Jerome

(Verse 16, 17.) And he said to me: Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water by measure and with dismay; so that when bread and water are lacking, each one shall stumble to his brother, and they shall waste away in their iniquities. The Hebrew word Mate () is interpreted as staff in the first edition of Aquila, and as firmament in the second edition and by Symmachus and Theodotion. But what he had shown through his work, he also demonstrates through his speech, and the silence of both the left and right sides, and the ash bread mixed with the six varieties of spices, signifying the evils of the world, he points to the fact that a famine of food and an incredible shortage of water will occur in Jerusalem, so that everyone will fall to their brother, hoping for help from another, which they do not foresee in themselves. For it is the nature of humans, when pressed by evils and the weight of distress, to have more confidence in what is close at hand than in themselves: and they waste away in their iniquities, while suffering everything because of their iniquities. And I fear lest this breaking of bread may also be found in our Jerusalem, in which the vision of peace is seen, which the Lord crushes when he is angry, and judges us unworthy of his bread. And if only we could at least merit to receive him with weight and solicitude, and wet the dry tongue with excessive dryness, like the last finger of Lazarus (Luke 16). But with the Church lacking in bread and water, a man will fall against his brother, and everywhere there is discord, as our Christ's tunic is torn apart by those who even the soldiers in the Savior's passion dared not tear apart (John 19); and as we waste away in our iniquities, for we do not possess the justice of God. It is written in Jeremiah that the little ones, that is, the common people of the Church, sought bread, and there was no one to break it for them (Lamentations 4:4). But Paul, truly a man of the Church, knew that Christ had broken the legal bread and given it to the disciples to distribute. He confidently speaks: The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the Body of Christ? (I Cor. X, 16.) And those who are weak and in need of the milk of infancy cannot eat the staff or the strength of bread, nor can they receive solid food. And nothing strengthens the mind of the one who eats like the bread of life, of which it is written: And the bread strengthens the heart of man (Psal. CLXXXIII, 15).

(Chapter 5, verses 1 onwards) And you, son of man, take for yourself a sharp sword, like a barber's razor, and pass it over your head and your beard; then take scales for weighing and divide them. One third you shall burn in the midst of the city when the days of the siege are completed, one third you shall strike with the sword all around it, and one third you shall scatter to the wind; and I will unsheathe a sword after them. And you shall take from there a small number, and bind them at the top of the cloak, and take them out again and throw them into the midst of the fire, and burn them. From there a fire will come out into all the house of Israel. For three parts of hair and wool, one of which is burned in the midst of the city, another is cut with a sword around it, the third is scattered to and fro by the wind, of which a small part is taken and bound at the edge of the cloak, and again a little of the third part is thrown into the fire, from which a flame comes out into all the house of Israel. Seventy-four parts have been interpreted. And when they had said: Burn the fourth part with fire in the midst of the city, and cut the fourth part with a sword all around it, and scatter the fourth part to the wind, for there remained another fourth part to them, they added from their own: And take the fourth part and burn it in the midst of the city: as if it is not the same as the first, and something else was said in the first, something different in this one that was added. Finally, even in the following, the Lord Himself explained the riddle of the divided hairs into three parts through the Prophet, saying: The third part of you will die by pestilence, and be consumed by famine in your midst, signifying famine and pestilence as fire; and the third part of you will fall by the sword all around you, describing external killings and wars. But, he says, I will scatter your third part to every wind, showing those who are to be led into captivity. After them, he says he will lay bare or pour out his sword, so that captivity is not the last of their evils; and he will take from those dispersed and captive, and bind to the top of his cloak those who are to return from captivity to Jerusalem, and he will also take some part from them, and consume it with fire and flame, signifying the Macedonians under whom the inhabitants of Judaea, and especially Jerusalem, have suffered greatly. But what he says, from this, that is, the people of the Jews; or, according to the LXX, from her; so that it is understood, from the city of Jerusalem, fire will come forth into every house of Israel: The history of the Maccabees relates that a certain part of the Jews surrendered to Antiochus Epiphanes, and incited him to persecute the people, and many other things that are written in the same history, and in the volumes of Josephus, especially the discord between Hyrcanus and Alexander, on account of which Cneus Pompeius, the consul, took Jerusalem and subjected it to Roman rule; and afterwards, under Titus and Vespasian, the city was captured and the temple destroyed. And after fifty years, under Aelius Hadrianus, the city was burned to the ground and destroyed, to the extent that it also lost its original name. However, in the case of emperors, both the hair on their head and their beard are an indication of beauty and manliness, as if they are shaved, an ugly nakedness is revealed, and the most distant and, so to speak, lifeless part of the body is in the hair and beard: in the same way, Jerusalem and its people are lifeless and separated from the living body of God, being handed over to famine, disease, killing, and the sword, and to captivity and dispersion. From this dispersal, under the form of hair, a part of it is tied at the top of the cloak, so that a small amount may be handed over to fire again, from which an infinite flame, almost completely devastating, emerges into every house of Israel.

