Liber Nehemiae
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-nehemiae/
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## CHAPTER ONE.

[0713A]

VERS. 1.-- *The words of Nehemias the son. [n: (BED. in Esdram, tom. II.)]* Nehemias is interpreted *the consoler of the Lord,* etc., *as far as* they restore, as it were, the walls of Jerusalem thrown down by enemies.

*The words of Nehemias. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* Thus far the words of Esdras, etc., *as far as* who rejoice not to be unnerved by temporal blandishments, but to be exercised by adversities, and to be made ready for everlasting rest.

*In the month Casleu. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* The month Casleu is that very one which we call December, the ninth among the Hebrews, the last among us. Its name, in that it is interpreted his hope, accords well with the vows of him who was intent upon raising up the ruins of the holy city. For the first foundation of a good action is to have hope [0713B] of the Lord's help toward accomplishing what we desire. In this month the Lord was born, by whose name it was figured long beforehand that in that month the true Nehemias, long desired, was to come for the building of the Church.

*I was in Susa. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* Susa is the chief city of the Persians, but of such strength that it seems to be a fortress, and it is interpreted a riding, or returning, which is fittingly suited to the faithful, and most of all to those who bear a care for the captivity of Jerusalem, that is, for the salvation of those who, once snatched away from the Church by the snares of the devil, have by repenting been brought back again through the grace of God. For such men are in the returning fortress, that is, in the strength of a mind called back from the lowest things to the desire of the heavenly country, and in the cavalry of holy [0713C] hearts, which, namely, carry God as their rider.

*They that remained. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* The sense of the letter is plain, etc., *as far as* they ought to have kept off the unworthy, to perish in the burning of avarice, of luxury and of the other vices.

VERS. 4.-- *I wept and mourned.* If a holy man, hearing that buildings of wood and stone had been destroyed, rightly mourned, fasted and prayed, sitting long in sadness, how much more, in the destruction and ruin of souls, must one persist in continual lamentations and prayers, that by God's mercy they may be raised up to their former soundness who lay in the reproach of religion, with the enemy triumphing, squalid with the long-standing filth of the vices.

## CHAPTER II.

[0713D]VERS. 1.-- *And it came to pass.* [n: (BED. in Esdram. )] Which, namely, is the first month of the year, etc., *as far as* to make known his own. He was indeed chief cupbearer, he held out the cup to the king, outwardly he performed an office of gladness, but inwardly he mourned: because the holy city was overthrown, etc. Whence: *Upon the rivers of Babylon, there we sat,* etc. [n: (Psal. CXXVI.)]

VERS. 5.-- *If it seem good,* etc. [n: (ID., ibid.)] As by [0714A] Cyrus the first king of the Persians Christ is signified, etc., *as far as* concerning which I have taken care to expound the prophet's whole judgment most fully, as I was able, in the book of times.

VERS. 10.-- *And they heard.* The heretics are saddened, etc., *as far as* and they know that those who have gone astray by sinning return by repenting.

VERS. 15.-- *I considered the wall of Jerusalem.* He ranges over the various places of the destroyed city by surveying them; and searches out carefully how each is to be repaired. It belongs also to spiritual teachers to rise often by night, and with keen inquiry to inspect the state of the Church while the rest are at rest, so that they may watchfully search out how they may correct and raise up those things which have been befouled or cast down by the wars of the vices. But the wall [0714B] of Jerusalem lies broken down, and the conversation of the faithful is befouled with earthly and feeble affections. The gates are consumed with fire, when they who ought to have opened the entrance of life to others, having forsaken the common master of truth, grow torpid in sloth along with the rest, and are enslaved to temporal cares.

VERS. 17.-- *That Jerusalem is desolate. [n: (BED., ibid.)]* These things are plain and agreeable to the spiritual sense: because the teachers, nay rather all who burn with zeal for God, are in the greatest affliction so long as they perceive Jerusalem, that is, the vision of peace, which God has left and commended to us, to be made desolate by the wars of dissensions: and the gates of the virtues, which according to Isaias praise ought to have occupied, cast down by the prevailing gates of hell, and held in reproach.



## CHAPTER III.

[0714C]

VERS. 1.-- *And Eliasib the priest rose up. [n: (BEDA in Esdram, tom. II, lib. III.)]* That is, the high priest of that time, the son of Joachim, who after his father Jesus the son of Josedec held the pontificate for no small time. And rightly did the restoration of the city begin from the great priest and his brethren: that they who had gone before in the degree of order might become an example to others in good works. And well is it joined to the building priests: *And unto the tower of a hundred cubits they sanctified it, unto the tower of Hananael.* For the priests build in the hundredfold number of cubits, when they set on fire all whom they instruct with the love and desire of things eternal. For a hundred, which in the reckoning of the fingers [0714D] passes over from the left hand into the right, figures the heavenly goods, which are the comparison of earthly things [cj: *comparatio*; read *comparatione*, "in comparison with earthly things"] as the right hand to the left.

