.)] A Hebrew word, which the Lord often uses in the Gospel: *Amen, amen,* that is, truly, truly, *I say to you.*

VERS. 2.-- *A city.* Overthrown by Nabuchodonosor, it was restored by Nehemias and by Jesus the high priest. Overthrown by the Romans, it was restored by Aelius Hadrian; but not in the same place, nor to its former state.

*And for ever.* [n: (ID.)] That the fable of the thousand years' reign [1269B] and of the golden and jewelled Jerusalem may rest.

VERS. 10.-- *And Moab shall be threshed,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Although he was speaking generally of the consummation of the world, etc., *as far as* by Moab therefore we rightly understand the devil, always the adversary of the sons of God.

*Straw in a wain.* Straw is threshed by iron-shod wains, that the beasts may the more easily both feed upon it and chew the cud.



## CHAPTER XXVI.

VERS. 1.-- *In that day,* etc. [n: (ID.)] This may be referred both to the present Church and to the day of judgment. Now the Church sings a new song: the nativity of Christ, his passion, his resurrection, his ascension. For it is old that the old man should go down to the lower regions; new, that he should ascend to heaven.

*The city of strength.* The voice of the just, both now and in the [1269C] time to come.

VERS. 2.-- *Open ye the gates.* This song suddenly changes the persons.

*The gates.* Of justice; whence: *Open to me the gates of justice.* The gates of life and of justice, etc., *as far as* and through many gates to him who says: *No man cometh to the Father but by me [n: (Joan. XIV)]*.

VERS. 3.-- *Peace.* [n: (ID.)] The repetition is a confirmation. He has this of whom it is said: *Man, man of the children of Israel [n: (Ezech. XIV)]*; [var: Vulg. Ezech. 14:4 *Homo, homo de domo Israel*, "man, man of the house of Israel"] and elsewhere: *A man, a man whose wife shall have defiled the bed [n: (Num. V)]*, [var: Vulg. Num. 5:12 *Vir cujus uxor erraverit*, "a man whose wife shall have gone astray," without the doubled *Vir*] that a twofold man and a twofold husband may obtain a twofold peace.

VERS. 6.-- *The foot shall tread it down,* etc. Because *Every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled [n: (Luc. I)]*. We may refer these things also to the contrary powers.

[1269D] *Of the needy.* [n: (HIER.)] Of the apostles, whom the Jews drove out of their borders, who, imitating the poverty of the Lord, obtained the privilege of his virtue.

VERS. 9.-- *My soul hath desired,* etc. Not the flesh; whence: *My soul hath thirsted after God, the living fountain [n: (Psal. XLI)]*. [var: Vulg. Ps 41:3 *ad Deum fortem, vivum*, "after God, the strong, the living"] *The flesh lusteth against the spirit [n: (Gal. V)]*.

VERS. 10.-- *Let us have mercy.* [n: (ID.)] The Lord to the prophet: Shall we have mercy on the wicked man, so that he may learn, namely my clemency, while he himself is saved? as if to say, this is better.

*And the just man shall not learn,* etc. As if he should say: How shall he be able to know thy justice, having experienced thy clemency?

*And he shall not see.* The Lord to the prophet, as though it were better [1270A] that he should see, and blush for his own evils. *And he shall not see,* as if he should say: it suffices for his punishment, that he shall not see me reigning in heaven with my saints. The Septuagint: *The wicked man shall be taken away, that he may not see the brightness of God.*

VERS. 11.-- *Let them be confounded that are envious.* The Septuagint: Zeal shall lay hold on the untaught people.

VERS. 12.-- *Lord, thou wilt give.* [n: (ID.)] It is to be noted that after he has rendered our works to us, he is also about to give peace, and that they therefore ask for peace because he has wrought in them. They say that they, namely, have borne torments, that afterwards they may obtain mercy.

VERS. 13.-- *Lord, they have possessed.* [n: (ID.)] The demons, whom we worshipped in idols. The Septuagint: *Lord, apart from thee we know no other,* not absolutely *another,* but *apart from thee:* for the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father.

[1270B] *Only in thee let us remember.* [n: (ID.)] We ask nothing else, save that after our errors we may be worthy to remember thy name.

*Thou hast destroyed all.* [n: (ID.)] The Septuagint: Their male, etc., *as far as* he interpreted the memory to be the male, against that word: *Be not deceived, God is not mocked.*

VERS. 15.-- *Hast thou.* He did not do penance, and this is: *Hast thou,* etc., as if he should say: Security begets negligence, negligence contempt.

VERS. 18.-- *And we have brought forth.* Others punctuate thus: *And we have brought forth the spirit, we have not wrought salvation in the earth.* [var: Vulg. Is 26:18 *Salutes non fecimus*, plural, "we have not wrought deliverances"]

*Spirit: salvation,* etc. That we may believe with the whole mind, and that we may learn through torments through him by whom we have not felt benefits.

VERS. 21.-- *The earth shall disclose.* [n: (ID.)] Then earthly men [1270C] shall not be able to hide those whom they killed, because then all things are open; or, the earth which received the blood of the martyrs and covered it, shall then be disclosed when they rise again.

## CHAPTER XXVII.

VERS. 1.-- *In that day,* etc. [n: (ID.)] The Hebrews hand down that the devil, etc., *as far as* that the sword may be brought upon him.

*The bar.* [n: (HIER.)] The Septuagint: The fugitive. For then he shall flee, etc., *as far as* but the serpent, because he pours in his snares softly.

*The whale.* The Hebrews, *Tanniu;* whence the Hebrews used to tell in fables that Leviathan dwelt under the earth and in the air, but Tanniu in the sea.

VERS. 2.-- *The vineyard of pure wine shall sing.* To which Jeremias offers a cup of the purest wine. Merum in Greek, purum in Latin.

[1270D]VERS. 5.-- *Or rather?* The voice of the Father deliberating, etc., *as far as* who are not saved by the authority of the law.

VERS. 6.-- *Israel,* that is the people of the Jews converted, seeing that the world has flourished by the teaching of their sons.

VERS. 9.-- *Therefore.* As if he should say: *Therefore shall the iniquity be forgiven to the house of Jacob:* and the rest, on account, namely, of the merits of the apostles, who throughout the world broke to pieces the altars of the idols.

VERS. 11.-- *They shall be broken.* [n: (ID.)] As Delbora went to war and judged the people to the shame of the Jews; and when the captivity of the Chaldeans was at hand, Olda prophesied while the men were silent: so, when the captivity of the Romans was at hand, women perhaps came and taught them.

[1271A] *Women.* The diverse Synagogues; or plainly women, who with bared breasts strike their bleeding arms.

*Teaching her.* [n: (HIER.)] It is a great unhappiness for a people, and a reproach, to learn songs of lamentation from women.

VERS. 12.-- *From the channel.* The Septuagint: from the Euphrates, etc., *as far as* because it has turbid waters, and not perpetual.

## CHAPTER XXVIII.

VERS. 1.-- *Woe to the crown of pride.* [n: (ID.)] Up to this point unto the consummation of the world, etc., *as far as* nor had he the fruit of penance unto salvation.

*Of the most fat valley.* Gethsemani, by its fruitfulness of produce; through it lay their ascent into the city, and there some pitched tents, for sport's sake, while they tarried in the city.

[1271B]VERS. 5.-- *In that day.* [n: (ID.)] According to the prophecy, when the Lord, etc., *as far as* for the Scribes and Pharisees were drunk with wine and strong drink.

VERS. 6.-- *Strength to them that return.* [n: (ID.)] The wars of Ezechias are not read of, but the Lord waged war for him, a hundred and eighty-five thousand of the Assyrians being slain, whose spoils the Jews gathered: and they returned with joy to the gates of Jerusalem.

VERS. 8.-- *For all.* While they do not digest the food of the Scriptures, nor make it life-giving to the body, but cast it out unripe and stinking, so that the Lord finds no place in them.

VERS. 9.-- *Them that are weaned from the milk, that are drawn away.* Not others, because they cannot bear it. For these are they who are now able to use solid food; to others the Apostle says: *I gave you [1271C] milk to drink, not meat [n: (I Cor. III)]*.

VERS. 10.-- *For command, command again, command, command again; expect, expect again, expect, expect again, a little there, a little there.* [n: (ID.)] As if he should say: You cannot be taught, because, mocking the prophets (through whom the Lord foretells to you the evils that are to come upon you, that you may do penance and be delivered), you object, *command, command again;* as if to say: O Prophet, enjoin what thou wilt, threaten what thou wilt; yet these things which thou threatenest do not come to pass.

VERS. 11.-- *For in the speech.* As if he should say: You say these things to your own hurt, because the Lord shall no longer foretell evils to you, but shall bring them at once. And this is: *For in the speech of the lip and with another tongue they shall speak to this people,* [var: Vulg. Is 28:11 *loquetur*, singular, "shall he speak"] etc.

[1271D]VERS. 16.-- *A stone. The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner.*

VERS. 19.-- *Vexation alone shall give understanding to the hearing.*

VERS. 21.-- *For as.* David, coming upon the Philistines gathered together by the help of the Lord, divided the living from the dead and scattered the perverse places; whence that place received the name Baalphrasim.

*A strange work.* [n: (ID.)] The proper work of God is to have mercy, to spare, to pardon. Not his own, but strange, is it to be angry, to punish.

[n: (GREG.)] He shall come into the world, that he may do his own work, namely that he may redeem the human race; but that work of his is alien to him: for it does not befit the Godhead to be spat upon, to be scourged, to be crucified.

VERS. 24.-- *Shall all the day.* [n: (HIER.)] God, kind and merciful, [1272A] ploughs the human race like a husbandman with the ploughshare of preaching, that it may bring forth the fruit of good work; he breaks it up with the lash of tribulation, and corrects it now with pestilence, now with captivity; and this is: *Shall all the day,* etc.

VERS. 25.-- *Gith and cummin.* Gith and cummin, which are beaten out with a rod, etc., *as far as* having the key of knowledge.

VERS. 29.-- *And this hath come forth from the Lord God.* [var: Vulg. Is 28:29 *a Domino Deo exercituum exivit*, "from the Lord God of hosts"]



## CHAPTER XXIX.

VERS. 1.-- *Woe to Ariel.* [n: (ID.)] To Jerusalem, with the affection of one that suffers with her: *If thou also hadst known [n: (Luc. XIX)]*; Ariel, the lion of God; for Jerusalem, the lion of God, was most powerful and most strong.

*He took by storm.* [n: (ID.)] Since she was most powerful, the blind and the lame resisting, when Joab first climbed the heights [1272B] of the roofs.

*A year is added.* When they were in captivity under Nabuchodonosor, they had neither temple nor sacrifice, and this for many years: and this is, a year added to a year.

VERS. 3.-- *As a ball round about thee.* Retaining the ancient likeness of the temple, not its magnificence.

VERS. 4.-- *Of the python,* etc. [n: (ID.)] The pythoness who was at Endor raised up Samuel by necromancy, nay rather a demon: and she foretold things to come of this kind among that people. Mania, madness, whence the Manichees; manthos, divination.

VERS. 6.-- *In thunder.* The Romans were seen to rush in with thunder, and the earth to be moved at their coming, and [1272C] with the flame of fire, because they burned both the city and the temple.

VERS. 9.-- *Be astonished and wonder.* [n: (HIER.)] After the overthrow of Jerusalem and of the temple, that is of Ariel, the prophecy is directed against the Scribes and Pharisees.

VERS. 11.-- *For it is sealed.* These things were fulfilled when they lost both their dignity and their priesthood, and the city was destroyed and the temple, by the princes of the Romans.

VERS. 13.-- *Forasmuch as this people draw near.* [n: (ID.)] The Lord uses it in the Gospel of Matthew, etc., *as far as* having used his own words.

*With their lips.* [n: (ID.)] The Septuagint. With their lips they honour me, but their heart is far from me: and in vain do they worship me, teaching the precepts of men and doctrines.

[1272D]VERS. 14.-- *For shall perish.* [n: (ID.)] From this place the Apostle takes a testimony: *I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the understanding of the prudent I will reject:* [var: Vulg. 1 Cor. 1:19 *prudentiam prudentium reprobabo*, "the prudence of the prudent I will reject"] the same sense in other words: Truly God wrought a great miracle among the people, that at one and the same time the city should burn, and the temple fall down, and all the knowledge of the masters perish.

VERS. 15.-- *That you may hide from the Lord.* [n: (ID.)] As though God did not see. By this error Adam and Eve hid themselves: Cain also said: From thy face I shall be hidden.

VERS. 16.-- *Perverse is,* etc. [n: (ID.)] That the Creator should be ignorant of the creature; whence the Apostle: *O man, who art thou that repliest to God? doth the thing formed say to its maker: Why hast thou made me? [n: (Rom. IX.)]* [var: Vulg. Rom. 9:20 *figmentum ei qui se finxit: Quid me fecisti sic?*, "to him that formed it: Why hast thou made me thus?"]

[1273A]VERS. 17.-- *In a little and a short while.* [n: (HIER.)] A little and short is the time from when this was foretold up to the ascension of the Lord: for all times, compared with eternity, are short and of a moment.

*Libanus into Carmel.* Libanus, a mountain in Phoenicia, etc., *as far as* if she were with an adulterous husband.

VERS. 21.-- *And they have turned aside in vain from the just man.* The demons attempted, etc., *as far as* the Scribes and Pharisees turned aside in vain from the just man, saying: *We have no king but Caesar [n: (Joan. XIX)]*.

VERS. 22.-- *He redeemed Abraham.* From the fire of the Chaldeans, etc., *as far as* for in their tongue fire is called *ur*.

## CHAPTER XXX.

VERS. 1.-- *Woe, ye apostate children, saith the Lord.* [1273B] [n: (ID.)] After the prophecy against Ariel and the rest, etc., *as far as* they fled into Egypt: and this is: *woe, ye apostate children.*

VERS. 2.-- *Who walk.* As Jerome says: Jeremias went with them, etc., *as far as: that you might dwell in your own land.*

*For they were in Thaphnis.* As if he should say: Have you therefore withdrawn from me, that you might flee as far as Thaphnis and Anes? Thaphnis is a city in which the magicians wrought signs against Moses; Anes is situated in the borders of Egypt: perhaps, troubled with fear, they did not dare to remain in Thaphnis, and fled as far as Anes.

VERS. 6.-- *The burden of the beasts of burden.* [n: (ID.)] After the ten burdens of the various nations, he sets down an eleventh burden, of the two remaining tribes, which were left [1273C] when Sedecias and the other princes had been led into Babylon.

*In the land.* [n: (ID.)] The desert through which the pontiff Joanna the son of Chareas and the other leaders led the remnant into Egypt against the precept of the Lord; or, Egypt itself, in which they endured many tribulations and straits.

VERS. 8.-- *Now therefore.* [n: (ID.)] The Lord to Jeremias, or to Isaias according to the Hebrews, etc., *as far as* because I did them good, I taught them well, and they despised it.

VERS. 12.-- *Because you have rejected the word.* [n: (ID.)] Heretics also and every teaching contrary to the truth, etc., *as far as* and at least to offer muddy and scanty water to the thirsty.

VERS. 13.-- *As a breach falling.* As if to say: As a breach in a very high wall which has drawn a long [1273D] ruin can hardly be repaired and receive its former beauty, so shall a sudden destruction come upon you.

VERS. 19.-- *Weeping he shall in no wise weep.* [var: Vulg. Is 30:19 *plorabis*, second person, "weeping thou shalt not weep"] [n: (ID.)] The Jews refer this to that time when under Zorobabel, etc., *as far as* in the watchtower, namely, and the vision of peace, that is the Church.

VERS. 21.-- *Behind the back.* In the first condition, as it were in the face, Adam heard from the Lord, etc., *as far as* and this is: *Thy ears shall hear the word of one admonishing behind the back.*

*Nor to the right hand.* On either side, whatever is beyond measure is in fault. *Nor to the right hand,* etc., is one to turn aside, but one must walk by the public road, that is the royal one, which does not deceive.

VERS. 22.-- *And thou shalt defile the plates.* [n: (ID.)] The idols, [1274A] namely, which the craftsman's tongue shall have fashioned after the likeness of truth, thou shalt break to pieces in the splendour of eloquence (which silver signifies) and in the reason of wisdom (which gold signifies), and shalt scatter them, and shalt judge them unclean.

VERS. 23.-- *And rain shall be given.* [n: (ID.)] In the volume of Kings it is written, etc., *as far as* for unless they have cast off vices, the virtues do not enter in.

*He shall feed.* Some contend that these things were fulfilled hyperbolically in Judaea in the times of Cyrus, who released the captivity of the people.

VERS. 24.-- *Mingled provender.* Isaac sowed barley, etc., *as far* and *as* through the chaff and the barley they advance little by little, and pass over to the wheat.

VERS. 25.-- *And there shall be.* In the day of judgment upon the mountains [1274B] and the hills there shall be streams, etc., *as far as* for he that shall drink of its waters shall not thirst for ever.

*Of the slaying of many.* [n: (ID.)] For many are called, etc., *as far as* whose tongues were confounded in Babylon, and upon whom the tower in Siloe fell.

VERS. 26.-- *And there shall be light.* When they shall receive the reward of their labour, because the creature shall be delivered from the servitude of corruption. It is no wonder if the moon receive the brightness of the sun: *Because the just shall shine as the sun [n: (Matth. XIII)]*.

VERS. 27.-- *Behold the name of the Lord.* The Son in the name of the Father, for the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is one: whence: *Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:* not in the names, but in the name which is God.

VERS. 28.-- *His spirit as a torrent overflowing.* [1274C] [n: (HIER.)] As an overflowing torrent, when it has come up to the neck, chokes a living creature, so the spirit of the wrath of God shall choke the wicked in the judgment. Signifying that the end of all things has come, as a torrent chokes him to whose neck it has come; so the judgment of God shall pass over no man unpunished.

*Which was in the jaws.* That they might be carried about at the will of the devil, these things the Lord shall destroy in the day of judgment, or in the preaching of the apostles when the nations shall have come to the faith, and shall leave their idols.

VERS. 29.-- *You shall have a song.* After the punishment of the wicked he treats of the glory of the saints. As the children of Israel, when the Red Sea had been crossed, when they had seen Pharao and the Egyptians drowned, said with gladness: *Let us sing to the Lord, for gloriously,* etc.; so in the day of judgment, [1274D] when the world has been passed over and the devil condemned with his members, the saints shall exult with gladness in the praises of God; in the same manner also in the conversion of the nations.

*As one that goeth.* It was commanded the children of Israel that they should offer to the Lord the tenth of their goods, glorifying the Giver of good things: so the saints in the judgment shall offer their sheaves, exulting and praising God, and the converted nations likewise.

VERS. 33.-- *Of brimstone.* In hell there is an intolerable stench and an inextinguishable fire.



## CHAPTER XXXI

VERS. 1.-- *Woe to them that go down into Egypt.* [n: (ID.)] He has treated of the glory of the good and of the punishment of the reprobate; now he returns to the remnant which was left [1275A] in the land of Juda, when Sedecias and the others had been led into Babylon. But first he warned them not to go into Egypt: now, because they have gone, he threatens evil.