(Version 5 and following) Thus says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations, with the lands surrounding it; and it has despised my judgments, being more wicked than the nations, and my commandments more than the lands that surround it. For they have rejected my judgments and have not walked in my commandments. The Prophet also attests to Jerusalem being situated in the midst of the world, showing it to be the navel of the earth. And the Psalmist expressing the birth of the Lord: Truth, he says, has arisen from the earth (Ps. 48:12). And thereafter his passion: He has worked salvation in the midst of the earth (Ps. 74:12). For the plague called Asia is surrounded by the eastern parts. From the western parts, by that which is called Europe. From the south and the north, by Libya and Africa. From the north, by the Scythians, Armenia, Persia, and all the nations of the Pontus. Therefore, placed in the midst of nations, in order that the God who was known in Judea (Ps. 75) and his great name in Israel, all the nations surrounding her would follow her examples, she overcame even the nations themselves in her wickedness. Which Symmachus interpreted beautifully saying, 'These things, he says, Jerusalem, which I placed in the midst of nations, and the regions around her, changed my judgments for the impieties which she learned from the nations, and my statutes for the regions which are around her: for they rejected my laws, and did not walk in my judgments.' But what the Seventy have said, that my justifications are unjust from the nations, and my laws are not consistent with the regions around it, is clear even when I am silent.

(Vers. 8, 9.) Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have surpassed the nations that are around you, and have not walked in my commandments, and have not kept my judgments, and have not acted according to the judgments of the nations that are around you, therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, and I myself will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations. And I will do in you what I have not done, and the like of which I will not do again, because of all your abominations. Therefore, because we have understood: Because you have surpassed the nations that are around you, Symmachus translated: Because your multitude was from the nations that are around you. Aquila's second edition: Because you have been counted among the nations that are around you. Moreover, the Septuagint: Because your occasion is from the nations that are around you. And the meaning is, either that Jerusalem, by its own crimes, surpassed all the nations around it, or that its multitude, not the people of Israel, but the crowd of other nations, should be called. Certainly, among the other nations that are around it, they had been converted, or had every opportunity to teach the nations that they should be inclined towards the good. 'Why,' He says, 'have you not followed my commandments and not observed my judgments, when you have even conquered all the nations around you with your wickedness, and have not done what they often did, which is written by natural law in their hearts?' Therefore, I will not do my judgments through Angels or through any other ministers, but I myself will do them in you, with everyone watching, things that I have not done before and will not do again. By speaking of judgments, he shows the truth of his sentences, so that anger does not appear to exceed the measure of punishments. And he did not do in any nation the things that he did in Jerusalem: Because the servant who knows the will of his master and does not do it will be beaten with many lashes (Luke 12:48). And the mighty endure mightily severe torments (Wis. 6:7). And he says, I will not do the same again. He spoke well, I will not do the same again. For much harsher things he will do after the killing of Christ. For it is one thing to have at times worshipped idols for which they were previously punished, and another to have killed the Son of God.