*And they built. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* The old translation has, etc., *as far as* and let them be washed in it.

[n: (ID., ibid.)] It seems, according to the letter; etc., *as far as* they stretch forward with the sole intention of the inward recompense.

*The gate of the flock.* Which, namely, looks toward Joppe and [0715A] Diospolis, that is, Lydda, the nearer to the sea among all the ways of Jerusalem; which is now said to be called the gate of David, and to be the first of the gates toward the west of mount Sion. With this opinion the Words of the Days seem to agree, where it is written of Manasses king of Juda: *After this he built a wall outside the city of David,* etc. [n: (II Par. XII.)]

[n: (BED., ibid.)] But typically, as the flock signifies the faithful of the Lord, etc., *as far as* and that in the times of Ezechias the wall of the city was doubled, the Words of the Days thus show: *He built also, working industriously, the whole wall,* etc. [n: (II Par. XXIII.)]

But typically that Sophonias heard the voice of a cry from the fish gate, and a howling from the second: because he foreknew that both were to be cast down by enemies. For he saw that the faith [0715B] and the works of the teachers, by which the rest had to be drawn out of the waves of corruptible life and to be led into the Church, were to be laid low upon the ground by the snares of the devil, that is, that they were to be deprived of heavenly joys through the appetite of earthly pleasure. And well did he hear the voice of a cry and of howling from each gate, the first, namely, and the second, the inner and the outer: because he saw that outwardly works, and inwardly hearts, were to be overthrown at the devil's assault. But because the Lord raiseth up them that are cast down, Nehemias relates that the fish gate was restored after its ruin: because if any of the preachers have fallen by sinning, there will not be lacking, even unto the end of the world, those who, succeeding them, may open the gates of justice to the faithful by living well and by preaching, with the Lord helping.

*They covered it. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* This verse also, concerning the other [0715C] gates, etc., *as far as* who bring us more of peril by praising, than of saving support they carry back from us by seeing.

VERS. 6.-- *To the old gate.* Of which John says: *Dearly beloved, I write not a new commandment unto you, but an old one which you have had from the beginning [n: (I Joan. II)]*. *The old commandment is the word which you have heard.* But the old gate is built in Jerusalem when the word of faith and of love, which was handed down from the beginning of the Church, is either recovered in them that err, or is established in them that have newly believed.

VERS. 8.-- *To the wall.* The firmness, namely, and the fortification of perfect love in the hearts of the elect, to which its builders come by building, when, advancing in the works of charity, they say: [0715D] *I have run the way of thy commandments,* etc. [n: (Psal. CXVIII)], with that, namely, enlargement of an enlightened mind, whereby they love both a friend in God and an enemy for God's sake.

VERS. 13.-- *And the gate of the valley.* [n: (BEDA, ubi supra. )] The valley of Josaphat, which is also Gehennon, etc., *as far as* that is, the humble by the gift of heavenly refreshment.

*And the gate of the valley. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* Well is the gate of the valley built after the old gate and the wall of the broader street, because after the rudiments of the catholic faith, which works by love, it is necessary that humility be impressed upon us as a guardian of the virtues, to be held fast, so that the greater we are, the more we be humbled in all things.

*And a thousand. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* They report that the site of the city of Jerusalem, [0716A] etc., *as far as* that they may cast forth from themselves all the rubble of harmful action, of useless speech, and even of superfluous thought.

VERS. 15.-- *And the gate of the fountain Sellum the son built,* etc. [n: (ID., ibid.)] Writers relate, etc., *as far as* comparing the steps themselves to the increases of the Church and to the advances of good works, which come about through humility.

*Of the city of David,* etc. The city of David, according to the letter, is called mount Sion, which, set on the south, overtops the city in place of a citadel, and the greater part of the city lies below the mountain, situated on the level ground of a lower hill. Whence in the book of Kings: *And David took the castle of Sion, the same is the city of David [n: (II Reg. V)]*. And a little after: *And David dwelt in the castle, and [0716B] called it the city of David [n: (Ibid.)]*.

VERS. 16.-- *Nehemias the son of Asboth built,* etc. [n: (BEDA, ubi supra. )] After the gate of the fountain and the walls of the pool of Siloe, etc., *as far as* and that they may know that they are to ascend to the heavenly kingdom.