*They have not trusted in the Holy One of Israel.* They sought not with the heart, but with words; for they said to Jeremias: *Pray for us to the Lord, what we ought to do?* and they refused to obey. To which is like: *They have not called upon God.* Which was said of wicked priests.

VERS. 2.-- *But he that is wise.* Whence Jeremias: *Cursed be the man that trusteth in man,* etc., *as far as* the place where the Lord was crucified is specially called *Sodom and Egypt [n: (Apoc. XI)]*.

VERS. 4.-- *For thus saith.* [n: (HIER.)] This of those who, led into captivity with Sedecias, after seventy years, by the Lord's mercy, returned, when the Israelites and the Egyptians had been slain in [1275B] Egypt, in whose help they trusted.

VERS. 5.-- *So shall the Lord protect.* Thus did the Lord against the Samaritans, who attempted to hinder the building of the temple. And in the time of the Machabees he routed many by a few.

VERS. 6.-- *Turn ye again.* In prophecy he keeps neither the order of time nor of history, etc., *as far as* so with the whole affection of the mind they might return.

VERS. 9.-- *Fire is in Sion.* Sion, the Church, in which is a fire and a furnace to devour sinners, that is, to consume wood, hay and stubble.

## CHAPTER XXXII.

VERS. 1.-- *Behold, in justice shall he reign.* [n: (HIER.)] The prophecy concerning those who had gone down into Egypt being finished, he begins [1275C] concerning the coming of Christ and of his apostles.

VERS. 2.-- *And a man shall be as.* [n: (ID.)] As if he should say: He shall be as safe in tribulations as one who, fleeing the wind and the whirlwind, hides himself in a safe place; and who finds the purest springs in the desert; who avoids the heat of the sun by an overhanging rock.

VERS. 9.-- *Women.* [n: (ID.)] He addresses the matrons who are to be taken captive by the Romans, that they may do penance; or, by the women he marks the Synagogues, or the cities of Judaea. *Rise up, ye rich women:* After the calling of the nations, over whom Christ has ruled in justice, the discourse is directed to the rich women.

VERS. 10.-- *After days and a year.* Whence: *Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation [n: (II Cor. VI)]*; and elsewhere: *The acceptable year of the Lord [n: (Isa. LXI)]*.

[1275D] *After days.* That is, the preaching of Christ. For those who were impenitent, although not straightway led captive, yet were straightway troubled, because they refused to receive the preaching of the Lord.

VERS. 12.-- *Mourn upon the breasts. Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.* [var: Vulg. Is 32:12 continues *super regione desiderabili, super vinea fertili*; the words Migne sets here are Luke 23:28]

VERS. 14.-- *Of the wild asses.* [n: (ID.)] Of any wild beasts and birds whatsoever, which dwelt there for a long time.

VERS. 15.-- *Until there be poured out.* Let the Holy Spirit, at the preaching of Elias and Enoch, come down upon us, as In Pentecost upon the apostles. And the prophet joins himself to them by suffering with them.

[1276A] *The desert.* The solitude, namely, of the nations shall be turned into the riches of Israel, and Israel shall be reputed among the nations.

VERS. 17.-- *And the service of justice.* That we may pray in silence, not in the streets, not crying out, not in much speaking.

VERS. 18.-- *In tabernacles.* [n: (ID.)] Already he dwells confidently in the mansions of heaven, whence: *In my Father's house there are many mansions [n: (Joan. XIV)]*; or, in the Churches which hope trustingly in the Lord.

VERS. 19.-- *Hail,* as if he should say: When the Christian people shall have sat in the beauty of peace, then the wrath of God shall rage against the wood.

VERS. 20.-- *Blessed are you that sow.* [n: (ID.)] In the exposition of Ecclesiastes. That master is held worthy of blessedness who sows upon the watered breast of his hearers, [1276B] the people being gathered together both from the Jews and from the nations.

## CHAPTER XXXIII.

VERS. 1.-- *Woe to thee that spoilest.* [n: (ID.)] Against Sennacherib: these things may also be referred to any plunderer and to the devil himself.

VERS. 2.-- *O Lord, have mercy on us.* [n: (ID.)] In the person of the people besieged by Sennacherib, or rather, of the apostles and of all the faithful.

*In the morning.* Those who were left of the army of Sennacherib; they saw their companions dead and were turned to flight.

VERS. 3.-- *Of the angel.* Of Michael, namely, who is the prince of the Jews, or of Gabriel, the strength and leader of battles.

VERS. 4.-- *The bruchus.* From the locust the bruchus is born, etc., *as far as* the dead also beget bruchi.

[1276C]VERS. 6.-- *In thy times.* O Ezechias; or, in his times, according to others, namely of the people set free.

*His.* [n: (HIER.)] Of salvation, namely: for without fear neither wisdom nor knowledge profits anything, whence: *Thou shalt have many good things if thou fear God [n: (Tob. IV)]*; [var: Vulg. Tob. 4:23 *multa bona habebimus si timuerimus Deum*, first person plural, "we shall have many good things if we fear God"] and: *The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom [n: (Psal. CX)]*.

VERS. 8.-- *The covenant.* Which the Lord made with Abraham, namely: *I will multiply thy seed as the stars,* etc. [n: (Gen. XXII)]; [var: Vulg. Gen. 22:17 *sicut stellas caeli*, accusative, "as the stars of heaven"] and elsewhere: *Thou shalt dwell in this place from henceforth and for ever [n: (Zach. XI)]*.

VERS. 9.-- *Libanus.* The temple: *Basan,* the country of Og, which Moses gave beyond the Jordan to the two tribes and a half: this also most fruitful. Carmel, a mountain of the land of promise, most fertile. By these things therefore we ought to understand that the Jews have lost all fruitfulness.

[1276D]VERS. 14.-- *Which of you shall be able.* He recounts the mighty works of God and calls God a fire.

VERS. 17.-- *The land.* Of the living. *Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land,* or, being placed in heaven, they despise earthly things.

VERS. 20.-- *A tabernacle that.* [n: (ID.)] The tabernacle which the Jews had through the desert, etc., *as far as* but the Church is founded immovable upon the firm rock.

VERS. 22.-- *For the Lord.* [n: (ID.)] *He shall judge the world in justice.* [var: Vulg. Ps 95:13 *judicabit orbem terrae in aequitate*, "shall judge the world in equity"]

VERS. 23.-- *Thy tacklings are loosed,* etc. He returns to the earthly Jerusalem, and speaks of her under the figure of a ship: the things above were said of the city of our solemnity [1277A] which the Lord surrounds with his rivers.

## CHAPTER XXXIV.

VERS. 4.-- *All the host of the heavens.* [n: (HIER.)] The sun, and the moon, and the stars shall seem to be darkened, when the true light, which is Christ, grows bright. The evil spirits also, their power lost, shall be shut up in hell.

*And they shall be folded together as a book.* Not the inner one, namely, etc., *as far as* for nothing shall afterwards be written in them.

VERS. 6.-- *In Bosra.* [n: (ID.)] In the city of the world fortified against God. For Bosra means fortified, or from God; for the world is made firm by the will of the Lord; whence: *He hath founded it upon the seas:* and: *I have established the pillars thereof.* Bosra and Edom the masters of the Hebrews will have to be understood as Rome, and will have all things to be said of her which are contained in the following chapter.

[1277B]VERS. 8.-- *For it is the day of the vengeance of the Lord, the year of retribution.* [var: Vulg. Is 34:8 *annus retributionum judicii Sion*, "the year of the recompenses of the judgment of Sion"] After the general vengeance upon the world, he returns to Jerusalem, to whom he was speaking first, and describes her destruction in plain speech, which was wrought by the Romans.

VERS. 11.-- *The ibis.* A water-bird hostile to serpents: Josephus says that these birds were carried by Moses into the war against the Ethiopians; because serpents abound in that land through which he was to go.

VERS. 12.-- *Her nobles.* For the apostles had already passed over to the nations: other faithful, by the admonition of the Holy Spirit, when the captivity was at hand, passed over the Jordan into the kingdom of Agrippa, who had peace with the Romans.

## CHAPTER XXXV.

[1277C]VERS. 1.-- *Shall rejoice.* The captivity of the Jews having been set forth, he treats of the conversion of the nations.

VERS. 2.-- *Saron.* Of the people of the Jews; whence: *Saron shall be as a desert [n: (Isa. XXXII)]*. [var: Vulg. Is 33:9 *factus est Saron sicut desertum*, past tense, "Saron is become as a desert"]

VERS. 7.-- *The greenness of the reed.* The fulfilling of Scripture, which is signified by the reed; and the help of the intention, which by the rush: for the reed and the rush spring up and grow green beside the waters.

## CHAPTER XXXVI.

VERS. 1.-- *And it came to pass.* [n: (HIER.)] The books of Kings and of Paralipomenon agree, etc., *as far as* he besieged Jerusalem.

VERS. 3.-- *Sobna.* [n: (ID.)] Sobna the scribe, another man, not the proud one, who, as the Hebrews hand down, terrified by the threatening of Rabsaces, delivered up the lower part of the city, [1277D] the citadel and the temple remaining.

VERS. 4.-- *Thus saith.* As perhaps he had heard from his father, thus saith the Lord: and that his words might have greater weight, he marks the arrogance: Thus saith the great king, as it were the contrary power.

VERS. 6.-- *Behold thou trustest.* [n: (ID.)] He lies plainly. For nowhere is it read that Ezechias put his hope in Egypt.

VERS. 8.-- *Neither wilt thou be able.* Not from weakness, but from the keeping of the precepts of the Lord, who through Moses commanded concerning the king of Israel, saying: *Thou shalt not multiply to thyself horses, and chariots, nor many wives.* [var: Vulg. Deut. 17:16–17 *non multiplicabit sibi equos… Non habebit uxores plurimas*, third person, and with no mention of chariots]

VERS. 16.-- *Make a blessing with me,* etc. Praise me, bless me. Or as another [1278A] edition has it: Do what is useful for you, that you may receive me and peace may remain with you.



## CHAPTER XXXVII.

VERS. 1.-- *And it came to pass, when king Ezechias had heard it, he rent his garments.* [n: (ID.)] They rend their garments, because they had heard Rabsaces blaspheming. The king rent them, believing that this had come about from his own sins and the people's.

VERS. 2.-- *Isaias the son of Amos.* In the book of Kings it is read, who sent to Isaias the prophet. But here, because Isaias is weaving the history about himself, he names himself not the prophet, but the son of the prophet.

VERS. 4.-- *For the remnant.* For the ten tribes had already been led away, the cities of Juda and Benjamin laid waste: the lower part of the city also delivered into the hands of the enemy by the wicked and proud pontiff Sobna. *Lift up thine eyes,* etc.

[1278B]VERS. 7.-- *Behold I will give him a spirit,* etc. As if he should say: I will not tell all the things that I shall do to the Assyrian, lest I seem to boast of my own power, but this one thing: *Behold I will give.*

VERS. 8.-- *And he found.* That Sennacherib king of the Assyrians fought against the Egyptians, etc., *as far as* the writers of Chaldean history.

VERS. 15.-- *He prayed.* [n: (HIER.)] Now more secure of deliverance. For before he went up, but he is not read to have prayed, because for his own sins he feared that these things would come to pass.

VERS. 18.-- *For truly, O Lord:* it is proved by many histories that the kings of the Persians came into Greece, and overthrew and spoiled the temples.

VERS. 21.-- *And he sent.* The history of the book of Kings and of Paralipomenon is mingled with the prophecy, because there is [1278C] a prophecy concerning the deliverance of the city, concerning the destruction of the Assyrian, concerning the turning back of the sun, and concerning the years added to Ezechias.

VERS. 22.-- *The daughter of Jerusalem.* She who before had not answered, is now sure of the vengeance, secure of the punishment.

VERS. 25.-- *And I have dried up.* So great was the army that they dried up the streams, and therefore made wells by the scarcity of water.

VERS. 29.-- *Pride.* [n: (ID.)] I will bear it no longer, that thou mayest know that thou couldst not do these things by thy own strength, but by my will. For the wicked nations and the unfruitful trees deserved to be cut down by thee, as by an axe.

VERS. 30.-- *But to thee.* [n: (ID.)] All these things the Prophet speaks to Ezechias by messengers, what Sennacherib said, what the Lord answered him: now he turns his words to him himself, lest he doubt of the things to come which he [1278D] foretold. For in this above all were the prophets believed, because they testified not only of things far off to come, but of things to be fulfilled close at hand.

*And in the year.* That is, when the harvest was at hand, the Assyrians rushed in, and laid waste the harvests, and the vineyards, and the olive groves: and because of the length of the siege, what was found from the grains they had for food in the first year and the second; for since in the year of the siege they could not sow, they took what they found from the fruits and the crops.

VERS. 33.-- *Therefore.* [n: (ID.)] He returns to his purpose, and after the hope of things to come he shakes off the present fear. For the gladness over those things which he was promising as future will not be so great as the care over the things at hand

VERS. 35.-- *For my own sake.* He signifies that they are preserved not by [1279A] their own merit, but by God's clemency, nay rather by the memory of David their father. Wherein they are admonished of their own negligence, and of his faith and justice, which God so loves that he protects the posterity of the saints for the merit of the saints.

VERS. 37.-- *And he returned.* Therefore he was spared, that he might know the power of God and check the blaspheming mouths, and might proclaim the majesty of him whom before he had despised.

VERS. 38.-- *His sons.* Envying (according to the tradition of the Jews) Asaraddon, etc., *as far as* spared by his sons to be slain in the temple of his own god.

*Ararat.* [n: (HIER.)] A level region of Armenia, through which flows the Araxes, of incredible fruitfulness, at the foot of Mount Taurus, which stretches as far as there. But the ark of Noe was not carried to the mountains of Armenia generally, [1279B] which is called Ararat, but to the highest mountains of Taurus, which overhang the plains of Ararat.

## CHAPTER XXXVIII.

VERS. 1.-- *In those days he was sick.* [n: (HIER.)] Because he did not render worthy thanks to God for the victory, but vanished away in pride, as the book of Kings and of Paralipomenon discloses; whence: Whom God loves, he chastises, lest he be lifted up into pride after incredible triumphs.

*Thou shalt die.* To which is like: *Ninive shall be overthrown:* and many things foretold under a threat, and not fulfilled; God not changing his sentence, but provoking us to the knowledge of himself. For the Lord is patient over wickedness.

VERS. 2.-- *To the wall.* [n: (ID.)] Of the temple, namely, beside which Solomon built his palace.

VERS. 3.-- *I beseech thee, O Lord.* Being about to go to the Lord, [1279C] he recounts his works. Happy the conscience which in the time of evils can remember good things.

*I beseech thee, O Lord.* Hearing that he was to die, he does not ask for many years, but leaves it to God's judgment what he may be pleased to grant: he knew that Solomon had pleased God, because he had not asked for a greater number of years of life.

*And what is good.* He destroyed the idols of his father, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord which the other had shut, he broke to pieces the brazen serpent which the Jews worshipped in Gabaon, and scattered it to the wind.

*And he wept.* He wept because he was dying without children, etc., *as far as* and that we read of very many raised up after death.

VERS. 4.-- *And the word of the Lord came.* In a reversed order the history is here related, which in the volume of Kings [1279D] is read in better sequence.

VERS. 5.-- *Behold I will add to thy days.* According to what was seen, etc., *as far as* and concerning the years added to Ezechias.

VERS. 7.-- *And this shall be a sign to thee from the Lord, that the Lord hath done this word which he hath spoken.* [var: Vulg. Is 38:7 *faciet*, future, "that the Lord will do"] [n: (ID.)] Of the present time, namely, and of the future, that as the sun turns back to its own beginning, so the life of Ezechias may return to the years that have run out. To us also, living in the seventh and the eighth age, may the spaces of life be prolonged after the resurrection of Christ.

VERS. 10.-- *I said.* [n: (ID.)] When God had given Ezechias the victory without toil, etc., *as far as* sinners die in the midst of their days.

*In the midst of my days.* Whence: Wicked and deceitful men shall not [1280A] live out half their days, because they do not fulfil the works of the virtues, nor amend their faults by doing penance.

*To the gates of hell. I sought.* Where the house appointed for every living man was set before the coming of Christ.

VERS. 11.-- *Of quiet.* Some copies have: My generation is at rest, which Jerome also once translated, deceived by the ambiguity of the word, and afterwards corrected.

VERS. 15.-- *He shall answer me.* [n: (ID.)] What I have done amiss I shall amend, be thou my surety and protector: *For it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy [n: (Rom. IX)]*.

*When he himself.* These things justly to me, as if he should say: nothing remains but patiently to endure and to entreat him who is strong, who did what he willed.

[1280B] *I will think over.* What is past does not help him that endures; whence the saying of Epicurus is foolish, who asserts that present evils are lessened by the remembrance of past goods.

*In the bitterness of the soul,* as if he should say: and these too in bitterness, because a present tribulation feels nothing of past good, and human happiness is always sprinkled with some adversities.

VERS. 18.-- *For hell shall not confess.* The damned without end neither do penance in hell, nor render praises to God.

VERS. 19.-- *The living, the living,* etc. Not hell nor death [sic: *velmors*].

*The father to the children.* Whence: ask thy father, and he will declare, etc.

VERS. 21.-- *Upon his wound.* The Hebrews say [1280C] that Sehin (שחין) sounds an ulcer, not a wound, etc., *as far as* when God shall have made it.

## CHAPTER XXXIX.

VERS. 1.-- *At that time.* [n: (HIER.)] It has been said above that Asaraddon succeeded Sennacherib, etc., *as far as* and, his manly strength being lost, he is reduced to a womanish softness.

VERS. 2.-- *And in all his power.* [n: (ID.)] In the treasures of the house of the Lord, in which he chiefly offended. For this was not of his power. Yet already he had taken the plates of gold from those doors of the temple.

*In his treasures.* He is silent about the treasures of the Lord, fearing to be blamed, because, namely, he showed them whatsoever he had in his power, that is, the furniture of the temple; [1280D] whence:

VERS. 7.-- *And they shall be eunuchs.* [n: (ID.)] The Hebrews hand down that this was fulfilled in Daniel and his companions, who, when Joachim the son of Josue had been taken, were taken with their people and led into Babylon and made eunuchs, or emasculated; yet it is not to be thought that they were eunuchs in body, but in mind, like *those who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven [n: (Matth. XIX)]*.

VERS. 8.-- *Let there be peace only.* He ought to have confessed his sin with David, and turned away the wrath of God from his posterity, or to have suffered with Moses, who says: *Forgive them this trespass, or blot me out of the book which thou hast written [n: (Exod. XXXII)]*. Because he did not do this, therefore he does not answer him; but, turning to the people, he says: Be comforted, etc.



## CHAPTER XL.

[1281A]

VERS. 1.-- *Be comforted.* As if he should say: Because your king has no compassion upon you, be comforted in Christ. It can be referred to the Gentiles, of whom the Lord says through Zechariah: *I will gather together the people of the east, and they shall be to me for a people, and I will be to them for a God [n: (Zach. VIII)]* [var: Vulg. Zach. 8:7 has *salvabo populum meum de terra orientis*, "I will save my people out of the land of the east"].

