Jerome

Chapter 1 - Verse 1. The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel. However, the Septuagint, wanting to add something, interpreted it as: The words of Amos, who was among the vine-dressers of Tekoa, which he saw for Jerusalem. And it should be known that this prophet saw not for Jerusalem, which is not found at all in the Hebrew text, but concerning Israel, that is,

In the days of King Uzziah of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of the ten tribes called Israel, who were in Samaria, there were prophets. Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion also translated this. Therefore, the first prophet Hosea speaks to the ten tribes called Ephraim, Samaria, the house of Joseph, and Israel. The second prophet Joel, prophesies to Jerusalem and the two tribes called Judah and Jerusalem, with no mention at all of Israel. The third Amos, not at all in Jerusalem, which was ruled by the tribe of Judah, but in Israel in Samaria, preaches. This can be proven from the whole volume of his work, and especially from what is written: Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam the king of Israel, saying: Amos has rebelled against you in the midst of the house of Israel (Amos VII, 10). And shortly after, Amaziah said to Amos: You see, go, flee to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and there you shall prophesy, and in Bethel you shall not prophesy anymore, for it is the sanctity of the king and the house of the kingdom. To whom Amos responded: I was not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet, but a keeper of sycamore trees, gathering their fruit. And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and said to me: Go, be a prophet to my people Israel; not to Judah and Jerusalem, as is wrongly stated by the Greeks and Latins, but to Israel, that is, the ten tribes, which had retained their original name due to the multitude of the people. And in the place where the Seventy translated, in Accaron, Theodotion placed the Hebrew word itself: in Nokedim (), which Aquila rendered as ἐν ποιμνιοτρόφοις, that is, in pastures: Symmachus and the fifth edition rendered it ἐν τοῖς ποιμέσιν, that is, among shepherds. And I think because of the similarity of the letters Daleth and Res, they were also deceived here, for Nocedim, as if it were Nocerim: and from there they placed the word Accarim, although the letter Nun at the beginning of the name leaves no excuse for the error. However, I have not read that Accarim is Hebrew until now. And those who interpret sterilitatem, that is, στείρωσιν, express more the city of Accaron, which belongs to the Philistines, than Accarim, which is not found at all. Therefore, the sermons of Amos, who was from the town of Thecue and among the number of shepherds, are contained in this volume, because both the region and the message are pastoral. He saw these sermons concerning Israel, not with physical eyes, but with the vision of the mind, since the prophets were called seers; otherwise, the sermons are not seen according to the letter, but heard. Hence, the people saw the voice of God, and Moses spoke silently to the Lord when he said to him: Why do you cry out to me (Exodus 14:15)? In the New Testament also we read: That which we have seen with our eyes, and have heard with our ears, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life (John 1:1). For the Word of God, which is in itself invisible, is seen and touched by the apostles with their own hands. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (John 1:14). But Jehoiada's son, the king of Israel, saw these words two years before the earthquakes. When Sardanapalus reigned among the Assyrians and the cities of Cilicia, about whom the renowned orator said: More shameful in vices than in name. And among the Latins, Procas Silvius, to whom Amulius succeeded in the kingdom after expelling his brother Numitor. After killing him, Romulus, with the hand of shepherds and outlaws gathered, founded the city of his own name. But this is Ozias, king of Judah, surnamed Azariah, who, attempting to claim the priesthood which was not due to him, was struck with leprosy on his forehead (2 Chronicles 26), when the wrath of the Lord not only punished him for his sacrilege but also manifested an earthquake, which the Hebrews then commemorate. But Jeroboam is not the son of Nabath, who made Israel sin (III Kings XII), but the son of Joas, the son of Joathan (also called Joachaz and Joachan), the grandson of the same Jehu, under whom Hosea, Joel, and Amos prophesied. Therefore, Ozias is interpreted as 'the power of the Lord,' that is, authority or strength of the Lord. Jeroboam is 'the judgment of the people,' that is, the judgment or cause of the people, although some, reading the Greek letter chi, suspect it means 'the division of the people.' Joas' time, that is, the delay of the Lord, or temporal existence. Therefore, the words of Amos, at the time when the people of Israel were separated from the Lord and served golden calves, or when they were separated from the kingdom of the Davidic line, they sang with a clear voice like the sound of a trumpet, which is interpreted as Thecue. And they sang over Israel, who once was most upright before God, that is, most righteous before God. In the days of King Uzziah of Judah, when, due to the temple and the Holy of Holies, the strength of the Lord remained and ruled over a people who confessed. The name Jeroboam, who arose for the division of the people, signifies that Israel remained in idolatrous error for a long time before the captivity completely shook them, which in two years showed the double distress of the ten tribes and the two, so that those who were willing to do penance would no longer feel the shaking of the earth.

These, most beloved Pammachus, I have gathered together in a long discourse as a brief reminder, interpreting the sayings of the prophet Amos, that you, through the interpretation of your name, demonstrate yourself to be a fighter in every art of battling against the devil and opposing powers. I have also promised an explanation of the prophets Hosea and Zechariah to myself and other holy men, but most of all to your holy and venerable mother, Paula, while she was alive. And I will not greatly err in my promise, if I deliver to my son what I have promised to his mother. But now it is time for me to explain in detail, using the words of the prophet himself, what I think.

(Verse 2.) And he said: The Lord from Zion shall roar, and from Jerusalem he shall give his voice. And the pastures of the shepherds have shone, and the top of Carmel has dried up. LXX: And he said: The Lord from Zion has spoken, and from Jerusalem he has given his voice, and the pastures of the shepherds have shone, and the top of Carmel has dried up. It is natural that all artisans of their craft speak with examples, and each one brings forth the likeness of the one in which he has spent his time: for example, the sailor and the navigator compare their sadness to a storm; they call damage, shipwreck; they call their enemies, adverse winds. Once again, it names prosperity and joy, the most gentle breeze and favorable winds; calm seas and waters, like peaceful fields. From the opposite direction, the soldier signifies whatever he says, shield, sword, armor, helmet, spear, bow, arrow, death, wound, and victory. In the mouths of philosophers, Socrates and Plato are always present, Xenophon and Theophrastus, Zeno and Aristotle, Stoics and Peripatetics. Orators praise Lysias and Hyperides, Pericles and Demosthenes, Gracchi, Catos, Ciceros, and Hortensius in heaven. If they are epic poets, they frequently mention Homer and Virgil; if they are lyric poets, they celebrate Pindar and Flaccus. Why were these things said? To show that even the prophet Amos, who was a shepherd of shepherds, not in cultivated places with planted trees and vineyards, or certainly among green forests and meadows, but in the vastness of the wilderness, where the fierceness of lions and the killing of livestock dwell, made use of his skill in words, in order to mention the terrible and fearful voice of the Lord, the roaring of lions, and the growling of a lion. Comparing the destruction of the Israelite cities to the solitude of shepherds and the dryness of mountains: The Lord, he says, will roar from Zion, and from Jerusalem he will give his voice. In Hebrew, to roar is called Jesag: Beautifully he will roar from Zion, and from Jerusalem he will give his voice, where the temple and the religion of God were, in order to teach that God is not present in the cities of Israel, that is, in Bethel and Dan, where the golden calves were, nor in the capital city of Samaria and Jezreel, but rather in the true religion, which was practiced at that time in Zion and Jerusalem. With the roaring of Zion, and giving his voice from Jerusalem (for the law shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem), all the shepherds and kings of Israel have mourned, and the peak of Carmel has dried up, which once abounded with joyful pastures. Carmel is called in Greek and Latin, but in Hebrew it is called Chermel: and there are two mountains, which are called by this name. One in which Nabal was, Carmelus, the husband of Abigail to the South. According to Ptolemy, the place formerly called Acho, which is close to the sea, where the prophet Elias obtained rain on bended knees (1 Kings 15). If therefore it refers to Chermel, where Nabal lived, it is more suitable for the flocks of shepherds, because it is close to the wilderness (3 Kings 18). But if it refers to that place which is near the coast, it pertains to the kings and the pride of the kings of Israel, whom he says are to be devastated like the desert mountains when captivity is imminent. Otherwise, when the Lord from Zion and Jerusalem, from the watchtower of the Church, which is situated on the mountain and cannot be hidden, and in which the vision of peace is, has given through the old and new Testament, and through the ecclesiastical teachers his voice, and has sounded as a clear trumpet, then all the beautiful things of the shepherds, that is, the doctrine of the heretics, which seemed composed in beautiful language, and the knowledge of circumcision (for this is interpreted as Chermel, through which they promise themselves the knowledge of the true circumcision), will mourn and wither, and thousands of peoples, who are called flocks because of their simplicity, will wither suddenly with drought.