*Over against the sepulchre of David,* etc. [n: (ID., ibid.)] Note that David was buried not in Bethlehem, as some suppose, but in Jerusalem, by a sure reason of the mystery. For just as, born in Bethlehem and anointed king, he figured Christ as about to be born in that same place of his own seed, and to be adored by the magi under the person of a king; so, having died and been buried in Jerusalem, he figured him as about to suffer and to be buried in that same city.

*To the pool, etc. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* The pool, namely, the divine Scripture, etc., *as far as* and if the ancient enemy [0716C] has taken away from us the fountain of the word of God, forthwith he bursts into the citadel of the mind.

VERS. 19.-- *And he built,* etc. [n: (ID., ibid.)] Thus far the first wall of the city is raised up, etc., *as far as* wherein we may offend the eyes of the inward judgment.

*Over against the ascent,* etc. This is Christ, who in his own faith and love made one the people of the Jews and of the Gentiles: whence he is called the corner stone. Over against whose ascent the second measure is built, when through the cleanness of holy thought we reach toward the vision of him, when also, held fast in this life, we sigh with frequent desire of the vision of him. There follow very many ranks of builders, who are related to have built the second measure: because the greatest structure of the Church is in [0716D] the fortifying of inward virtue, when, namely, we guard our heart with all watchfulness, since from it life proceeds. But to draw out each several thing to a spiritual understanding is too long a matter.

VERS. 26.-- *The Nathinites.* So are the Gabaonites called, who served with faithful devotion for the ministry of the house of the Lord according to the disposition of Josue the son of Nun.

*In Ophel. [n: (BEDA, ibid.)]* There was a tower not far from the temple, of enormous height. Whence it received the name of Ophel, that is, of darkness or of cloud, because it thrust its head into the clouds. In short, where it is written in Micheas: *And thou cloudy tower of the flock [n: (Mich. IV)]*, the tower of Ophel is blessed [cj: *benedicitur*; read *bene dicitur*, "is well named"]. In what part of the city this tower stands, the book of Paralipomenon shows, saying that *Manasses built a wall outside the city of David, to the west of [0717A] Gihon in the valley, from the entrance of the fish gate round about unto Ophel [n: (II Par. XXXIII)]*. It was fitting therefore, according to the site of the place, that the ministers of the temple should dwell in a tower near the temple.

But mystically the Nathinites dwell in Ophel, that is, in the cloudy tower, when they who by the profession of a more perfect life are dedicated to God abide always, in deed and in thought, in the fortification and the height of the virtues, and their conversation is in heaven, and the common people, marvelling at them, says: *Who are these that fly as clouds [n: (Isa. LX)]*, etc. Likewise the Thecuites dwell in Ophel, when all who are marked out by the habit of religion penetrate, with enlightened heart, the hidden things of the Scriptures, of which it is written: *Dark water in the clouds of the air [n: (Psal. XVII)]*, that is, the mystical knowledge in the prophets, and read them assiduously, [0717B] and meditate upon them.

*Over against. [n: (BEDA, ibid.)]* The Lord, namely, who daily waters us with the grace of his mercy, lest we slip in the toils of the present life and fail, etc., *as far as* and because after the present gifts of the virtues one ascends to behold the brightness of the Lord, rightly is it brought in: *After him the Thecuites built,* etc.

VERS. 27.-- *From the tower.* From the great and lofty tower unto the wall of the temple the structure of the city reaches, when the just ascend from the height of contemplation, which suspend the mind in this life, temporal things being despised, unto heavenly desires, truly in that life to behold the brightness of the Lord's incarnation, the glory also of the divine eternity being laid open. And because Thecua is interpreted a horn or a trumpet, and the Thecuites trumpeters, [0717C] it is aptly said that the Thecuites built this. For it belongs to the teachers, whose sound goes forth into all the earth, to lay open the present or the future gifts of God in his city, that is, to the faithful.

*To the wall of the temple.* The body, namely, of Christ: of which it is said in John II: *Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up:* which, namely, the persecutors had destroyed in his death, but, raised up and exalted to the heavens, they that love him cease not to behold it in glory.

VERS. 28.-- *But upward,* etc. [n: (BEDA, ibid.)] Jeremias signifies that this gate is in the eastern quarter of the city, etc., *as far as* horses, when they are taken in a good sense, like asses, camels and mules, show the peoples of the Gentiles converted to the Lord, or the cares of temporal things subjected, namely, to the Lord of the soul.

[0717D] *The priests built,* etc. But the priests of the city of God build the wall at the water gate, when the teachers, after the calling of the Jews, come by sowing the word of God to the leading in of the Gentiles into the Church.

[n: (BEDA, ibid.)] It is a long matter to discourse mystically of the several buildings or builders, etc., *as far as* he writes down their names in heaven.



