Jerome

(Chapter 1, Verses 1, 2.) How long, O Lord, will I cry out and you will not hear? I will shout to you with violence, but you will not save. Why have you shown me iniquity and pain, to see plunder and injustice against me? According to the Septuagint: How long, O Lord, will I cry out and you will not hear? I will shout to you with violence, but you will not save. Why have you shown me hardships and sorrows, to see misery and impiety? Meanwhile, the prophet raises a question against God, why Nebuchadnezzar devastates the temple and Judah, why the once city of the Lord, Jerusalem, is destroyed? Why does the people cry out, and yet not be heard? Why does he cry out to the Lord, oppressed by the Chaldeans, and yet not be saved? Why does even the prophet, or the people on whose behalf he now speaks, live through this and be brought here, to see the wickedness of the enemies and their own labor? Why does injustice prevail against them? And this is said out of the narrowness of mind, not knowing that gold is refined in fire, and three young men come out of the furnace purer than when they entered (Dan. III). Moreover, we can also generally understand that the prophet, seeing sinners abound and possess riches in this world, compares their sons to newly planted saplings in their youth, and their daughters to adorned temples, their storehouses bursting with plenty, their sheep fat and multiplying in their ways, and other things that are more fully written in a lamenting voice and full of sorrow in the 143rd psalm. Why do you look at the despisers and remain silent, while the impious trample upon the more just, and you make men like fish of the sea, and like reptiles without a leader? We read something similar in the seventy-second psalm: But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped (Psalm 73:2), and so on. And again in the same psalm: And if there is knowledge in the Most High. For behold, the sinners and those who abound in the world have obtained riches, and so on, until my hands. But these things they speak ignorantly, investigating the judgments of God (Rom. XI), and the deep riches of his wisdom and knowledge, that God does not see as man sees. Man looks only at the present: God knows the future and the eternal (I Sam. XVIII). And how if a sick and burning with fever person asks for cold water, and says to the doctor: I suffer violence, I am tormented, I am burned, I am almost dead: how long, doctor, shall I cry out and you will not hear? And the wisest and most merciful doctor responds to him: I know when I should give you what you ask for: I do not just have pity, because pity is cruelty, and your will is against you. So our Lord God, knowing the weights and measures of His mercy, sometimes does not hear the one crying out, in order to test him and to provoke him to pray more, and to make him more just and pure as if he were refined by fire. Understanding this, the Apostle, having obtained mercy from the Lord, says: Let us not grow weary in tribulations (Ephesians 3:13); and he blesses God at all times (Psalm 33); and he knows that he who perseveres until the end will be saved (Matthew 10:22). And he glories in labor and pain. And as Jeremiah says: I will invoke tribulation and misery. Just as another person invokes God, so a holy man and invincible warrior, desiring to exercise and prove himself, wishes tribulation and misery to come.

(Ver. 3, 4.) And judgment and contradiction become more powerful: therefore the law is torn apart and judgment does not reach its end: because the wicked prevail against the just, therefore a perverse judgment proceeds. LXX: Judgment has been made against me, and the judge accepts it: therefore the law is torn apart and judgment does not reach its end: because the wicked prevail against the just, therefore a perverse judgment proceeds. Still, the prophet or the people speak to the Lord, because they were judged not by truth but by power, and they did not receive any support from the law and righteousness. Therefore, their judgment had no end. However, the purpose of judgment is to judge fairly. And why they dare to speak, they explain in the following, saying: Because the wicked Nebuchadnezzar prevailed against the just Judah (2 Kings 22), and this is the reason why they say judgment has not reached its end; because it is unjust and perverse for the righteous King Josiah to be killed by the Egyptian king (2 Kings 23); for Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah to serve (Daniel 3); and for the Babylonian emperor to command and for Belshazzar to drink from the vessels of God among his prostitutes and concubines (Daniel 5). This prophet is speaking about the condition of his time (we are following because you wanted an account of history as well). Moreover, according to the Septuagint, it is a common complaint of the saints to God that an unjust judgment is rendered against them and innocent blood is shed in persecutions. And sometimes, when they stand before the secular tribunal, the judge, after receiving bribes, condemns the innocent and sets the guilty free. This can be said not only of judges of the world, but sometimes also of the leaders of the Church, who, because of bribes, disregard the law and do not bring a trial to completion, allowing the wicked to prevail against the righteous. And in the judgment, the sin of the rich is more powerful than the truth of the poor. Where there is complaint, judgment becomes perverted: but we ought not to be disturbed by this inequality of things, seeing in the beginning of the world the impious Cain slew the just Abel (Gen. IV), and afterwards Jacob, being an exile, reigned in his father's house over Esau (Gen. XXVIII), and the Egyptians afflicted the children of Israel with mud and bricks, and the Lord against whom the complaint is now directed, is crucified by the Jews (John. XIX), and the robber Barabbas is chosen (John. XVIII). This day will fail me if I want to enumerate how in this age, with the wicked prevailing, the righteous are oppressed.

(Verse 5.) Look among the nations and see, be astonished and astounded; for a work is being done in your days that you would not believe if you were told. LXX: Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if someone tells you. Symmachus, in response to what we have said: “a work is being done in your days”, interpreted it as “a work will be done in your days”. The rest is similar. Again, at the beginning of the chapter, where it is written in Hebrew 'Rau Baggoim', and we have translated it, look among the nations, and the Septuagint has put 'contemptores', except for Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotion, who agree with our interpretation, in another edition I found 'ἀνωνύμῃ' you will see the slanderers, and in another similarly without the title of the author, you will see the decliners. Therefore, in response to the complaints of the prophet who causes and says: 'How long, O Lord, will I cry out, and you will not hear?' And the rest, up to the end of this introduction, the voice of the responding Lord is introduced, so that he may see this injustice, which he thinks is happening only in Israel, among the Gentiles: and that not only the Jews and Jerusalem, as he thought as a prophet, would be handed over to the Chaldeans, but all nations around, and that he would be so powerful and afterwards overthrown, that if someone were to predict what is going to happen, they would seem incredulous because of the magnitude of the matter. But even this, which the 70 and the other interpreters have put forth: See the despisers, whether you will see the slanderers and those who turn away, it agrees with the meaning of this place, and they are shown from the very discourse of their audacity and contempt towards the Lord: from the person of whom the prophet had cried out, why they have dared to despise the majesty of God and speak rashly, and as much as they can, to slander the providence of God, and to turn away from the Lord, thereby convicting themselves of wickedness. So you will see, you who scorn, and then you will admire, and you will consider all your complaining as nothing, when you perceive what I will do in your days; lest perhaps you say: What does the future have to do with us? The work that will be so great will overwhelm all your reasoning: so that if someone were to predict it now, you would not readily believe. But what this work is, is shown in what follows.