'Happy the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked.' [Psalm 1:1] In Genesis, we read how Adam was cursed: 'Cursed be the ground because of you;' but the first malediction pronounced against man is absolved and replaced with a benediction. The Old Law lays down, as it were, only one condition of blessedness; the Gospel, on the other hand, announces simultaneously eight beatitudes. 'Happy the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked.' Happy the man, not any man, but the man who has reached the perfection of the manhood of Christ: 'Who follows not the counsel of the wicked.'

Here, Scripture describes the three usual ways of committing sin: we entertain sinful thoughts; we commit sin in act; or we teach what is sinful. First, we entertain a sinful thought; then, after we have reflected upon it, we convert that thought into action. When we commit sin, moreover, we multiply sin by teaching others to do what we have done. 'Happy the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked' - who thinks no evil; 'nor has stood in the way of sinners' - who does no evil; 'nor sits in the company of the insolent' - who has not taught others to sin. He has not consorted with the scornful, 'nor has stood in the way of sinners.'

It is difficult for one not to sin. John the Evangelist says, in fact, that anyone who denies that he has sinned is a liar. [1 John 1:8] If, therefore, we all sin, what do the words mean, 'nor has stood in the way of sinners'? If we all sin, no one is happy, except, of course, the one who has not sinned. But we all sin, every last one of us, and so no one is blessed.

Consider, however, just what the Scripture says: 'nor has stood in the way of sinners.' Scripture did not say happy the man who has not sinned, but rather, happy the man who has not persevered in sin. 'Nor has stood in the way of sinners.' Yesterday I committed sin. I am not happy. If, however, I do not remain in the state of sin, but withdraw from sin, I become happy once more. 'Nor sits in the company of the insolent.' Why does it say 'sits' in this verse and 'has stood' in the preceding one? For this reason: just as he who has not stood - persisted - in sin is happy, so he who has not sat - persisted - in evil doctrine is happy. What does that mean? You see yourselves that the three determinants of beatitude consist in not thinking evil, in not persevering in sin, and in not teaching evil. This is really what the Prophet Amos says: 'For three crimes and for four, I will not revoke my word, says the Lord.' [Amos 1:3] Moreover, he says this same thing eight times. Now, this is what he actually is saying: you have entertained sin, I have pardoned you; you have done evil, I have forgiven you; you have not repented of your sins, I have excused you: did you also have to teach evil? What the Scripture implies is this: For three sins and for four, I shall not be angered against you, says the Lord. [Isaiah 57:16]

(Version 3.) Thus says the Lord: Because of three transgressions of Damascus, and because of four, I will not revoke the punishment; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. LXX: And the Lord said: Because of three transgressions of Damascus, and because of four, I will not turn away from them; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. Regarding the tribes, which are called Arsoth in Hebrew (), and have been translated by Theodotion as iron wheels, which we have interpreted as iron sledges, the Seventy have translated as threshing sledges of iron. But there is a type of wagon that is propelled by iron and toothed wheels, which, after the grain has been beaten out, crushes the straw in the threshing floor, and grinds the straw into food for animals due to the scarcity of hay. Furthermore, in the Hebrew language, where it is written Benadad (), and it is one name, the Seventy translated it as the sons of Ader, Res and Daleth by the similarity of false elements. In that place also where we said, concerning the house of pleasure, which is called Mebbeth Eden () in Hebrew, and they all translated it similarly, the Seventy translated it as from the men of Haran, considering Daleth as the middle letter of the name Res, and according to their custom, placing the Greek letter Chi (Χ) before the first Hebrew letter Ain. They also translated Cyrene, which is called Cira in Hebrew (ἑπήκλητον), that is, called or named, because of the similarity of the word, because Chares (Χάρης) can be called a calling, and they understood it as a proper name, an appellative. We have briefly mentioned the reasons for different translations: now let us move on to the meaning of what has been said. First, the word of God is directed against Damascus, where Azazel was reigning, who at that time when Amos was prophesying, was severely oppressing Israel, that is, the ten tribes: to such an extent that, after King Ahab of Israel was defeated in Ramoth-gilead, he would slaughter and crush all the region that was called Gilead, and had passed into the possession of the half tribe of Manasseh, like the wheat of tribulation in the threshing floors. What the prophet Elisha says more fully in the book of Kings, where we read: And he stood with him, and was troubled even to the reddening of his face, and the man of God wept. To whom Hazael said: Why does my lord weep? And he answered: Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel. You will burn their fortified cities with fire, and you will slay their young men with the sword, and you will dash their little ones against the stones, and you will rip up their pregnant women. And Azazel said, 'For what am I, your servant, but a dog, that I should do this great thing?' And Elisha said, 'The Lord has shown me that you will be king over Syria.' (2 Kings 8:11ff). And what follows in the prophet.

(Ver. 4.) And I will send fire into the house of Azael, and it shall devour the houses of Benadad. And I will break the bars of Damascus, and I will destroy the inhabitants from the plain of idols. LXX: And I will send fire into the house of Azael, and it shall devour the foundations of the son of Ader, and I will break the bars of Damascus, and I will destroy the inhabitants from the plain, being. Give understanding, that Azael, when Ozia and Jeroboam reigned, was already dead in Syria, and his son Benadad succeeded him in the kingdom, from whom all the later kings of Aram, that is, Syria and Damascus, took the name Benadad. He did not say beautifully, I will send fire into Azazel, but into the house of Azazel, that is, into his royal house, over which Ben-hadad, his son, was ruling at that time. And I will break down, he said, the bars of Damascus, and I will destroy the inhabitants of the idolatrous field. Namely, all the strength (or multitude) of the Syrians, which, like a kind of cart and bars, repelled the attacks of their enemies. Now the idolatrous field, which is called Aven in Hebrew, is interpreted by the Septuagint and Theodotion as meaning "iniquity"; Symmachus and the fifth edition translated it as "useless," in order to show the useless help of idols, since the people of Damascus will be captured when the Assyrians come. For we read that Theglathphalasar, king of Assyria, after killing King Rezin of Damascus, of whom Isaiah speaks, transferred all the people of Syria, who were called Aram, to Cyrene, and for this reason it is said now (2 Kings 16).