## CHAPTER IV.

VERS. 1.-- . . . *Sanaballat . . . being exceedingly moved, mocked the Jews. [n: (BEDA in Esdram, lib. III, cap. 19, tom. II.)]* Plainly it is the anger of the heretics. These are [0718A] the words of those who surname themselves Samaritans, that is, keepers of the law of God, etc., *as far as* and, amended in their manners, may obtain the ornaments of the virtues.

VERS. 3.-- *But Tobias also,* etc. [n: (ID., ibid.)] The person and the words of this Tobias suit the heretics, etc., *as far as* wherewith they strive to corrupt the fruitful minds of the faithful.

VERS. 9.-- *And we prayed.* This is the one refuge against the enemies of the Church, namely prayer to God, and the diligence of the teachers, who, meditating day and night upon his law, fortify beforehand the hearts of the faithful against the snares of the devil and of his soldiers by preaching, by consoling and by exhorting.

VERS. 10.-- *The earth is too much. [n: (BEDA, ibid.)]* Heaped up, namely, in the place of the wall, etc., *as far as* and, when the storm of temptation rushes on, he is proved to have built, instead of [0718B] a house or a city, a ruin.

VERS. 11.-- *The enemies said,* etc. These things are wont to be done in the spiritual building; for the enemy remains untiring with his satellites, that is, with unclean spirits and malignant men, who strive to hinder and to storm the works of the virtues and of faith while we are unwary, and to slay the mind of the faithful with the sword-point of depraved suggestion. But against these things the armour of God must be taken up by us, that we may be able to resist in the evil day, and to stand perfect in all things.

VERS. 13.-- *I set in the place,* etc. That the workmen, namely, surrounded by a line of armed men, might build more freely and more safely. For the degrees of the faithful are distributed: some, adorning the Church within by good works, [0718C] build it: others, fortified with the arms of sacred reading, keep watch against the assaulting heretics. These strengthen their neighbours in the truth of faith by religious devotion, those wage the necessary contest against the darts of the devil and of the vices, and by pastoral solicitude keep off the lurking wolves from the Lord's sheepfold.

VERS. 16.-- *From that day, the half part,* etc. [n: (BED., ibid., cap. 20.)] It is to be noted that not only the half part of the young men did the work, etc., *as far as* and it is of less labour to guard against a pleasure of the flesh unknown, than to cast off one that is known.

VERS. 22.-- *And let there be turns for you by night and by day. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* [var: Vulg. *nobis*, "for us"] Note how great zeal they had in working, etc., *as far as* and by reproving they thrust the gainsayers from the Church [0718D].

## CHAPTER V.

VERS. 1.-- *And there was a cry,* etc. [n: (BEDA in Esdr., lib. III, cap. 21.)] The people desired to build the wall, etc., *as far as* and, turning our hands away from our own pleasures, may turn them to the building of the city of Christ.

[n: (ID., ibid.)] For three causes the cry of the people is increased. Some, compelled by famine, wished to sell their sons to the richer: others, sparing their children, their fields rather and their houses. Some, forbidding the sale of children and of fields, urged only this, that they should take money on loan for the king's tributes, their fields and vineyards being pledged, until, fruitfulness returning, they might be able [0719A] to repay to the money-lenders what they had received on loan.

VERS. 7.-- *And I rebuked the nobles,* etc. [n: (BED., ibid.)] As the best leader of the heavenly warfare and a wise architect of the city of God, etc., *as far as* that the Father may forgive us our debts.

VERS. 13.-- *Moreover I shook out my lap, and said: So may God shake out every man,* etc. A terrible close is set upon this sentence. For whosoever bestows not mercy upon the poor, or exacts from those who have not as though justly, is shaken out of his own house, that is, out of the assembly of the Church, in which he thought that he would remain for ever, and out of his labours, namely, in the fruits of good works, in which he thought that he had laboured praiseworthily: he shall receive nothing at all of his labour. For labours without piety cannot be fruitful before God.

[0719B] *And all the multitude said, Amen.* It is shown how greatly the rebuke or the imprecation of Nehemias moved the hearts of all: for, having heard the adjuration, answering, Amen, and praising God together, they did the things which he had commanded. Wherein it is plain: that they received his words not through fear, but through love.

VERS. 14.-- *For twelve years. [n: (BEDA, ubi supra.)]* This the Apostle expounds, saying: *Because the Lord hath appointed that they who announce the Gospel should live by the Gospel: but I have used none of these things [n: (I Cor. IX)]* [var: Vulg. *Ita et Dominus ordinavit iis qui Evangelium annuntiant*, "So also the Lord ordained"]. And for twelve years Nehemias with his brethren so lived in the leadership that they did not eat the allowances which were due to leaders: intimating that it is an evangelical work, in the government of the people, to exercise the office of a ruler notably about the Church, and not to seek earthly [0719C] advantage from those subject to him.

