Jerome

"For they are gone up to Assyria, a wild ass alone by himself: Ephraim hath given gifts to his lovers, yea, though they have hired among the nations, now will I gather them together, and they shall rest a little from the burden of the king and the princes." LXX: "Because they went up to the Assyrians, Ephraim has flourished within himself: they have loved gifts, therefore they shall be given to the Gentiles: now will I gather them together, and they shall rest a little from the labour of the king and the princes." Israel is devoured," he says, "and has become like a useless vessel, or unclean, from which no shard remains, in which water can be drawn, or a little bit of fire. And because he became an unclean vessel, therefore they went up to the Assyrians, imitating a wild ass alone: they were not fed like lambs by the Lord, but rather abusing their freedom and being led into captivity, of whom the prophet mourns and says, 'Ephraim gave gifts to the Assyrians, and hired lovers with a reward,' of which Ezekiel writes: 'All harlots receive rewards; but thou hast given rewards to thy lovers' (Ezek. 16: 33), and it has become the opposite in you. And when he has given gifts to peoples and nations have been hired to help him, they will gather for battle and will be taken captive together. And because they love to offer gifts to their adversaries, for a short time they will receive benefit, so that they will not pay tribute to the king and princes until they reach the Assyrians, where they will not give either tribute or stipend as free men; but they will be brought into the ultimate bondage. We do not doubt concerning the heretics, that they, according to the error of their minds, going to the Assyrians, will think that they are ascending and not descending. Therefore it is said to them through Isaiah: "What is happening to you now, that you have all gone up on vain roofs?" (Isa. XXII, 1), whose Assyrian prince is a great sense. Therefore, Ephraim grew up in presumption within himself. Whether he became a solitary wild ass, as he penetrated not sown by the Church but by the devil's deserted places. He loved gifts for his own error, promising rewards to himself, or doing all things out of the motive of shameful profit. Or certainly he gave gifts and rewards to his lover demons, and when he did this, he will be handed over to the nations. For just as nations venerate physical images: so do they think that they are idols of gods, which they have invented from their own hearts, and therefore they will be considered among the number of nations. But if, he says, now, and in the present age they have repented, and I have accepted them, they will cease to establish a little king and his princes over themselves. So that we understand the small king as the devil, as distinguished from the great king who cannot have fellowship with Belial; but as soon as he is received, he drives out the small king and his princes from the hearts of believers. But according to the Hebrew, those who were previously dispersed will gather in the Church of God and will have hired nations for themselves, and they will rest from the burden of the king, whom the Apostle reproaches for being torn apart from the Church, saying: "You reign without us, and would that you did reign" (I Cor. IV, 8), and from the princes whom they have established in the synagogues of the devil.

I will write to him many of my laws, which are regarded as alien: they will offer sacrifices, they will slaughter meats and eat, and the Lord will not receive them." LXX: "I will write to them a multitude: their rightful altars have been regarded as foreign. Because if they sacrifice and eat meat, the Lord will not accept them:" which I had previously given through Moses. But what profit is there in writing further, since he has despised those which he previously received? Is it not contempt of God when, at my command that there be one altar in Jerusalem, idols were made on all the mountains and hills to provoke the Lord? They also made altars for the same reason, not to please me, but so they could eat the meat of the many sacrifices offered, according to what the Lord says in the gospel, "Amen, amen I say unto you, you seek me, not because you saw miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves, and were filled." (John VI, 26). For every pursuit of sacrifices, they have it, to devour the offerings, not to please God through them; and the Lord will not receive those which they have immolated not to Him, but to their own stomachs and throats. But the apostle teaches that there is one altar in the Church, and one faith, and one baptism (Ephesians 4), which heretics, deserting them, have fabricated many altars for themselves, not to placate God, but to multiply transgressions. Therefore they do not deserve to receive God's laws, since they have previously despised the ones they received. And if they say anything about the Scriptures, it must be understood, not as divine words, but as expressing the ideas of the heathen. These men offer many sacrifices and eat the meat of these animals, abandoning the one sacrifice of Christ; and they do not partake of his flesh, the flesh which is the food of believers. Whatever they do, pretending to follow the order and rites of sacrifices, whether they give alms, make promises of chastity, or feign humility, and deceive the simple with false flattery, God will accept nothing of such sacrifices.