(Verse 10.) Therefore, fathers will eat their sons in your midst, and sons will eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on you and scatter all your remnants to every wind. This is in accordance with what was said before: Because you have surpassed the nations that surround you, or because your behavior is like the nations that surround you, you have not walked in my commandments and have not kept my judgments. This is why it is repeated for the third time. First, thus: Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am coming to you, and I myself will bring judgments in your midst. Second: Therefore, fathers will eat their sons in your midst. Third: Therefore, as I live, says the Lord God; if you have violated my sanctuary in all your offenses, and the rest. However, it should be noted that where there are beautiful and honorable things, and according to the merit of those who uphold them, God professes to act for their sake. But where there are sad and unworthy things for God, he indeed says that they happen, but not by his own doing, as at present: Therefore, fathers will eat their sons in your midst, and sons will eat their fathers. For he did not say, 'I will make the fathers eat their sons in your midst, and the sons eat their fathers.' But what was proper and not unworthy of the majesty of God, he says he will do. For it follows: 'And I will execute judgments in you, and I will scatter all your remnant to every wind.' We can expect such a thing to come in curses in Deuteronomy, especially in that place: 'Those who glorify me I will glorify, but those who despise me will be brought to nothing.' (Deuteronomy XXVIII). For he who glorifies himself, glorifies himself. But those who despise him will not be despised by the Lord, or be reduced to nothingness (for it followed that he said), but absolutely, they will be reduced to nothingness: not by God, but by their own merits and sins. We read in the Book of Kings, driven by the necessity of hunger, a mother devoured her son (2 Kings 6). Josephus also recounts many such acts in the siege of Jerusalem. However, the story does not tell when fathers eat their sons or when sons eat their fathers, except perhaps in many desperate situations, it must be believed that these things have also happened. This can also be applied to our Jerusalem: when teachers are against their students, that is, fathers against sons, and students against teachers, that is, sons against fathers, they are stirred up by mutual rebellion, and what is said by the Apostle is fulfilled: But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you are not consumed by one another (Gal. 5:15). And so the Prophet sang in mystical speech: When they drew near against me, who afflict me, to eat my flesh (Psalm 26:2). And Job speaks something similar: But if my handmaids have said: Who will give us of his flesh, that we may eat (Job 31). And concerning the leaders who seek profit from the disciples and have no concern for their salvation, it is said: Who devour my people as bread (Psalm 52:5). And concerning these, the Apostle says: 'And they devour the houses of widows' (Luke 20; Matthew 23). We can understand, fathers, that those who have eaten their children and children who have eaten their fathers, not only in Babylon, but also in the Roman siege. However, what is said, 'I will scatter all your remnants to every wind,' pertains more to the Roman captivity, when they were dispersed throughout the whole world. And this is the scattering to every wind of hair and beard.

(Verse 11.) Therefore, I am alive, says the Lord God: unless for the reason that you have violated my sanctuary in all your offenses, and in all your abominations: I also will shatter (or, according to the LXX, cast away) you, and my eye will not spare, and I will not have mercy. This is specifically said to Jerusalem, because you have violated my sanctuary by forsaking me, and you have worshipped idols in my temple. I also will shatter all your idols, and I will break and overthrow them, or cast you away, because you have cast me away first. And my eye will not spare when I see you hungry, with a sword, submitting your neck to servitude, nor will I have mercy; because you do not deserve my mercy. For it is written: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (Matthew 5:7). This same thing must be understood in the Church, that God can say daily to teachers and priests who have acted negligently: Because you have violated my holy things in all your offenses, and in all the abominations you have committed, I will also crush and break you, and I will repay through me what you have perpetrated against my people. About whom the same Prophet speaks more fully against the shepherds here (Infra, XXXIV), that they cover themselves with the wool of the sheep and feed on milk and cheese, and do not seek the broken and sick.