(Verse 6 onwards) For behold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth to take possession of dwelling places that are not theirs. They are feared and dreaded; their justice and dignity proceed from themselves. Their horses are swifter than leopards, more fierce than the evening wolves; their horsemen press proudly on. Their horsemen come from afar; they fly like an eagle swift to devour. They all come for violence; their faces forward; they gather captives like sand. At kings they scoff, and at rulers they laugh. They laugh at every fortress, for they pile up earth and take it. Then they sweep by like the wind and go on, guilty men, whose own might is their god. LXX: For behold, I will raise up the bitter and swift Chaldeans, who walk over the breadth of the earth to possess dwelling places that are not theirs. They are dreadful and renowned; their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves. Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and more fierce than evening wolves. Their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from afar; they shall fly as the eagle that hastens to eat. They shall come all for violence; their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand. And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn to them; they shall deride every stronghold, for they shall heap up earth and take it. Then his spirit shall change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god. What I have told you: Look among the nations, and see, and be amazed, and be astounded; for a work is being done in your days that you would not believe if you were told. This is what the following passage describes: Behold, I am stirring up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not their own. And this is his work, not to exercise the land by plowing; but to live by plunder and sword, and to possess cities that are not his own: before he strikes his hand, before he breaks out into war, he carries terror on his face. And when he says, 'Judgment and burden will come out from himself,' as Symmachus interpreted, it means that he will judge for himself, and will go forth according to his decree, or it should be understood that he will appoint princes from his own people, and his power and the sword of other nations will not have guards, or certainly as he did, it will be done to him, and he will be devastated just as he devastated. The horses as well as the cavalry, who will come from far away, will be so destructive in pursuing and plundering everything, that they will surpass leopards and evening wolves. Indeed, wolves are said to be more fierce at night, and throughout the day they are driven to madness by hunger. So the cavalry will not fly to fight, because no one will resist them; but they will run like an eagle, to whom all things are subject in the air, hastening to devour. And just as green things wither at the breath of scorching wind, so everything will be devastated at their sight, and the number of captives and spoils will be so great that, by exaggeration, it could even equal the sand. He himself, that is, Nebuchadnezzar, will also reign in the whole world, and triumphing over the kings in his chariot, he will hold them up to ridicule and consider them among his delights. He will have such power and pride that he will strive to overcome nature and capture the most fortified cities with the strength of his army. For he will come to Tyre and, by throwing a causeway into the sea, he will turn the island into a peninsula and provide a land entrance between the waves of the sea into the city. For this reason, he will laugh at and tear down every barrier, and he will capture it, that is, the fortification, or Tyre; which is clearly demonstrated in Ezekiel, where it is said: Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, subjugated his army with great effort against Tyre. Every head is bald, and every shoulder is shaved, and no payment is given to him and his army against Tyre, and the work in which he served against it. But when he will have attained to the pinnacle of power, and nothing will stand in his way, then his spirit will change into pride: and thinking himself to be God, he will set up a golden image in Babylon, which he will force all nations to worship. And when he has done this, he will transform into the form of a beast, and afterwards he will fall: for which reason Aquila and Symmachus translated καὶ πλημμελήσει, that is, and he will transgress: the Holy Scripture having this custom, that it puts Vasam (), that is, he will transgress, in place of what it is, and it will cease to be what it was. Similarly, we have such phrases in our language, saying: The army was beaten, meaning that it was killed and slaughtered. And, the vineyard and field sinned, meaning that they did not produce a harvest of grapes and crops. And what is said at the end of the chapter: This is the strength of his God, is to be understood ironically, so that the meaning is: This is the strength he received from his god Beldeus. All nations were compelled to worship him, even through scripture and the threat of death under his cruel rule. According to the Hebrew: Now let us turn to the Septuagint, so that, with each sentence set forth, we may join together an allegorical interpretation. Behold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, a bitter and swift nation, who march throughout the breadth of the earth to possess dwellings not their own. God threatens against those who despise and slander His providence, that He will raise up the Chaldeans, who are interpreted as demons or even as the worst angels, serving His fury, wrath, and the tribulation which He inflicts upon sinners; or as the souls of the worst men, through whom they deserve torment. But the Chaldeans, a bitter and swift nation, do not spare and quickly fulfill what has been commanded to them. And they walk upon the breadth of the earth. For there is a wide and spacious road that leads to death ((Matt. VII, 13)): through which the rich man in the Gospel walked, who shone in purple (Luc. XVI), and those of whom it is said: Who sleep on ivory beds, and abound in delights on their couches. Who eat calves from the herds that are still suckling, and drink clarified wine, and anoint themselves with the best ointments (Amos. VI, 4): these, because they walk on the wide road, are called the breadth of the earth, which is pressed by the steps of the Chaldeans. For they did not want to walk on the narrow and tight road that leads to life, on which Paul was walking, glorifying God in tribulation and distress (I Cor. VI, 12). However, the Chaldeans walk over the breadth of the earth, in order to possess tents that are not their own. For every reasonable soul, although it has become a dwelling place of the Chaldeans through its vice and fault, is by nature a tent of God. And although in the Gospel the worst demon speaks: I will go to my house from where I came out (Matt. XII, 44), he should not be believed; for no rational creature was made for the purpose of being a dwelling place for a demon. It follows: He is terrible and illustrious: from him will come judgment, and his assumption will come forth from him. The Chaldean is terrible because of the many and varied punishments he inflicts on the contemptuous; illustrious, because he assumes for himself the glory of divinity. And through his own oracles and false responses, and the healings of the diseases which he himself had caused, he seems illustrious among the inexperienced and contemptuous of God. For the judgment and punishment of the contemptuous will come from him, that is, from himself or from the Chaldean. For they will be handed over to punishment, according to the Apostle, so that they may learn not to blaspheme (1 Timothy I): from whomsoever shall repent and turn to God, he shall depart, after he had been held by his hands, and there had been a Chaldean assumption. If when we see someone having served the devil for a long time, and afterwards having been converted to God, let us say about him: And his assumption went forth from him. For whoever shall have done penance, and left behind the demons, to which like horses they previously offered their backs to be sat upon; and they shall have thrown off and shaken off their riders, the horsemen themselves, like leopards and wolves, in the evening, and having come with empty and light backs to carry him, who, meek and poor, ascends upon the foal of an ass (John XII), these, hastening as if from afar, and not satisfied with running and rushing, shall assume flight, and shall come as if an eagle, to feed on the flesh of God's word, and to satisfy the hunger of such a long time. For in that which is said, καὶ ἐξιππάζονται οἱ ἱππεῖς αὐτοῦ, and the Seventy have translated: And his horsemen shall ride, according to the sense which we have stated above, Symmachus has interpreted: His horsemen shall be poured out, that is, they shall fall and be dashed to the ground. But the wolves of Arabia, that is, the enemies of the evening and of the West, are rightly so called, by whom the worst intercourse has been sought; and being set before in darkness, they abandon the whole path of the evening. When they have abandoned it, and have flown forth ready, that they may devour the fleshly produce of the Word of God, then shall come the consummation upon the ungodly, that is, upon the Chaldeans who withstood the turning of the penitent to their Lord. Therefore, the consummation will come upon the wicked, opposing their faces from the front. But when they have been consumed and captivity has been snatched from their hands, then the divine word will gather together, like the sand of the Chaldean captivity, and it will delight in the kings, and the jokes of tyrants will be its amusement, seeing the once powerful devil and his kingdoms (which also, showing to the Savior, he says, 'All these things I will give you if you fall down and worship me') destroyed by his coming; for they are the delights of prudence and the pleasures of wisdom, when folly is destroyed, and the power of tyrants, once overcome and cast down, is turned into ridicule. For indeed the dragon was not formed alone for the purpose of being a plaything for the Lord, who is the beginning of its creation, but was made as a mockery to the angels. And God will not give him alone, as if to a little sparrow, but if anyone else is also cruel and of a tyrannical mind, he will be handed over to the word of God as a subject of ridicule. And He Himself says, He will mock at every stronghold. But what other stronghold is there except that of which the Apostle speaks: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but powerful with God for the destruction of fortresses, destroying imaginations and every exaltation that is raised up against the knowledge of God (2 Cor. 10:4-5). Therefore, whatever things there may be, whether in speeches that claim to have height and greatness contrary to the truth, or in all glory and riches and strength that is praised in the world, all will be destroyed, and the word of God will mock every stronghold. And He will send a rampart and will prevail over it, and earthly things that it produces, exposing its fragility in those things where it seemed to have some strength before. But when this shall have been accomplished, then the spirit will be converted, and it will not punish as it had previously punished, but passing through sinners it will intercede for them, and it will reconcile them with their former Lord: in all of which the strength is shown, which has accomplished such great things, of our God. You see how precarious these places are, and how contrary they are to the truth of history. And how those things which we have interpreted literally concerning the Chaldeans, now seem to sound, according to tropology, the clemency and freedom of those who have escaped from the hands of the Chaldeans. Strict history is, and does not have the faculty of wandering. Free tropology, and only restricted by these laws, so that it follows the piety of intelligence and the context of speech, and does not violently connect things that are very different from each other.

(Verse 12.) Surely you are from the beginning, O Lord my God, my holy one? And shall we not die? O Lord, you have appointed him for judgment; you have established him as a strong one to correct him. LXX: Are you not from the beginning, O Lord my God, my holy one? And shall we not die? O Lord, you have appointed him for judgment: and he has formed me, so that I may chastise in his discipline. Symmachus more clearly: Are you not from the beginning, O Lord my God, my holy one, so that I would not die? O Lord, you have appointed him for judgment, you have established him for reproof. To the prophet's complaint, saying: How long, O Lord, shall I cry out, and you will not hear? God had answered, saying: Look at the nations and see: and after the preface he had added: Behold, I will raise up the Chaldeans, a bitter and swift nation. With every detail complete, whether about Nebuchadnezzar or the devil in the end, it is stated: Then the spirit will change, and it will pass through, and it will fall, this is the might of his God. When the prophet heard and understood, therefore Nabuchodonosor, against Judam, or the devil against believers, can obtain power to rebuke them, and after the rebuke, he himself is also punished in the end, he responded to the Lord: So, are you, my Lord God, my holy one (he speaks these words with a tone of flattery and repentance), the one who created us from the beginning? Upon whose mercy do we still rely? For I did not know that our adversaries could have so much power, nor did I know that Nabuchodonosor or the devil of this world, and all the powers of the nations, had received power. Therefore, no one of us can resist his might. But as for your mercy, it is all that we live, for we have not been killed by him, and have been led to the works of death. For you, Lord, have placed him to judge, so that he himself may be the enemy and avenger, and through him you may rebuke all who have sinned against you. But because we have once interpreted the Chaldeans about demons, and Nebuchadnezzar about their king the devil, we must briefly describe the devil and his power, so that the prophet may justly say: Lord, you have placed him to judge, and have founded him as a mighty one to rebuke. It is raised up against unbelievers and scorners of the nations of demons, bitter for punishment, and present everywhere. It also walks wherever the width of the earth is, in order to possess men, in whom Christ was supposed to dwell. It is horrible and terrifying, and can hardly be overcome by anyone, and is not broken before it comes to fruition with the magnitude of sins and the weight of its own wickedness. His horses and horsemen are always thirsty for blood, like leopards and wolves; they desire plunder, they pretend to be absent, and when they are not expected, they will quickly come from afar. They will fly like an eagle, which, raising its flight, wants to place its nest among the stars of the sky, and always hastens towards its prey. And in Ezekiel, it is described under the figure of Nebuchadnezzar and the king of Egypt, upon the devil. There is no demon who spares: all will come quickly for plunder: ahead of them is a burning wind: whatever they see, whatever is in their sight, they will desire to burn and destroy. But the most powerful king will be in the midst of captives, and he will take their number as the sand of the sea from his satellites on all sides, and he himself will triumph over kings, and his ridiculous tyrants will be. For by his deceit, he will deceive many saints, and those who seemed to be the most powerful to themselves, and exercise tyranny against demons, and cast them out of possessed bodies, he will subject to his servitude, and consider them a laughingstock. But he, the strongest, with a forced hand and a gathered army of the wicked, will laugh at every fortification and will strive to overthrow whatever may happen to be there. For he will bring together a mound, that is, he will surround with earthworks; and when the earth is heaped up, he will easily capture every fortification. However, after such a great victory, his spirit will change, and his mouth will reach up to the heavens, and he will make himself a god, beginning to blaspheme his Creator. And when he does this, he will fall, and the ruin will show how strong his divinity was, and the imitation of idols under whose images he enslaved people to his worship. Therefore, hearing these things, the prophet understands that such a great and powerful king of this world will gather captivity like the sand of the sea and triumph over kings; and that his tyrants will be ridiculous, and he will laugh at every fortification, and he will construct the first rampart and then capture it; and he will be so arrogant as to dare to resist his Creator and make himself like a god, who previously spoke boldly to the Lord; and he had declared himself, or his people, or those on whose behalf he was speaking, to be just: now he bursts forth in words of flattery and says, 'Are you then my Lord God, my Holy One, from the beginning?' And as we do not die, nor are captured by such a great enemy, it is by your mercy. For you, O Lord, have established him as if a torturer; and you have made him strong, so that no one or very few can resist his strength. Moreover, according to the Septuagint, what is said at the end 'And he formed me, that I may reprove in his discipline' can be referred to the person of prophet, so that the meaning is: I have also been inspired as a prophet, that I may reprove the evildoers and teach the discipline of the Lord. Some people think that the Lord, who was formed by the Father and took on a body, is called that in order to teach people about the doctrine of God the Father. But whether this is in harmony with the context of the previous statements and the consistency of the whole passage, it will be for the judgment of the reader rather than me.