(Verse 5) Holding the scepter from the house of pleasure, and the people of Syria will be transferred to Cyrene, says the Lord. LXX: And I will cut off the tribe from men from Haran, and the captive people of Syria will be led, says the Lord. So that it is understood, I will crush and destroy, and the people of Syria will be transferred to the farthest borders of Egypt. And that which is said at the beginning: Concerning the three sins of Damascus, and concerning the four, shall I not (Alternate: shall I not indeed) turn away from him, and according to the Septuagint, shall I not (Alternate: shall I not indeed) reject him, that is, the people of Damascus, or Aram, that is, Syria, can have this meaning according to the history: If they had persecuted my people once, or even twice, I would have forgiven them. But now, since they have become cruel for a third and fourth time, to the point of driving captive multitudes with iron chariots, should I not punish them with blows? Doesn't the mercy of my mother turn away from him? But according to tropology, we can say this: the first sin is to think of evil things. The second is to find rest in perverse thoughts. The third is to carry out what you have decided in your mind. The fourth is not to repent after the sin and to take pleasure in your own wrongdoing. All heretics do this, who not only think and do evil things, but deceive the innocent with their teachings, and, following the example of the Damascenes, who interpret that they drink blood, they also drink the blood of those they have deceived. The Lord says of such great sins: is it not fitting that I punish them with blows and turn my face away from them? For those who do not see the truth of my teachings, let them be overwhelmed with darkness by the turning away of my countenance. Indeed, they have contrived and dissected in iron chariots the pregnant women of Gilead. These are the pregnant ones of whom the Lord speaks in the Gospel: Woe to the pregnant and nursing women in those days (Luke 21:23). The souls of believers are pregnant, who at the beginning of faith can say: We have conceived and given birth from your fear, O Lord (Is. XXVI, 17, 18); and if they are not equipped with iron and toothed wagons (of which the Psalmist says: The teeth of men are their weapons and arrows (Ps. LVI, 5), cut and ironed, they can also say what follows: We have given birth, we will bring forth the spirit of your salvation upon the earth. At the same time, consider that they cannot cut down men of perfect age; but those who are still in the womb, or who are unable to take solid food and are still being nourished by milk, belong to infancy. Now, these pregnant women are from Gilead, which means translation or transmigration of the testimony. For they have migrated from the Church into heresy, and have transferred the testimonies of God, which they had previously received, to foreign boundaries. But the Lord will send fire into the house of Azel, which they themselves call Azel (), that is, the vision of God: a fire that will consume the wood and straw in them, and devour the foundation of the son of Ader. For we ought to say also according to the Septuagint, lest we seem to have proposed them in vain: Ader is translated as 'elegance', which we can also call 'beauty': because every heretic discourse is well-arranged and composed, and has the beauty of secular eloquence, it deceives the listeners more easily. However, the beams of Damascus, like very strong and firm bolts, are to be understood as those who are trained in the art of dialectic and the arguments of philosophers. For example, the door is called, which conceived and gave birth to false doctrine, like Arius in Alexandria: its bolts and strongest bars, Eutychius and Eunomius, try to strengthen with syllogisms and enthymemes, even with sophisms, and pseudo-reasonings and arguments, which they have poorly invented compared to others. And when the bolts of Damascus are broken and shattered, he will also destroy the inhabitants of the field, which is interpreted as labor or pain. For all heretics have made great effort and endured great pain in seeking some order and consistency in their heresy. And I will destroy the tribe of Charram, which in our language means 'holes.' For they do not have windows, through which the light of truth may enter; but rather they have certain holes and hidden passages, through which harmful and impure creatures may enter. And the captive Aram shall be led away, a proud and lofty people, who have exalted themselves and made promises of heavenly things to themselves, so that they may be captured in their own salvation. And they shall be transferred to Cyrene, according to the Hebrew, where the calling of God is.

(Verse 6 and following) Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not revoke its punishment; because they carried into exile a whole people to deliver them up to Edom. So I will send fire upon the wall of Gaza, fire which shall devour its strongholds. I will cut off the inhabitants from Ashdod, and him who holds the scepter from Ashkelon; I will turn my hand against Ekron; and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, says the Lord. LXX: Thus says the Lord: Because of the three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away from it, because they carried away captive the captivity of Solomon, to shut them up in Idumea, and I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, and it shall devour the foundations thereof, and I will cut off the inhabitant from Azotus, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ascalon, and I will turn my hand against Accaron, and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord. In the third and fourth generation, the Lord threatens to repay the sins of the fathers in the Law to the children: not in the equality of judgment, so that some may sin and others may be punished, but by the magnitude of His mercy, as He always waits for repentance: and what is committed in the first generation, He does not correct and amend until the third and fourth generation comes. The apostle Paul also speaks of this to the Romans: Or do you despise the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will repay each one according to his works (Romans 2:4-6). Therefore, what He says is this: I have waited a long time for them to repent, and for this reason I did not want to punish the sinners, so that they might eventually return to health. But because they keep doing the same things for the third and fourth time, I am forced to change my mind and correct the wrongdoers with punishments. Now let us see what the Philistines and their cities have sinned, whom the Seventy always translate as foreigners; for wherever in the Old Testament we have read ἀλλοφύλους, that is, foreigners, it should not be taken as a general name for all foreign nations, but specifically as the Philistines, who are now called Palestinians. What did Gaza do to provoke the Lord to anger and vengeance? It transferred the complete captivity of the people of Judah and sold them to the Edomites, whom it had captured from the Jews. For the complete captivity, the Seventy interpreted the name of Solomon as the Hebrew word Salma (), which means complete and perfect. Finally, Aquila translated it as ἀπηρτισμένην and ἀναπεπληρωμένην; Symmachus and Theodotion as τελείαν, which signifies not Solomon, but complete and perfect, so that no captive remains who has not been handed over to the Edomites. He threatens to send himself against the walls and buildings, or even the foundations of Gaza, in order to devour and swallow everything. And because we read in the book of Kings that there are five cities of the Philistines that were struck with plagues due to the disrespect of the Ark, after Gaza, he goes to Ashdod (1 Samuel 5), which is called Esdod in the Bible, and then to Ashkelon. With a terrifying voice, he threatens to destroy the inhabitants of Ashdod and the ruler of Ashkelon, along with the royal power or tribe of Ashkelon, so that no one remains there, not even the last generation of people who have trembling limbs supported by a ruling staff. And again he moves his hand to strike Accaron. And after enumerating four cities, he includes the remaining Philistine cities in one discourse. And the rest of the Philistines will perish: whom we must either accept as the city of Gath or all the villages that are subordinate to the aforementioned cities. According to tropology, it seems that this should be explained to us: Gaza, which is called Aza in Hebrew, signifies strength or power; Salomon, peace; Idumaeus, bloodshed and earthly; Azotus, that is, Esdod, a fire of abundance or of the father; although some, reading "dod" instead of "dor," mistakenly understand it as a fire of generation; Ascalon signifies a murderous fire or one that is suspended and weighed down; Accaron, στείρωσις, that is, sterility, and ἐκρίζωσις ((Al. ἐκρίσωσις)), which means eradication. Therefore, Gaza, which boasts of its strength of knowledge and authority, is accused of imprisoning captives from the family of Solomon in Idumea. I believe these are the Jewish teachers and all those who follow the letter, do not want to receive the life-giving spirit; but whatever they interpret and understand, they want to be earthly and do not listen when the Lord speaks in parables to his disciples, saying: 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear' (Matthew 11:15), especially since the Apostle understands the clear history in two testaments (Galatians 4). One over Mount Sinai, which is Agar, and she serves with her sons: the other over Jerusalem, which is our mother. Therefore, she asserts that she will send fire onto the walls of Gaza, and all its defenses, in order to surround and protect her lies. And when she will have sent fire onto the walls, the houses or foundations of it, whatever can have strength (if it can have any), and everything built by dialectic art, will be devoured. Also, from Ashdod, which itself is foreign, she will take away its inhabitant: whose breasts are full not of milk but of fire, because she follows the letter (literal interpretation), and everything that lies about having fire as its father, its whole generation must be attributed to fires. (Hosea 9:14) And they will take the scepter, or tribe, from Ascalon, where the destructive fire is. For just as the fire of the Lord will save those whose hearts it has penetrated, so this fire that descends from heaven, like lightning, which ignites the devil's arrows, will kill whoever it strikes. He will also stretch out his hand over Accaron, where there is barrenness and uprooting. For whoever does not receive spiritual understanding, will hear through Hosea: Give them, O Lord. What will you give them? Give them a barren womb and withered breasts. And to sum up everything in one word, he says that he will destroy all the remaining Philistines, whether in the city of Gath, where the devil's winepress is, or all the other Philistines, who are also called fallen by the cup. For when they are intoxicated, they will fall and roll in their own vomit.