(Verse 12, 13.) A third part of you will die by pestilence and be consumed by famine in your midst, and a third part will fall by the sword all around you. I will scatter your third part to every wind, and I will unsheathe the sword after them. And I will pour out my fury and make my anger rest upon them, and I will comfort myself. And they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken in my zeal, when I have accomplished my anger upon them. Because they had divided the Septuagint into four parts, they approved that only the prophetic discourse about the fire, sword, and dispersion were superfluous, so that the first part of the fire would be divided into two parts in this place as well, they also divided the same first part into two, saying: The fourth part of you will be crushed by death, and the fourth part of you will be consumed by famine in your midst, and the fourth part of you will fall around you, and I will scatter the fourth part of you to every wind; although what we have added: And the fourth part of you will fall by the sword, is added from Theodotion's edition under asterisks. It is clear, however, that the Hebrew truth contains three parts. Of the first of these, it is said: 'And a third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed by famine in your midst.' It would have been much better to translate what is written than to seek support for a poorly translated matter. And we do not say that this was done by those to whom antiquity gave authority, but it was corrupted by the fault of many centuries of scribes and readers. Although both Aristeus and Josephus, and the entire school of the Jews, claim that only five books of Moses were translated by the Seventy. The chapter we mentioned above now seems to be omitted. I will only add this, which is necessary in what he says: And I will pour out my wrath and make my indignation rest upon them, and I will comfort them, and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have poured out my indignation upon them; how the wrath, indignation, and zeal of God are to be understood, we have often explained, that God speaks with human emotions: not because he is angry himself, but so that we may perceive God as angry through punishments and torments. But zeal is to be understood under the metaphor of a husband and wife, who as long as he loves his wife, is jealous; if he neglects her, he says what we are going to say in the following: My jealousy will depart from you, and I will no longer be angry with you (Below, LXI, 42). And it is joined: And they shall know that I the Lord have spoken in my jealousy, not to those who have perished by famine and pestilence, nor to those who have fallen by the sword around the city, but to those who will be scattered to every wind, they will feel the anger of God for the deaths of others and their own miseries, whom they did not want to perceive as merciful.

(Verse 15) And you will be a reproach and a blasphemy, an example and a wonder among the nations around you. For in the Septuagint it is written: And it will be στενακτὴ, which means mournful. And in Theodotion it is added, καὶ δηλαἳστὴ; the meaning of this word is unknown to us. For this reason, three other interpreters have translated it as blasphemy, which is called Geddupha in Hebrew (). It follows:

When I pronounce judgment on you in my anger and wrath and in the fierce blows of my fury, in full view of your sinfulness, you groan and moan like the deserving city of Jerusalem, which experiences the wrath and indignation of God because it has offended him. This is also confirmed by the words of Paul, who says, 'We were by nature children of wrath, just like everyone else' (Ephesians 2:3). And again, 'While we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened' (2 Corinthians 5). We also say with Jerusalem, 'I will endure the wrath of the Lord, because I have sinned against him.' Some interpret 'Δηλαἳστὴν' or 'δηλαίαν' as unfortunate and miserable, while others believe it to mean clear and exposed to miseries.

(Verse 16.) When I send the most destructive arrows of famine (the Vulgate adds 'against them'), which will be deadly, and I will send them to destroy you, and I will gather famine upon you, and I will break the staff (or rod) of bread. Famine and pestilence, and the most terrible beasts, and whatever other evils we endure in this world, it is clear that they come because of our sins. Thus, that famine which is mentioned in the book of Ruth (Ruth 1) and in the book of Kings under Elijah (3 Kings 17), when the heavens were closed for three years and six months, and under Elisha (4 Kings 6), whose incredible scarcity was compensated by sudden abundance by God's judgment, was sent. Not only was this done in Jerusalem at that time, but it also happens in our Jerusalem, where, because of the magnitude of sins, hunger is first sent to hear the word of God. Then hunger is followed by death, so that those who have not heard may experience: Taste and see that the Lord is sweet (Psalm 33:9), and afterwards let us feel: The death of sinners is most bitter (Psalm 22). We have already spoken about the firmament and the staff of bread (above, IV).