(Verse 13, 14.) Your eyes are the world's eyes, so that you may not see evil, and you cannot look upon injustice. Why do you not look upon those who commit wickedness and remain silent as the wicked devour the righteous? And you make men like the fish of the sea, and like the reptile that has no ruler? LXX: The world's eye, so that it may not see evil, and it cannot look upon grief. Why do you look upon those who despise, will you be silent when the wicked devours the righteous? And he will make men like the fish of the sea, like creeping things that have no ruler. Such is what Jeremiah speaks to God: You are just, Lord, I confess; yet I will speak judgments to you: Why does the way of the wicked prosper; why do all who are treacherous thrive? You planted them, and they have taken root; they grow, they bring forth fruit; you are near in their mouths and far from their heart. (Jeremiah 12:1-2). Therefore, Abacuc is also in the same opinion: Lord, you are the eyes of the world, he says; and I know that you do not willingly look upon evil and injustice, nor can anyone doubt your justice. However, why do you allow the Babylonians to boast with such cruelty, and the just Israel to be oppressed by the impious Nebuchadnezzar: not because the one who is oppressed is perfectly just, but because he is more just than the one who oppresses him. And just as fish, who do not have a ruler, and irrational animals, and a multitude of reptiles without providence, submit to the stronger, and whoever is stronger in strength, dominates the other: so among men, the rational animal, created in Your likeness, reason and merit will not prevail; but the strength of the body and irrational strength will. But if we want to understand in a general way, regarding providence, when the prophet asks: Why does the devil have so much power in the world, and exercise tyranny while God rules? This will be the meaning, and with the previous explanations, this interpretation will be connected: I know, O Lord my God, my holy one, that because of your providence and defense, we do not die; and I know that you have allowed an adversary, so that, like an executioner himself, he may seize and not kill sinners. I wonder why it seems unjust to you that nothing pleases you, and your eyes are free from all wickedness, and you cannot see the sufferings of those who are subjected to injustice. However, I cannot find a reason why the righteous Abel is killed by the unjust Cain (Genesis IV), and you remain silent? Why does the raging whale devour not only smaller fish but also Jonah himself (Jonah II)? Why does the wicked prevail and the righteous suffer? I do not say this because I know anyone to be justified in your sight and to be without sin, and that I am unaware of human frailty; but just as Sodom and Gomorrah are compared with Jerusalem, so also the tax collector in the Gospel is made more righteous in comparison with the Pharisee (Luke 18): likewise, he who is oppressed by the devil is indeed a sinner, but he is more righteous when he submits to being oppressed. Therefore, why is there no standard or measure, so that if a just person is once oppressed and subjected, they do not submit to an impious person, but to someone more righteous? Is it possible for anything to be done without you, and you not willing, that is not impious? To think this is blasphemous. Therefore, since you are the ruler and Lord of the universe, it is necessary for you to do what cannot be done without you. And he says this not because he himself as a prophet believes it, as I have attested above, but because he expresses human impatience in his own person: just as we frequently see the apostle receiving various opinions from people, and now saying: 'But I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind, and leading me captive to the law of sin, which is in my members.' (Rom. VII, 23). And, as if he were beginning: Brethren, I do not think that I have apprehended, but we know in part, and we prophesy in part (Philippians 3:13). And again, as if he were perfect: So, therefore, let us have this knowledge, that however perfect we may be, we may still say that we know in part and are not perfect (1 Corinthians 13:9). And lest you should perhaps think that this is not the custom of the Apostles, but rather an argument of our own, he himself speaks to the Corinthians: But these things, brethren, I have transfigured myself and Apollo for your sake, so that you may learn in us (1 Corinthians 4:6). Otherwise how can God have men like fish of the sea, and like reptiles that have no ruler: whereas the angels daily behold the face of the Father who is in heaven (Matthew 18); and the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them (Psalm 34). Therefore, just as in humans we can see the providence of God running through each individual, so in other animals we can understand a general arrangement, order, and course of things. For example, how a multitude of fish is born and lives in the waters, how reptiles and quadrupeds arise on land, and what food they are nourished by. Moreover, it is absurd to ascribe to the majesty of God the knowledge of how many mosquitoes are born and die in every moment, how many bugs and fleas and flies exist in the world, how many fish swim in the water, and which of the smaller creatures should yield to the prey of the larger ones. Let us not be such foolish flatterers of God that, while detracting from His power even to the lowest things, we become injurious to ourselves, saying that there is the same providence of rational and irrational things. From this, that apocryphal book of folly is to be condemned, in which it is written that a certain angel named Tyri presided over reptiles, and in the same way, angels assigned to fish, trees, and all beasts for their protection.

(Verses 15 and following) He lifted the whole thing on his hook, he pulled it into his net, and gathered it into his seine: over this he will rejoice and exult. Therefore he sacrifices to his seine, and offers to his net, for in them his portion has become fat, and his food is choice: because of this he spreads out his seine, and never stops killing nations. LXX: He lifted the completion onto his hook, and drew it into his net, and gathered it into his seines: because of this he will rejoice and be glad: therefore he sacrifices to his seine, and burns incense to his net, for in them he has fattened his portion, and his food is choice: therefore he spreads out his net, and never ceases to kill nations. Because above he had named fish, saying: And you will make men like fish of the sea, and like creeping things, which is more significant in Hebrew, Remes (), that is, moving, everything namely that which can be moved, therefore it preserves the metaphor of fish in the other things, just as a fisherman throws a hook, and a net, and a dragnet, so that what the hook could not catch may be surrounded by the wider nets that the escaping one will enclose: thus also the Babylonian king will lay waste to everything, and will make all people his prey (Dan. III). Furthermore, what he says: he will rejoice and be glad, and will sacrifice to his net and offer incense to his drag, signifies the idol that he made in the field of Dura (also known as Duram) and the statue of Bel, to which he sacrificed the fattest victims like a great drag, coercing all the nations he had conquered to worship it. For in them, that is, in his idols, he believed that he had become enriched, and his share, that is, he considered himself to possess all the riches, as if he had conquered even the great fish, princes and kings, under his own rule, whom he calls select delicacies. And because once he was satiated by the most abundant fishing, and he filled his net, that is, his army, therefore he does not cease to kill nations, that is, to always fight and slaughter. Moreover, according to the Septuagint, the impious devil (who oppresses the just and has men like fishes of the sea, and devastates all things as if they were reptiles without a leader) sent his hook opposite to that hook, by which the fish was first caught through the apostle Peter, in whose mouth a stater was found (Matthew 17). And his hook caught hold of Adam, and he drew him out of paradise with his net: and he covered him with his snares, various and manifold deceits. Therefore, he will rejoice, and he will consider his traps to be more than the command of the Lord. And he will offer sacrifices not with a hook (which is understood as perverse speech and still established in the beginning), but with his net, because it captures very fat sacrificial victims in it. And: Through one man sinners have become many (Rom. 5:19), and in Adam we all died (1 Cor. 15), and all the saints thereafter were cast out of paradise together with him. And where his chosen foods were, as the Psalmist says: 'He seeks from God his food' (Psalm 104:21), desiring to overthrow the prophets and apostles. And because he deceived the first man, he does not cease to destroy the entire human race every day. And it can also be understood as the perverse and manifold doctrine of heretics, that they themselves catch many fish with their hook, net, and snares, and catch many reptiles, and therefore they rejoice, and they use their speech to deceive and persuade, as if they were adoring and worshiping God, and robbing him: they themselves serve with all their skill, by which they know that so many victims have been killed by them, and that so many of the powerful and holy have been deceived, whom Scripture now names as the fat portion and chosen foods. Therefore, in a likeness of animals, which once they taste blood always thirst for it, they spread their net, and their whole endeavor is to kill not a few, as at the beginning, but many. There is no doubt about the slaughter of many peoples, who have seen such a multitude of heresies and perverse doctrines caught by the hook, the net, and the snares of the devil: and yet the end of their capture is destruction.

(Chapter 2, Verse 1) I will stand upon my watch, and set myself upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. LXX: I will stand upon my watch, and get upon the rock, and will watch to see what will be said unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. Symmachus more clearly pursued: Like a guard I will stand upon the lookout, and I will stand like one who is enclosed, and will watch to see what will be said unto me, and what I shall answer, and I will contradict the one who argues against me. For munition and stone, in whose place Symmachus interpreted as concluded, is called Masur in Hebrew, which Theodotion, Aquila, and the fifth edition translated as a compass. The Lord had responded to the first cause: Look among the nations and see, and be amazed, and be astounded. To this the prophet, acting as if repenting of the previous statement, moderated the question, saying: O Lord my God, my holy one, we shall not die (Habakkuk 1:12). But nevertheless, with reverence and praise for God himself had queried: Your eyes are blinded so that you do not see evil, and you do not look upon iniquity (ref. Hab 1:13). Why do you not look upon those who do evil and remain silent while the wicked devours the righteous? And what is the devouring of the righteous, carried out in part: so that people become like fish of the sea, and like creeping creatures. And with a hook, and a net, and a dragnet, all are drawn toward destruction, and there is no end to their killing. Therefore, because he is a prophet, and therefore he seeks and doubts, it is right that what is answered to him should be answered to everyone: I will stand, he says, on my watchtower, that is, in the height of my prophecy, and I will see what happens after the captivity of the people, and the destruction of the city and the temple, and afterwards what will follow. Or indeed, like this: I will guard my heart with all diligence, and I will stand upon the rock of Christ. And with this compass and circle, I will enclose myself like a wall, so that the roaring lion cannot break through to me, and I will see what God answers me after the second question: and after he has answered me and rebuked me for complaining, what should I also respond to him. On the other hand, he describes with an elegant and remarkable perception the impatience that we humans always have in debates: that before someone responds to us, and we know in what they have accused us, we prepare ourselves to respond. From which it is shown that the response is not of reason, but of contention. For if it were reason, the response should be awaited, and thus see whether it should respond or agree with a reasonable response. But this should also be noted from what he said, that in order to see what he speaks in me, the prophetic vision and speech of God do not happen externally to the prophets, but internally and in response to the inner person. Hence also Zacharias: And the angel, he said, who spoke in me (Zech. I, 9). And in the Psalms: I will hear what the Lord speaks in me (Psalm LXXXIV, 9).