*Speak ye to the heart.* [n: (HIER.)] He speaks to the heart who comforts one that is sorrowful, as it is said of Sichem: *Sichem spoke to her heart, and comforted her [n: (Gen. XXIV)]* [var: Vulg. Gen. 34:3 *tristemque delinivit blanditiis*, "and soothed her sadness with flatteries"; the quoted words stand nowhere in the Vulgate].

*Jerusalem.* Jerusalem by the Chaldeans and by the Romans, in body and in soul; the Church tormented in body by persecutors, straitened in mind.

*Her malice.* Malice is affliction, as in that place: *If there is evil in a city which the Lord does not do [n: (Amos. III)]*.

*It is forgiven.* The cause of consolation, the remission of sins, [1281B] etc., *as far as* because they are purged and loosed by punishments.

VERS. 3.-- *The voice of one crying.* [n: (ID.)] Mindful of this voice, the Jews sent to John to ask him: Who art thou?

VERS. 4.-- *Every valley shall be exalted. He that exalts himself shall be humbled, and he that humbles himself,* etc. This the masters cry even to this day in the desert of the Churches of the Gentiles.

VERS. 5.-- *And all flesh shall see.* From the first coming, caught up suddenly to the second, he says: *And all flesh shall see.*

*The mouth of the Lord.* The prophets who preached the Christ to come, namely the salvation of our God.

VERS. 6.-- *What shall I cry?* [n: (ID.)] Not without cause does he ask: for when he had offered himself of his own accord, saying: *Behold [1281C] I, send me:* he announced hard things to his own people, and now he fears the same.

*All flesh.* He who bears the image of the earthly, etc., *as far as* so man, through the successions of his ages, loses his comeliness and falls into death.

VERS. 8.-- *But the word of the Lord.* The Word is Christ with his body, which is the Church.

VERS. 9.-- *Sion.* [n: (ID.)] By Sion and Jerusalem he understands the apostles and the other teachers, whom he admonishes to preach the things they have received from the Lord, and, ascending the summits of the virtues, to teach by word and by example.

VERS. 11.-- *His flock,* etc. Now by contemplation, in the time to come by vision itself: now by teaching, afterward by saving or by satisfying.

*Them that are with young.* Teachers daily bringing forth sons to God.

[1281D]VERS. 12.-- *Who has measured?* [n: (ID.)] Lest there be any doubt about the calling of the Gentiles, the greatness of him who calls is described.

*With his fist.* A *pugillus* is the fist with the fingers drawn in; a *palmus* is the hand stretched out from the thumb to the least finger, so that by the palm and by the fist we may know the heavens stretched out and the globe of the earth.

VERS. 13.-- *The spirit of the Lord upon me, in that he has anointed me: to preach to the meek he has sent me: And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.* [var: Vulg. Is. 61:1 names the agent, *eo quod unxerit Dominus me*, "because the Lord hath anointed me"; the closing clause is Is. 11:2]

VERS. 15.-- *As a little dust.* [n: (ID.)] The Hebrews think that by this word the finest dust is meant, etc., *as far as* and the poverty both of the Greek and of the Latin tongue.

VERS. 16.-- *Libanus shall not suffice.* Libanus is a very great mountain, [1282A] most rich in pastures and in trees; but although all its trees be cut down for the burning, and all its beasts be sacrificed for a holocaust, yet for filling or for appeasing the power of his majesty they do not suffice.

VERS. 19.-- *Surely not.* He refutes the folly of the Gentiles, that they may withdraw from idolatry.

VERS. 20.-- *Strong wood.* [n: (ID.)] In Hebrew *mesuchan* (מסכן), because it is a kind of wood that cannot rot, of which idols are chiefly made: and he says this so that, the idols being rejected, the teaching of the Gospel may be received and the glory of the Lord revealed, that all flesh may see the salvation of God.

VERS. 21.-- *From the beginning.* Of the law of Moses, or from the beginning of the world in the very creatures, which all in their own manner proclaim their maker.

[1282B]VERS. 22.-- *Upon the circle.* Hence some contend that the earth is as it were a point and a globe.

*As locusts.* In comparison with him, or considering the greatness of the earth.

*A tabernacle.* Hence also they contend that heaven is after the likeness of a sphere, and that its hemisphere overhangs the lands.

VERS. 23.-- *Who brings forth the searchers of secrets. God hath made foolish the wisdom of this world,* and this is: *Who brings forth the searchers of secrets, as though they were not [n: (I Cor. I)]*.

VERS. 25.-- *To whom have you likened me, made me equal, says the Holy One.* As if he should say: Why do you compare God to a likeness, and do not from the greatness of creatures understand God the creator? If you do not believe words, believe your own eyes, and from the [1282C] servitude of all the elements consider the omnipotence of the Lord.

VERS. 26.-- *In number.* [n: (ID.)] To him are numbered the things which Abraham could not number: and they serve in an assigned office, as the sun fulfils the course of heaven in one year, and the rest in their own manner.

*Their host,* etc. The angels, namely; whence: *Thousands of thousands ministered to him [n: (Dan. VII)]*. Hence too he is called Lord Sabaoth, that is, of the host, or of the armies, or of the powers.

VERS. 27.-- *Why sayest thou,* etc. [n: (ID.)] When the prophet said these things, etc., *as far as* we are without a judge, and are afflicted undeservedly.

*My way.* Good works: earthly things do not pertain to God, he does not consider what each man does. Hence a man is unjustly oppressed, like beasts of burden and fishes, without one to rule them.

[1282D]VERS. 28.-- *He created.* He knows all things, contains all things, dispenses all things by his majesty.

*Of his wisdom.* [n: (ID.)] From this place another saying of the Apostle seems to be taken: *Incomprehensible are his judgments, and his ways unsearchable:* as if he should say: God alone is eternal and impassible; all other things shall fail.

VERS. 30.-- *The children shall faint.* Those, namely, who rejoice in the health of the body, and think that childhood and youth are perpetual.

VERS. 31.-- *They shall change.* That they may be strong in God, they shall become weak to the world, and after the death of the flesh they shall become immortal.

*As eagles.* As the eagle, according to the natural philosophers, when its beak, hooked by excessive age, has been dashed against a flint, [1283A] is made new, so they who mortify the oldness of sin by the rock, which is Christ, being dead to the world are made new to God; whence: *Thy youth shall be renewed like the eagle's [n: (Psal. CII)]*.



## CHAPTER XLI.

VERS. 1.-- *Let the islands be silent.* [n: (HIER.)] Because the Gentiles are in the salt sea, namely those who are beaten by the salt and bitter waves of the world.

VERS. 2.-- *Who has raised up from the east.* [n: (ID.)] Certain of the Hebrews refer this to Cyrus king of the Persians, etc., *as far as* who from the beginning knew these things.

VERS. 3.-- *A path under his feet.* He shall not feel the labor or the weariness of that life: *He rejoiced as a giant to run the way.*

VERS. 5.-- *The islands saw.* [n: (ID.)] That is, the nations round [1283B] about, etc., *as far as* and he strengthened him with the nails of the commandments, that he might abide in the fear of the Lord.

VERS. 8.-- *And thou, Israel, my servant.* [n: (ID.)] The Lord speaks lovingly to the apostles, etc., *as far as* afterward, being chosen, we are joined into the friendship of God.

VERS. 9.-- *And from afar.* Already the Jews are scattered even to the ends of the earth, and thence unto the end many are called.

VERS. 14.-- *Worm of Jacob.* [n: (ID.)] The apostles are called worms, as imitators of him who says: *I am a worm and no man [n: (Psal. XXI)]*. And as a worm penetrates the earth, so does their preaching the hearts of those who hear.

*You that are dead of Israel.* Like him who says: *I die daily for your glory, brethren [n: (I Cor. XV)]* [var: Vulg. 1 Cor. 15:31 *per vestram gloriam*, "by your glory"]; and elsewhere: *And I live, now not I; but Christ lives [1283C] in me [n: (Gal. II)]*.

VERS. 15.-- *I have made thee as a threshing wain.* The churchman has the teeth of preaching, etc., *as far as* that those ill gathered together may be well divided.

VERS. 19.-- *I will give in the wilderness the cedar.* [n: (ID.)] The varieties of the trees signify the diversity of spiritual grace, lest even one string be wanting from the harp of the Lord, and any virtue of the graces seem to be lacking to the Church: and the loftiness of these, as it hastens to heavenly things, the olive tree enlightens, the fuel of light, the rest of him who labors or is wearied.

*The thorn, and the myrtle, and the olive tree.* The Seventy: *Sethim,* which is a tree like the white thorn, etc., *as far as* and therefore it signifies the comforters of holy Church.

VERS. 22.-- *Declare ye.* [n: (ID.)] He signifies that [1283D] the idols have the power neither of hearing nor of answering, etc., *as far as* it is plain that the idols lost their voice after the coming of Christ.

VERS. 23.-- *If you can.* Neither can the demons, save by the permission of God, in that they attend upon the idols; for they could destroy neither the swine nor holy Job's beasts without the permission of God. Paul too delivered certain men to Satan.

VERS. 25.-- *I have raised up.* [n: (ID.)] He still speaks against the idols and against their worshippers, etc., *as far as* that they may believe in him who came from the rising of the sun.

VERS. 26.-- *Who has declared from the beginning?* as if he should say: There was none among the Gentiles who declared the coming of the Son. But if there is one who has declared it, we shall say [1284A] that he is just; at the coming of the Son, the demons, who in the idols announced things to come, had fallen dumb.

*Hearing your words.* Because the brute hearts of the Gentiles understood their own error, and forsook the false oracles.

VERS. 27.-- *The first shall say to Sion.* They signify the Church; behold, sons have stood by, namely thine, whom I have given to thee by my faith, namely the apostles, by whose preaching sons have been born to thee.

VERS. 29.-- *Behold, all are unjust.* Whatever we have said of the idols or of the Gentiles, let us refer to the heresiarchs and to the doctrines of depravity; because, while Christ announces peace to the Church and shows the truth, they themselves follow errors, and are compared to the wind and to the whirlwind.

## CHAPTER XLII.

[1284B]VERS. 1.-- *Behold my servant.* [n: (HIER.)] It is to be noted that the apostles are called Jacob, Israel, and the seed of Abraham, to whom afterward, as to servants and men, it is said: *Fear not, worm of Jacob,* etc. But Christ is called not the seed of Jacob or of Israel, but the servant.

*I have given my Spirit.* In the conception; whence: *The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee,* etc. [n: (Phil. II)]. And it shone forth in the baptism, when the Spirit in the likeness of a dove rested upon him [n: (Luc. I)].

VERS. 3.-- *Smoking flax.* The priesthood now almost extinguished; and of flax is the priestly vestment made.

*He shall bring forth judgment.* He shall judge, namely, not fearing the Scribes and the Pharisees.

VERS. 4.-- *He shall not be sad.* [n: (ID.)] This Matthew [1284C] did not set down; or else the words between the one *judgment* and the other were taken away by a copyist's error. And the sense is: he shall preserve at all times an evenness of countenance; which the philosophers falsely boast of Socrates, namely that he was neither sadder nor gladder than his wont.

*Judgment in the earth.* Whence: *For judgment I came into this world, that they who do not see may see,* etc. [n: (Joan. IX)].

VERS. 6.-- *Justice.* It was just that he who was despised by the Jews should pass over through the apostles to the Gentiles.

VERS. 7.-- *The bound.* With the cords of sins: in the Gospel, the Lord loosed him whom Satan had bound.

VERS. 8.-- *To another.* The Son and the Holy Spirit is not another than the Father in the Godhead, and therefore has the same glory [1284D] and the same praise.

[1284D]VERS. 9.-- *I will make known to you.* That you may know that I am the Lord, and there is none other beside me: and that you who behold the former things fulfilled may believe the things to come which I promise.

VERS. 10.-- *A new thing.* In the newness of the Spirit, not in the oldness of the letter; and not only in the Old Testament, but also in the New.

*You that go down into the sea.* [n: (ID.)]. First fishers of fishes, afterward of men; whence, according to the letter: they crossed many seas.

VERS. 11.-- *Cedar.* The son of Ismael: from him the Saracens, who are better called Agarenes: but by the name of the free woman they have veiled the shame of the handmaid. For Ismael was the son of the handmaid Agar, and from her the Saracens. For he begot twelve princes. By his name too the province itself is called.

[1285A] *From the top of the mountains.* [n: (HIER.)] *Go up upon a high mountain. From the top of the mountain.* [var: Vulg. Is. 42:11 *de vertice montium*, plural, as in the lemma just quoted] From the height of virtue and of contemplation, that they may teach by example also the things they preach.

VERS. 13.-- *He shall cry out.* Whence: *They have provoked me with that which was no God [n: (Deut. XXXII)]*; and I will provoke them with a foolish nation.

VERS. 14.-- *As a woman in labor.* The birth of my counsel I will pour forth into the light as a woman her infant; so will I bring forth the grief I have dissembled.

VERS. 16.-- *In the paths.* [n: (ID.)] In the knowledge of the prophets, who are the paths to Christ, when they foretell his nativity, his resurrection and his ascension.

VERS. 17.-- *Let them be confounded. When the fulness of the Gentiles shall have come in.* Then Israel also, being converted, shall repent of its [1285B] error, who before served idols.

VERS. 22.-- *A snare to the young men.* He returns to the preaching of the Lord, rebuking the Scribes and the Pharisees: for these were snares to the simple, that they might not be converted to the Lord.

VERS. 23.-- *Who is there.* The prophet exhorts them, that at least some may hear and understand the cause of their captivity and beware.

VERS. 25.-- *Upon him.* That what he had before passed over in silence he might now no longer pass over in silence, and might rebuke not with words but with torments.

*And he knew it not.* As the histories relate, neither did the Gentiles understand that this was done in vengeance for the Son, nor did the Jews, blinded by their own malice.



## CHAPTER XLIII.

[1285C]VERS. 1.-- *And now these things.* Above he spoke of the captivity of the Jews who would not believe; now he addresses the primitive Church, which is of the Jews, that they may understand the Creator of their soul and of their body.

*Creating thee, Jacob.* Jacob is the supplanter, Israel the man seeing God. These are the apostles and apostolic men, who both supplanted vices and deserved to see God.

VERS. 2.-- *Through the waters,* etc. [n: (ID.)] According to the Hebrews: Through the waters the Egyptians, etc., *as far as* these kingdoms too the apostles passed through by preaching, and the Lord everywhere with them.

VERS. 3.-- *I have given a propitiation.* That from thence thou mayest gain for thyself mercy and a crown, by preaching, namely, to the Egyptians, and to the Ethiopians (who are almost the last) and to the Sabaeans: and Saba is a city situated on the borders of Ethiopia: *Their sound has gone forth into [1285D] all the earth, and unto the ends,* etc.

VERS. 5.-- *From the East. Many shall come from the East and from the West, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, from all the parts of the world, that is.* [var: Vulg. Matt. 8:11 *multi ab oriente et occidente venient … in regno caelorum*, "in the kingdom of heaven"]

VERS. 8.-- *Bring forth.* The voice of the Father to the Son concerning the Jews who are blind in mind. And note that the calling of the Jews was made first, then that of the Gentiles.

VERS. 9.-- *All the nations.* The prophet speaks to the Gentiles, rebuking them for idolatry and marvelling that none among the Gentiles could foreknow this; but only the people of God, who received the law of God, had prophets.

VERS. 10.-- *There was not formed.* Certain manuscripts have *plasmatus*; but it does not fit well, though it can be expounded thus: Before me no [1286A] idol was formed, because I made man just, by whom an idol was unjustly formed.

VERS. 12.-- *I have declared and have saved.* Through the prophets the nativity of the Son, the calling of the Gentiles, the casting out of demons.

VERS. 14.-- *Thus says the Lord the Savior,* etc. [var: Vulg. Is. 43:14 *redemptor vester*, "your redeemer"] These things, namely, which follow: the Father to the apostles. For your sakes, that is, you who are my witnesses, you who preach the Gospel. To whom he said: Fear not. *The Chaldeans in the ships.* According to the history, the Chaldeans abound in rivers, and are vigorous with ships, and thence take glory.

VERS. 15.-- *I am the Lord your Holy One.* Formerly to the sons of Israel, now to you, apostles, the demons having been cast out in the world and all the princes conquered.

[1286B]VERS. 19.-- *I do new things.* Many things that refresh souls, not bodies: of old I brought forth from the rock one fountain only, to refresh bodies.

VERS. 20.-- *Dragons and ostriches.* The malignant, the venomous, who abode in the solitude of the Gentiles, brutish through the blood of idolatry and the savagery of their manners.

The ostrich has the appearance of wings, but lacks flight. So the hypocrite has the appearance of holiness, but does not have the thing itself.

VERS. 22.-- *Thou hast not called upon me.* [n: (HIER.)] He speaks to the Jews, who before the coming of the Lord worshipped idols; or to those who after his coming would not believe.

*Neither hast thou labored.* I have not made thee labor after the coming of the Son, that thou shouldst offer costly things, because: *A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit,* etc. [n: (Psal. L.)] Or: Thou hast not labored in me only, thou who didst offer to idols.

[1286C]VERS. 23.-- *In incense.* By the incense and the cane, which is a shoot of an aromatic tree, understand all spices.

VERS. 25.-- *I am he.* [n: (ID.)] As if he should say: Thou hast made me labor under the burden of thy sin; therefore I no longer call thee my servant, nor my child, but simply name thee Jacob and Israel, that I may show and convict sinners.

VERS. 26.-- *Bring me back to remembrance.* The good things I have done for thee. *What more ought I to have done for thee, and did not do?* [var: Vulg. Is. 5:4 *Quid est quod debui ultra facere vineae meae, et non feci ei*, "for my vineyard … for it"] Or: If thou hast anything of justice, I will gladly receive it.

VERS. 27.-- *Thy father.* Abraham, namely, who, when the Lord promised the land of promise, answered: *Whereby shall I know that I shall possess it?* [var: Vulg. Gen. 15:8 *unde scire possum quod possessurus sim eam*] Or Abraham himself, who is said to have sinned by doubting at the promise of a son; or the people in the desert by murmuring against God, as if he should say: he shall recognize one begotten of sinners.

[1286D] *Interpreters.* As if he should say: *inter partes*, that is, those who bear peace between the parties.

## CHAPTER XLIV.

VERS. 1.-- *And now hear, Jacob.* He addresses the first believers from among the Jews, the others being hardened, with a certain privilege of name and dignity of honor; the choir of the apostles, namely. *Hear, Jacob my servant.* The first is servitude, the second election.

VERS. 2.-- *From the womb thy helper.* In which thou didst seize thy brother's heel; or, in the beginning of the Church thou didst escape the hands of the persecutors.

*And most upright, whom I have chosen.* Israel, according to the Hebrew verity, is *upright* or *most upright*. As for what is said before, *a man seeing God*: [1287A] that is held not from the proper meaning, but from the sound of the word.