(Verse 17) And I will send famine upon you, and the most evil beasts to annihilate you. And pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am the Lord who has spoken. The most evil beasts are brought upon the desolate land, which has been devastated by famine, the sword, and pestilence. These times also show when familiar animals, like dogs, are driven to madness and attack their masters' flesh, and the land is filled with bears, wolves, and all other kinds of beasts. The pestilence and blood passing through it signify disease and the sword. But even in our Jerusalem the worst beasts are sent, when we are handed over to ignominious sufferings, and to a reprobate sense and consciousness of our sins, which torture and tear apart our soul (Rom. I). Dissensions, heresies, schisms, rivalries, envy, sadness, detractions, evil desires, greed, which is the root of all evils (II Cor. XII), are the worst beasts. When they are within us, we deserve to hear: Your transgression shall rebuke you (Jeremiah). And we pray and say: Do not deliver the soul confessing to you to the beasts (Ps. LXXIII, 19).

(Chapter 6, Verses 1 onwards) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, turn your face towards the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them. And you shall say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and hills, to the cliffs and valleys. That which is often said in this Prophet as 'Adonai Dominus' seems to be briefly explained for the Greeks and Latins who do not have knowledge of the Hebrew language. Adonai is one name from the ten names of God, and it signifies Lord, which we often use in reference to God. Finally, when Sarah called Abraham her lord, she used this name (Gen. XVIII). And when it is said 'O Lord, my king', it is written Adonai (Exod. XXVIII). Therefore, when the two names, Lord and Lord, are joined together, the first name is common, the second properly belongs to God, which is called ἄῤῥητον (ineffable), which was also written on the golden plate that was on the high priest's forehead. But the mountains of Israel, which were occupied by the idols of demons, hear and understand their Creator not with their ears, but with the command and power of the one who made them. Just as the sea saw and fled, the Jordan river turned back (Ps. CXIII): not, of course, with the eyes of flesh which it lacked. And it is said to the sea: Be silent, be calm (Mark IV, 39). And the winds are commanded by his breath; and the worm is commanded, which struck the shade of Jonah (Jonah IV). And from the same land it is written: Who looks at the earth and makes it tremble (Ps. CIII, 32). The Prophet speaks to those indicating that idols are to be destroyed and altars, and all the ceremonies they previously served to be crushed. We can understand the mountains of Israel and the leaders as those who excelled in power, wisdom, knowledge, and wealth. And it should be noted that the face is indeed hardened, and it is set against the mountains: but it does not speak only to the mountains, but also to the hills, rocks, and valleys, where inferior dignity and degrees of prudence and knowledge are known. They seem to me to be tropologically mountains, those who have reached perfect knowledge; hills, who are slightly lower; rocks, who have no knowledge and only rely on conversation, presuming something about the interpretation of the Scriptures, having zeal for God according to the Apostle, but not according to knowledge (Rom. X; James III); valleys, on the other hand, are called the lowest in the Church, who are inferior in both life and knowledge, yet do not depart from the gathering of the Lord's family. Those who are commanded to hear the word of God, so that each one may understand according to their own measure and understanding what the Lord commands.

(Vers. 4, 5.) Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places. And I will overthrow your altars, and break your images, and cast down your slain before your idols. And I will give the dead bodies of the children of Israel before the face of their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars in all your dwellingplaces. It is said of the mountains of Israel that God will destroy their high places, where people worshiped false gods, and will break their altars and images, and cause their worshipers to be killed in front of their temples; so that the bodies of the dead may lie where the offerings used to lie; and the bones of those who were on the mountains, not the mountains themselves, will be scattered around the altars and in all the cities and villages of Israel. This literally. Otherwise, against those who are uplifted in pride, and of whom the Apostle speaks: Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up (I Cor. VIII, 1), the sword is brought forth, so that all their images, which they have fashioned in their own minds, may be crushed and lie dead, and they may feel themselves to be dead, realizing that their images and creations are of no benefit to them. And he says that the bones of the mountains shall be scattered around the altars, indicating that the strongest among them should be separated from one another. For it is beneficial for evil to be separated from evil by perverse knowledge. And as those who were building the tower with the worst consent were dispersed for their own utility, and their tongues were divided (Gen. XI), so will the bones of the mountains be scattered, that they may understand the vanity of their endeavors. This that we have set forth: 'And I will give the bodies of the children of Israel before the face of your idols,' is not found in the Septuagint.