(Vers. 2 seqq.) And the Lord answered me, and said: Write the vision, and explain it upon tables, that he that readeth it may run over it. For as yet the vision is far off, and it shall appear at the end, and shall not lie: if it make any delay, wait for it: for it shall surely come, and it shall not be slack. Behold, he that is unbelieving, his soul shall not be right in himself: but the just shall live in his faith. LXX: And the Lord answered me, and said: Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it: for as yet the vision is for an appointed time, and it shall appear at the end, and shall not lie. If he fails, sustain him, for he will come, and will not delay: if he withdraws himself, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But the just shall live by my faith. Regarding the tablets and the box, which in Hebrew is called Alluoth ((Al. Luth)), Symmachus interpreted the pages. And where the Septuagint placed: But the just shall live by my faith, all equally translated, he shall live by his own faith. Finally, Symmachus, with a more significant interpretation, said: But the just shall live by his own faith, which in Greek is said, ὁ δίκαιος τῇ ἑαυτοῦ πίστει ζήσει: Indeed, if Baemunatho had the letter Yod and not Vau at the end, as the Septuagint thought, and it was read as Baemunathi (), they would have translated it correctly, in my faith. However, the similarity of the letters Vau and Jod, which are only distinguished by their size, has been a cause of error. The following discussion explains why this is so. According to the promise made to the holy man in Isaiah, 'Before they call, I will answer; while they are yet speaking, I will hear' (Isa. 65:24), the Lord also responds to the prophet and commands him to write down the vision and make it plain upon tablets, that is, to write it more clearly. But I think those tablets, about which the apostle also speaks to the Corinthians: You are our letter, written in our hearts: which is known and read by all men: being made manifest, that you are a letter of Christ, ministered by us, and written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of fleshly hearts (2 Corinthians 3:23). But Solomon also signifies something similar in Proverbs, saying: Write it on the tablet of your heart (Proverbs 3:3). But he is ordered to write more clearly, so that the reader may be able to run through it without any hindrance to its speed, and may be held back by a desire to read. And this is commanded, because the vision is still far off, and at the appointed time. And when the end of things shall come, then also he will come, and the true prophecy will be proved by the completed work. And if perhaps, for your eagerness, O reader, and the ardour of seeing the vision, it may have seemed to you to make a little delay in what has been promised, do not despair of his coming; but wait patiently: for you have me, who promise and say to you: He who is coming will come, and will not delay. But if anyone is unbelieving of this promise of mine, and, while I am saying 'coming, he will come, and he will not delay,' begins to doubt and silently waver within himself, thinking that what is being delayed for a time will not come; such a person will displease my soul, according to the saying: 'My soul hates your new moons and sabbaths' (Isaiah 1:13). And when God said 'his soul,' we should understand it as meaning 'his intellect and thoughts,' so that it would be 'my intellect will be displeased.' But just as it will displease the one who, with my promise, doubts that what I pledge will come to pass, so the righteous person who believes in my promise will live by their faith. These lines describe the picture of this chapter. And what he says is this, in this way, but only if we mix in the translation of the Septuagint. Write in your heart, and like little children who learn the first elements of the alphabet, they practice curved accents and a trembling hand on a boxwood tablet, and they become accustomed to write correctly through meditation. So you, who have spoken as the voice of a doubting people, write in the tablets of your heart and in the boxwood of your chest what I am saying. For it is a vision that is promised and commanded to be described and written more plainly, so that it is not wrapped in any cloud and not obscured by any enigmatic ambiguities: clear hope may have a clear promise. And this, O prophet, I command, not because you do not know (for you would not be a prophet if you were ignorant), but so that what you have written more clearly may be read and perused by the reader without hindrance and difficulty; which the Seventy translated as: ὅπως διώκῃ ὁ ἀναγινώσκων, that is, so that the one who reads may pursue; according to that sense which is written to Timothy: Pursue justice, and godliness, and faith, and charity, and patience, and meekness (I Tim. VI, 11). And to the Romans: Pursue hospitality (Rom. XII, 13). And to the Corinthians: Pursue charity (I Cor. XIV, 1). But the vision itself that I told you about: write down the vision and make it plain on a tablet, so that the one who reads it may run. It is still for an appointed time, but it speaks of the end and does not lie. Though it may delay, wait for it, for it will surely come and will not be late (Hab. II, 3). And it will come in the consummation of the world, and in the last hour of the day, of which John also speaks: Little children, it is the last hour now (I John II, 18). And he will not come in vain: for he will save many, and with the remnant of the Israelite people he will gather a multitude of nations. But if he shall withdraw for a little while, and the vision which you, reader, are commanded to read in the box and on the tablets which the prophet described, shall begin to come later, wait for it: because it will surely come, and it will not be delayed. But if your faith doubts, and you think that what I promise will not happen, you will have as a great punishment that you displease my soul. But the one who believes in my words and does not doubt what I promise, will receive the reward of eternal life. And you should not immediately accuse, whether in killing yourself or in giving life to another, that there is partiality in me, because he himself is the cause of his own life, who lives by his faith: just as you have displeased my soul by withdrawing and refusing to believe. But clearly in these words there is a prophecy about the coming of Christ. And so the proposed question is solved, that until he comes, iniquity will rule in the world, and judgment will not come to an end: and the true Nebuchadnezzar will capture men in his net and his dragnet like little fish, and the rational creature like a reptile, not having a prince. Moreover, what we have interpreted for the vision, because it is still far off: and if it delays, wait for it, that is, the vision: let no one think, deceived by error, that he could have put the vision, which is of the feminine gender, in the masculine gender, which is less common in Latin. Indeed, the word 'vision' in Hebrew, which is translated as 'Hazon' (), is of the masculine gender and is declined in the same gender throughout, that is, as 'visus'. However, the Septuagint translators said, 'Write it as 'visionem'; and afterwards, if it fails, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay. If it withdraws, my soul will have no pleasure in it.' They first translated 'vision' in the feminine gender, which, as we have said, is masculine in Hebrew. Then according to the Hebrew gender, where it is declined masculine, sustain it, and it will not please my soul in it, they also declined in the masculine gender. Indeed, they should have translated the vision according to the first interpretation, also putting the feminine gender in the other parts of the vision, saying, wait for her: for she will come, and if she withdraws, it will not please my soul in her, that is, in the vision. This is why, so that we would not appear to be silent about what we knew. Moreover, I am not unaware that according to their interpretation it can be understood in this way: Write down the vision in which Christ is promised, and weave this message in your prophecy, whether in a box, or on tablets, or, as Symmachus translated, on pages, so that at the appointed time and in the end of the world, my Son may come, who will save the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and also join other sheep with the ancient sheep, and making one flock, unite the two staffs, which Ezekiel, that is, the power of God, holds joined and closely connected in his prophetic hand (Ezek. 7). But if Christ, the prophet or you, my people (through whose person my prophet seems to have doubted), withdraws a little and seems to be delayed, wait for him, for he will come, and he will not delay; and the rest of what we have already explained. Furthermore, the reason why the Apostle used the testimony of the Septuagint more, writing to the Romans: 'The just shall live by faith' (Rom. 1:17), and not what is contained in the Hebrew, is evident. For he was writing to the Romans, who did not know the Hebrew Scriptures: and he did not care about the words, since the meaning was safe, and the discussion did not have any immediate disadvantage. Otherwise, wherever the meaning is different, and it is written differently in Hebrew and in the Septuagint, he noted it using the testimonies he had learned from Gamaliel, a teacher of the law.