(Verse 9, 10.) Thus says the Lord: Because of three crimes of Tyre, and because of four, I will not revoke my decision, because they delivered up a complete captivity to Edom, and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood, I will send fire upon the wall of Tyre, and it will consume its palaces. LXX: Thus says the Lord: Because of three acts of impiety of Tyre, and because of four, I will not turn away from it, because they delivered up the captivity of Solomon to Edom, and did not remember the covenant of brotherhood. And I will send fire upon the walls of Tyre, and it will devour its foundations. The same three or four acts of impiety or crimes that he had charged to Damascus, Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ashdod, and to the other cities of the Philistines, he also assigns to Tyre and reproaches it for having brought to completion and perfection the captivity in Edom, of which we have spoken above: And they have not (or were not) mindful of the covenant of their brothers. We seek to know how the Tyrian brothers are related to the Jews. These brothers call them friends and connected by a bond, because Hiram, the prince of Tyre, had friendships with David and Solomon, to the extent that Hiram sent cedar wood for the construction of the Temple and palace, all the way from Joppa. And these brothers would provide grain and oil to the Tyrians, and give twenty cities in Bashan as a gift, which he refused to accept because they were full of grass (1 Kings 5, 2 Chronicles 2). He says, therefore, that he will hurl fire onto its walls and devour its buildings or foundations, which the Prophet Ezekiel mentions that King Nebuchadnezzar of the Chaldeans did in a vision of Tyre, where he says: 'He will surround you with siege works and build a siege ramp against you' (Ezek. 29:6). And again: 'King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was shaved bald, and every shoulder rubbed bare, yet he and his army got no wages from Tyre for the labor he had spent against it' (ibid., 29:18), because his army built a siege ramp to capture Tyre, which was once an island. The history tells that Alexander the Great did the same thing to make a peninsula out of an island, which the Greeks call a chersonese. Tyrus interprets as tribulation or confinement: and all perverse doctrine tries to grasp the truth and conclude it in earthly senses, and does not remember the covenant of his brothers, which we should ascend from earthly things to heavenly ones: and the commandment is for us to inscribe the sacred Scripture in our heart in a threefold manner. But God will send fire into all the strongholds of Tyre, which will devour not only its walls, but also its foundations. We have already mentioned the captivity of Solomon, for whom it is recorded in Hebrew, as being completed and perfected.

(Ver. 11 and following) Thus says the Lord: For three crimes of Edom, and for four, I will not revoke my judgment; Because he pursued his brother with the sword, and violated all pity, and his anger tore at them constantly, and he kept his wrath to the end. I will send fire into Teman, and it will consume the fortresses of Bozrah. LXX: Thus says the Lord: For three crimes of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away from them, because he pursued his brother with the sword and violated the womb above the earth, and seized his horror as a testimony, and kept his fury forever. And I will send fire into Teman, and it will consume the foundations of its walls. Edom himself is the same as Esau, so named because of the cooking of red lentils, whose birthright he lost with this nourishment: he is also called Seir, hairy and rough. Hence the mountains of the Edomites are called the mountains of Seir, and in Greek language Edom is called Idumea. This one pursued his brother with a sword, namely the sons of Jacob, concerning whom it is written more fully in the blessings of Isaac, to whom Jacob was blessed first, and afterwards Esau: so that the hatred of the brothers might be preserved in their descendants, and the Idumean people would persecute their brothers to such an extent that they would not even grant passage through the holy land to those leaving Egypt; and not only did he persecute his brother with a sword, but he violated mercy, or rather according to Symmachus' interpretation, his own womb: so that he would forget his kinship, and harden the bowels of mercy, and would not know that he was his brother, and would despise the womb of Rebekah, who had given birth to twin infants in one childbirth. And what follows: And he held on to his fury, and kept his indignation until the end, he shows his ancient hatred, which was never reconciled with peace. Therefore, he threatens punishment for sins, and he said: I will send fire into Theman, which is the region of the Edomites, and it extends to the southern part, which is called Theman: this province is called not only Theman, but also Daron and Nageb, because it faces the east, south, and the African wind. And when he says, 'He shall devour the houses of Bozrah,' it does not mean, as some suppose, another city, but Edom, fortified and well-fortified, according to what we read in Isaiah: 'Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? This one, beautiful in his robe, walking in the greatness of his strength' (Isaiah 63:2)? Whatever we have said about Esau and Jacob, let us apply it to the Jews and the Christian people. For they, who were earthly and bloodthirsty, persecuted the brother Jacob, who supplanted them, and took away their firstborn, and persecuted with the sword, so that they seized the possessions and wealth of believers, which we read about in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:4): and they violated mercy and the laws of nature, forgetting their mother Rebecca, who is interpreted as patience, and at the same time they were born in Christ: holding onto their ancient fury and anger, to this day in their synagogues they blaspheme the Christian people under the name of Nazarenes: and as long as they kill us, they want to be burned with fire. But the Lord will send fire into Theman, into the dry and deserted parts of Judaea (that are not irrigated by the rains of the prophets), and it will consume all their fortifications, even the foundations of its walls, so that with the complete collapse of all literal sense, the Church of Christ the Lord may be built upon its foundations. For misericordia, they translated the Septuagint as vulva. And for furore, they used horrorem. And for indignatione, they chose impetum, led by the ambiguity of the words: because Rehem signifies both the womb and mercy; Aphpho signifies his rage and horror; and Ebrath is said to mean both indignation and impulse. Furthermore, Armanoth (), which we have interpreted as houses, Aquila and Symmachus βάρεις, that is, homes; Theodotius transferred the inhabitants: only seventy and here and above, they called foundations.