## CHAPTER VI.

VERS. 2.-- *Come, and let us make a covenant,* etc. [n: (BEDA, in Esdr., lib. III, cap. 23, tom. II.)] The enemies of the holy city were urging Nehemias to go down into the plains, etc., *as far as* because the crafty enemy always tries to hinder our hands, let us take care always to strengthen them by the divine help.

VERS. 10.-- *And I entered in.* Beaten upon by the snares of his enemies, Nehemias enters the house of Samarias as that of a friend and a brother, but finds the man himself a layer of snares and an enemy, as one corrupted by the gifts and the friendship of strangers. For the elect always have fightings without, fears within, and not only the apostles, but the prophets also led a life beset with perils [0719D] from their own kindred, perils from the Gentiles, perils from false brethren.

VERS. 15.-- *The month Eliud. [n: (BEDA, ubi supra.)]* [var: Vulg. *mensis Elul*] Which according to the Hebrews is the sixth, etc., *as far as* and thenceforward adorn themselves in good works, in the love of God and of their neighbour.

VERS. 16.-- *All the nations. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* But they who wished to terrify the builders of the holy city, etc., *as far as* and driven out from the Church.

## CHAPTER VII.

VERS. 1.-- *But after the wall was built,* etc. [n: (BEDA, in Esdr., lib. III, cap. 24, tom. II.)] Mystically: when the wall of the Church has been built, new peoples being gathered to the faith [0720A] or those who had erred being corrected, straightway the doors of regular discipline are to be set up; lest the devil, who goes about as a roaring lion, be able to burst into the sheepfold of God.

*I numbered the porters. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* The porters, namely, who have received the keys of the kingdom of heaven, that they may take in the worthy and the humble; but may keep off the proud and the unworthy from the entrance of the city above, saying: *Thou hast no part nor lot in this matter. For thy heart is not right before God [n: (Act. VIII)]*.

VERS. 3.-- *Let not the gates be opened . . . until the heat of the sun,* etc. [n: (ID., ibid.)], that is, throughout the whole time of the night, etc., *as far as* whence: *And the gates thereof shall not be shut by day, night shall not be there [n: (Apoc. XXI)]*.

*And I set guards. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* Guardians of souls [0720B] are to be appointed not from neophytes or from the common people, but from those who, freed by the grace of God from the contest of the vices, already have their mind in Jerusalem, that is, in the vision of tranquil peace, whose conversation is in heaven. For when some are withdrawn from this light, their course being finished, others are straightway put in their room, nor do they ever cease who, by keeping watch, compass about the peace of the Church because of the fears of the night, according to that: *Instead of thy fathers, sons are born to thee [n: (Psal. XLIV)]*.

These things agree typically with that time in which, the word of God having been sown far and wide by the apostles, the whole world received the new seed of faith, the Church being not yet built, but the peoples, as yet untaught, having been imbued only with the hearing of the word and with the sacraments. Therefore, when not only the nobles but the common people also had been gathered together, he took care diligently to review their number, [0720C] so that, the sum of all being seen, he might discern who ought to dwell in Jerusalem, and who in the other cities.

*Every one over against his house.* For thus the guarding of the holy Church is duly accomplished, if each so bears the solicitude of all the faithful that he especially bestows the care of a more diligent zeal upon those over whom, God being the author, he has been set.

VERS. 66.-- *All the multitude as one man.* [n: (JOSE.)] He commanded also the people that tilled the fields to offer the tithes of their fruits at Jerusalem, so that the priests and Levites, having sustenance, might not forsake the perpetual rights of religion. And these indeed willingly followed the decrees of Nehemias. And thereafter it came to pass that the city was filled with a multitude of men. And when Nehemias had done many such [0720D] good things, and worthy of praises, with the highest magnificence, coming to old age he died.



## CHAPTER VIII.

VERS. 1.-- *And the seventh month had come. [n: (BEDA, in Esdr., lib. III, cap. 26, tom. II.)]* Which was not far off. For since the wall was finished on the five and twentieth day of the sixth month, only five days remained to the beginning of the seventh month, which from the first day unto the two and twentieth was wholly consecrated with the lawful ceremonies, and when these had been duly celebrated, he then returned, with the princes and the people, to the appointing of the dwellers of the city.

*And all the people was gathered together as one man unto [0721A] the street which,* etc. [n: (BED., ibid.)] The devotion of the people and their concord are to be noted, etc., *as far as* by whose singing the people, amid the prayers and the victims, might be more ardently stirred up to the remembrance of the law.