(Verse 6, 7.) The cities shall be deserted, and the lofty places shall be demolished; and your altars shall be scattered and your idols shall cease, and your temples shall be broken down and your works shall be destroyed. And the slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord. The clear cause why the cities of the mountains are to be deserted: namely, that the lofty places may be demolished, and the altars and idols may be destroyed, and the temples may perish, and all worship of the idols may cease; and the slain may fall in the midst of the mountains; and they may know that he himself is the Lord. For this reason, we are given the opportunity to follow the spiritual intelligence more, so that the cities of heretics, which are interpreted as Churches, and the high pride of their teachings, and the altars of their perverse doctrines, are shattered, and the idols perish, which they simulated in their own hearts, and the shrines are destroyed, not the temples, which rose up against the temple of the Lord, and are called 'temples' in Greek, that is, shrines and all the works of mountains are crushed, which are not the works of God, but of false masters of knowledge. And when the slain shall fall in the midst of the mountains, either those whom the mountains themselves have slain, or the ecclesiastical men who have slain them wickedly to their own safety: then shall be the end of the proud mountains, that they may know that he is the Lord. But it may happen that from one people of the mountains of Israel, others being slain, others may know. For when a pestilent scourge is slain, the foolish will be wiser.

(Verse 8.) And I will leave among you those who have escaped the sword among the nations, when I scatter you among the lands. And they shall remember me, the ones who were delivered, among the nations where they were taken captive. That which the Lord speaks to Elijah: I have left for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19:18); and the Apostle Paul writes: And now at this present time, there is a remnant according to the election of grace that has been saved (Romans 11:5), which may be applicable to this chapter. For indeed the Apostles, who were of the seed of Israel and had fled the sword, are therefore reserved, so that they might be scattered into the lands and preach the Gospel among the nations, and be remembered among the nations of God, in which they were living during the time of captivity. And it can also be said that some were reserved from the captivity of Judah, so that they might be remembered among the nations and preach the power of His name. The peoples of the heretics who were able to escape the sword of their destruction, and the wicked faction that had been incited against God, will remember the name of God, repenting and rejoicing that they were captured by the men of the Church.

(Verse 9, 10) Because I have broken their heart by committing adultery and turning away from me, and their eyes are adulterous, looking after their idols. And they will displease each other with the evils they have done in all their abominations. And they will know that I, the Lord, have not spoken in vain, in order to bring harm upon them. Many things from this chapter have been omitted by the Septuagint, and that part has been changed. I have sworn to their adulterous heart: therefore we have put: I have broken their heart by committing adultery. But he swore and determined that he would do what he had shown through his actions; or he deceived by fornicating and turning away from God, concerning those about whom the Lord speaks through Hosea: They have been seduced by the spirit of prostitution (Hosea 4:12). And they fornicated their eyes after idols, through whose windows it is said that death entered. For this reason, in the book of Daniel, two elder men commanded that Susanna be revealed, so that they could enjoy the beauty of her naked body (Dan. 13). And the Lord spoke not in vain, when He brought evil or evils, when those who were subject to His sentence repent. But if the heart is hard and untamable, not even feeling the punishments of the correcting benefactor, it is said to them: I struck your children without cause: you have not received discipline. (Jeremiah 2:30). However, it is beneficial even to heretics, that their heart be broken, the worst treasure of perverse doctrines, because they have turned away from the Lord, and their eyes commit adultery after their own inventions. Those who remember the Lord will be displeased with all their abominations and those who understand the truth of the true faith will know that He is the Lord. Therefore, He often brings tribulation, which seems harmful and evil to the patient, so that they may be converted to repentance.

(Verse 11.) Thus says the Lord God: Strike your hand, and stamp your foot, and say: Alas! for all the abominations of the evil house of Israel. The prophet is commanded to show the magnitude of sins with his hands, feet, and words, so that he may display through the movement of his body and the indignation of his voice, the appearance of one amazed and astonished, weeping and lamenting. For just as when we see something new and marvelous, we tremble both in body and mind, so that we clap our hands and stamp our feet on the ground, and bow our voice to weeping; in the same way, now the prophet, seeing with the eyes of his soul the coming punishments, speaks of all the abominations of the evil house of Israel that follow. We strike spiritually with our hand, when we separate ourselves from evil works. We stomp our foot, when we do not proceed on the path of sin. We weep and cry, when we are displeased with what is happening. What is shown in words, alas. For which Aquila interpreted as ἂ ἂ, Symmachus σχετλίασον, which means to lament or weep. LXX and Theodotion εὖγε, which is more of an insult than a lament.