VERS. 3.-- *I will pour out my Spirit.* Namely in baptism, through the imposition of hands.

VERS. 4.-- *As willows beside the running waters.* The willow is an unfruitful tree, etc., *as far as* which quickly believed when the apostles preached.

VERS. 5.-- *This one shall say.* He describes the variety of them that believe.

*And in the name of Israel he shall be likened.* That they may receive the law, and the prophets, and the graces of the Holy Spirit which were promised to Israel.

VERS. 6.-- *I am the first and I am the last.* After the calling of the Gentiles, who, having cast away idols, believed, he acts against those who would not be converted.

[1287B] *Besides me there is no God.* He does not say that he alone exists, but that beside his power and his wisdom there is no external God, condemning the opinion of many gods and their images.

VERS. 12.-- *He shall hunger and shall faint.* [n: (HIER.)] With the hunger and thirst of the craftsman, etc., *as far as* whose God is their belly, whose glory is in their confusion.

VERS. 23.-- *Shout, ye ends of the earth.* [n: (ID.)] The angels preside as it were over the inhabitants of the earth; or the apostles, or the prophets, over whom others also are agreed to be; whence it is said to the Ephesians: *[sic: Super aedificati] Built up upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,* etc.

VERS. 24.-- *Thus says the Lord the Redeemer,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Above he spoke of the overthrow of idols, and of the redemption of a repentant Israel: but now of the greatness of his own [1287C] power, lest anyone doubt of the salvation he promises.

VERS. 26.-- *I who say.* He speaks of the restoration which was made by Zorobabel and the other leaders, Cyrus permitting it: though the captivity was still to be fulfilled.

VERS. 27.-- *Thy rivers.* Under Darius, namely, and Cyrus his grandson. For on the night in which Balthasar was slain by them, the river Euphrates, which flowed through the middle of the city, was divided into streams by their army, so that they might enter the city through its channel.



## CHAPTER XLV.

VERS. 1.-- *Thus says the Lord to his Christ.* Among the Romans the diadem, among the Jews the anointing, makes both kings and priests, from which they are also called christs. Cyrus is a christ, [1287D] not by anointing, but by dignity.

*And the backs of kings.* [n: (ID.)] What city did not lie open to him? Which of the kings did not turn his back? What walls, before impregnable, were not overthrown by his siege? But you will find these things more fully fulfilled in the history of Xenophon.

VERS. 3.-- *Hidden treasures.* Of all the cities, so that, having cast away idols, and invited by benefits, thou mightest perceive one God, who foretold thy name beforehand, before thou wert.

VERS. 4.-- *And I have called thee.* [n: (ID.)] As I called Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, etc., *as far as* but the Son, Christ, is anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows.

VERS. 5.-- *Beside me.* Because the Son and the Holy Spirit are in the Father; for beside my word and my reason [1288A] and my power and the wisdom that is in me, there is no other God.

VERS. 6.-- *That they may know.* Esdras says that Cyrus wrote to all the nations that there is no God but the God of Israel. Or, from the freeing of the captives the clemency and power of God became better known to all. Josephus, moreover, in the book of the *Antiquities* says that the people was released for this reason, that Cyrus read in the book of Isaiah the things which the Lord had said of him before through the prophet.

VERS. 7.-- *Darkness.* The night, or the captivity. As if: taking pity on the penitent, I bring them back from captivity; being angry, I take sinners captive.

*Evil.* [n: (ID.)] War, that is, affliction, according to what is said: Sufficient for the day is its own evil. Let them therefore be confounded who judge God to be the author of evils. [1288B] For here evil is set down not as the contrary of good, but for affliction and for war.

VERS. 8.-- *Drop down dew, ye heavens.* [n: (ID.)] Of the coming of Christ, signified through Cyrus, because he will free the human race from the captivity of the devil, he fitly adds these things. Or these words may cling to what goes before, so that, as Cyrus loosens the captivity, heaven and earth rejoice by metonymy.

*And the clouds.* The prophets, watering our hearts with a saving rain, and announcing the nativity and the resurrection and the ascension of Christ; whence: *I will command my clouds that they rain no rain upon it;* [var: Vulg. Is. 5:6 *et nubibus mandabo*, with no *meis*] and elsewhere, *Thy truth unto the clouds.*

*I have created him who:* was, namely, a worm, and is read to have sprung from the earth according to his humanity.

VERS. 9.-- *Woe to him that gainsays:* as if he should say: [1288C] Believe the things I foretell, namely that Christ is to come, because, *Woe to him that gainsays his maker [n: (Psal. XXXV)]* [var: Vulg. Is. 45:9 *fictori suo*, "his fashioner"]; or Cyrus, to whom, through the deliverance of my people, I shall lay all kingdoms under.

VERS. 10.-- *To the woman, what dost thou bring forth?* The man has power over the woman, the woman power over the man.

VERS. 11.-- *His fashioner,* that is, of the Son according to his humanity in the virginal womb; whence: *The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee,* etc.

VERS. 12.-- *And to all their host.* On this occasion some think that the stars are rational; for they say that he would not command anything to senseless things, which would not understand the commands.

VERS. 13.-- *I have raised him up.* [n: (ID.)] As if he should say: I who did the things said above; what wonder if I both send the Son [1288D] into the world to redeem the human race, and raise him from the dead?

*I will direct his ways. Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth [n: (I Petr. II)]*.

*He himself shall build.* [n: (ID.)] Of whom it is said: *Thou hast not known me.* Nor did he himself build the city or the temple, but permitted it to be built: nor was this completed in his time, but in Ahasuerus's.

VERS. 14.-- *The labor of Egypt.* The worship of idols. For it labored much in performing the sacrifices of idols. But when the apostles preached they were converted, and above all kingdoms the religious orders of monks abound there, *so that where sin abounded, grace also might more abound [n: (Rom. V)]* [var: Vulg. Rom. 5:20 *Ubi autem abundavit delictum, superabundavit gratia*, indicative and without *et*].

[1289A]VERS. 19.-- *Not in secret,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Of old on Mount Sinai he said to one people only: *Thou shalt not have strange gods [n: (Exod. XX)]* [var: Vulg. Exod. 20:3 *Non habebis deos alienos coram me*]. But the Gospel he preached through the apostles to all nations, whence: *Their sound has gone forth into all the earth [n: (Psal. XVIII)]*.

*I have not said.* [n: (HIER.)] First indeed I came to the Jews: and I admonished them that, leaving the shadow of the law, they should follow the truth.

*Declaring right things.* That the creature may adore the Creator, that, the figures being left behind, it may follow the truth of the Gospel.

VERS. 20.-- *They have not known.* Certain men, remaining in error, were unwilling to know, weighed down, that is, by the burden of images, and hoping in those in whom there is no salvation.

VERS. 21.-- *Take counsel together.* That you all, going through the world, may announce the same thing. For from this they together composed [1289B] the creed concerning the Trinity and the unity, concerning the communion of the Church, concerning the general resurrection.

*I have foretold it.* That the Gentiles were to be saved, but that the idol is nothing: when I spoke to Abraham, or when I gave the law. [var: Vulg. Is. 45:21 *praedixit illud*, third person, "he foretold it"]

VERS. 23.-- *Shall go forth:* into the world, visibly, in the flesh.

*The word of justice,* the son until he shall have fulfilled obedience, etc., *as far as* which the Jews, showing the pride of their mind, do not do at all.

VERS. 25.-- *In the Lord, he shall say.* All the nations, even the barbarous, confessing not in synagogues but in churches.

## CHAPTER XLVI.

VERS. 1.-- *Bel is broken.* [n: (HIER.)] After the calling [1289C] of the Gentiles is subjoined the destruction of the idols.

*Nabo.* Nabo is gold, etc., *as far as* and the prophecy of the demons and the divination of the magi came to nothing.

*To beasts and to cattle.* [n: (ID.)] For they worshipped beasts and cattle, and their region gave to very many towns the names of the beasts and cattle which they worshipped, as, namely, Leonata from the lion, and others of this kind.

VERS. 2.-- *And their soul.* Not that the images have a soul, etc., *as far as* which he subjugated to the devil and to the demons.

VERS. 3.-- *House of Jacob.* He does not say, Jacob, my servants, my elect, with an addition of honor, but simply: and he addresses them as carnal and as departing from his commandments.

[1289D] *You that are carried.* You who are borne like an offspring conceived, through the desert as far as the land of promise. For he waited for them long and patiently, both in the land of promise and, after the passion, for two and forty years.

VERS. 5.-- *To whom have you likened?* He inveighs chiefly against those who in the time of Achaz and Ezechiel worshipped idols in the corners of the streets, in gardens, in groves upon the housetops.

VERS. 8.-- *Remember this.* Because I have begotten you and have carried you even to old age, forsake the idols you have made, and return to the worship of the one God.

*To the heart.* To understanding, you who have lived as it were like beasts, venerating images, dashing yourselves like madmen against wood and stones.

[1290A]VERS. 10.-- *Declaring.* Through the prophets, that when I shall have fulfilled the things foretold through divination, that is, through a prophet foretelling things to come, I may prove my divinity.

*The last. We are they upon whom the ends of the ages are come [n: (I Cor. X)]*. And elsewhere: *But when the fulness of time came, God sent his Son [n: (Gal. IV)]*. *And John: Little children,* he says, *it is the last hour [n: (I Joan. II)]*.

*Counsel:* of redeeming the world through the Son; as if: I now declare my counsel established, so that when you shall have seen the effect, you may know that there is no God save him who knew the things to come and commanded them to come to pass.

VERS. 11.-- *Calling a bird from the east:* [n: (ID.)] According to the Hebrews, Cyrus king of the Persians, etc., *as far as* and him whom the Magi, coming from the east, adored.

VERS. 12.-- *Hard of heart.* You who always resist the truth, [1290B] first the prophets, at last the Son also.



## CHAPTER XLVII.

VERS. 1.-- *Come down, sit,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Because we are all creatures of God; nor, as the heretics hold, is the nature of Babylon damnable; or else because of the luxury and adornment of that most powerful city, which, already old and near to its setting, boasts itself a maiden and a girl.

VERS. 2.-- *Meal,* or rather, offer intercourse to the Medes and Persians, who are most ardent in this. According to this the Hebrews say that the Philistines, when they had torn out Samson's eyes, compelled him to grind, that is, to have intercourse with their women, that from him they might get men of great and unconquerable stature.

VERS. 3.-- *And he shall not resist,* as Moses did to God when he willed to blot out the sons of Israel. But it signifies the angel [1290C] set over Babylon, who says with the others: *We have healed Babylon, and she is not healed.*

VERS. 5.-- *Sit.* The speech is referred to Babylon, and he addresses her as one once a queen, now a handmaid. Sit, lowly and vile. Be silent, as one sorrowful, considering thy misery.

VERS. 6.-- *I was angry.* He renders the reason why he so afflicted the Chaldeans, lest he should seem to have done it without cause, who works nothing without cause; and that the Chaldeans might know that they did not overcome the people of God by their own strength.

VERS. 9.-- *Suddenly.* By the unforeseen inrush of Cyrus and Darius. For she did not fear that she could be overcome by the Medes and Persians (who in comparison with her were of no strength, and were themselves subject).

VERS. 11.-- *Thou shalt not know the rising.* Unlooked for the calamity shall come, [1290D] foretold neither by the magi nor by the soothsayers; for they did not fear a despised and subject people.

VERS. 13.-- *The augurs of heaven.* The astrologers, who judge that all things are ruled by the stars. As if he should say: As though they did not provide all things for thee? These are commonly called mathematicians, who think that worldly affairs are ruled by the course of the stars; whence: *From the east came magi saying: We have seen his star in the east [n: (Matth. II)]*. Or else, stirred up by the oracle of Balaam, who said: *A star shall rise out of Jacob [n: (Num. XXIV)]*.

VERS. 14.-- *They are become as stubble,* etc. The Seventy: Having coals of fire, thou shalt sit upon them, these shall be to thee for a help. As if: the Gazareni and the magi lead thee by error into pride. But the burning [1291A] of Babylon calls to repentance through punishments.

## CHAPTER XLVIII.

VERS. 1.-- *Hear these things.* [n: (HIER.)] It is the custom that when the carnal Israel is treated of, Jacob or Israel should be named simply and without an addition of name, as in this place, where he addresses those who are called Jacob or Israel only in name.

*And out of the waters of Juda.* He makes mention of Juda, because when the ten tribes had been led captive, Juda and Benjamin and the Levites remained in the land of promise, and had a king of Juda.

VERS. 2.-- *For of the holy city.* [n: (ID.)] As if he should say: You boast that you are the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and that you have the privilege of the Lord of hosts, whereas you take to yourselves, empty as they are for you, the appellations of Jacob, of Israel, and of the holy city, of God [1291B] almighty.

VERS. 3.-- *The former things from that time.* I foretold that the Babylonians were to be overcome, and suddenly I shall do what I threatened: so that when the things foretold shall have come, thou mayest know that they befell neither by chance nor by the nod of thy gods.

*The former wonders,* namely those which I did in the midst of them from the time they went out of Egypt, and when the captivity by Nabuchodonosor was at hand: but now, before they are taken captive, he foretells their deliverance and the devastation of the Chaldeans; whence *suddenly*, namely, the things I foretell as coming, I have wrought.

VERS. 4.-- *An iron sinew.* Hence Stephen: *stiffnecked and uncircumcised in hearts [n: (Act. XVII)]* [var: Vulg. Act. 7:51 *incircumcisis cordibus et auribus*, ablative, "and ears"].

*Thy forehead brazen:* whence Ezechiel: *For all the house of Israel is of a hardened forehead [n: (Ezech. III)]*, etc. And [1291C] Jeremias: *Thou hast had the forehead of a harlot woman, thou wouldst not blush [n: (Jer. III)]*.

VERS. 6.-- *And they are kept.* As if he should say: I was about to announce very many things, but because thou dost not remember what I say, what I was about to say I keep in reserve.

VERS. 9.-- *For my name's sake.* Namely, that it be not profaned: *I will put far off; I have done it:* [var: Vulg. Is. 48:9 *longe faciam furorem meum*, "I will put my fury far off"] my fury, that is, that I should not destroy thee, because thou hast adored the calf: *and with my praise* (that thou mightest praise me, namely): *I will bridle thee* with my law.

VERS. 10.-- *In the furnace of poverty.* [n: (ID.)] By purging thee through poverty, giving thy riches to the enemies; or in Egypt, where it is shown that very many are tempted by riches and by poverty.

VERS. 12.-- *Hear me, Jacob.* [n: (HIER.)] He is still speaking to the same men, [1291D] etc., *as far as* but he calls them the called.

[1291D]VERS. 14.-- *Assemble yourselves, all of you.* Why then does earth and ashes glory, and one ignorant of his own frailty?

*He has announced these things.* That Cyrus should destroy Babylon, or that my Son was to be born of a virgin.

*The Lord has loved him.* These things belong properly to Christ. Yet they can be referred to Cyrus and to Darius, as far as that place: *His way is made straight.*

*His own:* because he shall take it. Or, the Son, in redeeming the world, who also cast out the Chaldeans (that is, the demons); whence, *the prince of this world shall be cast forth.*

VERS. 15.-- *I have called him.* Cyrus, or the Son, saying through Gabriel: *And thou shalt call his name Jesus.*

VERS. 16.-- *He has sent me.* [n: (ID.)] He distinguishes the whole Trinity briefly, fully and plainly.

[1292A]VERS. 17.-- *I am the Lord.* Who promise to Israel the things to come. He renders the reason why he had afflicted them before.

VERS. 21.-- *They did not thirst.* [n: (ID.)] Of those coming from Egypt, according to the letter, etc., *as far as* filled with the water of wisdom.

*He clove the rock.* The rock was Christ. The divine word is cloven into parts, so that what we cannot take in whole, we may take by parts.

*And the waters flowed out. One of the soldiers opened his side with a lance, and immediately there came forth the blood of our redemption, and the water of baptism,* [var: Vulg. Jo. 19:34 *exivit sanguis et aqua*, without *nostrae redemptionis* and *baptismi*] dedicating to us baptism and martyrdom.



## CHAPTER XLIX.

VERS. 1.-- *Hear, ye islands.* [n: (HIER.)] After the calling of the remnant of Israel and the objection of the unbelieving (concerning whom, *There is no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord* ), under the name of the [1292B] islands he addresses, in the person of the Son, the Churches from among the Gentiles.

VERS. 2.-- *A sharp sword. I came not to send peace, but the sword [n: (Matth. X)]*, separating, that is, the evil from the good.

VERS. 3.-- *I will be glorified.* Which he was not in the other servants: *Father, I have glorified thy name [n: (Joan. XVII.)]* And elsewhere: *Arise, my glory [n: (Psal. LVI)]*, etc.

VERS. 4.-- *And I said.* [n: (ID.)] As though he said: How have I glorified thee, I who could not call back to thee a great part of the Jews? But here man's free choice is shown: for it is God's to call, ours to believe, yet with him helping, that the just may obtain the reward of their will.

*Therefore my judgment,* etc. [n: (ID.)] The Father shall judge whether [1292C] I have done for them all the things I owed: *I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou gavest me.* And elsewhere: *I have glorified thee upon the earth [n: (Joan. XVII)]*.

*My work.* Others: My labour and my sorrow: because he wept over the city, and said in the Psalm: *What profit is there in my blood? [n: (Psal. XXIX.)]* According to the Hebrew, hanging on the cross far from my salvation are the words of my lamentations.

VERS. 5.-- *Glorified.* As though he said: I have lost the Jews, but I am glorified among the Gentiles, whence, *All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. [n: (Matth. XXVIII)]*.

VERS. 7.-- *Abhorred.* Christ and his Nazarenes, whom the Jews daily curse in their synagogues, because on their account they lost their kingdom, their place and their nation.

*Kings.* The prophet to the Son. *Kings shall see* thee coming to judgment: *Kings,* namely the apostles and the others [1292D] who shall judge with the Lord.

VERS. 8.-- *In an acceptable time.* Of the Passion, of the Resurrection, in which it pleased God to redeem the human race.

VERS. 16.-- *Behold, in my hands,* etc. [n: (ID.)] From this we learn that Jerusalem is not to be sought in the region of Palestine: which is the worst of the whole province, roughened with rocky mountains, and suffers a want of springs.

VERS. 17.-- *Thy builders.* The apostles and others: By the fault of the Jews, that is, of the Scribes and Pharisees, thou wast destroyed; by the preaching of certain Jews, that is, of the apostles, thou wast gathered together both from the Jews and from the Gentiles.

VERS. 18.-- *All these are gathered together.* The Jews out of every nation, etc., *as far as* daily they are gathered to the faith of the Church.

[1293A] *With an ornament.* With the various graces of the Holy Spirit, with which the bride's array is adorned, of which it is said: *The queen stood on thy right hand in gilded clothing, surrounded with variety [n: (Psal. XLIV)]*.

VERS. 21.-- *I am barren.* Because after Aggeus, and Zacharias, and Malachias, who is also Esdras, they had no prophets to nourish them in the law, until John the Baptist.