Mystically also, when the city has been built, the divine reading must follow, and the trumpets must sound more frequently, so that the people, initiated into the heavenly sacraments, may be instructed also by the sacred words, and from that time more skilfully, how it ought to live.

*Before the water gate. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* I think that the water gate is said to be in the court of the priests, etc., *as far as* well therefore was the people gathered before the water gate, as being about to be given to drink spiritually of the streams of the Scriptures through its own prelate.

VERS. 4.-- *And Esdras the scribe stood upon a step.* [0721B] [n: (ID., ibid.)] He seems to be mindful, etc., *as far as* so that, timid and blushing, he foretells to others by doing the things which he himself did not do, etc.

When prelates surpass their subjects as much in work as in honour, these, stirred up by their examples, devoutly follow out the degree of their own life, and, piously admonished by them, take delight in pouring forth tears for their sins or from the desire of the heavenly country. Whence it is well subjoined, for all the people wept when it heard the words of the law, etc.

VERS. 10.-- *Go and eat,* etc. [n: (ID., ibid.)] He commands that we strengthen the weaker consciences of our neighbours by the example of holy action and by the sweetness of devout admonition, so that they may be filled as with marrow and fatness, and with others of exultation [cj: *aliisque*; read *labiisque*, "and with the lips of exultation"] may praise the name [0721C] of the Lord. According to the letter also, when on feast days, after prayer, reading and the studies of the psalms are completed, we refresh the flesh, we ought to be mindful of the poor and of pilgrims.

*Be not sorrowful.* The teachers, who by the sacred readings stir up the minds of their hearers to tears, and the same men console them, while they promise the joys that are to follow.

VERS. 11.-- *Because it is a holy day.* While, namely, we give our labour to the hearing and the fulfilling of the words of the Lord, on which day, although outwardly suffering adversities, we ought to rejoice in hope. Whence: *As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing [n: (II Cor. VI)]*, etc.

VERS. 14.-- *And they found,* etc. [n: (BEDA, ubi supra.)] These things are written more fully in Leviticus, etc., *as far as* we ought to remember that *we are dwellers in the land, [0721D] and sojourners as our fathers were [n: (Psal. XXXVIII)]* [var: Vulg. *advena ego sum apud te, et peregrinus sicut omnes patres mei*, "I am a sojourner with thee, and a stranger as all my fathers were"].

VERS. 15.-- *Of the fairest tree,* etc. [n: (ID., ibid.)] Which, namely, the Hebrews call the cedar. But he brings to himself the boughs of the myrtle and a shade who can say, *We are the good odour of Christ unto God in every place [n: (II Cor. II)]* [var: Vulg. *in iis qui salvi fiunt, et in his qui pereunt*, "in them that are saved, and in them that perish"].

*The boughs of the fairest tree and the boughs of the myrtle,* etc. The fruit of charity, which among all the virtues is the fairest, through which Christ also ascended the wood of the cross for our salvation, and while we imitate his passion as much as we are able, we are indeed protected by the boughs of the fairest tree and of the myrtle unto the mortification of vices and of lusts. For the magi, offering myrrh to the Lord, taught that they who are Christ's [sic: *Christ*] crucify their flesh with its vices and concupiscences.

[0722A] *Branches of palms. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* We bring branches of palms, which is the adornment of a conquering hand, when we bear a mind that conquers the vices and is unconquered by all enemies, so that we may stand *before the throne in the sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in our hands [n: (Apoc. VII)]* [var: Vulg. *palmae in manibus eorum*, "palms in their hands"].

VERS. 16.-- *Every one upon his housetop. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* Upon his own housetop, etc., *as far as* and may deserve to abound in the greater fruits of good action.

VERS. 18.-- *Seven days. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* The feast of tabernacles was kept for seven days, etc., *as far as* gathered together in the sight of God, and never to be separated, he shall have exulted.

## CHAPTER IX.

VERS. 1.-- *But on the day,* etc. *(BEDA, ubi supra, [0722B] cap. 28.)* The devotion of the corrected people is to be noted, etc., *as far as* when there is a ceasing from other labours, the ears are more freely lent to the divine readings.

*And Esdras said.* Unto the end of his prayer or confession, that which was said above, that they were confessing their own sins and the sins of their fathers, is shown more fully, in what manner it was done, while Esdras made his prayer.

VERS. 38.-- *Therefore upon all these things. [n: (BEDA, in Esdr., lib. III, tom. II.)]* He shows with how great devotion all their persons made a new assembly after the feasts of tabernacles, namely, that with their whole intention they might join themselves, cleansed from the contagions of crimes, to the divine covenant, and might confirm by word and by writing the condition of the holy covenant; and thus, separated from the fellowship of the impious, might the more securely fill up the work which they had long before [0722C] begun, that is, that they might appoint fitting citizens of the city out of the number of the impious.