"Now their iniquities will be remembered, and their sins will be punished: they themselves will be turned into Egypt, and Israel, their maker, has forgotten them, and has built shrines, and Judah has multiplied fortified cities, and I will send a fire into its cities, and it will devour their houses." LXX: "Now their iniquities will be remembered, and their injustices will be avenged. They themselves turned into Egypt, and forgot him who made them, and they built shrines, and Judah multiplied fortified cities, and I will send fire into their cities, and it will devour their foundations." Between lawlessness, which means "iniquity and sin," this is the difference: iniquity is before the law, sin is after the law, and those who persist in their sins will be remembered for their iniquities committed before the law by the Lord. However, their sins will not be remembered, but vengeance will be taken. Therefore, he will remember the iniquity of the ancients, and will visit the former sins: because they returned to Egypt, either asking for help, or worshipping the same gods in which they had previously erred, ἄπιν and μνεῦιν. For Israel has forgotten his Maker, and built shrines on high hills, and under shady trees, consecrating to Baal and Astarte, and to other idols as well. Judah also, understanding that Israel had turned away from the love of God, and that their sins had been visited upon them, did not turn back to the Lord, but instead relied on fortified cities, which the Lord said He would destroy, devouring them down to their foundations. "His," no doubt, means Judah ("Al." Judah): though some read the foundations of "those," that is, cities, instead of "his." According to the spiritual sense, however, iniquities, that is, ἀνομίαι and ἀδικίαι, are called those which we committed before baptism, and which were forgiven us in baptism; but sins that we committed after baptism, concerning which it is written in the psalm, "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered" (Ps. XXXI). All of which shall be imputed to the heretics, so that both their ancient iniquities and their new sins may be accounted for. For those who had left Egypt by confessing Christ, they returned to perfidy in Egypt. Israel has forgotten its maker, and rejecting its Creator, has devised another master for itself. Judas also, that is, the Ecclesiastical man, in evil deeds, or in perverse interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, built fortified cities for himself, not by the help of God, but by an artisan’s lie: which the Lord says he will enflame with the fire of his spirit, and devour their burdens, that is, the great houses built up like towers, and he will upset the ill-laid foundations, so that they may not be able to build sacrilegious shrines against God. Certain cities fortified by the Jews are received in good faith, and they try to temper that which seemed contrary to this view: "I will send fire upon its cities, and it shall devour the houses thereof," so that when what is perfect has come, that which is partly destroyed. What we read according to the LXX interpretation, "they have eaten unclean things among the Assyrians," is not found in the Hebrew, and therefore must be marked with an obelus. We may say, however, that the Israelites, desiring Egypt, were captured by the Assyrians and ate unclean food there, according to Ezekiel, who describes them as eating food sacrificed to idols in Chaldea (Ezek. IV): and polluted to such an extent with the filth of idols, that they are compared to human excrement. The heretics also, whose leaders are Assyrians (of whom we have spoken frequently), eat unclean things among them, while they themselves are polluted by their filth.

"Do not rejoice, Israel: do not exult as the peoples: for you have committed fornication with your God: you have loved the reward above all the wheat fields. The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the wine shall deceive them." LXX: "Do not rejoice, Israel, and do not be glad like the other peoples: for you have committed fornication against your God; you have loved the wages of fornication above every wheat floor. The threshing floor and winepress shall not feed them, and the wine will deceive them." "Those who have departed from God, when they have come into the depth of sinners and have despaired of their salvation, will despise everything." (Proverbs 18) Finally, Israel departing from the law of God and worshiping idols, says that it is one people from many nations: rejoicing and congratulating that it has departed from knowledge of God and is a mixed people with others, and therefore now it corrects them, saying, "Do not rejoice, do not be glad, and do not think that you are like other nations. For one who does not know God is punished differently than one who departs from God, because a servant who knows the will of his master but does not do it will be beaten severely (Luke 12)." Your reward for prostitution, you thought many threshing floors and wine presses, so that you might enjoy abundance of all things; therefore, the threshing floor and wine press will not make wheat and wine, and the wine press will lie to them, or it will deny its wine, which they thought would make them drunk. We read that there was a severe famine in Samaria during the reign of Ahab, king of Israel, and the prophet Elijah, so much so that mothers ate their own children's corpses (3 Kings 6). At that time, according to the letter, the threshing floor and wine press did not feed them, and the wine was a lie to them, and they languished in want. It is said to the heretics, 'Do not exult and rejoice, and think yourselves similar to the other nations. For those did not believe in God; but these worship idols under the name of God, and fornicate against their God: and they multiply for themselves countless fields and winepresses, and they eat wheat from which mourning bread is made, and they drink the wine of Sodom, which is trodden down with adder's gall. And because they have prepared for themselves many winepresses and fields: therefore they will not feed on the true and one field, and on the wine-press which our Lord Jesus has trodden, nor will they drink; but whatever they have thought to have, it will be corrupted by falsehood.'

"They shall not dwell in the land of the Lord. Ephraim returned to Egypt, and in Assyria he ate polluted food. They shall not offer wine to the Lord, nor shall their sacrifices please him; like the bread of mourners, all who eat it shall be defiled, because their bread does not enter the house of the Lord, which is their soul." LXX: "They did not dwell in the land of the Lord; Ephraim lived in Egypt and ate unclean things among the Assyrians. They did not pour out wine to the Lord, nor did their sacrifices please Him; their bread was like mourning; all who eat of it will be defiled; for their bread of their souls will not enter the house of the Lord." Not only has the threshing floor and the winepress not fed them, and the wine has lied in the land of Israel, when everything had perished for three years and six months, but also the inhabitants themselves will depart from the land of the Lord, and will be led into a foreign land, so that they may not dwell in the holy land which they have defiled with their fornication. "He returned," he said, "to Egypt, and in Assyria he ate defiled things." Of this place, some have added above: "and in Assyria he ate defiled things," which is not in Hebrew, as we have already said. But since they were in Chaldea without a temple and without an altar, they will not pour out wine to the Lord, but to demons, and they will not please those who pour out to alien gods, and those who are held captive and eat idols in Assyria are like mourning bread. For it is not lawful to eat of the food of mourners, and whoever shall eat of it shall be defiled, even what is lawfully offered. The Greeks call the suppers of mourners νεκρόδειπνα, and we may call them "parentalia," from the fact that they are offered to the dead. And not only he that offers, but also he that partakes of such food, shall be unclean; for their bread, that is, the food which they offer, shall not enter into the house of the Lord, which is destroyed, and burnt up with the fire of the Babylonians; let their souls be put to silence. And there is a sense, to its own gluttony, and it provides enjoyment for itself; but I do not like what is polluted. Those who have left the Church and returned to Egypt, and of the Assyrians, that is, they eat sacrifices of demons, will not dwell in the land of the Lord: nor do they drink wine offered to the Lord, in their drunkenness, and neither they nor those who offer it please Him. The sacrifice of heretics is bread of mourning and tears: for all that they do shall be turned into weeping. They will not be able to hear: 'Blessed are the mourning, for they shall be comforted' (Matt. 5:5); but on the contrary, they will hear: 'Woe to the laughing, because they will weep' (Luke 6:25). Whatever they offer, they offer not to God, but to the dead: namely those who have concocted wicked heresies; and whoever eats of their victims, will be contaminated. They will be led by the blind into the pit. Whatever they do, they do for the sake of pleasures, to deceive the people and to devour the houses of widows. We can say that grief is bread, deadly words with which they speak iniquity against the Lord: for he who does not enter the house of God is bread: for the assemblies of heretics are called not the house of God, but the dens of robbers.