(Verse 14, 15) Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of the Ammonites, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead, that they might enlarge their border. So I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour her strongholds, with shouting on the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind; and their king shall go into exile, he and his princes together, says the Lord. LXX: Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of the Ammonites, and for four, I will not turn away its punishment, because they ripped open the women with child in Gilead, that they might enlarge their borders. So I will kindle a fire in the walls of Rabbah, and it shall devour its palaces, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind. Their king shall go into captivity, he and his priests and his princes together, says the Lord. The divine message captures the sons of Ammon, who are descendants of Lot, and who dwell in Arabia, where Philadelphia now stands. They question why, during the reign of Saul, the king of Judah, Naash, the prince of the Ammonites, ravaged Jabesh-gilead and mutilated its pregnant women in order to expand his territory and subdue all of Gilead with his empire (1 Samuel 11). Therefore, God threatens to kindle a fire on the walls of Rabbah, the capital city of the Ammonites, so that its houses may be devoured amidst the clamor and wailing of the conquering army. This will happen on a day of turmoil and whirlwind, when its captives are led away as captives by Nebuchadnezzar. The idol of the Ammonites, called Molech or their king, will be carried off to Assyria, and its princes or priests will also be taken captive. Priests are not recognized in Hebrew, but rather princes. So the Seventy priests were added, so that if you want to know who those princes are, you will listen to the priests. However, there is a difference between the cruelty of Damascus and the sons of Ammon, because they shattered the pregnant women of Gilead in iron carts or in iron saws: but these (priests) dismembered the pregnant women of Gilead in order to expand their territory. In Damascus, those who drink blood are deemed heretics, who have not only plundered the people of God from the Church but have also shattered them and chewed them with iron teeth, about whom it is written: Why do they devour my people as if eating bread? (Ps. LII, 5). Among the sons of Ammon, which is interpreted as the people of mourning, or my people, we receive the schismatics, who indeed separate the deceived multitude from the Church of God, and they break and divide the ignorant souls, who have recently conceived the word of Christ: yet they do not do this with cruelty, by which heretics slaughter any deceived individuals, but by remaining in the same rule of faith, they desire to expand their boundaries and send the name of glory to future generations. Therefore the Lord threatens that he will burn the walls of Rabbah, that is, of the multitude, in a day of wailing and of war, of commotion and of swirling, and will lead their king, the author of the schism, captive, and make the leaders of the Church submit their necks to the yoke.

(Chapter 2, Verse 1 and following) Thus says the Lord: Concerning the three sins of Moab, and concerning four, I will not revoke my punishment, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom to ashes. And I will send fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth, and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. And I will cut off the judge from the midst of her, and will slay all her princes with him, says the Lord. LXX: Thus says the Lord: Concerning the three impious acts of Moab, and concerning four, I will not turn away from them, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom to ashes. And I will send fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the foundations of its cities, and Moab shall die with affliction, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. And I will cut off the judge from her, and will slay all her princes with him, says the Lord. Not only the sons of Ammon, but also Moab, was descended from Lot, who was the son of Abraham's brother. And in order to demonstrate that He is the Lord of all and that all souls belong to Him, who is their creator, He avenges the injustice of the king of Edom, indeed the crime that was perpetrated against him by the Moabites, that they burned his bones to ashes, and their cruelty and rage did not end even in death. The Hebrews tell that the bones of the king of Edom, who had gone up with the king of Israel, Joram, and the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, against Moab in revenge for a grievance, were later torn apart and burned by the Moabites (2 Kings 3). Therefore, they say, God declares that he will send fire upon Moab, or the capital city of the Moabites, from which the whole province is named, or the entire province, to devour the city of Carioth, which is the name of the city. Although the Seventy translated it as 'the cities of Moab', that is, Moab: and it will perish in the sound and wailing of the conquering army, of which one is called Saon in Hebrew, the other Therua; and in the blast of the trumpet or horn, for this is what Sophar means. And when Moab shall perish, the counsel of the princes and judges shall be in vain, with the cities and leaders being overthrown. However, it is necessary to transfer the perfect captivity, or Solomon's, and conclude it in Edom, so that it may make them humble and earthly from the high and heavenly, as Gaza and Tyre are said to have done. Thus, we should not burn the bones of the king of Edom and dissolve them into ash and dust. The Jews transfer spiritual understanding into Edomite flesh, and weaken and diminish the royal sense, which is found in scripture and is most solid and firm, with certain genealogies and unnecessary traditions, reducing it to dust. And it is not only they who do this, but all heretics who want to sit God on a high and elevated throne in a human likeness, and to place feet on the ground so that they do not hang; to have a nose to smell the fragrance of good scent, eyes to see, hands to work, feet to walk, ears to hear, a mouth to speak, teeth to chew food. He who reads that Judah went in to Thamar the harlot and from her begot two sons (Gen. XXXVIII): if he follows the disgraceful letter and does not ascend to the beauty of spiritual understanding, he will burn the bones of the king of Edom. He who thinks that Hosea took a harlot as a wife (Hosea I), and understands nothing more in the statement than what is contained in simple words, he will burn the bones of the king of Edom. And therefore the Lord will send fire into Moab, which is interpreted 'from the father,' because although he was indeed born from God, yet he has forsaken him. And it shall devour cities, or towns, because it is interpreted as Carioth. Hence Cariathiarim is translated into our language as the village of the woods. And Moab shall not die in any other way except in a clamor, and a noise, and a wailing, and the blast of the trumpet, so that they may be overwhelmed in their high senses, which are compared in holy books to the blasts of the trumpet. Then the judges and princes, and all those who are in charge of earthly works, are destroyed by the divine word, and the Church commands to the teachers: \"Climb up to a high mountain, you who preach Zion, lift up your voice, you who proclaim Jerusalem\" (Isaiah XL, 9).

(Verse 4, 5.) Thus says the Lord: On account of three crimes of Judah, and on account of four, I will not turn them aside, because they have rejected the law of the Lord and have not kept his commandments. They have been deceived by their idols, after which their fathers walked, and I will send fire into Judah, and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem. LXX: Thus says the Lord: On account of three impieties of the sons of Judah, and on account of four, I will not turn away from them, because they have rejected the law of the Lord and have not kept his precepts, and they have been deceived by their vanities, which their fathers followed, and I will send fire into Judah, and it will devour the foundations of Jerusalem. Regarding the other aforementioned cities and peoples, such as Damascus and Gaza, Ashkelon and Gaza, Ashkelon and Azotus, Tyre and Idumea, and the sons of Ammon and Moab, it does not reproach them for rejecting the law of God and despising His commandments; for they did not have the written law, but the natural law. Hence, it says that they violated their own bowels and the bowels of mercy, and crushed pregnant women in iron chariots, and carried away the captivity of Solomon, whether it was perfect or incomplete, and confined it in Idumea, and did not remember the covenant of their fathers, and pursued their brother with the sword. And they burst forth not only with cruelty, but with fury, to the extent that they burned the bones of the king of Idumea, and did not allow death to be the final evil for everyone. But Judas, at that time, in which these things were being said, had the religion of God and the temple and the ceremonies, who had received the law, and the precepts, and the judgments, and the testimonies, and the commandments (concerning the difference of which is more fully debated in the eighteenth psalm, and in the one hundred and eighteenth), is reproached by the Lord and convicted, and will receive worthy punishments, because he has rejected His law, and has not kept His commandments. Because he rejected and despised them, his idols deceived him in order and way. For he could not be deceived by idols before he rejected the law of the Lord and did not keep His commandments. These are the idols after which their fathers went in Egypt, fabricating the images of the Egyptian bull, and worshiping Beelphegor, and honoring Astaroth and Baalim. Therefore, the Lord threatens even Judah that he will send fire, which will devour the houses and foundations of Jerusalem: not the one in which the vision of peace dwells, but those that have risen under the name Jerusalem in different cities. Whatever we have said about Judah, it pertains to the Church, in which there is true confession, and the peace of the Lord, and the vision of truth. And therefore it is argued against him, that he has despised the law of God and has not kept his commandments, and each one, worshipping his own vices and sins, has begun to have God from whom he has been conquered, as the apostle Peter says: For by whom a person is overcome, to him he is a slave (2 Peter 2:19). The covetous worships gold, the glutton worships his belly, the lustful worships his genitals and Beelphegor: the lascivious woman, although she may live in luxury, is dead, and she worships the pleasures of Venus. Where will the Lord send fire upon Judah, and it will devour the most wicked and sinful houses, which have lost the glory of Jerusalem; at the same time, we learn that the Creator of all things does not only care for the Jews and Israel, but also for all the nations, and according to the Apostle, those who sin without the law will perish without the law, and those who commit sins under the law will be judged by the law of the Lord (Rom. II).