(Verse 5 and following) And just as wine deceives a drinker, so too will the proud man be, and he will not be adorned, who has expanded his soul like Sheol and is like death, and he will not be satisfied. And he will gather all nations to himself, and he will heap all peoples to himself. Will not all these take up a proverb against him and a taunting riddle about him, and say: Woe to him who multiplies what is not his own! How long will he heap up thick clay against himself? Will not those who bite you suddenly rise up and those who harass you wake up, and you will become their prey? Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples will plunder you because of human bloodshed and the violence done to the land, the city, and all its inhabitants. Woe to him who is arrogant though! Man of pride, who accomplishes nothing. He who enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death, he is never satisfied. And he will gather all nations to himself, and he will receive all peoples to himself: will not all these take up a parable against him, and a mockery of his narration, and say: Woe to him who multiplies things that are not his own: how long will he burden himself heavily with his own torment, because suddenly those who bite him will rise up, and your schemers will be watchful, and you will be a prey to them? For you have plundered many nations, all the remaining peoples will plunder you because of the blood of men and the wickedness of the land, city, and all its inhabitants. When these things have been promised concerning the coming of Christ, or, as some please, concerning the end of the vision, and the fulfillment of God's help: whoever believes that it will come, will live by his faith; but whoever is unbelieving, will displease the Lord's souls; King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon will be deceived by his pride. And just as wine affects the drinker, and after he has risen, neither his foot, nor his mind fulfills its duty; and all joy and exhilaration of the mind turns into ruin: so a proud man will not be adorned, nor will he achieve his own will to the end, and according to Symmachus he will not prosper, that is, there will be a shortage in all things. Who, like death and hell, is not satisfied with the slain: and subduing all nations and peoples under his rule, he did not consider an end to his greed. Will not everyone speak out against him when he is intoxicated with the cup of the Lord and is asleep from the wine-filled chalice, a disgrace? Woe to him who, ravaging the entire world, is not satisfied with plunder and does not cease to strip the already naked, and to this extent he rages in order to devour, and under the burden of wickedness and spoils he weighs himself down like a heavy yoke. At the same time, consider how elegantly he called the dense multiplied riches clay. Will not the Medes and Persians suddenly rise up, destroying the empire of the Babylonians, biting him first and then tearing him apart? And let Nebuchadnezzar become a prey for them, and let the destroyer of the whole world be plundered by the remaining peoples who were able to escape his hand and cruelty. But this will happen to him because of the blood of man, that is, of the Jews, and because of the wickedness of the land, namely, Israel, and the city, undoubtedly meaning Jerusalem and all the inhabitants in it in general. Let us discuss and the Septuagint. Everything we have said about Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar can be related to this world and to the devil, who is truly arrogant and proud, and believes himself to be something, but will lead to nothing. Indeed, his efforts and all his labor will be in vain: he delights in the likeness of hell and death, not satisfied with the killings of countless people, and rejoices in deceiving all nations, and gathering people to himself. Those who see him sent into the Abyss and handed over to Tartarus will recall in harmonious voice the things they read in the prophets allegorically and enigmatically, seeing them fulfilled and interpreting them about him: Woe to the devil, who has multiplied what does not belong to him. Woe to the lost one, who has gathered what she did not bear. How long will this voice be of rebuke or demonstration of judgment? And he will make his torment even heavier with infinite weight. And it is fitting, because it is arrogant and proud (pride is properly shown in the extension of the neck and the raising of the head), that the punishment should be very severe, so that what was erect may be bent. And this will happen because suddenly those who will bite him will rise up, either angels, with whom the devil will be handed over for punishment, or those who had been tempted by him, later repenting and converted to the banners of Christ, they will bite him, according to what is said elsewhere: 'Your peaceful men have set traps for you' (Jeremiah 28). Finally, it follows: And your adversaries will awake, that is, those whom you put to sleep before, those whom you intoxicated, you will be subject to their snares, who lay waste to your kingdom, and those who were captured in Christ's troops. For you have plundered many nations, and you have despoiled the Jewish people of the ornamental and sacred garments that I gave them: therefore all the remaining peoples, who have not subjected their neck to your empire, will plunder you and make you naked. Because you have both killed many people and shed their blood. But also the wickedness of the land, that is, of Judea, and the city of Jerusalem, and all its inhabitants (who said against their Creator: Crucify, crucify him: his blood be upon us and upon our children (John 19:6)), shall return upon your head, and shall be the cause of your plundering. This can also be interpreted as referring to the Antichrist, who will be so arrogant and proud that he will sit in the temple of God, pretending to be God. And, like hell and death, it will kill so many and gather them to itself, so that, if possible, it may even deceive the elect of God. It will also gather to itself all nations and lead all peoples into its error. But when they see him afterwards, whom Christ will destroy with the breath of his mouth, they will understand that what was predicted about him beforehand is true, and they will say all that follows with the same understanding with which we have explained about the devil. But what he says is, that all the remaining people will strip you because of the blood of men, and the impiety of the land, and the city, and all who dwell in it, let us understand the remaining holy people, who did not serve the Antichrist, from whom the wicked one will be stripped because of the impiety which he exercised over the whole earth, and the devastation of the city of the Church, and the persecution of all who dwelled in it. For such great devastation and such great impiety at the end of things, while the Antichrist rages, will prevail in the Churches, and with the multiplied iniquity of many, love will grow so cold (Mat. XXIV) that the Lord, who knows the secrets of the heart and what is to come, does not ignore, will say: Do you think, when the Son of Man comes, He will find faith on earth? (Luc. XVIII, 8) We can also, according to John the Apostle (who writes: As you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrists have come (1 John 2:18); by this we know that it is the last hour), condemn all heretics and the entire perverse doctrine of those who arrogantly despise the knowledge and simplicity of the Church, who do not lead to any good end but delight in the deaths of many, arrogantly and proudly speaking and twisting the entire content of scripture to fit their own understanding. They truly multiply for themselves not what is theirs, but rather the heaviest mud and a burdensome millstone by which they will be dragged to punishment, gathering for themselves spoils from many nations and shedding the blood of humans, exercising impiety in the Church and against all its inhabitants. But the remaining people, namely the men of the Church, who have not been deceived by their error, will suddenly rise up and awaken as from a deep sleep, and they will bite them and lay traps for them, and they will have them as prey. Some think that what is said, 'Woe to those who accumulate what is not theirs,' etc., can apply to the rich, who extend the boundaries of their possessions and gather for themselves things that do not belong to man, and from whom they will suddenly be left. But the Lord demonstrates that what is not of man, that is, a rational animal, is earthly possession, saying: If you were not faithful in another's, what is yours, who will give you? And they discussed the entire text of the chapter about this matter. But I do not know if they can maintain the order of prophetic questioning and solving.

(Verse 9.) Woe to him who gathers evil greed to his house, that his nest may be on high and he may escape from the power of evil. You have devised ruin to your house, you have destroyed many peoples, and your soul has sinned. For the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the woodwork will answer. LXX: O you who multiply evil greed to your house, that you may set your nest on high and be delivered from the hand of evil. You have devised ruin to your house, you have consumed many peoples, and your soul has sinned; therefore the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the woodwork will speak these things. Still, this is the same speech that heaps evils upon itself, and does not understand the multitude of riches as the cause of its own ruin; at the same time, it is argued through metaphor as the pride that places its nest on high like a bird, and thinks it is safe from the hands of evil, that is, never to come into the power of enemies: this plan of pride and arrogant thought had an end in ignominy. You have killed many people, and in killing others, you have raged against your own soul, and in such cruelty you have reveled, that, if it can be said, the stones of the city and the wood of the walls that you have overthrown cry out your ferocity. He said this to the Lord in the Gospel, against the Pharisees who were criticizing him, asking why he did not rebuke the children who were shouting to him: Hosanna in the highest to the son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest. 'Have you not read,' he said, 'that it is written (Psalm 8:3): Out of the mouth of babes and infants you have brought forth praise? And if these were silent, the stones would shout out' (Matthew 21:9, 16). For although many may understand it thus: if the Jews were silent, the multitude of the Gentiles would confess me; nevertheless this is a more explicit and truer understanding: even if men were silent, and envious tongue did not speak of the multitude of my miracles, nevertheless the very stones, and the foundations of the walls, and the building of the walls itself, would be able to resound my greatness. To make it more significant, let's also take examples from secular literature. Crispus (Sallustius) speaks in his histories: 'The Saguntines, famous for their trustworthiness and hardships, were esteemed above mortals, with greater zeal than wealth, since among them even then the half-ruined walls, uncovered houses, and burnt temple walls displayed Punic hands.' Similarly, Tullius speaks to Caesar in defense of Marcellus: 'By god, the walls!' (As it seems to me) the members of this court strive to thank you, because in a short time that authority will be in the hands of their ancestors and their seats. Moreover, what we have interpreted is: And the wood that is between the joints of the buildings, it will answer: concerning which the Seventy translated: And the scarabaeus made of wood will speak these things, Symmachus translated it more clearly in his own way: and the wooden joint of the building will speak these things. Theodotius also, and the joining together of wood will speak this: and also a fifth edition, and the joining together of wood will speak this: and these interpretations themselves agree with the interpretation of Symmachus and our interpretation; for what is called in the Hebrew language Chaphis (), signifies wood, which is put in the middle of the structure to hold the walls together; and commonly among the Greeks it is called ἱμάντωσις. Therefore, according to the story, this is what the prophetic speech signifies: the stones of the walls that were destroyed by you, and their burnt wood will sound your cruelty. I found, except for five editions, that is, Aquila's, Symmachus's, the Septuagint, Theodotion's, and a fifth one, in the twelve prophets and two other editions, in one of which it is written: \"For a stone will cry out from the wall, and a worm speaking in the wood;\" and in the other: \"For a stone from the wall will cry out, and a worm will speak from the wood.\" But Aquila also put something different than what we said, \"and a lump,\" that is, a mass of wood will reply. We will explain the interpretation of these things in the exposition of the translators of the Septuagint, in which instead of \"woe,\" \"O\" is used, and the speech is directed either to the devil or the Antichrist or to the heretics, who multiply their wicked avarice. Wickedness, however, is called avarice, to distinguish it from the good avarice of the doctor of Ecclesiasticus, who is never satisfied with the multitude of his followers, and the more disciples he has, the more he is aroused to the study of doctrine. Therefore, woe to the one who multiplies his worst avarice, so that he gathers perverse assemblies in his house and sets his nest high, so that he may be delivered from the hand of evil. For the devil, the Antichrist, and the heretics promise that those who accept their teaching will possess the heavenly kingdom and avoid the fires of hell. And when they have made these promises, their plan cannot come to fruition, but it will be a plan of confusion and dishonor for their house, after the falsehood of their promises is revealed, and when it is proven that their plan is a plan of confusion, not salvation. This teacher of perversity, as we said, has consumed many peoples, and the more he has had in his company, the more he has sinned against his own soul. Finally, the stones of his church and the beetle, that is, the scarab beetle from the wood, will cry out against the prideful avarice because he has deceived all nations by his persuasion. The stones, we can understand, represent the foolish hearts of believers who follow the teachings of heretics, and the scarab beetle from the wood represents the corrupt teachers who, for the sake of shameful gain, take up the preaching of the cross and speak from their mouths. For their god is their belly, and they do everything for the sake of food, and they are reduced to dung (for the scarab beetle or the beetle is a worm of dung); and they only take up the cross in order to teach the avarice and pride of their master, the devil, with a viper's mouth. If you ever see some heretic speaking as if he were speaking hidden and secret mysteries against the Church, and prefer the devil's house to Christ's, say: \"A stone cries out from the wall, and a beetle speaks from the wood.\" I read in a certain book that the beetle is understood to be superimposed on heretics because their teachings are like dung. Hence, the Apostle says that he considers the error of the old teaching as dung (Philippians 3). Not that the old Law, as the Manicheans think, should be compared to the Gospel as dung (which is impious to say, since both Testaments belong to the same God), but because the teachings of the Pharisees, the commandments of men, and the second scriptures (δευτερώσεις) of the Jews are called dung by the Apostle. I know a brother who understood the stone crying out from the wall to be the Lord and the beetle speaking from the wood to be the thief who blasphemed against the Lord, which, although it can be understood piously, I cannot find how it can be fitted with the entire context of the prophecy. There are some who think that the beetle speaking from the wood can be referred to the person of the Savior, which appears impious from the very order of the discourse. For the beetle will speak from the wood, is not understood in a good, but in a bad sense, that is, it will speak of the worst avarice of the one who multiplies it against his own house and the confusion of the devil, and the other things that preceded his wickedness and crime. As for Aquila's saying, \"and a lump of wood will reply,\" we refer the lump to the sense that the Lord placed in the Gospel: \"Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees\" (Matthew 16:11). And when the apostles doubted and could not know what it meant, the evangelist interpreted it, saying: \"He had said to them concerning the teaching of the Pharisees.\" Therefore, rightly the teaching of heretics speaks from the wood, for they cannot persuade otherwise unless they prefer the glory of the wood to their own perversity. Also, that which we said, \"For a stone will cry out from the wall, like a worm speaking in the wood,\" or \"a stone from the wall will cry out, and a worm will speak from the wood,\" some of our people say that the worm speaking in the wood is that one who says in the psalm: \"But I am a worm and not a man\" (Psalm 22:6), and they refer the speaking bird to the same person who says: \"I have become like a solitary sparrow on the roof\" (Psalm 102:8), and other things similar to these.