## CHAPTER X.

VERS. 1.-- *The subscribers,* etc. Another translation: *Nehemias who is called Athersata,* for he was of two names, whence in the singular there is subjoined, the son of Achelai, which is said above more openly: *And Nehemias said, and he himself is Athersata [n: (II Esd. VII)]*.

[n: (ID., ibid.)] By us also a spiritual sabbath is always to be kept, etc., *as far as* on the first day it is necessary to be cleansed from evils, then to be adorned with good acts.

## CHAPTER XI.

VERS. 1.-- *And they dwelt. [n: (BEDA, in Esdr., lib. III, tom. II.)]* Now the disposition is completed, etc., [0722D] *as far as* but they receive it by the gift of the hidden judge and bestower.

VERS. 3.-- *And in Jerusalem. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* By these words it is shown, etc., *as far as* for there follows: *Of the sons of Juda they dwelt in Cariatharbe [n: (II Esd. XI)]*.

[n: (ID., ibid.)] Judas is interpreted *confessing* or *confession,* etc., *as far as* when of those who are in the field one shall be taken, and the other left.



## CHAPTER XII.

VERS. 1.-- *And these are they,* etc. [n: (BEDA, ubi supra. )] Here the chiefs of the priests together with their brethren, etc., *as far as* and that therefore he could have been born while Nehemias was yet surviving.

[0723A] [n: (BED., ibid.)] The succession of the chiefs of the priests and of the Levites has been described, etc., *as far as* they restore by friendly provision, and exalt with due honour.

[n: (ID., ibid.)] Long since had the city been built, etc., *as far as* then, in the very reality, of blessed men enjoying the divine vision in spiritual bodies among the angelic hosts.

VERS. 27.-- *And with cymbals,* etc. [n: (ID., ibid.)] Cymbals, psalteries and harps, etc., *as far as* and they kindle the hearts of their neighbours to the love of him, etc.

VERS. 28.-- *The sons of the singers. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* Their imitators, namely, etc., *as far as* and in the very time of the dedication, that is, of the perpetual reward, they are there united together alike.

VERS. 30.-- *And they were purified. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* An altogether just [0723B] order, etc., *as far as* and, his hands and feet being bound, he be cast into the exterior darkness.

VERS. 31.-- *The princes of Juda,* etc., that is, of confession or of praise, are the more perfect teachers of the Church, who at the dedication of the city go up upon the wall: because in the time of tribulation they are proved to have transcended the general manner of life of the Church by living more loftily. For of these it is said: *Upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen [n: (Isai. LXII)]*, etc. Rightly therefore they who now preside over the walls of the Church as watchmen shall then also excel those same by the glory of the reward.

*And I set two choirs.* Either that they may purge out the filthiness of sinners from the Church in the present, by living more correctly and by correcting them that err, and in the future may expel by judicial power from the city of the Lord, [0723C] that is, from the entrance of the heavenly country, those who would not be corrected. Or the choirs of them that praise, going to the right upon the wall, ascend to the dung gate, while they proclaim those worthy of praise who by preaching, by reproving and by excommunicating drive out all uncleanness from the Church.

VERS. 34.-- *And of the sons of the priests,* etc. In this life the sons of the priests sound with trumpets at the dedication of the city of God, who by preaching kindle the hearts of their hearers to the remembrance of the heavenly country.

VERS. 35.-- *With the instruments of the song of David.* Because they lean not upon their own understanding or their desires, but, following in all things the life and the doctrine of the fathers and the prophets, apply themselves to the word of preaching.

*And Esdras the scribe.* Because in all that they do they have the words of holy Scripture before their eyes, with which [0723D] as guides they may come to the entrance of eternal life, that they may be inebriated with the plenty of the house of God, and with the torrent of his pleasure, with whom is the fountain of life, etc.

VERS. 36.-- *And over against them they went up by the steps. [n: (BED., ibid.)]* When the city was being built, etc., *as far as* they celebrate together the holy Trinity with fellow exultation.

*Above the house of David. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* The sons of the priests go up, etc., *as far as* and deserve to see the rising of the sun of justice without setting.

VERS. 37.-- *And above the tower of the furnaces. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* It is a long matter to discourse particularly of the several gates or towers, etc., *as far as* it is necessary to be fortified always with circumspect caution and solicitude.

[0724A]VERS. 39.-- *And the two choirs stood. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* The walls and the gates of the city having been walked round, etc., *as far as* in the fulfilling of whose will I remain with untiring mind.