VERS. 23.-- *Queens.* The same, but more affectionately. Whence: *The queen stood,* etc. She, namely, who daily nourishes the little ones of Christ and leads them to the perfect age.

*They shall adore.* They shall venerate, according to that: *They shall adore the footstool of his feet [var: Vulg. Ps 98:5 *adorate*, "adore ye" — an imperative, here made a future, matching the lemma *Adorabunt*] [n: (Psal. XCVIII)]*, in which foot majesty is signified.

*The dust of thy feet.* [n: (HIER.)] They shall cleanse away, that is, all [1293B] earthliness by word and by example, according to what is said, *Whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed [n: (Matth. XVI)]*, etc., whence: *Shake off the dust of your feet [var: Vulg. Matt 10:14 *excutite pulverem de pedibus vestris*, "shake off the dust from your feet" — the proof-text conformed to the lemma *the dust of thy feet*] [n: (Matth. X)]*.

VERS. 25.-- *For thus saith the Lord.* [n: (ID.)] He answers the question, namely that these things are fulfilled at his coming.

VERS. 26.-- *With their own flesh.* Not by another's death, but by his own, etc., *as far as* lying open to the bites of savage beasts.

*The mighty one of Jacob.* I who gave Jacob strength to wrestle, etc., *as far as* thou shalt prevail, as it were by prayer also, against Esau whom thou fearest.

## CHAPTER L.

VERS. 1.-- *Thus saith the Lord: Who is he?* [n: (HIER.)] After the calling of the Gentiles, after the taking of the strong one, [1293C] whose spoil has been divided to the apostles, he speaks to the people of the Jews concerning Sion, which said above: *The Lord hath forsaken me,* etc.

*I have sold. But I am carnal, sold under sin [n: (Rom. VII)]*. *He who commits sin is the servant of sin [n: (Joan. VIII)]*. Whence: *Let not sin reign in your body [var: Vulg. Rom 6:12 *in vestro mortali corpore*, "in your mortal body"] [n: (Rom. VI)]*.

VERS. 2.-- *Because I came.* [n: (ID.)] That is, that you may know that I have not repudiated your mother, but that she withdrew of her own will: after many benefits I took flesh, and no longer through the prophets, but present myself I spoke.

*There was not a man.* To Herod because of his malice, etc., *as far [1293D] as* concerning all in common: *The vision of the four-footed beasts in the desert [n: (Isa. XXX.)]*

*I called.* As though he said: Ye rational ones, *Incline your ear to the words of my mouth [n: (Psal. LXXVII)]*. *He that thirsteth, let him come and drink [var: Vulg. Jo 7:37 *Si quis sitit, veniat ad me et bibat*, "If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink"] [n: (Joan. VIII)]*, and the like.

*Is it that.* [n: (ID.)] He inveighs against those who thought, etc., *as far as that he may give me more than twelve legions of angels? [n: (Matth. XXVI)]*.

VERS. 3.-- *I will clothe the heavens with darkness.* The philosophers say that the clouds are lifted on high no more than ten stadia from the earth, and that the brightness of the sun is hidden: thus, when the light of heaven is shut out, the lower air is darkened. *I will clothe.* The saints, that is, so that they may know themselves sinners.

*And I will put sackcloth.* That they may do penance in fear and in haircloth.

[1294A]VERS. 4.-- *The Lord hath given,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Although these things can be referred to Isaias, yet properly they are referred to Christ, as though he said: I who once wrought such things can now also work the like; my power is not diminished.

VERS. 9.-- *As a garment.* [n: (ID.)] A garment is consumed by age and by the moth. The Jews too were called to penance for forty-two years after the Passion: at last, being negligent, they were crushed when the Romans came, and devoured by the moth of an evil conscience.

VERS. 10.-- *Who is there among you.* He who fears is not perfect, etc., *as far as* he keeps the souls of the saints whole and chaste and pure.

*Who hath walked in darkness.* The Gentile people in darkness, etc., *as far as* I call to penance; *for I will not [1294B] the death of the sinner, but rather that he be converted and live [var: Vulg. Ezech 33:11 *nolo mortem impii, sed ut convertatur impius a via sua, et vivat*, "I will not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live"; Ezech 18:32 *nolo mortem morientis*] [n: (Ezech. XVIII)]*.

VERS. 11.-- *Behold all you,* as though he said: Exhortation profits nothing, nor is there hope of salvation after such crimes: *They have all gone aside, they are become unprofitable together [n: (Psal. XIII)]*.

*Kindling a fire.* They kindled the fire of the city by which it was burned by the Romans, etc., *as far as* so for sinners the diverse matter of their sin is kindled more or less.

*You shall sleep in sorrows.* Because neither by benefits nor by torments would they receive the Son of God, whence, *Go, ye cursed, into everlasting fire [var: Vulg. Matt 25:41 *Discedite a me maledicti*, "Depart from me, ye cursed"] [n: (Matth. XXV)]*.

## CHAPTER LI.

VERS. 1.-- *Hearken to me, you that follow that which.* [n: (HIER.)] *Look unto the rock.* Christ. Of which, *And the rock [1294C] was Christ, out of which you are hewn [n: (I Cor. X)]*, from Christ called Christians.

*And to the cavern of the pit.* On account of the digging of Christ's side, etc., *as far as* we are born through the laver of baptism.

VERS. 3.-- *Joy and gladness.* Note that in Sion, which is compared to the paradise of God, there ought to be so much joy and gladness and thanksgiving and the voice of praise, that what they are to do in heaven with the angels they should meditate on continually upon earth.

VERS. 5.-- *My just one.* Justifying all, or justice elegantly: not that one nation, but that the whole world may be saved.

VERS. 6.-- *The heavens like smoke.* [n: (ID.)] It is written of the saints, etc., *as far as* yet some take "to perish" and "to grow old" for abolition and death.

VERS. 9.-- *Arise.* The voice of the prophet and of the faithful people [1294D] beseeching the coming of Christ, in whom help had been promised.

VERS. 12.-- *Who art thou that thou shouldst fear man,* etc., *as far as* that they may blush and do penance.

VERS. 17.-- *Arise, arise.* [n: (ID.)] He exhorts to penance those who denied him in the Passion; or who persisted in unbelief, crying, *Crucify him, crucify him [n: (Joan. XIX)]*, etc.

*The chalice of wrath.* [n: (ID.)] Physicians are wont to give a most bitter antidote, etc., *as far as* whence it is not clear that this is said of the last captivity.

VERS. 22.-- *Behold.* [n: (HIER.)] He foretold the captivity to come; now he exhorts to penance, that they may escape.

VERS. 23.-- *I will put.* According to the letter they humbled them, [1295A] etc., *as far as* and in the judgment they shall be humbled altogether.



## CHAPTER LII.

VERS. 1.-- *Arise, arise.* The prophet exhorts those who believed after the Ascension, when the apostles were preaching.

*For he shall no more add.* These things to the heavenly Jerusalem, which no unclean person enters.

VERS. 2.-- *Shake thyself.* A soul defiled with filth loses its former brightness, etc., *as far as* not with corruptible silver and gold, but with the blood of the immaculate Lamb.

VERS. 3.-- *For nothing.* You had neither the profit nor did you escape the loss, when you delivered up the Son of God.

VERS. 4.-- *Into Egypt.* [n: (HIER.)] He accuses the Jews, and foretells things to come, etc., *as far as* that even in his own land [1295B] he may oppress him, and calumniate him?

VERS. 5.-- *What have I here?* [n: (ID.)] Nothing here, he says, do I find among them, etc., *as far as* that they fastened their Redeemer to the cross.

VERS. 7.-- *How beautiful.* [n: (ID.)] Of him who had said above: *I myself who spoke, behold I am here,* the prophet testifies that he himself preached the Gospel upon the mountains.

*Of him that announceth,* Christ, by himself, by the apostles, to whom he says: *Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you [n: (Joan. XIV)]*. Sitting upon whom the Lord preached: they are also the feet of Christ, by carrying his preaching.

VERS. 8.-- *The voice of the watchmen:* [n: (ID.)] of the apostles and of the others who are always in the watchtower, that they may foresee all things and advance those subject to them.

VERS. 9.-- [1295C] *Rejoice.* He consoles the primitive Church, etc., *as far as* by the multitude of the Gentiles it has been both repaired and multiplied.

VERS. 10.-- *The arm. In my arm shall the Gentiles hope [n: (Psal. XCVII)]*. And elsewhere: *Thy arm with power [n: (Psal. LXXXVIII)]*.

VERS. 11.-- *Depart.* [n: (ID.)] This the Jews refer to themselves, etc., *as far as* being admonished by the Holy Spirit.

*Go forth,* preaching the Gospel in the whole world, *Go ye, teach all nations [n: (Matth. XVIII)].*

*The vessels of the Lord.* [n: (ID.)] The temple of the Lord is holy, which you are: vessels, that is, of gold and of silver, whence Paul is called a vessel of election; or the vessels of the Lord, the armour of God, the breastplate of justice, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

[1295D]VERS. 13.-- *Behold he shall understand:* lest it be doubted who said, *I who spoke, behold I am here:* and that he is the arm of the Lord, the Father plainly teaches.

VERS. 14.-- *As they were astonished.* The order of the history is not kept. For above the prophet was speaking in the person of the Father concerning the Ascension of the Son, and suddenly he returned to the Passion.

## CHAPTER LIII.

[1296D]VERS. 1.-- *Who hath believed?* [n: (HIER.)] The prophet in the person of the prophets complains that few of the Jews believe what they hear from them concerning the coming of the Son.

*And the arm of the Lord.* [n: (ID.)] The Father announced to the world that his Son would come; and before the scandal of the cross he sent ahead the glory of him rising again. *He shall be lifted up and shall be exalted [var: Vulg. Is 52:13 sets the two verbs the other way about, *exaltabitur et elevabitur*],* [1296A] etc. The choir of the prophets therefore answers that they have fulfilled their office and announced the arm of the Lord.

VERS. 2.-- *A shrub.* Symmachus, a branch; signifying the man who came forth from the womb of the Virgin.

*To a thirsty one.* Aquila, *pathless,* where the privilege of virginity is shown, because without seed he was created from earth that was before pathless.

VERS. 5.-- *By his bruises.* [n: (ID.)] It is plain that, just as his body was torn and scourged, so his soul truly grieved for us, lest in Christ part be believed truth and part falsehood.

VERS. 7.-- *He opened not,* etc. To Pilate or to Herod. For he answered few things, lest the salvation of the human race be deferred.

*And as a lamb.* [n: (ID.)] In figure of whom the people of Israel [1296B] ate the lamb in Egypt [n: (Exod. XII)]. This is the lamb *who taketh away the sins of the world [var: Vulg. Jo 1:29 *peccatum mundi*, "the sin of the world," in the singular] [n: (Joan. I)]*, *who was slain from the beginning of the world [n: (Apoc. XIII)]*, who feeds us with his flesh and his blood, and clothes us with the fleece of his protection.

VERS. 8.-- *From judgment.* The judge of all found no truth of judgment, but was condemned without fault. Whence the prophet marvels that the God of all delivered himself over to the Passion.

VERS. 9.-- *He shall give the wicked.* [n: (ID.)] That is, the Gentiles, who are without piety, to God the Father, because dead and buried he acquired them; and the rich, namely the Jews, who glory in the riches of the law and of the prophets.

*The rich.* The Scribes and Pharisees, glorying in the riches of the doctrine of the law.

VERS. 10.-- *A long-lived seed.* The word of the Gospel, [1296C] namely, which shall not grow old, as the Old Testament did, whence: *He that sowed went out to sow his seed [var: Vulg. Lc 8:5 *Exiit qui seminat, seminare semen suum*, "He that soweth went out to sow his seed" — a present participle where Migne prints a perfect] [n: (Luc. VIII.)]*

VERS. 11.-- *He shall be filled.* With the faith of the Gentiles, whence, hungering and thirsting above Jacob's well, he would not use the food that had been bought, because he was already filled with the faith of the Samaritan woman and of those who were coming out to him from the city.

VERS. 12.-- *And with the wicked.* That he might redeem the wicked from sin, being made all things to all: *For he bore our sins in his own body [var: Vulg. 1 Petr 2:24 *peccata nostra ipse pertulit in corpore suo super lignum*, "himself bore our sins in his body upon the tree"] [n: (I Petr. II)]*. Whose imitator Paul says: *I became all things to all, that I might gain all [var: Vulg. 1 Cor 9:22 *ut omnes facerem salvos*, "that I might save all"; *lucrifacerem*, "gain," stands at 9:19 and 9:22a] [n: (I Cor. IX)]*.

*He prayed.* Father, forgive them. At this voice, according to the Gospel of the Nazarenes, many thousands of the Jews standing about the cross believed.

## CHAPTER LIV.

[1296D]VERS. 1.-- *Praise, thou barren.* [n: (HIER.)] Thus far concerning the Nativity, the Passion, the Resurrection, etc., *as far as* gathered together both from the Jews and from the Gentiles.

*Praise, thou barren.* The Apostle, according to the Seventy: *Rejoice, thou barren, that bearest not, break forth and cry, thou that travailest not, for many are the children of the desolate [n: (Gal. IV)]*, etc. But we, brethren, after Isaac, are the children of the promise.

VERS. 3.-- *For to the right hand:* to all the places of the world. Or, neither lifted up by prosperity, nor broken by adversity. Or, to the goods of the future life and of the present.

VERS. 4.-- *Fear not.* [n: (ID.)] When the tower of Babel was being built, etc., *as far as* who a cord.

VERS. 6.-- *For as a woman.* [n: (ID.)] They who follow [1297A] tropology, even in the most difficult places, etc., *as far as* he holds out the robe and the kiss.

VERS. 9.-- *As in the days of Noe,* etc. That the congregation of the saints may believe the mercy of the Lord to be everlasting, and that they are forsaken but for a moment, that they may become the friends of God by an eternal covenant: he sets forth the examples of the fathers.

VERS. 14.-- *Depart far off.* [n: (HIER.)] He has consoled the Church from among the Gentiles, promising her spiritual graces: now he teaches what she is to do, that she fear not her adversaries.

VERS. 15.-- *Behold, an inhabitant.* This the Jews turn to themselves, as though there were to be proselytes from among the Gentiles in the time of their own Christ.

VERS. 16. *Behold I.* Not that I am the cause of their perdition, but the adversary who fights is the cause of perdition to the conquered, of reward to the conquerors.

[1297B]VERS. 17.-- *This is the inheritance.* Lest the just man, being afflicted, fail, he adds the rewards.



## CHAPTER LV.

VERS. 1.-- *All you that thirst, come.* [n: (HIER.)] Because he had said that the vessel fashioned against the Church was to be broken, and every tongue armed against the knowledge of God to be overcome, he calls believers to the river of God, which is filled with waters.

*Eat ye.* By hearing, by speaking, by reading, by meditating, by working, by keeping in the heart. For the divine Scripture is both drink, when open, and food, when hidden. It is also both the water and the bread that came down from heaven.

*Why do you weigh out silver.* You weigh the sacred words, but not the refreshment. You who keep the appearance of the letter alone lose, from the spiritual understanding, the fatness [1297C] of the inward refreshment.

VERS. 4.-- *Behold, a witness.* He challenged the Jews to believe, but because he knew that, when they did not believe, the Gentiles were going to believe, he says that he has sent his Son to announce his precepts to the peoples.

VERS. 5.-- *The Lord thy God.* [n: (ID.)] When he is called Father, the Father of Christ is called, according to the divinity, the Father of glory; according to the humanity, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

VERS. 6.-- *Seek ye the Lord.* These things pertain to the Jews or to the Gentiles specially, and to each one generally. The prophet to the Jews: *Seek ye the Lord,* as though he said: The Gentiles receive the mercies of David, and you disdain them; but do penance, and be converted while you have time.

[1297D] *Whilst he is near.* [n: (ID.)] Lest by your vices he withdraw, who draws near to those who draw near to him, and runs to meet the returning son with gladness.

VERS. 8.-- *For not.* Do not think that what I promise is hard: consider that between my counsels and yours there is much difference: and as great as is the diversity of nature, so great is that of will.

VERS. 10.-- *And how.* [n: (ID.)] By another likeness he shows that he is abundant in pardoning.

*Bread to the eater.* Whence Solomon: *Cast thy bread upon the waters, for in the multitude of days thou shalt find it [var: Vulg. Eccle 11:1 *Mitte panem tuum super transeuntes aquas, quia post tempora multa invenies illum*, "upon the waters that pass by… after many times"],* that is, pour out the bread of thy doctrine and spiritual grace upon all, because in the last day thou shalt receive rewards

[1298A]VERS. 11.-- *It shall not return.* But after it has fulfilled my will upon earth, it shall return and sit at my right hand, according to that, *Sit thou at my right hand,* etc.

VERS. 12.-- *The mountains,* namely the souls of the saints, which for the variety of their virtues are called mountains and hills.

VERS. 13.-- *Instead of the nard.* Nard, full of prickles and of stings. The fir, tall, lofty, apt for building houses, rich in pitch.

*And the Lord shall be.* Others. And the Lord shall be for a name and for an everlasting sign which shall not fail.

## CHAPTER LVI.

VERS. 1.-- *Thus saith the Lord. Keep ye judgment.* [n: (HIER.)] The prophecy of the Gentiles being ended, who at the coming of Christ are changed from nard and nettle into fir and myrtle: he speaks to the hearers of that [1298B] time, that they may prepare themselves for the coming of the Saviour, who is mercy and justice.

*Keep ye judgment.* [n: (ID.)] Not accepting the person in judgment. For the judgment is the Lord's, who judges those who judge good things.

VERS. 2.-- *That keepeth the sabbath.* [n: (ID.)] Let it not be, that is, of the six days in which the world was made. Of which the apostles were not, to whom it is said: *If you were of the world, the world would love its own,* etc. *I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you [n: (Joan. XV)]*.

VERS. 3.-- *And let him not say.* [n: (ID.)] This against the Jews, who claimed the coming of Christ for themselves alone, and forced others to despair. *But there is no distinction of the Jew and the Greek [n: (Rom. X)]*.

*The eunuch.* [n: (ID.)] For the kingdom of heaven, they who [1298C] mortify their members upon earth, etc., *as far as* which is said of the seed of a spiritual work, not of offspring.

VERS. 4.-- *For thus saith the Lord.* [n: (ID.)] He set forth two, namely proselytes and eunuchs, etc., *as far as* lest they think themselves subject to the curse of the law.

VERS. 6.-- *And the children of the stranger:* after the eunuchs he passes to the strangers and promises rewards.

*For servants.* Such as Paul, who says of himself: Paul, the servant of Christ Jesus; and Moses, the servant of God.

VERS. 7.-- *Their holocausts. Mortify your members, which are upon the earth [n: (Colos. III)]*. And *That you present your bodies a victim living unto God [var: Vulg. Rom 12:1 *hostiam viventem, sanctam, Deo placentem*, "a living victim, holy, pleasing unto God"].* The holocaust is offered whole to God, and is burnt. A part of the victim is given to the priests. He renders a holocaust to God who leaves the world, that he may always be free for prayer. A victim, [1298D] he who serves God and disposes justly the things that are of the world.