"What will you do on the solemn day, on the day of the Lord's festival? For behold, they have gone forth from desolation: Egypt shall gather them, Memphis shall bury them: the desirable silver of them, the nettle shall inherit, the burdock shall be in their tabernacles." LXX: "What will you do on the day of the assembly and on the day of the solemnity of the Lord? Therefore, behold they shall go from the misery of Egypt, and Memphis shall receive them, and Machmas shall bury them; their silver shall possess destruction, thorns shall be in their tabernacles." When the day of captivity will come, he says, and the most cruel enemy will attack, what is my solemnity? How pleasing a sacrifice do I have? For it avenges me against my enemies and puts a limit on their wrongdoing, and it flogs the impious sons. What then will you do on the day of the Lord's festival? Respond. With them being silent, he responds to himself, indeed he figures out with divine eyes what they will do: Behold, I say, in misery and ruin, they fled to Egypt, where those who want to capture the Assyrians and Chaldeans are bound. There Memphis will bury those, which at that time was the metropolis of Egypt, before Alexandria, which was formerly called No, received both the greatness of the city and its name. But what is said in the Septuagint, "Machmas will bury them," is not found in Hebrew; but Mamad, which means "beloved." From which it is clear that they are false, because of the similarity of the letters Daleth and Chaph; and instead of "Mamad," which everyone translated as "beloved," they thought "Machmas" to be an Egyptian city. We can consider that which is said: "For, behold, they are gone because of destruction, Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them," and take from the tribe of Judah: when, after the murder of Gedaliah by Ishmael, whom Nebuchadnezzar had appointed over the land, the remnant of the people with the prophet Jeremiah fled to Egypt, and there later were either captured or buried by the Chaldeans who pursued them. However, their desirable silver that nettles possess, we will understand to be the villages and all the ornaments of the villages, which are bought with the price of silver. "And what follows, 'a burr in their tabernacles,' signifies a long desolation; so that where once their houses were, there burrs and nettles and thorns may grow. And is said also to heretics: When the solemn day shall come, what will ye do? Aquila interprets 'solemn day' as 'time.' From this it is manifest that it does not mean a festive day, but a time of retribution; for immediately it follows: 'The days of vengeance are come, the days of thy visitation.' Behold, ye are devastated by many enemies: the Assyrians and the Chaldeans have slaughtered you, ye have fled into the world, and ye are likened to other nations: there ye shall be buried in 'Memphis,' which means 'from the mouth,' and the sense is: According to your blasphemies ye shall receive, and what ye have spoken ye shall feel in punishments; your desirable things, that is, the doctrines which ye have artificially composed with language, which is interpreted silver, shall be possessed by the nettle, which shall consume you with eternal fire: and there shall be the burr or thorn in your tabernacles; for thorns shall grow on the hands of those who have been made drunk with the Babylonish cup." (Jer. 51) And in the Gospel we read that shameful thoughts and worries of this world, and clinging vices, are called thorns, which rising up in the herbs choke the grain. (Matthew 15).

"The days of visitation have come, the days of retribution have come: know, O Israel, a foolish prophet, a spiritual madman because of the multitude of your iniquity, and the multitude of your madness." LXX: "The days of vengeance have come, the days of your retribution have come, and Israel shall be afflicted as a raving prophet, a man who had the Spirit, because" "the multitude of your iniquities, your madness has multiplied." And in this place there is a usual error: for where we have translated, "know, O Israel," that is, Israelites, and in Hebrew it is read Jadau, the Septuagint has translated "and will be afflicted:" thinking Jod is the vowel and Res the consonant instead of it, and reading it for Daleth: the former of which means knowledge, the latter affliction or malice. Therefore came the days of visitation, of which it was said above (Verse 5): "What will you do in the solemn day, and in the day of the feast of the Lord? The days of retribution have come." O Israel, now know your words, who called the prophet speaking true things to you, and prophesying by the Holy Spirit, a fool and insane, according to what the princes spoke to Jehu in Ramoth Galaad: "What is this madman coming to you?" (4 Kings 9:11). Therefore, because of the multitude of your injustices, in which you have revelled in wickedness for a long time, recognize that you are not my prophet, but rather insane, who labours to trample on my words. For "insanity," Aquila translates ἐγκότησιν, which we can also say in Latin as "anger" or "memory of pain". Some interpret the day of vengeance and retribution as the day of judgment, when Israel, who now boasts of seeing God, will be afflicted, not guided by the Holy Spirit but swept into various parts by demons, not knowing what they are saying: calling the Son of God a creature, denying the Holy Spirit God. And again another good God, asserting another creator of the world: their madness is manifold, because there were many iniquities. We said that he was a foolish prophet, and they interpreted him as a seventy pseudoprophet. And lest, by often repeating the same things, we seem to distrust the prudence of the reader, we briefly admonish that whatever is said about Israel and Ephraim in this prophet must be referred to heretics, who truly speak lies against God, being insane.