(Verse 12 and following) Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed, and establishes a town with injustice: are these things not from the Lord of hosts? For the peoples shall labor in vain, and the nations shall exhaust themselves: for the earth shall be filled, that they may know the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. LXX: Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed, and establishes a town with wickedness: are these things not from the Almighty Lord? And many peoples have failed in fire, and many nations are crowded: for the earth will be filled to know the glory of the Lord, like water to work the seas. There is no doubt that the prophetic word still speaks against Nebuchadnezzar according to the letter; and he mourns because he built Babylon in blood, and he constructed the walls of that city in the ruins and deaths of many. Since he did this to the city that he had built in blood, he afterwards listens to what will be brought upon him by the Lord. For it follows: Are not these from the Lord of hosts? that is, what is being said. The peoples will labor in much fire, and the nations in emptiness, that is, Babylon in flames, the peoples will labor in vain, and strive for nothing, and the peoples of the Chaldean nation will be exhausted. For the earth will be filled, so that it may know the glory of the Lord, that is, when Babylon has been overthrown, the power of God's might will be made clear to all, like waters covering the sea: thus the glory of the Lord will fill the whole earth, as waters cover the channel and the depths of the sea. These things, as we have said, literally. Moreover, it is clear that both the devil, and the Antichrist, and the perverse doctrine of heretics build the city in blood, that is, their Church in the destruction of those whom they have deceived, and prepare the city in wickedness, speaking against God iniquity, and exalting their mouth. And when they have done this, it is clearly shown that they build the city in blood and prepare it in wickedness of their own. For it follows: Are not these from the Lord Almighty? That is, such a building is not from the Lord of hosts, whom the LXX translators have now interpreted as Almighty. For many peoples will fail, and although countless nations are led astray by them, they will either grow weary, which more clearly means they have fainted, or they will certainly be confined and unable to be compared to the multitude of the Church. Indeed, when those people have failed in fire (which either means the fire of their devilish leader has been extinguished or certainly the fire of the Lord has been kindled, about which He says, 'I came to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled' (Luke 12:49) ), and when they have retraced their previous course and have repented and have abandoned the journey they began, which means that they have fainted, the whole earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord, when their sound goes out to the whole world through the preaching of the apostles, just as the waters cover the sea (Psalm 18), that is, so that all the saltiness and bitterness of the age, which the earth has drunk in as the devil pours it down, will be covered by the waters of the Lord and the place of the sea and the former bitterness will not appear. And in the psalm it is said, Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered (Psalm 32:1). However, it can also be understood (although it does not fit the order of the reading, nor does it relate to the present text of Scripture) as referring to the city of Jerusalem, full of the blood of the prophets, as the Scripture mentions (Matthew 23), that the blood of the saints has overflowed in it from gate to gate. And what is said in the Lord's passion: His blood be on us and on our children (Matthew 27:25). And to which God speaks in Isaiah: When you lift up your hands to me, I will not listen to you: for your hands are full of blood (Isa. I, 15). This is built in iniquities: in which, according to the same prophet, justice slept. Nor is its foundation from the Lord of hosts. Hence, many peoples have perished in fire, and many nations have been exhausted at the time when Jerusalem was surrounded by the armies of Vespasian and Titus, and on the solemn day of Passover were held captive in the city like a prison: and they were depleted by hunger and scarcity, and the siege of Hadrian brought them to their ultimate ruins. But when the city of bloodshed and the city of iniquities and the people who had come to their aid were destroyed by fire, and the exhausted hands were released, the whole earth was filled with the glory of Christ, and just as with water, so the whole world was covered with his words and teachings.

(Verg. 15 seqq.) Woe to him who gives drink to his friend, sending forth his gall and intoxicating him, so that he may see his nakedness. He is filled with shame instead of glory. Drink also yourself, and be drunk, for the cup of the Lord's right hand will surround you, and the vomit of shame will be upon your glory. For the wickedness of Lebanon will cover you, and the destruction of animals will frighten them away, from the blood of men and the iniquity of the land, the city, and all the inhabitants therein. Woe to those who give drink to their neighbor, mixing in their own venom, so that they may look into their hidden corners. Drink of the shame of glory, and be moved, for the cup of the Lord’s right hand has surrounded you, and shame has gathered upon your glory. For the wickedness of Lebanon will cover you, and the misery of beasts will terrify you, because of the blood of men and the impieties of the land and the city, and of all who dwell in it. For the confused subversion, Symmachus interpreted it as, καὶ ἀφιὼν ἀκρίτως τὸν θυμὸν ἑαυτοῦ, which means, and releasing without judgment his own fury. Theodotius interpreted it as ἀπὸ χύσεώς σου, which means from your outpouring. The fifth edition ἐξ ἀπροσδοκήτου ἀνατροπῆς τῆς ὀργῆς σου, which signifies, from the unexpected overturning of your anger. Aquila, ἐξ ἐπιτρίψεως χόλου σου, which we can translate as, from the outburst of your rage. In another edition, I found οὐαὶ τῷ ποτίζοντι τὸν ἑταῖρον αὐτοῦ ἀέλλην πετομένην, which in our language means: Woe to the one who gives his companion a flying whirlwind. But I read it translated elsewhere: Woe to the one who gives drink to his neighbor's ἔκστασιν ὀχλουμένην, that is, troubled madness. This is done in order to understand how much the Hebrew word Maspha () which the LXX translated as subversion, differs in all editions. Therefore, this is still an invective against Nebuchadnezzar, because forgetting his own condition, and as if unaware that he is a man, he offered happiness and bitterness to another man. However, we can understand it either as the king of Judea, or generally all men whom he has intoxicated with evils, so that he may see the nakedness of Sedecias and all the captives. This was interpreted by Symmachus and the fifth edition, that he may see their ignominies. However, these things are said in the metaphor of a drunken man, and of those made shameful by nakedness, because Nebuchadnezzar has intoxicated all with the cup of his fury, and has seen all stripped and captive, and those who were once glorious have been reduced to the utmost servitude: for this is what he says: He is filled with ignominy instead of glory, so that it may be understood that a friend, and close, or a partner of the kingdom, who drinks your cup, O Nebuchadnezzar. Because you have made many people drunk, you too shall drink from the cup of the Lord's wrath and become intoxicated. You will be surrounded by the punishments of the Lord's right hand, and all that you have consumed will be vomited forth in disgrace. You will be brought down from your lofty glory to the depths of misfortune. The iniquity of Lebanon will cover you, and your pride and the destruction of the temple will be your downfall. The plundering of the sanctuary will lay waste to you. And because the mountain of Lebanon was mentioned, under the same metaphor it compares victims, sacrifices, or certainly the multitude of peoples that were killed in Jerusalem, to animals or beasts, saying: And the devastation of animals will oppress you. But all this you will suffer, because you devastated Judah, you overturned the land of promise, and the city of Jerusalem and all its inhabitants. I met a certain Hebrew in Lydda, who was wise among them and was called a secretary, telling such a story: Zedekiah, he said, was blinded by King Nebuchadnezzar in Riblah, which is Antioch, and in various mocking ways, he was led to Babylon (2 Kings 25; Jeremiah 39). And when one day Nebuchadnezzar was celebrating a banquet, he commanded him to give him a drink, which, when drunk, would make the drinker's stomach flow freely: and suddenly, brought in before the mouths of the feasters, he was compelled to expel from his belly, polluted with filth, and this is what the Scripture here says: Woe to him who gives drink to his friend, sending his gall and making him drunk, so that he may see his nakedness and disgrace for glory: namely, that he who was the most powerful king was brought to such a disgrace by him. And God threatens him that he himself will drink this kind of potion and suffer all that Zedekiah suffered. How ridiculous this is, you know, even without me speaking. For if they say, 'Drink yourself and pass out, and the cup of the Lord's right hand will surround you, and the vomit of shame will be upon your glory,' they do not understand it as referring to the cup, but to the evils that Nebuchadnezzar will drink. Therefore, the cup that was given to Zedekiah should be understood as referring to evils, not, as they want, a cleansing potion. But if they say truly, and if this kind of potion is moderate, as I recounted above: therefore this cup which Nebuchadnezzar is about to drink is to be considered full of purgative, so that the God of Sabaoth and the Almighty Lord may offer purgative for the great revenge of Nebuchadnezzar and may make him defiled with his own dung. This is against the Jewish tradition. But let us come to spiritual understanding. Woe to you, devil, or Antichrist, or perverse doctrine of heretics, who intoxicate ((alternatively: who intoxicate and overthrow and give)) the deceived people with your teachings and turbid potion, and overthrow their previous faith, giving them a potion not from Siloam, not from the Jordan, not from the fountains of Israel, but from the brook Cedron and from the river of Egypt, of which Jeremiah says: 'What to you and the way of Egypt for you to drink waters from Geon' (Jeremiah 2:18)? For which reason it is written in Hebrew 'Sior' (which means turbid and muddy); although the rivers of Egypt are believed to come out of the paradise of the Scriptures, yet because they are trampled on by the feet of Pharaoh, they have lost their splendor, and violated by Egyptian mire, they have turned into torrents, concerning which it is said with rejoicing: 'Our soul has passed through a torrent.' (Ps. 123:5) But if someone objects and brings up the torrent of Corath, from which Elijah drank (1 Kings 17), and another torrent, from which the Lord drank on the way (for it is thus written: 'He will drink from the brook on the way' (Ps. 109:7)), it must be said that whoever is in Egypt and on the way of this world, even if he is Moses and Aaron, even if he is Jeremiah and Elijah, he must necessarily drink from the temptations of Egypt and the wilderness. Therefore, the word of the Lord, who assumed flesh for this reason, to drink from the brook, considering his majesty, said: 'Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.' (Matt. 26:39) Seeing again that he was in Egypt, and that the waters could not be cleansed unless he himself could, he said: Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. These things, therefore, because the devil intoxicates his neighbors with subversion and turbid drink and perverse teachings, that is, the rational animal, and makes those whom he deceives look to their own caves. For the teachings of the Church are free: they rejoice by day and by light. But those who are intoxicated, are intoxicated by night (1 Thess. 5:7): and those who intoxicate them, do not lead them into the courts of the Lord, which are not darkened by any roof, but into caves. For they made the house of the Father, which had been a house of prayer, into caves of robbers, promising certain initiations and mysteries, and hidden secrets known only to heretics, of which Isaiah speaks: And they shall hide themselves: and shed into caves, and into the clefts of rocks, and into the holes of the earth (Isa. II, 18, 19). Therefore, let us not enter into the caves of heretics, nor hide ourselves there, where the impious Saul used to expel the filth of his teachings (1 Sam. XXIV): but rather let us ascend to the lofty cave of Mount Sinai, where Elijah also saw the Lord (1 Sam. XIX), and Moses saw His back parts (Exod. XXXIII). And Isaiah cries out concerning the Lord: 'He will dwell in the high cave.' (Isai. XXXII, 16) But if anyone does not have a turbid cup and heretical teaching, and he is the master of the Church, and he does all things for the sake of dirty gain, and he sells doves in the temple, that is, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and on the priestly seat he sets free birds. This person does not indeed make the house of prayer a den of thieves, but he makes the house of the Father a house of business. After this comes: Drink, for the glory, the fullness of shame, O devil, O twisted doctrine, O heretic, who thought yourself to be a golden chalice, by which all nations are intoxicated, in order to see your caves and secrets, to fill with the greatness of glory the fullness of shame, and to consider the works of the potter's hands as a vessel of clay: drink also from the chalice of the Lord, of which it is said in the psalm: 'The chalice in the hand of the Lord is filled with mixed wine,' and He inclined from this into that: nevertheless, its dregs are not emptied out. And to move the prior opinion, and do not think them to be firm and stable, in which you desired to stand first: because the cup of the right hand of the Lord has encompassed you. Moreover, because you have caused a turbulent overthrow to your neighbor, shame will be gathered upon you, and upon your glory, which you believed to have first: and you will suffer this, because the impiety of Lebanon will cover you, according to what is said: And let his prayer become sin (Psalm 109:7). For Mount Lebanon, next to the Greek word ὁμώνυμος, is the name of frankincense; but frankincense is the symbol of spiritual incense, which is the worship of God. Therefore, the perverse speech of heretics, not directed by the simplicity of the Gospel, will be turned into sin for them, and impiety will cover their worship of God. Hence it follows: 'And the misery of beasts shall frighten thee, because of the blood of men, and the impieties of the land, and the city, and all that dwell therein.' And this is the meaning: Those whom you deceived with your frauds and made into your beasts from the flock of Christ, when you see them in misery and endure punishment for their error, then you will be terrified, then you will fall. And do not think that when I mentioned Lebanon and its beasts, I was speaking of brute animals and not of men, I tell you more plainly: You will endure these things, because you have shed the blood of many men whom you have caused to perish for God. And you have exercised wickedness in the land of the living, in the land of the gentle, and your wickedness has also raged in the city of the Lord, that is, in His Church; and you have made many who dwell in it participants in your wickedness. Let this be said under the mask of heretics. But if we want to understand about the Antichrist, or about the devil who will work in the Antichrist, and he will intoxicate many with his cup, with which he desires to overthrow the discipline of Christ, so that they may enter his caves drunkenly: but after the end has come, for the glory with which he magnified himself, he will be filled with ignominy. However, he will be filled, because he will drink the cup of punishments, and he will be moved, not steadfast in his wickedness, but fearful and late in his repentance. For the cup of the Lord's right hand will surround him, who is the Lord and Savior, when he has killed him with the breath of his mouth, and has destroyed him by the brightness of his coming. Then all the disgrace that he gathered for himself with thoughts, actions, and words will come upon his glory: so that as much as he was considered illustrious before, so much afterwards he will be full of disgrace. For he blasphemed against God, and the impiety which he practiced in Lebanon will cover him, and the rage of many people who were ravaged against the Church of God will be imputed to him; nor will he be able to lift up his head, but he will be crushed to the ground in terror. For he has killed many people, and with his impiety he has devastated the whole world, that is, the Church of Christ and its inhabitants. Therefore, it should be understood that this chapter, which we have now presented, namely: Woe to him who gives his neighbor a turbid drink for his downfall; and the previous three in which it was said: Woe to him who multiplies for himself what does not belong to him, and: Woe to him who gathers evil avarice to his house, and: Woe to him who builds a city in blood, can be equally understood according to history, and according to the anagogical interpretation, or against Nebuchadnezzar, or against the devil and the Antichrist and the heretics.