(Vers. 6 seqq.) Thus says the Lord: For three crimes of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke my word: Because they sell the just man for silver, and the poor man for a pair of sandals. They trample the heads of the weak into the dust of the earth, and they force the lowly off the path. Son and father go to the same prostitute, profaning my holy name. Upon garments taken in pledge, they recline beside every altar; and the wine of those who have been fined, they drink in the house of their God. LXX: Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away from them: because they have sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes. They trample on the dust of the earth and crush the heads of the poor. They turn aside the way of the humble, and a man and his father go in to the same maiden to profane my holy name. They tie themselves to altars with cords and drink wine obtained through fraud in the house of their God. Therefore, he places the last of Israel, that is, the ten tribes, because we have foretold in writing nearly everything that follows in order to include the prophetic discourse of the book under one text. Therefore, first of all, their wickedness or impiety is in three or four crimes, namely, that they sold a man for money, and a just man, who is more admirable in this, that he was not overcome by poverty so as to do anything unjust: and indeed, if they had sold a poor just man compelled by the necessity of hunger for a price, there would be some excuse for the crime; but now they have sold the precious soul of a man for a most worthless thing, for shoes with which they trample on dust and dung. These people, according to the Septuagint, strike the head of the poor; according to the Hebrew, they crush the heads of the poor into the dust of the earth, and they are so filled with pride that they refuse to walk with other men. And so, not satisfied with this wicked deed, both the son and the father have violated together a young girl, in order to desecrate the holy name of God. Therefore, whatever is done shamefully is attributed to an injury against God, who says: Through you my name is blasphemed among the Gentiles (2 Peter 2:2). This is what the Apostle writes to the Corinthians: Indeed, fornication is heard among you, and such fornication as is not even among the Gentiles, so that someone may have his father's wife. And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you (II Cor. V, 1, 2). It often happens that a father defiles his son's wife, the father-in-law defiles his daughter-in-law, which is prohibited in the Law: You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, and you shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law (Leviticus XVIII, 7). Therefore, the letter also has the greatest usefulness if it is preserved. And because every vice, if it exceeds the boundary of shame, punishes crimes with other crimes, and it always proceeds to worse things, even over the pledged garments, ten tribes slept next to every altar, which the Hebrews interpret as follows: On the garments of those who did not want to go to idols, and they reclined on what they had forcibly taken while feasting in the idol. According to the Septuagint, there was such contempt for God that they would stretch out their garments in which they sleep or commit fornication, with ropes next to the altar, and they would make παραπετάσματα, that is, veils, so that no one could see the fornicators in the Temple. And they would also serve drunkenness and lust, even buying the wine they drank not with their own labor, but with deceit. And they would do this in their god's temple, so that they would defile those whom they thought were gods with filth and debauchery. They speak these things and thus explain, those who follow a simple history. But we, who taught in Hosea, under the name of the Israelites, and Samaria, and Ephraim, and the sons of Joseph (from which tribe Jeroboam was, who separated the people from the kingdom of David and Jerusalem, and the temple of God), are understood to signify heretics: even now, after Judah and Jerusalem, which is interpreted as the Church, let us understand that the prophetic discourse is directed towards heretics, who sell a holy and righteous man, but poor, for money. A poor and just man, he is an ecclesiastic, who does not have knowledge of the Scriptures, but is content with simplicity, and does the commandments that are given, of whom it is written: The poor man does not endure threats (Prov. XIII, 8). And to the Galatians: Only that we should be mindful of the poor (Gal. II, 10). All heretics do these things for wealth, and for the shoes with which they trample on the dust of the earth: for they cannot stand with bare feet on the holy ground (on which Moses and Joshua the son of Nun stood, Exod. III; Josh. V): therefore the apostles are commanded to walk with bare feet (Luke X), so that they have no possessions or skins, which pertain to the flesh), thus they strike the poor on the head. And the Savior commanded his disciples that, if perchance, because they were still in the world, some mortal thing had clung to their actions, they should shake the dust off their feet (Matt. X, Mark V). But the heretics strike the heads of the poor, although this is not written in Hebrew (Let it be read in Greek), because they have turned away from the path of the humble. That path of the humble is the one that says: I am the way, the truth, and the life (John XIV, 6), which urges us to walk in it, and it says: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest (Matt. XI, 28). But all the leaders of the heretics swell with pride, concerning whom the Apostle also speaks: 'Lest being puffed up he fall into the judgment of the devil' (1 Timothy 3:6), who says: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north' (Isaiah 14). Therefore, God resists the proud heretics, but gives grace to the humble ecclesiastics (James 4). Moreover, the son and the father entered unto a maiden, to violate and defile the holy name of God. We often read that our father is the Jewish people, as Paul says: I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea (I Cor. X, 1, 2). And in another place: Ask your fathers, and they will tell you; your elders, and they will declare to you (Deut. XXXII, 7). And again: For your fathers, sons are born to you (Psal. XLIV, 17). And the Church of the Gentiles speaks: The sons of my mother fought against me (Song of Songs 1:5). Therefore we are sons, and the father is the Jewish people. We sin and commit a crime, when we enter into the observation of the Sabbath and circumcision, abolishing the ceremonies of the law with our parent, to whom the Apostle says: Behold, I Paul say to you, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing (Galatians 5:2, 4). And again: Those who are justified by the law have fallen from grace. Whoever enters the Church in such a way that he keeps the law in the gospel, he enters with the father to the virgin and commits fornication, and violates the name of the Lord. Hence those who say that they do not harm the Jews after the advent of Christ, if they believe in the Lord in such a way that they also keep the precepts of the Law, they contaminate the father and the son with one fornication. And they also tie their garments with ropes and make veils next to the altar, pretending the faith of Christ. For as many as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ (Galatians 3), and they oppose their garments, which have bound them with the cords of sins, to the eyes of those who see, so that their wicked deeds may not be seen: so that whoever looks at the altar may not suspect immorality. All heretics under the name of Christ do this, fornicating and obscuring the testimonies of the Scriptures with their errors and lies. Therefore, the apostles spread their garments on the colt of an ass, so that the Lord may sit more comfortably (Matthew 21), and he may trample the path adorned with the Law and the Prophets. On the contrary, heretics do not lay down their garments in the footsteps of the Savior; but they bind them next to the altar, and they pretend their sins, in order to drink the wine of deceit, or of the condemned, who, because they have departed from the Church, have been condemned. This wine is the wine of Sodom, the fury of dragons and adders, which whoever drinks it cannot be healed. But they drink the wine not in the house of God, where the temple is and Jerusalem; but in their own house of God, which they have fabricated for themselves with crafty speech.