"Ephraim the spy with my God: the prophet is a snare of ruin" "above all his ways: insanity in the house of his God, deeply they have sinned: as in the days of Gabaa, their iniquities will be remembered, and their sins will be visited." LXX: "Ephraim the spy with God the prophet: a twisted snare over all his ways, insanity" "they have fabricated in the house of God: they have been corrupted according to the days of the hill: " "their iniquities will be remembered, and they will be avenged for their sins." Therefore, God gave the leaders to rebuke the delinquent people and to guide them back to the right path: hence, he speaks to Ezekiel: "I have made you a spy for the house of Israel" (Ezek. V, 17). Therefore Jeroboam was given as a spy among people, and as a prophet with my God, that is, with God who speaks these things by Hosea. But he is called the trap, according to that which is written above: "You have become a spectacle of snare, and a net spread out over Tabor, and you have turned victims into the abyss", and even now the people of Israel are referred to as the trap, because all fall into its snare, especially since he has put insanity in the house of God, or schemed it, that is, he made a golden calf in "Bethel", for this is interpreted as the house of God: and he has also deeply sinned in wickedness, and so he is submerged in the abyss of impiety, so that he surpasses the sin that was once committed in Gibeah, when they killed the wife of the Levite returning from Bethlehem in an illicit way (Judges 19). We can accept the days of Gibeah and that time, when for God they chose for themselves a king from the city of Gibeah, that is, Saul. And now they are said to have sinned much more, by choosing Jeroboam and worshipping idols, than at that time when they chose Saul: for here schism even was coupled with idolatry: but there the worship of God remained in the people. Therefore their injustices, which now by patience are considered forgotten, will be remembered, and their sins and the wounds that have been festering for a long time will be visited. Scrutinizing the ancient histories, I am unable to find that the Church was split, and that the people seduced the house of the Lord, except for those who were the priests appointed by God and the prophets, that is, the watchers. Therefore, these people are turned into a twisted snare, placing scandal in all places, so that whoever enters by their path may fall and not be able to stand in Christ, and be led astray by various errors and taken down paths to ruin. These are the Ephraim's spies, who have brought madness into the house of the Lord, that is, in the Church, or in the holy scriptures, interpreting them perversely, or certainly in the case of each of the believers who is most rightly called the house of God. Therefore they are corrupt and have perished according to the days of the hill, when they spoke iniquity against the highest ones and ascended into empty roofs. God will remember their iniquity by which they acted unjustly towards their neighbor, bringing him out of the Church, and will visit their sins with which they sinned against their souls. This is what we read in the psalm: 'They have laid a stumbling block for me beside the way' (Ps. 140:6). For unless someone has seen the way of God, that is, heard the name of Christ, they will not enter through it. Therefore, even heretics set traps beside the way in the name of Christ, so that anyone who believes they are walking in Christ—of whom we read that he is the way—may instead tread upon their snares, which they have woven in the house of God.

"As I found grapes in the desert, I saw Israel, as the first figs of the fig tree in the top thereof: but they went in to Beelphegor, and alienated themselves to that confusion, and became abominable, as those things were which they loved." LXX: "As I found Israel in the desert like a grape, and as I saw their fathers like a fig tree's temporary figs, but they entered Baal Peor and became alienated in confusion and became abominable like their love." For in other examples, we read: "and they became beloved, as if abominable," which is more consistent with the truth. When the whole world was deserted and did not have knowledge of God, I found, he says, the people of Israel like a grape in the wilderness, and how he found them, he says: "As the first fruits of the fig tree, in the top of it I saw their fathers. Therefore, the people were found in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And note the property, the parents are seen, the people are found, and in both there is a vineyard and fig tree, under which those who trust in the Lord are said to rest. But they, having been led out of Egypt, fornicated with the Midianite women, and went into Beelphegor, the idol of the Moabites, which we can call Priapus. Finally, "Beelphegor" is interpreted as an idol of tentacles, having "skin" on its top, i.e., on its summit, to show the obscenity of the male member. And because they entered into Beelphegor, they thus alienated themselves from God, to their own confusion, that is, they worshipped idols. As it is written, "For by whom a man is overcome, for him he is become also the slave" (2 Peter 2:19), and as those who serve their appetites, calling their belly their god (Philippians 3), so those who serve their lust have Beelphegor as their god. "And they became," he says, "abominable, like those whom they loved," according to what is written in the Psalms: "Let those who make them become like them, and all who trust in them" (Ps. 134:18) so that not only are idolaters, but also the idols named. But the Lord said in his passion: "I trod the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me" (Isaiah 63:3). And in the Psalm: "Save me, O Lord, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man" (Psalm 12:1). When the whole world was held in sin, and the nations knew not God, and Israel had cast away Him whom they had formerly known, first in the apostles, and the men of the apostles, did the Lord find the Christian people of Israel, and seeing with understanding God was satisfied with their sweet fruits of grapes and figs which, if found in the desert and before their proper season, would be of greater grace. They, however, that is, Israel, who assume the Christian name for themselves (for it is not to be understood of the parents), entered into the idol Beelphegor, which has the skin in its mouth. For whatever a heretic speaks, it is deadly, and is separated from the living Word of God. Whether they have entered into lust: for it is difficult to find a heretic who loves chastity, not because they do not cease to prefer it on their lips, but because they do not keep it in their conscience, speaking one thing and doing another; hence, they are alienated from God and have glory in their confusion, and have become abominable, who previously were loved among the fathers. But if we wish to read "they became abominable as those whom they loved," which still is not in the Hebrew, we shall say that the Gentiles have become abominable even as the heretics who formerly were beloved in the fathers, that is to say, so that both the former and the latter are alike vicious.