*Upon my altar.* The faith upon which all things are offered, without which it is impossible to please God. Whence: *But the just man shall live in his faith.*

VERS. 9.-- *All ye beasts.* The voice of the prophet, who calls the Romans to the destruction of Jerusalem, whom almost the whole world served. Or, by the beasts, the demons: to whom the Jews were handed over to be devoured.

VERS. 10.-- *Blind.* Not having Christ the true light, or faith and the other virtues.

*Dogs.* [n: (ID.)] As dogs guard the flock, so ought prelates to guard the people. *Most impudent dogs.* Which is: As dogs without discernment often pursue even good men, so the Jews too impudently cried out, [1299A] *Crucify him, crucify him [n: (Luc. XXIII)]*, nor were they sated with reproaches against the Lord.

VERS. 12.-- *Come, let us take.* Thus did they pervert who ought to have corrected. And because all had sinned, they were handed over into the hands of the Romans.

## CHAPTER LVII.

VERS. 1.-- *The just perisheth.* [n: (HIER.)] These things the Jews refer to Isaias, who was cut in two with a wooden saw by Manasses, that most impious king, and to the other prophets, whom he himself slew, men of mercy. But more truly this is said of him who is supremely just.

*And there is none.* On account of the blind watchmen and the dumb dogs.

*That considereth:* because the blind and the dumb, being ignorant of wisdom, consider not the things that are God's.

[1299B]VERS. 2.-- *Let peace come, let him rest in his bed, who hath walked in.* [n: (ID.)] The prophet prays that Christ may come, and, rising from the dead, may rest in his bed in glory, namely of the Father's majesty, or in the Church, in which he walked in uprightness.

VERS. 6.-- *A libation.* Wine, oil and liquids of this kind: a sacrifice of bread, a victim and things of this kind.

VERS. 7.-- *Upon a high mountain.* Heretics also, etc., *as far as* that they be trodden down by men.

VERS. 8.-- *And behind the door:* As though he said: Not only upon the mountains didst thou adore idols, but thou didst also set them behind the door, that going in thou mightest see them and always adore them.

*Because thou hast uncovered beside me.* The metaphor of an adulteress, as above of a harlot, etc., *as far as* laid open to all who enter.

VERS. 9.-- [1299C] *Thou hast sent legates.* That they might bring far-off idols, as though those near at hand did not suffice. And in this he signifies the gods of the Babylonians and the Egyptians.

VERS. 10.-- *Thou hast laboured in the multitude of thy way.* He who walks by the king's highway does not labour. There is one way of truth, which says: *I am the way, the truth and the life [n: (Joan. XIV)]*: many are the ways of worldly men, whence, *My ways are not as your ways [var: Vulg. Is 55:8 *Non enim cogitationes meae cogitationes vestrae, neque viae vestrae viae meae*, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways my ways"] [n: (Isa. XL)]*.

VERS. 13.-- *But he that hath confidence in me.* [n: (ID.)] They who did not worship idols, or who, led into captivity, repented, and returning under Zorobabel and the other leaders, adored their God in his own place according to the Hebrew.

*He shall possess thy holy mountain,* [var: Vulg. Is 57:13 *possidebit montem sanctum meum*, "MY holy mountain"; Migne prints *tuum*] namely the law of the Old and of the New Testament; for both were given [1299D] on a mountain. And he invites to the height of the rewards, or to Christ.

VERS. 14.-- *And I will say,* I, Christ, that is, to the apostles, *I have made a way,* by preaching well: furnish the road by way of example to them by working well; take away the stumbling-blocks by washing away sins through baptism, by removing the worship of idols through preaching.

VERS. 15.-- *For thus saith.* His rebuke against Jerusalem being ended, he comes to those who trust in the Lord, for whose return he had commanded the road to be prepared. Whence he both begins from the praises of God, and shows in order what he has promised to the returning people.

VERS. 16.-- *For I will not contend for ever.* [n: (ID.)] I will not keep my anger for ever, nor [1300A] plead against my creature, but I will strike in the present, that I may heal in the future.

*For the spirit.* Peace, joy, the life of all, etc., *as far as* specially to the Jews.

VERS. 17.-- *I hid from thee,* etc., namely my help, that thou mayest desire it the more, saying: *Show thy face, and we shall be saved [n: (Psal. LXXIX)]*.

*He went away.* [n: (ID.)] Which one understanding said: *All the day I went sorrowful [n: (Psal. XXXVII)]*.

VERS. 19.-- *I created:* as though he said: The deliverance from captivity, which through Jeremias I promised after seventy years, I have fulfilled in deed

*I created the fruit of the lips, peace.*

VERS. 20.-- *But the wicked.* Above concerning those who did penance in the captivity, and were therefore delivered, and [1300B] concerning those who believed after the Ascension. Here he speaks specially of those who remained in their unbelief.



## CHAPTER LVIII.

VERS. 1.-- *Cry.* [n: (HIER.)] The Lord to the prophets or to the apostles: the former chapter being ended, in which peace is announced to the just, and no rest to the wicked.

*As a trumpet.* [n: (ID.)] Where to the apostles, etc., *as far as* so let Israel, dead by sin, hear his own crimes.

*To my people.* As if he said: Let them see what a Father they have lost, who calls even sinners his people.

VERS. 2.-- *As.* That is, why should I not hear them as I hear those who do justice in the Church, [1300C] living justly and piously, confessing Christ true God and true man.

*They ask.* [n: (ID.)] Another rashness of the Jews, as though, trusting in a good conscience, they demand a just judgment, according to that: *Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in my innocence.*

VERS. 3.-- *Why have we fasted.* They have forgotten the ancient history, that the Lord had no regard to the gifts of Cain, because he did not divide rightly with his brother, to whom he grudged charity towards God.

*Behold, in the day.* A fast acceptable to God is to abstain not only from foods, but from all unlawful things.

*You exact.* He who exacts from one who has not, does violence to God.

VERS. 4.-- *Do not fast as until this [1300D] day.* Lest he seem to reprove fasting, he teaches how one ought to fast.

VERS. 5.-- *Is this such a fast.*

VERS. 6.-- *The bundles.* [n: (ID.)] We understand sins, etc., *as far as* despise not the household of thy own seed.

VERS. 7.-- *Break thy bread to the hungry.* [n: (ID.)] We break bread to the hungry, etc., *as far as* but the fullness of the soul.

*And thy own flesh.* [n: (ID.)] Recognize thy neighbour, in whatever need, as like to thyself, considering that thou art mortal and passible.

VERS. 8.-- *Thy light.* As the morning light dissolves the darkness, so the light of truth puts errors to flight.

[1301A] *Justice.* Christ, who justifies all, shall go before unto glory.

*And the glory of the Lord shall gather thee up,* that is, shall receive thee to himself, who said: *Where I am, there also shall my minister be [n: (Joan. XII)]*.

VERS. 9.-- *To stretch out the finger.* To mark thy neighbours, to disparage them. That is, not only art thou not to think these things and not to do them, but thou art not even to disparage.

VERS. 11.-- *A watered garden,* the paradise of delight, which the Lord God had planted from the beginning, namely the Church. The fountain in the midst is Christ, whose waters of spiritual doctrine do not fail, which water the Church. And this is, *And he shall be as a watered garden* [var: Vulg. Is 58:11 *et eris quasi hortus irriguus*, "and thou shalt be" — the second person, which the gloss's own address keeps], O faithful one, or O Church.

*As a fountain.* Thou shalt be made like to Christ, thy head.

[1301B]VERS. 12.-- *They shall be built* [n: (HIER.)] The Jews refer this to the restoration which was made under Zorobabel and Jesus the high priest; or to that which they rave will come at the last. Better may these things be referred to the Church.

*The foundations* [n: (ID.)] The apostles, the prophets and the like: Whence, *The foundations thereof are in the holy mountains [n: (Psal. LXXXVI)]*. But the foundation in the singular number is Christ, whence, *Other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus [n: (I Cor. III)]*.

*Of iniquities,* otherwise *into rest,* namely the paths of error into rest or into true peace.

VERS. 14.-- *Of the earth.* Of the living, which is above, not below, whence it is said to Lot: *Save thyself in the mountain.*

[1301C] *With the inheritance.* The heavenly one, which I gave to Jacob, whose son thou art by faith and by working, by supplanting vices and sins. For whosoever has been the imitator of a man is called his son.

## CHAPTER LIX.

VERS. 2.-- *But your iniquities.* He shows why they were not heard and were led into captivity.

VERS. 3.-- *His hands.* [n: (HIER.)] He sets forth the iniquities part by part, etc., *as far as* and at last crying out against the Son of God: *His blood be upon us and upon our children.*

VERS. 4.-- *They have conceived,* [n: (ID.)] They who await Antichrist. For him whom they seek out with much labour they shall receive in iniquity.

VERS. 5.-- *Eggs.* [n: (ID.)] From the egg the offspring, from the heart [1301D] the counsel, from which the act. They have broken the eggs therefore, when they showed forth in words their wicked hearts and their venomous counsels, saying: *He is guilty of death [n: (Matth. XXVI)]*.

*Of asps.* The asp, at the first voice of the charmer, fastens one ear into the earth and stops the other with its tail, that it may not be charmed: so the Jews, cleaving to earthly things, fearing lest they lose their place and their nation, repelled the preaching of Christ, venomous sons of venomous fathers.

*It shall break out into a basilisk.* From the eggs of the asp the cockatrice, which is also the basilisk; from the Jews, Antichrist. For from them he shall be born, killing by his breath, that is, by his venomous speech, many who are flying to the heavenly country. For the basilisk kills with its breath the birds flying through the air.

VERS. 9.-- *For this* [n: (ID.)] The prophet, in the person [1302A] of the penitent people, answers, after the accusation, what the penitent ought to say.

VERS. 11.-- *We shall roar all of us like bears.* The meditation and teaching of the Jews in Holy Scripture is compared to the roaring of a bear and the moaning of a dove, as useless and vain, like those. Against their subjects too they rage as bears; against their superiors or their equals, they moan as doves.

VERS. 15.-- *Truth in.* [n: (ID.)] Christ, who is the way, etc., *as far as* that the person of Christ may be shown, whom, forsaking, they followed a lie.

VERS. 16.-- *And he saw.* [n: (ID.)] Having shown that they repented, he shows that their penance did not please the Lord, because many repented not with a pure heart.

*That there is not a man.* All are effeminate in mind, [1302B] as also that, *I called and there was none that heard.*

*And he saved for himself.* The Father, namely, through the Son, the Gentiles, *And his justice,* or his mercy according to the Seventy, shall confirm him who has willed to be converted: not by merit, but by mercy and justice. For it is just that the Creator spare the penitent creature, which could not be saved by its own merits.

VERS. 19.-- *And they shall fear who.* The vengeance of God upon the Jews through the Romans having been shown beforehand, he describes the faith of the Gentiles coming from the four parts of the world, when the preaching of the apostles has been heard

*As a river.* Because most swiftly he filled the world with his preaching and with faith.

*Whom the Spirit of the Lord.* [n: (ID.)]. To redeem the human race, the Holy Spirit, namely. Whence: *Who [1302C] was conceived of the Holy Spirit.* And, *The Spirit of the Lord resteth upon him [var: Vulg. Is 11:2 *Et requiescet super eum spiritus Domini*, "shall rest upon him," a future] [n: (Isa. XI)]*, etc.

VERS. 21.-- *This is my covenant,* that is, that I may redeem them by the blood of my Son, and that they may do my precepts, and hold me in memory; and this is, *My spirit, which is in thee,*



## CHAPTER LX.

VERS. 1.-- *Arise, be enlightened. (HIER)*. These things the Jews refer to the time of their own Christ, etc., *as far as* that at least on account of these things they may receive the Son of God.

*Arise.* [n: (ID.)] In the Churches, thou who didst go down in the synagogues: arise among the Gentiles, thou who didst fall among the Jews. Arise by confession, by the virtues, thou who didst fall by trafficking, by vices; and when thou hast arisen, be enlightened, that is, receive the faith of Christ.

*Light.* Promised to thee long before as about to come for thy redemption, [1302D] which *enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world,* namely he who says: *I am the light of the world [n: (Joan. I, VIII)]*, by whom thou shalt be enlightened if thou hast received the faith of Christ.

*The glory of the Lord.* For enlightening. The Son, namely, just as the risen sun enlightens the world; in figure of which the glory of the Lord was shown to Moses and to Solomon, the one building the tabernacle, the other the temple. The glory of the Lord also was the raising of the dead man, the cleansing of the leper, and things of this kind.

VERS. 2.-- *The earth.* [n: (ID.)] The Jews, who love earthly things, to whom it is said: *You shall eat the good things of the land,* which they take carnally.

VERS. 3.-- *Of thy rising.* [n: (ID.)] Because, that is, thou wast born of [1303A] water and of the Holy Spirit, we all walk in the brightness of the rising of the primitive Church, because we have the same faith, and are born again by the same baptism.

VERS. 4.-- *Lift up thine eyes round about.* To which is like: *Lift up your eyes and see the countries, for they are already white unto the harvest [n: (Joan. IV)]*.

*Thy sons.* [n: (HIER.)] Whom thou hast begotten in the faith: Whence Paul: *Through the Gospel I have begotten you [n: (I Cor. IV)]*. The first believers from among the Jews, when the Holy Spirit was given, *there were in Jerusalem religious men out of every nation which is under heaven [n: (Act. II)]*, or the Gentiles from all the parts of the world.

*They shall come from afar.* Because they were far from God through idolatry, whence: *You who were far off, are made nigh [n: (Ephes. II)]*.

[1303B] *From the side.* [n: (ID.)] Certain codices have, etc., *as far as,* nor does Jerome's sense incline to this.

VERS. 6.-- *Of camels.* The camel is a humped and burden-bearing animal. These are the rich, carrying the burden of riches and the hump of sins.

*Dromedaries.* Dromedary or dromas, for it is called both ways: for it is an animal smaller than the camel, but swifter, in which are figured the Gentiles running swiftly to the faith.

*Madian and Epha.* Regions across Arabia abounding in camels and dromedaries, etc., *as far as* which is figured by the frankincense, they offered to the Lord.

VERS. 7.-- *All the flocks of Cedar shall be gathered together.* [n: (ID.)] The simple, who before were darkness and mourning, etc., *as far as* where the Saracens dwelt, begotten of his stock.

[1303C] *The rams.* Preachers, leaders of the flock, sons of the prophets, who taught that the things the prophets foretold of Christ have been fulfilled.

*Nabaioth,* the son of Ismael, and it is interpreted *prophecy.*

*They shall minister to thee.* Holy bishops, priests, ministers of the Church, by administering the body and blood of Christ to the faithful.

VERS. 8.-- *Who are these.* The prophet marvels at the Gentiles running so swiftly to the faith, or the primitive Church:

*To the windows.* At their windows stand the saints, guarding the five senses of the body, lest through them, as through windows, death enter into their souls.

VERS. 9.-- *Their silver.* That is: *With the heart we believe unto justice, but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation [n: (Rom. X)]*.

[1303D]VERS. 10. *The sons of strangers.* The princes of the Gentiles who throughout the world built churches, as Constantine, who at Rome made twelve churches in honour of the twelve apostles, and many others who raised up many churches, and furnished what was needful.

VERS. 13.-- *The glory of Libanus.* Libanus is a mountain bordering on the land of promise, etc., *as far as* the kings and princes who came to the Church.

*The fir tree.* [n: (ID.)] The proud, namely the rich, the philosophers. For pride follows riches and knowledge. Cyprian and Hilary, lofty trees in the world, built up the Church of God. The diversity of the trees signifies the diverse orders in the Church. Of all which the Church is constructed, marked out with a wondrous beauty.

[1304A] *The place of my feet.* The Church, in which the apostles, etc., *as far as* they sustain the Church by their institutions, their miracles and their examples.

VERS. 14.-- *The city of the Lord.* For a city is so called from fellowship, etc., *as far as* who would go about carefully and afford help.

VERS. 15.-- *Hated.* By the Jews, because she preached the faith of Christ and destroyed the observances of the law; by the Gentiles, because she brought in one God and maintained that idols are nothing.

*There was none that passed through thee.* Would pass through and bless thee, etc., *as far as* moreover pride is sometimes evil, sometimes good:

VERS. 17.-- *For wood, brass.* [n: (ID.)] By the wood and the stones, etc., *as far as* others strong in faith, as Cyprian, and other martyrs, like iron.

[1304B] *Thy visitation.* [n: (ID.)] Christ, or the peaceable apostles, and just overseers, that they may rightly teach and judge.

VERS. 19.-- *There shall not be.* This of the day of judgment. By this chapter we are compelled to refer whatever things have been said or are to be said to the last time, since the service of the heavens and of the earth, of the sun and of the moon shall cease for us, and the Lord himself shall be our light for ever.

VERS. 21.-- *The bud.* [n: (ID.)] The angels, all the elect, who fulfil in works the faith they hold. They are the bud of the Lord's planting and the work of his hands, because by him they were created, and planted in the Church by faith to glorify their Creator.

VERS. 22.-- *In the time:* of the coming of Christ. Or, in a fitting or a predetermined time. When [1304C] the Son of man shall have sent his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all scandals.

## CHAPTER LXI.

VERS. 1.-- *The Spirit of the Lord* [n: (HIER.)] Christ according to the humanity, who had said above, *I the Lord, in the time will gather them,* etc.

*Because he hath anointed me:* with the oil of gladness, with the abundance of grace. [n: (ID.)] This anointing was completed in the baptism, because the Spirit of the Lord descended in the likeness of a dove, and remained upon him.

*To announce.* The Seventy: To preach the Gospel to the poor.

*An opening,* namely a loosing; for thus Symmachus [1304D] more openly rendered it.

VERS. 2.-- *The day of vengeance:* [n: (ID.)] of damnation, which came through the Romans, according to that: *The day shall come,* etc. And, *when you shall see Jerusalem compassed about with an army,* etc.

VERS. 3.-- *A crown.* When, that is, they shall have seen that very many of the Jews have believed, and that they receive a most clean robe for a mourning garment.

*For ashes.* For the grief and sorrow of their own fruits, when, that is, they shall have seen the Gentiles flowing together to the faith, they shall have the oil of joy for mourning, the mantle of praise for the spirit of grief.

VERS. 5.-- *Vinedressers.* [n: (ID.)] The evil tillers of the vineyard, the Scribes and the Pharisees, of whom it is said: *He will bring those evil men to an evil end, and will let out his vineyard to other husbandmen.*

VERS. 6.-- *But you.* This to the preachers from among [1305A] the Gentiles, etc., *as far as* who were priests in the house of the Lord.

VERS. 7.-- *Their portion.* The Lord's. Whence the Psalmist: *The Lord is the portion of my inheritance,* etc. Which no man truly says, who seeks another portion.

VERS. 8.-- *For I am the Lord:* As though he said: This shall the Lord do, who loves rather the justice of the poor and true judgment than the gifts of the rich, which are often from rapine; nor do they please him more than the hire of a harlot, or the price of flesh in sacrifice, or if a man should immolate his son to the Lord.