(Verse 9 and following) But I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of cedar trees, and he was strong like an oak tree. And I destroyed his fruit from above and his roots from below. I am the one who brought you up from the land of Egypt and led you into the wilderness for forty years, so that you could possess the land of the Amorite. And I raised up prophets from among your sons and Nazirites from among your young men. LXX: But I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; and I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots beneath. I brought you out of the land of Egypt, and led you forty years in the wilderness, that you might possess the land of the Amorites. And I took your sons as prophets and your young men as consecrated ones. Is it not true that you have sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals? You have struck the heads of the poor, crushing them to the ground, and you have turned aside from the way of the humble. So much so that both father and son go to the same girl, defiling my holy name. Your garments are stained with the blood of the innocent and your clothes are polluted with adultery. You have bound yourselves with the chains of sin, committing adultery even in the sanctuary and joining injustice with drunkenness. You drink wine bought with foreign money in the house of your God. But on the contrary, I bestowed good things upon you in return for the evils you inflicted on me, so that I might destroy, before your presence, Seon, the king of the Amorites, who was so lofty and strong like a cedar and an oak, and I broke his fruit from above and his roots from below. I led you out of Egypt (Deut. 29), and for forty years I made you go around in circles to reach the holy land, so that you might possess the land of the Amorites, of which we have spoken before: which Moses divided to the sons of Reuben and Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh (Num. 32); and after so many benefits, I also added this, that I would take prophets for myself from your sons, and from your young men or chosen ones, I would make Nazarites, who the Seventy have interpreted as sanctified. And indeed, when it comes to praising God, the order of history must be preserved; but it often happens that what happened first is told last, and what is most recent is related to what came first. The seventy-seventh and one hundred and fourth psalms, where the power of signs is described, not the order, will teach us this, as well as the titles of the psalms, of which we will give just two examples: the third psalm and the fifty-first, where what happened first is narrated last, and what we read last is referred to in the beginning. For before we read in the book of Kings about Doeg the Edomite (1 Kings 21, 22), which is titled as the fifty-first psalm, how Absalom rose up against his father (2 Kings 15), which is mentioned in the title of the third psalm. And so the last Amorite was exterminated or erased, as is now first reported, and he made them go up from the land of Egypt and led them into the desert for forty years, we read about this in the beginning (2 Kings 21), which are called the last here with the order changed. Therefore, before God brought us out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, He exterminated before our face the Amorite, who is called bitter or insolent, that is, speaking, or notorious, and celebrated in frequent conversation. But this Amorite is also called Seon, an unfruitful and barren tree, not because it does not produce fruit, but because it produces bad fruit, of which it is said: Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire (Matth. 3:10; 7:19). And concerning false prophets, we read: They come in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves, by their fruits you shall know them (Matthew VII, 15, 16): namely, by their evil fruits. Therefore, whether they do not bear fruit, or they bear fruit but not good fruit: they are called fruitless trees. This is similar to Seon, about whom it is written: Now the axe is laid to the root of the trees (Luke III, 9), because he was a fruitless tree, and when the Lord struck, he was cut down, whose height is compared to that of cedars, of which we read: I have seen the wicked exalted, and lifted up as the cedars of Lebanon: and I passed by, and behold, he was not; and I sought him, and his place was not found (Psalm XXXVI, 35, 36). And he says that he passes beautifully, because he who passes from the world can say: Passing, I will see this great vision (Exod. III, 3), the cedar is removed, and the place of pride cannot be found. His strength, like that of the hardest and strongest oak tree. From which word, Philo, the most eloquent of the Hebrews, thinks that Esau is called 'δρύινον', that is, oaken and strong: although Esau can also be understood as 'ποίημα', that is, a work, referring to evil deeds. About this strong and robust, the Lord speaks in the Gospel: When a strong armed man guards his courtyard, all the things he possesses are in peace; but if a stronger man comes and defeats him, he will take away all his weapons in which he trusted, and distribute his spoils. And the Lord has granted us that he would crush and take away the fruits of this Amorite Sihon, whom we have interpreted as the fruitless tree, because they were evil, so that no one, thinking them good, would eat and perish. He also cut and crushed its roots, so that nothing would grow afterward from the evil tree. The Lord Himself made us leave the world, and for forty years, which is always a number of affliction and fasting, mourning and sorrow, through tribulations and distress, to come into the holy land, so that we would possess the land of the Amorites first, and that region would become our possession, and later He would raise up Prophets from our descendants, all holy men who received the prophetic spirit, about whom we read more fully in the first Epistle to the Corinthians (I Cor. XIV). And from our young men, or chosen ones, let him take the Nazarites and the sanctified ones, who offer their souls to God as a sacrifice, and who do not touch wine that can intoxicate and disturb the state of mind, so that they may have the hair of Samson, in whose head (for the head of a man is Christ) strength and victory resided (Judges 16).

(Verse 12.) Is it not so, sons of Israel, says the Lord, that you offered wine to the Nazarenes and sent commands to the prophets, saying: Do not prophesy. Likewise, the Septuagint. I granted you so many benefits, that I would kill your enemies and give their land to you, and I would choose prophets and Nazarenes from your sons and young men, and I would consecrate them to my worship. Can you say that I have not done these things, and that I have denied my mercy towards you, by which you live? Why did you burst forth into such rage, that you would get my Nazarenes drunk with wine, whom the law commands not to drink anything that can intoxicate? (Num. VI): and you would command the prophets not to prophesy in my name. This is what the priest Amaziah of Bethel commanded the prophet Amos, whom we now have in our hands: and it was commanded by the king to Jeremiah, not to speak the words of the Lord to the people, to the extent that his words were even burned with fire. Tatianus, the leader of the Encratites, attempts to construct his heresy on this matter, stating that wine should not be drunk, since it is commanded by the law that Nazarenes should not drink wine, and now they are accused by a prophet who provides wine to the Nazarenes. If they follow the letter in all things and introduce Jewish fables into the churches of Christ, then they should also grow their hair long, abstain from eating dried and green grapes, and not approach their deceased mother and father. And if by chance they have done these things and have been overcome by human frailty or necessity, they should shave their heads, and all their days of dedication and work shall be void. But if they do not do these things, nor are they able to mix water with wine like the Jewish innkeepers, let them understand the shadows of truth, the grace of the Gospel, the necessity of the Law, and that drunkenness with which the vigor of the soul is intoxicated and overwhelmed by worldly cares, and let them command those prophets, saying: 'Do not prophesy, you who, overcome by envy, forbid learned men from speaking the word of doctrine.' And as the Lord says: 'Go and say to this people' (Is. VI, 9), they on the contrary command them not to speak in the name of the Lord, especially if the one teaching provides for the utility of the readers and listeners, not for shameful gain, fame, and boasting.