"Ephraim has flown away like a bird: their glory from birth and from the womb and from conception. Even if they bring up their children, I will make them childless in men. But woe to them when I depart from them. Ephraim, as I saw, was founded in Tyre in beauty, and Ephraim will bring their sons to the slayer." LXX: "Ephraim has flown away like a bird: their glory is in giving birth and in births and conception: because even if they bring up their children, they will be without children among men: because woe to them, for my flesh is from them. Ephraim, as I saw, offered his children into captivity, and Ephraim, to bring his children to slaughter." There is much disagreement among interpreters on this passage. In that place where we said, "woe to them when I depart from them," the Septuagint and Theodotion translated it as "woe to them, my flesh from them." Seeking the reason for such a variation, I seem to have found this: "My flesh" is said in Hebrew "Basari;" again, if we say "my departure" or "my declination," it is said "Basori." Therefore, the Septuagint and Theodotion translated "my departure" and "my declination" as "my flesh," whereas for "Ephraim, as I saw, Tyre was," the Septuagint interpreted "θήραν," which means "hunting" or "capture," Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotion interpreted as "a very hard rock," that is, a flint, which in Hebrew is called "Sur;" but if we read "Sor," it means "Tyre." "But the Seventy interpreters, thinking from the similarity of the letters of Res and Daleth that it was not Res but Daleth, have read Sud, that is, "hunting" or "capture," from which Bethsaida is also called "the house of hunters." We have stated the diversity of interpreters; let us return to the sense. Ephraim, that is, the ten tribes, flew away like a bird into captivity and departed from their own place. And he called them birds to demonstrate their swift passage into Babylon." But if we read, "as though the glory of them had flown away like a bird," we say that their aid has departed and flown away from God. And that which follows, "from birth, and from the womb, and from conception," can be understood in two ways, so that the glory which has flown away from Ephraim also departs from their birth, from the womb, and from their conception. That is, their children shall be deserted and their posterity forsaken. Or indeed, we say that all the glory of Israel was in its multitude, and that Judah, his brother, esteemed himself greater because he ruled over ten tribes, whereas the other over two. Where the Lord speaks that even if they raise their children and gather a multitude of offspring, they will be handed over to death. And now the true burden lies with them when God departs from them. He then explains how once Ephraim was so forsaken, though he was beautiful, and so supported by God's help, that he seemed as if he were Tyre, which is surrounded by the sea, or certainly like a hardest rock, fixed on the ground, which disdains all storms and cares nothing for tornadoes and winds. But he, that is, Ephraim or Tyre, which was founded in the beauty ("Al." fullness) of the sea, will bring his sons into captivity. Many refer this chapter to the times of Azahel, who besieged Samaria and afflicted it with hunger for a long time, so that those besieged by the sword might be thought to perish more lightly than from hunger (2 Kings 6, 7, and 8). But let us say, according to the tropology, that Ephraim, that is, the heretics, as if they had gone away from the Church like a bird, and that they have all their glory in childbirth, in the womb, and in conception, if they have born many sons whom the Lord threatens, even if they have been raised and punished, not by anyone else, but by the Lord himself, because they have generated children of fornication, and woe to them when God departs from them. And he repeats that which was Ephraim: when, he says, he was in the Church, in such a way was he pounded by the waves of this world like Tyre, but yet he could withstand nothing adverse, because he had the foundation of Christ, upon which the house was built, cannot be overturned (Matt. VII). But now he brings up his sons for slaughter: that is, for the devil. And well said he brings up, that is, he makes them go outside the Church. We are able to speak evil of the sons of Ephraim, and contrary dogmas to truth, which the Lord destroys with the breath of his mouth; he does not allow them to have such children, and leaves them to eternal destruction. As for what we read in the Septuagint, 'From these, my flesh: Ephraim, how I have seen, has provided for his sons a livelihood of prey,' we understand it thus: If Christ is the head of the body, that is, the Church, all of us are members of Christ and the Church. Therefore, whoever departs from the Church tears apart the body of Christ: therefore, Ephraim was also flesh and a member of the Lord Savior. But he provided his children for hunting, and for the hunting of those about whom it is written: "Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler's snare" (Psalm 123, 7). And he led his children out of the Church, for slaying or for wounding: so that they may be wounded by those who send burning arrows, so that they may be struck and burned together.