*In truth.* That they may eat the lamb in truth, that they may make the circumcision of the heart, and do in truth all the things that were given in figure.

*An everlasting covenant.* The eternal Gospel, not as [1305B] the Old Testament, which the Gospel succeeds.

VERS. 9.-- *Their seed.* The faithful, to whom the apostles committed the seed of the word which they received from the Lord.

VERS. 10.-- *Rejoicing I will rejoice* in the Lord, not in the world.

*With the garments of salvation:* with the virtues, with Christ himself, etc., *as far as* yet the Church is one in the head and in the members.

*And as a bride.* He sets forth the examples of another comparison, of which the former is referred to the bridegroom, the latter to the bride.

VERS. 11.-- *And praise:* his own, etc., *as far as* he shall render to the Lord the fruit of praise and of good working.



## CHAPTER LXII.

VERS. 1.-- *For Sion's sake.* [n: (HIER.)] The prophet in his own person, exceedingly gladdened by all those things [1305C] which the incarnate Son confers upon the world. And this is it: *For Sion's sake I will not hold my peace,* however much he forbid him to speak, however much he threaten death.

*Let a lamp be kindled.* *Lampas* in Greek, *flamma* in Latin; whence: *I am come to cast fire upon the earth, and what will I but that it burn?* [var: Vulg. Lc 12:49 *nisi ut accendatur*, "but that it be kindled"; the lemma's own verb] Set alight by this, the apostles spoke with divers tongues.

VERS. 2.-- *A new name.* [n: (ID.)] It is the custom of the Hebrews to impose new names from new things, etc., *as far as* likewise first Simon, afterwards Peter.

VERS. 3.-- *A crown of glory.* Of the faithful coming from all the parts of the world, as it were a crown.

VERS. 4.-- *Thou shalt not be called.* He addresses the Church gathered out of either people, as if: thou shalt not be content with this end of appellations.

[1305D]VERS. 5.-- *And he shall rejoice,* etc. *For this cause shall a man leave father and mother [n: (Gen. II; Matth. XIX)]*. *This is a great sacrament in Christ and in the Church [n: (Ephes. V)]* [var: Vulg. Eph 5:32 *Sacramentum hoc magnum est, ego autem dico in Christo et in Ecclesia*, "but I speak in Christ and in the Church"].

VERS. 6.-- *Upon thy walls.* [n: (ID.)] The apostles, the preachers, who fortify the Church, whose guardians are the angels. Whence: *All are ministering spirits, sent for their sakes who receive the inheritance of salvation [n: (Hebr. I)]* [var: Vulg. Hbr 1:14 *Nonne omnes sunt administratorii spiritus, in ministerium missi propter eos, qui haereditatem capient salutis?*, a question, with *in ministerium* and the future *capient*]. Or the walls of the Churches are the disciples of the apostles, whose guardians are the apostles themselves.

VERS. 7.-- *Till he establish Jerusalem.* Which is, either that she herself, spread far and wide, be praised everywhere, or that she everywhere praise her Creator always.

VERS. 8.-- *He hath sworn* by the Son, namely, who is the power of God [1306A] and the wisdom of God. *In his right hand.* In the Son. Whence: *Thou hast made all things in wisdom [n: (Psal. CIII)]*, who is both the arm and the strength of the Father: Whence, *All things were made by him [n: (Joan. I)]*. *If I will give thy wheat.* The wheat of the Jews and their wine I have often given to their enemies, as is read in the book of Judges [n: (Judic. VI)]: that in the time of harvest the Madianites used to rush in and gather their crops. And when they were led away captive, Samaritans were put in their place to eat their harvests. But in this place he understands the food of the Church, the virtues and good works, the body and blood of Christ. That is, the praises and the works which thou hadst spent upon idols, the demons used to eat. But after the coming of the Son the Lord was delighted in them. The wheat, therefore, and the wine, the food (namely of the Jews), signified the body and blood of Christ. [1306B] Whence, *My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed [n: (Joan. VI)]*. This is not taken today by heretics, pagans, Jews, the enemies of the Church.

VERS. 10.-- *Through the gates.* The ministers of the Church, who bring others in. Or the virtues, which lead into heaven, as it were from virtue to virtue. *Make the way plain.* By taking away scandals; by remitting sins in baptism. *Choose ye.* Or, cast ye forth, according to the Septuagint, which is: take away the hardness of unbelief from the hearts of men; or, the reprobate and the hard, from the fellowship of the faithful.

VERS. 11.-- *Say ye to the daughter of Sion.* Namely to the primitive Church, which was first out of the Jews: whence, *The sons of my mother have fought against me [n: (Cant. I)]*. Or according to that: *But as many as received him [n: (Joan. I)]*, etc.

*And they shall call him,* saying: You are the [1306C] holy people, you are the redeemed of the Lord God [var: Vulg. Is 62:12 *Et vocabunt eos, Populus sanctus, redempti a Domino*, "they shall call them"]. For so certain codices have it.

## CHAPTER LXIII.

VERS. 1.-- *Who is this.* Certain angels, not fully knowing the mystery of the incarnation, of the passion, of the resurrection, seeing the Lord ascend to the heavens with a multitude of angels and of holy men by his own power, not by the help of angels, marvel at the mystery of the incarnation, and of the passion, and of the resurrection, and of the ascension: and how he opens the kingdom of heaven to himself and to others; whence also they say to the angels accompanying the Lord: *Who is this?* And David likewise: *Who is this King of glory? [n: (Psal. XXIII)]*. Augustus, however, seems to say upon Genesis [cj: *Augustus*; read *Augustinus*, "Augustine"] that all the angels from their very creation knew at once, in the contemplation [1306D] of their Creator, whatsoever he himself was about to do. But Jerome plainly declares that certain angels, until the mystery of the incarnation should be accomplished, did not know it to the full.

*Of Edom.* Edom [n: (ex HIER.)] from the eating of red lentils, etc., *as far as* or, from hell despoiled, victor with his faithful.

*Beautiful in his robe.* *Formosum*, warm. Whence *formosus* as it were *calidus*, because from its colour the face is made ruddy and rosy, and thence comely.

VERS. 2.-- *Why then.* [n: (ID.)] As though the angels should say: We have learned, etc., *as far as* clemency befits thee more than cruelty.

VERS. 3.-- *Alone.* Samson alone, his locks cut off, [1307A] is exposed to the Philistines; neither angel nor archangel nor any heavenly spirit. Finally, of the human race no one, whether Jew or Gentile, is a helper: alone he fights, alone he overcomes. *He is sprinkled.* [n: (HIER.)] My blood by their rancour, etc., *as far as* whose blood is often sprinkled upon the garments of the victor.

VERS. 5.-- *And there was not,* etc. Whence: *All my friends have forsaken me, and my acquaintance are gone from me as strangers [n: (Job. XIX)]* [var: Vulg. Job 19:13 *Fratres meos longe fecit a me, et noti mei quasi alieni recesserunt a me*; the first half answers rather to Job 19:14 *Dereliquerunt me propinqui mei*, "my kinsmen have forsaken me"]. *And it saved.* Jerome, to Augustine and Alipius, shunning the impiety of Sabellius: we distinguish three persons expressed under their property, not saying that the Father is himself to himself, not the Son himself to himself, not the Holy Spirit himself to himself: but that the person of the Father is one, of the Son another, of the Holy Spirit another. For we confess not names only, [1307B] but the properties of names.

VERS. 7.-- *Of the mercies.* [n: (HIER.)] The prophet in the person of the Jewish people repenting and acknowledging the mercy of the Lord.

VERS. 9.-- *He was not afflicted.* [n: (ID.)] The voice which is, etc., *as far as there is no helper but Michael your prince, who stands for the sons of my people [n: (Dan. X)]* [var: Vulg. Dn 10:21 *nemo est adjutor meus in omnibus his, nisi Michael princeps vester*; the closing clause is Dn 12:1 *qui stat pro filiis populi tui*, "thy people," and is not cited].

*And an angel.* [n: (ID.)] The Septuagint. Not a legate nor an angel himself, but the Lord saved them.

VERS. 10.-- *The spirit of his holy one.* That is, of Moses: whence, *They exasperated Moses in the camp, and Aaron the holy one of the Lord. [n: (Psal. CV.)]* [var: Vulg. Ps 105:16 *Et irritaverunt Moysen in castris; Aaron, sanctum Domini*, "provoked"] Or *of his holy one*, of Christ, in whom they would not believe. For the Son of God who redeemed us, he it was who delivered them from Egypt and the Red Sea. *The Holy Spirit,* or, *of his holy one.* Certain codices [1307C] have, namely, the Holy Spirit, whom he grieves who grieves a spiritual man: whence, *He that toucheth you, is as one that toucheth the apple of my eye. [n: (Zach. II.)]* [var: Vulg. Zach 2:8 *qui enim tetigerit vos, tangit pupillam oculi mei*, without *quasi*: he touches it, rather than is as one who touches it] Or, the angel sent for a guard, whom they often offended by doing ill.

VERS. 11.-- *Of Moses.* Because there is no other who prays for them. *Where is he,* etc. The prophet, seeing the casting-off of his people, their misery and their affliction now impending because of the denial of the Son of God, cries out in compassion, saying: *Where is he?* as if he should say: The clemency of the Almighty. *Where is he that put?* Of Moses, namely, because at Moses' prayer the Lord took of his spirit and gave it to seventy men.

VERS. 12.-- *Who divided the waters before them.* Or it is said. When Moses had struck the sea, and had divided it into twelve ways, and while the rest hesitated, the tribe of Juda entered in, [1307D] and for this obtained the dignity of the kingdom.

VERS. 14.-- *The spirit of the Lord.* The angel, namely; whence: *And my angel shall go before thee [n: (Exod. XIV)]* [var: Vulg. Ex 23:20 *Ecce ego mittam angelum meum, qui praecedat te*, and Ex 32:34 *angelus meus praecedet te*; Exodus XIV as cited reads *angelus Dei, qui praecedebat castra Israel*]. For *spirit* is the name of a nature, *angel* of an office.

VERS. 15.-- *Look down from heaven and behold.* The Lord is everywhere whole and always, whence: *I fill heaven and earth [n: (Jer. XXIII)]* [var: Vulg. Jr 23:24 *Numquid non caelum et terram ego impleo?*, a question]. Yet he is said to have his seat in heaven, according to that: *Heaven is my seat [n: (Isa. LXVI)]* [var: Vulg. Is 66:1 *Caelum sedes mea*; *Coelum mihi sedes* is the wording of Act 7:49, and the verse is quoted in its Isaian form at 1312A], because, namely, in the heavenly angels and in just men (whose manner of life, that is, is in the heavens) his will is chiefly done. *Where is thy zeal,* etc. As if he should say: Because we have sinned, and thou hast begun to hate us, thy zeal has withdrawn: and when it withdrew strength withdrew, and the affection of a father's bowels is overcome.

[1308A]VERS. 16.-- *Abraham hath not known us.* [n: (HIER.)] As if he should say: Because we have offended thee, etc., *as far as* let him not forget his sons, lest through them the name of God be blasphemed among the Gentiles.

VERS. 17.-- *Why hast thou made us to err.* Paul, writing to the Corinthians, that is, to the people of a single city, on account of the diversity of those dwelling there (of saints, namely, and of sinners), now praises, now reproves: so the present chapter, which is woven out of the prayer of the people beseeching God, now praises the Lord, now accuses, according to the second rule of Ticonius, which is concerning the body of the Lord.

VERS. 19.-- *As in the beginning.* [n: (HIER.)] Before thou didst call us, etc., *as far as* they shall not be called the people of God, Christians namely from Christ.



## CHAPTER LXIV.

[1308B]

VERS. 1.-- *O that thou wouldst rend.* [n: (HIER.)] In his own person, etc., *as far as* likewise David: *He bowed the heavens, and came down [n: (Psal. XVII)]*.

VERS. 2.-- *The waters should burn. [n: (SYM.)] The waters of the sea should burn with fire.* Which is, that the peoples of the world should be inflamed with the fire of charity. Whence: *I am come to cast fire upon the earth, and what will I but that it burn? [n: (Luc. XII.)]* [var: Vulg. Lc 12:49 *nisi ut accendatur*, "but that it be kindled"] and so *thy name should be made known,* which is Christ Jesus, *to thy enemies,* namely to the Jews.

VERS. 3.-- *We shall not bear it.* We Jews, but we shall blaspheme, saying: *By Beelzebub the prince of devils he casteth out devils [n: (Matth. XII)]* [var: Vulg. Mt 12:24 *Hic non ejicit daemones nisi in Beelzebub principe daemoniorum*, a denial: "he casteth not out devils but by Beelzebub"]. For the prophet says this in the person of unbelievers. *Thou camest down.* As though, his prayers having been heard, he says: *Thou camest down,* etc. [1308C] *The mountains.* Their power lost: *Now shall the prince of this world be cast out [n: (Joan. XII)]*. And to the Jews it is said: *The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you [n: (Matth. XXI)]*, namely Holy Scripture and all glory and all dignity.

VERS. 4.-- *From the beginning of the world.* Hence Paul, writing to the Corinthians, takes his testimony, not word for word, but expressing the sense. *The eye.* Because it is not a body or a colour. What the Apostle sets down, *it hath not ascended into the heart of man*, because it is greater, and the heart ought to be directed thither. For he prepared his very self, the knowledge of himself, the knowledge of the holy Trinity; whence: *This is eternal life, that they may know thee the true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent [n: (Joan. XVII)]* [var: Vulg. Jo 17:3 *ut cognoscant te, solum Deum verum*, "thee, the only true God"]. Him no one can see; whence that: *No man hath ever seen God [n: (Joan. I)]*.

VERS. 5.-- *Behold thou,* etc. In the person of the unbelieving people, [1308D] who, wishing to pass over to the truth of the Gospel, put forward with the mouth a penance which he had not in the heart.

VERS. 6.-- *Of a menstruous woman,* etc. *Mene* in Hebrew, *luna* in Latin; whence *menstruatae*, women who each several month are wont to endure a flux of blood. And then men ought to abstain from them. For then are conceived those condemned in their members, the blind, the lame, the leprous and the like: so that, because the parents were not ashamed to be mingled in the bedchamber, their sins may lie open to all, and be openly reproved in their little ones. *Wind.* A motion of the air, as there, *He commanded the winds and the sea [n: (Matth. VIII)]*. Or the Holy Spirit: *Of a vehement Spirit coming (Act I)*. For here *Spirit* is put for wind, with the signification of the Holy Spirit. Or, the temptation of demons and of evil [1309A] men, as that: *The floods came, and the winds blew [n: (Matth. VII)]*: and this is as it were a wind.

VERS. 8.-- *And now, O Lord.* As if he should say: If we consider our own merits, we must despair; if thy clemency, who scourgest every son whom thou receivest, we dare to pour out prayers, for thou art our father. *The works of thy hands.* As if he should say: Look upon thy work, not upon our merits. The right confession of the mystery of the Trinity is the ignorance of knowledge.

VERS. 9.-- *Be not angry, O Lord.* This is, we do not shun wrath, nor do we further seek that patience through which we treasure up to ourselves wrath in the day of vengeance: but we beseech that thou be not angry with us enough, that is, that thou remember not our iniquity in the time of vengeance.

VERS. 10.-- *Sion is a desert.* Sion and Jerusalem in [1309B] this place signify the same thing, the temple, namely, and the city, where once was the watchtower of the virtues and the vision of peace. But after the people of the Jews denied their king, and added that: *We have no king but Caesar [n: (Joan. XIX)]*, Jerusalem was deserted by God: whence, *Your house shall be left to you desolate [n: (Luc. XIII)]*; and that, *Arise, let us go hence [n: (Joan. XIV)]*. And in the temple voices were heard (as the ecclesiastical history says): Let us pass over from these seats.

VERS. 11.-- *The house.* Allegorically. The house of God is the Church, and every faithful soul, which is sometimes corrupted by the fires of luxury and of avarice.



## CHAPTER LXV.

VERS. 1.-- *They have sought,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] To this the Son answers, [1309C] etc., *as far as* and *The children that are strangers have lied to me [n: (Psal. XVII)]*.

VERS. 2.-- *I have spread forth my hands.* [n: (ID.)] Praying on the cross for them, etc., *as far as* yet they themselves were always unbelieving.

VERS. 3.-- *A people that to anger.* [n: (ID.)] Allegorically. Every heretic solicits God to anger [cj: *procat*; read *provocat*, "provokes"], etc., *as far as* and to build four-square, and to strengthen with lines the dust cut upon the brick.

VERS. 4.-- *In the shrines.* *Delubra* are so called from *delendo*, blotting out, because there the soul was thought to be washed away. Or, because near by were the pools where both the priest and the victim were washed. Allegorically. [n: (HIER.)] Heretics in the memorials of their masters, etc., *as far as* so that whoever has not been like to them they detest as one lost.

VERS. 5.-- *In my fury.* Fury, forgetfulness, anger, repentance, we ought so to take in God as we take hands, feet, eyes, ears, and the other members which he is said to have: not that he yields to these perturbations who extinguishes them in us, but through our own words; we understand God's disposition toward us.

VERS. 6.-- *I will not be silent.* He who said above: *I have been silent, I have always held my peace, I have been patient,* [var: Vulg. Is 42:14 *Tacui semper, silui, patiens fui*, "I have always been silent, I have held my peace"; the adverb goes with the first verb] now says: *I will not be silent,* that is, that I yield no longer, nor will I bear their iniquities.

VERS. 7.-- *The iniquities of the fathers,* etc. So that, namely, you may be punished not only for your own sins, but also for the iniquities of the fathers whom you have imitated. For otherwise the son does not bear the iniquity of the father. *Who have sacrificed [1310A] upon the mountains.* When in Bethel and in Dan they adored the golden calves. The heretic also, contemning the simplicity of the Church, sacrifices upon the mountains, and upbraids God while he contemns his precepts.

VERS. 8.-- *As.* [n: (HIER.)] As if he should say: For the sake of the wicked I will not destroy the good: *But as,* etc. For he had said that Israel should perish.

VERS. 9.-- *Out of Jacob a seed.* The seed of Jacob and of Juda, the apostles, possessing the mountains, that is, others, namely believers eminent in the virtues: whence, *Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodom [n: (Rom. IX)]*. *My holy mountains.* [var: Vulg. Is 65:9 *possidentem montes meos*, "my mountains," without *sanctos*] The Septuagint: *My mountain,* namely Christ, who is the mountain of mountains. For the mountains are the apostles, who out of the Jews possessed Christ, in whom they are founded. *And they shall inherit.* [1310B] [n: (HIER.)] Whence: *The seed of Abraham his servant: the sons of Jacob, his elect.* Whosoever are still seed, etc., *as far as you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear, but you have received the spirit of the adoption of the sons of God [n: (Rom. IX)]*.