VERS. 41.-- *And they sang clearly. Thou hast broken my bonds: I will sacrifice to thee the sacrifice of praise. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the courts of the house of the Lord, in the sight of all the people, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem [n: (Psal. CXV)]* [var: Vulg. *Vota mea Domino reddam in conspectu omnis populi ejus; in atriis domus Domini, in medio tui, Jerusalem*, which sets the courts second and adds *ejus*]. This comes to pass when, in the heavenly country, the multitude of all the saints being gathered together, we utter those praises for which we groan in the present, and which we thirst after with daily desire in the giving of thanks.

VERS. 42.-- *For God had made them joyful,* etc. [n: (BEDA, ibid.)] These things unto the dedication of the holy city, etc., *as far as* and they took care to sacrifice [0724B] the greatest victims of good works.

*But their wives also,* etc. Because at the time of the resurrection not only they who built up the Church by preaching or by working strongly receive the fruit of their labour, but the weaker partakers also of the same faith rejoice in the same receiving of life. *He hath blessed* indeed, *the Lord, the little ones with the greater [n: (Psal. CXIII)]* [var: Vulg. *Benedixit omnibus qui timent Dominum, pusillis cum majoribus*, "He hath blessed all that fear the Lord, the little with the great"].

VERS. 43.-- *They numbered also,* etc. [n: (BEDA, ibid.)] All rejoicing, etc., *as far as* and it had been dedicated with great praise and gladness.

## CHAPTER XIII.

VERS. 1.-- *And on that day it was read,* etc. [n: (BEDA in Esdr., lib. III, tom. II.)] These, because they were born of incest, etc., *as far as* but God turned the curse of Balaam [0724C] into a blessing of his people, and fortified them from the arms of their enemies.

VERS. 3.-- *And it came to pass,* etc. Because it is necessary that we attend to the hearing of the truth, where, when we are restrained by the divine reading from any one vice, we may straightway also drive away from our action and our conscience whatever defiling vice we detect in ourselves.

VERS. 6.-- *In all these things. [n: (BED., ibid.)]* This sentence, etc., *as far as* which Nehemias, on his return, straightway rooted out.

VERS. 8.-- *And I cast forth the vessels of the house of Tobias. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* Who was said above to be the Ammonite servant, an enemy of the people of God, etc., *as far as* what fellowship have heretics and schismatics with the orthodox and peaceable sons of God.

*And I cast forth. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* Thou also, whatsoever of unfaithfulness and of uncleanness thou shalt find among [0724D] the faithful, etc., *as far as* for just as Nehemias in the rest, so also in this represented his person.

[n: (ID., ibid.)] By the law we are bidden to work for six days the things that are necessary, and on the seventh to rest, etc., *as far as* they should turn their gaze away entirely from those things which pertain to food and clothing, but should dispense them with fitting moderation.

VERS. 16.-- *Bringing in fishes and all things,* etc. [n: (ID., ibid.)] A good fish is holy faith, which he that asks of the Lord receives not a serpent of infidelity. But a bad fish is a weak thought which plunges itself beyond measure into the cares of this world, which the Tyrians seek to sell to us, that is, to the straitened, on the sabbath, when unclean spirits try importunely [0725A] to overwhelm the quiet of our thought with the deep cares of the world. But for such trafficking Nehemias rebukes and chastises the nobles of Juda, while the divine inspiration purges from thoughts of this kind those who strive to serve the profession of piety.

VERS. 19.-- *And it came to pass. [n: (BED., ibid.)]* Our conscience, etc., *as far as* therefore it deservedly follows.

VERS. 22.-- *I said also to the Levites that they should be purified,* etc. [n: (ID., ibid.)] It is necessary that they be cleansed from the daily exercise of work, etc., *as far as* it behoves that they first purify their mind and their acts from every stain of errors.

VERS. 23.-- *But in those days also. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* In the Church they take foreign wives, etc. *as far as* but interpreting with a gentile understanding.

[0725B]VERS. 30.-- *Therefore I cleansed them. [n: (ID., ibid.)]* A more open end in all things, and one fully worthy of the building of the holy [0726A] city and of the temple of the Lord, that, the citizens being cleansed of the pollution that is alien from God, the orders of the priests and of the Levites may be duly kept in their own ministry, so that the masters of the Church, regularly appointed, may exhort the people, chastised from every sin, to remain thenceforward in good and always to increase.

VERS. 31.-- *And in the offering of woods at the appointed times, and in the firstfruits.* Among other things the people offers woods for the feeding of the fire of the altar, when they work works of virtue worthy of divine consecration. The woods burn and are consumed upon the altar of holocausts, when in the hearts of the elect the works of justice are perfected by the flame of charity.

*Remember me, O God, unto good.* Deservedly does such a founder and dedicator of the city, after many labours of devotion, [0726B] commend himself to the memory of the Creator and bestower of all good things.