"Give them, Lord: what will you give them? Give them a womb without children" (Vulg. "sons"), and dry breasts" LXX similarly. If we abuse those things which God gave us for a blessing and they are turned to the opposite of why they were given, it is better for them to be taken away from us. Finally, the tongue was given to praise the Lord God and to speak good things: If anyone misuses it in blasphemy, the Psalmist prays to the Lord against him: "Let deceitful lips be made dumb, that speak against the just with pride and abuse" (Ps. XXX, 19). And in another place: "May the Lord destroy all deceitful lips, and the tongue that speaks high things" (Psalm XI, 4). Therefore, since Ephraim boasted in the womb, and in conception, and in birth, and in the multitude of peoples, the Prophet prays to the Lord and says: "Give them, O Lord." And he himself answers: "What will you give them?" and immediately adds: "Give them a barren womb, and dry breasts," so that they would have no reason for pride and may be confounded in that which they used to glory. It is clear that even teachers with contrary doctrines can be understood, who boast in the multitude of people and in those children whom they have raised to destruction, that they might lead them out of the Church and into the midst of the slayer. For as many children as heretics have produced in error, the devil has killed. Of such a soul it is said: "Blessed is the chaste woman, who has not known the bed of sin." (Wisdom 3:12) For the Ecclesiastic man is blessed, who in comparison with a heretic, does not beget children in error. And in another place we read, 'It is better to not have children with virtue. For from an unlawful union, offspring will perish' (Wisdom 4 and 3, sec. 70): and when they have been long gone, they will be considered as nothing and ignoble in their final old age. For the fecund multitude of the impious is unto nothing; for we should not consider it, that he has prayed bodily for a sterile womb and drying breasts.

"All their wickedness is at Gilgal: for there I hated them." LXX similarly. In Gilgal, Saul was anointed as king, with Samuel announcing God's anger to the people. (1 Kings 10) "There," he said, "I had them skinned, and they asked for a human king, and withdrew from my authority. Whether it was because Galgala is a place of idolatry, where they committed all kinds of sin. But because Galgala means "revelation," or "rolling," that is, "rolling away," all the wickedness of the heretics will be revealed at that time, when God gives them a barren womb and withered breasts, and they see their shame. And those who boasted through pride that they had ascended to lofty places, will be cast down to the ground or dragged down to hell. Truly, heretics are worthy of God's hatred, those who speak lies against the Lord, of whom he speaks in the following lines

Because of the malice of their inventions, I will cast them out of my house. I will not continue to love them: all their rulers have departed," that is, "disobedient." The same is true of the Seventy. And indeed, there is no doubt that the heretics were cast out of God's house, and he will not love them as long as they remain in error, and all their rulers have turned away from God, that is, disobedient, such as Valentinus, Marcion, and others. We can say that the leaders of the heretics are demons who have truly turned away from God and are called princes, just as the Lord speaks in the Gospel: "The prince of this world will come and find nothing in me" (John 14:30). And the Apostle tells us to fight against the powers, principalities, and rulers of these darknesses (Ephesians 6). However, according to history, how did he cast them out of his house, that is, the ten tribes, when they were not in the house of God? But we shall call the house of God, or the Holy Land into which they were conducted, or the false name 'Israelites,' or the fact that the prophets were sent to them as though they were the people of God. But what is clear is that he does not add that he loves them, and that all the kings of Israel have departed from God, for until today they remain in captivity. Others believe that what is written, "I will eject them from my house," refers to the kingdom of Judah, which will also be led into captivity. But how can it be adapted to them, "I will not add that I love them," since they were later led back to Jerusalem: and "all their leaders are departing," since we have read that David, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah were righteous kings? Hence we must pass on to the time of Christ, who, at His coming, was cast out of the house of God, and was not saved as Israel, but as the Christian people. Hence the Lord made a scourge for Himself out of cords, and cast them out of the temple: because they had made the house of His Father a house of business (John, ii).

"Ephraim is struck: their root has dried up, they will bear no fruit. Even if they do, I will kill the beloved offspring of their womb. My God will reject them because they did not listen to him, and they will wander among the nations." LXX: "Ephraim grieves over his roots: they are withered, and bear no fruit, and even if they give birth, I will kill the cherished offspring of their wombs. God will reject them because they have not listened to him, and they will wander among the nations." It takes a metaphor from a tree, which if its roots are dried up, it will not be able to bear fruit, and if it does even a little, it will soon wither in its own flower. But he speaks of Ephraim, whose root is withered, because he destroyed the God in whom he was founded, or did not deserve to have his fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in whom he had sent his roots: and therefore he does not bear the fruit of righteousness; and if he does, "I will slay," he said, "the dearest of his womb," according to what he had said above: "If they bring up their children, I will make them childless among men:" hence God rejected them and made them go into captivity. "And they shall wander among the nations." We can say this about all the Jews whose leaders have departed from God, stirring up the people to demand his death; therefore, he cast them out of his house and will not love them anymore. He struck their root and dried it up, and they will never bear fruit again, even if they study the Holy Scripture and the Law, and produce something of knowledge and doctrine from their heart as if they were beloved children; the Lord will oppose them and they will be cut off. For God has rejected them, all the prophets, because they did not listen to Him; and they will wander among the nations, not having an altar, not having a seat, not having a proper city. Therefore, David also speaks in the psalm: "Do not kill them, lest my people forget: scatter them by your power" (Psalm 59:12). And in another place: "Expel them according to the multitude of their impieties, for they have provoked You, Lord" (Psalm 5:12). We read about this tree also in the Gospel: 'Now the ax is laid at the root of the trees, and every tree therefore that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into fire' (Matthew 3:10). Let no one doubt that heretics are incapable of producing the fruits of virtues, because they have lost the Lord, on whom, according to the Apostle, they ought to have been rooted and founded (Ephesians 3). And even if they should produce some fruit and generate some offspring by the fertility of their own womb, they will die with the Lord being against them. Whether because their fruits are all those things which they imagine and generate from their own heart, they will wither and perish: and it will be clear to all that a dry root cannot produce fruits. These will be cast away, indeed they are cast away by God, because they did not listen to him saying: "Do not move the boundaries which your fathers have established" (Deut. XIX, 14). And for this reason they will wander among nations, passing from these opinions to those, since it does not please them to keep what they have once found, but always changing old things for new, and imitating the errors of the pagans.