VERS. 10.-- *The plains.* [n: (ID.)] Others, the woodlands; whence: *The Lord shall discover the thickets of the woods [n: (Psal. XVIII)]* [var: Vulg. Ps 28:9 *Vox Domini praeparantis cervos: et revelabit condensa*, without *silvarum*, "of the woods," and with the voice of the Lord for subject], that robbers may cease to lurk there, and that beasts and venomous creatures may pass over into the Church of God. *Into folds of flocks.* Another translation has Saronas, which is a region between Joppe and Lydda and Jamnia, fruitful and full of pasture, but infested by robbers: whence it is interpreted *the valley pouring out blood. And the valley of Achor.* Where Achor the son of Charmi, having stolen of the spoils of Jericho, perished with all his house. And because he troubled the people and there [1310C] perished, the place is called the valley of Achor, that is, of trouble or of tumult. In which is signified the Gentile world, as also by Saronas, which is interpreted *the valley shedding blood,* which, full of the shedding of blood, remained in the tumult and in the trouble of vices. But the valley of Achor is turned into folds of flocks or sheepfolds, and into a couching-place of herds, that is, into churches, and into the rest of preachers and of other faithful, who are designated by the herds and the flocks of sheep. *Of herds.* Of the preachers, who arm and defend the Church. For *armentum* is so called from *armando*, arming.

VERS. 11.-- *And you that have forsaken,* etc. Allegorically. All who desert the Church, and forget the holy mountain of God, delivering themselves over to spirits of error or to the unclean doctrines of demons, prepare [1310D] a table for fortune, and believing that nothing pertains to God, but that all things are governed either by the course of the stars or by the changeableness of fortune, these shall be delivered to eternal punishments, so that none of them can escape.

*The table of fortune.* [n: (HIER.)] A goddess of the Egyptians, for whom at the end of the year they used to prepare a table heaped with all manner of food, and with cups mixed with mead: either as though she had furnished a happy year, or because she was about to furnish a happy one to come.

VERS. 12.-- *I called.* Saying through the prophets: *Be converted to me and you shall be saved [n: (Isa. XLV)]*. And through myself: *Do penance [n: (Matth. III)]*. And elsewhere: *Come to me, all you that labour and are burdened [n: (Ibid. XI)]*.

VERS. 13.-- *Behold my servants.* [n: (HIER.)] As if he should say: [1311A] Not only shall you fall by the sword, etc., *as far as* and, *I shall be satisfied when thy glory shall appear.*

VERS. 15.-- *And you shall leave your name.* So that some, affirming, may say: If I do otherwise, may it befall me as it befell the Jews slain by the sword of the Romans. Or thus: I swear by God, in whom the Jews once believed. Or, because God was their oath, which Christians now swear when compelled by necessity, namely *The Lord liveth.*

*And he shall slay thee.* That you may not have even him who says, *I am the way, the truth and the life [n: (Joan. XIV.)]* Nor may you be called circumcision, but concision.

VERS. 16.-- *Because to oblivion.* [n: (HIER.)] That they may not remember the idols, etc., *as far as* Perhaps in the time to come also the memory of their former manner of life shall be altogether blotted out.

[1311B]VERS. 18.-- *For behold.* Out of angels, namely, and out of men, one Church; and they shall exult and rejoice, that I who created may exult and rejoice in them. *A rejoicing.* Of the whole earth, that she who of old was the joy of the Only-begotten may be, made new, a gladness to all nations. *A joy.* Which we can understand either after the resurrection, or after baptism in the first resurrection. This refers to the general resurrection in which all shall rise again in perfect age. And this is it: *There shall not be,* etc.

VERS. 20.-- *A child of a hundred years,* etc. He, namely, who although he lived long, yet lived childishly, serving the vices: and Gregory expounds this thus. *A child of a hundred years. And a sinner of a hundred years.* The child's life is indeed drawn out long, that he may be corrected from childish deeds: but if he is not restrained from the perpetration of sin even by length [1311C] of time, this very length of life, which he received through the mercy of God, grows for him unto a heap of malediction.

VERS. 21.-- *Houses.* [n: (HIER.)] The virtues, for which they shall rest in the heavenly places, etc., *as far as* For many saints build houses, but do not dwell in them.

VERS. 22.-- *For according to.* [n: (ID.)] As Christ etc., *as far as It is a tree of life to them that have laid hold on her,* namely on wisdom, which is Christ.

VERS. 23.-- *The seed of the blessed.* The apostles, and other teachers in preaching, or in other works, as the Jews, because they shall receive an eternal reward, *for they shall come with joyfulness carrying their sheaves [n: (Psal. CXXV)]*.

*Grandchildren.* Whom their sons have begotten in the faith, [1311D] as Mark the disciple of Peter, and Luke the son of Paul.

VERS. 24.-- *Before they call.* In trouble, in grief of mind, but in joy and gladness: whence, *For what is our joy or crown of glory, are not you [n: (II Thes. II)]*? [var: Vulg. 1Thes 2:19 *Quae est enim nostra spes aut gaudium, aut corona gloriae? nonne vos*, with *spes*, "hope," and cited there to the first epistle] etc.

VERS. 25.-- *The wolf.* The wolf is Saul, that is, the persecutor, of whom, *Benjamin a ravenous wolf [n: (Gen. XLIX)]*. *The lamb.* Those, namely, who in white garments follow the lamb whithersoever he goes: of whom it is said to Peter, *Feed my lambs [n: (Joan. XXI)]*. *And the lion and the ox shall eat.* A man, namely, eloquent and most powerful in the world, the eloquence of philosophy being despised, shall eat straw, that is, the usefulness and the surface of the history, with the oxen, that is, with the preachers of the Church. These things the lions eat [1312A] until by many labours one comes to the depth of the mystery, as Augustine and Cyprian and the rest. *Neither shall they kill.* Their fierceness laid aside, either in the present or in the time to come, and this is it: *In all the mountain,* etc. This the Jews take carnally, saying that in the time of their own Christ there shall be for them so great peace and security that wolves and lambs, lions and oxen, serpents and men shall dwell together, and shall eat, nor shall they harm those who dwell in the temple and on the holy mountain. From which it is gathered that all the rest shall be killed. But that this is false is shown by these words: *Thus saith the Lord: Heaven is my seat, and the earth my footstool,* etc.; yet this too the Jews understand carnally.



## CHAPTER LXVI.

[1312B]VERS. 1.-- *Heaven.* All the saints whose manner of life is in the heavens; whence: *The soul of the just man is the seat of God. Heaven is my seat.* As if he should say: Do not think that these things are to be fulfilled to the letter. *What is this.* As if he should say: You think me confined to a place, and abiding in the temple only; but *what is this house,* etc.

VERS. 2.-- *To whom,* etc. The altar and the earthly temple which a human hand built being taken away, the victims of the Jews shall rightly be taken away, lest perchance they should say: We are not so foolish as to think that God can be shut up in this place, but we immolate victims in a place set apart for the glorifying of God, as is commanded in the law.

VERS. 3.-- *He that sacrificeth an ox.* [n: (HIER.)] As if: Your sacrifice pleases me not after the immolation [1312C] of the true sacrifice: in the shadow of which I granted you those sacrifices, and that you might not immolate to idols. *A dog.* Of which through Moses: *Thou shalt not offer in the house of thy God the hire of a harlot, nor the price of a dog [n: (Deut. XXIII)]* [var: Vulg. Dt 23:18 *Non offeres mercedem prostibuli, nec pretium canis in domo Domini Dei tui*; *prostibulum* for *meretrix*, the word the gloss goes on to use]. And well are the dog and the harlot coupled, because they lust alike. *They have chosen in their own ways.* Not by my will, from the time that the true lamb was immolated, Whence: *Christ our pasch is sacrificed [n: (I Cor. V)]*.

VERS. 4.-- *And the things they feared.* The Romans; whence: *The Romans will come, and take away our place and Nation [n: (Joan. XI)]*. Or famine, pestilence, captivity.

VERS. 5.-- *That hate you.* Because you are not of the world, because you believe in me, because you bear my name, being called Christians from Christ: whence, *For the Jews had already conspired, that if any man should confess Christ, he should be put out of the Synagogue [1312D] [n: (Joan. IX)]*. *Let him be glorified.* [n: (HIER.)] as if: Let him appear glorious, etc., *as far as* with great power and majesty and might, or even in the present.

VERS. 6.-- *A voice of the people from the city.* When the Roman army was coming on, according to Josephus, the Jews were divided into three parts, contending about the sovereignty. Others setting another prince over themselves Now a part of the people and of the priests held the temple, but a part of the people and of the chief men held the citadel and the royal house, and a third part, and chiefly the common sort, the rest of the city. They fought therefore both without against the enemy, and within against their fellow citizens. When therefore the Romans burst into the city, there was heard the voice of the people wailing from the city, the voice of the priests, and of those who were with them, from the temple. The voice also [1313A] of the Lord was heard in the exulting Romans, who came at God's nod, [d: rendering] rendering the recompense to his enemies, namely to the Jews, through the Romans.

VERS. 7.-- *Before she was in labour.* [n: (HIER.)] Not little by little, nor yet in a long time, etc., *as far as* and David, he says, *The hope of all the ends of the earth, and in the sea afar off [n: (Psal. LXXIV)]*.

*A man child,* a strong people, of which were Stephen and Paul, who says: *Who shall separate us from the charity of Christ [n: (Rom. VIII)]*.

VERS. 8.-- *In one day.* The Apostle begot his sons together as it were in one day, because in Christ, who is light and day; and in the unity of faith.

VERS. 9.-- *Shall I.* As if: I who created all [1313B] men out of nothing will create for myself out of all nations one Church which is built of living stones:

VERS. 10.-- *Rejoice ye,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] O angels, O apostles, sorrowful for the perdition of the unbelieving Jews, rejoice, comforted by the faith and salvation of the Gentiles, of whom the Church is built.

VERS. 11.-- *That you may suck.* The faith of the simple, and their good works, being delighted thereby. The faith of believers is the milk and the food of preachers. Whence Christ also: *I have meat to eat which you know not [n: (Joan. IV)]*. *And be filled.* The woman in childbed who bore the male child does not lack an abundance of milk in the rearing of the Nation, and of the little ones who were born together, so that she might offer them the two breasts of the Old and of the New Testament. And it is to be noted that the little ones need the milk of consolation, as still living in the flesh: but they who after the milk of consolation [1313C] have gone forward to solid food shall abound in the delights of truth and of the knowledge of glory of every kind. *That you may milk out.* Holy Church, one in all, in some has milk, that is, simple faith and works. In others there abounds glory of every kind, namely an abundance of charisms, and the knowledge of the divinity and of the humanity of Christ. Holy preachers therefore are delighted in all, as gathering from some this, from others that. *From the breast.* From the apostles and preachers to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, or to the doctrine of the Old and of the New Testament. For what they preach they show by their works, so that thus they may afford their hearers a leading.

VERS. 12.-- *They shall caress you.* [n: (HIER.)] Sustaining you, giving milk, like him who says, *I beseech you, [1313D] brethren, by the mercy of God, that you present your hearts [n: (Rom. XII)]* [var: Vulg. Rm 12:1 *ut exhibeatis corpora vestra hostiam viventem*, "your bodies"], etc. And: *I beseech you as strangers, [n: (I Petr. II)]*. etc.

VERS. 13.-- *As.* Almighty God, as merciful and pitying, compares himself now to an eagle, now to a hen, now to a caressing sea, that at least by caresses he may allure you. As also the eagle prepares her nest in inaccessible rocks, that access may lie open to none, and in the midst places the amethyst stone, which puts all poisons to flight (according to the natural philosophers, for the keeping off of serpents), and certain other secrets of nature: so he himself places in our hearts a stone, that is, his own faith, namely himself, who is the stone cut without hands from the mountain, by which all the poisons of the devil are put to flight. [1314A] For the eagle loves her young more than all beasts, and than the beasts of burden, the cattle and the birds, as they say who have written of the natures of living things

VERS. 14.-- *You shall see,* O apostles, the multitude of those living unto the faith. *And your heart shall rejoice* for their salvation, *and your bones,* the virtues, shall spring up in the hearts of others, the fruit of good will and of good working. For as the body is sustained by the bones, so is the soul by the virtues. *And your bones.* In the day of judgment your bodies shall live again in immortality, so that as in the present life you served God with body and soul, so with body and soul you may receive the rewards. *It shall be known.* In the judgment, namely, the Son shall be known as sweet and mild to the good, an avenger and strong to the wicked, he who is the hand of the Father, through whom he works all things

[1314B]VERS. 16.-- *In fire.* Which shall be eternal to the wicked whom it shall enwrap, and shall lead them to eternal punishment; by which shall be purged whatever in the good shall need purging. *His chariots.* His car, because he is then about to triumph, and to conquer all his adversaries: not that he has need of the ministry of angels.

*The Lord in fire.* In the judgment. Or, his discernment and his justice is shown, while by a just judgment, not by power, he divides the good from the evil. *With the sword.* [n: (HIER.)] The sentence: whence Amos, *By the sword of God shall all sinners perish,* etc. [n: (Amos. IX)] [var: Vulg. Am 9:10 *In gladio morientur omnes peccatores populi mei*, "shall die by the sword," and without *Dei*] For when he shall render to every man what he deserves, all shall know him for a just judge, and shall praise his judgment.

VERS. 17.-- *They that were sanctified* [n: (ID.)] In their own opinion, in fountains and baptisms, etc., *as far as* but [1314C] it is nevertheless said to the confusion of those who are not even ashamed to do it. *They that were sanctified.* We can say, according to tropology, that all who are lovers of pleasure rather than of God say that they are sanctified in gardens and on thresholds, according to the Septuagint, because they cannot enter into the mysteries of truth, and eat the foods of piety: because they are not holy in body and spirit, nor do they eat the flesh of Christ, that they may have eternal life. *For Christ our pasch is sacrificed [n: (I Cor. V)]*, who is eaten not without, but in one house and within. *In gardens.* Not in the sacrifice of the red heifer, which was commanded in the law.

VERS. 18.-- *But I.* As if he should say: Therefore I come to judgment with all nations and tongues, that I may judge together all their works and thoughts, and [1314D] render to them all that they deserve. *Tongues.* [n: (HIER.)] Which according to the apostles', not only of men, etc., *as far as* According to that: *My sword is inebriated in heaven, and it hath come down even to the earth [n: (Isa. XXXIV)]* [var: Vulg. Is 34:5 *Quoniam inebriatus est in caelo gladius meus; ecce super Idumaeam descendet*, "behold it shall come down upon Idumea"].

VERS. 19.-- *And I will set a sign in them.* Of the cross, of Christianity, of salvation, marked with which men are not slain in Ezechiel; with which in Egypt the doorposts are marked and the Israelites are saved. This sign Achaz would not ask, which Isaias subjoins: *Behold a virgin shall conceive,* etc. *And I will send of them.* It seems to be contrary, since judgment has been spoken of before, to return to the first coming, in which the apostles are directed to the Gentiles and hear: *Go ye, teach all nations [n: (Matth. XXVIII)]*. But the day of judgment [1315A] is foretold, that, terrified by fear of the punishment to come, they may receive the coming of the Saviour, and the preaching of the apostles who are to be sent before. *Into the sea.* The world, namely, whose parts he subjoins: Africa, etc., the southern, namely, quarter in which Africa is.

VERS. 20.-- *On horses.* (HIER ] They are brought who believe swiftly and run quickly to the faith. *In chariots and in litters.* The philosophers, namely, shining both in doctrine and in uprightness of manners: whence they came the more quickly to the doctrine of the four Evangelists, and, raised up by the four cardinal virtues, attained heavenly things with the mind. *On mules.* Upon which David and Solomon are read to have sat. For those who are barren of the world's offspring serve the Lord, who is figured through them, as it were tame. *In coaches.* The Septuagint, in covered vehicles: [1315B] others, simply. These are they to whom it is said: *Bear ye one another's burdens [n: (Gal. VI)]* [var: Vulg. Gal 6:2 *Alter alterius onera portate*, "one another's," not *invicem*]. *As.* As if: With how great gladness do the apostles bring your brethren, whose gifts are faith, hope, charity, pure prayer, good works etc., clean vessels, hearts and bodies undefiled. *Let them offer.* Which according to the law they did three times in the year, namely at the Pasch, at Pentecost, at the feast of Tabernacles; whence, *Thou shalt not appear empty in my sight [n: (Exod. XXIII)]*. *The house of the Lord. The temple of God is holy, which you are [n: (I Cor. III)]*. And elsewhere: *You are the temple of God, and the Holy Spirit dwelleth in you [n: (II Cor. VI)]* [var: Vulg. 1Cor 3:16 *templum Dei estis, et Spiritus Dei habitat in vobis*, "the Spirit of God"; 2Cor 6:16, as cited, reads *vos enim estis templum Dei vivi*].

VERS. 22.-- *For as the heavens.* As if: As these things made new shall remain unmoved for ever, so your seed, O apostles, made new, shall reign with me for ever, free from all corruption [1315C] of the flesh. *For as,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] These things to the end of the book pertain to the day of judgment.

[1316A]VERS. 23.-- *Month out of month.* *Mene* in Greek, in Latin *luna*, whence *neomenia*, as it were the new moon. From *mene* comes *mensis* among those who both end and begin the beginning of the kalends, not according to the course of the sun and the differing spaces of the months, but according to the circuit of the moon, which the Hebrews do. By the month, therefore, the moon: by the moon (which now waxes, and, as the natural philosophers and the philosophers say, receives from the sun the light which it does not have) the Church is understood, of which, *She shall continue with the sun and before the moon [n: (Psal. LXXI)]*. And elsewhere: *Fair as the moon, chosen as the sun [n: (Cant. VI)]*, and this is it: there shall be month out of month.

VERS. 24.-- *And they shall go out.* As it were to see, not by place, but by understanding, or by a manifest vision, that they may be the more kindled to the praise of God. *And they shall see.* [1316B] [n: (HIER.)] It is no wonder if the saints, now immortal, should see the reprobate, since the prophets, still mortal, deserved to see all these things.



## CHAPTER LXVI. (cont.)

*Carcasses,* because they shall fall into eternal damnation, according to which demons also can be called carcasses, according to which men also are so named. Whence: *An enemy hath done this [n: (Matth. XIII)]*. *Their worm.* Material, or of the conscience; whence: *As the moth eats the garment, and the worm gnaws the wood, and the fire devours the timber, so grief and sadness torment the heart of a man [n: (Prov. XXV)]* [var: Vulg. Pr 25:20 *Sicut tinea vestimento, et vermis ligno, ita tristitia viri nocet cordi*, with no verbs of eating and no clause about fire]. *Unto satiety.* Because, namely, the good shall see them separated from themselves by the just judgment of God, their power lost by which they raged against the good, and the vengeance of God upon them so great that they demand no greater. They who now say, *How long, O Lord, dost thou not revenge our [1316C] blood [n: (Apoc. VI)]*? [var: Vulg. Apc 6:10 *Usquequo Domine (sanctus et verus), non judicas, et non vindicas sanguinem nostrum de iis qui habitant in terra?*] They shall be satisfied also with their own beatitude, giving thanks when they have seen the unspeakable punishment of the wicked.