(Verse 18.) What profit is there in a carved image, because the maker thereof hath carved it, a molten and a false image? because the maker thereof hath trusted in his own workmanship, to make dumb idols. LXX: What profit is there in a carved image, because they have carved it, and fashioned it by the molten workman, a false image? because the artificer thereof hath trusted in his own workmanship, to make dumb idols. Furthermore, it is said in the preceding (or in the preceding matter), concerning Nebuchadnezzar, that he made a statue of the idol Bel, and set it in the field of Dura: or, as it is written in Hebrew, Dora, about which we read more fully in Daniel (Dan. 3). Therefore, the Scripture marvels at the madness and foolishness of the king, because he commanded a golden statue to be made, and the artist places confidence in the image that he created. And indeed, we can apply this, generally speaking, to all idol worshippers. We cannot consider that which is sculpted and that which is cast to be the same thing. For the sculpting, we can understand it to be in stones and marbles; but the casting is understood in those metals which can be melted and cast, for example, gold, silver, bronze, lead, and tin. Let this saying be, that according to tropology we may understand what is the difference between a sculpture and an idol. We read in Deuteronomy: Cursed be he who makes a sculpture and an idol, the work of the craftsman's hands, and sets it up in secret (Deut. XXVII, 15). I believe that sculptures and idols are perverse doctrines which are worshiped by those who made them. See how Arianus sculpted an idol for himself and worshiped what he had sculpted. Cerne Eunomium conflasse imaginem falsam, et conflationi suae curvare cervicem. Signanterque Scriptura: Et ponet, inquit, illud in abscondito. Habent enim et ipsi orgia sua, et quasi pro perfectis quibusque discipulis tradunt abscondita sacramenta, quae si ad lucem processerint, statim quod ficta sunt, arguuntur. Nihil igitur eis proderit sculptura et conflatio sua. Sculptura, quae refertur ad lapides, in his dogmatibus intelligitur, quae stultitiam prima fronte demonstrant. Conflatio is where there appears to be a semblance of secular wisdom, and as if with gold, the image is formed of the disciplines of philosophers and the splendor of eloquence. Therefore, the fabrication will be of no benefit to its maker. And the mute and deaf image will not be able to hear its worshipper. If ever you see someone refusing to believe the truth, and despite the falsity of their own doctrines being exposed, persevering in their chosen pursuit, you can rightly say: They hope in their fabrication and create mute or deaf images. For κωφὰ signifies both among the Greeks: although Symmachus, interpreting as ἄλαλα, seems to have understood muta rather than surda. Nor does that expression of the Scriptures move anyone, of which we have often said: Who, do you think, is the faithful and wise steward (Luke XII, 42)? And in another place: Who is wise and understands these things (Psalm CVI, 43)? because who, or what, is taken for rarely: since we can also understand this very thing from another place as impossible: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ: tribulation, or distress (Romans VIII, 35)? And the rest. And in the present chapter: What does it profit the sculptor, because his own sculpted image? For in both cases, impossibility is demonstrated, that neither can tribulation and distress separate the love of the Apostles from Christ, nor is there any usefulness in idols.

(Verse 19, 20). Woe to him who says to wood, 'Wake up!' or to silent stone (or lying stone), 'Arise!' Can it give instruction? Look, it is covered with gold and silver, but there is no breath in its midst. The Lord, however, is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him. LXX: Woe to him who says to wood, 'Wake up!' and to the stone, 'Rise!' and it is the image, the production of gold and silver, but there is no spirit in it. But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him. This can also be applied to Nebuchadnezzar and all those who worship idols. And it describes the human error, that they consider silver, gold, gems, and silk, with which idols are adorned or covered, to be gods because of the brilliance of the material, even though an artist can give form, but cannot give life to the limbs. And on the contrary, the Lord is said to be in his holy temple (Psalm X): not in a temple made by hand, but either in heaven or in each of the saints, according to the apostle who says: Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you (I Corinthians III, 16)? And elsewhere: Your bodies are the temple of God (I Corinthians VI, 19); or in the Son, as He Himself says: The Father who dwells in me, He does the works (John XIV, 10). But certainly according to that, which created the heavens and the earth, the seas and the entire world (Virg. VI Aeneid.)

The spirit nourishes within; infused throughout the limbs, the mind moves the mass, and mingles itself with the great body: the whole world, which consists of the sky, the earth, and the circles of the heavens, is said to be the house of God. Hence the Apostle confidently says: 'For in Him we live and move and have our being' (Acts 17:28). And if anyone opposes this, let him learn the custom of Holy Scripture, which never refers to a perverse spirit absolutely, but always qualifies it with some addition, as in the case of being led astray by the spirit of fornication (Hosea 4:12). And in the Gospel: But when an unclean spirit goes out of a man (Luke XI, 24), and similar things to these. However, the spirit wherever it is mentioned alone and absolutely without any addition, is always referred to the good part, that is, to the Holy Spirit, as the Apostle says: He who sows in the Spirit, will reap life eternal from the Spirit (Galatians VI, 8). And elsewhere: But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace (Galatians V, 22); and in another place: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the desires of the flesh (ibid., 16). Nor do we say this because the Holy Spirit is not also referred to with an attribute. For he is called both the Holy Spirit and the principal spirit and the upright spirit and the spirit of God, and similar expressions. But what we do say is that the Holy Spirit is often referred to both with an attribute and alone, while the perverted spirit is never mentioned without an attribute. And it can even be said (if someone wants to interpret the perverted spirit contentiously in this passage), that it is something else; 'Every spirit is not in him' means something different from 'Every spirit is not around him', for it can sit by idols; but it cannot be within. And Aquila translates more accurately from Hebrew, saying: 'And his spirit is not in his entrails, or in his midst.' Therefore, it must be understood that in some Hebrew texts, the word 'omnis' (all) is not added, but the word 'spirit' is read in an absolute sense. And if someone, being overcome by reason, understands the word 'spirit' in a positive way, and asks why, when it is said about the Holy Spirit, it is read with the addition: 'And all spirit is not in Him?' Let it be known that every spirit, various graces are understood to be of the Holy Spirit: so that there may be understanding: Nothing in itself of grace, it will have nothing of power. Indeed, this is understood more according to tropology, that in all the idols of heretics and the inventions of the devil, there is no grace of the Holy Spirit; but they seem to prefer the image of divinity and the beauty of teachings, while in them there is nothing breathing and alive. Let us also say this, lest we appear to conceal from the reader what we know, that the spirit and the wind are called by the same word among the Hebrews, that is, Rua (), and it is usually understood either as the sense of a place or as the wind. Therefore in this place we can understand 'spirit' as referring to wind, because idols do not breathe; or as referring to soul, because the inanimate sculptures. But that 'spirit' is understood as soul is clearly indicated by the prayer of the Savior: 'Father, into your hands I commend my spirit' (Luke 23:46). For Jesus could not entrust to the Father a perverse spirit (which is also wrong to even consider), or the Holy Spirit, who is God himself, but rather his own soul, of which he had said, 'My soul is sorrowful even unto death' (Matthew 26:36, Mark 14). And: No one can take my life from me, but I lay it down voluntarily, and I take it up again of my own accord. (John 10:17, 18).