"Lush vine of Israel; its fruit satisfies it; according to the abundance of its fruit, it has multiplied its altars; it has enriched itself with its idols, in proportion to the fertility of its land." LXX: "A leafy vine in Israel: abundant fruit in it: according to the multitude of its fruit it has multiplied altars: they will build titles beside the good of their land." On behalf of a leafy life," the eagle explained, "ἔνυδρον," which we can say means "watery" or "diluted" because it loses the taste of wine; Symmachus called it "ὑλομανοῦσαν," which has grown entirely in the leaves. Vines, which were not of value to the vintner, grow into whips and leaves, and destroy the moisture which they should have turned into wine, by the vain ambition of foliage and leaves: such a vine is harmful to farmers. Such was Israel, growing in the multitude of peoples, and not returning the fruits owed to the Farmer God. Let us say it differently: A leafy vine, or according to the Septuagint, a fruitful vine, brought forth many bunches, and the productivity of grapes equaled the magnitude of the branches: but this, which was such before it offended God, later turned the abundance of fruit into a multitude of offenses: so that the more people it had, the more altars it would build, and it would surpass the abundance of the land with the number of idols. For statues, the Septuagint translates "columns," which we call "statues" or "titles," which properly belong to demons or dead men. And so heretics, while they were being planted in the Church and growing in the house of God, were called the Sorec vineyard and brought forth the most bountiful fruits: but afterwards, as they became more numerous, they multiplied altars for themselves, so that for every one true altar there were built many altars of their error, and according to the abundance of their land they overflowed with idols. The land of heretics is fruitful, those who sensing the acumen and talent from God, in order to consecrate the good of nature to God, made idols for themselves. For no one can build up heresy unless they are of a passionate mind and have the gifts of nature; which were created by God the creator. Such was Valentinus, such was Marcion, whom we read to be very learned. Such was Bardesanes, whose talent even philosophers admire. Therefore, they turned the good of their land into titles for the dead, because all their teaching is not referred to the living, but to the dead, to both those whom they worship and those whom they deceive.

Their heart is divided; now they shall perish: he shall break down their idols, he shall lay waste their altars." LXX: "They have divided their hearts: now shall they perish: he shall break down their altars, he shall distress their statues." The Hebrews hand down a similar story, confirming their suspicion with the authority of Scripture: captivity did not come until both kings and peoples alike adored golden calves and were united in impiety. The last king of the ten tribes was Hoshea, about whom it is written (4 Kings 17) that indeed he did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel who were before him, in whose ninth year Salmanazar, king of the Assyrians, captured the people of Israel, and led them into the Assyrians, and made them dwell near the river Gozan in the cities of the Medes. Therefore, it is asked why they were not captured under the worst kings, but under him who had begun to turn in some way to better things? To which they add these things: at first the people excused themselves, saying, "We obey the commands of the kings, nor can we resist their tyranny; we worship calves which we are compelled to adore." But in the days of Hosea the same king commanded that the calves should not be worshiped with such zeal, but that whoever wished should go to Jerusalem and offer sacrifice there to God; to this, they say, the people objected. And this is what he says now: "their heart is divided," that is, the heart of the king and the people, and with no excuse remaining, now they will perish and be delivered to eternal captivity; for as soon as the people dissented from the king, destruction came. And what follows: "He himself will break their images," speaks about God: "And he shall destroy their altars," not because God himself did this with his own hand, but because his will was fulfilled through his enemies. The hearts of heretics are divided among themselves and they resist each other's opinions, which they do not deny, while they feel different. Hence they will be dispersed, and the Lord will break or dig out their images, or altars, which they invented in their own hearts, and will destroy the titles by which each is called by their own names, and they called their names over their lands, so they may not be said to belong to Christ's Church, but to those of this or that.