Those who are going to perish by the sword, famine, and plague. This is indeed the cause of weeping, because the inhabitants of the mountains and the worshippers of altars and idols are going to perish by the sword, famine, and plague. Those who are led astray by various errors, and change their faith daily, are tossed about by every wind of doctrine: they are killed by the sword and divided into factions, abandoning the unity of the Catholic faith. But whoever does not have spiritual food dies of hunger, not knowing him who said: I am the life (John XIV, 6). Moreover, those who are devoted to either single or multiple vices cannot be separated from them, as if once they fell from an ancient pestilence, or rather a certain uterine pestilence.

(Verse 13.) And you shall know that I am the Lord, when your slain shall be in the midst of your idols, round about your altars, upon every high hill, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols. It is evident according to the literal sense, and needs no interpretation, that in the mountains of Israel, and in the high places, among the altars and groves, which are called thick trees, the army of Israel was slain, that they might be punished in the same places where they had sinned. According to allegory, let us follow the proposed order. When the masters of heretics, who are instructed in the knowledge of Scriptures, have been crushed and overcome by the Ecclesiastical men, we see them lying among the idols they created, and those who elevated themselves against the knowledge of God lie scattered on the mountains and hills beneath every leafy tree; those who have pompous words and the shadow of leaves, but do not have the fruits of good works; those who are under every leafy oak tree, which does not bear the fruits of men, but of pigs: where they burn fragrant incense not to God, but to their idols. And they could not say what is written about Noah: 'The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma' (Gen. VIII, 21): and that which Paul speaks: 'For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing' (II Cor. II, 15). But just as a holy person delights God with their fragrance, so sin is committed from whose person that psalm is sung: 'My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness' (Ps. XXXVII, 6), he kindles his foul incense for his idols. What we interpreted, on all the highest points of the mountains: and a little later: And under the whole leafy oak, they left seventy.

(Verse 14.) And I will stretch out my hand upon them and make the land desolate and forsaken, from the wilderness of Deblath to all their dwellings. And they shall know that I am the Lord. O mountains of Israel, when your slain ones have fallen among your idols and on every high hill and on all the mountaintops, when I have filled your forests with the corpses of the dead, those whom you once burned incense to, then I will stretch out my hand against you in vengeance, which has been restrained until now, and I will make the whole land of Israel a desolation, from the wilderness of Deblath in the land of Hamath, which is called Epiphania of Syria, to all their dwellings. So that all may know that there is nothing between the wilderness and the Great Sea that the sword of the enemy has not consumed. Many people think that the same place is meant, about which it is written in Jeremiah: 'And they took Zedekiah in the desert that is near Jericho, and all his company fled from him.' And when they had captured the king, they brought him to the king of Babylon in Riblah, which is in the land of Hamath (Jer. 39:5). It may also be called Deblatha or Reblatha due to the close similarity of the Hebrew letters Daleth and Res, which are distinguished by a small dot. But according to mystical understanding, the Lord extends His hand over all those who have been deceived by heretical error, in order to make their land, which is interpreted as the Church, desolate from the desert of Deblatha, which in our language means 'mass of figs', and of compacted thistles, so that after they have discovered bitterness in the simulated sweetness, which was not of cultivated land but of solitude, then they may know that He Himself is the Lord. Honey drips from the lips of a prostitute, who temporarily satiates the mouths of those who eat, but afterwards is found bitter as gall (Prov. 5:3,4). This also signifies the two baskets of figs that were placed in front of the Temple in Jeremiah (Jer. 24): one basket of good figs and one of rotten figs. One of these refers to the Church of Christ, the other to the congregation of the wicked.