(Chapter 3, Verse 1) Lord, I have heard your message, and I am afraid: Lord, revive your work in the midst of the years. LXX: Lord, I have heard your message, and I am afraid: Lord, I have considered your works, and I am amazed in the midst of two animals you are known. For that which we have translated as 'revive your work,' Symmachus has interpreted as 'revivify your work.' But what the Seventy have said, 'I have considered and I am amazed,' is not found in Hebrew, nor in any other Interpreter, so by removing those things which are not found in Hebrew, it can be read according to the Seventy: Lord, you are known for your works in the midst of two animals: because this seemed incomprehensible, the preceding words are connected. But we read in Hebrew Adonai, that is, Lord, Phalach, your work, Bacereb, in the midst, Sanim, of years, Heieu, make it alive. This is done so that we may clearly recognize the additions that have been made in the Septuagint. The Hebrews explain this passage according to the story: Lord, I have heard your message and I am afraid. I have heard, it says, the punishments that you have prepared for Nebuchadnezzar and the devil, in which you said to him: Woe to him who multiplies not his own (Above, II, 6). And secondly: Woe to him who gathers evil greed to his house (Verse 9). And thirdly: Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed, and establishes a town with iniquity (Verse 12). And fourthly: Woe to him who gives his friend drink, pouring out his gall and making him drunk. And fifthly: Woe to him who says to wood, Awake; to silent stone, Arise. And as I am filled with fear, that the great dragon must be wounded by so many blows, so I pray, Lord, that you fulfill what you have promised, and at the end of time, give us your Christ. For you have said, that it will still be seen from afar and will appear at the end, and it will not lie. Therefore, bring to life what you have promised, that is, fulfill your promise; let your word not die in vain, but let it be accomplished by action. Indeed, this can be understood in regard to the resurrection of the Savior: that he who died for us may rise from the dead and be given life. However, according to the Septuagint, the meaning is quite different, and we must also consider the explanation in the Vulgate edition. Lord, I have heard in the Scriptures your word, and with you giving me an ear, according to what Isaiah says: He has given me an ear to hear (Isaiah 50:5); I have heard in such a way that you desire to be heard. And contemplating your works more diligently (so that it would not be said to me: But the works of the Lord do not regard, and the works of his hands do not consider), from the creatures I understood the Creator, and through each thing that you have made, and what you daily accomplish in the whole world, I was completely astonished, and with the sense of humanity lost, I was converted into holy madness. Certainly, disturbed by wonder, I burst forth in praise, trembling, saying: In the midst of the two animals, you are recognized. Which many think refers to the Son and the Holy Spirit, because the Father is understood through the Son and the Spirit. This is also interpreted as the two Seraphim in Isaiah (Chapter VI), and the two Cherubim written about in Exodus (Chapter XXV), which face each other and have and veil each other, and have the oracle in their midst; and in Isaiah (Chapter VI), veiling the head and feet of the Lord, they desire only in the present age, and one cries out to the other the mystery of the Trinity: and let one of the Seraphim be sent, which is interpreted as burning, and let him come to earth and cleanse the lips of the prophet, and say: I have come to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already burning (Luke XII, 49). Some people think this, and they use many testimonies from the Scriptures to support this interpretation. On the other hand, a simple interpretation and the opinion of the common people understand that the Savior was recognized and believed to be crucified between two thieves (Mark 15 and John 19). However, those who say better argue that in the early Church, which was made up of both Jews and Gentiles, the Savior was understood and believed by both groups. There are two kinds of animals, two Testaments that are understood, the new and the old, which truly are living and vital, which breathe, and in whose midst the Lord is known.

In the middle of the years you will make it known. 70: When the years approach, you will be recognized. When the time comes, he says, and you have fulfilled the promised work, you will show that what you have promised is true. Whether when the consummation approaches, and at the last hour your son comes to destroy sins, you will be recognized more clearly. It follows:

When the time comes, you will be revealed, when my soul is troubled. This, except for the Seventy, is found neither in Hebrew nor among any other interpreters. And the meaning is this: When the time comes, of which it is said: In an acceptable time I have heard you, the time of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 6:2): then, O God the Father, your name will be known, which was hidden from men before, of which the Lord says in the Gospel: Father, I have revealed your name to men (John 17:6). But as it is added: When my soul is troubled, it is connected with the edition of the Seventy Interpreters with the later ones, so that it can be read: When my soul is troubled in anger, and up to this point is the distinction: afterwards let it be added, you will remember your mercies; namely, that the disturbance alone suffices for punishment, and the soul of the prophet, troubled with anger towards God, does not incur punishment, but mercy excludes anger. But the wrath of God also has its measures: how much and for how long, and for what reasons, and in what ways it is poured out, according to what is written: You will feed us with the bread of tears, and you will make us drink tears in measure (Psalm 79:6). And if the prophet is troubled by the wrath of God, and the one who is troubled obtains mercy, what should we hope, or rather fear, whose every work is worthy of God's wrath? But what follows according to the Hebrew.


When you have been angry, you will remember mercy. We must not think that God forgets us and after his anger remembers his mercy; but rather, because we think that he forgets us when we are placed in punishment, according to what is said: How long, O Lord, wilt thou forget me unto the end? (Ps. XII, 1). For even when we are overwhelmed by temptations, as if by raging waves, and a violent storm of demons rages against us, we speak as if to a sleeping person: Arise, why do you sleep, O Lord? At the same time, consider the mercy of God: he did not say, when you inflict punishment, you will remember mercy; but when you are angry. However, one who is angry sometimes does not strike, but only threatens. The apostle, sensing this, says: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (Rom. I, 18). But where it is revealed, it is not inflicted, it does not strike; but it is revealed to frighten, and to those who are frightened, it is not inflicted.

(Verse 3) God will come from the South, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. LXX: God will come from Teman, and the Holy One from the dark and thickly wooded mountain. Diapsalma. Aquila and Symmachus, and the fifth edition, set forth the Hebrew itself in Teman (): only Theodotion interpreted what Teman meant, saying, 'God will come from the South, and the holy one from Mount Paran, to the end.' From this we understand that the reading of the Seventy is from the dark and thickly wooded mountain. But even this, which the Seventy translated as 'psalm', and we have retained, forever; Symmachus interpreted as 'eternity'; Theodotion, 'to the end'; the fifth edition has the Hebrew 'Sela'. Therefore, God will come from the South, that is, from the South, from the clear light, and from those who are called the sons of days. Hence, in the Song of Songs, the bridegroom drives away the north wind and calls the south wind, saying: Arise, o North wind, and come, o South wind, blow through my garden, and let my spices flow (Song of Songs IV, 16). God is always in the midday: Where, he says, do you graze? Where do you lie down? in the midday (Ibid., I, 6). And to Abraham when he was under the oak, God did not come except in the midday (Gen. XVIII and XLIII). And Joseph, who foreshadowed the Savior, makes a meal for his brothers at midday. Therefore, the recognition of God the Father comes to those who are worthy in full light. And the recognition of the Holy One, that is, the Son of God, comes from the shady and thick mountain. The shady and dense mountain, or rather the Father himself, is understood to be full of virtues and all wisdom, protecting all things with his majesty, and spreading his wings, and cherishing his children; or certainly a paradise and heaven full of angels, full of virtues, full of abundant trees. And I wish that it may also happen to me, that God may come to my voice and my exposition in clear light, and his Son, of whom it is written: 'Be holy, for I am holy' (Lev. 20:26), from the lofty and dense eloquence, and the intertwining testimonies of the Scriptures from here and there, and as the Father and the Son come together, may their listener be made their dwelling, and may the Scripture be fulfilled, saying: 'I and my Father will come to him, and we will make our dwelling with him' (John 14:23). But because it is written in Hebrew as the shady and dense mountain, it is interpreted as the mountain Pharan, and Pharan means the mouth of the seer: fittingly, according to our interpretation, the knowledge of the Son comes in the eloquent speech of a learned man, and not just any speech, but one that is full of light, full of eyes, so that it may be clearly and purely conveyed to the ears of the listeners. And by what he says about the mountain, understand sublime teachings. I have heard this Hebrew passage explain that Bethlehem is located to the South, where the Lord and Savior was born, and it is he about whom it is now said: The Lord will come from the South, that is, he will be born in Bethlehem and rise from there. And because he who was born in Bethlehem once gave the Law on Mount Sinai, he is the Holy One who came from Mount Paran: for Paran is adjacent to the mountain of Sinai. And what is inferred, diapsalma, that is, always, has meaning: he who was born in Bethlehem, and who in Sinai, that is, in Mount Paran, gave the Law, is always the author and giver of all past, present, and future benefits. In the Psalter, there is a more detailed discussion about the diapsalmate, which is called Sela in Hebrew. Also, according to the Septuagint, the diapsalmate is only found in the Psalter and in the present place. From this, we rightly understand that the song of prayer was marked by the Septuagint.