Because now they will say, 'There is no king for us, for we did not fear the Lord, and what will the king do to us?' Speaking words of useless vision, and you will strike a covenant, and judgment will germinate like bitterness over the furrows of the field. "LXX: "Therefore now they will say, there is no king for us, because we did not fear the Lord, but what will the king do to us? Speaking words, false excuses: he will arrange a testament, and judgment will arise like grass over the desert of the field. "After God breaks the idols of Israel, and depopulates their altars, or statues, and their extreme captivity comes, they will say, "There is no king for us." And lest they think that the sentence is prolonged for a long time, he added: "Now they will say," when they are devastated, when they will feel that Hosea is the last king taken from them: now the king is taken away from us, because we did not fear the Lord the true king: for what could a man do as king to benefit us? Say what you wish, lament old mistakes, promise yourselves success, which will turn into the opposite, you will strike a treaty, not with God by any means, but with deception. And after the "treaty," which the Seventy have interpreted as "testament," bitterness will sprout for you, not a productive harvest of wheat, nor even food for livestock, barley, nor various legumes, nor vines which sweat forth their fruit in must, nor will trees bear fruit which changes the moisture of the earth into various flavors; but bitterness will arise for you, indeed a judgment of bitterness, or wild oats, which in Latin we translate as "grass." For there is a kind of herb like a reed, which sends its stem upwards and its root downwards through each joint, and again the very shoots and shrubs of another herb are nursery plants of it, and so in a short time, if it is not dug up by its lowest roots, it makes whole fields like brambles. Moreover, even if any dry part of it, provided it has a joint, falls on tilled ground, it fills it all with grass. We have said this according to the translators of the LXX, but in the Hebrew it is written as "Ros", which is turned into bitterness, that is, a judgment of bitterness, concerning which the Lord also speaks in the Gospel: "For judgment I am come into this world" (John IX, 39) : and of others it is written, "they shall receive greater damnation" (Mark XII). The students of opposing doctrines, when their lies are exposed and their altars and temples are destroyed, will say late: "We have no kings who had previously commanded us, under whose deceit we did not fear the Lord; for what gain is it for us to follow those, from whom we did not feel any help in necessity?" They will speak such words seeking some excuse, so that they may not seem to have erred through their own fault but through the worst teachings. Wherefore their seventy words they translated false excuses, which the prophet avoids by saying: "Let not my heart decline to words of malice," to excuse "excuses in sins" (Ps. 140: 4). We willingly applaud our faults, and having overcome pleasures, we shield ourselves behind the frailty of the flesh or the harsh demands of our ancestors: from whence the words and useless visions of heretics will be in vain. And they will strike a pact, not with God, but with bitterness, which when the day of judgment comes, will sprout over the furrows of their field, so that those who have sown in joy, will reap in tears: those who have laughed, will weep: those who had consolation, will mourn.

"The inhabitants of Samaria have worshipped the cows of Bethaven, because its people have mourned over it; and its priests have rejoiced over it, for its glory has departed from it. Moreover, it has been carried away to Assyria, as a gift to the avenging king. Ephraim will be put to shame by the confusion he caused; Israel will be ashamed of his own will." LXX: "At the calf of the house of Ὦn, those who dwell in Samaria will reside: because his people mourned over him. And just as they angered him, they will rejoice over his glory: because it was taken away from him, and they themselves, binding him to the Assyrians, brought gifts to King Jarib in his house. Ephraim will receive shame: Israel will be confounded in their counsel." What Bethaven is, for which the LXX translated as 'house' of Ὦn, and who King Jarib is, which means 'avenger,' we have discussed more fully above. So in Bethaven, that is, Bethel, the inhabitants of Samaria worshipped calf idols, which the male sex did not mock as bulls, but as cows, that is, as females: so that Israel would worship not only calf gods, but also cow goddesses. And to show cows in Bethaven, the people did not bring in one calf in Bethel to feel, they mourned over them, but over it, that is, the golden calf. But if the people mourned, why did its priests exult over it? The Hebrews report that golden calves were stolen by the priests, and in their place bronze ones covered in gold were placed. Therefore, when the people were mourning in a time of necessity and distress, even among other gifts which were sent among the Assyrian kings, especially to King Sennacherib by the king of Israel, the golden calves were there and the priests rejoiced because their wrongdoing could not be accused or discovered. And this is what is said, "its priest," that is, of the calf, they rejoiced in its (the calf's) glory representing the glory of the people; because it had migrated from it, that is, from the people, and was transferred to the Assyrians. And they say, so that we might know, the following verse clearly indicates that this is what is being referred to: "For he himself was brought into Assyria, a gift to the avenging king." And immediately follows: "Ephraim shall be taken away with confusion, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel," or "in his own plan." For the deceit of the golden calves, made by the people of Israel, is indicated to the king of Israel in the letters, and from where they thought they would please, there they are most of all confounded and offend those to whom they have sent gifts, supposing not just the thievery of the priests, but that this had been carried out by the deceit of the kings and their counsel. We read in the book of Kings that the king of Israel, Manahen, sent a thousand talents of silver to the king of the Assyrians, Phul, so that he would be on his side, that is, so that he would provide him with help, among which some claim that even golden calves were sent. In the current location, Symmachus interpreted Jarib as ὑπερμάχοντι, that is, "bishop" and "defender." According to our spiritual understanding, we must work how we can bring everything to the model of the heretics. The heretics cultivated cows in Bethaven, or the house of On, which is interpreted as "labor," and boasted that they lived in the custody of God's commandments, that is, in Samaria, and on the day of judgment when bitterness will sprout like judgment on the furrows of the field, the people will mourn over it, that is, over the calf, and over the perverse doctrine which they thought was of God. And the keepers of the temple did not say, "they will rejoice," but "they rejoiced," referring to their past glory, which they had once gloriously fixed, because the people had migrated from God, or because the glory of God itself had migrated from the people, from whom it had been forsaken. Whatever the heretics say, and however beautifully they speak, they send gifts to their king the devil, referring everything to him, from whom confusion will take them in eternity, and they will be confounded in their own desires. Someone also left written above and in the present place in his commentaries, that king Jarib, that is, the avenger, is to be understood as Christ. Which displeases us entirely. For it is impious to understand as historical events, which are tropologically related to Christ, to be about the king of Assyria.