(Verse 13 onwards) Behold, I will roar underneath you, like a heavily loaded wagon roars with hay, and the fleet warrior shall perish, and the strong shall not retain his strength, and the mighty shall not save his soul, and the archer shall not stand, and the swift-footed one shall not be saved, and the rider of the horse shall not save his soul, and the strong of heart among the strong ones, shall flee naked on that day, says the Lord. LXX: Therefore, behold, I will roll under you like a wagon full of straw is rolled, and the swift one shall perish in flight, and the strong one shall not retain his strength, and the warrior shall not save his soul, and the archer shall not endure, and the swift-footed one shall not be able to be saved, and the horseman shall not save his soul, and his heart shall be found among the mighty, and the naked one shall flee on that day, says the Lord. With me granting benefits to you, and leading you out of the land of Egypt, and destroying the Amorite before your face, so that you could possess his land, and raising up prophets from your sons, and Nazarites from your young men, you made my Nazarites drink wine, and said to the prophets: Do not prophesy. Therefore, just as a cart is burdened with a load of straw or hay, and it screeches and makes a loud noise from afar, so I, unable to bear your sins any longer, and handing you over to the fire like straw, will cry out and say: The quick will perish in flight, whom the Hebrews understand to be Jeroboam the son of Nabath, who had previously fled to Egypt (1 Kings 11). But here we will not take the princes themselves, but their houses and offspring. And the strong will not retain his strength: strong is interpreted as Basan, who was very ready for war (3 Kings 15). And the mighty will not save his soul: they understand this as referring to Amri (or Omri) here. And the one holding a bow will not stand or sustain: they think this refers to Jehu son of Namsi (or Nemsi), who struck King Joram of Israel with an arrow (4 Kings 9). And he who is swift on his feet will not be saved: Manahen they understand, who vainly hastening directed gifts to the king of the Assyrians (2 Kings 15): And the rider of the horse will not save his life: this Phacee, the son of Romelia, they interpret, who united with Aram, that is, Syria, devastated many things under the reign of Achaz, king of Judah. And with a strong heart, he will flee naked among the strong on that day, says the Lord (Ibid.). Only Osee, who was the last king of the ten tribes, and who attempted to bring back the errant people to the worship of God (2 Kings 18), will go out as if naked from the fire. Moreover, he calls them naked because under him the ten tribes were captured. This is what the Hebrews assert, and as it has been handed down to us, we have faithfully explained it to our people. But now let us return to our own matter. God threatens to roll a cart over them, burdened with hay or straw, so that because they do not have grain to store in granaries, their hay and straw will be consumed by fire. This is the hay of which the prophet says: Let it become like the hay of buildings, which withers before it is uprooted (Ps. 128:6). And: All flesh is grass (Isaiah 40:6). But that straw is what the prophet mourns lamentably for when it catches fire, saying: Woe is me! for I have become like one who gathers straw in the harvest, and like grape clusters in the vintage, when there is no bunch to eat the firstfruit. Woe is me! my soul (added in some versions), for the kind-hearted person has perished from the earth, and there is no one who does what is right among humanity: all are judged by blood (Micah 7:1), and so on. This is hay and straw, of which the Apostle speaks: Each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire. And the rolling cart, that is what we read about in Isaiah: Moab shall be trampled down as straw is trampled in the dung-pit. And in another place: I will make you like a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth; you shall thresh the mountains and crush them, and you shall make the hills like chaff. And after you have broken the mountains and hills, the swift flight shall cease, as Paul says: Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. And in another place: You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth (Gal. 5:7) ? And about himself, fearing, he said: Not that I have now received, or am already perfected; but I pursue, if I may apprehend, in which also I am apprehended by Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:12) . He did all these things, lest the flight from the swift be in vain: wherefore when he had now reached the end, and had received the reward of victory, he said securely: I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; as to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord, the just judge, will render to me in that day; and not only to me, but to them also that love his coming (2 Tim. 4:7, 8) . If we flee with quickness, sin will not be able to apprehend us; but if malice binds our feet, we will speak with the prophet to God: Where shall I go from your spirit, and where shall I flee from your face (Ps. 138:7)? The Apostle speaks about wicked runners: It is not of the one who wills, nor of the one who runs, but of the one who has mercy of God (Rom. 9:16) . It follows: And the strong will not obtain his strength: not because he is strong, but because he boasts of being strong. Whether one trusts in their own strength and not in God's mercy, according to what is written: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart' (1 Corinthians 2:19): not that true wisdom can perish, and the understanding of truth be rejected; but that the wisdom of those who consider themselves wise and trust in their own erudition may perish. Likewise, the strong or warrior who does not save his own soul is the one who does not possess the full armor of the Apostle: having a shield, but not faith; girded with a belt, but not in truth; clad in armor, but not in righteousness; wielding a sword, but not for salvation (Ephesians 6). A warrior of this sort does not sanctify battle, nor can he wage war in the name of the Lord, fighting against truth for the sake of lies. Such a warrior cannot say: Blessed be the Lord my God, who teaches my hands to fight and my fingers to war. My mercy and my refuge (Ps. CXLIII, 1). The heretics also have archers who, in vain, try to draw the bow, they cannot withstand the arrow of the Lord, as spoken by Isaiah: But I said, 'I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity' (Isa. XLIX, 2). These are the archers, of whom David also sings: Look, the sinners have bent their bow, they have prepared their arrows in the quiver, to shoot at the upright in heart in the darkness (Ps. X, 2). And the swift (he says) will not be saved by his feet, who runs through the testimonies of the Scriptures because of the sharpness of his wit, and tries to oppress the truth with the eloquence of speakers or with the sophisms of the dialecticians, and is hindered in it and falls, because he trusts not in God but in his own feet. The horse also will not save his own soul, who disregards the saying through the prophet: The horse is a deceitful hope for salvation (Ps. 32:17). And he does not know that it is written: All who mounted horses have slumbered (Ps. 75:7). This one will not save his own soul; but perishing, he will hear: Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will call upon the name of the Lord our God. They are impeded and have fallen; but we have risen and have been raised up (Ps. 19:8-9). A strong man, even with a courageous heart, will flee when naked among the brave. This place can be interpreted in two ways: either he is able to escape because he has stripped himself of the old man and the garments of sins, and he is burdened by no weight, or on the contrary, he is naked and has lost the clothing of Christ, of which it is said in the Apostle: Put on Christ Jesus (Rom. XIII, 14) . And in another place: For if we are clothed, we shall not be found naked (II Cor. V, 3); his strength will be of no use to him; but on the day of battle and struggle, he will flee from those who pursue him, and not being able to resist the enemies without armor, he will show them his back.

(Chapter 3, verses 1-2) Listen to the word that the Lord spoke against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family that I brought out of the land of Egypt, saying: You alone have I known out of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. LXX: Listen to this word that the Lord spoke against you, O house of Israel, and against all the tribe that I brought out of the land of Egypt, saying: However, I have known you among all the tribes of the earth; therefore I will avenge all your evils upon you. He addresses the sons of Israel, and in the following verse, he shows who these sons of Israel are: Above all, he says, the kindred that I brought out of the land of Egypt, which we must not only consider in the ten tribes, but in all twelve, including Judah and Benjamin. For he brought all out of the land of Egypt, and he says: Only, or as Symmachus interpreted: Only you have I known of all the kindreds of the earth. And because I have known only you, who are the Creator of all, and I have considered you my peculiar people, for this reason I will restore all your sins only upon you: For the mighty will powerfully endure torments (Wis. VI); but he who is the least, is worthy of mercy. And in Ezekiel we read: Begin from my sanctified ones (Ezek. IX, 6). And the judgment of God is said to begin from his house (I Pet. IV). Let this be said for now according to the history. Moreover, because hearing is understood in the Holy Scriptures, not only in the sense of perceiving with the ears of the flesh, but also in the sense of understanding, as the Lord says: He who has ears to hear, let him hear (Luke 8:8). Therefore, when the whole people saw the voice of God (Exodus 20), it was a direct message from the Lord to those who perceived God with their senses, namely those whom He brought out of the land of Egypt and from the power of Pharaoh (so that they would no longer serve mud and straw by building Egyptian cities), and those whom He knew from all the tribes of the earth, as the Apostle says: But now, having come to know God, or rather, having been known by God (Galatians 4:9). And in another place: He who is ignorant, will be ignored (I Cor. XIV, 38). Therefore, not all know God, but those who are worthy of His knowledge, as it is said in the Gospel: Depart from me, workers of iniquity, I do not know you (Luc. XIII, 27). For in being workers of iniquity, they are ignorant of God: therefore He says: Because I knew only you, and I had mine, I will visit upon you all your iniquities. Whom the Lord loves, He chastises, and He corrects every son whom He receives (Hebr. XII). And he said beautifully: I will visit, and I will not strike; for the plague of God is a visitation, and a healing. And he said, I will visit all your iniquities or sins, so that nothing may remain unstruck, so that nothing may not receive healing.